Ch 20: Time Goes On
He stared up at the demi-god, his dark armour silhouetted against the night sky. His hand was raised, ten portals appearing before him as he glared down at the members of Ragnarok. From each portal came a beast from nightmares. Indescribable in form, and held a dark that seemed to negate light within a close vicinity.
Aurick couldn’t help but feel their chances of success were low. His party seemed to agree. Except, of course, for Shurda. The optimistic bastard that he was. Despite it all, there wasn’t really much of a choice. Ragnarok were the ones to take care of this. Or at least delay him until reinforcements arrived.
The bastard had decided to strike when all the adventuring parties had gone far away. The only one that was close enough to return was Ragnarok, leaving them as the sole defenders against this force.
Aurick could feel the atmosphere start to change. The fight was about to begin. He took a calming breath as he focused on a ring and held up a hand. He’d probably need to focus on countering the demi-god’s spells for a majority of the fight. Meaning he’d have to rely on his companion’s strength to take him down. He could see them all readjusting their grips on their weapons as they prepared to move.
Then all hell broke loose… or not?
Even as the crazed demi-god charged, he froze. Even the nightmare abominations was forced to stop by whatever came over them. It took only a few moments for Aurick to realize what was happening. Turning, he caught the sight of Luna flying towards him. A sigh of relief escaped him as he lowered his hand. He really didn’t want to relive that fight.
“Hello, Aurick.” The princess said as she came into range, she was casting a wary glance at the scene around him. “I came for other business, but I find myself intrigued by this scene.” He sighed as she said that. He should have known she’d want to know.
“Not a whole lot to tell. A demi-god crazed with power decided to take over the continent. Me and my friends were the only ones around, so we had to hold him off.” He replied simply.
“You defeated a demi-god?” She asked incredulously, her eyes wide.
“No.” Was his response, his teeth grit as he remembered the battle. He was lucky to survive, a trait not shared by all in his team. “We held him off long enough to get reinforcements. It took three more groups to show up before we were able to toss him back into the realm of the gods. Then they took care of him.” Whether she had heard enough or she finally realized he didn’t want to talk about it, she nodded and moved on.
“I’m told you saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders from the forest today.” She told him, a small smile on her face.
“Saved is a bit much. The only thing I really saved them from was a cold, and I was too late for one of them.” The mare snorted and shook her head.
“I assume that means that Inkheart was of no issue then?”
“No. She helped me find them in fact.” The princesses eyes widened at that, a hoof raising off the ground.
“Truly?”
“Yeah. Apparently she’s still as intelligent as normal, but whatever that experiment did made it hard for her to speak. I was gonna ask her to come in so we could help, but she ran away before I could.” Luna smiled and placed a hoof on her chin.
“If this is the case, then perhaps the armour won’t be needed after all.” She muttered.
“I’m still getting paid, right?” He asked, a hand on his chest and a brow raised. He put a lot of hours into that and he wasn’t going to get skimped on that.
“Of course,” She told him, her eyes rolling, “I might still need them for some other business.”
“Good.”
“I believe I will take my leave for now. I must think of how to proceed with this new information.”
Aurick couldn’t help but raise a brow. “What’s there to think about? Go talk to the mare, tell her you want to help her, and bring her to the castle or something.”
“Yes, but who knows how she will react? She might still be intelligent, but there’s nothing to say that the experiments haven’t messed up her mind more than we know. She could panic if she were surrounded by too many ponies. She could attempt to eat someone simply because she’s hungry and there’s no other food nearby.” She sighed. “I wish it could be that easy, but without knowing everything that Test Tube had done to her, there are too many unknown factors.”
“Are you interrogating him?”
“Yes, but he does not seem to crack. We have only gotten minor details, like the fact that her dragon biology allows her to eat gems as well as meat. Nothing that could be too useful.” Aurick sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“Alright. I’ll see if I can’t talk to her while you do what you do.” He scratched at his beard. “I’m getting tired of worrying about everyone within the vicinity of the forest.”
“I understand, and I thank you for keeping my ponies safe.” Luna told him, her head bowing slightly. He just waved her off.
“It’s mostly force of habit. I did the same thing back home.”
“All the same.” Again, he just waved her off, but she gave him a smile. “Sleep well, Aurick.”
~-~
The next couple days passed without incident. Aurick attempted to go into the forest to find Inkheart each day, but each day he found nothing. He, of course, found signs that she was still in there. Claw marks, small clumps of hair, and the like. Yet there was one thing he never found.
A carcass.
He wasn’t sure if the mare was eating further out than he was looking, or if she hadn’t eaten at all. Based on the animal presence in the forest, he was betting on the latter. When he spoke to Luna about it, she seemed worried, and she confirmed that she hadn’t left the forest. Unless she managed to sneak past her scouts.
It only grew worse as the days passed. The snow kept piling and the air grew colder and colder. He wondered if she would be okay in the cold. The ponies around town had bought out Rarity’s stock of enchanted winter clothes, and he knew that the mare had no such clothes. Hopefully the experiments gave her some form of cold resistance, else they might find her dead come Spring. A fact that made Luna worry.
She had stopped with the precautions in her worry and had started sending the guards into the forest. He had three sets of armour finished, so the ones she sent in were wearing those. Yet despite the extra help, they never found her. They only found traces that she still lived, which would suffice for a few moments before they started to worry again.
~-~
It had been five days since he had last seen her. He was sitting in Applejack’s barn, working on one of their plows. He stood up with a groan. He had been sitting down for a good half hour working on the enchantment. Rubbing the back of his neck he walked out of the barn and over to the farm house, knocking on the door. It only took a moment for Applejack to answer.
“I take it yer finished with the ol’ plow?” She asked with a smile.
“Yep. Shouldn’t catch on rocks as easily now. Should be a smooth ride from here on.” He told her, earning a smile in return.
“I’m sure Big Mac would be glad to hear that! I bet you’re hungry after that, would you like to join us for lunch?” She asked with a smile. It was a tempting offer, but Aurick already had some meat defrosting at home.
“Not this time, AJ. I’ve got some food defrosting at home that I was planning to eat.” He told her earning a small frown out of the farmer.
“Alright, but don’t be a stranger, ya hear. You’ve been real busy of late, it’s like you have no time for friends.”
“I know. I still gotta teach Twilight like I promised too. Hopefully it won’t last too long. End of winter at the latest.” He told her with a sigh.
“Good. It’s a good thing to work hard, but if I’ve learned anything, it’s that you shouldn’t let your work rule your life.” She told him, lightly punching him in the leg.
“You’re right. Of course.”
“You bet yer flank I’m right. Now lemme get you your payment so you can get back home.” The mare was quick with it, and before long, an elf was walking home with a small sack of coins in hand. As he walked, he couldn’t help but feel glad that he enchanted his scarf. The few times he had been without it had been fairly cold, and he wasn’t sure he would have like the walk home as much as he had.
It wasn’t long before his house came into sight, making the tall man pick up the pace. Though as he got closer he noticed something strange. A disturbance in the snow.
As he got closer, he found it wasn’t just a disturbance. A white lump laid upon the ground. A white lump with dark hair.
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Double upload? LE GASP!
Uhoh scooby.
well, I guess the cold and scarcity of food finally got to her, eh? let's see where this goes
If say take out the authors note.
It reads decently planned and ominous.. until you tell us you gave up.
*your
Pretty good so far, my dude.
I this is a really good story, I started reading it last night and almost swore when there wasn't a next button to click on
9396092
dude that was me yesterday, no joke.
When in equestria, Love and Tolerance win the day
The flashes into his adventuring career do add a lot to the story, I've got to say.
This is, perhaps, the single most telling event for Inkheart. Even starving to the point she's collapsed from weakness and/or exposure, she never went after the ponies. She could have, there's no way the civilians could protect themselves from her, and a being more driven by instinct than intellect would have succumbed to that temptation in spite of the promise of death.
Now just to hope she's not too far gone to recover.
im assuming she starved enough to seek help. and with how he's acted towards her the last couple times...
9396785
agreed. all she needed was to be shown kindness, and a bit of trust. she remembers that, and when desperate, will seek the one who was kind to her. (leaving half the manticore corpse, and not killing/capturing her the second time)
9396785
And it could have gone either way.
In equestrian naming convention, Inkheart could apply to both writing from the heart, or having no conscience.
*wakes up* holy shit I forgot to read today's chapter.
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I see. I have been bested again my arch nemesis cliffhanger
9397033
It could...but short of the pony changing their name later in life, I can't see parents giving their foal a dark name.
As an example, I expect Shining Armor changed his name when he joined the Guard. Looking at the naming conventions of the rest of his family, I think his name may have originally been Shining Star or something similar.
::impatiently refreshing to try to spot day's update::
9397545
Soon...ish.
...not useful? Hmm...