//------------------------------// // Ch.11 A Thief in Hell // Story: Honor Among Thieves // by BluePhoenyx //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash rushed into Seb’s room of the base. She left a trail of rainbow behind her as she rushed past the various soldiers and guards. She panted as she rushed up to Seb, who was relaxing for the evening as best he could. It was a rare treat, the sounds of war had quieted enough for him to sleep and he knew it couldn’t be good but he took advantage of it when he could. Rainbow Dash, confirmed his suspicions of bad news. “Seb! It’s the princess!” Rainbow Dash blurted out as she caught her breath. Seb stood up from his chair and walked over to her. “Calm down Dash, what happened?” Seb asked. Rainbow Dash’s mane was messed up and her wings were missing a couple of feathers. “The humans...c-captured the princess!” Rainbow Dash panted. Seb nearly lost his balance. “They what!?” He yelled, his face a beacon of astonishment. “The human who’s leading them plans to put a saddle on her and ride into the battle on her back, tomorrow.” Rainbow Dash said, stomping a hoof angrily. Seb snorted and clasped a hand over his mouth, trying to hold back the laughter he was experiencing. “This isn’t funny!” Rainbow Dash yelled in exasperation. “It kind of is actually.” Seb chortled. “A grown man riding a unicorn princess into battle? That’s fucking hilarious where I’m from.” His explanation did little to assuage the pegasus. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes in annoyance. “What are we going to do?” “Move the plan ahead. Call in the pegasi and tell the soldiers to start feigning retreat.” Seb ordered. Rainbow Dash saluted and zipped off while Seb rushed out to call the troops. He ran into Applejack rushing through the crowd of soldiers. “Applejack, get Twilight and the others. The plan is starting, NOW.” Seb explained hurriedly. “What, why?” Applejack exclaimed, the announcement throwing her for a loop. “The princess has been captured and is being held prisoner.” Seb replied. His shoulder started aching something awful. Applejack pulled her hat off her head and pressed it against her chest. “The princess? what’ll we do now?” She asked with stress. “We’re going ahead with the plan,” Seb replied. “We’ll either free her in the confusion or free her when we win. Now, go tell the others.” He ordered Seb rushed away without waiting for Applejack’s answer. His body begged him to stop running but he ignored it. He found Shining Armor commanding a troop at the front of the barricade. He looked up and saw Seb. “What’s wrong?” He questioned. “Celestia’s been captured.” Seb explained quickly. He dropped to his knees as a familiar pain surged through his body. “Stay down, I’ll get the plan moving.” Shining Armor sounded back quickly. “I’ve already set it in motion.” Seb said, wincing through the intense pain. “You need to get your end moving. We need to get all the humans in the same place.” Shining Armor nodded, he knew he wouldn’t be able to convince Seb to stay down or even try and get some assistance so he turned back to his troops, barked a quick order to get moving, and called out for Twilight. She came galloping in, followed by Rarity and Pinkie Pie. “The princess has been captured, we’re setting the plan in motion.” Shining Armor announced, letting Seb recover quickly. “The princess?” Twilight questioned nervously. “We’ll get her back.” Seb said once he caught his breath. “They still have Cadence too.” Shining Armor said, scratching at the ground. Seb didn’t reply to that. He hadn’t forgotten Cadence’s sacrifice for him and he was still determined to rescue her. He said nothing else however and decided walking to the center of the city where everything was meant to go down would be better. Once he had found his position the storm clouds were already moving in. The wind blew harshly and Seb’s frail frame was having a hard time fighting against it at first. Then, the snow came, and a blizzard was quickly underway.  Seb shivered against the cold but he looked to see his plan was slowly working. The first wave of humans were already in the middle of the city and all around him the sounds of war were quickly sounding around the area. When the first gun shot ripped through the air, Seb flinched. He was joined by a young soldier who had been wounded by the gunshot. It wasn’t a deep wound, the colt would live, but it was still traumatic. The colt said nothing, but his eyes said everything; he was scared and hurt. “Come here son.” Seb said, pulling the colt into safety. More gunfire exploded over them the storm overhead was beginning to build as well, and snow was falling down in torrents. It wasn’t becoming a hassle yet, considering the snow was packed down by the running hooves of panicked soldiers and royal guards. “Captain,” The colt began earnestly. “Are we going to die?” “No, we’ll be fine.” Something in Seb told him he’d just lied to a child and that didn’t sit well with him. Seb listened to the death wails of various ponies and cringed when he heard dead flesh thump against the snow covered ground. Suddenly, the gunfire and war cries stopped. Seb almost wished the death cries would come back. He didn’t like the silence. The only noise was from the growing storm, the wind had picked up and a small blizzard was forming. “Sebastian!” Nathan called out. Seb bit his lip. “Come on out boy, I’d like to make a deal with you.” “Fuck off!” Seb called back, not daring to bring his head above his hiding place. “I suppose you don’t want your princess back then!” Nathan yelled over the storm. Seb looked up and could see Shining Armor easing out of his hiding place as well. His previous injuries were hurting him and he’d been injured once again.         “Oh wait, Which princess is yours again?” Nathan asked. Shining Armor’s eyes flashed with anger and Seb knew Cadence had been brought into view. “Hold your position soldier!” Seb snapped at Shining Armor. It seemed to bring him back to reality. Seb was almost disturbed by his new speech patterns, he wasn’t a military man, he was a low-life thief for heaven’s sake! Either way, he had a new problem; Princess Cadence and Celestia were in danger now, and it was possible that when the storm got to it’s full strength they could get killed in the confusion. “Come on out Sebastian, let’s make a deal.” Nathan called out again. “What’s that saying back home? I don’t negotiate with terrorists or something like that?” Seb called out. It was the only military like quote he knew and he probably butchered it but it would probably buy him some time. “You’re a funny man, Sebastian,” “Thought I was a boy!” Seb interrupted. Nathan cleared his throat, though Seb didn't hear it. “How about I sweeten this deal even more?” Nathan asked. Seb her heard a squeal and his heart sank into his gut. He stood up, holding his uninjured arm in the sky in surrender and looked at Nathan. He held Fluttershy by the mane. Her wings were tied up and her hooves were tied together. behind him, Celestia and Cadence had so many ropes and chains around them he could hardly make out their coat colors. Cadence looked worse than when he left her and he could see that Celestia had some major wounds on her. “Alright Nathan, I’m listening.” Seb said. Fluttershy was crying and trying to run over to him but she kept being pulled back. Seb saw Twilight and Applejack coming out of hiding out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t tell where the others were. “I want a trade, I want my torture master for this little pegasus here.” Nathan said,  obviously referring to Hank. “Throw in a Princess and you got it.” Seb replied. Nathan thought for a moment then motioned for the trade to happen. They, of course, sent Cadence forward. Seb knew it was obvious which princess they’d give, but he wanted it that way. As long as Cadence was in danger, he couldn’t rely on Shining Armor to keep his head and stick to the plan. Hank was brought out after a while and the trade began. Shining Armor was the one who walked Hank over to the trade point. once Hank crossed the threshold, Shining Armor and Cadence hugged quickly and rushed back with Fluttershy close behind. Seb knelt down and hugged her and she flew into his arms. “Easy now... don’t cry.” he whispered as Fluttershy bawled into his chest.  He bit through the pain of her pressing against his shoulder and sent her back to Twilight and the others, who had come out of hiding. Rainbow Dash was still flying high, building the storm further as the humans below negotiated.           “Now what, Nathan?” Seb asked, paranoia playing along recklessly in his mind. “Turn yourself in and we’ll let most of the ponies live, the ones that don’t fight back at least.” Nathan said with a sly and cruel grin on his face. Was that the best action? No, it was an obvious trap. Was there a way he could turn the tables on him? Maybe. “How do I know you’ll keep your word?” Seb asked. “Isn’t there another of those little sayings back home? There’s an honor among thieves?” Nathan asked, smirking. “I don’t think that means what you think it means.” Seb said. He actually chuckled a little. “I don’t think it matters anymore. Now come along Sebastian, I want you kneeling at my feet.” Nathan said, becoming cold once again. Seb looked behind him to see Fluttershy and the others. Fluttershy was crying once more and Twilight had the darkest pits of hatred in her eyes.. “See ya... everyone.” He murmured. It wasn’t loud enough for them to hear, but they all seemed to understand. He walked over to Nathan’s side of the battle field slowly, taking his time as he calculated his plan. If he took three steps too quickly, he’d be off his mark and he’d have to use more energy to do what he wanted, it also put him in danger, and left his arm vulnerable. On the other hand, if he walked too slowly they’d suspect he was planning something and throw him off completely. There was a gamble to his plan as well, would his gesture be taken the right way? He nodded, ever so slightly, to the young colt he had taken shelter with. The colt was holding a poorly created knife. As he passed the colt slipped it in Seb’s back pocket and Seb breathed a sigh of relief. He took easy steps towards Nathan.He got close enough to smell Nathan’s cologne. Celestia tried wiggling out of her bindings but one of the men tugged on her, putting her back in place. She had a bridle, reins and a saddle on and was obviously not pleased. Seb almost laughed at her but he had to keep his focus. “On your knees and hands behind your back. I want you begging for your life.” Nathan said calmly. Seb slowly knelt down while Nathan took out his gun and pressed the barrel against Seb’s forehead. “Sebastian James Crawford. The son of the mighty James and Rebecca Crawford. You probably didn’t know your full name did you?” Sebastian looked up and glared at Nathan. He was slowly sliding his fingers into his back pocket, trying desperately to reach the knife. It had cut it’s way through the pocket and was trying to slide down the pant leg, cutting his thigh as it went down. “I’ll admit, when my brother married that whore I was against it at first, and then I heard she had a disease and a baby on the way I wanted to see how it would go.” Nathan cooed. Seb forgot all about his knife and stared at Nathan in shock. “You mean you’re...” “Your uncle? Did i forget to mention that? hah! i’m terribly sorry I’m so forgetful. Getting old you know.” Nathan said, grinning widely while he pushed some of Seb’s hair out of the way with his gun. “You really should do something with your hair.” “You asshole.” Seb growled angrily. “You look so much like your father. He’d be proud to see the man you’ve become. By that, I mean a pathetic thief terrorizing the streets. I wonder what James would say if he could see you now.” Nathan laughed throatily. Seb had heard enough. His fingers finally gripped the knife  and he ripped it out, taking some of his own flesh with it. Instead of lunging straight for Nathan, he dodged left and cut the one strip of rope holding Celestia down. The man holding it fell backwards as a few of the other ropes melted away. Celestia reared up, pushing more ropes off of her. Seb fought off all he could while she freed herself. A blade sliced through Seb’s left bicep and a few bullets whizzed passed him. He’d caught them all off guard and their weapons were clumsily out of reach. He heard Nathan screaming at his crew to kill him but he managed to at least stab whoever came close. He fell back against Celestia’s body as she bucked the last chain off and spread her wings. She began galloping away, if anything to get out of the mass of humans. They began tackling Seb and trying to pin him down. Hank, stepped forward and pressed a foot against Seb’s injured shoulder. Seb screamed out in agony, catching Celestia’s attention. She returned and used her magic to try and push some of the men away but the only ones she hit were the four un-armored ones and that did little to help. She finally decided on kicking and bucking, catching a few men in the face or other sensitive parts. Seb’s vision was clouded by pain and a mass of human bodies, so he barely saw Celestia’s form stand over him. She dragged him to his feet with her teeth and started running with him. Her pulling hurt and he twisted around to grab the saddle on her back. He lifted himself up into the saddle and gripped a reign with one hand, all in one swift motion.Celestia spread her wings and shot easily into the air as bullets whizzed past them and snow dumped down. Seb shivered as the cold bit into his skin as he clutched the reign before feeling another one of his attacks coming on. He began coughing and wheezing harshly as blood worked it’s way out of his lungs and into his throat. Blood spattered from Seb’s mouth and onto the saddle beneath him. “Not now...” He pleaded to his body, but it ignored him wholly. Having no experience in a saddle, Seb had a hard time staying in it, especially with Celestia flapping her wings and not being use to a saddle herself. He slid out of the saddle and began falling towards the earth. His sling unraveled in the harsh winds and flew off of his arm, letting it freely be battered by the wind and icy snow. “I didn’t think it’d be like this...” Seb thought to himself. He could see the ground getting close and closed his eyes. He slammed into a hard body, instead of the ground, and opened his eyes to see Celestia had dive bombed after him, and caught him on her back. They landed in the middle of a waiting crowd of ponies who cheered and surrounded them. Seb slid off her back again, this time landing on soft snow, and used her body to steady himself while Fluttershy ran forward. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all pushed their way through the crowd, following Fluttershy. There was a confusion on who to pay attention to first, but when Seb shooed them away while he hacked up blood, they focused on their princess. “Princess Celestia, are you alright?” Twilight asked quickly. “I’m fine Twilight. Someone get this horrible thing off of me.” She said, motioning to the saddle and bridle. Two soldiers took the human made bindings off of her and she dropped down, far too weak to stand any longer. “Get the princesses out of danger!” Shining Armor ordered. He turned to Seb. “Stick to the plan.” Seb coughed. “Someone get Rainbow Dash to hurry the storm up.” “I’ll go.” Fluttershy said nervously. Seb nodded to her and covered his mouth, choking harshly. Seb heard the sounds of men beginning to march forward. as Fluttershy flew off into the sky. He looked up to see a whole army of ponies, waiting his command. He straightened himself up, holding back a cough as he began to speak. “I’m no Captain or General. The fact you’ve all followed me into a war is amazing, and I’m honored. There is no more I can tell you, no more commands to give except to follow through the plan I provided and when this is done, go home to your families. I’ll see you all on the other side.” Seb said, yelling so he could be heard all the way back. At first, he thought his speech was stupid and not necessary, but when he saw the confidence in all the pony's eyes, he realized they needed to hear it more than he needed to say it. He turned to see a mass of human bodies rushing them. They were still far off, giving Seb and the ponies the upper hand as far as preparing for it. The initial impact of the war masses made a huge boom as bodies hit bodies. Seb was in the middle of the chaos and he cradled his arm, trying to keep it from being hit. The storm had worsened and visibility was down to being lucky to see your hand in front of your face. Seb wandered through the chaos slowly. He bumped into a body and turned around to see Nathan, standing in front of him and holding a gun, poised to shoot. Seb’s only choice was to body slam him with his poor shoulder. When Nathan stumbled to the ground, the storm suddenly began disbursing. Pegasi were being shot down or becoming too tired to hold the storm up, it was something Seb hadn’t accounted for. With visibility becoming clearer, Seb could see Twilight and Applejack fending off a crowd of men while Rarity, surprisingly, nagged one off to the side. For a moment, Seb was trying to figure out how amidst the blood and violence, Rarity had time to scold an enemy. He was more confused on why the man was standing there and taking it like a child. Before he could ponder that for too long, he noticed Pinkie Pie firing a canon of confetti over a crowd of men. While he was being distracted, the butt of a gun made contact with the side of his face. It forced him down to the ground on his bad shoulder and he spat out more of his rapidly diminishing supply of blood. “You shouldn’t turn away from your enemies.” Nathan scolded childishly, pressing the gun against Seb’s head again. “Beg.” “Go to hell you sick bastard.” Seb groaned in open defiance. Nathan pressed his foot against Seb’s shoulder and dug it into the ground, making Seb cry out in putrid agony. “I said beg, you little fuck!” Nathan screamed. Seb’s vision began to blur and he felt like throwing up. He started to beg but before he could get a word out, Nathan’s foot suddenly pushed off as Nathan grunted. Seb winced from the agony of the push but looked up to see Rainbow Dash standing over the cruel human. “Thought you didn’t like me.” Seb said through gritted teeth. “I don’t, I just don’t like him more.” Rainbow Dash replied, grinning widely. Seb chuckled and forced himself up, easing himself through the pain. He tried hard to block out the death cries that were buzzing around him. The pools of blood at his feet sickened him, though he couldn’t make out if it was pony or human. He saw a blade that had been broken off of some type of weapon and picked it up. The sharp blade sliced through his skin easily. He briefly wondered how easily it could go through someone’s neck or chest if it cut the skin so neatly. A fine, thin red line of blood traced out the cut then raced down his wrist. He then turned to Nathan who not only had Rainbow Dash on him, but Applejack as well. Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie had all found their way to the group and despite the chaos that still reigned around them, they calmly waited for Nathan’s surrender. Nathan, tried to get up and struggle against the two ponies but they were stronger than they looked and kept him down. Seb walked over to him and motioned for the ponies to step aside, then knelt down pushing a knee into Nathan’s throat to keep him there. He raised the broken piece of blade above his head and stared his victim straight in the eyes. “You don’t deserve to die so quickly, but Trisha’s peace is long overdue.” Seb growled, only loud enough for Nathan to hear. Nathan’s eyes went wide with fear for his own life. Seb exhaled as a tear ran down his cheek as he plunged the blade down. “STOP!” a voice called. Seb’s muscles froze in place so that the tip of the blade barely scraped Nathan’s exposed throat. A single drop of blood fell from the knife onto Nathan. Seb couldn’t figure out why he stopped; his rage and agony drove his body more than his mind did. Perhaps it was the voice itself that stopped him. Celestia maneuvered her way through the now silent war zone. Seb could almost feel Nathan’s heart rapidly pounding, telling his body to resist it’s entrapment and run. “I’ll have no more bloodshed this day.” Celestia stated, her voice shaking with anger and grief. She had watched her beloved subjects die before her and it broke even her heart to see it. Fluttershy appeared beside Celestia and began to make her way to Seb but the sight of him holding a bloodied blade, poised to kill, stopped her. Seb didn’t realize she was there. His focus was fixed on Nathan, his body trembled with the urge to avenge his love. He stabbed the ground with the blade and stood up, still shaking as blood dripped from his palm. Nathan scrambled away from Seb, but only managed to run into a group of soldiers who had successfully won their end of the battle. Celestia approached Seb and lifted a hoof to touch him, but Twilight stopped her. Celestia looked at Twilight as the young unicorn shook her head. Twilight could see that one touch, even a word to Seb would make him explode. Too weak and broken to stand, Seb crashed to the ground and began pounding a fist into the blood stained dirt. He was unable to hold back his tears and as they mixed with the dirt below to form a concoction of blood tears and mud, he screamed. “Why damn it!? He deserves to die! He fucking killed her! HE.KILLED.TRISHA!” Seb cried out. He doubled over as blood spurted from his mouth to mix in with mess below him. To keep himself from damaging his fist any further he hugged himself and simply continued to cry while the group of ponies surrounded him. He was embraced by a gentle hug from Fluttershy, which made him take in a quick breath. “My chest hurts...” Seb whimpered through his tears. “It’s alright Seb, go ahead, cry it out.” Fluttershy said in her usual gentle voice. Seb hiccuped a few times. When he had finally calmed down enough to stand up, Fluttershy pushed him to his feet and Twilight began crafting a temporary sling for Seb’s arm from some cloth. He could hardly feel it any more and wondered if it would ever heal properly. The soldiers focused on putting Nathan and the other captured humans in irons while Celestia watched over them. other ponies and soldiers around them began searching for injured ponies that hadn’t been helped in the battle or covered the dead with white blankets. Celestia walked up to Seb after she felt comfortable with the capturing of the humans and smiled. “Well done Seb.” She began. Seb bowed his head in shame. “I failed.” Seb muttered. “You defeated a mighty enemy and saved an entire world, how is that a failure?” Celestia asked. “I failed my Trisha. I couldn’t kill Nathan. She’ll never know justice for what that monster did.” Seb replied, feeling that those words alone would tell the whole story. Celestia smiled and her wisdom mixed in with her words. “If you ask me, I think that was your biggest accomplishment today. Taking another life even in revenge isn’t justice, he’ll stand for what he’s done, and face the consequences. Trisha will know justice, as well as the countless others Nathan’s actions have impacted.” Before Seb could reply, soldiers began yelling and struggling against something. Seb turned and saw Nathan standing in front of a small group of pony soldiers, ready to pounce on the unrestrained human. He was holding his gun again and Seb had just enough time to ask himself how before a loud report cracked the cold air’s peace. A flash of pink and yellow burst in front of Seb’s eyes before he clenched them shut. Everything was silent and still once more. Seb realized he hadn’t been shot, and opened his eyes again to see the world had froze. Nathan was still standing there, gun in hand and panting with a slight grin on his face. Seb looked down and saw the heap of blood, pink, and yellow as feathers floated down around Fluttershy’s fallen body.