Act 1 of 7: Episode 1 of 15: First Stop, Waterlock
New places visited on one's adventure always have their share of wonder.
Unfortunately they also hide danger in the shadows...
“Feels like I slept for a couple of months.” Ridge Dasher mumbled as he got to his feet and then walked over to Sunkissed Amber, who was herself just getting to her hooves.
“Stress will do that to you.” Sunkissed Amber turned her head and looked down at her rear hooves. “That little move I pulled on her...”
“How DID you do that?” Ridge Dasher asked, shaking the cobwebs out of his head. “That was very unexpected, to say the least. I wish I could do something like that.”
Sunkissed Amber rolled her eyes and looked away. “You know what they say, expect the unexpected. I've been trying to train myself in unconventional means of defense. My braids are a weapon, and that little spin-on-one-hoof-and-kick move is just another.”
Ridge Dasher was secretly impressed. “You should name it something cool. My superior officer has a move he calls the Blazing Trick...”
Sunkissed Amber shrugged. “Well, it certainly catches most ponies off guard, so I can either get the first shot or run away. I had some... suitors drop by the farm once or twice and had to keep them at a distance somehow when they wouldn't take no for an answer. Honor's Edge couldn't be everywhere at once and his heavy armor and weapons were out of my league.”
“Suitors? Most farms in the area are so remote I'm surprised you got any visitors at all, especially with what I've heard about how Honor's Edge really liked his privacy.” Ridge Dasher said as he unrolled a map across one of the tables and pointed out areas of interest to Sunkissed Amber. “The map here suggests that the easiest path to Trol'Kyanis lay not in the east but in the north, through a mountain range called the Blistering Mountains...” He studied the map some more. “... and then through a series of deep valleys and caves known as the Claw's Run. Then they pass a few settlements before finally reaching Triple Hooves, close to the coast.”
“As for Moonlight Silence, I was just tired of her pride and I was too stressed out to do anything more.” Sunkissed Amber finished. “I'm surprised Gleam didn't come back by now; he doesn't like me being alone now that my father's dead. That suggests he ran into trouble...”
“I don't like Moonlight Silence. She's cold, cruel, and... well, dead.” Ridge Dasher looked out the window. “But if she didn't come back either, that means that she didn't find him. She seems driven enough in her single-minded 'quest' that she won't stop until she has him... or the Dragon's Heart, at least.”
“Gleam's a lot smarter than he lets on.” Sunkissed Amber opened a cupboard but it was filled with nothing but dust; as an undead creature Moonlight Silence preferred a pony's life force instead of physical food. “He probably buried it and left false trails, or hid it somewhere where she can't get to it easily even with unicorn magic.”
“And centuries-old undead unicorn magic at that.” Ridge Dasher grumbled as he traced a trail on the map for Sunkissed Amber to approve of. “He'd really have to outsmart her. He couldn't have just eaten the thing, she'd kill him and take it out of his corpse and then use the corpse for her own ends.”
“Gleam can hold his own. I've got faith in him.” Sunkissed Amber replied, opening a window.
Ridge Dasher pointed to the map. “It's going to take four weeks to get through, and then another two for the Claw's Run.” He looked up. “What are you hoping to find in there? I doubt some... abomination like her is going to keep 'mortal' food around.”
A growl from behind them made them both turn. Kavesh had just gotten up.
“Slept well, 'Crash'?” Ridge Dasher asked.
Kavesh resentfully growled at him.
Ridge Dasher smirked. “Yeah, that's what I thought.”
“What are we going to do with him? He eats more than the two of us put together, and I'm not a hunter.” Sunkissed Amber said.
“Can hunt good for self.” Kavesh grumbled. “Hunt for you, no.”
Ridge Dasher rolled his eyes. “There's your answer.”
“Well, there's no food here. We can eat in Waterlock.” Sunkissed Amber said. “Kavesh, if I let you out, you're not going to kill us, right?”
Kavesh looked at Ridge Dasher, then back at Sunkissed Amber, sighing and relaxing his stance, having made up his mind not to anger the light-coated pony. She was still too strong for him and to kill the obnoxious gray pony now would be more trouble than it was worth. “No.”
“Ridge, would you let him out?” Sunkissed Amber turned from him to look out the window only to come muzzle-to-beak with a familiar avian friend. “TWISTER!!”
“Oh boy, we're going to be the best of friends, aren't we, Crash.” Ridge Dasher grumbled, but took the key to the cage off a nearby table and released the Ruined. Kavesh stepped out of the cage and stretched like a big cat with a mighty yawn, showing his fangs.
“Where have you BEEN, Twister?” Sunkissed Amber asked the hawk.
Twister chirped, tilting his head, then stretched his wings as to attempt to explain something as best he could. Some movement out of the corner of his eye showed that Kavesh had seen him and was licking his lips. Feeling threatened by the enormous Ruined, Twister took off, flying off into a nearby tree where he chirped again. For a couple of minutes he did a circuit from tree to tree, almost as if trying to lead Sunkissed Amber somewhere.
“You think he wants us to follow him?” Ridge Dasher sarcastically asked before glancing at Kavesh as if to ward him off. “No eating the bird, Crash.”
Sunkissed Amber nodded. “It's better than nothing and it looks like he's going towards Waterlock.”
“We're not getting anything done here.” Ridge Dasher gestured at the various experiments, concoctions, gadgets and things that were spread out over the tables. “We can make some coin selling some of your trade goods in Waterlock, but how are we going to get your... stuff...?” We can't carry it all, and we-”
“Kavesh carry. Not beast of weight, but know trade. Know trade bring glory to weak like you. Glory good.” Kavesh said. “You small, weak, not carry weight.”
Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber exchanged looks. “I don't know whether to be insulted you're calling me weak, or surprised you're offering to help when you were so willing to kill us earlier.” Ridge Dasher said.
“You small. I big. Who strong?” Kavesh lifted a huge clawed hoof and put it down on Ridge Dasher's head, forcing him to kneel. “I not kill you...” He glanced at Sunkissed Amber. “She strong. I not more strong... yet.”
“Does she mean Moonlight Silence, or me?” Sunkissed Amber asked.
Kavesh gave a brief smile then went over and pulled the harness out from the pile of supplies with his teeth. It would be a tight fit being the Ruined was nearly twice the size Gleam was, but with a little rope and a lot of pulling, they could make it work.
A couple of hours later, with some maps at their side, they were ready to head for Waterlock. Sunkissed Amber paused as they passed by the corpse of the adventurer that Moonlight Silence had made the blood golem out of. “How could she do this to a pony?” She asked, near-frozen to the spot briefly in equal parts facination and horror.
“Broken hearts do many things; this is nothing compared to what I've seen back at the base.” Ridge Dasher said. “It is not a pretty sight. I've seen one stallion leave a very attractive mare for a second attractive mare, and it made the broken-hearted mare turn from being warm and energetic to an unthinking, cold-hearted terror we had to expel from base. She never thawed completely. Losing someone's love or not having it returned ruined her heart and mind more than the Ruined who'd ruined her pelt. We found her two weeks later, ripped to shreds. I can only imagine what must have gone through Moonlight Silence's mind before she... became what she is.”
“Kavesh break more than heart.” Kavesh said. “Bones, skull. Eat all. She die.”
“When you're older and stronger, Crash.” Ridge Dasher replied.
Kavesh snarled under his breath but glanced at Sunkissed Amber, having decided she was his “alpha” for the time being. Towns meant many ponies, all soft and weak. The time for glory would present itself soon enough and his tribe would never believe what he believed he'd succeed at...
Ridge Dasher held open the door for Sunkissed Amber, feeling himself fall back into “explorer” mode. As a foal he had traveled quite a bit, developing his running speed by visiting as many places as he could. Normally when he started a new adventure, he led off with a personal catchphrase just to hear himself talk. “Ready to go?”
Sunkissed Amber glanced at Kavesh, who was looking comically constricted while wearing the harness. “Do we have a choice? Let's head out. I'm anxious to find Gleam.”
The soldier-in-training nodded. “Then let's KICK IT!” He was out the door.
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They arrived at midday, having passed by the scene of the previous night's slaughter on the way there. While going over the ruins of the caravan and burying what corpses were left on the surface that hadn't been totally torn to pieces by the Ruined, Ridge Dasher recovered Razor Barbs' baseball bat and discovered a message scratched in a tree. The note showed that Razor Barbs had survived, but just barely. Conflicted about returning to base to check up on a friend he'd all but abandoned and traveling with Sunkissed Amber on her journey, he decided that her travels would have to take priority.
He debated sending a note or letter from Waterlock back to Blazing Wheel and update him on the situation, but the truth was that doing so might get the Commodore's attention, and that was the last thing he wanted. Blazing Wheel could only defend him for so long, though, and he technically was AWOL...
Waterlock was a medium sized village of about a hundred or so ponies, mostly farmers and the occasional lone wolf or wanderer. Kavesh recoiled on approach to the village, as his tribe had gone through numerous attempts at taking it down in the past. However, the wood making up the stockade surrounding the village as a line of defense had been specially brought in from elsewhere; it was a special type of wood that took on the hardness of metal when treated with water. If the Ruined attacked, the extra hardness this trait provided would keep the village impervious to their attacks and gods help them if a splinter got in the wound.
Standing at attention at the main iron gate were two guard ponies, and they looked at each other as the group approached before moving to cut them off.
“Name?” One of them boredly said, yawning and noticeably wobbly on his hooves. The bags under his eyes suggest he'd been on an overnight shift and he needed sleep of his own.
Ridge Dasher stepped forward. “I'm Ridge Dasher, one of the recruits from the Iron Stone Stallion Base.” He motioned to Sunkissed Amber and Kavesh. “We're on official business for the base, so if you would please let us pass, it would be appreciated.”
Sunkissed Amber glanced at him with a confused expression, while Kavesh rolled his eyes.
“Business from the base?” The other guard asked, eyes snapping completely open as he noticed Kavesh.
“He won't hurt you.” Sunkissed Amber said. “He's with us. We're using him to transport my trade goods.”
Kavesh snorted, relaxing his stance but flexing his back, showing how strong he was. The two guards looked at each other.
“Impressive.” One of them said as the two guards began to chat Ridge Dasher up for a few minutes before shrugging in unison and opening the gate. Both guards seemed unsurprised that the caravan the previous night hadn't made it, and they were in no way going to send a “rescue party” to salvage what was left. It just wasn't safe; the road belonged to the Ruined until patrols from the base could clean them out once and for all.
Kavesh snorted more than once as he listened to the banter while they passed through into a main square, and once out of earshot of them, he voiced his displeasure. “They weak. All are weak here. Hide behind magic wood.”
“It works, doesn't it, Crash?” Ridge Dasher asked.
A growl in reply. Kavesh was getting more than tired of the nickname. He kept mentally telling himself to be patient. The time would come.
“I'm going to explore. Gleam will show himself if he catches my scent, and the more I move around, the better the chance he finds me via smell.” Sunkissed Amber said, looking up and around at the many wooden and stone buildings in the village. “We need to find a place to...” She glanced at Kavesh. “Keep Kavesh safe, so the other ponies don't go after him... or he tries to eat them defending himself. I don't want anypony getting hurt.”
Kavesh gave her a feigned look of shock, but the gleam in his one eye was completely feral. If he thought he could get away with it, he'd eat every pony in the place.
“I'm going to get myself a new shield.” Ridge Dasher said. “I can train while we're on the road to Trol'Kyanis and give Blazing Wheel something to be proud of later. If you find something, let me know.”
Sunkissed Amber looked up again, and caught sight of Twister perched on top of one of the buildings, watching her. “I'll do that. Come on, Kavesh, let's go to the stable and get that heavy load off your back, then we can try to sell it for coin.”
“Heavy?” Kavesh proudly arched his back and wiggled his tail. “This nothing.”
The two headed off, leaving Ridge Dasher to explore the village. He'd been here a few times before on business for the base, so he knew where the smithy was, and so that was going to be his first stop. Some of the ponies he passed greeted him by name or asked him what had happened to the caravan; to avoid causing a scene he simply replied that it was “being investigated” even though he was sure that the guards at the gate would eventually blab and share the news with everypony.
The blacksmith's shop was distinctive, the stone of the building being reinforced with visible metal rods on the outside so as to draw attention to the eye. The door itself was solid iron, and required a fair bit of effort to push open. Ridge Dasher leaned his shoulder on the door and pushed it open before calling inside. “You here, Ocean?”
A pale blue stallion with darker blue hair poked up his head from behind a pile of twisted metal, tools and other things. “Ridge Dasher! What brings you to Waterlock?”
Ridge Dasher held up a hoof in a gesture to be quiet. “Various things. Listen, I need a new shield, one that can 'represent' the base. I'm... going on a long journey, and I want a shield that has the base insignia on it. Can you make that?”
“Got you covered.” Ocean's Sledge replied, coming out from behind the mess and wiping the dust off his cutie mark, which was of a sledge hammer submerged in water. Hanging on the wall were many weapons and shields, several of which had the base's insignia (Commodore Triangle Star's cutie mark on a fiery background) already impressed and etched into them.
“Listen.” Ridge Dasher said. “I know I can trust you, so let me explain.”
“Something up?” Ocean's Sledge tilted his head as he took a shield off the wall.
“I came in with a mare who has family in Trol'Kyanis of all places.” Ridge Dasher said, getting up on his hind hooves and looking out the window to make sure they were not overheard.
Ocean's Sledge whistled. “You are going places.”
“Is the... the cache... still in place?” Ridge Dasher asked.
“Last I knew, yes.” Ocean's Sledge nodded. “Everything's been set aside for Blazing Wheel, just like he asked. No one suspects a thing.”
“I think I'm going to need it. This is big, Ocean. Really big. Did you happen to see a really bright and tacky-colored unicorn show up at all? Maybe she was chasing a little dragon?” Ridge Dasher accepted the shield from him. Things made by Ocean's Sledge were high quality goods; a shield made by him would be made to last a lifetime and then some. “The Commodore's out for my hide, I think, and I've got a bad feeling about things.”
“The Commodore hates everyone, but I can't imagine why.” Ocean's Sledge replied. “He never was the same after coming back from that general area. I can't say that I've seen anyone matching the description of a strangely colored unicorn, though. Sorry.”
Ridge Dasher nodded, giving his friend a hoof-bump. “I'll be at the inn tonight. Bring me the location of the cache. I'll likely need it all.”
“How do you expect to carry it all?” Ocean's Sledge asked.
“We've... got a Ruined to carry it for us.” Now it was Ridge Dasher's turn to smile before he walked out of the shop with the shield, leaving Ocean's Sledge staring off into space in surprise.
“You WHAT!? Okay, this I have to hear!” Ocean's Sledge began to say, but Ridge Dasher had already left.
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From her hiding spot, Moonlight Silence watched the ponies come and go. While her powers were not reduced by exposure to daylight, the ponies here knew each other and the sudden appearance of an unknown pony would have them talking when she wished they wouldn't. Even though the guards would pose her little to no threat, talk meant trouble, and she didn't want to kill multiple innocents that were just going about their everyday lives. Her coat had lost its stripes and returned to its original honey-gold, but her eyes were still dead and she'd be watched if not harassed for being just a little bit different.
She had searched high and low for that upstart dragon, but had not found him, and he had at the same time gotten the drop on her by hiding the Dragon's Heart in plain sight... in a pawn shop of all places just as the sun was rising. The pony who owned the shop had been surprised at seeing the treasure left blindly out on the counter, and realizing such a gemstone was very very valuable he had immediately locked it in a safe in the shop's back room.
Moonlight Silence was going to make sure the dragon paid for that little trick and then she could help Sunkissed Amber on her little journey. The sooner they got to Trol'Kyanis, the better, then the Commodore's end would be at hand.
She paused, reflecting on Sunkissed Amber. The mare was innocent, she could see that plainly and thus she deserved help. If the lich hadn't gone through her things she likely would have just let both her and Ridge Dasher go; they were not direct threats to her long term plans. On the other hand, Kavesh was a serious threat who would not be corralled for any long period of time; she'd have to keep one eye peeled for him at all times.
On top of that the spell she'd used to burn obedience-through-pain into him wouldn't keep him down and he'd probably just use the circlet as a status symbol among his people later, further uniting the Ruined. If that happened they could assault her tower if they wanted, and while she was confident in her abilities to reduce the Ruined to mindless zombies, it would expend resources and power she didn't want to waste on such unthinking brutes.
Stepping out into the sunlight, her horn glowed slightly as she cast a minor spell meant for her to blend in with the background so she'd be more easily ignored. Then she headed for the most crowded part of the market square, where the ponies haggling and selling were focused too much on the task at hand to pay much if any attention to her. She looked this way and that, looking for something she could use to trade for the Dragon's Heart. Because no one had seen Gleam deposit the thing in the shop just as the doors were opening for the day, its existence was a secret to everypony and she concentrate on that task specifically.
This meant that no one knew that the shop owner had taken the treasure and squirreled it away; she could freely... inquire about it later when she had something she could trade. She wasn't about to destroy the village just to get her hooves on the Dragon's Heart; the innocent had a right to live.
She stepped back in between two buildings to relax herself briefly before her supernatural senses fired off and she perked up. Someone with some severe blackness on their heart was nearby, and it was enough to make her tense. She focused the power in her horn briefly to orient, then her eyes widened with a bit of shock as she saw the pony that was the source. In the sky overhead, a crimson pony wearing clockwork wings was doing laps around the village, and it appeared he was looking for something.
Moonlight Silence tensed. She knew this pony. His appearance meant trouble. What was HE doing here?!
Turning her head and catching sight of Ridge Dasher as he was headed in the direction of the inn, she stepped back out into the sun and approached. As Ridge Dasher was about to open the door, she nudged him so she could make small talk. “Looking for someone?”
“Uh, no... miss...” Ridge Dasher began.
“Come on.” Moonlight Silence's “living” voice was about two octaves higher than the sultry gothic tone she normally took and had no trace of the accent. This was a side effect of the magic used to preserve her; in the purity of the daylight sun her appearance and voice defaulted to that which she had had in life. “You're looking for someone, I'm sure of it. Someone with the heart of a dragon, perhaps?”
Ridge Dasher paused. “Who are you.”
“Dearie.” Moonlight Silence said quietly, giving him an amused, knowing look. “Where is she?”
Ridge Dasher locked his eyes with hers. “She's... busy.”
“Aren't we all.” Moonlight Silence rolled her eyes. “Where's the brute? He had to have come with you. She's not the kind to leave him caged up like that.”
“Busier.” Ridge Dasher replied, avoiding the question.
“You'll tell me what I want to know, you know.” Moonlight Silence said. “All I need to say are two little words.”
“Go burn?” Ridge Dasher turned his back on her, about to enter the inn to relax. He didn't think she'd be dumb enough to hurt him in broad daylight.
Moonlight Silence pointed to the sky. “Jester's Thorn.”
Ridge Dasher froze, one hoof on the door, then he flexed his front hooves. If he had hands, he'd be making tight fists with them. “Okay, that gets my attention.”
Moonlight Silence grinned, a slight trace of her stripes fading over her coat. “Ah thought it might do that. Now, where is she?” She tried to bring her accent out but it sounded fake.
“They went to the stable to get him out of the harness, then to the market to sell some of the trade goods for coin.” Ridge Dasher said. “I was going to meet her here when she was done with Kavesh and the market. I guess you didn't find what you were looking for?”
Moonlight Silence frowned, her tail flicking as she made a concentrated effort to bring out her accent. “Ah know where it is, yes. Getting it will be another story. Th' dragon is clever and made th' little game difficult. We have bigger issues, however. What is he doing here?”
“I don't know. Whatever it is, it can't be good. We need to get the Dragon's Heart from wherever Gleam hid it and then get out of here before he decides to take interest in us.” Ridge Dasher held the door open. “After you.”
“You're such a gentlestallion.” The lich's voice dripped enough sarcasm to cause a flood as they went inside to wait for Sunkissed Amber to return with Kavesh.