Strum is depressed and feels that there is no meaning in her life, she hopes to find her reason behind her cutie mark; but it isn't what she anticipated
To not know yourself is like not knowing anypony at all, for this is what Strum is like everyday. She sees herself but at the same time doesn't see herself, she needs a new perspective on her life; but it'll take a lot of stallion power and assassination.
Don't take this is an insult but sometimes I wish that nopony was in my life, it sounds cruel but it's true. I also sometimes wish that I didn't wish everypony away, thinking my life was meaningless and I didn't need anypony. I feel like a self-conflicting pony, always at war with myself and never thinking about how my actions can affect others and I. My very existence is dull and all I want is to go home, but I know for a fact it's too late for that; I ran knowing the consequences but never cared, always thinking that it wouldn't affect me. I now know to never run from my problems again; all it does is create more problems and makes me depressed. For me life is as dull as my existence; nopony likes my music or the way I act around others, whenever I offer to be nice to somepony they look down on me and tell me I'm pathetic and need more 'class'. Now I know why I should have never run away.
As a young filly I would often wish for a life so much simpler than this, I wished for constant happiness and to never worry about what other ponies would do behind my back. When you live in a place where you're constantly watching your back you start to develop a sixth sense, you could feel when somepony was sneaking up behind you and hear them breathe from five metres away. They would crumple the dirt beneath their hoof's and you would casually pretend that nothing was happening; then when they pounced you would swerve and make them fall to their hooves. No pony should have to live a life like that, it's why I came to Ponyville; but unfortunatelly everypony here was just as bad, if not worse, than everypony at home. I remember one day that my best friend, or so I thought, left me to die in the street with no help and I had to fend for myself. It was horrible times back then, I honestly thought that was the day I was going to die; with no imprint on history and with nopony to recongize my achievements. Fortunately a lovely pegasus took me in and nursed me back to health, and I was well on my way to my new home...or so I thought.
Today I still live an ordinary life, I have a friend who I think I can trust. She can be a bit ditsy but that's just her; we've known each other since we were but wee fillies. She brings a little bit of excitement into my life, her and I work in the same line of work; I give her letters and packages and she delivers them to the designated address. She has a greyish sort of coat, with a light yellow mane and tail; she tends to crash and tumble, many ponies don't like her because of the damage she causes. You would know her but I'll say her name just to jog your memory, her name is...Derpy Hooves.
Derpy is a somewhat extraordinary pony, she usually spends her days delivering mail and crashing and tumbling. Even though most ponies undervalue her she still keeps a smile on her face, believe it or not I find it quite amusing that one pony could tumble and crash so many times in one day. She'll always get back up and just continue with her day, no matter how banged up she gets she'll always do her best; I guess that's why I find her quite interesting, cause she always keeps me in a positive mood.
The day I met her I found her lying in a ditch, absolutely riddled with mud; I asked what happened and she said:
"I was trying to create a tornado like Rainbow Dash, but I got all ditzy and I bumped into a pole and fell in this mud heap," said Derpy.
I held my hoof out and said, "here, take my hoof," the smile on her muzzle couldn't get anymore bigger.
That's the day I met Derpy Hooves; since then we've been inseparable, going everywhere and doing everything together. If we weren't working we were out getting treatments at the spa and singing at Sugarcube Corner; mind you, Pinkie thinks we sound brilliant. Derpy has another friend besides me, her name is Dinky; she looks relatively like Derpy but is in fact not related to her, I'd assume Dinky is actually Amethyst Star's younger sister since I did see them at a pie-eating sister event.
Tomorrow should be a fairly decent day; so long as nopony shows up acting like a complete horse raddish, than it should be good. Unfortunately a lot of unusual things have been happening lately; especially since Twilight Sparkle rocked up, but thats life and I'll get over it. Still, I have this unusual feeling that something is prone to happen...
The sun is bright and is piercing me directly in my eye; I turn over in my queen size bed hoping to see somepony sleeping, but to my dismay the entire left hoof side of my bed is empty. The entire bed feels empty, as though the only thing that has touched it is air. I see the dust particles hover in the air through the streams of light though my curtains; as I turn over the bed sheets crinkle and crease and I hop up.
The early morning sleep is stuck in the corners of my eyelids and really isn't helping the fact that I am still tired as fuck. I walk over to my bathroom, grabbing a towel along the way; and turn on my shower. I don't know who invented it or how they came up with it, but they are bloody genius'.
*Insert shower singing and cleaning*
I hop out of the shower and grab my towel, wrapping it around my waist; drying my mane and tail with it too. Mind you though my mane and tail do not get frazzled or frilled, it just stays with my normal dreadlocks. Lotus and Aloe have always had fits at me due to my mane and tail; its like the biggest problem since that Ursa Minor showed up, according to them. I use my telekinesis to levitate my ribbon over to me and wrap it up in my mane, pulling all the dreadlocks out of my face and behind my ears. I look at myself through the mirror, fixing up minor details such as my maskcara and my hooves. I notice my cutie mark in the mirror and just glare at it; it still confuses me as to why it is like that.
I start to head out; I grab my sachel and key along the way, as I walk out I see my friend Derpy waiting at the door for me. I turn around and put my key in the lock of the door and turn it using my magic, then I start walking towards Derpy.
"Did you have a good sleep?" I say to Derpy.
She replies with, "it could've been better, it could've been worse," to be brutally honest she looks like absolute shit, but that is what the morning does to you.
Work isn't far from where I live, in fact its down the street and round the corner. Derp likes to hover just above the ground most of the time, I dunno whether its a Pegasus thing or its a Derpy thing; still it doesn't bother me. The street is filled with lots of little ponies everywhere of all kinds; Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth Ponies alike, they all mingle and chat within each other. The off thing about this town though is how whenever you're a newcomer somepony is bound to know; trust me I would know. When I arrived here last year and Pinkie was the first pony to notice me, she was all over me like Applejack on an apple tree; she threw a huge party just for my arrival and that's where I met the six best friends.
Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Spike; all together just for my greeting, to be honest I'd never recieved that much appraisal for just arriving. It honestly was the biggest party I had ever had, I should get Pinkie to do my birthday for this year as well.
Back to Derpy, like I said it is like every other morning until I heard a rather large BANG; it rang my ears and it was nothing like I'd heard before. Derpy dropped to the ground and stared in the oppisite direction we were walking in, the direction in which the loud noice came from. As Derpy flies over to the spot I race her, in hopes of satisfying my curiosity of what was going on; and to be brutally honest...it isn't what I anticipated it to be.
In the middle of the street, and I didn't think I would ever witness this, was a black hole. It confused me a little though, generally black holes suck in everything that's in sight so it couldn't of been a black hole; if anything it was more like a portal. Then as Derpy started to speak I started hearing something, something from the other side of that portal. It's like I'm the only one that could here this something, to be honest it sounds like somepony's voice. The voice is soothing like a harp, I can tell it's from a stallion because of the masculinity in his voice; it's as though you'd put Rarity's equine and prestigous way of speaking with Big Macintosh's masculine voice, all mixed together.
I took one step, one step was all it took and the next thing I know...everything was different
As a young filly I'd imagine different worlds out there, you know the kind with completely different beings or with outer-world counterparts; well I think I just found mine. It was very peculiar indeed because as I looked around everything seemed to be made of cobblestone with hay roofs, but along with that there are stone pillars built among each other. In the near distance I can hear voices, ones with the same accent as the one I heard previously but all different types; masculine, feminine and plenty more. My mane is blowing briskly through the wind and all I can feel is that summer breeze, you can tell its a summer due to the heat and mounts of wheat everywhere. I look forward towards the stone pillar and to tell you the honest truth it feels different; like its as though I feel somewhat taller.
As I look down I freak, I don't know what this is but its scary and I keep on looking at something that feels familiar but yet I have never seen them before. I can move them around and believe it or not, they wriggle and bend like legs but are short, skinny and bony. I take a look back and find I'm wearing a hood, I decide to slip it on to avoid suspicion.
Anyway I should get back to my current situation of where the fuck am I? This is new for me and I don't know anypony...wait I DO know somepony, the individual I heard through the portal earlier. I could follow his voice but I have no idea where it is and how to find it, I have this subliminal feeling that I should go towards the town directly ahead. I can kind of get the hang of walking, but on two...whatever these things are, is very difficult. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it by the time I reach the town, it looks relatively nice with no problems from here; we'll see once I get there, better safe than sorry.
*walks into town subsequently after gazing upon the scenery*
I cannot believe what I am currently seeing, there are...other beings everywhere, little ones, big ones and everypony in-between, except they aren't ponies; so what do I call them? It's all very confusing and I have no idea who I should talk to, come to think of it that individual I heard earlier had a name, I heard it being called out.
It was...Ezio.
My brain started rambling and I couldn't stop thinking, Ezio, I heard that name before; but where and what from? Maybe a dream, or a memory of a dream, anyway I have to get back to my body. I start looking around and I notice some casual differences between each being here, but one in particular wearing a hood but made of leather. I think its leather anyway, the hood is white like mine and rather large; I notice the figure turn so I turn with him...or her, I can't really tell; they, they have a big build so I'm guessing a stallion, or whatever they're called here.
Suddenly he starts running, no sprinting, he's sprinting almost as fast as I could go on four hooves. So I start going as fast as he is going but as soon as I have him fully in sight he just disappears into thin air. He stallion up'd and vanished like a fart in the wind. Great the first lead I get and he's gone, I might as well keep walking/looking since I have nothing better to do...oh wait, I do have something better to do, I need to find a way home. How am I meant to get home with no magic? I take there is no magic here considering how poor everyone looks, that and none of them are unicorns.
The next thing I know, although it doesn't come as a surprise, there is dust everywhere; no matter where you look, but before then there was a loud bang. Luckily I have very VERY good hearing so I start to sense something wrong, it's silent; not even tumble weed, just silence. Then I start to hear steps, not hoofsteps, but steps like the ones I'd been making since I went through the portal. They get closer and closer, then I hear nothing; but a figure jumps at me. I can tell its a mare, or whatever they're called, she has a small build and is breathing very heavily. She starts hoof to hoof combat, but I counteract; when I said that I grew up in a dangerous place I needed a way to defend myself. She acts shocked but begins fighting again and I keep defending until I knock her down.
Soon after I hear a blowing sound, then a pinch in my neck; my body becomes disoriented and I get dizzy. I fall to the ground and start to pass out, I see four other figures; including the one from earlier. Then I fall asleep and dream of something interesting.
As a pony I would be under appreciative of the things others did for me, my mother's loved me but no one understood them and always were judged for their 'preferences'; as older ponies would say to me as a foal. My father was an unlikely pony, he was always gone; off on one of his adventures trying to find out more of Equestria and how it came to be. I remember the day he left to go searching for the Crystal Empire, having followed a lead he found in one of Starswirl the Bearded's books. He never came back, the last we heard of him was two weeks after he'd left; back then there wasn't a railway throughout the entire land so he had to trot most of the way. When he reached Neighagra Falls he sent a letter to us, luckily he had an assistant dragon named Driscoll who is like a brother to me.
Driscoll is still alive to this day, or whichever day it is in Equestria; he lives in Canterlot as a historian. He's always been intrigued by history and ancient artifacts, he absolutely loves his life so I'm happy for him. He was the reason we knew dad had gone missing, about a month and a half after dad had left, Driscoll came home distraught and confused saying that our father had gone missing in a snow storm. After about two years of seclusion mum decided to try and meet new ponies, everypony new she was bisexual. I keyed up that term myself, since she is bias to both stallions and colts; you can guess what sexual means.
This is what I dreamt about for what felt like forever, I could feel the sweat rolling down my cheek as I breathed heavily and slowly. I notice this silhouette in the darkness, I feel like I've seen this individual somewhere before. I see a small scar on his lip and a large goatie that makes him seem young, he speaks in a low monotone voice like the one I heard earlier through the portal.
"It's a pleasure to meat you Strum, my name is Ezio Auditore; this is my Brotherhood of Assassin's."
"I'd hate to be a bother, but was that you earlier before I came through the...portal? I hope that's what you call it here, wherever here is." I am so confused as to what is going on and where I am.
"You're in Rome, we took you here after one of my apprentices put you to sleep." He seemed pretty prepared, could he be the one who created the portal? I am so utterly fucking confused, what is this Brotherhood of Assassin's? How does he know me?
"Please follow me Strum, we have much to discuss."
"No shit, sorry for my profanity but you can't really blame me." I wouldn't be surprised if he scolded me for it.
"I don't know much about from where you come from but here it is quite normal for people to swear." I guess that is what they are called, people. Such a weird name.
"We've arrived, don't be frightened and just be yourself." After that a huge door opens, reveling a massive room lit up by candlelight and...people sat upon chairs on a balcony above me.
"Buonasera Strum, it is a pleasure to meet you; my name is Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli." Jeez what a mouthful, so fancy comparred to Equestria anyway.
"Would it be rude if I just called you Sir Machiavelli? I'm not used to names consisting of more than two words."
"Not at all, I'm sure you have plenty of questions but we must ask some. We've been anticipating your arrival for many months now."
All the others are silent and just keep starting, it feels weird and a bit annoying; nopony stares at me back home.
"Strum, we understand you're not from here; but rather from a different world. Please tell us what is like."
"Well for starters I live in a land called Equestria, we all live under our two Princesses; Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Celestia is the princess of the sun, she raises and sets the sun everyday; Luna is the princess of the moon and raises and sets it every night and morning. Now I don't know if you have ponies in this world but in my world there are ponies, unicorns and pegasi; and the occasional Alicorn here and there. Both our princesses are Alicorns. An Alicorn is always classed as a royal and are a mix of a pegasus and unicorn, which means they have wings like a pegasus and are able to perform magic like a unicorn."
They're all giving me this glare, like I was speaking nonsense; in their world it may seem unlikely but this is my world. I've told them the truth but it is up to them whether or not to do anything with that information. Sir Machiavelli looks to all what I'm assuming is his subordinates and nods, then looks at me again.
"We can make sense of what you say dear Strum, but also what is that mark that appears on your pants?"
"Well judging from the fact its on my pants it must be my cutie mark, in my world a cutie mark is the icon you recieve when you realise your destiny; I recieved mine the first time I assassinated somepony. I grew up in a war zone and he was some sort of makeshift leader for the enemy, since then the war has stopped and I try to lead a normal life."
"Interesting, do you recognize that mark?" Sir Machiavelli knows I don't know, obviously he does.
"Well no I don't, I never have and probably never will." He better tell me my destiny otherwise jumping through a portal just to find out would've all been for nothing.
"That is the insignia for the Italian Brotherhood of Assassin's, which obviously means we are your destiny." No shit, but it can't be; how could a cutie mark predict this as my destiny?
