"Hello again, Ezio." said the mysterious voice.

"Who was that?" asked Derpy.

"My name is unimportant. What matters now is that you're safe. As you haven't noticed yet, you don't have wings or horns."

Luna and Derpy checked for themselves. Derpy was fine with it and Luna wasn't very happy. "What have you done to me?"

"Do not worry Princess Luna, you will get them back, just ask Ezio, he lost them. You saw him with wings and a horn not five minutes ago."

Ezio nodded and said, "What information will you give me this time?"

"Just this: you're going to have to put Luna down once in a while." he said.

The presence of the voice disappeared, leaving them alone in a dimly lit tunnel. "Who was that, Ezio?" asked Luna.

"I do not know who it was. All that I know about him is that he helped me the last time that I found a lair of Discord."

"Lair of Discord?"

"Followers of the one you call Discord. They have no doubt heard of what I did earlier and are ready for me, ready to kill."

"I thought that my sister and I had taken care of these evil ponies. We disbanded their religion after Discord was defeated." said Luna, shocked. "And yet, Discord was freed and that must've started the religion again."

"You cannot stop a religion, no matter how hard you try." said Ezio, starting to walk down the tunnel.

Derpy followed him through the tunnel, and they reached a large room with many pillars and a chapel on one side. "We're in a church." said Derpy.

"Yes, and it seems very new." said Ezio

"I remember this place." said Luna. "I went there after the defeat of Discord to put a stop to the madness. This isn't the same church, that one was destroyed. This one is a copy."

Ezio looked around and spotted a white sheet on a lever. He walked over to it and pulled it, then looked up. There was a switch near the top of the wall. A large amount of rocks had fallen from the wall and piled up in front of him. He looked back up, a trail was leading up the wall to the switch. He set Luna down and jumped up the pile.

"Where are you going, Ezio?" she asked.

He skillfully climbed the wall and jumped to the switch, grabbing it before he fell. It went from pointing up to down and Ezio was sliding off. He held on tighter and a section of the wall fell out from under him, allowwing him to let go and land safely.

Another spiraling staircase opened up around Luna and Derpy and Derpy looked down it. "I can't see the bottom!" she shouted up to Ezio.

He maneuvered himself to the ground and picked Luna up again. "We're on the right trail."

"How did you know that would happen?" asked Luna.

"I didn't. For all I know, it could've set off a chain reaction that would've destroyed the ground below me. I have been lucky so far."

They walked down the staircase, deeper in the mountain, and the path split up to three different paths. One of them had torches leading through it, so Ezio walked down that path.

"How do you know that is the right path?" asked Derpy.

"These ponies wouldn't place torches on paths that they don't use."

The path led them into a very large sewer system. "This place stinks." said Luna, wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah it does." said Derpy.

Ezio stopped at the end of the tunnel and looked out. He didn't see anypony, so he walked out. He followed the placement of the torches until he didn't see any more of them. The path split again and Ezio looked down the two paths. He saw a pony walk towards him, then run off. Ezio ran after the pony and he jumped over a large gap and went through a gate, slamming it after he ran through it.

The pony landed on the other side and his side of the path started collapsing. Ezio slid to a stop and was teetering over the edge of the gap. Derpy grabbed his tail in her mouth and pulled him back. He thanked her and started thinking about how to get across.

"I'm sure that we need to go that way, but how are we to do that?" he said.

Then he noticed that the wall above him was crumbling. He set Luna back down and started to climb it. He reached the middle of the wall and had to jump sideways over the gap.

"Be careful Ezio!" yelled Derpy.

"I will!" he yelled back.

He jumped to the other side and dropped down to the floor. He looked around for anything he could use to get Luna and Derpy over with him.

"What are you looking for Ezio?" asked Derpy.

"Derpy? How dd you get over here?"

"I jumped."

"You jumped?"

"That's right."

"I am looking for something that will help get Luna across without hurting her."

"Try this!" she said, ripping the gate that the other pony went in off of the wall.

She threw the gate at the gap and it wedged itself in the middle. Ezio looked at it with his eyes wide open.

He quickly regained his composure and said, "You continue to amaze me Derpy."

"It's safe, don't worry." she said.

Ezio jumped to the gate and stood on it for a few seconds. He jumped and it didn't move. He jumped over to Luna and picked her up. He jumped back over and they continued down the path. It split again and there was no signs of a difference.

He headed down one path an it turned out to be the wrong path. As with all wrong turns, there were chests full of treasure at the end of the path. He looted them an found some bullets.

"What are you doing Ezio?" asked Luna.

"Replenishing my ammunition." he said.

"But those aren't yours!" she protested.

He ignored her and reloaded his gun. He walked back and went down the other path, Derpy following closely behind.

They entered a large room again and they all realized that Ezio was right in that they were prepared. There were ponies aiming bows at them from balconies in the walls above them. Ezio set down Luna and told Derpy to keep her safe.

"You should not be here assassin!" yelled a pony that was at the end of the room. When he finished this sentence, many ponies entered the room from the hallways connecting into the room. "If you surrender now, we'll make sure your deaths are painless!"

Ezio raised his arms slowly and told Derpy, "Back away into the tunnel, under cover from their archers." Derpy backed off and Ezio aimed his gun at an archer.

"Smart move." said the pony, walking forward with a knife.

He got closer and closer to Ezio until he was within reach. As soon as Ezio could reach him, he stabbed him with his hidden blade and shot the archer at the same time, then ran for cover, reloading his gun.

The archers shot at him and the arrows came too close for comfort. He dived behind a rock in the corner of the room and three arrows bounced off of it. He aimed at another archer and killed him, causing him to drop his bow off of the balcony.

The ponies on the ground ran towards him and Ezio threw a smokebomb, shrouding them in smoke. He killed as much of them as he could, but there was still many more. He repeated the process while staying in the corner of the room. He was also slowly picking off the archers one by one.

The archers started to back off and Ezio couldn't get a clear shot at them any more. The ponies on the ground started fighting more aggressively. Their strikes were getting stronger, but they were easily predictable. Ezio was able to counter their attacks more easily.

Some of the ponies attacking him were backing off and others had already ran. Ezio threw down another smokebomb and killed the rest of the ponies that were left. He found a staircase and ran up it. He was met with a pony leaning over the edge of the balcony trying to find him. Ezio pushed him off, stabbed another, and shot a third in about two seconds.

The other ponies had noticed him and were trying to get their arrows ready. The closest two grabbed a dagger from their belts and ran at him, only to be met by hidden blades. The third one down the line fumbled with his arrow and was killed. Another got a shot lined up and fired at Ezio.

He grabbed the body o the pony he just killed and shielded himself from the arrow, then ran forward an killed the last two on the balcony.

The leader of these ponies had ran off, but Derpy was right in front of him and before he could blink, she stabbed him between the eyes with a dagger she found on the ground.

Ezio ran back downstairs and looked at Derpy, who was dusting herself off. "I did not know that you could handle a blade." he said.

"I know a lot more than that." she said, tossing the blade aside.

Ezio walked back and picked up Luna again. "You are quite the formidable fighter." she said.

"I have fought for many years."

Ezio walked to where the lead pony had been and looked around with his eagle vision. A small panel on the wall was glowing. Ezio walked over to it and pushed it in. The wall opened up and revealed a small staircase. They walked down and the door shut behind them.

Ezio noticed that they were in a tomb for another assassin. "Princess, do you know who was laid to rest here?" he asked.

"His name was Starswirl the Bearded. He was a great assassin who learned the ways of the assassin from Altaïr during the time that he was here many years ago. He was also the greatest magician of his time, almost as powerful as me and my sister. A formidable stallion indeed."

"Altaïr taught the assassin ways to him? Impressive." said Derpy.

Ezio started to read off the writing on the coffin. "Here lies Starswirl the Bearded, respected by light and feared by darkness. Died of natural causes at the age of 119. Requiescat in pace, Starswirl the Bearded." he said, opening the coffin by inserting his hidden blade into a hole on the side. The coffin opened and he reached in and grabbed the key.

"What are you doing Ezio?" Luna yelled.

He grabbed his key and connected the three parts. He looked at what shape it had formed. "Who could've known that three simple skeleton keys would turn into this?" he asked with a small smile on his face.

"What is it?" asked Derpy.

"This is the symbol of our brotherhood." he said, showing it to her.

"That looks cool."

"Luna, Altaïr said that you should know what we do with this." he said, showing it to her.

She grabbed it from his hooves and looked at the golden metal. "I know exactly what we need to do with this." she said, seriously. "But we cannot do it here. First we need to leave this place."

She gave it back to him and he put it into his pocket. "And we need to give proper care to your wound." he said. "It will help nobody if you are still hurt."

Ezio heard a popping noise and looked to the source. He saw a door opening and walked through it. Luna was still unhappy at him for opening the grave. "I still can't believe you did that." she said.

"He knew what would've happened. That's the point of these kinds of assassin tombs. Only assassins could gain entry into the tomb. He was holding the key for a worthy assassin."

"He knew that would happen?"

"Yes, how else can you explain it opening after I inserted the blade?"

"That seems to be evidence enough. I'm sorry that I doubted you." she said.

"Hey Ezio, we need to pick up the pace." said Derpy.

Ezio ran forward without question. He noticed that the walls were collapsing around them. He went as fast as he could and soon reached the end of the tunnel. He looked up and saw a sewer cover. He thought quickly and tried to formulate a plan on how to get Luna and Derpy out of there before the whole tunnel collapsed on top of them. He realize that he had his wings again and flew up to the cover. He pushed it open and threw Luna out of the sewer. Derpy flew out after her and Ezio was the last to exit, covering the sewer on his way out.

He looked around, there was nopony around. He let out a sigh of relief and looked at Luna. "Don't ever do that again." she said.

Ezio chuckled and picked her up again. "Where are we?" he asked, looking around.

"I think this is a very old section of Canterlot, cut off from the public." said Luna.

"I don't like this place, it creeps me out." said Derpy.

"We should head back to Ponyville." said Ezio.

"I'm going to have to meet you there." said Derpy. "I have some thing to do at a... place."

Ezio looked at her like he was going to ask, but thought against it. "Alright Derpy, I'll see you there."

Derpy flew off and left Ezio and Luna alone. Ezio started walking in the direction of Ponyville, checking for guards on the way. He made it out of the city without any trouble and jumped into the air.

He flew all the way to Ponyville and when he arrived, he went straight to the hospital. He rushed her to the emergency ward and told them that she was hurt.

They were all surprised that the Princess was injured, and wasted no time in caring for her. "Thank you for helping her Mr..." said Nurse Redheart.

"Ezio." he said.

He started to leave and was stopped after he heard her say, "Don't you want to stay here so you can see how she is doing?"

"No, I know that she will be in good hands. I want you to tell nopony that she was here. She will be safer that way."

"What do you mean, safer?"

"Just do it, per favore."

He walked out without another word and flew to Twilight's library. He walked in and saw that it was a mess. "Twilight, are you here?" he called.

"Just a second!" she called back. She walked out from a pile of books and said, "Sorry about the mess, I was looking into something. How did it go?"

"Not well, we were found out and Princess Luna was hurt."

"The Princess was hurt?" she asked angrily.

"Yes, it would seem that Cesare does have the Apple, and that he used it against Princess Celestia and the royal guards. I almost got him, but he managed to escape and we were teleported to the dungeon. Luna was slashed and I had to carry her out. We escaped through an assassin's tomb and made it home. I do not know where Derpy is, but she had to go somewhere."

"An assassin tomb, who was laid to rest there?"

"A noble assassin by the name of Starswirl the Bearded."

"What?" she asked excitedly.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Starswirl the Bearded was an assassin?"

"Evet."

"Wow, that was unexpected. I idolize him, and he was an assassin. Fascinating."

"Starswirl the Bearded, respected by light and feared by darkness. Died of natural causes at the age of 119." he remembered. "He was a great pony."

"Yes, he was one of the best."

"So, what have you been studying?"

"Anything that could help."

"Did you find anything?"

"No."

"If you are having trouble finding the correct book, I think that I will be able to help you." he said

He used his eagle vision and looked around the room. Some of the books were glowing faintly. He picked those books up and put them on a table. "These books will be helpful to you." he said.

"How do you know?"

"I am a special man with special gifts." he said.

"What does that mean?"

"My senses are above that of a normal man."

"I don't fully understand what that means."

"I do not understand it either."

"Hmmm..."

Twilight looked at the books and saw that they had nothing in conman. "How can you be so sure about these?"

Ezio looked at the books again and opened them to the page that was glowing. He arranged them to form a pattern and looked at what he had made. "This reminds me of Altaïr's Codex." he said.

"They have secret messages on them as well?"

"Altaïr must have left this as a clue for us." he said.

He looked at the pages with his eagle vision. "A map. But of what I am not sure."

Twilight ran into the pile of books an came back with an atlas. She opened it up and put it next to the books that he was looking at. "Does it look like that?" she asked.

"That would be it, where is that?"

"This is a map of the Everfree Forest. Is there anything that stands out on yours?"

"Yes, in the ruined castle, there is something, and another in a swamp. One more resides in a cave. Can you tell me about any of these?"

"They're all easy to get to, but the swamp is guarded by a hydra and the cave is guarded by an Ursa Major."

"Ursa Major?"

"A large beast."

"That is going to be challenging." he said.

"But what does this all mean?"

"I don't know about some, but I do know this, there is something for an assassin at each of those locations, and I'm going to find out what they are."

"How are you so sure that they are for an assassin?"

"Each of these points have been marked with the assassin insignia." he said. He reached into his pocket and showed her the key, "They look like this."

"That seems familiar somehow, I just don't know why." she said, looking at it.

He put it away and thought about his next actions. He looked at his gun. "Have you made any more poison?" he asked.

"Actually yes, hold on a minute." she said, walking away.

She came back with a box full of the poison and Ezio replenished his supply. "Thank you." he said. "Now, I need to fill up my supply of bombs and bullets."

"Vinyl told me that she has many bombs that she's not going to use if you want them."

"Bene. Now I just need to find someplace with a blacksmith."

"We have a blacksmith here in Ponyville, it's on the way to Sweet Apple Acres."

He nodded and said, "Thank you for your help."

"Sure, no problem."

*Review or not. Also this: the Syrian assassins were real and one actually killed the king of Jerusalem in 1192.