Heroism

by The_Last_Centurion

Leaving Home

This story is a fan-fiction of MLP:FiM. I don't own any of it. It belongs to Hasbro, etc, etc.
Don't sue. Seriously. That would be so uncouth.

Leaving Home

We followed my pseudo-mother’s instructions and kept to the dark path. When we got to the bridge, Blade peeked his head around the corner and looked around. Morning light streamed into the exit of the pathway and I wondered how well we could keep hidden, being that it was daytime now and Doom’s soldiers were certainly looking for us.

Blade cantered back to me and Siren and started to whisper animated. “It doesn’t look like anypony is around to hear us, since we are pretty close to the river itself. But more importantly, I could hear screams and explosions off in the distance. I think Doom’s soldiers are fighting the city guard. That should buy us enough time to escape.”

Siren nodded. “Then we should hurry. We need to get to that boat before we lose our chance. Come on.” She led us out of the tunnel and over a small beaten bridge of wood to the gate, just as the alley-witch. At first it looked locked, but Siren opened it easily when we got close and we rushed it, closing the door behind us quickly and once again descending into the darkness of the wall-tunnels.

We stuck to the left of the tunnel and curved around with it in what seemed like an endless arc, until we started to see light. We sped up toward the light, coming from a grate in the floor of the wall. However, we slowed down when we heard fighting from outside the hole.

“Get them to the boats!” we heard somepony shout with authority.

“We can’t hold them back for long!” I heard as steel clanged against other metal.

“Hurry!” another voice shouted as we heard hooves running and what sounded like ponies evacuating.

We looked into each other’s eyes and knew we needed to hurry, or we would be caught. So, I kicked open the grate and a thin wooden boat lowered itself from the shadowy rafters that must have been above us. It was poised for launch, being held aloft by only a few ropes that were attached to a quick-release. A pull of a pin and we would sail through the air and then into the waters of the river below us. We all clambered into the boat and we held onto the sides tightly as I pulled the pin with a hoof. My stomach went sailing into my throat as we fell into the river. A mighty splash and jarring impact happened two seconds later, and then we were off.

But not before hearing a scream.

We looked behind us and saw that there were more boats on their way, large barge-type things, fishing, and any boats available that were packed side to side with evacuating ponies. Poor, rich, it didn’t matter. All were scared and all were fleeing for their lives. And I saw why they were so terrified. Near the grate we came out of, a catwalk hung under the arch that allowed the river into the city. On the catwalk, Oattaran guards and Doom’s soldiers fought, and Doom’s soldiers were winning. The guards were fighting tooth and hoof, but they were being crushed by sheer numbers. Soon the soldiers would win and then they would be able to control the winch that lowered the portcullis that allowed water into the city, but kept trading boats inside. The evacuees would be trapped.
Siren jumped from the boat and soared to the catwalk with her sword drawn. I screamed her name, but was unable to do anything. Blade found a long pole in the boat and pulled it out and stuck it into the water. He lowered it until it reached the silty bottom and dug it in, holding it in place with his weight as he did, and the boat stopped. I wanted to go help Siren, but the catwalk was pretty far away, and more importantly, I couldn’t swim. I had to watch.

I watched as she dove from the skies like an avenging angel and attacked Doom’s soldiers, bolstering the guard’s defense for a few moments. But then more soldiers arrived and started to push her back. I heard her shout in fury and anger and I saw how hard they fought. But more and more soldiers came just as the last of the evacuation boats made it out from under the arch. As they escaped, the guard’s line broke and soon soldiers were overrunning them.

“NO!” I screamed as my heart turned to ice and I raised my left hoof to the catwalk. “NO!”

At first, the water seemed to ripple, and then the flow reversed, flipping the boat as the water receded to the south instead of its natural, northern flow. The Gauntlet’s gem shined and I could see the veins throb as the river’s flow returned to normal and a massive wave cascaded over the catwalk. Ponies screamed as they were thrown into the now-seething river and flailing hooves churned the water as gasps and chokes were heard from all. My heart raced as I didn’t see Siren. In fact, the only ponies that were drowning were in the muddled gear of the invading soldiers.

Then I saw her and the rest of the Oattaran guards. A cheer went up from them and the evacuating ponies as they rode atop of a magical wave of water that moved along with my left leg. I brought them over to one of the large barges and then I plunked to the bottom of the boat, tired from the exertion of the mysterious magic. I didn’t know how I did it, but I didn’t care. I raised the Hero’s Gauntlet to my lips and gave it a kiss.

Cheering boats filled with ponies passed us as Blade kept us there, waiting for the barge to catch up with us. When it did, I sat up as a familiar, steel-clad heart-wrencher climbed aboard.

“How did you do that?” she asked me as she hugged me.

“No clue.” I answered by hugging her tightly and burying my head in her mane.

“Excuse me. Hero?” asked a light voice from behind us.
I let go of the embrace to see an older mare with a butter yellow coat, white mane, and sharp, pink eyes. She wore a soaking guard’s suit of armor and straddled the barge and our boat, keeping them together with nothing but the strength of her legs.

“Thank you for back there. I know we would not have made it otherwise.” She said.

“You’re welcome, Miss…”

“Captain Butterscotch.” She answered. “Could I ask where you’re heading?”

“We’re going to Saddle Hill for a while, but after that, I don’t know. All I know for certain is that us three will not be back to Oattara for four years.” I told her, remembering the witch’s prophecy.

She gave me a suspicious look and spoke up. “Well, I and the rest of the guards here will be escorting the civilians to Reedbeds, the port city further north. Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

“I’d like too, but I don’t think we can.” I answered her.

“Alright. I hope you know what you’re doing.” She said as she stepped back onto the barge and our boats started to drift away from each other.

“I do too.” I said back to her. When the boats had drifted away from each other and our small boat started to drift to the front of the pack, as I was the lightest, I turned and called to everypony.

“Four years. Four years and we will return.” I called to them all as our boat sped on further away from them. I never knew if they heard, but I hoped they did. I had a feeling we’d need all the help we could to fight off Doom’s armies and the monsters and thieves that I had saw in Fear’s eyes.

The river was fast and we were quickly leagues away from the other ponies of Oattara. As miles of lush riverside, with arid desert on either side, passed us by, I sat back and played around with the Gauntlet. Blade was at the helm of the boat, Siren looking out ahead of us for any sign of the road to Saddle Hill, so I was left to my own devices. I first reestablished the fact that the Hero’s Gauntlet had indeed melded with my arm. I poked and prodded the veins and was grossed out by fact I could feel my leg going numb if I put pressure on them. The Gauntlet was indeed a part of me.

Next, I tried to do something, anything, to the water once more. I wanted to see if I could make it move, not a massive tidal wave or the reversal of the current, just a small wave without my touch-just the Gauntlet’s power. I tried to no avail.

Finally, I tried to see how durable the Gauntlet was. Even though it was made of clay, as I tapped it and prodded it with enough force to break normal clay, nothing happened. I remembered back to my fight with Destruction and how I had deflected a head-on attack from his massive war-hammer with the Gauntlet. It was obviously much stronger than it looked.

After that, I pulled out the Ebonedge, making Siren look back to me with interest. I looked at the sword carefully and in wonder. It was truly amazing. Its midnight-black blade reflected light back at me in a crescent-moon arc. I touched it gingerly and it felt extremely warm, despite the blade looking like it should be ice-cold. I picked it up by the hilt and immediately freaked out Siren and Blade, as I almost cut them accidentally.

“Watch it!” Siren said.

“Careful!” Blade said similarly.

I sheathed the Ebonedge and smiled gingerly at my friends. “Sorry. I’m not used to carrying sharp things in my mouth.”

“How so?” Siren said.

“I was just about to ask that Mistress.” Blade echoed. “You are no unicorn, Deft Hooves, so how can you not hold things like swords in your mouth?”

“Remember how I lashed the dagger to my hoof when I fought with Destruction?”

“It was the most stupid and worrying thing I had ever seen a pony do.” Siren said quickly with a face full of worry at the memory. I snorted and gave her a charming grin.

“In the alleys,” I started, “when another street urchin wronged you or challenged you for whatever reason-most of the time for food or other things-there would be a knife fight.”

I stood up on the boat, almost falling as it shook under my motion and I made it wobble even more as stood higher on my back legs. “In a knife fight, you was the most reach and speed you can get. Reach allows you to strike. Speed allows you to get out of there unscathed. You can’t cut very quickly with a twist of the head, unless you’ve been trained to do so since a young age.” I said with a glance to Siren.

“Also, when you strike with your head, it leaves you neck wide open. Any quick fighter will be able to get you like that.” I said punctuating my explanation with a hoof across my neck and sticking my tongue out. “So that leaves only one option: learn to fight with different limbs.”

I jabbed a hoof and brought the other around in a quick, slashing arc. “Most ponies I know, including me, fight with the blade or blades attached to the end of their hooves. I saw one pony once fight with a heavy blade tied to her tail, but I never knew who she was. This gives you the reach you need and the speed you need.”

“So you’re saying you’ve never held a weapon, a knife of any sorts, in your mouth like a normal pony?” Siren asked.

I sat back down. “Only at the feast. That was the first time I ever ate with utensils. Luckily, there wasn’t too much to eat with utensils and I took it really slow. Watching other ponies use them first also helped a lot.”

Blade muttered “Clever.” I just sat back and relaxed as the current carried us forward.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I saw was Siren’s head as something jarred me from underneath. I sat up and shook my head and looked around. Siren was saying something, but I wasn’t listening. Instead, I saw that we were beached on the riverbed and desert surrounded the green carpet and mud we had settled upon. A little further away, I could make out a wooden sign along what looked like a road, but it was too far away for me to make out what it said.

“…here.” Siren said.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“I said, we’re here.” She repeated as she and Blade got out of the boat. We pulled it out of the water, flipped it over, and let it lie there by the side of the river as we took our first steps out into the desert. It may have been nothing, but I felt as if those steps were the biggest in my life. For the first time in our journey together, it felt as if we were truly stepping away from all we knew. For all of us, it meant leaving home for four years, according to the witch, but it also meant something different to each of us. I’m sure Siren was thinking of her father and I was thinking, strangely, of the witch and Fear.

“Blade, what are you thinking of right now?” I asked him suddenly as we walked into the oven like heat of the desert and towards the road we saw from the river.

“That I am a slave. I should never forget that.”

I stumbled, but caught myself.

“Do you take pride in that?” I asked him, confused and bewildered.

He gave me an icy look. “I know what most ponies think of slaves and even what our masters think of us. Some think of us as traitors, pieces of meat, machines, downtrodden ponies, and other pitiful creatures that are either meant to be used, abused, or saved. But we slaves have our pride. We may never have freedom and we may never want freedom, but I was given a task by my master and slaves like I will get the job done at all costs. That is my pride.”

He strutted past me and walked in front of Siren and me while I gave her a confused look.

Siren just gave me a straight face. “You asked him.” She said, walking faster to catch up to him. I followed suit and we walked quietly until we reached the sand, cobbled road that swung to the northeast. The afternoon sun really beat us as we walked along the cobbled stones and I felt the desert as I never had before. I may have lived in the desert, but a city where water and shade could be found was much different than the waste that surrounded us. It amazed me that ponies would trek through such conditions just for silly things like spices and dyes.

The wooden sign popped up after what seemed like a decade of walking and I was able to read what it said, despite the glare of the passionate desert sun.

“50 miles?” I said, falling onto my rump. “How are we going to do that in this heat?”

Siren and Blade stopped. Siren was sweating under her armor and she reached up to her breast plate, pulling at the edges to get some fresh air. Blade looked at me. “It might seem like a lot, but we can do it.”

“Not in this heat.” I told him. “You look like you’re going to pass out already.”

Siren had been looking at the wind-scarred wooden sign, but she chose this to chime in.

“I agree with Deft.” She said solemnly. “If we tried to walk in the middle of the day, we’d possibly get to Saddle Hill…or faint on the way there and that would mean the end of our journey.”

She pointed an armored hoof at the large dune of sand that had accumulated around the legs of the sign. It gave just enough cover from the sun to create some shade. “If we sleep there now, we will be able to continue on in the night and tomorrow morning, if we need to. It will be way easier.

“Anything to get out of this heat.” I said as I trudged over there with Siren leading us and Blade in tow.

I crumpled into the cool sand beneath the dune. I knew scorpions and snakes slept shallowly under the sand of dunes like this, but I didn’t care if I awoke a few grumpy desert-dwellers. I was too tired. Blade and Siren moved just a little bit further away from me and I opened my eyes when I heard metal clanking.

Siren stood there undoing the straps on the armor around her front legs while Blade helped her with her back hooves, sword-strap, wither-guard, and breast plate. In a short while she was free of her cumbersome armor and her elegant coat and mane glimmered in the sun while she spread her wings.

“I’ll be back in just a little while.” She said as she lifted off into the air with such excited power, I sat up in enjoyment at the sight of her flying higher and higher into the air, her form doing loops and dives. Even from the ground I could feel her enjoyment of the freedoms she found in the open air. Plus, I could guess all that moving wind was great for cooling of an overly hot mare.

Blade sat down and picked up some sand in a telekinetic grasp. He form it into the shape of a fan and began to fan himself with magic. He smiled as the wind brushed through his mane and coat.

I grew a little jealous at them, but I was too tired and hot to care. I dug myself into the sand a little and was instantly filled with pure bliss as the sand felt ice cold. I spread out my legs under the sand and moved the sand under my head into a warm pillow and let myself drift off. At first I thought it was a little too warm for me, but then I got a familiar feeling of coziness and comfort from the sand.

Night woke me. The quick chill of the air on my skin brought me out of my sleep to find Siren and Blade curled up on either side of me. Siren’s armor was sitting off to the side and she had covered herself with her wings in an attempt to keep warm. Blade had done one better and copied me by magically sculpting a bed from the sand he slept on. As I rose, Siren shifted a little and shivered, but stayed asleep. It was so cute, so I decided that another couple of minutes of sleep for her and Blade couldn’t hurt. I walked off as quietly as I could and went around to the windward side of the dune we had slept under.

I emptied my bladder on the other side, but found myself looking up at the night sky after. Just like when I had flown to the Central Citadel, the night was alive with the glow of billions of billions of stars. With only the darkness of the desert around us, I could see all of space and it awed me to no end. The moon had just risen in the east and it was half-full, but I could still see the darkened side from the light she and the stars gave off. I smiled at the simple beauty of it all as I tore my gaze away from the sky and headed back to my friends with a new energy.

“It’s time to get up.” I said as I gently touched Siren. One of her eyes opened and she shivered. She sat up a little and gave a yawn that made her whole body quake and I had to kiss her or my heart would explode. She smiled at me and I turned to wake Blade, but she pulled me to the sand with a deft wing that covered my body as she planted another kiss on my lips.

“Getting a little frisky, aren’t we?” I asked her in a whisper.

“Shut up.” She replied planting another long kiss on my lips.

“Mistress, would you do that out of immediate sight please?” Blade said flatly from his sand-constructed bed. Siren yipped and turned beet-red, jumping up out of my embrace and walking over to her armor quickly. She started to put it on while I shook my head at Blade and then approached her to help her put on her armor. I picked up her flank-guard and put it on her flank before she jumped in surprise and accidentally bucked me.

“Oh gods!” she said as she came over to me, even more embarrassed than before and looking goofy in her half-dressed armor.

Blade chuckled as he came over and helped me to my hooves. “I’ll help my mistress with her armor. Why don’t you…”

“I’ll make sure the road is clear.” I said in defeat as I walked over to the cobblestones and sand while Blade helped Siren finish dressing. I just sighed and rubbed at my throbbing face in the dark.

Siren and Blade were along shortly, with Siren still a deep red. I ignored it and we continued on our journey, passing by the sign with a renewed vigor and a fresh strength to our steps through the cold and darkness.

After the sign post was out of sight, it became harder to tell how far we had gone. The darkness ate up our miles and the only way to tell we had moved was by the different dunes and the rising moon. It became easier, though, as we went further north and started to enter the dryer, dustier part of the desert.

“This is good.” Siren said, blasting the silence away, even though her voice was just a whisper. “You two see those ridges and mesas off in the distance?”

We nodded.

“This means we are coming closer to the southern-most tip of the Elder Equestrian desert. Appaloosa is further north, past hills we can’t see right now, but should be able to when we reach Saddle Hill. By then, we will have left the Desert of Fallen Stars. Just a train ride up to Appaloosa from Saddle Hill and another after that and we could be in Canterlot.” She said.

“We’ll have to visit some time.” I said as I walked a little bit faster and my friends fell in step with me. Soon, the ridges Siren had pointed out were appearing closer and closer as the moon climbed even higher into the sky and then started to descend. The road became bordered by tall stone ridges that rose and fell like slow, sloping waves while the moon fell even further towards the western sky.

That was when we started to hear the howls.

The first set of them shocked us to stop and look around, but as they started to come closer, we bolted down the road. We sprinted as fast as we could for a while and then slowed down once more, but kept a quick pace while we kept our breath. We thought we were alright, but then a large creature appeared on one of the ridges and looked at us with daemonic eyes that shone in the moonlight. Its mouth was ringed with canine fangs and its furry ears and sharp face pointed into a predatory triangle. Its large body sat and I could see its tongue come out of its mouth in a half comical, half terror inducing façade of a smile.

“Coyotes.” Siren said, her voice small and yet filled with admiration.

The coyote threw its head up into the night sky and gave one long howl. Coyotes appeared from all sides on the ridges on either side of the road. They joined in on the howl and we ran faster than I thought was ever possible. We started to slow, Blade falling back the most, but that was when I noticed that the pack of coyotes was running alongside us, only on the ridges.

“RUN FASTER!” I screamed in fright as I saw the looks in some of their eyes. I sped forward, the lightest and quickest of all of us, but Siren wasn’t far behind me. I ran further and further, faster and faster.

“DEFT!” screamed Siren. I threw my head over my shoulder and I saw that she was a few meters behind me. But Blade wasn’t. It looked like he was a good fifty meters behind us and the coyotes noticed that too. They were no long running with me and Siren, but were amassed around Blade as he tiredly ran, powered by fright alone.

I sprinted headfirst backwards as Siren dropped backwards, flipped into the air, unsheathed her sword and flew straight towards Blade. “Shit.” I said under my breath as I stopped on a dime and then sprinted headfirst towards Blade. I caught up with Siren as we arrived around Blade, both of us panting, Siren armed with her sword and I standing up on my hooves, the Gauntlet out in front of me. The coyotes dropped down from the ridges and formed a tight circle around us. Some snarled and some did that panting-grin of evil, but one walked among them and slowly padded up to me. I heard Siren tense up and Blade gasp, but I saw something in the coyote’s eyes. It didn’t want to eat me, nor did it want to harm me…it just looked at me.

It approached me, gave me a non-caring look and the rest of the pack went silent. It came even closer and I tensed up. It raised its hackles and growled at me and I loosened. Its hackles went down and it stopped growling. I tensed. Hackles up, growl. I loosened. Hackles down, no growl. I tensed. Hackles up. I loosened. Hackles down. I tensed and the coyote barked at me in annoyance. The creature was pretty intelligent.

“Sorry.” I said with a small smile as I loosened up again. Its eyes narrowed as it approached me and sniffed at the Gauntlet. It smelled the Gauntlet from all around and then gave the very end of it a lick. Surprisingly, it tickled my hoof so I moved my leg. The coyote snorted and then turned around with a swish of its bushy tale. It gave one bark to its pack and then they all jumped onto the ridges once more. They ran away howling, leaving us sweaty, tired, scared, and most of all, confused.

“What just happened?” Blade asked, giving the question we all had in our minds life.

“I have no idea.” I answered.

By the time we reached Saddle Hill, the sun was steadily climbing over the hills to the east and morning was quickly coming upon us. We staggered into the town and then were lost for as what we were supposed to do.

“What now?” asked Siren, who looked like she was going to collapse soon.

“I…”

“Shouldn’t we find this ‘Reggie’ character?” Blade said. “Maybe we could get some sleep then.”

“That…”

Three ponies came out from an alley off to our side wearing northerner hats and strange metallic devices were pointing from harnesses on their legs. A small line of metal ran from the device up to the ponies’ mouths.

“Put ‘em up!” they demanded of us.

“What…”

“Are you three trying to rob us?” Siren said with a snort.

One of the ponies narrowed his eyes, moved his leg so the device pointed to a metal trashcan and then bit down on the line of metal. An thunderclap like explosion went off, making all of us jump as the trash can blew its lid, jumped into the air, and fell down with a smoking hole in it.

“Ye’ll put yer hooves in tha air ifaya don’ want that tah happen tah ya.” Another of the ponies told us.

“Why…”

“We don’t have any money on us!” Blade yelled. “Leave us alone.”

“Then give us yer weapons and that there armor.” The last pony said, nodding over to Siren.

“Can’t we just…”

“Do it. Now.” One of the stallions commanded.

“Wait…”

“No!” Siren said, unsheathing her sword.

“STOP BUCKING INTERRUPTING ME!” I screamed in frustration, the earth quaking under my hooves as I exploded in frustration. The robber-ponies went tumbling away, along with my friends while I snarled.

“I AM BUCKING TIRED. THERE WILL BE NO MORE OF YOUR DEMANDS RIGHT NOW, UNDERSTOOD?” I shouted as I stood over them. One of them started to raise their weapon at me, but a quick hoof to the skull made him reconsider.

“Now,” I asked them, “do you know who Reggie is?”

As it turns out, they had no clue who this pony was, but they assured me that somepony in the saloon would. After that, they slunk back into the shadows and left us alone. Siren wanted to arrest them so they couldn’t get any other travelers, but I disagreed. That show of power was a total accident on my part and I didn’t feel like getting into a fight right now.

We went the way the robbers had pointed to us and we were on the saloon shortly. It was the classic northern make, big and wooden with swinging doors at the front. It was quiet at it was still early morning, but I assumed that it would become full later on in the day. Either way, we trudged inside, weary and tired.

It was dark and cool inside and as I had predicted, not many ponies where inside that early in the morning. A few sat in the back at a table, drinking and playing cards while a few other scant ponies hung around other tables. One was at the bar talking quietly with the barkeep who looked over to us as we approached.

We sat down on stools next to the pony and the barkeep came over to us.

“What can I get ya?” he asked.

“We don’t have any money, so noting.” Blade answered for me as I slid down until my head was resting on the bar. That use of magic, while helpful, was really tiring.

“We are just looking for a pony and would like some directions.” Siren commented.

The barkeep raised his eyebrow. “Who would that be little missy?”

“Reggie the shaman.”

The stallion next to us coughed on his drink and then started to laugh and choke at the same time. I glanced over to him and saw he wore a wide Stetson, dust-covered overcoat and dark sand-goggles. However, his condescending smile added a suspicious sheen to the goggles, giving them life.

“More bounty hunters, huh?” he asked as I heard a bunch of clicking noises around me. I jolted up right as I looked around and realized each of the ponies who was in the saloon was now standing around us with the same weapons pointed in our direction. The barkeep had one too, but it was a little different. Two long barrels stared down into my eyes as he stood up on two hooves and looked down at me. It cocked and I gulped.

“We’ll have this settled yet, fellas.” The stallion next to me said as he downed his mug and then brought it crashing against my skull. I hit the bar, heard a shriek, and then the world was lost to darkness.