Chapters The Assassins of Equestria
Chapter 2- Animus Version 1.0
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...
The Assassins of Equestria
Chapter 3- The Bleeding Effect
The Bleeding Effect
Written by: Ballpoint
" Its alright, Faith. Just relax." I was on edge, stroking my mane roughly, my expression dire as I couldn't rip my view off the Animus, the cause of my stress. Spells and Dream sat next to me on my futon, trying to calm me down and get information out of me, but yielding no results as I just sat there, bug eyed. So many questions surfaced in my head that it put it in a spin, the , most predominant getting my attention, why did I take Paxs death so seriously? The Animus as well as prior knowledge told me that none of the events that took place are real or physical, so what were these conflicting emotions with someone I barely knew. Guilt was the thing ripping me apart, my pupil-Celer's pupil was killed because of m-Celer’s reaction. Why did I think these events had happened to me?
" Come on Faith," Dream coaxed," tell us what happened." I looked at the mare and looked deeply into the white bandana the she wore under her horn, it seemed strangely familiar, but I couldn't pin it down. For some reason, I felt calm in her company, so I sighed deeply and tried to calm my frayed nerves, my mane strokes becoming more careful and steady," You ready to talk?" I gave myself another minute before I nodded, exhaling softly.
" Pax." I said, my voice low but loud enough for them to hear," I saw a mare named Pax."
Dream thought about the name for a minute, her expression not showing any recollection of the name," Who were you? What is the name of the ancestor you relieved?"
" I think her name was Celer Novo." That brought some faint nervous emotions to the equines face, but was completely replaced by a face of recollection.
" I believe I heard that name before. Hold on a minute." She hopped down from the couch and went over to her station, the monitors changing from the still line of a pulse to the white screen of a search engine.
" Faith," I turned to the Animi's operator, he sounded guilty," I, I didn't know it would be so intense for you, I..." He trailed off, looking down floor. I wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault which it wasn't, but right now I needed some guidance, and more importantly answers.
Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent.
" What?" I looked at the open air, what was that?
" Huh, what's wrong" Spells felt guilty as is but know he sounded like he was expecting something. I didn't answer him, just hopped down from futon, looking around nervously.
Your target is Malnum Sidus, he is a Diversus spy who has worked in low levels of the Creed, thankfully not receiving much information. He has broken off from the Creed and will be hosting a party tomorrow night and you shall take your apprentice Pax with you, this will be her first kill. Make sure you both come out unscathed...
" Gah." I grunted. These were thoughts, memories, but they aren't my own, they were Celer's. This was already way too much then I bargained for, the freaky memories, the realism, too much. But answers were needed.
" You're scaring me now. Tell me-" I put a hoof in his face, silencing him as I sat on the floor, sighing deeply.
" Are there side effects or something to the Animus?" My voice was monotone as I transitioned back into my more calm self, still not settled about earlier.
He sat down next to me on the floor," Why, are you exhibiting things like bloody nose?"
I shook my head," Nausea?"
I shook my head once again, making Spells expression turn grim and he turned away from me for a minute," It can't be happening this fast already..." He muttered.
" What?" He exhaled as he tried to steel himself for the coming confession.
" The Bleeding Effect, I think you're suffering from The Bleeding Effect."
I cocked my head at the "Bleeding Effect" and shuddered at the word "suffering"," And that is?"
He cleared his throat," I would say its kinda like your retaining some of you ancestors memories." What? I can retain-no, I have the memories of some other pony that I barely knew.
Celer Novo, born January 5, 1053...
" Why suffering though, its not like its life threatening or anything like that." I looked at him, his face blank," Right?"
" No!" He answered a bit quickly while he was snapped back into reality," I mean no, it is on a mental ailment for first time or excessive users of the Animus. It shouldn't be much a problem if we pull you out every hour. But do you even want to..." He trailed off, seeing a fragile smile find its way onto my lips.
" Yes, I want to go in again." I had all kinds of doubts and questions that I wanted answered but I wanted to see what happened to Celer, see her tale through, maybe it had the answers I desired.
" Are you sure about that? I mean even if the Bleeding Effect is only subtle at first, it can still progress over expansive p-"
" Spells, I'm going to go in again." Now I was demanding, I felt like I needed this, which I probably did.
" Okay but are you hungry or anything like that. Can't have you starving to death right?" I chuckled lightly before realizing I didn't even have breakfast this morning, and it was already twelve. My stomach growled in response with my gentle nodding," I'll go make you a sandwich, drink?"
" Grape." He smiled and hopped up and trotted over to my kitchenette. I wonder what Dream is up to.
So I myself got up and trotted over to the mare, who was hurriedly typing in words, phrases and names into her computer. Before I chose to disrupt her search, I looked at some of the things that she was looking up, Celer Novo, 11th century, Faith Wings... Huh? Why my name? Was there really any important ace to me that would cause ten links tied to my name to pop up? Half to my profile on several social networking sites and a few that surprised me. A old online article from over twenty years ago, which-
" Hey there Faith." Dream snapped me out of my observation along with the webpage being snapped off to the screen saver," Looks like you're feeling better." I nodded with a weak smile to convince her.
" Uh what were you just looking up?"
" The name that you gave me, Celer Novo. I was trying to see if I could pull anything up, like a family tree or something but I got nothing. But I found that the name is relevant to the 1100s or but a bit earlier, maybe the 11th century." Hm, that explains the atmosphere and primitiveness of the memory I relived, but my name, what dose I have to do in all of this other than me piloting the Animus.
" Good to know, but I saw that you-"
" Faith!" Ugh, everyone is interrupting me today!" Got your food ready!" Did he really need to announce it, he couldn't bring it to me and give me the precious second I needed to complete my sentence? Might as well set the thought adrift, it was probably nothing, so I trotted away to retrieve my lunch.
***
I savored the last bite of my sandwich, enjoying its superb taste...or maybe it was because I was starving, who knows, it still tasted delicious. While I was dining on the meal, I had explained to Spells, Bran, and Dream what had had happened inside the memory, provoking both nervous glances and interested encouragement to continue my tale. They asked how well Instinct worked and I had to admit, I felt like I was the same person, like me and Celer were one but there were some things I was confused about, like something called the Diversi, and why was Celer an assassin. They couldn't provide any real answers but it felt like they knew something, but I kept it too myself, wanting answers and not suspicion.
With a final sip, I finished my drink, took my plate and glass, placing them in the sink and turning back to the three ponies I had spent my morning with, talking to each other quietly.
" Guys." I interrupted, them immediately breaking conversation.
" Hm." Spells asked.
" Are we going to start?"
" What, I thought you would want to wait a bit longer." Spells implied but it sound heavily as if he was trying to keep me out of the machine.
" Ah come on Spells, lets just do this, I'm interested as to what happens next." Dream injected, her a bit anxious to hear the next chapter in Celers tale, me as well. The aqua unicorn nodded uneasily, all of us walking over to the Animus.
I crawled into the simulator once again, Bran strapped me in while Dream sat at her station as well as Spells took a seat beside the Animus. My breath quicken as the machine began to recline, slid the visor over my vision and display the familiar strands of DNA from my first use.
Bran was once again going to explain," Since you have completed one of her memories, another has unlocked itself, so highlight it now." I complied and I looked at the longer variant of the first strand reading memory unlocked," This is going to be your second memory, remember, follow Instinct, avoid desynchronization, and Faith." I looked up a the black colt, caring in his eyes," Just remember, none of it is real. Don't want what happened earlier to happen again."
" Okay." Inhale," Lets go." Exhale, then darkness.
***
" Tell us what you know woman!" The torturer yelled, him holding a metal pole, its white hot tip about to make another burn on my sides. Once again, I found myself in Celers body, but restricted of movement, bonded by metal binds that hung me by my fore hooves from the ceiling, the rest of my body dangling. I was in immense pain, numerous cuts and burns were inflicted all over my hide, blood dripping to the filthy dungeon floor.
I held my head low, holding back tears and information, ...the third and most important tenet of the Creed, never compromise the Brotherhood. Following that tenet, I closed my eyes and resisted shouting in agony as the the pole burned my hide, smelling searing flesh. A lone tear drained from my tear duct and hit the floor along with the small puddle of blood from my fresh wounds. Unfortunately, the pony inflicting the pain noticed this and I could feel his evil smile plaster itself across his face," So you do feel pain, Assassin." This time, he struck me with the pole rather than shearing me with it making me grunt sharply.
He repeated the process again and again, until my body was limp and bruised, but I yielded, the pain was unbearable but I would not relinquish the Brotherhood for my own life. Soon he gave up, tossing the cooling pole to the ground, and sighed," You are just lucky that we need you alive, or I would have done something much, much worse." I was weak and running on adrenaline and pure rage. Quickly, that subsided to give way to guilt, and the young Pax, making me sob quietly.
My pupil was labeled a dog by her target and her body most likely thrown into the very dungeon I hung from, to rot because of her Masters foolishness. I was to die here as well, which was deserving of a unfit mentor of my caliber, slowly bleed out from the tip of a torturers instruments.
With my regrets tearing my mind apart, I hardly noticed the cell door open and a stallion walk in, but he wasn't the torturer. He was clad in familiar white robes that were tainted by the frequent splatters of crimson, him holding a folded white cloth under in his mouth under his shrouded face.
" Did the Brotherhood send you?" He nodded quickly, placing the cloth on the table with its various torture instruments, picking up the key, his face still shrouded in mystery," Answer me!" I coughed up some blood as the pegasus hovered over to my binds and unlocked them, me dropping to the ground, landing in my own puddle of blood, causing even more pain.
I grunted as I got up, and stretched out my own wings to have the cloth tossed in front of me, which turned out to be a white robes and a red sash, but weren't my original master robes that were stripped from me by Malnums minions. I lifted the robes in my hoof, they were simple, that of an initiate," What are these?"
He opened the cell door and looked back at me," Yours initiate, you have been demoted."
Utter shock found its way onto my bruised face," You can't be- wait..." I began to look past my saviors hood and began to recollect on his voice," Brother?"
He sighed heavily," Yes sister, we don't have time for this, put on your garbs, we need to go." Garbs, seems fitting for this attire. Compiling, I quickly adorned the robes with great disdain, tying the read sash, securing it with a steel buckle. Soon, I found myself looking at the lone leather sheath over my back, having no sharpened steel in it.
" You expect me to fight with bare hooves Velox?" He smirked.
" No, I expect you to stay behind me." Beaten, demoted, and rendered a lackey of my little brother, I really messed up this assignment. I nodded reluctantly, him taking the lead, we silently trotted through out the labyrinth of corridors, seemingly endless. Soon, Velox stopped me when we reached a wooden door, it was extremely worn, green moss growing between its planks like much of the stone hallway.
" What is it?" Quickly he shushed me before quickly creaking the door open, looking through the small crack and exhaled, opening the eroded door, revealing a winding staircase lit by torches following the staircase.
" Did you forget your years with Creed, sister?" I was going to object but he was already heading up the stairs, so I followed him.
***
The mansion of Malnum Sidus was silent, save for a few guards frequenting the main hall. The staircase we came up let out to the kitchen, various clay stoves, and fire pits. I closed the iron door behind us as Velox was already on the other side of the room, holding a glistening dagger between his teeth, preparing to open it to the confines of the large hall, where the party was held.
" Hurry." My sibling whispered and I quickly trotted beside him, not entirely used to being someone's companion. According to the familiar sounds of clanging swords against armor, I guessed that there were about two outside near the entrance of the hall and maybe a one on the in the actual hall.
" Wait a minute." I nudged the stallion, before he opened the door," Let me check outside." I was going to push the door open but Velox stopped me.
" No, did you forget who your superior is?" That hit a nerve and now, in my slightly agitated state became fully enraged, and I faced him, fire in my eyes.
" Even if you are my superior, I have been in the Brotherhood longer than you have and I deserve the same respect I had when I was a master, and we both desire to get of here alive. Now step aside." I continued to glare at him until he faltered and moved out of my way. Satisfied, I pried the door open, peering into the hall, and it turns out that there were three heavily armored ponies outside, but one at the entrance and two monitoring the hall, he seemed bored and tired, an advantage for us.
I slipped back inside shutting the door quietly," Three, two in the hall on at the entrance." He nodded, thinking about his next move, myself doing the same.
After a minute of thought, Velox tapped my shoulder, me looking up immediately," When I came here there is a back exit to the garden at the back of the hall. Me and you can take out the guards in the hall quietly, there are probably more than we realize are about."
" And what do you expect me to work with?" A smirk spread onto the colts lips as he nodded back toward the kitchen and I groaned when I realized what he gesturing toward, a large cleaver that was wedged into a cutting board. I was never a fan of cleavers, more accosted to stabbing than slashing but this was my only option and Velox was under the Creed so he could never lend me his own blade.
After yanking the large knife from its resting place and clenching it highly between my teeth, my brother let the door swing open, him taking cover behind a column, and me galloping quickly toward a old corner table, crouching behind it. With the cost of a few bored sighs we managed to evade the guards presents. After about a minute, I peeked around the wooden table, seeing the my target was facing away from me, giving me my opportunity, which I took in a swift hop around the table, a silent trot over to my target, and a pounce, knocking the heavily armored pony down.
Before his comrade could even react, he already had a knife driven from the back of his neck and the metal obstruction spout from the front, him sputtering burgundy. On sight, I brought my cleaver to my own kills throat and jerked it, holding him down as he bled out. Once he seized, I got back up to see my brother finishing off the last guard, placing him down almost tenderly and closing his kills eyes, I never really took part in that ritual, it gave your enemy too much time to act.
Once I wiped the blood from my weapon and sheathed it in my empty holster, I faced the cautious Velox as he made his way to the back. I followed close behind as we continued our steady walk toward the garden, not entirely certain that everyone in the mansion were those three guards.
The back door was wooden but not as worn as the others I'd seen, but more ornate and the vines growing on its planks seemed intentional. Soon it was open to let out into the purple of sunrise, as well as the many variants of plants, flowers and other vegetation. The were some buildings surrounding the small garden, them looming over the fenced off area, threatening to consume the small space. Directly in front of was only an iron gate separating us from the streets of Canterlot.
But soon our obstacles were going to increase as I heard some yelling from inside the mansion as well as what sounded like the collection of guards, they found the bodies. Velox turned to me," Oh sweet Celestia."
Strength in numbers sometimes means to have the what little you can...
The Assassins of Equestria
Chapter 4- Facing an Army
Facing an Army
Written by: Ballpoint
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"Damn it sister, we have to leave!" Velox kept shouting over and over again, I just stood there, my bruised, and cut face stared blankly at the garden door, listening to the heavy clink and clank of reinforced steel. I didn't care for my brothers words much, even as my superior, but soon I found a felt a harsh pull on my shoulder, bringing me out of trance. But I didn't want out, so I spun around with wood in my mouth and tempered steel to Velox's throat, him gasping sharply. I wasn't going to actually attack him, he's kin, but I needed intimidation to get him to understand.
My voice was a bit muffled with my weapon in the way but I'm pretty sure I got my point across," Velox Novo, if you don't shut up and listen for one second..." I trailed off a bit, but regained my speech," We're going to kill Malnum."
"Thats not your assignment, that was-"
"I know!" I shouted, not wanting to be reminded of her death, in addition to getting the sharpened edge of the cleaver forward, making him back peddle,"I know, but he needs to die, it doesn't matter who kills him, I, and the Brotherhood need him dead." The hoof clanking was getting closer, me getting the picture of at least twenty threats rushing through the halls of mansion.
"But-" Now my blade was only an atom's distance from his throat, it brushing against his gray hide.
"It isn't open to discussion, I'm going to stay here any way. You can run away if you see fit." I quickly withdrew the cleaver, now facing the door, widening my stance. I never tore my view off the door but I heard the shinck of a sword being drawn and my sibling taking his place beside me.
"Your reckless Celer," He remarked, me grunting in displeasure,"but I respect your reasonings. We shall fight together." I nodded in acknowledgement. Moments before most fights and battles, I tended to calm, almost abnormally, and I noticed that it seemed to demoralize my opponents, like I was some kind of machine programed to fight and kill. But now, my breath has quickened, my legs a bit usable and my mind was over analyzing everything, clear signs of anxiety. It was my brother that was causing this, because for the first time in my life we were going to fight together ( other than what happened in the hall.) I was afraid I was going to lose him, he had always been my responsibility, my little brother.
I always said I would protect him, even if it meant to defy my very beliefs.
Without any warning, the doors burst open with a legion of around fifty golden clad guards, equipped with spears, axes, swords and claymores, the wave of iron in our direction. Tactics always depended on how fast you can move, strike, block or parry attacks, and thats what it meant to be an Assassin, anticipate where your enemy will strike and parry it.
So when the tip of an iron spear threatened to impale me, I fluidly side stepped and threaded the needle, let the spear glide into the small hole in my cleaver and jerked it, effectively disarming my opponent. I fell with a clatter and he died with a sputter as a thin line of crimson appeared on his neck and then gushed as he fell, along with his spear. I continued my onslaught, ducking under swords, delivering kill blows, my robes beginning to retain the fluids of my kills.
Bucking a guard at her side, breaking her ribs and them in turn impaling her heart, I widened my stance, spread my wings and pumped them downward, launching me into the air, giving me clear view of the battlefield. There were still a sizable army in our mists, I could see the enemy begin to circle around my brother, but he held them off, either by his own blade or making his opponents drive their weapons into each other with a quick dodge.
Not a second later, I was brought back down to Equestria, plummeting the equivalent of a two story building, the harsh wind blowing back my hood as I dove, my leaf green mane blowing wildly behind and in my face. The ground began to quickly come closer and with it I gushed my wings again, cushioning my fall along with the formerly living target beneath my hooves. The battle had begun to take its direction toward Velox, the concentration of attackers heavier in his direction.
A few clever swipes and several kills later I had reached the pony perimeter along with three guards about to take a swing at me with the swords and axes. First there was a unicorn, her about to drive her levitating axe into my skull, then there was a large stallion, him charging me from my right, opposite of the unicorn, lastly was a colt who outright was charging me him void of a weapon.
So, I charged the colt first, avoiding the mares axe entirely and driving my own blade into my targets skull, him dropping to the ground, dead before he even touched it. Without looking back, I hacked, slashed and parried my way throughout the wave of opposition and was beside my kin, him withdrawing his blade from the inside of an equine. The size had gone down quite a bit but there were around twenty left and fatigue was beginning to set in as I blocked a mace blow and shoving it off, throwing its user to the ground, him being trampled by his allies.
Next was something I was never expecting. In the mists of the cutting of flesh, the breaking of bone and the cries of pain, I noticed a figure in the back entrance, a yellow maned unicorn clad in peasants attire, Malnum. Pure rage now influenced me along with its fuel, adrenaline as I flew above the fight and headed straight for the murdering monster. He apparently foresaw this and began to gallop into the building, towards the entrance.
Your not getting away.
With a sudden pump, I shot up above the building and jetted across the roof, dropping onto it and going into a full gallop. The clay tiles of the roof were a little hard to navigate but I managed until I half fell, half jumped off the edge of the building, landing on the cobbled courtyard path with a loud clank, but failed to get my target, him already on his way to the gates. Nothing stopped me from galloping full speed toward him other than the guards who blocked my path as Malnum was released of the empty streets, no pony was up at this hour.
Evading the opposition with a quick jet over them and landing a few feet behind them, I resumed my galloped toward the unicorn. He began to tire out on slow down as we ran a few yards, me only feet from him. But I began to tire faster than him and he began to gain distance.
He wasn't going to get away from me, after what he did, never. So with a quick jerk, I let my cleaver fly throughout the air and watched it descend and sink into his back causing him to tumble and the blade to dislodge itself, skidding on the ground. Coming to a quick trot, hopped over the Diversus knight, taking my cleaver in mouth on my way over him.
The stallion tried to get up an resume his run but I pinned him down with my hooves, he seemed too tired to even break my own fatigued body. I looked at the pathetic pony before me, the confident killer I saw at the party was now little more than a sniveling mess, pleading for his life.
"Malnum Sidus." I spoke coldly, lowering my head so we were eye level,"I want you to remember this face, because its the last you will ever see." After about a second of silence, I jerked the blade deep into his neck, silencing him forever.
But I didn't move, for a full minute I remained locked onto the handle of the weapon, a million things colliding in my mind at once. I had killed the beast that killed a seventeen year old mare but there was one thing I neglected to remember in the haze of my rage, I had a sibling fighting with me.
Without retrieving my own weapon and a distressed gust of my wings, I made a mad jet toward the mansion. Why was I so stupid, I beat myself, leaving him in the claws of a battle. Dear Celestia let him still be breathing.
Finally, I reached the former residence of Malnum Sidus but it was silent, either because my brother had killed of the rest of the guards or he was among the dead. I got my answer as I flew above the garden turned war zone as dead bodies littered the once vegetative plot, blood splashed against the ground, plants and my brother, who still stood, rather unstable, shifting back and forth.
"Velox!" I flew and dropped right next to him and found his reason for his wobbly composure, his robe had an ever spreading blood stain at his side along with a tear. He looked at me meekly but collapsed, going into shock,"No don't..." I checked his pulse and exhaled, he was still alive. His injury was pretty bad, he would die of blood loss if I didn't get help. Thinking of where to take him without arousing suspicion only one place surfaced and in turn I slung him over my back, grunting on the weight and made my way out of the vacant residence.
Please Velox, don't leave me...
Error Type 127D-Memory Interrupted. Subject Recovery Immediate
***
"Spells, get up!"
"She's waking up!"
"What?" I said, blinking erratically and finding myself being unstrapped from the Animus by Bran, his expression dire. I was confused, I wasn't done with the memory and felt empty, lacking,"What happened? I wasn't finished." Bran unfastened my hind leg straps and I hopped down rather confused but then the reason smacked right in the face. Spells lie on his side on the floor, unmoving. At the sight of a him in this state, I quickly walked over to Dream who was sitting next to him, shaking him violently," Is he alright?" I could see the black colt that freed me from the Animus sit beside Dream, worry in his eyes.
"I think he passed out but..." She trailed off, shaking him again,"Spells!" No response. She sighed and let him down gently, he was out cold. The unicorn got up,"Arcanic magic is powerful stuff. It wore him out until he lost consciousness. The thing that I don't understand is why he didn't tell us?" Strange, Spells was so open with most people, and we were all his friends.
I joined in on the sigh and looked back down on the sleeping equine on the hardwood floor then faced Bran," Bran can you help me get him on the my bed." I neglected to offer him the couch because apparently while I was in the Animus, a few large cardboard boxes now populated the green futon. In compliance, he helped me flip the aqua unicorn onto my back as well as his, and set out for my bedroom. The clock on my wall above my bedroom doorway read 2:55pm, bringing surprise to mind.
"Bran, I thought I was only going to be in the Animus for an hour. It been almost three." Brans eyes quickly shifted their view to the floor as we entered my bedroom, he let out a synthetic cough, clearly nervous. That was something that I was starting to get sick off, everyone seemed on edge or nervous around me, with no explanation whatsoever.
We rolled Spells onto the bed, him flopping onto his side. I faced Bran again still awaiting an answer, his composure faltered and he broke eye contact, looking at the floor.
"Uh, we uh..." It felt odd that a pony with a mechanical personality like Bran, talk with such a wavering tone.
"Well?" I pushed, making him falter further to the point where he just turned and began to walk out the room," Hey, what's wrong with-"
"Please Faith," He finally answered, his voice low and deep," stop asking questions, because I can't answer then." The way he said that made it sound like a plea and an enforcement and bringing about more unwanted mystery.
Along with mystery came some irritation,"What do you mean? I let you guys convert my living room to a damned laboratory and you can't answer my questions, what's-"
"Stop. Please, I can't tell you anything, I'm sorry." He walked out of the room before I could continue, the tone in his voice was as if he was scared, intimidated.
Remain in plain sight...
"Gah." I grunted slightly, taking a seat on the bed next to the sleeping Spells, rubbing my temples. It was that Bleeding Effect again, it could have been prevented if I had been pulled out two hours ago. I was on the brink of abandoning this endeavor completely, I was sick of the memories, sick of the mystery and sick of all this bull crap.
But then I looked back down at my lifelong friend, him breathing soundly but he looked haggard. Rings formed around his eyes and wear was apparent on his face and I felt guilty. He'd be alright, sure, but he was in my bed, worn out, because of my persistence. Im Faith 'Iron' Wings... , I recall, face hoofing almost immediately.
The Brotherhood is open to all, no matter background or intent, as long as you chose to oppose those who wish to strip freedom and harmony from whom you wish to protect...
This was too much, I was done for the day and for a minute, I just didn't care anymore. So I just lie next to Spells on the bed and fell into a deep sleep, wanting to worry about this mess some other time
.
Aid is for those who need it, not those who want it...
The Assassins of Equestria
Chapter 1- The Birthday Girl
The Birthday Girl Written by: Ballpoint
"...tooo yooou." Spells finished jokingly, me smiling in a drunken haze as I blew out the small candle on the slightly larger cupcake, dabs of pink wax dotted the white frosting. It was my birthday, and I chose to celebrate my twenty fifth birthday at a bar with my former college roommate, Spells, at our favorite bar. I'd gotten out of school a few months ago but Spells was still in for a few more years, trying to get a doctorate in the arcane arts. We were very close friends, first meeting during high school and it just stuck that way, we always kept in touch. But every since I finished college, we haven't been able to see each other as much, him with his tests and me trying to find a job. Fortunately, it was the weekend and my birthday was more like a reunion, us being able to catch up.
Unfortunately, I chose to get drunk for the hell of it, so I smiled meekly and went muzzle first into the chocolate cupcake, taking a gaping bite in the small pastry,"Geez, the first time you every seen a cupcake?" Not paying attention, I savored the rich chocolatey taste of the baked good before lifting my head, frosting and black crumbs stuck to my lips for only a fraction of a second before I licked lips, effectively cleaning my mouth,"Man it is so good to see you again." I hiccuped, making the stallion next to me chuckle lightly, despite the fact that we reunited a few hours ago and now the bar was starting to become quieter, its occupants beginning to be only us.
"So hows school, Spells?" I asked, my eyes half lidded, I, drunkenly, but genuinely wanting to hear his answer.
The unicorn sighed, skidding a glass of carrot juice between his hooves,"Its been a bitch, I have one of the most important test in my entire life in a few days. I've been cramming every chance I get. But it will be worth it in the end." I was still looking into his red eyes, the alcohol delaying my reaction, making him shift uneasily.
Finally I answered,"Worth whut?" I was now genuinely interested, despite my wobbly composure and the whiff of life water that Spells probably smelled as I breathed. He cringed a bit but smirked.
"Its just spell." He seemed a bit nervous, gulping down the small portion of the orange liquid he had left.
"Ah, come un," I pleaded, nudging him,"its not like top secret anything right?" He shook his head, sighing once again,"So what is it, is like another teleportation spell, like when you got the guys a few years back." He nodded and gave a force laugh odd.
"Nah, it's nothing like that, well its kinda like that, ugh how can I explain it..." He trailed off before continuing,"Okay think of how far your family goes back, like to the very beginning." Hm, that's something to think about , which I actually did for a minute, trying to dig deep in what I knew about my family, but couldn't get much in my blurry state.
"Yeah?"
"So think that you will be able to see what your ancestors saw in there time and relive what they did."
"Whoa, interesting. You tried it on anyone yet?" He gave a grim look.
"No!" He answered quickly,"I mean other than on a few test runs, I haven't tried it on any pony yet." There was a moment of silence,"You wanna be the first?"
"Huh," I questioned,"am I just drunk or did you just say..." He nodded a mischievous grin on his face," Is it even safe?"
"Yeah its completely safe, I would never ask you If you could be hurt." His reassurance and confidence did well to soothe my weary mind.
"This might be the alcohol talking but yup, I'll do it."
Spells was took aback as if not expecting my answer,"Really, your sure about this? Are you really interested in you ancestors?"
"Yes and yes." I cocked my head as the cheap beer was starting drain from system, along with it influence,"You don't want me to be part of this?"
"Uh..."
"Hey," I put a hoof around his neck, and felt him ease," if you never wanted me to do this, then you should have never told me, remember, I'm Faith 'Iron' Wings, the mare that climbed the top of the university because of the stupidest dare of all time." He chuckled lightly as he took a short trip down memory lane.
"Okay 'Iron' Wings, what time you want to do it?"
"I got nothing to do tomorrow, so come by in the morning." With that we stayed at the bar for a few more hours, telling each other how are live are outside of the classroom, stuff like that, played some billiards and darts, just enjoying each others company.
We found ourselves about to depart from the bar, Spells planning to take me home, me in no fit state to walk as I had a few more beers, when my friend stopped me,"Wait a minute, almost forgot to give you this." I saw his horn glow blue and his saddlebag opening, a white fabric now levitating in the space between us both. Soon it spread it self to reveal it was a white hoodie with red trim,"Happy Birthday Faith."
"Wow, its just, wow. Thank you Spells." I embraced him with the hoodie between us, him a bit unprepared for a hug. Unfortunately, I neglected to realize I was just putting all my weigh on the lightly build colt, making him grunt, so I let up," Sorry."
"Its okay, you want me to help you put it on?" I nodded eagerly, allowing him to wrap the attire around me, but struggled a bit to get my wings through, I had a physical disability and my wings were under developed, allowing me to only fly for very short distances. I felt the zipper slide up to my throat and Spells magic disappear, allowing me to feel the soft cotton of the sweater, it was about a size too large but I was a nice gift.
I wrapped my fore hooves around him again, this time he returned the gesture,"It was so good to see you again."
"You too Faith." We broke the embrace and then the aqua unicorn widened his stance,"You ready?" I shook my head a bit, waking myself up for the coming departure then I nodded. He closed his eyes tight, his horn glowing, increasing its brightness every second, until I had to shut my own eyes. Then I felt a strange sensation all over my body, and then it gone along with my conscious.
***
"Gah!" I gasped, quickly looking at my surroundings. I was in my bed at my apartment, sprawled out like a starfish, I'll never get used to that teleportation crap. I yawned, realizing how tired I was, I moved into a more comfortable position, lowered my head and drifted on into a dreamless sleep.
***
I woke up on my own accord and was welcomed to the conscious world with a splitting headache, making me grunt sharply, rubbing my hooves on my temples, catching a glimpse of a white sweater sleeve, What, I slept in this?. As my headache began to let up I got up on all fours, a bit uneasily as the surface I stood on was little more than cotton and springs, stretching my legs and whipping my mane a few times, a few bronze strands getting in my eyes, making me blink erratically.
"Finally you're awake." In utter surprise, I gasped sharply, back peddled, falling off my bed, shaking my head on the oak floor, worsening my hangover. Once I got up and my headache was once again under control, I glared at the familiar unicorn that sat on the small chair on the far side in a corner, sipping some coffee which floated next to him.
"What the, what are you doing here?" I began to ponder his reasoning for breaking into my apartment, but nothing I could conjure up answered my question,"Wait don't tell me yet, I got the worst hangover. Let me go take a shower first." Spells obliged, taking another sipping his brew. Taking a moment to stretch my wings, I trotted out into my living room and was rewarded with two more intruders, a black colt with beige, slicked back mane and a brown mare unicorn with a dirty blonde mane. The mare was about to say something but I raised my hoof, effectively shutting her up,"Shower first, talk later. Just in pain right now." She was going to object but then I winced, so she nodded and resumed the small talk with the the earth pony next to her.
Satisfied, I walked over to the bathroom door, hung my birthday present onto the hook and took a headache soothing shower, still wanting to know what was going on but with a clear head.
***
"So you guys are some of Spells college buds?" They both nodded while they hooked up various machinery to a recliner looking construct, ugh it looked uncomfortable. What struck me as odd is that it had straps on were I suppose my legs would go. Hm."Whats Spells doing?" I asked the mare as I looked at the unicorn in question who was sitting next to the recliner construct, his eyes shut, as if thinking deeply.
The mare put down a metal box under the chair before facing me to answer,"He has to conserve all the energy he can, arcanic magic is a lot more powerful and harder to control then the regular stuff." She levitated a white bandana over her head and tied it around her skull,"The names Dream, Dream Charmer. My friend over there is Bran." I looked over her shoulder to see Bran, lifting some cardboard boxes on his back over to my coffee table, which I didn't mind. I then resumed eye contact with Dream, who held out her hoof, which I took and shook it.
"Faith Wings." I gave my name and the unicorn smiled.
"Nice sweater ya got there." She noted, me half noticing I was even wearing it.
I lifted a sleeved fore leg to my vision, noting its superb hems,"Thanks, Spells got it for me yesterday."
"Hm." She made a mischievous grin which took me a second to pick up on.
"Hey it not like that!" My voice cracked, my face feeling hot,"Its a birthday present." She still had a mischievous grin about her as she walked away, What a.... I sighed and sat on the futon, watching Spells crew fix up the setup. I saw heath monitors be erected, with no vitals to read, which I assumed would be mine. I watched as more and more bulky machines and monitors were practically piled high around the recliner, soon towering over it. Soon, I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into or did Spells take my invitation out of context? I mean I woke up to see him watching me sleep, and how the hay did he get into my apartment, maybe it was my super. And how did he get all this equipment in here, there was more equipment than furniture in my apartment.
It look like it would take a whole team of movers to get this stuff in a small apartment like this, and even then it would take a few hours. Were they here overnight?
While pondering the topics of interest I failed to notice that my living room had been converted into a laboratory, wires criss crossed the floor, monitors, and other tech lined my walls. I had no ideas where my television was, probable under the dense cover of tech. Yeah, Spells took this out of context and beyond, but it was already set and this stuff will be gone when its over, so I let it be. Hopping down from the futon, I carefully gazed at the walls of computers, their functions unknown to me but still aroused my curiosity.
"Hey." I gasped but exhaled when I realized it was just Bran,"Were ready for you." I nodded and was lead over to the chair, with Spells waiting by the chair.
"Hello Faith." He said very monotone
.
"Before we start can you explain what all this stuff is." I insisted,"I thought this was just some spell."
"It is but these machines are just here to keep you alive while..."
"Wait,wait,wait,wait,wait." I stammered,"I thought you said this was safe."
"It is, with these." He pointed a hoof at a monitor, arguing about it is pointless, so I just asked another question.
"Okay but what's that?" I nodded at the odd recliner I saw earlier this morning, him turning to see my object of interest then looked back.
"That is the Animus, its a conduit of arcane magic and will help simulate the environments you will be experiencing." I never heard Spells talk like that, sounding like machine. Maybe its was stress, this seemed like a very delicate procedure,"If you will." He sidestepped, giving me a clear view of the chair.
"Well lets do this." So I took my seat on the cumbersome chair, Dream coming to strap me in.
"Eh sorry about earlier, I was just kidding." She smiled as her magical veil tightened the straps on my fore hooves, making me grunt lightly.
"Its alright, but if you don't mind me asking, what will you be doing while I'm in the 'Antamus'." The mare giggled softly.
"Its the 'Animus' and I'll be right over there, monitoring your vitals." She pointed over to a small station with what looked to be about five monitors hooked put to make one image. Finally I was completely immobile, and found the seat not as uncomfortable as I thought, it was rather soft," You ready to start?" I looked around for a bit, seeing only Spells, who stood to my right, his horn glowing in preparation and Dream levitating a small remote, numerous buttons and dials adorned on it.
"Yes." Taking a deep breath, the Animus began to decline, reaching its limits once I was in a lying on my back. Soon, a visor of glass slid across my vision, it hard distinguish the stainless glass from the ceiling that I looked up at. The visor then began to glow aqua blue, then displayed some kind of logo, like three parallelograms were interlocking together with the word loading underneath. I felt nervous, I mean they said it was safe but I still had my doubts.
The screen now displayed numerous strands of what seemed to be DNA strands, each spinning slowly and the one I now faced was highlighted but read memory locked. There were a few minutes of silence other then the sound of clicking keys until, Bran now towered over me, checking over the display plastered on the visor
.
"What are these?" I asked, nervousness in my voice, which the earth pony refused to acknowledge.
"These are DNA imprints from past generations," He began to explain,"they are the genetic memories of you ancestors. Each pony is born with the past sets of memories passed down through genetics, much like animal instincts. But arcane magic is able to unlock the barriers that the mind sets up, so you could relive any moment in their lives." Well thats sure a glorified version of Spells explanation, but it helped. He observed the glass of several more minutes before talking again,"You see this imprint over here?" He tapped a hoof past my peripheral vision, so I turned to see a smaller version of the DNA strands I saw earlier but when this one highlighted it read unlocked memory.
"Yeah."
"This is memory that is going to be our starting point, it is the only memory that seems to be open. You must complete this memory to unlock more because you will learn more and more about your ancestors."
"Do you know who's memories I will be reliving." Bran gave it a minute.
"No, we cannot know whose memory you will be reliving until you have lived it. Also, after each memory, we will pull you out of Animus for a quick summary on who and what you relieved. Got it?" I nodded, still not exactly cementing the stream of information that spouted from the stallions mouth. After my lesson, he walked out of my vision,"Run Tutorial Program. Animus version 1.0." Those were the last word I heard before I felt electricity run through my veins, irritating but not painful.
Soon the void came.
Knowledege of your current happenings can only result in benefits...
