//------------------------------// // 1.1 The Meeting // Story: Against the Dark One // by Hidden Brony //------------------------------// “I must say, I’m not used to you being this quiet,” Rarity commented. “Bah, that’s just because I’m out of things to say,” Dirk chuckled. “Once people start showing up, I will have a lot to say” “Howdy!” A voice called out from behind the duo. They turned around to see three people on horses. One was a huge man with golden hair under a wide-brimmed black stetson. He wore a black duster over leather armor. Next to him was a young woman with red hair and light amber eyes. Her stetson was smaller and lighter, and she wore tight-fitting leather. The one who had hailed them, however, was off her horse. She had a friendly smile on her face under her well worn stetson. “Hello!” Dirk called out happily. Rarity elbowed him in the side, giving him a look. She stepped forwards to speak with their guests. “Hello,” she said. “Might I ask who you are?” “Me?” the woman said. “Ahm a mercenary. Got hired to protect some healer on a mission. You wouldn’t happen to know where she is, would ya?” Dirk stepped forwards, “Depends on who hired ya.” “Ah take it yer the bodyguard the lady’s father provided?” the woman asked. “Jack,” the youngest member of the trio spoke up softly. “Ah know this one.” Jack looked back at her, “Is that so?” “His name’s Dirk,” the younger woman said. “He’s a wanted bandit. Got a nice bounty on ‘im, too.” “Is that so?” Jack said, turning back to the duo. Rarity stepped in front of Dirk. “I was given a guarantee by the Headmaster himself of Dirk’s safety.” Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Is that so?” “It is,” Rarity said, not backing down. The two stared at each other intently for the next few seconds before Jack scoffed and looked at Dirk. “Yer gettin off this time ‘cause we got a job to do. Next time ya won’t be so lucky,” she warned. “Now will you tell us who hired you?” Dirk asked. “We weren’t informed of any new guards.” The big man spoke up, “Headmaster.” Dirk cocked an eyebrow, “Is that so?” Jack got into his face, “Are ya makin’ fun of me?” “I am not, Jackie,” he said. The two behind the woman took hissing breaths, readying themselves to pull the woman off of the man. She narrowed her eyes, “Mah name’s Applejack. Jack to mah friends, which ya aren’t.” “Alright, Miss Applejack,” Rarity said, pushing Dirk back to stand in front of the woman. “He meant no insult.” “I could never insult such a pretty face,” Dirk chirped. “Dirk!” Rarity snapped, looking back at him. “You promised you’d behave.” “I said I’d try,” he said, smirking. Rarity rolled her eyes, returning to the conversation she had with the other woman. “If you were hired to help us, then you’d know where we were going.” “We were told to escort you during your mission around the borders of the Griffon Empire,” the youngest woman spoke up. “We weren’t told any specifics beyond the location and that there would be paladins involved.” Rarity nodded. “I think introductions are in order. My name is Rarity, I’m the daughter of Charity.” She jabbed a thumb at Dirk. “That’s Dirk. He’s the founder and ex-leader of the Red Hand bandits. Don’t let his rap sheet or his personality fool you, he’s a big softie when it matters. He left the Red Hand nearly five years ago to help protect the town that got set up by some of the refugees from the area around Everfree.” Applejack nodded. “Mah name is Applejack, as you know. The big lug that doesn’t know how to use words is mah older brother Mac, and the shy one is our little sister Bloom.” “Nice to meet you all,” Rarity said, giving a little bow. Mac tipped his hat and Bloom blushed and waved. Applejack smirked at their reactions before saying, “We should probably get movin’.” “I completely agree. Unless you plan on sharing some horses, we’ll be walking,” Rarity said. Applejack patted her horse on the flank, “These poor guys are gettin’ pretty tired after ridin’ for a few days. Ah think they deserve a break.” —*~*~*— The clanking of the paladin procession could be heard for miles as nearly three dozen fully armored men and women walked along the road North. Pinkie was her usual bubbly self, almost bouncing as she walked. Her mood seemed to be infectious, as all nearby paladins were at least smiling. Bright chuckled at her antics before returning his eyes to the sky. They were nearing griffon territory, so it would pay to be vigilant. That vigilance paid off mere seconds later as he spotted a speck in the air, much too large to be any natural bird. “Got one!” he shouted to the group. “High to the North!” All the paladins shifted their gear to make it easier to drop and draw their weapons should they need to. They kept walking along the route, casting an occasional glance at the rapidly growing shape in the sky. Soon the shape had visible arms and legs added to the wings, marking it as a definite griffon. The griffon landed right in front of the group. As Bright caught sight of her, he quickly dropped his gear and started walking swiftly towards her. The assembled paladins could do little more than gape at her. She was a winged human about six feet tall, wearing leather gloves, boots, and pants. She had her long prismatic hair tied back sloppily, allowing easy line of sight to her beautiful face. What Bright had noticed, however, is that she had a bare chest, adorned only with a knife belt. She noticed his approach and smirked as he undid his belt. “Man, I knew I was smokin’ hot, but this guy just can’t wait to get a piece of me, can he?” Bright ignored her as he whipped off his tabard. Her next words were cut off as he walked behind her, undoing the knots tying the knife belt around her chest, catching it as it fell. He quickly pulled his tabard over her head, using his belt to tie the garment so it wouldn’t fall off. Just as swiftly as he removed the knife belt, he replaced it right where it was and re-tied it. He backed up, examining his handiwork, before nodding. Rainbow Dash looked at him in confusion. “Can anyone please explain what he just did?” Pinkie stepped forward, adjusting some of Bright’s knots. “He covered your chest. Humans have a nudity taboo much stricter than your peoples’. We frown upon bare chests on women.” Rainbow scoffed, “That’s dumb, but whatever.” “If you’re going to be in our lands, you might as well pretend to follow our customs,” Pinkie said, finishing her work on the knots and stepping back. She took immediate notice of the crossbows. “You’re a ranger, aren’t you?” “Not quite sure what you mean by that, but I prefer to shoot things at a distance if I’m gonna kill ‘em,” Rainbow said. “Name’s Rainbow Dash.” “Hello, Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie said brightly. “My name’s Pinkie.” Rainbow cocked an eyebrow, “No clan name?” Bright interjected, “Humans don’t have clans.” The half-griffon cocked her head at the man. “Really? That’s even dumber than the chest thing. How do you know if it’s okay to use hatchling-names then?” “We don’t have more than one name,” Pinkie said. The paladins behind the two were shifting with impatience. One of them stepped forward. “Paladin Bright, Acolyte Pinkie, we need to get moving. We can’t let some savage stop us from doing our job.” The prismatic haired woman bristled at his words. “You want to say that to my face, buddy?” she challenged. “I could kick your ass seven ways to Sunday!” The paladin took a step forward, but Pinkie stepped in between the two. “Paladin Sun, we don’t need to be in a group, remember? If you want to leave, then leave.” Sun scoffed, “If you’re willing to fail your graduation for a griffon,” he spit the last word like poison, “then be my guest.” “I think that she is much more civilized than you are, right now,” Bright mentioned. “Racism is an archaic way of thinking.” “Bah,” Sun scoffed. “I’m leaving to do our job. Anyone who wants to complete this mission any time soon should come with me.” Every single paladin save for Pinkie and Bright left with Sun. “Well,” Pinkie said. “I’ll say,” Rainbow agreed. “We were always told that paladins were the pinnacle of human morality. If that’s true, maybe I should turn back.” “Please ignore them,” the older paladin said. “What I said about racism being archaic is unfortunately not true. It is incredibly common for humans to hate griffons, changelings, and minotaurs purely because they’re different.” The half breed nodded, “Most griffons hate humans for having magic and luxury, while we’re stuck in the mountains, carving houses from cliffsides.” Bright raised an eyebrow, “And you aren’t one of those?” “Oh, I am, but since I’m living in human lands from now on, I have to get over it, don’t I?” she said. “Why are you—” Pinkie started to ask. “None of your business,” the winged woman said quickly. “Okey dokey lokey,” Pinkie said slowly. “Come, we might as well do our job. You’re more than welcome to join us, Miss Dash,” Bright said. “I’ve got nothing better to do,” she replied, unfurling her wings to their full thirteen foot span. “I’ll get a griffon’s eye view of the road ahead. See if there’s any fun that your buddies haven’t dealt with already.” —*~*~*— “I think we should take a break,” Twilight panted as the four of them walked along the road North. “Twilight, we just stopped for a break an hour ago,” Scoot said. “We can’t stop again so soon, we’ll never get anywhere.” “Maybe if you’d left Master Partition’s tower once in a while to get some exercise,” Belle commented, “this wouldn’t be so hard for you.” Twilight sighed, gritting her teeth. It was another three days of travel at this speed before they reached Baltimare. “Don’t want to keep Ma and Pa waiting,” Scoot reminded. “They haven’t seen any of us in nearly a decade.” “I. . . remember,” the studious mage said. “I’m tired though.” “Another hour,” Snail said in his usual measured pace, “then we’ll stop.” Twilight nodded, thankful to have a stopping point planned. It was going to be a long hour, though. After about a half hour, they spotted smoke from a campfire set up further along the road. Snail sighed and said, “We’ll rest there.” “I like that idea,” Scoot said. Despite teasing Twilight for her not being athletic, she was really looking forward to a chance to sit down. “Thank the Light One,” Twilight moaned. “I can’t feel my feet.” Then again, when she reacts like that. . . . Within minutes, the four of them had walked up to a camp site. Five people sat in this site, three female and two male. All heads turned their way when the mages walked up. Scoot was the first one to talk, to no surprise, “Yo. Wanna share the fire?” “Scoot,” Belle sighed before turning to the travelers at the campfire. “We happened to see your campfire and were wondering if you would be willing to share.” “Well, ah don’t see why not,” one of the women said. “Come an’ sit down. Share some tales of the road.” As the mages sat down, Belle flushed slightly. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have any tales to tell. We’re fresh from the University.” “Ah, on a graduation exercise, are we?” the woman said. “Yes ma’am,” the young mage replied. “What about you five?” The same woman spoke up, “Well, there’s Mac, that’s the big one there that don’t talk none, Bloom, the shy one that also don’t talk none, just for a different reason, and ahm Applejack, or just Jack to my friends. We’ve been hired to protect this fine lady here.” “Nice to meet you,” Belle said, giving an awkward half bow from her position on a log by the fire. “I am Rarity,” the woman who hadn’t been introduced yet said. “I’m a healer. The paladins asked for me to head along with them for an expedition to the North, so here I am.” “Where are the paladins?” Scoot blurted out. “Scoot,” Snail said, causing the brash young woman to blush. “No, it’s a fair question. These fine fellows were hired after the fact, and met us along the way,” the healer said. “That there’s Dirk. He’s my bodyguard, at least for this expedition. He usually serves in the spot of that one uncle you have that you love, but don’t want to be associated with.” “You know you love me, Rares,” Dirk said, smirking. “I just said that,” she sighed. “I just don’t want to be seen in public with you most the time.” “Argh!” he said, holding a hand to his chest. “You wound me!” Belle giggled at their antics, before saying, “Well it seems fair that we introduce ourselves now, doesn’t it?” “It seems nice and proper,” Applejack said. “We’ll start with you, then go on from there.” “My name’s Belle,” the young woman said. “I’m an Apprentice swordmage.” “Sounds all kinds of fancy,” Applejack said. “We might just have to get you to talk with—well, to—Bloom here. She does information and planning for the three of us.” “I might just have to, if we travel together for any length of time,” Belle agreed. “Those two are twins. The messy one with a boyfriend is Scoot, while the single one who always keeps everything perfect is Twilight.” “Hey!” Twilight indignantly exclaimed. “You’re single, too!” Belle laughed, “So I am. I’m also three years younger than you.” Mac spoke up, “Who’s the feller?” They all looked expectantly at the young man with Scoot sitting in his lap, his arms wrapped around her. After a slight pause, he said, “My name’s Snail.” “That’s an odd name to give to a child,” Applejack said bluntly. “You must have some odd parents.” He shook his head slowly, “I took it myself.” At Applejack’s look, Scoot spoke up, “It’s a nickname I gave to him years ago, when we first started dating. I gave it to him because he may be slow, but he always gets there. Most people assume that he’s some kind of idiot because of how slow he is to respond and talk. I’ll admit it, even I thought so when I first met him. He’s actually really smart and just thinks about things before he says them. He has about a dozen replies and the most likely reaction calculated before he decides on saying something, on average.” “Fifteen,” he said. “See? Smart man.” She turned to the other girls before stage whispering, “I don’t just like him for his brains, though. He’s a solid ten.” Snail blushed instantly at her words, giving her a quick squeeze. She gave off a small squeal of surprise at his action, much to his satisfaction. “Seems like the kinda guy who’d get along well with Mac,” Applejack said. “He don’t much like to mince words if he don’t need ta.” “Where are you going, if I may ask? Rarity interrupted the conversation. “If we’re heading in the same direction, there is safety in numbers.” “We’re heading up to Baltimare to visit our parents,” Belle said, ignoring the play fight Scoot and Snail had gotten into. “What about you guys?” “We’re headin’ North,” Applejack said. “The fancy paladins are doin’ a mission up there.” “Well it seems like you just gained some traveling companions, if that’s alright with you,” Belle said. “Shoot, it don’t bother me none,” the other woman said. She looked over at Scoot and Snail, who had graduated from play fighting to making out. “Is that. . . normal for them?” Twilight nodded, “Very. She was known to be late to lessons because of it.” “As long as they do it at reasonable times and it don’t go no farther, we won’t have a problem,” Applejack chuckled. Scoot paused what she was doing for a second to look up. “Deal.” —*~*~*— “Uh, hello?” a timid voice asked. Bright looked up from the camp they had made to see a young woman with long pink hair walking into camp. “You aren’t bandits, are you?” Rainbow spoke up, “Nah, most of us are paladins. You’re safer here than most places on the road.” “Oh, thank goodness,” the woman said, sitting down by the fire. Suddenly she froze. “You don’t mind if I share the fire, right?” “Nope,” Pinkie said, shifting to sit next to the woman. “Name’s Pinkie, and I’m an acolyte. What about you?” “My name is Flutter,” she said quietly. “I’m a summoner.” “Ooh, fancy!” Pinkie exclaimed. “What does a summoner do, besides the obvious?” Bright narrowed his eyes, “I know of only one summoner, you wouldn’t happen to know him, would you?” “The Summoner?” Flutter asked. “Is that who you’re talking about?” “Mhm,” the older paladin said. “I take it you do?” “Yeah, he took me in after my parents died,” she said. “Taught me how to be like him.” “You’re aware that he’s one of the Icons, right?” he asked. Flutter stopped breathing. “He’s a what, now?” Rainbow asked. “What’s an Icon?” “An Icon is a being of immense power,” Pinkie explained. “They usually live for a long time, centuries, even millennia. Each one has the power to shape an entire age of history, if they so wish to.” “Geez, how many of these Icons are there?” the winged woman asked. “Thirteen,” Bright said. “There’s the Archmage, who focuses on learning new magics; the Blackguard, may the Dark One take his black heart; the Summoner, who does exactly what his name suggests; the Minotaur King; the Changeling Queen; the One, who rarely gets involved; the Light One, who is at the forefront of fighting the Dark One; the Allmother, who keeps nature on the correct course; the Necromancer, damn his eyes; the Griffon Emperor, who I assume you’re familiar with; the Speaker of the Light, who communes with the One for advice; the Trickster, and all his foolish pranks, and the Dark One.” “You mentioned this ‘Dark One’ like three times, so I assume he’s important?” Rainbow asked. “The Dark One corrupts the minds and bodies of living creatures to serve its purposes,” Pinkie said with uncharacteristic seriousness. “It rolls in like a black fog, and all that get caught in the fog are lost.” Rainbow was silent for a moment, before asking, “By a black fog, do you mean a rolling cloud of shadow that stays low to the ground?” “Yes, have you seen it?” Bright asked as Flutter gasped. “Yeah, we get some of those fogs occasionally,” the winged woman said. “Always out of season for heavy fogs. Never seemed to do any harm, and nobody seemed to act different after being through one. I avoided them like the plague, though. Fogs out of season are bad luck, after all.” Bright let out a sigh of relief. “This is good news and bad. The bad news is it seems that the Dark One has been in the Empire for years. Thankfully, its not corrupting anyone yet.” “What does this corruption look like, anyway?” Rainbow asked. “The hair and skin darken, their breaths come out as puffs of shadow, and clouds of shadow billow out of their every pore and orifice,” Pinkie said. “Yeah, never seen it. Sounds nasty, and not like something you’re bound to forget anytime soon.” Rainbow reclined on the log chair she had made earlier and looking up at the night sky. She didn’t notice the dark look appear on Pinkie’s face. “No,” she whispered, “it isn’t.” Flutter looked at the young woman in worry. “I’ll get some scouting done tomorrow,” Rainbow said, adjusting the tabard she was still wearing. It was uncomfortable for someone used to not having to wear a shirt. “See how far away the rest of your buddies got trying to get away from me.” —*~*~*— Twilight was finally getting the hang of this whole travelling thing. It took three days for her to figure out that complaining was not going to make anything easier on her, and to just suck it up for the duration of the travel. She did, however, learn the lesson. Much to Scoot’s dismay. “Alright, ya’ll. We’re stoppin’ here,” Applejack called from the front. “ ‘Bout time for lunch, anyway.” “We’re passing by Baltimare in a few hours, right?” Belle asked. “Eeyup,” the undercover agent said. “You’ll be at your parents’ place in time for supper.” As they were settling down to eat some of their rations, there was a rustling sound from the trees further along the road. The three agents-turned-mercenaries immediately placed their hands on their weapons, ready for the worst. Everyone was surprised when a normal looking human burst through the leaves on cyan wings. She slammed into the ground, grumbling as she pulled some crossbow bolts out that got caught in her armor. “Damned crossbows. Only I can be good with ranged weapons, otherwise it isn’t fair.” “Uhm, hello?” Rarity hailed. The woman turned towards them, wincing as she folded her wings to her back. “Hi. Yeah, can you guys fight?” “What is it? Bandits?” Applejack asked, drawing a sword. “Worse. Look, just be ready to fight, they’re on the way, right behind my new buddies,” the woman said. Bloom spoke up, “Wait, that’s a paladin tabard!” “So it is, there are more important things to worry about now. Everyone draw a weapon!” the flier snapped. Mac drew walked over to a small tree and ripped it out of the ground. He gave it a test swing, before grunting in acceptance. Rainbow looked at him for a second, before shaking her head and turning to Rarity. “Grab yourself a weapon, lady!” “I–I’m a healer!” she said. “I don’t know how to fight!” Applejack sighed in annoyance as she pulled out one of her many swords, handing it handle first to Rarity. “If anything gets close to you, hit it with the pointy end.” There was the sound of thumping footsteps from the direction the woman had crash landed from. Flashes of color could be seen through the trees as a clanking sound started growing louder. As suddenly as the woman had arrived, three figures, one male and two female, came sprinting along the road. They burst into the campsite before slowing. “Rainbow!” the armored woman yelled. “I found us some friends,” Rainbow said. “What is going on?” Twilight exclaimed. “Weren’t you five looking for some paladins?” Scoot asked. “These two look like they could be—” “Paladin Bright and Acolyte Pinkie, at your service,” the man interrupted. “We can exchange pleasantries later, we have a bit of a problem on our hands.” Rainbow nodded, adding, “If you’re looking for paladins, you sure found them.” “How many of you are there?” Rarity asked. “Two,” was Bright’s reply. Rarity was confused. “I was told there would be—” “Two. There’s only two of us now,” the man interrupted again. “What do you mean ‘now’?” Belle asked. There was the sound of dozens of footfalls coming from where the four people had come from. Flashes of silver and white could be seen through the foliage. “I mean there are only two of us, now,” Bright said, drawing his weapons. Pinkie followed suit. They braced themselves on the road. The first paladins became visible as they crashed through the plant life in their way. Their skin was ashy, and their hair was all dark and burnt looking. The paladin at the front roared at the assembled heroes, spewing a cloud of darkness in front of him. Dark clouds leaked from the joints of their armor as they ran, billowing out behind them. “Say hello to the fighting force the Order sent up North,” Bright said through clenched teeth. “It was waiting for us.”