Enigma

by steampunkwatchman

Chapter 9: The Trigon

Suddenly, an attack dog jumped from the bushes. Slice! It went down, my katana cut clean through its thick hide. I pulled the blade out of its body just as another monster of a dog leapt at me. Turning around, I kicked it to the ground and dove after him, stabbing straight through his head. I continued as more and more dogs came like a never ending storm of death, one by one the beasts came, and one by one I severed flesh from bone. Whether it be sliced, diced, stabbed or skewered I vowed to defend Strongheart and I would not stop until all that opposed where slain. I wouldn't rest until I was sure.

Oh, I stabbed and stabbed some more, until no more dogs would emerge from the bushes.

I cried out at the top of my lungs, blood lust and fury coursing through my veins.
“Is that it! I've seen better from foals than the likes of you! I am just getting started, you yellow bellied hacks!”
Throwing away my rationality I taunted my opponents further, the smell of the recently deceased coming to light. Two earth ponies jumped me from behind a oak. Flying in the air, I threw a smoke pellet, blinding them so that I could swoop down to slit their throats. The taste of their crimson blood on my lips made me smile. I would kill them all if I had to.

I was the master now; these cowards would scatter like the scum they are. My voice grew stronger as I challenged the true enemy.

“You! You indescribable slug of horror that not even your own mother wanted to see you! You who is the dark I am the light! You who is the conductor of this orchestra come forward to face thy destiny! For I am Sir Edwin!”

The bloodlust was overwhelming. At this point, the rage had overcome my sense of self, and I became a predator. In my rage, I heard a voice; a small, meek little voice calling my name, but it was so totally overwhelmed by the delicious cries of pain and agony that were my enemies last breaths. Who was calling my name? What had I been doing before?

“E-edwin!” cried Strongheart, “You need to calm down! Let’s get out of here. I think we’ve had enough blood for one day.”

NO!

“No!” I screamed, “This is my opportunity. I am ending the cycle of pain and torment that is this farm. I shall stop it here!”
She screamed out at me once more, “Enigma! Edwin! We have to go. We have to get out of here before… it arrives”.
That caught my attention.

“I’m not afraid of it”, I yelled, seemingly shaking the earth, “She must pay”.

“Edwin! Listen to me!” she yelled, grabbing ahold of my face “WE NEED TO GO! NOW!”

The bloodlust, the hunger, the anticipation, it was so overwhelming, I paid her warnings no mind. “No, I’m staying. I’m finishing this.”

slap![i/]

I tumbled backward onto the cold earth. Strongheart stood overhead and learned forward, speaking directly into my ear.

“We have to go now”, she said, and sensing the terror in her eyes, I obliged.

So we ran. Through the dark and twisted orchards, and across the plains of scorched terrain where no life dared to flourish, we ran, and I was glad that we did, for amid the steady beat of Strongheart’s hooves and the scraping of my claws against the stone, I heard a very vexing noise. It was the dull rumble of a thousand hooves in pursuit, and despite my skill, despite my rage, I was glad to be running, for I knew that even with all my spirit, I didn’t stand a chance.

Eventually, almost an hour and two dozen miles later, the thunder of our adversaries had faded away, and we took shelter in a small, dark cave, off the beaten path.

“I-I’m sorry”, I mumbled as I plopped myself down against the stony wall, “I haven’t done that in a while, and it’s not who I am anymore. At least, it’s not supposed to be”.

Strongheart said nothing, but rather collapsed against the wall opposite me, letting her aching muscles slump towards the earth.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” I inquired, really hoping the answer was no.

“You didn’t”, she replied, turning her gaze towards me.

“Oh, that’s good. I was worried that may-”

“I have a lot of questions, Mr. Edwin, and before we go any further, you’re going to answer them”.

I wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to ask, but I couldn’t see the harm in explaining some things to her. Since she might even be able to help with my investigation, I agreed.

“Well then”, she began, “First off, who are you and why did you save me back there? What am I to you?”

I held up my claws and eyed them closely, playing her nonchalantly so that I could hopefully seem cooler.

“I am Edwin Enigma, private detective, and I hunted you down in the hopes that maybe you could answer a couple of burning questions I had. A couple questions related to a very, pertinent investigation”.

“A detective”, she raised a brow, “I supposed that means you’ve got some questions for me then. What are you investigating?”
“Just a couple of hunches”, I grinned as the interrogation did a complete one-eighty, “Do you maintain a close relation with a certain pretty pink party pony named Pinkie Pie?”

“That’s none of your business”, she snapped, “What’s she got to do with this anyway?”

I settled back against the mossy rock and cast a calm glance in Strongheart’s direction, “Nothing, yet. Pinkie Pie doesn’t mean anything, yet, and neither will you if you’ve got a good explanation for what you were doing hanging around that good-for-nothing Tainted Rainbow”.

She gasped. It wasn’t even a real gasp that she did, just the slightest sudden inhale that most ponies wouldn’t even pick up unless you knew what to look for. When she started fidgeting with her hooves, I knew I was onto something.

“Look”, I said, “I don’t care if it is something sketchy, I’m not law enforcement. I just need to know if there are lives at stake”.

She sighed, “ Alright, I’ll tell you, but you have to swear that this conversation stays between us, and us alone.”

“I swear”, I said, crossing my heart.

Taking a deep breath, she began her story “For years, my tribe and the settler ponies lived in harmony. There was no bad blood between us, until the settlers found something, deep beneath the earth”.

“What did they find?” I asked.

“A deposit”, she replied, “A coal deposit, unlike any other, for the minerals it yielded were blacker than night, and they burned longer, brighter, and hotter, than anything ever seen before. You can’t even fathom the intensity of the flames it brings forth, it is unimaginable, hotter than dragon fire”, she sighed, “Sounds pretty good, right?”

“Right,” I agreed, “So where did it go wrong?”

“My herd warned the ponies; we told them that something that powerful was not meant to be disturbed, but naturally, they didn’t listen, and I can’t say we wouldn’t have done the same in their place. Ah, but you want to know the wrong part about it, well, that blackness of the stone, that wasn’t just for show. The darkness was quite literal, and burning the stones released it, causing crops to wither and hearts to fill with hate, and even the sky grew three shades darker. The balance of the world was thrown off.”

“I see where this is going,” I said

“That’s right, I was conferring with those whose purpose is to maintain the balance. I had to meet their agent, Tainted Rainbow.”
“So, you mean to say, the Trigon exists,” I remarked, processing what I had heard.

“Yes. It does,” replied Strongheart, “What do you know of us?” Her interests peaked

“Only what everyone else does. You are a secret order dedicated to keeping peace and balance among not only the three pony races but all intelligent beings. You know. Anti-Mares of the Shackle type stuff.”

“Precisely, except the Mares of the Shackle is just an old mare’s tale” she replied, “Now, specifically, Tainted Rainbow’s mission was to root out the culprit behind a string of gruesome murders raging across Equestria.”

“That sounds a lot like my investigation,” I replied, “I’m assuming you’ve been informed about a certain plant based energy supplement, then?”
“Yes, it’s an almost unholy form of adrenaline that keeps you alert for days and yet paralyzes you at the same time.”

Interesting, I thought, “Do you think you might be able to arrange a meeting with Mr. Rainbow anytime soon?”

“Nope,” she replied, “He’s been off the grid for a week and we assume he’s dead.”

“ Great! Mr. Rainbow is dead, which probably means they will be coming after me next. Just what I needed.”

Strongheart leapt to her hooves. “They? Whom do you mean, they?”

“You know! They! With the fireballs and the creepy phone calls and those dead I’m gonna kill you sort of voices. I assume they've contacted you as well.”

“They have,” she replied, “I don’t do this often but if it’s alright with you, I suggest we team up.”

“That’s great and all, but I’m fresh out of leads now, which leads me to ask, did your guy pull anything up before he went missing?”

“As a matter of fact, yes one of our agents was assigned to it.” she replied, “He was on his way to Cloudsdale. If he’s alive, that’s where he’ll be. can't say an exact part of the town but I can tell you that he is a small green pegasus goes by the name Little Leaf”

With that statement, I thought for a moment before a wide smile parted my lips. “We’re being hunted, right? Well our hunters are looking for a griffon and a buffalo, so you know what that means they’re not looking for say? A pegasus.”

Strongheart was aghast. “That sounds risky, and neither of us can do magic. Who could we trust to even do something like that? That knd of magic could have catastrophic effects.”

“A friend of mine, in Canterlot. Of course, to even reach her I need to get outta this place, and to safely do that, I’ll need a distraction. Do you think you could?”

She sighed, “Well I guess.”

“Good. In that case, it was nice formally meeting you, though I’d have rathered it be on better terms, but what can’t be help can’t be helped, and I must be going now.”

She just rolled her eyes and walked to the mouth of the cave, “Ready, then?”

“Does a dragon breath fire?” I replied, making a mad dash for the exit and soaring high into the air, leaving Miss Strongheart, our pursuers, and the earth far below. I was off to Canterlot.

Author's Note:

A chapter longer than a thousand words how can this be! Secret societies, transformations and a battle of the ages. This was a fun one. Anyway hope you enjoy this one I am in a rough patch right now in my life so it is good to keep my mind occupied. Tell me what ya think!