It was the dead of night, and all was silent in the streets of Ponyville. No lights were on, the moon was clouded over with a thin vale of clouds that barely let any moonlight cut through, and a quiet wind was blowing through the air, a desolate howl that made the place look like a ghost town when it was quite the opposite.
Staring down at the river that cut through Ponyville like a dagger, Sweetie stared with almost dead like eyes as she looked down at her hands, then back at the water that flowed through the town. It was one of the many hotspots of sorts in the town, with crystal clear water that ran right through, the bridge she stood on was a place where many could gather and talk about the day, or just look off into the town itself which gave many a very nice view.
However, she wasn't looking up, she was looking down... at the body that was standing next to her mere moments ago. It was face down, floating in the water, clearly deceased. The pony's shirt was hung on something, keeping them from floating away down the river and washing up on shore.
Sweetie's green eyes had lost their normally childish shine, instead replaced with a dull shade of green that wondered... how this just happened to her...
Her mind turned back to the moments before this all happened...
Minutes Earlier
It had been a very rough day for Sweetie and her friends, with a more heavy workload today and Discord causing a bit of a mess, that had been kept in school till the end of the day and the moon was high in the sky. Sweetie and her friends had walked down the road, with the other two splitting off as a colt joined the alabaster filly. Sweetie knew the colt's name was Rumble, Thunderlane's younger brother and a resident trouble maker in the school itself, just a prankster at heart but not like Rainbow and Pinkie was.
His idea of a funny joke was putting a fire cracker in someone's locker that was rigged to explode when it was opened, or writing lewd graffiti on a teacher's desk. He was a trouble maker, plain and simple. Sweetie knew he practically got off to hurting others for his own amusement, even if they were sweet and innocent.
Like poor Dinky for example, having been a recent victim of his today. She recalled having met the sweet young filly at school at lunch, and the two were going to study together later on in the day, but the filly had taken a bite into her sandwich and cracked a tooth on something that was in it.
As it turned out, Rumble had ended up putting a rock into her sandwich when she wasn't looking, and she had to go to the nurse's office and was excused from school for the day.
Sweetie couldn't see what Scootaloo saw in the colt.
He's a brat. Sweetie thought to herself, hands in her pockets as Rumble trailed behind her. She didn't know why he wasn't taking some other way home, he could have gone with Scootaloo to walk her home.
However, Rumble followed her as they passed by a road...
One that lead straight to his house.
Why's he following me? Sweetie's heart started pounding in her chest, nervousness creeping up on her as she glanced behind her to see Rumble staring at her from behind... though he wasn't looking at the back of her head. "Rumble, why aren't you heading home?" She asked as she stopped crossing the bridge they were on. "Your place is that way." She pointed down the path they both passed.
Rumble just grinned at her, hands in his own pockets. "I figured I'd ask you something."
"... What?" She asked. Creepo, why couldn't he have asked me earlier instead of following me?
She soon got her answer.
"Well, I was thinking... its just you, me." He looked around. "Alone, and I hear there's this little spot under the bridge that a lot of the older kids use." He started, shifting slightly as his eyes had a devious glint to them.
Under the bridge? W-what does he...? Her eyes widened. He can't m-mean...
"We should totally go under there and uh..." He waggled his eyebrows at the younger filly. "Have some fun." He walked closer to her.
She just backpedaled. "Eww! No!" She told him, pushing him away when he got too close. "What makes you think I would even do anything like that with you?!"
"Come on Sweetie~" The way he said her name sent shivers down her spine, shivers of disgust. "I'm a handsome colt, you're a cute filly... we should totally have sex! It'll be our little secret, I'll rock your world~"
Sweetie repressed the urge to vomit. "You're disgusting! You're dating Scootaloo, what would she think of you if she knew about this?!"
He just scoffed, waving a hand around in a vague circle. "She doesn't need to know, besides... you won't tell her."
"After tonight, you bet your ass I'm going to tell her! This is disgusting Rumble, some friend you are!" Sweetie spat at him before turning around and beginning to walk away.
But not before Rumble grabbed her.
"You're not telling her! Or anyone for that matter!" He yanked her back, causing her eyes to widen.
"Lemme go!" She screamed, pushing him back only for him to tighten his grip on her.
"Not a chance! I've been waiting for too long, and I'm going to know what it feels like! And you can't stop me!" Rumble threw Sweetie Belle to the ground, causing her to yelp as he descended on her. He held her down as he tried to take off her shirt, pushing his muzzle into her neck and messily kissing her.
"Ah! Get off me you freak!" Sweetie screeched as she scratched at him, the colt only grunting in pain as she felt his hands on her chest. "GET OFF ME!" She bunched up her legs under him and then kicked him off, sending him stumbling back with a yelp of pain.
"Gah! You bitch!" Rumble growled, balling up his hands into fists. "I'm going to make you regret that!" He charged forward, intent on getting his prize.
Had Sweetie's horn not buzzed to life, and sent a force pulse his way, hitting him right in the head.
The force of the magic blast sent him stumbling back further until he hit the edge of the bridge, and then he tumbled over. "Waaaah!" If Sweetie had been standing up, and looked over she would have watched Rumble fall down and smack right into a large jagged rock with a sickening crack sound before he fell face down into the water.
Now
And here she was now... looking over the edge at her would be rapist. Blood ran down the current, the blood staining his white shirt and body. He was dead... he had been face down in the water for a good long while as she just stared down, body and mind numb to what had just transpired.
I... I killed him... She thought to herself as fear and shock finally ran through her body. "I killed him! Oh Celestia, what do I do!?" She cried softly, falling onto her knees as panic ran through her mind at light speed. "I killed him!"
"That you did..." A smooth voice spoke up from behind her.
She gasped, whirling around and spotting a figure dressed in a black robe standing a few feet away from her, and all she could see were a pair of bright blue eyes staring down at her. Sweetie backed away until she hit the wall of the bridge. "S-stay away!"
The voice, a mare it sounded like at first spoke again. "Now why would I do that my sweet child?" The mare asked, slowly kneeling down as she added, "I am here to help you..."
Sweetie gulped, shivering as she felt the blue eyes lock with her own. "H-help me? Who are you!"
The mare seemed to smile. "Someone who has witnessed your deeds with the little brat currently floating down river." She told Sweetie Belle, causing the filly to look over the bridge and spot Rumble's body doing just that... floating down river. "I am impressed, I do not find many your age who kill so swiftly."
Sweetie watched as Rumble disappeared down the river through Ponyville, it wouldn't be long until he hit the rocks and was found washed ashore. She turned back to the mare. "I didn't mean to! He tried to h-"
"I am well aware my child." The mare cut her off, speaking softly. "And are you sure you didn't mean it?"
"W-wha-?"
"I have been watching you and the recently... deceased for some time now, he shall not be missed by many of your fellow classmates." The mare smiled still in the shadows cast by her hood, as the moon shone above. "He has bullied you when your friends are not around, and has hurt many of your other friends... even lusting after them like the demented pervert he was."
He... he did that? She thought, the shivering gone now. "Y-you watched me?"
Another nod. "For quite some time child." She said, still smiling. "Though now, I fear for you..."
"F-for me? Why?!" Sweetie looked scared now, wondering what the mare was on about.
"Well... you did just kill a pony, an innocent by Equestria's standards... what if they find the body? There's evidence on his body even in the water," She told Sweetie, who's eyes went wide from that information. "And there's magical residue on his body, which all points to you."
Oh no! I'll be grounded for... like ever! Sweetie panicked again. "W-what do I do? I don't want to get in trouble! What do I do!"
"Simple..." The mare pulled back her hood, revealing a beautiful faced unicorn mare with crimson red fur and black tipped ears. Her blue eyes a stark contrast to her body's color. "Join me..."
"J-join you?" Sweetie questioned, fear and curiosity in her eyes. What was this mare going on about?
"Yes~ You see... my, organization would simply love to have someone like you within our ranks." The mare told Sweetie, who had calmed down just a tad. "We would protect you from those like the poor deceased Rumble, who only sought to take your purity from you and hurt you deeply."
S-she wants me to join her? "W-why me?"
"Because you are a killer, like me." The mare smiled darkly, making Sweetie cringe. "I have killed many, but never before have I ever seen a killer as young as you."
"I didn't mean to kill him! I don't want to kill anyone!" Sweetie protested, shaking her head.
"Do you think your sister, Rarity would believe that? Or perhaps, your friends?" The mare went on, making Sweetie tear up. "Perhaps even the princesses? They would love nothing more then to put someone like you in jail..."
Jail?! OH NO! The young alabaster filly trembled in fear. She would go to jail?! Lose her friends, her family, they would all hate her! What would Thunderlane do to her if he knew what she did!
"But I can help you." The red furred mare said.
"H-how! I don't want to lose my friends! Or my family!" Sweetie cried softly, shaking.
Smiling softly, the mare put a gentle hand on Sweetie's shoulder before helping the filly stand. She then turned Sweetie around to look where the body was, and she saw two ponies clad in dark black and red armor holding the corpse of Rumble. "Join me, take up the mantle of the Dark Brotherhood... and all the evidence of your first blood shall be erased. He shall become nothing more then a missing corpse, someone no one will ever find for as long as you live."
Sweetie looked at the two ponies, then the body of Rumble with fear. "J-join you?"
The mare nodded. "Yes, that is all you have to do... you'll still live a happy life in Ponyville of course... but there may come a time when I will call upon you to serve the Brotherhood."
Sweetie thought for the longest time, shaking as she stared at them. She could either say no, and they let the body stay and she gets caught, possibly getting caught and sent to jail, losing her friends and family in the process because he tried to hurt her. Would they even believe me if I told them he tried to hurt me? Or... she could join the mysterious and murderous Dark Brotherhood, doing who knows what for them. But they would dispose of the body, ensuring she still live her happy life in Ponyville...
...
She made her decision.
"I don't want to lose my family... or my friends..." She bowed her head, trembling with tears. It wasn't long before she heard the sound of a unicorn teleporting away, and she saw the two were gone, along with Rumble.
She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, hugging her tightly. It was a small comfort, considering what was hugging her. "Do not fret my child... this will all be behind you soon enough," The mare pulled away to kneel down and cup Sweetie's chin, lifting it up so she could look into her eyes. "Now go home... may the darkness protect you."
With that said the mare stood up, and walked away.
Sweetie watched her go, sniffling before she turned to look down into the water. The blood was gone, any signs of Rumble missing in action, as if he wasn't there to begin with. With nothing left to do in this situation, she quickly ran home so she could try and forget this ever happened.
Upon arriving home, she found Rarity was already asleep. So she ventured to her own room before going inside and locking the door, and covering her face with her hands.
I just killed a pony... She couldn't believe this had happened to her, and to Scootaloo's colt friend of all ponies. She never wanted to hurt him, she just wanted him to back off! But he wouldn't...
Now he's dead and gone without a trace, never to be seen again.
With a heavy sigh she turned towards her bed, and mysteriously enough she saw a box on the neatly made sheets. It was small, not more then three quarters of an inch long. She went over to it before looking at the ribbon placed on it, and then opening it up. Her eyes went wide as she saw the polished blade of a dagger inside, a curved and serrated seven inch blade with a black finish and dark red and black handle. She picked it up, noticing a sheath inside as well as a note, which she picked up.
Upon opening it... she saw a black hand on the paper, as well as the words...
Welcome to the Dark Brotherhood, Murderer.
Author's Note
Could this be the beginning of a series? Or will this forever be a one-shot I'll never continue?
Who knows!
Thanks for reading, and Dark Brotherhood FTW!
Edit: 3/12/2017
Some minor edits made as of a narration by Flutterpriest and the gang... oh lawdy the pain. XD
