Harmony's Creed: Brotherhood

by Gapeagle

Chapter 12: The Archives

"She's making you go to the Royal Archives? Bahaha!"

"Oi! Don't you mock me, I accidentally volunteered. I'm still cloggy-so from the siren singing, that's all."

Vinyl did not stop her laughing even after Octavia explained the circumstances. She still had her head back, giggling to the point Octavia rolled her eyes in annoyance. Her arms crossed and leaned on one side until the Assassins decided to calm down.

"Wow, I mean, wow!" Vinyl chuckled. "Were ya demoted or something? Oh wait, ya can't be demoted, ya already at the bottom! Reading duty! Pfft!"

"Well, maybe she sent me because I can actually read more than ten words!" Octavia jeered back.

"I can read more than ten! I can read at least thirty!" Vinyl smiled back and held three fingers in the air. "That's three times as much as ya would've thunk."

"Then you should become a scholar," Octavia broke into a smile. "Being an Assassin apparently is under-qualified for an outstanding individual as yourself."

Vinyl sat up and leaned on the couch with her arms spread apart on the top. "I know it is. However, ya gotta have someone do it, am I right?"

The two laughed some more when the Grandbearer walked in. She was not paying much attention to them when she neared them, as she was reading a book and her free hand was twirling her purple hair about by her ear. Her throat hummed a little tune and she stopped right before Octavia, closed the book, and placed it by her side.

"Seems like you two are well today," she said with her usual warmness.

"Hardly," Octavia joked. "Vinyl is still mocking me for being a Novice."

"Well, that's about to end, because you have earned a promotion," Twilight placed her hand on Octavia's shoulder. "I was thinking about it last night and you've been through plenty since you've joined. I believe you have enough experience to be promoted. Octavia, you are no longer Novice, you are now Servant."

"Just like that?" Vinyl huffed. "Do I get a promotion too?"

"Not until I say so," Twilight said playfully. "Congratulations, Octavia."

"I...thank you, Grandbearer," Octavia bowed. "I won't disappoint you."

"Good, then are you ready to go to the Archives? I have the list," Twilight took a thick scroll from her sash.

"Yes, I am ready."

"Well, good then, but we should wait a few more hours. The Archives are busy with scholars during the day, so it would be best to enter at sundown."

"Of course," Octavia nodded.

"Well then," Twilight said awkwardly. "Congratulations again and um, see you later."

Twilight then walked away as suddenly as she came. Octavia felt smug for acquiring the new rank, but the title felt just as demeaning as the first. From Novice to Servant, how quaint, she thought sarcastically. Vinyl was still on the couch, her arms folded but her face showing that she was not unhappy in the slightest. In fact, when she jumped to her feet, she was smiling broadly.

"I just remembered. I got something I made for ya the other day. It's not my design, but I thought it would help me move along. Come with me."

The new Servant raised a brow at her friend, but followed her to one of the back rooms of the Den. It was a darker part of the hideout where not many Assassins lounged about. Half of this room was simply used for storage of ammunition and a place to store broken or misshapen weaponry. The other half was not as much in the shadows and had a grindstone and an anvil. It was a place to give patchwork to weapons without having to seek a blacksmith. Some of the veteran Assassins knew the basics of smiting and could forge more simple objects. However, blacksmithing was a trade that required a life of training, so the Brotherhood heavily relied on the Canterlot blacksmiths for aid.

"Here we are," Vinyl said as she picked up an oddly designed object. "I made this for you."

She handed it over to Octavia. The Servant looked at it. It was a hidden blade, but heavily modified. Instead of a blade, there was a metal hook. It was also heavier than most wrist blades, being armored and more refined than the leather one she wore. More straps were also present as it was clearly designed to take the weight of the user and spread it along the instead of simply on the wrist.

"A hook? Why in Equestria do I need this?" she asked.

"It's something the Brotherhood designed for older Assassins to get about. Ya see, this hook will allow to reach farther than ya hand and catch things easier when climbing."

Octavia frowned. "Are you saying that I am old?"

"With that face, I can't say you're young," Vinyl joked. "But seriously, naw, I'm saying ya not a good runner. Some people just get better at it than others. What's important is not ya skill, it's your ability to run away safely. I made this to increase ya chances of surviving."

Without looking up at her friend, she continued to look at the new device. "Well then, I thank you," she said and slipped off her wrist blade put the new one in its place, but Vinyl stopped her almost immediately.

"You don't have to use just one blade," she told her quietly. "Ya can have both."

"But that is reserved for the Bearers or the Den Masters," Octavia protested. "It would be amiss to do such a thing."

"Who cares about that, I mean, really?" Vinyl insisted. "Ya gotta be able to survive and having everything you need is just for the better. Besides, Rarity helped design that blade to fit you. Ya can't just cast it aside."

Octavia stopped her. "I understand, but I am still not on the best of terms with the Brotherhood. Doing something like this will show that I lack the discipline to follow the simplest of laws. I shall put my first wrist blade by my bed. I will not forget it, but your device is arguably more functional and thus it is better for me to use it."

---

Octavia hooked a ledge and pulled herself up. Since it was in the late evening, anyone entering the Archives from the front door would be no doubt suspicious. It was time to infiltrate it like an Assassin: through the windows. It was not an easy climb. Even the lowest parts of the Palace were extremely high, making the constant high winds an issue. Octavia had to remove her hood as it flapped madly around her.
She reached a series of large windows. She blocked the fading light and tried to look inside, but the glass was too thick to look through. With a tired grunt, she started sliding sideways, looking for an opening of some sort. As she went out higher and farther, she was about to be above where the Palace hung out from the mountain, leaving only the valley below her.

"Just don't look down," she whispered.

She decided to climb up again to another level. With a glance, she could see a balcony two stories higher. There's an access point. Her hook delve into a small crevice, allowing her to pull herself up. She had to repeat this action to reach the small balcony.

With one final effort, she pulled herself over the railing and out of the wind. Her hand pulled her hood back over her head and she crouched down as she approached the single door entrance. She first tested the handle to see if it was locked. Fortunately, it was not. Slowly, she opened the door and crept inside the Palace. The hallway she entered was mostly dark as the windows did not let much light in.

With her body low to the ground, she briskly moved down the hall. She knew roughly where the Archives were from her position. The years of wandering through the Palace were now aiding her in navigating the maze-like halls and corridors. Since most of the halls looked the same, their only major differences being what was in the stained-glass windows, it was not easy.

As she slithered down a flight of steps, a pair of Royal Guards appeared at the bottom. They were chatting together in what was an intense debate about something Octavia could not make out. With only seconds to spare, she hid behind the corner of a wall and waited until they passed. Their armored footsteps were louder than her hushed breathing. Once they went by her, she slipped out once more and continued downward.

"All this for some bloody books. Well, knowing the Grandbearer, I should not be surprised."

Octavia reached a well-lit corridor more in the center of the Grand Palace. By the edge of the light, she stopped when she saw two Royal Guards, one being in bright purple armor, were speaking with the blind Empress Luna. The Guard in purple had his helmet off in respect to the Empress, his long blue hair reached his large shoulder guards. Octavia could see that this purple Royal Guard was Shining Armor.

"Your Highness, we have been seeing more and more of these peasant gatherings not only in Canterlot, but on the countryside of Equestria as well," Shining Armor told Luna.

"I am not concerned by these petty revolts, Captain," Luna said. "These peasants may call themselves 'Equalists' or whatever they wish, but that makes them no threat to me or my sister's authority."

"Are you sure, Your Highness?" the Captain asked. "They seem organized for simple riots. One of the northern villages has declared themselves separate from the Empire. I feel there is something more going on."

"You are always suspicious, Captain Armor," Luna sighed. "Let not your superstitions or conspiracy theories get in the way. Peasants and the impoverished people will always feel that the world is unfair. The world is unfair and they must learn to cope with it. If you cannot discourage these maddened people, then I should tell Celestia to appoint a new Captain of the Guard."

"Empress Luna, I fear that whoever is inciting these riots are the same ones who took your eyes," Captain Armor said quietly. "You know who I speak of."

"There could be ears listening, Captain. You should be more careful before blabbering like a fool," Luna scolded him in a hushed voice. "If you are so worried, then I shall allow you to control more men for the time being. Flush out whatever conspiracy you feel is present. Be careful, do not incite anything that is worthy of a revolt. Be like my sister, calm and methodical."

"Thank you, Your Highness, I will not fail you!" he bowed before he and his fellow Guard walked away.

Luna stood back there, not watching anything, and shook her head. Her face was that of one both confused and disappointed. She then absently adjusted the blue ribbon that was covering her ruined eyes.

Octavia watched from the shadows. Just go already. The Archives were not far from where she was, but the younger Empress was blocking the path to it.

Suddenly, Luna's head turned directly to Octavia's direction. The eyeless face seemed to look straight at the Assassin. She held this long stare for longer than normal before shrugging one shoulder and leaving the area. Octavia's heart leaped, but once she saw the Empress go away, she relaxed.

"I guess I made a sound," Octavia said to herself.

Seeing that the Empress had left, Octavia quickly crept through the last hallway until reaching the Archive door. The door was large and round, engraved with many Latin phrases about knowledge and philosophy. The center part of the door was a carving of the great tree of Knowledge, Yggdrasil. Like everything in the Palace, it was made to perfection.

Octavia went to one knee and stuck her hidden blade in the large keyhole. To her surprise, it was not locked nor even fully closed. Fearing that someone was still in there, she quietly opened the iron door. Once it was wide enough to enter, she slipped inside.

She had been inside the Archives before, but every time made her want to drop her jaw. The Archives were built in a spiral fashion, with book shelves winding upwards and curved stairs. It was much taller than it was wide. At the bottom where she was at, there were lines of normal bookshelves. Her mind did not want to guess how many books were in this massive collection.

She pulled out the list. To her disappointment, the titles were all far apart on the alphabetical scale. The last letters of the alphabet were placed at the top of the Archives, which meant climbing countless number of stairs. She sighed as she read the last name on the list "Yggdrasil: The Legend."

"This is going to be so fun..."

She looked about before going deeper into the Archives. Her first book started with a "b" so she climbed only one flight of stairs before reaching the level she wanted. With the fading light, she had to look closely at each title. With the bookshelves being 15 feet high, she worried about one of the books being on the top shelves. With a groan, she reached for the shelves to climb up. She didn't see any ladders present, so she simply used her hands.

Running her finger over the titles in the dark was not easy. Some of the books were faded and their words were only barely legible in daylight. She could only hope the books that she couldn't read were not the ones she was seeking. With gritted teeth, she kept looking, occasionally cursing under her breath with frustration.

Suddenly, her foot slipped, knocking one of the books on a lower shelf down to the floor. She winced when the loud thud echoed through the Archives. She listened to hear for a reaction to the sound, but nothing was heard. She climbed higher and started to look at the books there.

"B....B....B...R hmm..." she read one title. "Ahah!" she exclaimed upon seeing the title being one on her list.

She then covered her mouth instantly. Her excitement for actually finding a book made her careless for that moment. Her ears listened carefully. Unlike last time, she could hear movement down below. It could have been some page moving in a breeze it was so slight a sound. She kept still and held her breath.

One book beside her was suddenly ripped apart by a flying lead ball that roared from a pistol below. With haste, Octavia leaped off the shelf and ran to cover. She quickly slid over a desk and hid behind it. Her heart racing from the near-death experience.

"Damn you!" a female voice growled. "You made me shoot a book. Why didn't you just take the hit?"

"Oi!" Octavia yelled. "Why don't you just have better aim?"

The Assassin could hear the woman reloading the pistol. She was quite used to the sound, so she recognized that something was wrong. Octavia popped her head over the desk to see a young woman with large spectacles trying to reload a worn out pistol. The woman clearly had no idea of how to reload the firearm and was struggling mightily in her ignorance. Seeing that there was no danger, Octavia stood up and folded her arms.

"You don't even have the hammer half-cocked," the Assassin said.

"Quiet!" she grumbled. "I know my father's pistol well enough!"

"If you keep messing with it like that, you'll blow your fingers off. It would be wise to put the pistol down."

"And let a scoundrel like you take my books?" the woman snarled. "Ha! I'll blow you and your mother up for this. No one takes my books! No one!"

"Are you the librarian?"

The woman cursed and stop reloading. She glared at Octavia and adjusted her spectacles. "Of course I am! Who else would be in here at this time?"

"A Royal Guard? Perhaps anyone who lives in the Grand Royal Palace?" Octavia mockingly suggested.

"I live here too. My room's right over there. This is my home, my Archives of Knowledge. You are a common thief and I'll hang you from the World's Balcony for the damage you've caused."

"You shot the book."

"You didn't let the bullet hit you!"

Octavia sighed and walked over to the fearless librarian. She took out her list to see the young woman. Being close to her in the dark, she saw that the woman was not at all in good condition. She was pale and incredibly thin, much like a rodent from a cave. The spectacles made her eyes look bigger than what they were, having large bags under her lids. Her hair was hastily put up in some wild knot. Her clothes were just as ragged as she was; which was surprising for her occupation.

"Now, I am here for Twilight Sparkle."

"That scum?" the librarian grunted. "She left me here. My day's been ruined hearing that her hide is still alive."

"That's not nice," Octavia said.

"Hmph! I pity you. She'll act like she's your friend and all and then one day leaves without a notice. And now she's hiring thieves to take my property!"

"I'm not a thief."

"Ha!" the librarian scoffed. "You're here after it's closed and are taking books without coming to me. You're bloody stealing."

"Alright, you have me there. However, we do plan on returning them."

"Yeah, coming from Twilight, that's as worthless as my mother's grave."

"Alright, forget about Twilight. Here, can you find me these books? It's very important that I get them. Your Archives are vast and I'll be here all night to find them. I promise to you that there shall be no trouble. I used to walk these halls as well, I know respect."

The librarian read the list. "Hmph, what fascinates you with this? It's all the legends and historical myths. Yggdrassil? Artifacts? Bunch of nonsense."

"It doesn't matter why. I need them now."

"Well, don't ask me to do it."

"What? You're the librarian! You are most qualified to help me!" Octavia said loudly.

"Hmph," the librarian smiled. "I'm just a distraction. Hope you enjoy the dungeons."

Octavia then heard it. The Archive doors flung open with Royal Guards running in. They had all heard the sound of the gunshot. Why was I so careless? The lights of their torches illuminated the dark Archives. In no time, she had at least four pistols pointed at her. The librarian simply grinned and stepped back to the protection of the armored men.

"Hold still book thief," a Guard said and then looked at the librarian. "Thank you for helping us, Moondancer."

"Pleasure," she returned. "She was looking for these books."

Moondancer handed the guard the list. Octavia cursed under her breath as she held her hands up in surrender. Another entered the Archives. It was the person Octavia absolutely did not want to see. The Royal Guards stepped to the side while still holding up their weapons as Empress Celestia stood in between them. She held a smug look that Octavia was so accustomed to seeing.

"Thief, remove your hood," she ordered

"No, my lady. I do not want to do so," Octavia spoke in a false accent.

"Do as she commands!" a Royal Guard barked.

Octavia swallowed her hands took the sides of her hood. Her heart beat loudly and she slowly removed it from her head. Celestia smug look instantly vanished and her eyes widened terribly. Her lips trembled and her face went from shock to anger. Octavia felt the sun stare her down and sweat ran down her face. Celestia then took one of the pistols from a Guard.

"Leave us," she told her men.

"Your Highness?" one asked.

"Now!" she ordered.

The men saluted and then promptly walked out of the Archives. Moondancer remained there until Celestia glared at her to leave. The librarian gulped under the glare and left quickly leaving the two there alone. Octavia lowered her hands and took a step forward.

"I can explain-"

"No you can't," Celestia said and raised her gun up, "Assassin."

"It was my only option. I was living in the streets. I was a mess that needed to be saved," Octavia spoke hesitantly.

"Did you kill my men? Did you?"

"No. I have not killed any Royal Guard. That's the absolute truth, You Highness."

"So because you were framed, you became Twilight's grunt?"

"I would say that it is more complicated than that." Octavia shrugged.

Celestia lowered the pistol. "I believe you. Luna and I thought you were dead. Killed by some vagrant out there. I dreamed that you would come back. Well, here you are, you're back but wearing the robes of an Assassin. Your blades have already tasted blood. I can tell by your eyes. You think you carry justice under your wrists."

"He had to die."

"That's what all Assassins say."

"Your Highness, Celestia, my mentor and my mother, I have nothing against you. I am serving a better cause now."

"Don't mention your mother. I am not your mother. I never was. You left her and I picked you up. Now you left me. That's seems to be what you are best at."

"It's never been like that and you know it. I always strive to be the best that I can be. Well I am. I am where I was always meant to be. You may not agree with us, but you and I are family, no matter what. I never came back because I was afraid of you. I am still afraid of you and Luna. I thought you living in the ignorance of my new life would benefit you. I didn't want you to be...disappointed in me and how my life has turned. You lost Twilight to the Brotherhood and I simply did not want you to grieve ending up the same way."

"Octavia," the motherly voice whispered. "I am sad that you chose such a group, but I do know the intentions of the Brotherhood. I do not agree with them nor their methods, but I cannot make myself hate you. You are bright, pretty, and full of determination. If you put your mind to it, you achieve great things. You are a great student and you always will be. Your talent will not be lost to the Assassins for they shall benefit from you. I struggle if I should inform Luna of your new life for she may take it harshly. However, I can assure you that I wish you the best. I hope you stay as within the law as you can. I will also say that you are a criminal and that it would be unjust of me to treat you differently from the scum of the streets. I must keep myself neutral as a supreme ruler should. Now go. Go before I order my men to arrest you. You are not taking my books. If Twilight wants them, she can ask for them."

"Thank you so much, Your Highness!" Octavia said gratefully. "I can never repay all that you've done for me."

The Assassin then turned around to the windows. One of them was able to be opened, so she unlocked it and swung it wide enough for her to slip through. Once she did this, she closed it back. Being outside the Grand Royal Palace made her sigh in relief. However, her gut was aching in guilt. She saw the sadness on her mentor's face. It hurt to recall it so clearly. The Assassin began to climb down with a deep frown on her face.

"Oh, if only it didn't end up this way. Well, at least I got one book," she said and looked down at her pouch.

When she was halfway down, a loud noise echoed through the sky. It sounded like an explosion. Her head turned southward and behold! a fire was swarming the southern end of the capital! Another explosion was heard and she saw a fireball reach towards the stars. Canterlot was under attack! Her heart dropped as she saw the devastation.

"The Templar.....They attacked the Den!"

~

Comments

[JMP]

I am sad that you chose such a group, but I do not the intentions of the Brotherhood.

Missing a word there.

The Templar.....They attacked the Den!

I get the feeling Twilight intentionally sent Octavia out of harm's way.

[Gapeagle]

7389032 Not a missing word, just a wrong word I'm rusty.

[Amethyst Blade]

I made this to increase ya chances of survivor.

surviving

[badninja]

So what was in those books I wonder. Also wow Celestia is pissed that Twilight joined the Assassins, hopefully it doesn't completely ruin her relationship with Octavia.

[Kriysix]

Needs more Starlight Glimmer saving the world.

[Gapeagle]

7389343 We'll get there.

[Acoustic Pulse]

Fantastic story so far. I haven't read anything since this story was released, I definitely like how things have been playing out.

[Gapeagle]

7393904 Thanks mate, appreciate it!