//------------------------------// // Added Mysteries, Subtracted Questions, Multiplied Problems, and Divided Loyalties // Story: Creed of Three // by Dusk Writer //------------------------------// The 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.