//------------------------------// // Advancing Pawns // Story: Lairs & Lycanthropy: Revival // by NeoNagasaki //------------------------------// The rhythmic beating of hoof fall mixed with the intermittent creaking of wagon wheels. The even steady stream of noises enveloped Rarity as she pushed forward with the rest of her comrades. It was, however, merely ambiance; something to be pushed to the very back of Rarity’s mind as she trudged lost in the thoughts that dominated the forefront of her mind. The daunting perils that faced them were naturally of paramount importance. Any pony with a heroic bone in her body would spend every waking moment focused on the task at hand. Though Viceroy Shadowflame was a walking cliché he was still a noblepony. Not only did he have the support and defense of the Equestrian government, he also apparently had the support of goblins and trolls, and the power to kidnap a god-princess. All in all, she didn’t like their odds. Luckily for Rarity, she didn’t have a heroic bone in her body. Idiots who got themselves killed in defense of other idiots for idiot causes were just that - idiots. Rarity was a coward, and proud to be so. It wasn’t her fault if avoiding conflicts was the smart move. A sword and a snarl could buy you death, a thousand lies and a good disguise could buy you anything. But that was the problem, the one that burned in her thoughts. She was smart enough to be a coward, so why did she charge into that hopeless battle to help these ponies? The easy answer would be that she had made a mistake; let the passion of the moment override her good senses. Unfortunately she knew full well that didn’t happen. She’d seen her opportunity, looked at the exact moment to turn tail and escape a small sack of potions richer. Something had stopped her, whatever this world had taught her was being suppressed by the “real world.” She didn’t like having her emotions toyed with, changing who she was. Who she was? That’s a laugh. Since the unfortunate incident in the mage’s tower she’d been moving from one group of ponies to the next. She’d been a farmer and a blacksmith, she’d been a noblepony and a beggar. Every time she met somepony there was a new personality and a new costume, she always fit right in. Her skills had been honed to an art form, she assessed, picked a persona, and donned it as a reflex. She was never the odd pony out, she was a mere face in a crowd and that was how she liked it. This group…she supposed was different. She was told they knew her, that they trusted her, and she could be herself. She was acting the way they expected her to, and in truth she was happy. She was happy when she was a noblepony too - the same could be said for being in a band of thieves. For the first time in a long time she looked about at the ponies around her and realized that every one of them knew exactly who they were. How was she supposed to know if she was just playing the part they expected or if this was who she was? What kind of pony had trouble with the simple question of who they were? She’d almost felt guilty about not having an identity to connect with her old friends…almost. Fluttershy had reacted to this world pretty much as expected, but the last fight apparently took it too far, she was beyond shaken and they all knew it. She was still polite enough, and spent her nights lying with Pinkie and focusing those druidic magics to heal her, but the mare was distant. She wouldn’t start conversations and any discussion didn’t last long, she just wanted to be alone. It didn’t seem like Derpy wanted to talk much either, but Rarity didn’t really have much of a basis for comparison, she’d barely known the poor girl in Ponyville. Then again, in this world she was a member of the elite guard of the princess. Perhaps it would be best to get to know- A lance of guilt ripped through Rarity again. They always caught her off guard somehow. Logically it made sense, this pony had status and Rarity wanted that status. There were so many ponies out there that had things she wanted and she -never- felt guilty about taking them before. Somehow though, things with these ponies were different. A slight sigh drifted from her lips as she dismissed the thought, she’d already decided to throw her lot in with these ponies. Another round of exhausting introspection wasn’t going to change that. A sudden subtle change to the hoof beats shook Rarity out of her thoughts. Every pony near Rarity had increased their movements slightly, and as her gaze slowly swept up she could see why. Peering through the shadows cast by the quickly setting sun she could make out several points of fire, torches. They were mere minutes away from Port Boxwalk. The city of Port Boxwalk was much like all the cities that ran along Equestria, the ones worth going to anyway. The streets bustled with the busy bodies of cheery eyed ponies of all pedigrees. Some were well dressed ponies…merchants more than likely, they didn’t have the guard or jewelry a noble would have. Others didn’t wear anything at all, those were likely the slaves, no reason to dirty up a perfectly nice set of clothes on their account after all. Then everypony in between - those would be the workers who dealt with the docks. Carefully she scanned the streets until she saw what made it all complete: the steel clad guardsponies. Those ponies were either the salvation or bane of one’s existence, depending on what side of the law you stood on stood. Everypony was winding down for the day, heading back to their homes and packing up their shops. Her group arrived in the late afternoon, but they had made it. Finally their group had managed to return to blessed civilization, perhaps they could avoid tromping through the forests and tiny villages for a while? Their travels had been uneventful enough. Pinkie didn’t give them any useful information, but with Fluttershy’s help was back on her feet. Viceroy Shadowflame’s home city was actually Trotterdam, a naval base that had been modified to a major trading port. There just wasn’t much use for the princess’s marine battalions anymore now that Equestria was united under one flag. This was most unfortunate, as those marine colts looked ever so dapper in those uniforms. In any case it would be much faster to catch a ship, rather take roads, even if they traveled by wagon. A sigh of contentment seethed out as Rarity moved past the front desk and moved right for the bathhouse rooms. Suddenly she ground to a jerky halt, throwing a look back to the rest of the group, apparently moving up the stairs to their rooms. Her throat was cleared quickly to catch everypony’s attention. “We’ve only rented two rooms, and no one is going to go anywhere near my room before we bathe.” Rainbow’s eyes rolled as everypony stopped. “Come on Rarity, stop being such a prissy pony. It’s just a little dirt, we’ve got a long trip and we’re exhausted. Let’s just hit the hay.” A dirty, accusative look washed over each of her friends. “In case you haven’t noticed the constant buzz of flies everywhere we go it’s not just a little dirt!” Her hoof smacked against the ground once for dramatic effect, “In addition to being showered with gore, we’ve been wearing our armour nonstop for almost a week and a half now, two for Derpy. Your animal hides, in addition to being tediously drab are downright filthy!” “It’s not meant to impress ponies at parties, it’s to separate blades from my skin. It’s functional.” A touch of indignation crept into Rainbow’s voice. “Not remotely the point! And you Derpy, have you once removed your gambeson since you made modern art out of Ponyville?” Derpy’s eyes were quickly downcast as her mouth opened slightly, as though a response was on the tip of her tongue. “Especially with that plate that you actually need help removing, you’re going to end up with sores and diseases or something. Bath, now.” Under her glower all the ponies finally relented, towing along a very confused Pinkie. Each pony piled into the room and finally stripped off their armour before finally moving towards the bath. Rarity kept hers on, and set to work on Derpy. Nopony else seemed to have the knowledge about how to get plate armour off, and it was near impossible to take off yourself. Rarity wasn’t surprised the poor girl had lost her mind in that town, sleeping in full plate for a few days would be enough to drive anypony mad. Still, plate was -very- expensive stuff, and Rarity had to admit Derpy looked impressive in a suit this fine. After Rarity yanked on the last buckle Derpy was finally able to shirk off the heavy plate with a smile. “Thanks Rarity, you’re even better than my squire.” Rarity’s eyes widened in surprise as she set the plate down, a small wave of shock running through her body. Two halves of herself instantly clashed in that moment. She knew how to treat Derpy; they’d been peers since she’d moved to Ponyville... Derpy was that silly mail pony who messed things up but was beloved anyway. Another part of herself, the part with a thousand masks couldn’t help seeing Tarrow Starsoul, and that mare gave her the shivers. Tarrow was a -knight- and knights were far, -far- above her social class. “I didn’t mean-” Derpy began, apparently Rarity’s surprise had shone through, and Derpy had seen it. Unconsciously Rarity crumpled inside, years of reflexive conditioning crashing down on her in a matter of seconds. She could feel her insides shifting, her features softening. Hastily she gave a demure smile and turned her eyes downward. “No M’lady. I took no offense at your words. I was merely caught off guard.” This time Derpy’s eyes widened, her jaw moving slightly as if to say something, but then it was cut off. “Your gambeson, M’lady.” Rarity’s soft voice reminded her, taking hold of the dirty and blood stained cloth. Slowly Derpy lowered her head and Rarity quickly slipped it off of her, then turned away to stow it before working on her own clothing. A horrified scream echoed through the bathhouse as Rarity's head whipped around, with her armor only half, drawing and clinging to the hilt of a light knife as a reflex. Derpy let out another yell as she chased her tail aimlessly, even managing to switch directions and rear up on her hind legs at one point. After only seconds a soaking wet cyan pony burst into the room, greatsword drawn. Noticing the greatsword wielding pony the grey knight turned, eyes wide as saucers and a shallow pant on her lips. “My cutie mark is gone! Something’s happened to it!” desperation evident in her voice. Rainbow Dash teetered on two legs, barely holding the greatsword aloft before a snicker left her maw. Finally the greatsword clattered to the ground as she fell over laughing, the rest of the group making their way into the small room. Derpy watched for a few moments as her breathing slowed and her eyes narrowed, “Why are you laughing....yours is gone too!” Hooves hastily brought Derpy closer so she could indicate the bare flank of Rainbow Dash. After a moment or two the rest of the ponies rushed in, some with weapons in tow, some without. “Derpy yelled...because...because...” Rainbow went back to laughing, occasionally attempting a word through the fit of giggles. “None...of you have cutie marks...do you?” Derpy observed, a ruby flush filling her cheeks as she turned to look back at Rarity's flank. Twilight looked back for a moment or two, then smiled as she made her way past Rainbow to Derpy. “Nope, the books never mentioned cutie marks, so I guess they just don’t happen in this game.” Purple shoulders raised slightly into a shrug. “I suppose this is the first time you’ve taken all your armor off since you got here?” Derpy turned her flushed face away. “I took it off to sleep, but there’s padding underneath to keep it from chafing...” Carefully Rarity moved across the room and lightly kicked Rainbow Dash, taking on a scolding tone "That's enough Rainbow Dash! Lad-..Derpy's feeling silly enough as it is." Carefully she turned about, bringing herself to face Derpy "My apologies. We would have mentioned it earlier, it's simply that we have been used these things for our whole lives...in the game anyway, I never even thought to bring it up.” After some time Rainbow Dash managed to get her laughter under control and they all made it into the bath. Rarity had to restrain herself from moaning as the warm water pushed its way over her skin, lifting up all of her fur. Her coiffed mane floated gently on the surface as the water pulsed around her, soothing away the aches and pains of a hard week's travel. The tightness in her shoulders from her turn at pulling the cannon slowly and gently relaxed. Rarity smiled, looking up at the light from the setting sun hanging lazily in the air as she encased herself in the peaceful warmed waters. She had to admit Rainbow Dash had been right about the exhaustion, and this place was so very comfortable. Slowly her eyelids began to flutter shut. The feeling of a hoof on her back gently roused Rarity's attention. Slowly and groggily her eyes slid open. The once elegantly beautiful setting sun replaced by a moonlit sky with a haunting beauty all of its own. Her fur bristled next; the warm water had been replaced with that of mere room temperature, and it was growing colder as the chilling night air set in. Slowly her eyes adjusted and she could see that each of her friends had left, leaving her in the bathhouse alone. Her forelegs drifted out in front of her and started waving to the side, pushing her off of the little stone seat and circling her body around, searching for the source of the hoof that roused her. Laying on the side of the bathhouse was Derpy. Her figure rested gently against the side of the bath, a single hoof lazily dropped off the side and toying with the water. Her grey fur lit up from ambient starlight outside, shining slightly off of her still damp fur. "Hey." She muttered quietly one eye turning up towards Rarity, even as her lips turned down slightly. Carefully Rarity rubbed her face with a single wet foreleg, wincing as a cool breeze passed overhead and caught the now wet fur. Calmly she stifled a yawn and nodded her head as best she could "Hello M'lady. Have the others all returned to their room to rest?" "They have." "Then I suppose it's best I join them. Good night M'lady." Rarity turned about and started pumping her legs in a paddle towards an edge. After only making it a foot Derpy's voice called back out to her "Wait...please?" Rarity drew herself to a halt, waving her forelegs to turn her back towards Derpy. "Could we talk?" Rarity bobbed her head slightly "Of course M'lady. Perhaps you'd care for a stroll in the moonlight, to dry off?" With a slight nod Derpy pushed up on four hooves. Rarity set her forelegs against the stone and her hind legs against a seat and hoisted herself out of the water. Torrents of water poured off of her as she shook herself slightly, straightened mane and tail dragging along the ground. The breeze came again, chilling her in the fall air. Despite the cold Rarity still wished for a nighttime walk, it was a luxury one could not afford outside of cities. Derpy pushed the wooden door open and let Rarity stroll first into the moonlit grassland behind the inn. Quietly she took a few steps out, inhaling the crisp fresh fall air with a smile. "Nothing quite like the night air." She mused, "And the moon looks so beautiful tonight." Derpy nodded as she made her way up to Rarity's side and pressed on the walk with her. Silence descended on the two for a time before Rarity's discomfort finally outweighed her manners. "You..wished to talk to me about something?" Derpy's eyes drifted away, if only slightly. Some part of her was still managing to watch their surroundings even as they talked. "Yeah...why are you acting like this to me?" "Like what M'lady?" That gained Rarity an irritated stare. Rarity's lips tensed up a bit as she breathed a stream of air out of her nose, propelling a droplet of water into the dark grass. "That is how one of my station is expected to address nobility. Knights, such as yourself, are technically nobility." An uncomfortable pause followed "But I'm not, not really." "If you were to return to where you lived, it would be a manor with a number of servants?" Derpy's jaw tightened more "Well, yes, I suppose. Here, I mean." "And other nobles, they would call you Lady Tarrow, would they not?" Rarity pressed. "But it's not real. I haven't done anything to deserve to be treated special. It's all some twisted game." Derpy was having even more trouble looking at Rarity now, keeping her eyes turned away a bit and pretending to look at the roofs. "You are nobility. You don't have to to do anything to warrant special treatment." Rarity sighed, trying to muddle through her own confusion "When we return to reality things may be different." "I'm just a mailpony with stupid eyes." Derpy insisted stubbornly. Rarity's pace quickened for a moment as she pulled ahead of Derpy and cut her off, forcing her to stop short. Head moving sideways as she forced Derpy to look right into her eyes, "Mere mailponies don't charge at trolls, risking life and limb for queen and country." Derpy grit her teeth, looking down to the earth, but Rarity pressed on anyway. "You are special Miss Tarrow. If not for your blood, then for your heart. You'd do well to remember that." A silence descended on the two for a good deal of time before Rarity spoke again "Now I bid you goodnight, my lady." One foreleg extended as she curled the other beneath her, bowing respectfully, "I must go style my unruly mane and tail for an obscene amount of time, lest it be tangled." with that she left, quietly leaving Derpy to be alone with her thoughts. The next day the group pulled themselves around a table and managed some idle chit chat, at least between them. As they ate Rarity passed around clothing she had taken some time to purchase. The fall winds were upon them, and at sea the chill would be that much more biting. Without the threat of bandits or random wolves it would be nice to wear simple clothing if it were cold, and less if the day proved warmer. Things even seemed to be going their way, Twilight had even found a captain that was willing to take them in exchange for their cannon. Apparently he had lost one recently, sometimes you have to work hard to get what you need, sometimes you just get lucky. With any luck, their free time on the boat would let Twilight research more powerful magics, and give everypony else a chance to hone their crafts as well. Calmly they packed up their things in their wagon, letting Pinkie sit inside with the cannon and explosives. The last thing they wanted was somepony getting into their supplies through the crowd. As Rarity left the wagon stable she winced under the harsh light of the sun, pulling on a stylish hat a bit lower. It was a beautiful day and things were finally as they should be. The streets were filled with ponies holding polite conversations, pleasant faces and clean coats abound. The buildings were busy and smoke curled out of the forges into the blue sky. Soon they made their way to the docks, buildings of hewn stone made way for the older wooden structures that covered the docks. "That one's ours!" Twilight announced pleasantly, one hoof pointing to a boat. With a smile Rarity looked it over, it seemed sturdy enough, and the crew of sailors moving about on deck didn't seem like pirates. If she happened to be wrong on that point, well, there was a bandolier of knives asking to be thrown. "It leaves in a few hours girls, I'm going to get our things on board and let the captain inspect the cannon. If you want you can look around, but don't be late getting on." Rarity nodded, but she was only half paying attention. Something was going on down at the other end of the docks. It was just louder than it should be, a little more crowded than she would have expected; it was subtle, but it was enough to catch the notice of an experienced...or paranoid eye. With little more warning than that Rarity slipped away. It was probably nothing... probably. It couldn't hurt to just to look though, just to make sure. Slowly she slipped through the crowd, coming up at some sort of unmarked radius where ponies stayed back. Peering from the shifting crowd she could make out armored figures with black and red cloaks, their coat of arms seemed familiar. Carefully she watched as one pony exited a ship on the dock, armoured in full black platemail. Obviously it was some kind of knight. The way he carried himself was assured and collected, moving about the commoners with a full escort like he owned the place. His fur was a dark, almost dirty blue, and his mane, though a lighter blue was wonderfully styled. With a wolfish grin he stepped up to the captain of the next ship and began to speak, but the words were lost on the wind before Rarity could hear them. As he spoke he raised a hoof up and pointed out to the ocean and that's when it hit her - she knew this pony. This was Commander Calescent, leader of Viceroy Shadowflame's armored knight division. Rarity felt her eyes grow wide and her skin grow cold. The fur on her entire body stood on end as she looked about frantically. As she looked around the docks she could see the Vorpral, the best ship in Shadowflame's employ was docked here, how could she not have gathered that? It must have just come in...then he would be pointing to...Rarity's jaw quivered as she looked past the docks at the incoming wave of ships. Viceroy's armada was here. What were they doing here? There weren't enough places for ships to even dock! Perhaps they were resupplying, but that wouldn't explain why the captains of the ship looked so mad from the visit. Perhaps...a blockade? Could Shadowflame know they were here? The goblins couldn't be under his control so much that they would have sent a message would they? No...but word of Ponyville had likely spread, and Shadowflame probably had ears everywhere. With a curse on her breath she turned tail, knocking ponies aside in her mad dash back to the ship. Hastily the white mare rushed up the gangplank and onto the ship, being greeted by the concerned eyes of her friends who had just finished loading the wagon onto the ship. A single moment was the only pause Rarity gave herself to draw steady breath "Twilight, Shadowflame's men are here, and they're blockading the port. If we want to have any chance of getting out of here we need to go -now-." Having explained herself to her friends she looked around the deck to find the captain. There was one pony giving orders on the deck, he didn't look regal enough to be the captain, but perhaps he was the first mate. Clearing her throat Rarity sauntered up to the stallion and flashed him a smile. "Darling..." She said, bringing her voice to be as regal and pleasant as possible. "I'm afraid Lady Tarrow is on an important mission of the state and she simply can't wait any longer. We must depart as soon as possible." "No." The blunt reply was given without so much as even a glance away from his paper. Rarity’s face bunched up and her heart thumped rapidly as she made another desperate bid “Now see here! Lady Tarrow-” “There’s a freaking blockade lady. We’re waiting on instructions from some higher authority than your dame. Leaving now would be treason, and no one of us is stupid enough to risk the wrath of the Equestrian government, no matter what you say.” An eyebrow raised as he looked away from his paper finally. This was it, this was how their journey was going to end? They were going to solve a dispute and uncover a lycan conspiracy and fight down a troll just to be arrested by a handful of knights? A quick assessment of her options flashed through her mind. Fight? No, god no. Lie? That might work, or it might get them all arrested. Run? They could get away, but the trip would be substantially- her thoughts were interrupted as Pinkie’s voice cut through her thoughts. “Wow, this ship looks a lot like the one I was on!” A cacophony of noise rang out as the paper was quickly forgotten by the first mate. Cargo crashed into the deck, and mops clattered to the floor. The first mate’s jaw lowered for a moment as wide eyes looked past Rarity. “Is that...Pinkie Pie?” Rarity paused, looking back in confusion. “Well........yes....” “You travel with Pinkamena Diane Pie?” “Yes.” “And she wants us to run the blockade?” “Yes.” A hoof was slowly raised to the first mate’s head. “Why...I thought she was gone, why now of all times...” As Rarity opened her mouth to question him he turned about “Weigh anchor and get the captain!” For a moment the ship was still, as though everypony was waiting for him to laugh and let them in on the joke, “Pinkie’s back!” He screamed, and instantly the entire deck was whipped into a frenzy. The anchor hit the side of the deck and the sails quickly rolled down. Screams could be heard from the shore as guards rushed in vain to get to the boat. After almost no time a stallion burst from his quarters and rushed over the deck. His coat was fine enough, and an eyepatch covered one of his eyes. As he rushed past Rarity turned to follow him, noting the heavy smell of scotch rolling off of him. Finally he ground to a halt feet from Pinkie, looking her dead in the eyes. “Pinkie! You’re back! Do we seriously have to run the blockade?” his voice seemed exasperated, and at his word preparation slowed. A broad smile burst across the pink mare’s face as she saw him “Captain Anjin!” she exclaimed happily “It’s so good to see you...wait, did you say blockade?” Her head turned to look at the sea, noting the armada closing in. “That’s treason! Running the blockade would be insane!” Pinkie’s eyes drifted over to Rarity, looking for some explanation to whatever it was she just stepped into. All Rarity could offer was a vigorous nod of her head as she mouthed the words “Do it.” Pinkie looked out at the armada, then back to the captain. Then once more to the armada, then finally rested on the captain, “We should do it anyway.” Captain Anjin sighed as the top of his head hit the ground, mumbling incoherently about something before he raised his head. Slowly he turned to address his crew “Man the cannons you damned swine!” he screamed “The Wave Crester’s going rogue, and if we’re going to be damned, I want to be damned in style!” He rose to his full height on two hind legs as he drew a cutlass, pointing it to the horizon. “Stallions! In defiance of queen, country, and my own common sense, run the blockade!”