One Way

by jroddie

43: of Spies and Chains

Chapter 43

“What?” I asked, slightly taken off guard. We continued to walk down the cold, rather claustrophobic stone hallway.

“Yeah, she seemed pretty mad.” He said. I calmed down immediately.

“Just the one? Good. I can handle Celestia.” I sighed in relief. Flint looked rather surprised.

“That’s what caught me off guard, too. It’s actually Princess Luna that has rather... well, vocal objections to the upcoming battle. It caught me by surprise. I always thought that you two got along so well.” He said innocently. I frowned.

“You have no idea.” I said, actually rather mad myself. There was no way that the Princess could have any objections to my plan. Dash and Pix surely have told Luna and Celestia every detail of what I had told them in the meeting. I steamed silently while Flint and I walked to see the Princess. He tried to start up a conversation, but I stayed silent. He soon gestured me to a stone door. I frowned and pushed it open. It was a very strange sight inside of the door. It seemed to be very close to a college classroom, the ones with the rows of seats like stairs leading up from a tiny desk at the bottom. The strangest part was an Angelic, right where the desk would be, literally mounted to the floor in heavy metal chains. I was surprised that it could stand, but then again, this was a pure Angelic. He was staring at me angrily, with his face contorted into an unearthly grimace of rage. I turned away from him. Marcus was sitting nearby, looking at the Angelic very seriously. Evangeline and Gespard were sitting on either side of Luna, who herself was above me in the room, sitting on one of the higher tiers. I looked around me. The Angelic started to sputter angrily. I looked him right in the eyes.

“My kind will kill you. All of you!” He shouted, turning his shoulder to scream at the room.I looked down at him with extreme contempt. He turned back up to me, smiling. “I would have killed you myself. We drew lots for who would eat you. I earned that right. You would have been so good...” He said, his long tongue running over his teeth. I could see the hunger in his eyes and it disgusted me. He was about to start up again before I walked over to him quickly and put my hoof under his chin and pulled his face up to look at me forcefully.

“I’m going to draw straws to kill you.” I said to him. He looked happy. An insane kind of happy. The kind of happy that you can get locked in a little padded room for.

“We never die, Numbered. I’ve been killed by Othello nine different times. Evangeline, twelve. The blue one has killed me four times. Drowning is a terrible way for the body to die.” He said almost sadly. I growled at him, yanking his chin.

“Nothing is too terrible for your kind. You deserve to die.” I said. The Angelic started to cackle. I stood on my hind legs and was about to hit it when Evangeline interceded.

“Enough of your games, Angelic.” Eve said calmly, gesturing with a hoof at the Angelic. He started to shake, and he soon was unable to stand. I released him and he lowered himself gently to the floor, his body trembling violently. The rattle of chains was all I could hear behind me as it shook itself to sleep. I waited for the rattling to stop to speak.

“Why are we keeping him alive?” I asked flatly.

“We need to torture it.” Marcus said, looking at levitating vial of a viscous orange liquid. His green magic moved the bottle around so that he could see it better.

“What are you doing with that?” Gespard asked, his voice afraid. Marcus grinned, walking up to the Angelic with his bottle in tow. I could see Luna watching on with grim indifference.

“Torturing, of course. What else would you do with a sample this big?” He asked rhetorically.

“I’d sell it, maybe.” Evangeline said, her voice very, very bored. “Where did you get that much, anyways?” She asked, turning to Marcus.

“Alucard.” He explained simply. Luna, Gespard, and Evangeline all made noises of assent. Marcus was walking toward the Angelic very menacingly. He uncorked the bottle, and I could smell a faint whiff of sulphur. By now, Marcus was right next to the Angelic and I.

“Marcus, what is that?” I asked. Marcus looked at me innocently.

“You’ve never seen dragon’s blood before?” He inquired. I remembered something. The Armory. The bottle that Antony tried to get away from me.

“What does it-” I started, but Marcus cut me off.

“You’ll find out soon.” He said, and tipped the small vial over. A bright orange tendril of the blood seeped out, smoking slightly. It dropped down onto the Angelic’s face.

I’ve never heard anything scream like that in all of my lives.

He thrashed, he shouted, he begged for mercy. He asked us to kill him so many times. He burst blood vessels in his eyes, he was screaming so hard. He made eye contact with me twice when he was being tortured. Once was near the beginning. His violent red eyes shone with boundless rage. My heart caught in my throat when I saw that look. It was the look of a cornered animal. It was the look of something that would kill you at the nearest opportunity. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t afraid for my life when he looked at me like that. The second time was even worse. He was afraid. So far from the insanely happy Angelic that I had met only a few minutes before. It was crying. I stared down at it coldly. It didn’t deserve sympathy. It didn’t even deserve what we gave it. It only deserved to die.

“Marcus, stop.” I said, holding out a hoof. He looked at me. I was still staring down at the Angelic. He was whimpering. He was sniveling and whispering to himself. I placed my hooves on either side of his face. He just layed there. I felt the electricity crackle down my bones. It filled me with strange emotion. I finally looked down at the Angelic. He slowly turned to look at me with one of his big red eyes.

“Die. So that the rest of us may live in peace.” I whispered, and released the electricity through my legs. It jumped through the air, between my hooves, looking for something conductive. Angelics, like most creatures, are largely composed of water. Water is a very good conductor of electricity. Push comes to shove, and the electricity shoots straight into the Angelic’s brain. It locks up everything. He couldn’t see, probably. There was too much interference from the electricity for something as minute as sight to be processed. His heart clenched, unable to accommodate the strange, powerful signal from the brain. It couldn’t push blood where it needed to go. If a doctor were to look at the corpse, he might have said that it was a severe electrocution. But really, all deaths are just oxygen starvation. The brain can’t send the signal to the heart to push the blood, or the blood is too busy being all over the floor to carry oxygen, or the blood doesn’t have the right chemicals to carry oxygen. In the Angelic’s case, he died of a heart attack. A rather long one, truth be told. I removed my hooves from the lifeless body and sighed deeply. The death of an Angelic had never affected me so severely. Maybe because this one was not trying to kill me. Maybe because I actually spoke to this one. Maybe, maybe, maybe. I didn’t have time to think about it. I needed a hug. I picked myself off of my hooves with my Numbered magic and floated up to Luna. I passed Evangeline, who was sitting on a lower step, and Gespard, who was doing the same as Evangeline. I floated up to Luna’s side and sat very close to her. I was facing the wall that she was facing away from. I leaned over her neck so my head was on the opposite side of her than my body and looked back down at the scene. The Angelic mounted to the floor. Marcus, coldly capping his sample of dragon’s blood. Evangeline, looking at a bug near her feet. Gespard, staring at the Angelic. I couldn’t handle it any more.

“Leave.” I said softly. Marcus was the first to look up at me.

“What?” He asked incredulously. I felt sourceless anger rise into me.

“LEAVE!” I shouted, making all three of the Numbereds flinch. They immediately popped out of the room, leaving me with the disconcerting moment of being completely alone with Luna. I leaned on her, tilting my head down until my head was touching her shoulder.

“Ed, what’s wrong?” She asked softly, showing no sign of noticing my earlier outburst. She craned her neck to look back at me with one of her eyes. It was big, blue, and beautiful. I sighed.

“I’m tired of killing, Luna. I’m just so tired of it.” I said. She sighed, pulling her head back up so that she was looking forward.

“I know you are, Edwin. I see you almost every night, and with each passing day your eyes are older. Your ears droop. I hate seeing you like this, Edwin. Which is why I’ve given you a weekend off.” She said. I perked up a little, looking at the back of Luna’s head.

“What was that?”

“I’m giving you a weekend off. I’ve asked for Evangeline, Gespard, and Marcus to cover whatever it is that you do when you run off with the Doctor and leave you with me.” She said rather excitedly. I smiled and got off of Luna. I beamed at her.

“Really?!” I asked. She nodded.

“But there are conditions, of course.” She qualified in a slightly reprimanding tone. I drooped a little.

“Like?”

“We have to go to a spa.” She ventured. I groaned.

“Why?” I whined. Luna frowned.

“If you had stood in front of a mirror this past week, you would know why.”

“Do I get to eat the cucumbers?” I asked.

“You get to eat yours. I want mine. Also, you need a suit.” She said. I grimaced.

“I never did understand clothing. Why do I need to dress up?” I complained aloud.

“Be quiet, that’s why. Also, the Gala is this monday. So there.”

“Cheater.” I mumbled. Luna continued

“I’ve also asked Tia to cover for me with my nighttime duties so that we can have this weekend entirely to ourselves.” She added, turning to look at me. “I took the liberty of renting us a bed and breakfast in Ponyville.” She said. I almost snorted.

“Why Ponyville?” I asked.

“Because it’s a rather small city where the arrival of a Princess and her Guard will not be heavily publicized or be considered scandalous. Also, it has a boutique and a spa within reasonable walking distance.”

“Boutique?”

“We’re picking up your suit.” She explained, and started walking down the stairs to the door. I followed meekly.

“I never liked suits.” I complained quietly.

“Would you rather show up to the most important social event of the year in Canterlot naked?” She asked. I chuckled.

“I go everywhere else naked.” I joked.

“That’s not the point.” She chastised me. I smiled to myself. We edged our way past the Angelic, draped in chains. I couldn’t look at it, but Luna stared as we walked past. She actually stopped and stared at it. I sided up next to her and stared at it too. “I don’t understand.” She whispered.

“Don’t understand what?” I asked her delicately.

“How can ponies like that be so dangerous ?” She said to herself, in disbelief. I frowned.

“They aren’t ponies.” I said sternly. She turned to look at me.

“How can’t they be, Edwin!? Look at it!” She stressed a whisper. I looked. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth, purple, and his eyes were rolled back into his head.

“They aren’t. I’ve seen what they can do. There’s no way that they can be natural creatures.” I said, slightly offended. Luna looked at me, her eyes hopeful for a moment, and then looked back to the dead Angelic.

“Even if they aren’t ponies, why are they so dangerous?”

“They eat us.”

“What!?”

“They eat ponies. I’ve seen them literally consume them, actually biting into a pony. It is a harrowing sight. Let’s go.” I said, walking past Luna as I finished. She clipclopped behind me for a few meters.

“Where are we going, Ed?” She asked innocently. I thought about it for a moment.

“Not sure. Other than the gross galactic coordinates, I’m not even sure where we are right now.” I admitted.

“Then let me enlighten you.” a masculine voice said from around the corner. I paused, hesitant to walk any further. I watched as a strange pony walked from around the corner. For a pony, he looked unusually gaunt and worn. His dull grey coat was at odds with his slightly curly dark blue mane that parted around his horn, but his eyes were a shockingly vibrant violet. He was unusually thin, with a black scarf tied loosely around his neck. I stiffened as I reminded myself that black scarves were reserved for Celestia’s chosen spies.I found him to be strangely familiar, and I could not place where I had met him before.

“Do I know you?” I interjected rather abruptly. He chuckled, his voice wheezing slightly.

“You may know my brother.” He said. His voice was rather raspy.

“And he is?” I asked. The pony reached up a hoof to clear his throat. He hacked for a little bit, but then flourished his hoof and bowed. I almost laughed.

“Asperx Bladesinger, at your service.” He said at the bottom of his bow. My mouth hung open.

“Are you really his-”

“Yes, I really am. He looks more like mom, in my opinion. But I haven’t come here to talk to you about my family. The Princess needs to talk to you.” He said, with his violent purple eyes carrying extreme eagerness.

“Look, I’m not wanting to be rude or anything, but I just met you and all, and I don’t really-” I started, but Asperx’s horn started to glow a dull, glinting blue. A small square of parchment popped into existence, facing me. It looked fancy. Aged yellow parchment, wispy handwriting, and a few metallic stamps near the bottom. I didn’t have time to read it before Asperx started speaking.

“If you will not comply willingly, I have the authority under the Equestrian Secrets act to use whatever means that I find necessary to take you into custody.” He said, his voice carrying no semblance of a show of authority. It was like he was commenting on a certain dish in a buffet instead of placing me under arrest.

“Are you threatening me, Asperx?” I asked in a slightly demeaning manner.

“Only if you do not come willingly.” He said. I grinned, crouching down slightly. I started to circle Asperx. He did the same.

“I’ll meet up with you later, Luna." I said, not breaking my gaze from those purple eyes.

“Edwin, this is incredibly infantile and I will not just stand by and-” Luna started, but Asperx interrupted her.

“Princess, I must say that the good Captain is right. This is no place for a Princess. I’m quite sure that neither of us will come to harm,” He spoke as he circled, “But I would feel much safer if you were not nearby.” He finished. Luna humphed indignantly and stalked away. Asperx and I continued to circle.

“A very foolish thing to do, Captain.” the grey spy commented.

“I could tell you the same thing.” I said. Asperx said nothing. We circled. Like a lioness hunting her prey, like vultures over a wounded animal, we circled. We were sizing each other up. A tap to his foreleg, he favors it. A slice on the cheek, blind him with pain. Parry, thrust, jab. Block, attack, block again. The time finally came, after what seemed to be hours of silent planning and stalking our prey, we started. My sword was summoned quickly as I lashed out at Asperx.

Our blades met with a note that only swords could sing.

Comments

[jroddie]

Sorry that the update took so long! I've been working on AP testing for school, but I hope that this is a good enough chapter until next time.

[Sonicbrony66]

Damn! You just had to end it right before the battle....

[ObviousMoose42]

Both updates to the stories i'm reading ended in cliffhangers...
and excellent chapter, by the way