Chapter 1
One slice. One kill.
My blade clicked as it entered it's sheathe. I kneeled back down and waited again. I quickly grabbed my katana, Kusanagi, and sliced forwards. The sword wasn't aimed at anyone, but had it been, they would be cut in half.
I quickly sheathed Kusanagi again. The door behind me opened causing me to put my hand on my ninjato sword, Nocturne. A hand stopped me from fully unsheathing it. "Calm down. It's only me."
The voice calmed me enough to sheathe my sword. I turned my body and looked at my sister. She was wearing a uniform as well. Clad in a long, black jumpsuit and corresponding sneakers, she addressed me. "What is it?"
"Mother and Father want you." She kneeled down next to me. "Probably for a mission."
I ascended from my place on the floor, turned and went into the kitchen, my parents standing in the middle. I slowly knelt like I did in the training room and looked down. "You summoned me?"
Without a word, a paper was put in front of me. I picked up the paper and left the room. I went into the bathroom and took a shower, changing into different clothes. I slipped into a long sleeve blue shirt, and a pair of black jeans. Along with that, I put on a pair of boots and strapped my swords to my body, Kusanagi on my left side and Nocturne vertical to my back. I looked in the mirror, looking over my appearance. Brown eyes and dark hair coupled with my tannish skin.
I left the bathroom and the house. After I closed the door, I jumped to the top of the roof. My legs, very powerful, helped me travel roof to roof until I reached my destination, Big Ben. I jumped up to the top of a roof and started to scale the giant clock. Finally reaching the top, I closed my eyes. Upon opening them, The city was mapped out in sonar blue.
My eyes scaled the entire city of London, no one could hide from me. I quickly found my target, at the very edge of the Everfree forest. I closed my eyes again, this time when I opened, them, my vision turning normal.
I jumped off of big ben and landed in a street, causing it to collapse under the force of the impact. I quickly recovered and started to run towards the Everfree Forest.
Having excessively strong arms and legs and eyes with sonar wasn't exactly superhuman now. Maybe 20 years ago. The year was 2036 and I was 16. The world was getting upgraded in technology every year. My legs and arms both had cybernetic enhancements when I was born and my eyes were swapped out for ones with built in ultrasonic sensors. I also happen to be part of the Caesar Legion, my name being Dante Caesar. A long line of assassins originally formed by Julius himself.
I reached the edge of the forest in a few minutes. Once I reached it, I activated my sonar again. This time, I detected three different people. I returned my eyes to normal and continued on to trek through the forest. As I got closer to my target, I could start to hear voices.
"So what's it gonna be, hm?" said a mans voice. I scanned again to find out he was my target. I hid behind a large tree and pulled out my paper. Slowly inching out of cover, I compared the picture with the actual person.
"A perfect match." I said to myself. I jumped into a tree and choose the best route of attack.
"We don't know who you are. We're just here for a flower." A female voice. Around my age, based on the voice. "We don't want any trouble."
"Oh, but I do, my dear. You see, I hear that one of you is a princess. A princess gets held for ransom. Ransom means a paycheck." I finally found a place above the scene to look on from. A middle-aged man with a black suit and a gun in his pants stood across from two girls. One had long black hair, gray eyes and was short, about 5'2. The other was taller, about 5'5, had a dark blue color of hair, and blue eyes. Her clothes also seemed to circle around the color dark blue.
"It's okay, Rose."said the taller one, pushing her companion back. "I'll deal with this." With that, she pushed her hand out, a sword constructed itself in front of her hand. A rapier, a golden hilt and a 3 foot blade, popped up. She grabbed it and held it forward and towards the man.
"Ah, I see. So, you're the princess." With that, he teleported behind the shorter woman and brought his hand down on her neck hard enough to knock her out. She fell to the ground, knocked out cold. "Let's have ourselves a little talk, shall we?"
The remaining girl pivoted on her left foot and faced the man, who in turn pulled out his gun. "What? Too scared to face me fairly?"
"No. It's just easier for everyone this way." He moved close and took her rapier which shattered into light blue squares as soon as he did. "Follow me. My boss wants to meet you." He took her hands and pulled them behind her back. Using his other hand, he lifted the other girl into the air and took off into the forest. I followed suit, eager to know what exactly I was in for.
After about 3 minutes of tailing, they broke out of the Everfree and into another place. This space was a bit larger than the last opening and was occupied by three other people, all wearing cliché robes.
"Okay. Let's get this over with quick." Said my target pushing the girl forward and dropped the other on the ground. "Here is your princess. Where's my share?"
"First, we must confirm so." The voice didn't have the accent of a brit so I assumed they weren't. They slowly moved towards her. The inside of their hoods illuminated different colors that seemed to make the princess become uncomfortable. As soon as this happened the lights stopped. "I see. You are the daughter of Princess Luna, are you not?"
"Okay you've got your princess. Where is my money?" I moved around silently to a tree right above my target. "I don't mean to offend you but you kinda freak me out."
"We have your share." Suddenly, a flash of blue light brought forth a bag full of pounds. The man jumped up and grabbed the bag in his hand and started to count the money. Satisfied, he turned around.
I jumped down onto his shoulders, bent down, and wrapped my hands around his neck. Without giving anyone a chance to react, I snapped his neck and dropped him on the floor. Turning around, the three seemed to be confused. I put my hands up in defense. "I am not here for you guys. I was ordered to kill him."
"Are you an assassin?" Said the princess. "If you are, could I hire you?"
"Hire me? I don't know. I usually get my contracts from my parents-"
"It's a matter of life or death." The people in robes were starting to catch on and started to glow again. This time, the princess was put in binds weighed down by a large iron ball. She struggled to leave but couldn't. "I'd like it if you'd make your decision just a bit faster."
"Okay fine. I expect a lot of money for saving a princess." I unsheathed Nocturne, it's black steel blade shining in the daylight, and sliced the chains off. "What else do you need me to do?"
"Nothing. I can deal with these guys." The same rapier from earlier constructed itself in her hand. She grabbed it, this time not giving the three time to react. Slicing off their robes revealed three people, two men and a woman. Suddenly 3 stockades formed around them, blocking them from princess' sword disappeared again and she turned to me. "Thanks."
I cleared my throat. "I believe that this wasn't exactly a free service."
"Oh, of course." She motioned towards the bag of coins the an I killed dropped. "I suppose you could take those as your payment."
"Oh no. I could bring myself to steal. Even if it's from a dead man." I crossed my arms. "Besides, you should pay your own debts."
"But I don't-" I quickly swiped Nocturne past her face and up to it's sheathe. As soon as I sheathed it, her hair was cut just a bit shorter.
"That's better." I said putting my hand under my chin. "You look better this way."
"My hair." she touched it carefully. "Why did you cut it?"
"I told you. It looks good." I stretched out my hand "The name's Dante."
"Cosmic. Cosmic Swift." She took my hand and shook it. "I don't know what to do?"
"Well first," I looked at her companion on the ground to the criminals. "We have a few things to deal with first."
"I guess you're right." She grabbed my shoulder. "Hold on. I've heard the first time is a bit rough." Suddenly, a blue light flashed in front of my face, almost blinding me. My muscles contracted and released rapidly making them pain. Finally, my muscles releasing, I was thrown into a different place.
We were somewhere on a mountain, a city. I turned around and saw Cosmic brushing herself off, completely unharmed. "So. Where are we?"
"In Canterlot, Capital of Equestria." She looked behind me. "Looks like you're up, Rose."
"Um, yeah. The teleportation knocked me awake." I turned to view her in better. Shorter than Cosmic, her long black hair was coupled with a short bang covering her left eye. The one eye I did see was grey. "Is it just me or is your hair shorter?"
"Yeah. It is." She turned to me. "This is Dante."
"Oh. Hello. My name is Rose." She stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise." I said shaking her hand. I turned to Cosmic. "What are we going to do with these guys?"
"I'll give them over to my mom. She'll give them their punishment." The criminals seemed to shake at that sentence.
"Who is your mom, anyway?" I asked looking back up at the castle. "Must be pretty rich to own a castle like this."
"My mother is Princess Luna. She's the one who makes the moon rise and fall everyday."
I shook my head. "I don't even know what to say to that. Anyways, we have to get moving before your magic depletes. Or is that not how it works?"
"You're right. That teleport drained me of energy. Let's go." We started up the stairs to the front of the castle. Once we reached, we were stopped by two guards.
"Name and Business." Said the one on the right, a sheathed sword and gun on opposite sides of his body.
"Passage for six. Cosmic Swift, Rose Thorn, Dante Caesar and three nameless criminals. We're here to seek an audience with Princess Luna."
The guard's hand illuminated a purple color that passed over all of us. He pulled it back towards him, looked at it, and stopped the glow. "You may enter, your cause is just."
We passed him, entering a huge castle. There were three huge halls off the bat, way larger than they appeared outside. Cosmic and Rose continued through as I marveled at the sight.
"Hey Dante, If I may, can I ask you a question?" Rose asked looking back at me as I looked around at all the statues and stained glasses. "Is this your first time in Equestria?"
"As far as I can tell, yes. This place is amazing though." I caught up with the rest of the group as they reached a set of huge double doors. They all stopped and looked up at the huge crest on it. "So what's the hold up?"
"This door only opens for those of the Royal Family and those consented by the Royal family." She put her hand on the door and tried to get it to budge. "For some reason though, it's not letting me in."
"Let me try." Said Rose putting her hand on the door. "You've given me consent right?"
"Yeah." She tried pushing the door but nothing happened. She stopped trying and backed up from the door. "Something might be blocking the door."
"If I could hit the door at a precise point where a lot of magical energy is stored, I might be able to meltdown the spell, in turn, unlocking the door."
"Or…" I reared my hand back. "Stand clear of the doors!" I shouted as I smashed my palm into the door. The doors went flying across the room and ended up somewhere in the middle. Dust collected from the door breaking free and it skidding across the floor. "I could smash it down."
"You idiot! What if someone got hurt!?"
"I did say to stand clear of the doors." I walked into the room and pushed the dust away from my face. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew away all the dust, revealing the room.
A person was sitting up in a throne at the end of this room. Another person seemed to be arguing with her. At the foot of the throne stood a woman dressed in vibrant purple, looking between the two with a look of annoyance on.
"I told you the door wouldn't hold." said the one snickering and in one of the throne chairs. She had white and light yellow on, wings and a horn. "Now you owe me a favor."
"That's not the point here Tia." this one had wings and a horn also but was dressed in dark blue clothes this time. Her hair and eyes were also blue.
I took one look at Cosmic and saw the resemblance. Suddenly, the person in purple stood up. "Are you two going to continue this? I thought you were supposed to get more tolerable and mature as you age. That's what my studies say at least."
"Hello!" I said drawing attention to myself,"G ow do ya do?"
"So you're the one who blew down the door then." said the person now arising from her chair. "You're the only one I have yet to give permission to." She looked over to the three prisoners in the blue bubble. "Well, give or take a few."
"Why did you lock the door?" I asked. "Something secret going on?"
"Yes actually. Something between only the three of us. I'm afraid you can't hear it." This came from the a woman standing next to the throne.
"Nonsense. You wouldn't tell your own daughter? It involves her as well you know." The woman sitting in the throne stood up. "Ms Swift, how would you like to attend a magic academy?"
She was silent for a few seconds. "What exactly do you mean?"
"I mean, would you like to go to a special magic school." She gestured towards the woman at the foot of the throne. 'Miss Twilight Sparkle will be your Principal and you may invite any of your friends talented enough."
"I believe it was I who was to inform her of my decision. I am her mother-"
"Not to be rude, but don't you think it's time you gave her a little judgement for herself?" The woman standing in front of the throne slowly walked down the stairs leading towards it. She finally approached Cosmic. She extended her hand. "Well, what do you want to do?"
She looked at her mother, then back at the woman in front of her. "I'll keep it under advisement." She turned and walked through the big hole in the wall, Rose following her. Seeing no other reason to be here, I also started to leave.
The heavy doors from before seemed to reconstruct itself, blocking my passage. "I assume there is a reason you want me to stay behind?" I asked, turning back towards the three women.
"Yes. I want to know who you are." This time it came from The one at the foot of the throne, Twilight Sparkle. "There's something off about you."
"I'm sorry to not have introduced myself. My name is Dante Caesar and I am an assassin."
Just as those words left my mouth, a blade was pinned to my neck. This blade was a ninjato, like mine, but her's was purple. "Tell me one good reason I shouldn't kill you now."
"Well, I'm not after anyone here. In fact, my target for the day is already dead."
"You could turn on us on any moment." She pushed the blade a little deeper into my flesh, this time drawing blood.
"That I could. It's your call ma'am." I made no attempt to attack or rebut this person. "She eventually removed her sword, having it shatter into a million small purple lights. "May I leave now?"
The doors opened and answered my question. I casually turned around and walked out.