"Thank you, Inky, for your hospitality." Grandiur fastened his saddlebags.
"Don't mention it," Inky responded, "Good luck."
Grandiur nodded. "I hope so. Goodbye."
The rest of the trio bid their farewells to Inky. They met up with Grandiur near the entrance to the wood.
"Well, shall we get going?" Crimson asked, putting on a poorly done British accent.
"How about you lead the way, Mr. Gentlecolt?" Grandiur joked.
"I thought you'd never ask."
---
As the three comrades trekked through the fog, Grandiur attempted time after time to acquire his map from his saddlebag. Focusing, he visualized the saddlebag opening, the map floating to his front, and unraveling. He couldn't count how many times he attempted to how many successes, which was the uncountable number of zero. He'd stop and focus all the brainpower he had to retrieve the map, but still, nothing had happened. Or at least, he thought. On his side, he realized minutes later, the saddlebag was opening, the map quivering in place as the faint blue aura wrapped around it. The parchment was just barely lifted.
So he tried doing it step by step. First he opened his saddlebag, and rested the flap on his back. Next, he lifted the map from its place in the saddlebag and unraveled it in front of him. Sweat on his brow and almost bouncing in excitement, he studied it.
Camp Ricordo was straight south of a location called Apple Loosa. To the left of a set of train tracks, this small marker was east of San Palomino Desert, more specifically at the foot of a mountain in the middle of it. If the statue of Rarity was facing dead west, the beam would point to that area. Since there was an aqueduct running through the desert, there would have to be a settlement there, otherwise why carry water to a dead area?
Based on where they traveled, they were in Bogg, an area in or south of the Everfree forest. They were heading back south, meaning if they wanted to get to that point of the desert the fastest, they needed to follow Ghastly Gorge. When it levels out, they would need to cross the river. There, they would be able to cross to the foot of the mountain straight on. But the river was most likely too wide to cross. They could trek west to avoid the river, and follow the gorge on that side. Grandiur was leaning toward the latter route. He told the game plan to Radi and Crimson. Once they agreed to it, they traveled toward the gorge.
As they continued along the route, the musty smells intensified, the ground becoming softer. Mosquitoes hovered above shallow greenish water, frogs' croaks were heard sparsely. Crimson's hoof slid into a murky pool. "A bog. Grandiur's led us to a swamp!" He exclaimed in surprise.
"Of course," Grandiur responded, "the place is called Bogg, you know, what else would you expect?"
"That we would evade this part completely?"
"Sorry to get your hooves dirty, but this is the fastest route to our next destination."
"And the most dangerous," Radi said, scanning her surroundings anxiously.
Grandiur raised an eyebrow. "How come?"
"In Friendship is Magic, the six encountered a hydra here. Need any further explanation?"
"No." Grandiur vaguely knew what a hydra was, and despite any missing information, he could equate 'danger' to 'hydra'.
They continued on, keeping a look out for any possible dangers. While slithering snakes and sudden squeaks startled them, nothing stood out to them as an immediate threat. Crimson was the jumpiest, claiming he saw something huge moving along with them. The other two investigated his point of interest, yet only a small critter would show. After reassuring him that nothing was stalking them, they continued, Crimson still too wary of his surroundings.
As the ground became more solid and the moist air began to dry, they encountered the Ghastly Gorge. At the bottom, a river slightly meandered, flowing southwest with the gorge. "Well, we've found our gorge," Grandiur said, looking back to his friends, "Now to follow it."
"Hold on there, Heman," Crimson panted, "Radi and I are exhausted. You push us farther and our guts will pop."
When they all caught their breathes and were hydrated, they continued on, the forest thinning as they continued along the lip of the canyon. The ground continued to solidify, and the air began to clear, fresh air slowly filling their lungs. Trees straightened out and dispersed as they cantered, the light of noon pouring between trees and leaves.
They stopped outside the border, Grandiur taking a few sips of water. "Well, at least we're out of the muck," he said, breath heavier.
Radi looked about nervously. "Not all of us. Crimson's gone!"
"What?" Grandiur studied the area around him only to confirm Radi's statement as fact. "Damn it," he muttered, glancing toward the forest. Without a second thought, he darted back into the forest, wind roaring in his ears. As the forest thickened again, he slowed his pace to dodge trees and other obstacles. "Crimson?" he yelled, in hopes he would show up unscathed. It didn't seem to matter how loud or how frequently he yelled his name; he didn't respond. Grandiur turned around to see Radi right behind him, skidding to a stop before crashing into him. He surveyed the area, failing to spot any sign of Crimson. "Stay close, Radi," Grandiur requested.
Grandiur found their previous hoof prints as they came out of the forest. Twelve hoofprints lied in rows where he was looking. He followed the hoofprints, studying them closely, when one set stopped completely. He trotted back to the ending, seeing drag marks on the ground, getting shallower until they stopped.
"You're really slow at investigating, Sherlock Holmes!" said a voice above him. Grandiur backed up and looked toward the voice. Crimson was dangling in a tree by his hooves.
"Crimson! How in the name of Celestia -"
"Didn't you hear me? Come on, that was loud enough to wake a bear from hibernation."
"Well, apparently we didn't."
"Oh, well. But before all the blood in my body rushes to my head, how about you go ahead and loose me, here?"
"I'm on it." Grandiur searched around the tree for any stakes or tightened ropes that supported the trap. Abruptly, there was a reptilian-like screech in the distance, thuds on the ground increasing in volume.
"That's your cue to hurry, Grandiur!" Crimson's voice cracked as the victim started to squirm in the ropes he was bound.
This squirming gave away the position of a smaller wire near the tree, something that would have been invisible hadn't Crimson started to panic. Grandiur followed the wire to the ground, and to no surprise, there was a stake attaching it to the ground. It was too deep to kick out, so Grandiur used his inexperienced magic to yank it out of the ground. The thuds grew closer, making it difficult for him to concentrate.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Grandiur disregarded the noise as a blue aura surrounded his horn.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Grandiur gritted his teeth as the stress on his mind built.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Grandiur, desperation filling his mind, yanked out the stake, easing the wire up hastily. Once he was sure Crimson would be a safer distance from the ground, he let go of the wire, a smaller thunk! coming from the opposite side of the tree. Just seconds after, Radi and Crimson bolted past, the mare saying, "Grandiur, come on!" He didn't need any further persuasion to evacuate the area as the four-headed hydra stomped after them.
While it was true that some larger threats move slower, the hydra was an exception. Its long strides and its fast speed matched their pace, but just a little faster. It took only moments for the hydra to catch up to Grandiur's six, his legs frantically pumping for more speed. He only was able to get a little more ahead before the speed left him. The hydra was gaining on him again.
There had to be a way to stall it. It has multiple heads, Grandiur thought, maybe I can disembody one of them. He focused, visualizing a disk of energy whirling around his horn, spinning faster and faster. He whipped his head toward the hydra, and launched the disk at one of the beast's necks. As expected, the disk cut straight through the neck, severing the head. But the hydra didn't slow down. Instead, it continued on, lumps growing from the stump of the neck, lined with a sort of mucus. Unexpectedly, two heads burst from the stump as if the first one had never gone. The five-headed hydra continued, more aggravated.
That did not work, Grandiur thought in awe, how else can I stall it? Fire? No, even though our situation is dire, I'd be screwing us over even more. But maybe, he remembered the mucus lining atop the growing heads, maybe I can burn that protective mucus, so nothing will grow from the stump. He conjured up another spinning disk, this time, fire flickered from it, the heat pushing against his face. He quickly flung his head over to the hydra again, the disk cutting through the neck of the rightmost hydra head. Flame burst from the stump as the head flew off, staggering the enemy.
Yes, that worked! Grandiur thought as the two extra heads of the hydra failed to spawn. They broke to the border of the forest, the hydra still tailing them. Still? It's already outside its habitat!
"Crimson! Radi!" Grandiur called to his friends, "I'm going to finish off the hydra!"
"Grandiur," Radi called back to him, "it's too dangerous! You're the only one who can activate the statues. What if we lose you?"
"Trust me, you won't!" He skidded to a stop, conjuring up a strong force. "Fus..." he grunted.
He let the force loose, sound waves visible as it knocked the multiple-headed creature back. It landed on its back, a nice, solid thunk emitted from collision. The beast flipped onto his feet slowly. Grandiur prepared for the worst.
The creature snapped at him, each one of its heads going in for the kill. He jumped on one's head as he conjured a flaming beam from his horn. The next head struck, this time managing to catch him. The sharp, slimy teeth wrapped around his barrel, slowly piercing into his skin. He let loose a jaw-shattering force from his horn to knock him loose. The jaw popped open, leaving him in free fall meters above the ground. Using the acceleration of his fall, Grandiur conjured his flaming beam again to sever another neck below him. He met the ground hard, barrel rolling to avoid any further injury. Sweat covered his face as he stood again. Two down, three to go.
The hydra once again struck with one of its remaining heads, Grandiur this time jumping to the side. The other one struck to catch him off guard, but this time, Grandiur summoned a flaming ring aroud him to behead the one that was coming.
The fourth head was not that subtle in its attacks. All of them were predictable, although fast. Grandiur jumped back and forth away from strikes, finally landing one on it, ichor spewing from the wound.
As the fourth head fell to the ground, the final one drew back, noticing its comrades were no more. Still relentless, it struck Grandiur, knocking him back onto his side. He collected himself to his hooves in time to dodge another bite, the teeth of the final head lodged into the ground. Grandiur backed up and swept the ground with his hooves, ready to charge. He burst toward the neck of the beast, flame wrapping around him as he charged, running through the neck as if it was butter. The final head disembodied, the headless body fell to the ground, life leaving it once and for all.
Grandiur gathered himself to his hooves, looking upon the defeat of the monster. He only spent one moment in victory, the others, he was on the ground, all strength leaving him. His barrel was covered with his own blood, the deeper tooth marks still bleeding. He felt faint, the line between reality and unconsciousness blurring. His vision darkened as his eyelids fell shut.
---
"You've come a long way, haven't you?"
"What?" Grandiur asked, the mystery voice the only trace of interaction. "No, I don't know..."
"You have, you just don't know it."
"I know I don't know-"
"Are you ready to know your destiny?"
"I-"
"Are you ready, or not?"
"... Yes..."
A mark filled his vision, the same mark he'd seen two nights ago. A drop of red liquid falling from left to right, and a comet-like streak falling from right to left, passing under the red drop.
"What does this mean to you?" asked the mysterious voice.
"... The red drop above the comet... it can't be causing the red drop... it's blocking it... like it's preventing bloodshed..."
"Where there is bloodshed, there will always be bloodshed."
"Bloodshed will befall the comet?"
"Replace 'comet' with 'person'. What do you have there?"
"... This particular person will prevent bloodshed... but take it upon himself."
"What have you done to protect your friends?"
"I prevented their bloodshed... yet..."
---
Grandiur woke, the late afternoon sun stinging his eyes. He squinted, and studied himself. He had a bandage wrapped around his barrel, a large gauze pad under, pressing firmly on his side. Looking around he noticed he was in an identical area, but as he looked around, Bogg was far in the distance. Or, at least, he thought it was Bogg. He stood, pain shooting through his body. He flinched and grunted.
This gave away Grandiur's position. Radi gasped and tackled him with a hug, nuzzling him. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Radi exclaimed, still embracing him.
"Well, I'm glad too, I guess." Grandiur responded, Radi breaking the hug.
Crimson walked up to him. "That's a hell of a thing you did back there," he admitted, "doesn't mean it was any less stupid."
"Hey, if I hadn't done that, he'd be chasing us halfway across Equestria."
"Well, halfway is better than the whole thing." Radi bumped Crimson, knocking him to the side a little. "Hey, what was that for?"
"We're both grateful for what you did, Grandiur," Radi said, "even though this guy -" she gestured to Crimson "- can't say it properly. Thank you."
"Don't mention it," Grandiur replied, "if anything is a threat to my friends, I'll stop it."
A moment later, Grandiur noticed Crimson's eyes were glued to his flank. "Grandiur," Crimson said, "look at your flank."
Curious of what he was staring at, Grandiur heeded his friend's order. Now he saw why his friend was staring at it. On his flank was an 'X' shaped figure, with a red droplet falling from left to right, and a pale yellow streak under it.
The same mark he saw two times now.
I prevented their bloodshed... yet... I've taken it upon myself. Grandiur completed the statement. This is my destiny?
"Congrats," Crimson said, "You've got your cutie mark. It's not so cute, but a mark, indeed."