//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Quest // Story: Legacy Of A Hero // by CrypticMetaphor //------------------------------// Mary walked along the trail of the orchards as the moon shone in the bright starlit sky. Mary leaned against a nearby tree and watched a younger Martin and Applejack playing with a nine year old Mary who was happily laughing. Mary blinked away tears as the moon shined brighter for a few seconds and then dissipated. “Now these are the kind of dreams I always love to see.” Mary didn’t turn, “Good evening your highness.” Princess Luna stood beside Mary, “Isn’t it?” Mary quietly said, “Yeah…” Princess Luna shook her head, “You’ve been coming here a lot as of late.” Mary sighed as she sat on the ground, “Not much I can do.” Luna was standing before her, “You could stop moping and think of something. There are things in this world that we have no control over,” she glanced at the scene before her once more, “And then there are things that only we as individuals can control and they are sometimes the most simplistic.” Mary blinked and Luna was gone. * Dominic was pacing around his mother’s house in frustration. He had gone before Princess Celestia to ask if he could go to The Wastes to look for the missing Knights but it didn’t go to well. Celestia shook her head, “I’m afraid that’s out of the question.” Dominic shook his head, “But I inherited my dad’s ability”, he then formed a katana made out of pure solid electricity, “Plus it’s more refined!” Celestia approached with an understanding smile, “I understand your worry but it takes more than power to succeed at what you’re suggesting,” She placed a hoof on Dominic’s shoulder, “You may be the son of a hero, but you still have much to learn.” Dominic stopped pacing, “Screw that.” * Mary was staring at Dominic who was standing in the center of the Crusader Clubhouse, “Are you insane?!” Dominic shook his head, “No I’m not.” Applebloom was surprised as ever, “But what yer suggestin is dangerous as ever.” Dominic pointed at them all, “Look, our parents, your sisters and their friends have been missing for weeks and I for one am not going to sit around and wait forever.” Mary pointed out to him, “In case you forgot the Princess said she wouldn’t allow or condone it.” Dominic smiled mischievously, “She said I couldn’t, she never said we.” Sweetie Belle tilted her head, “So THAT’S why you called us here.” Dominic sighed, “Come on gang, we’ve all dreamt of doing what our family and friends did in their glory days and the chance is presented to us,” he then dramatically waved, “Just think of it, we save the Knights of Equestria and stop a war all at once. It just SCREAMS awesome!” Scootaloo nodded in agreement, “Yeah! Why should we sit around and do nothing! Carpe Diem!” Dinky face hoofed, “Even if we did go on this journey, we don’t even know where The Wastes are.” Dominic produced a map, “Borrowed this from Spike, I said I was doing research on the place.” Everyone groaned except Scootaloo, who looked at the map with him and whistled, “That’s a LONG way to go.” Dominic nodded, “Yeah but we’ll do it!” He stepped outside as he gestured to the horizon, “Come on gang, we’ll follow that trail!” Mary was confused, “What trail?” Dominic pointed, “The trail that we blaze,” the trail in question was to the east. Mary turned the map right side up as Dom pointed in the right direction, “THAT trial that we blaze!” Everypony then face hoofed and palmed respectively. * Everypony packed that night and waited for dawn to arrive. Mary sat on her bed and gazed at a photo of her, Dominic, and The Knights at the Grand Galloping Gala. They had gone there on her sixteenth birthday and they all had a blast. Dominic even got to chat with Spitfire personally because of his mom knowing her. She smiled at the fact that if she ever brought up the fact that Dom had a crush on the famous Wonderbolt he would deny it outright. She packed the picture and walked out just as the moon disappeared below the horizon and saw her friends waiting for her. She had dressed in a black hooded sport jacket and was wearing matching pants with two white vertical stripes on the legs and a white long-sleeved shirt when she showed up. Dom raised an eyebrow, “What’s with the sports wear?” Mary shrugged, “I dressed light.” Dominic nodded, “Right.” The group then struck a pose as they immediately headed westward. * The Black King began to laugh manically at the spectacle that unfolded before him, “OH they are just making this to easy!” The Knights became angered at this as Rarity yelled at the King, “You leave them alone you beast!” The Black King zapped them again, “You’d do wise to know your place.” Pinkie Pie was bouncing a ball against the cage, “Don’t worry everypony, they’ll be here soon and we’ll be out of here faster than you can say farficnugen.” * Ten hours had passed by when their journey had begun and already the COH had made some great headway. Ponyville had long vanished behind them and they were currently passing a massive forest that was to their right. They then stopped by the side of the road and pulled out some food and began to dig in. As they ate their meal they heard distant howling which caused them all to shiver. Applebloom packed her saddle bags back up, “We better keep movin. A hungry pack of Timber Wolves is more vicious then full ones.” Dominic nodded, “Can’t argue with that.” They started moving until they came to a halt at a forked road. Dominic checked the map and sighed as he pointed to the entrance to a road that cut through a canyon. They all turned and kept walking. Scootaloo groaned in annoyance after three hours of walking, “How long is this canyon!” Dominic yelled over his shoulder, “Were going to be in here for some time Scoots, it’s about several miles long.” Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes as Dinky spoke what she was thinking, “What is the route exactly?” Dominic checked the map, “We travel down that road we were on, go through this canyon and across some grassland and were a quarter of the way there.” Everyone moaned in anguish as Dominic walked on with a smile of an adventurous sort. He stopped for a few seconds and looked around as a pebble clattered to the ground in front of him. He looked up and noticed a few shadows move out of sight. Dominic’s hands crackled with electricity, “We got company.” All of sudden a chorus of howls echoed through the canyon as a pack of Timber Wolves appeared on the road behind them and on nearby ledges. Dominic looked around as the group stood back to back, “Balls!” The wolves attacked in earnest.