As I am settled high up in this tree, aware of any dangers around me, I look for my target. A purple alicorn, with a purple and lighter purple mane, crimson armour and red sunglasses. Not too sure why he’s on my kill list, but I gotta do my job, and not much is gonna get in my way. Not too many alicorns around nowadays. I raise my scope and… Wait a sec. Crimson armour? That’s the colour of the armour that Luna’s guards wear! Why the buck does Celestia want me to kill him? I quickly but quietly climb out of the tree to get a closer look at him.
I notice that he is wandering within the Everfree forest, almost as if he knows it like the back of his hoof. I take off and silently hover over him as I mentally note down what he’s doing. Also, he’s looking a bit irritated. I start to wonder what he’s thinking. I also start to worry if my cover has been blown, but that can wait. Something about this pony seems… off. I remove my scope to get a better look at him. Yes. Something is wrong here. You don’t often get this colour of fur naturally, and very few ponies decide to dye it this way as well. As he takes off his glasses, they reveal a pair of golden coloured eyes, looking ominously in my direction. I can feel myself start to panic a little.
“Er… better get the job done quickly, I s’pose.” I quietly comment, reminding myself I haven’t got all day. I quickly reattach my scope onto my rifle, and aim at his head. Suddenly, his horn gains an effect of heat waves on a hot summer’s day. I fear this is magic. I’ve been spotted. I recover to a more hidden spot, hoping my camouflage will keep me hidden. I have yet to see what he was doing with his magic. He probably has already done what he was going to do, so I look carefully at him. A sword. But what’s even worse, is his hooves. They aren’t hooves. They have fingers and opposable thumbs, but closer to claws than digits. A gauntlet. I re-raise my scope, but I notice something. By aim is flickering. My arm is shaking. “Ugh, of all the times this could happen, it had to be now.”
Unfortunately for me, a singular nerve pulse has worked its way into my elbow joint, causing it to spasm slightly. As I quickly reset my joint, something strikes me. My arm is still shaking. As if out of nowhere, the answer comes to me. I’m nervous. Never before in my life have I been nervous. I try to escape but I can’t. Something inside of my soul is telling me to stay. Magic. I’m stuck here now, forced by my victim to kill him. I re-raise, but he’s gone. Moved. Changed positions. Whatever you want to call it. But he’s not there. And I’m a sitting duck. At least I can reach for my Jo Staff for close combat if I need to use it. I prime myself in offensive position, waiting for him to strike.
…
“I see ya!” I quickly dive out of the way before I’m cut in two. I lower to the ground, and prepare for ground combat. I run up and quickly perform a combination of 45° strike, a sweep, and circular strike. While only one of them hit, it was my most powerful move, the circular strike. He stumbles back a bit, then regains his balance and proceeds to attack. I’m glad I chose my graphite staff, or I wouldn’t have made it home alive today. He gets it on target with close to perfect accuracy, and would’ve cut my Staff and me in two pieces, if it were made of anything less than enchanted graphite. We both push against each other, with equal force, but I have the upper hand. I move my Jo staff upwards, making him fall to the ground. I then proceed to execute a powerful downward jab, which would’ve killed him had he not moved out of the way. Then I perform a floor strike, hitting him square on the neck, bit seeming to do nothing damage wise, just a bit of pain. As I then proceed to make an overhead smash, he teleports out of the way. A little confused, I look around, an- WHAM! He caught my left hind leg, fortunately hitting the edge of an iron filling, making me almost grateful of the accident that happened when I was younger. Unfortunately, it left me with only 3 legs on the ground, and I consequently fall over. He jumps in the air, raising his sword, preparing to strike me through the heart. Death at this point is certain. I have to think fast.
Erm… Wings! I shield myself with my wings, causing the alicorn’s blade to hit it and flail side wards. I retract my wings and perform a kick-up onto the face of the alicorn. I reach for his blade that had flown off from the previous event, wield it, and successfully penetrate his heart. Finally, the battle is over, and I return to Ponyville to find my next target. But as I leave, I can’t help but think he’s still after me. Something feels… off.
I resume to duty when a few hours later, a flicker catches my eye. Somepony just disappeared from my sight. Unfortunately, I was too slow to notice who it was. Suddenly, realisation hits me. I curse as I drop from the tree I was perched, constantly twitching around looking for the alicorn I had fought earlier. Then I stand straight. “Ha ha ha. Ohh, you got me. Freakin’ mind is playing tricks on me. I killed him. Used his own blade, through the heart. Better get back, I almost had my target in my sigh-… I see ya!” I quickly dive out of the way of a downward coming blade. To my relief, the sword was different to the alicorns. But to my horror, it is the alicorn. I also notice a blade-like scar across his chest. “Huh… But I… WHAT?!” I scream in disbelief. It’s impossible. It can’t be him. It isn’t him… right? Wrong. The exact pony I killed but a few hours ago is standing in front of me. Challenging me. Almost mocking me, with his cold stare and bone-chilling smile. Almost as if I said bring it on, He charges at me. I dodge just in time, with literally seconds to turn around before I became half a pony. I try and draw my Jo staff, but as I touch it, it disintegrates into ash. “Oh, you little…” My voice trails off as I dodge a jab directed at my heart, as I did with him. I see a chance, and raise my right hind leg, and he rams into solid metal, and falls to the ground, dazed. I grab his sword, yelling; “THIS TIME, STAY DEAD!!!!”
…
‘Well? What are you waiting for? KILL HIM!’ But as much as I try, I can’t seem to move. I’m stuck in a position of about to strike, and stay standing there, as if mocking him. But I’m not mocking him. I want this over. Now. But my own body betrayed me. ‘You are as weak as a filly, Sharp Eyed. You couldn’t kill him if your own mechanic arms forced you to.’ I place down the sword and sit beside him. I take off his glasses, and feel a rush of static run across my body, as I look down into his blood red shades, as I would when staring down at or standing in blood. It’s why I became an assassin. That feeling of almost sex-like pleasure as I stare into warm blood freshly spilled from my victim. I finally snap out of my trance as his hind leg twitches, and he slowly gets back up.
“Wh… Why didn’t you kill me?” He questions in a chilling voice.
“Does every question have to have an answer?” I reply with a poor attempt for a smile.
“I suppose not… But most do.”
“Hmmm.” I start. He was completely right. He was wise, considering he only looked like a stallion of around 20. “Your words are wise. What’s your name?”
“My name is Arkium, vangua-. “ I stop him mid-sentence.
“No no, just your name. Only tell me your title if I ask for your title.” I say.
“Very well.”
“What is your title?” I say with a grin on my face. He frowns at this, and then continues with what he said earlier.
“The vanguard of the night.”
“Cool beans. I am Sharp Eyed, Princess Celestia’s private assassin.”
“I thought you said that you should only say your title if I ask.” He says with a raised eyebrow.
“Correct. However, it is just polite manners to introduce myself after you introduce yourself to me.”
“It is. You see common sense easily.” I smile at the compliment, then say;
“I don’t really. I only look for flaws and just flaws in plans, and think ahead. You can find out a lot about somepony’s personality by just looking into their eyes.” There is an awkward silence as neither one of us talks. The silence is broken by him saying;
“I believe we have lots in common. We both are murderers-“
“Not me. I’m an assassin.” I say with almost a frown. It gets on my nerves when ponies call me a murderer.
“Fine. We both kill ponies because we are doing our duty.” I have to agree with him on this one, I don’t know much about him, but I sure do kill ponies cause I’m told to. I don’t really have to be told to, though, I do it mainly because I enjoy it. “We are relentless in serving our masters.” True, true, I must admit. “And we both have wings.”
…
That was the last thing I expect him to say, but he is right. We both do have wings. I try to think of something to say, yet I am lost for words. Even if I try to change the subject, I can’t think of something that could remotely relate to the last sentence, but not make me look like an idiot. Eventually, I give up.
“So… Are you from…?”
“Equinox lands.”
“Of course. Anything exciting happening there?”
“Nothing, really.”
“Same here. World’s a pretty boring place when you think about it too hard.” I stop to reprocess what I just said through my mind, realising it’s completely NOT true. And now I feel stupid. “Well, Now that we’re friends – I mean, we are friends, right?”
“How could we not? I just stated a load of things we have in common.”
“Cool, and as I was saying, now that we are friends, well… Maybe you could live with me? I imagine the constant whirring of the Equinox lands is enough to do even my head in.” I assume.
“Yes, it is… irritating, to say the least.” He says. “Not that your machinery is any better, however.”
“MY machinery?!?” I say surprised. “It hardly makes a sound!” I then stand to listen. It really does make a sound. How have I never noticed that? I turn my attention back to Arkium, pretending I didn’t hear it. “Anyway, even if it did make a sound, which it doesn’t, I wouldn’t know how to stop it. Chances are if I tried, I would probably die.”
“I’m fine with that.” Arkium joked. At least I think he did. It sounded a little serious. I’m too confused and nervous to ask.
“Ahaha, er… well. What happens now?”
“You tell me.” I catch a shimmer of a small object flying towards us at fast speeds.
“We run.” From the n of that run, we dart off to the side, to avoid further detection. The bullet embeds itself inside the ground. But we are still seen. The bullet flies at me this time. I use my wings to ricochet the bullet of to the top of the tree which held my rifle, thus shaking it to the ground. I perform a break roll, with my wings at my side to stop myself being hit. No shots. I look over to Arkium to check on him. I can’t see him. Whether he’s gone or not, is no concern to me right now. Somepony has caught me conversing with this criminal and doesn’t like it.
I pick up my sniper, and quickly aim, and fire without hesitation. Headshot, as expected. I lay down as the adrenaline pumping through my body slowly wears down. But it starts again, as another bullet hits my hat off. “Trying to kill my friend is one thing, but shooting my hat puts you on my KILL WITH BLOODLUST ON MAXIMUM list… Or, something.” I leave my rifle as I propel myself using my hind hooves, into a gliding position. I beat my wings as hard as I can, dodging incoming bullets. I’m at the peak of my bloodlust. The need for killing is increasing within my body, as I break the lock of my psychotic chest with a hammer.
Pushed by my hunger, I gain almost sonic speeds as I zip past Ponyville, and heading to the balconies of Canterlot. The metal studs on my hooves grow and sharpen as I reach the brink of full-blown insanity. I reach the border of Canterlot, and it takes 2-3 seconds to reach the battlements. I plunge my blunt hoof into a petrified guard, and slam him into a wall, breaking his spine, and several ribs. The crunching sound sends a shudder of delight down my back, as I start ripping skin off of his chest. “A lot o’ good that arMoUr DoEs Ya, DuN’t It?” I say, as my bloodlust takes over. “Ima give you 2 choices. Die quickly or die slowly. Which do you want?” The guard can barely open his mouth to speak, so I motivate him. I crush his right hind leg with my studded hoof, yelling “AnSwEr ME!!!” He opens his mouth, and whispers:
“Quickly… Please…”
“DENIED!” I shout, with a fractured smile on my face. I reach under his ribcage, and tear out half of his lung, and start chewing on it vigorously. “SHARP EYED: Mmmm. TaStEs GoOd.” My hooves are drenched in blood. I spit out a quarter of a lung and start licking the blood from my hooves. It’s only now that I realise the three over guards looking at me in disgust, horror, confusion, and a bit of insanity. “WeLl, WhAt ArE yOu WaItInG fOr? ArEn’T yA gOnNa KiLl Me?” I say, almost impatiently. I look at one specifically. He’s about 25 or 26. So young, so scared, so screwed. I pounce at him, and pin him down. “HaH! YoU’rE jUsT lIkE tHe OtHeR oNe! CaN’t SpEaK wHeN hIs LiFe DePeNdS oN iT!” His irises are the size of a microbe. I use my sharp metal wings to cut a square hole in his stomach, and pierce it with my studded hoof. I slowly remove it, careful not to damage his insides. I then proceed to take out vital organs, such as his live, and his stomach, crushing them both against the ground. I sharply rip out his intestines, and start strangling him with them. I tie a knot, to make sure the intestines hold. I kick the other two, simply knocking them out. I then fly back to where Arkium was, and lie down next to my hat and rifle to calm down. “I’m a… a monster…”
I wake up to find Arkium leaning over me with a worried expression.
“You started ranting on about how you’re a monster, and just fell asleep. Are you OK?” He asks.
“Ugh… wha… I’m fine… I usually do that after a good rampage.” I reply, trying my best to force my stiff mouth to manage a smile, but inevitably proving futile. “So… Tired…” I manage as I fall into the grasp of unconsciousness.
So now you know who I am. I may have to kill you. But I could choose not to. Depends upon… I don’t even know. It’s fucking 5:00 AM and I can’t think too straight. Feel like the blood I drank is Acid…
