A long, long time ago, in the magical land of Equestria, there wasn’t as much peace and harmony as there is now. There was, in fact, a little country, called Neighpon, located in the eastern parts of the continent. It was a land of conflict and war, but also a land of honor and chivalry, where manners were the weapon of those unable to wield a sword.
Manners were, in fact, the preferred weapon of Princess Curiosity, a snow-white unicorn mare with a long and wavy purple mane and a big blue diamond as her cutie mark, dressed in a blue silk kimono. She had certainly weaponized the art of whining, but this time seemed to not be effective. Trapped between two burly earth ponies armed with long spears, the Princess could only complain loudly while a third one rummaged through her belongings, still in her carriage.
They were in the middle of a cherry tree forest. Even though the dirt path was clearly defined, Curiosity knew nopony could see them between the thick foliage and the mass of light pink flowers. After all, she had lost sight of her guards pretty soon after they ran away leaving her behind.
“Stop this instant, you ruffians! I am a princess, my frogs hurt, I am tired of this, and I will not tolerate this attack!” she cried, trying to free her hooves from the steel grip of the bandits.
“Well, then you should have hired more competent bodyguards,” said one of the two ponies that were keeping her. The two of them started to laugh to the dismay of the ivory princess.
The third pony stopped searching the carriage and came back with a scorn.
“Is this really all you’re carrying, Princess?” He showed a hoofful of jewels. “This isn’t nearly enough!”
The thief threw the jewels to the ground. A glassy shattering sound made Curiosity wince.
“How dare you touch my family jewels!” she screamed, tugging without results. The two earth ponies were clearly stronger than a prissy princess.
“Well, these jewels are not that valuable. You sure have more expensive things in your palace.” The leader of the bandits grabbed her chin and looked at her eyes with a grin. “There’s only one thing we can do.”
“Let me go and apply for a job at the palace?” Curiosity’s fake smile didn’t show much hope.
“Of course not. We’re fillynapping you and asking for a big ransom.”
The would-be fillynappers cackled like maniacs while Curiosity stomped her hooves against the floor, throwing a big tantrum. One of them lifted the princess and threw her unceremoniously on the back of his mate so he could carry her, but, as they were getting ready to flee the place, they heard a soft voice.
“Um... I would prefer if you didn’t do that. That’s if you don’t mind, of course...”
The trio of bandits stared incredulously at the source of those words. It was a butter yellow pegasus mare with a long, pink mane, covered in a ragged brown cloak that hid her cutie mark. She was certainly a thing of rugged beauty, cutting a graceful silhouette against the cherry trees. The wanderer had a sword strapped to her flank, just an inch outside the scabbard, a sign of a will to fight if necessary. Uncomfortable with the three stares, she shied a bit away and started looking at the ground.
“Great! Just great! Why can’t I get a big, heroic stallion to save me! Instead I get another coward who is sure to flee as soon as one of these ruffians as much as hisses a bit!” Curiosity harrumphed and cursed her bad luck. Did fillynappers usually feed their victims well? Getting to her ideal weight had been an arduous task. Would she, at least, have access to a brush for her mane?
Of course, when the bandits recovered from the initial shock, they did the only sensible thing they could do: They started guffawing.
“Really? This is the best you can get, Princess?” said the thug that wasn’t carrying her. “Well, if you’re looking for an heroic death, I can give you that.”
He started walking closer to the mysterious mare and, suddenly, made a thrusting motion with his spear, shouting “Boo!” She jumped back with a too cute to describe “Eep!” and he started laughing again. “Really? I was raring for a good fight, but it’s clear this won’t be.”
He made a thrusting attack towards the yellow pegasus. With a swift motion, the cloaked mare stepped to the side, unsheathed her sword and hit him in the head. The stallion flew a few meters like a ragdoll and crashed on a tree.
“What in Celestia’s name!” screamed the leader. “Drop her! We’ll attack together!”
The other thug threw Curiosity to the ground, where she started screaming incoherently about the dirt in her mane and coat. Both bandits started galloping, their spears ready to taste blood. They separated half the way to attack from two different directions, trying to overwhelm their enemy, but, as soon as they were ready to hit, she took off with a powerful beat of her wings and rolled in the air, hitting both of them with one attack. As they fell to the ground, she landed and started walking to the princess while sheathing her sword.
“Eehm... Are you alright, miss...?” The swordsmare offered her hoof to Curiosity.
“PRINCESS Curiosity for you. What is your name, oh, mysterious saviour?” said the princess, getting up while she wiped the dust off her coat with her magic.
“Uhm... I would prefer if you forgot you saw me,” answered the bladesmare.
“Nonsense! Such a skilled samareai as you must get her deserved renown!”
The cloaked mare shook her head. “Oh, no, no, I’m not really that skilled. It was just... Just a stroke of luck.”
“Nonsense again! Look at them! They died with just one hit!”
The pegasus mare opened her eyes a lot and squeaked again. “Died!? Did I... Oh, no, no, no!” She ran to the bandits and started checking their pulses. Then, she turned her head again towards Curiosity, smiling with a little sigh of relief. “They are alive!”
“But how it’s that possible? You hit them with a sword. Ponies usually die when you hit them with a sword, don’t they?” Curiosity tried to keep her head high, as if to counter the awkwardness of the question.
“Well... Not with my sword...” The samareai unsheathed her sword carefully and showed the blade to the princess. It was really blunt, not a trace of sharpness throughout it.
“Oh, my! Why is this? Oh, I know! Surely you did horrible things during the war and after it made a vow to never kill again to atone for your sins!” said the overexcitable princess.
“... Actually, it got like this during the war. I don’t really have much money, so I had to let my blade go dull. Then I realized that problems could be solved without killing anypony in my way and, well… I left it like this as a reminder.”
“... This works too. I still want to know your name! But first of all, get undressed!” The princess made a beckoning sign with her hoof.
“EEP! P... Princess! I’m not that kind of... I mean, if you don’t mind, but still...”
“I didn’t mean like that!” Curiosity blushed furiously. “Your cloak is ragged, darling, and I have a new one somewhere in my luggage. It’s the least I can do for you right now!” Without waiting for an answer, the unicorn started using her telekinesis to disrobe the pegasus. She threw the cloak to the side and stared at the flank of the yellow pegasus.
Her cutie mark depicted a pink and blue butterfly sliced in two halves.
“You... You are...” the stunned princess started babbling. “You are Flutterblade! The Queen of Killers!”