Ezio vs Harmony

Ezio felt his way through the woods. Why in the world was it so dark here?? And why did everything feel so wet???

It had been about three hours since he left the castle, and now here he was, trudging through the woods (if it wasn't a bog by now), trying to find the other side to Fillysburg. It was just so dark, and every tree he hit his face on enraged him to the point of giving up. But if he went back empty-handed, who knows what would happen.

And so here he was, a mad traveler with an internal struggle to stop and go. One part wanted him to die, to turn back and be executed like he should be, another wanted him to live, for he had so much more of his life to live, and only so much time before the curtains of death enclose upon him. After all, with his brother and father dead, he was the last one to pass on the Auditore name. And it would not end here like so many others.

His hooves pushed through the wet place, wearing him out, and eventually he felt his way to a dry spot to rest. There was no sign of getting out of here... not one...

Ezio...

He jumped at his name. Who was it? Who else was out here?

Don't look Ezio... let your senses guide you...

Well, that was stupid information. He had to feel his way through to here anyway, why tell him to use his senses now?

C'mon Ezio... You can do this. Fight through it!

What? What he heard was strange. It didn't sound like this voice was leading him anywhere... He tried to find the source.

Don't you give up now! C'mon! EZIO!

The last word screamed in Ezio's ears. He got up, ran through vines that whipped at his face, hurdled over logs he didn't know were there, and stopped when light started to blind him.

What was this voice? It killed him inside to not know who it was... those screams...

He wondered if they were existing for the here and now...

No, that couldn't be the purpose, right? He let his thoughts get the best of him and paused in place to think this all over.

The voice was female, he knew that. He felt like he just barely knew it. It was from sometime... no, someplace... he couldn't put his hoof on it, but that didn't seem right. This message, whatever it was, was either too late, to early, or possibly just a trick of the mind.

He returned to reality and saw a great chasm.

Ezio!

The voice shocked him. It was like somepony stern, again female, was yelling at him.

It's Princess Twilight. I've set up a telepathic connection for us to communicate, and for me to track your progress. What you're looking at is the Fillysburg Gulch. The place was made after multiple mining operations went viral here. The ground may be unstable, so watch your step.

Oh good. Now his brain was tortured by the sound of his potential threat. Wondrous.

He moved down the steep slope to the Gulch.

The package is somewhere in there. Find it.

Yeah, I know. Let me do my work in peace. he thought back. There was no reply, so he assumed that his thoughts weren't transferred.

He stepped on a rock, and it moved under his hooves. He quickly got off, and the rock slid down, falling into the Gulch. Ezio heard it hit the rock walls three times before it landed with a CRASH. The princess wasn't kidding about it being unstable.

He took his time to get over to a nearby ladder. Any quick movements might cause a rock slide, and that would put him in danger.

He started his descent into the darkness. The farther he went, the closer he heard the voices below.

"Look, buddy, the package is ours!"

"You are mistaken / This package belongs to us / Step back or you die."

""Yeah, yeah, all big man talk over there! Try me, pal!"

"Very well."

Ezio heard some gurgling sounds and the first voice was gone. Whoever had the package was dangerous, and Ezio hoped he didn't have to fight him.

"Unless there are more / I believe I have a package / It's contents are mine."

Ezio reached the bottom of the ladder. He rushed at the voice, eventually hitting the source, knocking him to the ground.

"What the--?!" shouted the pony.

"The package belongs to the Princess! How dare you try to take it as your own!" yelled Ezio.

Ezio got a better look at this pony. He wore a helmet that covered his face, and a black sneaking suit covered him from neck down. Ezio had landed a few feet away from the pony, and now wondered if this... thing... was a pony at all.

"The Princess, you say? / I doubt that, you lying fiend / You want it as well."

"I speak the truth: The Princess gave me orders to come to this place and find the package she lost!"

"How can one find out? / It's impossible to know / What if you speak lies?"

"If you don't believe me, that's your fault. I'm taking that package to the Princess, whether you like it or not."

"Let's duel, you and I / For the package that fell here / I know who is more skilled."

"Very well."

The strange pony that stood before Ezio took out a sword of some kind that he had never seen before. He took out his own Falchion sword.

Neither one moved. Or so it seemed. The figure in front of Ezio disappeared, and Ezio realized he had been tricked, and jumped as soon as he saw it disappear.

His intuition made him do the right thing. The strange pony had reappeared behind him and struck his side, instead of his back, where the pony had aimed... the small cut bled slightly. Ezio saw the glow of his horn, which explains the disappearance.

"Magic of Deception! You cheat, bastardo!"

Ezio knew that under that helmet, that pony must be smiling, as Ezio dived to the side again after the second time the pony tried to trick him.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Believe me, coward, I have no shame."

That was good phrase. He should quote that for posterity.

Ezio continued to dodge the attacker and his Deception magic. Ezio saw, as he reappeared for the last time, that his horn had fizzled out, running out of magic. This pony was not a naturally adept unicorn.

"Give up! You've got nowhere to run."

"My skills are sharp, fool / As is my sword, you should know / Your death approaches."

Ezio and the other pony circled, waiting for the other to to strike first. Ezio had no time for this waiting. He swung his Falchion at the unicorn, who jumped back to avoid it. Ezio hated this waiting game.

"C'mon! I don't have all day!" he taunted.

"Have the need to kill /  I wonder why it is so / I am upset now."

The unicorn swung to the side.  Ezio blocked his sword and kicked him in the face.

"Lucky as you are / you merely broke my shields and / now I laugh at you."

Ezio made his next hit hurt. He swung from the right, but then turned it around and cross-struck from the left.

The unicorn fell for the ploy. He blocked to Ezio's right, and got hit by the cross-strike.

He fell to the ground.

"Dammit..."

Ezio looked down upon the foe he had defeated.

"No! This cannot be / My skills were sharp and now have / been dulled by you. Ugh!"

Ezio walked to the package and prepared to bring it back to Canterlot.

Let me get that for you.

The package lifted off the ground and disappeared in a flash of light. Ezio looked behind him at the fallen enemy. He sighed.

"C'mon, up on your feet now."

"What?"

"You heard me."

Ezio helped the pony up.

"It makes no sense--"

"I know. But you don't deserve this fate. Now go, before it's too late."

Ezio felt himself rise. In a flash, he was sucked through space back to the castle, right in front of the Princess.

"I see the package is safe?" he asked, seeing the open package nearby. "What was in that, anyway?"

"That's not important. You did your job, as I asked you to. You shall do no more and no less than that. Besides, I already have a new mission for you that you should be focusing on."

"And what is that mission?"

"I will assign it later, for you look terrible and smell of something rotten. I will allow you to take a few hours to get yourself in order. Then, I will tell you."

Ezio, slightly thankful, slightly not, exited the room. A guard stood outside.

"So you're Ezio, huh? Princess told me to take you to your temporary chambers here in the castle. Follow me."

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Trixie knew it.

This Assassin had gotten the truth, but still he did not have the truth. He found out about the Templar scheme, and that damned Mr. Wrong was on to her. She shook the thought of capture away. The Assassin just needed more evidence... more faked evidence.

Trixie thought a letter wouldn't work, since Twilight would see it first before it gets to him. She needed another way...

She'd find it soon enough. She heard a knock at her door and she opened the window. It was time to run again. She pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and jumped out. She was met with no resistance other than the feet against the ground. She ran away, hearing the guards break into the house behind her.

**************************************************************************************

Ezio hated this room.

The entire thing was painted pink. Pink! Oh, how he despised that color. It goes well with absolutely nothing. Nothing at all! Pink... who does that?

"Do you like it? I made it the same color as your murder."

Ezio saw that Princess Twilight walked in.

"What?"

"Remember a little somepony named Pinkie Pie that you killed? Because I do! Don't tell me you've forgotten about it."

Ezio stayed silent.

"Your time is up. It's time for your next mission. It will take some time, but I'm sure you can do it."

Ezio wasn't looking forward to this.

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Mr. Wright and the guards burst into the house. The guards rushed in every direction. They searched through everything: pots, pans, closets, all the way down to under the last speck of dust.

"She isn't here, sir."

"Damn. I thought that we might actually catch her. Find her, she couldn't have gone far."

"You heard the colt! Fan out!"

The guards ran off into the woods. Mr. Wright shook his head. They wouldn't find her here, she's probably teleporting away right now. He knew it wasn't right. He knew that Trixie wouldn't truly wan to do this... right?

He didn't know anymore. The guards came back to him.

"She got away, sir."

"That's fine. We will check the next area in an hour. I wan to bring in the investigation squad for that house. Your work is done for now."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Wright wanted to know the truth. He wanted to know if this was the, no, her ultimate revenge.