The cold wind swept through the abandoned building. Heavy rain hitting the side of it, some of the droplets coming into the building through broken glass or other openings. A figure laid, curled up in a purple cloak, on an old, stained, mattress. The figure's long, red claws grabbed at her cloak, pulling the loose parts closer for warmth. The wind grew louder, and louder, as the figure slept away. The cold wind soon worked its way through the cloak, the figure finally opened their eyes in annoyance.
'Why, why must this cloak be so useless in stopping the cold?' the figure thought angrily. The figure got up, and removed the cloak's hood, looking over at a shattered mirror. There in the cracked reflection was a dark red mare, with bright red eyes, so sharp, it could pierce the heart of even the evilest, and vile creature. Her mane in a ponytail, the mane a darker red than her fur, which was messy upon inspection. She did not care, the only thing she cared about was finding a blanket, or something close to it to bundle up in. Though it was true she had enough bits to buy a house and settle down, she slept in the abandoned factory outside of a small city. Her reasons for choosing this varied, but the biggest one is that she didn't want to be tracked by the loved ones of the ponies she killed. It was a style of living that very few can live with, but she managed. Moving down the rusted stairs, she began her search for the missing piece to her warm night. Her last blanket was swept away in a large windstorm, never to be found again. She looked behind crates, boxes, and broken down machinery, but to no avail.
Then, the sound of hooves hitting the cracked concrete of the building warned her of someone's presence. She quietly hides behind an old machine, most likely used for packing whatever was made here. A figure walked in, they had a yellow jacket on, with blue jeans. Under their arm were a picture, two candles, a black blanket, and a matchbox.
"Another one?" She said with a sigh. These ponies all thought of her as legend, some say you need to perform a ritual to summon her, and then you need to give her an offering. The ritual part was the annoying part of this, to perform the ritual, you needed, the picture of the person/ creature you want to be killed, their name, the asker's name, and money or an offering to "appease the spirit of death". The asker's name and the person/ creature name was added on by her so she would know who or what she was killing, and do research. The figure removed their hood, underneath was a female unicorn no older than 25, her mane chocolate brown, her fur a light green. She put down the ingredients for the ritual, put them in order, and lit the candles. She finally said her name and the incantation to summon her.
"Red Assassin, born in blood, and vowed to kill those who are worthless, I ask for you to give me service." She stopped for a moment, then continued, " I ask you to kill Land Trotter, in the name of me, Minty Brown, for he has done me wrong in his theft of my very soul and body." The Red Assassin flew from her place of hiding, landing perfectly, with the hood over her head, in front of Minty. The mare jumped back and looked at the figure that now stood in front of her.
"In what do you have to offer me?" The Assassin questioned. The mare gulped, most likely not believing in the story, until now. With a small amount of confidence, she sat up straight, grabbing and presenting the blanket to the Red Assassin.
"I-I offer you my blanket, which was sewed by me with the greatest of threads." the mare gulped once more, hoping the legend that if you bring her a gift she did not want, she would kill, wasn't true. To her surprise, the figure gently took the blanket from her hands.
"Hmmm, this will do nicely. Tell me, where does your ex-lover live or work?" The Red Assassin asked. The mare was happy she wasn't going to die, but she was surprised that the Red Assassin knew it was an ex-lover. She looked into the eyes of the assassin but quickly looking away upon seeing them staring right through her. She resorted to looking at the midsection of the assassin.
"He-he lives on Bore Street, in house 347," Minty said, fear once more grabbing her. This fear was put to rest quickly when the assassin stated softly.
"You have nothing to be afraid of, this gift of thread is one of the best offers I have received. You need not fear a death by me." The assassin looked down at the mare.
"I assume you want him dead by noon?" the assassin questioned, raising an eyebrow at the asker.
"Yes, if it wouldn't be to much trouble." The mare finally broke, her confidence now gone, only whimpered that last two words of her sentence. The assassin looked away from her, and to the blanket, she held in her hand. Its softness brought her back to when she was little, in no fear of the great world, but that was many moons ago.
"Consider it, done." the assassin stated softly to the mare, hoping to not have the mare scream, cry, or both. The mare looked at the assassin, a tear in her eye. She couldn't believe that the story was true, but that, the assassin was cold-hearted, was false.
"Th-thank you." the mare stood up, and with a quick jerk, hugged the Red Assassin. She didn't know why, but knowing that she would get revenge for the abusing relationship, made her happy, her kids, no longer in fear of being taken away by him. The Red Assassin was perplexed, an asker, hugging her, and saying thank you? This was unheard of, even for the many years she had done this, she rarely got a thank you, but a hug? That never happens. She slowly put her arms around the mare, mostly out of confusion, until the mare stepped away. Her purple eyes, now wet with tears. She turned away, gathering her stuff, pulling the hood over her head, and finally set back out into the rain. The Red Assassin watched her go. When the mare named Minty Brown was out of sight, Red assassin slowly turned her new prize over, in neat stitching was her alias "The Red Assassin". In smaller text at the bottom read, "The bringer of peace to a world of deceit". She looked at it for a few more moments, then got ready for the killing of Road Trotter.
Author's Note
This story just came to me outta now where.
I hope whoever is reading this, enjoyed it.
😁
Leaving the old factory, Minty felt as if a great burden has been lifted off of her shoulders. Yet, she couldn't help but feel that something might go wrong. Though, after years of making wrong decisions via her gut, she ignored it. Right now, however, she needed to get groceries from the store, since she was running low on food and milk. The rain, once heavy, became lighter. This was good for Minty, she didn't need soaping wet groceries, she needed, well the opposite. She sighed, as she finally found her way into the small farmers market. Her motherly mission to get food for her kids had now begun.
An unknown amount of time later
Minty checked off the last thing needed on the shopping list and headed to the checkout. Her mind still wandering back to how the assassin reacted to her hug because she didn't expect the assassin to hug her back. The cashier told her what she owed and she went home, over thinking the events. She stopped in front of a two-story house, light shining through the windows. She smiled, her daughter was home from her little trip with her friends. She stepped forward and unlocked the door, opening it with a gentle push. As she entered she heard the TV in the living room, most likely her daughter, son, or both watching TV late at night. She normally would get onto them, but it was summer, so they rarely went to sleep at their bedtimes. She shut the door, locked it, and continued into the house. The door shutting didn't go unnoticed though. The sound of little hooves hitting the carpet, then wood echoed throughout the house.
"Mommy!" yelled a small colt. His name was Faint Glow, he had a dark grey mane and white fur. He took after Minty's ex-husband. The little colt, with a running leap, hugged his mother's leg, laughing at the action itself. Minty set the groceries down, and picked him up, nuzzling him when she did. The daughter soon walked in as well. Her name was Highlight, her hair was bright brown like her mothers, but she had a mix of lime and white for her fur color. She walked in wearing a tank top and sports pants.
"There you are! When I came home and you weren't here I began to worry!" she said sternly, before smiling," Until mister hugs-a-lot told me where you went."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave at such a random time, but when I saw that we were low on stuff, I needed to go and get something to make for breakfast at least," Minty said, an awkward smile on her muzzle. The daughter sighed, then walked over and gave her mother a hug.
"So, what were you two watching?" Minty asked her daughter, her duaghter hummed for a bit, trying to remember.
"Oh yeah, we were watching the news," Highlight said then continued," They were talkin about an attack on Canterlot and about a big ape thing named the Storm King." When the daughter concluded her sentence, her mom just gave a soft chuckle.
"It's like Equestria is attacked every other day, huh?" Minty said with a smirk, her daughter chuckled and began to put away the groceries. The two began to chat about Highlight's trip, and Minty being the mother she is asked one of the most embarrassing questions a mother could ask.
"Sooo... you find anyone you like?" Minty questioned with a smile on her face. Highlight tensed, before settling back down. She didn't find anyone, so she could end the conversation with a no.
"N-" she didn't get to speak, as the TV in the living room proudly announced.
"Princess Celestia is coming to visit Manehatten today to survey the damage at around noon, and after that want to invite all the locals to a fancy party held downtown!" Minty tensed up, she didn't want to admit to her daughter why at the time that she had gotten an assassin to kill her ex-husband. She thought about the so-called legend of the Red Assassin, raking her brain for anything to help her calm down. When she remembered the part she was looking for, she sighed, the Red Assassin killed ponies in big, small, fancy, and non-fancy parties, some even say she killed someone who was with Celestia herself. The daughter, however, was nervous because they liveded downtown. She knew she was going, her mother generally didn't care as long as nothing illegal happened there. Really, Faded glow could care less, he never really liked fancy parties. So he sat happily in the kitchen coloring in his coloring books and humming a soft tune that played whenever he had started up Pac-man.
When the items needed were laid out in front of Minty, she went to work to create a good, healthy but delicious, breakfast for her kids. She chopped up vegetables, cooked some eggs, and started heating up some hay bacon. She wouldn't say they are a rich family, but they get a lot of money from Minty's job as a custom blanket seller, and because of this, they could afford a microwave. When the microwave beeped she took out the hay bacon, then got three plates. Laying each plate down side-by-side she put hay bacon, eggs, and some vegetables on each one.
Her children watched as their mother made them breakfast. This was a normal occurrence, their mother did many things well or with expertise. She grabbed two plates and walked out to the kitchen table. Putting both plates in front of her kids, she nuzzled them and went to go fetcher her own plate. The kids began to eat, this was their favorite type of breakfast. Minty came back in with her plate and sat down. Faded Glow, looked up at the TV in the living room, the news was still on but today they were covering myths and legends. On the screen was a picture of a somepony wearing a purple cloak, this caught Glow's attention.
"Mommy, what is that legend the news pony is talking about?" Glow asked, both Highlight and Minty looked at the TV. Minty, knew exactly who that was. The two shared a hug, which right now, made Minty mentally chuckle. But, before she could answer, Highlight piped up,
"That's the Red Assassin, she is a deadly foe to those who she has on her hit list." Glow's eyes grew bigger and he asked,
"Does she hurt ponies randomly?" Highlight smiled kindly at her brother, then responded," No, she doesn't. She's somewhat of a hired assassin."
Minty sat there, listening to her kids talk about the Red Assassin.
