CHAPTER 6: The Apple

“EZIO!” The assassin jolted to the yell, and groaned, rubbing his head. “Wake up! I got a job for you..” Ezio turned his head and saw as Jace walked off, the sound of a door opening from down the hall. “Hurry up!”

Ezio shook his head and sighed, hopping out of bed and grabbing his assassin garb. ‘Well, if it’s a job…’ He thought to himself, sliding into his robes. He threw up his hood, and trotted off into the hall, seeing Jace leaning against a doorframe.

“Come.” He says, walking inside. Ezio follows behind him, and the room turned out to be a large library of sorts. “I need you for a very important mission, Ezio… I need you to find out something… Something that has been wracking my brain for a while now.” He walks to a large desk, and points at a map. “Just as you came into Equestria, Aksheal has been acting… Strange. Lately.”

“You still have yet to tell me who this… ‘Aksheal’ is…” Jace sighs and runs a hand through his long brown hair.

“It’s complicated… He’s a part of me, and is me in all standards… He looks over my Dream Realm that I have, a little gift of Reapers…” Ezio raises a brow, and trots to the desk, hopping up onto his hind hooves to get a better look at what he was pointing at.

It was a large map of Equestria, and his finger laid on a large mountainous region, a good ways away from where he marked Ponyville. A soft glowing came from where he pointed. “...What is it?”

“I believe Aksheal has picked up the traces of another Apple…” Ezio snaps his gaze towards Jace, who stares back. “Yes. I know. You didn’t want to live this life anymore, but it is a problem. If fallen into the wrong hands… Or hooves… This could mean the end days for Equestria.”

“How is this possible?! Where did it come from?! How did it get he-”

“Allow me to explain… YOU.” He shoves a finger into his chest, and he promptly falls back onto all fours. “Are what brought them to power… They were lying dormant, and apparently, they’re EVERYWHERE. Every world, every dimension, every plain of existence. Aksheal is already trying to deal with the Apple that has been registering in his world of Markarth, and has only been able to locate one. In total, we have three in three different worlds, all connected for some reason. And YOU are the one that made them activate again..”

Ezio looks down, and tries to process the information. “So, what do I need to do?”

“Travel to the mountain ranges… There you will find a cave near the peak, housing this Apple of Eden… If you can recover it, and get back, we can find out what all this means, and we can put it all to rest.”

“And if I fail?”

“Then it’ll be my job to recover them… You’re best suited for the job, because you know what you’re doing in all this. I’m just the powerhouse, I’m no assassin.” Ezio raises a brow again and Jace rolls his eyes. “Alright. I’m a magical being who has the ability to kill anyone and anything that I see fit, but that doesn’t mean I know how to use and detain an Apple of Eden. I only know what you’ve done in your past life, Ezio. Nothing less nothing more.”

Ezio sighs, and cracks his neck. “How do I get there, what am I bringing, and how long will it take?” He asks, looking into Jace’s red eyes.

He smiles, and walks over to a bookshelf, pulls back a book, and the whole shelf swings forward, revealing a small room with assorted blades and armaments and the such. “You will be going for the Crystal Mountains, a day’s train ride from Ponyville…” He says, pointing to a large map of Equestria on the wall. “From there you will go through the Crystal Empire, and make your way to the top of this mountain.” He points, and his finger lands on the top of a large mountain near the Empire. “From there, you will have to find a cave… I take it it would be elaborate, though it can’t be for sure. I’ve never heard of any cults or guilds or the like that would’ve taken it upon themselves to hide away this Apple from anyone… Though I may be mistaken. There could be secret assassins living in Equestria, but it’s not a given.”

Ezio studies this map, and locks it into his brain for the path that he has to take. “What about food? Supplies?” Jace leads him over to a case, and opens it, tossing him a saddlebag full of food, a bedroll, and other assorted things he would need along the way.

“You take your weapons, your supplies that you came with, and anything else you may need. It’s going to be cold, so dress warm.”

“Don’t worry, I have all that covered…” He says, patting his chest with a smirk. “When do I leave?”

“As soon as you are ready to go…”

“Buona…” Ezio mutters in Italian before trotting out of the room, filled with knowledge and slight excitement for the trip. “I was just starting to miss the old days..”

A few hours later, and some walking done, Ezio is at the train station, along with Jace who wore his cloak and hood, along with Ezio in his full assassin garb, his supplies, and all of his weapons ready to be used. “Now, I can’t stress this enough that Ponies will try and pick fights with you. It doesn’t matter who, if they are innocent, take them down, but don’t kill them. I’m the judge of that. I give you free reign to kill anything that is hostile towards you, and or will try to stop you in this mission..”

“Grazie… What is this machine called again?” Ezio asks, looking at the large train in front of him.

“A steam train. It gets you from point A to point B faster than walking or riding a horse as you would know best..”

“And now I am the horse..” Ezio sighs, and shakes his head. “Still not fully used to this…”

“Don’t worry. You’ll figure it out.” Jace says, patting him on the back. “Good luck, Ezio. Once you have the Apple, come back as fast as you can. Don’t tell anyone that you have it, it’ll just cause more problems.”

“Got it… Addio amico mio..”

“Viaggi sicuri, amico…” Ezio smiles at the Italian goodbye, and reaches out a hoof. Jace grabs a hold of his forearm and smiles back at him. “Give ‘em hell…”

“I plan on it..” The two turn, and go their separate ways as Ezio boards the train as the conductor yells that the train will be departing soon. He finds his way to his seat, and sits down, looking out of the window to Jace. The train lets out a whistle, and then starts to chug along. Ezio holds up a hoof to Jace, who returns the gesture by putting his hand up, and then walks off as the train gets rolling.

Ezio sighs as he sits in his seat, and watches the landscape around him start to move, and slowly starts to speed up as the train gathers speed along the way. ‘This is nice… Don’t have to move… It’s a large carriage..’ He thought to himself as he threw off his hood and leaned back, making himself comfortable as he started to think.

He thought about all the possible enemies he could encounter along the way. Templars were the first ones to cross his mind, next coming to guards of the Apple. ‘No, Jace said there was no written knowledge on these groups being here… But what if it wasn’t written..?’ He thought hard about it, trying to fit pieces in his head together as the train chugged on.

‘This should take a while… Jace said it would take a day for me to get here on this.. Train. Better get some sleep so I’m ready..’ He thinks to himself. He throws up his hood again, and covers his eyes from the light so he could sleep peacefully. He hunkers down on the soft train seat, and sighs a sigh of content. “Stessa merda, altro giorno…” He says softly to himself, chuckling at the phrase as he slowly drifts off to sleep.

Little did Ezio know, that tomorrow was going to be the day that his skills were put to the ultimate test.

Author's Note

Sorry this hasn't been updated in a while! I just got around to making up a chapter today. We'll see how much I get done with this, It'll be daunting, but I'll try!