//------------------------------// // 58 - The Line of Duty // Story: Age of Kings // by A bag of plums //------------------------------// “Saddle Arabia?”  Everyone gaped at Light Speckle, even the guards.  “That’s several weeks of travel away! And that’s only to get over the mountains!” Spectrum whimpered. “Are you saying we have to go there?” “I need more time to go over Clover’s notes,” Light Speckle said tersely. “Before the sun rises, I must get back to the Mages’ Tower and retrieve everything I need. Emerald’s escape will be discovered come morning, and I think we should all be out of the city by then.” “I’ll come with you,” Nightfall volunteered. “We can carry more that way.” Emerald wished them the best of luck as they left into the night, scurrying away towards the castle with their hoods over their eyes. “High Rise says he has a horse and carriage waiting for us by the south gate, and Spring Amber and has arranged for the portcullis to be left open,” Jewel Pin declared, hefting a heavy traveling bag onto her shoulder. “High Rise will take care of my shop while we are gone. Such a good man.” “Where are we going?” Spirit Flicker asked. “Directly to Saddle Arabia?” “Of course not,” Other Emerald said. “We’ve planned this whole thing out. We’ll go to Avalon first, finalize things there before traipsing off to such a faraway land. We think since you have allies in Avalon, that would be a good place to set up for a while. “First, we wait for the mages to gather everything they need. Then the six of us guards will escort you to the south gate. We ought to be a match for one watchman if he turns out to be an enemy. Jade and the others should be back soon with anyone else who we might need.” Just then, there was the faint sound of a man ringing a bell and shouting, “Twelve o’clock, and all’s well!” “Midnight already,” Emerald said thoughtfully. “We don’t have that much time to get out of Canterlot.” Just then, there were a series of knocks on the door. Three light ones, followed by one firm one. That was the code the guards had decided amongst themselves. “Must be the captain.” Crystal Flare opened the door slowly, just in case. When he was sure, he opened it all the way and beckoned the three guards in. The Captain of the Guard had a sack over one shoulder, but behind them, was only one familiar face. “Streak! You made it!” Spectrum ran over to him and threw her arms around the male squire. “I’m glad you didn’t get… uh, indoctrinated.” He smiled awkwardly and gave her a pat on the back. “I apologize.” Jade peeled her helmet off her sweat-covered face and brushed her green hair aside. “There is no one else we could find that would help us in our cause. Everyone else in the castle has been turned.” The mood in the room grew darker at that last statement. “However…” Jade placed the sack before Emerald’s feet. “Squire Guard Streak had found this, lady knight.” Emerald dug it open and pulled out a piece of her armor from within. “My armor! You have my thanks, Guard Streak.” “Was not too hard, Lady Emerald.” He grinned and scratched the back of his head. “It was simply placed by the rest of Sir Trotivere’s things. I do not know if they had any intention to put it to use, so I grabbed it before leaving.” “And you made the right choice.” Emerald checked her hidden blades on her gauntlets. Both blades came out with a satisfying shwick. “I feel safer to at least have a form of weapon on me. Morn… He shattered Amore, so these are all I have left.” Twice now had Amore been taken away from her by a usurper. One way or another, there would not be a third. The former pegasus replayed the fight in the throne room in her head again, a part of her still not believing Morn was capable of such evil. He was known for being the knight of kindness. To think he would let it get to him and take over the kingdom, it was still too much to process. “I’ve already packed,” Jewel Pin said, patting a bulging pack on her back. There was a dagger strapped to her side, and Emerald was surprised to see that she had also brought a pair of her tailoring scissors. “Scissors, Jewel Pin?” The seamstress nodded and tapped the blades. “Never underestimate the effectiveness of a tailor’s tools, darling.” Spectrum had pulled a short sword and a wooden shield from beneath a table, and was busy strapping them on, while Posey had her trusty bow and the hidden blade Nightfall had given her. Emerald busied herself with putting on her armor, a task that required very little thought now that she had been doing it herself for five years. It felt good to have her gear back, the equipment that the portal had granted her. Emerald snorted quietly to herself. The portal. Well, she was further from her goal as ever. She had no artifact, no plan, and no way back home. “Nothing is ever easy…” Emerald muttered. She buckled the last plate onto her body and did a few stretches to test her mobility. “I hope the mages didn’t get caught…” Crystal Flare said eventually. “They’ve been gone for a long time.” Just then there was a knock on the door. Three light knocks followed by a heavy one. Jewel Pin moved to open the door.  It was the mages, clasping a pair of burlap sacks and several books. Both of them looked sweaty and winded, as if they had run here. “We… Huff huff… have to go. Now.” Nightfall panted.  “What? Why? What happened?” “Morn found out about our jailbreak,” Light Speckle wheezed. “He’s coming to get you, and he’s on the way now!” “How in Equestria did he-” “There’s no time!” Nightfall exclaimed, tugging at Emerald’s arm. “He’s got all the Knights of the Round Table and half the castle guard coming down here, and he’s leading the pack! Come on, move!” Emerald and the others were ushered out of the shop, with Jewel Pin bringing up the rear to lock the door. “What?” she asked impishly. “I’m not going to just let anyone in there, am I?” Light Speckle windmilled her arms. “We must hurry! Make no delays!”  Emerald looked up to the hill that Canterlot Castle was perched upon. There were a fast-moving group of orange lights approaching the castle gate, with a golden spark leading them. “Horseapples,” the former pegasus breathed. She didn’t know how Morn knew where to look, but in the end, good or evil, he still knew her well. “To the gates.” Jade Crystal directed their attention east of the shop. “We must cut through the marketplace and past the Shades. I know the quickest way.” “Come on. Move.” Emerald herded Jewel Pin and Spectrum ahead of herself, keeping an eye on the rear. By now, Morn’s group was nearly to the gate. “We put a little surprise for them.” Nightfall’s eyes gleamed in the moonlight. “But perhaps the timer was a bit lon-” There were two flashes of light where the drawbridge chains were linked to and they were immediately released from the wall, sending the drawbridge tipping down into the moat below. Morn and a few of the knights and guards disappeared from sight, the splashes they made slightly audible from the shop. “Good thinking, Nightfall.” Emerald clapped the mage on the shoulder as they began to move off towards the market. “But it will not hold them long.” She pulled her hood back up. “We need to make haste.” The group followed Jade Crystal through a back street, then through a winding cobblestone path. There was suddenly a flash of golden light from the castle, followed by the distant sound of armored boots crashing against the ground. “It looks like Sir Morn is using Excalibur to pursue us,” Posey said nervously. “I thought humans couldn’t use the artifacts for very long.” “From what we have seen, it would have appeared to be true. Until Morn.” Emerald pushed a tarp aside as she dodged under it. “But there is something… wrong about Morn. His eyes, they are not human. Almost… something familiar, I am not sure what.” “Talk later, move now!” Spectrum broke into a trot. “Tis too bad we couldn’t bring Foxtrot with us. We would reach the gates a lot faster on horseback.” “Yes…” Emerald pictured her stubborn friend. She wasn’t going to be seeing him for a while. She hoped at least he would be cared for in her absence. There was a faint shouting not too far behind them. Turning, Emerald spotted an orange glow coming down from a side lane. It seems there were guards coming from the Loft too, not just from the castle. “Guards are closing in!” Guard Streak placed a hand on a dagger by his side. “What do we do if we have to fight?” “We cannot fight off the Canterlot Guard!” Jewel Pin exclaimed, huffing and puffing under the weight of her bag. “We must go faster!” At that, Dash Spiral and Spirit Flicker gave each other a look of purpose. They slowed to a walk. “What are you doing?!” Jade Crystal waved her hand. “We must go!” “Not all of us can outrun the guards, captain,” Dash said, stomping his spear into the ground. “Flicker and I will hold them back for as long as we can.” “I forbid it!” Jade exclaimed. “You cannot just-” “Getting Lady Emerald out of the city is our top priority!” Spirit Flicker said stoutly. “Nothing except that matters. Only she can stand against Morn Dread, so she must live! Our lives are worth nothing in comparison.” “That’s not true!” Emerald cried out. Memories, long forgotten, were rushing to the surface again. Her friends back in Equestria. She couldn’t live through it again. “You can’t stop, you’ll die!” The light of the torches got brighter and the sound of armored boots slamming against the cobbles made itself known at the far end of the street. “This is not negotiable!” Dash shot at the rest of them. “Go on! Get out of here!” “Dash-!” Jade nodded once. “Come on. We have to keep moving.” She pulled at the former pegasus’ arm. “They are buying us time, my lady. Time we do not have. We must move.” Emerald looked at the two determined guards reluctantly and remembered the sacrifices of her friends. She had to move or their sacrifice would be for nothing. “I shall never forget you two.” She turned from them and ran on. “In Equestria or this world… You two are fearless to the end…” “No point being quiet now, they will know we have been this way,” the human Emerald said. “We must move with all speed.” “I do not think I can go any faster!” Jewel Pin gasped, hauling her luggage behind her. Posey rolled her eyes and turned around, picked up Jewel Pin’s bag, and went right back on to running. As they left their two friends behind, Emerald could hear the clashing of steel, followed by a few grunts of pain. They were doing all they could to slow down the attacking force. A part of her still wanted to turn around and go back for them. She’d lost her friends when she left Equestria. To have to lose them again was more painful than she could know, but the other part of her knew they had been right. She was Equestrian. She was the only one capable of stopping Morn. She had to live for the sake of the others. “We are almost to the central bridge,” Jade turned to say as they made another sharp right turn. “Once we get to the Shades, I know a way that might slow them all down.” “Barrel alley?” Other Emerald asked. Jade nodded and grinned. “Barrel alley.” “Where’s that?” Emerald slid over a crate to get around it. “You’ll see, my lady.” There was a sudden flash of bright golden light from a few streets away, radiant enough to illuminate a decent chunk of the city like an abrupt dash of sunlight.  “That must be Excalibur,” Light Speckle fretted. “How is he able to use it without tiring out? Is it because he is younger than the king?” “You should know best, Speckle.” Emerald pulled at her to get her moving again. “As far as I know, only Equestrians can use it to its full potential. I do not know how it works with each human.” Led by Jade, the group burst into a side alley, entering the Shades proper. Here, the streets were dirtier, the houses smaller and more cramped together, and puddles of stagnant water lay here and there. “Which way do we go now?” Guard Streak panted. He seemed a touch winded but he held on to his weapon firmly all the same. “This way. Towards the east wall.” Jade waved for them to follow. “We can slow them down here.” Guard Emerald tapped Nightfall on the shoulder. “Mage, do you have fire we can use?” “Fire? Yes, I have something here…” She dug around her pouch, almost tripping on a stone as they ran. Eventually, she fished out a glove and raised it high. “Here. I can use this to cast some fire magic with the right powder.” “Perfect.” Other Emerald took it from her. “Captain, we have a firestarter.” “Very good,” Jade said from the front of the group. Emerald Edge still had no idea what the guards were planning. “There should still be several oil barrels outside the shops.” Behind them, the sounds of Excalibur’s magic had faded and the clatter of greaves on the ground had resumed, still dangerously audible. Speeding up, Emerald and the group eventually arrived outside a long stretch of street, with several buildings on the sides that had large barn doors, most of them locked with bolts. A few, however, had barrels of all sorts of shapes and sizes outside, some of them, she guessed, were oil barrels as the guards had said. “Quickly, set a trail.” Jade slapped one of the closer barrels. “We must give ourselves time to be away from this place.” “What a waste of resources.” Spring Amber placed the glove over one of her hands. “But we shall worry about that later.” Guard Streak and Spectrum Song helped the guards as they began tipping over barrels and dragging them along as they moved down the street, spilling long lines of oil behind them.  Emerald followed along and did the same, trailing oil behind her in a zig-zag. When they were almost past the last building on in the alley, the first guards appeared on the other side, their torches illuminating their expressionless faces. Most of them carried spears, but a few of them had swords or bows by their side, some of their steel covered in blood. “They are here! Stop!” Jade put down her barrel and waved her arms. “Amber, light the-” There was a whistling sound in the air and before Jade could finish, she was down on the ground, an arrow sticking from the back of her shoulder. “Aaah!” More arrows came as Emerald and her doppelganger dragged Jade behind one of the barrels, the spymaster just narrowly avoiding an arrow to her knee. “We are not done!” Amber slipped the glove on her hand. “If I light it now, we shan’t get away in time!” “Then give me the glove!” Jade reached out her good arm. “I will set the trap when you are out of harm’s way.” “No! Captain, you cannot! We need you.” Amber shook her head and held her helmet low as one arrow sailed dangerously close to her head. “I will do it. You must lead the others out.” “No, no!” Emerald grasped Spring Amber’s shoulders. “Amber, we will all go. Do not do this.” Beyond the shifted barrels, the guards with swords and spears began to advance, using the barrage of arrows to close the distance between themselves and Emerald’s group. “I must, Lady Emerald. Captain Jade will get you out of here safely. You have to go.” Spring Amber held up her gloved hand. “I already have the firestarter. Please, my lady. Only you can save Canterlot now.” Jade’s stern expression soon turned into a grim one, but she nodded and placed a hand on Emerald’s shoulder. “We do not have much time. The longer we stay here, the more chance Morn has of catching up. We need to move.” The spymaster gritted her teeth, but didn’t argue back. Even here, she couldn’t get over how stubborn her friends were and how each of them was always ready to give their lives for their land. “Keep low and move quickly.” Emerald turned to the rest of her friends. “Do not stop until we are out of this alley.” More arrows sailed in, one lodging itself in the floor close to Nightfall’s feet. That told Emerald that they needed to go now, or risk more guards catching up to them and overwhelming them, or worse, cutting off their exit. “I shall keep their fire off you,” Posey said beside her, her bow and an arrow already in her hands. “Don’t worry about me. I can catch up.” “No, you cannot shoot them!” Jade eyed her bow with a shocked look on her face. “They are our brothers and sisters in arms!” Posey frowned and shook her head. “Not anymore, they are not. Tis them or us, captain. You lot are more important to me than they are.” More enchanted guards appeared, many of them carrying bows and crossbows. Posey ducked behind cover as a trio of quarrels buried themselves up to their fletchings in the wall. “If we don’t go now, we’ll be overrun!” The spymaster called out. Posey popped out from behind her crate and shot an arrow back at the guards, and there was a yell as the projectile found its mark. But for every guard she shot down, there was another to take their place. “I don’t mean to alarm you,” Posey said quietly to Emerald and Guard Streak. “But I only have three arrows left. After that, we’ll be forced into close quarters. Go, Emerald. You must go.” Posey nocked her third last arrow and shot it, the shaft puncturing through a soldier’s vambrace and forcing him to drop his crossbow. “Two arrows left,” Posey grimaced as she pulled them from her now empty quiver. “Do I need to say it again? Go!” Emerald swallowed hard, then with her human counterpart, picked Jade Crystal up under her arms and hauled her up, keeping low as they scurried away from the alleyway, the rest of her friends following behind them, with the exception of Posey and Amber. “Looks like tis you and me, archer.” Amber tried to look up past the barrels, but a bolt flew by her nose and thudded into the ground behind her. “We must keep their arrows away from Emerald and the others.” Posey got up from her barrel and ran to her left, heading to one of the buildings as she readied another arrow. The guards noticed her dash and aimed for her, letting loose another volley. The guards with swords and spears had almost arrived at their position now, but with another arrow, Posey managed to keep them back, sending them crouching behind more barrels they had taken out. With the projectiles now aimed for her, Emerald and the others were able to make a run for it, disappearing around the next corner. Posey looked back once and smiled, then readied her last arrow as she leapt through a window, rolling to a stop as she pulled her bowstring back. She heard arrows sticking into the wooden wall of the structure she was in and when the noise had stopped, she leaned out and fired, getting one of the archer guards in the neck, who fell back with a gurgle. With only her hidden blade left, Posey opted to keep to the shadows and take them out while staying hidden. She needed to make sure Emerald would get out safely. Only she could stop this madness and return everything to normal. Only she could dethrone Morn. Only she could rescue the rest of the townsfolk from his control. Only she could break the spell Morn had put over Sir Ganeighn. Posey wanted to run out there now and find him, but even if she did, there wasn’t much she could do. For now, all she could do on her own strength was to keep the guards back. However, the pink haired archer saw something behind the soldiers that made her stomach flip. An ominous golden glow that was identical to the light shed by an artifact when used by Emerald. Only she knew it would not be Emerald Edge who rounded that corner. “Archer, leave now!” Amber called from outside and lifted her gloved hand. “Lady Emerald and the others are well away. I will set off the trap, but you must leave!” Two arrows stuck into the barrel she was hiding behind, making it leak more oil. Posey hesitated. Amber was waving at her violently to get out of there. But she didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to leave Amber here. Perhaps she could scrounge some arrows that the soldiers had shot at them- “GO!” Amber howled.  And then Sir Hors came around the corner, a golden staff in his hands, and Posey made her choice. Either she could stay here and die for nothing, or she could go help Emerald and live for something. “I am sorry, Amber...” Posey whispered. “May we meet again in a better life.” The archer furled her hidden blade and charged off after Emerald and the others, leaving Amber to face the horde alone. Turning once more to face the guards and Sir Hors, Amber watched as a troop of them were only four steps away from her now. It was now or never. With the barrels scattered all around them, they were all in for a big surprise. “Save Canterlot, Lady Emerald… I know you will do it.” And then she snapped her fingers.