Age of Kings

by A bag of plums

30 - How to Train Your Horse, Part 2

“Now, put one foot here…” Iron Hoof demonstrated, putting his foot into a dangling triangle shape attached to the saddle. “And then the rest is straightforward.”

The bearded stablemaster swung himself up and over the saddle, then sat down atop the horse.

“Easy enough, is it not, Em?” Spectrum Song watched, one hand holding the reins of Emerald’s chosen horse, Foxtrot, who seemed more interested in the haystacks by the stable. “Do what Iron Hoof did. You’ve gotten up on horses before. This is no different.”

“Feels different.” Emerald tried to get atop Foxtrot, but when she slipped her leg into the saddle’s stirrup, the horse moved forward, almost sending the former pegasus down on her back. “Foxtrot, stay, please.”

The horse seemed to pay no attention to her, his eyes still on the haystack by the stable.

“Spectrum, would you keep him still while I get on?” Emerald put her foot in the step again. “Such strange contraptions you have here… At least they make sense. You need this to get up on the horses.”

“It’s called a stirrup, and remember, it’s the same as getting atop Windspeed. Just that… he behaves better.” Spectrum held Foxtrot’s neck from the front.

Emerald tried mounting Foxtrot again, but it was a lot harder without someone already on the horse to pull her up. Eventually she got one foot in the stirrup and she swung a leg up and over the saddle, sitting somewhat awkwardly atop the horse.

“So, uh, what do I do now?” Emerald said, trying to settle into a comfortable position.

“Here,” Spectrum said, passing the reins to Emerald. “You can control the horse with these.”

Emerald took the reins, holding them tightly. She gave them a little wave. “Uh, go!” Foxtrot remained on the spot. Emerald whipped the reins a bit harder. “Go, Foxtrot!”

Nothing.

“Emerald,” Spectrum said with a grin. “You don’t get horses to go by using those.”

“But you just said I could control the horse with them,” Emerald pointed out.

“Yes, but to get the horse to start moving, you have to give it a nudge with your heels. Just give Foxtrot a little kick.”

“But I don’t want to kick him,” Emerald protested. “He’s the same as I am. Uh, mostly. You humans already treat them with such harsh conditions. I don’t want to add on to it. I mean no disrespect, Spectrum.”

“I get it.” The squire nodded and walked back over next to the saddle. “Hmm… Do it gently, then. That is how we train our horses to move here.”

Emerald didn’t want to do it, but she knew it was likely the only way to get Foxtrot to start moving, so she hesitantly lifted one foot up. She brought it back against the horse, tapping the back of her armored foot against Foxtrot’s side.

“Move, please.”

The horse looked over at Spectrum, then back to the hay again, but didn’t move a step.

“C’mon, let’s go, Foxtrot!” Emerald rocked back and forth in the saddle, trying to get her steed to move. He did not.

Emerald was running out of patience with the horse, but she still resolved not to kick him. She didn’t want to have to harm her own kind, especially in front of the humans when she kept saying they needed to treat them better.

“You and I are the same, Foxtrot,” Emerald tried to reason with him again. “I know we can become the best of friends, so could you please go?”

The horse snorted, but made no effort to move.

“You are beginning to test my patience, Foxtrot…” Emerald hissed. Sure, she loved her kind, but even that only went so far. “Go. Move. Walk.”

Still nothing.

“You have to give him a kick, Em. It’s what he’s taught,” Spectrum reminded, giving her lute a few strums.

“The young squire is correct, Lady Emerald Edge.” Iron Hoof rode over on his stallion, stopping beside Emerald and Foxtrot. “Just a simple kick. It does them no harm, I can assure you.”

“I have to kick you if you continue to refuse to move, Foxtrot.” Emerald looked at the horse, trying to meet his eyes, which wasn’t easy as she was practically staring at the back of his head. “I don’t want to do it, but I will if you continue to ignore me.”

Foxtrot did nothing.

“Okay, I did warn you…” Emerald raised her left leg and gave Foxtrot a stern kick with her heel. The horse whinnied and shot off out to the castle courtyard like an arrow from a bow. It was all Emerald could do to hang on to the reins. Spectrum had just barely gotten out of the way by throwing herself to the side.

“Woah! Slow down! Stop!”

Emerald had to steer Foxtrot to the side, almost colliding into the castle wall. Thankfully, the horse was still mostly obeying her reins, or else her mission was going to have an early end.

Unfortunately, her horse didn’t slow down, continuing to gallop forward like a mad stallion.

“Foxtrot, stop! Please stop!” The spymaster held on tightly to her reins, afraid she would be sent flying if she let them go. Though that wouldn’t be a problem if she still had her wings.

A group of knights training with the straw dummies suddenly appeared in her vision and tried hard to steer Foxtrot away from them. Unfortunately, she couldn’t manage in time, so she did the next best thing.

“Move! Move! Get out of the way, I cannot stop!” she yelled to them.

She would’ve hit one of the knights, but thankfully, he had the sense to throw himself out of the way. Unfortunately for him, there was a wall there and he knocked himself out against it.

“I apologize! I cannot control him!” Emerald yelled back to them as Foxtrot did a big arc and started back towards the castle entrance.

Emerald tried various methods to try to get him to stop, like kicking him in the side again and pulling really hard on the reins, but nothing seemed to be working.

Only when Foxtrot had exited out onto the drawbridge did he ground his hooves to a stop, but that was only because he would’ve fallen off the bridge and into the murky moat below. Emerald Edge, however, was flung clear of her horse with the sudden stop, flipping twice in the air before falling head first into the water.

Everything seemed to grow quiet around Emerald right after piercing through the water’s surface. Her instincts taking over, Emerald stopped breathing and sealed her mouth shut, not wanting to swallow any water or worse, snort it in through her nose.

She began waving her arms around, trying to get back up to the surface, but these human limbs were quite different from her old ones, and getting up to the surface proved to be a challenge, especially with her armor on. Eventually she breached the surface with a gasp, treading water as best she could. Spectrum was at the edge of the moat with a rope, which she tossed at Emerald.

“Grab on!” the squire shouted.

Emerald didn’t need to be told twice and wrapped her fingers around the rope. Iron Hoof had come over to help Spectrum pull her up and Emerald was soon lying on her back on the drawbridge, panting from her ordeal.

“These human bodies… do not float… very well…” She looked skyward, not wanting to get up.

“Horses do not float very well themselves.” Spectrum coiled up the rope and tossed it aside.

Emerald slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position.

“Ugh… what happened to Foxtrot?”

Spectrum chuckled. “He went right back to his feed after he threw you off. I’m amazed he can eat so much hay and not get fat.”

Emerald frowned. “He’s not exactly a very duty-bound horse, is he?”

“Nah, not really,” Spectrum frowned. “You know, I heard a rumor that if nobody can tame him by the end of the year, they’re going to sell him to the butcher’s.”

“The butcher’s?” Emerald repeated, not getting it. “What’s a butcher?”

“Ah, I had forgotten, you don’t eat meat, Em.” Spectrum scratched the back of her head. “I um, I don’t know how to put this lightly, but a butcher is who you go to to buy your meat.”

There was a moment of silence as the gears in Emerald’s head turned.

“You mean the butcher will have to deal with this stubborn horse? I doubt he will have any better chance than I.” Emerald looked back to the stables.

“Well, uh, he won’t have to ‘deal’ with it like you might…” Spectrum said, shuffling her feet together. “Let me put it this way: if the butcher gets his hands on Foxtrot, a lot of people will eat well.”

The color drained out of Emerald’s face, leaving it a chalky white. She had forgotten how barbaric humans were, eating their own animal friends.

“I don’t want to think about it…” Emerald pulled at her wet hair. “Surely there must be something that can be done to prevent that from happening.”

Spectrum shrugged. “Well, hypothetically speaking, if he was your horse, then we couldn’t sell him to the butcher anymore, now could we?”

“I shall have to train him, then?” Emerald squeezed water from her ponytail. “I will not let Foxtrot become food for someone else. No I will not. And where did you learn such a big word like ‘hypothetical’, young filly?”

Spectrum put on a smug look. “I hear Sir Hors use it from time to time. Now go on, Em. Get back on Foxtrot and keep him off the dinner table.”

“I will.” Emerald got up and shook her body, trying to remove the excess water. “And if I cannot get him to listen, perhaps there is another way…”

---

“Come, Foxtrot, right this way.”

Emerald Edge led the golden coated horse back outside, held in her hands, a pitchfork and a small bundle of hay; it was the only reason why the horse was following her.

Everytime he got close enough to try to nibble the hay, Emerald took another few more steps back. It was working like magic. Foxtrot was following her without any resistance whatsoever. Perhaps food was her way to get through to him.

“That’s right, Foxtrot. I have a lot more. All you have to do is behave, yes?”

Once she was by the castle gates, Emerald set the pitchfork down, allowing Foxtrot to finally start eating. She looked past him to the stables, smiling at her accomplishment in getting him out for quite some distance.

“Good work, Em.” Spectrum Song walked over and picked up the pitchfork. “I need to get working on some of Sir Hors’ chores. Do you think you can handle him without me?”

“I suppose I will try, young Spectrum,” Emerald replied. “You better go on. Your knight isn’t as patient as the others.”

“Yes, not like Sir Morn or the others, that’s for sure.” Spectrum spun the pitchfork in her hand. “I wonder how he is doing now. I’m sure he’s teaching the druids some lessons.”

“I’m sure he is, Spectrum.” Emerald looked up at the sky and smiled. She wished Morn was here right now.

“Em, um, Foxtrot’s done.”

“What?” Emerald looked back down and spotted Foxtrot heading back to the stables. “No, not yet! Come back!”

She quickly took the pitchfork back from the squire and scooped up another bundle of hay, rushing over to the horse and waving it in his face.

“I have more! Would you like more hay, Foxtrot?”

The golden horse neighed in agreement and trotted towards her.

“Yes, come. Follow me.”

Emerald Edge stopped him beside the castle entrance again and readied herself. This time, she was going to get on him and show him who the boss was.

As the horse began eating, Emerald put the methods she had learnt to use and hopped atop Foxtrot’s back. While he was still eating, he didn’t seem to bother, which was a good thing.

Now the problem was getting him to move again, and to actually go in the direction she wanted.

“Maybe a place with more space… like a field perhaps…” Emerald thought out loud.

A field would allow her and Foxtrot to gallop around without her having to worry about trampling someone over. If she could only get him out of Canterlot’s grounds. The path from the castle entrance to the outer walls wasn’t the shortest path, but it was what she would have to get through before she could get outside.

Unless…

Reaching down from atop Foxtrot’s back, Emerald swung her arm out and caught the end of the pitchfork. Hauling it up, she pulled Foxtrot’s feed from his mouth and dangled it in front of his head, giving it a wave.

“You want it, Foxtrot? Go on. Get it,” she smiled.

The horse walked forward to grab the bundle of hay, but because Emerald was seated atop him, the hay moved forward as well. Emerald couldn’t stop herself from smiling as Foxtrot began to trot forward, trying to get the hay in his mouth.

“That’s right…” she muttered under her breath. “Just keep walking…”

As she exited out into the town, many of the townsfolk began looking her way, likely wondering what she was up to. Emerald didn’t like their gazes, so she pulled up her hood to hide her face.

The walk out the town was slightly relaxing for the former pegasus as she adjusted the pitchfork at every turn, sending Foxtrot down the right paths to the exit just like that. It gave Emerald plenty of time to think about herself and to get her ideas rolling.

She had already failed once, trying to retrieve the shield to return home to beat Sombra and she wasn’t going to fail again. By all means, if she did find another artifact on her stay here before the next tournament, then that would be all the more convenient, but if not, the shield was her current goal; though, if all else failed, stealing Dawn Saber’s Excalibur was still an option, though a really bad option.

As for Foxtrot, Emerald figured she could learn the reins once she had the open space and the lack of townsfolk. She didn’t want to treat Foxtrot like that, but he was just asking for it now.

“Let us see what I’m capable of as a human, Foxtrot.” Emerald looked over to the town gate as she got close enough to see the four guards stationed there.

They each stood to attention as Emerald arrived at the gate, slightly embarrassing the spymaster. She didn’t really like all this attention her status as a Knight of the Round Table was bringing her, but at least that meant she wasn’t going to get bothered.

“Um… c-carry on…” she said, hoping to get them to go back to what they were doing. “Just going to do some training.”

Then she spotted herself amongst the four guards, unable to mistaken the other Emerald’s pale green skin and purple eyes. The former pegasus gave her a wave with her hand before leaving the Canterlot grounds and finally arriving outside to the big open fields and woods. She dropped the pitchfork, allowing Foxtrot to finally chew on his hay once more. He didn’t seem bothered that he had walked out of Canterlot just to have it.

Now, Emerald figured as long as she avoided the trees, the rest seemed like it was going to be easy enough. All she had to do was figure out how to control her golden-coated friend.

“When you’re ready, Foxtrot…” Emerald grasped his reins tightly. She was going to figure this out, no matter how long she took. There was no way she was going to let Foxtrot end up on some human’s table.

She waited for the horse to finish up the last of his hay before raising a greaved foot to the side, tilting her heel towards Foxtrot’s body. Taking a deep breath, Emerald brought her foot back against Foxtrot’s side, the swift kick sending the horse galloping across the field in a zig-zag pattern.

“Easy, Foxtrot!” Emerald Edge pulled against the reins, trying to assert her control over him. She still didn’t like this, enslaving her own kind, but it was better than having him end up on the dinner table, after all.

The spymaster fought hard against the reins, pulling it from side to side as she tried to get her horse friend to turn where she desired. It was still rather tough, but she held on to the hope that she was making progress.

Thankfully out here, there was more than enough space for him to run. Emerald was afraid of running humans over back in town, but here, what was going to stop her?

“I want to be your friend, Foxtrot!” Emerald yelled as she tried to take control. “But I cannot if you will not let me!”

The golden-coated horse neighed and reared up on his hind legs before galloping through the field even faster, the sudden burst almost sending Emerald tumbling off.

If anything, Foxtrot was a fast horse. If she could indeed befriend him, he was the perfect horse for her.

“Woah!” Emerald tugged the reins, pulling up, trying to slow the horse down.

At first, nothing seemed to happen, but as time went on, Emerald soon began to see Foxtrot obey her commands. When she pulled left, he began galloping to the left and when she pulled right, the right.

“That’s it, Foxtrot. That’s it.” Emerald let herself smile. She was doing it. She was actually doing it.

She allowed herself the chance to look to the side, spotting the sun in the sky. It was now dipping low, just above the mountain range ahead, with the sky already turning a fiery orange. Emerald had taken quite some time, but she knew she was making progress now. It was just a matter-

Whoosh.

Something whizzed past the spymaster’s face. Emerald looked in the opposite direction, only to spot another arrow flying towards her.

“Woah!” She released the reins, allowing herself to fall off Foxtrot and to the grass below.

Foxtrot reared up again and began galloping away, just as Emerald began hearing a few cheers close by.

“There it goes! After it! It will fetch a high price!”

Emerald Edge quickly got to her feet, spotting a group of four humans standing by the tree line, while another three ran off after Foxtrot, who disappeared into the thicket.

“Foxtrot, come back!” Emerald called and sprinted towards the humans.

“Fire!” One of the humans pointed at her, while another raised a bow he was holding.

Unsheathing Amore from her scabbard, Emerald readied herself and kept her eyes alert, watching the one with the bow. As the arrow left his bow, Emerald breathed in and swiftly cut her sword downwards, at the same time, taking a step to the left, cutting the arrow cleanly in two.

“Aye, she’s a fighter! To arms! This horse will feed us well back at Rockstead!” the lead human called. She was a woman of less than average height with brown hair cut to her chin length. If she had to guess, these humans were likely bandits. Each of them had on a set of leather armor, likely skinned from other poor animals. “The horse will be ours! Whoever kills this woman gets to keep her armor and whatever bits she maybe be holding!”

The others cheered and drew longswords and shields, while the one with the bow reached for another arrow.

“You picked the wrong day to steal a horse…” Emerald narrowed her eyes at them and closed the distance.

The archer managed to get another arrow off, but Emerald had already moved, stepping to the side as the other two men ran in to engage her. Parrying the first man, Emerald spun around and cut him across the chest, her fine sword tearing right through his armor and drawing blood, then blocked the slash of the second man, before spinning around a shield bash, now on his blind side.

“What?”

Then Emerald stabbed down, piercing her sword through his thigh, the blade coming out on the other side. Then she ripped out her sword from his thigh and cut him across the other leg, sending him tumbling to the grassy surface.

Both humans now lay on the floor, their lives slowly seeping out of their wounds as Emerald quickly picked up one of their shields, using it to block another arrow from the archer.

“Stop her! She is but one woman!” The bandit leader slapped the archer on the head before drawing two shortswords from her back.

She looked like she was going to join in, but then turned on her heel and ran into the forest, disappearing with a puff of smoke.

The last bandit looked at Emerald hesitantly, but then raised his bow once more.

“Oh no you don’t!” Emerald ran at him, blocking another arrow with her shield before spinning and tossing it at him like a disc. It clubbed him in the face, knocking him back and allowing Emerald to run her sword through his chest.

When she pulled her sword back out, the spymaster turned her head, her eyes settling on the retreating bandit leader. Sheathing Amore, Emerald pulled her hood low over her eyes and gave chase, kicking up a patch of dirt with her first step.

I’m coming, Foxtrot.

She followed behind the bandit, willing her legs to move faster as she brushed plantation aside and weaved through the trees, her eyes focused on the leader as she moved.

Eventually, Emerald began hearing a faint neighing, coming from somewhere deeper in the forest. It had to be Foxtrot, and it sounded like he was in trouble.

“If any of you hurt him…” Emerald breathed and pressed on.

The bandit leader turned her head back, spotting Emerald and widening her eyes. She looked like she didn’t expect her to catch up so quickly.

“Leave my horse alone!” Emerald yelled to her and leapt over a rock.

“The horse is ours now!” The bandit leader suddenly made a sharp right turn, sliding herself down a short dirt slope, arriving at a clearing at the bottom.

And there Foxtrot was, kicking out inside a net on his side, unable to get up. The other three bandits were standing around him, each one having an axe or a sword.

“Foxtrot!” Emerald called.

“Kill her!” The leader pointed up at Emerald, who had stopped beside a tree, fire in her eyes.

Not wasting any time, Emerald Edge ran down the slope, keeping her legs apart enough to keep herself from losing balance. When she arrived at the clearing, the first bandit’s axe was already swinging for her head. Ducking, Emerald kicked out a foot, feeling her greave connect with the bandit’s knee, sending her falling to her side. With a swish of her hand, Amore was out in Emerald’s hand as she cut to the side, spraying a line of blood across the grass as the bandit stopped moving.

The bandit leader waved to the last two bandits to attack, as Emerald got up, lifting her sword, ready for their advance.

The first one swung his axe sideways at Emerald’s neck, but the former pegasus bent back and rolled away, then lunged back in with a fierce cut at the bandit’s midsection. Her sword tore right through his side and allowed Emerald to keep going on towards Foxtrot; she spotted the bandit chief behind her last lackey, slowly approaching, her two swords in hand.

Not slowing down, Emerald first blocked the bandit’s strike, then cutting down against his shoulder, lodging her sword into him, easily shearing through his leather armor. As he fell to his knees, Emerald used the bandit’s body as a springboard, not wanting to lose any of her momentum. Kicking off his shoulder with an armored foot, Emerald Edge found herself sailing high in the air, slowly descending towards the bandit chief, who had a look of surprise on her face.

For a while, Emerald remembered what it was like to fly again, to be up in the air with the wind against your face. It was a nice memory, but alas, all good things had to come to an end.

Unfurling her right arm’s hidden blade, Emerald drove its tip through the bandit chief’s neck before she even touched a foot to the ground, falling on top of the human, her blade still in her neck.

The bandit leader hacked and coughed as blood began to fill her mouth, her swords lying uselessly by her sides, knocked away when she fell.

“Rest now. There shall be no more horse thievery from you,” Emerald whispered and sheathed her hidden blade.

The bandit chief looked at Emerald in amazement and continued to do so after her eyes went glassy.

Standing, Emerald quickly retrieved Amore before rushing over to Foxtrot, who was still neighing under the net, unable to get up. Putting the sword through it, Emerald gently cut Foxtrot free, tossing part of the net to the side to help him stand up.

“You are safe now, Foxtrot. You are safe. You are to be nopon- uh, body’s dinner this night.”

The horse had stopped neighing frantically, instead, now giving Emerald a snort as she helped him back up on his hooves.

“What a day, huh?” Emerald wiped the sweat from her forehead and then looked up at the setting sun through the tree line. “Are you hurt?”

Foxtrot neighed and to Emerald’s surprise, gently nuzzled his snout against her face.

“Oh, I shall take it that you are unhurt.” Emerald smiled and rubbed his muzzle, resting her head against it. “What a relief.”

The horse snorted happily, then bent lower, like he was asking her to climb back on.

Emerald looked at him and couldn’t help but smile. It had been a long day, but it seems her hard work had finally paid off. “What do you say we go home, Foxtrot?”

---

Spectrum Song had just finished sweeping the last of the loose straw from the stables when she saw a familiar shape riding up to her from the lower streets.

“No way…” Spectrum dropped her broom and sprinted out to meet Emerald. “You got Foxtrot to listen to you?” She shook her head, grinning all over her big face. “How-How did you do it? That was the most stubborn horse I ever met!”

“It’s quite a story, Spectrum. Why don’t I tell it to you over a mug of ale? My treat.”

“I’m quite sure I’m still much too young to drink that, but if you insist, lady knight.” Spectrum smirked.

Emerald pulled the squire up onto Foxtrot’s back, and the two of them rode down into the city, anticipating a good evening.

---

Comments

[Jaxxon Markus Citadel]

It's a nice change, seeing Emerald go about her work as a knight. Still, that's not why she's really here. Once she gets an artifact, she'll be off to the portal. But I'm guessing it doesn't work, right? Otherwise Leap of Faith wouldn't have happened.

[Marcthelightspark2004]

8783194
Indeed. But, if you recall the flashbacks in Leap. She gets them all, but locks herself in the vault/library under Masyaf castle.

[Marcthelightspark2004]

8766656
Or, I could be wrong and Honey gold acts as an ansestor for both, cause if I remember right, the two are cousins. But then again..........
Either way , that lady is going to be important in some way.

The science of deduction. Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.