The Twilight Assassin

by Silentpegasus

Chapter XVII: Mindscape

Chapter XVII

Mindscape

Ebony made her way down to the cafeteria, dark circles under her eyes and not at all feeling rested thanks to the odd dreams that had flooded her mind. Dreams that had much to do with Saber. Most of them were fragments that made almost no sense. There were also images of a pretty woman with dark brown hair. She looked ahead and saw Twilight staring vacantly out one of the large windows that looked out to the courtyard.

Her gaze seemed to be fixated on a far off tree. Ebony called out to her, but she didn’t respond. She walked closer until she was right next to the Princess. “Twilight?” Not until she put a hand on her shoulder did the Princess respond.

She visibly jumped and spun, she calmed herself when she saw it was Ebony. “No offense, but you look terrible Twilight.” Twilight turned and looked at herself in the reflection of the glass window, she saw the bags under her eyes and the paleness of her skin.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” She felt sick as the images of the night’s events played through her mind. She shivered again. “I had dreams, or something having to do with Saber.” Ebony’s dark brows raised.

“I also saw images of him along with a brown haired woman.” Twilight’s face blanched.

“I heard my name?” Twilight jumped again as the familiar voice rang out. She turned to see the white haired man. A deep pang of sadness sounded in her as she looked at the man. “Twilight you look dreadful.”

“Trouble sleeping.” Ebony answered for her. He pondered the words for a moment.

“I believe I may know the cause of that.” He gestured them into a nearby empty room before he spoke again. “When you two foolishly interrupted my interrogation yesterday it created a temporary link between our minds. When you let go, it was severed, but not before a few things got through.”

“What kind of things?” Twilight asked.

“Dreams, thought process, maybe a habit or two. You’ll know if you get anything from me if you have the urge to learn the lute, or if you develop a hatred for wicker furniture.” His mouth formed a thin line. “Woven straw glued together is not meant to be sat on.” A question forced it’s way to Twilight’s lips.

“What about memories?” Saber raised an eyebrow and looked at the two women curiously. His head slowly tilted to one side and narrowed his eyes. Twilight felt as if an invisible claw was poking at her brain.

“I suppose it’s possible.” Twilight imagined a wall in an attempt to force the claw out. It scratched a long line against the surface. Twilight forced her concentration on the point and managed to push the claw away. A small smile appeared on Saber’s face and nodded in approval at her attempt to guard against his mind’s onslaught. “Anyway, about what we talked about last night, let’s see what you’ve got.”

Ebony raised a groomed eyebrow and looked to Twilight.

“I asked Saber to instruct me on self defense.” Ebony looked a little affronted at why she had not asked her. Her gaze shifted to Saber who gave her a nonchalant shrug.

“She made the right call. Now, hold your arms out.” Twilight did so as he walked up and started to poke and prod her sides, arms legs and chest making her flinch and blush at some points. “Not much fat, but not a lot of muscle either.” He said as if he were assessing a slab of meat he was thinking on purchasing. “Captain could you come over here and take off your shirt?”

Now it was Ebony’s time to go red in the face. “Just so we can see your stomach.” She huffed and rolled up her shirt just below her breasts, blushing all the while. Saber pointed to Ebony’s lean stomach that had a firm wall of muscle. He gave it a gentle tap with his hand and it bounced off. “See, that comes from years of hard work, pain, determination and hard work.”

“You said hard work twice.”

“That’s because it takes twice as much hard work as the other two.” He commented with a smile. “Now we don’t have the kind of time to get you to that level, but there might be a way to speed up the process.” Before he could voice his method, he held up a hand. “Someone is coming.” They all turned to look at the door just as a soldier arrived.

“Beg your pardon ma’am, your majesty.” The guard gave them a waist high bow. “There’s a visitor waiting for you in the foyer.”

“We are quite busy.” Ebony stated firmly. “Who is it?”

“Prince Shining Armor,” Twilight’s face lit up with excitement while Saber’s lips formed a thin line.

“We’ll discuss this later.” He said before heading into the hall. Twilight and Ebony quickly made their way to the foyer where a tall man with shoulder length blue hair stood, arms crossed behind his back. He was in dress uniform with a few ribbons pinned on the front near a bright red sash that ran from his left shoulder to his right hip.

“Shining!” He turned hearing his name and smiled as he saw Twilight. He gave her a hug big enough to lifter up off her feet. “Put me down.” She said while laughing. He did so and she steadied herself. “It’s good to see you, but what are you doing here?”

“Can’t an older brother drop in and see how his little sister is doing?” She furrowed her brow in mock anger. “Celestia heard about the merchant business and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Twilight smiled at the concern in his eyes.

“I’m okay, they didn’t even touch me.” Shining seemed a little relived at this statement and looked to Ebony.

“My thanks Captain.” Ebony gave him a respectful nod.

“It was my duty sir.” He chuckled.

“No need for formalities Ebony. We’re all friends here.” He smiled.

“Speak for yourselves.” Shining’s head turned towards Saber who was leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed. The Prince’s expression went stern as he saw the white haired man.

“Enjoying your freedom then?” Saber shrugged.

“Not so bad when you get used to an actual bed and food that’s not rotten.” His tone was flat. The two men eyed each other up as the tension rose.

“Well, you can thank me at anytime.”

“For?”

“Getting you out of that hell hole.” Saber raised an eyebrow at his words. He wondered how Celestia had found him, he didn’t think it was Shining.

“Let’s have this conversation elsewhere.” Twilight said as she ushered them all into a side room. She closed the door behind them and hoped a fight was not about to break out between them.

“If what you say is true, then why did you bother getting me out?” Shinning shrugged.

“We needed someone who was familiar with underhanded tactics and not afraid to spill some blood.”

“Do my ears deceive me? That almost sounded like a compliment.” Shinning narrowed his eyes.

“I pay my debts.” Saber raised an eyebrow as he looked at Shining. “I know it was you that night all those years ago.”

“Shining what are you talking about?” Twilight asked as she looked between them. Her violet eyes starting to narrow on the assassin.

“He saved my life.” A long silence sprouted between the four of them. Twilights eyes shifted to Saber, to Shining then back again. Ebony’s golden eyes were wide as dinner plates and was equally stunned. Saber uncrossed his arms and broke the silence.

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” Saber said plainly.

“Deny it all you want, but I know it was you who saved my life that night.” Saber only rolled his eyes at the words. “You saved my life, I saved yours, I’d say that makes us even.”

“Continue with your fantasies, but I won’t listen to them.” He said as he turned to leave.

“Stop.” Twilight said in a commanding tone. “I want to hear about what happened between you two.” Saber turned and leaned against the wall before gesturing towards the Prince.

“Fine, I’ll humor you.” Shining cleared his throat and looked at Ebony.

“Could you give us the room?”

“Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of her.” Twilight stated firmly. Shinning let out a sigh.

“You understand that what I tell you cannot leave this room?” Ebony nodded firmly. “I was not the only candidate for the Captain of the Royal Guard. There were two others; Ivory Ventus and Victor Green.”

“The White Witch?” Ebony commented. Saber had heard of the General stationed to the West. A foreigner had rose through the ranks and became a powerful battle mage coupled with a genius mind for strategy. She’d wiped out countless bandit camps and hunted down several renegades during her career.

“Yes, Ivory declined the position. She said it’d be too boring for her, but she was still a candidate and Green, though brilliant in his own right had a lot of schemes going on behind the scenes and was only considered for the position because of his connections in the court.” He scratched his head as he continued. “One night I was in my quarters and there was someone there waiting for me.” Twilight took in a sharp breath. “The masked man drugged me with a poison that paralyzed me and negated my magic. Just when he was going in for the kill, another man burst through the window and a fight ensued between them.” He stated as he set his jaw.

“Did you get a good look at them?” Ebony asked.

“I couldn’t see their faces, they wore masks.” He gestured to the whole of his face. “As my feeling started to come back, the one who ambushed me was killed with a sword through his gut. Before I could stop him, my ‘savior’ fled with the man’s body. Evidence was found the next morning that Green had hired assassins to kill Ivory and I.”

“What about Ventus?” Twilight asked.

“She hadn’t seen anyone that night, but was awake and well when we checked on her.” The three then turned their attention to Saber who seemed as stoic as ever.

“Once again, I have no idea what you’re talking about. There’s more than just one assassin in the world. Furthermore you said both of them were wearing masks.” His tone was smooth as marble and just as firm.

“True, but I saw the person’s white hair,” Saber rolled his eyes again. “and their sword.” He narrowed his eyes on the Prince. “Haven’t seen a sword like that since.” Saber shrugged again.

“Am I supposed to be impressed or shocked? Because I still have no idea what you’re talking about.” He shrugged in annoyance. “But for the sake of your own indulgence, let me paint you a picture to go along with this crack pot theory.” He took a moment to cleared his throat.

“Let us say that a certain assassin caught wind that one of his colleagues had taken a job without his betters’ permission. This was not the first time this had happened and if he succeeded it would bring all kinds of unpleasant attention to the betters. So they sent someone in to stop and deal with their disloyalty, someone who the fool knew, someone who would have no problem taking down one of his own.” He gave them all a dark grin and Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine. “As I said, it’s only a theory.”

He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms before turning to Twilight. “Let me know when you’re done with your brother. We still need to talk.” With that, he walked out of the room and down the hall towards the room where his piano was. Once he was inside he locked the door before sitting down at the bench.

He started playing a few simple songs and melodies before stopping abruptly. “I bet you’re wondering if I know you’re here. I do, so why don’t you come out so we can talk? I look quite mad talking to an empty room.” There was a shimmer in the far corner of the room and Malik stepped into the light.

“Good day,” Saber said in Malik’s language. “can I help you with anything?” The larger changeling guard simply crossed his arms and glared at him. Saber slowly rose to his feet and cracked his neck. “Okay, how do you want to do this?”

Twilight spent most of the day talking with Shining as Ebony went around and performed her duties with Maya by her side. As the sun started to tuck behind the mountains and the sky turned orange, Shining made his farewell and caught a train back to Canterlot. Twilight made her way to Saber’s room and quietly knocked on the door.

“It’s open.” Twilight opened the door and saw the assassin at his desk with the odd object Ramil had given him. Much of it was broken down into smaller components. Twilight saw a small bruise on his cheek and there was a stiffness about him. “Have a nice chat with your brother?”

“What happened to your face?” He paused in his work at the question.

“Just ran into a tool.” He said calmly as he turned in his seat to look at her.

“You said you needed to talk to me about something?”

“Yes,” He stood and winced slightly as he rolled a shoulder. “you are severally out of shape and it would take months of training before you can properly defend yourself with your own two hands.” She furrowed her brows at these words. He stopped as the door opened to reveal the dark haired captain. “Right on time Captain, I was just about to explain my idea and it heavily involves you.”

“What hair brained scheme are you plotting?” She asked as she folded her arms under her chest. He grinned wolfishly at the two.

“As I was just about to explain, we need to properly train Twilight in self defense, but we don’t have the proper time to do so. Luckily I know a way to help speed up the process, but it is risky and will take a great deal of trust on all our parts.” Saber saw them both raise their brows at this. Ebony looked farm more suspicious than Twilight, but that was hardly anything new. “As you’re both aware I can go into another’s mind for a short period of time and extract information from them. I can also do this in reverse.”

“You can plant information into someone else’s mind?” He nodded as he turned his attention to Twilight.

“My idea is that I join our minds together for a short time and I implant my skills directly into your brain.” Twilight’s face went slightly pale at the words. “Think of it like copying down information from book onto parchment only a little more intimate.”

“That is insane.” Twilight protested. “My head is still hurting from that stunt you pulled yesterday.”

“As I’ve explained that was your fault, this will be different. We will have a secure connection and this is a common way to train in some areas of the world, primarily the Changeling Imperium.” Twilight blinked in surprise at the words. “It’s how they pass down secrets and other kinds of information from generation to generation. Ask the Prince about it, I’m sure he can tell you more.”

“How would this even work? We wouldn’t be training my body.”

“That’s where the good Captain comes in.” He looked to Ebony. “While I am teaching you the skills, Ebony will be training your body so that you can use these skills. I would do it myself, but this thing,” He gestured to his neck where the marks were. “prevents me from harming you.”

“Is pain necessary?” He gave her a frank look.

“Pain is the greatest teacher.”

“I will not harm my charge.” Ebony stated firmly.

“I’m not saying you beat her to a bloody pulp, but no one would raise a brow if you started giving Twilight private lessons. You are her guard while I am just a quill pushing advisor.” Twilight could certainly see the benefits but she didn’t feel it was safe. An idea slowly started to take root in her head and fought to keep her expression neutral.

“You’ve done this before?” Ebony and Saber looked to her in surprise.

“Yes, and it was a success.” He stated proudly. “I can transplant years worth of information within a matter of days. I suggest we do a little test first and if you don’t like it, then we can explore other options.” Twilight was silent for a long moment as she contemplated her words. For her idea to work she’d need his trust and access to his mind.

“Fine, we’ll try it.” Ebony’s jaw dropped and looked between them. Saber pulled up two chairs and set them in front of one another before taking a seat and gestured for her to sit. Twilight did so and waited for instruction. He held out his hands for her to take. She clasped them in hers and could feel the calloused skin against her smooth palms.

“This will feel a little weird, but bear with it.” Twilight braced herself as he closed his eyes and focused. She felt a throbbing in her mind as something pressed against her mind. It felt as if someone was prodding her forehead with a finger. The pressure increased and felt something break through.

Twilight gasped and opened her eyes to see a white void that seemed to have no end or beginning. Her feet touched what she assumed was the floor. It was cool like marble and was hard against her skin. As she looked down she realized that she was naked. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, your hips aren’t nearly as small as you imagine.”

She whirled and saw Saber standing dressed in the simple tunic he was wearing in the real world. Her face flushed bright red and she brought her chest to her knees to better cover herself.

“What is this place, where are we and why am I naked?” She shot a dark and embarrassed look at the assassin who stood there with an amused look on his face.

“I’ll answer those in order.” He said as he sat in a chair that appeared out of thin air. “This,” He gestured around them with both hands extended. “is my mindscape. Although I guess it is our mindscape. It is the meeting point between our minds, a blank canvas that we can use to paint the scene as we see fit. As for your lack of clothes, what you look like in here is entirely up to you and while fighting naked is sure to distract some people, it won’t work on me.” He gestured to his clothing and it changed to worn leather armor.

Twilight took a moment to concentrate on what she needed and she felt fabric form around her body. She looked down to see she was wearing a lavender tunic and dark brown pants. The Princess breathed a sigh of relief and stood to look around. The white void changed to a wooden interior matching a warehouse decorated with different training equipment. Balance beams were prevalent, ropes hung from the rafters and a circular depression covered in sand was in the center of it all.

“This place will do.” He said as he stepped into the pit and gestured for her to follow. Twilight stepped into the pit and felt the sand shift under her weight. She looked across the way and saw a wooden rack holding a full assortment of weapons and wondered which he would teach her first. “We won’t be needing those.”

With a snap of his fingers the rack and weapons evaporated before her eyes. She turned back to face him and saw he had shed the leather armor and his hands were wrapped. “We’re going to focus on hand to hand combat at first.” He raised both his fists and Twilight mimicked his stance.

“So what do I-” Her question was cut off as a fist slammed into her face. She crumpled at the blow and felt blood start running from her nose.

“Dodging.” He said as she got on her hands and knees. She noticed that the seal around his neck was dormant. “Remember, all of this is happening in our heads. You’ll feel the pain, but your body won’t take any damage.” Twilight frowned at him as she stood back up.

“Why did you do that?” Saber tilted his head and looked at her as if she just asked a particularly stupid question.

“The purpose of this is for you to learn how to fight. Only a fool warns their opponent that they're going to attack.” He rushed in again and kicked her in the ribs knocking her out of the ring. Twilight groaned as she felt her bruised ribs. This was going to be a very long training session.

They continued to spar for what felt like hours, possibly days on end. Ducking and blocking blows, Twilight couldn't even land a single hit on the assassin. He danced around her as if he were at a party. Eventually, Twilight learned how to dodge and block some simple attacks, she even managed to break some of his holds. “Not bad for a novice and you learn quickly.” Twilight felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips at the compliment. He crossed his arms and looked around as if he were looking for something.

“I think we’ll call it for today, but there is one thing I wanted to show you.” Twilight suddenly felt something slam into her chest. She looked down to see his sword sticking out from her chest. Twilight felt the ground fall out from her feet as she tipped back. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the world beginning to crumble around her and fell into darkness.

Her eyes flew open and gasped as she fell out of the chair she had been sitting in. She heard Ebony call out as her blade shot out of it’s sheath and was pressed against Saber’s throat. The assassin opened his eyes and looked down at the dark blade as if it were a piece of lint on his shirt. “Before you decide to take off my head, might I suggest inspecting the Princess.” Ebony turned and saw Twilight standing up, steadying herself on the chair.

“I’m okay.” She shook her head and regained her balance.

“Now that that’s cleared up,” He said as he turned to look at Ebony. “would you kindly remove your blade from my throat?” She huffed and sheathed her blade before going over to inspect Twilight. The Princess looked unhurt, aside from a slightly bloody nose. Twilight looked around and saw it didn’t look much darker outside.

“How long were we like that?”

“You two have been sitting like that for an hour.” Twilight was beside herself. There was no way that only an hour had passed since they had started. “Did it work?”

“I think so.” Twilight said as she rubbed her head. Saber stood up and cracked his back once.

“Well, I’ve done my part. Now captain, it’s up to you to get her in shape.” Ebony looked between the two of them in question. “Feel free to give her a test run.” He gestured towards Twilight to begin.

“I am not going to punch a Princess.” Ebony stated as she looked at Twilight in question.

“I will be alright captain, or do I have to order you to hit me.” Twilight gave Ebony a playful smile as she raised both fists. Ebony set her sword to the side as Saber took a seat to watch the event unfold. Ebony shook her hands out then closed them into fists. She obviously didn’t want to hurt Twilight, so she only jabbed at the Princess’s midsection.

Twilight batted the blow away deftly with her forearm. Ebony shot another jab out and the result was similar. Ebony continued to strike, even throwing a kick or two in and none of them managed to land a blow. Twilight could feel herself getting into the grove of combat. It wasn’t long before she started to throw a few punches Ebony’s way.

The captain evaded them with ease and continued to lightly attack the Princess without success.

“Quit pulling your punches captain.” Saber called out sternly. Ebony ignored him, but Twilight’s brow furrowed slightly at the words. She continued her managed to get by her defenses and her fist hit Ebony’s cheek. The captain took a single step back from the hit and Twilight immediately dropped her raised fists.

“I’m sorry!” She said quickly. “I figured you’d be able to block it.” Ebony raised a hand and rubbed the spot.

“I am okay Princess.” Ebony said with a small smile. “I have taken a lot more hits than that.” Twilight felt relived at the words. Saber stood expectantly as he looked at Ebony.

“Very good. Between the two of us, you might just become capable of winning a fist fight.” Twilight gave him a mocking laugh. “We’ll continue our lessons later, we all have business to attend to.” He left the room with a wave over his shoulder.

Once he was gone, Ebony turned to Twilight and asked her questions about what happened during the hour. Twilight explained the mindscape to Ebony and how it worked.

“I still don’t think it’s a good idea to be inside a trained killer’s mind.” Ebony said cautiously. “Who knows what horrors might be in there.” Twilight swallowed once before speaking again.

“I think I have a good idea.” Twilight then told her about the memory she had seen the night before and while the captain did not weep, Twilight saw her swallow down whatever emotions Twilight’s tale turned over. “Who knows how much he’s been through.” She said trying to keep her voice from quivering. “I think I can help him.”

Ebony shook her head slightly. “If I can get through to him, I believe I can.” She looked to Ebony who still had a skeptical look on her face. “What?”

“With all due respect Princess, there are some people you can’t help.” Twilight frowned at her words.

“If I gave up on helping people then I would not be here.”

“Some people are just incapable of changing no matter who or what tries to help or change them.” She said sternly. “I am sure Saber can tell countless stories about his troubled past and how hard his life has been, but the fact remains that he is a killer for hire. There’s no excuse for the lives he has taken.”

“We don’t know the circumstances.”

“Would they justify murder?” Twilight fell silent. Ebony sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I need to see to my soldiers.” She gave Twilight a bow before leaving. “Good day, your majesty.” Twilight did not respond before leaving the room.

Comments

[ShadowBolt96]

DODGE!

[kpatkoch]

8908990
They also say it in the original thief game in the second mission

[Hooper_Canson]

8909296
DODGE!

[Balewood]

Woohoo still around, Thanks for the new chapter!

[deathphoenix]

If I had that type of power, I would never stop using it on my friends

[rikusorasephiroth]

... recently got The Hitman's Bodyguard on DVD.

This chapter makes me think of a certain topic addressed in it.

[stephen51991]

8909296
8909331

[Fluffy-Boi]

Had to reread this story again cuz I forgot most of it. But I remember the characters and who I liked. Honestly. I don't mind Saber dating anyone of the characters.. But Twilight. I don't know why but those two together just doesn't sit well with me.

[Gearboxwithacigar]

Loved that this is back in action as well as seeing more of how much a badass Saber is, though I can't help but keep thinking on the romance tag in here......my hope is it's Ebony once she see's all the things she knows about him are lies

[Sunkiller]

More please

[foxsevent]

[carrs88]

Is this history dead??

[Sunkiller]

Please update

[Sunkiller]

There hasn't been an update in 3 years by my standards this book is effectively dead message me if theres an update.

[devotedcub66456]

NOOOOOOOOO IT OVER

[Sunkiller]

damn 4 years shame this was a really good book and with it one of my ships die

[technofan]

so sad this is dead

[Alot Master]

Will this story ever come back?

[Sunkiller]

10875344
no it is dead unfortunately

[Ciphers]

10909527