//------------------------------// // Rage // Story: Antecedent // by Anonymous Pegasus //------------------------------// Raindrop sighed and stretched unhappily, grimacing a little bit and then placing down the next card in the sequence, finishing her game of Solitaire. That was at least twenty games she had beaten now; she had lost count after seven or so. Boring. There was nothing out here. Just an old, empty gravesite, and a high-strung, surly pegasus guard. Even now, Sentinel was working out. He was running in place, and then doing wing push-ups. And then he was doing an inverted front-hoof lift. He went through a series of training motions again, and again, and again. If it wasn’t for the utter contempt Sentinel showed towards her, Raindrop would have been certain that he was trying to impress her. “Will you stop that?” she asked with a sigh, as she began to re-lay the cards, peering at the royal guard and shaking her head. “I will not,” Sentinel stated in response, glaring at her for a long moment and then beginning to work out with increased fervour. “You’re making me tired just looking at you,” Raindrop said with a shake of her head. “Get a deck of cards or something!” Sentinel snorted at her, and then began to do vigorous wing push-ups, keeping his fore-hooves folded in front of him, glaring at her. Raindrop rolled her eyes and shook her head again, pursing her lips and returning to focusing on her card game. “I hate you,” Sentinel said after a few minutes of silence. The young pegasus lifted her gaze from her cards to give him a long, patronising stare, before stating calmly, “...Yeah, I kinda got that.” Sentinel scowled, returning to a resting state, and narrowing his eyes at her. A long silence stretched between them. “Aren’t you going to ask me why?” Sentinel blurted after a moment. Raindrop glanced at him coolly, flipping over another card. “Not when it’s obviously eating you up inside so much, no.” “You’re a changeling!” Sentinel accused with a scowl, his eyes narrowing. The young pegasus blinked at that, her ears splaying backwards. She gave voice to a stunned protest, “...I am not.” “Yes you are,” Sentinel spat, lifting a hoof to point at her accusingly. “I don’t know why Celestia wants to help a changeling find the Elements of Harmony, but I know what you are. I can sense it.” “I’m not a changling!” Raindrop protested, rising to her hooves, bristling with anger, her eyes narrowing. “I was raised from birth to find your kind. You think I can’t tell?!” Sentinel demanded, rising to his hooves as well, head lowering aggressively. “I’m not a changling!” Raindrop repeated, her tone hurt. “I can’t help what my grandmother was! It’s not my fault, and I’m not a changeling!” “You admit it!” Sentinel cried, triumphant. Raindrop recoiled slightly, shaking her head, her ears splaying backwards fully. “I-I’m not a changeling...I’m not...” Sentinel advanced on her, striking her chest with his hoof. “You’re a changeling. I can sense it. Stop. Lying.” The young cloud chaser pegasus recoiled from his hoof poking her chest, turning her head away, biting back the tears threatening to well up. “I’m not a changeling!” she cried defiantly, and lifted a hoof to strike the guard across the face. Sentinel wasn’t ready for the attack, and bore the full brunt of her blow across his unprotected brow and cheek. Her hoof hit with surprising force, stunning the royal guard with the sudden impact, sending him reeling sideways unsteadily, seeing stars. By the time he recovered, Raindrop was already a speck in the sky, quickly lost among the heat haze rising from the savannah. Raindrop ground her hooves into the rock beneath her, scowling deeply at the swaying grass in front of her. She was angry. She didn’t cry. That wasn’t her. Instead of crying, she got mad. Her teeth were gritted, and she was trying her very best to squeeze the boulder beneath her until it cracked and shattered. Of course, she wasn’t nearly strong enough for that. But it was satisfying to imagine that her anger could make her that strong. More accurately, she wanted to grind Sentinel’s face under her hooves. Squeeze his armour together and crush him inside it. Raindrop heard the heavy sound of something landing behind her, but she refused to turn around. If she caught sight of Sentinel again, she was going to hit him. She was going to hit him until the yelping stopped or he knocked her out. One or the other. “I know you’re a changeling,” Sentinel said quietly. “I was trained from birth. Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to make our entire generation of guards immune to your magics. And we can sense you. We are the first line of defense against your kind. And if I wasn’t told to help you by Celestia herself, then I would have you in the Canterlot dungeon already.” Raindrop scowled, remaining facing forwards, refusing to answer, or even acknowledge the guard. “Your kind injured my mother when she was a filly. And she died giving birth to me. My father abandoned me to the royal guard because of that. Your kind ruined whatever life I could have had. There will be no friendship between us. I will not be cordial with a demon and pretend like you’re some normal pony!” he exclaimed, his tone harsh. “I have one thing to tell you...” Raindrop murmured, her tone quiet, level. But there something in her tone that made Sentinel recoil a little bit. There was something in her tone that spoke of danger. The young cloud chaser pegasus turned around to face him, launching herself at him. She screamed at him as she beat him across the face with her hooves, slamming her hooves into his form again and again, punctuating each word with a fresh blow. “I! - Smack! - Am! - Smack! - Not! - Smack! - A! - Smack! - changling!” On the final word, Raindrop spun and kicked him hard with both of her hindhooves, smacking them into his chin and jaw as hard as he could, sending the guard reeling backwards. She rounded on him again, incensed, her chest heaving with her anger. Her eyes, normally a rather pretty light pink colour, seemed to glow with her anger, a shadow of green visible in their depths. Sentinel bore her fury calmly. He was dressed in his full armour, and it deadened most of her blows, though she still caused damage with her vehemence. He merely stood there, watching her, blood slowly dropping from his nose. “Defend yourself!” she screamed, raising a hoof to strike him again. The royal guard just smiled smugly at her, and then gave a patronising thoughtful expression, before turning his head and spitting out a glob of blood into the dirt at her hooves in a completely contemptuous way, shaking his head. “I will not.” Raindrop’s eyes narrowed, and she snarled, striking him across the cheek again as hard as she could, stumbling the royal guard, who just bore the blow, recovered his balance, and then stood tall again. “Defend yourself!” she screeched again. “I will not,” Sentinel stated, again with that smug smile. Raindrop scowled, braying at him, incensed. She was so angry. She wanted to just wipe that smug smirk right off his muzzle. But her hooves were already hurting from the blows against his armour. Instead, she turned away, staring out across the savannah, growling in her throat. Quietly, she stated; “I’m done.” Sentinel just smiled, tilting his head slightly to the side, spitting out another small amount of his blood. His tone was utterly subservient as he said, “Very well, ma’am. If that is your wish.” Raindrop grit her teeth, but didn’t say anything in response. She didn’t say a single word, waiting impatiently, standing stock-still. After several long moments, she heard Sentinel turn, and then take to the air. Moving back towards the rock. The young storm chaser stared out over the savannah, filled with rage. She wasn’t going to do anything with the royal guard. She was on her own. Celestia be damned. Sentinel be damned. She would find the elements herself.