Assassinverse: Shadows In The Moonlight

“What happened here?” asked Shining Armor as he entered the room where the bodies of Twilight’s killers lay as the first tiniest traces of dawn began to peek over the horizon. The corpses were being examined by forensics as other soldiers milled about collecting what evidence that could.

Shining Armor's replacement as Captain of the Guard, a thestral mare by the name of Evening Glory approached her predecessor and shook his hand. “We’re… not entirely sure, sir. Do I still call you ‘sir,’ or do I call you ‘Your Majesty?’” Evening asked Shining Armor.

Shining chuckled. “Sir will do,” he replied.

“Okay, sir, as I was saying, we’re not entirely sure what happened here. I mean, clearly, there has to be a reason these guys were murdered,” said Evening as a third guard approached them.

“And I found that reason,” the guard said, holding up an evidence bag containing a bloodied knife. “Recognize the material?”

After gazing at the knife for a moment, Shining Armor’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped like a bad habit. “That’s orichalum,” he said.

“And I’d bet bits to donuts that that’s your sister’s blood on there, which means-”

“These are the guys who killed Twilight,” finished Evening Glory.

As he gazed down at the bodies of his sister’s killers, Shining Armor got another shock to his system. “I recognize all these guys. They’re in the Royal Guard.”

”Were in the Royal Guard you mean,” said one of the guards. “You know what’s weird though? All of them have their eyes open, except for this guy,” he continued, pointing down at one particular corpse.

Shining Armor bent down and gazed at the corpse of who he immediately recognized as Gallant Heart, who had been something of a brother to him prior to his marriage to Cadence.

“Do we have any idea who could’ve done this?” Evening asked her comrades.

“Guards who first arrived on the scene reported seeing an unknown entity in some kinda white hood. They didn’t get a good look at his face before he threw a smoke pellet and escaped capture,” said the Guard who was holding the evidence bag.

“That doesn’t exactly help much in terms of catching this guy,” said Evening Glory.

Shining Armor stood up and turned to face the troops he once commanded. “As much as I don’t want to, considering that he’s just done the Princesses, my family, and Progressives as a whole a public service by killing these oathbreakers, that doesn’t give this hood guy the right to murder. We need to take him down before he hurts anypony else.”

“Agreed,” said Evening Glory, nodding her head. “And to do that, we need to find out who these killers were working for and get to them before this hood guy does. All right, men, let’s pack it up and move it out!”

…

Ezio opened the concealed door of his clocktower lair and/or home and lowered his hood once more. This had been where he had woken up a few days ago, after he’d been saved from death by what had looked like a holographic woman of some kind following a police raid when he’d found that weird bobble, and who’d told him of a great, unavoidable tragedy that would befall a distant land, resulting in its destruction. Next thing he knew had both the memories and skills of Ezio and most of those from his past life. Only questions were, why him? And why Ezio?

Ezio took a seat at the computer stationed on a nearby desk. Fortunately, one of the memories of that he’d retained of his past life was how to use a computer. After a quick internet search, Ezio discovered that Lord Cosmo Starwing was the son of Lord Galileo Starwing. The Starwing family were nobles who had a massive investment in Astronomy research, an investment that had come from centuries of power and influence in the Equestrian government. One of Twilight’s reforms called for the common folk having a say in politics, rather than the nobles, thus stripping the Starwings, along with their fellow nobles, of their power and titles.

All who gain power are afraid to lose it, Ezio recalled having heard once, although he couldn’t quite pinpoint where. Perhaps it had been in his past life. In any case, he needed to find out where Cosmo would be so that he could put an end to him and his family’s schemes, and hopefully find out who else was involved in the plot to kill Twilight Sparkle.

”And what makes you think that merely slaying those who’ve slain the young princess will prevent the civil war from happening?” said an all-too-familiar voice behind Ezio.

Ezio stood up and turned to face the shimmering holographic form behind him. She had long curly golden hair, storm gray eyes, and wore a strange attire that appeared to be nowhere near as human as her looks.

“I never did catch your name the last time we spoke. Or why you chose me to take on the form of Ezio Auditore da Firenze,” said Ezio.

”I am Athena. Some of your kind refer to me as the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War. Unlike my second cousin, three times removed, Ares, I seek to prevent war, not cause it. As for your second question, I cannot say exactly why. Suffice it to say that you had certain… qualities… that were needed for this land to endure the dark days that are on the horizon, or perhaps avoid them all together,” said Athena.

“What ‘dark days?’ What are you talking about?” asked Ezio, clearly confused.

”I can see that this will require more than just a simple explanation. Follow me, Ezio.”

Without another word, Athena phased through the entrance to the hideout and levitated up to the roof, with Ezio following right behind her.

Once they had reached the roof, Athena gestured skyward. ”Look at the sky, Ezio. Look at the stars. One of them is not like the others.” she said.

Ezio looked up at the sky. Although dawn was rapidly approaching and there were traces of the storm from earlier, the stars could still be easily seen. Finally, after several moments, Ezio found the star that Athena spoke of.

“There. That star is… black?” said Ezio, becoming even more confused than before. “Why is it black?”

”It is a dark omen for this land, perhaps this entire world. And only you and the others can stop it.”

“Others?”

”The Rising Star. The Lost Son. The Royal Stone. And the Man in White. It has been foretold that these four, and only these four, can stop the Black Star from destroying these lands and purify it from the darkness of the loins that created it.”

“So, I’ve to find these others and make them Assassins? Where do I start? Who do I seek out first?” asked Ezio.

”No one. The Nexus has determined that should you attempt to directly seek out the others, it will result in an outcome that sees the Black Star cast its father’s darkness across these lands. Calculations suggest that you should continue your present course, and seek out those nobles who extinguished Twilight Sparkle’s life. You will find the ones who will lead you to the first down below.”

With that, Athena vanished, leaving only a trail of golden sparkles in her wake. Ezio looked up at the sky once more, gazing upon the black star. As he did so, a bird cried nearby, catching Ezio’s attention.

It was an eagle, gazing upon the reborn Assassin with a gaze that seemed to pierce him right down to the man he used to be. Ezio nodded at the bird before jumping off the building, right into a conveniently-placed wagon full of flower petals. Feeling somewhat sore, but otherwise uninjured, Ezio pulled himself out of the wagon and began his search.

What he hadn’t realized, however, was that when he nodded at the bird, a young stallion who had been riding his bicycle across the street had been hit by a drunk driver and killed.

…

As daybreak emerged over Equestria, Ezio had managed to come across a couple of guards who were talking about Twilight’s murder in a nearby alleyway. Ezio swiftly found a hiding place in a shady corner behind two trash cans and listened in on their conversation.

“So, what’s going on with Lord Cosmo? Why’s he packing up to run off somewhere for a few days? I mean, it’s not exactly like the guys who offed that fake Princess are going to talk,” one of them said.

“They’re not going to be doing much of anything the way I heard it. They’re dead. Murdered, the way I heard it,” the second said.

“What? How?” the first guard asked, sounding surprised.

“Nopony’s sure exactly. Story is a fight broke out between them and some nutbar in a white hood. Looks like the Hood won. When our guys heard the disturbance and investigated, our White Hood threw some kinda smoke pellet and vanished. At least, that’s what the rumor is,” said the second guard.

“Wow. No wonder Cosmo’s so spooked. Certainly explains why he’s got so many of his guards around his place tonight while he packs up to run off to who-knows-where. Say, if this White Hood knew who killed Sparkle, do you think he knows who else is working for the Traditionalists? Even if they weren’t involved with the deed?” the first guard, sounding a little concerned.

“I certainly hope not.”

With that, Ezio got the information that he needed and swiftly departed the scene, taking to the rooftops as he returned to his hideout to begin planning his attack on Lord Cosmo.

…

As the sun began to set, Ezio arrived at the Starwing Manor, and found that the place was indeed crawling with guards.

I’m going to have to sneak in there and remain undetected, otherwise they’ll alert Cosmo and he’ll run off to who knows where, costing me my only chance to discover who else is involved in the plot to kill Princess Twilight, thought Ezio. Swiftly and silently, Ezio used his hidden blade to kill the snipers that were out to deter anyone who would try to approach, making sure to loot each of their bodies after they were killed. After all, it wasn’t like they were going to need their coins when when they were dead, right? At least, that’s what Ezio told himself when he’d played Assassin’s Creed in his past life.

Once all the snipers were taken care of, Ezio took notice of several groups of guards outside the front and back doors. Ezio then got an idea. He picked up one of the sniper’s bodies in a fireman’s carry and threw it onto the ground below, attracting the attention of the guards at both doors.

With the guards distracted, Ezio climbed down off the roof and casually entered the front door.

…

Inside his father’s study, Lord Cosmo Starwing looked down at the letters he had just finished writing. Both of them said the same thing, but each were addressed to different ponies, his father and Amadeus Blueblood Junior, or Prince Blueblood, the grand architect of Princess Twilight’s murder.

Heaving a sigh, Cosmo grabbed a bottle of expensive liquor and poured himself a small glass of the stuff. Heaving a sigh, he lifted the glass to his lips. As he did so, he saw a shrouded figure standing in the open doorway. Although he couldn’t see his face, Lord Cosmo could feel a piercing gaze come from underneath the figure’s hood that made him feel just a little frightened, as though the being before him was a predator and he was his next meal.

“Who the Hell are you and who let you in here?” demanded Cosmo as he took a drink and glared at the intruder.

The figure said nothing but rather calmly walked towards Cosmo. A loud shak! noise reached Cosmo’s ears, causing his small bit of fear to spike rather drastically.

“Now, you listen here, whoever you are, I have guards stationed all across this mansion, both inside and outside. All I have to do is just shout for help,” said Cosmo, trying his best to sound defiant.

“Be my guest. You guards inside this house can’t hear you,” the figure said with a thick Haytalian accent, tossing Cosmo a walkie-talkie that had a hole punched clean through it.

Cosmo whimpered in fear at the site of the destroyed communication device, before his fear won out. “Please, you don’t have to do this! I’ll give you anything you want! Money! Power! Mares! Stallions, if you’re that kind of guy, can’t say I understand, though!”

“If you think you can avoid the consequences of killing an innocent girl, a newly-crowned Princess, no less, simply by offering me whatever I desire,” the figure said, before he stabbed Cosmo through the heart with one of his hidden blades, causing the noble’s eyes to widen in shock and horror. “You are gravely mistaken.”

“You… you don’t understand…” choked Cosmo as he tried to breathe. “That girl… that miserable peasant...would’ve overthrown Celestia! Luna… Luna too! What I did… what WE did… it was all to save Equestria from an usurper!”

“No, you and your co-conspirators did it so you could maintain your power and influence over the common folk! To keep things as they are! If what I’ve heard is true, the land’s rulers supported Twilight’s changes and reforms. Twilight Sparkle could’ve made Equestria greater than ever before, but you and your ilk were to blind to see it!” the figure said as Cosmo choked on his last breath and finally went still. The figure sighed and reached out to close Cosmo’s eyes.

”Resquiescat in pace-,” Ezio started to say, only for the doors to the study to burst open, and a horde of guards standing there, weapons drawn and aimed at Ezio.

“Don’t move!” one of them barked at Ezio as his fellow soldiers surrounded him.

”Merda!” snarled Ezio before he threw a smoke bomb, obscuring the soldiers’ vision and causing them to choke and gag. During the confusion, Ezio grabbed one of the letters on the desk and jumped out the nearby window, safely landing in some conveniently placed bushes before darting off in search of some place to hide.

“Request-immediate-backup!” choked one of the guards into his radio.. “Lord Cosmo Starwing has been assassinated! Sus-suspect is wearing a wh-white hooded-ro-robe and a bl-black cape!”