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// Chapter 2: The Power of Loyalty 
// Story: Pegasus Creed: Advent 
// by Baryski 
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Chapter 2: The Power of Loyalty
The hood on my white cloak hung low over my head.  Here, now, no one could possibly know who I was.  Yet I still felt the eyes of other members drill into me as I passed by.  It had been a very long time since I had last walked these halls and, even now, in the outfit of a full Journeypony I felt as though I didn’t belong.

My wings ached under the strain of the belts and long metal sheaths attached to them.  Likewise, I could not get used to the feeling of the belts and shorter sheaths now adorning my hooves, nor the cold steel I could feel along my back.  I had worn this gear many times before, but in more than a year of absence it felt almost alien to my body.  I missed the freedom of the sky, and the lightness of wearing nothing.  But, I had been summoned for a job and I could not leave, nor remove my gear, until it was properly completed.

I grabbed the handle of the large metal door at the end of the corridor, the handle leading into the master’s audience chamber.  Everything inside was exactly the same as the last time I came here.  Bloodstained swords hung framed on the walls and underneath the name of the honored member they had once belonged to.  After every three swords a tapestry hung, each portraying a mission of especial honor to the organization; all the tapestries depicted bloody battles.  The second to last tapestry depicted the day I had earned the titled of Journeypony and, also, the day I had finally learned to steel my emotions on the battlefield.

It was a gruesome tapestry.  My figure stood against a pony with a long flowing mane, a glowing blue horn, and, where the front hooves should have been, the claws of a lion.  Under my feet were countless bodies including four that looked like Celestia’s royal guards.  I could never forget that day.  It was the day that I realized that everything I did was necessary, but at the same time I had realized that I could never truly walk in the sunlit sky I loved so much.

“Storm Blade, or should I call you Rainbow Dash?”  The master sat in the large chair at the end end of the large audience chamber, his one patched eye a reminder of everything he had given up for this organization.  Somehow his use of my Creed name and my worldly title filled me with both fear and shame.  He wanted to show me that I had no place being proud of a fake name, and he accomplished that with great disdain.

“No master, Storm Blade is who I have always been,”  It hurt to deny the name that had so many good times with my friends; The name that had helped to vanquish Nightmare Moon and Discord, but the master was right in showing me that Rainbow Dash was nothing more than a lie.  I slowly lowered the hood on my Creed cloak and bowed my head to the master allowing my rainbow mane to slightly spill out onto the floor.


“It’s good that you haven’t forgotten who you are now that you are a savior of Equestria.  Now, approach and listen to the mission I have ahead for you,” He spoke with such disgust at my achievements.  But, why shouldn’t he?  These were the achievements of a pony who had never existed, a mear covering for the truly disgusting shadow underneath.  The covering should never have shone as brightly as it did now, but there was little I could do about it.  I approached and bowed my front hooves and head below his raised seat.  I could never betray my loyalty for him, no matter how he felt about me.

“Rise,” He spoke as he stood from his chair and gently strode over to my tapestry.  He had been so proud on the day I accomplished that.  I still remembered the look of pride on his face, “This mission may be a little more personal than you are used to.  The target this time is the mayor of your beloved Ponyville.”

It was a good thing he was still staring at the tapestry or else he would have seen the utter shock on my face.  How could I be asked to kill somepony like her?  Moreover, how was it possible that she was doing something against the interests of Equestria?  No, I just couldn’t swallow this that easily.

“It appears that she has been secretly funneling money to a radical group called the Equestria Liberation Front,” He continued without caring to look behind him and witness my anger over the target, “Apparently they are dedicated to ‘Freeing’ Equestria by killing the Princesses and handing control of Equestria over to the nation of Squreisha.  One can only assume they will be handsomely rewarded for this.”

Even if I didn’t want to believe it, the organization’s information had never been doubted.  If the master said it was true then she must be worthy of being a target, “You are quite familiar with the terms of a mission?  You are judge, jury and executioner.  You will make sure she is dead, and that there are no living witnesses, nor any way to track it back to us.  To the kingdom we are simply shadows.”

I once again bowed my head and responded politely, “Yes master, it will be done.”  I was already half way to the door before I was once again stopped by his words.

“Oh, and Storm Blade,” It was such a nice tone of voice, unlike the master at all, “Shadow Hoof will accompany you on the mission.  I can’t risk your emotions clouding your judgement on this mission.  He will make sure the job is done properly.”

“Yes master,” The thought of that ridiculous pony being my watchdog infuriated me.  I was his superior in the organization by almost two full years and now the master was acting like I couldn’t be trusted.  I would prove to him that I was still as good as ever and that I could compete with any task he threw my way.