//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Brotherhood of the Moon // by ZakTH //------------------------------// Brotherhood of the Moon Chapter 3 It turned out that Luna was right; Dash and Firefly were very alike. They both had a love for speed, as indicated by Firefly's blue lightning bolt cutie mark, they both loved to cause mischief, considering the joy Firefly took in angering guards, and they were both humongous show offs. This became clear now, with Firefly jumping from several wooden posts in a not-yet complete building. She laughed as she pranced along them, the guards behind her struggling to keep their balance. After a third guard had given chase, Dash decided that enough was enough, she was tired of playing with these guards. But how to escape? Luckily, Firefly subtly nudged Dash in the right direction. A group of pigeons sat on a ledge, And Dash ran for it with all her might. Not stopping, she leapt off the edge and flipped gracefully into a bale of hay. The guards above lost sight of her. She could hear them asking where she went, looking down the ledge. After a while they gave up and returned to their posts. "He he he, suckers..." Dash laughed to herself, climbing out of the hay pile and into the busy street. "It's getting late, Maybe I should go get some shut-eye." Dash thought to herself. "Returning home would be a good idea, especially since I'm getting an energy spike around the corner from Firefly's house. It's probably the start of a very prominent memory." Luna spoke in Dash's mind. "I'll highlight the spot in The Animus." A soft glow emanated from an alley way nearby. It turned out Dash was close to home already, so she turned into the alley. The spot in which the memory started was a glowing white cone, swirling with tendrils of light, but seemingly invisible to everyone besides her. As soon as Dash stepped into the white spot, Firefly re-gained full control. Dash was once again put in a spectator position for the beginning of the memory. Turning the corner, Dash spotted the familiar door of her ancestor's home, but something was off. Two guard ponies stood at the door, as if to deny entry. A white unicorn with a golden mane and beard walked out of the home wearing extravagant clothing. Firefly retreated back to the alleyway. A Unicorn? In Hoofington? What reason could he possibly have to be in the village, much less her home?" Firefly tried her best to listen to him talk. "Well," the unicorn said in an regal tone. "That was a bit messy, but the job is done at last. I'll need you two to get someone to wash this though, ugh, so disgusting." the unicorn wiped at a red stain on his clothing. A reddish-brown stain, the color of dried blood? Oh no. "Shall we stay here the night sir?" asked one of the guards. "Heavens no! I'll need you two to escort me back to Canterlot, who knows what these pathetic peasants will attempt. Besides, no one will come here, I'll send a group tomorrow to clean up." "As you wish Sire." the guards said bowing to him, then following him as he walked away. Dash once again had control, and ran to the door as quickly as she could. "Mom? Dad!" she spouted absentmindedly as she burst through the door. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but no one was inside. "Dash" said Luna, chiming in. "The Animus allows you a heightened sense of perception, try focusing on seeing past your surroundings." Dash thought hard, she stared at the walls, trying what Luna suggested. "No, really concentrate!" Luna said. Dash tried harder, she closed her eyes and just stood there, focusing. Just when she was sure nothing was happening, she opened her eyes, only to see the room very different. Everything was in a darkened shade of navy blue, while certain things glowed. Dash herself glowed blue, and the desk in the room had certain papers glowing white. Dash picked them up and examined them to find not astrology maps or reports, but some sort of blueprint for an extending gadget. Deciding they were important, Dash stored them for latter. The other glowing part of the room was the door to the next room, and a set of hoof prints leading into it. It did not look good, but she had to look inside, it was important. Expecting the worst, Dash opened the door to the kitchen and gasped. Starry Skies, Firefly's mother, lay on the floor lifeless, a pool of blood forming around her. Dash could see the green hoof of Firefly's father lying on the other side of the table. It was too much to bear; Firefly seized control once again, and ran to her mother. "Mom!" she yelled, turning her mother's head to face her, but her eyes were closed, her skin cold, a bloody wound cut into her stomach. A sudden groan from the other side of the room moved Firefly's attention elsewhere. "Dad?" she said hopefully, running around to see her father in a similar condition, but still struggling against the pain. At the sight of her, he smiled a bit, but the grimace of suffering did not leave him. Dash noticed he had a sword lying next to him, as well as a strange brace on his left hoof. Firefly dropped to her knees. Speechless, all she could do was nod her head no. But her father continued to convulse with pain, soon he would lose his touch with the world. "...Dad, no!" Firefly cried. "Please, no! I'm..." she simply could not speak correctly at the sight. Her father was dying right before her eyes and she was helpless to do anything but watch and pray. Using the last remaining ounces of his strength, Nightingale took off his hoof brace and grasped his Daughter's foreleg. He placed it in her hooves and smiled again. Then, with a great grunt of pain, returned to lying down. Tears now flowed freely down Firefly's face. Her father opened his mouth to say something, but naught but air escaped his lips. His eyes growing heavy, he settled on another warm smile, and slowly passed from the world, still holding his daughter's hoof tightly. "...No!" Firefly screamed between coughs and fits of sobbing. Her sorrow overtaking her whole being, reducing her to nothing but a flow of loss and mourning. Her parents had just been killed...and she could do nothing about it. Where Firefly was overcome with sorrow, Dash and Luna were more shocked. "...That doesn't look like an unfortunate applecart accident to me!" Dash exclaimed. "The Flames most likely staged an accident later on to make their deaths look natural..." Luna said. "Still, I could never have predicted them to die when she was so young..." The two onlookers watched the scene play out; watched Firefly reduce to a crying heap and watched her parents lay still. It was enough to break a pony's heart. Dash tried to take control again, but Firefly wouldn’t let her, her emotions were raging. She still wanted control again, but Dash partly understood. She couldn’t imagine what kind of misery Firefly must have been going through at the moment. Firefly turned to the brace. Her father had spent his last moments giving her it, but what was it? Was it special? She strapped it onto her left hoof. It seemed normal enough, just an intricate hoof brace, what could it… A knife shot out. Firefly jumped back a little at the sudden weapon, and it retracted. She tried to repeat the movement, and found that with a subtle shift in her hoof, she could eject and retract the knife. The brace was not just for protection, it was also a hidden weapon. Dash felt Firefly change. Her sadness left her, her tears ceased. All her drowning sorrow had turned to a boiling hot anger. Her father had given her this knife, she’d seen the unicorn that did it, and she knew where he was headed. She was wrong to think she was helpless before. She knew what had to be done; she wanted to make that white unicorn feel all her sorrow, all her pain, and then some. She was going to hunt down this pony, and murder him. “I…” Dash said, shocked at the sudden change of emotion. “I thought you said Firefly was a lot like me…” She was surprised Firefly would so easily turn to murder. “She is, you have to understand this may shake her a little.” Luna said. “She probably isn’t herself.” “That’s…nothing like me.” Dash said softly. “I can’t do this Luna! I can’t do this to other ponies! It's not me!" she pleaded. If she could see Luna, she would have looked at her with desperate eyes; she didn't want to cause other ponies this pain, even if they were evil. "...Dash" Luna began. "Have you ever heard of 'the greater good’?" Dash mentally nodded. "Sure, the good of the people and all that." "Well, what is a life worth, if it’s compared to many?" The strangely cryptic expression was a bit to thoughtful for Dash's tastes. "What if I told you, that if Firefly kills this one pony, she saves hundreds?" Luna rephrased. Dash thought about it. She would really be doing good by killing him then? If he killed so many ponies, is it so bad for him to die? It still felt wrong. Dash could not shake that feeling, but if it would save so many, maybe it was something that had to be done... "But...I'd be just as bad as he is." She said "No." Luna said as if it were a fact, not her view of it. "The Flames kill for power and money, Assassins kill for justice and protection. The Flames burn away to consume the world, while Assassins work in the dark to serve the light." A strange Dejá Vu feeling overcame Dash. "That sounds...familiar, but I don't think I've heard it before..." "I'm sure it will come up eventually." Luna said. "Now, we should get back to Firefly." A day had passed. Wanting to avenge her parents as quickly as possible, Firefly had left the next morning. She still wore the hidden blade on one hoof, while her father's sword dangled by her side. She'd also packed food for the trip, some bits for the inns, and had stopped by the doctor to see if he had medicine for light wounds. He'd given her some smelling salts. They wouldn't actually heal anything he'd said, but they would numb the pain as if she would be healed instantly. She now traveled by foot on the road from Hoofington to Canterlot. Getting out of Hoofington was not a problem, the gates were usually guarded, but luckily Firefly had connections. It turned out she had old friends in the courtesan business. She'd payed them a few bits to distract the guards with their "services" while she slipped through. After that, it was just a matter of traveling. She didn't have enough money to hire a carriage, and she didn't want to steal a cart with so many guards close by, so she decided to go the route by foot. Unfortunately, her timing was bad. Leaving the city at mid-day meant traveling the road at night, with the nearest inn miles away. Dash walked the dark road, trying to not fall asleep while walking, which was surprisingly harder than it sounds. As tired as she was, she had to find some place to rest. She imagined what The Everfree Forest must have been like at this time, probably filled with even more horrible and dangerous creatures. The last thing she wanted to deal with was- *Crack* She froze. A stick being broken, the recognized sound of bad news. She reached to her side and unsheathed her sword. The bushes rustled, something was in there, and She didn’t think it was a little bunny. “…Come out of the bushes!” She said through the hilt in her mouth. “I have a sword! I’m warning you!” She knew this couldn’t have been an animal noise, it stopped to suddenly, whatever it was, it knew she noticed them, and stood as still as it could. For a while nothing happened, Dash stood there with her sword out, and everything stood in place. But after a few seconds had passes, she heard a low chuckling. A dark brown colt came walking out of the brush. He looked dirty, and had naught but a hat on him. Dash noticed he didn’t have a Cutie Mark, probably never worked for anything in his life, which meant one thing. A thief. “Well hello there.” He said with a rugged accent. “What’s a nice mare like you doin out alone in a place like this?” His eyes moved to the sword. “…And with a dangerous thing like that?” Obviously a pony did not hang out in bush in the dark of night to meet people and have a nice conversation, he wanted something. Whether it be money, or herself, Dash wasn’t going to let him have it. “Just…let me pass.” Dash said, trying to look threatening while trying her best to keep her balance with a sword hilt in her mouth. "Aw come on, you don’t even know how to use that thing! Holdin it in yer mouth like that, what are ya, a dog?" he laughed again, harder. It got louder as he went, or was it the sound of others laughing with him? Sure enough, three more thief ponies revealed themselves from the bushes; one even came out behind her. "I'm afraid I can't just let you go missy, not without a proper exchange..." They stepped closer to her, eyes filled with bad intention. She was getting boxed in, four against one, she didn't have a chance. She lunged at one, swinging the sword with all her might. It connected, slashing the criminal across his front hooves. Unfortunately, the leader had been right; there was a right way and a wrong way to hold a sword, and in her mouth was the wrong way. Her grip slipped, and the sword went flying with its target. He groaned and lay still, the sword impaled in his stomach. She was left with no weapon and three angry outlaws. "Why you little..." The front most one mumbled to himself, drawing a dagger and heading for her. "Dash!" Luna yelled. "Do something! Use the blade!" Dash looked at her left hoof, she wasn't totally helpless after all, the knife was still there. The rough pony lunged, dagger in one hoof, murder in his eyes. This was her opening, this was where she had to act. She hesitated. Dash was still not ready to willingly plunge a knife into a pony's heart and take his life. Her attacker did not, however, give her more time to think. With a sickening squelch, Dash heard the dagger enter her body, felt it penetrate her innards, saw her vest reveal a slowly growing red stain. The burning pain shot through her mind, she felt herself struggling to breathe. He assailant retracted his knife, now bloody red, and let Dash fall to the ground. She coughed, bright red splattering the ground. Her breathing quickened its pace, and she felt the tug of death pull at her consciousness. She tried to hold on, tried to keep herself awake from the eternal slumber, but fate was strong, and with a pathetic gasp, she let go of her last breath, and slipped away from the living world.... DESYNCHRONIZATION The words seemed to appear from nowhere, but their presence was in no way subtle. No matter where Dash looked, they were in her central field of vision. The world began to shake, the ground made a horrible rumbling sound. White lines boxed in sections of the area, as if the world was built on a grid system. The air seemed to flash red like an alarm. Dash looked ahead, and saw the road ahead of her breaking, bit and pieces being pulled into a violently expanding white void. The wall of destruction drew nearer, and consumed the thieves, then her sword, then Dash herself. Then, nothingness. A clear white slate of nothing. Dash found herself standing on a perfectly blank plane that seemed to go on forever. Before she could even begin to process her existence however, the world rebuilt itself around her. The dark forest returned, the thieves appeared again, along with her sword and the pony impaled with it. She found herself standing again, the head thief looking angry once again. "Why you little..." The thief said again, re-drawing his now clean dagger. Once again, he made movements to harm her, threateningly approaching her well-being. He thrusted the dagger once again, searching to impale her with it. "This is how the past world works Dash." Said Luna. "You either fight, or you die. It's a dog-eat-dog world” The thief seemed to understand that perfectly well. Dash took a deep breath, and did not wait this time to take the offensive. *Clang!* The sound of metal striking metal rang out in the air of the quiet forest. The thief’s expression changed from one of hatred, to one of surprise when Dash brought up her hoof to knock the dagger away with the front of her brace. Her hoof still up, she exposed the hidden blade and brought it across her attacker's neck, slicing his jugular. With a spatter of red, he spun and fell to the ground lifeless, his face still one of utter shock. The other two thieves advanced, their own daggers flashing in the moonlight. Dash sidestepped to avoid the attack from behind and in front, and slashed at the thief behind her's hoof. Grabbing the dagger he dropped, she plunged it into his neck and kicked him down, turning to deflect the last one's knife. With another kick, she knocked the air out of him, and thrusted her blade into his chest, right at the heart. His eyes rolled back as he fell over and died. Once again, the forest became utterly silent. Her four attackers now lay dead at Dash's hooves, blood stained the ground, and she herself had sputters of red on her clothes and blade. Still, she was alive, and that was all that mattered. Even though they were cruel ponies, Dah felt like leaving them dead was not right. She wanted to offer something, even a passing phrase, just to prove to herself that she was not as cold-blooded as they were. Nothing came to her, but Firefly knew just what to say, her father's native language becoming readily available for Dash's speech. "...Requiescat in pace...." she said softly, retrieved her fallen sword, and began on her way once again, the glittering city of Canterlot waiting for her.