They had another job.
Up north, by the Unicorn Range in the Great Galloping Gorge, a terrible beast was plaguing the people of a nearby town that lay on the way to nearby Vanhoover. A terrible beast with a head of a great cat, a goat, and a terrible snake for a tail. “The chimera must fall, or be sent back to the Dark Wood,” Cedar ordered.
If only it were so simple.
Spring was just around the corner, and though the weather was getting warmer, it still froze on some nights, which was most certainly not ideal for travel. Still, this is where Mouse found himself, sitting by the side of the road, in a tent that was a touch small for two, trying to keep the morning frost at bay.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon, and the ground was wet with melting frost. It offered no protection, and sapped his strength away, even as Storm, who had not yet gotten his armor on, poked and prodded last night’s fire back to life. Mouse climbed up, miserable for the dew that took every ounce of warmth from him, and sat next to the now-revived coals. “Mornen…” Mouse muttered.
“Morning,” Storm answered, enunciating as he always did.
“What’s breakfast?” Mouse asked, pulling his wineskin to wash the taste of the road out of his mouth.
“Rations, as per the usual,” Storm answered.
Mouse groaned.
“Oh, stop it,” he scolded. “This is a good breakfast. Besides, we’ll be approaching Splithoof soon, and we should be able to have a few pickings of their winter wheat fields.”
“It’s not the food, Storm. It’s the travel. If we had been going to the Dark Wood, we would have been back by now.”
“Oh? Yearn for a warm, comfortable bed do you? I’m sorry, I thought you were for the adventure,” the pegasus responded, sarcastically.
“I signed up for a job,” Mouse grumbled to himself.
“And this is a part of that job,” Storm said, as he readied a pan to begin warming the hardtack they had been living off of for the past two weeks now. “No job is without difficulties, and no task is without suffering. This is one of the most important lessons I ever learned.”
Mouse sighed, before he sat down at the fire, waiting for his food and warming his bones by the fire.
As he sat and waited, his eyes were gradually drawn over to the cutie mark that sat one Storm’s flank, a shining shield and a bundle of cloth. Normally covered by his armor, this was probably one of the few times Mouse had seen the full mark, and now that he had seen it, his curiosity had been peaked.
The shield made sense enough, he was a fighter, a protector, and whatever other nonsense came with such a martial mark. No, it was the cloth that really caught his eye. What did that mean? Did he have a calling for polishing armor? For upkeep? If so was adventuring around just his way of wearing the armor down so he could repair it again? If not then why was he here and not back at the Canterlot branch helping the smith? And while we’re on the subject…
“How many Darkwood Company branches are there?” Mouse asked.
Storm didn’t even look up from his pan. “Three. One in Canterlot, one on the border of the Darkwood, in a small hamlet called Trotden, and one in Manehatten.”
“Is that why we’re doing this? Because there’s no Vanhoover branch?” Mouse asked.
“Not yet,” Storm said, flipping one of the hardtack pieces as it began to grow darker and crispier. “No, Cedar’s actually been working on opening up a Vanhoover branch.”
“So that’s why we’ve been sent…” Mouse muttered. “We’re here to convince them we’re a worthwhile investment.”
“We’re here,” Storm said. “Because protecting ponies is the right thing to do. If we manage to convince the city that we’re worthwhile on the way there, well, that’s simply a bonus.”
Mouse nodded. “Well at least they make some sense.”
He went silent after that, and before long, he was eating his toasted, long-lasting hardtack, and back on the road again.
They moved as fast as they could, or at least, as fast as Mouse could, being burdened down by a tent, bedrolls, their rations, and the cutlery. Storm, meanwhile, walked beside him, dressed in his polished, but worn armor, and keeping an eye for trouble.
He was the more experienced fighter, he said, so he would watch for any sign of danger, while Mouse would carry the equipment, and unfortunately, Mouse would have to agree. He was used to catching the enemy by surprise. Quick attacks to vital, if sometimes hard to reach, areas on the body. Storm was better in a straight fight, though, that was clear to see. So, he kept watch, ready to attack, Mouse carried the camp, and he didn’t argue.
Storm, meanwhile, glared at the horizon with his steely-grey eyes and a practiced, prepared glare. His sword sat in it’s sheath, but it was ready to come out at a moment’s notice. He was the perfect image of combat readiness.
“Do you always wear a cloak?” he asked suddenly, nearly causing the smaller unicorn to leap out of his skin.
“What?”
“A cloak, do you always wear one?” Storm repeated. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without a cloak.”
Mouse opened his mouth to answer, to defend himself, before he suddenly began to question what was in need of defending. So what if he always wore cloaks? So what if he hadn’t stopped wearing a cloak since he started back when he picked his first off the dead cultist that tried to kill Princess Platinum.
“T-they’re warm,” he said simply.
“I’m sure they are,” Storm said. “I’m not saying such a thing is wrong, I’m just saying you should probably wash it is all.”
Mouse said nothing, but looked away with the slightest hint of shame creeping into his cheeks.
“I wouldn't worry about it right now, however. The wool will only stretch and become heavy. You’ll have to wait until we leave back for Canterlot.”
“You sound like an expert on the matter.”
Storm smiled. “I have some experience with it.”
“Experience?” Mouse asked.
“I was a squire,” Storm explained. “I worked for a knight when I was young. He taught me everything I know, including how to take care of a woolen cloak.”
“A squire? And wait, isn’t the knight the Unicornian thing?”
Storm smirked. “It is a Unicornian thing, yes,” he said, keeping his eyes open. “A squire is a knight in training, brought up by the knight so that he could learn the proper care of arms, armor, and how to fight. Like I said, my lord taught me everything I know.”
Mouse furrowed his brow. “So...how did a pegasus become a squire to a knight?”
“That’s…” Storm began. “That’s a long story…”
“Well, we have the time,” Mouse pointed out.
Storm didn’t answer.
“Storm?”
“I’ll...I’ll tell you later, alright, Mouse?”
Mouse blinked, surprised.
Well, well. It almost sounded like Cedar’s golden boy had a few secrets himself. That was most interesting.
And possibly something that he could exploit.
Storm didn’t say a word all the way up to the gorge. Not a hint about what he knew, not a word about how he had become a squire, just constantly bringing up the chimera and the best way to attack it. Mouse had heard the same speech about attacking the beast from both sides to be as safe as possible at least eight times, but not a word on what he wanted to hear.
Now it was too late. They were in the gorge, where snow still clung to the shadowed depths of the deep gouge that ran through the earth. The sun was just beginning to peak over the lip of the gorge, and noon daylight finally dawned in the bottom of the gorge.
“Remember, we attack from the side,” Storm said again.
“I heard you,” Mouse said, before they began to move.
The crunch of the the snow beneath their hooves was the only sound in the gorge as they moved, weapons drawn, towards the northern end of the gorge.
“Well, there’s good news, anyway,” Storm muttered under his breath. “It looks like we won’t need to deal with any Quarry Eels.”
“What?” Mouse asked.
“Massive, land-based eels that dig into the sides of gorges. There are a bunch in Ghastly Gorge south of the Dark Wood,” Storm explained. “Nasty things.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Mouse muttered.
As they kept moving forward slowly, keeping their approach cautious, Mouse kept his eyes on the walls, and his ears peaked for any sign of the chimera.
Silence practically echoed off the walls of the ravine, showing no sign of the monster as Mouse kept pushing forward. Then he heard it, a terrible, leonine roar shook the walls, shaking a few pebbles loose that quickly tumbled and rattled down into the snowy floor below.
Storm looked over to him, before he pushed himself into the air, hooves gripping the long-handled blade.
Mouse followed behind.
As they kept moving more and more signs of the chimera appeared. First came the tracks. Large paws and split hooves crisscrossed along the snow, leaving little doubt that the chimera had been using the gorge as a stomping ground for a few months at least. After that, there were a few stones, scratched by large horns, and powerful claws, along with a few shed snake skins.
It wasn’t until they got to the bones that Mouse was really beginning to worry. Gnawed bones littered the gorge floor now, ranging in size from the sucked-clean mouse skull to ribs longer than Mouse’s foreleg.
How much did this thing eat anyway?
Looking ahead, they finally caught sight of where the Chimera had been. A wide open cave sat in the wall of the gorge, surrounded by bone totems and the stench of rotting meat. For a second, Mouse wondered if the Chimera was still in the cave, before he heard his answer.
“Shut up! Shut up the both of you!” a voice roared from the cave. “I can’t take another word out of you two!”
“I will be heard!” another, deep masculine voice shouted. “We are staying here!”
“We need to move on! There is nothing more here! We head into the pony town and wipe them out!”
“You’re going to get us all killed.”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
Storm hovered close. “Sounds like their having an argument. We can use this to cover the sound of our approach, so we can get the upper hand.”
Mouse nodded, trying not to show that he already thought of that.
Mouse got low, coming around toward the cave in a wide arc to better cover his approach. The arguing continued on, growling, roaring and hissing at each other as the pair of ponies got closer. “Those ponies are in our territory! They’re good food! They should be ours!”
“I’m not leaving! I refuse!”
“Shut up the both of you!”
“You just don’t want to leave because I want to!”
“Not everything is about you!”
Mouse finally got to the mouth of the cave, and peeked in. A massive creature, part lion, part goat, with a tail of a snake paced along the back of the cave, which seemed far more shallow than its mouth would suggest.
The tail was wrapped around itself, as though it were covering its ears, while its eyes were screwed shut. Meanwhile, facing away from the cave mouth, the lion and goat continued their argument. “Ponies make good food,” argued the lion head. “Better than the deer and rabbits we normally get. Besides, serves them right for coming into our territory.”
“And I don’t want to leave!” the goat shouted back.
Mouse looked over to Storm, who was gauging the beast still.
The lion head roared again, only for the goat head to ram it, butting it's massive horns and thick skull against its feline brother. The skulls audibly clacked together as bone hit bone, and the snake shivered as it felt the impact travel down their shared spine.
Storm motioned forward.
Mouse and Storm both began to inch forward into the cave, closer to the chimera, one to each side. Storm hovered over the bone-riddled floor, while Mouse moved from stone to stone and cover to cover.
The chimera roared and head-butted itself again, and again the snake shook as the blow traveled down its body. It bared its fangs angrily, hissing with fury, before it suddenly shot up. “Stop it! Stop it both you, I...I…”
It stared, blinking, up at Storm.
“Intruder!” The snake suddenly yelled, and both lion and goat head snapped to attention and spun itself around to face the armored pegasus.
“See?” the goat asked. “We don't need to go anywhere to find delicious ponies.”
The lion said nothing, but its eyes did narrow, and its teeth were bared.
Mouse cursed, and bolted from his cover, rushing the chimera’s side. The goat head grinned, and lowered its horns, leaving Mouse with the option to stop, of be impaled on the long, straight horns of the ram.
Skidding to a halt, Mouse tried to stab down on the chimera's side, only for the goat head to turn, reach, and parry with its massive horns.
The snake also raised up, hissing with venom dripping from its wide, open, angry mouth. It struck at him, forcing Mouse back at a distance.
Storm charged from above, using the world-famous martial prowess of the pegasi against the beast, but it swiped with powerful lion claws, and bit down with terrifying power. Storm’s longsword gave him the reach advantage, and by sticking closer to the flank, he was safe from the lion’s deadly bite.
Storm brought his blade down on the chimera's flank, and all three heads roared in pain before the snake turned, striking at Storm with its superior reach.
Mouse saw the opening, and moved back in, staying close to the monster’s flank as it it tried to spin and face the pests head on. It wasn't enough, though, and Mouse got a good hit in.
Again, the chimera roared, and as it did, the goat head opened wide, revealing a warm, orange light in the back of its throat. Mouse blinked, before the heat forced him to leap away. A roaring jet of flame erupted from the goat’s mouth, singeing Mouse's fur, and burning a hole through his cloak.
“It breathes fire?” Mouse screamed, as the lion began to spew flame from its own mouth.
“Keep attacking!” Storm yelled.
“It breathes fire!” Mouse yelled back. “You never told me that it breathes fire!”
“Just keep hitting it!”
Mouse groaned, before he tried again, dodging the snake tail as it struck at him again. The snake hissed angrily, trying desperately to inject its terrible, and fatal venom into Mouse’s hide.
Storm attacked from the other side, bringing his blade down on the flank again, forcing the snake to change its focus to the armored pegasus, giving Mouse an opening once again. Dodging the angry horns of the goat head, he dived for the chimera’s flank, only for a gout of flare to leap out of its mouth, and engulf the unicorn.
“Mouse!” Storm cried, worry on his voice, before he brought his blade down on the snake head.
And then Mouse leapt from the flame, practically unharmed. His armor glinted and glowed with a slight red aura as the enchantment on the padded linen ate the flame whole. He swung his blade out, aiming for the goat head, growling. “Stop doing that!”
Storm blinked, surprised that Mouse was not only alive, but relatively unhurt, before he began his onslaught again. They both threw themselves at the chimera, staying as close as possible as it try to move away, tried to spin to get an angle on them, tried everything it could to bring the ponies down.
Blood gushed from the open flanks, pouring onto the ground making the stone slippery and wet. The ponies and monster all danced around each other, trying to save themselves from a dangerous fall as they went back and forth.
The terrible lion claws of the beast swiped wildly, catching Storm’s armor and throwing him to the ground, while the goat’s horn stabbed into Mouse’s shoulder, but his magic held strong, and now the creature’s neck was wide open.
A last mournful bleat escaped its mouth before the second head died, and now, with its body open in ways it had never imagined, and the blood it was losing from every side, the chimera was beginning to slow. It roared, screamed, and tried to take at least one of the ponies down with it, but it was far too late for that.
Mouse sighed.
He lifted his cloak from the stream, and frowned as he saw the massive holes that had been burned into it. It was ruined, and no amount of washing could save it. Sighing again, he folded what was left of the fabric and packed it in his bag before heading back to camp.
The camp sat just across the road from one of the fields of Splithoof. Storm had already spoken to the farmer, and had permission to use some of the oats at the corners of the fields, and was cooking some of those oates into a stew.
“Well, it’s ruined,” Mouse said, walking up to him.
“I’m sorry about that, Mouse, but honestly, I’m happy you’re alive,” Storm said, looking up from his pot at the unicorn dressed in a simple gambeson. “How did you afford that armor, though? That’s no small feat.”
“It was a gift,” Mouse said.
“A gift? That is quite the kingly gift.”
Well, it technically was a gift, just to himself from himself.
“It’s one I’m very thankful for,” Mouse said.
Storm nodded, and went back to his pot before his eyes shot up again. “You...you don’t have a cutie mark.”
Mouse shrugged. “No, I don’t.”
“I…” Storm began. “I...I never thought I’d meet another one.”
“Another one?” Mouse asked.
“I’m...I was much like you once,” Storm said.
Mouse blinked, now very confused.
“I didn’t have a cutie mark until a year ago myself. I…” he began, only to trail off, so shocked at the sight in front of him. “I never actually thought…”
“Storm? Are you alright?” Mouse asked.
“I...I need to tell you a story,” he said, more to himself than anyone else. “I need to tell you the story. Sit, sit, please.”
Mouse sat, confused.
Storm opened his mouth. “No. Not yet. I can’t yet.”
Mouse blinked. “Alright, Storm, you’re really starting to scare me now.”
The pegasus muttered to himself for a long second, before he sighed, and turned back to Mouse, his face as calm and collected as it had ever been. “Mouse, I cannot tell you now, but I want you to know, I understand.”
Mouse blinked. “Okay…”
And Storm didn’t bring it up again.
The moment they got back to Canterlot, Strom sent Mouse on his way, back to the Dark Wood Company building to give his report.
Ghost couldn’t believe his luck. Three jobs, and already his “mentor” already trusted him enough to deliver the message himself. It was the perfect opportunity for him to move, and kill Cedar. It was not a chance to pass up. He had to make the move now, or spend who knows how long on these life-threatening jobs until he was either killed, or found out.
He made it back to the company building, avoiding Polar and Copper, and made his way directly to Cedar’s office.
The second floor of the Dark Wood Company building has a small waiting room, attached to which was Cedar’s office. At any given time, this room was filled with a dozen ponies buying their services, and a dozen more teams returning from their own jobs. The constant flow of ponies coming in and out of the office was enough for Cedar to declare it as a business room only. Anything that wasn’t business was not to be discussed or even thought about being brought up in that room.
This wouldn’t be that big of a problem for Ghost if not for two things. The first was that all business typically was presented by the mentor of the team, which meant that unless Ghost was willing spend years rising through the ranks, or killing his mentor while out in the middle of nowhere, he wasn’t going to have an opportunity to get in. The other problem was that the office was the only he could get Cedar alone.
But now he had it. This stroke of sheer luck had delivered Cedar straight to his hooves. So, with a smile, Ghost walked straight up to Cedar’s office, and walked into Cedar’s office.
And met three ponies sitting around the desk.
“Oh, Mouse!” Cedar said. “Good to see you, these are the leaders of the other Company Branches. Gentlecolts, this is one of our latest recruits, Mouse. He just got back from a job. Where’s Storm?”
“He went into town,” Mouse said, “and left me to give the report.”
“Well, you’re just going to have to wait,” Cedar said, before motioning to the other ponies. “We have a lot of business to get to, and not enough time to do. I’ll take you tomorrow, alright?”
Mouse nodded. “Of course, I understand,” he said, before he stepped out of the room, mentally cursing the whole way.
It seemed luck was not with him again.
As he walked along, however, he soon saw Storm approaching him. “Mouse! Come here!”
Sighing, and doing his best to look like he wasn’t trying to kill his boss, he obeyed. ”Yes?”
“I got you this,” Storm said, before draping a fine linen cloak around Mouse’s withers. The royal blue cloak draped around him perfectly,and the gold trim caught the light in the hall of the second floor of the building.
Mouse blinked. “You...got me this?”
Storm nodded.
“But...isn’t this blue a really expensive dye?”
“Don’t worry about price. This is a gift.”
Mouse didn’t need to worry about price. He knew it this cloak cost a hundred and ten gold bits. He saw a similar one in Vanhoover.
“I...I…”
“Like I said, it’s a gift.”
And it was. It was an amazing gift. Better than one he could get himself.