Twenty
“Scratch?” I asked, surprised. That was a name I had heard before. “I think we’ve met before! Or, you met my older brother.” He raised an eyebrow. “You fought him six years ago, just before the resistance got started. He also told us you were a time traveler.”
He rubbed his chin and nodded thoughtfully. “It’s possible. I haven’t done that yet, but if what you’re saying is true, then I probably will end up going back to fight him… Why would I though? What was the point of it? And how did he get my name?”
“He told me you gave it to him.” I answered.
“And I think you went back in the first place to give me this…” Sweetie Belle added, holding up her Icarus Charm, “but a different version of it. The one you give me should still be in a ravine near the castle of Dawn.”
He nodded again, clearly on top of things. “I gave him my name? That seems unprofessional of me… So I go to this ravine, grab the current charm, and give it to you six years ago. Then I fight your brother. Am I following this right so far?”
I nodded. “After that he said an Order member showed up, and you left to meet her a few days later. Said she was a member of the Order too, and that you wanted to talk to her about a conflict that was happening in your time… which, I guess, is what’s happening now. I still don’t completely understand all this time travel stuff.”
“Another member of the Order…? I suppose it makes sense, trying to make allies on the inside. Do you know the identities of any other members?”
“A few.” Applebloom confirmed. “There was Tug- Number Ten- and Gilda and Max. I’m not sure what their numbers are. Tug was very kind, but Gilda was awful. I don’t know about Max… Then there’s Number One.” She gave Scratch, Dinky and Raphael a look that said something like you’re not going to like this. “Discord.”
The reaction from the other three was immediate. Scratch and Raphael both took a sharp intake of breath, almost scared. Dinky’s jaw just dropped in fear. “Discord?!” Scratch repeated, then swore violently. “That monster is still alive?!”
“Yes. Even my sister and I, in God Tier, could not stop him forever.”
“Wha- That was him too?!” Scratch exclaimed, even more distressed. “Dammit! What will it take to stop him…?”
“You’ve met him before that?” I asked.
“He’s been in our dreams.” Applebloom explained quietly. “But in the dreams, he doesn't look like what we saw at Eclipse. But there's no doubt it's the same monster.”
“If that’s what we’re up against,” Scratch continued, “we’re going to need a lot more strength than just the eight of us… But I think following these dreams is the key. He’s sending his agents out to hunt us down and either capture or kill us. He sees a threat in us.”
Raphael nodded. “If that’s so, then we should make it top priority to find the remaining two dreamers, those of Space and Hope.”
“We’ll need a bigger vessel though.” Scratch stated. “Mine barely carried the three of us here. It’s meant for one person, maybe two.”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “Where’d Drew get to? He was our source of transport.” I looked around, and saw him and the putty Cody standing with the White Wolf knights, helping to tend their wounds. The black haired one stood off to the side silently.
“I’m afraid this will have to be where we part ways.” Drew said after we asked him to join us. “This is a fight I can’t get into, any more than we all already are. Right now, I need to get to Tellius and warn Daring about all this. He’ll almost certainly get tangled up in it if I don’t… and probably still will if I do, but he deserves to know what he’s getting into. But, I’ll still do what I can. If I find anyone over there that wants to join the fight, I’ll point them in the right direction. There are always a few heroes willing to help in Tellius.”
“There’s trouble over there.” Scratch commented. “The Order was very active there six years ago, parallel to the Second Civil War of Equestria. I don’t know what’s different now… but just stay wary of the Daein royal family, specifically Princess Cadenza. Something’s very wrong with her. She’s been seen parlaying with the Order. There’s also a guy in Grann who I think is important. I don’t know his name, but he has black hair and a distinctive, curved blue sword.”
Drew nodded, taking in all this information. “I’ll try to keep all that in mind. If you’re staying here in Ivoire, then I’ll offer you the only lead I have. I heard there was a disturbance in the Aquamarine region. Some Sulphur-spawn stragglers seeping through the holes between dimensions. Sulphur’s been dead for almost twenty five years now, but not all of his minions were destroyed, and there are a bunch just floating around in the void.”
The black-haired knight walked up to us. “Thank you, for saving my men and I.” he said, sounding a bit reluctant to have needed help. “I don’t know what that swordsman was on, but he was the strongest opponent I’ve ever faced.”
Scratch nodded. “There’s more where they came from, but I don’t think there are many as strong as he is. Just keep vigilant around Ivoire, and don’t let them beat the people down. They would crush us all beneath their boots if we let them.”
He nodded. “I am Captain Seever, by the way. If you are in need of aid, simply ask for me, and the White Wolves will repay this favor.”
~
Sentinel’s Keep
Lenora
The dark-haired girl slipped off her Order cloak, and sat on her bed. Several other Order members had just left on a senseless raid on various cities of Ivoire. Lenora had not spoken out against this action, nor had she been picked to participate. Almost everyone else was gone, including Alex. He, Max and Gilda had been assigned to raid several of the islands in the Vermillion region, combining their efforts to cover more ground at once.
Max… Keep Alex safe. You won’t let him become like them. You might be slipping yourself, but you’re not too far gone to protect him. But me… I can’t protect him anymore. I should have gotten him out long ago. He’s… he’s in better hands with you than with me, right now.
She equipped her black, gold-trimmed armor slowly, deliberately. First the legs, then the arms, and at last the chest plate. Lastly, she snapped her sword- long, wide but not broad, and angular- into its sheath on her back. After she was fully armed, she gathered up her few personal belongings, and her gold which could be exchanged for any currency, wherever she ended up. With a heavy sigh, one that was a half-hearted attempt at holding back tears, she stood and exited her room for the final time.
Unsurprisingly, Tug was already standing outside, also dressed the part. His mottled green and grey cloak, unrivaled at camouflage, hung over his head and shoulders. She could see the faintest signs that it held several knives and other small weapons, and his impressive longbow was slung over his shoulder, already strung.
“I didn’t think you’d want to stay after today.” he commented, standing upright from where he leaned against the wall. “I don’t blame you.”
“Tug…” Lenora said, half-sighing. “I was hoping to sneak away without your notice, and not endanger you too.”
He chuckled slightly. “I’d be in more danger staying here than I would be going with you. I’d probably pick another fight with Gilda and get myself into some serious hot water. Besides… you’ll want someone watching your back out there.”
Lenora smiled warmly, and Tug embraced her in a long, comforting hug. “Let’s get out of this death trap.” he whispered. Soon, the two were moving quickly down the spiral staircase of the Sentinel’s Keep, the tower that was said to have stood since the beginning of time. They reached the ground floor and exited into the pale northern sunlight, and the balmy ocean breeze. The gravel beach crunched underfoot as they approached the shore one last time.
“When the time comes that you leave this place, go to the desert. A faded memory and old friend will be there to lend a hand.” Lenora recited quietly. Tug glanced at her. “That’s the last thing Doc said to me, before he left. Now we’re following his footsteps… So, I suppose we should go to a desert now. But which one?”
He shrugged. “Beats me. Guess we can just try them one by one, until we find this ‘old friend’.”
“Well, well.” a familiar, cocky voice said, from behind the two. “I knew you two’d make a break for it one of these days. Seems Lord Discord had the same thought, otherwise I’d be off raiding Ivoire with the rest of ‘em.”
The two turned to see a figure, still draped in an Order cloak, with long blue-grey hair and bronze, almost grey eyes. He wore a smug grin, and aimed a powerful crossbow at the two. “Ah well. This’s still plenty of fun.”
“Give it up, Six.” Tug said, deliberately using his number rather than name as a sign of disrespect. “You can’t stop either of us. And I’m a better shot than you or that layman’s weapon anyway.”
“Maybe not, but you couldn’t kill me either. And we’ll have a pretty good idea of where you’ll be headed now, so it hardly matters.”
Tug and Lenora stared down Number Six for several seconds. At last, Lenora moved her head slightly, not taking her eyes off of the man in the cloak. “Tug, open a portal out of here. Randomize it.”
“May as well.” he commented, creating a portal of darkness behind them. “Once they figure out we’ve left, we’ll be stuck wherever we are.”
Lenora made a step towards the portal, which was being held open by Tug. Six didn’t make a move to stop them. “Look, we both know how a fight between us would end. I’d get beaten around the beach for a while, then just warp away myself. So go on, leave. Nobody’s gonna stop you. But you’d better expect us to come and find you!” He said this last sentence with what sounded almost like childlike glee. Lenora shook her head. There was something deeply wrong with Number Six, she thought.
She stepped through the portal, with Tug just behind her.
Wistarian Waters
Scootaloo
“Something’s not right…” Scratch muttered, sitting against the wall of the boat. After waiting for affairs to calm in Monetopia- and helping where we could- we had purchased the service of a boat to take us to Frigidia, the location of the disturbance Drew had specified.
“What do you mean?” Sweetie Belle asked. She sat next to Scratch, with Applebloom next to her. It wasn’t a huge boat, so the eight of us didn’t have a lot of free space. Still, I had noticed that Sweetie Belle had been staying near Scratch since he and his companions joined our party. I remembered that when Scratch had apparently gone back in time, he had commented that Sweetie Belle was cute. Maybe that’s what she was working on.
“Something isn’t sitting right with me, about something you said earlier. I can’t… I can’t place it. I’m not sure what it is that seems off.”
“What, you think we might have lied to you about something?” I asked.
“No.” he assured me. “No, it’s more like… you might have been lied to about something. You believed it was true, but it may not have been. I’m not sure.”
I sat back and thought myself. What had we told him? About our exile from Equestria, his trip back in time, and what we knew about the Order. All this information was correct, as far as I knew.
“I’ll figure it out later. We’re here.” He exited, then stood in the doorway and stretched. “Bundle up as much as you can. It’s cold out here, and I don’t know how long this will take.” I nodded, adjusted my jacket, and followed him outside. Snow covered the ground on this island, and the rooftops of the low, sturdy buildings. The village here was comprised almost exclusively of Scrabbits, so it made sense that the buildings didn’t need to be as tall.
One of the Scrabbits approached us, and I assumed by his clothing that he was the village elder. “Well, well! It’s not often we have so many visitors at once.” he greeted us. I thought he almost sounded nervous, but I wasn’t sure. “What can I help you with?”
“We heard there was a surge of Sulphur-spawn remnants here.” Scratch said, speaking for the group. “We’re Chromas, here to take the job of dealing with them.”
“Ah, thank goodness. The village is running low on supplies that we normally get from the other side of the island, but can’t get near due to those monsters. But, aren’t there a bit many of you for you to be Chromas?”
We looked around at each other. “Yeah, I guess we are a bit big for a Chroma party now…” Angel commented.
“It’s alright; you can still just pay us Chroma rates.” Sweetie Belle added.
“Oh, that’s very kind of you!” the elder said happily. “Does your clan have a name, since it seems you’ve just formed?”
A moment passed, after which Applebloom said simply: “The Crusaders.”
The village elder nodded, and pointed us in the direction of the outbreak. We all equipped our weapons, and made our way further into the island, on slippery paths through icy hills. Signs of civilization became more scarce, but never disappeared completely. Every quarter mile or so, there was a sturdy stone shelter build into the ground, probably for use in heavy snowstorms. There were also tarps strung up closer to the path, under which were crates of supplies. After a certain point, though, they all became unmanned, with no-one wanting to venture this close to the Sulphur-spawn.
While we walked, I was able to reflect on my thoughts of the three new additions to the Crusaders. Raphael and Dinky both seemed nice enough. Raphael was pretty by-the-book, but he knew what he was doing with that sword of his. Dinky was an odd ball. I couldn’t imagine what she was doing in a group like this, aside from being a dreamer, which I still didn’t understand completely either. Still, if Applebloom was one, then they were something worth protecting.
Scratch, though, was the strangest of all. From the way Dash described him before, he was frustratingly ambiguous, sure of himself, but a vicious fighter. So far, he was proving all of those true. He hadn’t yet given me a reason to distrust him, but he had given Rainbow Dash plenty of reason to be wary, at least until I understood what he was really doing.
I also used the time to review my own companions. I felt like the closest of them- Sweetie Belle and Applebloom- were growing distant from me. In the case of Sweetie Belle, it had been a slow process that started a while ago, with her becoming a princess and growing to resent that role, then turning to drink. We wanted to try and help her, let her know that her friends were still there for her. On some level she seemed to understand that, but she walled herself off, wouldn’t accept any serious help. Now there was Scratch, leading her along by the nose. It was hard to tell if he was aware of it, but I could see it plain as day.
And with Applebloom, this recent disaster that had sent us on this half-adventure, half-spiraling suicide mission, she had become distant from both of us. I didn’t understand what these dreams were about; I couldn’t without someone telling me about them, and no one would. Scratch insisted that we should wait until we had everyone, and the dreams had completed their course. I wanted badly to help comfort Applebloom, but I didn’t have the first clue what she was going through.
Angel and Luna didn’t deserve to be out here at all. None of us really did, but neither of them sought out trouble like the three core Crusaders did, nor were they dreamers who got roped in anyway. Luna just got unlucky, and had Discord exact his revenge on her for his previous defeat. And Angel probably didn’t know what he was getting into when he volunteered to accompany us. But then, did any of us know what we were getting into? Could it only have been two weeks ago that the three of us were in the old clubhouse, preparing for our show in Eclipse?
“Look sharp.” Scratch said, drawing my attention back from my thoughts. “That’s got to be it there.”
“I can’t imagine it would be anything else…” Sweetie Belle began, “but that one is different from the one we saw in Windmill Promontory.” I found what they were talking about, and had to agree with Sweetie Belle. Whereas the last portal had pulsed a deep violet, this one was an angry red. The gold around the edges was different too, the symbols on this one more convoluted and much more chaotic in their orbit around the portal.
The monsters were the same though. The legless and faceless- but certainly not toothless- forms prowled around the portal, waiting for someone else to wander in. Several motionless bodies around the clearing told that we weren’t the first to try.
“Alright,” Sweetie Belle thought out loud, “let’s be smart about this. Luna and I can shoot at them from here, where there’s a bit of cover. That’s how we’ll start, while we have the element of surprise. Once we’ve lost that, go down and hit them hard. We’ll continue to give you cover fire.”
I nodded, and Sweetie Belle readied an arrow, while Luna prepared a dark spell in the palm of one hand. They fired, then immediately prepared another volley. They were able to get in four rounds each before the Sulphur-spawn realized what was happening. When they did and began moving towards our position, Scratch and Applebloom leapt up and charged them, with Raphael, Angel and I just behind. Scratch’s battle discs flared with a blue lightning spell, and he crashed into the first of the Sulphur-spawn mightily. Applebloom’s quick, darting blades cut down the rest of the front line before they could out-maneuver her.
I leapt over them and thrust my spear straight through one of the monsters. Raphael dashed forward and sliced in half one just behind Scratch. With more fighters on our side this time, we were able to hold our own against the beasts much better than on Windmill Promontory. Dinky still had plenty of wounds to heal by the time we were done, but it was apparent that the group as a whole, and each of us as individuals, were growing stronger.
Scratch walked over to the portal before Luna disabled it. He looked closely at the symbols, studying it. I could see him frown from where I stood, and he retrieved two hovering, spinning discs from somewhere on his person.
“This is strange…” he mumbled, “This should just be a simple dimensional gate. But I’m picking up several different kinds of temporal energy off of it, too. Too many for it to be a simple time gate, either. Maybe…”
He put the discs away, and put a hand on his chin, deep in thought. Part of me wished he would share what he was thinking with the rest of the group, but the other part knew that only he understood what was happening right now, anyway. Finally, I saw his eyebrows rise from behind his shades. Several more seconds passed as he put together what he had realized, then he addressed us. “You remember when I was saying that there was something nagging at me, something I couldn’t place about what you had told me earlier?” We nodded. “I think this portal contains the answer to that. This is a gate to an alternate timeline. I don’t think I’m the only one screwing around with time travel anymore.”