The Legend of Lunar: The Pony Hunter

by BattleSwine

Chapter Six: In Which Lunar Goes Camping

"How much longer 'til we get to Ponyville, Sis?"

"Ah told you it's not gonna be 'til nearly sunset, now quit askin' me."

"But I'm tired and hungry and this horse smells bad and mah butt hurts from bouncin' around all day and-"

"Blum! Could ya shut up fer an apple-pickin' second? I think I hear somethin'..."

Blum clammed up instantly, the one condition of being taken on this trip being that she absolutely had to listen to her sister. Jack would have rather she not come along, but she'd been tag-teamed and eventually forced to give in. So now they were on their way to Ponyville to acquire supplies, and Blum was consistently reminding her sister why she hadn't wanted her to come along in the first place.

Jack could hear a horse nearby, ahead on the path, which was unexpected; they were supposed to be the only ones on the path until they got out of the forest. "Blum, stay close."

They moved ahead cautiously, coming into a clearing in the woods where a carriage sat, laden heavily and drawn by a black horse, but strangely driver-less. Jack dismounted and Blum did the same, Jack drawing her sword and Blum drawing the knife she'd been given. Jack walked a wide circle around the clearing first; there didn't seem to be anybody around. The carriage was totally abandoned.

Jack couldn't believe her luck. A quick glance into the bed of the carriage confirmed her hopes; it was laden heavily with carrots, cabbage, and her personal favorite, apples. She grinned, sheathing her sword and hopping into the carriage to inspect the cargo. "We hit the jackpot, here, Blum, gimme a hand with these."

No sooner had she dug a hand into one of the bushels when she heard a soft click and something mechanical tightened around her wrist. Animal instinct jerked her hand back, only to be stopped by a steel cuff digging into her wrist.

It took her a moment to realize it was a trap.

"BLUM! RUN!"

"Jack?" Even as her sister spoke, Jack stomped a boot into the side of the carriage to get more leverage.

"RUN, BLUM! IT'S A TRAP!" Jack jerked on the chain, once, twice, three times, and on the fourth time, she pulled it right from the floor. Nearly crying from relief, she hopped into the driver seat of the carriage. "Nevermind, get in!"

"Hyah! Get goin'!" She cried to the black horse.

It turned and looked at her, and she could've sworn it was smiling. A man's voice called to her from above.

"Hey! Be careful with that carriage, it's a rental!" Mid-sentence, there was a loud bang followed by a soft whistling, and just as Jack percieved these things, something wrapped tightly around her midsection, knocking the breath from her.

Blum, who'd followed orders for once, leapt to her sister's aid, accidentally poking her with her knife in her haste to cut the bonds. In a moment, she was free again.

A man jumped from the tree-tops, rolling to his feet.

"Well, you're a couple of fighters. I'm impressed." He was an average-looking human, but he was wearing different clothing than she was used to, completely shirtless with odd, black straps crossing his chest. He held a strange, brass device with many handles and levers. He ratcheted one of the handles back and forth, and a part of the machine spun wildly, clicking menacingly.

"Blum, get behind me."

The man smiled, watching as Blum hid behind her sister. Jack gritted her teeth. Over my dead body, she vowed.

The brass machine jerked in the man's hands, spitting a flailing bolas. The projectile was almost too fast for her to react.

Almost.

The bolas wrapped tightly around her arm, and she spun it backward to loosen it, tossing it to the dirt. "Yer gonna have to do better than that, cowboy."

He pulled another lever, the barrel of the weapon flared outward. "Oh, trust me, I can."

The third bang was far larger than the previous ones, and somewhere between eight and ten bolas were flying at her. At least four hit Jack, but she managed to protect Blum, which was the important thing. Jack fell to the ground, writhing in her bonds.

"RUN, BLUM! AH MEAN IT THIS TIME!"

This time, she obeyed.

Jack tried to get to her feet, but her left arm was tight around her head, her left tied painfully behind her back. Rolling to the side and getting her foot under her, she managed to get into a kneeling position and, from there, stood. She looked around, and Blum was nowhere to be seen. That's my girl.

"C'mon, ya monkey bastard, get it over with! Ah don't have time for this!" She strained against her bonds, tapping into the years of farm work and the years of hardship after, the strength that shook trees and could stop a full-speed carriage dead in it's tracks. One rope snapped, then two, and with one final heave, the rest exploded into hemp and weighted ends.

"Damn. That's impressive." With a blur of movement, the man changed cartridges in his machine. Then he folded it and clipped it back into the small of his back. Drawing his sword, he pointed at hers, sheathed at her side. "You know how to use that?"

She pulled it from it's sheathe, hefting it's unfamiliar weight. She didn't, at least not very well, but she was just buying time for Blum to get away. "Well enough."

"Sure you do. At least you'll fall with some steel in your hand, rather than being trapped like an animal. I understand that, at least."

"You don't understand anything."

"Maybe you're right." Apparently, at this, he decided the conversation was over, as he attacked her with more ferociousness than she'd ever seen. She was clearly stronger, but it did her no good when he had formidable strength and impossible speed. She held her own with some of her basic maneuvers, but, like a master swordsman, he quickly had a feel for her style, and disarmed her without a scratch on either of them.

"There. Now, will you come quietly?"

"Yer gonna have to kill me."

"I don't think that's going to be necessary."

He snaked under her guard and knocked her out with a single blow.

Comments

[Lonely Thorns]

(X) Oh my (g)oodness! You updated!!! :)