Sand in the Wind

Sand in the Wind

Chapter Three: Secrets

By: Jace Arveduin

Blade Knight woke up a little before noon, stretching widely and slapping himself in the face with a wing in the process.

“Gah! D’arvit... I love you wings, but that’s really not very nice,” he muttered as he situated his rogue limbs against his back. Looking around, he noticed he’d knocked a note off of his face. Curious, he gave it a quick read and nodded. Frostfire had left it, apparently she had some work to do and didn’t feel like trying waking him. So with that settled, his next course of action was to raid the fridge.

After a nice bowl of cereal, he decided to roam around town. He was hoping he might run into Emerald Dawn, or at least find out where she lived. A quick glide and bumpy landing got him back on the ground and the grey stallion was trotting back into town. Once there, he realized he didn’t remember what Emerald did for a living, so started trying to remember. He knew she wasn’t a librarian, but couldn’t shake the feeling that she had something to do with them. Taking a seat, he took a look around to figure out where he’d wandered to, and realized he had stopped in front of the school.

“Oh, well that just might be it...” He mumbled to himself as a bell rung and the little colts and fillies rushed to the playground. Behind the stream of children came a mare with a green coat and light orange mane. “Eyup, that just might well be it.”

Of course, now he had to come up with a way to approach her without looking like a stalker. Then he remembered the book he was carrying, that would make it easier. All he had to do was go up to her and ask a question about it, simple.

“Ma’am, do you happen to be “Emerald Dawn?” He asked the green mare as he walked towards her.

“Yes, I am. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“As it so happens, I think you can. I’ve been reading this book,  ‘The Hobbit,’ from the town library and was wondering if you could give me a better description of these ‘hobbits.’”

“I suppose I could..." She said thoughtfully. "Have you ever seen a baby dragon?”

“Eyup.”

“Well picture what they look like. Now, get ride of the scales, spines, and tail. Those are pretty much the only details not given in the book.”

“Okay, thanks for that. They really are odd looking creatures, though the dwarves seem like fun. And, if I may be so bold, how did you come across this book anyway?”

“Oh, I kind of... Brought a human here by accident a few years ago and he brought those books back as a gift.”

“Really? What's a human? And I’m guessing he wasn’t very happy about that?”

“Humans are like the hobbits, but much taller. And, well, he wasn’t really mad, but he certainly wasn’t happy about it.”

“That’s good, though it really wouldn’t have been too bad if he was angry. I mean, what’s the worst he could do?”

“He could have destroyed the town,” she said while giving him a glare to get the point across.

“Woah! Take it easy! I was joking. Okay, so it’s really good he wasn’t in a bad mood then.”

“Yes it was. Now I have a question, have you been through here before?”

“Me? Nope.” He told her, then facehoofed. “And where are my manners today? The name’s Blade Knight.”

“Nice to meet you, and as you seem to know, I’m Emerald Dawn. So what are you doing here anyway? There’s really not much to see.”

“I’m just a drifter, I stumbled across here a few days ago and I’ve been sticking around because I’m in need of money, which is hard to obtain in the wilds,” he replied with a cheeky grin.

“Your voice does sound familiar... Have you done any voice acting?”

“Nope, I’ve done many things, but lending my voice for something isn’t something I’ve done yet.”

“Oh, well where are you from, anyway?”

“Just a small town... I’m not even sure how far away from here it is, though I’m fairly sure it’s south-west though.”

“You know, story-time’s coming up, and if you need a few bits, I could spare a few if you felt like telling the little ones a story As a drifter, I'm sure you've come across plenty of them in your travels.”

“A story eh? This town seems to love them, I was able to crash at Frostfire's house last night in exchange for a tale, if you know who she is. Well, she also got to beat me at pool, but I digress.”

“I know her, she’s a good mare. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to round up the students. Just stand near my desk until story time starts, would you please?”

“Yes ma'am.”

Going over to the desk as the mare began to organize the post-recess chaos, he waited at least five minutes for the unicorn managed to get everything under control.

“Okay class, we’ve got a special storyteller for today! His name is Blade Knight and he was kind enough to volunteer some of his time to tell you all a story.” She told the younglings, to which they gave a cheer.

“Do you go on awesome adventures?” An excited earth-pony colt with a blonde mane and brown coat asked.

“I’ve been on a few,” Blade replied.

“Now settle down and let Mr. Knight tell a story,” the mare told the class. “Now, if you will Mr. Knight.”

“Hmm. Which story to tell... Say, do you little fillies and colts like fantasy stories?”

“Yes!” Was the resounding answer.

“Well that makes it easy! I think I shall tell you the story of Beren and Luthien” Clearing his throat before doing his best imitation of Gandalf, which was quite bad, he started. “Long ago, before the fall of Numenor, there was a mighty battle. The Battle of Sudden Flame, it was called....”

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After finishing his retelling of the story of Beren and Luthien, Blade was quite pleased with himself. It was hard trying not to give away the fact that the characters were humanoid and to gloss over the death and destruction, but he thought he did quite well indeed!

“I would like a word with you, Mr. Knight,” Emerald told him severely, and she didn’t look happy.

“Yes ma’am,” he replied, apprehensive as to what he did wrong. Even after years of being out of school, some emotions never fade.

“Where did you hear that tale?”

“During one of my adventures in the deep south,” he replied with a grin.

“You said it was the tale of Beren and Luthien, yes?”

“I did indeed.” His smile faltered for half a second.

“Well, the thing is, I’ve actually heard of that tale before. In fact, it’s connected to the same universe as the book you’re carrying. So, who are you?” The glaring teacher asked him.

“Ah, oops. Well in that case, I’m surprised you even have to ask who I am,” Blade’s smile went from shifty to cocky, it was guaranteed to drive most beings up the wall.

“Well, there’s only one pony I know who would know that tale, and he’s not a pony.”

“Oh? He’s not?”

“No, he turned that down years ago and was basically banished,” the mare retorted.

“I see. So who am I then?”

“You’re obviously a human, or at least have been around them, but you can’t be Jesse because he know’s how to arrive near here. And the fact he refused to become a pony means you can’t be him.” The unicorn said as she slipped into a more pensive pose.

“There is, of course, the chance I changed my mind and went straight to the Princesses.”

“But why would you... Wait, I? Jesse?” She stammered.

“The one and only!” The brash stallion said with a bow. “I was going to see how long I could keep up this guise, but apparently I’m too clever for my own good!”

“So Frostfire doesn’t know?”

“Nope, and neither does Steel.”

“Oh, so you’ve met up with Steel too?”

“Eyup, I managed to borrow his couch the night before last.”

“So when are you going to tell them?”

“Oh, I thought I’d make a surprise out of it, keep the pretense up as long as possible. But since you've seen through my deception, I suppose I should tell them." After thinking it over, he asked, "Do you three still happen to be visiting each other? If you are, could you set up a... Picnic, sometime tomorrow?"

“Yes, we do meet and talk occasionally, and I think I can get one set up for tomorrow. But if you plan on it being a surprise, I’ll let you borrow my couch tonight, otherwise you’d probably end up telling them and ruining your fun,” Emerald told him while grinning.

“Hey! It’s not my fault I forgot The Return of the King had all of that information in the back!” The grey pony replied in mock indignation.

“If you say so,” she retorted. “And are you really going by ‘Blade Knight’ now?”

“Yeah, it sounded decent, and I’m rather bad with names. And if it’s possible, I’m even worse when I’ve got to come up with something that would fit in Equestria.”

“Well, stick around then, class is almost done for the week and we can go back to my house after it’s over.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Blade told her as she went back to the classroom. He could have followed and watched in on the lesson, and he probably needed to, but he figured he’d just be a distraction. Instead, he went and took a seat in front of the school and decided to try and take a nap. After failing miserably at that, he started reading his book again.

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A while later, the two were enjoying a small meal in Emerald’s home. It hadn’t changed much, a few new knick-knacks added here, and a handful books on the shelves. The interior could be neatly organized into things that were used, and things that weren’t. A chair under a reading lamp was in the former category with its arms beginning to show some wear, while the couch was in the latter, it looked like the pillows could probably use a good beating to get the dust out of them.

“So,” the unicorn started as they were eating. “Why did you admit so quickly to being Jesse? I seem to recall that you liked playing word games with ponies.”

“Oh, that’s easy; I was starting to get bored, and the whole bit about remembering what I can or can’t say to keep it a secret was starting to become tiresome.”

“If you say so. I think you just realized you couldn’t outsmart me!” The grinning mare told him.

“Is that so?” The pegasus replied with a grin of his own, it sounded like she had been hanging out with Frostfire during his absence. “In fact, I’d pick your brain apart right now, but I’m afraid our knowledge bases are quite different, so the effect would be... dramatically decreased.”

“Well that’s completely like and unlike you at the same time,” the unicorn replied.

“I’m sorry, I may be a good forty years younger physically, but my brain hasn’t quite caught up to that fact yet,” Blade said with a shrug.

“Wait, forty years younger?” The look of disbelief on her face would have been quite hilarious out of context.

“I’ll explain that tomorrow with the others, it’s not something I want to have to explain twice.”

“Okay...” This wasn’t something she wanted to push, since he hadn’t explained his reason for returning.

“So how’s life been here? It doesn’t look like it’s changed at all, though I admit to not being able to remember exactly what it’s supposed to look like.”

“Nothing much has changed. I’ve been teaching, Frostfire’s been helping with the weather team, and Steel is still the smith.”

“In other words, life’s going on as normal without any adventures or such?”

“Nope, not really, we got our fill of adventure the last time you came through. Though Frostfire might not have, if she’s done anything she hasn’t told us about.”

“So she probably has then! I’ll have to ask her eventually.”

“Yeah, we really haven’t seen each other that much of late.”

“You said something about letting me crash on the couch, right?” The pegasus said, barely managing to finish the sentence before a huge yawn overcame him.

“Go get some sleep then! You’ll probably explain everything tomorrow.” She shooed him onto the couch and brought out a pillow and blanket from a closet. “Good night.”

“Thanks, mi’lady, and see you in the morning.” Blade rolled over and began to snore. Emerald giggled quietly to herself as she trotted to her room.

Slightly later, Emerald wasn’t in such a good mood. Blade was still sawing logs and she couldn’t get any sleep. Eventually the mare took another blanket and tossed it over the stallion’s head, muffling the sound enough that she could finally get some sleep. Or that’s what she thought anyway. After she left, Blade stifled his laughter as he tossed the blanket off and really went to sleep.