Super Happy Katana Fun Time

Though she wanted to breathe, there was no time for that. Winter fell and Tetsu Ishi Ryoku pressed her back against the bamboo. It was jagged with frosty protrusions, each one pressing against her kimono. Everything else felt strange. Misplaced. Damn it, she cursed inside, watching the shambling monster of gears, anger and duty stomp about. It was houses tall at some point in measurement. Well, to her, it seemed that monstrous. In reality, the red gates dotted about Mizu Edo made an accurate summary. It was slow and lumbering, but cocked with automatic crossbow nonsense. The westerners couldn't fit an automatic firing mechanism on their machinations, thankfully...

"Temei! Omae wa moshindeirrrrrrrrrru!" Tetsu grated, high and shrill in her last shred of sanity.

She shook, knowing how horribly powerful a metal man was. They'd freeze at certain points, but never like damp undead. The mare galloped far and wide as possible, strafing at times with snow crunching. Barely, it crunched, an asset to someone literally able to not make a single imprint. Her hooves kicked meek winter trails. And, each one made her pupils shrink. It landed right behind her. Every step, the beast shattered the very Earth that birthed it. Her eldritch assailant made whistling, steam-laden noise in movements unknown. Alien churning and crackling of static started before it played mimicry of human voices. All about mercy and begging 'please', or 'I don't wanna die'.

"You fuck...! Celesita help me... I'll make you pay!" The priestess screamed, plunging her sword deep within.

A strange, creaking noise erupted betwixt them. And, in not knowing her actions, she cursed with hot, flaying steam all over both hooves. Till then, she wasn't a two-hooved swordsmare. It only helped her feel more confident. More suited to face a world that wanted her and the rest of the tainted dead. She sung the hallelujah and kicked Fuyu hilted. Singing, groaning metal greeted her ears and everything hurt. A wash of surging pressure exploded her forest-trampling enemy. And, though she couldn't feel her left foreleg... at least the others were safe. It tore her kimono, white and black with sunlight at her back. The world burst her eardrums and one, stinging crash claimed the surrounding bamboo forest.

She gasped awake, shivering in dense hypothermia. Another sun vial. Another sun vial met her lips, just barely gripped by one, functioning forehoof. The other, she knew, was blackened to nothing. Limp. Frozen rigid, essentially. Tetsu Ishi Ryoku stumbled into hindleg movement. It was burning. Everything burned like heat before, but more because of her sunlight vial. Celesita blessed her once. But, now, she couldn't tell if anything wanted her alive. Not even the townspeople saved her. She hoofed her own, damn sword back and took a moment to breathe.

Amputation...

One.

Two.

It came off. Her eyes were far from dry. Everything ached and worse, her own nerves screamed from being healed. Once a capable priestess, she was little more than some hack who liked to roll her 'r's. Or, at least, Tetsu thought, shunning her own strengths to name the weaknesses. It was gone and that's all that mattered. No whining. No crying. She could cry when no one was watching. Tetsu grit her teeth and slowly, snow parted beneath her dense, frost-bitten hindlegs. It took another sunlight vial all over her body. That's when everything started moving again. It hissed in sweet reaction, washing warm the kiss of winter's hate. A dry spell of grunting, wimper-like noise and brutal loneliness dragged her heart. Why... did she wear a mini-skirt today.

"No... that was stupid. Why did you need a mini skirt. C-can't you... fucking wear a good pair of sweats or something." Tetsu murmured, panting steamy against the horrid winter.

Zombies declined in winter because their once-great macrothermal signatures were reduced to nothing. And, in their decline, she hated being the only thing for miles. Miles and miles and miles, only the ponies remained. She stumbled toward a bridge and fell off the broken rails.

Before long, she had a nice... warm bath?

"Oh... Oh, Luna fuck... A hot spring. Blessed art thou in Canterlot and hallowed be thy fucking name, great princess-!" Tetsu gasped, immobilized entirely and shivering it all felt so wrong.

She didn't notice before, but, she didn't... feel alone. Someone was watching. Up there, beyond the clouds grey and dirty with mineral traces. It wasn't alone in the river washing her with maddening warmth. To offset her hypothermic symptoms, she kept one half underwater and the torso above. Everything centered and keeping her sternum submerged would only destroy her nerves. So, knowing her sensitive flesh, Tetsu Ishi Ryoku gradually 'sank'. Really, it was laying with her back against one, shallow riverbed. There, her spine tensed and something felt fixed again. The absent limb, however, did scream in total shock. That was when, by some measure of fate, she had the sense to toss Fuyu out the water.

Tetsu shook her head, wetting her mane slick and breathing sweat undeath. Justa s she did, faint voices twitched her ears. They were odd things. Amazing, hopeful registers both low, high and baritone. They were common folk, barely garnishing sentences with high-class wit and distance. They were all adults, or young adults, by the remarks some gave.

"Where'd she go...?"

"I-I dunno, it's like she exploded with that thing."

"No, that can't be it. There aren't scraps of meat or anything near the Steam Giant. I mean- we found her leg, but, that's not a body."

"Maybe the wolves picked it away?" Asked a young, bright fellow, almost scarily cheery with all the nonsense that just transpired.

"No... Again, we'd give them too little time. She's alive. But, at what cost, I don't know. I just... It's strange, you know. When a mare comes in town and says she'll slay a monster, I don't believe her. She did it. Whatever for, I don't care. Bless her soul. I... I can't believe I was wrong about the black-bloods."

Tetsu felt a pang in her heart. No one... ever said anything like that. No one but the princess. And, even then, where was that doll of a pony. Off somewhere not dying, but in a cozy abode reading trashy novels, she liked to imagine. Her heart stung in beautiful motions. Wounding happiness struck her lips and made them quiver ever-so-slightly. Tetsu clenched her teeth, laying perfectly still. Stray schools of purple, phantasmal flame wandered by and all above her walking corpse. They glided like dreams and hopes. Each movement seemed mesmerizing; almost comfy in a way. She shook her head, defying with every, agonizing fiber in her body. They made her want rest. The purple lights glided to judgement. And, in their sway, Tetsu bent her head far, far elsewhere. .

"Not... now. I'm not... dead. I don't want to die."

Her murmur was drowned by whistling wind. Though she fell several, agonizing instances, Tetsu dragged her hooves along. Brisk, lively pacing blessed her steps and, through some, miraculous fate, Tetsu could move fluently with only her hindhooves. Without another foreleg to balance, it felt awkward, but, robust enough to keep Fuyu close. Of course she didn't forget her promise. How could she.

Blurry, growing silhouettes approached her vision. Though she held her sword tip-extended, the others only soothed. For once... ponies didn't call her monster. They welcomed little Tetsu with open forelegs. And, quite literally, the crowd did carry her elsewhere. She only trusted them because not doing so was unacceptable. Even if they lied, at least her sense of submissiveness was still alive. It would help her survive that wretched place. Shifting masses of spectrum washed her water-stained eyes, every one carrying a greyed tone. It felt... strange. As if she were home. At first, she objected to any sort of contact, aside from hoof-based guidance. But, everything was clear. The snow was far too thick for a three-legged pony, and her hindlegs did no service with socks, but absent insulation. Tetsu took her leap of faith.

By the time she recovered from heavy hemorrhaging, severe hypothermia and total shock, it'd turn to wicked wake. Another bout of gasping. Another reason to hate slumber. By her age, of years unspoken, Tetsu's icy eyes were tarnished by heavy, aching bags. Though she wanted to move, a roaring fire kept her cozy. A single sleeping roll met the moonlight, which made her slow and stare. Above, nearby candles flocked with white, silky moths; she knew Luna's embrace.

It even numbed her absent foreleg.