> Binder. > by Thor > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A tall, light blue unicorn silently moved through the streets of Manehattan. His mane was falling in front of the black eyes, covering them almost completely. Despite his vision being almost non-existent he was moving with unbelievable ease. If anypony would notice him they wouldn’t think about it very much. Just a stallion going for a stroll. The only thing that would seem weird would be the hour, it being almost midnight after all. But there was a thing that would be more than a little weird. The swords. The unicorn had two double-edged swords levitating next to him, covered in a dark aura. But that was not where it ended. The swords seemed to have been used just a few moments ago, the shining metal covered in a red liquid .The unicorns blue coat was also stained with blood, but that wasn’t the most disturbing part of his look. The thing that would be able to strike fear in the bravest Royal Guard was his face. His mouth was pulled in a wide smile that revealed his teeth. The blood dripping down his chin didn’t make the impression he made much better, and neither did the teeth that looked like they have been stolen from a griffon. Even through the curtain of hair his eyes seemed to radiate an aura of fear around him. -Blue Wave, - A voice suddenly said behind him. The unicorn reacted instantly and jumped around, the two blades following him and rushing towards the source of the voice. Despite the impressive force that was put into the blades and their speed, they stopped. Blue Wave froze for a second. His eyes instantly looked for the thing that had stopped his blade, but surprisingly for him there didn’t seem to be anything that would’ve been able to block his strike. There was just darkness behind him. He squinted his eyes and searched for something in the shrouded alley. He carefully looked for a pony or some other being that had said his name. After about a minute of fruitless effort to find something he lowered the swords and started turning around Suddenly something flashed in the corner of his eye and his head jumped back towards the alley. Something sharp brushed against his right cheek and a bit of pain rushed through his body. Wave also noticed that somepony had appeared in the alley. As far as he could tell from the body form it was rather young earth pony colt, which could yet be called a stallion. He also noted the small round forms that were floating around him. -As I said before you interrupted me, - The colt spoke, -Blue Wave, you are accused of murder, cannibalism and use of Necromancy and other Black Magic.- -And who might you be to have the rights to judge others?-Wave grinned,-Didn’t your mom teach to respect ponies older than you?- The colt stepped towards him, drawing a growl from Wave; - I guess I can tell you my name. It’s not like you will be able to pass it on to anybody else.- -What is that supposed to mean?- Waves rising anger seemed to amuse the colt as he snickered, - You‘ll see. But I should answer your question, should I not? I don’t want to be rude after all.- -Get on with it, - Wave was getting more and more annoyed and the aura around his swords seemed to be turning darker with every second. -As you wish. I am Aurum Coin, Level 0 binder tasked with the extermination of Fallen, Necromancers and anypony who violates the Laws. And you appear to be a part of all these groups. Let us get done with this so I can go back to doing something more productive, this isn’t a real task after all, but a punishment for disobeying orders.- Blue Wave stretched his neck, - I stopped listening after you said your name, the rest of it wasn’t necessary. Aurum stretched his neck too, - Didn’t your mom tell you that it is rude to ignore other ponies?- -I guess I forgot,- Blue Wave grinned even wider revealing more of his razor sharp teeth and slowly started walking towards the colt. His pace became faster and faster until he was running with both swords levitating in front of him, ready to slash the colt to small, small pieces. A few meters before Aurum, Wave jumped in the air and turned the swords towards the colts head. A few millimeters from Coins head the swords collided with something hard again, only this time Wave saw what the thing that could stop his blades was. A coin. A simple golden coin. In the few seconds before he got knocked away by more coins Wave noticed a few general differences between these coins and the bits Equestria used. The general difference was the size. The coins that were floating around Aurum, guided by some unknown force, were noticeably bigger than the usual bits. And Wave didn’t think that he had seen coins with razor sharp edges in his entire life. But still the most interesting part was that they were floating. There was no aura around them, which destroyed the possibility that he was a unicorn that was hiding his horn with illusions. But Wave didn’t spend too much time thinking about it. If he would’ve seen Aurum levitating coins with no magic during daytime on some Manehattan street it probably would make him spend hours trying to find an answer. But this wasn’t daytime and Aurum wasn’t some random colt on the street. He was an enemy with an extraordinary ability which made him a respectable opponent. This was no time to think. This was time to do what he did best-kill. Wave clenched his teeth as his magic healed the bleeding cuts on his right side. This had just gotten serious. He attacked again, this time using a different tactic- he tried to slash through the coins using his full strength, but was like trying to break a concrete wall by bluntly hitting it. Pointless. Aurum on the other side was getting bored. He had heard rumors about this guy, and none of them seemed to have been true. As a matter of fact it was the complete opposite. He was rather weak and could only be used just to make his coins shinier. After about three minutes of Wave trying to hit Aurum and Aurum simply blocking Waves attacks Aurum decided to finish the job he was here to do. His coins started to attack Wave stronger and faster. More and more cuts appeared on Waves body as he tried to stop the tempest of razor sharp coins from attacking him. The black aura around the swords started flickering because of the coins creating cuts on his horn. A sharp pain suddenly shot through his body as a coin cut especially deeply in his horn. The magic around the swords disappeared and they fell to the ground. Aurum instantly noticed that the swords aren’t protected by the layer of magic and the coins grinded the swords to dust. The coins slowly calmed down and at least a half of them were absorbed by the body of Aurum. Wave was lying on the ground and trying to move but the countless injuries prevented him from doing that. He coughed up a bit of blood,-What in Tartarus are you? Aurum gently raised Waves head with a hoof; - I am the thing that keeps Equestria peaceful. I am the one that destroys any threat that appears in Equestria. I am a binder.- Wave could feel his vision starting to get foggy and coughed again, - In ancient times a pony that had to die because of his crimes could have a last wish. Will you let me to have this wish?- Aurum grinned, - You are more cultural than you seem. I will grant you a wish despite your crime against ponykind.- -Tell me what you are.- Aurum nodded, - I can tell you that. I am a binder. I don’t use magic or usual weapons like you. I use the thing that holds the most powerful force in all Equestria.- -What is it? Tell me!- Wave whispered. Aurum patted his head,- No.- Waves face froze in shock and stayed it as his blood stopped pumping. Aurum grinned and stood up. He took a book out of his saddlebag and erased another name. -Last name on the list. Time to finally go back.- Aurum grinned. He put the book back and pulled out a bottle and a match. He poured the liquid on Wave and stepped back. Aurum ignited the match and threw it on his victim. Waves body was set on fire almost immediately. Arum slowly turned around and walked away, melting together with the shadow of Manehattan.