Rejected Heroes

by Cobalt Bristle

6. The Search for a Guardian - Part 2

Author's Note:

Well, it seems this story is back. I ran out of things to say here ages ago, so... enjoy?

There were three shades sitting around a table in a dark, damp room. At the head of the rectangular table was Midnight. On her right was Quantum, with another to her left.

Midnight's eyes had a dark shine to them, illuminating in front of her. She was wearing a dark robe with purple accents, A serrated dagger was set in front of her, seeming sinister in the darkness. She was lifting a spherical object in her magic, examining it any way she could.

"Interesting find Quantum. You said you found this on that mare that's spying for us?" Midnight asked him.

"Yes, Midnight. Before she was corrupted, I searched her saddlebag. That blue sphere was the only thing in it," Quantum replied.

"Midnight, do you mind if I look at it?" The shade asked her.

"I can't figure it out. Here you go Whitehoof," Midnight confirmed, setting it down in front of Whitehoof.

Whitehoof inspected it for a while before replying. "It seems to be some sort of elemental core. It has an energy unlike any other I've seen before. Give me some time and I could make it into something useful," he stated.

"Sounds like it will work, but what are we going to do about the group that's attempting to reassemble the Runes? While they don't seem like much of a threat, they are growing closer together, increasing their likelihood of success," Quantum commented.

"Maybe so, but I believe I have a solution to that. Bring in the captain Eldritch captured," Midnight said to Whitehoof.

"Righto!" Whitehoof affirmed before dashing out of the room.

Quantum and Midnight sat in awkward silence for the remainder of the time that Whitehoof was gone. When he finally returned, he was accompanied by Eldritch, Crion, and two shade guards.

"Took you long enough," Quantum jested, receiving a look of annoyance from Whitehoof.

"He did put up a bit of a fight, I had to get Eldritch to help me transport him," Whitehoof countered, before realizing he had just further embarrassed himself.

Ignoring the bickering between them, she walked up to Crion. "You will be a very useful pawn in my little game. I have so many plans for you. Let's just hope you can live up to them," Midnight sneered.

"Plans? Please, your planning is terrible. You don't even have a backup plan for if this one fails. You'll have to hold another one of these little meetings for you to..." Crion started, before his gut was slammed with the shaft of a spear.

"Silence!" The guard that hit him hissed.

"The reason we haven't openly voiced our backup plan is so ponies like you can't interfere! Besides, you'll hardly have a choice in the matter," Whitehoof clarified.

This seemed to shut Crion up, although it could be the fact he was still recovering from the spear being shoved into his gut. He hadn't eaten much since being imprisoned by Eldritch. His appearance had gone from fit soldier to bony and ill-fed. He had cuts, new and old, all over his body. Several bruises were on his face as well as some scars on his cheeks.

"What, you got no smart reply? I guess Eldritch really did a number on you," Midnight sneered.

Crion drew in a sharp breath before replying. "Even though I am not what I used to be, I can still refuse to help you."

"Then how about a choice for you? You can either help me willingly, or I can corrupt you and make you a prisoner in your own body," Midnight offered.

Crion's face muscles instantly locked up, as if he was afraid his own mouth might betray him. He stood still for a while and said nothing. Finally, he replied. "While it is unlike you to keep your word, I suppose I'd better take the best terms I can get. Go ahead and tell me what you need me to do."

A devious grin spread across Midnight's face. "First thing I need you to do is meet up with the group you were travelling with. Just to make sure you can't sabotage us," Midnight paused as she cast a spell at Crion, which didn't seem to do much. "There we go. Now, time for what you need to do. Your job is to lead them into Ghastly Gorge, claiming that you found the location of a Rune. It matters not which one, but you need to get them there. Once you all arrive, I will have an ambush ready. Do your best to look like you're on their side, but do not hurt the shades. Understand?" Midnight finished.

Looking visibly irritated, all Crion gave was a nod.

"Good, now you'd better be on your way. I'll send one of my scouts to lead you to their location. Now go," Midnight ordered, chuckling as Crion was escorted out.

"Some ponies are so very gullible. Although I suppose he acted the best he could under the circumstances," Whitehoof commented.

"I can second that," Quantum added.

"Well, it seems I'm going to have to adjust my plans a little. I was planning on sending illusions in to distract the group from continuing, but I suppose I can work with this," Eldritch contributed, disappearing afterwords.

"I'll never understand how she can do that," Midnight said, confused.

* * *

Redshield was one of the first awake, his sister barely beating him to it. He knew something was off about her, but whenever he tried to ask she simply insisted that nothing was wrong and that he was just being paranoid. Onyx had gotten up not too long ago and was currently talking with Crystal. Prim was standing near the door of the house with Sharp and Rosanna, all of them wary of the situation. Blaze and Fallen were still asleep, soundly snoring away.

Sharp excused himself from the rest of the group to get some fresh air. Around this time, Fallen finally woke up, accidentally smacking Blaze in the face when he stretched.

"What? Who? Where?" Blaze mumbled drowsily, getting a nervous chuckle from Fallen.

"Heh, sorry about that. I'm not used to being around others," Fallen apologized.

"S'all right," Blaze replied drowsily.

Around this time, Sharp came back into the house with a look of urgency on his face. "Guys, we got a situation!" he shouted, a worried expression on his face.

"What is it?" Prim asked, her hoof on her sword.

"I see Crion out here, but I'm not sure what to think of it. It could be a trick," Sharp informed her.

"If there's a chance that Crion is alive, we need to get him in here. He's an expert strategist, and a good friend to me," Fallen contributed, getting a doubtful glance from Redshield.

"I know what shades do to mortals. If Crion is alive, then he won't be acting upon his free will. He'll be just another pawn in an endless game of chess," Onyx determined.

"He does have a point Fallen. If there's a chance that Crion is alive, it's better we distance ourselves from him. He knew what he was doing when he sacrificed himself," Blaze confirmed.

"I suppose you have a poin..." Fallen started before the window behind him was shattered.

"Rosanna, guard the door! Sharp, with me!" Prim barked, the other two complying.

Sharp and Prim galloped over to the window, Sharp's spear in hand. They slowed when they reached the window, Prim pointed to the left side of it. When they were on either side of the window, Onyx halted them. He held up a hoof, a signal to wait. He trotted into a back room in Cobalt's house, coming out with a bow and some arrows. He then knocked and arrow and nodded to the guards.

Prim nodded to Sharp, causing him to shout out the window. "Who goes there?"

Prim facehoofed at the stupidity of the other guard. "You idiot," she hissed.

Sharp merely shrugged and jumped out of the window.

"I swear he's going to get himself killed one day. For all I know, it is today," Prim groaned.

Prim jumped out of the window after him, and saw her squad member looking at a pony in a mix of fear and shock. There, dead on the ground, was the pony they had been looking for: Disrupted Harmony. He has slash marks all over his chest and face, as well as a hole in his heart that appeared to be from a spear. A simple note lay next to him, which Sharp quickly picked up.

"If you wish to continue living, I suggest you stop this endless search for the Runes. It will only result in them dying," Sharp read aloud. He was about to say something else, but he was cut off by Prim.

"Something about this doesn't feel right. We were searching for this guy and he turns up dead outside of a window? I don't think so," Prim assessed.

"Brilliant observation, yet here he is. The guy we were searching for dead outside a window. Nothing else to say," Sharp replied.

"There is always more to things than what meets the eye," a pony called to them.

At this time, Onyx had come out of the window as well. As soon as he heard the voice, he knocked an arrow and aimed it at the roof.

"Ah, I see your alertness hasn't gotten any duller since we last met, now has it?" They commented.

"Since we last met? I don't remember meeting anyone with your tone!" Onyx shouted back.

"Well, being corrupted by shades can do that, now can't it? Although you wouldn't know, as your mother didn't tell you much about it, now did she?" The pony sneered.

"Watch your tongue! I have an entire party down here that won't hesitate to kill shades. If you're working with my mother, you'd best give up now, you can't win!" Onyx shot back.

"All of this pointless arguing tires me. Perhaps I should just get this over with and jump to the reason I'm here. All I have to say before I jump down is that you may want to prepare yourself," They warned.

Finally, they jumped down from the roof with incredible agility. They had a blood-streaked blue coat and a dirt covered red mane. Their tail had been severed at the flanks, leaving almost no hair behind. They had several cuts along their back and face. The feature that most scared Onyx were the pony's eyes. One was black while the other was covered with an eye-patch.

"Long time no see Onyx. Thought you'd lost me didn't ya?" He asked.

"C..Cobalt?" Onyx stuttered.

Comments

[Atlantis Productions]

Yay, another chapter. Though one thing I noticed, Rosanna is mentioned a few times but never gets any lines. I know you are telling your own story, but could you at least write in her making a sarcastic response or something in one of the next few chapters?

[Cobalt Bristle]

8555497
Thanks for your suggestion, and I will try to add her talking more.

[Atlantis Productions]

8555695
Thanks.

[Lord Quantus Mechanicus]

Moar chapterz plz?

[Cobalt Bristle]

8963254
Working on it, worry not! 5k words of raw writing is down, I simply need to make sure I didn't miss anything important and then ship it off to my editor.