(Finally, chapter four. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.)
Roman stood in front of me with his weapon drawn. We were both breathing hard.
"That's four matches in a row old man." I heard Dirge say at the side of the training ring. "Had enough yet?"
"You have gotten strong Leo." He said. "But you are still not ready to face Blaze."
"Are you kidding me?" I said surprised. "I bested you four times. I think I'm more than ready."
"That shows what you know." Roman said sheathing his sword. "There is an entire army between us and Blaze. You cannot hope to take him on alone."
I thought of Rarity and her friends.
"I'm not alone." I said. "I have the Elements."
"Six isn't a big improvement." Dirge said skeptically. "Even if they are the Elements of Harmony."
"We will now go to the surface." Roman declared breaking our conversation.
"Why?" I asked sheathing my own blade and following him.
"There are some people who I want you to meet." He said. "Since everything is now out in the open, a few of us are now stationed on the surface. I sent a letter to the Princess about it."
"And she didn't object to having strange creatures running about her students home?" I said very skeptical.
"Celestia wants Blaze gone as much as we do." Roman said.
I still found it slightly doubtful that Celestia really agreed to the whole thing but I dropped it. Some things are just best left where they were. It had been only a few hours since Roman told me his story of my father. I put on my Assassin's armor and I'd been training ever since. Dirge knew the story at this point.
"Who are these people you want me to meet Roman?" I asked. "Are they people I know?"
"You'll see my boy." He said as we stepped into the deployment depot. What was he planning?
"How much time do we have before we can strike Blaze?" I asked.
"Enough." He said patiently. "Any other question?"
"Yes," I said, "are you going to answer them?"
"Good lord you two." Dirge said irritated. "you fight like you're related." I smirked at that.
The door opened to reveal the Everfree Forest. We all stepped out and made our way back to Ponyville.
"Roman," I said, "I really want to know. Can we trust them? Do they know about Blaze's treachery?"
"Yes and yes." Roman said as we walked into the town square. "There they are now my boy."
Sitting on the steps of town hall, were four people; two men, two women. One of the women was dress in red Mercenary clothes. Clothes of Juto's division. The other wore a black Assassin's garb. The garb of Cat's Assassins. One of the men wore brown commoner clothes. And the last...
"Jack!" I exclaimed.
"Leo!" He shouted. We embraced for a moment.
"I'm so relieved that you're all right." I said.
"Why were you worrying about me?" He asked jokingly. "You should've been more worried about yourself. I knew something fishy was going on after Blaze made you the Top Priority. I came to Ponyville to speak to Roman and he told me everything. We are with you."
I turned to the others. The two women stood up and smiled at me.
"My name is Ruby." The Mercenary said. Ruby had very long black hair that looked like silk and piercing grey eyes.
"Long time, no see Leo." The Assassin removed her hood to reveal short white hair and brown eyes on a battle ridden face.
"Vex!" I said. "I thought you were dead."
"Everyone did," she said, "no thanks to Blaze and the Council." I laughed solemnly.
The other man that was there looked quite small and meek.
"My name's Mouse." He said. He couldn't have been more than seventeen.
"A pleasure to meet you Mouse." I said.
"Mouse is among the best of infiltrators in all of Equestria." Roman said. "I should know, he tried to break into my apartment. Caught him when he tried to make his escape. He didn't set off one alarm and I have the best security system money can buy."
I regarded the boy with admiration.
"Leo?" A female's voice said from behind me. My heart leapt as I realized who it was. I turned around.
"Rarity!" I said. "Hey, I want you to meet some people." I introduced her to everyone and she looked really unsettled by so many. "Is everything okay Rarity?" I asked very concerned.
"Oh," she said, "no of course not. I was just-." I put my hand in front of her muzzle.
"We can talk later," I said, "right?" She looked up at me with such joy in her eyes.
"Of course darling!" She said. I heard some of them snicker behind me. She gave them a weird look and I just swallowed nervously. What were they laughing at?
"So," I said, "I'll see you later?"
"Yes," she said, "I'll see you later." She turned away from me and I stared after her.
"Nonsense!" Roman said. "Ms. Rarity, why don't you join us? We were just about to get started." Rarity looked at him in surprise.
"I wouldn't want to impose or anything." She said.
"Of course not!" Roman said. "Besides, you can see Leo embarrass himself." I rolled my eyes.
"What are you planning Roman?" I asked. Roman took a pouch from his belt and tossed it to me.
"Some bits for supplies later." He said. I smiled and attached them to my belt.
"Thanks." I said.
"Don't thank me yet." He added. I was caught off guard when someone pushed past me. I saw Mouse take off running away. I checked to see if I had the money. It was gone. "You'll have to work for it." Roman said laughing.
Was this some kind of joke? I looked to him and to Rarity. I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of her. Why? It wouldn't matter anyway. It's not like I like her or some nonsense like that. I looked out to see Mouse climbing up a building. I sighed and ran after him.
"Get back here Mouse!" I shouted climbing up the building with ease. I climbed up onto the roof and chased after him, bounding onto the other roof tops in pursuit. I chased the boy to ground again and he led me back to circle around and get back on the rooftops again. He was toying with me. I curse in Italian and ran faster to catch him.
Mouse ran past our group and ran up the town hall building. I stopped at the base and looked for a way to cut him off I found a few boxes stacked in to stairs leading up to a wooden plank and a way to get up there. I darted for the boxes.
"Oh," I heard Rarity say, "please be careful darling!" I didn't say anything back to her I just kept going. I was not about to let a scrawny kid get the better of me. I climbed the handles that were on one of the posts of the hall. I felt myself become more and more determined with each grasp.
I finally reached the top where Mouse was sitting as if waiting for me.
"I apologize for that Mr. Leo." He said handing me my money. "Mentor Roman and I planned that beforehand."
"No, no," I said panting, "it's all right." I looked out into the distance. Mouse stood up.
"It's nice, isn't it?" He said regarding the view. "As if everything were normal. Nothing's really changed."
"But everything has changed." I said. "It's the end."
"I don't see it that way." Mouse said. I looked at him. "I think of it as a turning of an era. When humans and Equestrians can exist as one." I thought back to when I was talking with Rarity.
"Mouse," I said, "when I was talking with Rarity, everyone else was laughing except you." Mouse looked at me and winked.
"You're not the only one with a slight liking for mares Leo." He said. I was appalled at his presumption.
"I don't like mares." I said seriously. He laughed.
"That's not what I saw." He said. "I saw the way that you looked at her. You admire her."
"I love Song." I said. Why didn't I feel the words that I was saying?
"From what I understand," he said, "Song has been promoted into Juto's command. She's loyal as ever. From what Jack told me, she said that she must stay with the Black Hand for her sake."
I was crushed. Song wasn't going to be with me in this fight. I looked out on the horizon again to see ten figures marching up the road.
"Looks like we have company." Mouse said. "Let's go." He jumped off the edge of the roof. I looked down where he jumped to see him climbing out of a bag cart of flowers. I then jumped and let myself flip forward before finally hitting the soft flowers I climbed out.
"Let's put your combat skills to the test." Roman said. The others left me and Rarity alone to face the company that was marching straight toward me.
"Rarity," I said drawing my hidden blades, "get behind me." Rarity obliged without a word.
Team of ten turned out to be a team of at least twenty Mercenaries. I was going to have Roman's head when I got out of this.
"Leo!" The man at the head of the company said. "Rocky sends his regards." I said nothing. "However," the same man said, "we've come to collect our prize." I raised my hands.
"Try it." I challenged. One broke from the group with his sword drawn about to swing at me. I parried the sword with one blade and cut his throat with the other. He fell to the ground dead with blood spurting from his neck. Two others charged me at the same time. I met them with my outstretched hands catching their faces. I took my blades from their heads and they also fell stone dead.
The blades retracted and I drew my sword. I stood ready for anyone to approach me. One came at me and I countered, knocking him to the ground and bringing the point of my sword down on his heart. As I fought, I felt the adrenaline rush of being unstoppable. The bloodlust clouded my vision and my thoughts. In that moment, I wanted to paint them all with their own blood.
One woman however got past me and started to make her way to Rarity. I looked at her. Rarity had a very determined look on her face but that still didn't stop from doing something completely stupid. Without properly thinking, I broke from my fight and darted past the Mercenary who was raising her blade. Just as it came down, I stepped in front of Rarity. My reflexes failed me and I felt the very tip of the blade connect with my face.
I doubled back and took a stance with one left hand on the wound and my sword hand in front with my blade.
"Leo!" Rarity cried.
"I'm fine," I said. It hurt to talk. With one hand, I parried the blade and sunk my own into the Mercenary's abdomen. I continued to fight with less enthusiasm than before. I didn't want to risk another injury. As the last man fell, I locked eyes with the leader of the group. I sheathed my sword.
"Die now!" He shouted.
"Not today." I muttered. I let go of the wound and ran at him. I jumped, grabbed his shoulder and stabbed him right in the heart. "Raquescat in pace." I said as he breathed his last.
I stood up and turned to Rarity. She was looking at the carnage in sadness.
"I thought that I had left violence behind after the war." She said. She looked up at me and gasped. "Oh my, Leo."
"It's just a scratch." I said. A scratch that hurt like hell. I walked over to her.
"I know a healing spell." She said her horn glowing a light blue hue. "I'm not as skilled with it as Twilight but it should heal." I closed my eyes and let her work.
It stung a bit but after it was over, it didn't hurt. I opened my eyes and she still looked worried.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's just," she said, "I left a scar. Do you want me to remove it?" I shook my head.
"I'm sure it's fine." I said. "Besides, I don't want you to strain yourself." She blushed.
"Very well done boy!" Roman exclaimed above us. I looked up to see all of them looking down at us.
"You are one crazy bastard Roman!" I shouted. They jumped down the same way Mouse and I did earlier.
I looked at Rarity apologetically.
"Your outfit," she said. I looked down at my outfit. There was blood all over me and for the first time, I noticed that my hood was torn where the woman's sword came down on my face.
"Oh," I said, "it's nothing. I can just wash them and they'll be fine."
"Oh heavens, no!" She exclaimed. "Darling, I will fix them for you." I raised my eyebrow.
"That's very nice of you." I said. "But I don't want to impose or anything."
"Oh no," she said, "I insist. Just bring them by when you some to see me." I smiled at her. I smiled more at the thought of seeing her again.
I bid Rarity goodbye. I looked forward to seeing her. I turned to see Jack smirking at me.
"What?" I said.
"Nothing." He said. "I just never knew that you were into mares."
"I'm not into mares." I muttered.
Roman walked up to me from behind Jack.
"You should rest for now." He said clapping my shoulder. "You deserve it. We'll clean this mess up before the guards get here." I nodded. "Come back here in a few hours. We'll be waiting."
"Thank you." I said taking my leave. I walked back to my house. My thoughts were still of Rarity. Stop thinking about her! Why was I thinking about her so much? She was just a pony. Just a pony with a very charming personality and a to die for acce-. Stop it!
I sighed and opened the door to my house. I walked in and began to take of my armor. I put the armor on the table in the kitchen with my other equipment and took off my hood and robe. I folded them neatly. I would have to clean them before taking them to Rarity. I was going to go upstairs to get a shirt when I heard a knock on the door. I considered still getting a shirt then decided, hell with it.
I walked over to the front door and opened it.
"Applejack," I said mildly surprised.
"Uh," she said stammered obviously caught off guard by my appearance, "hey Leo."
"Sorry," I said, "my normal clothes are currently unavailable. Is there something you needed?"
"I was just wonderin'," she said, "if you were willin' to help out over at the farm. Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and I have our work cut out for us today and we need some help. I'll pay ya if you want me to." I laughed at that.
"There's no need," I assured her, "let go get a shirt and I'll come with you." I'd never worked on a farm before so I was happy for the experience.
Besides, I thought, maybe she can tell me more about Rarity.
(Important Author's Note: First and foremost, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. More will definitely come soon. Secondly, I would like to express a HUGE thank you to USMC2015 for bringing this story some attention. If you haven't checked out his stuff, he has a great story called 'The Opera Musician' and it is very well written and has a fantastic plot to it so I definitely recommend it if your tired of reading this crap. Finally, now that school has set in, I'm definitely trying to find time to write for you guys so I ask that you be patient with me for now until I can get these next couple chapters in before it really starts to slow down. Again, thank you so much for the support and I will see you all for the next chapter!)