A Lofty Storytime

Chapter Three: Immersion

Two cloaked ponies, one mare and one stallion, walking down a dirt path heading out of the nearby town.

“Ugh,” the cloaked Mare grumbled. “Why can’t we just stop and get a drink?”

The stallion stopped walking and just stared at her. “We should have only passed through that town, but we ended up staying there for thirty-two hours,” he agitatedly growled. “Why do you think that happened?”

The mare stopped walking too, while turning toward the stallion. “Look Clip. I know.”

“Do you really?” brow curled up.

She smiled sheepishly, while looking at a passing cloud. “It isn’t my fault that you wanted something to eat, and rest at an inn.”

“Espionage. You. Are. The. Reason,” he yelled angrily. “Remember ‘Hey I’m thirsty, and this place has some life water. Let’s stop for a couple minutes,’ but we didn’t stop for a couple of minutes. We stayed at the inn’s bar section for twenty-four hours.”

Espionage, the cloaked apricot colored mare, turned back to the direction they were previously walking. “Alright. I understand Clip. I just wanted a little drink,” she hummed.

Clip, or rather Clipper, trotted to catch up with the non-stopping mare. “Little?”

She giggled. “Okay, maybe it wasn’t a little, but carrying the King’s Relic is tiring, and well. It makes me thirsty. To relieve my thirst I drink, and the only thing to drink that is ever good is water’s of life,” Espionage explained lazily.

Clipper, walking beside the mare, accidentally slowed down dropping behind. “I keep hearing about this King’s Relic, but I have no clue what it is, or why you have it. Why don’t you tell me those things?” he asked her, before quickly realizing he was being left behind again.

Espionage, not waiting in the slightest for her traveling companion to catch up, gave a look to the sky; as to decide whether such an important piece of information should be shared. “Well with the King’s Relic it allows whoever wants to rule knowledge. The knowledge that it contains will enable them to become the absolute ruler…”

“Absolute ruler of what?” Clipper asked; finally catching up again.

Espionage stopped, her cheerful behavior and expression immediately dissolved replaced by sadness. “I’ll tell you everything I know… but you have to buy me a drink.”

Clipper, also having stopped, looked at her saddened expression and gulped. “Deal.”

He was treated to a sigh from Espionage. “The absolute ruler is that. An absolute ruler who rules absolutely. I don’t know exactly what kind of knowledge is contained inside of the King’s Relic. As in order to get the knowledge one has to want, or wish, to rule. Why do I have it… simple. I don’t want to rule, but I served in the war and I don’t wish to do that again,” Espionage explained true to her word.

“It is something simple like that, ‘get great knowledge, rule all’ kind of thing?”

Espionage started walking again. “Yup,” she answered him lamely. “Let's go.”

Clipper looked on in sorrow, simply standing there. His head drooped down subtly, and he quickly changed his expression to that of stoicism. He followed behind Espionage slowly.

--- --- ---

An hours walk in pregnant silence, and the silence remained intact still. Quietly Clipper followed, and just as quietly Espionage led; only one thing was clear between the two, neither wanted to be the one to break the silence. The silence was broken, luckily, by a shriek in the woods, which they were beginning to pass through.

Espionage looked in the direction of the shriek, narrowing her eyes trying to make out what was happening. “I’ll bet you thirteen Bits that it is a mare having an irrational reaction to a complete misunderstanding.”

“Irrational reaction… alright then I will bet that it is a mare… being attacked by a wild animal, and she has just seen a friend of hers die,” Clipper accepted the strange bet. Both bets were strange, but what is worse is neither of them had thirteen Bits.

They rushed to the bushes to see… a mare was backing into a tree, a stallions body was lying motionless, and a large cat was slowly closing the distance between it and the mare. Espionage, with a flap of her wings, flew up. Her blade already drawn, she slammed down onto the large cat. A sharp “MMEEEOOOOWWW” and the cat dropped, blood formulating around its broken head.

The mare looked at her in shock. “What are you doing?” Espionage, confused, looked at her with a questioning look. “You killed my cat… do you know how expensive those things are?”

“No, and the cat is a living thing not a toy,” Espionage answering truthfully.

The stallion now getting up. “How could you do that, do you know who we are?”

“No we don’t,” Clipper replied walking over to where Espionage stood.

Espionage grinned mischievously. “Should we?”

The mare and stallion both looked, shocked, angry and sweaty. “Of course you should know us, we are famous,” they shouted in unison. “We have been famous for the things we did in the war.”

Espionage tilted her head, and asked in a confused tone. “War?”

The two of them blinked multiple times out of disbelief. Then after a small amount of silence the mare had something to say. “Y-you’ve never heard of the war… the big war between Deus and Lady Cel?” she asked.

The mischievous smile that crossed Espionage’s muzzle quickly faded. “Nope never heard of it,” she lied.

“How?” was all the strangers could muster in reply.

Clipper coughed. “You shouldn’t pull these silly pranks.”

“But--”

“A prank. That was a prank,” the stallion interrupted furiously. “You must think you are so funny? Pulling a prank on the Mighty and Supreme Delatum, and his illustrious lady Pixie, what could you have possibly gotten out of something so... so juvenile?”

Espionage put the hood of her tattered, rugged, cloak over her unwashed hair, she snickered. “My co-hort and I simply did what was fun,” her snickering quickly died down, and in a tone of her rare ‘serious tone’ she added. “Besides it was just a war.”

“J-just a war,” Pixie bewildered. “How can you call it just a war? Ponies died.”

Clipper glared at the two. “Stop. It would be bad to keep pressing this subject.”

“What?” Delatum roared. “You bring it up, and then demand that we High Nobles… simply stop. How dare you.”

“Es calm down,” Clipper instructed. “I’ll pay for your nex--”

A hoof stomped the ground causing a small cloud of dust and dirt to form around the powerful pressure. “Shut up!!” Espionage interrupted unswathed by the forseeable offer. “I’m supposed to just stand here, while these ingrates insult you and me.”

Delatum face contorted in unbridled fury. “Ingrates you call us ingrates. Insolent fools my men will make you pay for your haughty insults.” He cleared his throat before yelling out. “Kill them you idiots.”

Hoofsteps and rustling could immediately be heard afterward. Five armed ponies and four weaponized griffons brushed out of the shrub. The ponies and griffons had a clear leader, a mare carrying a scythe, who stepped forward. “Master… it seems that we are in need of more… insurance,” her voice full of control, and authority.

“Y-you want more--”

Espionage backed away a few steps. “Tailing… what are you... doing here?” her voice quivering in surprise.

Tailing squinted, focusing her vision on Espionage, upon noticing what she was seeing. She closed her eyes and smiled, the type that is never sincere, but kind. “Espi a better question is why are you here… you know my line of work.” She looked at Clipper. “I see that you also have a,” she paused searching for the right word, “an underling.”

“He’s not my underling,” she lashed. “He’s my… he’s my,” Espionage froze her tone dubious.

“He is what… a friend?” Tailing scoffed.

“N-no… no he isn’t. He’s… he’s,” she froze again. “He’s--”

Delatum and Pixie started to gallop as fast as their hooves could carry them. Galloping in the opposite direction of Tailing, eliciting a sigh from her in response to their action. She pointed a hoof at them. “Oh boys…” she hollered. “Cut the runners down.”

“Affirmative,” came a chorus of quick replies. Just as quick Tailing’s underlings charged after Delatum and Pixie, the runners.

Delatum was proving to be a lazy noble with the underlings fast in pursuit, and gaining. Pixie on the otherhoof is demonstrating that she isn’t lazy like Delatum, that is until she tripped and fell. Clipper ran after, not only proving his athleticism but also his superior speed.

Tailing pulled a sheathed sword out of somewhere holding the hilt in her mouth. She lowered herself closer to the ground, dropping into her fighting stance. She muttered something through her teeth, past the weapon in her mouth, which sounded something like this. “Drough ughr hwordgh Eghsphi.”

Dust flew up around Espionage’s hoof, when she slammed it down once again. “Tailing do you really want to fight me?” Her tone unwavering, her fear misplaced with distance and seriousness. “You’ve never beaten me, even when we were foals.” Tailing kicking up dirt and dust behind her with her stomping hoof, as she made her intentions clear.

“I’m sorry Tailing you called for this,” Espionage apologized, guilt flowing in her face. She slowly drew her blade.

Tailing burst into a full gallop the moment Espionage drew her sword. Espionage’s wings flapped out from under her cloak, she swiftly jumped backward adding to the distance with the force of her wing flap. It didn’t matter that much, since Tailing closed the distance without a second’s passing.

--- --- ---

Clipper’s breathing had deepened. Galloping at full speed he was gaining on the runners. Within seconds he caught up to the rear of the group, but he kept galloping. Several more seconds later he practically flew passed the fore-runner.

Abruptly stopping and rearing his hindlegs up. He bucked the face of the fore-runner, incredibly hard. A soft crunch could be heard above the rearing dirt. The underlings screeched to a sudden halt; drew their weapons, and quickly surrounded the pink cloaked Pegasus.

Clipper took a slow glance at all of their weapons. “Two spears, one battle axe, three long swords and one pike.” Then glancing down at the fallen fore-runner, who was seeing stars, and added. “And one fallen.”

“So altogether… or separately?” Clipper asked, past a malicious grin.