The Immortal's Game

Chapter 8: Mending

        “Celestia, Rogue has returned. And he bears... Interesting news.” Said the guard, standing before the Princess.

        “Oh? What exactly is the news, if I may be so bold.”

        “He says that he encountered Walker while he was running a personal errand to Hollow Shades. We’re not sure on the details exactly, but he claims that he badly injured Walker in the fight and that Walker escaped.”

        Celestia scowled. “Bring him in. Now.” Celestia began tapping her foot while she was waiting for Rogue to come into the room. After all, she had said he still fought Walker. He would likely have to be punished for this.

        Rogue entered the room, a smug grin on his face, “Sorry for the wait, Celestia. I know you said not to go after Walker, but I hadn’t intended on finding him. I was in Hollow Shades to see if I could get somepony to repair Rosy’s wings with magic, and I happened to stumble across him and his companion.”

        Celestia’s eyebrow rose. “So you met Walker’s companion? Tell me, what are they like?”

        “She’s a red pegasus with a mane that’s similar in color to mine. She called herself Scarlet and she’s the one that injured Rosy in the fight.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “But even by the standards of some of our odd jobs, that fight was weird.”

        Despite Celestia’s minor displeasure at Rogue fighting, she was intrigued and was curious as to what had happened. “How exactly was it weird?”

        I was hidden during an attack on Scarlet, but when I got close my magic was canceled out and I was catapulted backwards and away from her. Then she got close to Walker and they teleported out with the help of a pony I didn’t see, but definitely heard.”

Hollow Shades, an unknown helper and a teleportation... “Tell me, was there anything strange about the teleportation or about the group in general.”

        “Scarlet had a stuffed saddlebag, and the teleportation was a circle of magic that looked like purple flames.”

        Celestia shot up, fully attentive. “You’re sure they were purple, without a doubt?”

        “Yes. It seems like you know who this was, dear Princess. You wouldn’t mind telling me who this was and what kind of teleportation magic that was, would you?”

        “Walker was saved by the most powerful corpse in known existence. You saw a ley line teleportation that was only ever mastered by one pony, the Second Reaper: Marionette Strings.” She got up and began walking towards the door. “Walker actually poses a threat to me now. Guards!” She yelled, “Increase the reward for Walker by 10,000 and have the information that he’s highly dangerous added to the wanted posters.” Celestia turned back towards Rogue. “And you get in contact with Raze, tell him to meet you back here. I think it’s time for us to release him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

        Scarlet paced back and forth near the entrance of the building Mari had brought them to, which appeared to be a sort of old-timey doctors office for only a few patience at once.  Cross walked into the room with a blank look on her face. “So, how is Walker doing, Madame Cross?” Asked Scarlet, worried about Walkers health.

        “Hell live, but it’s been awhile since I’ve seen him in this bad of shape. Although this is the first time I’ve seen him lose a fight. Most of the time he shows up here he’s usually been chased off a cliff or had the stuffing beaten out of him by unhappy poker players that had been cheated by him.”

        “Wouldn’t that count as a fight? He just lets them beat him?”

        “Walker is a strange pony, even if he wasn’t immortal.” She smiled and drank her tea as if being immortal was just a common term, like being a colt or a filly. “He avoids fights if he can, and if he’s sure that his life wouldn’t be in danger he doesn't fight back.”

        “So, you knew that Walker was immortal?

        “Yes, when I was very young he helped my family with some trouble we had run into. My brother had been abducted and Walker saved him. At the time I didn’t know he was immortal, but a few decades later he shows up at my doorstep asking for my help. He hadn’t aged a day. Even the immortal need a doctor, Scarlet.”

        Scarlet sat and thought on who Walker truly was. He seemed to not like violence, so why did he continue this fight against Celestia if he could run off to wherever he felt like? “So wait, why did you know Mr. Strings?”

        “Thats what you’re calling Mari? Eh, nevermind. To each their own, as they say. One time walker came in with a serious illness and I needed medical records to see if there was anything I could really do. When you’re 1,000 years old medical records aren’t that reliable. He got me in contact with Mari and he told me what I needed to know. I never knew he was just a skull though.”

        “Speaking of Mr. Strings, where is he?”

        “I put him next to Walker on the bedstand. I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself roped into Miss Scarlet, but I hope you know there’s no more turning back after what happened in Hollow Shades.” She sighed. “And Walker is not the only one around here that needs some rest. You should go to sleep.”

        “I should keep an eye on Walker to make sure everything is fine, not sleep while there’s a homicidal maniac after us.”

        “He’ll be fine by morning... More or less. But Scarlet, do you even know where you are?”

        Scarlet paused and thought for a moment. In the whole rush of things she never even bothered asking Mari where they were. “No, actually. Where did Mari bring us?”

        “Well, then I guess I should formally welcome you to Vanhoover.”

        “We’re in Vanhoover? Isn’t that all the way on the other side of Equestria? How does that make any sense?” Cross shrugged then got up, leaving Scarlet to her own thoughts. Scarlet knew Cross was right and that she needed sleep, so she laid her head down and began to drift off into the world of dreams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        “Walker, you need to think out what you’ll do next. Scarlet is a known factor now. She’s in danger as well. You’re practically in a coma and you likely won’t even wake up ‘til tomorrow morning.”

        “Don’t chastise me Mari! I know damn well what’s happening. I wouldn’t have had to deal with this if you hadn’t gotten me to drag my flank all the way to that stupid crypt of yours just so that I could drag you out. You’re lucky Cross is good with containment magic, so you get to do what you always did. Sit in one place and just talk about how I screwed something up.” I ran my hoof through my mane, noting I had lost my hat at one point or another. I missed Geoffrey.

        “Look, now is not the time to be at each other's throats. You saw what that guard was dreaming about, there’s a bounty on your head now. You might be able to change your coat but anyone that’s looking for a pony with as large of a reward as you have will accuse just about any unicorn with a dark coat if they can.”

        “I know. Celestia has finally gone to those lengths and it’s a problem for everyone in our little group.” I thought on what we could do from this point. “Alright, since I don’t have any ideas that have even half a chance of succeeding, you have any ideas?”

        “Remember back at the crypt that I said that the Celestia from our time is different from the one that rules over the world?” I nodded my head in agreement. “Well, I thought that was strange, so I checked a few things out. She’s not a changeling, so thats kind of good for us. But something in her seems... Broken, to put it simply.”

        “I kind of know what you mean. Before I left I rummaged around in her head for information, and it seemed more like a brooding tyrant’s mind than the benevolent ruler that picked us as Reapers.”

        “Okay, so you’re aware of that. I’m hoping you recall how you came to get your rather long life?”

        “If I forget then I might as well forget everything that makes me what I am.”

        “I think that’s the night she changed. The night we dragged Dark back to her after a month of chasing him down. I don’t remember anything after we brought him in, but I’m sure that’s when he changed.”

        I started walking around, not exactly in the mood to think about that night when I heard coughing from behind me. I turned around to see Scarlet half stuck in sand. “Uh, a little help please?” I rolled my eyes then pulled her out with my magic. “Thank you. Where are we?”

        “Welcome to Walker’s head. It’s a bit boring but you get used to it.” Said Mari. “We’re having a conversation here regarding what exactly to do. You want to put in your two bits?”

        “Aside from getting this over with? Not really. So, this is your head Walker? It’s not really what I expected from you.”

        “What were you expecting, then?”

        “I don’t know. A giant machine of some kind filled with a library? I just didn’t think it would be this... Barren.”

        “There’s actually quite a lot here, but it’s just spaced out. Would you like to see what yours is like?” I could see that Scarlet was thinking about whether or not to take the offer I had presented. She looked back at me and gave me a nod of approval, I felt us being moved from one mind to another. We arrived in Scarlet’s mind, which looked like a singular room with a bed in it.

        “Wow... It’s my old room...” Scarlet walked around her room and looked at all the things that were there, doubtlessly she was familiar with them.

        “I’m a bit impressed myself,” I said, “most of the places i’ve been in aren’t this well held together. But it still fairly small.” I looked around the room, curious as to what it contained myself. I saw plenty of things I expected: trophies, awards, momentos, books like that. My eyes continued to wander until I saw a old style chest on the ground. I walked towards it and saw there were words written on it. Property of Ruby. I looked back at Scarlet and spoke. “Hey Scarlet, who’s Ruby?”

        Scarlet stopped. “Ruby? I don’t know anypony named Ruby. Why do you ask?” I motioned for her to come over to where I was and she looked at the chest. “This was never in my room. This isn’t something of mine at all.” We both looked at eachother and then back at the box. She began to reach for the box, and as soon as she touched it I felt a shock wave rip through her mind, expelling me back into reality.

        I bolted upright from the shock, I could see it was early morning outside and I felt sore all over. Scarlet stumbled into the room, sweat dripping from her head. “Walker, I know what I got my mark from.”

        I looked at her in disbelief. The mark she had was a curse, not something earned. So how could she have gotten it? “How? It doesn’t work like a normal cutie mark, it’s something given not earned.”

        “No Walker, it’s a mark that’s earned the moment a certain action is taken, and doesn’t work like yours or other ponies would.”

        “Then how do you get it?”

        “By killing a family member before you get a cutie mark.”

        I continued to stare at her. Scarlet? A Killer? No, she had attacked Rosy but only to save me. But why would she kill her own family member? “Just tell me what happened after you opened that box, Scarlet.”

        “I... I got a memory back, It was about my twin sister. Her name was Ruby. It was terrible, we had gotten into a petty squabble over a stupid toy, then I pushed her down the stairs and she died. I was so terrified, then a stallion came to me. He had one red eye and one blue eye. He said that he could make everyone forget Ruby ever existed, including myself. I only had to forfeit my ability to get a cutie mark in exchange. He said the memory of our talk would go away if I declined, but I was so terrified of what my parents might do that I accepted. Then he just laughed and said he’d see me in Tartarus.”

        Scarlet then collapsed onto the ground and began to sob. “Walker, what do I do? I can’t just go on living knowing I killed my sister. I just want to die now.” She got up then began to walk over to me. “Walker, just put me out of my misery.”

        I looked down at Scarlet, shock on my face. That’s how Dark got his mark? I’d seen him fight, but I didn’t think he’d had it in him. He was brutal, but not brutal enough to kill of a family member. I couldn’t just let Scarlet go on wanting to die. She’d lost her drive in life and wanted nothing more than the cold embrace of death now.

        “What are you going to do, Walker?” Asked Mari from where he sat. He probably already had an idea of what to do that would bring her back to her senses and make her go back to her joking self. I swallowed as I made my decision.

        I pushed her back onto the ground then pressed my hoof against her throat, poised to kill her. It made me remember my fight with Rogue, but this was different. “You want to die? Fine by me.” I pressed down and began to cut off her airway.

        She began to choke. “Wha... What are you doing? Why are you trying to kill me?”

        “You asked to die and I don’t have a use for a mopey pegasus that won’t help me. So I’m granting your wish.”

        She coughed out her words of response, barely able to breath. “I... Don’t want... To die...” I released my hoof and she began to cough. After she stopped she wiped the tears from her eyes and calmed down. “Thanks... Despite the fact that you almost killed me there I’m thankful that you helped me. But why do it like that?”

        “If you really wanted to die, you wouldn’t have complained. And I know that it’s better to let a pony like you suffer with something like that on your shoulders for a long time. Trust me, I know how it feels, and it took me centuries that you don’t have to recover from it on my own.” I put Mari back in his saddlebag and levitated it to Scarlet. “Come on. We need to leave.” I walked towards the exit and saw Cross standing in the doorway.

        “While I don’t agree with your methods, Walker, I have to admit you do a good job of getting others back to their senses. You did good. Are you sure you’re good to go?”

        I sighed. “Yes Cross, I’m fine. A little sore, but I’ll manage. Thanks for the treatment, I’ll remember to tell pay you back next time.”

        “That’s what you always say then you show up half dead and make the same excuse after I save you from death. Where are you off to now?”

        “Ponyville, I have something I need to talk about with a certain pony there. I’m not happy that I have to do it, but it’s necessary.” Scarlet stood behind me and we walked out of the building, thanking Cross one last time. We began our walk towards the train station, and I hoped that this wouldn’t be the last time I saw Cross.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Twilight sat in her room, a candle lit next to her as she read through books on magic theory. She had already tried to figure out Walker’s immortality and failed, so now she was just looking into how she could better herself if she had to face him again. Her she looked up and decided to stretch since she’d been at this since noon, and the sun was already starting to dip below the horizon. She had seen the wanted posters for Walker around town, but she was suspicious of them. Walker hadn’t attempted to kill Celestia, and she was wondering how far some ponies would go to catch him.

        She walked over to the shelf and pulled out her copy of “unusual application for magic” and set it down on the table. She figured she should get this out of the way as soon as she could, knowing her friends were coming over later. Her eyes scanned over the text, while she absorbed the information as quickly as she could. Her eyes began to drift off as she came to a section she had read many times before and she started to gaze into the flame of the candle.

        Memories of what Walker had made her see flashed through her head, the sight of a simple accident with magic killing all those ponies had been seared into her head like a hot brand. She was horrified as she couldn’t do anything but watch as they screamed in pain and died. She eventually heard a voice urging her to get up and snapped out of it. She saw the concerned looks on her friends faces as they all looked at her. She got up and brushed away her tears that had accumulated. “S... Sorry guys, just having a bad day.”

        “Bad enough that ya were on the ground curled up in a ball and cryin’?” Said Applejack, clearly one of the most worried in the group.

        “Yeah... I just had a memory from when Celestia called me out for help. And no, I still can’t tell you what happened.”

        Rainbow Dash spoke up next “Look Twilight, we’ve all had some pretty rough times and the others have always been there to back us up. We’re all here for you if you need help.”

        “Thanks for being so worried. Now, how’s ready for something to eat?” All the mares gave an approval, although Twilight could still see they were worried. She walked out of the library with the others and thought about how they would handle the mere concept of Walker. Celestia had already made her promise not to breath a word about it. Twilight was fully aware this could be something that ruined her friendship, and wanted to ask Celestia if she could tell them about this as soon as possible.

        Twilight let out a deep sigh. Even after i’m done fighting him he’s still beating me. I need to end this soon, before things go wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        “So, why aren’t we teleporting all the way to Ponyville like we did to get here?” Scarlet asked, curious as to why they had to take this seemingly longer route.

        “Mari’s only good with teleporting along the ley lines, and there aren’t any heading through Ponyville around this area. So, as a result we have to take the train.” We continued to walk towards the train station until they came to the ticket booth, and acquired the necessary tickets. Then we began our long wait for the train to arrive.

        Mari got the groups attention with his mental link magic. “Something’s wrong here.”

        “What?” Scarlet and I both replied in unison.

        “It’s the middle of a Sunday afternoon and there’s not a single pony in the station.” I looked around and saw that he was right. There wasn’t a single soul around. We got up and began to move towards the center of the station. A voice sounded all around us.

        “That’s far enough, Dream Walker.” A burly earth pony stallion stepped out from the exit. Other guards filed in and surrounded us within moments. I tried to communicate with Mari.

        “Any chance we happen to be standing on a useable ley line?”

        “Unless you want to go for a swim in the ocean, the answer is no.”

        “Dream Walker, you’re under arrest for the attempted assassination of our ruler, Princess Celestia. Any attempt to resist on your part will be met with lethal force. Do I make myself clear.”

        These kind of ponies really got on my nerve. But before I could answer his question with a witty retort I was cut off by a vaguely familiar voice.

        “Mares and gentlecolts, may I have you attention please?” A gray unicorn wearing a black tie and top hat walked in, and I immediately knew I had about a  fifty percent chance of walking out of this alive. “My name is Hat Trick, and I have a question for all of you before I let you continue on your business.” He took off his hat as he walked towards us.

        “You’re interrupting an arrest of great importance. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Said the leader of their little group.

        “I said I’d let you continue after you answered my question. It’s quite a serious one I assure you.” I twirled the hat around. “Who wants to see me pull a rabbit out from my hat?” He looked at the guards as they all gave him a glare, however one of the younger looking ones raised his hoof. I already knew where this was going.

        “Walker, who is this guy?” Scarlet asked.

        “If he doesn't accidentally kill us, I’ll tell you.” I raise my hoof as well, knowing that Trick was all about the spectacle. Scarlet followed my lead.

        “Good, I have three yes and zero no. Seeing as how the rest of you haven’t said anything I think I’ll start.” He pointed the open end of his hat towards the guards, and I watched as a large cylinder the length of a fully grown pony erupt out of the hat, On it’s side were the words “White Rabbit” painted in white paint. Several of the guards stepped back at the sight of it and others fell down. “And now, I’m giving you all thirty seconds to leave before I make you all disappear.

        There was a fuse near the base of the cylinder that made me realize it was a cannon, he lit it and I watched as it slowly shrunk. I guessed that it was a thirty second fuse from his earlier statement. The majority of the guards ran off as the cannon was pointed at them, even more when the fuse was lit. Only the guard who had told us to stop and a few others continued to stand there. The train pulled up as we reached the ten second mark.

Hat Trick looked back at me and smiled. “You hop on, I’ll catch up in... seven seconds.” He looked at the guards who were trembling in fear. Scarlet, Mari and I boarded the train, we all looked back at Trick. “Any last words, guards?” The leader was about to open his mouth when he was rudely cut off by Trick. “Sorry, time's up.” He refocused his aim in the last few seconds. He pointed it directly into the face of the capitan. “Bang.”

Magic energy erupted out of the cannon and blasted the guards a few dozen yards at least, and there was smoke coming from the cannon barrel. It retraced back into the hat and Trick put it on his head with a flourish before boarding the train.

I gave him a look of contempt before I decided to introduce him. “Alright, Scarlet Wing, meat Hat Trick, one of Equestria's dirtiest conponies and an ex Reaper candidate.”

“Wait, ex candidate? What happened?”

        “I punched Rogue in the face.” He flashed a smile before seeming to remember something. “Oh, right, I found this while tracking you down, Walker.” He took his hat off and levitated my hat out from inside it, along with my deck of cards. I thanked him for bringing it back to me and I put it on my head. He looked at Scarlet. “Hey, you’re kinda cute. Maybe we could go out for-” I had to restrain a laugh as he was promptly cut off by Scarlet’s hoof colliding with his face and he fell to the ground.