Ezio sighed as he stared at the ceiling of her cottage. He was asleep for most of the night, at least until that scratching noise started up again. For the past hour, he laid on the couch as the sun slowly streaked in through her window. Deciding that any attempts to fall back asleep were useless, he threw off the covers and rolled off of the couch. He briefly pondered how the covers got there, but decided it wasn’t important as he stretched and yawned.
“Good morning, Ezio.” Fluttershy said as her head peeked out from the top of the stairs. “Oh! You’re awake already? Here, let me make some breakfast and we can head on down to town. How does that sound?” She asked as she disappeared into her kitchen without waiting for a reply. Ezio sat down on the couch and watched the sunrise, letting himself get lost in thought for the moment.
“So…” Ezio said as he stared at a wall, trying to make small talk. “What are we going to do first?”
Fluttershy trotted out of her kitchen with a small tray on her back. Two plates with eggs, hay bacon, and toast were balanced on the tray as she lowered herself to the nearby coffee table. "Well, guess we should head to Ponyville first. We might get lucky and find her trying to help coordinate the heralds there." she said as she nosed a plate over to Ezio.
"And if she's not?" He asked as he eyed his plate with some trepidation.
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If… if that's alright with you." she remarked as she began eating.
Ezio shrugged and started eating as well. Sounds like as good of a plan as any. He thought as the rest of the meal passed in silence.
When they were done with their meal, Fluttershy spoke up to break the silence. “You should probably take off your robe. It’s very conspicuous.”
Ezio nodded once, and took off his robe. The only thing he left on was his hidden blade, which he never went anywhere without. Fluttershy noticed this and beckoned him over with a hoof. “If you want to keep that on, let’s go to Twilight. She’ll cast some sort of spell on it, and nopony will notice it at all.”
Ezio looked thoughtful, as he remembered which one was Twilight. “Oh, is that what you ponies use your horns for?” Fluttershy nodded a brief yes, and held a hoof out to point at the secret passage. “Go to the bunker and follow the arch with the star on it to get to her door. She’ll know that you’re there, and come down.”
Ezio nodded, and began to make the long trek down.
As Ezio trotted through the secret tunnel, he thought that this hallucination felt very realistic. Almost as if the Apple dropped him into a different realm. No, he thought with a wave of a hoof. That can’t be right.
As though the path knew he was beginning to scare himself into a spiral, he arrived at the center table. Twilight sat at the head of the table, forelegs crossed and hood down almost as if she expected his arrival.
“Ah… good morning, Ezio.” she stated as her weight subtly shifted on the chair. “Did you need something from me?” Ezio simply nodded as he absentmindedly rubbed his forelegs together.
“O-oh, um, yes… yes I did. You see, we were about to head into Ponyville to take care of the heralds when Fluttershy told me to remove my robe…”
“Right, go on…” Twilight interjected.
“... and when I did, she noticed that I had this weapon on me.” Ezio turned to his left to reveal the indicated weapon, “So… I was wondering if—”
“—I could help with concealing that. Right?” Twilight asked as Ezio simply nodded. “Right. Well, a simple invisibility spell should do the trick. However, if you two get jumped by Templars, you’ll need some way to recognize its location. I’m sure you two aren’t going to go into town without at least one weapon, right?” she admonished as her eyes narrowed.
“No, no! Of course we’ll take weapons! I’m not that much of an idiot! I already was an Assassin before I came here, remember?”
Twilight looked a bit sheepish, and gave a small grin as she remembered. “Oh. Right. Anyway, come over here and hold your right fetlock out.”
Ezio felt very confused, to say the least. He had no idea what she was talking about. “My what?”
Twilight facehooved as she realised that Fluttershy never told him about pony body parts. “Your right hoof. Or arm. Whichever word suits you.”
“Oh! Ok.” Ezio said, as he trotted over to where she was. “Just make it quick, okay? I’ve been itching for some action for a while.” Twilight closed her eyes and appeared to be focusing on something while she extended her fetlock. As Ezio’s hoof touched hers, a jolt of energy surged down his right foreleg which caused the fur on that leg to stand straight up. Ezio jerked his right foreleg back in surprise. “What the heck was that?” Ezio blurted out as he shook his right foreleg.
“What you asked for,” Twilight calmly replied as she gestured to the strap that held his hidden blade with a hoof. “Observe.” Ezio’s eyes followed her foreleg to the holster which recently held his blade. Ezio noticed that nothing was there, which gave him pause.
“Are you sure it’s still there?” He asked which prompted an amused snerk from the purple alicorn. She guided his hoof to the area where his hilt normally would be, only for him to find that his hoof connected with a solid mass of air. “Oh… there it is.” he remarked sheepishly as Twilight gave a patient smile and a nod.
“Well, thanks! I’ll see you later, Twilight!” As Ezio trotted out of the bunker, Twilight spoke up again.
“Oh, Ezio? I just wanted to let you know that my friends call me Twi, so you’re welcome to call me that.”
Ezio smiled. “Sure, Twi. See you later!”
As Ezio trotted through the hallway, he couldn’t help but think that he just made a new friend. She doesn’t seem so bad. Maybe I could get used to this hallucination. He thought before he waved the idea away with a hoof. Nah, I gotta get back home. Too much riding on me being successful not to.
Soon, Ezio climbed up the stairs and arrived back inside Fluttershy’s cottage as the secret entrance slid shut behind him. By now, she was already prepared for the trek down to the city. “I see you were able to get help from Twilight...” She mentioned, as a hoof indicated his seemingly empty weapon holster. “Now, let’s get going. We have a busy day ahead of us.” Fluttershy reminded Ezio as she held open the door for him.
“Sounds good to me,” he said as he followed Fluttershy.
The trek down to Ponyville was mostly uneventful. Seeing as Ezio didn’t want to take her shortcut through the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy was forced to take the long way. After a few minutes, Fluttershy stopped. Ezio was forced to halt due to Fluttershy’s foreleg blocking him. “Shh… we’re on the outskirts of Ponyville now. We need to be quiet.”
A quaint little hamlet met Ezio’s eyes as he glanced around Fluttershy. Brick and mortar cottages dotted the landscape as cobblestone roads fanned out in nearly every direction. He didn’t get long to gawk before Fluttershy pulled him off to the side. A Templar paced within inches of their hiding spot, drifting their head from left to right.
“Coulda swore I saw someone…” A feminine voice said before they turned around and retreated back the way they came. Two pairs of eyes were watching them go.
“Well, uh, that was a little too close for my liking…” Ezio said as he and Fluttershy emerged from their hiding spots and scuttled across the street into an open alleyway.
"Well… just be a bit more careful from now on. If you don't mind, I mean." Fluttershy said as she led him down the alley. After a few minutes, Fluttershy stopped.
Ezio raised an eyebrow and moved to speak before he heard a loud, raucous voice pierce the silence. Fluttershy peeked her head out of the other end of the alleyway, however she immediately pulled it back in. "There she is…" she whispered as Ezio peeked his head out and saw someone floating in the center of the plaza barking orders at various Templar members.
"Hey! Stop slacking! You have a job to do! You, over there! Yes, you! Break time's over! Come on, move it!"
Ezio, who was used to people yelling orders, could immediately tell that she was the leader. He ducked back into the alley as quickly as he could to relay his new information. “So, what’s the plan?”
Fluttershy looked sheepish, as she began to whisper. “I.. umm… don’t have one yet.”
Ezio realised that he was going to be relied on a lot more than when he was in Italy, so he crouched down and started formulating a plan. He looked up at Fluttershy and stood up as he made his way further into the alleyway. “I think I have a plan. Come with me.” he remarked as they circled around to the other side of the plaza, and towards Rainbow. The original plan would have to be put on hold for now.