//------------------------------// // The Tale of the Fourth Hero // Story: A Tale of Four Heroes Who Almost Saved the World // by Ironskull //------------------------------// "The fourth and final hero was none other than Crom's personal student, a humble grey pegasus mare. However, because her mentor spent so much of his time on the field of battle, he actually spent very little of his time training his student. "This arrangement suited his student just fine, however. For she had a secret that, especially for Crom's personal student, would make her a laughingstock. "She absolutely abhorred fighting. "However, she did care very deeply about her fellow ponies. That is what led her to attempt to rescue a group of prisoners from the lich tower. "Luckily for her, the liches were otherwise occupied that day, and she encountered relatively little resistance as she stormed the tower with her trusty blade. Eventually, she did discover where the ponies that she sought were being held captive. "And as icing on the metaphorical cake, the guard lich appeared to be passed out. Stealing the key to the jail was easy." As the pegasus approached the cell where everypony had been corralled inside, one of them spoke to her. "Are you here to set us free?" asked a pegasus stallion hopefully. "Yes, I am," answered the mare. "Is this everypony?" "Fortunately, yes," answered the stallion. "They have threatened to take us away and do terrible things to us, but fortune is with us and you have come to save us before the liches have the chance to carry out their threats! We are forever in your debt!" The mare inserted the key into the lock and turned it. The cell door opened. "You must leave this place!" she told the prisoners. "There is a balcony nearby where you can make your escape! The pegasi among you must help the others to the ground safely!" "Not if I have anything to say about it!" declared a raspy voice. The mare turned to find the lich guard behind pointing a rapier at her, held in his magic grasp. "Go," the mare said to the prisoners. "I will deal with him." The other ponies gave her worried looks, but did not argue. "I knew that you took the key," said the lich. "I just felt like having a laugh is all. That is the only reason I have not yet skewered you." "Then you will regret that choice," responded the mare, drawing her blade to defend herself. "I was just pretending to be asleep," the guard continued. "The undead don't need to sleep. Seriously! I promise you that they don't!" The mare gave him a doubtful look. "I sensed your presence long before you arrived!" said the guard. "What did you eat?" The mare simply gave him a bemused stare. The lich attacked. The mare skillfully deflected her opponent's weapon, but made no attempt at any aggressive maneuvers. "You foal!" cried the lich. "I am a magical genius! I am master of the arcane! I have lived for centuries, and I will live for many centuries more! You're just a ignorant, magicless pegasus! How can you hope to ever defeat me?" The mare didn't answer. She simply focused on deflecting the rapier. "You can say something back to me, you know," said the lich. "That's how this works. I say something mean to you, you say something dumb to me, repeat." The mare didn't answer. The lich fired a spell at the mare, but she moved out of the way. "Okay you featherbrain, try this one out: You fight like a dairy farmer!" The mare didn't answer. "Come on, work with me here!" As the fencing match continued, the mare was continuously forced back by the lich's furious assault. After dodging another spell, she looked behind her and realized that the fight was being taken to the balcony where the prisoners had escaped. There was no railing. "Look, I don't care what, just say something, you stupid nag!" cried the lich in frustration. "Tell me that I'm stupid, or that I'm dead, even though I'm not the first thing, really. Or just say 'Oh yeah?', anything!" The lich finally forced the mare over the edge of the balcony. He unconsciously followed after her. "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" The mare shook her head as she watched her assailant plummet down the entire height of the enormous tower. After he hit the ground, she decided to fly down to inspect him. She discovered the battered lich in a heap on the ground. "That... was not fair..." he moaned before falling silent. The mare noticed that the lich had an amulet around his neck. She was almost certain that it hadn't been there before. She took it and it transformed. Unlike the other three amulets, this one did not transform into a golden rod. It transformed into a golden 'T' shaped thing with two holes on opposite sides of the top. The word 'valiance' was carved into it. It began to glow. A moment later, the mare found herself back inside the lich tower, surrounded by the other ponies. One in particular was paying particular attention to her. "Miss Hooves!" exclaimed the rogue. "I have been looking everywhere for you!"