Assassin: Savior of Canterlot

Niko pulled a hot piece of steel out from his furnace, and immediately took it to his anvil. He hammered away at the glowing metal, forging a point into one side of the steel. He repeatedly took the steel in and out of the furnace, taking it to the anvil for more work after each reheat. Once he got the point he was looking for, he dipped the hot metal in a bucket of oil to cool it. He removed the metal from the oil and it was no longer glowing a bright orange. It was, however, still hot enough to burn the excess oil off once it was removed. Niko dipped the pointed metal into the oil a few more times, just to make sure it was cool enough to handle with the aid of gloves. He repeated this twice to give him two pieces of pointed metal.

He took the pointed metal pieces to a belt sander, where he proceeded to grind the bevles into the metal, effectively sharpening the pieces into a set of blades. After a bit of grinding, he took the blades to a buffing wheel where he polished them. Slowly the blades began to have a classic reflective, mirror like sheen to them. Once the blades were nice and shiny, Niko started looking up ways to conceal them. He saw results like Sword canes, lipstick knives, belt buckle blades. But they all had one thing in common, they weren't available at a moment's notice. They all require you to reach for something, or take time to pull something out of a sheath. In Niko's eyes, that was time that the enemy could use to their advantage.

He wasn't against those types of weapons, he even considered something like a sword cane for a backup weapon. But he wanted something that was ready and available within milliseconds. After quite a bit of searching, he found a documentary on ancient weapons. One weapon in particular caught his attention. It was a device used by a long since disbanded group called the Assassins. The device was to be mounted on the wrist, and through a ring placed around the finger the blade would shoot out. The ring would have a string attached to it, allowing the user to pull the string to release the blade. Niko decided that this would be his starting point.

He got a sheet of blue paper with white grid lines on it, and began drawing out the designs. Instead of a pulley system like the original hidden blades, he would use a programed set of sensors that would detect the position of five individual rings placed on the hand. Once the rings are in a specific position, the blade will pop out. To retract the blades, one would need to momentarily move the rings from the programmed position and move them back into position again. This gives the blade the ability to be ready at the literal flick of a wrist.

Once the design was drawn out, he began to measure and mark strips of sheet metal he had. He measured the length, width and the distance between the holes that the rivets were to be put in. Using a plasma torch he cut the pieces out, making small and slow movements so he didn't mess anything up. A plasma torch doesn't leave the cleanest of cuts, so Niko had to give the pieces a quick run on his belt sander to smooth out the cuts.

Once he had the pieces for the housing made, he had to focus on the next big task. Making and programming the blade release mechanisms. Niko retrieved two small, rectangular pieces of plastic along with some solder and some silicone based circuit paint. He made the circuit board himself, cutting out all the holes and making silicone pathways for the electrical signals to travel through. It took him a bit of time to find out how to reprogram microchips though. He got the microchips from the motherboard of an old laptop he didn't use anymore. Once he found out how to reprogram them, he needed to find something with tiny receivers in it.

Something to place inside the rings and the circuit board to detect their position. He decided to go to a nearby hobby shop and pick up a set of position based receivers. They send and receive signals giving details on their current position.

After a long, arduous process of trying to program the microchips to work on the right signals, the circuit boards were finally done. To release and retract the blade, Niko opted to use a set of levers driven via small motors. He got some cervos from an old toy helicopter and attached them to the circuit board and lever system. He left the blades out of the test assemblies, just to make sure he wouldn't accidentally stab his own hand. When he was certain everything was working properly, he reassembled both devices with the blades incorporated in them.

He used some leather belts to hold the devices on his wrists, and he tested them with the blades for the first time. The blades released and locked into place perfectly, without any problems. Next was a functionality test. He when to a supermarket and got a watermelon, a cocoanut and a raw turkey. He brought them back to his house where he proceeded to test the blades on them. The blades made quick work of the watermelon and the turkey, and did decent against the cocoanut. The blade stayed in place, but it was still difficult to pierce the cocoanuts hard outer layer.

"Alright, now I just need a disguise. I guess i'll have to see Rarity about that tomorrow. But right now, it's time for some shut eye." Niko thought.