I noticed that many of the popular Chessgame writers were doing these 'Visions of the Future' things so I decided to do my own. Hope you enjoy it.
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I was pretty sure this wasn’t the most dangerous situation I had ever been in. In fact it wasn’t even the most dangerous situation I had been in in the last week.
Breaking into the lair of the Lord of Dragons had been dangerous.
Walking along a tightrope above the room where the Lord of Dragons was meeting with the one of the more powerful Diamond Dog Alphas had been even more so.
Copying the plans detailing dragon and allied dog troop movement without alerting a single guard to my presence, and then replacing said plans and re-locking the chest I had found them in, could best be described as ridiculously life threatening.
Stealing the dirigible of one of the diamond dogs had just been necessary though.
Still, even after all these feats of daring do, I couldn’t help but feel ever so slightly put off by the figures that were now moving about on deck. From my place concealed in the rigging of the airship I could see them hunting around, breaking open crates and searching for something, presumably me.
I had no idea where they had come from.The shadows on deck had suddenly begun to lengthen, growing arms and taking on a humanoid shade before wrenching themselves onto the three-dimensional plane. Dark blades had appeared in their hands, springing from their limbs as if they were a part of them. I was glad that I had left Iron and Summer behind for this mission, their stealth skills were sadly lacking and I was pretty sure these fellows weren’t very willing to take prisoners. The one standing at the helm of the ship, one shadowy tendril manipulating the wheel, looked like a particularly large specimen of shade. The light of the oil lantern seemed to be absorbed by his presence, the light fluttering bravely to stay lit.
Judging by the large shadow blade that was held casually in its other tendril it was probably quite a capable fighter as well. In a fair fight it would probably slaughter me in a moment.
Luckily, falling from the rigging of the ship hooves first and slamming into the creatures head didn’t count as a fair fight, in any sense of the word. The remains of the creature seemed to dissipate into nothingness underneath me, as if it was never even there. Not so luckily, the death of their commander seemed to alert the other creatures to my presence as they all swung about, swords drawn and shrieks coming from what could be questionably called their throats. Damn, time for some drastic measures.
I grabbed the oil lantern from its mounting and threw it at the shades on deck as they crowded around to get close to me, setting the first few on fire and forcing the others to shy away from the spreading flames. Flames that, quite unfortunately, spread to the rigging of the ship which led up to the very flammable gas bag.
Flammable gas bag…oh, damn it.
I swung the wheel wildly to one side, forcing the ship to swing around onto a collision course with a nearby mountain. Making sure that the plans were secure in their sealed case attached to my belt I bid a fond farewell to the shades.
“If I were you gentlemen, I would begin sending prayers to whatever thrice-dammed deity you freaks believe in! For our fates are no longer in our own hands!”
And with that I leapt off the edge of the ship, trusting my life to the luck that had guided me so well. Despite the wind whipping my hair around my face, I could just make out the blue smudge on the ground below me. Ground that was rushing up at a most uncomfortable speed.
I really, REALLY hope this works.
I angled my body against the wind, aiming it towards the blue smudge. At the least moment I changed my position so that I was straight as a pike, arms to my side and hooves pointing downwards. I broke the surface of the water smoothly, with barely a ripple.
A few minutes later I managed to dredge myself out of the lake, soaking wet and with various unsanitary lake creatures in my hair. I carefully extracted the live fish that had got itself stuck in my mouth, throwing it over my shoulder and back into the water.
I drew the plans from their position on my belt, checking them to make sure they hadn’t been damaged in the fall. Thankfully they were still in one piece, although considering the creatures I had just encounter I fear that dragons and diamond dogs are going to be the least of our troubles pretty soon. Oh well, they may still be of some use. Better get them to a Dairy outpost, if anyone can make good use of these plans, it’s Missy.
I was disturbed to find that I had lost my horn knife in the fall. That knife had been with me through a lot and had saved my life more times than I could count. Iron Will had said that a horn knife always knows its true owner and would always find a way back. I didn’t hold out much hope though.
I heard a hissing sound, followed by a ‘Thud’. Whirling round, I was confronted with an unusual sight. A snake had been sneaking up on me, wrapping around a tree branch and getting ready to strike when its attack had been interrupted by a knife falling from the sky and impaling it through the head. The curved blade leading up to a handle made entirely from horn bone.
"Oh, that was nice” I grabbed the knife from the snakes corpse, cleaning it off before returning it to its rightful place. I withdrew my pipe from a pouch, quickly filling and lighting it and then taking a quick puff to celebrate my survival.
After licking a finger and holding it up to the wind I set off in a random direction I hoped was the way to New Canterlot, a distant explosion reaching my ears as the burning airship collided with the side of a mountain.
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Okay, I apologize for hitting you with an interlude chapter like this. It's just whilst I try to get my shit together for the next story arc, after this it's back to longer chapters.
Promise,
Barrel-of-fun