A Freshman's Tale

Celestia's POV

Celestia glanced at the entrance to her room, then back at the clock. Where was Joey? He should of been there three minutes ago. Was he backing out all of a sudden? No. He wouldn't miss this, even if he was nervous. Something was wrong.

Celestia stood up from her sitting position. If he wasn't there, she would get him herself. She wondered if something held him back, making im a tad late. She walked down the hall leading to his room, holding her head at an upward angle. She smiled. Today would be a very important day for Equestria. They would meet their new prince!

As she neared his room, Sparkle Dust galloped out in a panic. Her pink, usually smooth mane was a mess, and her maid's outfit was terribly wrinkled. Her yellow coat was smudged, and her face was pale. "Is something wrong?" Celestia asked. Sparkle whipped her head around to face the princess. Something was definitely not right.

Sparkle wheezed. "S-sorry, princess, he wasn't there when I went to check on him, and I looked everywhere -" Celestia put a hoof over her muzzle to silence her. "Slow down. Start from the beginning." She removed her hoof, and Sparkle took a long, deep breath. "I-I was coming back to see if he was ready for the announcement, and when I looked in his room, he wasn't there. So I looked around. Everywhere. Searched the palace from top to bottom. He. Is. Not. Here."

Celestia felt like her heart jumped up into her throat. "N-not t-there?" she stuttered. "How? H-he wouldn't run away........i-it's just not h-him." Celestia's pupils were the size of raisins. "We have to find him!! He must of been coltnapped, or taken!!" She yammered in a panic-y tone. "But, Princess," Sparkle said, "Who would be crazy enough to sneak in and coltnap him?"

A guard marched up to Celestia. "Your honor," he said with a slight bow, "A War Blimp is leaving Canterlot. Does it have your authority to leave?" Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Sparkle, nopony said that somepony snuck in." She turned down to face the direction of the gaurd barracks. "Guards," she bellowed. "Stop that blimp!!" Then she turned to face the window. Who would be so self serving to actually take her son away? Then her face turned to a nasty scowl. She growled, "Blueblood."

She turned back to her guard. "Prepare my chariot as well," she said with a menacing frown.

Joey's POV

Joey's head hurt. A lot. It felt like he had an orb of lava shoved into his brain after someone ripped his head open with their bare hands. A huge CLUNK startled him. His eyelids slowly lifted, revealing a wooden room and a huge set of iron bars that stood in front of him. There was a rickety staircase off to the left of the room, and some holding cells, to his right.

Wait, wait.

Holding cells?

Wait a minute, he thought. He made an attempt to turn himself over. The second he moved, his head flared in a sharp pain, as if someone had driven a knife into his forehead. He tried to ignore the pain and succeeded in the task at hand.

Sure enough, he was in a cell. There was a dirty, flannel cot in one corner. It was a small space, probably ten feet by ten feet. The floor was made of rough wood as well. It was far from comfortable. No sign of a bathroom. Well, great. There were a bunch of thumping noises and harsh laughter coming from a higher level. Probably a drunk party.

More clunking sounds snapped Joey out his thoughts. His eyes traced the room, finally resting their gaze on the staircase. There was a shadow of a muscular pony making his way down the stairs. When he came into view, he wasn't muscular at all. He was a little skinny, kind of like a pony ninja. He was also wearing iron boots, which explained the clunking noise. So much for intimidation. Without the boots, he was like a toothpick with hair.

He carried a plate of green sludge, and he grabbed the keys to Joey's cell. He clumsily opened the cell, shoving the plate of "food" inside. "Eat up, (hic) APE!" he snarled. He was probably drunk, too.

That gave Joey an idea.

He sat up, which was not as painful since the pain subsided a little. A little. "Sir," he said in the most innocent tone he could manage, "It's a little stuffy in this cell. Can you leave the door open a crack so I can get some fresh air?" He knew it probably wouldn't work, with there being bars and all to let in air. The Toothpick Pony rolled his eyes, muttering "Whatever." He handle the door until it was open just a crack, then clunked up the stairs, muttering things like "stupid ape" "royal pain in the neck".

Joey tried really hard not to laugh. Ponies are STUPID when they're drunk!! Joey slowly got to his feet, stumbling a little. He had a chance to escape now. A little chance, but a chance. He slowly pushed the cell door open, cringing at the creaks it gave out. He started to climb the stairs, which surprisingly didn't creak. He was quite amazed. When he reached the top, the noises of the party were louder, without a surprise. He spotted a weapons stock across the room. If he could get there without anything seeing him, he would be golden. He peeked around the corner, seeing nothing. He did spot light coming from under a door that was just to his left. That's where the party sounds came from.

Joey dashed across the empty room and quickly made it to the weapons storage. He closed the door behind him as fast as he could, without slamming it. Then pressed his ear to the door for a few moments. Hearing nothing, he turned around and gazed at the room with a grin.

The room was very cluttered with boxes, most of them full of arrows. There was a rack of swords in the back, some katanas mixed in with some broadswords. There was a rack of bows to his left. He first turned to a small wooden crate of sword sheaths. It was surprising that ponies could wield swords at all. He dug through the box until he found a suitable sheath. It was a light leather sheath with an adjustable sword strap. Perfect.

He strolled over to the bow rack, selecting a metallic looking one. It was very light, to his surprise. Titanium. He grabbed a quiver and slung that over his back. Then he slung the bow over the quiver.

He then grabbed as many arrows as his quiver would hold, and stuffed them in. Then something in the corner of the room caught his eye. It was a leather tunic hanging out of a small box labeled 'BABY MINOTAUR ARMOR'. Joey snorted really hard. Seriously? he thought. Why would baby minotaurs need armor?

He walked over to the box, and pulld out the leather tunic. Then he spotted a pair of leather boots and pants as well. Joey tried them on with great effort, but they fit him perfectly. They were incredibly light as well, no doubt some sort of enchantment. It had a surprising range of motion, too. What a great find.

He then turned to the sword rack. As he was searching through, his head accidentally hit a low-hanging overhead lantern. It emitted a big spark, which floated down and settled on the hilt of a sword that held a golden hue.

Instead of melting through, though, it seemed to charge the sword. It glowed brightly, showering the room in a golden aura. Golden stripes of light ran through the sword from the tip of the hilt all the way through the blade. When spark died after a couple of seconds, the sword's energy died down and returned to what it was before. Joey stared at it, his feelings a mix of shock and curiosity.

He inched over to where the sword hung. It looked quite heavy. He reached out slowly to the sword, fearing the worst. The moment his finger connected, nothing happened. It just had a cold metallic feel, no surprise. Joey pulled it off the rack, and it went to the floor. Crap, he thought. Too heavy.

Then the sword glowed. not as strongly as before, and the yellow stripes of light reappeared. The blade and hilt shrunk a small bit, and then Joey could lift it off the floor. It was amazingly light now. He chuckled to himself and swung it to and fro. It was amazingly easy to control. The hilt also fit perfectly in his hand, as if it were crafted for him.

Joey took one last glimpse at his quiver. He was studying it, checking for anything he might be missing. And behold, in between the backstraps were two smaller sheaths. "Daggers!" he muttered in discovery. "Need to find some daggers." He looked around the room again. Where would HE keep a good pair of daggers? His eyes traced to a shelf that hung over the leather armor boxes. There was a small case, perfect size for a good set of daggers.

Bingo.

He quickly walked over and climbed on top of the armor box, then grabbed the case. Inside were the most wicked looking daggers he had ever seen. They had a firm gold and leather hilt, and the blades came to a wicked point. And to his luck, they fit perfectly inside the sheaths. He slipped them right in with ease. He was set.

As he admired his new tools, he remembered the task at hand: escaping. As he made his way to the door, he heard deep, harsh voices beyond the door. Joey reached for is sword, but pulled is hand away. No way would he be able to take those guys on. Might as well throw yourself into a hungry group of manticores.

But the leather boots silenced his steps, so maybe he could sneak around. So he waited. They would have to leave soon.

The minutes felt like hours, but sure enough, the voices became more distant. First, Joey opened the door a crack. Then again, just enough space so he could poke his head through. To his satisfaction, there was no one there. He took a step out, then another. Then he discovered he could even sprint without making a sound.

He looked down the corridors. Still no one. He decided he would have to find a trap door, or........wait. This was a blimp. Jumping out would be certain death. His mind raced. Then he realized the safest way to reach the ground was to crash the blimp.

And for that, he needed to find the bridge.

He looked around again. The bridge was probably up high, so he would have to go up. That made it easy, since one of the corridors sloped upwards.

He quickly ran through the tunnels, hiding behind a wall or something when somepony appeared. Before long, the corridor veered to the left, and ended in a room with a huge windshield and an interface. The bridge. And there was only one pony there, wearing a captain's uniform. Joey could sneak up on him and take him out without a problem.

Joey quickly ran in and hid behind a chair. The captain was facing the window, so he couldn't see Joey. Joey unsheathed a dagger, and quickly leaped from his hiding spot. He drove the dagger into the back of the captain's head, and he let out a small squeak of surprise before falling to the floor, dead. Not bad.

Then he faced the controls. They were very similar to airplane controls, so he knew exactly what to do. He stepped forward to the angle lever and thrust it forward. The blimp turned at a nauseating angle and plummeted towards a dense, creepy looking forest. Screams erupted from all over the blimp. Joey's stomach jumped up to his throat. That was the same forest he was in when he first arrived. This was bad.

It was too late too turn back now. He braced himself behind a chair, gritting his teeth. If he was going to die, he was gonna take these bastards with him.

The blimp crashed at deafening impact. The whole front window shattered, spraying glassy death all around the room. Thank goodness that Joey found that armor.

A deafening BOOM rocked the remains of the blimp, throwing Joey out of a new hole in the bridge ceiling. Joey flew right into a rock, knocking him unconscious. It was a lucky move, too, because the rest of the blimp imploded.

Joey groaned and slowly rose to his feet. His headache was even worse now. But he was alive.

There was grunting coming from behind him. He whirled around to face Backbone, who's forehead was bleeding. He had a sickening smile on his face, giving off a murderous vibe. "So, ape," he snarled, "I will not take any more shit from ya, you hear?" He took out a bronze spear. "I'll just have to kill you right here," he said, advancing.

Joey was almost not ready for his attack. Backbone stabbed at him with vicious speed. Joey barely had enough time to pull out his sword and deflect it. He knocked the spear to the side. Then he focused all his rage. These ponies had taken him from his new home. They were cruel. They were most certainly evil. Joey lunged and thrust his sword forward at Backbone's chest. The sword struck home, and it sunk through Backbone's chest. Backbone muttered in surprise, then staggered over, his eyes rolling up into his head. He was finally dead.

Joey took a step back. His stomach felt like it was turning to acid. He had actually killed a living pony. Sure, he was evil, but he was a living, breathing, thing.

Joey stooped over, retching.

He was so caught up with disgust that he forgot about his surroundings. He glanced around, studying the creepy forest surrounding him. Rickety sounds and howling echoed across the trees, sending icy shivers down his spine.

There was shouting coming from the remains of the blimp. Survivors. They would be here any second now, probably regrouped and ready to fight. Joey turned and ran.

He almost made it out of the clearing when his leg was snagged from behind. He fell forward and hit the ground, sending a sharp pain all the way to the back of his head. He turned to face none other than the Toothpick Pony. His face was pouring with blood, but Joey could still make out a cruel smile. Joey kicked and shouted, but Toothpick held on. Joey was about to give up, when something pounced on them from the woods.

It hit Toothpick first, giving enough room for Joey to quickly roll out of the way. When he got to his feet, he heard Toothpick scream in in pain. Joey whirled around to see a wooden wolf clawing his way through Toothpick's flesh. A growl from behind snapped Joey out of his momentary horror.

He drew his sword and turned just in time to cut down another wooden wolf. His sword passed through it like butter. The wolf let out an anguished howl and turned into a pile of twigs and wood. Another one jumped out from the shadows and raked it's claws over Joey's forearm, ripping off a bloody piece of his shirt. Joey shouted in pain, then brought his sword down on the wolf. It too disappeared into a pile of timber. A bigger roar erupted behind him to the left.

No other wolves came for him, they were all hunting down the other survivors. Joey took this chance to run off into the woods, completely ready for whatever happened next. He glanced over his sholder, and saw a glimpse of a manticore stomping torwards the wreckage. That made him run even faster into the dark.

Celestia's POV:

Celestia's soldiers were pulling the carriage as fast as they could in pursuit of the War Blimp. They were really close, too. So when the blimp veered down at a vertical angle, No one was ready for it, not even Celestia's wing forces. It also meant that Celestia's heart jumped down to her stomach.

All of her forces, including her chariot, overshot. They were going too fast.

When the blimp crashed with deafening impact, her throat swelled with panic. "EVERYONE SEARCH THE CRASH SITE," Celestia boomed. "AND FIND MY SON!!! I CANNOT LOSE HIM!!!" Her eyes were choked with tears.

When they touched down in the crash site, dead ponies lay everywhere. Their bodies were ridden with claw marks. "The survivors were attacked by timberwolves and manticore, by the looks of it," Celestia said, voice quavering. "The chance of surviving an attack like this are...........improbable." She blinked the tears out.

A soldier sprinted over to her. "Your majesty!" he urged. "You must see this!" She turned her head to face him, then slowly nodded.

The soldier led her over to the place where General Backbone lay. "Backbone," she snarled. "I should of guessed that he was in on this too." The soldier nodded. "But, your majesty," he explained, "It appears he died from a lethal stab." He turned the body toward her so she could see the bloody hole in his armor.

Then Celestia looked to her left. There was some gored remains of another pony, but footprints leading away. Then they were mixed in with more timberwolve pawprints. In the center of all this, there was a bloody shred of Joey's shirt. "No," Celestia muttered. "No, no, NO!!!" She started to weep uncontrollably.

Twilight's POV:

It had been a pleasant day, and what better to cap it off with eating dinner with your five best friends and number one assistant. That is, until the letter came.

Spike burped up the letter in firey style, floating it right in front of Twilight's face. She grabbed it out of the air with her magic. When she quickly read it over, a look of horror creeped slowly onto her face. "What is it, Twi?" Applejack asked.

Twilight looked up at them gravely. She stuttered, "G-Girls, we need to talk."