"The Traverser"

by TheTwins

Even Loud Princesses can sometimes fight

“The Traverser”

Chapter 4

I stood peering at the pristine pony before me, wondering who she was and realizing how thrilled I was for no particular reason at this encounter. This pony had brought forth some great energy into her voice as she commanded me to reveal myself. Having been discovered thanks to my trusty sidekick, I shrugged and walked into the clearing. “Ha-Ha, Hey there!” I said acting as if this were a laughable moment between friends.

The guards around her quickly tightened their ranks and eyed me warily. The blue pony, however, cautiously inched to the front of the group. “I shall ask again; what pony stands before the princess of the night so deep in these forbidden woods?”

I hear her ridiculous claims and hold back a very strong urge to laugh. “Well Princess of the night, if you have to ask, I am Silver Watch and as to why I am in these woods, I am exploring out of curiosity.” I start to casually walk towards here causing the guards to unsheathe their weapons and take a stance of defense.

The princess looks at me curiously and begins to question me some more. “Well young pony, you should know that these woods are home to creatures that no unarmed pony can hope to survive in. How is it that you managed to make it this far?”

The guard on her left growls and barks. “That’s obvious, this pony is obviously in cahoots with that monster Discord!”

I look at him and laugh. “I’ve heard of Discord, but I certainly am no friend of his. As to how I made it so far” Peacemaker appears and I unsheathe it grinning. “I’m not exactly defenseless, even without old peacemaker here.” I look at the now shocked group.

The guards tense up and raise their weapons. “How did you use magic!” The old guard in the rear asks. “You’re not a unicorn, you must have used some dark magic!”

The blue princess raises her wing to silence the group. “Hold, let’s not be too quick to judge, perhaps there is an explanation we have yet to hear. Silver Watch was it, I should like to know how you have conjured your weapon young earth pony?" She glares at me now, taking this encounter much more seriously.

I smile and sheath my blade. “I’m sorry princess, but I am going to have to deny that request, I hope you can understand my circumstances even though I cannot explain myself. However, you claim that I am young, but I believe I am the eldest here. I believe that calls for more than an honorific Princess of the night.” I raise my eyebrow and motion for her to do as implied.

One of the guards begins to walk towards me very obviously angry from my remarks. “How dare you talk to the princess in such a way! Get on your knees and beg for a pardon and maybe the teeth of my blade will be the harshest punishment you will receive.” The pony raises his sword as if he was preparing to deal me a quick blow.

My eyes widen and I quickly become serious. “I do not kneel to anypony.” With a flash too fast for the normal pony to see, I appear directly behind the guard with my sword in sheath raised. There is nothing but silence for a moment until the guard finally collapses on the damp grass, his sword falling to his side unused.

The group of pony guards very obviously angered by their downed ally begin to yell and charge. From behind them, the princess yells for them to cease at once, but to her dismay, they were not backing down.

There is a distinct difference between guard ponies and what I would soon learn were Timberwolves. Guard ponies really didn’t know how to work together when in a violence-induced state of rage.

I sighed and began to work through the group like a hot knife in butter. Their forms lacked, the method of attack was too predictable, and I honestly felt unchallenged in every way. Within a matter of seconds, I had placed the other guards in a similar state as the first, never unsheathing my blade. Then, I turned to the princess.

She seemed to be in a slight state of shock, but after watching what I assume to be her best ponies downed like foals, I suppose it’s to be expected. Then after a moment of gathering her thoughts, she snapped back to reality and a frown began to form. “How dare you hurt my fellow ponies!” She stomped her hoof and looked me dead in the eye.

At that moment, I raised a hoof to silence her. “Please forgive my actions princess, but it was your soldiers who attacked me first, this is your fault. Besides, they aren’t hurt, simply unconscious.”

The princess looks at her still breathing group and sighs. “Silver watch, I am grateful that you did not do any further harm to my guards, but I cannot except these aggressions. By order of your princess, I command you to put down your weapon and give yourself up!"

The first time you get shouted at by a princess is sort of exciting, almost makes you feel alive to your very core. Makes you reconsider past decisions concerning manners. The second and so on, however, makes you wish there was a required warning.

“Ok, I can see how you would think I would simply do as the loudmouth princess' commands, but I don’t really have the time today, I have a strict agenda and I really must stay on task. That and you’re not going to remember what comes next.”

I spring forward to quickly dispose of the loud princess grinning at the easy victory I am about to receive. However, as I am about to strike the princess before my eyes come forth a sword between me and the regal pony. To my surprise, it meets my own blade head on, not by accident but perfectly within its path. This sword seemed to be similar to her guards, but instead of metal, it was made of some kind of magical aura. This blade floated beside its master without the need for her to hold it herself.

I quickly jumped back a few feet and assessed the situation. Then I began to laugh and smile at the pleasant turn of events. “It seems you’re not just for show then, I apologize for assuming you were so easy.” I snicker at the statement I had made and blush sightly at the rude implications.

The blue pony stared at me with intense eyes, for a moment reflecting on my first strike. “I do not believe I have told you my name. I am Princess Luna, Alicorn princess of Equestria and sister to Celestia. I watch over the night from those that might harm my subjects. At this moment, I deem you to be very high on the list of dangerous things.” With a glow, Luna slashes her blade and sends a wave of energy hurtling towards me. The energy cuts through the ground and far into the forest as I jump out of its path. In its wake, there is a large stretch of downed trees and burning vegetation.

I look at the destruction and whistle. “Woah, that’s a lot of power in that Alicorn body of yours, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to test you,” I call forth shooting star and point the sheathed blade towards her in hopeful anticipation. Just as I had hoped, the blade began to respond and began to unsheathe. It only came out about half an inch, but this at least meant I could have a little fun. I closed my eyes as the sword absorbed into my body, awakening untapped power from my essence. I then unsheathe peacemaker and look at the princess. “OK, I’ll make you a deal. If you can make me use my sword, I will surrender to your moon loving self and do as you command. If not, well you’re going to feel it tomorrow.”

Luna gazes at me for a moment and then laughs. “It’s been some time since I have truly had somepony to fight, prepare yourself Silver watch because thy number is up.”

With a flash, the princess of the night came barreling towards me. Her movements graceful but every bit calculated to bring forth her weapons potential. In an instant, she was upon me, attempting to filet the hair from my skin. I was extremely excited, for a while I have not had the chance to let loose and this pony was not half bad. Then again, she wasn’t making progress either.

As Luna continued her attacks, I simply dodged her movements and toyed with her. She was not slowing down, but her technique became all too predictable. She starts with a jab towards my chest, followed by slashing towards my throat only to spin the blade around to remove a knee. Not bad in theory, but not diverse enough for a veteran such as I. With the ability to keep her distance, she probably appeared to have the advantage. But, this was going to be over very soon.

“I appreciate your efforts Luna, but I do not have much longer to play. It would be wise to surrender now. I dodge once more and then jump high onto a rock.

Luna scoffs and walks forward slashing while not losing any energy. “You want me to surrender, you cannot even reach me and I could do this all night. How do you have the…”

In a flash, I jump through Lunas now memorized attack pattern, coming to a stop between her and her blade, raising my own towards her chest. “I’m sorry, I would love to hear the end of that sentence princess.”

Shocked, Luna froze and snarled angrily. “How did you get through my attack?” While looking at the distance between her blade and my back, I move mine closer to remind her whose able to do what faster. The blue pony straightens up and sighs her face showing defeat. “Did you really see through my moves so easily?”

I grin and toss my blade to the side. “It’s not your fault Luna, I’ve had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. You’re not too bad, maybe with a little practice you could fight Simon.”

Luna sees the absence of my sword as a chance to strike. She forms another blade so that I am guarded both front and back. “Experience this then!” Her blades come at me from both sides making it impossible to dodge. With my blade on the ground, I have no weapon at my disposal. So, I do the next best thing.

Luna looks before her amazed and shocked at what she was seeing. This Silver Watch who put up a relentless fight only to give up his weapon had now done the impossible. He stood before her with a blade between each hoof, no signs of injury, simply having caught them. “How...”

“Not that I haven’t seen this before, but to be fair my only weakness is magic so you’re going in the right direction. Now, I must end this princess, but I should let you know that you really entertained me today. If you trained more, I think you would do quite well in the future.” With a smile, I breathed in and released a gust of wind from my inflated muzzle blowing Luna back amongst her now standing allies. I then proceeded to shatter her blades into the ground for added flair. “If you think you can beat me later, I won’t be too far away. Now, good day.”

In an instant Silver Watch banished, simply disappearing from the princesses’ sight. On that day, the younger Luna decided that she had another goal. Along with ridding the land of Discord, she was going to become strong enough to defeat her new rival. This earth pony Silver Watch was unlike any she had met before. What she didn’t know, was that this was the beginning of a friendship very odd and powerful. But at the moment, all she knew as she gazed at the moon was silence. �&�b��

Author's Note:

This was a fun chapter and a little bit new. I am not used to action dialogue so I hope there were enough details so everyone knows what happened!