Dishonored, the last Assassin.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"Yes."

"Good, Now tell us."

"Because I upheld my oath"

"And what is your oath?"

"To protect the Alliance with my life."

"And how does killing a Templar Knight protect the Alliance?"

"By healing the Templar before he destroys them all."

"Healing him of what?"

"Corruption."

"The Templars are incorruptible!"

I looked at the Templar grand master who remained silent throughout  my exchange with the Human King until now.

"And how can you be so sure of that, have you sat a Templar Squire or Knight or Palladian with a single Demora until you can be sure." I replied.

"You dare insult us."

"No, never. Well unless I've been drinking."

"Dai, Watch what you say in humorless crowds." I looked at the man who said it,

The only human yet to speak. The Grand Master of my order. My mentor who taught me almost everything I know about how the order runs. I learned when a few unkind words will turn into a revolt. And how to find guards who are more likely to accept bribes. He taught me. So i love him.

"Yes Grand Master. Apologies Grand Master, to you as well, Templar Grand Master." When I looked at him, I could see he was calculating whether I meant it or not,

"What was corrupting this particular Templar, Dai?" The first words to come out of a Equine and the Queen at that.

"Perhaps a new breed of demora?" This time the Equine King spoke. I smile as a thought ran rampant though my mind.

"Sadly it was not something so easily remedied as a new enemy, Sir."

At that they remained quiet while I inform them of Project Valkyrie. As I inform them their faces turned from mild interest to extreme shock and disgust as I finished, the Templar Grand Master starred before he started screaming.

"NEVER WOULD A TEMPLAR STOOP SO LOW, YOU TELL TWISTED AND WARPED LIES, AND IN THE COURT OF OUR FINE KING NO LESS!"

"Samuel." At the word of the King, the Templar regained his composer as I was returned to the center of attention.

"And of the child, Angel I believe you said that was his name, what became of him?"

Even now, with a literal heart of stone I still regret what I did. But what can I do to change the past. "Nothing can reverse the flow of time, for it is like a river and slows or stops for no one, much less run backwards." A common saying that I never forgotten no matter how many years I been here.

"What is that, Twilight?"

"Huh, oh sorry, Pinkie. This is a ring that a human would put on their finger."

As Twilight spoke the others crowded around to get a better look. The 6 ponies and 1 dragon were waiting on the train platform, and as always Twilight was trying to learn something new.

"Where did you get that? Its not even pretty, just a plain iron ring with a simple design on it."

"Derpy gave it to me, Rarity, it was in this small box that somepony or someone had her deliver to me."

"Wait, you don't even know if a pony or a human sent you that, Why didn't you ask her before she left?" Spike asked.

"Because I was more curious about what was in it then whether whoever gave it to me was a human or pony Spike."

"I bet I can find her before-"

Before Rainbow Dash could finish her sentence the train chosen that moment to

pull into the station, but because everyone was focused on the strange ring, no one heard it until the conductor yelled.

"Come on girls, and Spike."

"Thank you."

"Lets go, hopefully it'll be a short ride."

"I must say this is a interesting find Professor, but what do you think we can learn about humans from a couple of statues?" As Celestia was busy with sending a letter, Luna used this to ask some questions that have been bugging her since she entered the cavern. As the Princess of night, normally she had no problems being in the dark, but something about this mine gave her a bad felling. As if the space around her was trying to drain her of heart and soul.

"I know that it will tell us something about what they feared, But much more then that will only be the result of extensive research. Not likely to learn anything while its down here." He replied, much to Luna's disappointment. She was hoping for something. Instead all she got was how it'll take time to learn anything about these strange statues.

She looked over at her sister writing away to her faithful student Twilight Sparkle. "Likely requesting her immediate assistance with this dull task." She thought. Even cutting things in half with the statues sword lost its interest. She turned her head and looked at the other statue. Wondering what could've inspired the sculptor to make such a monstrosity.

The very air around it was heavy with emotions, and if she stood to close to it she would feel all the anger and jealousy boil to the surface. However when she got close to the Human statue she would feel like there was a hundred guards running into battle beside her. "Strange thoughts in a strange room." She dismissed this thought as a mere passing fancy and continued to observe the horror, from a safe distance of course.

"Professor Dig Dug, why would anyone, pony or human want to create this?" she asked waving a hoof at both of the statues.

"Possibly to remember some great battle long before there was the written word, Possibly to remind themselves that, sometimes there are things that go bump in the night, and that there were people to fight these night terrors. Maybe just to get their children to eat carrots."

As he finished talking he immediately turned his attention back to the statue of a human, Luna looked at the unconscious scholar Speed Scribe who immediately passed out once she looked at the horror. "No they wouldn't need something that scary just to get kids to eat their carrots, would they?"

I was sitting in a tavern listening to this guy tell me something that angered me greatly. I knew that I could at lest check into it for him, after all whats the worst that could happen. Famous last words, ha. A few minutes earlier.

It was a sunny day and I had nothing to do so I was going to The Mended Drum, previously call The Broken Drum. The vendors all clamoring for people to buy their wares, the distinct bang of a blacksmith hammering on something rang out like a bell, and little kids were playing in the street. Over the sound of the blacksmiths steady beat I could hear the songbirds singing. As I walked into the tavern I had to duck away from a fight. The strangest thing was they were planning the fight, I smiled as I walked past them discussing where and how each blow would be landed.

"Hey prick, I'm thirsty get me a flagon of ale." The bartender replied without turning around, "fuck off you little street urchin."

I smiled as this was our custom, the bear of a man filled a mug from a barrel in the back and returned to me. "So Floyd, loving the way it is now?"- as I said this I gestured at the fight in progress, they were still arguing about how to start it. "Ah its not too different really, any second now they'll stop talking and just start beating the sense outta each other."

True to his word, they stopped arguing and started brawling. "The day there's no fights in this place, is the day I'll stop coming here." I said not even fazed by the fact that an axe just landed in the beam next to me. "Eh, Damn Right!" He replied as he reached over and pulled the axe from the beam, and putting it in a large chest under the bar. "You could retire off that old crate." I said as I looked at the man I knew since I moved to Westerpine Hollow, if it wasn't for him I still be a thief and a bad one at that.

My first day here, I was stealing food from the vendors and trying to stay warm when I walked into this place, after a few minutes I did something stupid, when he turned his back I snuck behind the counter and tried to steal a cup of mead. As soon as I had the cup, he whipped around and caught my wirst.

"So you little street urchin, trying to steal from me, Eh, I should turn you into the watch." I struggled while he said that. Trying my hardest to break his grip, but it was in vain, the man had hands like a smiths vise. "Now either I could turn you in, or I could send you to school." I didn't understand what school was, but I knew what the Watch would do, so I blurted out "please sir I'm sorry just don't call the Watch please."

"School it is then." As he dragged me to the door a thought rushed forward.

"So you gonna leave your tavern unattended just to get rid of me?"

As he dragged me down the street i was getting more and more scared by the second.

"Eh, Hell no. I got Leadpipe Jim over in the corner to keep the peace. And I ain't getting rid of you, I'm sending you to school. I expect you to be back and work your debt off."

"Debt for what? I didn't even turn the spigot." I replied.

"For wasting my time, and time is very expensive so I expect it'll take you a long time to work it off, Eh, Damn right." As we came to a stop in front of a impressiv building. I looked up and saw a sign that read "Precursor pulvis et umbra sumus"underneath that was thetranslation- Assassins, we are dust and shadow.

Because of this man in front of me, calmly wiping a dirty glass with a dirtier rag while a man was getting his head smashed on the counter a few feet from me, my entire life was changed.

"Are we there yet?" As Twilight looked over at Pinkie, she couldn't understand how a few seconds were all the time it took for her to ask the same question again.

"No Pinkie, not yet." After she answered her friend, she glanced around the train car looking at all the happy ponies. 'How peaceful, how happy.' She thought, before something grabbed her attention. A gray stallion with a brown mane was walking towards her.

"Is a miss Shy here?" The stranger asked.

"Eep?" Fluttershy replied.

"Just call her Fluttershy, darling, and who might you be?"

After the pony turned around he asked, "Are you miss Shy?"

"Yes?" A look of fear plastered across her face as she looked at the stranger. Immediately turning to confusion as the strange pony pulled a small parcel from his saddlebag.

"I was tasked to give this to you ma'am."

  After he gave the bulky bag to Fluttershy, he turned to leave but before he

did Twilight asked him who it's from. "I'm afraid I cannot answer your questions ma'am, I was tasked to give miss Shy here the package, nothing more." With that the stranger went to the back of the car and opened the door to the next car.

"Well who do you think it's from, sugarcube?" Twilight immediately looked back at her friends all circled around Fluttershy before joining them.

"I have no idea." She replied.

As she said this Fluttershy began trying to open the box. After a few trys, she finally got the box opened and looked inside.

"Well what is it darling" rarity asked while she was busy looking in the box.

"Looks like bracelet, and there's a note." Pulling a small scrap of parchment from the box she read it aloud, "FEAR AND HATE DRIVE US FORWARDS." The normally happy albeit shy ponie looked very sad and looked around at her friends, her voice breaking she asked. "Who would send something so sad, Why would anypony do this?"

After calming her friend down, Twilight went to find that strange pony and get some answers from him, noticing that AppleJack had decided to come too.

"Ima give that fool a good bucking." AJ stated as she followed her friend to the dining car. After entering the car the two looked at everypony inside, all eating their treats and smiling, after a few minutes Twilight walked over to the counter while Applejack was busy asking the customers

and asked the pony behind it, black with a orange mane, if he seen a grey stallion with a brown mane.

"Eh, oh yes yes, he asked me to give this to a miss AJ." As he said this he pulled a box from under the counter and asked, "Are you miss AJ?" Sliding the box to Twilight, Applejack walked over.

"Nothin, nopony saw him." Stopping when she saw the package on the counter, before Twilight could saw anything, the bartender asked. "Are you miss AJ?"

"I reckon I am, why?"

Sliding to box towards her, the bartender simply said. "A stallion left this with me and said, A few mares might come looking for me, when they ask you about me, I want you to give miss AJ this, and he went and sat down at the back of this car, I looked away to take someponies order and when I looked back, he was gone."

Twilight thanked him for his time while Applejack struggled with the parcel.

"Come on, we still don't know what Fluttershy got." She said on her way out of the dining car. As they approached their friends they noticed something was up.

Pinkie Pie looked over and exclaimed "Twilight, look at this!" On her left forelegs ankle was the bracelet. Seeing it reminded Twilight of something she read in a book about ancient humans and their clothes, as she got closer her suspensions were confirmed when she saw the same strange symbol on it, the device was otherwise unadorned with any decorations, it looked like a gauntlet except it had a little box like extension on the side opposite from the strange symbol. "Why would somepony send Fluttershy this." The gauntlet was on the excited pony's ankle, before Twilight could tell her what it was, at that moment Applejack decided to drop the parcel on a seat where they clustered around it. "Oh, more presents." Pinkie Pie hopped while she said, "What did you get AJ?"

  "I don't know, it's still closed." As Applejack opened the parcel everyone eased closer to look inside first. Inside was a Length of chains with a small weight on 1 end and a treble grappling hook. On it was a scrap of paper, rolled up like the others.