//------------------------------// // Legends Revealed // Story: Across a Dark Desert // by AirmanAlex //------------------------------// Finally, I could see the Manehatten skyline in the distance, only another hour or two, until I got there, well actually, until we got there. It's been a long time since I had a companion on one of my adventures. I havn't had someone tag along since... nevermind that... "Hey Streaks, you said you were on a treasure hunt, mind if I ask, what exactly you do for a living?" Hmm... guess I didn't tell her that... "Which job do you want to know about? The one on my resume, or the one I actually do?" "Umm, I guess both..." "Well, I went to school for archaeology, but I work in the field, collecting artifacts and items, so I guess you could say im more of a treasure hunter or explorer." "Cool, so your not one of those dweebs running around in the museums then." We both shared a laugh at that one. "So, anyways, what are we hunting for exactly?" I should really start telling her these things, since she is gonna be helping out. "See for yourself!" I said as I tossed her the sketch Luna sent along with the letter. "Were looking for a place called Zebrica?" "Turn it over..." "Oh... Looks like some kind of armour or something. It's pretty cool looking, all sinister and dark..." "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that armour would you?" The griffons were a more aggressive, military based society, maybe she would know something. "No, Griffon armour is a lot cooler, with spikes, and stuff." Guess not... "So.. what kind of armour is this anyways?" "Im not entirely sure... but I have a hunch. I think it might be some kind of ceremonial armour, having to do with Nightmare Night. It might have been used in ancient times, during Nightmare Night rituals, to try to please Nightmare Moon." I was quite proud of myself for coming up with that. "Nightmare Moon?" "Its some old pony tale, something about eternal night, and locking a pony in the moon, I don't know too much about it. But, its just that, an old pony tale, no truth to it at all! Just some story to scare little foals. I hear they have a pretty big celebration in Ponyville, though I've never been there for it myself." "Ok. So, How do we go about getting this armour?" "Well, we need to find a captain in Manehatten, that would be willing to take us to Ze'bra-lex, from there, its straight across the Zebrican desert, then into a jungle region near the mountains, nothing to dangerous." "Ok, got it!" The next hour was spent talking among ourselves. I told her about a few of my other adventures, and that Hearth Warming Eve part I snuck into at the museum. I learned that Gilda grew up in Cloudsdale, and sadly, she lost her parents at an early age, and spent most of her life on the streets. I tried to find out more about her friend, but she wouldn't tell me anything, whatever happened between those two much have been pretty traumatic... "Finally were here!" I should have been here a couple hours ago... but so many delays... "Now, we just need to find a ship, you wouldn't happen to know any ship captains would you Gilda? Gilda?" Where did she run off to... "Watch where your going loser!!!" That would be Gilda... "I-Im sorry..it was an accident.... honest!" A young colt was cowering on the ground in front of Gilda... "Sure it was... Now you get out of my way, before I tear your neck apart ya' stupid egghead!" "Yes M'am n-n-no problem!" As he dashed past me I thought I saw him crying... "Gilda... what was that!?" "That numb skull bumped into me, so I taught him a lesson!" "Was all of that really necessary...?" "Of course it was! Im not gonna let some losers walk all over me, in a city like this, you got to show these ponies whos boss!" She had a point there, Manehatten wasn't exactly the friendliest of cities... "Well, if your done terrorizing the locals... we need to get down to the docks and find a ship to Zebrica." "Fine..." The ports were busy during this time of the day, workers loading and unloading the various cargo freighters, tourists disembarking cruise liners, I even spotted a Griffon battle cruiser with a huge gaping hole in the side, sitting in a dry dock. "Now, we need to find a ship willing to take us for about a hundred bits, so try to find a smaller ship, like a fishing trawler or something..." "You let me handle the haggling, Im sure I can get us on any ship for that price, Ill just-" "You are not going to threaten anyone! But I do like the way you think!" Though I guess if it did come to that... "Lets try this one..." We walked over to an old, faded orange, fishing boat, with an old grey Unicorn sitting on the gangplank... This fellow looked liked he was in need of a few bits... "Uh, hello, my friend and I, were wondering if you would be able to take us across the sea to Zebrica..." "Where in Zebrica you goin' miss?" His voice had that jaunty fisher pony tone... "Ze'bra-lex, we need to get ther-" "I don't care what you need to do there, what I do care about is how much you willin' to pay?" "One hundred bits, sir." "One hundred you say! For that much I'd take you to the edge of the seas!" Great... so I was getting ripped off... "So you'll do it?" "Sure, just let me know when you be ready to set off! I'll be waiting right here for y'all" Well that was easy... "Ok, well be back around night fall, I have to wrangle up a few supplies first, I'm kinda low on food now..." I gave Gilda a sharp glare as I said this. "Again, I don't give a hoot what you need to do!" Just wants his money... typical... "Ok, we'll be back later..." We were hungry so we headed into the coastal district for dinner, can't believe I missed two meals today... And of course Gilda wouldn't eat any of this "garbage" as she called it, at any restaurant I picked... So we ended up at a bar... "This place looks good. I could go for a drink, how 'bout you Streaks?" I guess I could go for a vodka or something... plus bars usually had a good deal of information scattered among the drunken ponies, which never made sense to me, guess it's true when they say "beer is the answer to everything"... "Sure..." I was shocked at what we saw when we walked in, everyone there was calmly sitting at there tables, drinking whatever drink they had ordered, some were quietly munching on hay fries, or something... Guess I was expecting to walk in on a huge bar fight, with chairs being thrown, and ponies smashing bottles over each others heads... We took a seat at a small table in the rear of the bar, the place wasn't very well lit, the corners of the bar were a darkened, and the lamps on the walls, flickered whenever some pony in the bar, slammed a hoof down, or set something down on a table. "Why doesn't any place serve meat!?" There was just no pleasing her... "Guess I'll take an apple pie... how bout' you Streaks?" "I'll get a wheat grass sub sandwich. Do you mind ordering for me, Im gonna go around and see if anyone happens to know anything about that armour." "Sure, whatever... doubt you'll get anything out of these drunk losers..." She was probably right... The first pony I went to was a yellow Earth Pony with a badly groomed magenta mane, sitting at the bar, he didn't look to drunk, might be able to get a conversation going... "Hey there!" He payed no attention to me. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions-" 'I'd prefer if you didn't missy! just lost me job, and don't care to be bothered right now!" "Oh, sorry about disturbing you sir." I trotted over to a table near the door, with two unicorns sitting at it. "Hello, I was wondering if I could-" "I'se doesn't wants to be bothered now! So, just G'it your flank outs of heres!" This light green unicorn was obviously way to drunk to be of any help to me... perhaps the other one would be sober enough to make complete sentences... "Ok... So how about you Sir?" "I-I-I don't feel to hot... Im... gonna go outside... for fresh air... or something..." He got up, and staggered outside, bumping into the door frame as he tried to leave... This was followed by some extremely... disgusting... stomach turning sounds... The next pony I tried was sitting in the very back of the bar. He was wearing a ragged, stained, brown cloak, with a hood covering his entire head, so I couldn't get a good look at his facial features. I didn't see any bottles or plates near the table, so didn't look like he had anything to drink tonight... "Uh, Hello there, I was wondering if you would be willing to answer some questions." Please don't throw up like that other one... "Sure... Knock your self out..." His voice was rather quiet, and tired sounding, and he was laying his head on the table. "Ok, do you happen to know anything about that old legend, Nightmare Moon?"He perked up slightly at this. '"I happen to know a little... what exactly do you want to know?" "Do you happen to anything about this?" I grabbed the sketch from my saddle bags, and flung it on the table. He sat up, and reached for the parchment sprawled out on the table, as he brought his arm out from the sleeves of his cloak, I noticed something strange, he seemed to have, light grey paws, instead of hooves... I chose not to bring it up, as this pony seemed to have information that I wanted. "Uh... Where did you get this drawing?" Looks like I got his full attention now, though the sound of his voice took on a slightly more worrying tone. "It was sent to me, along with a letter, from Princess Luna, why do you ask?" "Uh... no reason... I happen know a bit about this armour, but the info is gonna cost you..." Great... "How Much?" He saw me reaching for my saddle bags, but shook his head. "I don't want money, I just need something to eat! I'll take anything you happen to have, leftovers, scraps, even rotten produce! I just need something to eat!" Why does everyone want my food... "How bout' I buy you dinner?" I glanced back to my table, and saw Gilda yelling at a waiter, who happened to be the same pony that had bumped into her earlier today. "Sure, that will work!" He suddenly got a lot more cheerful. "Ok, come over to my table, and we'll talk a bit more." As he got up out of his seat, I noticed something else odd, his tail was bushy, and scraggly, not at all like a normal pony's tail... something was definitely odd about this pony... We both sat down at the table, and Gilda finally got done with screaming at the waiter... "Hey Streaks, guess what! I just got us free dinner!" What did she put that poor pony through... She then turned and looked at my cloaked companion, and said... "Who's this loser?" "I apologize for my friends, rudeness... Now, about that armour..." "Ok, you know about that old legend, about the two sisters, and the entire Nightmare Moon fiasco, don't you?" "Well... Not Really..." I was a bit embarrassed at how little I knew... "Ok then... You know how Equestria is ruled over by two Alicorn sisters?" "Of course! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" "And you know the older one controls the sun, and the younger, the moon?" "Yes..." So far I wasn't impressed with his so called information... "Well, anyways, about a thousand years ago, the younger of the sisters, Luna I think, grew jealous of her sister's sun, or something like that... So, Luna tried to bring forth, eternal night, and plunge Equestria into darkness forever. But, unfortunately... Celestia, did some "hocus pocus" magic garbage, and shoved her into the moon for a thousand years!" "What do you mean "unfortunately"? Preventing eternal night seems like a pretty good thing to me!" "Maybe to you but... uh, yeah, it was good, thank goodness Celestia stopped her, because I certainly don't want to live in a world without Celestia's wonderful sun...!" I couldn't help but notice the nervous tone in his voice... "Ok... So what does this have to do with the armour?" "Im getting to that... Anyways, after her thousand year imprisonment, Nightmare Moon, as she was called, returned to once again plunge the world into eternal darkness." "Wait! So that legend is true!?" It couldn't be... it was just an old pony tale... "Yep, though the details might be a bit shaky in places, but overall, its all true." "Ok then, what about the armour? What does that have to do with your story?" I said this a bit harshly... but I was still shocked, at that old myth being true... though I was still skeptical of this mysterious... pony... though Im starting to doubt he's even a pony... "Well, six brave, powerful warriors, went to face Nightmare Moon in battle, wielding the Elements... of... umm... "Harmony?" He knows everything about an evil pony that shouldn't exist... but he can't remember that!? "Yeah, that's it, The Elements of Harmony! Well, the six warriors, wielding the Elements, went up against Nightmare Moon, and... somehow... managed to defeat her. The Elements, restored Luna to her former self, and she went back to rule over Equestria with her sis'." "So... Nightmare Moon was defeated then, and this armour was just for battle?" "Not exactly. Yes, she did wear that armour during her battle with the six warriors, but its importance, came in after that battle. The Elements couldn't fully destroy Nightmare Moon, though they greatly weekend her. Some of the "Nightmare" possessed the armour Nightmare Moon wore during the battle. Luna fearing the armour's power, had it taken away by a squad of Canterlot Guards, and hidden. To ensure the location of the armour remained a secret, the guards, had to remain in the cave where they had concealed the armour, forever..." "Princess Luna would never do something like that! She would never send a pony to life long imprisonment like that!" She wouldn't, she couldn't have! But then again... Nightmare Moon wasn't supposed to be real... this pony had to be lying! "But go on, what happened next?" "The youngest of the guards, feeling that the Princess had betrayed him, refused to stay, he escaped from his would be tomb, and sealed the others inside. But after that.... no one knows what became of him... So, the location of the armour is supposedly, still unknown..." I couldn't believe this! If this story was true, I would be searching for an artifact of great power, and importance, to not only Equestria, but Princess Luna herself! But it also made me think... Why would Luna want the armour back, if it could turn her back into that monster, Nightmare Moon? There had to be more to this story, something that this pony didn't know, and something that Luna didn't want me to know... But there was something still bothering me... this pony sitting in front of me... Where could he have gotten all of this information... I've studied myths, and legends most of my life, and I never came across information as complete of this. And his odd looking tail, and "paws"... that concealing cloak he was wearing... something just wasn't right... and i was going to find out what. "How do you know all of this?" "Well... I..." Just then a pair of ponies walked in, they were wearing a pair of jet black robes, that covered there faces completely. On the back of the robes, where your Cutie Mark would be, there was a light blue, crescent moon stitched into the fabric. The two ponies stood there, then proceeded to a table to a table in the very back of the bar. "Uh... I-I-I... have to go, now!" He quickly got up out of his seat, and made a dash for the door. He then proceeded to smash into Gilda, who had left the table during my conversation, and was walking around, swiping food from other tables. "Can any of you losers in this stupid city, watch were your going!?" Gilda was up on her hind legs, with her claws around the neck of the cloaked pony, and was holding him up against the wall. Before I could get over to her, and stop Gilda from scarring another pony for life... She apparently had had enough of these ponies bumping into her, and threw him to the ground... That's when I realized what was odd about, my "hooded friend". His hood had fallen off, and I could clearly see, that he definitely wasn't a pony... What Gilda had pinned down on the floor, was a Warg, a race of evil, dark hearted wolf-like creatures, that roamed the Everfree Forest at night, preying on travelers, and ponies that had become lost in the forest. They were notorious raiders, and thieves, able to sneak around silently at night. They were strong and fierce, and had a burning hatred for all races of ponies, and there rulers. I knew much about about them, the only thing I didn't know, was why a Warg would be here, in Manehatten. I wanted to find out, but I had to be quick, otherwise Gilda would paint the walls with his guts... "Im getting really sick and tired, of you stupid, brainless, idiots, bumping in to me! I've had just about enough of it!" I'm starting to have second thoughts about bringing Gilda along... "Whats gonna stop me from smashing your empty skull on the pavement!" "Gilda, do you have any idea what your dealing with!?" She appeared to be completely oblivious that the creature she had pinned on the floor was capable of tearing her to shreds! Though I noticed this Warg didn't seem as strong, or intimidating as most other Wargs... "I know exactly what I'm dealing with, an idiotic mutt, who can't watch where he's going!" "Gilda, let me talk to him, before you tear off his head." She got off of the Warg, and backed up, muttering "she never lets me do it my way..." He got up, and brushed himself off a bit, he looked very startled, and fearful, not only of Gilda, but of myself as well. "So, what are you doing here?" I tried to sound as intimidating as I could, and I made sure he saw the machete sticking out of my utility jacket. "I-I was just resting here, I swear I wasn't up to anything!" He kept casting uneasy glances to the back of the bar. "I don't believe you! You Wargs are always up to no good!" "I have a name you know..." "Well, what is it!?" Not that I really care ... "It's Tails... but... can you please let me go, I really need to get out of here..." "So.. Tails is it? What makes you think I'm just gonna let you wander out of here! "Well I did give you all that information you wanted! I've been sitting in this bar for hours, and I havn't caused any trouble! If its that big of a problem, I'll leave!" "Can you three take this outside!?" The bartender was leaning over the counter, scowling at me. "I have customers who don't want to listen to your squabbling!" "Fine... C'mon Gilda, were going to continue our talk with "Mr. Tails" here, outside." "Cool, do I get to rough him up a bit?" Her idea of "roughing him up" was probably more along the lines of a mauling... We stormed out of the bar, with Gilda dragging the Warg behind us, we went into an alley way next to the bar, it was a dark night, the clouds blocked out most of the moon, and the street lights didn't penetrate the darkness of the alleyway... "So, are you going to talk? Or is my friend, Gilda here gonna' have to make you!" I pinned him up against the wall, with Gilda close behind, just in case he tried to fight. "I swear! I wasn't doing anything! I just stopped here to rest! I've been walking for days!" I noticed his eyes quickly darted to the alley's entrance, near the street. The two, black cloaked ponies were standing there. One of them stepped forward, and spoke in a cold, emotionless voice... "Would you two ladies mind leaving us? We would like to have a talk with this, fiendish Warg." "Now look here you dweebs!" Gilda had started walking towards the cloaked ponies... "We got this covered, and we don't need any help from you losers, so you can just get your flanks out of here, before I kick you out!" Her temper seemed to be improving, at least she didn't threaten to rip out there necks this time... "It would be very wise of you, to step aside my fine feathered friend..." His companion pulled away part of his cloak to reveal what looked like a, dark black scimitar... "Make me!" "Have it your way..." and with that, he whipped around, faster then it seemed possible for a pony, and bucked Gilda, directly in the jaw, causing her to stumble back a bit. "Your gonna wish you didn't do that!" Gilda grabbed him by his neck, and threw him over her shoulder, then turned to tackle the second pony, who was struggling to ready his sword against the charging Griffon. "Hang in there Gilda, I'm coming!" I got off of the Warg I had pinned down, I figured we had bigger problems then him now, I was about five feet from Gilda when a knife landed directly in front of me, it must of been thrown with some force, as the knife was firmly embedded into the concrete... As I regained by footing after that sudden shock, two more knives were lunged at me from the roofs of the neighboring buildings. There were more of the black cloaked ponies on the roof tops of the various buildings along the alleyway. Though, some of them seemed to large to be ponies... The ones on the roofs let loose another volley of knives, forcing me to seek cover behind a stack of wooden crates, I saw another group of them standing, down at the other end of the alley, they were blocking the only other escape route... I saw Gilda, who was frantically dodging knives, grab a barrel and lunge it at some of the ponies on the rooftops, knocking a few of them off balance, causing them to fall onto the hard concrete below. Just then, the lone Warg I was interrogating earlier, Tails, leaped over the crates, and ducked down, not noticing that I was there as well. I wacked him in the head with my right hoof, and once again, pinned him down... "Who are these ponies!? And what do they want!? I swear to Celestia, if you brought them here, I'll end your pathetic life right now!" "They want that map! They want that armour! And they will take it from you, even if it means killing all of us!" His voice was fast and panicked, he had sweat dripping off of his light grey fur. "How did they find out about the armour!?" If this Warg told them, he was going to die right now! "The two of them in the bar must have been spieing on me, and they probably overheard our conversation, and alerted the other members of the cult!" "What cult!? And why were they spieing on you!?" "It's a long story, and I don't think this is the time or the place, for story time! We need to get out of here, NOW!" Then Gilda leaped over the boxes, and landed on top of Tails, she had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing life threatening. "Gilda, we need to get out of here, were gonna rush through the thugs near the street, then make a run for it, to the docks where our boat should be waiting. Got it?" "Sure, but what do we do with the mutt?" She knew that she was still standing on top of Tails, but still didn't get off of him... "I really don't care about the "mutt" right now..." "Fine, leave it to me I got a plan!" She stepped off of Tails, making sure to stomp on his stomach as she got off. Apparently, Gilda's plan involved throwing Tails at the line of Cult members at the alley's opening, then run like there was no tomorrow... She really did not like that Warg.... Though... the plan did work, somehow... Luckily for us, the streets were empty, so we had a clear run to the docks. Unluckily, so did the forty-some cult members behind us... "That was a horrible plan you stupid feather brain! You could have thrown something else, like a crate! But no, you had to throw me! I think I broke a few ribs...." "Shut up ya mutt!" "Would both of you just shut up!" Even when were running for our lives, Gilda manages to pick a fight... "Hey! Wait up!" Tails had tripped, and was now half running, half limping after us. "Gilda! Did you trip him!?" I could of sworn I saw here wrap her tail around his paw before he fell... "Maybe..." This griffon was pure evil! "How much farther to the docks?" "Just a little bit farther! It's at the end of this bloc-" I was cut short by a sudden blow to the head. A group of three, Scimitar equipped, Pegasi dropped out of the sky, one of them kicking me in the back of the head, as he landed. Two of them lunged at Gilda, the other one brought his sword to my throat... "Hand over the map! Or I slice you, and your friends throats!" "Ok... just let me get it out of my saddle bags..." I kicked him off of me with my hind legs, and unsheathed my machete. He made a dash for me, I jumped back, but nearly caught his follow up swipe. I swung my machete at him, but he met it with his sword, and parried my blow, and sent me staggering back a few steps. "You are a fool if you think you can hide from the Nightmare!" He made a quick jab at me, knocking me onto my back, he swung downwards with his sword, but I met his blade with mine just inches from my face... I glanced over at Gilda to see if she would be able to help me, one of the Pegasi was laying in pool of blood, no doubt dead... the other one was desperately trying to deflect Gilda's ferocious slashes... "Looks like I'll just have to pry it from your cold dead hooves." He let out a cold, evil chuckle. He raised his sword to strike the finishing blow... "Streaks!" Gilda grabbed the pony she was fighting, and flung him at the one looming above me... I could hear bones breaking as they both slammed into a near by wall... Gilda was one hell of a fighter... "C'mon Gilda... Lets hurry up..." We made a mad dash for our ship, don't know how the captain would react to an angry armed mob following us... We ran past the warehouses, and loading docks, and found our captain and his tiny orange fishing boat... We jumped aboard, and bucked away the gangplank. "Start the engine, now!" "Now, what be the rush there missy?" Gilda who was pulling up the anchor, turned to the captain, and yelled, "Shut up and drive, ya' old fart!" "Now look here, this is ma' ship, and I demand respect from-" We all heard the thundering hoof steps, and turned to see the mob, scimitars shining in the moonlight, charging towards the docks, with a familiar grey Warg ahead of them... "Ya... I'll go and git' ready to set sail..." He bolted to the wheel, as fast as a Wonderbolt, and fired up the motor, which slowly sputtered to life. "GO, GO, GO, GO!" Gilda and I screamed simultaneously... The boat lurched forward, Gilda and I were pushing off from the docks, trying every way imaginable to get the ship moving faster. "Wait for me!" Tais had caught up and jumped into the back of the boat just as we left the docks. A dozen of the cloaked ponies were standing on the docks, staring out to sea, some of them yelling curses, some trying to lob knives at us... The captain came out from the small cabin on deck, that housed the wheels, and controls, "What in the name of the wide open seas was that all about!? And who the hay is this?" He turned to glare at Tails. "Well, You see..." Before I could make up some crazy excuse the captain interrupted me. "On second thought, I don't care! You paid me my money, and this mutt ain't carrying any weapons, so I don't care!" "Ok..." That went well... I turned around to check up on Gilda, to make sure we both got out in one piece, and I wasn't at all surprised at what I saw... Gilda was leaning over the stern of the ship, and holding Tails over the side of the boat...