Chapter 7: Altair's legacy

Chapter Seven: Altair's legacy

I escorted Armor and Cadence outside, Armor let out a whistle and two crystal guards appeared with a cart, they got on and took off. I waved at them and made my way beck to the princesses. "Good to see you again John" Celestia greeted me, i wasn't as happy to see her tho after seeing that clone on the train, i walkd closer to them and asked Luna to follow me to one of the corridors, she came with me.

"Hello SSG.Miller, what can i do for you?" I showed her the book i borrowed from Twilight, her eyes shot open.

"Is this what you wanted to tell me All about later"? She nodded, her horn began glowing and levitated the book over to her, flipping through the pages she suddenly stopped, it was the same page Twilight showed me, she just stared at it for a while without blinking, then shook her head and continued flipping through soon after finishing the book and giving it back to me.

"Yes, it is..." She looked suddenly depressed, since she's immortal i guess she knew him personaly, probably the memories coming back.

"Uhm, something wrong?"

"Oh, no no... i just remembered why i chose you to replace him..."

"Oh, i suppose like every other living thing, he passed on sooner later as well, could you show me to his final resting place?" She didn't say anything for a while, then nodded.

"Yes, it's in the Everfree... If you wish to enter however i must ask you to bring a few things from the armory." I waved my hand telling her to come with me, we got to the armory and i looked around. Let's see... FN Fal assault rifle and USAS-12 automatic shotgun... my canteen a spoon and fork,  a hatchet, a shovel aaand a compact tent

"Ready to go Luna" And under a wink of an eye we were at the edge of the forest.

"Come John, it's three days of walking from here" We started walking, a few creepy noises aside it was a calm and uneventful tour, until the time came for her to raise the moon. "Oh, wait a minute John, i have to raise the moon" With that, her eyes began glowing and she flew upwards a few meters, soon after the sun made it's way out of the sky, making room for the moon.

"I haven't seen it this clearly for a while..." She grinned.

"Let's set up camp for tonight, shall we?" She asked, i set up the tent, and told her to wait for me and i'll go get some firewood, a while after i returned she was waiting for me patiently. I set up the wood and she set it on fire, it was just like camping with my parents...  But the thoughts were interrupted by Luna's stomach growling, thats when i  realized i didn't pack anything to eat...

"Ehm, Luna... would you go inside the tent for now? I'll tell you when you can come out" She nodded and got into the tent, i looked at the hatchet, it had no dirt on it, and we were hungry... I rolled up my pants leg to my knee.

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I got into the tent as John asked me to, i wonder why he needed me to, maybe he was... well... body functions with the digestive system...

*Some time later*

It's been a while now and still nothing, i was about to ask him what's going on when i heard a loud *Thump* *Splat* *Crack* *Snap* followed by John's scream... followed by a sentence i don't think i'll forget for a while. "Aggh, okay Luna you can come out now, i got something for us to eat!" I couldn't belive my ears, and i hoped he didn't just do what i think he did... I made my way out of the tent, only to see him skinning his left leg that he just chopped off...

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Okay *John, stay calm, it hurts more than you expected it to, but it could be worse....* I tried repeating that in myself, it didn't help at all however, when i heard **Luna come out of a tent followed by a gasp, i knew i either made a complete fool out of myself or a person dedicated to keep himelf and a friend away from starving... She walked sat down next to me, and asked me what i'm doing. "Well, i'm making some cooked meat for us, it did hurt like all hell but it'll grow back soon"

She raised an eyebrow and asked: "Uhm, John... You know that i could've just used a spell to get us food right?" As i finished removing the skin and bones, i replied.

"Yes, i know... But if it was Pinkie, Rainbow, Brian,A.J, or Fluttershy they wouldn't be able to use spells" We sat there, in silence next to the fire, after having roasted for long enough i took it out of the fire and let it cool for a while. "Hey uhm, Luna... I think you haven't eaten meat yet, i know it sounds disgusting to eat a part of me, but we have to... It may taste horrible too, i didn't try it myself yet" She nodded and took a bite, it looked like she enjoyed it... I hope she won't want more that what we have now... after that thought she chuckled and told me that i'm delicious. Uhhm... thanks but you're getting a bit creepy...

"Sorry, you know. I was thinking about asking Twilight to help me develop a spell that could turn ponies into humans for a while... What do you think?" Crap, then Rarity would have to make a lot more clothes...

"Uhhm, after they transform they would panic about a few new limbs and organs...  Not to mention they woult need to learn to walk on two legs" We both laughed at the thought of guards tumbling around like babies in a full suit of armor."How far are we ?" I asked, much to my surprise Luna told me we are halfway there. "Luna uhm, do you feel tired?" I had the idea of packing up and moving on, we had to get back to Canterlot before noon tomorrow, so we had to hurry.

"No John, i'm fine" I stood up onto one leg, broke a branch down from a nearby tree to use at crutches and asked her to help me clear camp and move on. A while after we got to the ruins of an old castle. "Here we are... It's been a long time since i set hoof here" We entered the ancient ruins of the castle, it was still in great shape considering how old the place is, bookshelves from floor to ceiling filled with books and codexes and, red banners with golden edges hanging from the walls with a crescent moon on them, she walked over to a shelf and took out a book and gave it to me. "Here, this is his personal Codex, but to read it you must be officaly an assassin... But this isn't what we came for so follow me" I put the thick and heavy book away and followed behind, soon we got to a stone statue of him, the foot of the statue had something engraved into it: Here lies *Altair Ibn-La'Ahad, loyalty, freedom and honor above all else, founder of the **Dark Shield Assassins and a hero to Equestria... May death bring your peace*" As i finished reading out loud she bowed to the statue, i followed since i knew what he did in his lifetime.

"What would i have to do if i became one?"  She grinned, turned her head toward me and replied.

"Defend the freedom of citizens of Equestria and the Crystal Empire until your death..." Not like that isn't what i was already trying to do...

"Sure thing, where do i begin?" She walked close to the wall and pushed one of the bricks, a hidden door... Behind it was a coffin, i had a guess who was inside, and a box, she gave the box to me telling me to open it.

"Careful John, if you're not worthy you'll get hurt" The box opened with no problems, inside were metal bracers those must be what he used, the retractable blades.

"I guess i'm worthy heh" She smiled, walked closer to me and whispered.

"Put them on, those are called Hidden Blades" I managed to get them on, without slitting my wrists with them. Hidden blades huh? That sounds fitting.

"Anything else we need to do?  If not we should go if we want to be there on the gala." I turned around to face her, but she was gone...  "Oh haaa haa, very funny... Come on! We have to go..." Then, i heard the same whistle NightmareMoon called her children with... Slowly a dark cloud of smoke appeared in front of me, and a while later the smoke slowly dispersed, revealing Luna and MoonSinger, who walked up to me and gave me a key.

"Here you go John, if mother trusts you then so do i" I blinked for a while to see if i'm seeing it wrong, i wasn't. I couldn't belive MoonSinger was smiling at me. I took the key and returned the smile.

"Thanks, MoonSinger" I put the key away, and turned towards Luna. "Ready to go?" She nodded and walked towards the exit, followed by us.

"John, there's something i want to give to you, but it's in a place very close to my heart, and the home of my children. In there, your authority will be useless however, and i must ask you never to tell anypony... or anybody about it..." I nodded, MoonSinger continued.

"Don't worry, if you keep your blades... all of them... sheathed for as long as possible and stay on a calm tone you should be welcome there." I nodded in agreement, i guess she had no idea that the long metal objects on my back and in my hands were weapons, but i'll put em into the bag as well... For some reason that bag acts like an infinite storage space.... Anywayyys, we left the castle ruins and the dark forest welcomed us with some rain.

"Oh you piece of... *Sigh*" Then all of the sudden Luna stopped.

"John, i see a human like figure ahead... and it's surely not Brian..." I reached into the bag for the shotgun, but pulled out a grenade launcher. What the? I don't remember putting this into the bag... I threw it back in and got the shotgun with an attached flashlight.

"Get ready, if this situation get's out of hand kill the thing" They nodded, i approached the figure, it had it's back to me. As i got closer i noticed it had no arms... just as i realized that it suddenly turned around and stared me in the face with blood red eyes and spoke to me.

"Can you sing the song of darkness?" I took a few steps back and pointed the shotgun at it...

"Identify yourself, this is the final warning!" It just stood there in front of me, staring at the gound when suddenly it anwsered me.

"Farawell to heaven, my friend" Then the figure lunged at me knocking the shotgun out of my hand, with it's mouth open trying to swallow me in one piece, i managed to throw the figure to the ground soon jumping onto it's back to keep it down, it worked. It was breathing heavily and agressively, soon after trying to break free, i stomped the back of it's head into the ground breaking it's jaw with a loud *Crack* While i did it i looked away at the two behind me, and saw them close both eyes as it cracked. It was wearing a hoodie, i grabbed him by it's collar and held him tilted to the ground at a 45 degree angle, and turnd towards Luna, she knows that means me asking if i should kill the suspect, prisoner. She nodded, i let out the hidden blade on my right hand, since i was holding the figure with the left, and lifted it into the air ready to strike but first i turned back to her again to confirm it. She nodded again, i looked into her eyes and did a double take at MoonSinger, asking her if she's sure she should see it, she still nodded, i motioned my head to the side telling them to turn away, they did and with a quick swipe i ended it's life and let it fall backwards to the ground. I stood there for a while to make sure it was dead, i remembered last time i got blown it half when i thought the enemy was dead, so i made sure. Followed by that i knelt down and closed it's eyes. "May in death you'll hear the song of darkness" With that, they turned back around.

"Did you really have to kill it? It didn't hurt us..." MoonSinger asked with a slight scold in her tone, Luna placed a hoof over her shoulder.

"He had to, he was just protecting himself and us..." She gave me a grin as she said it, i retracted the blade and asked Luna.

"I think i should go first, in case something else comes our way, you tell me when to turn, okay?" She shook her head and took off ahead of us, a while later we got to a clearing, where we saw a large barrier with some sort of fortress inside. Luna started making her way to the gates, we followed but soon i found myself way behind the other two, and i saw a barrage of arrows cover out the moon, flying towards me.

"John! No!" MoonSinger yelled, but it was too late. I spread my arms and closed my eyes. This is going to hurt isn't it? Then, i heard a constant *Crack* *Splat* when it stopped, i opened my eyes, only to find myself lying on the ground, full of arrows... at least my legs and upper hand, and my throat. The pain i felt is something i would never wish for anybody ever, no matter what they did. The first thing i saw was MoonSinger running towards me worried, i guess she didn't know about my... Curse... Thankfully tho filled with arrows, my arms weren't pinned to the ground, i stood up breaking the arrows off one by one, then pushing them through and pulling them out on the other side. "John! Are you allright?" She asked, i wanted to reply but i noticed blood squirting out of my throat, so i just nodded instead but i was in so much pain i collapsed to my knees.

*Cough* "I have not... Come this far... To die now!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, as i stood up blood was spraying out of every hole the arrows made. I slowly began walking towards the gate, then i noticed another barrage of arrows. Right then and there i stopped walking, unsheathed my sword it turned black, i started floating mid air like the last time we saw Chrysalis and yelled again. "THIS IS THE LAST TIME I TOOK AN ARROW TO ANYWHERE! HIT ME ONCE MORE AND I'LL TEAR ALL OF YOU APART WITH MY BARE HANDS!" I swiped my sword in anger, casting a wave that simply burned every arrow to ashes, and knocking everypony to the ground except Luna and MoonSinger. I fell to the ground, got up and sprinted toward the gate as i could, i got in and stood next to the now shocked and worried Princess. "Look, i'm sorry. I don't know what came ove..." I was cut short by her hoof the the mouth.

"It's okay John, i understand completely, and please forgive my children's behavior. They are just very protective of me... And it's been a long time since somebody wore robes like yours inside these walls" As i saw all of the Defenders getting back up, i immediately sheathed the sword and threw it to the ground, followed by my knife and the bag.

"Back off monster! Stay away from mother!" They slowly surrounded me with spears, getting closer and closer i stood there with my hands in the air and slowly walked further from Luna until i heard a voice call out.

"You fools! Let him go! Don't you remember the great service the Dark Shield Assassins did for us?!" I turned to see who it was, it was an elder earth pony with similar robes to mine, slowly walking down a set of stairs.  One of their soldiers walked up to him.

"But, but WiseWords! He's an intruder! Didn't you see what he just did?" The elder pushed him aside making his way toward me.

"Yes, indeed i have... But it seems you haven't. He just survived the strike of a thousand arrows, and he risked his life many times to save our dear mother! He is the descendant of the great Altair Ibn-La'Ahad!" The elder one was now standing right in front of me. "All respect the Dark Sheld Assassins!" The elder one yelled, every other bowed down to me and their mother... All except for one paticular stallion, SteadyAim.

"Dark Shield Assassin my flank... If you want me to belive it show me the traditional weapon..." I grinned, walked up to him and cracked my fingers, extracting the blades in the process and retracting them afterwards.

"Oh, i'm sorry..." I made my way to the elder and knelt down to eye level.

"It's an honor to meet you, wise elder" He smiled and replied.

"And it's a huge relief to see the Dark Shield Assassins finally have returned... At least you have, would you tell us your name, great hero?" I was a bit surprised but anwsered.

"John Miller" Luna stood next to me.

"Allright everypony, i'm back home but tomorrow i'll have other things to do!" The crowd dispersed leaving the two of us. "John, welcome to the Garden Of Shadows!" She summoned a bigger box out of nowhere, inside were some ancient looking... wait... it was an entire suit of armor. "This is the very armor Altair wore in his final battle... It belongs to you now" She levitated the armor into the air and with a flash of light it replaced my armor and she put my things back on, the bag and sword with the knife and pistol.

"Thanks, Luna" She smiled.

"Now go and rest, tomorrow morning i'll send somepony to wake you up at 7 A.M, and we'll teleport back to Canterlot for the gala, where you will be assigned as my personal guard" I had no idea what the time was, Luna showed me to my room next to hers and we fell into our slumber.

End of Chapter 7