//------------------------------// // Act II; Scene III: Departure // Story: The Beat to My Heart (The Fall of Queen Celestia Book 1) // by Sylpheed Dashstep //------------------------------// I had thought at first that we would have been executed on the spot, but I was surprised as they settled for taking the three of prisoners and marching us towards Canterlot. Perhaps Celestia had a grudge against me for killing hundreds upon hundreds of guards, may be she just wanted a personal audience with me to talk about why exactly I'd done what I did, either way, I never got the chance to find out. We exited the city and we're herded into a carriage where we were each hand cuffed to the railing along the walls. It was comfortable enough but I didn't sit still long enough to judge the conditions. The minute the cart began its journey and I was sure that the noise wouldn't attract the attention of the driver I began to pull at the cuffs, giving a little sound of joy as the railing started to come off the wall. After a few more minutes the railing came free and I found myself with a makeshift crowbar. I moved over to the door of the carriage and looked at Exavier and Deviree before saying, "You two stay here," and opened the door, leaning out and trying to get up on top of the carriage. "Was that a joke," I heard Exavier ask Deviree, the rest of what they said becoming lost as I hoisted myself up behind the driver. "HEY, ASSWIPE," I yelled at the stallion, gaining his attention and making him turn his head. He tried to grab his weapon but ultimately failed as I swung the bar, colliding with his snout and forcing him over the side of the seat, his grip on the reins the only thing keeping him with the carriage. "Damnit," I muttered, noticing that he wasn't going to let them go and was even trying to make his way back into the carriage. I did the only thing I could to keep him away, throwing the bar at him and giving a small smile as it connected with his head, colliding with a satisfying thwacking sound. He let go and rolled away into the dust cloud behind the carriage. I leaned my head over the edge, poking it into the interior and saying, "Hey guys, I got rid of the guard." "Nice job," Exavier said, "now pass me the keys." My eyes went wide and I said, "Yeah, uhh, about that." "You forgot the keys," Deviree exclaimed. Before I could reply somepony gripped the side of my head, lifting it up and slamming it into the roof of the carriage. Pain flashed through my snout and I felt blood dripping from my nose. Before I could react something was wrapped around my throat, blocking off my airway and preventing air from entering and exiting as it tightened. "Next time you throw somepony off a carriage, make sure they're gone" my attacker whispered into my ear. I slowly lost consciousness and before I fell into the darkness of unconsciousness one thought crossed my mind, The guards driving the cart didn't stop Alex, you'd better not loose to this dick of a guard. The voice seemed everywhere and nowhere at once and I felt the fabric around my neck loosen a bit as the guard looked around in surprise. I drew in a deep breath, ignoring my pounding headache and oxygen deprived muscles, I used the lower half of my body to throw the guard over my head, tossing him off my back and over the side of the carriage, defiantly out of reach of being able to get back on. I drew in a bunch of deep breaths and was dimly aware of the carriage slowing down as the guards somehow became aware that their comrade was actually gone this time. "ALEX, ALEX WHAT HAPPENED," Deviree was yelling but I hardly took notice of it as I wiped the blood trailing from my nose and stood up, taking note that my weapon had fallen off the roof. Apparently the harnesses on the front were designed so they could be taken off quickly because within only thirty seconds the two guards had stopped the carriage and were standing on the two sides of the carriage with their weapons drawn. I looked between the two of them and stopped for a second before I made a choice. I would go down fighting. I leapt at one of the guards, who apparently wasn't expecting it, allowing me to easily disarm him. My hoof connected with the side of his face and the sword was thrown from his mouth, landing in the dirt a few feet away. I quickly backed up and picked it up, going into an offensive stance as the second guard came around the corner of the carriage. I knew that I was going to have a hard time fighting these two by myself and simply waited for one of them to attack. YEAH! COME ON ALEX KICK THEIR SORRY ASSES. The shout took them by surprise and they both looked around in fear. I took advantage of the distraction and attacked, aiming for the one with the sword first. He managed to dodge most of my attack, the sword I was using leaving a scar across his left cheek that began to drip a small amount of blood. Not wanting to give them a chance to attack I contributed running for a few more feet, doing a 180 when I was sure I was out of range of an attack from them. They were both facing me now and had sneers on their faces. I felt a lump of fear forming in my stomach as they looked at each other and nodded, almost as if- "TAKE THIS YOU CRAZY BASTARDS!" The shout came from inside the carriage and the attention of the one closest to the carriage was drawn to it. A second later one of the railings flew out, the first guard managing to dodge it, having seen it thrown. The second one, the one with the sword luckily, wasn't as gifted and was knocked unconscious by the whirling pipe. The sword he held fell to the ground and the remaining guard scrambled after it, reaching it a millisecond after I had buried my sword through his eye. The sword passed cleanly through the right socket, passing through his brain and stopping at the back of his skull. The stallion went slack almost instantly, his eyes growing dull and his muscles looking their tension. I moved to the other guard after pulling the sword out of the first one and made a clean stab into his heart, stopping it instantly. I dropped the sword as Exavier and Deviree came from the carriage and I looked to Canterlot, now only a mile or two away. "So what now," Exavier asked. I turned back to them and said, "You two go live a life. I've got a mission I have to complete." "It's suicide you know," Deviree said, a pleading tone in her voice. "Well maybe so, but somepony has to at least try," I replied, looking back up towards Canterlot. "WELL LET IT BE SOMEPONY ELSE," Exavier shouted. "We could just flee the country, the three of us together. We could go to the Whitetail Woods and find a village, or maybe the Griffin Kingdom, just don't leave us." "I'm going into that castle," I said, "and I'm killing Celestia, no matter what it takes." "Damn you Alex, why are you so intent on this," Deviree asked. "I made a promise," I said. "When my friend was killed in there I made a promise to end her reign, no matter what it took." And with that I started walking towards Canterlot, stopping only once as Exavier said one last thing; "Alex, if you live this, meet us at the edge of the Griffin Kingdom in three months. Three months from this date exactly, okay?" I thought about answering but kept my mouth shut and continued onwards, not even knowing if I could agree to meet them, no matter if I lived or not. Alex, I'm sorry for all of this, if I hadn't started writing about you then none of this would ha- "No, just stop there," I replied. "Don't apologize." But your life is shit and it's my fault. "You've got a lot to learn, you know that right," I said. "If you hadn't started writing about me then where would I be?" I don't know, living a normal life. "No, I wouldn't even be alive in the first place. You created me in the first place and without you I would never have had a life in the first place. No matter how much shit gets thrown at me, living a life is better than never existing," I said as I continued wandering across the desert. ...Damn dude, I don't think I could continue on like you do, I probably would have broken down a while ago. I gave a little laugh and continued my way to my final leg of the journey I had taken.