//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Good Dreams, Bad Deeds // Story: The adventures of Dread Wing the Kirin // by Vediccio //------------------------------// This is my longest chapter yet, and im mighty proud of it! i hope you will enjoy it, and please leave a comment, or like the story if you like it. dont hide your feelings! As always, My little pony friendship is magic is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust, but i own this fanfiction. *** As morning dawned I opened my eyes, yawned and got up. The fire had gone out during the night, and Daisy was still sleeping. “She deserves the rest” I thought to myself, reviewing the past day. The traumatic event that occurred was the stuff of nightmares, not fit for fillies her age. Speaking of age, I never asked for her age. I just guessed what age she was. There wasn’t much I could do with her sleeping, so I started this epic adventure morning by packing mah stuff into the wagon. When I was finished packing, I started the fire again by breathing some fire unto the dead, burnt wood, making it burn with splendid purple flames. The fire show woke young Daisy up, and she looked horrified. I quickly molded my wings to my body, as not to scare her to much. “Who are you and where am I!?” she shrieked. Ah. It seems like that the traumatic event last night was more traumatic than I realized, but she was fine (I thought) when she went to sleep. Could it have happened overnight? Anyway, I must come up with an explanation before she shrieks again. “I am your uncle, and we are in a forest, on one of my journeys”, I came up with. Seriously, uncle? “I… I don’t quite remember…” she said thoughtfully. “of course you don’t, because you were so sleepy last night, and I think that you became too accustomed to the tavern bed, and it must be an nightmare to suddenly wake up in the middle of an forest, bedded in an bedroll.” I hated lying to her, but it was for her own best. “I want back to mama and papa!” she said sobbing. Ouch, now I have to be creative. “But… don’t you remember?, I asked, your mother and father died long ago, and I had to take you in since there was nopony else who would.” I finished. So much for creativity, stealing the scene of crime and mixing it with a green pile o’ lies. “I think that you just had an small amnesia, poor filly”. “Maybe… but why are we in the middle of a forest?”, she asked, ”And why is the campfire purple?” “I said before; we are on one of my journeys, and the fire is purple because I used magic on it.” “But… you’re an unicorn” she replied suspiciously. “Well… I’m special.” *Special*, seriously? “Uh huh, But where are we going?” she asked curiously. I think the hard part is over, for now at least. “I dunno, somewhere, someplace.” I answered mysteriously. “And I take it that we are lost?” she said with an hint of cold hard irony in her voice. She truly was his newly-adopted-niece. “Absolutely not, for I have been following a map!” I said proudly. “Where is it?” “Why, it’s in my pack of course!” I answered proudly yet again. But as I searched through the pack, I couldn’t find the map I had ‘borrowed’ from my old jewelcrafting master. I think he might be out for retaliation too! Have to be careful from now on. “Ehm, I harked, it seems like I have misplaced my map…” I gave out, admitting defeat. “So, we are lost?” “Yes, young Daisy, it seems like we are…” After marching through the woods blindly and following my own little miniature of the map inside my head, we reached an cave, and it had started raining, and thunder could be heard from a distance. It was also becoming late, in which the cave discovery was very appreciated. And as casually suspected, the cave was deep and dark. We went as far in as we dared, not wanting to wake up whatever was making this cave its lair. Well, we didn’t know if it was being used, we just assumed because caves like this one does not stay unoccupied for long. While Daisy was unpacking, went on ahead to scout the cave. The cave went much farther in than I expected, and I couldn’t dally for long, because I couldn’t leave Daisy all alone for too long. After a couple of minutes, I entered an huge room in the cave, and it also seemed unoccupied. “Why is the cave unoccupied?” I thought. While I was pondering about of what could’ve kept the cave clear for large critters, I noticed something glimmering at the back of the cave. Well, thinking of what could’ve scared big critters was important, but I’ve always been weak for shiny things. I closed up on what was glimmering, only to find an large stone wall with strange markings on it. The symbols on the cave wall looked strangely much like unicorns shooting beams at an alicorn. The Alicorn looked a bit twisted, as if it was half…. “Oh my gosh.” The carving was picturing the battle between the Kirin hunters and the twisted kirin Gold Burn, the first Alicorn-Dragon. Nopoy knew what alicorn could’ve possibly sired this monstrosity, but her father was very well known. The golden terror Gold Doom, he was called, for he was an golden dragon, the most greediest and cruelest of them all. The golden dragons are far more rare than even the kirins, and this particular child of his was the most evil creature Equestria had ever seen. Her temper was more liable to kill somepony who just looked at her wrong, and her powers devastating, almost overpowering Celestia herself. The Kirin Hunters, an small group of dragon hunters with the goal of destroying Gold Burn, barely managed to bring her down, and they were the most powerful of the unicorns of that time, along with the fastest pegasi and strongest earth ponies. With devastating casualties, they disbanded directly after, hoping that the threat was gone for good. Which it was, after they tracked down and destroyed Gold Doom as an last act of service. But that was over a thousand years ago! Could it be… Could it be that this was their old base of operations? If so, this could be the first most historical archeological find I would ever find! Maybe some things were left after they disbanded? Who knows, until we open the gate. Before I did anything, I went back to get Daisy and move the camp further into the cave, since it was abandoned. After we set up camp, I started immediately to examine the carving. Maybe it was the hidden lair, maybe not, but it was worth a try! I spent hours trying to find out how to open the door. I looked everywhere, and no signs of any lever or hidden mechanism, but if I needed an command word I was bucked. Daisy grew bored just watching me trying to open an old cave wall, but when I told her of the historical value this place had, she immediately shone up, listening to the story behind it. And of course did she have questions, and I tried my best to answer them while still trying to figure out the locking mechanism. “Why don’t you just blast open the wall?” Daisy asked, tired of watching me run around. “Hmm, I’ve thought about it, but something could break from the blast.” “But if you can’t find a way to open it, you just have to blast it anyway.” She replied, sure of that her plan was better than mine. “Well, it couldn’t hurt to try…” I charged up an large force spell, enough to push an dragon back a couple of feet. As I released the spell, I saw the same glimmering as before, and the spell got consumed. By the cave wall. The whole thing. With no impact whatsoever. And the door opened, revealing its treasures. And I tell you, the results was something my weakness to shiny things would explode over. There it was, the scales of Gold Doom the Golden Terror. Nopony knew if the Kirin hunters succeded, since they never returned to report to princess Celestia. Now I found out the results that had been hidden for a millennia. Gold Doom was dead, and the Kirin hunters succeded. And of what I could read out, this also seemed like an old tomb, dedicated to the hunters. Well, that’s what the tombstones inscriptions said, anyway. Sure, it was old equeish, but I could still read it. The graves were decorated with their old equipment, but the one that caught my eyes were the big one. The very one the Scales were hanging over, the guildmaster’s grave; Lasercorn the Valiant. Lasercorn the Valiant was well known for his warcry, “Aim at the balls!”. The writing on his tombstone was similar, “I took his golden balls with me!” filling me with shivers, and then realized that he took out the balls before he died. Whoever put them to rest wanted this to be kept a secret, for reasons unknown. Maybe it was their last wish, or something else. Then something else caught my eyes, something that filled me with disgust so foul I vomited. The Bones of Gold Doom, put together with magic to make it look like some sick statue. Sure, the scales would have filled me with disgust to, hadn’t I been very attracted to gold and such things. I was baffled. I was standing in one of Equestrias most historical valued places, the final resting place of the Kirin Hunters, and all I could think of was how much bits I could make off the whole grave… Daisy was numbstruck at the golden scales. All she could was to watch it, and she was drooling a bit. “Daisy” “Uh?” “You are drooling.” I stated. “Oh” she quickly slurped up the drool, blushing with embarrassment. “How do we haul all this?” “We don’t.” “What? Why?” she asked me, very surprised. “We couldn’t possibly haul all this in my cart without attracting too much attention.” “But…”, Daisy asked, still looking at the scales, “Couldn’t you just put an invisibility spell on it?” “And try to explain the large bump under the tarpaulin that doesn’t exist? No, we’ll have to return later when we know we can transport it safely.” Daisy’s eyes were now widening. “But, what if somepony else finds this place before we manage to move the scales?” Hmmm… how to figure this out… Aha! “We could cause a cave-in…” “WHAT!?” she shriek at me, “How stupid could you be, uncle? Wouldn’t the cave-in damage the grave?” “I didn’t mean to crash it all here, but at the entrance” “Well, wouldn’t the shake damage the whole cave?” “Not if we’re careful” “You are anything but careful, uncle” “Well, you haven’t seen enough of me to judge, young Daisy.” Daisy sighed a defeat, started unpacking her things, and then turned to me. “We are sleeping here first, right?” “Why, of course!”, I reassured her, “Cant cause a cave-in without some sleep, and I’m pretty sure that it’s still raining outside.” Daisy sighed of relief, finally going to sleep in her blanket that she had claimed for her own. “Well, thing couldn’t get any bad, right?” I asked myself before I went to sleep and let the night guide my dreams away. Well, let’s just say, I had a bad dream… “Wake up young immortal.” The voice echoed through the forest… wait, forest? The hay is this? I was in a cave… oh, dream. The voiced continued. “Alone and feared, shunned and pushed away, I know, for I was the same.” The voice was mare-like, but still robust, like some kind of regal pony. “Well, you got wrong on the alone part.” I chuckled. “But when she sees through your deception? What will she see you like then? Deceiver, liar, monster…” It but more emotion to the monster part, making sure that the message was clear. “Well, I’ll have to be more careful, then.” “But it won’t last forever.” It was right. My deception wouldn’t last forever, and if Daisy found out that I lied to her, she would most definitely hate me, thinking of me as some kind of creep, calling himself her uncle. “What do you want.” “Well, there art many things thine wants, but few that may be obtained.” “Well, I’m guessing that this is some kind of demon contract, so I won’t make any deals before I meet you face-to-face.” “Very well, thou shalt have thine wish.” The view shocked me, making me jaw drop. I thought that this was some kind of dream demon wit horns and twisted body, but this was unexpected. Before me, another kind of demon appeared, perhaps the most well known, Nightmare Moon. “Nightmare Moon” I grumbled. “Well, thou art the first to recognize mine visage” Nightmare Moon replied, most proud of this creature she met. “Art thou a scholar?” “Well, kind of.” True, I am a scholar, but not in any of the more popular areas, such as lore and other things to do with history, but when it came to minerals and ruins, I was the boss. “Well, it’s refreshing to see such potential unwasted”, the nightmare said, “but thou art still feared and shunned by other ponykind, and mayhaps by the rest of the world.” “That may be so, but I still don’t do contracts for such things. Besides, I got Daisy with me, so I won’t be alone in this journey.” I replied, proud of resisting the demon. “But when you reveal yourself, what will the rest of Equestria think? Not everypony is as accepting as the ones you met in Stalliongrad, and the glares when you traveled to Germaney, and don’t count in the old crafter, thou know that he was blind.” She was telling the truth. The old jewelcrafter was indeed blind, bust still the best there was. “And don’t forget Marelin, were you was called degenerating names, and run out for what you were, and if it had been a pony, things would have been different.” Somehow, I knew she was telling the truth. Other ponys would see me as an abomination, monster, demon, half-breed… the list could go on for a while, and I knew the nightmare was right. “What would you ask of me?” I sighed out. Nightmare Moon smiled demon like. “Free me from this prison that mine sister put me in, and thine reward shalt be grand.” It was an very tempting offer, but could I really free her? “But how could I break Princess Celestia’s spell?” “With thine already powerful magic, of course” she said while still grinning, “it is both alien and destructive enough to break the peaceful spell.” “But… the prophecy tells that you will be released on the thousandth sun celebration, and that’s only a couple of years away.” “Perhaps, but not every prophecy is telling the truth, but unlike everypony else, you listen to me willingly, and with hunger in thine eyes.” True, the reward was very tempting, *Thine reward will be grand*, was very tempting to me as an dragon, but my pony side had its doubts. I knew she was telling the truth about what will happen when I reveal myself, but my pony side was still resisting. “What does this ‘reward’ contain?” I asked curiously. “Freedom to roam mine domain without being discriminated, a hill-full jewel hoard, and your own patch of land, for you to rule as my first vassal and right hand.” After some minutes of deep thinking, I replied. “What would you have of me, my queen?” Nightmare Moon was grinning demonically. “We command thee to assemble powerful artifacts that will be critical in my freeing. When thou combine these artifacts with thine magic, the powerful prison spell will be broken and I will be freed, thine reward due.” “And what artifacts will these be, your majesty?” “The first object will be the sword of Lasercorn the Valiant, Ballsbane.” Her voice still echoed. “That will be easy, since I am in his very tomb.” “Ah yes, so I haft seen, but his grave is protected by powerful magic, of which I have no doubt thou can dispel.” “Not to worry, my queen, I will handle it.” “I know thou will, mine agent of Darkness.” She was still grinning demonically. “But after I retrieve the sword, how will I find the other artifacts?” I asked her. “I will contact thou, with locations and warnings.” And with that, she stopped grinning. “But if thou shalt fail me, be wary of the consequences.” She warned me with the most serious look I’ve ever seen since my mother warned me of doing mischievous deeds. “Fret not, my queen, for I won’t fail. Not as long as my name is Dread Wing.” And with that, Nightmare Moon disappeared and something was shaking me and pulling me out of my dream. It was just Daisy being worried. “Uncle!”, she almost shouted in my ear, “Wake up.” “But I don’t wanna!” I complained, teasing her with her own behavior. “Uncle Dready, I was worried about you, and here you tease me!” she was angry now. “Sorry Daisy, but I was just joking with you”, I replied, “and why were you so worried?” “Well, let’s see… first; you were oversleeping, and second; you were talking in your dreams, something about artifacts, a sword with a strange name, and *my queen*.” Let’s just say that I was a little pale. I didn’t know of how to tell this young pony of how I made a deal with Nightmare Moon to free her sing different artifacts and my magic. And that I was now calling her my queen. “Ehm… I might have met a demon…” I said shyly. “What?” she replied, with some shock in her face, and she was very confused. “wha… wjah… what? What the hay is a demon?” she asked me. Luck was on my side today, since this is my chance to give her another perspective on demons, so that what I did was justified. “Demons are powerful entities living in the dream realm, offering rewards to those who do them favors and little other things, and they really like compliments, hence why I called Night… The demon *My queen*.” Daisy was looking at me strangely, with curiousity filled eyes. “And you took an offer from it?” “Yes” I replied simply. “What did it want?” “Artifacts scattered around Equestria” Daisy looked worried, “But it promised a grand reward if I helped it”. I reassured her. The young filly looked more excited than ever. “Them what are we waiting for?” she almost shouted out, “We have arti… arfti… arty something to find!” if I wasn’t mistaken, she was almost giggling. “Well, it just happened to be our lucky day, since the first thing on the list is right ‘ere, in the tomb.” Daisy was slowly losing her giddiness. “Wait, what? Are we grave robbing!?” she was a little angry now, but not much. “Isn’t it against the law?” “Well, as long as nopony knows about it, it isn’t bad. Besides, I’ll just call it *Archeology research*.” Daisy loosened up a little. “But, isn’t It very immoral to rob graves?” “Well, the ones six feet under doesn’t really need the items, right?” “I guess you are right…” Daisy sighed. “Of course I am, I am your uncle after all!” I said proudly. After a quick breakfast I started trying to dispel the protection magic around Lasercorns grave. After a couple ‘o hours I got really frustrated and I might have gotten a little rough. I accidently shaped my fore hoofs into giant dragon claws and smashed the grave open, revealing the skeleton of Lasercorn the Valiant, and his sword lying on top of him, held tight by his hooves. The armor donning him was also spectacular, and if my metal sense was telling me the truth, this was pure mithril, unbreakable except by the most powerful dragons and magic. It was invaluable, since pure mithril was almost too rare to find. I was practically drooling, and the feeling only got more powered up when I found the sword. “Oh my gosh” was all I could say. The sword, Ballsbane, was THE most powerful weapon in Equestria, maybe even the world, and it had slain hundreds of dragons, its last victim being Gold Terror. But it was the sword itself that I was drooling over. The metal, if I recall my metals right, was pure meteorite. Meteorite is an metal only excavated from meteors, which makes it more rare than mithril, and the steel formed from it is more durable than the mithril, making it unbreakable and too invaluable to sell. The craftsmanship clearly spoke out that it was an master smith that made these treasures that saved Lasercorns much endangered life. There were a few scratches, but nothing serious enough to lower the value. “Must have been in the fight with Gold Terror.” I mumbled to myself. Well, I was the only one drooling, since Daisy had no idea of what she was looking at except some really old skeleton wearing a shiny armor and a sword. “Uncle, you are drooling.” “Oh, ‘scuse me” I said embarrassed and slurping up the drool. Taking a final look at the armor, I grabbed the sword with my claws and put it in the wagon. Daisy, on the other hoof, was dead pale. “Uncle!” she shrieked, “What happened to your hands!?” Uh oh. “Ehm… it’s a weird transformation spell… that I learned in some dusty old tome during my other journeys…” “Ehm… well, if you just said so in the beginning I wouldn’t have freaked out!” she blamed me, clearly angry. “I’m so sorry Daisy, I was just so mad and enthralled by the treasure, that I forgot to warn you.” Said calmly, trying to calm her down. “Just… Just warn me next time. Anyway, where to next?” she asked curiously. “Well, Night… the demon will contact me tonight when I sleep, with new instructions.” “Aww… why tonight? Why not now?” “Well, demons only come to you in your sleep, and this one only comes out at night.” “Awww, but it’s far ‘till its night!” she whined. “Well, you’ll just have to be patient, and a filly your age must learn to be patient.” “hey, I’m not just a little filly, I am 14 years old!” “Ow… well, you still need to have patience. It is very useful in this business we just got ourselves in.” “But what to do until night? I am bored!” she continued to whine. “Go and try to open the other graves, who knows what they contain.” I ordered her, “And they might contain more treasure!” “Alright, as long as it keeps me busy.” She complained as she entered the tomb once again, looking for treasure. Daisy went into the tomb to dig up the rest of the graves, in hope of finding treasures or something that was worth the effort. There were eight graves, excluding Lasercorns. She started at the far end of the tomb, to the tombstone marked with the name *Ice Blood, Enough said*, and the name sent shivers through her. She attempted to push the lit of the grave, but it was too heavy. She pushed harder and harder, slowly pushing the lid of the grave, and was amazed by what was lying in there. Sure, the skeleton was horrifying, but the rest… worth it. At the head, a steel helmet with icy looking horns, one broken, was placed, and by the side of the main corpse was a gigantic hammer, which was made by something ice looking, the same as the helmet. Now, Daisy wasn’t some armor knower, but she knew that this find had to be good. She left Ice Bloods grave and went to the next. The next said *Morbid Plague, Master Plaguemancer*, and Daisy left the grave and hurried to the next. The second script Said *Thunder Blast, Master Elementalist, only of his kind*, and Daisy opened it in the same manner as with Ice Bloods grave. Beneath, she found a robed skeleton with a strange looking rod in his grasp, and his eyes were hidden by some kind of eye band. “Maybe he was blind” She mumbled to herself. Pleased with this find, she went to the next grave. The fourth grave said *Sir Prancealot, a knight of Chivalry and bulwark of justice*, and Daisy giggled. “Sir Prancealot… ahahah” she continued to giggle as she forced the lid open, and revealed the inside. Well, first she was disappointed at just finding san rusted armor, sword and sh… wait, the shield wasn’t rusted… Daisy went for a closer and noticed that the shield was glimmering a little and almost shined brightly. How could she have missed it? Anyway, she took up the shield and put it on the floor, and then she got an idea. She went to the two other graves she had opened and put the items of interest in the pile together with the shield. Satisfied with the treasure pile, she went to the fifth grave. At the fifth grave, she noticed that there was some kind of aura emitting from the grave. “Whatever could that be?” she looked at the script, and she was very confused at the name. *Marelin, Greatest Wizard in Equestria, next to nopony but Starswirl the Bearded* But, she had never heard of him before, and they would have taught them his name if he was second only to Starswirl… Daisy didn’t have time to think right now, she had to open the lid, and find this resonance. As she pushed and pushed, and finally opening the grave, and was found the source. The skeleton was wearing some old wizard robe, but in his grasp was an old looking book that emitted this strange feeling, so it had to be valuable. She put the book beside the loot hoard, being extra careful. She then went to the sixth grave. The following script on the sixth tombstone said *Dusk Mane, Master Assassin* Hmmm, this seemed interesting. When she opened the grave, she heard a click, and then a bolt flew past her, nearly piercing her heart. Flying away from the grave, she tried catching her breath, and then she sighed. “This had better be worth the near death moment.” She grumbled. And oh colt, was it worth it. There was the skeleton, but the clothes were intact for some reason or the other. But what caught her eyes were the twin daggers at her sides. They had the same design, but the patterns and coloring was different. One was onyx black, while the other was ivory white. Both had some kind of text on them, but it wasn’t any equuish she had ever seen. She took the daggers and put them in the loot pile, and then she turned to the black suit. She neared it, then she touched it. It felt like silk, but it should have broken down during the time they were lying here. “They must be of some special fabric” Daisy thought out loud. She took off the suit, but not without great effort. It was all very complicated. So we skip it. Well, she put the weird suit in the pile, and then hurried to the seventh grave. The script on the seventh grave said *Dead Eye, Ranger of the Everfree*. Daisy felt weird. Isn’t the Everfree forest dangerous and hostile? Well, maybe things were different a thousand years ago. She opened the grave, and lying there was a bow. Nothing else. Honest. The bow sure looked special, but where is the corpse? Well, got to put the bow in the pile, but she wanted to test it. As she pulled the string, an arrow appeared magically in between the bow and the string, ready to be shot away. Daisy was so fascinated by this, she fired the arrow away, into the stone wall. And, well… I was being literal there… into the stone wall the arrow stuck, much to Daisys amazement. The arrow disappeared into a mist of green. She thought that she would keep it for herself, so she hung it over her back, hurrying to the eighth grave. The script on the eighth grave said *Angel Touch the Fair, Cleric and beloved wife of Lasercorn the Valiant*. “hmmm” Daisy hmmm;ed, “The only female, it seems.” And then she opened the grave, and lying there was the skeleton of a mare, with the most strangest necklace Daisy had ever seen. When she touched the necklace, she felt refreshed, and calm for some reason. It felt impossible to be angry, while she was holding it. She put it around her neck, and them she called out to Uncle Dready, who was rushing in, to find that Daisy had rounded quite the treasure pile. “Good job Daisy!” Dread Wing cheered her. “Well, maybe you should give me some kind of reward for my most awesomly done job?” “Well, it seems like you already have taken your reward, or rewards, already.” Dread Wing said smiling. Daisy looked at her bow, and at the necklace, and blushed. She had completely forgotten about them. “Well, otherwise you’ve done an amazing job.” Dread Wing looked over the pile of treasure, putting It all over the floor for a better view. “Now Daisy, speak of what you have found.” “First up, a helmet with horns of ice, though one seems to be broken, lies together with a gigantic hammer thing made of the same ice as the horns.” Dread Wing looked at the find with interest. “That’s true ice…” “True what?” “True Ice. Ice that never melts. Ice Blood brought these from his homeland in the far north, but nopony bothered to send an expedition to explore it.” “Well, enough history for now, and take a look at this” Daisy said, and brought forth the rod. “Wow” Was all Dread Wing could say. The item lying in front of Dread Wing was nothing else than the Rod of Thunder, the namesake of Thunder Blast, the only Elementalist Equestria has ever known. The rod allowed him to shoot thunder at his enemies, and well, the concept is quite simple, for you know what thunder does. If you don’t, go back to school. The next item on the floor was the strange book that emitted some strange aura… wait, this is Marelins spellbook! The book itself is an national treasure, but now it was all his! Think of the secrets that Marelin put in it! It wasn’t that weird that Daisy didn’t know about Marelin, since the only records of him is kept by a collector of ancient lore, and he wasn’t all that happy to share his secrets. Anyway, to the next set. The next set was some strange black suit and twin daggers, one black and the other white… hmmm, this needed investigating. As for the suit… this was all alien to him. Daisy explained that this all came from Dusk Manes grave, and that she almost died opening it. Well, since almost all the records of the nine Kirin slayers was destroyed when the palace of the Royal Sisters was destroyed, and the only records that was saved was Lasercorns and Ice Bloods, which was a shame really, since there was almost nothing on Ice Blood. Dread Wing noticed that there was one unopened grave, and gave Daisy an stern look. “Why is there an unopened grave?” “It was too suspicious, plus the name gave me shivers.” “Whose is it?” “Morbid Plague, or something”, she said with disgust in her voice, “Master Plaguemancer“ “Hmmm… well, you are right that it sounds very suspicious, and I think we will do the world a service if we leave the grave unopened.” Daisy sighed of relief, going out from the tomb, since she had spent the whole day in there and she was quite hungry, and called out to Dread Wing to coo something. “Cook something yourself!” he yelled back. “But I don’t know how to cook!” “Then it’s high time you started!” “Come on!”, she yelled, “I’ve been working all day while you were sitting on your flank and drooled over that sword!” “Excuse me for studying the artifacts that we are collecting!” “Well, if you want me to starve, you will find yourself winning!” she whined. *** Letting out a sigh of defeat, I walked out to the makeshift camp, took out the kettle and filled it with water, put some logs under it and started a fire. While it started to boil, I took out some vegetables and started hacking the, throwing them in the boiling water. I threw a look in Daisys’ direction, clearing my throat. “If you don’t know how to cook, now is the greatest of times to learn!” I shouted at her. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever” she said lazily. I sighed heavily, ignoring her complains and continued with my cooking. “By the way uncle, why do you have two horns?” Daisy asked suddenly, freezing me still, “And why are a little scaly? I noticed the scales just now, but I’ve been wondering about the horns for a while.” I was in deep trouble now, as I wanted to hold the kirin thing from her for atleast a bit longer than this. Now I had to explain it ALL to her. I just hope it doesn’t go wrong. “Well, it’s all… a little hard to explain…” I forced up, hoping for something I don’t remember anymore. “Well, I want to hear it!” she insisted. “Well, first of, I’m a kirin…” I said before Daisy interrupted me. “A What?” “A kirin” “Seriously?” “Seriously” “You mean, like that Gold Burn chic?” she asked with curiosity mixed with fear. “No, nothing like her” I explained, “She was a monstrosity, I am just greedy.” “But, why didn’t you tell me before?” She asked as if she had been betrayed, of which she had a little. “I was afraid that it would frighten you, that you would see me as a monster that’s not supposed to exist.” I managed to pull up while I was sobbing. “Well, if you had just told me in the beginning, I would have been easier than it is now! I can’t believe that my own uncle doesn’t believe that I could handle such a small thing! You are my uncle, right?” She threw me a suspicious look. “Of course I am, but I didn’t tell you the kirin part because I thought it would frighten you!” “Well, now I want to know how the hay my uncle could be a kirin!” “Well, you see… our father had some strange tastes…” “Now I don’t want to know anymore…” “Well, that makes it all that much easier” I said with a grin. “But don’t think that you get away that easy, mister!” “Would never think of it” “Good, now I want some food!” she finished. And it seems that in just that moment, the food was actually finished. After the simple but rather tasty dinner, we both went to sleep. And as expected, I got contacted by Nightmare Moon. “Hast thou retrieved the sword?” her voice echoed. “Yes, m’lady” I bowed. “Good, then the first artifact is retrieved, for thou shalt need it in thou search for the artifact thou was supposed to find” the nightmare grinned demonically, “Now the real artifact, is none other than the Rod of Elements” “THE Rod of Elements? The one that lets you control the elements and bend them to your will?” I asked her, surprised. “Yes, I thought I was clear” her voice echoed (It will continue to echo, so don’t get confused if I don’t write it down). “My apologies your majesty, I was just surprised!” She stared down at me. “Apology accepted. Now, to obtain the rod, thou needst to assemble the four pieces that hast been scattered in the different corners of southern Equestria.” “And I guess that these four pieces resemble the four elements?” I asked. “Yes, that is most correct”, she grinned, “Thou art most gifted in observation, Dread Wing.” I blushed, getting complimented by Nightmare Moon is not something that happens every day, or more correctly, every night. But I’m pretty sure she was playing with me. “The locations of these pieces are secret, but I know of their hiding places”, she grinned, “but some are more dangerous to obtain than others…” “Tell of how to get them, and tell me of these dangers.” “Thou may obtain them in what order thou wants, as long as thee obtains all without warning Princess Celestia of thee plans.” She got a more serious look, “The Element of Wind is located in the depths of the pegasi city of Cloudsdale. The Element of Water is located in an hidden temple on an island off the coast of Stableside, thou will know where. The Element of Fire is located inside Dragon Mountain, guarded by a dragon. The last piece, the Element of Earth, is located in the heart of the Everfree Forest, deep inside our old palace.” She echoed out, sending down shivers in me when she mentioned the Everfree forest. “And what danger awaits me at the temple island?” “We… we don’t know, for we were not there when they built it.” She frowned. “But we do know that it is hidden by magic, and that it won’t be easy to find, but we have faith in that thee will find the island.” Well, these are very well protected places, but the most weary place is Cloudsdale. How the buck am I supposed to infiltrate that place? Sure, I could disguise my horns, hide my scales and look more Pegasus like, but how am I supposed to get deeper inside Cloudsdale without alerting the guards? I’ll have to wait with that one till last. With that last sentence, the nightmare faded, and so did the dream. When I woke up, Daisy was, surprisingly, cooking breakfast. “So, any new orders uncle?” Daisy asked. “We’re going treasure hunting” I said while grinning greedily.