//------------------------------// // Forging a Path // Story: Karma // by Chemtest //------------------------------// Kendrick walks away from the school, Dinky jumping along at his side. She looks up at him, “Is Princess Twilight right? Are you really like a pony?” Kendrick nods back. Dinky smiles, “Oh, Mister Turner will be so surprised!” Kendrick moves along, keeping a close eye on the filly by his side. Within his state of awareness, he feels eyes drilling into him. He looks off to the side, seeing two seedy looking ponies eyeing him up. Kendrick raises an eyebrow, and moves Dinky closer to him. Dinky looks up, confused at the sudden prompting. Kendrick simply pulls her a bit closer, and Dinky looks over at what he is looking at. She pulls away from him a little bit, and begins a brave trot over to the ponies. Kendrick tries to pull her back, but she continues on, “If these ponies are bothering you, then I’ll tell them off because you can’t.” Kendrick rushes after her as she continues along, shaking his head. Dinky marches up to the two ponies. She adopts the bravest stance she can, “Hey, you two, stop looking at Grey like that!” One of the ponies look down at her, and begins to laugh upon sight of her, “Move along, little filly, we’ll look at a human if we want.” Dinky puffs out her chest, “Oh no you won’t! Look at Grey like that again and, uh, you’ll be sorry!” The other stallion looks down at her, and growls, “Move along, or else.” The mare out of the two nods, “Please, all we wanted to do was check out his form and physique. For such a small human, he is quite fit. Would you be willing to part with him? How about... three hundred bits?” Dinky stomps her hoof, “If you think I’ll sell Grey, you’re out of your mind!” The mare laughs, “Alright, alright, how about one thousand? Your family could probably use the money... right?” Dinky looks at the mare, and the mare takes out a bag of bits. She shakes it, and Dinky shakes her head, “Never.” The stallion growls, “Looks like you won’t be paid for him then.” The stallion reaches into his bag, and slowly draws a knife, “Run along, without that human, and we’ll all be fine.” Dinky takes a scared step back. Then, she hears a sword being drawn behind her. Kendrick’s katana finds itself at the neck of the pony, so sharp that it draws blood from just simply touching. The stallion looks at it in fear, and drops his knife. The four only stare at each other for a few seconds, until they are interrupted by a pony rushing towards them. Princess Twilight looks between all of them, “What’s going on here?!” The mare looks over at Twilight, “We were simply talking to each other when this human comes out of nowhere and attacks us!” Dinky shakes her head, “They were trying to buy Grey, and the stallion had a knife! You saw what Grey did, right? He didn’t attack anypony!” Twilight nods, “I did see, yes.” She looks over at the two, “Hmm... yes, I recognize you two. Canni and Necro, two gangsters who accost ponies and try to buy their humans. Oh yes, I recognize you two, you are wanted for mugging ten different ponies!” A bunch of guards surround the two, spears pointing at both of them, “Guards, arrest these two. Lock them up and prepare for their trial.” The guards poke at the two, forcing them away and into the town. Twilight looks after them, “Come on, Grey, you can’t keep out of trouble for three hours? How’d you even manage to cut Necro with such little effort? How sharp is your sword?” Kendrick holds it out, blade up. Twilight slowly puts her hoof on it, and tilts her head. She puts her leg, face, even her horn on the blade. She leans back, “Huh, it feels barely sharper than a kitchen knife.” Dinky smiles, “Oh, really?” She moves up to the blade, and sends her head flying towards it. Kendrick moves the blade out of the way before she can slam her face onto it. He shakes his head, and holds the blade out again. Dinky puts her hoof on it, and smiles in wonder. She then places a hoof on the blade, and jumps completely onto the blade. She manages to balance on it, where she starts slightly jumping up and down. She laughs, “Hey, this is fun!” Twilight pulls her off quickly, “Dinky, that’s dangerous!” She holds up one of Dinky’s hooves, “You must have cut- or not. But, there’s no way a blade, even with a kitchen knife amount of sharpness, should be able to hold a filly up completely without cutting her hooves. It’s physically impossible!” Kendrick motions to the light radiating off the blade. Twilight cocks an eyebrow, “It has something to do with the enchantment? Just what is that blade enchanted with? It completely defies the laws of physics!” Kendrick returns the sword to it’s sheath, and points forward. Twilight sighs, “Fine, sure, we’ll continue on. But I want to know what enchantment that is!” They all turn and set off, but Kendrick lingers a bit behind. He notices a blue glow coming from his hand. The crystal within his gauntlet pulses with energy. He presses on it, and feels something appear in his other hand. Karma appears in his hand, “Hello, Kendrick, having fun, I take it? Dinky is quite cute, and I am so glad she is becoming a little companion for you. But, I know that you would be devastated if anything happened. You have gained enough Karma through Twilight and Turner, and I managed to make something to protect both you and her. You remember that movie series, the Lord of the Rings? I know you do, and I know you have quite an extensive knowledge on certain objects. So, after some forging of my own, I managed to craft some of the Rings.” Kendrick opens his other hand, and instantly recognizes all of them. One set with a ruby, one with a white stone, and one with a sapphire. Then, there is a gold ring, one with an inscription lining it’s side. And the final is silver, with an inscription that glows blue. Karma smiles, “Narya, Ring of Fire. Nenya, Ring of Water. Vilya, Ring of Air. Then, the One Ring and New Ring. They aren’t as strong as they would be in Lord of the Rings, but the power they grant is still great and mighty. The three elven rings all grant mastery of magic in certain areas. Someone with one of them would be a mage to fear. Although the downside with the three elven Rings is that they require practice to use. Then, there are the two others. The One Ring simply makes one more powerful. By putting it on, you will basically go from... how to put it. Let’s say you are at Strength 9, whereas most creatures would be at 10. Well, the ring would shoot you up to 15. The New Ring, however, serves an entirely different purpose. With it, you will be able to speak.” Kendrick nods, and closes communication with Karma. He looks at the five rings, and slips the One Ring and New Ring away from the others. He picks them up with his right hand, and slips them both onto his left. They instantly change size, making it so they’ll always stay on tightly. He then feels his throat clear up, and his vocal cords reactivate. He walks up to Dinky, and taps her shoulder. She turns around, “Yes, Grey?” Kendrick smiles, and holds out Narya. Dinky smiles, “Oh, is this a gift? Thank you, Grey! It looks beautiful!” She then levitates the Ring, her magic struggling to lift it with her weakened magic. She slips it onto her horn, and nods. Twilight looks over, and scans the rings in Kendrick’s hand, “Those are enchanted as well?! Where do you get all of this!?” Kendrick smiles at her, and motions forward.