//------------------------------// // Hair trigger // Story: Equestria Girls: Symbol Of Undying Love // by vortex123 //------------------------------// Rosary's POV "How agitating." I groan as the worm blathers on about some problem they're too incompetent to handle on their own. "I couldn't agree more, my lady. It's certainly agitating that some freak with horns dares oppose you. You, the right hand of Lord Grogar himself!" The bug said. 'Must you be so mean to them?' A (unfortunately) familiar voice asked. 'Do you actually dislike how I view them?' I asked her in surprise. 'Well…they do work for you.' She says. 'No, they work for that old goat with the cracked bell. If they could, they'd happily stab me in the back to get my position. Not that they could, given how weak they are.' I say back, before talking out loud. "Speaking of him, how has the assignment he gave you progressed?" "Securing Doctor [Name Missing]'s assistant has proven…more difficult then we anticipated, especially with some new Guardian getting in the way." The worm said, catching my attention. "Did you say 'Guardian'?" I questioned, only to receive a nod in return. "Yes, as surprising as it is, there is indeed a new Guardian." The worm says. First a Judge, and now a Guardian? This is not a good sign. "And has the Guardian made any Oaths? And if so, what level?" I questioned. "As far as we can tell, the Guardian has only made one Oath, and it's with the Judge. The level seems to be 10. The Guardian and the Judge also seem to have a Contract with each other. The Guardian seems to be working on establishing an Oath with the assistant as well, though thankfully they're not close enough to trigger a Link Event, so an Oath can't be made yet. But that may change soon." The worm said with a frown. "Well if it's only with a single creature, then I suppose it's not too bad. I'll inform Lord Grogar. If that's all, you're dismissed." I say. … 'Can't you just send him a letter?' The voice asked with a groan, a sentiment I am not ashamed to say I share. While I don't dislike the old goat, I didn't like him either. Though recently, he's been acting and looking different, ever since he got his hooves on those 6 colorful hearts. Ever since some substance call 'Hate' went missing, he's been much more paranoid. And while he was using his strange crystal ball to spy on his subordinates (myself included), seeing if one of us stole it (granted, we have stolen some things from him, so I suppose that's not really a foolish thought, though he's never caught me), he decided to widen his search radius. I don’t know the details, but he widened it far more than he intended to. And whatever he found, he felt like he needed to take care of it alone. The 6 colorful hearts, or as he is adamant to call them, SOULs (for some reason, he insists on having the entire word capitalized). There’s apparently a seventh type, but he couldn’t find it. These SOULs seem to have consciousness of their own. And the next thing might just be the most shocking thing I’ve ever learned in my long existence. These SOULs apparently DON’T want to be controlled by a being that doesn't represent any of their traits, and especially one that represents their exact opposites. Who could have possibly conceived such a thing? Integrity.Bravery.Patience.Perseverance.Justice.Kindness.Determination. These are the SOUL traits he's been obsessing over, though he hasn't acquired the last one. "Ah, Rosary, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Grogar asked, bringing me out of my thoughts, and forcing me to stifle a flinch. His horns looked much more jagged, his eyes were leaking a strange black liquid. Speaking of eyes; they seem to litter his entire body. And not only are they fully functional (as a would-be thief found out the hard way), they moved in separate directions from each other, some even constantly twitching. The extra eyes also leaked that same black liquid. And if that wasn't creepy enough, they also could do the same thing the crystal ball could do, meaning he literally has eyes everywhere. To make matters worse, his hunger seems endless, which is even worse since goats can eat just about anything. He gained the ability to see everywhere by eating his crystal ball, and by the looks of it, he's currently finishing up his cracked bell. Joy, now we'll have to worry about him eating magic to satisfy himself. "Do you want the long answer, or the abridged version?" I asked. "Unless this comes with something to eat, the abridged version." He (oh so eloquently) answered. "Basically, your soldiers failed to capture the pink haired brat with horns, and [Name Missing] has a contract and a level 10 Oath with a Guardian. By the way, apparently there's a new Guardian." I say, probably way more bluntly then I should've. … … Definitely. I was definitely too blunt; to put it simply. I push down a ping of guilt as I heard Lily quietly sob and whimper. I won't lie to myself, I honestly wanted to do the same, to the point where my pride almost wasn't able to prevent me from doing so. I…WE barely got out of there alive. I cursed my own foolishness. Of course he'd react that way, he'd probably react similar before his emotions became so chaotic. As it turns out, I was the only one to not realize this, because everyone else vacated the premises. 'Do you hear that?' Lily asked. I strained my hearing to see if I can hear what she's talking about. 'Huh, kinda sounds like how a Diamond Dog does when they dig...' I think as I try to pinpoint the source. … It's…coming from the ground? My eyes shoot wide as I'm barely able to dodge as (sure enough) a deformed Diamond Dog bursts from the ground. "You can run, but you can't hide! My eyes are everywhere!" The mutt said in a distorted voice. 'Seriously!?' Both Lily and I mentally scream as I'm forced to shift into a much faster form, which resembles the wereponies I've heard about (one of my many forms). I then dash away as fast as I can. 'Uh, Rosary?' I heard Lily call, causing me to groan. 'Let me guess, 'don't Diamond Dogs normally travel in packs', right?' I asked as I hear more sounds of rapid digging. 'That. But also, why isn't Grogar just teleporting us back to him? All he would need is to know where we are, and have enough magic to cast the spell, and he has both.' Lily points out. That actually caused me to stumble a bit. 'That's…a really good point actually...I guess he's too mentally unstable to think of that.' I think. With nothing else to say or think, I focus my attention on escaping. I suddenly feel magic gathering in front of me, and thanks to my quick reflexes, I'm able to dodge a bolt a magic. Looking at the direction it came from, I see a deformed unicorn stallion. "I guess not everycreature got out." I ponder as I, without stopping, behead the guy. 'As much as it sickens me to say; that might've been the most merciful thing you've ever done.' Lily states. 'Whatever, just tell me when you have a destination in mind. The sooner we have one, the sooner we can teleport out of here.' I think with a huff. 'Easier said than done! The guy has Leylines seemingly everywhere; it's hard to find an area without them.' She says back. Before I can respond, the ground shakes to an unnerving degree, causing me to nearly trip and fall. It doesn't take me long to figure out why, as an adult skeleton dragon bursts through the wall. "Are you kidding me!?!" Both of us shout at the same time, causing my voice to sound doubled. The dragon has two heads, which wasn't that uncommon to be honest. I had dated a two headed dragon a long time ago (in my draconic form; which has purple scales, blue spikes and a lime green belly), so that didn’t stand out. What did stand out however; was the fact that it had a strange glow around it. Without warning, it blew black fire at me. As I dodged out the way, I noticed the fire and glow around the dragon had a depressing feeling to them, to the point of hopelessness. 'Flames of Despair!?' Lily asked in shock. I remember when I first learned of this unforgivable magic. The Flames of Despair not only burn the body, but the very hope and will in the SOUL. And no amount of fire resistance or immunity can stop it from doing it's job. It could turn the most happiest person, into the worst type of depressed person, to the point of suicide. Making the victims do nothing as they slowly burn to death. Not even the SOUL has the will to pass on, and remains in the body, allowing the body's actions to be dictated by it's killer. And considering how a skeleton dragon's abilities depend on how they originally died, it's safe to say that Grogar must've killed this unfortunate SOUL with the Flames of Despair. The only way to free the SOUL, is to destroy the body, though this leads to another problem. Without the will to exist, the SOUL will only stick around for a few seconds, before fading from existence. No one knows where they go after that, as these SOULs don't show up on tracking spells. There are, of course, other types of Despair magic, but fire is the most efficient and effective type in the current area. I'm in no way, a good SOUL, but even I cannot turn a blind eye to this. Unfortunately, I'm weakened thanks to fighting off Grogar, and trying to escape him. So I'm currently not strong enough to do what needs to be done. A quick look around showed that the Diamond Dogs retreated when the dragon showed up. That's good, since that means I won't have to worry about them getting hit with the Flames. If I can bring this dragon to a settlement with strong enough fighters, we could free the SOUL, and purge the twisted magic from it. After that, help it recover, then let it pass on. 'Li-.' Before I could even finish calling her, she cut me off. 'Already got a destination, hope you don't mind being in enemy territory.' She says with a grim tone. 'It's fine, we'll need their help if we're gonna face Grogar. He's never gonna leave us alone now that we've seen this anyway, so we might as well get their help.' I sigh. Without another word, I dash full speed to the dragon, and tackle it. And before the dragon could react, we teleport into enemy territory.