Pony's Creed 2

“My name is Rainbow Dash, and I'm a prisoner of war,” the cyan pony began. “A war I never knew existed. Waged by two groups I never thought were real. Templars and Assassins. But the Animus showed me the truth, the things I've seen, the things I've been. A thousand years of history flowing through my veins. Brought to life by this machine.”

“They're using them, using me,” Rainbow explained. “To search for something called the Apple. It's an artifact, one of many so-called 'Pieces of Eden'. The Templars collected them, to help them stay in power. If the Templars get their hooves on another one, everything will change. They want to make us all their slaves.”

“When they first brought me here, I was worried what would happen if I tried to fight back,” Rainbow said. “Now...heh...I'm afraid of what would happen if I don't. But I can't do it alone. And maybe I don't have to. I met somepony. Her name is Applejack, and I think she's on my side. But she's gone now. Taken away by that bastard, Sunset Shimmer and her Templar masters. I don't know what will happen to her, or what will happen to me. All I know is that I need to get out of here. And I need to do it soon.”

“My name is Rainbow Dash, and this is my story.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Rainbow Dash sat in her quarantine room in the Nightmare corporation building, Applejack walked in.

“We need to go,” she said.

“Applejack, where have you been?” Rainbow asked. “Why did they...”

“Now,” Applejack interrupted. She walked over to a nearby Animus. “Get in.”

“What's with the blood?” Rainbow Dash questrioned. “Are you ok?”

“Look,” Applejack said, wasting no time. “We have maybe ten minutes, maybe, before they figure out what I've done. If we're not out of here and on the road before then...”

“Wait, we're leaving?”

“Rainbow,” Applejack stopped. “I promise I'll answer all of your questions. Later. But right now, I need you to just shut up and do what I say. So please, get in the Animus.”

“All right,” Rainbow Dash agreed. She laid down on the Animus while Applejack worked the controls. As the Virtual Reality screed pulled over Rainbow's eyes, she saw her name, subject number, and DNA strip appear on the right side of the screen. She was Subject 17. Another DNA strip appeared with the name, 'Subject 16' in front of it. Applejack began to search for relevant memory data linking the two DNA strips. She finally found a match and relayed it into Rainbow's head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carlotta was laying on her bed, trying to give birth to her expected foal. Two of her nursemares were helping.

“Spingi, spingi!” one of the nursemares said. Carlotta pushed hard, crying out in pain. “Nuovo.” the nursemare said. Carlotta gasped and pushed one last time, as hard as she could.

“Disi, brava,” the nursemaid said. The other nursemare ran over to help get the foal from Carlotta's abdomen. The first nursemare stood up with the newborn foal in her hooves.

“It is a girl,” she announced. Carlotta gasped, trying to relieve the pain of birth. The father suddenly came in.

“Oh, my love,” he said. “Mi dispiace, I… I was at the bank when they told me. Did I miss it? Am I too late?” The nursemare with the newborn filly in her hooves showed the father.

“Give her here,” he said.

“Fredrick?” Carlotta asked.

“Shh, shh, my love,” Fredrick said. “It will be alright.” Fredrick spoke to the filly. “Sei un Melody,” he said. “Sei nato un combattente. Quindi lotta” The filly began to cry, a signal that she was breathing.

“Listen to her!” Fredrick exclaimed. “A fine set of lungs.”

“And what shall we call her, my love?” Carlotta asked.

“Octavia,” Fredrick answered. “Octavia Melody de Firenze!” The foal gave out a loud cry as the memory faded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Get up,” Applejack ordered as she turned off the Animus. “Let's go.” Rainbow Dash stood up and tried to regain balance.

“Yeah, well, I'm gonna need a second,” she said.

“There isn't time Rainbow,” Applejack said. “We need to leave. She took a hard drive from the Animus and ran over to a door. Rainbow Dash followed her out of the room. Two security guards rounded a corner to a closed glass door.

“Stay close,” Applejack advised. She ran over to a computer console. The guards spotted her.

“Hey!” One of the guards yelled. “You're not supposed to be up here.” Applejack quickly used the console to lock the glass door. One of the guards tried to open it. It wouldn't budge.

“Open this door!” he ordered.

“I'm calling it in!” the other guard informed. He picked up a nearby mic and alerted more guards. “We have a breach in the research wing!” he said. “I repeat, there's been a breach in the research wing!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash ran through another door, away from the guards. Rainbow Dash, having never been outside the room with the Animus, looked around the hall as she ran.

“Nice walls,” she said. “I'm guessing Nightmare has some pretty fucked up decorators.” As Applejack rounded a corner, she found two more guards waiting.

“There they are,” one of them said. “Don't let them get away.” Applejack approached the guards and knocked one to the floor. The other guard attacked her, but Applejack blocked the attack and knocked that guard down as well. She stole the control staff from his hoof and knocked him unconscious with it. Applejack spun around and struck the other guard in the jaw. Blood flew from the guards mouth as he fell unconscious. Applejack threw down the staff.

“Holy shit!” Rainbow Dash cried. She ran with Applejack through more hallways. It was strange to Rainbow. “Look at this place,” she said. Applejack stopped at an elevator and got in. Rainbow Dash followed. Applejack closed the door and sent the elevator to the lowest floor it would go.

“What about the cameras?” Rainbow asked.

“I rigged them to loop old footage,” Applejack explained. “How do you think I managed to hide all your nighttime snooping from Nightmare?”

“You're good,” Rainbow Dash said, impressed.

“So I've been told,” Applejack agreed. “But they're on to us now. We need to hurry.” The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to another hallway. Applejack and Rainbow Dash turned right and stopped at the corner. A large room met their gaze.

“We need to get to that elevator on the other side of the room,” Applejack said. “Follow my lead, but keep an eye out for security. I'd rather avoid a fight.” Applejack ran into the room and through its maze-like halls. Rainbow Dash followed close behind. As they ran forward, Rainbow Dash saw another Animus.

“Is that an Animus?” she asked. Applejack didn't answer and turned right, followed by a left, followed by another right. She stopped at a four-way corridor.

“Stay with me,” she said. After checking for more guards, she ran straight and then turned right. Rainbow Dash saw more Animus machines.

“What the...” she gasped. “How many of them are there?” Applejack made a left turn, not answering.

“Hold on,” she said. She checked for more security and made a left. Applejack ran straight for a distance.

“Is it Animuses, or Animi?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused with the grammar of multiple Animus machines. “What do you think, Applejack?” Applejack didn't answer. She made a left. “Applejack?” Rainbow asked. “What do they need with all of them?”

“Rainbow,” Applejack said, making a left. “Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Wanting to retain her manners, she quickly added. “Please.” She made a final turn to the right, right toward the elevator. Applejack slid her stolen key card into the console and entered the code. The elevator didn't open.

“Fuck,” she growled. “I thought this card would work. It must be on a separate system, and I don't have the code.”

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash said. She stared at the console, and suddenly saw it differently. Everything was black and white, but she was glowing blue. She saw the four of the buttons on the keypad glowing red: 2, 3, 4, and 7. Rainbow Dash imputed 3247. The console buzzed.

“Shit,” Rainbow muttered. She imputed 7423. That code didn't work either. “Oh, come on,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. She thought a moment, then entered 2374. The console lit up and the elevator doors opened. Rainbow Dash suddenly saw normally again.

“How did you do that?” Applejack asked, intently.

“I… don't know,” Rainbow answered. Applejack quickly got focused again.

“Let's go,” she said. She and Rainbow Dash entered the elevator and proceeded to the ground floor.

“It's always something,” Applejack said.

“What was that in the Animus?” Rainbow asked. “Subject 16? Octavia…Melo...something?”

“I think we've been wrong all along,” Applejack explained. “That's why we need to get out of here. Sparkle and the Templars, their only part of the problem.”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked.

“I'll explain when we get there,” Applejack said.

“Get where?” Rainbow Dash inquired. The elevator stopped in the parking garage of the Nightmare building. A squad of security guards were waiting. Applejack and Rainbow Dash started to fight them off. With her experience, Applejack fought fast, but Rainbow Dash was inexperienced, so she had a bit of trouble. When all the guards were writhing on the concrete, Applejack ran up to a car and opened the trunk.

“Get in,” she said.

“You're joking,” Rainbow Dash said.

“It's for your own protection,” Applejack reasoned.

“Oh man,” Rainbow Dash sighed as she curled up in the trunk.

“We're almost there,” Applejack said. Rainbow looked up, confused, before Applejack closed the trunk door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applejack opened up the trunk a while later, and Rainbow Dash climbed out.

“Thanks for that,” she said. “It was great. Being shoved in the trunk, bouncing around, loved it.”

“This way,” Applejack said. Rainbow Dash followed Applejack through a storage building.

“So, you gonna tell me what's going on now?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“There was a reason for the escape, Rainbow,” Applejack said.

“Figures.”

“We need your help,” Applejack said.

“For what?” Rainbow inquired. “Another treasure hunt through time?”

“Nightmare's gonna replace their Apple Eden,” Applejack explained. “The map your ancestor found guarantees it. The other Assassins...they'll do what they can, where they can, but...”

“What?” Rainbow asked. “What is it?”

“We're losing this war, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “The Templars are too powerful. And every day, more of us die.”

“I still don't see how I fit into things,” Rainbow said.

“We're going to train you,” Applejack said. “Turn you into one of us.”

“What?” Rainbow gasped. “No. No, you've seen me in action. I'm no good at this. And even if I was, it would take months. Years even.”

“No,” Applejack disagreed. “Not with the Animus. Not with the bleeding effect.”

“But I'm just one mare,” Rainbow Dash argued.

“Sometimes, that's all you need,” Applejack said.

“So that's why you found her,” Rainbow realized. “My ancestor. “What was her name? Octavia?”

“If you can follow in her footsteps, you'll learn everything she did,” Applejack said. “Just like she did.”

“You dragged me all the way here just to make me an Assassin?” Rainbow asked.

“Look, there's more to it than that,” Applejack said. “But it'll have to wait. Trust me. OK?” Rainbow Dash gave the ensuing matter a little thought.

“All right,” she answered. “I'm in. Tell me what you need.”

“Really?” Applejack cried. “You're sure?”

“I...thought you'd be happy about this,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Sorry, I'm just a little surprised,” Applejack said. “I spent the whole ride over here wondering how I was going to convince you to do this.”

“Save it,” Rainbow Dash stopped. “After what those Templar bastards put me through, I'm ready, willing, and able.” Glad Rainbow would help, Applejack gave her a quick hug.

“Thank you,” she said. She turned and entered a room with a large chair and many computers. Two more ponies were in the room. A mare and a stallion. The mare noticed Applejack.

“Applejack!” she cried. “You made it.” She and applejack hugged. “God, it's been so long!” the mare said. “Seven years, can you believe it?”

“Indeed,” the stallion said, walking up to Applejack. “Welcome back.” The stallion turned to Rainbow. “Ah, so this must be the infamous Subject 17.  Rainbow Dash, was it?”

“Who are you?” Rainbow asked.

“I'm sorry, where are my manners,” the stallion apologized. “I'm Dr. Hooves. This is Vinyl Scratch.”

“Nice to meet you, Rainbow,” Vinyl said, shaking Rainbow's hoof.

“Yes, well it's been lovely chatting,” Dr. Hooves said, in a hurry. “But if you don't mind, Rainbow, it's best we get to work. Time is precious, doubly so these days.” Dr. Hooves went back to his computers.

“We've got everything set up and ready, Applejack,” Vinyl said. “Just say the word and we'll get goin'.”

“Here,” Applejack said, reaching into her saddlebag. “I brought you something. A parting gift from Nightmare.” Applejack handed Vinyl the hard drive she took from the Animus at Nightmare.

“Whoa!” Vinyl gasped. “A memory core! This is amazing. With their data, things are gonna go a lot faster. I'll get to work on merging the code.” Vinyl sat down at her computer near the large chair and Applejack sat down at hers. Rainbow Dash walked over to Dr. Hooves.

“What's all this stuff for?” Rainbow asked.

“This stuff, Rainbow, oh this stuff is nothing special really, this stuff is just the stuff that keeps our entire operation from falling apart really,” Dr. Hooves said, annoyed. “It requires a great deal of concentration to keep it all moving so you'll forgive me if I don't have time to play 'meet and greet'.”

“Hooves is in charge of managing our knowledge archives,” Vinyl explained. “It's like a digital library. He'll be riding shotgun with me while you're in the Animus. So if you come across anything of note, ponies, places, events, etcetera, he'll create database entries you can consult for additional information.”

“Yeah, it not just databases though,” Hooves explained. “I also provide tactical support for the other Assassins. You know Rainbow, the ones that are out there, actually doing stuff. Risking their lives, little things like that.” Hooves turned back to his archives. Rainbow turned and walked over to Applejack.”

“Hey, listen,” she said. “I just wanted to say thank you, and that I'm sorry.”

“Sorry?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, you know, before,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Everything at Nightmare. It was just...I wasn't ready.”

“It's OK,” Applejack said.

“No,” Rainbow said. “Going through all that. Knowing that the Templars still exist, what they're planning.”

“What's done is done, Rainbow,” Applejack assured. “You're here now, and that's what matters.”

“Applejack, I've been seeing things,” Rainbow Dash informed. “Symbols in my bedroom, the code on the keypad. Just like Twilight.”

“It's from the bleeding effect,” Applejack explained. “You're taking on more than your ancestor's memories. “You're taking on their skills too. In this case, Eagle Vision.”

“What skills?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You're more perceptive now,” Applejack continued. “So if everything goes well, everything Octavia learned in the Animus, you'll learn too.”

“You really think this will work?” Rainbow wondered. “That I'll become an Assassin?”

“You already are an Assassin,” Applejack said. “You'll just be better at it.”

“Of course,” Hooves said, “You'll be much better at it. I saw the tapes from Nightmare, you didn't even try to escape.”

“What a dick,” Rainbow grumbled. She walked over to Vinyl.

“Hey, Rainbow,” Vinyl said. “What's up?”

“Just wondering what your role is in all this,” Rainbow said.

“I take care of Baby,” Vinyl said. “It's my job to keep her up and running?”

“Baby?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You mean the Animus.”

“Actually, I prefer Animus 2.0, since Baby's twice as awesome as anything you'll find at Nightmare. The Templars might have deeper pockets than us, but they've got no ambition. No passion. No competitive edge! That's why, even with all their resources, anything they can do, I can do better. Faster too. Anyway, take a seat when you're ready, and we can get started. I just need to make a few more adjustments.” Vinyl programmed a few more things into the Animus 2.0 as Rainbow sat down. Rainbow found that this Animus was much more comfortable than the ones at Nightmare. It was cushioned where the ones at Nightmare were not. Rainbow Dash put her right hoof in the rest near the computer. Vinyl stood up.

“So how does this work?” Rainbow asked. Vinyl held up an IV needle and gave Rainbow a sympathetic look. “Of course,” Rainbow muttered.

“Deep breath,” Vinyl said. She inserted the needle into Rainbow's forearm. Rainbow winced.

“Oh, what are you, a tiny foal?” Dr. Hooves asked.

“Hooves!” Vinyl scolded.

“Well…” Dr. Hooves stopped. Vinyl pulled a seemingly invisible VR screen over Rainbow's eyes and started up the Animus. Rainbow Dash's mind started to drift off.

“Here we go,” Vinyl said. Rainbow Dash slipped from reality and everything went white.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The date was December 26, 1476 in the beautiful city of Baltimare, Equestria. Citizens ran to a central road for an event they had been waiting for quite some time. The Melody family and the Lulamoon family were scheduled for a fight that evening, and the friends of the Melody family were giving support.

Octavia Melody walked in front of her crowd of supporters. She turned to them and gave a speech.

“Insieme per la vittoria!” she cried.

“Insieme!” the crowd cheered.

“Silenzio, my friends,” Octavia quieted. “Silenzio.” The crowd quieted down. “Grazie,” Octavia thanked. “Do you know what brings us here tonight? Honor. Trixie Lulamoon slanders my family's name, and forced her own miseries upon us. If we...”

“Enough of your nonsense, grullo!” A voice cried out from behind. Octavia turned to see Trixie standing before her.

“Buona sera, Trixie,” Octavia greeted. “We were just talking about you. Surprised to see you here. I thought the Lulamoon's hired others to do their dirty work.”

“It's your family that cries for guards when there's trouble, codardo,” Trixie countered. “Afraid to handle things yourself?”

“Your sister seems quite satisfied with the handling I gave her earlier,” Octavia taunted. The crowd laughed with her at this dirty joke. Trixie was not amused. At all.

“Uccidetelo!” she cried. She and her friends hurled stones at Octavia and her group. The one thrown by Trixie cut Octavia's lip. Octavia blocked out the pain as she and her group of friends began to fight. She immediately tackled a Lulamoon citizen and beat her to the ground. Trixie stayed back from the fighting. As Octavia grabbed another citizen by the throat, she heard a voice behind her.

“Ehi, behind you,” somepony said. Octavia turned to see her sister. She dropped her prey.

“Beauty,” Octavia exclaimed. “What are you doing here?” A rival citizen ran at Beauty, but she threw him to the ground.

“I wanted to see if baby sister had finally learned how to fight,” Beauty said. The citizen she had thrown down grabbed Octavia, but Octavia headbutted him and threw him down.

“Heh, and?” she asked.

“You have style,” Beauty said. “But endurance is what counts. Let's see how many of them you can ruin before they get the best of you.” Beauty joined the fight against the Lulamoon family. The rivals came in great numbers, but went down just as fast. Trixie saw this as a bad thing, and decided to call off her troops.

“Fall back!” she cried. “Fall back!” She pushed somepony out of the way and ran. Octavia tried to follow, but Beauty stopped her.

“Hold on,” she said.

“What?” Octavia cried. “We've almost won this!”

“Your lip,” Beauty noticed. Octavia wiped her lip and found a little blood on her hoof.

“Just a scratch,” she said.

“Let the doctor decide,” Beauty said.

“It's not necessary,” Octavia argued. “Besides, I have no money for this doctor of yours.”

“Wasted it on wine, eh?” Beauty asked.

“I'd hardly call it wasted,” Octavia said. “Lend me some florins then. Or have you done the same?” Beauty and Octavia laughed.

“Search them,” Beauty suggested. “They're bound to have something in their pockets.” Octavia searched through the fallen citizens for some florins. When she had found 200 Beauty stopped her.

“Va bene,” she said. “That should be enough. Let's get out of here before the guards arrive.” Octavia followed her older sister to a nearby doctor.

“Ben trovato, doctor,” Beauty said.

“Hmm,” the doctor said. “Sorelle Melody. Why am I not surprised?” The doctor inspected Octavia. “You've made quite a mess of yourself, young lady,” he said.

“It's nothing, really,” Octavia said.

“You must help her,” Beauty said. “That pretty face is her only asset.” Octavia gave her sister a hard glare.

“Fottiti,” she growled. The doctor pulled out a cloth to clean the wound. He put some remedy on it to heal it faster.

“There we are,” he said when finished. “Now get out of here.”

“Grazie,” Octavia thanked.

“This way,” Beauty said. “Quite a night!”

“Indeed,” Octavia agreed. “I only wish they were all as much fun. Oh, wait. They are!” The sisters chuckled.

“We should head home, Octavia,” Beauty suggested. “Father's sure to be wondering where we've gone.”

“Yes,” Octavia said. “And I'd rather avoid a lecture.”

“Up for a little race then?” Beauty asked.

“To where?” Octavia wondered.

“Ehh, roof of that church,” Beauty said pointing to a nearby church building. On the count of three. Uno, due, tre!” The sisters raced to the church roof.

“Baby sister still has much to learn,” Beauty taunted pulling ahead. “Come on, tartaruga.” Octavia, not about to lose, ran faster and got far ahead of her sister.

“Ha, I almost feel bad about this!” Octavia cried. “No shame in failure, sister!” Octavia sprang up the church building and won the race. Beauty came up soon after.

“Come on then, this way,” she said.

“Where are you going?” Octavia asked.

“You'll see,” Beauty said. She climbed up the church tower and Octavia followed her. Beauty reached the top and gave Octavia a hoof up. Octavia pulled herself up with her sister's help and stood on top of the tower.

“It is a good life we lead, sister,” Beauty complemented.

“The best,” Octavia agreed. “May it never change.” The two sisters looked over the beautiful cityscape of Firenze.

“And may it never change us,” Beauty finished.