//------------------------------// // Repeat, Repeat // Story: Cards of Finality // by SwordTune //------------------------------// She woke with a start, another nightmare. Ripe Apple slept soundly beside her. She got up, admired the fine weather, and picked up her sword to practice out on the porch. All the same. She passed the crib of the young one, a mutant like her, and set her sword back on her weapon rack. Guerrier was already in the fields, picking the grapes, and enjoying quite a few sweet ones himself. "Time for breakfast Cheese Wheel," Twilight whispered to her little colt. "Who wants some mashed blueberries?" The young pony open his eyes and smiled at his mother. While they ate breakfast, Ripe Apple slept off last night's party. All sorts were invited to celebrate the coming of summer. Highsight and Lander arrived, as did many other monster hunters, who all put off the Ripe Apple's friends and family. Nevertheless, by the end of the night, they all enjoyed their share of rye and wine and ale, and returned to their beds to await the morning's consequences. Highsight and Lander stopped by from an inn to pick up Guerrier after breakfast. "We're heading out to look for the Ichneumon cave," Highsight said. "Feel like taking a break from domestic life?" Twilight looked to her sword and saddle, and then looked at Cheese Wheel. Ripe Apple hadn't had much time to spend with his son the past season. Thanks to the unusual weather the apple farm and grape orchard needed extra care. She picked up Cheese Wheel from his chair and carried him back upstairs, letting him play and crawl on top of his father. In moments, the colt's hooves trampled Ripe Apple's face and startled him awake. "Me and the other hunters are going to hunt the Ichneumon that's been attacking the village," Twilight told him as he roused. "Watch Cheese Wheel for me, we'll be back before lunch." "Okay sweetie," he mumbled, uselessly trying to stop his son from sitting on his head. ============================================================= The hunters met at the village a few miles from the edge of Ripe Apple's orchard. There were two other hunters, Night Eye and Sharp Tone, waiting for them at the inn. Night Eye was a master from the Murder of Crows, and Sharp Tone was Twilight's sparring partner from her time with the Discipline of Mutants. Both had hunted with her before, and over the years had become some of her closes friends. "Didn't think you were going to show, Twi," Night Eye said. "Figured you had yourself wrapped around your new stallion." "She's just sour because you have a happy life," Sharp Tone chuckled. "We both knew you couldn't turn down an Ichneumon hunt." "Glad to see you both," Twilight replied, patting them on the back. Night Eye and Sharp Tone both hugged Twilight, though their attention quickly shifted as Guerrier came closer to greet them. "No fucking way," Sharp Tone whispered to himself. Night Eye held the same astonishment. "Are you really him? Master Monster Hunter Guerrier, of the School of the Cynogriffon, is it really you?" "Just Guerrier, leave titles to kings and nobles," he said, shaking hooves with both of of Twilight's new friends. "I've heard a bit about both of you. Night Eye, was it you who brought down a High Fiend simply by poisoning its food source with wolfsbane and night silver?" Night Eye nodded, glee clearly on her face. Guerrier turned to Sharp Tone. "And you trained with Twilight at Bach Kha'mohrgen. After she told me you hunted a coven of vampires, I was so impressed I half expected you to have a horn to go with those wings." Sharp, unable to handle a compliment from a legendary monster hunter such as Guerrier, simply laughed and sputtered incoherently. "Huh, Twilight was right, you would get along with him Lander," Highsight said. "You're just like him." Lander scowled and playfully pushed Highsight away. "We can chat on the hike to the cave. Unless there's other business to deal with, I suggest we go before the Ichneumon becomes active." Sharp Tone snapped out of his daze and looked to the edge of the village. "Speaking of other business, we actually might be held up for a day or two." He pointed to a camp near the horizon. "Outside of town there's an army camp, garrisoning troops in this region until a commander can bring in a proper reinforcements." "War still going on between the Far Coast and the High Mountain?" Twilight asked. "Your orchard has to be as remote as you say it is," Sharp Tone answered. "The war's only gotten worse. The High Mountain Kingdom had a failed coup six months back, staged by a small group of horned mutants. Now the king's doing everything in his power to root out his enemies, even where there are none to be rooted out." "So we just avoid the soldiers," Highsight suggested, "stick to the woods like we always do. No chance normal scouts can keep up with us." "True, but they're already scouring the forests for refugee mutants and monsters," Night Eye added. "Anything that threatens the king is a target." Guerrier nodded his head and looked to Twilight. When she had no idea how to tackle the problem, he stepped in. "There's six of us, all monster hunters on a contract issued by the lord of these lands. If they fought us, we'd win. If they arrested us, the lord would demand his contract be fulfilled, and no army would send their troops to kill an Ichneumon when six hunters are already ready to handle it." "Wouldn't want to cause trouble, but Guerrier's right," Twilight said. "We have a job to do, and the law gives us reign over our trade." They all agreed. Dealing with hostile ponies was a daily routine for monster hunters, especially for mutants like Twilight and Sharp Tone. They all knew how to weasel their way out of the grasps of ponies who cared for nothing but their own desires. Many a town speaker have seen the glint of steel when they tried to cheat a hunter from the agreed sum. They hiked up the hillside, moving through the trees like the breeze they followed, swiftly avoiding any troop patrols who would waste their time. The longer they were out, the closer they approached the monster's active hunting time. "Never actually hunted an Ichneumon before," Night Eye admitted once the ridge was in sight. "Though I've been told they're tougher than High Fiends." Guerrier paused his pace and looked at a small clearing the trees. "There's some rootmoss and blackcaps here. Know a potion that'll mask our scent enough to sneak up on the Ichneumon." "Blackcaps are good reagents for poison," Night Eye added. "Let's brew what we can before we trap ourselves in the cave." Lander looked down at his hooves. "Wish we had more horseshoes. Fire glyphs won't do well if the Ichneumon hunts dragons." Guerrier shrugged. "It's not like we're at Bach To'ral. We'll make do with what we have, as always." "Twilight and I can still use some blasts to shield and push," Sharp Tone told them as he drew his sword to sharpen. "Once its armor's broken, fire shouldn't be a problem." "If its armor gets broken," Highsight replied. "Don't underestimate mud. It gets all over you and makes it hard to see and move." "The cave is probably where it digs up minerals to add to its fur," Twilight guessed, looking around. "There's no water near the ridge, and not enough rain to keep the ground muddy enough." "Damn," Night Eye said. "I hate wet places, it never works in our favor." "Killed an Ichneumon once because I knew where it'd go for mud," Guerrier started to tell, "we could do the same thing, watching for its source of mud and strike whenever it tries to retreat." "One thing's for sure," Twilight chuckled, "this'll be enough to want domestic life again." ============================================================= Twilight ducked under the monster's tail and rolled to the back of the cave. Guerrier and Lander slashed at the Ichneumon's side, but their swords barely cracked its armor. Ichneumon were monster hunters themselves, resembling massive mongooses. Mud was their camouflage, and their armor. The monsters hated dragons, often competing for prey and territory. But while Ichneumons were large, they were still dwarfed by adult dragons. Nevertheless, their mud-coated fur let them use their size as a weapon, squeezing into a dragon's throat as it opened its jaw to breathe fire, and burrowing its way out from the stomach. Its cunning, speed, and power was the envy of many monster hunters. Using his wings, Sharp Tone clung to the stalactites of the cave and dropped bombs and magic crystals onto the monster's back, many of which bounced off and damaged only the stone walls. Night Eye played a similar game, dancing outside of its vision, slashing it with poisoned daggers and scattering toxic powders into its nose. The monster weaved through the cave structure, it slender cat-like body darting between alcoves on the wall and slipping behind large stalagmites on the floor. It came up behind Highsight and bit her by the hindleg, throwing her into a pile of crumbled stones. Sharp Tone glided down and caught Highsight at before the moment of impact, but they couldn't avoid crashing into the ground, Sharp twisting a leg on the impact. Twilight charged the air with magic and pulsed a shockwave through the cave, pushing the Ichneumon into a stalagmite. Lander and Guerrier both slammed their hooves into the ground, the magical glyphs etched into their horseshoes flaring with energy and sending two streams of fire at the monster's fur hide. But the Ichneumon was a hunter of dragons, and its hide was covered in clumps of moist mud that protected it from the flames. Night Eye scattered a cloud of toxic dust, made from dried herbs, into the Ichneumon's face. It reeled away, scampering up the cave wall with its powerful claws digging into the grooves of the stone. All the hunters saw this and threw explosives from their saddlebags, the combined explosion shaking the cave slightly. However the Ichneumon was faster, picking up on their movements and leaping down onto Geurrier before the bombs could go off. The old monster hunter grunted from the weight of the beast, but his armor kept most of his bones intact. It was Lander who faced difficulty, knocked back from a crack of the monster's whip-like tail. Highsight and Sharp Tone tried to flank it, whirling their swords to distract the monster while Night Eye and Twilight charged its neck. The Ichneumon was quick to react, spinning around and leaping away from their blades. It dashed back and forth, clamping its short, jagged teeth into Night Eye's shoulder and flinging her across the cave. Twilight rushed to reach her, but even a coiled viper was slow compared to the Ichneumon, and it bit her by the neck and threw her against the wall. It turned back onto Highsight, who had tossed two bombs and blew chunks of mud from its body. Sharp Tone spun his body to pick up speed and thrust his sword into the monster's thick hide. Mud still caked its fur, but Highsight's bombs had softened an area of the armor just enough for their blades to bite the skin. They struck, surprising the Ichneumon into retreating up the walls of the cave. It lunged back down, but this time they were ready, and the two hunters rolled back and let the monster hurl itself against the stalagmites. Lander helped Guerrier up onto his hooves. They leaped into the fight, trading blows with the Ichneumon along with Sharp Tone and Highsight. Between the four of them, they stepped in and out of the monster's reach, keeping its attention shifting between them. None of them could avoid the monster's teeth, however. With every blow they landed, the Ichneumon delivered a bite, tearing into tendons and muscle. Highsight clutched her shoulder and fell back, bleeding and blackening the stone with blood, a slick black from the cave's dim light. Guerrier parried the monster's bite by swatting its head with the flat of his blade and rolling aside. Lander and Sharp Tone moved too, keeping the Ichneumon penned against the wall. They were close, Lander nearly sliced open its neck with his sword more than once. But a cornered monster was a dangerous one. The Ichneumon panicked and rushed Guerrier, biting his sword and tearing it from his hooves. He retaliated with a shot of fire from his glyphs, but it might as well have been a cool breeze to the Ichneumon. It snapped at his head, missing only at the last moment as Guerrier ducked and thrust his sword up into the monster's neck. Twilight, recovered from the impact against the wall, blasted it with magic, keeping the monster unbalanced while the rest of them pierced its hide with their swords. Now it slowed. Night Eye, who lay badly hurt across the cave, still managed to throw her bombs to distract the Ichneumon. While flashes from explosions blinded the beast, cuts slowly opened its hide. Twilight and Guerrier pressed the hardest, their blows striking the same place on the Ichneumon's neck. Its hide was thick and almost as hard to pierce as dragon scale, but dozens of strikes from the monster hunters' sharpened blades forced open a gash of blood. The monster flew into a frenzy, tearing at Twilight's saddlebags and armor, scattering all sorts of potions, bombs, and herbs on the cave floor. Shards of night silver peppered the ground as well, but the hunters' horseshoes kept their hooves from cutting against the metal. The same could not be said for the Ichneumon. It was not a magical creature, yet the night silver was sharp and dozens of shards prodded its hide repeatedly. The distraction lowered its guard, and Twilight struck at the gash in the Ichneumon's neck. So did Lander, and Guerrier, and Highsight, and Sharp Tone. They stopped only once they were sure the beast stopped breathing. The cave still echoed with the final sounds of battle. "Nice work," Night Eye muttered from her side of the cave. "Now does any pony have a spare dose of a healing potion?" "Right here," Lander said, pulling a flask from his saddlebag. "Though, I thought the rumors said Crows drank poison to heal," he teased as he handed it to her. Night Eye took it and drank, before replying. "Sure, and Cynogriffons are always perfect, aren't you?" Lander simply nodded, and she scoffed humorously. "Arrogant pricks." "Hey, least you're not freaks," Sharp Tone retorted to the both of them. "Then again, you'll never know what it's like to glide off a mountain." "Show off," Lander replied. "Alright, that's enough," Guerrier said. "I don't want to be in this cave any longer than I have to. Let's get the head and collect the reward." He pulled a knife from a pouch inside his armor, a serrated blade coated in pure night silver, and cut into the Ichneumon's hide. It split slowly, its blood wetting the cave floor and turning it into a slick, black puddle. "Damn, can't ever get used to the smell," Lander said, spitting in disgust. The rest agreed, covering their noses. Once they had the head, they left the cave and went straight for the village where a representative of the local lord was to give them their money. They didn't look for any of the army's scouts, and they didn't have to. Twilight's ear could pick out the sounds of hoof steps trailing behind, but the scouts likely smelled the pungent blood of the Ichneumon and reeled back, judging by the sound of their hooves. ============================================================= She woke with a start, another nightmare. Ripe Apple slept soundly beside her. She got up, picked up her sword to practice out on the porch, but paused. No, this was the nightmare. She turned and he stood right by where Ripe Apple was, though her husband had disappeared. The landscape darkened, only slightly, as if a swath of clouds had just blocked the sun. From below, sprouts of black fog poked through the ground, like tendrils, though none were more than an inch tall. "Most times I can't tell if I'm dreaming, or if you've altered reality," Twilight said. Its easier to talk without any distractions. The Card Master had no eyes, but a slight tilt of his head toward their bed was enough. However, it seems family life hasn't stopped your hunting. Planning to set an example for your children? "Can we cut to the chase?" she grew uncomfortable with the Card Master in her home. No. There's so much to catch up on. Perhaps we can do it over a game of cards? Twilight glared at him. "I'd be an idiot to play your games." The Card Master shrugged and walked past her, going downstairs to the kitchen. He sat on the chair and put his back hooves up on the table. Shame. I'm told you have a good poker face. "You don't have a face at all," she replied, following him to the kitchen. Though every pony seemed gone, Ripe Apple and Cheese Wheel were no where to be seen and no pony was working in the fields, everything else stayed the same. Twilight grabbed a bottle of wine, uncorked it, and poured two glasses full. A bit early, don't you think? Not even noon. She set one glass in front of him and sipped from her own, swirling the drink around in the air with levitation. She took the seat across from him and watched. "Whatever you have to say, this is going to make it better." She drained the glass to half. I don't know what you expect me to do with this. "I want to see if you can do anything other than talk," she answered. The Card Master looked at the glass curiously, Twilight assumed he did by movement of his head, and lifted it to where his mouth should be. The wine spilled through his head, seeping through the thick, ever moving, ever changing amalgamation of faintly glowing cards. Twilight listened, waiting to hear the wine dripping onto the hardwood floor, but at some point the wine must have stopped, because she heard nothing. "Start talking," she finally told the Card Master. It's a little tart. I think I might prefer something sweeter. I hear you have ale made from honey. Twilight teeth grinded at the Card Master's small talk. "Not the drink. What the hell are you planning?" Luna and Celestia always try to kill my fun. The Card Master sat silently, though his body looked like he had breathed a deep sigh. I'm trying so hard to keep the peace, you know. Balance is not an easy thing. The natural order of all things, including evil, must be achieved. I want you, or rather the Princess, to understand that. But she won't listen to the cards. I may need to tell her myself. Twilight shrugged and pushed aside her glass, now empty. "If you want something you have all the power to make it so. Why is the Princess such a problem." She must choose. That is how this ends. The Hunter, who had never given a thought to the wishes of the Card Master, paused to consider what he had planned. To choose. From what she understood from the last game with the Princess, he didn't believe in choosing. The cards were countless stories, all stored up and permanent, even if you could enter a world and affect it, it was still somehow meant to be. "How will she be able to choose?" The words, leaving her lips, made the Card Master smile. He didn't have a face to grin with, but he didn't need one. Twilight could feel it. You might want to finish that wine first.