//------------------------------//
// Growing in Numbers. 
// Story: The Creed: Repairing Rome 
// by Woody Willows 
//------------------------------//

     She was sprinting her way towards the edge of the building. As the blades flashed from under her arms, she fell on top of two Borgia guards, the hidden blades coursing through their throats, covering her hands in blood. She sprinted away with the other two guards in hot pursuit. Running away, she saw her ticket out of the horrible, yet all-too familiar, situation. She stomped on the lever of the lift, grabbed the rope, and zipped up out of the guards' view. She sprinted and lept off the edge.
Ah, yes. The days of the Renaissance. All the city of Rome seems to be going well to the un-trained, naive eye. But few, however, know about the fued between the two dominating orders--the Assassins, and the Templars. And even fewer know that the pope of Rome, at this time, is a Templar, along with there's of the Borgia. But a comfort to the Assassins--and a fear to the Templars--is the knowledge that every victory won by the Assassins, is just one step closer to the ultimate goal, no matter how large or small that individual victory is.
Sprinting ever faster and faster trying not to get caught, her luck ran out. As she was running, a Borgia guard grabbed her sky-blue hood, pulling her down to the cobblestone path with a loud thud, revealing her multi-colored hair. A guard went to bring a pike down on top of the assassin, but she rolled out of the way. Swiftly, she raised herself up and drew her sword, knowing a fight was about to go down. 
A guard attacked from her left. She moved and blocked the blow with her sword, spun out of the way, and stabbed the guard through the heart. After the ordeal with the ordeal other guards attacking her, and every attack a successful counter-kill, there were only two people left on the battlefield: the assassin, and the guard with the pike. The guard attacked. The assassin grabbed the pole, and then ripped the pike away.
After stabbing the final guard through the chest, she ran and, using the pike, pole-vaulted her way to a wall. She grabbed a ledge and pulled herself up the wall. She sprinted away from the scene of the crime and saw several pigeons perched on the edge of the roof. She sprinted and jumped into the hay-cart below. Suddenly, a noise caught the attention of her ear.
"Hehe...look at what we've got here boys. A thief," she heard a guard say, and a few chuckles In reply.
"I-I-I-," a sweet, timid voice said, before being interrupted.
"Awwwwe. What's the matter? Cat got your tounge?"
"Bu-but I d-didn't do anyth-"
"Do I hear protest to your authority? That's not acceptable around here, theiving scum."
"I'm s-s-sorry s-s-"
"Sorry won't let you out of this one!"
"--sniff, sniff--"
"We've all had just about enough of you around here!"

That was all the assassin had to hear. Jumping out of the hay-bale, she pulls a crossbow off of her back, shooting one of the four guards. She throws a knife, kills second, and jumps on top of the final two, letting the hidden blades slice through the necks of the two men, making blood spurt from their throats. The assassins stood and looked at the lady, who had long, pink hair and was trembling with fear.

"Are y-you here t-to k-k-kill me t-too?" The lady asked, stuttering with fear.
"Huh? Heck no! I hate these Borgia just as much as it appears you do," the assassins replied.
"You d-d-do?"
"Of course! Why else would I kill them?"
"Oh...I guess that makes sense. You know what? I'd like to repay you in some way, but I have nothing to give you...sorry."
"There is a way to repay us, however."
" 'Us?' What did you mean,'Us'?"
"I'm not the only one saving innocent people like you."
"Really?"
"Sure! I'm part of.a big group helping to de-throne the pope and the Borgia."
"Well, I'd sure like to help. Where do I go?" 
"Do you see that tall tower over there?"
"Yes."
"Go there and tell them Rainbow-Dash sent you."
"Oh. Your name is Rainbow-Dash. Mine is Fluttershy. Ok, well thanks. Ill go right away. I don't wanna get attacked again. Oh, say, would you like to walk me to the tower?"
"Sure! Ive got nothing else on my to-do list. But I'd much rather climb there."
"Oh, umm, ok. I guess I could try that."

So Rainbow-Dash and Fluttershy reached the rooftop and began going to the tower.
"Oh, wow. You are a great climber, Rainbow," Fluttershy stated.
"Thanks. I can climb most any rooftop in ten-seconds flat!" Replied Rainbow-Dash.
"Wow."
"Yeah. I get that a lot."

After a few more minutes of climbing, walking, and talking, Rainbow-Dash and Fluttershy reached the tower. Fluttershy walked into the tower to get to the top. Rainbow-Dash climbed there to wait for her. Shortly after Rainbow reached the top of the tower, Fluttershy came through the door.
"Hi, Flutters!" Rainbow said.
"Oh my! You nearly gave me a heart-attack," Fluttershy replied.
"Haha. Sorry, my bad. Anyway, did they accept you?"
"Yes."
"That's awesome! However, I must leave. I see my next objective. Catcha later and good luck!"
"Yup. You t-RAINBOW!" Fluttershy looked off of the ledge Rainbow just jumped from just in time to see her hop out of a hay-bale she landed in.

Rainbow-Dash just ran off.

Running, running, and more running. Rainbow was on her way to an un-captured Borgia tower. She reached a certain point and began to feel uneasy. She ignored it and looked for the Borgia leader. A voice called, "Get down, or I throw you down!" Rainbow-Dash ran away, an arrow whizzing by her ear. She saw a heavily armored man, who had a cape with the Borgia symbol on it, running along the path. With the obvious sign this man was the tower's director, Rainbow jumped on top of the man, her hidden blades coursing through the mans head, killing him instantaneously, covering Rainbow's hands in blood. With the knowledge that their leader was dead, all the other guards cowered in fear, or ran off.

Rainbow-Dash took this opportunity and climbed to the top of the tower, perched on the beam, and looked around. She noticed a blonde lady being harassed for her produce and knew where to go. Rainbow-Dash set the top of the tower aflame and leapt into the river below. She knew where to go.

Running and running some more, Rainbow-Dash climbed a building to get her bearings on her surroundings. She noticed the lady off to her left. Rainbow ran towards the blonde lady until she reached the rooftop above the scene. Eavesdropping, Rainbow heard this:
"I done told y'all already, I grew these apples on mah own farm! My very family EATS these apples!" the woman said.
"Well how do we know they're not poisoned or something?"
"What In tarnation gave y'all that ridiculous idear? Ya know what? Imma prove it right now, lookie here!" The woman picked up an apple and took a big crunch right out of the apple, chewed it, and swallowed it. "Ya see," she said after swallowing," now why on earth would I eat one of mah own apples if they're poisoned?"
"Well you coulda had that one saved for a situation like this."
"Wh...what!? Thats the most ridiculous thing I done ever heard! Ive had enough of you guys. I'm fighting for the truth!" The woman produced a dagger from a sheath and pointed it at the guards.
"Oh! A fighter!"

Rainbow-Dash had heard enough.  She jumped from the building's edge, flashing her two hidden blades, slicing the necks of two of the five guards. She rolled and when she stood, she thrusted her hands into the backs of the heads of two of the last guards, leaving one shocked, scared Borgia guard left standing. The remaining guard ran off a few steps before Rainbow pulled the crossbow off of her back and shot the loaded bolt at the guard, hitting the back of his head.

"Oh, ah see ya jus wanted ta finish me off yerself. Well its not happening'!" The lady swung the blade at Rainbow, who blocked it with her sword and knocked the dagger out of the lady's hand, then pointed the blade at the woman's throat. "All right fine. You win. Jus finish me off quickly."
"No. I came not too kill you, but to save you," Rainbow replied.
"...R-Really?"
"Yes. Instead, I came to recruit you. I am an assassin, coming to your aid," Rainbow said as she lowered her sword and sheathed it.
"Oh. Are you the one that annoying herald keeps carrying-on about?"
"Well, not just me but my, uh... 'brothers and sisters' probably. There are many of us and we need more to combat the enemy."
"Ah see. Well, I feel ah'd need some way to repay y'all anyway. I guess it'd only be logical. Ah'm in!"
"Awesome. Whats your name?"
"Apple-Jack. What's yer's?"
"Rainbow-Dash. Now do you see that tower over there?"
"Yeah."
"Go there, state your name, and tell them Rainbow-Dash sent you."
"Alrighty then. Well ah thank ya kindly fer rescuin' me from that horrid situation."
"Oh, don't mention it. It was nothing really."
"Ok. Well, I guess I'd best be goin' now. Thank you again!"
"You. No problem. Good luck."

And with that, Apple-Jack was off, running towards the tower.

Well, Rainbow-Dash had nothing to do at this point but take a load off. She went walking around the city, taking in all of the sights. She soon found a random tower and thus, she went to climb the tower doing nothing but enjoying the view...and waiting to see if anything exciting was going on down below. Before she knew it, Rainbow was fast asleep on top of the tower.

Rainbow-Dash stretched her arms and yawned, scratched her head, rubbed her eyes, and sat up. She then noticed just how different her surroundings looked. She was not on top of any tower now, but instead, all she saw were iron bars in front of her and cold, brick walls around her. The guard at the gate said, " 'Morning sleepy-head." Inside her head, Rainbow-Dash cursed herself for being such a heavy sleeper.
"How's it goin'?" The guard asked, surprisingly polite.
"Oh, whadda you think?" Rainbow bitterly replied.
"Heh...you sure are a heav-"
"I KNOW I'M A HEAVY SLEEPER!"
"Oh, a bit of a hot-head, are we?"
"Well how would you feel you woke up and were suddenly in a FREAKING PRISON CELL!?"
"Good point, good point indeed," the guard replied. Rainbow secretly commended the guard for staying so cool in this situation.
"You know I'll probably just break out, right?"
"Oh, most likely not. And even if you do, there are about fifty feet of heavily-armed guards and utterly smooth, twenty-foot tall walls between you and the exit. Did you honestly think you wouldn't be in the maximum-security part of this dungeon?"
"Oh, pshh. Just shut up and leave me alone."
"Well I only wante-"
"Oh, screw you. Shut up."
"Dang... Anger management."
Rainbow-Dash threw a knife past the guard's head and it stuck in the wall beside him. "I said SHUT UP!"
"Ok, ok. I'll just stop talki-"
"GOOD!"

After a few more days of a routine of getting fed and all that other stuff, Rainbow-Dash looked up one day to see a yellow-and-pink cloak rise up behind the guard. The guard then fell over, blood coming from his neck, and Rainbow saw Fluttershy with her hidden blades and hands covered in blood. "Oh, sorry," she said. Just then, an Orange-and-tan clocked figure fell from the roof. It was Apple-Jack.
"Oh darn it Fluttershy. Killin' is yer livin' now. Ya don't have ta feel sorry for killin' someone."
"Sorry..."
Apple-Jack just sighed and turned to Rainbow-Dash and said,"Well, we've come here ta rescue ya from this here dungeon. Now I say get out of here. We is gonna have a big 'ol fight ta get outta here. So I say we leave as soon as we possibly can."

Fluttershy grabbed the key from the guard's body and opened the gate to let Rainbow-Dash out. They walked over and opened the door to leave the room they were in. They saw a whole group of thirty heavily-armed guards, and then drew their weapons.