//------------------------------// // The First Day In Erinn // Story: Erinn // by Artaelian //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash backed away from Trefor as fast as she could as the words he had spoken sunk in. Along with Rarity and Applejack, she stared at the human as he stared at her, his mouth showing no sign of any emotion the rest of his face held hidden behind his helmet. They had become frozen to the spot, only waiting for Trefor to make a movement to bring them harm before they would run, but to the contrary, Trefor remained where he had been when he had spoken to Rainbow Dash. “E-excuse me?” Rainbow asked, doing her best to not let any of the fear she felt slip into her voice. “Well I recon you heard me well. And you saw them didn’t you?” Trefor both replied and questioned with a sigh. The three ponies before him said nothing. “It’s simple. That fox I attacked? It was once just a simple fox, but no longer, just like the rest of them. They’ve all been taken by the powers of the Formors. If you want to die the fast way, just try and be friendly to any of them,” Trefor stood up, folding his arms across his chest as he did so, “its my job to teach adventurers to defend themselves against the Formors. I haven’t lost anyone as a result of my training. Not willingly anyway.” Rainbow Dash looked to her companions, all three having loosened up at Trefor’s explanation. They approached him once more, and waited for him to say more. “Now, I say teaching all of you how to fight the same way would be pretty bad. So instead, I’m going to refer you,” he pointed to Rarity, “to Lassar down at the magic school. I assume that horn on your head is for more than show, it’ll help to know the magic of this world. As for the other two, I’ll teach you both how to use a specific weapon, which you do is down to you.” -- An hour had passed, the warmth of the mid afternoon sun shone down, warming the coat of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. While Rarity had gone to look for the magic school, the two had debated which of the two weapons Trefor had presented they would take. Applejack had insisted she take the sword, while Rainbow took the bow, and Rainbow insisted she take the sword instead. After some arguing, during which Trefor had taken the time to gather any nearby foxes for practise, the pair had agreed. Rainbow would take the sword, since she could close the gap to any threat far faster than Applejack, while Applejack could better defend herself should anything get too close while using the bow. Trefor had first taught Rainbow how to execute a smash attack, and let Applejack practise simply using the bow while he did so. As Rainbow practised the smash attack, she watched as Applejack learnt slowly how to hold the bow with a hoof, and draw back the string and arrow with her mouth. It quickly became apparent this wouldn’t always succeed, as very often the result was the bow closing the space between where it had been and Applejack’s face with a loud smack. Trefor had left a few minutes prior to where the two were now, with simple instructions for the pair to practise counterattacking with the other. Rainbow was currently as close to the ground as possible, sword in mouth, as Applejack slowly walked near. As Applejack went to kick Rainbow in the face, Rainbow moved backwards slightly, and hit back with the hilt of the sword, throwing Applejack backwards. “Ah think we got that down now, don’t you RD?” Applejack asked. “Yeah, for you that one will come in handy should anything get past me and come for you.” Rainbow answered, smiling. “Ah, all done I see,” Trefor interrupted, as he approached, the bow for Applejack now had an attachment where she could place her hoof in and not lose grip, “I would have been back sooner, but Ferghus struggles to make things. I swear he’d break buildings if you asked him to hammer in a nail.” Applejack held the bow, and gave it a test against the nearby lamppost. With each arrow she strung and fired, the bow remained with the fitted attachment, and no longer made any attempts to become a part of her face. “Now, time to teach you both something else, a skill that will save you when surrounded on all sides. The windmill!” Trefor said, rubbing his hands together while grinning. -- Lassar was a woman, her red hair falling across the sides of her face, hiding her ears from view. For the last hour, she had watched the white, talking unicorn with mild interest showing in her brown eyes. When the unicorn, that had called itself Rarity, had first arrived, she had hoped it would have been a fast learner at magic. Sadly, this didn’t seem to be the case, as when Rarity had first attempted to use the firebolt spell, the ball of flame had shot up in the air and landed on her flank instead of the wood placed barely five feet before her. At this particular moment however, after fifty minutes of practising the firebolt spell, Rarity was now on to thunderbolt. Lassar was just thankful that Rarity had been too into the book to notice that metal rods had been placed either side of her flank. “Alright,” Rarity closed the book and stood up, “I’m not one for such educational books like Twilight, but I’m ready to give this a try.” Lassar watched as the spell begun to take form at the tip of Rarity’s horn. Slowly it built, gaining more power as Rarity used more mana. Finally, Rarity cast the spell at the wooden pole Ranald, the man who assisted with teaching once Trefor was finished, had placed. As the spell was fired, all Lassar heard was a yell of pain as she closed her eyes in reflex. Upon opening them, she saw that Rarity looked fine. The same could not be said of the nearby trees or the five people that had been sitting under one at that moment. “On the plus side, there won’t be a need to set up another wooden pole for your next attempt.” Lassar sighed. -- The sun was much lower on the horizon now. Rainbow Dash and Applejack sat near to where Trefor had been training them most of the day. He had left moments before to fetch Rarity for an important task for the three ponies. “AJ,” Rainbow broke the silence, “do... do you think the others are fine?” she asked. “Ah don’t know. Ah sure hope so, maybe in the morning, we can set out and try ta find them. They may have had the same luck as us, and are about ta spend the night preparing to come find us.” Applejack answered honestly. “I don’t like it here, Applejack. This world is strange, nothing controls the animals or clouds. It’s like a pleasant version of the Everfree forest.” Rainbow said, a slight hint of worry in her voice. “We won’t be here long. We just gotta do what the princess sent us here for, then we can go home. How about you go flying? That’ll calm ya.” Applejack suggested, a smile on her face. “Flying’s a no go, I’ve been trying now and then since we arrived. This world may have magic, but it sure won’t allow flying...” Rainbow said, looking very depressed suddenly. Applejack didn’t know how to respond. Flying was Rainbow’s life, and now, here she was in a world that didn’t permit it. It was bad enough all six of them were trapped in a world they shouldn’t be in at all, but it had also ripped the very thing that made Rainbow Dash who she was from her soul. And worse, it taunted her by leaving her wings upon her back. Silence fell among the two once more, but this time it didn’t last as long, as thirty seconds later, Trefor returned with a slightly singed Rarity following behind him. He grinned, and held out a brown card with a red marking on it. “This’ll be your final test. If you can clear this, you’re all good to go into the world.” Trefor stated, handing the card to Applejack. “What is this?” Rainbow asked, looking at the card. “That is a dungeon pass. Most of the formors are stuck in dungeons, held there by Goddess Statues. Keep those statues in mind, if you are knocked out, through some sort of spell, you can return with most of your health to them, so be sure to touch them as you see them.” Trefor informed the trio. “Okay, and what do we gotta do in this here dungeon?” Applejack questioned. “Oh its simple, get to the boss, kill it, and leave. Oh and be sure to help the guy still stuck in there,” Trefor paused, noticing the horrified looks on the ponies faces, “his own fault, I sent him in a week ago and he got lost. That dungeon has six rooms, including the exit, I still don’t get how it was possible to get lost. Now, good luck, don’t get lost or killed and have fun!” he grinned, waving a hand at them as he walked back to standing guard. -- The entrance to the dungeon Trefor guarded, named Alby Dungeon, was bright. The room almost seemed to shine from the amount of white rock and marble in it. In the middle of the room stood a statue of a winged human woman holding a sword, her eyes closed as she had her head tilted down towards the altar, which was simply a slab of white stone before the statue. Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash stared at the statue, unsure how to proceed. Trefor had been a little too eager to get away from them after mentioning a resident of the world had gotten lost somehow in a six room dungeon, and had neglected to inform them how to actually enter the same one. Rainbow walked around the statue to a set of large stone doors that had been left slightly ajar, but was surprised to find that some sort of spell pushed her backwards as she tried to walk through. “Maybe the card has something to do with it?” Rainbow questioned, returning to the altar. “I say we should place it in front of us,” Rarity took the card with her magic, “like so.” The second the card touched the altar, the three ponies felt as though they were under pressure and moving very fast. As soon as the sensation had begun, it stopped. The three looked around, amazed. The room looked similar to before, except darker. The only bright light was centered on the statue and altar, the rest of the room looked as though it were bathed in moonlight. Looking around the statue, where the stone double doors of before had been, a large doorless arch with stairs now could be seen, and they led downstairs. They all looked at each other silently, before Rainbow spoke. “Do you think this counts as one of the six rooms?” -- The room at the bottom of the stairs had another statue like the room at the top, but without an altar. The ponies didn’t need to debate what it was for, as Trefor had clearly stated they should touch it, which they promptly did. Looking around, the only way to progress was the gated doorway to the right. In this room sat a chest. Entering the room, Applejack and Rainbow stopped and looked around, as Rarity approached the chest. “I havta wonder, how is this darn place so bright? It’s a dungeon ain’t it? Ain’t dungeons underground? There’s no lights anywhere in this room!” Applejack mumbled. “Don’t question it AJ, this world works differently.” Rainbow laughed. Both jumped in surprise as the gate behind them slammed shut, as the one ahead did the same. Rarity’s scream echoed around the room, and six very large white spiders appeared from nowhere. Staring confused, Applejack and Rainbow could only see one change in the room aside from the gates. The chest was now open, but it was far too small to contain six large white spiders. “Don’t question it huh?” Applejack asked. “Yeah, your brain will hurt less...” Rainbow answered. As Rarity stood still, screaming from being surrounded by the white spiders, Applejack readied her bow, as Rainbow took her sword in her mouth and charged at one. She slammed the sword down in front of one spider, then jumped into the air, sending it across the room. As it landed on its back, Rainbow lept forward and slammed the sword down into it. She closed her eyes, refusing to watch as life left it, and turned around. Meanwhile Applejack fired arrow after arrow at another spider, slowly bringing it to the inevitable end. Rarity had also ceased screaming when two had begun to ram into her torso and bite at her body. This had angered her enough to begin casting icebolt, and keeping the pair of spiders pinned a safe distance from her. With Rainbow attacking another, and Applejack finishing off the last, the spiders disappeared in black smoke, one leaving an orange key behind. The gates now also opened back up, allowing them to travel forward. “That was the most horrible thing ever!” Rarity declared, sitting down. “Ah know, how did six large spiders fit into a chest? What’s next? Bears?” Applejack grumbled. “I think Rarity meant more that we got caught unprepared by the spiders, AJ. I think they were those formor things, Trefor did say they lived inside dungeons after all.” Rainbow stated. “But we had to KILL them! They may have been horrible insects but I’ve never killed anything before!” Rarity shouted, staring at Rainbow. “We didn’t have a choice, besides, they disappeared into smoke, they probably aren’t even alive in the first place. Now come on, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go and look for the others and get back home.” Rainbow trotted off into the next room, picking up the orange key as she went. -- The next few rooms went smoothly now the three knew what to expect. The one right after the first chest contained a closed gate with an orange padlock (along with the statement from Applejack on how weak the home security of the formors was), another chest which provided a smaller amount of white spiders in two waves, one of which dropped a large red key, and the final room had another gate with a large padlock across it. This was where they were currently, staring at it with unamused looks. “Are ya bucking kidding me? Why even have the stupid doors in the first place? Like we’ll never think ‘Oh dear, a door with a big padlock! It won’t EVER open with the STUPID BUCKING LARGE RED KEY WE JUST FOUND!’ Stupid halfwits!” Applejack yelled, now clearly annoyed by the fact that the ways to prevent progression were easily outdone by keys dropped just before the doors. “Well, let’s get this over with.” Rainbow said flatly, placing the red key in the padlock. As the door opened, a young human male slid past them, breathing heavily. Slowly advancing towards him was a spider far larger than the white ones, but coloured red instead. Rainbow acted on impulse. Trefor had said the guy was lost, and here he was in danger. She wasn’t about to let that happen. She attacked the red spider, which was more resilient to the smash attack than the white ones had been, but it still landed on its back, allowing her time to stab it after a jump. However, this had not been enough to defeat it. It simply stood up and faced Rainbow. If it had eyelids or could show emotion, the look on its eight eyed face would have been a mix of annoyance and debate of how to eat the strange winged horse before it. As it slowly advanced towards her, Rainbow prepared to counter attack it, which she managed. The spider stumbled slightly, before falling down and stopped moving. From somewhere behind her, she heard an annoyed groan. “What’d you go do that for? I had that thing on the ropes!” moaned the human. -- Piaras rubbed the blue hair on his head in confusion. Before him stood three ponies, all smiling at him. Sure he had been told that there were three talking ponies in town, specifically by Ferghus, but he had simply assumed Ferghus was drunk and didn’t take what he had been told seriously. Now he was questioning if he was feeling well. The cheese he had eaten earlier did taste slightly strange now he thought back. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. The three ponies were still there, though no longer smiling. They had strangely coloured coats on them too, which also ignored the fact that the white one had a horn, and the blue one had a pair of wings. “Ah, I’m sure you must have not heard me clearly. Could we have a place to stay the night?” Rarity asked. Piaras felt his forehead. It felt a little hotter than normal. Maybe he really had come down with some illness that produced talking pony mirages. He cleared his throat. “Sure, take the stairs, plenty of rooms, take your pick.” he answered. “Oh my, I forgot, how will we pay for this?” Rarity questioned, frantically looking at the other two as she refused to spend the night under the stars. “Don’t worry, you can spend the night for free.” Piaras answered. “Why, thank you! What a gentlecolt you are!” Rarity said cheerfully, trotting to the stairs. The others followed her as she begun to climb them. Piaras watched them disappear upstairs, then sat down and begun to think. Maybe it was a good time to retire and take up fishing. -- The three ponies quickly settled on sleeping in different rooms. They had been tired after leaving the dungeon, and so found sleeping easy. Halfway through the night however, Rainbow Dash begun to get restless as she slept. She tossed and turned, never staying still for more than a minute. Within her dream, she stood on a stone path, facing stone ruins in an endless black void. Try as she might, she could not move from the spot she stood. “Can you hear me?”