I listened at the door, being very, very careful not to disturb those on the other side. What I heard was both disturbing, and enlightening. The death toll that that wolf racked up was staggering, making me want to throw up at the sheer number killed in such a short amount of time.
On the other hand, though, the fact that most, if not all of those kills were enemies put a few things into perspective: namely why the beast had passed me over while it was on its rampage. Well… it didn't really tell me why, just explained that it didn't see me as an ‘enemy’. Nor did it see most of the ponies in that light, which would be very good for us in the long run.
At any rate, I felt I had spent far too long hiding behind this door, and decided to make myself known. Not letting on that I had listened, of course.
“Hey, Celestia, you got another shirt laying around somewhere?” I asked innocently, opening the door with a simple twist and push of the door handle. The door easily swung open, revealing the lab from before. Celestia was there, as was whom I could only assume was Captain Breeze, and Princess Luna.
Luna was shorter than her sister, probably by a good head, but that was only the start of the differences between the two. Luna had a dark blue coat, teal eyes, and hair that seemed to resemble the sky during a moonless night. On her flank was a mark that resembled a pale crescent moon, with a black splotch behind it that made it look as if it were hung in a starless night. Her jewelry was made of some kind of black, metallic material, with silver moons matching her mark set smack-dab in the center of both the toric and the tiara. On her face, though, was a look of deep distrust that, while I could completely understand, still unnerved me quite a bit.
The captain had a dark blue, almost purple coat, as well as hair that was alternating shades of grey. His expression betrayed nothing about what he was thinking, the most notable things about him being the military jacket he was wearing, and the cat-like shape of his eyes. He didn't have any wings or a horn, but that hardly mattered to me at this point. I had already learned from Lieutenant Feather that his kind possessed staggering strength, so I wouldn't count him out in a fight.
“Ah, Ammon, I assume you were listening to our conversation?” Celestia asked, far too shrewdly for my comfort.
“Dang, is there anything that gets past you?”
She smiled at that. “Actually, I just guessed.”
I grumbled incoherently at her. Of course she didn't know, but I fell for her bait anyway. I noticed that Luna looked decidedly less than happy about my eavesdropping, but I didn't care. At this point, all I really wanted was to go home. “Yeah, I heard. I take it that you caught the wolf, then?”
Celestia nodded, then inclined her head to somewhere behind me. “He is through that-” Celestia started to say, but was interrupted by a single raised hoof from her sister.
“Hold, dear sister.” Luna then turned to me, her eyes oddly calculating. “Do you really expect me to allow your overhearing of our conversation to go without challenge?”
I thought about this for a second, scratched the top of my head, then looked at her with a single raised eyeridge. “Well, if you didn’t want me to hear what was said, you would have moved to another location, since you knew full well that I was awake and about. So, yeah, pretty much.”
“You insolent-”
“Luna…” the white alicorn growled, clearly displeased with how her sister was acting.
“But… Fine,” she said, stamping a single hoof in frustration.
“No, Celestia, it’s fine,” I said, waving to her a bit. “A little distrust is fine. In fact, I’m pretty surprised that you treated me with as much trust as you did.”
Celestia smiled at me, then tilted her head to her side. “After all you’ve done, the least I could do is give you the benefit of the doubt.”
I shook my head at her. “Yeah, but that could easily be my plan. ‘Get you to trust me, then turn on you when you’re not expecting it.’ Come on, just a little distrust, I’m an unknown agent! It would be understandable!” I said, throwing my arms up in frustration.
Celestia smiled at this again, then nodded her head. “While you make a very good point, I hardly think your plan would involve getting yourself killed. According to your doctor, you very nearly lost both your arm and your leg, and you could have died from infection, a malady that we were apparently ill equipped to deal with.”
“Besides, I rather doubt that if you were planning on betraying us, you’d first tell us that you’ll reveal your strengths and weaknesses, then remind us that betrayal is, in fact, an option for you,” Captain Breeze interjected, his frame still quite stiff. “At any rate, that concludes my report. If you’ll excuse me, I must be going. There is still a lot of work to do.”
The stallion turned and started making his way out of the room, but stopped, turning to look back at the Princesses one more time. “Oh, and by the way, my ship has been in contact with me. They told me that they’ve picked up the package. She should be in sometime this evening.” The stallion then left without another word, firmly closing the secret bookcase behind him.
I turned back to the princesses, feeling pretty defeated. Luna still looked somewhat sour, but thankfully let the matter slide. Celestia looked like she was about to burst at the seams laughing. “Yeah, yeah, I’m a riot,” I said, leaning my rear end up against one of the lab tables. Surprisingly, it wasn’t at all uncomfortable, despite the fact that I now had a tail back there. “By the way, there’s something I need to tell you…”
Celestia looked curiously at me, raising an eyebrow ever so slightly. I just exhaled, wanting to get this done and over with as soon as possible. “Do you remember having a talking helmet sitting in your lab?” I asked, pointing to where Izolda once rested.
Luna immediately looked towards the desk, then looked back at me. “What did you do to her?” Luna asked, her tone immediately accusatory.
I sighed, then scratched the back of my head. “She’s… well, according to her, she’s fine. You wouldn’t happen to have the rest of her lying around here, would you?” I asked, looking around, trying to see if they had a box of armor pieces sitting in the lab somewhere.
I was ripped from my search, however, as my head was forcibly turned to face the angry blue pony in front of me. Her horn was glowing, which I took to be a very bad sign. “What. Did. You. Do?” she asked, every word dripping with implied intent to maim.
I nearly wet myself then and there, but luckily I wasn’t alone in this. There was a loud hum, and I suddenly felt my head’s control return to me. “Sister! Control yourself!”
Luna grumbled a bit, but otherwise stood down. I rubbed my neck a bit, completely conscious of how much force this pony could exert. “Jeez, lady, it wasn’t even my fault. She’s the one who decided to stay behind.”
“What do you mean by that?” Luna growled at me.
“Luna, go to bed,” Celestia said, causing both me and Luna to look at the white princess in shock. Luna opened her mouth, presumably to argue, but was interrupted by her older sister before she had even began. “If memory serves, the last time you had slept was over week ago. Magic will only be able to sustain you for a little bit longer, and even with magic, you become irritable and reckless.”
“But I-”
“But nothing, dear sister. You will be useless to Equestria if you collapse in the middle of a battle. It would also be counter-productive to tear Ammon’s head from his shoulders, seeing as how he’s one of the few benevolent champions we have on our side,” Celestia said, giving her sister a stern, motherly look.
I said nothing, choosing to instead rub my neck, trying to not think about how I had almost lost a foot of height of the top. I received one more scathing glare from Luna, before she turned and vanished from the room in a flash of light.
“I apologize for my sister’s actions,” Celestia said, inclining her head to me in an apologetic way. “She has been under a great deal of stress, and has a tendency to overreact when she is exhausted.”
“Don’t worry-” I started to say, but stopped, took a deep breath, and swallowed uncomfortably when I realized that my answer had come out in a register that only dogs could have heard. “I mean, don’t worry about it. I’m tougher than I look,” I said in a far deeper tone than my normal speaking voice, followed up with what i hoped was a confident, winning smile.
I don’t think she bought it, but thankfully she let it slide. “So, what were you saying about The Knight of Dawn?”
I coughed a little, both trying to cover up my fear, and to ease the frog that had lodged itself in my windpipe. “Ehem, yes, about her. To start, her name is Izolda. I assume that you heard about me entering the lower caves beneath the city to scout ahead?”
“Yes. A foalish decision, given that you were still injured at the time, but thank you. I saw what you had wrought down there, and I must say, I am impressed,” she answered as she fixed me with that same, stern glare. “However, I do remember you telling me that you had no power on the level of Pyro Pete, though the evidence would suggest-”
“That wasn’t me,” I said, shaking my head. “I was telling you the truth when I said that I had nothing big or flashy. When I had left the lab, I brought Izolda along with me. She… destroyed her helmet to slow the zombie guy down.”
“Do you mean she’s…?”
“I don’t think so,” I said, quickly heading off where she thought this conversation was going. “The last thing she said before doing the deed was ‘make sure you find another helmet for me.’ I think she’s still alive, she’s just, well, kind of headless at the moment.”
“Which is why you were asking about the other pieces,” Celestia said, nodding in understanding. “At any rate, the rest of Izolda’s armor is not in Canterlot at the moment. We were having the rest of her brought here by train, but the railway was unfortunately destroyed during Orcas’ attack. They are on Captain Breeze’s ship, on the way here as we speak.”
“Ah…” I said, but didn’t add anything else to the conversation. To be honest, that was really the extent of how much I knew, and what I had planned: explain why Izolda’s helmet wasn’t here, and to get her back up and running again.
Well, there was that, and the training I still had to do with the guards, I thought to myself. But as that thought came, another soon followed in its wake. “By the way, you guys were saying something about someone who could talk with that wolf you have captured. Any chance I might get a shot first?”
Celestia thought about this for a second, then nodded her head. “I think that that might be arranged, but you are not to go inside his cell alone. He has already proven to be more than a match for most of our forces, and it is best not to give him any leeway.”
I nodded, then motioned for Celestia to lead the way. She obliged, opening the door to the left of the one that I came out of, which I quickly entered. I immediately noticed that, while my room had all the looks of an old hospital/observation room, this one had a distinctly cell-ish vibe to it. It was a decently sized room, probably a good thirty feet from where the door was, to where the back of the cell stood. Dividing the room was a set of steel bars, onto which were carved a myriad of glowing runes; the walls inside the cell were similarly carved, as was the ceiling and the floor. The whole effect lended an air of being totally unbreachable, though from what I’ve heard about the other champions, that was somewhat suspect.
It was probably only mostly unbreachable.
The ponies had apparently thought the same thing, since they hadn’t left the occupant of the cell unguarded. Standing in front of the cell were four ponies, all armed to the teeth, and wearing full plate mail. They weren’t facing the entrance to this room, either. Instead, they all had their eyes glued to the cell, and by extension, the dangerous occupant inside.
Which was something that I found completely hilarious: For all their caution, all their wards, and all their posturing, the wolf inside the cell didn’t seem to notice them in the slightest. He sat in the center, cross-legged, with his eyes closed, and his head bowed, as if he were praying. His huge, five fingered paws were draped loosely on his knees, further reinforcing the image of someone who was busy communing with their god. The only movement from the wolf that I could detect was his steady, rhythmic breathing, as well as the ever-so-slight twitch of his ear when we first opened the door.
“Sup, buddy,” I said, sauntering forward towards the cell. The guards looked at me briefly, but a single nod from Celestia was all it took to let them know I was okay. I got pretty close to the cell, but not close enough to be reached through the bars. I wasn’t that stupid. “You ahh… you doing okay in there?”
The wolf’s ears flickered briefly, but he did not otherwise show that he was listening. I knew better, though. “So… from what I’ve heard, you did a lot of damage. Killed a lot of people before you were stopped.”
He didn’t answer. Big surprise there.
“Anyway, from the way I hear it, you actually did us a favor,” I said as I moved towards one of the walls next to the cell. I leaned against it, folding my arms as I regarded the strange creature. He looked… like he’d be surprisingly short, all things considered. Probably shorter than me, but far, far stockier. He must have been washed up since the last time I saw him, because his once blood-soaked fur was now sleek and black. He seemed to have some kind of green substance on his back, mixed into his fur, but I paid it no mind, more concerned about his current state of attire.
Or namely, his lack of attire.
It made sense that they would remove his clothing, seeing as how the ponies knew very little about their opponents or their powers. For all they knew, this guy's powers were intrinsically linked to his clothing. I rather doubted that, but it never hurt to be overly cautious.
Still made me feel uncomfortable. Especially considering how he was sitting.
“Well, I think you could do yourself a favor, here. You tell me how you managed to pick out every single one of those pirates from the crowd, and I’ll see what I can do about getting you a decent pair of pants. Deal?” He didn’t say anything. I gave a short shrug at his lack of conversational skills, and turned to leave. “Well, if you change your mind, just let the guards know. They’ll know how to find me.”
And without another word, I left the room, Celestia hot on my heels. “What was that all about?” she asked as she closed the door.
I shrugged as I went around the room, picking up my weapons, my belt, and my sheaths, before putting them on and equipping myself. “Just preparing the waters,” I said evasively. “Truth be told, I had no idea what I was doing in there, but I had learned one thing about our mysterious new friend. That alone was worth the interview.”
“And what is that?” Celestia asked, raising her eyebrow curiously.
I made my way over to the bookcase before opening it with the single press of a button. “He’s not a prisoner here. He’s waiting.”
Celestia looked alarmed at that, “Waiting? For what?”
I just shook my head at her. “I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s going to be big,” I then gestured out of the room, my body bent into a half-bow towards the princess. “Now, if you’ll be so kind, I still need to instruct your troops about my strengths and weaknesses, and it would be a huge help if I could get a new shirt before that happened.”
She smiled at me, before cantering over to lead the way. “It would be my pleasure, though I do not understand why you and your kind insist on being clothed.”
“Cultural differences.” It was the only answer I was willing to give at the time. I wasn’t too keen on letting her know exactly what those differences implied, at least, not yet. Luckily, she seemed to take this at face value, and said nothing as she passed me by and led me out of the lab.
* * *
Havoc swore as he leaped down the stairs two at a time. That freaking dragon was still hot on his heels, despite the numerous traps he had laid down all along the way. And some of them were far deadlier than he could ever be.
He did notice something interesting, though. The dragon seemed to be favoring his left shoulder, and every attack Havoc had directed towards that particular part of the dragon’s anatomy seemed to cause him to subconsciously twitch, despite the fact that every single one of those attacks had been easily deflected by the dragon’s impossibly hard scales.
Havoc had taken advantage of that fact, but he could do very little to exploit it. All he could really do was slow the beast down.
And he hated that. There was always a way out.
Right before the fish-man reached the bottom of the stairs, he vaulted the stone bannister, dropping the last couple of feet straight to the ground. He quickly turned and yanked open the door, only to see Avalis waiting for him on the other side, calmly picking his teeth.
The dragon looked up, as if noticing the fish for the first time, then flicked his claws, as if removing a particularly stubborn speck. “Had your fun? Because I’m getting rather tired of this little game of ours.”
Havoc looked up the stairs in disbelief, then back down at the dragon. “How on earth did you get here so fast?” he said as he slowly backed away from the door.
The dragon simply pointed behind Havoc. Havoc didn’t bother looking, he already knew the answer, and he wasn’t one to let his eyes leave an enemy, even for a second. “Through the window, of course,” Havoc said, right before swearing under his breath.
The whole layout of the old fortress was in the dragon’s favor, and Havoc didn’t like it one bit. Not only that, but the dragon’s superior durability, senses, and speed had all basically spelled his doom from the start.
What’s the good of being able to use lightning if it doesn’t even do anything? Havoc thought bitterly to himself.
“So, are you going to give me what you stole, and have your death be quick and relatively painless? Or am I going to have to slowly tear you limb from limb?”
Havoc thought about this for a bit as he continued to edge backwards, but quickly found himself stuck as his back hit the edge of the windowsill behind him. He gave out a heavy sigh, reached into his pocket, then pulled out a small, silver circle from his pocket. It was quite beautiful, covered in arcane runes, and adorned with six gems, all of different colors. “Fine, it’s yours.”
Avalis reached out his hand, his maw turned up into an expectant grin, which quickly disappeared as Havoc threw the circle over his shoulder and out the window.
Avalis rushed the fish, shoving him out of the way before diving out the window. He could still see The Circle as if fell, and in the back of his mind, he knew that he was letting the fish get away.
But as the The Circle fell into the mists that surrounded the mountain that the fortress was situated on top of, he found it rather hard to care.
Savor this small victory, you miserable little worm. I’ll come for you soon enough, Avalis thought as the world around him disappeared into mist.
The only thing that Havoc was thinking, as he ran through the castle, across the bridge, and down the mountain path below, was I can’t believe that worked. A grin was plastered to his face, while the real Circle jangled from its chain around the fish’s neck. The prize he had come for initially was long forgotten, all that mattered to him at the moment was that he got as far as humanly possible from this keep, before that stupid dragon realized that he had been duped.
As if right on cue, a horrible scream of rage echoed across the mountain. This only caused Havoc to redouble his speed, trusting on the cover of the setting sun to hide him from the vengeful, winged death that was sure to follow close behind him...
* * *
“Hey! Make sure you check inside those buildings there! We need this area clear before the crew can start repairs!”
Private Light Step cut a crisp salute, then moved to do as he was ordered. He knocked on the door, trying to be conscientious that this was a private abode. Without warning, the door swung open with his strikes, making an ominous creak as it revealed the darkened room beyond.
“Hello? Is there anyone here?” he called out as he ignited his horn. He stepped into the foyer, the quickly approaching night making any light from outside next to useless. He noticed an open doorway to his right, and feeling somewhat nervous, he moved forwards to take a look.
On the other side were a number of bodies, some from the royal guard, others simple civilians. All of them looked like they had been mauled by some wild beast. Indeed, that was what he initially thought, up until he got close enough to one of the bodies to see it’s face.
It was missing its eyes. In fact, all of the bodies were.
Light Step tried to keep his lunch down, but it was no use. He quickly emptied the contents of his stomach, before turning and running from the scene before him. “S-Sir! Over here!”
If he had been a little more observant, however, he would have noticed the dark shadow detach itself from the wall, move to the window across the room, and jump through into the darkening city beyond, all while cackling softly to itself as it disappeared into the darkening equestrian night.