Chapter 2: Family of Insanity

Ember followed Astrid out of the shack.

For the past half of an hour, Ember had been sitting in a corner of the shack while Astrid proceeded to "release" the three captives who remained alive. While Ember spent that time merely staring at the wall which stood merely inches from her face, Astrid led the remaining captives out of the shack and presumably removed their bonds to let them free. The body of the dead bandit stallion - the victim which Ember had chosen to kill - was to be left in the shack and forgotten.

That was the way it was meant to be.

But now, Ember forced her muscles to obey as she exited the shack. Surprisingly, the cold winter wind was not blowing and the sky was almost cloudless. Being around midday, the bright sun evenly wrapped the whole world in its everlasting light, to which Ember's eyes widened. This was the first time she had experienced the world outside of the walls of Windhoof.

The shack they had just left was near the base of a modest sized mountain. The snow underhoof was relatively thick, but in every direction from where they were standing, the world was alive.

Upon just exiting the shack, Ember was greeted with a medium-densed evergreen forest to her right which ended on a coast towards the infinite ocean, dotted by glaciers. Behind her sat the towering mountain whose base the shack rested on, and another mountain to her front mirrored it. To her left was the majority of the mass of Equestria; not but a few miles in that direction was a road. Beautiful, long and lush grass peaked out from where the snow had failed to cover or had melted, and small clusters of trees dotted the land. It was all of this, and beyond, that appealed to Ember the most.

She was no longer restricted to the oppressing walls of buildings of a great city. Her gaze could see so far into the horizen, only to be stopped by the distant blurs of great lines of mountains whose images were distorted only by the moisture in the air between. Ember felt she could simply run in any direction for as long as she wanted; she could climb any mountain simply because she wanted to. She felt that accomplishing such meaningless tasks would feel much more refreshing and satisfying than her repeated torch-management job back in Windhoof. But then she was interrupted by the coffee coloured, smirking face of Astrid.

"I presume you haven't left Windhoof's walls, much?" the hooded mare asked.

"I... no, I have never left the city," Ember responded, still awestruck.

"You get used to it, really. I mean, it's something much different than that of the smelly air of a city," Astrid giggled.

"Smelly?"

"Nevermind. We are going to be traveling for a day... Perhaps a day and a half," Astrid said with an unsure estimate.

"Traveling? Where?" Ember asked, confused and eager to learn what was to become of her. To that, Astrid winced.

"You are going to be part of the Dark Brotherhood, now," she responded, almost with a hint of pain in her voice. Ember's face went from that of confusion to complete shock.

"B-b-but I never... I didn't want - "

"Look, it sounds strange, but it's not normal that we have a contract completed by someone else before we finish it. You - I recruited you."

"I don't want to be a killer! I-I didn't ask for any of this to happen," Ember said, desperate to find a way out of the hole she was in. Astrid didn't seem as intimidating as before.

"It's the only way I could save you," Astrid spoke with a grim voice. "I'm sorry, alright? This trial I put you through in the shack? It was only so I could introduce you to us somehow. The moment you killed that crazy stallion in Windhoof, you were branded either with us or against us."

"I..." Ember couldn't word anything. She had acted purely on self defense, and by her results, she pulled herself into the world of the Dark Brotherhood? A group, infamous to Equestria, who were best known for their ill regard for life and only care for money and contracts. They literally killed for a living! Finally, Ember managed to squeak out, "But... why save my life? From you."

"Because I was like you," Astrid responded with a hard gaze. "That bandit back in the shack asked why he couldn't be a part of the Dark Brotherhood. But us? We are much more than mindless, like he was. We hoof-pick our members because, well, each addition has to be special."

"Special? What in Equestria makes me more special of a killer than an experienced fighter like him?" Ember fumed, as if pessimism would get her out of the situation she had herself in. She began to feel that she was scolding Astrid, despite the fact that she was technically at her mercy.

"Ponies like him experience plenty of death, yes. But ponies like you? You know death more than him, even if your first experience with it was as terrible as it should have been," Astrid explained with an expression that showed it pained her to put it into words. "Us in the Dark Brotherhood don't kill simply for money, despite what most will have you think. But it's at a state like this, where you are unsure of what to think of it all, when we can show you the way."

"What, so you can brain-wash me?" Ember retorted.

"No, so we can hopefully get you to see that you are capable of change," Astrid beckoned, trying to lessen the burden already weighing in on the fiery coloured mare in front of her.

Ember wanted change. She wanted change so bad, but was this the way?

"I... I don't think killing is how I want to move the world," Ember mumbled, her expression deepening as her ears lowered in uncertainty.

"There are many things that we, each, seek to get out of the Dark Brotherhood. Individually, we each have our own goals to achieve."

"Aren't there better ways of achieving change?" Ember asked, frustrated at the ill-logical sense.

"Now it's starting to sound like I'm the one being lectured," Astrid huffed.

"But this is ridiculous! Is there truly - "

"Look, you're either with us or against us. Do you want to run off, now?" Astrid snapped, hardening her expression and fixing a glare on her. Ember looked like she wanted to retort something back, but it became clear to her that she was indeed the one who should not be scolding.

"L-lead the way..." Ember finally breathed out in submission.

-----

The journey to their destination was mostly uneventful, but they had managed to reach it in much less than a day. They ignored most roads like the one they were walking on now, but the bulk of their travels were through wilderness. The sun had already set and the sky was giving way to the moon and stars, but for the whole journey, Ember found almost every inch of the world they passed by as fascinating. Everything from the mighty mountains in the distance, to the rough textures of the trees, and even to the occasional fauna had caught her eye in awe. Astrid seemed to notice her fascinaton, but she remained silent the whole trip.

"This way," Astrid spoke, breaking the silence between the two mares as she began to trot off the road into a forest.

"D-don't you think we should stop for the night?" Ember timidly asked, briskly walking in attempt to keep close to the armed mare as if she were her only means of defense.

"Why?"

"I mean, aren't there dangerous things that creep out during the night?" Ember asked, to which Astrid chuckled.

"Ember, we are those dangerous things, now," Astrid laughed, smiling inwardly for herself. Ember was a strong willed mare, but it didn't take much to make her excited or scared.

The two traversed the semi-dense forest for several minutes, the moon full and bright overhead as its accompanying stars shining. While it was not much of a different scene against the sky during the nights in Windhoof, the night sky had always fascinated Ember with its beauty still unmatched. Thousands of stars in different shapes and sizes, accompanied by the dancing green curtain of the northern lights, lit up the sky.

"We're here," Astrid said as they came to an opening in the forest.

The clearing at first looked like almost any other, this one being a small depression in elevation accompanied by a small pond at the foot of the descending hill. But, upon walking down to the pond, Astrid turned to face a small cliff which hung on one of the sides of the hill. There, on the face of the cliff not more than ten feet tall, was a set of ominous metal double-doors with the shape of a pony's skull embedded on the surface. Eerily, the area around it glowed a slight tinge of red, highlighting its ominous aura in the night's darkness.

"What's... that?" Ember asked, cautiously.

"That, Ember, is the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary which is going to be your home," Astrid grinned.

"You mean that this is the Dark Brotherhood's hideout?"

"Well, one of them. Why? What were you expecting?"

"I didn't really know what to expect, to be honest," Ember sighed, already having come to terms with her current fate. Astrid approached the door and Ember reluctantly followed. Ember felt as though the smile of the embedded skull on the door was mocking her. After a moment of silence of standing in front of it, a piercing voice ringed out seemingly from no affiliated direction at all, startling Ember.

"Breathe... out: Life.

Breathe... in?"

"Essence," Astrid replied to the voice with a cold stare fixated on the metal doors in front of them. After another moment of silence, the double doors emitted a metal whine as they slowly wedged themselves open. Turning to Ember, Astrid grinned as she said, "Well? Shall we?"

-----

Shortly after entering the Sanctuary, the thick metal doors slowly closed shut as the two mares made their way through a short hallway and into a small room. The walls around them were simply dirt, as the Sanctuary was essentially an artificial cave carved out from under the surface. In the room they were currently in, they were presented with a single stone desk with various parchments and quills resting on top as well as various smaller metal side-tables with dimly lit candles.

Upon entering the room, two additional hallways were on either side; the shorter hallway on the left lead to what looked like another similar sized room with a bed and the hallway to the right fared much longer and presumably led deeper into the Sanctuary. Voices and the sound of running water could be heard from that direction. Ember stood at the entrance of the hall they came from, unsure of what to do until Astrid stopped at the single desk and turned around.

"Whew, I'm glad you decided to stick with me," Astrid sighed as she pulled the facemask down from her muzzle and the hood off of her head. Ember was fairly surprised at the very bright-yellow mane she was presented with. Astrid smiled once again, until she said, "Once again, welcome to your new home."

For being in a cave carved out of dirt and stone, the air smelled less damp than expected. Roots hung from some places in the ceiling and dirt was all around them, but the overall smell of the place was closer to that of books and papers.

"So, what happens now?" Ember asked, wondering why she didn't ask any sooner. For that matter, she wondered how she could get the answers to all of the questions she had built up in her head.

"Well, how about I first introduce you to our little happy family?" Astrid asked, gesturing towards the hallway to the right where the static noise of conversation and activity came from.

Ember merely nodded in response, not having much of a choice but to be led by her proclaimed tour-guide part professional assassin. Another smug grin escaped Astrid's face as she began to trot down the hallway with Ember in tow.

After only rounding the first corner within the hallway, Ember could already see the next room: a room much larger than the first with various ponies miling about. To the right side of the room was a very small cave pond, and the floor of the room was rock; most of the stony floor seemed to be natural (including that of the area around the pond) while the rest of the area was cobblestone. A small stream trickled out of the stony wall behind the pond and fed the body of water; the stream seemed to answer Ember's question of self-sustainability within the Sanctuary, even though it was not a question she was most concerned about at that moment.

It did not take more than a few steps for Ember to realize that she was now standing beside the still armoured Astrid.

"... And then I managed to use the fire as a distraction for me to get out," finished a magenta unicorn to the group of ponies around her. The unicorn had a smirk on her face as she and her group turned to look at the two new bodies in the room. On the far left side of the room was a fireplace and what looked like a forge; a big and buff charcoal-grey stallion sitting ildly on a chair next to a rack of weapons also looked up.

"Greetings everypony. I have returned, and my job was somewhat a success," announced Astrid to the now silent but intently listening room. A few ponies gave nods; there were only a little more than half a dozen ponies in total present. "I ran into some minor complications, and as you can see, there is a new pony with me here. It turns out that the freak who was committing a series of killings in Windhoof underestimated this one, and I introduced her to our little organization as a means of thanks."

For a moment, every pony in the room held an unreadable expression, causing Ember to slightly wince. At first, she thought no pony would approve of Astrid's newest revelation and addition to the family, but then every pony in the room broke into smiles and even a few small cheers. Even the magenta unicorn in the group and the tough stallion alone at the forge flashed their grins, even if a bit subtly.

"Now, this here is Ember. She had it in her to do what was neccessary and eliminate that of which proved a threat to herself," Astrid spoke with enthusiasm. "But it's always tough to do it the first time, nonetheless. Let's welcome her with open arms!"

With that, all the ponies in the room let out a unified "Aye!" and returned to what they were doing. The group in the middle of the room, however, approached Ember.

"I'll let you mingle for a bit. Seems they're eager to get to know you," Astrid said to Ember as she passed her by and left down the hall they came from. Ember was utterly stiff, unsure of what to make of everything that has been lain at her hooves very quickly.

Approaching her was the dark magenta unicorn, who also had peachy-coloured eyes and an even lighter peachy-coloured mane. Flanking her was a smokey-blue pegasus stallion with a darker blue mane, and on her other side was a slightly shorter forest-green unicorn mare with a lime green mane.

"Mmh, it's been awhile since we've had fresh meat come into our little club. My name's Flint," said the magenta unicorn.

"P-pleasure to meet you, Flint," Ember replied, cursing herself for stuttering. She had a knack for stuttering in the worst situations, which often made ponies find her not very intimidating. "My name's Ember, as you've heard from Astrid."

"Mhmm," Flint remarked, her voice very smooth and relaxing. It had a strange effect of soothing Ember's muscles; she was very pretty! Her cutie mark was an image of a parchment scroll with one end on fire and the other end frozen in ice.

"My name's Sard," said the blue pegasus to the right. His clean but low voice could be described as subtle and easy to miss, but still stole the attention from Flint. His cutie mark was a feather, easily showing the light-touch nature of the pony. "Good to have another addition to the team."

"My name's Emmy!" said the ecstastic green mare on the other side, the polar opposite of the relaxed form of Sard. Her cutie mark was a trio of rectangular-cut emerald stones. "Full name's Emerald, but... yeah. Welcome!"

"Thank you all, it's nice to be welcomed really warmly into... this," said Ember, not entirely sure on what to say or how to word anything that came out of her mouth. "I... this all just happened so fast, heh."

"Don't sweat it, dear. We were all - most of us - in your position at one point or another. Don't believe everything you hear about the Dark Brotherhood; we aren't that cold-hearted," said Flint, her smirk captivating at the very least. Emmy cast her a slightly confused glance as if to ask a question, but Flint quickly cut her off with, "Well okay, maybe we can be at times... But it's not so bad."

"Did you all choose to be here?" Ember asked, trying not to show that she was desperate for some answers.

"Believe it or not, most of us didn't," said Emmy.

"I'm sure you've already experienced one way of how the Dark Brotherhood hoof-picks its members," added in Sard. True enough, not just anyone could join the Dark Brotherhood. It was simply known that they did it with very picky standards, to which anyone outside of the Brotherhood remain unsure of what they expect.

"But if you're all here against your will, why do you stay?" Ember asked.

"Against our will?" Flint repeated. "We aren't here against our will, really. It seems cold, but this does kind of grow on you after awhile. You're welcome to leave whenever, just as long as we know we can trust you going out there and not turning against us."

To that, Ember grew wide eyed.

"Just face it: the world out there is no colder than our intentions in here. We make a living, better off than most being oppressed by landlords or Jarls. And there are always those who do sick things to the ponies of Equestria," finished Flint.

"Just last week, I had to kill a stallion who was blackmailing a mare in his town and taking advantage of her," smirked Sard.

"And I just came back from getting rid of a guard who treated zebra citizens like dirt; spitting at them in public and even beating some if he managed to get them secluded from witnesses," said Flint.

"Um... I kind of just work around here," added in Emmy, timidly pawing her hoof at the stone floor. But then she suddenly perked herself up, seemingly excited and bouncy after a short reassurance to herself. "I make potions and enchant gear to help them on their jobs. I also study on Equestrian history and lore; you'd be surprised at the different artifacts and things they come across in their travels. I'm pretty much the resident utility-mage."

"Then how did you get to be a part of the Dark Brotherhood?" Ember asked.

"Oh, well, I sort of was like one of them before. Doing jobs and all that... But then I came across this strange artifact - some sort of golden eagle statuette - and I managed to lob a fortune with it! Then I found an interest in studying things like it, and decided to indulge in my more crafty side to contribute to the Brotherhood."

"That doesn't sound that bad," Ember replied. She almost forgot that she was talking to professional killers.

"You should go look for Helio; he'll be able to get you settled in," Flint said.

"Helio?"

"He sort of acts as some sort of councellor for us," said the magenta unicorn. The way she somehow kept a smirk while speaking told Ember that the mare has experience in charm. "He's usually the one who provides jobs, and also has lots of connections around Equestria. Pretty much, he organizes everything and makes sure everything's going orderly and alright."

"And, where is this Helio?"

"Down in the dining area down that hall," Flint said, gesturing towards a hallway to the left side of the room. "You can't really get lost in here; this place is kind of small and everywhere leads to everywhere," Flint chuckled.

"I'll go see him then," Ember said, Flint only giving a wink in response that seemed to have enough effect to nearly knock the poor pale-red earth pony over. Emmy gave an energetic wave with her right forehoof as Ember made her way towards the hall.

-----

The dining room was also a relatively large room, riddled with the scent of food in the air. A fireplace was at one wall with various cooking pots and ingredients nearby. In the middle of the room was a long rectangular wooden table with accompanying benches, presumably the table everypony - everyone - ate at.

Alone in the whole room, save for the new presence of the pale-red mare, a very exotic pony-like creature sat at one of the ends of the table looking down on various parchment documents. Perhaps the most significant trait to him was the fact that he was covered in black and white stripes, an instant indication of a zebra.

Ember slowly approached the muttering zebra who was busy with his work. But it was no doubt that he had heard her hoofsteps.

"Um... A-are you Helio?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, you must be the new one," the zebra replied, snapping out of his page-dwelling. His voice was deep and held a heavy tinge of a very exotic accent. "Welcome to the Dark Brotherhood. My name is Helio Trope."

"And I'm Ember," she replied, shifting in her spot. She had no experience with zebras; they were a race from a far away land said to be mostly desert badlands.

"I see. How did you manage to get hoof-picked by Astrid? She is one of our best, you know."

Ember began recalling her story to Helio, from the beginning of her night shift at Windhoof up until the end of her trial with Astrid in the shack. It was a relatively short transfer of words, but Helio remained expressionless until Ember finished her tale.

"Interesting, and not unlike many of the stories you will hear here. Not that everyone finished a contract before one of our kin could, but everyone has their way," Helio explained, thoughtful. "However, I can see how you are here, stuck in a nutshell."

"Well, what can I do?" Ember asked, not very much anticipating her fate but not in despair anymore.

"Tell you what: I'll give you a few jobs, and you complete them. Show us that you are trustworthy, and then you can have the freedom of leaving or staying," Helio offered, hopeful to give the mare reassurance.

"Trustworthy?" she repeated.

"It is sort of what we do for all new members to join our clan. You already know our Sanctuary's position, and more so on how to get in. Who knows what danger you could bring upon us."

"I... I see," Ember responded, feeling guilty for something she didn't commit. Then again, these were the bad guys, right? And there are always those who do sick things, Flint's words echoed in her mind. "I'll give it a shot."