The Animus. A computer/ chair/ memory accessor. The people who enter it are in search of the memories of their ancestors. But these people are not mere civilians. They are assassins. They descend from a long line of assassins and bring a faint memory of their ancestors with them. In specific, we will bring up the lives of two particularly different assassi- er, ponies, who are brought together through the organization known as the assassin's order. These two will experience happiness, sadness, anger, and hatred. This story begins, where their reality ends...
"Alright, we have both Animi set up. Derpy, Applejack, come over here." Said Twilight, being the tech-freak of the four. The four members in this group of modern day assassins were Derpy, Applejack, Twilight, and Time Turner. Derpy and Applejack approached each Animus cautiously.
"Now Twilight, this ain't gon' cause any brain damage tuh me or Derpy here, now is it?", Applejack said in her strong Southern accent.
"Certainly not, Applejack. Why would I put you in this if it would hur- DERPY DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Twilight had turned to find Derpy pressing multiple buttons on the control panel of the other Animus.
"Oops, my bad..." Derpy said in her dopey tone. Twilight sighed a sigh of frustration.
"It's fine, just don't let it happen again." Applejack turned to Twilight, startled after her sudden outburst. "As I was saying...", Twilight restated, "why would I put you in a situation that could potentially hurt you?" "Hehe, ya got yerself a point there, Twi.", Applejack mumbled.
Applejack then proceeded to lay down on the animus in front of her. Derpy proceeded to do the same. "Hey, Time Turner!" Twilight called to the light brown-coated pony. "Yes Twilight?", Time Turner responded. "Could you activate the animus Derpy is in? I've got Applejack covered." "Sounds like a plan." Time Turner proceeded towards Derpy's Animus, labeled, "Animus D3rp", due to Derpy's "wonderful" typing skills and the ability to create labels on Marecrosoft Word.
Time Turner began pressing the corresponding sequence of buttons Twilight pressed in order to activate Applejack's Animi. The world around Derpy and Applejack faded as they transported to the all the more familiar room of white, where they were already in their assassin's cape, armed with a sword, which was rather difficult to use, even though a special horseshoe was used to hold it. They also had 2 hidden blades, throwing knives, and their hooves, which packed one hell of a kick, if you were on the receiving end. Applejack turned towards Derpy, who was mindlessly extending and retracting her hidden blades.
" Blades go in, then blades go out. Blades go in, then blades go out, teehee." Derpy just sat on her haunches with a dopey, entertained looking smile on her face, revealing and concealing the blade at an unrealistic pace. The "shink, shink" effect from the blade's extraction and retraction began annoying Applejack greatly. Her times on Sweet Apple Acres cut her patience fuse in half due to being called downstairs to help Granny Smith get up or sit down every five minutes. "Damnit Derpy, cut it out!", Applejack snapped." Derpy stopped and looked at Applejack with a disappointed expression. "Sorry, Applejack.." "It's alright Derpy, it was just getting on my nerves... Plus you'll wear out the springs in the setup of the blade."
Twilight's voice filled the room they were in. "Applejack, the springs in the hidden blades you and Derpy recieved are special. They won't wear out, break, or rust." "Oh, thanks for the intel Twilight."
Applejack turned to Derpy. "Sorry about the outburst my friend." Derpy smiled forgivingly. "It's perfectly fine." Suddenly, a city began materializing around them. Applejack and Derpy gazed at the night sky as they found themselves in a 15th century version of Canterlot. "Well, you ready Derps?" "Dangit Applejack, quit calling me Derps! And yes, I'm ready." . "Good," said Applejack. "Now we can climb on top of an assassin's grove and get some sleep in there for the night."
They then proceeded to walk silently towards a nearby building, scaling it and finding an assassin's grove rather quickly. The assassin's grove was entered through a rooftop, entering a small room, the walls enveloped by vines. They lay down in the middle of the enclosure and drifted off to sleep, only to awake in the morning to complete whatever memory they were required to sync. However, not everyone in Canterlot sleeps. Some eyes see what is meant to be unseen...
The next morning, Derpy and Applejack awoke to the sounds of people who socialized outside. They scaled the inside of the room, extracting themselves from the grove. They stood side by side, only to be noticed by a few guards patrolling the streets. "SCALE THE ROOFTOPS!", shouted one guard. "KILL THEM!", shouted another. Stealthy's pupils turned to pinpricks and Cross Eye began shaking. Stealthy whispered to the gray pegasus next to her. "Keep on the move when they get up here. We can outrun them. If needed, we will retaliate."
Cross Eye and Stealthy tore off across the rooftops, the guards hot on their trail. Cross Eye turned around to look at the guards.
"Looking at whatever is chasing you will slow you down. Turn back around and keep moving!", said Stealthy, her voice filled with a mixture of fear and adrenaline. Cross Eye followed her acquaintance's orders. Suddenly, she felt thin steel graze her face,recieving a miniscule cut, resulting in minimal bleeding.
Stealthy quickly grabbed Cross Eye by her hood and whispered in her ear, "Get ready to kill these guards, they're too close." The two assassins acted as though they had tripped, and lay still for a moment as if incapicitated. The guards rushed at them, and stood over them menacingly. As one guard extended his hoof, Cross Eye extended one of her hidden blades and impaled the guard's leg, coating it with blood. Before the guards had time to stab at them Stealthy had extended both her blades and began jumping over the guards and stabbing her blades through their necks from behind, taking out two at a time. Cross Eye extended her second blade and proceeded to mimic Stealthy, as if this were some sick, gory ballet. Just a moment ago there were 13-15 guards chasing the two assassins. The next moment, they were all laying on the top of a building, bleeding from the neck, laying face down in a puddle of their own blood. "Nice moves Cross Eye. Damn, we really gotta be more careful next time." Cross Eye's eyes narrowed in a mixture of fear and frustration. "If anything happens like that again, there may not be a next time!" Stealthy looked at the roof under her hooves in a self-ashamed state. Cross Eye's eyes softened after seeing what emotions she had just pumped into her friend. "Stealthy, I..." The orange mare simply looked away and raised her hoof. "It's alright Cross Eye, I completely understand. I was stupid to suggest killing the guards. We could've hidden somewhere and..." Stealthy sighs. "I need some time to think. I'll meet you at the synchronization point at the top of the castle."
The memories of Stealthy's rough time at home began rushing back to her. She had no place to live, except with the other assassin's. All of her household had either died or moved out. Granny Smith contracted lung cancer from smoking too many Mareboros, Big Mac moved on to serve in the Equestrian military, and Applebloom moved in with Sweetie Belle, Babs, and Scootaloo in a 3 bedroom flat in Manehattan. Stealthy began weeping silently as reality set in about what had just occured.
Author's Note
This was proofread by MyOwnNameWasTaken. He noticed my story was rather... ehm.... GLitChy and he offered to edit this for me ^-^ . This originally had a load of errors and I do apologize for that. I realize my writing isn't perfect, and I apologize for not revising it before even posting it on the site. Since the story has been redone some, please give it a second chance. Thanks! ^-^
Stealthy's flashback and Origin
"Assassin profile:Applejack (AKA Stealthy)
Born 7/5/82, Sweet Apple Acres to Apple Cider and Apple Fritters, both deceased due to unknown causes.
Height: 4'9" (all fours)
5'7" (hind or front legs only)
Eye Color: Emerald
Background: Applejack grew up on Sweet Apple Acres, being cared for by her brother, Big Macintosh, and her grandmother, Granny Smith. Granny Smith passed away the summer of '99, due to lung cancer. Macintosh joined the armed forces, but was discharged due to a newly formed cocaine addiction and getting into a firefight with friendlies during an operation."
Applejack sat at the kitchen table in her home on Sweet Apple Acres, struggling to hold back her tears as best she could. Earlier that day, at about 3AM, Granny Smith had been rushed to Ponyville hospital, wheezing and unable to breathe. Applejack had torn off after the ambulance, following it all the way to the hospital. As she rushed into the room where her decrepit grandmother was, she was traumatized by the sight. Granny lie on a gurney, an oxygen mask over her face, doctors and nurses alike all around her, attempting CPR.
"Nurse, we need a defib unit, STAT!" The nurse rushed to grab one out a nearby case suspended on a wall. The doctor placed the paddles on his hooves, laid them on Ms. Smith's chest, shouted "Clear!", and removed the paddles. The doctor bowed his head, the sounds blaring from the heart monitor breaking his will. "Time of death... 4:59 AM...".
Applejack's eyes widened at he mention of the word "death". Her whole body shuddered as she walked slowly out of the hospital, her face covered in tears. Every once in a while, the tears would fall off her tangerine toned coat and hit the ground, moistening the dirt in the spot where the orb of salty water fell. After she arrived home, she went out to the acres and acres covered by apple trees, attempting to find a good sturdy tree. After finding one, she backed up towards it, rearing up and giving a good, strong, rib-breaking kick. The tears fell as hard as she kicked. She kicked that tree, again and again and again. She pounded on the tree until the sun rose, around 7:30 that morning. Big mac and Applebloom were up at this point. They had slept through the whole endeavor. Big Mac approached her that scarlet morning, with a confused look on his face.
"AJ, what's wrong sis? You OK?" He then noticed the two large hoofprints, each print about 6 inches deep into the tree. "AJ, you don't normally kick that hard, there's definitely something wrong... Look at me." Applejack looked up, her eyes red and puffy from all the crying she had done in the past 3 hours. "It's Granny Smith, Big Mac... They rushed her to the hospital at about 3 this morning... She died 2 hours later.. I been out here kicking this tree ever since I got back to the farm... I didn't tell you because I didn't want you waking up Applebloom because she has school today..." Big Mac embraced his little sister, holding her tightly against his chest and kissing her on the forehead. Big Mac was on the verge of tears. "I-it's ok, s-sis... We'll make it th-through this.." Big Mac burst out into tears, his normally bleak face turning into a face of depression and sadness. His face stayed the same that entire month. Applejack then managed to compose herself, hardening up. "Now that Granny's gone, you're gonna have to run the farm yourself..." Big Mac shuddered, realizing the large responsibility now thrown upon him. "Since you're running the farm now, I'm going to take up my calling in life..." "What calling is that, Jacqueline?" "remember that highly confidential package I received?" "Uhhh, I think so." Big Mac turned his head to the side, thinking of what package AJ was referring to. "OH, I know which one you mean." "Well, inside of it was a letter. Just a letter. It told me that recently, an outbreak of people known as "Templars" had arisen, and they need people, well, assassins, who can help them. And now, I'm taking them up on that. I'm joining the Assassin's order." "AJ, are out of your mind?!" "No, Big Macintosh, I'm not. I'm unable to die, due to the fact that it's all virtual, but I feel all pain. I'll find other ways to support you financially, I swear." Big Mac sighs as another tear rolls down his face. "O-ok AJ..." "I'll be fine Big mac. Trust me."
The next day, Applejack took the letter, filled the out info on the back, and sent it back. A shuttle bus came and picked her up the next day.
Suddenly, she snapped back into reality.
