//------------------------------// // Secrets and Betrayal // Story: Pathfinder Ponies // by terrycloth //------------------------------// ”Explosive runes?” screamed an unfamiliar rainbow-maned pegasus at a small dragon hatchling. She was hovering over a table covered with maps and papers and dice, scattering them with the downdraft as a collection of other ponies scrambled to catch them before they flew off. “We’re first level, Spike. How the hay are we supposed to deal with an explosive runes trap?” The dragon squeaked, “I didn’t think you’d actually pick it up! I mean, it’s so obviously a trap! But don’t worry, I’ve got this.” The strange hallucination faded as Rarity opened her eyes to see the rest of her friends standing over her. “So it was all a dream?” she asked. Applejack shook her head. “Well, if you mean the part where we got blown to smithereens because Twi was too hasty pokin’ her horn into thief business, then no, it wasn’t a dream, exactly.” “Nonlethal damage,” Pinkie Pie said, inspecting her vials for any shock damage. “So, we all got knocked silly, and dragged here to recover.” “We were kind of worried you wouldn’t,” said their griffon monk, pacing back and forth in the small, dusty infirmary. “It turns out that if you do enough nonlethal damage it starts to spill over, and you’re… kind of a lightweight.” “I suppose that means we failed, however,” Rarity said in a low tone, rolling out of bed and back to her shaky hooves. “Can we try again next year?” “You haven’t failed yet,” said a familiar voice, as the human woman they recognized as a Guild representative entered the room, closing and locking the door behind her. “As I said, it’s important to us that a team of fey makes it through the trials, which means I haven’t given up on you yet.” “I was wondering,” Applejack said. “Seemed kind of strange that with all the other trainees being dumped on a heap o’ corpses when they failed, we got the foal-safe version of the trap.” The representative nodded. “You all owe me your lives, and trust me, I plan to collect. But for now, all I want is for you to continue the trials. No one else knows that you set off the explosive runes --” “What?” Rainbow Dash asked. “No one at all?” Fluttershy asked. “This is your personal project, then. You’re betraying the Guild to help us.” “I don’t like the idea of cheating,” Twilight said. “I’d rather just accept the failure and come back next year, to win properly. I know it might delay your plans –“ “My plans don’t allow for a group of washouts to get hit with a nonlethal spell,” the representative snapped. “If you don’t cooperate, I’ll have no choice but to fail you. Permanently.” There was an edge in her voice, that left Twilight shaken. “Then I guess we have no choice,” Rainbow Dash snapped, flapping across the room and landing right in the representative’s face. Suddenly, she lashed out with her talons, “Surprise attack!” The representative deflected the blows with contemptuous ease, but had less luck against Applejack’s simultaneous attack from behind, crying out as the cat’s sharp claws sank into her kidney. “Idiots! What makes you think you can take me on?” she said, producing a dagger from some hidden sheath and stabbing it into Applejack’s shoulder. “Are you that desperate to die?” “You’re a traitor to the guild,” Twilight said, slamming her flail into the representative’s hip, skewering it with the spikes and shattering bone from the sheer force of impact. “And you’re in a very poor tactical situation, coming in here with the six of us, all alone.” Rarity joined in on the dog pile, her hoof glowing with some dark magic, but before she could finish her attack there was a ‘twang’ and Fluttershy’s crossbow bolt sprouted from the back of the representative’s head. She opened her mouth, gagging on the bloody arrowhead now resting on her tongue, but her body had already gone limp from her severed spine, and she collapsed to the ground, twitching one last time before going still. “Um…” Pinkie Pie said. “Were we supposed to do that?” “Test of Loyalty,” Twilight said proudly, standing over the corpse. “She was asking us to betray the Guild.” “So… the test was to kill her,” Pinkie said, giving the others an odd look. The she shrugged, and smiled. “Wow, she was really into her job!” They took a few minutes to strip the corpse of all its belongings before dragging it to a chute in one corner of the infirmary labelled ‘corpse disposal’. Twilight animated a mop and bucket to start cleaning up the bloodstains, while the others sorted through the pile of loot. “So… I’ll mark ‘trial of loyalty passed’ on all our sheets,” Rarity said, carefully forging the representative’s signature. “Should I mark down that we passed the trial of strength as well?” “No!” Twilight said. “We’re here to pass these trials honestly! Also, they probably have some other people here administering the final test, since it pits two groups of adventurers against each other.” “The dagger’s magic,” Fluttershy said softly, her eyes glowing as she concentrated on a minor orison. “So is the ring and the cloak.” “Dagger’s mine,” Applejack said, licking at the wound on her shoulder. “She gave it to me, fair and square. And damn, it smarted something fierce!” “Then I get the ring,” Rainbow Dash said, snagging it and slipping it onto one of her talons. “Twilight gets the cloak, I guess?” “We’re not actually allowed to keep this equipment,” Twilight protested. “Looting the dead is a privilege of Adventurers, and we’re still in training.” Rainbow Dash covered her face with her talons. “Okay, fine. Fluttershy gets the cloak. Now let’s find a way out of here before somepony notices she’s missing.” “Don’t worry, Twi,” Pinkie Pie said as the unicorn watched the others rob the woman they’d killed. “The guild just recognizes Adventurers, it doesn’t turn people into them. As long as we pass the test, that means we were already Adventurers, so looting corpses is fine. It’s, like, our destiny and stuff.” Twilight sputtered. “That makes no sense!” “I find I’ve learned to trust Pinkie’s judgment on these things,” Rarity replied. “Now come on, let’s not start fighting amongst ourselves. The world has plenty of enemies for us as it is.” The infirmary door opened into a narrow passageway, one of a network of secret passages surrounding a trap-filled gauntlet that the party was probably supposed to have navigated as their Trial of Wits. Peering through hidden peepholes, they spotted pit traps, spike traps, and all manner of deadly impediments, many of which had fresh bloodstains that showed that previous teams had not been universally successful at avoiding them. Past that, they saw what looked like a small classroom with ‘Trial of Loyalty’ written in chalk on the board, while a bored-looking human man sat at a desk watching a pair of orcs try to puzzle out the answers to a multiple-choice quiz. Finally, they reached a room where a sign said ‘wait here for the Trial of Strength’. The secret door into the room was obvious from within the passage, and no one seemed to be watching the room as they quietly emerged and took their seats at one of a pair of tables. A few minutes later, an orc in bright gold armor entered, escorted by a guild representative who pinned his characteristic sheet up on a corkboard, under a sign labeled ‘team 1’. He looked over at the fey party, confused. “Where’s your representative?” “She, uh, she had somethin’ else to do,” Applejack said. “Yeah, decompose,” Rainbow Dash whispered to Pinkie Pie, who covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. Applejack scowled at them, then turned back to the official. “She gave us our papers and said to go the rest of our way on our lonesome.” Rarity leapt to her hooves and grinned wildly as she ran over to the cork board. “Yes! Is that what we were supposed to do with them? Pin them to the board, just like this?” She grabbed them from her bag, and the representative immediately snatched them. “Well… it does say you passed the other trails,” he said, looking at the papers suspiciously, and then turning his gaze on the party. “This is highly irregular.” Fluttershy cowered from his stare. “But… aren’t adventurers supposed to be irregular?” she said, in a whimper. “We’re not soldiers… or police…” The man sighed, his attitude softening. “Fine. I was really hoping Lok’nar here would have a chance, but it looks like it’s going to be one against six.” “Isn’t three the minimum party size?” Twilight asked. “His team suffered some losses.” “They were stupid, and disloyal,” Lok’nar said proudly. “But I am strong! And if I fall, I fall with pride, knowing that someone even stronger than me goes on to defend the Horde!” “Well…” Twilight said, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t like such an uneven contest, but it would be illogical for us to handicap ourselves more than the rules required, simply for the sake of a more interesting fight.” “Do not pity me,” the orc growled. “Weak creatures like ponies and griffons always run in packs, but I worship Fenris, the Lone Wolf. Cornered, I find ever greater strength. Outnumbered, I know that my attacks will find no lack of targets. All of you will die,” he said, grinning wildly. “And it will be glorious!” “Hah!” Rainbow Dash said with a grin. “Then bring it on.” The two teams were led into the arena – an open space walled in on all sides, with a dozen archers lining the walls to enforce the rules – chiefly, no attempting to leave the arena, and no flying. The six fey lined up along one side of the arena, the orc took his place on the other, and they waited for the signal. “Fenris, give me your protection!” the orc cried, holding up his massive club, which shined with unholy light as runes appeared on his armor, reinforcing it. “Um… does that mean the fight started?” Pinkie Pie asked. “He’s casting spells and stuff. That’s not really fair.” “Fenris, give me strength!” the orc proclaimed, holding up his club again. This time, the runes appeared on it, leaving it shining with a faint green glow. “Don’t just stand there!” Twilight said to the others, “charge!” “Fenris,” the orc started, as a pony, a purrsian, and a griffon charged across the arena at him. “Bless my –“ *KABOOM*. “Oopsie, did I interrupt your spell?” Pinkie Pie asked, then took another bomb in her mouth, holding it ready. The orc, slightly scorched, simply grinned, and roared his defiance as the three fey charged in to melee. There was the clash of metal on metal, the pink glow of Twilight’s magic, the rainbow flash of Dash’s feathers as she and Applejack danced around to flank their target. Rarity took a few steps towards the fight, then stopped. “I think, perhaps, I’ll wait back here,” she said. “I don’t have any spells that would actually help, and trying to use my touch of fear in melee would be…” She winced as Twilight screamed in pain as the orc got in a solid blow. “I’ll just stand back here, shall I? I’m sure they don’t need my help.” “Yeah, I’m pretty sure they don’t need my ‘help’,” Pinkie Pie said, balancing a bomb on her hoof as she watched the fight. “Splash damage, you know.” “Yes,” Rarity said, narrowing her eyes. “I know.” “Um… maybe we could cheer?” Fluttershy suggested. “Yay!” “Go Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up and down. “R- A- I- N-“ There was an ear piercing screech as the griffon in question went flying against the wall of the arena, bleeding and unconscious. A few second later, Twilight took a club to the head and fell to her knees, then keeled over, stiff, her flail falling to the ground as her magic vanished. “Oh ponyfeathers,” Applejack said, as she found herself facing the orc alone. The three spectators winced, as a heavy swing of the orc’s club caught her right in the chest, and she collapsed, spasming and struggling for breath. “Heh. Heh,” the orc said, bleeding and battered from his own share of wounds. He turned to face Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. “Three down. Three weaklings left to go. Fenris! Heal –“ *KABOOM* “Yeah, still not going to let you cast,” Pinkie Pie said. “Come on, you two. Do something?” Fluttershy fired her crossbow, but it ricocheted off the orc’s armor, uselessly. The orc laughed. “I don’t need magic to finish you,” he said, then screamed, “FOR THE HORDE!” as he barreled across the arena. Halfway to his targets, he slipped and fell on his face. “You memorized grease?” Pinkie Pie asked. “It’s versatile,” Rarity replied. “I figured there were enough adventurers focused on damage. I wanted to bring something unique to the table. That is my raison d’etre, is it not?” Another of Fluttershy’s bolts failed to find a soft enough part of the orc to penetrate, as their opponent tried to climb to his feet only to have them slip out from under him again. Pinkie Pie shrugged, and tossed her bomb. There was a fiery explosion, and then the struggling orc was struggling to stand while on fire, in a patch of grease that was also on fire. He screamed in rage and agony as the flames consumed his flesh, and soon enough stopped moving entirely. “Oh dear,” Fluttershy said, staring at the spectacle. “I really hope that counted as a good death. That seemed to be so important for him.” With the orc down, Fluttershy was able to stabilize the rest of the party, and they were taken to the infirmary to rest from their wounds. After a few minutes a guild cleric arrived to heal them to the point of consciousness, so that they could be officially recognized as Adventurers and take the Oath. A sketch artist drew a picture of each of their likenesses to put on their identification cards, while the late orc’s representative reluctantly filled out the rest of their paperwork. “I wish I knew what happened to Katrina,” he said, as he handed each of them their card. “It’s not like her to skip out like this without a word. Do any of you have any clue what pulled her away with such urgency?” “Actually,” Twilight said, holding her ID card in her magic to admire the construction. The card itself was stiff paper, with her picture and some relevant personal information, sealed into a fragile glass casing imprinted with a watermark of the seal of the Guild. “We killed her. She was a traitor.” All motion in the room ceased, except for Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s paws meeting their faces. “What.” The representative said, flatly. “I don’t think I heard that right.” “She was a traitor,” Twilight repeated. “She wanted us to betray the guild. As Adventurers, we’re allowed to pass judgment on traitors, are we not?” “We haven’t taken the oath yet,” Applejack hissed. “I took the oath when I was six,” Twilight replied. “Shall I take it again in front of you, so we can make this all official? Or should we murder a third person for the privilege of being recognized as what we already are, and always have been? Adventurers are recognized by the guild, not empowered. The trials are so that you can weed out the pretenders. Once we passed the trials, we proved that we were Adventurers, and always had been.” “That’s… certainly… a novel interpretation of Guild Law,” the man replied. He looked around at the six adventurers surrounding him, and at his backup which at that point consisted of a pair of goblin sketch artists already quietly heading for the door. “Fine. We’ll let you get away with this for now, but know that Katrina will be found, and raised from the dead. If she was a traitor, then you don’t have to worry about reprisal. At least, not official guild reprisal. If you’re lying, you will be hunted down and you will pray for something as merciful as being slowly tortured to death.” He slammed his hands into the table. “The ceremony is tonight at Crossroads. Try not to be late.”