Dependable Blades

by DocDelray

Cauliflower?

“So… was that supposed to happen?” a voice in the darkness asked.

Amber Shine’s mind stirred and tried to make her focus. Something had happened when she struck the brazier, something has been released from it and she had been at the center of the mess. Her entire body ached with pain and her eyes refused to open, but she could feel other things. She still felt the cold embrace of the rough stone floor, maybe they hadn’t moved her yet.

“No, of course not,” the second speaker’s voice had a higher pitch but still held a strong sense of intelligence to it. “What would be the point of a spell that turns someone’s lunch, well, whatever this is?”

Neither of these voices registered with Amber. They weren’t the Sergeant or Burnt Embers. A twinge of fear jumped up her spine when she realized this. Questions filled her mind, who were they, where was she, what happened to her after she struck the brazier? The Night Guard knew she wouldn’t get any answers just laying on the floor. Through a heavy dose of will, she started to force her eyes open.

“Elwick, I think it’s waking up.”

“Good, maybe we can get some answers.”

The world was a painful white glare that nearly forced her eyes shut again. Groaning in pain, Amber forced her head to clear before trying to slowly open her eyes again. The initial haze started to give way to a place that very clearly was not the laboratory of Burnt Embers. Tall bookshelves lined the walls while thick elaborate tapestries filled in any open wall space there was. But what caused her to fully snap out of her fog was the pair of creatures standing over her.

Both stood tall and with ease upon their back legs while their forelimbs each looked to be tipped with fingers. Their bodies were lacking fur save for what sat atop their heads, they looked to make up for this shortcoming by wearing various clothes.

The taller of the two was clad in what looked to be very well-kept clothes that had been fitted to his athletic form. A clean, white tunic covered his upper body while a pair of dark slacks and boots took care of his legs. This creature’s face certainly wasn’t unpleasant to look at, deep green eyes and a sandy blonde mane that had been cut short to his head along with a strong jaw line. What concerned the mare however was the sword that hung from his side that one of its “paws” sat upon the hilt of.

To say his companion was short would be an understatement. Amber was sure she’d seen fillies and colts of a much larger size than this creature. If not for the squared jaw and strong intelligence that gleamed in its bright cerulean eyes, she’d continue to mistake it for a child. The tiny being’s body was clad in what she assumed was a long brown robe for his size, they were left open revealing the off white and dark slacks beneath. His head was topped with a mess of a curly dark green mane that just barely covered the pointed tips of its ears.

“Helloooooo there,” the small one said softly with a wide smile. “No need to be afraid, we won’t hurt you my little friend.”

“Thanks?” Amber replied cautiously.

The pair shared a look before looking back at her. “You can talk?” The tall one asked.

“Of course I can talk.” Amber grumbled back at them. “You don’t see me looking shocked and surprised because you two can speak.”

“She makes a fair point,” the tiny one agreed. “Where are my manners, I am Elwickshintlzefick Wizzlepop VonFrook, though most non-gnomes find it easier to simply call me Elwick.” He said with a bow to her. “Master of the arcane arts and conjurer of illusions grandiose and amazing,” he proudly declared with a quick motion of his hands. Bright shimmering sparks filled the air around him adding to his claims.

The taller furless being snorted at his friend’s boasting drawing an angry glare from Elwick. The self declared gnome motioned towards him. “And my friend here is Sir Alistair Crown, a knight of some kind or something.”

“My Lady,” Alistair said while bowing his head to her. “Please forgive my overly excitable friend; he tends to brag when meeting new people.”

“Hmph, bragging you say,” Elwick scoffed. “Just trying to make a good first impression on our new friend,” he claimed as he rolled his eyes with an annoyed grumble.

Amber slowly forced herself to stand on her hooves as she looked the pair over and forced up a smile. “My name is Amber Shine. I’m a member of the Equestrian Night Guard and defender of the princesses of Equestria.”

Elwick began circling her, his eyes looking her up and down as he mentally picked her apart. “And, how did you come to be passed out on the floor of my study, Ms. Shine?”

Amber rubbed her temples with an annoyed sigh as she recalled the events. “All I remember was trying to stop a spell that’d gone out of control; there was a bright flash and a loud bang, then… I woke up here.”

“One thing does still bug me though,” Alistair stated. “If you’re here, then where did the cauliflower go?”

“Cauliflower,” Amber asked as she looked between the pair.

“Master Elwick here thought he found a way to turn it into gold.” Alistair told her with a wry grin.

“Cauliflower,” she felt the need to ask again.

“Not just cauliflower,” Ewlick huffed. “If it worked it would transmute matter into gold! Granted, Transmutation was never my best subject…”

“As fascinating as this conversation is,” Amber interrupted them. “Where am I?”

With a wide, childish grin, Elwick motioned her over to the large bay window before flinging it open. “You’re on the plane of Domhan,” He announced proudly as he lead her onto the balcony.

Amber’s eyes went wide as she beheld a city that spread out in all directions. Buildings of various sizes and shapes that dotted the landscape, all laid out in a grid formation. Waterways of varying sizes cut paths through the city and looked to cut it into districts. The warm air of summer blew through her main and fur as she looked down to see that they stood high above it all in a massive tower at the very center of this metropolis. Through the rushing wind she could hear the sounds of endless voices and see the throngs of beings and creatures of various breeds milling about like ants below.

“More accurately,” Elwick continued. “You’re in the city of Le’Ratte, the capital city of the kingdom of West Loch, realm of the goodly King Antoine Dupre.” The gnome shot her a teasing smirk. “I can go into the full history of the kingdom if you’d like to hear that as well.”

“I’d avoid that one, unless you want to be bored to tears, my lady.” Alistair chimed in.

“In the meantime though, if you don’t mind answering a few questions,” Elwick continued as he tried to guide her back inside the tower. “For starters, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen or heard of any kind of equine that possesses your bat like features. Not to mention how much I’d love to hear about this Equestria of your-“

Amber ducked away from the gnome and quickly backed up to the edge of the balcony. “And I’m sure it will be a lovely conversation, buuuuuut,” with a quick flap of her wings she perched herself up on the railing, “I think I’d like to take in my new surroundings for a bit.” With a wink and a gleeful smirk she jumped backwards and let the wind take her wings. “I’m sure I can find this place when I’m done, boys!”

“In hindsight, maybe you shouldn’t have opened the window,” Alistair quipped as he watched her glide off towards the city.

“I don’t suppose you’ll make yourself useful and go make sure she stays out of trouble?” Elwick grumbled.

---

The rush of air along her wings brought a smile to Amber’s face. Excitement swelled up in her chest and began to crush what had at one point been fear. She was far from home, further than anypony may have ever been. She might be the only member of ponykind to even lay eyes upon this strange new world. While a smarter pony would be confused and frightened by all of this, all Amber Shine could see was endless possibilities laid out before her.

There was one thing that was holding her back though, the unrelenting glare of the sun. Her nocturnal eyes were having a hard time adjusting to the bright sunny day and it was starting to affect her ability to fly in a straight line. The bat mare finally gave in and glided down to one of the more empty looking alleys with more than a little lacking grace. She came to a stumbling stop, but at least she was in the shade now.

“Wonder if they have sunglasses in this world,” Amber asked herself out loud.

With bold confidence, she strode through the alleyway towards the main street, always certain to stay under the soothing shade of the buildings overhead if possible. The displaced gueardsmare could feel the growing number of eyes on her as she trotted through the streets. Her overly developed ears easily picked up on their hushed conversations and mutterings about her. They whispered about how she must have been some kind of escaped experiment from the “Mage’s Tower” and that she was clearly some kind of strange sin against the gods of some such. Amber Shine had very little time to feel self conscious about their fearful opinions of her, she was far too engrossed with these strange new surroundings.

Amber’s journey eventually brought her to what was clearly some kind of bazaar. A long wide street full of shops and market stalls on either side snaked on towards the horizon, their owners loudly announcing the superiority of their goods compared to those in the other stalls. She eagerly trotted from merchant to merchant as she visually sampled everything around her. Brightly-colored fabrics and glittering, ornate trinkets of craftsmanship she had never before laid eyes upon. Her nose was treated to the sweet and foreign smells of spices and various fruits that had never graced the shores of Equestria.

From the quiet whispers that still trickled into her ears through the throngs of people all speaking in unison, Amber easily worked out that her kind had never before been seen here. She was clearly the only batpony they had ever come across, perhaps the only Equestrian to set hoof on these streets. The thought brought a wide excited grin to her face.

With a light skip in her step and humming a happy tune, Amber made her way through the crowds of people. Her merriment was cut short, however, when one dark whisper caught her attention, “Bet we could make more than a few coins off that thing, maybe more if the hide’s intact.”

Her eyes narrowed straight ahead, “Forget money, I wanna know how dat thing tastes in a stew, horse is good eats, bats can be good eats, but a bat horse, that’s a new one.”

Amber kept her pace up as she heard the voices bickering not far behind her: “What good’s eatin’ her when we can get a pile’a gold? Hells, the mage what lost that thing probably has loads of coin to buy back his little pet.”

There were too many people around her for any kind of fight. If they wanted to bring her down they could easily crowd around her here and knock her out. She doubted anyone would even notice. Thinking quickly, Amber ducked down the first alleyway that crossed her path. Just as she’d hoped it was empty with only one way in or out. Heavy footfalls behind her told her that she wasn’t alone in here. A cruel smirk tugged the corners of her mouth as she turned to face her would be attackers, very pleased with herself and with them for taking the bait.

Standing between Amber and supposed freedom were four ragged bipeds whom happily sneered at the little pony they had trapped. Three of them looked to be of Alistair’s race, though their clothes and unwashed faces told her that these colts came from a far less reputable background than him. At the head stood a tall, heavily-built and burly creature with dark green skin and a face that reminded her somewhat of a boar and a large wooden club resting on his shoulders. Amber never did care much for boars; every one of them that she had met always came off as rude and ill-tempered.

“Here, lil horsey,” their leader beckoned to her. “Come to Uncle Thrasher.”

“Uncle Thrasher is about to get his pig nose bucked into the back of his head if thinks he’ll be taking me that easily,” Amber snorted in retort.

The four of them spread out into the alley. “You got a smart mouth on you, squirt,” the green one grumbled as he readied his club. “Let’s see how smart you are with a few less teeth in your mouth.”

“You’re welcome to come and try, big boy.” Amber taunted before baring her fangs at the group with a loud hiss.

Their advance halted at that moment, one of them even took a step back as he eyed her cautiously, “You don’t think those fangs are poisoned do ye? I hear mages like given their freaky creations stuff like that.”

“Then pick how you wanna die, Crow,” their leader snarled. “Her fangs or my club,”

Amber readied herself for what she knew was coming. Falling back on her time spent training for the guard. She lowered herself into a fighting stance, legs braced to lunge forward at a moment’s notice. Her wings spread out wide from her side on instinct to make her appear larger while her ears flattened themselves against her head. She dug her hooves into the ground and continued to bare her fangs, ready to snap and bite whatever came close to her.

The first one wasn’t the smartest of the bunch, she assumed. Screaming at the top of his lungs, the brigand took a small club from his belt and ran screaming at the mare. Amber was quick to react as she darted forward and kept low to the ground. Her long leathery wings wrapped around her self-assumed attacker’s leg and yanked it with her as she ran forwards. The unwashed street thug yelped in surprise as he fell, face forward into the hard dirty stone ground.

With the advantage already hers, Amber gave a quick flap of her wings rise up over their heads. Her hooves connected with one of the alley walls only long enough for her to kick off it and come down on the second bandit. Her forelimbs wrapped around his shoulders as she passed and yanked him off his feet with her momentum. Their bodies still in motion, Amber rolled him over her shoulders before letting go. Gravity did the rest of the work for her as he was sent hurtling into one of his allies. With a loud crash they both tumbled into a pile of debris that had been stacked in the corner.

From the corner of her eyes she could see the first one she’d felled starting to stir. With mischievous grin she leapt into the air. Just as he was starting to push himself up from the ground, the street thug’s attention was quickly knocked out of his daze by a gust of wind and loud clop. Fear flooded his face when he looked up to find himself staring into a large pair of cat like eyes and frighteningly sharp looking fangs. Amber could barely muster the ability to snarl at him through the fits of giggles that spilled out of her mouth instead as she watched him scurry away from her in a panic.

Before he could make it far however, his boss made good on his threat. So close to the exit, the thick heavy wood of the club came crashing down on the top of his head. Amber watched as the top his skull was caved inwards, a trickle of blood and other matter still connecting the club to the victim as it was pulled away. The thug’s body went limp and stumbled forward into a heap on the ground where blood began to pool around him.

“Guess he chose the club.” The big green one chuckled as he turned his dark eyes to her.

Hate and anger burned their way through Amber’s stomach till it clawed at her chest and began to pour itself into her eyes, something the last man standing picked up on with a sneer. “What, feeling sorry for him,” he chuckled. “You might wanna know, he suggested we cook and eat you. I don’t much care for the meat off’a mage’s pet, magic makes it taste wrong.”

Amber Shine didn’t say a word as she started to walk the parameter of the alley. She picked everything about him apart as they began to circle one another. Her eyes studied every scar and marking on him, the club his hands, the heavy build of his muscles, even the way he walked. Taking all of it in as she tried to extrapolate a weakness in this giant.

Her studies didn’t get to last long as he made the first move. With a loud roar, the tusked monster barreled forward, club at the ready. He was larger, stronger and had more reach, but Amber Shine knew she had him beat on speed. True to this, her reaction time was far greater than his, letting her dance out of the way of his club. To her surprise, the thick wooden weapon was able to leave a heavy dent in the alley wall as it struck.

She continued to move and avoid his attacks, her hooves and wings never getting more than half a breath to rest after the last dodge. Her opponent eagerly kept her on the defense as he swung his weapon with all the might his powerfully muscled arms could afford. One too many times the club came dangerously close to Amber- she had to end this quickly.

Almost as if the goddesses had heard her from across time and space, she was given just what she needed. A small blade landed on the ground, just behind the green brute. After her latest attempt at avoiding being smashed into a paste, Amber shot forward with all the might her legs could give her. To her surprise and her enemy’s, she managed to make the tumble past him without getting beaten to death.

Rolling across the ground, Amber’s mouth grabbed the hilt of the knife tightly. She could hear the beastly creature’s roars as she escaped him and the heavy thumps of his feet as he charged after her. As she came out of her roll, she shot into the air and hurled the blade at him with a quick snap of her neck. The weapon struck true and embedded itself into his thick chest, an act that only seemed to slow him for a split second, all the time she needed.

With a swift flap of her wings, Amber took off like a missile and struck the hilt of the dagger with all her might. The force of the blow pushed the weapon deeper into his chest, past powerful muscle and stone cast bone to find the organs they protected. Thick black blood began to pour from his wound and mouth as he finally came to a stop. His arms hung uselessly at his side as he dropped to his knees, but that look of rage and hate refused to fall away as life drained out of him.

With a sigh of relief, Amber took a step away from the green mountain she’d finally managed to fell. Her ears picked up on the sound of clapping and her body tensed back up like a spring. She quickly spun around to face this next enemy but only froze in confusion as she saw the man she knew as Alistair Crown standing at the entrance to the alley.

“Well fought, my lady.” He complimented her.

“And just how long have you been standing there?” She huffed in annoyance.

“Long enough to see your measure,” Alistair replied with a disarming smile. “You are quite the warrior as I’d guessed.”

Amber grinned from ear to ear in pride, “Yeah, well, the Night Guard doesn’t hire on just anypony.” She just as quickly switched her mood back to a more serious tone. “For real though, that guy could’a killed me you know.”

“Rest assured, Lady Shine, I would have stepped in before that happened.” Alistair assured her as he gave the hilt of sword a pat. He strode past her to retrieve the dagger from the beastly creature’s chest and took a moment to clean it off before sheathing it behind his back. “Shall we be off then, my lady?”

Amber shine took a moment to stare at the glassy eyes of the dead monster before she turned her attention back to Alistair. “Yes, let’s.”

Comments

[paul]

Awesome start for the story
Can't wait for the next chapter.
I take it was the first time for Amber when she killed for real ? It seems she is for nasty breakdown when adrenaline rush ends.
P.S.: I hope starting this new story does not mean abandoning the smuggler ?

[DocDelray]

4346779
That story is still on hiatus for the time being. For now though, I've gone back to my writing roots and started playing around with good old fashioned sword and shield fantasy.

[paul]

4347416
Well, I wish this new story to bring you new inspiration boost so we will see both of them completed in the future

[Menelaus Redz]

Very interesting story you got here Doc. I am definitely looking forward to seeing more in the future!

[TheTownCrier]

I held off as long as I could Doc. I really tried this time. But your writing is too good. Too entertaining.