Rise of the Runelords: Burnt Offerings

by redtau

Chapter Seven: Through The Glassworks Darkly

Rainbow Dash was jumpy. Three days had passed since the sheriff and the ranger had left town, and while everypony else was doing their best to keep up morale around town Rainbow Dash was just too jumpy. She wasn't sleeping, and her constant nerves were undoing some of the morale boosting work her friends had accomplished.

So she was working night shifts. Moving quietly around the town and talking with the guards. It was the best she could do since she couldn't sleep.

She'd told Fluttershy and Applejack that it was just nerves and bad dreams. Flutttershy had nodded at that, the kind of killing they had done in just a couple of weeks would turn the stomach of any in Ponyville. Applejack hadn't been fooled though, it was hard to trick the element of honesty. The killing wasn't bothering Rainbow, though the fact that killing wasn't bothering her was bothering her.

It was something else, something that seemed sinister to her. Something about the way the grave had been robbed under cover of a goblin invasion. Something about the hidden things that people in town didn't talk about. The cuts and gouges in wood that marred many storefronts and homes. The burned ruins of a house on that little island that was so close to shore your ankles wouldn't get wet walking there at low tide. The ancient tower that everyone swore must have been a lighthouse. The seven stones standing at the center of the church. There was more to this town than trade and faith and goblins, something that seemed to scratch at her consciousness in the wee hours of the morning. She would rather walk in starlight through empty streets than wake drenched in sweat and screaming at nightmares she could not remember.

She was making her way back to the White Stag to try and get a little sleep before the sun came up, when the woman came up to her. Rainbow could spot the grease stains on her simple dress and smell the stale beer of a tavern as she approached.

"You- you are one of those women?" She asked hopefully. "The ones who fought the goblins?" Dash nodded, and the woman held up a folded scrap of paper. "Please, you must help. It is my employer, I fear she is in danger."

---

Awake and assembled in the common room of the White Stag Twilight and Rarity frowned down at the letter while Applejack questioned the waitress. "Ya'll are sure that is what this letter says?"

"Yes," the waitress nodded. "Amiko left it with me when she went out early last night. I expected her to be back before midnight, and it is nearly dawn."

"What is in this letter is very troubling." Twilight said. "I wish I could read the language. You are sure this translation is good?" The waitress nodded.

"To think," Rarity raised a hand to her chest in shock, "Lonjiku Kaijitsu is involved in the goblin raid. I'd come to understand he was somewhat respected around town. Practically a noble by the local standards."

"Who is this Tsuto?" Pinkie asked, "I didn't know Amiko had a brother."

"Half brother," The waitress cut in. "Amiko's father disowned him, and Amiko never forgave him for it. She went adventuring, a bit of a scandalous career for a merchant's daughter." The waitress grew wide eyed and looked around, "That isn't to say that you are in any was bad. The town is very grateful for-"

"It's alright," Fluttershy said softly, patting the waitresses shoulder. "There are all kinds of people in the world."

The waitress nodded. "Amiko came back to town after her mother died in an accident a few years ago. She set up the tavern to live on her own and spite her father. He kept coming by now and then to berate her for being an adventurer and owning the Rusty Dragon. Just a few days ago they got into a screaming match."

"And then yesterday she get's a letter from her estranged half-brother telling her to meet him at her father's glassworks." Twilight said, putting a hand to her chin and thinking. "Tsuto claimed he had some evidence against Lonjiku, if that were true then why not just take it to the guards or bring it to us?"

"Tsuto was always seen as a problem child. When he was younger he used to make up wild stories." The waitress bowed her head.

"A disgraced child of an unfaithful wife making these kinds of accusations against one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in town." Rarity said with a thoughtful look. "It would play well in the theater, but I can see that he might not be taken seriously."

Twilight shook her head. "Something doesn't add up. There is no reason someone as rich and powerful and Lonjiku would support a goblin raid. There isn't any profit or gain from letting creatures that wild run through town."

"At any rate," Rainbow Dash cut in, "Amiko should have been back hours ago. I say we go over to the glass works and check things out."

"I passed by on the way here." The waitress said. "They are locked up tight, something not unusual as Lonjiku is a perfectionist and has been known to fire all the glass workers and stay late into the night to get a custom order just right."

"Well then," Applejack stood and hefted her crossbow. "We'll just have to go knock politely and see who answers."

---

Twilight and her friends gathered just outside the glassworks and huddled together. "I knocked on the front door," Twilight told them, "But there was no response."

"There's smoke coming from the furnace," Rainbow Dash observed, "Someone might be in there working and just couldn't hear you."

"We could always break in." Applejack offered, hefting her crossbow.

"Darling, this is not just some little warehouse." Rarity pointed out, reaching out with one finger to redirect Applejack's crossbow back down. "The glassworks are to this town what Sweet Apple Acres is to Ponyville. If we just broke in, even with as good a reason as probable kidnapping, it would take a long time to earn everyone's trust back. Especially if we are wrong."

"But if Amiko is in danger waiting around could be deadly!" Fluttershy cried.

Twilight nodded. "It looks like there are glass domes on the glasswork's roof. Rainbow Dash, fly up and-" Twilight closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, sorry. I'm still getting used to these bodies."

"Don't sweat it Twi," Rainbow called from a short distance away. Twilight opened her eyes to see Rainbow running straight at one wall of the little factory. Her run took her part way up the wall, where she kicked off and turned, grabbing the edge of a nearby house. Pulling her legs up under her she pushed off again, flipping in the air and landing on the roof of the glass works like a gymnast.

It took Twilight a moment to realize she was gawking, but to be fair so was everyone else. Rainbow Dash walked over to the large glass dome at the front of the building. "No one's at the front, I'm going to take a look through the three at the back." She called before walking out of sight.

"Sooooooo Twilight," Pinkie said casually.

"Rescue the woman first." Twilight said. "Plan victory parties after."

Pinkie frowned but nodded.

Rainbow Dash came running back over to their side of the building and lept off, landing grancefully next to Applejack. "We need to get in now." She said. "I saw someone in there in real bad shape. He was all bloody and I don't think he was moving."

Rarity stepped over to the door and pulled out a set of thin tools, beginning to tinker with the locks. Fluttershy grabbed a passerby and told him to get the guards and a healer, pressing a silver coin into his hand as he ran off.

"See anything else?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, goblins." Rainbow hissed quietly. "A bunch of them."

---

The front door clicked quietly open, and Rarity tiptoed inside. The room was lit only by the early dawn light coming through the glass dome overhead. Brilliant examples of the glass worker's skill glittered and glowed on shelves and displays in the room. A long counter stretched from the right side of the door down the right hand wall. Rarity waved a hand, and her friends piled in, closing the door behind them.

"What's the plan?" Applejack asked, hefting her crossbow. "Rainbow spotted some in the rear of the building, we wanna just rush them?"

Twilight shook her head. "We need to search as much of the building as we can first. We all saw what one desperate goblin in the wrong place can do. I don't want any of them getting away."

Fluttershy shifted nervously from foot to foot. "But, but what if they aren't all bad?" She asked. "Could we give them a chance to surrender?"

"Sugar cube, ah don't know if you've notice but every goblin we've run across has been worse than a rabid, starving timber wolf." Applejack pointed out, moving to the first door she could reach behind the counter. "Ah think putting them down might be for the best." She peeked through the door. "Hallway, door opposite. Left goes to a pair of double doors and a turn, right is a long hall with another set of double doors at the end and a third door midway down on the right. Doors to the left look like they go outside."

"We should be close to that big room I saw with the goblins." Rainbow pointed out. "We should rush in and take them down."

"But what if there are other goblins in the building?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.

"If even one gets away," Pinkie warned, "We saw what happened last time."

Twilight shook her head. "Someone might be in trouble in there right now. Our first priority is to save them and get rid of the goblins we can find. Afterwards we'll search the rest of the building."

Everyone nodded and moved into the tight hallway. Rarity carefully peaked through the door opposite. "Whew, it definitely opens into the furnaces. I can see at least two goblins from here but it looks like they are just playing around and breaking things. There's a set of double doors off to the left, and there must be another entrance at the far end of the work room."

"Should we separate? Make sure none of them get away?" Applejack asked

"Yeah, probably a good idea." Rainbow replied. "How about you and I go down to the far end and the rest of you hit them from this side. That way we can surround them."

Twilight nodded. "Right, in that case, I and Rarity will attack from this end, with Pinkie and Fluttershy to back us up. Think you'll be alright?"

"Shoot Twi," Applejack grinned, hefting her crossbow. "Between my arrows and Rainbow's fists I doubt any varmint will get past us." Rainbow nodded in agreement before the two turned and stalked quietly down the hallway.

"Twilight, if that person in there is hurt I need to get to them as soon as possible." Fluttershy pointed out.

Twilight hesitated for a moment, watching the backs of her friends retreating stealthily down the hall. "Right, you and Pinkie are to get to the injured as fast as possible. We'll provide ranged support. Rarity, why don't you introduce us?"

With a nod Rarity Stepped in and threw a dagger at the closest goblin, knocking the monster flat on it's back. She felt a brief bit of fear grip her heart as seven more sets of eyes turned to look at her. There was a chattering cry of sadistic glee as the closest goblin reached over to a furnace and pulled a set of tongs coated in glowing molten glass.

Fluttershy and Pinkie barged in next, running down the far wall towards their goal. Seven goblins were now visible, and two turned their attention to the running girls. One advanced with a rusty blade and a pair of tongs dripping molten glass. The hot poker sizzled as it pressed into the side of Pinkie's armor and she yelped in pain, flailing wildly at the creature. The other goblin was too far away to reach the pair and settled for flinging panes of colored glass clumsily at them. None hit the girls but where they smacked the wall or crashed to the ground they left a smattering of razor sharp shards.

Seeing the effect and enjoying the pretty sounds three more goblins flung nearby glass, littering the floor with half visible blades. One crashed just to the right of Rairty and the fashionista instinctively through her arms up to protect her face.

Twilight stepped forward and raised a hand. "SLEEP!" She commanded, and three of the closest goblins dropped to the ground unconscious. Rarity nodded her thanks.

Fluttershy came to a stop before the man in the chair and managed a startled gasp. Pinkie got a look at it in better light before turning and losing part of her dinner on the floor. What had been a man had been strapped to the chair and molten glass poured slowly over him. From the burns and the way the glass sagged it was clear the tormentor had started with the hands and arms but now a full half of his face was sealed in a shiny clear shell. The heat had cooked his flesh but the part that remained clear showed an older man, far older then Amiko.

Pinkie's head came up, her hair straight and her eyes narrowed in rage. She turned on the nearest goblin and with a mighty strike knocked the pitiful thing backward so that it landed partially in one of the furnaces. There was a brief cry before the thing met it's end, and the stench was terrible.

"IT'S THEM!" The furthest goblin cried out. "THEM LONGSHANKS WHAT RUINED THE ATTACK! RUN FOR IT!" He and the two closest to him proceeded to try and do just that, the first finding his flight cut off by a bolt from Applejack. The next came crashing into Rainbow Dash's lethal blows, but the third used the death of his comrade to slip by the defenders.

"AH GOT HIM!" AJ called, turning to follow the monster out the door. Rainbow nodded and stepped into the room, moving up to the last goblin who was trying to position himself to assault Fluttershy. The speed with which the prismatic monk moved left the goblin no option but to die where it stood.

Twilight and Rarity moved carefully forward, keeping an eye on the floor to spot the glass shards their brief fight had scattered about. Rarity still managed to pick up a small sliver but was able to carefully remove it. "Times like this I almost wish iron boots were in fashion," she muttered, carefully stepping over another pile of glass.

Rainbow looked over the glass coated corpse with macabre facination for a moment before turning to the furnaces. She grabbed a large pair of tongs and pulled the smoldering corpse of Pinkie's kill out of the furnace in hopes that the smell would abate. "Hey Fluttershy, not to be crude but does that guy have all his fingers?"

Fluttershy looked over to Rainbow Dash and nodded, only for Rainbow to lift a set of tongs that had half a hand dipped in glass. "Looks like this guy wasn't the only one here. I think the goblins got most of the other workers."

"He's not a worker." Rairity cut in. "Given his clothing and age he is both too rich and too old. At a guess I'd say he is Lonjiku Kaijitsu, Amiko's father and owner of the glassworks."

"But the note we saw said he was working with the goblins!" Twilight pointed out.

"Maybe they changed their minds?" Rarity offered.

"Hey, if he's here, where are Amiko and her brother?" Pinkie asked.

Applejack walked back in. "Ah got the feller. Funny though, he wasn't running for the exit but for the basement."

"Maybe that's how the goblins got in." Pinkie said. "I can't imagine eight of them just waltzing into town, not with the guards as alert as they are."

"Lets check it out." Twilight said. "But be careful."

---

Applejack lead the short walk downstairs into the cellar, with Pinkie and Fluttershy following and Rarity and Twilight bringing up the rear. Rainbow Dash lagged behind to make sure no extra goblin surprises caught them unawares. At the bottom of the stairs the basement opened into a long hallway that curved slightly left. A man sized opening along the lefthand wall showed where an older tunnel had recently been uncovered.

"Which way?" Applejack asked.

"Left," Rarity directed. "This looks suspicious and we should check it out."

The left path came to a pair of doors and another broken down wall. The first door opened into a small store room with the back of the old stone wall torn away to reveal a tunnel. Unlike the rest of the basement this tunnel was not a tiled and brickwork afair but a single uneven hole bore through solid earth.

"How long has this been here?" Twilight asked, looking over the signs of neglect and age in the store room.

"I can see some stone work but this must have been her for decades at least." Pinkie Pie said, running her fingers over a worn chisel mark.

"Ah can barely see anything." Applejack said peering into the shadows of the tunnel. Beyond the store room there was no torch or light, though her eyes detected some faint glimmer in the distance. It was clear from the echo of their whispers that the tunnel went on some ways. Her eyes narrowed and she raised a hand to call her companions to silence. For a moment there was nothing but the sound of flickering torches and shifting cloth of the group. Then a soft grunt was heard echoing down the tunnel. "Someones down there." She said, readying her crossbow.

"Here, let me help." Twilight said, placing her hand over the end of her staff. A moment later the end glowed with a pure but soft white light, throwing long shadows down the tunnel before them. A sound was heard in the tunnel, a response to the light though they could not see who made it, and a noise of shuffling or dragging became more evident.

"I don't think that's someone coming to greet us." Rarity said, pulling up her throwing dagger.

"I think that's someone asking for a but kicking!" Rainbow Dash said, charging down the tunnel.

"RAINBOW WAIT!" Twilight called as the rest of the group followed along behind.

Into the darkness they ran, Twilights staff limiting Rainbow's speed only because she nearly ran into a wall or tripped when she ranged too far ahead. Over the sounds of their running Rarity thought she heard a swishing sound before Rainbow cried out and fell against the cave wall with an arrow in her leg.

"You'd best turn back." A masculine voice called out from the shadows. "You're nothing more than sitting ducks where you are."

"Coward!" Pinkie cried. "Show yourself!"

"No. Go back to your doomed town and cower in your hovels as vengeance comes on you."

Applejack pointed her crossbow down the tunnel. "Ah can't see the jerk." She muttered, scanning back and forth and trying to place the voices source from the echoes.

"You don't need to see him." Twilight told her. "Just aim as best you can and I'll help with the rest." She closed her eyes and concentrated. "True Strike." She intoned.

Applejack's crossbow shifted ever so slightly, and the bolt that was loosed from it was rewarded with a cry of pain in the distance. The sound of footfalls followed.

"He's running for it!" Rainbow Dash called, forcing herself back to her feet. "Come on."

"WAIT!" Twilight called out in vain as Rainbow once more ran ahead. The others followed and Twilight was hard pressed to keep up. Ahead of her she could hear a commotion. By the time she reached it her five friends were standing over an unconscious half elf. "I said wait. What did you do?"

"I tried to tackle him but he fought back." Rainbow Dash said. "I hit him but I didn't think it was that hard." She yelped as Fluttershy pulled the arrow from her leg. "OW! Shy, that hurt!"

"Well I'm not going to be able to heal it with the arrow in there." She said, pulling out some bandages.

"Lets get this jerk back to the guards." Applejack said, stooping to pick up the limp foe. "When he comes to he can tell us what was going on at the glassworks and where Amiko is."

As one the ponies turned and headed back down the path.

Author's Note:

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