//------------------------------// // Outset // Story: Atonement for a Wayward Dragoon // by Belligerent Bindlestiff //------------------------------// Outset Kain stood dumbfounded and shocked at what just occurred. He had supposed the young filly he’d just freed was someone’s horse, not someone else entirely. He was pulled back to reality when the young one continued to speak to him. “Well of course ah can talk! Why would you ask something like that?” spoke the filly with an accent. Kain stumbled with his words, but was able to come up with a plausible excuse. “I was not certain because you were silent when that monster turned you to stone.” “That’s because mah friends and ah were too outta breath to even scream, right Scoots? Scoots, Sweetie Bell?” The filly turned to her friends to acknowledge her reasons, but only saw the statues they were now. “Why didn’t ya get the cockatrice to turn them back?” she demanded. “Because I slew the cockatrice.” Kain replied calmly. “Wait, how are we gonna help my friends now; how did you even help me mister; what is your name?” she asked in a rush “It’s Kain.” replied the dragoon. “Look uh…” “Apple Bloom.” she said. “Apple Bloom, I used a magical curative item to help you. They’re called gold needles, and they’re used to reverse petrification.” He pointed to the unrolled set of gold needles with this hoof. “I would imagine you do not wish to delay helping your friends?” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Then carefully grab a needle and prick their stone skin with its point.” Apple Bloom complied and both she and Kain each applied the remedies. The two other fillies were freed from petrification and came to their senses just as Apple Bloom did moments ago. “Girls? You’re both back!” Apple Bloom rejoiced. “What made the cockatrice change its mind?” asked an orange pegasus with a purple mane and tail. “Or did Fluttershy show up?” asked the white unicorn with a purple and pink mane and tail. “Nope, this stallion Kain here is the hero.” said Apple Bloom, in admiration of Kain. “He beat the cockatrice and used some magic items to save us.” “Wow!” replied the wide eyed pegasus. “You’re really cool to take on that monster all by yourself. I’m Scootaloo by the way.” She said. “And I’m Sweetie Bell!” exclaimed the little unicorn. “And all three of us are the “ “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” proclaimed rather loudly by the three fillies in unison. Kain was taken aback by the happiness of their attitudes. Not far back, the three could have been confined in their stony prisons indefinitely if he hadn’t shown up. “So are you a knight?” asked Sweetie Bell. “You don’t look anything like what my sister described as one, but you do have all that armor.” “Maybe he’s a special knight on a secret mission, like a spy! Are you on a mission Kain?” Scootaloo asked. Kain decided this was an opportune excuse to keep details about him secret and decided to play along. “Of the sorts.” he replied. Kain made his way to the campfire. “The hour grows late; we should stay here for the night.” The crusaders followed suit and the four sat around the fire. “We’ll head back to the nearest town come morning.” Kain said. “But I must ask, what were you three youngsters doing here on your own? It goes without saying that you shouldn’t venture on your own.” “We were all campin with mah sister Applejack and her friends Rarity and Rainbow Dash.” said Apple Bloom. “How did you become separated from your guardians?” asked Kain. The crusaders looked off in various directions sheepishly. Sweetie Bell broke the silence. “Well, we snuck off to try to earn our cutie marks in camouflage.” “But then,” Scootaloo said, interrupting. “We couldn’t figure out which plants’ leaves to use.” “And by that time,” Apple Bloom continued. “we had walked off in and gotten ourselves lost, gotten chased by that giant cockatrice, and, well you know the rest.” “Your actions were foolhardy.” Kain scolded. “And what do you suppose would have happened had I not been there to save you all?” “Ah don’t know.” Apple Bloom said, beginning to look distraught. “But we sure are thankful you did help, right girls?” The other two crusaders nodded their heads. “You’re the hero that came in the nick o’time.” “Hero?” Kain asked hesitantly. “Yeah!” Exclaimed Scootaloo. “What pony could take on a huge cockatrice monster all by themselves? “Ya risked life and limb to help us.” Apple Bloom said. Hero. There was a word; a title that Kain did not use to describe himself. Notwithstanding the fact that he didn’t even believe he was saving anyone to begin with from that encounter with the cockatrice. Then Kain’s past crept up on him. One might think that helping to thwart an embodiment of evil bent on destroying the world would have been enough to put you in a positive light. However, Kain didn’t see himself as a triumphant returning hero like the rest of the party that had returned from the moon. Kain tried to make amends for his actions that escalated time and time again. Fabul’s wind crystal, Troija’s earth crystal hostage situation, and even when he believed he was finally free of the mind control, he lapsed into the dark control again and taken the last dark crystal from the Underworld. And through his actions, Zeromus’ schemes were advanced. No, the noble heroic paths were for those who abandoned their darkness, and such individuals were worthy of true love. Kain pulled himself back to reality before he became trapped in another thought vortex of envy and self-loathing. “I did what was expected of me.” Kain replied dryly. “Yeah! “ And that’s what hero’s do! Sweetie Bell said. “I bet you’ve got a real heroic cutie mark Kain! You look like you do heroic stuff all the time.” Cutie mark, the word had been brought up earlier in the conversation, but Kain was ignorant of the term or its relevance. “Cutie mark?” He began. “Well yeah! That’s why we’re out here Mr. Kain! We’re trying to earn ours, and in case you haven’t noticed, we don’t have ours.” Applebloom stated. “Hey, what is your Cutie Mark of Kain? Can we see it?” At this point, Kain began to feel quite self-conscious. He hadn’t thought about how clothing to the denizens of this world was more of a suggestion than a mandate. Without armor Kain felt quite literally and figuratively naked. “I’d rather not.” he replied with a minor flustered tone to his voice. “Aw come on Mr. Kain!” Exclaimed Sweetie Belle. “Everypony should be proud of their Cutie Mark, some of us don’t have one to show off.” Kain attempted to shrug off their pleas, but the crusaders continued to goad and berate Kain into showing his Cutie Mark; he wasn’t even sure if he had one, but he decided it was best to fend off their attempts to see his in the event he was without this important symbol. The squabble was interrupted with the sound of shuffling through the woods. Kain’s ears perked and he jumped to the direction of the sound almost instantly, facing the denser part of the forest where the sound originated from. “Girls! Get behind me!” he firmly said. The crusaders immediately got behind Kain and focused their attention to the portion of the woods the knight was peering towards. The shuffling grew louder. Kain shifted his body, ready for another fight; he could only imagine what type of creature could come out at night in a forest that had reptilian cockatrices about it during the day. Kain’s eyes focused on the part of the forest where he was expecting the creature to emerge. And just then another ‘pony’ creature, the term slowly becoming familiar and important for Kain to remember as it was his now his current species, with a strange hat on her head emerged from the forest. Kain was quite relieved that he was not wielding a bow. He may have very well loosed an arrow before even realizing if the person or thing that came out was friend or foe. “Well there ya’ll are! Ah found ‘em girls!” the orange mare said out as she walked over to the camp. “We’d been worried that somethin bad might ahv happened to ya’ll.” After she spoke, a white unicorn who bared much resemblance to Sweetie Bell trotted out as well. Another mare, winged and with a light blue coat descended from a higher portion of the trees; she had a mane like that of a rainbow. “Somethin bad did happen sis.” Apple Bloom said sadly. “We got lost when we went off to earn our Cutie Marks, and then a big ol’ cockatrice chased us through the forest. It turned us to stone. We’d might ahv been goners if it weren’t for Mr. Kain here.” “He beat the monster single hoofedly!” Scootaloo exclaimed in admiration. “And used some cool gold needles to change us back!” added Sweetie Bell. The cyan mare landed directly in front of Kain, eyed him skeptically, and asked him, “You took on a giant cockatrice all on your own?” The dragoon, not perturbed by the proximity of the mare or her question simply replied, “Yes, I can handle myself in battle.” “Take it easy on the fella Rainbow Dash.” The orange mare said, trying to diffuse the situation. “Ah’d say by the looks of him, he’s a pony that doesn’t fool around in a fight, and more importantly the girls are fine.” “Alright.” Rainbow Dash replied with reluctance. “Well, now that we sorted that out, I suppose introductions are in order.” older unicorn mare said. “I’m Rarity, the negotiator is Applejack, and our overprotective acquaintance is Rainbow Dash. I’m quite sure you’re familiar with the fillies you saved; by now they’ve probably talked your ears off. Applebloom and Sweetie Bell are Applejacks’s and my sisters respectively. Scootaloo is a good friend of Rainbow Dash. But I don’t believe we’ve met, and you are?” “Kain Highwind milady, since we’re being formal.” the dragoon replied. Rarity blushed at the Dragoon’s verbal etiquette. “Mr. Highwind we are indeed grateful that you were here to help the girls, but to what circumstances do we owe you being in the right place at the right time?” Rarity continued in her inquiry. “I’m on a personal mission, I’m afraid I cannot divulge much else.” Kain said. “My travels brought me through this forest, and I was able to come to the aid of the youngsters.” “Well, for whatever reason Kain, We’re mighty thankful .” Applejack said. “Looks like it’s gettin late, Ah don’t suppose ya mind if we hit the hay here with ya?” “I see no reason to argue against it.” Kain replied. “I’ll take first watch.” The group laid down to rest at the camp and were soon asleep from the day’s events. The older mares slept soundly, knowing their younger girls were safe; the fillies were out like a light given the day’s adventure. The dragoon however, remained awake, still puzzled at his new situation. The exhaustion of his body finally lulled him into slumber when his watch was over, but even sleep did not bring him complete rest. Kain again stirred in his sleep by memories of the past. “During Applejacks’s watch, she looked at him with some concern. After a long day’s work, she’d sleep like a rock. There was more to Kain than he let on, it might not be her place to ask, but she decided to make it a point to find out more about him tomorrow. //// Morning arrived and the group sat down for breakfast. Applejack provided the group with plenty of apples, to which Kain was extraordinarily grateful to eat, given what foodstuffs were left in his reserves. “Kain, you must be pretty used to battlin monsters and such.” Applejack said. “cause you look like you still had some go left in ya while ya slept.” “You could say I’m somewhat used to leading a perilous life.” Kain said, not trying to get into the details. “Oh my.” Rarity said. “You must be quite busy with many adventures, you must spend quite a bit of time away from society.” “I do not stay in cities for long, my business does keep me away from others for long periods of time.” Kain replied. Of course now Kain had now reason to occlude himself from society. The recent turn of events must mean that Kain has some purpose to fulfill; for redemption or not, Kain thought it best to stay with this group as they were probably the only lead he has at the moment. “However, my supplies are waning and I suppose a short visit to a town to restock might be in order.” “Oh you simply must return with us to Ponyville Mr. Highwind.” Rarity said. “Some rest in a real bed would do you some good, and our town has some of the finest produce in all of Equestria. Why Applejack and her family raise and pick the finest apples.” Applejack smiled at Rarity for her compliment. “Well, if ya need rations for a trip, ya couldn’t go wrong with the fine apple products of Sweet Apple Acres, or the other produce the rest of Ponyville has to offer.” She hesitated in finishing. “Then I shall accompany you.” Kain said. “We can head to Ponyville and I can spend a few days there for some respite.” “Somethin wrong Dash?” Applejack asked. “Ya haven’t said much during breakfast.” “Yeah, I don’t think Kain could have taken out that cockatrice all by himself. Sure the royal guards are strong and all, but one on one? Also, where is the cockatrice you ‘slew’ Kain?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I had to move it. If it were anything like other gorgon-like monsters, the body would have begun to emit a putrefying odor by now. Kain said. “Why would it stink so much?” Rainbow Dash asked further. “It, like other monsters which can petrify, emit a smell like rotting earth that can make breathing difficult. I could show you the body if you wish.” Kain said smugly . “Uh, I think I’ll pass on that.” Rainbow Dash replied reluctantly. “This isn’t over yet.” she muttered to herself, still unconvinced of the dragoon’s explanation. After gathering their belongings, the older mares retraced their steps and led the group out of the forest. Kain noted the winding path that lay out before them, occasionally hidden by rolling hills. “Is this the path to your town?” he asked. “Yeah, it sure is Mr. Kain.” said Applebloom. “Ponyville is just south of this forest.” “So are you just going to leave once you get what you need?” asked Sweetie Bell. “I will probably stay for a short time, but I could use a longer break than normal from the wilderness.” Kain admitted. “Oh I do hope you stay with us for a good while.” Rarity said. The group began to make for the path back to civilization. Kain was the last to depart from the edge of the forest to join the rest. “Perhaps I will” he said to himself. And so, a warrior whose past haunts him embarks on an unexpected change of course on his path to redemption. Unable to confront anyone because of his treacherous past, Kain now finds himself in a world with none aware of the evils he committed. The freedom from Zeromus’ influence should have relinquished Kain from the burden of his betrayal, but the dragoon knows that deep in his heart he had allowed his darkest desires to take hold and commit these acts. Once darkness is embellished, does it stay with an individual seeking redemption? Evils committed out of cowardice are different from those of envy and want. Kain knows that redemption was possible for Cecil. He wants to follow the same path that brought the Paladin into the light, but the purpose of finding himself in this world is unclear. Does the dragoon need the land to mend his soul, or is the land in need of a hero? Fates are now entwined in a land that may hold atonement for a wayward dragoon. ~Belligerent Bindlestiff