//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: In a land far far away.... (NEW Story) // Story: Equestria & The Heroes of Ether: A Pathfinder Adventure // by SoonToBeWriterBrony //------------------------------// In a land far from our own, where unicorn, pegasi and earth ponies coexist under the watchful eyes of their goddesses…. A strange heavily armored and bidepal samurai and his noble steed are completely and must utterly lost. “God damn it Gold,” cursed the samurai under his dragon shape helm,” You said this was the way to Canterlot! We have been lost in this good damn forest for three days!” “Well your no help either,” Shouted the pony,” All you do is rider on my back and complain that we are lost or that your ass is sore!” “Well I wouldn’t be complaining if you just got a move on!” The two went on to bicker like an old married couple. However, that all came to a stop when they heard a loud high pinched scream. The noble steed known as Gold Honor galloped towards the source of the screem while the samurai seemed to have pulled out a bow out of one of his gauntlets. Nearing the location, the Samurai dismounted and both of them spied the area.They saw a young unicorn mare being threatened by a group of bandits. The Samurai, though a series of hand gestures, told Gold Honor that he will circle around and the two would pincer the bandits, hopefully forcing the bandits to surrender. Gold Honor nodded before the Samurai left his side, leaving Gold Honor to bide his time and wait for his partner's signal. “St- Stay away! You nasty brutes!” shouted the mare in fear. The bandits laugh as they parted a way for their leader to walk on though. The Bandit leader was covered in scars of various types, from slashing by steal and claws to normal scrapes and bruises. “Heh. What kind of brat speaks like that nowadays eh boys?!” the bandit leader called to his men as he circled the mare,” I bet it’s one of them fancy Canterlotian ponies and you know those bring us a lot of ransom money right boys?!” The bandits cheered at the prospect of getting a big pay day and quickly surrounded the mare. One of the bandits was about to take the mare’s saddle bags when Gold got his signal from the Samurai. “HALT in the name of Celestia,” shouted Gold as he emerged from his hiding spot,” You are under arrests!” The samurai then faceplamed, thinking that the idiot is being too 'heroic' and is going to get himself killed one of these days. “Crap, you three!” shouted the bandit leader as he surveyed the area, “Kill him! The rest of you with me! Don’t let our meal ticket get away!” The mare was covering in fear as the bandits grouped up on her and two of the bandits held her down. One of them slipped a small ring on her horn to prevent her from using magic. The bandit leader stood out of the group while he looked around for more signs of other ponies. Meanwhile Gold was fighting the three bandits. Each of them was armed with spiked horseshoes which were a treat in itself but if it was not effective against Gold’s heavy armor. The warpony reared and slammed into one of the bandits into a tree and then shouted,” Any time now Terry!” The Samurai didn't move out of his hiding place but drew his empty hand across the bow and the bow magically produced a energy arrow. Letting the arrow fly into the knee of one of the bandits surrounding the mare, he then swapped the bow for his katana. The bandit leader backpedaled a bit with the suddenly arrow shot into one of his ponies. The bandit in question scream in pain as he fell to the ground. The Samurai then rushed out of his hiding place and stood in front of the mare and facing the bandits. The bandit leader then ordered his bandits to charge the newcomer while he grabs the mare. His bandits hesitated as they eyed the strange bipedal creature but stilled obeyed their leader. As the Samurai dodge and parried, the bandit leader grabbed the mare and tried to hightail it out of there. The mare did her best to resist but with the inhibitor ring she couldn't stop the bandit who was a unicorn himself picking her up with his magic. Gold continued to use his weight and armor to subdue his share of the bandits while the Samurai disabled the bandits with his katana while being careful enough to not kill the ponies. After the two heroes dealt with the bandits, the Samurai switched back to the magical bow and took aim. Letting the arrow fly again, the energy arrow stuck the inhibitor ring and shattering it, allowing the mare to fight back and escape the bandit leader's magical grasp. The bandit leader was rather surprised at the sudden resistance and halted his retreat to survey the 'battlefield', seeing all of his ponies are on the ground and in various states of injuries and consciousness. He then decided to chase the newly escaped mare while tying to shake of the two heroes. After what seemed like a long time, he had finally shook off the heroes and had cornered the mare. “Stop running away from me you bitch,” pant the Bandit Leader as he cornered the mare,” Or else I lose my patients and sell you off to the slavers.” “Never,” said the mare,” I will see you and your ilk hang for attacking me.” “Have your way.” The bandit leader was about to grab her when Gold rammed into him and away from the mare. The samurai walked over to the mare and beckoned her to follow him. “But what about your friend?” asked the mare as Gold and the bandit leader was squaring off. “Oh I wouldn’t worry about Gold,” said the Samurai,” I’ll be more worried about the ass he is fighting.” Gold and the bandit leader traded blows as they tested each other out. The bandit leader then pulled out a small knife with his magic but was quickly meet with a hoof to his face. Whenever the bandit leader tried to take some of his other hidden weapons out, he would get a hoof in the face by Gold. The warpony then rammed the bandit leader into a hollowed tree and the leader broke thought it and was left on the ground with the tree’s remains. “Took you long enough,” said the samurai as he walked over to Gold,” I was beginning to think he was too much for you.” “Oh shut up, you big stupid fox.” “Temper temper,” teased the Samurai,” At least keep it in until we have settled with our guest.” “How is she by the way?” “Looks fine, some bruising but all in all not life threatening.” “I’m right here you know,” said the mare butting into their little act,” And I would appreciate if both of you don't act like I'm not here." “Happy to oblige miss…?” “Swift Note,” said the mare as she gave both of them a neat bow,” Lady Swift Note of the House of the Unicorn.” “Oh ho,” said the samurai with jest,” Look Goldy, we got nobility on our hands here.” “You mean hooves.” “Hands, hooves, paws, it’s all the same to me.” Swift Note looked at the two with surprise and a bit of irritation,” Well I must reward the two of you for saving my life. What can I do you for misters…?” “The name is Terry Chang,” said the samurai,” and this is my trusty steed Gold Honor.” “Funny,” said Gold Honor,” I thought it was the other way around.” “Yeah yeah laugh it up Goldy. As for a reward, you mind giving us a map to Canterlot? We have been lost for quite a long while now.” “Not a problem, Sir Gold and Sir Terry. In fact I am on the way there myself, would it be alright for the both of you to accompany me the rest of the way?” “We’ll be happy to milady.” “Flank-kisser.” “Jerk.” Swift Note shook her head and led the two towards the closest Inn. Her view on the heroes who just saved her life now reduced to two idiots bickering. **Swift Note POV** Two hours. It took two hours before we reached the Rose Thorn Inn. Two hours of listening to my two “heroes” bicker and argue like a pair of senile old ponies! Admiringly it is rather curious about the one called Terry and what did Sir Gold mean about him being a “stupid fox” but my poor nerves are about to commit suicide! At least now we can all rest and I can get a few beers in me. “Hey your ladyship,” called Terry as we walked over to the bar, setting his helm down on the table. Whelp, there goes my peace and quite. Might as well see what the jester has to- wow so he is a fox. “I see you noticed my charming good looks?” “Er... yeah let’s go with that. What are you?” Terry chucked as he accepted some cider form the slightly surprised barpony,” I’m a mystical being called a Kitsune. A humanoid fox, hailing from the far east but not this worlds east. “Well Sir Terry-“ “Please drop the Sir. I’m no lord and I prefer not to act like one.” “Right…. So Terry, what do you mean by not this world’s east?” “Well, that is because I’m not native my darling. In fact I come from a whole other world where my current race is nothing but bookish fantasy. But it’s a long and boring story, so I’ll not say another word. That is unless you want to Swift,” said Terry with him wiggling his eyebrows at the end. Well might as well indulge him, after all he wants to tell it. “Well could you do me the honor?” “Why certainly. It all began, two weeks ago actually….” ***** I wasn't always like this you know? Er I mean as in I wasn't always a mystical fox-like creature. I was once something called a human, er think a hairless ape with no magic. Anyway so back then I what you would call a nerd, so naturally I spent most of my free time reading comics and playing games. One of the style of games I played was called Pathfinder, a pen and paper fantasy RPG. Now back to last Monday.... at least I think it was a Monday. I walked into my favorite hobby/comic shop and greeted the owner, Kevin, and went looking at the community board. "Looking for another gaming group Terry?" asked Kevin. "Yeah pretty much, the last one bombed due to the Game Master getting a very time consuming job." "Yeah well, that happens." I just shrugged as he continue to survey the community reading all the notices and reading the looking for player notices until he came across a simple notice which read: Looking for Players. Pathfinder Monster Game, inquire more with Kevin. Signed Mr Cordian "Now this was interesting," I though aloud, for you see Mr Cordian is one of Kevin's friends but also the shop's financial accountant. Most of the time, the gaming groups and I see him come around the shop but we never saw him join or run a game. "Yo Kevin, Is Mr Cordian really running a game?" "Yeah he is, I'm going to be in it too but we need more players if we are going to get the game off the ground." "Cool, mind if I give join?" "Yeah sure, we are meeting this Thursday night so that Dirk can take a look at our character sheet." "...Dirk?" "Mr Cordian to you guys, anyway we'll be playing a level 15 monster game. You need to build a character that has at least 5 levels in any class, so you'll have to limit yourself to monsters that are CR 10 and bellow." "Really? wow, any particular rules?" "Not really, just don't be late." I nodded and walked out to start making the character. With the power of the Pathfinder SRD website, I came up with what you see now, a Kitsune Samurai at the full level 15. So with the character made, I went about the week I usually do, going to class, having dinner with my family and the like. When the day came, I went to the store at the appointed time and saw both Mr Cordian and Kevin waiting for me. Now here was when I noticed that something was kinda off for you see, the shop was completely deserted. Now normally that is the case on a Thursday night but usually there is one or two employees working their shift. As soon as I am in the shop, Kevin proceeds to bring down the shutters. "Hey Kevin, What gives?" "What happens next can't be seen. I don't have enough power to make anyone who sees whats about to happen simply forget about it." Wait WHAT?! "Indeed," said Mr Cordian as he pulls out a few sheets of paper from THIN AIR," Now lets take a look at your character shall we? Ah a Kitsune Samurai eh? With a noble steed too! Oh my that will have some impact with the locals." "Is he all ready to go?" "Oh yes he is, in fact he can go right now." "Wait a god damn second. Firstly how did you get that? It should still be in my bag. Secondly, what is going on here?" At this point I was mostly yelling at Kevin because when I turned to look at Mr Cordian next, he wasn't human anymore. Worse he had become Discord. Yes, Mother Fucking Discord. So naturally I was so screwed. "Well my good human," said Discord as he lounged in mid air," One of the many Euqestrias need you help. Something is causing a ton of monsters to appear especially those not really native to their world. So after talking to Kevin about it, the best action is to send one of you players in there." "But wait what about here? I have a family and you can't just SEND me anywhere you please?!" "But I can," said Kevin who's eyes have turned into empty blackness," I'm what you would call a Titan of Ether, and so I control all of magic here and due to some circumstances, a few version of Equestria's as well. With this responsibility, I also can bend reality just a little bit, so I can make it as if you went away on some long term project." "Wait if your so powerful, why don't you go instead I'm sure you can easily clear whatever is causing this right?" "Nope, cause something as powerful as ME has to obey some rules. I can't just LEAVE my home dimension just like that now can I, if I do magic would seep in all over the place. And from what I seen, you really don't want random human to get magic, especially those 4chan fellows.To properly leave this dimension without causing some sort of problem, I need to build a Black Gate, which usually takes a few hundred years anyway. So this is the best I can do for now. Not to worry though, you will be sent into Equestria as your character so you will have all the skills and equipment you would need for the job." Resigning to my fate I could only ask," Will I be able to come back?" "Yup, Discord will find you once your done. And believe me, I WILL know when your done." And with a snap of Kevin's fingers, I blacked out and woke up on Equestria. next to an unconscious Gold Honor. ***** "And then what happened?" I asked as Terry took a sip of his drink. "Well naturally I freaked out. Cause, one, All of that was real, two, I had a tail and three, I was in Equestria. But Goldy have the worse freak out. Apparently he IS a Royal Guard back in Canterlot and had just finished basic training. So as a pony, he was all set to go and went to bed. Next thing he knew, he was the size of a Saddle Arabian, had heavy armor and was next to a bipedal fox thing. So after freaking out and both of us almost killing each other, We both decided to get our collective butts back to Canterlot, and talk to your princesses. We need to figure out why Kevin sent me here to begin with. Something to do with the monsters here but we need more information before anything else." "I see. Well if it would be helpful to you I can help you both get an audience with the princesses should it be necessary." "That's kind of you Swift," said Terry as he tipped an imaginary hat. "Oh it is nothing really," I lied as this will seriously use up a lot of owed favors," It's the least I can do since you both saved me. Why I would probably be at the hand of slavers if it wasn't for you two." "Well we couldn't let a mare be treated like that, but Its getting late and we should leave early tomorrow morning." "Agreed, well good night Terry." I got up and walked over to the stairs, and looked back at Terry as he continued to nurse his drink. "Good night to you as well, Lady Swift Note."