The Sword of the Helpless

by albedoequals1

Chapter 5: Introductions

Brownie was in the middle of a vivid nightmare when she suddenly found herself sitting down in a field of stars. She tried for a moment to remember what she had just been dreaming about, but it was already gone. In front of her a tall and slender pony was approaching.

The newcomer had both wings and horn and wore nothing except for a black peytral and crown. Her coat was dark blue and her mane and tail seemed to be made out of the night sky. Brownie scrambled to her hooves. She had never seen a goddess before, but she suspected this might be one. “Who are you…ma’am?” She didn’t know the expected honorific, but it was better than nothing.

“I am Luna, princess of the night. Who are you to not recognize a princess of Equestria?”

“Begging your pardon, majesty, I am not from your country. I meant no disrespect.” Brownie stammered.

Luna spoke in a soothing tone of voice. “Peace, I come to you at the request of three of my youngest subjects. You saved them from great peril and they fear for your life.”

With some difficulty, Brownie reconstructed the events that had taken place before she lost consciousness. “Those three fillies are your friends?”

The alicorn nodded. “It is my duty to watch over the dreams of all the ponies in Equestria, and those three dream of you. It would seem you did not succumb to your wounds, else you could not dream.”

Brownie parsed the last statement slowly. “I’m asleep? How are we talking?”

“I have the power to bring lucidity or oblivion to those who sleep. As you have said you were not one of my ponies, is there anything you wish to tell me?” The princess fixed Brownie with a searching gaze.

Time to see if I can lie in my sleep, Brownie thought. “There is something you should know, princess: When my friend and I were on the way here, we saw a hideous monster traveling in the same direction. We hid and lost sight of it, but I think it may have entered your country as well.”

Luna’s expression conveyed neither suspicion nor trust. “Can you describe the creature?”

“Well it was sort of…” As Brownie tried to remember the monster, it manifested right next to her, exactly as it had appeared before. She cried out in alarm, but then noticed that it was not moving. She was still dreaming, she realized, and had apparently conjured the image of the beast from her own memory. She pointed at it. “It looked like that.”

Luna walked up to the facsimile and scrutinized it carefully. “Equestria thanks you for your service, Miss…?”

“Uh, Brownie. Brownie Sundae, your majesty.”

“Pleasant dreams, Miss Sundae. I hope we meet again.” Luna smiled at Brownie and then vanished.

* * *

Brownie opened her eyes and saw a wooden roof. More precisely, she saw what appeared to be the inside of a tree. She cautiously turned her head and pain shot through her whole neck. Apparently, her dream about being mauled by wolves made out of kindling had some basis in reality.

She took stock of her other pains. Her flank still hurt, but the arrow itself seemed to be gone. She couldn’t feel any pain in the hoof she had impaled on the caltrop, and her face felt pretty normal. A gentle breeze blew through an open window near her head and she felt it all along her body except for her neck and her flank. She realized that except for a few places wrapped in bandages, she was naked.

It made sense when she thought about it; the fillies’ garments had been very simple and not very modest. She was obviously the guest of some primitive but friendly tribe. Her suspicions were reinforced when the zebra that had dumped that powder on her before walked into the room, wearing nothing but some bulky jewelry. Brownie considered that it was probably fortunate that Shadow was a griffon or the local dress code might be a lot more awkward.

Now that she thought about him though, she wondered where he was. She tried to speak, but her voice came out as a hoarse croak. It still achieved the desired effect as the zebra turned to look at her.

“Ah, hero mare, you are awake, I was not sure my cure would take. I have not seen wounds so severe, as the ones you bore, my dear.”

“Could…I have some water?” Brownie croaked.

The zebra grabbed a stone mug in her fetlock and waved her other hoof over the top of it, then held the mug up to Brownie’s mouth. Brownie tried to drink from her reclining position, but it was too awkward. She tried to sit up, but large portions of her body vetoed that strategy. She finally settled for leaning over the side of the bed and lapping the water out of the cup like a cat.

When she had finished most of the first mug, the zebra allowed her a second, but recommended that she stop at two. At least she could talk now.

“Thanks for, um, patching me up. I’m Brownie, what’s your name?”

“I am Zecora. Thanks I owe, for what you did that day also. You rescued my three little friends, from what would have been untimely ends.”

“It was nothing, I just have a soft spot for foals. Wait, ‘that day’? How long has it been?”

“You can’t recall those days, it seems; you often spoke in fevered dreams. The arrow caused a long ordeal, to pull it out and let you heal. From when you first fell in a haze, until you woke was seven days.”

“A whole week? Where’s Shadow Claw? Is he alright?”

“Your griffon friend is well, except, his guilt has plagued him while he slept. It seems that all the pain you bore, he places on himself, and more.”

Brownie sighed. “We need to have a talk. Do you think you could get him for me, Zecora?”

Zecora smiled and nodded, and walked off to find the griffon. Brownie looked around the room, noting several peculiar masks and shelves full of mysterious liquids.

In short order, Shadow flew into the room in a rush of air. “Blondie! You’re awake! Ow!” He clutched the knee Brownie had just kicked, albeit with a fraction of her normal force. “Careful, you don’t want to hurt yourself again.”

“Totally worth it,” Brownie said. “Help me sit up.”

Shadow gently put his talons under Brownie’s head and shoulders and levered her into a sitting position.
Brownie spread her forehooves wide and reeled for a moment before regaining control. “Whoa, I got really dizzy for a moment.”

“You lost a lot of blood. Zecora gave you a potion to help, but it will still take some time for you to make more,” Shadow said, averting his eyes.

Brownie noticed his embarrassment. “Is it that big a deal?” she asked. “Our host is stark naked and you and I are not even the same species.”

The griffon continued to look away. “It’s weird. I know you, and I’m used to seeing you with clothes. I think about you almost like I would think about another griffon, even if you are a pony.”

“Well get me a blanket or something then. There are some things we need to talk about.”

Shadow quickly found a blanket and draped it over Brownie’s shoulders. “Here you go. That’s better.”

Brownie shrugged. “You know, even civilized ponies take off their clothes when they go swimming and stuff.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay, fine. What happened while I was unconscious?”

“Well right after you fainted, Zecora and I carried you to her house; that’s where you are now. She gave you a potion to make your bones make more blood or something, and then we tried to get your armor off so she could remove the arrow. It took a while; she had to cut the arrow off a little ways up. I’m afraid I got a little squeamish so she told me to leave the room while she cut the arrow out of you. Anyway, I gather you lost some more blood and it was touch-and-go for a day. For a few days after that, you just lay there, and then the last few days you’ve been talking in your sleep. Those chicks you saved just came for another visit and they said everything is fine in Ponyville—that’s the name of the town—and nobody has seen any monsters.”

Almost as if they had been listening at the door, the fillies came running into the room when Shadow mentioned them. The beige earth pony reared up and put her forehooves on the bed, giving Brownie a good view of the comically-oversized bow in her red mane. “Thanks, miss. Ya saved us from the timber wolves and we’re mighty grateful. We would’a come to see ya sooner, but we were all grounded fer wandering off the path.”

An orange pegasus jumped up next to her friend and added, “You were amazing, you smashed that first one with one blow!”

The third member of the trio, a white unicorn, joined the other two and said, “I’m sorry you got hurt so bad, I hope you’re feeling better?”

None of the three had the capes they had been wearing earlier, or any clothes for that matter. Brownie noticed that all three had no brands of destiny, but she didn’t see any scarring to indicate they had been removed.

Subtlety had never been one of her strengths, and the trio noticed her staring at their flanks. The earth pony self-consciously moved her tail to cover the empty space. “Yeah, uh, we don’t have our cutie marks yet, but we will real soon! We started a club to help us find our special talents, the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“Yeah!” the other two chorused as all three bumped their hooves together.

“Ah’m Apple Bloom,” she leveled a hoof at the pegasus, “this here’s Scootaloo,” she pointed at the unicorn, “and that’s Sweetie Belle.”

“I’m Brownie Sundae, it’s nice to meet you. Who would I talk to about—“

“What’s yer cutie mark?” Apple Bloom interrupted, lifting up the blanket to find her view blocked by bandages.

Scootaloo climbed over the bed and lifted the other side of the blanket to look at Brownie’s unbandaged flank. “It looks like a…canyon with a river in it? What does that mean?”

“Whoa, girls! Personal space!” Brownie blushed and tried to push the blanket back down, but in her weakened state she could not support herself with a single leg and collapsed on the bed with a groan.

Sweetie Belle gasped. “You’re hurting her!” she squeaked.

The other two ashamedly withdrew. “Ah’m sorry Brownie, we didn’t mean any harm, honest.” Apple Bloom said penitently.

Shadow helped Brownie back to a sitting position. “Take it easy on her; she’s had a rough week.”

Brownie rolled her eyes. “If I answer your questions, will you answer mine?” she asked the Crusaders.

The trio nodded vigorously.

“Fine. I don’t know what my brand of destiny means, although my uncle said it meant I was a drip.”

“How did you get it?” Scootaloo asked.

“The same way as anypony else; I was born with it.” Brownie noticed the fillies’ stunned expressions and realized with growing unease that they might be part of a cult. Removing a brand of destiny without leaving a scar would require powerful magic, implying that there was an organized faction behind it.

“Born with it!?” Apple Bloom asked incredulously. “I’ve never seen anypony that had a cutie mark when they were born!”

Brownie reconsidered the cult theory and decided it didn’t quite fit. There was definitely something weird going on, but she didn’t really want to investigate that.

“Where did you come from?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I wander around. Before I came here, I was in Deepcrag.”

“How’d you learn to fight like that?” Scootaloo interrogated.

“Mostly from my father. Can I ask some questions?” Brownie said.

“Shoot.” Apple Bloom assented, although her squirming suggested she was just getting started with her own interrogation.

“Who is the leader in your village?”

“Princess Twilight!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said in unison while Sweetie Belle simultaneously said, “Mayor Mare.”

The three broke into a heated argument about the political structure of the town, but Brownie was able to deduce that while Mayor Mare was the official head of government in Ponyville, a pony named Twilight Sparkle was the person that nearly everyone in town looked to for protection and guidance.

“Um, can you tell me more about Twilight Sparkle?” Brownie asked the fillies, who by now were having a full-on brawl.

“Twilight’s the princess of friendship!” Sweetie Belle volunteered as the fight stopped abruptly, leaving the fillies disheveled but apparently unharmed.

“She used ta be a unicorn,” Apple Bloom added, “but she got so good at magic that she turned into an alicorn princess.”

Brownie filed that tidbit away to parse later.

“She lives in a big, ugly tree-castle on the edge of Ponyville now that her library’s all blown up,” Scootaloo chimed in.

“Do you think I could meet her?” Brownie asked.

“Sure, she’s real friendly,” Apple Bloom said, “she’s even helpin’ us learn special skills.” When the other two glared at her for that revelation, she said, “It’s not the same; Brownie isn’t going ta tell everypony…are ya?”

“Your secret is safe with me. Um, I need to talk with Shadow, privately, but I’ll be sure to come visit you later.”

“Okay, watch out for Pinkie Pie when you get to town,” Scootaloo cautioned. “She’s going to throw you a Welcome-to-Ponyville-and-Thanks-for-Saving-the-CMC party as soon as she knows you’re up and about.”

Brownie thought she heard a bit of embarrassment in the pegasus filly’s voice.

“Get well soon.” Sweetie Belle petted one of Brownie’s legs and then the Crusaders scampered out the door.

Brownie waited until she was sure they were out of earshot and turned to Shadow. “I had a vision last night.”

“A vision of what?” Shadow raised an eyebrow.

“I was visited by either a goddess or a powerful sorceress. Whatever the case, she claimed to be the ruler of this area and is apparently personal friends with those three fillies.”

“Did she seem friendly?”

“She seemed…nice, but also very wary. I think she was just being protective of her ponies, but she was a little scary.”

Shadow looked nervous. “What did she say?”

“She thanked me for protecting the fillies and asked me where I was from. I told her we were foreigners, but I didn’t say anything about how we came here. I also gave her a description of the demon-thing, so that’s off our plate now.”

“Just like that?” Shadow asked.

“Just like that. We’re not heroes, we’re mercs. Now all we have to do is figure out how to get back to Deepcrag so we can kill those creeps that threw us down the hole.” Brownie made as if to get out of the bed, but fell over on her stomach.

Shadow let her lay where she had fallen. “I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. You just woke up after a week of not moving, and you’re too weak to even stand up. Hah, a week in bed makes you weak, get it?”

He got only a glare in response, so he continued, “Anyway, there’s no rush to get out of here; the natives are friendly, the weather is fine. You should take this opportunity to recover before throwing yourself back into things. You haven’t even had any solid food for a week.”

Brownie considered the implications of that last statement. It had not occurred to her until Shadow mentioned it that her bodily maintenance must have continued while she was unconscious. “Oh. How did I…uh…?”

Shadow pointed a talon toward a bucket in the corner. “You owe Zecora big time.”

Zecora chose this moment to walk back into the room.

“Hi Zecora,” Shadow said, “we were just talking about—“

“Nothing!” Brownie interrupted. “We weren’t talking about anything!”

“Come on, Brown.” Shadow slapped her lightly upside the head. “You can trust Zecora. If she was going to do something evil, she could have done it when you were unconscious.”

Zecora gave Brownie a hard look. “Trust is something rare it’s true, remember though, I trusted you. I housed and healed a total stranger; I might have placed myself in danger.”

Brownie looked at her hooves ashamedly. “I…I’m sorry, it’s really hard for me to trust anypony.”

“If you want your fear to loose, make a change, not an excuse.” Zecora waited expectantly.

Brownie bit her lip. “Do you promise not to tell anyp— anybody what I tell you?”

Zecora nodded. “Yes.”

Brownie looked to Shadow, who shrugged. “Okay. Here goes. Shadow and I are from a different dimension.”

Shadow looked at her in surprise. “We are?”

“Didn’t you notice the way our bodies changed, but everypony here already looks like this? The rules are different here, even if only a little.” Brownie looked at Zecora, who just gestured for her to continue. “We were exploring a mine and got ambushed by some adventurers. They shot me and threw both of us into a hole. We found a tunnel at the bottom of the hole and followed it to a room with a sword on a pedestal. We took the sword and accidentally released a large ugly monster with spikes, horns, wings and a barbed tail. We followed him to a wall that was actually a doorway to this world. We didn’t see which way he went, and as soon as we left the cave we were attacked by the timber wolves. The rest you know.”

Zecora listened to the tale without interrupting, a deepening frown on her face. When Brownie finished, she said, “Twilight Sparkle is the one, who would know best what must be done. She has left this world before, and read about it even more. Princess Twilight has six friends that help her stop what evil sends. They are not wise nor very stable, but always do right if they’re able. I recommend that you give them a…chance to help with your dilemma.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow. “Would one of her friends happen to be named Pinkie Pie?” he guessed.

Zecora nodded. “The party pony is her friend, and all the others should attend the welcome party planned for you, so that way you can meet them too.”

“Well then, I guess we’re going to a party, eh, Blondie?” Shadow easily dodged Brownie’s feeble kick. She was right; it was an effective teaching method.

Comments

[David Silver]

She figured out dimensional drift fast. Her recovery, not so fast.

[albedoequals1]

6135391 Her secret character sheet that I will never show to anybody has a 14 on INT