//------------------------------// // The Gulid's Plot // Story: An Impossible Task // by AvalonAva //------------------------------// An Impossible Task Chapter 2 The Guild's Plot The campfire was crackling merrily as the two of the traveling ponies were snoozing soundly. Shimmering Blade sat in the firelight, watching for any danger, and a rifle at hand. Twilight had fallen asleep almost immediately, but it took Charon a while. Eventually the comfort of sleep overcame him. Blade yawned, and looked down at the fire. The dancing flames lit up his face, which showed sorrow. His sapphire blue eyes reflected the fire as tears, albeit seldom, welled in his eyes. Blade closed them, and let his thoughts come to pass. Pain and suffering were coming and going, each one stung more worse than the last. Finally, the wreaking memory had arrived. A pang of guilt and misery flashed across his face, and a tear escaped his clenched eyelids. The colt looked back into the fire, and wiped the tear from his face. "It's all in the past...I can't change that." Blade said to himself quietly. He tipped back his head, and looked up towards the stars. The millions of lights twinkled like there was no tomorrow. A sudden crunch noise came from Blade's side. He snapped around to see what it was, and saw that a deer had treaded on some leaves. He sighed, and turned back towards the fire. He had just enough time to see the butt of a rifle slammed into his face. He fell back and landed on the ground, and in pain. "Damn it!" Blade shouted. Awakened, Charon came running out of the tent. "What's up?" He quickly asked. Blade had gotten to his hooves and was fighting with the unknown assailant. Knife drawn, he dueled with the rifle wielding pony. "This asshole thinks he can just waltz into our camp and hit me in the face!" Blade shouted to Charon. All around them, more shady looking ponies appeared. They headed towards Charon, ignoring Blade's fight. "So, I'm assuming you guys aren't here for s'mores?" Charon jested. They continued to advance towards him, mute. He sighed. "I thought not." Turning towards his left, he chanted a spell. " Consurgens petram turris!" A spire of earth rose up and tossed three shady ponies into the air. One retaliated by firing a rifle, hitting Charon on his front left leg. The bullet went through and left a bloody hole in his leg. "Son of a bitch!" One of the ponies jumped onto his back, and grab around Charon's neck. He tried to throw the attacker off him, but to no avail. Everything began to be fuzzy, and blurry. He felt tired, a sudden urge to go to sleep. Everything became light, and a darkness overcame him. Blade was still fighting with the armed pony when Charon lost consciousness. The shady ponies overcame the second of Twilight's guard as a chloroform cloth was fastened around Blade's face. He stopped struggling, and fell still. Without any protectors, the shady ponies moved to where Twilight slept. As a safety precaution, one shot a sleep-laced dark into the princess so that she would remain asleep. Dispatched and unconscious, the three were drug off into the darkness by the midnight attackers. XXXX Max and Lu walked through the tunnel, with their only light being one from Max's left wrist. Their footsteps echoed throughout the damp rock. "How much further does this go on, I wonder?" Lu asked. "Not much further, I think. There's a light up ahead." "Oh yea, I can see it..." The tunnel bended, and a torch was resting in a steel hold. "What? I think something lives down here." Max said. "Or someone." Lu replied. "FOOL!" The holy blade Excalibur had left Lu's sheath and stood before them. "Of course there is something down here, those inscriptions at the entrance were proof enough." "We know this, but it's just-" Lu started "FOOL! Do not tell me what you already know! I already know what you already know before you already know it!" The two stared at Excalibur. "I'm sorry, what?" Max asked. "FOOL!" "Get back in the god damned sheath Excalibur!" Lu shouted. The weapon bowed, and transformed back into sword form, rested tightly in its sheath. "I swear to Arceus I'm going to melt that weapon down." "Let's not be too hasty, Lu." The tunnel widened, and the exit was ahead. Light flooded into the tunnel, and the light hurt the two's eyes. "It can't be daylight, not yet. Sunup isn't for another 3 hours." Max stated. The tunnel ended, and they entered a large underground room. What looked like a city was built before them. "Huh. Talk about déjà vu." Lu said. "What do ya mean?" "I mean this place is like Bone clan's city. They had it built in the mountain's underground tunnels. These natives must have had the same idea." The structure of the city was pretty much the same, wood/stone/straw style houses. The ponies that lived here all looked poor, like hardship had fallen down on all. "Be stealthy. They might panic at the sight of us." Max noted. He scaled a wall, and the Pokemon followed behind. Both hid from the citizens view on the rooftop. "Easy access to every building in the city. Smart move, Max." Lu complimented. They jumped from rooftop to rooftop, moving towards the center of the city. XXXX Twilight woke up due to a hard bump. She was knocked to the other side of the carriage, and fell onto a sleeping Charon. "Ugh...what? Where am I?" Twilight asked herself. The three of them were stuffed into the back of a carriage by some unknown ponies. Twilight scoffed. "To think they're so ignorant as to kidnap an Alicorn." She focused her magic to teleport the three away. A few seconds passed. And then a few more. "What's going on? My magic isn't working!" She said, beginning to panic. She put her hooves up to hold her head, but her hoof brushed against something foreign. She felt around the strange obstruction. Then a sigh of relief came from the purple pony. "Oh thank Celestia, my magic is only blocked. I though I had lost my powers." The carriage hit a few more bumps on its way. The other two were eventually stirred by the bumpy ride. "What..." Charon said drearily. He then jolted up. "Night raid!" He shouted. An annoyed Simmering Blade smacked him upside his head. "That's what happened last night, moron." He said. "Well I'm sorry I was asleep when they attacked. It was your shift, anyways." Charon snapped. He then winced in pain, due to the bullet wound. "How'd I let my guard down like that? This wound is painful." "He does have a point. But this bickering won't solve anything." Twilight told the two arguing colts. "There nothing we can do right now. The only thing we can do is wait." "You try to wait with a gaping bullet hole in your leg." XXXX "Hold on for a moment, Max." Lu said, right when the human was about to jump to another rooftop. "What's up?" "That carriage." He said, pointing towards it. "Something significant about it?" "Aside from the fact that its escorted by at least 20 of these ponies? No, I think it's purpose is purely innocent." He said with sarcasm. "You could've just said there's something fishy about the carriage. C'mon, let's follow it." Max said, altering their course on the city rooftops. XXXX The covered carriage holding Twilight and her companions had come to a stop. The back opened, and light flooded the dark inside. The three squinted their eyes, adjusting to the brightness. A few of the captors pulled them out of the wooden transport, and gave them a moment to stretch out. "Get your grimy hooves off me. I can walk jut fine, thank you." Blade said as he was pulled out. Charon stood up, but fell just as fast. A few of the ponies rushed to him. "He's bleeding out!" One mare shouted. Another managed to get Charon on his back. "We need to get him to the infirmary, and quick." The colt said. Nodding, the mare focused her magic and teleported Charon and the colt. Twilight walked towards the mare. "Where'd you send him?" She demanded. "Weren't you listening? He was bleeding out from hat wound. I sent him to the hospital. He'll be fine." The mare said to Twilight, turning away. "Fine? It's because of you ponies he was hurt!" The mare sighed. "Yes, I'm full aware of that. The troops were ordered to not harm any one of you, we just never anticipated he'd pull off such impressive magic." Twilight sat down. "Ugh! This was my first assignment as a princess, and it's going terrible!" She said, anger and sadness clashing. "I'm sorry. Truly. We we hoping we could use you as a bargaining tool." "Use? What do you mean "use"?" Twilight shouted. The mare sighed. "For months now, we've lived under the fear of a terrible foe. He's been using our ponies for free labor, and every now and then his "people" raid the city. I've been the only one that managed to stand up against them. I gained followers, but not nearly enough to take him one." The unicorn lowered her voice. "He's used some magic that no one has even dreamed of before." "Does this person have a name?" "He never gave us one. He only left this." The unicorn held up what looked like a gear. XXXX Up above them, two eavesdroppers anxiously listened to the two mares conversation. "What is she holding?" Max asked. He reached around to a pouch and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Looking through them, he saw a small gear in her hoof. "Hey, Lu. Check this out. He handed the pair to the Pokemon. He stared through it for a few moments, and looked away. "Finally. I think we've caught up to the bastard." Lu said with a wide smile. XXXX "Do you think we can help?" Twilight asked. "Maybe. Your friend does have exceptional magic. Combined with mine, yours, and all the muscle we can muster, we'd probably last a good ten minutes. Give or take a few." Twilight frowned. Then her face light up. "Have you heard of the legend of the Ruin City?" She asked. "Yes, but what does it have to do with our predicament?" "Legend has it the lost filly has unimaginable powers! If we can find her, maybe we can help your people gain freedom once more!" "That's a great idea. But it's only a myth, right?" Twilight shook her head. "That's the whole reason why we're out here. I was sent to try and recover the lost foal." The unicorn looked at Twilight with an expression of triumph. "Alright! Where do we start?" "Ruin city. By the way, what's your name?" The alicorn asked. "Tranquility. Just call me Tranq. The leader of the Stone City guild." As they spoke, two figures dropped down near them. "If you're gonna charge head on into this, you'll need our help." Max said. Tranq took one look at them and screamed. "What? A raid? But not now!" Lucario stepped forward. "Don't worry, we aren't a raiding party. We're the guys chasing after the bastard that's got you all under his thumb. The name's Lu." He said, holding out his paw. The unicorn cautiously took it, and shook. "Great! Now that's all settled, we can get a move on-" "FOOL!" The holy sword Excalibur left the sheathe, standing in between Lu and Tranq. "Not now Excalibur!" Lu shouted. "FOOL! I may make an appearance whenever a feel like it. You are a curious creature. What might you be?"'He said to Tranq. "Well thanks. I'm just a-" "Fool! I already know what you are." "Then why'd you ask?" "Fool!" "Get back in the damn sheathe!" Lu yelled. Excalibur bowed, and turned back into sword form, resting silently on Lu's belt. "You get used to him." "Anyways, we need to get to Ruin City. How soon can we leave?" Tranq asked Twilight. "As soon a Charon's better. I won't leave any of my friends behind." "The healing will take maybe three days. That gives us enough time to supply and be ready." "I'm sorry, but can you please tell you cronies to get their hooves off me!" Blade yelled. The unicorn made a motion with her head, and they let him go. "Thanks." "So, we'll all have to be ready in three days. Be ready by then, ok?" Twilight asked them all. They nodded in response. "Alright. Let's all meet back here in three days time."