Age of Kings

by A bag of plums

70 - Vow of Victory

Emerald Edge squinted up at the falling rain as she sat atop her horse, willing for the sky to stop pouring. Back in Equestria, rain was created by those such as herself: the pegasi. They would shift clouds to places where rain was needed, and shift them away from places that didn’t. It wasn’t much, but it was honest work. This world didn’t have pegasi, so just like the sun and moon, Emerald had no idea who was moving them.

Posey’s mother, whom Emerald had learnt was named Paradise, had told them her story of how she had first gained the trust of the bandits when she had saved them from something called a peluda, instead of escaping when the beast had broken the door to her cage. From there, she had shown them her prowess with the bow and began to work her way up, eventually replacing the leader and becoming one of them.

“What’s a puh-loo-duh?” Honeygold asked, sticking her head out of the carriage window as Emerald, Paradise and Posey pulled alongside it. “Sounds like some kind of fancy schmancy snack for them rich folk.”

“Tis a beast, young one.” Paradise gave her a pat on the head. “Like a dragon, but smaller and covered in spiky hair. Nothing to do with rich folk.”

Emerald had to give it to Paradise and even Posey. They always seemed ready to move in to help others, and in this case, even the ones who had meant them harm.

Pulling her hood lower over her eyes, Emerald willed the rain to stop, at least while they were on the road. Unfortunately, whoever was causing the rain didn’t stop it.

“Druids?” Paradise chuckled behind her, laughing at what Posey had told her. “They have always been an ambitious group, the Fir Laimhe Liath. I am glad they have been removed from these lands.”

Posey pointed a hand at Emerald. “We can thank Emerald for so many victories. Tis because of her that Canterlot had been saved from Duchan and his druids.”

“Only to be overthrown by Sir Morn…” the spymaster said sourly. “To think that someone such as him could turn just like that…”

“This Morn…” Posey’s mother looked ahead, where a trio of her bandits were riding. “He must have meant much to you. Your closest friend?”

Emerald shook her head and closed her eyes. “Much more than that…”

“To turn against one’s king like that from mere humiliation…” Paradise clucked disapprovingly. “I… am sorry for your loss, Emerald Edge.”

“Tis not only I who lost him.” Emerald eyed Moon Tide ahead. She hadn’t mentioned even one thing since they had resumed their journey. Perhaps she was still thinking about her son. It mustn't be easy, going against him behind his back.

“My son is just misguided, I fear…” Moon Tide sighed sadly. “His mind leads him down paths we do not wish him to go.”

“Your son?” Paradise raised an eyebrow. “That usurper is your son? You go against your son? Why, I cannot imagine ever plotting behind my own daughter, even if we were lands apart.”

Posey smiled at that little comment.

“Tis… Tis very true.” Moon Tide kept her hood low over her eyes. “Trust me, I would like nothing more than to be by his side to support him. But what he is doing is… This is not what he was meant to be.”

The mage looked so gloomy that nobody decided to push the matter further.

“Anyway,” Paradise said, steering her horse up to the head of the convoy. “We should arrive at the border in a couple of hours. There is a town built around Fort Visage De Cheval. Tis large enough to be considered a center of trade. Merchants often journey there to do business, when not waylaid by either us or spectres. We will have to part ways before you arrive there, as we are all wanted for thievery, kidnapping, and murder.”

Posey rode up beside her. “Will you come back to Canterlot, mother? After all this?”

“I do not know, my petit amour,” Paradise looked at her daughter longingly. “You have a long road ahead of you, and should you emerge victorious, then maybe we have a chance to be a real family again. But we shall save such thoughts for your return from Saddle Arabia, yes?”

Posey wore a resolute expression. “I shall make it back, mother. Do not worry for me.”

“Posey is right.” Emerald nodded in agreement. “We will succeed in our quest. Morn shall ruin the kingdom no longer.”

It pained her to say such things, but Emerald knew what had to happen. They had to stop Morn, even if it meant his death. She just hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that.

---

“Well, there it is,” Paradise announced.

The group had stopped atop a series of rolling hills, which gave them an excellent view of the land ahead. There was a short mountain range separating Prance’s territories from the Kievan lands, but the Fort Visage De Cheval was built on top of the only pass between two of the alps, effectively controlling the bottleneck. Even from this distance they could see that the fortress and its surrounding walled town were bigger than Trottingham and Hoofshire combined. It was veritably almost a small city.

“Little odd for a place out in the middle of nowhere to have so many people,” Golden Nugget commented. “How do they get enough food? I don’t see very many farms.”

Paradise kept her hood low over her eyes. “Like I had said, farmer, merchants come here to do business.”

“Odd place to make business, ain’t it?” Apple Bean kept a hand over her eyes to keep rain from going into them. “Do they make business with them Kievans too?”

“That, I do not know. Still, it is a straight shot to the fort. It is here that we must part ways,” she said, slowing her horse to a canter. The rest of the bandits did so as well. “We dare not approach the town, for many of the merchants will have told the soldiers of us.”

Emerald slowed her carriage, pulling up alongside Posey’s mother.

“I’m sorry you could not spend more time with Posey,” Emerald said quietly.

“I regret that too,” Paradise agreed. “Promise me something, Emerald Edge.”

Emerald glanced aside at Posey’s mother. She was staring back with a gaze that could have cut stone. The former pegasus swallowed.

“Vow to me that you will win.” Paradise’s eyes pinned Emerald in place. “My daughter has told me all about this quest, and what it means for the world should you fail. Posey means the world to me. So, promise me that you will emerge victorious in this battle.”

Emerald held Paradise’s gaze, willing herself not to blink or otherwise appear weak. “I do not make promises that I might not be able to keep.”

“That is why you must promise me this,” Paradise insisted. “You must prevail, Emerald Edge. You must win, because I do not know what will become of the land if you do not. I would very much like to see my daughter again after this. I see that I should have returned to Canterlot sooner. Please allow me the chance to see her again.”

“I… I will try my best, Paradise. You have my word on that.”

Paradise scowled and grabbed Emerald’s arm. “And what if your best isn’t enough? Promise me that you will win. You either will or will not. There is no middle ground, Emerald. Or do you not think you can do it? If not, then say so!”

Emerald blinked. She hadn’t expected Paradise to be so aggressive. “Uh, umm… I…” She knew she had to. She had to stop Morn. She had to find the artifacts. She had to find a way home. She had to stop Sombra. “I will, Paradise. I will win.”

This seemed to satisfy the bandit leader, and she let go of Emerald’s arm. “Good. Then I leave my only child in your hands, Emerald. Take care of her.” She pulled her horse back, stopping again by her daughter. “Posey, my sweet flower. I am sorry I never came back to you. But know that I still hold you dear within my heart, and once you return, as will I. But for now, we shall keep an eye on Stoney Gulch.”

“I look forward to that, mother.” Posey nodded. “As does Gabriel, I am sure.”

The eagle above them screeched a happy tune.

“Take care, my daughter.” Paradise wrapped one arm around Posey. “I love you more than anything in the world. Stay safe and prevail.”

“I will, mother. I shall be sure to keep Emerald from harm as well. I love you too.”

Both mother and daughter shared a loving embrace before Paradise let go and pulled her scarf back over her mouth. She turned to her bandit troupe and barked something in Prench. One of them reared up on his horse and galloped away, with the rest doing the same.

Paradise gave Emerald and the group one last nod before joining them, disappearing back the way they had come.

Emerald’s group was silent until the last of the bandits had been swallowed up by the distance and rain.

Posey sighed and was the first to go on. “Come on. We shouldn’t waste more time. We do not know how far Morn has gone already.”

---

The rain had stopped by the time the caravan reached the front gates of Fort Visage De Cheval. It was more heavily fortified than Fort Hayward, with three separate gatehouses and a deep moat filled with water, swollen from the rain. Sharpened stakes were arrayed in a crescent around the walls, and archers and crossbowmen patrolled the parapets. The whole area was lit with bonfires and lanterns giving would be sneaks no place to hide. It looked almost like Canterlot Castle, only there were Prench flags flying instead of Canterlotian ones. The walls looked to be several meters thick, and as they approached, there was some shouting and commotion near the first gatehouse.

“You call these patates edible?” A guard was inspecting the cart of a merchant, which was stacked full with potatoes. “Vous etes une honte pour les agriculteurs! I will lose my job if I let people eat this.”

Another two guards came over and pushed the cart off to the side of the road to allow the next merchant in. Unfortunately, the cart of potatoes rolled a little too far off its mark and began to roll down into the moat.

“Mon patates!” the merchant cried out and jumped into the moat to save what he could.

A futile effort, Emerald thought as she slowed the carriage to a stop behind the next merchant. The next one was in with no trouble, while the first one was still floundering in the water, piling what he could in his arms, only to lose them again when he struggled to stay afloat.

“Arret!” The guards stopped them. “Quelles affaires avez-vous ici a Fort Visage De Cheval?”

“You what, mate?” Spectrum asked inside the carriage. Guard Streak and Honeygold stifled their laughter. Emerald hoped the guard hadn’t heard them.

Moon Tide approached the front of the group, then began conversing with the guards in Prench. She eventually finished with a nod, walking her horse back around to Emerald’s side.

“We are clear. Let us go on.”

The spymaster wasted no time in spurring the horses on, smiling to the guards as they passed. As they passed by the opened gate, the drawbridge and through the other two gatehouses, and led down a cobbled path, straight through the town and to the other side, where they could already see the gatehouses at the Kievan Horse side. In the end, it wasn’t very big of a town, but for a fort, it was still rather impressive to have so many civilians and merchants living here.

“We’ll stay here at an inn for the night,” Moon Tide instructed. “Then we can get any repairs on the carriages done, reshoe our horses, and replenish our supplies before heading on.”

“We only have to resupply because Jewel Pin keeps eating everything.” Posey looked through the carriage window with narrowed eyes.

The seamstress in question stuck her head out the window. “How would you expect me to go on with an empty stomach, might I ask?”

Posey rolled her eyes.

“Shouldn’t be a problem findin’ supplies in a place like this.” Apple Bean pointed to a merchant on the right who was selling turnips.

Moon Tide nodded and pointed to a narrow building on the left, where a crooked signboard reading Prench hung from a window. “We shall be staying there. Leave all the talking to me. Once we are settled in, we shall see to getting more food.”

“And maybe this time, Jewel Pin, try to save it.” Posey looked at the purple haired seamstress again.

“She speaks the truth,” Moon Tide added. “From here to the mountains, we won’t be encountering anymore settlements. The Kievan lands are big and most people are still nomadic. We are unlikely to find a place to buy supplies besides their capital and other cities. Those are not in our path to the Coltcasus Mountains. Once we set out, there is no turning back, so make sure you get everything you need.”

“Then we will need food. Lots of food.”

Emerald thought hard about the journey ahead. She didn’t know what to expect in the Kievan Horse kingdom. The kingdom of Prance had already managed to surprise her, with the kindness of some of its people, Posey’s mother, and also the spectres. The Kievan territory would likely have trouble of its own, but hopefully it wasn’t going to be anything too daunting.

And then there was Morn Dread. Emerald Edge pictured his strong, yet kind face in her mind, missing the days where they would spend their time training in the courtyard or having strolls through the garden, or even the nights they would spend together. He was on his way after them, of that she was sure. She didn’t know how much more of a headstart they had, but they had to make it last for as long as they could. If they could find the artifact in Saddle Arabia, then they would definitely have a fighting chance against Morn. But was that all there was to it?

Things were never that simple and Emerald knew that to be true in her time as Princess Amore’s spymaster. But whatever was up ahead, she had made a promise, and she was going to do everything in her power to keep that promise. That, she knew for sure.

---

Comments

[MixMassBasher]

Well good this address her name by the next chapter's beginning.

Also,

“Mon patates!” the merchant cried out and jumped into the moat to save what he could.

Hahajahahhahaha. That Avatar reference!

[Marcthelightspark2004]

Posey’s mother, whom Emerald had learnt was named Paradise, had told them her story of how she had first gained the trust of the bandits when she had saved them from something called a peluda , instead of escaping when the beast had broken the door to her cage. From there, she had shown them her prowess with the bow and began to work her way up, eventually replacing the leader and becoming one of them.

I learned about a new beastie today. Epic

[MoonlightRift]

Cabbage man reference, nice.