Blademaster: The Monster Hunters
Blademaster Interlude:
The Monster Hunters
The sign said ‘reward’ in big, red letters, and that was all it needed to do to catch his attention as he walked past. The Blademaster stopped dead in his tracks, his head turned and his eyes locked on that beautiful word. Other ponies in the street grumbled and cursed under their breath, forced to walk around him. None said anything to his face, though. He was carrying too much steel for that to be a rational option. He sidestepped over to the bulletin board where the poster was nailed, a grin pulling at his lips as he read the details.
REWARD!
For the defeat of a vicious
H Y D R A
that has been attacking caravans passing through the
MUDFOOT MARSH.
1,000 golden bits to the individual or group that
brings proof that the creature has been slain to
DAME CLEVER WILES,
Chosen of the Sorceress.
“A thousand, hmm?” he said, tapping a hoof on his chin. His coin purse had been feeling a little light lately. He was in no danger of starving any time soon, but more money was always better than less. Plus, a hydra would provide more of a challenge than he’d faced in quite some time.
Another note just beneath the reward poster caught his eye:
To the Monster Hunters:
Meet at noon at the Cockatrice’s Garden.
Better to work together than against each other.
Money doesn’t spend when you’re dead.
“Noon,” he said aloud, squinting up at the sun. It was already past its zenith. “Bugger!” His head snapped back and forth as he scanned the street, finally spotting, far down the street, a sign painted with the grey silhouettes of several ponies. As good a representation of petrification as he could expect. He shot off, dodging through the midday traffic to reach the tavern, hoping it wasn’t too late. “Oi! Coming through!” he shouted at the ponies who were slow to clear his path. Most just stopped in their tracks and watched him with confusion, which didn’t help him any.
He leapt, using earth pony muscle to launch himself high into the air. Sun glinted from the hilts of his blades as he soared up two stories before coming down on top of the first floor awning of a general store. The material of the awning stretched, then snapped back like a trampoline, sending him arcing farther down the street. Ponies shouted in surprise and–he assumed–awe as he came down on the back of a cart hauling hay to the market.
He rolled out of the hay, spilling some on the street and managing to catch a sprig in his teeth. He dusted himself off, chewing idly on the hay and ignoring the shouts of indignant anger from the farmer pulling the cart. Then, with a tip of his hat to the irate farmer, he trotted up to the door and pushed his way into the Cockatrice’s Garden.
It was dim inside, the window shutters closed against the light. The transition meant he was blind for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the candlelight, and he let his other senses give him an idea of the scene. He heard the creak of leather, the jingle of chain armor, and the clink of porcelain against wood. It was the music made by the movements of half a dozen people as they looked over to see who had entered. He took a slow breath, letting his nose fill in more details. There was, first of all, the distinct scent of unwashed ponies, which he expected. It was joined by the smooth, cold odor of pipeweed, the spicy sting of hard cider, and the acrid waft of the oils used to protect weapons from rust and wear. Above it all was the greasy scent of cheap candlesmoke, and all together it gave him the mental image of a room full of the roughest, toughest, most scarred up bunch of hard fighters he could hope to see. He grinned at the prospect.
When his vision cleared, he was not disappointed. Four figures sat around a table where a map of the local marshland was laid out. Mugs were in front of three of them, one steaming, a wine glass sat before the fourth. The bartender had just set down one of the mugs, the foam spilling over the side and dribbling down to the table.
“If you’re here for the monster hunt, you’re late.” The Blademaster focused on the one who had spoken. He was a big blue earth pony draft stallion, one ear cut down to a stub and the other festooned with rings of gold and silver. His icy white mane and long beard had been twisted into several braids, each clasped by several jewelled pins along their length. He wore barding of oiled chainmail over thick cloth, and a long-bladed spear was propped against the wall next to him. He looked like an old barbarian warlord.
To the barbarian’s right was a fiery-maned pegasus mare. She was the one wearing leather, a set of boiled plates and soft joints which was dyed black which gave off little sounds as she breathed and adjusted her wings. A hoofbow was set down next to her chair, and a dozen knives were sheathed along her legs. Her smoldering blue eyes watched him, and when she caught him looking she flashed a smile that showed she had capped her teeth with steel points. He made a mental note not to try to kiss her.
To the barbarian’s left was not a pony, but the hulking grey shape of a minotaur. Like the barbarian pony, he was older, with his long hair and neatly-trimmed beard frosted with silver. His enormous arms and scarred, bare chest showed that he was still strong and tough as ever. An iron ring through his nose glinted, the open ends capped with a pair of small sapphires that seemed to glow, little eddies of mist forming around them with every breath the minotaur took. He held a long-stemmed pipe in one hand, its bowl sending up a thin tendril of smoke that coiled like a snake as it reached the ceiling. His expression was dark and pensive, and the Blademaster recognized a considerable intelligence shining in his small, black eyes. He had a massive two-headed battleaxe next to him, its notched blades evidence of the many battles it had seen. For all the damage it had sustained, though, he did not doubt the wicked sharpness of its edge from the way it gleamed in the candlelight.
The final pony at the table was not quite what he’d been expecting. She was a light green unicorn mare with a mane of grey-green striped with white and orange-yellow eyes that stared at him with a kind of hollow quality that belied the pleasant smile that was on her face. She wore a harness of padded cloth that didn’t make much sense. It didn’t protect her back as much as it did her chest, and it protected one foreleg but not the other. She had a curved stick next to her that didn’t look like it could be used as a spear or staff. He supposed she might be specialized in magical attack. He’d seen a few unicorns who could turn the elements on their enemies, and they were always terrifyingly powerful. Still, something about her didn’t sit quite right with him. Maybe it was the way she didn't seem surprised to see him, unlike all the others. He decided he’d keep an eye on her.
“Sorry, mate,” he said, sauntering over to the table. He grabbed a chair and dropped into it, shifting the blade on his back so he could lean back in a cocky pose. “Traffic, you know?”
The green unicorn laughed, a sound that was surprisingly genuine, and the barbarian grunted in annoyance. The other two just stared at the Blademaster in silent judgement. “Well, you’re out of luck," the barbarian said, tapping We’ve already worked out a plan and made our pact. The four of us are more than enough to defeat a hydra.”
“Aw, come on, now,” the Blademaster said, flashing his best smile. “Don’t be like that. You all look like a fascinating bunch of hunters, I’d hate to miss the opportunity to fight with you. Besides, if you lot say no, then I’ll just have to go out and kill the beastie on my own.”
The pegasus barked out a laugh. “You think you can take on a monster like that yourself? I’m bigger than you are, string bean.”
The Blademaster dropped his smile. “I think a thousand bits splits five ways just as well as four, and losing fifty from your share is better than losing all of it.”
“You little–”
“Stop!” the barbarian thundered, slamming a hoof on the table. He gave the Blademaster an appraising look. “What’s your name?”
“I go by ‘Blademaster’,” he said, letting his smile creep back onto his face.
“You expect us to believe that you are the Blademaster?” the pegasus snorted out.
“It’s him,” the minotaur said, folding his arms across his chest.
“I love being recognized,” the Blademaster said, tilting his chair back. The steady look the minotaur gave him was appraising, but not disappointed.
“How do you know?” the barbarian asked.
“I’ve heard him described by people who’ve met him,” the minotaur replied. “He fits. Right down to the idiot ego.”
“Hey!” the Blademaster protested, leaning forward again. “I’m right here!”
“I say we take him along,” the unicorn said. her voice was light, breezy, but it had an edge to it. It was a voice that could turn cutting in an instant. “He’s right. Fifty off each share isn’t so bad.”
“Thanks, love,” he said, flashing his best smile at her. Her expression didn’t even flicker, his charm shattered against the stone wall of her pleasant facade.
The barbarian grunted in annoyance again. Then he slid a page of freshly-inked parchment across the table. “Fine. Blademaster, if you want to sign on, put your mark here. The terms are that we work together to defeat the hydra and gain the reward offered. If one of us dies, their share gets sent to whoever they list on this page. If no one is listed, the rest of us divvy up the share between us. We register this with the Chosen before we leave, so there’s no profit in backstabbing.”
“Do I have to list somepony local?” the Blademaster asked. “I’ve got some mates in Trottingham that’d see some use from the gold.”
“Go ahead, just say where they can be found,” the barbarian said, pushing over a pot of ink and a quill. The Blademaster wasted no time in scratching out his title and cutie mark, as well as listing the friend he would like his share sent to in the–incredibly unlikely–event that he not return. When he was done, the barbarian took the page back and looked over what had been written with a nod of satisfaction. “Alright. So, let’s introduce ourselves again. I’m Riddle Snow, sometimes called the Shieldbreaker. I’ve been fighting since before the Fall, one way or another.” The Blademaster had heard of him, and his excitement at hearing who his companion would be almost broke his cool, but he kept it down and let the others speak.
“Summer Gale,” the pegasus said, giving him a sullen glare. “Professional monster hunter.”
“Iron Will,” the minotaur said, poking a thumb at his huge chest. “Travelling mercenary and entertainer extraordinaire.”
“Entertainer?” the Blademaster asked.
“Prizefighting and wrestling,” he explained. “Though Iron Will used to be a big name in motivational speaking before it stopped being profitable.”
“Neat.” The Blademaster turned to the final pony at the table. “And, let me guess, you’re a mage, right? Have I heard of you?”
She laughed again. “Nope. I’m Lyra. I’ve got a lot of skills, but combat magic isn’t really one of them. Also, I’ve travelled a lot, and I’ve been overseas for the past few years, so I seriously doubt you’d have heard of me.” Her smile turned sheepish. “I have heard of you, but only obliquely. I don’t know any tales of your deeds, sorry.”
He shrugged, relishing the opportunity to impress someone with no expectations. “No worries, love. You’ll have a few to tell yourself, soon enough. Though, if you’re not a mage, what do you bring to this merry band?”
“I’m an archer,” she said, tapping her strangely curved stick with a hoof.
He didn’t see how that stick could be a useful hoofbow, but he wasn’t a unicorn so he just assumed it was magic and rolled with it. “Alright. As I said, I’m the Blademaster. I’m a fair hoof at the monster-slaying business myself. I reckon that with all five of us, this hydra won’t stand a chance.”
“That’s the hope,” Riddle Snow said, then turned his attention back to the map. “Alright now, the plan is to start our search along the marsh road here. If we’re lucky, the hydra will come to us. If not, we’ll have to go into the swamp to search for its lair. Hydra-fighting tactics are fairly simple. When we find it, Lyra and Summer will be holding back and harrying it with arrows to keep the heads confused. Iron Will and Blademaster will be working as a team to cut the heads off one at a time. I will then burn the neck stump to prevent it from regenerating into two new heads. We’re going to need torches and oil for that. So long as we each do our part, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”
“Sounds good,” Blademaster said. It was as fine a plan as he would have come up with.
“Iron Will agrees.”
“So long as I get my share,” Summer Gale said.
“Well,” Lyra said with a wide smile. “When do we leave?”
***
The sun was touching on the horizon by the time they made it to the edge of the marsh, and there was an unspoken, unanimous agreement that they did not want to be wandering around a swamp looking for a dangerous predator in the dark. So they set up a camp to the side of the road and settled in for the night.
The Blademaster spent some time checking his weapons over, though he knew they were in good order. He used the opportunity to observe the other monster hunters without being too obvious about it. Riddle Snow was tending the fire, cooking up a pot of vegetable stew that was smelling absolutely divine after the long afternoon on the road. Iron Will was a little ways out, flexing his massive muscles and going through exercises with his battleaxe. He held still on each movement for a touch longer than was strictly necessary, giving the impression that he was posing for some ephemeral artist. Lyra and Summer Gale sat together on a fallen log, having a quiet conversation that the Blademaster strained to hear.
“But doesn’t it feel weird?” Lyra said. “Wearing someone like that?”
“At first, yeah,” Summer replied, stretching out her foreleg and looking at the leather gauntlet that protected it. “But you get used to it. It was weirder when I was wearing cowskin.”
“That’s not cow leather?” Lyra asked.
Summer chuckled, showing off her metal-capped teeth. “Nope. Monster hide. I personally killed everything that went into making my armor, and they all deserved it.”
Lyra shook her head. “I just don’t get why you’d want to in the first place.”
“You ever try to fly in metal armor?” Summer asked, grinning as Lyra just gave her a flat look. “You ever try to do anything acrobatic in metal armor? Doesn’t work so well. Cloth like what you got on is good to move in, but protects about as well as pissing in the wind to stop the breeze.” The Blademaster chuckled at that, causing the mares to look over in his direction. He kept his head down over his sword, pretending to study it for imperfections. “Anyway,” Summer continued. “Leather’s the best medium. Good against blunt weapons, and it can even turn aside claws and teeth, but not as heavy or restrictive as metal so you can really get moving in it.”
“But you’re wearing a dead thing.”
“Better than being a dead thing.”
Lyra fell silent at this, and the Blademaster sneaked a glance at her and saw a calculating look in her orange-yellow eyes. He could tell that she was considering a change in wardrobe, and he couldn’t blame her. It had been a decent pitch.
Deciding that he wasn’t going to hear anything more from them, he decided to put away his blades and approach Riddle Snow. The old earth pony looked up at him as he stuck his head over the bubbling stew and took a deep breath. “Smell’s good. Almost professional, where’d you learn to cook?”
Snow gave him a flat look, but answered. “I grew up in the far north. My family travelled a lot, bringing supplies to the Guard outposts and crystal mines. We spent a lot of nights under the stars, and we had to take turns cooking. You learn very quickly how to make a lot out of a little, and how to make it taste decent.”
“I always just had my mum’s cooking growing up,” the Blademaster said. “Never got the hang of it myself.”
“You must go hungry a lot, then,” Riddle Snow said, sweeping his gaze across the Blademaster’s compact form.
“More than I’d like,” he admitted with a sheepish smile.
“You should learn,” Snow said, giving the pot another stir. “There’s little a warrior needs more than a full belly to keep him going.”
“Fancy giving a mate a few tips?”
It turned out that he did, and he spent the next half hour talking about all the different ways a pony could make any meal worth eating. The Blademaster listened intently, asking questions about what spices were the best to travel with. When the stew was ladled out, he ate eagerly, savoring the way Riddle Snow had managed to make foraged greens and flowers into something as good as he’d ever gotten in from a village inn. He knew, mostly from trial and error, which roadside plants were the most edible, but he hadn’t realized how much better they could be with a little preparation and care.
Finally, with the whole group settled down and basking in the afterglow of a good dinner, he decided to broach the subject that had been on his mind since he’d heard Snow’s name.
“You know, I have heard of you,” the Blademaster said, and Snow looked up at him with a grim set to his jaw. “You’re a bloody legend, mate. You were in the Royal Guard. Protecting Princess Celestia right in Canterlot itself. I heard you fought when the city fell. I heard you got away and led a resistance group near the border with the North before it got stomped by the Sorceress. Captain Shieldbreaker the Good.”
Snow grunted. “Never liked them calling me ‘Good’. I was just doing my duty to the Princess.”
“So it’s true,” Lyra said in a half-whisper. Her eyes were locked on Snow’s face, unblinking and almost cat-like in the way they reflected the light of the fire. “You fought the Rulers.”
Iron Will barked out a laugh. “And you walked right into that Chosen’s office today like it was nothing! You got some big, brass balls, Snow. Iron Will is impressed.”
Snow flashed the minotaur an annoyed frown. “Don’t be. I fought the Sorceress, yes. Fought, past tense. Spent five years hiding with the remains of the Guard near the border with the Madmare’s domain and making guerilla strikes anywhere we thought it could weaken her. We thought if we could find out what had happened to the Princess, we might have a chance of bringing her back and ending the Rulers’ hold on Equestria.” He sighed, looking down at his hooves. “We were fools, that’s all. It just took us a while to find out exactly how stupid we were.”
“What happened?” the Blademaster asked.
“We made a mistake,” Snow said. “We caught one of her Chosen. We were interrogating him, trying to find out better targets. But we got a little too rough. He got… hurt.” Snow grimaced, his voice coming out in a harsh growl. “She came down on us herself, riding her favourite Dragon, Ferriotrax. Turned half my soldiers into torches before we even realized what was happening. Then the Sorceress came in and got her Chosen. The stories you’ve heard about them, how they can’t be harmed by blade, hoof or spell, they’re all true. I saw good, strong ponies die in agony just from touching her in anger.” He stopped for a moment, shaking his head hard enough to make all his jewelry jingle. “The worst part wasn’t the death, wasn’t how easily she broke our discipline. No, the worst part was how little she seemed to care about us at all. She could have crushed us at any time, but she’d let us run free for five years with only a token force set against us. Then, when all she wanted was her Chosen back, she destroyed us. We weren’t a threat. We weren’t anything. That was the end of my rebellion.”
“Did you ever find any clues about what happened to Celestia?” Summer asked.
He shook his head. “Never.”
“But, you still led a rebellion,” the Blademaster said. “That’s got to mean something. At the very least you should still be a criminal to them. Aren’t you worried you’ll get recognized by the Chosen?”
He stared into his stew in cold silence for a long moment. His lips were pressed into an angry line, but when he spoke his voice was only full of quiet weariness. “After she’d broken my forces, she gave amnesty to the survivors. Didn’t even take prisoners. She said she was being… ‘generous’.”
Lyra stood suddenly, kicking over her bowl and spilling the remains of her dinner into the dirt. Without a word, she stalked off into the dark. They watched her go in silence. Finally, Summer spoke. “Was there anyone else?” she asked. “Rebelling against the Rulers? I mean, you couldn’t have been the only Guards to try fighting.”
To this, Snow actually chuckled. “Oh, there were others. Still are, in some parts. Flash Sentry leads a bunch that are little more than bandits in the East. He was just a raw cadet in my day, but he’s kept up some of the discipline of the Guard. There’s a pony they call the Stormbreaker working along the border between the West and the South. Former Wonderbolt, still as much a speed-jockey as ever, I hear.” His face fell a little. “There are a few more left. There were a lot of us in the early days, but time and lack of leadership has killed or broken most." He paused, staring into the fire. "It didn't have to be that way. We had a chance, once, to be a united force. We had a leader, and a Princess to rally around, even if it wasn’t Celestia.”
“Really?” Iron Will asked. “I thought Celestia was the only royalty you ponies had.”
He nodded. “Mi Amore Cadenza. She was a young Alicorn, hadn’t really been introduced to the public yet, and nopony really knew if she would ever be as powerful as Celestia. She wasn’t in Canterlot during the Fall, and I guess that’s why she survived. For a time after the Rulers took over she was our secret weapon. Legitimate royalty to counter the usurpers. She gave a lot of us hope, but she vanished about a year after the Fall.”
“What happened to her?” the Blademaster asked.
Snow shrugged. “Nopony knows. Maybe she realized it was futile before the rest of us did, and abandoned us all to our delusion.” He sighed and took a slow drink from his canteen. “I hope so. I hope she found a quiet town to settle down in and make as good a life as she can from the ashes we’re left with. Wherever she went, she took our commander with her, the first captain of the rebellion. They were sweet on each other, and I can see them going off to live together away from all the pressures of their rank. I got the job after he was gone, and I guess I couldn’t live up to it, either.”
“Hey, you did you best, right?” the Blademaster said.
Snow grunted. “Maybe. It’s been more than a decade since I was captain of anything, in any case. I put it all behind me years ago.”
“Damn, Snow,” Summer said with a steel grin. “You’re a real hero. Like from the stories. Dark past and everything.”
“Everypony’s past is dark,” Riddle Snow said. “That’s why we look to the future.”
“Oh, that’s good,” Iron Will said, brightening. “Do you mind if I borrow that?”
“Go right ahead,” Snow said. “But right now you should all get some sleep. I’ll take first watch.”
The Blademaster had so many questions for the old stallion, but he held off. He’d heard a good story for the night, and they did have a full day in the morning. So he curled up under his blanket, his swords laid out next to him in easy reach, and relaxed towards sleep. Before dreams took him, as he looked out in the darkness, he thought saw the light of the fire reflecting off Lyra’s shining eyes, and the glittering tears that fell from them to the black earth below.
***
“Ugh, I hate swamps!” the Blademaster said, pulling his hoof out of deep, sucking mud for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. “Why couldn’t the hydra have just been nice and attacked us on the road, like a good vicious, bloodthirsty predator?” His tail swished from side to side, swatting at the biting insects that had already succeeded in making his flanks itch like fire with their constant attacks.
“I don’t know,” Lyra said with a chuckle from behind him. “I think this a great place to build a nice little cottage.” She stomped on a rotten log that was poking out of the still water of the marsh. It split open, spilling a squirming mass of bugs that crawled all over each other to get out of the open. She grinned at the Blademaster as he recoiled from the sight. Whatever had gotten to her the previous night, she seemed to have recovered her good cheer completely by the time he had woken up in the morning. “At least you’ll have lots of company.”
“You’re mad, love,” he replied, giving her a look of mock horror before turning back to the front. “Right raving starkers. Oi! Where’s the path!” he shouted up ahead.
Iron Will was in the lead, his big axe in his hands as he squared off against a tangle of vines and branches that blocked their path. “When somepony tries to block, show them that you rock!” he snarled, swinging in vicious overhand chops as he tore through the foliage. When he was done he poked his head through the new break in the vines before turning back to the rest of them. “Iron Will has found dry land.”
“Finally,” the Blademaster sighed, slogging ahead past Summer Gale to peek through the break next to Iron Will. A moment later he turned back to the group. “I think we’re getting close, mates.”
“Why do you say that?” Snow asked. He was bringing up the rear, carefully keeping several torches and jugs of oil above the water.
“That’s a big footprint,” Iron Will said, sounding impressed.
“What he said.” The Blademaster jumped through the hole, happy to have something solid beneath his hooves. The island wasn’t large, but it was big enough to have several imprints of enormous, clawed feet moving in a clear direction. He bent and examined one of the prints as the others came through the break, each relieved in their own way to be out of the water, even if it was only for a little while.
“Excellent,” Snow said. “Summer, do a circuit and see if you can spot the lair from the air.” She took off without a word, and Snow made his way next to the Blademaster. “What have you found?”
He shrugged at the question. “Not sure. This is a hydra track, no question, but there’s something else here.” He poked a hoof at the edge of the print, which had some strange scratches down it. “This is another track, almost right where the Hydra was stepping. It’s not another hydra, I know that much, but I’m not sure what it actually is.”
“Prey?” Snow asked.
“Could be,” the Blademaster said, but he made it clear that he didn’t think so. “These other tracks have claws, and big ones. I don’t know many animal with claws like that. Whatever it was would have put up one heck of a fight, but I’m not seeing signs of that around here.” He gestured around the area. “And these other tracks aren’t anywhere else, just around where the hydra was walking. Whatever it was, the hydra was following it, and close. There’s no way this other critter would miss something that big walking right behind it, but it doesn’t look like either of them were running either.”
“What does that mean?”
The Blademaster shrugged. “Search me. I guess we’ll find out when we catch up to the bugger.”
Just then Summer swooped down, landing in the footprint. “I’ve got him,” she said, a triumphant smile gleaming on her face. “A mile west. Rocky island with a cave. Looks like it’s his lair.”
“Good work,” Snow said. “Alright everypony! Time to get ready. We’ll be fighting the beast in its home turf, and Blademaster says there might be something else there as well. Be alert. Be aware. Be ready to help if any of us are in trouble.” They dropped their various baggage on the dry ground. It wouldn’t do to go into combat weighed down by bedrolls and cookpots. Then they set about making themselves ready for battle.
Iron Will pulled out a hauberk of glittering scale and donned it without a padded undershirt. The Blademaster didn’t envy the chafing that would cause, but he supposed the minotaur had a thick enough hide that it wouldn’t be a problem. He cinched the armor in place with a wide belt that featured an enormous golden buckle which sported the image of an upraised fist. He completed his armor by donning a pair of heavy iron gauntlets with wickedly sharp spikes protruding from around the wrists and across the knuckles.
Summer Gale hadn’t been carrying much more than her combat gear to begin with, and so only shed her canteen and small bag of rations. She checked over her quiver, ensuring that she had a full complement of bolts for her hoofbow. Then she checked over her knives, and, finding them to her satisfaction, took to the skies to circle and await her fellow monster hunters.
Riddle Snow prepared his torches, wetting the cloth-covered heads with oil. He’d been wearing his armor since they had left camp that morning, and did not seem the least tired by its constant weight. Earth pony endurance showing its value. The Blademaster smiled at that thought, he supposed his own cache of metal would be quite a burden if it weren’t for the gifts of his heritage.
His own preparations were quick. He simply dumped the extra weight of supplies and made sure that his weapons weren’t snagged on something. He reached a hoof back to touch the cold metal of the large sword on his back. A faint vibration could be felt in the steel, pulsing in an excited tempo that urged him to action. The song of steel, folded deep into the metal and giving that one blade a life that his others could never match.
He pulled his attention away from the sword and observed his last companion as she readied herself. Lyra had her strange stick out, surrounded in her yellow magic as it was bent slowly into a new shape. With a grunt of effort she held the stick in its new position and quickly set a thick string between its two ends. When she relaxed her telekinetic grip he could see that it really was a bow, but not like any he’d seen ponies wield in combat before.
“Is that a practice bow?” he asked, incredulous. He’d seen things like it in archery competitions before, but those had been firmly grounded.
“Nope,” she said, smiling brightly as she admired the bow. It was a pretty thing, lacquered black with green highlights.
“It’s a minotaur bow,” Iron Will said, looking at Lyra’s weapon with curiosity. “I didn’t think ponies could use them.”
“Unicorn,” Snow reminded him, grunting as he stepped up next to Lyra. “Horns make everything easier. How does it fare against a hoofbow?”
“Better penetration over a longer range,” Lyra said. “Faster rate of fire, too. Aim’s a teensy bit more tricky if you don’t have hands, though.”
“I assume you’ve compensated for that?”
She grinned. “Oh yeah. Stand back.” She closed her eyes, visibly gathering energy to her horn in little streams of amber light. Crackling bolts of yellow and green flashed from her horn over the rest of her body, and where they passed the Blademaster could see muscles shifting and bunching beneath her coat. With a hiss of pain, Lyra rose to stand on her hind legs. They twisted a little, reorienting her hips to hold her in the new bipedal posture. She held out her forelegs and they were sheathed in crackling energy that extended beyond her hooves to form fingers, turning her hooves into makeshift hands. She reached out and grasped her bow, testing its draw with a satisfied smile.
Iron Will let out a booming laugh. “That’s right, girl! If they say you can’t do it, then you make them chew it!”
“‘Chew it’?” Summer asked, snickering as she hovered above the group.
Iron Will looked a little crestfallen. “Yeah, you know. ‘Eat their words’? It’s one of my old motivational mottos.”
“It could use some work,” the Blademaster said.
“Alright,” Snow cut in before Iron Will could retort. “I assume this means we’re all ready to go. Remember, we keep our heads and work together, and this shouldn’t be much of a challenge. We might even be back in town before nightfall. If we are, a round of drinks on me.” That got a cheer from the assembled monster hunters, and they set off to finish the job.
The final mile to the hydra’s lair was a slog, but without the extra weight of their camping gear and the knowledge that they would soon be able to get out of the marsh, it passed by without comment. They crept to the edge of the rocky island and looked in on their prey. The hydra was a four-headed specimen, its poison-green scales and beady red eyes glinting in the midday sun. It sat in front of the cave, which was too small for the enormous beast to have fit into. It was also half asleep, with two heads hissing at each over the remains of a sheep while the other two lolled, snoring, on the ground.
“Well, it’s an ugly one,” the Blademaster mused quietly. “Big, though.”
“Big and stupid,” Snow whispered back. “Summer, Lyra, hang back and wait until we’re engaged before firing. We’ll strike the sleeping heads first. Once we’re in, we concentrate on one head at a time. Archers, start hitting any head we’re not attacking to keep them off balance. Ready?” There were affirmative nods all around. “Then let’s go.”
They burst out of the foliage in a rush. The Blademaster kept low to the ground, his steps as silent as they were swift. Iron Will wasn’t nearly as elegant, standing tall and bellowing a war cry as he sped towards one of the sleeping heads. His hooves struck hard against stone and he leapt into the air, bringing his axe up for a brutal downward swipe that buried the head of the weapon into the creature’s neck. The hydra head’s eyes opened comically wide, its tongue shooting out as a croaking hiss emerged from its injured throat.
The Blademaster wasted no time, skidding as he rounded the front of the injured head. He pulled one of his side swords, the single-edged blade flashing razor-sharp in the light as he brought it down right across from where Iron Will was pulling his axe free. The sword cut through scale, but got stopped by the thick meat beneath. The Blademaster placed his forehooves on the flat of the blade and called upon his earth pony strength to push. Blood sprayed from the wound as his sword sliced cleanly through, severing half the head. Another roaring chop from Iron Will completed the work, and Snow was right there, a burning torch in his mouth as he coated the open wound with oil and set it alight.
The attack had taken barely three seconds, but by now the other heads were reacting. The two awake ones hissed in rage, diving to gobble up the Blademaster and Iron Will. They were halfway to their targets before arrows began to fall on them. A bolt from Summer’s hoofbow struck one of the heads right in its eye, bursting the orb and making the serpentine head rear back in pain. Lyra’s first arrow fell wide of her target, however, and while the second did sink into its nose, it wasn’t enough to stop the head from plowing into the Blademaster and sending him flying across the island in an uncontrolled tumble.
He rolled against the stone and into the marsh water, splashing to a halt amid a thick bed of reeds. He spent a few slow breaths lying there, making sure nothing was broken. He’d gotten off lucky, but it could have been much worse. He decided he’d talk to Lyra about improving her aim once this was all over.
He pulled himself up and looked over to the battle. Iron Will and Snow were attacking the head that had hit him. The one that had been sleeping was looking around in confusion, apparently unaware that the fight was right under its nose. The more awake one was being peppered with shots from Summer, who was flying around it to keep it focused on her and away from the fight. Lyra was throwing a few arrows in, but she was standing in the open and appeared to be scanning the surroundings instead of paying attention to the fight.
The Blademaster started back towards the island just as his companions succeeded in severing the second head. He let out a whoop and sped up, only to be brought short as he saw something moving in the cave. He could only see it because the angle he had been thrown gave him a different vantage point, allowing him to get a glimpse of what was beyond the bulk of the hydra’s body. Something moved in the shadows, something with flashing claws and wide, black wings.
“Get out of there!” He screamed, fear making his heart pound in his chest. “Dragon!”
Just as he shouted, the Dragon made it’s move. It scrambled over the hydra with the surprising speed some lizards were capable of. The Blademaster’s warning was all that the monster hunters got, and it wasn’t soon enough for them to escape the wyrm. A swiping claw caught Iron Will in the back, sending broken pieces of his armor flying in a spray of blood. He spun to face the new foe, but the hydra moved at the hissing direction of the black Dragon, dropping a heavy claw on the minotaur and pinning him to the ground with a teeth-rattling stomp.
Snow dropped his torch, reaching for his spear instead. The Dragon took a deep breath and blew a stream of purple flame that washed over Snow. When it cleared, the old warrior was burned, but still standing as he levelled his spear at the Dragon and charged. Instead of fighting, the Dragon leapt up, its wide wings beating hard to bring him level with the circling Summer Gale. She turned her hoofbow on the new threat, but one of the hydra’s heads smacked into her from behind, causing her to fly into the Dragon’s reach. It grabbed hold of her, talons scoring her armor as it almost casually plucked the bow from her grasp, then hurled her like a stone down at Snow. She screamed as she fell, her wings barely slowing her before she hit the earth pony, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
The Dragon spent a moment in the air, grinning in triumph, before one of Lyra’s arrows punched through the thin membrane of its wings. It hissed and spun on her, only to have her to put several more holes in its wings in quick succession. Losing lift, it spiralled down to land in front of the hydra, glaring hate at Lyra as she lined up another shot. A screech from the Dragon was all it took for the hydra to curl one long neck in front of it, blocking Lyra’s shot.
The Blademaster finally made it to the stone island. Instead of rushing to his downed companions, though, he barrelled towards Lyra. A quick flip of his head and she squeaked as she found herself lifted onto his back as he galloped away from the Dragon’s lair.
“What? Stop! We have to go back!” she shouted at him, kicking at his flank.
“Sorry, love, not feeling suicidal today,” he replied, putting on as much speed as he could as his hooves hit deep muck.
“No! I have to kill that Dragon!” she screamed. She tried to roll off of him, but he was too practiced at rescuing damsels to give her a chance. “I have to!”
He didn’t reply, just kept forging ahead until they were in a copse of vine-ridden trees that blocked every line of sight. Then he dropped her unceremoniously into the mud. She sat there, tears falling from her eyes. He ignored her at first, looking through the foliage to see if either of the monsters were making pursuit. When he was satisfied that the Dragon had let them go, he turned to the unicorn. “Alright, time to clue the Blademaster in. What in bloody tartarus is going on here?” She scowled at him. He rolled his eyes at her sullen silence. “Look, I’m not as silly as I come off, right? I notice things. I saw you looking for the Dragon before it showed up. The hydra’s just his bloody pet, and you knew about it! You knew, and you didn’t bother telling the rest of us. What I want to know, right now, is why?”
She wiped away her tears with one muddy hoof, leaving dark streaks on her face. “What does it matter now? I failed.”
“Bloody right you did,” he snapped. “Failed us. Now talk.”
“I knew the Dragon was here. I… I was told it would be here.”
“Who told you?”
She looked at him squarely, haunted determination and an ocean of rage burning clearly in the depths of her eyes. “The Druid.”
He recoiled from that. “No…” He shook his head, then looked at her in a new light.
She nodded. “I didn’t know if it was true, of course, but she didn’t lie about the hydra, or about the rest of you. She told me how to bring you all together, the note under the reward poster. She told me I had to come here and fight the Dragon.”
“Why in Equestria would you want to do that?” He leaned against a tree, feeling a little weak in the knees at the mention of the ruler of the South.
“To prove I can,” she said. “To practice for the real fight.”
“Practice?” He blinked at her in amazement. “You think that’s just practice? I’m not sure I want to know, but what kind of fight are you practicing for?”
“Ferriotrax Sanguinus.”
He goggled for a moment before throwing his hooves up in exasperation. “I was right! I didn’t want to know!” He sank down to sit across from her. “You really are mad. He’s the Sorceress’s favourite. He’s bloody invincible.”
“I know,” she said. Her voice barely more than a whisper, but its tone was uncompromising. “Still gonna do it. And you’re going to help me.”
“The hell I am.”
She let out a harsh laugh. “The Druid said you would. Maybe that’s what she was lying about. Maybe this whole thing has been one big joke to her.”
He shivered at that. It was universally accepted that there were only two options with the Druid: absolute truth or utter lie. If she said that a pony would do something and wasn’t lying, they would do it. Even if they knew about her prophecy. Even if they did everything in their power to avoid it. If she wasn't lying. The problem was, until the time came there was no way to know. Philosophers had gone mad with questions of free will and the Druid’s foresight.
“It doesn’t matter now,” Lyra said, sighing. “I failed. I’m just going to have to… find another way.” She stood, shaking some of the mud from her coat. “Come on, we should get the supplies before some swamp creature eats all of them.”
He took a deep breath and speared her with a cold look. “You can run off if you want to, but I’m gonna rescue the others.”
She paused, frowning at him. “They were taken down by the Dragon. What’s to rescue?”
“If nothing else,” he said. “Their bones and their pride.” He stood and looked through the woods towards the Dragon’s lair. “I’m not letting that monster get away without feeling some punishment for what it’s done.”
“You sound spiteful,” she said.
“Bloody right I am,” he replied.
When he turned back to her she was grinning, her eyes shining with the light of her magic. “I can get behind that. Do you have a plan?”
“Bit of one, yeah,” he said. “It could use an archer. That is, if you’re not forgetting to tell me something else that'll get me killed, or planning to bugger off the first time something goes wrong.”
She winced. “I deserve that. No, if you’re going to take on that Dragon, I’ll stand with you.”
“Right. Good. Well, some good news: that Dragon’s just a juvenile. Big as a cart, sure, but that’s better than big as a castle and twice as tough. Can’t have too much in the way of a hoard, either, which explains why it’s sending its pet to attack travellers. You’ve already grounded it, which is good because if it could still fly we’d be butchered. It’s gonna be pissed about that, so here’s what I need you to do...”
***
The sun was still high as the Blademaster crept up on the Dragon’s lair. He moved through the shallow water of the marsh like an alligator, with just his eyes and snout above the surface. When he reached the island, he circled it so he was behind the hill with the cave in it before stepping carefully onto dry land. With slow, silent movements he removed his side-swords. Then he took the wide blade from his back and began unwrapping the thick black cloth from around it.
The sword sang in anticipation as it was revealed to the air, its dark surface drinking in the sunlight and barely reflecting any of it. He ran a hoof along the heavy blade, steadying his own nerves with its steel confidence. It was made to cut whatever he set it to, and the blade named Steel Glory would never fail in that.
He took the mouthpiece and slipped the metal cage over his teeth. It was the companion to the sword, and the only thing that would allow him to control the powerful blade.
Ready, he crept up the side of the rocky hill. It took agonizing minutes, every hoof placed with care, but he made his way over the hill until he was perched just above the entrance to the Dragon’s cave. He observed the scene for a moment, seeing right away that his companions were still alive, if hurt. Both Snow and Summer were conscious, glaring at their captor with defiant rage. Iron Will seemed unconscious, his head curled tight against his chest. They were covered in some sticky slime, likely a product of the hydra, which was keeping them from escaping as the Dragon picked through their gear.
“Shiny,” the Dragon hissed as it looked at one of Snow’s jewelled hairpins. Its long, serpentine tongue snaked out and snatched the hairpin into its mouth. It swallowed and let out a long, satisfied sigh. “Stupid pony adventurers,” it said, turning to its captives. “Should have brought more gems.” The hydra let out a whimper as one of its heads nosed at the burnt stumps of two of its necks. “Quiet!” the Dragon snapped, prompting another rumbling squeak from its pet. “You wouldn’t have gotten hurt if you’d been standing guard, like you were supposed to!” The hydra made a hissing noise. “Well, what do you expect me to do about it? My breath is flame! Bite your own heads off!” The hydra’s eyes widened as if the idea was revolutionary genius.
The Blademaster decided not to wait around to see if such a plan would actually work for the hydra, drawing a dagger and angling it so that the light reflected out into the marsh, to the place where Lyra was hiding. He was rewarded a moment later when an arrow arced out of the sky and sank deep into the hydra’s body. It squealed and its two living heads reared up, eyes searching for whatever had hurt it.
“Remember me?” Lyra shouted, leaping from her cover and rushing through the water. Her bipedal run was swift, and better at moving through the muck than a normal pony’s four-footed gait.
“You!” the Dragon hissed, smoke beginning to billow from its mouth. “You ruined my wings!”
“And I’m here to ruin your day!” Lyra said, stopping to fire an arrow that hit the Dragon right in his puffed out chest. The arrow pierced through the Dragon’s scales, but the moment it did the heat from the wyrm’s body made the rest of the arrow explode into flame that quickly reduced to ash. From his angle, the Blademaster could even see the thin trail of molten metal leak from the wound, the remains of the arrowhead that hadn’t survived the strike. Still, even doing minimal damage, the shot enraged the Dragon. He let out a roar and splashed into the water after Lyra.
The hydra made a hissing, babbling noise and made to follow the Dragon. The Blademaster didn’t give it the chance, leaping from the top of the cave. He took the ring-shaped hilt of his sword in his caged teeth, locking the device tightly. Then, his neck muscles bulging with the strain, he whipped his head around as he fell, and brought the edge of his sword down on one of the hydra’s remaining necks. He didn’t even feel it when the blade connected, the cut so smooth that it tore through scale, flesh and bone as easily as air. He hit the ground in a rain of blood, the sword slicing deeply into the stone.
He dragged it up, and it came free with ease. He spun, working his jaw as he repositioned the blade and struck upwards, severing the last bit of flesh connecting head to body and putting the sword in line to fend off the other head as it dove at him. He slashed across, rolling to the side, and the bottom of the hydra’s jaw fell free, slamming into the spot he had just vacated.
The injured head reeled back, tongue flapping wildly in the air. The Blademaster snapped his head around, shifting his sword to the side as he rushed towards the bound monster hunters.
“Burn it!” Snow roared at him as he got close. “You have to burn the stump!”
The Blademaster’s eyes widened as he remembered that bit of hydra lore, and he turned around just in time to see two new heads erupt from the stump of the one he had severed. They towered to full height in the span of a second, glaring down at him with anger. The mouth-cage he used to control Steel Glory didn’t let him talk, but if it did he’d have a few choice words for his own stupidity.
The hydra’s heads swept down at him, and he scrambled to dodge. Teeth snapped on his tail-hairs as the first head bit at him, he yelped as they were torn free, but kept going. The second head snaked into his path, hissing at him. He spun Steel Glory around, spearing the beast through its nose. This time the hydra was the one who yelped, the head pulling back and flailing around in pain. He didn’t have time to capitalize on this, as the third head, the one he’d lopped the jaw from, had already regenerated and was rushing at him, low to the ground and with its new mouth wide open.
He twisted, leaping as it came for him. He put all his earth pony muscle into the jump, and so cleared the snapping jaws and landed upright on the hydra’s neck. He ran along the serpentine length, leaping as the neck bucked and thrashed. He came down on the hydra’s body. It took a moment to orient himself, then he went into a roll, sending Steel Glory through the neck he had just leapt from. The head fell free, but he was already seeing the problem this would create.
He could lop heads off until he exhausted himself, but it would only ever make the situation worse if he couldn’t stop them from regenerating. The oil and torches were over where the Dragon had been picking through the spoils of its victory, but he couldn’t reach them without having to fight his way through the hydra. He couldn’t do it alone. Not like this.
He looked towards his companions, pleading with his eyes for them to do something, anything that would help. Snow and Summer struggled with their bonds, but the goop covering them was just not letting go.
Then Iron Will raised his head, and his breath was coming out in misty puffs. The nosering he wore was miraculously still in place, and the gems that capped it were glowing with stored magic. “If somepony tries to hold you down,” he growled, then with a deep breath he blew a stream of supercooled air over the goo covering him, freezing it to brittle solidity in an instant. “You bring them to the ground!” With a mighty heave he flexed his enormous muscles and exploded the solidified goo away from him.
The Blademaster let out a muffled shout of joy as Iron Will turned and used more of his magical breath to free the other two. His exulting was cut short as he was attacked by the two remaining hydra heads. He ran and dove off the side of the beast, making sure to keep the heads from turning on his companions as they got free.
They came at him with no strategy, no coordination, but their sheer bulk and strength more than made up for it. He ducked and rolled, jumped and parried. Steel Glory spun so fast it was a grey blur as he turned it from side to side, keeping the hydra from crushing him by the barest of margins. He saw opportunities to hurt the beast, to cut off a head or just a chunk of flesh, but he let them pass. It would be worse than useless if what he did resulted in more heads to deal with.
Holding back meant that he was vulnerable, though, and the heads were going to get lucky eventually. Sweat trickled down his face, stinging at his eyes as he kept moving, his jaw aching from the effort of controlling Steel Glory’s powerful swings. Then he tripped, a leg going out from under him and leaving him unbalanced as a head speared towards him.
He scrambled to get Steel Glory up and ward off the attack, but before he had the blade halfway ready, the head stopped. Its eyes went wide and it yelped with pain as a notched waraxe was hurled into its skull. “Hey, you! Iron Will has something to say!” The Blademaster and hydra both looked over to where the minotaur was holding a cask of oil in one hand and a lit rag in the other. “It’s barbeque time!”
The Blademaster took the hint, launching himself towards the distracted head. He leapt up, the cords of his neck standing plain as he worked Steel Glory’s wicked edge up and down in three precise chops. When he touched ground again, the hydra’s head fell free and Iron Will pitched the oil over the bloody stump before lighting it up.
“One down, three to go!” Summer shouted as she dove down and grabbed the Blademaster around the barrel, lifting him into the sky. As he got a better perspective on the fight, he saw that the head he had cut off just before Iron Will had made his escape had indeed regenerated into two new ones, both of which were battling Riddle Snow, who was spinning his spear like the master he was, keeping them both too confused and tangled to be effective. “I’ve got the oil,” Summer said in his ear. “You do the chopping!” With that she let go, throwing him at the two heads Snow was fighting.
He twisted in the air, spinning around to build momentum before he hit the hydra with all his might. The downstroke cut almost completely through one neck. The sword bit into the ground, but he didn’t slow, dragging it through the rock and up again to shear through the other neck on the upswing. As the two wounds yawned wide, Summer Gale swooped down and lashed out with two pots of oil, smashing them on the exposed bone. A moment later Snow was there, dragging the tip of his spear along the ground to cast sparks on the oil-soaked stumps and set them alight. In tandem, the Blademaster and the Shieldbreaker lashed out with their weapons to finish the job of severing the heads, ensuring that the fire would stop them from regenerating at all.
The last head was fighting with Iron Will, who left a trail of red from the blood streaming out of the slashes across his back. The hydra snarled and snapped at him, but the minotaur stood his ground, reached out with his gauntleted fists and slammed them into the monster’s jaws. He let out a roar of effort and wrenched the mouth wide, holding it open with his great strength.
Casting a single glance at each other, both Snow and the Blademaster rushed in. Snow leapt high, coming down with his spear leading to pin the serpentine neck in place as the Blademaster came in low, and with three swift chops severed the last head. Summer was there a moment later, throwing a lit cask of oil that shattered in a burst of flame and smoke on the final stump.
There was a moment of quiet triumph as the monster hunters caught their breath. Steel hissed against steel as the Blademaster slid his sword into a ready position. Snow pulled his spear free, and with a spinning snap he cleaned the blood from its blade. Summer landed next to Iron Will and took a look at his back as he bent down and huffed in deep breaths that came out in a cloud of frost.
“Oh yeah, that’s gonna be infected,” Summer said, wincing. “Not gonna kill you right away, which is a plus. Must hurt pretty bad, though.”
“If it’s not going to take you out, it’s not worth whining about,” Iron Will said, straightening.
Just then a sharp yell caught their attention, and they looked up to see Lyra running full-tilt across the island. She leapt, turning in mid-air to nock and fire an arrow with lightning speed. The moment her hooves touched ground she was vaulting into a backflip that took her completely head over hooves before leading into another flip, and then another. With each time she touched ground, she fired another arrow. Each shot hit the furious Dragon that followed her. The arrows burst into fiery ash the moment they pierced the beast’s scales, not even slowing it as it sloshed out of the marsh water on its hind legs.
The Dragon roared in rage, but skid to a stop as it caught sight of the burning corpse of the hydra. It stared at the body for a long moment, shock plain in its eyes. Then those eyes narrowed and focused on the group of monster hunters, a new and greater rage burning in their depths.
The Blademaster put a hoof up to balance his sword while he removed the mouth-cage. “You got any more ice breath left, big guy?”
Iron Will shook his head. “Maybe one more full burst. Won’t be any good against a Dragon anyway.”
“It’ll be good enough, mate. You come with me. Summer, get up there and wait for your opportunity. Snow, you think you can buy me a minute?”
Riddle Snow spun his spear up to a ready position. “What are you planning?”
“A surprise,” the Blademaster replied with a cocky grin. “Just buy me the time and I’ll let you know when to bring me the beastie.”
Snow returned that smile with a chuckle and a shake of his head. Then he brought his spear up and charged at the Dragon. The monster was ready for the charge, its claws ready to tear the pony apart, but an arrow from Lyra distracted it at the last second, and allowed Snow to score a jab that cut a burning line in the Dragon’s side.
The Blademaster fit the cage back into his mouth and motioned to Iron Will to follow as he galloped off the island and into the reeds of the marsh. As soon as he got far enough he held up a hoof to hold Iron Will back at the edge of the island. He stood still for a second, gathering his strength. Then he slid his sword to point straight out from him, and sank down so that the water just covered it. He took another breath, focusing his intent along the cutting edge. Then he spun.
Water shot up in a jet as Steel Glory cut through it as easily as it had flesh and stone. More important than the water, though, were the reeds and weeds that were sliced cleanly about an inch beneath the surface. The Blademaster kept spinning, standing up to slap the severed plants with the flat of his blade and send them flying away, then back down to cut a new circle into the marsh. When he stopped he was in a patch of clear water, the waves he had created swiftly evening out to stillness.
He looked towards the island and saw Snow battling the Dragon. The old warrior rolled to the side to avoid a blast of purple flame, coming up in a lunge that made the beast rear back. Lyra was running low on arrows, and so she picked her shots more carefully, using them to distract the Dragon and allow Snow to get in a few hits. For all his skill, however, Snow had still taken several strikes himself, one of which had laid the skin and armor over his ribs open enough to see the bone beneath.
The Blademaster spat out his sword. “Snow!” he cried. Snow heard and immediately broke combat to run to him. The Blademaster watched him come, and watched as the Dragon pursued. “Iron Will, on my signal,” he said, and the minotaur hunched down and began drawing deep breaths. The Blademaster hooked one leg through Steel Glory’s hilt, the still-attached mouth-cage biting into his skin as he tensed. His heart pounded as he waited, timing the moment and praying to whatever gods were listening that he wouldn’t get it wrong. Then Snow’s hooves touched the water and he shouted with all his might. “Now!”
He leapt, and Snow followed the motion. Their earth pony strength sent them both high into the air, momentarily beyond the reach of the monster below. The Dragon’s head went up to follow them, its eyes locked on prey that had just made their trajectory so much easier to anticipate. So it was that it missed the stream of magical cold that blew from Iron Will, flowing over the clear water the Blademaster had made and freezing it into a nearly smooth, solid sheet instantly.
The Dragon stepped on the ice, and its legs immediately went out from under it. It shrieked in surprise and anger as it flopped and flailed, spinning to face backwards as it came to a halt. Riddle Snow and the Blademaster reached the apex of their jumps, then came down on the Dragon with all their fury. Snow speared the beast through one of its legs, driving his weapon through the monster’s flesh and down and into the muddy bottom of the marsh. The Blademaster hit a wing, shearing it almost all the way off, but the blow had been awkward, and ended up wrenching his leg from its socket.
The Dragon thrashed. Snow jumped away in time, leaving his spear embedded in the Dragon’s foreleg. With his injury, however, the Blademaster wasn’t quick enough. The Dragon’s tail crashed into his side, sending him cartwheeling through the air towards the Dragon’s head. He slammed into the ice and broke through it, plunging into icy water. A moment’s disorientation was all he felt before his head broke the surface, and he found himself staring into the eyes of the beast, only a few feet away. Smoke billowed from its nostrils and it opened its mouth to reveal the fire rolling up from its throat.
That’s when Summer Gale dropped from the sky, landing on the back of the Dragon’s neck and sinking her sharp, metal teeth in. The Dragon reared back, its blast of flame roaring into the sky instead of cooking the Blademaster to a crisp. The Dragon whipped its head around, throwing Summer away. It tried to refocus on the Blademaster, but Iron Will was there, swinging one gauntleted fist into the beast’s snout hard enough to send it reeling for a moment. The Blademaster did not waste his opportunity, dragging his limp limb from the hilt of his sword and putting the mouth-cage back in its proper place. He jerked his head, sliding Steel Glory into place, then lunged.
He struck the Dragon’s chest, the blade sinking in deep. Then he wrenched his head and Steel Glory exploded from the monster’s side, spraying molten blood that set the water to boiling wherever it touched. The Dragon let out a howl of agony, and now it was fighting not to kill them all, but to escape.
“No!” the Dragon bellowed. “You can’t do this! You can’t kill me! I am Depthrazer! I own this swamp! I will not be brought down by a bunch of pathetic, little ponies!”
His voice cut off as an arrow streaked in and penetrated his eye. It burst into flame immediately, but the damage was already done.
It tried to rise, but Riddle Snow was there and with a mighty two-hooved buck he collapsed one of the Dragon’s legs, sending it sprawling back to the ice and muck. Iron Will laid into the Dragon’s head and neck, blood from the wounds he made causing his gauntlets to glow cherry red. He blew on them, the remains of his nose-ring’s magic managing to cool the metal back to dullness, then grabbed the Dragon’s neck in a crushing hold, choking it. The Blademaster slashed again, this time Steel Glory taking off a leg at the elbow. All the time, arrows flew from Lyra’s bow, each aimed for the eye she had already maimed. Maddened by pain and panic, its head kept in place by Iron Will’s grasp, the beast didn’t have the wherewithal to do more than shriek and thrash as arrow after arrow sunk into its eye, cracking the bone beneath, laying open the path for one final shot that broke through and drove into the monster’s brain.
It went rigid, the end of its tail shaking like a leaf in the wind. Then it collapsed. Iron Will dropped its head, the ice beneath melting in moments to allow it to sink into the mud in silence. Slain.
There was a minute of quiet as the monster hunters caught their breath. Then one of them spoke. “Iron Will is not getting paid enough for this.”
“Cheers, mate,” the Blademaster said after he’d dropped his sword. “I’d think that was worth, oh, a thousand apiece, at least.”
“You know what the Chosen’s going to say,” Snow said, dragging his spear out of the dead Dragon’s leg. “‘The reward is for the hydra, anything else was personal choice’.” He snorted. “Cheapskates.”
“Hardly fair,” the Blademaster agreed.
Summer Gale fluttered over to them, her mouth raw and cracked with how badly it was burned. “I need new teeth,” she slurred, pulling her lips back to reveal the melted remains of her sharp caps.
“And she needs new teeth,” the Blademaster said, but he was grinning. “I say we put this Dragon right back as we found it and refuse to move our rumps about it until they pay us proper.”
“Yes, we’ll just un-kill the Dragon,” Snow said, then continued in a chuckling imitation of the Blademaster’s accent: “Won’t take but a moment.”
“Right! That’ll show them!” the Blademaster shouted, falling on his back and pumping his good forehoof in the air. “Don’t mess with the monster hunters!”
“Mess with the best,” Iron Will said, kicking at the dead Dragon. “And we’ll put you to rest.” Then he let out a bellowing laugh that got the Bladmaster and Snow going as well. Even Summer gave a few cackles of mirth. Only Lyra seemed aloof from their relief, and the Blademaster kept an eye on her as she slowly returned to a normal four-footed stance. She was staring at the Dragon’s corpse, and he could see the wheels turning behind those yellow-orange eyes. It wasn’t really over for her, not by a long shot.
***
The trek back to the village took all night, and was hard for all of them. Lyra and the Blademaster were the least hurt of the monster hunters, so they ended up carrying the bulk of the equipment. The Blademaster had the special challenge of dragging the Dragon’s head and hydra’s heart as proof of what they had done. His injured leg, while useable again, complained loudly with every step. Riddle Snow and Iron Will had their injuries bound and soaked with some celebratory alcohol that Iron Will had brought with him. It wasn’t perfect for preventing infection, but it helped stave it off until they could be properly seen to. Summer Gale’s wounds were more difficult to deal with, but she managed to work through the pain well enough to fly ahead and have a contingent of healers waiting when they made the town gates as the sun was rising. The monster hunters got a cheer from the ponies of the town, before the injured were swept away to be cared for and the healthy were left to deal with what to do now.
Lyra and the Blademaster dropped their burdens off at the inn they had all rented rooms at, then with unspoken agreement they walked to the Cockatrice’s Garden. The proprietor, happy to have the local heroes at his establishment, opened early just for them. They sat at the table where they had planned the adventure two days before, and ordered a very well deserved drink.
“To the monster hunters,” the Blademaster said, holding up his mug of hard cider. “May their next job pay a fair wage.”
“To us,” Lyra replied, clinking her wine glass against the mug then taking a sip. She watched him over the rim of her glass as he drained his mug and called for another. She didn’t even blink as the bartender set a new drink in front of him and took payment for a half dozen rounds after that one as well.
He let her watch, taking a slow draught from his new mug before the tension grew too much. “I’m not helping you fight a bloody Chosen,” he said, keeping his voice quiet enough that the bartender wouldn’t hear. “Get that one thing straight first.”
“I have money," Lyra said, leaning close. "A lot of money. I was told how much this would cost me."
"It's not about money."
"What then? You’re not afraid of them,” Lyra said. It hadn’t been a question, but one was still implied.
“Not them, love. Their boss,” he said. “You remember Snow’s story? You do what you say you’re gonna, and there’s not going to be any leniency for you. She’ll come down on you like bloody fire from the sky, and there won’t be anywhere to run. They can’t be fought, Lyra. You know that.”
“I know,” she said. “It doesn’t matter.”
He shook his head. “Not doing it, love. I don’t care what the Druid said.” He put as much steel in his voice as he could without raising it above a whisper.
He saw a flash of anger in her eyes, but it died out as a new thought occurred to her. “Your sword,” she said. “It cut through the Dragon like… it cut through everything.”
He frowned. “You’re not getting my sword, either.”
She shook her head. “No, but my arrows were, well, almost useless. If they were made like your sword, though…”
She trailed off, but he caught what she was saying easily enough. “There’s a thought.” He smiled. “I guess there’s more than one way for me to help you, isn’t there?”
“Please,” she said, leaning forward, a new light in her eyes. “Please, who made your sword?”
He took a long drink, finishing the mug and motioning for another before he spoke. “Well, love, there’s this smith. She’s the best there is. The steel sings to her, see? I’ve heard tell that the blades she makes never dull, never break, that some of them only ever get sharper the more you use them. I don’t know about all that, but my Steel Glory’s cut through stone and bone and never needed sharpening. Now, her work doesn’t come cheap. In fact, it’s about as expensive as anything gets, but she doesn’t ever skimp on her work. If she makes something for you, it’ll be the best you’ve ever had, or ever will have.”
“Who is she?”
“Nopony knows her real name anymore," he said, taking a new mug and breathing in the scent of fermented apple as he remembered the heat of the forge and the way she had shaped Steel Glory. It had been powerful magic, and unlike any he'd seen before or since. "But they call her the Shaper…”
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
735 users online
750,690 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ayy
More greatness as usual! I love this AU!!!
An interesting moment of time. To both the where and the when. But a fun pair of updates. All the good stories have updated. Sadly to have to pick and choose which to read first stinks.
Ooooh. That was fun - it's nifty getting sort of a prologue to The Archer and The Smith here. That explains a lot of how Lyra knew what sort of things would happen when she fought Ferriotrax in that story.
But now we get more of a bit of information about what's happened with the world, and Luna's missing, too? Celestia and Cadance are mentioned, but no Luna? That's disturbing. It makes me wonder if the Elements, without Twilight, did something else to Nightmare Moon instead of cleansing her... or if NMM ever returned at all...
Backstory for the Blademaster and the Archer? And more of a look into the events directly following the Fall? You're spoiling us, Sharaloth.
Although, I do now want to reread the Archer and the Smith to remind myself of how that story continues from this point.
Also, I can't help but wonder if there's actually more to this sword than what we've already seen, as impressive as a perfectly sharp sword that never dulls is, I have to wonder why it'd require special equipment to be used, or why that alone would necessitate it being kept in reserve for when it's really needed.
6293936
Hmm, I think at this point we can be fairly certain that the reformation of NMM was the point of divergence between the show and this AU, and I'd say that understanding what happened back then will be key to understanding how this all ties together.
6293986 I think you are likely correct. With just Twilight missing, I thought it might be Discord's doing, but with Luna also missing, it's pretty clear things went wrong very early on. I'd give dearly to have the full story, that's for sure.
6294019
Hmm, the fact that Luna or NMM isn't mentioned at all that her return isn't general knowledge, assuming she did indeed return. Although, the question also rises, if Twilight and/or Luna/NMM doesn't exist in this AU, how did the remainder of the Mane 5 come across the elements in the first place? It may be possible that rather than Twilight or Luna not existing, it was the spark that revealed the element of magic that was lacking, meaning that Twilight never became a bearer, which would explain why she isn't mentioned, and the remaining bearers were forced to bond with the elements in a different way to defeat NMM, rather than reforming her as Princess Luna, as in the show. It may also be that because of this, Celestia was never released after the defeat of NMM, which would explain why nopony knows what happened to her, or the bearers went on to defeat her after taking down NMM. I'm trying to remember if a night/day cycle (or lack thereof) is ever actually mentioned...
All in all, not a perfect theory, still has some holes regarding the details that could use filling, and a lot of it lacks much real support beyond speculation, but at the very least it's a start.
6294171 That's pretty much the same lines as what my own thoughts were, but we definitely don't have enough detail to make any sure guesses. I'm fairly sure the day/night cycle is "normal" in the Fallen World, but with Celestia apparently gone, we have no idea exactly what would be keeping it running, anyway.
6294262
Alright. the day/night cycle isn't really much of an issue anyway, as the fact that Celestia and Luna are gone isn't really in question, and there would easily be ways to explain that continuing even without there presence. Still, it'll be interesting to see if further updates provide more evidence in support of this theory and close up some of the holes, or debunk it, as the case may be.
Great seeing the Archer again, and all of that backstory. Wondering about the Stormbreaker....
...just what happened there? What did they do to themselves?
6300032
It's been a while since I read the others in this universe, but Twilight may not be present anymore. It was mention that Equestria was split into fifths, and we know of AJ (druid,) Fluttershy (the story with scootaloo,) RD (the Tempest,) and someone who remembers better than I should finish this thought for me.
FUCK YEAH!! GO IRON WILL!!
WHO ELSE PUNCHES A DRAGON IN THE FACE!!
Got dammit, that was awesome!
Well, this story so far has been a nice introduction to the two characters, and gave us a sweet prequel to the Apple Bloom and Lyra story. Now I just hope it won't be too long before we get to see more of Sweetie's and Pip's current journey.
6300032
6306695
• Rarity => The Sorceress
• Applejack => The Druid
• Fluttershy => The Tyrant
• Rainbow Dash => The Tempest
• Pinkie Pie => The Madmare
So far, it looks like the point of divergence for this AU is either:
• Twilight Sparkle never existed, or was never sent to Ponyville, or
• The Spark never manifested, meaning Twilight 'fell out' of the story, and thus history and lore.
6294171
There is explicit mention of both the sun/sunset, and the moon/moon phases.
My personal theory is that Twilight existed and was sent to Ponyville, as she's necessary to get the five on the track to the Castle of the Two Sisters, but either NMM killed her when she separated the group, or The Spark didn't manifest for whatever reason, leaving the Five elements active but unconnected and unconstrained. The Five would have then re-imprisoned or (more likely) killed NMM, and possibly Twilight, then moved on to destroy Ponyville.
I have no idea what happened to Celestia, though it's likely Rarity killed her, and it seems the sky and weather are running on their own now.
Congrats on getting this featured on EQD.
So instead of the Elements of Harmony, these things are more like the Elements of Harm... in that they seem to turn their Bearers into insane mass-killing machines.
Discord, if he exists at all, doesn't have anything to do. There's more than enough chaos and disharmony going on all by itself.
(The world is too broken, Alondro... destroy it... it is imperfect... burn it to ash...)
Yes... yes, that's a lovely idea...
6325832 This also totally rewrites the EoH's... to such an extent they can't be called the Elements of 'Harmony'. The canon versions would simply have ceased to function, as in "Return of Harmony".
This means this world was broken from the beginning and NOTHING was ever the same. It would not surprise to me to learn that this world's Celestia was a tyrant driven insane by the use of the Elements of Majin Buu (better name, considering their effects) after banishing Luna, also driven insane by her Elements.
And Twilight tried to be good, so Celestia roasted her alive and ate her. Why not? This world's versions of the characters are so F'd up, nothing would shock me.
So then, after the 5 got powers and slaughtered NMM, they turned on their Caligula-esque Celestia and wiped her out too. Then they went nuts and tore the country into 5 portions, lording like crazy weirdo killers over the miserable lands.
Until Frieza blows it up... which wouldn't be such a bad thing, really, in this case.
6384764
If you haven't already, I recommend you read Harmony Theory (by the same author) for an excellent treatise on how the Elements may be more complex and multi-dimensional than they first appear.
6384949 Except... you know... they're not.
That's fanon, easily disproven by even early canon. It's not supported by a shred of evidence.
Not to mention, these worlds tend to be so dismal with all the 'hidden history' and whatnot that I would rather the entire FiM canon have either been left out or rewritten to take into account the drastic changes in all of history which would occur simply to the simple consequences of cause and effect.
To put it simply: in a world of lies and murder, truth and sympathy are hard to come by. They are infrequent rarities which only shine briefly in the mire and malaise.
Or, to note the story you mention: those Elements wouldn't have turned to stone after Celestia used them to banish Nightmare Moon. And we know Discord can't touch the magic of the Elements at all in canon. If he could have, he would have. He had the motive and opportunity, after all. And later, we see that he even knew about the Tree already a thousand years ago.
I simply cannot see how these altered Elements work in an Equestria which had the show's canon in its past. They're akin to magical relics people hide away in caves because of their dreadful side effects/dark sides and even evil wizards fear to use them freely.
Butterfly effect and all that. Timey whimy. Turn left instead of right. You know the deal.
6385045
I don't usually respond like this. Everyone is free to read, interpret and speculate on my stories as they wish. But I'm having a hard time understanding what you're trying to convey.
From your comments it seems like you disapprove of the darker nature and bleak tone of the Fallen World stories, and that's okay. They are clearly marked as Dark, so you should be ready for that when you start reading. You've also said some things about how the Elements of Harmony don't 'work that way', and how their portrayal is not 'canon'. Well, first of all the Elements have appeared in the Fallen World stories as objects only at this point. They haven't done anything yet, so there's no way for you to tell how they 'work' other than inferring from the behavior of their bearers, which could be caused by any number of things at this point. Second, the story is also clearly marked as Alternate Universe, so divergence from Canon is only to be expected. How divergent and where that divergence begins has yet to be fully revealed, though commenters have been making some wonderful speculation.
It's okay to not like my portrayal of the Elements in Harmony Theory, but I have no idea what you're trying to say when you start talking about Discord knowing about the Tree (of Harmony?), or that the Elements would never have turned to stone. The first is a non-sequitor that has, apparantly, nothing to do with either the Fallen World stories or Harmony Theory. The second is blatantly false, since it's stated explicitly in Harmony Theory that this is exactly what the Elements did, in accordance with show canon. Put simply: I don't know what point you're trying to make here.
Worse, when you mention the butterfly effect and then quote Dr. Who with no context, I'm afraid I do not 'know the deal'.
If you could clarify what you mean, I think that would be a great help to understanding your position.
6385146 The point I make is that these drastically different Elements would change Celestia, Luna, and Discord's reactions to and use of these Elements all the way back in the past. Assuming there is no Tree in this universe, which seems a given from the time this story was begun, then we must consider every single event in the timeline beginning at the first appearance of Discord in the distant past as fundamentally changed.
That said, this then becomes a radically different world by the time we get to the period of the pilot episode.
Yet we see the same names and faces, the same locations. Events still run in parallel to the canon up to a point. Precautions made obvious due to the nature of the powers in play are clearly ignored.
It doesn't feel REAL. It's been constructed for the sole purpose of failing, which is universal in an unhealthy majority of morose fanfics.. no matter what the source material. One cannot see daily life taking place in a world so twisted. It'd be like finding a tea shop in Mordor... which is a good idea for a crackfic, actually...
I know that, for some reason, people are drawn to deconstructing their favorite shows in all manner of gruesome ways... which to me is akin to taking to stomping all over a healthy flower bed which took months to nurture... but at the very least I would like people to consider how ALL the history is likely changed by these alterations to very core people and objects. I am very much a stickler for plausible causality in stories which wish me to take their subject matter seriously. I'm far more forgiving of lighter or outright comical fare, though even then overt continuity errors irritate me when they're easily remedied.
This extends to characters who are allowed to run blindly into disaster and ruin their entire world when they've run things fairly well up to that point. To make a simple metaphor of my issue with every story of this type which present the Elements as having an exploitable dark aspect: this is akin to someone holding a cherry bomb in their mouth. You only expect complete idiots to light the fuse and find it incredulous when the smart people do it instead.
These Elements would be akin to plutonium... useful in very limited circumstances and to be handled only by the experts, and even then with EXTREME caution. And whatever Discord is in this world, he too would certainly not have been left as a pigeon latrine in a garden maze. In a darker world, with characters not meant for a child's fairy tale, simple reason dictates he'd have been held in a secret location contained within every conceivable detection spell and/or device they could contrive of. I mention Discord in relation especially to other fics which have raised my ire with a much more extreme version of implausibility by suggesting the canon would remain the same even with a Discord who'd reveled in mass-murder so gruesome it'd make Jeffrey Dahmer vomit.
In any case, my basic point is: change something small in the distant past, and if it interacts with important points in history, EVERYTHING changes. The Elements are not a small thing. And they are clearly not the only differences in the past here.
There are few stories I've read which totally rewrite history when they make such changes, and even fewer which also take into consideration the difference in knowledge, environment, personality, and choices made by the Princesses in these stories (in the stories they still exist in, of course).
I suppose my knowledge of the incredibly complex interconnectedness of history biases me to this sort of thing, as I see the web branching out instantly from every place a strand is cut and moved. A better metaphor would be a nuclear chain reaction. No matter where the neutron strikes in a critical mass, the chain occurs and leads to a melt-down and so it appears identical to the outward observer. But the physicist knows that the pattern and progression of the chain are dramatically altered depending on where the neutron first strikes, and there is always the statistically small probability the neutron may pass through without impacting at all. It's the difference between observing a reaction and concluding it MUST always happen versus possessing the knowing of the actual process involved and that the reaction is merely LIKELY to happen.
I'm a research scientist. We tend to think this way.
6385351
Okay, a lot of that is a perfectly valid opinion, except... well, it's got nothing to do with this story. You talk of drastically different Elements, but you have no idea how the Elements work in the Fallen World. There has been nothing whatsoever said of Discord or Luna (barring a song that might be talking about Nightmare Moon), and Celestia has barely been mentioned so far, so you can't know anything about what, if any, changes exist in their characters.
This is what you know of the history of the Fallen World thus far: It was essentially the Equestria from the show up until something happened and five of the main six went nuts and took over. Celestia disappeared, but to where and for what reason are complete unknowns.
That's pretty much it. You are free to speculate how much or whether at all Celestia et al have been changed, but the story so far does not support or deny anything. You are working without data.
It looks like you're making assumptions about history and characters having to be different, and you're basing those assumptions not on any grounding in the story itself, but on other assumptions you're making. It seems these other assumptions are perhaps based on an entirely different story, Harmony Theory.
About daily life not taking place in a world so twisted, well, I suppose it would be hard to imagine daily life under the worst depredations of Stalinist Russia, yet that doesn't mean such a life is impossible. It happened, after all. Most of the Fallen World is bleak and terrible in a thematic and wide-vision background sense, not in the personal day-to-day. Ponies still live, work, and, yes indeed, play.
The rest of your comment seems not to be directed at the Fallen World stories, but at Harmony Theory. Again, it's perfectly fine to not like my portrayal of the Elements there. One thing I will say: you seem to think that the Elements as portrayed in Harmony Theory would necessitate a complete change to everyone and everything else. This is not true. They're not a cherry bomb or plutonium. They're a ray-gun that shoots rainbows and fixes things, and nobody knows how or why. Of course Discord would still be a statue on display, nobody knew the petrification could ever wear off (as stated in the show itself). Of course the Elements wouldn't be treated as super-dangerous items of last resort, nobody knew they were more than nifty magical trinkets. It's only as Twilight begins to uncover the answers to the 'how' and 'why' questions that anybody realizes how badly they've misjudged their fix-it button.
Your butterfly-effect/chain-reaction analogy does not work here, because, as you say, the neutron isn't striking a different atom. No, the neutron is striking the same atom it always did, history hasn't changed, but you have no idea where that neutron came from or why (and whether or not) it was aimed at that particular atom. Worse, you have no idea where and how this mysterious force might choose to fire another neutron, and the more you learn the more you realize that you might not be as much an outside observer as you thought.
In short: even a research scientist needs data to come to a conclusion, and there just isn't any of it available in the Fallen World. There's more in Harmony Theory, but even there you seem to be labouring under some assumptions about how much, if anything, people knew at any point.
6385483
I think you're not quite grasping what I'm saying.
I'll try to be very blunt and obvious: the choices the characters make in the show ONLY make sense BECAUSE IT'S A LITTLE KIDS' SHOW.
In a REAL and SERIOUS world, anyone finding and using such objects would do EVERY CONCEIVABLE THING to find out how such powerful objects worked. They would also NEVER make the assumption that their most dangerous god-like enemy was defeated permanently. Again, Discord left in the garden only makes sense in a kiddie show.
That's why I compare the Elements in all your stories to plutonium. It would be the same thing as in our world no one every thinking anything could be done with plutonium beyond using the thermal effects of radioactive decay to boil tea water.
When a sensible person finds something that accomplishes feats which defy all explanation, they tend to automatically find an explanation. And if they cannot, then they are all the more cautious with the mystery object(s). This is a basic, fundamental process of qualitative reasoning.
For instance, Gandalf was NEVER satisfied that the One Ring was gone forever. For the simple fact that there was no proof. Reasonable people require reasonable evidence, therefore pointing out unreasonable assumptions made in a non-serious children's cartoon as justification for the same decisions in a far different world in which we can freely assume the characters will be freer to think and reach conclusions in a more 'realistic' fashion simply isn't legitimate.
For these reasons, I cannot accept that in either of your stories' worlds that a more 'realistic' Celestia would not have exhausted every available avenue of research upon both Discord and the Elements long before Twilight was even born; and, were she to still find no reasonable method or mode for their power, keep them quite carefully hidden away and most assuredly never hoof them over to untrained young mares for any reason.
I would very much like to eventually learn the history of this befuddlingly grim Equestria; because, given the reasons I've stated, I have a very hard time finding it plausible outside of the very basic fairy tale setup: because it is that way because the plots needs it to be that way. The only rational explanation that stands out to me at this point would be some outside force corrupting the Elements or Bearers, which is a common alternate universe trope in clashing fantasty genres. Otherwise, the entire setup smacks of absolutely no one taking common sense precautions with objects and creatures of immense and poorly-understood power.
6389451
I got what you're saying here, fortunately. I do, however, think you are wrong. I think you have a strange preconceived notion of what 'realistic' is, and you are applying it to my stories and the whole of MLP fandom. Without, apparantly, acknowledging that because the initial premises were based on a children's show, that these stories would share at least some of the initial conditions or events of that show. Discord's statue was in the garden because that's where Discord's statue was. I don't have to justify it beyond what has already been stated in the show: they didn't think the petrification would wear off, so why not? Making characters less 'fairy tale' does not necessarily negate the decisions and actions that they took.
You also have this notion of how 'reasonable' characters would act, but you have no way of knowing if the characters in question are 100% logical reasoning machines, which they clearly are not. They'll make mistakes, they'll forget things, they'll be emotional, they'll put stuff off. In your example, Gandalf knew that the One Ring wasn't gone forever (that was never in question), but he also wasn't scouring Middle Earth for it with every waking second. No, he got on with life and practically forgot about it until this hobbit friend of his showed up with an invisibility ring, and even then it took him decades to figure out that, yes, this was the One Ring and everybody was in trouble, and by then it was almost too late. By your logic, a 'reasonable' Gandalf would have confiscated the damn thing immediately just on principle and marched a force of himself and his super-friends to Mt. Doom to get rid of it before Sauron had even come close to gathering his strength. And none of that has anything to do with this story.
And you're still conflating the Fallen World stories with Harmony Theory. They are not the same, they have different rules, different backgrounds. You have seen nothing of what the Elements are like here, and thus can only speculate on what role, if any, they've had to play. Even pertaining to Harmony Theory, you say Celestia would have exhausted all avenues of research, but why? What reason did she have to do so? She had a rainbow-shooting ray-gun, a bunch of enemies to fight and a country to run. Why would she devote time to figuring out the ray-gun that she only brought out when needed, and didn't seem to do anything bad. Even then, what makes you think she didn't do her research? Perhaps a thousand-plus years ago, they simply did not have the knowledge or techniques available to even begin to understand what they had. And then, well, they were turned to stone, their connection to Celestia severed, and their power was the literal only way Nightmare Moon could be defeated. She'd be a blind idiot not to hand them to a bunch of untrained young mares who were quite possibly destined to be their wielders from the get-go.
While I do see the point you're making now (thank you), I have to say your logic does not hold up to scrutiny, and does not have much to do with this particular story in any case. If you would like to discuss the workings and finer points of the Elements as portrayed in Harmony Theory, I'd be happy to see your comments there or in a private message.
6389579 Gandalf didn't go looking for the One Ring all over the place because he knew it would be virtually impossible to find. Once he saw Bilbo's ring (as he explicitly explains) he began to wonder how Gollum had found a Great Ring (for that it plainly was, as he says), and then went about seeking information on how to test the ring for its true identity, which (again, as the story itself plainly lays out) he only found the information deep in the archives of Minas Tirith after Frodo had inherited the Ring.
Therefore, HE DID EVERYTHING HE REASONABLY COULD at the time.
Celestia has Discord and the Elements RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER... and doesn't appear to have done much.
Rather a significantly different situation.
I reiterate, no reasonable person of even average intelligence would have let things lie that long. That is the difference between a fairy tale for children and a story we are ostensibly meant to take more seriously. It's a vastly different genre and legitimacy depends on an entirely different standard of criteria and expectations.
6389613
And I will re-iterate: Take it to PM or Harmony Theory, where it belongs.
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140413032944/mlp/images/e/e8/Crazy_Pinkie_Pie_S1E25.png
This made me so many kinds of happy.
I really hope you keep the Fallen world stories going for a good while.
I really liked how this linked to the Archer and the Smith