And I thought we were normal. How wrong I was.

   I yawn due to my lack of sleep as I follow Berry along the edge of the forest with my now small bag of traps strung over my back with my left and few vials of poison in a small box underneath my right arm. Needless to say I failed a few more times at getting these things where I wanted them to be than I'd like to admit.

"This should be adequate enough." Berry says as we stop next to the border and she drops her three cages which are containing a single rabbit respectively.

"So now what?" I say as I gently set down my box and bag on the earth.

"You tell me. Just set up your traps or whatever you brought and I'll let them out when you say." She says gesturing to her cages which I now notice adorn a single small nameplate per cage with the names from my left to my right going from marshmallow to brick-licker, to fluffy.

"Did you have to name the rabbits?" I ask as I turn fluffy's cage so that the entrance faces the opening between two of the trees.

"It would be impersonal of me to not name them. What if brick-licker's legs were broken and she died? How can I have a funeral for the unnamed?" She answers with no less than mild humor.

"They're rabbits; why have a funeral?" I say as I take a small trap out of my bag which is composed of a thin metal frame with two holes on the side which I stuck two small spearhead-like blades through. The inside looks like a mess of bladed wires. I love this little thing.

"Why wouldn't I? When a life is lost you should have a ceremony to commemorate it." She says as I lay my trap down in between the two trees and I press a small button on the side which causes the small spearheads to shoot out at a high speed and they both break through the bark of the trees with ease and lock into place with two almost invisible lines of wire connecting them to the main apparatus. Stage one: success.

"But it's just a rabbit. It's not as if it means much." I respond bluntly as I sprinkle some of one of my poisons over the remaining wires in the frame from a small green vial.

"Don't forget your position Sonata." Berry answers and I can almost feel her hostility burn across the back of my head.

"What do you mean?" I ask with apprehension as I stand up and turn to the mare.

"Don't forget that you're a part of our organization and don't forget what I do for a living, killing. Sure right now you're a petty thief at best I was the same thing when I was your age and look at me now; stabbing ponies in their sleep and framing priest's for murder." She explains with no less hostility than she had before and I find myself unable to avoid her hateful gaze. "Do you think when I was picking pockets for a few coins for bread I thought very differently from you about things like a rabbit's importance? No; I hadn't a care in the world about it. But you realize something as the job changes. Like I said; I hated my first kills but not too long after I fell in love with the feeling. The feeling of taking life out of somepony, it brings a few changes to you once you come to terms with it.  You'll realize then that from worm to noble they all fall the same to ponies like us. That's when you'll really get this if you get to that point. Pony, griffin, changeling, worm, dragon, rabbit... They're all the same at the end; cold, lifeless, purposeless, all things that the dead are fond of. So whether it be a rabbit or a prince the warmth, purpose and value of life is held by both of them, but the moment it's taken, they're truly the same in death. Just remember that Sonata; death is the great equalizer, nothing else may or can ever hold that title." She finishes in a meditative manner as her eyes soften to their usual humorous feel, but I can still feel the after-burn from her speech.

"S-sorry..." I mutter in my own humility. I never thought of it that way. I always just thought of her as she was and that she had little respect for life, but I failed to realize that the roots of her evil are the very roots I'm making now. I feel so stupid.

"Don't worry about it. I just don't want to hear you speak lightly of life and death. It's a trap so many fall into and it bothers me immensely at they're carefree attitude for it, especially with animals. Phrases like 'we'll get another one' or 'we can always get a new one' I particularly despise. Life only happens once for everything; so don't think it's replaceable."

"Why are you telling me this though?"

"Because it's my place to. You live under my roof and it's my job to teach you. Its things like this that you'll really understand later on and maybe more so than I." She answers with a smile and a short pause falls upon us as I simply stand there feeling the calm yet intense atmosphere. "Well let's get on with this then; we're losing day light." She breaks the silence and I nod.

"Yes; let's. Open up Fluffy's cage when you're ready." I answer back to her as I get out of the way of the cage door.

   After a brief pause, she pulls up on a lever on the cage and the door falls open soon after. The rabbit shoots out of the cage soon after and of connects with the thin wire of my trap and the moment the wire breaks from the tension, the thicker bladed wire spirals outwards from the center of the trap and extends to its full one meter diameter and lacerates the rabbits legs lightly causing it to trip over itself for a moment, and I hope that it infected it with my brew.

   Thankfully a second or two later, after it making it only another quarter meter or so, it slumps down to the earth as the sedatives take effect. The whole event only took about three seconds.

"Well that worked better than expected." I say as I go over and pick up the limp body of Fluffy.

"I'll admit; I was pretty that wouldn't work, but I'm not complaining." She lightly praises as I set Fluffy back down in her cage and lock the door in place.

"Thank you for your confidence." I say sarcastically. "Sadly that was the only kind of trap I made. I've got about five extras, but I couldn't think of anything else that would be effective for this." I say as I pick up the frame of the trap and carefully put it into a bag I brought for the used traps.

"I guess I can't complain too much. I always hated traps anyways. You leave one to keep ponies from getting to you, but then you forget about it or you can't retrieve it then you're leaving evidence everywhere, but having a couple just in case can't hurt I guess. One thing though; that was just a rabbit. Did you consider that you'll need a stronger poison for a full sized pony?" She says as she picks up the three cages.

"Yes I did. The green vial is filled with a diluted brew," I say as I take out the red glass filled my other brew," but this red one is filled a more concentrated poison I made."

"Good. Well, I won't lie; that was underwhelming. I guess I'll have to take over from here. Here," she explains as she drops the cages and writes down something on a small slip of paper,"give this to Mac and he'll get you started working at their apple farm. I want you to go there during the day for the next week at minimum to improve your physical condition and I'm going to go 'acquire' some things I think might suit you. You head back home and go see them tomorrow." She says as she opens the cage doors and let's all of the rabbits run out, except for Fluffy who she just drops on the ground. "Life also shouldn't be caged, but that's flexible." She says and she walks away without a goodbye, that was the last time I saw her for the next week.

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   I spend the next week working my ass off with Mac at the farm doing everything from pulling their wagon filled with barrels of apples into town, bringing it back, refilling it and repeating the process, and other days I just spent carrying fifty pound sacks of the despicable fruit from the cellar of their home to the loft in the barn. Many a time, I asked for the right to just use magic, but Mac would always instantly deny my request. Something about how farm work is something meant only for the strength of flesh and muscle, not for machines and odd forces.

   I complied for the sake of maintaining my good tanning with him, but also because I figured the purpose of this was to become physically stronger. However, after each day I stayed after for an extra hour practicing my magic by lifting multiple barrels of apples at once and keeping them in place until I most literally had no strength left to hold them up with and in the mornings I would run all the way to the farm with my quick-step. For the first three nights I would fall asleep on the spot before the barrels could even fall the single centimeter to the ground from where I had held them and I could only make it half way to the far in the mornings. By the seventh night, I could seven hold them off the ground a whole three meters for an hour before I would need to lower them to floor for fear of damaging their contents and then I would dash back home, making use of my remaining vigor and I could make 3 round trips before stopping because of fear of being late. I didn't get another ring on my horn or anything, but the results were unarguably better than I had predicted.

   I toss a small pebble with my magic towards a tree trunk as I sit by the entrance to my home waiting for Berry to come back. The pebble flies through the air with a high velocity and it impacts the trunk and breaks apart the rough trunk of the tree before falling back to the earth and a few small pieces of the trunk fall with it, the whole process creating a few quarter meter long cracks in the bark with their origin being devoid of any of the very material the cracks run through. Next to that origin is a single crack separate from the rest, only 2.34 cm long total. That mark was the one I made the day when Berry left with a similar sized pebble. I can't help but smile in satisfaction. It's amazing what a little effort can lead to.

"I don't remember telling you to sit around playing with rocks." I hear the voice I've been expecting for a while now.

"I got the day off since we got your letter yesterday." I answer as I stand up and turn to face the mare.

"I knew I should've returned unannounced. So expectable of you underlings to take advantage of situations such as these." Berry complains as she hands a briefcase to me

"True." I say simply as I take the black leather briefcase in my left hand.

"Glad to see that you agree. Now come on; it's time for you to try out some new toys your dear mother went out and stole for you." She says with her usual gusto as I follow her off towards the fields.

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   After making our way to a secluded and now barren field due to the recent harvesting, Berry stops and turns back to me with a stretch of her arms.

"This'll due for now. Go on and open up your gift there." She says as she nods her head to the briefcase I'm still carrying.

   With a bit of eagerness I'm not too prideful to admit, I kneel down on the recently exposed earth and set the briefcase in front of me. Undoing the clips on the front, I open the case to reveal a plain black garbage bag which fits snugly into the bottom of the case. Looking up from the bag I see one blade strapped to the top of the case which measures about a quarter meter and above it sits another blade a little longer than the first.

   The first blade has a stark, dark black, hexagon shaped hilt and blade guard with a dark gray blade which makes up 2/3s of the weapons length and is about 3 cm wide with both sides having a sharp edge to them and come together at a point at the end of the blade. Looking close I can see a dark red gem embedded into the end of the hilt which gives off a light glow.

   The second dagger gives off a much more 'holy' feel to it ironically with a circular hilt and guard which both seem to be made of polished stone with an almost white hue which leans slightly towards yellow. The blade itself is of a similar standing as far as colour goes with a width and design similar to the first. Examining the weapon again I can see a similarly sized blue gem at the end of it to the first gem.

I almost don't want to know where she got these from, but even less so do I want to know how much they're worth. I think as I reach for the black bag.

"Not right now." She tells me with a tap on my head. "You can look at those yourself later. For now grab that blade on the top and we'll get started."

"Alright then." I comply as I undo the straps holding the white blade in place and instinctually grab it with my right hand, a little surprised at the weight.

   After moving the case away, I stand up with a firm grip of the sword.

"Now; I want you to swing at me."

"Come again?" I ask, unsure if I had heard her correctly.

"You heard me. I want you to swing that blade at me. Don't worry about hitting me; I just want to see what comes naturally to you. I doubt you'll be able to hit me at all." She says with a smirk.

"Then I shan't waste time." I respond as I raise the blade and give a heavy downward swing angled to my left.

   My strike only passes through the air though as she simply spins to the right. Wasting no time to think of my next move, I twist my hand and send a swing in reverse of its predecessor back to her and, as she spins again to dodge, I too spin on my right foot and send a wild swipe horizontally which quite nearly makes contact with her stomach. Moving my right leg forward a step I swing a strike back across with the momentum.

   Feeling something on the end of my blade, I look up to see her hand with a gentle grip on the tip of it.

"That will be enough." She says simply and let's go of the blade. "Now tell me how that felt to you."

"I don't know really. There wasn't much thinking to it; it just felt instinctual." I say solemnly and lower the blade to my side.

"But now that it's over do you notice anything?"

"No; not really." I mumble.

"Look at your left hand." She says and I look down to the appendage in question.

"What about it?" I question her as I look at the hand at my side. "There's nothing out of the usual about it."

"It was at your side the whole time. Not once did you even move it. Now take the other blade and put that owe back." She commands me and I follow through with the switch; this time I take the blade in my left hand by some sort of habit I never developed.

"Ok; now what?"

"Go on and attack me." She tells me and I proceed to take another few swings at her, most of them being the directional opposites of my first set.

"Ok; so what are you trying to prove?"

"Notice that you didn't use your right arm at all this time, when by default you should've because it's your dominant."

"I just didn't use it because my left arm felt right this time."

"Perhaps you aren't getting it yet. This should make obvious enough. Now take the other blade again and use both." She says with blatant annoyance.

   Taking the white blade back into my right hand, begin with horizontal slash with my left arm and to a bit of my surprise I pivot on my right foot and push forward, spinning slowly through the air with both arms extended. Still lacking any form of contact with her I land facing her and, without a moment's thought, I push forward with my right foot and thrust my 'holy' blade forwards at her. Once again I feel a resistance on the tip and I look up from my now hunched over position to see her holding the edge of it.

   She begins to open her mouth, but I deny her the chance to speak as I bring my left leg forwards and as my head passes her I bring my dark blade up behind her neck and hold it there a few centimeters away for safety's sake.

"Humph; I should've expected as much. Good job." She says in what I swear must be her first genuine commendation.

"Thanks. I figured I wouldn't be much of a criminal if I didn't at lease try." I say with a little bit of a laugh. I've got to admit; that kind of felt good. Then again; now I can't help but feel a little scared. I did that with no thought at all after all. Although I guess I need to get used to it. It's not like I can stay the way I was with this kind of circumstance.

"I'm glad to see you're getting the big picture. Now you can't tell me using two blades didn't feel better." She says as I remove my blade from behind her neck and take a step back to face her again.

"I'll admit it. It felt better than just using one."

"Almost like it made you feel more complete."

"Yeah, I guess." I agree with her.

"I'm glad kind of glad I'm the one who has to teach you now." She says with a compassionate smile.

"Why is that?" I ask with a little apprehension.

"You're like me; the kind of pony who likes using two blades. It'll make it easier to teach you." She tells me.

"I guess so. One question though; where did you get these?"

"That white one; I stole from a priest of the sun up in canterlot. During a sun priest's time of being a monk they're given a blade such as this to use in ceremonies. That darker one I stole from a monk of the moon who was training for being an undertaker. The blade is standard for moon monks as you might've guessed. I thought the irony was fitting for you. Trying to live a nice peaceful life by day, but being a messenger of death by night." She explains to me and I sigh in a little bit of relief. I thought she was going to say she got the, by killing somepony.

"Hey; I'm no killer."

"It was the best metaphor I could think of and besides, you never know." She jests and I scoff at her remark.

"Well thank you. How much did these cost for you?" I ask ready to have more debt than before.

"Your first stuff comes free. Anything more and it's your own problem. You'll find the scabbards for them in that bag along with some other things I thought would suit you. I want you to keep working at that farm for now though and at night you'll work with me. You'll get only four hours of sleep a day now and little time to eat, but that is just something you'll have to deal with if you want to save your friend."

"If that's what it'll take then I'll do it. Besides, in this line of work sleepless nights seem like they would be a standard." I reason with myself. Although only four hours of sleep a day doesn't entice me much.

"Alright, then let's head back home. Tonight you begin stealth training and tomorrow you'll continue to work on strength." She says as she walks past me.

"One thing Berry. Why did you get me these? You already know I don't plan on killing anypony. A syringe for poison injections would've sufficed." I ask as I turn to face her.

"It makes a statement. Seeing an armed thief or just someone armed in general it's a little unnerving. Besides, I'd rather you have something in a fight besides your fists, if that situation arises. Don't worry though; I'll make sure to teach you a few knockout tactics in case you need to take somepony out." She answers as I put the blades back in their straps and close the case.

"I see, well thank you for these."

"No problem Sonata, but after your friend this is going to my last favor to you until you make me some money." She reminds me and I follow her back to my home.

   The entirety of the next 1&1/2 weeks I spent working towards becoming a better criminal almost nonstop. Three days before his execution date I woke up and gathered all of things I was to use and met Berry outside. Today she would take the train to Canterlot with the rest of them and I would take another one to Canonrim, the town fifteen miles from the prison Uefi's being held within. Tomorrow it would be my job to get him out while they took care of memory wiping the princesses, nobles and other needed  officals. I'm on my way.