Unlikely Heroes

by Raptor

Act I: Chapter 2: Oathbound

Day IV
Canterlot Gardens, Canterlot, Equestria
Fifth stage of Rising Sun

Oathbound did what he normally did when in absent-minded thought; sharpened his axes. Although they never needed sharpening-- they were always conjured as sharp as can be-- it helped they gray stallion think. He didn't have much to think about, being the retired captain of the royal guard. He had no more obligations, no more duties, and hopefully, no more enemies. Yet there he was, sitting underneath a tree in the royal gardens, gazing in concentration at the glowing blue axes levitating in front of him as they sparked against each other.

What was he even thinking about? His life? His disease? His failure to protect the princess that happened years ago, ultimately causing him to resign out of shame, and has been plaguing his mind every night ever since?

Yeah, that's probably it. He sighed, looking down at the amulet around his neck. It was the only thing keeping him from decaying away like a rotted tree. It was also what had given him the power to use his enchanted weapons. He stroked his gold and red mane back with a hoof and looked up into the sky. And now with this whole dragon ordeal... The princess is in more danger than ever now. I hope the situation will resolve itself... He knew he would never serve under the princess again. But still... he felt... useless like this. He wanted to help, but the thought of failure plagued his mind. Besides, he thought, nopony asked me to help.

"Oathbound."

The stallion looked to his right to see a gray earth pony and a pink unicorn, the latter he identified as Melody Roseshine, the princess's entertainer. He had seen her around the palace many times before. She wore a smile while the gray earth pony wore a serious expression. The brim of his hat shaded his eyes.

"Can I help you...?" Oathbound asked simply.

"We have a proposition for you," the stallion said.

Oathbound raised an eyebrow as his glowing blue axes vanished in sparks of light. "What... kind of proposition...?" The stallion walked up to him and sat down at a respectful distance. Melody followed suit.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the stallion said. "My name is Silver Mine. This is Melody Roseshine." He gestured to the pink filly sitting next to him, who waved.

"A pleasure, Mr. Mine," Oathbound said. He looked at Melody and smiled. "Hello, Melody."

"Hi, Oathy!" Melody chirped.

"Oh, you two know each other!" Silver said with interest. A small smile appeared for a brief moment, yet his eyes kept their focused glare. "Good, good..." His smile disappeared, and he stared off into space. "Interesting..."

Oathbound looked back at Silver. "So, Mr. Mine, what was this 'proposition' you had for me?" Silver didn't react. He just kept staring off into space. "Mr. Mine...?" Melody lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hm-?" Silver blinked and darted his eyes from left to right. "Oh... Yes. Sorry." He sighed. "I'm sure you're aware of the current dragon threat...?" Oathbound nodded gravely. "Well, we are assembling a team to stop this conflict before it begins. And we think you would make an excellent contribution to the team."

Oathbound raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? You're sending a team... to stop dragons."

"Diplomatically, yes."

"Diplomatically."

"Well... kind of. It's a bit complicated."

"Why do you need me?"

"There will still be dangers on the journey, and there is a possibility that we may have to fight our way out of situations. With your combat experience and ability to keep a promise 'till the end, you would be a valuable asset."

Oathbound was silent for a moment. "Who recommended me...?" he asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"Very few ponies know that I was captain of the royal guard, or even who I was, for that matter. Who told you about me?" He looked at Melody, then pointed at her. "Was it her...?"

"Nope," Melody said. "I just met him an hour ago!"

Oathbound raised an eyebrow and looked back at the miner. "Then who told you about me?"

Silver looked at Melody. Then he looked back. "...You did."

Oathbound got a perplexed look. He cocked his head at Silver. "...Have we met before?"

"Yes, actually. Well... kind of. Not really. You wouldn't remember, anyway." As Oathbound's expression grew more confused, Silver pulled out a letter from his saddlebag. "A few days ago, you sent me this letter. Even if you don't remember doing so, you did." He held it out to the confused stallion in front of him. Oathbound looked at the letter, then at Silver, then back at the letter. Slowly, he took it from the miner's hooves and opened it. He read it for a few seconds.

"What is this...?" he asked quietly, not looking up.

"It's an application, Oathbound," Silver replied. Oathbound was about to ask what for, but Silver answered, "For the mission." Oathbound stopped reading and looked up at him. "I lied. We don't have a proposition for you." Silver gave an awkward smirk. "You applied for the mission. We're here to tell you that you were selected." Oathbound remained silent for a while, just staring at the miner.

"But..." He looked down at the parchment. "I don't remember writing this... why would I apply for something if I wouldn't remember doing so...?"

"Yeah... sorry, that was our condition. We informed a lot of ponies, and... well, we can't really have this mission be... well-known. So all the applicants-- and non-applicants-- were memory wiped, for their own protection, mainly."

Oathbound slowly looked back up at Silver. "What kind of magic has the power to do something of that magnitude...?"

Silver waved his hoof dismissively. "Don't worry about it. What I need you to focus on is whether or not you want to accept." When he got no reply, he looked over his shoulder, then at Melody, then back at Oathbound. He sighed. "Would you like me to go over the details...?"

"Please."

He sighed again. "I am assembling a team of operatives to travel to the land of the dragons. We will confront the dragon leader. Before we do, however, we will have to collect a few artifacts from different locations scattered across the land. These artifacts will help us. We will tell the dragons to call off their threat, and if they refuse, we will use the artifacts on them. I can't give the details of what they will do, but I can tell you that they will weaken the dragons significantly, and will give us a fighting chance to force them to surrender."

Oathbound was silent. "Seems risky," he said simply.

Silver shrugged. "It wouldn't be so vague and suspicious if it wasn't." He smiled. "But I know that kind of thing doesn't faze you." Oathbound nodded slowly and looked back down at the note in his hooves. It held his information; his physical appearance, his personality, even his personal information- including the reason he resigned. "You have the ability to save lives again, Oath." He looked up. Silver wore a serious expression. "Including the princess."

Oathbound froze. He thought of the princess. He thought of that fateful day...

---

Years ago
Crystal Caverns, Canterlot, Equestria
Third stage of Rising Moon

Oathbound led the princess through the jagged crystalline tunnel, frantically searching for a way out. The left side of his helmet was scorched, his chestplate was cracked, and he bore a large gash in his right side, which had crusted over with dried blood, yet was threatening to reopen once more. The princess wasn't doing too well herself- her royal dress was torn, her mane was a mess, and she was panting heavily. The sounds of explosions and magical beams could be heard from above, accompanied by the screams of agony and menacing screeches. Similar sounds could be heard from the tunnel behind them... and they were getting closer.

Oathbound kept pressing forward, making sure the princess was keeping up with him. There was a scream that echoed behind them- another guard had fallen. The ominous chittering noise soon followed. They're getting closer, he thought. The cavernous crystals were surprisingly luminous, albeit very dimly. They could at least see where they were going, for the most part.

He stopped. Ahead of him was an archway to another tunnel, except this one was darker, and Oathbound could have sworn he heard something. He held up his hoof and turned to the princess. "Hold on," he whispered. "Let me scout ahead. Stay here." The princess nodded. Fear was evident in her eyes, if the quick, short breaths weren't evidence enough. He turned back to the dark tunnel and slowly crept forward, keeping his ears open for any sounds of movement. He passed under the archway and looked around. He could barely see, and he didn't want to risk lighting the place up with his amulet, lest whatever was in here would see him. He looked at the shape of the dark crystals, scouting for something that looked more like-

"AAAAAAH!!!"

Oathbound spun around and was horrified. A green bolt of magic shot straight at the princess and struck her, thrusting her to the wall and knocking the tiara off of her head.

"NO!!" he yelled, dashing forward, only to be struck in the back of the head, collapsing to the ground. He watched, dazed and helpless, as a chitinous black figure approached the princess from the far tunnel, fangs bared, ready to strike- right before a spear impaled its neck from behind. It collapsed to reveal three royal guards rushing forward. Oathbound barely heard a screech from behind him, right before a similar black figure leaped over him and toward the guards, who continued charging, spears at the ready. Oathbound faded out of consciousness, right after hearing a word...

"Captain!"

Many hours later, after the invasion was repelled, a very bandaged and beaten Oathbound walked up to the wounded princess, sitting atop her throne, only to see the disapproving glare of the royal advisor standing in his path. She didn't need to say anything- Oathbound knew what she was thinking. He was thinking it, too. He stepped up to her and held out the parchment in his hoof.

"You don't need to do this, Oathbound!" said the princess. "I don't blame you for it! It wasn't your fault!" Both he and the advisor ignored her. The advisor took the parchment, and Oathbound cleared his throat. He decreed:

"I can no longer work directly under the princess."

"You're not going to be working directly for the princess," Silver said. "You'll be working for me and my employer. The princess just happens to be protected as well."

Oathbound was silent for a while. He looked up into the sky. "It was never just about the princess, Mr. Mine..." he said quietly. "It was about failure. You say this mission is such a big deal... That only makes the consequence of failure more devastating."

Silver was quiet. Then, he smiled, and started to chuckle. Oathbound looked at him quizzically. "You know what I think, Oath?" he said finally. "I think you've already made your decision. You made it a while ago. I know it, you know it... heck, I think Melody probably knows it."

Melody smiled and nodded. Then she frowned and looked at Silver. "I do?"

"You've already accepted. Now you're just trying to think up excuses not to go. Am I right...?"

Oathbound was at a loss for words. He was dead right. Oathbound wanted to go... he hated being useless while a situation unfolded. He had to do something. Yet... there was a part of him that kept saying otherwise. Oathbound narrowed his eyes. NO. That part left his body and took its own form a long time ago... and he was NOT about to let it back into his life.

"...You're absolutely right, Mr. Mine," he said slowly. He rose to his hooves. "I have made my decision. I won't sit idly while this new land of peace and harmony is threatened. I will gladly join you and your cause." He placed a hoof on his chest. "...I swear by it."

Silver and Melody both rose as well. Silver smiled and held his hoof out to Oath, saying: "Glad to hear it, Captain. Do you mind if I call you 'Captain'...?"

Oathbound shook the miner's hoof and smiled back. "I haven't been called 'Captain' in a long time... ever since the incident, I've resented the title and all the memories that come with it... but... If you wish to call me that, you may."

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I call you 'Cappy'!?" Melody asked while bouncing up and down. "Or maybe 'Skipper'! Or 'Skippy'! What about 'Captain Oathy'? Or 'Oathy the Skipper'? 'Skipperbound'? 'Skipperooni'? 'Cpt. Oathy McSkipperton'?"

As Melody continued like this for a while, Silver rolled his eyes and gave Oathbound a look that said: "We're gonna have to put up with a lot of this."

Oathbound replied with a wide-eyed stare that said: "May Gods have mercy on our souls." Silver politely gestured for Oathbound to follow him. He nodded. The two stallions started walking off towards the garden gates, leaving Melody to ramble about ridiculous names that, after a while, had nothing to do with 'Captain', 'Skipper', or 'Oathbound'. After they were halfway across the garden, Melody stopped and, realizing they had gone, scrambled to catch up to them and telling them to wait up.

---

A low growling was heard from an unknown location. "So," the same voice spoke, rapsy and demonic, "He has found something to do with his pathetic life!" There was a sound of something being smashed beneath a hoof, followed by an exhaling snort. "He thinks he can make a difference..." the voice growled, words laced with poison and packed with utter hatred. "I will see to it that he meets nothing but failure!!" A snarl. "Perhaps this is the opportunity I have so hungrily waited for..." There was silence.

"I am you... You are me... I will make you... break.

"And there is nothing you, nor anything else can do to stop me."

Author's Note:

Sorry about the short chapter. Expect the first few to be from 1000 to 3000 words long, approximately.
Once Act II begins, they'll be much longer, and more eventful.

EDIT: Added music links for better effect.

Comments

[Saga529]

So im guessing that these chapters are going to go in order of how they were presented in the roster.

[Raptor]

2559143 That is correct.

[Wonderstruck]

The two stallions started walking off towards the garden gates, leaving Melody to ramble about rediculous names that, after a while, had nothing to do with 'Captain', 'Skipper', or 'Oathbound'.
Should be ridiculous
I'm not sure whether I love this story more than others because its an awesome story, or because somehow you manage to write stuff that I can actually imagine myself doing

[Brother Roga]

Wow.

There are no words for how impressed I am with how you represented Oathbound here! I couldn't have made a better chapter myself!
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/29704184.jpg

[TheTyrannicalEyeFudge]

2559562

I would

Mostly because 'moral support' is super hard for me.

[Raptor]

2560696 I am SO glad you aprove!
eatdrinklift.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/the-very-best-of-the-success-kid-meme.jpg

[Coal Scorcher]

2561083

Do I detect a hint of sarcasm in there?

[Raptor]

2561455 what? No! Of course not. I really want to satisfy everyone here.

[Coal Scorcher]

2563829
Gotcha!

I figured you wouldn't fall for that!

[Raptor]

2575478 PLEASE let me give him a lisp. HE NEEDS A LISP

[tweaked_angel]

2575655
Lisp, huh...
I approve! I actually really like that idea for him!