The Order Reborn.

by Dark Star the Crazed

Colonial Rite Chapter 2

The room remained silent for a while before the eldest of the Princesses sighed. "I have heard rumors that some nobles are planning a coup, but I have been unable to find any evidence to prove it. Are you saying that you know who the perpetrators are?"

Haytham nodded. "We can give you one name, the rest we can learn from him." Celestia was about to ask who the traitor was, but Shay raised his hand and cut her off.

"What is the punishment for treason in this country?"

"Death." Luna began to feel uneasy, not liking where this conversation was headed. "Why do you ask?" The men all looked at Haytham and nodded.

"In that case, we offer you our services in order to eliminate the traitor and his co-conspirators." Celestia was about to protest, but Haytham cut her off. "Before you refuse, let me point out that the nobles of this country are cowards, and if you arrest him, the other traitors will be quick to destroy all evidence of their crimes."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Haytham has a point Celestia, besides, there are some noble families that even you and Luna can't touch, and if those families are a part of the conspiracy, we would be unable to touch them, even with proof of treason." Celestia, Luna and Twilight's friends all looked at her in shock. "As of this moment, I am placing these men under my protection, and I approve their request to eliminate the traitors themselves." She then looked at the group of Templars. "You are to set about your task right away."

The Templars were shocked that it was Twilight who had approved their request. 'Perhaps we should make her a member of the Order, if she shares our ideals and goals of course.' Haytham stood up and looked at Twilight. "You are aware that the target will die?" The young princess nodded her head in conformation. "Very well then."

Haytham turned and looked at his fellow Templars. "Gentlemen, the princess has given her consent to our operation. We are to go to Canterlot, find Lord Silver Tongue, learn the names of his co-conspirators as well as any other secrets he may possess. And after we have learned all we can from him, we shall make sure that he never betrays the Equestrian royal family again. We leave for Canterlot immediately." The Templars all stood up and gave Twilight a nod before leaving.

Once they had left Celestia walked over to Twilight and sat down next to her. "Twilight... Do you realize that you just sent eight men to end the life of another?" The young princess nodded, not regretting her choice.

"Celestia, I am quite aware of what I just did, and I would do the same if I was presented with the situation again." All of the Equestrians looked at Twilight in shock. "Now, before you hate me, think that Haytham and the others have manipulated me, or believe I have gone insane, allow me to explain why I just signed Lord Silver Tongue's death warrant."

Once everyone had taken their seats, Twilight started to explain. "Luna, as you said, the punishment for treason is death, so Silver Tongue would have died anyway, and Haytham was most likely correct when he said that the other conspirators, if there are any, would destroy all evidence linking them to the plot. I simply chose, what I believe to be the best course of action in order to prevent the coup. And before you ask why I'm being so cold and unfeeling, let me just say that I don't care what you think about me anymore."

"Twilight... You've changed since the issue with Tirek. You've been becoming colder, less caring and distant..." Twilight looked at her former teacher, seeing a look of pure concern on her face. "What happened to you? What changed?"

The room remained silent for three full minutes before Twilight responded. The young woman was calm, she had expected Celestia to ask that question, a she had an answer ready. "I grew up and I realized that the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It's only like that in the countries that we Equestrians rule, the rest of the world is a cold and cruel place, filled with famine and disease... And what do we do to help the rest of the world? Nothing. And that's not even mentioning all the lives that have been lost... All the lives lost because you wouldn't help them!"

"Twi' what are you talking about...?" The young princess looked at her farmer friend and tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.

"The changelings, Applejack... Chrysalis and her subjects didn't attack because they wanted to, but because they needed to. They only attacked Equestria because they were desperate... Chrysalis actually went to Celestia and asked, no, begged her for help, but Celestia turned her away!" Twilight stood up and walked over to Celestia, a look of anger and disgust on her face. "You knew they were starving and you turned them away! They were dying and you knew it! You knowingly condemned an entire race to death! Their ejection from Canterlot on the day of the wedding killed half of their race! And it turns out that this isn't the first time it has happened either! I used to think Chrysalis was the villain, but she's not! The villain in that situation was you Celestia!"

Celestia was silent for a few minutes before she closed her eyes. "I was doing what was best for Equestria, Twilight. You're just too young to understand..."

Thomas Hickey looked down at the injured noble, Lord Silver Tongue, lying on the ground and smirked. "Ready ta' talk yet?" He kicked the man in the gut. "'Ow 'bout now?" Another kick. "Listen, I can do this 'til ya' die, but I'll stop if you jus' tell us who ya' work for."

Thomas kicked the noble again, harder this time, and was rewarded with the sight of the noble coughing up some blood. "S-stop! I'll tell you anything you! Just stop hurting me!"

"Good." Thomas kicked the man again before signaling Shay and Haytham. "He's all yours boys, I'm goin' to see if I can find anythin' valuable. That's why I told Church ta' get a horse n' cart, ta' move the goods." He was out of the room before either of the higher ranking Templars could protest. With that, the man with the cockney accent quickly went about his business, finding any jewelry or just plain gemstones, as well as silver, gold and anything else that he thought could be considered valuable before putting them in burlap sacks and taking them behind the mansion that Silver tongue dwelled in, and placing them in a waiting cart.

"Hickey, are you done yet?" Church was beginning to get frustrated, he had been waiting for the man to finish for what seemed like an eternity, while the other Templars had already left and were headed back to Ponyville by train. The only reason that Church had yet to leave was because he knew that he and his brothers would need funding for future operations. "If you don't hurry up I'll-!"

Hickey stuck his head out of a window above Church. "Almost done, I jus' need to get this safe open." A few minutes later there was a loud thud followed by Hickey talking to himself. "'Wha' the 'ell? Haytham's gonna want to know about this!" Seconds later Hickey was out the door and sitting next to Church. "'Ey Ben, look wha' I found!" The man flicked his wrist, exposing a hidden blade. "There are Assassins in this world too."

"So Princess, if I'm understanding you correctly, you want to use magic to see some of my memories, right? You want to see what I've done in the past?" Seeing the princess nod, Shay thought for a second. "Alright, I'll pick one, and you only get one." Twilight sighed, but nodded as her hands began to glow before she touched Shay's forehead.

In a flash of light Twilight was standing in a room with a man that looked to be of Zebrican descent. Shay suddenly burst into the room and began yelling at the man. "So what's the next city you want me to smite?! What happened in Haiti happened in Portugal. A great earthquake. Thousands dead, thanks to your damned Manuscript!" A woman ran into the room and put herself between the two men.

The black man seemed to be shocked at Shay's words. "This cannot be."

The woman looked at Shay. "Shay, a person cannot start an earthquake."

"A person meddling with these Precursor machines could. You saw the Box, Hope. The Temple was filled to bursting with that kind of power." Shay turned back toward the black man. "You made me SLAUGHTER INNOCENTS!"

Hope became enraged by Shay's words. "How dare you!"

"You defend him? Achilles sent me in there like Mackandal sent his man in Haiti. He knew."

Another man came into the room and helped restrain Shay. "What the hell's going on? Stop this!"

Achilles spoke up. "The operation was delicate, perhaps you-"

Shay roared. "You are shifting the earth itself. Who are you to decide what city falls next?"

Achilles scowled and motioned to the door. "Get him out of here."

Hours later in the memory Twilight found Shay sitting by a campfire. "Liam is a fool if he thinks I'll leave this be. Achilles cannot be trusted. He must never find another Precursor Temple. I don't care that he's Mentor, or that his family is dead. There's no excuse for this level of madness!"

What followed was shocking to Twilight. Shay broke into a building a stole a book, was confronted by Achilles, escaped and ran until he came to a cliff overlooking a bay, with Liam pointing a pistol at him.

"That's enough! "

Hope took a step forward. "Give back the Manuscript, Shay. I'm sure Achilles-"

"I cannot. I will not let this happen again. All those souls lost... One more hardly matters."

Shay started walking towards the edge of the cliff. Twilight heard Liam call Shay's name before time seemed to slow. She watched as Shay was shot in the back before he fell down and off the cliff plunging into the bay.

Twilight opened her eyes and found that she was alone in her bedroom. "Achilles made him cause an earthquake that killed thousands... It's no wonder Shay has so much guilt in his aura..." The woman with lavender wings got up. "I have to help him get over the earthquake, it wasn't his fault! What kind of friend, let alone Princess of Friendship, would I be if I just left him miserable like that?" With her mission decided, Twilight ran out the door... And ran right back in to get dressed up when she realized that she and Trixie, who she had been dating since the Alicorn Amulet incident, had a date tonight. Shay could wait another day.

Rainbow walked up to her closet, opened it, and got on her knees. The others may not have seen it, but Rainbow knew the symbol that had been on the silver rings that Haytham and the others wore. "Templars..." The woman with cyan wings opened a secret compartment it the floor, pulling out a hooded cloak and two bracers with retractable blades. "The other Assassins are gonna want to know about this..." Time stopped before the world turned into pixels and disappeared.