Slephnir's Will

Croix trotted through Celestia's gothic castle reading the report Spike had just sent him only moments after the finale kill had been made. Vienna and her team were the best assassins around; he remembered hearing that her family had been in charge of the assassins’ guild for centuries, so it was only natural for her to be adept at murder. Who was he kidding? He was damn good at it too, he's single handedly taken the lives of hundreds of countless lives...all in Slephnir's name...all for Celestia...gods he hated her, her condescension, her voice, her manipulation of Twilight and her friends. That bitch drove Twilight mad, a twisted toy for her to get off on. Sure she's relatively the same but she’s...off... It made him sick...Rarity's mental condition was worsening slowly; she was an insane masochist and sex fiend now, she’s also a suspect in General Stormbreak’s murder, but there’s nothing even remotely close to proof so she was simply keeping to herself in her boutique while still making sales with her dress making. Pinkamena had killed her share of ponies and was insane as insane could be due to…well he didn’t know everything; all he knew was that she was a cleaner for some underground organization... Of course he did the girls a favor and swept the killings under the rug, it was Fluttershy who asked that he cover for them honestly. In actuality...Fluttershy was just as guilty as Pinkamena...she was the sanest between the two, you'd never guess the sweetest mare in the city was a butcher with combat skill on par with some of Vienna's assassins. Rainbow Dash was probably the most stable of the girls now, save Applejack who devoted herself to keeping the food supply lines open, the griffins had attempted to burn the apple orchard in secret one night but the griffins hadn't counted on Big Macintosh being ready. The red stallion crushed them by himself...and even kept one alive for Hellvetica to test on, whom she took with glee. Dash had taken a position on the Wonderbolt squad after Spitfire was injured; she...wasn't ready for the realities of war back when she joined.

After barely surviving her first battle she cried for weeks at Rarity's place. That was three months ago, she's hardened quite a bit after the next few battles...she's even catching up to Spitfire's kill count, of course she bitched about him putting Soarin’ in charge, but he was a veteran and he needed a leader out there not a cocky rookie calling shots. It's horrible but it's like the happy shell the city wears is driving his people into madness...even if it was only the ones close to him. Croix was so transfixed on Vienna's report that he didn't see Luna in time to keep from ramming into her. The dark purple mare stumbled a bit before Croix steadied her with a wing; it's moments like these where he was glad Hellvetica had made his wingspan so large. "Princess Luna...My apologies, I should've been paying attention. Are you hurt?" He liked Luna a great deal more than he liked Celestia, sure she had become Nightmare Moon for most of her life but her hatred was justified...Celestia drove her to it after all. Of course she reconciled with her sister and went back to being Luna but he hated to admit it, she still kept him on edge. Luna shook her head and smiled at him, she was a pretty mare...a bit of a game nerd but to each their own right? "Oh, no Croix I'm alright. I'd love to stay and chat but there's some other clan trying to take mine out online and they need me..." He stepped aside and let her pass with a nod and turned the corner only to trot up to Hellvetica's smiling form. "Ohhhh, you’re flirting with the younger sister now? Croix you dog you..." He stared at her before rolling his eyes. She slid up beside him and nuzzled his neck. "You know...we need to talk. I have some...concerns. Big ones."

Hellvetica led him to her private room and magically sealed it and sat on one of her floating cushions. Croix simply stood in front of her. "So what is it?" Hellvetica pulled up one of her information orbs and showed him live feed of one of the Pegasi. The mare was bloody and her breathing was obviously irregular. Her wings were also in tatters, the mare was a wreck. "This one reported to me for live testing on Celestia's orders..." Croix had to look at the bedraggled Pegasus for a bit to recognize her. "Spitfire? What the hell...she was severely injured in the last battle what's she doing in your lab?" Hellvetica frowned and looked away. "She made me experiment on her. She even stayed to watch just to make sure I did it. I'm so sorry Croix but the experiments failed, Spitfire will never fly again...she can't even move her wings now…I was about to remove them when I ran into you..." Celestia was hindering his best flyers for untested experiments? Spitfire was the current leader of the Wonderbolts and without her leadership the Pegasai squadrons would be in disarray. What the fuck was wrong with her? Croix was done with Celestia’s shit and was about to leave when Hellvetica bound in front of him. "You can't let her know I told you this...Croix...please...I'll do what I can to fix Spitfire...I…I'll figure something out. I swear, Celestia is...going too far." She actually looked…worried. Croix sighed and nuzzled the Demonicorn and sighed. “Take care of Spitfire. If you have to give her the same treatment you gave me…she’d most likely want to risk it then remain flightless the rest of her life…I’ll check on you two later, I need to meet with her…”
Hellvetica knew exactly who he meant…Pinkamena Diane Pie…one of the most dangerous cleaners and weapon dealer in Equestria; one Croix has been covering since Fluttershy had joined her on her bloody rampage to an extent. He left the castle giving Celestia a look as he trotted past her courtyard. The Princess caught his glare and gave him a nod in return and turned back to Twilight Sparkle who flashed him a bright smile. He powered his wings and took off to Manehattan. His departure didn’t go unnoticed however; Rainbow Dash almost immediately caught up with him and kept pace. “You goin’ somewhere Commander?” Croix couldn’t see her eyes beyond her Wonderbolt goggles but he knew she was eyeing him as hard as she could. “I’m going to see Pinkie…I have need of her skills…” Dash snorted and flew on her back facing him. “Oh come on we both know that psycho won’t kill anyone unless their number comes up.” The ram sighed and shook his head. “Pinkie’s Organization quit the number system; they have some new method now. All that matters is that she agrees to back Vienna up on her next mission.” Rainbow Dash stared at him for a moment longer before taking her position beside him silently. It’s been a year since she’d last seen the pink pony, a part of her wanted to rekindle their friendship but she hated Pinkie for corrupting Scootaloo. The orange filly was a part of her little group along with Mrs. Cake…Ms. Cake now, after eating her husband in a cupcake.

The flight was short and residence was easy to find if you knew what to look for. Scootaloo was the one to answer the door with a slight yelp when Croix barged in. Dash ruffled the filly’s mane and kept following Croix; her goggles hiding her anger. Pinkie and Ms. Cake were huddled around a body and kept working like the two weren’t even there. “Scoots, what have I told you about letting anypony in without letting us know?” Pinkie asked glancing at the filly with the one eye her mane wasn’t covering. Scootaloo looked away and mumbled an apology, Pinkie smiled and made her way over to Croix and Dash. She handed Scootaloo her scalpel and pulled her surgical mask down. “Take over for me while I have a chat with these two.” The filly’s face brightened up and she bound over to the body and took over exactly from where Pinkie had left off. Dash stared daggers at Pinkie; who just smiled and led them to a room with the flick of her head. “So…long time no see Dashy, for a second there I thought you hated me.” She said with more sarcasm than necessary. “I DO hate you, ya fucking lunatic.” Dash extended one of the blades on her legs and was holding it against Pinkie's neck within seconds. Pinkie didn't even flinch aside from her smile widening. "You gonna cut me Dashy? Sounds like a party to me...You mind if we do each other?" The pink mare glanced down at Dash's chest to the blade she had expertly pointed at her jugular, without her even noticing. Pinkie's eyes dilated in glee and she chuckled. "Someone is getting sloooooow..." she half sang the insult and simply walked around Dash as she retracted her blade with a growl. Pinkie sheathed her knife and hopped over to her desk and leaned against it. "So you're both not here to eat cupcakes and shit so what the fuck do you want? I have soo many parties to plan for." Croix tossed a packaged box her way warranting a confused look from the pink mare. “That’s a box of basilisk scales Pinkie…” She opened the box and slowly nodded before setting it aside. Basilisk scales were worth a ton on the black market, things must be dire if they needed her services. “So what do you want from me? Want me to kill Celestia finally? That pompous bitch needs a haircut anyway…” She realized she was looking a little crazy, smoothed her mane down and let her face fall back into its calm state. “No, Celestia isn’t your target. I need you to work with Vienna Moon and slaughter the Griffon High Council.”

Pinkie stared at the ram for a moment before breaking out into a laugh. “Are you fucking kidding me? As much as I looove parties, griffins suck at them! They molt and shed at the same time, their hard as balls to skin, they’re really whiney…the list goes on. I’m gonna need at least a Basilisk fang for this.” Vienna Moon stepped from the shadows behind Pinkie and stared daggers at her. “I knew she’d try to back out commander. I don’t need some amateur with a blade getting in my way. Let the maniac stay here and rot till Celestia orders her killed.” Vienna turned on her hoof to trot off but stopped when she heard Pinkie laugh. “Something funny Pinkamena?” Pinkie trot up to the violet mare and stared her in the eye with a smile. “You, silly! You think I’m an amateur yet no one has ever caught me…maybe I should show you why…” Vienna didn’t hesitate to unsheathe her katana and slash at Pinkie. The pink mare parried the blade with a hack saw and went for Vienna’s throat, but the Assassin was more than skilled enough to avoid the slash. She flipped backward and slid back into position and took in her immediate surroundings. A slight glint of silver caught the corner of her eye… Scootaloo didn’t hesitate to come to Pinkie’s aid and tossed a number of scalpels at her. She made no move to intercept them however; Spike was there to swat them out of the air with his claymore. “Ohhhhhh! Hiya Spike! How long have YOU been a killer?” Pinkie was enjoying herself that much was clear. The young dragon regarded her with a quick glance and held his claymore at the ready. “Stay out of this Scootaloo, I’d rather not have to kill you but it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for me to do so.” Pinkie laughed and leaned on her saw. “Scoots it’s alright me and Miss “Stone cold Assassin” were just testing the waters. Go finish up with Ms.Cake.” Scootaloo nodded slightly before trotting back to the operation table with Ms. Cake but kept her ears trained on Pinkie’s office.
Pinkie sheathed her saw and slid past Vienna and stuck her tongue out and gave Rainbow Dash a wink. “Ok Croix, I’ll do this job for you on one condition.” Croix eyed her cautiously. “Name it.” “You have to absolve Scoots, and Ms. Cake from any guilty verdicts to my crimes if I’m ever caught.” Vienna was about to protest but Croix silenced her with a wave. “I can do that. If I were you I’d quit now. Celestia’s spotlight is on the griffin war right now but as soon as this crap is over with, she’ll have us come for you. You’re not the most subtle pony around.