Atonement for a Wayward Dragoon

by Belligerent Bindlestiff

Freeze and Thaw

Freeze and Thaw

“Move!” Applejack shouted as she and Kain broke into full gallop. “We gotta get as far away from the avalanche before it swallows us!”

Pinkie Pie jumped from Rainbow Dash and back into the wagon, taking Fluttershy with her. Not a moment later, the pink mare burst forth from the vehicle with harnesses on her just like the other two lead earth ponies.

The three of them moved forth with blinding speed. Twilight poked head over the top of the wagon to check on the avalanche. In the distance she saw the beginnings of their impending doom from the peaks of the mountains.

“Where can we go?” Kain yelled to Applejack.

“We need to get well past the line of trees, we don’t know how far the snow’ll reach but the trees should stop some of the snow!” Applejack replied.

“Rainbow Dash flew in front of the three earth ponies. “Uh, guys, looks like troubles not only at the top!”

Churning banks of snow began forming all around the group’s position, only smaller by comparison to the greater mass of snow behind them. The pegasus notice giant snowballs forming in the distance.”Gotta take care of those!” Rainbow Dash said and sped off behind the wagon.

The three remaining ponies looked back at the newest hazards and began to hasten their escape. The cyan pegasus began crashing through the snowballs that were threatening the wagon. After charging through about a dozen of the frozen hazards, she took a moment to shudder and say, “Brrrr, that’s cold.”

It was all the time needed for a large snowball to blow past her on a collision course with the wagon when a purple blast of magic annihilated it.

Twilight was perched from the front of the wagon, one eye squinted, her head craned downward, and a trail of smoke coming from her horn. There was no time for respite however as the number of gargantuan snowballs only increased. Soon the two of them weren’t enough to hold back the icy onslaught. Then the back cover of the wagon opened up and a stream of green dragon fire aided in the prevention of a frozen demise.

Meanwhile Kain, Pinkie, and Applejack were doing their best to avoid any potential hazardous obstacles. They felt the occasional splatter of snow from behind them as the ponies and dragon in the back took care of the threats behind them.

“We gotta find a cliff to hide under if the avalanche gets too close to us!” Applejack said.

“Rainbow Dash!” Kain called. Soon said pegasus got in front of the trio.

“I’m a little busy saving our flanks right now, what do you need?” She asked.

“We need you to scout ahead and find us cover form the avalanche before it catches up with us.” Kain said.

“Not without letting all those chunks of snow crush you I’m not!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Just a minute Dashie!” Pinkie Pie said as she slipped from her harness and made her way to the interior of the wagon.

“Hiya Rarity, he can you do me a huge favor?” Pinkie asked the her friend.

“I’m not entirely sure this is the time for such idle conversation Pinkie Pie.” Rarity said.

“Exactly!” Pinkie Pie said. “Just take this party canon, aim, light fuse, and blammo!”

“Doesn’t a cannon need to fire something?” Rarity asked.

“Don’t be a silly filly, you know I never need to worry about things like that!” the pink mare said as she slipped her way through the front of the wagon back into her momentarily hovering harness in between Applejack and Kain.

The sound of cannon fire was soon heard. “That takes care of that problem!” Pinkie Pie said.

“Alright, I’ll go find a spot.” Rainbow Dash said and then sped off ahead of the already speeding wagon skimobile.

As the group continued heading down the mountains, trees soon presented themselves as obstacles. The lead trio had to agree on a direction so that they could gently lean towards an opening. They accidentally went over a slight slope, causing the ski wagon to go airborne for a few seconds, knocking all of the passengers momentarily off balance.

Rainbow Dash quickly returned with news. “There looks like a there’s a wall you can hid behind just a bit to our left and down the mountain! But you’re gonna have to move fast to line up with its wall!”

“Make haste!” Kain said and poured all of his strength towards outpacing the avalanche.

Pinkie and Applejack responded in kind. There were more trees through the route Rainbow Dash was leading them through, so they were forced to perform quick dodge to avoid a fatal collision.

“Alright, now come down here and make a hard turn left!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

With one final leap, the party and its vehicle were airborne once more. After a the hard landing, all the passengers were knocked around inside the wagon when it took its sharp turn. They were just under the shadow of the wall when Spike was thrown from the vehicle.

A pink and yellow blur sped out to recover the baby dragon just moments before a huge swath of snow enveloped everything around the wagon. There was only a small space between the party’s wagon and the snow piled around them.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash called out, looking in the direction she’d last spotted the other pegasus. All that could be heard was the soft rumble of snow above them.” I gotta go get her!” she said as she moved for the wall of snow.

“Not without help you ain’t!” Applejack said.

Twilight just stood at the front of the wagon with her horn aglow looking at the snow. “Spike.” She said quietly.

Kain called out to Rarity in the wagon. “Shovels, we need them now!”

The unicorn came out with four of the tools levitated with her magic. She, Kain, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack began to work on the wall of snow.

“Where’s Pinkie Pie anyways?” Applejack asked. “We can use all the help we can get!”

“She’s over here!” Twilight called out. “I think she’s been exposed to far too much cold!” the alicorn levitated her friend into the wagon. “She ran out there with only a hat and scarf! I’ll get to treating hypothermia.”

Moments later the group noticed a green glow coming from the snow in front of them. Slush spilled forth and the digging team was face to face with Spike and Fluttershy.

“Whew! I thought we’d never reach you.” Spike said, out of breath from all the fire breathing.

“I was worried we were going to run out of air from all the fire spike was breathing.” Fluttershy said.

“Which raises a new concern.” Rarity said.

“We’re under all this snow, how much longer do you suppose we’ve got before we run out of air?” Applejack asked.

“We’d better get to work on digging our way out.” Kain said. He rummaged through his pack and pulled out a red crystal.

“Whatch’ya got there Kain?” Applejack asked.

“It’s an item that explodes with fire.” The dragoon said. “I’ve used them to also light campfires.”

“If ya use something like that, ya could bring down the whole cave on top of us.” Applejack said.

“We gotta think of something!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Let me see that stone Kain.” Rarity asked.

The dragoon handed it over.

“Hmm, yes I do believe I’ve got an idea.” She then gave the stone over to Applejack. “Would you kindly slowly grind that stone into dust?” Rarity asked.

Applejack got on her haunches and held the fiery stone between her front hooves and used her earth pony strength to pulverize the item.

“Don’t worry, I’ll catch the dust.” And Rarity used her magic to catch the dust and then levitated it into a handkerchief. “Good, now Kain bring me your spear.”

“Yes Rarity.” The dragoon said and went to the wagon to get his weapon.

“Now let’s see if this works.” Rarity levitated a small amount of the powder ont the tip of the spear. “Kain, press the spear against the wall of snow.”

The dragoon did as he was told, and when his weapon made contact it glowed red and melted a great deal of snow in front of the dragoon.

“Good, now Rainbow Dash I need you to fly up there and make a hole to the outside.” Rarity said.

Rainbow Dash took the spear from Kain and shifted her weight. “Oof! Geez this thing is heavy. You make using this thing look easy Kain!”

“I’ll bet that earth pony strength really helps you out Kain.” Applejack said.

“Now Rainbow Dash, you’ll need to return down here to get some dust from time to time.” Rarity said.

“Gotcha.” Rainbow replied. The pegasus lifted the spear and charged at an angle.

“We need to keep digging so we can get the wagon outta here.” Applejack said. She and Kain took up shovels and began clearing the snow beneath the hole Rainbow Dash was working on.

“Hey, where’s Twilight in all this?” Spike asked.

“She went to help Pinkie Pie after she became passed out from the cold.” Rarity said.

“I’m going to check on Pinkie Pie and see what I can do to help.” Fluttershy said. “Spike let’s go heat some water bottles for her.”

“I’ll join you once I’m finished here.” Rarity said.

After some hoof-numbing work, the ponies had cleared a path.

“We should move now so that we don’t risk a cave in.” Kain said.

The four of them returned to the wagon to depart from their shelter before it could become their tomb. Rarity jumped back into the wagon. “Is Pinkie alright?”

Twilight moved outside the partition. “She’s fine now, thought I think she’s got a cold now.”

Rainbow Dash returned Kain’s weapon, the dragoon latched onto his person. “Let us be on our way.” The dragoon said.

Rainbow Dash strapped herself to the harness Pinkie had used earlier. “Alright, lets make this quick!”

The three ponies pulled the wagon outside the impromptu tunnel as quickly as they could. As soon as they made their way above the snow, the tunnel collapsed. The party reconvened at the tailgate of the wagon.

“We got pretty lucky back there.” Applejack said. “All of us came out in one piece.”

“How are you holding up Pinks?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh, you know, stuffed up, but at least not stuffed in the ground.” Pinkie replied.

The entire company raised a brow at her statement.

“Sorry, I tend to dry up with colds.” Pinkie said.

“What about everypony else?” Twilight asked. “Are you hurt?”

The rest of the group shook their heads or stated that they were fine.

“Well, we already made it to the other side of the mountain, should we keep goin?” Applejack asked.

“I’ll keep going.” A congested Pinkie Pie said. “Since we’re halfway, there are only half the things that can bring our doom now right?”

The others, despite getting used to Pinkie’s current state, also agreed to continue on with Kain’s mission.

“Good. But it’s been a pretty busy day. I think now is a good a time as any to set up and rest.” Twilight said.

////

Everyone had just about settled in for the night. They ‘d cleared enough distance from the mountain that freezing in their sleep wasn’t a concern, but Spike still set up a sufficiently large campfire. Kain had secluded his sleeping bag away from the others as he’d done on the previous nights. He stared up at a clear sky and a bright moon; the dragoon was on fist watch and decided to enjoy the view. A plop sounded behind him and he noted the sleeping bag Rarity had placed next to his.

“I think I shall join you Kain.” The Rarity said. “It can get awfully boring when you’re alone. Besides designing your wardrobe and Sweetie Belle, I don’t think we’ve gotten to know one another.”

The dragoon looked up to the sky and remained silent, the moon’s light illuminating him just noticeably more than the campfire. Rarity took notice of him and the object of his fixation.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Rarity said trying to get a response out of Kain.

“It certainly is different once you’ve been up there.” Kain said.

“I beg your pardon?” Rarity asked.

“Towards the end of the war, we traveled to the moon to put an end to that ancient evil.” Kain said. “Sorry, it must sound outlandish that one had set foot on the moon.”

Rarity looked at him with a saddened smile. “I would never have imagined that I’d meet another pony that had set hoof on the moon apart from my friends and I.

“You went there as well?” Kain asked.

“Believe it or not, I also made a grave error in judgement.” Rarity said.” Ancient evils…I allowed myself to be shut out from my friends; I was pulled to the moon and met with the very same entity that corrupted Princess Luna.”

“Those nightmare forces made me fear the rejection by my friends. I became lost and soon I didn’t know who I was. I called myself Nightmare Rarity, and my friends treated me as if I were a different pony. However, I don’t believe that to be true. It was every negative aspect of my being that became Nightmare Rarity. I could only imagine what I might have done had my friends hadn’t stopped me.”

Kain could not believe how much in common he shared with this mare.

“I thought that the darkness was so welcoming. It told me what I wanted to hear.” Rarity said. “I’m so ashamed that I let it take hold of me, but like you I had friends and family that brought me back."

"Now, I remember the element that I bear, generosity, and its true meaning. All I wanted to do was help my friends and I’d do so in any way I could. I’d make clothes, but I’d also come on these adventures because I just knew there’d be some way I could contribute. I may not be a fighter like Applejack or Rainbow Dash, but as long as I was there with my friends, I knew I was doing the right thing.”

“I joined the white mages so that I could be there to help you.” A voice resonated

Tears formed in the unicorn’s eyes as she recanted her tale.

“Kain, when you said you had done those…acts when you had become a traitor, it brought out all those lingering thoughts I had about succumbing to the nightmare forces. I want you to know Kain that I forgive you.” Rarity embraced Kain with her eyes still full of tears.

The dragoon, having heard her story, thought about the path towards darkness. How easy was it for anyone to fall into the temptation of power, envy, or depression? If even this well-mannered and generous lady could be manipulated by the forces of evil, then was it anymore his own fault for listening to the whispers of a dark lord? And then he wondered of what might have come had Zemorus taken control over Cecil, would he had been able to forgive his friend had the then dark knight been the one taken under control; worse yet was the thought if Rosa were taken.

Rarity’s apology was enough to remove some of the burden of his guild, know that a stranger could forgive him gave Kain hope. In the midst of it, his mind was blurred between the forgiveness he sought and those who had granted it. “Thank you, Rosa.” He said softly.

“I beg your pardon?” Rarity asked.

“Rarity, I don’t think I could have found anyone who could understand where I was coming from. Thank you for speaking with me.” Kain said.

“You’re welcome Kain.” The Rarity replied. “Remember that Luna too was under the very same circumstances.”

“She only briefly mentioned our similarities.” Kain said. “You may not think it, but you’re braver than you imagine for talking about this.”

Kain continued the rest of his watch in silence with Rarity at his side. Nothing else was exchanged between the two.

////

The next morning the party made plans to investigate a series of ruins that Rainbow Dash had seen before they’d made their way over the mountains.

“I really wish I’d brought a pith helmet.” Rainbow Dash said. “That way I could totally be like Daring Do!”

“Before we head out, I think we’d better go over our plan.” Twilight said. “So firstly, we need to stick together! These old ruins may have those same traps in all those Daring Do books you’ve come to love Rainbow Dash. Or possibly even worse traps. I don’t want any members of our group out of help’s reach. I’ll be using some magical dowsing to see if I can pick up on draconic essence.”

“Wouldn’t Spike just give off the same signs?” Rarity asked.

“Thought about that. I already omitted his signature from the spell.” Twilight said.

“So what happens once we find the dragon we’re lookin for?” Applejack asked. “Ah don’t think they’d respond well to a ‘howdy’.

“Of course they do AJ.” Pinkie said. “They just smile and then eat you.”

“I should be the one to approach the dragon.” Kain said. “The only dragon I’ve ever spoken with before coming to Equestria was the one of Baron’s Keep, and he already had a connection to the dragoons. There’s no need to put you in harm’s way.”

“Okay, but we’ll hang back and make sure nothing happens ok?” Twilight asked.

“Of course.” Kain replied.

Aside from the silence and the overgrown plant life over the area, the ruins didn’t appear at all that exciting.

////

“Ugh, it’s just one empty room after another!” Rainbow Dash said, frustrated. “Seriously, we go down some stairs, follow a winding corridor, all to get to a dead end!”

“A dead end would have more teeth… or explosives.” Pinkie said.

Twilight ignored Pinkie’s statement. “Well, Rainbow, that’s the sort of thing you’d expect to see in ancient ruins. Nopony’s home.

“Still, can’t be as weird as that one hallway with what, fifteen doors that led to empty rooms?” Applejack asked.

“They were all exactly the same, it’s like nopony even put anything in there by the way they were so clean.” Rarity said.

“Who knows what happened to the civilization in the area? For all we know, something could have driven them off before they got to use those rooms.” Twilight said. “Still, it is a bit strange that we haven’t found a single artifact of the preceding civilization. I certainly hoped that this site hadn’t been ransacked by ponies looking to make an easy bit.”

“If somepony wanted to just come in and steal artifacts, they’d just go for the big stuff like Dr. Caballero’s gang in the Daring Do Books.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Hey, maybe a dragon could have taken everything.” Spike said.

“Spike, how could a dragon possibly get into all the nooks and crannies to get every last treasure?” Rainbow Dash asked. “It’d be too big to go through all those hallways we explored, he’d have to be-“

“A lot smaller!” Twilight said, completing the sentence along with Rainbow Dash.

“Maybe a younger dragon came to these ruins a longer time ago, and built his or her hoard using all the left over treasure from this civilization?” Twilight asked. ”Spike, I don’t mean to bring up old events, but can you recall the time you wanted to hoard everything, you know the time where it got out of control?”

“Uh, yeah. I sort of remember wanting to take everything I could and putting into one big pile.” Spike said.

“Where would you have taken it?” Twilight asked.

“Well, away from anypony else.” I didn’t want them to know where I kept my hoard.” Spike replied.

“Okay, so let’s say there was nopony else around and you had access to all sorts of treasures like coins and gems, where would you go?” Twilight asked.

Spike was visibly beginning to tremble. “All those gems…” Spike said.

Rarity put a hoof on his shoulders. “Now Spike, we just want you to think about the if, we wouldn’t want you having another episode, now would we?”

“Right.” Spike said, regaining his composure. “Well, if I had the place all to myself I’d just make my pile in the middle just so the trips would be shorter.”

“That’s it, it’s at the center of the ruins.” Twilight said. “Rainbow Dash, when you first looked over the area, you said you saw overgrown plants over the area. Did anything stand out?”

“Not really, the trees were really tall, so I only saw a few clearings.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Could you go up in the air again and look for any glints of light?” Twilight asked of the pegasus.

“Sure.” Rainbow Replied and she shot above the party. Moments later she returned. “Yeah, there’s a shining light coming from over there.” Rainbow pointed a hoof in the direction. “That’s where all the treasure is, isn’t it Twilight?”

“And where our dragon is most likely hiding. “Twilight said.

////

The group navigated through the ruins once more and kept to the general direction Rainbow pointed. The last section they went through was along and dark underground tunnel that sloped to an opening exposed to the light that came through the canopy of the trees. The area was quiet enough for the sound of hoofsteps to be heard upon the ancient stone pavement.

“That’s the way out.” Twilight said. As the group emerged, they were greeted by the site of an enormous, circular stone pedestal in the center of the clearing. A mountain of gold and gems lay upon the top of it.

Matching the form of the pedestal, a ring shaped pool of water surrounded the structure, the movement of the water barely audible.

Kain stepped forward. “I shall investigate. We aren’t certain if the dragon is in the area.”

Just as the dragoon made his move to the pedestal, the treasures bean to shift and a large purple dragon clawed his way over the piles of coin and treasure.

“Well, hello there little pony. May I ask why you’ve decided to intrude upon my sanctum?”

~Belligerent Bindlestiff

Author's Note:

Musical Inspiration/Accompaniment: “Protect the Espers” FFVI OST; “Into the Darkness” FFIV OST; “Masser” Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim OST; “Damcyan Castle” FFIV OST

Does anybody actually notice these?

Comments

[Orion Light]

Yeah we noticed the names of the songs, though it would be better if you link them to the words.