The Fool of Hearts

Chapter Eight
Setting Sun

Cicero watched over the young twins that were the spawn of Sithis. Arcane Arts was sleeping, and had her sons cradled against her body as she lay in the bed. Cicero was silent, not even the laughter that haunted his mind was present, the only sound the jester could hear was the breathing of the mare and her foals.

Cicero was honored beyond words to guard Sithis's offspring, and he was going to be even more honored to evict the one who currently sat on the throne that would one day be these foals'. Cicero silently left the bedchamber and moved to his own room, the one that he had tested Lyra in. The man looked at his wall and contemplated how to go about his job. He had been crafting and collecting the tools of his trade since he came to this new land, and he was already back up to a considerable armory. None of his newly crafted items had the quality of his ebony dagger, but the steel was at least still of good quality.

Lifting a crossbow, Cicero slung it over his shoulder and grabbed a pouch of bolts and put that also over his shoulder. The assassin then set to the task of strapping daggers and throwing blades across his body, up his arms, and down his boots. Cicero then put his favorite dagger and another steel one into their sheaths on his belt. Then he grabbed a few scrolls and slipped them down his tunic for safe keeping.

"So the ruler's name is Celestia eh... Celly won't know what hit her when I get there..." Cicero said darkly to himself as the laughter began to plague his mind once more.

Cicero left the sanctuary, taking the time to check and see if the animals had finally picked clean the last of the corpses from the ponies he had killed in the sanctuary, they had. He then trudged his way toward the city of Canterlot, the sun was setting and cast a scarlet hue over the land. Cicero laughed at the irony of it all as he began to run toward where his prey waited.

============================================================================

Darkness had fallen, and Cicero crept into the city in the cover of night. The gate guards were practically sleeping on the job the way they paid no heed to anything as they nodded off, only to be prodded awake by one another. The guard patrols were slightly more attentive, but they still did not notice the assassin that crept past them. Normally Cicero would have his fun with a guard here or there, but now he had an important job, and he needed the guards to be on as low of an alert as he could manage.

Cicero came into his first obstacle, the castle itself had no windows at the ground floor, and the gate was closed and guarded. Cicero however had planned for this, and he pulled the crossbow from his back. Searching quickly through his bolt pouch, Cicero found the grappling bolt, a large four pronged hook at the end of it. Cicero tied a length of rope to the end of the bolt and shot it over the wall. Cicero then pulled the rope taut and set to scaling the wall.

As Cicero made it over the top of the wall he came face to face with a pegasus guard who had heard the clank of the bolt and came to investigate. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, neither budging a muscle. Then the guard took in a deep breath and turned to yell a warning to the other guards, but Cicero was faster and slit his throat before the air could ever leave his mouth. Cicero then tossed the stallion over the wall, listening for the crunch of impact and smiling to himself before dashing off towards the door that led into the castle. Cicero stopped as he made it to the rampart door and put his ear to the wood and listened. The sound of two ponies talking could be heard. Pushing the door gently open with one arm, Cicero rolled up his sleeve with the other.

"Hey, your shift isn't done yet cade-" The guard said looking back toward the door and freezing as he saw Cicero.

The two guards scrambled to get off their chairs and dash for their spears, but the throwing knives found their marks, and the two guards fell dead to the ground before making it more than three steps from where they had sat. Cicero walked over and pulled his throwing daggers out of their necks, wiping them off on their coats before returning them to their sheaths on his arm. Cicero was ecstatic, it had been so many years since he did a job this big. His old instincts before becoming the keeper was coming back to him, the laughter was even keeping itself to an internal chuckle in his head.

Creeping through the halls of the castle, he stuck to the shadows where he could remain hidden as guards patrolled by, and maids scurried along as they cleaned. Only once when a maid stumbled with the used dishes she was carrying and ended up falling against Cicero's leg did anything of note happen. But the maid was currently stuffed into the closet of an empty guest room, soaking the tile with blood.

Cicero found what he was looking for, two guards stood in front of a door that had an emblem of the sun on it. The guards were at complete attention, as if what they were guarding was the most important thing in all of Equestria, because it was. They even glared daggers at every maid that walked past. Cicero tapped his chin in thought as he watched them on wondered on how to get past them. Cicero looked up and noticed that while there were no rafters to hide on, there was decorative crown molding on the edge of the ceiling that looked like he could get a grip of.

Cicero back tracked a ways so as to be out of sight of the guards, and opened a door. He then climbed on top of the open door, and from there jumped and got a hold of the crown molding. The jester's muscles strained as he pulled his body against the wall, and began crawling along the molding. Cicero made it back to the hall that had the grand door and the guards in front of it. Cicero made his way above the guards and waited silently, watching as slowly the trickle of maids died down to only about once every ten minutes. His muscles screamed at him, but he stayed put where he was, silent and still.

One of the guards sneezed and Cicero took his chance, dropping on the other one and plunging a dagger into the back of his neck, severing the spine. As the guard that sneezed opened his eyes, he looked over to see the human standing over his dead companion. The guard was quick with thrusting his spear, but Cicero was faster with twisting out of the way and jamming the dagger through the guard's skull. Cicero nodded in triumph at the way he had quickly and quietly taken care of the guards without allowing them to raise an alarm. But now was the difficult part, killing the princess and making it out before the alert was out, lest he be trapped in the castle with all the guards on high alert.

Cicero slowly opened the door, and peeked inside. But a magical blast knocked him backwards and against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway.

"So you are the one who has been murdering my little ponies... How many have you killed today alone in getting here?" Celestia said, her face a mask of disgust as she strode out of her room.

"Heh heh, clever little lady you are Celly..." Cicero said as he stood up and unsheathed his steel dagger so he now held a dagger in each hand.

"I asked how many you kill on the way here murderer!" Celestia commanded, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Six in the castle, and one that was out travelling alone on the road outside of Canterlot." Cicero said with a smug grin.

Celestia allowed a tear to drip off her face before she charged another golden beam and shot it at the jester, but Cicero ducked under the blast and charged the princess of the sun. Cicero spun as he got close to avoid a buck Celestia aimed at his chest, and as he spun he slashed Celestia's flank, leaving two deep gashes over the sun that was her cutie mark.

Celestia hissed in pain as she backed away from Cicero, but the man pressed on, his arms a flurry of slashes that kept drawing closer and closer to coming into contact. Celestia charged her horn and shut her eyes as it began to glow with the intensity of the sun. She then bucked the jester in the chest before taking off down the castle halls toward the throne room. It took only a few moment for Cicero to rub his eyes and pick himself up off the ground before he gave chase in the shadows after Celestia.

As Celestia ran past the few maids and guards she gave them orders accordingly to hide or be on the lookout for the murderer. As Celestia stopped at the third group of guards she came into contact with she heard his merry singing.

"When next I meet that fair maid Celly, I'll plunge my knife into her belly!" Cicero sung happily from the cover of shadows.

Celestia looked desperately to the guards in front of her, but saw that they had throwing dagger stuck in their necks. The guards slowly sunk to the ground, and Celestia was once again off towards the throne room. Celestia was beginning to fear she would not make it there in time as the laughter drew closer and closer to her. As the door came into view Celestia readied her spell and teleported inside now that she could see where she was sending herself.

Cicero gritted his teeth in anger as he saw the form vanish. He then heard a commotion coming from inside a large set of double doors. Cicero frowned as he looked at the doors. If he simply walked inside he would be blasted again. Cicero looked in an adjacent room to see if he could climb through a window, but the room he peeked into had no window itself. Just then Cicero heard the sound of hooves rushing down the hall. Cicero peeked down the long hallway that the set of doors faced, and smiled. Shining Armor was rushing with his eyes fixed on the doors.

As the captain of the guard burst into the room Cicero moved to the edge of the door and listened intently.

"Luna! My guards have found several dead ponies around the castle. I believe the murderer is- Celestia what happened to you?!" Shining exclaimed as he looked at Celestia's wound on her flank.

Cicero took that moment to vault over the captain of the guard, landing in front of him and kicking a leg back into Shining Armor's face. Cicero's heel met with a sickening crack as he knocked the captain of the guard unconscious. somersaulting so the side, Cicero evaded another golden magical blast and looked at where Celestia stared with hate filled eyes, and Luna stared with surprised eyes.

Eight guards now closed in on, circling around Cicero. But the jester was prepared and was waiting for this. The man began to spin on his heels as he grabbed the throwing knives strapped to his arms and flung them as he spun, showering the guards in deadly blades. Cicero did a back flip over a dead guard to evade a starry blue blast that landed where he was just spinning.

"What? Is Cicero's performance not to your liking? Does this court not need a jester?!" Cicero screamed as he cackled.

"Thou art a monster!" Luna screamed in her Royal Canterlot voice.

Cicero jumped out of the way of a blast from Celestia's horn that burned a large hole where he once was. Cicero then rolled out of the way of Luna's blast. The two sisters rained blast after blast after the jester, but nothing landed as he cackled and dodged. Soon the sisters were tiring and running low on magic.

"What are you..." Celestia huffed as Cicero unsheathed his ebony dagger and slowly advanced on her.

"I am the Fool of Hearts, keeper of the night mother." Cicero said darkly as he advanced on the princess of the sun.

"Sigel told us of this, the night mother is the chosen one by Sithis to convey his will or something like that..." Luna said to her sister.

"Who is Sithis, where is he hiding?" Celestia asked as she began charging a spell in unison with her sister.

"Wha-?!" Cicero froze, his face a mask of pure rage.

"You dare accuse the dark lord of hiding? You dare blaspheme against his unholy name?! When I send your soul to the void you will surely be judged to eternity of torment!" Cicero screamed.

Celestia and Luna released their spell, one intended to trap the jester in a magical cage. But Cicero yanked the scroll from under his tunic and opened it. The scroll emitted a red light that then absorbed the spell the sisters had sent toward him. Cicero smiled darkly as he dropped the scroll and rushed toward Celestia.

"Sithis judge you!" Cicero screamed as he slashed at Celestia, scoring a hit that was meant for her throat, instead across her face.

Celestia tried her best to dodge, narrowly escaping receiving any critical blows. Luna then attacked, bucking Cicero away from Celestia. The two sister stood side by side, and Luna cast a spell on her sister, causing the minor cuts to heal, but the deeper ones on her flank and face were too great to be healed.

"Two on one is no fair..." Cicero said with a pout on his face.

The Fool of Hearts then opened his left palm, allowing a dark purple orb to appear before he threw it next to him. A blue swirl of magic appeared.

"Greetings brother, you have need of my service?" a gruff voice called from around the room as a spectral being took form.

A spectral man took form where Cicero had thrown the purple ball of magic. The specter looked at the jester, and drew his dagger before turning towards where the two princesses stood with their mouths agape at what they saw.

"So i see, this is the one Sithis has called for himself..." The specter said.

Cicero laughed merrily as he charged, "Your time is now Celly! Your death will don a new age in this world, the age of Sithis!"

The specter charged in unison with the jester, but as the magical blasts began to rain down once more the specter took the lead. Cicero ducked behind his summoned brother, allowing the spirit from the void to take the blasts as they drew closer. Celestia let loose the rest of her power in a blast that was meant to pierce the specter and hit the madman behind, but Cicero jumped at the last second and flew over the spirit as it was shot through.

"Ugh!" Celestia moaned in pain.

"Tia!" Luna screamed.

Cicero twisted the ebony dagger he had plunged into the chest of the princess of the sun. He then spun to her side, yanking the dagger out and plunging it in again and again for good measure. Cicero screamed in triumph as he stabbed and twisted his blade, splattering himself and the ground in the blood of the old alicorn.

The guards arrived in time to see their princess fall to the ground in a pool of her own blood, the strange assassin standing over the corpse, smiling with pure joy. Luna crumpled to the ground and wept, putting her nose in her sisters mane that no longer flowed in the nonexistent breeze like it always had. Time seemed to stop for the ponies, but Cicero still had to end his performance.

"So, after over a thousand years Equestria's sun has finally set..." Cicero started out sincere, only to laugh at his own joke after a few seconds.

Luna continued to weep, but the guards stared at the assassin with hate filled eyes. Cicero took his cue and turned toward the balcony and took off into a sprint before kicking the glass doors there open and jumping off the balcony into the night.

A guard rushed over to the balcony to see if the man had fallen to his death. But he saw a couple of guards with broken backs that had been standing guard below. The back of Cicero could be seen disappearing into the darkness of the streets.

Another guard awoke his captain Shining Armor.

"Sir, what has happened?" Another guard asked Shining Armor.

"The end of the world private..." Shining Armor said with a somber tone, as he shook his head to clear it.