Davril Longfang, a thief for hire in Cyrium, is approached by a mysterious stranger who offers him one final contract. To steal a powerful magical artifact in Equestria
[Anthro characters. Set in a rule 63 universe.]
Davril Longfang thought he’d finally got it made, one final contract that would fill his pockets with so much coin he’d be able to retire from the often dangerous job of being a professional thief.
A contract to steal something very powerful from a cruel ruler in a faraway land beyond Cyrium.
Now, stuck in a completely new world with its own problems and internal conflicts. Davril has to fit in with the locals whilst at the same time trying to fulfill the contract given to him by the stranger.
Cover art done by me, background taken from 'Fall Weather Friends' episode.
It was the beginning of winter in Cyrium. The harsh snow hailing from the frozen north, covered the vast majority of the northern parts of the country. The large Dalmora mountains, once covered in lush trees that reached into dozens upon dozens of points that could be seen through the entire country, now lay covered in a thick blanket of snow, almost blending into the clouded skies that dominated the north.
This weather would have easily bothered those who lived in the much warmer southern Kingdoms, often regarding the folk who settled in the north fools and simpletons. This talk never bothered the northern Kingdoms though, for to them, it was the perfect life.
Davril Longfang enjoyed the winter as well. The cold weather would usually mean that waring Warlords, Mercenary bands, bandits and other types of groups would be retreating back to their lairs in order to divide their loot, prepare themselves for raids on caravaneers traversing the cold climate and generally rest up. This was Davril’s favourite time of the year.
It’s what brought joy to his life about his occupation. All around Cyrium, Lords, Barons, Nobles and other such wealthy persons would often have problems with raiders attacking their outposts or towns before any of the local military could do anything to stop them, there was also the problem dealing with hit and run raids on caravans that would often see them out of their personal belongings.
And often, they’d pay a lot of coin in order to have them returned.
Which meant contracts would often be given to a special type of mercenary. One’s who could get in and out of a building or stronghold stealthily without being discovered or if captured, couldn’t lead angry bandits or authoritative figures back to the ones who hired them in the first place. Davril was one of these people, a thief for hire, paid to do the jobs that guards were unable to perform due to the legal ramifications. They weren’t evil, neither were they good.
For the past seven years, ever since he had turned eighteen, Davril had been trained and shown the ways of being a successful thief by various people. From the infamous Thieves Guild hidden in the city of New Port to the Red Falcon Company of Andonar, Davril had managed to learn the trade and turn it into a successful business for himself.
In those seven years he has had his fair share of failures as well as his successes, ranging from imprisonment - only to break out several days later - to near death experiences at the hands of swords, axes, magic, arrows, bolts and even an angry housewife at one point in his life. But for all of his success, Davril had always wanted something more from his life, a bigger challenge. He’d covered the entire world pulling off contracts, from the Altorian Empire in the west to the Five Kingdoms of Men in the east, and was bored. Nothing was exciting anymore.
Steal a stolen necklace from generic bandit boss, recover incriminating documents for government official for whoever needed proof of treachery.
And so, Davril would often spend his days in between contracts using the coin he earned to try and find other ways to make his life more entertaining. From trying to out drink Dwarves in taverns to fine foods to brothels. Yet nothing seemed to work.
Even now as he walked down the streets of the small town of Maltasor on the Empire’s border, watching as the local children played in the snow as their parents supervised and went on with their daily lives, it reminded him of the days were the snow would mean the income of new contracts and pay. Something that now brought him nothing but boredom.
As he trudged along in the snow, the wind tried to tug away at his hooded cloak, he wrapped it around him tighter. He soon came to his destination and a small smile formed on his face.
The White Dragon.
The Dragon was the town’s only tavern and one of Davril’s favourite places in the entire world. Not only did they not care about what you did for a living there, but they had some of the finest ales the north could produce. With a quick stride he pushed open the door and entered into the building, instantly being hit by the warmth within.
“Ah, Davril!” A shout from the bar caught his attention, “How’ve you been me boy?”
Davril smiled at the barkeep, he was a fairly aged and stocky Dwarf, something of a rarity to see in the north as they hated the snow. He was sporting a slightly dirty white shirt that was underneath a even filthier brown apron, not that Davril minded. The Dwarf had a long and knotted brown beard that came to rest halfway down his chest, making up for the lack of hair he had on his bald head.
With another stride, Davril quickly made his way over to the bar as the Dwarf stepped out from behind the counter before firmly grasping Davril’s hand and shook it in greeting.
“Evening, Bolaris,” Davril greeted warmly, “The same as usual, yourself?”
“Not too bad, not too bad. Come, you look like you’re in dire need of an ale!” Bolaris chuckled, ushering Davril to a stool.
“Am I that predictable?” Davril laughed as he took his seat.
Bolaris poured out a large wooden tankard of ale for him, sliding it to Davril then carried on wiping down the counter as Davril took a heavy swig. As Davril slammed the half empty tankard onto the counter and let out a satisfied sigh, Bolaris began the conversation.
“So, you completed any good contracts as of late?” he asked, spitting into a tankard before wiping it with his cloth.
“Don't get me started…” Davril grumbled before taking another drink, “Same old shit as I usually get, steal a couple of trinkets. You know the drill.”
“Aye lad, but surely with the winter season starting the more juicer contracts will start appearing. Right?”
Davril sighed as he downed the rest of his drink. Bolaris took the tankard and began to refill it.
“You’d think that, but we’ve had this conversation before, Bolaris. So many times I’ve nearly lost count.” Davril replied, resting his forehead on his left hand.
“Eh come on now lad, surely there’s some contract that could get out out of this damn rut?”
“Maybe, maybe… but for now, I just want to drink until I believe I’m able to take on a troll with just my fists.”
“Now that’s something I like to hear!” Bolaris grinned, “I’ll drink to that!”
As Bolaris went to pour himself a tankard, Davril placed a hand on the Dwarf’s arm stopping him and looked into his face with concern.
“You’re running the tavern, Bolaris. Is that wise?”
There was a slight pause as the two looked at one another before they both burst out into laughter, Davril held his head as Bolaris slammed his hand repeatedly into the bar counter.
“Good one lad! Now shut up and drink!”
The tavern was roaring with laughter as Bolaris and Davril leant on one another, the bar counter littered with dozens of tankards. By now their drinking had caught the attention of the other tavern goers who had since joined in the drinking, sharing jokes and stories as the evening went on. Currently, Bolaris was telling everyone a story from his days as a guard.
“Wait, wait it gets better, when the guard woke up his keys were missing and the prisoner was never heard from again!”
The tavern laughed louder as Bolaris slapped his knee hard, his laughs overwhelming the other patrons.
“Anyway, thats how I lost my job as a prison guard.”
As Bolaris continued to laugh along with Davril, some of the patrons had slowly stopped laughing, unsure if Bolaris was being serious or not.
As the evening drew on and the patrons began to stumble out of the tavern to their homes or up the stairs to their rooms, Davril slammed his final pint into the bar counter and let out a satisfied belch before cackling.
“You know what, Bolarish?” He slurred, “you know jusht how to make thingsh better, ya know that, right?”
He didn’t get an answer. Instead, all Davril heard was a loud snore from the passed out Dwarf as he lay on the floor behind the counter, a line of drool leaking from his mouth.
“Bloarish?” He asked, again receiving no answer, “aaah shcrew it I’m going to bed…”
He slowly got to his legs and stumbled backwards into a support beam with a soft thud and snickered to himself stupidly. With a grunt, he pushed himself up and stumbled forwards, flailing his arms slightly as he got his balance correct.
“Alrighty Davril… one foot then the other…” he murmured.
With great care, Davril managed to start a steady pace as he slowly made his way over to the stairs and proceeded to climb them, using the wall as support. He had a private room that Bolaris kept free for him all year round and paid for. It wasn’t much. But it was his.
Failing to open the door by normal means due to his intoxication he resorted to roughly slamming his body weight into it, breaking it open and falling to the floor with a loud thud. After laying on the ground groaning from landing on his face, he got up and used the nearby bed for support to stand himself upright. With a kick of his foot, he slammed the door shut, then he clambered into the bed and fell into the pillow with a soft ‘poomph’ and gave a sigh in contentment.
As Cyrium’s twin moons shone brightly down on Maltasor, a soft silence hung over the small town as the cold winter wind gently blew about. A few guards, stationed there by the Empire, patrolled the deserted streets wrapped warmly in thick, heavy fur cloaks. Two of them leaned against the wall of the tavern as they shared a bottle of warm liquid under the dim glow of a lantern.
“By Xerillien it’s freezing!” one grumbled, “remind me again how we got stationed here exactly?”
“Normal procedure, Milo,” the other replied, swigging from the bottle, “every couple of months they swap the guards around in Maltasor with Ravenwood, figured you would’ve known that.”
“Well I’ve only been working for the guard for a month, just didn’t think I’d be sent to this frozen hell-hole so soon.”
“Ah leave the town alone,” the guard laughed giving the other a firm slap on the back, “the town grows on you and besides, they have some of the best damn ale here and give us lot a discount.”
“That… actually does sound pretty nice.”
“And besides,” he continued, “the cold’s bracing. Puts hair on your chest.”
“That’s easy for a damn Snow Elf to say… your kind thrive in the snow.”
“Is the little human afraid of the snow,” he teased, making baby noises.
“Oh, bite my arse Kaldor,” he laughed, giving Kaldor a shove.
As the two continued to talk, they remained oblivious to the hooded person watching them from ontop of a nearby rooftop carefully. The stranger jumped from the roof into a darkened alleyway and landed with a soft crunch as they hit the snow, leaning against the side of the building and focusing their attention once more on the two guards.
Waiting for a moment to focus on the two guards, a soft glow shone from under their hood and the guards heads briefly shone before vanishing in a second.
“Kaldor…” Milo murmured, “do you feel funny?”
“Sort of… but I don’t feel…” Kaldor’s eyes slowly closed before he could finish and he fell to the ground.
“Kaldor?” Milo asked in worry.
Before he could rush to his friend’s aid, Milo groaned as his eyes began to get heavier and soon he fell to his knees and then to the ground beside Kaldor. After a brief moment watching from the shadows, the hooded figure quickly strode out and over to the two downed guards to check their pulses. Confirming that they were both knocked unconscious.
With a smirk from under the figure’s hood, it stood up and quietly made its way into the tavern, taking great care to remain as silent as possible. Once inside, it slipped into the darker section of the tavern in order to remain unnoticed by anyone who happened to be awake still. But that didn’t matter.
Anyone who was still in the tavern was now either in their beds upstairs, left for home or passed out from the alcohol on the floor, as evident by the snores that filled the building. the figure shook it head as they calmly walked across the room, avoiding the drunken heaps that dotted the floor and slowly made their way upstairs.
The same glow shone from under their hood as they quietly checked each room, the glow forming on the door handles in order to open them until they came to a stop by the furthest room and inspected the door. It looked like it had been broken into and there was a soft snore coming from within.
With a gentle push from the figures hand, they slowly opened the door with a soft creak and entered quietly. Taking great care in closing the door behind them silently. Then, with gentle footsteps, the mysterious stranger made their way to the side of the bed.
“Are you Davril Longfang.” The figure said with a woman’s voice.
Davril murmured in his sleep and rolled over, oblivious to the intruder.
“Get up!”
Like before, there was a flash from under the hood and Davril was thrown off his bed and onto the floor with a loud thud that instantly woke him up.
“Who? What? Where?” Davril slurred, still half drunk, before stumbling to his feet.
Seeing the stranger in his room, his eyes went wide as he clumsily reached for his sword that was still attached to his belt and drew it, trying to hold it in a straight line pointing at the intruder.
“You have five seconds to tell me what you’re doing here…” he mumbled, his vision and mind a little blurred.
“Are you, or are you not Davril Longfang?” The intruder asked again impatiently.
“Who’s asking?” Davril demanded.
“If you’re willing to listen to my proposal, a potential employer.”
“Sorry, but I’m not in the market for a contract right now. Now piss off before I run you through.” Davril threatened, hoping the intruder would sense his irritation at being woken up.
The woman chuckled before a white glow shone from under her hood, giving Davril a brief glance at her features causing him to widen his eyes in surprise. As he stared at her, he wondered if the alcohol in his system was making him see a bizarre hallucination. Given mages don’t have glowing heads.
Suddenly, his sword shone the same colour and his blade was forcibly yanked from his hand, unable to keep a firm grip from his lowered reflexes. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat as the woman slowly turned the blade and gripped it in her own hand.
“Now will you listen?” She chuckled.
Davril glared at her, but reluctantly nodded with a low growl as he shifted his shoulders, making his cloak cover the front of his body somewhat. He may of been disarmed of his sword, but Davril had a couple of daggers hidden for emergencies such as these and his fingers lightly stroked the hilt as he eyed the woman. Albeit still trying to get his bearings together and focus on his target.
“As I was saying… I have a job for you, if you’re interested.”
“And what, pray tell, is that?”
“I’m an ambitious creature and I want to have a certain ruler… out of the way in order to achieve my goals, but to do this I require a powerful magical artifact.”
Davril’s eyebrow raised slightly as he shifted on the spot, his body slowly swaying.
“And this is where you come in, I’ve tried several times to acquire this artifact but everytime I send my minions, they return empty handed or don’t return at all.”
“Sorry lady, I don’t tend to take contracts that end up with a ruler being dethroned. Not exactly a good look for your reputation, you know?”
“Oh yes, because a professional thief has such a reputation,” she sarcastically replied.
“You’d be surprised,” Davril smirked at her, “like I said though, no dice.”
The woman snarled at him before recomposing her self and trying again.
“I know you have no reason to trust me, but the ruler I wish to dethrone is blackhearted and cruel to her subjects. I can make it worth your while.”
“Look, I’m fairly well known in virtually every Kingdom in Cyrium,” Davril began, “there is no way in hell I could possibly help dethrone a ruler without a serious backlash on myself. Oddly enough, and this is the crazy part, I don’t like the idea of being executed for treason.”
“What if I told you this contract would not involve any of the rulers of Cyrium?” She replied, “and actually… was to do with a ruler in a Kingdom I can guarantee you have never been to.”
“And this Kingdom is?” Davril asked.
“Equestria and its neighbouring realms.”
Davril remained quiet for a moment as he processed what she had said. It certainly was a Kingdom he had never heard of, in fact, he was unsure about its existence. But Davril had never been across the great sea before, so therefore it was entirely possible that the woman was telling the truth.
“Equestria? Sound a little horsey…” he muttered, “say I take this contract… how much gold are we talking about?”
He swore he could see fangs when the woman smile under her hood. She chuckled softly before crossing her arms slowly.
“The amount I could pay my dear Longfang… would make you richer than the Altorian Emperor himself.”
Davril had to stop his jaw from dropping. Was she seriously that rich? His mind began to scream its doubt of her claim, warning him of a possible trap, but the alcohol in his system only served to make his curiosity rocket sky high and not listen to his common sense.
“... Go on,” Davril replied.
The woman smirked to herself, knowing full well she had him where she wanted him. As a sign of good faith, she handed Davril back his sword. He took the sword cautiously and returned it to its sheath.
“All you have to do is sneak into their castle, retrieve the artifact and bring it to me. And I’ll make you the richest man alive.”
Davril felt a grin form on his face as he pictured the amount of gold she was depicting to him, all common sense and suspicion of her claims rapidly melting away thanks to the alcohol.
“I’ll do it… but on one condition.”
She gritted her teeth in annoyance at this but held it back.
“And that is?”
“I’ll need time to familiarize myself with the layout of the land, as well as the city the ruler rules from and its neighbouring towns. Just so I can lower the risk of myself being caught.”
She thought for a moment at his condition. While she wanted this to be over and done with, she had to admit he was right.
“Very well, you’ll have ten days before I will contact you. Then you have a week in order to complete the contract or you will be replaced.”
Davril nodded in understanding, during his early days he had failed to complete some contracts on time and it had been passed on to another. What he didn’t catch onto was the true meaning behind her words.
“Okay… so how do I go about getting to Equestria? By a specific boat or?”
“Allow me…”
The glow returned as her entire face was illuminated giving Davril a clear, yet brief, image of her face before his attention was shifted to something behind him. He stared wide eyed at the glowing green portal that was now in the room with them.
Before he could say anything, he turned back to the woman before being blasted with a beam of magical energy that threw him into the portal with a cry of surprise.
“Don’t fail me Longfang…” she purred, entering the portal behind him before it closed.
The Gala was roaring with life. The large orchestra played a beautiful classical tune as the many dancers, wearing their finest outfits, slowly danced with their partners in time with the music. Prince Solaris and Artemis sat upon two splendid, regal thrones. Each one fashioned to suit their roles as ruler of the night and day.
The Elements of Harmony sat around a specially reserved table, each one dressed in their own finest attire. Save for one of them.
“I must say, Barbara… you look simply stunning tonight.”
“W-well thank you, Elusive…”
Barbara blushed softly at the compliment as the young dragoness was gracefully twirled to the music by her date, Elusive, the Element of Generosity and her coltfriend. It had been one of the hardest things she had ever done in her life but the moment Elusive had agreed to be her date to the Gala, she felt as if nothing would ever go wrong in her life again.
And why would it? She was in the company of one of Equestria’s finest and handsomest stallions.
Stealing a glance over to the table where her friends say, she smiled as her adoptive older brother, Dusk Shine, waved to her, a proud smile on his face. Beside him sat Applejack who tipped his hat that he had insisted on wearing despite Elusive’s protests, Bubble Berry had the largest grin Barb had ever seen and swore it was threatening to rip his face in half. Butterscotch was blushing and hiding his face behind part of his mane and gave a small smile to Barb as Rainbow Blitz grinned at Barb. Although not as big as Bubble’s grin, it was still one that showed his approval.
Barb was twirled once more by Elusive as the other dancers began to slow disperse, giving up more and more room for the dragoness and her stallion. The music slowly came to a stop and it was at that point that Barb realised it was just her and Elusive left on the dance floor.
“What’s going on?” she asked Elusive.
“Something I asked to happen, just for us…” he whispered softly.
She blushed again as the orchestra began to start once more, only this time with a much slower song. Elusive smiled into her eyes as a soft blush formed on his white cheeks, causing Barb to stare deeply into Elusive’s sapphire eyes, his eyes twinkling as she felt her cheeks redden more by the second.
He gently began to lead the dance, sending a delightful shiver down her back. Barb could feel the eyes of everypony watching, which only heightened her giddiness of being alone on the dancefloor with Elusive.
She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest, hearing his steady heartbeat. The moment was just too perfect for her and she didn’t want anything at all to ruin this for her.
“Barb…” Elusive whispered softly.
Barb looked up to see him smiling down at her, her face threatening to become as red as a strawberry. Her eyes shimmered as Elusive slowly closed the gap between her face and his. As they came closer, she could feel his warm breath blowing over her face softly.
“Oh… Elusive…” she whispered softly.
“ERGH! ERGH! ERGH! ERGH! ERGH! ERGH! ERGH!”
She snapped her head back in sudden shock as Elusive stared at her with wide eyes and head moving back and forth like a chickens, she blinked a few times as he continued to scream the same word over and over at her wondering what was going on. Then it hit her.
“No… no no no no!” She cried as the world around her dissolved into darkness.
Barb groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She sat up as the sound of her alarm echoed in her bedroom and she slowly turned to give it a cold glare, raising a tightly fist in the air before crashing it down hard upon the poor innocent clock. The clock gave one final distorted cry before being effectively silenced. For good.
Snorting in satisfaction, she stretched her arms up high whilst arching her back and letting her forked tongue flop out with a yawn. With a swing of her legs she stood up and scratched her stomach before heading into the bathroom , bumping into Dusk on the way.
“Oh, good morning, Barb,” Dusk greeted her cheerfully.
“Bah! What’s so good about it?” Barb grumbled.
Dusk blinked in confusion as Barb entered the bathroom and slammed the door shut. He sighed and shook his head as he made his way downstairs, adjusting his glasses and dusting the sleeves of his white shirt. Grumbling to herself about alarm clocks and their stupidity, Barb made her way to the mirror and glared at the reflection.
With a heavy sigh, she opened the bathroom cabinet and pulled out her toothbrush along with the toothpaste and began to brush her fangs. After she had done that and washed her face, she had headed back to her room in order to change out of her pyjamas and into a pair of blue, knee length jean shorts and a black shirt that ended just above her belly button. Satisfied with her attire she then headed downstairs to join Dusk for breakfast.
She found him eating a bowl of cereal with an open book levitating in front of him, eyes glued to the pages. Barb shook her head as she began to sort out her own breakfast.
“Good book, Dusk?” she asked.
Dusk grunted in reply as he turned a page and shoved another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
“So, any plans for today?”
Again, Dusk merely grunted as he focused more on his book, Barb felt a small smirk form on her face as she casually flicked her tail. She opened a cupboard and pulled out a large emerald that sparkled slightly.
“I’m gunna eat this gem you said I wasn’t allowed until next week's party, okay?”
This time however, she felt the emerald be pulled out of her hand suddenly by Dusk’s magic. He levitated it into his hand and placed it on the table, not once turning to look at her.
“Oh you heard that!” Barb grumbled.
Dusk snickered as he finished the last of his cereal. Barb huffed as she poured herself some cereal and took the eat opposite Dusk, giving him a scowl before she started to eat.
“So why were you grouchy earlier?” Dusk asked.
“Stupid alarm clock ruined the dream I was having,” she muttered.
“What kind of dream was it?” He inquired.
Barb twirled her spoon in the bowl and looked away from Dusk.
“I… don’t want to talk about it…” she muttered, her mood changing drastically.
“Oh… I see…” Dusk replied with a soft voice, “I know it’s only been a week but… do you want to talk it?”
“No, I don’t. I want to pretend it never happened okay?”
“Barb… it did happen, nothing can change that now. I’m just concerned about you that’s all..”
“I said no, Dusk!” Barb snapped, “I… I’m sorry, I just don’t want to…”
Dusk watched as Barb got up from the table and walked out of the room. He sighed as he heard the front door slam and pushed his glasses back up slightly. It had been a week since Barb had done what she had considered to be the bravest thing she had ever done. Ask the love of her life Elusive out.
“Okay, Dusk, today’s the day!” Barb declared with a confident grin.
Dusk chuckled as he shook his head. Barb had a grin that threatened to take up her whole face as she walked towards the front door, a couple of tickets in one hand and a beautiful sapphire in the other.
“So,Miss confident, got everything you need?” He asked her.
“Yup! Two tickets to that new film he wanted to go and see, a beautiful sapphire to match his gorgeous eyes…” Barb sighed happily as she pictured Elusive’s perfect blue eyes.
“Hey, Equestria to Bar!” Duck laughed, “you’re drooling.”
“W-what?! Oh no, I need to wash my face! I need to—”
“Kidding! Sheesh, Barb you’re more nervous than Blitz when he got V.I.P. tickets to see the Wonderbolts,” Dusk smirked.
“Well of course I'm nervous!”
“Okay, okay. No need to get yourself to overworked, Barb,” Dusk smiled, “just remember to play it cool and be yourself alright?”
Barb nodded as she turned and headed out of the door. With a happy sigh, Dusk headed over to his desk and pulled out a scroll and began to write.
Barb walked through Ponyville with her hands firmly dug inside of her pockets. She kept her gaze on the ground and ignored the waves and greetings from the townsfolk and made her way to the town centre to try and take her mind of her thoughts, as she walked she didn’t pay attention to her surroundings and bumped into someone. Making her fall onto her ass.
“Ah… sorry about that I wasn’t—”
Barb stopped as she looked up to see just who it was she had bumped into. Elusive. She stared at him as her eyes slowly getting wider with each passing second, time seeming to slow down for her.
“Oh… Barb, hello,” Elusive said awkwardly.
“Elusive…” Barb whispered.
Elusive offered a hand to her but she declined it and got up herself, brushing herself down as she did. The two stood in an awkward silence. After a short while, Elusive was the one who broke the silence.
“You okay, Barb?”
“Fine.”
“How’s every—”
“Fine.”
Elusive sighed as he rubbed his head and looked away.
“Look… Barb, I never meant to hurt you… I was going to tell everypony but—”
“It’s fine,” Barb interrupted, “I understood perfectly well. After all it’s like you said, I’m a dragon and you're a pony,” she continued, spitting out the words with venom.
“Barb, I didn’t mean it like that. You're an immortal being and I’m… well I’m not and—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Elusive!” Barb shouted, trying to hold back her tears, “I’m happy for you and Toffee…”
A small crowd had gathered after hearing Barb shout, a few sharing looks of concern as Elusive looked around at them before looking back to Barb.
“Barb…”
“I-I gotta go…” she said, turning her back and running off, letting her tears flow down her face.
Elusive stuck his arm out to grab her but was too late, he stood there looking after her with a pained expression on his face before curling his hand into a fist. He sighed and turned around and began to slowly head in the opposite direction.
Barb confidently made her way through Ponyville with her head held high. Ponies greeted her cheerfully and she was more than happy to return the waves she got, all the while her smile never leaving her face for a second. Walking right through the marketplace, she made her way to the only place she needed to be that day. The Carousel Boutique.
As she got to the door, she stopped to take a few moments to collect herself and to mentally psyche herself up before knocking on the door three times. Barb waited patiently as she heard the sounds of hoofsteps approaching, holding the tickets and sapphire behind her back. The door was opened but only partially as Elusive poked his head out slightly.
“Yes? Oh hello there, Barb. What can I do for you dear?”
“Good morning, Elusive. You’re looking as handsome as ever.”
“Oh you’re such the flatter my dear girl, did you need something?” Elusive smiled.
“Actually… I came to ask you something, I-If that’s okay with you,” Barb replied.
“I see… is it urgent only…”
“Oh I promise i-it won't take long!” Barb quickly said.
Elusive bit his lip and looked back into the shop, a clear sign of concern on his face. He eventually sighed and opened the door fully allowing the young dragoness to enter. Barb smiled as she entered the building, taking great care to side step around Elusive so he wouldn’t see her gifts for him.
She made her way into the workshop are of the boutique, failing to notice the other pony in the room with her as she giggled to herself. Barb waited patiently as Elusive soon followed in behind her.
“So, Elusive… I got you this.”
Elusive gasped softly as Barb extended the arm that held onto the sapphire. He levitated it over to his own hand and stared at its beauty.
“Barb.. it’s so beautiful…”
“A-and I got us these two tickets t-to go see that new f-film you wanted to go see!” Barb added, revealing the tickets.
“Oh, Barb,” Elusive started, “this is so thoughtful… but.”
“But what?” Barb asked, feeling her body grow slightly cold.
“I was going to tell you, Barb… tell all of you. I’m so sorry you had to find out this way…”
“Find o-out what?” Barb asked, trying hard to swallow the lump in her throat.
“Hello, Barb…” a voice behind her said.
Barb spun on the spot, slightly startled by the voice and gasped softly.
“Toffee?” *
Barb sniffled as she came to a stop by a large tree. Looking back over her shoulder at the town she wiped her eyes with her arm and carried on walking slowly into Whitetail woods, rubbing her arms tightly as if she was cold as her silent tears ran down her cheeks.
Eventually, she came to a small clearing halfway into the woods with a small pond. The place she would go to when she needed to think. Kneeling down by the water, she looked down at her reflection and sniffed loudly.
“Damnit Barb… why can’t you just move on?”
She stared at her reflection as if she was waiting for it to reply to her.
“You should be happy… he’s still your friend, right? You only want your friends to be happy…”
Again, her reflection gave her no reply and she slowly clenched her fists. Her arms began to shake.
“Why can’t I be happy for once? All I do is run around my friends making sure they’re happy, why can’t anypony do that for me?!”
She suddenly lashed out at the water, bringing her fits up and slamming them down over and over into the water splashing it everywhere as she roared in anger.
“Why was I born a dragon?!”
Barb suddenly choked up and began sobbing heavily into her hands. She fell to her side and curled up, her sobs slowly quieting to sniffling as she slowly let a sudden weariness overcame her, sending the dragoness into a deep sleep.
“Elusive? What’s going on?” Barb asked, looking from Toffee back to Elusive.
“I’m sorry, Barb but… I’ve been seeing Toffee for the past couple of weeks,” he replied.
“T-two weeks? B-but how does nopony…”
“Know about us?” Toffee asked. “Well… I wanted to take things slowly… see how it be before we decided to make it official. Please don’t be upset, Barb… we just didn’t want to tell anypony until the right moment.”
Barb’s heart shattered and her whole body went ice cold. She stared at the two trying to process everything that had just happened, her heart beating slowly, the sound of it being the only thing she could hear. Her eyes struggled to let loose the tears she could feel building up.
“O-oh…” Barb replied softly, “I… I’m happy for you…”
“I’m sorry, Barb... I really am…” Elusive started, “I really do like you… but I just thought that with you being a dragon and myself a pony—”
“Wait… that’s why you never returned any affection? Because I’m a dragon?” Barb nearly growled.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that, Barb, I meant—”
“You know what,” Barb interrupted, “it’s fine, I’m happy for you both. You should go to the movies together, shame if these tickets went to waste right?”
Toffee and Elusive watched as Barb placed the tickets down on a desk shakily before making her way to the front door.
“Barb… I didn’t mean—”
“I’m happy for you two… I really am,” Barb interrupted again, “I need to go anyway, Dusk’s got some chores I need to do.”
Before Elusive could say anything else, Barb quickly rushed out the store and slammed the door shut. He was about to go after her when Toffee held his arm softly.
“Let her go… she needs some time alone.”
“But I need to apologise, I didn’t mean it like she thought… I just was worried about her longevity as a dragon and—”
“I know dear… I know, and I’m sure she does too… just let her have some alone time.”
Elusive sighed and went over to the sofa and sat down with his head in his hands as Toffee softly rubbed his back. Barb ran as fast as she could through the town, quickly reaching the library. She flung open the door and slammed it shut, ignoring Dusk entirely and ran straight to her room slamming the door before jumping into her bed, breaking down in heavy sobs into her pillow.
Barb woke with a soft gasp. She murmured and rubbed her eyes and looked up to see the sky had a tint of red in it, the sun near the edge of the horizon.
“Must have dozed off…” she muttered, “I suppose I should get home, Dusk might be worrying where I am…”
She got up and dusted herself down, stretching her body. Just as Barb was about to leave she heard something like static above her and looked up to see a swirling green portal suddenly appear several feet above her. She watched in awe and alarm as a soft scream began to get louder and louder coming from the portal.
Something shot out of the portal at and angle and collided with her head, knocking her to the ground. Barb cried out in pain as she slammed into the ground and groaned, hearing another sound and looking up to see the portal vanish without a trace.
“By Solaris that hurt…” she winced.
She rose from her back and rubbed her head. Looking around she saw a pony lying on the ground a few feet away from her and glared at it.
“Hey you jerk! What was that for?” she growled.
The pony groaned as it slowly got to its feet only to stumble towards her as it tried to control its balance. Barb watched in confusion as it waved its arms out to the sides and stabilized itself, she then noticed that the pony had no ears. Or tail.
Her eyes widened as it turned around and looked at her, blinking in confusion at her. It was a head higher than her and was virtually hairless, save for wavy, brown shoulder length hair with a moustache and chin strip beard. She stared into its eyes as it seemed to be trying to focus on her.
“Huh… what’s a Draynor doing all the way out here?” it asked.
“... A what now?” Barb replied.
“You know, your race? Dragon folk? Scaly buggers who raise dragons?” it said.
“... Are you alright?” Barb asked with a little concern.
“Just peachy my dear… now… where the hell am I exactly?”
“Well… you’re in Equestria and… look are you sure you’re alright, whatever it is you are?”
“Are you serious? I’m a human you silly Draynor lass!” it chuckled.
“Human?”
“... By the gods, you’re being serious aren’t you?”
“Look, I’m taking you to a hospital. Now.”
“No, no I’m fine. Just a little tipsy that’s all. Now if you’d be so kind I have some things I need to be doing.”
The human turned around and started to walk away from Barb, leaving the highly confused dragoness to stare after him trying to work out what the hell happened. He swayed slightly before starting to fall over.
“Whoa, whoa hey!” Barb said rushing over to him, “that’s it, I’m taking you to the hospital.”
Barb grunted as she wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and started to walk them back towards Ponyville. The human groaned in annoyance but reluctantly walked along with her, every now and again stumbling over his feet.
“Dusk’s going to have a fit when he hears about this…” she muttered softly.
As they headed towards the town, Davril had gotten back onto his feet by himself and was now walking alongside Barb. Despite his protests, he had given into Barb’s insisting that he go get himself checked out at a hospital, but only after taking him to see Dusk, as Barb figured that he would help smooth things over at the hospital. During the trek back through the woods, she had noticed he had been taking in his surroundings and quietly humming to himself.
“So… do you have a name?” Davril suddenly asked.
“What?”
“Your name. I can’t keep calling you lass or Draynor, can I?”
“I’m a Drag— oh forget it, my name’s Barb. And your name?”
“Davril, Davril Longfang, pleasure to meet you.” Davril smiled, giving her a dramatic bow.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head as they carried on walking.
“So, where did you say you were from again?” she asked, turning her face to him.
“Cyrium,” he replied.
“And where’s that exactly? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a place.”
“Interesting… I don’t suppose you have a map or something I could possibly look at?” Davril asked her.
“Well, there’s one back at the library you can look at if you like. There’s just a couple of problems though…” Barb replied.
“What’s that?”
“Well… for a start, Ponyville—”
“Ponyville?” Davril asked, stifling a laugh, “sorry, but that sounds like a ridiculous name for a town.”
“Anyway,” Barb continued, ignoring him, “the ponies there—”
“Ponies? You mean like mounts? What about them?”
“Will you stop interrupting me?” Barb scowled at him.
“My apologies,” Davril chuckled, raising his hands up slightly, “I’ll be as quiet as a mouse.”
“Anyway… as I was trying to say, the ponies here tend to overreact to new things.”
“Ah come on, they can’t be that bad,” Davril smirked.
“They accused a friend of ours of being evil because he’s a Zebra,” Barb replied, hiding her own guilt from the incident.
“Wow… you guys would give the Elves a run for their money.”
“The what?”
“Seriously? Just how far away from Cyrium is Equestria?”
“How would I know? I already told you I’ve never heard of it!” Barb said with a huff.
“By the Gods…” he muttered.
They soon came to the edge of the woods and Barb came to a stop, she bit her lip as she looked to Davril.
“How do we go about this?” Barb muttered softly.
“Go about what?” Davril asked her.
“Getting you back unnoticed to the library.”
“Easy.”
Davril flicked his hood up and over his head, hiding the majority of his face to those who would give a passing glance to him. He then wrapped his cloak around his body to cover himself more than it currently was and smiled to Barb.
“If need be, I can just stick to the shadows. I’m fairly good at keeping myself unseen when I want.”
“Hope you’re right… okay, lets do this,” Barb smiled softly.
As she escorted the human into the town and down the main road into the marketplace, Barb was surprised at how none of the ponies seemed to pay them much attention. Davril on the other hand was doing his best to keep his head lowered whilst taking in his surroundings carefully and laughed softly.
“A horse folk race? Now that’s new…”
“It’s ponies,” Barb corrected. “don’t call them horses, it’s an insult.”
“Right…” he chuckled, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Howdy, Barb.”
Barb froze and spun round on the spot to see Applejack approaching her, a grin on his face.
“Keep quiet,” she hissed to Davril, “I’ll do the talking.”
“Alright, alright. Keep your scales on…” he muttered back.
She then looked over to Applejack and gave him a meek wave.
“H-hello, Applejack. How are you?”
“I’m fine thank ya, Barb. Who’s your friend?” Applejack asked.
“Oh, him? H-he’s just somepony who, uhm,” Barb paused for a moment, “needs to speak with Dusk immediately!”
“Ah see,” Applejack nodded before sticking his hand out to Davril, “put it there friend, name’s Applejack!”
Before Davril got a chance to return the gesture he was pushed out of the way by Barb.
“S-sorry, Applejack. But it’s very important I get him to Dusk, I’ll see you later!”
Applejack blinked as Barb dragged Davril away and towards the library. He scratched his head as he looked after them with a confused stare.
“Well that was odd…”
“That was to close…” Barb muttered.
“Still not sure what the big deal is,” Davril scoffed, “he seemed like a decent bloke.”
“Yeah well, I’d still like to avoid having to deal with everypony right now and—”
“Did you seriously just say ‘everypony’?” Davril snickered.
“Yes! Stop interrupting me!” Barb shouted.
Barb blinked and looked around, realising that her sudden outburst had drawn the looks of a few ponies nearby before blushing a light shade of red. She quickly ushered Davril away from the marketplace and further down the street towards the library as Davril struggled to not laugh at Barb’s embarrassment.
“Didn’t know dragons could blush,” Davril teased, “cute.”
“For the last time, I’m a dragon not a—” Barb stopped mid sentence and blinked, “oh… right. Wait… what did you say?”
“Nothing,” Davril chuckled, “so how much further is the library?”
“Not to far now… we just gotta pray we don’t run into—”
“HI BARB!”
“Oh by Solaris’s beard no…” Barb whispered.
Running towards the pair was the last pony Barb wanted to see right now. Bubble Berry. Her eyes went wide as she quickly darted between Davril and Bubble, fearing the worst.
“H-hey Bubble,” Barb chuckled nervously whilst ushering Davril to turn around behind her, “how’s tricks?”
“Theeeeeeeeeeey’re GREAT!” Bubble grinned, “hey, who's your friend? Is he a new pony?”
“Uh… yeah, sorta,” Barb gulped.
“OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!” Bubble gasped loudly, “I have to throw you a party!”
As Bubble went to turn Davril around to talk about the upcoming party, Barb quickly grabbed Davril’s arm and gave a sheepish grin to Bubble.
“T-that would be nice Bubble, but we really got to get back to the library now.”
“Oh…” Bubble said, his hair deflating slighting before returning to normal and a smirk adorning his face, “oh… I see.
Barb blinked in confusion but suddenly went a dark shade of red as Bubble winked at her and waggled his eyebrows.
“I-its not like that!” Barb protested.
“Says you,” Davril said.
“S-shut up! Both of you!” Barb shouted, her blush darkening.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later, you know, after you had some fun,” Bubble teased.
Davril burst out laughing as the flustered Barb pushed him away from Bubble and towards the library. Bubble giggled and skipped on his way back to Sugarcube corner.
“That was embarrassing,” Barb grumbled.
“Oh lighten up, t’was all in good fun,” Davril smiled.
“Whatever…”
They soon came to the library, and to Barb’s relief they hadn’t run into anymore ponies. She was about to enter but hesitated, not sure if Dusk was actually inside or not.
“Uh… you okay waiting out here a second? I need to prepare Dusk…”
“Why?” Davril asked.
“He can be… a little eccentric at times with new things.”
“Okay…” Davril replied, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
Barb took a deep breath and opened the door. She took a step inside and looked around, not seeing Dusk anywhere.
“Dusk? You here?”
There was a rustle of papers as Dusk emerged from his study. He saw her and smiled, quickly rushing over, giving her a hug.
“Where have you been, Barb? I’ve been worried sick!”
“Sorry… I kinda ran into Elusive at the market and needed to clear my head,” Barb replied.
“Oh… are you okay now?” Dusk asked worriedly.
“Yeah I’m fine…” Barb lied with a mumble, “but that’s not important, I—”
Before she could continue, Davril popped his head in round the door and Dusk saw him. His eyes went wide in surprise as he pushed Barb behind him protectively.
“Who in Solaris is that?!” Dusk shouted, finally noticing Davril.
“Why is everypony interrupting me today?!” Barb groaned in frustration.
“Barb stay behind me! Who are you, and what are you?” Dusk demanded.
“Easy… I think my hangover is kicking in…” Davril grumbled rubbing his head, “my name’s Davril. I’m a human, I take it you're Dusk?”
“Yes... how do you—”
“I can explain, Dusk…” Barb began, “you see—”
“Firstly, both of you get inside. I don’t really want another Zicoro fiasco on our hands,” Dusk interrupted.
He ignored Barb’s look of annoyance as he quickly ushered the pair into the library and closed the door. Dusk took a deep breath and turned to the two.
“Okay, Barb, can you take Davril into the living room? I need to write a letter to the Prince.”
“Uh, sure thing, Dusk.”
Dusk smiled and headed into his study, a worried expression on his face. Davril watched him leave before following Barb into the living room.
“I thought you said he was eccentric?” he asked as he took a seat, carefully moving his sword to one side under his cloak, “he seems alright, just like that Applejack fellow.”
“Give it a moment,” Barb sighed and took a seat, “and I said he could be a little eccentric at times.”
He nodded as Dusk soon joined them, he handed Barb the scroll and Davril watched in fascination as Barb blew out a jet of green flames that vaporized the scroll, leaving nothing but a trail of dust that floated upwards and vanished.
“Why did you do that?” Davril asked.
“I can send things to the Prince via Barb, she’s got magic fire.” Dusk replied, taking a seat beside Barb.
“That’s pretty amazing, if I’m honest,” Davril said,
“Thanks…” Barb smiled, not expecting the compliment.
“So what did you need to tell your Prince?” Davril asked, shifting in his seat slightly.
“Oh, nothing important… just student-teacher stuff you know?” Dusk smiled awkwardly.
“Okay…” Davril relied suspiciously.
Solaris sat in his study, he’d just finished dealing with the daily court duties and was taking a quick break to look over some tax forms that a few nobles had recently asked him to consider. It wasn’t something he really wanted to be doing but he figured he get it done sooner rather than later. A pop caught his attention and a scroll landed on the desk in front of him, he recognised the seal attached as the one belonging to his student, Dusk.
“Wonder what Dusk wants…” he muttered as he picked it up and began to read its contents carefully.
‘Dear Prince Solaris,
I’m writing to you on an urgent matter. Barb recently returned from being out all day and brought someone I have never met before called Davril, he said to me that he is a ‘human’ but for all I know he could be a changeling. That’s all I know of him so far, the reason why I have yet to question him is because of what you told me the other day regarding the rogue Griffon Baron’s different spies made up of the other races. I’m not sure where this Davril is from but I’m a little bit suspicious that he would turn up at the library of the ruler’s number one student. I await your reply with haste and will do my best to learn more about this stranger.
Your faithful student,
Dusk Shine.’
Solaris lowered the scroll and stroked his beard in thought.
“Interesting… this does raise some concerns…” Solaris muttered before summoning a quill and a blank scroll.
‘Dear Dusk Shine,
‘I thank you for alerting me to this situation. I would like you and the other Elements to invite him to Canterlot within the next few days for a trip as to not raise too much suspicion in him, as I would rather like to meet this Davril in person but I fear sending a contingent of guards or having you invite him to see me directly might cause him to become alarmed and do something drastic.
As you have mentioned that Barb found him, I would suggest you bring along her with you as a familiar face he can trust would be invaluable. I trust in your judgement my student.
Yours,
Prince Solaris.’
Solaris rolled up the scroll and his horn flashed briefly as the scroll vanished with a soft pop. He picked up the forms on the desk and carefully started reading them again, all the while planning in his mind the events of the next few days.
“So this is Equestria then? It definitely seems I’m no where near Cyrium then...” Davril muttered.
“Yup, all regions of the Kingdom,” Dusk replied.
Davril mused over the map that was strewn out on the table in Dusk’s study. After Dusk had sent his letter to Solaris, Barb remembered that Davril had wanted to see a map of Equestria and had gone off to grab one. Leaving Dusk and Davril in an uncomfortable silence.
Davril has assumed Dusk was being somewhat quiet because of the fact he seemed to be a new species to him, judging by the reaction of both him and Barb. Whereas in reality, it was because Dusk was slightly nervous around a possible spy.
“Interesting… are all your towns named after horse— I mean, pony related things?”
“What do you mean? Barb asked.
“Well… Hoofington, Staliongrad. Are they really necessary to be called them?”
“Well why not?” Dusk asked, “the griffons have a town called Beakburg.”
“... I see,” Davril said, “this place is weird…”
“What was that?” Dusk asked raising his eyebrow.
“Nothing, Ducks,” Davril replied quickly.
Dusk didn’t hear what he had called him and returned his attention to the map. Barb on the other hand had heard what he called Dusk and was trying not to giggle. As Davril also returned his attention to the map, Barb burped and a burst of flame followed by a scroll appeared. She looked at Davril wide eyed and covered her mouth, blushing lightly in embarrassment.
Davril chuckled as Dusk quickly grabbed and opened the scroll, quickly scanning its contents. Davril watched him out of the corner of his eye, a little suspicious about his behaviour.
“Right… okay,” Dusk started, “I uhm… I need to head out really quickly and see the guys. You okay to keep Davril entertained, Barb?”
“Yeah… sure, is everything okay Dusk?” Barb asked him.
“Mhm, why wouldn’t it be?” Dusk smiled with a slight twitch to his eye.
“Right… okay then?” Barb replied, raising her eyebrow at him.
“Well, see you two later!” Dusk said with a wave before leaving the room and exiting the library.
“I see what you mean…” Davril murmured, “so, how about some tea? I don’t mean to brag but, I can brew a mean Sweet leaf tea.”
“Sweet leaf?” Barb asked.
“Type of plant native to the west coast of Cyrium, makes the tea taste sweet, hense the name, I should have some… ah!” Davril grinned, pulling out a couple of brown leaves from a pouch on his belt, “you fancy some?”
“You know what? Sure,” Barb smiled, “it’ll be nice having someone make me tea for once.”
“Why’d you say that?” Davril asked as they walked into the kitchen.
“I may be Dusk’s adopted sister, but I’m also his assistant. Meaning I usually make the tea for us.”
“Oh, right,” Davril replied, “well, take a seat and I won’t be too long.”
Barb smiled and took a seat at one of the chairs, watching Davril as he began to prepare the tea.
“I hope Barb will be okay… I feel as if I shouldn’t have left her on her own with him,” Dusk muttered as he briskly walked, “no she’s more than capable at handling herself, I believe in her.”
Dusk quickly found himself outside of Sugarcube corner and walked inside, thanking Solaris that he had gotten there before it closed up for the evening. As expected, he saw Bubble behind the counter with a happy grin serving some customers. Bubble looked up and saw Dusk and gave him an energetic wave. He returned the wave and took a nearby seat, waiting for his hyperactive friend to come over.
After Mrs Cake took over for him, Bubble quickly made his way over to Dusk and gave him a bone crushing hug.
“Hiya, Dusk!” Bubble giggled, “what brings you here? Is it for a cupcake? I just made some and they are so delicious I can go get you one right now if you like the and—”
Dusk placed a hand over his mouth to try and silence Bubble but he kept talking in a low mumble.
“It’s not that, Bubble. I need to talk to you and the others in private, preferably somewhere that isn’t the library,” Dusk said, removing his hand from Bubble’s mouth.
“Why’s that?” Bubble asked tilting his head.
“It’s something the Prince has asked me and—”
“OH! I get it, like super top secret-ninja-action-spy kind of thing?” Bubble grinned.
“Uh… yeah something like that I guess.”
“I can ask the Cakes if we can use the back room! We’ll be closed soon anyway,” Bubble suggested, “when do you want to have the meeting?”
“An hour,” Dusk replied, “I’ll go tell the others.”
“I’ll make the snacks!” Bubble shouted before darting into the kitchens.
Dusk nodded as he got up and left the shop. As he walked down the streets of Ponyville he looked up at the Carousel Boutique and decided to leave speaking with Elusive for last, he was about to carry on when the door opened and Elusive stepped out. He saw Dusk and smiled with a nervous wave.
Dusk sighed softly and walked over to Elusive, already feeling the awkwardness of the impending conversation.
“Hey, Elusive…”
“Good Evening, Dusk…”
There was a slight pause as an uncomfortable silence hung over the two before Dusk spoke up.
“I need you and the guys to go to Sugarcube corner in about an hour… I need to talk to you five about something the Prince has told me.”
“Okay…”
There was another bout of uncomfortable silence as Dusk rubbed his arm and tried to think of something else to say. Elusive rubbed his hands together slowly and looked up to Dusk, some concern on his face.
“How’s Barb? I was worried about what happened earlier…”
“She’s fine… she’s just doing a task for me back at the library,” Dusk replied.
“I see… is she going to be at this—”
“No, she’s going to be at the library during it, I’ll fill her in on it later and besides,” Dusk looked into Elusive’s eyes, “I think it’s best if you give her some personal space for a bit longer…”
Elusive reluctantly nodded before heading back into the shop. Dusk sighed as he turned around, heading off towards the edge of town to go inform Applejack and Butterscotch about the meeting.
Barb smiled as Davril re-entered the room holding a cup of tea in each hand. As she thanked him, the smell from her cup wafted into her nostrils and she inhaled deeply before letting out a sigh. The smell was completely new to her, and she loved it.
Davril chuckled, “No one can resist sweet leaf tea. Go on, try some.”
Barb gingerly lifted the cup to her lips and sipped, her eyes widened as the liquid traveled down her throat, the taste indescribable. “This is delicious!”
“Told you,” Davril grinned as he sipped his own drink. “Some of the finest tea available.
Barb smiled at him, still getting used to the idea of being served tea, by a male of all sorts. Davril sipped again before place his cup down and leaning back into the sofa.
“So, what do you want to do?” he asked her.
Barb tapped her chin with a claw as she thought for a moment, “Well, I was wondering if, I could get to know you better?”
“Alright, what do you want to know?” Davril replied.
“Okay, so… what do you do exactly? From the look of you, the armor and weapons, you have to be in some form of profession that requires you to be able to protect yourself.”
“To a degree, yes,” Davril replied. “I’m a… contractor of sorts.”
“Contractor?” Barb tilted her head.
Davril nodded, “I take on board jobs and what have you that I’m paid to do. Kinda like a mercenary in a sense, you have those right?”
“Of course!” Barb grinned before sheepishly rubbing her head.” I mean, yeah we do.”
Davril chuckled as they both took another sip of their drinks, “Well anyway. My job is to basically retrieve artifacts and other items that don’t belong to someone, and return it to the rightful owners when the guards can’t do anything about it—”
“You mean you’re like Dashing Do?!” Barb exclaimed.
Davril blinked at her, “Dashing what now?”
Barb placed her cup down and quickly walked over to a bookshelf, drawing a line with her claw as she searched for the book she needed. Upon finding it, she grasped it and pulled it out, walking over and sitting next to Davril and handing it to him.
“This is Dashing Do.”
Davril raised his brow as he inspected the cover. There was a stallion in clothing that looked similar to the royal archaeologists back in Cyrium, complete with hat. The stallion was swinging over a chasm of sorts whilst holding a blue gem.
“Ah, he’s a fictional character,” Davril noted. “Are these any good?”
“Duh!” Barb replied rather enthusiastically. “They’re like, the greatest book series ever!”
Davril felt a smirk form on his face as Barb realised just how loud she had replied to him and her cheeks reddened a bit.
“S-sorry,” she sheepishly laughed.
“Big fan I take it?” he chuckled.
Barb nodded, “Besides me, Blitz and Ducks— I mean Dusk!” she quickly corrected herself. “I’m the biggest fan in town.”
Davril nodded and smiled, taking another sip, “Think I might give it a read some time then, if you speak so highly of it.”
Barb grinned in triumph as she took another sip from her tea, “Maybe you could take it back with you to Cyrium and share it with your friends?”
“I would, if I had any,” Davril replied, standing up and walking over to a nearby table, placing the book on it.
“What do you mean, ‘no friends’?” Barb asked.
“Well, I have a few chums, but given I don’t stay in most places for more than a few days I tend not to make close connections with folks,” Davril replied nonchalantly.
Barb stared at him in disbelief as she stood up, “H-how can anypony have no friends?!”
Davril raised an eyebrow at the dragoness, ignoring the play on anyone, “Is that really a big deal?”
“Well…” Barb thought for a moment. “Not really… it just surprised me, that’s all.”
“I see, well don’t feel too bad about it. I’m used to it, I do get to meet some interesting people though on my travels.”
Barb nodded at the man ,before she twirled her claws together, “I… could be your friend. You know, if you want that is.”
Davril smiled and raised her hand to his lips, gently kissing it, “I’d be honoured.”
Barb blushed slightly and looked at the human for a few moments before turning her body around and hiding her face. Davril softly laughed as he sat down again and patted the sofa.
“Want to hear some of my tales?” he asked.
Barb smiled at Davril, “I’d like that.”
“A meeting over at Sugarcube Corner?” Applejack asked.
“That’s right,” Dusk replied.
Applejack grunted as he placed the barrel he had been carrying down, “What in tarnation for? Is it important?”
Dusk nodded, “Very, the Prince has asked me to do this.”
“Well when you put it like that, ah can't just ignore a request from the Prince himself. Did he say what its about?”
“It’s… about a new uh.. acquaintance me and Barb ran into recently,” Dusk said.
“Acquaintance?” Applejack repeated as he walked over to the rest of the barrels, lifting one up with a grunt. “You mean that fella in the cloak?”
“Wait, you’ve met him?” Dusk asked, walking back with him.
Applejack popped the barrel into the cart with the others, “Not exactly, ah met him in passing when Barb was going to the library. Seemed like a decent fella from a first glance. Though Barb was eager to get him into the library, she and him… you know?”
Dusk waved his hands in a frantic dismissal, “Oh Solaris no! It’s just… okay, I won’t lie to you of all ponies. He’s not from Equestria.”
“So… he’s a griffon?”
Dusk shook his head. “Not a griffon either, something I’ve never seen before. A human.”
“Human? Can’t say ah’ve heard of there kind before, did he say where he was from?”
“Somewhere called Cyrium, he said it must be a very long distance away from Equestria. You’ll find out more tonight though.”
As Applejack picked up another barrel and walked over to the cart, he mused quietly for a moment, “Guess ah will then.”
“So you can make it?” Dusk asked.
“Sure can do, buddy.” Applejack smirked. “Jus’ gotta finish up my work here and ah’ll be over quicker than Rainbow Blitz on cider day.”
Dusk smiled and nodded, turning himself around to head back down the pathway. He mentally checked ‘asking Applejack’ off his to do list and made his way towards the edge of the town along the path that led to Butterscotch's home.
As he approached, he saw the yellow stallion in question outside, humming to himself as he watered down the flowers outside of his cottage.
“Hey, Butterscotch!” Dusk called out.
He cringed as the yellow stallion yelped, startled by the sudden noise and jumped up, banging his head on the window ledge he had been under.
“Oh I’m sorry, Butterscotch! Are you alight?” Dusk asked as he rushed over to help his friend.
“Y-yes, I’m okay. you just s-startled me that’s all,” Butterscotch replied softly.
Dusk held out a hand and helped the shy stallion up who dusted himself down.
“So, what brings you here, Dusk?”
“Well, I need you to come over to Sugarcube corner later this evening,” Dusk replied.
Butterscotch raised a brow and tilted his head, “Oh? Why’s that?”
“We all need to talk about something, the Prince has asked me to do something for him.” Dusk said.
“That sounds… a little ominous,” Butterscotch said whilst biting his lip. “Did he say what?”
“All will be revealed later, don’t worry. I just need to know if you can make it later, that’s all.”
Butterscotch pondered the question for a moment before nodding, “I-I can make it, sure. I’ll be over once I’ve given my animals their evening feed.”
Dusk smiled and gave his friend a warm hug, “Thanks, Butterscotch. I’ll see you later then?”
Butterscotch nodded, “Mhm.”
“Alright, take are!”
“You too!”
Butterscotch stood there as he waved his friend goodbye, before turning to the small rabbit that was beside him.
“Wonder what this is all about?”
The rabbit shrugged, then tapped its wrist indicating it was time for something.
“Oh goodness me, I nearly forgot about your lunch!” Butterscotch gasped.
The rabbit rolled her eyes as Butterscotch ran back into the home.
Dusk briskly made his way back through the town ,satisfied with the knowledge the meeting would go ahead as he had planned it. Finding Blitz was no trouble as the pegasus was lazily dangling from a cloud and had half heartedly muffled a response about ‘being there’ without to much questioning to Dusk.
Although Solaris wished for him to bring Davril to the castle, Dusk wanted to introduce him to the others first and possibly get to know some more about the mysterious stranger before they departed for Canterlot.
He arrived at the library and stopped when he got to the front door, hearing both Barb and Daril laughing joyfully together. As quietly as he could, he opened the door and crept inside and snuck towards the living room.
“So, there I was, naked as the day I was born…” he heard Davril say.
“Oh lord…” Barb giggled.
“And two priestess next to me, equally stark. And a mad looking monk glaring at me. ‘Again? I’ll have your head for this, Longfang!’ he yelled at me. So, in a bad attempt at saving my skin I simply shrug and offer him a small smile and said ‘Bygones, be bygones?’
Barb stifled her giggle as she waited with baited breath.
“Needless to say, I’ve never run that fast in my life. And now, I can’t go back to that town as they labeled me, ‘The Lixon Streaker’ and put a hundred gold bounty on my head for public indecency,” Davril finished.
The dragoness couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing as she leant against him for support, her entire frame rocking with her laughter. Davril found the laughter contagious and started to laugh along with her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as he did. Barb blushed slightly but smiled, closing her eyes as her laughter died down along with Davril’s.
“Interesting story there, Davril.”
They both looked over to see Dusk at the doorway leaning on it, his eyebrow arched and giving the human a suspicious glare.
“Welcome back,” Davril smiled. “Get everything you needed done?”
Dusk nodded, “Yes, we’re all meeting up at Sugarcube corner later on to… discuss some things.”
Davril nodded, “Very well. Would you like some tea? I can re heat the kettle if you do.”
“Okay then, thank you,” Dusk replied.
Dusk watched as Davril got up and walked into the kitchen before sitting himself down beside Barb who looked at him, seeing his unamused face.
“What?” she whispered.
Dusk rolled his eyes, “Barb, we don’t know pretty much anything about him, for all we know he could be a griffon spy.”
“Gee, sounding a lot like Blitz there with that accusation, Dusk,” Barb snorted. “Davril’s alright, I already made friends with him.”
“You did?” Dusk asked as she nodded. “Well… that’s good, I suppose. But just don’t get too friendly with him, alright? I mean—”
“Dusk, I’m old enough now to look after myself,” the dragoness huffed. “I know what I’m doing, I’m fine.”
Dusk sighed, “I know, I know. I just care about you, you are my sister from another mister after all,” Dusk smirked at her as she giggled.
“And you’re my brother from another mother.”
The two snickered at one another. Unbeknownst to them, however, Davril had hear what they had said.
So… he thinks I’m a spy? Not the first time but hey, better make an effort in impressing him and his friends if I’m able to pull this job off, he thought to himself.
After preparing the tea, he returned and handed the cup to Dusk, who thanked him and inhaled the steam as it rose.
“Try it, it’ll put hairs on your chest,” Davril added.
The dragoness and unicorn looked at Davril for a moment, confused by his words before he snickered and rolled his eyes.
“Figure of speech, my dear chap.”
“Right…” Dusk replied before taking a careful sip.
His eyes immediately opened wide as he looked at the cup and took a small gulp, not caring about the heat, “Oh blimey, this is delicious! You have to show us how you make it!”
“No can do, I’m afraid,” Davril replied. “Sweet leaves are native to Cyrium, specifically in the southern kingdoms. I want to conserve as much as I can… but I think I’ll be able to make some later on if you wish.”
“Aww, okay,” Dusk pouted as he continued to sip his drink along with the others.
The rest of the afternoon had been spent with Dusk going back to his studies—despite how much he wanted to question Davril there and then—and Barb spending time with Davril as the looked through some of the key parts of Equestria’s history, cultures and other things of importance.
Barb couldn’t explain it, but she felt comfortable around Davril. One one hand, he felt like a good, lifelong best friend who would belch along with her if she accidentally belched at a party, but on the other, she felt like he was the type of guy who would sweep a girl off her feet at any given moment and lavish her with romantic gifts and words.
The dragoness put it down to simply finding a good friend in someone right off the bat, like how Dusk and the others had been within the first twelve hours of arriving in Ponyville all those years ago.
Davril, meanwhile, had gathered enough information to satisfy his curiosity for the time being. There was one thing, though, that he had been reading into especially upon finding out about them.
The elements of harmony.
He immediately assumed that they must be the items he was asked to retrieve. But this confused him slightly. Davril never worked against the law, for the most part. So why would he be asked to steal something that protected the kingdom from threats?
“Whatcha reading about?” Barb asked, peering over his shoulder.
Davril looked at her and blinked, before coughing, “Oh, just these’ elements’ this book is mentioning, are they really that powerful?”
“Mhm, they were able to imprison the spirit of chaos herself, though, she’s a good guy now who resides in Canterlot for the most part. She’s good friends with Butterscotch.”
“I’m sorry, they imprisoned a spirit?” Davril asked.
“Yeah, that weird to you then?” she tilted her head at him.
“Just… first time I’ve heard of a mortal being able to trap a spirit like that, I thought only the Elder mages could do something like that…”
“Cyrium sounds odd, you know that?” Barb teased.
“Oh, shush you,” Davril chuckled, poking her snout gently.
She giggled as Dusk came into the room, “Okay, we’re going to head over now. Davril, can you cover yourself up at all? I don’t want—”
“The town freaking out, I know. Barb already told me how they react to odd things,” Davril interrupted. “Like Zecora fellow.”
“Zicoro,” Barb corrected.
“Zicoro, sorry.”
Dusk winced slightly, still uneasy about that encounter, Davril saw his uneasiness and gave him a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Don’t worry about it, when you live with elves, you get used to it,” Davril replied.
“Elves?”
“Knife ears, like to think they are superior to all other races, love trees?” Davril said, hoping they might have heard of them.
Dusk shook his head as the human sighed, “Gods, I really am far away from home…”
“Shall we get going?” Dusk asked.
Davril nodded as he flicked his hood up and wrapped his cloak around him, “Lead on then, Ducks.”
“What was that?” Dusk said as he looked back.
“I said, ‘lead on then, Dusk’,” Davril replied.
“Oh, okay,” Dusk nodded, oblivious to the name.
Barb stifled her snicker as she once again caught the name slip from Davril and followed them both out of the library.
The journey across town was uneventful, much to Dusk’s relief. Not many ponies were still out, and the ones that were paid no heed to the trio as they walked across the town. Soon enough, they reached the shop and were greeted by Bubble who welcomed them in, but not before staring at the cloaked figure.
“Oh my gosh it’s you again!” he grinned. “I still need to throw—”
“Not now, Bubble. Another time,” Dusk groaned as he pushed the stallion inside.
Davril stepped into the bakery after Barb but not before looking over the exterior of the building. He found the outside… odd, to say the least. And as he stepped in, the inside didn’t fare any better.
“Okay, wait here while I get the others ready,” Dusk said as he and Barb entered the back room of the bakery.
Davril nodded and waited patiently. He could still smell the remnants of the days baking and it made him smile, something about this particular smell of food was better than any of the smells he could remember back in Cyrium. Something about it seemed so… pure.
“Alright, you can come in now,” he heard Dusk call out.
As he walked over and into the room, Dusk spoke again,
“Okay,” he said to the human. “These are Bubble Berry, Applejack, Elusive, Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch.”
“Delighted to meet you all,” the human replied, giving a bow to the stallions.
“Why, he certainly has manners,” Elusive commented.
“Guys, this is—”
He was interrupted as the others stared at Davril as he lowered his hood, revealing his face, Elusive gasping softly.
“Longfang, Davril Longfang,” he said before bowing again. “Explorer, mercenary for hire, dashing rogue and all around gentleman. How do you do?”
Barb stifled as giggle as Dusk slapped his hand to his face and sighed.
Why do I have a bad feeling about this? he thought to himself.
