Equestria's Sword

by Evowizard25

Tempest

The calm summer air was broken by the sound of thunder. Lightning could be see a few times arcing into the air, yet there were no clouds or signs of any storms about. As well, said lightning was coming from the ground, not the air. The reason was simple: Magic. The laws of reality were bent and misshapen when magic came into play. Allowing things that wouldn’t normally happen in nature.

Of course, the reason behind this was easy. Magicians of this land could wield powers outside of nature. They used it to make their lives simpler and easier. Less dangerous in some respects. Like, for example, scaring away a pack of wolves. The animals let out frightened howls as they sped back into the wilderness.

The shooter huffed as she sat back down in the carriage. She was rather fit and beautiful in a warrior kind of way. Her rose colored hair was styled into a mohawk and she had a scar over her right eye. Her dark armor covered all of her body up to her neck but left her head free. She crossed her arms, looking around with her opal eyes for any other signs of danger.

The woman beside her on the ox driven carriage was another story. She was not a fighter. She was beautiful in the model/fashion sort of way. She was curvy and wore a dark purple flowery dress with yellow highlights that left much of her arms and shapely legs exposed. A pink set of high heels were on her feet. Her orange and yellow striped hair was done up luxuriously in a wavy fashion.

“Must you be so loud,” the fashionista woman spoke up with a huff. “That hurt my ears.”

“I am sorry, Miss Saddles.” The warrior woman snorted, “Would you rather have been dog chow just now?”

Sassy Saddles, one of Miss Rarity’s greatest aids in the fashion world, huffed once more. “Fine. I see your point, Tempest Shadow.”

Tempest Shadow nodded and went back to her vigilance. She was an ex-villain turned warrior for Equestria. It was a strange turn of events for her, but she wasn’t complaining. At least she could help others and be accepted despite having… lost a part of herself. Her mechanical hands scrunched up. She had lost them as a child. Hands were the way you conducted magic and to lose them… made everything so hard. She was thankful she had come across a magician who could construct magical items, such as limbs, but they were a poor substitute and even to this day, she could do nothing more than basic spells.

She would of course make due. It was what she always did. It was how she survived after being reformed. Oh sure, she could have gotten an easy job by staying with Dusk or asking for something. She wouldn’t have that. No, Tempest Shadow would find something for her own self. Which is why she ended up in a lot of odd jobs. A bodyguard was one of them, like she was now. While Equestria was a safe place with very little crime, there were always the odd set of monsters roaming the land now and again. You couldn’t be too careful so she had been hired by Rarity’s assistant, Sassy Saddles. Truefully, Sassy’s type irritated her but she could live with it.

She was fine with protecting her. Battles were her highlight. Where she belonged. Peace time just… never suited her, to be honest. So she could at least hope for a little action during this bodyguard ride. However, aside from that brief wolf encounter, everything had gone smoothly. She sighed. So it would be another boring mission. Fantastic.

The soft whistle in the air was her only warning. Her metal arm snatched the arrow out of the air without waver before it hit her head. She moved it in front of her and quirked an eyebrow.

“Seems it won’t be so boring after all.”

Sassy Saddles blinked a few times as she looked at the arrow then gasped, “W-We’re under attack?”

Tempest smirked and crushed the arrow, “Seems like it, unless it was a lousy hunter.” She pulled on the reigns to get the ox to stop.

“Why did you stop?” Sassy Saddles said in a worried, hushed manner. “Shouldn’t we be running full straight ahead?”

“If these guys are worth their salt,” Tempest said, “Then they’ll just ambush us up ahead. Might as well get it over with.”

A loud booming laugh filled the area, “You’re as vibrant as I had hoped you were, Tempest Shadow.”

“Come out where I can see you,” Tempest Shadow narrowed her eyes, readying another lightning spell in her hand.

“Of course,” several knights and mages wearing black came out of the woods. The leader was a particular large knight, “I had hoped to meet you. My lord is in need of powerful servants and you are one of our greatest candidates. Your roll in the fall of Canterlot was marvelous.”

Tempest tensed. She didn’t like to be reminded of that, “So why did you try to shoot me in the head if you needed me alive.”

He waved it off, “I knew you’d catch it. You can call it a test if you will. Now then, would you kindly come with us? My lord would be happy to see you. We can use your strength.”

“I’m already on a mission,” Tempest huffed. She wouldn’t have gone with these guys anyways. They gave her the creeps, “So come ask me when I’m done with it.”

“We are low on time,” the knight leader said, “We need every able and willing partner in the coming war. So it would be best for you to come with us now.”

“And what of my charge?”

“We can leave her here or bring her along,” the knight shrugged, “We could always use another labororer.”

“Not interested,” Tempest said. “You can leave now.”

“Are you sure that’s your answer?” The knight asked, “You are surrounded and we did come in peace. Please reconsider.”

“Listen bub,” Tempest’s fists charged up electricity for her coming attacks, “I served under one dark lord before. It didn’t end well for me. So why do you think I’m going to just serve under another one, huh? They’ll throw me to the side like last time and besides, I fight for the good guys now.”

The knight sighed, “A pity. I had hoped you would see reason.” He held up his hand and brought it down, “Kill them.”

_________________________________________________________________________

In another location, our intrepid group of adventurers sallied forth to Canterlot. Celestia couldn’t help but peer on over to him. Getting a better look, she could tell he had some fine muscles underneath his clothes. No doubt all that came from rigorous training yet he didn’t really hold himself like a warrior. If she was to be honest, he seemed like your everyday average civilian at first glance. She wouldn’t judge him like that though. The world had taught her to never judge by just appearances after all. She just hoped he knew what he was doing when the chips were on the table, so to speak.

“So,” Raven spoke up, “What’s it like in your world?”

“Hmmm?” Saito looked over to her.

“What’s it like over there where you live? You’re the first otherworlder I’ve ever met, so I’m curious about a lot of things.” She took out a notepad and pencil and scooched on next to him.

Celestia pouted and sat a little closer to him. She was curious about his tale as well but if anyone was going to sit next to a cute hero, it would be her. It was the best way to tease them after all.

Saito meanwhile was panicking and hoping this didn’t end up like some other times he was surrounded by hot women. It was a curse and a blessing, really. He would endure it as he always had. He would of course not resist the sensations of women pressing their bosoms against him, especially Celestia. He was a pervert at heart after all. Siesta and the other girls could attest to that.

“Well,” Saito scratched his cheek for a second as he thought about it, “There’s not much to tell really. It was a small country with a lot of mages and non-mages. It was usually pretty peaceful.” Except for the wars, but he kept that to himself.

Raven huffed, “That’s not descriptive at all. I need a bit more detail to picture this land of yours.”

Saito shrugged, “I had a lot of stuff going on at the time. I spent more time thinking about people than the country. To be honest, it seemed like a typical fantasy kind of world to me. Those Middle Ages kind. I’m guessing this world is kind of the same.”

“Apart from these ‘elves’?” Raven questioned.

“Yeah,” Saito nodded, “But they live far away from the humans so I’ve only met two.”

“Now what do you mean by ‘typical fantasy kind of world’?” Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “You make it sound like it’s a fantasy world of sorts.”

“Well…” Saito sighed and shrugged, “Let’s just say, you weren’t the first to summon me to a world of magic.”

Celestia’s eyes widened, “You were summoned before?”

“Impossible,” Raven frowned, “The odds of being summoned to two different worlds is astronomically low.”

“Well that seems to be my luck in a nutshell,” Saito chuckled, “My world doesn’t have any magic so all I had to go off beforehand on how my other world and this one works is stories.”

“A world without magic…” Celestia had been to such worlds before. When Starswirl had taken her to many worlds when he created his ‘portals’. Some of which held no magic but were still incredibly fascinating. Unfortunately, most of the portals were destroyed or lost with time. She didn’t fear about the lost ones becoming a problem however. Starswirl had deactivated them and made sure only he could open them. The only active one was in the Crystal Empire. “Yes, that is interesting.”

Maybe that world was his. If that was so, then it would be easier to send him home once they reclaim the Empire and defeat Umbra. She decided to not tell him of it. She didn’t want to get his hopes up if she was wrong. They could find out once this was all over.

“Yes,” Saito nodded, “It’s been a real blast honestly. It’s like one of my manga. I got summoned to a world of magic and had to help beat off bad guys and armies. So yeah, this isn’t anything new for me.”

Celestia smiled, “Then our luck is truly marvelous if you are our chosen hero.”

“Eh maybe not the best luck,” Saito muttered, “But the first time it happened led me to meet some people I really care about. So I think this could end up just as well.”

“As long as you kick that shadow butt of Umbra’s,” Flare spoke, reminding the others she was still present. She had taken up the job of directing the oxen up front. Apparently, these people were much hardier than his own and quicker to heal. “I don’t care how well it goes. Just save Prince Dusk Shine, alright.”

Saito gave her a thumbs up, “You can count on me.”

Before the conversation could continue, the sound of thunder split the air. They all took a moment to listen. The sound happened again. Then again. Then again. Saito thought it could possibly be a storm then thought better of it. It was a pretty day. No storm clouds in the sky. Which meant this was unnatural, which also meant it was probably a magic user.

Celestia was eyeing him at that moment and smiled, “I see you came to the same conclusion as I did.”

“Huh?” Saito asked.

“It is indeed a magic user,” Celestia nodded, “From the sounds of it, either she’s doing a show or she is fighting someone. I would put my bits on the latter. Unfortunately, I lack the magic required to check on them at the moment and Flare is still too hurt to fight.”

“I will give my life for you, Princess Celestia!” Flare cried out.

Celestia sighed, “Not a princess anymore…” She muttered under her breath.

“Then I’ll go,” Saito said with conviction. “If someone’s really in danger, it’s the least I could do.”

“Wow, throwing yourself into danger so readily for someone you haven’t met yet.” Raven smiled, “You really are a hero.”

“Then if that’s the case,” Celestia moved forward and kissed his forehead.

Saito blushed as he felt those soft lips on his skin. He looked up to see her glowing, beautiful face smiling down at him, “Uhhhh.”

“That was for good luck,” Celestia said, “Come back to me, my hero.”

Saito blushed harder and nodded rapidly, before he got up and jumped out of the cart. She saw him draw his sword and rush off towards the danger at breakneck speed. It was rather impressive.

“‘My Hero’?” Raven quirked an eyebrow.

Celestia tittered behind a raised hand, “I wanted to raise his spirits. Besides, he is our hero now and it’s best to hope he can live up to that.” She could only hope he would. She wished he would be their hero. Let him fight and survive this upcoming battle. She wished that with all her heart.