//------------------------------// // Rivers and Ravines // Story: Archangel's Adventure // by SabreXio //------------------------------// As the ponies and myself soldiered on, I began to think about my part in all of this: I was suppose to be an ancient warrior, a being of such power that, apparently, the ponies buried me in a state of suspended animation for a time when my skills were again needed. But I wasn't so sure. To these ponies, I may be a juggernaut but I'm still human. "Partially human" Guardian corrected. I hate that he can read my thoughts sometimes. Anyway, I also have no way of knowing when I was placed in that state, as all time logs are eather irreperably damaged or have been wiped clean. My mind was jolted back to reality by the sound of running water. Sure enough, we approched a clearing the was bisected by a wide, fast-flowing river. Our group moved to the edge of the river to see if there was a way across, when I heard a faint sound upriver. "Can you hear that?" I asked the group "Hear what?" "I hear something up that way" I said as I pointed upriver "Come on y'all, lets go check it out" suggested Applejack And with that we all moved toward the sound I had heard. As we grew closer everyone else could clearly see the source of the sound. Sitting in the river was a huge serpent, crying to itself and flailing its tail causing the river to flow faster and rougher. We all drew closer. "WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE SUCH TORMENT?!" howled the creature in a slightly effeminate voice "Excuse me sir, why are you crying" inquired Twilight "Well, I don't know" the serpent began "I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off, and now I look simply horrid" "Are you serious?" groaned Rainbow Dash "That's what this is all about?" said Applejack "Hey, we could always just even it out by cutting off the other half" I offered as I brandished my axe. I quickly rolled out of the way as a large, scaly fist slammed the ground where I had been. "DUDE, I WAS JOKING!" I yelled at the sea snake, then Rarity chimed in. "Captain, maybe you should let me handle this" "Good plan, I'll be over there" I agreed as I walked toward a tree and sat down. After a few minutes of listening to Rarity and the serpent talk beauty and fashion, I decided now would be a good time to check my equipment. I removed my right sholder guard, grabbed my axe, and using the armor plate as a grindstone, began to hone the blade. As I began to fall into the familiar pattern of grinding the blade, I didn't even notice the purple unicorn who had walked up and sat down next to me. "What are you doing, Captain?" she asked "Huh?" I said as I was jolted from my trance "Oh, nothing much, just sharpening my axe" As I continued to work, Twilight began staring intently at my weapon. "Hey Captain, What does that mean?" she asked pointing at the inscription on my axe's blade. "It says 'Don't Back Down'. It's part of the montra my partner and I followed in the Special Forces" "You had a partner?" she asked intently "Yeah, Codename 'Sword Dancer'. She was my closest friend" I said putting the axe and plate down "this axe was actually a gift from her" "That's nice of her, I think" she replied "So that is a really special possession of yours, isn't it?" "Yeah" I sighed "It's the only thing I have to remind me of her. That inscription was her part of the montra" I paused, the memories of Sword Dancer coming back. "Whenever we were in a bind, I would look to her and say 'Don't Back Up' to which she would reply 'Dont Back Down'. It was like a rallying cry. When she gave me that axe, I gave her the custom sword I had made for her with the inscription 'Don't Back Up' on its blade. That was so we would always have each other even when we were apart" "Wow Captain, I never pegged you for the sentimental type" Twilight said "Hey, she was my closest and best friend" I said defensively "she always had my back, and she was amazing in every way: smart, strong, beautiful, funny... the list goes on" "Ok, ok calm down" said Twilight "I was only joking. But still, she sounds like an amazing friend" Then the question. "What happened to her?" she asked innocently. My heart sank and my reminicent smile faded which Twilight noticed "I don't know" I said somberly "the last time I remember being with her was when we exchanged those weapons. I haven't seen or heard from her since" "I'm so sorry, Captain" she responded with genuine concern "Hey, don't worry about it" I said pulling myself together "she's tough, she can handle whatever gets thrown at her" I tried to change the subject before the questions got any more painful "Looks like Rarity and the serpent are finishing up" I redirected "let's go see what's up" As we walked back to the group, we were all shocked by what was about to happen. "Well, I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected" the unicorn declaired Then she grabbed one of the serpent's scales and tugged it off "OW!" exclaimed the creature "What was that for?" "Rarity, what are you..." began Twilight, but she was stopped by Rarity's actions. In a single move, she used the scale to slice her purple tail off, drawing a gasp from everyone in attendence "Well, it's not as beautiful as it usually is" Rarity said while glaring at me "Oh, let it go Rarity" I said as the other ponies began chuckling to themselves Then using her magic she fused her tail to the remaining portion of his damaged mustache, creating a seamless connection. "OH...MY...GOSH" eclaimed the serpent "My mustache...it's beautiful" "You look positively stunning" said Rarity "But Rarity" said Twilight "your beautiful tail" Rarity dismissed Twilights concern. "Oh, it's fine, my dear" she said "short tails are in this season. And besides, it'll grow back" "So would his mustache" whispered Rainbow to Applejack "Hey" said Twilight as she jumped into the water "It looks like we can cross now..WOAH" The serpent had mad a bridge across the river with its body "Allow me" he said After we all had crossed, the serpent shooting me dirty looks the whole time, I began thinking about the conversation I had with Twilight. Why did I tell her all that? I could have just told her my axe was from a friend and called it at that. But then I realized that it felt kind of good to share that with her. She actually reminded me of Sword Dancer in her demeanor, which I guess made it easier for me to talk to her. Then another though entered my mind. "Hey Rarity" I said with a little smirk "Why did I get smacked for grabbing your tail to save you, but you just let that serpent have your tail?" "Because, darling" she answered "You never touch a mare's tail without permission" "Touché" I said defeated "And besides, I did thank you for the rescue" she continued, making me blush a little at the memory "All right, all right, I get it" I said "Just don't fall off any cliffs because now there's nothing for me to hold on with" Everyone laughed at that. During the hike, a very thick fog decended on us. "Ok, everybod...I mean everypony" I addressed them "try to stay with me. I can use my systems to see through the fog" Using my different vision modes, I tried to keep an eye on all of the ponies so nothing stupid would happen. I also had to contend with Rainbow Dash constantly trying to scare the others. Using the fog, I quietly snuck around behind Rainbow so I could scare her into stopping the pranking. "Hey, where'd the Captain git to?" asked Applejack From directly behind Rainbow I calmly answered "I'm right here." This illicited a yelp from the blue pegesus and causing her to shoot straight up in the air. What happened next, I don't know, mostly because I was busy laughing my ass off. but when I looked up, I saw a very pissed off Pegasus. "That's not funny" she said Angerly "Hey, don't dish what you can't take" I replied still chuckling to myself "maybe now you'll stop scaring everyone" I then turned my attention back to the path just in time to see Twilight about to walk into a canyon "Twilight, don't move" I ordered "there's a cliff there" She immediatly stopped and backed up. Then the fog started lifting around the remains of a rope bridge. On the far side of the ravine, I could see the untied rope that the bridge needed to support the ponies. "So, how do we get over there?" asked Twilight "Twilight?" answered Rainbow Dash as she unfurled her wings "Oh" she said realizing here mistake "right" As Rainbow left to retie the bridge, a familiar voice perked up. "Captain, I have detected that signature again" reported Guardian "Location?" "Across the ravine interacting with Ms. Dash" he answered I tried to use my advanced vision to locate the signature. As I switched to thermal vision, I saw it. The largest thermal image was obviously Rainbow who was talking to three faint pegesi-shaped heat signatures. "Hey, Rainbow" I called out "You alright over there?" Then one of the signatures turned its head and looked directly at me. It temporarily increased in temperature and then blocked my vision with the fog. "Hey, what's going on?" I said out loud while frantically cycling through my visions "Something is causing enough electromagnetic interfearence to create a barrier that your vision is unable to penetrate" "Is something wrong Captain?" asked Fluttershy "Something is keeping me from seeing Rainbow Dash and the other three ponies over there" I explained "I don't like this" "Other ponies?" asked Applejack "I think so but now I can't see anything" "Can't you just send your little assisstant?" suggested Pinkie. "Negative Ms. Pie, the problem is not that something is in the way, but that something is rendering the Captain's equipment ineffective" explained Guardian. All five ponies immediatly looked at me for a translation. "He said that something is making my electronics not work, so G can't use his drone to investigate because it would break" I said causing a chorus of oh's. "Maybe she can still hear us" suggested Twilight "Good idea" I agreed as I turned back toward where Rainbow was "Hey Rainbow, don't leave us hangin'" Using my boosted hearing, I isolated the sound of the two voices on the opposite cliff so I could hear them clearly. "Wait, I can hear them" I said as I channeled the voices through my armor's speakers. "Absolutely, I would love to join" Rainbow squeeled in joy "just let me tie this bridge back up and..." "NO! It's them or us!" interrupted an unknown voice "Who was that?" asked Pinkie "Shh, their still talking" I said "You...Thank you for the offer" said Rainbow "really, it means alot, but I have to say no" Then the fog lifted enough so we could see the blue pegesus return to repairing the bridge. "Alright Rainbow" we all cheered "What can I say" Rainbow shrugged "I could never leave my friends hangin'" I was scanning intently for the three ponies I had seen but they were gone. So, I just filed that away as the purple mist again and got ready to cross the bridge which looked like someone had photoshopped it in from a freakin' Indiana Jones movie. "You guys go first" I said to the ponies "I don't know how well this bridge will react to six ponies and a 500-lb. super-soldier at the same time" "Good point, Captain" agreed Twilight. And with that the six mares crossed the bridge with little more than a few creaking boards. "Alright Captain, your turn" Pinkie Pie called back happily Well, here goes nothing As I carefully made my way across the single scariest bridge I've ever seen, I began to relax a little. This bridge is way stronger than I thought And as though the boards heard my thought the second my full weight was on the center of the bridge, the planks gave way. "CAPTAIN!" screamed the ponies as I fell. Thinking quickly, I armed my grappling spike again and fired it into the far side of the canyon where it embeded itself deep in the rock. With a snap of the cable as it tensed under my weight, I hung from the wire for a few seconds until I regained my composure. "Captain, are you ok?" asked Rainbow Dash "Oh my gosh, Mr. Archangel are you hurt?" asked a concerned Fluttershy who were both hovering in front of me. "Yeah, I'll be fine" I assured them "but there is no way in hell I'm going across that bridge again" I then began to retract the cable slowly bringing myself back up to the where my spike landed. Then once I was there I used the spike as a foothold to jump up to the edge of the cliff, and with the help of Twilight and Rarity's levitation, I was once again back on solid land. "What is it with us and fallin' off of crap?" I asked jokingly to the ponies around me "How much further is it to the castle?" "It should be right through this last bit of woods" answered Twilight "Good, because I am getting tired of this place"