Emmet in Equestria

Chapter 4: The Demon to Protect the Angel

Edited and pre-read by: caliban888

"What kind of job?" Emmet asked the Princess warily.

"Only a few days ago, I sent my star pupil, Twilight Sparkle, to the quite town of Ponyville to learn the magic of friendship."

"Oh no, I see where this is going," Emmet interrupted, "and trust me, I do not babysit." He remembered back many years ago to his niece's birthday. "Never again." He muttered under his breath.

"This is no petty babysitting job." Celestia commanded in a regal tone. "She is old enough to take care of herself and, in fact, controls one of six parts of Equestria's greatest defense mechanism, the Elements of Harmony" Emmet whistled appreciatively. "However, in her first day, she was attacked by Nightmare Moon."  Emmet saw Luna wince, and he suspected she had something to do with it. However, if the Princess of the Sun was willing to have her around, that was her problem. "It has occurred to me that, as both my personal pupil and a bearer of one of the the Elements of Harmony, which, might I add, need all six bearers alive to function, she will be targeted by our enemies. I am consumed with worry for her, and I cannot find any soldiers here who have been trained long enough. We are not a militaristic world, nor did we have the need for protection before, so the training our soldiers have received is minimalist at best. This doubles to serve that the Elements of Harmony are our only solid defense, making her safety that much more important. I'd send her brother, but he is needed here." Emmet soaked this all in, but then decided there were a few matters that need to be solved.

"I hate to jeopardize my new-found stature in this world, but how do you know that I have the skills you need? If this is a matter of national security, than I don't want to let my pride get in the way of the people's safety." Celestia nodded with agreement

"You have a fair point. As such, we will prepare a test to see your abilities."

"If that will be the case, I will require a few things." Celestia cocked her head.

"Such as?"

"As you can see, humans do not have any natural weapons, like claws or scales. So, we used our ingenuity to make thousands of different kinds of artificial weapons. Given our hands," he pointed at the tentacle-like protrusions that Celestia had been trying not to stare at, "they were easy to make and wield. I practiced using a small, agile sword made for defensive parrying and counters, known as the wakizashi. What it lacked in offensive power I make up for in Tae Kwon do skill." Celestia nodded.

"Very well, you may meet with the castle blacksmith to obtain this...wakizashi." she said, tripping a bit on the last word.

"Secondly, I will require housing almost immediately, and it will have to be custom built," Emmet said as he gestured to the awkward way he sat at the still-made-for-ponies table, "considering that I am much differently built than the rest of your citizens."

"Very well. We will schedule a meeting with the castle architect for you to design the plans of your new home."

"Brilliant! When do I start?"

"You seem to have forgotten the test." Celestia said with a chuckle

"Oh, yeah, that." Emmet was confident he would pass this test, but he was beginning to have his doubts. The wakizashi was a very difficult blade to make, and required years of careful training to achieve the strength and durability they required to block larger blades. How could the blacksmith make one that wouldn't break after the first swing if he had never made one before? Emmet decided that the sooner he met this blacksmith, the sooner they could answer that question.

"If you'll excuse me, the wakizashi will take time to make, so the sooner I find this blacksmith, the better.

"Of course." Celestia said with a smile. "We'll send a message to him that you're coming."

"Excellent! Now, if you'll excuse me." Emmet stood up, grateful to be out of the chair, "I gotta go get me a badass sword!" Celestia just stared at his retreating form.

"One moment he's talking like a gentlemen, the next...this."

"The humans art a strange race indeed." Luna agreed.

When Emmet arrived at the blacksmith's shop, the smith ran to greet him. He was a black unicorn with a large amount of muscle mass, and he had a cutie mark of an light shining through a blueprint onto an anvil, creating a projection onto the hunk of metal. At first, the smith was surprised at the way the human looked, but, seeing as he made armor for a variety of species, shrugged it off as soon as he could. He had to crane his neck to look into the human's eyes, and took a couple steps back.

"The name's Smitheye Abrams. I got the message from Celestia, and it appears you need a weapon?"

"That's right, however, I hope you're a fast learner. The sword I need is difficult to make, and it takes years of practice to get it right."

"Well, then, looks like you're in luck! My special talent is getting a concept and making it a reality!" the large smith said as he gestured to his cutie-mark. "Just show me a sketch labeling the different parts, and I'll have this sword thing ready in a jiffy!"

And so, Emmet drew up a sketch of the wakizashi, pointing out the parts that needed to be softer in order to absorb shock and the the parts that needed to be harder to achieve a good, lasting cutting edge.

"I see." The blacksmith mused. "By making different parts of the sword denser than the others, It isn't too brittle that it shatters or too soft that the edge dulls. It's rather brilliant,"

"We humans had thousands of years to perfect them.

"You weren't kidding when you said this was a hard piece to make." The smith said, rubbing his mane with his hoof. "Come on back tomorrow, it should be done by then," They gave their farewells, and Emmet decided to meet up with the architect, as it was about the time of the meeting. When he entered, he saw a brown pegasus bent over a blank sheet of paper. The elderly pegasus looked up at him and smiled.

"You must be Emmet, right?" He said in a soft voice.

"The one and only." The old pegasus nodded and looked back to the paper.

"So, from what I gather you need a custom-made house."

"Eeyup."

"Well then. Tell me the specifics while I note them down."

"Well, all of the doors should need to be my shape, so about eight feet tall and four and a half feet wide." The pegasus quickly wrote down some notes next to a slowly growing schematic of the house. "Secondly, the stairs need to be much shorter than the ones here."

"I'm afraid I need exact figures."

"Oh... a foot wide and... seven inches tall." More sketching and note taking. "The ceilings need to be at least 12 feet tall."

"How high do you want the windows to be off the ground?"

"As long as they can be looked out of at five feet off the ground it doesn't matter." Emmet was reveling in this new treatment. Custom houses, weapons, and all of it paid by someone else? He could get used to it.

And so it went on. Emmet would tell the architect what to build, the architect would ask a question every now and then, all the while creating the schematics of Emmet's new home. When all was said and done, the two admired the finished drawing.

"Just imagine how it would look once it's built." The old pegasus beamed at his newest creation.

"I must admit, that is one pimpin' house." The architect looked questioningly to Emmet. "Sorry, human way of saying it looks sick."

"You think the house is ill?"

"No, sick is a way of saying... you know what? Nevermind. It looks amazing. Thanks for the help." The two shook hands. And Emmet walked out into the night air. The whole place felt magical, although Emmet supposed that was because it was, indeed, imbued with magic. He had seen many contraptions similar to those of Earth powered by magic. Whereas humans used electricity to power their machines, magic was simply another method to the same means. Magic was everywhere. Magic was in the air. As Emmet walked back to the castle, he wondered what in the world could possibly be a threat to Twilight.

In the space between worlds, Discord watched as Emmet walked peacefully down the city streets.

"You wonder what could be a threat to Twilight, young Emmet." The serpent chuckled lightly to himself. "Twilight's greatest threat isn't Nightmare Moon, or the Changelings,  or King Sombra. It's not even me." Discord leaned in closer to the image of Emmet. "It's you."

The next day, Emmet went to visit Smitheye. He found him hunched over a table, and heard a repeated scratching sound.

"Hey there." The brown unicorn turned his head to him, and smiled with pride. He swiveled around, and revealed a whetstone in one hoof and the wakizashi in the other. Emmet was still at a loss as to how the ponies held things without hooves. He was beginning to suspect that their hooves were able to magically magnetize objects or something.

"Here she is." Smitheye held out the small blade, and Emmet held it up to the light. The edge was sharp, and the blade itself was well balanced. However, when he brought the edge of the blade down on the table, he could see scratches and marks running along the blade.

"I'm sorry. She's perfect in every other way, but she simply won't be able to hold in a prolonged fight." He hated to see the old smith's spirits crushed, but it was that or a cracked skull or shattered blade. The smith looked at the floor. "Hey, don't feel bad. Most human smiths could never dream of achieving even this on their first try. You should be proud." As Emmet tried to console the old smith, he saw his horn, and got an idea.

"Wait, you can perform magic, can't you?" The smith looked up to the young human.

"Well, of course, I use it to occasionally enchant the me..tal." he said, as he slowly caught on to Emmet's plan. "Wait, are you suggesting I use magic-"

"-to keep the sword's shape? I don't see why not!" A smile slowly grow along Emmet's face, but was quickly dispelled when he saw the smith shaking his head.

"I'm afraid that won't work. The Princess explained to me that you have no magic, and a spell such as that would require you to supply it with periodically to keep the spell active." Emmet frowned with frustration. If he couldn't get this sword, then Celestia might as well hire someone else. As he sat there, another idea began to form in his mind. It was a terrible idea. Immoral. Horrifying. He loved it.

"Tell me, almost every creature here has magic contained inside of it, right?"

"True."

"Well," Emmet paused, "what if the blade stole the magic from the people it kills to fuel the spell?" The smith just stared at Emmet with horror, and Emmet was afraid he had just branded himself a monster. But then, a devilish grin spread evilly across the unicorn's muzzle, and the long shape of his face made him look truly demonic.

"Brilliant. Utter, terrifying brilliance. As long as you keep on slaying enemies in battle, the stronger the sword gets, which allows you to kill even more, in an endless feedback loop of death. I love it." Any thoughts Emmet had of overly-innocent ponies were dispelled.

"I'm glad you agree. We may make a human of you yet." Smitheye smiled with his new friend. He hoped he'd get to meet this strange creature more often.

Emmet stood in an expansive courtyard, Celestia's sun lazily hovering above the distant mountains. Speak of the devil, Princess Celestia and her sister were sitting close by under the shade of a tree, accompanied by a small group of soldiers. Emmet held a thick wooden cane for the demonstration, not wanting to wear out the enchantment Smitheye had set on his new blade. In front of him stood an obstacle course, two unicorns, each with a stack of smooth, round stones, and finally, a pegasus guard. The test was simple. Run the obstacle course, not get hit by the stones which the unicorns would throw at them, and defeat the guard. Emmet took in a deep breath, feeling the tension that permeated the air. Sweat ran down his forehead, and he lowered into a ready stance, he looked to Celestia, who nodded at Luna. The Princess of the Night inhaled deeply.

"LET THE TEST BEGIN!"

Emmet took off like a dart, quickly approaching the first stage of the obstacle course. It was simple, metal bars laid horizontally in the air on wooden supports at different heights. As he jumped and ducked under, over, and in between the metal bars, Princess Luna nodded in appreciation. Celestia simply stared with a hard gaze, examining Emmet's every move. He moved to the next section of the obstacle course, a simple wall with a few bricks jutting out a few inches. He quickly scaled the walls, and Celestia examined the quick way his fingers gripped the bricks. She realized just what an advantage they could be. Emmet scaled the wall, and vaulted into the next section, a three foot wide plank spanning a small ditch, with foot wide wooden poles swinging over the bridge. Emmet weaved in between them, narrowly avoiding a collision near the middle. He made his way to the other side, and jumped over a small gap into the section cleared for the unicorns. Giving him no time to rest, they raised the first of the stones in their magical grasp, and hurled them towards Emmet ruthlessly. He began dodging and deflecting the stones with his makeshift wakizashi. The two unicorns began throwing the stones faster and harder, and Emmet was afraid he would make a mistake when the onslaught finally ended. He saw that the unicorns were breathing heavily from magical exhaustion, and the pile of stones were gone. At last, Emmet moved to the last section of the test. He stood before the pegasus, and bowed to his opponent. The pegasus nodded his head in appreciation, and braced himself for combat with a snort. Emmet reversed the cane in his grip, so it was running along the length of his forearm. He would use his martial arts to win this fight. Emmet and the pegasus circled each other, waiting for an opportunity. Emmet saw it first. The guard stumbled slightly on an uneven cobblestone. His guard dropped for a few moments, and Emmet took the opportunity to move in. However, the guard had been bluffing, and at the last moment turned his stumble into a spin, with his rear hooves reared to buck Emmet straight in the stomach. Emmet didn't have the time to escape, and felt what seemed like an entire football team tackling him all at once. He rolled away from the pegasus, and spun back into a crouched position. This guy was better than Emmet had thought. However, humans fought out of necessity. We had years to perfect every single way of gaining the advantage in battle. This pegasus was trained as part of an afterthought. Emmet decided it was time to teach these ponies the difference. He quickly stood up to his full height, and began to meander slowly towards the pegasus. The guard stiffened, unsure what the human was up to. Emmet inched just a few feet closer. He then exploded over the pegasus, and in mid jump turned to his opponent. Just as expected, the pegasus was rearing his hooves for another buck. When the pegasus extended his legs, he was surprised to hit empty air. He was even more surprised that his right back leg was caught firmly in Emmet's grasp. Before he could react, he felt a painful whack in his side, and saw turned to see the tip of Emmet's cane pressed firmly into his ribs. Right where his heart was. He was about to concede defeat, but Emmet wasn't done yet. He still had a point to prove. He dragged the guard's leg back, bringing his face up to Emmet's. Emmet quickly put the guard into a head lock, the back of his head held firmly to Emmet's chest. Emmet began to slowly bend the pegasus' head to the side, twisting it painfully. The guard groaned, and flailed his hoof uselessly against Emmet's leg.

ENOUGH! WE HAVE SEEN ALL WE NEED! Emmet looked to the Princesses, and saw them glaring at him with hard looks. He looked down at the pegasus between his triceps, and quickly let him go.

"Sorry 'bout that, went a little bit overboard there." Emmet said apologetically. The pegasus rubbed his neck tenderly.

"No problem. I was warned you might do that." The guard walked off in the direction of the barracks, trying to hold his injuries while hobbling on three legs. Emmet felt sorry for the poor guy, but turned back to the Princesses. They looked into his eyes, and quickly conferred with each other. They looked back to Emmet.

"You did not have to hurt that pegasus so." Princess Celestia said, "You were ruthless, and showed no mercy. But you went too far."

Emmet hung his head, knowing that they would never hire him now. Princess Luna was the next to speak

"Thou art just what we need. Thou art hired." she said. Emmet looked between the Princesses, his jaw hanging loosely from his skull.

"The enemies Twilight will be facing will show no one mercy, and will stop at nothing to kill her." Celestia said. She sighed to herself. "While I adore my little ponies, they will likely feel inclined to forgive their enemies, as is their nature. You will show no such kindness. And that is what we want. If someone threatens her safety, we permit you, no, command you to stop them, and immediately bring them to us." Emmet nodded, and sank to one knee, bowing to the Princesses.

"I accept this responsibility and the challenges that come with it." he vowed. Princess Luna gestured for him to rise.

"We pray thy skills art unnecessary." The Princess of the Moon decreed. Her sister nodded in agreement.

"Very well. You will be head to the town of Ponyville tomorrow."  Princess Celestia said. She turned to walk away, as did Emmet.

"Emmet, would thou mind if we spoke to thou for a moment?" Princess Luna asked. Emmet looked to her and shrugged.

"I don't see why not." The Princess turned and walked towards the castle gardens, and Emmet jogged up to her. When they finally reached the garden, the Princess spoke in a stern voice.

"You heard mention that my sister wishes you to bring any threats to Twilight to us, no?" Emmet nodded. The Princess sighed deeply. She looked straight into Emmet's eyes. "I shall keep this brief. If it becomes necessary to kill one soul to save many." She paused. "Then I trust you to make the right decision." Emmet nodded again, understanding her message.

"Yes, your majesty."

"Please, just call me Luna."

"Of course, your maje-Luna." The Princess chuckled, and the two went back to their respective quarters for the night.