Memory
Minutes had passed since Altair discovered his supposed regeneration. Twilight had taken it upon herself to examine the human to help him with his condition as well to study humans in general as she has mentioned. Most of the other ponies had left, leaving Princess Celestia and Twilight alone with the assassin. Twilight had led Altair down to her basement where she kept most of her scientific equipment.
“Now if you would please, lay down on the table.” Twilight pointed to a silver table sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by what Twilight had earlier called, ‘computers’.
“Excuse me, but I do not think that it is big enough for me.” Altair commented.
Twilight looked at the table and had a puzzled look on her face, from what Altair saw. The lavender alicorn seem to have developed an idea. Her horn started to glow immediately as the table started to warp. Altair took a quick glance at the top of the stairs, where he saw Princess Celestia perched up there like an eagle eyeing it’s prey.
He dismissed it and looked back at the table, still warping until its size was more toward Altair’s shape.
“How did you do that, if I may ask.” Altair asked curiously.
“Magic, of course.” Twilight answered cheerfully.
“Ah, magic. A superstitious term given to that which is not understood.” Twilight was now staring at Altair.
“Magic is NOT superstition. I have spent my entire life studying it, I am even the Element of Magic!” Twilight was starting to get a little overprotective with the subject from what Altair could guess. She began rambling on to the point where the assassin couldn’t understand her.
“Twilight.” Celestia called, stopping her student from continuing any further. The Princess trotted down the stairs and stood in front of Twilight.
“I understand your feelings, but you must understand, maybe he is from a place where magic holds little to no place.” Celestia tried to ease her student’s mind. She had spoken like a mother speaking to her child. Something Altair had seen many times, but haven’t had the chance to experience.
“But Princess, Magic is the source of all that happens. It is what you use to move the sun!”
Move the sun? What in the world? The sun only appears to move because the planet itself is moving.
Altair felt he shouldn’t even speak while Celestia was talking.
“Different realities may follow different set of rules. Look at him, his coloring isn’t the same as this reality.” Twilight took a good long look at Altair before she spoke up.
“You’re right, Princess. I’m sorry. I just got a little defensive.” Twilight drooped her ears and hung her head down.
“It’s alright. I know how you feel.” Altair said as he thought about his previous mentor and the events that followed after his death. He walked over to the table and sat on it, then laid down on it. He caught something out of the corner of his eye. After looking at it, he spoke up with some volume in his voice.
“You know, I’m sure Twilight would let you watch if you asked her, Rainbow.”
The two Princesses looked at Altair with confusion until they saw who he was talking to. Rainbow Dash was staring at Altair through a window that was towards the ceiling. She was eyeing Altair with a suspicious look. Twilight wasn’t amused.
“Really Rainbow? How long have you been there?” No answer came. Celestia giggled at the commotion.
“I will let her in.” Celestia said while trotting up the stairs. Twilight looked at the floor, shaking her head.
“Urgh I can’t believe she can’t trust me enough to handle this. It’s not like I’m a little filly.”
“Maybe it’s not the lack of faith in you. Perhaps she perceives me as an unknown threat.” Altair was trying to calm Twilight down.
“I just don’t get it. What threat could an old stal… I mean, human pose? No offence.”
“I understand her concern as well as yours. Rainbow’s is born of fear for her friends. Yours is of ignorance.”
Twilight gave him an offensive look until she stopped, likely thinking that she deserved that. Rainbow flew right into the room until she was next to Twilight, hovering again.
Ether Pegasi like being in the air, or she does that when she thinks.
“Now that everypony who wants to be here is present, let’s begin.” Twilight said with an annoyed expression. Altair looked toward the stairs again and noticed Celestia was there again.
“Okay, now if your aging issue is due to magic, I will need a sample of your blood, skin and fur follicles.”
Twilight had levitated a needle and slightly stabbed the assassin in the center of his first finger. Altair didn’t even flinch. After all the times he was cut or stabbed, he didn’t mind the slight pinch. A small bubble of blood formed on the surface on his first finger, in the center. Twilight then used a thin paper to absorb the loose blood. The puncture point was covered by a piece of cloth that Twilight had prepared. Altair looked at the wound when the cover was removed, only to see that the there wasn’t a tiny hole like he had expected. He looked up at Twilight, hoping she would explain.
“A formula for healing small incisions.” Twilight replied to his expression.
Twilight levitated a small white stick, tweezers, and some scissors along with the cloth earlier. Altair noticed that his right sleeve was raised up to about half way up his arm, causing Altair to tense up for a moment. He became calm when he saw that it was just Twilight using magic to roll up his sleeve. A small area on Altair’s arm began to glow the same as Twilight’s horn. She inserted the stick into his arm and lightly twisted in a circular motion. She ended that step and pulled out the sample skin with the tweezers, cutting the end of the sample with the scissors. With another light tap from the cloth, the hole closed shut and the glow disappeared from his arm. Twilight had placed the sample on a glass circle.
“Impressive, Twilight. I had no idea you had medical knowledge.” Celestia said.
“After some of the quests you had sent us on, I figured it was best to get some basic medical know how.” Twilight was smiling when she spoke.
“Uh Twilight, I hate to break it to you, but that wasn’t basic.” Rainbow said.
“Wow Rainbow, I completely forgot you were here.”
Altair took noticed that Rainbow was rather quiet. Through out the entire procedure, Rainbow barely made a sound.
Hmm. She would have had a decent assassin. She can be hidden when she wants to be.
“Ok, so you got your blood and skin. What about the fur?” Rainbow asked.
Altair felt a slight tug on his head until he saw a strand of his hair float to Twilight. All of the samples were put on different pieces of glass and put into one of the slots on in the computer. After a few minutes, it began to beep and light up with paper pouring out of it. Altair rolled his sleeve back down when Twilight approached him. He couldn’t read her, her expressions were neutral.
“Your theory is correct. Your cellular structure is being rejuvenated by a magical force I don’t understand.”
“Uh, could you say that again but in NORMAL pony talk?” Rainbow was annoyed.
Twilight rolled her eyes.
“He is becoming younger. Some kind of magic; I don’t recognize what the cause of this is.”
I wonder if the same thing that put me in here is also the cause of my condition. I don’t know why that thing had to take Maria’s form. There were many choices, Malak, Al Mualin, or even Sef, but why her? Altair laid on the table for a minute, thinking about this until he forced himself to return to the world around him.
He then rose up off his back and hopped off the table, stretching his arms and legs. He began to notice that his uniform was a little tighter on his chest then when he laid down. He tried to pull on his chest to stretch out the fabric until this was loose.
“Is there a way you can find a ratio between the number of years I am reverting to hours?”
“I can try.” Twilight replied with a little confusion in her voice. She began to adjust some knobs on the device. Celestia had approached Altair until she was right in front of her.
“I am curious to know more about you assassins. If I may, I would like to try something.” Celestia stared into Altair’s eyes, making him feel uncomfortable.
“What do you have in mind?”
“I know this may sound bizarre, but I want to view some of your memories so I can better understand your work as an Assassin. Don’t worry, other memories will be private.”
Instantly, Altair had become concerned with these ponies’ natural abilities, of what they were actually capable of.
If they have the power to read minds, control the movement of the sun and morph any object into any shape they so desire, then I am truly powerless to stop them if they decide to fight me.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea. Your world is peaceful, however mine is not. I have lived a life of violence and it would only frighten you.” Altair spoke with a serious tone, hoping to dissuade the princess from seeing the horror of his life.
“I understand your concern, but I feel that I should witness this. I too have seen war and violence. Brothers and friends turned against each other for personal desires.” Altair knew Celestia wasn’t lying. The way she spoke, the posture she had when saying that, she did experience war.
“Alright. I will allow it, but only you have that permission.” Altair looked over to Twilight, who was too busy working with mathematical equations to notice what the elder princess had asked. Rainbow, on the other hand, was curiously watching Altair.
Alright, I am getting really uncomfortable with her constantly watching me like a hawk. I feel like she is going to launch an attack.
“Don’t worry, nopony will see what I am about to see.” Celestia looked over to Rainbow, who had given the princess a slight nod. Altair guessed that meant that Rainbow trusted the Princess’s judgement.
“Alright, this won’t hurt.” Celestia’s horn began to glow with a cyan aura and she slowly lowered it to Altair, giving him a moment to remove his hood. When he had done it, she pressed the horn to his forehead.
Instantly, Altair lost all of his external senses. Everything was nothing but a pure white light, until several images started to flash in his mind. These images were so fast, Altair couldn’t comprehend what they were.
The images finally settled onto one image: a city filled with buildings made of stone and wood, blanketed by a light fog and a settlement that was separated from the open sea by a giant wall. Acre. One of the cities involved with the long and secret crusade Altair had fought.
Inside the city was a crowd of citizens huddled around stage that held a scaffold with four people hung by the neck off of it. Three knights were on the platform. They wore black and grey clothing and armor except for the white cross in the middle of their chest. Two of them stood on different ends of the platform, the third was walking back in forth between the two, howling at the whining crowd.
“See what become to those who betray our God!” The knight spoke with such pride. The crowd was so loud that hardly anyone heard a golden eagle’s cry. It took flight up toward to a church. There he stood, observing the environment and his targets. Altair knew that this was his time to strike, out in the open and under guarded.
Altair was a different person in his youth. His entire attitude was more arrogant, impatient and demanding. He blindly followed the Assassin’s Creed without question. Even his appearance was different. Altair’s outfit was a white robe with a leather sash with a red streak underneath it. He only had the one hidden blade this time, due to the fact that he hadn’t invented the technique yet, and he was ready for his kill.
He had made his equipment check before he entered the area. The latest weapon in Altair’s arsenal was a crossbow, positioned to where his short blade was usually. In this case, he placed his blade under his sash, slightly restricting his movement. He didn’t care, all he knew was that it was time to see these men die for the harm they brought to others.
The bell took its toll and Altair had made his move. He descended off the church in a discreet fashion. He didn’t want to attract attention, yet. Altair blended with the crowd, slightly moving forward by gently pushing people out of the way. Inch by inch, he made his way up until he decided that now his presence could be known. He picked up his pace, grasping the attentions of the knight up front. The middle one ordered an attack on the oncoming assailant.
The guard on Altair’s left was the first to approach the assassin, followed closely by the knight on the right. Altair anticipated this useless attempt. He grasped his crossbow and took his shot on the left knight. The one on the right tried to attack the assassin with his sword, but failed as Altair dodged to the left and brought down the assailant with his crossbow.
With a burst of speed, Altair used the wounded knight as a ledge to make a jump. He flicked his left wrist and his blade sprang to life. The assassin drove it into the neck of the final knight, bringing him down to the ground. After the final blow, Altair used his right hand to close the eyes of his fallen enemy, showing some respect. The raging crowd was then silent.
Altair heard a noise coming from his rear and looked, seeing a city guard coming on his right back side. He began to run off to his left, avoiding any patrols that were present. Altair became instinctually aware of his surrounding environment and did everything he could to avoid disturbing it, including dodging civilians, not knocking over a jar or running into extra guard patrols, even the dust was undisturbed.
He made his way to an alley, where a single guard rushed to him dead on. Altair jumped onto a cart and quickly ascended to the wall, barely avoiding the sword attack. He climbed up to the roof, where there was no resistance. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Altair tried to escape the guards, but had no success. They kept their eyes on him the whole time. He had to do something to get them to lose sight of him. Altair had an idea.
The assassin had jumped off the last rooftop and onto a city guard, bringing him down. He took off only to notice a thug trying to grasp him. Altair barely dodged it until he came to a complete stop in front of a set of doors. He looked back to see what kind of situation he was in. As he turned around, the doors behind him opened, releasing a large number of people all dressed in white and spreading out in their own directions. Scholars. Thanks to the church, this group of people were untouchable by anyone. Due to their similar clothing, Altair took the opportunity to hide in the crowd and lose the guard. Once he had made his way around, the entire setting was fading away.
The only thing Altair could do was collapse on the ground, completely disoriented. It took him a minute to regain his senses and look around the room he was in. He was back in the library’s basement, in a land inhabited by ponies. The elder assassin blinked rapidly to rid himself of his blurry vision.
“Forgive me. The experience can be disorienting to those who are not used to the process.” Celestia spoke. Her eyes were closed and had her head leveled to the ground.
“What was that? It felt like I relived that moment in time.” Altair asked before he started to cough.
“Memory spell. It allows ponies to view certain memories. The drawback is, it forces the owner to relive the memory whether they want to or not.” Celetia had finally opened her eyes and looked at Altair, who had just finished coughing. There was something different in her eyes though. It wasn’t horror or grief Altair had expected. Instead, it was something he swore he was mistaken. It seemed to be relief.
Celestia took a quick glance to her left and Altair follow to see Rainbow Dash standing right next to him with concern in her eyes. He was actually surprised to see her like this. As soon as she noticed her expression, she quickly changed it to aggression.
Shaking his head, Altair stood up to his full height and took a deep breath, trying his best to fight his fatigue.
“I’m assuming that the process can also cause tiredness?” Altair asked Celestia.
“Sometimes it can. Depending on the species does it have different effects.”
Altair looked around the area to see that Twilight was still working on the machine, and Rainbow was still next to him. Celestia looked to the window outside to see that she needed to lower the sun for the night.
“I understand that you have no place to sleep?” Celestia asked.
“You are correct. I haven’t been able to hunt for anything to ensure my survival.”
“I have a spare bed you can use. It’s in the guest room above.” Twilight interjected. Altair looked over to her.
“You have my gratitude.” Altair said.
“One question though, are you a herbivore, carnivore or omnivore?” Twilight had finally looked at him, only to be met by a confused look from the assassin.
“Do you eat plants, meat or both?” Twilight was wearing her annoyance on her face.
“Both.” He had replied.
“Then it is settled. Twilight will provide shelter until Altair can find his own, however, Rainbow will be the one to watch over our guest.” Celestia spoke, clearly giving an order.
“WHAT!?!” Rainbow screamed. “Why do I have to watch him?”
“Since you have proven your interest in him, I want you to be the one to help into our society.”
“But I don’t have any interest in him. I’m just worried out everypony.” Rainbow replied.
“Thus, to ease your mind over this concern, you get to help him adjust to our ways.” Celestia gave Rainbow a stare that made her shut down, not making another comment. Celestia looked at Altair.
“Now, I must depart, I have my responsibilities to attend to.” And with that said, she disappeared into a flash, leaving small little glints of light.
“It’s going to take a while for the computer to analyze the data and put together a ratio. We best head upstairs and make something to eat.” Twilight began trotting upstairs and opened the door, gesturing Altair to follow. He looked over to Rainbow, who was still sitting on the ground, silent.
“Are you coming?” Altair held out his hand to her. She simply responded with a sigh.
“Yeah, I’m coming. Listen, no offence but I’m not happy about having to keep an eye on you.” Rainbow said.
“I don’t understand you.”
“And what do you mean by that?” Rainbow said with a snippy attitude.
“For the first few minutes you have known me, you have treated me with distrust and hostility. I understand that. However, after the princess looked through my mind, your attitude toward me has changed to a degree.”
“Well, since the Princess didn’t attack you after running through your head, I’m guessing that you’re not that bad.”
True, except you were checking on me immediately after Celestia and I severed the connection.
“Well, I guess that is as good a reason as I can take.” Altair walked up the stairs with Rainbow directly behind him. As they exited the basement, Altair was greeted by the smell of cooked vegetables. After all that had happened to him today, he didn’t feel the need to eat. The only thing he felt was fatigue.
Altair followed the scent, wondering what it was, to an area that was packed with different kinds of plant based food, neatly placed all over the counters. Inside was Twilight and Spike. As the assassin entered the kitchen, he could feel the tension in the air. Someone, Somepony, Altair corrected, was extremely nervous.
“So… is the Princess dining with us?” Spike asked with hesitation in his voice.
“No Spike. She had important things to do and had to leave.” Twilight answered.
Spike immediately let out a sigh and wiped his forehead.
“Okay, sorry. Was trying my best to make a good impression.”
“You still can.” Twilight pointed one of forehoof over toward Altair.
“So I take it he is staying with us?” Spike sounded unhappy about that.
“Only for a while. Twilight, if you could show me to my quarters, I would be thankful.” Altair asked.
“Oh, sure. Follow me.” Twilight led him out of the kitchen and up the stair in main library, to a room with nothing more than a small bed and a window. Altair walked over to the bed, looking at it with displeasure. He knew it was too small for the likes of him. The assassin turned to Twilight with the intention of thanking her for her hospitality, but saw that Twilight was doing something.
Her horn was lit up and an aura of magic surrounded the bed. After a few seconds of nothing, the bed began to enlarge in size, eventually the point where Altair thought it was a little large. When the aura receded, Altair turned his sights to Twilight, who was now panting and covered in sweat.
“Transfiguration magic is quite powerful, and unfortunately I’m not that skilled with it. Well, now that is done, I wish a good night sleep.”
“On you as well.” Altair said.
Twilight shut the door behind her as she left the room, leaving the old man alone. He laid on his back on the newly enlarged bed, and started to think about the events of the day. No matter how many times he tried to focus, his mind centered around his late wife and the events in the white area before his arrival. His eyes grew heavy and his sight grew dim, and finally, he fell asleep.
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very very nice
I'm digging this story man! Please keep it up!
I like what you did with the memory flashback.....thing sounds exactly like the intro vid from the first game.
4046390 That was the point. I wanted to write in the Intro video because honestly, that is my personal favorite E3 trailer out of all of them.
Same here
4047736
the assassins outfit during Atlair time were more slim and not many unnecessary stuff like that big belt or straps that didn't carry anything from ezios time,
4047736 Witch AC game does this takes place in?
interesting. Surprisingly well written and as far as i can tell a little bit of early stage tsundere Dash. And im a sucker for dash
4256119 The first AC.
So, when are you going to continue this, cause this story is really intresting and I would hate to see it get canceled.
This story is very intriguing (to me anyways, don't know about everyone else) and I'd love to see this story continued. Do you plan on continuing this? Because I'd hate it being canceled just like the others who'd hate it.
I honestly like it a lot. Keep it up!!!
5346876 so true
God I really hope this didn't die...
ALTAIR IS BEST ASSASSIN!!!
This is good! (Please continue
)