Changelings and Assassins

Chapters

Prologue - Part 1: Chrysalis
Prologue - Part 2: Sentinel and Seraffo
Chapter 1: Welcome to Italy
Chapter 2: Story Session
Chapter 3: Training Day
Introductions

Prologue - Part 1: Chrysalis

Falling. I could feel myself being thrown through the air during my expulsion from the Canterlot Wedding. I had been defeated, and found myself in the terror and confusion of the vertigo. My body still throbbed from the contact of the protective shield released by Shining Armour, and I had been left disoriented. My Changeling army had scattered. I knew there was little chance I would survive the fall.

I began to form up my magic, for I knew there was only one way to survive. I directed my horn to the ground where I was headed for, and opened a portal. As I fell, I was afraid that I would not make it. But as I began to slip into the portal, I realized that I may have made it in, but I was not slowing down.

As the energy of the portal began to fade, I found that I was just above the ground, but everything seemed to be in a slowed motion. My leg seemed to have grazed the ground, causing me to find my legs over my head, and snapped back to reality as I had slammed into a tree. I gasped out in pain, and landed at the base of the trunk. I found myself disoriented, as I lied there for several minutes. The pain had been excruciating, and I feared I had been seriously injured. As my brain shook with pain, I began to wonder where I had landed. I, painfully, lifted my head, and began to look around.

The portal that I had arrived in had formed in the mouth of a cave, expanding over the entire entrance, and illuminating the ground around it a bright green. I appeared to be in the middle of some sort of forest. But somehow, the trees seemed to be a less detailed color than those of Equis.

The forest floor had been covered in a blanket of pine needles and fallen leaves, while the sky seemed to be a milky pink, and I had assumed that it had been early evening.

I shakily rose to my hooves, as the impact had left me disoriented. Glancing around, I had heard footsteps in front of me.

"Hello?" I asked. There seemed to be some sort of life here, and I had a glimmer of hope that maybe they could bring me to civilization, whoever they were.

I began to walk, slightly stumbling, and began to stalk toward the voice. I called out again. "Is somepony there?" I had tried to sound stern, but I had been weak from the impact, and I sounded more lost than defensive. I continued to walk, glancing around for any sign of life.

Unfortunately, I had found it.

As I ventured into a small clearing, I heard something yell, "Halt!", and felt something slam into my side, and I had fallen to the ground, gasping for air. As I caught my breath, I heard a click.

I turned my head to see some sort of hollowed-out, wooden shaft pointed right at my muzzle. Behind it stood some sort of bipedal creature. It had no muzzle, small eyes, a strangely curved snout, and some sort of stripe of hair over its upper lip. Instead of front hooves, it had strange pads with five similar appendages holding up the wooden shaft. It's hind legs were straighter than a pony's, and with strange, leather covers on the bottom of its legs. It was dressed in cloth of a dark red with a matching colored cloth hat. I heard it say something I did not understand, before it repeated in a language I could understand.

"What are you?" it said.

Suddenly, I heard a rustling noise from beyond the treeline. The creature had as well, as he turned to aim his wooden shaft at a figure emerging from the shrubbery. The second creature resembled the first, as it threw one front appendage around what I had assumed to be the neck of the first, threw it to the ground, and stabbed some sort of metal tool through it's back.

He turned for me to see that he had been wearing another sort of clothing, the cloth around his body had been a sort of olive drab color, while it had been wearing a hood and cloak of white and a grey pattern stitched around the borders. It's hind legs had purple, lightly fluffed out cloth stitched at the ankles, and brown leather at its hind hooves, or whatever they had been. It had a face of the similar color of the one it had killed, as well as thin, black facial hair around its compressed muzzle.

Soon after, two more figures emerged from the shrubbery, but I could not see their natural features. One was dressed in white, with red symbols on its long legging cloak, and one on each shoulder. It wore a strange metal mask and goggles that resembled some sort of bird. The other had been slimmer than the other two, as it wore green robes and a gilded face mask with a hood pulled over its head. I began to assume that the one the first killed, the white cloaked one, and the one with the bird mask had been male, due to their posture and build, and the green-cloaked fourth had been female, due ot its slimmer body.

The one with the bird mask approached me, followed by the female, and soon accompanied by the green-and-white cloaked one with the metal weapon, and he had asked the same, redundant question as before.

"What are you?"

Prologue - Part 2: Sentinel and Seraffo

There he had been, directly below me. A shingled rooftop and a twenty-foot leap that led to my target. I drew my Katar from it's sheath, and held fast. My target was only a few paces from my reach before I would be able to leap down onto him. I jumped from the roof, fell the distance, and watched as he looked up in terror and surprise through his Apothecary mask. I slammed him to the ground with my knees in his collarbone, and drove my blade to his heart. He had held still for a moment, his head slightly raised and arms barely up to prevent the attack, before he collapsed altogether, dead. I stood up from the cobblestone street beneath him, and sheathed my blade.

I laughed briefly before saying, "Excellent work, Seraffo. Although, you could have attempted to dodge." I held out my hand.

I looked up to my attacker, holding my gaze to his outstretched hand. I took it in my own, and he pulled me to my feet. Giving his hand a slight shake, I responded.

"Even so, Vali, would you have been troubled to at least make yourself less noticeable? If I had a projectile that I had known how to use, I could have killed you with one swing of my arm as you fell from the roof. How would you prepare for a situation such as that?"

I chuckled, for Seraffo had a good point to his argument. "I would make it a point not to let them have time to throw their weapon, let alone draw it. Come. Walk with me." I turned and began to stroll down the cobblestone streets of Constantinople. As he began to follow me, I had asked a question that had caught him partially off-guard.

"Have you been training your Assassins of recent?"

The question had taken me by surprise. It is not often that Vali would appoint me on the mentoring of my Assassins. But, it had been a simple answer.

"They have been well," I had replied as calmly as I could manage. "As well as we have recruited a new Assassin." Our newest member, Nicolae Dragomir, had just begun his training that morning. He was proving to become a promising assassin.

I sighed. "Good, good. Crossbowman, correct?" Seraffo nodded. "Excellent. I hope that he will be able to keep an eye from above. We had already lost another assassin to a rifleman on a rooftop." We continued down the cobblestone street as a guard had stopped us. "Halt!" He said. "I recognize you from somewhere..." I turned to Seraffo, and nodded.

At his signal, I snuck past the guard, who had let me pass. It was Vali they had wanted. As he began asking a few questions, I stopped behind the guard, unsheathed my syringe from its sheath, and pressed it into his leg. The guard flinched, but I had begun to press in the Mercury poison before he had any chance to counter. I removed the syringe, and continued as if nothing had happened.

I had seen the guard begin to slightly lose his balance, and I began to stroll past him. I tapped him with my shoulder, and the guard fell. A few civilians panicked, and began to flee the area. Before I moved on, I retrieved the guard's coin pouch, and increased my pace to meet back up to Seraffo.

"27f from our target guard. I shall add it to the profit when we return to the Den." I placed the coin pouch in my belt, and we had continued on our way just as a few guards began to examine the body of the guard. We began to approach a large building with a tower rising above it, a Crow's Nest at the peak and a hay bale at the bottom. As we entered under the canopy, the door was sealed.

"Would you wish to allow us in, Seraffo?"

I nodded, and strolled up to the door. I knocked three times, when a voice came from the other side of the door, saying, "Dic Lorem," which had been Latin for, "State your Business". I responded with, "Nihil est verum omnia licet", Latin for, "Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted", the motto of the Creed. An assassin, wearing red Creed robes and a gilded mask, opened the door. A veteran assassin of mine, she had been the Den's owner. Her name was Mercina. "Greetings, Mentor", she said.

"After you," Seraffo said. I nodded, and entered the den. Seraffo followed in after, sealing the door. Another assassin, wearing emerald-green robes with a similar gilded mask resting in an armchair, stood up as I had entered.

"Mentor!" He had said, and rushed to me. The confusion in his voice was clear.

"Bartello!" I had said. "Be calm. What is troubling you?"

He responded, saying, "Mercina and I had been wandering in the forest on a guard contract, and we had come across something rather odd, impossible, if you will. Mercina, tell them what you had seen."

Mercina stood against the far wall, her arms crossed and head down. At the mention of her name, she looked up to us, and began to speak. "There had been a kind of energy mass of some sort. Large, green, and pulsing. At first, we had thought it had been a Janissary illusion to trap us into confusion for an attack, but no Janissaries had been in the area, as well, as far as we know, our truce still stands. The only explanation that we have is paranormal. We had refused to approach it, for we did not know what dangers it could possess. Our assumptions were that you would be willing to examine it for yourself."

I placed my right hand to my chin, my other arm across my chest. "How intriguing... Shall we go out and have a look?"

At Seraffo's question, I gave a slight nod, and said, "Bartello. You will be responsible for the Den while we are gone. Mercina, come with us, and lead us to where you saw this take place. Seraffo, you may come as well." As Seraffo and Mercina followed, I walked out the door, Bartello shutting it behind us.

As the door closed behind us, I turned to Mercina. "Show us where you found this entity."

As we remained hidden behind a small group of trees and shrubbery, Mercina had led us to the area of the activity she had spoken of. A large, green, pulsating mass had formed in a cave entrance. I began to step from behind the tree, when Seraffo had stopped me.

"Are you mad!?" I asked Vali, grasping his arm. "You do not know what sorcery this mass holds!"

I jerked my arm free from his grasp, turning directly to him. "If nothing is ventured, then what will we gain from distance examination?" I turned and began to approach the mass. As I drew close, I began to feel the energy pulsing from it, it's green glow reflecting over my body and across the brim of the cave's opening. I had lifted my arm, shielding my eyes from the energy, while keeping a view on it. I stepped up just close enough to be within arm's reach. Keeping my right arm up to shield my eyes, I stretched out my left, and my hand made contact with the force.

Vali began to reach out his arm to the force, his forearm illuminated in a green glow.

I felt a sudden jolt through my arm, losing my vision.

As he made contact with the energy, he flinched, and had been thrown a few feet backward to the ground. Mercina and I had immediately rushed to his aid.

I returned to consciousness to find myself lying on the ground with Mercina and Seraffo standing over me. I had begun to cough, my forearm feeling numb. "What happened?" I asked Seraffo sternly.

"You had made contact with the force, and it had expelled you backward," I had responded. His forearm sleeve had been slightly singed, but he seemed to be unhurt. I glanced up to see the energy had gone. "The energy has disappeared."

Mercina had said, "At least now we can counter that it had been a Janissary illusion or trap." She and I aided Vali to his feet. "Are you injured?" She asked.

"I will live," I answered. "But how can some sort of illusion cause such force, and disappea-" I had been cut off by a male voice yelling, "Halt!" in the distance. Without worrying if Mercina or Saraffo had been following, I began to rush for the source of the sound.

As Vali had heard the command, he had turned and began to pursue it. I had glanced at Mercina, and began to sprint after him.

As I approached the source, I began to hear questions. "What are you?", had been the only question I could decipher. I entered into a small clearing, locating the guard, pointing a rifle barrel at some sort of creature.

Mercina and I had managed to return to Vali on the edge of an open area of the forest as he had been staring to a guard aiming a rifle.

I dashed forward. The guard had heard my running, and began to round on me. I caught up to him, grabbed his neck in the crook of my left elbow, and threw him to the ground. Before he could recover, I drew my Katar, and sent it through his left shoulderblade, piercing his heart and killing him instantly as his grip loosened around the rifle.

As Vali dispatched the guard, I stepped forward with Mercina behind me to a creature laying on the ground. It seemed to resemble a type of mythological, winged and horned horse. Although, the creature had been a pitch black, with tough skin, a jagged horn, hole-riddled and insect-like wings, legs dashed with more holes, a muzzle with fangs protruding from its upper jaw, emerald-and-blue eyes, and dark blue hair with a single strand down the center of its face that somehow resembled a human.

I took my place next to Seraffo, and examined the creature. The only words that I had managed to utter were, "What are you?"

Chapter 1: Welcome to Italy

"So let me see if I can understand this..." I said to the mysterious creature. "You are a creature known as a Changeling and by the name of "Queen Chrysalis" expelled from your world after a plan to attack the wedding of a Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armour, who are relatively the same species as you, only to be defeated and sent here when you attempted to rescue yourself in the fall in your own energy portal?" Chrysalis slowly began to nod and said her reply. Her voice had sounded as if two voices were overlapping. It had sounded threatening, yet equally friendly. I looked over to Seraffo, who stood silently. "It is not often that you stumble upon a creature from another world, is it?"

I began to nod, holding my right hand under my chin. "I would expect that you would wish to simply leave her here, considering that we do not have any ideas of what to do with her?" Vali began to shake his head just lightly enough to disguise it from Chrysalis. "You are correct. We will not be leaving her here." I slowly moved toward Chrysalis, and crouched down next to her. "You do not need to worry. We will not harm you further. I am well known in medicine. Where are you hurt?"

I had been slightly hesitant of the two creatures, and there was much that I had not known. But somehow, I felt that I could trust them. If they had meant me harm, I may have already been dead. I motioned toward my abdomen and lifted one of my front legs. The creature took my hoof in his... Whatever it had been, and began to slowly caress it in search of injury.

"You two have not answered for who, or what, you are. May I ask for an explanation?"

I began to stroll over next to her, and crouched down to keep my figure from being too intimidating. "As you wish." I placed my right hand over my chest and said, "My name is Vali cel Tradat, although many simply refer to me as 'Sentinel'. I am a Wallachian noble by birth, as well as a former Assassin." She tilted her head. "An Assassin is a person or being who is hired to kill or steal from a target with skill and precision, as well as leaving with as little attention as possible."

I nodded, and shifted my gaze to the one tending to my wounds. As he laid a hand over my back, I asked, "And who are you?"

"My name is Seraffo," I responded, not looking away from my work. "I am an Ottoman Doctor, and a former Assassin as well. I met Vali when he discovered that there was a contract set on me for theft and murder, and he discovered that I was no different than him. He searched for me, and we had nearly killed each other, as I thought he was searching for me to fill the contract." I ran my hand back and up to the base of her neck. "The brawl ended with his blade at my neck, and we called a truce." I shifted my head to my left. "The Assassin in the red cloak is Mercina. She is an apprentice of mine who is learning to become an Assassin, as well as a special ally of our Creed."

I looked into his mask, but I could read no emotion as he tended to my wounds. "You do not have a special name as... As..." I stammered as I struggled to remember the name of the white-cloaked Assassin.

"Vali," I said. "My special name had been, "The Doctor", but I severed my ties with the name, for it represented the Templars in the name. Before you ask, the Templars are, in fact, the enemies of the Assassins. That guard that had attempted to kill you earlier had been a Templar soldier."

"But why would they attempt to kill me if I pose no threat, or that I certainly am not known for a contract?" I asked.

I began to uncap a small medicine vial. "The Templars will kill anything that attacks them first or things that are unfamiliar to them that they assume pose a threat. They may have assaulted you, but they did not kill you. The guard asked what you are, instead of killing you. But I assure you, if more are to come, they will be out to kill Vali, Mercina, and I. They may kill you only for the reason that you are with us." Chrysalis's eyes widened, and I chuckled. "Do not worry, my dear. They will not have the chance to even injure you, let alone the rest of us." I removed the cap from the vial and held it to her lips. "Drink this. It will dull the pain."

I took the vial in my front teeth and tilted back my head. The medicine was thick and very bitter. As soon as I had swallowed the entire dose, I spit the vial from my mouth and began to cough. I felt Seraffo place a hand on my back until my coughing began to cease. "I am capable of watching myself in danger. I do not need guards to assist me. My Changelings will easily keep me out of harm."

"I assume the Changelings are relative to you?" Chrysalis nodded. "As far as I have seen, you had arrived here alone." She fell silent, and dropped her head. I placed my hand on her shoulder. "You have nothing to fear. We will help you as we can, and hopefully find a way to return you home."

I sighed. "I would hope so more than anything..."

I stood up as I had finished my work in wrapping a bandage over her chest. "These will hold for now until you are healed. Can you walk?" In response, she shakily rose to her feet, or hooves, as it was. "Good, good. Be careful. Do not rush yourself, or you may re-open the wou-" Mercina cut me off, and said, "Then we are able to take her back to the Den. Bartello is waiting." I nodded at her suggestion, then turned to Vali. "We cannot bring her into town. It will arouse suspicion."

"Blast!" I exclaimed. Seraffo was right: If we brought Chrysalis back into town, the Templars would surely shoot her on sight. "Is there any way that we could attempt to disguise her?" Seraffo shook his head. "Ah, you are right. It would be nearly impossible to disguise someone, or something, of her stature... Then what are we to do?"

I rolled my eyes as they spoke, and began to conduct my magic. I kept my eyes on Sentinel, transforming my shape to match his as much as possible. I formed my hind legs into the legs that matched the design of him with a loose-split, black skirt around them, a gilded, black chestpiece and sleeves, and a black hood with a gilded face-mask that revealed only my eyes. I suppressed a chuckle as the three of them stared on in awe. I stood up to my full height, about the same height as the two of them, and stepped forward on my new legs. "Will this be enough to keep me from sight on our way to this, 'den'?"

Vali and I remained silent, but Mercina spoke next. "It will be perfect. You will be simply expected as one of us, and we will be able to equip you with weapons at the den." She looked to the two of us, and I glanced at Vali. "Are we agreed, Vali?"

I glanced away from Chrysalis and over to Seraffo, and said, "Yes. We will have to make our way through town. The guards will be leaving to find their missing Scout, and will let us pass." I turned, waving my hand toward Constantinople. "Come. We will arrive in about five minutes." I began to walk off, and the others followed me. We exited past the treeline and into a small, cobblestone avenue. As we began to walk, I began to explain.

"Welcome to Constantinople, located in Istanbul, Turkey. While you are around, there will be several things that you will wish to know, things to stay near, and things to avoid. Around here, a citizen or two may be in need of assistance. This may seem like a nuisance, but many will pay well for your help. Others may be asking for less conventional things, such as a fistfight. If you are challenged at any time, attempt to avoid it. If they attack, dodge out of the way, sweep out their leg, and press your foot to their throat just hard enough to help them see your point. Then give them a warning, and walk away." We turned a corner into the main trading district in the center of town, and I stopped us by a hay bale.

"Other times, you will see certain structures that you will be able to hide in from guards, such as wells, lookout posts hung over with curtains, benches, and hay bales, such as these. You may ask how a hay bale can manage to hide a man from guards, I had wondered the same in my beginning. Did you notice that Seraffo had slipped away?"

I glanced around, and nearly began to chuckle. He was right. Seraffo had gone, and somehow I had managed to guess where he had been hiding. These two were much more clever than I had first assumed.

"I assume he is in the hay bale?"

I chuckled to myself. "You are quite clever for someone who is new to us." I whistled, and took a step back from the hay bale.

As I heard Vali's signal, I emerged from the hay bale, landing in front of them as I began to brush hay from my robes. "You took your time." I turned to Chrysalis. "If you are hiding in a hay bale or other hiding spot, it can be used to assassinate a guard that wanders too close. Many Templars are much more ignorant than others would assume."

I nodded to Seraffo, and continued walking. "Another thing you may need for some time, but you should avoid when possible, are the rooftops. Many Templars will have riflemen staged on patrols, and will give you a warning to get down, and they will shoot if you do not."

I had never heard the word, 'Rifleman' before, and was confused on what it meant. "What is a, 'rifleman', exactly?" I asked Sentinel.

"A rifleman is an infantry unit armed with a rifle. A rifle is a long shaft of wood and metal with a trigger. When the trigger is pulled, a spark catches on gunpowder, a very combustible substance. The force from the blast sends a metal ball at lethal speed in the direction of the shot. Your armour will deflect some shots, but that does not make it hurt any less, and you may still be lethally hit." We strolled down a flight of stairs past a group of Templars armed with swords and a couple with spears. "Another thing we will teach you about that involves weapons are bombs. These come in different forms of detonation and effects, such as impact shells, fuse shells, shrapnel, coal dust, lamb's blood, and caltrops. Each with a different effect, all just as useful in a given situation." We turned one last corner, and began to approach the Den tower. "Seraffo can you let us in again?"

"But of course," I said. I strolled up to the door, and began to knock three times, before Bartello threw open the door. "Seraffo! Is Sentinel ali-?" I held up one hand to silence the Assassin. "Vali is alive and well."

"Yes," I said, strolling into the den past Seraffo. "And we have quite the story to tell."

End of Chapter 1

Chapter 2: Story Session

Soon after, we found ourselves seated in chairs around a lit fireplace in the den tower. Bartello's hands were crossed over each other, his elbows on his robed knees. He had been silent for several minutes after Chrysalis began to explain her story.

"Before I had arrived here, I resigned on a world by the name of Equis, in a Kingdom by the name of Equestria. I was a creature called a Changeling. Changelings are a race of half pony, half insects that can shape-shift into any form we wish, hence my current appearance. I was the Queen of them, and they were to aid me in interrupting a wedding for us to harvest their love for food. I had arrived at the wedding being held for an Alicorn, a pony with a horn and wings, by the name of Mi Amore Cadenza, and her 'husband', Shining Armour. Unfortunately, that mission had failed, and I was thereby... Ejected from the wedding. My Changelings were scattered, and I was on my own. In order to save myself from the crushing fall, I had opened a portal with my magic. While I did not know where it would take me, I only cared for survival. The next thing that I knew, I had landed here, specifically into a tree. I was injured, but alive. As I stumbled along, a Templar had attacked me, and Vali, Mercina, and Seraffo had arrived just in time to kill him, saving me from death. But they were just as awestruck as the guard. They led me back here, and began to teach me the beginnings of what the Assassins are, and who all of you are. And so, I found myself here. Do you have any further questions?"

Bartello sat in stunned silence for a moment, then said, "I... I don't understand all of this," he finally said. "The Ancient Ones are a speck compared to this. I have never heard such a story. How will you return to this... 'Equestria'?"

Chrysalis was leaning back in her chair, her arms crossed. "I do not know," she said. "I barely know how I was able to arrive here in the first place. But while I am here-"

Mercina cut him off. "She will be learning the ways of our Order. She has already learned about bombs, and has seen how to hide from guards."

I nodded slightly, then said, "I had never known how so many average objects could be used in such clever ways. I hope to learn more about you, but most of all, I hope that you will help me to find a way home.

Bartello held his head in his hands, and I could tell he was deeply confused. I took the opportunity to add to the conversation. "This will only be temporary, for the Templars will be looking for her while she's with us, and will need to learn how to defend herself."

As I was sitting in a chair across from Bartello, next to Vali, I stood up and said, "I'll bring her weapons." I stood up, and headed for the stairway that led up to the wooden balcony. I heard Vali give his thanks behind me, and stepped up the wooden stairs to a small table by the railing. On it was a very large, red, gilded chest. I picked it up, turned back down the stairs, and stood in front of my seat. I turned to Vali, and said, "Shall we begin the ceremony?" Mercina, who was leaning against the side of the fireplace, carefully shook her head.

I thought about that for a moment, then replied, "No. It will not be necessary. She is not a true Assassin, but she will still be capable of using the weapons." I stood up, and held him by the shoulder to lean him in close. I whispered in his ear, "Not only is she not ready for the ceremony, but she still has much to learn before she is an Assassin. I hope that we will return her home by then, but this is only so that she may defend herself. Understood?" Seraffo carefully nodded his head, and I accepted the box from him.. He sat back down, and I turned to Chrysalis. "Stand before me, if you will." She looked around for a moment, then stood, and moved before me. "Chrysalis, even if you are not a member of our Creed, I must still bestow these weapons upon you." I opened the box, revealing two steel hidden blade gauntlets, a black Assassin sword, a small Dagger with a gilded hilt, and a sling of throwing knives, all resting on a white cushion. She stared for several seconds at them. I said, "May I?", and offered the chest to her.

I stared at the weapons a few seconds longer. I was not sure how to respond. They wanted to turn me into a murderer. No, not a murderer, but a killer for the greater good. I wanted to reject, to leave and go on my own, but I would not survive. After taking my time to think, I had realized the air had grown tense. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and nodded. He took the gauntlets from the box, and slid them over my front appendages. He took the belt of knives, and slung it over my chest. He took the sword, and tied it around my waist, and tied the Dagger on the other side of it. I flexed my front appendages, and a blades slid out of each one! I stared for a moment, then flexed them back, and they receded. I was amazed by the diversity of the weapons. I felt like a warrior.

No, I felt like an Assassin.

As she examined her weapons, I said, "Now that you are armed as an Assassin, we will train you for an Assassin. We will grant you a quarters here, and your training will begin every day at sunrise. Being late will not be tolerable. Understood?" She paused, then nodded. "Good." I placed a hand on her shoulder, as well as Seraffo, Bartello, and finally Mercina. "Welcome to the Assassins."

End Of Chapter 2

Chapter 3: Training Day

And so my teachings began. Every day from sunrise to sunset, I trained. In fighting, in stealth, in running... In falling. But I learned much more than physical training. Vali also trained my mind. He taught me many of the physics and philosophies of the world. I found it mostly pointless, but soon it all came together. I learned the ways of the Creed. I learned the history of the Templars and the Assassins, and even learned about generating my surroundings just by my knowledge. And day by day, I became better. Stronger. Smarter. Deadlier. But even after a month of nonstop training, they did not think I was ready for my first kill. I was not too excited for it either, as Vali would say that the first kill is the one that crosses the line with no turning back.

Chrysalis had advanced well in her training. She would soon be ready for her first kill. But I made sure to continuously tell her that her first kill would not be pleasant. I have seen many men who would fall into emotional collapse from killing another man. I feared she would not be ready for such a thing. But I knew the day must eventually come.

So, at the beginning of her second month, I invited her, Seraffo, Bartello, and Mercina to the Grand Plaza. There would be several patrols passing through that day, and I found it an ideal time to teach her to use what she had learned in order to make her first kill. I wanted all of us to be there to help her escape. In order to spread leadership, I let Seraffo lead the attack.

After finding an ideal rooftop just on the edge of the Plaza, I began to map out the attack for Chrysalis, giving her fair warning of what she was about to do. I said, "We will watch over you from the rooftops. If too many of us are on the ground, guards will become suspicious. Try to remain as unnoticeable as possible. If you're spotted, they will pursue. We will be able to stop them, but it will take a long time to clear our names again." She cut in, saying, "So basically, do not get caught?"

I chuckled. "That is a good way to put it. That, and make sure you live through this." I glanced back down at the Plaza. It was plenty populated, so Chrysalis would be able to easily sneak in unnoticed. I pointed this out to her. "Try to blend with the crowd. Don't make any movements that will make you stand out, such as running. Walk carefully, but have your eyes on all of your surroundings. Keep your head low. Let your hood cover only about half of your line of sight, or at least enough to block their heads from your view. It will be much harder for Templar guards to detect you if they cannot see your face. But do not kill the first person with a sword you see. The Janissaries are our allies, and are not to be killed. The easiest way to identify them is their green robes. Templars always wear red. That is a good way to remember the difference: Green, ally. Red, enemy.

Plus, you will not just be killing a random Templar. This Templar has been harassing merchants in the Plaza for days. He can be identified by the gold scarf he wears around his neck, and by his aggressive behavior. Now, here is the tricky part. What to do when you approach and kill the guard. You can kill him whichever way you see fit, but it must be discreet. Your hidden blade or your dagger would be best. As soon as you make your kill, throw down one of your smoke bombs, and escape in the cover of the smoke. Blend back with the crowd, and make your way back to us so we can make our escape. Walk fast, but don't run, and climb quickly, because more guards will arrive soon. Use the chaos to your advantage. Kill, smoke, disappear. That is the difference between killing and assassinating. Do you understand all of this?"

When Seraffo had finally finished, I had a smug grin on my face. I nodded once to acknowledge that I understood. He then pointed out a small hay bale just a jump's length from us. "Perfect. I will see you all soon." I jumped from the rooftop, turned over to fall in on my back, and curled up when I landed, just as Vali had taught me. When I landed, I hesitated. I acted smug when I was with them, but inside, I was terrified. I had never killed before, but they made it perfectly clear that if I could not kill, I could not survive as an assassin. I could not quit. The Templars would kill me if I was an assassin or not.

As soon as Chrysalis landed in the hay bale, Bartello spoke up. "Are we sure she's ready for this? Especially being out there on her own?" I glanced sideways at him, then chuckled. "That worried about her, are we? She'll be fine, as long as she follows Seraffo's instruction." Bartello just looked back intently at the Plaza. I was worried myself, though. It was her first time being on her own. If she was spotted, she could be killed, or worse...

I pushed the thought away, only focusing on the actions of Chrysalis. If I doubted her on her first try, then I might never trust her. I took a deep breath, and gave a high-pitched whistle to signal Chrysalis to advance.

I heard Vali's whistle from the rooftop behind me,and knew it was a signal to get moving. I took another deep breath, and jumped from the hay bale. I was immediately swarmed by... "People", as Vali called them. It made it much more difficult to identify the target. I began to panic, unsure what to do. Then, I remembered a skill Vali had taught me some time back. To calm my mind. To focus. "Eagle Vision" he called it. He said it would help me to block out all other things except for what I wanted to find. And when I saw it, I would not miss it. I relaxed, steadying myself against the hay wagon, breathing in and out deeply and slowly, and closing my eyes. I kept thinking, "Gold scarf... Gold scarf...", and then, finally, opened my eyes.

Time had seemed to slow almost completely. The people around me seemed to barely be walking at all. But what I noticed the most is that all color had faded, and their shapes had blurred. I was staring at a seemingly endless sea of nothing but grey. And then I saw it.

The gold scarf.

The guard was only about thirty hoof steps to my right, at a merchant's stall. I began to slip through the crowd, closer to the guard. The merchant stall seemed to be selling ground spices. Large bags of them of all different colors were placed on the shelves of a small cart, and a few on the ground. The guard was holding a handful of black ground pepper, and the merchant seemed to be trying to explain something to the guard, continuously pointing at the pepper, as if explaining it. He was sweating profusely. The guard looked at him, and I heard an aggressive tone in his voice, but I did not hear what he said. The merchant suddenly became desperately defensive. The guard's hand suddenly flew in a half arch in front of him, tossing the pepper straight into the merchant's face. I gasped as the merchant began to scream in pain, holding his eyes and falling over into his cart, spilling several bags of peppers as he cursed the guard. The guard shook his hand toward the merchant, and two nearby guards picked up the merchant by his arms and dragged him off.

My hatred for that guard began to burn heavily inside me. This person deserved what I was about to do to him.

After witnessing the arrest of the merchant, Mercina spoke up. "She must absolutely despise that guard by now. It should take some of the fear off of her first kill." I responded, "Her hatred could cause her to make a mistake. If she doesn't control herself, she will not be able to focus enough to kill the guard cleanly."

As I became closer to the target, I flexed my right "wrist" and finally stepped up right behind the guard. Several thoughts began to run through my head. Am I really going to be able to kill him? Will there be a lot of blood? Would he die quickly? And did I actually hate him enough to kill him?

My thoughts were interrupted when something struck me across the face. I gasped out, and landed hard. I looked up from where I crouched to see the guard yelling something at me, but all I heard was ringing. I felt rage burning inside my chest, and my blade moved before I could think. The blade implanted itself through the bottom of his chin. The guard gasped out in pain, and then his face went blank. Blood seeped from his neck, bleeding down my gauntlet and sleeve. The sheer shock finally hit me, and I yanked the blade from the guard's body, pushing him away. He collided with the wagon, and fell to the ground, a pool of blood forming underneath him, his golden scarf now seeping with red. People all around me stared in shock, but I did not notice anything else past what I had just done. I felt myself shaking uncontrollably, and stared down at the gauntlets I was wearing, one of them covered in the guard's blood. Reality finally hit me.

Chrysalis had brutally made her first kill.

The Assassins and I all stared on in pure, awestruck silence. We had expected Chrysalis to aim for the guard's torso, but she had stabbed the guard in a place that would cause him to slowly and painfully bleed to death. We could all see that she was in pure horror. "Misera..." Bartello whispered "poor girl" in Latin. He was right. She must have been suffering deeply where she stood. But if she did not act soon, other guards would kill her where she stood. I threw one arm straight up in the air, pressed the trigger on my hidden gun, and my arm recoiled from the force as a loud shot rang out through the Plaza.

When I heard the noise from the rooftop, it was barely an echo in my ears, but I heard it. I snapped back to my senses, and realized several guards had surrounded me, yelling inaudible things at me through the panic. Soon, Vali's plan finally snapped back into my mind, and I began fumbling for one of the bombs Vali gave me. I grabbed one with an impact shell, and immediately threw it against the ground. But instead of the thick, grey smoke, there came a foggy, red gas that stung my eyes and burned my skin. I screamed out in pain, and the guards all began to retreat, coughing and wailing in pain. I dropped to one knee, coughing as my vision began to fade.

When we saw the red cloud come from the caltrop bomb, all four of us immediately jumped to our feet, and began sprinting across the rooftops toward Chrysalis. Vali lead, followed by me and our Assassins. We finally jumped to a roof just above the merchant's wagon, jumping down in front of Chrysalis, who's coughing began to get slower and slower. Vali picked her up in his arms, pressing his sleeve over her mouth and nose.

While preventing Chrysalis from breathing any more of the poison gas, I yelled out to the others, "Clear a path back toward the den! Kill any guards in our way!" The three Assassins took the lead, pushing a path through the crowd, Seraffo slashing the throat of a guard with his bladed syringe, Bartello throwing a knife to his right and into the chest of a guard that nearly struck Mercina as she thrust her hidden blade into the stomach of another. One guard attempted to attack me with a long Trident, but I dodged, hooked his leg out from under him with my foot, and ran after the others, constantly checking to make sure Chrysalis was breathing.

I felt my throat closing, my eyes stinging, and faintly felt Vali carrying me through the crowd at full sprint. I felt like at any point, I would suffocate. My vision and hearing faded in and out, from black and silent, to blurry and distant. Finally, after catching one last, inaudible sentence from Vali, I slipped away into complete darkness.

End Of Chapter 3

Introductions

My name is Vali Cel Tradat, although many simply refer to me as, "The Sentinel". I am a Wallachian Noble by birth, as well as a former Assassin. I had severed my relationship with the Creed, and became a Templar in order to gain revenge for the truce bartered between the Assassins and the Ottoman Empire, the same faction that had invaded my home much time ago. I have trained in combat with a Katar, a longsword, an Italian Stiletto, a dagger, and hidden blade. I now resign in Constantinople.

My name is Seraffo. Cold and calculating, my mission is one of no mercy. I was once a hopeful Venetian expatriate devoted to the Hippocratic oath, as I now have the ill-habit of harming more than I manage to heal. I pose as an Ottoman Doctor, wielding a weapon of a bladed syringe filled with my very own special blend of poison: Mercury.

My name is Queen Chrysalis. I am a Changeling, as well as the former Queen of a Changeling Empire. I am a shapeshifter, a trait that comes natural to Changelings. After my defeat in the Canterlot Wedding, I find myself in a new world, and begin my new life among these strange beings, while wandering in my confusion to find answers, and hopefully, a way home.