Kill or Be Killed
Luna slept peacefully for the rest of the night and I kept watch over her and the entrance to the small gave we were hiding in. Although it was unlikely for Celestia to send Guards this far out and into the Everfree Forest with Clearwater impersonating Luna and whispering in Celestia's ear who knows what she might do.
I decided it was light enough to get moving and so a scattered the dying cinders of the fireplace and gently shook Luna. She was sleeping heavily but I eventually saw an eye crack open and I told her "its dawn and time we were on our way".
She yawned loudly and stretched asking "What about breakfast"? "We'll find some on the way, besides you went a thousand years without breakfast I'm sure another hour won't hurt". Unfortunately it seemed my fantastic humour fell flat and so we simply set off at a plodding pace since Luna was neither strong enough or in the mood to go faster.
I was guessing that something in her dream had disturbed her since she had tossed and writhed slightly during the night but I thought it best that I didn't mention it and leave all these depressive troubles for her to sort out if she could.
Walking along the silence which we'd developed wasn't compatible or awkward but very odd with mixed emotions. I supposed I was still a bit mad at her for interrupting my dream and I guessed she was feeling bad for doing it and I was feeling bad for her dream despite not knowing the contents so still retaining a level of decent privacy.
However I thought that a dream was supposed to be private and although she was the actual Princess of the night it gave her in my opinion no right to look into my mind. "I'm sorry Captain" said Luna out of the blue, surprising me and at the same time making me feel better.
"It was wrong for me to peer into that dream, when I enter ponies dreams I can detect if it's the imagination at work or a memory of the past and although yours was a memory I couldn't help but look" she apologised looking down at her hooves.
I looked back at her and said "I'm sorry too Princess, last night I had no right to yell or push you away like that, you are royalty and although weakened right now still my ruler". "Don't think of me as a ruler who can command and control you Captain" Luna told me.
"Is that a command?" I asked and Luna furrowed her brow and responded after a long pause. "If you want it to be a command then sure it's a command". We both chuckled a bit but I immediately cut the laughter and came to a complete stop when I saw markings on the forest floor.
"Hold up, these are pony tracks made quite recently" I whispered, crouching low and pulling out my crossbow. Luna got down as well and looked about with her eyes wide and frightened. "Is it safe to speak" she asked but was answered by a voice other than her own.
"Nope it's not, in fact I'd say that it's darn right the most dangerous thing you could possibly do right now little lady" said a pony cast in shadow behind a large oak tree. I pointed my crossbow right at his head and asked "Who are you and what do you want"?
The pony laughed a small and deadly laugh before stating "What do I want?" and taking a pause for consideration. "I want what is rightfully mine, I want all your equipment and that little mare over there and then I'll let you be on your way old man" he said in a demeaning tone.
I didn't let it faze me and stated simply "You're not having it"! Yet again there was more laughter and the stallion yelled "You're a foal then and you shall die!" before out of nowhere he leapt on my back, causing me to drop my crossbow and fall head first into the silhouette of a mannequin made of wood and straw.
I felt something wrap around my neck and then get pulled tight, citing off my supply of oxygen. I choked and bucked the bony right in the stomach, winding him and causing him to lose his grip on the garrotte. I drew my sword but he kicked it at the hilt and it flew out of my hand and embedded itself in a young Ash tree nearby. He continued to graze my jaw with a firm punch and the attempt to draw his own blade but I hit him in the ribs and upon hearing an audible crack followed with an uppercut against his jaw.
He stumbled back in pain and I made for the Ash tree to retrieve my sword however he had one more little sneaky trick up his damned sleeves (literally). He pulled out what I remembered from my weapons training as being called a Bolas and after swinging it twice threw it at me.
It hit me true and accurate and in an instant my limbs were in a tangled mess that couldn't move. I kicked and bucked against the rope but all it did was make it worse. I could only watch in a helpless state as the bandit who'd been on the floor and almost down a minute ago stumbled over to my sword, holding his side as he went.
He looked at my sword and commented "Ah a Royal Guard of Canterlot are you, well my friend you should know better than to come this deep into the Everfree" he said as he tested my blades wait. I began trying to bite the ropes which held me tight but despite my efforts they were well made and tight.
He finished gloating his victory now and bent down until his breath was right up against my ear and whispered in a venom coated voice "After I cut off your head I'm going to wreck that little whorse of yours". My anger couldn't be contained by simply bucking at the ropes and I rolled over and sank my teeth into his shoulder.
He cried out in pain as I bit deeper, drawing blood and eventually biting so deep that when he pulled away his flesh came with it. I spat out his blood hide and looked up at him in defiance. "I'll cut you in half" he wailed as he raised my sword in anger and I just shut my eyes and waited for the judgement of the sword against my stomach.
However I heard what was like a small cough from a bumble bee and looking u saw the bandits legs go to jelly as he let the sword go and dipped his hoof into the pool of blood in the centre of his chest where a small but deadly bolt had lodged itself.
He looked right in front of him as did I and we both saw Luna, shakily holding the crossbow away from her and breathing heavily. "You bitch" was all the bandit could say before he collapsed to the floor and died. Luna came running over to me and began to try and untie me but I told her "Get my sword and cut me loose".
She stepped over the body of the still freshly bleeding bandit and picked up my sword which was too heavy for her to actually hold. I made sure that my hooves weren't too close to the ropes and Luna brought down the sword with all her force. It clanged off the rocks after it cut through the ropes and I was set free.
I was relieved to say the least that I hadn't died tied up and helpless so I gratefully said "Thanks Princess I nearly…" but was surprised when she threw herself into my hooves sobbing uncontrollably. "I didn't mean to kill him, I just wanted him to stop" she cried as her tears soaked my suit right through to my coat. "Look its ok, he was a bad pony he deserved it and you saved me, so don't cry Princess" I said trying to sound consoling despite my gruff voice.
"That was the first life I took, I even felt when his life was extinguished it was a horrible feeling how can you ever live after you've killed a pony?" she asked in sorrow. I sat down whilst still holding her head and sighed. "I thought that being a Princess you'd be accustomed to death but the if you want to know how to deal with it you can't, it will stay with you as baggage for the rest of your life" I told her.
"But how can I go on, I just can't I k…k…killed that pony" Luna said still crying hard. The situation was already tense but I thought of an idea to help wash some of the guilt away. "Do you know why I was dis-charged from the guard Luna"? "No" she sniffed. "Well it was because I wouldn't drop my sword when they attempted to take it away officially but it was also because of somepony else that I covered for" I told her, revealing a deep secret which I had told nopony before.
"Why and who were you covering for" she asked curiously despite the tears that still flowed. "I was covering for the pony you saw in my dream, you see she stole something that was very precious to Celestia and if I hadn't covered for her she would have been locked up" I told her.
She sniffed and after a pause asked "What does this have to do with killing"? I rubbed my eyes and gulped slightly and said in a sorrowful voice "I killed that pony and I've had to live with that fact for years and I wasn't a strong pony like you Luna I simply took to Cider and tried to poison myself slowly till one morning I woke up dead but your more than this, you're a Princess and have a sister and a Kingdom which is in danger which is why you have to hang up your grief and carry on" I said shaking her softly.
She sniffed a little and looked up at me appreciatively but also pitifully. "Ok then let's go" she said and I helped her to stand up. I told her to go wait by a tree while I made sure the bandit was out of sight and hadn't got any useful gear on him.
I searched his pockets and found some trinkets and gold bits, the gold which I took the rings which I took and put in my saddle bag. I found and old rusty dagger in his belt and the wire he'd use to choke me which I discarded. He had a book titled "Are you a Sociopath" which came from the city of Canterlot Library (which opened up questions as to how e obtained it) and finally some food packs which could last for up to three days.
It was quite lucky in a way to be finding these but looking over at Luna's downcast face I couldn't help but feel anger boiling up inside me for what he wanted…would have done had she not shot him. I could still taste him blood on my lips and despite the foul taste of meat I was glad he had suffered a little before he had died.
"Ok Princess let's go" I said, "we should be at the edge of the Everfree and then a day's walk to Dodge City, however since the word that I might have tried to kill fake Princess Luna and almost killed Celestia might have already reached this far we're going to take five days to reach the bad lands and from there find the mountain that you need to find to recharge your powers or something" I said.
Luna picked her head and with a lot of strength for such a young mare (despite the thousand year imprisonment) began trotting again although somewhat quieter. I followed along; pointing out which direction to go in and keeping quiet for the following hours…she really needed time now.
So we walked without further interruption from bandits or wild beats and mercifully the forest remained peaceful and quiet. We reached the river which flowed all the way to Horseshoe Bay and stopped to fill a canteen I had brought and rest for a while before we pressed on.
Hours turned to minutes and soon it was dark and Luna was more vibrant than before although still tired from the long walk she had done. "There's a secluded patch hidden by trees about half a mile from here Princess, I think we should stop there for tonight" I said and she nodded.
So we stopped and ate some of the thieves' rations although Luna barely touched hers despite a thousand years of hunger and instead nestled down to sleep. I couldn't help but sigh, she didn't really deserve any of this, despite the fact her mind and soul had been active for a thousand years her body and mind hadn't been able to grow any further and although I couldn't recall much about the Legend of Nightmare Moon or Luna before she'd been framed I knew that she had played a significant role with her sister in the unification of Equestria and its Empire. The fact she raised and set the moon was also a big thing and I could see she longed to control it like she used to instead of Clearwater who was probably on her throne right now laughing to herself.
I was angry with everypony. The mare who'd promised me my wife and riches who had lied to me, Celestia who despite twenty loyal years of dedicated service had cast me out quickly like a piece of trash, the bandit who had nearly killed me and done worse to Luna and finally myself for letting it all happen. In my younger days when I was fit and in shaped I could have taken that bandit out in a jiffy and carry Luna all the way to Baltimare but now I struggled when I was carrying her from the castle and I nearly died of the bandits hoof.
I could still taste the metallic taste of blood inside my mouth…it tasted wrong. I had long ago lost my hat and my jacket was stained with blood since we were on the edge of the forest I didn't want to light a fire and for that Luna shivered as she slept. She was having another nightmare, probably about what had happened today and although most of my care had dried up with the death of my wife I took off my suit jacket and placed it on her.
She stopped shivering, which made me smile but now she was tossing and turning as something greatly disturbed her dreams. Had I had the power I might have nipped into her head and consoled her but that wasn't an option for a boring old Earth Pony.
However that didn't mean that I couldn't get up and do something productive. I got up and walked over to a nearby tree and looked up at the branch which I could just reach if I jumped. I jumped up and caught it with my fore hooves. I tried not to make too much noise and wake Luna up and proceeded to do some chin ups.
However after six I began to lose all strength in my limbs which caused me to fall flat on my back very noisily, stirring Luna slightly. "Ow" I whispered aloud and slowly got up, rubbing my back as I went. I wasn't going to be beaten by this tree however and I once again tried to beat my record.
I went on like this for about two hours and by the end of I was tired and sore but still happy. At the end I had fallen fifty times but I got to the record of thirty-chin ups. I wiped the sweat from my face and drank a little water slowly when I noticed that something seemed to move in the forest.
I stood up slowly, drawing my sword and striding lightly towards the forest. Suddenly I was hit by a flash of white light and the ground below me changed and got hard, grass turned to stone and the trees turned into poles, my vision blurred slightly and suddenly I was back in the clearing feeling nauseous and just like in the castle dizzy.
These were just stress induced delusions I told myself and thought nothing more about it and decided I should sit down and keep watch over Luna and the camp all night. So I stayed there and thought about the future and what it held in store.
All sorts of desert creatures and even dragons roamed in the Bad Lands which held many bad secrets I'd heard. Celestia was pretty much against us now and in Clearwater's pocket and although she hadn't seen Clearwater's form which was actually Luna it was still dangerous to travel together.
Traveling apart might be safer but when I thought about today and all that had occurred I didn't think it would be wise to let Luna go striding off into the wilderness and deserts without a protector despite how I wasn't getting paid or rewarded in any way except to be a good Samaritan.
I remembered the deal I'd originally made with the strange mare who'd come to my office. Maybe after five days she'd send bounty hunters or maybe she already had figured out I'd not be giving Clearwater over. Even so I didn't care, she was lying anyway even the real Clearwater didn't have the power of life…no, the only power anypony seemed to have was death but it was stalemate there because I had the same power and now so did Luna which added to my list of regrets in my life.