//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 // Story: Light Wanderings // by ed2481 //------------------------------// Edited by TacoTown Chapter 23 “Tia, there’s something that’s been bugging me.” Twilight said as she lay next to Celestia on the large bed. Both mares had taken a bath a few minutes prior to wash away any sweat that had collected while they were enjoying each other, and now they were lazing around, waiting for the duel. “What’s that my dear?” Celestia asked as she pulled Twilight closer to her side with her wing. “Why is a dragon’s name Jonathan of all things? I mean, it just doesn’t sound very draconic to me.” Twilight asked causing Celestia chuckle. “He’s Trotish, the dragons there follow the same naming convention as the ponies of old.” Celestia explained. “Okay, I guess that explains why one’s name is Laurence, but why are the other two named Tem and Izy?” Twilight asked. “They’ve shortened them; their real names are Temeraire and Iskierka, and no, don’t ask me why Iskierka calls herself Izy, because I don’t know.” Celestia said with a shrug. “But those aren’t old Trotish names!” Twilight protested. “And if he’s Trotish then why doesn’t Jonathan speak in a Trotish accent?” “Dear, it doesn’t really matter right now. If you want more information then take it up with the dragons.” Celestia replied with a smile. “Trust me. Once you get them started they don’t stop talking until you’ve fallen asleep, and knowing you that would be after three days of intense note taking.” Celestia added with a smirk. “Hurmph.” Twilight replied with a small grumble. They sat in contented silence for several minutes simply enjoying the sensation of being next to the pony that they loved, until Celestia’s body suddenly stiffened. “Oh, that’s not good.” Celestia whispered. “What’s not good?” Twilight asked. “Apparently the Nightmare has been visiting Ethan in his sleep since he got here.” Celestia said in a low tone. “She’s been preying upon his fears and his inhibitions to wreck as much havoc inside his mind as possible.” She continued. “That… would explain some things. The slaughter of the children has probably been giving her more of a hoofhold then she’d normally find…” Twilight mused. “So what do we do to help him?” Twilight asked. “We give him as much kindness and support as we possibly can Twilight. Meanwhile, Luna says that she’ll patrol his dreams much more frequently than before. Unfortunately the Nightmare is impossible to detect from outside of the Dream Realm and it was only by chance that Luna was able to discover her in the first place.” Celestia explained with tired eyes. “That’s not good…” Twilight said softly. “No, no it is not. But it is all that we can do.” Celestia replied with a sigh. “Come Twilight, it is time to watch Blueblood get his sorry rump handed to him.” The white alicorn said as she rose to her hooves. *** Kane and Silent were standing next to each other on the upper ring of the arena, scanning the crowd for anything suspicious among the hundreds of ponies who’d come to watch the spectacle. Luckily, even Kane’s keen cat eyes were finding nothing. The arena that they were in was the same arena that he’d seen Celestia and Luna duel in the year before while he was on in between assignments; unfortunately he didn’t have a queen under his arm this time and he didn’t see a way to correct that any time soon. “Hey Kane, I’ve been wondering about something to do with cats, and I wasn’t sure whether or not it was alright for me to ask about, but the way I see it if it’s not alright then you won’t answer me so there’s no harm done either way.” Silent said as his red mane bobbed up and down atop his head from underneath his silver helmet. “Go ahead and ask kid, my people aren’t exactly all that defensive about our culture.” Kane replied with a shrug as he began to clean his paw. “Well I wanted to know who Bast is, I mean you swear by her, but I’d never heard of her before you came along.” Silent said uncertainly. “That’s not surprising really.” Kane replied with a chuckle. “Bast is the goddess of cats.” The cat continued with a shrug. “But if she’s a goddess then why haven’t I ever heard of her?” Silent asked. “Because she’s Bast, Goddess of Cats.” Kane replied with a smirk. “She does what she wants and wants what she does.” He added with another chuckle. “Well, that was extremely useful information.” Silent said with an annoyed grumble. “She’s not like Celestia or Luna; she’s a wanderer who goes from one place to another with no real rhyme or reason. It’s one of the reasons that I always treat queens right; you never know when your goddess has decided to test your character.” Kane replied with a shrug. “Well that, and the fact that queens are more likely to hide you from guards if you treat them right.” Kane added with a smirk. “Just how many queens have you slept with?” Silent asked curiously. “Lots kid, lots.” Kane replied with a smile as his eyes continued to scan the crowd until they settled upon the figure of Ethan Smith entering the arena. Even from his higher perspective the cat could tell that there was something a little off about Ethan. His face was a lot darker then he’d seen it last, with his mouth set into an almost angry scowl. “Looks like things will be starting soon.” Silent observed. “Yes it does, I’m interested to see how this goes.” Kane agreed. “As am I.” A mare’s voice said unexpectedly from behind them. Kane jumped half a foot in the air and turned with a knife at the ready, his fur had puffed out and his tail was darting back and forth. The cat found himself face to face with a smirking Luna. “I hope you weren’t planning to stab me Kane.” She said with a chuckle. “I don’t like it when people sneak up on me, so please don’t, it makes me feel stabby.” Kane told her through gritted teeth before he let out a sigh and his fur began to settle back into its normal position with the help of a few licks. “I’m sorry Kane, no offence was meant. I was just coming to check up on the only two of my guards who decided to show up to this little event.” Luna told him with a soothing smile. “It’s fine… old habits die hard.” Kane told her with another calming sigh as he sheathed his dagger. “I apologize; it was foalish of me.” Luna admitted. “So Princess, would you mind telling me why Ethan looks like he’s been through Tartarus? I mean, I haven’t known him long, and I’ve talked to him even less, but he looks troubled.” Kane asked Luna who sighed. “He’s been having trouble sleeping.” Luna replied enigmatically, ending the conversation as a loud blast of trumpets announced the arrival of Prince Blueblood. “What a prick.” Kane muttered to himself, he heard a chuckle and turned to see Luna covering a smirk with her hoof. “Unfortunately, I’m required to sit with my sister during this little show, so I must say goodbye.” She told them before vanishing. “Our Princess is weird.” Kane told Silent who nodded, for once he actually matched his name. His attention was fully concentrated on the two fighters. *** Princess Celestia sat watching the combatants as they traveled to their respective sides and began to prepare for the battle that they were about to partake in. Cadence and Shining Armor sat beside her in the royal viewing box, along with the other Elements and the two Ambassadors and Gilda, who was looking much better, especially with Dash snuggled up beside her. Celestia internally congratulated herself for that particular move of diplomatic strategy. A brown coated stallion wearing a suit was also present in the box, he was… a university professor and he kept wagging his eyebrows at Celestia, who pointedly ignored him while the rest of the box’s dwellers occasionally shot him mystified looks. Twilight was down on the arena floor acting as Ethan’s second, a position that Shining had also volunteered for but his sister had shot him down. The man’s face was dark and his eyes were filled with anger, he’d chosen to forego his shock sword and instead had opted to use the sword that Jonathan had given him by way of apology for their misunderstanding. The black pommel inset with a single ruby seemed familiar to Celestia, although she wasn’t exactly sure why… A blast of trumpets announced Blueblood’s arrival; the stallion sauntered into the arena grinning widely, an ornate blade inset with diamonds and opals flashed through the air next to his head and his blonde mane was done up in a ponytail. “How close do you guys think this will be?” Dash asked her friends. “Short, painfully short.” Sharp answered before anyone else could talk. “I don’t know about that. Blueblood, despite all his other failings, is a damn good fencer.” Shining put in grudgingly. “On the other hand, I’ve dueled Ethan, and even if I wasn’t exactly at my best at the time I can tell you that he knows what he’s doing.” He added. “Regardless of whoever wins there’s sure to be plenty of chaos to go around.” The brown professor said with a chuckle; Celestia shot him a glare, but he only grinned. A flash of light interrupted any arguments as Luna appeared in the box. “I hope I didn’t miss anything Sister.” Luna told Celestia, who shook her head. “Not at all Luna, I believe that we are about to st-” Celestia began before being interrupted by an enthusiastic mare’s voice. “HELLO CANTERLOT!” The magically amplified voice shouted seemingly all around them. “I’m Vinyl Scratch, and this is EPIC RAP BATTLES OF HISTORY!” Vinyl shouted. “Wait, what?” Vinyl’s voice asked in confusion as another voice whispered something. “So this is an actual fight?” A few more whispers. “Oh-” The voice began again before it switched to a more refined, if extremely irritated, sounding other mare’s voice. “My apologies, she’s rather thick at times.” The new voice said. “Octy!” The Vinyl one protested. “Anyways, I’m Octavia, and my co-announcer here is Vinyl Scratch. Today we will bear witness to the duel of Ethan Smith, The Lone Wanderer, and Prince Sunstone Blueblood. The rules are as follows; 1. This is not an ordinary duel, any strategy or talent may be used as long as it does not involve using magic for any purpose besides levitation of swords. 2. You may not at any time take control of your opponent’s sword with your magic. 3. As I said earlier this is not an ordinary duel, the fighting will continue until one of the combatants can no longer continue. That can be achieved in any manner ranging from immobilization of the opponent using pressure points to unconsciousness to even death.” Octavia said, sounding more and more disturbed as she read the list. “This is going to be awesome!” Vinyl exclaimed. “Tia, why are a DJ and a cello player our announcers?” Luna asked her sister in confusion. “They were the best I could find on short notice.” Celestia said apologetically. “Well I don’t mind, I just find it a bit odd.” Luna replied with a shrug. “Just go with it sister, the sooner this is over the sooner we can get back dealing with our real problems. Like the two countries that want to crush each other for sport and the fact that our young nephew has been kidnapped by the Nightmare.” Celestia whispered curtly. “Do we know that it was her?” Luna whispered back. “No, but who else could it be at this point?” Celestia replied. “Um… Aunties? The duel’s about to start.” Cadence said, interrupting the conversation. Celestia and Luna turned their gazes towards the arena floor, where the two combatants were circling each other. *** Ethan’s dark icy blue eyes gazed at the blonde unicorn with unsettling intensity. The bastard, or hand anda half, sword that he’d gotten from Jonathan was held loosely in his right hand, and his gaze kept switching between Blueblood’s gaudy blade and the stallion’s eyes. The blade’s odd red steel burned with inner fire that sent a thrill along Ethan’s arm. He was wearing the black undershirt and pants that he wore underneath his power armor. Somewhat because he wasn’t supposed to wear anything with actual armor for this, but mostly because he hadn’t told Rarity that he’d ruined her armor yet and didn’t feel up to dealing with her at the moment. The man sent his sword flowing towards Blueblood, but it was easily slapped aside by the stallion. “Hahahah, and here I was expecting a challenge.” Blueblood told Ethan while laughing patronizingly. “Instead, your dueling skills seem to be subpar while mine ar-” Ethan’s next swift strike interrupted Blueblood mid spiel, but the horizontal slash was parried just like the last. “Where’s that tongue that you were scolding me with earlier monkey? You were so very talkative before and now you’re just staring at me with a blank look.” Blueblood asked as he sent a slash flying towards the man’s neck; Ethan’s red blade shot up and deflected it but the counter looked rather… slow. “Talk to me monkey, it’s not fun when you’re not speaking!” Blueblood commanded as his blade flashed through an extremely quick pattern of swings that Ethan blocked all of, but his movements looked clunky. It was as if he’d had a ten pound weight strapped to each of his arms. The red blade of Ethan’s sword flashed out like a brand of fire and slashed towards Blueblood’s chest, but Blueblood jumped back away from the blade and his own blade took a slash of its own at Ethan’s arm. The blade slashed through the thin material easily, drawing blood from the man’s arm. “First blood is mine monkey!” Blueblood crowed. “Octy, what’s going on down there?” Vinyl’s voice said suddenly from the press box. “It appears that Prince Blueblood has claimed first blood.” Octavia explained. “Does that mean anything?” Vinyl asked. “More honor I suppose.” Blueblood pressed his advantage and his sword became a blur of light as it whirled around Ethan, who seemed to be blocking every swing or strike with little to no trouble, minus his newfound slowness. *** “I-I don’t get it, he should be creaming Blueballs if half of the stories that Twilight told us are true!” Dash exclaimed. “Indeed, he seems to be having much more difficulty then I first sus-” Sharp agreed, but then stopped. “-ah, I see his game.” The hippogriff said with a sudden stomp of his back hoof. “I think so as well. I’ve fought him, if he’s going to do what I think he’s going to do…” Shining said with a nod of agreement towards the hippogriff. “What’s he doing?” Rarity asked. She was not one for blood sports, but she did have an appreciation for fighting when necessary. “You’ll see.” Shining said enigmatically. “Heh, this should be good.” Nymira said, catching on to the general theme of Ethan’s fighting style. *** “Pathetic, simply pathetic.” Blueblood said as he backed Ethan into the wall of the arena. “Well this will hopefully be the end of your miserable existence.” The blonde stallion said with a wicked grin as his blade swept at Ethan’s neck. Only instead of his neck the sword skittered off of the solid stone walls of the arena; the man had sidestepped the swing at the last possible moment. A small smile was sliding onto Ethan’s face as he raised his blade hand up to his mouth and blew Blueblood a kiss. “I think you might have missed me Blueballs, why don’t you give it another try?” Ethan asked with a dark chuckle. All the slowness had vanished from his step and although his eyes were still hard and dark they now glittered with amusement. “Oh look, you’ve found your voice again. Well, until I behead you of course.” Blueblood said before his sword was sent in a sweeping flurry of blows that Ethan’s red blade deflected them with almost contemptible ease. “How are you doing with that whole beheading thing?” Ethan asked as he took a step closer. “Because from where I’m looking it doesn’t seem like you’re doing very well at all.” He added with a devilish smirk, tapping his un-slit neck mockingly. Blueblood let out a howl of rage and his blade whistled through the air as it attempted to skewer Ethan through the eyesocket. The red blade rose and knocked the Prince’s sword aside before the man sent it hissing towards the side of Blueblood’s neck. The stallion recovered quickly and hopped backwards in an attempt to dodge the swing. Unfortunately for him, the blade cleaved through the fur and flesh of the side of his neck before continuing through without pause, causing blood to well up from where the skin had just been violently removed. “Oh, I think that that might scar a bit.” Ethan said with mock concern in his voice. Blueblood took a staggering step away from the man as he cast a simple healing spell that he’d learned to stop blood loss on his neck. “Heh, you can heal. I’m honestly surprised you actually put out enough effort to learn how to do that.” Ethan said with a chuckle as the blood stopped flowing from Blueblood’s neck wound. “Of course, you even getting a chance to put out at all is a funny thought Blueballs.” He added. “SHUT UP!” Blueblood shouted as his sword darted towards Ethan’s chest; Ethan’s red blade shot out and met it half way before the man executed a quick wrist motion that sent the blade tumbling out of Blueblood’s magical grip. “And checkmate.” Ethan told the blonde stallion with a smirk. “I don’t need a sword to kill you.” Blueblood growled as a bolt of electricity shot from his horn at Ethan’s chest. The Prince had cheated! The man’s eyes widened, he was too close to dodge the bolt. He entered VATS and quickly ran through his options. He could take the bolt head on and hope that he’d survive, he could attempt to dodge it, or he could try and cut it in half with his sword. With a sigh Ethan positioned himself so that the blade was ready, and then time resumed. The red blade slashed downward and split the energy in two with a mighty hiss like that of some great serpent. The crowd gasped in shock. “Wh-what?” Blueblood asked in confusion. Lightning ran along the edges of the red blade, crackling ominously as Ethan looked at the sword with an equally perplexed expression. *** “That scaly son of a BITCH!” Celestia shouted inside of their magically soundproofed box. “What is it Tia?” Luna asked in confusion. The rest of the box’s occupants were eying her worriedly. Ambassador Sharp was raising an eyebrow and Ambassador Nymira was smirking slightly, it wasn’t often that things made Celestia react that violently to things. “Jonathan gave Ethan the sword of Nastallion!” Celestia seethed. “I thought the blade looked familiar! All this time I’ve been looking for it and the stupid drake’s been keeping it in his cave.” She added with an annoyed snarl. “Um, Princess? Yer hair is on fire.” Applejack said nervously. “It’s harmless.” She replied before turning back to Luna. “I’m going to be having very strong words with Jonathan once all this is over; I’ve been looking for that sword for several centuries and the fact that that drake has been keeping it in his cave for so long is infuriating.” “Sister dear, as interesting as that is I think we have a bigger issue.” Luna told Celestia with a nod towards the ongoing confrontation. “And what would that be?” Celestia asked. “The fact that Ethan is smiling like a madpony down there.” Luna replied. “Tia, this is bad. I think he means to kill our nephew, not that I’d be opposed to that, but I’m not sure whether your little ponies are ready to see that.” Luna added with a snort. “I’m sure that he’ll restrain himself.” Celestia said with a shrug. “Tia, he’s currently mentally unstable and comes from a place where the death sentence is delivered as casually as a fine is here.” Luna insisted. “Hmm…” Celestia mused. “I’ll intervene if things go too far; until then let’s watch and see how badly Ethan maims him.” She added with a slight smile. “I thought you cared for him.” Luna whispered. “I do, but he’s become a problem Luna. A problem on a scale large enough to plunge Equestria into a war that we want no part of and have almost managed to defuse.” Celestia whispered back. “I see. Well then, let’s watch and be ready to intervene if necessary.” Luna said before turning back to the arena. *** “Vinyl, you’re the unicorn here, do you know what just happened?” Octavia’s voice asked over the loud speakers. “Well Octy, I’d guess, and I’m not a magic expert, but it looks like his sword has been buffed with magic absorption, means he’ll probably deal more DOT and it might buff his mana.” Vinyl replied. Apparently Octavia was giving her a skeptical look. “What? I played a lot of games when I was younger.” *** Ethan’s eye had locked on Blueblood’s, and a wide smirk crossed his face. He didn’t know how his sword had done what it had, but he was sure as hell going to enjoy it. “I HAVE THE POWER OF THUNDER!” He shouted dramatically before he sent his sword swishing dramatically by Blueblood’s face, making the stallion jump back. “PRINCE BLUEBLOOD! YOU HAVE COMMITED THE CRIME OF TREASON!” Ethan continued with a forward swing that missed Blueblood by inches “FOR THIS CRIME I SENTENCE YOU TO-” Ethan stopped yelling and whispered “-being publicly embarrassed!” Ethan whispered before he brought the flat end of his blade crashing into the side of Blueblood’s head, sending him crashing to the ground. Blueblood let out a groan as he attempted to regain his hooves, but Ethan’s blade shot out and smashed into the his forelegs knocking them out from under him. “No, I think not. I think you’ll be staying down there.” Ethan told the Prince with a deceptively friendly tone. “Barbarian.” Blueblood muttered. “Well, I come from a place where three out of every five people die before they’re twenty five, so yeah. I guess I am a bit of a barbarian now that you mention it.” Ethan said lightheartedly. “In fact, I’m feeling a little barbarous right now.” He added with a smirk. His sword shot out and sliced through Blueblood’s glorious blonde mane. The mane fell to the sandy arena floor, and quickly began to float away on the breeze. “My mane!” Blueblood growled weakly. “So Blueblood. You care about your honor, right?” Ethan asked rhetorically. Blueblood growled in anger and frustration. “So I’ve been thinking about this duel. It’s supposed to be to the death, or at least until you’re unconscious right?” Ethan asked. “Yes.” Blueblood growled. “Well I’ll bet that It would be really humiliating for you to have to lie down there while I refuse to spill any more of your blood. You know, because I’m a better man then you. After all, mercy is the mark of a great man.” Ethan explained before his blade lashed out and stabbed Blueblood in a nonlethal part of his chest. “Guess I'm just a good man.” Ethan said with a shrug “Well, I'm alright.” he said before he stabbed Blueblood again in the same place and then slapped him across the face with the flat of the blade again. “Honestly, though you’re beneath my notice Prince, Stay out of my way and accept the rest of your sentence in silence or I’ll be back and I’ll kill you in a long painful fashion that’ll make what you did to me seem like a spa treatment.” The man added in a low voice. Then he wiped the blood off of his sword on Blueblood’s barely conscious neck and sheathed the sword before walking away from the Prince, who was now sprawled across the arena’s sandy floor. *** “And it looks like we have our victor folks! And without a single death, how unexpected!” Vinyl told the crowd. “Vinyl, remind me never to make that man angry with me.” Octavia told Vinyl quietly once they’d turned their microphones off. “Don’t worry Octy, I’ll keep you safe.” Vinyl told her with a chuckle. *** Twilight met Ethan by the gateway out of the arena with large eyes full of equal parts surprise and concern. Ethan let out a slight sigh. “Sparky, we’re leaving in two hours. Get a survivalist pack packed and ready to go. We’ve got a child to save.” Ethan told her strictly. There was no laughter in his voice, no room for questions. “I’ll get one ready to go.” Twilight said with a nod. “Good, I’ve let myself become distracted for too long now and I’m sure that that your nephew has been suffering for it.” He added with a scowl. “I’m surprised you didn’t kill him.” Twilight said, mentioning Blueblood as her horn began to glow. “He’s not worth my time.” Ethan replied. Then they vanished. *** “Prince Sunstone Blueblood. You are hereby found guilty of treason. For your crimes you shall have your stallionhood stripped from you, as well as all of your status, your estates, and your finances.” Princess Celestia calmly told Blueblood as he stood in front of a crowd of nobles where were watching with interest. “Furthermore, you are banished from Equestrian soil until the end of your life and beyond, so mote may it be.” Luna said with a small smile. The air shivered at her last words and Blueblood’s body was suddenly lifted into the air in twin rays of blue and gold light. Blueblood was obscured from view for several seconds before he was lowered back to the ground looking significantly less masculine. “You’ll be given an escort out of the country and if you’re seen again within our borders then you’ll be shot on sight.” Celestia continued, giving the newly made mare a stern look. “Bu-but Auntie!” The mare gasped. “You committed treason niece, the only reason that you’re still alive is the fact that you’re related to Celestia.” Luna told him harshly. “Guards, take her away.” She decreed. Blueblood was then unceremoniously hauled away screaming and crying by several guards.