Chapter 50: The Solar Dragoon and The Lunar Scion
Lucky Harvest PoV:
Her mind was blanking, during the whole journey over. Through the forest and over the hills, all Lucky had been thinking of was this moment. The moment when she would be standing face to face with him once again. Arcane Hope, the one responsible for the biggest change in her life. He… He looked different, last time Lucky had seen him he was fresh out of his armor. His black mane was messy yet cleaned of blood, his coat still showing signs of injury yet still trotting tall. He seemed unreal back then, a force of nature that pulled Lucky into her new life of fighting monsters and saving lives. Now… Now there was a heaviness to him, an invisible weight that pushed on Lucky’s mind that made it harder to find the right words, He had gotten stronger. Her friends had caught up by now but their words fell upon deaf ears. Frustration bubbled under the surface as Lucky’s mind scrambled for the words she prepared in advance. Lucky stomped forward past the Root brothers and got right in the face of Arcane Hope, she took a breath but couldn’t help being a bit louder than she meant to as she spoke.
“Take Responsibility!” Lucky’s face burned, that wasn’t what she meant to say! The words got twisted in her head, Her sudden closeness and the loud command made Arcane jump before he yelled back.
“Okay?!” Lucky knew he didn’t understand what she was referring to, but couldn’t help feeling relieved at his acceptance. She shook her head and tried again to regain her composure. She didn’t get a chance to explain herself though as she was suddenly blocked by a black membranous wing. Lucky flinched back and spun to her left where a female thestral had intruded on her moment with Arcane Hope. She was glaring at her and Lucky had no problem returning it with just as much fire.
“Maybe introductions are in order!” Quickly cutting in like the mediator she was, River Creek took her hooves and gently pushed both Lucky and the thestral away from each other. She also couldn’t help but notice that Arcane took an extra step away from the Thestral and closer to her and she couldn't help feeling a bit victorious seeing that.
“It’s nice to see you again Arcane and hello miss… thestral, the name’s River Creek and it’s a pleasure to meet you. The two brothers behind me are Hollow Root and Dark Root, Dark Root is the one who won’t stop talking and Hollow is the one who doesn’t. The pegasus is Slipstream and this ball of sunshine is Lucky Harvest, she was really excited to find you again Arcane so you’ll have to excuse her uh… hastiness” Lucky Harvest watched River introduce each of them one by one and when she got to Lucky she held herself taller. The thestrals eyes flicked to each of us before settling on her and pausing, she cleared her throat before speaking.
“You may refer to me as Her Grand Luminance or as My Lady for I am The Scion of the Lunar Regency, Lunar Glory” The moment the Lunar Scion finished introducing herself all of the thestral guards around Lucky brought a hoof to their chests at once in salute. Lucky couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the display, there hasn’t been any central forms of government in Equestria for… ever? So… what is she even the regent of anyway? Lucky felt herself growing suspicious and didn’t stop herself from voicing it.
“What is your business with Arcane Hope?” The direct question seemed to catch the Scion off guard judging by the brief widening of her eyes. She didn’t stay thrown off for long though as she swiftly answered her question.
“As Scion it is well within my right to request assistance from whomever I please, my business is just that… business. I have asked him to save my people from sure destruction, If you are asking about my personal connection to Arcane then…” Her lips twisted into a grin as she leaned forward to deliver her next line, a twinge of malice floating in her gaze. “We are lov- mmph!”
“No” And just like that the tense atmosphere was gone as Lunar Glory’s lips were sealed shut by the silver magic of Arcane Hope. Lucky’s eyes snapped to him, he was obviously annoyed by the lunar regent that was for sure. She watched him take a calming breath before speaking, he still hadn’t released Lunar Glory’s mouth.
“ We are nothing to each other, she asked me to help save her people and I couldn’t in good conscience refuse. You caught us just as we were about to leave, it’s good to see you doing well Lucky” Lucky’s previous anxiety diminished slightly at Arcane’s kind words and she almost missed the moment where he released Lunar Glory’s jaw. The Scion messaged her jaw for a moment before huffing and storming off back to the center of her guards.
“I’m joining you” The words slipped out of Lucky’s mouth before she realized it, but she didn’t regret it. She watched Arcane sigh with a grin on his face, almost like he was expecting her to say that. Lucky turned to her companions who were looking at her with similar looks of bemusement, she wasn’t that predictable was she?
“Well, I’m not gonna stop you. It’ll be good to have some familiar faces on the trip, follow me” With that Arcane turned and gestured to follow him, it was when he turned around did Lucky notice the foal on Arcane’s back. It was Falling Star, the foal that joined that other group on their travels to learn under them. What was he doing here? Falling noticed Lucky’s questioning gaze and gave a happy smile in return. Lucky made a mental note to ask Arcane about Falling later… maybe after their duel.
Everyone followed Arcane into the formation of guards and stood by him in the center. Lucky heard Dark Root say something to his brother, something about a ‘Cavalcade of Dark Warriors’ which she quickly lost interest in. Hollow Root was smiling and nodding along to his brother nonsense like the good brother he is. River Creek was gazing curiously at the guards surrounding them and Lucky was eyeing Arcane Hope. The heaviness that she had felt before was still there and seemed to be getting denser, she wondered just how much stronger he had gotten on his travels. A moment of dark emotion settled over Lucky as she questioned herself, if she truly was ready to prove herself to her… to her… to whatever Arcane is to Lucky. Lucky shook herself, this was no time to discourage herself, not when she’s this close to accomplishing everything she’s been working towards.
“March!” The voice of the guard captain pulled her out of her head, the guards were moving which meant they should as well. The next leg of their journey had begun and it was time for Lucky Harvest to truly put herself to the test, to prove her strength, her determination, to prove that she was strong enough to stand by Arcane Hope’s side!
Markus’ Pov:
That was certainly a surprise… if all the things to happen I did not expect to see Lucky Harvest and a few other players run up at the last second and join us in our journey to the Lunar regency. Another question is how did they get here so fast? I could feel that even Calcifer shared the same question, he remembered how long it took us to get here. I took a glance behind me and locked eyes with Lucky Harvest, I gave her a small smile before looking forward again. Maybe this time I could just be glad that I won’t have to be alone with Faith and not question it. My ear twitched as I picked up the tail end of a lengthy soliloquy from Dark Root (I don’t remember his human name).
“- For the time to join forces is anon, the mage of light and the darkest swordstallion setting aside their rivalry to liberate- Gah!” He was cut off by a swift slap to the back of the head by River Creek. She was the player that explained Hollow Root’s muteness to me, she’s wearing water takes at her flanks instead of bags. Hollow Root was carrying the bulk of the bags and didn’t even look slightly winded, all of them wore protective garments. Mostly some kind of leather or reinforced cloth except for Hollow Root, he was the only one with actual metal armor. Albeit it was only metal hoof coverings.
“Cut that out, the soldiers are looking at us weird” Her words were punctuated by the silent laughter of Hollow Root. River was right though, all of them were getting looks from the thestral guards. The looks were all different, some were just curious, others had disdainful looks on their faces and… I can see one of them straight up trying not to laugh at Dark Root’s words. Despite how stoic the thestrals all appear they all seem pretty friendly, albeit quiet most of the time.
We had entered the forest pretty quickly and I was wondering if we would be passing through the Crystal Forest, I took a glance over at the thestral captain that had taken up marching beside Faith. He looked stern, nary a glimmer of emotion on his muzzle as he marched in the shade of the forest. Deciding not to ask, I mentally reached out to Calcifer, who was flying high above us all if we were heading in the crystal forest direction. Instead of answering my question the phoenix did something familiar, my vision warped for a moment before being replaced with an overhead view of the forest. Calcifer had shared his sight with me again, I stumbled a bit from the sudden disorientating change before I regained my balance and kept walking straight.
The contingent of guards was keeping to the edge of the forest, to our left was the Crystal Forest. It would be harder not to see it, the whole place was almost blinding with how bright it was shining in the sun. It was a forest made entirely of crystal, trees that looked like they were carved out of precious gems of countless colors. Calcifer quickly put my vision back before either of us blinded ourselves from the light. I heard Calcifer give out a cry from above me before he swooped down and tried to land on my back with Falling Star. Falling had to scootch up onto my neck a bit to give Calcifer more room to sit on my flank. The guards had flinched from Calcifer’s cry and sudden landing, eyeing the firebird with hesitation. Faith didn’t react to Calcifer but the other players and Lucky Harvest were caught off guard.
“You have a Phoenix?! I-i mean of course you have one. It’s expected that a sorcerer strong enough to be my rival would have a companion to match his stature, I just haven’t been able to find able to keep up with me” Dark Root quickly tried covered up his surprise at seeing Calcifer… of course that doesn’t mean he stopped staring at Calcifer which I can’t blame him, Calcifer is a very pretty bird. I felt a burst of warmth from Calcifer at the complement. I watched Lucky Harvest step closer to me as she looked closer at Calcifer and said bird gave me a look and sent a question through our bond.
’Do we like her?’ It was an easy question to answer ‘Yes, we do’ that was all Calcifer needed. With a quick flap of their wings Calcifer flew up and over Lucky Harvest’s head and landed on her back, shuffling for a moment before getting comfortable. Lucky froze for a moment as she stared at her new passenger before flicking her eyes over to me. I just gave an amused smile before nodding my consent. A ghost of a smile appeared on Lucky’s face before she stepped away and continued to march with the other players, all of them taking turns petting and cooing over Calcifer… Spoiled bird. I laughed softly at the mental swat I got at that thought. Maybe this march wouldn’t be as long as I thought.