Dark Pony Brotherhood

A Train Ride

Lucien and Twilight sat in one of the passenger cars. They were along with the exception of a Mare coming down the cars and serving refreshments. Once they were alone, Lucien looked to Twilight, and gave her a smile.

“This is my first time on a…… what did you call it again? A Train?” he commented, excited as he looked out the window, the scenery passing by swiftly. He had never moved this fast before.

Twilight suppressed a giggle, “yes, it’s a train, they don’t have them in your homeland?” she asked him.

Lucien shook his head, “no, we’ve had nothing as magnificent as Trains, at least not to my knowledge, I would think I’d like to read up on them if I can,” he said. He then thought for a moment about his homeland. Cyrodil was a well developed and lawful land, but some of the wonders he’s seen while in Equestria could put anything he’s seen in that land to shame.

He’d heard rumors of the Imperial Orrery being rebuilt, but he had been killed before it was finished. Perhaps it would have been equal it magnificence but that was irrelevant at the time.

Twilight saw Lucien start to look deep in thought. “Are you thinking of your homeland?” she asked him.

The Dark pony looked at her, brought out from his nostalgia, and he smiled at her observation. “Yes, you’d be amazed at how different it is, “he said. He doubt she would believe him if he told her the truth about it all. That ponies or horses in his world were mostly used as animals of labor or transportation. He didn’t even think humans were present in this world, and he didn’t know how he would explain them to the filly.

“What is it like there?” she asked him.

He thought for a moment, “There are several cities, the most magnificent of which is the Imperial City,” he told her, seeing no harm in telling her the geography of a land she wouldn’t likely ever see.

“The City I am from is a smaller one by the name of Cheydinhal,” he continued. “There was nothing spectacular about it, but it was home enough.” Lucien looked Twilight in the eye, “but you want to ask other questions, don’t you?”

Twilight nodded and thought on what to ask. “You talked about the Dark Brotherhood last time, but, who are they exactly?” she asked.

Lucien thought carefully on how to word everything, “Like I said, they are a cult, and worshipers of Sithis. They also hold the Night Mother as their Patron,” he told her. “I’ve already told you that much, and that their assassins, murderers and the like, passed that, they consider themselves a family, Brothers and Sisters who will do anything for each other, defending them with their very lives, I’ve even heard stories of some individuals killing close friends because they endangered the Brotherhood,” he told her.

Twilight took it all in. Such an organization seemed mythical. Those ponies would swear loyalty to each other and to beings beyond their comprehension and would kill for payment. With such a close group, she could imagine they became very strong and dangerous as Lucien told her before. “Would they ever get to Equestria?” she asked him, as if a little worried.

Lucien smiled to her gently, “I wouldn’t doubt it,” he said. ‘They’re closer than you think, Twilight,’ he thought to himself. “As far as the Brotherhood goes, I’m afraid that’s all I can say,” he told her, not exactly lying.

Twilight nodded while thinking, “but, how do you know all of this?” she asked him. “Was the Brotherhood after you?” she asked, legitimate concern on her face.

Lucien’s smile faded a little, “I have….. Crossed paths with Dark Brothers and Sisters who’ve wished me dead,” he said, a hint of hurt and regret in his voice, though he doubted she noticed.

“Is that why you left Cyrodil?” she asked.

Lucien looked out the window as the landscaped rushed by as the train continued to head for their destination. “You could say that,” he told her. He turned and smiled to her, “But I can promise you, that they believe I’m dead, they won’t be coming to kill me anytime soon,” he promised her.

Twilight smiled back, “I’m glad for that,” she said.

Lucien nodded, “Do you have any other questions?” he asked her.

“Well, you said you told me all you could about the Brotherhood, I guess my only questions would be about you,” she said, curious as to what the Dark Pony’s past was like. “That is if you’re alright with sharing.”

Lucien smiled, “I suppose I can answer a few questions.”

“What was it like, growing up in Cyrodil?” she asked. “With a group like the Brotherhood running around, it couldn’t have been easy,” she said.

Lucien looked the ceiling of the train car as he thought back, “now that’s something I haven’t thought about for a long time,” he said. “Not much different than anywhere else, I would assume,” he told her. “My Father was a Merchant, so we lived comfortably, he would travel often, and when he returned I was always eager to hear his stories of where he’s been,” he told her. He looked down once more, “One day, he didn’t come back, and his letters stopped.” He admitted to himself that while the memory was old, it still hurt. “My Mother and I found out sometime later that he was hit by bandits, they killed him and took his wagonload,” he told her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up such painful memories,” Twilight said quickly, regretting that she asked him.

“It’s alright, it was a very long time ago,” he told her. “My mother fell ill and died soon after, and I was alone,” he continued. He decided to skip the part where he started his career as an assassin by hunting down the bandits that had killed his father. He made sure their demise was far more painful than any of their victims.

“I was still young, too young to find a job for myself, and too young to join the Imperial Legion for military service,” he said. He rolled his eyes, “not that I would,” he mumbled more to himself than her. “Though I was young, I wasn’t foolish, I couldn’t make it on my own, so I sold the possessions of my parents, the ones that weren’t important to me, and I sold the home, and bought my way to my relatives in Cheydinhal,” he told her. “There I had a new family,” he told her, giving her a smile. He wouldn’t tell her yet which family it was.

She smiled back, “Did, did you have anypony special back in Cheydinhal before you came here?” she asked, a light blush on her face. ‘Sweet Celestia! Why did I ask him that?’ She berated herself in her mind.

An amused smiled drew on Lucien’s face, “Why do you ask?” he teased her. After her blush deepened he chuckled, “no, no I didn’t have somepony special,” he told her. Lucien hadn’t thought much on relationships in his life. He was content serving the Dread Father. That and most women that he’s had the pleasure of meeting weren’t that worth getting to know. After all, it was likely he had to kill them at the time.

If he was being honest with himself though, this Twilight Sparkle was certainly interesting. “What about you?” he asked her. “Do you have a special Somepony?” he asked.

Her blush was consuming her face, the color of her fur changing it to a deep purple. “Um, well, no, I mean, I don’t, not that I wouldn’t, I mean, oh hey, are we almost to Canterlot already?” she stumbled on her words, discovering that the landscape was much more rocky, and they were coming to a series of tunnels that came right before Canterlot.

“Canterlot is just up the Mountain side, it’s really amazing actually, the entire city is perched on the edge of the mountainside,” she told him. “I’m actually from Canterlot.”

He looked to her, his interest piqued. “Are you?” he asked. “What is this city like?” he asked her.

“Well, Canterlot is the capital of Equestria, Princess Celestia and most of the nobility lives here,” she said. “It’s very high class, the center of Culture in all of Equestria, really,” she continued.

‘We’re likely to have clients here in the future,’ he thought to himself as Twilight spoke. If there was one thing that Lucien knew about Nobility, no matter where you went, they wanted someone dead.

“My parents and older brother still live here,” Twilight said. “My brother, Shinning Armor, he’s the Captain of Canterlot’s Royal Guard,” she said with some pride in her voice. “He’s also married to Princess Celestia’s niece,” she said, before giggling. “That was a bit of a fiasco at the wedding though,” she said.

Lucien looked to her, his eyebrow raised, “what happened?” he asked.

“Well, long story short, A changeling tried to take Cadence’s form and brainwash Shinning Armor with magic,” she said. “She almost usurped Celestia’s throne,” Twilight looked out of the window, “but the real Cadence and my brother were able to activate his barrier again, and drive her and her army of Changelings away.”

“Impressive,” he said with a smile, “I would like to meet your brother, I think,” he said with a smile. Lucien wanted to meet the Captain of the Guard; he would need to know who the leader of such a group was. It also wouldn’t hurt to get an idea on how Twilight’s family was.

Said Unicorn was looking at him, a little confused, “you would, well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt,” she said, a small blush on her cheeks. “We’ll likely run into him, He lives in the Palace now with Cadence. And it has been a little while, I think I’d like to see how their doing too,” she said, a smile on her face now.

The train began to slow down as they came to their stop. “The Train is stopping, we’ll be there in just a second,” she said.

A few moments later the train came to a full stop, and they departed from it, seeing the city from the train station, Lucien was already impressed. The architecture rivaled that of the Imperial City, and seeing the Ponies walking about, it was clear that this city was very sophisticated.

While Lucien disliked Aristocracy, he had to admit that it was fun playing in the politics of high class life.

“Well, let’s head to the Palace, the Royal Library is very big, we should get an early start.”

With that, the two ponies headed towards the Royal Palace, eager to see what the Library held.