Assassin of Kings and Queens

Ferrum didn't move. Nocturne Mucrone, the necromancer, his younger brother, the one responsible for the Second Griffon War, which resulted in the deaths of millions, the only pony to ever beat Ferrum in single combat, was standing not ten feet away. Ferrum's eyes darted to a chair next to Nocturne, where his weapons were thrown in a haphazard fashion. If I'm fast enough...maybe... Ferrum blinked. I'm not wearing pants... Four years ago, such a fact wouldn't have cause Ferrum pause, but ever since he'd gone anthro... well, it appeared that his transformation had not only changed his physical form, but also his perceptions of what was socially acceptable. His lack of a shirt changed nothing, but no pants... He would have to be very fast indeed.

Nocturne frowned.

"I take it you still don't trust me." Ferrum's steely look was enough to answer the question.

"Ouch," Nocturne deadpanned. He shrugged and turned toward the door, gesturing at Ferrum's gear as he did so.

"Whatever. Your stuff's on the chair. Clean clothes are in the closet on your right. Dinner's in ten. Join me if you want." The door, encased in an icy blue aura, opened before Nocturne, who strode through, hands in pockets. The door closed with an almost inaudible click.

Ferrum lay in bed, rubbing his throbbing horn gently. Terrifying dreams of his battle against Nocturne had plagued his sleep for the last month. Every time, right before Nocturne would land the finishing blow, his eyes would shift to a glowing emerald hue, and he would utter a single word.

"Soon."

His stomach rumbled loudly, eliciting a groan from Ferrum. Not eating for two days was starting to take it's toll.

Ferrum rolled out of bed, careful not to jerk his bandaged wing.

He walked slowly towards the closet, and snapped it open. Inside were three sets of clothing.

His battle gear hung on the far left. It was simple, a thick leather vest worn over an ornate tunic, with a plate of blackened iron strapped to the right shoulder. The suit was destroyed. The iron plate was scorched and melted in some places, due to a direct hit from the lightning. The vest and tunic were in worse condition, now torched scraps of clothe bearing only slight semblance to actual clothes. Ferrum noticed that his cloak was nowhere to be found. Considering how everything else had been salvaged, Ferrum assumed that it had been lost at sea.

In the middle hung a very posh suit, at least to Ferrum's standards. Black slacks, white collared shirt, black tie, and black jacket. The tie and jacket are just overkill... Ferrum said to himself as he turned to the third and final set of clothing.

On the far right hung... Ferrum stared in awe and horror. Four years ago, he'd left the Assassin's Guild to protect them from facing the consequences of harboring him. He'd turned in his old assassin outfit, and left with virtually nothing to his name. Ferrum now once again gazed upon his old gear, or rather, his old gear transformed to fit his new body. Ferrum ran his fingers over the front of the vest, were a massive gash appeared to have been stitched closed with great skill. Ferrum's ears flattened against his head as he drew his hand away. He'd gotten that wound fighting the pony who was now housing him, and who expected him to dine with him.

Ferrum donned the formal attire, minus the jacket and tie. If Nocturne wanted me dead, he would have left me in the ocean Ferrum told himself as he slipped his shirt on, carefully threading his wings through a pair of holes in the back. As he dressed, the room rocked slowly, verifying Ferrum's guess that he was on a boat. He pondered why his motion sickness wasn't acting up. What did Nocturne do? Ferrum decided he would ask Nocturne at dinner when he couldn't think of a logical answer.

Now fully dressed, Ferrum turned his attention to his weapons: a belt stuffed to bursting with assorted knives, his grieves with hidden blades, and lastly, an empty sheath. The sheath had once held Jerry in his sword form, but with Jerry absent, it lay empty. He donned them all and walked out the door. Can never be too careful he thought to himself. The hallway was fairly narrow, with only enough room for two ponies to walk abreast. Wall lights set two yards apart, filling the hallway with a soft yellow glow.

How big is this ship? Ferrum wondered as he passed dozens of rooms, which upon further inspection, were all empty barracks.

Did Nocturne use a pocket dimension just to house the inside of the ship?

A door on Ferrum's right swung inwards, revealing...an anthro earth pony's skeleton. It walked into the hall, then turned toward Ferrum. It's empty eyes observed Ferrum for several seconds, then spoke. It's voice appeared to be produced by the vibration of the bones in it's chest.

"Nocturne is expecting you," was all that it said. It then wheeled around and strode down the hall, away from Ferrum.

Ferrum shuddered. He'd seen, and fought, skeletal ponies before, but they never ceased to unsettle him. He turned into the open door and stopped.

He was in his kitchen. Or, at least, an exact replica, judging from the ocean surging in the dirty glass window. A simple iron chandelier hung over the table, at which Nocturne was reclining, gazing through the window.

Nocturne gestured toward the empty seat, which Ferrum slowly walked over to and sat down in. Ferrum winced as his bandaged wing caught on the back of the chair, which he quickly adjusted. Nocturne's gaze never left the ocean, which gleamed orange in the setting sun.

The two sat in silence. A skeletal pegasus arrived, carrying one plate, laden with fruits and vegetables, and set it in front of Ferrum. The skeleton then set a noxious looking green beverage in front of Nocturne. Ferrum raised an eyebrow, then dug into his meal. Nocturne gave Ferrum an envious look, then turned his attention to his...drink. He picked it up, and chugged it as fast as he could. He shuddered as he set the glass down, gagging at the awful taste.

"Taste bad?" inquired Ferrum innocently.

"You have no idea..." replied Nocturne. Ferrum smiled. His younger brother, though at one point an evil dictator, was still family. Ferrum had only been defeated because he'd been distracted. An explosion causing a wall to spontaneously burst into thousands of marble shards, with multiple shards hurtling toward him, can do that.

Ferrum's thoughts were interrupted by Nocturne saying," Anyway, I have something for you."

Ferrum raised a questioning eyebrow, and readied his hidden blades, as Nocturne motioned to a skeleton that was standing in the corner. Then again, this particular family member almost killed Ferrum before. It left the room, returning soon after bearing an ornate blade. The skeleton strode over to Ferrum and offered the alicorn the hilt.

Ferrum raised his other eyebrow as he grasped the hilt slowly and lifted the sword from the skeleton's hands. It was a hand-and-a-half sword, with a ruby embedded in the cross-guard. The silver blade gleamed in the setting sun.

"To fill that empty sheath of yours," explained Nocturne.

"...Thank you..." said Ferrum quietly. Ferrum turned to Nocturne, eyebrows knitting together.

"Why would you do this? I mean, save me from drowning, give me clothes and this sword, fix my motion sickness...?"

Nocturne sighed, smiling ruefully.

"Leave it to my brother to look for an ulterior motive. But yes, I have my reasons. I need you in top condition if you're to help me stop the Celestine Games and clear my name."

"Oh? You expect me to help you? Why should I?" Ferrum taunted.

Nocturne's eyes narrowed as he said," Because you owe me."

Ferrum remained silent for a couple minutes, glaring at Nocturne, who returned the gaze with equal intensity.

"I have a couple questions for you," Ferrum stated matter-of-factly, leaning back in his chair. Nocturne nodded for Ferrum to continue.

"First, how come I'm not feeling the affects of motion sickness?"

"Well," said Nocturne, going into lecture mode," Motion sickness occurs when the inner ear , the eyes, and other areas of the body that detect motion send unexpected or conflicting messages to the brain. One part of your balance-sensing system may sense that your body is moving, while the other parts do not sense motion. For example, if you are in the cabin of a moving ship, your inner ear may sense the motion of big waves, but your eyes don't see any movement. This leads to a conflict between the senses and results in motion sickness."

"Thanks for the biology lesson," said Ferrum dryly," but you didn't answer my question."

"I was getting to that. While you were unconscious, I kinda... did some neural surgery. I remembered your motion sickness, and how inconveniencing it was, so I... fixed it."

Ferrum glared at Nocturne.

"You messed with my comatose body... my BRAIN... just to fix my motion sickness?"

"What?" asked Nocturne indignantly. "It wasn't that intrusive. Plus, I didn't feel like having you puke all over my ship."

Ferrum's glare hardened, making Nocturne visibly flinch.

"Next question," growled Ferrum.

"Where were you for those four years, and how did you get back?"

Nocturne frowned.

"Back? Who said I ever left?"

At Ferrum's raised eyebrow, Nocturne said," As a matter of fact, I didn't really need to be sent anywhere. After your human did his whole 'power overload' thing, the Nightmare, the Demon that had corrupted me and increased my power, was flung into the deepest reaches of Tartarus. However, with it, the Demon took all my power, leaving me in a similar state to Princess Luna after her encounter with the Elements of Harmony. Though, to answer your question, I was teleported to an old shack in the Southern-most reaches of the Hayseed Swamps. Apparently, it once belonged to a necromancer that'd survived Celestia's Crusade against the Necromancer Guild. There, I discovered how to make a potion that would gradually give me my powers back, which you witnessed me drinking a couple minutes ago. The necromancer had both a graveyard and a personal dock at his disposal, which I thought was almost too convenient."

"Regardless, I reanimated some skeletons and had them repair the necromancer's ship, which had been rotting in the swamp for who-knows-how-many years. About a month ago, Death paid me a visit, and told me about the Games. He said if I stopped them, I might be able to redeem myself of past wrongs. And here we are, on my ship, sailing towards Horse Shoe Bay. We'll sail up the river, through the Everfree Forest, where we'll disembark in Froggy Bottom Bog, from which we'll walk straight to Ponyville."

Ferrum sat quietly for a minute. So the Nightmare is what made him so powerful... Still...

"What were you doing so far North for so long?" he asked Nocturne.

"Searching."

"For what, or whom?" asked Ferrum.

"That's none of your business," snapped Nocturne.

Silence once again reigned over the dinner table.

Nocturne shifted in his chair.

"So... What happens now?" Nocturne asked casually.

Ferrum narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"After this, we're square. Understood?"

Nocturne nodded respectfully as Ferrum stood and left the room.

Nocturne waited a couple minutes before turning to a skeleton that was standing in the corner.

"You may go."

The skeleton nodded and left the room, leaving Nocturne alone at the table.

Nocturne pulled a folded photo from his pocket and carefully opened it.

Three ponies were depicted sitting under a tree, shaded from the noon sun. On the right, Nocturne sat, caught in the act of laughing happily. To his left, was an earth pony mare with a dark gray mane and tail, a light gray coat and light purple eyes, smiling down at a filly between them. The filly was smiling as only a child full of innocence could. The filly looked like a miniature version of the mare, save for blue eyes, her mane being black with blue highlights, and wings. Nocturne was embracing the mare, and had a hoof on the filly's shoulder.

The corner of Nocturne's mouth twitch upwards as he reminisced the life he had once had. Then he frowned. He folded up the picture and put it back in his pocket.

There would be time to regain what he lost after he cleared his name. Nocturne got up and strode from the room. He needed to check how long it would take to reach Ponyville. He was growing tired of all the complications.

On the other side of the ship, the skeleton that had been dismissed by Nocturne approached an unlit lantern.

"Ferrum has accepted Nocturne's proposal," the skeleton told the lantern.

A wisp of dark energy escaped the lantern.

"That isss good newsss. Our massster will be pleasssed. Now, return to your possst. It would be a ssshame if we lossst you."

The skeleton nodded once and retreated down the hall, leaving the black wisp of energy alone, which slowly faded into nothingness.

The skeleton turned the corner, and Ferrum promptly punched the traitorous sack of bones in the face. The skeleton was hurled forcefully down the hall as Ferrum advanced on its fallen form. He grasped it by the neck- er, spine- and shook it violently.

"WHO IS YOUR MASTER?!" Ferrum roared.

The skeleton laughed, a shrill ringing that set Ferrum's teeth on edge.

"You know nothing, foolish colt! Your Guild will fall, and your world with it!" The skeleton cackled.

Ferrum stood, rage twisting his features, as he released the skeleton, which stayed lying on the floor. Ferrum lifted up his hoof, and crushed its skull into shards. The cackling was cut off, and the skeleton collapsed into dust.

Ferrum took a shaky breath, trying to calm down.

The demon which had inhabited the skeleton, a Shade, a being with no true soul, had been right. He had no idea what was going on, and he hated it.

Ferrum shook his head. Letting his anger control his actions had been disastrous in the past, and he needed a clear head if he was going to do anything. Ferrum kicked at the dust half-heartedly, and made his way back towards his room.

Andromeda sat on the edge of the bed, the sounds of the city doing nothing to distract her from her thoughts.

"Ferrum Latet is not your true father," the changeling had said. Andromeda had tried to commune with Death, but he had refused to heed her calls.

She looked at the item in her hands. Unbeknownst to her, it was identical to Nocturne's, save for dramatically fewer creases. She gazed at the picture, trying to memorize the faces depicted. Moe had slipped it into her jacket pocket when he was whispering to her, but it held no real answers to her. She recognized none of the ponies, save for the filly, which she took to be her. All Moe had done was fill her life with questions.

Who, and what, was her real father?

Why had he left her in Ferrum's care?

And why couldn't she remember anything before Ferrum smiling at her, telling her that she was his daughter, and that he would take care of her?

She sighed, before putting on a mask of indifference, just as Ferrum instructed.

"If you look like you doubt yourself, others will take advantage of it," Ferrum had said. "Lock away your emotions, your feelings, and you can be safe from the evils of the world."

She wondered what he had really been trying to say. Why wouldn't he want her to feel?

She stood up as her companions entered.

Twilight quickly strode to her side.

"Are you alright? Did Moe say something bad? Did-"

"I require no further assistance," Andromeda stated in a calming manner.

"Moe told me nothing that should have elicited such a response. I over-reacted. Nothing more."

Rainbow Dash didn't look convinced, but she crossed her arms and remained silence.

Ironbeak shrugged.

"Regardless, the train to Ponyville leaves in three days, so we might as well rest up 'till then."

Andromeda nodded.

Twilight suddenly clapped her hand together.

"Oh my gosh! We could have a slumber party!"

Everyone groaned.