1001 Nights in Their Garden
The Fifth Night- Promises II
My name is Steven Universe, and I'm engaged in yet another chase by people trying to kill me. Is it too late to go back to the peaceful village from "The Hunt"?
The imperial horsemen are the remnants of a bygone age. In happier times they had been the pride of a land that had long since passed away. While they may no longer have been the force that rocked the earth, their bullets were still very real and very dangerous as they whizzed by our increasingly out of control wagon. These feather capped antiquities had come to life in the bright sunlight of early afternoon, in away that I and my incognito partner could've done without.
I fished the pistol from out of my pocket and pulled the hammer back to unlock the safety. War or no war, I never fired at anything more dangerous than an empty bottle, but with lives on the line, to say nothing of my own, I had to act. Act I did.
There were three horseman riding in a close and well-practiced V while they levered their polished brass carbines. All three were riding pure bred stallions, groomed and well rested, and when taken in combination with their flamboyant uniforms, must've cost more money than I had ever seen in my poor life. Did I hate them? No, there was no time for hate.
My pistol was traded for at a local pawn shop, in exchange for a bottle of moonshine. Its hammer pulled back and landed with a thud, there was a crack as the powder ignited. The bullet missed it's intended target, but it did not miss his horse.
The front horse tumbled over in agony, as her master was knocked out of the saddle and tumbled feet first, knocking the cap from his head, but otherwise leaving him unharmed. However, that was only for the moment until the poor horse served as a break for the other two men of the squad. All the training in the world was couldn't save the cavalry.
I breathed a momentary sigh of relief. Unfortunately, this day was far from over. The sound of gunfire had attracted the parading guardsman who had rallied to the check point we had crossed earlier that morning.
Spinel wiped the "make-up" from her face revealing the pink that lay hidden beneath. She now wore a smile that seemed all at once to be mad, determined and full of hate. Both horses were whipped into a panicked dash by the unfamiliar sounds of gun shots behind. My heart was pounding in sheer terror at the bloodbath that I had worked so long to avoid these past years.
The devils in the guard uniforms had lined up in even rows with mounted bayonets and every intention of butchering us where we stood. She made no effort to slow the horses as they made their way down the street. Her smile had not faded. If anything, it was wider now, wider than any human could manage.
"Spinel! Spinel!" I shouted hoping she would return to some semblance of normalcy.
She laughed, "Guess there's no point of hiding anymore." She yelled to the goons, "So long clods!"
What I saw next was incredible. I knew she could stretch her body to ridiculous lengths. Her limbs coiled out and she spun in front of the cart like an insane child's top. People were scattered in all directions, left, right, down on the ground, and some were sent flying up into the air. Even those few that managed to fire their guns watched as the bullets harmlessly popped off sending bullets whizzing this way, and that. The pop and bang reminded me of nothing so much as popcorn, how both I and the horses remained unharmed I'll never know.
She landed back into the cart before the horses even had time to respond to it. She stuck out her tongue, "I've wanted to do that for ages!" With the passing of the danger for the moment she managed to get both horses under reign. "Whaddya think of me now Stevie?"
"I think. That I'm more afraid of you than of any Imperial Soldiers"
Spinel giggled, "Took ya long enough to figur' that out!"
We made it past the check point, and I had begun to hold out hope that, maybe, just maybe, the worst of it was over. Then from a distance I heard the bugle call. And saw a sea of armed cavalry rushing towards the check point. Then, to put it mildly all hell broke loose.
Over the clopping an gate of our two horses, and of the bugle, and of the great cacophony of the horses I could hear a low buzzing alarm that could only mean one thing. It was impossible, that's what newspapers, and everyone said… and yet it was here. I shook my fist to the air at the absurdity of the situation. "Today, of all days?" I enquired.
Overhead a thousand canvas, and wood monstrosities, inched their way across the sky of the doomed city. The sea of horseman thundered on undeterred as rubble fell around them. We raced past a building just as a bomb landed a fortunate hit Followed by an immense "Booom!" The thing listed to the side, before collapsing over a dozen cavalry who dashed with lances of all things.
The horses, by a great miracle made it to the docks, but somehow the foolish cavalry hadn't been dispersed. I never found out the point of it, not after years of enquiry. In the end, the only conclusion I had was that they saw no better way to die.
She didn't slow the horses, even at the dock. There was no time not with the planes overhead, and the cavalry behind. No, she saw the only way and she took it, took it right over the dock as we plunged into the icy ocean water. It was a promising day, with improbable middle, and disastrous end. Crazy as that all was the ordeal was far from over.
-Back in the Garden-
Spinel jumped up in glee, "Now that's mor like it Universe! I showed those clods."
I laughed, before yawning, "Just you wait till the end." I peered at my phone, "3:00 in the Morning. Guess it'll wait till tomorrow."
"Don't you wanna go back to Earth?" She said.
"Tomorrow, so sleepy." Just before I dozed off Spinel rested my head in her lap.
Next Time- Sixth Day- Cherry 2.0