-Knights of Haysead Chapter 3:
Thanks again to the usual duo for doing the editing work für me! Also, thanks to space_pony again for letting me upload the picture on her deviantArt page, you should check it out!
“Fabled to be descendants of Commander Hurricane’s Special Forces Team, the Khazae fell into secrecy soon after it was discovered that their newly elected leader, Equus Doris, had engineered a plot in which Princesses Celestia and Luna would be assassinated and replaced by members of their own order. In 2E 128, a small group of the Khazae were discovered in MacIntosh Hills, all of those captured were interrogated and, without yielding any information, hanged. Their campsite was ransacked by the Royal Guard. Most of what was found is still deemed classified, but what has been revealed included ancient writs and a detailed map of the Haysead Swamp. The swamp has been combed several times over, but no evidence has been found of a hideout. Many Royal Guardsmen now believe that the map was a decoy meant to lead them away from the real hideout.
Despite being nearly unseen for more than 1100 years, the Khazae have stayed active, performing traitorous acts across Equestria. In 3E 972, A company of Khazae were able to sneak into a banquet in Canterlot and murder six Royal Guard officials, three by poison, two by knife, and the last was bucked off of a balcony. Since then there has been an eerie absence of Khazae activity, but the murderers are almost sure to strike again from the shadows, where they cannot be seen…”
Spike dryly looked up at Twilight Sparkle, “Wonderful bedtime story…”
“You know, Spike, it wouldn’t kill you to learn a little history.”
“But, Twilight, you already caught that Silent Step guy, doesn’t that mean this whole thing is over?”
“It’ll never be over, not as long as those Khazae monsters are still out there.”
“Well, at least you weren’t cliché about it…” Spike rolled his eyes and resumed his daily chores.
Twilight closed her book entitled ‘Equestria’s Secret Societies,’ and replaced in its spot on the shelf. “I’m going to go run some errands, Spike, I’ll be back in an hour or two, okay?” She walked out of the door and began walking down the street. She began reading off a to-do list, “Okay, let’s see, I need to stop by the candle shop, grab some apples at the marke-” Her thought was interrupted when she ran into a stallion. “Oh, I’m sorry…” She looked up as the stallion turned around.
“What do you want?” It was one of the Khazae, he was standing next to Wisp, they were being stopped by a Royal Guardsman.
“Go away, Sparkle, I really don’t want to see you right now.” Wisp angrily pointed a hoof in the direction that Twilight was originally walking. The Guardsman sternly nodded, showing that he didn’t want her there either. She obeyed the order and resumed her walk. She took a look back and saw Wisp yelling unintelligibly at the Guardsman who didn’t even flinch.
The next pony she ran into, though not as literally this time, was Rainbow Dash. She hadn’t spoken to her Pegasus friend since their conference in the library. “Uh, hi Rainbow Dash…”
“What do you want, Twilight?” Her sneer tone practically echoed that of the Khazae, it scared Twilight for a moment.
“Listen, Rainbow Dash, I don’t think th-”
“No, Twilight!” Dash rudely interrupted her friend, “I don’t care what you think, I’m tired of your decisions controlling mine! Why would you risk sending an innocent stallion to his death? Why don’t you believe me, Twilight? I was one of the last people to see Sly Horn alive, I know that Silent Step didn’t kill him, and I’m going to prove it!” She spread her wings and prepared to take off to the north but Twilight stopped her.
“Wait, Rainbow Dash…” The Pegasus looked back at her unicorn friend, “This isn’t just about Sly Horn’s murder anymore, is it? There’s something else going on here… I know you’re not just doing this to spite me. But, you know what? It doesn’t matter which of us is right, if you think that Silent Step is innocent, go and testify, or do whatever. This disagreement shouldn’t cause a problem in our friendship.”
“Twilight…”
“Hurry up, he’s probably waiting for you.”
“Thanks, Twilight.” With that, Rainbow Dash took off and set a course for Canterlot.
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The autumn leaves crunched under Green Hoof’s slender hooves. Carrying apples back and forth between the orchard and the barn was hard work, but he needed the money, he was going to start his own farm one day, or at least, that’s what he liked to say. He also said he was a gifted farmer, his cutie mark depicted a hoe, and he had been working at Sweet Apple Acres for more than two weeks, but AppleJack had never seen him once pick up a hoe.
“Hey, Green Hoof, can Ah ask y’all a question?”
“You just did” He chuckled and continued.
“Yeah, funny, but seriously, Ah do have a question.”
“What’s that, Ms. AppleJack?”
“Well, you seem a lot happier now, y’all were actin’ kinda strange after you were chased the other night, now you seem a lot more, well, chipper.”
“I guess I’ve just gotten over that night…”
“Well, alright then, take care, Ahm going to town to open up the market stall, go talk t’ McIntosh if you need anything.”
Green Hoof watched AppleJack leaving the orchard, at the gate she met up with three individuals. There was a mare and two stallions, one of whom was closely watching him. Green Hoof continued to carry the load of apples back to the barn. The mare in front was talking to AppleJack, who quickly shooed her away. After dropping off the apples, Green Hoof peeked out of the barn to continue watching the conversation, but he noticed that all four of the ponies were gone.
“Hello, Green Hoof.” The voice came from behind him, making him frantically jump out of the way. The three ponies that had been at the gate were now standing with him in the Apple Family barn.
“What are you doing here? What happened to AppleJack?”
“Relax, boy, she went to go sell apples, we just jumped the fence after she left.” The mare walked closer to Green Hoof, “It isn’t over, you didn’t think you could just do your little magic trick and get away from us, did you?”
Green Hoof did what his instincts told him to, run. He jumped the fence that bordered the Apple Family’s property, the other three were following him and gaining quickly, he had to think of something. He started twisting and winding through the alleyways and buildings, pretty soon the three that were following him were forced to split up. The mare was about to exit an alley way into a street when she slammed into another pony.
She looked up to see her own companion standing there looking back down at her, “Wisp, are you okay?!”
“I’m fine, just keep going, we can’t let Green Hoof get away!”
“What the hay is going on over here?!” The two were approached by a Royal Guardsman, who eyed them suspiciously. “I got a report of three ponies chasing another through this district. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“I’m sorry officer, but we’re rather busy right now, so if you’ll excuse us…”
The Guardsman stepped out in front of her, “I asked you a question!”
At that moment the stallion felt yet another person bump into him, but this time it was out of ignorance and not haste. “Oh, I’m sorry…” the familiar voice came from a unicorn who had become all too infamous among the present company.
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Silent Step was more bored than anything else. He hadn’t been this bored in a long time, after all he was probably going to be executed in a few weeks, they could’ve at least given him a deck of cards or something. But he sat and he waited, the next two weeks would be the longest of his life. He laid back on the bunk in his cell and looked at ceiling, contemplating life. “Maybe I should write a memoir…”
“Hey, Khazae, you have a visitor.” The Guardsman was followed by a cyan Pegasus, who smiled at the sight of Silent Step.
“Dashie! You don’t know how glad I am to see you!”
“How are you holding up?”
Silent Step thought he’d alleviate some of his boredom with humor, “It’s terrible! The days are bleeding together, I can’t even remember what month it is! What’s changed on the outside world? Do they finally have self-powered carts?” Rainbow Dash laughed a little at his joke, which somewhat brought him back to life.
“So, did you talk to my sister?”
“Yeah, but…”
Silent Step put his hoof up, “Talk vaguely, their listening.”
“Well, your sister doesn’t want me to investigate Sly Horn’s death at all. She doesn’t want me to have anything to do with it, which means I’m not even really supposed to be here…”
“What the hay is her problem? Well, thanks for coming anyway, I’m sorry if this caused any turmoil with your friends.”
“It’s okay, Twilight and I resolved our differences, but she still thinks you did it.”
“Alright Dashie, I think you’re ready for this, go talk to my sister about taking the writ of passage. She’s not going to give you any information unless you take it.”
“Wait, will that bind me as a member? Because I’m pretty sure these guys wouldn’t want you recruiting from prison…” She gestured at one of the guards listening in on the conversation.
“No you won’t be stuck with us, just think of yourself as… a consultant. Once you’ve taken the oath, talk to my sister about our lead, you can go talk to him, he’ll probably trust you more than he did us.”
“Why can’t you just tell me about him?”
“They’re listening to me, remember? The minute I say his name, they’re going to get him out of there and make sure that he doesn’t talk.”
Rainbow Dash nodded and began to step out, “Well, good luck!”
“Yeah, thanks!” And with that, Silent Step was bored once again.
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Twilight had returned from her errands to a quiet “library-house.” Spike was fast asleep, so she snuck by quietly, not wanting to wake him. Heading upstairs to put down her various groceries, she decided that she would continue reading up on the history of the Khazae.
“Where is that book?” She searched the shelf where she was sure she had left it. “Maybe Spike took my advice and decided to read it.”
Twilight turned to walk back downstairs, that’s when she noticed something that she hadn’t before. One of the windows was open. That was impossible, she always closed the windows before leaving. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “Maybe Spike just wanted to let in some fresh air…”
Out of nowhere, she heard a high-pitched scream from downstairs. She ran down to meet it. “Spike? Spike!”
“What happened? Where’d he go?!”
“Where’d who go?!”
“That guy, the one you brought to the hospital, Silent Step!”
“Silent Step, Here?! What happened, Spike?!”
After a few moments, Spike was able to regain his composure and speak again. “I heard glass breaking, so I ran upstairs and saw Silent Step trying to climb in. Once he saw me, he glared at me and everything just went black, and then I woke up a minute ago.” Something was wrong, Silent Step couldn’t have escaped from prison very easily. Twilight would have to talk to Rainbow Dash when she got back. She felt kind of bad for her, finding out that Silent Step was now a fugitive would break her heart.
“Alright, let’s get you to a doctor. We need to figure out what Silent Step did to you. Come on.”
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With their momentary disturbance out of the way, the argument between Wisp and the Royal Guardsman, who stopped her and her companion, could resume. “Why do you automatically think that were doing something illegal if we’re just chasing somepony? Maybe he was doing something illegal, ever think of that?!”
“Ma’am, please calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s none of your damned business what’s going on! You can’t even begin to comprehend what’s going on!”
Her friend put his hoof on her shoulder. “Calm down, Wisp.”
“Ma’am, please don’t disrespect me, I’m a member of the Royal Guard, and I’m just here to help.”
“Well, Mr. Narcissist, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize your status with that brilliant armor on, I mean just look at those vanbraces! ... You’re all alike, all you do is meddle in things that aren’t meant to be meddled in, now if you’ll excuse us, we’re rather behind in our ordeal here, so…” She began to take off down the road. The Guardsman was not amused.
“Get back here!” They both left the third stallion in the middle of the street, unsure of what to do.
Wisp had an immeasurable speed advantage of the Guardsman, she was quickly out of his sight range, still looking for the farm assistant, odds are she would never find him, he had the strangest habit of just… disappearing.
