Origins Chapter: Just Duty
Just Duty ducked lower behind the boulder, panting as he watched the monster frantically search for him. He breathed erratically his heart hammering away; he’d never fought anything this difficult. Worry was etched into his face as he tried to recall anything from his memories that would help. All he could hear, though, was the monster as it tried to find him.
Such as the plinking of the its claws on the rocks, which he found reminded him of the sounds of the blacksmiths working on the day he was inducted into his paladin order. He remembered glancing around nervously at the silent paladins watching. The paladin mare’s speech was almost lost to his memory; most of what remained was the vague impression that it hadn’t been quite important as she’d made it out to be at the time.
“This is a day you’ll not forget, initiates.” the mare had begun speaking from the wall to the group of ponies. Just Duty remembered looking around young and eager, his excitement leaving him unable to hold still and shift.
“Today you take the first steps down a new path; a path of righteousness, virtue, honor, and duty,” the mare’s voice continued, causing him to smile at the part of his name in a speech. “Today you begin the path of paladinship. From now on you shall not fear any evil or beast. Beginning today they shall learn to fear you. ‘Monster’ is a coward’s word, and fear is a curse that will be broken. You are paladins: unyielding, unbreakable and incorruptible. You will not hide from evil you will charge it face on,” she shouted, Just Duty felt the nervous energy of the crowd be stripped away as he and every other pony present in it stood a little straighter.
The beast’s roar of frustration broke him out of his memories. He looked over the rock at the beast. He sized it up, taking note of its legs and how it seemed to have to jump to turn quickly. His heart slowed and he took a deep breath as he stood up. He hefted his warhammer and jumped on top of the boulder; the beast heard his armor and turned to face him. The two stared the other down; neither flinching. Finally, the beast roared as it charged, and Just Duty answered back with a war cry as he launched himself from the boulder. His hammer slammed into the beast’s claws, knocking them away from him and he landed on the ground.
He then immediately began circling the beast, forcing it to try and keep up with him as well as giving him attacks against its side. His strategy did make it easier for the beast to try and roll over him in an attempt to shred him with its razor sharp spines. With a speed he couldn’t imagine, the beast uncurled from its attack and swiped at him. He blocked the attack but found himself sliding backwards. He glanced at his stance and found his mind drifting back to his first days of training.
“Hoofwork will save your life,” the paladin in charge of the training had said. “That is why for the next year, it is all you’ll be learning.”
“Just Hoofwork? No weapon training or anything like that?” asked a stallion to the left of Just Duty. The paladin in charge of the training got right up in the face of the pony who’d asked the question.
“Do you know how many of our order have died by tripping onto their own spear in combat?” the paladin asked.
“No?”
“None, because they’ve all been trained right,” Just Duty remembered the trainer had said. And so, as promised, for the next year they’d practiced nothing but moving, standing, and everything else related to hooves in combat. Just Duty corrected his stance and blocked another attack from the beast, his lips splitting in a grin as he registered about how he’d failed to slide backwards. He ducked under the beast’s next swing and retaliated with one of his own. The beast staggered backwards, but recovered as it threw out several quick swipes of its own.
The two continued their flurry of small strikes, trying to create the opening they needed to end the battle; their hits either easily dodged or shrugged off. The circling game also continued: one would close on the other and a flurry of blows would be traded, then finally they’d back away. Slowly circling trying to find a weakness before closing in again.
Just Duty’s legs were aching, and once again he’d found himself wishing he’d chosen a lighter weapon.
“It is now time for you to chose your primary weapon. You are free to chose any weapon you’d like. However, the weapons on the rack are the ones we can offer you training for. Feel free to look at the different weapons. You can ask the paladins here about the weapons and their thoughts. You’re also free to heft them and test swing, but if you hit one another, I will personally throw you over the wall!” the mare had shouted. The trainees stood still for a few moments before the jolted into action at the mare’s look of anger.
Some went to talk to the mare, having already decided on the weapon they wanted to use. Others went to seek the advice of the paladins. Some milled about, talking to each other about. Just Duty was of the last group. They had all went to the racks to check the weapons. Just Duty ignored the blades all together and wander over to where the spears were. None stood out, and he checked the next rack; finding a set of halberds. He hefted several and, while feeling almost right in his hooves, none were still close. He was about to just pick one at random, but then he glimpsed one last weapon rack.
The rack didn’t have a single pony near it and looked to be barely used. It appeared to him as he got closer that this rack and its weapons were only used as they hauled out for this, and then ignored for the rest of the year.
He hefted the largest of the warhammers and was reminded of all the heavy lifting he had to do back on the farm, and of the scythes they used to harvest. This felt right in his hooves as he swung it around, at first just some waves to feel out the balancing. Then swung it like how he’d imagined a warrior would, ending with slamming it into the mud; the strike echoing around court yard. “Well trainee, it appears you’ve found your weapon,” said an older stallion who’d approached while Just Duty was lost in testing his choice. “Your grip is wrong. You want to grip here and here,” he continued, holding his hammer out so make his point clear. “This will give you more leverage on the hammer, and allow for greater striking force,” he finished, punctuating his point by slamming his hammer into the ground but with a much louder echo.
Just Duty found himself drawn back to the present by the echoing of the fight. He knocked the beast back and adjusted his hold of the warhammer as his mind quickly worked its way through the basic attack patterns of the warhammer. He stepped back into the attack and forced the beast onto the defensive from the newfound power and speed of his own attacks.
This battle wouldn’t be much longer, he felt, ducking under an erratic swing from the creature. He studied it, parrying or out right dodging its strikes. Its attacks were erratic, like the beast was on the edge of panicking or it was losing its fine control. The rest of its movements were becoming more and more sluggish and defensive. especially around areas Just Duty had recently hit. He found himself reminded of another ending: specifically of his first stage of training.
“After today, none of you will be simple trainees. You’ll be paladins; not full paladins, but you will be paladins. Today you’ll all be assigned to finish the last bit of your training by mentoring under full paladins and follow them around as they fulfill their duties. Go and do us proud,” the mare finished before trotting away. The paladins walked forward, collecting their understudies before fanning out.
“And so we meet again,” a familiar stallion said, walking up to Just Duty. “I don’t believe I introduced myself last time. My name is Justified Means. You will be following me to finish your training. We’ve got much to discuss, so please follow along. The sooner we get out outfitted, the sooner you can become a full paladin.” Just Duty followed, trying to soak up everything his mentor had to say.
He remembered one of the first things he’d learned from Justified Means. He planted his rear legs and shifted his grip to the end of his hammer’s handle and, with a final swing given all of his strength, he slammed the hammer’s head into the beast. With a crunch, the beast was sent flying back, skipping and bouncing along the ground until it came to a rest. He carefully plodded up to the beast and poked it with his hammer. Once sure it was down, he stood next to it and looked back the way he’d came, up the slope towards the town. “Brilliant finishing move, Just. Knock it further down the mountain away from where you need to drag it back to.”
* * *
Just Duty walked up onto the stage before the cheering crowd. Normally he’d have disappeared long before an award ceremony could have organized. Apparently, however, having been basically trapped in the town left the ponies with little to do but survive and plan the party for whoever frees them. He’d tried to get out of attending by citing his fatigue and injuries, and that no reward was needed. However, the mare’s grip and insistence were stronger than steel. He gave up on trying when he was introduced to the Kingspony who’d been sent to deal with an issue in the town.
Just Duty stood to the side as the pony at the podium finished up their speech. In the meantime, he studied the Kingspony: representatives with the authority to speak and act directly of the king’s will. They were sent when the king took personal interest in seeing something dealt with. He stood on the stage as well, likely as bored if not more than Just Duty was. The pony at the podium finished what they were saying and stood aside, motioning for him to come forward.
He moved to stand in front of the podium and recalled what his mentor had taught him about speeches. “As a paladin, I’m not one for speeches like this. Normally I accept a small thanks, refill my adventuring provisions, and quietly leave. However, Crescent Pie’s insistence, and grip,” the crowd chuckled as the mare in question blushed, “were enough to convince me it’d be better if I stayed.” He surveyed the crowd for a few seconds. “I appreciate your thanks, but I must insist it’s not needed. I’m just doing what is right: what I’ve been trained to do. I’ve heard that there will be a party in my honor later tonight. For fear of facing Crescent's iron grip, I’ll stay for it, but I must leave in the morning.” With that, he stood aside and allowed for another pony to step up, and judging from the looks from most of the crowd, this one was going to be long winded.
He listened for as long as he could but, eventually, even he tuned out the pony speaking. He studied the Kingspony for a while; the two watching each other until even that grew uninteresting and he found himself staring out into the crowd. Most looked like they shared his sense of boredom. Some still glanced at him happily, silently thanking him for his service or looking at him in awe. A few of the mares looked at him with a look of longing or interest. Then his eyes locked on a small group of ponies glaring at him. He remembered them: they were a small group of mercenaries. They had been protecting the town, keeping it free of the beast. But they wouldn’t go out after it saying it was too dangerous and that they’d need more help to defeat it. Then he’d showed up and done alone what they said was impossible as a group.
Their glares brought back something his mentor had said to him after they’d just finished dealing with a town’s bandit problem. They had been walking along the main road amongst the celebrating inhabitants. But every now and then some of the ponies they’d pass would obviously glare at them from the alleyways and backs of crowds.
“So you’ve finally noticed their eyes, have you,” Justified Means had said. “I know, you wish to ask why. Well, first I ask you: what do you notice about them?”
“Their clothes if any are simple and heavily worn, dirty, and,” Just Duty had hesitated before carrying on, “they appear as if they are not getting enough food.”
“Most are likely beggars or poor. There might be a richer pony in there, but I doubt it this time,” Just Duty’s mentor said as they walked. “Now you can ask why do they glare at us.” Just Duty looked at one with a particularly harsh glare before he finally asked the question. “They glare at us, because, in the short term, we’ve made their lives harder. The bandits were likely paying them to act as additional lookouts during some of their quieter work in the town. They will be forced to rely on begging as their only source of coin for food and water once more. Looking at the immediate future, we’ve made their lives harder, but in the long term they will come to thank us.”
“Why will they owe us thanks in the future?” Just Duty asked.
“Because we’ve stopped the bandits from causing serious harm to this town: either by accident like starting a fire that rips through the city, or on purpose by, say a massive town wide raid, or assisting an enemy army in an assault. Any of those events would likely end with their deaths in some manner, so yes, in the short term we’ve made it harder. But in the long term, they will still have a town to beg in. You must remember this.” Justified Means stopped his apprentice to look him right in his eyes. “Not every pony you save will thank you for the good you do; at least not right away. In time they may come to realize how you’ve helped them, and thank you then. But maybe they never will.” Just Duty’s eyes followed his mentor as he turned to continue walking, leading his eyes right into that of the harsh glare of a pony, drawing him back into present day as he looked into similar eyes.
He’d returned from his memories just in time for the long winded pony to finally run out of wind and motion for the Kingspony to move up next to the podium. “In short, Paladin, as a thank you for saving our town. We would like to offer you it’s mayorship.” The paladin’s eyes instantly shot opened and he looked at the pony in front of the podium. His eyes then swung over to look at the Kingspony, who nodded before he stepped forward.
“The offer has the full backing of the crown,” the stallion said ,looking at Just Duty. “I was sent here to deal with the situation created when the last mayor disappeared during a bandit attack. Considering the importance of the trade coming through here, the king sent me to fill in until a new mayor could be found. I’m familiar with some of your deeds, and who could lead a town justly better than a paladin?” Just Duty stood frozen in surprise and indecision; never having expected to have received the offer he’d just gotten at any point in his life. He tore his gaze away from the Kingspony to look across the crowd and all of the hopeful faces. Of course, his thought began, they wish for their hero to stay and lead them. Who could lead better than a hero? He closed his eyes and quickly went through one of the mental routines he’d learned to recover from his mental turmoil. When he finally opened his eyes, he turned to face the crowd squarely and cleared his throat.
“I am deeply honored by this display of respect and thanks from all of you. This offer has, I must admit, taken me by surprise. A rare feat.” He paused to let a few chuckles pass through the crowd. “I must also admit, it is the first time an offer like this has been presented to me, and offer of a type I, as a paladin, never expected. And as such, I cannot accept it.”A wave of disappointment began to spread through the crowd before he raised a hoof to signal he had more to say. “I cannot accept it without giving it due thought. You shall all have your answer at the party tonight,” he finished, nodding to the crowd and then the Kingspony, and then left the stage to go back to the room he’d been granted in the local hotel to think.
* * *
Just Duty sat on his bed, packing away the last of the items he used to clean his armor; something he had a tendency to do when he needed to think, and now was certainly a time he had to think. Thirty years of traveling, questing and saving ponies towns and kingdoms. And today was the first time he’d ever been offered anything like this. Usually it was just assumed that the paladin would show up right the wrongs, then be gone the next morning with nothing but a simple resupply.
“And yet here I sit with a town at my hooves,” he muttered quietly. Tradition suggests that I do as I have been trained to: a simple refill of supplies and turn down any further rewards. He sighed and rummaged through his bag for the tattered pile of paper and parchment that was his notes from training to be a paladin. He pulled them out carefully and leafed through those that remained. When he found the page he’d been looking for, he studied it carefully before a sigh of frustration slipped through his mouth. Of course I should have known the answer wouldn’t have been that simple or easy to find. He shoved the page on acceptable rewards back, having found it useless: only talking about gold and other smaller tangible things.
“As a paladin, I could lead them justly and continue to protect them. My influence wouldn’t have to just end at the town’s limits as well. Nor would it, for I’d be making trade safe for this area and other near by towns,” he reasoned aloud. “Of course, I’d have to take on mayoral duties. I couldn’t be away all of the time, and I’d likely not be able to see justice done on the far side of the kingdom, or even leave the kingdom.” He paused for a moment, considering what he’d said. “I’d be anchored to this location. I’d always have to return to it and…” his words trailed off as he’d realized something deeply disturbing to him. “I’d have to give up being a paladin in name,” he finally said after a few moments. He glanced at his notes, finding the page remarking that a paladin must be able to travel freely to see evil defeated, wherever it was.
“Thirty years of training and studying under a mentor, along with all of the time I’ve spent as a full paladin allowed to operate alone, all thrown away,” he muttered, shaking his head about to make his decision before the aches of the battle that morning distracted him. “Time is the greatest betrayer: in small amounts it is to your benefit, but with enough of it, it turns against you,” he mimicked the words of Justified Means.
That caused him to think of his mentor. He’d already been old by the time he’d been apprenticed under him. When he’d finally earned the right to call himself a paladin and strike out on his own, Justified Means had been ancient, but still he trotted out to the fields of battle and continued to fight, reminding Just Duty he still had many more years of doing good. But maybe not as many as you’d like, a voice rang through his head; the voice of his mentor. Do you not remember how my time as a paladin ended?
The words brought the memory of the leader of the party of adventurers running to catch up to him, a bundle clutched in his minotaur hand. He’d remembered the sad look the minotaur's face wore, and the tone of regret mixed with resignation as he’d explained they’d found a note addressed to him along with this bundle of stuff next to a dead stallion.
The note had been from Justified Means, it was short as was usual from the stallion. He had better things to do than scrawl ink on paper. It was a simple note talking about how proud he was to have mentored him and how when next they’d meet, he’d have to tell him in great detail about the town he was going to rescue. As best as the adventurers could figure, Justified Means had tried to overthrow the bandits who’d seized control of the town himself, and was killed in the ensuing fight. The bandits had then just thrown the body in a ditch somewhere and carried on. The adventurers had only found him by accident, which lead them to the town where they’d saved. They then took Justified Means back to the paladins’ stronghold and set out to bring the news and a bundle of gear the older stallion had stated that upon his death would be given to Just Duty.
“Time had finally caught up with you hadn’t it?” Just Duty said quietly, looking at the artifact hammer his mentor had left for him. “Will I end up like you? Questing until the day I fail, and force someone else to finish what I’d started?” He looked out the window to the town. “Or perhaps… Perhaps there is a way I can continue to do good until the very day I die, and leave no evil for others to remove?” He sat quietly, working through the thoughts in his mind one at a time, and carefully considering the options and results laid out before him.
Finally, his decision made, he stood up and penned a quick message he was going to entrust the Kingspony to deliver for him to the monastery fortress. Once done, he lit a candle to melt the wax for him to seal the message; as the wax melted he pulled his personal seal out. A blob of hot wax hit the envelope and he quickly punched his seal into it, confirming that it was his words and his alone in the letter. He then set the seal on the floor and with a fluid motion smashed it with the hammer, severing his ties to the order. He gazed at the pieces, a small feeling of regret drifted through his body before he picked up the letter and left to join the party, to deliver his answer to his towns ponies.
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great to see you three again, I really missed you all. this was an interesting origin story. I wish that I had had the time to do the cover art for this story because I feel that this story deserves more attention then it is getting. unfortunately I still don't have much time now and seeing that we are at the tail end of the story I am not sure that it would be worth it either. I wish you all the best of your story.
Oooohhh 0.o
It's a Christmas Miracle!!!! Caverns and Cutie Marks updated