The attack on Canterlot five years ago is not something that I, Silence Dogood, enjoy remembering.  It's not something that anypony who survived enjoys remembering. It was a horrifying event, filled with many deaths. The flames that scorched the city will remain forever burned into my mind, along with the events that lead to my parent's deaths.

The morning of the attack was bright and sunny, albeit slightly chilly.  The residents of Canterlot milled about as they did every day. Ponies were in the market, purchasing supplies; the usual chatter filled the town square. Everything just seemed normal.  As a matter of fact, I don't remember anything terribly interesting happening at all during the day.  That may be because the memories of the night overshadow all.

It was a mostly clear evening, and the air was crisp and cool.  By this time, many of the ponies of Canterlot had retreated into their homes and my family was no different.  I had gotten back from the school a few hours before and my father had just arrived from the castle, exhausted after a long and frustrating day at work.  Mother called us down into the kitchen for dinner and I bounded down the stairs with my usual enthusiasm.  My mom was a great cook; the meal she had prepared for us, rose salad and grass, with a side of carrot and cucumber slices, was expertly prepared, as always.  As I dug into the meal, my parents quietly chatted across the table. I sat down and gazed across the table at my father. He seemed distressed about something but I couldn’t figure out what.  When the three sharp knocks came at the door, he even appeared to jump out of his seat a little.  I remained at the table, and he went to go answer the door.  The door swung open, and the panicked looking eyes of a pale brown earth pony greeted him.

"You've got to hide!" the pony at the door shouted. "They're coming, and faster than you would think!  They're burning all of the houses!  Get out while you st-" he was cut off by an arrow to the throat, spilling his blood on the ground and killing him instantly.  The body quickly became limp, and he fell over at the door.  My father quickly peeked outside, observing the smoke billowing from the houses. Ponies in deep red bandannas were running towards our house, and a look of confusion and panic set in.  He slammed the door shut, locking it tight and running over towards us at the table, now looking more panicked than the pony that was at the door.  He was quick to embrace me and mom, as well as utter three words.

"I love you." His gentle voice was so calm in the moment.  Chaos was coming closer to us now and the cries of the ponies outside had become louder.

"Dad, what's going on?" I asked him, fearing what might happen next.

"Bad ponies have come here, burning everything in their wake.  I think that they are going after the castle.  I don't know why though." he said, trying his best to hide the pure fear he was feeling.  "I have no intent of finding out if they want anything from you though.  Get down into the basement, Silence.  You'll be safe there.  I'll do my best to hold them off if they come in."

I nodded, holding back the tears that were welling up in my eyes.  I could see them in his eyes too.  Something had him seriously concerned.  I proceeded to go towards the basement, but something had caught my eye.  Mom was staying with him.  Being the curious filly that I was, I was quick to hide in the corner, out of sight and out of mind.  A swift pound came to the door, which cracked it at the hinges.  Another kick, and another still arrived at our door, each bringing more force than the last.  With a final, mighty kick, the door came crashing onto the ground.  The noise was enough to shock me quite a bit, but I managed to restrain myself from screaming, or anything that would let anypony know that I was there.  Five masked ponies entered the home, quickly moving to surround my parents.  A final pony entered, this one wearing a blue mask.

"Well well, what have we here?" the blue masked pony asked menacingly.  I looked at him very carefully, and could make out the shape of a knife attached to his leg.  It was then that I became very scared about what would happen next.  The pony in blue spoke up again.

"You're the princess' prized assistant, aren't you?"

"No." My father responded. His response was met by a sharp smack from the masked pony's hoof.  The sound echoed in the room, and I could see my father was in a lot of pain in that moment.  My mother raced forward to try and defend him as the blue masked pony went for another swipe at him.  Instead of another smack though, I heard the horrifying sound of a knife being driven into flesh and bone.  My mother fell limp on the floor, as blood began pooling around her body and the life drained out of her.  She was breathing, for now.  But I knew she wouldn't be for much longer.  

"BASTARDS!" My father shouted.  I had never heard him use such language before.  I could see tears in his eyes as I became insanely angry at these ponies, wanting to extract some form of revenge on them.  But what could I do?  I was a young mare, and one without a cutie mark at that.  I continued to hid in the shadows as the scene unfolded in front of me.  It was time for Blue Mask, as I had now nicknamed him, to start talking again.

"So, Mr. Dogood, you want to answer us truthfully this time?  Or will we have deal with you in a less pleasant manner?" Blue Mask gestured towards the limp body of my mother, who let out a series of small coughs.  The pool of blood was still becoming larger, and my mom was getting weaker and weaker by the second.  It was a hopeless scenario at this stage; there would be no saving her.  The mere thought of this pained me greatly, but I remained silent as ever in the corner.

"Yes. I am in fact Celestia's number one assistant."  Blue Mask nodded at one of the red masked ponies behind him before speaking up again.  Father's face was filled with pure fear and concern.

"Anything else we should know?  Got a kid or anything?" Blue Mask asked. I froze and began to panic.  What would he say?  One of the red masked ponies was now directly behind father.

"No.  My wife was pregnant, until you did..." he paused briefly, tears welling up in his eyes as he looked upon the pony he had loved who now lay bleeding on the floor, "this to her.  You sick bastards."

"Mr. Dogood, as an assistant to Celestia the tyrant, I would like to assure you that  you are in fact the sick bastard.  Assisting the tyrannical ruler, being ever unquestioning of her actions, no matter what she does."

"It's my job! I never said I liked it."

"The fact that you stayed says that you do." Blue Mask said. With a final nod, I heard another horrifying sound.  It was that of blood falling to the ground, painting the floor a crimson red with the spatters.  The pony behind father had slit his throat, and he fell to the ground lifeless.  I wanted to scream, to cry out in pain and anguish, but I knew I could not.  If I had done that, they would have killed me too.  But, I knew one thing I could do.  I could take revenge.  The ponies started to leave the house, but not before Blue Mask said something to them.

"Three of you stay here and deal with the house.  You know the drill."

"Burn it to the ground." One of the red masked ponies said.

"You know it."

I quietly slipped out of the corner where I had been hiding, and went into the kitchen.  Grabbing one of the sharpest knives I could find, I prepared to go back into the room and exact my revenge on them.  I would have to be quick, especially if they were going  to burn the house down.  It was then that one of the ponies spoke up, saying exactly what I needed to hear.

"Damn, I'm out of oil." Perfect.  They wouldn't be able to burn this place down yet.   "Dude, you wanna wait here while I get some more oil to burn this place down?"

"You got it."  Two ponies left.  This would make my job a lot easier.  Now, brandishing the knife in my mouth, I snuck up behind another pony.  To be honest, I was afraid I would screw up, and not take this guy down.  I thought briefly about retreating back, and letting them get away with all of this.  But, I shook those thoughts aside, and stabbed him, clean through the neck.  I withdrew my blood soaked weapon, and the other pony looked over towards me.  Thinking quickly, I threw the knife in my mouth towards his face.  It impacted with great force, and he screamed in pain, before falling flat and dying.

"Must've hit something important." I thought aloud.  I approached my parents, laying there presumably dead.  I saw my father was still breathing, albeit weakly.  I guessed that my mother had passed a few minutes before, having succumbed to the brutal wounds she had acquired.  The mere sight of them there, dead and dying, brought great pain into my life.  It was something that, no matter hard I would try, could get out of my head.  I stepped closer, bending down to look my father in the eyes. My hooves had gone into the pool of both his and mother’s blood, and they began to stain my navy blue coat.

"Dad, what do I do now?" I could see the weakness in his eyes.

"Run." He sputtered out, before coughing out a large amount blood. "Celestia." That was his final word.  Celestia.  Without thinking, I ran away from the house, blatantly ignoring the events that had transpired in my home.  I went straight for Canterlot Castle, but as I got closer, I noticed that the gates were surrounded by more of the masked ponies.  The gates were doing their job though, keeping them all out.  Now, it was time to employ a skill that I had taught myself a while back.  I made a turn into one of the back alleys, which was very close to the Castle.  Using various bricks, I was able to make my way onto the roof.  It was a skill I had never told anypony about, for fear I would get in trouble.  Hell, I knew I would get in trouble for this.  However, I focused on the task at hand, noting the castle walls in front of me.  I ran towards it, maintaining great footing on the roof and trotting at top speed, I made it to the edge of the roof.  And I jumped.  It was a feeling of pure exhilaration, jumping off a two story building to a wall 10 feet away.  I knew that if I missed this jump, I would die.  Simple as that.  Concrete is not exactly a soft surface.

But, in the air, you know that it's too late for any of that sort of thinking.  I managed to sail through the air, and get a grip on the wall in front of me.  Only barely, but a grip nonetheless.  Using my front hooves, I clawed my way up the wall, before making my way over, and landing on my haunches, feeling the soft grass of the castle courtyard on my backside.  I picked myself off the ground though, and ran towards the main castle door.  As I got close, a couple of the guards had noticed me running towards them.  They must have assumed I was one of the attackers, as they raised their weapons at me, before issuing a commanding "HALT!" at me.

I stopped in my tracks, obedient to the guards.

"Who goes there?"

"Silence Dogood.  My father told me to run here."

"Where is your father?"

"These ponies... They killed him." Tears began to stream down my face, and I began to cry uncontrollably.  I tried to fight through the tears and tell them what had happened. "They slit his throat and killed him!  And my mother too!" I was a heap of sadness and anger as I talked to them.  "He told me to run to Celestia.  I have nothing else left now!"

The guards nodded at one another, lowering their weapons and opening the door.

"Hurry and get inside.  Celestia should be in the throne room.  Let the guards there know that we sent you."

I wiped a tear away, trying to control my all consuming sadness; I silently entered the main castle.  I observed the beautiful architecture and took in my surroundings.  I had never been in the castle before, and it certainly was something to marvel at.  I proceeded up the stairs and to the throne room; of course, being stopped by Celestia's personal guards.  I explained to them that the guards at the front door had sent me, and they obliged and let me in.  The throne room was something to behold.  Banners hung everywhere, and stained glass windows told the stories of the two princesses, one side telling the tale of Celestia, and the other side told of the dramatic rise of Luna.  Celestia and Luna were both present at the end of the throne room, with a guard on either side.  Celestia appeared to be talking with Luna at the moment.

As I got closer to them, they stopped talking with one another, and turned their focus to me.

"Who are you?" Celestia asked.

"My name is Silence Dogood, daughter of your assistant." I said, trying my best to remain calm and orderly while addressing the princess.

"What has happened to him that he could not come here?"

"He's dead, your highness." Celestia was shocked by this news, but certainly not more shocked than me.

"Guards, leave us be for a while."  Both guards nodded, and proceeded to leave the room.  Now, the three ponies were alone.

"Tell us what happened."

I recounted the events of the night to the two princesses, telling them every detail I could remember between fits of sadness and crying.  The princesses stood in shock, not uttering a single word as I told the dramatic story.  After I had finished telling them about everything, Celestia was the first to speak up.

"This news greatly saddens me.  Your father was an excellent assistant, and a great friend to me." Celestia's shock had in fact turned to sadness, but she hid it very well, as far as I could tell.  "However, despite the chaotic nature of these events, it seems that somepony has discovered their special talent."

I turned around, and looked at my flank.  Turns out that I had gotten my cutie mark.  A knife, with a halo above it.  I could only assume one thing about that.  My talent was killing. I was an assassin, a master of the kill.

Celestia spoke up again.

"We may very well have a need for your special talent in the years to come." Next Chapter: Chapter 1 Estimated time remaining: 15 Minutes