//------------------------------// // 2-5 Born to Lead // Story: Renegade // by Slendy //------------------------------// A day after W's departure... Just along the outskirts of Hoofprint, a few travelling caravans were set up outside, many local guards moving supplies to and from the town walls with the lead guard, Tera Cotta and Sora working on organizing and distributing the products, some to be taken with them to Hollow Shades and others for the town itself as a back-up supply line. Everything needed to be ready for when Kranon turned his eyes to Canterlot again, and since W helped to clear Hoofprint of Infected, they were more than willing to lend a hoof. Cinder sat facing the charcoal filly by a small, empty campfire, who stared toward the working ponies curiously. She wanted to help, but Cinder insisted she needed to focus on training herself if she wanted to be more than a liability. Harsh, but she knew he meant well by it as a form of 'brutal honesty', something W offered many. "To expand one's Aura is to broaden your understanding of yourself, to delve into what you may refer to as your 'Inner Demons', your soul is a part of you that cannot lie or hide, if you wish to grow stronger, you must overcome your own walls, and despite what some may believe, we all have these walls, some far higher than others and there is no easy method to proceed," With that, he clopped his hooves softly. "Now, tell me what you know of the three gifts you possess?" "Um, I have a silver Aura which is a shield, but it has limited energy," Astra nodded to herself slowly under the stoic Hollow's unknown gaze. "And I can use my Semblance, which is like a sword, to peer into other auras and see emotions, but Grimm don't have a soul, so they're blank voids, and the more I focus, the more detailed the aura becomes," Then she pointed to her eyes. "And my eyes are a rare silver which can turn Grimm into dust or stone when I wish to preserve life." "Exactly," Cinder's hoof stretched forward with a wave. "Preservation of life is the counterpart to Destruction the Grimm and those like it wish to bring. Your father held this power too; however, forces in Remnant sought to end their rare bloodline, the attack on your village was one such incident," He saw her face become downcast. "And yet you lived through a mishap, as Astra Lumi, their sacrifice for your survival paid off." Her memories were returning by the day now. Her silver eyes and looks were all that remained of her Mama and Papa. She had nothing left but their memory, only now she had people she wanted to protect. W gave up her freedom to buy them all time; she didn't want to be a burden anymore; she wanted to help more as her Papa would. "I don't want anyone else to die..." She muttered, then felt a metal hoof pat her mane. "Then you must focus, close your eyes and focus solely on your own aura and nothing more." A nod and she closed her eyes, now she was in a void, but her hearing was still clear, but she peered into the dark any small sign of sparks, like someone lighting a fire "Okay... can you see your Aura? Like a small flame in the void?" Obviously, she couldn't respond since she needed to focus... There! She gasped, finally sensing a flickering, white flame against the void; that's her Aura, her very soul. Just then, she saw the sparks flash in her hidden vision; they were silver and faint against the void, but her soul was there, hers moved more and flowed with a sense of emotion behind it; hers was filled with a sense of unworthiness and guilt. "I know you must focus, but you must stay calm, you need to breathe slowly, feeling your Aura travelling through your body, your emotions play alot in how you can perform, but if you can control it..." In a few seconds, the flame looked to enlarge slightly, the wild flicks of embers soothing little by little. Astra smiled, removing herself from that void, seeing her blink with fascination and wonder in her expression. "Your Aura increased because you allowed for serenity to take over your mind; you overthink without realizing it. It's not a massive increase, but it serves as a good idea of where to start, no?" Cinder mused, seeing her happily nod with her tail once again swaying. "How do you feel?" "Strange... like my own Aura was flowing down a stream... if that makes sense?" Her dumbfoundedness was expected, not many learned about how Auras work right off the bat, and Cinder had never imagined he'd see a person from Remnant, let alone a Silver Warrior. "It does. Picture your soul like the Source of a river, this bottomless, pure pool of water, your Aura is the main Stream that your soul flows down, it can split off into many other Streams like your Semblance, but all of that leads to the Channel, your own body," Cinder explained then stood up. "Well, we can practice in our free time; let us see if Sora requires our aid." "Okay." Quickly, the filly shot ahead of the old Hollow, hoof once more against his breastplate where a necklace hid. "Let us see where this journey ends..." "Um. h-hey, Mir?" Sora stepped into the herbalist's shop to find many baskets of crafted elixirs and medicines. Taking a moment to take insight collectively, Sora spoke. "Wow... um, never mind." "If all you came here for was to gawk, then go elsewhere," The disgruntled stare from the matching black pony to Astra remarked while pouring mixtures into vials, visible sweat dotting his brow. "This process is delicate and does not require the endless drabble of mouths to decrease my effectiveness further." "Right, sorry, I just brought you the plants you wanted, Star Berries, the ripe ones?" Holding up the two baskets caused the stallion to turn and levitate them out of Sora's hands, inspecting them closely with a grunt. Sora was kept on the spot for a while. "Hrm, they will do," He didn't sound too convinced, but Sora wasn't going to question the angry pony making a butt-load of medication. "W has certainly picked such a valued time to put me out of business at the rate of decreasing value my wares offer." "...sorry," Sora knew all of this was sudden on alot of ponies. Still, as things stand, explaining why he needed a metric ton of Bits would further lead to suspicion. If W was right on whatever her hunch was, she had to be having a hard time up in Canterlot to give them all this chance to prepare without the Royal Guard hunting her. "Hmph, irrelevant!" He tossed one of the bad berries at Sora's head. "Whatever she is doing is never without purpose, that is what I've learned in my observations, and if you play a role, I suggest you play it well and stop contemplating what you do not need to know currently." "But what if she's-" "Irrelevant!" He tossed an empty basket this time, glaring dully at the timid ravenette. "I do not believe her actions to be wasteful, requiring this volume of medicine means that with certainty her 'hunch' is correct, a believe most ponies would call this blind optimism, 'faith', so I suggest considering such before contradicting your motives, Prince." "Right, yeah," He didn't mean to sound as if he mistrusted W, he didn't, but he was worried for her. Without anything to say, Sora turned and left Mir to his work, not seeing the old stallion's eyes locked to the boy's back, shaking his head with a grunt. Another day had passed, and nightfall had struck the forest trail. Without the need to take all the supplies from Hoofprint with them, Cinder utilized his Bonfires to speed along their travels across Equestria. Returning to Ponyville to acquire a few key potions personally from Zecora, the zebra is more than willing to offer her aid in their time of need. Inside, both Cinder and Astra were eating alongside Zecora while Sora sat outside the zebra's hut, watching and listening to the Everfree come to life at night. He knew he shouldn't be worried, imagining W teasing him again with that flirty look on her face, 'Aw, it's cute that you're worried Fly-Boy' or something close; with W, it was a mystery. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to push his mind elsewhere. "You seemed lost in strife-" Zecora startled him from his daydream with a small frown. "-what has brought along this plight?" "I... okay, I see what W meant when you only talk in rhymes," He tried to pass off with a joke, but it didn't really convince him either. "Yeah, sorry, I just... needed time to think." "A choice was made that you did not wish to go through, I was told it was W." She worded strangely, but Sora understood, recalling how she just... smiled back despite the severity of the situation. "Yeah, she... didn't want us to be hunted anymore, by the Royal Guard, Cliff, Forsaken - all of it, she... bought us time, and I'm grateful, but I..." He paused with his hands frozen mid-expression, slumping them against his knees. "It's just I, she is..." He couldn't even say it himself, regardless of how little time had occurred between them; W was... something Sora never realized he missed about being human. "She once sat here and watched the stars, a time when she had no cause," Zecora motioned to the window to their left. "She pondered her life and those who sought to cause strife, but my single act of kindness brought her light." Sora never heard of this before, looking up at Zecora, who smiled, knowing what was going on inside the boy's head, tapping his temple. "Your soul and hers are tied, and that feeling has grown with time." "I..." He turned away to hide the embarrassment on his face. He wasn't sure before on what 'that night' made them. And now she wasn't here, and Sora felt lost, like he had no real direction other than to follow through with her words like a lost puppy. Placing his head in his hands, he groaned. "Why isn't this easy? It's like I'm useless now, and now I can't even ask her what... I - we are." He meant no offence to quite a handful of mares that worked at the castle. Some were genuinely personalities he was into, but he was still human regardless of his ability to fly and even use magic if he had the affinity for it. When he met Aoi, though, she was stern, humorous, confident, strong, and had a strange way of caring that when she meant to be kind. Even if Aoi somehow became the person she was before turning into W, he didn't care because it was still her regardless of her looks. Of all the people he's met, Equestria and back home, she was... amazing. Zecora sat with him on the step, keeping her eyes to his distraught face. "When you meet again, you should be strong and tell her then." His head shot up in flabbergasted shock, but Zecora put her hoof to his lips. "If she gave her life away that day, then surely she feels the same way." That slowly calmed Sora down, so much so he chuckled again. "Hehe, sorry, but do you seriously have a rhyme for everything?" His amusement made her brow raise quizzically, then sighed through her nose. "No." She smirked as he chuckled again; inside, Astra shuffled away from the doorway with a soft sigh as Sora's sorrow quelled itself gently; she and Cinder knew he was troubled by W's sacrifice toward the Royal Guard, W would feel the same if the roles were reversed. She was happy he no longer felt as useless as he believes. "Son of a--grah!!" Sora fell back, clutching his nose as he, for the uncounted time, fell backwards as the perpetrator kept trying not to chuckle at Sora's repeated loss of composure. "I can do this--" "Yeah-Yeah, I know!" Sora shook his head, running his hand over his nose. "What the hell do you expect? You're wearing steel... what is it even made of?" Cinder flexed out his right hoof as though to examine the gauntlet. "Mmm, good question?" Sora just stared at him as he was serious, "If it's any consultation, your skill has improved with a sword over the weeks, I'm impressed." He said something akin to that every time. Cinder is like a machine; even Sora could land some solid punches on Cliffheart and Shining Armor, but the energy he's giving off is constantly is terrifying, like a slumbering beast and those eyes under Cinder's helmet, piercing through to Sora's soul with every gaze. He radiates with experience, and his combat style is inhuman. He held a magically conjured hand out to Sora, pulling the Aasimar back onto his feet while tapping a hoof to his chin. "Hrm... your wings and healing hands are your strongest tools, and while your affinity for similar magic has fallen short thus far, I feel you are close to your magic's true potential." That raised a brow, "'True Potential'? But... what else can I even do?" Was there a level deeper than that? Just as Sora inquired an explanation, a gathering of butterflies were drawn to them, more specifically, to Cinder's stoic form; one landed on his outstretched hoof, body simmering with embers, almost glowing the point the sunlight refracted off his rugged armour-like heatwaves. "A soul is the purest form of yourself, it's what makes you and I so different, and the deeper you go, the more you learn about yourself and grow to accept the person you are at your centre, that's when your power can truly manifest - those foundations make up Remnant the most, but the lesson is universal," He then let the butterfly go, almost lost in memory as he continued. "At my centre... I am a coward, but I accept that fault and in turn discovered that I am a hopeful person." "The world isn't perfect, and... I won't always be there to save everyone, but I will be; every day, I will strive to be there for anyone who wishes to have another in their corner to battle against adversity," He put a hoof on his chest. "I'm not perfect, nor am I trying to be the hero of the story, I am just me, and right now, I want to save our home." His words were genuine and sounded a little like some superhero, but they were real to him; this was his ideology, the path he's chosen despite his reluctance to fight, but if it means protecting those he cared for, he'd sooner throw his humanity away to do it. Just what lengths have Cinder gone to for this idea of balance? How much has he had to give up to push himself this far? Could Sora ever accomplish that? While Sora's admiration grew for the strange Hollow, he looked off toward the forest, unmoving. Many years ago... Dark. Surrounding Cinder was nothing but darkness over the lip of the wasteland surrounding him. As though a fragment of a desert were torn from the world, left to float alone in a void. Apart from himself, he looked up to see nothing but the mass murder of ravens around the remains of a great skeletal frame of a long-forgotten beast. This was it, his final stand, to end such impurities. He gave a bitter smile under his helmet, hoof brushing against the necklace he concealed under his armour as he readied his greatsword, the last momento of his comrades etched into its aura as colourful embers. The wind picked up under a black sky, threshing through his ruined armour. The frame of the dead rose with heavy, clanking motions. The ravens fled into the marionette, these corrupt creatures acting as muscle and flesh, rebuilding what was once myth now reincarnated with a dark shadow wafting in the gathering wind. Bones ground each other, wings stretched, the gaps blinking like torn leather. Picking up from beneath the dark earth, the jaws realigned, clanked, and fixed into place, releasing a hollow echo of a roar with a black breath. Staring up at the bones of the dragon, the Hollow took one step and fell into a deep, dark void, the edges of his eyes encircled by that same abyss, a sensation of drowning yet breathing racked his lungs and poisoned his mind. He was lost in the beast's consciousness. "Traveled so far... lost so much... and all for the sake of selfish mortals," Spoke a dark, booming voice that surrounded his mind, aged by time and decay. "Do not stray from what is yours; they expect loyalty without reward, for you to be complacent without a thought; I do not believe in such selfishness," He couldn't move his body, only his head toward the silhouette that manifested as a twisted reflection. "I wish to congratulate you on your journey; With a gift, to help you finally take control, to break your chains." A dark hand appeared before him, and Cinder smile warmly at such an offer. "You know, if you offered me such a thing when I arrived, then I would take that hand with no fear, but..." He clutched his hoof closer to his chest, the ghostly apparition of a mare by his side. "I have not come this far just to fall again, especially to You." The ravens mimicked the sound of familiar voices laughing, that mocking cackling melting down into a dark hiss between dusty bones hanging over his form. However, those same ravens were moulded by his hooves, sinking their hooks and claws around his ankles, infecting his body with their darkness. He struggled to move, noticing his sword too was being melded by the tar-like abominations. They intended to bury him like all the rest and continue a never-ending ruin and decay cycle. "Then allow me to help you break free..." The knight panicked for a moment; he may have just played the part of the fool after all. His eye caught the faint sight of a pony's astral form; for a moment, he thought it was just his mind playing tricks on him. However, even as the darkness crawled over his form, pulling him further in a frigid slumber, his eyes never lost themselves; instead, all they could see was a gentle scarlet. A bright light pierced the veil with his sword blazing, burning away the abyss as quickly as the ravens conjured it. The large head of the dragon reeled back from the blinding light; wings stretched wide to challenge the very source of its damnation. The knight stood forward; his heart was no longer frozen with fright and doubt. "The only thing I have to break here... is you." "Then you shall die." The dark echo of the drake warned. Its ancient frame rose, aided by the black mass of winged servents, and the skull's sockets bore down on the Hollow. "Come then, pawn, show me the power this so-called 'freedom' has drugged you with." "...I was always free." He readied his sword as he smiled. "Hey, Cinder? Hello~?" He didn't respond. "I think he's daydreaming?" "His aura's mellow," Astra murmured, the duo stepping closer to the statue of a Lord of Cinder. Both gave each other a sudden glance, then approached in little steps. "I think he's asleep." She whispered. "Well, he is in his late fifties..." Even for an older man, Sora was impressed Cinder could move so fluently though that may have been down to his inhuman body turned pony. Reaching up to touch the helmet hiding the mysterious knight, both leaned closer to take a little peek underneath. "Wonder what he looks li-" ... ... ... "Sorry," Both shrieked in fright once the statue turned to them, no longer lost in a trance. Looking down, Cinder comically turned his head to the side as Astra and Sora hid behind a tree stump. "Did I miss something?" "Nope!" "All good here!" Cinder blinked slowly, not that they could see it. "Hrm, well, come now, my Bonfire connected to Hollow Shades is not far." "We never speak of this again," Sora murmured from behind the stump; Astra just held her hoof out. "Speak about what?" They shook on the agreement Deep underground beneath Hollow Shades, Cinder walked the lonesome caverns alone, lost in the dark without his armour and sword brandishing flames to guide him onward. He was alone, Astra and Sora sleeping after another long day preparing for the final battle ahead of them. Cinder didn't sleep much, or not in a long time. "Well-Well-Well, someone's eager for knowledge," Cinder barely even flinched upon stumbling through the barrier that concealed Gambit's home, the large Nightmare sinking again after he failed to startle the Lord. "Still sunshine and rainbows with you, it seems; professionalism is so hard to come by in this era." Gambit waved his hand nonchalantly, looking rather bored for an inkling. "Had a lovely chat with Luna, tried to worm personal information out of me, tsk-tsk-tsk, data protection is a serious rule with me." "I am aware; I suppose it was about what we asked of you prior?" Cinder inquired, and Gambit nodded but said nothing nor implied anymore than the bare minimum. "Well, I wish to know something myself, to do what many cannot." That drew Gambit's eyes closer. The golden curves narrowed with dark delight. "Oh? By all means, humour me." "How do we defeat Kranon the Vex?" Cinder spoke clearly and concisely, never mincing his words on the matter. "To clarify, I am not looking to kill a Vex, rather, to slay Kranon in particular." Leaning back in his chair, the Nightmare put his claws together and close to hide his jack o' lantern smile poorly. "You know the rules, Displaced, what do you have that I certainly don't? What is your price for such valuable knowledge? Although you seemed to be lacking in the wares department in that inventory of yours." His finger circled mockingly. "You are mistaken," That silenced Gambit's short laugh. "For I do have something you've never had your hands on before." To Be Continued...