The Kingdom of Everfree

by HeartlessSpartan

The Village

The Village

Basil gasped, opening his eyes and scrambling to his hooves. He could feel the frost on his muzzle as he saw his breath on the chilling air. He had fallen asleep, the fire had died and the others were not awake yet. Pulling the dagger out of the dirt from the night before, Basil peered through the trees around him. It was absolutely silent, and a light blanket of snow had covered nearly everything, making the forest a blinding white.

“Orion, get up we need to be moving!” Basil said urgently, giving Orion a slight kick.

“Basil, the fire is out. You didn’t wake me for a shift?” Orion wondered, but soon realized what happened.

“Is the unicorn still alive?” Basil asked Orion as he covered the ashes of the fire with snow.

“Starswirl? Yeah he’s still breathing, but we need to get to this guild of yours soon,” Orion said as he nudged Starswirl to wake him.

Basil walked over to Regina, she was still asleep. He wondered if it would be best to leave her, but they needed her in order to find the guild. He knelt down next to her and held her nearest claw. He leaned in closer to her face and gave her a light push with the other hoof.

Regina opened her eyes long enough to see Basil’s familiar green eyes looking back.

“Did you find anything to eat green eyes?” Regina mumbled as she fell back to sleep.

“We’re not children anymore Regina, wake up,” Basil said as he gave her a heavier push.

Regina woke the second time, she tried to swing her claw at Basil but he already held it. She merely rolled him over in the snow. She stood up and soon realized what she was doing.

“I’m sorry Basil!” Regina said, embarrassed that Orion and Starswirl were watching.

“Is… everything alright?” Orion questioned.

“Fine, just fine,” Basil said, standing and brushing himself off.

“Regina, you said you would take us to the guild,” Orion mentioned.

“That way,” Regina said, pointing directly away from the mountains.

“Great, we can try to get food and lodging when we get there. I’ll scout ahead,” Basil said as he began walking.

“Always on the move, don’t you earth ponies ever stop to eat?” Starswirl asked as he walked assisted by Orion.

“We have no food to eat, that’s why we are moving,” Orion replied.

“I haven’t eaten either,” Regina chimed in from ahead of the two ponies.

“That’s mildly concerning from our perspective Regina, thank you,” Starswirl said ironically.

“I’m not going to eat you. But I would like to know why a unicorn is with the earth ponies?” Regina asked.

“It would seem we all seek answers to what happened two nights ago. These ponies saved me from certain death. After I awoke alive the first morning and realized they hadn’t killed me in my sleep, I decided that my chances were better with these two, rather than dying in the forest trying to escape,” Starswirl explained.

“At least one of us has a good reason. What I want to know is what happened back at camp, between you and Basil Regina?” Orion asked as he carried Starswirl along.

“Fair enough that you know. I didn’t just let Basil go when we were little. I didn’t want to grow up into the griffin clans like my parents. I ran away with him, and we lived in the forest for weeks. He would always wake up before I did, the very first morning I nearly clawed his eyes out when he tried to wake me, but he learned to hold my claw so I wouldn’t,” Regina said sadly, as though she missed it.

“What happened that the two of you parted ways?” Orion asked further.

“We both had to go home eventually. We each made up a fake story to explain what happened. When it came time for me to enter the clan however, I ran away again and landed myself here,” Regina said, shaking her wings as she walked.

“Does anyone else hear that?” Orion asked.

The trio stopped in their tracks and listened, in the distance they could hear the barking and howling of canines quickly approaching them.

“Diamond dogs!” Regina warned.

“We can’t outrun them,” Starswirl said, referring to his injury.

“Then we fight!” Orion said, releasing Starswirl and drawing his sword.

It didn’t take long for a group of five diamond dogs to catch up with the trio. The three stood back to back as the gray canines surrounded them. The dogs wore ragged vests and spiked collars. The heavy shovels and pickaxes they carried made them ever more intimidating.

“Look, we found a unicorn!” one of the dogs shouted with a raspy voice and pointed to Starswirl.

“No, this one’s white, we want gray!” a larger dog with a coarse voice corrected.

“Black fur! Earth pony has black fur!” another dog cried out.

“Black mane unicorn!” the larger dog shouted before clobbering the other on the head.

“Not very bright are they,” Regina stated.

“I remember you bird, we won’t let you live this time!” the larger dog declared as he raised a pickaxe to swing.

Before the dog could swing his axe Basil, cloaked by his robes, leapt from between the trees like a phantom; tackling the dog to the ground Basil stabbed it in the base of the skull with his dagger. Shocked, the other dogs had little time to react. Regina grabbed the nearest dog by the throat and flew up into the air. Starswirl used a spell to force another dog head first into a tree with a resounding crack. Orion sidestepped the swing of a pickaxe, and while the dog struggled to pull it from the frozen ground, Orion quickly cut him down with a single swing of his sword.

The fifth dog ran for its life, scrambling through the snow and wailing in terror. Orion gave chase to him. The earth pony ran through the snow like the wind, his white robes trailing behind him, he seemed as a ghost coasting through the snow. Basil and Starswirl watched from a distance as Orion dragged the dog to the ground, raised the sword above the flailing creature, and silenced its terrified wails. Being enemies was one thing, being attacked by them was another; now there is no longer a messenger to get help.

“Where’s Regina?” Basil asked.

A dog fell from the air above, landing heavily into the snowy ground. Regina soon followed and landed next to Basil. They all watched as Orion returned, wiping his blade in the snow, leaving a thin red line between the trees.

“Did any of them have gems, we need something for trade?” Basil asked.

“No, I don’t believe so,” Orion replied, sheathing his sword.

“It’s a shame they decided to attack us, how close are we to the guild?” Starswirl asked.

“I saw a village not far from here when I scouted, it shouldn’t take long,” Basil said as he walked away.

The group moved onward, leaving the dogs behind. It was just another reminder to each of them that even though they’d accepted one another for the time being, the rest of the world continues its violent path. The diamond dogs had overthrown their masters and were now raiding travelers for supplies. Who knows how many more dwell within the mines?

It didn’t take very long for the group of four to reach the gates of a village, as they entered there were many earth ponies going about their daily lives but very few showed any interest as to why there was a unicorn and a griffin here. Whatever this guild was, it must get all kinds of creatures from just about anywhere.

“I’ll take Starswirl, we’ll try to find a doctor,” Orion said.

“Alright, meet us at the hall further into the village.

Basil and Regina proceeded to the hall at the center of the village. It was a typical earth pony structure on the outside, but on the inside it was much warmer and more elegant compared to the structures from home. The light was warming and the ponies were cheerful, except for the gruff looking brown pony that stared them down from a greeter’s table.

“Can I help you?” the pony asked, sizing up Basil and Regina as they approached.

“We are in dire need of food and shelter, unfortunately we were attacked by dogs and one of my friends was injured. I am afraid I haven’t much to offer for trade,” Basil explained.

“Touching story, I hope your friend recovers from his injuries, however I am running a business not a charity. I can’t help you if you have nothing of value to trade for my services, I’m sorry,” the pony said plainly.

“Excuse me! I’ll pay for two rooms for these unfortunate travelers,” a gray unicorn with black mane and red eyes said as he walked up to the table.

The unicorn used magic to lift a few gems from a saddle bag and set them on the table for the pony to inspect.

“I’ll accept this as payment, your rooms will be ready for you shortly,” the greeter said.

“Thank you, what is your name?” Basil asked the unicorn.

“Sombra,” the unicorn replied.

“You just made some friends today Sombra,” Basil said happily.

“Well then I’ll get my new friends something decent to eat, go ahead and take a seat somewhere I’ll bring it to you,” Sombra said, directing the two into the hall.

“That was unexpected,” Basil said, taking a seat at a table with Regina.

“I think that was the unicorn the dogs were after, it’s probably the least he could do for all the trouble we went through,” Regina said.

“I’d like to know why,” Basil said just before Sombra returned.

“It’s not the greatest, but it’s still something,” Sombra said as he set two bowls of pasty potato soup onto the table with some bread, and sat with them.

“Why do this for us Sombra?” Basil asked.

“Those dogs were out looking for me, it’s the least I can do,” Sombra said honestly.

“What did you do to get them so riled up?” Regina asked in between eating her soup.

“Well, I’m from the land of the crystal ponies. Unicorns aren’t all too common there, so when the dogs began to rebel, they required my abilities to quell the uproar. They sent me to the guild to be initiated into it and utilize its resources to make the task easier,” Sombra explained.

“I take it things didn’t go smoothly,” Basil said before breaking a chunk of bread and dipping it into his soup.

“You have no idea! I don’t even want to know what happened to the overseers in those mines. Problem being, the guild doesn’t have enough initiates to approve trials required to be a guild member,” Sombra said.

Basil stopped eating and looked at Sombra before saying, “That’s where we come in isn’t it, you help us out we help you out.”

“Now you’re thinking my way, also, I didn’t catch your names?” Sombra asked.

“My name is Basil, this is Regina, this this other dirty fellow is Orion,” Basil said, handing some bread to Orion as he arrived at the table.

“Good to meet you all,” Sombra said with a smile.

“How’s Starswirl?” Regina asked.

“The doctor’s a unicorn, healing him up with magic. He’ll be here sometime tonight so long as we are staying,” Orion said.

“So, what do you think about joining the guild with me?” Sombra asked.

“Give us some time to consider it Sombra, we’ll let you know tomorrow,” Basil suggested.

“Not a problem Basil, I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Sombra said before leaving the table.

“What was that?” Orion asked through a mouthful of bread.

“I’ll explain it to everyone later tonight. You get some food in you, and then the two of you can claim our rooms,” Basil said, receiving nods of agreement.

Orion took some bread and what remained of Basil’s soup, he then followed Regina to see the greeter about getting their rooms. Basil remained at the table waiting for Starswirl. At one end of the large hall was a great hearth. Basil stared into the flickering fire, thinking about what they had done in the past few days, and how it had gone against so much they’ve learned in the past for many years. There was definitely something more going on than he can explain. Basil also wondered why this guild remains untouched by the wars. What part are they to play in all of this? How much can he trust his old friend Regina and this unicorn they went far out of their way to save?