Enters a Knight
A billow of steam gently rolled over the early morning sky of the yellow-hued desert as a train came to a grinding halt on its tracks for Appleloosa's only train station. The door creaked open, revealing three ponies to step out. Two on the left and right were unicorns, very common with their white fur, but bearing the golden armor of Celestia's Solar Guard. The one in the middle, was a tad more superfluous in his appearance. He was lean as a whippet, but sturdy as iron in muscle tone. He wore golden armor as the others, but this armor had jewels emblazoned into the metal, and even a bit of extravagant feathers jutting from the helmet. He tipped open his visor, bright green eyes full of disdain as they took in the rustic landscape. He took in a sharp whiff of air, only to give a cough.
"Yuck."His tone had that of a Canterlot official, high and mighty in every syllable."It smells like...earth pony out here."He 'hmmphed' as the horn protruding from a slot in the helmet glowed, closing his visor to hide his face from the rest of the world.
"Come."He motioned to the guards on either side of him, walking into town, his armored hooves heavily clacking against the dirt.
"..."
I groaned inwardly as I slowly reared my head up, a powerful thumping inside my brain causing me to clutch it in pain. I wasn't the only one who was recovering from the night before, dozens of moans echoed across the town as ponies revived themselves from the stupor they had drunken themselves into. Wiping the crust from the eyes, I stretched up to my full height, pleasantly surprised that I didn't bump into any ceiling. When I opened my eyes, I found that I had somehow ended up outside, sleeping in a pile of empty barrels that had probably once contained a gallon each of the famous spiced cider.
"Ya got quite the thirst for the cider there,"
I slowly turned around to view Alamo casually leaning against the wall of the saloon, a levitating bottle already leaving his lips.
"...Didn't you drink enough last night?"I ask as I approached him slowly, working the kinks out of my muscles that left them stiff and sore.
"Never can drink enough, that's what Ah always say."
"Unless you get alcohol poisoning. Then maybe that's enough."I quipped at him, still trying to get the hangover off of me, but it bore down like a wet heavy rug.
The old pony seemed to consider this, then dismissed my claims with a "Nah" and another swig of his whiskey.
We simply stood there, content with relaxing against the saloon, watching the morning unfold in the small town. Children awoke to their hungover parents, eagerly urging them to get up. Those still reeling from the party were ambling around haphazardly as they made their way across the roads, kicking up dirt with their unsteady hoofsteps.
"Glad ta see ya'll are awake."
We turned our heads slightly to see Mr. Mustache himself come up to us, the Sheriff seemingly unaffected by the debauchery of last night.
"Mornin'."Alamo greeted him.
"Hey."I gave a slight wave, only for the claw to go back to holding my scaly forehead. Man, my head was killing me. Note to self: Never drink cider again...at least not too much.
"Ya'll seen the newcomers?"The Sheriff motioned with his head towards three extremely out of place unicorns making their way down the street towards us, getting odd glances from the sober ponies they passed. They were all heavily outfitted with armor, glowing brightly in the morning sun. What made it all the more interesting was that what they were wearing is the armor I had seen from the guards that patrolled Celestia's Castle. I was about to meet some legit Canterlot ponies, for whatever reason it may be.
"Greetings."The one in the middle spoke directly to the Sheriff, ignoring Alamo and I, but I really couldn't tell if he was shocked by my appearance, guy wore a knight's visor, completely blocking his face.
"I,"He held up a hoof for a grand gesture."Am Sir Vorpal, one of Celestia's most esteemed knights of the Royal Guard, monster slayer extraordinaire, and a high nobleman of Canterlot."
Sheesh, the guy liked to hear himself talk, even if it did sound a little tinny through his helmet.
"...And?"The Sheriff asked, his eyes glazed over with boredom.
"And?"Vorpal mimicked him as if he was offended."And, I've come to be rid of your worm problem you've sent so distressingly to Canterlot. We would have been here sooner, but your train is so...slow."
"No need for it."The Sheriff replied.
"...Pardon me?"
"Somepony already took care of the problem...if'n ya can call him a pony."
"Who would dare steal a task of knight?!"He seemed furious at these words, the two guards beside him looking at their superior uneasily. I gulped a tad.
"Oddjob over here,"The Sheriff motioned his head over at me, to which I gave a weak little wave at the golden-gleamed knight.
"And what,"He marched over to me, staring right up at me with his visored face. I could literally feel the heat coming off of this guy.
"In Celestia's holy name is an 'Oddjob'?!"
"Uhh...me."
In a flash I was flat on my back, Sir Vorpal bearing down on me with a blade magically produced from thin air, his horn glowing gold, his sword a physical embodiment of his aura, to which the tip was pointed directly at my throat. The energy coming off the blade was intense, as if the air itself was giving way to sharpness of the weapon. Magical strength was probably affected by the unicorn's current emotional state, and this Vorpal blighter was obviously seething at the moment.
"You sir, have stolen the direct deed of a knight! It was not your duty to do this!"He screamed from inside his visor. I could imagine him frothing at the mouth, his rage so evident.
A small click of a gun cocking was heard, and Alamo leveled the barrel of his revolver beside Vorpal's head."Now pardner,"He began, to which the guards produced their own blades, pointing at him. We had a little standoff going on over here. I'd be excited if a sword wasn't about to skewer my throat.
"Ah'd put that fancy-schmancy toothpick of yours away if'n Ah was you, 'fore we have ta send a letter to Almighty Celestia, lettin' her know one of her guards tried to kill a civilian."
A tense moment so thick you could swim through it hung in the air. Vorpal's sword at me, Alamo's gun at Shiny over here, and the two guards at Alamo.
Finally, Vorpal hopped off of me and withdrew his sword, the golden blade of magical energy simply vanishing into nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief as I stood back up, rubbing my neck where the tip was poking just moments before. Alamo placed his gun in its holster with his own aura, but still carefully eying the three ponies before us. The Sheriff had simply stood by, and I had taken it for lack of care, but when I looked into his face, I knew that he knew Alamo had it under control. Him and I were buddies now. I suppose killing a few dozen giant worms did that to fellas.
Sir Vorpal coughed, a light little 'harrumph' that tried to break away the following awkwardness."Well then...Oddjob..."He forced out my name as if it stung his tongue."I suppose...you should be rewarded for your services to the...good people...of Appleloosa."
I perked up at the sound of 'reward', a big toothy grin settling across of maw.
"You will receive compensation for your deeds equivalent to the number of slain beasts and their total worth as a whole. Now, how many of these worms did you kill?"
Me and Alamo shared a quick glance and a smirk.
"About a hundred or so?"I began.
"Naw, Ah want to say at least two-hundred."
"There was a lot more chasing use than that..."
"Plus, we did stop all those eggs from hatching...at least a hundred more after that."
Vorpal only stood there, solemn and quiet beneath his helmet.
"...We'll just settle for..."I tried to come up with a number. How could bits, their currency, be equivocated to human money back home? I really didn't want to consider the exchange rates.
"A thousand bits."Alamo stated.
"...Very well."
Vorpal flicked his horn, and from nowhere a bag was produced, bulging from the gold bits inside. He tossed it over by my feet, the coins inside chinkling loudly.
"Straight from Celestia's pocket herself. Canterlot thanks you, and Equestria thanks you."He gave a brief nod before curtly turning around on his back legs, walking back towards the train station, his two lackeys streaming behind.
I picked up the bag, light to me, and opened it up, revealing the thousand bits inside.
"...What do I do with it?"
"Did you see that thing?!"The guard to Vorpal's left gasped out.
"Freakiest creature ever! Probably from the Discord-Era of Equestria."The one on the right replied.
Vorpal came to a halt, to which the two followed his actions. he turned around and flipped open his helmet, eying the two warily, his intense green eyes piercing into them. Sweet Celestia, they always hated it when he did that. It was as if his eyes were of another world or something.
"You are correct in saying that creature comes from Discord...it was a Jabberwock."
"But.."One guard piped up."Aren't they..y'know...extinct?"
Vorpal's helmet lifted up, revealing a gaunt face, but his features sharp, a red, flowing mane falling down his neck and back. His mouth held a wide, manic grin.
"Not anymore."
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You know it would be more menacing at the end if he said something along the lines of "Not yet..." but that's still good.
Keep up the good work!
1567329
Thank you
I said it before, but I'm glad to have you back here
I like how you named the unicorn Vorpal.
The best name he could have, considering the situation.
I assume he's gonna be an antagonist, right?
1567415
Yep, lots of wonderland references abound.
And correct, you guessed it.
Man, Vorpal sounds freaky... Good thing my eyes are red, completely normal! And my mane is only half red, half white
Oh how I wish this would update more often...
1573978
More updates will be coming soon!
This Vorpal guy sounds like he's hatchin' some evil plot... he seems pretty mean.
Vorpal sword; Vorpal's sword.
I see what you did there
To quote 'Jabberwocky' by Lewis Caroll.
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
This can't end well.
And yes, "it's" is spelled without an apostrophe in the poem.
I like. Mwa ha ha! MWA HA HA! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
