Arc Angel

Three days.

Three incredibly boring, uneventful and unfantastic days I spent in that blasted cell. The guards wouldn't talk to me, the pony who brought me food didn't talk to me. I had nothing to do. I think I understand why so many ponies go beserk after a stint in solitary. However, luckily for me, I've been alone for long periods of time before with naught but my thoughts, and I can do so again if I must. I have to admit though, I wish I had something to do. The dampener for my magic must remain upon my horn until such a time as I am released, which is a drag because at least I could practice my magic skills whilst I'm here if I had it off. What's worse is that these guards don't even talk. It's so bloody irritating. I mean, you'd think these ponies would at least talk to each other. They take turns sleeping at night, and they even eat here. They're never gone from their posts, it's so annoying. I miss my colleagues. I miss my colleagues, I miss my room mates and their fillyfriends who were always willing to chat to me, I miss....

Yeah, I guess I miss Spring the most.

I mean, she's been there for me since I started training, and she's been with me the whole time, never letting me give up, pulling me to my hooves whenever I fell down, letting me lean on her in times of great duress. I suppose it isn't difficult to see how I managed to have a crush on my best friend huh? But hey, she's not interested in me, so I haven't filled my head with too many delusions. Obviously I've daydreamed a time or two... or three... or twelve... whilst I've been in here, but come on! Who wouldn't? Most of all though... I guess I miss her hugs. She doesn't hug me often, but when she does... she's just so soft. It sort of doesn't suit her at all. Her muscles are obviously firm and strong, but her coat is like velvet. Mine is like some sort of thick wire, not soft at all, no matter how much I wash it. I think the only thing she's ever told me she envied about me was my mane, and I remember asking her flatly if she wanted it. The damn thing never sits straight, and I can't untangle it without it tangling again seemingly two minutes later. It's clean, but not neat.

You know, I remember one time when the two of us went camping on one of our days off from the academy. She was looking for somepony to hang out with, and I was just reading a book at the time, so she dragged me out of the library and took me out to a picnic. It was a beautiful day. I remember she teased me about the tapered point of my horn and I'd flushed, not knowing how to get her back or anything. She was, and still is, practically perfect in every way. At least, she is to me. We sat upon the top of the mountain that Canterlot hangs off of. The air was thinner than I was used to, and she had helped me up some of the way by letting me lean on her. Being a pegasus, her lungs did take the thin, cold air better than mine did. But the view from the top was spectacular. We had eaten a veritable feast (For us. We lived off of rations at training to get used to eating little and working for a long time) of sandwiches and watermelon. Ah, watermelon. I haven't eaten any in years now. I can barely remember what it tastes like. I remember that we decided to camp out. Of course, since this WAS a spur of the moment thing, we hadn't brought blankets. Luckily the blanket Spring had brought could roll up at one end to make satisfactory pillows, but without another blanket, we had to find another way to get warm.

When I first brought up the option of sharing body heat, she'd fiercely rejected it. I had to talk very, very fast in order to stop her from breaking my nose. I told her the scientifically proved value of the method, and assured her that it was only to bring warmth whilst we slept so we would not catch cold. She seemed reluctant, but given that was the best idea we had, she sighed and went along with it. Honestly, I don't think she minded so much though. Whilst she wasn't terribly friendly when we were trying to get to sleep, still convinced I was trying to 'sleep' with her, I remember waking up to the sensation of her hooves wrapped tightly around my stomach as her head rested on the small of my back and the rest of her was curled up and around the lower half of my body. I had to fight very hard that morning to resist the more primal itches that begged to be heard. It's only natural after all that a stallion become excited when such an amazing mare is wrapped around him like that I suppose. My method worked anyway, and neither of us were sick for training the next morning.

Ah, the good old days. Then she got with that jerk Lucis and she got more and more depressed before finally just dumping him. It was brutal.

He deserved it. I don't know what he did, but he definitely deserved it.

Oh? Is it lunch time already? The door is opening and a pony is standing in the doorway with a tray of food. I trot forward eagerly, curious as to what today's lunch was. Soft white bread, still steaming, so obviously fresh, and what smelled like heavenly pumpkin soup, complete with a dollop of sour cream. I looked to the pony with a raised brow and she smiled shyly.

"Courtesy of Miss Nightspring," She whispered to me quietly and winked, "She sends her regards, and wishes you to hurry up so she can get a free dinner."

I try not to laugh and nod to the maid as she backed out of the cell and the door was slammed shut again. Even when I was in jail she was looking after me. Granted, I was only being detained, but still. I didn't hesitate to dive into the soup and, despite its heat, it was simply delicious. I looked to the hunk of bread and smiled. I ripped some of it off, and dipped it into the soup, swirled it around and ate it quickly. If you have never done this before, you simply must try it.

Suddenly I heard the door lock rattle and I looked up to see the pair of guards (Of which I had nicknamed in my head Ig and Ook) unlocking my door. I frowned and looked down at my soup again, then back up at the guards now striding into the cell. There was something... off. Their eyes were distant and had a faint yellow shimmer to them that simply wasn't normal. They're looking at me blankly, as though they don't recognise what they're looking at.

"It is time." They both said at the same time. I sighed in relief. I was getting out of here, Shining was letting me go. I looked up at them and grinned, both in relief and slight mischief. Looks like I was finally getting that dinner with Spring.

"Can I at least finish my lunch first?"

Neither of them laughed. They didn't even react to the joke. But the male one, the pegasus (Ook) stepped forward and stood over me before I felt a starburst of pain on the back of my neck and everything I could see faded to black.

~*~

Oh jeez that hurts... My head feels like it's on fire from the inside, burning it's way through my head. Or trying to. I crack open my eyes and immediately squeeze them shut from the bright light. I hear a groan of pain and I think I made it. I'm not too sure. I can feel dirt against my coat and skin. I'm lying on my side, and my head really, really hurts. I think I can make it to my hooves... first attempt... no luck, I hit the ground again with a grunt of pain. I'm on my belly now. Second attempt... yes, getting there... Ah shit, no luck again. I tripped over my own hooves and now I think my nose is bleeding. Well, third time's a charm they say so here I go again. I try to stand and manage to get all four hooves under me and planted firmly onto the ground. After all, I am a guard. I'm a little dizzy, and I still can't open my eyes past a squint, but I'm adjusting. Finally my vision clears and what I see confuses me.

I appear to be at some sort of camp. There's a campfire in front of me and it looks like it only recently burned itself out. Wherever I am, and whoever set this up, they probably aren't too far away, unless they decided I wasn't worth the effort and figured they'd lighten the load a little. There wasn't any tents though and... strange, there's no hoofprints around here anywhere except the scuffling from where I'd gotten up and the few wobbly steps I've taken since then. Well, I suppose I should check for damage then. I start doing some routine twists to limber up my torso. Nothing seems injured there, so that's always a good sign. Now I stretch out my hooves. Nothing serious. I feel some pain on my right forehoof so I guess I'll- WHAT!?

THERE'S BLOOD ON MY HOOF!

THERE'S FREAKING BLOOD ON BOTH MY HOOVES!

I start to feverishly check my entire body for lesions, lacerations or open wounds. If there's this much blood on my hooves and it's from my wounds it's likely I'll die of blood loss soon. But no, there's no blood on me, and there doesn't seem to be any cuts, lacerations, abrasions or even scrapes on me save for one on my hind left leg. So, aside from being in a ghost camp and having something's blood on my hooves AND having a massive, really painful bruise on the back of my neck, I seem to be alright. But fuck me, what the hell is it from and where did this blood come from!? I cast my mind back desperately to the last thing I remembered. The last thing I remember is... Yeah, the last I remember is being knocked the hell out by Ook, that pegasus guard with the wingblades. Where the hell is he? And his partner, where is she?

Did they make this campfire?

I start to stare at it. I must look a right fool staring stupidly at a campfire, but I do so anyway. I wouldn't be able to tell you how long I looked at it, but eventually I decide it's time to look around some more. There's no evidence of any tents or food in the are-

Food. Oh Celestia I am so hungry right now.

I could really go for some food. It feels like I haven't eaten in months and my throat is parched and sore. That should be my first order of business. Find food, find water. The ground around me is all dirt, so I guess that's out of the picture. If I can find a fruit tree of some sort, or even a patch of grass, I can eat something from that. Then I need to find a source of water. I can't travel far on an empty tank. After that I think it'd be best that I find some way to clean this... these stains off my hooves. Then I need to figure out exactly where I am an-

"You! Stay where you are!"

I froze instantly. That was the authoritative voice of a city guard, and being one myself, I'm not about to disobey it. I turned around slowly and was met with a white pegasus holding a spear at the ready. He must have been relatively new to what he was doing though, because the spear was wobbling slightly as he held it and, through the gritted teeth of determination, I could see nervousness and doubt at what he was doing. Since my job was, so far as I knew, temporarily on hold, I sat down slowly and didn't question him. He glanced at my hooves and swallowed heavily. I glance down to them as well. I mean, it's difficult not to notice red stains on a coat as dull as mine. I looked back up at him.

"Look, if you'll let me expla-"

"Shutup! You're under arrest!"

I looked at him incredulously as he approached.

"On what grounds!?"

He swallowed and took another step, brandishing his spear. I think the spear made him feel safer, even if he knew he was facing a unicorn, which entails magic used to alter the physical world in a direct fashion.

"For.." he hesitated and it irked me, so I reacted.

"You're a guard, don't hesitate!" I snapped at him irritably and he snapped out of his hesitation and his face curled into a snarl.

"You're under arrest on two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder of a Princess of the realm!"

"What!?" I yelled out, but he wasn't finished.

"You're also arrested for breaking out of Canterlot Dungeon and removing your magic inhibitor."

I fell silent for a moment before holding up my hooves, a universal sign of peace, for most places anyway.

"Now, wait a moment, you don't know the full stor-"

"Shut it! I'm bringing you in!"

From a pouch at his side he withdrew a familiar silver ring. A magic inhibitor is a simple thing and feeds upon the magic drawn by a unicorn as they try to do magic, effectively putting a restriction on their abilities. I took a step back, rising from my sitting position.

"I swear, just let me-"

He charged at me, obviously taking my attempts to explain as resisting arrest which, I guess, I was sort of doing anyway. I spun out of the way, my head spinning for slightly longer as a result of my thirst and hunger and he stopped and turned to face me all in one move. We stood there for a moment, him now sizing me up... I think. I was trying to stop my head spinning. It was like the world was suddenly content to spin around me.

And then my stomach growled.

We both stopped for a moment and I looked at my stomach, then back up to him.

"You wouldn't happen to have any rations would you?" I asked plaintively, "I'm sure we could work this out over lunch or something because I really don't want to-"

He charged again and I swore as he missed my heart by inches as I threw myself to the side I don’t think I’ve ever been so aware of how close I came to death as that moment. I rolled as I hit the ground and he lunged at me again, spear held outward.

"Don't want to hurt you!"

He swung his spear in a lateral swipe aimed at my chest and I ducked down. He followed his swipe through and spun around, bringing his spear low and I leaped over it and towards him. He flung himself into a backflip and it was all I could manage to sway backwards to avoid his hind hooves as they passed by my head, inches from my snout. He stabbed once, twice, three times, missing me each time. He wasn't terribly good with that thing, because I was running on nothing. How he even graduated is beyond me. I grabbed his spear as he made another lunge and rolled myself over it, knocking him off balance and making him stumble towards me. If I could get out of the long range of his spear I should be okay. I brought my forehooves up in a defensive position with regret filling me and lashed out with a punch with my left hoof. He blocked it and blasted backwards, wings open. I couldn't see, dust filled my vision and I coughed and spluttered, trying vainly to get my vision back only to see him lunging towards me again. I wanted to dodge but he was too close, approaching too fast!

This is it.

Impact.