//------------------------------// // Errant in the dark // Story: Derpy Hooves: Dragon Slayer // by Yellowcardpony //------------------------------// CHAPTER 6: Errant in the dark Along the mountain side at the base of the Castle of the Royal Sisters Balefren walked along the edge of the forest. Out here the trees were far more spread out allowing much more sunlight through. He was able to easily spot the many different kinds of plants that made up the forest floor. With the ingredient list floating next to him for reference his eyes searched up and down for matches. He felt much more comfortable being able to use his magic to assist him. It had only taken him a few moments before he captured the first two things on the list, but now he seemed to be having a harder time. He kept tragic thoughts of the past locked away as he focused hard on the search. He was fully aware of what else may be lurking around. Even though most things he could think of no longer seemed to be as frightening as the ordeal he had just been through, he still remembered Delphina Ray’s words to never let his guard down. The small trail came to a halt at the edge of a steep ravine. There was a small wooden bridge held together by rope spanning the distance. Balefren stopped just short and took a closer look. The bridge seemed to be in good shape; he wondered who could have possibly taken the time to build it? The wooden planks seemed to be freshly cut with no signs of wear or weathering, the only explanation he could think of was that the imps must have done it. Although they didn’t seem like the engineering type. Balefren decided he would continue on without crossing the bridge for now. The thought of a suspended rope bridge was bad enough, let alone on of mysterious origin and status. He turned astride the edge of the gorge and continued his search. *** As far as the white unicorn could tell, he must have been out in the woods for about an hour. He had gathered all the ingredients Delphina had listed on the sheet, with the exception of one. The final ingredient was a purple flower with blue highlights called ‘creeping death’. “Who comes up with these names?” he said aloud as he tucked away the scroll. He was sure he would not have a hard time spotting it. So far he had just followed the edge of the thickets and found the other ingredients. After a few more minutes of following the tree line, he reluctantly decided he would need to head into denser areas in search of the flower. Finding a spot that seemed to have a little gap, Balefren slowly made his way in. Stepping between the trees the difference in the forest became apparent right away. Light began to fade as shadows covered his path; cool moist air filled the void between the trees. It felt so strange and unnatural as he moved through it. Balefren was just reconsidering his decision to go into the undergrowth when he spotted a bush with many little purple flowers. With excitement he trotted over quickly and pulled a few of the flowers with his magic. He stopped just long enough to examine one of them to confirm it was the creeping death. Hastily he tucked it into the saddle bag and turned to go back. He took only a few steps before a unnerving chill went up his spine. “Why do you pick my flowers?” a voice said. Balefren froze in his tracks and looked around quickly to see who was speaking. He looked to the left and right then around in a full circle, but he could not see anyone. He stood for a moment unmoving and unsure how to respond. After a minute of silence, he started to walk again. “Stop,” the voice said again. Balefren froze once more. He was sure the voice was coming from in front of him, but he could not see anyone. He cautiously looked up into the trees for signs of someone hiding above, but he did not see any. “Who are you?” he asked, as he took another step towards the clearing. “I am the ghost of the forest,” the voice said. “Take another step and I will punish you.” As it spoke he felt something push on him as if someone shoved him. Balefren stood firm, not quite convinced. The voice was feminine and sounded pretty young, it didn’t evoke any kind of fear. “Ghost?” he questioned as he looked around again. “Of this forest,” replied the disembodied voice. “How can a forest have a ghost?” he said thinking out loud. “I’m a ghost in the forest,” “Ok, that makes more sense,” Balefren reasoned. “Can I go now?” “No!” came an angered reply. “Look if you’re not going to kill me or slime me, or whatever ghosts do, can I just go?” he said feeling irritated at the invisible threat. “I demand a sacrifice for taking my flowers,” the voice said. “I don’t really have a lot,” Balefren said lying, but after a moment of thinking he realized he didn’t have anything other than what Derpy had given him. “In your bag,” the voice said. “Look I picked several different flowers, I don’t think giving them back as a sacrifice to take other flowers is very reasonable." “What else you got?” the voice snipped. Balefren felt a force open up the other side of the bags, the side he hadn’t used to fill with herbs. Was he being shaken down by a spirit? He wondered. “Not sure what’s in there,” he said honestly. He hadn’t even thought there might be something in the bag. It only took a split second for a few carrots and slice of bread to be lifted in the air. Now getting a sense where his target may be, Balefren spun suddenly and kicked hard in the direction the food was hovering. Unfortunately his hooves did not connect with anything. “This will do,” the voice said with a laugh now a farther distance away. “What does a ghost need with food?” he reasoned. “Why did I have food in the bag?” he added talking to himself. “You may pass weirdo, but be warned these are my woods!” the voice said as it faded into the distance. Not wanting to argue, the unicorn quickly made his way back into the clearing. The strange encounter was making him feel more unnerved now that it was over then when it was happening. As he ran back up the hill toward the castle ruins, he couldn’t help but wonder what just happened, and why was there so much food in his bag? Regardless he had all the herbs Delphina had requested and from the looks in the sky, night was nearing. *** “Delphina Ray!” Balefren yelled as he entered the castle ruins. He stood for a moment as he listened to his voice echo through the ruined chambers. He realized that he didn’t really remember his way around the decaying building and he had no idea where Delphina was setting things up. He was about to call out again when he heard a grunt from behind him. Turning around quickly the unicorn found himself face to face with the grey pegasus. She stood glaring at him with a dagger between her teeth. She tossed the knife down to the ground where it stuck between a crack in the floor. “I let it slide earlier because of the situation we were in,” she scolded. “But I told you not to call me by that name in the open.” “Sorry,” Balfren replied thinking back to her instructions. “I didn’t think it mattered with no one else around.” “The ears have walls,” Delphina said as she turned and began to head towards a twisting stairway. “You mean walls have ears,” Balefren corrected as he started to follow. “Who would be listening in around here?” “Remember what happened in Ponyville, my true name gets around quick,” Delphina said. “Did you get the things I sent you out for?” “Yes I did, Del… Derpy,” Balefren said correcting himself. “I got it all in my bag here.” Derpy paused for a moment on the stairs to look back at the unicorn as he opened the saddle bag showing an assortment of plants and herbs. She nodded pleased, as she began to trot up the stairs quickly. “Follow me, hurry we are losing daylight,” she called back. Balefren sped up as he started up the stairs. He reached the top just to time to see Derpy’s blonde tail fade into a room just around the corner. Following he stuck his head into the doorway of the room. Inside was a large stone slab that was now serving as a table. On top of the slab was an assortment of mental cans, glass jars and tubes. Ignoring the confused look on Balefren’s face, Derpy quickly moved around and pushed a large pot over to the edge of the stone table. “Here, put that stuff in here,” she instructed as she picked up an ashy grey rock and placed it in a small tin and slid it under a makeshift rack where several glass jars sat. Balefren did as he was instructed and placed all the plants he had gathered into the pot. “So what is this?” he asked curiously. Derpy reached over and slide the pot back towards the middle of the table. At the same time she retrieved a small canteen. “Should be enough water left,” she commented to herself as she undid the flask top and began to poor the water in the tin with the grey rock. “Can you make a spark by this pan, Vivid?” Balefren took a step forward but stopped not sure what she meant. Seeing the unsure look on his face she quickly corrected. “With magic, a spark you might use to start a fire,” He nodded and with a faint glow of his horn a small burst of flame leapt to life in the base of the tin can. “I didn’t do…” he said startled. “Thank you,” Delphina said cutting him off. “You ignited the gas that is being produced from the reaction of the water and the rock.” “Oh,” Balefren said acting like he knew what she was talking about. He watched with curious eyes as the small orange flame seemed to burn just above the top of the can, as if by magic. Next Delphina separated the ingredients placed half in one of the jars above the small flame, and the rest in the other jar next to it. “Just add a little water to these,” she said pouring a little more water from the flask into each jar. “Are you making soup?” Balefren asked. Derpy laughed at the question as she produced a little bag and poured a ashy looking substance into each jar. “Just watch, can you give me that stick?” With his horn glowing orange the wooden stick that was laid out on the table floated over and into Delphina’s grasp. She took it carefully and swiftly stirred up each jar one after the other. Balefren watched in amazement as what was clearly green plants and flowers suddenly began to turn into a white paste. Before he could ask what was going on, small bubbles began to rise from the jars. After a few seconds the bubbles started to become much bigger and float into the air. It reminded Balefren of a foal's toy for making bubbles out of soap. “How do you know how to make stuff like that?” Balefren asked then paused uneasily as something came to him. He felt a shiver go up his spine as he answered his own question. “You’re an alchemist.” Delphina looked up from her brew long enough to give the unicorn a grin. “And your cutie mark,” Balefren continued as his realization grew. “It’s bubbles from making up potions and things.” It all made sense now seeing things in this context, why had he overlooked something like that before? He had seen strange pots and things in Derpy’s house and had not given any thought. “Yes you are correct,” Delphina said as she removed the makeshift spoon from the jar. “And since the imps spilled all our bags and lost my potions, I figured I should make some more.” “Yes they spilled all our stuff around,” Balefren lied as he thought of himself in the night throwing the saddle bags about trying to fend off the attackers. “And after seeing the power of your light spell, I knew I had to capture its essence, so I sent you to get the things I needed,” Delphina explained. “Can you be a dear and move those two jars over there to cool?” Balefren nodded and with magic lifted both jars and gently placed them down on the cool stone slab. Before Delphina could ask, he turned his attention to the small can that still burned below. With a quick thought his magic choked out the flame. “How do you make fire with a rock?” he asked curious as he looked into the small tin. “The rock is high in what they call calcium carbide, when mixed with water it makes a flammable gas. Normally I have to use a flint or something to spark it.” “So what now?” Balefren said looking at the two jars containing the white substance. Before his eyes the murky white was starting to clear up leaving what looked like water. “This is the fun part,” Delphina said. “I want you to cast your light spell in those jars.” As she spoke Balefren gave her a concerned look and she quickly explained. “Don’t cast it has hard as you did before, just big enough to fit in the jar.” Still not completely sure about it, Balefren began to concentrate. A small ball of light quickly began to build above his horn. It grew in size quickly and began to float across the room. Balefren worked to keep the spell under control as he moved it towards the little jar. “That’s it,” said Delphina encouraging the unicorn. “If you get it in there, that solution should absorb and hold your magic intact.” She moved around the room to behind the unicorn as he cast his spell. “That or it will explode,” she added. Balefren’s eyes went wide with surprise, but he kept his concentration as he lowered the ball of light into the jar. Now fearful of exploding glass, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as the light settled into the solution. After a moment of silence, he opened his eyes. Delphina now hovered over the table silently holding a lid in her hoof. In a display of agility she slapped the lid on the jar and sealed it in a quick motion. Balefren looked at the jar that now began to come alive with colors. The clear liquid swirled around in a blur of colors until it settled in a rainbow looking mixture with layers for red, orange and yellow on the top and down to blue and purple on the bottom. “Well we won’t have trouble telling them apart for other potions,” Derpy said as she placed the jar down carefully. “Now do the other one,” Once again Balefren’s horn glowed as a small spark of white quickly grew into a white hot glowing ball. Concentrating he moved the glowing orb over the table and down into the second jar. More confident in the mixture and the unicorn, Derpy remained poised in the air over the jar. As the ball of light settled into the jar, she swooped down and capped the lid tight. Both ponies watched as the second jar began to swirl until the same rainbow effect appeared inside. “The way it's holding your light magic must be reflecting the light much like rain against a sunny sky creates normal rainbows.” Balefren watched the mare carefully put the second jar away into her red saddle bag that rested on the edge of the stone table. “What now?” “Now we can get something to eat,” Derpy said coming around the table. “Since you’re back, what do you have in your bag?” Balefren was reminded of the food that had been in his bag. “Why was there so much food in my bag?” he asked with a serious tone. “I was just going out to get those few things for you.” Derpy stood still for a moment, then turned her back looking out through a crack in the wall. “You noticed?” “Of course I noticed, it was pretty much all the food we had left, and it was all packed in my one bag,” Balefren responded. “Look Vivid, what matters is you came back.” “Why wouldn’t I?” Balefren said, but as he spoke he started to see what was going on. “I took the necklace off you,” Derpy said turning back around to face the white unicorn. “I wasn’t bound to stay anymore,” Balefren said to himself suddenly realizing things. “Yes,” Derpy said. “I could have ran back home,” he continued to reason. “Yes, I left it off you, to give you a chance to leave,” Delphina said softly. “I didn’t even...” Balefren paused. “Why?” “You were so shook up about killing those imps, I wanted to give you the option to leave. I know in your heart you wanted an adventure, but you were so broken up. So I put the remaining food in your bag and sent you out,” Delphina said moving closer to the unicorn. “I didn’t even think of that,” he admitted not sure how to react. “Well it doesn’t matter now, because you came back, you chose to stick it out and finish what we started.” Derpy said smiling. She moved in close to him. For a moment Balefren felt as though she was going to nuzzle against him. At the last moment she weaved her head away and instead flipped open the saddle bag. The unicorn realized what she was doing and opened his mouth to protest, but Derpy spoke first. “Where is the food?” she snapped her tone changing to Delphina’s much darker manner. “Umm…” Balefren stuttered. “I was going to get to that.” “Did you really eat it all?” Delphina said in disbelief. “I mean, you’re a big stallion, but you know we need that to live on out here.” “A ghost took it,” Balefren admitted. As he spoke those words Delphina moved around to face him. With her wings spread wide she looked at him scornfully. Balefren hung his head down in shame; he wasn’t sure how to tell her about what happened. “Balefren Vivid, just when I’m starting to like you…” she paused. “You think you can lie to me about ghosts stealing the food? I mean, why would a ghost need to eat food, you idiot.” “I know, I said the same thing.” “Oh so you talked to the ghost did you?” Delphina said cynically. “Come on Derpy, you’ve been around I mean, ghosts and…” Balefren treid to reason with the blonde mare. “Vivid, don’t be silly, there are no such things as ghosts, yes there are lots of weird and scary beats and monsters, but in the end, dead is dead, there are no ghosts.” “Well there was this voice, and no one was there, it said it was a ghost of the forest,” Balefren defended himself. “What did it say?” Delphina asked curiously. Her interest was now peeked as the unicorn’s story seemed to be holding up. “It said it was mad I was taking flowers, and demanded I give it something. I felt it push me around, and it took the food.” “And you thought this was normal?” “Well I wasn’t really thinking, it happened so fast, I didn’t know the food was even in my bag,” he reasoned. “Something was there, I felt it, but I couldn’t see or hear it moving around.” “Almost like…” Delphina suddenly stopped speaking as she was looking into the doorway of the room. A strange sparkle caught her eye that caused her to change posture. Dropping her wings, a smile suddenly came across her face. “Well what’s done is done, at least there are still some muffins and cookies in that old storage cupboard in the corner,” Derpy proclaimed cheerfully. Balefren was taken aback at first; suddenly Derpy was back and in a great mood. He was about to ask, since he knew there were no muffins or other food anywhere, but he realized she was playing at something. “Yes, I suppose we will just have to eat desserts from here on out,” he said playing along. Derpy gave him a slight wink, as she moved back across the room toward him. As she walked she motioned with her eyes towards the door. Knowing that something was up, Balefren slowly backed up until he was standing by the doorway. Derpy approached him and leaned in close. “Your hungry ghost followed you back here,” she whispered. “Let’s head back downstairs for a minute, Vivid, I have something else I need to show you,” she said out loud. Balefren nodded as he followed the pegasus out of the doorway. If only there was still some kind of door that they could just shut, he thought. Now standing just outside in the hallway he waited for Delphina’s move. “Ok, peak in slowly, look towards that old rotted cupboard,” she whispered. Slowly both ponies stuck their heads into the doorway. Balefren looked across the room and watched the old cupboard closely. He didn’t see anything going on, but after a moment he felt Derpy elbow him in the side. Looking at the corner of the old cupboard, he saw a broken shutter begin to move slightly as if someone was carefully pulling it back to sneak a look inside. He opened his mouth in alarm ready to shout out, but Delphina stepped on his hoof quickly. “Move in there, and be ready to cast your light spell at the cupboard,” she instructed. Balefren gave her a concerned look as he took a step into the room. “Don’t worry, it’s a ghost, it’s already dead,” she added with a grin. Balefren took a few steps back into the room trying to be as quite as he could. At the same time behind him Delphina positioned herself in the doorway so that no one could exit without running into her. “You by the cupboards, show yourself!” she yelled in a commanding tone. “We know you’re there, show yourself, you have until the count of 3 before my unicorn friend here blasts you with a fireball!” Vivid glanced back at Derpy about to explain he didn’t know any fire spells, but realized that she was trying to bluff the unknown intruder. “One…” She spoke. Balefren began to concentrate and sparks of light began to form over his horn. “Two…” Delphina continued, but still no response from the cupboards. Balefren's now familiar ball of light was growing to a large size. “Three!” Delphina cried out as she braced herself in the doorway. Balefren looked up and was about to send his ball of magic flying across the room when suddenly, the pots and cans on the stone table began to go bouncing around as if someone was running across the table kicking them about. He turned his head and watched as the path of the objects falling over were moving straight towards him, he was about to let loose his magic in pure defense, when he felt a whoosh of air over his head as if something jumped over him. A thud came from the doorway and Derpy grunted as she stood her ground against and unseen force trying to push her over. Balefren watched in surprise as the grey mare wrestled with some invisible force. He was at a loss of what to do. Luckily Delphina shouted instructions immediately. “Blast me,” she ordered. “Now!” Hearing the command and not thinking of any consequences, the unicorn let loose the magic he had been holding above his horn. The ball of pure white hit the doorway exploding with a blinding flash and letting loose a sound like a clap of thunder. Balefren who was prepared for his own magic, had his eyes closed and shielded from the blast. As he slowly opened them, too his greater surprise, he saw two ponies standing in the doorway. The familiar grey mare with blonde mane had her back to the hallway. Right up against her was a tan pony with a red mane. Both of them stood with a dazed look in their eyes. Balefren took a few steps forward, but he was at a loss of what to do. The tan pony was a unicorn, and had a carrier satchel around her neck. Before he could discern more, Delphina shook her head for a moment as the dazing effect wore off. Without hesitation she kicked a hoof hard striking the tan pony in the gut. The force of the blow sent the red haired unicorn sprawling backwards against the wall where she slumped to the floor. Balefren watched speechless, as Delphina flipped open her saddle bag and dug inside. She was looking for her knife, but quickly remembered she had left it sticking in the floor back down stairs. Undeterred her eyes focused on a glass beaker that had fallen off the table and the end had broken off. Not saying a word she dashed forward crossing the path of the fallen pony. As she passed Delphina place another swift kick into the unicorn’s ribs. A muffled cry was the response as the pegasus passed by and swiftly bent down and picked up the long shard of glass. With the glass in her hoof, she spun around and plunged the jagged edge directly at the fallen pony’s neck. Balefren’s eyes were wide in horror as he watched the sudden move. In a split second he watched the sharp edge guided by Delphina moved right up to the pony’s neck, but with an inch to spare it stopped. The dazed unicorn on the floor came around just in time to see the makeshift weapon being thrust at her face. Eye’s wide in shock she laid still looking up at the grey pegasus in horror. Delphina grunted in frustration as she tried to push the glass forward, but was unable. Looking down she saw the faint orange glow of magic covering her hoof. She looked up at Balefren, who was looking back with an expression of horror much similar to the tan pony of the floor. Balefren thought she was going to scare the mare at first, but realized if his magic hadn’t held her back, she would have slashed the pony’s throat. “You were going to kill her!” he shouted in outrage, as he realized he had almost witnessed a murder. “Now’s not the time to be empathic,” Delphina said darkly. “This pony, or whatever it is, is a huge threat; something that can be so invisible is too dangerous.” Balefren understood the reasoning he was hearing, but dismissed it. “I don’t believe that, she could have done harm already, who knows how long she’s been following us, she didn’t hurt us." “That is the problem; I don’t know how long she has been following us, listening in. You know how quickly my name spreads; you don’t know who sent her or who she is tipping off about us, as long as she lives, she is a threat to our mission, and our lives,” Delphina said sternly. “Balefren Vivid, release my hoof.” “No,” the white unicorn responded standing tall. He saw a brief flicker of hatred appear in the pegasus’s yellow eyes as he defied her. “I won’t let you harm her, not until I can question her,” he declared. “Now drop the glass.” Delphina looked down at the hapless mare on the floor, her eyes tearing up with fear, and then she looked back up to Balefren who stood with a serious face glaring at her. With a frown, she released the piece of glass, and it fell to the floor with a tink sound. “Alright Balfren, question her, but be warned I will do what needs to be done,” Delphina said as she stepped away and started to head back around the table, where her things were carefully stacked in a pile. As Delphina backed off, Balefren moved in closer to the fallen unicorn. “Sorry about that,” he said kindly. “She can be very intense; my name is Balefren Vivid, who are you?” The tan unicorn looked up slowly with her blue eyes, she propped herself up with her front hooves, and took a moment to wipe her tears on her arm. “I’m Earren Tangle,” she said as she cleared her throat. She held a hoof to her stomach and rubbed it lightly. “You’ll live, but you’ll have a bruise,” Balefren said, as he opened his worn jacket to show and dark brown spot on his midsection. “She kicked you too?” Earren said softly trying to hide a smile. Balefren nodded grinning. “She seems to do that when she meets ponies for the first time." “Scary way to greet someone,” Earren said as she began to slowly get up. “Well what about you?” Balefren said slyly. The tan unicorn looked back at him confused at first, and then realized what he was talking about. “It’s the only spell I really know, making myself invisible to sight and sound,” she admitted shyly. “Well I feel better knowing you aren’t a ghost” Balefren said joking. “Sorry about that,” Erran said looking down at the floor. “Don’t feel bad." Delphina suddenly made a thudding nose and cleared her throat loudly, signaling she was getting impatient. Balefren looked across the stone table at the grey mare who was doing something suspiciously under the table. “Alright look Erran you need to explain what you’re doing here, who sent you, everything,” Balefren said turning his attention back to the young mare. “And tell the truth.” “I was hungry,” she said simply. “What?” Balefren said taken back. “I haven’t eaten in a week, and then I got your food, so I followed you here to see if there was more food." Balefren gave a small laugh and looked back over to Derpy. Delphina stood in front of the table with her sword blade now resting visible in front of her. She did share his amusement. “Well what were you doing in the woods?” Balefren asked. “Do you have muffins?” Earren said as her eyes wondered over to the old cupboard. “I can tell you everything if I had something to eat.” “Sorry Earren,” Balefren said shaking his head. “The muffins are a lie.” “Any food?” she clarified. Balefren just shook his head more. “You ate all we had left; we’ll have to forage for our meals from now on.” “I’m sorry,” the tan unicorn apologized realizing she had eaten the last of their food. “Ok, so why are you out here in the Everfree forest?” Balefren said getting the conversation back on track. “I’m lost." “How long have you been lost?” “A few weeks." Balefren held a gasp of surprise at the thought. “Nonsense,” Delphina chimed in. “Even if you were walking in one direction, you would get through the forest in a few days.” “That’s what I thought, but the more I walked, I always seemed to end up back where I started,” Earren defended. “Didn’t you just go in one direction?” Balefren asked. “I did, but no matter what way I went or for how long, I still found myself in the forest. It’s like something was keeping me here and not letting me leave.” Balefren thought about this concept for a minute wondering if it was possible. He took a look over at Delphina to see her thoughts. She seemed to also be thinking, but not as much as she was glancing down at her sword a lot. “You’ve felt it, haven’t you? Something strange in the forest?” Earren said looking at Balefren. He thought for a moment before responding. “Yes,” he admitted. “Something odd, but I can’t say it would keep me within the forest. “Regardless, that is a pretty weak excuse to why you are spying on us,” Delphina said. “Let’s get this over with.” “Sit tight for one second,” Balefren said to the tan unicorn, as he turned and went around the table to face Delphina. She looked back with one eye focusing on Balefren and the other eye still remaining locked on the other unicorn. “Don’t think you can make a move, I’ll be on you before you make it to that doorway,” She threatened the tan pony. “I think she is telling the truth and she is harmless,” Balefren whispered. “Of course you think that, that little cutie innocent face and baby blue eyes,” Delphina said sarcastically. “If you objectively assess her, what can you tell me?” Balefren asked. “Honestly.” Delphina sighed, as she gave an honest assessment even though it was against what she wanted to do. “She is trembling slightly and not able to hide it, her story fits and didn’t seem to be rehearsed or spontaneous. She has not been trained to stand up to interrogations, at least not trained well. It seems she only knows enough about us, from our conversations in this room moments before I noticed her enter.” “Alright, so we can let her go,” Balefren said feeling relieved. “But…” Delphina started. “Her magic ability to disappear like that is far too great of a risk to have anywhere near us.” “What if we kept her away? Long enough that we would be long gone, would you accept that?” Balefren asked as an idea started to occur to him. Rolling her eyes Delphina reluctantly answered. “I suppose, what do you have in mind.” “We restrain her, tomorrow morning we leave here, and leave her behind tied up. By time she gets loose we will be long gone and she will not be able to follow. Everyone lives.” “Someday you’ll understand,” Delphina said. “But what you suggest sounds acceptable, it seems as though she is cursed in some manner that does not allow her to leave the forest. We can take advantage of this as well, and spare her life.” “Thank you Del… Derpy,” Balefren said smiling as she gave the grey mare a quick hug. Suddenly and without warning the pegasus, broke his grasp and leapt into the air, grabbing her sword from the table as she flew. Against the wall, the tan unicorn had been slowly creeping towards the doorway and was about to run out. In the blink of an eye Earren suddenly disappeared from sight. Derpy flew at full speed and swung the sword with the blunt edge first. With skillful accuracy it came to a sudden stop on what appeared to be empty space. Earran suddenly appeared in the doorway with the flat edge of the sword resting against the back of her head. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Delphina landed in front of her spinning the sword around so that the sharp edge pointed at her throat. “Del!” Balefren cried out in alarm. She glanced up at him and winked signaling everything was alright. In his mind Balefren swore he would never forgive her if she struck the tan unicorn down. “What did I tell you?” Delphina snarled. “Next time, it will be more than your head hurting,” she warned as she withdrew the sword. “Vivid, tie her up, the ropes that are in my pile of stuff behind the table there.” Balefren looked down near his feet at the small pile of items and clothing. Sure enough he could make out a good length of rope poking out of the middle. With his magic glowing the rope rose easily into the air. He recognized it as the rope he had been bound with earlier. “Please no,” Earran protested ignoring the pain throbbing on the back of her head. “It’s ropes, or my shiny friend,” Delphina said leaning down and flashing the sword blade. “It’s still your choice." Balefren watched the tan unicorn go limp on the floor as she accepted her fate to be tied up. “Good,” Derpy said. “Tie her tight with magic, so she can’t undo it with her magic.” Balefren nodded as he moved closer with the rope floating behind him. Carefully he began to coil the rope around the mare’s legs. “Sit tight, it will be alright,” he said trying his best to comfort the girl as he restrained her. After a few minutes Balefren was happy with this work. Earren Tangle was now wrapped up snuggly with her hooves tied together with loops that caught her tail and a bit of her mane as well. Although the ropes were tight, Balefren had been careful not to make them uncomfortably tight for the mare. “Tight?” Delphina asked as she walked around the bound pony inspecting things. “Tight,” Balefren replied feeling proud of his handy work. “Alright good, I don’t want to wake up with my throat slit,” she added as she walked around the table and over to her things. Balefren cringed at the thought, but said nothing letting it go. He watched as Derpy gathered a few things in her bag and came around the table once more. She was holding a small strip of black cloth between her teeth. “Use this to blind fold her, without her sight she can’t manipulate anything with magic,” she said tossing the cloth to Balefren. “Best bet will be to sleep in here behind the table; it should give good cover from any prying eyes. I’ve got a few surprises I’m going to place around this place to give us fair warning of anything dangerous as well,” Delphina said as she trotted out of the room. “She’s your responsibility now, but if she gets out of that room, next time I find her, it won’t be the flat end of the sword she feels on her head.” Balefren nodded although Derpy was already out of sight. He stood silent for a moment just looking at the pony laying bound on the middle of the floor. He wasn’t sure what to do; he had never kidnapped or restrained anyone against their will before. Slowly he approached Earren, she watched through frightened eyes as the stallion loomed over her. “It’s alright, just sit tight and it will be over before you know it,” he comforted as he carefully wrapped the blindfold around her head and covered her eyes. The response to his statement was a soft and muffled weeping. “No it’s not like that!” he said surprised. “We’re not going to hurt you… Anymore…” “I’m not a stupid filly, I know how it goes when your enemy has you bound down, it’s only a matter of time,” she sobbed. Balefren thought about his own experience just the other night with being bound by an enemy and the all too clear understanding of the impending doom it means. “Look we are not your enemy though, so it will be alright.” “Then why are you doing this to me?” she cried. “I’m sorry I took your food!” “It’s not that, we just can’t risk you telling anyone about seeing us here, or that you may work for someone who sent you here." “I don’t understand." “Look it’s been a really long day, the sun is gone let’s try to sleep ok?” “Easy for you to say,” the mare said as she sniffled. “Ok hold on,” he said moving closer, bending over and picking the mare up by her front hooves. “Do you trust me?” “Are you kidding?” “Well you have no choice,” Balefren said grinning as he began to slowly drag the girl across the room. He moved her around to the far side of the table, where Derpy had suggested sleeping out of sight. It was also where all their gear was piled. Once he had the tan unicorn into place, he used his magic to drag over some of the discarded clothes and rags that were in the pile. Skillfully he used his magic to create a makeshift pillow against the side of the table. With a slow and gentle movement he laid his captive down onto the padding. “There a little bit of bedding for you,” he said proudly. “Why are you acting nice?” she asked cautiously trying to peer through the cloth that covered her face. “I told you I’m not your enemy,” he said. “Try to rest, we will be gone in the morning and you will be free.” No sooner had he laid the mare down, and then he started to feel just as tired. He poked his head up over the edge of the table and looked across at the door. The solid base of the table fully blocked the view of anyone lying behind it. It was a pretty good spot for anyone that might casually look into the room. The darkness of the night was now filling the room making it very hard to see anyway. Soon it would be near pitch black without any light sources. Balefren lay down on the hard stone floor, I’ll just rest for a minute, he thought. *** There was a soft thud as something bumped against him. Balefren woke quickly. His eyes blinked, but everything remained dark. For a split second he wondered where he was, but it only took a moment for him to realize in the dark that he was lying on the stone floor in the ruins of the ancient castle of the royal sisters. Than something bumped against him again, straining his eyes he tried to identify the shape, but quickly he realized that it had to be the bound pony on the ground next to him. “Earren, you aren’t trying to escape are you?” he whispered softly. The movement next to him stopped immediately and everything fell silent. He laughed to himself quietly as he had caught her in the act. “Just try to go to sleep, in a few hours it will be morning.” After a moment of silence the young mare’s voice replied. “Easy to sleep when you’re not bound, captive by deranged ponies,” she said cynically. “Who knows what evil things you’re doing or preparing in the dark?” “I’m not doing anything look,” He responded as he slid himself closer in the dark until he was touching her back. “Why were you making all those noises then?” “I wasn’t making any noises, I was asleep,” he replied. “Look what will it take to get you to sleep?” “Normally I just talk myself to sleep, but I can’t do that with you laying nearby.” “Why not?” “Because you’ll hear me,” she snorted. “We’ll talk to me about something than,” Balefren suggested. “Why are you all alone?” Earren hesitated for a moment; she had never really talked to anyone about something, let alone told them about herself. Balefren sensed her apprehension and responded. “If you tell me about yourself, I will tell you about myself, how about that?” he offered. After another moment of quite, Earren spoke. “Alright,” she agreed. “What do you want to know?” “Why are you out here alone? Where are you from?” “Well…” Earren paused to clear her throat a little before starting to tell her story.