Pony's Creed 2

Back in Baltimare, Octavia walked up to Rarity to tell her the news.

“The Lulamoons are dead,” Octavia said, “Every one of them.”

“I must admit,” Rarity confessed. “I’ve never believed I could desire the death of others so badly.”

“Nor I,” Octavia agreed. Rarity put a hoof on Octavia’s shoulder.

“Octavia,” Rarity said. “Thank you for the role you’ve played in keeping this dream of mine alive a little longer.” Octavia bowed.

“L'onore è mio, Signora” she replied.

“What will you do now, figiola,” Rarity asked.

“There are still others I must hunt, Signora,” Octavia answered. “They are already digging their claws into the heart of Canterlot.”

“No!” Rarity gasped. “La Bella Canterlot. Then that is where your journey must take you, Octavia. Before you leave us, I have something for you. A gift.” Rarity waved to a servant of hers. The mare brought over a white cape with a purple insignia.

“This cape identifies you as a friend of the La Moda,” Rarity said. “As long as you wear it, the city guards will be…more tolerant of your actions. But be warned, you will not be granted immunity from the law.” Octavia nodded and took the cape. She removed her old one and fastened the La Moda cape in its place.

“Che la fortuna favorisca la tua lama,” Rarity said. Octavia bowed and left for Appleblooms workshop. When she reached the building, she knocked on the door. There was no answer.

“Applebloom,” Octavia called. “Applebloom!” A passing citizen noticed Octavia and stopped to explain.

“Mi dispiace, Messera,” the civilian apologized. “But she is gone. Maestra Applebloom was commissioned by a Canterlot noble to paint some portraits. She paid for the Maestra to move her entire workshop to Canterlot. It’s quite an opportunity.”

“Grazie mile, friend,” Octavia thanked. Octavia left Baltimare, trying to find Applebloom. Upon entering the mountains, Octavia found Applebloom mending her broken wagon.

“Applebloom!” Octavia called. Applebloom looked up from her work and saw her friend.

“Octavia?” Applebloom gasped. “What luck! I…er…I’ve run into a bit of trouble.”

“Let me see if I can help,” Octavia offered.

“I know how to fix it, but lack the means to do so,” Applebloom explained. If you could just lift the wagon…” Octavia walked to a reasonable spot and hefted the wagon up. Applebloom continued to work. As she held up the wagon, Octavia could see a strange contraption inside.

“What is this thing?” Octavia asked.

“Eh?” Applebloom asked.

“It looks like a giant bat,” Octavia commented.

“Oh nothing,” Applebloom said. “Just an idea I’ve been working on. I could not leave it behind.” Applebloom stood up and Octavia dropped the wagon.

“What is it for?” Octavia asked.

“I shouldn’t really talk about it,” Applebloom said. “Ah…al diavolo. I can’t hold it in anymore. Octavia. I think I’ve figured out how to make an earth pony fly!” Octavia gave a laugh and walked toward the wagon front.

“Come on,” she said. “I’ll drive.”

“But I haven’t even told you where I’m going,” Applebloom said. Octavia climbed into the wagon front and so did Applebloom. Octavia got the pulling ponies moving again and they continued toward Canterlot. Applebloom took a big breath of fresh air.

“Canterlot,” Applebloom remarked. “Such a beautiful city. So many sources of inspiration! Ponte de Rialto, Piazzo San Marco, L'Arsenale…” Octavia felt that something was wrong. She held up her hoof.

“Wait,” she said. “We’re not alone.” Octavia and Applebloom turned their heads to see multiple guards running toward the wagon. Octavia sped up the wagon to try and lose the guards.

“What’s happening?” Applebloom asked. “Who are they?”

“Celestia’s mares,” Octavia said.

“Why?” Applebloom inquired. “What do they want with us?” An arrow wedged itself in the seat in between Octavia and Applebloom.

“I think they want us dead,” Octavia worried. “Applebloom, hide!” Applebloom quickly jumped into the wagon and closed the cover. The guards pursued Octavia. Some of them tried to jump on the wagon. Octavia made sharp turns to shake them off. After a few more guards had failed to get on, Applebloom jumped back into the driver’s seat.

“Go, Applebloom!” Octavia cried. “They’re here for me. Not you. I’ll catch up with you later.” Octavia gave Applebloom the reins and jumped off the wagon. Applebloom proceeded toward Fillydelphia, where she would catch a train to Canterlot. As Applebloom sped away, Octavia drew her sword to defend against the guards. Two lightly armored guards attacked Octavia. Octavia kicked one in the chest, and drove her sword into the guard’s skull. Octavia smoothly pulled her sword out of the dead guard and cut into the other guard’s neck. Octavia pulled out her sword as a bulky guard approached. Octavia put her sword away and prepared to fight. The guard swung his heavy battle axe at Octavia, but Octavia grabbed it and kicked the guard in the hoof. Octavia took the axe and drove the blade into the guard’s head. The axe stuck in the guard’s skull as he was killed. The guard was still standing, so Octavia lightly pushed the guard to the ground. Octavia traveled the rest of the way to Fillydelphia on hoof. When she reached the city, she found Applebloom at the train station.

“Thank you, Octavia,” Applebloom said. “You saved my life.”

“I did what had to be done,” Octavia said. “You would have done the same.”

“I doubt it,” Applebloom chuckled. “Bravery is not my strong suit. I owe you a debt, sister.”

“Di niente,” Octavia shrugged.

“Tutti a bordo!” the train captain called. “Fra poco si salpa!”

“That’s our train,” Applebloom said. “Canterlot awaits.” Octavia and Applebloom boarded the train and left for Canterlot.

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

Rainbow Dash woke up in the real world, in her own mind. She thought they had work to do.

“Everything all right?” she asked.

“Better than all right,” Applejack said. “You’re making amazing progress.”

“Amazing’s quite a strong word,” Hooves grumbled.

“Then why are we stopping?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Prolonged exposure to the Animus can have…uh…side effects,” Vinyl explained.

“Awesome,” Rainbow Dash sighed.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Applejack assured. “You haven’t shown any of the symptoms.”

“Symptoms? What symptoms?” Rainbow Dash demanded.

“Degradation of cognitions,” Vinyl listed. “Temporal hallucinations, multiple awareness issues, overlapping realities, you know.”

“So, what you’re saying is…” Rainbow began.

“What we’re saying is, Rainbow,” Hooves said. “Is that if you’re not careful, you may not need the Animus to visit with your ancestors. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, assuming you could control it. Up until now, though, nopony has.” Rainbow realized something.

“Subject 16,” she assumed.

“We have safeguards, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “They kept her in the Animus way to long, sometimes days at a time. We’re being careful with you.”

“I hope so,” Rainbow sighed.

“Anyway, I was hoping we could test your skill retention,” Applejack wondered. “See if you’ve picked up some of Octavia’s abilities.”

“I’m game,” Rainbow Dash agreed.

“Great,” Applejack said. “Meet me downstairs when you’re ready.” Applejack left the room and went towards the storage room. Rainbow Dash walked over to Hooves. She had an important question.

“What could 16 have found that needed so much secrecy and security?” Rainbow Dash wondered.

“Well, I don’t know, do I?” Hooves said. “I know it had something to do with the codex, but I’m not so sure. I’m all ears if it’s as life changing as 16 says. Blimey, if I was the one allowed to use the Animus, I’d be in there finding out! Instead, I’m forced to sit here, as usual, on the sidelines." Hooves turned back to his work as Rainbow walked to the storage room. She found Applejack and walked up to her.

“So what’s the plan?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“We’re going to see what you’ve managed to retain,” Applejack explained. She slid a key card and entered a code into a panel, and the storage fence opened up. “Come on!” Applejack called. She walked into the storage room, followed by Rainbow Dash. Applejack stopped at a large pile of crates.

“Nightmare’s out there,” Applejack worried. “Looking for us. They’re better funded, and better equipped. So it’s only a matter of time until they find this place. We need to be ready for them when they do. I want you to activate the warehouse’s defense system. I'll let you figure out how to reach the sensors.”

“Aw, come on,” Rainbow Dash complained. “Not even a hint?”

“Open you're eyes Rainbow,” Applejack said. Rainbow Dash got to work looking for the sensors. As she started to walk around, her vision went to black and white, and she saw guards chasing the Assassin. The hallucination was very short, and Rainbow's vision went to normal.

“Uh, Applejack?” she called. “I'm seeing things.”

“Do the hallucinations last longer than 30 seconds?” Applejack questioned.

“No,” Rainbow Dash answered.

“Then it's nothing to worry about,” Applejack assured. “It'll pass.” Rainbow Dash continued to search and activate the sensors. After she had found a few, talked to Applejack.

“So,” Rainbow asked. “How am I doing?”

“You've picked up every single one of Octavia's skills,” Applejack marveled. “The adoption rate is fantastic. Another day or two, and we'll be done.” Rainbow Dash found and activated another sensor.

“OK, so you gotta tell me,” she said. “Why Octavia? Why ancient Equestria? I mean, we could have just gone back to Twilight again, and followed her during his early years.”

“It started with 16,” Applejack explained.

“Ah,” Rainbow Dash said. “Good old Subject 16. She repainted my room you know. With his blood.”

“I've been going through his files,” Applejack said. “Sunset flagged a couple of her Animus sessions. A bunch of different ancestors. Different dates and locations. Ancient Zebra territory, Saddle Arabia, but towards the end, she became obsessed with ancient Equestria. I think she knew about the vault. A few of the records of his later Animus sessions are missing. And the sessions that are there...after everything the Templars put her through...after everything...I put her through, it's all scrambled. If we hadn't pushed 16 so hard, we might have the answers already. And maybe she'd still be alive.” Rainbow Dash found and activated the last two sensors and walked back over to Applejack.

“All right,” Applejack said. “I think we're done for today. You should get some rest.”

“Applejack,” Rainbow said. “What happened to 16 wasn't your fault. You were just as much a prisoner as I was.”

“Thanks,” Applejack said. “Good night, Rainbow.” Applejack walked away, but stopped and turned back, smiling at Rainbow Dash. “I'm glad you're here,” she said. As Applejack left, Rainbow Dash walked back to her room. When she got to the hall, she had another hallucination, followed by a severe headache. Rainbow gripped her head as she saw priests from Twilight's time period pass by. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash was in Twilight's body and mind.

“What the hell?” she thought. “What is this? Where am I?” She realized where she was. “It's Saddle Arabia.” Rainbow saw a golden figure with her Eagle Vision.

“That must be her target,” she assumed. As the figure ran away, Rainbow Dash chased it up onto the top of a tower. The figure turned and removed its hood. It was a mare.

“It's the mare from Saddle Arabia,” Rainbow Dash realized. “What was her name? Carlotta. Yeah.” Twilight approached Carlotta. “Wonder what she wants with her?” Rainbow wondered. Twilight and Carlotta kissed affectionately. “Woah,” Rainbow Dash gasped. “Wasn't expecting that.” The natural memory faded to Twilight getting up and jumping off the tower, but strangely, the memory stayed on Carlotta.

“Wait,” Rainbow wondered. “Why am I not following Twilight? I'm stuck here with Carlotta. Holy shit. That must mean...This is one weird dream.” The memory moved in on Carlotta's abdomen and faded to black.