A Short Tale

Chapter 5: Complications

Travian's recovery occurred over a week. He healed extremely quickly due to both his suit and racial ability. If he wanted to compliment the ponies, he would say Flutterdoc's abilities, too. Once he was back to full health, and after minutes of painful questioning which he was able to stealthily avoid for the most part, he finally felt at home in the strange planet. He scored an injury and recovered here, therefore he was at home. He would be here for a long while, or at least he thought. His brother would take a long time to get here due to effort related reasons and difficulty related reasons. He had gotten used to Fluttershy and Twilight, and they got used to him, probably. As soon as he was ready to get out there and do things, though, he tried leaving for a chance at adventure.

In theory, it was grand. In practice, there were several obstacles. "Longshot, where are you going?"

"Going to take a little walk to celebrate my recovery." Fluttershy flew in front of him, blocking his path.

"Oh no you aren't... I mean, um, you know what happened last time!"

"Yet you can see so much of my cares. I'm just taking a stroll, Fluttershy. You don't need to protect me from my own inevitable destruction." He began to side step, but she moved directly in front of him.

"No. I know you are going back into the forest, and I won't allow yourself to get hurt again."

"... Why would I go into the forest if I get fish here?" She looked dumbfounded. Did she seriously not consider that? If he didn't know any better, he would have thought this pony was getting possessive of him.

"Oh. Well I guess it's alright if you take a little walk..." Victory being attained, he headed directly out of her line of sight. Once out of it, he headed towards the Everfree forest. He could get so much out of the experience: Adventure, exploration, vengeance, food. It was technically a win everything.

As soon as he saw the entrance of the forest, he managed to find a cave entrance right off the bat. Doing the completely stupid thing that every greedy adventurer does, he started towards it. He then looked into it, making sure it wasn't a straight drop like so many others in his lifetime. It's hard to find a cave that was actually one of those stereotypical dungeon-esque caves. Surprisingly it wasn't a straight drop down. He engaged light in his visor so he could see basically everything. The cave proceeded down, and so did he. Eventually, it met an end. At that end was something that should not have been there. "... Why would a door be right here?" He shrugged and opened it.

Inside was piles and piles of gold coins and gems. A few strange beings were on the piles of gold. They twisted what he could assume was their heads in his direction. He could see dark red eyes piercing through the darkness directly at him. "If this is a bad time I can just go." They turned back towards each other, as if ignoring Travian. "Oh. Okay, fine. I see how it is." He also assumed that if he touched anything, they would attempt to kill him. Knowing this, he cautiously moved through the room, avoiding any valuable looking thing in the room, including a shiny looking rock on the floor. He noticed the beasts not getting agitated at the way he was avoiding everything. He was doing a good job.

When he shifted his head, however, he felt an extreme sense of greed over one object. A single short yet wide chest. The sense overpowered him, causing him to walk to it slowly as if in a trance. He couldn't stop himself, even with his helmet offering a magical barrier. Apparently, this sense was either by far the most magical thing in the entire universe, or it wasn't magical at all and just had this amazing allure. Either way, he had to have it. It was now everything to him. He didn't care about the creatures. He just wanted the chest. Once he was in sufficient range of the chest, he dropped to his knees. He unlatched the cover, hearing a warning sound emanating behind him. Not taking the warning at all because the chest was all that was grand and great in the world, he threw open the lid of the chest.

Inside was an old relic of his, a longbow with metal aligned along it. 'Longshot' was tarnished on to the metal, giving the rest of it a nicer glow. Next to it was a quiver that was decorated with multiple strands of gleaming metal. Inside was only one arrow, but he knew the quiver. It was the Quiver O' Plenty, or so he called it. Whenever an arrow was pulled out, another would materialize. It was fun to play around with on multiple occasions. The warning sounds grew louder as he drew closer to the bow. He then placed his hands upon both relics, causing a piercing sound to utter itself in to his helmet. He dropped the quiver after grabbing a single arrow. He pivoted his entire body as he arose with the bow in hand.

He wondered for a moment how the bow actually got on to the planet, but then reminded himself the planet was magical. Magic works in strange ways. He nocked the arrow within his hands, and pulled it back with the string. Little did they know their day was about to be made horribad.

After thoroughly investigating the bodies for any clue as to what the creatures were, he took his quiver and slung it firmly across his back. He wasn't interested in the gold, as that was bad luck. Nobody just finds gold and gems in a cave. That never happens. There was always a hidden consequence. In fact, ancient humans were actually smart enough to grasp the concept and called it karma. Now they were some smart apes back then. Unfortunately, they got stupid when they realized money was worth more than happiness and peace. With that thought in mind, he opened the door. He saw the door dissipate before his eyes as he pushed it open. He looked back at the piles of riches to find they were not there anymore. He looked down at his bow, wondering if it was sentient or not to some degree. He didn't know what to expect. The one good thing was that it wasn't talking and judging him like a typical female.

When he got outside the cave, he didn't even realize how much time had passed while he was down there fighting and investigating. The ponies might actually miss him at this rate. He looked to his bow, wondering if he should let them see it. He could have sworn he gave it more thought than 'they are talking horses, how would they know what a bow is?' He smiled and moved on his way. He might have wanted to map out the Everfree, but knowing magic it would change at every drop of a hat. His head then filled with philosophies on magic.

By the time he was done contemplating whether magic truly was something that could be good, his view was obstructed by a wall. A very familiar wall. He took a few steps back, only to find Fluttershy's little cottage. He decided to tell Fluttershy he was back, but was interrupted in his task by a certain purple unicorn. He could feel another questioning session from where he stood. He thought that if he acted like he didn't know she was there, he could get away.

Alas, his plan did not succeed. "Longshot, what do you have on your back?" And so it began.

"You see, I can explain little to nothing. I found it, it was shiny." He tried smiling for reassurance, only to find a helmet over his face. He unlatched it while Twilight was talking.

"... You do realize that thing could be cursed?" Travian laughed, knowing exactly what it was. It wasn't cursed... Probably...

"Oh please. Random shiny things are never cursed!" He took the bow off his back, as well as the quiver, presenting them. "But, if you are so worried, please. Check them." Her horn lit up, but her face did not. In fact, it did the opposite of lighting up.

"These are cursed!" Travian couldn't help but look a little disappointed. He could only guess how they were cursed. "They get rid of every magical essence they touch!" And there it was. Wait...

Travian paused. "And that's bad?"

"Yes! Very!" Travian smiled. Time to play the game.

"Good thing I don't know how to use them!" A lie was necessary. It was also ominous. "And even if I did, I wouldn't use them on you." No guarantees for the rainbow one. She got on Travian's nerves, and he doesn't like people on his nerves... Especially cyan things. He had some sort of irrational hatred and stereotype of all things cyan. If it was cyan, it was stupid and should be drowned in flames, and then the flames should be snuffed out to get rid of all things stupid emanating from them.

"We should try to give these to the princess, so they can't harm anypony." She then gasped. "Oh no! The princess! I forgot to write to her about you!" That was good to hear.

Royalty was most certainly not needed for him. "Wait, a princess? Why not the queen and or king?"

"We don't have kings or queens here in Equestria. Well... Maybe except a few, but in mainland Equestria, we have two princesses. One of them, I am a student to and I'm supposed to write to her about what I've learned about and what has been happening, and I've forgotten to write about you to the princess." He thought for a few seconds.

"So those are just titles to make themselves feel younger." He could feel the rage of Twilight building itself when he said that. "Right! Okay, well, I'll just let you go talk to your princess or whatever and leave you to go tell Fluttershy something and hopefully you will leave me alone about whatever you want." He said all that very quickly. He then started to flee to the safety and deathtrap of the cottage.

He opened the door of the cottage and swan dived in to the house. He arose to his feet and pulled the door back, closing it. He turned to find Fluttershy staring at him. "Hey. I'm back. Found two cursed artifacts that destroy magic. Anyways, I'll just be going out the back door to escape the mistress of knowledge." He walked slowly through the house, looking for the back door.

"Um... What?" He finally found the door. He rushed for it, hearing the front door being opened by Twilight probably. He tried opening the door with all his might, even unlocking the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"No! Magic, why must you make me answer questions? Why!?" He looked to the side to see his bow. "Oh wait." He grabbed the bow off his back and tapped the door with it. He tried the handle and it worked. "Yes! This is the best. Bow. Ever!" Now he knew that tapping hard wood was the solution to getting things to open up to him. He put his bow back on his back. He had to slouch down to pass through the door, but he got through it. He then closed it behind him. His helmet was on a small hook upon his side, meant more for other objects like pouches or as a weapon, but his helmet somehow fit on it. He lifted the helmet off the small hook and then threw it on the ground, knowing no harm would befall it. He then thought over his quiver, seeing how it was cursed. How could the quiver abolish magic and still create arrows?

His bow, while very powerful, was not exactly something he wanted to use for a while. It would just be too easy to live. Not only that, he needed new armor. Armor that wasn't incredibly powerful. He could try leather armor, but that might offend the ponies. He then thought why he bothered caring about that. Not only would it fit the time period these ponies were in, it would be fun to go back to his old style of fighting. He'd keep the quiver though. He needed a skeleton key for every magical door, and a vast quantity of arrows that would never stop is frankly very useful. He couldn't deny that the medical check up ability he had and medical assistance from his suit was more than useful, but it would just be too fast. Plus, if he wanted the trust of the ponies, he would have to have the trust of their doctor. You do not want to mess with the medic, and if they all saw that he was on the medic's good side, then they would flock to him. It was a flawless plan. Another one to add to the collection of plans.

One interesting jog for him was when a white horse with flowing radical hair saw him. It had a crown, a large horn, and a pair of wings. He tried to make himself unseen, but it was too late. Soon enough, said horse somehow teleported in front of him. He rose from his crouched position to find he was only a head or so above it in height. While he had the intimidation factor, it had the ability to teleport. He didn't even have that! That's just cheating. He didn't have his quiver or bow, surprisingly, so he couldn't just demagic it. He tried conversation as that has proven effective before. "Well aren't you a big one."

"The same could be said of you." He learned it was a she. She could have very well been one of those princesses he heard about, what with the whole crown and all. Actually, was it a tiara? He couldn't tell. "Would you happen to be that 'Longshot' character I had heard about before?"

A formal greeting was in order for someone of her stature. He got on one knee, and put his head down. "I am Travian 'Longshot' Zashaisr. At your service, miss..."

"Celestia. Please, rise. There's no need to be formal around me." Relieved that this wasn't a princess, he rose. "I heard that you were a carnivore who could threaten my little ponies." Or maybe she was.

"I could be."

"You are, aren't you?"

"You're a princess, and I'm in trouble aren't I?"

"Yes, I'm a princess, but you might not be in trouble, just as long as you answer my questions honestly." He almost shouted yes in victory. Then she added the word honest. That's not good. But wait... Maybe she won't be able to detect lies as easily! He almost shouted yes to his thoughts in moderate satisfaction. By almost, he accidentally did.

"YES!" he looked awkwardly at the 'Celestia' character, "I am a carnivore who could very well threaten your civilians. I assure you, however, I will not. My code says no sentients. They are too smart and or disgusting to eat." Neither of those were particularly true. Humans were not of the first, and possibly of the second. It really depended on the situation...

"What I really want to know is why you're here."

"I wonder that myself." He put up his best poker face. His helmet was off, so she could see it perfectly well.

"You know lying isn't going to get you anywhere."

"I tried. Now as to why I am here... I believe I was thrown here, in an attempt to assassinate me. Unfortunately, they failed. And here I am, standing here next to you."

She paused, thinking about what he said. "Somepony was trying to assassinate you?"

"Yeah. Happens a lot."

"Why would that be?" Oh. That 'honest' word would have to come into effect, huh?

"When you live the life of a man putting his life out there to take lives out for money, often times they will take your life instead of you taking their money." She pondered something

"So you are a mercenary?"

A thought crossed Travian. "Celestia, are you trying to hire me to get rid of something... Or someone?"

"What? No! It'd just be nice to know..." If that wasn't ominous, he didn't know what was. He would not go back to his old ways, no way, no how. At least, not with these ponies. They were too nice and adorable. But still... Money is money...

"Well then yes. I am a mercenary." He chose his next words carefully. "I am not in business, as of right now, as I am slightly stuck on in a place I can't get out of for the moment. When I find a way to leave, I will offer my services." She could never find a way for him to leave the planet.

Celestia had a thoughtful expression upon her face. "And what if I could get you a way out of here?" She had a way, didn't she?