Knights of Autumn

Sugar awoke to the sound of nearby galloping. She lifted her head and looked off in the distance with a drowsy expression. Her vision was slightly blurry and she felt unbalanced. “What the Pegasus feathers is going on?”

She saw a stallion – an Earth pony – who appeared to have a brown coat running in a panic down the path that led her way. And two armed ponies were following him, dressed in brown cloaks, Marauders’ cloaks. They were cackling and laughing as they were slowly catching up to him. “Help! Anyone!” He shouted.

Sugar knew those two armed ponies had no good intentions.

“Gut him good, Icarus.” One of the bandits laughed. The one called Icarus was clearly faster than the fleeing stallion. He lunged forward and tackled him.

“No! Please don’t!” The fleeing stallion shouted.

“You’re out mugging defenceless ponies while there’s a war going on? Now that’s just not very nice.” Sugar appeared beside Icarus in a white flash and shoved him off.

“An’ who’s dis whore mare?” Icarus snapped in a rage. “Ichor, don’t jus’ stand there! Kill ‘er!”

Sugar sighed, “I’m missing out on dream time because of you fruit pies.” She turned her head and quickly bucked Ichor in the jaw, which sent his body tumbling back and left him unconscious.

“Talk about not very nice. Oo’ are you?” Icarus asked, irritated. Sugar shook and hung her head at his thick accent, Marauders.

“I’m the whore mare, remember? Perhaps you should simply gather your companion and retreat.” Sugar Belle giggled and smiled at the stallion before her.

“I ain’t runnin’ from no fight, and I ain’t takin’ no advice from some prissy Unicorn.”

“Then let’s dance, shall we?”

“My pleasure.” Icarus removed his cloak, throwing it aside, and unfolded his wings. Using his wings, he lunged forward swiftly, and Sugar had little time to react.

A Pegasus, eh? Sugar thought as she ducked under Icarus’s first strike. She moved forward and turned, bucking at Icarus. Icarus moved under her hind legs and ram into her from underneath, making her tumble onto her back.

“I ain’t as weak as Ichor.” Icarus took his dagger in his mouth and struck down toward Sugar, aiming for her neck.

“Not quick enough, handsome!” Sugar said cheerfully as she vanished.

“All you Unicorns are weak an’ cowardice! Why can’t you just die like the rest o’ ya?” Icarus shouted, looking around frantically.

“Peek-a-boo.” Sugar teasingly said behind her opponent. She rammed him and pushed him to the ground, knocking his weapon away and quickly getting on top of him. “I win.” She announced, giggling and smiling.

“Let me up! I’ll ‘ave yer ‘ead!” Icarus struggled to get up, but to his surprise, Sugar was unmoved and stronger than he was.

“Please don’t make me really hurt you…” Sugar said sadly. She pinned his front legs down and stared him in the eyes. Through Icarus’s violent expression, she could see the pain of defeat in those glossed over eyes of his.

He eventually stopped struggling and shifted his eyes to the side. “Just kill me already, ya crazy whore.”

“Kill you? Oh, no, I couldn’t! That’s such an awful thing to do to someone.” Sugar frowned and her eyes became glassy. “Everyone has someone who cares about them. If I killed someone, someone else would surely feel terrible.”

Icarus laughed loudly for a few seconds. “Listen, nobody ever cared about me. Why do ya think I do what I do? To give back t’ the world what it gave t’ me.”

“I care about you. I care about everybody. I hate wars, and death, and pain.” Sugar put her hooves on Icarus’s cheeks and pushed on them playfully. “I can tell you hate losing. But I can tell you that hurting other ponies because you’re angry at the world is not going to solve anything.”

“Just shut up already. I get it. I’m a bad pony.” Icarus pushed Sugar off of him. “I’m sorry, but I’m not noble an’ good like you.” He walked over to Ichor and scooped him up onto his back.

Sugar backed up beside the stallion who was on the ground in terror. She bumped him softly with her hoof. The stallion looked up at the pony with the pure ivory coat and oceanic blue eyes, and saw her smiling down at him.

Icarus threw on his cloak, turned to look at Sugar a moment, and then galloped away into the night. He quickly vanished into the mist.

“Th-thank you for saving me. I owe you my life.” The stallion said to Sugar.

“Pfft don’t worry about it.” Sugar said, holding her hoof out to help him up. Her eyes met his immediately and noticed his blue eyes; almost the same shade as hers. “My name is Sugar Belle. What may I call you, Sir?”

“You may call me Joseph. Farmer Joseph.” He replied as he nodded.

Sugar grinned and trotted off toward the rock she had been sleeping on. “Come on Joseph, stay with me a while.”

Joseph followed behind her slowly.

When Sugar reached the small boulder she was at moments ago, she quickly hopped onto it. “Ya see this rock?” she asked Joseph with a quaint smile.

“Uh, yes?” Joseph answered, a bit confused.

“Isn’t it a nice rock?”

Joseph scanned the boulder. It just seemed like an ordinary boulder to him, “I suppose…” He rubbed his head and looked at her, who only looked back at him with a gentle expression.

“So where were you going?” She finally asked. She laid herself sprawled across the top of the boulder. She propped her head up on her hooves as she awaited the answer.

“Well, I was making my way to Earthenvale from a little village to the west called Spring Hills.” He sat down and continued his story. “But when I arrived to Earthenvale, it had been destroyed! There was no sign of life to be found. By the time I had arrived it was almost nightfall. When night came, I was halfway home, and then those bandits ambushed me and chased me into you, who so valiantly saved my life.”

“Aww, it was nothing really. I don’t like seeing ponies get hurt, and I knew those nasty bandits were going to do terrible things to you,” Sugar sighed. “I simply had to intervene.”

The two ponies sat around for quite a while and conversed about many different things. They talked about the stars. They talked about the trees. They even talked about each other and themselves. Sugar just simply wanted the poor stallion to feel at ease again.

“It’s getting really late. Would like for me to walk you home, Joseph?” Sugar hopped down off the boulder and leaned toward him, tilting her head. “Wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

Joseph smiled and replied, “That would be very generous of you. Are you sure it isn’t too much trouble?”

Sugar Belle put a hoof up. “It’s no trouble at all, Friend.” She began down the road and looked behind her at Joseph following her. “Make haste. You need rest, and you’re not getting home any faster by being a turtle.”

Joseph laughed. If there was anything he had learned from their meeting, it’s that his new Unicorn friend was a bit eccentric. But he had also never experienced kindness from another pony as grand as hers. He tailed slightly behind her, watching her steps, her joyous trot, the way her hair bounced. Was this pony mad? Was she psychotic? Or perhaps, as he thought earlier, she was just a bit eccentric. These thoughts raced through his mind as he reflected back on her point earlier.

There’s a war going on, and many ponies are losing their homes, getting separated from family, seeing loved ones die, or dying themselves. The whispers being passed like terse love notes between students only became louder with each passing day. Most ponies are terrified and praying to their gods.

But Sugar Belle? She struts along smiling and spreading strange metaphors. Was she mad? Was she psychotic? No, it wasn’t that. Perhaps she was confident in a victory against Nightveil’s tyranny. Or maybe she was just so optimistic that she never felt fear or sorrow.

“You sure are quiet all of a sudden.” Sugar broke the silence.

“Oh, er, my apologies,” Joseph said quickly, “I guess I’m just tired and thinking.”

Sugar nodded and smiled, “It’s okay. Are you feeling any better?”

Joseph continued walking behind her, watching her steps, her joyous trot, the way her hair bounces. Then, his eyes met with hers; she had come to a halt so suddenly. Though, her smile never faded.

“Yes,” Joseph said, grinning wider than ever before, “I feel so much better.” And he did. He felt more comfortable and safe than he ever had. And it was all thanks to Sugar, even if she was a bit strange.

~~~~~

Applesmith tossed and turned in her bed, unable to fall asleep. Her mind was racing, and her thoughts were rampant. She was thinking about a lot, and it kept her awake. Applesmith was worrying about Sugar Belle, about her mother, about her home in Earthenvale. She had planned to visit her mother in Earthenvale after her visit in Autumnfall; however, she did not expect to wake up in the woods and go to sleep in a shady inn of thugs and refugees.

I really need some fresh air, Applesmith thought as she sat up in her bed quietly, but I don’t want Grim worried about me if she awakens.

Applesmith squinted her eyes in the darkness, the void that stole the light from her begging eyes. She looked in Grim’s direction and could barely make out her shape. She wondered if Grim’s as restless this night as she was.

Applesmith slid herself to the edge of the old wooden bed. She sat upright and moved her hind legs over the side, being as careful and quiet as she could possibly be. In her head, she laughed. It was ironic that she was attempting to be stealthier than the master of assassins.

She touched her hooves to the wooden floorboards quietly, making soft clack. She lowered her upper half slowly, and touched one of her front hooves down first. Then she lowered the other. Applesmith walked cautiously and silently toward the door, putting more and more distance between her and Grim. Her heart was pounding harder and louder as she drew closer to the door, each step met with a tiny click and a clack. She had almost considered lying on her back and pulling herself to the door with her teeth.

Applesmith finally bumped her muzzle into the door. She grabbed the handle and pulled it open. As it began to open, it let out the most ear wrenching and howling creak she had ever heard. She quickly turned her head and looked in Grim’s direction. She could still hear soft snores.

The door was half open now, a space just big enough for her to slip through. Applesmith pushed her head through the gap and slipped the rest of her body through like a snake. She reached back and closed the door shut quietly.

“Whew!” She sighed as she made her way downstairs.

Many stallions, mares, griffons, and even dragons were downstairs, playing drinking games and gambling. Aurius was still behind the bar, but with a new assistant. Applesmith assumed the one from before had gone home.

Aurius noticed Applesmith, made a gesture to his assistant, and walked over to her. “Hello, again.”

“Hello, Aurius.” Applesmith replied, looking over at him.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping? It’s only been about three hours.” Aurius gave Applesmith a concerned look. “How is your head?”

“It actually feels much better. At least compared to earlier.”

“Why exactly did you come down?”

“I couldn’t sleep. I have too much on my mind,” Applesmith said as she sat down at a nearby table and propped her head up on her hoof.

“Would you like a drink?” Aurius came to her side.

“I would love one, but I’m afraid I lost my saddle bag when Autumnfall was assaulted.” Applesmith’s eyes dropped and pinned the table.

“Skydust!” Aurius called back in the direction of his assistant, who quickly turned to the name being called. “I need a Harmonium Honey Dew brew over here.”

Applesmith lifted her head and perked her ears. “But I–”

“It’s on me, Knight-Commander,” Aurius said. “Harmonium Honey Dew is one of the finest drinks in the country. It’ll have you feeling better in no time.”

Skydust came over with a tray in her mouth, carrying the glass filled with the amber coloured liquid. It had thick foam over the top of it, which, upon being laid on the table, quickly began to dissolve and soon was gone completely.

Applesmith slipped her hoof in the handle on the side of the wooden mug. She brought it to her lips and took a sip of it. She quickly bit her bottom lip and shivered at the bitter taste of alcohol, but melted at the sweet, succulent flavour of what she thought tasted like honey.

Soon she was taking bigger sips. The cringes at the bitterness became less and less as she got used to it. It wasn’t long before the mug was completely empty.

“I really needed that,” Applesmith told Aurius in a delighted tone. “It’s been some time since I was privileged to relax to some spirits.”

Aurius had been sitting there the whole time watching Applesmith drink down such an alcoholic beverage at such an alarming rate. To his surprise, she didn’t even appear tipsy. She was, however, relaxed.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Applesmith. I’m actually quite shocked you’re not even a little wobbly,” Aurius laughed.

Applesmith giggled and got up from her chair. “I’m going to step outside for a bit. I need some fresh air.”

Aurius nodded. “Don’t be out too long. You need your rest.”

Applesmith trotted over to the door and stepped outside. She walked forward to a tall, pointed rock by the entrance of the bar. She stayed relatively well hidden behind it.

It was chilly out, the breeze was soft, and the moon was a luminescent, ivory coin in the night sky. A night like that was so rare to come by since all the wars broke loose twenty years ago.

Applesmith looked out across from the Frozen Refuge, where a road and some woods were. She didn’t notice at first, but at a second glance, she saw the silhouettes of two ponies walking along the road. One was a Unicorn and the other was an Earth pony. She tried looking closer, but all she could make out was the Unicorn’s white coat and the Earth pony’s darker, brown coat. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

“Probably just a couple of lovers taking a stroll,” she said, half-awake. She turned and went back inside as they passed by.

~~~~~

I wonder, Grim thought as she sat against the wall of the room she was staying in, if we’re ready…

Applesmith didn’t know it, but Grim had been pretending to be asleep. She had been thinking rather hard on the task before them. Grim was never one to doubt herself and her abilities, but then again, she was never faced with something that she felt she couldn’t handle.

It had been only a short amount of time since Applesmith had been gone. Grim wasn’t about to go looking for her just yet. Applesmith could handle herself for a while, but any longer than a “while” was the cue for reinforcement.

Grim simply sat there, propped against the corner of the wall, wrapped up like a cocoon in her cloak, watching the door beneath the shroud of shadows. How long would she have to wait? Her patience was strong, but would she have to leave and rescue her friend? She felt it was about time to set out on a quest.

Grim shuffled around in her cloak, preparing to get up. But, the door opened, creaked ajar actually, and Grim stopped moving. Applesmith stumbled in sleepily, closing the door with her back leg as she entered. She soon crashed on the bed and comfortably wrapped herself in the blankets.

Grim Feather was almost irritated. But relieved her friend was safe. Damn. I was looking forward to a late night adventure, Grim thought. Maybe I’ll dream of one.

~~~~~

“Rise and shine, ladies!” The door to Grim and Applesmith’s room flew open and banged loudly against the wall. Aurius stepped in, “We have trouble.”