Creed of Threeby Dusk WriterChaptersEdenTension of the BowAdded Mysteries, Subtracted Questions, Multiplied Problems, and Divided LoyaltiesChaotic HappeningsEdenAltair walked down the long hallway into the underground library. He just felt so tired, so old and broken. His wife had died many years prior and he had killed the traitor with the invention he had seen in the Apple. He had left his son at the entrance and given him the task of hiding the Masyaf keys everywhere across Europe. He withdrew the Apple and sat down into the chair in the center of the room. With a heavy sigh, he gazed into the glowing dullness and sharp bright lines that curved over its sides, many thoughts running rampant through his head. One particular thought kept coming around to the forefront of his mind, “So much trouble and death over such a small thing.” However, he knew more than others how looks could be deceptive. He knew the amount of power this Apple of Eden offered, and it had turned his closest friends on him. He sighed softly again, pulling a disc this time from the depths of his robes. He leaned his head back, looking at the giant door at the end of the corridor. He recorded his memories of the past few hours into the glowing disc, for a future assassin who would eventually make their way into the cavern. He was just oh, so tired. It would be nice, to finally rest… As he closed his eyes, he barely saw the Apple in his hand begin to glow, lines of golden light engulfing his now still body. ~~~~~ Ezio looked back up into the face of his great ancestor, Altair the Master of Assassins. “You have lead me well, my mentor.” He took the final memory disc and placed it into one of the pockets in his dark grey robes. He reached over to Altair’s other hand and pulled the golden sphere from the bones of the palm. He looked around the room, the Apple growing in power as he held it. He spoke out to the empty space, “Desmond?” After blinking his eyes from the sudden power surge emanating from the Apple, he continued to speak, “I heard your name once before Desmond, a long time ago. And now it lingers in my mind, like an image from an old dream. I do not know where you are, or by what means you can hear me. But I know you are listening.” He paused for a moment, taking off his weapons, starting with the hidden blades on each wrist, and then dropped his sword next to the other two deadly weapons. He looked again into the lines of golden light, “I have lived my life best I could, not knowing its purpose, but drawn forward like a moth to a distant moon. And here at last, I discover a strange truth; that I am only a conduit for a message that eludes my understanding. Who are we, who have been so blessed to share our stories like this? To speak across centuries? Maybe you will answer all the questions I have asked. Maybe you will be the one to make all this suffering worth something in the end.” He began walking toward the pedestal embedded within the wall at the back of the room; this was where the Apple should belong, yet Altair had not been able to place it there before he died. An image of a boy in strange clothing appeared in front of him, supposedly Desmond. Ezio placed his hand onto the image’s shoulder, finding resistance as though someone was actually there. “Now listen-“ Whatever he had been about to say was cut off when the Apple suddenly and unexpectedly grew in power and brightness. Ezio shielded his eyes with the hand that held the memory disc. He couldn’t let go of the Apple! When it seemed as though the amount of light shining from the sphere could not grow any more, the feeling of sleep suddenly overtook him and everything went dark. ~~~~~ Shck The sound of the blade sliding into a dying man’s heart was as final as the wolf howling to the sinking moon. Ratohnhaké:ton, more commonly known as Connor, withdrew his blade from Charles Lee’s chest and stood up slowly, the pain in his abdomen from the shard of wood explosively erupting. He grabbed at the wound with his left hand, and then stumbled out of the bar back to the homestead. When he finally got there, he collapsed at the front door. A maid walked out to find what had made the noise, when she saw Connor. After a small scream he barely heard, she lifted one of his arms and began to drag him inside, calling for help. Black bordered his vision, and then unconsciousness overtook him. ~~~~~~~~~~ Six months later ~~~~~~~~~~ Connor walked through the building that had been the home for their elder for many winters. As he looked around the burned out building, he spotted a small familiar white box. Upon opening it, he realized that it was not the same glass ball he had used once before, but was now a sphere of a dull golden glow. “What is this, and why did they leave it behind?” He hefted up the surprisingly light orb, golden lights bursting from the lines that ran along its surface like a migrating pack of caribou. The familiar woman’s voice spoke to him once again, “You have done well Connor, and have fulfilled the purpose we have given you.” As he was about reply in frustration, another voice, a male voice, spoke out, laced with humor and deviousness, “Oh Hera, you are sometimes so funny with your proper patterns of speech.” Connor looked around for this new, irritating voice. As he was about to yell out for the coward to show himself, the talon of an eagle pressed itself against his lips. He looked at its owner in frustration, which immediately turned to surprise. It was only a silhouette, but definitely not human. The serpentine figure twisted with laughter, with its arms wrapped its middle as it couldn’t stop shaking from the look on his face. As its laughter finally died away, it wiped away a tear from its hidden eye and spoke again, “Hera, he may have completed the purpose you gave him, but now it is time for him to serve my purpose, along with two others.” The serpentine silhouette brought its hands together, tapping the fingers meticulously. Hera sighed, “And what would that purpose be, -------?” It was odd for Connor, when she had said the being’s name, all sound had ceased, and then come back. “Well, my friend and her friends, definitely not mine yet, have been in need of a new…adventure. He will go along fine with my plans.” Connor swore he could feel the grin slide across the being’s face like a snake. Hera sighed, “Fine, do what you will.” Her presence faded immediately, leaving Connor with this mysterious creature. “Well then boy, if you would be so kind and lift the Apple for me?” Connor’s arm moved of its own accord, holding the “Apple” aloft above his head. “Now, when you get there, please try to be polite. It would be rude to spoil my entertainment so early.” The Apple increased in brightness, eventually engulfing him in its bright glow. Just before he lost consciousness, he heard the whisper from the serpent that would change everything. Then everything went black. ~~~~~~~~~~ There was a knock at Rainbow Dash’s door as she walked out of the bathroom, coat still slightly damp. She stopped for a moment, and then began walking towards the front door. Only a pegasus could reach her home, and even then, it was usually only Derpy and Fluttershy who came to her home often. And seeing as how no walls were broken, she was going to assume it was Fluttershy. Her assumption proved correct when she pulled open the door to find the shy Pegasus looking a little worried. “Hey Fluttershy, what’s wrong?” After a few seconds of thinking, she finally thought up the words, “I can’t find Discord anywhere. It’s like he’s just randomly disappeared. Oh, I do hope he’s okay.” Rainbow Dash had stopped listening after the first sentence. She flew as fast as she could up the stairs, grabbing her Element necklace. She rushed back to the door before Fluttershy had even finished. Said mare looked flabbergasted and a little shocked at her friend’s sudden speed and alarmed state. “Fluttershy, fly as quickly as you can back to the cottage and grab your necklace, we’re gonna need-“ Whatever Rainbow Dash was going to say was cut off by a large explosion that originated in the fields close by Ponyville. Rainbow Dash turned to the cowering pegasus, “Fluttershy! Get moving! That was probably Discord and we need to stop him!” Fluttershy slowly stepped out of the cloud house and took off towards her cottage. Rainbow Dash began flying towards Ponyville to round up the four Elements. She was hovering over the town square when she spotted all other five ponies. Just as she neared them, she saw that they had their own Element. She dropped to the ground and was running towards them through the crowd when her necklace grew incredibly warm. All of the ponies around her dropped to the ground screaming in pain. Lines of golden light surrounded their heads and as her eyes looked around, she noticed that the lights grew closer together around the area of the explosion. Suddenly, it all stopped as the second explosion that hour, although different, erupted from the same spot knocking everypony present unconscious. ~~~~~~~~~~ Young. That is how Altair felt as he opened his eyes. That, and extremely hurt. Every bone and muscle in his body ached and groaned. He stood and stretched, feeling several bones pop from the exertion. As he scanned his surroundings, he saw that stood in a wheat field at the edge of a small crater. To his left, he saw a town with several residents running about, although he was currently too far away to make anything out. He heard the clash of metal on metal emanate from the center of the crater. He snapped his head back to the crater and saw two assassins fighting over- No, it couldn’t be. The Apple of Eden. He charged down the crater in his once again young body towards the two assassin’s, one wearing a dark grey color that was almost black, and the other wore white assassin robes with blue highlights on the center. He drew out his sword, blocked both their attacks, and made to grab the Apple. Just as his hand grabbed the orb, so did the other two. The grey-robed yelled at him, “Let go! I must use the Apple to get back to Sophia!” “No! This Apple can save my people from years of torture and pain!” Altair didn’t know their full reasons, but he had to get them to understand. “Brothers! We must not use the Apple at all! We must hide it so no others may find it!” They continued to bicker; their conflicted interests causing turmoil with the Apple, and then, the tension within broke, releasing all of the pent-up energy inside. The golden lights descended upon the nearby village, from which inhuman screams began emanating. Altair began focusing all his thought into stopping it, and he sensed the grey-robed do the same. However, the young boy still only thought of saving his people. The amount of energy between the two more experienced assassins was enough to stop the Apple, but in a mentally explosive result. As Altair began to lose consciousness, he saw the boy limp away into the nearby woods as a winged figure descended upon his still body. Tension of the Bow“Ugh.” Ezio opened his eyes and sat up, placing a hand to his forehead to try and quell his raging headache. He dropped his hand and looked around the small room he had been placed into. It looked like a mix between a jail cell and a hospital room, just not like any hospital he had seen. There were odd machines surrounding him and a beeping noise emanating from one of them. However, something felt different, something he couldn’t quite place a finger on. Suddenly, an idea struck him. He threw off the blankets from his body to see that while he still had his robes on, he was young again. He quickly slid off the bed, accidentally popping a small strange circle off of his right forearm. He went to front of the room where there were several iron bars and a lock keeping him from freedom. As he proceeded to wrap his hands around a couple of the bars and test them, a very familiar voice spoke up from the adjacent cell. “Finally awake huh?” Not bothering to try and remember who the voice belonged to, he immediately went to a crouched position, reaching for his sword. When all he grabbed was air, he quickly did an inventory of all his items. He had nothing except for his the robes on his back. He stood back up and walked to the iron bars again. Looking through the bars of the window, he observed the white assassin before speaking, “Speak assassin, so I would know your name.” The white assassin looked up into Ezio’s eyes and spoke his name, although Ezio had a sinking feeling he already what it was, “My name is Altair Ibn-La’Ahad. Now I would know your name, grey assassin.” Ezio quickly recovered from his shock and placed his right hand across his chest to lay it upon his heart. “Ezio Firenze Auditore at your service, Mentor.” Altair smirked at the odd little quip of ‘mentor’. He stood up, yet again feeling the glory of being young again; no arthritis, no foggy memory, not even everyone scrambling to help him as though he could do nothing. It was amazing. Shaking his head clear of the distracting thoughts, he looked to Ezio again. “I do not recognize your accent, and your robes are not like any I have seen. I would know your story. Ezio let a soft chuckle before shaking his head and saying, “It is a long one, Mentor.” Altair looked around the small hospi-cell as he had decided to call it, then returning his gaze to the young assassin, “We have plenty of time if you haven’t noticed.” Ezio closed his eyes, as if recalling a distant memory, which of course he was. His eyes opened and he looked to Altair, “It all started when my family was betrayed by one of its closest friends.” ~~~~~ Connor pulled some moss down from one of the nearby trees and began wrapping it around the claw marks on his upper arm. After the incident with the Apple, which the ‘Discord’ creature had told him could save and protect his people, he had slowly jogged into the nearby forest, unconsciousness preying on his mind like a hungry wolf. He had dove into the forest behind a shrubbery with a small white fence around it (Odd) as he watched the other two assassins collapse to the ground where they stood. A few seconds later, a white creature that appeared to be the offspring of a horse, bird, and narwhal descended upon them, surely to devour their unmoving bodies. That was about when he had lost the battle with the dream world. He had awoken about five hours later according to the position of the sun. As he stood up, he began to realize how much taller than the shrubbery he was. The point was made incredibly relevant when a small gasp made his head shoot up to spot what had made the noise. A mint-green horse with a golden instrument on its flank was staring at him. He would have instantly shot it with an arrow if it hadn’t seemed so… human. After a few seconds of thought, he instead turned and fled deeper into the forest. After running and climbing through trees for about twenty minutes, he stopped at a particularly old tree that had small stream running alongside it. About a meter from the river, there lay a human ribcage with only a head attached; the arms and legs cut off (More odd). He didn’t think about it for too long, knowing he should probably keep moving. That was when the thing attacked him. At first, he thought it was a bear; it certainly sounded like one. He jumped quickly to his right, barely dodging the giant paw smashed down where he had stood mere moments before. He whirled around, and the sight nearly made his heart stop. In front of him stood a lion with the wings of a bat, the tail of a scorpion, and the size of an elephant. He reached back to behind his waist and pulled out the tomahawk he always used. He would need to be quick and agile; the sword would only slow him down. Man and beast began to circle each other in the small clearing. The manticore (As he would later learn it was called) moved first, ducking down onto its front legs so the tail could dart forward and impale its target. But alas, it struck only dirt as the Native American rolled backwards out of range. He began to charge forward towards its face as it recovered from the attack but he was swiped aside by a paw. He slid to a stop at the base of a tree, wincing as some dirt got into the new opening in his skin. The thumping in the ground caused him to look up and scramble out of the way as the manticore charged into the tree and transformed it from single organism to thousands of splinters. He stumbled to his feet and saw that the manticore was a little dazed after running into the tree, so, he took his chance. He ran forward as fast as he could and jumped forwards and up, grabbing onto one of the segments of the poisonous tail. He twisted until he straddled the base of the appendage and began hacking at it until it fell to the ground twitching. The beast roared in pain as it attempted to swat the human off of its back, but to no avail. He slowly crawled his way up its back, and after several seconds of struggling, he finally managed to reach its thick neck. He raised his tomahawk, ready to bring the sharp blade down into its brain, when a branch that the manticore had run by smacked it from his hand. After ducking down again and getting his bearings, he straddled the monster’s wide neck much like he would a horse. He pulled his bow off of his back, knocked two arrows, and fired them into the back of the manticore’s skull directly into its brain. The manticore let out a final roar of defiance, then collapsed to the ground dead. Connor slid off the neck and barely caught himself. After removing the two arrows from the manticore’s head and retrieving his tomahawk, he limped further into the forest. He was brought back from his recollection by more noises. He quickly hid in a bush next to a path that he had just noticed. The chittering noises were coming closer, and as he watched, two ponies walked around the corner. One was a light tan color with a pink mane. Around its neck was a golden necklace that had a pink butterfly and matching pink butterflies on the flank. The other one was quite a bit bigger, and because of the golden armor it wore, he could see no discerning marks other than its white fur and blue mane. They were probably some twisted person’s pets. He suddenly realized that with his proximity to the path, they would without a doubt notice them, they would freak, and their owners would come running. He quickly took out another two arrows and angled them so that they would pierce the creatures’ temples. He waited for a few seconds as the tension of the bow grew tight. ~~~~~ “And that is finally, how I awoke to find myself in this cell.” Ezio had finally finished his story and Altair had stayed awake for all of it, paying close attention. “So, you got here the same way I did; the Apple of Eden?” When Ezio simply nodded his head, Altair continued, “I wonder what that other boy was talking about, ‘Use it to save my people.’ Doesn’t he know that the Apple only turns friends upon each other?” Ezio opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the slamming of the dungeon door. He would say he heard footsteps, if he hadn’t recognized the sound from when he went from city to city. Sure enough, an intimidating stallion followed closely by two ponies in golden armor trotted up to their two cells. This stallion wasn’t intimidating because he was abnormally large, being almost as tall as the two assassins, but rather because he had the type of face that said he could kill you without trying. It wasn’t a cocky look, just a face that knew the facts. He was taller than his escorts by a factor of two, although his posture said he considered them his equals. In front of his eyes, a strange type of rimless golden glasses kept them from seeing into his eyes. His mane and tail were both incredibly short and were a black so deep it seemed to absorb the light around them. His coat was a dark olive green and multiple scars were located all around his body not unlike the craters on the moon. One impressive scar ran along his entire left length. The only piece of armor he wore was a gold piece with the symbol of the Sun that went across his chest. On his flank was a picture of an oddly shaped shield, two katanas of some kind crossing in front of it, with the skull of a dragon sporting a crack on top of those. After a silent staring match between the oversized pony and the two humans that lasted for several minutes, the giant spoke in a deep, rough voice that sent chills down Ezio’s back, “My name is Legend, general of the Royal Guard of our ruler Princess Celestia. And now, that very same pony has called for your presence in the throne room.” Author's Note Kudos to the one who can find a video for the two references I placed in this chapter. I'll even give you a hint: they're from the same movie. Legend is from MLH, but this guy has a completely different past. Added Mysteries, Subtracted Questions, Multiplied Problems, and Divided LoyaltiesThe tension of Connor's bow was growing tight and pulling hard against his fingers. He was waiting for the two ponies to get closer so he could gain a better shot. As they came within twenty feet of his position, the bush behind him rustled with activity. He whipped around and shot at the wolf that pounced upon him, but it was a clear miss. The two arrows zipped off and thudded into a nearby tree. The wolf, which Connor could feel was wood beneath his hands, pounded into his chest head first, knocking him out of the bush directly onto the path in front of the equines. The yellow one let out a squeak, and bolted behind the golden armored stallion, who gave the shy creature a few deep neighs. Connor rolled onto his upper back, and then pulled the muscles tight, launching himself onto his feet. He pulled out the tomahawk once again and brought his hidden dagger into his left hand. He and the wolf began to circle each other in the middle of the path. He glanced over to see the two horses were still there and no owner had come to get them. Before he could ponder it any further, his distraction gave the wolf an opening. It jumped forward and bit down on his right ankle before he even had time to react. As he fell onto his back, the wolf jumped on top of him and attempted to bring its wooden mandibles down on his face. He managed to grab its throat area just in time and kept it from biting him. The wolf continued to snap its jaws and his right arm began to burn from his fight with the manticore. He began reaching for anything he could use. His hand grasped the fallen branch from a tree and brought it up, smashing it against the wolf's head. However, instead of being stunned, the wolf burst apart into tiny pieces of wood. Connor stood slowly, putting as little weight as possible onto his right foot. He bent down and carefully picked up his two weapons and turned to the two ponies. He suddenly realized just how intelligent their eyes were, very much unlike the dull eyes of creatures he had slain in the forests of his people. Disregarding the strange discovery, he continued to slowly limp towards them and began to raise his tomahawk when the wolf growled. He turned quickly, but not too fast. The wolf had somehow reformed from the tiny pieces of wood. Just as it began to walk forward to attack him, Connor threw his tomahawk straight into the beast's forehead right where a small golden light shimmered. This time, instead of bursting apart like the first, the wolf stood there with its mouth hanging open, then exploded. The tiny shards of wood cut through Connor's clothes and bit into his skin. Since he had been standing in front of them, the two ponies were largely unaffected. Connor fell to his knees as a numbness he hadn't noticed before began spreading through his body from his right ankle where the wolf had bit him; poisonous fangs. The armored pony still stood in front of the yellow one as Connor collapsed to the ground, but the shy thing was trying to edge around her guard very quietly to help the fallen human. He sluggishly glanced at the wood pile, in the middle of which floated a single orb of golden light. It silently hovered over to him and lightly bumped on the forehead. From it, Connor didn't feel anything hostile from it, instead, it seemed to be happy. As he watched it, the feeling of numbness disappeared from his limbs and began to fall into a deep sleep, but not before he saw the strange little golden light hover in front of the yellow pony and then shoot off into the forest. ~~~~~~~~~~ Altair couldn't help but admire the architecture as Legend led them through all of Canterlot castle. There were so many little footholds in the walls he would have no trouble escaping from the fingerless guards. At least, he thought this until he saw a pair of armored pegasi fly in and land on a balcony. Oh well, it wasn't like he was planning on running anyways. He quickly glanced over to Ezio walking beside him. The grey-cloaked assassin had seemed a bit unbelievable when he had said that he was from a time a couple centuries in the future from Altair's own. Up until he got to the part about his run-ins with the Apple of Eden, Altair hadn't believed a word he said. But when he had spoke of the memory discs that he claimed to have found, he was spot on with the details. Altair realized that the third assassin they had encountered may very well be from another time. He now shifted his gaze from Ezio to the large stallion that led them through the castle. At first, Altair had thought that the two guards were simply a bit small, but yet again, his opinion changed as he saw that all the other guards were in fact smaller than their general. For whatever odd reason, Altair felt he could trust both Ezio and the general, although it was probably just because the latter would get him to his destination without harm. Speaking of destinations, the group had just arrived at theirs. To Altair, the double golden doors looked threatening and foreboding, but that wouldn't stop him; his pride would not allow it. Legend pushed open the doors into a fifty meter long hallway. Altair could barely see someone (or something) at the end of the carpet, but they were still too far away for him to make out any details. Ezio, on the other hand was examining the guards that lined the sides of the throne room and wondered just how important this person thought themselves to be if they surrounded themselves with this many guards. If they proved to be hostile and attempted to attack the two, a return attack would likely be impossible. It took them a full forty-five seconds to reach the end of the room, and when they did, Ezio couldn't help but gasp as the celestial being came into view. The horse-narwhal-bird thing sat atop a throne made completely of gold and looked down upon them, not with a look of disgust, but rather a look of curiosity and kindness. While he had never seen a creature like her, she was still an insanely beautiful creature with an alabaster coat, pastel rainbow mane and tail, and a crown that shone as brightly as the sun. Altair stood in the same shocked state. They could both feel her power, yet it did not feel like she would blast them to kingdom come. It was then that the creature decided to speak. "Welcome, Altair and Ezio, to Canterlot, crown jewel of Equestria on the planet of Equis. I am Princess Celestia. Now, I have some questions for you." ~~~~~~~~~~ Elsewhere in Canterlot, the door to a small store opened to reveal a pony that was a bit of a runt. He kept quietly murmuring to himself as he tossed his cloak onto the nearby chair. He flipped the sign to show that the shop was now closed. He then proceeded to walk behind the counter into the storage room in the back. Once inside, he triple checked that the bolt was locked, and then dumped his saddlebags on the floor. After walking around the small room, lighting the various candles, he turned back to the saddlebags. He cautiously nosed open the strap on the bags. He quickly jumped back as the single object held within figurative prison rolled out; a large dull gold orb with bright golden lines adorning its round surface. He was trying his best not to touch it since he had seen what it did to those strange three creatures who had been holding it. Suddenly, it flashed with gold light and he yelped, stumbling backwards. He ended up running into the shelves behind him and they began to fall on him. Forgetting the Apple, he began to scramble forward so as not to be crushed by the falling boards, and ended up tripping over the ball. Everything in the room immediately froze as his forearm brought the Apple up to eye level against his will. The same golden lines of light appeared, floating around the room, that had been descending upon Ponyville. He began to hyperventilate in fear, until a heavenly figure appeared to step out of the wall. This transparent pony almost looked as though she was going to a wedding. A white veil was lifted from her beautiful face and the dress she wore was perfect, with no signs dirt or dust. She looked at him, and he literally froze as she spoke in an echo-like voice within his mind. "I am the one known as Hera, and you will now do my bidding." ~~~~~~~~~~ "Hm, that is interesting." Celestia sat back down upon her golden throne, thinking about the stories both of these assassins had just told her. Afterward, she had asked several questions pertaining to the third human, the Apple of Eden, and more about the culture of their homes. She looked to her general who had stood next to her with one of the best poker faces in the history of Equestria. "What do you think Legend? Should we trust these creatures?" Legend studied the two humans, before simply giving a grunt in reply meaning he trusted them, if only barely. Suddenly, the doors slammed open as a runt of a royal guard ran in. It took him a little bit, but he eventually made it to the bottom of the throne. Panting, he managed to gasp out, "Your majesty, I have something that I wish to show you." When she waved her hoof for him to continue, he reached into his saddlebag. Only to pull out the Apple of Eden. As soon as it came into contact with their gazes, the guard held it above his head and activated it. Celestia began to scream, as did Ezio, Altair, and every other guard in the room. However, the only one who seemed unaffected was Legend, who, after seeing what it was doing to his princess, ran forward. He quickly up a nearby spear and hurled it at the offending guard, who's eyes were glowing a bright gold. As the spear came within about ten feet of the target, a shield of pure light materialized around the runt, causing the spear to clatter to the floor. Legend ran up to the shield and cautiously placed a hoof onto the shield, causing it begin to bending inward. After pushing hard enough, he was able to get into the small sphere. He looked up to the traitorous guard, who's eyes were not only no longer gold, but also watching him. His lips were moving, so Legend decided to lean in closer to hear what he had to say. "Please, kill me." The words were so soft-spoken that Legend barely heard them. He gave the guard a sympathetic look, then moved behind him. He took the guard's head into his arms and snapped his neck like a twig. The change was almost instantaneous. The Apple rolled away from the dead guard's hoof, and every bit of the golden light had disappeared. Legend went to Celestia and helped her stand, "Are you okay, Majesty?" Celestia slowly nodded her and looked to Altair. He had quickly taken the cloth from a nearby flag and thrown it over the golden artifact. He and Ezio were kneeling by it with worried expressions on their faces. As Celestia made to lift it with her magic, Altair quickly snatched it out of the air. To make matters worse, he looked pissed. "What do you think you're doing pony?! This Apple holds more power than you could possibly imagine! And that's not all!" He quickly marched over to the dead pony and snatched an object from around his neck, "Do you have any idea what this was doing around his neck?!" In his hand, Altair held a necklace, the pendant being a red cross with a gold border. Celestia had no idea what the cross meant, but she was confused nonetheless. "I honestly have no idea what that is." "Shut up!" At this, Altair dropped the Apple and began charging at her, fist raised. Ezio attempted to stop him, but barely missed. Just as Altair was about to hit the princess, who had the look of a poker player, he hit wall of solid muscle. He stumbled backwards and looked up to see Legend glaring down at him. Altair stood back up and backed up, beginning to circle around with Legend. Just as it seemed that the tension in the room couldn't rise anymore, the doors slammed open once again. Every guard in the room turned towards the doors with their weapons pointed to the new guard that walked in, who immediately froze. Celestia looked at him, then sighed, "What is it?" He looked around, and then shook his head, "Ma'am, a quarter of the guards have gone missing from the barracks and are nowhere to be found. The one's that are missing have crosses carved into their beds in the barracks." Altair gave her a look that said this wasn't over. Then, the guard spoke up again. "Also Ma'am, Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, reported that she found something. In fact, she said found another one of those," said the stallion as he pointed at Altair and Ezio. Author's Note Alright guys, you know the drill. Any positive and constructive critisism please and of course, comments on how amazing the story is! ;D Chaotic HappeningsFirst Ezio, then Altair fell out of the sky carriage as soon as it touched down in Ponyville. While Altair seemed almost as though he had developed a phobia of the carriage, Ezio only seemed a little wary of the vehicle. Flying through the night on da Vinci’s contraption had prepared him for flight, just not so drug out. As Ezio picked up Altair by the arm and brought him back to his senses, the two caught up to Celestia and Legend. Two more pony stallions followed behind the assassins, carrying the Apple in a heavy gold chest between them. The denizens of the small village bowed to their ruler and her guard, but stood up as the two humans walked past, giving them weary looks. The crowd continued to part until there was an obvious path to six mares, all of them except for one glaring at Altair and Ezio. When the group reached the six mares, they bowed to Celestia but stood immediately afterward. The purple mare spoke in a low, accusatory tone, “What are those doing here?” She obviously knew that they were responsible for the mysterious attack on the town. So, Celestia described to the unicorn what had happened since the guard had come in and told them Connor had been found. She had acted immediately; putting up a golden box around the Apple and having the guards fetch the heavy chest it was currently in. Once it arrived, Legend placed the golden artifact into the box since he appeared to be the only one immune to the Apple. Afterwards, Altair, Ezio, Celestia, Legend, and two more guards departed and each climbed into the covered carriage. At first, the two humans thought it would be just a normal ride; until it started picking up speed. As soon as they flew off the cliff, Ezio’s hands flew to the window frames and Altair began clinging to the walls, having never taken to the skies before. The entire trip to Ponyville was spent trying to coax Altair off of the wall. They were able to make an improvement of wall to floor, where he spilled out of onto the Ponyville square. Twilight nodded slowly, still weary of the two, and turned to lead them through the town. They were met with quite a few glares, but there were at least two that seemed rather curious. After walking for another ten minutes, the houses just stopped, practically throwing them out into the beautiful countryside. As they continued to walk, a small cottage that looked as though it were almost part of the earth came into view. It was a very pleasant setting that made the assassins feel at peace. The only pony that hadn’t been glaring at them, a timid little thing named Fluttershy, opened the door for them to enter her humble abode. The crowd of animals that had been waiting at the door for their Pegasus friend disappeared almost immediately at the sight of the humans. The only ones that remained were the dogs, who trotted up to the humans with tongues hanging out as Ezio scratched behind their ears, and an eagle, who flew up to Altair’s shoulder perched upon it as though it were his guard. Celestia turned to Fluttershy, “Where is the creature?” Fluttershy nodded towards the stairs, but seemed almost frightened when Celestia started walking up them. “W-w-wait, uh please, Princess.” Unfortunately, the princess didn’t hear her and continued up the small set of stairs. A few seconds later, there was growl, a shriek of surprise, and the sound of things falling as Celestia bolted back down the stairs. She took a second to catch her breath before speaking to Fluttershy, “Why, is there, a wolf, sitting next to him?” Fluttershy looked around nervously before replying. “Oh, Therin? Well, uh, he won’t listen to me, and he won’t leave the creature’s side.” Twilight had a concentration upon her face, and then she turned to her yellow friend. “Didn’t you say that the first time you ran into him, he killed a timberwolf?” At Fluttershy’s nod, she turned away from the rest muttering something about this human and wolves. At this point, Ezio slowly approached Fluttershy, the dog trotting at his heels. “Excuse me Senorita, but would you mind if I went up there to see if I could calm the wolf down? Also, what is the name of this wonderful dog?” Fluttershy had been the first to notice that a certain animal liked to pertain to each of the humans, but she smiled and complied. "This handsome fellow's name is Aspen, and his name," she said pointing to the eagle on Altair's shoulder, "Is Toren." Altair looked at the eagle on his shoulder thoughtfully, stroking his breast feathers with his finger. When Ezio gave her a gentle smile in return, she began to wonder if maybe all humans weren't so bad. Ezio gave her another small smile then went up the stairs, Aspen still following at his heels. Once he reached the top, they could barely hear the quiet growl of Therin, before it went quiet. Then, Ezio called to them, "It is okay now, you may come up." Celestia and Altair walked up the steps, but as the others made to follow, Celestia motioned for them to stay, "Do not fret, my little ponies, I will not be long." She walked through the door at the top of the stairs, easily spotting Ezio sitting next to Therin, gently stroking his fur and Aspen's. The third human lay in the small bed, eyes screwed shut. Each of his weapons were lying on another table close by, but out of his immediate arm reach. There was a bow, six arrows, an axe with a curved blade, a small steel dagger, darts with poison on them, some kind of metal tube with a wooden handle, and these other strange darts with rope attached. As Altair examined each of the weapons, he picked up the small metal tube. He turned it over in his hands wondering what it was. Could it be a message capsule, or perhaps a food container? Ezio, not paying attention to the great assassin, barely looked up in time to see Altair looking down the barrel of the gun, his finger on the trigger. He jumped up, sprang forward and pushed the barrel out of the way just as Altair pulled the trigger. *Boom* The gunshot echoed into the surrounding forest and left a rather sizable hole in Fluttershy's roof. Altair had dropped the gun and jumped away from it, pulling out his sword. Legend burst through the door and looked about ready to kill, Celestia's horn was charged for defense, and the human... ...was still asleep. Ezio sighed and picked up the weapon, carefully placing it back upon the night stand. "It is okay, brother, " he said to Altair. Turning to Celestia and Legend, "Just a simple misunderstanding. Now, shall we continue what we came here to do?" Celestia gave a little hesitant nod of her head as the magic within her horn changed from hostile to a more neutral energy. She turned towards the third and lowered her horn to his forehead, casting the spell. She looked up and turned to leave, a tired look etched upon her face. "Let's go, he will wake up in a few minutes." She turned around to see the inquisitive stares of the two assassins. "All I cast was a simple translation spell. What, did you think that us speaking the same language was an astronomical coincidence? I cast it on you two as well, since that is the only time it will work." She turned with a cocky scoff and strutted down the stairs, which had seemed possible to the humans. They just looked at each other, shrugged, and followed after her. Altair lifted his left arm and Toren took to the skies through a small window. He placed his right hand onto Ezio's shoulder and spoke to him in a friendly voice, "Now, you will have to explain to me the new technologies of your world, like that oversized gun." Ezio let out a soft chuckle as he began to tell of how the world had changed to Altair as they walked down the steps. Unfortunately, neither of them noticed the flash of white light that appeared next to the assassin's bed. ~~~~~ Connor groaned, and slowly opened his eyes. He observed his surroundings, noticing he was within a small room. Oddly enough, there was a medium sized hole in the ceiling. Raising his hand to his head in an attempt to quell the oncoming headache, he began to slide out of the bed when his feet touched a furry warmth. He slowly brought his feet back up and looked over the edge of the bed. Sure enough, a large grey wolf was lying down on the floor next to him. He cautiously poked its forehead, finding that even the harshest of pokes would not wake it. A voice spoke from the corner of the room, “Well, will you listen once you’ve finished your examination?” Connor shot from the bed, grabbed his tomahawk from the nightstand, and threw it horizontally towards the voice. As he watched though, the form of the axe seemed to turn to liquid, hitting the chest of a snake-like figure with a squeak as it finished its transformation into a squeaky chicken toy. It fell to the ground with another squeak before the figure, some type of mix between what seemed like twenty different animals, bent over and picked up the rubber chicken. “You seem to have dropped this,” said the odd creature with a little chuckle in his voice. “But do you mind? Yes?” Connor simply stared at him, so he shrugged and the rubber chicken changed into a glass full of a brown, milky substance. He raised the glass to his lips and…drank the glass. As he finished with a content sigh, he tossed the brown milk to Connor, who lifted his hand to shield against a falling liquid. So, one can expect his surprise when instead he caught his tomahawk. “How did you do that? Who are you?” A pair of red glasses appeared on his face as walked over, appearing to examine Connor’s choice of clothing. In a rather over exaggerated English accent, he spoke to Connor, “Yes, well, my name is Discord darling. Now, about those clothes.” Discord snapped his talons and began laughing uncontrollably, both at the look on Connor’s face from the ‘darling’ and his new clothes, a clown suit with a red nose and everything. Connor looked down in disgust as Discord said to him laughing, “Maybe you should quit clowning around!” Connor began walking towards him, murder present in his mind. However, he stopped when Discord spoke to him again, “If you kill me, how do you ever plan to go home?” Connor thought about it for a moment, then started to run towards Discord, jumping in the air to deal a deathblow to his head. Discord scowled and waved his hand, sending Connor flying against the wall. Discord picked him up by the throat, “You know, I think you are perhaps too dangerous to be around Fluttershy. I think I’ll change you into a tiny little songbird.” His hand began to glow with energy, moving towards Connor’s face. He came within an inch of the assassin’s nose, when he stopped. A look of confusion was on his face as tried getting closer, but to no avail. Suddenly, he flew backwards as Connor’s rescuer came out of the nearby wall. The same little golden ball from the forest floated to his face, Connor feeling its worry for him. As it was healing his small wounds, he reached up a hand a caressed its golden light. “What are you?” Receiving only what felt like a playful shrug, it then decided to shoot out the window towards the forest. Discord stood up again, now with a thoughtful look upon his face. “If they’re protecting you,” he muttered quietly. When he saw Connor’s confused look, he abruptly changed the subject, “Anyways, I brought you here to bring some excitement into Fluttershy’s life. So, I’m sending you on an adventure!” He snapped his fingers, disappearing after a few seconds. As Connor blinked away the black spots dancing in his vision, he heard a cry from outside. “The Apple! It’s gone!” Author's Note Sorry if this chapter appears to be not as fine in quality as any of the previous chapters; I was actually pretty distracted with the ideas I had for MLH. So, if you could tell me specifically what could be better, I'll get around to editing it.
EdenAltair walked down the long hallway into the underground library. He just felt so tired, so old and broken. His wife had died many years prior and he had killed the traitor with the invention he had seen in the Apple. He had left his son at the entrance and given him the task of hiding the Masyaf keys everywhere across Europe. He withdrew the Apple and sat down into the chair in the center of the room. With a heavy sigh, he gazed into the glowing dullness and sharp bright lines that curved over its sides, many thoughts running rampant through his head. One particular thought kept coming around to the forefront of his mind, “So much trouble and death over such a small thing.” However, he knew more than others how looks could be deceptive. He knew the amount of power this Apple of Eden offered, and it had turned his closest friends on him. He sighed softly again, pulling a disc this time from the depths of his robes. He leaned his head back, looking at the giant door at the end of the corridor. He recorded his memories of the past few hours into the glowing disc, for a future assassin who would eventually make their way into the cavern. He was just oh, so tired. It would be nice, to finally rest… As he closed his eyes, he barely saw the Apple in his hand begin to glow, lines of golden light engulfing his now still body. ~~~~~ Ezio looked back up into the face of his great ancestor, Altair the Master of Assassins. “You have lead me well, my mentor.” He took the final memory disc and placed it into one of the pockets in his dark grey robes. He reached over to Altair’s other hand and pulled the golden sphere from the bones of the palm. He looked around the room, the Apple growing in power as he held it. He spoke out to the empty space, “Desmond?” After blinking his eyes from the sudden power surge emanating from the Apple, he continued to speak, “I heard your name once before Desmond, a long time ago. And now it lingers in my mind, like an image from an old dream. I do not know where you are, or by what means you can hear me. But I know you are listening.” He paused for a moment, taking off his weapons, starting with the hidden blades on each wrist, and then dropped his sword next to the other two deadly weapons. He looked again into the lines of golden light, “I have lived my life best I could, not knowing its purpose, but drawn forward like a moth to a distant moon. And here at last, I discover a strange truth; that I am only a conduit for a message that eludes my understanding. Who are we, who have been so blessed to share our stories like this? To speak across centuries? Maybe you will answer all the questions I have asked. Maybe you will be the one to make all this suffering worth something in the end.” He began walking toward the pedestal embedded within the wall at the back of the room; this was where the Apple should belong, yet Altair had not been able to place it there before he died. An image of a boy in strange clothing appeared in front of him, supposedly Desmond. Ezio placed his hand onto the image’s shoulder, finding resistance as though someone was actually there. “Now listen-“ Whatever he had been about to say was cut off when the Apple suddenly and unexpectedly grew in power and brightness. Ezio shielded his eyes with the hand that held the memory disc. He couldn’t let go of the Apple! When it seemed as though the amount of light shining from the sphere could not grow any more, the feeling of sleep suddenly overtook him and everything went dark. ~~~~~ Shck The sound of the blade sliding into a dying man’s heart was as final as the wolf howling to the sinking moon. Ratohnhaké:ton, more commonly known as Connor, withdrew his blade from Charles Lee’s chest and stood up slowly, the pain in his abdomen from the shard of wood explosively erupting. He grabbed at the wound with his left hand, and then stumbled out of the bar back to the homestead. When he finally got there, he collapsed at the front door. A maid walked out to find what had made the noise, when she saw Connor. After a small scream he barely heard, she lifted one of his arms and began to drag him inside, calling for help. Black bordered his vision, and then unconsciousness overtook him. ~~~~~~~~~~ Six months later ~~~~~~~~~~ Connor walked through the building that had been the home for their elder for many winters. As he looked around the burned out building, he spotted a small familiar white box. Upon opening it, he realized that it was not the same glass ball he had used once before, but was now a sphere of a dull golden glow. “What is this, and why did they leave it behind?” He hefted up the surprisingly light orb, golden lights bursting from the lines that ran along its surface like a migrating pack of caribou. The familiar woman’s voice spoke to him once again, “You have done well Connor, and have fulfilled the purpose we have given you.” As he was about reply in frustration, another voice, a male voice, spoke out, laced with humor and deviousness, “Oh Hera, you are sometimes so funny with your proper patterns of speech.” Connor looked around for this new, irritating voice. As he was about to yell out for the coward to show himself, the talon of an eagle pressed itself against his lips. He looked at its owner in frustration, which immediately turned to surprise. It was only a silhouette, but definitely not human. The serpentine figure twisted with laughter, with its arms wrapped its middle as it couldn’t stop shaking from the look on his face. As its laughter finally died away, it wiped away a tear from its hidden eye and spoke again, “Hera, he may have completed the purpose you gave him, but now it is time for him to serve my purpose, along with two others.” The serpentine silhouette brought its hands together, tapping the fingers meticulously. Hera sighed, “And what would that purpose be, -------?” It was odd for Connor, when she had said the being’s name, all sound had ceased, and then come back. “Well, my friend and her friends, definitely not mine yet, have been in need of a new…adventure. He will go along fine with my plans.” Connor swore he could feel the grin slide across the being’s face like a snake. Hera sighed, “Fine, do what you will.” Her presence faded immediately, leaving Connor with this mysterious creature. “Well then boy, if you would be so kind and lift the Apple for me?” Connor’s arm moved of its own accord, holding the “Apple” aloft above his head. “Now, when you get there, please try to be polite. It would be rude to spoil my entertainment so early.” The Apple increased in brightness, eventually engulfing him in its bright glow. Just before he lost consciousness, he heard the whisper from the serpent that would change everything. Then everything went black. ~~~~~~~~~~ There was a knock at Rainbow Dash’s door as she walked out of the bathroom, coat still slightly damp. She stopped for a moment, and then began walking towards the front door. Only a pegasus could reach her home, and even then, it was usually only Derpy and Fluttershy who came to her home often. And seeing as how no walls were broken, she was going to assume it was Fluttershy. Her assumption proved correct when she pulled open the door to find the shy Pegasus looking a little worried. “Hey Fluttershy, what’s wrong?” After a few seconds of thinking, she finally thought up the words, “I can’t find Discord anywhere. It’s like he’s just randomly disappeared. Oh, I do hope he’s okay.” Rainbow Dash had stopped listening after the first sentence. She flew as fast as she could up the stairs, grabbing her Element necklace. She rushed back to the door before Fluttershy had even finished. Said mare looked flabbergasted and a little shocked at her friend’s sudden speed and alarmed state. “Fluttershy, fly as quickly as you can back to the cottage and grab your necklace, we’re gonna need-“ Whatever Rainbow Dash was going to say was cut off by a large explosion that originated in the fields close by Ponyville. Rainbow Dash turned to the cowering pegasus, “Fluttershy! Get moving! That was probably Discord and we need to stop him!” Fluttershy slowly stepped out of the cloud house and took off towards her cottage. Rainbow Dash began flying towards Ponyville to round up the four Elements. She was hovering over the town square when she spotted all other five ponies. Just as she neared them, she saw that they had their own Element. She dropped to the ground and was running towards them through the crowd when her necklace grew incredibly warm. All of the ponies around her dropped to the ground screaming in pain. Lines of golden light surrounded their heads and as her eyes looked around, she noticed that the lights grew closer together around the area of the explosion. Suddenly, it all stopped as the second explosion that hour, although different, erupted from the same spot knocking everypony present unconscious. ~~~~~~~~~~ Young. That is how Altair felt as he opened his eyes. That, and extremely hurt. Every bone and muscle in his body ached and groaned. He stood and stretched, feeling several bones pop from the exertion. As he scanned his surroundings, he saw that stood in a wheat field at the edge of a small crater. To his left, he saw a town with several residents running about, although he was currently too far away to make anything out. He heard the clash of metal on metal emanate from the center of the crater. He snapped his head back to the crater and saw two assassins fighting over- No, it couldn’t be. The Apple of Eden. He charged down the crater in his once again young body towards the two assassin’s, one wearing a dark grey color that was almost black, and the other wore white assassin robes with blue highlights on the center. He drew out his sword, blocked both their attacks, and made to grab the Apple. Just as his hand grabbed the orb, so did the other two. The grey-robed yelled at him, “Let go! I must use the Apple to get back to Sophia!” “No! This Apple can save my people from years of torture and pain!” Altair didn’t know their full reasons, but he had to get them to understand. “Brothers! We must not use the Apple at all! We must hide it so no others may find it!” They continued to bicker; their conflicted interests causing turmoil with the Apple, and then, the tension within broke, releasing all of the pent-up energy inside. The golden lights descended upon the nearby village, from which inhuman screams began emanating. Altair began focusing all his thought into stopping it, and he sensed the grey-robed do the same. However, the young boy still only thought of saving his people. The amount of energy between the two more experienced assassins was enough to stop the Apple, but in a mentally explosive result. As Altair began to lose consciousness, he saw the boy limp away into the nearby woods as a winged figure descended upon his still body.
Tension of the Bow“Ugh.” Ezio opened his eyes and sat up, placing a hand to his forehead to try and quell his raging headache. He dropped his hand and looked around the small room he had been placed into. It looked like a mix between a jail cell and a hospital room, just not like any hospital he had seen. There were odd machines surrounding him and a beeping noise emanating from one of them. However, something felt different, something he couldn’t quite place a finger on. Suddenly, an idea struck him. He threw off the blankets from his body to see that while he still had his robes on, he was young again. He quickly slid off the bed, accidentally popping a small strange circle off of his right forearm. He went to front of the room where there were several iron bars and a lock keeping him from freedom. As he proceeded to wrap his hands around a couple of the bars and test them, a very familiar voice spoke up from the adjacent cell. “Finally awake huh?” Not bothering to try and remember who the voice belonged to, he immediately went to a crouched position, reaching for his sword. When all he grabbed was air, he quickly did an inventory of all his items. He had nothing except for his the robes on his back. He stood back up and walked to the iron bars again. Looking through the bars of the window, he observed the white assassin before speaking, “Speak assassin, so I would know your name.” The white assassin looked up into Ezio’s eyes and spoke his name, although Ezio had a sinking feeling he already what it was, “My name is Altair Ibn-La’Ahad. Now I would know your name, grey assassin.” Ezio quickly recovered from his shock and placed his right hand across his chest to lay it upon his heart. “Ezio Firenze Auditore at your service, Mentor.” Altair smirked at the odd little quip of ‘mentor’. He stood up, yet again feeling the glory of being young again; no arthritis, no foggy memory, not even everyone scrambling to help him as though he could do nothing. It was amazing. Shaking his head clear of the distracting thoughts, he looked to Ezio again. “I do not recognize your accent, and your robes are not like any I have seen. I would know your story. Ezio let a soft chuckle before shaking his head and saying, “It is a long one, Mentor.” Altair looked around the small hospi-cell as he had decided to call it, then returning his gaze to the young assassin, “We have plenty of time if you haven’t noticed.” Ezio closed his eyes, as if recalling a distant memory, which of course he was. His eyes opened and he looked to Altair, “It all started when my family was betrayed by one of its closest friends.” ~~~~~ Connor pulled some moss down from one of the nearby trees and began wrapping it around the claw marks on his upper arm. After the incident with the Apple, which the ‘Discord’ creature had told him could save and protect his people, he had slowly jogged into the nearby forest, unconsciousness preying on his mind like a hungry wolf. He had dove into the forest behind a shrubbery with a small white fence around it (Odd) as he watched the other two assassins collapse to the ground where they stood. A few seconds later, a white creature that appeared to be the offspring of a horse, bird, and narwhal descended upon them, surely to devour their unmoving bodies. That was about when he had lost the battle with the dream world. He had awoken about five hours later according to the position of the sun. As he stood up, he began to realize how much taller than the shrubbery he was. The point was made incredibly relevant when a small gasp made his head shoot up to spot what had made the noise. A mint-green horse with a golden instrument on its flank was staring at him. He would have instantly shot it with an arrow if it hadn’t seemed so… human. After a few seconds of thought, he instead turned and fled deeper into the forest. After running and climbing through trees for about twenty minutes, he stopped at a particularly old tree that had small stream running alongside it. About a meter from the river, there lay a human ribcage with only a head attached; the arms and legs cut off (More odd). He didn’t think about it for too long, knowing he should probably keep moving. That was when the thing attacked him. At first, he thought it was a bear; it certainly sounded like one. He jumped quickly to his right, barely dodging the giant paw smashed down where he had stood mere moments before. He whirled around, and the sight nearly made his heart stop. In front of him stood a lion with the wings of a bat, the tail of a scorpion, and the size of an elephant. He reached back to behind his waist and pulled out the tomahawk he always used. He would need to be quick and agile; the sword would only slow him down. Man and beast began to circle each other in the small clearing. The manticore (As he would later learn it was called) moved first, ducking down onto its front legs so the tail could dart forward and impale its target. But alas, it struck only dirt as the Native American rolled backwards out of range. He began to charge forward towards its face as it recovered from the attack but he was swiped aside by a paw. He slid to a stop at the base of a tree, wincing as some dirt got into the new opening in his skin. The thumping in the ground caused him to look up and scramble out of the way as the manticore charged into the tree and transformed it from single organism to thousands of splinters. He stumbled to his feet and saw that the manticore was a little dazed after running into the tree, so, he took his chance. He ran forward as fast as he could and jumped forwards and up, grabbing onto one of the segments of the poisonous tail. He twisted until he straddled the base of the appendage and began hacking at it until it fell to the ground twitching. The beast roared in pain as it attempted to swat the human off of its back, but to no avail. He slowly crawled his way up its back, and after several seconds of struggling, he finally managed to reach its thick neck. He raised his tomahawk, ready to bring the sharp blade down into its brain, when a branch that the manticore had run by smacked it from his hand. After ducking down again and getting his bearings, he straddled the monster’s wide neck much like he would a horse. He pulled his bow off of his back, knocked two arrows, and fired them into the back of the manticore’s skull directly into its brain. The manticore let out a final roar of defiance, then collapsed to the ground dead. Connor slid off the neck and barely caught himself. After removing the two arrows from the manticore’s head and retrieving his tomahawk, he limped further into the forest. He was brought back from his recollection by more noises. He quickly hid in a bush next to a path that he had just noticed. The chittering noises were coming closer, and as he watched, two ponies walked around the corner. One was a light tan color with a pink mane. Around its neck was a golden necklace that had a pink butterfly and matching pink butterflies on the flank. The other one was quite a bit bigger, and because of the golden armor it wore, he could see no discerning marks other than its white fur and blue mane. They were probably some twisted person’s pets. He suddenly realized that with his proximity to the path, they would without a doubt notice them, they would freak, and their owners would come running. He quickly took out another two arrows and angled them so that they would pierce the creatures’ temples. He waited for a few seconds as the tension of the bow grew tight. ~~~~~ “And that is finally, how I awoke to find myself in this cell.” Ezio had finally finished his story and Altair had stayed awake for all of it, paying close attention. “So, you got here the same way I did; the Apple of Eden?” When Ezio simply nodded his head, Altair continued, “I wonder what that other boy was talking about, ‘Use it to save my people.’ Doesn’t he know that the Apple only turns friends upon each other?” Ezio opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the slamming of the dungeon door. He would say he heard footsteps, if he hadn’t recognized the sound from when he went from city to city. Sure enough, an intimidating stallion followed closely by two ponies in golden armor trotted up to their two cells. This stallion wasn’t intimidating because he was abnormally large, being almost as tall as the two assassins, but rather because he had the type of face that said he could kill you without trying. It wasn’t a cocky look, just a face that knew the facts. He was taller than his escorts by a factor of two, although his posture said he considered them his equals. In front of his eyes, a strange type of rimless golden glasses kept them from seeing into his eyes. His mane and tail were both incredibly short and were a black so deep it seemed to absorb the light around them. His coat was a dark olive green and multiple scars were located all around his body not unlike the craters on the moon. One impressive scar ran along his entire left length. The only piece of armor he wore was a gold piece with the symbol of the Sun that went across his chest. On his flank was a picture of an oddly shaped shield, two katanas of some kind crossing in front of it, with the skull of a dragon sporting a crack on top of those. After a silent staring match between the oversized pony and the two humans that lasted for several minutes, the giant spoke in a deep, rough voice that sent chills down Ezio’s back, “My name is Legend, general of the Royal Guard of our ruler Princess Celestia. And now, that very same pony has called for your presence in the throne room.” Author's Note Kudos to the one who can find a video for the two references I placed in this chapter. I'll even give you a hint: they're from the same movie. Legend is from MLH, but this guy has a completely different past.
Added Mysteries, Subtracted Questions, Multiplied Problems, and Divided LoyaltiesThe tension of Connor's bow was growing tight and pulling hard against his fingers. He was waiting for the two ponies to get closer so he could gain a better shot. As they came within twenty feet of his position, the bush behind him rustled with activity. He whipped around and shot at the wolf that pounced upon him, but it was a clear miss. The two arrows zipped off and thudded into a nearby tree. The wolf, which Connor could feel was wood beneath his hands, pounded into his chest head first, knocking him out of the bush directly onto the path in front of the equines. The yellow one let out a squeak, and bolted behind the golden armored stallion, who gave the shy creature a few deep neighs. Connor rolled onto his upper back, and then pulled the muscles tight, launching himself onto his feet. He pulled out the tomahawk once again and brought his hidden dagger into his left hand. He and the wolf began to circle each other in the middle of the path. He glanced over to see the two horses were still there and no owner had come to get them. Before he could ponder it any further, his distraction gave the wolf an opening. It jumped forward and bit down on his right ankle before he even had time to react. As he fell onto his back, the wolf jumped on top of him and attempted to bring its wooden mandibles down on his face. He managed to grab its throat area just in time and kept it from biting him. The wolf continued to snap its jaws and his right arm began to burn from his fight with the manticore. He began reaching for anything he could use. His hand grasped the fallen branch from a tree and brought it up, smashing it against the wolf's head. However, instead of being stunned, the wolf burst apart into tiny pieces of wood. Connor stood slowly, putting as little weight as possible onto his right foot. He bent down and carefully picked up his two weapons and turned to the two ponies. He suddenly realized just how intelligent their eyes were, very much unlike the dull eyes of creatures he had slain in the forests of his people. Disregarding the strange discovery, he continued to slowly limp towards them and began to raise his tomahawk when the wolf growled. He turned quickly, but not too fast. The wolf had somehow reformed from the tiny pieces of wood. Just as it began to walk forward to attack him, Connor threw his tomahawk straight into the beast's forehead right where a small golden light shimmered. This time, instead of bursting apart like the first, the wolf stood there with its mouth hanging open, then exploded. The tiny shards of wood cut through Connor's clothes and bit into his skin. Since he had been standing in front of them, the two ponies were largely unaffected. Connor fell to his knees as a numbness he hadn't noticed before began spreading through his body from his right ankle where the wolf had bit him; poisonous fangs. The armored pony still stood in front of the yellow one as Connor collapsed to the ground, but the shy thing was trying to edge around her guard very quietly to help the fallen human. He sluggishly glanced at the wood pile, in the middle of which floated a single orb of golden light. It silently hovered over to him and lightly bumped on the forehead. From it, Connor didn't feel anything hostile from it, instead, it seemed to be happy. As he watched it, the feeling of numbness disappeared from his limbs and began to fall into a deep sleep, but not before he saw the strange little golden light hover in front of the yellow pony and then shoot off into the forest. ~~~~~~~~~~ Altair couldn't help but admire the architecture as Legend led them through all of Canterlot castle. There were so many little footholds in the walls he would have no trouble escaping from the fingerless guards. At least, he thought this until he saw a pair of armored pegasi fly in and land on a balcony. Oh well, it wasn't like he was planning on running anyways. He quickly glanced over to Ezio walking beside him. The grey-cloaked assassin had seemed a bit unbelievable when he had said that he was from a time a couple centuries in the future from Altair's own. Up until he got to the part about his run-ins with the Apple of Eden, Altair hadn't believed a word he said. But when he had spoke of the memory discs that he claimed to have found, he was spot on with the details. Altair realized that the third assassin they had encountered may very well be from another time. He now shifted his gaze from Ezio to the large stallion that led them through the castle. At first, Altair had thought that the two guards were simply a bit small, but yet again, his opinion changed as he saw that all the other guards were in fact smaller than their general. For whatever odd reason, Altair felt he could trust both Ezio and the general, although it was probably just because the latter would get him to his destination without harm. Speaking of destinations, the group had just arrived at theirs. To Altair, the double golden doors looked threatening and foreboding, but that wouldn't stop him; his pride would not allow it. Legend pushed open the doors into a fifty meter long hallway. Altair could barely see someone (or something) at the end of the carpet, but they were still too far away for him to make out any details. Ezio, on the other hand was examining the guards that lined the sides of the throne room and wondered just how important this person thought themselves to be if they surrounded themselves with this many guards. If they proved to be hostile and attempted to attack the two, a return attack would likely be impossible. It took them a full forty-five seconds to reach the end of the room, and when they did, Ezio couldn't help but gasp as the celestial being came into view. The horse-narwhal-bird thing sat atop a throne made completely of gold and looked down upon them, not with a look of disgust, but rather a look of curiosity and kindness. While he had never seen a creature like her, she was still an insanely beautiful creature with an alabaster coat, pastel rainbow mane and tail, and a crown that shone as brightly as the sun. Altair stood in the same shocked state. They could both feel her power, yet it did not feel like she would blast them to kingdom come. It was then that the creature decided to speak. "Welcome, Altair and Ezio, to Canterlot, crown jewel of Equestria on the planet of Equis. I am Princess Celestia. Now, I have some questions for you." ~~~~~~~~~~ Elsewhere in Canterlot, the door to a small store opened to reveal a pony that was a bit of a runt. He kept quietly murmuring to himself as he tossed his cloak onto the nearby chair. He flipped the sign to show that the shop was now closed. He then proceeded to walk behind the counter into the storage room in the back. Once inside, he triple checked that the bolt was locked, and then dumped his saddlebags on the floor. After walking around the small room, lighting the various candles, he turned back to the saddlebags. He cautiously nosed open the strap on the bags. He quickly jumped back as the single object held within figurative prison rolled out; a large dull gold orb with bright golden lines adorning its round surface. He was trying his best not to touch it since he had seen what it did to those strange three creatures who had been holding it. Suddenly, it flashed with gold light and he yelped, stumbling backwards. He ended up running into the shelves behind him and they began to fall on him. Forgetting the Apple, he began to scramble forward so as not to be crushed by the falling boards, and ended up tripping over the ball. Everything in the room immediately froze as his forearm brought the Apple up to eye level against his will. The same golden lines of light appeared, floating around the room, that had been descending upon Ponyville. He began to hyperventilate in fear, until a heavenly figure appeared to step out of the wall. This transparent pony almost looked as though she was going to a wedding. A white veil was lifted from her beautiful face and the dress she wore was perfect, with no signs dirt or dust. She looked at him, and he literally froze as she spoke in an echo-like voice within his mind. "I am the one known as Hera, and you will now do my bidding." ~~~~~~~~~~ "Hm, that is interesting." Celestia sat back down upon her golden throne, thinking about the stories both of these assassins had just told her. Afterward, she had asked several questions pertaining to the third human, the Apple of Eden, and more about the culture of their homes. She looked to her general who had stood next to her with one of the best poker faces in the history of Equestria. "What do you think Legend? Should we trust these creatures?" Legend studied the two humans, before simply giving a grunt in reply meaning he trusted them, if only barely. Suddenly, the doors slammed open as a runt of a royal guard ran in. It took him a little bit, but he eventually made it to the bottom of the throne. Panting, he managed to gasp out, "Your majesty, I have something that I wish to show you." When she waved her hoof for him to continue, he reached into his saddlebag. Only to pull out the Apple of Eden. As soon as it came into contact with their gazes, the guard held it above his head and activated it. Celestia began to scream, as did Ezio, Altair, and every other guard in the room. However, the only one who seemed unaffected was Legend, who, after seeing what it was doing to his princess, ran forward. He quickly up a nearby spear and hurled it at the offending guard, who's eyes were glowing a bright gold. As the spear came within about ten feet of the target, a shield of pure light materialized around the runt, causing the spear to clatter to the floor. Legend ran up to the shield and cautiously placed a hoof onto the shield, causing it begin to bending inward. After pushing hard enough, he was able to get into the small sphere. He looked up to the traitorous guard, who's eyes were not only no longer gold, but also watching him. His lips were moving, so Legend decided to lean in closer to hear what he had to say. "Please, kill me." The words were so soft-spoken that Legend barely heard them. He gave the guard a sympathetic look, then moved behind him. He took the guard's head into his arms and snapped his neck like a twig. The change was almost instantaneous. The Apple rolled away from the dead guard's hoof, and every bit of the golden light had disappeared. Legend went to Celestia and helped her stand, "Are you okay, Majesty?" Celestia slowly nodded her and looked to Altair. He had quickly taken the cloth from a nearby flag and thrown it over the golden artifact. He and Ezio were kneeling by it with worried expressions on their faces. As Celestia made to lift it with her magic, Altair quickly snatched it out of the air. To make matters worse, he looked pissed. "What do you think you're doing pony?! This Apple holds more power than you could possibly imagine! And that's not all!" He quickly marched over to the dead pony and snatched an object from around his neck, "Do you have any idea what this was doing around his neck?!" In his hand, Altair held a necklace, the pendant being a red cross with a gold border. Celestia had no idea what the cross meant, but she was confused nonetheless. "I honestly have no idea what that is." "Shut up!" At this, Altair dropped the Apple and began charging at her, fist raised. Ezio attempted to stop him, but barely missed. Just as Altair was about to hit the princess, who had the look of a poker player, he hit wall of solid muscle. He stumbled backwards and looked up to see Legend glaring down at him. Altair stood back up and backed up, beginning to circle around with Legend. Just as it seemed that the tension in the room couldn't rise anymore, the doors slammed open once again. Every guard in the room turned towards the doors with their weapons pointed to the new guard that walked in, who immediately froze. Celestia looked at him, then sighed, "What is it?" He looked around, and then shook his head, "Ma'am, a quarter of the guards have gone missing from the barracks and are nowhere to be found. The one's that are missing have crosses carved into their beds in the barracks." Altair gave her a look that said this wasn't over. Then, the guard spoke up again. "Also Ma'am, Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, reported that she found something. In fact, she said found another one of those," said the stallion as he pointed at Altair and Ezio. Author's Note Alright guys, you know the drill. Any positive and constructive critisism please and of course, comments on how amazing the story is! ;D
Chaotic HappeningsFirst Ezio, then Altair fell out of the sky carriage as soon as it touched down in Ponyville. While Altair seemed almost as though he had developed a phobia of the carriage, Ezio only seemed a little wary of the vehicle. Flying through the night on da Vinci’s contraption had prepared him for flight, just not so drug out. As Ezio picked up Altair by the arm and brought him back to his senses, the two caught up to Celestia and Legend. Two more pony stallions followed behind the assassins, carrying the Apple in a heavy gold chest between them. The denizens of the small village bowed to their ruler and her guard, but stood up as the two humans walked past, giving them weary looks. The crowd continued to part until there was an obvious path to six mares, all of them except for one glaring at Altair and Ezio. When the group reached the six mares, they bowed to Celestia but stood immediately afterward. The purple mare spoke in a low, accusatory tone, “What are those doing here?” She obviously knew that they were responsible for the mysterious attack on the town. So, Celestia described to the unicorn what had happened since the guard had come in and told them Connor had been found. She had acted immediately; putting up a golden box around the Apple and having the guards fetch the heavy chest it was currently in. Once it arrived, Legend placed the golden artifact into the box since he appeared to be the only one immune to the Apple. Afterwards, Altair, Ezio, Celestia, Legend, and two more guards departed and each climbed into the covered carriage. At first, the two humans thought it would be just a normal ride; until it started picking up speed. As soon as they flew off the cliff, Ezio’s hands flew to the window frames and Altair began clinging to the walls, having never taken to the skies before. The entire trip to Ponyville was spent trying to coax Altair off of the wall. They were able to make an improvement of wall to floor, where he spilled out of onto the Ponyville square. Twilight nodded slowly, still weary of the two, and turned to lead them through the town. They were met with quite a few glares, but there were at least two that seemed rather curious. After walking for another ten minutes, the houses just stopped, practically throwing them out into the beautiful countryside. As they continued to walk, a small cottage that looked as though it were almost part of the earth came into view. It was a very pleasant setting that made the assassins feel at peace. The only pony that hadn’t been glaring at them, a timid little thing named Fluttershy, opened the door for them to enter her humble abode. The crowd of animals that had been waiting at the door for their Pegasus friend disappeared almost immediately at the sight of the humans. The only ones that remained were the dogs, who trotted up to the humans with tongues hanging out as Ezio scratched behind their ears, and an eagle, who flew up to Altair’s shoulder perched upon it as though it were his guard. Celestia turned to Fluttershy, “Where is the creature?” Fluttershy nodded towards the stairs, but seemed almost frightened when Celestia started walking up them. “W-w-wait, uh please, Princess.” Unfortunately, the princess didn’t hear her and continued up the small set of stairs. A few seconds later, there was growl, a shriek of surprise, and the sound of things falling as Celestia bolted back down the stairs. She took a second to catch her breath before speaking to Fluttershy, “Why, is there, a wolf, sitting next to him?” Fluttershy looked around nervously before replying. “Oh, Therin? Well, uh, he won’t listen to me, and he won’t leave the creature’s side.” Twilight had a concentration upon her face, and then she turned to her yellow friend. “Didn’t you say that the first time you ran into him, he killed a timberwolf?” At Fluttershy’s nod, she turned away from the rest muttering something about this human and wolves. At this point, Ezio slowly approached Fluttershy, the dog trotting at his heels. “Excuse me Senorita, but would you mind if I went up there to see if I could calm the wolf down? Also, what is the name of this wonderful dog?” Fluttershy had been the first to notice that a certain animal liked to pertain to each of the humans, but she smiled and complied. "This handsome fellow's name is Aspen, and his name," she said pointing to the eagle on Altair's shoulder, "Is Toren." Altair looked at the eagle on his shoulder thoughtfully, stroking his breast feathers with his finger. When Ezio gave her a gentle smile in return, she began to wonder if maybe all humans weren't so bad. Ezio gave her another small smile then went up the stairs, Aspen still following at his heels. Once he reached the top, they could barely hear the quiet growl of Therin, before it went quiet. Then, Ezio called to them, "It is okay now, you may come up." Celestia and Altair walked up the steps, but as the others made to follow, Celestia motioned for them to stay, "Do not fret, my little ponies, I will not be long." She walked through the door at the top of the stairs, easily spotting Ezio sitting next to Therin, gently stroking his fur and Aspen's. The third human lay in the small bed, eyes screwed shut. Each of his weapons were lying on another table close by, but out of his immediate arm reach. There was a bow, six arrows, an axe with a curved blade, a small steel dagger, darts with poison on them, some kind of metal tube with a wooden handle, and these other strange darts with rope attached. As Altair examined each of the weapons, he picked up the small metal tube. He turned it over in his hands wondering what it was. Could it be a message capsule, or perhaps a food container? Ezio, not paying attention to the great assassin, barely looked up in time to see Altair looking down the barrel of the gun, his finger on the trigger. He jumped up, sprang forward and pushed the barrel out of the way just as Altair pulled the trigger. *Boom* The gunshot echoed into the surrounding forest and left a rather sizable hole in Fluttershy's roof. Altair had dropped the gun and jumped away from it, pulling out his sword. Legend burst through the door and looked about ready to kill, Celestia's horn was charged for defense, and the human... ...was still asleep. Ezio sighed and picked up the weapon, carefully placing it back upon the night stand. "It is okay, brother, " he said to Altair. Turning to Celestia and Legend, "Just a simple misunderstanding. Now, shall we continue what we came here to do?" Celestia gave a little hesitant nod of her head as the magic within her horn changed from hostile to a more neutral energy. She turned towards the third and lowered her horn to his forehead, casting the spell. She looked up and turned to leave, a tired look etched upon her face. "Let's go, he will wake up in a few minutes." She turned around to see the inquisitive stares of the two assassins. "All I cast was a simple translation spell. What, did you think that us speaking the same language was an astronomical coincidence? I cast it on you two as well, since that is the only time it will work." She turned with a cocky scoff and strutted down the stairs, which had seemed possible to the humans. They just looked at each other, shrugged, and followed after her. Altair lifted his left arm and Toren took to the skies through a small window. He placed his right hand onto Ezio's shoulder and spoke to him in a friendly voice, "Now, you will have to explain to me the new technologies of your world, like that oversized gun." Ezio let out a soft chuckle as he began to tell of how the world had changed to Altair as they walked down the steps. Unfortunately, neither of them noticed the flash of white light that appeared next to the assassin's bed. ~~~~~ Connor groaned, and slowly opened his eyes. He observed his surroundings, noticing he was within a small room. Oddly enough, there was a medium sized hole in the ceiling. Raising his hand to his head in an attempt to quell the oncoming headache, he began to slide out of the bed when his feet touched a furry warmth. He slowly brought his feet back up and looked over the edge of the bed. Sure enough, a large grey wolf was lying down on the floor next to him. He cautiously poked its forehead, finding that even the harshest of pokes would not wake it. A voice spoke from the corner of the room, “Well, will you listen once you’ve finished your examination?” Connor shot from the bed, grabbed his tomahawk from the nightstand, and threw it horizontally towards the voice. As he watched though, the form of the axe seemed to turn to liquid, hitting the chest of a snake-like figure with a squeak as it finished its transformation into a squeaky chicken toy. It fell to the ground with another squeak before the figure, some type of mix between what seemed like twenty different animals, bent over and picked up the rubber chicken. “You seem to have dropped this,” said the odd creature with a little chuckle in his voice. “But do you mind? Yes?” Connor simply stared at him, so he shrugged and the rubber chicken changed into a glass full of a brown, milky substance. He raised the glass to his lips and…drank the glass. As he finished with a content sigh, he tossed the brown milk to Connor, who lifted his hand to shield against a falling liquid. So, one can expect his surprise when instead he caught his tomahawk. “How did you do that? Who are you?” A pair of red glasses appeared on his face as walked over, appearing to examine Connor’s choice of clothing. In a rather over exaggerated English accent, he spoke to Connor, “Yes, well, my name is Discord darling. Now, about those clothes.” Discord snapped his talons and began laughing uncontrollably, both at the look on Connor’s face from the ‘darling’ and his new clothes, a clown suit with a red nose and everything. Connor looked down in disgust as Discord said to him laughing, “Maybe you should quit clowning around!” Connor began walking towards him, murder present in his mind. However, he stopped when Discord spoke to him again, “If you kill me, how do you ever plan to go home?” Connor thought about it for a moment, then started to run towards Discord, jumping in the air to deal a deathblow to his head. Discord scowled and waved his hand, sending Connor flying against the wall. Discord picked him up by the throat, “You know, I think you are perhaps too dangerous to be around Fluttershy. I think I’ll change you into a tiny little songbird.” His hand began to glow with energy, moving towards Connor’s face. He came within an inch of the assassin’s nose, when he stopped. A look of confusion was on his face as tried getting closer, but to no avail. Suddenly, he flew backwards as Connor’s rescuer came out of the nearby wall. The same little golden ball from the forest floated to his face, Connor feeling its worry for him. As it was healing his small wounds, he reached up a hand a caressed its golden light. “What are you?” Receiving only what felt like a playful shrug, it then decided to shoot out the window towards the forest. Discord stood up again, now with a thoughtful look upon his face. “If they’re protecting you,” he muttered quietly. When he saw Connor’s confused look, he abruptly changed the subject, “Anyways, I brought you here to bring some excitement into Fluttershy’s life. So, I’m sending you on an adventure!” He snapped his fingers, disappearing after a few seconds. As Connor blinked away the black spots dancing in his vision, he heard a cry from outside. “The Apple! It’s gone!” Author's Note Sorry if this chapter appears to be not as fine in quality as any of the previous chapters; I was actually pretty distracted with the ideas I had for MLH. So, if you could tell me specifically what could be better, I'll get around to editing it.
