Act 0: Episode 5 of 5: A Fragile Party Alchemy
Just because your goals align doesn't mean that you'll see eye-to-eye or be friends.
“GLEAM!” Sunkissed Amber cried out in surprise, looking up at him. The dragon struggled for a moment, but all he could do was hang there since the strings were too tight and too strong.
“We've got to get out of here. Did you see her eyes?” Ridge Dasher said.
“No, why?” Sunkissed Amber asked, kicking at the lock of her cage. It was too sturdy to be kicked open, and all her kicks were doing were rattling the bars.
“She's dead, or couldn't you tell.” Ridge Dasher replied, testing the lock of his own cage with a more focused, military-style kick. The lock held.
“Dead?” Sunkissed Amber asked. “That's silly. She was still moving around when she...” Her voice trailed off as she recalled just what she had done to the Ruined. “... when she gave those creatures a good beating!”
“You should have seen her eyes, miss.” Ridge Dasher laid down in the cage, folding his front hooves over one another. “And now we're her prisoners! Can you imagine what she is capable of or what she might do to us?”
“If I can get Gleam down, we should be fine. I haven't seen anything yet that he wasn't able to defend me from.” Sunkissed Amber protested. In response, Gleam struggled but couldn't break loose and so all he did was swing from side to side.
“We've got to get out of here first.” Ridge Dasher replied, ears perking as he heard hoofsteps coming down the stairs. “Let me do the talking, all right?”
“No!” Now Sunkissed Amber was annoyed. “I want answers. I want to know just where we are, why Gleam is tied up like that, and what those creatures were.” Her train of thought was interrupted as the door slowly opened with a rusty shrieking sound that made both of them put their hooves over their ears.
“I didn't know this prison allowed visitations.” Ridge Dasher grumbled, spouting off a one-liner before he knew it. He clamped down on his muzzle with a hoof after that; he was attempting to cure himself of the habit by going into the military in the first place.
The door shut, their hostess turning and locking the door before turning back to look at both Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber. “Dearie, ta answer ya questions, you are below mah tower, ya pet dragon was a threat what with being as large as he is, and those 'creatures' were th' Ruined... creatures nopony usually walks away from without significant injuries. Mah name is Moonlight Silence.” Her gaze turned to Ridge Dasher, who now was back on his hooves and watching her coldly. “Ya might know mah family as th' Sundivers.”
Ridge Dasher cocked his head, recalling his history. “The Sundivers? Aren't they all but wiped out or shunned thanks to corruption?” The Sundivers were a once-well regarded family of entertainers and storytellers, now only spoken of in hushed tones. Rumors suggested they'd fallen from grace due to supernatural corruption.
Moonlight Silence gave him a cold smile. “It was ya current... 'family' that put 'em there, so many years ago.” The memories welled up and her dead eyes seemed to shine with an angry, almost feral gleam that rivaled Kavesh's. “Your military leaders ruined mah ancestors.”
“Oh, let me guess, you've come back from the dead to teach them their place.” Ridge Dasher did not look impressed. Sunkissed Amber looked at Ridge Dasher, then at Moonlight Silence, then back at Ridge Dasher, head bouncing from side to side as if following a bouncing ball.
“It is a bit cliché, but yes. Yes ah have.” She turned away from him. “Ah haven't seen ya before, but... hmmmm.”
Moonlight Silence stepped in front of Sunkissed Amber's cage, as if to size her up.
“Let us out of here and get Gleam down from there! I promise he won't hurt you.” Sunkissed Amber whined.
“He also won't hurt me if he remains tied up.” Moonlight Silence looked like she was about to say something else, but held her tongue. Gleam snarled and struggled some more, but couldn't break through the enchantment of the silver strings. For the moment, he was out of action.
“Watch ya tongue, dragon. I can speak draconic and that kind of obscenity will not be tolerated here.” Moonlight Silence looked straight up at the dragon, whose rage was evident behind his eyes.
“The only obscenity to anything around here is the fact you exist.” Ridge Dasher said.
Moonlight Silence whirled on him and her horn glowed briefly, picking him up and throwing him against the wall of the cage. “Ah have no love for th' military, dearie. Ya organization is part of why ah exist. Ya would be wise not ta annoy me when ah can send ya back in as many pieces as ah want.”
“You can count beyond a couple of pieces?” Ridge Dasher asked, childishly sticking out his tongue.
Moonlight Silence put him down, ignoring him. “You, mare.”
“My name is Sunkissed Amber...” Sunkissed Amber growled. “Let Gleam go and we'll leave you alone.”
“But he won't. His military buddies will come after me, and I can't have 'em ruining my plans before luring his superiors halfway across th' world ta destroy them...” Moonlight Silence replied as her gaze shifted to Ridge Dasher. “How soon do ya think it will be before they come looking for ya, hmmm?”
Ridge Dasher snorted. “They won't. They're too dumb not to think the three of us perished in the Ruined attack.”
“There were three of you?” Moonlight Silence asked.
Ridge Dasher nodded. “It was my job to watch over them. It was...” He paused, remembering what had happened to Jumping Thunder and how that death would be on his permanent record back at the base once he got back to give his report.
“A little survivor guilt, dearie?” Moonlight Silence grinned, showing her little fangs.
“We've done nothing! Just let us go and we'll be on our way.” Sunkissed Amber said.
“Nonsense dearie. If ah take a prisoner with me ta Trol'Kyanis, it will give 'em a reason ta chase me. Especially if they think he has important intel...” Moonlight Silence ferally replied, giving Ridge Dasher a wicked grin. “With th' right intel... or implied information, it can be a powerful motivator.”
Sunkissed Amber paused. “You're going to Trol'Kyanis too?”
Moonlight Silence's head shot up and she turned to her.
“You were going in the exact opposite direction...” Ridge Dasher grumbled.
Moonlight Silence was intrigued. “Explain.”
Sunkissed Amber explained the situation, deciding that honesty was the best route to take. Her father didn't raise her to be a liar and she didn't have anything to lose by hiding the truth.
She explained everything from the time she'd gone to the Waypoint only to find her father's letter, to the fact she had to go to Triple Hooves, to the fact she'd gotten lost during a brief storm that had turned her around, to the wild animals that had attacked her that Gleam her to fight off constantly, up to coming out onto the road to see Ridge Dasher and Razor Barbs attempting to teach the Ruined to play nice with others.
“You have a most interesting story, miss Amber.” Moonlight Silence said when the mare was finished. “Had ah not have gone through ya things before comin' down here and had read the letter mah self, ah would have accused ya of lyin'. Ya goals and mine align in that ah want to lure this stallion's handlers and masters ta their doom and ya need to go ta 'visit' ya sister.”
“What is another pony doing in that sand pit? Trol'Kyanis is a wasteland!” Ridge Dasher grumbled.
“Buck if I know.” Sunkissed Amber shrugged.
Moonlight Silence smiled. “Then there is th' fact ya family is... nobility, or so it seems, and were ah still alive ta value th' shiny gold ya use ta trade with each other, ah could have ya ransomed for a good price. Ah have no need for gold now, but tempting th' Commodore by putting the idea in his head might be something ta do...” She looked up at Gleam, who'd fallen silent all this time and was just glaring at her, smoke almost pouring out of his nostrils like a river.
“Why don't you just teleport us all there?” Ridge Dasher asked. “You seemed to come to us in the blink of an eye earlier.”
“Ah'm not dumb enough ta start a war, dearie. Are you? The Commodore on the other hoof, is, especially since he's gotten it in his head ta attempt a takeover.”
“And what makes you say that?” Ridge Dasher was skeptical.
“Because he's been lookin' for powerful artifacts, two of which this young mare carries in her supplies.” Moonlight Silence sneered at him. “One is the Dragon's Heart... there's more than just one, ya know, and they hold great, great power. The other is th' Rod of Abstraction.”
“The what?” Ridge Dasher cocked his head, then looked at Sunkissed Amber.
Moonlight Silence pulled Sunkissed Amber's rod from behind her back. “I'll leave it to ya to witness it then.” She pointed it at the lock of Sunkissed Amber's cage. “KEY!”
The area in front of the lock lit up with a sparkly red radiance, and a faint rainbow of colors played over the lock before the red light formed itself into the shape of a key. With a click, the cage was open and Sunkissed Amber was free.
“DISK!” Moonlight Silence cried out, and the key flattened to a razor thin disc of red energy that began to ricochet off the walls, controlled by the rod as she waved it around. It neatly sliced through the dragon's bonds, and Gleam struggled to un-knot his tail so he wouldn't be left hanging around. He opened his wings with a snarl at Moonlight Silence and spat a ball of fire directly at her.
“SHIELD!”
The disk paused in mid-air over Moonlight Silence's head, then flattened even thinner and blossomed out, forming an impenetrable shield that absorbed the force of the fire, rendering the dragon's attack ineffective. Gleam got himself loose and folded up his wings, pouncing like a cat on the lich from mid-air.
“NET!”
The shield hollowed itself out to take on the appearance of a net, and Moonlight Silence sent the net (now filled with one angry, struggling dragon) against the wall, where it stuck to the wall, Velcro-style. Gleam couldn't bite through it; it was like biting through thick plastic.
Moonlight Silence dropped the effect once Gleam had exhausted himself to the point that he could no longer move. “Th' rod has the ability ta take concepts, and turn 'em into physical form. One-word only commands, and an example of whatever is depicted also vanishes from th' face of reality, completely erased. It can also take other ideas, such as a color or a number, and do... something with them, but what it is is always different whenever it is tried. It's risky.”
“Riskier than traveling with an abomination like you?” Ridge Dasher asked.
Moonlight Silence ignored him. “Ya could say th' number nine and point it at a boulder... ya might get nine identical boulders under your command, ya might get a nine-hoof tall stone golem. Th' rod is not without its dangers. How did ya end up with this, miss Amber?”
“My father, Honor's Edge.” Sunkissed Amber said, glancing at Ridge Dasher. “Can you let him go now, please?”
Moonlight Silence arched both eyebrows. “I'd heard he adopted. Ya really are his adopted child?” She thought back to the letter. “Death claims a hero. Hmmmm.”
Gleam picked himself up and stared Moonlight Silence down. She ignored him.
“Yeah, can I go now, please?” Ridge Dasher whined.
After about a minute, Moonlight Silence released Ridge Dasher. “Miss Amber, out of respect for ya father's past heroism, ah will accompany ya ta Trol'Kyanis. Ya have mah word of honor that no harm will come to ya and ah will not let mah personal petty revenge plot come between ya and your own goals. That doesn't mean ya shouldn't stay out of mah way when th' fur flies.”
“I'd rather not. I can do this on my own.” Sunkissed Amber stoically replied. “You said it yourself just a minute ago. You went through my things, without my permission I might add. The letter specifically says I have to go alone into Trol'Kyanis.”
Moonlight Silence scoffed. “Then ya disembark off a ship alone, and we will follow ya thereafter
after about an hour. You'll need help both getting there and defending yourself, whether ya like it or not. The Commodore has friends in many places, and ah don't think Ridge Dasher here...”
“How did you know my name?” Ridge Dasher tensed, the same way Blazing Wheel always did.
Moonlight Silence smirked at him. “Ya don't think ah don't pay attention ta who's on base, do ya dearie? Ah want the Commodore's head on a pike, or his skull as a staff adornment. Ah know who is and who is not on base as well as ta some of what they are up ta. As ah said, th' right intel does wonders.”
Ridge Dasher shook his head. “I want no part of this. I need to finish my training and get back to base to give a report.”
“Which th' Commodore will use against ya, dearie.” Moonlight Silence was smug. “Ya survived the Ruined. Admit it, you were out of your element. It was obvious he wanted ya out of the way, and wouldn't ya agree you'll learn more through real-world experience, rather than through rote and ritual?”
Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber exchanged looks as Moonlight Silence passed the rod back to Sunkissed Amber. “Let's go upstairs and plan for a proper expedition. You have something he wants, and that will be our lure.”
“What does he want?” Ridge Dasher asked.
“The Dragon's Heart.” Moonlight Silence replied.
Gleam slowly trailed after them, growling and grumbling and stalking the undead pony like a cat the entire way. He would have struck again but he didn't want to see what else the striped pony was capable of.
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“I keep forgetting that mortals sleep.” Moonlight Silence said after a couple of hours of explaining her existence, then planning and plotting alongside the reluctant Ridge Dasher and tired Sunkissed Amber. Kavesh in the meantime had curled up in his cage, keeping his head turned away from the blood golem so that he wouldn't see it. “Ah don't sleep, not anymore. Ah relax in mah crypt, but it's not th' same.” Outside, dawn was just beginning to break.
“I'm sure it's an uneventful repose.” Ridge Dasher grumbled, not happy about being dragged into the situation.
Moonlight Silence's only response was to shove a map of the lands in his face. “Fine, mister guard, you find us a clear path ta th' coast so we can go overseas. For your information, it's not as relaxing as ah made it sound. Remember, your... kind... made me.”
Ridge Dasher scoffed, imitating Moonlight Silence. “You made yourself. It was you who got angry at being left at the altar. You fell to darker powers. You...”
“Ah didn't fall.” Moonlight Silence said quietly, looking insulted. “Ah will have mah revenge that ah couldn't in life, petty or not.”
“And what happens after? What happens if in nine-hundred and ninety nine centuries you're still at it? Will it have mattered at all?” Ridge Dasher was tired of Moonlight Silence's self-assuredness that she'd be successful.
“Dearie, it will matter to me, which is what's important. Then ah can rest.” Moonlight Silence shot back, undisturbed by such a thought. “Ah could use the Dragon's Heart that miss Amber carries to entrap ya, you know.”
Sunkissed Amber's head was spinning over the revelations and explanations. Between Gleam slinking about and sniffing anything within range, Ridge Dasher's constant snark and Kavesh's snarling, she couldn't concentrate enough to form a complete sentence, much less ask for a bedroll or some fresh hay to lay in. She just wanted to sleep.
She'd had a hard time wrapping her mind around the legends and power around the Dragon's Hearts. She'd also been surprised at the power of the rod, and she knew her father had done some amazing things but never in her mind did she think that he would have earned such a powerful artifact.
“You want me to get us to the coast? Fine. But first, put me in touch with my superior officer back at the base. That's not too much to ask with your magic, is it?” Ridge Dasher asked, then he hooked his hoof to point behind him at Kavesh. “We releasing that thing before we go? His tribe killed my charges. No, they were my friends.”
“No, we're taking him with us. Call him... insurance, perhaps. Besides, his perspective is something we might need. His simple-mindedness and feral heart adds a proper dose of muscle to the group, don't ya think?” Moonlight Silence replied, pulling a small circlet from a drawer.
“Insurance?” Ridge Dasher rolled his eyes. “The only thing he'd be insurance against is a few good swift kicks before somepony threw him off a cliff.”
“Ya vastly underestimate th' power of stupid muscle.” Moonlight Silence replied, placing the circlet upon Kavesh's head. Her horn lit up with magic, and there was a sizzling sound as the circlet began to literally melt into the top of Kavesh's head, causing him to screech in pain.
“What did you do that for!?” Sunkissed Amber cried. “Torture doesn't help anypony!”
“This will keep him under control. If he acts against me ah can just heat the metal some more until he behaves.” Moonlight Silence then whirled, turning on Kavesh. “Ya can understand me now, ya beast. Ah know you can, and that ya can now respond ta us. Ah didn't research that spell randomly, ya know.”
Kavesh tried rubbing a paw over the now-melted metal to try to remove it, but the damage had already been done and he'd have permanent burn scars later even if somepony else healed the damage and removed the metal. “You... EVIL! Not nature!” He growled, pausing as he heard the pony words come from his mouth. This made him even angrier; they were forcing him to speak in their words. It wasn't right and he WOULD end the magic pony.
“Good, animal. Ya can understand me. Ah wasn't sure if the enchantment was going ta work or not.” Moonlight Silence replied. “Now, ya have a choice. Ya can come with us and assist me, or...” Her horn glowed and another field of life draining energy appeared in front of her, which she pressed against the bars of the cage.
Kavesh backed up as much as the cage would allow. “I EAT YOU! You die!” He threatened, but fear was in his eyes.
“Stop it!” Sunkissed Amber said. “He doesn't deserve to be forced to go!”
“That still doesn't excuse what he did to my friends.” Ridge Dasher growled.
They weak.” Kavesh growled back at him. “Weak die. Strong eat weak.”
Moonlight Silence licked her lips at him. “And you're not weak for failing to kill me, dearie?”
He snarled back in response.
“That's it, I've had enough.” Sunkissed Amber said. “I'm going to go to sleep and in the morning we can talk this over like not-so-stressed civilized ponies.”
“We still haven't...” Moonlight Silence began to say.
Sunkissed Amber balanced herself on one front hoof and spun her body, twisting her body and launching herself forward. Aiming so that she was able to slap her rear hooves together, she aimed at the lich's head. There was a CRUNCH as both hooves impacted Moonlight Silence's head, and her eyes almost popped out of their sockets as she dropped. Sunkissed Amber had struck both of her temples at the same time and the force of the blow could have killed Moonlight Silence if she hadn't already been dead to begin with.
“I said I've had enough. I'll go through with this, if only because what you've explained about the Dragon's Heart means that they should be deactivated. Summoning a dragon is power no pony should have and this Commodore of Ridge Dasher's sounds way too drunk with power that doesn't belong to him. Now I'm going to sleep for a few hours and you're not going to stop me, got it?” Sunkissed Amber said almost in a commanding voice. “And you won't kill me, you need me for the political value on your own little quest.”
Kavesh and Ridge Dasher exchanged looks as Moonlight Silence slowly got to her hooves.
“Ah didn't think ya were a fighter. Don't anger me, girl.” Moonlight Silence's voice dripped with venom. “Ah can do this on mah own.”
Sunkissed Amber picked up the Dragon's Heart, which was laying next to a pair of maps, her eyes sparking. She had had it with the lich. “Gleam!”
The dragon perked up, having kept his distance.
Sunkissed Amber opened a window before turning back to look at him. “Fetch, then hide in the nearest village until things cool down!” She hurled the Dragon's Heart out the window, and Gleam dove for it while flipping Moonlight Silence off on the way out with his rear claws. Snatching it out of the air, he began to wing his way towards the village of Waterlock with the Dragon's Heart firmly in his front claws. Moonlight Silence was surprised, and couldn't react.
“You... you...” Moonlight Silence glared at Sunkissed Amber.
“What's the matter, does the dead not like getting outfoxed by the living?” Ridge Dasher taunted.
The Dragon's Heart was too important to let escape, so instead of attacking Sunkissed Amber immediately the undead pony surrounded herself with a levitation spell and jumped out the window to give chase to Gleam. Bolts of white light flew from her horn that Gleam twisted to dodge. If the dragon managed to hide with the Dragon's Heart, that'd give Sunkissed Amber a bargaining chip she did not want her to have.
Kavesh and Ridge Dasher exchanged looks again.
“Remind me never to piss her off.” Ridge Dasher said to Kavesh, hooking a hoof behind him to point at Sunkissed Amber.
“At least I can sleep now. Can you contact your base from here?” Sunkissed Amber yawned, her knees buckling in exhaustion.
Ridge Dasher shook his head. “I don't think it matters now. She was right, the Commodore would just use it against me and my superior officer that serves under him would just lose his job trying to defend me. I'll go with you on this little...”
Sunkissed Amber collapsed, exhaustion taking her while Gleam could be seen in the distance, keeping out of range of Moonlight Silence as the sun began to rise. Kavesh sniffed at her, intrigued by the display of force.
“You coming?” Ridge Dasher asked him.
Kavesh shrugged, rubbing the circlet firmly seared into his head, then sighed. “I go. Kill big things. Glory for tribe. Dead pony right. No kill dead pony, lose glory in eye of tribe.” He was obviously still in a lot of pain from what Moonlight Silence had done to him, but if anypony could withstand it, it was Kavesh. “Road ambush boring. Many ambush boring.” Then his eyes gleamed in the low light as he lifted his head to slowly look at Ridge Dasher. “Dead pony watch self. I kill, bring dead pony back to tribe dead again. Much glory there.”
“You didn't seem to think the ambush was boring when you killed my friends...” Ridge Dasher said, though he too was now getting tired.
“They weak. Weak die.” Then Kavesh looked at Sunkissed Amber, who had rolled onto her side and would probably sleep through a nuclear war and its resulting winter. Respectfully he looked at Sunkissed Amber. “She... not weak.” He sounded resentful.
“At least we can agree on something, Ruined.” Ridge Dasher said, resigned to the fact he was being dragged into this. It was better than returning and facing the Commodore's wrath though for losing Jumping Thunder to the ambush.
“Name... Kavesh.” Kavesh finished, turning around in the cage like a dog a few times before kneeling down to sleep. “We sleep. Sun rise, hunt dragons. Hunt evil. Kill dead pony. Dead pony STAY dead this time.”
Ridge Dasher laid his head down, closing his eyes. “That sounds like the word 'crash', so I'll call you that since we're probably going to crash and burn.”
Kavesh growled, but Ridge Dasher didn't reply. He'd immediately joined Sunkissed Amber in slumber.