Limitless Skies

by Priceless911

Ch5 A Sibling's Crualty

“Over a thousand years ago, before the time of the Eternal Eclipse, and tyranny of the Nightmare Legion, there were a countless string of wars that stretched to last as long as one full century. When one conflict ended, one or two more began. This senseless time of death was not only a time for the lives of soldiers to end, but also countless civilians who were fell victim to actions of desperation from survivors, or collateral damage. Brought from this time of murder, where three unknown soldiers who not only were raised in this surface version of Tartarus, but they adapted to that nightmare more than anypony else could. One was said to be a stallion who could crush the thickest of skulls, and bring down whole empires with his bare hooves, named Traipse. The second was a regal beauty, whose mastery of charm and flight could captivate any male, before luring them to their death. This pony was called Blade. And finally, the most feared, was a dark mare whose cloak, scythe, and stealth earned her the name, The Reaper. It is said, that this particular pony, had a reputation of killing her foe, before she was even seen, making her not only the most feared pony of the three, but the most feared pony in the world.”

“As time went on, these three ponies crossed paths and formed an elite mercenary group, known to the world, as The Cutters. During this time of war, these three ponies managed to fight literally in every kingdom on the planet. However, as the time of War started to tone down, their most feared member, The Reaper suddenly decided that she didn’t want to kill anymore, so she quit the team and vanished without a trace. Not long after, Blade, who was a noble before joining The Cutters, married into the pristine Mist family, and quit so that she could settle down with the stallion she loved. As for Traipse, he was betrayed by one of his contractors and banished to Tartarus. Some say he escaped that prison, but to this day, that remains a mystery even to the survivors of the Mist family. Shortly after that, when the Nightmare Crusade ended as the final war to that age of terror, not only the kingdom of Equestria, but the entire world went into a time of peace that lasted a number of years. But when war was declared far off in the Nation of Zebrica, Blade who was now referred to as Lady Mist, became fearful that the era of war would return, so she gathered her son and grand foals, and gathered lords and mistresses from the noblest of families in Canterlot for a secret meeting.”

“There, with Princess Celestia’s full permission, she reformed The Cutters, but not as a team of heartless killing mercinaries, but an underground syndicate of ponies whose solemn goal, was to keep peace throughout Equestria. If any tyrant were trying to gather followers, they would eliminate him before that could happen. If any foreign general wanted to claim Equestrian territory, then he would never reach the border alive. The Cutters’ eyes could see all, while the whole world saw nothing but shadows. Even the bat rebellion about seventy years ago was thwarted by The Cutters. And the most crooked thing about it was that Princess Celestia never gave any orders. The Reaper, who is said to be a descendant of Blade herself, rules The Cutters and marks their target, who are then hunted down, and killed.”
As the two ponies continued down the bottom of the ravine, Allen continued limping along as he replied, “So… those ponies we saw yesterday were The Cutters… and that mare with the scythe?…”
Silvia nodded her head, “The Reaper… yes.”
Allen sighed as he looked at the ground in deep thought, “I always thought that it was princess Celestia that prevented war in Equestria… who knew that there was somepony else pulling the strings in that department.”

Silvia nodded her head as she continued, “Don’t feel bad, very few ponies ever know The Cutters, let alone see them or what they d… Moon Weed.”
Allen looked forward at the moon weed vine that was stretched across the path ahead. With caution, he stepped over it then continued limping along as he mumbled to himself, “I didn’t know these things were so common down here. That’s got to be the tenth one we’ve seen. It’s a good thing the elder gave us extras of that antidote”
Silvia nodded her head, “Like I said, I’ve been poisoned by those things too many times to count.”
As Allan looked at the darkness hovering overhead, "How's it look Derpy?"
Derpy poked her head out of it and replied, “The canyon is narrowing ahead… I think we are getting close to the end. How are you doing down here? Do you need to rest?”
Allen sighed, “Well I could use a rest, but I'll just grin and bear it. We can rest once we reach the forest.”

Derpy crossed her hooves as she replied, “Well it serves you right. The next time you decide to climb to the top of a tower to get a better view, you need to ask for help from somepony who can fly… oh. No offence Silvia.”
Silvia gave Allen a sarcastic smirk as she replied, “It’s fine Derpy… maybe this will teach him to stop being so darn stubborn.”
Allen sighed, “Yea, yea, I'll try to listen to you when you warn me next time.”
Derpy smiled, “Well as long as you’ve learned your lesson. I'll keep looking for the forest; I'll let you know when I see something.”
As Derpy began flying back into the dark haze above, Allen spoke, “Thanks for keeping the duel quiet around Derpy. If she knew that I was in a fight, she would feel guilty for not being there to support me, but if she knew the reason I was in that duel was because I was standing up for her. Then she would blame herself. I really don’t want to put her through that guilt.”

Silvia smiled as she looked back to the path, “Don’t worry about it. You had no idea what a challenge against the clan leader meant anyway. Whenever a challenge is made, the only way to point out whether or not you really meant it was to bow in respect. Since you didn’t, you basically accepted challenge. Luckily The Reaper stopped dad before your determination got you killed.”
Allen rubbed the back of his head as he replied, “Yea… sorry about that. I guess I get that from my mom. Usually when she believed in her words, she would stand by them to the bitter end. I guess… that’s what inspired me the most about her.”
Silvia smiled, “She sounds like a strong willed mare.”
Allen nodded his head, “She was… and she cared about us enough to hide the fact that she had pneumonia, just so we wouldn’t worry about her. She was the most caring pony I ever knew.”
Silvia nodded her head, “I wonder if my mom was the same. She died back when I was just a filly. Dad said she was the strongest flyer in the entire clan… but. One day while flying through the caverns, she flew through a dark tunnel and was cut by a Moon Weed vine but didn’t notice it till it was too late, she was found a few days later in one of the caverns”

Allen lowered his head as he continued, “Oh… I’m sorry.”
Silvia shook her head, “Don’t be, I never met her so I have no memories of her. For all I know she could have been a heartless monster. At least, that’s what my brother told me. For some reason he never really liked her, and when asked why, he always dodged the question, saying that he has every right to hate her.”
Allen thought to himself, “Your brother seems like he doesn’t like anything to me. He was a big jerk to me the entire time we were down there.”
Silvia smiled, “Oh he’s just jealous. When we were little, he was always competing against me in everything, flying, fighting, running, you name it. However, in everything we did, he was always one-step behind me. Sure other than dad, he is probably the strongest pony in the clan. But one on one against me… he wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Allen nodded his head as he continued, “Well, I can see why he would hold resentment against you then… but what about me?”
Silvia shrugged her shoulder, “Well he has always hated the surface for some reason. Don’t ask me why, but he is always incredibly rude to surface ponies which is why he never made it into the royal guards, our superiors were usually surface ponies and he just wouldn’t follow orders”
Allen nodded his head, “I could see why that would be a major flaw.”

Up on the surface, Derpy continued flying over the black hazy ravine as she looked into the first sign of the Everfree forest that was visible in front of her. Feeling that it was the right time, Derpy landed on the cliff’s edge to rest her wings. As she stretched her wings out, she looked around and noticed that the sun was starting to set as a voice called out, “Excuse me miss?”
Derpy turned around to see Equinox come from behind a tree. As he approached, she smiled, “Oh… hi.”
Equinox smiled, “Hey, you might not remember me, but my name is Equinox, I’m Silvia’s older brother. I was one of the ponies who helped you in the caverns with the moon weed poison. I just wanted to see if you were alright, I didn’t get the chance to see you before you left this morning.”
Derpy thought to herself then replied, “Well… you look familiar… but I really don’t remember you at all. But that’s okay. As you can see, I’m fit as a fiddle now. No need to worry about me.”
Equinox nodded his head, “That’s great to hear, in fact I was wanting to ask you about something… if… it’s alright with you.”
Derpy smiled, “Ok… ask away.”
Equinox nodded his head and very bluntly asked, “Why exactly are you three on your way to Canterlot?”

Derpy smiled, “We are on our way to speak to… um… I think her name was Twilight Sprinkle.”
The curious bat pony replied, “Twilight Sparkle?... the princesses student?”
Derpy nodded her head, “That’s her.”
Equinox continued, “Ok, so what do you need her for?”
Derpy smiled pleasantly as she continued, “We’re going to see if she knows how to help an earth pony fly.”
Equinox thought to himself, “To make an earth pony fly hmm… so, your earth pony friend want to learn to fly?”
Expecting him to laugh at Allen after her reply, Derpy sighed, “Yep, Allen wants to learn to fly.”
Derpy was surprised when Equinox only gave her a curious expression with his simple reply, “Interesting… so that’s what dad meant. So he really wants to fly like us?”
Though the first part of his reply confused her a bit, Derpy ignored it as she continued, “It’s been his dream since he was a little colt.”
Equinox nodded his head, “Well… that quite the dream. But, if he is going to see Twilight Sparkle to fly, then… why are you going?”

Though Derpy was still surprised that Equinox wasn’t making fun of Allen, she disregarded that as she replied, “I just want to help Allen get what he wants. That’s why I asked to come along.”
Equinox sighed as he replied, “Oh… I see, well I hope he isn’t meaning to humor you.”
Not understanding the meaning, Derpy tilted her head slightly as she replied, “humor?...”
Equinox replied as he turned around, “Oh… nothing, just talking to myself. I better get going. I have some business to attend to. If you could do me a favor, Please don’t tell Silvia or that earth pony I talked to you. She may be my little sister, but Silvia and I don’t really get along too well. And as for that earth pony, something about him just doesn’t sit well with me.”
Derpy was even more confused as she asked, “What? Why would you say that?”
Equinox turned and opened his wings to fly away, “I just don’t like ponies who put their friends in danger out of pity. That’s all… until the next time we meet, Take it easy. I'll be looking forward to that.”

Leaving those as his last words, Equinox flew into the forest as, Derpy mumbled to herself, “Who is he… and, what did he mean by humor me?”
“Derpy! How’s the path ahead looking?”
Derpy shook away her worries as she looked back into the ravine and called back, “Oh, um… the path ahead is leading into the Everfree Forest!”
Silvia called back to reply, “Alright, then we should be reaching the end of the ravine soon! If you want, you can come down here for the rest of the trip.”
Derpy took one last look in the direction that Equinox flew in then replied, “Alright, I'll be down there in a few seconds.”
As Derpy began gliding into the ravine, Equinox smiled as he watched her hesitation from one of the trees. As he watched, his bat guard flew up and spoke, “Um, Nox? Was that really necessary?”

Equinox shook his head with his crooked smile, “No… but if I’m planning on breaking this chain up… I had better start with the weakest link first. Besides, this is much more fun than just waiting for the right moment. There isn’t anything more hilarious then a confusion caused conflict. I planted the seed… now I just need to watch as this little weed grows into something… Entertaining.”
The guard asked, “So… what are you planning to do? How are we going to deal with them?”
Equinox sat down and replied in confidence, “I'll let her play her wanna be noble act till it’s end… then I'll find my own way to either finish her off physically, or mentally. Then we just have to play the waiting game. Anyway, have you done what I told you Shade?”
The soldier nodded his head, “Yea, and you’re right. There’s one in this area, and he is keeping his eye on her.”
Equinox smiled, “Good job, I knew I could rely on you for some tasks. Let’s get going, if there is a you know what in the shadows, then we should get out of here before he discovers too much.”

Silvia and Allen Key continued trotting carefully through the ravine as Derpy landed next to them and started trotting with them. As they continued, she watched as Allen continued limping along while trying to ignore his injuries, “Are you feeling any better Allen?”
Allen smiled, “Oh, it isn’t so bad once you get used to it. I have a feeling by tomorrow I'll be right as rain.”
Silvia smiled “Good, cuz you look like an old stallion who lost his walker.”
Allen smiled as he replied, “Easy, this old stallion can’t do much, but he still managed to save your life ya know.”
Silvia jokingly smiled as she replied, “Yea… a fluke, plain and easy right Derpy?”
Derpy smiled and nodded her head, but with that little reaction, the playful mood died quickly as the three grew silent before realizing the path ahead started to slope upward. As they started to enter the dark haze in the center of the ravine, Derpy couldn’t get Equinox’s words out of her head. But what really annoyed her was the fact that she didn’t understand one particular word of his. Nevertheless, before she would even take anything he said into consideration, she decided to confirm something first. Derpy looked at Silvia and asked, “Um…Silvia? Do… do you have a brother?”
Silvia looked at Derpy in confusion, “Um… yea. Why do you ask?”
Derpy remember that she was asked to keep their conversation secret so she shook her head, “Oh… no reason, I was just wondering since… um… I remember seeing somepony that said he was… you know back when I was still poisoned by that weed thing.”

Silvia looked at Allen in confusion who returned the confused look, and then Allen looked at Derpy and asked, “Well… yea we did meet her brother, although he isn’t really the kind of pony I would consider meeting again.”
Silvia then added, “Why did you bring him up all of a sudden, Derpy?”
Derpy quickly thought up an excuse, “Well… um… I’m remembering some stuff from when I was poisoned and… it… um… it just seems confusing. You know understanding what was real and what wasn’t.”
Silvia though to herself as she replied, “That’s funny… I never reacted to the moon weed’s poison like that before… then again, since I was poisoned a lot as a filly, maybe I’m immune to that kind of experience.”
Avoiding the continuation of this topic, Derpy nodded her head and replied, “Oh… o… okay… well, I was just wondering… is all…”
With that said, Derpy started to dig deeper into her thought about Equinox and their discussion while both Silvia and Allen noticed her silence. However, since they though it was all about her experience with the moon weed, they just decided to leave it alone since they thought Derpy would just forget about it later.

Not long after, the rising slope started to go above the dark haze only to enter the shadows of forest trees all around the ravine. As they stepped out of the darkness, Allen smiled, “Wow, we’ve been in the dark for so long, even the moonlight through the tree’s seems bright.”
Silvia nodded her head, “Well bright or not, it’s still night out, and the Everfree Forest isn’t the place to travel at night. Up ahead we should reach a staircase leading to the surface just outside the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters. We’ll set up camp there.”
Allen nodded his head as he replied, “Sounds fine to me, what do you think Derpy?”
Barley paying attention, Derpy looked at Allen and replied, “Oh… um… yea, sounds good.”
Allen looked at Derpy and asked, “Derpy? Are you feeling alright?”
Derpy nodded her head and replied, “I’m… um… I’m fine. I think I’m just a little tired.”
Allen didn’t feel convinced that that was all that was bothering her, but since she didn’t want to say, he just decided to let it go, “Well, you know that I’m always here if you need to talk to somepony about it.”
Derpy smiled with a little more confidence, “I know, thanks Allen.”

With that said, the three ponies continued in silence as they continued closer and closer to their destination. After arriving, the group set up a campfire and settled down to rest for the night. Silvia took some items out of her saddlebag and started making her a drink as Allen took out paper and parchment and began drawing design ideas for his aircraft. As for Derpy, she could only lay out a blanket and laydown on her back as she stared up at the alicorn imprinted on the moon’s surface with Equinox’s words still running through her head. As she looked at the moon, he heard Silvia shaking the drink as she sat up and asked, “What’s that? A drink?”
Silvia nodded her head, “Not just any drink, this is a delicacy in the Equestrian Caverns. It’s called the Moon Drop.”
Silvia poured a little bit of the bluish liquid into a small cup and gave it to Derpy as she replied, “Really? What’s in it?”
Silvia poured some into her cup and drank it all in one setting. Afterwards she replied, “Water, tea, and the poison from the Moon Weed.”
Derpy stared at Silvia in shock as Allen stopped what he was doing and looked over at her, “Did I hear you right? Did you just say that the poison, the very same poison that nearly killed Derpy, is in that drink you’re drinking?”
Silvia smiled, “oh don’t worry, Yes this drink is considered poisonous, and yes if you drink enough it can kill you. But the poison that comes from the moon weed is only deadly when it enters through an open wound. If ingested, it’s actually harmless.”

Not understanding the word Derpy mumbled to herself, “Ingested?”
Allen replied, “It means if swallowed. So this stuff is harmless if you drink it?”
Silvia replied, “Yep, but only in moderation. If you drink too much then you will begin having the same symptoms as if you were regularly poisoned… to include death at the end. And when you experience the symptoms from drinking it, the antidote won’t help.”
Derpy was surprised, “Why would you ever drink something like that?”
Silvia poured herself another drink as she looked into the cup and replied, “Don’t know… maybe I just enjoy the taste too much… or, maybe it’s the closest I can get to death without actually dying. This stuff did kill my mother after all, and countless other friends. Maybe this is just my way of proving to myself that I’m still here, that I’m still alive.”
Allen shook his head as he continued drawing his designs and replied, “That seems a little silly, but then again, I guess you have your own reasons for it.”
Looking at the liquid that was in the cup that Silvia gave her, Derpy took a small drink and cringed at the taste, “Its… kinda bitter… and sour.”
Silvia replied, “Well the taste isn’t for everypony, it’s kinda like zap apple cider for pegasi. They can handle it, but others can’t.”

Derpy gave the cup back to Silvia as Allen started marking an X on the design he just drew, “It’s still too weak… I need to think of a better material then ship sails and plywood. Hmm… maybe aluminum… but then I would need an engine of some kind to give it speed. But how do I propel something that isn’t on the ground?”
Silvia looked at Allen and asked, “Still trying to think of how to fly?”
Allen nodded his head, “Yea… my last design would have worked in theory, but the structure was too weak. Not to mention it would have only allowed me to glide, rather than fly. What I need is an ability to give my craft the proper thrust. But I can’t figure out how. Pegasi and bat ponies rely on flapping their wings, but to do something like that with my aircraft would cause the wings to fall apart during flight. I don’t know… maybe I can figure it out in Canterlot.”
Derpy smiled, “Sure you will… if anypony can discover the secret it’s you.”
Allen smiled, “Thanks Derpy… I can always count on you to motivate me to continue on this. Well I guess I’m going to call it a night, feel free to continue talking without me, I’m just going to drown it all out anyway. Night Silvia, Derpy.”

Allen pulled a blanket out of his saddlebag as he laid down on it and started to fall asleep. Silvia then looked at Derpy and replied, “Well if anything, those wounds helped him fall asleep faster. It’s funny just how devoted he is to finishing this journey. To be honest I would have turned back by now.”
Derpy hesitated before replying with a question, “Um… Silvia? Do you know what humor means?”
Silvia was confused by the random question, but since she saw no harm in it, she replied, “Well, Humor means to laugh doesn’t it?”
Derpy nodded her head, “I know that… but what does it mean when you use it like, I’m gonna humor you?”
Silvia replied, “Oh… well in that way, it would mean to make fun of somepony by letting them do what they want. For example, if Allen approached be out of the blue before our life debt, and said that he was going to fly by jumping off a cliff, I would probably humor him and watch him attempt it just to see if he was serious.”
Derpy hung her head in disappointment, “Oh… and to pity means to feel sorry for somepony… right?”
Silvia gave Derpy a skeptic look as she hesitated with her reply, “Um… Yea… Derpy? Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”
Derpy shook her head, “Well… I just remember hearing somepony say those words while I was poisoned, and I didn’t understand how they were said.”
Silvia though to herself as she replied, “Really?”

Derpy gave a fake yawn as she tried to end the conversation, “Well I’m feeling tired now too. I better get some sleep myself. Good night Silvia… I'll see you in the morning bright and early.”
Derpy laid back down on her blanket and turned over pretending to fall asleep almost instantly. Meanwhile Silvia started wondering about Derpy’s questions as she replied, “Yea… I guess you will.”
She didn’t know what was bringing about these questions, but she knew that whatever it was, it was deep enough to make a pony as innocent as Derpy lie, so she didn’t like it one bit. But since it was starting to get late, she decided that it was a matter better dealt with in the morning. Therefore, Silvia just finished off her drink, put away the items she used, and went to sleep. As the group laid in the chasm right next to the staircase leading to the surface, Equinox and Shade watched from one of the towers in the Castle of the two sisters. As he watched, he could only mumble to himself, “Rest easy tonight sis, but eventually, I'll get what’s rightfully mine, and nopony will stop me.”
As he watched, Shade asked, “So… why are we here anyway? Isn’t this castle off limits for some reason?”
Equinox nodded his head, “Yea… but that doesn’t matter, I’m only here for one reason. You got your bow on you?”

The soldier gave him a funny look as he unslung the bow that was on him and replied, “Well yea I always got my bow on me. Why?”
Equinox smiled, “Let me see it for a second, and give me an arrow too… I only need one.”
Shade pulled the arrow from his quiver as he gave Equinox what he asked for, “What do you need these for?”
Equinox smiled sinisterly as he laid the arrow across the bow and aimed out the window of the tower, “You’ll see…”
As equinox aimed at his living target, Shade started to ask, “Wait… are you going to kill her now?...”
Equinox smiled, “I’m only taking care of somepony who could put a wrench in my plans. That’s all.”
Shade started to get an uneasy feeling, “But… killing her in her sleep? There isn’t any honor in this.”
Equinox continued aiming his bow as he replied, “And what would you know about honor… just shut up and let me focus.”
“But Nox…”
“Shut up Shade…”
“You shouldn’t do this! It isn’t right!”
Equinox sighed, “I said it before and I’ll say it again… shut up!”
“But this isn’t the way you should kil-”

As Shade tried to reason with him, Equinox released his arrow sending it from the tower directly at his target with pinpoint accuracy. Shade quickly rushed to another window, but what he saw confused him greatly. The arrow was not only was the arrow going to miss Silvia, but it wasn’t heading for the ravine at all. Instead, the fast arrow flew towards a large bush that sat just outside the ravine, and vanished as it entered the brush. The soldier was confused as he looked at the crooked smile on Equinox’s face, then back at the bush. A few seconds later, a cloaked figure could be seen crawling out of the bush with an arrow embedded in his side. Completely shocked at what he saw, the soldier looked back at his leader as Equinox spoke with confidence, “What?... you didn’t think I was that low did you? Well, now that we found the party pooper… let’s invite him to a party of our own.”
The soldier could only watch in confusion as Equinox tossed the bow back to him, then dove from the tower towards their wounded adversary. Watching Equinox fly away, Shade slung his bow and mumbled to himself, “Actually… I did.”

With his weapon secured, Shade jumped out the windows of the tower and followed Equinox as they flew towards the wounded figure. On the ground, the wounded pony crawled as fast as he could as he mumbled to himself, “I… gotta tell… the boss…”
As the wounded pony desperately crawled to save himself, Equinox dove down and snatched the pony up by his cloak as he carried him off without any suspicion from the sleeping travelers in the ravine. Then with his prey completely helpless, Equinox flew to a nearby clearing and dropped the wounded pony on the ground, leaving him to roll as he hit the ground. As the two bat ponies swung around for a final approach, Equinox looked at Shade as he spoke, “You know what to do Shade… Shadow Arrow.”
Shade nodded his head as he dove into the forest and vanished amongst the trees.

Down on the ground, the cloaked earth pony struggled to pick himself up as he looked at the landing bat pony and spoke, “E-Equinox…”
Equinox smiled as he replied, “I’m not surprised you know who I am… especially since mommy dearest is your boss… and not like I give a bit what your name is, but go ahead and humor me… which rich little family did mom drag you from? Shores, Melody, or are you one of the lower upper-class ponies outside Canterlot?”
The earth pony replied over his pain as he slowly griped his weapons that were concealed under his cloak, “You gotta be plum crazy to think I'll tell ya my name. Especially since ya already tried to kill me.”
Equinox smiled, “Well that’s an interesting accent, sounds to me like you’re a country noble… hmm so, I would guess you’re a member of the Rich family aren’t you?... let’s see… Stinking rich isn’t a member of The Cutters anymore, and Filthy turned the offer down, so I could only assume you’re one of the elder Cutters members… Jedidiah Rich, father of Filthy rich and son of Stinking rich… am I right?”
Jedidiah smiled, “You ain’t as dumb as you look. You’re the bosses son alright… no doubt about it. But why pray tell are ya followin’ your little sister round?”
Equinox smiled as he slowly drew his sword, “C’mon, just cuz I proved I’m not dumb doesn’t mean that you gotta pretend you are… you know darn well why I’m here.”
Seeing Equinox change his stance to one that was a common offense made him irritated as he replied, “So… the attack on Silvia really was a set up… and you did it yourself… but why would ya turn against your own kin?”
Equinox smiled sinisterly at his foe as he replied, “I'd tell you, but then it would be a waste of time. You won’t live long enough to do anything about it.”

Jedidiah sneered at Equinox as he ignored his wound and stood at a defensive stance, “You may have the upper hoof, but you’re forgettin’ one thing.”
Equinox stared back without any change in his evil smile, “Really, and what’s that?”
Jedidiah smiled, “IM AND ELDER MEMBER OF THE CUTTERS!!!”
With that call, Jedidiah stood up on his hind hooves and tossed two miniature sickles threw the air as they both flew towards Equinox at an alarming speed. However, Equinox lunged forward, as he knocked the two airborne weapons out of his way with his sword before charging at the wounded pony. As Equinox came within striking range, he swung his sword with the hopes of taking Jedidiah down with one strike, but before the blade made contact, Jedidiah pulled a third sickle from his cloak and blocked the attack. As the two stood with the blades pressed against each other, the two ponies glared at each other as Equinox smiled, “Old, Wounded, and still putting up a fight… you’re a true inspiration to The Cutters. It’s too bad, that I don’t believe in fighting fair.”
Jedidiah’s expression started to change from angry to confused, but before he could say anything, something flew out of the forest and hit cloaked stallion on his side. Equinox’s smile grew more and more sinister as Jedidiah’s widened eyes started to look down at what it was that caused his shock. When he looked down, Jedidiah saw that the arrow that was already embedded in his side was now joined by a second.

Jedidiah cringed in shock as he watched the second wound begin to bleed, but just then, a third arrow flew out of the dark forest and hit him with enough impact to knock him to the ground as Jedidiah laid motionless on the ground. With victory already assured, Equinox kicked Jedidiah weapon from his hoof as he began trotting around the gasping earth pony in a gloating manner, “Don’t take it personal Mr. Rich. I have plans for the future and all of them are centered on what will happen in seven years. So in order for everything to be perfect, I gotta ensure things are taken care of ahead of time. You know, do today what can’t wait for tomorrow… or something like that.”
Equinox looked over as Shade stepped out of the forest, “Good shot Shade… looks like you’re on my cool list again.”
Shade nodded his head with a smile as Jedidiah mumbled through his pain, “W-why?...”
Equinox smiled as he looked down at the dying pony, “You do know what’s supposed to happen in seven years don’t you? On the night of the Summer Sun Festival? Surely somepony in an organization as old as The Cutters knows the old pony tale.”
Jedidiah eyes widened, “N-Night… M-ma-”
Equinox approached the pony as he replied, “Yea… you know her well don’t you? She and her commander will return. And when they do? We bat ponies will finally take what’s ours. But to do that? I gotta take my lame little sister out of the picture. The dusk of a new age will come, but as we watch the world change…”
Equinox raised his sword up as his smile turned to a heartless scowl, “You won’t...”
With that said, Equinox dropped his blade down and with one fatal blow, he ended the life of that fair noble right then, and right there.

Comments

[Albino pygmy rhino117]

No one told me you already started this story

[Priceless911]

4733294
sorry I figured everybody was keeping up ith it.

[Albino pygmy rhino117]

I forgive you... for now