“Ombra! What is the meaning of this!” shouted Celestia, and Ombra didn’t budge.
"Celestia, I vowed to serve you as long as you have this vial."
The Assassin raised a small vial filled with blood.
"There was a time when I would have allowed you to execute this mare because of that vow. When my old master died, however, he taught me something. 'Nothing is true, everything is permitted’. It is only now I have come to understand these words."
He dropped the vial, and crushed it under his hoof.
"My oath is broken. Che tu possa marcire all'inferno."
I could see the fear in Celestia’s eyes. I stood up, my legs still bound. He walked over to me, not saying a word as he opened the locks with his hidden blade. We both looked at Celestia defiantly, and then promptly walked out the double doors.
“Thanks,” I said quietly.
He just nodded, turning his head to slightly face mine. He had a small scar on his upper lip, and had eyes that looked like he had seen some terrible things, and done even worse. Hollow eyes that never wavered. He looked almost the same as he did when he was just a foal, that fateful day when he started both of our spiraling journeys.
“So, uh, thanks,” I said, and he looked at me odd.
“You already said that,” he said, his emotion returning to normal.
We walked out the front doors of the palace, and I could hear the hoof steps of guards.
“Not for killing my brother,” I said, and he looked at me with a look of pure confusion.
“Mi scusi?” he asked, spreading his wings.
I did the same, and we took off, side by side.
“You killed my brother in Cloudsdale, which made my mother and my father just sort of... give up. That made me leave Cloudsdale to follow you, then let me get brutalized by guards, make them throw me into the Everfree, and let me find my path as an Assassin,” I said, and he just looked at me.
“You are that cazzo’s sister? Will this be a problem?” he asked, and I shook my head.
“No. If I was going to kill you, why wouldn’t I have done it at the bar the many times you came in?” I asked, and he nodded.
“True,” he said.
We flew off over the Everfree, trying to find a place to land. Canterlot was on full alert, their sirens blaring behind us. Ombra paid no attention to them, and then I noticed Ponyville in the distance.
“There. My guild has a sanctuary in there,” I said, and Ombra looked at me again in confusion.
“I’ll explain when we get there. Let’s go,” I said, and Ombra just nodded.
We landed there after about an hour of flying, and I was exhausted. Ombra acted like it was no big deal, but then again, he hadn’t ditched the robes for two years. We looked around the small town, trying not to attract any type of attention to ourselves. It was quiet hard, seeing as how nopony was wearing clothes, like they do in Trottingham or Canterlot.
“I… have no idea where it is,” I said, and Ombra sighed.
“So you brought me here to hide in a sanctuary you cannot find?” he asked.
I ignored his comment, and I just looked around. I saw a pony who had a cake as his cutie mark, and I walked over to him.
“Excuse me, could you tell me if there is a suspicious looking building on the outskirts of town, doesn’t look like it has been used in years?” I asked, and I heard Ombra mutter some unpleasant words.
“Actually, there is one! On the west end of the town! Been abandoned for about a year now. The pony who left it said ‘there’s trouble on the homestead,’ then he just up and disappeared,” he said, and I nodded gratefully.
“Grazie.” I replied promptly, and turned to Ombra.
He stared at me in mild amusement, and we walked across the town.
We stopped in front of the house, which had Assassin symbol banners spread around the outside, all torn. I grimaced at the sight of my old guilds sanctuary, once their pride and joy, now tattered remnants of what we once were.
“Let us enter, I would like to hear your story,” said Ombra, and I nodded.
We walked over to the door, and easily pushed it open. Everything was just like it had been when I had traveled here for my first Summer-Sun celebration with Rosso.
Rosso.
The only thing that made the place look bad was the despicable amount of dust on everything, but that could be sorted out.
“Find a seat,” I said, and Ombra carefully swiped the dust off a felt couch before sitting down.
I rolled my eyes, and spread my wings. I flapped them powerfully, sending pillows and dust everywhere. I knocked back Ombra backwards, and he sat back up, his hood resting on his nose. He blew it out of the way, and I stifled a laugh.
“Okay, what do you want to know?” I asked, and he sighed.
“Who are you? What is this other guild of Assassins?” He asked, and I sighed.
“Okay. Here’s the whole story. My name is Verità. After you killed my brother in Cloudsdale, I wanted to follow in you path. So, I got a ride to Canterlot and demanded an audience with the Princess. That didn’t go over too well. I ended up killing one of the guards, and I got thrown off a cliff,” I started, and Ombra leaned on his hoof in thought.
“There was mention of a guard being murdered not long after I arrived,” he said, and I shrugged.
“Well, after that, I stumbled over a small gutted castle in the Everfree. It happened to be the headquarters of Luna’s Assassins,” I said, and Ombra immediately stood up.
“Luna’s Assassins? Luna was banished to the moon nearly one thousand years ago,” he exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes.
“Cover up. Luna gave Celestia power over both day and night in return for Luna having her own little group of ponies to… use. This formed the brotherhood. It was short lived, though. An Assassin by the name of Altair defected to Celestia, and so did a number of other assassins. This formed the two guilds. While they weren’t enemies, some saw each other as such. When these ponies were brought to light, they were exiled. These exiles teamed up, and began a third guild, known as the Tempests,” I continued, and Ombra’s eyes got wide.
“Red and white armour? Crosses?” he asked, and I nodded.
“Ever had run ins with them?” I asked, and he shook his head.
“I have noticed them, but never had reason to kill them,” he said, and I nodded.
“Anyway, the Tempests took the Assassins enemies under their wings, making their group stronger than the Assassins at the time. They never attacked though, they just picked off Assassins that were too cocky and pushed their luck too far. They kinda disappeared about two hundred years after Luna’s so called disappearance. They popped back up about a hundred years ago, but have just been lingering around weakly,” I said, and Ombra sighed.
“All right, and your guild?” he asked, and I closed my eyes.
“When I first came to the guild, I was welcomed. It was like any other type of military-ish group. Ranks, small groups, the leaders. As the years progressed, I was accepted into the family of Assassins. I had started killing at the age of fourteen, killing off petty criminals, teaching them lessons. At the age of fifteen, I joined the circle, which is the elite killing group. The way to get in was to kill a well-known criminal. Mine was to be a merchant in Canterlot who had been ruining lives for many, except somepony else got to him first,” I said, staring at Ombra.
“Me?” he asked, and I nodded.
“Then how did you join the circle?” he asked, and I gave him a sly smile.
“Instead of faking his death, making it look like I did it, I told the truth, took the honorary way out. While it may have not been the best for me, it earned me my cutie mark.” I pulled up my robes to show him my slightly modified Assassins symbol.
He nodded in thought before muttering something I couldn’t hear to himself, and nodded at me to continue.
“After that, I killed my first Tempest. I was sent to Fillydelphia to kill Sir Heraldmane. It was a three year ordeal, and it took me another year to get back home. It was a mess at home. Tempest’s had invaded our ranks, and were slowly picking us off. Even the leader of the guild, Grande Protettore, was one. He and his goons killed my master, Rosso Aquila. I left the guild after that happened, vowing to leave the path of Assassin behind forever. I survived that way for two years, up until last night. You were there, you should know,” I finished.
He motioned me to continue.
“And that’s all she wrote.” I said.
“Ah. I suppose you expect my story in return?” he asked, and I nodded.
“Very well. You know of my beginnings in Cloudsdale, so I will not repeat them. When I was brought to Canterlot, the Princess enrolled me in a private school. I did not adapt well to the change in lifestyle, and I was expelled for crippling a fellow student.”
It was all I could do not to shudder. He sounded so cold when he spoke, like crippling a young colt meant nothing.
“The Princess was furious with me, but I did not think I had done anything wrong. Eventually, she agreed to allow me to remain out of school, as long as I trained in some skill or art. In time, my old master found me and began to teach me the ways of the Assassin. He trained me in art, sciences, philosophy, and combat. When I was twelve years old, we began to travel. My master took me to the Northern tundra’s, the savannas of Punda Milia, even the jungles in the land of the rising sun. He taught me how to survive in these lands, and how to kill there as well.”
“Wow, you’ve been to place’s, haven’t you?” I asked, and he waved the question away
“When I turned fifteen, we returned to Canterlot and the Princess mandated that the final year of my training was to be completed there. That was when I received my hidden blade, and when I was taught how to use it. At the end of that year, I was given a merchants name and told to kill him. I completed my assignment, and was made a full Assassin. I swore my service to Celestia, began to work under her. The only real assignment I had during that time was to eradicate the Cult of Artemis, which took me three years. I finished that assignment a few days ago, there are only a few young gryphons left to starve in the tunnels now.”
I thought about how cruel that was, but I had heard about the cult of artemis. Gryphon eating ponies. I couldn’t help but feel bad for them, but I guess you get what you pay for.
“During that assignment, my master died. He was stabbed by a member of the Cult, and they use poisoned bone daggers. As he died, he taught me the fourth tenant of the Assassins Creed, ‘nothing is true, everything is permitted.’ It took me much time to understand these words, but I have come to respect them now.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N
Translations:
Un Nuovo Alleato: A new ally
Che tu possa marcire all'inferno: May you rot in hell
Mi scusi: Excuse me?
Grazie: Thanks.