Of Shadows and Wolves

Chapters

Chapter 2: An Unscheduled Reunion
Chapter 3: A Day of Rest
Chapter 1: An Unexpected Arrival

Chapter 2: An Unscheduled Reunion

Chapter 2: An Unscheduled Reunion

John Redwoods slowly began to stir from unconsciousness, his eyes fluttering open. Automatically, his mind registered two things. One: He was lying on a bed in a white room, one that was lit with natural light from outside. Two: His head hurt like a motherfucker. He rubbed his face, groaning.

“Ugh…” He groaned. “Bad hangover… And one hell of a crazy dream–” John suddenly took note of a major change that had occurred. Instead of feeling his fingers on his face, his hands were now stubby, lacking the usual protrusions that he was used to. He lifted his ‘hands' away from his face, and he saw a pair of stubby appendages with red fur on them. At first, John just stared at them, not sure what to make of it. Rational thinking told him to scream at the top of his lungs and flail hilariously in the bed. But then again, he was used to seeing some pretty weird shit, so this was something that he could just add to the list… Maybe this was one of those dreams within a dream. John laughed as he began to think about a certain movie from his childhood that revolved around that plot; the whole dream within a dream bullshit. “That movie always messed with my head for a while.” He muttered to himself. “I bet someone just put something too strong in my cup… Okay, time to get out of bed…”

John threw the blanket from his body… And the sight of his lower body sent his mind into a panic. His legs were now oddly-shaped, and his feet no longer had toes. Nope, he had stubs on his legs now too. But then, there was his tail; he had a fucking tail. It started swishing back and forth between his legs, seemingly waving at him.

… Okay, something is definitely wrong here. He thought to himself. John quickly tried to get out of the bed… Only to promptly fall face-first onto the linoleum floor with his legs dangling over his head. Okay, pain was not a good sign. This wasn't a dream. Groaning, he resorted to crawling out of the bed before trying to stand up on four legs. Once he was actually standing up, he took in his surroundings. His bed was right next to a hospital screen, one that was designed to separate him from another patient. The room itself was relatively small, as was expected of most hospital rooms… Hold it… He was in a hospital… Why was he in a hospital? Maybe it had something to do with his recent changes. His eyes roamed around the room for a bit before they settled on a mirror that was only a few paces from where he was standing. He started walking over to it when he felt himself lose balance. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!” He braced himself and stood completely still, trying desperately to keep his balance. After five seconds, he let out a sigh of relief. “Okay,” he said quietly. “Let's try this again…” John started to walk again, this time putting one leg in front of the other, one at a time. He soon got into the motions, and it was a piece of cake from there. After a few minutes of walking back and forth, he was standing in front of the mirror, staring at himself in disbelief.

His body was no longer human, portraying all the similarities to that of an equine. Now he knew to call the stubby appendages on his legs ‘hooves' instead of ‘things'. He also took in the fact that he now had a strange protrusion on his forehead, which poked out from underneath his now extremely long black hair. His tail was also the same color, which he still found it extremely unsettling that he had one to begin with. His eyes were slightly bigger, but they still had their feral-green color. Then, there was his muzzle, which protruded from his face. That part of his body was actually not the most disturbing. Actually, what he found most astonishing was the scar on his left cheek… and that was it. His body—his human body, anyway—had scars that would range from his back, arms, and legs. But now, the only scar that was on his body was the one on his cheek. By now, his headache had faded away somewhat, but now there was only one thing on his mind…

“... I definitely need something to drink now, preferably bourbon or vodka.” He chuckled as his stomach suddenly growled at him. “And maybe a pastrami Reuben sandwich on dark rye.”

“Che diavolo?!” Exclaimed a familiar voice. “Wha… what is this?! What has happened to me?!”

“Is… is that him?” John reached behind his back for his sword, only for him to realize that he no longer had his sword. “Goddamnit…” Then again, there was pretty much no way he could actually use his sword now that he had hooves; it was bit of a no-brainer. He searched around for some kind of chord or string so he could use it as a tool for strangulation… But he stopped when he heard the most familiar sound in the world: crying. Suddenly, his heart felt heavy for the mystery figure. He was scared and confused, like any other rational human being would be. There was no way John could possibly bring himself to kill him now, but he knew exactly what he could do.

The Assassin slowly walked around his bed and past the hospital screen. Looking to the bed that was on the other side of the screen, he saw another equine being, this one had dark silver fur and a black mane and tail, along with a set of wings. The creature was huddled-up in a ball when John cautiously approached him, careful not to make any sudden movements, lest he wished to incur the wrath of another Assassin… At least, he assumed that he was the same one from before; it had to be him. Once he was at the side of the bed, he slowly reached out to the winged-equine with a tentative hoof. At first, he was hesitant until he remembered that they were in the same boat together. If he attacked him, then he would respond in-kind. And if not, then he would see where everything would go from there. His hoof made contact with his wing, causing him to tense up. He spoke Italian… Perhaps I should say something Italian too so he doesn't freak out.

“Scusi… Signore, per favore non piangere.” The equine turned to face him, his eyes going wide. Yep, he was definitely in the same boat as him. And judging by the scar on his right cheek, he was definitely the same Assassin from last night. “Don't panic, okay? I'm just as surprised as you are.” It turns out that he wasn't crying, but rather, he was freaking out so badly that it merely sounded like he was crying. The dark silver equine narrowed his eyes.

“I was not crying, you baffone. I was just…” He tilted his head curiously. “Wait… I know you…” Oh, Jesus. Don't attack me, please. I'm not in the mood for that shit. “You’re… you're the Assassin who was dressed in white… The Demon Wolf…”

John had to act fast before a fight started. “Yeah, that's me… You're not going to attack me again, are you?” He let out a sigh of relief when he shook his head.

“No,” he said calmly. “I realize that it was childish of me to attack you like I did. We had both lost our targets, and that was not an appropriate way for me to react… And considering the fact that you haven't stolen my soul or tried to kill me while I am vulnerable, I know that I can trust you… for now, at least.”

“Good to hear it…” What John wanted to ask now was why his Sight turned him into an Angel of Shadows, but he knew that there were a few things that he had to get out of the way, first. “My name is John Alexander Redwoods, but my Assassin name is ‘Red Wolf.’ What’s your name?”

When he asked that question, he seemed to tense up as he sat up on his haunches. It was a few seconds before he responded. “I am the Night Angel.”

… Bullshit.

John narrowed his eyes. “Okay, let's act like you're not a dumbass, pal. What's your name?”

“I told you already.”

“No, you told me the name of a man who has been dead for over a few hundred years.” He replied bitterly.

“... I can assure you that I am not dead. I am very much alive, even though I am now in a strange place with no idea as to how I got here.” Night responded calmly, albeit confused. John grit his teeth.

“Buddy, Night Angel is dead, and he has been for quite some time. You want to know how I know? I'm his fucking descendant, that's how.” As soon as those words left his mouth, an uncomfortable silence filled the room. For a long time, Night just stared at him with wide eyes.

“You're my descendant?” He said quietly.

“What?!” John let out an exasperated groan. “No! Did you not hear what I said?! Night Angel is my deceased ancestor, making me his living descendant. Unless you have a certain trait, you are not the real Night Angel–”

“Do you have the Sight?” Night asked suddenly.

“... How did you know?”

“Because I have the same gift.” He explained. “Ever since I was born, I have had the ability to see things that no one else can, hear better than my fellow Assassin's, and even–”

“Know where your enemies hide… No matter who they are, or where they are, you always know. You can also see some things before they happen…” John fell back on his haunches. So many thoughts were reeling around in his head, his mind both confirming and denying that this was not his flesh and blood ancestor… But he couldn't deny the evidence. John remembered reading one of Night Angel's lost journal entries, one that explained his ‘gift’.

Now, normally, John would still call bullshit, but there were certain elements and factors that were at play here. For one, the Sight, or the Gift; not many people have it. In order for one to have the Sight, a person would need First Civilization blood, which was still extremely rare. John remembered stories from his guild about a certain Assassin named Desmond Miles, the descendant of Altaïr Ibn la'Ahad, and Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Apparently, his bloodline allowed him to inherit certain abilities that his ancestors had, like Eagle Vision—or the Sight, and the ability to take control of the Pieces of Eden. Only one in a million people have traces of First Civilization blood, but even then, it only did so much. John still had no idea how far his abilities went as far as his Sight or anything, but he highly doubted that he could control an artifact like the Apple of Eden.

But then, there was the fact that ‘Night Angel' called his gift by the Sight, not ‘Eagle Vision' or some other name. There were only three or four people in the world that John knew personally who called this gift by that certain name… Hold on… Night Angel left a long manuscript behind; a journal… A figurative light bulb suddenly came to life in his head as a brilliant idea struck him. He knew most of the information from what was left behind, so he could quiz this Assassin to find out whether or not he was truly the Night Angel, or merely an imposter that was obsessed with the real legend. It was pure genius!

“Okay, hold on.” The dark silver equine looked over at him intently, tilting his head curiously.

“... Yes?”

“What year were you born?” John suddenly asked. There was a moment of silence in the room, Night Angel giving him a bemused glare.

“... What is the purpose of–?”

“Just…!” He managed to calm himself, taking a deep breath before looking him dead in the eye. “Answer the question… please.”

“The year of our Lord, fourteen ninety-eight.” Okay, that's one.

“Alright. Where were you born?”

“Constantinople.” He replied. There's two…

“What was the name of the Master Assassin in Constantinople at the time of Ezio Auditore?” John was absolutely confident that he couldn't answer this question correctly. After all, this Master Assassin was practically a shadow in the history books, even though he helped solve a major conflict before Ezio arrived in Constantinople. This was simply…

“Yusuf Tazim.”

… There's no fucking way he got that right.

“... There was an Assassin-turned-Templar that attacked the Assassin's in Constantinople shortly after Ezio arrived. What name did he go by?”

“They called him The Sentinel.” Night said nonchalantly. But he didn't stop there. “My name is meaningless. The only thing I have left are the Assassin's, the memory of my mother and father, and the name that God blessed me with: Night Angel. You are my descendant, correct? Then you must be friends with the Mariaki family. I personally know Antonio Mariaki, the Sangue Camminatore. He saved my life, and there was a promise that was made between us and our families. Do you know what it is?”

John was absolutely speechless. He answered every question spot-on, and also mentioned the Promise, a sacred vow that was made between the two families. “‘No matter what happens, and no matter where you go, I will always be there to defend you. I will fight by your side, and I will die with you. We will always be together as brothers, no matter how many years and generations lay between us. As the time goes on, this promise shall live on in our descendants and it shall run in our veins forever…’” He stared at him in disbelief. “You… You really are the Night Angel… You're my… my ancestor…”

Night Angel chuckled. “I believe that I said that already, bambino.” He suddenly found himself pinned down by a very angry red pony.

“Don't call me that, okay?” John said in a dangerous tone. “I know Italian too, so don't you call me a fucking ‘little one’ ever again. Ancestor or not, I will end you. Capische?” The Italian's expression remained stoic, seemingly unfazed by his threat.

“You do realize that I have more experience than you as an Assassin, yes?”

“I may not have been an Assassin for my entire life like you have, but in my time, I'm the deadliest Assassin in the world…” John loosened his hold for a moment as he suddenly realized something. “Then again… If I killed you, then I wouldn't exist– Holy shit!” In the time span of only a few seconds, the tables were turned with Night Angel pinning him down to the bed. There was an amused look in his sky-blue eyes.

“Like I said,” the Italian said wistfully. “More experience.”

John was about to reply with a snappy comeback when heard the sound of the door opening, along with the familiar sound of conversation.

“I'll check on the newcomers in here, Nurse Redheart.” Said a male voice. “Could you please check on our usual patient, please?”

“Sure thing, Doctor Red Cross.” Responded a female voice, one whom he presumed to be Nurse Redheart. “I might as well check on Soarin while I'm at it.”

John looked up at Night Angel with a stern expression. “We have to get out of here. But in order to do that, you have to do as I say and follow my lead, alright?” Night responded with a nod. “Good. Now, first things first. Hide under the bed. I'll go to the other side and hide from the doctor. We're going to try and take him by surprise, alright?”

“Soarin is in here? What for?” John waited until Night Angel rolled off of him and over the side of the bed before he did the same, landing on the floor and rolling through the curtain and underneath his own bed.

“He was injured during the panic last night. A few citizens said that one of those strange creatures attacked him. His injuries are not too serious, thankfully, but he has a mild concussion and a bruised wing.”

“Ah, I see…” The doctor sighed. “Alright. I'd better check up on these two in here. I'm supposed to report back to the princesses once I am aware of their current condition. Otherwise, they’ll probably have my head if I procrastinate any further. Carry on, Nurse.” John heard the door close, followed by the sound of foot– hoofsteps coming towards the foot of his bed. “Okay! How's our patient doing today–” The clipboard Red Cross was holding fell to the floor in front of a pair of grey hooves. John swore under his breath. He hoped that the doctor wouldn't cause a commotion. If he raised the alarm, then their chances of getting out of this hospital would be impossible. He looked over at Night Angel to see him looking back at him. John nodded to him, and his ancestor nodded back. “Wha… where did he go?” Doctor Red Cross walked over to Night Angel's bed, only to find that it was also empty. “They're both gone?!” How?!”

Now was the perfect opportunity for John to strike. He quickly slipped out from underneath his bed and lunged at Doctor Red Cross, tackling him to the ground. “Hold him down!” He ordered in a hushed voice. Night Angel quickly crawled out from underneath his own bed and hurried to his side, assisting John in keeping the unicorn pinned to the ground. The task, of course, was easier said than done, as trying to restrain the equine was like keeping a huge trout from escaping a net. It took a bit, but the two newly-transformed equines finally managed to pin the unicorn down.

“What is this?! Unhoof me!” He shouted angrily.

“Now, now, Doctor,” Night responded calmly. “We just want to talk.”

“Indeed, we do.” John concurred. “However, we have a few conditions regarding said-conversation. First things first, don't shout. We don't mean you any harm, so don't start screaming like we're about to kill you, got it?” After a few uncomfortable seconds of silence, the doctor merely nodded. “Good. Second, we have a few questions that we need you to answer, so please answer them to the best of your ability…”

Meanwhile, in the Waiting Room, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were sitting and waiting anxiously for any good news about the mysterious warriors who appeared last night. Princess Celestia and Luna were there as well, although they were mainly there to make sure that anyone who was injured last night was treated. Applejack was holding her hat in her hooves when she finally spoke up.

“What ‘n tarnation is taking th' doctor so long?” She said anxiously. “He shoulda’ been back by now!”

“I do agree, Applejack,” Rarity said quietly as she combed her mane. “It is rather strange that the doctor has been gone for quite some time now, but we mustn't rush him, darling. After all, our new friends are not the only ones who were involved in the incident last night. Speaking of which… Rainbow Dash? How is Soarin, by chance?”

Rainbow nodded. “He's doing alright, but he's going to be on concussion watch for the next week, and he can't risk over exerting his wing for the next few days. It's not as bad as we all thought it was, thankfully.”

“I can't believe so many ponies were injured last night.” Fluttershy added. “I thought that everypony was away from the fighting except for us.”

“Aye, young Fluttershy.” Luna took a seat next to a sleeping Pinkie Pie. “We thought so as well, but it seems that in the enemy's haste to escape, they injured many of our subjects in the process, some being guards while most were merely innocent bystanders. It seems that these humans show no respect for sentient beings.”

“Except for Red Wolf and Night Angel,” Twilight quipped, which earned a small laugh from the lunar princess.

“Indeed,” she responded. “Although, they are very unorthodox, much more so than the prophecy foretold them to be.”

“Not all heroes are as orthodox as many of the stories make them out to be, Sister.” Celestia sat down in a chair next to her sister. “Or do you forget the stories that mother and father told us when we were younger?” Luna crossed her fore hooves.

“I still believe that the Tale of the Hooded Ponies is false.”

Twilight sat deep in thought, still mulling over the information from Starswirl's prophecy, as well as the events from last night. It was still far too confusing for her to comprehend, but then again, no one else really knew that this would happen. If anything, she had a right to be confused, but she still wanted to figure out how these strange beings came to their world, why they were here, and why the supposed prophesied pair of warriors were trying to kill one another. Furthermore, why did they wear those hoods and masks? How did they make those strange weapons that she saw last night? Why were they trying to kill her friends? Twilight groaned and massaged her temples with her wing tips. It was no use trying to answer any of these questions now, especially when she hadn’t had any sleep for the past twelve hours or so. What she needed right now was a fresh, piping-hot cup of coffee, and a daffodil sandwich.

“Hey, Twilight?” She turned her head to see Spike walking up to her with a cup gripped tightly in his claws, and from the smell of it, she automatically knew what it was: coffee. “I went down to the cafeteria and got you something. The staff recommended that I bring this to you instead of a warm glass of milk.” He offered the cup to her with a smile, in which she gladly accepted it with a happy sigh.

“Thanks, Spike. I really needed this.” She took a quick whiff of the steamy liquid and the heavenly aroma filled her nostrils. She took a small sip as she continued to listen to everything around her. Celestia and Luna were still discussing the events of last night, Fluttershy was talking to Rarity about the mysterious visitors, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were sitting quietly, and Pinkie was, surprisingly, still asleep. Twilight took another sip of her coffee. She could already feel her sleep-deprived mind begin to awaken. And as her brain began to work once more, she thought back to what Red Wolf had said to her last night when she had saved him from that explosion. He had said that the force field that she had conjured up was, quote unquote, “scientifically impossible.” He looked like he had never seen a force field, and he said that it wasn’t possible. Did that mean that there was no kind of magic like that where he was from? The question sat there in her mind for a moment before a thought suddenly came to her. She looked down at Spike. “Hey, Spike? Can you do me another favor?”

“What do you need?” The purple dragon smiled at her.

“Can you go check to see where Doctor Red Cross is? He’s taking a little longer than expected, and I’m kind of anxious to hear how the newcomers are doing.” Twilight took another sip. “If you see him, then please tell him that I would like to hear what he has to say.” She giggled when Spike replied with a salute before walking down the corridor, disappearing around the corner.

Hopefully the doctor isn’t too tied-up with his work… She thought to herself.

“Mmm mmph! Mm mmm mmph!” Doctor Red Cross attempted to break free from his restraints, but the rope held him down to the bed, merely rustling the bed sheets and banging the metal headboard against the wall. The doctor glared daggers at John. “Mm mm mmph mmmm!” He merely shrugged.

“I said that we weren’t going to hurt you, but I never said anything about letting you go.”

Night Angel looked at his descendant with a bewildered expression as he stuffed the rest of his things into a set of saddlebags. After interrogating the doctor—at least that’s what he called it anyway, they found out that their things were in a chest at the far corner of the room, and they quickly raided it and retrieved their equipment and such, strapping their swords to their backs and securing their hidden blades as best as they could onto their new wrists. However, that was all the information the doctor gave them before he started calling them crazy and insane for asking questions like: ‘What world is this’ and ‘what year is it.’ “You can understand him?”

“Well, after tying people up for seven and a half years, you start to understand death threats and cursing through mufflers and such.” John nonchalantly replied. He stuffed a few magazines into his backpack and slipped one of his forelegs through one of the straps. “Help me with this, will ya?”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Just grab the other strap and help me slide it on. I can’t really do it anymore due to the lack of human mobility– Ack!” Red exclaimed as he tumbled to his side. He glared at Night Angel. “Not like that! Slide it over my back and help me get my other leg through the strap!” The dark pegasus rolled his eyes as he got back up.

“Well, forgive me for not knowing how these damned things work!”

“Dude, it’s not rocket science! It’s a fucking backpack!”

“Why do you keep calling me that? What is a ‘dude’?” Night grabbed the strap once more, this time walking around with it and slipping it over his back. John snorted, sliding his leg through the strap and shaking himself a bit to see if his backpack was secured tightly enough.

“It’s just a slang term from my time, that’s all.” He walked up to Red Cross and patted his forehead. “Thank you very much for your hospitality, Doctor, but I’m afraid we’ll have to cut our visit short and check out early. Later.”

“Mmm mm mmph!”

“Yeah, yeah. I love you too.” John waved back dismissively as he made his way to the door. “C’mon, Nighty. We gotta get outta here.”

“Don’t call me ‘Nighty’.” Night said with a scowl.

John ignored him as he slowly pushed the door open. He was used to stealth and infiltration missions, as well as escaping restricted areas undetected; he was in his A-game. But that was only because he knew where he was and he knew his enemy. Here, however, he was flying blind, and he would have to rely solely on gut instinct if he was going to get him and Night Angel out without raising the alarm. “Alright, Night Angel. Just follow my lead, and act natural.”

“We’re two ponies with an arsenal of weaponry on our backs. Yes, I believe that is very natural, my dear descendant.”

John laughed. “Witty repertoire? Check. Definitely my ancestor.” He let out a sigh before looking out the door. “It doesn’t matter. What matters right now is that we get out of here, okay? We can worry about our appearance once we’re far away from here.” He looked down both ends of the hallway before nodding. “It looks like everyone’s too busy to notice us, so the odds may be in our favor. Keep an eye out for guards. I highly doubt that there won’t be any in here. And if there are, we have to do our best to evade them without harming them.” Night Angel popped his head out.

“It seems that you have experience with these kinds of places.”

“You have no idea.” John nudged him. “Let’s go.” He pushed the door open and walked into the hallway with Night Angel close behind him. As they walked down the corridor, they encountered a pair of pony nurses; one a smoky shade of grey, and the other being a pale shade of red. They looked like John and Night if they were gender-bent, if not slightly paler and a lot cuter, and no horns or wings. But as they walked by, John couldn’t help but watch them… Well, more like watch their flanks as they swayed from side-to-side. Night Angel also watched for a brief moment before shaking his head madly, then proceeding to deck his descendant in the side.

“C’ cazzo?” He scolded him. “What are you doing?”

John shook his head. The nurses seemed to hear him, but they merely giggled in response. But then he saw the grey one wink at him, even flicking her tail to the side for a brief second before walking away. Even with his dark red coat, he knew that he was blushing like crazy.

“They’re not even your own kind, and yet you stare at them like you want to bed them!” Night said more quietly. “What demon has possessed you now?”

“Hey, don’t yell at me!” John snapped back. “It’s probably just this new form. Maybe our minds are just treating these horses as humans, like us… Then again, we’re not exactly human, either… Not anymore at least.”

“I suppose I can see you’re reasoning…” Night chuckled. “I can admit that I looked as well.”

“Ha! It looks like I’m not the only guilty one.”

“Vai a farti fotterre, maniaco.”

“E ti amo, padre.” John said sarcastically, which earned a smirk from Night.

“I see that you are my descendant.” He said proudly. “But I must ask where you learned how to speak such fluent Italiano when you are not native to the land yourself.”

“From the Mariaki’s, of course. Well, from Antonio Mariaki’s descendant, Kysuf, to be more precise. He’s also an Assassin. Funny enough, though, he was with me the night all of… this happened.”

“Then why isn’t he here?” He asked curiously.

“My guess?” John started. “He wasn’t sent here with me and Rosland because he wasn’t actually there. He was watching from somewhere outside of the warehouse I was in. No doubt he’s looking for me right now…” He suddenly stopped, his ears twitching as a certain sound filled his ears. Night Angel stopped as well, looking back at him and waiting for an explanation.

“What is it?”

“Ssh…” John listened carefully, and the sound became a little clearer. He hear the sound of metal armor clinking down the hallway, towards them. “Guards…” The red unicorn looked around for a place for them to hide. He spotted a door and opened it. “Quick! In here!” The two of them rushed inside and closed the door just as the guards rounded the corner, their armor clanking more loudly as they walked past the door and down the hallway. John kept his ear pressed against the door to listen for more guards. He didn’t hear any… But he could hear the sounds of heavy breathing and moaning… And he could also smell a very heady scent, which smelled a lot like sex… Oh fuck. John looked behind him to see two ponies fucking on a hospital bed. One of them was a white pegasus stallion with a blue mane, and the other one was a pale white mare with no wings or a horn and a pink mane. They didn’t even know that there were two other ponies just watching them with deadpan expressions.

“Oh, fuck yes! Harder! Please, Soarin!” John recognized the voice to be Nurse Redheart’s.

Holy shit, he thought. It looks like the nurses here are a lot like the ones back home… If not a little sluttier. John quickly shook his head and swung the door back open, dragging Night Angel out with him before slamming the door shut. The two of them leaned up against the doorframe, their eyes wide and their expressions still flabbergasted.

“What. The. Hell?”

“I second that notion.” Night Angel concurred. “Question? How did you know to look behind you?”

“I smelled the sex in the air.” The Italian looked over at him, perplexed.

“How can you smell sex?”

“I’ve had to fight in sex clubs before.” Night Angel looked even more confused.

“Wait… What?”

The two of them barely had any time to respond when they heard a door down the hall burst open. John Redwoods looked to see a very angry Red Cross glaring at them, as well as two guards standing at his side with spears at the ready. At that moment, his eyes just screamed: “I’m going to fucking hang you.”

“There they are! Arrest them!” The doctor shouted, pointing an accusatory hoof at them.

“Why does this suddenly seem so familiar?” Night thought aloud.

“You too, huh?”

John and Night Angel got onto their hooves and pelted down the hallway, and judging by the heavy clanking of armor, the guards were now in hot pursuit. Usually, John would be confident in these situations. But right now, he was completely lost. He didn’t know where they were, who they were going up against, or if anyone was on their side. All they could do right now was… Follow the signs that said “Exit” in bold, red lettering. Way to be a fucking idiot, Johnny boy.

“Come on, Night! We have to get these guys off our back!”

“I fear that they are not the only ones pursuing us! There are more on the left!”

“Then take a right up here!” John and Night Angel made a sharp turn at a four-way hallway. And in their haste, they nearly knocked over the nurses they had seen earlier… Well, Night Angel managed to avoid the nurse with the red coat by jumping right over her, but John unfortunately fell to the floor with the grey mare on top of him. He didn’t find it so bad, though, and flashed her a cocky grin as he got up. The nurse was blushing madly, but still gave him a small, shy smile.

“Heh, hey there, cutie. Tell me, what time do you get off toni– Oow! Alright! I’m going!”

“Instead of flirting, start running!” Night Angel scolded, pulling on his ear with his teeth. “Corette!”

“Va bene!” John shouted with an exasperated groan. They set off once more, but he stopped at the end of the hallway and looked back at the grey nurse with a smirk. “Call ya later, cutie.” He winked at her before galloping down the corridor, leaving two blushing nurses to just stare at the empty hallway. The grey unicorn mare sighed dreamily.

“He’s certainly a looker, isn’t he?” She said quietly.

The red nurse leaned closer to her, not even taking her eyes off of the end of the hallway. “Which one?” The grey one giggled.

“Both of them are quite handsome, but I was talking about the one that looks kinda like you.”

“Hm… Maybe we should find out who they are, huh?”

“Agreed.” She nodded.

Doctor Red Cross burst into the Waiting Room, his glasses crooked and a small length of rope still tied to his left forehoof. Twilight Sparkle was the first to look up at him, albeit rather strangely. She watched as he rushed over to her, panting heavily.

“Princess Twilight…” He said with a quick bow. “The patients… They ambushed me and… They escaped! The guards… They’re chasing them now, and…” The doctor suddenly collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily and desperately trying to catch his breath. Twilight’s eyes went wide at this news, however, and she immediately threw her empty cup of coffee onto the floor before galloping at full speed for the exit, her confused friends not far behind. Rainbow Dash flew up beside her as they ran.

“Yo, Twilight! Where are you going?”

“Ah might as well ask ya th’ same thing, Twi.” Applejack added. “C’mon, sugarcube. Where’re we goin’?”

“Outside!” She answered quickly. “Doctor Red Cross said that they escaped, so we have to find them quickly before they…” Twilight skidded to a halt, causing the others to do so as well as a group of Royal Guard’s galloped past them.

“Quickly!” One of them howled. “They’re heading for the roof!”

Rarity looked over at Twilight. “Well, dear, it looks like they haven’t left yet.”

Back with Night Angel and John, the two ponified Assassins were evading an entire squadron of guards, each one armed with a very, very sharp spear. It seemed that no matter which direction they went, the guards would be one step ahead of them. Every single turn would be blocked-off, leaving them with only one other option: Go up. They had already climbed up at least three flights of stairs when they burst through a door, and the only thing that greeted them was the bright sunlight, a clear blue sky, and a large, flat rooftop.

“Damnit!” John exclaimed. “It’s a dead-end!” The unicorn slammed the door shut and ran to the edge of the roof. “Now what do we do? They’ll be bound to burst through that door any second now.”

“Calmare, amico. We will think of something.” Night Angel looked over the edge. “I don’t see any safe place for us to land, sadly.”

“Yeah, no haystacks… Kinda ironic, especially since we’re in a place filled with a whole bunch of sentient, talking ponies… What about that town over there?” John pointed his hoof at the town in the distance. Night followed his gaze, but merely looked at it questioningly.

“What about it?”

“Well, why don’t we head that way so we can get rid of these guys?” He suggested. “We can blend in there and then we can evaluate our current situation, right?”

“Assuming that we even make it that far, John Redwoods.” The Italian said grimly. Almost instantly after he had said that, the door burst open, and a wave of pony guards poured out onto the roof and assembled around them both. Once they were in position, they lowered their spears, and they were trapped.

Damnit, he thought. They’ve got us cornered. John lowered himself into a defensive stance, lashing his tail back and forth and growling like a cornered dog. Night Angel looked at him questioningly, but followed suite nonetheless, glaring menacingly at any of the guards that tried to get too close. One of them stepped forward, this one showing signs of a higher rank, which John assumed from the blue shield insignia on the front of his armor. He was a white unicorn with a blue mane, and had a sword instead of a spear.

“By order of the Royal Sisters,” he shouted. “You two are hereby under arrest! Do not try to resist!” The guard stomped his hoof once, and the rest of them slowly started to close in on them.

“Get back!” John barked. “I’ll fucking end you all!” I want them all to go away…

“It’s no use, Lupo Rosso. They have us surrounded.” Night Angel straightened up a little, submitting himself to the guards, which only served to anger his descendant even more. But as his anger grew, John felt something building inside of him; like a weightlessness that filled his entire body that made him feel stronger and lighter than air. He couldn’t see it, but there were ribbons of glowing red light swirling around his hooves and soaking into his fur. The edges of his vision grew dark, consumed by a film of red. But despite the sudden anomaly, the guards were unfazed, and continued to corner them.

“I said…” The intensity of the red light began to grow, and his eyes took on a bright red color. The air began to swirl around him and the ribbons circled his body. It seemed that now the guards began to actually notice that this unicorn was charging up what looked to be a very powerful spell; a spell that could have some very destructive effects. John could feel it now; a power that he had never experienced before. It welled up inside of him like an explosion ready to go off, and all it would need is a simple spark to set it off. He wanted them to go away; to stay away from him and Night Angel so they could escape. He didn’t want them to die, though, just to keep them back; to push them all away from him.

“Get…” He raised one of his fore hooves up. The light only grew more intense, his eyes glowing brightly and the ribbons of blood-like color swirling faster with the air, which began to gather around John Redwoods in a small ball. Everyone watched in awe and fear, including Night Angel. The white unicorn looked at his fellow guards frantically.

“Stop him! Quickly! Before he–“

“Back!”

John’s hoof came crashing down, and the area around him was engulfed in a bright red light, the air bursting like a balloon being popped and expanding rapidly to create a small, but powerful shockwave. The force blew the guards back a great distance, some of them even flying off of the roof. The white unicorn was sent flying back into stairwell, slamming into the door before falling over the guard rail and down the gap between the stairs.

“Twilight, dear, I understand that you wish to talk to these ponies, but don’t you believe that you should wait for the guards to apprehend them first?” Rarity galloped next to her lavender friend. “You saw what they did to those… things last night. What makes you think that they won’t do the same to us?”

“I know they won’t.” Twilight responded confidently. “You saw what they did, and you saw them trying to protect us.” She opened the door to the stairwell with her magic and stepped inside. “I can assure you that they won’t try to harm us.”

Suddenly, a bright flash of red light appeared at the top of the stairwell, and a pony wearing golden armor fell from over the railing. At first, all they could do was watch in shock as they fell farther and farther down the gap, but Twilight quickly snapped out of her stupor and cast a quick spell, her magic summoning a giant pillow to appear. And not a moment later, the guard landed on the feathery cushion with a POMPH! She decided not to waste any time and rushed forward to see if he was okay, only to find that it was…

“Shining Armor?”

“Huh? Twily?” Shining Armor looked up at her and smiled. “Oh, hey! Sorry for ‘dropping in’ like that.” He chuckled at his terrible pun before heaving himself off of the pillow. “So, what are you doing here, anyways?”

“Wha… What am I doing here?” She asked angrily, glaring at him and shoving a hoof into his chest. “No, what are you doing here?” Despite his sister’s angry expression, Shining’s expression remained stoic as he brushed her hoof away.

“Princess Celestia asked for me to come after last night’s incident and provide extra protection for our new… guests.” He sighed and looked up. “When I heard that our V.I.P’s had escaped and were heading to the rooftop, I assembled a squad and we pursued them. However, before we could apprehend them, one of the ponies cast a powerful shockwave.”

Applejack gave Twilight a bemused glare. “Still so sure that they won’t hurt us like they did those other fellas?”

“They’re obviously scared! Sending armed guards to apprehend them only made it worse!” She was now so close to her brother that their foreheads were pressing against each other. “If you hadn’t approached them the way you did, this wouldn’t have happened!” Twilight turned around and bolted up the stairs, leaving the rest of her friends behind as they watched with flabbergasted expressions.

“Well then…” Rarity said quietly. “She’s very passionate about this, isn’t she?”

“It sure looks like it.” Applejack concurred.

“Oh, hey guys! Wassup?” They turned around to find Vinyl Scratch leaning against the doorframe with a grin. “I heard something about the dudes that I accidently blasted heading to the rooftop. Are you going up there too?”

“Um… Yeah?” Rainbow Dash said confusedly. “But why do you care so much?”

“Well, duh!” She laughed. “They kinda saved us, remember? So why shouldn’t I care?”

“Wait a minute.” Shining Armor interjected. “Are you saying that you were the one who assisted the two V.I.P’s last night? You had that… that…”

“Bass Cannon.”

“Yes, that.”

“Yep!” Vinyl said proudly. “That was me. Pretty cool, right?”

“Well, yes, but…” His voice trailed off as a soft ahem interrupted him. He looked to see who it was, and he found out that it was Fluttershy. “Yes, Miss Fluttershy?”

“Um… Well, I don’t mean to be rude, but…” She swallowed. “Shouldn’t we be following Twilight upstairs? I mean, it does sound like it’s pretty important.”

Shining Armor chuckled. “Of course. Forgive me for getting distracted. Come on!” He rushed for the stairs. “We need to get up there, and fast!”

“Oh! I’m coming too!” Vinyl followed the others as they ran after the Royal Guard Captain. “Hehe! This is gonna be so sweet!”

John struggled to control his ragged breathing. Whatever the hell he just did, it took a lot energy out of him. He looked behind him to see if Night Angel was there, and sure enough, he was still where he had been a few seconds ago, even though he looked like he saw a ghost.

“Heh… You… You okay there, Nighty?” He laughed weakly.

“What was that?” He asked suddenly, his expression returning back to its original, stoic state.

“I… have no clue… But whatever I just did… It took a lot out of me…”

“Halt!” Oh, you have got to be kidding me! John looked back towards the door to see a huge alabaster pony with both wings and a horn, a weird rainbow mane and tail, and it looked like she was wearing a… crown? Well, it looked like he was going to have to fight royalty now.

“Who… the fuck… are you?” He said between breaths.

“I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria, and Princess of the Sun.” She said dryly. “And you are under arrest!” Celestia quirked a brow at him when he laughed at her declaration.

“Sorry, lady…” He replied. “But it’ll take a lot more than that to make us surrender, as you must’ve saw with your guards.”

“Indeed.” Celestia nodded. “I can tell that you won’t back down without a fight. So…” Her horn glowed with a golden light, and a sword was suddenly levitated in front of her within the light’s grasp. “It seems that I will have to resort to violence in order to apprehend you.” The sword suddenly burst into flames, causing both John and Night Angel to flinch slightly.

Alright, he said silently. Time to evaluate the situation. I can’t attack her and hope to weaken her; I’m not familiar with how this body works yet, so that’s suicide. Night Angel said that there were no haystacks, so a Leap of Faith isn’t exactly an option unless I can find another safe place to land… His ears perked up at a faint sound; the sound of a rickety, old wagon wheel. Sounds like there’s some kind of cart pulling up. Hopefully, it’s a hay cart.

“There’s a cart filled with hay that’s slowly approaching the hospital.” Night Angel whispered to him.

Okay, that’s awesome. Now we have a method of escaping, but let’s hope that it doesn’t fail us… Alright… We’ll try to fake our surrender first, lull her into a false sense of security. John took a few deep breaths until he could control his breathing again. He then smiled at Celestia.

“Alright, Princess.” He said calmly. “You want us to surrender?”

“Well, I believe that is what I said, yes.”

“Okay… We’ll surrender...” Celestia sighed and smiled, sheathing her sword.

“I’m so happy to hear you say that. Now, if you will please follow me back downstairs, we will sort all of this out–“

“Red Wolf! Night Angel!”

John looked back at the door to see that purple unicorn with wings that saved him last night. She was standing there, her expression one of fearful concern. He stared into her violet eyes, tilting his head curiously.

“Um… Hi there?”

Realizing that she was now the center of attention, she smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was suddenly interrupted by a very familiar unicorn.

“Stay away from the Princesses!” The white unicorn dashed onto the rooftop and in front of the lavender pony, his horn glowing with a bright blue aura, gritting his teeth as he glared daggers at him. “Try to dodge this!”

“Captain Shining Armor! Stand down!” Celestia’s order fell upon deaf ears, and Shining Armor fired a ball of bright blue light that crackled with electricity… Which was heading straight for them!

“Night Angel! Jump!” The two of them jumped from the ledge just as the projectile made contact with the roof, setting off an explosion that pushed them pushed them farther through the air. “Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!” John swore all the way down as they plummeted towards the cart filled with hay. Hopefully, they would survive and land in it instead of going KERSPLAT! onto the ground below.

“Well, Miss Heartstrings,” said a grey Earth Pony nurse. “It looks like you have made a full recovery after a week of treatment. I am happy to say that Doctor Red Cross has given you permission to return home.”

Lyra Heartstrings let out a sigh of relief and smiled, brushing a strand of her cyan mane out of her eye. “Oh, thank you so much, Nurse Storm Cloud.”

Storm Cloud giggled. “I’m sure that your family will be glad to know that you will be coming home. Now, the Doctor has said that you stay off of that leg for at least another day or two to make sure that you don’t agitate something, and then you’ll be okay to do any kind of strenuous physical activity.”

“No painkillers?”

“No painkillers. I believe we drugged you up enough while you were here, so you don’t need to worry about taking anything else for a while.”

Lyra laughed. “I appreciate that. Again, thank you so much for the help. You are always so kind…” Her voice trailed off as her ears picked up the sound of an explosion, one that shook the room gently before subsiding.

“Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!” Lyra turned around just in time to see two streaks of color, one dark silver, and the other a dark red. She hurried over to the window to see what was going on, quickly opening it and sticking her head out. Looking down she saw two ponies land in a cart filled with hay, the wagon wheels giving out and allowing it to crumble to the ground.

“What was that?!” She exclaimed.

“I believe that those were the two good-looking ponies my sister and I ran into earlier.” Storm Cloud poked her head out next to hers. “I guess they love the adrenaline rush. No wonder why they were in the hospital.” Her eyes grew lidded as she let out a dreamy sigh. “But heavens above, they were so handsome.”

“Really?” Lyra smiled for a moment. “Think you can introduce me to them?”

John Redwoods groaned. “Holy shit… I can’t believe that actually worked.” He poked his head out from underneath the hay and looked around, right as Night Angel did the same.

“Well, I’ve done this for almost my entire life from heights greater than that, so this is simple for me.” He said with a laugh. John rolled his eyes and laughed with him.

“Oh, who am I kidding? We’re Assassins. We do this almost on a daily basis.”

“Woohoo! This is awesome!”

Suddenly, another person landed in the haystack with them, causing both of the Assassin’s to jump back in surprise. Seconds later, a unicorn with a crazy blue mane and white fur popped out of the straw in between them. “Damn, that was fun!” She said with a tomboyish voice. “I didn’t know you guys went Hay Diving, too!” She started laughing, which led John and Night Angel to trade skeptical looks.

“Excuse me, Miss?” Night Angel started. “Um… Would you mind telling us who you are?”

“Huh?” The tomboy looked at him and smirked. “Oh, what’s up, hottie? I’m Vinyl Scratch!” She held her hoof out to him, in which he just stared at it for a moment before he bumped his hoof against hers.

“I’m Night Angel…” He replied slowly. “And this…” He gestured to John. “Is my descendant, Red Wolf.”

“Um… Pleasure to meet you, Miss Scratch.” John held his hoof out to her.

“Well, it’s awesome to meet you guys too!” Vinyl bumped her hoof against his, and she followed them as they walked out of the broken haycart. “So, what are you guys doing? Practicing for some darepony contest?”

“Erm… Not exactly.” He said sheepishly. “You see, we’re kind of running from–“
A bright light suddenly flashed a few feet away from them, and a very angry Shining Armor appeared. “… This douche.”

“Stop running!” He barked. “You can’t escape!” John could have sworn that he saw a vein bulging from his forehead when he saw Vinyl move to stand in front of them. “You?! What are you doing?! They’re dangerous! Get away!”

“Dude, chillax!” She said calmly. “These guys are cool. They haven’t done anything to hurt anypony.”

“They injured an entire squad of Royal Guard’s! Saying that they haven’t hurt anypony is a lie, Miss Scratch!” Despite being yelled at, Vinyl kept her cool.

“Bro, that’s because you guys started chasing them.” She replied. “Plus, I mean, you’re kind of attracting the attention of every patient that’s in a hospital room on this side with all your shouting and shit.” She pointed behind him, and sure enough, there was a pony poking their head out of every single hospital room on their side, curious to see as to what was going on. This, however, did not faze the Captain.

“I don’t care! Get away from them!” He fired a blast of energy at Vinyl, and her eyes went wide as it raced towards her. But before it could connect with her, John pushed her out of the way, and he was sent flying into a nearby tree when the projectile hit him. Seeing his opportunity, Shining Armor drew his sword and started walking towards him. “You are a threat to these ponies, the Princesses, and the entire nation of Equestria!”

John groaned as he pulled himself onto his hooves. “Yeah? Well, you’re not exactly being ‘Role Model of the Year’, buddy.” He planted his hooves on the ground and crouched down, ready to rush forward. But suddenly, a familiar rock song began to fill the air, confusing the hell out of both him and everyone else around him. “Huh? What the fuck…? Oh! That’s my phone. It must have turned the shuffle function on when I hit the tree... Oh, nice! It’s playing The Offspring. Nice song choice, too.” He crouched back down. “So, you ready to apprehend me, soldier?”

Shining Armor twirled his sword around a bit, smirking. “Hit me with your best shot.”

John remained in his crouched position, listening to the song as it played. First, it was just a short guitar solo; that was where he would analyze his enemy, sizing him up. Then, the drums kicked in, providing a soft beat. Finally, the rhythm guitar rang out, signaling him to rush forward at his opponent. Shining Armor galloped towards him with a battle cry, his sword at the ready. Once they were close enough, he stabbed at him, aiming for his chest. But John managed to sidestep his attack and countered with a fierce punch to the side, denting his armor and sending him tumbling to the ground. Shining Armor quickly got back up, twirling his sword before lunging forward once more, swinging furiously, but with coordinated precision. Even with his skill, however, he failed to strike John; all he hit was air as he skillfully evaded his blade. And every time his sword hit the ground, he was struck by another counter attack, each blow leaving another dent in his armor. John knew that he was facing an obviously seasoned veteran with a sword, but he also knew that Shining Armor wasn’t fighting very well, and he had two reasons to back that up. One, he was angry, so he wasn’t thinking very clearly. Two, his movements were repetitive, which made him too predictable. Shining swung his sword from above, and it met the ground once more. John moved in for another counter, but it seemed that his opponent was ready for it this time, head-butting him away then driving his hoof into his chest, sending him tumbling to the ground. He raised his sword and brought it down on him. But before it could connect, another sword blocked his. John stared for a moment, following the black-stained blade all the way up to the hilt to where Night Angel stood. The Italian Assassin glared daggers at the unicorn, his grip on the blade not faltering in the slightest. And through the handle of his sword, he managed to speak.

“Do not harm my descendant!” Night Angel pushed Shining away and then turned around and bucked him square in the chest, sending him skidding to a halt at least ten feet away from them. The shield on his armor was now cracked down the middle, but it seemed that he didn’t care; he was only focused on them. John quickly got back up.

“How the hell do you know how to fight with a sword in this form?” He asked quickly before jumping away from another energy blast.

“I don’t! But it’s just a natural instinct! You don’t forget years of training with a sword!” Night Angel rushed Shining Armor, their swords colliding with one another and sending sparks flying. John thought about what he said for a moment before shrugging.

“That’s a very good point.” And with that, he rushed back into the fight.

At this point, the song was already at the beginning of the second verse, and the battle was heating up. Shining Armor began to incorporate more energy blasts and different methods into his attacks, making him a lot more challenging to counter and leaving John and Night Angel to simply evade the attacks as best as they could. But even they began to take some blows, and it was starting to show in the form of bruises and small cuts.

Night Angel rushed Shining Armor again, slashing for his chest and legs. But he was prepared for this attack, and he jumped back before firing a large energy blast into his chest, sending him flying backwards and tumbling until he lay at Vinyl’s hooves and his sword landing at John’s. He stared at Night for a moment before looking at Shining, his gaze bearing one of rage and contempt. John then looked at the sword, imagining that he still had hands that could grasp onto it. If only I could use this sword without having to hold it with my fucking mouth! With that thought, something inside of his mind clicked, and he could feel a surge of power and energy channeling itself through his body, to his mind, and finally, through his horn. His eyes went wide as a crimson glow engulfed the handle of the sword and lifted it into the air in front of him. Holy shit… Did I just master telekinesis? How the fuck did I do that?!... This is so fucking trippy, but I’ll figure this out later. John flourished the blade around and crouched down, smirking.

“Right on time…” He murmured. “It’s time for the guitar solo!”

The song transitioned over to the guitar solo, and he rushed forward like a bullet, swinging his weapon with more accuracy and speed than he thought was possible. He could now see a hint of fear in Shining Armor’s eyes; the fear that he could lose this fight. This pushed John to fight even harder, their blades creating sparks that filled the afternoon air. Shining Armor managed to knock Night’s sword from his grasp, but that didn’t stop him from drawing his own blade and blocking his stab attempt, causing his eyes to go wide.

“Checkmate!” John used this moment to knock Shining’s sword away and buck him square in the chest once again. He was sent flying straight into the door of the hospital, cracking the glass a little upon impact. But this didn’t stop him from staggering onto his hooves once more and rushing forward, his horn charging another energy blast. John rushed forward to meet him, his sword at the ready. And as the song ended, so did the fight.

“Enough!” John skidded to a halt as a blinding flash of light appeared before him, and he suddenly found Celestia standing between him and Shining Armor, her wings flared out and her horn glowing with energy. At that moment, whatever had enabled John to hold his sword with his new telekinetic ability vanished instantly, and his sword clattered to the ground. Celestia glared at Shining Armor, and then John. “You two are acting like foals fighting over a bit you found on the street! I understand that you are afraid and confused, Red Wolf, but that does not mean you can harm one of our own!” John remained silent and stoic as she then turned her attention to Shining Armor. “And you. You are my most decorated and valued officer, and you are also a prince! And here you have not only blindly attacked two random ponies who have no idea where they are, but you also endangered the life of an innocent pony who had nothing to do with this!”

Shining Armor’s gaze fell to the ground, obviously ashamed. “Forgive me, Princess Celestia. I was not thinking correctly.” He cringed when she scoffed.

“More like you were not thinking at all. I am very disappointed in you…” She sighed as she turned away from him and looked at John, Night Angel, and Vinyl Scratch. “I apologize for all of this. Forgive me for not seeing to it that I was the one who came to you first when you woke up.” At that moment, the hospital doors opened, and six more ponies came rushing outside, including the purple one that saved his life last night. They stopped once they were at her side.

“Ah, right on time, girls.” She said with a smile, not even taking her eyes off of John, even as Night Angel walked up next to him. “I think that it is time we informed our new visitors of their situation. But first, I believe introductions are in order, yes? As you already know, I am Princess Celestia.” She gestured a hoof to the purple pony. “This, is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, and Princess of Friendship.”

“Greetings to you, and welcome to Equestria.” She said with a warm smile, one that John couldn’t help but return.

Celestia continued the introductions, pointing to a white unicorn with an extremely well-groomed purple mane. “This is Rarity, Element of Generosity.” The white unicorn took a courteous bow as the princess moved on to the next pony. “Applejack, Element of Honesty.”

“Well, howdy, y’all!” She tipped her hat to them.

“Next is Fluttershy,” she gestured to a buttercream pegasus with a flowing pink mane and tail. “Element of Kindness.”

“Um… H-hi there…” She said timidly.

“Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter.” She gestured to a pink pony with a mane that resembled a certain sweet treat back from John’s home. “And finally, Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty.” She gestured to a cyan blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, who flapped her wings a couple of times and puffed her chest out.

“Yep, that’s me.” She brushed a hoof against her chest, which earned a roll of the eyes from John and Night Angel.

“I believe you’ve already met Shining Armor rather personally. He is Captain of the Royal Guard, Prince of the Crystal Empire, and Twilight Sparkle’s brother.” He merely bowed his head, and Celestia looked back at John and Night Angel. “Well, now you know who we are, so may we have your names as well?”

John and Night Angel looked at each other for a moment before nodding in unison. The American Assassin was the first to step forward. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “I am John Alexander Redwoods, a.k.a: The Red Wolf, and I’m an Assassin.” He tensed up when he saw that their eyes went wide, causing him to shake a hoof defensively. “Now, before you get any ideas, I’m not the kind of Assassin you may think I am. We’ll explain all of that later…” He took a step back and nudged his ancestor. “You’re turn, pops.” Night Angel glared at him for a moment before reluctantly stepping forward.

“I am Night Angel, and I am an Assassin.” He said.

“And…?” John rolled his hoof.

“And what?” Night thought for a moment before he nodded. “Ah, I get it. I am also John’s ancestor.”

Celestia tilted her head. “What do you mean ‘ancestor?’”

“Allow me, Night.” John interjected. “You see, Night Angel is my ancestor from at least five hundred years before my own time. Now, before you ask me how and why he’s here, I will kindly answer you by saying that I have no fucking clue, okay? So save that question for when I can produce a genuine answer.”

Celestia nodded. “I see… But Night Angel, may I ask what your real name is?” Night flinched.

“… I cannot tell you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I keep my identity a secret from everyone, my descendent here being no exception.”

“Wow, thanks a lot.” John retorted with sarcastic gratitude. “That makes me feel so fucking special, y’know that?”

Night ignored him. “I have sworn to keep my true name a secret because it no longer holds any meaning whatsoever. If I were to tell you my real name, you would have no use for it, because I would never respond to it. After all, I have gone by the name Night Angel for as long as I can remember…” He cleared his throat. “Anyways, there is my introduction. Now, I believe you owe us an explanation as to why we’re here, yes?”

Celestia nodded. “I understand completely. But, um…” She looked back at all of the ponies still watching them from the window. “I believe we should move this conversation to a private location, that way nopony hears any of this. Please, if you would all follow me.” She turned around and headed for the doors, Twilight and her companions doing the same. At first, John and Night Angel just stood there, trading glances with one another and determining whether or not they should follow them or not. While they were idling, Vinyl waltzed past them.

“Well, let’s see what she has to say, guys. Can’t deny royalty.” She looked back at them and winked.

“Are you sure we’re following her?” John said with a smirk as they picked up their swords and followed her. “Because it feels like you want us to follow you.” Vinyl replied with a chuckle as they walked inside.

“Hey. Keep it in your sheath, pal.”

John Redwoods found himself inside of a conference room at least five minutes later, his head in his hooves. Apparently, he and Night Angel had been transported to the magical world of Equestria, as well as Derrik Rosland and his own forces. Here in this world, there was such a thing that they called ‘magic.’ At first, John laughed at them, asking if they had been smoking the ‘good stuff,’ only for the ponies to give him so rather nasty glances, excluding Vinyl, for some strange reason. The six ponies that Celestia had introduced to them were also the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, a power that was used to banish evil and keep Equestria in the balance. To John, this sounded a lot like the Pieces of Eden, only instead of causing civil disorder and worldwide power struggles, they were used to bring peace and prevent things like world war. But out of all the information that John and Night Angel had obtained, the one thing that threw them off was the mention of an ancient prophecy, and the fact that they were involved in it somehow, being the supposed prophesied warriors that would save their world. Now, John has stopped civil wars, assassination attempts on the lives of world leaders, even going as far as eliminating terrorist cells in as little as a month, but saving an entire world was something completely different. Apparently, Desmond Miles saved the world in twenty-twelve, but even that wasn’t proven to be true, so for John to be told that he was supposed to save the world was something that triggered a few alarms inside of his head. And he thought turning into a pony was suspenseful.

John rubbed his temples with his fore hooves. “Jesus… This is a lot to take in. I mean, holy shit…” Night Angel, who was sitting in a chair next to him, sighed in response.

“I agree. This sounds like a difficult task. How are we supposed to save your world? Not even God said that something like this would happen to me.”

“I understand,” Celestia said with a nod. “But I want you to know that we are not trying to stress you with all of this. We did not summon you into our world on purpose, as Starswirl the Bearded was the one who wrote this prophecy. We had no idea you even existed until last night.”

“If that’s the case,” Vinyl piped in from the seat next to Night Angel. “How could Starswirl even know about Wolfy and Nighty here? I mean, Starswirl’s, like, thousands of years old, isn’t he?”

“Indeed,” replied a dark blue alicorn named Luna; she was Celestia’s sister. “That is what confused us the most. But in the end, we concluded that Starswirl must have had a vision of this event in history taking place.”

The red unicorn nodded. “I guess you have a point.”

“Now, I have a question for you.” Twilight said suddenly, earning the attention of everyone in the room. “Who were those ponies you were fighting last night?” John and Night Angel looked at one another for a few seconds before nodding and turning back to look at the other ponies in the room.

“Well, I might as well explain first.” John started. “The men that I fought last night were Derrik Rosland and his subordinates. Where I’m from, Derrik is the leader of a faction that call themselves the Red Artist’s, a group of Rogue Assassin’s from all over the world that have turned away from the Assassin Order and fight both us and the Templar’s, whom are the Assassin’s oldest enemy. While they claim to still value some of the Assassins’ beliefs, they merely alter them to their own liking, even going as far as murdering innocent people if they do not bow down to them. Derrik was a former Assassin… And he had betrayed his fellow Assassin’s and turned away from them, even going as far as killing my mother and father.” The room went silent, and he could feel everyone’s eyes going wide at this new information. “We have been enemies for as long as I’ve been an Assassin, and I’ve sworn my life to bring him to justice, as well as any other Red Artist that I find…” He cleared his throat. “Well, that’s my side of the story. I believe that now it’s my ancestor’s turn to share.

“I suppose it is, isn’t it?” Night Angel said with a chuckle. “While I do not know much about my enemy, I can tell you a few things. The enemy that I fought call themselves by the Order of Blood, and like these ‘Red Artist’s,’ they are Rogue’s who care not for the lives of the innocent, and have turned away from both the Assassin’s and Templar’s. The man who leads them is Severino Stornello. At first, I did not know who this man was. But after I thought about it for a while longer during your explanation, I realized that I had heard his name before, and I remembered that he is one of the men who used to fight alongside my mother and father, and inevitably betrayed them. So like my dear descendent, my mother and father were murdered at a young age. But unlike him, I have no idea who murdered my family, only that Severino was one of the men that betrayed them.”

The room was silent. Everyone stared at them with wide eyes, all filled with sorrow and disbelief. It seemed that their stories had more of an effect on them then they thought. Rarity was the first one to speak up.

“It seems that you two have been through some rather unspeakable tragedies throughout your life.” She said with pity. “I am sorry you had to go through it all.”

John smiled. “I appreciate your concern, Miss Rarity, but trust me when I say that we’ve learned to get over it… Well, I have at least. I don’t know if Night Angel has as well.” Night responded with a simple nod. But even so, John couldn’t but feel bad for lying to these ponies. He had told the truth when about his identity and his enemies, but…

“There is something else you should know.” Celestia interrupted his train of thought. “Last night, our guards apprehended two of your enemies, one from each side of your timeline, I suppose you could say. They are both transformed into ponies like you have been, but they have not awaken from their unconsciousness yet. I was wondering what you would like to do with them when they wake up.”

John thought about this for a moment before responding. “Keep them here. Once they wake up, we’ll try to see if we can’t persuade them to rejoin the Assassin’s. If they say ‘no,’ then we’ll have to let them go.”

“What?!” The entire room exclaimed, including Night Angel.

“Have you gone mad, amico?!” He shouted. “Why are you so willing to let them go?! They are our enemies!”

“Even so, you have to understand that they don’t pose much of a threat at the moment.” The American responded calmly. “We can’t really get any information out of them because they don’t know where their leaders are hiding, and killing them won’t exactly solve anything. And as long as we don’t tell them where they are, we can drop them off in the middle of another town or city and let them find their way back to Derrik and Severino. Then, they have no information to give to them because they don’t know anything, and we can have one less problem on our hands if they don’t renounce their allegiance.”

“But… but they are rogues! We cannot trust them so easily!”

“Night, I know that you don’t agree with me right now, but understand that where I come from, strategy and information is everything. Besides, what’s the point in killing them?” A thought suddenly occurred to them. “In fact, I have a better idea! Is there any way we could track them wherever they go? Like some kind of spell or potion?”

Luna nodded. “I know the spell you speak of, and I know your purpose. Brilliant strategy, young knave.” John deadpanned for a moment.

“Um… Not sure why you called me a knave, but thank you for the compliment.”

“Wait, what is he talking about?” Night asked Luna.

“The Red Wolf is suggesting that we place a tracking spell onto your enemies if we release them. Think of it as magically branding them, so no matter where they go, we will always know where they are in Equestria.”

Night fell silent for a moment before falling back into his chair. “… Fine, but your plan is still risky.” John chuckled.

“Taking risks is in our mandate, Night Angel. Didn’t you remember that?” Celestia cleared her throat, attracting the attention of everyone in the room.

“Now that we have all of that out of the way, there is one more issue that needs to be addressed, and that is where you will be staying for the rest of your time here. Girls? Can any of you offer them a place with you?”

Rarity shook her head. “As much as I want to, I’m afraid I can’t. The boutique only has two bedrooms, and the other one belongs to Sweetie Belle.”

“I can’t, either.” Said Fluttershy.

“Same here.” Pinkie Pie added.

“Unless they want to sleep in the barn, or house is full.” Applejack tipped her hat sadly.

“Eh…” Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly. “I could give Night a place to stay, but I don’t think John would be able to come too since my house is kinda high up.”

“Yeah…” Vinyl rubbed the back of her neck. “I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to. My place only has two bedrooms, and one of them is my roommates. I could let them crash on the couch, but I think Octy would flip if she found out that we were letting two alien’s crash at our place.”

“Then I can do it.” Everyone looked at Twilight Sparkle. “The castle has more than enough room, and I’m pretty sure I could house a small army in there if I needed to.” Celestia smiled.

“Then it’s settled.” She looked at the two Assassin’s. “Red Wolf. Night Angel. You will be staying with Twilight Sparkle at the castle for the time being.” The two nodded in unison, and everyone got up as Celestia and Luna made their way to the door. “I wish I could stay longer, but I’m afraid that I have more business to attend to. I will make sure to keep an eye out for anything that I can find out about the whereabouts of Rosland and Stornello. But until then, please stay out of trouble. Come along, Captain!” And with that, they walked out of the room with Shining Armor following them. But before he left, he made sure to give them a stern look and a gesture that said “I’m watching you.”

“… Well, that went pretty well.” John murmured.

“So, now what do we do?” Night Angel asked curiously.

Twilight stood up from her seat. “Well, I suppose the only thing that there is to do is bring you back to the–“

“Hold on.” Everyone’s attention was now centered on Vinyl as she stood up from her chair. “Now, your enemies are running about here in Equestria, and they already know who you are by name, right?” The two Assassin’s nodded. “So, shouldn’t you guys be going by completely different aliases now that you guys are here? I mean, they won’t know what you look like because you’re ponies, but they’ll know your real name if you use that.”

“That… is actually a very good point, Vinyl.” John chuckled. “That is a great idea, but… What would our names be? As far as I can tell, everyone’s names here are exotic and unique, so we would need a name similar to yours wouldn’t we?”

“Well, it’s kind of a no-brainer.” She said nonchalantly. “A lot of ponies’ names are based off of their cutie marks.” John and Night Angel deadpanned.

“Excuse me…” Night replied. “A cutie what?” His eyes went wide as Vinyl turned around and presented her flank to them, a dark blush staining his cheeks. She pointed to the mark on her butt.

“This is a cutie mark. It symbolizes your special talent; what you’re good at. I mean, you guys could base your names off of your… Oh…”

“What?” John looked down at his flanks, and sure enough, they were blank. “Okay… We don’t have tattoos on our asses. I’m betting there are a few ponies who don’t have their own yet, right?”

“If you’re a foal, yes.” Twilight added. “But if you’re already an adult, it’s just weird.”

“So, it is considered a taboo?” Night inquired.

“You could say it like that, I guess.” She said with a nod.

“It’s not like a crime or anything, though. Some ponies may look down on you and make fun of you for not having your cutie mark.” Rainbow Dash said suddenly.

“So, it’s like a forty-five year old not having his high school diploma?” The room went completely silent, and John could feel everyone’s eyes on him because of his comment. “… It’s a comparison from my world.”

“… I don’t get it.” Night said with a confused tone. John scoffed in return.

“Of course you don’t.”

“Well, I guess we can cross that bridge when we get there. Hopefully, it won’t cause a problem later on.” Twilight sighed. “But for now, I think we should all go back to the castle and rest. It’s been a long day for all of us, and I think we all deserve a good night’s sleep.”

“Um… Sugarcube?” Applejack coughed into her hoof. “It’s only two o’clock in the afternoon.”

Rarity giggled. “I think our dear friend is the only one who needs the rest. You really haven’t slept, have you?” Twilight merely responded with a blush. “How about this, Twilight? You can lead these two back to the castle, and then we can give our new visitors a tour of the town once they drop off their things.”

“I can show them around.” Vinyl volunteered. “I mean, I don’t really have anything better to do, and my roommate won’t be back from Canterlot for a couple more days. So you guys can go ahead and do whatever you need to do, and I can give them the grand tour of Ponyville.”

The fashionista smiled. “Why, thank you, Vinyl! That is such a relief.”

“Now I can plan a ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party’ for them!” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down excitedly.

“… Something tells me that she does this a lot.” John said skeptically.

“You have no idea.” Rainbow whispered.

“Hey, Twilight? I found Doctor Red Cross in the Waiting Room, but he told me to find you. Is something wrong?”

“What the fuck is that?!” John and Night Angel exclaimed in unison, falling from their chairs and drawing their swords at the strange bipedal creature. Twilight quickly jumped in front of the thing.

“Stop! It’s just my assistant, Spike!” She said frantically. “He’s a dragon!”

“A dragon?!” John exclaimed.

“Yes! But he’s completely harmless!” Twilight hugged Spike close, fearful that they might attack him. “So… You can put the swords away now…”

The Assassin’s looked at each other, and John’s sword fell from his magical grasp once more. He let out an exasperated groan. “Son of a bitch!” He muttered under his breath before picking it up with his mouth and sheathing it. Twilight let out a sigh of relief and let Spike go.

“Now… Can we please go back to the castle?”

After exchanging goodbyes and apologizing to Spike for the scare, the Assassin’s followed Twilight Sparkle back to the castle with Vinyl Scratch in tow. Now, when Twilight said that they were going to be staying at a castle, John imagined an ancient structure built from stone. But boy was he surprised when he saw that it was made entirely out of fucking crystals. Yeah, he did not see that one coming. Once they were inside, Twilight showed them to their rooms and retired to her own. After discarding their weapons and equipment—save for their trusty hidden blades, they headed for the front entrance of the castle, only to be stopped by Spike, who wanted to come with them. At first, Night was against the idea, but John managed to convince him that this would be their way of apologizing for nearly attacking him in the hospital. And after a full minute of debating, Night Angel agreed to let Spike accompany them, albeit rather reluctantly, and they joined Vinyl outside.

The tour was rather enlightening for the two Assassin’s, even though most of the entire walk was just them talking amongst themselves and sharing more information about their world, as well as answering the question as to why they were wearing ‘greaves,’ which were attracting the attention of every citizen that they walked past. Talking about his hidden blades made John feel a little weird. To him, explaining these things that were so complex to another species was like giving ‘the talk’ to a five year old. Then again, it was always nice to explain Assassin technology; it made John feel smart for some strange reason. But then Vinyl brought up the point that they would be kind of useless in their current forms. Night Angel felt a bit embarrassed since his blade design required a ring to go around his ring finger, which he no longer possessed, in which John assured him that he could fix that with a little time, energy, and patience, as his blades had the same problem. They soon found themselves in front of the town hall, sitting on a bench by a large fountain.

“So, let me get this straight.” Said Spike. “You guys are Assassin’s, but you are more like super heroes. You know? Fighting bad guys and saving the world.” He gave them a confused look when they laughed at him. “What? What’s so funny?”

John was the first one to speak up. “Well, here’s the thing, Spike. Y’see, we’re nothing like super heroes, since we don’t really have super powers and all that fancy stuff. Sure, we fight bad guys, as you said, but we’re nothing special.”

“But you have gadgets.” Vinyl added.

“That we do,” Night Angel responded with a nod. “But we do not ‘save the world,’ as you had put it so bluntly. Yes, we are the keepers of the peace, but we do not exactly affect the entire world around us. When we die, the world does not fall into an uproar over our passing. After all, we work in the shadows, and no one knows of our sacrifices.”

“Doesn’t that ever bother you?” Spike asked them. “Don’t you get upset if you do something good and nopony acknowledges it?”

“Sometimes, yes. But even if we don’t get credit for what we do, we still keep moving on. Because even if no one knows about the sacrifices we make for them, we’re content with knowing that we’re helping people and keeping them safe. And even if they view us as heroes at first, they will eventually hate us.” John ended with a sigh as a scream filled the air.

“Help!” A female voice shouted. “That pony stole my purse!”

“Could you all excuse me for a moment?” He looked over his shoulder to see a young unicorn stallion with a tan coat and a dirty black mane galloping around the corner of the town hall and past where they were sitting. He quickly hopped out of his seat and chased after him at breakneck speed. The stallion peeked over his shoulder and his eyes went wide when he saw someone chasing after him.

“Buzz off, pal!” He shouted.

“Not a chance!” John turned sharply on his hooves as he followed him down a dead-end alleyway. The stallion skidded to a halt, his eyes filled with fear.

“Nononononono!” He said fearfully, earning a sigh from the red unicorn behind him.

“Look, buddy, I don’t feel like fighting anymore today, alright? So how about you just hand over that purse, and we can act like this never happened.” His eyes narrowed as a knife was levitated out of the pony’s torn saddlebags with a blue aura. He turned around, his eyes filled with uncertainty, but also anger.

“N-no! I can’t let you stop me! I need the bits!” He grit his teeth and he let out a guttural cry of rage as he lunged at him with knife at the ready. John waited until the last second before ducking under the knife. This stunned the thief, allowing John to wrap his forearms around the young stallion’s neck and put him in an arm lock. This didn’t stop the knife, though, but he had a pretty good idea as to what would. Without letting go of his neck, John brought one hoof back and punched his horn hard, causing the young stallion to cry out in pain and drop the knife. Huh… I’ll keep that in mind next time I fight a unicorn.

“Come on!” John Redwoods held on tight to the now-crying unicorn as he walked out of the alleyway, practically dragging him all the way back to the fountain and to a weeping mint-green unicorn mare. He smiled when he saw Vinyl and the others trying to comfort her. “Excuse me, miss?” He stopped in front of the bench and let go of the stallion, thrusting him forward until he was practically kneeling at her hooves. “I want you to tell her that you’re sorry, then give her purse back.”

The stallion looked up at her. “I’m… I’m s-sorry for taking your purse…” His saddlebags were opened with his magic, and a small purse was levitated out of it and hovered in front of the now wide-eyed mare, who gently took it and held it close. He then turned around and looked up at John, who smiled.

“Thank you. You’re free to go now.” And with that, the young pony ran off, leaving John and the others to watch him go. Once he was out of sight, the red stallion sighed before looking back at the mare. “Are you alright, ma’am?”

The mint-green mare smiled shyly and brushed a lock of her cyan mane out of her eyes, her cheeks glowing red. “Y-yes, I am…” She wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. “Thank you very much.”

John smiled and nodded. “It was nothing at all. After all, I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to help a cute lady such as yourself.” Night Angel let out an exasperated groan, but the mare simply giggled.

“Vinyl, you never told me that you’re friends with such a handsome stallion.” She said to Vinyl.

“Oh yeah, totally!” Vinyl hopped off of the bench and wrapped a fore leg around the Assassin. “My buddy right here is a hot one, isn’t he? This here is… is…” Jesus fuck, Vinyl. Could you not be any more subtle? “Double Shot.” John deadpanned on the inside. Wait, what? “Double Shot? This is my good friend Lyra Heartstrings, the local lyrist and one of the prettiest mares in Ponyville.” Lyra’s blush only intensified, and Night Angel began to bang his head into the fountain ring.

“Heh, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Heartstrings.”

“Likewise, Double Shot.” Lyra smiled at him. “You know… I saw you earlier today at the hospital, but other than that, I haven’t seen you in here in town before. Are you new here?”

Once again, Vinyl spoke for him. “Yeah, he just moved here from Manehatten with his brother, who’s still back at their house waiting for him.”

“Okay… But… Why were you fighting with that guard? Were you in trouble or something?” It was John’s turn to lie this time.

“No, it’s nothing like that.” He said with a chuckle. “You see, my friend and I were hired by the Royal Guard to participate in an ‘unofficial’ training exercise. We’re combat experts, I guess you could say, and they wanted for us to make it as real as possible for the new trainee’s that they had posted at the hospital.”

“Is that why Princess Celestia was there? She looked kind of… Well, mad.” Oh, fuck. Think, think, think! Right as John was about to break his composure, Vinyl stepped in and saved him again.

“Things just got a little outta hand when I accidently got involved, so the Captain got mad which caused them to start fighting, which then pissed Celestia off.”

“Ah, I see…” She let out a contented sigh before carefully standing up. “Well, as much as I would love to stick around, I have a couple of things I have to do. But… Maybe we can hang out some other time?” John replied with a warm smile.

“I would love to.”

Lyra giggled to herself as she walked away. “See ya later, Vinyl!”

“Later, Lyra!” Once she was out of earshot, Vinyl started snickering uncontrollably. “Damn, I didn’t know you were down to start banging a mare!” John let out an exasperated groan, and she began to laugh out loud.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But Double Shot? Where did you come up with that name?” Vinyl held a hoof up until she could regain her composure.

“Hoo! Yeah… Okay! So, I was thinking about a few names that I could give you, but none of them sounded very good. Then I started thinking about alcohol, and then I thought about a double shot of whiskey and then BAM! There’s your new name!”

John was silent for a minute before he chuckled. “I like that name, actually. It kinda fits since I used to be a bartender as one of my undercover jobs back home… Double Shot… Yeah, I like that! But what about Mister ‘Stop flirting with ponies’ over there?”

“I only disapprove because they are ponies, not humans!” Night Angel snapped back in a hushed tone.

John smirked. “Says the one who admitted to staring at a pony’s ass.” Night’s cheeks turned red, and John and Vinyl laughed.

“Okay, okay, let’s get serious… Hm…” Vinyl scratched her chin. “How about… Moonlight… Shadow?” John looked at her confusedly.

“Which one is it? ‘Moonlight’ or ‘Shadow?’”

“Well, duh! I’m talking about both! Moonlight Shadow!” Vinyl smiled. “I mean, come on, dude! That’s a pretty badass name!” Her smile grew wider when she saw Night Angel’s face scrunch up in thought, and her eyes beamed when he smiled and nodded.

“Bene, I like it. Moonlight Shadow is now my new alias.” He smirked at Vinyl. “You know, you would make a pretty good Assassin. You seem like a natural with your ability to create stories to mislead your enemies.” Vinyl waved a hoof at him dismissively.

“Eh, it’s just something that I learned how to do growing up, you know? But thanks for the compliment.”

John smiled. “I think this day has been rather nice, even though it was pretty confusing and rather eventful since we’re in a new world and all that jazz. But you know, I think the best part was meeting you guys… Thanks a lot for being there for us, Vinyl, and thank you for being nothing but helpful, kind, and understanding.”

“Holy shit, dude… Did you just get sappy on me?” Vinyl said with a laugh, one that everyone joined in on.

“Yeah… I guess I did…” He smiled. I like this place already…

“I think we should all head back to the castle.” Spike said suddenly. “If you want to, Vinyl, you can stay with us until your roommate gets back.” Vinyl’s eyes went wide.

“A chance to stay in the Princess’ castle?” She grinned. “Fuck yeah! That would be sick!” Her grin then turned into a sly one. “Maybe I can stay with one of you guys tonight…”

John laughed. “You told me to keep my dick in my pants, and apparently now you want to sleep in my room tonight? Why the hell not! You can have the bed, and I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Sure! Sounds like a plan!” She responded with a laugh of her own.

And so, John and the others walked back to the castle, laughing and throwing jokes at each other the entire way. Today, John thought that this day would bring nothing but trouble, but it turned out to be quite the opposite once again. He had made a few new friends, and he was now talking to his infamous ancestor. This day was probably one of the best ones he had ever had… Okay, yeah, forget that. He had just gotten transported to a world filled with talking ponies, and he was even starting to flirt with them… But still, today wasn’t that bad.

Let’s see where this road takes us… He thought to himself.

Author's Note

So, I know that there might be a few questions here and there, and I will be answering those in the comments. But first, there's the issue behind John and Night Angel figuring out how to engage in swordplay with Shining Armor in their pony form.

Guys... John and Night Angel are Assassin's. They have been trained to fight using so many different weapons, especially with the sword. You don't just forget that training; it's a natural warrior's instinct. Then, there's the situation in which John is able to pick up the sword with his magic. This is just a sudden burst of magic, one that he doesn't know how to control yet. But, that doesn't mean that he won't eventually. This was just a simple surge of magic that enabled him to fight with his sword more effectively, but even then, he didn't know how to use it correctly because he dropped the sword every time he relaxed. This happened not once, but twice because he lost concentration on the magic he was using to hold his sword. He'll learn how to use it correctly, eventually. But until then, don't get mad at me about that, alright?... Okay, we're good!

And so, this is where I leave you! I'm currently working on the third chapter now, so hang in there, guys! Oh, and for those of you who are asking if there will be clop in this story, my answer to you is that there will be cloppy scenes here and there, just not in every chapter, okay?

Well, that's all the time I have for now. I'm Silver Chord of The Adventure Crew! And remember:

Adventure Awaits!

Chapter 3: A Day of Rest

Chapter 3: A Day of Rest

John’s eyes slowly fluttered open, his eyelids heavy with sleep. Looking around the room, he had absolutely no idea where he was at first, but after a short moment of recollection, he remembered where he was and why he was here. He remembered his reunion with his ancient ancestor, the situation at the hospital, and finding out that they were transported to another world to fulfill an ancient prophecy. He also remembered that he was no longer human, but a unicorn pony. It was kind of funny how things had turned out yesterday, and it was surprising how he had not lost his mind already. But, then again, if he were to lose his mind, it would have happened a long time ago.

Looking around the room, he noticed that everything was dark, save for the soft glow of moonlight that was filtered by the curtains covering the window. In the faint light, he could just make out the outline of his equipment leaning against the wall across from his bed, and his hidden blades and combat knife laying on top of the nightstand next to him. Apart from everything being made entirely from some sort of crystal substance, it kind of reminded John of his bedroom in one of the Assassin’s hideouts… If the bedroom wasn’t spacious as hell, and if the bed wasn’t so fucking comfortable! Good Lord, John couldn’t remember a single bed being this comfortable back in his world; not even those stupid beds that adjusted to your comfort level could compare to this. He rolled around on it for a bit earlier and was so surprised when Spike said that it was a cloud mattress, as in the mattress was made of clouds. After that, though, John didn’t ask anything more about it and labeled it off as another case of ‘magic mumbo-jumbo.’ But even with the extremely comfortable mattress and the equally comfortable blankets… He still couldn’t sleep, and he was guessing that it was probably around midnight. He let out an exasperated sigh. Looks like it’ll be yet another restless night. He turned so that he was looking up at the ceiling, trying to think of some ways to help him sleep. But he knew that he could never escape his restlessness; not even if he wanted to. Ever since he became an Assassin, he had many sleepless nights. Why? Because most of the time… He was afraid to fall asleep.

The door to his room slowly began to open as the light from outside crept in, and John was suddenly wide awake. He hopped out of the bed and grabbed the knife with his teeth before pivoting back towards the door, ready to fight. But, to his surprise, it was just Vinyl. He could see her standing in the doorframe, her white fur and her wild blue mane illuminated by the light from the hall, not even caring that he had pulled a knife out on her. She rubbed her tired eyes with a hoof.

“I guess you couldn’t sleep either, huh?” She said tiredly, earning a sigh from the unicorn as he put the knife back on the nightstand.

“Yeah,” he replied quietly. “I didn’t get much sleep either…” His eyes were starting to hurt from looking directly at the light shining in. “Hey, close the door if you’re gonna come in.” She complied, and the door was enveloped by a soft, iridescent blue light as she closed it with her magic, leaving the two to stand in the darkness. But even in the dark, John could see her red eyes in the dim moonlight, and honestly… It was mesmerizing. It was a few seconds later when Vinyl’s horn lit up with another light of the same color from the door, this one much dimmer and easier on both their eyes. “Thanks, Vinyl…” He sat up on the edge of the bed and sighed. “So… What did you need?”

“Well… I was wondering if maybe I could sleep with you.” Vinyl walked a little closer to the bed. “I’m not looking to bang or anything, it’s just…” She let out a soft sigh. “When Octavia, my roommate, is around, we sleep together, and it helps me sleep. We’ve done that ever since we started living with each other because… I’m…”

“You’re afraid of being alone.” Vinyl looked up at him with wide eyes. “I know what that’s like… You fear isolation, especially in the dark, so you want that feeling of closeness so you don’t feel like you’re alone.” John chuckled. “Yeah… I know.”

“But… How?” She slowly approached the foot of the bed and looked up at him, silently asking him for permission to join him. When he nodded, she slowly crawled up until she was sitting next to him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you remember how I told you that my parents were murdered right?” She nodded. “When they died… When I found them dead on the floor… I was so distraught and traumatized. For four days, I stayed in that house, mourning their death… But through most of that time… I couldn’t sleep. I was already so afraid that I would be next, but that was a fear that lingered more during the day. But during the night, I was more afraid of the dark than I had ever been in my entire life. It wasn’t that I feared that some boogeyman would come out of the closet or something stupid like that… No…” He shook his head. “I was afraid that the darkness would swallow me whole if I fell asleep for one minute. That was for the first three days…

“But on the fourth day, I found my dog. He was just a puppy at the time; no more than three weeks old. Apparently, he was hiding underneath my parents’ bed the entire time, and…” John started laughing. “The poor guy was stuck under there; wedged between my Dad’s briefcase and a lot of my Mom’s stuff… I got him out, fed him, and washed him. Poor guy pissed himself, he was so scared…” He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, but he successfully fought them back. “S-so, after all that, I just sat with him in my room the entire day with my Dad’s gun, waiting to see if the murderer’s would come back to kill me next. He was just sitting there in my lap, all curled up and snoozing away. I guess I fell asleep like that, because the next thing you know, I woke up in the middle of the night, and my dog was still there, curled up under my arm. I wasn’t afraid anymore after that…” He smiled, and he looked over to see Vinyl smiling, too.

“Damn…” She laughed quietly. “You’re a fucking trooper, aren’t you?” John joined her in her laugh, shaking his head.

“I guess I am…” He looked over at his hidden blades. “I guess that was the day that I was ready to be an Assassin… But even after that, I still have trouble sleeping, tonight being no exception…” The room remained silent once more until Vinyl spoke up again.

“I guess you just need somepony to sleep with, huh?” John listened for some kind of playfulness in her voice; a sign of a seductive tone or anything that would indicate that she was joking. But he didn’t hear anything of the sort. All he heard was genuine concern and kindness in her voice. He looked back at her and smiled.

“Strictly plutonic, right?” She laughed again.

“Well, that depends on whether or not we decide otherwise.” She cut out the light from her horn and slowly crawled over to the other side of the bed. “But… we can at least cuddle a bit, right?” John smiled as they both slid under the covers.

“Yes, Vinyl, that’s fine.” He immediately felt Vinyl wrap her fore legs around his waist, followed by the feeling of her muzzle nuzzling into the crook of his neck. At first, John just froze up, confused on what to do next. But as her natural body heat seeped into his fur and lulled him into complacency, he wrapped his own hooves around her in return and pulled her close. After laying there with her in his arms for a good few minutes, he smiled, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed against his and her chest rising and falling with each soft breath she took. It also took him a minute to realize that she had already fallen asleep. He chuckled to himself.

“Wow… Out like a light already, huh?” He said quietly. Of course, she didn’t hear him, but he didn’t really care. He let out a sigh of contentment before he too closed his eyes. “Goodnight, Vinyl… Thanks for listening…” His breathing calmed, as well as his heart, and he let sleep take him.

John awoke to the bright light of the sun, squinting his eyes as soon as he opened them. The curtains did their best to shield the room from the light from outside, but it seemed to cut through the fabric like a knife. Judging by how bright it was, John guessed that it was probably around noon, or maybe a bit later. He groaned and shifted around a bit until he was facing away from the window, aware of the mare that was sleeping in the same bed as him. John smiled as the memories from last night replayed in his mind. It was a nice heart-to-heart discussion, and it was the first time he had shared that private moment with another person, or in Vinyl’s case, another pony. Honestly, he didn’t know that she had such a soft side underneath that seductive, teasing nature of hers. But, as always, it looked like he had been proven wrong yet again. He smiled as he pulled the mare closer, trying to go back to sleep.

That was when he suddenly felt a paralyzing surge of pleasure.

He gasped and seized up, almost frozen in place. Holy fucking shit! He thought. What the hell was that?! He felt like he had just had a miniature orgasm, one that left him completely immobilized. His horn was giving off a small vibration and pulsing lightly with pleasuring sensations. He wanted to feel that sensation again, but at the same time, he was scared of where it had come from in the first place. That’s when Vinyl started murmuring in her sleep.

“Mmm… Damn, Octy…” She said softly, her voice laced with a sensual purr. “You’re really excited this morning, huh?” That didn’t sound good. John knew that he would have to do something quick before this got really, really awkward.

“Um… Vinyl?” He could feel her press her body closer to his.

“I guess I’m up for a… few rounds of early morning fun…”

John started shaking the DJ. “Vinyl! Wake up, damnit!” Vinyl snorted, her eyes fluttering open. She leaned up, rubbing her tired eyes with a hoof.

“Wha…” She looked down at the red unicorn. “Oh. Hey, John. What’s up?” It took every ounce of willpower that he had just to not deadpan and smack himself in the face.

“Vinyl… You do realize that you were about to do the hanky-panky with me, right?” Vinyl tilted her head, obviously confused.

“The… ‘hanky-panky?’”

“’Do the do?’… Coitus?” His words seemed to escape her. Time to be blunt. “You were about to try and fuck me in your sleep, and you thought that I was your roommate.” As soon as those words left his mouth, Vinyl’s cheeks lit up as if they were on fire. She chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Oh… Heh. My bad.”

“Furthermore, what was with the whole ‘Octy’ thing? Is she your girlfriend or something?” John’s words had an even greater effect on the blushing DJ, and now her entire face was as red as a tomato.

“Octy, or Octavia, is my roommate,” she explained quietly. “And… Well, to put it bluntly, we sometimes enjoy a little bit of early morning sex. It’s sort of like a ‘friends with benefits’ thing. Y’know what I mean?”

… That actually sounds pretty legit. John mentally shrugged. He once had to share a room with a female Assassin before, and there were a few times where they would have a little bit of ‘no strings-attached’ fun. So, he could believe Vinyl’s story. “Fair enough.” He said nonchalantly. The unicorn then dragged himself out of the bed before stretching his tired muscles. “Mmm… I could go for some pancakes or some waffles right about now.”

“Me too, actually.” Vinyl hopped out of the bed with a renewed sense of vigor, looking over at John with a smirk. “You think this castle has a kitchen?”

“Dunno. But there’s only one way to find out, right?” The Assassin turned to look at his sword, and then proceeded to simply stare at it. His eyes were wide, and his ears pointed forward; it was like he was trying to concentrate on something. Vinyl tilted her head.

“Dude… What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to channel the powers of my mind to allow me to levitate this sword and strap it to my back.” He explained.

“… You mean, you’re trying to cast a levitation spell?”

“No. This is telekinesis, not magic.” Vinyl facehoofed.

“I don’t know what they call it on your world,” she said. “But here in Equestria, we call it ‘magic.’” The DJ nudged him in the side, snapping him out of his concentration. “Why do you even need your sword anyways? We’re going to find the kitchen, not a target to practice on.”

“As an Assassin and a soldier, I am trained for every possible scenario, and to be armed at all times. I don’t go anywhere without at least one of my weapons. What if one of my enemies swoops in from out of nowhere and suddenly attacks us? I can’t hold them off with just my hand-to-hand combat skills.” It seemed that his point had made some sense. Vinyl mulled over his words for just a bit before she spoke up again.

“Good point.” She said with a nod. “But it’s obvious that you don’t know how to cast a levitation spell yet, so… Do you want me to help you with that?” After a moment of silence, John nodded reluctantly and straightened his stance.

“Alright. Help me put it on.”

* * *

“Such incredible architecture…” Night Angel muttered to himself in amazement. “It’s not as brilliant as the Hagia Sofia, but… it is still no less amazing.”

After awakening from his slumber not too long ago, Night Angel decided to explore the castle a little more than he had yesterday. Never, in his wildest dreams, had he ever once imagined a castle made entirely of precious gems and crystals. If someone had tried to craft such a masterpiece in his world, it would have crumbled like a house made of sticks. It was a mystery as to how it was standing on its own. As soon as he found Twilight Sparkle, he would ask her how this marvelous structure came to be. But first, he had to find that one yellow pony... The one that he couldn’t quite remember her name. Oh, what was it? He thought. Flutterbat? No no… Butterfly? No, that’s not it either… I think it was… Flutter of the Shy. Yes! That’s it! Flutter of the Shy! He nodded to himself. Yes. I will find the Princess first, then I will ask her the whereabouts of this Flutter of the Shy.

As he continued his trek down the hallway, he started to feel his new wings twitching involuntarily. He let out an exasperated groan as they flapped once before settling onto his back again. “C’ diavolo? What is wrong with these infernal wings?” This was the main reason why he wanted to find the yellow pony. Ever since he woke up early this morning, his wings had been having random twitches, and they were really starting to get on his nerves. He was very close to just taking his sword and slicing them off. That is why he was hoping that Flutter of the Shy had a solution to his little problem. From what he had gathered from their introductions yesterday, this Flutter of the Shy was an animal caretaker.

“Spike? Where’s that book on multi-dimensional theory?” Night Angel’s ears perked up as he picked up the sound of Twilight’s voice. Looking around, he found that it was coming from a room with two, huge doors. He slowly walked inside, and almost immediately, his jaw dropped. He was standing in possibly one of the largest libraries he had ever seen in his entire life. All around him were tomes of different sizes, shapes, and colors, all lined up on shelves that reached the ceiling. But what really caught him off-guard were the books that were flying all across the room in every which direction, and they all were glowing with a strange lavender light. It was truly a magnificent sight. Never had he seen so much knowledge in one place before; it was just… There were no words to describe it.

“’The Multi-verse: A Reference Guide to the most intriguing theory in the world’?” Spike responded from the top rung of the ladder, a book with a dark red spine clutched tightly between his claws. Twilight smiled and nodded.

“Yep,” she said. “That’s the one.”

“Okie dokie!” The young dragon slid down the ladder and ran over to a crystal desk where Twilight Sparkle sat, documents and books of all different sorts scattered across the surface.

“This…” Twilight looked up as Night Angel scanned the bookshelves. “This is absolutely incredible! Never have I seen so much knowledge stored in one place before!” He looked back at her, his eyes gleaming. Twilight giggled in response.

“Well, good afternoon, Night Angel.” She set the book down and stepped out of her seat to greet the pegasus. “How did you sleep?”

“I slept very well, thank you.” Night responded with a bow of his head. “But… What is it that enables these books to, well, fly?”

“Oh, that? It’s just a simple enchantment that allows the books to fly and rearrange themselves. So, in case I need to find a book quickly and it just so happens to be flying over my head, I just grab it.”

“Ah… More magic…” He sighed and cleared his throat. “Anyways, I came to ask if you could tell me where I might find Flutter of the Shy.” As soon as those last words left his mouth, he was immediately met with a very bewildered gaze.

“Um… You mean Fluttershy?”

“I suppose so, yes. Do you know where I can find her?”

“Well… Usually at this point of the day, she would either be at her cottage… But I think today she was supposed to go to the spa with Rarity. She should be at either place, but other than that, I don’t know.” Twilight tilted her head. “Why? Is there something you needed?”

“Why, I believe our new friend here just needed to ask her about a problem with his wings. They’ve been awfully twitchy, haven’t they?”

“What? Who are you–?” Night Angel turned around to face this stranger. But once he saw what it was, he immediately jumped back and drew his sword. “Mio Dio! What the hell is that… that thing?!” He didn’t know what to call the thing that stood before him. It looked like it was part-goat, part-lion, part-griffon, part… something; it looked like God stitched together so many different parts from other animals and then threw it into a wall. The creature wore a hurt look on its face, his lips forming a pout and his snaggletooth protruding from his mouth.

“Now, that is a very hurtful thing to say now, isn’t it? I bet you wouldn’t like it if I said that you look like King Sombra reincarnated.”

“Discord!” Twilight shouted with a scowl. “That’s a terrible thing to say! Even if he doesn’t know who that is yet, that doesn’t mean you can say it!”

“But… But he started it!”

“Hey, Twilight? Do you guys have a kitchen in here?” John walked into the room with Vinyl at his side. “Me and Vinyl wanted to make something for…” Upon laying eyes on Discord, John’s eyes went as wide as saucers. He pointed a hoof and shouted. “What the fuck is that?! It looks like my high school science project!”

“Okay, now they’re just being plain rude.” Discord crossed his arms and frowned.

“If you hadn’t startled them, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place!” Spike pointed an accusatory claw at him.

“Oh, you’re one to talk, Spike. After all, they almost killed you on sight.”

“At least I made myself known before they did!”

“Are we going to sit here? Or are we going to fight?” John asked his ancestor.

“I think I’m about to kill it.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Could everypony please be quiet?!” As soon as Twilight’s voice pierced through the chaotic ramblings of the others, and upon a single glance, Night Angel thought that he saw a vein protruding from her temple. “Everypony just… calm down, okay?” He took this time to carefully assess the current situation, and due to the circumstances, it seemed that Twilight was the most dangerous person—pony—in the room.

“… ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’” He said quietly.

“Alright,” the alicorn said. “Now, before we start killing each other, can we at least agree to a truce so I can introduce everyone?” Everyone nodded. “Okay. Night Angel? Red Wolf? This is Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Discord? This is Night Angel and Red Wolf, the Assassin’s from the prophecy.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Discord laughed, clapping his appendages together. “The prophesized warriors that will save our world! It is such a pleasure to meet you all!” He phased out in a flash of light, then reappeared next to John with a claw draped over his neck. “So, tell me. How are you all enjoying your stay?”

John responded with a shrug. “Eh. It’s going pretty well for our second day. But I would be grateful if you could direct me to the kitchen and get your... ‘Whatever-the-fuck’ off of me.”

“Oh, I can do much better than that!” He snapped his fingers, and John and Vinyl disappeared in a flash of light, causing Night Angel to fall into a defensive stance.

“What did you do with them?!”

“Now now, Night Angel. Please, calm down.” Discord shook his hands defensively. “I can assure you that our friends are quite alright. I merely sent them to a donut shop.”

“But… There aren’t any donut shops in Ponyville, right?” Spike scratched his head.

“There is, actually.” Twilight confirmed. “I remember hearing that it opened up by the Town Hall a week ago. The pony that owned the store wanted me to endorse them, I think...” She then glared at Discord, who was now reclining nonchalantly in midair. “But you should have at least warned them before you randomly teleported them without as much as a hint!”

“Lighten up, Princess. It’s not like anything bad will happen to them.” He pulled a bright red ball from out of his pocket and started tossing it in the air and catching it. “After all, Ponyville has only been in danger at least… Oh, what? A thousand times?” The ball was suddenly zapped by a lavender beam of pure magic, causing it to disintegrate. Looking over, Discord saw that Spike and Twilight were glaring at him menacingly, in which he responded with a simple shrug. “They are grown adults. Red Wolf is a deadly Assassin, and I bet that mare with him has seen her own fair share of dangerous situations.” The chaotic being flipped in the air until he was standing on his feet. “Well, I must be off. I bid you all farewell! Ta-ta!” He snapped his fingers once, and in a flash of light, he was gone. There was a brief moment of silence before Twilight decided that it was best to break it.

“Well, that happened.” She turned to face Night and sighed. “Sorry about him. Discord can be a… bit of a handful at times.”

“Why not just get rid of him?” He said as he sheathed his blade. “As far as I can tell, you’d be doing your world a favor by eliminating him.”

“True, but why?” She replied. “I mean, yes, he can be considered a threat depending on the circumstances—especially considering what he did just recently, but he can be classified more as a nuisance than an actual danger to Equestria. If we were to kill him or turn him into stone for a third time, then what would we have accomplished? Would we have truly done the world any good at all by doing such?”

Night Angel opened his mouth to respond with an intelligent answer, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to reply. He had only known this Discord character for at least a few short moments, so he didn’t know him as well as Twilight did. For all he knew, he could be nothing more than a child that begged for attention. He didn’t have too long to ponder on her words before she spoke again.

“But enough of that.” Twilight smiled. “I’m pretty sure you would like to solve the problem regarding your wings.” He nodded. “Well, I’m not an expert on flying or pegasus anatomy, so I can’t be of much help there. And while Fluttershy is a pegasus, her knowledge focuses more on animals and a little bit of traditional medicine. I recommend that you should go talk to Rainbow Dash first.”

“Ah, yes. Where might I find her?”

“My guess is that she will be at her house on the outskirts of Ponyville. If you can’t find her there, she might be somewhere in…” She laughed. “You know what? How about I help you find her instead of trying to explain where she might be? I’d hate to send you on a wild goose chase around Ponyville.”

Night Angel bowed his head and smiled a bit. “That would be much appreciated.”

“Wait.” Spike suddenly said, drawing their attention. “Discord just teleported John and Vinyl to some unknown location, and you aren’t even worried about them in the slightest?”

“Well, the Discord creature did have a fair point. If my descendant is anything like me, he should not have any trouble on his own.”

“But…”

Night Angel chuckled. “Young drake, you have nothing to be worried about. Remember: we are Assassin’s. We have fought wars and won a few, and we have faced enemies that would be deemed invincible. But we have still prevailed.” He motioned to the sword on his back. “My blade is a symbol of my sacrifice, strength, and faith, as is John’s. So, Spike, he is safe. His skill and his perception shall guide him and lead him to victory.”

“With that being said, Spike, do you think you can watch the castle while we’re gone?” Twilight asked her assistant, who nodded with an uncertain look.

“Um… Yeah, sure. Whatever you need, Twilight.”

“Great! We’ll be back in a bit.”

* * *

John Redwoods was an Assassin. He has seen so many things, both of which could traumatize a man or even drive him to insanity. He had first-hand experience with failed mutated experiments, supposedly-invulnerable juggernauts, Assassins who had much more experience than himself, rogue Assassin’s from all over the world, and even the legendary Pieces of Eden. He has been shot, stabbed, crushed, thrown into and even through walls, cursed—the list goes on. So, he would think that after seven years of all that bullshit, he would be used to being teleported to a donut shop when he had just been standing inside of a castle library.

Yeah, no. Not even close.

John stood wide-eyed in the center of the donut shop with a flabbergasted look on his face, as was Vinyl and the cashier behind the counter. It was rather funny how Discord had teleported them in front of the counter; the poor girl looked like she had no idea what was going on. But despite the fact that two unicorns had just been teleported into the shop, she managed to shake herself from her stupor and put on a warm, friendly smile.

“Hi there!” She said cheerfully. “Welcome to the Java Club! What can I get for you today?”

Unbeknownst to John, Vinyl was ecstatic when she heard the name of the establishment. “He sent us here? Aw yeah! I’ll have six glazed crème-filled donuts and a medium-sized caramel macchiato.” The mare behind the counter jotted down her order onto a notepad that sat in front of her.

“Alright…” She looked up at John, her smile still there. “And what will you be having, sir?”

“Um… I’ll have a regular coffee with six chocolate raspberry-filled donuts, if you have those.”

She wrote down his order then ripped the sheet from the notepad. “Okay! That’ll be sixteen bits.” That’s when John started to freak out inside. He didn’t have any money, and he was pretty sure that Vinyl didn’t have any either–

“Here you go.” Vinyl levitated a small stack of golden coins onto the counter in which the mare quickly took and placed into the cash register. She then wrote down two numbers on another sheet on the notebook then ripped it in half, handing one to John and the other to Vinyl, even though Vinyl took both of them.

“Thank you very much! You’re orders should be ready in a few minutes.”

“Thanks a lot.” Vinyl replied.

As they walked to a free table, John couldn’t help but just stare at her. “How the fuck did you do that?”

“Hm?” She gave him a confused look as they sat down. “What do you mean?”

“That! You fucking materialized money out of thin air!” He responded in a hushed tone. “Please tell me you didn’t steal it.” The last part earned him a scoff and a roll of the eyes.

“I’d call you a fucking idiot if you weren’t from another world. Unicorns have the ability to take items and throw them into a little ‘pocket dimension,’ which is personalized for each unicorn’s specific magical signature. So, if I wanted to summon, say, one of my records, I can just summon it from my hidden stash in my little pocket dimension. Like so…” Her horn flashed with her magical aura, and a record disc materialized out of thin air. John managed to catch the vinyl object before it landed on the floor, staring at it in fascination.

“Huh…” He chuckled. “Holy shit, this would have come in handy back on Earth.”

“Speaking of which, do you think I can hear some stories?”

“… Stories? Of what?”

Vinyl shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe some of your adventure’s as an Assassin, I guess.”

“I would, but…” He looked around to see if anyone was watching them… And nobody was. “Okay. Question? How come none of these ponies are looking at me weird for having a sword? Where I’m from, someone would have called the cops on me.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. “I… don’t have an answer for that, actually. Maybe they assume that you’re a Royal Guard off-duty. That or they think you’re some kind of mercenary.

John tilted his head. “Mercenaries are a common thing around here?”

“No, but after being attacked by a three-headed dog from Tartarus, an ancient demon that had been sealed away for a thousand years, a motherfucking moon bear, and a centaur that could absorb other ponies’ magic, everypony just expects the unexpected.”

“Huh… Well, shit.”

“Yep.” Her horn flashed for a brief second, and the disc dematerialized. “But seriously, Wolfy, what was your world like?”

“Number thirty-two and thirty-three!”

Perfect time to dodge the question. “I’ll get it.” John got up from the table to pick up their orders. He hoped that this would at least help change the subject. But knowing Vinyl, even though he barely knew her at all, it was very likely that she would not drop the subject that easily. Once he stepped up to the counter, he examined their orders and frowned. The mare behind the counter looked slightly dejected, her ears falling back.

“Are you not satisfied with your orders, sir?”

“Hm? Oh!” He laughed, shaking his hoof defensively. “Oh nonono! It’s not that at all! It’s just that… Well, I kinda forgot how to levitate objects. Um…” He blushed and smiled sheepishly. “This is kind of embarrassing…”

“Well, it’s a good thing I dropped in!” Said a pleasant female voice from behind. John turned around and saw a pretty yellow unicorn mare with a red mane with orange highlights. She looked like she had a case of bedhead, with each curl adorning a delicate orange hue every other strand. And just in front of her ears were a tuft of red hair each, which kind of resembled a shark fin. She looked like she would be one of those cute, warmish-types that wore a pair of reading glasses and hung out at libraries and coffee houses. She smiled warmly at him. “I can help you with that.”

“No, that’s okay.” He quickly added. “I just need a few seconds. I just got out of the hospital yesterday, so I need a few days to regain my bearings.” I would also say my sanity, but God knows that I lost that a long time ago.

The mare giggled. “Okay, Mister. Take your time.”

“Right…” He looked back at the boxes and just stared at them. Back at the hospital, he used his ‘magic’ when he needed it in combat; he had to use it because his life was in danger. But now he didn’t really have an urgency to use it. After all, it’s not like his life depended on picking up a couple of boxes and coffee’s. I imagined that I was holding them with my hands… Maybe if I did that again, I can pick them up. He imagined that he still had hands; that he was using them to grab the box. His horn suddenly sparked to life with a red aura, the same force enveloping the box and beverages. He smiled and cheered inside his mind as he managed to levitate them a bit off of the counter. John then turned around with the boxes with a smug look on his face.

“See?” He said. “I had it under control…” His magic then flickered out, causing the boxes to go into a free-fall towards the ground. His eyes went wide. “Nonono!” Before he could make a grab for them, he saw a light purple aura engulf the box of donuts and the coffee’s, stopping them in mid-air. The mare laughed.

“Still think you have it under control?”

“He’s having some issues with his magic,” Vinyl suddenly added as she walked up to the pair. “He just got out of the hospital, and the doctor’s said that he may have a problem using his magic due to a horn injury.”

The mare’s eyes went wide and she looked at John. “Oh… Wow.” The Assassin waved his hoof dismissively.

“It’s nothing, really.”

The mare nodded and handed the boxes of donuts to Vinyl. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you guys alone then. Have a nice day!” As she began to walk away, John stopped her.

“Wait. What’s your name?”

She looked back at him with a warm smile and a wink. “Pony Pint.” And with that, she walked out the door. In John’s mind, that was one of the shortest introductions of his entire life. Who the hell was she? He mentally shrugged. Perhaps at some point, they would run into each other again; he had a feeling that they would.

“Pony Pint…” John pondered the name and shook his head. “What kind of name is that?”

“Well, let’s go ahead and eat these donuts before you drop them again.” Vinyl jabbed at him. He quickly responded with a glare.

“Fuck you, Vinyl.”

“Hm… I don’t know. It’s tempting, but I don’t think I’m interested.” She chuckled as she walked back to the table.

John sighed. “Goddamnit…”

* * *

Meanwhile, Twilight and Night Angel were standing under Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. The walk there was a relatively short one, and the two barely exchanged any words between one another. But for Night, that was perfectly fine with him. After all, he wanted nothing more than to fix this problem with his newly-acquired wings, go back to the castle, and figure out how to modify his hidden blades so he could use them in his new form. But for now, he had to find out what his problem was from Rainbow Dash first.

“So, let me get this straight,” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered in front of them. “You’re having random twitches in your wings, and the first pony you came to see was me?” Night nodded in response, in which she let out an exasperated groan. “Twilight, you could have taken care of this problem!”

“What?!” Twilight looked confused. “How?! I’ve never had this problem!”

“Really?” The tom-pony crossed her hooves and smirked. “You don’t remember your coronation party?” Twilight blushed.

“Y-you scared me! My wings didn’t have twitches when they knocked your cider all over one of the Canterlot Nobles!”

“Egghead, I didn’t even touch you. We can ask AJ or Pinkie if we need to, and they’ll tell you the exact same thing.” She sighed and turned back to Night Angel. “Okay, pal. I’m not going to make this a long and boring lecture like Twilight would. I’m going to tell you what your problem is in one sentence: You have Restless Wings.” Night Angel tilted his head.

“My wings are restless? But how is that even possible?”

“When a pegasus reaches maturity, they experience random twitches and spasms in their wings. This is because the bones and muscles in your wings are trying to grow to accommodate your body.” She slowly descended until she was now face-to-face with him. “The reason for you is likely because this is only, like, you’re second day as a pegasus. You need to start flying to fix the problem.”

This caught the Assassin off-guard. “… Fly?”

“Yes. You need to fly.”

“... I’m afraid I don’t know how to do that yet.”

Rainbow laughed. “That’s why you’re here, Nighty.” Night Angel scowled.

“Please, do not call me that.”

She rolled her eyes in response, smiling. “Whatever you say, Nighty.” The Assassin let out an exasperated groan as the prismatic-maned pegasus began her lesson. “Flying isn’t that hard, Nighty. Not everypony has to go to a fancy flight school to learn how to fly. It’s all here…” She placed a hoof over her heart, then pointed to her head. “And here. Quick reaction time, flapping intervals, the works; it’s all inside you. Even if you are a completely different species, you’re a pegasus right now, so the ability to fly should be hard-wired into your brain.” She flapped her wings so she hovered in the air. “Let’s just start with a simple hovering exercise, okay? All you have to do is flap your wings and maintain proper height from the ground using just the right amount of power and balance...” Seeing Night’s confused expression, she groaned. “Flap your wings until you’re up here, then keep flappin’ ‘em.”

“Um…” He looked at both of his wings before looking back at her. “How, exactly, do I do that?” Rainbow Dash groaned.

“Oh, Celestia, help me… Nighty–”

“Night Angel.” He said with a roll of the eyes.

“You can feel the muscles in your wings, right?” When Night responded with a nod, she nodded back. “Alright. Now, feel around for those muscles, and take control of them. Spread your wings out, and give ‘em a good flap.”

At first, all he did was stare at her in absolute bewilderment. He could feel his wings, yes, but only when the muscles contracted and spasmed. But to actually try to feel them through his own will was a different story. He highly doubted that they were something akin to the muscles on his back… They were akin to the muscles on his back. He could feel them, if not barely, but they were definitely there. But trying to control those muscles at will was rather difficult to do.
Night Angel looked at one of his wings and stretched it out so he could get a better look at it… His eyes went wide. “Huh… Ma che meraviglia.” His native tongue only confused the ponies standing around him.

“Twilight, why is he speaking Neightalian?”

“It is called Italiano.” Night said without looking away from his wing. “It is the language of my birth mother and father, as well as the language of Italia. It is merely my native tongue.” He looked over at his other wing and did the same thing as the last one, extending the dark silver appendage out and examining it as well. He finally figured out that it was simply natural movement that would allow him to move his wings at will. Even though he didn’t know how to fly, it seemed that using his wings came naturally to him. Perhaps all those years of soaring with the eagles after performing many leaps of faith gave him the instinct to fly? Maybe not, but it certainly didn’t sound like it was quite far from the realm of possibility. The sound of Rainbow Dash clearing her throat ripped him from his train of thought.

“Look, I’m glad that you figured out how to control your wings and all. But if you want to learn how to fly, we better get started.” She said, maintaining her position in the air. Night Angel looked up at her and nodded.

“Si si, I understand.” He gave his wings an experimental flap. It wasn’t enough to lift him off of the ground; just a test to see if they still responded to him. With a mental nod, he did it again, this time with a little more force. The end result was his body gently being lifted no more than an inch from the ground before he landed on all four hooves. Night slowly found himself getting the idea. All he needed to do was gather enough strength in his wings, push off so he was in the air, then keeping flapping his wings to maintain height from the ground. Night Angel crouched down then jumped into the air, propelling himself further with a hard flap of his wings. His eyes widened in surprise as he found himself going higher, almost to Rainbow Dash’s height in the air. He flapped his wings again, and again, trying to keep himself up in the air.

“That’s it, Nighty.” He heard Rainbow Dash encourage him. “Keep it up.”

He smiled a bit as he realized that he was now in the air, but he also began to realize that he was quickly losing his balance in the air. Night tried everything that he could to steady himself, but it was hard for him to find purchase on nothing, after all. It was in that moment that the Assassin knew that he was in-trouble as he tilted sideways, and plummeted straight back down to the ground. Rainbow Dash tried to help him, but there was nothing she could do as he hit the dirt hard, sending a small cloud of dust up upon impact. At first, all he did was lay there on his side as Twilight and Rainbow slowly approached him, concern clearly etched on their faces.

“Are you okay, Night Angel?” Twilight asked him worriedly, in which the dark silver pegasus responded by standing back up and shaking himself off. He looked directly at Rainbow Dash with a determined look on his face.

“Again.”

“You sure?” Rainbow asked him with a smirk. “I mean, if you’re hurt–“

“I said I’ll do it again.” Night Angel replied stoically. “I’ll keep doing this until I get it right.”

* * *

“Vinyl, this is so fucking dumb.”

“Do you want a doughnut?” Vinyl said as she floated the untouched box of doughnuts in front of John’s muzzle. It had been at least ten minutes since his near accident with their coffee and doughnuts, and upon coming back to their table, Vinyl proposed an idea. Although, in his mind, it was more of cruel and unusual method of teaching.

“Yes, I want a doughnut.” John replied with malice in his tone. “I also want the whole goddamn box.”

Vinyl shrugged and set the box down on the table, pushing it in front of him. “Fine. But you have to grab it with your magic. If I see you try to grab one with your hooves, I’m going to eat all of these myself.”

He smirked and crossed his hooves. “Really? Aren’t you worried about gaining extra weight?” The comment caused Vinyl to look at him angrily, and John’s smirk quickly melted as he felt her eyes bearing into his soul.

“Do I look like a prissy mare who’s worried about extra calories?”

“W-well…” He wiped his forehead as he felt himself start to sweat. “I just assumed that you…”

“Don’t assume. I know a lot of mares don’t like to eat extra because they’re worried about gaining weight and all that shit, but I’m not one of those mares. I eat what I want, then I burn the calories the next day. I mean, come on…” She pointed down to her rump with a forehoof. “Does it look like my ass is fat?” John blushed and started moving his head to look under the table. But right before he could take glance, Vinyl cleared her throat, and his head shot straight back up. “I wasn’t actually asking, you perv.”

“What?! But you just–!” Vinyl started laughing. Now it was his turn to frown. “You cheeky bitch.” He crossed his hooves again and sighed as the snowy mare shook her head.

“I was just joking, Wolfy.” She straightened her posture a bit and gestured to the doughnuts. “Now, pick up a doughnut.”

He nodded and looked straight at the doughnuts in front of him. They looked absolutely delicious, and he wanted nothing more than to try one of them. But, alas, Vinyl refused to let him have one until he could figure out how to levitate small objects. He closed his eyes as he remembered that moment at the hospital when he used magic to pick up his sword and fight with it. If he could replicate that moment, he could definitely pick up a doughnut. The only problem, however, was doing so in a state of calm. When he first did it, he was in-danger. This time, he was surrounded by friendly ponies who posed no threat to him or others. So… How could he use magic for everyday things like picking up a small object if it only worked when he was in combat? When I used levitation magic, I remember that there was some sort of feeling building up in my horn. If that was my magic, then all I have to figure out is how I can do that again, then use it.
Easier said than done. For the next minute or so, John tried his hardest to summon magic into his horn with no success. His mind remained clear, but his magic didn’t come to him. He leaned back in the chair and let out an exasperated sigh. “Fuck it. Eat ‘em for all I care.”

“Nope.” John looked at Vinyl in surprise just in time for her to lightly slap him with a napkin. “You’re not giving up that easily.”

“Vinyl, let’s just face it.” He sat up and looked her dead in the eye. “My magic is obviously only for combat situations. Doing things like eating a doughnut or picking up a cup of coffee are obviously not for me. Maybe I’ll just…”

“Uh uh.” She interrupted him in the middle of his sentence. “You don’t look like a quieter to me, so I’m not letting you quit.” Vinyl leaned in a bit. “Look, I’ll give you some pointers, okay? Build up your magic and channel it into your horn, then think about what you want to do with it. So, for instance, just imagine yourself physically grabbing and lifting the doughnut with your hooves, and that should do it.” She leaned back into her chair and started chewing on one of her own doughnuts as John looked back down at his box.

Is it really that simple? He tried again, this time doing as Vinyl suggested and imagined himself grabbing the doughnut with his hooves. And sure enough, his horn sparked to life with a familiar red glow, which in turn encased a random doughnut in the box. John’s eyes lit up as he smiled. Holy shit, it really is. He slowly brought it up to his muzzle, hoping that his magic didn’t go out on him like it did the last time and make him drop the doughnut onto the floor or something. That would definitely suck. He could see Vinyl smiling just over the chocolate glaze.

“There ya go. See? It’s not that hard.”

“Heh, I guess not.” Immediately after he said that, his magic started to flicker out, and his eyes went wide with panic as it began to fade out almost completely. So, thinking only on an empty stomach and quick reflexes, John leaned forward and bit down hard on the doughnut in front of him. The combination of chocolate, baked dough and raspberry filling assaulted his tastebuds, which caused him to let out a quiet moan. It was so fucking good! But when he looked at Vinyl, his mouth went wide, and he dropped the doughnut into the box. Turns out that when he bit down into the delicious little pastry, some of the raspberry filling had squirted out of a tiny hole on the other side, which caused the dark red syrupy mixture to cover a small bit of Vinyl’s face, horn and hair. She had her left eye closed, since the raspberry had landed on her eyelid, and her expression was rather neutral at first.

“Oh shit…” John already had an apology prepared in seconds. “Vinyl, I…” Before he could even start his sentence, the white unicorn started laughing uncontrollably, not even seeming to care that he had made a mess of her face. And as her laughter attracted the attention of some of the other customers, the Assassin couldn’t help but laugh with her, finding it rather funny. The moment soon faded, their laughter calming down to a few chuckles as Vinyl began to clean herself off with a napkin, levitating it up to her face.

“Damn, dude.” She said with a smirk. “I didn’t know you finished so quickly. Kind of embarrassing.” John’s smile faded yet again, quickly replaced by a scowl and a light blush.

“Son of a bitch…”

Thirty minutes passed, and the duo found themselves walking through the Ponyville Market. Vinyl eventually cleaned herself off, and John somehow managed to finish off the rest of his doughnuts using a rather strange system. Pick up. Bite. Drop. Repeat. The result ended in his box being pretty messy. And the coffee was absolutely delicious, even though he had to lean down and carefully tilt the cup towards him just to get so much as a sip of it. The process took him at least fifteen to twenty minutes, and Vinyl had finished long before he had. They left soon after he had finished, and decided that instead of immediately heading back to the castle, they would take a walk around Ponyville. Vinyl, of course, took this as an opportunity to try and get John to spill some stories about his life on Earth. And each time, her attempts would be thwarted. Even now, she still tried, even though she didn’t even put that much effort into her prying.

“Come on, Wolfy. You’ve gotta tell me something at some point.”

John simply shrugged. “I usually don’t disclose that information. Y’know, classified and whatnot.” He smiled a bit as Vinyl let out a huff.

“Fine…” She let her eyes wander the markets they continued to walk. “You’re a freakin’ buzzkill, you know that?”

“I get that quite a lot, Vinyl. Trust me.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Eh. I live with it.”

She sighed. “Alright… Can you at least tell me one thing though?” John looked over at her.

“Depends.” He replied vaguely.

“Well, for starters,” she began to say. “What’s up with your name? You know, ‘Red Wolf’?”

He blinked. He was a little surprised by that question. He more or less expected her to ask about his dick size or a story about drunken escapades, but this was a question he truly did not expect her to ask of him, and it was one that he was actually comfortable answering. John cleared his throat and looked straight ahead.

“Well,” he began. “My Assassin Name took a little bit of time to decide, and I got the idea from another person in my life at the time. My mentor called himself ‘Wolf’. Nothing special or fancy, just ‘Wolf’. Now, some of the other Assassin’s would call him ‘The Blue Wolf’, and when I asked about the meaning of the name, they told me it was because he was man of justice. And back in our world, in my country, the color blue on our flag stands for ‘Loyalty, Justice, and Reverence to God’. So, it kinda made sense after a while.” John looked at a roll of red fabric a vendor was selling on the side, and he smiled.

“So, when it came time for me to decide my name, I chose the name ‘Red Wolf’ since the color red stood for ‘Valor’. I did it for my mentor, and I also did it in honor of my father, who was a soldier before he was killed.” There was a small sense of longing in his heart, but John ignored it, still smiling. “I love my country, and I wanted to remember how much my parents did too. And, there you have it. That is how the name ‘Red Wolf’ came to be.” He looked over and noticed Vinyl was smiling at him.

“That’s pretty neat, actually.”

“Yeah, it is…” He took a deep breath and let out a happy sigh. “Y’know, I’m pretty happy right now. I don’t usually get to stroll around like this without a worry. This is a pretty great day of rest…” A voice suddenly pierced the peaceful atmosphere he had found himself accustomed to.

“Now hold on just a minute!” It sounded male, and fairly young. “This is bull!”
And just like that, John’s smile faded as he let out an exasperated groan. “Aaaand, just like that, my day off is ruined… Somehow, I fucking knew this would happen.” Vinyl looked at him curiously as they began to make a detour, making their way to the voice that they had heard seconds ago.

“How did you know that?” She asked with a tilt of her head, in which John replied with a scoff.

“I’m a victim of circumstance, sadly, and I have no control over my moral code telling me to investigate.”

“Aaaand… If there’s no problem?”

“Then I’m going to pretend like I heard absolutely nothing and we’ll go back to the castle.”

To be Continued…

Author's Note

Hey guys! It's Silver Chord again! Thank you all so much for being so patient. Now, I know this chapter is a little shorter than usual. (But in all honesty, no one wants to read shit that's over 10k+ words, am I right?) The reason for that is because I'm going to get right into the next plot point of this story, and I wanted to shorten the events in this chapter so I could continue on the course of progressing this story along with a few others. So, expect a few more stories to arrive soon. Yes, Corey, you'll be getting your one-shots.

Once again, thank you so much for being patient. This chapter went through a rushed proof-read, so I'll need you guys to help me. If you see any mistakes, just kick me, okay?

See y'all real soon!

~Silver Chord

(P.S: Pony Pint is the OC of RainbowDashX12345. Sorry that it was only a brief cameo, but there will be more appearances soon. ^^)

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Arrival

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Arrival

"Come on, Twilight!" Spike said excitedly. "We've got ten minutes and thirty-two seconds until the Lunar Eclipse starts!" The baby dragon jumped up to ride on Twilight's back as she laughed and shook her head.

"Don't worry, Spike. We're not going to miss it." Twilight Sparkle looked up and stared at the night sky in awe as she casually walked through the streets of Ponyville. The stars were stitched into different formations in the dark blanket of the sky, but it seemed that the moon was outshining them all tonight; they seemed somewhat... dimmer. Not only that, but the moon had a slight red tint to it. As strange as it seemed, this anomaly was still awe-inspiring; beautiful, even. "Wow..." she said breathlessly. "I've read about the Lunar Eclipse before, but I've never actually seen one before."

"Well, maybe that's because they only happen every one hundred years," Spike said.

"Hate to burst your bubble, Spike, but that's actually not true... Well, technically you're right." Twilight's horn flashed with a violet aura, and a book enveloped in the same color appeared before Spike in a small flicker of light. Spike caught the book before it could fall to the ground and curiously flipped through the pages. "You see, according to a book that was sent to me from the Canterlot Archives, a Lunar Eclipse typically occurs every year—a full one occurs every ten, I think. But the one that we're about to see is much different than your average. Every one hundred years, when Luna raises the moon and it reaches its peak in the sky, it’s supposed to turn blood-red. Not only that, but-"

"'Will they arrive?' "

"Who?"

Spike scratched his head in a confused manner with his brow raised, his gaze still focused on the book. "I have no idea."

"Then why were you asking me if 'they' would arrive?"

"I wasn't. I was just reading this part of the book aloud. There's this illustration in the book of these two ponies standing under the moon, and then there's this passage underneath it that says: 'Will they arrive?' " Spike jumped down from Twilight's back and presented the book to her so that she could see what he was talking about. He pointed to an illustration of two hooded ponies standing underneath the full moon, their features disguised by the strange garments wrapped around their bodies. "And see this? It says: 'When the moon is bathed in blood and its light shines the same, they shall arrive from a world with an unknown name. They will serve as our beacon of light, and they will lead us into battle in the darkness of night. This is my warning to those who heed it, when Shadow and Wolf come in our time of crisis.' The rhyming is a bit off, and the message is super-cryptic. It sounds like something Zecora would write."

"It does, but..." Twilight's voice trailed off when she saw something sticking out of one of the pages. "Spike... What is that?"

"Huh?" He pulled the item of interest out from between the pages and presented it to her. When she saw what was written on the piece of parchment, her complexion immediately paled.

'Property of: Starswirl the Bearded'

"No way!" Spike exclaimed. "Starswirl wrote this?"

"How have Princess Celestia and Luna not notice this?" Twilight took another look at the parchment, and she immediately realized that it was Starswirl's hoofwriting as well. "Surely they would have noticed this when organizing Starswirl's many documents and spells... Unless..."

"Unless what?"

Twilight didn't respond. There were so many thoughts racing through her mind, trying to piece together this puzzle. Why did Starswirl write this cryptic passage? What dangers was he trying to warn them of? And how come Princess Celestia never told her about this?... Did she not know herself? Whether she did know or not, Twilight was absolutely certain that her teacher knew something that could help them. But before Twilight could react, the bottom of the page flashed with a dim light, and a new set of lines appeared underneath the previous passage. She began to read it aloud.

"'On the hundredth year, when the Princess of the Moon has returned from her exile, the celebration will come when the moon is high. But when blood washes the sky in its crimson stain, it will be the night when they will arrive.' Now this sounds like something Zecora would say, but what does it mean?... Wait a minute..." With the book still in Spike's grasp, Twilight began pacing back and forth as she started piecing everything together. " 'On the hundredth year, when the Princess of the Night has returned from her exile...' That part of the passage must be referring to Princess Luna. But then it says that 'they' will arrive when the moon is 'stained in blood.' Stained in blood... On the hundredth year..." Her eyes suddenly went wide. "When she has returned from exile!"

Spike seemed to have caught on to what she was saying, for his eyes were as wide as hers. "So that means..."

"It means something is going to happen tonight; something bad." Twilight kneeled down. "Hop on, Spike! We need to warn Princess Celestia about this immediately!"

"Right!" With the book held tightly in his claws, Spike jumped up and onto Twilight's back just as she began her course for the town hall. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would be there, and hopefully they could provide some answers.

Meanwhile...

San Francisco, California
15-Dec-2021
22:19:08 Pacific Time (10:19 P.M.)

It was another miserable night in San Francisco, California. Instead of a nice, calm flurry of snow, a terrible blizzard had laid siege to the city. The snow and sleet came down hard, painfully nipping at the skin of any unfortunate pedestrians that happened to be out at this late hour—which there was barely anyone at all. But lurking in the alleyways was a single man, his posture tall and proud as he gradually descended down the backstreets at a rapid pace. His upper body was wrapped in a white military jacket—which resembled that of the Army Combat Uniform—with a hood attached to the strange garment. On his lower body was a pair of black military combat pants with small knee guards on the exterior, and he wore a pair of black military combat boots. He looked like a soldier, but the different insignias on his jacket revealed that he was not apart of any branch of the US Military. The symbols that stood out the most, however, were the ones that many people around the world knew and feared: The symbol of the Assassin Order, and the mark of the Red Wolf. If these two marks did not draw attention to him, then the many different weapons he carried certainly would.

Red Wolf soon approached the end of the alley, and his destination stood before him; a tall, dark, and abandoned warehouse. He was about to step back onto the streets and assess the building more closely when a group of men stepped out from behind the corner, quickly blocking his path. Red stopped dead in his tracks, but his posture never faltered. The men standing before him were dressed in dirty rags, their smell so awful and potent that Red had to cover his nose. The red mask he wore over the lower half of his face helped filter the smell somewhat, but either way, he could not stand their retched stench. The man, whom he assumed was the ringleader, stepped forward, trying to appear as menacing as possible. His attempt was terrible.

"Yo, soldier boy!" the leader spat. "How about you give us dat there uniform o' yose?"

Red sighed and brought a hand to his forehead. "God damn. Are all of the wannabe thugs as stupid as you? And Jesus Christ, when was the last time you had a bath?" The shadowy man's almost toothless smile immediately turned into a scowl.

"Boy, you best watch yo' damn mouth before I break yo' moda' fuckin' face!"

"Come on, Damien! Fuck his ass up!" one of the goons sneered.

"Yeah!" They began to move forward, drawing batons and switchblades from their pockets. "Make him your bitch!"

Despite their attempts to frighten him, Red Wolf still stood undeterred. He took a step towards Damien, causing them to tense up. "Look boys, I'll only say this once..." He glared straight at Damien, his feral-green eyes piercing straight through him. "Get the fuck out of my way before I put you in a world of pain. You're not my problem right now, so act like good little gangsters and sag your poor asses back to the hole you crawled out of." There was a moment of silence, the only sound being that of the wind howling as the blizzard raged outside. It was a while before Damien spat onto the ground and pulled out a small handgun. Red only needed a quick glance at the firearm to know what kind it was. 'That's a Glock 18.' He thought analytically. 'Judging by the make and model, that gun has a standard seventeen-round clip with a semi-automatic and an automatic firing system. How the hell did this little thug get his hands on one of those?' Red's train of thought snapped when he heard the slide frame being pulled back, the weapon primed and ready to fire.

"Sorry, cracka'," he sneered. "But I'm the only one giving orders 'round here. Any last words before I pop a cap in yo' white ass?"

"I have a few..." Red tightened the straps of his backpack and scabbard before falling into a defensive stance. "Racquiescat in pace, bastardo." Upon hearing this, the group of 'gangsters' looked at one another in confusion.

"Man, th' fuck did that nigga' sa- Aaah!" Damien cried out as he felt something sharp stab him in the abdomen before quickly pulling itself out of his body. He didn't even see Red as he sped past him in a white blur with his hidden blades drawn. The leader quickly fell to the ground, gripping at his side in a futile attempt to stop the rapid flow of blood. Red didn't waste anymore time and lunged at pair of thugs converging on him with their small blades, casually burying both his blades into their throats like it was almost nothing. That was three thugs down; only two more were left. One of the said two was right behind him, ready to strike him down with a baton. But right as he swung his weapon, the assassin stepped to the side, the blunt object coming into contact with his friend’s skull and sending him to the floor faster than he already was falling. "Holy shit!" he screamed, dropping the baton and turning around to run, but he sadly could not get too far with his pants sagging down to his knees, and he quickly found himself falling face-first onto the dirty ground below. As much as Red wanted to finish him off, he did not have the time to do it; not when there was one more thug behind him with a switchblade poised for his liver. Thanks to his heightened senses, he was able hear him so he could quickly spin around, grab his assailant's wrist, and shove the blade directly into his jugular. The thugs eyes went wide as he began to choke on his own blood. He desperately clung onto Red's shoulder, almost as if he thought that doing so would somehow prevent the inevitable.

One would think that Red's enemies had been vanquished. But then again, one was not like the Red Wolf. The edges of his vision suddenly flashed red, and a high-pitched sound—almost like an eagle's cry—went off inside his head, automatically alerting him of the unseen danger behind him. Red grabbed the knife and kicked the thugs corpse off of it before turning sharply on his feet and throwing the knife back at Damien, who had propped himself up and managed to aim his gun at him. But before he could pull the trigger, the knife lodged itself in his eye, causing him to cry out in pain and drop his gun in order to clutch at the invading object. Almost instantly, the knife was roughly pulled out of his socket and then lodged deep into his throat; a similar fate that his friend had shared. Red stared down at the thug, watching emotionlessly as Damien's life ebbed away and pooled at his feet. Once he was sure that he was dead, he stood up and slowly turned to look at the final thug. The wannabe-gangster looked like he was scared out of his mind, fearing that he would share the same fate as his fellow comrades. Red smirked, then pretended to lunge at him.

"Boo!"

Almost instantly, the smell of feces and urine overpowered his senses. The man screamed in horror and immediately scrambled to his feet, and he hauled ass as he ran down the alley from which Red had come from before completely disappearing from sight. Finally, silence. At least, there was a brief moment of it before a voice sounded in his earpiece.

"-Was that at all necessary, Red?-" The voice had a light italian accent to it.

Red chuckled before putting his right middle and index finger to his ear, pressing down gently on the earpiece. "Nice of you to drop in, Kysuf. Didn't know you were watching." His smile only grew wider when he heard his friend scoff over the radio.

"-I'm serious, Red. They didn't have to die. You know the tenat's say...-"

"'Stay thy blade from the flesh of an innocent.' Kysuf, I know. But I really don't think that these are your average muggers."

"-What makes you say that?-" Kysuf asked inquisitively.

"For one, it was the way they approached me. It looked like they were simply waiting for me, like they knew I was coming."

"-Okay, and your point is?-" Red resisted the urge to bring his palm to his forehead.

"Jesus Christ, Kysuf, I thought you were smarter than me." He groaned, shaking his head. "Muggers and gangsters will tail you before they jump you, and they don't normally do so in groups; it's almost always a solo act. Plus, the guy leading the charge had a goddamn Glock 18; a seventeen-round Glock 18."

"-C' diavolo. How did that ladro get his hands on an illegal firearm?-"

"Normally, I would say that since we're in San Francisco, purchasing illegal firearms is a little easier than you would think, but this time it's different. Judging by the intelligence we gathered, our target is supposed to be holed-up in this warehouse in front of me. Now, tell me, who else has access to illegal weaponry? And who would hire muggers and give them police-issued batons and Smith & Wesson switchblades?"

"-... Derrik Rosland.-"
Red Wolf snapped his fingers. "Bingo, you've got it!"

"-Red... You know what we have to do.-" said Kysuf.

He sighed. "As much as I want to kill the son of a bitch, we can't risk it. The president ordered us to take him alive."

"-Then you know that means that you can't rough him up too badly.-"

"You know I can't promise that," Red chuckled.

"-I knew you wouldn't. Either way, I'll be providing support if you need it. If I can find a vantage point, then I can set up a position and cover you.-"

Red took a look at the exterior of the building. All the windows were covered up and blocked, and the walls of the warehouse looked like they had been reinforced. He sighed before replying, "I appreciate it, pal, but you're not going to be able to shoot shit in this warehouse. The windows are boarded up, and this thing looks like it was constructed with reinforced metal. You can probably use a thermal scope and see what we're dealing with, though."

"-Hm... I think I have one in my 'pack.-" Kysuf informed. "-Give me a minute and I'll be set up. In the meantime, find a way inside that warehouse. Once you find a way in, tell me so I can give you a heads-up on how many guys are in there and where they are. This places looks pretty rundown, so I'm sure that it'll be pitch black inside.-"

"Sounds like a plan, Kysuf. But don't forget that I can still use my Sight to navigate my way through the dark." Red began walking towards the warehouse, alert and vigilant. "Alright, I'll find a way in. Don't fall off a roof or something while I'm gone, okay? Red Wolf, out." He took his hand away from his ear and examined the building again. 'Okay,' he thought. 'The front door is always an option, although, Derrik probably rigged it somehow. And the windows don't seem like they're accessible... Maybe there's one that I can access through the rear of the building, though. And if not, then maybe there's a skylight on the roof.'

Red immediately went into action and ran across the street. The first place he would try would be the Loading Dock. Even though his plan was to check the windows, it was best to check the nearest possible entrance before investigating all other contingencies. Red Wolf stopped in front of the first Loading Dock door. He crouched down and pulled up on the handle, only to find that it was unlocked. Red knew that something wasn't right. Why was this door unlocked? Was it a trap? With his left hand still holding the door up slightly, he drew his silenced Beretta PX4 Storm. If this was really a trap, then he had to be ready to go in 'guns-a-blazin'. He took a deep breath and exhaled. Well, here goes nothing. Red Wolf threw the door up and aimed his gun... There was nothing there. "This is too easy," he said to himself quietly. It was just a small room with one door in the middle. There was a sign next to it that said: "Entrance." Yeah, this was definitely too easy. No guards? No explosives? What the hell was going on? Red cautiously made his way to the door, making sure to check his surroundings as he ventured through the room. Once he had reached his goal, he holstered his weapon and reached for the doorknob. But he didn't grab it; there was just something suspicious about all this. Red backed away from the door a tad bit and then blinked. When he opened his eyes, they were completely blood-red; his Sight was active. Everything was a little more enhanced, every detail more visible and every sense of his heightened ten-fold.

Looking down at the doorknob, he saw that it was flashing red. This meant that someone had rigged it, making it dangerous to open the door. The color quickly changed to a light blue, and small sparks began to dance off of the object. 'Son of a bitch. They electrically-charged the doorknob so that way it shocks the hell out of anyone who tries to enter. Damnit!' Looks like this way was no longer an option. He turned around and walked out of the Loading Dock, and his radio came to life.

"-Alright, I'm in position. Thankfully, I have a thermal scope handy. How are things on your end?-"

Red put his hand back to his earpiece. "Not good. I tried the Loading Dock, but the door leading into the warehouse was rigged with a high voltage charge. There's no way I can go through there without making too much noise, and the electric charge could stop my heart if I tried to open the door."

"-Well, that definitely makes our job a hell of a lot harder.-"

"Amen to that." Red Wolf sighed. "Alright, I'm going to head around back now. Tell me when you have the thermal set up so we can figure out what we're up against."

"-Roger that.-"

Red took his hand away from his earpiece and turned to look at the side of the warehouse. Once again, he discovered that all the windows were boarded up and blocked off, but it only took him a second to see the scaffolding leading up to a window on the second floor. And much to his surprise, there were no glass panes; it was just an empty space leading into the warehouse... 'Aw, no way!' Red sprinted for the scaffolding and began to climb up at rapid pace. He had done this thousands of times, so he didn't have to go slow just to reach his objective.

In nearly forty-five seconds flat, Red Wolf was at the top layer of the scaffolding just outside of the open window. He pressed his back up against the wall and quietly whispered into his radio. "Kysuf, I need eyes on this warehouse. What do you got for me?"

"-You're not going to believe this," Kysuf started. "-But there's only one tango inside.-"

Red could not believe what he was hearing. "Are you sure?"

"-Positive. I'm not picking up any other heat signatures, and this guy's just standing by himself on the first floor. I think it's Rosland.-"

"I'm gonna have to trust you on this one. Keep me posted, alright? I'm going in." He peeked around the corner, surveying his surroundings and looking for a way down to the first floor. Sure enough, there was a ladder that led down to where he needed to go. Red walked over to the ladder, grabbed ahold of the sides of it, then slowly slid down to the ground. Once he reached the bottom, he slowly crept his way through the warehouse. Even though it was abandoned, there were still boxes of different imports and exports from years ago. Looks like whoever used to own this building wanted to get the heck outta dodge, and didn't even bother to remove the goods before leaving. Red Wolf stopped and looked at a label one of the boxes:

'Imported: June 12, 2015. Exported from: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.'

'Jesus,' he thought. 'No wonder why our country was sinking in national debt; these fucking people were just lazy.' Red shook his head and sighed before moving on. After walking for a bit more, he soon found himself in an open space.

"-He's to your right.-" Kysuf said over the radio.

Red Wolf looked to his right, and sure enough, there was a man dressed in an all-black version of Red's uniform -although his hood and mask were not on- standing in front of a colossal window. He didn't seem to notice that he was behind him at the moment, so he was relieved that his task would be a little easier to carry out. But just as he began to approach him, he heard the man speak.

"'The same moon is above Fuzhou tonight.' " Red froze up and drew his hidden blades. But before he could make a move, the man turned around to face him. Now he could make out his dark brown hair, but the rest of his features were still slightly silhouetted. "'From the open window she will be watching it alone, the poor children are too little to remember Ch'ang-an.' " He could finally make out his facial features now that the man had taken a step forward into the dim light that shone through the window. His face was unshaven with a slight stubble, and a scar ran down his jaw on the left side of his face. But what stood out the most for Red was the sorrowful expression on his face and in his eyes. And he could also see... Regret? "'Her perfumed hair will be dampened by the dew, the air may be too chilly on her delicate arms. When can we both lean by the wind-blown curtains and see the tears dry on each other's face?' "

There was at least twenty feet between them now, and the two men just stared at each other. After a few seconds of silence, Red sheathed his blades. "Tu Fu; 'Moonlight Night.' I didn't think you'd still remember that poem, Derrik."

"Five years of solitude and being on the run give you a lot of time to remember, John Redwoods."

John chuckled. "Getting sentimental, are we?"

Derrik's sorrowful expression turned to one of anger. "I am not some emotionless monster, Red Wolf. Yes, I've done many things that are deemed horrible and evil in the eyes of others, but I do those things in order to purge this world of the evil that resides within it."

Red rolled his eyes and scoffed. "You sound just like the Templar's. Even though you Red Artist's are quick to talk of peace and preventing the spread of evil throughout the world, you will not hesitate when it comes to murdering innocents and controlling the will of others. Obliterating free will is not a solution for world peace; you of all people should know this, but it seems that you've forgotten."

Derrik scowled at Red. "And you Assassin's speak of the same things. If you will be so inclined as to listen, I will remind you of the three great ironies of the great Assassin Order. One: Here you seek to promote peace, but murder is your means. Two: Here you seek to open the minds of men, but require obedience to a master and set of rules. And three: Here you seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet you are practitioners yourselves." He chuckled. "Altaïr was such a fool."

"You used to be an Assassin like us! Now you're murdering your own former brothers and sisters! Do not speak ill of your comrades and your friends!"

"If you used to be my brother..." He snapped his fingers, and a group of soldiers surrounded him, drawing assault swords from behind their backs. Judging by the multiple boots he heard against the floor, John guessed that there were at least eight other men. "Then you can die like the rest of them."

"-Red! You have twelve tango's in there!-"

'I think I noticed, Kysuf.' Red Wolf felt a hand grip his shoulders as two men from behind him tried to push him onto his knees, but he quickly turned around and stabbed them both in the throat with his blades. The other soldiers suddenly looked a little hesitant to approach him, which only served to worsen Derrik's temper. "Kill him! Now!"

"No!" John shouted, turning on his heel to face his arch-nemesis. "Don't even think about it! If you're too cowardly to fight me yourself, then just say it. But don't throw down these men's lives just because you can't accept the reality that you've lost." Red Wolf drew his sword from the scabbard on his back and pointed it at Derrik. This sword wasn't your average weapon that you could simply buy from an antique store. The entire thing looked like it was custom-made from the black wolf head-shaped pommel, to the blood-red stained blade. "It's time for your to give up, Rosland!"

Suddenly, the clouds parted and the snow stopped, revealing a full moon in the sky. John knew that it was a lunar eclipse, but something about the blood-red tint on the surface gave it a more sinister look to it. Derrik smirked.

"Amazing, isn't it?" He pulled his own sword free from the confines of its scabbard and twirled it a bit, almost as if it were a toy to him. "They say that the lunar eclipse is also called the Day of the Blood Moon. It's the perfect night for me to finally kill you, Red Wolf." Derrik pulled on his hood and mask before lunging at Red with his sword at the ready. John sprinted forward to meet his opponent halfway and swung his sword, aiming for his legs. But it seemed that he saw it coming, for he moved his blade to block the attack. Their swords connected, and a bright, blinding light erupted from their weapons upon impact, engulfing everyone in the room.

Constantinople
March 21, 1519
Noon

In the bustling Galata District, a young man with black hair was conversing with one of the local blacksmiths. The topic? Their past and present troubles with women. The young man wore a strange black hooded robe, and had a mask of equal color hanging around his neck. He had several different weapons with him, ranging from his sword to his hidden blades and a belt of throwing knives. He may have stood out from the crowd, but the citizens knew that he was another Assassin who protected the city; they knew he was not a threat.

"... And so, my wife is now spending our money faster than I can make it." Said the blacksmith, his voice heavy with an italian accent. "I still don't quite understand what I did wrong. I mean, ever since the fall of Roma, she's ignored me for weeks at a time, only speaking with me about matters of money and asking me if I've been unfaithful to her. It's been at least fourteen years, Night Angel, and it seems that one year we fight with each other, and the next year we don't." He sighed and ran a hand through his long dirty-blonde hair. "I don't know what to do anymore, mi amico. At this point, I'm tempted to separate with her. Night Angel, what should I do?"

Night Angel shook his head and chuckled. "I don't think that I'm the right person you should be asking about problems concerning marriage, " he said jokingly, his voice holding a much lighter italian accent. "Because as you can see here..." He held up his left hand for him to see. "I'm clearly not married."

"I know, I know, but I thought that you could tell me something. After all, every woman and puttana from here to Firenze has taken a liking to you."

The assassin sighed and put his hand on his forehead. "Have you ever considered having children?"

The blacksmith threw his head back and laughed. "Vai a farti fottere, maniaco! Me? Children? Andiamo, you can't be serious."

"Don't you get it? Obviously, you haven't seen how happy many couples are when they have children. When there is a rip in your marriage, they stitch it back together. I recommend that you consider it if you actually love this woman." Night proceeded to slip his mask over the lower half of his face and his hood over his head before placing a fist over his heart, bowing his head respectfully. "I must leave now. May God be merciful-" A blood curling scream suddenly pierced through the peaceful atmosphere of the streets. Night Angel turned around to see someone falling from the top of the Galata Tower. "C' cazzo?!"

"Night Angel!" The voice calling out to him was another italian. Once again, he turned around, this time to see an assassin running towards him. His attire was very much similar to Night's, only he wore robes that were white with different red ribbons tucked into his belt and flying freely as he ran.

"Antonio!" The assassin ran straight past him, so Night followed suite and sprinted up the street until they were side-by-side. "Do you know what's going on?"

Antonio nodded. "Sì, mi amico! Rogue Assassins!"

"Are they associated with the Templars?"

"No," he replied. "They're not like the traitors who came here five years ago when Ezio Auditore was still our mentor. These bastardi have turned away from the Assassin's and the Templars. I've never heard of rogues like these."

After a few short seconds of weaving through the crowds, Night Angel and Antonio arrived in the courtyard in front of the Galata Tower. Thanks to the earlier commotion, the clearing was crowded by the many curious citizens. Night Angel looked around to see a few of his fellow Assassins in the crowd as well. Good, at least now they had reinforcements in case they were forced to fight.

"There! At the top of the tower!" Antonio pointed skywards, and Night followed his gaze all the way to the pinnacle of their point of interest. There he saw five people dressed in colors and garments that resembled his own—excluding the mask. They all looked alike, all except for one in particular who stood at the front of the group. The only difference between them was that this one wore red ribbons around his belt like Antonio. The leader made a sort of gesture with his hand to one of his companions and they disappeared for a moment, only to return with a woman who had a sack over her head and her hands tied behind her back.

"Citizens of Constantinople," he shouted, his voice carrying an italian accent. "We are the Order of Blood, the true rulers of this city! For too long, you have been forced to live under the 'protection' of the Assassin's, yet all they have done is steal the food in which you eat and the lives of your loved ones. But no longer! We will purge this city of its evil, and you will submit to our rule! If you do not, then you will suffer the fate of this whore!" Murmurs rippled through the crowds of the now nervous citizens, a wave of doubt and uncertainty now beginning to set in.

"Now, some of you may want to save this woman, and we will give you a chance to spare her life! All you have to do is bring us the one you call 'Night Angel!' " By now the murmuring and whispers had turned to idle chatter and a few shouts of rage. Night Angel began to assess the situation. For one, these men were not spouting false threats and demands. If he did not present himself immediately, then this woman would die because of him. But even if he did reveal himself, they might still kill her; there was no doubt about it. Night then spotted a cart full of hay, and a plan suddenly came to his mind.

"Antonio," he said softly. "I think I have a way to save her."

Antonio raised a brow at him. "What do you have in mind? A distraction?"

"No." He shook his head. "There is a cart over there by the stairs." Night Angel pointed to the object of interest. "If we they throw her off the edge of the tower, and if we can move fast enough, we can position that cart so that it will break her fall." This plan had to work. If he could leap from that tower himself and land safely within the hay, then the woman would be unharmed as well. Antonio thought on this for a moment before nodding.

"Va bene. Let us hope your plan works."

Night was about to give the order to execute when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see a small band of mercenaries standing behind him, all smiling and brandishing their weapons. "We are with you, effendi." One of them said proudly. "These bastards are in over their head. It is time we show them who the actual guardians of this city are."

The black clad assassin smiled underneath his mask. "Grazie, mi amici. I promise to treat you all to a drink or two when this is all over." Night Angel looked back at the cart and took a deep breath before exhaling. "Andare! Andare!" With Antonio and the mercenari close behind him, he sprinted forward and pushed his way past the crowd. "Everyone! Move!" At that moment, he heard a feminine scream. Night quickly looked up and saw that the leader had grabbed the woman by her arm. "Quickly!" He jumped behind the cart and began pushing it forward with all his strength, Antonio quickly taking his place beside him while the mercenaries positioned themselves at the sides and front of it.

"Very well!" He heard the leader shout. "She dies!" That was when he heard the scream yet again, this time knowing that she was falling.

"Fanculo! Faster! Move the cart underneath her position!"

"She's coming down fast!" One of the mercenaries replied.

"Then move faster!" Antonio barked back. The group only had to move the cart a few more feet before the woman crashed into the hay, sending straw flying in every direction. Everyone staggered backwards in surprise and shock, and an uncomfortable silence filled the gap between them, the citizens waiting for any signs of life with baited breath. It felt like eons before the hay began to shuffle around and a few whimpers fell upon the ears of those closest to the cart. Night Angel and Antonio reached into the hay and carefully pulled the woman out, and the crowds cheered and applauded the heroes. Once the woman's hands were freed, she tore the burlap sack from her head and looked around frantically.

"Josefina!" She quickly turned to Night Angel, her cheeks stained with tears. "Señor, where is my sister?" Her gaze suddenly fell upon something behind him, and Night knew all too well what it was. She gasped. "No... Please, no..." The spanish woman pushed past him and fell to her knees beside the bloodied female corpse. All Night Angel could hear then was the loud sobbing of the poor woman as she grieved for whom he now knew was her sister. An unholy rage suddenly began to boil in his heart and he glared daggers at the men who were responsible; he was furious.

"Enemies of Constantinople!" He shouted angrily. "I am the Night Angel, guardian of this citizen and it's people!"

"At last, the angel of death has revealed himself! Night Angel, for far too long you have been blinded by lies and deceit that the Assassins have fed you all these years. I am here to open your eyes and show you the truth!"

"All I see is a traitor who wishes to warp the minds of others!" Antonio howled back.

The leader ignored his comment and continued speaking. "Allow me to introduce myself on behalf of the Order. I am Severino Stornello, the leader and founder of this great foundation."

"Enough with the pleasantries, maniaco!" Night Angel balled his fists up. "Stop stalling and surrender now!"

"Night Angel, you fail to understand what I'm trying to tell you!" Severino kept talking as if his command had not phased him. "We are here to purge this city of its evil! We are the only ones who can do that! Join us, and we can cleanse these filthy streets together!" Night then smirked.

"'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!' " He said, amused. "Do you even know who I am?! I am an Assassin! I have made a vow to protect the innocent, even at the cost of my own life! You too were once an Assassin, but it seems that you have forgotten what it means to be one! Nothing is True..." Night raised his hand up, and at that moment, every Assassin within the vicinity drew their weapons and stood beside him, some were even on the rooftops with crossbows and rifles aimed at the band of rogue assassin's. "Everything is permitted!"

Severino laughed. "Impressive! I see you have brought your forces with you. Well, so have I!"

Night Angel then saw multiple rogue assassin's in dark hoods reveal themselves from their hiding places, drawing their weapons and taking their positions around him and his comrades. The citizens began to panic, and quickly began to flee from the scene. He quickly drew his own sword while keeping his gaze glued on Severino, then his Sight became active, and he was able to see everything around him without looking away from his target. He felt like he was floating around the street, yet his physical body had not moved an inch from its place. Night could see everyone and everything in the immediate vicinity, the innocent citizens being illuminated in a soft white light while his enemies were highlighted in red. All the other Assassins were glowing blue. After only a few short seconds, he was able to identify how many rogues there were. He blinked, and his eyes returned back to their sky-blue color. Twenty against twenty; the playing field was now even, but the battle would most certainly be a difficult one. There was only one thing left to do…

"Assassin's!" He cried, raising his sword high above his head. "To arms! To victory!"

"To victory!" The Assassin's chanted before rushing into battle. Night Angel was about to climb the tower to Severino when he saw that he had already disappeared from the top. Antonio tugged on his arm.

"Night Angel, he's escaping!" He pointed to the streets before them, and Night watched as their target raced his way through the crowd. "That bastardo is heading for the harbor! If he manages to reach the ship's there, then he'll be gone!"

"I know, Antonio!" He signaled for two Assassins that were not engaged in combat for them to come to him. "I will go after him. Make sure these rogues are taken care of!" There was a sad look on his friend's face, but Antonio nodded before drawing his sword.

"Be careful, mi amico, and bring that sick bastard to justice!"

Night Angel nodded sadly and spun on his heels. "Come, my brothers! After him!" The chase was on. Night Angel and his Assassin's took off down the street after Severino, skillfully weaving past the terrified citizens that were retreating from the battle at the Galata Tower. His eyes scanned through the crowd, and his target soon came into view, shoving anyone in his path to the ground. Severino then hopped onto a lift and cut the rope, the weight carrying him up and to the rooftops as the bricks on it suddenly came plummeting down onto a few unsuspecting innocents, killing them instantly. Night scowled under his mask. This man used to be an Assassin, and now he was killing the people he had once sworn to protect without any sign of hesitation.

"He's getting away!" One of the Assassin's shouted.

"Calmare, mi amichi!" He replied confidently. "I will follow him from the rooftops! You stay on the streets so that way we can cut him off if he comes down!" Night Angel ran up a small stack of boxes before jumping onto a set of wooden beams that connected to the rooftops above. Once he climbed up onto the roof of the building, he looked all around to see where his enemy had gone, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Night Angel!"

Night turned and saw one of the Ottoman archer's pointing towards the docks. "Hurry! He went that way!" The Assassin nodded his thanks and took off in the direction the archer had pointed in. Sure enough, Severino was now within his line of sight, running across the rooftops in hopes of reaching the harbor. He could also see his fellow Assassin's following in the streets below before a group of three rogue's cut them off. Night was about to jump down and provide support, but common sense told him that they were perfectly capable of handling themselves. So, with a small hint of guilt, he continued his pursuit. 'I can't let him get away!'

After only a few seconds, he was only a few feet behind his target, and they were merely a few dozen lengths from the harbor. Severino jumped down from the roof of the building and rolled onto the streets; he was dangerously close to his destination, and there was a ship still anchored and waiting to set sail. But before he could make a mad dash for the vessel, Night Angel pulled a bomb from his pouch and threw it. The explosive landed in front of the rogue Assassin, and a loud BANG! filled the air, causing him to reel backwards and put his hands over his eyes. Satisfied, Night jumped down and slowly began walking towards Severino.

"That is a recipe that Master Yusuf left behind before he was murdered." He said, amused. "He called it a 'Screaming Thunder Bomb.' It temporarily blinds and deafens you." Night Angel stopped a few feet from him. "No more running, Stornello. Surrender now, or die by my blade." Despite being deafened, Severino looked up at him and laughed.

"And if I don't?"

"Non mi testare, bastardo. I will gladly put you down like a dog."

"Oh really?" Almost immediately, a group of rogue's converged on him from the streets behind him with their swords drawn, followed by another group of four that took their places beside their master. It took him a moment to realize that they were the ones that stood with him at the top of the Galata. "Night Angel, I will offer you one last chance." Severino drew a cutlass sword, skimming his fingertips across the sharp edge of the blade. "Join us, amico, and you will have power beyond your wildest dreams."

Night Angel drew his sword and pointed it at his foe. "This ends now, Severino." His smile quickly turned into a frown.

"Very well then." Severino dashed towards Night with his sword at the ready, but the Assassin didn't move an inch until he swung his blade at him, quickly raising his own sword to counter the attack. Their weapons made contact, and a blinding flash of light erupted from the impact.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike finally reached the town hall after navigating through Ponyville's crowded streets. The lavender alicorn scanned the crowd for a certain princess, but she didn't see her anywhere. How could she not find her? She was nearly three to four feet taller than she was!

"Oh no..." She muttered anxiously. "Where could she be?"

"There she is!" Spike blurted out. He pointed to the town hall, and Twilight followed his gaze to the open doors. There she caught a quick glimpse of an ethereal rainbow mane before it slipped out of sight.

"Good eye, Spike!" Twilight weaved her way through the sea of ponies until she had made it into the town hall. Once she was past the doors, she immediately bumped into someone. Twilight and Spike looked up to find Princess Celestia standing before them with a warm smile on her face.

"Good evening, Twilight Sparkle. How are you doing on this lovely night?"

"Excuse me, Princess," Spike blurted out once again. "But you need to see what we found." He jumped down and pulled the book free from the confines of Twilight's saddlebag, opening it to the page of the cryptic prophecy before presenting it to Celestia.

"Oh! What is all this, then?" Said a male voice. Twilight rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Not now, Discord." The draconequus materialized into existence above the lavender alicorn with a toothy grin. "This is serious."

Discord laughed. "I bet it is, Twilight Sparkle. Now, I do not wish to come off as being nosey, but I couldn't help overhear your little conversation about that book. I didn't hear everything, so I'm very curious as to what you found." He playfully nudged her with his elbow. "Care to share?"

"Discord!" Both Twilight and Discord looked at Celestia, who had not once averted her gaze from the book. Her expression was one of annoyance. "Not. Now." He shrank to the size of a mouse and sat atop Twilight's head with his arms crossed.

"As you wish, Celestia."

"Thank you." She said with a sigh of relief.

"Well, howdy there, Twilight!" Twilight turned around and let out her own sigh; her friends were finally here, so now she was a little more at ease. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash; they were all here.

"Thank goodness you're all here now, girls." Celestia said suddenly, causing them all to look at her. "Twilight, this is a very old prophecy written years before the death of Starswirl the Bearded. He foretold of a great danger that would arise sometime in the near future, and that the Lunar Eclipse would bring forth a threat supposedly greater than Tirek. I just never thought that it would happen so soon."

Rainbow Dash waved her hoof dismissively at the solar princess. "Pssh! So what? It's not like it's anything we can't handle." Applejack shot her a glare immediately after she said that.

"As much as I would like to believe that you girls can handle this situation, I don't think that you are the answer."

"W-what do you mean, Princess Celestia?" Fluttershy asked timidly. "Are you saying that we can't stop this?"

"I believe that it is referring to the two individuals mentioned in the first passage." Discord was now back to his original size, now suspended in mid-air while reclining in a comfy-looking leather chair while looking through a book entitled: 'Discord's Diary.' He also now sported a fancy black top hat with a monocle and an ugly plaid blazer, which earned him a disapproving look from Rarity. "What did it say? 'Shadow and Wolf '?" He slammed the book closed and looked up with a confused expression. "Now even that has me absolutely bewildered. 'Shadow and Wolf '?"

"Yes, it is rather confusing, isn't it?" Celestia said with a nod before closing the book with her magic and giving it back to Spike. "But right now, that is not our biggest concern. We must focus on the safety of Ponyville, because-"

"Welcome, one and all, to one of our most ancient traditions in history! I would like to thank everyone for coming to witness this spectacular event, as it has been too long since this has taken place." Celestia's eyes went wide at the sound of Luna's voice.

"It's about to start!" She looked at Twilight and her friends with fear in her violet irises. "Please, you must stop her from casting the spell!"

"And so, without further ado, prepare for a night that will forever outshine every other one before it!" Twilight and the other's ran outside to see Luna standing at the center of a stage that stood before hundreds of eager spectators. She could see the lunar princess preparing to cast a powerful spell, the visible aura of her magic charging up to its maximum capacity. Without a word, Twilight began pushing her way through the crowd as fast as she could without hurting anypony. She had to stop her!

"Fillies and gentlecolts..."

'No!'

"I give to you..."

"No! Stop!" The cheering of the crowd started to increase in volume, drowning out Twilight's cries.

"The Lunar Eclipse!" And with that, Luna cast her spell, sending a bright blue ball of light spiraling into the night sky and directly towards the moon. The magical projectile made a loud BOOM! onceit made contact with the surface of the silvery orb, and the moon suddenly took on a blood-red color. Twilight stared at the spectacle in horror. "Twilight Sparkle! Perhaps thou would like to join us?"

"Luna! What have you done?!" Celestia shouted.

"Sister? What art thou talking about?"

"The prophecy of Starswirl, Luna! Do you not remember?!" Luna's eyes went wide at that sudden statement.

"The prophecy of Shadow and Wolf?!" The moon suddenly pulsed brightly, sending a ring of red drifting through the sky. The lunar princess looked back down at the crowd. "Citizens of Ponyville, you must flee! You are all in grave danger!" Another pulse of red filled the sky, followed by a loud BOOM! The ponies in the crowd panicked, running away from the stage, even trampling over each other in a desperate attempt to escape whatever danger was coming. Twilight Sparkle found herself staring up at the sky in awe, mesmerized by the sight before her.

"Now, what th' hay is going on here?" Applejack said.

"Um... Maybe we should just... Leave?" Fluttershy let out a small 'eep!' when Rainbow Dash pulled her back towards the group.

"Come on, Fluttershy!" She scolded the yellow pegasus. "We can't just run away from something that we don't know about. It may seem scary, but we don't know what will happen yet. Let's stick around! Maybe we can kick some tail while we're at it!"

It was Rarity's turn to scowl. "Rainbow Dash, that is not the appropriate way to think. Perhaps we should try diplomacy first before resorting to violence, you ruffian." Rainbow merely rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at the fashionista.

"Yeah! Maybe we can throw them a 'Welcome to Equestria' party!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly.

"I commend you for your enthusiasm, girls." Princess Luna said softly. "But I'm afraid that this is no longer a time for celebration or joy. This night will soon be bathed in blood."

As soon as she uttered those words, a beam of light erupted from the moon and struck the ground, causing the ground beneath their hooves to shake violently with the force of an earthquake. Twilight raised a hoof to shield her eyes from the powerful glare. Once the light died, she lowered her hoof, and her eyes went wide at the sight before her. There were twenty-two hooded bipedal creatures standing before them, each separated into two groups of fourteen. Some wielded swords, but others held strangely-shaped weapons of different sizes that looked rather menacing and evil. She also noticed that one group was dressed differently from the other; one sporting a more urban look, the other dawning an ancient... classical appearance. They all looked around to take in their surroundings, bewildered and confused.

"What. The. Hell?" Said one with a white tunic and a red mask, its voice sounding male.

"Stornello," shouted another creature wearing a black robe with a black mask—also male. "What did you do?!"

Another creature who was similarly dressed—whom Twilight assumed was Stornello—responded. "Do not blame me, Night Angel! This is not my doing!"

"Everypony," Twilight whispered. "Stay silent and don't- Pinkie, what are you doing?!"

"Holy shit!" A male dressed in a black tunic with a red mask exclaimed, pointing his weapon at Pinkie Pie as she bounced on her hooves towards them. "Derrik, what the fuck is that thing?!"

"What do I look like, a goddamn encyclopedia?!" Barked Derrik, a bipedal male wearing all black.

"Hi there!" She said with a wave. "I'm Pinkie Pie, and-"

"It fucking talks?!" He drew a sword and held it defensively.

Night Angel stared at Derrik with a blank stare. "Who are these people?"

"They're fucking salesmen." The male in the white hood retorted sarcastically.

Rarity walked up to Derrik and his companions, smiling. "Now, gentlemen. Please do not be alarmed; we mean no trouble. We merely wish to welcome you to our world. And before I say anything else, I must say that you have a rather nice outfit." She pointed a hoof at the white hooded male. "Mister...?"

"Just call me Red Wolf, ma'am. But hey, thanks for the compliment."

"Shut up!" Derrik snapped. "Enough of this shit! Kill the damn things!" He was about to bring his sword down upon the two mares when a loud BANG! filled the air and a small projectile struck the ground a few centimeters from his foot. Everyone suddenly fell silent and froze up before looking back at Red Wolf. The hooded male was holding one of the strange weapons in his hand, a weapon that reminded Twilight of a cannon, only much, much smaller. He holstered his weapon, glaring at Derrik.

"Okay, you need to stop right now. All they wanted to do was express themselves peacefully, and you don't even give them a chance to even show that they meant no harm! Plus, how dare you attack that sweet little thing after she gave me a compliment?! Seriously, Derrik!" He looked over to Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who were both now cowering behind Celestia. "Um... You guys just... Stay over there, okay? I'll deal with these assholes." Red pointed at the second group of creatures. "As for you guys, stay there. Alright? I don't know if you guys are fighting each other or something, just don't interfere with us, please. Capiche?"

Night Angel nodded. "That is an acceptable compromise."

"So, you'll take care of those fucker's, and I'll take care of these fucker's?"

"Get on with it!" One of Derrik's men said frustratedly.

"Then without further ado..." Red drew his sword. "Let the battle commence!" He then bulleted towards Derrik and his compatriots, his blade ready to tear through the flesh of his enemies. At that same moment, Night Angel converged on Stornello and his men, and the clearing was a battleground. Twilight and her friends stood there, watching them in strange fascination as they fought. There was a brief moment of silence between them before Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Shouldn't we... I don't know, help him?" She suggested.

"What?!" Twilight exclaimed. "Why?!"

"Because that Red Wolf guy looks like he's pretty friendly, so I assume that we should try to help him, you know?" Rainbow floated in the air. "Come on, Twilight! This prophecy you were talking about a Shadow and a Wolf, right? Well, what if Red Wolf is the wolf in the prophecy?"

"... That... Makes a lot of sense, actually." Rarity nodded and stepped out from behind Celestia, her expression one of determination. "I'm with Rainbow Dash. We should help the stranger. After all, he did stop that maniac from harming Pinkie Pie and I, and I feel that we should repay the favor."

"If anything, it is best if you try and distract Derrik's subordinates, and the same can be said for Stornello and his compatriots." Luna chimed in. "I don't know why, but there is something about that Night Angel character that I trust..."

"Then I will leave you all to this, then." Celestia said. "I will make sure that Ponyville's citizens are safe from harm. If they are somehow caught in the heat of battle, then I must make sure that I am there." The alabaster alicorn then took to the air, disappearing behind the rooftops of the buildings. Once she was out of sight, Applejack stepped up and tilted her hat.

"Well, what're we waitin' for? Hearth's Warmin'?" She jested with a smirk. "Let's go help them two fellers!"

Twilight Sparkle and her friends ran into the battle, leaving Spike behind as he stood there with a blank stare. Noticing that he was now alone, he quickly bolted for the stage and dove behind the DJ Booth.

Red Wolf threw himself at Derrik, unleashing a flurry of attacks, only to have them parried and blocked with each swing. But despite his opponent's skill, he was having a hard time keeping up with his offensive maneuvers, and he was clearly beginning to struggle. Soon, he wouldn't be able to hold out against him, and John would be able to take him down. Suddenly, Derrik jumped back, and two of his men stepped forward with FAL's trained on him. But before any of them could react, one of the rogue's was brought to the ground by a streak of cyan, leaving his partner absolutely bewildered. Red took this as an opportunity to strike, rushing forward and slicing his throat open with his sword. The soldier dropped his assault rifle and crumpled to the ground, a pool of blood quickly spreading beneath his body and gathering at his killer's feet. Red looked down at the other rogue to find a prismatic-haired pegasus sitting atop his body. The pegasus smirked.

"Never fear, for your friendly neighbourhood Rainbow Dash is here!"

"What are you doing?!" He asked angrily. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"We're helping you!" The rogue beneath her groaned, and Rainbow Dash bucked him in the head, rendering him unconscious.

"'We'?!" He scanned the battlefield for the other ponies he had seen earlier. Sure enough, he caught glimpses of them, distracting most of Derrik's men. "Huh, no shit! Thanks! I could definitely use the help. But whatever you do, don't get yourselves hurt, and don't touch Derrik; he's mine." And with that, he threw himself at Derrik again, and the fight continued once more.

Pinkie Pie danced her way between two of Derrik's subordinates, using her Pinkie Sense to dodge their attacks. One of them had an AA-12 while the other dual wielded two assault swords. The one with the AA-12 was becoming more frustrated with each 12-gauge shot the pink pony evaded.

"Hold still, you little fucker!" He growled angrily.

Pinkie Pie giggled. "Okie dokie lokie!" She sat down in front of him, smiling. "Now what? Do you wanna talk?" The AA-12 fired another round, this time making contact with its target, tearing Pinkie's head clean off. But, to the rogue's surprise, the pink pony that sat before him was just a cardboard copy.

"What the hell?"

"Get 'em, AJ!"

The two rogues were suddenly ensnared by a lasso that appeared almost out of nowhere, dropping their weapons to the ground as they were tied up. Applejack ran circles around them with the other end of the lasso still held firmly between her teeth until she was an orange blur, stopping once her rope was tied in a knot, leaving them sitting on the ground back-to-back. The farm pony tilted her hat and smirked.

"That's how we do it on the farm!"

Fluttershy stepped in between two of Stornello's men, keeping her head held low. "Um... Excuse me?"

"Sì?" One of them looked down at Fluttershy. Upon seeing her he immediately jumped back and pointing his sword at her, causing the butter cream pegasus to crouch down and look up at him fearfully. "Merda! Kill it! Kill the winged demon!"

"No! Please, I didn't mean to..." Her words died in her throat just as the rogue Assassin did, a sword piercing through his chest and cutting down before withdrawing itself from his body. He fell to his knees and coughed up a fair amount of blood before finally collapsing, the light in his eyes slowly fading away as he stared into Fluttershy's. "Oh my... Oh dear..." She tried backing away from the pool of blood, only for her to bump into the legs of the rogue behind her. Her gaze followed Night Angel as he quickly stabbed him in the throat with a slight spring in his step, a small shower of blood falling onto Fluttershy and sprinkling her face with the red essence. Her eyes began to fill with tears as the rogue Assassin's corpse fell backwards, but she completely lost it when she looked down at her now blood-soaked hooves, sobbing uncontrollably. "B... Blood! Blood e-everywhere!" Fluttershy began whimpering loudly when she was suddenly lifted from the ground. The pegasus suddenly came face-to-face with the black clad Assassin, his sky-blue eyes seemingly piercing straight through her soul.

"Listen to me, creature." He said softly. "You are not safe here. You have wings, so use them! Fly away from here! Hide! Do what you must to stay out of harm's way!"

"But... But I-" Fluttershy shrieked as she was suddenly thrown into the air. Upon instinct, she began to flap her wings furiously, desperately trying to find someplace to hide. She chose to take cover behind a lemonade stand, watching the battle from a distance, cringing as Night Angel dispatched another brace of men. "I'm so... Sorry..." The pegasus said softly.

Red Wolf took out two more soldier with his dual hidden blades. Counting Derrik, there were only six of his enemies that still lived. He stared down Derrik, sheathing his blades and slowly taking a few steps towards him. But despite his sudden advance, the rogue leader smirked. He stepped away, and a soldier with an M16A2 Combat Rifle took his place. Red noticed that there was an attachment on the underside of the barrel, and the rogue was loading something into it. He stopped.

'Oh fuck, that's an M203...' His eyes went wide at a sudden realization. 'Oh FUCK! That's an M203!'

"Hasta luego, motherfucker!" The soldier fired the grenade launcher and John threw his arms out in front of his face as the 40mm grenade was propelled towards him, obviously aware of what was to come next. There was a loud explosion, followed by a blast of smoke, shrapnel and flame. But to his surprise, he was not harmed by the destruction; he was perfectly fine—save for the extremely loud ringing in his ears, that is. Apparently, the blast had been stopped by a glowing violet shield that had encircled him before the grenade detonated. Amazing!... But, how did it get here? Red looked down, and there he saw Twilight Sparkle standing in front of him, her horn glowing brightly with the same violet color of the shield. Wait... Was she using... Magic? 'There's no way that this is magic.' He scoffed silently. 'But... Maybe she is using an artifact?'

"Are you alright?" She asked calmly, never tearing her gaze away from the shield. John deadpanned at her question.

"Um... Other than almost getting blown up and then getting saved by a talking horse? Yeah, I'm fucking perfect; fantastic, even."

Twilight frowned. "We could do without the sarcasm and the language, please."

"Oh right... Heh, sorry." Red replied sheepishly. "It's just not everyday this kinda thing happens to me." The american Assassin looked at the shield and nodded. "Thanks for the help, but you can put the shield down... However the hell you put this up, I must say that I'm impressed—even though this is technically scientifically impossible."

Twilight was prepared to protest, but then closed her mouth, deciding against it and taking down her shield. Red Wolf smirked underneath his mask when he saw Derrik's wide-eyed expression.

"How the hell did you survive that?! That's impossible!" Derrik looked at the lavender pony and growled. "You goddamn abomination! I'll kill you!" He drew his sword and sprinted for the pony and the Assassin, letting out a howl of rage. "GRAAAH!" The rogue Assassin swung his sword with all his might, and he heard a loud CLANG! Derrik gasped and his eyes went wide; his sword had broken in two! Red's sword was positioned right above Twilight, the metal of the blade still holding under the force of the strike. The other half of the blade fell to the ground in front of Twilight's hooves, leaving Derrik wide-eyed and stammering. Before he had a chance to say or do anything, John was already on the offensive. He unleashed a flurry of different attacks, swinging high and low, kicking out at his legs. Derrik tried desperately to keep his guard up, but it was for naught; he fell short and left himself wide open, which earned him a swift kick in the chest. Red watched his opponent tumble to the ground in front of his men, leaving them all staring with shock and disbelief.

"Must be a real shame for all of you to see your great leader looking so... defeated. Well, all I can tell you is that nothing beats pure italian steel. Your cheap metal has nothing on me, Rosland." Derrik looked up at Red Wolf, throwing the broken sword aside. "Enough games. Surrender now... Okay, what is that?" All of Red's attention was soon directed to a white pony—a unicorn, to be more exact—with a wicked blue mane casually strolled up to the battlefield, pushing something that resembled an amp. She wore a pair of purple-tinted sunglasses over her eyes. Rainbow Dash flew up to Red and looked at the unicorn curiously.

“Vinyl? What're you doing?"

"It's cool, everypony." She said confidently—not to mention calmly. "I've got this."

There was a long, uncomfortable moment of silence before Derrik's laughter pierced the night time air. "Oh really? And what is that there?"

"Oh, this?" Red turned around to see that Twilight and Rainbow Dash had disappeared.

"Um... Guys?

" Oh, this is nothing much." He suddenly noticed a major detail about the amp that he failed to notice before: the large red button on top. The sight of it made his blood run cold. Red buttons always meant something bad or dangerous, and John didn't want to be around that... Thing when it was activated. John started backing away slowly.

"This is just my Bass Cannon!" Vinyl slammed her hoof down on the button, and the cover of the device slid away into two different parts, revealing a iridescent, glowing blue amp. There were five cones of the speakers, the one in the middle being the largest. Suddenly, the amplifier came to life, and dubstep music started playing from it. Only, it didn't play at a normal volume; the music was booming, creating a force great enough to knock a man off of his feet. And boy, did Red get to experience it, even if it wasn't at its greatest force. The Assassin was lifted from the ground and sent flying down the clearing, colliding with the stone fountain at the center; Derrik and his men crashed into a large stand that sold fruit pie. As John attempted to stand, his body suddenly clenched up, and his entire being was catapulted into a world of pain. It wasn't just from the impact, though; he felt like his body was being stretched and crushed from the inside. Red clutched at his side and groaned.

"Jesus Christ!" The Assassin staggered to his feet. “I feel like I’ve been mauled by Jesus.” He scooped up his sword and stretched, wincing when he heard a loud Pop!. “Yeah, I’m getting way too old for this shit.” And with that, he rapidly limped for the collapsed stand, hoping that his enemy was already subdued.

Night Angel stumbled against the fountain. His body felt like it was on fire! He shook the cobwebs from his head just as the corners of his vision started to grow dark, looking up to see that Severino was standing just across from him. “Stornello…” Night began staggering. “What did you do to me?!”

“I was about to…” The Rogue Assassin clutched his side and hissed. “Ask you the same thing, Night Angel!” He was surprisingly able to launch himself at Night Angel with his sword aimed for his heart, but even he was not prepared for what was to come next. Night pushed off of the edge of the fountain, propelling him into the air and causing him to perform a backflip. Severino watched in both disbelief and horror. The Assassin landed behind him, kicking him square in the back. The blow sent him somersaulting into the air, and he landed… more than twenty feet away from the fountain.

“What?!” Night Angel looked himself over. “What is going on?! What is this… this sorcery?!” He then looked up to see that Stornello was getting back up, using his sword as leverage. There was blood dripping from a small gash above his left eye.

“Whatever power you may have…” He groaned as he tried to get up. “It… It cannot save you.” The downed Assassin waved his hand, and Night Angel suddenly found that he was surrounded by his Rogue’s. “Men! To arms! Bring me his head!”

“You can try!” Night spat. “But I doubt that you’re men are brave enough to try!”

Severino gave the signal, and his men converged on their target. But before their blades could touch him, a brilliant white light came to life before the Assassin, causing everyone to reel back, letting loose of string of obscene words and colorful profanities. When the light vanished, a dark blue alicorn stood before Night Angel, her horn glowing brightly with a teal-colored aura.There was an angry scowl on her face.

“Enemies of the peace!” She howled with her Canterlot voice. “Leave this place now, or thou shalt suffer the consequences!”

Severino’s men were distracted, giving Night Angel the opportunity that he needed. In a flash, the Assassin shoved his way past the rogue’s as they converged on Luna. As much as he wanted to stay and help her, Stornello was his primary target, and he had to subdue him before he could escape.

Red Wolf staggered away from the stand. Derrik wasn’t there, and neither were any of his men, so he could only assume that they had managed to pull themselves from the wreckage of the stall. A scowl quickly spread across his concealed features, which quickly turned into a grimace as pain coursed through his body.

“Goddamnit!” He cursed quietly. “Where the fuck is he- GAH!” John was quickly sent flying back into the fountain as someone bowled into him, the ring that kept the water inside literally cracking upon impact, even though that seemed impossible. The Assassin howled in pain. There was someone lying on top of him, and he wanted them off of him immediately. But looking down, he saw that it was a hooded figure dressed in black… “... You?!” Red pushed the Assassin off of him and scowled. “Goddamn, you fucking bastard! You let my target get away!”

The dark Assassin got back onto his feet, glaring at him with cold eyes. “Quiet! Stornello is getting away because of you!”

“Because of me?!” Red sneered. “It’s not my fault that you’re a lousy excuse for an Assassin!” Almost immediately, he regretted speaking. The dark Assassin drew his sword and lunged at him with surprising speed, giving him little to no time to react as he started swinging and stabbing at him in hopes of his sword finding it’s mark. Red tried countering his attacks using his hidden blades, but he couldn’t react quick enough to dodge the Assassin’s attacks and try to land a blow at the same time. Then, he saw it; he saw a critical error. When Night Angel came in with a high swing, he left himself wide open, and that was the opening that John needed. He sidestepped the swing at the last second, sending bits of dirt flying into the air as the sword buried itself into the ground.

“Gotcha, motherfucker!” John came back in and decked Night Angel square in the jaw, relinquishing his grip of his sword and sending him reeling backwards, somewhat stunned by the sudden attack. But Red Wolf didn’t stop there. He unleashed a fury of punches at his opponents, aiming for the chest, face, and legs. Night Angel tried his best to evade his attacks, but to no avail. Red Wolf comes in to finish him off, raising his leg up to bring his foot down on his head. But sadly, he took too long, and Night Angel was able to dodge his attack by rolling to the side. Even though his attack had missed its target, Red found this as the perfect opportunity to draw his sword. This time he activated his sight, knowing that it would aid him in combat against a clearly skilled swordsman. His irises turned blood-red, and he turned around to face Night Angel… only to see something else in front of him. He had no idea what to call it, but he didn’t like it. His eyes were now glowing blue, and his body was emitting some sort of smoke. But what really disturbed Red Wolf were two things: the fact that the only thing that he could see was his eyes, and that there were a pair of angel wings that had sprouted out from his back. Jesus Christ! Red thought with a start. I swear that he was human not two seconds ago! What the fuck is that thing?!

Night Angel had also activated his sight, and Red Wolf was nonetheless terrifying to him. What he saw was no longer a man, but rather, a beast that had stolen his skin and wore it like a coat. Now, he saw it’s true form: a bipedal wolf with glowing red eyes, snout, ears, and a tail. The beast snarled at him viciously, causing Night Angel to flinch slightly. Is my Sight revealing his true form? He was human not a moment ago… The Assassin narrowed his eyes. I must destroy this monster… But he knocked my sword away… Night Angel looked behind him to see his sword still buried in the ground, its handle standing proudly in the air. There was hope for him yet if he could just reach his weapon. The chances of him actually being able to land a blow were slim, seeing that his opponent was extremely agile, but he had to try. He glared daggers at Red Wolf.

“Demon…” He said in a dangerous tone. “You are a sin against God’s Creation, and it is my duty to destroy you.”

“Funny,” the demon said in a growl. “I was just thinking the exact same thing.” He lowered himself into a defensive stance with his sword at the ready, his tail swishing back and forth. Night Angel followed suite, only his intention was to turn and grab his sword and then attack; engaging him in combat directly would be suicide.

“Vai a farte fotterre.” The Assassin turned and sprinted for his sword, reaching out for the handle and gripping it firmly before pulling it out and stabbing it towards his enemy. His eyes widened when he saw that Red Wolf’s blade was mere inches from his face. His first instinct was to lean to the side, away from his enemy’s blade, but he winced in pain as the blade slashed through his mask and cutting his right cheek. But the pain suddenly turned from dull to excruciating, and his vision faded to white. The same thing happened to Red Wolf as his own blade slashed his left cheek.

What happened next was an explosion of blinding white light, followed by a shockwave that sent anyone in the immediate vicinity flying backwards. Twilight Sparkle braced her hooves against the ground and guarded her face with a wing, watching as the remainder of Stornello’s men limped away. She was about to shout an order to the guards to go after them when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked to see who it was, and found Luna standing beside her, her expression grim as she gazed into the light with her hoof raised.

“‘Tis a very dark day for Equestria, Twilight Sparkle…” She said quietly. “An new evil has been unleashed on our land, and it is foretold that there are two individuals who can stop it.”

“You think that these are the foretold pair?” Twilight lowered her wing as the light faded.

“If they are, then we may be in trouble.” She replied. “They fight each other as though they are mortal enemies. If this does not change, then all hope is lost.” Her eyes went wide when she saw what had become of the two Assassin’s. Twilight looked to see for herself, and her expression matched Princess Luna’s. There were two ponies in the clearing wearing the clothes of Red Wolf and Night Angel, even though their features were masked by the hood and mask. Twilight could make out a black mane poking out from underneath their hoods though. The lavender alicorn slowly moved towards them, careful to avoid the debris that was scattered everywhere. The pony in Red Wolf’s outfit had crashed into another stand, although he hadn’t destroyed it, thankfully, and the same could be said for Night Angel. Twilight Sparkle stopped in the middle of their two swords which were both pointing at each other, their tips nearly touching her fore hooves. There she was, standing in the middle between the two Assassin’s; the foretold “saviors” of their world, and she had just witnessed them trying to kill each other. There must have been a reason for this… and she was going to find out why.

“Princess Luna!” She said loudly as she turned to face her. “Order a few of your guards to take these two to the hospital. We’ll get the information we need from them when they wake up.”

“And what of their enemies? The one’s who were left behind?”

Twilight thought about this for a moment before she nodded. “Take them as well, but put them in a separate room together, away from the Assassin’s.” She turned back to Night Angel and Red Wolf. “We’ll know why they’re here soon enough, and when they wake up, we can see if they really are the ones who will save us…”

To be continued...

Author's Note

Aaaand... Done! Thank you so much for your patience and your support, and I can promise that there will be more to come. Also, sorry if the end of the chapter seemed rushed, but hey, that's all I really had for this chapter. What do you guys think will happen?

Also, there are at least three references that I've made in this chapter (maybe two.) If you can guess at least one, then you can get a cameo of your OC in a later chapter... Along with a cookie!

Well, that's all I have! I'm Silver Chord of The Adventure Crew! And remember:

Adventure Awaits!