Chapter 10: Not So Dark Days

Chapter Ten: Not So Dark Days

We argued over the morality of burning ponies alive, then feasting on their corpses... "Look, Brian... They are wasting our ever so precious time... We have to get through and this is the fastest way" He sighed.

"Fine, but i have nothing to do with it" I looked over my shoulder at Moonsinger.

"Cover your eyes and ears if you want to, this is going to be distrubing" She nodded in agreement, but didn't do anything. "Your call..." I flung the bottle over at them, soon after i relived the memories i told Rarity about... Tho i have to admit, for some reason i enjoyed it... The smell of burning and sizzling flesh, their screams of agony and pleading for mercy... I guess if nobody or nopony else, at least i should get used to these... Soon after the last fire died out, leaving three of them still turning agound on the ground, still alive, i walked up to one of them, Brian shot the other two, they suffered enough.

"Wh-Why so brutal? We only wanted some... money so we won't starve..." I grinned, shortly after replied.

"If you would've just asked, i would've given you a lot, but now it's too late" We continued on our way, leaving the corpses behind... Soon after we were there, Moonsinger in front so they could easily verify us as allies, they did but they were upset about the third presence with us, but they got used to him, since help was indeed welcome. I showed Brian to his room next to mine, then went back down to the walls, they were in bad shape, not to mention the bodies left behind...

"Uhm, Moonsinger, where should we put the bodies?" She looked at us, and pointed at a pit nearby.

"Throw the bodies of my brothers and sisters into that one, i'll take care of them later..." She used her magic to make the changeling remains disappear.

"Sure, should we take their armor off or just... leave them as they are?"

"Your call, without them they would be much easier to move tho... And their equipment would come usefull later..." We began stripping them of their armor, and carrying them down to the storage, once we were done i saw Wisewrods walking around, i told Brian to go on i'll be there in a minute.

"Greetings, John... Good to see Moonsinger didn't visit you in vein"

"Greetings to you as well, i'll always be there should you need aid. Could you spare some time to talk?" He nodded and we walked down to the ancient library.

"Come along John, i want to tell you something..." The elder clearly levitated a book over to me, but he was an earth pony... how?

The book had the following title: Altair's Codex: Chapter 2: The Maker. I opened it, in his handwriting there were depictions of a human, most likely young, wielding powers that would put the princesses to shame, the power to control space and time entirely in Equestria... He became an ally to the Dark Shield Assassins... Altair even went as far as describing him to have limitless powers, no limits, he could literally make anything and everything happen... Wait... that means he can help Brian! I slammed the book shut and gave it back.

"Thank you elder, you have no idea how much you helped" He nodded, and i sprung back up to the others to help, we cleared the bodeis but we had no idea how to build the wall so we got some free time. I walked him back to the library, showing him the book.

"John, come on... please don't belive these stories..." I raisend an eyebrow.

"Stories? Should i not belive in a world where magic is as natural as technology? Should i not belive that i myself am the descendant of the legendary assassin Altair Ibn-La'Ahad!? Should i not belive anythig the Pincesses say?" For some reason i noticed my eyes turning red, his eyes reflected them, and in my sudden rage i pushed him against the wall with an extraced blade... close call. I let him go, leaving him in the library, i informed him on my way outside. "You know... Coming to think of it... You never proved your loyalty to the kingdom..."

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He was right... i never had the chance to do it, either did i have to... "Oh really? How do you want me to prove it?" He chuckled, soon after he was engulfed by blue flames, his clothing changed into dark black scale armor with a helmet... He looked like a changeling.

"Go ahead, try to kill me... Like i was one of them" He spread his arms, waiting for me to act...

"Do you really want me to prove my loyalty by having no trouble shooting my own brother?" He nodded, i slowly pulled out the pistol.

"Come on, try something better" He threw me a shotgun...

"Hey, if anyone outside asks what the noise was we tell them that you slipped and hit your face in the floor" He nodded, i took aim *Boom* He flew back to the wall, and fell to the ground limp, blood pouring from the suit of armor... I was waiting for him to get back up, like he usually would do, but he didn't... I got worried, what if the other's find us like this? I knelt down and took of his helmet, a second ago his suit of armor was bleeding profusely, now... it was empty. Suddenly i felt my thoat grabbed, i was thrown to the ground.

"Always make sure your enemy is in the right place, and make sure they're dead" How did he do it? He helped me get up, and the armor disappeared.

"How... How did you do that?"

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I chuckled. "Heh, in the dream i introduced Altair to you i told you the tenats... Always hide in plain sight"

"Riight... so where should we find this so called creator?" I began thinking, maybe if i become a fully pledged assassin... or a true mentor at that... but then i heard a voice in my head, not like the one in the forest, not like the one from the nightmare and definetly not like my parents.

"Oh John, i know what your desire is... And i have already granted you such"

"Wait, you mean... "

"Yes, Brian now gets a new,, more functional and healthier heart... it'll hurt a lot for him for a while, and he'll be in near death for his body to accept the new organ, but  it'll extend his life by a good 30 years... And tho i'm capable of, i prefer not to intervene with destiny" Apparently Brian heard the same thing... He had no idea how to respond, since he was already in pain. "Don't worry, i won't let him die, for now... I do let him suffer for it tho, you must understand... You have to work for everything... I'm sorry" As the sentence ended Brian wasn't suffering as much, he knew he wouldn't die. "And that's why i prefer not to intervene with one's destiny or fate" He was right, things are meant to happen, and if we change them, who knows how it will end. "And just so you know, i could turn Brian immortal, or you back to mortal again, but it's how things are meant to be, so i can't change anything permanent about your lifespams... I'm sorry"  We just accepted the fact, and we had an idea.

"Brian uhm want to join the Dark Shield Assassins? It's basically a secret organization sworn to focus on defending primarily Princess Luna, and the royal family, only after them come the citizens" I hoped he would join... to my relief he nodded. I simply can't put into words how happy i was... Serving the Princesses alongside my very own brother... While i was trying to express myslef the creator spoke again.

"One more thing, from now on i will see everything you two do... Well, except for the bathroom... *Cough* Anyway, i will try not to intervene with your destinies, when i have to i will let you know about it this way, don't be afraid to ask me to help tho, you can aske me to help with anythings but i may not be able to do so. You two should consider yourselves lucky... Right, Brian?" He seemed to know what that meant, i however had no idea...

"Thanks but, uhm... What should we call you?" He began thinking...

"Well, belive or not, once i walked among the ponies you came to know, but after Celestia called me a tyrant and tried to get me executed i gave up hope of a normal life here... How about big brother tho?" Ow haa haa, looks like i'm not the only one with a sense of humor... At least if we aren't talking to God himself... "No John, i'm not God" I wish he would stop reading my mind... "Okay, i'll stop *Chuckle*"  About damn time... After the clean up was finished Moonsinger had something to tell us.

"John, Brian, thank you very much for your help, as you can see we also have civillians here, not only fighters and farmers. Talking about farmers, a few of our ones insist on thanking you personaly and making a celebration feast for your return..." We swapped glances.

"Uhm, sure... We would gladly meet them" Brian nodded, slowly leaning his head towards mine.

"Uhm, when do i get my assassin equipment?" Apparently he thought he'll be getting equipment and robes similar to mine, but Luna appointed me as the mentor of the brotherhood, he on the other hand was just a recruit... yet.

"Great, to be honest they almost got done, a few hours and it will be ready, the want it to be a surprise tho... They would be thanking you as for who you are, and what you are... both as welcoming the human race and welcoming the Dark Shield Assassins back" Even better... Just make sure nothing goes wrong, or else we'll earn a terrible reputation for the future humans to somehow end up here...

"Great! You heard that Brian? We will be representing every single human in existance!"

"Yeah, all of them..."

"By the way, have you heard the great news Moonsinger?" She shook her head, i hoped she would be happy for it. "First off, did you know he's my brother?"

"Really? I didn't know so far"

"And guess who just became an assassin..."

"No way! Really?"

"Yes, Moonsinger. i decided to join the cause just so my life will have another purpose" We walked back into the library, all three of us sat down at a desk and we started flippings throught he pages of the book Luna gave me... Even i learned a few things, not just Brian, we all sat there, simply absorbing knowledge, the time flew by until it was nearly time for the feast to begin.

"Hey uhm, Brian. Come with me for a minute"

"Sure" We excused ourselves and left her with the book, and hurried into his bedroom. "What is it John?"

"The thing is, there are different ranks in the brotherhood, and you are just a novice, so you'll have to do with... worse equipment, but for this event i'll let you wear master assassin equipment, okay?" He raised an eyebrow, soon after agreeing.

"Oh, that'll be a challenge then, and thanks, but then how come you have the master assassin equipment already?" I gave him his stuff, the robes, sword and hidden blades.

"Brian, please understand, for now when we are talking about offical manners by the book you'll have to call me mentor... and you would unfortunately have to rise through the ranks... i wish i could do more, you only get basic armor for now and only one hidden blade, a knife and some supplies, i truly wish i could do more for you, but we must honor and respect the creed..." He grinned and took them, for the event like i said he'll be wearing equipment like mine, but different colors, my robes are dark blue, with blinding silver edges, his ones were blinding white with golden edges... I had a clear idea about why, and hoped it wasn't the case... The thing is that i readt about the Lunar Republic had it's own special forces made of elite Dark Shield Assassins... he did write what their name was, but it was unreadable, and so did the Solar Empire had theirs in response, the Solar Knights... Sadly, just like the Templars Altair fought against back on earth... I explained the previous thoughts to Brian, he was worried.

"Hey, the rivalry was more likely about millions of years ago... maybe this is the era of peace..."

"I hope so, but i also readt about a tryrant who once ruled the Crystal Empire, when but we should talk about this with the princesses" He agreed, and gave the equipment back and changed into his now signature suit of armor, with the same colors and a broadsword... i just hoped it wasn't too heavy... he had his helmet on, so did i have the hood... Then we returned to Moonsinger hoping she didn't read that part yet... much to our surprise and relief she hadn't.

"Hey, uhm... what's with his equipment? Isn't he supposed to have similar things like yours?"

"It's a long and complicated story i would not start now, let's just go. We don't want to be late right?" And so, we entered the dining room, all farmers, fillies and foals... They gave us a warm welcome, but they were indeed worried about our weapons... We sat down and talked to them, enjoyed the meal, nothing special really. At the end we thanked them for their gift, they thanked us for our help in return, and we left towards our rooms, on the way we had our conversation.

"Sooo is that armor heavy?" He shook his head with a grin, carrying the helmet in his armpit, his sword was much thicker and longer than mine, but also heavier, at least it wasn't scraping the ground as we walked around... That would've been just plain annoying. "*Sigh* Brian, i'm afraid you are no longer and assassin officaly... since... you know..." He nodded. "Tho you may not be officaly one, you are a honorary one" He grinned, and we waited for the new day to go home... we bascally bummd around bored, until the night had come, and we embraced our slumber once more.

*The following morning*

*Yawn* Let's go... I left my room to see Brian, but he wasn't in his room... Where the hell is he? I paid a visit to Moonsinger, maybe she knows, she did. Apparently he was on the training ground parcticing with the sword. I walked down the stairs, looking at the walls, they didn't hace even torches on them, just a plain brick wall... And it wasn't even the newly build one, after i got there i walked up to him.

"Morning Brian, how's it going?" He was in middle of a swing, and turned towards me, you can guess what happened next. *Clank*

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I was down in the training grounds, practicing when John came up close, i was in middle of a swing and turned toward him. *Clank* What the hell are those hidden blades made of? He just raisend an arm and stopped the 75Kg sword mid air with a 5cm thin, 25 cm long blade... how? I don't know, don't question someone who's immortal... "Nice one, sorry, you startled me..." He just grinned and pushed the blade away.

"Ready to go home? I'm sure our frends and the princesses will be amazed" He was right, i knew Dashie would at least make a few jokes about it or just be proud...

"Sure thing, let's go!" We waved bye to the Garden, and started off towards Ponyville on foot as always, i wasn't much of a sports fan, let alone now a fighter... Everything was peaceful, too much for the Everfree Forest, i was worried what happened to the dangerous things living here. "John, don't you find it wierd that nothing attacked us yet?"

"Now that you mention, it is strange... Stay sharp" I unsheathed my sword, so did he. After walking a few hundred meters we stopped.

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"What in the name of the royal sisters is this?" Brian was so shocked at the sight he got paralyzed, so i had to push him away a few meters to fix it.

"How is this possible? I know magic can do anything but, don't everypony has a right to resting in peace?" I nodded, what we saw was nothing more than a bloody corpse left behing with chunks bitten out of it, when we approached it we realized it was a filly and it started moving almost like...

"A zombie!?" The filly turned it's eyes toward us, what she said got even me depressed...

"Please... Help me... *Cough* just... End the pain... please..." I knelt down to her.

"Whoever or whatever did this to you, we'll make sure it suffers much more than you did" She gave me a smile, Brian knelt down next to me.

"John, is there a way to..." I cut him short with a simple shake of my head. "But... You could just..." I shook my head even more.

"I could only save her if she wouldn't have vital organs missing, for now i can only heal cuts, not missing flesh..."

"Yeah? What about cutting your arm off and the shotgun blash hah?"

"That's the experiment's effect, not mine... That's what my body does automaticly..." We stopped talkng for a while. "Do you want to do it?"

"I just can't... We just can't..." At this point i shoved him back, away from her, i stood up and aimed my wrist at her head. "John! Don't you dare!" He was right, blowing her head to chunks would've been inhumane, so i unsheathed my sword and raised it up above my head. *Splat* I ran it through her heart.

"Thank... you..." I walked away into the forest, further from the clear path she was lying in the middle of and dug a hole.

"Brian, could you bring her over?" He sighed, soon after picking her up and bringing her over to her final resting place, we covered her up with dirt, and made sure she was deep enough not to be uncovered by weather, and one again knelt down to her grave, stabbed our swords into the ground, put our hands on the grip and laid our heads on them.

"Death bring you peace..."

"May in death you suffer no more..." We dusted ourselves off and stood up.

"John, was this the right thing to do?" He was still not sure, i have to admit i used a wrong example...

"Look, Brian... I'm sorry for what i'm going to ask as an example, but... If that was Dash, would you not make her suffering end?" He didn't reply, knowing him i guess he wanted to agree, yet wouldn't actually do it himself, a while after we saw Brian's house in the distance, as well as a couple coming our way, he had his helmet on and i had the hood on as usual... When we got close to them i noticed that they started backing away so i stopped. "Uhm, excuse us, can we help you?" The mare hid behind the stallion who was next to her, even the stallion seemed worried.

"Sorry sirs, we are simply looking or our daughter who went missing this morning, she had grey coat and purple mane, green eyes" We swapped glances with Brian, we knew where exactly she was... Brian slowly walked closer to them.

"I'm afraid we do know where she is... Please follow us, and... belive me we did everything we could" They followed us down the path, but we soon came to a stop... The filly who was supposed to be burried was now standing in front of us in the middle of the road... he head hung down low, her forehead casted a shadow covering her eyes.

"*Gasp* Here you are sweetheart, we were so worried!" The mare could hold back the sentence, and the stallion walked closer to her to bring her home.

"Wait! Stay there!" They didn't listen, the filly lunged at her father, biting his throat... The stallion fell to the gound struggling to keep the blood in his veins, i on the other hand blew the filly's head open and started healing the stallion with the goo... in vein, i did heal the would but the blood loss was too much... Creator! Is this meant to be this way? No response, i guess he was busy... i was about to give up on him, when a black light blinded us all, at first i thought it was Luna, but it was the Creator... Brian took off his helmet, knelt down crossing his sword above his heart, i did the same. He cleared his throat, and crouched into eye level with us, placing a hand over our shoulders.

"Pleasure to finally meet you in person, John, Brian... Let's save this poor soul..." With a snap of his fingers, the filly was healthy and living once more, and the stallion was just as healthy... they thanked us and left. We stood up and shook hands, at least with Brian, when it was my turned he gently pushed my hand away chuckling. "I'd rather not risk it, hehe..."

"What are you doing here anyway?" She grinned.

"Visiting a few new and old friends, let's go now shall we? Ponyville is close by anyways..."

"Sure let's go..." I replied, followed by Brian's comment.

"It's been a while too..."

End of Chapter 10