//------------------------------// // The Greed Of Zhadnost // Story: Our Darkest Days // by Bluecatcinema //------------------------------// In a dark, empty cave in the middle of nowhere, the masked pony held up a black mirror. The glass showed, not his reflection, but the image of a cloaked pony. "What have you to report?" The cloaked pony asked in a gravelly tone. The masked pony merely raised part of his mask to reveal his snout. "I have obtained the page containing the spell of Wrath." He announced, in a sibilant hiss. "Excellent." The cloaked pony nodded. "Was it any trouble?" "No." The masked pony replied. "The corrupted keeper was busy with Alchemy and his cronies. I managed to come in from behind and slay him." "And what of Alchemy's group?" The cloaked pony asked. "They were too exhausted from fighting the spell's effects to put up much resistance." The masked pony recalled. "Keep up the good work, my friend." The cloaked pony smiled, as his image faded from the mirror. "Oh, I will..." The masked pony nodded as he exited the cave. "Moscolt or bust..." With a flick of his hooves, dark crystals surrounded his legs, and carried him off towards his next destination... The trio arrived in Russiaddle, specifically, in the town of Moscolt. A blizzard was bearing down on them. "Great, more snow." Sterling grumbled. "Stop complaining, Cross." Echo snarled. "We're all cold, but you don't hear Sunset and myself moaning about it." "So, where's the next page?" Sunset asked. "In the care of one Dr. Zhadnost, MD." Echo announced. "His home is not far from here." "Good." Sterling smiled. "It'd be nice if we could get one of those pages easily for a change." "We can only hope." Sunset shrugged. After a short walk, the trio found themselves at Zhadnost's home, but it appeared deserted. "Hello?" Echo knocked on the door. "Dr Zhadnost?" Sterling peered through the window. "Doesn't look like anypony's home right now." He declared. "Or for a while." Sunset added, pointing out a pile of old newspapers on the lawn. "This may pose a problem." Echo frowned. "So what now?" Sunset asked. "We could check at the hospital Dr Zhadnost works at." Echo suggested. "They may know what happened to him." "Whatever gets us out of the cold." Sterling shivered. They made their way to Moscolt General, and made a request for Zhadnost at the reception. "I'm afraid Dr Zhadnost hasn't come to work for quite some time." The receptionist declared. "I see." Echo nodded. "Any reason why?" "No clue." The receptionist shrugged. "One day, he just didn't come in, and we never saw him again." "Thank you for your help." Echo said politely. "So now what?" Sterling asked. "We keep looking." Echo declared. "Seriously?" Sterling frowned. "With no leads? No idea of where to look?" "What would you suggest?" Echo asked. "That we simply give up? I don't think so." "Echo's right, Sterling." Sunset agreed. "If there's even a chance that Zhadnost is still out there, we have to take it. Otherwise, we may never find the page." "Or worst yet, the masked pony could find him and do the same thing to him that he did to poor Rancour." Echo sighed. "...Fine." Sterling pouted, "But if this S.O.B. turn out to be a whack-a-doodle like Rancour, I am going to kick somepony in the ba-" "Balalaikas!" A street vendor called. "get your Balalaikas here!" Their ongoing search lasted almost a week. They saw no trace of Zhadnost, but noticed quite a few 'missing ponies' posters strewn across town. "Looks like Zhadnost isn't the only one MIA." Sterling remarked when he first saw one of the posters. The picture was of a young Pegasus mare. He tore it off the wall, intending to hang on it for reference. "You don't suppose that Zhadnost might be using his page for evil like Rancour, do you?" Sunset frowned. "Well, I wouldn't put it pass him." Echo supposed. "Dark magic is like a mystery box. You never know the possibilities you could realize with a spell from the libraries of the dark arts." "And you wonder why Shining doesn't like you." Sterling scoffed. "I don't wonder. I know... and I find it rather pitiful." Echo frowned. "He should be rather grateful I am doing this. Given his track record of getting trumped by every known threat to Equestria thus far, knowledge on how to combat the dark arts could do him a bit of good." "Hey, watch it, pal." Sterling glared. "That's my boss you're berating there. Honestly, do you ever think that what you say to Rancour might apply to you? You know, about the whole 'playing with fire' thing?" "Rancour and I are different. Rancour used the spell because he was dissatisfied with his life and sought to take it out on others, regardless of the recoils that the spell could have. I, on the other hoof, study dark magic with the utmost precaution." Echo smirked. "Oh? If that was the case, then why are you on probation then?" Sterling raised a brow with a knowing smirk. "Huh?" "Again with the 'probation'." Sunset frowned, "What did Echo do exactly that draws everypony's ire nowadays?" "Funny story." Sterling smirked. "You see-" "It doesn't matter right now." Echo cut him off. "You always say that." Sunset sighed. "You'll have to tell me sooner or later, you know." "I choose 'later'." Echo said firmly. "How'd I know you were going to say that?" Sunset rolled her eyes. They also found objects such as tin cans and bottles, otherwise utter garbage, had it not been for their golden hue they possessed. None of them could think of an explanation for it. "This is weird." Echo picked up a bottle, though with a bit of strain. "This bottle..." He glanced at it closely. "It's solid gold." "A gold bottle?" Sterling asked incredulously. "No way. There's no such thing." "See for yourself." Echo passed the bottle to him. Sterling stumbled a bit as the weight caught him off guard. "Whoa... it certainly weighs like gold." Sterling frowned. "But why would there be a bottle made of gold? And who would throw one away?" Sunset mused. "I don't know, but this is starting to feel more and more like a mystery." Echo mused. "That or a video game following a mechanic stuck in a middle of a zombie-infested city seven days from being bombed with other survivors and psychopaths based on the seven Deadly Sins." Sterling deadpanned. Sunset and Echo glanced at him oddly. "What? I play a little." "Sounds more like a lot." Sunset snarked. "Hey, can't be a Guardspony twenty-four/seven." Sterling shrugged. "Gotta have some downtime. And I spend mine gaming." "Yes, fascinating." Echo snorted. "Now can we please get back to the matter at hand?" "Yeah, yeah." Sterling snorted. "It's all work with you, ya know that?" "With good reason." Echo retorted. On the sixth day, they were searching the outskirts of Moscolt, where the city's richer ponies made their homes in fancy, extravagant manors. As they checked the individual houses, asking the owners if they had seen Zhadnost, they came across a golden statue of a pony on a lawn. "Whoo, now there's a work of art for you." Sterling whistled. "It's so lifelike!" "Yes." Echo nodded, noting the horrified look on the pony's face. "Maybe a little too lifelike." "It's a real beaut, isn't it?" The Earth Pony owner of the house smiled. "Where did you get this... work from, if I may ask?" Sunset frowned. "I found it." The Earth Pony shrugged. "You? Found a golden statue? Worth a whole lot of bits?" Echo deadpanned. "...Forgive me if I have trouble believing that." "...Okay, you got me..." The Earth Pony frowned, "I bought it off some creepy dude. He was selling a lot of these statues for a really good price. Everypony around Moscolt's buying them. It's a real steal." "Where exactly?" Echo urged. "Near this warehouse, just outside of town." The Earth Pony clarified. "Why?" "No reason. Thank you for your time." Echo said quietly. "Come along now Sunset, Cross." Sunset and Sterling followed Echo as he left. "So... what?" Sterling frowned. "Did I miss something?" "I believe we just found ourselves a lead." Echo smiled. "Huh?" Sterling gaped. "Just keep moving, Sterling." Sunset urged. The trio reached the warehouse twenty minutes later. It seemed a small place, but when they opened the door, they found a staircase leading downwards. They walked down the stairs into the storage area. The place seemed deserted. It was very cold. "Hello?" Echo called, looking around. "Anypony in here?" Nopony answered. "Nice place." Sunset joked. "Vey homey." "Why are we here again?" Sterling asked. "I mean, what would a gold statue have to do with Zhadnost?" "That was no ordinary statue." Echo said solemnly. "It's true." Sunset nodded. "That statue looked exactly like one of those missing ponies." "Probably just a coincidence." Sterling shrugged. "If you ask me, we're just wasting our time here." "Well, coincidence or not, this is the only lead we had all week." Echo frowned. "The missing ponies, the golden garbage, and the statues... there's got to be a connection somewhere." "Sounds like kind of a stretch, if you ask me." Sterling declared. "But not if you ask me." Sunset retorted. "I checked the dates on those 'missing' posters. All those ponies went missing after Dr Zhadnost vanished. That can't be a coincidence." "I still say we're just wasting our time here." Sterling frowned. Suddenly, sounds were echoing through the halls, clanging all around. "You think so?" Echo glared. The trio glanced around, a bit perturbed. They walked into a nearby room, and they found more gold pony statues, each with expressions of terror on their faces. "That's a lot of gold..." Sunset frowned. "I can't help but wonder where it all came from." "Not to mention all these 'statues' are life-sized..." Echo added. "You guys are probably just being paranoid." Sterling declared. Suddenly, he recognized a face in the crowd. "Say, isn't that..." He pulled out the missing poster and held up to one of the mare statues. "...Oh buck..." "What in Faust's name is going on here?" Echo gaped. "We have to get out of here." Sunset declared. "Something isn't-GAH!" She yelped as somepony stabbed a syringe in her back. "Sunset-ACK!" Sterling froze up as a syringe was injected into his neck. "Sterling, Sunset, what's going-UGH!" Echo felt a syringe in his own neck, clutching it as he fell to the ground along with his colleagues. As he slumped to the ground, all he could see was the hooves of a pony before everything went black... Meanwhile, back in the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor and Cadance received word that the Guardsponies sent after the trio had discovered Rancour's body. The message indicated that the wounds were inconsistent with anything the trio could have done, adding that the masked pony had very possibly struck the killing blow, as they had found another dark crystal near there. "This is getting worse by the day." Shining sighed. "Not only do we have three fugitives on the loose, but they've gotten involved in a game of cat and mouse with a madpony." "We can only hope the pages don't end in the hooves of that masked menace." Cadance declared. "His goals have to be worse than Echo's, right?" "The jury's still out on that one." Shining said skeptically. "Who knows what's going on in that Thestral's head right now..." Back in Moscolt, Echo began to wake up, his eyes seeing a flickering light overhead. "Sunset... Cross..." He groaned, clutching his head. As he looked around, Echo realized he was lying on a slab, as were Sunset and Sterling (though Sterling was bound to his). "Echo... what happened?" Sunset said woozily. "Yeah... did somepony drug us...?" Sterling asked. As he lifted his head, he realized he was bound. "...And why am I the only one bound here?" He added, annoyed. Suddenly, they heard crying. They glance over to see a Pegasus doctor in a smock lingering over a mare, forcing her into a particular position. He was pale orange, with a black mane, and a syringe Cutie Mark. He wore medical scrubs, golden rubber gloves, and had an insane amount of jewellery around his neck. He had a crazed look in his silvery eyes as he approached the mare. "Come now, dear, the stallions love it best when their prize is showing all she has to offer..." The doctor hissed. Echo struggled to get up, rubbing his head. The doctor's ears perked up, knowing who he was. "Oh, you're in no shape to get up." He told Echo. "Neither of you are." Echo glanced at Sunset, who was trying to get up. He then wiped his eyes. "Uh... are you a doctor?" He asked. "More of an entrepreneur these days." The doctor grinned, not bothering to look at him. "Dr. Zhadnost, at your service." The bound mare continued to cry, as Zhadnost peeled off one of his rubber gloves, and then, with his other, gloved hoof, put a syringe to her neck. "Do try to smile." He smirked. "I get bigger bucks for a smiling trophy." He plunged the syringe into the mare's neck, and her face was contorted into a smile. "There we go!" His eyes grew wispy as he touched her with his bare hoof, and the mare screamed as her body turned into gold. Sterling, Sunset, and Echo's ears perked up in shock, as they gazed over at the mare's now golden body. "Another perfect masterpiece!" Zhadnost remarked, as he put his glove back on. "Wait a minute..." Echo struggled, trying his best to get off the slab. Zhadnost walked over, gesturing him to lay back down. "You just lay down and wait your turn." He said softly. Echo finally got off the slab, but the drug had left him woozy; He bumped into a group of golden statues, obviously Zhadnost's past victims. Zhadnost, immediately becoming agitated, ran over. "Hey, that's mine! You hear me?!" He yelled. Echo tried to shake it off, but he was still woozy. "You... you are taking innocent ponies... turning them into statues... you're killing them!" He growled. "You don't get it, do you, Thestral?" Zhadnost snarled, pointing at him. "You have to seize the opportunity, or you lose the profit. Simple, the free market at it's finest." Echo rubbed his eyes, and glanced at Sunset, who was struggling to get up. Suddenly, Sunset's body flickered into that of Zhadnost, the drug causing him to hallucinate. Echo shook his head. "You're... you're a murderer!" He said, still struggling to get his bearings. "I'm a businesspony." Zhadnost countered. Sunset finally got up, but Echo kept seeing her turn into Zhadnost. Zhadnost paid her no mind as he looked darkly at Echo. "And you're my next export, sunshine." Zhadnost peeled off his glove and held up his hoof, which was glowing a golden glow. "Just try it." Echo glared. Zhadnost rushed forward, seeking to plant his golden hoof on Echo. Echo took off, dodging the attack. "That's not going to help you!" Zhadnost sneered, as he took flight also. An aerial game of cat and mouse ensued; Zhadnost trying to plant his hoof on Echo, with Echo dodging him. Echo was still woozy from the drug, so his flying was a little unsteady, which actually worked to his advantage, as his haphazard movements made it difficult for Zhadnost to get to him. "Don't hog all the fun, Alchemy!" Sterling called, struggling to free himself. "Once I get... out of this... I'll show you... how it's... done!" With one lunge, Zhadnost almost got Echo, but he dodged just in time, with the wall behind them turning to gold instead. Echo then lashed out with a kick, knocking Zhadnost into a pile of notes and coins. Echo landed, feeling dizzy. He shook his head, then saw Zhadnost heading towards him. He grabbed a pipe from the floor, and swung it at him. "Echo! What are you doing?" Zhadnost yelled in Sunset's voice. "What?" Echo gaped. He blinked twice, and Zhadnost blurred into Sunset. "Sunset? I'm sorry, that drug is interfering with my perception." "Try it and shake it off." Sunset urged. "Here's a thought: Maybe one of you could get me out of this!" Sterling yelled, still unable to break his bonds. Echo's vision started to blur again, and Sunset was replaced by Zhadnost. "Echo?" Sunset said, acknowledging the look in his eyes. "Echo, stay with me..." Meanwhile, Zhadnost had just crawled out of the pile of money, and leapt towards Echo. "Look out!" Sunset yelled. Sunset fired a magic blast at Zhadnost, knocking him into the wall. From Echo's point of view, it seemed like the blast had come out of nowhere. Echo's vision cleared once more, his body starting to purge the drug's effects. "Thank you, Sunset." Echo smiled. "Now, if you would kindly free Cross?" "Finally!" Sterling sighed. "No problem." Sunset nodded. "But what about you?" "Me?" Echo glanced at a cabinet full of syringes. "...I'm going to give the doctor a taste of his own medicine..." Zhadnost struggled to his hooves, unaware of Echo hiding the syringe behind his back. "Just for that, the mare goes second." He snarled. "I think not." Echo rushed over to the golden ponies, placing his hooves on them. "I doubt very much she'd want to become one of these gaudy things." "Hey, hooves off the merchandise!" Zhadnost yelled. "How long have you been doing this?" Echo asked, indicating all the golden ponies. "Long enough." Zhadnost groaned. "But why?" Echo inquired. "Why do all these terrible things?" "For the wealth, of course." Zhadnost wheezed. "I worked my wings off at that hospital, but all I got in return was having my pay cut, time and time again. It was getting so I couldn't even support myself. Then my wife realized that she only ever loved me for my money, and tried to leave me... I was in a dark place, and I just about gave up hope. Then I remembered the page... Boy, did that thing change my life. Now, I never have to worry about money again." "And your wife?" Echo asked. "Sold that little bimbo's flank off to some horny rich teenager in Scoltland." Zhadnost snarled. "That got me inspired; Why not do the same with all the noponies in this town? All those pointless fools who do nothing with their lives. It's not like anypony was going to miss them, anyway." He snickered darkly. "How things change; Not too long ago, I was practically destitute. Now I have a booming business, and more money than I can count." "At what cost?" Echo growled. "All these innocent ponies." "It's a small price to pay." Zhadnost sneered. "Speaking of which, I hope you bought some polish." Echo glared. He poked a statue lightly, causing it to tip over onto the dusty floor. "Whoops." He said sarcastically. "You fool! That is 24-karat gold you're messing with!" Zhadnost snarled, gripping his mane with his gloved hoof. "If you get it dirty, it loses half it's monetary value!" "What a shame." Echo sneered. "Looks like you'll have to sell this one for half-price... or as part of a two-for-one sale. But you're making enough money already, right?" "That's it!" Zhadnost charged Echo. Echo sidestepped the charge, jabbing the shoulder into Zhadnost's shoulder as he passed by. "Ah!" Zhadnost yelled, clutching with his gloved hoof. "You... you..." He started to sway as his reflexes and vision faltered. "What's the matter, doctor?" Echo smirked. "Don't like my prescription?" "No! No! That's gonna kill my profit margin!" Zhadnost roared. "They want to get their hooves on what is mine!" He started convulsing, hallucinating ponies that aren't there. "Get your hooves off what's mine! Mine!" He tried to swat at the ponies. "It's over, Zhadnost." Echo frowned. "Ugh, what do you want from me?!" Zhadnost said hysterically. "If you want money, I have loads of it!" "You know what I want, Zhadnost." Echo said angrily. In Zhadnost's mind, he transformed into a hulking monster. "Give it to me." The statement was delivery at normal volume, but to Zhadnost's drug-addled self, it was like a roar, the sound warped and distorted. "No, get away!" Zhadnost trembled. "The page, Zhadnost." Echo demanded, as he approached the mad doctor. "Now." "No!" Zhadnost roared, swinging his bare hoof around, his eyes growing wispier. "The page changed my life! I would rather die than give it up!" A bolt shot by, nicking him in the cheek. "GAH!" Zhadnost clutched his cheek. Echo gasped, as Sterling walked in, crossbow in hoof. "Gah..." Zhadnost pulled his hoof from his cheek, looking at the blood... before realizing he touched himself with his bare hoof. "No... no..." Sunset limped in, as Sterling rushed to help her along. Echo stood there as Zhadnost began to panic as his body slowly turned to gold. He held his hooves up to the sky in horror as he let out one last scream before turning to gold. Suddenly, out of his now golden clothes, the unaffected page slipped out. "Well, well." Sterling cocked his crossbow. "Guess he wasn't up to the... gold standard." Sunset and Echo glared at him. "Too soon?" As Echo picked up the page, the golden ponies returned to normal. They were understandably confused. "What the...?" "What's going on?" "Where are we?" "Why is one side of my face covered in dust?" "Relax, folks." Sterling stepped forward. "Everything's okay. Trust me, I'm a Royal Guardspony. Now, please head to the exit in an orderly fashion." The confused ponies filed out of the room. The trio noticed that the only pony who hadn't returned to normal was Zhadnost himself. "Talk about still life." Sterling cracked another joke. Echo and Sunset glared at him again. "Seriously? The guy drugged us and tried to turn us to gold! What's wrong with a little joke at his expense? ...Heh, expense... that's a good one." "So... is he stuck like this?" Sunset asked. "I'm not entirely sure." Echo shrugged. "There may be a counter-spell out there, but we are certainly not at liberty to look for it." "Then what do we do with him?" Sunset inquired. "We'll drop him off at the local police station." Echo declared. "Perhaps they'll be able to do something for him." "Either way, now we have two pages." Sunset smiled. "Indeed." Echo nodded. "The tide is starting to turn in our favor. Speaking of which, we should head down to the docks immediately after. Our next stop is Zebrica." "Great." Sterling grinned. "'Cause I've had enough cold weather to last a lifetime." As they got outside, they saw that another blizzard had descended on the city. "Me and my big mouth." Sterling groaned. The masked pony arrived on the scene just as they left. He searched the warehouse, and found nothing. It was clear that he had arrived too late. "Faust damn it." He growled, using his crystals to smash Zhadnost's medical cabinet. "Enjoy your victory while you can, fools. I'm right on your tails. We'll see who wins this little scavenger hunt in the end..." With that, the masked pony left the warehouse, heading for the same location as his foes: Zebrica.