//------------------------------// // The Martyr // Story: Phantom Guardspony // by Crimson Star //------------------------------// Chapter One The Martyr Is...Is that me? I’m...dead. Well, I suppose that makes sense...Wait, no it doesn’t! If I’m dead, then how am I still moving around?! Of course it does explain why this mare can’t see or hear me, and it also explains why I can’t touch her. But why don’t I remember dying?! What’s going on?! Why am I dead?! … Why am I dead? I think that’s the million bit question right now. I need to figure out why I died. I look over at the mare beside me, who has a frightened look on her face. The poor dear’s so scared right now, if I made any attempt to communicate with her, it’d probably only traumatize her more. Not that I’m not traumatized myself. I mean, I just discovered that I died. It looks pretty recent, too. My death, I mean. I had to have died within the last hour. My body hasn’t even started to decay, yet. And judging by my armor, I was probably a royal guard of high ranking. Only officers get to have custom colored armor. My armor is a slightly brighter shade of red than my coat. And looking at that horn, I was a unicorn. So, I am...was...a unicorn officer in the royal guard, and I was doing something really important, and then...I died. This all seems very suspicious to me. I’m doing something important, and then I die? I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I bend down to take a closer look at my corpse. Heh. Wow. I never thought anypony would ever have to do that. Or at least, I don’t think I ever thought that. This is actually getting kinda confusing, now that I think about it. I’m sure nopony has ever had to do an autopsy on their own body before. Much less without being able to touch it. “Oh, Celestia...M-Mr. Stallion...” I hear the mare mutter behind me, as she begins weeping. I feel bad for her. She just lost somepony she knew. I don’t know how well she knew me, being that there’s no way my last name is simply “Stallion.” I wanted to comfort her, to tell her that everything would be alright. And it aggravates me to no end, knowing that I can’t. I sigh, trying to gather my thoughts. I’m sorry for the pink mare, I really am, but I just can’t concentrate with the sounds of her weeping in the background. I need to move away. So, carefully, I make my way back to the clearing so as not to disturb her. I need time to focus. I take a few deep breaths as I sit in the clearing. I don’t need to breathe anymore, being that I’m apparently a...no, I’m not gonna say it. But still, the feeling of a breath sliding down into my lungs before exiting back out is a welcome one. A thought occurs to me. If I’m a unicorn, can I still use magic? I begin trying to concentrate on a spell, when suddenly, it hits me. I don’t know any spells. It seems that amnesia made me forget how to use magic. Even if I could, I’d have to relearn the spells that I’ve learned over the years. I know for a fact that I knew magic when I was...not in this situation. I have scattered fragments of memories, some of which I specifically remember trying to learn spells as a foal, trying to learn them as if my life depended on it. Well, who knows if I did learn them? If I tried to relearn them, I’m sure I wouldn’t be nearly as motivated. My life is already gone, no matter how much I don’t want to admit it. I’m dead. I’m dead and gone. Dammit. Dammit! Why did I have to die?! I swear, when I get my hooves on the ones responsible for this, oh, there’s gonna be Tartaros to pay! I’m gonna make sure they died the same way I did! Make them suffer like me! It’s strange, now that I think about it. My method of death. There weren’t any marks on my body. No blood, no bruises, no broken bones. Did I die from disease? No, I was fit as a fiddle. Heck, I made it all the way to the middle of this damned forest on my own, and I was even in the royal guard. There’s no way I died from disease. And I sure as hay didn’t die from old age. I was barely older than that mare back there when I died, from the looks of it. Which means I had to have been murdered. But how? I try to concentrate on remembering the specific moments directly before my untimely demise. I don’t remember the exact moment, but I remember being really scared. Which, for some reason, I found ironic at the time. Me being scared is ironic...why would I think that? Let’s store that thought for later. I was scared, because I was dying. What was I dying from? I was being...drained. Like, something was being ripped from me, and... And that’s all I care to remember. I don’t want to think about it anymore. I don’t care how important it is, the memory is still too painful. I don’t wanna talk about it. I don’t even wanna remember it. I sigh, lying down. I feel like something should be popping out of the ground soon to drag me down to Tartaros. The ferrypony Charon, probably. Heh, jokes on him. I don’t have any money for the ride over the river styx. So I guess I’m gonna be stuck here. At least until I find a couple bits. But I’m not taking any money until I figure out why I died, and what was so damn important that somepony had to kill me to prevent me from talking about it. That, and if ponies are in danger, then I’m morally obligated to save them, as a member of the royal guard. So long as I’m still in Equestria, I’m going to get my job done, so Celestia help me. The sound of rustling leaves catches my attention. It’s not coming from that Pink mare. I look over to see a stallion come out. He’s a big, burly guy, with a sickly blue coat, and black hair. This guy appears to be a unicorn, like I was. Immediately, I hate him. I think I know who he is, but my memory is as reliable as it’s been so far. Still, something about this guy is ringing a bell. And it’s a bad bell, to boot. I need to warn that mare. I dash off in her direction, clearing a line of bushes in one bound. Her sobs have quieted down, I notice. She’s just sniffing, and looking dejected at this point. I’m kinda glad somepony’s willing to remember me, but that’s not important right now. If that stallion spots her, she’s gonna be in serious trouble. I need to get her attention without actually scaring her. I look around, trying to find something that’ll do the job. I can’t find anything right off the bat, but I figure that if I can’t touch her physically, maybe I can get the wind to do it? I take a deep breath, and blow on her ear. No dice. She rubs her eye, still ignoring me. I give the area another once-over, and see a leaf. Grimacing, I pick it up in my teeth. Dear Celestia, I hope she’s not the skittish type. I bring the leaf over to her, and for a moment, she looks down at her knee, as if something caught her attention. I drop the leaf on her back, and she lets out a small gasp, looking behind herself. She sees the leaf, and looks over at the clearing. I follow her gaze. Good. The stallion hasn’t found her, yet. She quickly ducks down, and crawls away from my corpse. And just in time, too. It looks like the unicorn’s coming over. The pink pony safely hid behind a tree, watching him. The unicorn comes out through the bushes, and looks down at my body, a smile crossing his features. “Heh.” He mutters to himself. “It’s nothing personal, pal. You just got in our way.” He said. As much as I despise this guy, and as much as I want him to join me in the afterlife, he just gave me a valuable piece of intel. He wasn’t working alone, which meant I needed to keep him alive so that he could lead me back to his buddies. I saw him give a swift kick to my corpse, which set my ghostly blood boiling. A cold wind rushed in as soon as I got angry, and I heard him gasp. He looks around, and chuckles nervously. “Heheh, no such things as ghosts.” He tried to reassure himself. Wow. I suddenly get the wicked idea to constantly mess with this guy for the rest of his natural life. I saw the pink pony trying to move away from the scene as the unicorn leaned over my corpse, as if to inspect it. A few moments go by, before he chuckles. “I told the General there was nothing to worry about.” He declares confidently. “This guy’s dead, and our secrets die with him.” Before I can process this new intel, a twig snaps, causing the unicorn to jump. We both turn our attention to the mare from earlier glancing down at her hoof, a fearful look in her eyes. “Hey!” The stallion shouts, as he begins to make for the pink pony. I quickly come up with a plan to stop him, and as the mare begins running, so do I. I easily overtake the other stallion, and grab a branch as I run between the mare and the stallion. I let it loose as soon as it’s taut, and I am rewarded with a satisfying thwack coming from behind, followed by a scream of agony. Heh. That showed him. I run to catch up to the pink mare, only to see that she’s entered some sort of small valley. I really hope she knows where she’s going, because I sure don’t. We run around that labyrinth for what seems like hours, but I think now it was actually only a minute or two. Not quite sure. But we end up at, if you’ll forgive the expression, a dead end. I hear the poor mare gasping for breath, as she frantically tries to find another path. “Nonononono! This can’t be happening!” She panics, as she turned back the way she came, and gasps. I look over to see the stallion from before huffing angrily, and looking around for the mare. I chuckle, seeing a sharp stick jutting from his eye socket. He hasn’t seen her, yet, but if she stands out in the open in paralyzed fear like this for much longer, she’s gonna be spotted. I look around, and find a hiding place for her in the crevice of the nearby cliff. But there’s no vegetation here, only rocks and such. Will I be able to touch them? I grab a rock with my hoof, and the rock comes up with it. It feels heavy as all the souls in Tartaros, but I can still lift it! Hooray for little victories! I look over at the hiding spot, and put my rock up to my head as if I’m tossing shot-put. I bend my knees, and push myself up, tossing the rock over. The sound catches the mare’s attention, and she sees the hidden place. Not worrying about the thing that made that sound, she cautiously goes over to hide. I stay nearby, to watch over the mare. If anything, I think I bought her some more time. The stallion is thorough, though. I need to come up with a plan. I frantically look around, trying to come up with something I can use. There, above me. A small boulder the size of a pony’s head. It’s right above the hiding spot! I’d have to wait until the stallion got close, but if I can just find a way to get on the ledge of the canyon... No! It’s no good! As I look around, I realize I’d have to exit the canyon just to get on top of the ledge! By the time I get up there, the mare will be completely at the stallion’s mercy! I need to find another way! Oh, no! She’s been spotted! RUN! She starts to move, but I can see the unicorn’s magic pin her down as soon as she does! I don’t like where this is heading... “You little cunt!” He insults her, snarling. “I’m gonna make you pay for what you did to my eye!” He grins maliciously, as her eyes glass over with fear. “I’ll enjoy this greatly...” He says, moving around behind her. I can’t watch. *** As the sun begins to rise, I feel the tears well up in my eyes. I sat there for hours, looking at the poor abused mare before me. She’s so pretty, even in death. I know that sounds weird, but I don’t think anything could’ve ever made this mare less beautiful. Maybe it’s the trauma from what I just witnessed, but...Oh, Celestia...I couldn’t save her. I wonder if she’ll become a ghost like me. I reach over to stroke her mane, and am only mildly surprised to discover I can touch it. Not the body’s mane, but the ghost’s mane. Silently, I decide to help her up. She’s got no friends in this world. I can at least help her there. I pick her up, wrapping one of her arms around my neck for support. She seems completely unconscious, even as a ghost. I guess dying takes a lot out of you. Heh, that’s kinda funny...Hey, wait, what’s that? There’s something glowing on her chest. Odd. How come I don’t have anything like that? I reach a hoof out to touch it, seeing what it feels like. It feels kinda like some sort of energyHOLY HONEY! Is that a doorway? It looks like it can only fit one pony at a time...well, sorry, pink pony. But this door seems to be calling to me. It’s not like anypony can hurt you, anymore. Goodbye. *** I’m...back at the clearing? What is this? Wasn’t it morning a few seconds ago? What’s going on? “Heh.” I hear a voice near my corpse. “It’s nothing personal, pal. You just got in our way.” I rush over to see a similar scene to what happened earlier. The pink mare is hiding behind that tree, healthy as ever! And there’s the flankhole who dared hurt her! A cold wind rushed in as soon as I got angry, and I heard him gasp. He looks around, and chuckles nervously. “Heheh, no such things as ghosts.” He tried to reassure himself. Wait a minute... This is it! A second chance! I can even see myself watching him, paradoxically! I can save that mare! If I start out now, I have a chance of reaching that boulder in time to drop it on the bastard’s head! My past self here will be able to delay him! I start a gallop to the canyon! Nopony dies tonight!