Chapter 18
It was still dark when Kyle awoke. The only light in the small, two-bed saloon room came from the pale moonlight that filtered through the dust-caked windows. Had he still been in Ironwall or on a trip to relax, there was a good chance that he might have simply rolled over and gone back to sleep.
But this wasn’t Ironwall, and he wasn’t here to relax. This was Appleoosa, and he had a job to do. A job that just so happened to start at the break of dawn. A time which was fast approaching. So rather than drift back into sleep, he stretched his arms and pushed himself into a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes and peered through the darkness to the other bed in the room. The small lump in the sheets that indicated where Scootaloo was sleeping had yet to move. No need to get her up quite yet. He instead pushed himself out of his bed and made his way to the door, with a trip to the bathroom in mind.
His trip didn’t take long. Even so, by the time he returned to his room, the eastern horizon had begun to change from black to a brilliant blood red. Dawn was nearly upon them. Which meant it was time to get to work. Kyle moved over to Scootaloo’s bed and sat down at the foot of it. He poked at the lump underneath the sheets. “Hey, squirt,” he said quietly. “Time to get up.”
The lump squirmed, and a moment later Scootaloo’s head poked out from under the covers. “Already?” she yawned. She glanced out the window behind her. “The sun’s not even up yet…”
“We’re starting at dawn, remember?” Kyle reminded her. He pushed himself off of the bed and shouldered his bag “Come on, get up. We’ve gotta get going.” Scootaloo yawned again, but rose to her hooves and hopped down from the bed. “Alright. Get your things together and meet me downstairs. I’ll get us some breakfast from the bar, and we’ll be ready when Silverstar arrives.”
Kyle and Scootaloo exited the room together, with Kyle turing right to head down to the bar and Scootaloo heading left towards the restroom. As Kyle exited the stairwell and stepped into the main room, he noted with little surprise that the area was deserted. The only other creature in the room was the Pony behind the bar. Kyle sat down at the bar and placed his order - two plates of eggs and an apple each, along with water for Scootaloo and some coffee for himself. The Pony jotted down his order and walked into the back, leaving Kyle alone.
His solitude didn’t last long. The sound of hoofsteps and the creaking of the stairs announced Scootaloo’s approach well before she came into view. She shrugged her bag off before hovering up to the seat next to Kyle at the bar. The two sat in silence as they waited for their food, and the silence continued as it arrived and they ate.
Kyle had just finished the last dregs of his coffee as the saloon doors were pushed open. Sheriff Silverstar walked into the building, flanked by two other Earth Ponies - a lanky-looking yellow stallion with a buzzed orange mane, and a bulkier blue stallion with a slightly longer black-and-grey mane. They hung back by the door as Silverstar walked up to the bar. “You two ready?” he asked.
Kyle glanced over at Scootaloo, who was chugging down the last of her water. She dropped the glass back onto the bar and nodded. “We’re ready,” Kyle confirmed.
“Alright.” Silverstar turned and walked back towards the entrance, with Kyle and Scootaloo right behind him. He turned towards the two stallions waiting beside the door. “Quick Draw, Dustbowl, you two stay behind and keep the peace while I’m gone.”
“Sure thing, boss,” the smaller one replied.
“And that don’t mean just hidin’ away in the office and playin’ cards.”
There was a slight hesitation before the smaller stallion nodded again. “Got it.”
“Good.” Silverstar watched as the two stallions turned and walked out of the saloon and headed back down the street. He glanced over his shoulder and flicked his tail. “C’mon you two,” he said as he pushed the doors open himself. “We got a bit of a walk ahead of us.”
Silverstar lead them down the street towards the apple orchard. Kyle turned his head this way and that as they entered the treeline. The ground beneath him was firmer than the dusty street in the town itself, yet gave more leeway than the sun-cracked earth in the rest of the Badlands. Up ahead, he could see a series of large mountains looming over the horizon. “Seems like an odd spot for an apple orchard,” he commented. “Out here in the desert.”
“Ain’t as bad as most Ponies seem to think,” Silverstar replied. “This is part o’ the Badlands in name alone. Appleoosa ain’t nothin’ like the rest o’ the Badlands. The Everfree Forest ain’t too far away, but far enough that all them dangerous beasts in there don’t show up ‘round here. Plus the Macintosh Mountain Range comes up from the south. We’re kinda wedged in a little chokepoint here between the eastern and western halves of the Badlands. Gives us a nice inflow of cooler air from the western seas, keeps the temperature cooler. And all the weather Ponies said this would be the best spot in the Badlands to grow anything.” There was a short silence. “Doesn’t hurt that they bring plenty o’ rain from Cloudsdale down here during the growin’ season,” he added.
“How long have you all been out here?”
“Not too long. Just had our third harvest this year. We were still buildin’ out here when the whole Nightmare Moon incident happened. Braeburn tells me you know his cousin Applejack, yeah?” Kyle nodded. “She brought one of her own apple trees down here t’ be planted fer the first harvest. She and her friends helped us out of tight jam.”
“How so?” This time it was Scootaloo who spoke up.
“The buffalo,” Silverstar sighed. “They’ve been roaming the badlands fer generations. They only settle in one spot fer a few days before moving on. And every year, the tribes migrated from one half of the Badlands to the other. Turns out, we were planting our orchard right in the middle of their stampede path. We tried negotiating, but…”
“It didn’t work out?” Scootaloo finished.
“Pretty much,” Silverstar nodded. “I’ll admit, I might’ve been a bit… boneheaded. The buffalo actually ended up trying to stampede right through Appleoosa before we finally came up with a compromise. We give ‘em a few dozen apple pies each year, and we cut ‘em a path through the orchards for them to stampede through.”
“So that’s the stampede path you had marked on the map,” Kyle murmured.
“Eeyup. We’ll actually be crossin’ it here in a minute or two.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Just a big ol’ dirt road at the moment. Their stampede came through a couple o’ weeks ago at the end of the harvest. Shouldn’t be anything going on there now.”
Sure enough, it was only a few moments before the trees suddenly parted. The three of them stood on the side of a wide dirt path through the canopy of the apple trees, clearly beaten down by repeated stampedes and marked by hoofprints. Rain and wind had blurred and erased many of the prints, but evidence of the buffalo stampede was still clear in the ground
The trio made their way across the the stampede path and into the southern half of the orchard. The mountains were now rising higher and higher into the sky, clearly visible between the leafless branches of the orchard trees. “And those are the Macintosh Mountains?” he asked.
“Eeyup,” Silverstar nodded. “Marks the border of the Kingdom of Equestria. Appleoosa’s really the only holding the Princesses have out here in the Badlands. You’ve got Dodge Junction out to the west, but that’s not really in the Badlands. Everything else is either wilderness or controlled by the Changelings or the roaming Buffalo tribes. A good number of Dragons call those mountains their home. I’ve also heard rumor of hermits or exiles taking refuge in there.. Beyond the mountains you’ve got the southern reaches of the continent, where the Minotaur tribes have settled.”
“But obviously we’re not going that far,” Silverstar added. “Our destination is just inside the foothills. Shouldn’t be too much longer before we clear the orchard.”
Soon, the sheriff's words came true. The apple orchard abruptly ended, revealing a large stretch of open land leading towards another distant line of pine trees. Kyle guessed that there was at least a mile and a half of open land between them and the forest. Unlike the rest of the Badlands, this area looked comparatively bountiful, with grass stretching both to the east and west as far as the eye could see. He even spotted a small pond not too far away from the orchard. “Couldn’t the buffalo have just used this open place to stampede through?” he asked.
“We suggested that at first,” Silverstar nodded. “But they’ve got some weird superstition about the Macintosh Mountains. Part of their folklore, I reckon. They don’t like to be any nearer to them than they can help. Their traditional stamped path took them right through Appleoosa, and some of them were upset at moving even that little distance south to the path we cut for ‘em.”
“What kind of superstitions?” Scootaloo asked.
Silverstar shrugged. “Beats me. I’ve been in those foothills plenty o’ times and ain’t once met anything worse than a few bears. But I ain’t gonna question it too much. We got our deal, and it works out good for both sides. No use fixin’ what ain’t broke. Now c’mon.” He stepped forward out of the treeline and into the plains. “The trees were cut down in that forest over there.”
For a while, the trio walked in silence across the field. Kyle couldn’t help but note again how different this place was to the rest of the Badlands that he had seen. The dominant color was not the brown that the rest of the Badlands saw, but instead a light golden-green. Short grass grew everywhere, and taller grasses as well in isolated patches.
“So how did Apple Munchies notice the missing trees in the first place?” Kyle finally asked. “Seems like that forest would be a bit… out of the way?”
“It’s where we get most of our firewood and such,” Silverstar explained. “We don’t dare try and cut down any of the Everfree trees. Ain’t a soul in Equestria foolish enough to try that. I’m guessin’ she was out there cuttin’ some down and noticed ‘em missing. Or she mighta been relxin’. It ain’t really that far away, and it’s a nice enough spot to just wander around in for an hour or two.”
Silence descended upon the group again as they approached the treeline. Soon, they were walking through the treeline and into the forest. Here, unlike the apple orchard further north, not all the trees had not shed their leaves. Though some had turned brown and fallen away, many of them retained their green color. It was clear that Ponies didn’t actively take care of this area - the undergrowth was widespread and fairly thick at points. The fact that the ground was beginning to slope upwards didn’t help them overcome the undergrowth, making Progress through the forest slow.
It was about fifteen minutes before Silverstar finally stopped. on a relatively flat bit of ground. “Alright. It’s just on the other side of these branches,” he warned. “Be careful now. We dunno if whatever made this mess has or is gonna come back.” He pushed his way through the branches and onto the other side. Kyle and Scootaloo exchanged a glance and a small nod before following him through.
Sure enough, there were no trees behind the branch. A huge swath of trees had been clearcut from the forest. There had to be over two hundred stumps in this clearing now. Not even the branches had been left behind. They’d been taken with the trees by whomever had done this.
“Well then…” Kyle cleared his throat. “I, uh… I didn’t expect it to be so… noticeable.”
“Yeah. Kinda hard to miss,” Silverstar nodded. “I’ll stand over here and keep a lookout. You and yer apprentice take a look around, see if you can find anything.”
“Right. Scootaloo, you look around that side,” Kyle said, pointing towards the right. “I’ll look over here. Try and find anything that might give us a clue as to who might have done this. Markings, anything left behind, anything. Five minutes, we meet back in the center”
Kyle and Scootaloo split apart and walked to opposite sides of the clearings. Kyle knelt down next to one of the smaller trunks. It was a clean cut. No bits of bark remained above the location of the cut, and indeed some bits of bark from the stump had been ripped away, indicating great strength behind the cut - this tree could have been felled by a single swipe.
A marking in the dirt next to the stump caught his eye, and he bent down next to it. It was the imprint of a boot, no doubt about it. It was also fairly sunk into the ground. Many other prints similar to this one crisscrossed each other all across the clearing.
He wandered towards the edge of the clearing and took a peek around the treeline for any clues. There, on the ground next to one of the still-standing trees. A tiny drop of a green liquid. Kyle picked up a loose stick and poked at the liquid. It stuck to the branch and held it in place, and it took a decent effort for Kyle to rip the branch away. He peered at the small amount that had been ripped away and clung to the branch. This substance was familiar...
Finally, his eyes moved towards another pair of prints. These two were perfect circles and obviously a pair, far clearer and near the edge of the clearing. If anything, they were sunk even deeper into the ground. Bits of bark were scattered around the prints, as well as a small drop of a black substance. Kyle picked up a piece of bark and dipped it into the liquid. He brought it to his nose and took a small sniff. His heart beat faster, and a feeling of horror washed over him.
By this time, Scootaloo was making her way towards the center of the clearing, and Kyle did the same. “So, what did you find?” Kyle asked.
Scootaloo took a breath. “Well, firstly, the number of trees cut down…” she began.
“Which tells you what?”
“This wasn’t a small job. This was a bunch of lumberjacks working together.”
“Which rules out Zinju, unless he’s managed to get more of his Legion lackeys here into Equestria,” Kyle nodded. “Go on.”
“These prints…” She bent down towards a print similar to the one Kyle had noticed. “That’s no hoofprint. Which means it wasn’t somepony from Appleoosa, and it wasn’t a Minotaur either. I dunno if Changelings can shapeshift into Humans, but…”
“It’s was definitely a Humanoid creature,” Kyle finished. “And a heavy one at that, judging by how deep the print is set in.”
“That’s all I could find,” Scootaloo admitted.
“Well, I think I’ve found something else,” Kyle murmured. He led her back towards the second set of prints he found. “That’s no hoofprint either,” he commented. “Nor was it the same thing that left the other prints behind.”
“Then what was it?”
“A machine. And a heavy one at that.” Kyle pointed towards the puddle of black liquid. “Oil,” he stated.
“So…” Scootaloo glanced around. “Any idea what caused all this?”
“I have a hunch,” Kyle murmured. His heart began to beat faster again. “But I’m praying that I’m wrong…”
“Hm?”
“We’ve got to go talk to Empress Yxia,” he replied. “There was a drop of a sticky green liquid just inside the treeline as well, and I’m willing to bet a Changeling left it behind.”
“You think the Changelings did this?” Silverstar asked, causing Kyle to jump. He had forgotten that the stallion was there as well.
“No. I don’t think the Changelings were responsible for cutting this place down,” Kyle replied. “But they were watching. I bet they know who is. And we’re about to go find out.”
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as always, nice chapter. love the new pace, school being out must be nice. I sense a big reveal on the horizon!
Hmm, goblins? Or the Iron Horde? I wonder.
5958175
GREAT, you've totally ruined warlock's green fire for me.
5983126 I was under the impression that the Cult of the Forgotten Shadows was the name of the group of Forsaken that remained priests even in undeath.
Also, I figured that the only explanation for a rogue's abilities had to be some kind of magic. How else do you explain hiding in plain daylight or shadowstepping behind your opponent?
5983157
Hmm... Interesting points. But I can make an argument for Rogues using a variant of Chi, much like a Monk-- but not as blatantly. Think of it's combat techs as Combo Points, a lesser application of Chi, offset by the intense training and self discipline. As to the stealth thing, it could be magic, or it could be something else... remember, Azeroth, like Equestria, is a fantasy world for the most part.
As for Warriors, well, they are arguably the most trained of the plate wearing classes, where Paladins and Death Knights both use a form of magic (and described as such in lore). Azeroth ain't earth, and Warriors just plain train insanely in power and strength. There are also arguments made for the simple fact that by the time you are doing this, you will be in heavy plate or possibly mail-- and by the time you're in plate, chances are it's mostly enchanted. (Unless for some insane reason you're bound and determined to go out in vendor whites and scrap grays. which as far as I know doesn't happen.)
Almost every class has some sort of "magical" effect to them, but only a few actually draw on magic itself as such... the casters, and a few healing classes mostly. The rest just seem more to have, well, abilities that just work.
And no, I do not feel like asking on the WoW forums about it. The Meadow-muffin-storm that would arise would he horrible.
Shredders. Could be the Horde, venture company, or iron horde.
Also enjoyed the last chapter. Even if it was a squidadin.
5983157
The Cult of Forgotten Shadow was formed by the forsaken, who rediscovered the teachings of a long dead priest. Not all members are forsaken, yet they likely make up the bulk of it.
The cult seems to be focused more on the balance between light and dark, and shadow magic seems to affect the mind.
Personally I see 3 different ways shadow priests work: 1) twisting the light as you mentioned, 2) void magic, 3) seeking the darker powers, not twisting light as much as seeking the power of the dark (though not void necessarily) and some of it might depend on the race.
5983612 I would imagine Ight worshippers (Humans, Draenei, Dwarves) would 'twist the light', while most Forsaken or Trolls would beseech darker/higher powers. And the Tauren praise the sun.
Of course, you can play it however you like, and Blizzard already gave a good rundown on how the Holy Light affects the Forsaken. Cauterizes the wounds, those priests that are in regular contact begin to regain sensation; they can taste the rot in their mouth, feel maggots burrowing though their skin. It's why forsaken Paladins are a no go, fluff wise (other than thematic wise and the Forsaken questing being absolute abominable to a lawful good type like a Paladin). Since Paladins are in constant contact, how long would it take for a forsaken To go mad? that is, if the Light's constant touch doesn't simoly burn him to ash.
Let's look at the clues so far.
LEGENDARY QUEST AND 6.2 SPOILERS BELOW:
Although this is probably wrong, this could be the work of the Fel Iron Horde. After Gul'dan took over, they both kept their advanced technology (shredders) and mixed it with demonic Mountain Dew (green liquid).
I can dream, okay?
5983148 I'm sorry.
not sorry
5990269 Don't worry about criticizing. That's the kind of criticism I love, where someone points out flaws and offers corrections, and isn't an ass about it. It helps make the story better
For the Rogue thing, I still believe the best way to describe their abilities is magic. even if the game mechanics deviate from the lore, you have to account for them somehow.
I'll be honest, I completely forgot about the Tauren already having shamanistic roots when they met the Orcs, as well as the Draenei being taught by the elements themselves. I'll go back and edit that at some point. As for the necromancy thing - yes, it is technically an off-shoot of arcane magic, but it seems so twisted and corrupted that it's not arcane anymore. Kind of like Fel - yes, it's an off-shoot of arcane, but at the same time it's its own entity.
It's the horde I know it's the horde
FOR THE HORDE!!!