The Legend of Shimmerstrike

A cottage in the middle of the woods; that was my home.

Inside was the stale smell of smoke. I had a fire the night I left for my last contract. That was fourteen or fifteen days ago; I can’t remember. It was time for another fire.

I brushed the ashes from the previous fire into a basket and sprinkled some into my strawberry garden to fertilize the soil. I love strawberries and the ashes also helped keep the pests away.

Dusk was near so I quickly gathered my firewood. I put in thin sticks to get the fire going and made coals then began to put in logs. I lived about two days from the Crystal Empire so the nights were very cold.

Once my home began to warm up I went to the pantry for food. My dinner would be two slices of potato bread and a glass of strawberry wine. I uncorked a new bottle and the smell of smoke was replaced with the pungent smell of strawberries.

I sat down and hadn’t even taken a bite of my bread. There was a clop at the door. It was Nightshade, the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood.

Listener is the highest rank achievable in the Dark Brotherhood and there is one in every Sanctuary. When somepony prays to Nightmare Moon, she relays the information to the Listener, who then sends a Speaker, like myself, to meet with the client and come to an agreement and then a Dark Brother or Sister is assigned to carry out the assassination depending on their experience and the estimated difficulty of the contract.

“Hello, Sister. May I enter?” he asked.

I stepped aside and let him in.

The stallion stepped into my home and hung his cloak on the coat rack by the door. His ebony coat made him nearly invisible in the low light and he had a bright purple mane.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“You live in such seclusion. Is it strange for me to check on you?”

“Yes.”

He chuckled. “Very well, but it’s the truth. I was relieved to see light from your window. You’ve been gone for much longer than you should have. What happened?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“Why not? Did you fail your contract?”

“No.”

“Then you’ve nothing to worry about. What happened?”

“That’s just it. I don’t remember. I killed the mark and was coming back, then I remember nothing. I awoke bound and gagged in a Legion carriage.”

“Probably a scouting party. There are rumors of an assassination attempt on the Emperor. I’m sure you can imagine the excitement of them capturing one of us.”

“I suppose. They knew everything. All the ponies I’d killed, even my name. I’m afraid I may have broken the second Tenet.”

“No, you would know if you did.”

“Oh?”

He eyed my meal. “Was I interrupting?”

“Yes. You can stay if you’d like.”

“I’d love to but I really must be going. I suppose that since you’re back you can check on your own chapter.”

“Ah, right. I think that can wait until morning.”

I oversaw a specific group of the Brotherhood in a sanctuary outside of Ponyville as was customary for a Speaker. There were four of us as well as the Listener forming the Black Hoof of Sithis, the elite of the Brotherhood.

“Of course. Well… since you’re not dead, I’ll be on my way,” he said awkwardly.

“Yes, you go.” I shooed him out.

He left and I ate my dinner. Then I pulled out my journal. It was massive, possibly several thousand pages, and was held together by a binding I had to make myself. Perhaps one day I’ll count the pages. I began my latest entry, telling of what had happened since the last and spared no details.

I started this journal when I first joined the Brotherhood. I could relive any of my previous contracts or any significant day of my life since by simply turning a few pages. I’d never let nopony read it, of course, but it was nice to have and it said that I had come a long way from the helpless young mare that had been captured by lowly bandits.

I didn’t need friends. I only needed my journal.

It took some time to write two week’s worth of entries—I always tried to write one for every day—but once I did, I put the journal away and it was time to go to sleep.

The familiar comfort of my bed quickly put me under.

<-=======ooO Ooo=======->

A stallion and two mares, one of them adolescent, walked alongside their wagon being pulled by two oxen. The wagon was full of all sorts of wares: weapons, armor, clothing, junk, etc. A stool fell out of the wagon.

“Shimmerstrike, dear, could you get that?” the mare said to me. I put the stool back on the wagon and wedged it down into our junk. “Thank you.”

We were on our way to Baltimare from our hometown of Canterlot. My father was a traveling salespony. He made plenty of money as a shopkeeper in Canterlot but he liked the open outdoors and meeting new ponies. I hated the outdoors and didn’t care to meet anypony unless I had to. The law prohibited me from staying at home with no guardian so I had to go with them.

We were, more or less, halfway between the two towns according to my father.

We stopped to make camp in the woods. My father lit a fire and my mother began cooking our dinner. It was a big pot full of stew.

She put vegetables of all kinds in it: carrots, radishes, potatoes, you name it.

“Can I help?” I asked.

“I suppose I do need help with something but you probably won’t want to.”

“Yes I will.”

“I need you to go out and find four Alkanet Flowers.”

“But I hate Alkanet Flowers!”

“I told you. Do you want to help or not?”

“Why do you put them in everything we eat? They’re bad for your health, you know.”

“Shimmerstrike, you wanted to help.”

“Fine.”

“Here, take this.” She handed me a dagger made of cheap iron.

“Are there monsters out there?”

“You’ll need to cut the flowers, won’t you? Don’t go too far out, okay? We don’t need them that badly.”

I set out into the forest to find the flowers. I knew that they were blue or purple or something of that nature.

The dried pine needles crunched under my hooves and gave away my presence to the residents of the forest. The campfire still burned through the darkness but the light of the moon was my only aid in finding those flowers. It didn’t take long to find the first flower. I cut it from the stem and put it in my satchel and continued my search.

Only three to go, I thought.

I began to hear a wider variety of creatures the further from camp I got. It started with only bugs and owls. The wolves soon joined in. Then the bears. None showed themselves.

I found two more flowers growing out of a fallen tree and put them in my satchel.

The last flower took longer to find than the other three but I rushed back to camp once I found it.

My parents were sitting by our wagon with gags over their mouths. They were looking at me, shaking their heads and nodding toward the forest. The oxen were gone.

Then I heard a laugh and several ponies stepped out.

“We got us another one,” the leader said. He walked over and flipped my mane with his hoof. I slashed at his leg.

“Don’t touch me!”

Two of them jumped on me.

<-=======ooO Ooo=======->

The sight of my peaceful cottage greeted me. I sat up in my bed and looked around my room. The dim light of the waning moon shined in my window.

I hated that memory and still do.

No use trying to go back to sleep, I thought. It would be dawn in a couple of hours.

I rubbed my eyes and stretched and got out of bed.

* * *

“What is the color of night?” the door whispered to me.

“Sanguine, my brother.”

“Welcome home.”

I journeyed many days and nights to Ponyville. The door of the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary opened to me and I took a deep breath and ventured inside. Cool air blasted from the earth that was much more comfortable that the warm and humid air of Ponyville.

Just inside was where the leader of this Sanctuary dealt with official matters. Her desk was covered with scrolls and gold. She wasn’t there.

My family had gathered in the den. It appeared that they were grieving. Grieving for me. My Silencer jumped up when she spotted me and rushed over and pulled me into a hug.

“Oh, dearest Sister,” she said, “we thought that you were killed when we heard of your capture.” She grabbed my cheeks and smiled. “This is good.” I was pulled into another embrace to which I pulled away.

“Not now, Sister,” I said with a hoof on her chest. “Where is Malice?”

She looked disappointed. “Oh… she’s in her chambers.”

“Thank you.”

Malice was the head of this chapter. It was she who issued contracts to the lower ranked members of our Family.

Malice shared her chambers with a sarcophagus that contained the remains of Nightmare Moon. The red mare sat in concentration before our Mother. Malice was the Keeper of Nightmare Moon as well as the leader of this Sanctuary. Her duties were to protect Nightmare Moon and handle all official matters of the Sanctuary. She was the pony who assigned contracts to the lower-ranked assassins.

I crept into the room and approached her from behind and her right ear twitched.

“Shimmerstrike,” she said without even looking at me. “So nice that you’ve returned.”

“Yes, I’ve come with an unusual request. I want a contract.” Speakers didn’t do contracts. That was left to the lower-ranked members. We simply recruited others but I felt that I should spill blood for Sithis.

“There is an equally unusual contract available. You’ve been requested personally. The Ripper, more specifically.”

She sighed and got up to look at me. She always looked sullen but the pony behind the expression was the closest thing to Sithis here in Equestria; I’d never met a more sadistic pony. She seemed particularly fond of my methods as the Ripper as was everypony else in this Sanctuary. I was the official leader of this group of misfits and they all revered me.

“You will go to Dead Mare’s Cairn and speak with Will-o-Wisp regarding the details of her contract, though she likely won’t be there for several days.” She looked me up and down. “What happened to your armor, Sister?”

“It was ruined.”

“I suppose you’ll need another suit then. You’ll want to see Skyforge then and spill blood for our Dread Father.” She gestured me out. “Until we meet again, Sister.”

I had to walk through a barrier of intense heat to step into the forge. How Skyforge stayed in there all day is beyond me.

Skyforge was a large Earth stallion from the north, past the Crystal Empire. He was the oldest member of our chapter, but also the strongest, physically anyways. His once white mane was singed from long hours at the forge making weapons and armor for his family. And we were thankful for he had worked the forge since he was a foal and was a master at his craft. He looked up at me when I entered. His light grey face was black from the smoke he was in all day long.

“Speaker! How can I help you?”

“I need a suit of armor, Skyforge. The same as I had before.”

“I do have one, but it is for Moonshield.” Moonshield was my Silencer.

“Moonshield and I are the same size. She doesn’t have a contract at the moment and I do.”

“But she is expecting it.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“I suppose.”

He gave me the armor. It was made from black cloth and had leather plates over the chest and forelegs and had a black hood. The breastplate bore the insignia of the Dark Brotherhood, the blood hoofprint, in crimson.

I put it on. The light leather was stretched tight across my body. The joints had been stitched together perfectly and did not chafe. This was a problem I’d had with anypony that made my armor other than Skyforge.

“I’ll also need a weapon.”

“Same as before?” He knew me too well.

“Of course.”

He gave me a dagger identical to the one I had before my initial capture. It was made from Minotaurichalcum.

Then I needed to rid my body of the influence of the Divines.

I ventured into the deepest and most sacred part of our home. It was a winding, descending staircase that was cut into the earth. At the bottom was a statue of Sithis. There was a stone bowl on top of a small pillar—it resembled a birdbath. I placed my offering in the bowl and knelt before the shrine to my Dread Father. He purged me of Applejack’s blessing. I felt weaker but more pure at the same time.

And once again I left my family.

I stepped back into Equestria and ventured north. Dead Mare’s Cairn was toward the center of Equestria and was about a day by hoof from Ponyville.

* * *

It was strange walking down the road in daylight. I didn’t normally do that. Nopony seemed to give me more than a passing glance. I had to hide when the Legion soldiers passed by. They would surely have recognized me and I’d likely be sent to the nearest chopping block.

I hate the outdoors but I was enjoying the quiet, just me and the long road.

Then the strangest thing happened.

A pillar of purple light shot to the sky about a quarter-mile away. Black energy swirled around it and the day grew dark. After a few moments, the light faded and I saw a dragon for the first and only time in my life.

Its appearance was demonic; it had crude black spines and glowing red eyes. The gust from its wings nearly blew down the trees below it. It hovered in place, taking in his surroundings, then let out a deafening roar and flew north toward the Crystal Empire.

I took a moment to comprehend what I’d seen. Dragons hadn’t been seen in Equestria in thousands of years. I wondered what that one was doing there.

Oh, well… I thought. That’s somepony else’s problem. I continued toward the meeting place.

Later on I was stopped by three ponies clothed in black robes. There was a silver dragon-shaped insignia stitched on the chests of them. One had a silver band around her leg which led me to believe that she was their leader.

“Hold,” she said to me.

“What do you want?”

“Do you have a few moments to hear about our Lord and Savior?”

“No. Spread your Divine filth to somepony else.”

“Divines? Ha! Great joke, my friend. We don’t serve the Divines.”

“Then who is it you serve?”

“Leviathan, Dragon of Forgotten Lore.”

“You mean the big black dragon from earlier? He’s not very special if he’s forgotten.”

She laughed. “He is only forgotten by the plebeians of Equestria, those that have chosen the Divines over Him.” She patted my shoulder. “But I’m sure you are of greater intellect than they and know that it is Leviathan who is the harbinger of our salvation.”

“No, my loyalty lies with Sithis, master of the Void and harbinger of death. I don’t need salvation. I’m content with my life as it is.”

She put one hoof over my shoulder and waved the other before the world. “Imagine a world where everypony is equal. No Legion and their laws, no racial segregation. Once Leviathan rises, all of this will be so. You’d be wise to join him now.”

“I said no.”

“So you’d rather be a murderer?”

“If it’s the will of my Father, then I will make it so. Your Leviathan would tremble in fear before the Dread Father.”

“Quiet yourself. Another remark like that and we’ll gut you right here.”

“Will you, really?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m just going to have to kill you.”

I slashed her throat and she fell to the ground. The two stallions charged at me. I ducked one’s swing and stabbed him in the stomach and flipped him over me. The other slammed into me and we fell to the ground.

He was on top of me and pulled his blade back to kill. I drove mine into his gut. I stood up and pulled upward, spilling his entrails to the dirt. The sound it made was nothing short of ecstasy.

Then the part I hated. I couldn’t leave the corpses there; I had to drag each of their bodies into the forest. One of the stallions was fairly large so I took him first. I figured the others wouldn’t seem as heavy after dragging him.

Then I had to find water to wash myself. A blood-covered pony would get more attention than I wanted.

The woods around Ponyville are abundant with small streams. I washed myself and continued on, hoping I wouldn’t be delayed again.

* * *

I arrived at the meeting place at dusk. The mass of stones hid a passage that led down into the earth. The air inside smelled stale and I could almost feel the grime in the air go down my throat as I breathed it in. Surely this pony wouldn’t venture too far in, I thought.

She didn’t. Inside the door I saw the Unicorn mare. She sat hunched over the effigy assembled from the body parts of a dead pony. The smell and decomposed state told me that she’d been here a long while. She was inside a circle of candles and was surrounded by Nightshade flowers. Dagger in hoof, she repeatedly stabbed the effigy, splattering her bright yellow coat with blood on each strike, while reciting a familiar plea.

“Sweet mother, sweet mother, send your child unto me, for the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear.”

She somehow sensed my presence and turned to face me and stood up. Her gaze unnerved me in an instant. Her light grey irises were nearly invisible against the white of her eyes. She looked malnourished and sleep-deprived.

“You must be Will-o-Wisp.” I said.

“Are you… with the Dark Brotherhood?”

“I come at the behest of Nightmare Moon. Tell me why you’ve requested me personally.”

“Vengeance,” she said plainly.

“Vengeance?”

She nodded. “For what you’ve done.”

“You’ll need to be more specific. I’ve done a lot in my short time.”

My ear twitched and I heard a sharp hum behind me. When I rolled to the side, the blade of a greatsword wielded by a massive Earth stallion struck the ground where I had stood a fraction of a second earlier.

“I swear to Celestia,” she said, “if you want something done, you have to do it yourself.”

“Forgive me for not clinging to the shadows like a coward,” the stallion said.

“That’s irrelevant. Kill her.”

Will-o-Wisp stood there and I was to face down her bodyguard. We circled the small room, staring each other down. I sunk low and he stood tall. Then he spoke.

“I thank the Goddesses that it’s to be me that will send you to Tartarus.”

“You’ll need more than the opportunity.”

“It matters not. You are but a lowly cut-throat.”

I sprang at him with my dagger and he rammed the pummel of his blade to my head. The world spun for a few seconds and I crumpled to the ground. He could have killed me right there. He didn’t.

“Ha! Ha! Get up, weakling.”

I sprang again and feigned a slash to his face and drove my dagger to his armored chest. I loved the sound of a dagger piercing flesh, especially when the victim was muscular like this one.

He dropped his blade and threw his hooves around me. He pushed me back to get the dagger out, then pulled me back in and squeezed. I heard my spine crack and started to thrash. He squeezed tighter. I tried to bite. He moved his face back and laughed.

“Fight back, Ripper!”

I was able to squeeze my hoof out from his grip. I drove my blade into the side of his neck and he dropped me. He reeled back, holding the wound I’d given him. I coughed and caught my breath. He was too strong. So I fled, dodging the mare’s fireballs as best I could. The smell of singed hair hit me.

“No!” she yelled. “Follow her!”

I could hear them arguing but didn’t stop to listen. I knew that the stallion at least would follow me in and I needed to use this time to hide.

I fled deeper into the tomb. My fear prevented me from watching for traps and I stepped on a raised plate. There was a crunch and a sharpened rod came from the wall. It sliced through the tip of one of my ears and drove into the wall. I watched the floor as I walked.

The stallion gave chase. He stepped on a plate that I’d missed and a rod was lodged in his side. He didn’t pull it out. His taunting and confident demeanor had given way to a feral rage. He growled and screamed, yelling for me to come back to him.

I rounded a corner and heard shuffling. A casket sat upright at the end of the hall and the lid began to move. I dove behind a large urn and hid in the spider-webs. Dust blasted in my face and I fought the urge to sneeze.

The lid crashed to the floor and dust flew in every direction. A Draugr, the reanimated corpse of a pony long dead, stepped out of its coffin with eyes glowing a fierce blue and it growled as it searched for the one who had disturbed it. That’s when the stallion rounded the corner.

The Draugr charged at him and once it passed me I shot down the hall. The stallion saw me and told me to come back and fight. I figured he would be busy a good ten seconds while fighting the Draugr. That would give me plenty of time to hide again.

I heard a chopping sound and the stallion screamed for me again. I had come to a room with a staircase made from logs. I went down and slowly searched the room for a place to hide. There were more caskets lying down on the floor in organized rows. The lid blasted off of one.

A large Draugr poked his head out and its glowing eyes spotted me. I had nowhere to hide so I drew my blade and charged it. Before it could get up, I sprang to its chest and drove my blade into its throat and chest until its eyes faded. That Draugr had a battle-axe.

Three more casket lids blasted off. “There you are!” the stallion yelled. I fled and left the stallion to deal with the Draugr. I’d have been a fool to face all four of them. “No!”

There was a long log bridge extended over a deep chasm and I crossed it. Below I could see what I guessed was water. It appeared black and the light of the torches reflected off of its surface.

The room it led to had a hole in the middle of the room. A hole was blasted in the roof directly above it and the sunlight poured down the pit though I still couldn’t see the bottom. A throne was set before it and in it sat a regal Draugr.

It didn’t move and its rotting eyes were dark. A horned helm was on its head and a black sword rested in front of it. Its skin looked petrified and it reeked of death.

I stepped around the hole and walked up to the Draugr. It didn’t move. I waved my hoof in front of its face. It didn’t move. Next I meant to touch it, but felt strong hooves latch around me and I was slammed to the floor. My vision blurred but I could see the armored stallion standing over me. And behind him were a burning pair of blue eyes.

The stallion picked me up and held me over the hole by my throat. He chuckled. “It’s a shame you couldn’t die by my blade but I suppose this will have to do.”

“Drop me,” I said. I’d have just flown out of the hole.

There was a raspy inhale then a whisper with the volume of a dragon’s roar. The stallion and I were both blasted into the hole. I was sandwiched between him and the wall then we went toward the middle.

The stallion and I were freefalling beside one another, exchanging blows. Mine didn’t faze him, his knocked me against the rocks. I fought to stay conscious. He pulled me into another bear hug but I stabbed him before he could tighten his grip.

We slammed against the rocks and flailed through the air. I tried to fly out of the pit but he grabbed my rear leg and launched me down. I could only scream.

I believe I was about halfway down when I struck a wooden beam that whipped me to a stop. I heard the stallion’s screams drawing near and he crashed down on top of me, sending both of us through the beam and we continued our freefall. My vision darkened and my rear legs struck another beam. This sent me flipping and I scraped against the wall.

Then I felt wet rock and the light of the sun was gone.