//------------------------------// // Chapter 28 // Story: The Tome of Faust // by DungeonMiner //------------------------------// The far side of the mountain was much easier on him. Being able to simply jump down each ledge was a nice change from the climbing he had to do. Now normally, Ghost would immediately think about how this meant that his pursuers would also be close behind with the easier going, but the shortcut that he had found through Cinder’s cave was the edge he needed to stay ahead, even if he did pick up a passenger. The egg was carefully nestled across his back, wrapped in all the cloaks that Ghost had found on his way out of Cinder’s cave. The cradle of wool held the egg safely as Ghost made his way down the mountain, making good time. He might even be back down to the plains by sundown. Moving carefully down a few more stones, Ghost smiled. “Well, buddy, there we are, Equestria. It’s going to get warmer now, once we get out of the mountains and away from the snow, it’ll really feel like Spring.” The egg said nothing, like it normally did. He didn’t know why he started talking to the egg. It just felt nice and natural to talk to it, but that could be because the last two conversations he had with someone he liked resulted in them dying horrible deaths. It was nice to talk to someone who wasn’t going to judge him, murder him, or die suddenly. “The question is do we continue on to Canterlot from here or not?” Ghost asked the egg. “I was thinking about going back there, but I wouldn’t be very welcome there. I killed a few ponies there.” The egg was silent. “I don’t know where else we could go. Baltimare is a long way away, and there’s a guard there that knows what I am and she won’t like me being there. Manehatten and Fillydelphia are even further away, and Manehatten is just as dangerous. Besides, I don’t know if they’d take to a dragon egg either.” Ghost sighed. “Maybe we should just find somewhere out in the wild,” Ghost said. “It’s not really what I want to do, but I’ll do it if I have to.” The egg didn’t comment one way or the other. Ghost sighed again. “Yeah, we might just have to find someplace in the wild. Alright, come on, let’s head South.” Making sure that the egg was secure on his back, he continued, climbing down the mountainside with care. A shadow passed over him. He dived for cover, hiding beneath a stone to shade him as he checked the sky. He scanned the expanse above him, searching for any sign of the pegasus that was hunting him. Did they send him ahead to scout? Did they find the cave too? Where they right behind him? It was just a large bird. Ghost sighed. “I know...I know...I’m jumpy, but it’s better jumpy than dead.” The egg didn’t respond. “I’m glad you understand.” Another three days passed, and Ghost finally crossed the road heading to Canterlot, continuing South, along the eastern edge of the Smoky Mountains. They were making good time, according to what Ghost told the egg, even if they still didn’t have a real destination in mind. The more important thing was that they were still ahead of their pursuers, and that was the closest thing they had to freedom. Checking the sun, which was surrounded by thick, heavy, grey clouds, and seeing it hang low on the horizon, Ghost decided it was time to begin setting up a camp for the night, and perhaps find some shelter to sleep under. Those clouds spoke of rain, and a lot of it, perhaps the first spring storm for the year. Looking around, Ghost tried to find a place to rest, while also searching for signs of the hunters. A few times Mouse had sworn he had seen a high flying pegasus once or twice above them, and Ghost’s paranoia was running high. If the pegasus was searching for him, then they were still on his trail, and still searching for him. There didn’t seem to be any ponies around, but unlike up on the mountain, they could sneak up on him without putting their lives in danger. “No fire tonight,” Ghost said, “the warmth would be nice, but we’re too open here, and we’d be too easy to spot.” The egg didn’t complain. Finally, he found a stone ledge at the foot of the mountains that would serve quite nicely. He slid underneath the stone, cradling the egg in his arms as he squeezed beneath it. The stone was low off the ground, half-a-pony-tall at the highest. Ghost laid still, deeper underneath the stone with his back against the stone, before he did his best to get comfortable. “There...we should be hard to spot down here,” Ghost told the egg, before he reached into his bag for some more road rations. “This is out of the way enough that we’re easy to miss, and once it gets dark we’ll be very hard to see,” he said, draping his black cloak around himself. Staring at the purple egg in his hooves, Ghost sighed. “We’ll make it out of here, buddy. We’ll find someplace to hide, and then...then you’ll be more free than I have ever been.” The egg didn’t reply. Ghost sighed, and set the egg by his head, staring at the smooth, violet surface of the egg. The round, almost glossy shell was nearly smooth enough to his own reflection, although, that was much harder in the shade of the stone, and harder still in the twilight outside. He took another breath, exhaled, and simply said. “Goodnight, buddy.” The egg said nothing, but Ghost liked to think that it wished him the same. With his eyes closed, he slowly began to slip into unconsciousness, with only the distant rumble of thunder to sing him to sleep. When Ghost woke, it was quiet, cold, and wet. He shivered, realizing that he was laying in a puddle of water, and that the rain had not simply passed by in the night. Just outside was the downpour, the source of the flooding and cold that assaulted him. Large, fat raindrops fell in thick sheets, reducing visibility to a few yards in any direction, and the world was the color of grey rainclouds. More importantly, his shelter was filling with water, and he might drown if he stayed here. Grabbing the egg, Ghost rolled out from under stone and into the open, where there wasn’t as great a threat of drowning. “That’s some storm,” he told the little egg, even though he could hardly hear himself over the rain. He suddenly smiled. “This’ll be good cover, our hunters would never be able to see us through this. It’s the perfect time to mov—” An arrow shot past his open mouth, coming so close that Ghost could taste the fletching. Spinning around, Ghost could just barely see the figures of the earth pony and the unicorn silhouetted in the rain. “How did they—?” A moment later, and the earth pony closed the distance, bringing his massive, spell-eating blade down in a sweeping motion that threatened to split Ghost from his legs. Ghost rushed forward, shoulder-checking the earth pony mid-swing, and sending the attack flying harmlessly into space. There was a crack, and the tumbling stones of a rockslide began to roll down the mountain after him. “That has to be the work of the unicorn,” Ghost thought. Before he began running away from the mountains, even as stone as large as bread loaves began to slap into the mud around him. “He’s running!” The earth pony yelled, barely audible over the rain. Another arrow shot at him through the rain, zipping past him at terrible speeds. Another arrow flew above him, barely missing the egg. Cursing, Ghost grabbed the egg as he ran, cradling it in the nook of one arm as he blindly careened into the rain. “I’m sorry buddy, I know it's cold in there, but it’s better than out here right now!” he said, before he slipped the egg into his bag, hoping that the egg would come out without being harmed. Another crack as, one of the stones around him that made the foothills shattered, sounded above him, and Ghost lept sideways to avoid the granite that came crashing down on where he was standing a second ago. “They’re playing a little harder than they were in the forest,” Ghost thought, continuing to run blindly through the hills. His hoof suddenly sank an inch into mud before it hit hard ground, and he slid forward, losing his balance and tumbling head over heels, before landing hard on his back. He landed hard, but kept his breath, rolling back around to run before an arrow landed in the mud in front of him. If he had been standing, he’d be dead. Pushing the arrow to the side, he rushed ahead, moving at an angle from his original path, trying to escape without being hurt. Another spell, another arrow, and Ghost kept running, pushing through the foothills. He should have seen this coming. He should have. He was too out in the open, he needed to be better hidden than that! Why hadn’t he been more careful? And that’s when it hit him, a stroke of genius that solved all his problems in a single move. It was the one place he could go to hide, the one place where he wouldn’t be bothered, the place that's far enough away that no one would bother him, but close enough that he could still spend his bits. The Dark Wood. He’d been in there a few times now, with the help of the Company, he knew how to make his way through it. It wasn’t even that bad, but it was bad enough that it’d scare these hunters off. It was the perfect place to hide. All he had to do now was escape. He ducked around the corner of the stone, trying to hide so that the hunters would pass him by. He quickly weaved his invisibility spell around him, shimmering out of existence. “That’s not going to work this time!” the earth pony yelled, as his blade came swinging down on to the stone just above him. The second before the blade hit the stone, Ghost realized his mistake. The rain was pelting against him, landing against his invisible body, leaving trails of water floating in the air. Of course his invisibility wasn’t going to work out here. He dove into the mud, sliding across the ground and under the swinging attacks of the earth pony, leaving a long, brown trail behind him. The earth pony was on him in a flash, bringing down the blade, only for it to cut deep into the mud, spraying wet earth into the air as Ghost rolled out of the way. Another arrow flew past him, and the unicorn’s spell exploded the rock beside him, turning the boulder into a rockslide. Casting his own bolt spell at the rocks, breaking his concentration on the invisibility as magic slammed into the stone and rocks, sending them flying into the air in a blast of magic. Glowing sparks filled the air alongside arrows, and the hungry steel of the earth pony’s sword, all baying for his blood. Ghost was caught in the middle of it, leaping and dodging out of the way at every opportunity, but found little. As another blade strike came down on him, Ghost shot backwards, hugging the earth pony before he drew a dagger up against him. In that single moment, the dynamic changed. The earth pony shot back, swinging his sword and using its reach, keeping his distance from the unicorn while another spell cracked the stone around him. “Listen, buddy,” the earth pony said, holding his sword out in front of him, “we want you alive, but we will fill you with arrows if we need to. Don’t make this harder on yourself.” “Well you’re doing an awful job,” Ghost yelled over the rain, holding out his dagger as the unicorn and the pegasus began to close the distance. “We were told to bring you in, so that’s what we’re going to do. Whether or not you have hole in you is your choice.” Ghost’s eyes glanced around the rain, against the wall of grey that cut his visibility. He needed to do something soon, or he’d be up again all three of the hunters, and he doubted he would get away from all of them through the rain. Even his invisibility wasn’t going help. At least, not when he was close, if he could get some distance, then maybe he could hide the water falling of his side. But he needed distance, and he couldn’t get it now. The shadows of the other two hunters were starting to materialize around him. He didn’t have much time. He’d had to try something, anything, to get away now, or he might be going back to jail. He grit his teeth. “So are you surrendering, then? Will you come along quietly?” Ghost reached into his bag, his magic covered by the dagger he still held before him. “I’m listening, but that won’t last long if I don’t like what I hear.” “We’re hired to take you back to—” The old, earth pony shortsword, the very first weapon Ghost ever had streaked through the air between them, flying, point-first, directly toward the earth pony hunter. He ducked, raising his blade to his defence, cursing. The blades clanged against each other, and the shortsword went spinning into the air before the hunter slipped back into a fighting stance. By Ghost was already running. “Oh, sard it!” he yelled. “He’s running again!” The pegasus fired again, but Ghost was already casting his invisibility again. “Stop that spell!” the earth pony cried. “With what?” the unicorn asked as their quarry disappeared. The earth pony swore, before he tossed his blade to the ground. “Sard it all!” By the time Ghost reached the Dark Wood, another two days had passed. Ghost smiled as he saw the gnarled, twisted trunks of the black oak and black birch trees. The canopy of the trees was already growing to fullness, and the leaves offered a nice, cool shade. Ghost smiled as he looked back at the egg on his back. “Well, buddy, we’re here. The Dark Woods.” The egg didn’t reply, as usual. “Of course, we’re on the wrong side of the wood, but getting across shouldn’t be too hard. The important thing is that we’ll have some decent cover, so that pegasus won’t find us again.” Ghost looked back at the egg, before sliding it off his back and into his hooves. It was still warm, and, to the best of his ability, Ghost did not see any sign that it's short time in the bag did it any harm, but he wasn't fully sure that it hadn’t been hurt. The fact that it could not tell him only made it worse. “Hey, don’t worry, buddy. We'll get through this. We'll cut through the North of the wood, just deep enough that we'll be safe. Then we'll find a place to settle. How does that sound?” The egg’s untouched shell stared back at him. “Yeah, I  like the way that sounds, too.” Returning the egg to the perch on his back, Ghost began to push forward into the darkness of the Dark Wood. The old, twisted trees stood tall in the wood, and the canopy of thick leaves choked the light. Leaves crunched beneath Ghost’s hooves, and the thick undergrowth tried to swallow him whole. It was so thick, he almost wished he hadn't thrown the shortsword, it would have served him much better if he could use it to cut a path for himself. For now, he just had to push forward on his own. As he pushed deeper and deeper into the brush beneath the yawning leaves, the snap of twigs and vines beneath him rang loudly in Ghost’s ear. It was far, far too loud and his heart panged in agony every time he heard it. The only good news was that sound didn’t tend to travel in forests. The leaves and twigs that he was snapping with every step were being deaded against the floor and trunks of the black trees. He couldn’t have been noticed. There was no way anything knew he was there. That’s what he told himself anyway. “We’ll be fine, buddy. There’s nothing out here other than some gnomes.” He paused a moment. “...and some Timberwolves, but I know how to deal with them.” A deep, throaty growl surrounded him. Ghost froze. His eyes carefully moved to the left, searching first his right side, then his left. A large, feline body with a brilliant, crimson mane glared at him from the darkness. Ghost stayed silent, watching as the large beast glared at him with yellow, hungry eyes. A large, spiny, chitinous tail swung into view, with a large, poisonous barb on the end of it, like a scorpions. Ghost took a deep breath. And then the monster’s wings pushed the branches around it aside, revealing its full form. The Manticore glared down at him, and Ghost was once again reminded that he was not a large pony. He shot forward, and the Manticore roared. Ghost’s hooves were pounding as he tried to weave between the trees, trying to slow his pursuer down, but the feline body was used to this environment, and ran through them just as easily. Left, right, left, right, zigzagging through the forest as quickly as his hooves could take him. The beast roared again, just behind him, gliding through the woods, never losing ground. A claw swiped at Ghost, catching the end of his cloak and tearing it to shreds as it slipped through the Manticore's claws. Ghost focused on breathing, hoping that he could run fast enough to tire the beast, before a massive blur shot past him and buried itself into a tree. A foot-long spike, and half his hoof wide, sat stuck into the bark of the tree. Another quickly followed, slamming into another, while a third bounced into a boulder, shattering into pieces as it hit the stone. “It can throw spines? Since when is that fair?” Ghost thought as he pushed forward, trying to lose the terrible beast. Suddenly the thundering of terrible wings roared behind him, and he glanced back to see the gaping, lion’s maw ready to consume him utterly. He ducked under the manticore and turned, changing direction to give himself a precious few seconds between them. Ghost had nearly made up twice the distance in the time it took for the monster to turn, but even as that thought comforted him, the monster was already digging its claws into the ground to make up for it. Ghost had nearly lost all sense of direction as his mind raced for a way to lose his newest predator, his breathing not even coming close to covering the sound of the snapping jaws and the terrible growling behind him. The trees weren’t enough, he needed more to get away. Something that would put as much distance as possible between him and the beast, but what else was there? The trees weren’t working, and his invisibility spell wouldn’t work too well against something that could smell him, he needed some— He came screeching to a halt as his hooves slid against bare stone. A massive ravine, a deep wound in the earth that opened into darkness. It would be a long and deadly fall, but more importantly, it would be a very short and deadly time admiring it, if he didn’t move. Dropping to the floor, the Manticore shot above him, pouncing over the unicorn as he flattened himself against the stone. The beast sailed over him, wings spread as it caught the air, and slammed into the ravine wall on the opposite side of the assassin, before it pulled itself up. Ghost didn’t see this, however. He didn’t see this because all he saw was the egg, knocked out of its cradle on his back, and tumbling out over the abyss. A panicked yelp escaped his lips, even as his magic grabbed the egg in the air. The manticore roared, wings spread, before its tail swung around, and another quill-like spine shot toward Ghost. The assassin barely saw it, and just managed to roll halfway out of its way. It ripped his skin all down his right side, and he growled in pain as he got back up onto his hooves. He immediately turned, and ran, down along the ravine, glancing back at the beast as he hovered the egg closer to him. The Manticore ran alongside him, with only the ravine separating them. The beast’s claws raked the stone, and it roared in ragged breaths, gaining on him faster and faster as Ghost bled from both his sides. Thinking quickly, Ghost brought his focus into his bolt spell, and with a quick flick, the magic shot forward, slamming into the monster’s side. It didn’t even slow down, rushing beside him even as mana burned it side. It’s fury and hunger overwhelming the pain. The manticore pounced, wings spread as it leaped across the ravine, and pinned Ghost to the floor. He slid across the ground, the egg falling from his grasp as sharp, curved claws dug into his back. He yelled into the stone and dirt beneath him, and quickly, by every reaction he had ever learned, drew his daggers from his bag. The lion’s hind legs began to kick, shredding his back before Ghost began stabbing into the beast’s side, reaching behind him with his magic to attack the flanks. Ripping, tearing and stabbing went on for a short second, before the beast lept back, growling in pain. Ghost got up, brandishing his weapons, and screamed, answering the roar with his own. They glared at each other for a moment, Ghost still bleeding from his shredded back, before the Manticore backed away, glaring back at him as he began to back away. Maybe it was going to wait for him to bleed out, and become easier prey, or perhaps it was to lick his own wounds, Ghost didn’t know, he just held his blades up, and stared the monster in the eyes. He didn’t break eye contact until it had slipped away, deeper into forest. Ghost took a long breath, before sheathing his blades. “I’m sorry, buddy, I’m sure you didn’t like that fa—” Ghost found himself staring at empty ground. “Buddy? Buddy? Buddy where are you?” He began shoving the underbrush by him aside, searching the leaves for any sign of the violet egg. “Buddy? Buddy, where’d you go?” He stumbled, losing strength as blood oozed down his leg. “Did...did you fall back here?” he asked aloud, panic rising in his voice as the obvious answer hovered in the back of his head. “You fell over here right? Not even a foot off the ground, and into soft dirt and leaves right?” He didn’t see the egg. “Come on! You’re right here, right? Right?” he checked behind him. Maybe he threw it behind him when he was pounced. Nothing. Forward. “You’re up here right! You have to be!” He was seeing stars across his vision, and darkness was slowly beginning to encroach around him. “You have to be here! You have to be!” There was no egg. With the last, feeble, tunnels of his vision, Ghost turned to the ravine. “No...No, no, no…” he fell to his knees, too weak to stand. “No...no...no…” And then the world went black. “So this is it, huh?” Cedar’s accusing voice growled. “This is it! My murderer is lying here, killed by a beast, slowly bleeding to death!” Ghost didn’t even answer. “But you know what’s worse? What’s the worse thing about this?” the ghost yelled. “For one moment, one moment you were doing something good with your life. You were taking care of an egg. An egg! The easiest thing in the world to take care of, and you couldn’t do that!” Ghost didn’t answer. “You’ve been selling yourself like you’re some kind of herald of death, some master assassin, but here you are, losing blood after watching the one good thing to happen to you for weeks, fly into the abyss.” Ghost felt the darkness around him get darker, somehow. “You’ve been calling yourself a ghost, but you’re no ghost. You were barely a pony to begin with.” The last words Ghost heard as the deep recesses of his mind shut down were simply, “You’re nothing.”