Earning Freedom

by Daxisle

Discordant Awkwardness

Discordant Awkwardness

Sin sat beside his friend, waiting patiently for Shade to go to sleep. He'd already figured out what he needed to do, and how he was going to do it. What he was having trouble deciding was if he was going to save Shining Armor or not. I mean, the two weren't exactly friends, and he was rather certain Shade wasn't actually have him hanged. The alabaster stallion really did bring his capture on himself.

'Dude, seriously? He attacked because he thought you were going to be lynched.'

"Alright, Sin." Shade said with a yawn and a few clicks of his tongue. "I'mma head to bed."

"Alright, have a good rest." Sin replied as he looked about at the multiple piles of ponies and zebras around him.

"Will do, don't go off trying to escape or break out the prisoner who's trying to throw his life away to some temptress while I'm asleep~" The bat pony sang before disappearing into his tent.

Sin smirked and looked away.

"No, seriously." Shade said, poking his head out. "I need you here to figure this out tomorrow. You're like, the smartest pony I know. Valaris. make sure he doesn't try to leave."

A rather bored looking dark red unicorn stallion with a white, shoulder length mane looked up at him with one piercing red eye. The other covered by an eye patch. Upon his chest and shoulders sat two dark brown belts that criss crossed over, laced with multiple stones that had various symbols and and markings. Nothing else looked terribly remarkable about the pony save for the black pendant shaped like a diamond that hung around his neck, holding a white vertical line with an arrow going off up and to the side.

"Yes sir." He replied, his voice a little high, but still menacing enough.

Sin squinted his eyes. That was the stallion who'd challenged Shining's powers and subdued him with his stones. Sin wasn't a mage or scholar by any means, but he knew those stones were enchanted. Unsure of exactly how, it seemed they enhanced the unicorns powers. In his brief skirmish, he'd used them as: A shield, a means to enhance a magical blast, and a kind of prism to capture the unicorn. The first two done through the stones forming a giant circle, the area within acting for offense and defense respectively.

Taking the new variable into account, Sin contemplated how he was going to get past him, watching the pony who laid back lazily, keeping his one red eye on him at all times. He was a unicorn, he had telekinesis, a problem the stallion had faced multiple times and come out with the short end of the stick.

Hey could wait the stallion out, hoping he fell asleep before the others woke up? No, it was too close to dawn for that. Rushing him probably wouldn't work out for obvious reasons, same result with flat out running away.

The only other option Sin could think of was to don his cross bow again and take a shot. Unicorn's were fast, but not fast enough to stop a cross bow bolt.

Sin didn't like the option, after all, the stallion in question didn't really attack him or cause any aggressive actions what so ever. He merely reacted to Shining when the stallion had leapt in on the threat to defend Shade and the rest of the Acolytes.

'Be that as it may, the fact of the matter is that if you want to get out of here, you'll have to incapacitate him. If you want to save that damnable captain, than you'll have to kill him so he wont wake the others.'

Kill someone just so he could leave, kill someone who'd done nothing to him. Only the threat of it. It went against his moral code, but the fact the stallion had intentions to stop him from leaving left Sin with only two choices. Stay or kill the stallion and leave.

Shade made it clear he wasn't going to let Sin out of the camp, that made Shade an aggressor against him. Yea, he'd aggressed against others, Luna mostly. But he overlooked that because he believed Shade justified. The fact the pony had turned his violence against himself had made Shade Sin's enemy.

Sin let out a sigh and reached for his saddlebag to fish out his cross bow. He'd made up his mind, if he let Shining Armor stay here, it was clear they'd mistreat him. The stallion may have been a fool, but Shining's intention was to protect the oaken stallion, and Sin had the obligation repay such a debt, even if it was to a statist.

"Planning something?" Inquired the pony, lifting two of the stones from their pouches.

"Can a stallion get some bread to eat?"

Valiar smirked, still holding the two stones in his magic. His body shifting and posture tightening as if ready to strike.

'Yea, I think he might just beat you to the draw... Got anything else?'

Unfortunatly, he didn't.

"Look." Said Valiar calmly, laying back against the rock again. "If you wanna leave, than go ahead and go. I'm not going to stop you."

Sin quirked a brow, it wasn't that easy. It's never that easy.

"Believe what you want." The navy stallion replied, his body visibly relaxing again. "Unless it makes you wanna pull out that cross bow of yours and shoot me. I'd rather you not, if you don't mind."

Eyes narrowing, the stallion's hoof remaind on the projectile launcher. Shade must given away his weapon of choice. "And why should I believe you'd just let me waltz out of here after your superior gave you an order?"

This got Valiar's attention. "That insane nut-job is not my superior." He seethed between clenched teeth. "Word had it that Discord was being released. I came to make sure it didn't happen."

"By attacking the Captain of the royal guard?"

"Yeaaaa... You see, what had happened was..." Valiar said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't know who he was, alright. He comes in shooting off magic 'cause Shade told them to tie you up. Anypony else would have done the same. Ya?"

'He's got ya there, Sin.'

"Fair enough," this concluded their conversation in terms of his skeptisism. Maybe, just maybe the universe was finally cutting him a long overdue break.

Slowly, watching the blue stallion suspiciously, Sin crept past a pile of buffalo and into Star Shade's tent. Who so happened to be sleeping right at the entrance. Slipping to prevent himself from waking the maniacal pony up, he threw his front hooves out and preyed they would both miss him completely. Luckily, they'd both missed his body, landing just above his back.

"Sin?" He heard from beneath him. Unluckily, his stomp was loud enough and close enough to wake him anyway.

Shade looked up at his prisoner with wide, curious eyes, taking note of exactly the situation he was in and making a mind boggling assertion the likes of which neither pony would ever speak about again.

"Are- are you about to make babies with me?"

...

...

"Go to sleep, Shade." THWAK.

And just like that, Star Shade was knocked unconscious, with no proof that what had happened that night was anything but a dream save for the ungodly headache he'd no doubt have in the morning. But for for the oaken pegasus stallion from the Federation? It was a memory that would join the long list of others to be filed under alcoholic repression.

Author's Note:

Comments are always appreciated.

Comments

[TheStratovarian]

Heh, Poor fellow, concussive dreams are never fun. Though he might get to enjoy the insanity of them all. As for the changelings, its actually nice to see a pragmatic one that isnt going to try and stop a doctor from doing what they want to do.

Most far more short sighted ones would make an enemy there.