Assassinverse: Shadows In The Moonlight

As the night took hold of Equestria, Shining Armor and Evening Glory made their way down to the Grand Conference Hall, where Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and the remaining Elements of Harmony were waiting for them.

“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” said Evening Glory.

“When ya’ll said ya had news about what happened to Twilight, Ah didn’t hesitate to come right away,” said Applejack, who wore a green button-up shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. Noticibly missing was he brown stetson hat she normally wore, and in its place were dark circles under her eyes, suggesting that she hadn’t slept in awhile.

Indeed, each of the Elements looked a little worse for wear. Rarity Bell, a unicorn mare who wore a fancy outfit with shoes to match looked a little bedraggled. Fluttershy, a pegasus mare who wore a simple outfit, looked as though she too had spent the last few nights crying her eyes out as well. And finally, Pinkie Pie, who’s mane and tail were normally big and bushy, was insead long, sleek, and straight.

“Hang on a minute, there’s someone missing. Where’s Rainbow Dash?” asked Shining Armor.

The four mares looked uncomfortably at one another. Finally, it was Rarity who spoke up.

“She is… indisposed,” she said. The truth was, Rainbow Dash was currently passed out in her cloud home, having indulged in another long night of drinking. They all had their ways of coping, but the girls were getting concerned for Rainbow.

“Fair enough,” said Shining.

“In any case, we’ve called you here because we’ve found out who ordered the hit on Princess Twilight. It was Prince Amadeus Blueblood Junior,” said Evening Glory as she placed the letter her men had retrieved from Lord Cosmo’s office on the table, which Celestia picked up, read, and passed around. “And, as you can see, there may in fact be other conspirators, Galileo Starwing among them.”

“I take this to mean you’ve captured the assassins responsible for Twilight’s death?” asked Princess Luna.

“Unfortunately, no. They were all dead by the time we got to where they were holed up. This letter before you was retrieved only six hours ago, after Lord Cosmo had been stabbed through the heart,” said Evening Glory as she placed another bit of paper on the table. “Security cameras picked up this image only two hours ago.”

The remaining Elements of Harmony and the Princesses passed around the photo of what appeared to be one of the “human” creatures Twilight had described when she went through that magic mirror to get her crown back from Sunset Shimmer, clad in what appeared to be a hooded robe and cape of some kind with some kind of insignia on the belt around his waist. Nopony present seemed to know what to make of the figure, although when Princess Luna looked down at the picture, Applejack could’ve sworn she saw what looked like recognition in Princess Luna’s eyes.

“We don’t know who or what this guy is, but I’m willing to bet Blueblood hired him to tie up loose ends. One way or the other, this guy knows something about who’s involved with Princess Twilight’s murder. I assure you, my Princesses, we will find him and those behind the assassination. You have my word,” said Evening Glory.

Princess Luna yawned loudly and stretched. “Well, ‘tis been a very long night for me, so I think I’ll retire to my chambers. I bid you all good night, or morning, rather.”

With that, Luna rose from the table and departed, with Celestia following right behind her, muttering what sounded like, ”Here we go again.”

…

Luna had no intentions what so ever of going to bed when she arrived in her chambers, but rather began making ready to travel to her old castle to pick up a certain... item. One that she’d hoped she’d never have to use again after her enemies had been defeated.

Once she’d finished packing for her journey, she turned around to sneak out the castle and the city, only to find her elder sister standing there, a look of the utmost seriousness on her face.

“They’re not there, Luna,” said Celestia.

“Wh-what’s not where, sister?” said Luna, although she knew exactly what her sister was talking about.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Luna. You’re not tired at all. You were going to sneak out of the castle to get your old robes, armor, and weapons out of our old castle. They’re not there anymore.”

“Let me guess, you destroyed them after I became Nightmare Moon, didn’t you?” said Luna, crossing her arms and giving her sister an irritated look.

“Actually…” said Celestia, removing a framed picture of the two sisters as fillies to reveal a small hole in the wall. Lightning up her horn and inserting it into the nearby wall, the Solar Princess triggered a hidden mechanism that opened a hidden wardrobe within one of the walls, revealing an outfit not dissimilar to the one worn by the “human” responsible for the deaths of Twilight’s killers and one of her conspirators behind the plot, only where his was white, this one was jet black, and where his was red, this one was a deep, dark, blue. The armor on it was also black, the cape was black fabric with a navy blue underside. The symbol on the the belt was also altered somewhat.

The wardrobe also had a variety of weapons on the doors, including various swords, knives, tomahawks, oversized axes, smoke pellets, and guns, as well as her twin hidden blades.

“I made a few adjustments,” finished Celestia as Luna approached the armor and weapons. “Do you like it?”

“Yes, yes I do, sister. But, may I ask why?” Luna said, turning to face her sister.

Celestia heaved a sigh. “Sister, you know how sometimes when I sleep, I have visions of the future?” she said.

“A feat that somehow still eludes me,” said Luna, nodding to show she understood.

“Well, I had one not long after you were banished to the moon. It started with a black star casting darkness over all of Equestria. Ponies everywhere were screaming in pain and running from the star, searching for somewhere, anywhere, to hide. Only there wasn’t any. Then, out of the darkness came a shining ray of light. In it stood a group of hooded figures wearing robes of different colors, their leader wearing a robe of white and red. Among the hooded figures was you, wearing that,” explained Celestia, pointing towards the black robes. “I’ll be honest with you, Luna, I’ve never supported your…activities as part of that Brotherhood of yours. I don’t know how many times I told you that being a princess of Equestria didn’t make you above the law… but now, with the mare I saw as a daughter murdered by these Traditionalists… now, I can’t remember a time when I’ve wanted the death of others to come about so badly.”

As tears began to form in Princess Celestia’s eyes, Luna found her own beginning to well up as well. It was with a heavy heart that Luna, Princess of the Night took the robes, selected her weapons, and went behind the changing curtain in the far corner. Once the robes were on, Luna checked her reflection in the mirror, noting that she looked pretty “badass” as the modern-day ponies called it.

As Luna walked over to the balcony doors and threw them open, Celestia spoke once more.

“Luna? Help our new friend to disappear. And after you’ve done that, bring him to me. I may have some… assignments for you two.”

Luna nodded before speaking. “You didn’t just lose a daughter to the Traditionalists, Tia. I lost a hero and a sister.”

With that, Luna pulled her hood over her face, climbed up onto the balcony railing, and jumped, her wings spreading wide as she took to the skies in search for her new brother-in-arms.

…

Ezio was hiding in a hay bale as he watched a squad of soldiers march past him, clearly on the lookout for him. One of them stopped and turned to look at the bale of hay, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Somepony could hide in here…” Ezio heard the stallion mutter as he walked closer, pulled out his sword and make to start poking around in the bale.

Almost instinctively, Ezio triggered his hidden blade, emerged from the bale of hay, stabbed the soldier, and pulled his body inside. Unfortunately, this act just so happened to be witnessed by one of the other guards in his squad.

“THERE HE IS!” yelled the soldier who’d witnessed the killing.

”Merda!” hissed Ezio as he climbed out of the hay bale and began running once more. Assassin or not, he couldn’t keep running forever. He needed to find a way to disappear and get these damn guards off his back.

Suddenly, Ezio felt something grab him from behind, and the next thing he knew, he was being hoisted into the air by something with a surprisingly strong grip. Looking up, Ezio found himself face to face with a black robed hooded figure wearing a knife belt bearing what was unmistakably the insignia of the Brotherhood of Assassins, albeit altered a bit.

“Hey! What is the meaning of this?! Where are you taking me?!” demanded Ezio.

“Where the guard won’t be able to find you long enough for us to discuss how to reduce your notoriety in Equestria, because something tells me you do not know how to do that,” said the Assassin in what was unmistakably a female voice.

“I know how to disappear already. Tear down a couple of wanted posters, bribe heralds, and kill government officials who bear false witness against me,” said Ezio.

“Indeed, that may be what you are used to back in… wherever it is you came from, as it was for me a long time ago, but things have changed since then as technology and society have changed,” the Assassin said.

Ezio remained quiet until the Assassin set him down on a rooftop on what appeared to be a relatively poorer section of the city before landing herself. Turning to face Ezio, the Assassin lowered her hood, revealing herself to be a mare with not only wings, but a unicorn horn as well that, if he had to guess, around his age, with midnight blue fur, a mane that looked like the night sky itself, and a gaze that seemed to pierce Ezio to his very soul.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Princess Luna Eclipse, the Princess of the Night and co-ruler of Equestria, and, as it seems, grandmaster of the Equestrian Brotherhood of Assassins,” said Luna.

“You make it sound as though you and I are the only Assassins in Equestria, as you call it,” said Ezio with a small chuckle.

“That is because we are. The Brotherhood was disbanded after our enemies, the Knight Templars, were destroyed once and for all,” explained Luna.

“Wait a minute, there are Templars here?” asked Ezio, surprised at this news.

“There were Templars here. Thanks to the power of the Pieces of Eden, the war between the Assassins and Templars does not stop at the borders of any one world. But, that is besides the point. You have a massive target painted on your back that you need to get off. I’m here to help you do just that. I take it you know that removing wanted posters will help the public forget your face?” asked Luna.

“Si,” replied Ezio. “So, how many are we talking about? Two? Maybe three?”

Luna chuckled and shook her head. “Once upon a time that may have worked. But, ponies these days have gotten smarter. You’ll need to take down somewhere close to ten, maybe fifteen. Once you’ve finished with that, meet me back here.”

Ezio nodded to show he understood before he set out on his task.

…

A few hours later, Ezio returned to the rooftop where Luna was waiting for him.

“You’ve removed the posters?” asked Luna.

“Yes,” replied Ezio.

“Tell me, while you were out and about, did you see any heralds or town criers?” asked Luna.

Ezio thought about it for a moment, before he finally gave his response. “No, I didn’t.”

“That is because the time for heralds and town criers has passed. However, there is something else very similar that incites the populace in almost the same way. Follow me,” said Luna as she began jumping from rooftop to rooftop with almost effortless ease. Ezio followed right behind her. Before long, the two of them had arrived on a rooftop outside a what Ezio recognized to be a radio station.

“The radio newscasters function in almost the exact same way as the heralds and town criers of old did. Some stations pay their employees very little, most likely because they are not of unicorn descent, so all it will take is a some bits to get them talking about something else. Others, namely those of unicorn descent, require some persuasion from that tool you have up your sleeve,” explained Luna as she handed Ezio a big bag of bits. “Take these and go have yourself a little chat with the newscaster in that station over there, then return to me.”

Ezio jumped off the building and landed a little rough on the ground in front of the entrance to the radio station. After taking a quick look around over his shoulder, Ezio opened the door and entered the radio station.

…

”There’s a killer walking the streets of our great and noble city! Go home, lock your doors, and stay there until this cold blooded killer is captured and destroyed! There’s no telling who his next victim will be!” the unicorn newscaster said mere seconds before his feed went dead and a large bag full of bits landed in front of him. Looking up, the newscaster came face to face with the very same killer he had just been talking about. The newscaster could feel the hooded figure’s piercing, predatory gaze cut through his very soul.

“I’m going to have to ask you to talk about something else. It is best that my work remains completely under wraps,” the mysterious hooded man said.

“And what makes you think I’ll keep quiet about what you’ve done? These bits? Please, this job gives me such wonderful benefits, like health insurance and vacation time, on top of a nice big paycheck,” the newscaster said, trying his best to sound defiant.

“Then perhaps this will persuade you,” the mysterious hooded man said, producing a hidden blade from under his sleeve as he grabbed the newscaster by the shoulder and raised his blade, ready to pierce the heart of the newscaster.

With the threat of death, the newscaster broke like twig. “All right, all right! I’ll take the money! I’ll say anything you want! Just, please don’t kill me! I have a wife and kids!” the stallion pleaded.

The mysterious hooded man paused for a moment, letting the tension sink in. Finally, he retracted his hidden blade. ”Grazie,” the man said before he turned on his heel and walked right out the front door.

…

“Well?” asked Luna when Ezio rejoined her.

“It is done,” said Ezio.

“Perfect. Then there is but one more place for us to stop. A printer shop,” said Luna as she once more began leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

“A printer shop? What for?” asked Ezio.

“Where do you think those posters came from? They were mass produced by a machine. If you can persuade the owner of one of the shops that made them, you can create your own propaganda, preferably something anti-Traditionalist,” explained Luna.

“Interesting…” said Ezio as he and Luna arrived at the shop.

“You know what to do,” said Luna, handing Ezio another bag of bits. Ezio climbed down and entered the shop. Thankfully, the guy in charge was a pegasus, so he was fairly easy to persuade.

…

A short time later, Ezio and Luna were walking along the rooftop of a particularly high building.

“I have shown you three ways to disappear: tear down wanted posters, convince radio newscasters to talk about other things, and persuade printer shops to create your own propaganda against the Traditionalists,” said Luna, as an idea struck her. “You know, I’ve just realized something. I never did ask for your name.”

“Ezio. Ezio Auditore da Firenze,” said Ezio.

“Well, then, Ezio… let us see if you’ve the right to wear those robes!” said Luna drawing the rapier at her side and aiming it at Ezio.

Ezio smiled as he pulled out his own sword. “Very well, then. If you insist. But don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re a girl!”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”