//------------------------------// // Hit the Road // Story: Pathfinder Ponies // by terrycloth //------------------------------// The party spent another day in town, doing Pinkie Pie’s puzzle – for which they got a few dozen gold, since the merchant was able to weasel out of paying full value because a few chips were missing which meant they were no longer suitable for fancy guests – and healing up from the basement ordeal. Fluttershy’s magic wasn’t nearly enough to heal the entire party in a single day, but the local church held services in which the acolytes would use pulses of positive energy on the crowd to reinforce their faith though miraculous healing. It meant enduring a sermon about the wondrous rewards of following Kara, the shapeshifter queen, but it was hard to beat the price. They also asked around for work, and found a few leads posted by the Guild and not yet taken by other adventurers. To the north, in the Sleeping Forest surrounding Dream Castle, a group of fey known as the Unicorn Bandits had declared independence from the empire, and was interdicting all trade, forcing caravans heading for Dream Castle to detour through the mountains, adding weeks to their trip. A reward was posted for each bandit head delivered to the guard post in the pass. Alternatively, to the south, a group of Diamond Gnolls was suspected of illegal mining in Bright Valley territory, and a small reward was offered for information on the actual situation, with a larger reward for resolving it equitably. “Do we really have to debate this?” Applejack asked. “All in favor of the mission that doesn’t involve raiding a gem mine, raise your claw.” Rainbow Dash raised her claw, and sure enough she was the only one. “Oh come on! It’s not a raid – they want us to go play diplomat. Boring.” “It can be a raid,” Pinkie Pie said, grinning widely. “If, you know, talks were to break down. Things might happen. Equipment might accidentally burst into flames…” Rainbow Dash slowly started to smile. “Yeah… okay. I guess I can give it a shot.” “We will try diplomacy first,” Twilight Sparkle insisted. “The Diamond Gnolls are allies, and should be given the benefit of the doubt.” “The Diamond Gnolls are gem-stealing hooligans, dear,” Rarity said, rolling her eyes. “Everypony knows this. Still, I agree with Twilight. We should let them dig their own grave.” With that decided, the only thing left was to set out on their journey. Crossroads only had one gate through the palisade, but from there the road split off in four directions – north to Dream Castle, south to Bright Valley, east to the mountain holds of the Cloven and Griffons (although the mountain pass to Rally was farther north), and west to the plains where the Zebra roamed, after crossing Ghastly Gorge – the location of the suspected illegal mining operation. “So we’re going west,” Rainbow Dash said. Twilight rolled her eyes as she rolled up her map. “Yes. West.” The griffon nodded. “Just making sure I had that clear. Because it kind of looked like the gorge was east of here.” Twilight frowned, and unrolled her map again, as everypony gathered around. She winced. “Right. Sorry. EAST to the gorge.” “Also, the rising sun is that way, and the mountain range which we can see from here is the other way, and I kind of thought that the sun rose in the east.” “I get it. I mixed up my directions. We’re going that way,” Twilight pointed with her horn towards the sun. “Which is east,” Rainbow Dash said. “Yes,” Twilight said through gritted teeth. “Not west.” Twilight grumbled, “You can stop any time…” After figuring out their directions, the party finally made its way out of the town, through the open gate of the palisade, past the still-smoldering beacon that during the night welcomed weary travelers to the only safe place within several days’ travel. The terrain near the town was mostly open, with small hills and scattered patches of brush and tall grass keeping it from being a monotonous waste – the land was no desert, but it wasn’t suitable for farming. However, as they neared the crossroads proper, the beacon behind them suddenly exploded into flames, swirling around in a familiar whirlwind of sparks. Before they could really react to the apparent presence of a hidden mephit, a unicorn stepped out into the road before them – blue coat, a pale mane, and the unmistakable shimmer of an arcane forcefield providing protection. If that wasn’t enough to reveal that she was ready for a fight, a pair of mirror images flanked her, as she loudly proclaimed, “Twilight Sparkle! We meet at last!” “Let me guess,” Twilight said, breaking off from her rear-guard position to parlay with the strange unicorn. “Trixie, I presume?” The unicorn reared up, and cackled. “Yes! It is I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, here to challenge you to single combat for your title as an adventurer!” Twilight’s stomach twisted as something hideous in the other unicorn’s gaze seemed to sink into her soul. “And what do I get if I win?” Trixie cackled. “If you win, you prove to your comrades that you are not a sniveling coward. Now, step forth and face me, if you dare!” “So… we get nothing,” Applejack summarized. Trixie turned her gaze on the feline rogue, and she too felt some horrible crawling feeling underneath her fur as something wrong in the unicorn’s gaze unsettled her. “I think we’ll pass. Right, Twi?” Trixie cackled. “If you wish… but you may regret it. Everypony! Attack!” “Does that mean us?” came a screechy griffon voice from out of one of the nearby bushes. Trixie cackled some more, her eye twitching, and answered. “Yes. It means everyone. Every griffon. And the minotaur too. Attack!” She punctuated her command with a spell – her horn glowed, and a massive explosion of glitter went off in the midst of the party, covering everyone in blinding sparkles. Twilight and Applejack screamed and tried to wipe the sparkles out of their eyes in vain, while Rarity – also blind – took a step forwards and summoned a cloud of mist to hide them, since they couldn’t see anyway. Pinkie Pie flew up out of the cloud and readied a bomb, while Rainbow Dash, leaving a glowing sparkle-trail, flew straight at their assailant, punching the center Trixie right in the forehead, which popped her out of existence since it was only an image. Rarity’s zombie – burn-scarred, spike-studded, skull-adorned, and now fabulously bedazzled – stumbled out of the mist, shambling forwards to join Rainbow Dash, but not coming close to matching her speed. Before Dash could get another swing at Trixie or her remaining image, a pair of griffon warriors – bedecked in chainmail, wielding shields and swords – flew out of the bushes to intercept her, one of them slicing a deep gash along her side as she failed to twist out of the way in time. A third griffon warrior intercepted the zombie, while a hulking minotaur, eight feet tall, charged into the cloud of mist. Trixie cackled as she stepped back, and with her magical levitation pulled a hissing firework out of her bag, the fuse already lit. But before she could aim it, Pinkie Pie’s bomb – held ready to interrupt a spell – hit her in the face and exploded, setting the firework off prematurely, and sending its scorching path of destruction, which would have badly burned everypony on the road, screaming harmlessly into the sky. Dash stepped forwards and punished her with a claw to the face, drawing a bit of blood, while effortlessly dodging the griffons’ swords. Trixie cackled again, although it was more than half a screech of pain, and stepped back, again – eating another bomb to the face from Pinkie. This time, she was expecting it, and channeled through the pain, unleashing a cone of fire from her horn that washed over Rainbow Dash and her own allied griffons. “Damn it, boss!” said one of the griffons, “Watch your fire!” “If you two had managed to do your job, I wouldn’t have needed to handle her myself!” Trixie sneered over the singed body of her attacker. “No! Dashie!” Pinkie Pie screamed, as she saw her friend go down. Trixie pointed at the hovering pegasus. “Now take her out! I’m sick of having my spells interrupted!” Meanwhile, confused noises came from the cloud – Twilight taking the name of the Moon Princess in vain, the sound of metal on metal, the barking of a large dog, the ‘kathump!’ of somepony slipping and falling, and Fluttershy’s voice screaming “STOP!” But out in the open air, Pinkie Pie swooped and dodged as the pair of griffons closed in on her, avoiding their swords and smashing a bomb into the back of one of the pair. It engulfed them in a cloud of fiery smoke, which she alighted on with delicate ease. Both griffons fell out of the bottom of the cloud, trailing smoke as they slammed into the unyielding dirt. Trixie cackled nervously as she watched the burning bodies of her underlings hit the ground, but with Pinkie distracted she was able to pull out a firework undisturbed, and aim it right at her, hitting the pegasus squarely between her wings and engulfing her in an fiery explosion, which blinded her and dissolved her cloud. Pinkie fell to the ground with a ‘thump’ and sprawled on the dirt next to her victims, disoriented but not badly hurt, shaking her head to clear her eyes. Trixie cackled again, forcing herself to laugh as her last griffon was knocked silly by Rarity’s zombie, which then proceeded to keep beating him, again and again, not stopping just because his target had stopped fighting back. “Trixie… acknowledges that perhaps you might have some skill,” she said, backing away. “We should continue this at another time!” “Hey!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “Come back!” But by the time the spots faded from her eyes, Trixie was nowhere to be seen, so all she could do was fly to Rainbow Dash and make sure she was okay. She glanced nervously at the cloud of mist, wincing as Twilight yelped in surprise, eliciting another cry of “STOP! Stop trying to hurt my friends!” from Fluttershy. The minotaur responded with a laugh – and the swoosh of his massive axe – and then there was a horrible scream from the flutterpony. She darted out of the mist, trailing tears and blood from a massive wound, one of her legs nearly severed. “Fluttershy! Stop!” Pinkie Pie called after her, picking up Dash’s limp form and taking to the air in pursuit. “Eee, I have to get away! He won’t listen and he’s going to kill us all!” Fluttershy whimpered, flying back into town and hiding behind the edge of the gate, blood pooling beneath her. Pinkie Pie landed next to her, and dumped Rainbow Dash at her hooves. “Heal her, please,” the pegasus said. “Pleeeeeease! Twilight and Applejack need our help!” Fluttershy whimpered, then gently touched Rainbow Dash and concentrated – and the griffon opened her eyes, with a moan. “I. Hate. Trixie,” Rainbow snarled. “Come on,” Pinkie Pie said. “We’ve got to go save Twilight and Applejack! They’re trying to fight the minotaur blind!” With Fluttershy following far in the rear, the trio headed back to the battlefield, to find an exhausted but somehow unhurt trio standing next to the cloud of mist, still rubbing their eyes to try to get rid of the glitter. “Don’t worry,” Twilight said. “We got him. Somehow.” “I think Fluttershy’s summoned dog helped,” Rarity explained. “I’m not sure my grease did more good than harm. I was blind myself and I may have caught –“ “Yeah, you got both of us,” Applejack grumbled. “And not him.” Rarity lifted her striped muzzle and snorted. “Well! Excuse me for not wanting to get in reach of that horrid axe.” “Trixie got away,” Pinkie Pie said, frowning. “I suppose that means we don’t get any treasure for this.” “Mm,” Applejack said, standing up and shaking herself off, then walking over to the nearest griffon, who’d been pounded into a paste by Rarity’s zombie, in the absence of other orders. The rogue poked around in the griffon’s armor, and came out with a small pouch clenched in her teeth. “Thought so,” she said, as she dumped a bit of gold onto the ground. “They looked like mercenaries. Check the others, see if they’re carrying their pay.” And so, once again, lunchtime found the party back in the same inn, licking their wounds and counting their meager earnings. The griffons’ equipment had been worth a bit, pawned to the town blacksmith, and the minotaur had had 500 gold on him – apparently, he’d held out for a much bigger payday from the crazy unicorn. It wasn’t until several hours later that anypony thought to check for the mephit who’d signaled Trixie about the party’s arrival – but by then, he was long gone, probably flying off to rejoin his mistress. “She knew my name,” Twilight said. “I knew that I’d seen her before, but I still can’t place her.” “Next time, ask?” Pinkie Pie suggested. “I mean, we’re bound to fight her again. Nopony with that annoying of a laugh tries to jump you once and then is never heard from again.”