Order vs Harmony

Chapters

Prologue - Part II
Interlude - Chris
Chapter 1 - Never Alone in your Thoughts
Chapter 2 - Awakening
Chapter 3 - Exodus
Chapter 4 - Along came a Spider...
Chapter 5 - ...And his Pokemon?!
Chapter 6 - Of Apples and Rainbows
Prologue - Part I

Prologue - Part II

???, Equestria. 1561 years ago.

Shaun

I looked around the room, pride filling my chest as I looked over the ponies that stood before me. It had taken a long time and many mistakes but eventually Erica and I had taught a select group of ponies the way of the creed. Initially we didn’t want to give in to the methods and ideals instilled in the bodies we inherited but the world had shown us that it was necessary. The evils of corruption were strong in the population of Equestria. As much as Celestia and Luna would like to say that they ruled a peaceful country, we knew better. We had seen the violent nature hidden deep inside the bright exterior of the world.

It wasn’t until an incident a month after leaving the alicorn sisters behind that we saw just what the ponies of this supposedly friendly country were capable of. We had just made it to the slowly growing city of Manehatten.

Manehatten, Equestria. 2 years earlier.

Shaun

“Wow, this city really has been around for a long time.” Erica said as she looked around at the small town we had walked into.

While looking around I noticed a few things. First of all there were far more earth ponies than any other of the tribes around and what other types of ponies were here weren’t getting the warmest welcome from the local population. I watched as a white coated unicorn walked past a small group of earth ponies and as they passed one of the earth ponies stuck out a leg to trip the unicorn who fell hard into the dirt. At this the group laughed and called out slurs. “Watch where you step stickhead, don’t want to mess up that coat.” With that said they turned and left, laughing uproariously.

I walked over to the downed unicorn mare and offered her a hand. The pony looked up at me, immediate reaction was fear when she looked at my scarred face. But then she noticed my smile and the hand offered and smiled. “T-Thank you.” The mare said quietly while grabbing my hand with her hoof (still have no idea how they do that) and lifting herself to herself to stand.

“Is being treated like that normal here?” I asked her.

“Yes.” She said while sighing. “This is an earth pony town so they treat everypony else poorly.”

Erica seeing the downcast look on the mare’s muzzle stepped forward and ran a hand through her two tone blue mane. “Why would they do that?” Erica asked the unicorn. “I thought this was a land of friendship and harmony.”

“That’s what the princess wants everypony to think.” The mare spat in sudden anger. “The truth is that after Discord’s reign many ponies have fallen back into the tribe mentality that nearly doomed us with the Wendigo’s. Sure we act like we are all friends when the princesses are around but the old hatreds still lurk under the surface until they are gone.”

“That is so terrible.” Erica said with a hand covering her mouth.

“Yeah, but it’s life. Not much I can do about it. Anyway, thank you for helping me up. I have to say I’ve never seen creatures like you before. What are you?”

“We’re humans, probably the only ones in Equestria. I’m Shaun and this is Erica.” I said while wrapping an arm around my friend's shoulders.

“Nice to meet you Shaun and Erica. My name is Keen Sight.” The mare said, returning our greeting. “I’m guessing you two don’t have anywhere to stay? The ponies here aren’t very welcoming to strangers and especially would be rude to you two, being a different species. Would you like to come back to my place?”

“Really? Thank you!” Erica said, bouncing forward and giving Keen Sight a hug.

The mare blushed before turning around and telling us to follow her. As we walked the quality of the houses became lower and we started to many more unicorns and pegasi. What was at first well crafted stone buildings slowly became wooden houses and then shack like buildings. After a while we turned down a small alley between two buildings and walked down the dirt path that separated them.

Only a few metres in a large earth pony came around the corner on the far end of the alley. It stood there unmoving as it looked at us. I turned, looking back from where we came and saw the other alley entrance blocked by a pair of ponies. The singular pony ahead of us took a step forward, causing our companion to whimper lightly.

“Well what do we have here colts?” The stallion asked the ponies behind us in a gravelly voice. “A stickhead and two ugly beasts. I bet those two will fetch a decent haul of bits from the boss.”

“What about the unicorn?” One of the ponies behind us asked.

“Don’t care, kill her, keep her. Nopony will miss a unicorn in our city.” He growled back.

Immediately the two ponies behind us galloped forward, closing the distance in moments. Before I had a chance to react a pair of hooves struck me in the chest, knocking me to the ground. Erica however was more prepared and drew her baton, flicking the telescoping metal tube out to full length and swinging the end into the face of the pony that had attacked her.

The stallion at the other end decided to join the fight and galloped towards Keen Sight, raising his hooves to strike her as she froze in terror. Without thinking I did all I could, reaching behind my back I slipped my pistol out of it’s holster and pointed the long silenced barrel towards the head of the attacking pony. With a small noise a bullet was blasted out of the pistol, streaking forward in its mission. With a cut off scream and thud the pony who was such a danger to my new friend fell to the ground, his head leaking a red liquid that pooled on the ground.

When I looked back over to Erica I saw her still caught in a battle with the two earth ponies, each tried to get the upper ground but she beat back their hooves with swings of her telescoped baton. But while the pair of ponies couldn’t get the upper hand on Erica, neither could she slip through their defences. With a quiet grunt I lifted myself to my feet and slid the pistol back into my belt holster. Moving as quietly as I could I walked up as close to the fight as I could and waited. The moment Erica blocked the swinging hoof of one of her opponents I struck, jumping onto the back of the earth pony mare and sliding my wrist blade into the back of her neck. My blade met resistance but I forced it through, I felt as it parted the vertebra in the back of my targets neck. Immediately the pony fell, my blade having severed its spinal cord and windpipe.

The other pony faltered when it saw me deal with its partner with little effort and that was all Erica needed. She stepped forward and jabbed as hard as she could with her baton into the ponies throat. The earth pony fell, unable to breath and Erica turned back to me.

“We-We had to do it didn’t we Shaun?” She asked me with tears coming to her eyes.

“Yes Erica, we couldn’t let them hurt other ponies. It was the right thing.” I answered while drawing her into a tight hug. Her tears fell from her eyes and into my clothes but that was okay. She needed to cry and I would be here for her.

Keen Sight walked up beside us, shock and fear on her face. “H-How did you do that? You killed them like it was nothing.” She asked us.

I answered almost without thinking. “These bodies are built to kill. It is what we do, we protect the innocent and we kill the guilty. Laa shay’a waqi’un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine.”

“Sorry what was that?” Keen asked.

“Yeah Shaun, what did you say? It sounds familiar.” Erica added.

I stood there in shock at the words that had come out of my mouth. I knew what they were and where I knew them from. But why I had said them was completely unknown, it was like I was compelled to say them to the mare.

“Laa shay’a waqi’un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine. It means ‘We work in the dark, to serve the light. We are Assassins.’”

“Okay… Keen Sight, do you think we could go to your place now?” Erica asked her.

“Y-Yeah, but shouldn’t we report what happened to the guards?” She asked us.

“If we do that they will probably arrest us, even if it was self defence, just because we aren’t earth ponies. If the city is as bigoted and corrupt as it looks I wouldn’t expect anything else.” I explained to the still frightened mare.

We all started walking back through the alley, taking care to step around the stallion with a large pool of blood surrounding his head. We turned to the right at the end and continued down a new street, only a few minutes later we stopped in front of a small house that looked more like a large shack than anything suitable for living in.

“Well this is my place. Hey umm could I ask you something?” The mare turned and looked to me.

“What is it?”

“Do you think you could teach me how to fight?” She asked, hiding behind her multihued electric blue mane. “I was so scared before but you two just took those ponies down in no time. Li-Living here is scary, I don’t want to be afraid anymore.”

Should I? This place is corrupt enough without adding more assassins into it. I looked at Erica who was no longer smiling. She nodded solemnly. Yeah. I think this world does need it. Celestia and Luna don’t even know how dark their world is and nopony is trying to fix it. We will train her, we will teach her the creed and we will help create a world of peace with the blade of a knife.

I looked back at Keen Sight who was looked between Erica and I anxiously, her eyes flickering between us and ears twitching.

“Do you understand what you are asking Keen Sight? If we train you then we will be training you to become a weapon. One that will become a silent blade in the darkness, striking and killing without ever being seen. You will become a harbinger of death, you will live in the dark so that others can live in the light. Do you understand?”

The mare looked terrified at my words, as I had hoped. But then she steeled herself, a hard glint entering her eyes as she looked back at me. “Yes. Please train me, I will become your blade.”

“Then bow and repeat after me” She kneeled down on her forehooves and lowered her neck to the floor. “Nothing is true, everything is permitted.”

“Nothing is true, everything is permitted.” She intoned immediately.

“Then rise Novice and welcome to the Assassin Brotherhood.” Erica continued in turn.

“Thank you for this chance.” She said to us with a smile.

“Do not thank us yet Novice. Let’s go inside, we have much to discuss.” I said.

Keen Sight opened her door and we went inside. I sighed, not able to shake the feeling that this was going to be a bad idea.

???, Equestria

Keen Sight

I shuffled my hooves as I watched the Master Assassins that stood before us upon the wrought iron podium inlaid with the golden symbol of our order. The room we stood in was cold, the small lanterns that lined the dark stone walls of the chamber did nothing to stave off the chill. Even our robes did little to warm our bodies as we stood at attention.

Looking over the small group that stood beside me I smiled, equal amounts of all the pony races stood side by side. Earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi and even batponies filled the small chamber, all clad in the same white robes.

Suddenly the air shifted and our masters stepped forward.

“Welcome my friends.” Shaun started. “I am glad to see that you have all succeeded with your missions and returned to us. You have each journeyed into the black hearts of this country and rooted out the ones who would lead with corruption and evil.”

“Novices, please take a step forward.” Erica said and a group of three ponies stepped forward. The pegasus and two earth ponies knelt as she stepped in front of them. “You have done your jobs well and have earned your promotions by acting with honour and following the creed. Rise Initiates and continue to honour us all with your actions.”

Erica stepped back and the newly promoted assassins exited the chamber.

15 members of the order were promoted to new ranks and left the chamber, probably to celebrate in a nearby bar. Until finally my name was called.

“Warrior Keen Sight, please approach.” Shaun ordered.

I stepped forward between the remaining ponies in the room. The moment I stood before the podium I bowed and waited.

“Rise Warrior, you were the first of us. You need not bow my friend.” Erica said to me. I looked up and smiled at the kind eyes of my friends, the first I made in many years.

“Warrior Keen Sight, you were tasked with crossing off the leader of a Manehatten crime syndicate that was buying and selling ponies in a Equestria-wide slavery ring. But you went above and beyond your mission and in doing so stopped a group that was primed to murder the princesses of our great nation. Is this correct?” Shaun asked with a big smile on his face.

“I merely did my part Master.” I answered.

“And you show humility in your accomplishments as always.” Erica commented, smiling at me also.

“Yes. As the first in the Equestrian Assassin Brotherhood you have grown powerful. When you joined you were untrained, fearful and unable to protect yourself. Now you are a blade amongst blades, a precise weapon in the darkness and a staunch protector of the innocent.”

“We believe that you should be given a rank befitting your skills, one that comes with a great responsibility but we believe you can handle it.”

Shaun took a deep breath before talking again. “We promote you to the rank of Master Assassin and with that we ask you, not order, to go to any major city and take three assassins of your choosing. There you will clear the city of any and all corruption, find recruits and begin your own brotherhood of assassins. Do you accept your new position and responsibility?”

I froze, probably for the first time in a year. The breath caught in my lungs before I remembered to clear them and breathe normally again. I looked up at my mentors, my masters, my friends and saw nothing but smiles. The same encouragement I had been getting nearly every day these past two years. Remembering all those times I knew I only had one possible answer. “Yes. I will answer the call, find a new home and new recruits. I will make you proud.”

They both continued to look down to me from the podium with smiles on their faces and answered as one. “We know you will our friend.” Looking up they surveyed the remaining crowd. “You are all dismissed, we will call for you if we require your aid.”

I watched as one by one everypony filtered out of the room until it was only Shaun, Erica and I. I looked up at my friends who were still looking at me with smiles on their faces. But I could see something behind them, something nopony else would have noticed unless they had spent as much time with the two as I have. There smile seemed somewhat forced and their eyes spoke of trouble.

“What’s wrong? I haven’t seen these shadows in your faces since we discovered the mayor of Manehatten was trying to hire our assassins.” I asked my friends.

“Keen Sight, we have heard word that the Equestrian princesses have discovered the brotherhood.” Shaun began, fiddling with his wrist blades in a familiar nervous tic. “It will only be a matter of time before they make a move and we don’t know what that will be. That is the biggest reason we need you to found your own brotherhood. We need to know that in the worst of circumstances there will still be ponies fighting for the soul of Equestria.”

“I understand, we must protect the nation. Especially from itself.”

“Exactly.” Erica answered. “You know our ways Keen, there is nopony else who could lead our ponies if we were to be lost. We rest our hopes on you and those you deem worthy to represent our order.”

“Thank you my friends, I will do you proud.” I said before turning to the exit. Making my way through the twisted corridors of the brotherhood sanctum I ruminated on the events of the last hour.

I really hope I can live up to your standard, my friends.

Shaun

“Are you really sure about this Shaun?” Erica asked me.

“I have to be Erica, we don’t know what the princesses will do. They will always put their ponies first, even if they are blind to the darkness they hold in their hearts. All we can do is prepare for the future and hope that we can do some good for this world. And if the princess decides that she must remove us from the equation then we are leaving behind our creed to give the ponies something to strive for.”

“You’re right as always. I can’t believe you became so wise, it wasn’t so long ago that you were a nerdy loser with more games than friends.” She said while punching my arm.

“You weren’t any better Erica. Who was the one practically drooling over her Luna plushies when they came in the mail?” I countered her.

“Hey! Those were unique hand stitched plushies. And it was a long time ago.”

“It was 3 days before we came here. Not that long.” I said while poking my tongue out at her.

“Whatever.” She said, turning down the hall.

I’m glad I trained a few ponies how to make these. I thought while looking at my wrist blade, the new extendable hook shining next to the original blade. It wouldn’t have been easy to invent them from scratch.

“We will need to send a weaponsmith with Keen, they need to be able to make their own blades.” I said to Erica.

“I’ll get that done in the morning. Get some rest Shaun, I feel like we are going to need it.”

“Goodnight Erica.” I said while heading off to my personal chamber.

What did you mean by that?

The Next Day.

Shaun

The sounds of screaming woke me from my sleep. Looking groggily at the magical clock the artisans had built for me I could see it was only 4am. Another scream pierced the veil that sleep had left on my mind and I rushed to my feet, pulling on my jeans and hoodie before attaching my wrist blades.

I ran out of my personal chambers with my pistol drawn to hear the sounds of battle. The clang of metal on metal and the battle cries of warriors echoed throughout the underground chambers of the brotherhood’s sanctum. I watched as an apprentice fought off three enemies, killing two before succumbing to the spears of his royal guard opponents.

Immediately I fired a round into the head of the surviving guard before running down the adjacent hall, looking for more allies. Everywhere I look I could see the bodies of royal guards and assassins, some of whom I had trained with my own hands. I choked back a tear until I heard Erica’s battle cry. I practically flew down another hallway in the direction of the voice. Coming out of another long winding hallway I saw Erica fighting off five of Luna’s night guard, the batponies holding tight together and forcing Erica back towards the stone wall behind her. In a moment I dropped one of them with a well placed shot from my pistol before driving my wrist blade through the head of another. With their ranks broken by my sudden assault we dealt with with the rest before they could comprehend fighting on two fronts.

“Erica, how did they find us?” I yelled.

“I don’t know! They just appeared and started attacking.” She screamed back over the sounds of battle that echoed all around us.

“Have you seen Keen?” I asked, while deflecting the spear of another guard that had entered the room.

Erica used that moment to send her shock blade through the body of the guard before answering. “Yeah. I sent her and as many assassins as I could find out through the back exit, they should be out by now.”

“Then I guess we can start taking this seriously.” I said while checking how many rounds I have left in my pistol. Three bullets and 2 more magazines.

I am so glad this brain knew how to make gunpowder.

Erica looked at me grimly before we ran out into the next hallway. Finding ourselves at the entrance we ambushed two guards that were standing by the stairs. As we climbed our way out into the very early morning darkness we saw the one responsible for the attack. Princesses Celestia was standing there with a group of guards standing by her side and when she saw us her jaw dropped before she regained her stoic expression.

“I see that the reports were correct. You were responsible for this group of murders Desmond and Lucy, or should I call you Master Assassin’s Shaun and Erica?” She asked before continuing. “This saddens me greatly to go to such great lengths, but you cannot be allowed to disrupt the Order of my country.”

The Mistress of the Sun rose up to her full height and lit her horn, a vortex of power swirling around it. Before Erica or I could say anything she kept speaking. “I was not powerful enough to do this to Discord without the assistance of my sister and the Elements of Harmony. But you I should have enough. I, Princess Celestia, Mistress of the Sun and diarch of Equestria hereby banish the assassins Shaun and Erica to being stoned for all eternity.”

With those words the vortex of power around her horn imploded before become a beam that struck Erica and I. Slowly our flesh turned to stone but not before I could make one final act. In return for her betrayal I drew my pistol, sighted it and let out the final rounds in the magazine. One struck a guard through the eye, another missed and the other punctured Celestia’s leg, bringing her to the ground. I smiled as the stone rose up through my body, knowing that she would remember and fear our assassins for all of time.

And then the world went black.

Equestria’s skies, 1 hour later.

Celestia

As I flew back to the castle with a wing of guards around me and my foreleg wrapped up next to my body I couldn’t help but think of those last few moments. The look of betrayal on their faces was etched forever into my memory, even more so than what came next.

I betrayed them. I knew that I had to do this, but I wasn’t ready. I didn’t want to do this but I had to do the best for my ponies. My country needs Order and they were chaos, I couldn’t let chaos roam free again. I sighed heavily. Luna is going to hate this.

I landed heavily, forgetting that I had one less limb to make the landing. Next I dismissed the guards and made my way back inside the castle, searching out the throne room so I had somewhere to think. But when I stepped inside my thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

“So I take it Order prevailed?” The voice said, stepping out of the light showing his tall bipedal frame, draped in thick brown clothing.

Interlude - Chris

Supanova, Melbourne, Earth. 1 minute after Displacement.

Chris

I stood in place, shock covering my face having watched my only two friends in the world disappear in front of my face. One moment they were looking at me and the next there was just nothing. An empty patch of ground was all that remained.

What? Where did they go? They were right bloody there.

I panicked and started screaming their names, looking all around hoping to see them in the crowd but they weren’t there. They were gone and I was all alone. My world crashed around me and I fell to the ground, swearing under my breath while curling up into the foetal position. After a few minutes a pair of security guards were called and they lifted me back up onto my feet. They dragged me off and out of the convention hall. They dumped me on the ground and walked off after muttering warnings not to come back in until I had calmed down.

Like hell they will keep me out. I have to find my fucking friends.

I climbed to my feet again, dragging myself sluggishly back to the centres entrance. Once back inside I looked around the building, scanning every face looking for Shaun and Erica but never finding them in the mass of bodies. For hours I dragged myself from one end of the massive hall to another, searching futilely for them. When the event ended for the day I was ordered to leave, the security from before appearing again and warning me that if I didn’t leave I would be banned from future events. I didn’t care but if I left I would be able to come back and look for them again.

For the next two days I came back, searching feverishly for my best friends but never finding a single trace. Each day I went from building to building searching for Shaun and Erica and each time I failed. With my head hung in defeat I left on the final day. The events of that first day just ran through my head over and over. Running around looking at all the shops, meeting celebrities and just having fun as friends do. Then we separated, Shaun and Erica doing their own thing while I went on a merchandise hunt. Finding each other through the crowds and then right in front of my eyes they vanished without a trace.

I sat on the long train ride home realising that for the first time in years I was really truly alone. Those two had been my rock in this crazy world. No matter what happened I knew that they would have my back, when I lost my dad two years ago it was them that had stayed with me and stopped me from falling into a pit of depression. They accepted my angry nature and my curse word strewn sentences without the barest hint of annoyance. They knew I needed to act the way I do or my feelings would overwhelm me, like it used to in the past. Now I have nobody and nothing, my rock is gone.

No! I can’t fall like this! They will fucking come back even if I have to search the world for them! I’m going to go home and never stop looking. I’ll call the cops and report them missing and I’m going to come back every year until I find them.

With this thought in mind I sat resolute, knowing I would tear the world apart to find my friends. No matter how long it took.

Supanova, Melbourne, Earth. 6 years after Displacement.

Chris

Him? No. Her? No. Assassin? Wrong one. White jacket? No, that’s a girl. Blonde hair? Definitely not her. Another assassin? Still not Shaun.

I arrived at Supanova an hour before the event started like I had every year for the past six years. I followed the event from city to city, hoping to find my friends. Every day of every event I would watch the front entrance, the staff had given up trying to stop me from loitering three years ago and they were used to me watching everyone arrive. I was working for them as a security guard now, travelling with the event holders. Luckily I had convinced them to let me come in my Daniel Cross cosplay every time too. If Shaun and Erica were here they would recognise me easier if I was dressed how I was the last time they had seen me.

At 1400 hours I decided to take a short break for lunch, walking through the tightly packed bodies to the Domino’s stand I ordered a couple of pieces of pizza and a drink. I sat there eating my food and scanning the faces of the crowd, seeing many familiar faces from other event but still never seeing Shaun and Erica. With my food finished I started walking back to the front entrance but something distracted me. In the distance I saw a flash of white, a familiar hood passing around a corner.

I ran through the crowd, almost knocking over several people but I didn’t care. If that was Shaun I needed to get to him, no matter who got in the way. Throwing myself around the corner I saw the hood again and a pair of very familiar blue denim jeans. I grabbed the familiar figure but the moment he turned around my heart sunk. It wasn’t Shaun, just a guy in the same clothes.

“I’m sorry, you were just wearing the same cosplay as a guy that I’ve been looking for for a long time.” I told the Desmond cosplaying man.

“It’s alright dude, I get that all the time.” The man said through a layer of purple fabric that covered half of his face. “While you’re are here do you want to look through my wares? I’ve got a lot of high quality items.”

“I shouldn’t I’m working and I need to get back to my position.” I answered the man, wanting to get back to looking for my friends.

“I’m having massive sale, I won’t take up too much of your time.” The man said while indicating a large display of merchandise.

I looked over his wares with a disinterested gaze until my eyes were caught on a single object. A gun, specifically a H&K Mk23 Phase II Prototype. The exact pistol Daniel Cross used in Assassin’s Creed 3. I picked it up, feeling the weight of the metal and noting how perfect of a replica it was.

“How much for this?” I asked him.

“How about 25? I haven’t been able to sell this for a while.” He answered.

“Deal.” I said, pulling the money out of my wallet and handing it to him before taking the replica gun and putting it in the inside pocket of my jacket.

“Hey Chris.” The man said suddenly. “Have fun.”

I froze when the man said my name. “How?”

The next moment everything shifted and I entered a world of pain and bright lights.

Chapter 1 - Never Alone in your Thoughts

???, Equestria.

Shaun

My world was black. The moment my eyes became stone the entire world became a black void. Not unlike when Erica and I first arrived in the void, before we travelled through to Equestria. Just replace white with black. But that wasn’t the strangest thing. For some reason I could still hear, but the sounds around me weren’t the only thing I could hear. I could hear Erica’s thoughts and she could hear mine, but hers weren’t the only thoughts I could hear. There was a whispering, something was speaking, shouting really. I couldn’t understand it however, it was much too far away. My guess is that it was Discord inside his stone prison.

So my world became those sounds. First the sounds of Celestia apologising to us and then the shouts of her guards as they prepared to take us… somewhere. We heard our stone prisons being lifted, a faint whispering that sounded like Celestia’s thoughts but in a language I couldn’t hope to understand. The whispering thoughts surrounded us completely as we were lifted and when she let go the thoughts disappeared with them. I think it was the way her magic was working, like she was thinking exactly how she moved us and that’s what we could hear. Even know though the moment she let go I can’t remember what her thoughts were, as if they are beyond the capability of what a human mind can comprehend.

Erica is screaming, begging to be let go and I try to calm her but her distress is absolute. Nothing I think is reaching her, but I keep trying. If there is anyone who can understand how she is feeling it is me and I can’t leave her alone in her distress.

We are moving now, I can hear the wing beats of the pegasi carrying us and I can hear the air rushing as we move through the air. To me it’s calming and I try to send those thoughts through to Erica but I don’t think she can even hear them. Little by little the other voice is getting louder, obviously Celestia decided the castle was a good place to hold Discord. I don’t doubt that this world will follow the one we know and she will take him with her when she builds Canterlot.

Canterlot? Where is that my new friend? A voice whispers in my ear faintly.

Discord? Erica and I both thought, the voice as small as it was had broken through her shell of distress.

Yes it is I. Discord, the Lord of Chaos. And I must say in these past two years you have been able to cause such a great amount of chaos. I could feel it even here in my stone prison. I bet if you would have been allowed to continue I might have been released. Discord whispered further, getting slightly louder with each moment. But I can tell there will still be more. I bet little Lulu won’t be very happy about what happened here. I’m sure she will be possibly livid with dear Tia.

I could hear the laughter in his voice already. Soon it would be a powerful chorus as each moment we became closer and closer to our cellmate.

Discord! Can you get us out of here? Erica yelled in her thoughts.

Dear sweet Lucy, or is it Erica? I can’t tell with such a jumble of personalities in both of your heads. I’m terribly sorry but I have no more power in here than you do. If I was out it would be a snap I could practically hear the sound in my head. But as it is we will have to suffer the years together. Don’t worry though, I’m sure we will be ggrrreeeaaatttt friends.

I could hear Erica crying inside her mind, great sobs that her body was unable to create instead echoed from her thoughts. I went back to trying to console her even as Discord continued.

I must say though Shaun, your mind is so interesting. I can hear echoes of four minds in there. How is it that one brain can hold four minds? Surely it must drive you mad? Desmond, Ezio and Altair. Somehow you hold all these minds in perfect chaos behind Shaun and with so many restrained memories. You’ve only scratched the surface when creating your brotherhood. Ohh we are going to have so much fun you and I. But for now I will rest, bubye. I could hear Discord laugh as his thoughts slowly went quiet, then disappeared.

What did he mean Shaun? Erica whispered.

Our characters, they are a part of us. These bodies are not our own, apart from our faces, kinda. If we can believe Discord, we control the minds but the characters work in our subconscious. I thought, unsure of how true it is.

Erica went quiet as we started to slow down, the air we could hear moving past was getting quieter and the pegasi slowed their wingbeats. Then with a thump we landed, presumably at the castle. The moment we landed the unexpected happened and a loud voice broke through the air.

“SISTER!” We heard Luna scream in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “HOW DARE THEE DO THIS TO OUR FRIENDS!”

“Luna please calm down, I had to do this. They were training killers and murdering our ponies. Everypony was terrified.” Celestia said.

“NO! They were trying to make the world better! We know thee did not agree with their methods but they were working for the betterment of everypony in Equestria. Thee heard of their creed and how they would not harm the innocent.” Luna said. I think she may have been right next to me from how loud she was, even with the Royal Canterlot Voice turned off.

“It matters not Luna. You heard what we were told, letting them roam free would only bring chaos. I couldn’t let them risk weakening Discord’s prison.”

“Thou lie, dear sister. And thee do not even know it. Spewing the words of that fool will only cause thine downfall. We-We need to be alone and please, do not follow us.” Luna finished before we heard loud wingbeats as she flew away.

Once again we were surrounded in the thoughts of Celestia’s magic as we were levitated to a new destination. A garden or courtyard if the sounds of birds and wind through trees was any indication. There we sat, knowing that long years were before us.

But we would not be alone, every few days Luna would visit and speak to us. She would apologise for her sister’s actions and beg for our forgiveness. Erica would always answer, no matter how many times she came but after a year I stopped. It hurt too much to know how much pain we had caused the moon diarch. There was another also, it wasn’t Celestia, she couldn’t bare to face us. This one would walk by, stop for just a moment and then leave without ever saying a word. Each time the stranger would come I would ask who he was, why he continued to visit but of course he could never hear me. No one but Erica and Discord could ever hear me and they were always around, even if I could not always hear them.

Discord would constantly tempt us with knowledge, things held within the minds of our characters, but those memories were of no consequence to us. Many of them we already knew and others were unimportant to us. But he would continue, probably for no other reason than he was bored and he enjoyed having someone’s mind to play with.

I began to lose track of the days after a few years. After so much time it had started to lose importance. Being aware had become a curse, we were trapped inside ours and each other’s minds for years with nothing to break the monotony other than the occasional visitor.

That all changed however one day. On this Luna came but something was different, I knew the sound she made when she walked. I even knew the difference made when she came in her armor, this day however it didn’t sound like the approach of the Luna I knew. The shift of fabric, the muted clatter of weapons and the light step she made on the ground spoke to a different Luna. She stepped in between Erica and mines stone prisons and spoke.

“Grandmasters, I stand before you today not as Luna, Mistress of the Moon. These past years I have been trained in secret amongst those you left behind. Trained to move in silence and to strike from the shadows. I have become a blade in your name, one that is respected by her peers. Furthermore, I have been asked to lead my own forces against my sister. A duty that leaves me with a heavy heart, but I know that I must shoulder this burden. She has become a danger to our brotherhood, leading our country with force instead of compassion and must be stopped. So I stand here before you now and declare that Luna is no more, standing in her place is a name that will strike fear into her Templars and the one that guides her. I am now Nightmare Moon.”

With said she flew away, her wings beating almost silently through the air.

Erica and I stood in silence, neither wanting our thoughts to be heard. Until I broke it.

Did we? I thought.

Uh huh Erica replied quietly.

Shit, really? We created Nightmare Moon?

Ohh this is hilarious. Discord laughed. I mean I saw Nightmare Moon in your memories but I can’t believe that you guys actually created her. Nice work.

Shut up Discord! Erica and I yelled in our minds.

Ohh no, I’m going to tease you guys with this for years.

Erica and I could only groan, knowing that it would be a LONG time before Discord would stop with this.

The years passed on and Nightmare Moon was defeated, sealed in her moon by the Elements of Harmony. Celestia out of grief built Canterlot so she wouldn’t have to live in a castle full of memories of her and her sister and time went on. What we didn’t expect however was that while Discord was in fact moved from the castle we were not. Celestia for the first time came to our garden and spoke to us.

“I know that it was my actions that created Nightmare Moon, but it was your teachings that allowed her to gain so much power and so many followers. I cannot allow my citizens to be poisoned any more than they already are by your influence. So I will be leaving you here, to be forgotten. Order must prevail in the new world I am building and your creed will jeopardise it. I am sorry my old friends, but this is goodbye.”

With those final words she left and we were alone, truly alone.

Castle of the Two Sisters, Equestria. ~500 years later.

Shaun

Hey, hey Lucy. I thought at my best friend.

What Shaun? And it’s Erica, remember? She thought back with a hint of annoyance that I promptly ignored.

Eh, names don’t really matter at this point. Do you remember that time we were playing games on the work computers and they caught us so we had to escape Abstergo with me in the boot of your car?

Shaun, try to keep your memories in check please. That first part was us but the rest was Lucy and Desmond.

Whatever it sounds cooler like this.

I tried to act flippant but this had happened more often over the years than I would like to admit. My memories were becoming to warp from the amount of years we had remained alive inside out stony prisons. Sometimes I couldn’t even keep track of my name and Lucy’s, I mean Erica’s. At this point was I really Shaun anymore? I have spent untold years going over the memories of all the minds in my head. Somedays I would prefer to be Ezio, or Desmond, or Altair because it meant I didn’t have to be Shaun. The weak man that barely held together a life back on Earth. Over the years it just seemed easier to be someone else and so that’s what I became, but it wasn’t a perfect process. The memories were all mixed together, one flowing to the next with me playing the role of whoever was remembering themselves. I watched as Ezio while with family was murdered by Templars, I struck down corrupt leader after corrupt leader as Altair and I saved the planet as Desmond Miles. All of them men were far stronger than me and I wanted more than anything to become them, so in small parts I did.

Erica, I’m sorry for being so difficult. I know it can’t be easy talking to me when I could be someone else at any given moment. I thought to her apologetically.[/]

It’s ok Shaun, I know it would have to be hard. It’s hard for me sometimes not to let Lucy overwhelm me and you have three times that problem.

That’s something I have actually been thinking about. I’m not really Shaun anymore and I’m not really any of the other guys either. I think I should pick a new name, a name that represents who I’m going to become, not who I was.

At those words Erica was silent. I’m not sure how long she stood there, considering my words but when she finally got back to me her answer was not what I was expecting. Especially considering how often she had told me to come back to being Shaun.

You-You’re right Shaun, and honestly even though I wouldn’t admit it myself before I’ve been thinking the same thing. I’m not really Erica anymore, but I’m not Lucy either. I’m both and to go by one name just doesn’t feel right.

I sat there in silence again, considering what had been said. A name, it has to be special. Something that says what I want to become, something that speaks to who I was and who I will turn into.

Should be pick something together? God knows we have spent enough time together already. I thought to Erica.

Yeah! I used to spend a way too much time on Wikipedia looked at crap. At least now I could say that was time well spent. She thought back, suddenly sounding a lot more excited than I had heard in a long time. Ooh, we should be Keres and Thanatos, spirits of death, or, or maybe Jupiter and Shiva, gods of Judgement.

I laughed in my thoughts at Lucy Erica’s excited manner and the names she had picked.

Wouldn’t it seem a bit egotistical picking the name of powerful spirits and gods? Even if no one here would know what they mean. I thought to her.

I guess but who else would ever get the chance to walk around calling themselves the name of gods, and it’s not like we think we are anyway.

It still doesn’t sounds right to me.

Ohh alright. She huffed. Well how about Ashur for you and Aurora for me? They both mean new beginnings or something.

I stopped for a second and thought about it. We may be stuck in stone but being here, being in Equestria was a fresh start at life and even more so if we ever get out of these damn prisons. Maybe Discord will even let us out when he breaks out. We can start a new life as new people.

Inside my mind I smiled before answering. I actually like that.

Seriously? I thought you would think that was cheesy.

I probably should but it’s true. We have a new chance at life, one in a new world without all the crap we had to deal with back home. And if we ever get out of this stone we can actually do that.

Huh, you’re actually right for once. Aurora, Aurora, yeah I think I do like it. She thought slowly, testing the name before agreeing.

After that the maelstrom of identities became a little easier to deal with, the parts of who we were stopped fighting for dominance and started to piece together into the sum of a new whole. No longer were we Erica and Lucy or Shaun, Desmond, Ezio and Altair. We were Ashur and Aurora, new beings created from a sum of our parts. We still sometimes called each other by the wrong names but after several lifetimes it was sometimes difficult to break old habits.

With a new mindset, one born of hope we waited. We waited for the day we would finally be free.

Chapter 2 - Awakening

Castle of the Two Sisters, Equestria. Now

Shaun/Ashur

Another peaceful night was passing in the small courtyard, one like any other. As always I stood in silence, my mind an empty field, as was my companions. Aurora and I spent most nights in silence, not really thinking merely listening to the quiet wind of the world. But the night for once did not stay as such.

I heard something I had not heard in the longest time. The quiet swish of cloth and the muted clang of weapons could only signal one thing, an old friend had returned. She stood there in silence for several moments until she spoke. “My friends, it has been a long time. I’m sure you know what happened between my sister and I, as well as its eventual outcome. I’m sorry I left you alone for so long, but the time has come for you to return. In my exile I have spent every moment preparing a spell, one to finally remove you from your prison. I don’t even know if you can hear this but I do this for you, to give you back the life that was taken from you.”

With these words I feel as Aurora and I are surrounded by magic, the arcane thoughts of Luna’s magic filled the one sense we had left. Like with Celestia the words were strange but somehow I could understand them a little. They spoke of release and freedom, of broken stone and living bodies. A small cracking noise could be heard, one that slowly began to spread. Luna’s magic stopped but the cracking continued to spread, slowly increasing in volume each time. Suddenly a commotion could be heard nearby and several voices called out to each other.

“My friends, you will be free soon. I managed to trap my sister in dreams but I must see who she has prepared to send against me. I shall return the moment they are dealt with.” She said before quietly moving away.

Crap! The Mane 6 are here Ashur, we need to get to Luna before they can use the elements on her. Aurora thought to me.

I know. We can only hope that we can break free and get there.

Every moment the cracking spread further and as it did actual feeling started spreading into my limbs.

CRACK

My left leg could be felt.

CRACK

Right arm.

CRACK CRACK

My chest and right leg.

CRACK…. BOOM

Suddenly feeling rushed back into the rest of my body and the world could be seen. A dark night spread before me as eyes that were open uselessly started working again. My arm was still outstretched with pistol equipped, so with muscles somehow still used to the motion I holstered it quickly. I looked over to my left and saw the final pieces of stone break off Aurora and she repeated my actions, blinking against the world she could once again see in perfect clarity. We looked at each other with giant smiles and I thought to her.

We should go after Luna

I waited for a few moments still looking at her before releasing that she didn’t hear me. I firmly attached palm to face before looking back to her and opening my mouth.

“I guess we can’t hear each others thoughts anymore.” I said slowly, with the first words I had spoken in over 1500 years.

“Yeah… it’s so weird to hear our voices again.” Aurora said slowly.

“Wait, we don’t have time for this. We need to get to Luna” I interrupted quickly, grabbing her arm and running off towards the inside of the castle.

The first thing I noticed was the condition the once beautiful castle was in. Falling stones and tattered banners were everywhere. The opulent castle we had once spent so much time in now was a wreck. But it was better off than it should have been after so many years. I could help but think there was some magic that had kept the place looking so good.

As we ran into a large chamber a bright light appeared in front of us as a group of ponies floated in front of Luna. A very recognisable purple mare was speaking loudly. “...when those elements are ignited by the spark that resides in the heart of us all it creates the sixth element. The element of magic.” The bright lights intensified around each of the ponies facing our friend, the pieces of the elements coalescing into jeweled necklaces. With them a beam of rainbow power shot out, aiming for Luna.

A moment before the beam hit her however Luna disappeared in a flash of magic, appearing behind the group of mares. Her black hooded clothes flapped in a draft created by her teleportation as she looked back up to the group.

“I do not wish to fight you, stand down.” She said.

Twilight spoke up as the group turned around to face Luna again. “Nightmare Moon, we will not let you leave here to spread tyranny amongst this country again.”

“You think that’s what I did? You are fools to believe the lies my sister has told you.”

The congregated mares all spoke up in answer to that. “Sister?”

Aurora and I looked at the everyone in the chamber and not wanting it to escalate any further we ran forward, the only thought on our minds to get between the mane 6 and Luna. In an instant our bodies suddenly turned into shadow and swarmed forward, returning to our bodies the moment we were were we wanted to be. Everyone in the room froze, including Aurora and I as we looked at each other.

“Desmond! Lucy! The spell worked!” Luna cried, jumping forward and wrapping her hooves around us.

“Who the hay is that?” The voice of Rainbow Dash called out, but no one answered.

Luna continued to hug us as the group of 6 stood there in shock and confusion. Until the silence was broken by a voice that no one was expecting.

“D-Did she say Desmond an’ Lucy?” Applejack asked.

“Umm I think so.” Answered the small voice of Fluttershy.

Immediately the apple farmer burst forward towards the group, ignoring the warning cries of her friends. In response Luna, Aurora and I jumped back with weapons at the ready.

“Wait. Are you really Desmond and Lucy?” Applejack asked.

“Umm yes.” Aurora said. “Though we don’t go by those names anymore.”

“Y’all saved the lives of mah family many generations ago. Thank you.” Applejack said, the beginning of tears on the edge of her eyes.

“Th-That’s ok.” I said, clearly uncomfortable with the praise of someone we had just been standing against.

“My friends.” Luna whispered to us. “We need to go. The sleeping spell I cast on my sister will only last so long. We have to be out of here before she wakes.”

Without a word we all turned for the door. Running at top speed, again Aurora and I turned into shadows and Luna did the same. At speeds impossible to us before we drifted out of the Castle and through a forest that reminded us of how it looked all those years ago when Aurora and I watched the shows opening. We stopped at the first clearing we found, our bodies reappearing with a thought. Luna was the first to ask the question that was on all of our minds.

“How are you guys doing that? I didn’t think you had any magic.” She asked.

“Honestly I have no idea Lulu.” I answered honestly. I really had no idea how we were suddenly able to use magic and it was confusing the hell out of me. Even if it was useful.

“Either way it is so good to see you.” Aurora said while jumping forward and hugging Luna again.

“It is wonderful to see you too my friends. It has been far too long. By the way what was that you were saying inside about having new names?” The alicorn asked.

Ohh. Well with all the names we have inside our heads we decided that picking new ones would help us cope.” Aurora said, pointing first at herself and then at me while continuing. “I’m now Aurora and this is Ashur. They are names from where we come from that mean new beginnings.”

“Well chosen names, they suit you well. I must say this magic you are suddenly able to manifest intrigues me, it is very similar to my own magic movement. Would you mind if I scanned you?” Luna asked us.

“Go ahead Luna. I think we both would feel better about this if we knew what this ability came from.” I replied.

Luna’s horn lit up with a dark blue aura before a wide beam passed over our bodies, like a biometric scanner you see in movies. As it passed over my head I could hear her magic whispering. Scan, analyse, result. Finally the wave of magic passed over us and Luna stood silently.

“W-Well what is it Lulu?” Aurora stammered, clearly worried about the results and Luna’s silence.

“I’m not sure how to say this but you two have a large amount of magical power stored within your bodies, most of it appears to have been drawn from the natural magic field of Equus but the rest seems to match my magical signature. It may be that the spell I used to break you out of your prisons created a magical conduit in your bodies, allowing you to use some of the same magic that I do. The rest I’m assuming comes from spending so many years subject to the magic of this world.”

I stood there thinking about her words before answering. “That… actually makes a lot of sense and honestly is really cool. But we can’t tarry here for too long, those ponies are no doubt trying to find us again.”

“You’re right Ashur, we should be off. It’s just… we don’t really have anywhere to go.” Aurora said nervously.

“Why not go to your old brother sanctum? Celestia was never able to return there to tear it down after stoning you.” Luna interjected.

We all agreed that it would the best place to go, especially if Celestia was unwilling to enter. As one we all became shadows and drifted through the winds to the north east. None of us spoke as Aurora and I were focussed on controlling our new magical ability. Trees and dark fields passed us by as we travelled until all at once the sky changed. The sun rose within seconds and we were all as one blinded, our shadow forms disappearing the moment the light hit us.

Huh, I guess you need shadows to travel in shadows. Good to know.

With luck we were only a short distance from our old sanctum but as we neared the stone building that covered it several projectiles flew out, aimed for our heads. With speed we all as one ducked below the incoming blades.

“Stop firing!” Luna shouted. “We are allies!”

A voice called out from the building. “Nothing is true…”

We all answered together. “...everything is permitted.”

Without a sound the door opened and a white unicorn mare with two tone blue hair walked out, her body and head covered with a white hooded coat. She stood before us and bowed. “Welcome, our doors are always open to those who follow the creed.” The mare then raised her body back up with a big smile on her face. “Ok now that the official crap is over. I’m Warrior Vinyl Scratch, but you can call me DJ Pon-3. Who are you? And more importantly what are you two?”

Luna spoke first. “These are Grandmaster’s Ashur and Aurora, but you might know them better as our brotherhoods founders Erica and Shaun. I am Master Nightmare Moon.”

“Woah, umm you three might want to follow me. I don’t really know much about our history but the master of our chapter does. It just never seemed all that important, y’know?” The white mare said while indicating to follow her inside. While we walked she talked to us incessantly, barely even stopping to take a breath. “So you are all like super high ranks, I’ve never met anyone but Tavi who was around master rank. I bet you’ve seen some pretty hardcore shit if you’ve been around for this long. You ever fought a Hydra? Or a manticore? I heard of one assassin who was so powerful they subdued an entire pack full of Timberwolves with a blindfold on. Are you guys that strong? Coz that would just be so damn cool. Anyway, what music do you listen to? I said I was a DJ before didn’t I? You should come to Canterlot with me sometime, I DJ at this really awesome club and everypony loves it there.”

For Aurora and I the words of the mare we followed barely registered as we passed through the winding dark stone hallways of our old sanctum. We were too caught up in memories of a mare that looked almost exactly the same as the one we followed. Memories of the time we spent with Keen Sight rattled around our heads until we came to a sudden stop. Vinyl knocked hard on a large wooden door before shouting. “Oi! Tavi! We’ve got some friends here you might know”

“Uugghh Vinyl.” A quiet groan was heard through the door. The heavy sound of hoofsteps could be heard before the door swung open to reveal a dark gray mare with a black mane.

“Tavi! I found some assassins by the front entrance and they passed the word test. They say they are like super high ranked. I mean I’ve never even heard of anypony being called a grandmaster before.” Vinyl said excitedly.

“That’s because we haven’t had a grandmaster in over 1500 years Vinyl and the only ones we gave that to were dead.” The mare answered with a sigh.

“Yeah not quite.” I said.

I looked at the familiar mare that Aurora and I knew only as a background pony named Octavia as she looked back at us. Her eyes suddenly cleared and moved back a step in shock, her mouth opened and closed without any sound coming out. She looked between us and then continued over to Luna, taking another step back.

“What? How? Erica and Shaun? Luna?” She finally managed to say.

“Yes Miss Octavia, we have returned.” I said to the flustered mare with a smile on my face. “But you should really refer to us by our new names Ashur and Aurora.”

“It is I, Master Octavia. I am glad to see our brotherhood has been kept alive these long years.” Luna added.

The gray earth pony continued to stare at us in shock until Vinyl stepped forward and knocked her over the back of the head with a hoof. Like that her demeanor changed and her eyes regained the clarity from before. Immediately she bowed. “I welcome you back Grandmasters and Master.”

“That’s enough of that Tavi.” Vinyl said. “They don’t really seem to be the title type. So chill out.”

“Sorry about that. I’ve always been the type to stick to the old ways.” Octavia apologised before continuing. “But there is something you all should know. This is the last remaining assassin chapter in Equestria. Princess Celestia and her Templar Order have managed to all but destroy us over the years. There are chapters still in other countries but we have no way to communicate and it’s only a matter of time until they are found as well.”

“That is certainly troublesome.” Luna started. “How far has my sister’s Order infiltrated?”

“Ohh she doesn’t run the Order.” Vinyl said.

“What?” The three of us said in unison.

“Vinyl is right. Celestia has never lead the Order. Nopony has ever seen the one who runs it but everypony knows his name. His name is Cross.”

Chapter 3 - Exodus

Brotherhood Sanctum, Equestria.

Shaun/Ashur

Cross? Do they mean Daniel Cross? That was Chris’ costume when we were sent to Equestria. But he wasn’t sent with us. How could he be here?

Aurora and I stared at each other, we both understood much more than anypony else about who was leading the forces against us. We knew who he was, what he looked like, everything. But could we tell everypony?

“Should-Should we tell them Ashur?” Aurora stammered nervously.

“I think we should, they deserve to know who is killing their friends.” I answered slowly.

“You’re right.” Aurora said before turning to Luna, Vinyl and Octavia. “The one known as Cross is not a pony like you. He is human, like us. His name is Chris, but here he is Daniel Cross and if he has become him completely then we are in more danger than you can possibly realise. He knows how we work because in a way he was once an Assassin.”

We all stood in silence, the ponies we stood before taking in the information we had given. Luna was the first to shake herself from her fugue. “So, how do we fight him if he knows how we work?

“I-I’m not sure honestly.” I said. “We don’t have enough forces to wage war on the Templars the way we are now.”

Octavia spoke up at this. “Then we need to establish a power base, find recruits and train them.” After that however she lowered her head and mumbled out the next sentence. “The only problem is that every city in Equestria is occupied by Templar forces.”

“Then we start lower. If we can’t build in a city then we take a town and move on from there.” Aurora said, sudden confidence in her eyes. “And I think I have the perfect place to start.”

With that she walked out and we all made to follow her until she stopped and turned around. “Miss Octavia, I need you to collect all the assassins you can find. Have them gather everything you can, we will need to move out by morning.” With that she turned and without waiting to see if her orders were followed walked out of the room.

Luna and I followed close, wondering what plan Aurora could possibly have. She gave nothing away however and so we continued to follow as she weaved through one twisted corridor after another. Finally she stopped and opened a door, we all stepped inside a large chamber. One with a large map laid over a stone table. On the map was the entirety of Equestria and a few of the outlying nations. In the center of each city was a single flag, one with a red cross on black. The only other flag that didn’t match was a single one pointing out from the edge of the unicorn ranges. It is the assassin insignia and it sits where we are now.

This was one room that for the longest time held a spark of hope, as it was in that here we planned the expansion of our brotherhood before the princess attacked. But that was a long time ago and now we are back to where we started. A small group of highly trained individuals and a dream of a free Equestria. This time though the stakes are higher. Everywhere we go we will be fighting an established force, one that knows who we are and how we fight.

Aurora stood in front of the map and looked at me. “Do you see where we will need to start Ashur?”

“Honestly I have no idea.” I said, looking at how much of the country Chris’ forces had taken.

“Well where do you see that is close and has no Templars yet?” She asked me and Luna.

Where has no Templars and is close to us? I mean there is Van Hoover and Las Pegasus but they are already heavily occupied. I thought looking at the two marked cities. I mean there is also… no… really?

“You can’t be serious? That’s suicide.” I exclaimed, looking at Aurora like she was crazy.

“What? What is she saying Ashur?” Luna asked.

“She wants us to set up in Ponyville Luna.” I told the alicorn.

Luna froze for a moment before looking at our friend. “I’m sorry Luc-Aurora. But are you out of your mind?”

“Nope.” She said with a massive grin on her face. “Look at all these big cities and how heavy the Templar presence is. Then look at the small towns and you can see that there is little to no influence at all. It’s like they don’t even see these towns. If we can find and recruit assassins in each of these towns we can build up a sizeable force without them ever knowing.”

“But why Ponyville?” I asked her. “Twilight and her friends live there and if they find us we are screwed.”

“No, you see this is why my plan is genius. If we start in Ponyville we can turn Celestia’s most powerful weapon against her.”

“You don’t mean-” I start to say before Aurora interrupts me.

“Exactly, we recruit the Elements into the brotherhood. We already have Applejack, even if she doesn’t know it yet. The rest we will convince one by one until Twilight has to join so she can stay with her friends.”

Luna spoke up this time. “I... actually think this could work.”

“Good now let’s collect everypony and start planning.” Aurora said triumphantly while walking out of the room. “We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it.”

Sweet Apple Acres. The Next Day

Erica/Aurora

Oh my god I can’t believe I’m actually here! I thought while looking around me.

Long lines of apple trees framed the path Ashur and I walked along, telling us exactly where we were. I was practically skipping with excitement as we walked.

I have always wanted to see this place. I mean my best pony lives here! And it’s so much better than I could ever have dreamed.

I let the atmosphere wash over me as the smell of grass, dirt and apples filled the air.

A voice from beside me interrupted my reverie however. “Can you calm down? I know you think this is a definite thing but we still need to be careful. Your whole plan relies on what happens here and now.” Ashur chastised me.

“But don’t you think this is exciting? This is The Sweet Apple Acres and we are going to go meet Applejack. How are you not super excited? Come on just enjoy it a little.” I said while pouting at him.

“I’ll enjoy it when this is over.” He said before going silent.

“Come on, even with everything going on you love that you are here.” I added while poking him.

He smiled slightly before resetting his features. “Yeah but, let’s just stay on mission.”

We walked up the long dirt path that lead through the gargantuan apple farm. After walking what felt like an hour but was probably only a few minutes a small farm house and barn rose up in the distance. As we came closer a dog started to bark and it’s small form rushed towards us. Ashur started to reach for his pistol but I stopped him with a raised hand.

“Chill, it’s just Winona.” I told my overly cautious companion. “If you shoot Applejack’s dog I think our chances might drop to nothing, don’t ya think?”

“Yeah sorry, these instincts can be a bitch sometimes.”

“Winona! Stop ya barkin’.” An accented voice called out as we approached the farm house.

The door opened suddenly and a familiar orange mare walked out, her mane tied up in an ironically named pony tail. She looked around and her jaw dropped the moment she saw us. She looked around nervously before waking a hoof, telling us to follow her before she turned around and walked into the barn. We followed her inside and the moment we entered she closed the heavy door silently cutting off all light in the large space.

She whispered to us in the darkness. “What in tarnation are y’all doing here? If Twilight knew y’all were ‘er she would be callin’ the guards.”

“We are sorry Miss Applejack but we needed to speak to you on a matter of great urgency.” Ashur said from beside me.

“I’m not sure if ah should be speakin’ to y’all. You stood with Nightmare Moon and the princess sent us to stop her.” The farm mare said hesitantly.

“You don’t understand the full story. Princess Luna isn’t the bad pony she has been made out to be.” I said to her.

“Princess Luna? Wait, y’all are sayin’ that the mare we were sent tah stop was a princess?”

“Yes, Princess Luna is Celestia’s sister.” Ashur answered before asking. “Do you know the reason why you were sent to banish her?”

“Ah jus’ heard that she was supposed tah bring eternal night or something.” Applejack said, her voice was slowly becoming even more nervous than before.

“That’s not true at all!” I almost shouted.

Luna would never do that! She is the most caring, wonderful pony ever.

“Do you want to know the truth Applejack?” Ashur said calmly.

“Ah suppose ah should give y’all a chance tah explain. Mah family owes you two a whole lot. I jus’ gotta ask first. Y’all are definitely Erica and Shaun, aren’t ya?”

“Yes, though we now go by the names Ashur and Aurora.” I answered automatically.

“Well our story begins like this…” Ashur started.

It took a long time for Ashur to explain the entire situation to Applejack and by the end of it the mares jaw had been firmly affixed to the ground. Celestia’s betrayal of us in particular had her falling back on her haunches. She also let us know a few things, like what Ashur’s final act of defiance had accomplished. The leg he had shot had to be amputated and she had a team of unicorns create a magical prosthetic, but the story behind it was far from the truth. According to records she had lost her leg while fighting Nightmare Moon.

At that point Applejack had gotten furious, apparently creating such a massive lie and making it general knowledge for the entire country really made her angry.

Well she is the element of honesty.

“Thank y’all for tellin’ me the truth. But now ah don’t know how I’ll be able to face Twilight with all of this.” The farm mare said after everything was explained.

“There’s another reason we came here Applejack, we have something to ask you.” I told her.

“What is it Aurora? Ah’ll do anything ah can to help y’all.”

“W-We want to move our brotherhood to Ponyville and start recruitment and training. And well, we wanted to know if you would join.” I asked her nervously.

“Ah’m not sure sugarcube, ah want join to but ah don’t want tah lie to mah friends. If y’all want to move here though ah’ll help any way ah can.”

“Well just thinking about it okay?” I asked again. “And you never know, maybe your friends would be willing to join. We really do stand for freedom and harmony like you girls.”

With those words Ashur opened the barn door and we walked out, leaving the mare to her thoughts. Honestly we shouldn’t have expected her to make a decision then and there, but we at least know that she is on our side. Even if she hasn’t joined she is still a powerful ally to have. As we walked through the shadow of apple trees I let loose a loud squee, finally I had met my best pony and she was just as adorable and awesome as I was hoping she would be!

Oh my god! Oh my god! That was so awesome! She was so cool and strong and just so awesome! I really hope I can see her more often and we can hang out and be friends and do all kinds of cool things together. She can teach me about applebucking and I’ll help her out on the farm. Then we will eat apple pie and lots of other really yummy things! Ohh it’s so exciting.

I continued fangirling all the way through the trees and back to the edge of the nearby forest, when we passed through the tree line a group of 13 ponies waited for us. Luna and a clearly nervous Octavia stepped forward as we approached.

“So how did it go?” Octavia asked.

Ashur answered confidently. “We have her support. Although she did not agree to join yet, she has assured us that she is on our side.”

The entire group let out a sigh of relief. Many believed that our plan had been foolhardy and we had been risking the brotherhood’s safety by approaching an element of harmony. Personally I had been a little frightful of that myself but Ashur assured me that it was the right option.

Luna spoke up next. “Well we need to set up a base. These woods should cover our activities well and I will be able to create something to keep us safe for the night with my magic but we will all need to work together to make anything more permanent.”

The alicorn lit her horn and her magic went to work, slicing through trees and arranging them into crude huts. She would first cut straight through the trunk, lift the tree and a wave of magic would reduce it down to a straight, round log. One by one she did this until a sizeable clearing had been made and in it she created five small wooden huts. Each was only a few metres wide but it was better than being out in the open.

We all broke off into groups of three, Luna joining us, Octavia and Vinyl chose to group with another mare and everypony else stayed with whomever they were close to. Once inside we all collapsed onto the dirt floor and sighed with exhaustion. We had spent the entire night packing up the sanctum and the entire day was spent trekking all the way to Ponyville.

I broke the silence with a nervous voice. “D-Do you guys think I made the right decision?”

“I’m honestly not sure Aurora.” Luna answered. “This plan has merit but it also holds a lot of risks. If we are discovered too soon we will not live long to regret it.”

“I believe in you.” Ashur added and I smiled at him. “You’ve always had the weirdest plans, but somehow they always work out.”

With that we went into a discussion of all the stupid things we had done back on earth. Most of which began with me having some weird idea and dragging my friends along for the ride. That unfortunately had the side effect of bringing up Chris.

“How long do you think he has been here?” I asked Luna and Ashur.

“I heard talk of a strange creature around the castle from time to time. So he has been here close to as long as you two if that was him.” Luna answered, which shocked Ashur and I.

“But if he has been here for so long why didn’t he ever try to contact us?”

“Actually do you remember someone coming to the courtyard but never speaking?” Ashur asked me before continuing. “I think that might have been him.”

“But still why did he never talk to us or come find us?” I asked again.

“What if he isn’t Chris anymore? He hasn’t always been the calmest guy and neither was Cross, maybe the lines blurred.”

Those words sent me into silence until another question came to my mind. “Then how is he still alive?”

Ashur and Luna shrugged before giving the most frustrating answer possible. “Magic?”

“Whatever. I guess we will have time to figure out more in the morning. Goodnight everypony.” I said with a heavy sigh. I lay on the soft grass and dirt floor with a thick cloak wrapped around my body and soon the world faded away as sleep overcame me. The last thing I heard was the returning answer of my two friends.

“Goodnight.”

Ugghh, we really need floors and beds. Sleeping in the dirt is a real pain in the ass. I thought the moment I woke from slumber.

There was faint sunlight filtering through our wooden shelter as the sun began to rise. I squinted as my eyes tried to open and I wiped a hand across them to dislodge any sleep that had built up over the night. Slowly everything came into focus and I could see Luna and Ashur still sleeping nearby in the plain interior of our hut. Everything was the same as last night, except…

What’s this?

I looked to the ground beside me and sitting in the dirt was a small silver medallion in the shape of a spider with DS marked in the center. As I lifted it to take a closer look a voice rung out in my mind. My name is Dark. I’m a web-swinger with a blade and a lot of heart. If you need a companion to talk to, or an ally to help fight your enemies, just toss this medallion to the air and I’ll be there. I’m always willing to meet new people. But know this, I will not allow anyone to harm innocents. As the voice spoke in my mind I reacted with shock, throwing the medallion away from me.

After a moment of flight the medallion stopped in midair and began to glow with a bright light that expanded into a large oval, filled with a familiar white and colorful expanse. In the centre three shapes could be seen. They grew bigger every moment until they hit the oval and fell through, landing on the floor.

In a moment Luna and Ashur were awake, blades at the ready.

Chapter 4 - Along came a Spider...

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 5 - ...And his Pokemon?!

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6 - Of Apples and Rainbows

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Prologue - Part I

We’ve all heard the stories. Tales of costumed convention attendees disappearing without a trace. I, like the majority always dismissed it as a modern urban legend. Just the newest in a series of tall stories created by those with more time than common sense. Even when those that knew the disappearing party made a fuss we blew them off. Things like that don’t just happen, knowing people these days they probably just wandered off and started a new life. People can be selfish and leave people behind like that. Little did I know at the time those stories were true and I was about to find out in the best and worst way.

It all started with an email...

Earth, 1563 years ago.

Shaun

“What are we doing guys? All we do is sit around the house, play magic:the gathering, video games and talk shit.” I said while looking over my small group of friends.

“What the hell else are we supposed to do? It’s not like any of us have work for the next few days and there’s shit all to do in this crappy town.” Answered Chris, his mouth filling every sentence with a range of expletives.

“Hey Shaun, check out the forums. Maybe there’s a new game coming out or something. Release days are always heaps of fun.” Added another of my friends. Erica was a short girl, barely standing over five feet tall and was the voice of reason in our little group.

“Yeah sure, give us a sec. I just want to check my emails.”

I switch the screen of my computer on and waited as it powered up, when it showed my desktop I quickly ran my fingers through my short black hair before lowering my hand to the mouse and opening up a browser. Clicking my way into gmail I looked through the usual spam, trying to find a golden ticket. Something that would give us something to do other than sit around and repeat the same actions ad neuseum.

Scrolling through the long list of crap I almost missed it, lodged between a fake email for overpriced sunglasses and a forum update was a newsletter from Supanova.

“Hey guys, I think I might have found something.” I said with excitement in my voice.

“What’s up dude?” Chris asked. “I haven’t seen you this bloody excited since your last pay rise.”

I looked at my friends and pointed at the screen before saying the only word I needed to. “Supanova.”

“Ohh hell yeah! It’s been ages since we’ve gone to a con! Oooh ooh we should all do matching costumes! That would be so cool.” Erica said in a verbal blur, her body almost vibrating as she climbed up from the comfy couch in the lounge and ran over to the computer.

“Huh, that actually sounds like a damn good idea Shaun. For once.” He added, poking his tongue out at me. “Nah but really this seems like a good idea. How long do we have?”

“We have two months to get ready if we all want to be in costume.” I told them, my mind already thinking over every possible costume I could prepare in that time.

There wasn’t much, but after rent, bills and everything else we at least still had a little bit to play with. Enough to get a bunch of fabric and make a few basic costumes. That was when an important question struck me. “Do any of us actually have any idea how to sew?” I asked my friends.

“Nah dude why would I know that? I mean we did a class on it back in bloody high school but did anyone ever actually pay attention to any of that shit?” Chris answered.

“I do! I do! I do!” Erica jumped up and down while crying out.

“Since when? I remember we had that class together and you slept through most of it.” I asked my hyperactive friend.

“Yeah but when you get into as many accidents as I do it’s cheaper to fix your clothes than to always buy new ones.” She explained with a sheepish look on her face.

Chris and I laughed at that. Whenever anyone did something stupid in our group it was usually Erica, her excitable mind often forgetting some safety measure and making a mess of herself.

“Hey stop laughing at me you guys! It’s mean to laugh at your friends!” She said, pouting.

“You know it’s all in good fun Erica.” I said smiling at her.

“Whatever, you guys are jerks. In fact I might not sew your costumes anymore.” She said, turning her back to us defiantly before turning back. “Nah! This is going to be way too much fun!”

“So what crappy characters are we going to be for this?” Chris asked. “I bet you guys want some boring shit like that pony show you guys are obsessed with.”

“Nah that would be way too hard. Let’s go with something we all like.”

“I know! We all loved those assassins creed games didn’t we?” Erica asked while looking at us.

“Yeah! Those games always kick ass, even if Unity happened.” Chris said.

“Unity never happened.” I said while completely deadpan. “But who should be be?”

“I could be Lucy! She was pretty badass in 2 and her costume looks super easy.” Erica practically bounced when she told us who she wanted to be. “Ohh and you should be Desmond, Shaun! You two look almost the same, even if you are way too thin and don’t have the scar on your face.”

“Ohh no no no, that leaves me with the english dick! There is no way I’m going to be him!” Chris almost spat while backing up.

“Dude chill. You don’t have to be a good guy. You could always be Cross, he was pretty badass.” I told my friend, trying to calm him down.

“Yeah true, he did look pretty cool.”

Erica jumped again, looking over us with a keen eye. “Well everybody, we’ve got two months to get ready and we’ll be needing every spare moment to get it done.”

Earth, 2 months later

Shaun

As my friends and I finally climbed off the train at the Melbourne Showgrounds we all sighed with relief. Living in a small town out in the country meant that the journey had taken hours and even after getting up at 6 in the morning we still didn’t arrive at the showground until after 11. The biggest relief came when I remembered that we had booked a hotel back in the city so we wouldn’t have to do the massive journey for all three days.

We all checked over our costumes, making sure that every detail was right after how much time and effort -most of all Erica’s- went into making sure they were perfect. I looked over my white hoodie with its deep red lining and rim around the bottom. My black and red bag was still secured over my shoulder, my wrist blade was securely attached and silenced pistol was attached to the back of my pants. Yes I know that he didn’t have that for most of his parts of the game but I like it so had it.

Next came Erica, dressed up as Lucy Stillman. Every detail was perfect from the form fitting white top, black belt with a rectangular metal buckle that had a raised section in the centre to the lightly weathered denim jeans and black baton.

Last of all was Chris who looked perfect as Daniel Cross. A brown leather jacket over a slightly lighter brown hoodie with a mustard yellow lining, a padded vambrace over his right arm covering his hand and only leaving the fingers bare, brown cargo pants and military surplus boots. With his tall figure, lightly tanned skin and short brown hair he was an almost perfect replica of the assassin turned templar.

Knowing that our costumes were as perfect as they were ever going to be we looked up at each other with a massive amount of excitement. Erica linked arm with us and dragged us up to the entrance, the lanyards around our necks with our three day passes in them allowing us through without a fuss.

For hours we just had a heap of fun, running from exhibit to exhibit and enjoying the sights and sounds (not the smells though, anyone who has been to a con knows what I’m talking about) of the convention. At some point Erica and I broke away from Chris, who after hearing what we were going to do ducked out as quickly as possible. Honestly, who wouldn’t want to meet John De Lancie? After taking a few quick pictures with the man we rushed back out to look for Chris.

But as we moving from one overpriced stall to another something caught my eye. I dragged Erica to the booth I had found and showed her something special. It was a real metal replica of Desmond’s hidden blade. As I looked at the masterpiece Erica found something to peak her interest, a similar device to the one I was looking at but it had what looked like a miniature battery attached to it and a flat panel held between the holding straps.

“Ooh! This is like the shock blade from Syndicate! Her mister, how much as this?” Erica asked a tall man wearing a large hooded black jacket and a mottled purple piece of fabric covering his face.

“Twenty bucks” A voice growled out from behind the fabric.

“That’s so good! Here!” Erica practically threw the money at the man before snatching the shock blade up and attaching it to her wrist. “This is so cool!”

“You want that other one kid?” The man asked while turning to me. “That’ll be fifteen.”

Without a word I pulled the money out of my wallet. There was no way I was going to let a real metal replica pass me buy at that price. I mean even the plastic ones at EBGames were like fourty. Immediately I removed my plastic hidden blade and attached it to my right arm before pulling up the new metal one, attaching it to my dominant left arm.

I looked back over to Erica who was looking at me with a big smile on her face. She jumped forward and wrapped her arms around me, giving me a giant hug. One of the things I’ve had to get used to over the years of knowing this girl was her massively affectionate nature and being a bit of a loner it was quite the adjustment. But the kindness of this girl was not to be held at bay and I quickly found myself enjoying it.

“Hey Shaun, Erica.” A call broke through the crowds and we watched as Chris dragged his way between the people to get to us. “Did you guys find anything good? I was just abo-” Chris’ voice was cut off as a bright light surrounded Erica and I, still holding onto each other.

The world became nothing but Erica, me and the bright whiteness stretching in all directions. We stood there until the white changed, some of it solidified into colors that shifted, stretched and disappeared. When the colored came close by a sharp pain rolled through my body and probably Erica’s too from the screams I could hear next to me. In time there was nothing but shifting colors and the pain was constant. We could do nothing but scream as we held each other. All of a sudden the colors disappeared and we felt ourselves falling as a hole appeared below us.

A moment before we fell through the hole I could see… something. Something white and something else. Something blue. Then we hit the ground hard and everything went black.

3rd Person

“Well dear sister. What dost thou make of these strange beasts?” A blue alicorn asked the white one who stood beside her.

The white alicorn looked over the two beings that had crashed into their throne room through a portal in the sky before answering. “I’m not sure Lulu. Maybe we should wait for them to wake before making any judgements.”

“A prudent idea Tia. We agree wholeheartedly. It would do us no good to judge them too harshly if they didn’t not intend to appear in our throne room.” ‘Lulu’ agreed.

The two monarchs lifted one each of the strange bipedal creatures into an adjacent room before returning to the throne room and calling out to the masses of ponies that stood slack jawed after the spectacle they had just seen.

“Court is dismissed my little ponies. Please return tomorrow if you have matters that still need to be dealt with.” The alabaster alicorn called out to her subjects.

Grumbling that they had been sent away they all left the lavishly decorated room leaving the two rulers and a small contingent of guards behind.

“We guess we should go see if our guests are okay, their fall was a grand one.” The midnight blue alicorn spoke before leading her sister into the adjacent room.

To their surprise one of the creatures was already standing and in perfect Equish said. “Oh fuck no.”

Eric

I open my eyes while sucking in a massive breath as pain arched through my back. Swinging my feet to the side I throw my legs off a… couch. Okay now, I’m sitting on a dark blue couch and Erica is laying next to me. I hear a muffled voice coming from the room outside a door on the other side of the room before a chorus of other voices follow it and the sounds of people moving starts then stops. Another voice calls out from beyond the door and I can hear a few words as it gets closer. “.......guest…..fall…..grand one.”

The sound of footstep grew closer until a tall blue equine form comes through the door followed by and even taller white one. Wait… I know these forms…. I attempted to clear the fog in my brain keeping me from knowing who and what I was looking at, and then suddenly everything became very clear. Holy crap! That’s Celestia and Luna! What the fuck is going on here?

I sat there for several moments, my brain running at a million miles a minute but my body unable to move. Slowly I found myself able to move and said the first thing that came into my mind. “Oh fuck no.”

Before the impossible creatures in front of me could say anything in response I felt the body next to me shift.

“Ohh did anybody get the number of that bus?” Erica said while sitting up and rubbing her head. The moment she looked up however she froze like I did.

Celestia took the moment of silence to talk to us. “Hello. It seems as if we speak the same language. May I ask who you are and how you appeared in our throne room?

Erica and I just sat there in complete silence, shock removing our ability to function on even a basic level. Then Erica snapped and threw herself forward screaming. “PONY!” She wrapped her arms around Luna and gave her a big hug, unlike any she had ever given Chris or I.

“Unhand me at once!” Yelled the midnight blue alicorn.

Celestia turned to Erica, lighting her horn with a look of rage on her face. “Let go of her now or I will burn you to cinders creature.” The anger and power in her voice made Erica let out a loud “eep!” before she let go of Luna.

“Wait!” I cried. “She didn’t mean any harm princess. She is just excitable around cute things.” I explained as fast as I could.

“She-She thinks I’m cute?” The blue alicorn stammered.

“Of course!” You’re the cutest giant pony ever!” She said, looking up at the princess.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you. I was stunned by your sudden action.” Celestia said to Erica. “Please don’t take actions like that in the future. We have only recently come out of a large war and the nation as a whole is still on edge.

“It’s ok princess. I’ll try to calm down.” Erica said, struggling against her nature to bring herself back to sit next to me. When suddenly she turned to me. “Shaun, is it just me or do we sound different?”

The moment she said it I noticed, her voice was very different to how it had been until very recently. But that wasn’t the only thing I noticed, she was suddenly taller and had more muscle definition on her arms. Her face had remained the same but it was like all the rest of her had changed.

“You sound and look like Lucy, except for your face. You still look like you, but not you.” I told her.

“And you sound like Desmond! Wait wait wait wait, your face! You have a scar on your lip” She said, pointing to my face.

I raised my hand to my lips and ran my fingers over them gently, feeling a slight bump when my fingers reached the right side of my lip. Holy crap I got his scar! I started to hyperventilate but Erica wrapped her arms around me and slowly my heart and breathing started to slow.

“Sorry about that everyone. I guess the moment just got to me a bit there.” I half-explained to those around me.

“It’s okay, thou said two names before. Lucy and Desmond we think. Be that who you are?” Luna asked us.

Erica and I looked at each other, not sure how to answer until we both had the same thought.

Why not?

“Yes your majesties. I am Desmond Miles and this is my friend Lucy Stillman, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” I said while giving them a small bow.

“It is lovely to meet you also Mr Miles and Ms Stillman. There is more than we would like to ask you but it is getting late. Would you mind staying here in our castle until another opportunity to speak comes?” Celestia asked. “I can assure you that you’ll have the greatest of comfort if you accept.”

“I think that sounds like a good idea.” I answered the diarch.

“Excellent. I’ll have a servant come to bring you to your rooms.” Celestia said before walking off, closing the door behind her.

Erica and I looked at each other, massive smiles on our faces. It didn’t take long before we both spewed forth words from our mouths.

“Holy crap we’re in Equestria!”

Equestria, 6 Months Later

Shaun

“I will miss you terribly friends. I wish you well on your travels.” Celestia said to Erica and I as she waved us away from the Castle of the two Sisters.

As much as we enjoyed living in the castle with the diarchs it was getting more and more difficult to hide our identities and our foreknowledge from having watched the show. Especially with how close we had gotten with the moon princess. Every day it seemed she would try to include us in some prank on her sister or just to go through a walk in the palace gardens and every night she would ask us to stargaze with her. As much as we enjoyed it though the more time we spent with the alicorn the harder it was to keep our secrets.

The situation became untenable when they started to ask about certain objects we had brought with us, namely our wrist blades and my pistol. With Equestria’s extreme dislike of violence we weren’t willing to reveal what these devices were. As we didn’t want to color the diarchs opinions of us with images of the death our possessions were capable of spreading.

And so we headed out, to explore Equestria in a time before our knowledge. Our first steps took us into a much younger and nicer version of the everfree forest we knew, it’s thin capony let in a lot of light which made the walk an extremely enjoyable one. We could see however that not all things had began over the fall of Luna. Bright blue patches of poison joke were visible off to the sides of the path and small manticores probably about the size of a cat were scampering through the trees.

After a few hours we made it to the edge of the forest and found that we were looking at the tall figure of an apple tree. When we looked past it we could see more, stretching long beyond the horizon. When I came to the base however I could see it was far too tall to just reach up and grab those extremely delicious looking fruits.

“Maybe we could look around and see if any survived falling onto the grass?” Erica asked me, looking at how tall the trees were.

“Yeah maybe… actually hold on. I want to try something.” I answered her before stopping in front of the tree.

I placed a hand on the tree and closed my eyes, before opening them wide. In a flash the world changed before my eyes, everything was blue and grey. Everything but the tree in front of me, the tree was a bright green and had missing points in the color. Placing my hands and feet in these points allowed me to climb up the tree easily, like it was second nature. In seconds I had reached the height of the apples and removed a few from the branches, storing them easily in my bag. Suddenly the world shifted back into the correct colors and I found myself sitting on a long branch above Erica’s head. With a final move I jumped, rolling on the ground before bringing myself to my feet right next to my friend.

“That was so cool. It was just like in the games!” Erica said while jumping up and down.

“Yeah, it was like my body just knew how to do it and all I had to do was let it. And not only that but I used Eagle Sense, how cool is that?”

“You have got to show me how to do-” Erica was cut off as a loud scream was heard in the distance.

In a moment we were moving, sprinting at full speed towards the source of the sound. We passed line after line of apple trees until we found ourselves staring at a situation we never thought we would be seeing. A group of five unicorns some of which were holding knives to the throats of two young earth ponies. A much larger unicorn than the rest stood directly in front of them, holding their hooves to the ground. From behind a tree nearby we could hear him as he threatened the young couple. “Now I expect you to pay me each and every week and we'll make sure nopony else messes with your business, how does that sound?” He growled at the frightened ponies.

Erica and I looked at each other for a moment and nodded. We knew what we had to do, and now we knew our bodies would be able to do it. We didn’t like it, we didn’t want to do it, but we had to. Creeping forward as quietly as we could we approached the group of unicorns from behind. I took the pistol out from the holster attached to my belt and handed it to Erica. She took it in one hand while readying the shock blade in her other.

Moving to one side each we lined up out targets. I was behind the two unicorns on the left and she was behind the two on the right. With another look we struck, my two blades sinking easily into the necks of my targets while Erica’s single blade sunk into the throat or one of her targets as a bullet exploded out of the chamber through the skull of the other. Within moments four bodies hit the floor.

The larger unicorn turned to see his men dead and Erica and I standing above them. His face contorted in rage as he drew a knife from the minimal barding he was wearing. He swung the blade clumsily towards me and I bat it away with my hidden blade before sinking the other through his eye. I pulled my weapon out and let the body drop.

With their attackers taken care of we turned to their victims. The look of absolute terror tore me apart even more than knowing what I have done to the bodies around me. A look at Erica told me she was feeling the same way. But I knew I had to be strong. Steeling my mind I smiled at the young earth pony couple.

“Hello. I’m sorry you had to see that but I just couldn’t possibly allow them to hurt you. Are you alright?” I asked in my calmest voice.

“Y-Yes. Tha-Thank you. They were tr-trying to make us pay them for protection or they would kill us and ta-take the farm.” The young mare explained while her partner was still staring wide eyed at the bodies.

“It’s alright. I’m happy I could help.” I said while the mare started to calm down further. “May I ask your names?”

“I-I’m Appleseed and this is my husband Pippin, thank you again for saving us and our farm.”

“It was no problem I’m Des- *cough.* Sorry, I’m Shaun and this is Erica. I’m glad we could help but we really have to be going.”

I walked off quickly holding Erica’s arm as she struggled.

“Hey what was that crap? They were nice.” She complained.

“Do you realise who they were? Who we saved?” I asked her quietly.

“No they were just a couple random ponies, right?”

“Those were Applejack’s ancestors! If it wasn’t for us then she won't ever be born!”

“Holy crap!” Erica cried out, suddenly noticing the importance of our actions.

“Okay. Let’s get out of here before we become a part of history again.”

Equestria, 2 Months Later

Celestia

“Your majesty, we have been getting reports all over the country of a pair of bipedal creatures taking the law into their own hands and killing violent ponies. They even appear to have been training a few ponies in their methods. A few ponies we questioned spoke of their ruthlessness but also their gentle nature to the rest of the population. They spoke of a creed, rules that were followed by the group. We are not sure what to think your majesty. How should we proceed?” The guard captain asked.

It’s them, I’m sure of it. How should I act? If they are killing then it’s bad, but if they are only killing to protect others can I really act against them?

“I have an idea princess.” A voice called out from the shadows.

“Who’s there? Show yourself” I yelled into the dark corner of the room.

“Just a friend. One who understands the other side to the Creed. One who understands Order.”