Flutterblade

by Dropped C

Chapter 4

The first clash was quick; as quick as the two fighting mares. Rainbow Smash tried to sweep Flutterblade with a horizontal strike, but the swordsmare reacted drawing her sword and stopping it. Her counter attack was swift. While Rainbow spun her weapon to prepare a new strike, she attempted a diagonal slash, but the rainbow-maned fighter was way too quick and jumped backwards.

“Whoa, you’re fast.” Rainbow said while readying her weapon again.

“Um... I really don’t want to fight you.” The yellow pegasus stood on a fighting stance, her wings fluttering softly to keep her balance on her two back hooves. Her soft gesture changed suddenly into a squint and a cheeky smile. “And you shouldn’t want either. I think you don’t know who I am.”

“You are Flutterblade, soldier of Emperor Magnificent during the Great War. You are the only known practitioner of the Rising Sun school of swordsponyship, an almost mythical fighting style for pegasii, based on speed and agility. You became famous after the battle of Cherry Plains, and you were fifteen years old, so that makes you...” Rainbow stopped her exposition, trying to hide that she was using her hooves to count. “Twenty-two years old. I’ve made my homework, missy. And I’m not scared of you.”

Rainbow Smash launched herself so quick that her mane made it look as if she was leaving a rainbow trail behind her. “And of course, a school for pegasii has a weakness! Your wings!”

The cyan fighter tried to stab Flutterblade’s left wing using her impressive speed, but the swordsmare rolled and hit the staff with her sword, deflecting the attack. “Um... It’s a school for pegasii. Did you really think I didn’t study thousands of ways to avoid damage to my wings?”

There is a problem with speed. It usually comes with a counterpart called “inertia”. This was what Rainbow Smash was thinking while she tried to steer futilely. Flutterblade’s roll and counterattack had left her in an open position; one that the swordsponywhip legend wouldn’t miss. With a swift movement, Flutterblade hit her with surprising strength on the ribs. The cyan brawler lost control and crashed, panting loudly.

Princess Curiosity started to cheer until she noticed that Dusk Wrath and Applesake were staring at her. Chagrined, she coughed softly, and hushed.

“Damn you to Tartarus!” Rainbow Smash screamed. “I won’t lose to a soldier!” She stood up again, although limping a bit, and readied her staff with a furious scowl. She was ready to attack once more, until she saw with no little surprise that Flutterblade had sheathed her sword. “What are you doing?! I’m going to attack!”

“I won’t fight you anymore. You are way too furious. There’s something fishy here. You’re not fighting for money.” Flutterblade started walking towards the brawler with an unexpected authority in her stare. “You want to fight me? Fine. But first, tell me the truth. Why do you want to fight me?”

“I told you!” Rainbow pointed her staff towards Flutterblade, as if trying to keep her far away. “Lord Bluewater hired me! I think it has something to do with that prissy princess!”

“Hey! I might be prissy, but I am the true heir to my father’s throne! Show some respect!” Curiosity harrumphed. She opened her muzzle, ready to continue her rant, but a sudden stare from Flutterblade made her gasp and shut up. “Sorry...”

“As I was saying, that might be your excuse, but you keep calling me a soldier, even when I’m not one anymore. Why do you hate me? Why do you hate soldiers?”

“Oh, so you wanna hear a sob story? Maybe try to convince me that my ways are wrong? Well, missy, you’re gonna have to work for this.” Rainbow’s fury was clearly visible by now. “Wanna hear my story?! You’ll have to knock me down again!”

The last word was still floating in the air, and so was Flutterblade already. With unmatched speed, she leaped over Rainbow Smash and, with a swift and fluid maneuver, fluttered her wings just enough to roll clockwise while unsheathing her sword. Rainbow had only time to lift her staff, but it wasn’t enough. With a loud “CRACK!”, the swordsmare blade broke the staff in half, sending splinters all over the room and hit the fighter’s head sending her tumbling on the floor, unconscious.

“YES!” Curiosity screamed with joy. “I knew you could beat her!” She started trotting quickly towards Flutterblade, intent on hugging her, but the yellow swordsmare turned back and left through the back door with a somber face.

---

Emperor Magnificent’s throne room was quite empty today. In fact, he was really bored. He sat on his throne in a relaxed pose. Boring days were good; they meant no problem at all in his empire. It was an excellent day until Traitorous Viper, his most trusted advisor entered with an alarmed face, and an envelope caught in his magic.

“My lord! You must see this!” Traitorous Viper was a white and gaunt unicorn stallion with bags under his eyes. He was always a bit too much worried about everything, so the Emperor still had some hope that the news he bore weren’t all that bad.

“What is this, Traitorous Viper, my most trusted advisor?” He picked the envelope with his mouth and broke the seal. Puzzled, he opened the letter that it contained. “Traitorous Viper, this letter is blank. Why are you so worried?”

“My lord, this message was brought in the mouth of one of our guards.”

“Well, I still don’t see the problem.” Emperor Magnificent left the letter on the arm of his throne.

“That mouth came in a box, separate from the rest of the body of that guard.”

Magnificent’s gray face went two shades paler. This was clearly a threat.

“I only know one pony who uses blank letters to communicate. Do you think this message comes from...”

“Lord Silencio, my lord. He has taken up arms.”

Being an emperor meant that Magnificent had to be pretty cautious with his language and his manners. After all, as we said before, manners in Neighpon were as much of a weapon as a sword, so he had to choose carefully his next words.

“Well, buck.” He said.

---

Behind the Sweet Apple lay a large apple orchard, the pride of Applesake’s family. Princess Curiosity would have loved to canter a bit, just enjoying the sights, if it weren’t that she was really worried about Flutterblade, whom she couldn’t find.

“Flutterblade! Where are you? Please, darling, what happened to you?” She kept trotting through the orchard until her finely tuned fashion senses let her detect a clash of colours in a tree’s canopy. Oh, “fashion senses”, you ask? Why? Well, she was a princess, and as a princess, she had to be elegant and fashionable at all times. But enough of this. She walked closer to that tree and, tentatively, asked again.

“Flutterblade, dear? Are you alright?” It was obvious she wasn’t. As the princess went closer, she could hear the swordsmare sobbing.

“Please... Go...” Flutterblade said.

“Flutterblade, come down, please. Just talk to me. Tell me what is happening.”

“I... I don’t want to talk right now... If you don’t mind it...”
But she did mind it. Seeing that she would not be able to make the pegasus mare come down, Curiosity started climbing the tree. It was something really unbecoming of a princess. Branches and leaves were getting caught in her impeccable mane and, not being all that accustomed to physical exercise, by the time she got up, she was sweating. But it didn’t matter right now. What mattered was the crying swordsmare. The princess sat on a branch by her side and nuzzled her.

“What is the matter, darling? You just saved my life again. Let me, at least, help you with this.”

Flutterblade sighed. “It’s just... She did mention Cherry Plains.”

“And what happened there?”

“That’s where I killed for the first time.” Flutterblade looked at Curiosity. Her face was a mess of tears and leaves. “I was young. I left my master because she didn’t let me participate in the war. She said I wasn’t ready, and she was right. But I was young, and ponies were killing ponies, so I thought if I picked the good side, I could avoid more bloodshed. After all, what good is knowing such a powerful fighting style if I don’t get to use it for good?”

“So they sent me in a scouting mission. I didn’t have to fight. My orders were to hover the battlefield and come back to the general to give him updates on the battle. We were losing so hard. Every reconnaissance pass I gave brought worse news so, when I saw the enemy general, I decided to act. I don’t even remember his name. I don’t know anything about him. I didn’t want to. Perhaps he had a wife and foals. Perhaps he was a good pony in the wrong side. I don’t know. What I know is that he didn’t have time to react. I dived towards him; his bodyguards trying to shoot me down with arrows that I dodged. A quick draw and he was sliced in half. I saw the fear in his face.”

Curiosity gulped. She had heard lots of war stories, but they always were told with pride and honour. Flutterblade’s story, instead, made her uneasy. There was no heroism nor pride in her words, just the suffering of a soldier with blood on her hands.

“That is all I became, Princess. A killer. That’s how ponies remember me. Everywhere I go, I get called ‘Queen of Killers.’ Nopony calls me a friend. Nopony calls me any other thing than a killer. That’s my legacy. When I’m gone from this world, the only things I’ll leave behind will be blood and war stories.”

“And now, Princess, it’s all starting again. I failed my master, but I always thought it was for a greater good. I thought that, with your father on the throne, things would be alright. That ponies everywhere would be happy, and that nopony would ever want to fight again. But they want. Lord Silencio is raising an army, and soon, once again, ponies will be killing ponies in the name of a lord.”

“No!” Princess Curiosity interrupted. Her determined voice had the effect she was expecting. Flutterblade jumped a bit, startled by the sudden outburst of the princess who stood up on the branch. “We are not going to allow that, Flutterblade. You say nopony ever called you a friend? Let me be the first, then. You saved my life twice without asking for any reward, only because you thought it was the right thing to do. You fight without killing to redeem yourself. You, darling, are a good pony, so believe me, I will not call you a friend just because it is what you need to hear. I will call you a friend because you are a friend to me.”

Flutterblade didn’t know how to react. She felt happy, so, why was she again on the verge of tears?

“So, Flutterblade, my friend, let me say one more thing. We are going to fix this. We are going to stop Lord Silencio before there is a war. And we will do it without killing. I am a princess of Neighpon, with power over the lives of many, many ponies, but I promise you this: I will NEVER be responsible for the death of anypony. We are now both bound by our promise to avoid unnecessary deaths, and we are going to make this right! Get up, my friend, and let’s fight for a better tomorrow!” Flutterblade stood up quickly and hugged Curiosity, crying tears of joy on her shoulder. An orange mare watched from a safe distance with a wide smile in her face.

“Ah reckon ya found what ya needed, Flutterblade.”

Comments

[GetJinxed]

schoolwork or Flutterblade? well I need to-

*ding! Flutterblade has been updated*

meh, I've got an A. more please

[SCP Pinkamena]

Traitorous Viper, his most trusted advisor

...
ONE OF THESE THINGS JUST DOESN'T BELONG HERE!

[burning-ruin-666]

3200348 your profile picture made it so much more funny