The Featherblade Legacy

by Mysterious Stranger

Chapter 13: Mysterious voices are mysterious

After running for a few minutes, Sharp Wing finally stopped and started to calm down. It wasn't the end of the world right? She still had a week. She could find out how to change back before she lost her mind. She turned around to go back to the others just as the ground suddenly caved in beneath her hooves. Caught completely off guard, she tumbled down a tunnel that seemed to be sloping downwards. After a minute of pain she landed with a thud on cold hard rock. Warily, she took in her new surroundings. The place she had fallen into was mostly dark, but it felt like a large room. The only light came from the opening above, shining down on an object made of stone. Sharp Wing felt her breath catch in her throat.

It was a coffin.

"Okay, so I'm in a tomb or something now. Not creepy at all," Sharp Wing said aloud.

Out of curiosity, Sharp Wing approached the coffin to read the inscription.

Here lies Sharp Wing Featherblade. May his sacrifice never be forgotten.

Sharp Wing screamed and jumped back. Then she moved forward again and reread the inscription just to make sure. It was her name all right.

"Um, hi, please don't freak out." a young stallion's voice said suddenly.

"Sweet Celestia!" Sharp Wing swore, spinning around. She couldn't see anyone.

"You shouldn't use Princess Celestia's name so lightly," admonished another voice, this one older and gruffer sounding.

"Who said that?!" Sharp Wing demanded.

"Please calm down. We just want to talk to you," requested the younger voice.

"How about you come into the light where I can see you first," Sharp Wing snapped.

"Actually, you couldn't see me no matter where I am."

"Same here," added the older voice.

Sharp Wing felt as if her mind had gone numb.

"I've already lost touch with reality haven't I?" she said.

"No, we're real. Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Sharp Wing Featherblade," announced the young voice.

"And I'm Steel Horn Featherblade," said the gruff older voice.

Sharp Wing decided to play along with the insanity.

"So your name is the same as mine huh? You must be me from the future or something."

"Not even close. I was actually born way before you, so how about you call me Sharp Wing and we'll call you Sharp Wing junior."

"Technically you're the junior because your father was also named Sharp Wing," argued Steel Horn.

"How about you're Stallion Sharp Wing, and I'm just Sharp Wing," suggested Sharp Wing, thinking how amazing it was that the voices in her own head could give her a headache.

"Fine, that works," agreed Stallion Sharp Wing. "But you do realize Steel Horn and I are not figments of your imagination right?"

"I'm doubtful."

"My coffin is right behind you."

"Wait, are you saying you're a ghost?" stammered Sharp Wing.

"You catch on fast."

"So you're like, dead?"

"That's usually a requirement for being a ghost."

Sharp Wing plopped down on her rear.

"This is too much," she said tiredly.

"Are you ready to hear what we have to say?" asked Steel Horn.

"First I want to ask you something. Are you my ancestor, Emperor Steel Horn Featherblade?" guessed Sharp Wing.

"That is correct," confirmed Steel Horn.

"And you must Emperor Sharp Wing Featherblade, the crazy psycho who tried to kill Princess Celestia and Princess Luna so they couldn't use the elements of harmony against him," deduced Sharp Wing as she pointed in the general direction of the young sounding voice.

"Close, I'm his son."

Sharp Wing blinked. Of course, since she had the last name of Featherblade, it made sense that Emperor Sharp Wing would have to have at least one son.

"So why are you buried in Zebrawbway instead of Equestria?" she asked Stallion Sharp Wing.

"Long story short, this is where my brother killed me, in the tomb of my great great grandfather. Princess Celestia made the coffin for me."

"That sucks," Sharp Wing said bluntly.

“Yeah, I would have preferred to die when I was older, but I did go out with style."

Sharp Wing was surprised to find she was getting more comfortable with talking to a dead pony.

"How so?"

"I was helping Princess Celestia and Princess Luna gather all of the elements of harmony. The last one was here in the lowest level, the actual chamber of the body of my great times two grandfather. Unfortunately, my older brother got here first and already had the element. So we all start fighting and junk for a while and then my brother and I charge past each other. That's when he stabbed me with a dagger."

"How is that dying with style?"

"I'm getting there. I totally could have stabbed him too, but instead I had snatched the element of loyalty off his neck without him noticing. So I'm dying, and he's laughing, and I ask him if I could say one last word to Celestia before he finished me off. And he's the bad guy, so of course, he agrees because he's so confident he won."

"And that’s when you gave the element to Princess Celestia?"

"Stop interrupting, this is where gets good. So next I stealthily put the element of loyalty on her necklace with her other two elements while we were making out. Then I look at my brother and I'm all like, we win sucker! Before I died."

Sharp Wing tried to picture Princess Celestia making out with somepony but couldn't.

"You made out with Princess Celestia," she said dubiously.

"You bet, that's how you die with style. Save Equestria, make out with the Princess, and get the last laugh. You should be flattered your parents named you after me."

"I thought my parents named me after Emperor Sharp Wing."

"Dude, why the hay would they name you after my psycho father?"

"I guess your story makes more sense," Sharp Wing conceded.

"Heck yeah it does. My legacy is awesome and I guarantee you'll never be able to top it."

"Speaking of legacies, the real reason we brought you here was to talk about yours," interrupted Steel Horn.

"My legacy?"

"Yes, yours, and the entire Featherblade line. Since you clearly didn't know who you were named after, I'm going to spell it out for you. Every Featherblade who ruled Equestria was evil, including myself."

"I knew that already," Sharp Wing pointed out.

"Do you always interrupt you elders when they're talking?"

"Sorry, I'll shut up."

"Good. Like I was saying, every Featherblade who took the throne was corrupt, and it all started with me."

Steel Horn paused, as if daring Sharp Wing to interrupt again. She didn't take the bait.

"It started out as revenge. Simple revenge. A monster had ambushed me and snapped the upper part of my horn off. So I went after it and killed it. Everypony thought I was a hero because I had defeated it. But in truth, it opened the doorway to corruption. Taking a life out of revenge, even a monster's life, changes the hearts of ponies. It makes killing easier."

"Sorry to interrupt, but how is killing a monster a bad thing? It could have hurt other ponies or something," cut in Sharp Wing.

"You're right, sometimes violence is necessary. But the reason for killing has a lot more to do with it than who, or what, you're killing. I wasn't killing that monster because it was dangerous, I was killing it because I hated it. My acts of so called valor gained me a reputation, and before too long I wound up ruling Equestria. The reasons for my murders became weaker as time went by. When a pony said something I didn't like, I had him or her executed, easy as that. Equestria lived in fear of their emperor, but none dared to try and overthrow me. But I hadn't realized what I had become. My way of life, my philosophy, was passed down to my firstborn son, who became the next emperor. In trying to raise my own foal like a good father, I had passed on my evil ways. This became the sad legacy of the Featherblades."

"But I broke the combo. Because I'm awesome like that," chimed in Stallion Sharp Wing.

"Yes you did," sighed Steel Horn. "There was a prophecy, you see, that two alicorn sisters, one for the sun and one for the moon, would be born and become the new rulers and bring about an age of peace and prosperity that would last forever. The fact Celestia and Luna had both horns and wings should have been proof enough that the prophecy was true. But my great grandson refused to relinquish the throne and ordered for them to be killed. The alicorn sisters took my great great grandson here hostage and escaped."

"Did you have to mention that part?" complained Stallion Sharp Wing.

"I can't let your ego get too big can I?"

"It's not at all relevant to what we're doing here."

"Neither was your rant about your glorious death."

"Whatever."

"What does any of this have to do with me?" asked Sharp Wing.

"It's to show you the path you almost took when you decided to kill the manticore," Steel Horn explained.

"What, you think I would have turned evil and taken over Equestria?" Sharp Wing laughed. "I'm flattered you think I could succeed!"

"We've made a habit of watching over our descendents to make sure the Featherblades never return to power," said Steel Horn.

"Personally, I doubt you could take over Equestria, but why let you go bad and cause any harm?" quipped Stallion Sharp Wing.

"History does have an odd way of repeating itself," Steel Horn said wisely.

Suddenly another thought came to Sharp Wing.

"Wait, earlier you said you brought me here for this talk. But I left Equestria under my own free will."

"We sort of kind of indirectly manipulated you into coming here," confessed Stallion Sharp Wing. "No hard feelings right?"

Suddenly everything clicked into place for Sharp Wing. She had thought the Poison Joke had turned her into a mare, but the bath mixture had cured Night Mist only. Twilight Sparkle had said there was a spell for changing a pony's gender, but it had been outlawed to teach to others over a thousand years ago.

By Emperor Steel Horn Featherblade.

"It was you!" Sharp Wing screamed accusingly.

"I guess you do have hard feelings after all," said Stallion Sharp Wing painfully.

"You turned me into a mare!"

"Now, Sharp Wing, try to look at the big picture here," cautioned Steel Horn.

"You turned me into a mare, and tricked me into coming all the way to Zebrawbway?! And for what, to tell me how to live my life?!" Sharp Wing yelled in rage, "Who do you think you are to interfere with my decisions?!"

"Dang it, Sharp Wing, this isn't just about you. The path you almost took could have had bad effects on others," said Steel Horn sternly.

"Like what, taking over Equestria?! I couldn't do that even if I wanted to! This is just you two being arrogant, self-righteous, judges just because you're my ancestors!"

"Actually, my brother is the one who kept the Featherblade name going. I died before I ever had the chance to have foals, so we're not related," corrected Stallion Sharp Wing.

"Okay, maybe you taking over Equestria is a bit of a stretch, but ponies who kill out of revenge become very dangerous to others. We had no choice but to interfere," relented Steel Horn.

"Yeah, well, you know what? I'm going to do the exact opposite of what you wanted! I'm going to kill monsters and bad guys for whatever reasons I want to!"

"You do that, and you'll remain a mare. Your mind will destroy itself before you can hurt others with your decisions. They'll lock you away forever," Steel Horn said harshly.

"I don't freaking care! I'm not going to let you blackmail me into acting the way you think I should act! We're done here!"

And with that, Sharp Wing flew up out of the tomb and into the world above.