//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: The Telling of an Old Tale (Part 3) 
// Story: Equestria's Assassins: Bringer of the Night 
// by Moonshine9012 
//------------------------------//

Hey everypony! Thanks for the great comments and feedback so far! Also, from now on, the chapters will be spaced out by at least a week or more in some cases. The reason being so I can make sure the chapters have a decent length to them and that they are of good quality. Thanks again and be sure to comment and review!

Chapter 3: The Telling of an Old Tale (Part 3)

 March 26, 1065

Just woke up a few minutes ago, thought I’d write a little before going to meet Vinyl and Tavi at Vinyl’s music store. They have been working on a song remix together lately and I wanted to drop by and see how things were going.

I never thought I’d see the day when those two would write a song together without spending half the time fighting over whose genre of music is better. Oh, well miracles can happen at any time, with any pony.

Speaking of Vinyl, I’m glad to see her back in Ponyville after so long. It’s a long story that I’ll be sure to write later but bottom line is she went missing for a REALLY long time. Like I said though, that’s a story for later.

I have to go to her store now otherwise they’ll both yell at me for being late. Oh the life of a married stallion.



Just got back and I have to say, the song is interesting but fantastic. It’s a perfect combination of modern and classical music. I don't know how they did it but they managed to produce something simply beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, that reminds me of the dream I had of Octavia the night after I met her...



The snow was falling gracefully around two ponies within the small clearing of forest. The two were gallivanting about, one playing a violin and the other making a dance that rode the notes of the song like a dove that rides the wind.

One could tell at a glance that the two had been at it for sometime, the sweat on their brows long ago frozen over. Still, they persisted, not for themselves but to see the other smiling and to gaze into their eyes, if only briefly.

As the two kept to there rhythmic tune, one could not help but notice that the snow seemed to sparkle, like millions of tiny diamonds encased in the soft winter hue. As the notes of the lovers song escalated and decreased, so did the radiance of the snow.  

It was if nature itself had stopped to watch the two adolescent lovers and add their own music to the beautiful melody.  

As the song winded down, the dancing one came to a stop in front of the violin player, face inches away. Slowly, both leaned their foreheads against each other and drank in the others presence.

A content sigh could be heard from one of the pair, who it was though was unclear. As the stared into each others eyes, they slowly leaned in for a kiss they would certainly remember forever.

As the two leaned closer, one whispered the others name ever so slightly, as if any louder would shatter the world. "Octavia.."


   
I awoke to the sound of somepony calling to me. It sounded so far away, all I wanted to do was ignore it and relive that wonderful dream.

Yet still it beckoned me towards the ever growing light that seemed to envelope me. I tried to resist, to become one with my waking dream again but after awhile, I realized it was futile and let the light encase me.

As the calling voice came nearer, I had the hopeful yet fleeting thought that it was my mother calling to me, reminding me to get up for school. As it became more clear to me though, I mentally drooped in sadness as I heard the voice of my nurse and not that of my mother's.

I opened my eyes and saw the smiling face of my nurse staring down at me. I gave a small smile in return before she said, "Good morning young man, how are you feeling this morning?"

"A little better" I replied as I slowly sat up in my bed and stretched. 

She continued to smile as she said, "Well, that's good to hear. Are you ready for breakfast?"

I opened my mouth to answer but my stomach chose to answer for me instead as it growled rather loudly. The nurse laughed as she said, "I'll take that as a yes. Come on then."

As I got out of bed, I tried to stand as stable as I could on my own but a week in bed hadn't done my balance any good. As I started to fall, the nurse was quick to catch me and say, "Woe there mister, don't be falling just yet. Here, this will be better."

She leaned me against the bed then walked over to the small closet,opened it and brought out a folded wheel chair. She unfolded it and brought it over to me and I sat in it, feeling less dizzy.

"Feel better?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am" I replied, chuckling a little.

As she wheeled me out of the room and down the hall, I thought about my current situation. I still hadn't gotten used to my parents being gone. While I had excepted the fact they were gone, the pain and shock still remained.

Though these feelings would fade with time, the one thing that wouldn't fade but build, was my anger. I had sworn that I would find and kill that f*#@ing zebra now matter what and my anger would not be quelled until I did.

I was jolted from my thoughts as the doors to the cafeteria banged against the wheel chair, causing me to flinch a little. I looked up and saw that there was a breakfast buffet filled with everything that you could think of.

My eyes went wide and my mouth fell open. The prospect of eating all of that delicious food made me start to drool a little as my tongue fell out the side of my mouth.

The nurse chuckled a little at my foolishness and wheeled me over to a table near the back of the room. As she positioned me at the end of the table, she said, "Now you wait here, I'll be right back with your food. Is there anything specific you want?"

I smiled as I replied, "Is everything specific enough?"

She laughed and said, "Oh alright, I'll try and get you a piece of everything."

She turned and walked to the buffet, leaving me alone with my thoughts yet again. I have to make a plan I decided. If I let the C.P.D (Canterlot Police Department) track the zebra down, then I could have my revenge. If they failed though, I would be forced to find him myself.

That kind of work seemed quite lonely though and I wanted to have someone close. Someone I could trust and hated zebra Templars or just zebras in general as much as I did.

Octavia would be someone I could trust but I don't know if I could approach her with something like that... I pondered and sifted through all the ponies I knew until the nurse came back to the table, a plate filled to the brim with food.

She placed it in front of me and said with a bit of a laugh, "I hope this is enough food for ya."

It was more then enough. The plate contained a salad piled with strawberries, grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and topped off with Canterlot's famous and unique 'Italian Dressing'.

Such a weird name for dressing. Oh well, Canterlot has come up with some pretty weird names before I thought as dug into the food. After literally scarfing down my food, I drained the glass of water the nurse had given me.

"All done there?" she asked with a smirk.

"Hmmm...." I contently hummed as I sat back and rubbed my now bulging belly.

She chuckled then said, "Alright young one, time to get back to your room. The Detective will be here in about ten minutes."

She got up and wheeled me out of the cafeteria and into the hallway to my room. As we moved down the hallway I said to the nurse, "You know I never did learn your name ma'am."

She laughed and said, "Your right. My name is Love Cross. The doctor who attended to you is my husband, Braveheart. We have a ten year old daughter named Redheart and is as energetic as a pony on steroids."

She stopped talking for a moment before apologizing, saying, "I'm sorry, medical slang got in the way."

I waved her off and said, "Don't worry about it. I grew up sometimes hearing a lot worse then that. My dad being a guard and all."

"Oh" she said as she wheeled me into my room. Parking me by the bed, I slowly got up and lifted myself onto the bed, experiencing a bit of vertigo as I did.   

I got settled in as Love Cross hooked me up to the machines again and went to see if Detective Treble and Tavi were here yet.

They all arrived about five minutes later, huge smiles on both Treble's and Octavia's faces. "Hey Night!" Tavi said as she came over and embrace me. I had only known her for less then half a day but the way she greeted me, it seemed as if we had known each other for years. 

I'm not one to complain though so I returned the hug, savoring every moment of it. As we broke apart, I looked over and found Treble with his hoof extended to me.

"It's good to see you again Night Bringer, are you feeling better today?" the detective asked as I took his hoof and shook it.

"Yes sir, I am" I replied, glancing at Octavia and smiling a little.

Tavi didn't notice this as she was looking at her father but Treble did and raised an eyebrow at me for a moment. Shaking it off he continued saying, "That's very good to hear. So do you think your ready to answer my questions now?"

Time to start the plan rolling I though before answering, "Yes, I think I am."

"Alright then, start at the beginning..."   

For the next few hours, he asked me different questions about the murder of my parents the week before. I answered as best as my injured self could remember. He also went into other details that quit frankly I can't remember.

Now, normally I would be nervous out of my mind at being asked so many questions but now was definetly wasn't normal. The other reason I wasn't scared or nervous was Octavia. She stayed at the side of my bed the entire time, not leaving even for a moment.

Even though I barely knew her, it was calming to have her close to me. Eventually, the detective had asked me literally every question in the book and he stopped with a sigh.

"Well, I think that's about it for now. I might need to ask a few more if something comes up" he said.

"Oh ok well you know where to find me" I said as my eyes went wide. More questions? How could he need to ask more?! My brain is going to like explode if he asks more! 

Tavi saw this and giggled at my bewilderment. I blushed as I smiled sheepishly. Our little moment was broken as Nurse Cross cleared her throat and said, "Well, not necessarily."

Treble, Octavia, and I all looked at her and asked in union, "What?"

She seemed a little distraught as she said, "Well, he's healed enough that he can leave tomorrow. We have no other reason to keep him here any longer. We would send him to the orphanage but it's not finished construction yet..." 

I faced hooved as I said, "Well, here's to eating out of trash cans again..."

They all looked at me, confusion plastered on their faces. Treble spoke first, saying, "What do you mean Night?"

I looked up from my face hoof and said, "Oh umm... Well you see, a couple of years ago, my family went to Los Pegasis because... Hold on, I'll start at the beginning. So, you all know that when Princess Luna was banished hundreds of years  ago that her Royal Guards were merged with Princess Celestia's, correct?"

The three ponies nodded their heads and I continued. "Well because of this, when Princess Celestia went to Los Pegasis about four years ago, my father had to go as well because he was of Princess Luna's Royal Guard. 

So, when my father was ordered to accompany the Princess, he insisted my mother and I come with. While we were there though, I was lured away by the sweet smells of a nearby vendor."

I paused to take breath before continuing. "When I turned back around, my parents were gone. I searched for the rest of the day but could not find them. Heck, half the time I couldn't find where I had last been! Anyway, I ended up sleeping in an alley way for about four days, eating out of trash cans and frying during the day because it was the height of summer.

I ended up finding my father when the Princess happened to walk by my alley. I spotted my father who immediately took me to my mother; after being dismissed from duty of course. So now I guess I have to do that again but this time in the freezong cold and for A LOT longer."

Treble frowned and said, "Is there no place that you could stay? No relatives?"

I shook my head sadly and replied, "No. Both my parents were only foals and both sets of grandparents died last year in a train wreck."

The detective's frown deepened as he furrowed his brow in thought. The room was silent for a few minutes before Tavi piped up and said, "Well, why doesn't he stay with us father? We've got plenty of room at home."

"Well..." her father said, hesitating a little.

"Pleeeeease?" Octavia asked, putting on the cutest set of puppy dog eyes I had ever seen.

Treble mulled this over in his mind til he finally said, "Well, alright. What do you think Night? Would you like to stay with Tavi and me?"

I smiled a huge smile and almost yelled, "Would I?!" I blushed as I composed myself and said, "Uh, I mean: thank you both for this offer and I gratefully accept."

Tavi laughed and said, "No need to be formal Night, if your going to live with us then you have to learn to act casual around us. You can be formal in public though of course." 

I blushed again and replied, "Oh ok, cool then." 

Treble cleared his throat and said, "It's settled then, we will be here in the morning to collect Night and take him to our home. Til then Night Bringer. Come Octavia."

Tavi hugged me again and said, "See you tomorrow!" before following her father out of the door. I sighed contently and Nurse Cross chuckled.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all" she replied as she winked at me.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. There was silence as she did her last few checks for the day and started to walk out of my room. Just before she left, she stopped in the door way and said, "You know, you don't find kindness like that every day. Learn to cherish it and her young one."

I looked at her, confused a little bit. She winked again and said, "You know what I'm talking about" then turned my light off and shut the door behind her.

I thought then smiled as I figured it out. I layed my head down and thought, The plan is in motion and a new life awaits me. Everything is going to be ok

Hey everpony, hoped you enjoyed the third chapter! I know its kind of a short chapter and that I took a little longer writing but things are about to pick up in the story so be on the look out for the next update! Comment and Review Please!