Chapter 7: Long journey
Details
*Thoughts*
~Mental speaking~
"Normal speaking"
~"Mental and normal speaking"~
Songs
... (Radio static)...
"Almost there." I said to myself, as I climbed up the side of a cliff.
I reached over to grab the top of the ledge and pulled myself up. I then breathed in and dusted myself off of the dirt and rubble, before turning around to look at the forest below.
The view was breath taking.
As I gazed towards the mountains in the distance, I could see the sun almost peaking over the horizon.
I took a seat on an old fallen tree log, near the cliff's edge. I then leaned back and breathed in the fresh air, as I waited for the sun to rise.
While this world was relatively the same as Earth, it seemed a little more colorful. Making the night and day much more beautiful.
It must have been what it was like on Earth, before the city lights and smog blocked out most of the stars and sun light.
As I watched the sun finally peak over the horizon, I reached behind my back and pulled Iron Hoof's guitar over to my lap.
I waited until the sun had passed over the mountains, before I begun playing to the beautiful sight.
I closed my eyes and smiled as I focused on the song. The sound of birds singing and the morning breeze blended together with my song beautifully.
While I played, it felt like the music was echoing around me. As if I had speakers sending my song across the mountains.
Though I'm sure it was just my mind deeply focused on the song.
As the last musical notes faded away, I opened my eyes to find myself surrounded by little animals. From birds, rabbits and squirrels, they all seemed to have been listening to my music. I chuckled and begun to pet a few of them.
The animals here sure were friendly. Some of the birds even perched themselves on my shoulders and head. But unfortunately, I only have two hands to pet them with.
As I continued to pet, scratch and rub the little animals around me, I felt in the back of my mind that I was being watched. It was small, so I can't tell if it was someone or something that was watching me.
Whatever it is, it's to far away for me to locate it. So I simply kept my focus on the animals. I would have to try and locat it while I continued my clime.
After a few more minutes, I slowly got up and stretched my arms before continuing my journey up the mountains.
I had left Vingrid about six days ago, after exposing the murderers. I had stayed at the town for a day longer to learn of their sentences.
Some of them received life in prison, while the others were given the death penalty.
But I only stayed long enough to insure justice would be delivered.
As for me, the whole town had heard of my appearance, the very next day. The zebras had told many of the ponies in Vingrid about how I appeared out of thin air and saved them.
Much of the town believed that because of the many years of murders, the dead had called upon a vengeful spirit to enact their wrath and revenge upon their killers. Thus starting the title given to me, the Herald of Justice.
It was a fitting name that I liked.
Thankfully, Vingrid was a small town. Which means, I will remain a legend to the people of Vingrid, while a myth among rumors to ponies who pass through the town.
After leaving Vingrid, I continued my journey towards the Smoky Mountains. Now, here I am, climbing past the foothills of these rocky slopes.
From what I was able to learn about the Smoky Mountains, there is a large forest valley around a lake called White Pine, that runs across the whole inside of the mountain range.
Because of some dragon activity in the area, no one around these mountains have attempted to venture west past them.
Vingrid was one of the last pony settlements heading west. Meaning everything else was uncharted territory. At least to ponykind.
I'm sure that the dragons in the west have explored those vast lands. And now, so will I.
As long as I leave the dragons alone and stay away from their territory, then they should leave me alone as well. At least, I hope they will.
I was able to walk up the mountain for a few hours until I had to start climbing again.
Unfortunately because of the hight of the cliff, I could not simply flash to the top. So I just pulled myself up its side.
Its no problem for me though. I could literally do this for hours, non stop.
As I continued my climb, I felt the sensation of being watched again, but I couldn't locate it.
I let out a sigh, and just kept moving. It was still to far for me to tell it apart from a person or an animal. So for now I would continue to pretend to be naive of its presence.
It took me almost two hours to get to the top of the cliff. So by the time I made it up, it was almost midday.
I took a seat on the ledge with my legs hanging over it and gazed over the landscape of Equestria.
I could see Canterlot in the distance, along with many towns and villages. Including Vingrid in the White Tail Woods at the base of the Smoky Mountain's foothills.
While I admired the view of Equestria, I also scanned the mountains around me in search of what ever was watching me.
It was probably using the cover from the trees and low clouds to stay hidden.
This means it could be a person up here who had seen me scaling the cliff side and had desided to watch me.
*Maybe climbing up the side of a mountain without the cover of trees wasn't such a good way to go unnoticed up here.* I thought to myself.
Well, might as well move on. Whoever it is, they can't really follow me up the mountain and I still had a ways to go before I could get to level ground.
Strangely enough, I have yet to see any dragons flying around these mountains. I suppose they must stay within the mountain range, rather than outside of it.
Dauntless Mahgauve, did say that the dragons were driven out of Equestria and many other nations, after Bahamut's fall. So it would make sense for the dragons in the west to stay clear of Equestria.
It was still strange to be in a world where mythical beings existed. I was actually interested in meeting a dragon up close too. It would be an interesting encounter to see what they were capable of.
Though that encounter will have to wait for some time in the future, as I still had to find a place to hide my presence.
As I walked along the slopes of the mountain, I felt the wind suddenly push down against me. Looking up, I noticed a storm coming from the north over the mountains.
"Well thats just great" I said to myself.
Now I would have to climb faster, in order to beat the storm.
I started running up the slope until I had to climb again. Because I have already climbed over halfway up the mountain, I would have to climb near vertical cliff faces.
This would be so much easier if the weather hadn't picked up. Thankfully, there were small areas where the rocks stuck out from the cliff side. This would allow me to leap up the rock face, rather than slowed pulling myself up.
I was able to make good progress climbing up. Soon I had reached the upper parts of the mountain. Scaling the mountain at this speed was also relatively easy, since I never grow tired or ware down.
But before I could celebrate my achievement, it started to snow. This was probably the first snow storm of winter and it was starting to get heavy. So I quickly pushed forward up the mountain.
I had to find some shelter or an overhanging rock on the side of the mountain before I get buried in snow.
The wind and snow had slowed my progression significantly. I was now forced to walk nearly blind, as I pushed against the wind.
As I approached another slope on the mountain, I suddenly lost my footing and slipped.
I fell to my left and started stumbling down the mountain slope. I quickly tried to grab onto something, but soon found myself feeling weightless as I fell off the cliff I had scaled.
As I fell towards the lower slopes of the mountain I started to hear beats in the wind, but before I could turn around I saw a large shadow looming over me. I then felt something wrap around my midsection and pull me up.
Because of the wind against my face, I wasn't able to see what was carrying me.
I was just about to reach out with my mind when we started slowing down. I looked down and saw us approaching a ledge on the side of the mountain, leading into a cave.
As soon as we reached the ledge, I was dropped to the ground.
I grunted from the impact and rolled a few times before coming to a stop in front of the cave.
I shook my head and quickly turned around to see what had caught me.
What I saw was the outline of a dragon flying away from me.
I was stunned to see that a dragon had saved me from the fall, even though I would have survived, it had caught me and brought me to some shelter.
Before the dragon flew to far, I reached out with my mind to it and was briefly able to touch it's mind before it flew out of range.
Now that I have felt it's mind, I would be able to identify the dragon if it continues to watch me from afar.
The mind was an interesting maze to explore. But not one mind of any person or animal, was the same. Every mind has different memories, experiences, wants, dislikes and fears.
I can use just the surface of these things to identify anyone and anything with a mind. Including the dragon that caught me.
I watched the dragon until it flew out of view before I turned and begun examining the cave in front of me.
It wasn't big enough for the dragon to walk in, but it was perfect for my size. The cave was facing the southeast, so the wind did not blow directly into it.
As I walked into the cave, I found that it didn't go too far into the mountain.
It was far from cozy, but it would serve much better than sleeping in the snow.
After sitting down against a wall, I pulled Iron Hoof's guitar to my front and checked it for damage. Other than a few scratches, it was fine.
I sighed in relief at finding the instrument intact. Although I could easily repair it if needed, I would prefer to keep it in good condition.
Using my power, I brushed my hand across the guitar and removed the scratches in the wood. I then made sure it was turned before setting it down in my lap.
The instrument often reminded me of Stone, Lura and Iron Hoof. I wondered how they all were and what they were doing.
If Iron Hoof continues to train what I had taught him, I'm sure he will become an excellent swordsman and a great warrior.
Even though we had not been together for very long, I was glad to have been with the Hoof's, as I guided them to their new home.
I looked down at the guitar in my lap and picked it up again. I then looked out of the cave and played a song while I watched the snow fall over the Smoky Mountains.
After I finished the song, I sat in silence for a while as I watched the snow fall.
I let out a sigh before turning away from the cave entrance and laying back against the stone wall. Against my better judgment, I closed my eyes and allowed sleep to take me again.
Opening my eyes, I sat up on the park bench I had dozed off on.
I looked down to my lap and saw my Bible still open. I closed the tear stained pages and put the book back into my briefcase and let out a sigh, before grabbing my coat and standing up.
I looked around and found myself alone in front of a marble wall with many names etched into it.
I stood still and stared at the list of names engraved across the wall before I took a deep breath and approached the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, slowly.
When I reached it, I set my briefcase down to my side and looked at the names of my old friends.
Tears started to fill my vision as I reached a trembling hand to their names.
I had lost so many friends, in so many wars. But I still let myself get close to others.
The endless death can never compare to the pain of loss.
"I can't do it anymore Richard... I can't fight anymore. I have sacrificed everything and have died more than I could live, again and again." I said as I looked down and leaned against the wall with one hand.
"People came from all over the world, thinking these wars would be our right of passage. Our grand adventure. But it was no adventure.
New killing machines like the airplane and the tank, changed war forever. And yet, we still found more and more new ways to kill each other.
Instead of adventure, we found fear. And in war, the only true equalizer is death, for all but me."
I paused to breath.
"I am doomed to fight and always lose. I will live on while everyone around me dies. And even though I cannot die, I still kill myself a little every day.
I can't do it Richard. Not again. I can't..."
"Yes you can Talion. I know you can, even if you don't." I heard Richard tell me.
"They push, we push. Every once in awhile we push hard enough, that the light breaks through the clouds, so the world beyond the war glimmers. Just out of reach.
Remember Talion, the war is the world and the world is the war. But behind every gun sight, is a human being. We are those people.
We are the jaded and we are the naive.
We are the honorable and the criminal.
We are the bound for legend and the lost to history.
We are the knights of the sky, the ghosts in the desert and the rats in the mud.
We are soldiers."
"I am a soldier in a war that never ends Richard." I told him as I held my head down and begun crying again.
"No matter I hope, no matter I pray, my regret and my pain won't go away.
And yet here I stand, waiting to fight. For my country and a war, with no end in sight.
And no one remembers. No one knows me, you or any of us.
Even as we fight, we are already forgotten."
"No Talion." I heard Richard say to me.
"One day, all this will be over and the war will be won, by one side or the other.
Guns will rust, grass will grow and there will be nothing left of any of this. The land will heal itself, as everything does in the end.
We'll be long gone by then. But maybe, just maybe, not forgotten.
History only remembers one in a thousand of us. Then the future will be filled with stories of who we were and what we did. How we lived, how we fought and how we died.
When this is all over and the war is won, they will remember us.
But, until that day comes, we will stand, we will look death in the eye and We. Will. Fight.
Always."
I opened my eyes and looked up.
"Always..." I said with a smile.
I was suddenly shaken out of my thoughts, when someone grabbed my shoulder.
"Talion. You alright, son?"
I looked and saw my CO standing next to me.
"Ya. I'm alright."
He smiled at me as he reached his hand out.
"You left this on the bench." He said as he handed me the picture of my dad.
"Thank you sir." I said to him.
"Come on Talion. Its almost over. Just one last time." He told me.
I looked down at the picture and then back to the memorial.
"One last time."
I then leaned down and picked up my briefcase and coat, before turning around and walking with my friend, towards the White house.
Tears fell freely from my eyes as I awoke from my dream.
"Why is it all coming back to me now? It is over. The war is finished and I am free and yet I still search for meaning... Meaning for a weapon without a purpose."
I then opened my eyes to see light outside. The storm had let up enough to let the morning sunlight to breach through the clouds.
I let out a sigh before picking up the guitar in my lap again and begun to play a song, in memory of my fallen brothers.
I remember Richard's words about war. He was a really good friend, one of the only ones to know what I truly am. But even in the midst of chaos and death, he always looked to the bright side of things and had a very poetic way of expressing them.
Even in my darkness, he found light and brought it to the surface.
When the song ended, I stood up and wiped the tears from my eyes. I then stretched my aching limbs, before picking up Iron Hoof's guitar and walking towards the exit of the cave.
The sun had risen over the mountains in the east and was shining underneath the clouds as it snowed.
It was an incredible sight. The snow itself seemed to glow in the morning rays, as if they were little specks of light covering the mountains.
I instantly felt the cold air when I stepped out of the cave. It must have been somewhere around ten degrees out here. But it didn't bother me in the slightest. I loved the cold and hated the heat. Even if either didn't affect me anymore.
It looked like the storm from last night was more wind than snow. As the mountains were only lightly covered in a layer of snow.
The heavy wind seemed to have passed, for the most part.
As I stepped over to the ledge, I instantly felt the familiar sence of being watched again. And it was from the same dragon that had brought me to this cave.
I looked around the mountains, pretending not to know it was watching me.
While looking around, I noticed the dragon had dropped me off near the upper slopes of the mountain.
Weather the dragon had intended this or not, it had cut my traveling time down quite a bit. Though I wondered why a dragon had desided to help me, instead of attempting to kill me for trespassing on it's territory. If this mountain was it's territory, that is.
If this dragon follows me all the way up the mountain, I may be able to meet it and ask these questions. If it is willing to talk.
Nevertheless, despite the dragon watching me, I still had a little ways to go before I reached the Smoky Mountain valley.
So without further delay, I turned around and continued my climb up.
It was a little distracting to be constantly watched as I climbed. But it wasn't difficult to ignore the dragon's gaze.
Every once in awhile, it's gaze would leave me for a few hours, before returning.
It felt strange to have this much attention come from a dragon of all creatures. Whoever it was, the dragon must be really interested in me to be watching this long.
The few times the dragon's gaze left me, I had used to flash farther up the mountain, as it was now getting a little more difficult to climb up its surface.
I did not need to show the dragon what I was capable of, unless it became a threat.
I was so focused on climbing and trying to ignore the dragon's stare that I had lost track of time. It wasn't until I had reached the top of the mountain, that I realized it had taken me nearly the entire day to climb the rest of the way up.
The cliff had ended so abruptly that it suprised me when I realized I was standing on the peak of one of the many mountains in the Smoky Mountain range.
The sun had once again shone beneath the clouds as it set over the horizon.
The sight was beautiful. I wish I had a camera with me.
Before the sun passed behind the horizon, I turned around to look back the way I came.
I had finally made it to the border edge of Equestria. Even with the snow storm, the land was still untouched. Equestria glowed with many colors in the light from the setting sun. I could also still see Canterlot far on the horizon.
This land was so beautiful. I was almost sad to have left it without exploring it's wonders. But I could never allow myself to stay there.
As I gazed over the beautiful land of Equestria, I thought about Stone, Lura and Iron Hoof again.
Throughout our time together, I had gotten close to them all. To close.
Because of me not keeping myself distant from them, I had taken away Iron Hoof's innocence.
The Hoof's had reminded me that I must always keep myself distant from others and never let them get close.
But I will always strive to protect them. Even from myself.
Although I had pulled my power out of Iron Hoof, we still had a small connection left behind.
I believe I could use this connection to speak with Iron Hoof from a distance.
I breathed in and closed my eyes before reaching out with my mind.
*Iron Hoof, listen to the wind. Breath in. Count to four. Breath out. Count to four.* I mentally called out to him.
*Can you hear me?*
I waited for a minute, before I received a response.
*I hear you Talion.* I heard Iron Hoof's voice in my head.
I then smiled and used my power to create a new instrument.
*Will you listen to me play, one last time?* I asked him.
I then felt him smile too, before he answered.
*One last time.*
I opened my eyes and raised the bagpipes I made, to my lips and
Played to him, one last song.
As I played, the wind seemed to carry my song across the mountains and beyond. As if the mountains around me were amplifying the volume of the bagpipes.
When the song ended I let the bagpipes fade away and smiled again.
"Remember Iron Hoof... Always."
"Goodbye Talion." He said.
I closed my eyes as a single tear fell.
"Goodbye Iron Hoof."
After a moment I opened my eyes again and turned to face the setting sun.
Letting out a sigh, I began the long trek down the mountain.
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
990 users online
202,456 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
10126926
Thank you.
Good Chapter, i liked it. :)
10129868
Thanks mate.
Wait a minute is that picture from dishonored
10131518
It is.
The funny thing about the picture is that I had already visualized what Talion looks like. And then I found that picture.
It was exactly how I described how Talion looked, before I even found that picture of Corvo.
Oh, and let me make things clear. No, Talion's powers and character are not based off of Dishonored or any other game/movie.
My story is an original non-copyright story.
I may leave references to games, shows and movies, but nothing about the main story line is a copy or remake of another. Nor is Talion.
Other than the prologue of course.
Thanks for the support and following.
image.freepik.com/free-photo/miss-liberty-sunset-new-york-city-usa_138033-11.jpg
"A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, stands on the horizon, at the edge of the sea and the setting sun.
And her name; mother of exiles.
She lifts up her light beside the golden doors and says,
"Give me your tired. Your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breath free.
The wretched refuge of your teeming shores.
Send these. Your lost, homeless, tempest tossed, to me."
10131891
Can't Wait For More. Wonder What Meeting The Main 6 Will Be Like.
10133577
Thank you.
Remember, this takes place before them. But Talion will meet the main six eventually.
10133580
I Figured. Could You Maybe Write a Review Comment On My Own Fanfiction?
10133651
We'll see.
Im getting Misty Mountain song vibes from this chapter.
10135453
Thank you for taking such an interest in my story.
10135470
I'm glad you're interested so far. So let me answer some of your questions.
O POS, means O positive blood type. Null means exactly what it is. Like nullified blood type. It is the rarest blood type out there.
An explanation for why Talion has that blood type will be in the future.
As for Talion's powers, I did base most of it off of LOTR-SOM, but some of it I made different.
Remember, this story and Talion, are NOT a crossover. It is an original non-copyright make. But there will be references in it.
There is NO relation or connection to Talion, to any characters from any shows, movies and video games.
As for mlp, it is not an alternate reality, world or life of Earth. It is a planet in our same Milkyway galaxy.
No multi universe crap involved. Meaning, Equestria girls also does not exist either. But Sunset Shimmer does. No worries.
But mlp does not exist as a show on Earth.
Thanks for commenting. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
Until then, I will see you up ahead.
What the time difference between Talion first appearing in Equestria to Nightmare Moon’s return?
Weeks? Months? Years?
Battlefield 1 ending remember us
"They push, we push. Every once in awhile we push hard enough, that the light breaks through the clouds, so the world beyond the war glimmers. Just out of reach.
Remember Talion, the war is the world and the world is the war. But behind every gun sight, is a human being. We are those people.
We are the jaded and we are the naive.
We are the honorable and the criminal.
We are the bound for legend and the lost to history.
We are the knights of the sky, the ghosts in the desert and the rats in the mud.
Battlefield 1 opening cutscene.
We are soldiers."
10427714
And another one gets it. I really like the way that scene played out in the game. But now I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't have added it to my story. Its starting to feel like I'm depending off of other's works.
10135635
Its impossible for me to see Talion as anything but the main character of LoTR-SOW. The reason why is because they have the same name so im unable to see them as different.
However, I will keep trying.
10427862
Your link goes to a deleted video.
11412643
I fixed it. Here.
https://youtu.be/a4oa39aXL4M
I have to ask about his history. I realized I found the story a bit late into its life but I need clarification. Did he survive the bomb blast in WW2 and become a VA rep during and after the Vietnam war? Just trying keep my timeline straight. Good story though!
11695780
Yes, he survived. The effects of the blast will be shown later.