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Description
Swift dashed towards the castle as soon as she arrived in Canterlot. A few guards tried to stop her on her way, but she just flew past them. Nothing was going to stop her. Celestia now had the Apple and the Staff. Swift still didn't know what they were for, but she knew it wasn't good. She kept on flying.

Soon enough, she arrived at the castle gardens. She stayed hidden in the shadows and bushes, making her way to the castle doors. But something caught her ear. Somewhere close by, Swift heard the sound of Celestia's voice. "Be on the look out for any signs of the Assassins," she called to what Swift assumed was her guards. She cautiously made her way through the garden, following the voice.

Eventually, she came to a clearing. From within the bushes, she saw the princess. She was giving orders to a few royal guards as they moved a few crates around. Celestia seemed to approach one box in particular. Swift watched eagerly. Using her magic, Celestia lifted open the lid on the crate. A golden glow shined from within. Celestia stared for a moment, and smiled. She pulled out the object inside. It was a long golden metal rod. At one end, smaller metal pieces jutted out from the base. A circular ring sat on the very end. The whole object was covered with glowing patterns, identical to the ones on the Apple.

Celestia continued to smile as she reached into her saddlebag. From within it, she pulled out the Apple. Its light shined and pulsed. Some of the guards backed up slightly. Celestia stared at the Apple, and then, slowly and carefully, she placed it in the ring on the Staff. Both artifacts shined brightly as the two connected. Soon, the light started to die down. Celestia continued to grin. "Finally," she mumbled to herself.

Swift was about to leap from her hiding place and confront the Templar, but something stopped her. Somewhere to her left, a voice called out. "Celestia?" it said. The sun princess turned around, as did her guards. Swift turned as well, and through the bushes, she saw Princess Luna. She was staring at Celestia, and at the artifacts that she held with her magic. Luna approached her sister. "Is that what I think it is?" she said.

"Luna, I..." Celestia started to say. But, Luna cut her off.

"What are you doing with those things? Where did you even find them? They were meant to remain buried!" Swift's eye's widened. Luna knew about the artifacts? Celestia looked at her sister, who was clearly getting angered. "You don't understand, Luna," she said. "I can use these. I can use these to bring them back!" Luna gave an agitated stare. "Bring them back?" she said. "What do you mean..." A look of realization appeared on her face. She frowned.

"Celestia, please tell me you're not planning to do something unbelievably stupid," she said.

"I've found clues," said Celestia. "I've found a temple under the Tree of Harmony. I can use these artifacts to figure out how to open it again! I can save them!"

"No you can't! You can't save them! They're gone! Did you not listen to anything that our sister said? Or mother or father? There wasn't and isn't anything that we can do!"

"They all gave up! If they'd kept working, they could've found a way! We might have even been able to stop the war!" She paused. "If I can get these artifacts to tell me how to enter the temple, I might be able to save them all." Luna kept her frown. "You're in denial," she said. "If the artifacts haven't responded to your genetic signature by now, then whatever information they do have is not meant for you! We're the only ones left, Celestia. Everypony else is gone. All we can do is honor their memory."

Swift tried to wrap her head around what the princesses meant, but she couldn't. What were they talking about? Celestia was frowning by now. "I'm going into that temple, and I will bring Equestria a new world," she said. "And I'm not going to let anypony stop me, including you." She waved the Staff for effect. Luna didn't budge. "I'm not going to stop you, Celestia," she said. "But I'm not going to help you in this fruitless venture of yours. You will be the cause of your own downfall."

Luna turned and started to leave the area. Celestia was obviously angered. "Fine!" she called to her. "Go on then! Leave! Give up like everypony else!" Luna flew off without even looking back. Celestia looked like she was about to snap, but she quickly regained control of herself. She wiped her tears and turned her attention back to the Staff. She turned to a guard. "Are we prepared to leave?" she asked. The guard nodded. "Excellent," said Celestia. "Let's head out."

Just as Celestia was about to turn to leave, Swift fiddled with her hidden gun, and aimed it. There was the sound of a pin dropping, and then...

BANG!

The shot echoed through the air. Unfortunately, Swift missed her target, who frowned and lifted the Staff. It glowed as she called out. "I know you're here, Assassin!" she called. "Come on out!" Swift cursed her luck and, after quickly reloading, she stepped out of her hiding spot. Celestia's guards raised their swords. Swift locked her eyes with Celestia, who returned the glare. "Did you really think it would be that easy?" asked the princess. Swift shrugged. "Not really, but it was worth a shot."

"That pun was terrible."

"Yeah. I know."

"As much as I'd love to chat, I've got important business to attend to." She turned to her guards. "Kill her," she said. Within moments, the guards were charging at Swift, who drew her own sword with lightning speed. The sound of clanging metal rang in the air. Swift sliced the throats of two guards and drove her blade into a third. Another guard managed to nick her cheek, but Swift kept fighting, and she ended his life.

As the fight raged on, Swift noticed that Celestia was turning to leave. In one quick movement, Swift cocked her gun, aimed, and fired. Unfortunately, she missed the princess, but, by a stroke of luck, the bullet managed to slam into the Apple, which popped off of the Staff. "No!" yelled Celestia as the Apple rolled out of her reach. Swift instantly stopped fighting, and darted at the golden orb. She braced herself, and she grabbed hold of it.

The Apple shined and pulsed as it came in contact with her hooves. Swift could feel an energy pouring through her veins. She stood up, and looked around at the Templars. "Kill her!" Celestia shouted at her guards, "Kill her and get the Apple!" The guards started advancing towards Swift, and they were coming quickly. Swift panicked. She had dropped her sword and she wasn't about to let go of the Apple. The guards came closer and closer. Then suddenly, by some unknown instinct, Swift closed her eyes, and concentrated like she would when activating her eagle vision. Only, instead of focusing all her senses into her brain, she focused them into the Apple.

The artifact began to glow with an almost blinding light. It made sounds similar to thunder. Swift opened her eyes to see what it was doing. Suddenly, a massive orb of light pulsed out of the Apple. The world seemed to move in slow motion. The light coated the guards, who suddenly stopped. Swift saw their blank expressions. They looked as if their souls were ripped out. Every one of them grabbed their blades and held them under their throats. Swift just stared as they all jabbed their necks and fell to the ground in unison.

The light from the Apple died down and quieted down as Swift stopped concentrating. She looked around with her jaw dropped. She now realized why this thing was so awful, why the Assassins wanted it out of Templar hooves. She now understood what an evil device it was. She quickly turned to see Celestia, who surprisingly was still alive and unfazed. Maybe it was because of the Staff? Swift couldn't tell. Celestia just frowned at her. "This isn't over," she said. She turned towards a castle door. "Guards!" she yelled.

Pretty soon, another wave of guards came pouring into the courtyard. Swift quickly shoved the Apple into her saddlebag and dashed to retrieve her sword. There was no way she was going to use that despicable artifact like that again. Celestia was about to leave the area. "Kill her and retrieve the Apple," she said to her guards. "And you," she said to Swift. "If you somehow survive this, I'll be waiting for you." She left the courtyard. The guards drew their swords, and Swift waved hers. The battle was on again.

Swift managed to take out a few guards, but they were quickly beginning to overwhelm her, and she was getting tired. She managed to break away for a moment. The guards stared at her, ready to charge. Swift braced herself for another attack, but suddenly something happened. A guard fell dead with an arrow in his neck. Then, one by one, the rest of the guards began to fall as dozens of arrows stormed down on them. Once the last guard fell, Swift looked around to see where the attack came from. Her eyes widened as she looked up.

On the surrounding rooftops and balconies stood her friends, the Assassins. They were all there. Sea Foam, Cannon Fire, Feather Duster, Pen Quill, and even Opal Florin. They all smiled at her as they dropped their bows and made their way down towards her. An enormous smile appeared on Swift's face. "Guys!" she said with glee as they trotted up to her. "You saved me!"

"Well we weren't going to let them slaughter our friend!" said Sea Foam. Swift hugged all of her friends. Feather looked at her. "The second we heard about what you were doing, we made our way here," she said. "We just had to wait for the right moment to strike. Celestia might've blasted the skin off our backs if we attacked earlier."

"The Assassins never leave anypony behind," said Cannon Fire. Swift kept smiling. "Thank you guys, so much! But, there isn't time to celebrate. Celestia's gone off and..."

"Actually, we have plenty of time now," said Pen Quill. "Now that you have the Apple, Celestia is going to work on our schedule."

"Well shouldn't we still get going, though?" asked Swift. The Assassins smiled at each other. "There's something we would like to do before we do anything else," said Opal.

"And what's that?" asked Swift. Feather smiled at her. "Swift," she said. "You're an amazing mare. You're skilled, fast, clever, and wise. You have such noble qualities." She paused. "We could use a good pony like you in our ranks." Swift stared for a moment. "Wait," she said. "What are you saying?"

"What were saying," said Opal. "Is that we want you to join us, to join the brotherhood." Swift was speechless. She looked over to Sea Foam, who smiled and nodded. "You guys really want me to join?" asked Swift. Her friends nodded. "So?" asked Sea Foam. "What do you say?" She stuck out her hoof to be shaken. Swift stared. After thinking it over for a moment, she made her decision.

------------

The long chamber in the Canterlot hideout was illuminated by candles on the walls. Banners hung from the ceiling, each one bearing the Assassin insignia. Multiple ponies in white hoods stood by the walls, each one looking towards the end of the room. There stood Swift Wing. She stood tall and proud in front of her friends. Feather Duster walked up to her.

"Nothing is true. Everything is permitted," she said. "These are the words that lay at the heart of our creed. With these words guiding us, we can stay strong and preserve freedom in all of Equestria. Are you, Swift Wing, prepared to uphold our creed?"

"I am," responded Swift.

"You have aided us greatly over the past few weeks. You have proven that you are a noble fighter and a valuable ally. And for your service to the Assassins, we offer you the chance to formally join the brotherhood. Do you accept?"

"I do."

Feather smiled. "Then we welcome you into our ranks, sister. As mentor of the Equestrian Assassins, and on behalf of all of our brothers, I initiate you into the Assassin order. Welcome to the brotherhood, Swift." Feather hugged Swift, and pretty soon, her other four friends joined in. Each one of them personally welcomed and congratulated her. Swift could hear the Assassins behind her do the same. Swift felt so proud of herself. She never thought she'd be anything more than a street thief. She had her tools and her training. She had her targets and goals. And now she had her title. Now, she was an Assassin.

The group hug broke apart. "Now," said Feather. "Your first mission as an official Assassin, is to finish what we started. We have to head to the Tree of Harmony, and we have to stop Celestia." Swift nodded. "But first," said Feather. "There is one last thing to do in order to finish the initiation. Follow us." Feather led her five friends to a staircase. They trotted up it until they found themselves at the top of the library's tower. A wooden board was attached to the edge. Swift could see a large pile of hay directly below it. Feather Duster stood on the board. She turned to her friends and said, "As old friend of mine liked to say, allons-y!" With that, she jumped. Swift looked over the edge to watch her land safely in the hay. She watched as her other friends did the same.

Swift stood on the board, and looked down. Now that her wing was healed, she wasn't afraid of the jump. Even if she missed the hay, instinct would take over and her wings would save her. Swift stood tall and proud. She closed her eyes and felt the wind in her mane. She took a deep breath. An eagle cried in the distance, and she took her leap of faith.

Description
Swift dashed towards the castle as soon as she arrived in Canterlot. A few guards tried to stop her on her way, but she just flew past them. Nothing was going to stop her. Celestia now had the Apple and the Staff. Swift still didn't know what they were for, but she knew it wasn't good. She kept on flying.

Soon enough, she arrived at the castle gardens. She stayed hidden in the shadows and bushes, making her way to the castle doors. But something caught her ear. Somewhere close by, Swift heard the sound of Celestia's voice. "Be on the look out for any signs of the Assassins," she called to what Swift assumed was her guards. She cautiously made her way through the garden, following the voice.

Eventually, she came to a clearing. From within the bushes, she saw the princess. She was giving orders to a few royal guards as they moved a few crates around. Celestia seemed to approach one box in particular. Swift watched eagerly. Using her magic, Celestia lifted open the lid on the crate. A golden glow shined from within. Celestia stared for a moment, and smiled. She pulled out the object inside. It was a long golden metal rod. At one end, smaller metal pieces jutted out from the base. A circular ring sat on the very end. The whole object was covered with glowing patterns, identical to the ones on the Apple.

Celestia continued to smile as she reached into her saddlebag. From within it, she pulled out the Apple. Its light shined and pulsed. Some of the guards backed up slightly. Celestia stared at the Apple, and then, slowly and carefully, she placed it in the ring on the Staff. Both artifacts shined brightly as the two connected. Soon, the light started to die down. Celestia continued to grin. "Finally," she mumbled to herself.

Swift was about to leap from her hiding place and confront the Templar, but something stopped her. Somewhere to her left, a voice called out. "Celestia?" it said. The sun princess turned around, as did her guards. Swift turned as well, and through the bushes, she saw Princess Luna. She was staring at Celestia, and at the artifacts that she held with her magic. Luna approached her sister. "Is that what I think it is?" she said.

"Luna, I..." Celestia started to say. But, Luna cut her off.

"What are you doing with those things? Where did you even find them? They were meant to remain buried!" Swift's eye's widened. Luna knew about the artifacts? Celestia looked at her sister, who was clearly getting angered. "You don't understand, Luna," she said. "I can use these. I can use these to bring them back!" Luna gave an agitated stare. "Bring them back?" she said. "What do you mean..." A look of realization appeared on her face. She frowned.

"Celestia, please tell me you're not planning to do something unbelievably stupid," she said.

"I've found clues," said Celestia. "I've found a temple under the Tree of Harmony. I can use these artifacts to figure out how to open it again! I can save them!"

"No you can't! You can't save them! They're gone! Did you not listen to anything that our sister said? Or mother or father? There wasn't and isn't anything that we can do!"

"They all gave up! If they'd kept working, they could've found a way! We might have even been able to stop the war!" She paused. "If I can get these artifacts to tell me how to enter the temple, I might be able to save them all." Luna kept her frown. "You're in denial," she said. "If the artifacts haven't responded to your genetic signature by now, then whatever information they do have is not meant for you! We're the only ones left, Celestia. Everypony else is gone. All we can do is honor their memory."

Swift tried to wrap her head around what the princesses meant, but she couldn't. What were they talking about? Celestia was frowning by now. "I'm going into that temple, and I will bring Equestria a new world," she said. "And I'm not going to let anypony stop me, including you." She waved the Staff for effect. Luna didn't budge. "I'm not going to stop you, Celestia," she said. "But I'm not going to help you in this fruitless venture of yours. You will be the cause of your own downfall."

Luna turned and started to leave the area. Celestia was obviously angered. "Fine!" she called to her. "Go on then! Leave! Give up like everypony else!" Luna flew off without even looking back. Celestia looked like she was about to snap, but she quickly regained control of herself. She wiped her tears and turned her attention back to the Staff. She turned to a guard. "Are we prepared to leave?" she asked. The guard nodded. "Excellent," said Celestia. "Let's head out."

Just as Celestia was about to turn to leave, Swift fiddled with her hidden gun, and aimed it. There was the sound of a pin dropping, and then...

BANG!

The shot echoed through the air. Unfortunately, Swift missed her target, who frowned and lifted the Staff. It glowed as she called out. "I know you're here, Assassin!" she called. "Come on out!" Swift cursed her luck and, after quickly reloading, she stepped out of her hiding spot. Celestia's guards raised their swords. Swift locked her eyes with Celestia, who returned the glare. "Did you really think it would be that easy?" asked the princess. Swift shrugged. "Not really, but it was worth a shot."

"That pun was terrible."

"Yeah. I know."

"As much as I'd love to chat, I've got important business to attend to." She turned to her guards. "Kill her," she said. Within moments, the guards were charging at Swift, who drew her own sword with lightning speed. The sound of clanging metal rang in the air. Swift sliced the throats of two guards and drove her blade into a third. Another guard managed to nick her cheek, but Swift kept fighting, and she ended his life.

As the fight raged on, Swift noticed that Celestia was turning to leave. In one quick movement, Swift cocked her gun, aimed, and fired. Unfortunately, she missed the princess, but, by a stroke of luck, the bullet managed to slam into the Apple, which popped off of the Staff. "No!" yelled Celestia as the Apple rolled out of her reach. Swift instantly stopped fighting, and darted at the golden orb. She braced herself, and she grabbed hold of it.

The Apple shined and pulsed as it came in contact with her hooves. Swift could feel an energy pouring through her veins. She stood up, and looked around at the Templars. "Kill her!" Celestia shouted at her guards, "Kill her and get the Apple!" The guards started advancing towards Swift, and they were coming quickly. Swift panicked. She had dropped her sword and she wasn't about to let go of the Apple. The guards came closer and closer. Then suddenly, by some unknown instinct, Swift closed her eyes, and concentrated like she would when activating her eagle vision. Only, instead of focusing all her senses into her brain, she focused them into the Apple.

The artifact began to glow with an almost blinding light. It made sounds similar to thunder. Swift opened her eyes to see what it was doing. Suddenly, a massive orb of light pulsed out of the Apple. The world seemed to move in slow motion. The light coated the guards, who suddenly stopped. Swift saw their blank expressions. They looked as if their souls were ripped out. Every one of them grabbed their blades and held them under their throats. Swift just stared as they all jabbed their necks and fell to the ground in unison.

The light from the Apple died down and quieted down as Swift stopped concentrating. She looked around with her jaw dropped. She now realized why this thing was so awful, why the Assassins wanted it out of Templar hooves. She now understood what an evil device it was. She quickly turned to see Celestia, who surprisingly was still alive and unfazed. Maybe it was because of the Staff? Swift couldn't tell. Celestia just frowned at her. "This isn't over," she said. She turned towards a castle door. "Guards!" she yelled.

Pretty soon, another wave of guards came pouring into the courtyard. Swift quickly shoved the Apple into her saddlebag and dashed to retrieve her sword. There was no way she was going to use that despicable artifact like that again. Celestia was about to leave the area. "Kill her and retrieve the Apple," she said to her guards. "And you," she said to Swift. "If you somehow survive this, I'll be waiting for you." She left the courtyard. The guards drew their swords, and Swift waved hers. The battle was on again.

Swift managed to take out a few guards, but they were quickly beginning to overwhelm her, and she was getting tired. She managed to break away for a moment. The guards stared at her, ready to charge. Swift braced herself for another attack, but suddenly something happened. A guard fell dead with an arrow in his neck. Then, one by one, the rest of the guards began to fall as dozens of arrows stormed down on them. Once the last guard fell, Swift looked around to see where the attack came from. Her eyes widened as she looked up.

On the surrounding rooftops and balconies stood her friends, the Assassins. They were all there. Sea Foam, Cannon Fire, Feather Duster, Pen Quill, and even Opal Florin. They all smiled at her as they dropped their bows and made their way down towards her. An enormous smile appeared on Swift's face. "Guys!" she said with glee as they trotted up to her. "You saved me!"

"Well we weren't going to let them slaughter our friend!" said Sea Foam. Swift hugged all of her friends. Feather looked at her. "The second we heard about what you were doing, we made our way here," she said. "We just had to wait for the right moment to strike. Celestia might've blasted the skin off our backs if we attacked earlier."

"The Assassins never leave anypony behind," said Cannon Fire. Swift kept smiling. "Thank you guys, so much! But, there isn't time to celebrate. Celestia's gone off and..."

"Actually, we have plenty of time now," said Pen Quill. "Now that you have the Apple, Celestia is going to work on our schedule."

"Well shouldn't we still get going, though?" asked Swift. The Assassins smiled at each other. "There's something we would like to do before we do anything else," said Opal.

"And what's that?" asked Swift. Feather smiled at her. "Swift," she said. "You're an amazing mare. You're skilled, fast, clever, and wise. You have such noble qualities." She paused. "We could use a good pony like you in our ranks." Swift stared for a moment. "Wait," she said. "What are you saying?"

"What were saying," said Opal. "Is that we want you to join us, to join the brotherhood." Swift was speechless. She looked over to Sea Foam, who smiled and nodded. "You guys really want me to join?" asked Swift. Her friends nodded. "So?" asked Sea Foam. "What do you say?" She stuck out her hoof to be shaken. Swift stared. After thinking it over for a moment, she made her decision.

------------

The long chamber in the Canterlot hideout was illuminated by candles on the walls. Banners hung from the ceiling, each one bearing the Assassin insignia. Multiple ponies in white hoods stood by the walls, each one looking towards the end of the room. There stood Swift Wing. She stood tall and proud in front of her friends. Feather Duster walked up to her.

"Nothing is true. Everything is permitted," she said. "These are the words that lay at the heart of our creed. With these words guiding us, we can stay strong and preserve freedom in all of Equestria. Are you, Swift Wing, prepared to uphold our creed?"

"I am," responded Swift.

"You have aided us greatly over the past few weeks. You have proven that you are a noble fighter and a valuable ally. And for your service to the Assassins, we offer you the chance to formally join the brotherhood. Do you accept?"

"I do."

Feather smiled. "Then we welcome you into our ranks, sister. As mentor of the Equestrian Assassins, and on behalf of all of our brothers, I initiate you into the Assassin order. Welcome to the brotherhood, Swift." Feather hugged Swift, and pretty soon, her other four friends joined in. Each one of them personally welcomed and congratulated her. Swift could hear the Assassins behind her do the same. Swift felt so proud of herself. She never thought she'd be anything more than a street thief. She had her tools and her training. She had her targets and goals. And now she had her title. Now, she was an Assassin.

The group hug broke apart. "Now," said Feather. "Your first mission as an official Assassin, is to finish what we started. We have to head to the Tree of Harmony, and we have to stop Celestia." Swift nodded. "But first," said Feather. "There is one last thing to do in order to finish the initiation. Follow us." Feather led her five friends to a staircase. They trotted up it until they found themselves at the top of the library's tower. A wooden board was attached to the edge. Swift could see a large pile of hay directly below it. Feather Duster stood on the board. She turned to her friends and said, "As old friend of mine liked to say, allons-y!" With that, she jumped. Swift looked over the edge to watch her land safely in the hay. She watched as her other friends did the same.

Swift stood on the board, and looked down. Now that her wing was healed, she wasn't afraid of the jump. Even if she missed the hay, instinct would take over and her wings would save her. Swift stood tall and proud. She closed her eyes and felt the wind in her mane. She took a deep breath. An eagle cried in the distance, and she took her leap of faith.