The Assassins of Equestria

Animus Version 1.0

                                                                              Written by: Ballpoint

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"Running Animus Version 1.23951m8. Tutorial loading. White room loaded."

My eyes opened on their own accord to a bright white light which made me cringe slightly but enough to catch a glimpse of my surroundings. Everything was white, the bright lines that criss crossed my environment, the small data streams that winked in and out of existence, and the fog under the ground I stood on, wait, there was no ground, I was floating in mid air.

"Whoa." I awed as I clacked my hooves a few time on the floor that seemed non existent. But it didn't really feel real, it felt synthetic, like a simulation, and in fact thats what it was, none of it was real. I walked around the endless room for a few seconds, it seemed very dull and boring.

"Tutorial program loaded, hello Faith Wings." I was a bit startled by the voice of computerized mare that seemed to simply spout of thin air. Its voice echoed across the room, it never fully extinguished by limits," Under directive of the Animi's operator, we will execute a brief tutorial of the Animi's features. First notice the segmented bar on you SHUD or your Simulated Heads Up Display." What now? I looked around the white room for a good minute until locating it, a segmented bar with three of its six segments lit. What struck me as fascinating is that it was in my field of vision, and wasn't a physical object.

"This is your synchronization bar, this will tell how in sync you are with your ancestor, currently, half of synchronization is gone, you will lose synchronization or desynchronize if you don't follow the ways of your ancestor. Which brings us to the next and last feature, Instinct. Instinct is a mental and physical feeling you will experience, it will tell you the where to progress through a memory and what to say when interacting with others. It is highly advised that you follow you ancestors Instinct to avoid desynchronization." I took mental note of that as well as how technical this spell was, I began to doubt that this was even a spell.

"Also note that if you do desynchronize, you will begin again from your last sync point. Also keep in mind that none of this is physical or real." Well I already knew that, so now I pretty much everything down packed if not heard of, now eager to begin.

"Are we going to start or what?" I yelled, anxiety getting the better of me. As if in response, my surroundings began to sputter and shudder, the lines moving erratically, data winking even faster to the point where it was too much to analyze, making my eyes glaze over and having my consciousness ripped from me once again.

                                                                                                 ***

"Celer, get up." I heard the soft voice of a mare, as well as the sound of slapping water and the hard caress of wood. Opening my eyes to see a young mare earth pony, looking at me worriedly. She wore what seemed to be a white robe with a read sash across the stomach and she had what seemed to hood pulled back, revealing her short pink mane and purple eyes. Wait she called me Celer, thats not my name its... wow, it actually worked. Suddenly I felt something bugging me, like an itch in the back of my head, was this that Instinct the Animus was talking about?

So I chose to relive it,"Yes, Pax. What's wrong?" My, or rather Celer's voice had an odd accent, but I couldn't pin it down. I got up quickly, lead by Instinct, and observed upward. We were moving down a canal and I watched the lights and converse of the city overhead, I looked back down to Pax,"Are we close?" She nodded sharply, then pulling over the hood, which had a peak, it seemed to effectively shroud here identity. I did the same, surprised it didn't obscure my vision, but of course produced the same shroud effect as my ally.

Pax looked down the canal and almost immediately called me over, I complied,"There are some Diversi on our landing." She pointed at the coming dock, which had two heavily armored ponies standing, back toward the canal,"Ideas?"

I thought for a minute, the dock only a few yards away, and coming ever so slowly,"Pull them into the boat and rid of them, I got the right, you left." I didn't like the coldness in her voice, forming in my mind what she meant by rid of them. I saw the earth pony retrieve a rope from the deck of the boat and toss it over to the dock, it landing snugly on its peg. We both took our positions, to the point where the  small boat stopped, right under our targets.

Quickly I nodded to my partner, and in one fluid motion, I swiftly grabbed my designated targets hind legs, pulling the stallion into the boat, making it bob uneasily. Without a moment's hesitation, I grabbed a small knife strapped to my leg, and drove it between the plates in the surprised colts armor, right in his carotid artery. Holding the dying pony down, I watched as Pax threw her finished body right in canal, him sinking to the sandy bottom. Once my kill had finally seized, I did the same, sheathing my knife.

"A bit too slow there Celer." Pax remarked, hopping off the boat off the dock with a clack. I did the same and sighed lightly.

"I take no joy in silencing any pony, swift or steady." Pax understood, nodding apologetically, both of us lowering our heads as we walked up to the streets, right into the traffic of ongoing citizens. The streets here were ornate and of polished cobble, confirming we had reached our destination. I looked up at the mansion that was in front of us, iron gates the only thing pin our way of breaking in.  There weren't many guards on the outside of the mansion, a mere five, two up front and three at the entrance of the enormous house, which was much more grander than the poorer and tightly packed wooden buildings surrounding it.

"He'll be in the main hall, with most of his guests," I whispered, while I was constantly nudged by passing pedestrians as well as Pax," we can slip in as guests."

"I agree but there is one small problem, its an anniversary party for the construction of Canterlot Tower, they will request a sizable donation." That was true but I could easily fix that. I dropped a small coin on the floor and proceeded to pick it up, but returned with the spoils of a picked pocket, the leather satchel containing over fifty gold pieces.

"Shall we?" I asked, holding the gold in my mouth, my comrade smiled mischievously and nodded, both of us walking side by side up to the courtyard entrance. Immediately we were stopped by a unicorn guard, him demanding a donation which we paid without hesitation, him letting us in after inspecting the its contents. The courtyard was rather lush, vibrant variants of roses, lilies, and hydrangeas lined the brick path up to the even more colorful mansion, deep reds and lavish browns painted its walls, balcony and pillars. I was illuminated with various lanterns placed along the path as well as under the balcony, casting a moody yellow light as well as flickering shadows.

We reached the main entrance and were allowed in with a few suspicious glances from the gold clad guards. Once the large, ornate doors opened, the sight of the enormous crowd inside the hall brought a smile to my face. The equines inside wore decadent robes and suits, everyone fitted with a porcelain masquerade mask, each varying in color, decor and shape. Some dined on the pastries and others danced near the center, a giant glass candler over head.

After a few moment of analyzing the crowd, nudging Pax, nodding toward our target, a gray unicorn with a gold mane adorned in a complex and beautiful suit, topped with a mask of a crow, the long beak seeming to get in the way of his conversation.

"Are you sure about that Master. I'm seeing double." Master? Was she like some kind of apprentice or something? Casting the thought adrift, looking in the direction that she was gesturing toward, the exact same pony, levitating a goblet of wine, sipping the red liquor.

"Seems the Diversi have anticipated our arrival." I had some questions to ask when this was finished. Anyway I felt strange, It felt like Instinct but was entirely different, it felt easy enough to let go so I did. But my vision began to change, everything turned into a deep blue, it became very difficult to see but something stood out the most, my targets were highlighted and were incredibly bright but I remained calm. I studied them closely, each having a distinctive color, the one I located as a bright white and Pax's find as red, somehow, I knew it was him. Soon my vision returned back to normal and I whispered ,"Thats him."

The burgundy equine gave a look of disbelief,"How are you sure?"

"Never doubt your mentor child, just take your position. I'll be over by the entrance. On my cue you strike." She nodded sharply, deciding not to argue with her superior and trotted over to the target, standing a few feet from the kill. I walked over to the entrance, keeping a good six feet from it to avoid arousing suspicion. The party seemed to be in full swing, ponies just talking and only a small percentage took a turn in dancing at the center. Looking back at the imposter, who now took part in dancing was acting calmly a bit to calmly for my tastes. Why would he even be calm? If the Diversi anticipated our plans then why would a duplicate be...oh no, Pax.

In an attempt to gallop and retrieve my apprentice, I found myself being choked but not by a pair of hooves but rather a magical veil, restricting me from moving but not from resisting. I tried to pry the magic from my throat but was a genuinely stupid attempt to free myself. Then I felt the warm breath of some on behind me, most likely the one holding me against my will,"Don't move or you'll miss the show." I shuddered as he made me face the unknowing Pax who watched me being compromised, and was going to make an attempt to save me but was also grabbed but by our target, him holding her high in the air, his guests starting to move away from the scene, the music stopping abruptly, watching the flying mare, her thrashing trying to get out of his influence.

"This is an assassin!" He yelled to his audience, all horror struck,"These...dogs have no respect for anyone, they kill on there own accord, for the highest bidder." After he finished spouting his lies, he grabbed Pax's hood with his magic and ripped it off, the cloth settling to the marble,"Remember this face, because it won't exist for very long." The apprentice was now touching the ceiling of the mansion, easily over thirty feet high. Then he released her, and she fell.

"No!" I shouted but its was already done, with a sickening thud and my pupil was gone, dead. The former target didn't even face his kill, typical of a Diversi, and walked over to me, his black eyes digging into my very soul.

"As for you Celer Novo, I have bigger plans for you." I spat in his face , and he recoiled, wiping the saliva from his muzzle, now enraged. He took a wooden cane from his side, raised it up high, and brought it down onto my skull, calming me down into a forced state of darkness.

MEMORY COMPLETED

                                                                                        ***

" Pax no don't!" I was in distress, my nerves were high but soon the they lowered as I found myself back inside the Animus, minus the visor but in addition to three worried ponies staring down at me.

" You alright what, happened?" Spells stammered, he looked worn, most likely a side effect of using arcane magic.

"They, they kill-" Suddenly I found myself crying, tears streaming from my face. It felt so real, too real.

" That's it, get her outta this thing! Now!" My friend shouted and on cue, Dream and Bran started unstrapping me from the machine, me putting tension on my binds. Once the straps were undone, I shot up and embraced Spells tightly, tears still streaming from my eyes.

" It was too real, too real." I wailed, my hooves tightening around him. He returned the gesture.

" Its okay Faith, you're safe. Safe and sound."

Allies are only your allies if you see them as family...