Blackened Night

by ZeirMakavar

3: The Long Game (Part 2)

Chapter 3
The Long Game (part 2)

"Let's just say if you don't watch your backs, none of you will survive this trip." She answered, with a soft chuckle. "And that's not something I want." She said, before turning into smoke.

"Who... what... was that?" The scholar mare said, blinking a bit as she looked at Raging Night. "And what did she mean... we won't survive?"

"I don't know." Raging said, sighing. "And I don't care... did you eat enough?"

"Yes, I did." Draken said, chuckling a bit. "And quite frankly, as long as we make it to Gryphon lands, we should be fine."

"Are you sure?" The mare asked, a soft smile on her face as she looked between the two of them. "I heard that some bandits have appeared between the two borders, so..."

"We should be fine." Draken interrupted the mare, smiling as he put a claw on Raging's shoulder. "Mr. Night here is one of Princess Lunamaria's royal guards, so no pony short of a trained professional would be able to get past him."

"Oh, good..."

"Hero's always get remembered, but you know legends never die."

"Wake up." Raging said, shaking Draken Claw. "Somepony just tried stealing the artifact."

"What?" Draken asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Are you sure? Is it possible that..."

"I injured them before they could get it. "He added, nodding a bit slower this time. "I had a feeling that they'd try something before we left pony lands."

"I see..." Draken said, nodding slowly. "Is that why you insisted on taking the longer route? Using a caravan instead of flying straight there?"

"Indeed." Raging said, sighing. "It's so that in something like this happens... Where were you?" He asked the scholar mare, as she walked back into the tent they resided in, a small injury on one of her back legs, which Raging glared at slightly.

"I... um..." She said, looking around nervously. "I had to use the restroom... And, got injured a bit walking back." She said, laughing a bit as she smiled. "That's the last time I try going out in the middle of the night..."

"I see..." Draken said, nodding slowly as he laughed a bit, while Raging continued glaring at her. "Well, it can be a bit hard to see outside at night, especially for us non-unicorns."

"We should get going." Raging then said, turning to pack his stuff up. "It will be dawn soon, and I want to get to the Griffon lands before nightfall, tonight."

"But, that would mean we wouldn't stop, even for lunch..." The scholar mare said, sighing as she gather a bit of her stuff up. "Besides, what about the rest of the caravan? This one is a bit larger then most, and it could use the extra security that a guard pony, such as yourself, would provide."

Raging sighed softly, as he shook his head. "There's nothing I can do." He said, looking up at the caravan's leader, as the twitching unicorn in front of the two of them breathed his last. "As you may know, what happened to him was an overdose of the illegal drug Ambrosia." He continued, as both the caravan leader, and the scholar mare nodded, listening intently. "As you also know, Ambrosia is a magic enhancer, and in small quantities can help abate the symptoms of Magic Deficiency, which is a serious disease that can be found in Unicorns. But, in larger quantities in has been found to cause hallucinations, and as evident, death."

"Yes, but... I screen all my workers before we left Canterlot, none o them had an Ambrosia on them." The leader said, nodding slowly.

"Could it be possible, that they already had taken the Ambrosia? With out realizing it?" The scholar asked, looking between the two. "I mean, I'm also a Unicorn so... If I was planning on either having someone take Ambrosia, or take it myself, and they, or I... Were going on a long trip, say to Griffon lands, I'd have them take it in the beginning of the trip, before anypony would notice. I'd probably use..."

"Some sort of catalyst? One that would delay the effects of Ambrosia?" Raging asked, interrupting the mare, which caused her to nod. "It's possible. In fact, it's even possible that the said pony planned on doing such a thing." He continued, sighing softly. "It is also possible, that I was the target."

"But, you aren't a Unicorn. You're a Pegasus, and wouldn't be effected by Ambrosia, right?" The caravan leader asked, looking at him nervously.

"No, even a small trace of Ambrosia is deadly to both Earth Ponies, and Pegasi alike." Raging said, sighing a bit softly. "It's entirely possible that they used just above the lethal amount to ensure who ever ate the contaminated food, would die."

"Hm... I'll have to look over all of our food then." The caravan leader said, shaking his head. "As well, test to see if any other ponies have Ambrosia in their systems. If either is true, then we'll dump the whole wagon, and head into a town for more food."

"That'll delay our voyage for another couple of days." Raging said, sighing. "But, every precaution is needed."

Author's Note:

Another release at the same time as a Patreon Page release, but this is for the same reason as the A New Equestria release. That is, I completed this chapter a few months ago, before my impromptu hiatus, and never actually released them. I forgot to.