//------------------------------// // 10. Piece of the Past: Lunar Fatality // Story: Time Ticks on // by Golden Script //------------------------------// The next few minutes were filled with me panicking and pacing. I’d just hit the king hard enough to send him through several trees and he was now KO-ed on the ground. At the very least I knew he was still alive. How did I know? I felt his neck for a pulse. It was on the back of his neck, and the beat wasn’t a normal babump- babump- babump, it was more of a badity bump- baditidity bump. This worried me for a moment before I remembered that he was a different species. I didn’t know what his heart structure was. I began checking his body for broken bones and other injuries, and what I found was even more surprising than the abnormal heartbeat. There wasn’t a scratch on him! Not a splinter! What was interesting was when I rolled him over to check his back, which was devoid of any injury; I found a horse thing under him. This horse was not a normal one, seeing as it had a horn and wings, blue fur and an unusually shaped body. It wasn’t quite the size of a normal horse and the coat looked smoother than it should have. On a normal horse the muscles were defined, but on this one they weren’t quite as obvious. ‘Was that always there?’ I asked myself. I decided I might as well check it over, too. It’s not like I had anything better to do. “What?” I heard from behind me. It was Discord, apparently he was waking up. When I turned around I saw that he had small birds flying around his head, tweeting comically. “I’m so sorry; I swear I didn’t mean it!” Blurting this and other apologies out, I scrambled over to him and started groveling at his feet. After a second of this he pulled his feet back in disgust. “Stop that! I’m not angry or anything.” He explained. “In fact, I’m quite proud. You figured out you can manipulate things while time is stopped.” He said with obvious satisfaction in his voice. “Um… thanks? But I knocked you through a forest! Surely that can’t be used for practical use. I only touched your snout!” If a poke caused this, I’d hate to see a full punch. “There’s a reason for that. You see, when you poked me, I was charging my magic. The surprise from the poke caused me to release my magic in one big explosion. Much like a sneeze.” There was a moment for what he’d told me to sink in. “Oh.” I said in the dumbest way possible. “Did your magic do that too?” I asked, pointing at the horse that was below him when I arrived. “No… no it did not.” He said simply. “What is Luna doing here?” I heard him mumble to himself. “Then how’d it get there?” I asked. “And who’s Luna?” “This is Luna. She is one of the beings that tried to overthrow me. She and her sister are the ones that I challenged. How she got here, I have no clue.” He told me, serious as ever. “Ok, what now?” I looked at her. She was unconscious, and had I not pulled Discord off her a minute ago I would have believed she was simply asleep. “Well, we can leave and hope she doesn’t remember enough to know what’s happened, or we can tie her up.” He looked at me. “Seeing as leaving would be assuming that she actually forgot, or that she didn’t forget too much, I think we’ll go with tying her up.” He said as he pulled a rope out of nowhere and strung it around Luna and the tree she was resting against. When he was done he tied it in a big bow on the opposite side of the tree. “That should do it. Now for her magic.” He pulled out a small ring and placed it around her horn. It reached about halfway down the appendage, stopping when it became too wide. “Anything you need me to do?” I asked as he hogtied her wings and limbs. “Actually, that should be it. I do need to talk to you about something, though.” I got a bit worried when he said this, but, looking back, I’m not sure why. “What about?” I gulped. “Well, about your personality.” ‘Wat?’ “It’s too… normal.” He said, picking his words carefully. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I was a bit offended, but more confused. “Well, when I am in court or doing international relations I often become more flamboyant in nature. It shows my nations freedom; instead of having uptight aristocrats surrounding me, one could find me in the small villages, having fun with my subjects. I’ll crack jokes, I’ll play pranks—nothing too drastic, mind you— I’ll be more fun in general. If you’re not more of a character when I introduce you they might not believe that you’re my champion.” This surprised me, I knew he was a king for freedom, but I never thought that he would be like this! “Ok, so how should I act?” It was a simple question, but a simple question might not have a simple answer. “I’d say ‘just have fun’ but up until now none of my allies wore an outfit quite like this.” He motioned to my vest, coat and pants. “My only advice is to try and act like whoever wore this ensemble would.” “Ok, so a gentleman.” I said, more to myself than him, but he responded anyway. “Like I said before, more flamboyant. It’s basically a show!” He said joyously. “It’s all for appearance!” I smiled and nodded. Just then there was a moan from the tree. Luna raised her head, leaning back against the tree, and looked around. “Where am I?” She asked groggily. “You are in the Whitetail woods, my dear Luna!” Discord grinned, face to face with her. “You just happened to be around when I decided to drop by and say ‘hi’!” He floated through the air on his back, waving at her. Seeing the Draconequus snapped her out of any fatigue she might still have. “Discord! Release me at once!” “But we were just getting started. What kind of host would I be if I just left you outside in the rain?” He asked as he pulled an umbrella out from behind his back and opened it over his head as it started raining in a five foot circle around him. His umbrella opened the wrong way, as if it were blown out, and seemed to collect the water instead of keep him dry. When he snapped his fingers he was dry and the cloud was gone. “Discord, enough with your antics. Untie me now!” She was obviously angry. I decided to wait until she was either calmer or when Discord introduced me. “What’s the excitement in that? I just wanted you to meet someone, but if you’re not in a good mood, I can put you back to sleep.” His voice was indifferent, but he was surely implying that he would knock her out again. “Now, now, Discord, that’s no way to treat a lady. Where have your manners gone?” I asked as I walked around the tree, into her view. “Please excuse my acquaintance, Discord. He was recently flung through a forest.” I said with my proper English drawl thick in my voice. I took one of her hooves and lifted it to my face, leaning down to kiss its front. As I placed it down I looked into Luna’s eyes, seeing mostly wonder and surprise. “It’s fine, I know of Discord’s tricks. Who might you be?” Her voice was curious, but I knew that she was only collecting information for the impending fight. “My name is Michael Faraday.” Seeing as I was supposed to be in character, I just chose the first famous scientist that came to mind from the Victorian era. “You may call me Michael or Mike, whichever you prefer.” I bowed, my hand crossed over my chest and head facing the ground. “At least there’s one refined stallion here.” She deadpanned while looking at Discord. He had a top hat on his head and a monocle on his face. Internally I chuckled, but externally I didn’t react in the slightest. Luna was obviously unamused. “Pip-pip, cheerio, Gooday governor.” Discord said in a terrible accent. We both looked at him, she deadpanned once again while I had a small amount of disapproval on my face. “What?” He asked, back to his normal tone of voice. “Don’t do that again.” Said Luna. “Ever.” I finished for her. “Everyone’s a critic!” He said, waving us off with a paw as he walked away, pacing around the general area. We waited a moment to see if he did anything else, but he stayed in his little area, kicking a rock. “Back to you, miss, who are you?” Sure, I already knew who she was, but it would be ungentlemanly, which is what I’m supposed to be. “I am Luna, mistress of the moon and sister to Celestia, the mistress of the sun. We have the power to raise and lower our respective celestial bodies. Though, at the moment I am unable to access my magical reserves.” She looked up at her horn, the small ring obviously the cause of her magical deficiency. “Well, I do apologies, but I am unable to release you. Discord wishes you to remain with us for now, so that’s what I am required to enforce.” I told her with a remorseful smile. “Speak of the draconequus.” I said as he was walking towards us. “Michael! It is time for us to continue our training.” When I gave our captive a glance he scoffed. “Oh, don’t worry. There’s nothing in this forest that would harm her, even like this; and I’m not going to leave her here, that would be plain mean.” He said this as he beckoned me over. When I was close enough for Luna not to hear what we were talking about, he reverted back to his normal—or what was normal from my point of view—personality. “Tomorrow I will meet with Celestia and negotiate Luna’s release. I will also arrange the time and place for the battle. For now I need to show you how to use that.” He pointed beneath my jacket to the firearm hanging in its holster. I nodded, understanding his point. I’d never held a loaded gun before, and if he knew how to work one of these, he would be infinitely helpful once again. We walked out into the field, a few hundred feet out, and stopped, facing away from the forest. “Ok, here are four targets. I want you to shoot them.” He snapped his fingers, summoning four round wooden disks with bull’s-eyes painted on. I pulled out the Contender, pointing it at the first circle, putting the iron sights right on the center. I pulled the trigger back and closed my eyes, waiting for the loud bang that would follow. … I opened my eyes, looking at the gun and the target, wondering why there was no bang or recoil. “Well, any time now.” Discord told me. I looked at the gun, searching for the reason that it didn’t fire. Noticing I had the safety on, I flipped it off and a loud bang rung out almost immediately. “Shit!” I yelped as I dropped the gun on the ground, backing away a step. “Are you telling me you’ve never shot a gun before?” He asked. “I never said it, but yes. This is the first gun I’ve even held.” I picked the gun up once more. “Well, now what. It’s out of bullets, and I don’t exactly have any more.” “Right. Well, this should fix that.” He snapped his tallon. When nothing especially interesting happened I raised an eyebrow. “Check the gun.” He told me. When I did there was a fresh round in the chamber. I pointed the gun at the targets and pulled the trigger, still flinching when the shot rang out, but not dropping the gun from the recoil. I proceeded to check the gun once more. Again there was a fresh round waiting to be fired. “Isn’t this a little over powered?” I asked simply. “We are fighting for a kingdom, the princesses have similar powers, and I’m also planning on giving their champion a benefit or you a handicap. You do have a lethal weapon on you, and I don’t want to kill any of my subjects. The duel will be to the surrender.” He explained to me. “Makes sense.” I said as I held the gun out once more, firing at the target and watching as splinters flew from the furthest right edge. “Keep practicing, I need to go out for a few things. I should be back by tomorrow morning.” He told me as he flew off. “Bye!” I called, returning to the targets in front of me only once he was out of sight. I looked to the sky, noticing the sun about halfway through its decent towards the horizon. ‘gives me plenty of time to train.’ I thought as I aimed the gun. ----- A FEW HOURS LATER My hand was feeling a bit sore, but I was hitting the center dots from a good thirty-five feet away fairly reliably. I’d been firing the contender until the sun touched the horizon, finding several things to do with my watch and gun in amalgamation. I had the ability to move bullets, but when I resumed time they kept their momentum, unless I moved them backwards. I could fire my weapon in time stasis and the bullet would fly a foot before it stopped in the air. It seems that I have a bubble around me where objects will move for a limited amount of time before being affected. When I did notice the sun slipping below the horizon I put the safety on my gun and holstered the weapon. I turned back to the forest, looking for the area that had an unusual lack of trees, finding it nearly directly behind me. I picked up one of the targets, finding it was light enough to lift, while being thick enough for good firewood. Pausing time I moved all four of them behind Luna’s tree, out of her view. Before time was resumed I took a seat next to Luna, noticing that she happened to be looking the other direction. I clicked my watch and quickly shut it, pocketing the device, all without a sound. She seemed to be in the middle of something, her teeth grinding at the rope. She was almost out, too. “Are you busy?” That alone made her jump like I’d fired my gun right next to her ear. She whipped her head around to face me, noticing my neutral face. “Oh no! No I’m not busy at all!” She laughed nervously. “It’s ok; I know what you’re doing.” I stood up, taking my gun out of its holster. “You know what this does, right?” I asked the blue mare. “No, but I heard loud noises coming from the fields earlier. Were those that thing?” The fear in her face was evident, but she did a good job of hiding it. “This is a firearm. Its original purpose was to kill. We use it for many things: hunting, games, and, yes, killing.” The fear began to grow ever so slowly. “It works by the combustion of gunpowder. When I pull the trigger the hammer is pulled back. It reaches a certain point and the hammer is released, flinging it forward and into the primer of the bullet casing. The primer ignites, sparking the gunpowder. This causes massive expansion within the casing, forcing the actual bullet to shoot out the barrel at extremely high speeds.” I showed her the general motions of the trigger and hammer, pulling a bullet out when I was explaining that to her. The worry in her eyes grew by the second, peaking when I reloaded the weapon and didn’t holster it. “That’s very interesting, but why are you telling me this?” She asked. “Well, I just happened to spot what you were doing there.” I motioned to the fraying rope. “It just wouldn’t be right to catch that and not do anything about it. It would be extremely helpful if you wouldn’t move, but if you want to struggle I won’t stop you. It will just make my job all the harder.” She was positively terrified right about now, and it showed in her face. Her eyes were wide, ears folded back, mouth open and breaths coming and going much faster than they should have been. I raised my gun and aimed, making her close her eyes and tense her body, freezing in the process. There was a gunshot, followed by silence. The breeze was still, not daring to blow even the slightest wisp, less it cause a sound. I didn’t move a muscle, just waiting for something to break the stillness. Not even the animals of the forest wanted to interrupt. Fortunately I didn’t have to wait very long. There was a small snapping sound as the rope broke, falling to the ground with a small thud. I took that as my cue to put my weapon away. I put on the safety and holstered it, making sure that my coat covered it once again. This was right about the time that Luna opened her eyes to find herself unharmed. “You… didn’t kill me?” She asked. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. “What?!” I yelped, staring at her fairly disturbed. She seemed a bit embarrassed, but quickly elaborated. “You were talking as if you intended to use your… firearm on me.” Her eyes wandered to my chest, where the gun was under my coat. “Why would I do that? I just thought you were a little uncomfortable, tied to the tree like you were.” I said as I sat down next to her once more. “If you’re a good girl I might take your leg bindings off, too.” “Well, I thank you. At least I can lay on the ground now.” She said sarcastically. I took a moment to think about it, then thought ‘why the hell not?’ it’s not like she could run from me anyway. “Fine, but on one condition.” She looked at me, indicating she was listening. “Don’t touch your horn ring.” I said simply. “Really? I thought you’d say don’t run away.” She said as I started untying the knot. “If you ran I would catch you as soon as I noticed.” I finally got her free and untangled her from the rope. “There. Now, do I have your word that you won’t try and remove the ring, or will I have to tie you up again?” I asked. “I give you my word.” She said earnestly. I kept staring at her suspiciously. “I promise! I won’t try and move the magic limiter.” She said crossing her heart with a hoof in what was supposedly her way of showing the truth behind her words. “good.” I removed the rope completely as she stood up and stretched her legs, much like a cat, leaning back and extending her fore-hooves to their limit, followed by her rear-hooves. I began to think about what else her species and cats had in common. When she finally sat down, once more next to me, I reached over and touched right behind her ear. This elicited a reaction as if I’d poked her. “What are you doing?” She asked. “Just relax, I’m testing something.” I told her as I reached towards her once more. “Um…” She was obviously hesitant to allow me to touch her head. “Trust me; I’m not going to hurt you.” There was truth in those words, too. It wasn’t in my nature to harm anything without a really good reason. Not to mention Discord might not like it if he came back to a injured Luna. “Ok… just… nothing too weird.” She said as she sat back again. My hand moved up to her ear once more, feeling the fur on her head and briefly grazing against her mane. Both were unbelievably soft. I started scratching the spot right behind said ear and the reaction was instantaneous. She tensed at first, the new feeling probably quite different than anything she’d experienced before. Once the tension was released she promptly melted into my fingers, moaning slightly at the small ministrations. My scratching became more forceful. Her small moans became more apparent, becoming louder and more akin to a purr. “Oh, right there.” She said as I moved my hand just a little further down. “Oh! Oh, yes! Right there. Keep going.” She sighed as I kept my fingers going. “You like that?” I asked with a smirk on my face. “Mother, yes.” She gasped out. “good.” I said as I pulled my hand away abruptly. Her head followed my hand for a moment, before realizing its motion was destined away from her head and not towards it. She blinked once before looking at me with fear evident on her face. “You will never speak of this again.” She said, deadly serious. “As you wish, you’re lunar mistress-ship” I said jokingly. “Good…” She seemed a bit troubled, but when she spoke again the reason why was clear. “I never told you to stop.” “As you wish.” I reached over and continued scratching that sensitive spot right behind her ear.