//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: We Need A Hero // by Nerobot //------------------------------// The early morning sun shined upon a city that was awakening to a day of commerce and trade.  The sky had an orange tint that continued to transition to a vivid blue as the sun continued its ascent into the sky.  As the dawn crept nearer, the sounds of merchants and traders opening up shop could be heard throughout the stone streets.  The Five Corners was the primary hub of trade between Equestria’s five largest empires.  Merchants from across the land gathered here to buy and trade goods.  Weapons, livestock, treasures, and even more exotic goods could be bought with the right amount of coin. “Here, Twilight put this on,” said Cosmic Ray as he handed Twilight a brown hooded cloak.  “Best to keep your...uniqueness...hidden.  We want to maintain a low profile since we’re trying to overthrow two empires and whatnot.” “Geeze, what’s this stuff made out of? It's so itchy,” said Twilight as she looked up to see Gale Force and Cosmic Ray putting on cloaks of their own. “Sorry, your majesty.”  Gale said with a roll of her eyes.  “We couldn’t find a silken embroidered cloak for you.” “Sorry, it’s all I could find on short notice since we had to leave before the innkeeper realized that you blew away half of the building,” Cosmic Ray said as he tightened his cloak.  “Well, let’s get to it.” Twilight trailed behind the two ponies she called “companions.” Cosmic Ray led the group and maintained a fast pace. Gale Force didn’t have trouble keeping up, but Twilight couldn’t resist looking around from time to time. The mare was in awe at the historic architecture. She continued to scribble in her notebook questions and observations that came to her mind. “No fair! You didn’t even count!” cried out a high-pitched voice. Twilight turned to see a pair of children playing in the city streets. A young filly and a minotaur calf were playing some sort of game with each other. Twilight had also spotted gryphons in the city. The young alicorn had never seen the three races living in a city together. During her timeline, gryphons, ponies, and minotaurs lived separately from one another. “This is quite peaceful. I wonder what could have happened that changed all of this…”  The trio reached a crowded bridge that crossed a large river that ran through the center of the town, effectively cutting it in half.  In giant golden letters, “Everfree Bridge” sat above the construct. Twilight continued to squeeze past pedestrian after pedestrian as she called out to Cosmic Ray. “Excuse me, Cosmic Ray? Why is this bridge called the ‘Everfree Bridge’?” asked Twilight as she struggled to keep up with the unicorn and pegasus. “It’s because the Everfree River runs below this bridge!” shouted Cosmic Ray over the chatter of passersbys. “Is there a forest nearby perhaps?!” shouted back Twilight. “Sure, the Everfree Forest! That was the forest we went through to get here!” “What?!” cried Twilight. “Something the matter?” asked Cosmic Ray, looking back at Twilight. “It’s nothing… it’s just that the Everfree Forest looks quite different in my time,” said Twilight. “We never asked you, Twilight. How many years into the future is your time?” asked Gale Force. The three ponies finally made it to the other side of the bridge. They stopped for a moment to rest and talk. “I suppose about a 1000 years or so… give or take.” “A millenia?! That’s quite some time,” said Cosmic Ray. “No wonder your magic seems so advanced, you’ve studied books that won’t even be published during this era!” “It’s not that amazing,” said Twilight with a small chuckle. “I could even teach you some of the spells that I know. They’re not that hard once you practice them enough.” “Perhaps-” started Cosmic Ray before being interrupted by a hoof punch to the shoulder. “Please don't start talking about magic,” groaned Gale Force. “I hope you two remember we’re here to practically save all of Equestria. So please save the unimportant stuff for another time.” “I suppose you are right, Gale. We’re here looking for information on Celestia and Luna’s whereabouts...right?” asked Twilight. Cosmic Ray gave Twilight a nod. “Yes indeed. I know someone who practically has a file on every living creature in Equestria. If this “Luna and Celestia” truly do exist in our time, then he will have some information regarding to them.” “Perfect! So how much longer until we meet him?” asked Twilight. “Well… right now we’re on our way to the market central,” said Cosmic Ray. “Oh, what supplies do we need?” asked Twilight. Gale Force looked up and began to count on her feathers. “Well let’s see, we need food, water, warm clothing, maps… and some cider would be nice.” “Maybe we can do without that last one,” said Cosmic Ray. “But I think we’re all forgetting one major thing here.” “What would that be?” asked Twilight. “WE GOT NO MONEY!” growled Cosmic Ray as he turned his money pouch upside down. Gale force pressed a hoof against her chest. “Leave that to me. I grew up on the streets, so survival here is second nature to me. Watch and learn.” The two ponies watched from a distance as the pegasus began trotting from merchant stall to merchant stall. “I hope she doesn’t plan on trying to buy something…” said Cosmic Ray as he sat down. “Come one, come all! Behold my magical concoctions and how they could change your life for the better! They can make the old... young. The stupid… less stupid… maybe,” advertised an elderly pony with a moustache. “You there!” shouted the stallion as he pointed a hoof at Gale Force. “Come here, I know the perfect mixture to remove all those scars from your legs. Here let me show you!” said the pony as he reached out and grabbed ahold of Gale Force. The red-headed pegasus quickly withdrew her hoof and flared out her wings from behind her. The elderly pony suddenly found a metal wing pressing into his neck. “I’m going to slit your throat, you old fuck,” growled Gale Force. “H-Help!” cried out the stallion as he flailed his hooves around. “Damnit! Twilight, you stay here!” ordered Cosmic Ray as he rushed forward. A crowd had gathered around the heated mare as she continued to press her sharp wing into the old pony’s neck. A light-blue stallion by the name of Cosmic Ray grabbed ahold of Gale Force and threw her backwards off of the elderly pony. “What’s wrong with you Gale?!” shouted the unicorn. “What’s wrong with me?! Do you see this sick old fuck? Just randomly touching any mare he pleases?” sneered Gale Force. “P-please, I was just trying to sell-” the old stallion salespony tried to interject but was interrupted by a glare from the angered pegasus.          “C’mon Gale, let’s get out of here before you gather more unwanted attention,” Cosmic Ray seethed at Gale as he grabbed her hoof and lead her back to Twilight.  The enraged unicorn tugged Gale Force’s hoof one last time before letting go.          “Woah there, what’re you so angry about? I thought that went pretty smoothly,” said Gale Force with a smirk. “Smoothly? Smoothly?! You could’ve gotten yourself arrested! Or worse, exposed all three of us. I thought you were the one saying that we should be focusing on the task at hoof?!” “Yeah and I thought you played your part pretty well,” Gale continued. “What are you talking about?” Cosmic Ray demanded.  Gale Force threw something at him which he caught by reflex.  It was a large sack of coins.  “W-where did you get this?” Cosmic Ray asked while counting the coins in the bag.  His anger had completely left him. He was taken over by a sense of joy. “I snatched it off that old merchant.  He was too distracted by death and whatnot to notice that it went missing,” Gale said, still with a sly smile on her face.  “Like I said, it went smoothly.” “Well, could you at least let me in on your plan next time?” said Cosmic Ray as he placed the coinpurse into his bag. “I don’t know if you’d put up a good enough performance if you were in on it.” “I can be pretty good at pretending to be something that I’m not…” said Cosmic Ray as he walked past Gale and Twilight. “Anyways, we got enough money for supplies and a little extra. Let’s get to it.” Twilight turned to Gale and opened her mouth, but stopped herself from saying anything. "I would say something to Gale about pick pocketing, but since Equestria's fate rests on our shoulders I suppose I will let it slide," thought Twilight. The three ponies reached a lively circle near the center of the city. Buyers and sellers hollered at one another, as the sound of goods and gold were traded. Twilight kept close as Gale Force and Cosmic Ray continued to trot from booth to booth buying various assortments of food, clothing, and other traveling necessities. Soon enough, the pegasus’ and unicorn’s bags had reached their max capacity. Twilight continued to follow the duo around when she caught sight of the markings on Gale’s legs. She had never really noticed it before, but it seemed like the scars resembled some sort of writing. “Hey Gale, the marks on your legs look like some form of writing,” said Twilight, but the pegasus paid no attention to her. “Gale?” called out Twilight, but still she was ignored by the mare. “Wait, Gale-” Twilight suddenly felt a hoof on her shoulder. The cloaked alicorn turned to see Cosmic Ray staring at her with a grim expression. “It’s best to not pry, Twilight. However she got those scars, it’s clear that she doesn’t plan on sharing that sort of information with us,” said Cosmic Ray. Twilight quietly nodded back in response. “On a side note, I and Gale have finished buying supplies. We’re planning on resting at a local cafe, do you want to join us?” asked Cosmic Ray. “Sure, that would be nice,” responded Twilight as she followed after Cosmic Ray. “I wonder what some nicely prepared food tastes like in this era,” thought the alicorn to herself. The three ponies sat down at an outside wooden table. Cosmic Ray, Twilight Sparkle, and Gale Force watched the hectic market center as it continued to rage on.  Twilight noticed a crowd forming around a large wooden platform near the market center. “Hey what’s going on over there?” asked Twilight as she pointed a hoof at the large crowd that had now gathered around the wooden platform.  Gale Force and Cosmic Ray both let their gazes wander to where Twilight was pointing. “Ah, that’s the afternoon auction.  But we don’t need to buy anything from that,” Cosmic Ray said as he turned back to Twilight and took a sip of his drink. “Oh an auction, Rarity likes going to those.  Sometimes she even auctions her own stuff.” “Uh Twilight,” said Gale Force.  “I don’t think this is one of the auctions this ‘Rarity’ goes to.  This is a different kind of auction.” “I don’t understand, what other kind ‘of’ is there?”  Twilight asked with furrowed brows. “Slave auction…” answered Cosmic Ray as he took another sip of his drink.  Twilight stared at the unicorn in disbelief.  This town seemed so peaceful, Twilight would have never imagined that something so horrible could take place in the middle of the plaza. “That’s horrible…” whispered Twilight under her breath. “Do you not have slaves in your Equestria?” asked Cosmic Ray as he raised an eyebrow. “No! Never!” shouted Twilight. “Alright, alright, just keep it down,” said Cosmic Ray as he readjusted the hood of his cloak. “Slaves here are just as common as livestock, Twilight. I mean the Crystal Empire practically runs solely on slave labor. Nearly all five of Equestria’s largest empires use them in some form or way…” “It’s the sad truth Twilight, that’s why we want to change it,” Gale Force said grimly. The crowd around the wooden platform had now grown so large they were almost spilling out of the plaza.  A lone diamond dog walked onto the platform. The diamond dog opened a pocket watch that was too tiny for its paws and closed it before greeting his audience. “Denizens of the Five Corners!  I welcome you to this lovely afternoon’s auction.  Today we have many wonderful specimens for you to marvel over.  Just remember, stick around until the very end because our finest bounty hunters have brought in what we believe to be one of our rarest catches to date!  Now without further ado, let the auction commence!” With the end of his opening speech, the first slave was brought onto stage. “Now folks let us start with some good deals,” the auctioneer called out as a line of ponies trotted onto the stage.  The ponies were chained together at the hoof by a large line of metal.  “Starting price for one pony will be 1000 bits!”  As the price was called out, offers were called out left and right from the crowd.  The auctioneer was talking at lightspeed as he began to make deals with various members of the crowd. “Today’s goods are quite rotten,”said a voice nearby Twilight, Gale, and Cosmic. “I hope there is promise in the auctioneer’s prized catch.” The three ponies turned to see a sophisticated husky diamond dog watching the auction through a pair of small golden binoculars. “Monsieur, why do you insist on coming to this establishment, they always use too much sweetener in their beverages.  Ugh, absolutely disgusting,” said a female poodle diamond dog sitting next to the husky. “Come Valentine, we aren’t here for the refreshments. We’re here on business,” said the male diamond dog as he scratched the bottom of his chin with a paw. “How about we come up with an interesting theory as to what the rare specimen might be?” “Well, it can’t be a pony, minotaur, gryphon, or human.  Those are much too common.  Unless of course it is a rare individual, but that is highly unlikely,” responded Valentine. “Whatever it is, I’m sure I would love to have it in my collection…” “You're sick,” said a hooded figure as it stood up from a nearby table.  The Connoisseur and Valentine turned towards the voice.  The cloaked figure was none other than Twilight. “Oh no… not another one of those slave rights advocates. What’s with you ponies…” groaned The Connoisseur as he rolled his eyes. “I can't believe that you actually think that owning a pony is something that's ok!” shouted Twilight as she slammed her hooves down in frustration.  The force of impact launched a drink into the air and right towards The Connoisseur.  The Connoisseur stood still as the drink sailed towards him.  With a fluid flick of his wrist, he caught the drink with the tip of his cane. “Careful, you might get somepony wet,” The Connoisseur said as he launched the drink at Twilight with another fluid motion.  The drink halted in mid air as it was suspended by a blue aura of magic.  Cosmic Ray carefully levitated the drink back down onto the table before it would be used as a projectile again. “Please excuse my companion. She hasn’t been to a slave auction before,” said Cosmic Ray, not turning around to show his face to The Connoisseur.  The poodle diamond dog sneered at Cosmic Ray and Twilight. “Hmph, you fodder are not worth our time. Clearly you have no idea who you are dealing with.” “Sit down Twilight…” whispered Cosmic Ray as he glanced over at the cloaked alicorn. Twilight continued to tremble with frustration as she sat herself back down. “In due time Twilight.  I want to obliterate him as bad as you do, but now is not the time nor place.” Twilight slowly nodded at Gale Force and stopped the trembling in her shoulders.  The Alicorn still had fire in her eyes but the fury was replaced by determination. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over the course of nearly half an hour; the three companions watched as living creatures were auctioned off as property to anyone who had the coin. Twilight, Cosmic, and Gale, ate their meals in silence, trying to ignore the lively slave trading before them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “ALL RIGHT, WE’VE REACHED THE END OF OUR AUCTION!” cried out a voice.  The crowd was still in an uproar as buyers squabbled amongst themselves and the various slaves were distributed.  “AS PROMISED, WE HAVE A VERY SPECIAL FINAL SURPRISE FOR TODAY'S AUCTION!”  The crowd began to quiet down when the auctioneer began to reveal his promise.  The rattling of chains was heard as something was brought up onto the stage. In the center of the platform, stood an upright bipedal creature with long legs and arms.  A long river of black hair covered its head and ran down its back.  Two blood-red eyes stared out at the crowd. “WHAT A FUCKING RIPOFF, THAT’S JUST A HUMAN GIRL!” yelled a voice from the crowd. “Silence!” growled the diamond dog as he turned to the crowd. “This isn’t an ordinary human girl. It’s not even a human at all!” shouted the auctioneer as he pulled out a dagger from his back. “Let me show you,” he said as he approached the young woman. The diamond dog grabbed ahold of the girl. “What is he doing?” shouted a bystander. The auctioneer raised the dagger in the air. “He’s going to kill the poor thing!” The auctioneer plunged the knife into the young girl’s neck. “What a waste.” As the auctioneer dug and twisted the knife in the girl’s neck, blood sprayed over the crowd.  The crowd reared back in disgust as the auctioneer threw the knife away and stood back.   “Dear Celestia...are you guys seeing what I’m seeing?” said Twilight. “Yeah Twilight, I’m pretty sure everyone saw him commit murder,” Gale said. “No, that’s not what I mean.  Look!”  Twilight shouted as she pointed at the stage.  Rivers of red dripped down the stage and flowed into the crowd of people.  The girl was still standing upright, not moving.  Two red-eyes peered out from behind the long mess of black hair.  The blood began slowly flowing backwards, past the crowd and back up the stage as if someone had taken the scene and rewound it.  The blood pooled together at her feet and was seemingly absorbed into her.  The auctioneer roughly pulled her head back again to expose her neck as it began to reform.  Blood weaved together like threads as the wound closed itself. “BEHOLD, A HEMOMANCER!” the auctioneer yelled out before the decibels in the crowd reached an all time high.  Buyers pushed their way through the crowd as they tried to purchase the supposedly rare creature.   Numbers were yelled out from all over as the auctioneer tried to calm the crowd. “What’s a hemomancer?” Twilight asked as she looked between Cosmic Ray and Gale Force. “It’s hard to believe that they don’t exist in your time, seeing that they’re immortal…” said Cosmic Ray as he finished off his drink. “Maybe they left Equestria to journey to a distant land… or something. Anyways, I suppose you’d like an explanation?” Twilight nodded eagerly and flipped to a blank page in her notebook.  Gale Force rolled her eyes and flagged down a waitress for another round of drinks and snacks. “First off, hemomancers are polymorphic creatures that can take on nearly any individual’s identity. The one you see on stage chose the form of a human girl, but they have nothing associated with humankind. Each one of them have preferences of species, but let’s not get off topic. These creatures are quite deadly, given their ability to change body shape into nearly any other creature, but also due to their supernatural authority over blood. Hemomancers received their name based on their ability to manipulate blood into all forms of shape and matter.” Twilight nodded eagerly and flipped to a blank page in her notebook. Gale Force rolled her eyes and flagged down a waitress for another round of drinks and snacks.          “Good luck with that. Not many ponies know anything about them. You most likely already know more than the average pony on the subject already.” While Cosmic Ray was teaching Twilight about hemomancers, the auction for the girl continued to rage on. “50,000 bits, I’ll buy her for 50,000 bits!”          “We got one for 50,000.  Going at 50,000, can anyone go higher than 50,000?!” “70,000!” “I’ll do 80,000!” “100,000.”  All the heads in the crowd turned to a diamond dog husky who had his cane raised in the air.  “100,000 bits for the hemomancer girl,” he repeated again. “Going once for 100,000!  Can anyone top-” the auctioneer began but was interrupted by another voice in the crowd. “120,000” said a hooded figure as the crowd moved away from him.  The Connoisseur sneered as he strided towards the cloaked stranger.  The crowd stared between the two figures in silence as they waited eagerly to see if the new offer could be topped.  The Connoisseur slammed his cane down as he stopped in front of the hooded figure. “150,000 bits,” said The Connoisseur proudly with a smile. “Let’s be honest here. You don’t have this kind of money, ami.” The cloaked figure slowly turned its head towards The Connoisseur. The stranger stood upright and motionless staring at the diamond dog. “I’m not here to cause you any sort of trouble. Therefore, I would like to end this without wasting any of your time.” The cloaked individual raised a hand into the air. “300,000 bits.” The crowd fell silent when they heard the obscene bid.  The Connoisseur stared at the figure in shock as the realization of what just happened dawned on him.  Despite being figuratively and literally, one of the top dogs, even he couldn’t make a bid like that with no regrets.  Just who was this cloaked figure? “You can’t be serious?!  A hemomancer is indeed a rare prize, but to whom could it be worth 300,000 bits?” “To me,” said the figure as he removed the hood.  Red eyes glanced over the crowd gawking at him.  The man was similar to the girl on stage.  He had rough, messy black hair that sat upright and framed a calm face.  He looked young, but his eyes carried a jaded feeling, as if he had already seen it all. “And who exactly are you?  Actually...what are you?” said The Connoisseur as he carefully glanced over the man’s features and glanced back at the hemomancer on the stage. “I think you know the answer to that,” the man said as he brushed past the diamond dog and approached the wooden stage.  “Unless you have any objections, I believe I am the winning bidder,” he said as he stepped onto the stage.  The auctioneer walked up to the man, quivering in anticipation. “My dear sir, when do you think you will have the payment ready?” “How about now?  I made sure I arrived prepared for any competition,” said the man as he motioned towards a carriage filled with chests.  “There’s roughly 350,000 bits in there, but do forgive me if I am in a bit of a rush, you can count it and keep any leftover.  With mouth watering, the auctioneer jumped off the stage and ran towards the carriage to collect his payment.  The hemomancer girl looked at the man with wide eyes and immediately knelt down on a knee before looking up to say something.  He silenced her lips by pressing a finger against them. “Not now my dear, too many unsavory ears and eyes here.  I am sure you are weary from your ordeal.  Let us return home.” “Thank you my lord, forgive me for being caught.  It will never happen again.” The man grabbed a hold of the iron chains that bound the girl and effortlessly tore them apart.  He gave the girl a nod before shape shifting his body into that of a gryphon.  The girl followed suit.  The crowd was enamored by the scene taking place before them.  It was rare to see a single hemomancer, let alone witness them transform.   “Wow…” muttered Twilight as she watched the two unique creatures fly off into the distance.  “They look like real gryphons. I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between them and the real thing.  Maybe there are hemomancers in my time and we just don’t know it.”  Gale Force watched the whole thing from her peripheral view.  Try as she might, she could not hide her amazement with what just happened. “I guess they’re kind of cool…” concluded Gale Force with a shrug.  “But do you maybe think that guy was her father or something?” “No it wasn’t,” Cosmic Ray confidently replied. “Well, how do you know?” said Gale Force as she stuck her tongue out at the unicorn. “Just a hunch,” responded Cosmic Ray after pausing to think it over. The trio watched as the crowd slowly dispersed from the market square.  It was now late in the afternoon.  The frustrated grumblings of the diamond dog who had been sitting next to Twilight, Cosmic, and Gale could be heard. “C'est des conneries!” “Monsieur, please calm down,” said his poodle diamond dog companion as she shuffled after him in high heels.  “You are making a scene, monsieur!” Twilight, Cosmic, and Gale all greatly enjoyed seeing the pretentious, husky diamond dog knocked off his pedestal. “I think it’s about time we made our way towards my informant,” said Cosmic Ray “Alright,” said Twilight with a smile as she continued to watch The Connoisseur  throw his tantrum. “Lead the way.”