//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: The Alicorn's Pride // by JuyUnseen //------------------------------// Chapter 6 To the west Thelia stood silent. Greathoof watched her, waiting for a reaction to the tale he had just told. She was in shock, but was determined to not let it show. “An army?” She said accusingly, “You marched an army into griffin territory without the council’s consent?” “You sound surprised,” Greathoof mused, “I fell as if my feelings towards those half-birds have been rather obvious for quite some time now.” “But annihilation? How do you plan on justifying this needless slaughter” she yelled back. “I won’t need to. Within a week or so my army shall have destroyed Voltag’s hold on the southern wastes. After that all I need to do is announce that I’ve captured land for Athelta, no one will question what lengths I went too to get it, so long as the land is available for settlement.” “That assumes I won’t tell anypony about you’re plans,” Thelia replied hotly, “Which of course we both know I must.” She gave him one last glare before turning for the nearest door. Of course you must, thought the blood red stallion, I would expect nothing more from one as lawful as yourself. A faint aura enveloped his horn as a knife was slipped from its hiding place under his right wing. At the same time Thelia’s horn began to glow as well, unlocking the door as she prepared to leave, but she never made it outside the council room. As the lock clicked the knife spun through the air and embedded itself in her back. She let out a gasp before falling. Greathoof smiled as the blade found its mark, he hoped he had punctured a lung. He approached her and admired the elegance of his attack for a moment, while she stared up at him, gasping for breath. “I hold nothing against you Thelia my dear; you have the interest of the country in mind as well.” He smiled and raised a hoof above her head, “You’re just not thinking as big as I am.” The last thing Thelia saw was a hoof coming down on her head, followed by darkness. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “So you guys are going to find… what’d he call it again?” “The Flame Orb.” Sothe replied to the confused griffin, “It’s some sort of dragon artifact.” “Right, right. But how’re you gonna’ find it? I mean no offence to you guys,” He said to Celestia and Luna, “But you two aren’t exactly fighters.” “No, but Sothe can fight and we are rather skilled with magic,” Celestia shrugged, “And if it prevents more killing then I’m glad to help…” She was still shaken up over the news of the slaughtered town. Cliff sighed; he didn’t want to see his newfound friends go so quickly. He had enjoyed their company the last couple of days. “Can I come?” he asked simply after a moment of thought. “What?” Sothe replied. “Can. I. Come?” He enunciated each word. “Why do you want to?” Sothe replied. “I never get to do anything here. Everyday it’s ‘Patrol!’ or ‘Cliff turn in your reports!’ I want to actually DO something for once… and besides, I kinda’ like you guys” Sothe appraised the griffin. “If you come you’re in if for the long haul.” He said, “What can you offer us.” Cliff looked up with a spark in his eyes. “I’m not a heavyweight fighter, but I can do this.” He jumped up and opened the window, “Just watch.” He said as he grabbed a pillow from one of the beds and tossed it outside. He leaped after it and disappeared down the side of the mountain. The three alicorns approached the open window and looked down, Cliff was in a dive and was approaching the ground fast. It looked as if he’d hit but at the last possible second pulled up and began his return. This alone would have been impressive if he hadn’t also been expertly tearing the pillow to shreds on his way up. The group made room for him and he landed back inside. “Aerial combat,” He boasted, “Not bad for a guard huh?” Sothe was stunned, only a few of the alicorns under his command could pull off such a dive. “Where’d you learn to do that?” He asked, clearly impressed. “Practice,” Cliff answered happily, “I was never really good at fighting, but I did lots of stunts when I was little.” Sothe looked him over slowly. “Alright, you can come,” He said slowly, “But, you have to be willing to follow orders. Understand?” Cliff nodded vigorously. “Of course!” The four set out the next day, each with a pack full of supplies. They carried food, tinder, some rope; all the essentials. Cliff was wearing a leather vest that offered a decent amount of protection. Sothe had a scroll, it contained a report he had prepared to send back to River, detailing the events of the last week and a half. “Take care of it Philomena, make sure River gets this as quickly as possible.” He said to the waiting firebird as he floated her the scroll. She squawked happily, took the scroll in her beak and flew away. “Right,” Celestia began, “So how do we plan on getting to the dragon lands anyway?” They were on top of the Diamond Mountain which she found strange if they planned on setting out on a journey. “There’s more ways to travel then just over land” Cliff chuckled. “There’s an ancient road that cuts across the entire northern range of these mountains,” Sothe replied, “There’s a few towns along the way, and it’ll lead us straight to the dragon lands.” “Sounds more comfortable than the wastes” Celestia said happily. Everyone but Luna chatted as they set out down a hidden path leading away from the mountaintop. She was too giddy with excitement to make small talk. DRAGONS! She thought, we’re going to see dragons! All her life she had wanted to see a dragon. She loved reading the myths and legends about them, telling how they were the first creatures on the planet, how they had crafted the world, how they had created the alicorns. Even if half the stuff she read about them was untrue, they still sounded like the most interesting creatures in the world. The four of them walked for a time, talking about anything that came up. Celestia told Cliff about life as a Sun-Runner, Cliff asked Sothe about what it was like to be a commander, Luna question Cliff about the southern griffins. Eventually they got tired of talking and were silent for a while. They had no need to exhaust their conversation topics this early in their trek anyway. They still had a long way to go. The first hour was fun; they talked and dreamed about what they might see. They felt like they were on a real adventure. The second hour was still enjoyable. Sure they were a bit tired, but they still talked and laughed together. The fourth hour was boring, the seventh infuriating, and the twelfth all but unbearable. “GAAAH,” Celestia screamed, “We’re not getting anywhere!” The terrain never seemed to change. It was rock after rock after rock after rock. “It’s a mountain road, of course it’s gonna’ be boring.” Cliff said apologetically. Celestia just sighed. “Why can’t we just fly?” She asked for the fourth time that day. “Because,” Luna groaned, “We’re on top of a mountain range, the air is so thin up here that the energy it’d take to fly makes walking the easier option. I’ve told you this at least… I dunno’ three times now.” “So why do we have to take the mountains?” Celestia retorted crossly. “By the moon! How many times are you- MMPH!” Luna was cut off when she walked headfirst into Sothe’s outstretched wing. “As much as I enjoy listening to you guys bicker,” Sothe began, sarcasm dripping from his voice, “I really do think you’d enjoy actually looking down the road.” Celestia squinted, trying to see what Sothe was referring to. There was what looked like a house. Many houses actually. “A town!” Celestia exclaimed. “Yeah, you guys only just noticed that?” Cliff mused. “What do you mean? It’s way off in the…” She stopped when Cliff pointed to his eyes, “Oh right, eagle eyes.” “What can I say?” Cliff said playfully, “They’re a gift.” Luna snickered and ‘Tia rolled her eyes. The group redoubled their pace now that they had a real goal in sight. They needed to get to that town. It was a town outside of any country, and therefore outside of any laws. It was a town of outcast and bandits, a town that some might call a ‘Wretched hive of scum and villainy’. But of course none of the group of questers knew that. They looked forward to food and beds, none of them wanted to sleep out in this rocky place. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Greathoof looked down at his work with a cold sense of satisfaction. “Well,” He mused to nopony in particular, or maybe it was directed at the carcass, “That was fun. I mean I wasn’t planning on killing you this early on but still, that added some spice to my day.” As he said this he used his magic to lift the body. He noted the red stain where the head had lain, “Looks like I made a bit of a mess. Oh well, it was still a pretty clean kill.” The body remained floating and after a moment the knife dislodged itself from Thelia’s back and returned to its hidden sheath. Greathoof worked quickly, he cleaned the bloodstains from the floor and cast a cloaking spell over the form that had once been Thelia. He took a deep breath, did his best to hold his composure, and walked out of the council chamber with the invisible carcass in tow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Philomena alighted on River’s windowsill. River lived in a quaint house, quaint in comparison to the other councilors in any case. It was just a little bigger than Celestia and Sothe’s house, and was lit by magic lanterns as opposed to their more traditional skylight system. The place had the air of a forest grove to it. The lanterns cast a dark green around the main room and the walls had a leaf pattern upon them. The firebird rapped her beak against the window, and was greeted with a surprised look from the mare sitting inside. The window opened. “Well hello Philomena. Do come in.” River cooed, she had always loved Sothe’s phoenix, “Do you have something for me?” She asked after the bird settled on the arm of a chair. She nodded and held her beak out, offering the scroll. River floated it out and settled down to read it, only to jump up moments later. The scroll was short, if gave a quick rundown of events in the wastes and the Diamond City before giving the news of the battle. “It’s as we feared,” She read aloud, “Greathoof seems to wish nothing less than the destruction of the griffin race. Keep an eye on him.” The mare thought on this. An entire town dead in a few hours… she thought, How long has he been planning this? She continued through the message and came to the part about the quest from Scar. “The Flame Orb… what does Scar want with something like that?” she thought aloud. Philomena gave a short squawk in response. River smiled at the bird. “Alright Philomena, you rest up. I have a letter to write and a meeting to arrange.” The council mare left the room and Philomena closed her eyes, ready for a good nights sleep, completely oblivious of the fact that sleep is exactly what her owners would be getting very little of tonight.