//------------------------------// // Secrets // Story: A Young Lady's Guide to the Demon Slaying Arts // by Protocol //------------------------------// Secrets The bright sun shone down upon a lone cabin in the woods, golden beams of light spilling through the glass paned windows. A woman was inside, cooking breakfast for a young adolescent girl, presumably her daughter. The father of the household stood on the other side of the wooden walls,, hauling buckets of water from a nearby stream. The son was also working manual labour, chopping bundles of firewood with an axe. "Mom, what's for dinner today?" the girl asked. "I was thinking some potato salad would be nice," the mother replied with a warm smile. Looking through the kitchen shelves, however, she found something was amiss among the ingredients. "Oh, dear, how silly of me. We have the potatoes ready, but we're missing some of the seasoning. Lizbeth, could you be a dear and run down to the town to pick up some spices? I have to stay here and prepare the rest of the meal." "Okay, mom!" the daughter beamed, dashing excitedly for the front door. The mother called out after her. "Lizbeth, remember to hurry back without staying in town for too long. You don't want to be caught alone in the woods after dark. It's dangerous, especially for a girl like you." Finishing her last warnings, she was about to go back. However, her daughter was behaving peculiarly, perfectly frozen in place with the door swung wide open. "What's the matter, dear?" "I… thought I saw something move in the trees," Lizbeth replied, as the leaves in all the trees nearby rustled once more. "It's just the wind, sweetie. Now, run along, and fetch me a bag of spices," the mother reassured. "… All right, mom." As Lizbeth walked down the path to town, the greenery almost managed to soothe her inexplicable nervousness. It eventually succeeded in taking her mind off her worries, the friendly forest creatures putting her thoughts at rest. The day's weather had been perfect. Sunny skies, not a cloud in the sky. The air was not too warm, and not too cold. There was a serene, peaceful aura surrounding the forest's tall trees and friendly animals. Only one more thing could make this day more amazing than it was. If only there was a light spring breeze to wash over the forest, then things would have been just perfect. I know that girl. I've seen her before… But where? Sadly, Twilight would never finish her train of thought as consciousness drifted back to her. "Uuuggghhh, my everything hurts…" was Twilight's initial reaction as she woke up in her bed. Her next, as she scrunched up her face in discontent, was, "What's that awful wailing noise?" Walking out of her room, the volume of the screaming got even louder, and Twilight could make out the words behind the screaming. "MMMMYYYYYYYYY BBBBBBAAAAAAAABBBBBBBYYYYYY!!!" Scarlet's voice shattered voice decibel world records from within the bathroom walls. "Scarlet? Shouldn't you be in the hospital?!" Twilight cried out to the girl yelling in her bathroom. With all the damage to her the young demon slayer had sustained the previous day, it should have been physically impossible for her to speak in more than a whisper, much less display this exuberant showcase of her vocal skills. Suddenly, the door whipped inwards with a slam, and Scarlet poked her head out the bathroom. "Forget me, look what happened to my poor baby!" She held out her scythe, which bore a noticeable crack along the side of its blade. Other than her depression, however, Scarlet was remarkably, without injury. "Wha- I- How are you fine? I saw you get thrashed around, clawed, and practically impaled by that monster! This is impossible, your injuries could never have healed that fast!" Twilight flustered. "My baby…" Scarlet wailed once more, ignoring all of Twilight's frustrations as she wept for her broken blade. There was a knock at the front door. "I'll get it," Twilight said, running down the stairs to open the door. "I'm glad Scarlet's all right, but I do wish she'd quiet down... Oh, Princess Celestia! Um… hi! What brings you here today?" she asked, opening the door to her mentor and two other people beside her. "Spike!" Twilight cried. "And… who's this?" The princess motioned to Spike and her mystery guest to enter the library. The man had a fairly tall build, short black hair, and displayed a set of muscles that were fairly well toned, but not overly buff. "Steel Smith here is a former soldier. He now works as a blacksmith for the militia," Celestia offered. "I also took Spike to fill in Luna, Discord and myself about your recent encounter with the deathgoyle while you and Scarlet were out of commission. I considered bringing Scarlet to a hospital, but I'm sure you've already noticed…" With that, a desperate but unscratched Scarlet dashed down the staircase at breakneck speeds, grabbing hold of Celestia by the shoulders. "Celestia, fantastic! You have to help me, my baby's hurt!" "I didn't know you had a baby, Scarlet," Spike scratched his head, turning to Twilight. "Say, where do babies come from, anyways?" "Uhh, Say, Spike, you must be tired after spending all night talking with the princesses and Discord! Why don't you go upstairs and take a nice, long nap?" Twilight flustered. "Actually, I only had to talk to them for about an hour or so. I slept pretty early last nigh, and- Whoa!" Spike was wrapped in Twilight's magic bubble, which lifted him up in the air, up the stairs, and threw him into his room before the door was slammed shut with another burst of magic from Twilight's hands. "Nice save," Celestia chuckled. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Scarlet?" "When I woke up this morning, I was about to clean my weapon as usual, but then I found a crack on it!" She relayed the devastating news to Celestia, thrusting the scythe into the princess' arms. Surprisingly enough, the princess didn't bat an eye in mourning for Scarlet's dilemma. "Well, this works out perfectly. Scarlet, meet Steel Smith. I'd originally brought him along to analyze your… unique scythe's technology, but I'm sure he can repair it for you, if need be." The black-haired man went over to the scythe, running a slender finger along the edge of the crack. "Is this…? It is! How in hell's bells did you manage to crack a blade made out of Stygian iron?!" Smith asked, although it was more a screech than a question. "Can you fix it?" Scarlet asked, not caring for the blacksmith's utter shock and disbelief. "Yes, but it'll take a few days. Stygian iron is difficult to work with, to say the least. I'll need at least three days to repair the damages to it." "Oh, thank you!" Scarlet shouted, pulling in Steel Smith in for a bone-shatteringly tight hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" "You're… errghh… welcome…" Smith managed to squeeze the few words out of his lungs as Scarlet squeezed out the oxygen from them. When she dropped him back down, be coughed a few times, taking in deep breaths, before dusting himself off and straightening out his clothes. "Quite a pair of arms you've got there, little miss," Smith remarked, rubbing his sore back whilst glancing at Scarlet's deceptively slender limbs. "How heavy is stygian iron, anyways?" "You're about to find out," Scarlet replied, folding up her weapon into its compact box form. Taking hold of it with two hands, she extended her arms to Steel Smith until he warily took hold of it. "Huh, surprisingly light," Smith commented, bewildered by the weight of the box. "Not at all what I was expecting. Usually, a metal this sturdy and ageless nears the weight of lead. Nothing's really what it seems with you, is it, miss Scarlet?" The blacksmith chuckled to himself for a moment, before something else dawned on him. "Hold on." He grabbed a hold of Scarlet's forearm, squeezing his hand slightly. Instead of getting a soft, flabby reaction like one would expect, Smith found his hand greeted by layers of developed muscle, something that was practically invisible through sight alone. "If your weapon is so light, then how are your arms so strong? You can't have built up those kinds of muscles from waving around a couple of pounds. Where do you get all that strength? Magic, perhaps?" Scarlet took a look at her arms, examining her own appendages as if they were alien to her. "You know, I've never really thought about it. Must be because I'm a vampire." "Wait, what?" Twilight blurted out. Smith also raised his brows in shock, while Celestia only perked her ears slightly. Scarlet looked right at Twilight, confused. "Wait… you mean I didn't tell you? How about you, Celestia?" The princess cracked a small smile. "I'd had my… suspicions, but I hadn't been certain until this moment." Slapping a hand to her forehead, Scarlet let out a loud sigh. "I knew I was forgetting something…" "Don't worry about it. Everyone lets… some things slip by their mind from time to time," Twilight consoled. "And on that note, could we… could you… perhaps show us what you look like as a vampire?" The girl's eyes were shining with anticipation, which mirrored itself in her wide, plastered grin. "Well, sure, why not?" she replied, unable to say no to the eager bookworm. Scarlet took a step back, and her features started to distort. Teeth sharpened into fangs, nails formed claws, and her ears grew pointed. However, the most striking changes were to Scarlet's brown eyes, now a piercing silver ring around dilated pupils. She ran a forked tongue over her new teeth, showing off their gleam in the lighting with a coy smile. "So, what do you think?" "Amazing!" Twilight remarked, as she teleported right next to Scarlet, startling her. The blacksmith and the princess seemed impressed as well, although neither of them as much as the studious little girl who was poking around at Scarlet's changed features. "Vampires usually live hidden, so this is the first time I've actually seen one! I haven't even read much about them before, except for archaic myths and fables that were probably made up by frightened villagers. The bone structure of these fangs and claws are the same kind as various different animals, all bundled up in one! And your eyes…" "Yes, your eyes…" Suddenly, Steel Smith joined the discussion. "Quite a striking shade of silver. Not unheard of, but extremely uncommon… " "Really?" Twilight asked. "Why's that?" "Well, I'd always thought that the silver-eyed witches of the vampire race were extinct." "How-" Celestia cut in, an almost unnoticeable hint of authority beneath her friendly tone. "Twilight, why don't you take Scarlet out and show her around town? I'm sure your friends are eager to see you again after your visit to Canterlot, and you should introduce Scarlet to them. She's been all alone since I found her, and it would put my heart at ease to know that she has others than us that accept her." Twilight didn't notice the near forceful voice her mentor used, but agreed anyways. "Of, of course!" she clapped her hands together, and grabbed a hold of Scarlet's arm. "Come on, I have so many people I want to introduce you to!" "Whoa!" Scarlet cried, barely managing to shrink away her vampire fangs, claws, and pupils before Twilight pulled her out the door. When he was sure that the girls were clear from the building, Steel Smith turned his eyes to Princess Celestia with a steeled gaze. "So, Princess Celestia, would you mind telling me who she is?" he asked flatly. "Oh, have I really not told you? It must have slipped my mind. That was Twilight Sparkle, my protégé. I'm sorry, I'd assumed you'd have already known about her," Celestia replied innocently. "I am well aware of who Twilight Sparkle is, ma'am. I meant the other girl. The one in the red hood." Celestia raised a wary brow, while Steel Smith's expression remained as pressing as ever. Smith and Celestia locked gazes, neither refusing to back down from the seemingly harmless question. It could have been seconds. It could have been hours. Finally, Celestia averted her eyes, losing the staring contest of intimidation and willpower. "Her identity is … unknown. I discovered her near the forests about a year back, as a lost little amnesiac lamb. I determined her to be an ally of Equestria, and she has served me since," said Celestia. She chose her words slowly and carefully, not to carelessly throw words around. If one didn't know better, one would believe that the monarch of Equestria was… worried about a simple conversation with her blacksmith. "Then how do you explain this?" Smith asked, taking out the box of red metal from his backpack. "What of it?" Celestia asked impatiently. Smith pointed to the black blade of the weapon. "This is made of stygian iron. Not an imitation, I can assure you. I've seen all the fakes people have made over the years, and none of the metals were like this scythe's blade. It's stronger than almost any other metal or stone in Harmonia, and it doesn't have a speck of rust on it, even after continuous use. It's priceless. Stygian iron isn't just rare, princess, as I'm sure you know. It can only be found in the banks of the River Styx, inside the gates of Tartarus. Also, its design is one that I've never seen before, in any of the militia or the blacksmithing records of the entire continent. Yet, here we have an adolescent girl, waving it around like no big deal. How did she come upon such a weapon?" Princess Celestia's voice remained steady. "She had it on her when I discovered her. She came from the gates of Tartarus herself, when the magic of the gate mixed with Discord's chaos and pulled her into Equestria. I imagine she was formerly inside Tartarus, where she obtained her unique weapon." "Yes, but how would anyone survive a journey inside Tartarus? It's filled with lethal creatures, out for blood at every waking hour, and then some," Smith objected. To this, the princess only gave a knowing smile. "Trust me. If anyone could do it, it's that girl." "Which brings us back to where we began. Who is that girl?" Smith asked once more. "I've told you, Mister Smith. We don't know. She was sucked to Equestria via an accidental mix between magic and chaos. She could be from somewhere outside all of Harmonia, for all we know," Celestia denied again. Steel Smith was losing his patience. "Princess Celestia, you're the ruler of the whole of Equestria. You have millennia of accumulated knowledge, wisdom, and experience in matters such as these. With all due respect, ma'am, it doesn't suit you to play the role of the fool." He'd struck a nerve with that sentence. "You speak out of line, Smith. I suggest you stop babbling and drop the issue." The princess' lips were pursed in a thin line of annoyance. Smith threw caution to the wind, deciding to press this issue as far as he possibly could to get some answers. "I believe you do know who she is. A silver eyed vampire, wielding an unorthodox scythe as her weapon. When was the last time we had a silver eyed witch among our ranks?" Celestia's eyes narrowed, and she glared daggers at Smith. Yet, he pretended not to notice, refusing to stop his full-on rant. "I've seen the records, Princess Celestia. Although you deny it, the Equestrian militia sure seem to have kept some interesting looking reports about such a woman. She was quite famous, after all. So, if my theory is correct, then Scarlet is indeed, from our world. However, she's from a different-" "Enough." The one word slice through the air like a knife. Princess Celestia unfurled her wings, and rose to her full height. Her body growing taller than even that of Smith's, the blacksmith found himself being looked down upon by his intimidating ruler. While the rest of her facial features retained the impenetrable poker face Celestia was known for, her eyes were overflowing with hostility and threat. "That is information restricted to myself only. I have dealt with erasing memories in the past, Smith, and I am fully prepared to do it again, if it is for the sake of protecting Equestria. I suggest you choose your next words carefully." Taking the princess' advice to heart, Steel Smith took a gulp and spoke once more. "Princess, although I may be retired, I remain a soldier at heart. I aim to serve you and your sister, Princess Luna. But before all that, I aim to serve and protect the citizens of Equestria. So please, before I go mad from all this mystery, tell me. Am I correct in assuming that this 'Scarlet' is actually-" "Would you be satisfied if I told you, 'yes'?" Celestia cut him off, not wanting to hear the final words of hidden truth. Steel Smith had a moment of hesitation before he spoke again. "… So it's true. It's her." "Mister Smith, I believe it would be in Equestria's best intentions to have your memory erased from-" "-But if it really is her, then perhaps you are the one treading on thin ice, princess. You know what she's done." Even in the face of an angry princess who threatened to erase his memories, Smith pushed onwards. Celestia considered his proposal, and dropped her act of intimidation. She shrank back down to a normal person's height, and her white wings disappeared with a shimmer of magic light. Turning away, she gave a soft sigh. "Scarlet's identity is of no concern to you at the moment, Mister Smith." She gave a light, joyless laugh. "Who's treading thin ice? Mister Smith, you're asking the wrong questions." "Then what should I be asking?" Smith asked. "…Who isn't?"