I stayed at the controls and steered the great flying ship westward. When the compass on the wheel pointed west I aligned the ship and locked the steering so we were at a constant pace going west. I battened down all the hatches and let the balloon rise up high above the clouds so that there was no wind pushing us around. All that was moving us was the ship's propeller which gave us a slow but steady pace.
" please let me go..." Begged twilight who I had tied up and gagged. She managed to slip the gag out of her mouth and could talk now. "Please you have what you want... Just let me go." She begged some more.
" I'm afraid I can't do that." I said kneeling down to her level and looking her in the eye. " you see I need you to make sure my trip across the border goes smoothly no without incident."
" so you just took me as collateral." She said with disgust.
" yeah... Collateral is a good word for it." I said. I reached around and started untying her ropes and she looked at me surprisingly. " now I want to treat my guest with respect... So you're free to roam the ship... But without magic or wings there's no way for you to escape."
" what's with the sudden kindness." She said snapping at me as the ropes got looser they fell to her side limp and she stood up and started rubbing the spots where my chain had earlier dug into her skin. She was bleeding and had cuts all around her torso.
" can't have you dying." I said. " but in exchange for this freedoms I might have to ask you for favors along our journey... If you refuse I will tie you up again and dangle you over the side of the ship like a sandbag." I said. She just scoffed at me and looked away. She walked over to the side of the ship and sat down and looked off into the sky.
I let out a deep sigh and walked along the deck. I walked to the underpass and went down the stairs to the lower hangar. I walked down and it was completely empty except for cannons, ammo, and barrels of gunpowder... I'll have to be careful around those. I looked over and I saw crates and barrels full of food and water taking up tons of space on the ship. There were sacks of vegetables and fruit along with barrels of water. This was easily more than three months worth of food.
I walked over and opened up one of the chests that was there. Inside where eating supplies and utensils. I reached in and grabbed a glass from the chest. I looked over and there was a barrel with a tap on it. Makes me wonder why she bothered to put this here if she was going to trap me anyway... I guess it was already here and I just took over the ship... That would explain why she didn't bother removing the weapons.
I flipped the tap and poured myself a glass of water. The glass filled and I flipped the tap off and it dropped a bit onto the wooden floor. I raised up the glass in a sort of toast to myself and my victory. I gulped down the water and it was easily the most refreshing glass of water I ever remember drinking. The last few days have been really good.
Robbed a bank, hijacked a train, got this freaking awesome mask, had some fun at the club in manehattan, single hoofedly wiped out dread hoof and his fleet, crashed the ship and survived... Then stole this ship utilizing a perfect getaway hostage situation... Things are looking up. And with miss twilight here on the ship the princess wouldn't dare attack or do anything stupid.
I finished my water and put the glass down on top of the barrel. I reached into a nearby sack and pulled out a carrot. I started chewing it down and got halfway before I heard hoof steps from up above on the deck. I got suspicious but they were only coming from twilight. She stopped at the front of the ship and sat down. Then she started crying. I could hear her crying and the tears falling from her face hit the wood of the deck.
I hate to say that her crying stung at my heart a little bit... But I got over it. Give it a few days and she'll be fine. I kept looking around the room and saw a door over by the back. I walked over and opened it up. It just opened into the sleeping quarters for the crew. It was right above the captains quarters. I'm sure I can live with letting miss sparkle sleep in one of these beds.
After looking around and analyzing the ship I was sure there was no way for miss sparkle to escape on her own without magic. After all I did keep that magic suppressing ring on her horn. I turned back and walked back into the underside of the ship. I walked over to the stairs and walked back up them and looked over to see twilight sitting slouched over on the deck with a puddle of tears stained into the wood below her head. Her eyes where all rashes and she was miserable in every sense of the way.
" cheer up miss sparkle." I said. She turned her head to look at me with an angry stare. " it could always be worse." I said shrugging and moving over to the captains quarters.
" how can it be worse." She said snapping at me again.
" you could be dead... Remember that." I said. She went silent. I started thinking about a name I would give my new ship. A few and one came to my head. " give it a few days miss sparkle... You'll cheer up." I said she scoffed and looked away. " and miss sparkle... Welcome aboard the phantoms shadow." I said opening the door to the captains lodge and closing it behind me.
I was in the lodge and I looked around. There was a desk with a chair and a map patterned down on the desk with a compass and a few pencils. There was a drawer on the other end with a globe on the top of it. Next to that was a bed which was red and velvety looking. It seemed very comfortable. I looked over and smiled when I saw a large wine rack built into the wall and it was filled with grog and other alcoholic beverages. I walked over and started pulling the, out and reading labels... They were nice and expensive bottles of alcohol... Almost all were unopened... This was a nice bonus.i walked over and set my bags down by the desk and jumped into the bed and laid back.
I let out a mellow sigh and smiled. The bed was just as comfortable as I thought it would be. I had grabbed one of the booze bottles and popped the cork of. I didn't know what it was but I didn't care. I put the tip of the bottle to my mouth and started drinking. I sat there for the next hour or so drinking down the bottle and smiling at my own victory. The bottle was disappointingly weak and by the time I was almost done with it I only had a small buzz. It doesn't matter though. I chugged down the last bit and looked out the window. I noticed the sun was setting on the horizon and I walked out to the deck with few more bottles of booze in my bag.
I walked out and looked around the deck. I couldn't find miss sparkle. I walked around and started lighting up the lanterns hanging around the masts. They lit up the ship nicely and I went down to the lower deck. I turned on a few lanterns down there and headed back up. I walked up to the bridge and as I walked up to turn the lights on up there I saw twilight sitting against the back wall looked over it at the sky. She watched as we grew further and further from her home. I walked over and stood behind her. She looked like she had been crying some more but I think she's fine now.
" cheer up miss sparkle." I said with a faked rate accent. She didn't find it amusing but I was trying not to laugh. " pirate accent not working huh..." I said. She remained silent and looked over the back to the setting sun behind us. " here..." I said putting a large bottle of alcohol down beside her. " maybe this will wash out those blues." I said. She grabbed the bottle and popped the cork and started downing it. She didn't even look at me and she already downed a fourth of the huge bottle... It was rather impressive.
" what do you want?" She asked like I was looking for something.
" nothing." I said sitting down next to her.
" don't touch me." She said shuffling over and getting away from me.
" acting like a child isn't going to make things better miss sparkle..." I said. " the best thing for you to do is grow up and accept you predicament.. And at least take solace in the fact that I'm not going to kill you."
"Trying to act nice doesn't excuse you for what you've done." She said.
" I'm sure it doesn't... But I don't care..." I said standing up and heading back. " there are beds below and plenty of food and water... Rest up miss sparkle... It's going to be a long trip." I said walking down the stairs to the deck. I walked onto the deck and back to the captains den. I opened the door and walked inside and closed it behind me. I locked it and turned on the lantern.
The room filled with light and I reached up to take off my mask. I pulled it off and all my gear and weapons returned to normal as the metal crumbled to ash and vanished like all the other times. I walked over to my desk and set the mask down. I pulled my hat off and placed it on a hat rack by the door. By the hat rack there where pegs sticking out of the wall. I took off my duster and leather armor and hung them up on the pegs. I let out a yawn and crawled into the cozy bed after shutting the lantern off.
I closed my eyes and started to slip off into sleep. I did have a paranoid sense that miss sparkle would try something while I was sleeping but I know she's too afraid to even think about it. Still the feeling was making it hard to sleep. I did eventually drift off to sleep and started having dreams about what my new life will be like out of Equestria. And it wasn't long until the bright light of the sun shining through a round window hit my eyes and woke me up.
I opened my eyes and they hurt from the light. I rubbed them a bit and they adjusted while I let out a loud yawn. I sat up in my bed and stood up soon after. I stretched my limbs and let out another yawn. I walked over and grabbed my hat off the rack. I placed it on top of my head and opened the door to the deck. I walked out to the deck and took in the fresh smell of the morning air. there was a slight breeze from the speed of the ship. i walked over to the edge and looked down. i was a partly cloudy day and the ground was visible from this height. now that i look over, you could see everything from here. we were passing by a city that i already knew as manehattan.
the quiet and peaceful tone of the morning was soon destroyed by a deep rumbling in my stomach. i smiled and stepped away from the edge of the ship. i walked over to the underpass and climbed down the stairs. i reached the lower deck and turned over to the food and water. i grabbed a glass of water and some apple pie. the food was keeping fresh so i guess there must be some kind of magic seal over the crates and bags keeping the food preserved. i gobbled down the apple pie and chugged the glass of water. i let out a deep burp and set the glass on the top of the barrel like before.
i looked back and saw the door to the guards quarters. it was closed and stood there silently. i slowly walked over and put my face up to the window of the door. i looked in and all the beds were empty... except one. i saw twilight sleeping in the corner bed to the left. she laid facing the center of the room and i could see her face. she had the covers pulled up to her chest and she was sleeping peacefully. she looked like she was sleeping as if she wasn't in the situation she has found herself in now... there's something about her.
something about her feels... well... i don't even know. i guess you could call it homely. its comforting but distant at the same time. i haven't known her long nor do i know much about her... but for some reason i'm used to her presence already... i think this is what is keeping me from killing her off other than the hostage part. realizing that i had stood there and stared at her while she slept for a while i shook my head out and collected my thoughts. i turned away and started walking back.
i walked back to the stairs and climbed up to the deck. i walked out into the middle of the deck and looked around at the seemingly endless world around me. there was so much all around and i could see for miles and miles. it was only about 9 in the morning so we've got plenty of daylight left to get some work done. with that i smiled and started looking around. i looked back and forth and started pacing around the ship... i'm so bored.
i walked back to my room and started strapping my gear and weapons onto my body. i tied up the leather armor and put on my duster. i walked over to the desk and picked up the mask. i placed it close to my face and put it on. i was surrounded by red and black flames again and i was transformed once again. i smiled and walked out of the quarters. i walked back down the the lower deck and looked around. other than the food and water there was another cluster of barrels and crates on the other side. i walked over and looked at them.
i opened them up and they were full of stuff like weapons, silk, spices, clothing, dyes and paints, and tons of other goods. sweet i already have a start to my treasure. i looked back at the paint and grabbed a can and a brush. i think its time for some redecorating. i pulled out my knife and pried open the can of black paint. i trotted up to the deck and spread my wings. i flew out over to the side of the ship and dipped the brush into the paint.
i spent the next hour or so carefully and neatly painting "The Phantom Shadow." onto the side of the ship and then spent another hour painting it onto the other side in neat and fancy text. i looked at my handiwork and it was surprisingly good. i flew back up to the deck with a half empty bucket of black paint and a paint brush coated and stained with black paint. seeing as there were tons of these brushes and they're practically worthless i tossed it over the side of the ship to make sure it didn't drip black paint onto the deck.
it plummeted down the the ground and disappeared past a cloud. i looked around at the ship and i didn't agree with the appearance. the name is a good enough touch for now but when i leave this country i'll have it repainted to suit my style. i smiled at my accomplishment and trotted over to the stairs. i trotted down to the lower deck and i turned to see twilight eating some muffins and drinking a glass of water. she looked messy and looked hungover.
"evening miss twilight." i said tipping my hat.
"the expression is good morning." she said only glancing back at me then turning away.
"well it would have been a few hours ago... but now it's evening... so good evening." i said. she just rolled her eyes and turned away. "we just passed over manehattan an hour ago..."
"we haven't gone far then..." she said. "if we just passed manehattan then it'll take us at least two weeks to get to the border."
"thats fine with me..." i said. "the only problem i can see is having to fight off boredom." i said putting the bucket of paint down. "perhaps we'll stop by the next town and see if i can't find something to keep us interested."
"damnit stop that..." said twilight yelling at me.
"what." i shouted not liking the tone of her voice.
"stop acting like you're a good pony... you're not... nothing you have ever done was good no matter if there's a bright side to it or not... you're a horrible and sadistic pony." she said. i was partially taken back by her words. i felt angry but i didn't want to yell.
"you don't understand how i work miss sparkle." i said. "i might to horrible things but that doesn't make me bad... i try my best to act like a gentlecolt... i take what i want but i at least have the mercy to leave the poor and helpless to themselves. i don't kill unless challenged, i don't steal from the poor, and i don't act like an inconsiderate jackass... you might only see the grim in this and i can see that... but don't think that because i do what i do that makes me a horrible pony." i said.
"i swear if crimson were still alive he would have killed you weeks ago." she said. she started reflecting on that crimson guy and a tear fell to her eye.
"what... you were like his wife or something." i said smiling at the joke.
"no... i was his best friend... i was there when he died... i've never met a pony who died as honorably as he did." she said.
"yeah i'm sure he was great." i said rolling my eyes. "if you don't mind i'm going to go look ahead for a place to stop... i apologize for the argument... if you would like something tell em before we stop and i'll se what i can do." she just glared at me and turned away.
"i don't need anything." she said.
"well i'll still let you think it over... it's going to be a long journey and keeping you distracted will make things easier on the both of us... but if you want to sit there and wallow in you own misery and self pity you're welcome to." i said walking over to the stairs. i walked up the stairs and back onto the deck. i walked across the deck and up to the bridge. i took my spot in front of the wheel and looked around. i looked over and saw a small almost invisible cluster of buildings off in the distance.
i left the deck and walked into the captains quarters. i started looking around but i couldn't find anything. i walked over to the desk and opened up the first drawer. pouch of gold... took that, quills, ink wells, paper...nope. i opened up the next drawer. dagger, wrapped up scroll, more quills, and other office supplies, but not what i was looking for. i opened the last drawer and looked in. unopened beer bottles, a few gems, a strange looking necklace... ah there we go. i reached in and picked up a spyglass. i closed the drawer after taking the gems and jewels and put the spyglass on my side attached to my belt... i'll keep it there, it could be a nice tool to have.
i left the quarters and walked back up to the bridge and looked back to the small black mass past the large forest below us. i took the spyglass off my belt and extended it. i closed my left eye and put the scope up the my right. i looked around until i found the black mass. it was a small town. i'm sure i can find something there to keep us both entertained. not the only problem is that i'm sure all of equestria and then some has definitely been warned about me. so if there are any guards and crimson followers they will most likely attack me... but not if miss sparkle comes with me.
i smiled and closed the spy glass. i hooked it back onto my belt and placed my hooves on the wheel. i grabbed the key to lock the mechanisms of the ship and unlocked them. the ship was now in manual mode. i pushed the lever next to me forward and the furnace controlling the balloon started blasting cold air and the ship started dropping in elevation. while we were slowly declining i spun the wheel and the flaps in the back turned and we slowly started turning to the small town. we breached the cloud level and we dipped down a bit before i pulled the lever backwards and let more hot air into the balloon and it leveled out.
we picked up speed from the wind below cloud level and i kept the ship steady as we started floating over to the town. it was becoming larger and larger until it was easily visible from the naked eye. i watched as twilight walked up onto the deck with confusion. she looked at me and i smiled back at her. she ran over to the front and looked over to see the town growing closer. we were going pretty fast now and the speed of the ship was causing a mild breeze. it felt good. some ponies grow sea legs... fuck that, i've got skylegs... or something.
"where are you taking us?" asked twilight running over to the bottom of the bridge stairs.
"that town over there." i said pointing to the small town which was now much more visible and much less small from this view. i pulled down on a different lever and the hatches of the ship flew open and we significantly dropped in speed causing everything to jerk forward. i used the wheel to keep me up but twilight fell over onto the deck and got right back up. now we were just inching along and the breeze had stopped. the town was so close now. "twilight drop the anchor." i said.
she glared at me but she walked over anyway and walked down the the underside of the ship. i heard the lever for the anchor get pulled and i waited. i could hear a huge thud under the ship and the ship soon stopped inching forward and ceased to move. i smiled and let go of the wheel. i locked the mechanisms just to be safe and walked off the bridge. and back onto the deck just as twilight emerged from the lower cabin of the ship.
"there... the anchor is lowered." she said grudgingly.
"perfect... we should get going now." i said walking to the side of the ship and looking over. it was too far down for the ladder... not my best landing.
"what do you mean we?" asked twilight raising an eyebrow.
"you think i'm going to leave you on the ship by yourself?" i said. "theres no telling what you would do." she just grunted and walked over to the edge. "now lets go." i said. i grabbed her and jumped over the side of the ship. she shrieked in terror but i spread out my wings and we quickly drifted down the the ground. once we were inches from the ground and held her by her stomach and let her drop to the ground hooves first. i flew over and landed next to her.
"dont ever do that again." she said.
"i'll remember that for the next time i care." i said walking forward. "now lets go... and you know the drill... if you cause me any trouble there will be hell to pay." i said. she just glared at me with anger but sighed and hung her head in hopelessness and followed closely behind me. "good girl... now lets go." i said. "try and look for anything that will keep you occupied." i said. she seemed fine except for the magic ring on her head... that could cause some suspicion.
"what are you doing." she said as i reached over and grabbed her horn.
"this ring might carry off some suspicion from guards.' i said using my skull key to unlock it. once it was unlock and it widened i pushed it further down in her horn until it was hiding under her hair. "there... that's better." i said. i locked it and she glared at me. i placed the skull key on my hat as the buckle and we kept walking with the town growing closer in sight.
we anchored down not far out of the town and it only took us a few minutes to walk to the entrance and then another minute to walk into the town. when we got into town i dropped back until twilight was right next to me. need to keep my eye on her so she doesn't run off. we walked through the streets and passed many ponies. it was no surprise that we got tons of dirty looks. even the guards we passed growled at me and seemed to stalk me. seeing as my face was plastered over every inch of wall there was no surprise there.
the guards all gave me the same hatred filled look and they wanted to kill me badly. i could see the hatred and bloodlust in their eyes, but they knew better. they knew about the situation i had created and just one false step would lead to a massacre. we both walked around and eventually we got into a large market area. there were surprisingly few guards here. they just watched me as i walked. they didn't want to cause a scene and i didn't either. we passed by the other ponies who looked at me cluelessly. some gave me dirty looks but they were more confused than disgusted suggesting they don't know who i am either.
"anything you want?" i asked hoping to get this over with a quickly as possible and get going again. twilight looked around now. she seemed more open to the whole idea of finding a distraction for her and glanced across the shop signs. to be honest the only reason i was doing this is so that maybe she won't bother me as much. she kept looking around and her eyes caught something. she stopped and i did too. i followed her gaze to a bookstore. "books?... really." i said looking at her.
"uhm... yeah." she said feeling awkward talking to me in public. i had put on my innocent good guy act and it made it more awkward for her. it was a bit strange for me but i had the comfort of knowing that under the disguise i was pulling all the strings... so i had that going for me. we walked over and into the store. there were tons of books lining the walls and a small librarian like help desk. there was a sign telling us that all books were just 2 bits each... i think i could live with spending some money here.
"alright..." i said to twilight. "go ahead and pick out as many books as you want and we can get going." she walked away and i waited here while she started going around and pulling books off of the shelves. i could see twilight was finding some pleasure in picking out books but was still facing the horrible facts. once she was done she walked over carrying a large stack of books on her back. i was a bit surprised that she could read that much... but then again i don't care. for only two bits a book it was worth not having her bother me and keep her distracted.
i looked over the books and more specifically i looked at some of the titles just incase she was planning something. it was mostly just magic books which don't do her much good with that ring on her horn. the others comprised of a science book, a few large novels, and a book on psychology. seeing no foreseeable threat i just smiled and we walked over to the desk. there was an old mare behind the desk who looked up with surprise and just smiled at the books twilight was carrying.
"you know young lady you can just carry them with you're magic..." said the old mare. "you are a unicorn." i looked over to twilight glaring at her to think of an excuse and she made no trouble in coming up with one on the spot.
"i know..." she said. "but i just got out of the hospital for a head injury and i'm not supposed to use magic for a while." she said with a fake smile... she was good at blending in.
"oh i'm sorry sweetie." said the old mare. "i hope you get well soon." she said.
"thank you..." said twilight smiling. the old mare ran her hooves past the stack of books.
"alright that's 23 books which makes the total 46 bits." said the old mare. i reached into my bag and pulled out the money and gave it to the old mare. she smiled and took the money. twilight went to grab the books but i stopped her.
"here let me get those for you honey." i said playing the fake relationship card. this made twilight tense up but she soon relaxed.
"thanks babe." she said with another fake smile. i could tell this was really awkward for her. i reached over and grabbed the stack of books and laid them on my back... they were heavy as fuck.
"such a kind gentlecolt." said the old mare. "i wish there were more stallions in the world just like you." i smiled and tipped my hat.
"thank you ma'am." i said. i was trying my best not to laugh at the horrible mistake of a statement that old mare just said. i could feel that it was killing twilight on the inside at the truth and horror to what that would be like. "lets go honey." i said walking to the door. twilight just put on her best smile and we left the shop. that's when i let out my laughter but kept it confined to me and twilight.
" more stallions like you..." grunted twilight. "one is already one too many." she said glaring at me. i couldn't help but laugh a little more.
"oh lighten up." i said grabbing a few books and starting to pile them into my bottomless bags. she looked over at the bags and seemed surprised i could even fit a few of the books in there.
"i didn't know you're bags were infinite." she said.
"light as a feather too." i said.
"really... and how much gold exactly are you hiding in there." she said giving me a dirty look.
"oh lots of gold..." i said. "but don't you worry about that." i said. "i got you you're books and i didn't rob the place blind while we were there... now we can get on with our journey." i said.
"and what was keeping you from robbing that place... afraid we'd get found out by the guards." said twilight judging me.
"not at all..." i said. "besides the guards have been all over us since we walked into the town... they're to afraid to try something though... all they do is watch and growl at me." i said. "besides i wouldn't rob that old mares bookstore... there was nothing worth taking and its not worth taking from the elderly." i said. twilight again scoffed at me and looked away.
i looked up and the balloon was easily visible from the ground. it stuck out like a sore hoof. i used it as a directional to find my way back and it seemed to be working rather well as we kept passing familiar landmarks. out of the corner of my eye i spotted two guards standing there and glaring at me. they were whispering to each other and they gave me dirty looks. not only that but i noticed dark figures watching us from the shadows of the alleyways. plus i keep seeing the same few ponies walking behind us every now and then.
i turned back to see if they were still there but they weren't. i looked around and there weren't even any guards around anymore either. i had a feeling this wasn't going to be as easy as i had planned it out to be. and it was like that as we grew closer to the edge of the town and there hadn't been a guard in sight for at least eight blocks. i had a really bad feeling about this. i kept my guard up as we started to exit the town into the small forest path.
we reached the right turn to the spot where we anchored the ship somewhere in a forest clearing. we made the turn and as the clearing came into view we were greeted by the sight of a small battalion of guards and armored ponies alike. the armored ponies were all crimson followers. twilight look at them with fear and some hope... but mostly feared that i would kill her if they tried anything. too bad she didn't know i wasn't planning on killing her. she's really my only ticket out of here.
"just as we thought... Scar." said a well decorated guard with advanced looking gold armour and a sword and shield.
"i thought i made it clear to celestia i didn't want trouble." i said glaring at them and using a wing to push twilight back. she back up a bit. i reached over and grabbed my tomahawk in my hoof and pulled my bow off my back and put an arrow in it.
"you might have made that clear with celestia but not me... i'd rather see you dead instead of gone." he said.
"and who would you be." i said pulling the arrow back on the string and getting ready to fire. the same went with a few other archers. the only difference was they were aiming at me and i held mine to the ground. the others just drew their weapons.
"i am commander bronze blade." he said pulling out his weapons. "and you have five seconds to surrender you're hostage and yourself before we open fire." he said.
"i wouldn't do that." i said.
"if you make a move towards miss twilight sparkle we will shoot." he said. i stood there holding my bow down still with an arrow in it ready to fire.
"try me." i said. i glared at him and he glared back. twilight stood there a few feet behind me and watched as a battle was about to unfold in front of her. i could tell that she wanted them to kill me with all her heart. but her brain was telling her that they wouldn't be able to kill me and that if she ran i would hunt her down... so she stood there.
"one.." shouted the commander. two... three." he shouted some more. the archers pulled back further on their bows and they all seemed to be aiming right for my head... this is going to be funny. "four..." he shouted. i stood there and glared at him as he glared back at me. he raised his hoof up and held it up. "FIRE!" he shouted as he slammed his hoof on the ground.
the archers all released the arrows from their bows and they flew across the air towards me. i kept calm and watched for a second as the arrows flew through the air. they all met right at the near center of my head. all the arrows hit my forehead and just bounced off of the metal of the mask and the mask started glowing bright red and the symbols lit up. all the ponies were confused... but they're faces after.
"nice try." i said smiling and watching the archers. i saw one archers eyes widen and a hole tear into his head from an invisible force. he quickly dropped to the ground dead. his friends watched and yelled in fear and surprise. they looked around and one by one the archers started dropping like flies. the other ponies looked over at me and backed away in fear and confusion. this however only seemed to make the commander furious.
"get him..." he said pulling out his sword and pointing it at me as a signal for this soldiers to charge. they all let out a roar of battle and started running at me with their weapons drawn. twilight stood there with a few tears running down her cheeks with a mellow look. she was just watching these ponies run towards their death. she just looked at them and felt sorry for them almost.
"my turn..." i said holding my bow up. the gang of ponies had cluttered together and they ran at me. i let the arrow go and it hit the head of one pony. he dropped dead and i pulled out another one. the symbols on my body gear to glow brighter as i pulled out the next arrow and readied it in the bow. the arrow was glowing brightly and it was dripping with some kind of red substance... blood? i ignored it and knew that this next shot was going to pack some extra heat... i could just feel it... and i was so right.
i let the arrow go and it whirled through the air. it cut through the air and hit one pony in the head. the pony was in the center of the group and when the arrow hit his head, instead of dropping to the ground something much more gruesome happened. the arrow made contact... and he fucking exploded... yeah exploded. i'm not sure if it was him or the arrow but he just burst into a burst of spikes. the spikes were purely red and looked like blood. they flew forward and started skewering the other ponies. the blood seemed to move like a liquid but it pierced like a spear.
the liquid mass of spikes that was the poor unfortunate guy i shot my arrow and it seemed to harden into a kind of crystal sticking out of the ground. in the explosion the liquid state of the blast shot off large pointy shards of the blood like material that crystallized almost instantly in the air before stabbing through the other warriors and guards... i'm proud to say that one arrow killed the rest of them... all 13 guards running after me. the all dropped dead or bleeding out and dying. the commander just looked at me with disbelief and anger.
"but that's not... how did you do that?" he yelled out. i just smiled and shrugged.
"i don't know." i said. "it just happened." he looked at me and he grew even more angry.
"damnit... miss twilight sparkle." he said. "run... get out of here, i'll hold him off just go." he said. twilight just stood there with a pitiful expression and looked at the ground. "go... run, get out of here." he said trying to ward her away, but she stayed.
"aww... how brave." i said. "trying to sacrifice you're life so miss sparkle here can get away... but life isn't a fantasy." i said. "the horrible truth is that miss sparkle is going to stay with me... and i'm going to kill you." i said drawing out my tomahawk. he clanged his sword against his shield and ran over. but instead of charging me he was smart and stopped.
he slashed his sword over and i parried it off with my axe and went for the kill. i lunged my axe from high up with a straight chop to his head but he put his shield up. my axe clashed down on his shield and dug in deep. he let out a loud cry. my axe cut through his shield deep enough to get to his arm. i pulled the axe out and it was covered in blood which was also dripping onto the ground from behind his shield.
he lashed at me again and i blocked with my axe. we went at it for a while clashing weapons with no straight shot of getting a hit. he was probably the most challenging opponent i've fought so far. we clashed and clashed weapons over and over filling the air with the sound and clanging metal and sparks. i could tell he was getting weak from blood loss and he would be done with at any moment. he lashed at me and i went to block... but i tripped up and his swing knocked my axe out of my hand. my initial reaction was fear, but then i smiled. he swung his sword at me and his blade hit the metal plate on my neck and bounced off.
"wrong move." i said. before he said anything he let out a cry of pain as a gash started ripping across his neck and almost cut his head off. he started bleeding everywhere and his eyes shrunk into his head. he gasped and tried to hang onto his life as much as he could. but soon he fell to his knees and grew silent. he stood there as the blood flowing from his neck died down as the last few drops sputtered out... and then he fell to the ground.
"is it over now." said twilight.
"i'd say it is... unless there are a few of them hiding in the bushes which at this point they would have fled." i said. i walked over and started looking over the dead ponies and started gathering some of their stuff. "see anything you like?" i asked with an evil smile. "go ahead and feel free to take whatever you want... they sure as hell don't need it anymore."
"i guess i could use a few bits or a sword... or some armor." she said. i was shocked... to say the least. i had not expected that kind of response from her and it made me smile.
"miss sparkle i'm surprised." i said smiling and grabbing the arrows from the archers and putting them in my own quiver. "i didn't expect you to participate in looting... to be honest it was a joke... what's with the sudden change of heart?" i said.
"i might as well..." she said. "like you said, they don't need it and i need all i can get." she replied as she grabbed a few things off of the guards. mostly just supplies and money but she did take one of their utility belts and some cloth and leather patched armor. we finished looting the bodies and i had grabbed a few weapons and pairs of armor along with other treasures. i walked over to twilight and picked her up. i spread my wings and flew up into the sky. i flew up fast and soon soared over the top of the ship. i gently floated down and placed miss sparkle on the deck and then touched down myself.
"well now." i said with tons of armor and weapons hanging off of me. "lets pack up and head out." i said. we both walked down to the cabin and i placed my armor and weapons with all the other goods. i walked into the crews quarters with twilight and started piling her books on a bed close to hers. she just sat down and laid out the armor she had grabbed and put her new utility belt on the bed too. "i'll leave you too it while i get us back into the air." i said closing the door and walking away.
i walked back up the stairs and onto the deck. io headed over to the bridge and climbed up the stairs. i took my place by the wheel and unlocked the mechanisms to the ship. once those were unlocked i suddenly remembered that i forgot to raise the anchor. i let out a deep sigh and rushed back into the cabin. as i walked down the stairs i heard as scream coming from twilight's room. almost by instinct i pulled out my axe and rushed to the door.
i rammed the door open and looked in the room. in a split second i saw a guard with a spear trying to grab twilight and i tossed my axe through the air. i whirled by and caught the guard in the side of the head. his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped to the ground. i walked over and pulled the axe from his head and looked over at twilight.
"where did he come from?" i asked.
"i... i don't know... he must have climbed aboard." she said. "i heard a noise and he was just there." i looked over and i guessed he must have taken cover behind a bed just in case. i walked over and check the room. i even looked under the beds and the room was clear.
"alright... you stay here while i search the ship." i said. she nodded and i walked out through the busted door and closed it behind me. i looked around for possible hiding places. first thing i did though was pull the anchor up. as the anchor raised i could feel the ship inching forward a bit but keeping level. i checked around but i couldn't find anypony. after i was convinced that the cabin was secure i walked up to the deck. i looked around but there aren't any hiding spots up here... too open. i went back to the controls and took my spot behind the wheel.
i pulled the lever and warm air shot into the balloon making it rise. we floated up and broke past the cloud layer and kept floating up. once we were nice and high up the ship leveled out and it was smooth sailing from here. with no wind we stopped moving. i flipped on the propellers and we picked up speed. i followed the compass and spun the wheel of the ship. we turned slowly and i kept her moving until we were due westward. i evened out the path and locked the gears. now that, that's done... it should be smooth sailing from here on out.
i walked down off the bridge and before i went back down to the cabin a heard a creak from behind me. i turned to see the door to my den was slightly open... i don't remember leaving it that way. i walked over slowly and stepped up to the door. i quietly opened it and looked inside. i almost jumped when i saw a huge armored pony at the wine rack downing a bottle of scotch. i walked in and looked over him... he didn't have a helmet on... tsk tsk. i pulled up my bow and got an arrow ready... i hope this one doesn't freak out and explode.
"oi..." i said getting his attention. he jumped and turned around to see me. when he saw my arrow he dropped the empty bottle onto the floor and it rolled away.
"oh shit... you're that scar guy." he said. "i'm supposed to kill you... i guess you got me." this guy is piss drunk and i don't care for his existence any longer. i let the arrow go and it hit him right in the head and he fell to the ground stone cold. i let out a sigh and searched him. i took his money and a nice dagger he had strapped on. i picked him up and walked him out to the deck. i walked out to see twilight with the other corpse.
she was wearing her gear now. she was wearing light blue robes with dark brown leather padding. she had a sword hilted to the utility belt she was wearing. her leather gear had flares at the hooves and a hood which she was keeping down for now. she looked like an impressive adventurer. she had a few other things tied to her. a knife at her back hoof and front upper leg. she had her gold at her side and some rope at her other side. i walked over and she saw me. she looked over and threw the corpse of the guard overboard... that made me smile more.
"i'm liking the new attitude." i said. "and you don't look too bad in that gear." i said walking over and throwing the other corpse overboard alongside her. i looked over at her and smiled but she just gazed blankly back at me and ruined my smile.
"i didn't do this for you..." she said. "i did it because of you... you made me realize that i've been too soft and i need to be stronger if i want to keep up." she said. she looked over the side and the now diminishing sky as it was growing late and the sun was growing closer to the side of the mountains. "equestria's changing and i figured i need to change with it... we didn't always used to be a adventurous country... but after crimson started getting famous more and more ponies started adventuring... now it's become the hotspot of adventuring for ponies in equestria and even ponies outside of equestria."
"well i don't care what you're reasoning is... i like the new twilight better." i said.
"whatever." she said turning away and walking back down to the cabin and probably to her room to start reading her books or whatever. i let out a sigh as she walked away and walked up to the bridge. and paced around a bit. as the sun started to set i walked around and started lighting up the deck. i only lit a few lanterns to preserve light but it was good enough anyway. i moved towards the front of the ship and sat down while watching the sun set. the sun fell below the edge of the world and for a second i smiled before the darkness washed over the land. the night glowed with energy and i could see all the stars in the sky perfectly. i let out a yawn and headed to my room.
i walked inside and took off my gear. once it was all off i hung it up and placed the mask on the desk. i closed the door and locked it behind me. the room was just light enough to make out were i was going but i still moved slowly to the bed. when i got to it i jumped into it and pulled the covers over me. i closed my eyes and tried to drift off to sleep. i started thinking about what other surprises await me tomorrow.
i can only wait and see...
-Authors Note: alright guys big fucking not right here so get ready... and trust me when i say that you want to read it all. here we go:
first the whole thing with scar isn't going to last for the entire story... it's just a phase of crimsons rebirth. there is going to be a lot of violence and abuse towards some characters who's names will go unmentioned but i'm sure you all know who i'm talking about (if you dont it's twilight). a lot of you guys might end up hating me and some of you might want me dead... but it's alright, im going to fix everything. also the later chapters might get a bit confusing. i'm sure a lot of you are thinking there are going to be awesome pirate ship battles but that's not going to happen in this phase. though this isn't going to be the end... i promise you that i have filled the chapters with a lot more violence and battle than ever before. and i also want to tell you guys that this book is going to have more adventure, sex, battle, and mystical creatures, places and items than dream machine... it's going to be non stop.
i am also warning you guys that this story is going to be very dark at some points and there will be a lot of graphic detail... i'm not super great at pulling that off but i can try... it's not easy stuff. but this is going to be big and i dont promise you a chapter every fucking day... because then i'll end up staying up wicked late drinking monster and red bull... soon enough i'll have drank my way into a energy drink coma... somehow. so it might be a new chapter every few days or so but since ive got a bunch of leftover chapters i'm going to post those every day until i catch up.
ON A DIFFERENT NOTE:
ive been reading a few fanfic's and a lot of you guys are pretty damn good. if you guys are sad because you dont have any comments or not a lot of views just tell me... i'll read your stories to death... litteraly. i'll comment the shit out of them and if i like it i'll follow that shit as hard as i can. but a few fanfics have caught my eye and i'm very eager about reading them... so check this shit out:
- "The Experiment"- GearGamer
- "Fallen Angel"- Battle Damage
- "Rays Of Hope"- ShiningShadow1965
you guys are the best for sitting there at your computer and putting up with 90 chapters of my shit. i really appreciate you guys and your all great.
and also ive been getting this a lot. there have been concerns and questions about the OC's in the story. im putting them back in and i'll be adding new ones in soon enough. just calm your tits and relax. they're not gone forever but the story is at what i think is one of the dramatic climbs and we have to let it settle down a bit before i start throwing in new ponies. its hard to do that when shits moving this fast... OC's need to be introduced/ reintroduced slowly and gently. and i haven't been getting this enough but if you guys have any ideas or concepts you would like to see in the fanfic let me know. i used to have a big stack of ideas from me and my friend and some of you guys but that was destroyed in a freak kitchen fire... which may or may not have been my fault. but if i learned anything from that experience it's that i'm never trusting myself with a skillet for me and that bacon grease is very hot and can be shot al the way across a college dorm and to end... well it's back to good ol' fashioned ramen noodles for me (yum).
so yeah i need new ideas or else im more likely to get stuck and completely blank out which just happened to me recently. if you have any ideas just let me know. even if they aren't good ideas every bit helps. and if they wont work i'm not going to shoot you down and make you cry alone in your bed... i'll just say thanks and throw it in a pile for later... so there's no hard feelings...
anyway... this is the end(finally)... i hope you bro's keep reading and put up with my bullshit a bit longer. catch you bro's later... and stay shady.-End of Note-