I lie on the bed given to me to sleep in until Princess Twilight Sparkle's departure to Hollow Shades. It is comfortable, adequate for its purpose. I do not feel sleepy, however. Staring up from the bed, I can see every imperfection on the ceiling of the room. There are 22 that I have noticed.

Princess Celestia told me to come to the armoury at seven o'clock tonight, to design and receive weapons. She claimed to know of firearms, but did not have the knowledge to create them. I do not either, so an Equestrian equivalent of a gun is out of the question. Would a Colt .45 pistol still be called a 'Colt'?
No, I require a melee weapon, perhaps two. Potentially up to four. I run through what I could choose. A longsword or broadsword would most likely be too heavy and too large to wield. Daggers, while efficient, would be too small and require an opportunity to get close to an aggressor and potentially get wounded. I decide to keep with an Oriental theme, if named Kami, and choose four weapons that I require:
1. A pair of 5160 Spring Steel Chinese Hook Swords. Not too heavy, not too large, deadly, perfect.
2. A pair of 1060 Carbon Steel Japanese Sai daggers as a backup, should I be disarmed. Daggers, true, but the ability to trap and manipulate an enemy's weapon is a useful ability, regardless of reach.

I stand and walk to my room's bathroom. There is a mirror there, which I use to examine my features. Although not unexpected, it is amazing about how different I truly am. From a brown haired, brown eyed, chubby human boy, I am now a pony stallion with blood red fur covering me and, bizarrely, a blood red horn growing out of my skull. Brilliant, I am a unicorn without wings. My physique is much better, I can see the muscles clench as I flex slightly. My eyes are golden now, and there is a mark on my flank that, despite the mirrored image, I recognise easily.

Kami.

How fortunate. And yet I cannot help but ponder what would the mark be if I had chosen a different title.

It is seven o'clock. I exit my room to be greeted by two burly-looking guards, resplendent in golden armour. Without a single word, they shut my door and walk beside me, guiding me to the armoury. At least, I believe them to be. Unaware as I am of the castle's geography, they may as well be taking me to the mess hall, the bedrooms or even a broom closet for all I know.
"Where are we going?" I ask, receiving nothing but a harsh glare in reply. Perhaps they are unable to talk, or emote in any other way than rage. Still, it is more than I can emote.

Upon reaching our destination, revealed unto me is a veritable treasure trove of weapons. Staffs, spears, swords, knives and pretty much any other type of melee weapon available, plus crossbows and archery bows aplenty. Why it was stated that ponies did not have the ability to kill made no sense to me. Apparently it was is the mind of Princess Celestia, as she speaks now.
"Those blades are not sharp. They have the ability to harm and injure temporarily, but nopony can or will kill with them."
"Myself not included, I presume," I begin, head tilted to the left slightly. "Then again, I cannot assume that hooves provide the required skill to wield many of these weapons."
"Indeed. That is why the Royal Guards are mostly unicorns, with their ability to manipulate their surroundings with their magic," the princess titters. Apparently sensing my mild confusion, she explains. "According to other humans I have summoned, your 'unicorns' are winged and horned ponies, like myself. But that's not right, unicorns do not have wings. What we are are alicorns, and you are a unicorn."
"Intriguing. Perhaps I shall require to utilise magic in order to wield the weapons I have chosen," I remark as I approach the monarch. Her horn glows yellow in what I assume is the aforementioned magic and two sheets of blueprint paper sweep over towards me, covered in the same yellow aura as her horn. I notice a distinct problem at once. "I am unable to draw."
Princess Celestia titters again. "Perhaps some basic magic lessons will be required before we can set you off," she smiles. "You have about a week before the trip is scheduled, plenty of time to learn something." The unicorn before me... Correction, the alicorn before me demonstrates magic again, picking up a pencil and hovering it in front of me. Presumably, this is not unlike the idea of telekinesis, and I attempt to retrieve the pencil from her magic by imagining the pencil floating towards me. The pencil is enveloped in a steely grey aura and remains floating as Celestia relaxes her magic. Experimentally, I move the pencil in a small circle. Sure enough, it moves, much to the surprise of all there. I allow a small smile of success to cross my features.
"Excellent. It would appear that simply being a unicorn grants me some ability with magic," I ponder. "Now then, I have weapons to design." I make my way past Celestia and sit at the table and carefully draw out the weapons I require. Despite my inexperience with magic, the drawings take little time, and soon I am detailing measurements carefully. When finished, I present the papers to the guards nearby, who whisk them away.

"Would you care to join us for some dinner?" The voice of Princess Twilight Sparkle sounds nearby, and it is soon clear that she is addressing me. Wordlessly, I nod and allow the alicorn I will be protecting before too long to lead me to a dining hall. I can only hope that the meal is edible by human standards and has meat, as I have been wanting a steak for a long while now.

Author's Note

Thanks to AxtontheMechanist for proofreading and reading through to make sure I'm not writing anything dumber than usual. Thanks buddy, couldn't do it without ya.

Just so you know, my story Assassinations are Magic is still being written, but I've hit a hard patch of exams recently and haven't found the time to write until now. I'm sorry it took so long and thank you for sticking with me.

Requiescat in Pace
Fluttershy Auditore