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Description
The moon was at its highest point in the sky, shining with the stars on the party below. The royal gardens were filled with life. Ponies in expensive-looking outfits trotted around, speaking to each other about recent events. Some were slowly dancing to the calm, classical music that the band was playing. Everything seemed peaceful. Nopony even noticed the cloaked figures on a rooftop nearby. The silhouettes of Swift Wing and Sea Foam went unnoticed in the night sky.

Sea Foam turned to her new partner in crime. "Now remember," she said. "Flick your hoof back to spring the blade in and out. But be careful, the release button can be pretty sensitive." Swift Wing nodded to her Assassin friend. She flicked her new weapons in and out a few times to practice. "Gotta say," said Swift. "This thing's really impressive." Sea Foam gave a slight smile. "These blades have served the order very well over the generations," she said. "You could say they've become a part of us."

The two mares exchanged looks and then turned back to the party below. "So," said Swift Wing. "How are we going to find Fancy Pants in this place? There's a lot of ground to search, and the crowds aren't really making this easy." Sea Foam gave the pegasus an amused look. "But you have the answer already. Your eagle vision." Swift Wing's eyes widened in realization. "I guess I really should practice with it, shouldn't I?" she said. Sea Foam smiled. Swift did the same and nodded. She walked to the edge of the rooftop, and concentrated.

Pretty soon, she began to feel the now familiar tingling behind her skull. She closed her eyes for a moment as the tingling increased in intensity. She focused all of her senses into that single spot in her brain, and then snapped her eyes open. Within moments, the world was bathed in a dark blue tint. Swift heard a humming in her head as she looked around.

The party guests were covered in a light-blue haze. The guards patrolling the gardens, presumably acting as Fancy Pants's bodyguards, were glowing a bright red. Swift Wing rotated her head, scanning the gardens, until she caught the sight of a golden glow. Within the glow, was a well-dressed, white unicorn with a blue mane and mustache. A small pin in the shape of a cross was attached to his collar. Swift Wing instantly recognized the stallion. Fancy Pants.

Swift deactivated her sixth sense, and the tingling in her brain disappeared. "I see him," she said to Sea Foam while keeping her eyes on her target. Sea Foam followed her friend's gaze, and locked her eyes on the stallion. "Alright," she said. "Follow me." Suddenly, the Assassin leapt off the rooftop into a dark alleyway below. Swift Wing quickly followed. Her wing was still healing, so she used her legs to hop from her viewpoint. The two pulled their hoods over their heads and emerged from the shadows.

Their outfits were decent enough to blend in, but to be safe they stayed close to the crowds. They made their way through the gardens, stealthily as ghosts. They kept a careful eye on Fancy Pants. They watched him go to a corner that was relatively isolated. Two ponies stood there waiting for him. One was a royal-looking unicorn with a white coat and a groomed golden mane. Swift Wing instantly recognized him as Prince Blueblood, Celestia's adopted nephew. The other pony was a tall, slender mare with a flowing pink mane. Swift remembered seeing her by Fancy Pants's side often. She assumed that the mare was his girlfriend.

Swift and Sea Foam stood in a nearby crowd, pretending to get in on whatever conversation was going on. Swift stared at her target. Her hooves were ready to flick out her blades. She was ready for action. However, her nerves were slightly calmed when Sea Foam quietly spoke her thoughts. "What are they up to?" she said under her breath. The hooded mares tuned their ears to eavesdrop on the Templars' conversation.

"Excellent party as always, dear," said the tall, white-coated mare. Fancy Pants smiled. "Why, thank you, Fleur," he said. Swift Wing took note of the name. Fancy Pants continued. "A celebration is always an excellent way to dull the senses of the citizens. It assures them that we have the city under control." He gave something that was like a chuckle, but not quite. "They're so easily manipulated into order. It's splendid."

"My aunt will surely be pleased," said Blueblood. "Now that the Apple is in our possession, it won't be long before everything falls into our hooves." Swift Wing couldn't stand the prince's snobby accent. "How are things going with the Apple?" asked Fleur. "Have they figured out how to unleash its full power?" Blueblood shook his head. "No. Not quite. We're close though. As long as nothing is interrupted, we should be alright."

"Are you worried about the Assassins?" asked Fleur. "I feel we needn't worry about them, my dear," said Fancy Pants. "Their order is in disarray. After our agents wiped a good number of them out, they've been weak and unorderly." Sea Foam now had an angered look of her own. "Excellent," said Blueblood. He brushed a bit of dust from his collar, and looked at a clock tower. "Well, I'm afraid I must take my leave," he said. "I have a spa appointment. I bid you farewell, my companions. May the Father of Understanding guide us." Fancy Pants and Fleur nodded. "May the Father of Understanding guide us." They said. With that, Blueblood left the gardens.

Swift Wing and Sea Foam moved a bit further into the crowd when the Templar couple moved past them. The hooded mares exchanged looks and continued to tail their target. The couple soon walked onto a small stage. Two guards scanned the crowds for any threats. Swift and Sea Foam stayed hidden in the sea of ponies. Fancy Pants stepped forward, and addressed the audience that had gathered. He cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlecolts," he said. "It is an honor to see you all here tonight. As always, the party is going swimmingly. Now, I'm sure you've all heard about the incident with a thief at the royal warehouse a couple days ago. Don't worry. We assure you that everything has been handled. Order has been restored once again." The crowd clapped their hooves. Fancy Pants slowly turned his head to watch the applause from every angle. Swift Wing saw that the guards had their heads turned, as did Fluer. They were focused on every part of the crowd except where she was. And Fancy Pants was out in the open.

Swift Wing took her chance and bolted out of the crowd. Sea Foam saw what she was doing and reached a hoof out in vain. "Swift, no!" she yelled, but it was too late. Swift had already cleared the distance between her and the stage. She lunged upward, and flicked out her hidden blade. Before anypony could properly react, Swift landed on Fancy Pants and drove her blade into his shoulder. The stallion yelled as he began began to fall. Swift heard the beginning of a gasp from the crowd, but oddly, it seemed to halt.

She looked around. Everything seemed frozen, as if stuck in time. Suddenly, she felt the tingling in her brain. But instead of her eagle vision activating, Swift saw the world fade away. She was left in what seemed to be a white void. Golden streaks of light spread in a grid pattern all around her. She felt the tingling in her head increase. She looked down to see that her target was still bleeding out beneath her. Swift saw the amount of blood on the now white ground. Fancy Pants should be dead by now, but, by some miracle, he still had a thread of life in him.

"Assassin," he painfully said in ragged breaths. "I suppose you're proud of yourself, aren't you? Taking out a master Templar." Swift wasn't proud, but she ignored his question. "You've got it all wrong," she said. "I'm not one of them. I just owe them a favor."

"But you aid them, nonetheless. Well, tell them this. Your fight is pointless. My death won't accomplish anything. Soon, we will uncover the Apple's secrets and its power. Once we do, Celestia will lead us into a new world. One of order and discipline." He coughed blood. Death was knocking on his door. Swift gave a small frown. "You've trained these ponies into agreeing with you no matter what. You never let them think for themselves. You just let them stay ignorant. What kind of world is that?"

"A peaceful one..."

Soon, Fancy Pants was gone. The light was gone from his eyes. He was dead. Swift stared at his corpse. "Forced peace is no peace at all," she said. She placed her hoof on his face and closed his eyes. "Rest in peace."

As she stood from the body, the tingling in her head began to disappear. The white void she was in disappeared with it. The royal gardens returned to her vision. Swift heard the end of the interrupted gasp. Time no longer looked frozen. The audience stared silence. Swift looked at the stallion's dead body. It looked like it had been dead longer than she perceived it to be. Was what she saw a vision of sorts?

She would've pondered further, but a cry from the crowd broke her train of thought. "Assassin!"

The crowd began to chaotically flee the gardens. Fleur had already ran away. Swift Wing turned to see the guards advancing on her. Four more emerged from the shadows, each wielding a weapon. Swift gulped. Suddenly, a hoof grabbed her own. Swift turned to see Sea Foam. The only thing the Assassin said was, "Run!"

And so they did. The two mares leapt off of the stage and dived into the scattering crowd. The guards followed them, but they were slower and less agile as the hooded mares. They eventually galloped out of the gardens. They found a narrow alleyway after glancing back at the pursuing guards. With the skills of cats, the mares lunged at one of the alley's walls. They jumped outward and upward to the next wall. They repeated the pattern until they reached the top of the four-story building. As they caught their breath, they heard the guards below trying to find their way up.

Sea Foam and Swift Wing exchanged looks, and then galloped across the rooftops, far away from the threat below.

------------

The two eventually found themselves on a short roof near the Assassins' library hideout. "What was that?" said Sea Foam, her voice slightly raised. Swift Wing raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You just charged in there and wreaked havoc! You could've gotten us killed!"

"But I didn't. And, besides, Fancy Pants is gone. That's what we set out to do, right?" Sea Foam slowly shook her head. "Yes," she said. "But that was not a good way to handle it. We have rules, Swift."

"And those would be?"

Sea Foam stared at her friend. "Our creed has three tenets to it," she said. "One. Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent. Thankfully you didn't break that rule. Two. Hide in plain sight. We don't just run around and put on a show. We have to be subtle. Three. Never compromise the brotherhood. Luckily, nopony seemed to follow, so the base is safe. Nonetheless, you could have very well revealed its location." The two were silent. Swift couldn't help but feel a little bad about the situation.

Sea Foam sighed. "Listen," she said. "I know you want to help us out. But, if you're going to work around us, you'll have to play by our rules. Can you handle that?" Swift was silent for a second. "Yeah," she said. "I can handle that. Sorry. I'll be more careful in the future." Sea Foam smiled and patted Swift on the back. "Good," she said. After a moment of silence, Swift spoke. "You said something about a creed. What is it?"

"Nothing is true. Everything is permitted."

Swift thought about that. "I kinda like the sound of that," she said. "Doing whatever I like, whenever I like. I could get behind that." Sea Foam gave a short laugh. "You don't quite understand," she said. "It's a bit deeper than that."

"Okay then. Tell me what it means."

"To say that nothing is true is to realize that the world is full of infinite variables. There can't possibly be any one way of looking at things. Nopony can just trot up to you and hand you the truth of the world. It's up to us as individuals to decide how the world is." Swift considered this. "And what about the other half?" she asked.

"To say that everything is permitted," continued Sea Foam. "Is to realize that nothing really keeps us from desires. We are free to do whatever we want, but there will always be consequences. If you rob a store, you're likely to get arrested. If you help somepony with a struggle, they are likely to give you gratitude. Whatever the outcome of our actions are, they are ours to live with, whether glorious or tragic." She paused. "Does that make sense?"

Swift Wing nodded. "Yeah. I think so." The two exchanged looks. After a moment, Swift said, "You know you can get really philosophical when you want to." Sea Foam laughed. "Come on," she said. "Feather Duster's probably starting to get worried about us."

Description
The moon was at its highest point in the sky, shining with the stars on the party below. The royal gardens were filled with life. Ponies in expensive-looking outfits trotted around, speaking to each other about recent events. Some were slowly dancing to the calm, classical music that the band was playing. Everything seemed peaceful. Nopony even noticed the cloaked figures on a rooftop nearby. The silhouettes of Swift Wing and Sea Foam went unnoticed in the night sky.

Sea Foam turned to her new partner in crime. "Now remember," she said. "Flick your hoof back to spring the blade in and out. But be careful, the release button can be pretty sensitive." Swift Wing nodded to her Assassin friend. She flicked her new weapons in and out a few times to practice. "Gotta say," said Swift. "This thing's really impressive." Sea Foam gave a slight smile. "These blades have served the order very well over the generations," she said. "You could say they've become a part of us."

The two mares exchanged looks and then turned back to the party below. "So," said Swift Wing. "How are we going to find Fancy Pants in this place? There's a lot of ground to search, and the crowds aren't really making this easy." Sea Foam gave the pegasus an amused look. "But you have the answer already. Your eagle vision." Swift Wing's eyes widened in realization. "I guess I really should practice with it, shouldn't I?" she said. Sea Foam smiled. Swift did the same and nodded. She walked to the edge of the rooftop, and concentrated.

Pretty soon, she began to feel the now familiar tingling behind her skull. She closed her eyes for a moment as the tingling increased in intensity. She focused all of her senses into that single spot in her brain, and then snapped her eyes open. Within moments, the world was bathed in a dark blue tint. Swift heard a humming in her head as she looked around.

The party guests were covered in a light-blue haze. The guards patrolling the gardens, presumably acting as Fancy Pants's bodyguards, were glowing a bright red. Swift Wing rotated her head, scanning the gardens, until she caught the sight of a golden glow. Within the glow, was a well-dressed, white unicorn with a blue mane and mustache. A small pin in the shape of a cross was attached to his collar. Swift Wing instantly recognized the stallion. Fancy Pants.

Swift deactivated her sixth sense, and the tingling in her brain disappeared. "I see him," she said to Sea Foam while keeping her eyes on her target. Sea Foam followed her friend's gaze, and locked her eyes on the stallion. "Alright," she said. "Follow me." Suddenly, the Assassin leapt off the rooftop into a dark alleyway below. Swift Wing quickly followed. Her wing was still healing, so she used her legs to hop from her viewpoint. The two pulled their hoods over their heads and emerged from the shadows.

Their outfits were decent enough to blend in, but to be safe they stayed close to the crowds. They made their way through the gardens, stealthily as ghosts. They kept a careful eye on Fancy Pants. They watched him go to a corner that was relatively isolated. Two ponies stood there waiting for him. One was a royal-looking unicorn with a white coat and a groomed golden mane. Swift Wing instantly recognized him as Prince Blueblood, Celestia's adopted nephew. The other pony was a tall, slender mare with a flowing pink mane. Swift remembered seeing her by Fancy Pants's side often. She assumed that the mare was his girlfriend.

Swift and Sea Foam stood in a nearby crowd, pretending to get in on whatever conversation was going on. Swift stared at her target. Her hooves were ready to flick out her blades. She was ready for action. However, her nerves were slightly calmed when Sea Foam quietly spoke her thoughts. "What are they up to?" she said under her breath. The hooded mares tuned their ears to eavesdrop on the Templars' conversation.

"Excellent party as always, dear," said the tall, white-coated mare. Fancy Pants smiled. "Why, thank you, Fleur," he said. Swift Wing took note of the name. Fancy Pants continued. "A celebration is always an excellent way to dull the senses of the citizens. It assures them that we have the city under control." He gave something that was like a chuckle, but not quite. "They're so easily manipulated into order. It's splendid."

"My aunt will surely be pleased," said Blueblood. "Now that the Apple is in our possession, it won't be long before everything falls into our hooves." Swift Wing couldn't stand the prince's snobby accent. "How are things going with the Apple?" asked Fleur. "Have they figured out how to unleash its full power?" Blueblood shook his head. "No. Not quite. We're close though. As long as nothing is interrupted, we should be alright."

"Are you worried about the Assassins?" asked Fleur. "I feel we needn't worry about them, my dear," said Fancy Pants. "Their order is in disarray. After our agents wiped a good number of them out, they've been weak and unorderly." Sea Foam now had an angered look of her own. "Excellent," said Blueblood. He brushed a bit of dust from his collar, and looked at a clock tower. "Well, I'm afraid I must take my leave," he said. "I have a spa appointment. I bid you farewell, my companions. May the Father of Understanding guide us." Fancy Pants and Fleur nodded. "May the Father of Understanding guide us." They said. With that, Blueblood left the gardens.

Swift Wing and Sea Foam moved a bit further into the crowd when the Templar couple moved past them. The hooded mares exchanged looks and continued to tail their target. The couple soon walked onto a small stage. Two guards scanned the crowds for any threats. Swift and Sea Foam stayed hidden in the sea of ponies. Fancy Pants stepped forward, and addressed the audience that had gathered. He cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlecolts," he said. "It is an honor to see you all here tonight. As always, the party is going swimmingly. Now, I'm sure you've all heard about the incident with a thief at the royal warehouse a couple days ago. Don't worry. We assure you that everything has been handled. Order has been restored once again." The crowd clapped their hooves. Fancy Pants slowly turned his head to watch the applause from every angle. Swift Wing saw that the guards had their heads turned, as did Fluer. They were focused on every part of the crowd except where she was. And Fancy Pants was out in the open.

Swift Wing took her chance and bolted out of the crowd. Sea Foam saw what she was doing and reached a hoof out in vain. "Swift, no!" she yelled, but it was too late. Swift had already cleared the distance between her and the stage. She lunged upward, and flicked out her hidden blade. Before anypony could properly react, Swift landed on Fancy Pants and drove her blade into his shoulder. The stallion yelled as he began began to fall. Swift heard the beginning of a gasp from the crowd, but oddly, it seemed to halt.

She looked around. Everything seemed frozen, as if stuck in time. Suddenly, she felt the tingling in her brain. But instead of her eagle vision activating, Swift saw the world fade away. She was left in what seemed to be a white void. Golden streaks of light spread in a grid pattern all around her. She felt the tingling in her head increase. She looked down to see that her target was still bleeding out beneath her. Swift saw the amount of blood on the now white ground. Fancy Pants should be dead by now, but, by some miracle, he still had a thread of life in him.

"Assassin," he painfully said in ragged breaths. "I suppose you're proud of yourself, aren't you? Taking out a master Templar." Swift wasn't proud, but she ignored his question. "You've got it all wrong," she said. "I'm not one of them. I just owe them a favor."

"But you aid them, nonetheless. Well, tell them this. Your fight is pointless. My death won't accomplish anything. Soon, we will uncover the Apple's secrets and its power. Once we do, Celestia will lead us into a new world. One of order and discipline." He coughed blood. Death was knocking on his door. Swift gave a small frown. "You've trained these ponies into agreeing with you no matter what. You never let them think for themselves. You just let them stay ignorant. What kind of world is that?"

"A peaceful one..."

Soon, Fancy Pants was gone. The light was gone from his eyes. He was dead. Swift stared at his corpse. "Forced peace is no peace at all," she said. She placed her hoof on his face and closed his eyes. "Rest in peace."

As she stood from the body, the tingling in her head began to disappear. The white void she was in disappeared with it. The royal gardens returned to her vision. Swift heard the end of the interrupted gasp. Time no longer looked frozen. The audience stared silence. Swift looked at the stallion's dead body. It looked like it had been dead longer than she perceived it to be. Was what she saw a vision of sorts?

She would've pondered further, but a cry from the crowd broke her train of thought. "Assassin!"

The crowd began to chaotically flee the gardens. Fleur had already ran away. Swift Wing turned to see the guards advancing on her. Four more emerged from the shadows, each wielding a weapon. Swift gulped. Suddenly, a hoof grabbed her own. Swift turned to see Sea Foam. The only thing the Assassin said was, "Run!"

And so they did. The two mares leapt off of the stage and dived into the scattering crowd. The guards followed them, but they were slower and less agile as the hooded mares. They eventually galloped out of the gardens. They found a narrow alleyway after glancing back at the pursuing guards. With the skills of cats, the mares lunged at one of the alley's walls. They jumped outward and upward to the next wall. They repeated the pattern until they reached the top of the four-story building. As they caught their breath, they heard the guards below trying to find their way up.

Sea Foam and Swift Wing exchanged looks, and then galloped across the rooftops, far away from the threat below.

------------

The two eventually found themselves on a short roof near the Assassins' library hideout. "What was that?" said Sea Foam, her voice slightly raised. Swift Wing raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You just charged in there and wreaked havoc! You could've gotten us killed!"

"But I didn't. And, besides, Fancy Pants is gone. That's what we set out to do, right?" Sea Foam slowly shook her head. "Yes," she said. "But that was not a good way to handle it. We have rules, Swift."

"And those would be?"

Sea Foam stared at her friend. "Our creed has three tenets to it," she said. "One. Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent. Thankfully you didn't break that rule. Two. Hide in plain sight. We don't just run around and put on a show. We have to be subtle. Three. Never compromise the brotherhood. Luckily, nopony seemed to follow, so the base is safe. Nonetheless, you could have very well revealed its location." The two were silent. Swift couldn't help but feel a little bad about the situation.

Sea Foam sighed. "Listen," she said. "I know you want to help us out. But, if you're going to work around us, you'll have to play by our rules. Can you handle that?" Swift was silent for a second. "Yeah," she said. "I can handle that. Sorry. I'll be more careful in the future." Sea Foam smiled and patted Swift on the back. "Good," she said. After a moment of silence, Swift spoke. "You said something about a creed. What is it?"

"Nothing is true. Everything is permitted."

Swift thought about that. "I kinda like the sound of that," she said. "Doing whatever I like, whenever I like. I could get behind that." Sea Foam gave a short laugh. "You don't quite understand," she said. "It's a bit deeper than that."

"Okay then. Tell me what it means."

"To say that nothing is true is to realize that the world is full of infinite variables. There can't possibly be any one way of looking at things. Nopony can just trot up to you and hand you the truth of the world. It's up to us as individuals to decide how the world is." Swift considered this. "And what about the other half?" she asked.

"To say that everything is permitted," continued Sea Foam. "Is to realize that nothing really keeps us from desires. We are free to do whatever we want, but there will always be consequences. If you rob a store, you're likely to get arrested. If you help somepony with a struggle, they are likely to give you gratitude. Whatever the outcome of our actions are, they are ours to live with, whether glorious or tragic." She paused. "Does that make sense?"

Swift Wing nodded. "Yeah. I think so." The two exchanged looks. After a moment, Swift said, "You know you can get really philosophical when you want to." Sea Foam laughed. "Come on," she said. "Feather Duster's probably starting to get worried about us."