• Published 12th Aug 2018
  • 1,136 Views, 48 Comments

The Fable of a Lost Wolf - Solaris Night



After the War of Canterlot, Trider and his friends venture off to the four corners of Equis and beyond to find strength, wisdom and means to protect their future from destruction. But as their light shines brighter, so does darkness grow larger.

  • ...
7
 48
 1,136

Chapter 2: A Lost Soul

"Well, that's it." the man said as he removed his hands from Triders back. "As far as I can tell everything is fine with you."

Trider placed his shirt back on and turned to the man who examined him. "Thanks anyway doc."

"I'm not a doctor though." the man replied as he watched the lad get up and walk out of the tent.

"It seemed appropriate." Trider grinned and exited.

Once he was out he began walking through the camp, observing his surroudings. He saw men, women and children going about their day. However as he continued he couldn't help but feel like he was stared at by almost everyone. He paid them no mind and began to ponder his predicament.

It's been a few days since he came back and he has slowly adapted to his old life on his planet. Yesterday he and Shepherd had a long talk about all the things that had happened since his disappearance. He learned that humans had developed numerous new weapons with which they kept the Kanisars in line. Among them the two that stood out were the Peacekeepers and the Ki modified humans. No one had any idea where the humans got the means to imbue themselves with it, but it made things far more difficult for the rebel forces.

He soon reached his destiantion and entered the tent. "Hey." he greeted as soon as he entered. The two people inside it turned to him, Shepherd and a Kanisar girl. They were in the middle of what seemed an important discussion. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Welcome Trider." the older man greeted back, while the Kanisar girl glared at him. Trider ignored her and instead focused on Shepherd. "I'll be right with you, just let me finish talking with Avaia."

"Sure thing." he said and shrugged. He stepped back outside and waited. After a couple of minutes the girl walked out and as she passed him she stopped for a second and shot him another hateful glare.

"What's her problem?" Trider thought as he watched her leave. He once again entered the tent and Shepherd motioned him to sit.

"What did Garant say about your condition?" the man asked, as Trider took a seat.

"He has no clue what could've happened to me." Trider explained. "But he did say that my Ki channels seem to be ... blocked or something. And that that is what's preventing me from using it at full capacity."

"And you don't know what could've done this?" Shepherd asked.

"I told you already. I lost it when I traveled back to Inu." he explained.

The old man sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hand. "Trider ... I know that you're not one to lie to me, but what you told me just seems impossible." He removed his hand to look at the Kanisar again. "Appearing in another world, meeting and fighting magical creatures and the like. I want to believe you, I truly do, but I just can't."

Trider fiddled with the fragment he had in his pocket, pondering if he should show it to him. But like before, he thought against it, fearing what could happen, since he knew what it did to Discord.

"It's fine." he sighed. "I'll figure it out, one way or another. Until then I'll just ... Wander around I guess."

Shepherd nodded in agreement and he returned back to the papers that were on his desk. Trider took as his cue to leave. Before he exited the man spoke to him, without taking his eyes from the table. "Try not to get into trouble and be careful."

"No promises." Trider said with a smile and left the tent.

For the next half an hour he walked around the new camp, that the rebels set up, trying to figure out the general layout of the place. Eventually he reached the outskirts of the encampment, where he saw a small makeshift field, on which several people were playing basketball. He approached them and as he got closer he saw that most of them were in their teens.

"Hey, got room for one more?" he called out to them. The kids stopped playing and they all looked at him. One of them stepped forward and got closer.

"Sure thing. Just be sure to play fair. Not all of us can punch a rock into dust." he said.

Trider grinned and began stretching. "Please, I could wipe the floor with all of you with one hand behind my back and without Ki."

Another kid approached them and pulled the first kid away from Trider, as he began to whisper to him. Trider could see scared and worried expression on their faces as they conversed and he couldn't help but overhear that they were talking about him.

The kid who was speaking with him faced him, this time more reluctantly. "Sorry, I just remembered that we have to go back. It'll be our curfew soon." he apologized, before he and the rest of the group ran away.

"But it's fucking noon." Trider grumbled. "What's their problem?"

"Can you blame them?"

He turned around to see who spoke to him and he saw a familiar girl. He remembered her from the day he came back and helped her escape the humans, as well as the few times she was in Shepherds tent.

She was about the same height as him, with a slender figure. Her blonde hair reached the middle of her back and her green eyes felt like they were piercing him with all of her might. She wore a small leather jacket, that cut off just above her stomach, leaving it fully exposed. She wore a short skirt that stopped midway down he thighs. But the most outstanding thing about her outfit were the metal boots, that reached all the way to her knees.

"Oh it's you... Uh..." he snapped his fingers as he tried to recall what Shepherd called her. "Avian or something?"

"It's Avaia." the girl corrected him, her tone clearly showing that she was angry.

"Yeah that." he said, disregarding her outburst. "Were you following me?"

"I did." she said almost proudly. "I had to make sure that you-"

"Y'know if you wanted to talk to me, you could've just approached me. There was no need to stalk."

Her face turned red and veins became clearly visible on her temples. "I wasn't stalking you. I was making sure you didn't cause any trouble."

"Whatever you say." Trider replied with a shrug. "Anyway, why did you stalk me? Did Shepherd asked you to?"

She wanted to correct him again, but she thought against it. "No, I came here of my own volition. After all, it is you we're talking about."

This time Trider was the one who got angry. "And what is that supposed to mean?" he inquired, his voice louder than it was before.

Avaia looked at him with an even angrier look, as she took a step forward. "Don't play dumb. Everyone in the camp knows or has heard of you, Trider the Heartless."

Without warning he closed the distance between them and grabbed her by the collar of her jacket. "Don't call me that." he growled in her face. The girl however didn't even flinch at his attempt at intimidation. "I'm not like that anymore, I've changed."

Avaia's expression became one of pure fury, as her eyes turned bright red. She kneed Trider in his stomach, which made him release her. As he was grasping his stomach, he failed to see her spin around and deilver another kick, right to his face. He fell to the ground and as he was trying to get up, he looked up and saw the girl thrusting her leg forward for another attack. She stopped, so her foot was less than an inch away from Trider's face.

"You expect me to believe you?" she asked, her voice quivering. "Do you think that just because you say it that I'll just forget everything you did?" Tears started to run down her face and Trider just watched her with a shocked expression. "How many people have died because of you? How many lost their lives because of your grudge? People who did their best to correct the actions of others."

She moved her leg away from Trider's face and turned away. "It was a known fact, that if you were part of the team it would be only a matter of time before everyone would end up dead, because of you." She lifted one of her arms and grabbed hold of the other, trying to stop her shaking. "Some of my friends were also part of those teams. Friends who I had close ties with. And every time they left, they didn't come back, only you did." Her shaking was now clearly visible and her voice broke from time to time. "And then, when you also didn't come back I thought that we were finally rid of you. But no, you came back anyway, spouting trash about another world, magic, super forms and all the other nonsense."

"You were eavesdropping?!" Trider said surprised.

"I did. I had good reason." she snapped back. "But out of all the bullshit you said, the one that was absolute worst and unforgiveable was that you've changed, that you were sorry. It made me sick." She turned back to him. Her eyes were bloodshot, but were still full of fury. "I bet you don't even remember their names, do you? The names of those who died for our sake."

No matter how hard her tried, Trider couldn't say a word to her, he just stared at her with a hurt expression. "Try anything and next time I won't stop myself." She scoffed at him and walked away. Slowly Trider stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth. Silently he marched back to the camp as he thought over what Avaia told him.

***

Sleep eluded Trider that night, as the words Avaia said to him drifted through his head. He turned to his other side and tried to close his eyes, but it was still futile.

"Goddamit." he cursed silently. Just then his ears flicked, as he caught a muted buzzing. He lifted himself from his bed and looked around the dark room, which was only illuminated by one of the moons. "Where are ya fucker?" he said, turning his head to find the insect that further disturbed his sleep.

Then in the darkness he saw a small blue light and after straining his eyes he saw that it came from a strange floating device. He continued to stare at it, until it made a short beeping sound and a wave of light washed over Trider's face. The sudden brightness stinged the Kanisar's eyes and he rubbed his eyes to alleviate the sensation. After he was done he looked back to the device and saw it was scanning his room.

After it was done it turned back to Trider. "RECIPIENT RECOGNIZED." it said in a robotic and monotonous voice, as it landed in Trider's hand. "NUMBER OF ADDITIONAL OBSERVERS: 0. RELYING MESSAGE."

"Hello Trider." a voice greeted Trider. "I hope you weren't startled by my message drone, what am I saying of course you weren't." The man, whose voice belonged to, tried to sound calm, but was failing at certain points, making him fumble over his words. "Anyway, I heard that you were back in town and I would like to have an audience with you..." The man went silent for a couple of seconds, before he spoke again, this time in a hushed tone. "Audience? Does that sound too formal? Maybe I should go with 'I wish to speak to you? Nah still too much."

Trider continued to listen to the recording, smiling to himself over the man's nervousness. "Yeah let's go with that." he cleared his throat and continued the message. "I heard you were back in town and I would like to talk with you. Meet me at the location that the drone will provide you with. And make sure you come alone. Don't worry, this isn't a trap..." The voice again went silent. "Why did I say that? Now he'll think it is a trap. Ugh, how stupid can I-" The recording stopped and the drone displayed a map before Trider, on it a blinking red spot indicating the meeting point, as well as the route to take to it.

"Well, can't refuse I guess." he said as he stood up. He put on his boots and walked out, heading towards his destination. However, as he was leaving he failed to notice a pair of eyes that were staring at him from the shadows.

***

It took Trider about half an hour, before he reached the meeting point. It was on the outskirts of the town, inside a small park, which was empty at the time. While he did deem the contents of the message as truthful, it didn't hurt him to survey the location first, before he engaged the one who sent him the message.

After several minutes of scouting he continued towards a bench on which a lone man sat. Trider could only see his back. The man was shorter than him and had dark blue curly hair. He wore a white short sleeved shirt and equally white dress pants. As he approached him, the man failed to notice him.

"Hello there." Trider said, startling the man.

"Holy-" the man said as he jumped in his seat. He quickly turned around and Trider saw his ash grey eyes look into his own, through the glasses that sat on his nose. "I don't believe, it really is you." he said awestruck, as he stood up and approached Trider.

"Yeeeah." Trider replied, a bit taken aback, by the man's reaction.

"It's such a pleasure to see you again." the man said and reached out his arm, to which Trider reacted by taking a step back. "I bet you have a lot of stories to tell, about what happened to you, where were you and, and..."

"Woah there." Trider said as he raised a hand, signaling him to stop. "First of all who are you? And what business does a human have with me?"

The man blinked a few times, before he slapped his head. "Doi, of course you don't recognize me. My name is Syver Prodose. We've met before."

Trider tilted his head, a confused expression on his face. "Who?"

When he said those words, Syver visibly deflated, but he quickly regained his composure. "Well it has been a while, but maybe this will jog your memory." he said. "Master you are super, just a like a super hero." he spoke in a childlike voice.

Trider gazed at him like he was mad, but at the same time those words triggered his memories to wash forward. Until it clicked. "Wait a minute. You're that kid that kept following me around, calling himself my student and shit like that."

A smile stretched across Syver's face. "So you do remember me." he said gleefully.

Trider's sruprised expression was replaced by one of worry and confusion. "What happened to you? One day you were just gone. And what happened to your ears and tail?"

Syver didn't say anything, insted he lowered his head and lifted some of his hair to reveal two holes and bald patches on top of his head. Trider stared at this furiously, as he clenched his fists as hard as he could.

"One day I was caught by some humans and taken to a nobles residence to act as a slave." he explained somberly. "And they weren't fans of our kinds appearance, so they had them removed, to look more like them."

Trider was gritting his teeth in anger, as deep inside a part of him, that he abandoned, tried to resurface again. He took a deep breath and calmed down. "I'm sorry." he said.

"Thanks." Syver said and sat back down, patting the bench for Trider to sit by him. "But enough about me, I wanted us to meet so you could tell me what happened to you. Everyone thought you were dead."

Trider sat down as well and chuckled. "You probably won't believe a word I'll say."

Syver shook his head vigorously. "Nonsense. If it's you, then it must be true."

And so Trider began recalling his time in Equestria and what he had done there. Syver listened to him intently and was visibly excited by everything Trider told him.

"And then I charged at the giant robot and smashed him into pieces." he said, thrusting his arm forward, punching at the air.

"That is so awesome." Syver said excitingly. "I can't believe that our kind can achieve such power." he said as he wrote down what he has been told into a small notebook. "And you said that you gained this power by supressing your anger and instincts while in your Feral Unleashing and still drawing power from it. Remarkable."

"Kinda. Though it's a bit more complicated than that." Trider said.

Suddenly Syver closed his notebook and looked at Trider. "No matter. You'll have all the time to tell me how it works." he said and stood up. "With your help, my plans will be a success."

"Sorry, what?" Trider said, surprised by his friend's sudden outburst.

Syver looked at him, his eyes glinting. "I'm talking about finally ending this damned war and bringing peace back to our world." He reached his hand out to Trider. "Will you help me in achieving our ultimate goal?"

Trider stood up as well and was about to grasp his hand, when all of a sudden a shadow jumped out of the bushes. Trider and Syver watched as a foot crashed into the ground between them and they both backed away.

"I knew you'd get into trouble eventually, but this is just stupid." Avaia said as she glared at both men.

"Where did you come from?" Trider shouted.

"I saw you when you left camp and followed you here." she said, crossing her arms across her chest.

Trider casted his gaze towards Syver. "Hey what do you call someone who secretly follows you, with dubious reason?"

"I believe that's a stalker." Syver replied.

"See, even he agrees with me."

"I'm not a goddamn stalker." the girl yelled at him. "And my reasons aren't dubious, I told you that I was making sure you didn't cause trouble."

"I bet you were also waiting outside my tent all night." Trider continued.

"As if. I was just passing by when I saw you leave it in the middle of the night." Avaia argued.

While the two continued to bicker, Syver just watched, unsure how to react. "Um, excuse me?" he interjected.

"What?!" both of them shouted in his face.

"Is she your mate Trider?" he asked.

The girls cheeks flushed and her right eye twitched. "As if. He's the worst."

"Ah, I see. So you're just friends." he nodded in understanding.

"Not even that." Avaia fumed. Suddenly her expression changed, as she took a defensive stance against Syver. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Trider looked between the two, clearly confused. "Wait, do you two know each other?"

Avaia gave him a stern look, before she turned her attention back to Syver. "Everyone on Inu knows who he is. He's Maximillian Stonebright II."

Trider looked at her as if she grew a second head. "Wut?"

Avaia didn't spare him a single glance, as she kept her eyes solely on Syver. "Seriously, how daft can you be?" she snarled. "This man is the director and lead researcher of SyvTech. He helped create the Peacekeepers, gave humans the ability to use Ki and is responsible for deaths of dozens of Kanisars."

"Are you daft?" Trider exclaimed. "I know this guy. Well I can recall his face, but I know that he's a Kanisar as well and there is no way in hell that one of our own would side with the humans."

"I heard what he said and he only said that so he could gain your trust. For what reason I have no freaking clue."

"If I may." Syver said with a raised hand, as he interjected. The two glared at him, but he continued to smile at them both. "Both of you are correct and if you'll spare me some time, I'll be more than happy to tell you."

Avaia and Trider glanced at each other and they both relaxed a bit. Syver took that as his cue as he turned around and sat back down onto the bench. "Now keep in mind, Trider, that I never meant to keep this away from you." he said before he started his explanation. "I am both Syver Prodose and Maximillian Stonebright."

"Five years ago, I was captured by the humans and brought to the Stonebright estate, to be their slave. Those people, as I've already mentioned, weren't accepting of how our kind looks like and had our 'impurities' removed." he said as he again showed the bald marks on his head. "They also made us wear these." He reached for the 'human ears' on the side of his head and removed them. "Pretty godd, eh? Look just like the real deal."

"Just continue, please." Avaia said, clearly shaken by what he showed her.

Syver shrugged and placed his ears back. "For the next three years I had to endure hell. Those people abused me and other slaves and the only thing that kept me going was the thought of you Trider. That one day you would come and save us." he chuckled to himself, his expression turning dark. "But that never came. One day we were told that you had perished by the hand of Deadlock and at that time I lost all hope. I had nothing left, I planned on taking my own life." A smile stretched across his face as he looked Trider in the eye. "But then I remembered that you wouldn't give up and I knew that the Kanisars would need someone else to save them."

"However I'm not the warrior type like the rest of our kind, I'm subpar in terms of strength, speed and the like. But what I lacked in raw power I made up with my superior intellect." he boasted, as he tapped the side of his head. "That night I made a plan, to free myself and to take revenge on the family."

"You see the Stonebright's were very protective of their son, so they never let him out of the house. Not once in their lives, so nobody knew what he looked like, outside of those in the house." he continued his story as his smile grew darker. "One night I quietly went all around the house and killed everyone in their sleep, so they didn't put up much of a resistance."

"Wait!" Trider suddenly jumped in. "You said everyone. Does that mean also...?"

Syver sighed as his form slumped slightly. "Unfortunately, yes. I also had to kill all the slaves to make my plan a success." At that, both Trider's and Avaia's face turned pale.

"And what exactly was your plan?" Trider shouted, his anger clear as day.

"He took the place of Stonebright's son, since no one knew what he looked like and framed the resistance as the perpetrators of the murders." Avaia said.

"Clever one." Syver clapped to her deduction. "Yes that's exactly what happened. And they didn't question me much, since they assumed I was of noble blood." His face was full of glee. "Soon afterwards I joined the SyvTech and quickly climbed the ranks, until I became it's CEO. It wasn't that hard, since I had a lot of financial support from the Stonebrights inheritance."

"But why?" Trider asked. "You said that you wanted revenge, so why are you helping the enemy?"

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer." Syver answered, as he slowly stood up. "I am not like you Trider. I can't plunge my way through enemy ranks with brute force. So I decided for a less active approach." He snapped his fingers and out of nowhere a Peacekeeper appeared before them. Trider and Avaia got into their defensive stances, ready to fight.

"Oh don't worry, it won't cause you harm." Syver assured them, but the two were still apprehensive. "You see all of the Peacekeepers contain a hidden code in their programming, that when triggered will attack all humans on sight. And I'm the only one with that code."

The two Kanisars looked at him with doubt. "Then what about giving humans Ki?"

The man scoffed. "Humans aren't capable of handling Ki, at least not in great amounts. It wears their bodies out and the more they use it, the greater the damage is. If I were to put it simply, it's like a poision that's slowly killing them the more they use it." With shocked expressions, Avaia and Trider stared at their fellow Kanisar, unsure how to take what he had told them.

"Is what Avaia said about you killing other Kanisars also true?" Trider asked, his head slumped forward.

"Necessary sacrifices." he replied with a stoic expression. "If I didn't I wouldn't have gained so much of the humans trust and I wouldn't be here where I am now."

"And you are satisfied with that?" Avaia shouted at the man.

"If it means to save our people, then I am willing to do anything. Even become a villain." he turned to Trider, reaching his hand towards him. "But we can make all of that stop. If you come with me we can strike at the enemy sooner than I anticipated and finally get rid of the human filth from our home. So please, join me."

With a slow step, Trider approached the man and Avaia looked at him with wide and scared eyes. When he reached him he began to lift his hand to Syver's.

"Don't do-" Avaia's warning was cut short when Trider slapped Syver's hand away. They both looked shocked at the Kanisar's action.

"No." he simply replied.

"No?" Syver asked surprised. "What do you mean no? I know that what I did to our kind is unforgivable, but I am ready to pay for my crimes, as soon as we kill the humans and bring peace back to out world."

Trider looked at him with sympathetic gaze, as he started talking. "I'd still say no Syver." he said clamly. "If you asked me this, before I went to Equestria, I'd glady take your hand. But I'm not the same guy as I was back then." Syver looked at him with disbelief, trying to find out if he was lying to him or not. "While I was there, I saw what my hatred and anger were capable of. I hurt people closest to me and killed others who were innocent. I was no better than the humans who took my family away from me."

"But, you-? Wha-? Why?" Syver was flabergasted at what he was being told. "Are you saying that you're forgiving the humans?"

"No. At least not all of them. And don't think that I've just forgotten about what they did." he stated firmly. "But I know that killing them, won't bring peace. It'll only make the hatred between us greater." He reached out his hand and looked Syver straight into his eyes. "I know that your intentions are good, but how you're trying to achieve them is wrong. I had friends who helped me see my mistakes, so now I'll help you see yours, as a friend."

Both Syver and Avaia stared at him with looks of disbelief. The other Kanisar remained quiet for quite a while, before he raised his shaking hand towards Trider's. The two clapsed their hands and Syver pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you Trider, for making me see the error of my ways." he said. Trider patted him lightly on the back, glad he was so accepting.

Suddenly pain seared through his abdomen, as he felt his limbs go limb. He fell, as he could no longer stand, but Syver caught him mid-fall. "I now see that you have lost your way master." he whispered into the Kanisar's ear, before letting him fall onto the ground.

"Trider!" Avaia screamed as she charged at Syver. But he simply waved his hand and the girl was slammed by the robot against the tree, where she slid to the ground, unconscious.

Trider tried to get up, but his body wouldn't listen to him. He felt a strange sensation, but painful, go through his body, as if parts of him were slowly waking up out of a long slumber. But that also casued his own consciousness to fade in and out.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they treat the both of you delicately."

That was the last thing Trider heard, before his mind went dark.

Author's Note:

It's been like, what, three months since the last update. I apologize for that, I've been very busy. I've had lots of exams for school and then my job took most of my time.

But anyway, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter.