//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Dark tidings, Dark forces. // Story: Days of the Knight // by Sanguine Eyes //------------------------------// The crest that had just moments ago been forcefully torn out of the armor of the prisoner now clanged about on the tabletop. "Sister? We do not quite understand..." "It’s a crest that belonged to a pony who had just made an attempt on my life." Luna looked down at it and winced. The reminder sprang up a deep emotional pang of regret and sadness. "Tia...are you sure this came off of the assassin?" Her heart sank at the sight of the emblem and the thought of an assassin within the same thought. "Positive, and more than that. He was a bat winged pegasus. Also, he said something that is very disturbing." "What more could have been done sister? This is already a terrible thing indeed." The white alicorn breathed in, trying to settle her nerves. The assassination was nothing, it was the crest and what the would-be assassin said that was disturbing. "Lulu, He did not say it directly, but he implied that he was directed to kill me by someone old enough to know you before your banishment. Someone who was very, very, well... let us just say attached to you." Luna shivered and shook her head. She knew plainly what her sister was leading on about but it made no sense to her on multiple levels. "No... He is dead; he has been dead for a thousand years." "That is what I was thinking as well sister, but there are other possibilities. I have a few ponies looking into the latest census we took of the dark island, his old home, where his descendants live. It turns out that his family is still there and as such I believe this failed assassin is from the same area as well." Luna clamped her eyes shut and gave her head a good shake trying to wrap her mind around it all. "Tia... why would someone from Dark island want to harm you?" "It’s not just me - at least I do not think so, as he ranted about you too. I have a theory of what is going on, but really, I have not much to go on. I was hoping to run it by you and hopefully get a little more insight." "Yes sister, whatever it takes to put a stop to this. I am assuming that you have reason to believe that it’s not an isolated case?" "Yes... but it’s not all that much. Right now we are in the dark and we need to get everything in order before we stop by Dark Island and figure out ourselves what exactly is going on." Luna nodded, her mind churning and bubbling about in question of why anyone would attack the sisters in the name of the Abyssal family. "Tia...don't you think the newest member of royalty should be brought in on this?" "I will brief her later, for now it is not as important. This individual claims to be part of a group, and that group...is targeting us. As of now, it is solely our problem. War, assassinations, and that whole side of politics is something I would rather Twilight mature a bit more before she learns of that. There are things a leader must learn before she or he becomes strong enough to endure." "Sister, she will get there. Please tell us of your theory on this assassin and why he has the Abyssal Crest." Celestia nodded, giving a calming sigh. She was confident her sister could come to the same conclusion, but they did not have a great track record when it came to thinking identically. Better talk it out and get her opinion too. "General Dart was a normal bat winged pegasus. There was nothing special about him, other than his obscenely well honed martial skill and his obnoxious habits of overreacting to every little threat. Well aside from that he was still fiercely loyal to us, specifically you, but he would die before allowing any harm to come to me as well." Luna nodded firmly. A mix between a smile of how dutiful and dedicated he was to her and a somewhat disturbed frown at how obsessed with duty he was. Every day she literally had to order him to go to sleep, or he would stay up for weeks guarding her personally. "Yes, and just to add to that, hiring an assassin was something he would never do. Dart valued his soldiers too much to allow them to face an enemy alone." "Not to mention his crazed need to challenge everything to a one on one duel to the death." "Yes, and the fact that it was his crest. He never just gave out his family name to anypony. His family was the one thing he valued more than his own honor, and you dear sister, were just barely above that. So whoever is pulling the strings is using his family or assuming his identity. And whatever it is that this pony is after he is lying through his teeth and pulling every string he can to get his way." She sighed angrily before clearing her throat and continuing. More than likely it was a stallion within his family, but she did not want to insinuate guilt against somepony whose blood carried the linage of the bravest and most honorable stallion she had ever even laid eyes on. "Well, let’s see, the assassin said something about having somepony who knew the ‘truth’ from even before you were banished. This must be the specific somepony that is pulling the strings, and somehow he got the Abyssal family to act on his will." "Or her will." "No, the assassin specifically referred to this pony as male. It’s a stallion and probably another bat winged pegasus. The inhabitants of Dark Island are not only a bit reclusive, but they do not do much trade with anything but other bat ponies or those who have been on their island for generations. So either he is a bat pony or he was born on the island." Both sisters sat in thought for a moment. Rarely did they ever stop and visit the dreadful place. There was always high winds and lightning. The island had an infamous razor reef that would shred any boat to pieces, had it attempted to enter through the water. What the island also had was the home of a particularly nasty storm spirit who would only calm down a shade or two during the night when it slept, meaning anypony who wanted to come to or leave the island would have to do so only at night. To top it off, they would still have to be excellent flyers with excellent night vision. Luna herself had no problems making it there, but Celestia only managed to make the trip twice in her life. Once when she allowed the Knights Of The Night to be formed over a thousand years ago, and again when Dart's charred remains were found and his old helm was returned to his wife and young children. The island itself seemed like a desolate place no one would ever want to live, but it was here that the Bat Winged Pegasi thrived. The trees grew a nutritious and delicious almost mixture between a fig and a peach. There was an abundant natural spring; a paradise for these natural creatures of the night. “So your plan is to just go to dark island to ask if they plotted to kill you? We think you will not get the answer you need.” “Luna, you know I am not that dim witted. We will just have another census taken. We can send some of our best agents to see what is happening on Dark Island. If Dart’s descendants really are being forced to feed some sort of rebellion, we will nip it in the bud and hopefully resolve this with minimal damage to his legacy.” Luna nodded approvingly. It had only been 45 minutes or so since the assassin was discovered and already they had a valid lead and a reasonable method of investigating it. She stood up and shook her head again trying to clear out the last of what horrible implications this even was bringing in, for one of her dearest of old friends. However, the quiet of their meeting, even though it was already over, seemed to still have to be interrupted by a flash of golden armor as a gray stallion entered abruptly. “Your majesty!” Celestia looked up standing quickly “What is it? Have you new information from the prisoner?” He shook his head in what almost looked like panic “The Crystal Empire….Princess Cadence. Assassins have attacked Princess Cadence and Shining Armor!”