//------------------------------// // Chapter I: The Fable // Story: The Fable of the Zealot // by Silentpegasus //------------------------------// In case this is your first time reading this. I suggest you read 'The Ranger's Journey' first to get a better grasp of the Characters. The odyssey continues... Chapter I The Fable It had been a month since Crimson and his compatriots had returned to the small town of Ponyville. Crimson and the scholar had decided to keep their relationship on the down low for the time being. The red mage had gotten permission from the mayor to erect a guild on the far edge of town. The towns folk were more than willing to lend a hand. Within a few days the foundation was laid and the walls were built. Golem, the man who made a living creating clay figurines of the students had come from the school to offer his assistance with the construction. Soon the comrades looked at the guild and smiled. The building was three stories high, the three roofs had clay shingles and stone pitchers at the end of each corner for the rain water to pour out of. At the top of the third floor stood a large bell and a flag on top. The first floor was a tavern and was stocked with the Apple family cider. The bottom floor could easily hold over a hundred people. The second floor held dorms where the guild members could take a load off and rest in between jobs. A room could be rented out for a fee and be put on reserve for long term use. The top level was reserved for higher ranking members and where clients did business with the guild. A large office was built and a large round meeting table was constructed. It was perfection. Now the group only had one problem. Naming it. “I say we call it Devil May-” Cobalt was cut off as Rouge slapped him upside the head. “Copyright infringement idiot.” The purple haired girl said with a sigh. “Oh right.” He said with a chuckle. “How about the Prancing Pegasus?” Rouge asked. “Nah, doesn’t sound cool enough.” Cobalt said with a sigh. “The Dragon’s Nest?” Ivy asked with a sheepish grin. “We’re not all dragon slayers Ivy.” Crimson sighed. “It need to be something short, sweet and to the point.” The man said as he looked at the building. The man then noticed five familiar girls approaching them. Twilight gave the man a small peck on the cheek and smiled. “Howdy guys.” A.J. said as she tipped her hat. “How goes the naming?” “Terrible.” Cobalt said. “We need to really leave our own mark on this place ya know?” “All our ideas are either crap or taken.” Crimson sighed. The group heard a whooshing noise and looked up to see a familiar rainbow haired flyer. “Crimson!” She yelled as she flew up to him. “You have to get to the train station now!” “What’s wrong Dash?” “No time! Just hurry!” The flyer said as she zoomed off towards the tracks with the group in hot pursuit. As they neared the station the group saw a crowd gathering. Crimson squinted and saw a familiar golden haired Changeling with a scared look on her face. “Sunny?” Crimson yelled as he ran up next to the girl. “Oh, hello Crimson.” She said with a weak smile. “What are you doing here?” He asked as the other three warriors stood beside him. “Crow said that you were looking for staff for your guild.” She said in her timid tone. “So I was wondering if I could help out.” The Changeling said in a hopeful tone. “Hell yeah!” Ivy said with a smile. “No way are we letting a thing like that in this town!” A crowd member yelled. Sunny hung her head low. Crimson looked back at the crowd and frowned. “There a problem here?” He yelled. “Her kind attacked Canterlot!” A girl with short mint green hair stated. “She didn’t have anything to do with that.” Rouge said. “She’s still a Changeling!” Rouge snapped her fingers and made her disguise shatter. The crowd gasped as they saw her butterfly wings and patches of black insect like skin. The crowd froze and gulped at her appearance. Crimson and the other two flyers then stood beside her and let some of their magic seep out. “You want her then you’re gonna have to go through us.” Cobalt said as electricity arced over his body. Twilight and the five girls then stood in front of them with their arms crossed. “That goes double for us.” AJ said as she and Rainbow cracked their knuckles. The crowd gulped and flinched. The four mages were bad enough, but now the Elements of Harmony? “Out of the way! Out of the way!” The crowd separated to show the grey haired mayor in a brown suit. She adjusted her glasses and looked at the crowd and mages. “Let’s not let anything get out of hand. Crimson, your in charge here correct?” “Yes, ma’am.” He said as he motioned for the group to back off. The mages and girls relaxed their positions. “Mind if we talk in private?” “Walk with me.” Crimson nodded and followed the woman off to where no one could hear them. “I allowed the Academy to open up a guild here, but allowing Changelings is pushing it.” She sighed as she leaned against a building. “Rouge has been protecting this place for over a month.” He stated. “She could have attacked anyone at any time, but she didn’t. The only reason she kept herself hidden was because she didn’t want to cause a full blown panic." He said as he crossed his arms. “What about the whole love feeding issue?” “She’s got Cobalt for that.” The mayor sighed. " If you've got a problem with them then you got a problem with me and my guild.” The mayor frowned and crossed her arms. Crimson looked back at the group and an idea came to him. Time to use the two most basic human emotion against politicians. Fear and greed. “Look Mayor, Twilight and the others trust them.” “That is irrelevant.” She said in a firm tone. “Look, this isn’t meant for public ears yet, but Twilight and I are in a relationship.” The mayor raised an eyebrow at the man. “Why should I care?” “Because her friends are my friends and vice versa.” He sad in a calm tone. “How well do you think it would go if she found out that it was a certain someone’s fault why her boyfriend couldn’t stay in her town?” The mayor flinched at the thought of the Element of Magic going on a rampage. “Not just her, but if the higher ups in the Council hear that a Civil Servant is racist? Ho then Academy members all over would be pissed. Considering that Changelings make up a good twenty-five percent of the Academy.” The woman gulped at the thought of having an army of angry mages want her head on a silver platter. “And let’s not forget Twilight’s connections. She’s the student of Princess Celestia and on excellent terms with Princess Luna and Princess Cadence.” The woman was now shaking in fear of the thought. Sweat formed on her brow and she tried to hide the fear in her eyes. “But if you allow myself and my friends to stay then this works out well for you.” “How?” She asked in a shaky tone. He had weakened her defenses. Time to go in for the kill. “Money.” “Money?”
 The woman said in confusion. “Well, the town does get a percentage of the guild’s profits for tax purposes.” He said with a smirk. The mayor’s eyes widened and Crimson saw a small spark of greed fill her eyes. “How much?” “I’d say twenty-five percent.” The mayor’s jaw dropped. “Not to mention that we protect this town twenty-four seven free of charge. Parisprites, Dragons and anything in between.” The mayor could feel drool forming in her mouth. She straightened her posture and walked back over to the train station. She walked over to the golden haired Changeling and adjusted her glasses. “What was your name again?” “Sunny Gleam.” She said with a gulp. The mayor threw on a smile and stuck her hand out. “Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Ponyville.” The groups’ jaws hit the floor as Crimson grinned. “Sorry for the odd welcoming. People around here aren’t used to seeing Changelings.” “Oh it’s perfectly alright. Some students at the Academy have issues with my appearance.” She smiled. The Changeling shook her hand and the mayor relaxed. “So where’s the guild?” “Right this way.” Crimson said as he lead the two towards the guild. As they walked through the town they were getting dark stares from the local populace. Dash and AJ were ready to pounce on anything that got too close to the Changeling. “So what’s its name?” Sunny asked. The group of mages grumbled. “We’re still working on that.” Rouge said. “We’ve been talking about this all week and we’ve come up with squat.” “It’s only a name.” Twilight said. “It’s not like your naming a child or a fable. I mean its only a building.” “Twilight it’s not that simple it-” The man froze as his brain processed what she said. “Wait what did you just say?” “It’s only a building?” “No, before that.” “It’s not like you’re naming a child or a fable?” Crimson’s brain lurched and a smile spread across his face. He quickly grabbed her and gave her a kiss on the lips. “You’re a genius!” Twilight gave a smile, even though she had no idea what she just did. “Fable! It’s perfect!” The group rolled the idea around in their heads. “Sounds pretty cool.” Cobalt grinned. “It does hold a deep meaning.” Rouge said. “I’m cool with it.” Ivy stated. “Okay so the guild’s name is Fable. Agreed?” The red mage said as he looked at the group. “Agreed.” The three said with a grin. “Now what about a symbol? We gotta have a cool symbol.” Cobalt said. Rouge summoned her sketch book and the group started to look through it. “I’ve had some free time so I decided to practice my drawing again.” The group continued to look through the sketches. As they approached the guild the groups eyes fell upon a nicely done sketch. It was obviously a horse, a stallion with a long spiral horn coming from it’s forehead. “What about this?” Ivy asked. “Seems kinda...girly.” Cobalt said. “Looks okay and it fits the name.” Crimson stated. “A Unicorn? Really?” Dash said with a laugh. “No one has ever seen a Unicorn. Sure there are stories, but people have spent their entire lives looking for it. It’s like an urban legend.” He said as he looked at the image. “They’re mostly used in kids stories, but according to some of the books written by the founders of the Academy Unicorns are said to be the strongest creatures in existence. Fastest thing on four legs, smarter than any human and more powerful than a dragon.” Dash couldn’t help but snicker at the words. “This will do.” He said as he cracked his back. “Ladies, gentlemen and Cobalt.” “Screw you.” The flyer said with a frown. The red haired man faced the guild and cracked his knuckles. “I dub thee,” The man’s hands glowed a dark red and shot out streams of energy at the blank sign. The magic started to burn and cut into the wooden sign. “Fable.” The man cut his magic flow and the name was forever marked into the sign. “Now for the emblem.” He charged up his magic again and carved the emblem above the name. “I think its still missing something.” Ivy said as she squinted at the sign. “Oh! We should give it wings!” “Why?” Pinkie asked. Ivy and Cobalt looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, right sorry.” “Wings coming right up!” Another blast of magic and a the image was now donning a pair of majestic wings. The group looked at the symbol and smiled. Crimson looked back at the group who all had smiles on their faces. Smiles filled with hope and dreams of a new adventure. “Yay! Now we can finally have that guild opening party!” Pinkie chimed. “Awe yeah!” Dash yelled as she fist pumped. Twilight walked up to Crimson and gave him a playful nudge. Crimson lead the group inside and gave them the grand tour. The rooms were fairly simple, one to two beds, some even had bunk beds. A bathroom with a shower was also included. Sunny got a single room which she graciously accepted. Rouge and Cobalt were obviously going to share one. Crimson and Ivy each took an individual one. Crimson smiled as he watched his friends go into the guild. “Home sweet home.” He said as he followed his friends. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One month earlier It was the day after Crimson had gotten his reassignment to Ponyville thanks to Celestia’s mention of the chaos Twilight had written to her about in her letters. Celestia’s eyes fluttered open and saw that the sun was already shining. It was rare for Celestia to miss the sun rising, but not uncommon. Since Luna’s return it meant that on occasion, she could do it, but that resulted in a very grumpy Princess of the night and Tia would have to raise the moon to compensate. As her eyes adjusted she realized that she was not in her bedroom in Canterlot Castle. She looked around and saw dark green painted walls and grey borders. “Still sleepy I see.” Celestia looked up at Crow who had a smile on his face and a dark green button down shirt on that clung to his upper body. Despite the man’s age, his body was still something to marvel at. Despite being forty-one, the man had the muscle tone of a thirty year old linebacker. “Why is it that every time we have dinner I end up in your bed with nothing on?” She asked as she sat up and pulled the sheet over herself to cover her naked body. “Because we know it ends that way every time.” He said with a smug grin. Celestia stuck her tongue out at him and sighed. “You could get in serious trouble if anyone ever found out about this.” Celestia said as she snapped her fingers and a flowing white dress appeared over her body. “The council would surely be outraged and the scandal would be talked about for centuries to come.” “You’ve been saying that for years. Besides I-” The instantly clutched his chest and dropped to the floor in pain. “Crow!” Celestia yelled as she hurried over to the man. Crow was grunting his pain and digging his fingers into his chest. Celestia ripped open his shirt and saw that his veins were starting to turn black and his skin was becoming paper white. “Vial.” The man breathed out n pain. “Third left drawer.” He said as he pointed at his desk. Celestia hurried over to the drawer and saw a few vials filled with purple liquid. She grabbed one and rested the man’s head on her knees to give it some elevation. She put the glass to his lips and made sure that he drank all of it. The man’s skin turned back to normal and he gave a hard cough. Celestia sat him up slowly and put a hand on his bare back. She focused her magic and felt that something had invaded his body and was eating him from the inside out. “Crow.” She said in a shaky tone. “You’re very sick.” The man hung his head in shame and panted heavily. “Please, I don’t want Crimson to know.” He said with a sigh. Celestia had tears in her eyes and hugged the man.