Dancer cursed inwardly. Four years ago, she had been the best assassin alive. She should have been able to kill Ruby with a single blow. Her time in a coma had weakened her more than she had realized. Even with Ruby's inferior skills and soft domestic lifestyle, she was proving to be a difficult opponent. As Dancer drew her own blade and searched for an opening, she taunted Ruby, her voice dripping with venom. "You've built yourself a nice life, Ruby Rose. You have everything a mare could want. A home... a family... everything that I would have had, until you and the others stole it from me. This has been a long time coming..." Her speech was interrupted by the sound of a young filly skipping up the sidewalk to the house.
Ruby tilted her head slightly to see her daughter skip up to the door from her window. She then looked at Dancer again, which she nodded slightly to indicate a cease to the fight. As the door opened to reveal a beautiful young filly , which looked very much like her mother coming from the back door of the kitchen "Mommy, I'm home!" The two warrior mares whose eyes reflect only combat concentration, suddenly switch upon hearing the four-year old's voice. Ruby's eyes flash a look of pleading to the eyes of Dancer. Which Dancer only responded with a nod as both of the assassins hid their knives from view. However, they could not both hide the destruction they had left. "Okay" Ruby said, switching back to her mommy voice. The young mare soon walked into the room, flabbergasted at the condition of the room and her mother, who looked like she was in a bar fight. "Hey baby, how was school?" "Mommy, what happened to you and the TV room?" " Oh, that good for nothin dog of yours, got in the living room and acted a damn fool, that's what happened." "Barney did this?" the mare said with a hint of skepticalism, trying to enter the living room. "Now baby, you can't come in here, there's broken glass all over the floor, and you gonna cut yourself." the mother said as she watched the girl's eyes wonder to the stranger. "This is a old friend of mommy's I ain't seen in a long time."
After the filly left the room, Dancer glared at Ruby and spoke coldly. "This changes nothing. However, I will not make that filly watch her mother die. I will not lower myself to your level." She sighed. "I will give you one last courtesy, one warrior to another. I will let you decide where we finish this."
Once her daughter was told to go upstairs, Ruby glared at her former comrade and coldly told her the conditions. "Viper rules of honor. One on one, no help, no bushwhacking, no treacherous weapons, on weapon of choice, our skill and our bodies. There is a baseball diamond where our little league has its games,about a mile from here. We meet there around two-thirty in the morning, dressed all in black, your hair in a black stocking, and we have us a knife fight." Ruby then went into the kitchen to grab a box of cereal. However, Dancer would have been aware that it was after school time and that she was going to get breakfast. Out of nowhere, Ruby fired a gun at the right moment from inside of the cereal box.
(Slightly different from what happened in the movie, but same basic result.) The instant she heard the slight click of the firing pin striking the primer, Dancer knew that she had been betrayed again. This time, however, she was ready. As the powder ignited and the bullet flew from the gun, she was already moving. With one swift motion, she dove to the left, while simultaneously using her right wing to throw her blade. It was trick that she had learned from her old teacher, Silver Crescent. A trick that took most Pegasi years to learn. A trick that she had mastered in her first month of training. As the bullet struck the counter behind where Dancer had been standing, the thrown blade sunk itself to the hilt in Ruby's skull, severing her brain stem. Ruby was dead before she hit the floor. Ruby's daughter, hearing the gunshot, ran downstairs to investigate. When she saw her mother lying dead on the floor, she stared at Dancer in disbelief and terror. Dancer looked down at the filly and spoke without a trace of emotion in her voice. "I did not wish for you to see this. It is regrettable that you will now suffer the pain of loss because of your mother's past sins." As she walked out of the house, she had one more thing to say. "Should the time come that you wish to take revenge, seek out Shadow Dancer. I will be waiting." Leaving the first pony on her list lying in a pool of blood behind her, Shadow Dancer flew to the train station and bought a ticket to Canterlot. She had a blacksmith to find.
Next up on Dancer's death list was Raven Dancer, known to almost everypony as Raven. While not much was known about her childhood, it was presumed that she lived a happy childhood until her parents were brutally murdered at the age of 9 by one of Equestria's head mob leaders. After extensive training in the art of swordsmanship and guns for two years, she took her revenge on the same mob leader that killer her parents, killing the mod leader by digging her sword in his gut and applying such intense pressure that his teeth cracked while she asked him if he remembered her before disemboweling him. Nine years later, Raven had become one of the top female assassins in the world. After the massacre at the wedding chappel, Crimson fully supported Raven "financially and philosophically" in her power struggle with the other gangs over who would rule vice in the city of Fillydephia. She eventually becomes "Queen of Filydephia's underworld". Being that she was one of the most powerful and influential ponies in Equestria and her status as a crime lord, she would not be hard to find.
After three days of searching for the legendary blacksmith Moon Shine, Dancer finally heard rumors that she spent a great deal of time in a tavern in East Canterlot. The tavern was a dilapidated old building, completely empty save for the tired looking Unicorn mare behind the bar. "Welcome to the Anvil. What can I git ya?" "Information. I was told that Moon Shine spends a lot of time here. Where can I find her?" The mare stiffened, and Dancer realized that she had found the pony she sought. Moon Shine, painfully aware that she had given away her identity, continued with the charade. "Why do ya want Moon Shine?" "I need Canterlot steel." "And why do ya need Canterlot steel?" "I have... vermin... to kill." "Ya must have some real big rats." "Huge." Moon Shine shook her head. "I can't help ya. I haven't swung my hammer in years." "You will help me. Think of it as... repentance." "I've done a lot of bad things, missy, but none of them were to you. I don't owe ya nothing." In response, Dancer walked over to the window of the tavern and wrote a single word in the condensation: Sahqon. Moon Shine saw the word and froze. "Sahqon... that's Draconic for... Crimson. You weren't lyin' about the rats..." She sighed heavily. "Fine. Your sword'll be done in a month. I'd spend that time training, if I were you." Exactly thirty days later, Shadow Dancer left Canterlot with the finest sword that she had ever seen. With it at her side, she flew straight to Fillydelphia. Though she was unable to find out Raven's location, she was able to discover the identity and location of Raven's attorney, and by midnight, she was flying behind a cart headed for a nightclub in the city's most dangerous district. It was easy enough to sneak in, and five minutes later, she found herself hiding in a restroom stall and waiting for an opportunity to strike. She also found herself wondering why she had chosen to wear a bright yellow and black outfit on stealth mission. She didn't have to wait long before Raven's attorney wandered into the restroom. Another minute later, the patrons of the club were terrified by the sight of sword-wielding Lunar Pegasus tossing a bleeding mare with a missing front leg onto the dance floor. As they fled, Shadow Dancer called out for everypony to hear. "Raven Dancer! Face me!"
Raven Dancer, otherwise known as Raven, turned around to see her assistant scream in agony as she held what used to be her left foreleg. Raven was a light black pegasi with a light blue mane and purple eyes. She was going to have a business meeting, until Dancer decided to come along and completely sever her associates leg clean off. The customers, as soon as they could, ran in fear from the brightly clothed Lunar Pegasi out of the restaurant. Raven's associates and own soldiers got their swords out in a stance. Without saying anything, five of her soldier's ran towards Dancer while she looked at a young mare dressed in a blue school uniform and dress and nodded. The school mare then went into the room behind her and returned with holding a meteor hammer as she walked down the stairs. Raven watched as one of her own assassins walked down the stairs slowly, noticing her intent. Despite the young mare being psychologically disturbed, she was very good at what she did, killing her targets. Raven stood besides two guards. If her student was killed, she was next.
(Finally found time to rewatch the movie. Damn... I have totally screwed this up. Let's see if we can't get it back on track.) Dancer knew the young mare by reputation. "Pinkie Pie, right?" "Bingo! And you're Shadow Dancer." "I see our reputations precede us." "Don't they?" "Pinkie Pie, I know that you feel you must protect your mistress, but I beg you; walk away." Pinkie Pie giggled. "You call that begging? You can beg better than that." Without another word, she attacked. The unusual ball and chain weapon wielded by the filly proved to very difficult to dodge or counter. Dancer was able to deflect the first two blows, only to be struck by a third that seemed to come from nowhere and knocked the wind out of her. As she fought to catch her breath, Pinkie attacked again, wrapping the chain around her sword and sending it flying across the room. Yet another blow knocked her flat on her back. As she got back to her hooves, she saw the weapon flying at her again. In an attempt to block the weapon, she pushed over a nearby table and took cover behind it. The wooden table was quickly shattered by the heavy steel ball. Using a leg from the broken table as a bat, Dancer hit the next attack back at Pinkie, striking her in the head and knocking her over. Dancer rushed to finish off the Earth Pony, only to be knocked back by a strong kick that sent her flying through a table. As she struggled to her hooves, Pinkie Pie threw the ball again, wrapping the chain around Dancer's neck. With her opponent drawing closer, Dancer grabbed the only weapon she could find, a broken table leg studded with nails, and swung it into Pinkie's leg. The Earth Pony screamed and loosened her grip on the chain, giving the Lunar Pegasus the opportunity to finish her with a final blow to the head. As Pinkie Pie fell dead, Dancer calmly pulled the chain from her neck and recovered her sword.
Raven watched as one of her top assassins collapsed dead onto the ground. She was shocked at Pinkie Pie’s death, but her expression was hidden as being emotionless. The two of them glared at each other in silence as the loud sound of many engines going past the broken windows pulled up in the parking lot. She noticed Dancer tilt her head to see what the fuss was about as she looked at Raven again, with Raven only responding in a smile. “Silly Rabbit. Dancing is for kids..”
Dancer sighed. "You know, for a second there, I thought this would be easy." As Raven fled to the garden outside, the doors of the club burst open a swarm of masked ponies poured into the room. Dancer knew them to be the infamous Crazy 88, Raven's private army of enforcers and thugs. Shouting, the gangsters rushed to attack the Lunar Pegasus, only to see three of their number fall with a single swipe of Dancer's sword. The next group to attack met with a similar fate, and the next, and the next. Seeing so many of their comrades fall must have angered the survivors, for they decided to forget about honorable combat and charge as a group. One of them even threw a tomahawk, which Dancer easily dodged. True to her name, Shadow Dancer was as untouchable as a shadow and as graceful as a dancer, cutting down the unskilled and undisciplined Crazy 88 with ease. Finally, only one remained standing, a young colt that looked to be in his teens. Obviously terrified, he held his sword shakily in front of him. With a quick slice of her own sword, Dancer broke his blade in half. Knocking the broken blade away, she grabbed the foolish colt and smacked him several times across the rump with the flat of her blade. "This is what you get for bucking around with gangsters! Go home to your mother!" As she watched the tearful colt flee, she was struck from behind by a vicious kick that sent her flying. Recovering quickly, she turned around to see the leader of the Crazy 88, Blueblood, running at her with twin swords drawn. Blocking his blows with her blade, she quickly realized that though the Unicorn was using the fighting style preferred by Silver Crescent, he was nowhere near as skilled as her old teacher. Ducking low beneath his swinging blades, she sliced at his hind legs, finishing the fight. As she flew upwards and looked down at the carnage she had created, Dancer called out to the survivors. "Those of you lucky enough to still have your lives, take them with you. However... leave the limbs you have lost. They belong to me now." As they began limping and crawling out of the room, Dancer called down to Raven's lawyer. "Except you, Bon Bon. You stay right where you are." Without another word, she flew out of the club and into the snowy garden where Raven waited.
(Sorry about a lateish post, was quite busy during the weekend. Making some slight changes to the scene, since we are already outside of the establishment.) Raven walked out of her hiding spot, dressed in robes as white of the most pure snow. She slowly walked across the snowy garden as she soon came to a standstill roughly a dozen meters away from Dancer. *Goin to skip this section due to fair amount of character jacking* "Swords however never get tired. I hope you've saved your energy. If you haven't, you might not last five minutes." Raven placed her hooves around the sword's handle as it wrapped around tightly. Her eyes are reflected on the Blade as snow falls around her. She wrapped the sword tightly as she raised the katana up by her cheek, showing off a defensive stance. "As last looks go, you could do worse."
