Gear Knights- Initiations

by Amalvi

4- I might regret this later

After taking a train, Amalvi arrived at Canterlot. The sky was covered in thousands of stars and the moon lighted the land with its pallid and cold glow. The blue colt walked towards the castle gardens. Once at its limits, he started to look for a place where he could jump inside and looking through the iron bars that composed the fence he examined the scenery. He spotted at least two unicorn guards using a lantern spell and patrolling near the statutes of the fields. He also saw a pair of hornless guards (could be either a pegasus or earth ponies) at the sides of the big door that leads inside the castle, and all the way to the other side the cliff where the colt was supposed to jump. But before that, Amalvi needed to enter, so he ceased to examinate the gardens and put his attention on the fence again.

In this moments is when the earth pony wished for wings, the fence was just too tall to be jumped over and the ability of flying would be very useful at that moment. However, it seemed that he wouldn’t need it at all when he stepped into a something that made a metallic sound. After looking down he found an iron rod laying on the grass next to some bushes that passed through the fence. Amalvi smiled and moving the bushes he found a portion of one of the bars cut or broken. Jackpot. From one side this was pretty convenient, on the other hand it also meant that there was also somepony who had already broke in. The hole was small and the stallion had a hard time passing through, but he made it and once he was inside he quickly moved in the shadows towards the cliff.

He moved near the statues and plants of the gardens so his silhouette would be confounded with the ones of the objects. Once he arrived at the other side he look at the landscape and got captivated by the beauty of the moonlight illuminating the woods and houses of the land of Equestria. A marvelous view but he had no time for it so he walked towards the point from where he had to jump. Once he reached it he could clearly see the entrance of the sewers he was supposed to jump to. A skilled throw would be necessary to lodge the rope in the open hole and then he only needed to hang on said rope to get to the entrance.

Amalvi retrieved the rope from his saddlebag and estimated the distance between his spot and the sewers, about ten meters. Then he looked down and calculated the distance to the floor, about three hundred meters. He grabbed the rope, concentrated and then he suddenly threw it to the ground and say out loud.

“Fuck this, I ain’t doing that”

Then a voice sounded coming from nowhere.

“Then what do you plan to do?”

The colt screamed and his hearth shrinked. The fright made him fall on his back with the legs stretched into the air. Once he calmed down he stood up and made sure his screaming didn’t call any attention from the guards. What the hell was that?

“What an idiot you are, I’m your supervisor.”

Amalvi was surprised, he totally forgot about her.

“Miriam? You startled me.”

“That usually happens to rookies. Get used to it”

“Keep it down, I don’t want to get caught”

“Relax, I have activated the silent communication. I’m actually not making any sound, just making your brain think I do through your nervous system.”

“So to anypony I would look like a crazy colt talking alone?”

“Pretty much. Now, you didn’t answer my question, what do you plan to do? Is not like you have been given other choice.”

She was right, his instructions clearly said that the rope jumping and going through the sewers was the only safe way on going in. Regardless, Amalvi had another idea in mind

“Want to know what I think?”

“Are you actually able to think? That’s surprising.”

“Jokes on you, I don’t even need to most of the time. Anyway, I think that Mirage doesn’t want me to follow this instructions. I got into the organization because I didn’t listen to the mare when I was told to leave and I’m not a government agent. So screw the instructions, I’ll do it my way.”

“As you wish, what is your way then?”

He looked at the surroundings and smiling he said.

“I have no idea”

“Idiot”

“Hey, don’t insult me, I’ll figure out something.”

“All right then, bye Amalvi, don’t get killed.”

“What? Don’t get killed? What kind of farewell is that?”

There was no answer, so the colt just sighed and looked around. There was a unicorn guard getting close, luckily he didn’t spot Amalvi because he only could see where he pointed with the lantern spell. However the blue pony didn’t want to risk so he moved towards the walls of the castle and waited for the guard to pass by, hoping to not get illuminated by the light of his horn.

When fighting a unicorn, the most wise option is to get him off guard and knock it out before he has time to anything. Most unicorns rely only on their magical abilities to fight, so they don’t train physically and is easy to beat them in a hoof to hoof fight. But, the royal guards are the elite of Celestia’s army and these unicorns are both lethal in combat magic and fighting with spears and kicks (but that chore is usually left for pegasus and earth ponies guards), also the heavy armor they carry protect them from being hit in the head and flank, so Amalvi had no chance against them.

Once the guard passed by, Amalvi looked at a nearby window and tried to open it. The window didn’t budge of course, it was closed with a padlock. He was just about to break it with a kick when he saw another window some meters away which was already open. After coming closer, the colt saw that somepony already broke the padlock in that one, so after looking in and making sure there was nopony inside, he jumped in.

The architecture was sublime, but also inconvenient. The high ceiling and the vault form it had made the sounds reverberate, which made silent movement very difficult because of the sound of stepping hoofs on the marble floor. However Amalvi could take advantage of this as well to avoid unwanted encounters. After he found a way to trot without making much noise by letting the hoofs slide, he proceeded to move inside the palace with no idea whatsoever of where to go. In more than one occasion he had to hide from some guard coming. After an hour of sneakin in the castle the colt arrived at a hallway in which the ceiling was decorated with paintings of clouds and pegasus that matched the paintings of earth ponies on the walls. From above there were hanging several golden chandeliers that could easily reach the 500 kilograms of weight.
Amalvi was so distracted by the decorations that he bumped into something, making him fall to the floor. He quickly stood up and found that he had actually walked into another pony, a purple earth pony with sky blue mane who was now rubbing her head. Without looking at the colt she said.

”This isn’t what it looks like.”

Then she stood up and looked at Amalvi. She was surprised to find a total stranger inside. Changing the tone of her voice, she talked again

”I mean... Who are you? What are you doing here?”

”The same I could ask to you. I see no reason to answer”

”I’m a servant of the castle, now leave before I call the guards.”

Amalvi looked at the mare. She wasn’t wearing any maiden outfit or neither looked like she would be admitted for serving the royal sisters. And what was even more important, something shone with golden color inside her saddlebag.

”I don’t think that would be convenient for you, you are not supposed to be here either.”

”How dare you to talk to me like that”

”Lies are my game, don’t try to use them against me. I think you are only a thief.”

The mare tried to look surprised. Amalvi had to admit that she would be a good actress, but he already got her.

”What? I don’t know what are you talking about.”

”I do, is about those gold chalices you have in your bag.”

”Oh! hehe... This? Well... I was only going to clean those. Yes, I’m not stealing anything.”

”Likely story, anyway, good night.”

The colt smiled and passed by the mare, but he was stopped when he felt a blade being puncturing his flank. He turned his head and found the mare holding a knife with his mouth and giving him an aggressive look.

“Okay, brat, now give me the contents of your bag if you don’t want me to cut you.”

Amalvi was actually scared, the sole vision of someone threatening him with a blade was something that he feared. However, he tried to hide it and without turning he said.

“Wrong move, bitch”

He jumped to the side just when she slashed with the knife and then he threw a kick to the neck of the girl, making her shout in pain and throw the knife to the floor. Amalvi quickly grabbed the knife, which was especially shaped to be held with the mouth and before she recuperated he pointed at her.

“Wellf, It loofs like tafles haf turdned”

He still needed some practice to hold something in his mouth and speak at the same time. However he just needed to relocate the knife with his tongue to a position where it fit perfectly with the mandible and allowed him to speak more freely.

“That’s better. As I was saying, tables have now turned.”

The mare gave him the angriest possible look. Her anger and fury were visible on her face as well as her frustration.

“What do you plan now? Killing me?”

“What? Oh please, that actually offends me. Do you think I’m a murder? Please, no.”

The mare sighed with relief.

“However, I have a rope in my saddlebag. How about I tie you and I let the guards find you in the morning.”

Now she was scared.

“Oh please, you have to be kidding me, I wasn’t going to do any harm, just wanted to scare you a bit.”

“Oh shit, it looks like your gun has backfired on you. And unlike you, I’m actually going to do this, if you don’t help me.”

The mare looked both sides and she sighed again, this time recognising her defeat.

“What do you want?”

“Do you know this castle?”

“I’ve been here stealing a couple of times, I know it better than my cutiemark. why?”

Amalvi looked at her cutiemark, which was a pie. Then he continued

“Well, because you are going to take me to the royal chambers.”

Her pupils dilated and she let a brief laugh go out.

“Haha, that’s a good one boy. Seriously?”

“Seriously, or else I hit you in the head and let you unconscious so the guards can find you.”

She grumped and stood up. Then she said.

“Fine. Just follow me.”

Amalvi smiled, but ceased the grin when the knife almost felt out of his mouth. Then he proceeded to follow her lead, making sure he didn’t paid any attention to anything but her moves, in case she decided to turn back and attack him. This was bad for him since he wouldn’t be able to learn the path to go back the entrance, but he prefered to make sure she didn’t try to attack.

After a couple of minutes they arrived at a hallway with a exquisitely decorated wooden door at the end of it. The mare turned around around and said.

“Well, there it is, the room of the sun winged unicorn. Can I go now?”

“One last thing, what is your name?”

She raised an eyebrow and then she smiled.

“You will call me Pie, just Pie, How about you?”

Amalvi knew that Pie wasn’t her real name, so looking at his own cutiemark he thought of a proper name. Lightbulb? Nah, it didn’t sound good.

“Call me... Bright, that will do”

“Okay, Bright, can I...?

Amalvi didn’t get what she meant at the beginning but then he realised that she was pointing at the knife. The colt laughed and said.

“I’m going to keep this as gift. Now get lost before I change my mind.”

She frowned and walked away while grumbling some insults. Before she disappeared Amalvi said:

“Good bye Pie. Hope to see you again.”

“Good bye, Bright douche.”

She walked away and Amalvi put the knife inside his saddlebag and turned to the door. He slowly walked to the door while he was getting more and more nervous as he was getting conscious of what the consequences of entering the royal chamber of Celestia would be. Regardless he had a mission to complete, and he wasn’t going to mess his first one. Overcoming his nerves he knocked the door. There was no answer, so after some seconds he called again and then the second time a melodic voice answered.

“Who is there?”

Amalvi calmed himself. He was now about to meet the most powerful pony of equestria and he couldn’t make any mistake.

“Your highness, I’m here to bring you a message”

As if they were hours, seconds passed in which Amalvi though he had signed his death sentence. However the same voice answered again.

“You may now enter”

The door made a sound as if it was unlocked. The colt hesitated to open it since the last time he opened a door in a place he wasn’t supposed to be in he received a hard hit to the face. But this time was different, this time was Celestia, the benevolent monarch, and she wasn’t going to greet him with a kick in the face. Right?

And effectively, she didn’t. The moment Amalvi stepped inside the royal chamber he was surrounded by a golden halo and levitated in the air. He violently moved his legs but it was useless. He stopped and looked at the mare who was now in front of him. Even without her jewelry and her auroral hair tied into a ponytail she looked as magnificent and powerful as when he saw her raising the sun when he was young. However, unlike then, signs of anger were visible on the the face of the winged unicorn.

“You enter my castle, avoid my guards and interrupt my sleep. You should know that my sister now takes care of political matters during nighttime. Speak my subject, and be brief”

Amalvi was terrified, but at least she has granted him a chance to explain himself. So calming himself and still levitating he said:

“Mirage Sun says hi”

Celestia was first confused, but when she finally remembered she smiled and putting the colt back in the floor she said.

“Mirage. What a gentlecolt he was. How is he?”

“He is fine, your highness. Perhaps a bit old but full of energy.”

She turned to look to a cuckoo clock hanging on the wall and then she continued.

“How sad. I wish I could see him again. Tell me your name, my subject”

“I’m known as Amalvi”

“Amalvi? what a particular name you have.”

“It is because is an abbreviation.”

“I see. Well my little pony, you said that you had a message for me.”

Celestia pointed at the watch Amalvi was carrying. The colt nodded and pressed the button that was supposed to deliver the message, although he never pressed it before. When he did so, the watch glowed and several runes appeared floating near it along with the message “speak”. The princess cleared her throat and said

“Princess Celestia.”

The runes floating condensated at one point and became a cloud of dust that materialised a scroll in the air. Celestia grabbed it and she proceeded to read it. Amalvi just stood there, looking how Celestia smile wiped out of her face and started to draw a worry expression. Once she was done she levitated the scroll and put it on a desk and then turned to Amalvi.

“You have done a great work, is there anything you want?”

Amalvi smiled and joking he said.

“What about a kiss?”

The princess laughed and smiled as well

“Haha. Very funny. Now get out of here before I throw you into the dungeon.”

“Wait, what?”

“You are not supposed to be here. You are also a member of a forbidden organisation. As much as you have helped me is my duty to do justice.”

“I understand your highness. Farewell.”

“Goodbye, Amalvi. Bring my best wishes to Mirage.”

Amalvi bowed and walked outside the royal chambers, once he was outside the door closed with a golden halo and a lock sounded. He turned around and walked down the hallway. First mission accomplished, now he only needed to get out of there and head back to the headquarters to receive his part of the payment.

However when he turned the corner somepony put a bag on his head and before he could scream he was hit on the head. leaving him unconscious.