Realizati0n
Zero was unsure what to think. The presence of a Vault Key on Equestria revealed many things. To start, Equestria was not another universe, but rather just another planet of the same universe as Pandora. Second, from what Mordecai had told him about the contents of the previously opened vaults, this new vault could contain another being of immense power. Zero wasn't sure if the ponies would be able to handle something such as that.
"What should we do?" Mordecai finally spoke up.
Zero thought for a moment before responding, "Let's keep this to ourselves. No need to worry anyone. If we have this piece, then the key must not be completed yet, if anyone else even knows about it at all." Zero placed the shard into his pack as the rest of his friends caught up to him.
"Are you two insane!?" shouted Twilight. "You're both gravely wounded and all you care about is what the dragon has in his hoard? Especially you Zero. You're still bleeding!"
Zero shot a glance down to confirm that he was indeed still bleeding. However, his wounds weren't nearly as severe as the ones he had gained from his bout with the manticore. He returned his gaze to Twilight and smiled.
"We are quite alright. We've both been through much worse. I believe it is time for us to leave, before the dragon realizes his wounds are not nearly as severe as he may think," he stated.
The mares nodded in agreement and soon the group began its descent back down the mountain. The walk did no favors for Zero as pain began to ripple through him every step. Despite how minor they seemed, a wound was still a wound. Eventually Rarity broke away from her friends and helped Zero.
"Allow me. It's the least I can do," she stated as she supported him. Zero allowed her to aid him as they continued their descent. The trek continued mainly in silence until Rarity decided to strike up a conversation.
"So did you find anything good?" Zero shot her a questioning glance before nodding. He stood on his hindhooves and withdrew the blade that was strapped to his back. Rarity frowned before continuing, "Anything else?"
"What do you mean?" Zero replied with rising suspicion as he sheathed the blade.
"I could have sworn I saw you put something else into your pack. Much smaller than your weapon there," she answered.
"There was nothing else of value," he lied while shaking his head.
"Nothing else of value? That cave was filled to the brim with gold and jewels! How is that not valuable?" she persisted.
"They hold no value to me," Zero began, "I only take that which will enhance my abilities in combat, nothing more. The same goes with currency. It is only used as a means to further improve my arsenal or myself. That was all that mattered where I came from. The pursuit of the perfect arrangement of weaponry so no one and nothing could stand before you."
He thought for a second before finishing, "Weapons made the man/ Survival of the fittest/ Life was bought through death."
"Death?" Rarity inquired.
"Of others. It was a kill or be killed enviroment. The fact that I still live is testament to my skills," Zero replied.
As impressive as his explanation was, Rarity did not believe him. Before she could press him further, however, Zero was visited by Ember. The phoenix perched herself on top of the stallion, slid her head underneath his cloak, and began rummaging through Zero's pack. Zero turned around in time to see the Phoenix withdraw something from his pack. Something he did not remember placing there. The phoenix had pulled out a rather large ruby and proceeded to drop it into the outstretched hoof of Zero. Rarity smiled at this exchange.
"Atleast she's honest," Rarity teased.
Zero shot a glance back at Mordecai, who answered with a sly smirk. Zero simply shrugged and look back towards Rarity. Without warning, he tossed the ruby in her direction. With surprising reflexes, she caught the gem and began examining it immediately. After a few seconds she refocused on Zero.
"For me? Are you sure?" she asked cautiously.
Zero nodded, "I'm sure you will find more use for it than me."
The mare lit up. "Oh thank you!" she exclaimed while hugging the stallion, "I promise I'll make this up to you! Come to think of it, I have some designs you might like." Zero only replied with a grunt of pain which caused Rarity to release him. "Oh sorry. Forgot about that. I'll just leave you be then. I have to discuss something with Twilight." And with that, Zero was left to himself again. The rest of the walk went uneventful in Zero's mind. He did hear mentioning of a "cider season" that was supposedly arriving earlier this year for some unexplained reason, but he paid no mind to it. Eventually the group arrived back in Ponyville, but were reluctant to part ways with Zero. After yet again assuring them that he was perfectly fine by himself, they let him leave. Mordecai, however, decided to follow Fluttershy to her cottage after she offered to treat his injuries, which were nothing compared to Zero's, personally. Zero suspected this was not the only reason, but he figured it was none of his business.
Now truly alone, Zero found his home, entered it, and plopped himself onto his couch. Sleep was elusive and boredom began to set in. With a sigh, Zero rose and removed the Vault Shard from his pack. He couldn't help but feel this shard was connected to the events in Equestria as of late. From what he knew, the griffons, despite their dislike of the ponies, had never openly showed aggression like they had done several nights ago. A nation would not make a move as large scale as a attack on the civillian populace unless they felt as if they had an upper hand. Zero's thoughts then drifted to Celestia. Could it be possible she knows of the vaults? It would explain her initial reaction to his arrival somewhat. Before he could ponder further, a knock was heard at his door. Curious as to who could be knocking, he approached and opened the door. He was surprised to see Applejack awaiting him at the doorway. Easily the least known of the six elements to him, Zero can't recall a time he's actually conversed with the farmer pony. She spoke up, breaking his train of thought.
"Ah'm not interrupting, am I?"
Zero shook his head and invited her in, "Is there something you need?"
"Yea, but I reckon you'd also benefit from it as well," she replied.
Zero nodded, "Continue."
"Not sure if you've heard or not, but cider season is arriving earlier this year than normal. Ah'm not really sure why but that doesn't matter. What matters is that me and my family are going to be swamped with extra work in order to prepare for the opening of the season. I was hoping you might be able to help us out and we'll consider it as a day spent with me. That sound good to ya?" Applejack finished.
The deal sounded simple enough to Zero. He would be able to knock out the element that would have caused him the most trouble with some simple farm work. Granted, farm work didn't seem all that interesting but he couldn't see a reason not to accept. He smiled at the mare.
"I will do the work/ Bringing me one step closer/ To my victory"
Applejack chuckled, "They weren't kidding when they said you're weird at first."
Zero shrugged, "Say what you will. Is there anything else you need?"
"That should be it. Oh wait, I wanted to thank ya for what you've been doing with Rainbow. Since you've been working with her, she's been out of my mane as of late. I can't tell you how much of a relief that's been. Don't get me wrong, I love the pegasus to death, but she can be a bit much after a while, kinda like Pinkie," she explained.
"I've more or less disciplined her enough to the point where she no longer bothers me. I quite enjoy her company, in fact. It gives me a partner to train with," Zero replied.
Applejack shrugged, "If ya say so. The opening of cider season will be in a few days so make sure you get your rest. From what you've been through today, I'd say you're gonna need it." With that, the apple farmer left Zero's home. Zero resumed his place on his couch and sighed, fully prepared to fall asleep. He once again pondered on all the problems the presence of a Vault Key could bring to Equestria. As sleep finally fell over him, someone far away stopped listening.
Luna was digesting the information she had gained from probing Zero's mind while on one of the higher balconies of the Royal Palace. As much as she was against it, she felt it was neccessary due to recent events. She was soon joined by Celestia.
"Did you find anything new?" Celestia inquired.
"It is hard to tell, but I feel it would do no harm to call him in once again. It seems he may have made a similiar discovery to ours and knows what it is," replied the princess of the night.
Celestia nodded and looked out into the distance. She remained silent for several minutes before speaking again, "I fear ill times are ahead of us, sister. The shard we found has a strong magical aura and I cannot imagine what would happen if all the shards were brought together. We aren't even sure how many of them exist! I truly hope Zero can clarify their purpose." The princess of the sun retreated back into the palace, leaving Luna to herself. Luna considered contacting Zero directly, but decided against it. Bringing the fact that they too possessed a shard to his attention might bring unwanted worry. She did, however, plan to contact him soon in order to once again invite the stallion back to Canterlot. Luna did not tell her sister the specifics of what she heard in hopes of not frightening her, but according to Zero's thoughts, this vault could unleash an evil more powerful than anything ever before seen in Equestria.
She had every right to be very worried.
Mordecai, along with Ember, made their way back to Zero's home as night began to set in. He did not simply walk, however. Instead, he was "hopping", taking a few steps then flying a short distance with the assistance of his wings. The quality time he had been spending with Fluttershy was not just to be in her company. In reality, Mordecai had secretly asked her to teach him how to properly use his pegasus wings. Though he original shunned the idea of finding a trainer, he felt unnaturally calm with the idea of Fluttershy helping him and eventually decided it was for the best. She was reluctant at first, stating pegasi had to go through flight school in order to properly learn how to fly. After much persistence on Mordecai's part, she eventually agreed to aid him. Even though it's only been a week, Mordecai was already able to suspend himself in the air, albeit for only a brief time. Regardless, this showed that he truly was a fast learner, a skill that was a neccessity for a hunter in order to adapt to any situation. He grinned at Ember before taking on a mocking tone similiar to a certain assassin.
"I have learned much now/ And flight will soon be in reach/ I really cannot wait."
Ember shot him a disapproving glance and he only chuckled. "Too many syllables on the last one? Well shit, it's not as easy as I thought. Guess I'll just leave the poetry to him from now on." Ember nodded as if in agreement and the two made their way to their makeshift home in Equestria in order to get some well deserved rest.
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League of Legends, School, and Hurricane Sandy delayed this. Along with the fact I'm a total slacker, so yea.
Pretty good. Go on.
Great chapter, man!
CURSE YOU YODA!!! YOU AND YOU'RE SHITTY GRAMMER
Challenge accepted....
1376669
Oh Hey, a pony made of diamond!
Nice to see this updated before Halloween. I can relate to putting things off - playing a good video game does make time fly. (For me, that was beating Pokemon: White 2 - oh and shiny Sandile get!)
So you survived the storm, eh? Didja lose power at all?
Zero is not gonna be happy with Luna, "Seems I was wrong, you're no different than your sister."
1538981
This.
Also, I can't believe I've never read this before!
Zer0 is best assassin.
dammit sandy, i was all fine and well as long as you left me and my family alone, but youre the reason this is delayed? oh hell no im gonna go back in time to fight sandy doctor whooves style, here i am, rocked you like a hurricane!!
1538951 Lost power several times. I actually lost all the progress to this chapter at one point due to it. What you've read now was me retyping it in a matter of an hour or so.
This is going to be quite interesting
1539084 That sucks... well I learned how to write haiku which is basically for me is 5,7,5 for syllables. But man Zer0 knows how to be secretive and easy to call for help.
Huh. Luna and Celestia have a shard of the key. I can't say i didn't half-expect it. But probing Zero's mind? I thought they would be above that after their initial encounter.
Is it wrong i want Zero to do something about them reading his mind?
1539160 Not at all.
Master Gee and/or Hyperius is in the vault! I can almost taste those delicious crystals that burst out their corpses! Nothing beats an invincible glitch! NOOOOOOOOOOOTHING.
1538742
Rassa frassin "real life" and "responsibilities"
1539302 Tell me about it : /
I'm just waiting for Terramorphous to show up, that'll be interesting...
1539402 Holy hell. I just realized your avatar pic is Luna dressed as Talon. My god, that is genius.
1539409
One of my favorite ponies and one of my favorite champions, can't go wrong with that!
this awesome artist made it.
...but he pain no mind to it.
I think it's PAID.
1538790 *Grammar
1538742
Oh for the love of everything holy, why does everyone keep playing LoL and use it as an excuse?!
Besides, I played it before it was even cool. And it wasn't that much of a good game
1538892Yes, and it's name is Butt Stallion.
1538951How is White 2? I just barely had enough money to get AC3, so I don't know.
Great new chapter. Can't wait for more.
1539424 Thanks to you, I found a sweet Nightmare Moon Nocturne. The greatest jungle assassin ever. I would hug you if possible.
1539045 Now that's debatable. I will admit he's one of the 3 best assassins of all time though. Current holders of that title are as follows: altair(possiblyspelled wrong), Zer0, and Ezio(also possibly spelled wrong).
As for the story I caught this mister author man,
Lastly, if you still plan on bringing in another vault hunter, I'd recommend that you not. Instead, I think you should bring in Sir Hammerlock. Why? Because, he's a cyborg. And a gentleman.
1539687 Don't be a hipster.
1540109 Ikr? Regardless, that game's been my recent time sink and will most likely continue to be one.
Know how you feel. I've been putting off a few fanfic ideas of my own I was going to start on but Dishonored and the Borderlands 2 DLC have prevented that. And then Halo 4. Then the Assassin's Creed series.
1540137 Before I know it, Christmas will have passed then I'll have to deal with the February releases... Dead Space 3, Metal Gear Revengeance, etc.
1540109
I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS A FREE COUNTRY
SCREW YOU AMERICA! SPAIN AHOI!
1540060
I'm on Delta's website right now, just tell me what airport is closest to you.
1540173 Screw that, I'm hunting you down... but I think the airport is still closed. Damn hurricane.
1540100
You make fair points, but Zer0 remains better. This is because he is even more faceless, is hi-tech, and wears black armour. Everything's better in black, and his weapon is also cooler.
1538742. No way? You play LoL? That's awesome.
1540200 Hell yea I do. And of course, I play them nasty assassins :D
1540195 This person's got the right idea.
1540212
Why thank you. I felt that a point about Zer0 was his apparently hi-tech sword. I'm wondering what you are doing with a vanilla one.
1540182
*cocks gun*
Come at me. bro!
1540234 Whoa there buddy! No need to resort to that. I'll just stay over here where it's safe and hide behind skype. That usually works.
Zer0 H0ur Updated.3.bp.blogspot.com/-j1eD9Fy2L-4/TqaP3ZtuEhI/AAAAAAAAapU/YXHbQeFbHWA/s1600/tumblr_lriek103P21qi5r5io1_500.gif
1539810
It's a lot of fun. The extended availability of older pokemon leads to some interesting team comps. I like the soundtrack, story (Team plasma's actually pretty menacing this time around), and your new rival's a pretty cool guy too.
Of course, I may be a little biased by having played (and liked) all the previous gens...oh and finding a shiny (Sandile) is a plus too. :P But if you liked B/W, you should like this one too, if not a little more.
Hooray!
1540306Sweet. Now I really wish I had the money to get it.
Since Zer0's sword is a digistruct blade, I really want to see a point in the story where a villain breaks his sword's blade off and gloats about his victory.
To see Zer0 regenerate his sword and go "Nice try, bitch" or some other one-liner.
1540856 You're a good distance behind, so yea. I'd like to say it's improved over time, honestly.
1540157 Screw you Spaniard. This is the Internet.
1539282 I prefer the 4 person baby maker + The bee combo against Hyperius...
Invincible all the way for Gee!
1540195 Again debatable. Black isn't always best. But, I respect the fact that you believe Zer0 to be the best assassin. Even though, technically, he's not an assassin. He's a vault hunter. He MAY have been an assassin before hand, but not anymore. Now, his job consists of being a total badass.