The Cutters Part 3

                The young filly was lead into the ballroom wearing a beautiful gown. As she delicately entered the room, her mother looked at her and spoke, “Trot with your chin higher! You look like you’re depressed, an unhealthy look for a proper mare! And don’t trot with your knees so high! A proper mare, glides across the floor like a delicate flower blossom down a soft stream. She doesn’t trot like a clumsy dandelion in a river. Besides, you could accidentally step on your dress and ruin it during a formal occasion. And a proper mare will not entertain with a ruined dress; it will disgrace your nobility and your husband to be. And For Celestia's sake, Smile! You must look pleased that so many have arrived for your betrothal ball.”

                The nervous filly made the corrections to her stance and replied, “My apologies mother.”
The noble mare replied, “An apology isn’t necessary… neither are mistakes. You will get it right before you sleep tonight. Tomorrow is a ball to announce the young colt that you will be betrothed to and I will not allow you to embarrass us in front of your future in-laws.”
As the filly tried to trot the way she was told to, she asked her mother, “Why must I be betrothed mother? Shouldn’t I have the right to marry whomever I choose?”

                The mother sighed and replied, “Serenade, we have discussed this before. As the oldest daughter of our family, you are to inherit the family fortune upon our death, and we cannot allow you to handle such a burden without a husband. Besides , Charles Mist Jr. is one of the most respected stallions in Canterlot, and with his son already training himself for the royal guard exam, at the young age of six. He will be the perfect husband to further carry our family into the highest of nobility. Despite your continues mistakes… Stop dragging your hooves and keep your wings closed. Just because you’re losing your balance, doesn’t mean opening your wings to retrieve it, will make you look any less sloppy.”

                Serenade made the corrections to her wings and continued practicing while she replied, “But… I never even met Chrome Mist before… what if I don’t love him?”
The filly’s mother paced around her daughter observing as she replied, “love? In this case, it’s more a matter of principles than love. When I was your age, I was betrothed to your father, as my mother was before her. The reason we do this is so that we keep the appearance of our family and our name in the highest society. STOP SLOUCHING! It’s disrespectful to your guests, and makes it look like they are boring you.”

                Serenade wanted to reply, but they do bore me, but she knew that if she did her mother would scold her. All her life she was raised to be a proper noble mare, but she wanted to do all the things that middle class foals could do, frolic through fields, play outside during the rain, and even stay out late with friends… though because of her strict mother’s teachings she didn’t have any friends. Unless you count the servants who were at her beck and call. Nevertheless, she didn’t want friends who would do everything you told them to without question. She wanted friend who will disagree, argue, and decide what fun things to do without needing a suggestion. She wanted a real friend. But as her mother would continue to tell her, unless your friends had a high place in society, they could never be helpful as friends.

                While all this was running through her mind, a butler entered the room, “Madam… Master Charles Mist and his son Young Master Chrome have arrived.”
With that said, the butler stepped aside and a noble stallion entered the room followed by a young colt. The stallion spoke, “Good Afternoon Lady Song and Miss Serenade, I came to discuss the arrangement for tomorrow’s betrothal ball.”
Miss Song replied, “Of course, my husband is in the next room so let us discuss this in there with him. Young Chrome, can you stay here and keep your future bride company?”
The young colt bowed as he replied, “It would be a pleasure ma’am.”
Miss Song smiled pleasantly as she left the room, “Such a polite young gentlecolt, you have my trust then young stallion.”

                As soon as both parents have left the room, Chrome sighed, “Saturday afternoon and instead of being outside practicing my sword play, I'm stuck here babysitting a pampered little princess.”
Serenade was both shocked and offended, “Well… at least you get to go outside! My mother won’t let me, she says the dirt and grass are not worthy enough to be trotted on by a noble mare. Nevertheless, I do not care. Ponies weren’t meant to trot upon mink carpets and marble floors forever.”
The sneaky young stallion smiled and replied, “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”
Serenade replied, “I don’t know? Do you hate your mother too? Because that’s what I'm thinking.”

                Chrome shook his head and replied, “No, I’m thinking we should sneak out while our parents are talking.”
“What? But what if we get caught? Mother will be furious…”
“Don’t worry; we won’t get caught, so long as you lead the way.”
Serenade was confuse, “M-me? Why me?”
Chrome replied, “This manor belongs to your family, so surely you know the way outside. If you lead the way I'll get us out of here unseen alright?”
Serenade didn’t expect her future husband to be this sneaky, now she couldn’t tell what to think of him. At first, he seemed to be the polite noble he was supposed to be, then he seemed like a snotty brat, and now he is a cleaver sneaky troublemaker. Nevertheless, she couldn’t turn down this chance to act like a normal foal for once in her life, so she smiled, “Let’s do it.”

                 Serenade led the way as they snuck out of the mansion and into the garden behind the estate. Once they got there she and Chrome started doing things that most foal did on a day-to-day basis. They played games like tag, guards and bandits, and they even found a large bush that they used to make believe they were in a fort. With each passing activity, the dress she was wearing got more and more dirty and worn, but she didn’t care. For the first time in her life, Serenade Song was a real foal. Finally, they decided to end the day with her first attempt at flying. Serenade climbed to the top of a tree and looked down at Chrome on the ground as he spoke, “Ok, now try to flap your wings and jump.”

                Serenade was nervous as she spoke, “Um are you sure? It really high up.”
Chrome replied, “Trust me it’s easy.”
Serenade replied, “How do you know it’s easy? You’re a unicorn!”
Chrome shook his head, “Well if you’re too scared, then we can always find something a little wimpier  to do. I mean I can’t help it if you’re a chicken.”
Serenade got angry, “I'M NOT A CHICKEN! I'm… I just don’t know if I can do it or not.”
Chrome replied, “Try this, just close your eyes and feel the wind, maybe that’ll take your mind off the fear. And if it doesn’t then just jump and if you can’t do it then I'll catch you, how’s that sound? Just trust me.”
Serenade sighed, “Well ok… here I go… I'm going to… jump now… any second I'm going to do it…”
While Serenade was stalling, the branch she was standing on snapped in half causing her to fall.

                While Serenade was falling, she let out a scream that echoed into the distance. Chrome called to her, “FLAP YOUR WINGS, QUICKLY… FLAP YOUR WINGS!!!”
Serenade frantically started flapping her wings but they only slowed her drop very little. While falling, she looked down and feared the worst as she stretched her wings out as far as she could, as if by reflex. With her wings open they caught lift and caused her to swoop upward just a few feet from hitting Chrome who was keeping his word and trying to catch her. As soon as her altitude started to rise, she stopped focusing on what she was doing and just let her pegasus instinct take control. With that, she climbed into the air and called out, “I'm… I'm doing it!... I'm really doing it!... I'M FLYING!!!... I'M REALLY FLYING!!!”
Serenade climbed to a specific altitude and started to glide steadily. While she did this, she closed her eyes, felt the wind in her mane, and listened to the flapping of her dress in the wind.

                Serenade never felt more at peace than this exact moment. This was the cherry, on top of what was now the best day of her life. Then she opened her eyes and flew back towards Chrome who was still standing under the tree cheering. All of a sudden, she heard a voice, “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!!! GET DOWN HERE IMMEDIATELY!!!”
Serenade quickly looked at the ground behind her to see her mother standing there with an angry expression on her face, “Mo-mother I-I can expl…”
Before she could finish her sentence Serenade few through the branches of the tree in front of her without realizing it. When she did, the branches caught hold of her dress and stared ripping it until finally one caught hold and stopped her in her tracks.

                As she hung there by her dress, she tried to think about what just happened before the lacing on the front of her dress ripped apart and she fell to the ground leaving the ruined dress in the tree above. As soon as she hit the ground, Chrome ran up to her, “Serenade! You ok?”
Serenade sat up and rubbed her head, “Yea... I'm ok… for now anyway.”
With an expression of anger on her face, Serenades mother trotted up to her and grabbed her by her ear, “I can’t believe you would deliberately disobey me like this. You know better to go outside without asking first. And furthermore, you ruined your gown! Why do you like to disgrace our family in many ways. All of this is so unbecoming of a noble mare. Now tell me exactly what were you thinking when you though up this ridiculous action?”

                Serenade hesitated as she answered, “Well… you see… I… uh…”
“IT WAS MY FAULT!”
Serenade and her mother looked at Chrome with shock as he continued, “I told her that she was too scared to show me how to get to the garden then, once she showed me the way, I bet her that she couldn’t handle playing the kinds of games I play when I'm outside. So… you see… It’s my fault not hers!”
Charles Mist trotted up and spoke, “Well at least he was honest enough to defend her. I’d say my son is a perfect husband for your daughter. This proves that he will protect her from any future dangers.”
As angry as Miss Song was, she admired Chrome’s bravery in standing up to her like that. Bravery like that was very uncommon in a colt his age so with her appearance in mind, she smiled at Serenade and replied, “I suppose I can overlook this incident just this once. However, I can’t overlook the fact that your gown for the ball tomorrow is ruined. I hope we can attain a replacement in such short notice.”

                Charles Mist smiled and spoke up, “No worries, I'll have my personal tailor get on it right away, in fact, since it was young Chrome who was responsible for this incident in the first place, I'll pay the dress plus a little interest. It’s the least I could do for my son’s recklessness.”
Miss Song smiled and replied, “Well if you insist, then far be it for me to turn down your offer, as a future in-law I wouldn’t think of starting off this betrothal with bad tidings.”
Charles smiled and replied, “It’s settled then, I'll call for him and have him here within the hour to take measurements and begin. As for myself and young Chrome here, we have other business to attend to so we will thank you for your hospitality and bid you good day. Come Chrome we have to be leaving now.”
Chrome smiled and replied, “Of course father… Good evening to you Lady Song, Miss Serenade, I’ll graciously await the time for us to meet again.”

                As Charles and Chrome Mist left the garden, Miss Song and Serenade smiled pleasantly until they were out of their sight. Miss Song turned towards her daughter and spoke with an enraged yet unconcerned tone, “You continue to embarrass me and our family? Have you no shame? No concern for the wellbeing of this family’s future appeal to the eyes of high society? You’re lucky young master Chrome stood up for you, if neither one of them were present, then your punishment would be severe. Now I want you to go to your room and await the arrival of the tailor. You WILL be presentable tomorrow and you WILL NOT embarrass this family any further, am I understood!”

                Serenade had never been so afraid of her mother before, but she expected this kind of lecture so she hung her head in shame as she turned around and replied, “Yes mother… right away.”
As Serenade trotted away, her mothers called out in a disgusted tone, “And for Celestia’s sake, bathe yourself! I will not have you seeing Mr. Mist’s tailor in such… Filth.”
Serenade was enraged at her mother’s comment, but being taught to hide her anger helped her cover the frustration she was feeling at this exact moment. When she was halfway back to her bedchambers, Serenade stopped next to a window and looked into the garden, from the second floor, the garden looked very similar to what it looked like when she was flying. She couldn’t help but think of the freedom she felt while she was in mid-flight. Then she thought about the colt who made it all possible. she started to blush as she thought about him and the fact that they would be married in the future. Then she mumbled to herself, “Mrs. Chrome Mist… maybe this betrothal is a good idea after all.”

                 The rest of the night went as her mother planned. She spent the night getting herself cleaned up and getting her dress made for the ball, then the entirety of the next day was spent rehearsing the way she was supposed to trot, talk, and act around her guests, so that she would be ready for the ball that evening. That night at the ball, Princess Celestia herself stood with both Serenade and Chrome in the center of the ballroom as she announced to all the guests, “Welcome, Fillies and gentlecolts, to this very special occasion. Tonight we will announce the official agreement between the Song and Mist family so that it will be known that on this night twelve years from now, Young Serenade Song, and Chrome Mist will be married. An occasion as special as this will be a day that both families will look forward to with great anticipation. We wish these two foals luck on their future happiness.”
As the crowed started to applaud, Serenade couldn’t help but blush at the idea of her future marriage. She really enjoyed the idea even though it seemed like Chrome had no real comment on the subject.

                As the time went by, the night seemed like every other formal event that Serenade has been a part of. With every action she made, her mother was continuously criticizing everything she did that wasn’t a part of her usual nobility lessons. It was almost too distracting how often Miss Song would correct her that it seemed to draw more attention than the actual mistake itself. But for some reason, Serenade felt… unsafe. She didn’t know what it was but she just put the though at the back of her mind as her frustration kept getting worse and worse with every action her mother corrected until finally she made the ultimate mistake. While she was going up the master staircase at the edge of the ballroom, she accidently stepped on the edge of her dress and ripped it as she stumbled and fell down the stairs. As she picked herself up from the ground, a number of ponies helped her up and lead her to the next room to check her injuries.

                In the next room as everypony was checking to see if she was ok, Serenade’s mother trotted into the room and asked, “Sweetie? Are you ok?”
Serenade rubbed the bump on her head and replied, “Yes mother… I'm fine; the worst I received was a slight bump.”
The mother gave her a look that was void of any concern as she spoke to the others in the room, “Could you ponies give me a moment alone with my daughter?”
The ponies felt a little confused about being asked to leave the room but they nodded their heads and left as they were asked. When the door closed behind them, Serenade hung her head in shame already knowing what was coming next. Miss Song turned back to her daughter and started pacing in front of her, “So… a bump was the only serious injury you received… right?”

                Serenade had never heard her mother speak in such a careless tone, especially after a screw-up like that in front of the entire upper-class community of Canterlot. She tried not to cringe in fear as she replied, “Y-yes mother, I'm completely fine, I wish I could say the same about my dress though…”
Miss Song continued pacing as she replied, “I already noticed that… but that’s the only injuries… correct?”
“Y-yes mother that’s it…”
Miss Song stopped pacing and stood in front of her daughter as she replied, “Well… then would you mind explaining the half dead reputation you left at the bottom of the staircase? You embarrassed yourself your father and further more you embarrassed me… not just in front of your friends and family… but in front of the entire kingdom. And Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are also here! Do you know what kind of damage you are responsible for! Now that your betrothal to Young Chrome Mist is final, your recklessness has done nothing but ruined the reputation of both our families! Let me guess you lifted your hooves too high and stepped on your dress… didn’t you? Just what do you have to say for yourself?”

                Serenade tried as hard as she could to hold in her tears of guilt as she replied, “I… I didn’t mean to…”
“I don’t want to hear it!… Sadly, I expected this kind of action from you so I had a second dress ready for this occasion. Stay here and wait for me to return with it… I will not allow you to further disgrace your family by going back out there in a ruined dress… stay here and don’t do anything stupid…”
Tears started to roll down Serenade’s face as her mother left the room, just outside the door her mother was approached by two stallions, one of them spoke, “Miss Song, my name is Doctor Stint, I was in the crowd when this little accident happened, if you would… I wish to take a look at Miss Serenade. I think that she could have had a concussion through the incident so I would like to check her to make sure she is ok.”
Miss Song sighed before replying, “Fine… Do what you have to doctor… but if anything is wrong with her, then please tell me and nopony else… I’ve had enough disappointment for one night.”

                The stallions were a little confused at Miss Song’s words but they just shrugged their shoulders and replied, “Um… Ok.”
When the two stallions entered, the room one stood by the door after it closed while the other approached Serenades and spoke, “Little Serenade? I'm here to check and make sure you’re completely fine, but first I'm going to give you a pain killer so you can stop crying over that bump on you head.”
Serenade was too ashamed to tell the stallion that she wasn’t crying because of the bump, so she decided to play long and replied, “O-ok… thank you doctor.”
The stallion handed her a pill and a glass of water, almost three minutes after taking the pill, Serenade started to feel its effect as the pain on her head went away, but that wasn’t the only effect. Slowly she started to feel sleepy as her sight started to darken and she started to pass out. The last thing she heard before losing consciousness was the other stallion speaking, “Alright you grab the filly while I'll get the window open…”

                The next thing she knew, Serenade woke up in what looked like a cave of some kind. She struggled to pick herself up from the ground but it was no use, all four of her hooves were tied up while her wings were strapped to her side with a belt. She was completely unable to move. As she looked around, she saw the same two stallions that were at the ball enter the cave. One was speaking to the other as they entered, “Look its very simple, when the phoenix gets back with the reply message from her mother we will arrange a location to meet with them for the exchange, they get the girl back while we get the bits. Its brilliant. They will literally pay a fortune to get their little princess back so now we will be rich.”
The other replied, “But… what if they set a trap for us?”
“That’s why we will have a sword to her throat, whether we will actually hurt her or not depends on how they treat this. They won’t try anything heroic if they think we will kill her if something were to happen right? Don’t worry this plan is fool proof.”

                Serenade felt nervous as she spoke, “W-where am I?”
One of the stallions spoke, “Oh, you’re awake… Don’t worry little one, if your mommy and daddy meet our demands then we will safely return you to them and there will be no harm done, until then just stay calm and quiet and we will make this as easy on you as we can.”
Serenade was worried about what would happen to her, but she knew that the best thing to do in this situation was what she was told so she only replied, “Can you at least tell me how long I’ve been asleep?”
The second stallion replied, “You’ve been out for about a day now. I think the dosage we gave you was a little too much but then again these are adult sleeping pills, and you’re what? five, six years at the most. Either way we left the ransom note last night so we should be receiving a reply soon.”

                Serenade replied, “Ransom note? You mean… I’ve been foalnaped?”
The first stallion spoke again, “I'm afraid so little one, but like I said before, if you keep quiet and calm then there won’t be any problems. Once we receive a reply from your parents we will kindly take our one million bits and be on our merry way. you will be back with your parents and your future husband, while me and my comrade here will vanish, and you will never see us ever again.”
Just then, a phoenix flew through a hole in the top of the cave, droped a note on the table and waited for a treat. The first stallion smiled, “Well speak of the demon, here is the reply now.”

                As the first stallion picked up the note and began to read, the second attempted to give the phoenix a treat. The phoenix looked at the treat then looked back at the stallion. Finally, the phoenix jumped into the air and started pecking the stallion in a way to show that it really didn’t like this particular pony. Serenade couldn’t help but laugh at the hilarious event as the stallion tried to fight back only to be outsmarted by the creature. After laughing for a few seconds Serenade looked at the other stallion who was reading the note the phoenix brought in. she watched as his expression of self-convinced brilliance, slowly turned to confusion, shock, then depression. The stallion looked at his partner and spoke, “Hey! Will you stop fooling around with that bird, get over here.”
At that moment, the phoenix stopped attacking the pony and allowed him to approach his partner and read the note. Like the pony before him, his expression when he read the note turned from pride to depression.

                Serenade felt very confused as they stared in disbelief at the note in their hooves. The two stallions started mumbling quietly to each other so she couldn’t hear them but with the emptiness of the cave she could hear them plain as day, the second stallion spoke “So… what do you make of this?”
His partner replied, “I just can’t believe it, it seemed like such a small amount compared to how much their family actually has. Not to mention the Mist family has double what the Song family has.”
“So what do we do about the girl?”
“What do ya mean?”
“Well she is no use to us… should we just kill her?”
The first stallion replied quickly “No… I can kill a stallion any day of the week, and I could kill a mare if I have proper reason… but there is no way in Tartarus’ gates, that I'll ever kill a filly, especially this one. It’s not her fault she was born into a rich family, nor is it her fault her parents decided to do this..”
“Well what would you suggest? If word gets out that our first attempt at an actual crime ends like this then our reputations will be burned at a stake.”
“You’re missing the bigger picture here, this isn’t about us anymore it’s about the girl.”
“Well then what do we do?”
“The only thing I can think of is to let her decide, one she could come with us and be a third member of our little group, two we can let her go off and start a new life of her own or three we can send her back to her parents.”
The second stallion sighed, “That’s a hard decision to make, I know I wouldn’t want to go back to a mother who refuses to do anything if I were foalnaped.”

                Serenade couldn’t believe her ears, she knew her mother was cruel… but she had no idea that she would be as cruel to completely ignore her daughter’s personal safety. Serenade stayed quiet so she could hear more, “That poor foal… to be honest I would feel more guilty about this if we did just send her back. I can’t believe that mare thinks more about her reputation then her own daughter. It makes me sick to even consider sending her daughter back into the unloving arms of that witch.”
The second stallion replied, “Like it or not we need to think of something fast, just because she won’t pay us doesn’t mean she didn’t send out a search party for us.”
The first pony replied, “Well then we will just have to give her a choice then.”
The stallion turned and approached Serenade, as he reached down with a dagger and cut the ropes that tied her hooves together, he spoke softly, “Well little missy… it looks like you lucked out, so you’re free to go and do as you plea…”
“Take me with you…”

                Both stallions were shocked to hear her say that. Serenade picked herself up off the ground and took the belt off her wings as she repeated herself, “Please… take me with you. If mother refuses to pay for my release, then I think it’s only fair that I join you two… I-I may be young, but I'll do everything I can to avoid disappointing you… I swear.”
The first stallion spoke again, “Now think about this for a second, if you do this then you will be turning your back on everything you have, friends, family, possessions, and your home. are you sure you want to do that?”
Serenade replied, “There are only two things in this world that I care about. One was going my future husband, and the second is my ability to fly. If I stay then I'll never get the chance to fly freely on my own and when I think about it… I only met Chrome a few days ago… I like him, but I don’t know if I will next year or even twelve years when we are supposed to be married. I think that the best choice for me… is to leave this place.”

                The two stallions looked at each other and nodded the or heads then replied, “Well if that’s your choice then you’re free to come with us, so long as you don’t mind lying, cheating and stealing to survive. But either way. you better be willing to become a criminal if you want to come with us. We don’t intend to change our way just because of a plan gone wrong.”
The filly nodded as she replied, “Let’s be on our way then shall we?”
As the three ponies left the cave, Serenade looked into the distance and could see Canterlot. As she stood there, she sighed and spoke, “Chrome… thank you, if it wasn’t for you… I never would have flown and felt what it is to be free. I'll never forget you.”

                From that day on the young filly threw away her life of nobility, changed her name to Wing, and became a criminal. She spent the next few years’ doing petty thefts and muggings with her two partners. There was only one rule she chose to follow, no matter what, she would never kill. After a few simple heists, she managed to steal an experimental weapon from a griffin blacksmith. This weapon was a series of blades and plates that would strap around the wings and torso of a Griffin, so that they could use both wings as either swords or shields. Using some contacts she made in the criminal underground, she had the weapon refitted for her wings. But the weight alone made it almost impossible for her to use them. Nevertheless, with every heist she partook in, she would wear this weapon and threaten anypony who stood against her, despite her rule to never kill. As time went by, the young filly grew into a beautiful mare whose looks were as deadly as the blades that she continuously wore.

                 With her continuous training with her weapons of choice, she not only got used to the weight, but she mastered flying and fighting with the wing blades which was never done even by the griffin soldiers who tried to carry this weapon. However as the years went by, the times began to change. Soon her partners fell victim to their own karma, so she decided to become a messenger for hire. However, this was no reason to stop wearing her wing blades. She continued to wear her blades and deliver parcels with ease, though she continued to follow her rule to never kill. But on her free time, she discovered her talent by continuously enjoying the gentle breeze. Using just the wind alone, she could tell everything about what was around her. She could detect tall buildings in the distance, large groups of animals, she could even read the weather and predict when the wind would shift, increase or decrease, though she rarely used this talent. She enjoyed the feeling of the wind, and to understand it more made her feel even more free.

                One day while relaxing in a pub in Prance, a stallion she knew trotted in and spoke to her, “Hey Wing, I have some work for you if you’re interested. A noble mare from Canterlot requested some rather… dishonest documents be made, and delivered to her. Now there aren’t many messengers I know who will carry something like this so I figured you would do it yourself.”
Wing smiled as she replied, “So long as the pay is good, I'll deliver it. So what’s so illegal about it anyway?”
The stallion sat the envelope on the table and smiled, “It’s just a fake death certificate, that’s all. The certificate, name, address, and the first half of the payment are in this envelope, you will get the rest when the job is complete.”
As the stallion stood up and left the pub, Wing picked up the envelope and read the employers information. But she couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the name, “Aria Song?... M-mother?”

                Wing quickly opened the certificate up and read it to herself, The certificate was for a one, Serenade Song who died last week on her way back from boarding school. Her carriage was swept into a ravine after a nasty rockslide. Needless to say, she was the only one who didn’t survive the tragedy. Wing knew that every word on this document was false but she still couldn’t believe that her mother would make up something so elaborate just to keep her good name. Needless to say, Wing took the job, secured the envelope, and flew back to her old manor in Canterlot. When she arrived, Wing couldn’t help but hesitate as she approached the doors of the manor. It had been only one decade since she left that life behind, but she still didn’t want to go back to it, despite how the time may have changed her situation. Without even knocking on the large doors, Wing entered the main lobby and went through the corridor to her mother’s chambers. When she opened the door, her mother looked at her and spoke, “Who the blazes are you!”
Wing decided to hide her identity, “Miss Song? My name is Wing; I'm here to deliver some documentation to you.”
The rude noble sneered at her as she replied, “Oh… fine… lay them on the table.”
As Wing laid the envelope down on the table in the center of the room, the mare approached the table, opened the envelope, and looked at the documents, then she sat down in a chair and put her hoof print on the signature box then replied, “Since you’re late, I won’t be giving you any tip. For a pony of your… class, I'm sure that’s acceptable.”
Wing was greatly annoyed, not only was this stingy old mare trying to skip out on the bill, but she also didn’t even recognize her own daughter.

                Rather than argue Wing decided to start up a conversation, “The documents say your daughter died… but I’ve been around forgeries long enough to know that those are fake… may I ask what really happened to her?”
Then Miss Song gave Wing an unamused look, “She’s gone… that’s all you need to know.”
“Did you kill her?”
The noble chuckled “Don’t be absurd, I don’t know if she is alive or not… but that doesn’t matter anymore, as far as society is concerned, she is gone. Ever since she was small, I knew she would never hold up to our name. She was too free spirited and… reckless. She never paid attention to my lesson and she never made even the slightest bit of progress, in acting proper. I can’t say I didn’t love her, but I was never proud of her. She would continuously embarrass me and this family with every action she committed. Until finally somepony took her from me. And to embarrass me even more they wanted me to actually pay for her return.”
Wing started to get annoyed with her words but she held it in as she replied, “So… may I ask what you did about that?”
Miss Song replied, “To save myself any further embarrassment, I kept the whole thing secret and just claimed that my daughter went to a boarding school instead. To be honest I’d rather have a daughter who died by a terrible accident than an embarrassment to the family fortune.”

                Wing couldn’t hold it in anymore, “So, you decided to have her removed from existence!?!”
“What’s it to you, Peasant? Just because you have, a beautiful face doesn’t give you the right to criticize me in my own home! You never had a reputation to keep! You never hade company to please. What would a lowly wretch like you know about nobility!?!”
Remembering the training she went through as a foal, Wing began gracefully pacing in the room as she replied, “Oh… I think I know a thing or two about keeping a reputation. But what I don’t know about is how Pessimistic snob like you would ever consider yourself a suitable mother!”
The Noble mare replied while sitting in her chair, “Well, well, it would seem that the stray knows how to clean herself up, and act noble, but that doesn’t matter. A mutt like you will never know what it’s like living in my horseshoes! Besides look at your hoof placement, you’re stepping too high. If you were wearing a gown you would st… wait…”
the noble mare’s expression went from curious to shocked as she spoke, “S… Serenade?… it… it can’t be…”

                Wing replied with no expression, “Hello mother… it’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“But… but you’re supposed to be…”
“Sorry I'm not dead, but who cares anyway right?”
Miss Song sighed as she spoke, “Get out…”
“What?”
“You heard me peasant! I said, GET OUT!!! You embarrassed my name and made me look like a fool, and then you decide not to return until after I announce your death to Canterlot? You're nothing but one continuous embarrassment after another and I won’t have you do it to me again! SO GET OUT!!!”
Wing couldn’t believe her ears, “So just like that you’re going to call me dead? You think because you have your precious money, reputation, manor, and name, that you can make me vanish just like that? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?!”

                Miss Song yelled as she replied, “I am the widow Song! And my reputation as a noble was tarnished only once in my entire life. And that was when my ingrate of a daughter embarrassed me at her betrothal party when she was young! Since then… I’ve had no daughter, and her father died last year believing his daughter was accomplishing much at her boarding school. I will not have his name tarnished a second time. Especially by a mare who chooses to wear ridiculous slabs of scrap on her wings, and parades around delivering parcels for her next meal! Now do what I say for once in your life, and leave this place before I call the Royal Guards!”
Wings rage took over as she replied, “Oh I'll leave, once I'm finished with you! Let me show you just what these SCRAPS CAN DO!!!”

                With that said, Wing charged toward her mother with her wing stretched out as far as it could, exposing the razor sharp blade that was connected to it. Before her mother could react, the blade cut completely through both her mother and the chair she was sitting in, and out the other side with very little resistance to Wing’s movements. As the top halves of the objects severed by the blade fell to the ground, Wing looked at her bloodstained weapon. The room around her was now silent, the only sounds to be heard was the light tapping as the blood dripped from her blade onto the floor. Wing couldn’t believe what she had just done, not only did she break her one rule that she chose never to break, but she did so by killing her own mother. And to make the matter worse… she felt great in doing so. As she flung the blood from her wing she turned back, to look at both of the pieces that used to be considered her mother and smiled, “It’s… it’s done. I’ve never felt so… content. Yet, unconcerned. So this is the feeling of taking a life. I can’t say I like it… but, it was much simpler than I expected.”
Wing trotted back to the documents, then she dipped her hoof in her mother’s blood and put her hoof print next to her mother’s in the signature box. After that, she closed the envelope and sat it back on the table next to the chair. Wing then turned and left the manor with nothing more than a content smile on her face and a clear conscience.

                Within a month, Wing had changed her name yet again, this time she called herself Blade, as she hung up her life as a simple messenger, and became a mercenary who delivers across battlefields. Now that she had given up her rule of no killing, Blade was free to take any risk that came her way, even to a point of killing large formations of attacking pegasi. Though she still loved to use her appearance as a beautiful mare to trick others, she preferred fighting in the skies. Because it didn’t matter how much her feathers could be stained with blood, so long as the wind was there to calm her, she couldn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse, for herself, or her opponents.