//------------------------------// // Sequence 4 // Story: Pony's Creed: Sisterhoof // by Derpyforever //------------------------------// Sequence 4 "Everypony remembers their jobs?" a teenage Ezio quietly asked his four foalhood friends. "Sure do," Solar nodded. "Without a doubt," Lunar added. "Get in, get out, sounds simple enough," Discord silently chuckled. "We're right behind you," Celestia smiled. "Alright then," Ezio grinned as he turned around and put his Assassin hood up, "Let's do this." He jumped out of the tree they were perched in and silently rolled on the ground into thick vegetation, concealing him as a pony walked by. With a small whistle, the pony turned his attention to the source only to get grabbed by Ezio and dragged into the tall grass; no sound was heard as Ezio was only one to come out. Moving swiftly, he began to make his way to a big warehouse that stood looking towards Canterlot in the not too far distance. The sun lit the area but not enough to reveal Ezio as he moved from cover to cover as he cunningly evaded sight from guards. It was almost too easy as he rolled up to the warehouse and pressed up against the side. Two armored unicorns stood guard at the front door, each equipped with a long battle axe. "Come on Lunar," Ezio mumbled as he continued to peek around the corner at the two guards, "Where are yo-" "Hey, hold it right there," a voice barked behind Ezio making him turn around and come face to face with another guard pointing a sword right at Ezio. "Look out behind you," Ezio replied. "Like I'd fall for-," the guard was cut short as he was hit by a hoof in the back of the head, knocking him out cold. "I warned you," Ezio shrugged as the attacker, Discord, chuckled. The joke was short lived as a soft explosion erupted from the front of the warehouse "What the-" one of the unicorn yelped before being knocked out, his partner suffering a similar fate. "Hey, that was our kill." Discord pouted as he and Ezio walked around the corner and saw Solar and Celestia standing above the two unconscious unicorns. "First come, first serve, Dis." Solar smirked as Lunar appeared from a nearby bush. "We were here first, except Lunar here didn't throw the smoke bomb," Discord snarled. "Sorry," Lunar cringed slightly, "The blasted thing wouldn't light." "Yeah, whatever," Discord huffed as he levitated a key into the air, "At least I did my job." Discord walked up to the warehouse and unlocked the door, but right before he could opened it, the sound of a large metal bell began to ring out and before they knew it, the five were surround by ponies on all sides, all holding spears at the ready. "Uh-oh," Ezio said as the five moved towards each other, all back to back as they readied themselves to be attacked... until... "Stand down," a voice declared as the warehouse doors were flung open and Cosmos walked out, "Training is over." All the guards relaxed and lowered their spears, each having a triumphic grin on their muzzles as they began to wake up their knockout friends and congratulating each other on a job well done. "You five, come inside," Cosmos barked as he walked inside. "Dang it," Discord groaned he put his hood down, "We have to be in last place now." "Don't talk like that, Dis," Lunar frowned as he and the others put their hoods down as well, "We don't know how fast and clean the other teams did this." "But they probably didn't get caught," Solar pointed out, "I told you that stallion saw you Tia." "Well I didn't want to take him out," Celestia defended, "We're judged on the number casualties too!" "Well maybe yo-" "Ahem," a voice cleared its throat, stopping the argument as the five looked up to the owner, Cosmos. "So, you're wondering how you all did, are you," Cosmos raised an eyebrow at the anxious group, "Well, in terms of ratings... you all won." "What," they all exclaimed. "But we got caught," Solar said. "Yes, but so did the other teams," Cosmos smiled, easing the five as he felt a wave of relief radiating from them, "you five just remained undetected the longest. Do I need to remind you that I said that no team has ever completed this challenge? I thought today I might have been proven wrong for you actually made it to the door, but the elite guard isn't called elite for nothing. Well, since it is all settled out, I'll release the scores tomorrow, for now, you are all free to go." With the satisfaction of winning the small tournament the Assassin's held every year for the trainees, the five walked out of the warehouse, and of course, Discord was the first to boast. "We won, ha ha," Discord cheered, "I knew we could do it, didn't doubt us for a second." "Then why were you sweating bullets in there," Solar smirked. "I was not," Discord flared, "and even if I was, I saw your hooves shaking!" "I was tired," Solar defended, "So buck off!" "You wanna go," Discord growled as he got in Solar's face. "Gladly!" Solar shot back, and then tackled Discord to the ground. "There they go again." Celestia sighed and shook her head as the two wrestled each other, "As if they never grew up." "It’s alright," Ezio shrugged, "They'll just tire themselves out. Come on, let's let the two fight it out." "Good idea," Celestia chuckled as she and Ezio began to walk away, "You don't mind watching over, do you Lunar?" "Of course not," Lunar chuckled, "I'll make sure neither kills each other." "Thanks," Celestia beamed, and then continued walking, not noticing Ezio giving Lunar a thankful nod, which was return by a sly grin from Lunar, knowing what Ezio was up to. Ezio chuckled; he began to go after Celestia back to the carriages that they came in. "Hey, Tia," Ezio called as he caught up to her, slowing down to walk by her side, "What are you doing later?" "I was just going to head back to castle," Celestia replied, "Why?" "I was wondering," Ezio smiled, trying to hide his anxiousness, "If you wouldn't mind coming with me to that new restaurant that opened in town?" Celestia thought for a moment, connecting some dots until finally saying, "As a date?" "Um," Ezio blushed slightly, "Y-yeah." "Then I'd be happy to accompany you," Celestia smiled, "but I would like to freshen up first." "Of course," Ezio beamed, as he helped her into one of the carriages, "I'll get you around eight." "I'm looking forward," Celestia nodded, and then looked to the stallions harnessed to the carriage, "Gentlestallions, to the castle." "Yes, Princess," the two nodded as they began to make their way to Canterlot Castle. Ezio watched the carriage as it made its way out of sight before flying up into the air, cheering. "Woohoo," Ezio whooped as he did a few flips in the air, "She said yes! She actually said yes!" "I guessing it went well," Lunar chuckled as he arrived at the carriages followed by a very bruised up Discord and not as bruised up Solar. "Sure did, Lunar," Ezio beamed, giving a hoof bump as he landed, "I got me a date tonight!" "Ooo, a date," Solar grinned, "With who?" "Celestia," Ezio slyly replied. "Celestia," Discord gaped, "Our friend Celestia?!" "Well, yeah," Ezio questioned though was in too good of a mood to do it properly, "Who else do we know named Celestia?" "I... I never would have thought that... ," Discord started to mumble as he stood there in a daze. "Are you all right, Discord," Lunar asked as the shocked unicorn took a couple of steps back, "You seem out of it." "I... I got to go," Discord replied, shaking his head as he began to walk away from the group. "Wait," Ezio called after, finally snapping out of his good mood to see something bothering Discord, "Where you going?" "I just got to go, alright," Discord snarled at him. Ezio bobbed back, surprised by his lifelong friend snapping at him like that. The two remained looking at each other, Discord with hatred, Ezio with confusion. Moments passed as only a slight breeze blowing across the field was heard, until finally Discord turned around and hopped into one of the carriages, telling the drivers to take him to the castle. "What was that about," Solar asked as she and Lunar walked up next to Ezio, watching the carriage become nothing but a dot on the road. "I don't know," Ezio replied, still slightly shocked by how Discord acted. Lunar sighed, "Well, let's not worry about it; let's just let him cool off, besides, you better get ready for your date tonight." "Yeah," Ezio half-heartedly chuckled, "Of course." The three climbed into the carriage and began to ride back to the castle. They shrugged off the whole scene as they began to talk about the tournament; however, Ezio couldn't get the picture of the way Discord glared at him. His normal, comedic spark was replaced with a cold fury. He felt like something had changed in him at that moment, like something inside Discord snapped... but when Ezio finally figured out what it was... it was too late... ### There was a knock on two big crystal doors making Prince Sombra look up at the library's doors. He got up and walked to the door, opening it to find Ezio. "Good evening, Ezio," Sombra smiled, "What brings you here to the Crystal Empire?" "Evening Sombra," Ezio replied as he walked inside, Sombra closing the doors behind him, "Thanks for letting me in, I hate being out during winter. Anyways, I need a favor." "Go ahead," Sombra nodded. Ezio reached into his assassin robes a pulled out a Masyaf Key, showing it to Sombra. "I need to hide this. Put it somewhere safe." "But of course," Sombra smiled, levitating the disk with his magic, "I'll put it in the restricted section of the library, but may I ask why?" "That is something that will lead to great power one day," Ezio replied, "and I can only trust the closest allies to the Assassins for it." "Well, don't you worry, the Tempmares have yet dare set hoof into my father's domain," Sombra assured. "Thank you, well, I best be off," Ezio nodded, "I hope our paths will cross again one day, hopefully not for business." "I hope so to," Sombra waved, "Goodbye, Ezio." Ezio walked out of the library and into the cold snow. He barely took one step before slipping on the icy steps, cutting his hoof as a piece of sharp ice nicked him. "Aah," Ezio slightly gasped, as blood started to seep from the cut, "Faust I hate winter!" Ezio sat there for a minute, staring at the bad gash across is hoof, until somehow; the gash sealed itself up, disappearing in the blink of an eye and becoming good as new. "That's better," Ezio chuckled, then got up and flew up into the sky, a few drops of blood on the snow being the only evidence he was cut. (To Be Continued...)