By Terrarian Pony
WARNING: This story may include violence, gore, romance, same gender romance, implied cannibalsm, ponies, referennces to several video games, and PINKIE PIE! If anypony is offended by any of the content listed above, than please turn back now. You have been warned.
Previously: *Pony's Creed: Chapter 5: Initiation
Next: *Pony's Creed: Chapter 7; A New Start
Story:
Pony's Creed
By Terrarian Pony
Chapter 6
The Templar invasion
...
Octavia was ready. A bit weary, but she felt ready none the less. Luna's appearence was covered by a poofy red and gold dress, and a feathered masquerade mask. Octavia would have thought it funny if they weren't in a dire situation. However, it made her look appropriately like a phoenix. A large explosion was heard from the entrance, and soon the templars came rushing in. The assassins were ready, battke cries echied the walls of the guild, swords clashed, and blood was shed. Octavia was fending herself with amazing strength and swiftness. She had blocked one of the templars, and the stabbed him, his body hitting the floor with a thud.
Vinyl and Luna had relied on their magic, swing their swords in the air. Lyra was using Octavia's method. She was fond of standing on two hooves. It would figure, given her "obsession". One of the templars slashed at Vinyl's side. It didn't severely injure her though, due to her armored robes. But it did tick her off, and quite a lot at that. She stabbed the first templar she saw, bucking the one behind her with her hind hooves. Fiddly Twang was knocked over by an earth pony templar, but Octavia came to her rescue, slashing at the templar. He recovered, and charged Octavia. Their swords clashed, the two face to face. Something didn't quite sit well with Octavia. Why? She then noticed the blue and red mane, and the black coat. The left eye was blue, while the other was red. An earth pony who's cutie mark was that of a set of piano keys.
Octavia:" F-father?"
The stallion looked at her closely, then scowled.
???:" Octavia. Well, I never thought I'd see the day my own daughter was playing the game with these... worthless assassins. I am disappointed. But really, I should have seen this coming. You do take more after your mother afterall."
Octavia was speechless, her eyes wide. This couldn't be her father, Key Note. But it was. Octavia realized to soon that she had exposed a weak point, and Key Note smacked her in the face with the handle of his sword, causing the right side of her mouth to bleed, and knocking her unconconsious. Vinyl stepped in before the stallion could get in another blow.
Key:" Both of you then?"
Vinyl:" Don't give me that, you knew this was coming. And I've been waiting to put my blade in you the moment I joined the assassins."
Key:" Veronica, I know how you feel about me, but I beg you, direct your anger where it truely belongs. The assassins are delinquent. Their ways are no better than ours."
Vinyl:" Funny. I'll remember to put that on your tombstone!"
Vinyl charged at him, but he dodged, effortlessly, letting her fall on her face.
Key:" Your 'Misstress' hadn't taught you much, has she? It's a wander. I would have thought a daughter of the Note family would be as tough as her father, Veronica."
Something in Vinyl snapped when he mentioned her real name.
Vinyl:" SHUT UP!!! My name is not Veronica Note! It's Vinyl Scratch!"
Key:" No. Veronica is the name 'I' gave you, before you ran off to live with that... tragic excuse for a sister of yours."
Vinyl:" Do not... talk about Octavia like that! She is ten times more reliable than you ever were! You think you're my father? I never considered you a father. You! Don't! Own! Me!"
Key:" I am highly disappointed. However, it WAS your decision Veronica. But I am giving you a second chance, and that is NOT something I give lightly."
Vinyl answered by charging at him again, this time, clashing with his sword. He was unfazed by this, however, and he threw Vinyl aside.
Key:" So I see how it is. Fine. You've chosen your side, and you will pay for..."
Templar:" General!"
Key:" Grrr. What is it?"
Templar:" Our numbers are decreasing rapidly. We must pull back."
Key:" Very well. Tell our troops to back out. We have no choice."
Key Note looked at Vinyl, pleadingly.
Key:" Veronica..."
Vinyl:" My name is Vinyl!"
Key:" Vinyl, please. I want you to join us. I want you by my side. We are family Ver... Vinyl Scratch."
Vinyl's expression calmed, but she wasn't giving into him.
Vinyl:" You and I will never be family. Not after what you did."
Key:" I see..."
Key Note fled along with his troops. Vinyl stared begrudgingly until he left. She wanted to do it, but she knew it wasn't worth it. There were templar bodies everywhere. A few from the assassins side as well. It was a tragic battle, but the assassins came out on top. Octavia finally woke from unconsiousness, feeling the taste of blood on her mouth. She stood up, and saw Vinyl scowling in the other direction, where their father had gone.
Octavia:" Wh-what happened?"
Lyra:" We won... for now."
Luna:" Yes, but it seems we will have to find another base of operation."
Vinyl:" Why!?"
Everpony looked at Vinyl.
Vinyl:" Why did HE have to be here!?"
Octavia:" Vinyl..."
Vinyl:" I came to Ponyville to get away from him, and HE followed us!"
Vinyl was in rage, and as quickly as she became angry, her rage subsided. Octavia saw a tear roll down Vinyl's cheek.
Vinyl:" I need... I need to be alone."
Vinyl began walking away.
Octavia:" What's wrong with her?"
Luna:" Miss Octavia, there are many things you don't know about Vinyl Scratch, sister or not. She has, indeed been through a lot. What happened between herself and your father... that's a different story. It is none my business, so I will let Vinyl tell you when she is ready. Your father had done something terrible, and Vinyl was scarred by it."
Octavia:" I... why didn't she tell me?"
Luna:" She wanted to forget about it completely. However, seeing him... I can't fathom what kind of terrible flashbacks she is having."
Octavia:" Princess... I thing father was assassin traitor."
Luna:" No... not a traitor. It was deception. A disquise to make you think it was a random traitor."
Octavia:" What do we do then?"
Luna:" Simple, he cannot get anywhere near the assassins."
...
Lyra returned home with a few scratches, nothing lethal or perminant, but Bon Bon freaked out anyways.
Lyra:" I told you, I'm fine. Doesn't hurt that much."
Bon Bon:" What happened?"
Lyra:" There was a battle. The templars came to us in our own guild. We won, but... let's just say, we need to find a new guild."
Bon Bon:" I see. Are you okay? Mentally I mean... I'm sure a lot of your own died in that battle, too."
Lyra:" Nopony I knew personally, but yeah. Now that you mention, I kind of feel bad that I didn't really get to know everypony."
Liza:" Miss Lyra! You're hurt!"
Lyra smiled at the filly's concern.
Lyra:" Don't worry squirt, I'll be alright. A few bandages and be much better."
Liza:" Oh, I know where those are!"
Lyra tried to tell the filly that she could get them herself, but Liza was already off to find them for her. Bon Bon chuckled.
Bon Bon:" Well, at least we know she likes you."
Bon Bon gave Lyra a smooch on the cheek.
Lyra:" Heh, yeah. I was kind of afraid she wouldn't, especially knowing what I am."
Bon Bon:" I think she understands, you're just trying to protect the ponies you care about."
...
Octavia:" Do you want to talk about it, Vinyl?"
Vinyl:" No."
It was plain and simple. After that, Octavia respected her silence, but she was none the less feeling hurt by it.
Vinyl:" Look Tavi, it has nothing to do with you. Just..."
Octavia:" N-no... it's okay. Vinyl, I don't know if you realized, but when I found out I had a sister... i-it was the best day of my life."
Vinyl:" Really now?"
Octavia:" Yes. Mother had always talked about him as if he were a desease. I think she kept the photo just because she wanted me to know who to watch out for."
Vinyl:" She was right, though mom was barely any better."
Octavia:" She wasn't that bad. Sure she was pushy, but I'm sure whatever Key Note did was far worse."
Vinyl:" You're right. But I never want to be called Veronica again as long as I live."
Octavia:" Hmm? What do you mean?"
Vinyl cringed, realizing what she said out loud.
Vinyl:" Oh... I never told you, did I?"
Octavia:" Told me what?"
Vinyl sighed.
Vinyl:" Vinyl Scratch is... it's the name I gave myself. My real name is Veronica Note. But please, promise me you'll never call that."
Octavia:" Oh... I promise."
Octavia then smiled.
Octavia:" It's kind of odd, though."
Vinyl:" What, that I changed my name? Sorry to tell you this, but lots of ponies do it all the time."
Octavia:" Not that, it's just... throughout your whole life, you've been known by at least three names."
Vinyl blinked. Octavia was smirking.
Octavia:" DJ Pon-3?"
Vinyl:" N-no. Don't get me started."
...
Twilight:" I can't believe the animus just broke down like that!"
Twilight and Starlight were experimenting with the animus, earlier, and somehow it just exploded.
Twilight:" I guess we were lucky it didn't hurt either of us."
Starlight:" Thanks for pulling me outta there, Twilight. That was a close call."
Twilight:" Yeah, looks like we might have to start all over again."
...
Bon Bon:" Who wants cupcakesbrownies?"
Liza:" I do! I do!"
Bon Bon and Lyra giggled at the enthusiastic filly.
Bon Bon:" Well, if you want brownies, you'll have to help me make some."
Liza:" Okay! This'll be fun!"
Bon Bon:" Alright, wait for me in the kitchen, and I'll be there in a sec. I need to talk to Lyra."
Liza:" Okay!"
Liza trotted into the kitchen to wait. Bon Bon walked up to Lyra.
Bon Bon:" So, where do you think the assassins will go?"
Lyra:" I don't know. I hope it's somewhere nice, maybe somewhere less obvious than an underground hideout."
Bon Bon:" Listen... I wanted to talk to you about... about us, i-if you don't mind."
Lyra didn't answer, but she showed she was listening.
Bon Bon:" I think we should spend more time together now that we have Liza. I want her to think of us both as family."
Lyra:" I totally understand, I just need to get through tommorrow, and I promise to spend as much time as possible with you and Liza."
Bon Bon:" Alright."
Lyra:" It's just... I still have train Octavia a little more. I've been assigned as her mentor. But after tommorrow I promise, it'll be just you and me for a while."
Bon Bon:" Oh yeah. How is Octavia?"
Lyra:" She's a great student. She asks a lot of questions though."
Bon Bon giggled.
Bon Bon:" Oh Octavia, she always was a teachers pet. Or at least when I knew her before."
Lyra:" You two knew eachother back then."
Bon Bon:" Oh yeah, she was the one who helped me become a good confectioner."
Lyra:" Oh."
...
Octavia and Lyra were working on Octavia's hidden blade training.
Lyra:" Just do what I showed you, and stab that dummy. It's easy."
The hidden blade was connected to a thick piece of string, that connected to a ring, that would be placed on Octavia's hoof in order to extract and retract the blade when Octavia bent her hoof backwards. It took Octavia a while to learn that, as a pony's hoof was not made to bend that way. Octavia pulled the string to extracted the hidden blade, and jabbed it into the training dummy's chest.
Lyra:" Good, now to get you into your class."
Octavia:" Class?"
Lyra:" Yup. There are four types of classes. There is the berserker, who handles melee, and sometimes splinter bombs. Shadowblade, who are real sneaky, and handles smoke bombs, throwing knives, and things like that. Trickster who does all makes all sorts of chaos happen, like tricks, disquises, distractions, oh... and sticky bombs. And there are the thieves, who are best at stealing, and blinding, only most of them aren't as subtle as others."
Octavia:" Hmm... how do I choose just one?"
Lyra:" Well, if you're the kind of pony who likes to go in swords drawn, and wreck the place, you'd best go with the berserker class. If you're the sneaky type, or want to keep your distance in combat, the shadowblade class is what you want. If you like to go in and cause confusion to your enemies, that's where the trickster class come in handy. And the thieves... well that one should be obvious."
Octavia:" Which are you."
Lyra:" I'm in the berserker class. Vinyl is as well, but she is also a shadowblade. Fiddly Twang is both trickster, and thief. Some ponies be part of a secondary class, but only of they prove themselves well enough.
Octavia:" I see. Well, in that case I think I'll start off as a berserker."
Lyra:" Great choice. Maybe later, you'll be worthy of a secondary class. Here's all the gear you'll need as a berserker."
Octavia was given a pouch full of splinter bombs, and a heavy horseshoe for staggering opponents. Octavia put on her gear, and tested it on the dummies. She found the splinter bombs to be a bit... messy, but useful.
Lyra:" I won't be here for a while after today, so just remember what I taught you, and you should do fine."
...
Key Note was waiting in front of Twilight's castle. Twilight answered the door, and was suprised to see Key Note.
Twilight:" Mr. Note, what a pleasant suprise."
Key:" Please, call me Key... Mr. Note was my father."
They both laughed at that.
Twilight:" You always had a way to make other ponies laugh."
Key:" Yes, my only regret was that it doesn't apply to just anypony."
Twilight:" I know what you mean. What are you doing here, Key?"
Key:" Oh, just simply browsing. I heard you were working on a special project that involved memory magic."
Twilight:" Oh... oh yes! I haven't quite finished it, yet. Would you like to see it?"
Key:" But of course, my Princess. I would love to see your work."
Twilight lead Key Note inside.
Twilight:" To be quite honest, I was suprised that first time I found out one of my magic teachers was an earth pony."
Key puffed out his chest proudly.
Key:" Yes, I may not be able to use it, but I've studied unicorn magic for years. It was... something that interested me. It is how I learned to appreciate unicorns more than any other earth pony or pegasus would. Winter Wrap-up for example. The ponies of Ponyville don't exactly appreciate unicorn magic during that time of year. They would rather work their hooves, towing the snow with their snow plows. It's quite sad really."
Twilight:" I'm afraid I have to disagree. I mean, not that I once thought that myself, but I came to understand why magic has no part in Winter Wrap-up."
Key:" I see. So, where is this machine you built?"
Twilight:" Oh, it's right here. I need to put the finishing touches on it though. Last time it blew up in our faces, so we have improve on it."
Key:" Interesting. If you don't mind, I would like to bring in some of my ponies to assist you in this project. In return, I would like a copy of this machine for myself."
Twilight:" R-really? You would really do that?"
Key:" Of course. Most of my personal employees are unicorns after all."
Twilight's smile brightened the room.
Twilight:" It's a deal!"
...
Lyra was cuddled up with Bon Bon, and Liza was happily snuggled in between them. Ever since Liza Doolots came here, she had felt like she was part of new life. She loved the attention that Lyra and Bon Bon gave her. And even though she did miss her real mommy, she loved her new family. She would sometimes cry to Bon Bon about her mommy, and Bon Bon would console her willingly. Liza would always love doing fun and mischievous activities with Lyra, and Lyra would even tell her stories sometimes. This was Liza's family now, and she loved them. The next morning, Liza went down stairs for breakfast. She smelled Bon Bon's delicous pancakes, and ran over.
Liza:" G' morning mommy!"
Bon Bon dropped her pancake spatula by accident, blushing a fierce red. The word "mommy" came as a suprise to her.
Bon Bon:" M-mommy?"
Liza felt ashamed.
Liza:" Oops... I-I meant... um..."
Bon Bon:" No, no! It's okay! Y-you can call me mommy, if you want. I don't mind at all."
Liza blinked in suprise, and realized that she did in fact think of Bon Bon as a mommy. She was just as nice, and she kissed her on the forehead every night. Then a thought came to her mind.
Liza:" Oh... um... but if I call you mommy... what do I call Lyra?"
Bon Bon thought about that for a moment, then smiled.
Bon Bon:" You can call her mom."
Liza thought it was a great idea, and went up to hug Bon Bon's side. Bon Bon kissed the filly's horn, and continued working on her pancakes. Not a moment later, Lyra came down.
Lyra:" How're my two favorite ponies?"
Bon Bon giggled.
Bon Bon:" Which one's your total favorite?"
Lyra pouted, visibly blushing.
Lyra:" Aw c'mon Bon, that's no fair."
Bon Bon and Liza giggled in amusement at Lyra.
...
Luna:" I have a special assignment for you, Octavia."
Octavia:" Oh?"
Luna:" I need you send a letter to these adresses. These letters are informing the other assasins that we have found a new guild, one which is less obvious than an underground hideout."
Octavia:" Really? Where?"
Luna:" Fluttershy's cottage!"
Octavia:" Fluttershy? The shy pony?"
Luna:" Of course. Because who would think to look in Fluttershy's house? Isn't that just a wonderful idea!?"
Octavia:" I suppose... did Fluttershy agree to this?"
Luna:" Of course. Fluttershy was kind enough to offer her place as a hideout for us. I do hope the draconicus isn't a problem, though."
Octavia face-hoofed.
Octavia:" Oh dear Luna."
When Octavia had realized what she said, it was too late.
Octavia:" I-I mean..."
Luna:" I find it very strange that ponies use mine and my sister's names like that. It is very uncomforting."
Octavia buried her face in her forehooves, blushing.
Octavia:" Why can't I go anywhere without me or Vinyl making a fool of myself?"
TO BE CONTINUED...