"Precisely. And businessponies will have innocent ponies harmed to further their own profits. Not everypony wanted dead by anypony deserves to die."
"Look at from the other side," Rose said. "If a pony's livelihood-- and by extension, life as they know it-- is being threatened by another pony, then isn't it fair and just to protect that livelihood? Do ponies not have a right to protect what is theirs?"
"Surely there must be a limit. And this is coming from me, a large revenant with a long history of violence."
Midnight blinked as her pendant got pulled away from her and fell onto the floor. She used her own magic to pull on the pendent "GIVE THAT BACK" she screeched. She was just about to flip out and go thermonuclear, after all that pendant was super valuable to her. She sent several waves of shadow magic at the unicorn mare.
Dionaea was struck by the first wave and knocked a few steps backwards, but managed to get a magic barrier up in time to block the brunt of the attack. She felt like she'd been kicked in the head, but it had been worth it. She'd confirmed that the pendant was a valuable target. The instant Midnight let up in her attack, Dionaea grabbed the pendant with her telekinesis again, attempting to toss it to the far corner of the room. ********************************************************** Rose shook her head. "Limiting what lives we take would imply that one life is more important than another. The gods do not discriminate. They take all, regardless of guilt or innocence, for death is the ultimate fate of all ponies. "
"You trade money for lives for the sake of making money," Navaja snorted. Azrael sighed. "I sense a long trip ahead. Does anypony here have a smoke?"
"Yes," Rose said. "That is what an assassin does." Nightshade shook her head. "Are you nuts? Smoking on an airship is..." "...Perfectly safe," Quick Fix finished the sentence for her as he entered. The old earth pony stallion was puffing on a cigar, and offered one to Az. "The airbags are full of helium. Not quite as much lifting power as hydrogen, but we're a lot less likely to go down in flames."
"Thank the gods." Azrael took the cigar in his magic. "A match, if you would?" "I spill the blood of the deserving," Navaja defended.
Quick produced a book of matches and passed it to Azrael. Rose shook her head. "A pretty ideal, but who are you to decide who deserves to live or die?"
"I'm not," Navaja replied. "That is up to our leaders, and at times, Princess Celestia." Azrael struck a match and lit his cigar, taking a deep puff. He then did the unthinkable: inhaled. The crazy fool. Exhaling through his nose, "Where did you get this? This is quality."
"Celestia is a just a pony," Rose said. "A powerful pony, but still just a pony. What makes her, or your leaders, more qualified than you or I?" "I got 'em from Cannonball," Quick replied. "He said he got them in Griffonstone. Apparently those griffons can roll a hell of a smoke."
"Wisdom," Navaja said, "beyond anything you could imagine." Azrael nodded. "Indeed they do. Must be their digits. I... feel as though I should stop this little debate."
The pendant flew into the air, and being made of dark crystal shattered as it hit against the floor. Midnight's ear twitched and she narrowed her eyes onto the mare with a killer glare. That pendant wasn't just something that helped her use magic, it was a heirloom that had been passed down though the generations of the royal family. Midnight had inherited it from her mother, Twilight when she ascended the throne. Twilight had inherited from her mother and so forth. Several shadows came out of the shattered remains of the pendent then disappeared like mist. Midnight's eye twitched, there would be no mercy now. Her horn glowed again, though this time it glowed dark red, her eyes also glowed red, dark red shadows started to form around Midnight's eyes and she become much more menacing even in her filly form. Even when she had attempted to kill Architect she hadn't been this angry. The room instantly lost its colour, then the real fight began, and it wasn't just for show. Midnight blasted another beam at Dionaea, part of it touched the ring which exploded into pieces before vanishing entirely. Midnight didn't want to just kill this mare, she wanted to erase her from time itself. Then she would have her pedant back. She sent additional blasts at Dionaea whatever the beam touched it too disappeared.
Rose shrugged. "Fine. Our families have been fighting for over a century. We are unlikely to resolve that feud here." ******************************************************************** Silver walked over to the corner and pulled a small pewter box from his bag, and placed the shattered pieces of the pendant inside. When the match was over, he'd take it to Moonshine and have it restored. *********************************************************** Dionaea swore inwardly. She had assumed that the pendant was a power source, and that by tossing it out of reach, she would weaken Midnight. Instead, she had accidentally shattered the crystal, and enraged the filly. It had become painfully clear that the pendant was not, in fact, the source of her power. She was putting up shields to block the incoming attacks, but they were being shattered as fast as she could create them. Midnight was shooting to kill. Dionaea needed a way to gain an advantage. Forgoing defensive spells for a moment, she dove to the side and fired another volley of fireballs, attempting once again to ignite the filly's cloak. One of Midnight's blasts struck her tail as she dove, trimming it far shorter than she had ever worn it. The instant her attack was released, she switch back to defense, putting up another barrier.
Navaja gave a long sigh. "How long is this ride? I don't trust this Sister not to feast on me in my sleep."
"This thing is faster than it looks," Nightshade said. "We should be over the north pole by morning. Then it's another day to the dig site." She didn't mention, but was sure that Azrael noticed, just how close they were cutting things to be back by next weekend.
"You work fast," Azrael commented. "Don't these jobs usually take weeks?" He took another puff, blowing a smoke ring.
"This is essentially a smash and grab," Nightshade explained. "We go in, grab the samples we came for and anything else that looks valuable, and get the hell out before anything realizes we're there."
