Chapter 5
Everyone was outside the town now, the adults enjoying themselves as they watched Ace, Mira, Heart and Soul play with other young jakhowls. The sight made Springer shine the biggest grin, happy to see such a sight. The expression he wielded was one that intrigued Mirage, only for the ponies to walk up to her.
"Something catch your eye?" Flash asked with a smirk.
Mirage turned to him before looking back at Springer, "It's just...I've never met a jakhowl like him before. After I saw his past, I...I understand why, but still."
"It figures for him." Twilight chimed in as she walked up to Mirage's side, "Springer...well, he's always been like that. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and he'd do anything for those two."
"I see..." Mirage chuckled as she watched them play a game of hopscotch.
Flash smirked as he watched as well, "I wonder what other games these youngsters play around here?"
"Not many. What other games are there for you all?" Mirage asked, the ponies exchanging glances.
"Well, there's softball, dodgeball, kickball and a bunch of other ball games."
"Too bad you all couldn't play buckball," Twilight sighed, "Then you could play against our team and Appaloosa." Mirage tilted her head at this, "Well, I guess you could, but you'd have to team up with a pegasus and unicorn while taking the place of the earth pony. Unless you all can secretly fly or levitate stuff."
"We cannot," Mirage shook her head, "But those other games do sound like they might be interesting."
"What do you all do when you want to have fun?" Spike asked, "You've never heard of basic games, and you obviously don't have video games." Mirage blinked at this, "So what do jakhowl kids normally do for fun?"
"Lots of things," Mirage replied, "We play tag, go swimming..." She suddenly seemed stumped, "Um...did I say way play tag?"
"Guess there isn't much you can do in a single sealed location," Springer commented as he walked up to them, Mirage turning to the jakhowl. "That's so sad. I mean, have you even seen snow?"
"Snow?" Mirage responded, causing the others to gasp.
"You don't even know what snow is?" Flash asked, "Oh, you poor things." Mirage and the other jakhowls around them all turned to the pegasi at this, "Don't worry, we'll make sure your area gets some snow during the winter this year."
"Hey, that's cheating!" They heard Ace yell as they looked over to see it was Heart's turn and the pegasus colt was using his wings to keep himself balanced.
"What?" He asked with a smile on his face. "You all have an advantage being naturally two legged." He hopped over the stone and lost his balance, falling to the ground as the others laughed. He picked himself up and started laughing himself, making Flash smile as well, glad to see Heart looking happy again.
But in that moment, his joy was replaced by a particular feeling inside his body. One he knew he needed to deal with quickly. "Um...question?" Mirage turned to him, "Where do jakhowls...do their business? I haven't gone since I got here."
Mirage chuckled and pointed at the village. "There's a large building in town where we do our...business. You can't miss it." Flash nodded and flew off while Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"You have plumbing here?"
"What's plumbing?"
Twilight grimaced as she realized what must be happening. "What do you do with the...leavings?"
"Oh, the restrooms have a large wooden bucket connected to the toilet that we use to store it in. When it's full, we take it out and use it to help fertilize our fields." Twilight, Springer and Spike all felt queasy at hearing this, though they knew that the jakhowls had to do something with it. Waste not, want not. And as Mirage had been explaining that, Springer saw the jakhowl known as Razor Fang walking up to them. The jakhowls around him all stared at him, seeing the glare on his face.
He turned to the game of hopscotch and snarled, "Why are these pups not training? How do you expect them to perfect their fighting abilities if they're wasting their time like this?!"
"We're having fun," Ace replied, "You know, that thing that makes life worth living. You need to lighten up."
"Our tribe is in danger," Razor hissed, "If we want to survive in this harsh world, we need to be strong. That means we don't have time to play around."
"That's enough, Razor!" He turned to glare at Mirage as she moved over to him. "The outside world isn't completely safe, but it's not the death trap we grew up hearing about."
"And how exactly do you know that?" Razor growled as he pointed at Springer, "Because you saw it in that outsider's memories?! How do we even know what we saw was true?! Those ponies have magic that can do almost anything. How do we know they didn't effect these fool's memories?! They'd do anything to keep what they truly are a secret, trying to trick us into becoming pets like these three!"
"Hey!" Mira yelped, "We're not pets."
"Yeah," Soul added, "They're our friends!" Razor glared at her, Soul flinching as she saw aura began to appear in Razor's paws, only for Springer to walk up between them.
"Just ignore him." Springer chimed in as his face switched from his smile into one of neither anger or annoyance, but rather pity. "You know, I feel sorry for you." Razor raised an eyebrow at this, his aura sputtering at the words, "You've become so scared of everything that isn't in this place, you can only process them as a threat. But here's the simple facts: The world is a scary place. But it's also a wonderful place with many amazing things worth facing the scary stuff for."
"What's your point?" Razor growled as his aura began to form in his paws again.
"No point," Springer replied, "I just feel sorry for you. Sorry that you can't overcome that fear. But just because you're scared doesn't mean you need to force that fear on others. You can stay here if you want, that's fine. But there are those that want to see what's waiting for them out there, and I'm gonna help show them what they'd miss if they stayed here. And you can't stop that."
Razor glared at him, clearly prepared to break into an argument, only for a voice to scream into every jakhowl's head in Aurarora. "HELP ME!" They all clutched their heads as it echoed through their minds, many falling to their knees in shock.
Twilight and the others gasped at this and ran over to their friends. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked Mirage as Heart and Soul helped their jakhowl partners back to their feet.
Mirage moaned, but then gasped as she realized who's voice she had just heard. "FATHER!" She screamed as she suddenly cut into a sprint to the Tree of Ancients, Springer following after her with the rest of the jakhowls on their tail. Twilight motioned for the non-jakhowls to go too and they ran into the town, spotting Flash walking towards them as they did so.
"Hey!" Flash yelled, "What's going on?!" Nobody answered as he had to take to the air, the group now heading up to the tree.
Mirage was the first inside the chamber, only to gasp when she saw her father on the floor, blood leaking from his body. "NOOOOO!" Springer rushed in behind her as she knelt beside her father, rolling him over as Springer saw the wound on his stomach.
"SOUL!" He roared for the filly.
"Father!" Mirage looked ready to start crying, "Who did this to you?!" Sirius was silent for a moment, but then coughed and opened his eyes. And as he coughed, blood filled his mouth. "Father!"
Soul and the rest of the ponies arrived next, all gasping as Soul ran up to him, "Hold on!" The alicorn yelped as her magic activated.
"What is she doing?" A jakhowl asked, Twilight turning to him.
"Soul has healing magic. She can heal almost any wound." They all went wide-eyed, some sighing in relief, only for Twilight to frown and look back at her student, "But...she can't keep those with fatal injuries alive. That'll be up to Sirius. He has to stay strong until the wound's completely healed."
"Father..." Mirage added as she began to cry, "Please don't leave me. I can't lose you too." Sirius looked her in the eyes, gazing into them and smiling.
"Just hold on," Springer continued, "Soul will get you fixed up." He looked at the filly as she slowly began to close up the wound. "What did this?"
"It looks like some kind of blade," Soul surmised, "Based on the shape of the wound, I'd guess it was a blade with a single curved edge." Sirius suddenly started coughing as she pumped in more magic, "This is bad."
"You can heal him, right?" Flash asked.
"He's lost a lot of blood," Soul replied.
"Father!" Mirage cried as Springer stared at the elder.
He then turned to the filly alicorn, "Hey Soul." Soul turned to him, "What would happen if he tried to Aura-scape with us?" Soul went wide-eyed at this, "If he can do it, we could see who did this to him."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Soul responded, "At his age and with this wound, that kind of effort could be too much for him."
Springer growled as he glanced back down at the elder, only to put his paw on Sirius's head. "What are you doing?" Mirage asked, "Are you trying to Aura-scape with him?"
"Got any better ideas?" Springer asked, "Maybe I can do it. Who knows." He closed his eyes and tried to connect it to Sirius, a part of him wondering if Sirius could just tell him through telepathy. But as he connected to the older jakhowl, Springer could feel his mind was a complete mess of pain, panic and fear. "Come on...clear your head." Sirius continued to have trouble focusing, but Springer's words allowed him to calm down.
He couldn't connect enough to telepathically talk to Springer, but he focused on what Razor had done. And to everyone's surprise, Springer's eyes went white for a moment. Mirage couldn't believe what she was seeing as Springer found himself in the same white void he had seen the previous day. But unlike yesterday, there weren't a bunch of images surrounding him. Instead, there was only one in front of him. One that showed him Sirius looking down and seeing a bloodsoaked blade sticking out of Sirius' stomach. One that looked just like Flash's Celestic Gear.
That was all he got to see before the vision vanished, Springer finding himself back in the chamber. Mirage was staring at him in shock, "You can Aura-scape." Springer shook his head at this, "What did you see?"
"I'm...I'm not sure." Sirius coughed again and they turned back to him as Soul kept healing the wound.
"Father," Mirage whispered, "You'll be alright. You just have to stay strong."
But then Sirius stared up at her again, showing a tiny smile before coughing out more blood. This cleared his airway enough for him to speak. "You...have your mother's eyes." Mirage gasped as she clutched his paw, Sirius holding it tightly as he turned to Springer. "Take care of our tribe. Do what you believe is right and you won't...regret it." He kept both of them in his gaze, the pair staring down at him as he closed his eyes and took one final breath.
"FATHER!" Mirage screamed as Soul stopped her magic and placed her ear to his chest. She waited for a heartbeat, but there was none.
She pulled away and looked to Mirage, giving her an apologetic look before shaking her head. Mirage burst into tears as she pulled her father toward her, hugging him tightly while the rest of the jakhowls and their guests looked down in shame. That is, till someone pushed his way through.
Razor, followed by the rest of the elders, all made their way into the tree and looked down at their leader's body. "What happened?" Chrome asked as they gathered around them.
Soul stepped back as Clair moved over to place a reassuring paw on Mirage's shoulder. "He's gone," she wept. "Someone...someone killed him."
"Who?" Core asked as he reached down to inspect the wound. "He died from such a small wound."
"I was trying to heal him," Soul chimed in, "If only he had held on for a little bit longer. Whatever weapon did this did a lot of internal damage. He...he might have lost too much blood to be saved, even if I had completely healed him."
"What weapon did this?" Cress asked next.
"Springer," Flash whispered, "You were able to Aura-scape with him. What did you see?"
Springer turned to the pegasi, grimacing before slowly saying, "I saw something stab into him...but I couldn't tell what it was. It was a blade of some kind."
"Like what I thought?" Soul asked, Springer nodding.
"What do you mean?" Core asked, "What kind of blade?" Soul explained what she had guessed, making him hum. "We have very few blades here. And none of them are like that."
The other jakhowls nodded and then Razor's eyes went wide. "You're right," he nodded. "We don't have any blades like that." He then slowly turned to Flash, "But you do." Flash raised an eyebrow at this as the other jakhowls all stared at him.
"You can't be serious," Flash replied, "You think I did this?"
"You're the only one with a weapon like that," another jakhowl pointed out. "Where is it?"
Flash glanced down at himself, just now remembering he had left it at the hut, the pegasus not seeing a reason to keep it on hoof given how peaceful the place was. "It's at the hut we stayed in. And I can assure you, it's still there."
"Prove it," Razor growled, "Bring this weapon to us and we will determine if it was used to slay our leader."
"Razor!" Clair exclaimed as Mirage continued to hug her father's body, "Show some tact. Besides, how could he have used it?! He was with you the entire time."
"Was he?" Razor asked, "I don't remember seeing him with us right before Sirius called out to us."
They all turned to Flash again, the defender really wishing his bladder hadn't let him down. "Yeah!" another jakhowl yelled, "And he was walking to us when we came here. Maybe he was coming back from here."
"That's insane!" Twilight exclaimed, "That's circumstantial evidence at best!"
"Then prove it!" Razor spat, "Bring this weapon to us."
"Fine!" Flash replied as he spun around and marched out of the tree, Twilight and his friends following him. Springer watched him leave and wanted to join, only to glance back at Mirage.
But then the jakhowl lifted her head and nodded, "Go." Springer nodded back and ran out the tree, catching up with his friends as they made their way through the town.
"Here," Flash pointed at the hut, "My sword's inside." He stepped into the hut and everyone waited for him, but he remained in the hut for a few minutes.
"What's taking him so long?" Core asked, Springer walking into the hut at this. When he looked inside, he was shocked by what he saw. Flash was holding his sword in his hooves and the blade of that sword was covered in blood.
"What?!" Springer yelped, "What's happening?!"
"How?" Flash asked before Razor burst into the room, only to roar as he pointed at the sword.
"MURDERERS!" Before either of them could do anything, he fired a blast of red aura at the pair. The next thing they knew, they were being blasted out of the hut's wall. They crashed into the street and moaned as they skidded on the ground as the hut collapsed, leaving a red glowing aura covered Razor.
"Razor!" Chrome screamed as Twilight and their friends ran up, "What on earth are you doing?!" But as he said this, he turned to Flash and saw the blood on his blade, his eyes going wide. "It can't be."
"What more proof do you need?!" Razor exclaimed, "I told you these trespassers would do nothing but cause pain and heartache for us! They lulled us into a false sense of security, and now they've taken our leader from us!"
"Now hang on, that doesn't make any sense," Twilight chimed in, "Why would we kill Sirius? He agreed with us about our two nations becoming friends."
But as she said this, the jakhowls around them all began forming Bone Breakers or Steel Paws. Seeing this, the elders raised their paws as Cress yelled, "Stop this! This is not our way!"
"It is our way!" Razor growled, "We jakhowls destroy our enemies, and these ponies have been our enemies for over a thousand years! They tried to seal us away because they knew we would lead to their destruction and now that we've returned, they intend to simply put us under their control. WELL WE WON'T LET THEM!"
As he roared this, the ponies all flinched, Soul whispering to her mentor, "Twilight, what do we do?"
"Um..." Twilight tried to say, only for one of the jakhowls to charge at them with a Bone Breaker. And as it leapt at them, Twilight's reflexes kicked in and she grabbed her friends with her magic. Pulling them close, her horn unleashed a powerful blast of light that blinded the jakhowls. They all cried out, fearing the pony was going to try and blast them, only to open their eyes and saw the outsiders were all gone.
"What the-what just happened?!" A jakhowl asked, Chrome blinking at the sight.
"They must have used their magic to warp someplace else."
"They must be planning to seal us up again!" Razor screeched as he rushed over to the destroyed house and leapt onto the rubble. "Don't you see?! They're dangerous! They care nothing for us! We must strike them before they strike us!"
And as he said that, Mirage and Clair arrived. "What's happening?" Mirage asked as Razor turned to her. "What's all this ruckus? Where's Springer and the others?"
"They ran away!" Razor exclaimed, "They were the ones that killed your father!"
Mirage's eyes went wide at this, "No...that's not possible!"
"The sword that pony had was covered in his blood!" Another jakhowl yelled, "They killed our leader, and they're gonna kill us next!" The rest of the jakhowls all began to cheer and yell in agreement as Mirage's eye shrunk at the information she had just received.
"Where is your proof?" Clair asked, making Razor turn to her, "You claim they killed Sirius, but where is the proof?"
"The sword was covered in blood!" A jakhowl barked, "What more proof do you need?"
"Proof that confirms it was the ponies that actually used the sword to kill him. That blade was laying in the hut for anyone to take. Just because it's his sword, that doesn't confirm anything. If they were the ones that did it, they'd be stupid to use their own weapon and leave the blood for everyone to see."
Razor smirked. "Clearly they underestimated us. They were probably planning to clean the blood off the blade, but didn't foresee Sirius calling out to us and bringing us to him before he could. And now their wrongful superiority will cost them! They killed Sirius, and we will have our revenge!"
Mirage couldn't listen to this anymore. She turned to run away as Razor continued to speak to the jakhowls, "These outsiders will stop at nothing to destroy us! We will not allow that to happen!" In that moment, his body exploded with light as he took his King Form. "Follow me and I will lead us to victory! The time of the prophecy has come to pass...I will defeat and destroy our greatest threat, and then lead us into our golden age! The land they call Equestria shall fall under our rule! It will become the new Aurarora!"
"Stop this!" Cress yelled, only for Razor to point at him.
"Restrain the elders. Their time is over, and if they won't come into the future willingly, we'll have to contain them until our quest is at an end." The four elders were all grabbed by the younger jakhowls and pulled away, unable to fight against them as they cried out in protest. And as they disappeared into the distance, Razor looked back at his army. "The ponies will soon come to regret messing with us. War is coming, and I will lead us to victory!"
Outside the mountain of Aurarora, a brilliant flash of light signaled the sudden appearance of the eight travelers. "Ahhh!" Flash groaned as he hit the ground, everyone else doing the same. They all moaned as they picked themselves up, only for Flash to yelp, "You teleported us outside?!"
"I didn't have a choice," Twilight replied, "Those jakhowls were in too much of a state to listen to reason."
"So what?!" Ace yelled, "We're just gonna run away? That'll just make us look even more guilty."
Twilight shook her head, "No, we're gonna wait. Hopefully, they'll calm down enough and realize we're not their enemies."
"I don't think that's gonna happen," Heart added, "They were all pretty angry and that Razor is probably gonna whip them into an even bigger fury."
The others nodded, believing the same thing. Seeing this, Soul sighed, "And things were going so well," She turned to see Flash holding up his sword. "But in the blink of an eye, everything we managed to build vanished."
As she said that, Flash moved over to a river, dipping the blade down, the drying blood beginning to be washed away. As he did this, he could only let out a long sigh as he glanced back and saw Twilight, Soul and Mira all showing frowns. Spike and Ace both looked unsure, and Heart's smile had vanished. He was just starting to open up again, only to show that angry glare he had been wearing for so long now return.
But then he turned to Springer, seeing the jakhowl stare up at the mountain. The place that could have become a second home to him, with the rest of his race being with him...only to now be an outcast. His own race now likely hated him with a burning passion. The sight made Flash shine the biggest frown he had ever worn in a long time.
"So, what do we do now?" Soul asked as they just stood there. "If we can't get the jakhowls to believe us, what do we do?"
"We should tell Princess Celestia about this turn of events," Twilight replied, "Spike, prepare a letter." Spike glanced around, only to show her a grimace.
"Uh...Twilight?" Spike gulped, "We left all our things in the hut. They were probably all buried when Razor blasted it."
They all moaned at this, Heart exclaiming, "So we're stuck a long way from any other form of civilization with no way of contacting Celestia and telling her about what happened?! We've been accused of murder with no way of proving our innocence, and there's a crazy jakhowl that wants to start a war with the ponies, who's probably preparing the rest of the jakhowls for said war! Am I missing anything?!"
"Nope," Ace groaned, "That's pretty much it."
And as they said that, Ace and Mira turned to see Springer walk away. The two youngsters wanted to follow, but Twilight put her hooves on their shoulders. They glanced back at her, the alicorn shaking her head. And as they looked back at him, the jakhowl was already almost out of sight.
Springer moved into the forest a mile or so away and walked through the trees, the memory of the walk he had taken with Mirage the previous night fresh in his mind. His thoughts drifted back to the last moment of Sirius' life, when he had asked Springer to protect the tribe. He had told him to believe in what he believed was right and he wouldn't regret it.
But now he felt nothing. The jakhowls were probably preparing to attack the closest pony settlement, wherever the heck that was. He knew they would likely be able to defeat normal ponies if they took them by surprise, but if Celestia heard the jakhowls were attacking, she would have no choice but to send her own army...and that would be nothing but a disaster.
The thought made him remember when Shade showed him the past, the war between the jakhowls and Tricksters. It was something jakhowls should never do. The thought made him think back to all those encounters with Shade, seeing the cycle of hatred and how the jakhowls were about to go down that same path. Something he had told himself to dedicate his life to teaching Ace and Mira to never go down that path.
"What do I do?" He asked. "Do I try and stop the jakhowls? Do I let Celestia deal with them and make them realize they don't stand a chance? But if I do that, the jakhowl's hate for the ponies will only increase." He muttered to himself, only for the image of Razor inciting the jakhowls to war now appearing in his head...only for the image of how the last war went now in his head.
"NOOOO!" He roared as he spun around and thrust a fist into a tree, destroying part of the trunk and causing it to fall. He fell to his knees, tears filling his eyes. "Why?! Why is this happening?!" He then glanced up at the sky, "Dad...mom...any jakhowl. If you're really somewhere out there, I need your help. You told me I was the future of the jakhowl race...but what does that mean? Am I destined to be alone because the jakhowls will wipe themselves out again?!"
But there was no response. He put his paw on his face at this, rubbing it down. "No...no...I can't let it happen again." And as he said this, the noise around him vanished, making him blink before he saw he was now in a white void. In front of him was his father Sharp Paw, a blue flame burning around the jakhowl.
"My son...you don't need us to tell you what you need to do. That is something only you can decide."
"But I don't know what to decide," Springer barked back, "This isn't Shade where its obvious what I have to do! I can't mess this up! I-I-I can't make the wrong decision and ruin everything! How am I supposed to undo what's been done?"
"You can't. What has happened is something you can't run away from. You can't ignore. Only by facing what has happened can you hope to overcome it. And even if this results in the jakhowls truly being lost, you cannot let the fear of that possibility stop you."
"But...but that's already happened before! I can't let that happen again! What if I make the wrong decision?!"
"Then you'll make the wrong decision. But even if you do, it won't be your fault." The words made Springer shake, making him glance down at the ground, "My son, never forget you're not alone." He glanced back up at his father. "You have friends that are willing to help you. And not just the ones that are here with you now. All the friends you've made since hatching. They'll be there for you, to help you from making what you believe might be the wrong decision. Do you trust them?"
"Of course."
"Then do so and let them see that they can trust you as well."
And before Springer could reply, the void vanished, Springer now back in the real world. The jakhowl rapidly blinked before slowly saying, "Thank you...dad."
Mirage continued to cry as she sat in the middle of the Forest of Ancients, sitting under the tree her mother had been buried beneath. She knew she should be trying to sort out this insane situation, but she didn't know what to do. She had lost her last relative, and the ones she had just began to trust could be responsible.
She sniffled and whimpered, rubbing her paws into her eyes, only for tears to leak out. She couldn't stand it as the dam kept breaking, water pouring down her face. And as she continued to cry, she turned to her mother's tree and placed a paw on it, summoning her aura, "Mother...what do I do? I've lost you and father. How am I supposed to go on now?"
The aura flowed into the tree and she waited...only to feel no answer. "Mother...please help me. I...I can't do this alone. I don't want to do this alone." She sniffed and a tear fell from her eye onto the ground, soaking into the soil as it did so. Then, that section of the ground began to glow. "Huh?"
Mirage stared at the ground as the light from her teardrop spread out across the forest floor. It was forming a vein-like line that ran through the grass and soil, Mirage blinking at it. Before she knew what was going on, she walked after it wondering if maybe her mother and other ancestors were trying to help her. And as she followed the line, she glanced around, trying to see if anything was off.
But after a little while, the line just stopped. Mirage reached the very end and glanced up, seeing it had stopped between the two of the most outer trees in the forest. She placed her paws on the trees, "Why did you bring me here?" But the trees didn't answer, making her sigh in defeat...only to hear a snapping sound.
She gasped and jumped behind a tree, turning to where the sound had come from. She was then greeted to the sight of a jakhowl she knew all too well. "Snivel."
The small jakhowl, who hatched before her and Razor but had never figured out how to attain his older form, was making his way along the river while looking around. Mirage focused and concealed her aura, a trick she and many of jakhowls learned while playing hide and seek, hoping her disturbed state didn't ruin her ability to do so. She watched as Snival reached the waterfall she liked to spend alone time at, the green jakhowl continuing to glance around...only to hold up something, making Mirage raise an eyebrow.
Back outside...
Flash had just finished cleaning the blood off his sword. And as he did this, Twilight walked up to him, seeing he was inspecting the blade and seeing it was perfectly clean...but there was a huge frown on Flash's face, "You okay?" He heard Twilight ask, making him glance up at her.
"Not really," Flash sighed as he looked back down at the blade. "This sword has done so much good. But...knowing it's been used to take an innocent life makes me feel like it's been tainted."
Twilight nodded back as she sat down beside him, "I understand...though I don't get how the killer was able to grab your sword and make their way through the village without anyone seeing. And then come back through the village, carrying a bloodied sword. You'd think someone would have seen them." She commented as she stared at the weapon, "Say...could you put the sword down?"
"Huh?"
"Do it!" Flash didn't argue and did just that, the others turning to her. "Spike, Heart and Soul. Fly up and block the sunlight from touching the sword." The trio tilted her head at this, only to fly above the sword. They blocked out the sun's light as best they could as Twilight's horn began to shine.
"What are you doing?" Ace asked as Twilight's horn glowed a strange purple light that shone down on the sword. This caused the sword to show as a bunch of blots on it.
"What is that?" Mira added.
"Blood," Twilight replied, "Flash might have gotten most of the blood off it, but there's still stains that'll be on the blade for a long time. But it's invisible until you shine ultraviolet light on it."
"And what's it showing you?" Flash watched as Twilight kept studying the blade, turning it over several times before a smirk appeared on her lips.
"The blood isn't even." She pointed at the middle of the blade, which seemed darker than the rest. "This is the blood that's been on the blade the longest. If it was used to kill Sirius, the blood should be on the tip. And like I said, the blood isn't even." She showed them one side, the other which seemed to have less blood stains on it. "This blood was wiped onto the blade. They did it on one side, but didn't do such a thorough job on the other."
"So Lightbringer wasn't what killed Sirius!" Flash gasped as Twilight nodded. "But then...what did kill him? And how'd they get his blood on my sword?"
Mirage watched as Snivel held up a red cloth, which he then wrapped around a rock and tied up before throwing it into the water.
As the rock sank, Snivel ran off, Mirage staring at him for a second before silently diving in. Swimming all the way to the bottom, she spotted the cloth covered rock and grabbed it. And as she did this, she noticed some of the red was coming off it.
Breaking the surface of the water, she gasped and swam to the shore. She then felt something dampening her paw and looked down to see it was covered in red stuff. And once she was ashore, dog shaking on instinct, she sniffed her paw and the cloth...and went wide-eyed.
It was the smell of blood. Her father's blood. And as she continued to smell, she picked up another scent. Razor's.
Anger flooded through her entire being, grabbing the cloth and almost ripped in rage. "Razor..." She wanted nothing more but to march up to Razor and use her Steel Paw on his throat, but knew her father wouldn't want that. She only had one choice.
Inside the Tree of Ancients...
The elders all sat in a circle, contemplating the loss of their friend and leader. Sirius's body had been removed from the tree and taken someplace to be prepared for his joining with their ancestors. The blood was still staining the floor and might never come out of the wood, though Cress was scrubbing it as hard as he could with a wet cloth their guards had graciously given them. But there was nothing else they could do.
That is, till they heard a commotion outside. Turning to it, it sounded like a fight, only for a certain jakhowl to rush inside the room. "Mirage?!" Clair gasped as the jakhowl turned to her, the group seeing the fire now in her eyes.
"Come on," she told them. "We're getting out of here." They all got up at this, glancing outside to see unconscious guards littered around the tree. Concealing their aura, they all followed her, able to do this due to Razor and the rest of the tribe training, preparing for a fight as the group quickly snuck away.
Along the way, they saw Razor was even having the pups train. And by the looks of things, they were being forced way past their limits. "This is insane," Cress growled, "He's going to turn our tribe into a bunch of war-crazed authoritarians. All our future generations will only know one thing: To train for a fight."
"A fight we probably can't win," Mirage added, "We have to get help. And there's only one group that can help us. I just hope they haven't left yet." They reached the far wall of the biome and followed it to the exit. The older jakhowls couldn't move as fast as Mirage, forcing her to go slowly up the stairs.
And as they got there, they made their way down, only to spot the ones that had been wrongfully convicted of her father's murder. Mirage then dropped the mask on her aura, allowing Ace and Mira to sense her. They both spun around and gasped at the sight. "Mirage!" Mira cried as the silver jakhowl leapt from the mountain and onto the rocks.
"Mirage," Twilight walked up next, "You have to believe us, we've been framed. Someone else-" She stopped when Mirage threw something at her, gasping when they saw it was a cloth. She grabbed it in her magic and looked it over, seeing the blood covering it. "Is this..."
"A cloth soaked in my father's blood. Yes. Yes it is. I saw Snivel throwing it into a lake."
"Snivel?" Flash asked.
"He's a jakhowl that is the closest thing to a friend for Razor." Chrome said as the jakhowls all leapt down. "Clearly, there is only one explanation. Razor was the one who killed Sirius. And he tried to pin the blame on you."
"So you believe us now?" Spike asked.
"We always believed you," Clair chimed in, "But right now we have bigger issues. Razor is preparing our tribe for war. No doubt, he intends to leave and attack the closest pony town."
"We figured that," Flash sighed, "I know you all are strong and will probably win a few fights at first, but you're seriously outnumbered." The jakhowls frowned at this, "How many jakhowls in your tribe would you say are actually capable of putting up a fight? Whatever it is, I'm willing to bet Equestria has at least three times that number. And that's before you add in the Crystal Empire, griffons, dragons, changelings, yaks and hippogriffs."
"The jakhowls can't win," Heart finished.
Mirage shook her head at this before growling, "I was worried Razor would only cause you problems. Now I'm worried he might wipe out our tribe. This could lead to the end of the jakhowls! Forever!"
"Which is why we need to stop him," Twilight repied, "We have to show the jakhowls we mean no harm and were framed."
"They won't listen," Cress countered, "Razor's gotten them into too much of a frenzy. They believe the great prophecy has come to pass. That ponies are the great threat and Razor will defeat it."
"But...but there has to be some way to get them to listen!" Soul yelled, "I don't wanna fight the jakhowls, and I know the rest of Equestria doesn't want to either!"
The elders glanced at each other, only for Clair to put a paw to her chin. Humming at this, she spoke up, "Well...what about a kyosongsai?"
The jakhowl adults went wide-eyed at this, only for Ace to ask, "A what?"
"It means great competition," Mirage replied, "A kyosongsai is how the jakhowls used to choose who the leader of the tribe would be. It hasn't been used in a long time, but any jakhowl can demand one of the leader."
"Razor wants to affirm his dominance of the tribe," Core added, "Winning a kyosongsai would do that for him. But if we can beat him, the rest of the tribe would have to listen to us. It's the only way."
"That sounds like what Springer's father did when he first met Princess Luna." Mira continued, "Remember Ace?"
"Yeah." Ace nodded before turning back to the elders, "Alright, let's go beat him! Then we can stop this crazy situation!"
"It's not that simple," Mirage sighed, "A kyosongsai is one on one. Someone will have to fight him on his own...and I don't think the tribe will allow a non-jakhowl to compete."
"This could be difficult," Clair added, "Razor's enhanced form will make him difficult to defeat on our own."
"That's fine." Flash chimed in, the elders turning to him, seeing the big smirk on his face, "You might not be able to match his power, but I know a jakhowl who can."
Springer sat against one of the last remaining trees in the area, having vented his frustrations on the pair wooden towers. He was still at a loss about what to do, knowing he should go to his friends, but also wanted to be left alone. But as he stood there, he felt a certain presence, making him spin around just as something leapt out of the trees.
"There you are," commented the jakhowl known as Mirage as she landed in front of him, "I've been looking all over for you."
"We didn't hurt your father," Springer instantly replied, "You have to believe me!"
Mirage nodded, "I do believe you." Springer flinched at this, only for Mirage to continue, "Razor was the one who did it. I'm sure of it. He framed your friends and he's preparing the jakhowls for war. If we don't do something, he'll get us all killed, and it really will be the end of the jakhowls."
"I know that," Springer sighed, shaking his head. "But what can we do?"
"There's a way to stop Razor and make the others listen to us. An ancient rite that any jakhowl can demand of the current leader. The kyosongsai. If you challenge Razor to it and win, you'll become the new leader of the tribe. You'll be able to get them to stop and listen to us."
Springer took her words into his head and thought them over, making him blink before putting a paw to his chin, "A kyonsongsai...sounds like what my dad did back in the day when he became leader of the tribe." He looked back at her, "Why me though? Aren't you the daughter of the leader here? It should be your birthright."
"That might be true, but...but you're the only one who can do it." Mirage responded, "I've...I've seen your power. Only jakhowls can challenge him, and Razor's powers are like nothing me or the elders can stand up to. Only you stand a chance of beating him."
Springer stared at her, feeling the doubt he still had before saying, "And what happens if I lose?" Mirage didn't answer, almost flinching at the question as he added, "I've seen war before. Its not something any jakhowl should do." Mirage glanced away at that, "Is there really no other way?"
"None that I can think of." Mirage walked up and placed a paw on his shoulder. "My father believed in you. And I believe in what he believes. You are the future of the jakhowls. Only you can help bring us out of the darkness."
Springer stared back at her, the female seeing the doubt swirl in his eyes. But before he could say anything, another voice spoke up, "And you won't be alone." They turned to see Chrome, Core, Cress and Clair, the four remaining elders smiling at him. "We trust in Sirius's judgement as well. This is what you were meant to be."
Clair nodded, "Razor sees you as an outsider because of your time in the outside world, but it's clear that your destiny was to grow up there so you might lead us better. Only you can bring our worlds together."
"And we will stand beside you the whole way," Chrome added.
Springer just blinked at them, only to slowly ask, "You...you're really okay putting your faith in me?"
"Everything good requires a little faith," Cress instantly replied, "And I'm sure the future you bring us into will not only be good, but great." The others nodded in agreement, making Springer flinch, only for his face to slowly show a smile. He then spun around, now seeing his friends walk up, all showing smiles as well.
Seeing this, Springer took a deep breath before nodding, now remembering his father's words. "Thank you." They nodded as Springer looked back at the elders, "Alright. If I'm gonna take Razor down, I'm gonna need to be at my best. And I'm gonna need you to tell me everything there is to know about this kyosongsai."
"Luckily, we have time." Chrome responded, "Razor might be a fool, but he won't be so hasty to attack that he'll head out without gathering the needed supplies. I say we have until noon tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me." Springer's body lit up with a flare of aura that made the elders' smiles grow. "Let's get started."
The next day...
Every jakhowl who could at least enter their adult form had been training well into the night. As such, they were still quite tired when Razor forced them to wake up so they could head out. The war with the ponies was going to start, and now that they had had a chance to sleep on it, many were starting to worry they had made a mistake.
The elder's words had finally sank in, and many were wondering if the ponies actually had killed their leader. But one look from Razor whenever one brought this up caused them to flinch in fear, keeping their mouths shut. Now they were being led by Razor out of the biome.
"Come on!" Razor growled when he saw several on the stairs slowing down and holding the line up, "Keep moving!"
The jakhowl could not see how tired they all were, his eyes instead flaming with purpose as he ran up the staircase, only to hear a voice, "Razor!" He heard Snivel yell as he ran down the stairs past several others. "You've gotta come look!"
"What is it?!" Razor growled, pushing past him and the others until he reached the top of the staircase. He made his way out of the cave, only to sense something. "Mirage and the elders!" He hissed, now remembering they had escaped, but hadn't thought much of them. He had simply assumed they had run off to be with those outsiders and he would deal with them after he conquered the ponies.
He rushed down the mountain with many other jakhowls following, and when he got at the base, he came to a stop. Before him was Mirage and the elders, along with Springer and the invaders. They were all standing in a line, the group ready to stop them from going any further. Springer stood in the center, stepping forward as he locked gazes with Razor. He then sent out a wave of aura and connected his mind to all those outside the mountain.
"Razor Fang, I challenge you to a kyosongsai."
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Let the games begin!
I just hope Springer beats Razor, It will be more satisfying to see his face when he loses, losing to the jakhowl he considered inferior.
And if we go by the avatar the last airbender route, maybe take away his powers in the end.
or just kill him but I wouldn't have that option, death is too simple for scum like him.
Oh boy, we are heading toward the climax.
I wonder if Banshee based Razor Fang on Adam Taurus from RWBY due to their hatred toward one species and are Red and Black and both of them killed the leader just to get their way… I am getting that vibe.
I like that this chapter avoids Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure cliches with Mirage and Springer cause I thought Mirage would accuses Springer like other Jakhowls did but surprisingly, she didn't do that since Springer already left before Mirage learns who killed her dad.
I'm glad Elders still believe in them, they're probably my favorite Authority Figures in my opinion.
Here's highlights
Oh no, not that asshole.
Rest in Peace Sirius.
Fuck you, Razor!
Oh! Springer is having a reunion with his father.
Yup, that basically Razor Fang is the greatest threat that Springer need to take down.
I hope Springer can win Kyosongsai, not only the entire Equestria but the Jakhowls' fate is in his paw.
Knew that Jackass would pin his cowardly murder on our Equestria heroes, not to mention that his Toady seems to know what he did with getting rid of the evidence, glad that Mirage kept a cool head & believed our heroes (besides the elders that is) Really want Springer to wipe the floor with this Jackass piece of trash on this Kyosongsai duel, course I wouldn't put it pass him to try some dirty plays, probably by that toady of his!
So while we wait for that awesome duel to start, here are today's Highlights! :
Take that Jackass!
What a piece you are Jackass, screw you!
Springer really needed that after all the crap that happened just a few hours ago, well played!
CSI Equestria's on the case!
You little piece of............!!!
Exactly, it would be a slaughter.....for the Jackhowls that is!
Heck yeah Springer, put down this false king!
Looking forward to the much-deserved beatdown of this Jackass in the next chapter Banshee!
I knew it! I knew Razor Fang was going to frame his murder of Sirius on Flash and the others! I'm just glad that Mirage and the other elders never once questioned their innocence and always knew something wasn't right. Heck, Razor Fang was only in charge for a day and by that the the adrenaline had already worn off for the other Jakhowls enough for them to start questioning Razor themselves.
But now we have a big problem. A tyrant is preparing for a war he can't win and his stupidity and stubbornness is going to get himself and his entire tribe killed! I swear, it is feeling more and more like there is going to be a "prophecy twist" and Razor himself will turn out to be the "greatest threat" to the Jakhowls, which Springer needs to defeat and become the new king. This is feeling like a blast from the past, just like how Sharp Paw defeated Strong Strike to become chief. I have a feeling this kyosongsai is going to be the climax of the story, and I can't wait to watch Springer kick Razor's ass!
Speaking of Sharp, his brief appearance here as a vision to help Springer was nicely done. In a way, it seemed like both Springer and Mirage got help from their parents from beyond the grave. Those two basically seem perfect for each other at this rate.
At first, I was wondering why Sirius didn't use his last words to tell everyone that Razor was the one who did this to him, but using the moment to comfort his daughter and pass leadership on to Springer was a nice touch instead. It is just too bad almost nobody else honored his last words and instead listened to Razor. I do wonder though, was that "you have your mother's eyes" comment a Harry Potter reference?
I haven't seen either of James Cameron's Avatar movies, but it feels like you heavily borrowed some elements from them.