reaching the mountain
"Who are you?!" Twilight demanded of the being in the dark. "You're not Noteworthy like I thought, so who the hay are you!" Her voice was filled with anger, frustration, and even the faintest hint of disappointment, her eyes the exact same!
"Noteworthy? Oh... Twilight dear... I had no idea!" Rarity gasped in dismay. She knew better than anypony -due to their spa days- how much the magenta unicorn was praying for the eventual return of her lost love. Now that she thought on it, Rarity realised it would be almost like a fantasy, the husband, hidden for years, finally reunited with his wife through protecting her from a great evil. Almost like the songs he used to write for Twilight.
Growing even more frustrated with the mystery prisoner now she knew how her friend was feeling, Rarity chipped in. "YES! Enough of all this enigmatic nonsense, why don't you tell us who you are?!"
"Yeah!" Rainbow piped up, backed by her silent, stern faced husband.
"How are we s'posed t' trust yah if you keep who yah are away from us?" Applejack accused.
"It is only fair... I mean, you know who we all are..." Fluttershy whimpered from the bars of her own cage.
"Y' should jus' get it over with. If yah are our 'pal' like yah seem t' think." Big Macintosh said strongly, supporting his nervous wife.
Silence.
"Hmmhmhmmm..." Though choked slightly by whatever bindings held them in the gloom, the voice let out a low amused laugh. "It looks like I'm outnumbered... all the elements of harmony are demanding my name...well..." The group knew who he would be looking at through the gloom. The six and their other halves all craned their necks to the highest cage. Pinkie stood frozen by the edge of as though something the prisoner had said had clued her in on their identity.
"Pinkie?" Dash asked tentatively. "You're with us right?" Pinkie stayed still, not speaking, or even blinking.
"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted in an attempt to catch the mare's attention. The shout shook the pink earth pony from her thoughts, and made her glance to Twilight.
"Twilight? Why are you yelling at me?"
"I'm not yell-" Twilight stopped her angry shouting and frowned in surprise. She was yelling! At the friend she had only just got back from her own sorrowful silence. Why was she yelling?!
"It's what he wants..." Said the prisoner in the shadow. The other prisoners turned back to the wall, listening, even if begrudgingly, to the words of their personal expert. "He'll try and get you upset, then worried, then angry... then... well... no harmony amongst the elements OF harmony means no threat." The others all looked sheepishly to each other, realising how snappy they had been only moments ago. With their eyes, they all exchanged silent apologies.
"JEEZ! If I don't get out of this place soon, I'm gonna lose it!" Rainbow heaved heavily and rested her head on the bars of the hanging cage, closing her eyes, which showed how tired the usually energetic mare really was.
"Not while I'm still here Rainbow Dash!" The mystery prisoner encouraged simply.
"Thanks..." The rainbow pegasus grunted, opening one eye and peering into the gloom. "Whoever you are..."
.....
"Ummmm... excuse me? Dying Armour?" The changeling turned his head to the right, and sure enough, he saw the only remaining unicorn left in the group walking beside him.
"Yes? What is it?" He asked irritably of the platinum and purple mare. She blushed in fear as he addressed her, but with a brave gulp, she swallowed her worries and spoke to the creature that was helping them.
"Ummm... well, I was wondering..."
"GET TO THE POINT OR SHUT UP!" The changeling exploded suddenly in annoyance, causing the unicorn to rush into a series of random and seemingly meaningless topics out of fear. Far behind, walked Seed, Thor, Angelica and Sweetness, all watching as the unicorn obviously do what she always tried to do, bridge the peace.
"I dunno, I LIKE HIM!" Sweetness bounced happily, looking ahead to the older stallion hybrid.
"Even when he's been saying all that stuff about your dad? We got you running away from us for less than what he said!" Thor argued, sure to keep his voice down.
"I knoooooowwwww, but he's allowed to isn't he?!" Sweetness replied, confusing her friends completely.
"How come?" Angy asked cautiously.
"Well, he's the antihero isn't he?"
Seed laughed, remembering hearing the term use by Archy several times.
"This aint no story Sweetness, it aint all that simple." The farm pony glared over at the bulking frame of the stallion hybrid -Thor had clued them all in early that morning once Armour had finally gone for a short rest- Seed didn't like him, he was sure, deep down, there was a reason why this monster couldn't be trusted!
"Here here!" Thor hollerd in agreement, sending deadly eye daggers into the back of the changeling.
"Well I don't know what you guys hate about him, but you need to calm down and just work with him!" Sweetness protested, to the dropping jaws of all three of her surrounding friends.
"S-Sweetness..." Angy stuttered in horror. "He... He... burned Ponyville to the ground... he tried to destroy us all!" Sweetness froze, her smile stuck across her face, the corners of her lips twitched and her pace slowed for a second.
"Oh... yeah..." Suddenly her smile exploded back into life as she obviously found a way to forgive the crime. "Hey... it's ok, so did princess Luna! And my pappa!" With that she began to bounce away, leaving her friends staring after her. As she rushed off, Angelica gave a nervous glance around, she didn't want anyone wandering of, or at least not alone, not after Archy. She locked gazes with Thor, pleading for him to understand why she was vanishing after so little time together.
Thor smiled. "Go on, better stop her before she makes friends with... something else! She doesn't seem to have ANY boundaries on that front." With a smile and a nod, Angy took to the air lightly and went off in pursuit of Sweetness.
"So!" Thor started the very instant he and his old friend were alone. "What's your problem with 'Mr Gloom and Doom?'" He jerked his head in the direction of the changeling.
"What could you mean?" Seed laughed sarcastically. "I love the guy!" He rolled his shoulder, which now ached badly from his introduction to their guide. "He'd jus' dandy!" he grunted through gritted teeth. Thor chuckled and glanced up at Ruby, who was obviously trying to engage Dying Armour in small talk, with little to no avail.
"You're ok with that?" Thor asked, flicking his eyes in the two's direction yet again. Seed looked up from his hooves -It was the only way to relieve his aching shoulders- he stared for a minute, before looking away casually, but Thor noticed his expression was far to egsadurated to be remotely true.
"She can talk to whoever she wants..." Seed grunted, if not a little morose. "It aint like I 'own' Ruby or nothin'..."
"But... she likes you!" Thor encouraged. "If you explained how you feel about this guy, maybe she'd-"
"Stop talking to him?!" Seed finished dejectedly.
"...Be more careful..." Thor corrected.
"That's just it bud, I don' wanna control her, I like her as she is, an' if I interfered, she might change..." Thor grimaced, Seed was always good at this deep emotional stuff, for what seemed like the millionth time, Thor wished Archy was here to help!
"Look... Seed..." Thor began in a hushed tone moving closer to his orange friend. "You've got to tell her how you feel, that's the only way you're going to ever stop being so paranoid!" Seed frowned at the burgundy pegasus.
"How'd you reckon that?" He asked nervously.
"Becaaaaauuuuse...." Thor held the word, taunting Seed by holding back whatever information he knew that the farm worker didn't. Then he laughed and clapped his long time friend on the back. "Because, the second you tell her, she's gonna want to be all yours! BECAUSE SHE FEALS THE EXACT SAME WAY SEED!"
"Shut up!" Seed laughed lightly as his cheeks flushed a bright pink against his orange coat. He rammed his friend in the side jokingly, "Don't make me whoop yer flank 'gain Thor!"
The pegasus laughed as he stumbled slightly at the contact, then returned to his friends side. With a playful nudge of his own, he said.
"Well, if she doesn't, she could always go for gloomy guts over there..." Seed smirked, grateful for his friends attempt to lift his spirits. Then he saw Thors face: Firm, his lower lip jutting out, his eyes horrified.
"Thor?" Seed asked cautiously, concerned. Thor shuddered and without the slightest change of expression, said six simple words.
"I just thought about the children!" Seed irrupted into a fit of giggles as his own version of what half pony/dragon and half pony/changeling offspring would look like!
That was when the spear struck Dying Armour's side!
Ruby let out a horrified shriek and staggered back in fear. "SEED?!" He was already by her side! Thor was on route for the falling changeling who had momentarily vanished amidst a spray of blood! He reached his wounded ally just as Armour came down to his knees.
"Dammit!" The changeling examined his wound. "I shouldn't have gotten distracted!" He spat, flashing an annoyed glance to Ruby who recoiled slightly under the gaze. Then without hesitation, the natural fighter reached down and savagely wrenched the head of the spear out of his side with his teeth. "Here!" he grunted, tossing the bloodied weapon to Thor. The pegasus fumbled with the instrument momentarily before finally catching it.
"B-but... what am I supposed to do with this?!" Stuttered the pegasus as Ruby and seed closed in around the two, followed closely by Angy and Sweetness.
"STAB! SLICE! DANCE AROUND IT LIKE A NAUGHTY LITTLE FILLY! I DONT CARE, JUST FIGHT!"
"FIGHT WHO? I DON'T SEE ANYPONY!" Thor shouted back angrily. The pegasus still turned around and stared across the increasingly rocky landscape: They'd come extremely close to the base of the outland mountains, but yet again it seemed only another obstacle had come to meet them.
"THERE!" Angelica shouted, pointing to a large rock that acted like a boundary between them and what seemed like a maze of boulders only a few yards away.
"Dammit!" Cried the attacker hiding behind the stone. In a blur, he rushed into the open, firing another spear with his magic, this one targeted at Ruby.
"NO!" Seed screamed, with a speed he never knew he had, he stepped into the spears path, swung up a hoof; catching the wood of the projectile and flipping it over. Then with a punch with all his strength, Seed shot his hoof into the butt of the weapon, launching it back at double it's original velocity!
The assailant ducked, cursing as the spear shattered and splintered mere inches from his head. Suddenly he turned tail and ran into the forest of boulders.
"OH JUST GIVE ME THAT!" Dying Armour growled at Thor who was obviously in no rush to use the weapon. "I'll go get him." He purred happily as he pulled the spear into his own possession. With a blur of wings, he took to the air and zipped after the mystery stallion.
As he rushed ahead, Armour heard hooves just behind him. Expecting an ambush or a flanking attempt, Armour gripped the spear tight, and turned. It was Apple Seed: Staring ahead, a hateful gleam in his eye.
"I got yah back!" Seed grunted, amazingly keeping up with Dying Armours tremendous speed. Anger had consumed him momentarily, anger for his missing friend, anger for his missing parent, but right now he was mostly furious about the attempt on Ruby's life! Armour saw that rage, saw the fury burning in the stallion's green eyes, and smiled.
'Finally!' He thought, ' A pony who can actually help!' With that, he returned his focus to the hunt!
"Go right, cut him off!" The farm pony suddenly growled. Dying Armour frowned in surprise for a moment, before silently following the furious pony's obviously correct order and sweeping right in a blur of black and green.
As soon as Armour vanished from sight, Seed opened up his reserves and put his element to use! With all his might, he forced his thundering hooves into a blur of speed. As he ran, he caught sight of the attacker -fast losing ground to his pursuers- and with him in his sights, Seed grew even faster, hate and frustration egging him on!
He couldn't help but feel - as the tears rushed down his face from the wind- he must be approaching sonic rainboom speed, but on the ground!
"Hey!" Seed hollered, catching the stallion's attention, the soldier glanced back, saw how close Seed was, cursed and began to take a path deeper into the forest of rocks around him.
Seed, in his rage, missed several crucial turns the escaping stallion took, but to the mystery stallion's horror, Seed used his strength to bowl the smaller boulders aside with ease, therefore making up for his lack of agility. All the while, the mountain loomed closer to the running stallions, it's dark shadow plunging them into a twilight realm of semi gloom.
As they came the closest to the mountain they had been yet, Seed glanced up for a second, and his jaw dropped. There was an arch. Unlike any of the grandest he had ever seen in Canterlot! This one towered over four stories high, yet was hidden in an alcove hence why he and the rest of his troop hadn't spotted it from a distance. It's frame was a bright grey stone which stood out against the almost orange mountain rock, fine engravings spread across the ridges proving it was pony made and not just some natural anomaly.
The attacker turned just as he broke free of the maze of rocks and hit open ground in a clearing before the arch.
"Come on!" He yelled as Seed exploded out from between two rocks. "You damn Equestrian! Come on! I'll stuff you and hang you on my- OOFFFFF!" With a horrible crunch, Dying Armour surged into the pony out of nowhere, the spear he healed delving deep into the unsuspecting attacker's chest, half burying him in the ground upon contact. As the dust cleared, Seed stared as Dying Armour stood up, a smirk of satisfaction on his face.
"Pff... not even a challenge!" the changeling snickered as he fluttered his wings back to his side and stretched his neck irritably before glancing at Seed.
"You kept up with him?"
"Yah sound surprised..." Seed retorted defensively.
"Well, he's a western pony, and you're... you're... a farm pony!"
"Ha! Well it don' mean I can' be fast when I wanna be!" Seed relaxed and stared at the motionless pony at the hooves of the changeling prince. Who now mumbled slightly, before asking.
"Look, I know you wanted him and everything... but... he's dead, so... would you mind if I had him? I'm starved!" Seed's eyes grew wide with shock at how casually Armour talked about eating a pony! He opened his mouth to come to the anonymous stallion's aid, which in turn shocked him! This was the same stallion he had just rushed after with the intent to hurt! To kill if need be!
"Seed? Armour? You guys over there?" Came the muffled voice of Thor from beyond the many boulders.
"Yes Thor! We're here, we got him!" Armour shouted. Seed couldn't help but notice the sudden compliance of the changeling, both now and in the chase. Thanks to him listening to Seed, they had caught the fleeing western pony before he vanished into this massive archway!
Over the rocks came Thor, straining under his recovering wings and carrying a worried and shaken looking Ruby by her forehooves. Seconds later their leader emerged over the top of the rocks as well, struggling far more as her passenger wouldn't stop wriggling.
" I'M FLYIIIIIIING! WEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Sweetness! Stop! Or you're gonna fall!" The four set down and instantly Ruby rushed to Seed and hugged him.
"You're ok, oh thank goodness!"
"Of course I am!" Seed brushed off her concern with a smile as he hugged her back. Over Ruby's shoulder he spotted Thor who sent a wink his way.
The orange stallion ignored his friend and added as an afterthought. "That guy was about t' come at me, then Dying Armour here swooped in an' saved me!"
"What?" Thor exclaimed in astonishment.
"Y-you... did?" Angelica asked of Dying Armour, she was cautious, she didn't want to trust this creature not after it's fellows had stolen Archy... but if he had saved Seed...
The changeling grunted, tossing his head away from the group, a glimmer of embarrassment sparking in his heart. "He's making it sound bigger than it was..." the hybrid stallion disclaimed. "If we hadn't stopped him, he'd have been in trouble!"
"Yeah!" Thor laughed, nudging Sweetness who laughed along with the pegasus. "He could have come back and gone for me next time!"
"And that would be SUCH a shame!" Dying Armour quipped, making the rest of the group laugh harder.
"Heh..." 'WHAT WAS THAT?!' Armour thought furiously. Had he just laughed with these ponies it had been his mission -until recently- to hunt down? Another small breath of laughter escaped his lips as the rest calmed themselves. What was going on? First he'd hated them all, simply because they were his own way to Discord, then he'd seen how they cared for each other, like his mother had for him. So he'd given the yellow pegasus her doll when she needed it, the first form of charity he'd ever shown in his 20 years of living.
He'd opened up last night to Thor, he was even thinking about some of the ponies as beings with names! Listening to a pony making terrible attempts of friendship, in turn causing him an injury! Now laughing with them?! Why was he growing so comfortable with them? "N-no..." He managed to say as the others finished laughing. "He wouldn't have come back alone, he's an outer pony, they constantly use... scouts... Damnit!"
"Aaaaand the penny drops! You're getting slow... 'Dying Armour' did I hear that Equestrian call you?" From atop the ridge above the archway, bows drawn on mechanisms were suddenly visible as the ponies that held them emerged. Behind them amidst the rocks, almost as if from the rocks themselves, came more ponies. All of them had dark coats and manes, wearing vibrant purple and red material as uniforms, and all of them had large scimitars gripped in their teeth or magic.
The pony at the forefront of this troop was the only one without a weapon. He swaggered towards the group, his eyes fixed on Dying Armour.
"Good afternoon Kartoruss." Armour growled with false joy. "Well at least you know my name now hey?" The outer pony simply strolled over, his smile far too wild to be that of a genuine friend.
"No thanks to you!" He pointed a hoof at the changeling lazily, passing Thor and Sweetness without the slightest acknowledgment. "No thanks... to you." He repeated slowly as he came to a halt beside Seed, Ruby and Angy.
"What are you doing here then Kartoruss? Out with it then!"
"Protecting our kingdom from Equestrian attack, as always!" Kartoruss said gleefully, looking over the group from Ponyville. His stare lingered far longer on Ruby, his gaze travelled over her curves and long hair, taking it all in. She squealed in fear and hid behind Seed who squared up to the stallion not far from him.
"Ohohohooooo! Captain! This one thinks himself a bit of a fighter!" Shouted an archer who had marked Seed and spotted him readying for a fight. The apparent captain Kartoruss; who had looked away when Ruby hid, looked back.
"It seems he does!" The dark stallion laughed. He approached Seed, menace in his eyes.
"Do you want to hit me?" He questioned the stony faced Apple Seed. "Ohhh, I bet you do! That your girl behind you then?" As the orange stallion opened his mouth, Dying Armour shot in between the two in the blink of an eye. Looking as intimidating as ever before, Amour glared at the western stallion and spoke quietly.
"These Equestrians are of no interest to you, they are children! AND..." He paused for effect, hoping his plan was working. "They are here by personal invitation of the queen!"
"The queen?! Oh no!" Kartoruss rushed back instantly to his troop. He pushed down their weapons and gestured to the archers to lower their bows furiously. "You heard him! They're here for the queen changeling, we have to let them through to the caverns NOW!" There was a pause as Kartoruss stopped dead, his back facing the adventurers.
Nothing happened.
Then it started.
The chuckle of an archer, which spread to the rest, then to the ground troops. Soon all the western soldiers were laughing loudly, all except for the silent Kartoruss.
Slowly, with his back still facing them, Kartoruss's head turned so one eye could leer back them, glinting in the sun. "We know what happened to your mommy Armour." Those words made Dying Armour's stomach lurch, if they knew...did the treaty still stand?
"Back up! BACK UP!" Armour ordered the Elements. They did so, hugging the wall of the mountain, away from the rest of the ponies that watched their every step.
"Even so, you know where I stand Kartoruss! You wouldn't dare attack me!" Armour challenged desperately. The captain simply raised an eyebrow at the departing group.
"Really? What if your new ruler dropped by and explained that you've been banished?"
Armour cursed loudly, with a glance back to the others, he thought of fleeing, leaving them to fight for themselves, but something held him there. Was it his promise to his father? Or was it the stony faces of each of the group? They were ready for a fight!
"Get ready..." Armour whispered to the elements, widening his stance and unfurling his wings. The girls nodded, and in that instant Sweetness's mane collapsed flat against her head, her eyes instantly changing to those of her draconequus father. Ruby's horn began to glow bright, and Angelica's wings were twitching in preparation to go for the archers.
Thor and Seed instinctively rammed their heads back, and in seconds they were clad in their beautiful suites of Armour.
"Ooooh more of that fancy armour!" Kartoruss scoffed. "Well let's hope it does you better than it did that unicorn!"
"Archy?" Thor whispered to the group calmly.
"Gotta be!" Angy replied, locking eyes with a single archer high above.
"Well that's good!" Thor snorted. Ruby looked around in surprise, seemingly the only one who seemed worried about the mentioned unicorn.
"How is it good?" She asked in panic.
"Because it means they caught Archy..." Dying Armour explained under his breath. "So my brothers and sisters don't have him, we could still find him alive!"
"Eeeeeenough of this infernal whispering!" Kartoruss laughed, the stallions behind him had readied their weapons. "Either fight now, or just surrender! Make your minds up!" He winked at Dying Armour, who smirked back.
"As you wish." With a small boom, Armour shot forward to the captain!
Instantly the group followed suite, and rushed into battle!
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Haven't read yet, But I noticed many errors in the description.
*Somepony's *Realize
and this sentence is wrong:
*are far more special than they realize. however, When an old evil comes to haunt
For now I will put this in my read later box.
Good day,
-Silvz
I..rarely would say something like this without cracking open the story..but please tell me you have an editor. If the grammar in the story is as bad as the description and how you are replying to comments, I'm going to have a hard time reading this (and I have a pretty strong ability to ignore grammar issues)
This last chapter is it for me. Too many OMG MORE CONFLICT moments, and the dialog between the characters is becoming more stilted and awkward, with points of contention dropped, and moments of 'insight' consisting of rather obvious things anyone would have realized quite a long time ago.
It's also dancing around revelations just for the purpose of 'surprises' when there's no valid reason to hide the truth anymore.
And now more enemies, ponies who are violent and believe Equestria wants to invade them... when they clearly haven't invaded for hundreds of years, or EVER for that matter... self-delusion can only last for so long, you know. Unless the story is changing backstory abruptly yet again.
Nope, I'm done with this.
2755163 You may have a point there...
2755501 ok, U have many good points here, but this aspect of the story has been planned from its conseption. I had these characters ready to come in for several reasons.
1st of all, they have noteworthy, a big point of archy's backstory is dirived from this, and they are the way in which I can finaly answer one of the biggest backstory questions that's been around.
2nd, though the changelings are enemys, a key point needs to be shown that discord is becoming to grow in power, gathering allies, and extending his reach, meaning the climax needs to come soon.
3rd, U have seen dying armour has a past with kartoruss, and it finaly gives us a glimpse to his youth.
The dialogue I can work on, I can improve both the already published chapters and the future releases. All I needed was a heads up about it and uve given me that now :)
I've changed the backstory? When did I do that? I constantly refer to past chapters to ensure I keep it right :S
If U don't want to read anymore, then I can't make you, im sorry I've lost your interest and I hope to catch ur attention with one of my other stories in the future.
Than you for the feedback, I apologise for any annoyances this story has caused you. :)
didn't know he thought about Thor way
P.s. love your work