//------------------------------// // Taking a Life // Story: Wrath of the Stormguard // by Philosophical Tree //------------------------------// “Sooo... where exactly are we going again?” It was midday, and the newly formed duo were making their way into the Everfree Forest. Rainbow, quickly growing bored, had asked the question, and although Lara had told her cyan companion that their destination was in the Everfree, she had forgot to mention what that destination was. Sighing and pulling a scroll out of the pouch at her belt, she unrolled it and glanced at the text. “It’s a place called ‘The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters’,” she replied, tucking the scroll safely away. “Not sure where that is, but Twilight did say to stick to the path. Has she been there before?” Rainbow gave her a nod. “Five of us - Rarity, Pinkie, Flutters, AJ, and myself - went with her to that castle when we first met her. We needed to find the Elements of Harmony in order to stop Nightmare Moon.” She stopped after noticing Lara was giving her an odd look. “Um... yes, I know the way. I just hope that sea serpent isn’t out.” Lara didn’t even bother to comment on the sea serpent. Now that she had a general idea of the beasts and creatures that inhabited this world, it didn’t really faze her anymore when something new was revealed to her. She stopped dead in her tracks, her hand instinctively reaching around for her bow. She signaled to Rainbow to get down, then ducked off the path into the underbrush, nocking an arrow. Rainbow followed, watching her with a quizzical look. “What is it?” She asked in as loud a whisper as she dared. Lara didn’t answer, merely shook her head and pointed back at the path. Rainbow turned, but she heard it before she saw it. Giant, padded paws sank into the dirt of the path as a towering beast, snarling and waving it’s stinger tipped tail, strode forward, obviously on the hunt. Rainbow recognized it at once. “Manticore,” she muttered to herself, so softly she almost didn’t hear it. The manticore did, however, and with a twitch of the ears, it swiveled about to face the underbrush where the two were hiding. Lara tensed, drawing back on the bowstring. She knew that she would only have one shot, and if she missed, they were both dead. She heard the pawsteps resume, this time coming closer to her hiding place. Rolling into a kneeling position, she put herself directly in front of the beast, her bow taut and pointed square between the eyes. The manticore barely got the beginnings of a roar out when the arrow pierced its skull, entering through one of the eyes. There was a guttural sound from the beast’s throat, then silence as it fell to the earth with a soft thud. Lara sighed, standing back up and slinging her bow over her shoulder once more. Rainbow was staring at her with a mixture of awe and terror. “You... you killed it?” the pegasus asked hesitantly. Lara nodded, stepping back out onto the path, kneeling to get a better look at the corpse. Rainbow kept her distance, watching Lara. “Why?” “I had no other option,” Lara sighed, grasping at the arrow. There was a sickening squelching noise as she pulled it out of the beast’s eye, letting blood begin to trickle from the now open wound. “That thing was out for blood, and given the chance, it probably would have killed us both. I wasn’t about to let that happen.” She wiped the blood off the arrow on the corpse, then stuck it back in her quiver, rising once more. “I understand that, given this seems to be a world of peace, killing must be foreign to you. Back in my world, I had to kill in order to survive. Man and beast alike, if they were trying to kill me, I killed them first.” Lara began to resume her walk down the path, not giving Rainbow a second look. “I tried to warn you. I told you my story. You knew that I was capable of this. If you don’t think you can handle it, I suggest you return to Ponyville.” Rainbow paused, watching Lara walk away. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind. She wanted to run, wanted to stay as far away from Lara as possible. But, at the same time, Lara was right. It was a terrible thing she had done, but if she hadn’t, they might have been killed. Rainbow weighed her options for only a moment. Lara heard the hoofbeats travelling away from her and sighed. Although she didn’t want to show it, she appreciated the company that Rainbow Dash had given her for the short time they had ventured together. Having roamed Yamatai by herself, she liked the change of pace that the pegasus brought. Now she was gone. Lara stopped in the path and closed her eyes, letting her senses take in everything around her. She smiled, looking up to the sky. Hovering just above her head was Rainbow Dash, her face alight with a cocky grin. “You didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?” The pegasus inquired. Lara laughed and shook her head, continuing her walk with Rainbow at her side. “To be honest, I did,” Lara replied as Rainbow landed next to her, as to trot alongside her companion. “I thought that maybe the toughest pegasus Equestria has to offer was turning tail and running, to be blunt. I must say, I am surprised.” Rainbow pushed her mane back and made a “pshaw” noise. “Aw, you think so? Believe it or not, I’m called the Element of Loyalty for a reason. I never leave my friends hangin’.” Lara didn’t reply at first, her eyes focused on the path ahead and her mind racing with the words that had just been spoken. Had this pegasus really called her friend? Could she say the same? She didn’t get the chance to respond, as Rainbow continued. “I wanna know. How did you know the manticore was coming? I didn’t hear it until it got close.” Lara shook her head. “I don’t really understand it myself. I just have this... instinct. I can sense things that are out of place in the area around me, even when they’re out of sight. It just happens.” Rainbow gave her a weird look. “Don’t tell Twilight about that. Trust me, she would have a field day trying to figure it out.” By this point, the pair had arrived at the river where Rainbow had first met the serpent. To her relief, he was nowhere in sight. She led Lara across the river and down deeper into the forest, heading for the castle. The walk took some time, but it was pleasantly uneventful. Not like the earlier, brief encounter with the manticore. Eventually, after passing through one of the darkest sections of the forest and crossing a perilously unstable bridge, the pair found themselves in front of the castle they had been seeking. Rainbow noted there was no change to it since the last time she had been there, but Lara’s eyes lit up with a burning curiosity. As the two stepped inside, she began to ask Rainbow about the castle. “So this is the castle of the Royal Sisters? Does that mean that Celestia and Luna once ruled Equestria from here?” Lara strode into the center of the hall, trying to imagine what the place looked like before it fell into ruin. Rainbow gave her a shrug. “Eh, I dunno. Maybe? Twilight’s the one to ask about stuff like that.” Rainbow was gazing around the hall with less enthusiasm. “So, what are we looking for? I’ve seen this place before, there’s nothing strange here.” Lara shook her head, looking towards the pedestal in the center. “What rested there?” She asked, striding over. Her sense, what she dubbed her Survivor Sense, told her that all was not as it seemed with the pedestal. Rainbow, once again, seemed bored. “That was holding the sealed Elements of Harmony. You know, the powerful magic artifacts that we needed to stop Nightmare Moon?” Rainbow paused at Lara’s confused expression, trotting over to the pedestal. “Probably shoulda mentioned that.” Lara rolled her eyes and stepped to the side of the pedestal opposite the door. A long groan escaped her. “Oh, no. God no. That is terrible.” Rainbow trotted over to look. Sticking out of the back of the pedestal, concealed from almost every other angle, was a lever. A very prominent, pink lever. “This is, beyond a doubt, the worst design for a lever I’ve ever seen.” Rainbow paused for a moment, slapping herself mentally. How she had missed that the first visit was beyond her. She turned to Lara and gave her a nod. “Well, no going back now. Let’s pull it and see what it does.” Lara returned the nod and gave the lever a pull. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Lara looked around, seeking a change in the world around her. She found none. Rainbow seemed disappointed. “Really? That’s it?” “Guess so. Looks like we need to search the rest of the ruins,” Lara replied, stepping back around to the front of the pedestal. She groaned again. Rainbow stepped around to find out what she was groaning at, only to roll her eyes and shake her head. A small, concealed stairwell had opened in the pedestal base. It was large enough for Lara to fit, but small enough to conceal it from sight. Lara sighed, stepping onto the top step. “Well, all annoyances aside, looks like we’ve found our way in. Stay close.” With that, the two began their descent into the bowels of the ancient castle. As they went further and further down, the light began to fade around them. Lara reached to her side and pulled a small, well used torch out, along with a lighter. With a quick flick of the lighter, she ignited the torch, giving the duo a small, flickering light in the darkness of the underground ruin. As they descended, a small ticking sound began to ring throughout the stairwell. It grew louder the lower the two of the descended, but they were unable to pinpoint the source. Of course, their search for it grew much harder as they reached the bottom step, finding themselves in a large, seemingly never ending room. Rainbow gasped as Lara stepped off to the side, gazing at the wall appraisingly. “This must have been a great hall or throne room,” She muttered, loud enough for the pegasus to hear. “To think, a brilliant mage was buried with the old castle. I’ll give it to Celestia, that’s clever. That’s really clever.” She noticed a small pool of liquid sitting in a vessel on the wall. Giving it a quick sniff, she took a step back and lowered the torch. As she had anticipated, the liquid, which she had determined to be oil, burst into flames. The flames shot around the room, illuminating the entirety of the hall. As it reached the far wall, it shot up and around a doorway, then back to the entrance. Lara whistled. “Told you. Great hall.” Lara smiled as she looked over the room. It was vast, and looked like, at a time long past, it would have been very beautiful. In the present, there was dirt and rubble all around, with a section of the roof collapsed further down the hall. How it hadn’t caved in the entire ruin was beyond her. Lara attributed that to magic. Striding forward, Lara and Rainbow quickly moved through the hall. As they walked, Rainbow kept her eyes fixed on the wall. “Do you think there’s traps and stuff? Like in the Daring Do books?” She asked, trying to find a concealed spear or spike trap. Lara shook her head. “Most likely not,” she replied softly, the continuing ticking noise beginning to irritate her. She took yet another step forward, not really paying attention to where she was going. So when the ground in front of her foot sank suddenly, she fell over, dropping the torch. Luck was with her, for as she fell, a spear whipped past her, missing her head by inches. Rainbow flew over, trying to hold back a grin. “Not a damn word,” Lara growled, picking herself up and reaching down for the torch, which she extinguished. She lowered herself back down, trying to determine if the plate of tile she had stepped on had any markings, something that would give it away. Seeing nothing, she attempted a different approach. She focused her senses, searching for anything that seemed out of place. As the pressure plates revealed themselves to her, she smiled. With a wave, she led Rainbow through the minefield of spear traps, navigating each small pad so as to avoid another near miss. As they progressed further in, the ticking noise grew ever louder. Both Lara and Rainbow were now thoroughly irritated by the noise, but were unable to pick out what it was. Even Lara’s senses couldn’t find the source. Rainbow voiced her concern. “Do you think there’s a monster or something down here?” She asked, eyes fixed on the doorway ahead. Lara nodded. “You mean like a dungeon guardian? Given that there were traps, I wouldn’t be surprised.” She narrowly missed one of the spear plates, her focus being distracted by the pegasus. She wouldn’t put it past whoever built this place to put some sort of immortal guardian to protect the magical artifact. As they approached the doorway, Lara stopped, focussing her senses on the blackness beyond. “Rainbow!” She shouted, stopping the pegasus dead in her tracks. “Don’t move. There’s something in there. Something massive.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Something massive? Please, I’ve faced down a dragon. What’s the worst it could be?” Before Lara could stop her, Rainbow began to advance on the blackness lying in wait beyond the door. It was only then that Lara heard it. The ticking had stopped. There was a thunderous roar from the doorway, and Rainbow barely had time to dodge out of the way as a huge, lions paw crashed into the light. Out of the darkness emerged a creature the likes of which neither of the two had ever seen before. Three heads, each of a different creature, rose up to the roof of the cavern. All three pairs of eyes were fixated on the pair. And, as the creature strode into the room, Lara realized just what it was. Body of a lion, wings and talons of an eagle... and the tail of a snake, plus the heads of all three. “Chimera!” She cried, leaping to the side as the beast took a swipe at her with a paw. Rainbow had to dodge a similar attack from the tail, but she was left more than a little confused. “C-chimera? That’s impossible!” She shouted back, taking to the air as the beast took another swipe. “All the chimeras died out centuries ago! At least, that’s what Twilight told me!” Lara rolled her eyes, drawing her assault rifle and bringing it around, aiming at the snake’s head. “Well, one’s right here! We have to take it down!” Lara squeezed off a few rounds, but they didn’t seem to have any effect. Most of the shots just bounced off the snake’s scaly hide, but one did manage to find its mark. Just as the snake opened its mouth for a strike, one of Lara’s bullets hit the roof of the mouth. The snake hissed in pain, glaring down at Lara. The triumphant smile that Lara wore was quickly replaced by a look of sheer terror. At the hiss of pain, the other two heads, who had been focused on Rainbow, were now focused on her. A plan quickly formulated in her mind. If it worked, they might be able to survive this after all. She turned and began to sprint, calling out to Rainbow. “Rainbow! I need you to distract the eagle and lion heads!” Rainbow gave her a frightened and confused look. Lara nodded. “Just trust me here!” Rainbow gulped, but steeled herself and dove in, striking the eagle head with a quick blow before moving out of range of the paws and tail. The three heads turned in unison, giving Lara the opportunity she needed. Stowing her assault rifle, she drew her bow, quickly nocking an arrow. She leveled it at the head of the snake, which was turned sideways to her. The first shot was a clean miss, sailing well over her target and bouncing off the roof of the cavern. Cursing under her breath, Lara nocked a second arrow and took aim again. The second shot, while closer, still only bounced off the scales of the snake, just under the eye she had been aiming at. The snake, now noticing it was being shot at, turned to face Lara just as she nocked her third arrow. It opened its mouth in a blood chilling hiss, and Lara took the third shot. The arrow passed through the roof of the snake’s mouth, piercing the skull and severing the brainstem. As the snake felt its life slipping away, it hissed and screeched in agony, the other two heads turning to watch helplessly as it died. At last, the snake ceased writhing and went limp, collapsing to the floor. Lara smiled, and she heard a cheer of victory from Rainbow Dash. “Alright, I think we have a chance now!” Lara shouted to the pegasus. “The loss of one head should cripple it effectively, and- Oh dear god!” Lara and Rainbow both cringed in disgust and horror as the lion’s head bent over to the base of the snake’s neck and bit down savagely. There was a cry of pain from the eagle, and then the gut-wrenching sound of skin and bone being torn asunder. Pulling hard, the lion tore the now dead snake off of the chimera’s body, spitting it aside and allowing the blood from the newly formed stub to flow freely. As Rainbow violently ejected the contents of her stomach, Lara had no choice but to keep on fighting. Unfortunately, the Chimera had other plans for her. The lion’s head took a deep breath, and released a stream of flame from its maw, aimed for Lara. Only just dodging it, Lara shook her head, re-slinging her bow and drawing her assault rifle once more. “God damn this thing!” She cried, jumping further back as a second stream of flame shot forth. “Rainbow! Stop being sick and help me out!” The pegasus, now thoroughly shaken, nodded weakly, trying not to vomit again at the sight of the neck stump. She flew up to the roof of the cavern, then dove towards the eagle’s head, intending to try and draw its attention away. Due to her newfound weakness, she wasn’t able to react in time when a paw came swinging at her. She was knocked back to the entrance, hitting the wall with such force she left an indentation. “Rainbow!” Lara cried, watching her now unconscious companion slide to the floor of the room. Fear began to claw at the survivor’s heart as she turned back to face the chimera, which was now leering down at her. Knowing she didn’t have much of a chance to win anyways, Lara brought her rifle up and squeezed the trigger hard, spraying bullets straight into the head of the lion. The beast let loose an ear-shattering roar of pain as its face was torn asunder, bullet after bullet ripping it apart. Lara didn’t let up until the gun began to click. She reloaded quickly, resuming her destruction of the lion head. Blood, bits of bone and brain, and other such gorey detritus fell onto Lara as the lion finally gave up the ghost. Slumping down, it let out one last, strangled gurgle, then moved no more. The rifle started clicking once more, and Lara reached into her pouch for another clip. She found none. Her eyes going wide, she turned to face the head of the eagle, which looked scared, but determined. There was a flash of motion from off to Lara’s left, and before she knew it she was hurtling across the room, certain she was about to die. As she came to a rough stop, laying at the base of the collapsed section of roof, she tried hard to focus on the chimera. It wasn’t as hard as she had first thought, however. The chimera had collapsed, struggling to breath with the loss of two brains. That, and the sheer amount of blood the beast had lost over the course of the battle had made it very weak. Lara shook herself out of her daze, checking herself for severe injuries. Finding nothing truly worrying, she rose, striding unsteadily over to the dying chimera. Rainbow, who had awoken at the lion’s roar, was already there, staring at the last head with a mixture of sympathy and disdain. “I can’t believe it... the last chimera ever, and we... you killed it,” she muttered as Lara drew near, not really believing what she was saying. “I don’t understand. The manticore, now this. Why so much death, Lara?” Lara sighed. “I already told you, Rainbow. Sometimes, you don’t have a choice. And this was certainly no exception.” Lara knelt down to look Rainbow Dash dead in the eye. “This may and very well will continue to happen. If you cannot handle taking a life, I suggest you return home.” Rainbow gave her a glare, but said nothing. Lara, on the spur of the moment, drew her climbing axe and offered it to the pegasus. “Here. I want you to end it.” Rainbow looked at the tool in disgust. “You want me to kill it!?” she cried. “I’m not a murderer! I’ve never killed anything, and I’m not gonna start here!” Lara shook her head, expecting the reaction. “Rainbow, this chimera is suffering. It’s going to die anyways. I want you to learn the feeling of taking a life. It never gets any easier, but you need to get the initial shock out of your system. I can’t have you killing something and then freezing up, paralyzed by the realization of what you just did, when I need you most. Either do this, or go home.” Rainbow’s gaze, along with her resolve, began to waver. She understood what Lara meant, but she didn’t like it. Reluctantly, she took the climbing axe from Lara - who was astounded that the pegasus could hold it in her hooves - and walked over to stand directly above the dying head of the eagle. Lara closed her eyes. She didn’t want to watch a monster - another monster - being born. There was a thudding noise, but not the fleshy, gorey, pain-filled noise Lara had been expecting. She opened her eyes and turned to see the axe stuck in the ground by the head of the chimera, and Rainbow glaring at it defiantly. “No. I don’t care, I refuse to end a life, no matter how much they deserve it. It’s just not what ponies do. A long time ago, ponies fought wars. They died by the hooves of another pony. I will not be like them.” She turned to face Lara, her eyes glassy as she held back the urge to cry. “I’m sorry to disappoint, but if this is what it means to be an adventurer, then I want nothing to do with it.” Rainbow turned and began to walk towards the staircase when she heard Lara laugh. It wasn’t a spiteful laugh, either. It was lighthearted. Rainbow turned back to see the survivor bending down to retrieve her axe. “Disappointed? I’m proud,” With a quick tug, Lara pulled the axe out of the floor. “It takes a lot of guts to refuse to kill something that was trying to kill you. It reminds me of a book I once read. ‘True courage is not knowing when to take a life, but when to spare one’, or something to that nature. The fact that you’re character and resolve are so strong you refuse to take a life is admirable. Foolish in this journey, but admirable.” Lara paused in her praise, turning to face the eagle’s head. With a swift, downward stroke, she plunged the axe into the beast’s head. As the chimera’s life finally began to depart swiftly, Lara swore she heard a faint voice whisper, “Thank you.” Pulling the axe free and allowing the chimera’s blood to flow freely, Lara wiped the blade clean and stowed it away, turning back to Rainbow. The pegasus eyed her with disgust. “I could not think of a better companion. I am someone who has had to survive by killing. It was either that, or die and let all those I love die as well. You are someone who is deathly loyal to her friends, but despite being a bit of a prick at times, your heart is golden.” Lara gestured to the dark doorway waiting on the other side of the hall. “Ready to go find the magic artifact?” Rainbow didn’t answer at first, still eyeing Lara. After a moment, she replied. “I don’t know how much I trust you anymore, or even how much I like you, but I did agree to help you. That, and you did save my life twice now. I suppose anyone who does that can’t be all bad.” Rainbow gave her a smile, striding past the corpse of the chimera towards the doorway. “But I’m going to keep my eye on you. I still don’t know if I can trust you completely.” Lara nodded, following after the pegasus. “I would expect nothing less,” she muttered to herself, pulling out her torch and re-lighting it. As they approached the dark doorway, bits and pieces of the room beyond the doorway became visible in the flickering torchlight. It was completely barren, save for a solid black pedestal in the center. From the top of the pedestal, something gold glinted. Stepping into the room, Lara and Rainbow found themselves staring at the most beautiful sword the pair had ever laid eyes on. The blade glowed in the light of the torch, seeming to swallow the light it gave off in order to create its own. The hilt, crossguard, and pommel of the sword were plated in gold, and a solid, well cut sapphire rested in the pommel. Lara reached out and took the sword in hand. Instantly, she knew this weapon was not natural nor normal. This weapon radiated pure magic. And she felt it. “Wow. The first of the four artifacts, and it’s something so wondrous,” Lara muttered, turning the blade to get a feel for the balance. It was weighted perfectly, and she knew that even someone with little training would be able to use it effectively. “And to think, the magic I feel in this thing is a quarter of the portal home. Amazing.” Lara stowed the sword at her side, bending down to get a better look at the pedestal. It was carved out of a single piece of onyx, with an inscription chiseled into it. “‘Gladius, captain and master mage. To claim this sword is to prove your strength’. The chimera was put here inentionally, to test those who came looking for the blade... this isn’t a ruin. The ancient castle... the entire thing is a tomb.” Standing up, Lara gestured wordlessly to Rainbow, and the two of them made their way out, skirting around the corpse and heading back up the stairs from whence they had come. As they steadily rose, Rainbow posed a question. “Why the hurry to get out? That’s kinda unlike you, from what I’ve seen.” Lara sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know,” she replied, the light of the sky above just beginning to reveal itself. “I just had this really weird vibe. Almost like something didn't want us there any longer than we needed to be.” Rainbow scoffed, but posed a second question. "Well, what did you mean that the chimera had been put there?" Lara, now being able to see without the light of the torch, extinguished it and stowed it away. "Well, the chimera was a test of strength. If we beat it, then we were deemed worthy to bear the sword. I expect that each artifact will test us in different ways, depending on the item and mage involved." Rainbow gave her a quick "Oh" of understanding and nodded. As the two emerged back into the dim sunlight of the Everfree, Lara took a moment to stretch, breathing deeply. To the pair's surprise, a voice called out to them from the entrance of the ruin. Applejack, wearing her signature stetson and out of breath, waved them over. The two quickly made their way over. “Applejack? What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked. Applejack, for her part, was trying not to panic. Lara could easily tell something terrible had happened, judging by the small twitches and worried glances that Applejack kept shooting off. “Twi sent me. Ya'll need to get back to Ponyville, pronto.” The mare replied replied, her voice confirming Lara’s fears. Something was clearly wrong, and Applejack was quick to fill them in. “Ponyville's been attacked... “By humans.”