//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - How the hell did that work? // Story: The Silent Blade // by Rhodesm96 //------------------------------// Five hundred years ago Edward and I stood still in the Canterlot gardens, as we had done for almost as long as we could remember. The time we'd spent free seemed like nothing to us compared to how long we'd been imprisoned here. Hey, Altair? Ed said to me. It had taken him a little while to get used to the new name I'd taken, but he'd eventually just gone with it. I think he realised that compared to how long I'd used it, the time that I was Josh seemed like the blink of an eye. What is it, Edward? I responded. Did you hear that just now? I frowned. Or, rather, I would've frowned, if I hadn't been stuck with the same expression of acceptance on my face for five hundred years. Hear what? There was a sound like fizzing, then a crash. He explained. No, I- Suddenly, there was a loud shout. "Aaah, what the fuck are you!?" That sounded almost... familiar. I said. There was more shouting after that, though I couldn't make out the words. Yeah... Edward replied. We heard the clanging of metal on metal, then a scream of pain. Sounds like some pony's getting fucked up. I observed. "Get the princess!" I heard somepony say. Ooh, they're fucked now. Edward said. Sounds like someone's going to get thrown in the dungeon. We heard more shouting after that. Hey, isn't that Sunbutt? Ed said. I don't know, Ed. Unless she jumps out of these hedges, I won't really see her. Fair enough. "SHIIIIIT!" Language. I scolded the unseen offender. You've said worse yourself. Ed reminded me. We heard footsteps approaching us, then saw a blinding flash of light and all went quiet. "Whew, I'm glad that's over." I heard someone say. It took me a moment to recognise the voice as the royal bitch herself, Celestia. "What shall we do with it?" I heard another voice say. "I'll put them with the other two. They're right around the corner." Other two? I said to Ed. She couldn't mean... A moment later, Celestia herself walked into my field of view. She wasn't what captured my attention though, because floating beside her was a statue of a man in a white hood and a cape over one shoulder, who looked like he'd been sprinting away from something. To Edward and I, they were instantly recognisable. Dave?! We shouted in unison. Present. Came the reply. What are you doing here? I said. Oh, like I know. All I remember is you buying that Apple, then there was a flash of light and next thing I know I'm in a city of weird-ass anthro horses. He replied. That's really weird. I said. The same thing happened to Ed and I, except I got here five hundred years ago, and Ed two hundred and fifty after that. Celestia finished affixing Dave to the podium that the two of us were on, and stood back to admire her work. "Three white-hooded figures, now." She said to herself. "They certainly look alike, but what is their connection...?" We're all incredibly handsome badasses, duh. Ed said to her, knowing that she wouldn't hear him. I broke out laughing. Hang on guys, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. You've been here for hundreds of years! Dave said. Does that mean I'm going to be stuck here that long as well? Yep. Ed said. Probably. I added. Dave sighed mentally. Great. So, what happened to you guys? Pretty much the same thing. I said. Showed up, got on Sunbutt's bad side, ended up a fugitive, got caught, got stoned. Pretty much, but with pirates. Ed said. At least you got to be free for a bit. Dave said. So, what have you been doing for five hundred years? Mostly get shit on by birds. I responded. There was silence for a short time after that. ...I spy, with my- NO ED WE ARE NOT PLAYING THAT AGAIN! 1,001 years ago "AAAAAAHHHH!" I cried, falling. I flailed my arms madly, trying to catch onto something, anything, to stop my plummet. My attempts fell unfortunately short however, and I continued my inexorable drop toward the ground. I sighed, and closed my eyes, bracing myself for the inevitable. Suddenly, I landed on something soft. Curious as to why my body was still intact, I rolled over and saw that I'd managed to land in a haybale. ...Are you fucking kidding me? I thought. I looked back up to see how high I'd fallen from, and saw that it'd been a few hundred feet at least. Seriously? I fall that far and a fucking haybale saves me? I looked down to the Apple in my hands. ...Well, stranger things have happened today. I lay there in the hay for a while, just glad to have survived the fall. After a few minutes I noticed that I was moving. I poked my head out of the haybale I was in, and saw that it was in the back of a cart being pulled along by one of those ponies. I considered speaking to them, but decided against it. I thought it would still be better if I kept my head down for the time being. That in mind, I settled back into the hay for a while, content to see where it would take me. About an hour later, I decided that I'd gotten far enough away from the city. I poked my head out of the cart to see that my unwitting chauffeur was walking a dirt road that went along the side of the forest. I figured that a forest would be a good place to hide out when I heard a roar from just inside the treeline. Suddenly, the biggest fucking lion I had ever seen came barreling out of the trees and charging straight toward the pony pulling the cart. I leapt from the hay, just in time for the monster to plough straight into it. The pony screamed in terror, and the lion - which I now noticed had a scorpion tail and bat wings for some reason - turned its attention to them. It stalked toward them while the pony frantically tried to undo its harness and get away. I turned to run, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to leave the pony to their fate. Sighing in frustration at myself, I jumped onto the side of the cart, throwing my Apple into the hay for now, and from there onto the back of the beast, hidden blade extended. I landed on its shoulders and thrust my blade into its neck. However, this served only to piss it off. Damn, I must've missed the spine, or whatever it is I'm supposed to hit on this thing. It swung its tail at me, and I only narrowly managed to dodge it by rolling off of its back. The pony saw me, and used the distraction I had made to undo their harness and hide in their cart. "Are you crazy?" They shouted at me. "That's a manticore! It'll kill you!" I sighed. "Yeah, probably." I said, drawing my sword while keeping my eyes fixed on the manticore, which was now glaring at me. Why did I intervene in this mess? Suddenly, the manticore roared and charged me. I jumped to my left, evading its paws and slashing at its side with my sword. I left a large gouge, but to the manticore it was just a scratch. It spun around for another pass, roaring in fury. It leapt directly for me, and I only just managed to roll under it. Jumping to my feet, this left me in the unfortunate position of being directly behind its tail, which proceeded to swing at my head. I slashed at it with my sword, and managed to sever the end. The manticore howled in rage and pain, and swung wildly at me faster than I could react to. Its claws raked across my chest, leaving a deep cut. I screamed in pain. The cuts seemed to burn unnaturally. I knew I wouldn't last much longer if I stalled any more, so I elected to try and finish the fight then and there. I went on the offensive, running toward the beast and swinging at its face. Of course, it swatted the sword away and knocked me to the ground, pouncing on top of me. It went to bite me, and I only just managed to catch its jaws as they moved for my head, intending to take it off.It continued to strain against me, letting out a mighty roar right it my face. Its breath stank of rotten flesh. I cried out, and letting go of the bottom of its jaw I punched it in the nose, causing it snarled and move its head back a fraction. I seized the opportunity I was presented with and stabbed it in the forehead with my hidden blade. It seemed I had managed to hit somewhere vital at last, as the manticore slumped forward onto me, finally dead. I lay there panting, its corpse pinning me down, for a few seconds. The fight had taken more out of me than I realised. "Y-you... you killed it." The pony said, reminding me of their presence. "Yeah." I panted. "I guess I did." Shakily, they stood up and came over to me, heaving the monster's body off of my own. They looked me over, and winced upon seeing the cuts on my chest. They then looked at my face, however, and froze. "Woah." They said. "You're not a pony." I laughed slightly. "No, no I'm not." I said. "Listen, you got anything for these cuts? They're starting to sting a little." They nodded. "Yeah, that's probably the poison. Manticores are known for being venomous." They said, walking over to their cart. I got up to follow them. "So, I think I have some manticore antidote here somewhere. Also, those cuts are going to need stitches." "Great." I said. They came back over to me, holding a vial with some green liquid in it. "Here, let me just rub this in the wounds. Then I'll stitch you up and you'll be good to go." They said. "Thanks." I said. "The name's Altair, by the way." I added. "Eve." They finished rubbing the antidote in, and began stitching me up. We made idle talk until she finished. When she had, I got up and retrieved the Apple of Eden. Then, I said goodbye to her and went to leave. "Oh, you're going?" She said. I shrugged. "No point sticking around. I may have forgotten to mention this, but I'm sort of wanted by the guards." I said. She nodded. "Well, alright then, it'd probably be best if you did go." She said. "I'm grateful to you for saving me, but I don't want either of us to get arrested." "Much obliged. I don't know if we'll meet again someday, but until then, see ya." With those parting words, I turned and headed into the forest.