Brotherhood of the Moon

by ZakTH

Chapter 4

Brotherhood of the Moon
Chapter 4

Canterlot. The city stood as a glittering utopia shut out from the cruel world around it. Towers rose above the skyline, swirling to the skies. Giant cathedrals displayed intricate glass work, casting colorful shadows around them. Tall walls protected the city and surrounded it standing formidable against the harsh forest surrounding it. It seemed as though everything was extravagant in Canterlot, but Dash wasn't here to see the sights, she needed to do something; and she needed it done quickly. No time to stick around and visit landmarks.

The gates to Canterlot were huge; giant metal cages that fit between an arched doorway. Many guards stood outside them, watching the road for trouble. Getting in to Canterlot would be a problem, Dash doubted they would just let her in, and the walls were too steep to climb. Hoping for the best, she approached the gate to try to gain access. However, it seemed somepony was already trying to negotiate their way in.

"Nonononono! You don't understand, I really need to get in! It's very urgent!" a pink Unicorn was begging the guard to let her into the city. The guard shook his head no.

"I'm sorry mam, but without your travel papers, I can't let you in." The unicorn was kind of young, around Dash's age, and was dressed very lavishly, but still enough to be functional. She had a white mane and tail, each very strait and with a purple stripe through them. Her saddle bags were surprisingly empty.

"I already told you, I lost my papers! I was attacked by some thieves on the road here from Trottingham, and they took all my scrolls and bits!" Dash's ears perked up.

"Um...did you say thieves?" Dash said, inserting herself into to conversation. The unicorn nodded.

"Yes, they emptied my saddle bags and left me in absolute tatters! It was horrible!" she said, wincing at the thought.

"And these papers, what did they look like?" Dash asked.

"They were travel papers, so they had my information, where I was going, what I had to do there, and a sketch of my Cutie Mark." She said, showing off her flank, which bore nine little white stars in an irregular pattern. Dash had seen them before.

"You mean like these?" Dash said, pulling out the missing documents. The unicorn's face lit up.

"Oh my gosh! Where did you get these?" she said aghast.

"Just, found them on the path." Dash said, which was not completely false. She did find them on the ground, lying next to the thief she impaled with her horrible sword skills. At the moment she'd thought nothing of them, but now, she was glad she did not leave them behind. This could be her ticket into the city. The pink unicorn took Dash into a tight hug.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" she said gratefully. She then released her and almost shoved the papers in the guard's face. "There! Can I go in now?" She said smugly. The guard looked over the papers briefly. His eyes widened a bit at something he read, and he nodded.

"Looks about right, okay miss, you can enter." He said. He turned to the sky and yelled at a tower. "Open the gates!" He shouted, and sure enough, the gates slowly swung open. "And what about your papers mam?" he said, turning to Dash.

"...my...papers?" Dash said stupidly. "Well, you see I don't really have papers."

"You don’t have traveler's papers?" the unicorn asked. "How'd you leave your city then?"

"umm...what I meant was..." Dash had to improvise; she didn't want to get this far only to fail. "...the thieves!" she said suddenly. "They stole my papers, couldn't find them afterwards." She said, lying through a thick smile.

"Oh that's terrible. I know, let me take you to the offices and get new ones!" the unicorn offered. "It's the least I can do after you found my papers." she smiled.

"Oh really? Sure, thanks!" Dash said. As she had expected, she could use the unicorn to get into the city. The two began to walk to through the gates.

"Wait!" said the guard said, not attempting to really stop them. "She needs papers to enter!"

"And you'll be the first to see them when we get them made! I promise!" the pink unicorn replied, not stopping. "Thank you!" she said behind her, the two now well into the city.

---

"Thanks again for getting me in here." Dash said once they were inside the city of Canterlot. It was very high-class; most ponies were unicorns, with a few pegasai and no earth ponies in sight. She could tell that they were in a market now, vendors shouting out their goods and prices. The smell of salted meats and fresh fruits was abundant.

"Oh like I said, it was the least I could do.” She replied. "By the way, I didn't catch your name?"

"Oh, I'm Rai- I mean Firefly." Dash said, catching herself.

"Nice to meet you Firefly! My name's Twilight. Twilight Twinkle." realization hit Dash in the face. The strait mane, the striped hair, the star cutie mark, how did she not see this before?

"Luna?" Dash asked in her head. She heard book pages turning again.

"Twilight Twinkle." Luna began. "A very talented unicorn whose special talent was magic spells. She was apprenticed to a very high ranking official, but never made it into government herself. There's no date of death, but in the year 5 OE (Olden Equestria) she mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Also, as I'm sure you've guessed, her family tree can be traced down to Twilight Sparkle." Dash couldn't believe it, even their ancestors had met. And now that she noticed, old Twilight even looked like new Twilight.

"Why didn't that guard stop us?" Dash asked, trying to take her mind off the oddity of it all. "He seemed really stuck up about that 'no papers no entry' rule."

"Oh, that's probably because he saw who I was." Twilight said. "I don't mean to brag, but I have some pretty strong connections with the higher ups in this city." Of course, just like her descendant, Twilight must have been very close to Celestia, even if she wasn't quite as close as Twilight Sparkle had been. "Wait...you mean the Flames?" Dash asked.

"Well, that's not their official name, mostly only street rats call them that, but yes, The Flames of the Sun." Twilight said, a bit disgusted at the name. "It's almost a derogatory term, if you wanted to be proper, they are 'The Honorable-Fellow Knights of Celestia and The Temple of the Sun'. Or just 'Templars' for short." Dash repeated the name in her head to remember it. Templars: The true name for the Flames. "A very interesting story behind that name, they date back to the time of the Equine Revolutions, where they lead crusades to reclaim...."

Dash's mind strayed away as Twilight spouted information about the Flames' past. This was a large city, too large to find one pony. All she knew was this pony was a white unicorn in lavish clothing; that could be used to describe a good fifth of the population of Canterlot. She would be lucky for a chance to see this pony again, much less kill him. But still, she had to try. The drive to avenge her parents was too great. The problem was that it was not Dash's drive, nor her parents that were killed. It was Firefly's. Dash didn't know if she could put as much energy into it as Firefly had. And yet, while she was in the Animus, she felt like she was Firefly. She was beginning to have trouble distinguishing her thoughts from Firefly's, their two minds being intertwined into something new for them both. All the while, Twilight rambled on.

"...which lead to the establishment of- Oh." She stopped suddenly. "Looks like we're here!" They'd stopped in front of a large tower. Twilight led the way inside. The interior of the tower was stocked with bookshelves and books, but the walls were also plastered with maps, and in the corner a few pieces of metal lay scattered on a table under a sketching of some sort of mechanism. "Welcome to Office of Trade and Commerce!" Twilight said proudly. "This is where I live and work. Normally my master would be here to issue you your documents, but he's out at the moment it seems." She explained. "Now then, you'll need to fill out some forms, hold on, Scale! Scaaaale!" Twilight called out.

"Twilight! You're back!" said a voice from above. A small purple dragon came bounding down the steps from the top floor. "This is Scale." Twilight explained. "He's my Assis-"

"Ahem!" Scale interrupted. "Junior Apprentice!"

"I mean Junior Apprentice." Twilight said rolling her eyes. "He helps me out around here." She turned to face Scale directly. "Anyway Scale, I need you to go get the forms for a new Traveler's License. Firefly here needs a new one." She said with a smile.

"Right away!" Scale said, raising a hand to his forehead. He then turned to leap up the stairs again.

"Hey Scale, where's the old mule off to now?" Twilight said, asking about her absent master.

"He went to the plaza, Gilded Sword is making an appearance." replied Scale from above. Twilight stomped her hoof.

"Shoot! That was today? I have to work on my reports!" she said in frustration. "I really wanted to see him, but I need to finish those by tonight! Ugh!"

"Um, Gilded Sword?" Dash asked.

"You know, the Unicorn noble? White coat, golden mane and beard? I'm sure you've heard of him." Dash's wings almost shot out in surprise. That was the one, the pony she was hunting.

"Where's he speaking?!" Dash asked.

"The plaza, remember? Just in front of St. Red Hoof's Basilica up the street." A crash was heard from the second floor.

“uhh…Twilight?” Said Scale from above. “A little help please?”

“Coming Scale!” Twilight replied. She turned to follow Scale upstairs. "Now, wait here and I'll get your papers ready." She said, bounding up the stairs. As soon as she was out of sight on the second floor, Rainbow made a dash for the exit. Twilight would have to wait, fate was calling.

---

"Let see...here it is." Luna said to Dash as she ran up the stone roadway. "Gilded Sword. A Unicorn nobleman of past Canterlot. He gained his position mostly from his family, and had very little experience or natural talent. A classic spoiled brat that grew up into a spoiled adult. He frequently took contracts from higher Templar officials to attack or destroy Assassin bases and headquarters, though he rarely completed the missions personally. In fact, it says here the only time he ever successfully completed a contract on his own, was also the last contract he ever took."

"So this will be a success then?" Dash thought. "I'll get this right?"

"Remember this is a memory Dash, not the past." Luna reminded. "You can still mess up, and you'll keep desynchronizing until you don’t. No guarantees."

The crowd was huge. Really huge. Almost the entire plaza was filled with ponies. It was not as enthusiastic as the crowd that had been at Luna's welcoming celebration; this crowd was more shifty and un-easy. Their loud cries were ones of boredom and annoyance, not excitement and happiness. Dash pushed herself through the gathering as much as she could, but it was hard. She'd have to fight for a while if she wanted to get to the front. A white unicorn in ravish red clothing stepped onto a raised platform for all to see. The clamoring turned into a light cheer, but still not as enthusiastic as the yesterday's gathering had been.

"My fellow subjects of Equestria!" He said in a loud voice, the spells necessary to boost his volume not yet discovered. "It pleases me all to see you gather here today. I bring forth to you all a pressing issue that I wish you all to be aware of." It was him. The unicron she’d seen in Hoofington. Dash quickened her pace, pushing through the group to get closer to the speaker. "In the past few weeks, our city has been infected.” He continued. “Infected by the harmful stain brought to us by a group of thieves, murderers, and scoundrels that call themselves the Stars of the Moon. Now, as glorious as our Princess Luna is..." he said the last bit with a dishonest tone and a roll of his eyes. "...They are most certainly out to take away our beloved Princess Celestia and have Luna as our sole ruler and Queen. They are dangerous and sinful evil doers who must be stopped! Do not aid these killers, do not shelter them, and do not refrain to report them to the city guard! I will purge our glorious city of this evil, that you can count on!" he finished, taking a bow and smiling to the crowd. Applause broke out, steadily diminishing but loud nonetheless. He took another bow before stopping mid-pose.

"He's lying!" a voice from the crowd yelled out. All clapping stopped abruptly, and Gilded Sword rose to attention. The crowd around Dash moved back, getting away from her and giving her a clear space in the middle of the group. Her face was grim. "This unicorn is a liar and a murderer! He killed both of Fi...my parents and staged their deaths to look like an accident!" Dash yelled out, referring to Firefly's parents as her own. She pointed her hoof accusingly at the pony on stage. "He's the killer!" Gilded Sword let out a light laugh.

"It seems one of these Assassins has made herself shown! Guards! Kill the pegasus! Show these Assassins what happens to those who oppose Celestia!" Armored ponies leapt from the platform to the floor, the crowd growing further away to allow space.

“What? No! I’m not…” Dash’s voice faded as the guards approached her. She had no choice, she had to fight. Dash un-sheathed her sword, this time trying to hold it in her hoof and not her mouth. She was surprised to find it easier to deflect sword attacks like that, and the guards all held their weapons the same way. She slashed away at a guard, pushing him back, but not striking a hit. He was trained with the sword, and not so easily defeated. Another guard joined the fray, and Dash found herself retreating from deflecting the two. Finally, one guard surprised her with an upper slice, and knocked away her sword. She heard it skitter onto the stone floor some bit away. The guard pushed her to the ground, and soon Dash found herself on her knees, and the guard with his sword raised above his head. "This isn't how this was supposed to go..." Dash thought, and closed her eyes, anticipating the feeling of death once again. She heard the sound of metal slicing flesh.

“I’m dead.” was Dash’s first thought. She’d be desynchronized any moment now and she could try again, maybe with a more subtle approach. But the shakes and flashes of desynchronization never came. “Maybe I stay dead this time?” She thought, but then she heard another sound, the moans of a dying pony. It was not her voice; it was much deeper, and more masculine. She opened her eyes to see the guard still in front of her, his forelegs still holding his sword high, ready to strike. But his face was one of pain and surprise, a bloodied knife sticking out of his chest. The knife retracted and the bleeding guard fell to the floor, revealing the hooded pony behind him, cloaked in a brown hood. She couldn’t see his eyes, but she could see orange fur hidden under the shadow of his hood, and his left hoof holding a large butcher’s knife. He flashed a quick smile before turning to defend against the other guard that had been attacking Firefly. The hooded pony was skilled with his knife, using it to defend against a full length sword, but he could not make an attack. Just when the guard made a move to strike again, an arrow shot into his back and he fell. The hooded pony nodded at a shadowy figure on a rooftop and ran to help Dash as more guards rushed to the scene.

“Assassins!” screamed someone in the crowd. The mass of ponies dispersed as quickly as they could. “C’mon kid, get up.” The hooded pony said with a country twang. He took Dash by the hoof and ran to the edge of the plaza, guards following close behind. With a leap, he grasped onto the ledge of the building and began to climb. Skilled at it already, Firefly began to climb up behind him without missing a beat. Once up, the chase began. Every guard on the roof tops was alerted to their presence, and began to shoot and run at them. A horde of guards chasing them, the situation began to look bleak for Dash and her hooded hero, but they pressed on, running and jumping over rooftops.

"What do we do?" Dash asked, concerning the multitude of guards chasing them. The hooded pony looked down to the street, eyeing a yellow pegasus pulling a cart filled with hay.

"Now..." the pony said, turning with Dash to face the guards, as if to fight. “...we disappear!" he finished, holding up a small silver globe and throwing it to the ground. It shattered into many pieces, each of which then fizzled into a thick cloud of smoke. The smoke covered everything; Dash found herself gasping for breath in the shroud. Her eyes stung, her nostrils flared, but before she could suffer the gaseous torture any longer, she felt a hoof tug at her shirt and pull her off the edge of the building. When the smoke cleared, the guards found that two of the ponies that had been there moments before were now absent. Meanwhile, a hay bale was being towed out of the city and onto the dirty road once again, it’s destination unknown.

---

Author’s Note: In this fic, Equestrian time revolves around Princess Luna’s banishment. Any years before the event are Olden Equestria time, or OE, descending in number until year 0, the year Luna is banished. Any years afterward are New Solar Era time, or NSE, ascending indefinitely. It works pretty much like BCE/BC and CE/AD for us. I add this note because the story will likely take place over a multitude of years, Firefly’s life, so timeframes may often be cited as 7 OE or 1000 NSE and such.

Comments

[Thespurgin]

You put a sizeable amount of thought into this... just how much is game and how much is original/MLP influenced? It seems fantastic though.

[EvilEnchantress]

hmm yep if someone kills y close family this will happen no matter whos fault it was I will either mourn then or later or both