Chapter 16
I plunged into the Flow, drawing forth the energy necessary. I could see the golden stalks of grass waving slowly. I watched the sword materialize itself from the cool night air around it. I could feel my hooves sink slightly into the wet ground as I spun to face it. The sword seemed to glow just as Luna did in the moonlight, the teal gemstone in the hilt sparkling like it never did in the sun. I could feel the sword brush over the grass, clipping off the occasional golden tip. I could see it arc beautifully through the air. It was beautiful. Not only because it was ornate, but because it worked. It was intent incarnate. I could feel it as a pony could feel a hoof or an ear. I saw it glide blissfully over the grass, and felt it fly out to the unseen threat. The blade whistled a sharp note as it flew to the velvet voice. I had no eyes for anything other than the sword. It flew up and shot away from me, like a spear. I blinked, watching my slow lids droop over my eyes. The world was black for what seemed like eternity.
I heard and felt the blade lodge itself in flesh, slicing through muscles. I could feel it as it slid through skin. The blade cut through ligaments and bone as through warm butter. I felt hot blood spurt over the cold blade. My eyes dragged open slowly. The blade exited the creature, flinging it’s blood everywhere. I heard the blade sing a deeper note as it flew from the body. My eyesopened just enough to see a font of crimson erupting from a swath of dark grey hair. I locked down my body, feeling a rush of shock. Antony was the first thing that came to mind. Could I have made a mistake? But Antony would have defended himself, I thought hurriedly. Surely he knew how to defend himself from a fellow bladesinger. The sword-induced perception of time began to wear off. The grass begin to look like it was waving through water instead of syrup. I could hear the thud of the head hitting the ground, and then the body followed soon after. I leaped over the long waving grass to the body. I landed lithely next to it. Luna was still holding her neck out to an Edwin that was not there.
“Luna.” I said.
“Ed? how did you get over there?” She asked confusedly. I started to realize that the creature was killed in a mere fraction of a second, far faster than normal perception. I watched it as if it were suspended in gelatin. This worried me. Not only was I such a deadly pony, but I was so quick to kill. I could have blindly murdered an innocent traveller. I could have killed an innocent pony. I looked down at the corpse. But I didn’t
“Edwin? What are you doing?” Luna asked. Her voice was wary. I stared down at the body. Blood leaked from the body, forming a sticky patch of dirt. I could feel the heat rising from the corpse in waves.
“Are you okay, Luna?” I asked, looking for the head. She had no idea what had happened right in front of her.
“Yes I am, Ed. What happened?” She asked, her tone going from wary to annoyed. I smiled somewhat perversely at the answer that formed in my mind.
“Something wonderful, most likely.” I said off-handedly. I spied the head. The pale mane wrapped around the black, black head. I could see the horn sticking out of the top. I stepped over the corpse to get to the head. My hooves made small indentations as the cold dirt gave way beneath me. The head was so close to my nose. I could smell the blood dripping from the neck. I magicked the head up to look at it. Cold, dead red eyes looked back at me. The eyes were still twitching. I shuddered as I imagined what it would feel like to be this head. It’s mouth lolled gently open and closed. Even though it was contorting itself in terrible emotions, I felt relieved. This was the Unicorn that tried to abduct Luna in the courtyard. I could see it’s now short hair wave in the gentle breeze. It rolled it’s eyes to stare at me. It speared me to the ground with it’s dead stare. The eyes may have been unseeing, but it was still horrifying to watch. It was hard to look away, but I finally managed to. I released my hold of magic on the head and it fell. I turned away from the body to an anxious Luna. She eyed me curiously.
“Ed?” She asked. I was still slightly crouched from looking at the head.
“Yes, Luna?” I replied. She eyed me with an air of suspicion. I was sure that the grass was too tall to see the body. I glanced back at it just to be sure. I found myself unable to look away. I did not want to worry Luna with the sickening truth about what happened. I barely could stand it myself. I would not want to expose Luna to this if she didn’t have to know. She seemed... Innocent, in my eyes.
“Ed, what is this?” Luna said. This question piqued my interest. I looked away from the body to see Luna staring at my sword. It was laying parallel to the ground above the waving grass. Luna craned her head to look at it from above.
“Ed... come look at this.” She said, enraptured. I walked over to her side. Her tail brushed against my shoulder as I pulled up alongside her. I admired Luna looking at it. She stared at it for a while, then looked back to me.
“It looks like me.” She said simply. She seemed confused to no end by this fact. I smiled at her as she tried to wrap her head around it. I also felt relieved that she was distracted from the body.
“Yes. It does.” I replied warmly. She did a double take back to the sword.
“Why is it here, Edwin?” She asked. I pawed the ground, trying to figure out how to explain it.
“I summoned it.” I said. Luna looked back at me, completely befuddled.
“But the only pony that I’ve ever seen summon swords is a-”
“Guard, yes. He was the one who taught me the skill.” I finished for her. She looked up at me.
“I feel flattered.” Luna said, rubbing her shoulder against mine. I looked at her like she was crazy.
“What?” I exclaimed. She didn’t take her eyes off of the sword.
“I’ve spoken with the guard. He’s told me about the basic mechanics of... Bladesinging, I think it was. He described much. From what I gleaned from him, the summoned implement gains the characteristics of what means the most to you. This means a lot to me, Ed.” Luna said. She leaned her head against mine and we both looked at the sword. It was glinting beautifully in the moonlight, the grass swaying under it.
“Why do you think it glows like that, Ed?” Luna asked, still leaning on me. The sword seemed to emanate more light than was actually there. The gemstone was almost blinding, reflecting the full moon. This was a puzzling conundrum.
“I have to think about that one. Do you still want to go see those ponies?” I asked her. Luna hummed an iffy note.
“Not sure. Besides, we have to go meet Celestia soon.” She said. I turned to her and almost poked my eye out on her horn. Luna was just the slightest bit shorter than I was.
“Ow. Why?” I asked, reaching a hoof up to my injured eye. Luna looked up and giggled at me.
“Oops. Sorry. We have to... well, ‘pass the torch’, if you will.” She said. I rubbed my eye, looking up at the moon. The full white orb was approaching the tree line.
“I guess so. How far out are we, anyways?” I asked.
“Thirty, forty minutes?. If we left now we would have the palace to ourselves for an hour. We could get some breakfast.” She teased. I looked at her, contemplating. I turned back to the direction of the campfire. I could barely glean the glow of the fire through the trees.
“I don’t know, Luna. Other ponies.” I reasoned unsteadily. Luna looked back up at me.
“Oh, Ed. I’d bet that they would have a whole bushel of peaches in the kitchen.” Luna said. I groaned as I turned to look at her. She was cheating and she knew it
“That’s not fair, Luna! You know how much I love peaches.” I whined. Luna smiled and spread her wings.
“Come on, Ed. Let’s go.” She said, stepping back from me. She flapped her wings, making my mane blow past my face. Her hooves lifted off of the ground as her powerful wings pulled her into the air. The long grasses danced under her as she flapped again. She ascended faster, climbing the cold night air on large blue wings. I was struck speechless by the beauty of it. She swept her wings again and shot off into the air. I watched her from the ground shoot through the sky, flying with incredible speed. She cast a shadow over the whole clearing as she swept in front of the moon. She swept through a smooth arc back to me, gliding through the chilly air. She flared her wings in front of me, bringing herself to a halt. She flung her wings forward to keep airborne. A single blue feather brushed my nose, filling it with the faint scent of oranges. I began to salivate as she turned her wings to face me.
“Come on, Ed. Peaches!” She said. All I could manage to do was stare at her dumbly. The fact slowly registered to my clouded mind that she was a goddess. I was merely a pony with a job to do. Who was I to claim her for my own? These sleepless thoughts had a point. Who was I to claim her? I had no idea. I had to find out. Luna was hovering right in front of me, her beautiful blue body glistening in the moonlight. Her teal eyes shone with the magic she exuded to keep the moon aloft in the sky. It grew harder for me to breathe.
“Who picked who, Luna?” I asked. She was about to shoot into the air again, but she turned back to look at me. She had a look of confusion in her glittering teal eyes.
“What?” She asked
“Who picked who? Did you pick me or did I pick you?” I asked. I had no idea why, but I needed an answer. She looked at me confusedly, trying to decipher my question. I could see when she understood. She looked at a hoof.
“I don’t know, Edwin. You met me on my timeline before I met you on yours. It is a tangled web we weave when we associate ourselves with the Doctor. He is a confusing pony, to say the least. Although, he leaves more good than ill whenever he interacts with us. It would be best to ask him, but in my opinion, It doesn’t really matter if we love each other, Ed.” She said. I looked up at her curiously glistening eyes. The magic emanating from her eyes made her lone tear shine. I realized that She was also thinking the same when I asked her. We did not choose ourselves. The Doctor chose us. He may not have done it with his full knowledge, but he did it. I thought about this as my hooves lifted from the ground. The magic that was lifting me into the air was not my own. I looked up to Luna. Her horn was glowing with a deep blue aura. I had no control over my body as she lifted me to her.
“I digress, Edwin. It was your choice to save me from the moon. You didn’t have to, and cast yourself out of the Doctor’s favor by doing so. I thank you for this. You truly are my white knight, Edwin. No matter what anyone says, you did save me.” She said. She looked over to me, I was still imprisoned in her magic. She released me and my own magic took hold to keep me aloft. I looked over to Luna.
“I’m sorry, Luna.” I said. She held her head aloft, looking at her moon. The lone tear was still in her eye, sparkling with the magic held in her body. She looked over to me, Hovering closer. I could feel her wingtips brush my side.
“Edwin.” She said. It was just the one word, yet it held such emotion. I could feel her passion burning with each syllable she uttered, her lips moving around each letter. I felt as if she would never say anything in that tone again. I felt proud that she chose to say my name in that tone. I loved her all the more for it. She kept her eyes trained on the moon.
“Edwin, stay with me. Never leave me, not ever. I don’t care what the Numbereds say. We will never be apart. Even if the Doctor and my sister and all of the dragons of Equestria were between you and I, I would brave all to see you.” She said, turning to me when she finished. Her sparkling eyes speared me. The breath caught in my throat. She craned her neck so her head was much closer to mine. Her wings brushed against my shoulder, tickling slightly. I gentlecoltly kept looking up at the moon. I could feel her warm breath on my cheek, slightly heavy from flapping her wings.
“Edwin.” She breathed in my ear. I shuddered. I tried my hardest not to look at her, feeling embarrassed for some reason. She panted lightly in my ear.
“Look at me, Edwin.” She breathed. I turned my head reluctantly. She was right in my face, her eyes half shut. She lunged at me, catching my mouth with her own. She kissed me softly, her lips moving in harmony against mine. Her scent of oranges was strong in my nose. She moaned softly in the back of her throat. I could barely handle it. Ponies were much more sensitive than people. It felt amazing. She pulled her neck away slightly, kissing me once more. I could feel her pull away. I opened my eyes to a purple cheeked Luna. She looked up at me with happy eyes.
“Ed...” She said. She nudged my nose with hers. It was so soft. I nuzzled her back and she giggled softly.
“Love you, Luna.” I mumbled. She smiled.
“I love you too, Ed.” She replied. I was about to say something else when an angry roar interrupted me. I spun around in the air to see a strange creature. Luna gasped behind me.
“A manticore...” She whispered in awe. I looked back to her, in confusion.
“Are they dangerous?” I asked. Her cheeks were still purple.
“Incredibly so. But they are also incredibly rare. Try not to kill it, Ed.” She worried. I looked back to the beast, trying to figure out if it was that necessary to kill it. The beast stared at me stupidly, huffing. It had the body of a lion, yet it had the wings of a dragon. If that was not enough to make it deadly, It had a large scorpion’s tail. I looked it straight in the eyes. It stared back at me defiantly, flapping it’s large wings. It roared at me again. I felt the electricity build in my body as I heard the roll of distant thunder. The creature leaped into the air and flapped it’s wings, soaring towards Luna and I. I looked back to Luna.
“Go to the Palace. I’ll try to catch up with you.” I said hurriedly. Luna’s eyes grew wide as she flapped her wings harder, pulling away from me. I turned away from her to see the manticore behind me. It was soaring up faster than I could avert it. I summoned the sword quickly to avoid being mauled. The bright claws of the beast struck the flat of the blade, making the sword screech a discordant note. The claws scraped off of the blade, eliciting a sickening squeal. The creature seemed to get even angrier at this. It pulled back it’s arm again to swing at me a second time. I raised a hoof, but it already was swinging it’s arm down again. I moved the sword up to block the deadly claws, already glistening with the blood of it’s last victim. The creature flung it’s hand on the edge of the blade. It passes straight through, the blade slicing the hand clean off. I felt the hot spurt of blood on my face as the hand left it’s arm. The creature roared even louder. It ducked it’s head to expose it’s tail. I got a look of the club-shaped bulb shooting towards my face. The creature was so fast that I barely had time to react. I felt a blow to the face and I fell out of the air. The magic of flight left my body, and the manticore hovered in the air. I crashed into the ground with a jarring thud. I could hear my foreleg snap underneath me before I could feel it. I screamed in pain. I saw a black hoof in front of my face through streaming tears of pain. I followed it up with my eyes to see a blurry smug expression set between crimson eyes.
“Well. I suppose I must have been interrupting, if that was the welcome I receive.” Said a smooth, velvet voice.