Putting away the whetstone she'd brought with her on her journey, Latch stood up, and held her blade in the sunlight. She twisted as the sun gleamed off it, sort of blinding her as she pinched the edge of her blade and gave a small drag upward. She flinched, grunting, and felt a slight twinge of pain from her index finger. There was a small nick, but no blood. Her blade was sharp enough.

Reaching for her scabbard to sheathe it, Latch grunted again, stumbling forward a few steps. Something hit her back... hard. Twisting around with her sword at the ready, she scanned the clearing she was in with the intent to maim or kill. She tuned out the sounds of her own shifting, focusing on what was all around her. She twisted some more, continuing her scan with narrowed eyes.

Then... something shifted on her back. Keeping still, she felt it wiggling, trying to slip beneath the pits of her arms. Raising her arms up slowly, ready to drop her sword and grab the thing off her back... a pair of tiny, purple paws poked out. Her once intense expression collapsed, losing any weight as she quirked a brow. Swiveling her head around, she saw what looked like a... small cat, somehow sitting sideways on her back.

"To battle!" It exclaimed in a cutesy, high-pitched voice. It had a small bell that jingled beneath its neck, likely from a collar. In its hands, it wielded a small sword and shield... the sword itself, looking like it was made of foam, and the shield, from cardboard.

"...Excuse me, can I help you?" Latch asked, not really sure what to make of this strange cat. It didn't look harmful, so there was no reason to attack it, let alone throw it off.

"Hi-ho, Silver!" It cried again, waggling the sword around, even giving a soft bap to the confused pony's snout.

Blinking, Latch rubbed her muzzle and stared at the cat more. What... what was it even doing here? "That's not my name," she then said, watching the strange cat continue to flail about on her back.

---

A silly little thing I got from  bose who did an awesomely cute job on this. Silly box-cat, this pony's not meant for riding on.