The Journalist

by redspark

The Journalist

Chapter 15
The Journalist

Nimble´s legs were tired by the time she reached the private house of Shadow. It was easy to spot, which Nimble had not believed after hearing it from the unicorn. Apparently she had been right about the house being easy to spot. It did emanated an aura of darkness around it. The thought of that made her shiver as she looked around for any guards or anypony that could see her. After several seconds, she advanced through the rooftops towards it, looking at it from a building on the other side of the street. She saw no movement inside.

There was a window opened, but to get in she needed to go the ground before climb the other building again. She didn´t wanted to get spotted and doing that was the perfect way to ruin her plan. After some time she decided not to do that. Still, she needed to find a way to enter. That´s when a crazy idea formed in her mind.

No way! She would never do that, not while she was a sane pony. The window was too far away, and it would probably hurt a lot. Still, there was no other way. She could land slowly, even if she landed the wrong way. She was good at making no sound when falling. She tried to not dwell to much in the thought that she would probably not make it all the way as she walked back to get enough speed. She then ran and jumped.

The whole jump was but a second, yet to Nimble it was like minutes. She felt her coat being touched by the wind as she jumped, probably to a certain fall to the street below. Still, she saw the window get closer and in the blink of an eye she was landing inside soundlessly. She would have shouted happily in relief if her situation was not the same. She looked around the dark room.

There were two doors, on leading to different sides of the building. She needed to try one. After some time deciding she decided to go through the right one. She walked slowly and opened it. It led into a large hallway, also dark, with many doors around. She got into the hallway and walked looking around. A feeling of alertness made her keep her ears fully up and her reflexes prepared for anything. Still, nothing happened.

She walked slowly… The shadows around her made her shiver even more than what she was already. After several feet of walking, she stopped. How was she supposed to find the place where they had trapped her friends?

She had an idea, her only way of finding out, which was very risky: capture a shadow pony.

Even she knew that was pretty difficult, but after fighting against a Pegasus and another pony she had a little more confidence upon herself. She scanned around, trying to see more but she didn´t had Hightip´s darkness spell, which meant she could no longer see in the shadows of that building. After some seconds of indecision, she walked to one of the doors and peeked inside. Nothing. She began to peer inside the doors, trying to find somepony that she could question.

After more doors, she began to get nervous. She needed to actually attack a pony and capture him. That was something she really didn´t thought about before. She never really attacked anypony, if not for her own self-defense. Really, maybe her decision of living always with the ponyhood wasn´t such a great idea after all…

She looked inside another door and finally she saw a pony, or four, actually. They all wore dark cloaks and where guarding something. It was some sort of box. They weren´t looking at the door she was looking in, so she relaxed a little, trying to see which kind of pony those were. She saw a horn in one of them. A unicorn, great.

The other didn´t showed anything, but that didn´t meant they were not unicorns Pegasus. She slowly walked inside, trying not to make a sound, which was easy for her. The ponies inside made no notion of her being with them. Nimble walked slowly towards one corner of the room, trying to see well her surroundings.

The room was pretty small, which if there was a Pegasus he wouldn´t be able to use his or her wings, which gave Nimble an advantage. There was nothing in the room except some cardboard boxes and some two long tables, which stood one facing the other in the sides if the room. That, including the box in the center guarded by the four ponies. There was a small window which looked to the street, but it was too small for a pony to fit in. On the other side if the room there was another door, which was the one the four ponies where facing. Why the weren´t facing the door in which she had come in?

She looked at the unicorn. He was going to be a problem, but if she used the tables for cover she might have a chance if he used magic against her. An earth pony was going to be difficult due to its strength, that she was sure. She prepared to attack.

She waited dome seconds as she leaped out of the shadows she was in and knocking down the unicorn. The other three ponies jumped away, obviously surprised. The unicorn fell hard to the ground, while Nimble jumped back just as a magic blast flew towards her. She took cover behind a table. She felt the blast hit the table, but she was okay. After some seconds she stood up; what she saw was just too shocking: There, in front of her, four very angry looking unicorns stood facing her. She gulped. After all, she had taken more than what she could chew.

The unicorn that she had landed upon looked even angrier. He shot another blast, throwing Nimble against the wall. Nimble quickly recovered and covered with the other table just as two more blasts missed her by inches. She then jumped and made a zigzag through, missing two blasts. She then jumped and landed again on the same unicorn. He grunted as he fell again.

The other three unicorns shoot at her simultaneously. They regretted it immediately as the blasts crashed at their fellow shadow pony instead of Nimble, who had jumped just in time to avoid the direct hit, but still the blast of the hit sent her against the wall. The unicorns looked at their friend, who was now on the other side of the room motionless. Nimble saw he was still breathing, which made her sigh in relief. Still, she didn´t had much time to think about it, for immediately the unicorns attacked her again. This time, they tried to hold her in the air with their magic. Nimble was able to throw them a large piece of wood from a broken part of a table, hitting hard the pony trying to hold her. The unicorn grasped his head in the place the wood had hit groaning in pain. One of the other unicorns tried to attack her physically, but Nimble managed to kick him in the stomach and then in the head, making him fall to the ground disoriented. The other two, one of them with a red part on his face were the wood had hit him, prepared to pounce at her.

Nimble moved aside as the two landed on the spot where she had been standing. Both began to try to hit her with their legs, at the same time trying to hold her with their magic. Nimble managed to evade their magic, but she did receive a couple of hits in her back before she managed to hit one herself. Curiously, she hit him in the horn, making the unicorn grasp it in pain and fall to the floor. Wow, that was unexpected.

The remaining unicorn tried to get a few steps away so he could target her with his magic. Nimble kept approaching him, trying to hit him in the horn as the other. The unicorn moved his head back as Nimble tried to hit him. That made the unicorn step on an uneven part of the floor, making him fall. Nimble placed her front legs on top of him, stopping the unicorn from standing up.

“Get of me!” The unicorn shouted. Nimble shook her head.

Nimble kept the pony in the floor. It took her a lot of effort, but finally the unicorn stopped. “What do you want?”

Nimble cleared her throat. “Where are they keeping my friends?” she asked. The unicorn shook his head. Nimble lifted her hoof, as if preparing to strike him. The unicorn twitched. “Tell me. I can see that your horns are pretty sensible. I wonder, will it hurt you as much as it hurt him?” Nimble said, pointing at the unicorn still clutching his horn in the floor. The unicorn under her gulped. “Tell me, now.”

“They… they are in the dungeons. Those are below the building.” The unicorn said in a quivering voice.

“How do I get there?” Nimble asked.

“You just go down some stairs at the end of the corridor of that door…” said the unicorn pointing at the door they had been overlooking when she had first entered.

Nimble nodded. “Okay. Thanks for your help.” Then she saw the problem. The second she let go of the unicorn was the second the unicorn was going to attack her. She needed to do something about that. She thought of the prospect of hitting the unicorn in the horn, ot knocking him out, but she couldn´t bear herself to do that… In fact, she had just attacked them from their backs. That made her feel… guilty. “I´m sorry for what just happened.” She muttered, letting the unicorn go slowly. “You will not attack me when I let you go, and instead you´ll see to your partners, is that understood?” The unicorn nodded fast. Nimble took one step back, letting the unicorn stand up.

“Why do you let me go?” The unicorn asked, confused.

Nimble was surprised by that question. “Well, I… I don´t see why I should do something differently. Why?”

The unicorn looked around. “Well, I could attack you, or sound the alarm.” He said.

“And how could I stop you without doing something I don´t want to do, like hurting you while you are defenseless under my hooves?” Nimble asked, answering. “I´m not like you, nor the other ponyhoods. I´m… I´m a Journalist. I am Nimble Hoof, the Journalist.” She said. “And you will not attack me, because I know that even the shadow ponyhood has honor.” The unicorn smiled.

“Honor…” he said, looking to the small window. “It´s been a long time since I´ve heard that word in Lower Canterlot.” He looked at Nimble. “I understand your point. I won´t attack you, because you seem like a nice mare to me. You have something in you… I don´t know how to describe it, but you are different than anypony I´ve ever met in Lower Canterlot. Honor…” he stopped. “That is a very good word, Nimble the Journalist, and I hope you can make it known within Lower Canterlot.” The unicorn turned around an walked to the other unicorns. “Go Nimble, Shadow is down there, and he is going to make some pretty bad things to your friends if you don´t hurry up.” Nimble nodded.

“Thanks.” The unicorn nodded and Nimble turned around going through the door, looking behind one last time at the unicorn, who was now helping his fellow unicorns. Nimble smiled lightly and continued on…

Nimble and the Unicorn

Author's Note:

A new chapter is done! I think this chapter is important in some way of understanding the main character, Nimble Hoof. I mean, how she thinks. I hope you like my way of explaining her way of seeing how things where done in Lower Canterlot. While she is accustomed to living in a good place, Lower Canterlot is just too treacherous. Will she remain the same as her life gets more inside Lower Canterlot, or will her thoughts turn cold as most of the Lower Canerlot ponies? This and more in chapters to come...