//------------------------------// // Chapter III // Story: Fool's Gambit // by Knight Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter III Knight Breeze watched as Shadow Heart left, a sour taste lingering in his mouth. I can't dwell on that now, I have a job to do. He thought to himself as he offered a hoof to Blueblood. “I am so sorry Your Highness. I assure you that she will be sufficiently punished for her lack of respect and insubordination,” he said as he helped Blueblood to his feet. The arrogant prince massaged his chin, grimacing at the pain. “I will accept your apology on the condition that you allow me the honor of being there when they dishonorably discharge her from the service,” he said, raising his nose high into the air. “Assaulting a prince? Her job is to protect me from these kinds of things.” Her job is to protect the ponies of Equestria, you self important little... Knight thought to himself. What he said, however, was: “I'm sorry, but a court-martialing is a military affair, and unless you have express permission from the princesses to be there, you cannot attend,” he told him. He was, of course, lying through his teeth. However, he was banking on Blueblood's ignorance of military proceedings to hold the lie together. The lie seemed to work, based on the look on Blueblood's face. “Hmm... perhaps I won't attend then. I would never think to bog down auntie Celestia and auntie Luna with such petty details," he said dismissively. “Sir, we have everything we need. With any luck, he may not ever know that anypony was even in here,” Rather Dashing said in his ear. Knight Breeze smiled at that, then nodded to Blueblood. “Well, if that is all, then by your leave. I really must retire for the night. I feel positively beat,” he said as he turned to leave. If he were any other pony, he might have missed what Blueblood said next. However, Knight Breeze was of the night, and his sharp, bat-like ears managed to pick up Blueblood's mutterings just as he turned around. What he overheard caused his blood to run cold. “...no, I want her brought to me alive. I wish to break her myself...” Quickly, Knight Breeze left the garden, well aware that he was on a time table now. He had complete faith that Shadow could handle herself in a fair fight. He didn't trust Blueblood to fight fair, however. Luckily, neither do I He thought as he keyed his crystal radio. “Rather Dashing, we may have a problem. How many soldiers can you spare?” He asked quickly. He felt his heart sink when he heard the clear sounds of battle on the other end. “we've run into a slight problem on our end sir. Nothing too serious, just don't expect any help in the next several minutes or so. Blueblood's 'private security' spotted us going out the window,” Rather explained. This day just can't get much worse, now can it? Knight thought as he pulled off his ugly hat and pulled out his field kit. “Get out of there, lose them, then get to the ship. We need to ensure that they don't know that my name was associated with the job, or everything that we've worked for will be for naught,” he said as he quickly strapped the pack to his back “What about you, sir?” Rather asked. “Leave without me. Blueblood has decided to take his anger out on Shadow, and I can't let that happen,” he said. “Aye aye, sir. Same rendezvous as before?” “You know me too well, Sergent,” he said, grinning ear to ear. Breeze had no clue where Shadow had gotten off to, but he didn't let that little fact deter him. He wouldn't have another one on his conscience. * * * Shadow Heart leaned over the railing on the balcony, fuming into the cold autumn night. Luna had raised a beautiful full moon, but that hardly mattered to her at the time. She was too busy with her thoughts. She knew that she was in trouble. Not only had she disobeyed a superior officer, but she had also assaulted a prince of the realm! Sure, she had the law on her side, but she wasn't too sure that the justice system would see her through. Not if it put plotholes like Captain Breeze in command. Her ears flickered as she heard hoofsteps behind her. “You here to arrest me?” She asked, not even bothering to look. “Yes, in a manner of speaking,” she heard a rough, heavily accented voice behind her. She quickly ducked, just barely dodging the incoming sap by a hair's breadth. As she raised her head, she quickly found that she had been surrounded by six ponies and a griffin. They each had some form of bludgeoning weapon on hoof, but also appeared to have a blade as well. The armor they wore looked expensive, and definitely not guard regulations (if the spikes were any indication of that sort of thing). The griffin stepped forward, hefting the club in his grip. “You manage to piss off wrong pony, but don't worry. He forgive. Just come with us and you may only have teeth kicked in. If you don't, no promises,” he said, grinning like a loon. Shadow Heart glanced around her once more. They had a couple of unicorns, so she couldn't just throw up a shield. Plus, shields had never been her strong suit. So instead of that, she merely gave a smile, and faded from view. “What the...” “You didn't say she had a cutie mark in disappearing!” “Relax, boys. We've dealt with this before,” the griffin said, trying to calm his troops. “If she wants to attack, will need to drop invisibility. Close ranks, make sure she can't slip past.” Tartarus, they're actually competent. Shadow thought as she backed closer to the rail. She might be invisible, but that hardly mattered if you were surrounded. One glance over the balcony told her that jumping wasn't an option, seeing as how the nearest ground was at the base of the mountain. Also, she was trained in stealth and quick take-downs, so she held no illusions about how well she'd do in this fight. Sure, she could probably take five of them, easy. Problem was there were seven of them, each were well armed and armored. And sadly, she had left her armor and weapon back in her room. On top of all of that, the griffin looks to be ex-military. Yay me. “Come out and play... we won't bite...” the griffin said menacingly as he started to advance, brandishing the club in front of him. Well, it's now or never! Might as well see how many I can take before I die. She thought as she charged her horn. Her invisibility fell just as the red beam of energy burst from her horn, blasting the griffin in front of her. The griffin flew a good ten to fifteen feet before he slammed hard on the concrete floor, his head making a resounding crack as it connected with the ground. Now there were six, all of whom were swinging their clubs at her at the same time. She tried to dodge and weave, and actually managed to hold her own for a minute or two. I think I might actually be able to pull this off! She thought as she blasted two more of them away from her. However, the rock above her had other ideas, as the pegasus dropped it from above her. She only barely managed to spot it, allowing her to dodge out of the way before it struck. However, she wasn't quite quick enough to completely avoid it. You might not think that a three pound rock can do much damage, but there you would be wrong. A three pound rock can shatter bones if it has enough force behind it, and this one had fallen fifteen feet before it struck her right foreleg. Screaming in agony, she collapsed against the railing, cradling her crushed limb with her other foreleg. I've lost. She thought, as she looked up and the enraged earth pony in front of her. “Now, as we were saying, you're coming with us to see the boss. He wants you alive, but I don't think he'd mind if we roughed you up some beforehoof, though...” He said, grinning sadistically down at the hurt mare. His compatriots all nodded their assent, matching his grin with grins of their own. “I hope you don't mind that I interrupt this... lovely fiasco that you've got going on here,” a jovial voice echoed from behind Shadow's attackers. The thugs quickly turned to see a blue dust pony standing behind the unmoving griffin. At his side was a nasty looking rapier, and on his back was a brown rucksack with more pockets than a drug dealer's trench coat. “This doesn't concern you nightwalker. Just turn around, and walk away,” the lead ruffian said in a menacing tone of voice. “Ah! But that is where you are wrong,” Captain Breeze said as swaggered forward, making sure to stomp on the limp griffin's face as he passed. “You see, that right there is my subordinate. As you are probably new to the game, let me set out a few rules. Rule one: Nopony touches my subordinates.” He never raised his voice, and never stopped smiling. In fact, if his tone of voice was anything to go by, he had just informed the thugs that he was throwing a huge party in their honor. The voice promised fun. Fun and cake. Too bad it was a lie. Shadow Heart shook her head. She was sure she was hallucinating, because she was positive that Captain Breeze had just showed up, armed and apparently ready to fight. However, his approach was all wrong. She knew the proper way to enter combat, and that was to make sure you had every advantage. This explicitly included the element of surprise, yet Breeze had freely given up that advantage. What is he thinking? Does he intend to talk them to death? Shadow thought as she watched the Captain calmly face down the four thugs as they surrounded him. Two of which were unicorns, another was a pegasus, and the last happened to be the biggest earth pony that Shadow had ever seen. “Well, then you'll fetch a pretty penny, I'd wager. Military officers make great slaves. They're strong, healthy, and none too bright. They usually need some 'adjustment' though,” the earth pony said as he charged, swinging his club at the Captain. However, just at the last moment, Knight Breeze tripped over his own hooves, landing on his face, and narrowly dodging the strike. Quickly, he got to his feet, barely avoiding another club strike as he clumsily yanked his rapier from its sheath. “Rule two: Never admit to the slave trade in my presence,” Knight said, his tone still completely friendly. "You don't scare us with that toadsticker. Our armor is the best money can buy, and I'd love to see you try and pierce it," the pegasus said as she dived at the stumbling form of the captain. What happened next could only be described as miraculously hilarious. Knight Breeze would duck, trip, and roll around the other four like a drunken sailor; yet, seemingly by accident, he was never touched. There were plenty of close calls, but nothing connected. “Rule Three: Always be weary of a grinning opponent,” Knight Breeze said as he tripped under another clumsy club swing. Eventually, the four thugs threw away their clubs in favor of their swords. However, even the faster weapons had little to no effect on the elusive captain. "Just-just hold still and let me gut you!" one of them screamed in frustration. Shadow was baffled and confused. This couldn't be the same pony from before. Captain Breeze was a stuck-up, egotistical plothole, who cared only about himself. Yet here he was, defending her as if their previous argument had never happened. What was more astonishing was that he was holding his own, despite his apparent lack of skill. Then, realization struck her harder than the rock from earlier. It was a bluff. Everything the captain did was a bluff. His apparent clumsiness only served to throw his enemies off balance. His tone of voice had been carefully selected to make his enemies think him a fool. His arrogant demeanor and foolish attitude both served to mask his intelligence. Even his stance lied about the stallion underneath. Captain Knight Breeze had turned deceit into a martial art. And by the looks of things, he was a master at it. Suddenly, Knight jumped back a full five feet, surprising the four thugs. “Well, it's been fun, but I really must get Private Heart to a doctor. You kids enjoy yourselves, ok?” He said as he sheathed his sword. “You don't get it... What makes you think we'd let you leave?” The earth pony asked, gasping for breath. “Rule Four: Never let your opponent plant explosives on your person,” Knight said as he quickly dived for cover. The resulting explosion was enough to make Shadow Heart's teeth rattle. Shadow almost felt sorry for the poor fools, but the feeling quickly passed as pain lanced up her still broken limb. After the dust settled, Knight Breeze popped his head out from cover, barely sparing a glance at the smoking corpses he had made. He then quickly rushed over to the injured Private. “How hurt are you, Private? Can you stand?” He asked, concern clearly registering on his face and in his voice. She just stared at him for a second, then snapped out of it when he clapped his hooves in front of her face. “Come on, we don't have much time. We need to get out of here before we're spotted.” “M-my foreleg's completely shattered. I don't think I'll be able to walk anytime soon,” she stammered out. He shook his head at that. “I guess it can't be helped. Here, get on my back. We need to get you out of here.” With his help, she managed to climb onto his back, making sure to keep her foreleg steady. However, just as her belly touched his back, she slipped, causing another jolt of pain to shoot up her shattered limb. She tried to stay awake through the pain, but unconsciousness had other plans. * * * Warmth and downy softness surrounded Shadow Heart as she slowly became aware of her surroundings. She felt a dull pain in her right foreleg, however it wasn't nearly as excruciating as she thought it should be. She seemed to be in a bed of some sort, though how she got there was completely beyond her current understanding. Either that, or I'm dead, and this is heaven. She thought as her eyes slowly fluttered open. She found herself inside a richly appointed room, which seemed to follow a very distinct night theme. The room was rather warm, unsurprising considering that a fire was burning in the fireplace. From somewhere close by, somepony seemed to be humming a lullaby. Shadow groggily tried to focus on the tune. It seemed... familiar, somehow, despite the fact that she was sure she had never heard the tune before. “Where am I?” she asked the room around her. “You are in Canterlot Castle, the royal apartments to be precise,” Princess Luna answered. “You really need to be more careful out in the field, my little pony.”