As Basilisk made his way closer to Shadow and his companions, he dragged his bastard sword in the dirt, laughing. "I hope you are prepared for this, Assassins. This will be the last blade you will ever see."
The three ponies opposite of him backed away as he came closer. Eventually Shadow came to a halt and drew his rapier with his hoof rather than with magic. He raised to his hind legs and took a combat stance.
"Oh? You think you stand a chance against me? This is most interesting. Unfortunately for you, I have never lost a battle in my life. So, I'll be generous and give you one last chance to surrender peacefully. What do you say, Assassin?" The large Templar asked.
He was met with a weak bolt of magic from Shadow. That was all the answer he needed and lunged at him with his sword. As it came down, Shadow dodged the swing and struck Basilisk in the back with the hilt of his blade.
"I have no qualms with killing you, Templar, but I'd rather not spill blood in a place such as this." Shadow told him.
"A place such as this? Ha!" Basilisk laughed. "The only reason this forest still stands is because the ponies of the nearby town need it. If not for that, Celestia would have had it burned to the ground ages ago. Now, enough talk."
Basilisk once again brought his sword down towards Shadow, who again dodged it. This time, though, he immediately swiped it to the side before it hit the ground. Shadow, even with the little time to react, brought his rapier up to block the attack.
They remained with their blades locked for a few seconds, and as it seemed as Shadow was going to be knocked back, a bolt from the second mystery Assassin's crossbow struck the Templar in his chestplate, causing him to stagger back.
"Seeker! Wayward! Handle those two while I finish this insect off. I don't want anymore distractions!" He yelled back to his allies.
Seeker instantly rushed towards the seconds Assassin while Wayward tackled the Doctor, knocking them both into the dark forest.
"Your friends won't be bothering us anymore, Assassin. Let's finish this properly now." The Templar said as he prepared to attack once more.
Before he could raise his sword, however, Shadow stuck his rapier against it, pinning it against Basilisk's armor. "I think I can agree with you when you say we're going to finish this properly. You move far too slowly to even get a hit off on me."
Shadow jumped back and struck his blade against his foes continually, each time causing him to move back several inches. Attacking from a different angle every time, he left Basilisk as little room to react as possible. After several moments of repeating this process, he saw an opening and took advantage of it.
The Assassin brought his blade up the side of Basilisk's and turned it, plunging it into the dirt. He quickly followed through with a swipe across his enemies chest and a kick to his helmet, knocking him to the ground.
"Now, I'm going to be generous, Templar," Shadow said as he sheathed his blade, "If you give me a good enough reason not to, I won't kill you."
Basilisk let out a dark laugh. "A good reason? I'll give you a good reason. What of your friends, Assassin? Or did you forget about the fact that my partners probably have them cut in two already?" He said.
Shadow choked on his breath, realizing that the Doctor and the mystery Assassin were fighting of the other two Templars. He knew the Doctor wouldn't stand a chance and then there was the other one, which he had no clue as to whether or not he could fight.
"Ah, I see that you didn't think about that. If you wish to find out how they are, why not just turn around." The downed Templar said.
Shadow instantly turned around to see Seeker flying out of the forest, carry an unconscious Assassin and dropping him to the floor. When Shadow tried to move closer, the Templar pegasus lifted the crossbow from earlier to the unconscious ponies head.
"I don't think so. One wrong move and this one gets a bolt through his skull." He said with a malicious smile on his face. "Also, you should know better than to turn your back on an enemy."
Behind him, the Assassin heard the sound of armor clinking. He quickly turned and made an attempt to unsheathe his sword, but as he turned he was hit in the head with the flat of Basilisk's bastard sword, launching him into the air.
Shadow could feel himself falling in what felt like slow motion. He couldn't feel his arms or legs, and as he hit the ground, all the pain suddenly hit him. He let out a yell, feeling as if somepony dropped stones on his limbs. He turned to his attacker, to see Basilisk standing there, with his bastard sword on his shoulder and Shadow's rapier in his hoof.
"Did you really think it would be that easy? That you would just disarm me and slash my chest and I would be down, begging for my life?" The Templar said as he loomed over Shadow. He threw his rapier off into the forest, making sure it wasn't to be found. "Now, we won't be needing that anymore, will we?"
Shadow lay there, breathing heavily. The side of his head was bleeding, but not enough for the blood loss to disorientate him. "But my blade should've pierced your armor, and if not that, my blow to your head should have left you unconscious." He said.
Basilisk let out another laugh. "Hah, you, knock me unconscious? Don't make me laugh. You kick like a filly. As for you getting through my armor, your poor excuse for a sword could never even scratch it." He hit his hoof against chest to reinforce his point. "Templar armor is made of the finest steel, forged in the hottest of fire, and struck by the mightiest hammer. Nothing you can do will get through my armor!"
Shadow just lay there, taking in what his enemy just said. It was true; he couldn't beat him, at least not in his current state, all battered and bloody. One blow left him nearly unable to move, while several strikes did nothing to the Templar. Even though he knew what he was getting into by fighting Basilisk, he still made an attempt. One that he now regretted. If he did not get a message back to the Mentor, more Assassins would be sent to their death here.
With his mind running, Shadow failed to see Wayward come out of the forest, with the Doctor nowhere to be seen.
"Ah, good to see you're back. I hope that the earth pony gave you no trouble." Basilisk said with a joyful tone, one that felt creepy coming from him.
Wayward simply gave a nod and walked back into the forest. "Honestly, I don't understand him sometimes. Here I am, killing an Assassin, and he doesn't even stick around to participate. Oh well, more fun for me." Basilisk said as he lifted his bastard sword into the air. "Good bye, Assassin scum. May Celestia have mercy upon your soul."
Suddenly, as Basilisk was about to bring his blade down to kill Shadow, his rapier pierced through the bottom of Basilisk's armor. Behind him was a earth pony, whom Shadow could not make out due to the darkness of the forest. The blade had gone straight through the cracks in the Templar's armor, and made its way through Basilisk's upper back and lower chest.
Basilisk turned his head slightly to face the pony. He let out a choked gasp, and tried to move away. "Damn you," Was all that he could say before collapsing to the ground.
"Bastard! I'll end you for that!" Seeker said in rage. He began to charge towards the stallion, but another pony lept out of the forest and tackled him, launching the Templar into the trunk of a tree. He lay there motionless, most likely knocked out.
Shadow couldn't understand what was going on. There shouldn't have been any other ponies, let alone Assassins, in the forest other than him and his mysterious companion. Who could this earth pony be? Could it have been the doctor? He seriously doubted that, seeing as the Doctor didn't seem like the type to hurt others.
Before long, Shadow began to lose consciousness, most likely due to the pain he couldn't feel anymore. As the world around him blurred, the two unknown ponies came up to him and spoke. Shadow couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, and soon stopped caring.
As one of the two ponies picked him up, he felt the pain return and felt himself drifting off. He could only make out the muffled sounds of talking until everything went black.
So, with the end of Legendary almost here, I've decided to bring this back. AC: Ponyville will now become my main priority. I'm also going to apologize in advance, since I'm not going to have enough time to write as much as before. I'm in the process of being moved in AP classes and a lot of time is being taken up by this.