//------------------------------// // The Epic Rescue // Story: Twisted Truth and Lonely Lies // by Plasmadon //------------------------------// Chapter 6: The Epic Rescue I was completely exhausted. Angel and I had been going over the map all night, looking over our travel route. We were to pass through a town named Ponyville, which I had sent Nia to scout about an hour earlier. We took inventory of our remaining food and water. Angel even had the foresight to describe exactly who to avoid in Ponyville. “Is it just me, or should Nia have been back by now?” I asked, swaying. Angel pulled a pocket watch from God-Knows-Where and checked the time. “You’re right. She should have been here a couple of hours ago. While there’s a chance she’s still checking around, Ponyville really isn’t that big of a town; even being a rabbit, it only took me about fifteen minutes to hop from one side of town to the other. Is it possible she was caught?” “If so, I don’t doubt those horse things will string her up. They’ve probably never seen a seraph before, and, to be quite frank, they’re racist.” “Well then, what are we waiting for?” Angel said. “Let’s go get her and hightail it out of here.” “Well, there goes our plan, right from the get go,” I muttered. “How did I know this would happen?” Angel hopped into my hair, and together we set off towards Ponyville. I snapped my wings out and took a quick look at the town. It was peaceful, rather disturbingly so. After the effects of crossing the Equestrian border, I noticed just how happy-go-lucky this country was. The other countries of the world probably never got a chance to attack because the second they crossed the border they sank into a blissful stupor. Hell, if this place is anything like Angel described it, it was a rainbow-colored, cheerful North Korea. “Alright, we’re right where nopony can see us,” Angel whispered from my head. “Land right behind that tree.” I did so, coming to a stop right on the edge of a huge treelike house. I could hear snatched of voice from the hollow wood. “What are you gonna do now, freak?” someone said in a deep voice. “Get your hooves off me, bastard!” my heart sped up a little. That was, without a doubt, Nia. She was the only thing in the universe that could openly talk back to a voice that deep. I slipped Lasair from its sheath and cut a small, triangular hole in the wood. Once it was done, Angel hooped through and I peeked for a moment. Nia was struggling against ropes, flailing and threatening to knock over the chair she was tied to. Several guard horses were taunting her, though it didn’t have much negative effect. I grinned a little when the determined fire burst to life in Nia’s eyes. God damn, I am proud of her. I snuck over to the closest door and slipped inside, leaning against the shadows. Angel peeked over the other wall and pointed to me, then a guard. I nodded, understanding. “Hey, what do you – OW!” a guard screamed. Nia had managed to get a leg free and kicked the guard as hard as she could. In response, another lunged at her, cutting her shallowly along the side. Now that pissed me off. Without hesitation, Angel and I lunged from our hiding places. He bit down on the nerve cluster on one of the guards’ necks, and they both went down. I personally slammed the pommel of Lasair on a guard’s helmet, then smacked the third with the flat of the blade. The two both slumped, unconscious. “Nia, you okay?” I asked, cutting through the thick ropes somewhat carefully. “Yeah, just a scratch.” She smiled weakly before flinching again as I ran my finger gently over the cut. “Like hell it is,” I grumbled. “Angel, see if you can find some dressings around here. Nia, stop trying to be tough and keep your side elevated and pressurized.” They both nodded. Angel slipped out of sight while I tore a clump from my jeans and pressed it against the gash. The Sight flared of its own accord, and I saw a deep poisonous green color lacing the wound. Frowning, I gently laid the tip of Lasair against the blood, and the color slowly receded. “In the name of Princess Celestia, you are under arrest,” a soft voice said from behind me. I grimaced. There was little to no chance I could take on anyone like this. Even without using the full power of the Sight, I could tell this guy was serious business. Seeing as I had plenty of experience with bullies, I knew when they were confident. This guy was confident. Angel bounced around a corner with a thick roll of dressings. He stopped and stared as he beheld the situation. “Angel,” I murmured, hopefully snapping him out of it. “Tend to Nia while I take care of this guy.” “Are you sure you can take him?” Nia whispered into my ear. “I’m nothing like you, and even I can feel the raw power radiating off this guy.” “He’s gonna be a real problem, all right.” I sighed. “I have an approximately ten percent chance of beating him, a fifty percent chance of death, thirty percent chance of capture, and ten percent chance of escape. When Angel gets you all patched up, you leave with him, got it?” she started to protest, but I held up a finger. “No arguments. This is something that I have to do on my own.” She looked at me for a moment, furiously debating with herself. Then, finally, she nodded. I sagged with relief. I checked Lasair. It was fully charged, thank God. I didn’t waste a second. Whirling, I brought Lasair Ocras up into a thin, precise arc of fire that burned against the near-darkness. The horse that was facing me brought up a shimmering barrier. He was large, about the size of a normal horse, with an alternating blue mane and an extra-long horn. I jumped to my feet and rushed him. He parried each strike of Lasair with his horn or a spell. I then made my first mistake. I whirled my blade up, leaving my front wide open. The unicorn took the chance and slashed at my chest. A fount of blood spurted from it as blood seeped into my shirt. My One-Does-Not-Simply shirt was just ruined. Aw, come on! I groaned and fell back as he then reversed the tide, hacking at me with every chance. In the corner of my eye, I saw Nia quietly leave the room with Angel in tow. Seeing my chance, I dashed backwards, leading the unicorn all the way to the top of the tree house. Once I was facing the highest balcony, I took my leave by means of the most badass exit in history. I turned towards the advancing unicorn and smirked. I spread my arms and dropped backwards, falling back into the sky. At the last second, I twisted around and sent the rest of the fire to the base of the tree. It quickly caught, and I lurched away under the cover of smoke. I hobbled to a small marketplace, the meeting place that Angel told me to find. He and Nia were standing there in the open. Well, I say standing. Angel was actually flailing about in the hooves of a yellow-cream pegasus while Nia watched, bemused. “Hey, guys,” I said casually, hiding the slash along my torso. “Angel, I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.” “Shut up… and help me… dumbass!” he choked, all the while being smothered by the pegasus. I plucked him from her hooves and placed him on my head. “Thanks,” he panted. I nodded. “Anytime. Now that we’re out of this mess, what say we fly away into the night?” “Good with me,” Nia quipped. I tensed to take off. “Angel?” a soft voice called from behind me. “What are you doing with Angel bunny?” I turned, and instantly regretted it. This horse thing was diabetes-grade adorable. It took all the manliness I had to back away as she came closer. “Angel, who the bloody hell is this and why do I have to sudden urge to hug her?” I asked. He frowned. “Don’t do that. You know the invisible barrier we passed on our way here?” I nodded. “She’s like that, except a hundred times more powerful. You touch her, you’ll probably die from cute overload. Her name is Fluttershy. She’s my old owner.” “So this is the chick that completely disregarded your intentions?” I asked. “Fluttershy”, as she was called, looked to be combating fear and anger in her head. Angel shrugged. “Not completely, but she babied me like hell. I just got pissed when I kept remembering she couldn’t understand me.” “Angel, who are your new friends?” Fluttershy asked softly. He just sighed and started talking to her. “They’re retards who can barely fly, much less actually fight,” he said briskly. “Dude, if you don’t want to be skinned and in my stomach by tomorrow morning, shut the freak up,” I growled, just low enough for him to hear. “So they need some food?” Fluttershy asked timidly. I sighed. “You really didn’t understand a word he just said, did you?” I quipped. She flinched at my tenor voice. “O-of c-c-course I d-did,” she stammered. “H-he told me t-that y-you were h-h-hungry, and that y-you needed some food.” I laughed. “No. he said, in express words, that we were ‘retards who can barely fly, much less actually fight’. And if he’s lucky, I won’t be cooking him for dinner. You, good sir, have been entirely tolerable so far, but that… that just went too far.” Fluttershy squeaked in fear. “Come on, you two. I have a unicorn on my tail and I’d rather get bandaged up before I bleed out.” “Fine,” Angel said. Nia glanced down at my chest and made a face that said “I’m going to kill you for getting hurt like that”. “Stop right there!” the shout came from behind me. Oh, what the hell is it now?! I whipped around and snarled. The white unicorn from earlier had somehow gotten out of the fire, and though his mane and tail were stained black, he seemed relatively unharmed. “In the name of the Royal Guard, you are under arrest. If you do not comply, I will be forced to detain you manually.” He said all this with a bored tone. That, combined with the boyish voice, really made me want to punch this guy’s lights out. “Sorry about this, horse, but I’m afraid that can’t happen,” I snarled, before whipping Lasair around and sending a weak wave of fire at him. Fluttershy squeaked behind me. An opaque amethyst barrier blocked it. It’s too bad the unicorn only looked for me. The moment the barrier went down, Nia pounced. She latched onto the unicorn’s back and began tearing at the flesh. The unicorn rolled, shaking her off, but still giving me the time I needed. I dashed forward, flapping my wings just a tiny bit for some extra boost. I smashed the flat of the blade against his face just as Nia leapt off. He stumbled back, and Angel took the opportunity to repeatedly trip him as they went. Nia and I stood back, trying to assess the situation. “It seems like he’s only adept in using magic. There’s no chance that he can actually use that horn as a competent weapon, but if we’re going to beat him, we have to get in close.” “Why can’t you just use Lasair?” Nia asked. “The sun is pretty much the only source of reliable power I can use with this thing. Besides, he’d just shield himself every time I – holy shit!” I bounced out of the way as Angel was sent flying across the town square (or was it circle?) The unicorn had a long gash across his back and apparently a broken leg. Nia bent over and grabbed Angel, stowing him in the now-wild fringe of fur on her head. It was at this moment when I heard a small gasp from behind. “Shining Armor,” Fluttershy said strongly. I barely had time to react before she shot over and stared him in the eye. “How dare you hurt Angel bunny!” Armor, as he was apparently called, gulped and backed away slightly. His horn flared to life, and in a flash of light, Fluttershy was gone. He shook his head before charging at me once more. Unfortunately for him, never got there. He stopped mid-dash, surrounded by a blood-red aura. I looked around for the source. Judas was bent over, one hand extended, the other on his knee. “Get going, you fool!” he panted. The aura sputtered for a moment before coming back full force. “Is it normal for Sponsors to interfere with their Players so much?” I asked, extending my wings and preparing to take off. “Not… really… but… they’re all… mostly… gods.” Judas sounded positively exhausted by now. Armor was struggling against the force field with some serious effort. “I… don’t… have… such… restrictions. Now… GO!” just as I took off, the aura shattered, and Judas faded into the night. Armor shot several blasts of violet light at my team, but we managed to get above the clouds unscathed. It was about an hour before we had to land. The adrenaline from the fight finally flushed from my system, and my muscles unclenched. I groaned in pain when the cut in my torso began to spray blood, staining the cloud layer pinkish red. “Emergency landing!” Nia called, looking back at me and frowning. We spiraled to the ground, with Angel looking through our bags and pulling out first-aid stuff. The moment I landed, Nia rushed over to me and pulled my shirt off. “Wow, Nia. If you were that eager you could have just asked,” I joked. She blushed and hit me. “Alright, that was uncalled for.” She and Angel set to work bandaging the various cuts and bruises on my body, taking special care to wrap the slash on my chest. I winced when Nia pulled the bandages taut. “I don’t want you doing anything more strenuous than walking and flying for a week, alright?” she said in a strict tone. I grinned and winked. “Does that include kissing?” I asked. She turned red and gave me a small smirk. “It does, actually. If you’re going to touch my mouth, you’ll have to wait.” “Damn. And I thought I could rub this in Angel’s face.” All three of us stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. I name a sword, Nia gets captured, We rescue her, I get my chest torn open, We make a mortal enemy, and I’m apparently immune to adorable. All in all, not a bad day.