//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 - You'll never take me alive // Story: Shackles and Friendship // by Zaibatsu //------------------------------// Shackles and Friendship Chapter 10 - You'll never take me alive AN: Naming ponies is hard. 'Well it's food so it's probably in the kitchen.' "Rodney..." 'But Luna did say she was going to personally keep it hidden.' "Rodney..." 'So what? You think she actually has it in her room?' "RODNEY!" "What?" "Were you even listening to me?" "Of course Twilight." "Then what did I just say?" *sigh* "You want us to be ready and in our best attitude for Celestia when she comes back." "Oh, I guess you were listening." 'Thanks.' 'No problem.' After our little fiasco with Luna, and the banishment of meat from the menu, we decided to just play it cool and forgo practical training for the day and hit the books. However even the prospect of learning magic couldn't stop me from thinking about that big, juicy slab of meat hiding somewhere in this blasted castle. My mind became so distracted Twilight decided to just end our session early, seeing as I'm not making any progress. However it was still just midday and the idea of being stuck in my room for the rest of the day doesn't sound all that pleasant, especially when I have a voice constantly telling me to go on a hunt. I need a distraction. "Hey Twilight is it ok if I hang out with you today?" "What brought this on?" I shrugged. "I wouldn't mind but I plan on doing some errand outside the castle, and it's probably going to take the entire day, sorry." "It's ok Twilight, I just didn't want to end up wasting time in my room is all." "Then why don't you try exploring the castle?" I looked down at Twilight with confusion, which she returned just as much. I threw a thumb over my shoulder to the two guards standing behind me. "What about them? Wait, did you think you were a prisoner or something?" I raised both my arms to show her my chains. "That's not what I meant, well not most of it. Rodney you may be limited to the castle grounds but it's not like your a prisoner in here, your free to go wherever you want. Their there to make sure you don't do anything stupid." *facepalm* "Are you telling me I was never restricted to my room?" "Well, except for that time you blew up the castle wall, but yes your allowed to go where ever you wish in the castle." Twilight ears suddenly fell flat and she started to poke the floor nervously. "Did I not tell you that?" "No Twilight, you did not." I gave her look of irritation. "Oh hehehe, sorry." I kept glaring down at her while she had a hoof rubbing the back of her head. "Kaygottagobye!" before she even finished talking she was already galloping down the hallway kicking dust into the air. "I'm gonna get you for this Twilight!" my voice echoed down the hallway chasing the purple unicorn. I turned and look to my two escorts, "Neither one of you thought to tell me this?" again nothing but hard stares were their answer. 'Course not, why should they when it makes their job easier.' With nothing else stopping me I let my feet lead the way and started to explore the castle, who knows maybe I'll actually end up in the kitchen. [Sometime later...] 'This is not the kitchen.' I don't know how but despite not climbing any stairs I had ended up on a balcony high up in the castle over a a different side of the gardens. Though it wasn't all bad, the view from the balcony was breathtaking and I felt a sense of calmness wash over me as I breathe in the fresh air and feel calm winds blowing about. 'A tenderloin steak would go nice with this.' "Goddammit man! I just forgot about that!" the guards gave the slightest confused look but I didn't care. I threw my arms up in exasperation and sent them over the railing, I hung my face down in suffering wishing to god for something to happen. I picked my self up and leaned over the railing taking in the scenery again, hoping it would take me away a second time. That's when I heard a voice shouting down below, it took me a while to find the source with all the echo but eventually my sights fell on a pearl white unicorn with blonde mane sitting by a table laden with plates and a single tea cup with his back towards me. 'Blueblood.' I didn't even care how my thoughts became jumbled up like that. He was giving some mare a hard time probably over some bullshit reason just so he can run his mouth. The mare was wearing a maid outfit and was holding up a pitcher with both front hooves while standing on her rear. Even from this distance I could tell from her quivering that she was either in pain or having a really hard time standing in a position she's clearly not meant to, all the while getting crap from Blueblood. The maid looked familiar and I realized it was the same one that I pranked several days ago, although we might not be on the best relationship she definitely didn't deserve to suffer like that. It took me a while to prevent myself from using all my magic reserve to just chuck a giant fireball on his over sized head and end him right there. After some deep breaths and careful planning, I folded my arms across my chest while still leaning on the railing with my elbows with my back facing the guards. While I was pretending to enjoy the view and keeping my head looking straight, my eyes were looking down on my target. I used the thumb and index finger in my right hand to mock a pistol all the while keeping it covered from view with my body. I focused the tinniest amount of raw magic on the tip of my finger where a small azure fireball formed, it was only the size of an apple seed but it should be enough. Since magic has little to no air resistance and was literally weightless there was no need to calculate any trajectory, I only had to point it like a laser. It only took a short while to weave a simple launching spell that activates by my thumb which I place it on my hand setting burning with small azure flames. With the spell ready and the fireball in place, I took aim and fired. 'Burn Blueblood.' [Five seconds earlier, in the garden.....] "...this thing you call tea is simply horrific! You should be accused for attempted murder of the royal family. How auntie Celestia deems to keep your ilk around the castle is simply beyond me. Why I should-" much of the world was lost to Blueblood at this moment, he was too deep in his tirade to notice anything around him. Not even to the maid's quivering hooves as she continue to keep up her balance while carrying a pitcher full of tea with her front hooves. Most ponies could only stand on their rear hooves for roughly fifteen minutes tops, she's been at it for twenty while holding a liter of liquid. She was sweating profusely and already past her limit, but she didn't dare to drop the pitcher for it would only cause her to suffer more under the prince's unrelenting insults. Her vision was blurred as she squinted in effort and pain, however for the briefest moment she saw a flash of blue somewhere in her vision. She assume it was either the light's playing tricks or the exhaustion and pain was starting to make her see things. Several seconds later she saw smoke start to rise and for a moment believed it came from somewhere in the garden, however upon closer inspection the smoke was rising far closer than she thought. "Uhm, your Highness..." "How dare you interrupt me, a member of the royal family by nothing more than a plebeian such as you! A serf for that matter! For a commoner like you to-" "Please your Highness there's-" "You dare to interrupt me again!? That's it, once auntie Celestia returns from Philidelphia I will personally inform her about this and...... *sniff-sniff* Ugh, what is that awful stench?" using one of his front hooves to cover his nose he looked around for the source of the odor. He turned his head to look behind him and his vision was instantly covered in black smoke, after shaking his head about in an attempt to clear his vision he looked down to the source. His tail was on fire. [Back on the balcony.....] As much as I tried I only lasted three seconds before I started laughing my ass off over the balcony, it was too much. Seeing that pompous prick running around the garden with his tail burning and trailing smoke was like seeing my childhood cartoon come to life. The funny thing was that his tail had been groomed so much, it was all silky and light which made the fire burn faster and bigger. I don't know if it was because Blueblood was in panic or too stupid to realize that there was a small pool in the middle of the garden he could've used, 'I'd say stupid.' Two guards rushed out from a nearby archway towards Blueblood where one of them actually tackled him to the dirt while the other immediately started to trample his tail to put the fire out. The scene only made me fall on the floor clutching my sides as the pain of laughter intensified. I was finally able to recover enough to pick myself up from the floor and lean over the railing to see the servant mare looking absolutely speechless at me, her face was somewhere between confusion and relief. I stood up and started to brush of the dust from my clothes then placed my right hand over my lips and blew her a kiss. "YOU!" I turned to see a dirt covered, smoking Blueblood looking up at me. "Hey there Blueblood, what's cooking?" "You did this didn't you!" he pointed an accusing hoof at me. "Moi?" I put my left arm across my chest and put on a mock expression of surprise. "Perish the thought! Besides, how can I?" "You used magic!" he shouted. "Weren't you the one that said the monkey didn't have the skill nor finesse to learn the subtle arts of magic?" I asked with a mocking tone. "Enough! Guards seize him!" I turned to see the two earth pony guards started running at me. "Oh crap." [Several minutes later, in the castle's hangar.....] Princess Luna was sitting patiently between two of her night guards just below the archway of a large balcony used as the entryway for chariots. Though it was extremely late in the morning Luna refused to sleep in order to greet her sister home from her trip. She saw Celestia's chariot shinning in the sky several minutes ago and immediately made her way to the castle hangar, by the time she got there Celestia was already making her approach to land on the balcony. The sound of wood hitting metal followed by the many hoof steps signaled the chariot's landing. "Sister! Tis good to see thee again. We hope the trip to Philidelphia was a success?" "Thank you for greeting us Luna, and yes it was. Construction of the new railroad should begin soon. Should you not be in bed by now?" "Tis nothing in order to welcome thee home sister." Celestia gave Luna a loving nuzzle for her thoughtfulness. "Thank you Luna that very generous of you. Tell me though, how is out guest-" but before she could finish one of doors in the large hangar burst open as a human came running through the opening towards another door on the opposite side. No, not running, he was sliding across the floor while his feet were wrapped in blue fire. Before Celestia could come into terms with the situation she heard what sounded like a stampede and soon enough she saw a long line of guards galloping together like a train, chasing the human down. Celestia and Luna just stood there speechless with their mouths agape as the parade passed by, off in the distance the princesses could hear someone screaming. "YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!!" the two alicorns face-hoofed and could feel the signs of a headache looming. [Sometime later, in the throne room....] The entire ordeal made me realize how long I've been laying on my ass, the feeling of exhaustion and adrenaline pumping in my veins was a refreshing change. As interesting as magic was it's way too passive and didn't include enough physical exertion to keep me in shape. At first I was able to use the hallways and windows to dodge them by making tight turns and such, but it couldn't last and eventually they caught up to me. It was quite impressive how fast I implemented a magnet spell to work on my feet at the last second all the while under duress, even more so that I got it to work like roller blades. The spell was only supposed to be an experiment to see if it;s possible to replicate properties of real world elements with magic, never did I thought I could use it to make myself a human maglev train. But not knowing the layout of the castle was too much of a disadvantage, my luck eventually ran out and I hit a dead end. Which is I am now standing in the throne room, surrounded by guards with Celestia and Luna up on their throne along with Blueblood standing some distance to the right. Now considering what I've done you would expect me to take the situation a bit more serious, and I was, really I tried. But..... *pfft* "Rodney." "Yes Celestia?" *snicker* "You have been," "pfft" "...accused of," *bites lip* "mmph" "...assaulting Prince, *sigh* just get it out already." "Thank you Celestia. Bwahahaaaaa! Hahahahahaha!" I keeled over to my knees clutching my sides. Blueblood had attempted to salvage whatever was left of his tail, which wasn't much. All that's left was just a stump of hair sticking out of his butt with burnt ends that curled about making it look like an miniature afro, it made it look like he had an over sized tail of a black rabbit, or a giant black broccoli. I could see Blueblood seething with anger and rage with every laughter, I even notice several guards smirking here and there. Eventually though my laughter started to infect everyone in the room, first Luna started to giggle which caused her two night guards to follow suit. Withing seconds after that the room was filled with the sound of laughter and giggles as everyone on present started to join in my mirth. Which made Blueblood scowl even more and the sight of the angry Prince with the bunny tale only made me laugh ever louder. "Enough!" Blueblood shouted and instantly the intensity of the laughters died until only my snickering and Luna's muffled giggles could be heard. "Now then." though Celestia's voice was hard and firm, her lips was still curve up in a humored smile. "Rodney you have been accused of assaulting Prince Blueblood. How do you plea?" I was still taking in labored breaths from both the chase and the laughter, I didn't even bother to get up. So while lying on my back to the floor I looked up at both Princesses. "Not guilty." I answered with a smile that showed my pearly white teeth. "You dare to lie in front of royalty? You set my tail on fire! I know you did!" still smiling I turned to Blueblood. "Your proof?" I asked with a raised brow, Blueblood gave a cocky smile. "I have a witness!" he declared. 'Shit.' 'It was probably one of the guards with us on the balcony.' Blueblood signaled to one of the guards by the door who immediately pushed the door open. I had expected to see one of the earth pony guards to step in but was surprised to see a maid slowly making her way into the throne room. It was the same light-brown mare that Blueblood was giving crap to earlier in the garden. She took nervous steps towards the Princesses all the while looking down to the floor only to lift her head to throw me several worried looks. Eventually she made her way to stand beside me where her shacking got worse and she was starring intently to the floor in front of her. "This serf was with me when the monkey committed his crime. She was at the perfect location with the perfect view of the event "What is your name my little pony?" "Shine Bright you majesty." she didn't dare to look up to Celestia and instead bowed low as she answered. "Don't be afraid Shine Bright, I promise your not in any trouble." Celestia spoke in a warm motherly voice which seem to calm the mare enough to stop shaking and even glanced up at the princess. "Now my dear, please tell us what you saw." "Well, I was serving the Prince with his tea when it happen." 'more like suffering under him.' "He was was, eh 'informing' me how I could better myself in my station." she was trying her best to avoid looking at Blueblood. "Is that what you call being degraded and insulted?" I interjected. "Insolent monkey! I will have you sent to the deepest dungeon to which you will-" "Silence both of you!" Blueblood shot me a look of murder while I gave him one that spoke 'who gives a fuck?'. "Now then, you were saying?" all attention shifted back to Shine as she continued to speak. "Uhm...well, while the Prince was busy with me I saw something flash behind him." at that I suddenly felt a large lump start to build up in my throat. "It was the monkey wasn't it! That fiend did something and set my tail on fire!" Celestia was about to reprimand Blueblood a second time but Shine continue to speak. "Uh actually, I saw the royal pet flying over and well..." she looked down to the floor avoiding everyone's eyes. "I saw her drop a bomb on the Prince's tail." although I wasn't sure what she was talking about I suddenly felt an urge to hug the mare. She had just lied to both the Princesses for my sake. "WHAT!?" Blueblood shouted in disbelief. "I-I tried to warn the Prince but he wouldn't let me-" "She lies! It was him behind this! I know it, it has to be! They must be in cahoots together. Yes that's it, they were working together in an attempt to-" before Blueblood could finish showing everyone his level of stupidity, Luna interrupted. "That's enough cousin. Clearly this has all been nothing more but a misunderstanding." Blueblood look to Luna with his eyes wide in shock in disbelief. He was about to speak again but Celestia beat him to the punch. "Quite, I will have to talk to Philomena to take care where she does her business in the future. You are free to go Shine Bright." as Celestia gave Shine a nod she glanced to me for a second before trotting of in hastily, more that glad to leave. "Bu-but Auntie Celestiaaa." 'my god he's actually starting to whine like a baby.' "Perhaps Blueblood, next time it will be best to have your tea time, indoors." maybe it was the way she spoke or something but for a moment Celestia sounded like she was trolling, and enjoying it. Blueblood looked back and forth between Celestia and Luna before finally looking down at me with anger and frustration. I gave him a middle finger and although he might not get the meaning, the intent of the gesture wasn't lost to him. Eventually he had enough and started to trot away with his nose held high, however it seemed that Blueblood had taken to walk with a style that allowed him to show off his tail. But now with his tail being too short to do anything but stick out like a stump it gave everyone a perfect few of his rear swaying about in a very unmanly like fashion, causing everyone in the room and especially the guards to giggle and snicker again. He gave a frustrated grunt and started to walk faster which only made his rear movements all the more noticeable. While most were trying to control their mirth, Luna and I were laughing our ass off again, I guess she's not so bad 'when shes not trying to obliterate your junk.' "Well, that was entertaining. Is it ok if I go now?" after exploring most of the day, running around from the guards, and laughing more that I can remember, I was just wanted to go to bed. "Actually there is something else I would like to discuss with you Rodney." Celestia pointed to a door nearby and I followed her and Luna into what appear to be a simple resting area with large pillows laid about. Celestia and Luna sat next to each other while I sat crossed legged atop a pillow across from them. "Ok so what's this about? Am I still in trouble?" "Thou has nothing to fear. In fact we believe thou will enjoy it." before I was able to question further the door open and I saw Twilight enter the room. Upon seeing her mentor Twilight trotted up and started to nuzzle her affectionately before taking a site next to her. "Rodney, Luna has informed me about how you wish to one day become a teacher, is this true?" Twilight's eyes shot wide open and she looked at me questioningly. "That's right Celestia, although I haven't really figured out what I'll be teaching. Probably some math considering my skills. It was originally something I planned to do when I retire, but seeing as my original life ambition is longer applicable in this world, I decided on the next best choice." by now Twilight was beaming at me and clapping her hooves together. "Oh my gosh that's wonderful Rodney! You can teach us all about your world and technology. Think how much it could help Equestria." "Sorry Twilight but I don't plan on improving anything. Even if I want to I don't really know much about how most technology in my world actually works. Although I may not know much about this world, I can tell that it's an amazing place and I don't want to accidently throw it off balance by injecting technology your not ready yet." 'like nukes,' "Maybe a little health care or medicine to improve living conditions but it's best to let you guys progress on your own. And since you guys got magic it could easily outdo my world at one point." although Twilight looked disappointed she also appear to understand my reasoning which seem to have surprised Celestia. "That's very wise of you Rodney, I honestly didn't see that coming, it's a pleasant surprise." "Hey just because I don't act like it doesn't mean I don't know how to." "That's an interesting thought. In any case the reason I asked was because I wanted to help you fulfill you new ambition." "And exactly how are you going to go about doing that?" this time Luna answered. "Knowledge can be easily accessed and learned from a book or scroll. Being a teacher requires more than just knowledge, they must also be able to understand their disciples and guide them in life should they need to. Thou may already have the necessary knowledge to teach however thou lacks everything else." "Luna is correct, in order to be somepony who can guide other's in life, they must first have sufficient experience in it. Rodney although our world may share a great deal of similarity with your's, it also has a great deal of difference. In order for you to better understand life in Equestria we have decided to let you live outside the castle." it took a moment for the message to sink in. Their really serious about helping me and their right too, I'm only twenty-four years old which even in my world is still considered young. Now I'm stuck in a world that could easily live by very different morals and ideals, 'hell these guys don't even eat meat.' "Wait a minute, what about me controlling my abilities and not accidently shooting of magic randomly." "Based on Twilight's reports I believe you are sufficiently trained to keep everypony safe from any unintentional magic casting." I didn't like how she emphasized that word. "Not many know this but my pet does not leave any excrement." she gave me a wink. 'Oh god she knows!' "You see phoenixes completely incinerate their food during digestion, all that's left is ash." 'Wait...............what?' "We too believe thou'st well prepared to venture out from the castle. However that does not mean we trust you completely." Luna's eyes narrowed as she paused to let the words sink into my thick skull. "And thus we are sending thee somewhere close, it's a small village called Ponyville. It is also where Twilight Sparkle currently resides before thou arrived in Equestria, that way she can continue to oversee thou progress." "Is it really called 'Pony' ville?" "What's wrong with it?" Twilight looked a bit peeved at the way I asked. "Well it just sounded so.........unoriginal." "Well that's what its called ok so deal with it." "Woa hey it's cool. I mean sure why not, it's simple and precise." she must really like this place. "So Rodney, what do you think?" I looked at Celestia and down to the floor as I started to contemplate their proposal. 'Well for one we can finally get out of this place.' 'And what about living expenses, I mean sure Celestia could probably give Twilight some money to include out needs but that;s the same as freeloading.' 'Then just get a job there, I don't see the problem. The only reason you still have doubts about this is because your scared.' 'I'm not afraid.' 'When are you going to learn that you can't keep things from me? Plus I know why, your about to go out into a world alien to you. Your also leaving the protection of the castle meaning, but there's a bright side.' 'Which is?' 'No castle, no guards, meaning no one is keeping an eye on us 24-7. Which means that our chances of getting some meat just skyrocket!' "I'm in." "Excellent! You leave tomorrow." AN: Phew this one took a while to finish. For those of you waiting to see Blueblood get his due I hope you enjoyed it. And now were finally having the mane six appear in the next chapter, at least I hope we do. Now for some bad news, I'm going on a trip again and this time it's going to be longer than before and I don't know if I can continue to write. So I decided the chance to reflect and really think about how the story is going to progress. So again sorry about the delay. And as usual please comment and criticize or point out some errors if you see any. With that out of the way has anyone seen Pinkie? I haven't seen her since-what this? Dear Zai, Getting ready for Rodney's party. Pinkie Pie P.S Sorry I bit you, hope the ointment helps Oh, well I guess that's- *turns the card around* P.P.S I'm taking your 360. PINKIE PIE!!!