Misty Mountains

by Chief Wolfee

Chatpter Two: Meeting the Party

That pony, Sacrament, I knew his type all too well. He probably knows my type all too well, as well. He proclaimed that he was a friend of Steele’s, but, to put it bluntly, I didn’t trust him. He had that look in his eye; a look that could only mean trouble, and or death. Steele was still out, at the moment, and Sacrament had informed me that he was going to wait outside of the shop for him to return. Countless times I found myself peaking around the corner to see what this pony was up to, but all I ever saw him do was shift himself countless times, trying to find that one patch of land where he could sit.
Fidgety pony, I had to say. Never stayed in a single place for far too long. Ponies who usually fidget a lot most likely means that they’ve been travelling a lot, or have just been born like that. There were a few of those said ponies here in Burrow, always causing a bit of ruckus in the town.

Returning back to work, I placed the molten tip of the sword I was working on into the bucket of cold water provided, again filling the air with the soft sound of sizzling molten metal touching ice cold water. Steam furiously blew into my face, clouding my vision for a short moment before I bought my hoof up to clear my field of vision.

Sacrament, the travelling earth pony warrior who turned up at the forge for Steele, and for his weapon to be sharpened, was still standing outside of the door to the shop, admiring the beauty of his newly sharpened blade. This gave me a chance to look at the blade he carried. A diamond incrusted hilt, brightly polished steel blade and a leather sheath to keep it in. He swung it around in the wind, slashing the wind time and time again. Snow fell again, the icy breeze of the wind nipping at my coat, digging into the skin beneath my warm coat. I was freezing.

Earth ponies, like Sacrament and Steele, have a big resistance to the extreme weather conditions here in the southern part of Equestria; here, the summers were harsh, the winters were harsher, and the autumns and spring were pretty mild. Again, I walked away from the corner, picking up a leather quiver from underneath the table. Nothing too bad was done to this; just a few pieces of the leather coating, and the strap, had parts of the leather chipped away, leaving it weaker than before.
It was just a simple job of replicating the quiver, reinforcing it with more and more strips of leather. But, to me, that’d take time to do; and would take a full stomach of food to assist with that. My stomach rumbled time and time again, craving for something to fill up my system. I could always go get an apple from Sugar Cane, one if the ponies that work on the farm, and simply just walk back here, but then again I don’t want to leave the forge, or the store, unattended with Sacrament around.
I brushed off the first few rumbles of my stomach like it was nothing, but it continued to get louder and louder each time I kept it under wraps. If I did got to get some food, I’d probably get my flank kicked by Steele, but if I stay I might end up starving myself until I get leave. Wherever in Equestria Steele was, he’d better hurry up.

“You know something, you’re a lot different to any other unicorn I’ve ever met,” Sacrament complimented, walking back into the forge. “You don’t see to talk as much as many of them, let alone do you live in a place like this. You unicorns live up north, but here you are; a young unicorn living in an earth pony town. So, if you want, tell me why you’re here.”

“My parents split up when I was young,” I complied. “My father was a unicorn alchemist, and my mother was a barmaid. They stayed together for two years after I was born, but split up due to an argument; but I was…too small, and too young, for it to really affect me, personally. I haven’t heard much from my father, but I know that he’s not just any old alchemist now; he’s the court alchemist, specializing in various remedies and potions for use of the guard and the royals.”

“And your mother?” Sacrament asked.

Instantly, my head hang low, “after my father left us, my mother couldn’t keep the household for very long. Soon as it was taken aback by my father, my mother and I trekked the very breadth of Equestria, ending up in several towns at once. We’d get help, once in a while, by travellers who’d been travelling Equestria for years. By the age of five, we arrived here; Burrow.” I took in a deep breath, feeling tears come to my eyes at the very thought of thinking about what happened years ago. Never the less, I continued; “we weren’t widely accepted at first, but as the years went by we began to fit in with the community.”
“Continue,” Sacrament pleaded, wanting to know a bit more. No one, in my entire life, has been more interested in my story more than Steele; but this one, this pony, wanted to know more about me as well.

I screwed my eyes shut, trying to keep my tears from flooding out as I began to prepare myself to say the next sentence. Reluctantly, I declined, “I’m sorry, but like I said, I am not willing to share my whole life story with somepony I just met.”
Sacrament nodded, “understandable.”

I returned that with only a single nod, wiping away the tears and continuing to move around the forge, hooves wanting to get hold of some metal which I could make into a sword or an arrowhead. “Your father, if I must say, sounds like a complete jerk.”
I nodded, “from what my mother told me, he was. Always wanting to work, always wanting to lock himself away from the world so he could continue projects in secrecy; it’s a mystery to me at the fact that I don’t know what he was doing locked away in his room.” I hung my head just thinking about a few thoughts, “then again, I was too young to even think about that; but, looking back on it, it’s always been a wonder to me.”

“Sometimes, you’re a mystery to me, Malik,” a too familiar voice commented. That voice, the one I knew all too well; Steele. Steele, when I turned around, in sync with Sacrament, was standing at the open mouth of the forge, a saddlebag placed on his back, weighed down with whatever he needed. Steele got close, setting the saddlebags aside for the moment; “you’re not just any pony, Malik; you’re a mystery.” Steele turned to face the other earth pony, “and you, Sacrament, what are you doing here?”

I was confused. So, if Steele knew Sacrament, wouldn’t have they met up with each other before? “I’ve come here to talk to you, Steele; in private,” Sacrament added, turning his head to the door of the shop. Steele complied with a nod, picking up the saddlebags and following the other earth pony inside the shop. My curiosity got the better of me. When he entered the shop, with Steele, I quietly moved myself over to the door, placing one of my ears on the wooden door. I listened carefully to the conversation; “Now then, let’s get down to business.”

“Is this about those bits I borrowed? Because I can pay them back, right now.”

“No, Steele; I’m not here about those bits. I’ve come, to you, with an offer that you cannot refuse.”

I heard a slight banging noise emitting from the inside of the shop, “oh, I see. This is about Misty Mountain, isn’t it?”

My eyes opened wide at that name, “yes, yes it is. Signs have been shown, Steele; signs to show that the dragon of Misty Mountain has its days numbered.”

“But you’ll need a team to get inside the mountain, Sacrament; and I don’t want to be a part of it. I’m not that adventurer I used to be.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, in one way. I’ve been travelling Equestria for the past ten years, searching for the raw talent needed to mend this team into a full-fledged force. I’ve gathered many physical, and mentally, capable for this task; few like Dawnstar of Isenberg, the Enchantress Krados, the valiant warrior Bolter, and many more with those talents.”

“And what do you need me for?”

“We need your talent in blacksmithing, Steele; for Dawnstar knows the location of a particular blade, and we’ll need somepony to mend it if necessary.”

“Listen, Sacrament, I’ve known you for fifteen years now. I’m too old to continue like this, but if you only need me for that, then I’ll come.”

The sound of clapping hooves was heard, “excellent. Myself, and the others, will be at the inn tonight, to discuss our first move on our journey. We need you to be there tonight.”

“I can’t do tonight.” Came Steele’s immediate reply.

“Elaborate.” Sacrament spat.

“The young one, my apprentice, Malik, and I get together each week for a drink at the inn. It just so happens that we arranged for tonight to be the night of our weekly drink, so I’m afraid we’ll have to reschedule.”

“We have no time to reschedule, Steele,” boomed Sacrament. “This is more important than just some drink with another pony!”

“Malik is more than just another pony, Sacrament!” Steele yelled in my defence. “He’s been in my care for six years today, Sacrament. You don’t know what he’s been through,” a silence fell in the room, “but I do.”

“Care to justify what he’s been through, Steele?”

“No,” Steele deadpanned, “I swore an oath to him that I wouldn’t tell anypony about what happened six years ago. After all, earth ponies are known to keep to their oaths, no matter what.”

“Whatever,” Sacrament replied. The sound of hooves getting closer and closer made my heart skip a beat. In a few seconds, I dashed from the door to the shop back to the forge, pretending to still be working on a sword which I picked up. Sacrament swung the door open, walking out in fury. “Be there tonight, Steele; and bring your unicorn with you.”

And with that, Sacrament furiously walked down the road, exiting the town in less than a minute. From what I gathered, it seemed to me that this Sacrament pony was nothing but trouble. And, to be quite frank, I didn’t really like the way he talked about me; referring me to as Steele’s unicorn, and not using my proper name. “He seems a bit mad,” I stated, not adding much to continue.

Steele nodded, “yep, that’s as made as he’ll ever be.” Steele shook his head, walking up to me and looking down at me. “And, I knew you were listening in to the conversation, Malik.” How in the god’s name did he know? “But, I’ll let it slide, for now. Come on, we’ve got work to do.”

“But first, a quick bite to eat.” I said as my stomach rumbled, causing the older earth pony to chuckle lightly.

…Outside of Burrow…

Sacrament waited at the wall surrounding Burrow, cooling off after his little argument with his old friend Steele. Sacrament though that after ten years of travelling, Steele would’ve welcomed him with open hooves. But, instead of that, he was greeted with little retaliation from his old friend. Despite Steele agreeing to join him, he didn’t really see the reason why he’d waste a second of time with his unicorn co-worker.

To the east, Sacrament spotted several ponies, ranging of different races and genders, approaching the wall surrounding the small trading town. Leading them, at the front, was Dawnstar and an earth pony. The earth pony was coloured grey; holding a more muscular tone than a few of the other ponies, save for one of the dwarven ponies that followed. A completely black, messy mane, complete with a black goatee and black sideburns, reaching down to his jawbone, were all that was really notable about his appearance, save for a pair of dark blue eyes.

Aside from his appearance, the earth pony carried several personal items. For starters, he was dressed in a bronze cuirass, bronze greaves which only appeared on his back legs, and a bronze helmet, shaped like a helmet from one of the earth pony kingdom’s military, and atop the helmet was a headdress coloured in a dark shade of blood red. On the earth pony’s back was a bronze round shield, with a spike sticking out of the shield, and held in one of his hooves was a long spear, personalized with several skulls of fallen ponies; a quarter of them being earth ponies.

The party of ponies reached the gate, Dawnstar and the unnamed earth pony approaching the earth pony, who stood at the edge of the wall. The earth pony greeted Sacrament with a nod, whilst Dawnstar cleared his throat to speak; “so, Sacrament, has he agreed to join us?” Dawnstar asked, motioning for the earth pony beside him to let his guard down; after all, they were in the presence of several earth pony guards surrounding the walls of the town.

Sacrament shook his head. “Sort of. He has said that he’ll join us, but he says that he cannot meet up with us tonight.”
“How come?” Asked the earth pony, ignoring Dawnstar’s order to let his guard down. “He does know that we need his expertise in smithing, correct?”

“Yes,” Sacrament replied. “All I’m saying is that he cannot meet up with us tonight; due to him going to have a drink with his only other co-worker.” Informed the earth pony, with a little bit of irritation evident in his voice.

“Co-worker? Well, what shall we do?” Dawnstar asked.

Sacrament bought his head up, “we’re still going to meet with him, regardless of what he says. He wants to have a drink with his co-worker, then to the divine with it; we’ll still be there.” Sacrament turned to the grey earth pony, “Bolter, I want you to lead us into Burrow. You’ve been here once, or twice, before, so you’ll know where the inn is.”

The earth pony, Sacrament identified as Bolter, nodded; “aye, Sacrament. We’ll get moving tonight.”

…Eleven Hours Later…

The Drunken Traveller. The only inn within a few miles of this region, and me and Steele were sitting down at a table, having the time of our lives. It’d been, like every week, a hectic week; what with the work piling up every day, and let alone the surprise visit from Sacrament, we’ve been at work non-stop every day. Tonight, though, was the time where I and Steele would get our stress relief.

The bartender, a pale yellow earth pony mare, slid a tankard full of apple cider in my general direction, causing me to act upon instinct and stop the sliding drink with my right hoof. The bartender winked at me, and instantly after that I felt my cheeks turn bright red; out of all the males in Burrow, why pick me? I turned my gaze to Steele, who was gulping down a full tankard full of cider. Finishing his drink, Steele turned to face me, not noticing the few spots of cider that stayed in his beard.
Looking away from the old earth pony, I began to take several small swigs of the cider, instantly refreshing my throat after a long day of work. Setting my drink down with my levitation abilities, I asked, “so, Steele, what did that Sacrament pony want to talk to you about anyway?”

Steele’s expression turned sour, possibly just from thinking about what Sacrament wanted from him. “You should know, you listened into the conversation. But, I guess it doesn’t hurt to shed a bit more light onto the subject,” Steele said bitterly. “He wanted me to go with him, to go and slay some dragon that lives atop Misty Mountain, hiding itself inside the Alicorn Castle that lies atop Misty Mountain.”

“I’ve heard stories about that place; but never before have I heard the presence of a dragon up there. I thought they were extinct.” I stated.

Steele chuckled. “Well, Sacrament has. When I was deemed too old to continue travelling, he said that there were rumours about a dragon living up there, nesting in pools of gold and silver. He had to confirm these rumours, first; and so, he set out to find anypony with any information about it. Now he’s here; looking for somepony else to join up with him for this adventure.”

“Why don’t you go with him?” I asked.

Again he chuckled, “I’m too old to carry on travelling, Malik. I’m not like you young ones, today. If you were my age, and somepony wanted you to come on one last adventure, would you turn it down?”

That thought pondered in my mind for a brief moment. After a few brief seconds, I looked down, “well, I guess that I would.”

Steele took another swig of his cider, “exactly.”

I heard the door of the inn open. In the doorway, clad in bronze armour, was a grey earth pony, wielding a spear and a shield; the shield having a medium sized, well sharpened spike in the middle of the round shield. His face was, mostly, covered by the helmet; the only thing I could actually see was his soulless dark blue eyes, giving off that gaze of fear, dread, and mistrust. The earth pony walked in, allowing more and more ponies to enter the inn. Many were earth ponies; but there was a notable amount of pegasi, unicorns, and dwarven ponies.

Two figures walked in side by side; one pegasi, the other unknown due to the figure being covered up by an entirely back cloak. The pegasi pony was a mare, with a bright yellow, almost pale, coat along with a bright blue mane and tail. A matching pair of bright blue eyes nestled in her skull, and wrapped around her barrel was a quiver of arrows, and a longbow. The mare’s cutie mark resembled that of just a simple bow and arrow crossed together in the shape of a cross. The figure next to her, though, was completely ominous; her appearance was a mystery, the only thing notable was a pair of green eyes which stuck out from the darkness of the hooded cloak. Wrapped around her barrel was a smaller quiver of arrows, and a small crossbow, decorated with several tribal patterns. Aside from that, I noticed that strapped to one forehoof, particularly the right one, was a sheath; containing, as she placed it back in the sheath, a dagger entirely made out of a substance known only as Ebony.

As those two figures walked in, another figure entered; another pegasus pony. The pegasus pony held a light brown coat, along with a dark blue mane and tail, not styled in any particular fashion. His eyes, however, were the one thing that I noted was different about him. One eye was a dark shade of cobalt, whilst the other was a dark shade of ruby. He was dressed in a midnight blue leather vest, and over that was a black cloak, without the hood. Another thing I noted were his weapons; two scimitars tucked underneath the cloak in two separate sheaths, and wrapped around his barrel was yet another quiver of arrows and yet another crossbow.

Those ponies looked awfully…suspicious in my opinion. Very rarely did you find several armed ponies walking into a tavern, let alone this one. But, there was one which stood out from the rest; walking through the door way, aside an old unicorn and that pony from earlier, Sacrament, was a graceful looking elven unicorn. Her pale cream coat contrasted with her dark peach mane and tail, which was long and flowing in the faint wind. Around her neck was a pendant, and in the middle of that said pendant was a clear sapphire. Two sheathed daggers were placed on either side of her flank, covering her cutie mark right up. Finally, wrapped around her barrel was a silver shortsword; the light from the candles above dancing around the sword’s blade.

Sacrament spotted Steele from the door, motioning for the old unicorn and the graceful elven unicorn to wait there as he walked over to mine and Steele’s table. Sacrament placed a hoof on the table, gaining the much needed attention of me and Steele. “So, you decided to show up; and bring your unicorn with you.” Sacrament hissed.

Steele sighed. “As I’ve stated, Sacrament, I was going to be here; just not with you.”

“Is that so,” Sacrament hissed again. “Well then, it’s tough; we need to leave tomorrow morning, and you’re the only pony I trust with this task. So, whether you like it or not, we’re going to be here with you, and your unicorn.”

“Listen pal,” I retorted, catching Sacrament off guard. “If Steele doesn’t want to join you, he doesn’t have to join you; so take a hike.”

Sacrament only laughed. “Kid’s got some fight in him,” Sacrament laughed, pulling out his sword which I sharpened earlier. “Do you think you have the guts to fight me, kid?” I shook my head, wincing in fear as the blade drew closer and closer.

Steele yanked the sword out of Sacrament’s grip, “Sacrament, leave him alone. It’s me you want.”

Sacrament smiled, taking his sword out of Steele’s grasp. “I thought so as well.”

Author's Note:

Welp, this chapter got out earlier than expected; possibly because I have a lot of free time. Anyway, we saw the introduction of all the OCs, and these are the creators and their OCs:

Mr Bolter – Bolter (Earth Pony who reminds me of King Leonidas from 300(FF.Net))
Starfall22 – Starshine (Female Pegasus(FF.Net))
FrostRaven32 – Arias Swift Ace III (Male Pegasus(FF.Net))
Newnawn – Krados (Unknown figure who’s gender and race is To Be Announced(FF.Net))

Thank you guys for sending in your OCs, it has really helped me fill the gaps in with the group. It really fills me with joy that you’re taking the story seriously, and sending in some good characters to help me out. Next week is another chapter for Rise of the Titans(FF.Net), and the week after that is another update for Misty Mountains. If you’ll please be patient with this, I’ll get these out at a steady pace. For now, though, I must take my leave.

Signed, Chief Wolfee.