I was excited, to say the least. It was a wonderful evening and we had just taken a long, anxious, road trip. Don’t get me wrong, I hated road trips. Despised them even. With the boring drives, constant stops to spend money on food, and the horrific traffic that you could run into at any moment. And we ran into everyone of those issues at some point, so this excruciating ride did not change my perspective.
None of that mattered now, though. All that did matter was our destination, Comic-Con. This was my first time doing this whole convention deal. Sorry, not everyone has the money or time to take themselves to some other state or whatever and spend days having fun. I wish I could. But that matters little, because I can finally enjoy the experience!
For my first con I decided not to go crazy overboard, just go and enjoy panels and other activities there. My friends: Ben, Marty, and Helen had decided to make a little competition for the convention. Each of them had created our own costumes to wear to the convention. Then we would ask complete strangers who has the best costume out of the four of us.
As I said, I wasn’t going to in a costume or anything. So that made me the judge. Whoopie. Now have to keep track of the votes from the people we ask to decided the winner.
I wasn’t the best plan, let’s face the fact the most people might not want to be bothered by a bunch of costume wearing nerds. But it gave them an insensitive to one up their opponents at our first convention, so they all took the challenge. Mind you none of them were famous for Halloween costumes, but they were still decent enough to cobble up something worthy to take on their foes.
We’re all nerds, let’s face it.
A lot of work goes into this stuff, it really does. Making a decision on what to wear was difficult, with all of the new games and movies coming out. You want to go as something unique. Something that will get people to say, “Wow, that’s neat! How did you make that?”. I had made a couple of Halloween costumes when I was younger, for me it was a big holiday. I helped a little with each of their costumes, using what we had to make up for what many would spend a lot of money on.
Overall, the costumes were not that bad.
Ben decided to go for an Oryx costume, in his Knight form. He made the sword out of wood and used paint to change it up. We colored his face and used cardboard to make those weird adornments that was on the Taken King’s head. Then We used some bathrobe, not the fuzzy one, and cut it up a little to resemble the cloak under the armor. The armor was more cardboard. He really liked cardboard……
Marty went for The Tragic villain, General Grievous. He chose to go with the one from the 2003 Clone wars series version. Since there were certain segments of Grievous’s body that would be impossible for a human to fit through, we had to improvise by making the suit bulkier. The head was even harder, luckily he could use the cape to cover his neck. But I pulled through. As for the lightsabers, I managed to give him some I had when I was younger.
Helen went for a humanized version of Zoroark. She used a fur coat and made it black and red with black cat ears. With my help we then dyed her long hair black and red, using a blue ring to tie the bottom to make a ponytail. Hers was more simple, if not elegant. She did pretty good job and she may win the competition, since hers was more simple---
“Philip,” A voice said, disrupting my thoughts. I lept up in surprise and looked to my right to see Helen giving me a skeptical look. “You daydreaming buddy?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “By the way, what does the winner get.?” I asked my friends. In our rush to actually create the costumes and got to the convention we had never decided what the winner actually gets for winning.
“What do you mean, ‘What does the winner get?’ Phil?” Marty asked, turning to look at me from the passenger seat. “Doesn’t the sense of accomplishment enough?” he joked.
“While I’m sure someone would love all of the titles that they would gain,” I answered, rolling my eyes. “I, personally, would rather win some money. Since I will probably need after this trip is done.” I had brought enough to sustain me, but it most likely won’t last long.
“Or that you finally beat me at something,” Ben added in from the driver’s seat. Marty mumbled to himself while Helen just waved her hand at the comment.
“We’re here for three days, Philip,” Helen deadpanned. “I don’t think you’ll be able to blow all of your money by then, unless you want to of course.” she then patted me on the head like a child and directed her attention towards Ben.
“But he is right about one thing,” she mused, putting her hand on her chin in mock thinking. “We should give the winner a reward!”
Ben was silent for a minute as he drove on towards our destination. He then filled the void of silence with an answer, “We could do money,” he pondered. “Though we’d all have to pool it in--”
“Except me,” I added.
“--No, you’re buying us dinner anyway,” he said offhandedly.
“Wait what--” I said, trying to get him to repeat that last sentence.
Helen then came up with an idea, effectively cutting me off. “Oh, I know!” She said. “We could buy something as a prize, and whoever wins gets it!” Marty and I gave her a skeptical look while Ben kept his focus on the road. Safety first after all.
“Right,” I said hesitantly. “but how would you all agree on something you would want?” We would spend hours trying to figure out what we would want to get, hours I didn’t want to spend.
Marty shrugged. “Just buy it after someone wins, then they get to choose,”
“Let’s talk about this later,” Ben said, stopping the car. “Right now, let’s do what we came here for.” We looked to see the convention in full swing. Ben parked the car and we got out, walking towards the door and going inside the building.
Inside the house sat six cloaked individuals, only one lantern lighting the room. There lay papers and maps, each one having been drawn on. All were silent, contemplating their reason being there. One of the figures tapped a shrouded limb onto the map.
“We’ll strike from here,” a masculine voice said firmly. “Quick and fast, none expecting it from happening.” Another one of the creatures shook their head inside their cloak.
‘During such an event?” the feminine voice questioned. “Surely there will be too many guards?” a couple of other hoods shook in agreement.
The first cloaked figure responded to the question. “Yes, but there will always be ‘too many guards’,” he said curtly. “At least we will have the element of surprise on our side. The smug bastard will be out in the open.”
The second figure turned to her college next to her. “You have more reason then any of us to end the tyrant, what do you propose?” all turned to the questioned individual, waiting for a response.
“True,” an old voice said. “He has taken much from me, and I would no sooner want his death to come quickly…”
“So,” the male questioned. “do you think we should follow through with this plan?”
“It’s risky….” the female fretted.
“When is it never risky?” the male said, slamming his limb onto the table with great force. This action knocked over some papers and sent one of the cloaked figures into a sprawl to collect them. “Every day it’s a risk, but we will have to take one eventually!”
“Enough, both of you!” another male hissed, cutting off the two. He then turned back towards his elder. “What would you have us do?” he asked him.
“.....We have no choice,” the old voice trembled. “each time we wait, we risk discovery. We must act now!”
Just then the doors burst down, four legged creatures swarmed into the room. One wore the armor signifying him as the leader. “Halt,” the voice boomed as a fanged equine walked over to the know restrained individual. “Remove the hoods of these traitors!” he said venomously.
The guards complied, tears the hoods of the mysterious figures’ heads. It revealed the cloaked figures as six more fanged equines, tuffs of fur on the tip of their ears. Two were feminine, the other four were males.
“I, Captain Thorn Brush, hereby arrest all twelve of you for treason,” he said. He then pointed his hoof at one of the guards. “Gather up as much evidence as possible, the rest of you come with me! We will escort the traitors to the palace dungeon.”
With that said, the guards marched the 12 struggling prisoners out of the building. This attracted the attention of the neighbors. They came out to see both friends and family being taken away to the large palace. They sent the curious children back inside, before shooting hateful scorns to the tyrants guards. The group trotted up towards the castle, dragging the unfortunate criminals with them.
Today was another dark day in Ashen Claw.
I’ll admit it, I was wrong. I expected no one to give a fuck, but I was wrong. When we went up to ask which nerd had out nerd the other with their costume people were quick to responded. I have no idea why. Maybe everyone was so hyped on being in the building that all things normal were thrown out the window.
“Who’s winning so far?” Ben asked, coming back from checking out some stand that was set up.
“Let’s see,” I said looking down at the pad I had brought. “you seem to be in the lead, but Helen is trailing in close behind you by only a few points.” I tapped my foot on the ground, looking around. While judging I managed to take a good look around, getting to see a few sights and talking to some people. It was overall a good experience.
“Look,” I said to my friend. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. So why don’t we get something to eat?”
Ben gave a glance around, most likely to find the other two cornerstones of trouble. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “Let’s find the others and look for a place to eat.”
“Great,” I said. “Have any idea where the others are?” I asked, looking for Marty and Helen so I could get something to eat.
Ben raised an eyebrow at my question. “You’re the one keeping score of who’ll win, so shouldn’t you know where they are?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “But they went to see what others were selling, so I thought we would call a break.” He looked around again.
“Did they go that way?” I asked, pointing towards a room full of stalls.
“Yeah I think so….” I groaned, seeing that there had to be at least a hundred people in their.
“Well then,” he said. “I guess we’ll have to find them in that mob…..” he trailed off, realizing what we were about to go though.
“Yup,” I said. Both of us went towards the danger zone of the convention. People from all around would crowd the stalls in a withering mass, trying to get this or that awesome replica. It could take us a while to find our friends with the amount of people going in and out. At least this is the information Ben has given me.
Both of us sighed in annoyance. “Okay then, let’s go!” Ben grumbled. Both of us towards the crowded room.
When we had gotten closer to the room, the volume of voices got higher. Entering in, Ben and I had to swarm through the other cosplayers. I nearly lost an eye to one or two’s costume, people really liked spikes.
We saw some interesting things as we pass the stalls. Nothing that interested me, but it seemed like a couple of people had put some effort in the replicas so props to them (Get it, props!). It took us awhile, but we finally found Marty and Helen talking to one of the sellers. He was wearing a costume from RE4, a merchant I think. Helen was chatting to the guy while Marty was scanning his items. Ben and I made our way over to the three. “Hey,” I said as we approached the stall.
“Oh, hello,” the salesman responded happily. Helen turned towards us and waved.
“Hey guys,” she said. “We were just looking at this guy’s stock!” I looked over to see some impressive replicas. Some of the best I had seen. I also saw a Oryx's sword, a Zoroark Mask, and a General Grievous dark gray cape in the stall.
Huh, convenient......
Helen turned back towards the stall owner. “So, I was wondering if you could put that item on hold?” she asked.
“What Item?” Ben asked. I could see him and Marty eyeing the sword and cape.
“This one!” she said, taking a stuffed plush from the table. It was a Shiny Yveltal. It wasn’t a bad custom plush either.
“Yeah, sure.” the merchant said. “I’m open until the convention ends. Besides, you seem to be the only one to take interest in it.”
“Thanks!” she said, putting the item back down at the table. We said goodbye to the salesman and went on our way. “Come back soon!” the merchant called to us cheerfully.
I shuddered. “That guy gives me the creeps,” I whispered as we made our way out of the room.
“Oh nonsense!” Helen chastised.
I gave her a skeptical look as we left the crowded room. “Why didn’t you just buy it there?” I asked her.
“Cause,” she grinned. “I won’t need to, since I can use the prize money!” she said confidently,.
“I’m winning though!” Ben retorted.
“For now,” she stuck her tongue at him. “But we still have time to catch up!”
“Well,” I butted in, “That’s nice and all, but the only thing I have time for is food!”
“It’s always food,” Marty said. I glared daggers at him before turning back to Ben.
“You know any good places?” I asked.
The room was packed. Many of the citizens of Ashen Claw were asked, and by asked I mean ordered, to attend the trial of the would be assassins. The king preside over the court case, staring at the defendant’s with a mixed look of triumph and anger. The lawyer of the accused looked to be in the wreck, clearly he was stressed about defending the tyrant’s assassins.
“The court shall now proceed!” the prosecutor said. “The accused: Maple Treat, Dark Iron, Hardened Steel, Sucker Punch, Burnt Bark, and Swift Swipe are brought to this court today by charges of treason, plotting assassination, and disrupting the peace.” He listed the six and what their charges were.
Many of the bystanders shot looks of sadness towards their revolutionaries. “Would the defense like to make any claims at this time?” the judge asked.
“No, your honor.” the lawyer croaked.
“Then we may begin?” the king asked, lazily looking around the court.
“Yes, your majesty…” the judge answered.
The king halted from scanning around the courtroom, resting his eyes on the traitors. “You are charged with attempt of murder,” he droned. “A serious crime, yes, but you are also accused of the would be victim of this heinous crime to be your king.” he gave a look to the prosecution and made a waving motion with his hoof.
The prosecutor took out some papers raided from the house gave them a look. “From the evidence we’ve gathered,” he proclaimed. “your intentions were clear, the usurpation of our king, Coal Patch.”
“Does the defense understand the charges brought against it,” the judge inquired.
“Yes, your honor,” the lawyer answered glumly. He looked over to the prosecution, his opponent shooting him a look of sadness and mouthing a silent sorry.
“And what,” the king asked. “Is the defenses reply to these claims?” The room was silent, all knew the answer.
“The defense cannot deny these claims,” the lawyer said sadly.
“Nor would we want to!” the eldest of the accused, Hardened Steel, spat. “For too long have I remained silent as you ruined this once proud kingdom!” many in the audience gasped in shock at the stallions words. “You’ve ripped out every last bit of honor we had, stole our money, and played with our lives!” he went to assault the king, only to be restrained by the guards around him.
“You accuse me of these lies?” the king sneered. “You forget my ancestors and the wisdom in which they rule? I have given us stability!”
“You have given us nothing,” another of the accused, Maple Treat, shouted in anger. “You are nothing but a thief, a coward using his lineage to justify his own actions!” the guards restrained her as well.
“Clover the Clever herself blessed our dynasty--” the king went to recite their history but was abruptly cut off by another of the traitors, no, heroes!
“Clover the Clever also warned that if your dynasty was to become corrupt, another would take your place!” the young colt, Sucker Punch, challenged the tyrant.
Coal Patch laughed at the antics of the assassins. “Well then, young one,” he teased. “Where is this ‘other one’ that will strike me down, that will take my place?” all went silent as he scanned the crowd, challenging those who were present.
No one answered that challenge.
“Well then,” he scoffed, waving his hoof at the judge. “You have your answer. These traitors have committed treason, and now you must pass down the appropriate punishment!”
The judge gave a pitying look to the defendants, no, his neighbors and friends. He sighed and spoke the words he dreaded most, that any in his position would fear to say. “Then I, Judge Fair Javel, here bye bring down my verdict. The defendants are guilty, and must be….sentenced to death in a day from now.” he choked on his last words, trembling in sadness.
The guards took the prisoners back to their cells, leaving behind a mourning court. The ponies shuffled out slowly of the room, going on with the daily routine. The dread of the execution they would have to bear witness to deep in their minds.
The Mane six were sitting about in their chairs in Twilight’s Castle. They talked about their day and what was what. Rarity had her Canterlot Carousel Boutique that was still making a huge success in sales and customer satisfaction. Rainbow Dash was frequently writing to Gilda since their trip to Griffonstone, they planned on meeting up again soon. Both Pinkie Pie’s and Applejack’s business were booming due to the co-operation they shared, both apples and baking. And Fluttershy was asked to make several appearances to many animal and nature organizations.
Twilight herself held many courts to listen to the inhabitants of Ponyville and travelers who could not make it to Canterlot. But there was something missing from the six mares. Over the years of their friendship, they had battled constant threats to Equestria.
Now relying on that map that pointed to where friendship and harmony was need, they had less adventures. It had been many weeks since the map sent them to Griffonstone and it had yet to inform them of any other quests they need to take.
Until the map did activate.
They were all speechless as the gave them their new destination. An group of Islands that lie between the Dragonlands and the Griffon Kingdom.
Ashen Veil, the collective Islands colonized by the Equestrians long ago.