Chase Mc...Quiet?
Ding-ding.
“Thank you for your patronage!” Rarity called as her last customer for the day exited the boutique. A heavy sigh escaped her before she plopped onto the cushion behind the counter.
Rainbow Dash’s passing reminded her of the years gone by, but her tired bones drilled the idea home. At seventy-seven, Rarity could feel her body slowing down, especially in the mornings. Oh, dear Celestia, those mornings… But even though she still had Sweetie to help her, there were some aspects of her boutique nopony could manage except her alone.
Not that Sweetie could help on a whim, either. She had passed her prime as well, but it would be a few years before her singing career was over. So, Rarity couldn’t guarantee she’d have any help, and learned how to manage on her own.
Her son had moved to Manehatten over twenty years ago; she couldn’t recall the exact date anymore. As for her husband, that stallion wasn’t worth her time. Rarity knew it wouldn’t be but a few more years before she would have to do as Granny Smith had: sit on the sidelines and let the younger generation take over.
Luckily, she had somepony to do so. Stitched Gown was a very talented mare, and Rarity had spent the last few years training her to take over Carousel Boutique. It was a godsend when that filly showed up as she had, arriving by train from Fillydelphia. She was elated to meet the mare she looked up to, after seeing her wares displayed next to other well-known pony dressmakers, and nearly begged to be taken on as an apprentice.
Another sigh left Rarity. Such reminiscing wasn’t healthy. Living in the present is the only way to live, after all.
A shuffle of fabric behind her caused her to raise her head. “I’m fine, Sweetie,” she said, knowing Gown had left a few hours prior for an appointment. “There’s still a few ye—” The store’s entrance slammed open in a light green aura, the bell above it nearly ripped off its hanger as it rang.
“Rarity!” Sweetie Bell shouted as she rushed up to the counter. Rarity took a second to calm her nerves before spotting her sister’s ever present friends, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, trailing in a few moments behind. “What’s this about the funeral being destroyed yesterday?!”
The elder sibling spared a moment to glare at the pegasus before responding. “Now, where did you hear such a thing? The funeral wasn’t ruined.” At Sweetie’s confused expression and diverting eyes between Scootaloo and herself, she continued. “There was a creature that merely wanted directions after the service was over.”
She tuned out the ensuing argument between the girls and thought back to the noise. After Opalescence, she never adopted another pet, and she was alone in the shop until they arrived. The thought of somepony breaking in crossed her mind, but Ponyville tended to be safer than most. Yet, now that her sister reminded her, that creature from the funeral…
No, Rarity thought. He was a brute, definitely, but a thief? She knew she had a tendency to assume a lot about ponies, and tended to be right more often than not, but there was the occasional error in judgement. From what she did see yesterday, the ‘human’ didn’t seem to have any ill will towards them. Though, from her grieving state, she admitted she wouldn’t think clearly enough to know for sure.
“What about Spike?” Sweetie asked when she broke away from Scootaloo. “I was told he was attacked by the thing!”
Rarity raised an eyebrow and turned to the pegasus. “Is there anything you haven’t told her? I thought we agreed to keep quiet until the princesses decided the best response.” Scootaloo, even after all these years, still ducked her head when facing the mare’s ire, only muttering an apology.
A light smile graced Rarity’s lips. “It’s fine, darling. You just wanted to tell your friends… but we might have a problem on our hooves if you told anypony else?” She nodded to the pegasus’s negative and turned to the other girls. “You two, as well. Don’t tell a soul until the princesses give us the clear to do so.”
All three nodded and shared similar responses before Sweetie jump forward further on the counter’s edge. “Spike! How is Spike?!” she asked, her eyes dancing in concern.
“He’s fine, Sweetie. In fact, he should be at the library by now, if you want to see him.” Before the last words left her lips, her sister had turned and ran back out. The other two gave Rarity a shrug before chasing after her, again, if their shared sigh was any indication.
Now alone again, the mare shut the door behind them and stood. Her body creaked slightly, but it was manageable. She started towards the kitchen for some tea when she heard a crash in her work room. A mumbled curse followed after, and she changed course, picking up the first sturdy thing she found: a book she had yet to return to the library.
Water marked the way as Rarity crept to the door as quietly as her body allowed, brandishing the book in her telekinesis. Beyond, she could hear fabric shifting about and drawers opening.
“Where are the scissors? Every cloths maker has scissors.”
The voice was male, but she couldn’t be sure of anything other than that. Gripping the doorknob in her magic as well, she prepared herself for anything. With one last deep breath, she flew the door open. “Stop right the—”
Standing frozen next to a ponyquin was the human from yesterday. His eyes locked with her own as he held a roll of black fabric in one hand and the other reaching for another draped over the object. They held the stare for what felt like a minute before Rarity shrieked and launched the book at his face.
His arm twitched in line with the missile and it deflected away. As it landed, he dropped the fabric and gripped the limb tightly. “Oww. What the hell?”
“What are you doing in my house?!” Rarity yelled, picking up pins, rolls of cloth, and anything else she could wrap her magic around.
“Jeez, lady,” he said, rotating his hand. “Why’d you throw a book at me so hard? You could have broken something!”
“I asked you a question.” The objects floated closer to the mare as she set her hooves in place. “Answer me!”
Noticing the situation, Chase finally raised his arms in a calming manner. “Calm down. I was just looking for something to make a sling with… and maybe some way to dry this.” He shook his coat slightly and a few droplets of water landed on the floor.
She looked at the puddle growing under him, as well as the line running all over the room where he had searched. “What are you doing?!” she screamed and threw a box of small thread at him. “Out, out out!” Dropping the other objects, she used her magic to pull him from the room by his coat, then started pushing him down the hall towards the back door.
“H-hey,” he started, allowing himself to be moved and helping along the way. “What are you doing? I need my sword.”
“You brought a weapon into my house?!” she asked between shoves. “Do you not know the first thing about entering a lady’s home?”
They burst from the building and she huffed as he turned around. “Stay right here,” she ordered before stomping her way back inside. Rarity then spent the next few minutes drying her hardwood floors before any damage could result, pulling towel after towel from the bathroom and throwing the soiled ones in the laundry room without leaving the room.
“Hey—”
“Don’t you dare step a foot in this house.” A low grumble entered the room and she assumed that to be him complying. Once the floor was appropriately dry, she grabbed the materials he was using, spotting the sword and picking it up with a few other things, and headed back to the human.
“Hey, my sword!” Chase called when he spotted it, ripping it from the mare’s hold in the process. Rarity let it go freely, knowing she couldn’t concentrate on the other objects if she entered a tug-of-war with the human.
“Yes, your sword.” She stepped closer and looked him over with her brow furrowed in indignation, though she couldn’t deny the curiosity growing in her as well. “Now, why should I help you with what you need?”
“Wel—”
“You snuck into my shop, made a mess of my work room, and left water everywhere you went!”
“And as I was saying, I didn’t ask for your help. Give me what I need and I’ll leave you alone.”
A thought wormed its way into Rarity’s mind as a slick smile spread over her face. “And why would I give them to you? Do you even know what you’re doing?”
“Of course I know what I’m doing!” Chase responded and bent closer to the mare with an irritated frown.
“Then tell me how you were going to stitch this fabric—” She shook the spool in front of him. “—so it will hold that sword through those small rings.”
“I’d do it like anything else: until it sticks.”
A pitying laugh escaped Rarity’s muzzle before she could stop it, then raised a hoof to save some dignity. “Oh darling, you would use my whole roll if you did that.”
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why I’m bothering with you. I’ll find another store to get what I need.” With those words, he turned and marched away.
“Where are you going?” she asked as she tried to follow the human.
“I just told you!”
“I thought you needed to dry that coat?” Chase paused. “You need me, and I have questions. Answer them and I’ll make you that sling while you dry off.”
He looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “You’ll let me back in the store?”
“Of course! Just…” She paused and surveyed his wet clothes. “Not with those on.” Before he could respond, she floated a pink bathrobe over. “You need to dry as much as they do.”
Chase seemed to think it over. He turned back and studied Rarity, then his clothes, and finally the sword. With a sigh, he reached for the robe, but stopped at the last second. “One condition.”
“You really don’t have much sway to be negotiating, darling.”
“You get three questions.”
Three questions would go a long way in understanding this new being. She would have to report to Twilight about what she learned, but first she needed to know the best way to get that information out of him. The way he looked at the moment, she didn’t think she could bargain for more, and didn’t want to inadvertently push him away. Reluctantly, she nodded and began for the boutique once more. After a few seconds, she heard fabric rustling behind her, then his steps as he followed.
When they got to the door, he handed the coat and pants over, then set his shoes down. Just as he was stepping through the entrance, Rarity called out to him.
“Do you plan on bringing that weapon in with you?”
Chase’s eyes darted between her and the sword. “Yes?” he said, confused. “You need the sheath to measure the sling, and I’m not about to pull the blade out to be exposed.”
Using the scissors she had, she cut a small portion of the fabric away and floated it to him. “Then tie this on it.”
He picked it from the air and looked it over. “Why?”
“If you want to enter somepony’s home, it is proper etiquette to tie your weapon as a sign of peace,” Rarity explained before pointing at the weapon. “Tie it tight between the top loop and the hilt.”
“I know what peace-tying is. I asked why you didn’t do it, or why I need to do it at all.”
“Because I asked you to, and it loses meaning if the owner doesn’t do it.”
With a reluctant sigh, the human set about tying the cloth, making sure to demonstrate the strength to Rarity when he was done. She nodded and entered first, leading him down the hallway and back into her workroom. Normally, she was the only one allowed in there, but she couldn’t risk somepony outside spotting him.
It wasn’t until they got settled, with Chase sitting on the floor, that Rarity finally took a closer look at the coat. There were no threads she could see, and a smell old oils permeated the room. “Is this leather?” she asked, surprised.
“You want to use that as one of the questions? Of course it is,” Chase said as he rocked back and forth, as if sitting still for long periods bothered him.
Rarity decided she had to be more careful with what she said. Now, she was down to two questions and she didn’t learn anything. Hopefully, she could get him in a good mood enough for him to rescind that first question, or she worried she wouldn’t get enough information to help the princesses. But first, she had to deal with someone who had leather and wore it like it was nothing.
“Of course…” she said, trailing her voice and adding a nervous titter to her voice. Animal hide wasn’t completely unknown to Rarity. Over the years, she did get the odd griffon stop by for some help in maintaining pelts they gathered and wore. At first, she was horrified, but she learned to accept it after Twilight explained their carnivorous ways and how using the animal’s pelt was a way of letting the poor beast know its death was used well. She hoped the human had a similar outlook, and luckily still had some oil left over from the last griffon customer.
With a professional stance, she pulled it out from the drawer of her desk and started to work it into the material. “This oil will condition the coat, so the next time it gets wet, you only need to let it dry naturally.” Chase grunted an acknowledgment and Rarity chose now to test the waters. “Where did you get this?”
“Pass.”
Rarity arched an eyebrow at the human as she floated the coat over with his pants to dry into a bucket. “So you won’t answer any question.”
“Of course.” He was still moving about on the floor, but now he had switched to leaning from side to side.
She measured the sword’s sheath and started on the cloth. “You chose a good fabric. This is one of my stronger rolls.”
“I know what I know.”
Rarity wasn’t getting anywhere with this. Deciding to wing it, she asked the first thing she could think of. “Why did you interrupt the funeral yesterday?”
The human froze, slowly narrowing his eyes at the mare. “Interrupt? I waited until the others left. The grave was filled. I didn’t interrupt a funeral, I interrupted a bunch of upset people who had no cause to be.”
She whipped around and stared deeply into his eyes. “No cause?! One of our best friends just passed, somepony who we knew since we were fillies! Somepony who helped us save the world on multiple accounts and helped us through so many things. How dare you say there wasn’t a cause for us to grieve?!”
“I heard the eulogies. Almost every one of you said to honor her memory by pushing forward like she had you do when she was alive,” he said calmly, an almost bored look in his eyes.
“Are you really suggesting that we aren’t allowed to grieve even a little? What if it was your friend that died? Would you still be saying such things?”
“Yes.”
The sheer acceptance of his response stunned Rarity. She sat back, pressing against the desk with all her weight. How could someone think like that? Is this human some emotionless machine? What did she let in her house, and why is she helping it now?
“I…”
“Are you done?” Chase asked, standing up and looking over her shoulder. The sheath had acquired the sling he wanted, a simple strap from one loop to the other which only took Rarity a second to make. Before she could reply, he grabbed his still damp clothes from where they hung and slipped them on. As soon as his pants were snug around his waist, he threw the bathrobe over a ponyquin in the corner and slipped his arms through the coat sleeves. Without a word, he snatched the sword from the desk and walked out of the room.
Rarity chased after him as quickly as she could, spotting him slipping on his shoes at the door. “Chase, wait!” she called. “I still have one more question.”
“If you think back on it, I answered seven questions,” he replied, then slung his sword over his head and walked away towards the Everfree.
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lol well i like this chapter keep them coming
HAHAHHAHA hes such a douche
Hah! Math....
3499756 It's not fun when it's done in the typical Gary Stu, "I'm a badass and no one can touch me simply because I'm a badass" way.
3493956 Making weapons is not hard... if it's a pointy stick, maybe.
Forging a good sword? That's damned difficult. Even a basic broadsword with no folding of the metal requires skill. Something akin to a katana is the work of a master.
Unless he's trained, he'd end up with a barely recognizable flattened, malformed piece of steel. I notice he didn't even properly sharpen it too.
You do not just sit down and bang out a sword. Simply would not happen.
3504613 Enchantments on the forging tools and equipment to make any old chump a passable smith?
3504613 Ain't that bad, Wit just a bit of training, I have made couple of passable knives. As long as you have decent material, some time, and basic ability to form a rectangular-ish plate, the rest is just hitting the piece till its flat, hitting it on the side a bit and sharpening it. Getting it in the right form will take a couple of attempts , and waste some material, but its not that bad. Especially if you have decent tools(at least players and hammer). It will not be top quality, mind you, but enough for couple of days worth of hacking away at something. If you don't toss it in a bucket of oil when proper color (heat treatment) you will have to sharpen it every couple of hours/100 uses (depending on quality of material you have).
3505389 ya, but most people today just grub whatever that have, but this guy in the fic he most have top gread A material at hand. So i gusse we can safely say he made a good weapon.
Beside for all we know he could have been there for hrs until the greads show up.
if anything if i want to make a weapon i would have gone on making a machete like weapon
3506803 I like kopis/falcata.(Basically a machete, but bit more flesh oriented)
But I would have to go with anti cavalry weapons on this case, spears, halberds, and my personal favorite war scythe.
Saw style sharpening might be good too(wavy blade with sharpened edge on left,then right, then left again).
Take a premade scythe blade, put it straight onto a good stick, reinforce the joint (put pipe or something on it, and wrap cloth or something on it, bam, done.) I might go for 45° angle to make it easier to rip. Depends on the premade blade tho. Rivets on the side for poison are nice too, also rags to absorb blood, red tassel are the best for that, all the distractions
Also focusing on ripping of flesh and inflicting pain, because chopping off limbs/bones is a bad idea, as it damages the blade really fast. Get some salt/pepper/mustard on that blade for extra lasting pain, or shit for infection chance.
Edit:
I totally forgot about the awesomeness that is morning star too.
I prefer the wariation with blades along the club (4,6 or 8), preferably in > pattern (Shorter upper curve, point, longer lower curve) I think its called lobes mace(direct translation, idk the English name). The unchained version is better, at least in my opinion(less chance to hurt myself. Awesome against armor.
Also metal gauntlets to reduce hit back, and as a backup in case your weapon breaks/gets knocked out of hand. Way better than fists. I recommend leather inside, chain on inside of palm, plates on outside of palm. Can do without the chain, but its useful if you want to handle sharp objects. On end of fingers tiny claws(eye gauging for the win) with place for poison(pepper/etc.). As long as you have upper body strength to carry them, you will not regret getting ones.
Also good boots to avoid caltrops(crow's foot), that stuff is so nasty its worth wearing metal soles, but since they wear stompers, they might not use them against you anyway. Leather-ish coat cowers rest of the armor better, since its lightweight(and armor that can endure both spears and stomping kicks from horses/magic is hella heavy) + you are better off dodging magic anyway.
So I take it his friends are dead?
3506989 me i would have gone with something more basic line like the one use in the fallout new vages game heres a pic of it
images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110209070957/fallout/images/thumb/0/04/MacheteGeck.png/240px-MacheteGeck.png
It's a basic weapon to make and it's know to cut heads off with ease
3505209 And is that specified in the story?
Not to mention, even if he managed to make a sword, am I also expected to believe he's suddenly a capable swordsman?
He has TOO MANY CAPABILITIES to be taken seriously. He's like Cartman in the anime-like South Park episode, having the power to have all the powers.
3507046 Good choice, but since local guards use spears, and have superior speed, you might have trouble getting to them to use it. Or it would have to be over sized and heavy. Didn't Choose great swords or flamberges for that reason. What you need is Horse sized light weaponry, with witch you can stay mobile.I chose scythes for reason that they are easy to loot around countryside, without having to craft them. Pitchforks and shovels the straight ones, with sharpened edges are classically premade spears and halberds. . Also axes, but machetes are better in this case, as they have way better chance to hit. Pickaxes are awesome too. All the armor penetration and insanely painful. They tend to break more easy tho.
3507110 I forgot the weapon name but heres the weapon am going to say.
It's a shovel and axe hybed mix with the end is a shovel like where you can use it and bolwe that is an axe like but a doble bleaded axe. i forgot what it's call but the idea for it was for farmers to have a deadly ass weapon but still can be use as a tool
3507120 O yea that ting, I think its called military shovel multitool or sapper shovel(or was that the tiny shovel with wire cutters?), its pretty sweet.
I wish Writers were Creative enough not to give everybody a sword. Like every fantasy hero has a sword, barely anyone uses axe or bow, only some "period accurate" ones use spears (or low budget ones lol), but no one uses halberd, pitchforks, or actually likely weapons.
You know how easy is to beat down skeleton/zombie hordes with a pitchfork? You aim at skeletons ribcage and push them to nearest cliff/pit/other place they get destroyed. That's it. No getting bitten, or having your arrows go taught it.Hell you can do it with 2 pitchforks per person and make a wall of zombies (as long as they are not those "stronger than human, jump from rooftops" type(taught keeping pitchfork on your back might help a bit, if they are dumb enough to jump on it lol.
But no you will go against them with a short sword.
replygif.net/i/979.gif i.imgur.com/4VcHtWk.gif
3507165 hey i find it it's call the Lobotomizer heres a pic of it
static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120113174257/zombie/images/a/ae/Lobotomizer.jpg
3507265 You are better off using the sharpened edge of shovel for cutting. Really pointless to add double axe below it, since you can do same ting with the edge of a shovel, by sacrificing only a bit of its usefulness(witch is sacrificed anyway, judging by the image. Otherwise it makes the weapon uncentered.
Imagine Swinging that tin, or trying to work with it. Hellishly unpleasant, and you are better off carrying both items. Also only reason to carry 2 headed axe is that you can't sharpen it. The extra added weight is just not worth it, as it makes you tired of swinging it twice as fast, and you newer really use the 2nd blade anyway.
3507292 This weapon was mostly for farmers in the green lands to have more than one tool at a time.
but over time they made them batter heres what after a few trys can led
blogs.lainformacion.com/futuretech/files/2012/01/lobotomizer3.jpg
But like i say that 1st one was it's 1st of it's kind really
3507301 Handles come around quite more often than metal axe/shovel heads, so that kind of economy is stupid, unless you keep all the stuff you own on you so it wont get stolen(and you are still better just tucking the axe under your belt in that case). Latest one looks much better.
3507301 3507309
I don't suppose you two could move your discussion to PMs, could you? As much as I appreciate the conversation that has developed from my story, it has completely broken away from the original topic.
3507106
As for you, your concerns are noted... many times. I'm mostly making things up as I go, but there will be an answer to his supposed "OP-ness".
For the whole sword making and handling, it is definitely possible to learn both skills. Maybe not master, but passable. If a spot comes up in the narrative where I can explain the sword further, I'll be sure to take a minute to do so. Other than that, I can't promise much.
3507338 Well the point of the discussion really was that the main hero should use A less cliche weapon, as it rises up plot holes and makes the story less unique/creative. Just saying.
3507352
Ah, I see. The cliche thing, I have to concede to, but I don't see the plot holes it could cause. I'll keep in mind to explain his choice of weaponry as well. However, just like I told Alondro, I'll only add it in if I find a spot in the narrative to do so.
3507292 A sharp-edged shovel can do some serious damage. I used to chop through inch-thick tree roots with a single jab when I did plantings in my yard.
Almost took my big toe off when I angled the shovel too much... instead I chopped the front of my sneaker off and tore off half the toe nail. Full-force downward thrusts have quite a bit of power behind them. I believe that downward motion is the strongest force-generating move the human arm is naturally capable of.
3507338 ya it's just that the weapon is too commine for most reader
3507467 Dang Alondro you scary. Don't let me near you while you have a shovel.
..... Yeah yeah I know, I'm going. I have a fic to write before I run out of time and ponies return tomorrow...