Your Human and You: A Tale of Silence

by RedmoonLevee

Chapter 4: The meeting.

The train ride went smoothly. When we boarded, we were given our own car and we just sat there. The unicorn tried to cast some spells but I stopped him with a quick flick of his horn. His earth pony friend winced with every breath, telling me that I had broken his ribs with that kick. The trip was spent in silence, but I didn't mind.

The walk to the train was interesting. I keep my hands together at the wrists to look like I was under control and bound. I also had to leave my katana, but I still had many weapons at my disposal. I still had my knives and chains along side my many bombs, I just hope I didn't need to use any of them.

When the train finally stopped, I did a quick check of all my gear. Lock picks, check. Knives, check. Diamond cutting cord, check. Flash bangs and smoke bombs, check. Caltrops, check. Shuriken, check. Grappling hook and climbing cord, check. I had everything I would need to escape if things went south.

The guards rose and escorted me from the train onto the platform, making it look like a basic transfer of a prisoner. As we disembarked, I pulled up my mask, just for the comfort that it provided. The crowd around the platform gave us some space as we passed through them. I mostly watched the shops and crowds as we walked, looking for a quick way out of the city if I needed it.
The city itself was beautiful, with marble and stone were everywhere. We walked past several places that had a “No Humans Allowed” sings outside the door. But one place made me stop in my tracks. Scratches, a restaurant that catered to both human and ponies, stood out on a street corner. Its big flashing sign competing with another blinking out Doughnut Joe's.

We finally reached the castle gates where we were stopped.

“Why are you to bringing a human here,” the guard at the gate asked curtly.

“Princess summoned him, we’re taking him there now,” the unicorn responded.

Before anything else was said, a large white winged and horned pony came up the path to the front gate. Her mane and tail were tri-colored and whipped back and forth in an ethereal fashion. But what drew my attention was the crown upon her head. As she stepped up to us, the guards knelt down in a bow.

“Princess Celestia, good evening.”

The princess tittered at the guards, covering her snout with a hoof.

“Rise, my little ponies. I'm here to collect our guest,” she spoke with a gentle voice. “Follow me, stranger.”

She led me through the gates and into the courtyard. As we walked I surveyed the place for an escape route. Bushes would provide cover for a mad dash to the gate, but not much else. The path through the courtyard was a fairly long one, about fifty meters from the gate to the front doors, making a straight run out of the question.

The front doors were a grand affair, all tall strong wood and beautiful carvings. They seemed to be heavy, but Celestia pushed them open with little effort. The inside of the castle was bright and well light, giving me little shadows to work with if I needed to run. The halls wound this way and that as we walked, leaving me somewhat confused with the layout. Even my mapping program was starting to glitch.
She led me through the castle, passed several guards, into a room where Luna sat waiting. The room was elegant in design, a few painting on the wall and a table small enough for four to sit comfortably. The table was made of highly polished wood, giving the dark wood a reflective surface. But what got my attention the most was the plate full of meat sitting atop the table.

The princesses had gathered meat for me, and had even cooked it. The tray containing the meat was piled high with what looked like beef. The meat smelled delicious, even if it was off putting to the princesses.

“Sit, enjoy the meal we have,” Celestia said as she sat at the table herself. “You have nothing to fear, sister told me of your meeting.”
I looked at the table and couldn't help but hear my stomach growl. The table was low enough that I could sit on the floor and still eat comfortably, so I settled down with my legs crossed and grabbed a plate.

Though most of the food was veteran fair, the spread was a sight to see. Steamed greens from green beans to broccoli and fried red and yellow peppers with cucumbers and lettuce with tomatoes and fresh spinach. White and brown rice were mixed with an assortment of other things that made my mouth water. So I loaded up my plate with the food and added some of the meat to the top.

I reached into my belt pouch and produced a set of chopsticks and tucked into my meal. The vegetables were cooked to perfection, soft with just enough snap that gave a satisfying crunch. The meat tasted Divine as I popped a chunk into my mouth. I hummed happily as I consumed my meal.

My bliss was interrupted by a sense that something was watching me. As a Shinobi, I had trained myself to build a sixth sense to alert me to unknown or unseen dangers. It felt like a pull on my attention or the twitch of a thought that would build as the danger grew closer.
When I felt this pull, I set my plate down so I could have one of my hands free in case I needed to react. As the pull became stronger, I let the knife in my sleeve slide into my palm and waited.

I didn't have to wait long. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow move where none should. With a flick of my wrist, I sent the knife flying and rolled back to my feet. I pulled free my chain and stood at the ready.
The shadow turned out to be a pony. He had a dark gray coat and a lighter mane and tale. He wore a dark red suit vest and a crimson orb pendant with bat wings clasping a small scarf that was tucked into the vest. The most striking thing about this pony was his wings. His wings, that were flared out with the shock of having a knife sticking in the wall just in front of his snout, were leathery and had a claw at the fold.

He turned and eyed me as he folded his wings and hooked them at his chest with the claws.

"I do hope you intended to miss with that throw, I would like to not bleed all over the floor," he said with a smirk. "That would be a grievous waste of blood."

Luna and Celestia stared openly as I returned my chain to my belt and returned to my seat.

“Sister, what did you say he was,” Celestia asked.

Luna turned to the knife in the wall. “He called himself a Shinobi, though he didn't say much about what they did.”

“Well, I think we found out some of what they do,” said the bat pony.

I chose that moment to speak. “A Shinobi is known by another name. We are called Ninja.”

They looked confused at that. It never occurred to me that this world never had ninja or their like. All save for the bat pony, whose jaw had nearly fallen off his face.

“Shinobi trained to be shadows, to never be seen unless we want you to see us,” I started to explain. “From a young age, we are taught the way of Ninjutsu. How to escape sight or to blind into a crowd, how to use our environment to move around unseen and how to get into places we really shouldn't be. We learn how to make smoke bombs and flash powder, how to conceal something small on our body and to trick someone with words or movements. We were trained to gather information and to sabotage anything that may cause a problem.

“We learn about magic and how to counter it. Some of us even learn how to use it. Sabotage, espionage, infiltration, security, and gathering information from others are a few things we also learn.”

I let this sink in before I dropped the true bomb on them.

“But, what my clan was truly trained to do is to kill. There really is no nice way of putting it. We are trained in poisons and their applications, how to make them and where to find the ingredients. We learn where on the body to strike for the cleanest kill or crippling blow.”

That takes them by storm, even the bat pony is pulled from his stupor by the shock.

“My clan believes that death is an art, and should only be used as a last resort. But we still must learn how to perfect that art. Sadly that is why I am one of the last of my clan.”

I can't help but sigh at this thought. Being the last of something is never a good thing. It means an end to something, leaving nothing to build the beginning of something else. Its so final, like history that will never be found again.

“You are the last Shinobi,” asked the bat pony.

“No, just the last of my clan.”

“How did you become the last,” Celestia asked.

“After my first solo mission, I was captured and chained to a wall by the man who hired my clan. He said that there could be no witnesses and had men moving to burn my dojo to the ground and kill everyone there. I cut off my own hand to escape and tried to beat him to my home, but I arrived too late.”

I shuttered at the memory before continuing. “By the time I got there, only five of us remained to defend against the force of two hundred. We stood for an hour fighting to take back our home, but we were pushed back, nearly missing our chance to escape. When we escaped, those that were left took a vow. We swore to seek revenge, no matter how long it took."

The bat pony cocked his eyebrow and asks, "Did you ever get that revenge?"

"No, time and someone else got to him first," I sighed. “We were left adrift after that day, never to reform our clan. I lost contact with the other four before I came here.”

“So what will you do now,” Luna asked.

“The only thing I can do,” I say with a determined look. “I will train and wait for a job to present itself.”

They stared at me for a moment, confused and a little shocked at what I just said. This made me sigh.

"I have nothing else," I said. "I don't know this world, or how it works. I don't know if the rules are the same, or if the things I use to do would get me thrown in prison. My talents don’t fall into anything within a ‘normal life.’”

“You have nothing to worry about,” Luna said with a sad smile. “My sister and I have been looking into a few things and will continue looking. But we may have use for you and your talents, now that we know what they are.”

This gives me pause. They were looking into a few things? Were they looking into disposing of me? Or were they after some of the secrets that I held? I did my best to hide my discomfort at this statement as my mind raced to formulate a plan of escape.

“In the meantime,” Celestia piped up. “I’m sure you would like to stay somewhere safer than where you are staying now.”

My paranoia kicked into high gear at her words. I began to go over the map in my hud. I tracked our path, but I would need more than that to get out.

“Sister,” Luna chastised. “There is no need for that.” She then turned to me. “If you would like, we can put you up here in the castle for the night. It might give you some peace and quiet, Ponyville tends to get hectic over the winter.”

This did little to settle me, but I wasn’t about to go dashing into a city I didn’t know, through guards and servants that may cause more trouble than I needed right now.

So I took the offer with a hesitant nod.

Author's Note:

Comments

[General Brony]

Soooo... The necromancy isn't necessary?

...Now what am I going to do with this ravens heart, or that mandrake root?

THINK ABOUT THE UNBORN FETUS I HAVE IN A JAR! THAT DOES NOT HAVE A GREAT SHELF LIFE!!!

Two more days! Tops!

[RedmoonLevee]

6109376
Use it for the next chapter. Lord knows when that will be done.

[Solarkness]

6109382 Then it will be dead already...

And what am I supposed to do with the virgin now? I wanted to sacrifice it to allow him to gain a power allowing him to control lifeforms nearby, so he could escape! ARGH!

[Corneredbadger]

YAY, NEW CHAPTER!!!! that said...

a “No Humans Allowed” sings

signs

a few painting on

paintings

the food was veteran fair,

im assuming thats supposed to be vegan or vegetarian
Divine doesnt need to be capitalized.
The parts where he whispers could go up a few font sizes. its terribly hard to read.

[Corneredbadger]

6110027 I can think of a few uses for one

[babyangel2014]

good chapter and take your time on the next chapter it will come

[ArchAngelGundam]

That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.

[RedmoonLevee]

6132400
Thanks for the help, as for the fount size, he is hard to hear. So I thought to make it hard to read what he says to reflect that.

P.S. The next chapter is almost done. So yay!

[RedmoonLevee]

7393377
Thanks for seeing that. I fixed it. As for the vile liquid... Evil Nanites! they ate his brain!

[gamer4COD]

More, please?

[IZombie]

Give us MORE!

[Kanna]

It's sad to see all these good stories dead....