Losing The Inner World, Gaining The Outer World

Act 0, Episode 1 of 5: Prologue 1 of 4: Losing The Inner World, Gaining the Outer World

Sometimes you need to lose what you have in order to gain the future.

Daybreak.

The sunlight streamed in through the loft's window, slowly brightening the room up as the sun began to rise. As the light reached the small bed in the room, the mare within began to awaken to a new day. She had left the window open and the sounds of the forest around her little farm were beginning quite loudly announce the new day. Mother Nature's natural alarm brought her to consciousness, and she rolled over and put the pillows over her ears in an effort to drown out the ever-increasing noise.

“Gleam, are those birds ever going to shut up?” The little mare groaned, more to herself than her companion while slowly pulling the pillow off of herself and blinking rapidly a few times when the sunlight hit her in the face.

Unsurprisingly, a little hiss of tired annoyance came from the little dragon. Gleam was a miniature dragon the size of a Great Pyrenees with scales that were colored in swirls of forest green, emerald green, aquamarine and light leaf green. A spaded tail colored a brilliant blue and white snaked out behind his back legs. He was about as intelligent as a large dog and (usually) about as loyal as a cat, but he'd bonded with the mare while he was young and wasn't going to ever leave her side. He preferred the darkness to the light and would have rather been left to sleep.

After a few minutes, Sunkissed Amber threw the covers off the bed. “Okay, Gleam. Time to start the day. The farm chores are not going to do themselves, and you need to get your shiny scaly self out of bed and put your harness on. We're going into town today to resupply.”

The dragon let out a resigned groan. He hated trips to town. There were too many ponies that gawked at him, or sorcerers passing through that regard him as a curiosity. If he was really unlucky, he'd run into a group of colts and fillies that would pull on his wings and tail as if it were a game. Despite all this, he understood that town equaled food for when he was at home, and with a “do we have to” expression he pulled the covers off the rest of the way and burrowed into them as if to hide. He'd get up on his own time.

“Now, Gleam.” Sunkissed Amber said, a little bit more sternly as she got up and brushed out her bed-head so she could be presentable.

Her name was Sunkissed Amber, a smart young mare who looked much younger than her twenty summers of age. She'd been born with a natural talent for geology, and she'd quickly learned to identify the value of gemstones on sight. Colored a pasty apricot with dark green horizontal stripes around her forelegs, she had an almost blindingly platinum-blonde mane and tail. Her mane had been done up into two thick “ropes” of braid; these curled backward like horns to either side of her and were secured at her flanks with a rope. They were thick enough to support extra saddle bags, and could be tipped with dangerous spikes or hooks that she could wield by whipping her head about.

Unintentionally-but-naturally cold amber eyes beheld her world, and her cutie mark was of four emerald-cut gemstones in a plus sign configuration: ruby, sapphire, emerald, and diamond.

“Okay, Gleam.” Sunkissed Amber said, after taking a few minutes to tiredly secure her hair with a bright green ribbon. “Get your scaly hide out of the covers. We've got a day to meet head on whether you like it or not.” She threw on a lavender robe, enjoying the feel of the cloth against her skin settling into a protective embrace.

Gleam snorted under the covers and then squirmed out of them as smoke trailed from his nostrils and he gave her a cross-eyed goofy expression. Opening his mouth he belched a slight blast of flame to show off, and now that he was warming up and waking up he'd give off more smoke the more active he got.

“Right then... first step, breakfast... I'll have to go to the garden first, we're out of fresh food in the pantry.” Sunkissed Amber said to herself. “If my father weren't so old... he would have gone before sunrise to get first crack at whatever was in the markets in town.”

She paused for a moment. Her adoptive father, an elderly stallion known only by the name of Honor's Edge, had taken her in after the death of her parents in a bandit raid that had reduced Sunkissed Amber's village to ashes. He was getting to be close to eighty summers old and she secretly worried that his time would soon be over. She didn't know what she'd do after that, as her life had revolved around him. He had been the one constant in her life, since farm life was different every day.

In his younger days, her father had been a former chief of guards in a city called Triple Hooves which was far, far to the east of their little farmhouse home next to the deep forest. He had put down his spear after twenty five summers on the job to take up the druidic arts, and while he had no magic talent of his own he had learned much about making healing salves, identifying poisonous plants, learning the ways of the various animals in the forest, and other minor things. Much of this knowledge and wisdom had been imparted to Sunkissed Amber, and she'd even shown some simple magical potential despite being an earth pony.

Sunkissed Amber went downstairs into the large lower room of the farmhouse where there was a table, a fireplace she'd help construct with her own hooves, several cupboards that were nine-tenths empty, and several storage chests with the various pieces of clothing she'd learned to make while she had some off time. She'd found she had a knack for weaving small, serviceable clothing pieces out of leather and cloth, such as saddle bags, a hat or two, caps that she'd taken into town to have enchanted with waterproofing, and so on. While her skill wasn't terribly good yet and it took quite a while to make one object, the quality produced could compare to a professional level whether she admitted it to herself or not.

“That's strange, my father isn't here.” Sunkissed Amber said to herself as she came down the stairs, looking around. Normally her father would be here to greet her as well as to give her the day's chores and events to expect, but now there was no sign of him. A little worried, she pushed open the saloon-styled swinging front doors and looked around to see if her father hadn't gone missing somehow.

She discovered him lying in his favorite spot next to a pond, between two willow trees, with a doe resting next to him. There were birds in the trees around him making quite a racket, and to Sunkissed Amber's surprise she also spotted not one but two hawks also watching from the highest branches. She recognized one of them as Twister, one of her best friends, but the other one wasn't one she recognized. To her surprise she saw that this new hawk had a small wrist-sized pouch attached to his chest that was painted in a series of violet and gold stripes. That meant it was a messenger hawk, and the only place that employed trained messenger hawks was...

“Father?” Sunkissed Amber asked.

“Oh, good, you're awake.” Honor's Edge's voice was a little weaker than most, but he still put a hoof to his lips and whistled for the messenger hawk to fly down. The hawk obediently did so and landed on a branch close to Sunkissed Amber without even startling the doe, and he motioned for Sunkissed Amber to remove and open the pouch.

Sunkissed Amber reached out and opened the pouch. Inside the pouch were a pair of rubies, a small scroll, and a small figurine of a gryphon carved from ebony. A pair of opals made up the gryphon's eyes, and its razor-sharp claws were made of silver. The wings folded outward, revealing a keyhole, but there was no key inside the pouch.

“Sunkissed Amber,” Honor's Edge said slowly. “That gryphon is your birthright.”

Sunkissed Amber blinked, bringing herself back to reality. “What?”

Honor's Edge coughed. “I cannot explain, but I know where you'll find your answers.”

Sunkissed Amber stood still, tilting her head and not knowing what he was talking about.

“Go to the Waypoint, and say the magic word 'Temperance' to get inside.” Honor's Edge said, rolling over and sitting up. The doe nuzzled him a little bit.

Sunkissed Amber froze. The Waypoint, as it was called, was a small guard station along the road leading into the nearest town that her adoptive father had built The Waypoint with his own hooves and had enchanted by druids, and as a child she had been forbidden to enter it.

“Father?” Sunkissed Amber finally managed to squeak out.

Honor's Edge shook his head. “The day's chores can wait. Today marks a new life for you, and you need to get down to The Waypoint as soon as possible. Your answers are there and time is short. Go, now.”

Sunkissed Amber blinked again but understood the tone in her father's voice, the “do as I say or there will be trouble” voice he used on occasion when trying to make the bulls and donkeys on the farm do his bidding. She went back inside to throw on a simple leather tunic and skirt, then called up to Gleam, who had gone back upstairs to sleep.

“Gleam... GLEAM!” Sunkissed Amber called. “Get your scaly hide down here before I turn it into a sequin-studded backpack! We're off to The Waypoint!”

Gleam growled loudly then leaped out the open window, spreading his wings and taking to the skies, soaring high into the air in order to show off again. Then he turned sharply and winged his way toward The Waypoint, leading the way. It would take most of the morning to get there; it was not an easy trek as there were no roads leading there from the farmhouse.

“I'll be back before noon.” Sunkissed Amber said with a smile, kissing her adoptive father on the forehead and galloping off, chasing after Gleam. Twister, who had been watching this from another branch, waited until the dragon was out of his view before silently taking off and following her.

Honor's Edge sighed. “No. No, you won't.” He looked up and to the left, addressing some entity that Sunkissed Amber was unable to see, but he could.

“I've done my part. The rest is up to her.”

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It was a little after noon when Sunkissed Amber finally crossed the final set of hills along the trail that led to The Waypoint. Gleam had taken the lead, pausing only once to show Sunkissed Amber a pair of freshly-killed rabbits that they could roast for their lunch once they reached The Waypoint. Twister had followed at a distance; the dragon disliked him and more than a few times in his life he'd had to dodge the predator bigger than he was. The last hill was very steep, studded everywhere with rocks and pebbles that Sunkissed Amber had to be careful to not slip on as she made her way to the top.

On the other side of the hill, she could see the wide track that wagons used to travel to and from The Waypoint. It was dug into the soft ground by the wheels of hundreds of passing wagons over the years, and could be seen quite easily from a distance. Beyond the well-used trail along the flat land was a deep, fast-flowing river carving a chasm in the ground against some steeper hills, and to the left of the track facing away from the river was The Waypoint itself.

The Waypoint was a circular hut crafted of cobblestone and hardened clay that had been treated with special sap from the local trees to harden it. Nearby, a large camping circle had been set up for travelers to camp down at, and atop the glass dome of The Waypoint was her father's personal symbol crafted in black basalt: an “S” with horizontal bars of aquamarine through the curves of the “S”. There was no door to get inside; only those who knew the magic command word could cause the walls to become as transparent as glass and allow access.

Clutching the small gryphon sculpture to her chest Sunkissed Amber quickly slid down the hill as Gleam leapt off and nearly blindsided into Twister. The dragon dropped the rabbits he'd been carrying his claws to give chase to the feathered birdbrain, and Sunkissed Amber was left alone as she approached The Waypoint. For most of her entire life she had been forbidden to come here, and now that she was here, everything about the situation was screaming “go away” and “keep out” to her.

Nervously she approached the hut and slowly laid her hoof on the cool stones that made up the wall. Even in the now-increasing heat of the day the stones remained cool to the touch with an almost supernatural chill. While Twister did a series of acrobatic dives to try to shake off the dragon's pursuit overhead, Sunkissed Amber curled her hooves then laid her hoof on the stones again.

“Temperance.”

The entirety of the circular wall flickered and faded as if it were a ghost, yet the glass dome remained solid, suspended in midair while allowing her access inside. Once she had stepped inside, the wall sprang back into solid form with a low but audible crack of stone scraping against stone. Overhead the room was lit by the glass-domed ceiling, where she could barely catch Gleam almost managing to catch Twister in his jaws.

The room contained a large oak closet that almost completely filled one half of the room, a small writing table one would have to hunch over at in order to write on, and a shelf upon which were two objects. One was an ornate rod crafted of silver and tipped with a diamond-cut amethyst set in backwards so the gemstone's tip was pointing out, and the other was a cedar box stained a rich red and violet.

Sunkissed Amber looked around. “Okay, my father said my answers would be here, but where?”

Her gaze was first drawn to the cedar box. Quietly she took it off the shelf and then slowly opened it, revealing a red leather envelope, a tiny brass key, and fifteen pieces of gold. Placing these aside she picked up the rod and weighed it in her hoof, and the gemstone seemed to light up and pulse in tune with her heartbeat; this rod was magical in some way.

Opening the closet, she found a large backpack filled with three changes of clothes, two jars of preserved strawberry jam (her favorite), an (empty) waterskin, and a map of the surrounding lands. Also in the closet was a full suit of studded leather armor stained a very rich red and gold, with pieces of armor to cover her from head to toe including a leather helmet that was almost a little bit too big for her. Aside from that there were two large boxes of trade goods of various types, and rounding it out on a hook in the back of the closet was a large trading harness sized for a dragon like Gleam. This harness was made of superior leather straps and metal buckles, instead of the crude leather-and-rope one she was used to giving him.

Turning back to the red envelope, she picked up the key next to it and examined it while also examining the gryphon that was still in her hooves. The key fit perfectly, and the statuette's wings flipped open with a loud click to expose a small metal crest of some sort attached on a chain so it could be a necklace. She looked at the badge briefly before gasping and almost dropping it; the badge was that of the royal family... two crossed mithril swords over a setting sun, with a bronze lightning bolt going down the middle and striking a dragon dead between its wings. No one that wasn't of the royal family was allowed one of these. How had her father come into possession of one?

Finally Sunkissed Amber's attention turned to the envelope and she flicked it open with one hoof, breaking the wax seal that she noticed had matched the royal seal on the necklace. The envelope popped open, revealing a letter written on hard, high-quality paper with even higher-quality ink like the kind you'd find on royal decrees. Her hooves trembled as she unfolded the paper to read the letter:

My child, by the time you read this, I will have passed on.

No regrets, no looking back, no worrying about me. My time is up.

You must take Gleam to Triple Hooves and seek out

a knight by the name of Shattered Shield, who will take you

to a sorceress known as Solar Silver.

She will tell of your birthright, and how you are actually of noble blood.

No whining, little lady. You're not a farm filly any longer.

Your rank in the lands of the nobility is akin to a minor Lady

(with a capital L), and you need to claim it as soon as you can.

Along the way there are... dangers and threats.

Let us say there are those who exist

“who do not have your best interests at heart.”

The knight will be your protector as you move to your new land.

In one of the boxes of trade goods in the closet

is an object known as a Dragon's Heart.

Use this along with the rod (enchanted with the power of abstraction)

to defend yourself, as Trol'Kyanis is not close by.

The rubies and coins will buy your way into the city where the knight lives,

while the royal crest the messenger hawk brought will keep the other

knights from asking too many questions you don't have answers to.

The scroll from the messenger hawk is your travel paper that will allow

you to enter the desert land of Trol'kyanis.

The gryphon is your birthright. Guard it with your life.

Trol'kyanis? That was... wow, that was almost a whole continent away, and across the ocean... but why would she have to go there of all places? It had only three things of note: sand, sand, and more sand. Ponies didn't live there; it was inhabited by a race of bipedal desert sheep called the Muial'ki.

Sunkissed Amber quickly went back to the closet and began rummaging through the boxes of trade goods, which consisted mostly of strips of leather, several animal pelts, multiple necklaces of eagle feathers, a leather bracer with lockpicks strapped to it, multiple yards of folded colorful handwoven cloth, and two huge oak logs that had carvings etched into one side. In one of the boxes she uncovered a small leather pouch that contained a huge carved golden beryl gemstone the size of two hooves pressed together; this was carved into the shape of a dragon with two sets of wings and overly-large obsidian eyes best described as “comically googly.” If she remembered correctly from her studies of history, this was the Dragon's Heart.

Quickly Sunkissed Amber went back to read the rest of the letter.

Before you go, I have four things to tell you.

The first: The ponies of our fair land and the Muial'ki are in an

uneasy truce for the last eighty summers.

You will be the first to visit their lands in that time and if you went with friends

they might see it as an invasion and an act of war. You must do so alone.

It would be dangerous to all involved and cause a political incident, so if in your

journey you find someone you like, LEAVE THEM before embarking for Trol'kyanis.

The second: The Muial'ki are noticeably different than what you'd expect.

Words can and will be twisted to make it seem insulting, especially since

you are “only a pony” which itself almost a major crime in the Muial'ki Lands.

They also treat their animals better than ponies.

You may have to pretend your protector is your manservant instead of someone with their own thoughts and ideas.

The third: As a pony with nobility attached,

you will be watched for the slightest slip-up. If you fail to adhere

to their standards and traditions, you will be thrown out...

or worse, drawn and quartered or even killed in a worse way than that.

And the last: You have a twin sister. You were separated at

birth and she lives in Trol'kyanis, as a recluse,

but like you she has no knowledge of her bloodline.

You need to find her and protect her, because she can't do so on her own.

Once your new enemies find out I am gone... and they will find out...

she will be a target for political machinery to threaten our kingdom.

She needs to be taken into your new home and shielded; once safe,

you can bring down your political foes and perhaps strengthen the truce.

Take Gleam and Twister with you. Gleam won't eat him.

If he does, I'll haunt him from beyond the grave and the brat knows it.

Now get going! I love you. I'm sorry I couldn't ease you into this properly.

Trouble is coming, and quite honestly, only you can stop it. I wish this

weren't the case...

--- Honor's Edge

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It was near nightfall when Sunkissed Amber returned home, her heart heavy and tears still streaming down her cheeks. She'd gotten into the armor (it fit her perfectly) and had spent much of the rest of the time securing the many goods to the harness now resting comfortably over Gleam's body (although he couldn't fly while wearing it). She'd found an unadorned red oaken staff in the back of the closet to use as a defensive walking stick alongside her braids, and the backpack was nestled over her shoulders.

She'd found that the backpack had been enchanted to hold more on the inside than the outside while she was packing it, and estimated it could about 150% more than it normally could. Gleam didn't have a riding saddle attached to his harness, so she would be walking next to him for their journey.

Sure enough when she returned her adoptive father lay dead between the willows, and by the time she had buried him, the moon had begun to set. Still, from the tone in her father's letter, she did not loiter around and grieve; they left immediately, planning to sleep out under the stars while she tried to think. When she was in her zone while studying “her” subject of geology, she was known to tune everything else out and this time it would be no different. She'd properly grieve later, when she had time to process everything that had hit her in the face like this.

Multiple things flashed through her head. She knew she was... “different”, as her father liked to say, though he never explained exactly what that difference was. She had a twin sister in danger? She couldn't take a coltfriend or friends into Trol'kyanis? She was really of noble blood and she'd never been told? How was the “rod enchanted with abstraction” supposed to be used? Trouble was coming and only she could stop it? Her head began to swim.

She'd learn, soon enough. And she'd find out she wasn't a little filly any longer.

Protecting the Weak From Themselves

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Act 0, Episode 2/5: Prologue 2 of 4: Protecting the Weak From Themselves

The best action to undertake... and the Right Action to undertake... are often two completely different actions.

Two weeks later...

"Ridge Dasher! I said GET UP!"

"Yes, boss." came the tired reply.

Nervously the raw recruit struggled to his hooves and looked at his superior, a tall, fiery-colored stallion named Blazing Wheel. The stallion was humorless as always, but was fair and never did anything he didn't think his recruits couldn't do. That was why the recruits were here after all, to learn from a master so they could protect the weak and those who couldn't defend themselves.

Ridge Dasher was already beaten and battered from the rough sparring that his superior had led him through. Compared to Blazing Wheel's lack of apparent injuries, the recruit was tired and strained, and his normally fog-gray coat was stained a dark brown with mud from his muzzle to his tail. His obsidian-black mane was all over the place, and his unusual chosen weapon of expertise (the shield) lay in a corner with a huge dent in it. When he stood up he was wobbly; he was tired but he knew he had to press on. He wasn't strong, he was just fast.

"I will not. Tolerate. A warrior. Who cannot stand on their own four hooves, Ridge Dasher! I am surprised you have lived up to your name!" Blazing Wheel barked as he got directly into Ridge Dasher's face, ruby eyes sparking just a little bit. “Show me your strength! You are unworthy of wielding the shield if you have no strength!” Blazing Wheel's tone shifted from barking orders to a hint of mockery, but Ridge Dasher wasn't fazed. The drill sergeant's job was to bend the raw recruits into warriors, so he didn't flinch when Blazing Wheel got directly in front of him.

Ridge Dasher glanced at his cutie mark (a pair of running shoes over a hill; his speed was something he took great pride in) then turned his gaze back at Blazing Wheel but did not reply in his usual rapid-fire series of snarky one-liners. Those had made too much trouble for him in the past and he knew when to taunt and when not to.

"Yes, boss." Ridge Dasher backed back so the entire group could hear. Why his drill sargent demanded to be called "boss", he didn't know. In his opinion the word reeked of organized crime, and with his family having suffered at the hooves of such an organization, Ridge Dasher was here to put a stop to it as well as defend innocent ponies.

"Good! Now, grab your shield and prepare to block again and be prepared for my disarm attempt this time!" Blazing Wheel growled.

Ridge Dasher was training to be one of the "Unmoving", a specialized group of shield bearers that would hold fast against strong frontal attacks while archers wearing crossbow-saddles fired from behind their lines.

The earth pony stumbled just a little bit as he got his footing under him once again and then he picked up his shield in his mouth, tiredly locking his hooves into the ground. Blazing Wheel lined up for a charge, then pawed the ground once with a hoof before attacked. The rest of the recruits watched as Blazing Wheel launched himself at Ridge Dasher with blinding speed, turning on his heels just as he reached the shield in order to deliver a powerful rear kick. The blow rang in the open training grounds like a gong and the whole of Ridge Dasher visibly vibrated from the force of the blow.

“Good! Again!” Blazing Wheel commanded, and Ridge Dasher steadied himself. Rather than risk another blow that would likely knock him to his knees, if not off his hooves, when Blazing Wheel wound himself up for a second strike, he turned his head instead, drawing the shield away in a fake-out.

Ridge Dasher's intent was to have Blazing Wheel miss the shield, become off balance, and then Ridge Dasher would counter with a spin and powerful frontal shield bash to knock his superior down. His idea was dashed when he turned too much and didn't back up in time, and instead Blazing Wheel's hooves connected fully with the side of his head.

His shield went flying from his mouth as he staggered to the side and then fell over, stunned but still conscious. While he wasn't physically strong, he'd been training and his endurance combined with his personal meditation techniques kept him awake. He was seeing stars, and for a moment he closed his eyes. He wasn't down and out just yet, and his ears twitched to orient themselves on the drill sergeant's voice.

"And THAT, recruits, is why you should never turn your head for a counter until you have timed it exactly right!" Blazing Wheel yelled, walking up and down the line of recruits and looking each one in the eyes as they stood at attention. "I slowed just a little, expecting a counter when I saw him blink, then struck as he turned his head so I got a clear shot. Unless you're absolutely sure your counter will strike hard enough to make a difference, you do not counter. You stand firm and hold the line. You ARE the line. The line will NOT break. Is. That. CLEAR?!"

"YES BOSS!" The recruits yelled in unison.

"Yes, boss." Ridge Dasher mumbled.

"At ease, recruits. Return to the barracks while I take Ridge Dasher to the healer. I put my weight into that kick to make a point, and it would be poor of me not to make sure my warriors quickly recover from the more painful lessons." Blazing Wheel finished, quieting down. "I've been doing this for almost ten summers, and I am proud to say I haven't lost one of you yet. I'm not about to start now. DISMISSED!”

The group relaxed and dispersed back to the barracks as Blazing Wheel walked over to Ridge Dasher, now struggling to get to his hooves and recover his shield. "At ease, Ridge. You took a strong hit there. You okay?"

"Yes, bo... B.W." Ridge Dasher replied, using the informal nickname his drill sergeant had told them to use when things were quiet.

Blazing Wheel poked him with a hoof then helped him up. "Walk with me. You're still wobbly on your hooves. Leave your shield here and I'll have it returned to you soon; I don't want you hurt before your first tour. I know how much you want to be a part of the Unmoving, but it isn't for just anypony and you still lack physical strength."

"Thanks, B.W. I'll be okay." Ridge Dasher said, recovering his footing.

They began to head to the healer's. "Have you seen what those wool brains are up to?" Blazing Wheel asked.

"No, but I've heard the tales of what they can do with their mauls." Ridge Dasher replied. "Are they really planning war?"

Blazing Wheel looked down a little bit. "Commodore Triangle Star seems to think so and you know how hard it is to change his mind. I don't know what it is that the Muial'ki want, we have nothing they can't get in their own lands. Unfortunately I think the Commodore wants war, and that doesn't help anypony. I'll do my job and train recruits, but I'll never understand what the motives are for starting a war."

Ridge Dasher shrugged. "Maybe he has a personal stake. Or a vendetta."

"Damned if I know." Blazing Wheel replied. "No one's going to question somepony with the title of 'Slayer of the Dragon Trio', though."

They arrived at the healer's, an impressive lump forming on the side of Ridge Dasher's head although his pride was injured more than he was. Nudging the curtains open, the nurse glanced up at Ridge Dasher before seeing his injury and scolding him. "Ridge Dasher! Tell me you didn't taunt the sarge again!"

Ridge Dasher smiled at the nurse. Ponies like the lovable Silent Rings were why he was in this to begin with. Ponies needed defending, and he was just the stallion for the job.

"No, I turned my head wrong trying to counter." Ridge Dasher replied.

"I almost gave him a taste of the Blazing Trick instead." Blazing Wheel said, sounding a little bit guilty. "Had to stop myself at the last minute."

"Would you quit showing off the Blazing Trick? You're trying to teach, not strike them into the ground in a broken heap with their jaw shattered halfway over the horizon!" Silent Rings scolded, turning her dusky brown body away from them as she went to get healing supplies. Their base was severely short on unicorns, and those that were there were warriors like Ridge Dasher, not healers. "That's going to leave a big bruise in the morning, Ridge. Don't pick at it or itch it. I'll put some healing cream on it and want you back here first thing in the morning so I can look at it."

"Yes, nurse Silent Rings." Ridge Dasher mockingly said in a sing song voice. Both his drill sergeant and the nurse rolled their eyes.

"You know he's training to be a part of the Unmoving, right?" Blazing Wheel asked.

Silent Rings tilted her head, her puffy pale green mane getting in her face as she began to bandage up the bump after rubbing healing lotion on it. "Really? Ridge? Are you insane?"

“No more insane than anypony else. I need physical strength to go with these." Ridge Dasher proudly replied, clopping the ground with a hoof. His lower legs and hooves were more developed than the average pony's; he was a runner and messenger rather than a front line fighter. "If I'm going to be a hero someday, I need more than just swift feet and a quicker mind.”

“Those taunts are going to come back to haunt you, Ridge.” Blazing Wheel cautioned. “Not even I would risk it as long as even one opponent was conscious, Blazing Trick or no.”

"Just come back to us in one piece, sweetie." Silent Rings replied sweetly before kissing the bandage in a cute manner. Ridge Runner winced, less from the pain of the bump than from the fact he had a crush on her and everyone present knew it. She had said, tauntingly, that she was single, she knew she was attractive, and she was open to the idea of having a coltfriend... IF Ridge could survive out there. Silent Rings liked her men battle-experienced.

The curtains parted. "Ridge Dasher?" Another earth pony dressed as a higher-ranking messenger stepped in. "You've got new orders from the Commodore himself."

"I wasn't informed of this..." Blazing Wheel replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Don't shoot the messenger, sir." The other pony turned away from his fierce gaze. "And I quote, 'tell that bastard it's above his pay grade', unquote."

"What IS he up to!?" Blazing Wheel growled as the messenger quickly left after passing over an official-looking envelope to Ridge Dasher.

Ridge Dasher opened the envelope, going quiet as he read it. "It says here... I have to take Razor Barbs and Jumping Thunder on patrol to the east, tonight. It's an overnight patrol."

Both Blazing Wheel's and Silent Rings' eyebrows shot up so far they impacted the ceiling and left craters.

"Those two? They're complete dunces! What did you do to deserve that?!" Now Blazing Wheel was mad. "You've done nothing wrong. You are not as physically strong (yet) as some of the others in the barracks, but that is no reason for him to keep picking on you. Something's wrong here, but I know better than to sniff above my pay grade. This is beyond 'once is a prank, twice is stupidity, three times is enemy action.' I can't tell you to belay those orders though."

"It's okay, boss." Ridge Dasher stood up straight. "I'll keep 'em in line. Maybe if I do a good job to spite him, it'll get him to slip up in rage and maybe he'll expose himself and whatever the chip on his flanks is."

Blazing Wheel snorted, but a knowing smirk was beginning to form. "You do that, and bring those ponies back alive, soldier. Those two ponies are idiots, but they don't deserve to be sent out on a suicide mission."

"Yes, boss." Ridge Dasher said. "I'll go get another shield from the storeroom and we'll be off."

"Watch your injury!" Silent Rings called out after him as he left.

"I'm not going to have my recruits get hurt. I'm going to follow them. Ridge is good, but inexperienced... and the... the Ruined... roam that road..."

The curtains parted again, this time admitting a bossy-looking pony in a suit of dark leather armor emblazoned with a series of high-ranking sigils and runes. He wore a smiling jester's mask to conceal his identity, and both eyes of the ceramic mask had been painted black to hide his eyes. Flanking him were two side orders of muscle-unicorns. "You're not going anywhere."

"What is the MEANING..." Blazing Wheel began to bark in his outside voice, but the mask-wearing pony just grinned behind his mask as the two unicorns leveled crossbows at both him and Silent Rings.

"The Commodore wants a word with you." The crimson stallion said with a Cheshire-like grin that stretched beyond the two sides of the mask. "And you, nurse. You need to... disappear."

Silent Rings could only stare, caught like a deer in headlights as the two unicorns advanced on them and Blazing Wheel tensed.

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"All right, you two, we're headed out on the eastern road tonight in a night patrol." Ridge Dasher said as the portcullis closed behind them. "I want both of you on edge and ready because this is not a safe path."

"Do we have to?" Razor Barbs whined childishly as he idly scratched at his flank, where his cutie mark of a baseball bat wrapped in shiny barbed wire could be plainly seen against his chestnut-colored hide. Attached to his saddlebags was the selfsame trademark weapon. "I want to go back inside."

"He's right. There's suggestions that the Ruined patrol this road too." Jumping Thunder piped up, looking down at his hooves. The dark blue colt was cross-eyed and wielded a spear that he was remarkably good at using.

"Well, you know what I like to say, once I ignore your blatant insubordination." Ridge Dasher teased, and all three of them rolled their eyes. "Three times the reconnaissance and one time the action. If we see something, we observe it from three angles, then we return to get orders about how best to proceed. We're watchers, not berserkers."

He'd made friends with these two early on because they were a little bit “slow” and he wasn't going to let either of them come to harm; they were somewhat dull and really didn't belong here. He got the sense their parents were less than responsible ponies and had dumped them in the military in order to get rid of them.

"And if it's the Ruined?" Jumping Thunder asked.

"We run." Was Ridge Runner's reply. He shuddered as he remembered just who and what the Ruined were, and felt his mane go on end. “You know what they are. One part lack of ethics, one part lack of morality, a dash of forbidden magic... geomantical alchemy... a plea to darker powers. It's NOT pretty."

“And the blood of an innocent filly or two!” Jumping Thunder said. “That is, according to what I've heard.”

The Ruined were chimerical crossbreeds of regular ponies and animals; some would get the leaping powers of a rabbit while others would get the carnivorous fangs of a tiger. Still others would grow claws on the end of their hooves, or a stinger-like tail. With enough mixed blood, you got many mutations in one package. In all cases, the beast part was plainly evident and they were covered in huge amounts of thick, shaggy fur alongside a near-nonexistent regular mane. They took a hit to intelligence in exchange for brute strength and great size, but this did not mean they were stupid. Rather, far from it as they were extremely clever and made extensive use of flanking and ambush tactics before swarming.

They killed for sport as well as food, usually feasting on the ponies they killed. Intelligent enough to start their own societies when they eventually encountered one another, they were mostly shunned by the “civilized ponies” of Ridge Dasher's known world.

The patrol became quiet as they began walking the obstacle-stained forty mile road leading to the next village. Ridge Dasher would remain at the front, while Jumping Thunder and Razor Barbs stood to either side of him and a few paces back, watching the sides of the road. Ridge Dasher's shield was in his mouth the whole time to repel any surprise assaults from the front, while both of the others could bring their weapons to bear at a moment's notice.

The first thing they encountered did not give them high hopes for the rest of the night.

They came to the scene of a grisly attack. A caravan of ponies had been traveling from the village towards the base and appeared to have been ambushed. Not a single pony in a group of over thirty ponies had been left alive. Whatever had killed them had jaws stronger than a steel trap judging from the bite marks that had crushed pony skulls like paper.

“Whoa! What happened here?!” Razor Barbs asked, nudging a corpse with a hoof.

“I don't like this...” Jumping Thunder said, his knees buckling a little. While he was in training not to show fear, the colt always had been a coward and he looked ready to run.

Ridge Dasher straightened up, trying to mimic Blazing Wheel and bring some hope to the already-demoralized pair of “assistants” he'd been forced to babysit. “Okay, you two. Let's take this slowly and use our training. Razor Barbs, report.”

Razor Barbs blinked and straightened. “... S-sir, I see multiple dead ponies, a broken wagon, and trade goods in the back.”

Ridge Dasher nodded, examining another pony corpse who had all four legs broken as if somepony with great strength had almost ripped them out at the joints. “Good for a start... now, what about you, Jumping Thunder?”

“What he said.” Came the tense reply. Jumping Thunder was getting more and more nervous.

“And what does this tell us?” Ridge Dasher asked, now becoming all business.

Razor Barbs and Jumping Thunder looked at him cluelessly.

The gray stallion sighed, putting a hoof to his forehead. “Look around. Razor Barbs said it himself, trade goods. This wasn't a robbery. This was done for the thrill of killing. And you know what that means...”

“Bloody hell, the Ruined.” Razor Barbs growled, drawing his bat.

“We can't do anything for them.” Ridge Dasher tensely said, motioning to the bodies before turning ahead to look up the road. “Let's look around and gather as much information as we can about this caravan. If we see the Ruined before they see us, we double back and return to base because we're not equipped enough to handle them and our command will need to know we have company inbound.”

“And it ain't the in-laws?” Jumping Thunder smirked.

Ridge Dasher cracked a smile unintentionally through his forced imitation of Blazing Wheel's presence. “Quiet, you. That's my line.”

The trio slowly circled the broken wagons and various corpses, now in a slower, cautious, tighter formation so they could spread out quickly if they needed to. Jumping Thunder nervously glanced both behind him and to the sides while Razor Barbs was scowling while turning his head everywhere, pawing the ground and actively watching the shadows. He was anxious and wanted whatever was going on to happen, so he was daring something to jump out.

“Take a look at this.” Ridge Dasher said, pointing to the trade goods. “They're almost untouched and in perfect condition. The goods were not the target. Except...” He leaned in closer as he saw a large box carved of mahogany covered in bloody symbols. Judging from the condition of the bodies, the symbols were made by using the blood of those killed during this battle.

Ridge Dasher pointed out the symbols directly to Razor Barbs. “What is this? Razor Barbs, you're good at languages... can you translate for me?”

Razor Barbs walked over, bat still in his mouth. He spat it out then turned to read the symbols before turning to his superior. “These are Ruined glyphs. It's a warning to 'stay off our land' and that the goods belong to the land and therefore the Ruined living on the land.”

“So it is a Ruined's doing.” Jumping Thunder said, running a hoof down the side of the box and shuddering. The blood was still wet.

“Not 'a', Jumping Thunder. The Ruined never work alone. We've got real problems if they're this close to base.” Ridge Dasher looked back toward their base.

“We should head back.” Jumping Thunder whimpered.

Just as Ridge Dasher began to agree, they heard a rustling from the bushes and all three of them went on high alert. Ridge Dasher silently did a series of hoof-signals to the other two (even though they weren't much use in a fight) and they tensed, ready to spring in separate directions to flank whatever it was that was emerging. Then, they heard a mare's voice.

“No, Gleam... I don't know where we are, and...”

“A mare?!” Razor Barbs asked in surprise.

“Miss! You're in danger here!” Ridge Dasher called out.

Sunkissed Amber emerged from the bushes looking bruised and sore, with her armor hanging in tatters off of one side of her body after a nasty encounter with a miniature dragon that Gleam had torn to pieces. The rest of her clothes looked travel-stained and in need of more than one good wash. She was pulling Gleam out of the bushes by a leash; the dragon had sat down defiantly and was digging in his claws. He was tired and didn't want to walk any more carrying a heavy harness full of goods. Twister was in the trees watching from above, and silently mocked the dragon as Sunkissed Amber groaned and tugged at the leash. “Come on, Gleam! It's too dark and we need to find an inn, and--”

She never got to finish the sentence. From one of the trees above them, a large, hairy form leapt to the ground between Sunkissed Amber and Razor Barbs. Where he landed, the ground trembled as if a great fist had struck the ground. Gleam jumped back in surprise as Twister took off screeching, and Ridge Dasher growled, summoning up all of his courage.

Between Razor Barbs and Gleam was a pony... or what could have been a pony if he didn't have the blood of multiple animals running through his veins. Fully twice the size of any earth pony they'd ever seen, its muzzle was more bear-ish than pony, while a lion's mane decorated the area around his neck. Thick metallic dragon-like claws grew out of the creature's hooves, and one eye was gone, the wound long scarred over. Its tail was long and bristly like that of a porcupine and had been tied in several thick knots that whipped back and forth when the creature wagged it.

“Miss! Step back! It's a Ruined, and they always have fri--” Ridge Dasher cried.

The others never had a chance to react. Crossbows from the trees were fired as an ambush and everyone scattered. Jumping Thunder was killed almost immediately with a direct hit to the back of the head. Razor Barbs took a shot to a front hoof as Ridge Dasher lunged for Sunkissed Amber, tackling her and pinning her to the ground as he twisted his head to block what shots he could with his shield. With luck the rest of the shots hit the ground in front of them.

Gleam bit down on a quick-release attached to the harness's bridle, and he shook himself out of the harness as the inferior-quality crossbow bolts bounced harmlessly off his scales. With a growl he took to the air and went for the trees, snarling with his claws extended. Before any of them knew it there was a scuffle in the air and other Ruined began dropping out of the trees in surprise. Gleam ricocheted like an enraged pinball, knocking down archer after archer until most of the Ruined who were responsible were laying in heaps at the base of the trees. Some were injured, others had landed on their hooves and were moving to intercept Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber.

“They're surrounding us!” Ridge Dasher growled. He looked back the way they'd come, back toward the base, only to see a second, fresh group of Ruined approaching, each one of them a twisted reflection of the meshing between pony and animal. They were not going to escape.

Gleam exhaled a blast of red-orange flames at the approaching Ruined, arcing his head from side to side and creating a semi-circle of flames that kept them at bay. Both Ridge Danger and Sunkissed Amber backed up while those Ruined to either side of them reached for their melee weapons and prepared to strike. Twister dive bombed one occasionally, but a lucky swing with a club sent him spiraling into the skies squawking in pain.

“We need to move!” Ridge Dasher worriedly cried, offering Sunkissed Amber his hoof.

Razor Barbs suddenly got up and charged at one of the Ruined head on, swinging his bat as hard as he could. The bat connected dead on with the creature's head, but nearly shattered from the impact, breaking in half. The Ruined who had been the target only shook the impact off and snarled a predatory growl. One head-bash later and Razor Barbs was stunned, seeing stars and holding his head as he was knocked to his knees.

“But my supplies, my harness and trade goods...” Sunkissed Amber turned back to look at the harness Gleam had bitten himself loose from.

“Material goods can be replaced. Can a life? Now we run!” Ridge Dasher commanded, helping up Sunkissed Amber to her hooves and turning toward the village at the end of the road. It was still a good thirty five miles there, so they wouldn't make it this night even at a dead run, but if they ran fast enough they might be able to outpace the Ruined. For all their strength, they had very little endurance to go with it. The Ruined were used to surprise ambushes and shock-and-awe tactics, but over a long skirmish their opponents would likely win the day.

For a moment, Ridge Dasher and Razor Barbs' gazes met, and they nodded knowingly to each other knowing what had to be done. Razor Barbs would attract attention (likely at the cost of his life) to give Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber a chance to escape. Ridge Dasher hated to abandon somepony and it burned him inside to just up and leave Razor Barbs... but if he stayed, they'd be killed and that would do nopony any good. Leaving somepony to die was enough to get you kicked out of the military, but Ridge Dasher would take the fall. Given the opportunity to save lives, he was going to take it; if he paused to try and drag Razor Barbs off the rest of the Ruined would swarm, reacting to the quick movement. He knew when to fight and when to run and this was NOT a time to be fighting.

The largest of the Ruined, who'd been the original one to leap down from the trees to announce their presence, started to give chase as they backed up. As Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber ran for their lives, Gleam sniped at the Ruined with small fireballs and using his body to block (and repell) the crossbow fire of those who'd stopped to reload their crossbows. If the bolts had been of any better quality, the little dragon would have been a pincushion.

Not five hundred yards had passed before Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber skidded to a stop; the damn Ruined had previously dug a huge trench across the road and had removed the boards and dirt that was hiding it, cutting off all travel. It would take too long to line up a proper leap over it before the Ruined got to them and it was too long to go around.

Behind them, they could hear Razor Barbs' screams of pain as he was surrounded, though from the sounds of battle, the recruit was giving as good as he got. If he died, he was going to take a lot of the Ruined with him.

The leader of the Ruined slowly approached, murder intent in his single eye. Gleam landed and snarled loudly, daring the creature to take one step further.

“This is it...” Ridge Dasher mumbled, with his shield firmly clasped in his mouth.

Sunkissed Amber undid the rope holding her braids straight and they flopped to the dusty ground with a thump, then she whipped her head up and then forward, sending them shooting forward in the say way a scorpion might sting. During her travels she had thickly knotted both braids at their ends, and while the impacts might not be lethal, they certainly would bruise and be painful for a time. When she swung her head forward, the knots struck the ground with audible thumps, kicking up small clouds of dust. She'd spent a lot of time back on the farm trying to invent a form of self-defense based on her braids, and she was not inexperienced.

Unimpressed by the display, the leader of the Ruined held his ground.

“We're not done yet...” Sunkissed Amber said, stiffening her hooves in resolution.

Gleam snarled again, twisting his body and lashing out with his tail toward the leader of the Ruined as the rest of the leader's group began to approach. He missed, but it was enough to cause the leader of the Ruined to back off briefly. Gleam's tail was just as thick as Sunkissed Amber's braids, and could leave bruises just as severe.

Before the leader of the Ruined could charge, Ridge Dancer caught sight of a beam of light flying through the sky above them, which he recognized as a unicorn teleport spell. Inexperienced in seeing such magic, a bright light from above filled Sunkissed Amber's vision, and when the light cleared she saw that the light had resolved itself into the shape of a unicorn wearing what seemed to be a defensive suit of wooden and brass plates, shifting on their own around her body by means of a series of clockwork gears.

“Take another step, creature... and dearie, ya gonna wish ya didn't!” The new arrival threatened, malice almost noticeably dripping from the pale white aura surrounding her.

Unnatural Nature and Ruin's Rot

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Act 0, Episode 3/5: Prologue 3 of 4: Unnatural Nature and Ruin's Rot

Prey eats grass. Predators eat prey. Then there are those who eat them all...

Sniff sniff sniff...

Time to hunt.

Sniff sniff sniff...

It wouldn't be long now. One of their scouts had caught sight of a caravan moving toward the larger stone den where ponies with spears and shields often left to patrol the road... a road that belonged to Kavesh's clan. The breaking of the smaller set of dens surrounded by a wooden wall would wait; this caravan was far rich in targets to kill for the thrill as well as kill for the night's meal. Fear made meat tasty, while glory from battle also awaited them. They did not care what the caravan was transporting; the caravan “trade goods” would be simply left to rot unless they found something they could figure out how to use in some way. If what they found was dangerous, it would be destroyed instead.

With a growl, Kavesh motioned at the rest of his pack to prepare for the hunt. Kavesh's clan was made up of creatures known as the Ruined... a distinct mix of animal and pony traits twisted into a mockery of life that would give even the strongest warrior and wisest shaman pause or even fear. They themselves called themselves the Koa, short for “Kin-To-Animals”, and calling them the Ruined to their face was only an invitation for destruction.

Some within this tribe were only single-mixes, such as having twisted antlers, a feline-ish appearance, or wicked predatory claws. These were the lowest caste in the society. Some had two or even three mixes within them, showing off combinations like claws and a bird's beak or reptilian eyes plus a crest of bone or armor plating like an armadillo. They were the standard rank and file, neither shunned nor destined for greatness as Kavesh was.

Kavesh had far more animals blended into his being than the average Ruined. Fully twice the size of a normal adult pony, he had the strength and muzzle shape of a bear, the tail of a porcupine, the mane of a lion, and the claws of a dragon all on a giant frame of what could have been a pony if he instead weren't the end result of a few generations of Ruined. Thus, he was chief of the clan, and led his fellows on their nightly hunt. He'd lost an eye early in life to a battle for dominance, but the loss had been worth it. If he could talk, he would go “You should see the other guy.”

They had recently come into possession of a series of crossbows and at risk to each other had learned to shoot with remarkable accuracy. Tonight, they would lay a clever (to Kavesh) ambush from the trees. Once the archers did their job, Kavesh would come to clean things up by getting directly in the face of any who were foolish to not die immediately. The Ruined had learned that if they got too close to the guards it nullified the reach of their spears, and if they shot at them from a distance, the spears would be thrown and therefore dodged. Remove the spears, remove the problem wielding the spears.

Kavesh barked once, sounding like a cross between a lion and a dog, and his war party consisting of about thirty to forty Ruined fell into a slow, predatory single file while slinking off through the brush of the forest. With him at the front, each step was light on their feet and they tested the ground before committing each step. This saved their energy for the incoming assault on the caravan.

It would take a couple of hours to reach the planned spot for the ambush, but they'd reach it long before the caravan they were targeting would, and other tribes of Ruined in the area had left boulders and fallen trees in their path to slow travelers down.

Their first stop was by a shallow, swift stream flowing through a narrow channel in the ground so they could get hydrated before going to hide in the trees. While some of them lapped up the water with feline tongues, others had reptilian or canine tongues to use to drink and still others pawed at the water trying to catch a fish instead.

Just as Kavesh lowered his head to the water to drink, he felt someone... something push him from behind and with a SPLASH he tumbled into the water having been completely taken off guard. Shaking the water out of his ears he looked up to see one of his tribemates, a lower-class calling himself Nish'k, with a goofy grin on his face and an expression that went “Who, me?” Nish'k only had one “mutation”, that of colorful avian plumage in place of what would have been a mane.

Kavesh growled. He was in no mood for a lower-class upstart trying to make him look like a fool in front of the clan, and he glared heavily at Nish'k with his one eye as he slowly pulled himself out of the water. Figuring his tribe leader was going to roar “What was that for?” in his own way, the younger Ruined's smirk faded when Kavesh charged forward directly at him instead, then leapt over his head and slammed his back hooves against the ground, causing the ground to vibrate.

Kavesh's hooves were almost as solid as a boulder, and struck with about as much force, or possibly more since Kavesh was angry. Those standing near to where they impacted the ground were knocked off their own hooves.

Nish'k backed up with his back now to the river. He was in trouble and he knew it; he'd underestimated how much of a bad mood Kavesh was in. He didn't understand that prey had been sparse lately; this caravan would be the chance for meat lasting many days. He'd taken Kavesh's mind off the prize... and not many did that and lived.

Kavesh stood on his front hooves then slammed the ground with his rear ones again in a warning not to cross him, and Nish'k backed up a few paces more, almost slipping into the river himself. He'd seen with his own eyes what those rear hooves could do to another creature several times in his life, be it wild miniature dragon, Ruined, or pony, and he did not want to be on the receiving end of them. He turned his head to the side, trying to avoid Kavesh's gaze.

Kavesh snorted, pawing the ground and debating whether to charge and knock him into the water in a “Let's see how he'd like it!” moment.

Instead Nish'k lowered himself to his knees then rolled over in a sign of submission, and continued to look away.

Kavesh jumped, doing a flip and landing next to Nish'k as his rear hooves smashed the ground at the end of the flip, leaving cracks in a large stone as a final reminder not to anger him.

Nish'k whimpered, but kept his stance and didn't move. If he angered his tribe leader any more, he'd be dead and that would accomplish nothing.

Satisfied he'd put Nish'k in his place, Kavesh turned away and went to the river to drink, completely ignoring him. The rest of the war party gave Nish'k a series of looks, ranging from “are you crazy, is that your problem” to a little bit of awe to a “you've got guts but you're also completely stupid”. A couple of the youngest female members seemed to study him for a moment before they turned back to the waters to drink.

Several minutes later with the clan all watered up, the clan slowly left in single file again to head for their preferred ambush point, moving slightly faster than normal since the incident with Nish'k had delayed them. Kavesh kept his eye on Nish'k the whole way for even the slightest slip-up, but the younger Ruined knew not to antagonize him even more than he already had.

They moved slower the closer they got, in case the caravan was smart and had sent scouts up to watch the road ahead. Kavesh's war party would only get one shot at surprise and if the caravan guards could hold the line thanks to early warning, their prizes would would be denied and any meat and glory would be lost, leaving them laughingstocks to the other Ruined in the aras. Such a loss in battle would reflect badly on Kavesh and would likely cause some of the other hot shots in the clan to attempt to remove him from power and he was in no way going to have that. These were real threats to him, where Nish'k, was more a goofball that constantly made bad political decisions.

Finally, they reached the ambush's chosen location with a good two hours to spare and Kavesh assigned duties to those around him, pointing to various locations while snarling or growling. Many of the clan members climbed into the trees with a small supply of crossbow bolts carved from wood, although the quality of their bolts was so poor that basic leather armor could stop them.

Those whose hooves had claws suited to digging went back along the road to dig a narrow yet deep trench to prevent retreat; this would be concealed by wooden boards covered with dirt that would be removed after the wagon had passed by. While the trench could be leapt, it would take time to line up a good jump and by then anypony giving chase would catch up to them.

Some Ruined were scouts headed towards the bigger stone den where the nasty ponies with weapons came out occasionally to pick fights with them, and Kavesh himself knelt down behind a boulder that was half-buried in the ground between two trees but still within sight of the road. The rest of the Ruined began to set up their little “We've got you now!” sign, a set of four fallen trees with one of their totems in the center.

Then, it was all a matter of waiting.

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“Be on the lookout. The Ruined infest this road, colts and fillies.” said Swift Waters, who was the leader of the wagon's guards. He was addressing his assembled troops. “We need to get these supplies to the base. We're already late thanks to the supplies getting here late, so let's double time it. I don't want to be caught out on the road after the moon has fully risen.”

“Yes sir.” The leader's second in command replied. Behind him were several other guards, all armed with spears, leather armor, and one or two crossbows. The caravan had one wagon filled with trade goods, several villagers who were looking to see their stallions and mares in uniform, an older knight with a bad leg who was to perform some sort of memorial ceremony at the base, and several small children no one was able to find a babysitter for. It was this last situation that had Swift Waters muttering under his breath; foals had no reason to be out on this road!

They didn't pay him enough to watch over little foals while at the same time keeping awareness of his surroundings while watching for the Ruined while watching for traps and dangerous animals.

He still would do his job, though. “Everyone here? All right, listen up!” He called out. “I want the noncombatants close to the wagon. Guards, you spread out at a distance of ten hooves for the inner ring, twenty for the outer ring. Someone help Old Stallion Neckbreaker into the wagon; I don't want him getting hurt. Each of you take sight of one or two of the foals. I don't want them breaching the outer ring. No scouts up ahead; we got sniped the last time and I want us to be able to tighten our rings at the first sign of trouble. They'll have to get through us to get to the wagon.”

The rest of the guards nodded or gave their understanding of their orders, and the wagon slowly began to move out. The road from the village of Waterlock to the Iron Stone Stallion Base was a rocky one, sometimes filled with fallen trees and boulders that the local... troublemakers had put into place. Multiple times the village had asked the base for a garrison or constant patrols, but each time they were told there wasn't enough ponies to go around. “War is brewing in a far land,” they were told, and until then they just had to exercise caution in traveling the roads.

This was of course, where the guards came in.

The sun began to set seemingly quicker than normal as the caravan moved out. The ground seemed unusually hard and uncomfortable to walk on this night, as if the road was trying to repel them or warn them off. As the wagon reached the first of several large boulders placed in their path, lanterns were brought out and the children brought closer to the wagon as they tried to stray out to the nearby bushes to explore.

“Sir, these boulders were placed...” One of the more inexperienced guards said.

“I'm aware of that.” Swift Waters replied. “Even now, I bet we're being watched and prodded for signs of weakness. Just be thankful the Ruined can't use magic. They don't even have unicorns.”

“Who would do such a thing in the first place?” asked another guard before turning and chasing down a filly who had breached both rings.

Swift Waters put a hoof to his face at the ineptness of the outer ring before responding quietly under his breath. “Someone with little to gain in their dark insanity and less to lose.”

A few minutes later the first boulder was bucked to gravel, and they moved on to the second one, and then the third. The going was slow and a cold wind began to spring up as they reached the first of a few fallen trees that had been arranged in a square pattern. Set into the center of the square was a small pillar of rocks with a pony skull balanced on top painted with blood and one unseeing eye still in its socket.

“Get these trees moved out of the way, fast!” Swift Waters called out. “Everyone on guard! We're being watched for sure!”

“We should turn back, sir!” Another guard called out, as the foals saw what was up ahead and knew better than to leave the safety of the guards now.

Swift Waters shook his head. “No. These supplies are late and the base needs them as soon as possible. We need to keep moving! Double pay out of my own saddle bags if we make it before moonset! Get going!”

The guards quickened their pace, focusing first on one tree and then on the next, as a practiced, well oiled group. Three guards were left shielding the group of now-clustered foals, and the tension in the air was thickening. From inside the wagon one could hear Old Man Neckbreaker ask for a battle axe and then be hushed by another, gentler female voice; from behind the wagon the guards that were watching their back were nervously looking at each other and gripping their spears tightly in their teeth. They'd heard the tales of the Ruined, and they didn't want to meet one up close.

“We're down to the last tree, then it should be clear for a while, the road ahead is too hard to dig into and the trees are too thick to be cut down!” Swift Waters called back. “Keep at it! We're almost there!”

From in the shadows of the trees a crimson pony wearing a jester's mask grinned, then leapt out of the trees and silently flew away with only the quiet clicking gears of the clockwork wings attached to his backpack making a sound.

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Kavesh looked around at the carnage and destruction. The guards never had a chance once those with crossbows in the trees had aimed for the foals instead. When the guards had tightened their little defensive rings, the rest of the Ruined had attacked from both sides slowly crushing them and surrounding them in order to heighten the tension and fear. Corpses lay everywhere, weapons were strewn about, the wagon had been overturned and the old man inside had been ripped apart piece by piece, and several of the Ruined were pulling some of the corpses away to serve as the night's meals. Ruined had fast metabolisms, and they had to eat constantly to keep their energy up.

He stopped by the body of Nish'k, who'd been one of the first to fall, slain in battle vs what appeared to be the leader of the wagon guards. He had taunted the guards into attacking him and a trio of smaller Ruined, in order to look like a weak target. When the guards attacked, the Ruined to either side of the road pounced and flanked the guards from behind. This pressed them forward in order to leave an opening for other Ruined to assault from the front. The fact Nish'k had actually proven useful made him feel a little bit guilty about having picked on him earlier over his harmless pranks, and Kavesh mentally noted that he was going to raise a small totem in the goofball's honor later.

He walked around the remains of the wagon, itself being bucked and bitten into pieces small enough to carry off to use in the building of their makeshift, shoddy dens that would make most animals ashamed of them. Pausing by the trade goods, he stopped to briefly examine them. First he poked a box with a hoof, then sniffed at a series of bottles whose scent made his eyes water and himself sneeze. He kicked over a marble bust he thought was ugly, where it shattered on the ground into four pieces.

Picking up a long box and placing it on a couple of the dead bodies, he dipped his claws into their blood and began painting runes on the box in order to leave a reminder to those that found this scene that “We were here”. It was a sort of calling card to inspire fear and tales by those who would encounter this circle of destruction; the runes had little meaning other than markings of ownership, and Kavesh didn't even want the box anyway. Hopefully this carnage would be enough so future groups from the big stone den would leave them alone to harass the village.

As he turned to leave the scene of the battle, his ears perked up. There were more ponies coming up the path... approaching from the direction of the big stone den! He barked a command for those still around to hide, and he himself climbed a tree in order to get ready to ambush.

Hiding safely in the trees, a few minutes later Kavesh saw three ponies emerge into the scene of the battle. This made him pause... why were there only three? Most of the groups from the bigger stone den contained four times that many. Sniffing the air, he tensed his legs and prepared to leap, not about to let good fortune pass him by.

Kavesh watched as the largest of the three ponies, a gray stallion with dark black hair, talk in the sounds the ponies of the bigger stone den liked to use. He seemed to be disappointed in them, and he noticed that one of the three was cross-eyed. This was a flaw that would have earned a foal a swift death were it discovered in his tribe, and it made him pause a second time and relax his legs. The bigger stone den was sending out its weak to be slaughtered, so that its strong would be stronger? This was... troubling... they never did this before. They must be preparing for something. A march on the tribes of the Ruined?

The gray stallion showed the other two the box that Kavesh had marked, and more sounds were exchanged. Kavesh bristled a little bit; the sounds were flowing and soft, making the ponies themselves seem soft. Barks and growls were all one needed... these truly were the weak of the stone den and they needed to die.

Kavesh's attention was diverted when he heard a rustling from the other side of the road, and a younger pony, a light-colored mare, emerged. She was dragging a large miniature dragon on the end of a rope or leash, and sounded like she was growling loudly at it. The dragon wasn't moving; it'd sat down stubbornly. More good fortune for his clan!

Grinning to himself, Kavesh tensed again, preparing to leap.

The gray stallion barely had a chance to shout a warning before Kavesh landed between them, snarling and whipping his tail back and forth. The Ruined who had hung back to assist their tribe leader began to advance from the shadows, and those in the trees fired another volley. The dark blue colt was struck in the back of the head dead on, and staggered forward before falling lifelessly over from the direct hit to the back of his skull.

The gray stallion leapt to the light-colored mare's protection, blocking some shots with a round metal object while the rest of the shots had been aimed poorly and landed in the dirt in front of them. To Kavesh's shock the dragon the mare had been dragging behind her suddenly broke loose and began to attack the Ruined in the trees, bouncing from tree to tree and slashing with claw and fang. Some Ruined fell, others slipped and managed to climb quickly down, and still others had the misfortune of landing on their backs or necks. Some survived paralyzed, while most did not.

While one of the ponies that was left began to swing a metal-studded stick, the other two bolted back toward the ambush trench. Kavesh snarled and gave chase, with several of the other Ruined splitting into two groups. One group went to beat the metal-stick pony into the ground, and the other group followed Kavesh to pursue the two other ponies. When the prey saw they were cornered, Kavesh lowered his head and stared them down with his single eye, snarling as he took in his eventual victory. The dragon that had been with the mare landed and snarled a challenge back at him, but Kavesh was confident that he could take the dragon down on his own.

The light-colored mare undid her hair, and Kavesh saw that the hair had been woven into a thick pair of ropes. The mare launched her head forward trying to seem impressive, and the thick ropes slapped the ground with a pair of thumping sounds.

Kavesh snorted, unimpressed. Those took too long to wind up for a strike, by which time he'd be directly on top of her...

But before he could strike, a flash of light filled his vision and another pony was standing directly in front of them, growling and covered in metal and wood that seemed to move on its own. Kavesh recognized this pony as a warrior, due to the spike in her forehead that showed she was higher ranking in the prey's society. Unsurprisingly this new pony scowled and stood tall, trying to look very threatening. Kavesh backed off for a brief moment to assess her more before looking back at his assembled tribemates; while he could take the dragon down he might have problems with this warrior. He was fearless, but not stupid. He knew when to back off.

Usually.

The warrior pony growled something in their language, and Kavesh could sense the malice behind her words. Still, he was not about to show weakness to his assembled tribe, and those behind him could back him up if somehow he needed help. Whether he did it on his own or he relied on the assistance of his tribemates, the Ruined would not lose this night to defeat!

Kavesh charged full force, roaring.

Sunlight's Dirge, Moonlight's Symphony

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Act 0: Prologue 4 of 4: Episode 4 of 5: Sunlight's Dirge, Moonlight's Symphony

The Sun's glowing providence doesn't hold a candle to the Moon's emotional embrace.

Elsewhere during the attack by the Ruined...

Sunset saw the sounds of nature calm down and slowly go quiet. Birds settled down to rest for the night, while the flora closed up their buds and the fauna headed to their dens for a good night's rest until the new day. As the sun slowly was swallowed up by the horizon, a new set of sounds emerged from nature's heart to overtake the quiet, those of the night's scavengers, predators, and others who made the night their home.

In the middle of a well-kept clearing in the middle of the forest there stood a large cobblestone tower that stretched close to the canopy of the trees. At the base of the tower was a small graveyard, with three graves dug off to its left. The first read “Sunlight Song, 887-898”, showing a mark of a sun surrounded by notes. The second read “Nocturnal Sigh, 885-900”, and had a mark etched onto the gravestone showing three moons suspended over a cloud being pushed by wind.

The last read “Moonlight Silence, 880-910” and showed a mark of a full moon bordered by empty music notation. It was not only empty of occupation, but had also been cleanly opened... from the inside.

Inside the tower at ground level, a large pine coffin slowly opened with a creaking sound that spoke of something unnatural. Inside, its occupant began to stir and stand up, shaking off the cobwebs in her head before climbing out of it and stretching. Her bones popped loudly as she scratched her flank, where death had allowed her cutie mark to fade to a blank slate against the periwinkle, lime green and bright orange stripes of her body that made her look like a technicolor zebra. Her eyes were soulless, empty blank whites that reflected and shone when the light from the lanterns hit them. Her horn remained a pure white, shining against the thin black aura that had seemed to overtake the rest of her body.

Tiredly, the undead mare climbed the circular stairs up to her laboratory, preparing for a night of her favorite pastime: star gazing. She didn't need to feed right away; the two adventurers that had entered her tower the previous night had tried to ambush her and she'd made short work of them. The larger of the two she'd fed on until he was a lifeless husk and the smaller of the two had been crushed under her supernatural strength. She'd chosen not to raise either of the two as zombies or thralls; they'd fought well and if luck had been on their side they might have won the conflict. Eternal rest was its own reward.

Opening the door to her laboratory, she wrinkled her nose at the smell of death. Having survived the change from death to undeath, she had gained stronger senses, one of which was a heightened sense of smell. One of the former adventurers lay in the corner as an empty husk of its former self, having been ripped open through the spine. Due to the undead mare's magic, it was decomposing supernaturally fast. The mare had had to work fast to make herself a golem from the adventurer's blood; just because she was going to let the soul rest didn't mean that she was going to let the blood go to waste.

“Were there any problems during th' day?” The mare asked the corpse.

The blood that still present within the body slowly floated out of the enormous hole in the center of the corpse's back of its own accord, then shaped itself into the rough shape of a pony with black dots for eyes. “No, Madame Moonlight Silence.” The voice was deep and eerie, with the blood itself vibrating all along its surface area to produce the sound instead of coming from any sort of “normal” vocal cords.

“Return ta guard duty, dearie.” Moonlight Silence commanded.

“Yes, Madame Moonlight Silence.”

Turning away from the corpse, the lich then turned to her chemistry experiments. On a large table neatly arranged into rows with pieces of wood, chemicals bubbled, beakers leaked steam and fog, and a tiny hoof-sized cauldron was storing the results of mixtures from other beakers that were attached by means of little glass tubes. The elixir she was brewing was not quite done yet, but when it was she'd have a weapon to use against her eternal enemies who had wronged her so many years ago when she was still alive. Now that she did not age, she had all the time in the world and the descendants of her enemies were going to suffer.

She took a sip of the liquid in the tiny cauldron, one eye opening all the way and the other squinting to a near closed state as her crimson mane lit up with static electricity. Strong stuff, but the liquid wasn't strong enough yet. She shook her head to clear it as she next went to her reading table, upon which were several open books listing several areas of research. Some books talked about how the blood flowed through an equine body, other books detailed the effects of electricity, and still others discussed the philosophical nature of the soul... or how its “energy” could be manipulated by electricity directed at a pony's body in different, focused locations.

One book in particular spoke of the soul-catching powers of a magical sculpture known as the Dragon's Heart. The picture in the book showed a sculpture of a dragon with two sets of wings and overly comical googly eyes that were made of a material or mineral that stood out from the material of the body. Only nine were made “by the gods” for each continent, and she was in the process of trying to find where one of them was hidden.

The last three times she had gone out to the locations listed in the book, she'd found only empty space where it was obvious some military presence had bashed their way in. Someone or something was after the Dragon's Hearts, probably for the power they wielded if they were all charged and brought across the continent, back to their original source of power. This source was an underground ancient city in the Muial'ki lands, in the heart of Trol'Kyanis.

She paused at the book, skimming it. This time she was sure the Dragon's Heart was still in its protective monster-filled vault, and she was going out to claim it once she knew what sort of creatures were in that vault. To that end she'd sent out her thralls to gather information from passerby as well as sneak into the village of Waterlock and listen to any unusual ponies of interest that might be passing through.

As she turned her head from the book, there came a loud pounding from the front door of the tower, with the sound reverberating up the tower's insides and amplifying it. Her thralls were not due back for another three days, so the only other option it could be was another adventuring party demanding she submit to true death “as was proper.” At this she scoffed; she was not going to be stopped until her lust for wrath was sated in the same way her nightly blood lust was when it was time to feed.

She poked her head out of the window to look down at who was banging on her door, and she was surprised to see that it was not an adventuring party, but what appeared to be a traveling merchant of some kind. A small wooden wagon filled with boxes was nearby, and the yoke used in helping to pull the wagon was still around the pony's neck. It was an older stallion, and from what she could see, he was exhausted. A pony looking for a place to rest the night?

Perhaps she'd feed early after all...

She went down the stairs while preparing and then casting a simple spell that would restore her coat to her original honey-gold. She could not hide the fact her eyes were still dead, however, and she hoped he wouldn't run too fast when he saw that she in fact was dead, or rather, undead. Once she reached the bottom of the tower she opened the door to look at the stallion face to face. He had an eye patch painted to look like a bullseye and over two dozen scars along his left side and flank; it looked like he had been the victim of some kind of torture in the past. His other eye was heavy with exhaustion, and he looked almost ready to drop to the ground dead tired.

“Can you spare a room, miss? I'm so tired and...” He quieted down quickly as he met her gaze.

No. Moonlight Silence's inner voice said. He is innocent. He lives. She was able to sense the shadows in a person's heart, and those who were truly innocent deserved to live a long and full life.

“Ya, I can spare th' lower room of mah tower. It's a dungeon but I ain't got anywhere else ta spare. What can ya offer in exchange?” Moonlight Silence said, voice slightly hollow and exotically feminine as her horn glistened briefly with magic. Pupils appeared in her eyes, a deep supernatural green with orange fire. “Mah apologies if I am... different, dearie.” She looked over at the wagon and its goods.

“You're... you're not even breathing...” The stallion took a step back.

“Yes, dear.” Moonlight Silence gave a wry smile, showing tiny fangs.

The stallion found his feet, eyes wide open. “I... I think I'd better go...”

“Do ya have ta, dearie? We were gettin' along so well.” Moonlight Silence replied, rolling her eyes. She never got to have any fun.

He cast the yoke off with a quick gesture and bolted, abandoning the wagon. “I choose to live! I choose life!”

When he hit the edge of the clearing, Moonlight Silence gestured, and the very weeds at the edge of the clearing bent inward and tried to entangle his legs. All it really did was slightly slow him down as he saw it coming, leaping the animated grass and running for his life toward the nearby village of Waterlock. He'd never make it before the sun came up, but he'd live; Moonlight Silence had better things to do than chase down someone who had “seen her and survived to tell the tale.” One of her supernatural skills was the generation of fear (or at least respect), and the weak-willed had next to no chance of resisting it.

Dropping the appearance spells so that she reverted back to her clashing stripes, she went back upstairs with a little spring in her step; she'd look at the wagon of supplies later in the evening and pick and choose the best pieces before making sure the stallion was reunited with the wagon. While she was undead, she was not evil, and was not just going to hoard everything for the sake of hoarding everything. She probably didn't even have enough room to store all of the goods in the wagon anyway.

Going back to her books, she skimmed more passages on the Dragon's Hearts. Nine had been created for each continent of the world, and if all were brought together, the soul of an ancient dragon could be brought forth if a suitable vessel crafted from gemstones (both in scale and in value) were available. Each Dragon's Heart had to be charged with the power of an innocent soul in order to be effective, and she planned on using one of the victims of her wrath as the desired soul. The mere thought of it made her giddy as she imagined her target eternally screaming while locked inside the statuette.

However if even one uncharged Dragon's Heart were replaced in their place of original creation in the lands of Trol'Kyanis, the interconnected Dragon's Hearts would lose power for a thousand years, consuming any souls currently trapped within them. She had to work fast to try and somehow keep track of the others, and if any were in or headed to Trol'Kyanis for that purpose.

Her studies had led her to learn of a place called the Shadow's Dive, a huge network of abandoned sewers underneath a failed city-turned necropolis thanks to a plague. Somewhere at the center of the network was an altar with the Dragon's Heart on it, and she was going to get it come hell or high sewer water.

But that would have to wait for a little while longer. Tonight she was going to relax and stargaze to her heart's content, dreaming of a time where the descendants of her rivals would be destroyed and she could finally rest. She passed by a few paintings on the way up the stairs leading to the top of the tower, with each painting showing a noble-looking mare or stallion through the ages.

She paused by the last three; the third from the end of the sequence showed a very wealthy mare surrounded by coins and gems. The entire painting had a big “X” painted over it in blood; Moonlight Silence still had the woman's bones hidden in a chest under her tower and had made sure her spirit was cursed within them until they turned to dust naturally. The second-to-last was a military stallion wearing highest honors, with the plaque underneath the portrait reading “Steel Ironhooves.” This was the stallion that had wronged her, leaving her embarrassed at the altar... and in enough despair to turn to darker arts.

That was two centuries ago. By now she knew it to be nothing more than petty revenge and a hollow victory if a victory at all, but she had come too far and was going to see to it that somepony, anypony related to Steel Ironhooves suffered. And she knew just the pony to be the target.

Since then she had followed the family line, watching from the shadows as the ponies of that line always got the better of the ponies from her family. With her descendants in ruins and theirs constantly on the rise, all she was doing was laying in wait for them to flock to a particularly charismatic pony... so that when she stepped in, the entire family would fall with the destruction of that single chink in the armor.

She passed by the last painting in the sequence, tapping on it with a hoof and smiling just a little before opening the trap door to the tower's roof. The portrait's plaque read “Triangle Star”.

At the top of the tower she had a little telescope set up next to a small table upon which lay her journal of observations. From the brass that made up the scope's outer shell to the mirrors and quartz inside the scope to focus the image, the telescope had been made by her own four hooves and was priceless to her. It was small enough to be carried in a large saddlebag if broken down into its component parts and she never traveled far without it if possible.

“All right, my starry sky,” Moonlight Silence said to herself. “Let's see what we...”

As she peered through the eyepiece, focusing on the trees below before turning it towards the heavens, she caught sight of the trees moving in an unusual way, as if something were being pushed against several of them so that they bent and shook from side to side. The amount of activity going on down there gave her pause, then she focused in on the trees and then to the road winding between the trees.

She caught sight of a war party of Ruined laying utter waste to a caravan that had been surrounded, and she gasped as she also caught sight of one particularly bright-colored Ruined in the trees aiming at the caravan. The Ruined fired, striking... a foal?! Sure enough, several other foals lay dead from the Ruined's accuracy.

Moonlight Silence felt a growl rise up in her throat. She might be undead, she might want some people dead and a family ruined simply out of petty spite... but under no circumstances was there ever a reason to shoot a defenseless foal who had not fully experienced life! Focusing more intently now, she watched the battle and put particular emphasis on the guards. The guards were simply outmatched in strength, numbers and tactics, inexperienced fools that were kind of put off by the appearances of the Ruined. This was having a big effect on their effectiveness to the point that they just couldn't compete.

The lich sighed. This night, victory would go to the Ruined.

But not before she fed on them herself!

The anger now welling inside her was making her hungry, and she went back down into her laboratory, going over to a large iron-and-brass studded wooden chest. Inside was her favorite suit of clockwork armor, invented by her own hooves. Built from wood, brass and somewhat poor-quality iron, it was crude compared to other creations in the current day, but it still worked as well as when she'd first invented it back when she was among the living.

She quickly slipped into the armor. Thanks to a series of clever gears and chains, the plates moved about on their own all over her body to cover vital areas. Some parts of her body were left unprotected, making the armor seem patchwork and piecemeal, but this was the intended effect so her adversaries would underestimate her. Finishing off the look with some flank-plates and a bubblegum-pink velvet beret to continue the theme of clashing colors, she instructed the blood golem to watch the laboratory and that she would be back shortly.

She quickly rushed back up to the top of the tower after grabbing her favorite melee weapon from a lab table. The hoof-sized sickle was made of a special bright orange metal she'd discovered that would not break and would only strengthen and become sharper when exposed to blood. She hated to dirty her hooves with melee, but knew far more about self defense than the guards of that caravan did.

Putting herself into a combatative mood, she prepared a teleport spell that would bring her behind the wagon several hundred meters. “Time to get dirty...”

Her horn sparked as she cast the spell, her form taking on the appearance of a beam of neon blue light that began to wind its way through the sky. The teleport was over in an instant, and she opened her eyes at the end of the spell to see that she was facing down the largest Ruined she had ever seen. Obviously the chief of the war party or even of the tribe(s) in the area, the Ruined was already in a stance ready to charge. Moonlight Silence turned her head to see a pair of surprised, uneducated lower class ponies. One of them was a guard from the nearby base that she recognized (from her scouting of the area), and the other one a mare she didn't recognize.

As the chieftain of the Ruined snarled, Moonlight Silence turned back to address him in as cold a voice as she could muster. “Take another step, creature... and dearie, and ya gonna wish ya didn't!” Her normally dark unnatural aura flared a brilliant white for a few seconds so that she seemed more threatening.

The huge Ruined staring her down didn't look one bit intimidated and pawed the ground once before charging, having already committed to his actions beforehand.

Moonlight Silence's horn glowed briefly, and a shield of white energy sprang up to deflect his charge. The Ruined slammed face first into the shield, and the air was torn asunder by a screech of pain. The shield was tied to her horn with a short ribbon of light, and when the Ruined chieftain crashed headlong into it, the ribbon brightened as it sucked precious energy and life force from where the point where the Ruined had collided with it.

Two more Ruined flanked her with large sticks in their mouths, and charged believing they had the drop on her as the shield wasn't all-encompassing. Moonlight Silence stood up on her rear hooves and held her front hooves out, and the same white aura that had covered her was instead transferred in equal portions to either one of the Ruined. Both of them appeared to be swallowed by the aura, until one could see that it was actively eating away at both flesh and life force. Both of the Ruined dropped dead after several seconds, without even a chance to scream in pain as the aura that had surrounded them had paralyzed them.

The chieftain backed off, clearly both surprised and a little confused. The aura of Moonlight Silence flowed back to her like water from the corpses of the other Ruined, and she got back down on all hooves again as it brightened. Then Moonlight Silence saw it, the beginnings of either respect or fear. The years in their passing made the two hard for Moonlight Silence to tell apart.

Kavesh was rooted to the spot, his gaze locked with those terrible, cold dead eyes. He found that he couldn't move as the pony started to approach, and he slowly felt his adrenaline turn to something he hadn't felt in a long, long time: Fear. This pony was... wrong. Unnatural. Dead! And yet she was approaching, with dead eyes, a predatory grin that rivaled his at his best, and unnatural hooves that almost seemed to be darkening the ground as she walked on it, like the land itself was being poisoned.

He wanted no part of that, and struggled to look away.

“Now, dearie. What did I tell ya about regret?” Moonlight Silence asked.

Kavesh growled. He'd meant to snarl or roar, but he was feeling a bit tired from the impact against her shield. The white burning light had sapped his strength and he didn't want to feel that again!

The rest of the tribe began to slowly approach, and Moonlight Silence looked up with a beastial snarl. “If ya want ta remain among the livin', stay BACK!”

She laid a hoof on Kavesh's head, and he dropped, yelping as his life energy was drained and he was left feeling more and more tired. He struggled to remain on his hooves but found he was beginning to buckle.

The rest of the tribe paused and looked at one another. Here was something against the law of nature, destroying their chief and leader without a second thought. The two ponies behind her were weak, barely able to defend themselves. One was using a weighted lump of metal, the other was using her hair of all things... to leave them alive would be an insult to their tribe and a stain on their glory.

There was no way they were going to let that stand.

The tribe charged as an organized group, aiming to go around their injured leader and overwhelm through sheer numbers. That shield of light couldn't protect the unnatural pony forever, and then they'd kill all three and use their skulls as gnaw-toys for their young!

Moonlight Silence, now energized, turned to the two ponies behind her, releasing her hold on Kavesh who by now was on the ground exhausted and nearly paralyzed, his life energy drained and making him feel like he'd run thirty miles in one day. “Time ta go, dearies!”

Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber looked at each other before Moonlight Silence repeated the spell she had used to get there in the first place. Expanding her area of effect a bit, her teleport spell enveloped Kavesh, Ridge Dasher, Sunkissed Amber, and Gleam, along with the supplies and such that were attached to his harness nearby. Five beams of light: light blue, dark gray, amber, white-flecked green, and dark gold, shot up into the sky and wormed and twisted their way back to Moonlight Silence's tower. Without access to magic, the Ruined could not follow.

Kavesh wound up in a cage in the laboratory. The first thing his eyes saw when the light cleared from them was the blood golem, and he was left paralyzed with fear. Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber wound up in the dungeon below, in separate cells with barely enough room to turn around in. Gleam appeared hanging from the ceiling by his tail, which had been knotted up and hung on a hook. Struggling and growling, he found he couldn't move; he was hogtied from head to tail with thin silver strings enchanted to be unbreakable. For the moment he was out of commission.

A single bleached pony skeleton lay in pieces around the outside edges of the cells, its skull cut neatly into two parts, and manacles hung from the walls where another near-skeletal pony corpse could be seen hanging upside down by their hind legs. Moonlight Silence appeared at the top of the tower, and took a minute or two to make sure she was in one piece before going downstairs to greet her... guests... after taking the time out to rifle through Sunkissed Amber's trade goods and supplies which were neatly piled in another corner. She came across the silver rod, the letter from Honor's Edge, and the (uncharged) Dragon's Heart itself.

“Hmmmmm. These dearies will be...” Moonlight Silence licked her lips. “Very interesting.”

Down in the dungeon Sunkissed Amber blinked as she shook off the shock of the teleport, then as she looked upward her jaw dropped at Gleam's situation.

“Uh... what just happened?” Ridge Dasher asked, looking over at her.

A Fragile Party Alchemy

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Act 0: Episode 5 of 5: A Fragile Party Alchemy

Just because your goals align doesn't mean that you'll see eye-to-eye or be friends.

“GLEAM!” Sunkissed Amber cried out in surprise, looking up at him. The dragon struggled for a moment, but all he could do was hang there since the strings were too tight and too strong.

“We've got to get out of here. Did you see her eyes?” Ridge Dasher said.

“No, why?” Sunkissed Amber asked, kicking at the lock of her cage. It was too sturdy to be kicked open, and all her kicks were doing were rattling the bars.

“She's dead, or couldn't you tell.” Ridge Dasher replied, testing the lock of his own cage with a more focused, military-style kick. The lock held.

“Dead?” Sunkissed Amber asked. “That's silly. She was still moving around when she...” Her voice trailed off as she recalled just what she had done to the Ruined. “... when she gave those creatures a good beating!”

“You should have seen her eyes, miss.” Ridge Dasher laid down in the cage, folding his front hooves over one another. “And now we're her prisoners! Can you imagine what she is capable of or what she might do to us?”

“If I can get Gleam down, we should be fine. I haven't seen anything yet that he wasn't able to defend me from.” Sunkissed Amber protested. In response, Gleam struggled but couldn't break loose and so all he did was swing from side to side.

“We've got to get out of here first.” Ridge Dasher replied, ears perking as he heard hoofsteps coming down the stairs. “Let me do the talking, all right?”

“No!” Now Sunkissed Amber was annoyed. “I want answers. I want to know just where we are, why Gleam is tied up like that, and what those creatures were.” Her train of thought was interrupted as the door slowly opened with a rusty shrieking sound that made both of them put their hooves over their ears.

“I didn't know this prison allowed visitations.” Ridge Dasher grumbled, spouting off a one-liner before he knew it. He clamped down on his muzzle with a hoof after that; he was attempting to cure himself of the habit by going into the military in the first place.

The door shut, their hostess turning and locking the door before turning back to look at both Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber. “Dearie, ta answer ya questions, you are below mah tower, ya pet dragon was a threat what with being as large as he is, and those 'creatures' were th' Ruined... creatures nopony usually walks away from without significant injuries. Mah name is Moonlight Silence.” Her gaze turned to Ridge Dasher, who now was back on his hooves and watching her coldly. “Ya might know mah family as th' Sundivers.”

Ridge Dasher cocked his head, recalling his history. “The Sundivers? Aren't they all but wiped out or shunned thanks to corruption?” The Sundivers were a once-well regarded family of entertainers and storytellers, now only spoken of in hushed tones. Rumors suggested they'd fallen from grace due to supernatural corruption.

Moonlight Silence gave him a cold smile. “It was ya current... 'family' that put 'em there, so many years ago.” The memories welled up and her dead eyes seemed to shine with an angry, almost feral gleam that rivaled Kavesh's. “Your military leaders ruined mah ancestors.”

“Oh, let me guess, you've come back from the dead to teach them their place.” Ridge Dasher did not look impressed. Sunkissed Amber looked at Ridge Dasher, then at Moonlight Silence, then back at Ridge Dasher, head bouncing from side to side as if following a bouncing ball.

“It is a bit cliché, but yes. Yes ah have.” She turned away from him. “Ah haven't seen ya before, but... hmmmm.”

Moonlight Silence stepped in front of Sunkissed Amber's cage, as if to size her up.

“Let us out of here and get Gleam down from there! I promise he won't hurt you.” Sunkissed Amber whined.

“He also won't hurt me if he remains tied up.” Moonlight Silence looked like she was about to say something else, but held her tongue. Gleam snarled and struggled some more, but couldn't break through the enchantment of the silver strings. For the moment, he was out of action.

“Watch ya tongue, dragon. I can speak draconic and that kind of obscenity will not be tolerated here.” Moonlight Silence looked straight up at the dragon, whose rage was evident behind his eyes.

“The only obscenity to anything around here is the fact you exist.” Ridge Dasher said.

Moonlight Silence whirled on him and her horn glowed briefly, picking him up and throwing him against the wall of the cage. “Ah have no love for th' military, dearie. Ya organization is part of why ah exist. Ya would be wise not ta annoy me when ah can send ya back in as many pieces as ah want.”

“You can count beyond a couple of pieces?” Ridge Dasher asked, childishly sticking out his tongue.

Moonlight Silence put him down, ignoring him. “You, mare.”

“My name is Sunkissed Amber...” Sunkissed Amber growled. “Let Gleam go and we'll leave you alone.”

“But he won't. His military buddies will come after me, and I can't have 'em ruining my plans before luring his superiors halfway across th' world ta destroy them...” Moonlight Silence replied as her gaze shifted to Ridge Dasher. “How soon do ya think it will be before they come looking for ya, hmmm?”

Ridge Dasher snorted. “They won't. They're too dumb not to think the three of us perished in the Ruined attack.”

“There were three of you?” Moonlight Silence asked.

Ridge Dasher nodded. “It was my job to watch over them. It was...” He paused, remembering what had happened to Jumping Thunder and how that death would be on his permanent record back at the base once he got back to give his report.

“A little survivor guilt, dearie?” Moonlight Silence grinned, showing her little fangs.

“We've done nothing! Just let us go and we'll be on our way.” Sunkissed Amber said.

“Nonsense dearie. If ah take a prisoner with me ta Trol'Kyanis, it will give 'em a reason ta chase me. Especially if they think he has important intel...” Moonlight Silence ferally replied, giving Ridge Dasher a wicked grin. “With th' right intel... or implied information, it can be a powerful motivator.”

Sunkissed Amber paused. “You're going to Trol'Kyanis too?”

Moonlight Silence's head shot up and she turned to her.

“You were going in the exact opposite direction...” Ridge Dasher grumbled.

Moonlight Silence was intrigued. “Explain.”

Sunkissed Amber explained the situation, deciding that honesty was the best route to take. Her father didn't raise her to be a liar and she didn't have anything to lose by hiding the truth.

She explained everything from the time she'd gone to the Waypoint only to find her father's letter, to the fact she had to go to Triple Hooves, to the fact she'd gotten lost during a brief storm that had turned her around, to the wild animals that had attacked her that Gleam her to fight off constantly, up to coming out onto the road to see Ridge Dasher and Razor Barbs attempting to teach the Ruined to play nice with others.

“You have a most interesting story, miss Amber.” Moonlight Silence said when the mare was finished. “Had ah not have gone through ya things before comin' down here and had read the letter mah self, ah would have accused ya of lyin'. Ya goals and mine align in that ah want to lure this stallion's handlers and masters ta their doom and ya need to go ta 'visit' ya sister.”

“What is another pony doing in that sand pit? Trol'Kyanis is a wasteland!” Ridge Dasher grumbled.

“Buck if I know.” Sunkissed Amber shrugged.

Moonlight Silence smiled. “Then there is th' fact ya family is... nobility, or so it seems, and were ah still alive ta value th' shiny gold ya use ta trade with each other, ah could have ya ransomed for a good price. Ah have no need for gold now, but tempting th' Commodore by putting the idea in his head might be something ta do...” She looked up at Gleam, who'd fallen silent all this time and was just glaring at her, smoke almost pouring out of his nostrils like a river.

“Why don't you just teleport us all there?” Ridge Dasher asked. “You seemed to come to us in the blink of an eye earlier.”

“Ah'm not dumb enough ta start a war, dearie. Are you? The Commodore on the other hoof, is, especially since he's gotten it in his head ta attempt a takeover.”

“And what makes you say that?” Ridge Dasher was skeptical.

“Because he's been lookin' for powerful artifacts, two of which this young mare carries in her supplies.” Moonlight Silence sneered at him. “One is the Dragon's Heart... there's more than just one, ya know, and they hold great, great power. The other is th' Rod of Abstraction.”

“The what?” Ridge Dasher cocked his head, then looked at Sunkissed Amber.

Moonlight Silence pulled Sunkissed Amber's rod from behind her back. “I'll leave it to ya to witness it then.” She pointed it at the lock of Sunkissed Amber's cage. “KEY!”

The area in front of the lock lit up with a sparkly red radiance, and a faint rainbow of colors played over the lock before the red light formed itself into the shape of a key. With a click, the cage was open and Sunkissed Amber was free.

“DISK!” Moonlight Silence cried out, and the key flattened to a razor thin disc of red energy that began to ricochet off the walls, controlled by the rod as she waved it around. It neatly sliced through the dragon's bonds, and Gleam struggled to un-knot his tail so he wouldn't be left hanging around. He opened his wings with a snarl at Moonlight Silence and spat a ball of fire directly at her.

“SHIELD!”

The disk paused in mid-air over Moonlight Silence's head, then flattened even thinner and blossomed out, forming an impenetrable shield that absorbed the force of the fire, rendering the dragon's attack ineffective. Gleam got himself loose and folded up his wings, pouncing like a cat on the lich from mid-air.

“NET!”

The shield hollowed itself out to take on the appearance of a net, and Moonlight Silence sent the net (now filled with one angry, struggling dragon) against the wall, where it stuck to the wall, Velcro-style. Gleam couldn't bite through it; it was like biting through thick plastic.

Moonlight Silence dropped the effect once Gleam had exhausted himself to the point that he could no longer move. “Th' rod has the ability ta take concepts, and turn 'em into physical form. One-word only commands, and an example of whatever is depicted also vanishes from th' face of reality, completely erased. It can also take other ideas, such as a color or a number, and do... something with them, but what it is is always different whenever it is tried. It's risky.”

“Riskier than traveling with an abomination like you?” Ridge Dasher asked.

Moonlight Silence ignored him. “Ya could say th' number nine and point it at a boulder... ya might get nine identical boulders under your command, ya might get a nine-hoof tall stone golem. Th' rod is not without its dangers. How did ya end up with this, miss Amber?”

“My father, Honor's Edge.” Sunkissed Amber said, glancing at Ridge Dasher. “Can you let him go now, please?”

Moonlight Silence arched both eyebrows. “I'd heard he adopted. Ya really are his adopted child?” She thought back to the letter. “Death claims a hero. Hmmmm.”

Gleam picked himself up and stared Moonlight Silence down. She ignored him.

“Yeah, can I go now, please?” Ridge Dasher whined.

After about a minute, Moonlight Silence released Ridge Dasher. “Miss Amber, out of respect for ya father's past heroism, ah will accompany ya ta Trol'Kyanis. Ya have mah word of honor that no harm will come to ya and ah will not let mah personal petty revenge plot come between ya and your own goals. That doesn't mean ya shouldn't stay out of mah way when th' fur flies.”

“I'd rather not. I can do this on my own.” Sunkissed Amber stoically replied. “You said it yourself just a minute ago. You went through my things, without my permission I might add. The letter specifically says I have to go alone into Trol'Kyanis.”

Moonlight Silence scoffed. “Then ya disembark off a ship alone, and we will follow ya thereafter

after about an hour. You'll need help both getting there and defending yourself, whether ya like it or not. The Commodore has friends in many places, and ah don't think Ridge Dasher here...”

“How did you know my name?” Ridge Dasher tensed, the same way Blazing Wheel always did.

Moonlight Silence smirked at him. “Ya don't think ah don't pay attention ta who's on base, do ya dearie? Ah want the Commodore's head on a pike, or his skull as a staff adornment. Ah know who is and who is not on base as well as ta some of what they are up ta. As ah said, th' right intel does wonders.”

Ridge Dasher shook his head. “I want no part of this. I need to finish my training and get back to base to give a report.”

“Which th' Commodore will use against ya, dearie.” Moonlight Silence was smug. “Ya survived the Ruined. Admit it, you were out of your element. It was obvious he wanted ya out of the way, and wouldn't ya agree you'll learn more through real-world experience, rather than through rote and ritual?”

Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber exchanged looks as Moonlight Silence passed the rod back to Sunkissed Amber. “Let's go upstairs and plan for a proper expedition. You have something he wants, and that will be our lure.”

“What does he want?” Ridge Dasher asked.

“The Dragon's Heart.” Moonlight Silence replied.

Gleam slowly trailed after them, growling and grumbling and stalking the undead pony like a cat the entire way. He would have struck again but he didn't want to see what else the striped pony was capable of.

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

“I keep forgetting that mortals sleep.” Moonlight Silence said after a couple of hours of explaining her existence, then planning and plotting alongside the reluctant Ridge Dasher and tired Sunkissed Amber. Kavesh in the meantime had curled up in his cage, keeping his head turned away from the blood golem so that he wouldn't see it. “Ah don't sleep, not anymore. Ah relax in mah crypt, but it's not th' same.” Outside, dawn was just beginning to break.

“I'm sure it's an uneventful repose.” Ridge Dasher grumbled, not happy about being dragged into the situation.

Moonlight Silence's only response was to shove a map of the lands in his face. “Fine, mister guard, you find us a clear path ta th' coast so we can go overseas. For your information, it's not as relaxing as ah made it sound. Remember, your... kind... made me.”

Ridge Dasher scoffed, imitating Moonlight Silence. “You made yourself. It was you who got angry at being left at the altar. You fell to darker powers. You...”

“Ah didn't fall.” Moonlight Silence said quietly, looking insulted. “Ah will have mah revenge that ah couldn't in life, petty or not.”

“And what happens after? What happens if in nine-hundred and ninety nine centuries you're still at it? Will it have mattered at all?” Ridge Dasher was tired of Moonlight Silence's self-assuredness that she'd be successful.

“Dearie, it will matter to me, which is what's important. Then ah can rest.” Moonlight Silence shot back, undisturbed by such a thought. “Ah could use the Dragon's Heart that miss Amber carries to entrap ya, you know.”

Sunkissed Amber's head was spinning over the revelations and explanations. Between Gleam slinking about and sniffing anything within range, Ridge Dasher's constant snark and Kavesh's snarling, she couldn't concentrate enough to form a complete sentence, much less ask for a bedroll or some fresh hay to lay in. She just wanted to sleep.

She'd had a hard time wrapping her mind around the legends and power around the Dragon's Hearts. She'd also been surprised at the power of the rod, and she knew her father had done some amazing things but never in her mind did she think that he would have earned such a powerful artifact.

“You want me to get us to the coast? Fine. But first, put me in touch with my superior officer back at the base. That's not too much to ask with your magic, is it?” Ridge Dasher asked, then he hooked his hoof to point behind him at Kavesh. “We releasing that thing before we go? His tribe killed my charges. No, they were my friends.”

“No, we're taking him with us. Call him... insurance, perhaps. Besides, his perspective is something we might need. His simple-mindedness and feral heart adds a proper dose of muscle to the group, don't ya think?” Moonlight Silence replied, pulling a small circlet from a drawer.

“Insurance?” Ridge Dasher rolled his eyes. “The only thing he'd be insurance against is a few good swift kicks before somepony threw him off a cliff.”

“Ya vastly underestimate th' power of stupid muscle.” Moonlight Silence replied, placing the circlet upon Kavesh's head. Her horn lit up with magic, and there was a sizzling sound as the circlet began to literally melt into the top of Kavesh's head, causing him to screech in pain.

“What did you do that for!?” Sunkissed Amber cried. “Torture doesn't help anypony!”

“This will keep him under control. If he acts against me ah can just heat the metal some more until he behaves.” Moonlight Silence then whirled, turning on Kavesh. “Ya can understand me now, ya beast. Ah know you can, and that ya can now respond ta us. Ah didn't research that spell randomly, ya know.”

Kavesh tried rubbing a paw over the now-melted metal to try to remove it, but the damage had already been done and he'd have permanent burn scars later even if somepony else healed the damage and removed the metal. “You... EVIL! Not nature!” He growled, pausing as he heard the pony words come from his mouth. This made him even angrier; they were forcing him to speak in their words. It wasn't right and he WOULD end the magic pony.

“Good, animal. Ya can understand me. Ah wasn't sure if the enchantment was going ta work or not.” Moonlight Silence replied. “Now, ya have a choice. Ya can come with us and assist me, or...” Her horn glowed and another field of life draining energy appeared in front of her, which she pressed against the bars of the cage.

Kavesh backed up as much as the cage would allow. “I EAT YOU! You die!” He threatened, but fear was in his eyes.

“Stop it!” Sunkissed Amber said. “He doesn't deserve to be forced to go!”

“That still doesn't excuse what he did to my friends.” Ridge Dasher growled.

They weak.” Kavesh growled back at him. “Weak die. Strong eat weak.”

Moonlight Silence licked her lips at him. “And you're not weak for failing to kill me, dearie?”

He snarled back in response.

“That's it, I've had enough.” Sunkissed Amber said. “I'm going to go to sleep and in the morning we can talk this over like not-so-stressed civilized ponies.”

“We still haven't...” Moonlight Silence began to say.

Sunkissed Amber balanced herself on one front hoof and spun her body, twisting her body and launching herself forward. Aiming so that she was able to slap her rear hooves together, she aimed at the lich's head. There was a CRUNCH as both hooves impacted Moonlight Silence's head, and her eyes almost popped out of their sockets as she dropped. Sunkissed Amber had struck both of her temples at the same time and the force of the blow could have killed Moonlight Silence if she hadn't already been dead to begin with.

“I said I've had enough. I'll go through with this, if only because what you've explained about the Dragon's Heart means that they should be deactivated. Summoning a dragon is power no pony should have and this Commodore of Ridge Dasher's sounds way too drunk with power that doesn't belong to him. Now I'm going to sleep for a few hours and you're not going to stop me, got it?” Sunkissed Amber said almost in a commanding voice. “And you won't kill me, you need me for the political value on your own little quest.”

Kavesh and Ridge Dasher exchanged looks as Moonlight Silence slowly got to her hooves.

“Ah didn't think ya were a fighter. Don't anger me, girl.” Moonlight Silence's voice dripped with venom. “Ah can do this on mah own.”

Sunkissed Amber picked up the Dragon's Heart, which was laying next to a pair of maps, her eyes sparking. She had had it with the lich. “Gleam!”

The dragon perked up, having kept his distance.

Sunkissed Amber opened a window before turning back to look at him. “Fetch, then hide in the nearest village until things cool down!” She hurled the Dragon's Heart out the window, and Gleam dove for it while flipping Moonlight Silence off on the way out with his rear claws. Snatching it out of the air, he began to wing his way towards the village of Waterlock with the Dragon's Heart firmly in his front claws. Moonlight Silence was surprised, and couldn't react.

“You... you...” Moonlight Silence glared at Sunkissed Amber.

“What's the matter, does the dead not like getting outfoxed by the living?” Ridge Dasher taunted.

The Dragon's Heart was too important to let escape, so instead of attacking Sunkissed Amber immediately the undead pony surrounded herself with a levitation spell and jumped out the window to give chase to Gleam. Bolts of white light flew from her horn that Gleam twisted to dodge. If the dragon managed to hide with the Dragon's Heart, that'd give Sunkissed Amber a bargaining chip she did not want her to have.

Kavesh and Ridge Dasher exchanged looks again.

“Remind me never to piss her off.” Ridge Dasher said to Kavesh, hooking a hoof behind him to point at Sunkissed Amber.

“At least I can sleep now. Can you contact your base from here?” Sunkissed Amber yawned, her knees buckling in exhaustion.

Ridge Dasher shook his head. “I don't think it matters now. She was right, the Commodore would just use it against me and my superior officer that serves under him would just lose his job trying to defend me. I'll go with you on this little...”

Sunkissed Amber collapsed, exhaustion taking her while Gleam could be seen in the distance, keeping out of range of Moonlight Silence as the sun began to rise. Kavesh sniffed at her, intrigued by the display of force.

“You coming?” Ridge Dasher asked him.

Kavesh shrugged, rubbing the circlet firmly seared into his head, then sighed. “I go. Kill big things. Glory for tribe. Dead pony right. No kill dead pony, lose glory in eye of tribe.” He was obviously still in a lot of pain from what Moonlight Silence had done to him, but if anypony could withstand it, it was Kavesh. “Road ambush boring. Many ambush boring.” Then his eyes gleamed in the low light as he lifted his head to slowly look at Ridge Dasher. “Dead pony watch self. I kill, bring dead pony back to tribe dead again. Much glory there.”

“You didn't seem to think the ambush was boring when you killed my friends...” Ridge Dasher said, though he too was now getting tired.

“They weak. Weak die.” Then Kavesh looked at Sunkissed Amber, who had rolled onto her side and would probably sleep through a nuclear war and its resulting winter. Respectfully he looked at Sunkissed Amber. “She... not weak.” He sounded resentful.

“At least we can agree on something, Ruined.” Ridge Dasher said, resigned to the fact he was being dragged into this. It was better than returning and facing the Commodore's wrath though for losing Jumping Thunder to the ambush.

“Name... Kavesh.” Kavesh finished, turning around in the cage like a dog a few times before kneeling down to sleep. “We sleep. Sun rise, hunt dragons. Hunt evil. Kill dead pony. Dead pony STAY dead this time.”

Ridge Dasher laid his head down, closing his eyes. “That sounds like the word 'crash', so I'll call you that since we're probably going to crash and burn.”

Kavesh growled, but Ridge Dasher didn't reply. He'd immediately joined Sunkissed Amber in slumber.

Interlude: MEANWHILE...

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Meanwhile...

Jester's Thorn paced up and down while waiting for his superior. He was irritable and nervous, having been told to come at some ungodly hour of the morning to some random forest clearing far from the base for a debriefing. He'd protested a little, but his superior had insisted that this be where the meeting was to take place. Sure, Jester's Thorn had several unicorns ready for a fight in case trouble erupted, but he wasn't sure that he could defeat his superior in a battle.

Commodore Triangle Star was a powerful pony, a double threat of strength on the battlefield combined with experience in the political arena. Jester's Thorn had no choice but to comply.

The crimson pony ran a hoof over his messy neon green mane nervously and flicked his tail over his flank, where his proudly-displayed cutie mark was of a pony skull wearing a bloody jester's mask surrounded by rose bushes intertwining it. His jester's mask, backpack, clockwork wings, and battle saddle with multiple crossbows lay nearby. He felt naked without his weaponry at the ready, but the Commodore had demanded weapons be removed from him before he would see him in person. That order didn't mean his loyal unicorn muscle couldn't have weapons, so he felt safe in case the Commodore was planning a double-cross.

“Sir, we have word the Commodore is on his way.” One of the unicorns said, peering at a small crystal.

“About time.” The crimson stallion said. “I can't wait all night.”

“Is this wise, sir?” The unicorn asked.

“Wise, no. Needed, yes.” Jester's Thorn replied, pushing his mane out of his face again and turning to face the unicorn. “We were so close. I need more time, and with the promise of clockwork weapons I gave the Commodore to sate his growing lust for battle, he'll stay off my back long enough to get the statuette.”

“That... is a matter for interpretation.” A voice said from behind him as a magical portal opened and the Commodore stepped through, flanked by his second in command Frozen Breeze and his aide, Cracked Shadow.

“Good to see you, Commodore.” Jester's Thorn extended a hoof and bowed slightly.

“Report, Jester.” The Commodore was all business and had no time for pleasantries.

Jester's Thorn paced up and down. “We located the last Dragon's Heart we need, sir.”

“Excellent!” The Commodore's eyes lit up.

“Honor's Edge had it.” Jester's Thorn replied, looking away. How he had ended up with it was anyone's guess, but the old stallion was a severe wrench in the Commodore's plans.

The Commodore scowled, the shadows around his hooves seeming to deepen. He was a pale burgundy in color, with three large scars across his right flank where his cutie mark had been scratched out on that side. The mark was of four swords, three in a triangle pattern, with the fourth in the center bisecting a star down the middle.

“How in the... how could he... how did he manage to get that?!” The Commodore growled, eyes sparking. Honor's Edge, although long retired, was immensely popular. His exploits were known far and wide through the kingdom, and he was enough of a legend and folk hero pony as to be untouchable, even by him.

“I don't know. He has friends in high places, I know that much.” Jester's Thorn nervously said, looking around and avoiding the stallion's gaze. “We may have had a stroke of luck, however, as I took the time to track him down.”

“And...?” Commodore Triangle Star glared at Jester's Thorn.

“Dead. Old age finally got to him. The Dragon's Heart is gone, though, and so is his adopted kid. The Waypoint has been looted, too. If the Dragon's Heart were hidden there, it's not there any longer.”

“You put the two and two together, then?” Commodore Triangle Star asked, looking upward thoughtfully.

Jester's Thorn nodded. “It would seem logical, sir. I don't know where she went, because by the time we got there the trail went cold.”

“S-sir...” Frozen Breeze said. “Our reports said that the Dragon's Hearts are from the lands of the Muial'ki.”

“Get to the point instead of telling me common-knowledge history, Frozen Breeze.” The Commodore grumbled.

“We've found a translation in history texts that says if even one of the Dragon's Hearts are replaced on the pillars of the Great Stoneflame Hall without the rest of them within eight feet of one another, they're all nullified for a thousand years.” Frozen Breeze said, producing a folder labeled “TOP SECRET” and handing it to his superior. “We also know that the remains of the girl's real family are in Trol'Kyanis.”

The Commodore rolled his eyes. “Thank you for blurting out information to anypony listening in the shadows, Frozen Breeze.” Frozen Breeze leaked like a diaper full of spear holes, but he was the best pony for organizing knowledge and navigating the mountains of paperwork the base constantly generated. Normally he was restricted to a desk job, but later the Commodore would ask him his opinion. The ice-colored pony was amazing at detecting emotions and intentions and his skill with empathy was one the Commodore could not afford to give up.

The Commodore turned away from Frozen Breeze and growled deeply. “That would make the family high nobility, which puts them out of my reach. I won't have some no name filly get in my way.”

“Sunkissed Amber.” Cracked Shadow mumbled. The Commodore whirled on him and stared him down, and the shadowy-black colt shut up immediately.

“Track her down, get the Dragon's Heart back, then we can proceed with the plan to take the... well, that's not for your ears, Jester.” The Commodore finished.

Jester's Thorn nodded.

Commodore Triangle Star handed Jester's Thorn three large bags of gems. “Your orders are to get that Dragon's Heart back. I don't care how you do it. Deal with that girl, she is a threat to us and I won't have her getting in my path. I want her dead, Jester. Not broken but alive, not humiliated and sent slinking to the shadows, I want her a corpse and I want proof you made her one. I will rule these lands. I will subjagate the Muial'ki. I WILL have their enchanted mineral mines! I will become supreme dictator of both lands!”

“You will shut the hell up, you're boring me with your pride.” Jester's Thorn said under his breath.

The Commodore ignored the remark, though he'd heard him. “You are dismissed, Jester's Thorn.”

The portal opened and the Commodore stepped back through, followed by the others, including the muscle unicorns. Jester's Thorn was left alone with the gems.

“You're lucky my ability and willingness to get my hooves far dirtier than most ponies suits your ends... and that the price is right...” Jester's Thorn muttered to himself before strapping on his backpack and clockwork wings, taking off into the night sky. He was a complete psychopath, a talent that the Commodore had not let go untapped... or unchecked...

Act One Intro

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Myths and legends are often cornerstones of a society.

They strengthen the weak, giving them something to strive for,

they comfort the scared by explaining the world,

they give meaning to the religious by giving morals and guidance,

and they attract both good and evil on long term schemes for power.

By retracing the steps of a legend, ponies can learn to

become greater than that which they could dream,

or could be shattered either by the journey or their

inner selves as they learn new things about themselves.

Some return home changed, cleansed of their flaws,

and try to make the world a better place for ponykind.

Others lose all hope and throw caution to the winds,

their trial by fire leaving them a burnt mockery of life.

But what happens when a myth is proven to be false in some way,

or through research, examination, hypothesis and experience,

is shown as to have never happened at all?

What happens when, based in faith, tradition and story,

everything a society has built is dashed to pieces?

What happens when myth is smashed on the rocks of reality

through the experience of the myth transforming to truth?

If a society's myths could be wrong...

could their way of life also be wrong?

Might their ethics and morals be wrong?

... what else could possibly go wrong?

Sunkissed Amber and her new "friends" were about to find out.

ACT ONE: JOURNEY'S BEGINNING: PLACING BETS

First Stop, Waterlock

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Act 1 of 7: Episode 1 of 15: First Stop, Waterlock

New places visited on one's adventure always have their share of wonder.
Unfortunately they also hide danger in the shadows...

“Feels like I slept for a couple of months.” Ridge Dasher mumbled as he got to his feet and then walked over to Sunkissed Amber, who was herself just getting to her hooves.

“Stress will do that to you.” Sunkissed Amber turned her head and looked down at her rear hooves. “That little move I pulled on her...”

“How DID you do that?” Ridge Dasher asked, shaking the cobwebs out of his head. “That was very unexpected, to say the least. I wish I could do something like that.”

Sunkissed Amber rolled her eyes and looked away. “You know what they say, expect the unexpected. I've been trying to train myself in unconventional means of defense. My braids are a weapon, and that little spin-on-one-hoof-and-kick move is just another.”

Ridge Dasher was secretly impressed. “You should name it something cool. My superior officer has a move he calls the Blazing Trick...”

Sunkissed Amber shrugged. “Well, it certainly catches most ponies off guard, so I can either get the first shot or run away. I had some... suitors drop by the farm once or twice and had to keep them at a distance somehow when they wouldn't take no for an answer. Honor's Edge couldn't be everywhere at once and his heavy armor and weapons were out of my league.”

“Suitors? Most farms in the area are so remote I'm surprised you got any visitors at all, especially with what I've heard about how Honor's Edge really liked his privacy.” Ridge Dasher said as he unrolled a map across one of the tables and pointed out areas of interest to Sunkissed Amber. “The map here suggests that the easiest path to Trol'Kyanis lay not in the east but in the north, through a mountain range called the Blistering Mountains...” He studied the map some more. “... and then through a series of deep valleys and caves known as the Claw's Run. Then they pass a few settlements before finally reaching Triple Hooves, close to the coast.”

“As for Moonlight Silence, I was just tired of her pride and I was too stressed out to do anything more.” Sunkissed Amber finished. “I'm surprised Gleam didn't come back by now; he doesn't like me being alone now that my father's dead. That suggests he ran into trouble...”

“I don't like Moonlight Silence. She's cold, cruel, and... well, dead.” Ridge Dasher looked out the window. “But if she didn't come back either, that means that she didn't find him. She seems driven enough in her single-minded 'quest' that she won't stop until she has him... or the Dragon's Heart, at least.”

“Gleam's a lot smarter than he lets on.” Sunkissed Amber opened a cupboard but it was filled with nothing but dust; as an undead creature Moonlight Silence preferred a pony's life force instead of physical food. “He probably buried it and left false trails, or hid it somewhere where she can't get to it easily even with unicorn magic.”

“And centuries-old undead unicorn magic at that.” Ridge Dasher grumbled as he traced a trail on the map for Sunkissed Amber to approve of. “He'd really have to outsmart her. He couldn't have just eaten the thing, she'd kill him and take it out of his corpse and then use the corpse for her own ends.”

“Gleam can hold his own. I've got faith in him.” Sunkissed Amber replied, opening a window.

Ridge Dasher pointed to the map. “It's going to take four weeks to get through, and then another two for the Claw's Run.” He looked up. “What are you hoping to find in there? I doubt some... abomination like her is going to keep 'mortal' food around.”

A growl from behind them made them both turn. Kavesh had just gotten up.

“Slept well, 'Crash'?” Ridge Dasher asked.

Kavesh resentfully growled at him.

Ridge Dasher smirked. “Yeah, that's what I thought.”

“What are we going to do with him? He eats more than the two of us put together, and I'm not a hunter.” Sunkissed Amber said.

“Can hunt good for self.” Kavesh grumbled. “Hunt for you, no.”

Ridge Dasher rolled his eyes. “There's your answer.”

“Well, there's no food here. We can eat in Waterlock.” Sunkissed Amber said. “Kavesh, if I let you out, you're not going to kill us, right?”

Kavesh looked at Ridge Dasher, then back at Sunkissed Amber, sighing and relaxing his stance, having made up his mind not to anger the light-coated pony. She was still too strong for him and to kill the obnoxious gray pony now would be more trouble than it was worth. “No.”

“Ridge, would you let him out?” Sunkissed Amber turned from him to look out the window only to come muzzle-to-beak with a familiar avian friend. “TWISTER!!”

“Oh boy, we're going to be the best of friends, aren't we, Crash.” Ridge Dasher grumbled, but took the key to the cage off a nearby table and released the Ruined. Kavesh stepped out of the cage and stretched like a big cat with a mighty yawn, showing his fangs.

“Where have you BEEN, Twister?” Sunkissed Amber asked the hawk.

Twister chirped, tilting his head, then stretched his wings as to attempt to explain something as best he could. Some movement out of the corner of his eye showed that Kavesh had seen him and was licking his lips. Feeling threatened by the enormous Ruined, Twister took off, flying off into a nearby tree where he chirped again. For a couple of minutes he did a circuit from tree to tree, almost as if trying to lead Sunkissed Amber somewhere.

“You think he wants us to follow him?” Ridge Dasher sarcastically asked before glancing at Kavesh as if to ward him off. “No eating the bird, Crash.”

Sunkissed Amber nodded. “It's better than nothing and it looks like he's going towards Waterlock.”

“We're not getting anything done here.” Ridge Dasher gestured at the various experiments, concoctions, gadgets and things that were spread out over the tables. “We can make some coin selling some of your trade goods in Waterlock, but how are we going to get your... stuff...?” We can't carry it all, and we-”

“Kavesh carry. Not beast of weight, but know trade. Know trade bring glory to weak like you. Glory good.” Kavesh said. “You small, weak, not carry weight.”

Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber exchanged looks. “I don't know whether to be insulted you're calling me weak, or surprised you're offering to help when you were so willing to kill us earlier.” Ridge Dasher said.

“You small. I big. Who strong?” Kavesh lifted a huge clawed hoof and put it down on Ridge Dasher's head, forcing him to kneel. “I not kill you...” He glanced at Sunkissed Amber. “She strong. I not more strong... yet.”

“Does she mean Moonlight Silence, or me?” Sunkissed Amber asked.

Kavesh gave a brief smile then went over and pulled the harness out from the pile of supplies with his teeth. It would be a tight fit being the Ruined was nearly twice the size Gleam was, but with a little rope and a lot of pulling, they could make it work.

A couple of hours later, with some maps at their side, they were ready to head for Waterlock. Sunkissed Amber paused as they passed by the corpse of the adventurer that Moonlight Silence had made the blood golem out of. “How could she do this to a pony?” She asked, near-frozen to the spot briefly in equal parts facination and horror.

“Broken hearts do many things; this is nothing compared to what I've seen back at the base.” Ridge Dasher said. “It is not a pretty sight. I've seen one stallion leave a very attractive mare for a second attractive mare, and it made the broken-hearted mare turn from being warm and energetic to an unthinking, cold-hearted terror we had to expel from base. She never thawed completely. Losing someone's love or not having it returned ruined her heart and mind more than the Ruined who'd ruined her pelt. We found her two weeks later, ripped to shreds. I can only imagine what must have gone through Moonlight Silence's mind before she... became what she is.”

“Kavesh break more than heart.” Kavesh said. “Bones, skull. Eat all. She die.”

“When you're older and stronger, Crash.” Ridge Dasher replied.

Kavesh snarled under his breath but glanced at Sunkissed Amber, having decided she was his “alpha” for the time being. Towns meant many ponies, all soft and weak. The time for glory would present itself soon enough and his tribe would never believe what he believed he'd succeed at...

Ridge Dasher held open the door for Sunkissed Amber, feeling himself fall back into “explorer” mode. As a foal he had traveled quite a bit, developing his running speed by visiting as many places as he could. Normally when he started a new adventure, he led off with a personal catchphrase just to hear himself talk. “Ready to go?”

Sunkissed Amber glanced at Kavesh, who was looking comically constricted while wearing the harness. “Do we have a choice? Let's head out. I'm anxious to find Gleam.”

The soldier-in-training nodded. “Then let's KICK IT!” He was out the door.

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They arrived at midday, having passed by the scene of the previous night's slaughter on the way there. While going over the ruins of the caravan and burying what corpses were left on the surface that hadn't been totally torn to pieces by the Ruined, Ridge Dasher recovered Razor Barbs' baseball bat and discovered a message scratched in a tree. The note showed that Razor Barbs had survived, but just barely. Conflicted about returning to base to check up on a friend he'd all but abandoned and traveling with Sunkissed Amber on her journey, he decided that her travels would have to take priority.

He debated sending a note or letter from Waterlock back to Blazing Wheel and update him on the situation, but the truth was that doing so might get the Commodore's attention, and that was the last thing he wanted. Blazing Wheel could only defend him for so long, though, and he technically was AWOL...

Waterlock was a medium sized village of about a hundred or so ponies, mostly farmers and the occasional lone wolf or wanderer. Kavesh recoiled on approach to the village, as his tribe had gone through numerous attempts at taking it down in the past. However, the wood making up the stockade surrounding the village as a line of defense had been specially brought in from elsewhere; it was a special type of wood that took on the hardness of metal when treated with water. If the Ruined attacked, the extra hardness this trait provided would keep the village impervious to their attacks and gods help them if a splinter got in the wound.

Standing at attention at the main iron gate were two guard ponies, and they looked at each other as the group approached before moving to cut them off.

“Name?” One of them boredly said, yawning and noticeably wobbly on his hooves. The bags under his eyes suggest he'd been on an overnight shift and he needed sleep of his own.

Ridge Dasher stepped forward. “I'm Ridge Dasher, one of the recruits from the Iron Stone Stallion Base.” He motioned to Sunkissed Amber and Kavesh. “We're on official business for the base, so if you would please let us pass, it would be appreciated.”

Sunkissed Amber glanced at him with a confused expression, while Kavesh rolled his eyes.

“Business from the base?” The other guard asked, eyes snapping completely open as he noticed Kavesh.

“He won't hurt you.” Sunkissed Amber said. “He's with us. We're using him to transport my trade goods.”

Kavesh snorted, relaxing his stance but flexing his back, showing how strong he was. The two guards looked at each other.

“Impressive.” One of them said as the two guards began to chat Ridge Dasher up for a few minutes before shrugging in unison and opening the gate. Both guards seemed unsurprised that the caravan the previous night hadn't made it, and they were in no way going to send a “rescue party” to salvage what was left. It just wasn't safe; the road belonged to the Ruined until patrols from the base could clean them out once and for all.

Kavesh snorted more than once as he listened to the banter while they passed through into a main square, and once out of earshot of them, he voiced his displeasure. “They weak. All are weak here. Hide behind magic wood.”

“It works, doesn't it, Crash?” Ridge Dasher asked.

A growl in reply. Kavesh was getting more than tired of the nickname. He kept mentally telling himself to be patient. The time would come.

“I'm going to explore. Gleam will show himself if he catches my scent, and the more I move around, the better the chance he finds me via smell.” Sunkissed Amber said, looking up and around at the many wooden and stone buildings in the village. “We need to find a place to...” She glanced at Kavesh. “Keep Kavesh safe, so the other ponies don't go after him... or he tries to eat them defending himself. I don't want anypony getting hurt.”

Kavesh gave her a feigned look of shock, but the gleam in his one eye was completely feral. If he thought he could get away with it, he'd eat every pony in the place.

“I'm going to get myself a new shield.” Ridge Dasher said. “I can train while we're on the road to Trol'Kyanis and give Blazing Wheel something to be proud of later. If you find something, let me know.”

Sunkissed Amber looked up again, and caught sight of Twister perched on top of one of the buildings, watching her. “I'll do that. Come on, Kavesh, let's go to the stable and get that heavy load off your back, then we can try to sell it for coin.”

“Heavy?” Kavesh proudly arched his back and wiggled his tail. “This nothing.”

The two headed off, leaving Ridge Dasher to explore the village. He'd been here a few times before on business for the base, so he knew where the smithy was, and so that was going to be his first stop. Some of the ponies he passed greeted him by name or asked him what had happened to the caravan; to avoid causing a scene he simply replied that it was “being investigated” even though he was sure that the guards at the gate would eventually blab and share the news with everypony.

The blacksmith's shop was distinctive, the stone of the building being reinforced with visible metal rods on the outside so as to draw attention to the eye. The door itself was solid iron, and required a fair bit of effort to push open. Ridge Dasher leaned his shoulder on the door and pushed it open before calling inside. “You here, Ocean?”

A pale blue stallion with darker blue hair poked up his head from behind a pile of twisted metal, tools and other things. “Ridge Dasher! What brings you to Waterlock?”

Ridge Dasher held up a hoof in a gesture to be quiet. “Various things. Listen, I need a new shield, one that can 'represent' the base. I'm... going on a long journey, and I want a shield that has the base insignia on it. Can you make that?”

“Got you covered.” Ocean's Sledge replied, coming out from behind the mess and wiping the dust off his cutie mark, which was of a sledge hammer submerged in water. Hanging on the wall were many weapons and shields, several of which had the base's insignia (Commodore Triangle Star's cutie mark on a fiery background) already impressed and etched into them.

“Listen.” Ridge Dasher said. “I know I can trust you, so let me explain.”

“Something up?” Ocean's Sledge tilted his head as he took a shield off the wall.

“I came in with a mare who has family in Trol'Kyanis of all places.” Ridge Dasher said, getting up on his hind hooves and looking out the window to make sure they were not overheard.

Ocean's Sledge whistled. “You are going places.”

“Is the... the cache... still in place?” Ridge Dasher asked.

“Last I knew, yes.” Ocean's Sledge nodded. “Everything's been set aside for Blazing Wheel, just like he asked. No one suspects a thing.”

“I think I'm going to need it. This is big, Ocean. Really big. Did you happen to see a really bright and tacky-colored unicorn show up at all? Maybe she was chasing a little dragon?” Ridge Dasher accepted the shield from him. Things made by Ocean's Sledge were high quality goods; a shield made by him would be made to last a lifetime and then some. “The Commodore's out for my hide, I think, and I've got a bad feeling about things.”

“The Commodore hates everyone, but I can't imagine why.” Ocean's Sledge replied. “He never was the same after coming back from that general area. I can't say that I've seen anyone matching the description of a strangely colored unicorn, though. Sorry.”

Ridge Dasher nodded, giving his friend a hoof-bump. “I'll be at the inn tonight. Bring me the location of the cache. I'll likely need it all.”

“How do you expect to carry it all?” Ocean's Sledge asked.

“We've... got a Ruined to carry it for us.” Now it was Ridge Dasher's turn to smile before he walked out of the shop with the shield, leaving Ocean's Sledge staring off into space in surprise.

“You WHAT!? Okay, this I have to hear!” Ocean's Sledge began to say, but Ridge Dasher had already left.

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From her hiding spot, Moonlight Silence watched the ponies come and go. While her powers were not reduced by exposure to daylight, the ponies here knew each other and the sudden appearance of an unknown pony would have them talking when she wished they wouldn't. Even though the guards would pose her little to no threat, talk meant trouble, and she didn't want to kill multiple innocents that were just going about their everyday lives. Her coat had lost its stripes and returned to its original honey-gold, but her eyes were still dead and she'd be watched if not harassed for being just a little bit different.

She had searched high and low for that upstart dragon, but had not found him, and he had at the same time gotten the drop on her by hiding the Dragon's Heart in plain sight... in a pawn shop of all places just as the sun was rising. The pony who owned the shop had been surprised at seeing the treasure left blindly out on the counter, and realizing such a gemstone was very very valuable he had immediately locked it in a safe in the shop's back room.

Moonlight Silence was going to make sure the dragon paid for that little trick and then she could help Sunkissed Amber on her little journey. The sooner they got to Trol'Kyanis, the better, then the Commodore's end would be at hand.

She paused, reflecting on Sunkissed Amber. The mare was innocent, she could see that plainly and thus she deserved help. If the lich hadn't gone through her things she likely would have just let both her and Ridge Dasher go; they were not direct threats to her long term plans. On the other hand, Kavesh was a serious threat who would not be corralled for any long period of time; she'd have to keep one eye peeled for him at all times.

On top of that the spell she'd used to burn obedience-through-pain into him wouldn't keep him down and he'd probably just use the circlet as a status symbol among his people later, further uniting the Ruined. If that happened they could assault her tower if they wanted, and while she was confident in her abilities to reduce the Ruined to mindless zombies, it would expend resources and power she didn't want to waste on such unthinking brutes.

Stepping out into the sunlight, her horn glowed slightly as she cast a minor spell meant for her to blend in with the background so she'd be more easily ignored. Then she headed for the most crowded part of the market square, where the ponies haggling and selling were focused too much on the task at hand to pay much if any attention to her. She looked this way and that, looking for something she could use to trade for the Dragon's Heart. Because no one had seen Gleam deposit the thing in the shop just as the doors were opening for the day, its existence was a secret to everypony and she concentrate on that task specifically.

This meant that no one knew that the shop owner had taken the treasure and squirreled it away; she could freely... inquire about it later when she had something she could trade. She wasn't about to destroy the village just to get her hooves on the Dragon's Heart; the innocent had a right to live.

She stepped back in between two buildings to relax herself briefly before her supernatural senses fired off and she perked up. Someone with some severe blackness on their heart was nearby, and it was enough to make her tense. She focused the power in her horn briefly to orient, then her eyes widened with a bit of shock as she saw the pony that was the source. In the sky overhead, a crimson pony wearing clockwork wings was doing laps around the village, and it appeared he was looking for something.

Moonlight Silence tensed. She knew this pony. His appearance meant trouble. What was HE doing here?!

Turning her head and catching sight of Ridge Dasher as he was headed in the direction of the inn, she stepped back out into the sun and approached. As Ridge Dasher was about to open the door, she nudged him so she could make small talk. “Looking for someone?”

“Uh, no... miss...” Ridge Dasher began.

“Come on.” Moonlight Silence's “living” voice was about two octaves higher than the sultry gothic tone she normally took and had no trace of the accent. This was a side effect of the magic used to preserve her; in the purity of the daylight sun her appearance and voice defaulted to that which she had had in life. “You're looking for someone, I'm sure of it. Someone with the heart of a dragon, perhaps?”

Ridge Dasher paused. “Who are you.”

“Dearie.” Moonlight Silence said quietly, giving him an amused, knowing look. “Where is she?”

Ridge Dasher locked his eyes with hers. “She's... busy.”

“Aren't we all.” Moonlight Silence rolled her eyes. “Where's the brute? He had to have come with you. She's not the kind to leave him caged up like that.”

“Busier.” Ridge Dasher replied, avoiding the question.

“You'll tell me what I want to know, you know.” Moonlight Silence said. “All I need to say are two little words.”

“Go burn?” Ridge Dasher turned his back on her, about to enter the inn to relax. He didn't think she'd be dumb enough to hurt him in broad daylight.

Moonlight Silence pointed to the sky. “Jester's Thorn.”

Ridge Dasher froze, one hoof on the door, then he flexed his front hooves. If he had hands, he'd be making tight fists with them. “Okay, that gets my attention.”

Moonlight Silence grinned, a slight trace of her stripes fading over her coat. “Ah thought it might do that. Now, where is she?” She tried to bring her accent out but it sounded fake.

“They went to the stable to get him out of the harness, then to the market to sell some of the trade goods for coin.” Ridge Dasher said. “I was going to meet her here when she was done with Kavesh and the market. I guess you didn't find what you were looking for?”

Moonlight Silence frowned, her tail flicking as she made a concentrated effort to bring out her accent. “Ah know where it is, yes. Getting it will be another story. Th' dragon is clever and made th' little game difficult. We have bigger issues, however. What is he doing here?”

“I don't know. Whatever it is, it can't be good. We need to get the Dragon's Heart from wherever Gleam hid it and then get out of here before he decides to take interest in us.” Ridge Dasher held the door open. “After you.”

“You're such a gentlestallion.” The lich's voice dripped enough sarcasm to cause a flood as they went inside to wait for Sunkissed Amber to return with Kavesh.

Pawning One's Heart

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Act 1 of 7: Episode 2 of 15: Pawning One's Heart

Adventures always seem to begin in an inn,
after a pint and a lengthy conversation.

Once she'd given her word to the guards that Kavesh wouldn't eat anypony, and that he'd wear a muzzle to prove this fact, Sunkissed Amber went inside the inn to meet up with Ridge Dasher. The gray pony had been joined by Ocean's Sledge once he'd gotten over the shock of hearing they'd managed to “tame” a Ruined, and the dark blue pony immediately took a liking to Moonlight Silence up until she opened her eyes fully and briefly displayed the supernatural flames that betrayed her true nature. She enjoyed showing off what she was to the unsuspecting, but as long as they were innocent they had nothing to fear.

Kavesh was too large to fit through the inn's doors, so he had to wait outside, leashed and muzzled. He would have plenty to see and sniff, as both guards and village ponies kept coming up close to him to gawk. Many of them hadn't seen a live Ruined before, much less one up so close and “captured.” The muzzle itself would have been beyond easy for him to break out of, but here he'd be killed before he could escape. While the ponies were soft, what they lacked in strength and fighting skill they made up with numbers and more magic wood. He was not strong enough to kill them all on his own.

That of course didn't mean he couldn't psyche himself up for later by talking to anypony who'd talk back, whether it be trading verbal barbs with a growl, or by speaking to those who seemed downright curious as to who and what he was. While speaking in pony words infuriated him, in doing so his edge was kept sharp and when he was ready he would see his foes (and all these soft ponies!) dead at his clawed hooves.

“All right, to recap,” said Ridge Dasher as the group sat down at a corner table in the inn's lower floor. “The Dragon's Heart is in a pawn shop...”

“Your dragon will pay for that.” Moonlight Silence said, glancing at Sunkissed Amber.

“You'll have to catch him first, and...” The apricot-colored mare tapped her rear hooves against the ground. “... I don't think you'd want me to hit you again with my rear hooves.”

“You'd never get close.” Moonlight Silence licked her lips.

“I don't need to.” Sunkissed Amber ran a hoof down one of her braids.

“We've got a bag of coins now that most of the trade goods were sold...” Ridge Dasher continued.

Sunkissed Amber held up the small leather bag, bulging with coins. “You'd of thought the ponies here never saw some of the stuff I had. I'd be a rich pony if we didn't need to buy more supplies like food and hiking gear for a trip into the mountains.”

“Speak for yourself, I don't need such things.” Moonlight Silence replied, looking smug.

“We've got a professional assassin in town who can spell disaster for us all...” Ridge Dasher said, pausing to give a passing tavern wench an order for four hay sandwiches and several carrots and potatoes.

“Wait, what?” Sunkissed Amber turned her head to look at Ridge Dasher, who was all seriousness.

“... and we have some unfinished business to take care of, because I'm a part of a planned coup back at the base.” Ridge Dasher finished as Ocean's Sledge joined them at the table with a second bag of coin.

“Wait, WHAT?!” Both Moonlight Silence and Sunkissed Amber said at the same time.

Ocean's Sledge eased himself into a chair. “He's right. Certain mid-ranking members of the Iron Stone Stallion Base have been wanting to... 'take care' of certain higher ranking members, to put pressure on the Commodore to lighten up and begin some much-needed reforms. I'm one of Ridge's allies in the plot, giving his group weapons and armor to... ahem, put pressure on the Commodore. We don't plan on killing them, just remove them from power.”

Ridge Dasher nodded. “We're not merciless killers like some kind of organized crime; we entered the military to fight those kinds of beasts. Ocean here helps me with supplies, and when he comes to the base every now and again he keeps his ears open more than I could. When the time is right, we're going to pressure the Commodore out of his command position. Both me and Ocean decided that it would be best to bring you into full confidence, because the appearance of a serious troublemaker in the village means we need to get out of here fast.”

“What kind of trouble?” Asked Sunkissed Amber.

“His name is Jester's Thorn. He works for the Commodore though it's usually 'off the record'.” Ocean's Sledge said, lowering his head. “Simply put, he's an assassin and a leg-breaker that does what the Commodore wants in exchange for gems. No one knows where the gems go, because they're hard to convert to accurate coin, but he always wants gems. More and more gems, of any kind.”

“If Jester's Thorn finds evidence of a “surplus” of weapons, he'll get suspicious because he knows Ocean's good friends with Blazing Wheel and his ideals. On top of that there's no way he doesn't know that I'm in town. We can hope he's got his own orders and that he'll ignore us while he carries them out, but I know he dislikes me because I'm the 'pet' of Blazing Wheel. I know the Sarge sees something in me, and the fact he is putting forth more effort to train me has got to be annoying him to no end.”

“It looked like he was looking for something. I saw him flying around town on those clockwork wings of his.” Moonlight Silence said. She disliked Jester's Thorn; the stallion had come to her every now and again to ask for this magic chemical or that rare spell claiming “base business” to try to get a discount. She'd been always fairly compensated, but he still made her unliving flesh crawl. He was worse than a sociopath, he was an extremely polite one when he was doing wet work.

“What could he be looking for?” Ocean's Sledge asked. “There isn't much in town. This is a place of farmers, not business ponies or any place the royal family would get involved with directly.”

“I have my guess.” Moonlight Silence muttered under her breath.

“All right, so what's the idea?” Asked Sunkissed Amber.

“We buy a wagon with the combined funds of Ocean's savings and your profit, we load the wagon with weapons and gear, and we escape without Jester's Thorn getting involved. You said the Dragon's Heart was in the pawn shop...”

Moonlight Silence rolled her eyes. “It's in the pawn shop. The...” She looked at Sunkissed Amber harshly. “Brat put it out in th' open as th' sun was rising. Nopony knows it's there and ah figure that anypony inquiring into it will be remembered by Jester's Thorn if he goes in and asks around for 'unusual activity.'”

“All right, new plan.” Ridge Dasher didn't miss a beat as the wheels in his head clicked and he switched from train of thought to train of thought. “I'll 'convince' one of the merchants to part with a wagon using Ocean's funds. You get the Dragon's Heart and we'll meet by the north gate and escape under darkness. I don't want Jester's Thorn getting our scent any more than he already has.”

Their food was brought to them and after Ocean flipped the wench a few coins as a tip, they dug in and remained silent for several minutes. Sunkissed Amber ate quietly, just turning over things in her head, while Ocean's mind was awash in different potential outcomes that he was trying to come up with counters for. Moonlight Silence of course did not need to eat physical food, and Ridge Dasher helped himself to her hay, stuffing his muzzle like a glutton. He hadn't eaten much at all since the attack by the Ruined.

“I think he would have done something about you already, if he didn't have anything else to do.” Ocean's Sledge replied. “Meanwhile, what's with your friend here? She didn't touch her food.”

“I'm not their friend, dearie.” Moonlight Silence's stripes faintly rippled through her coat and she gave him a low, feral smile.

“Well, what's your story?” Ocean's Sledge was truly ignorant. “You wouldn't be following these two around for no reason.”

“I have my reasons, dearie.” Moonlight Silence was in no mood to talk. So many ponies in one place made her nervous and the longer she stayed here the more of a chance somepony might somehow might get a deal on the Dragon's Heart. “I gave my word, and I will keep it.”

“Try and keep it without killing Gleam.” Sunkissed Amber said between mouthfuls of hay.

The lich shot her a look. “All right, all right. Killed, no. Inconvenienced... on the other hoof...”

“Well, I want to know. You're obviously not from around here, you're trying to hide an accent.” Ocean's Sledge prodded.

Moonlight Silence locked eyes with Ocean's Sledge, and her supernatural green pupils opened up, the orange fire coating the entire eye. Ocean's Sledge went rigid as the lich held his gaze.

“Fine. You asked. But don't say I didn't warn you.” Moonlight Silence began, as Ridge Dasher moved to stand in front of the table, to try and conceal her eyes from anypony looking in their general direction.

The fire in the lich's eyes flickered just a little, almost hypnotizing the earth pony. “I was born two hundred and twenty years ago in a village that no longer exists. My family was moderately wealthy and had set an arranged marriage between myself and a noble stallion with military honors known as Steel Ironhooves...”

Ridge Dasher's eyes snapped open in surprise and Ocean's Sledge tilted his head in surprised confusion.

“I see the two of you know your history, then.” Moonlight Silence said, giving them both a knowing look as Sunkissed Amber looked first at Ridge Dasher and then at Ocean's Sledge. She was completely in the dark here; being a farm pony with duties and jobs to perform didn't leave much time for the study of military history.

“... He had everything my family wanted, and he himself was rather a handsome stallion, so I didn't complain.” Moonlight Silence continued, as Ocean's Sledge opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, the fire in the mare's eyes keeping him rooted to the spot.

“He gave me everything I would have wanted. Affection. Material wealth. A small militia to defend my mother's home. Honor to the family name. We were both happy as the required years passed before we could get legally wed and thus solidify ties to each other's families.” She looked away for a moment. “Unfortunately it was all a lie. He never loved me, not one day in the many years we were together before the marriage was supposed to formally happen.” Moonlight Silence pawed the ground briefly, almost digging a divot as long-buried emotions started coming to the surface.

“He was seeing not one, not two, but three other mares at the same time, attempting to get all the local big families under his control while each remained ignorant of the others. He was discovered eventually, but instead of doing the honorable thing and coming back to try... try and make some part of it right by marrying me and sticking to one mare, he fled! He left me at the altar of the gods... gloating about it from a safe distance so I couldn't wring his thick-brained neck!”

Sunkissed Amber tried to put a supporting hoof on the mare's shoulder, but the lich shot her a look that froze her blood cold.

“He called me as ugly and worthless as the other mares he was trying to sway and he ran away to raise an army of bandits instead, throwing aside everything his family stood for just for his own amusement. He wanted to take us all into political confidence and then ruin our families from within!” Her words were wavering now as she was resisting the urge to cry. Ocean's Sledge blinked a few times, trying to shake off the hypnotic effect of the fire in the lich's eyes. He could almost swear that there were those shapes and images in it, depicting her story.

Moonlight Silence's stripes began to fade into sight as her accent began to return and her rage was evident. “He left me alone, had taken it all from me. Ah was heartbroken. Mah family name was already damaged when others in th' family turning ta darker magic. Ah joined them in rage, wanting ta teach him a lesson he'd never forget! He ended up betrayed by th' very brigands he'd hired, and th' other mares in his attempted politics caught up ta him instead. He died before ah could give him what he deserved... and ah will not stop until his descendants suffer the same heartbreak of having victory snatched out of their mouths! Dearie, he needs to see what his actions did, and his descendants will deliver the message!”

Ocean's Sledge shook out of the hypnotism as the lich's coat was now fully striped. “That's... really petty.” He said, unimpressed.

Moonlight Silence scoffed at him. “Ah. Don't. Care. Ah didn't learn ta bend death itself just ta be told how petty it is.”

“So who's the target?” Ridge Dasher asked, sitting back down as the fire faded from Moonlight Silence's eyes.

The lich snorted. “Your high an' mighty Commodore. And no, ah'm not going ta help ya in ya little mutiny. They're out for bigger fish, and ah'm going ta use that fish ta lure them into a trap from which there will be no escape. It just so happens that his path and Amber's here...” She looked at Sunkissed Amber with a feral glare. “... cross in Trol'Kyanis. I'll deliver this mare to where she needs ta be, then our alliance of convenience ends. The Commodore wants the Dragon's Heart and I'm not about to let him get it.” Her coat faded back to its honey-gold state and the accent faded away.

“Okay, okay.” Ridge Dasher sat back and processed this, before looking out the window and catching sight Jester's Thorn in the sky. The gray pony quickly pressed himself away from the window as if to hide. “I'll send a note back with Ocean to take to Blazing Wheel when the Commodore isn't looking. Ocean is welcome on base, he shows up occasionally to sell his creations to us, and he can be discreet when he has to. We'll take the cache and use it on our own quest, because it's not a short journey to the coast. Unless, of course...” He turned to look at Moonlight Silence.

“No, dearie.” Moonlight Silence took pleasure in shooting him down. “I want to lure him and make him expend resources. If we use magic, so will he and he will be at greater strength. Not an option.”

A new voice came from somepony approaching. “The only option you actually have is to do what I tell you.”

Everyone froze as Sunkissed Amber looked up to see a large crimson pony approaching the table wearing a pair of folded clockwork wings. His cutie mark was of a bloodied jester's mask surrounded by rose bushes, and she could see that where the clockwork wings met his back, there were scars. Originally she thought he was a large earth pony, but the scars marked him as a pegasus that had lost his wings, probably in a fight. Unless you knew to look for the scars, they'd be overlooked. His eyes danced with mischief as he helped himself to a seat, pushing himself over Ridge Dasher in order to sit between Sunkissed Amber and him.

“Oh boy, here we go again!” Ridge Dasher said, looking away and rolling his eyes. He'd had several run-ins on base with him, though mostly they were verbal sparring matches versus Jester's Thorn's overconfidence.

“What is THIS thing doing in MY reality? It's icky, send it away.” Moonlight Silence was only half joking as she brought out her accent, her stripes again barely visible across her coat as she growled at him. “Ya don't belong here and ya have thirty seconds ta make yerself scarce before ah decide ta do somethin' about it.” She hoped her accent would jog his memory of all the times he'd tried to kill her in various double-crosses...

“Well, well, well. Look what the dragon dragged in.” Jester's Thorn slapped Ridge Dasher on the back. “Find some new friends, I see?”

“It's still four more friends than you have, Jester.” Ridge Dasher shot back.

“Ah ain't your friend, dearie.” Moonlight Silence smiled, pleased with herself about the fact.

“I wasn't counting you.” Ridge Dasher said with a smile as he glanced at the lich. “I like my friends refined and cultured, like Kavesh.”

Moonlight Silence's eyes snapped open and she was silenced for the moment.

“Who's this?” Sunkissed Amber asked. “An old friend of yours?”

“Oh, we're just good friends...” Jester's Thorn began. “I'm Jester's Thorn, professional sniper, assassin, and ladies' pony. You'll have to forgive Ridge, I get under his skin sometimes.”

“Ladies' pony? Are ya kidding me, dearie?” Moonlight Silence said with a scoff.

“You mean all the time. What do you WANT, Jester?” Ridge Dasher growled. “You're obviously on orders for the Commodore if you're hanging out in a village like this one. I know you think a place like this is beneath you.” It was no secret to the ponies on base that Jester's Thorn and the Commodore didn't like one another but he still worked for him.

“Just like you, Ridge.” Jester's Thorn wiggled his eyebrows. “And everypony else.”

“Why are you here, Jester?” Moonlight Silence growled as her accent vanished again. She was getting tired of bringing it in and out, but if the crimson pony hadn't recognized her accent from earlier, he wasn't going to and stronger... measures... would need to be taken...

“I'm searching for something, and I think you can all help me with what I want.” Jester's Thorn said, ordering a round of drinks for the group. “I'll admit, I didn't expect to see you here; I figured you perished in the Ruined ambush after that caravan's destruction.” His eyes turned to Sunkissed Amber. “Miss Amber, you have something my... employer...” He spat in disgust. “... wants. I can see to it that you're paid quite a bit for it.”

Sunkissed Amber glanced at Ridge Dasher and then at Ocean's Sledge. Both had expressions of 'This is not a pony whose hit list you want to be on.' Unfortunately for them, she was not a liar, nor would she have been a good one if she'd tried. That didn't mean she couldn't lead him on a merry chase first. “I'm sorry, but the Rod of Abstraction isn't for sale. If I tried to wrest it from Moonlight Silence's hooves here I'd only get myself hurt.”

Now it was Jester's Thorn's turn for his eyes to snap open and be silent as he considered this, and Moonlight Silence glared at her, unhappy with the direction the conversation had turned. With a “What are ya getting me into, dearie?” expression, she remained silent.

“I see.” Jester's Thorn said after a minute. “Well, that makes this game interesting.”

“It's not a game. I told you it's not for sale.” Sunkissed Amber replied.

“I'm talking about the Dragon's Heart, girl.” Jester's Thorn's eyes sparked briefly. “Where is it?”

Sunkissed Amber folded her front hooves in defiance. “It's... safe. The expressions on the muzzles of my friends here tell me all I need to know. It's not for sale either, and I don't care how dangerous you think you are about it.”

“I'm patient... to a point, miss Amber.” Jester's Thorn said. “I will get that Dragon's Heart; your cooperation isn't needed. Besides, the Commodore paid for me to take you out, so buying it from you is sort of a moot point, isn't it?”

Ridge Dasher's sighed and looked away. Now they really were in trouble. That was Jester's Thorn's M.O. – to be polite to his targets, to approach them and even buy them a round or two, then tell them flat out he was gunning for them. Jester's Thorn relied on his reputation to get him out of trouble, but more often than not the reputation was deserved. If he was attacked in broad daylight, a swarm of muscle-unicorns would be at Jester's Thorn's call for future revenge.

“You'd better hope your friends, or not-friends as the case may be, are good at protecting you.” Jester's Thorn finished as the drinks were brought. “I always allow my targets to buy out their contracts, though. So you might live through this one yet. You can be my friend by buying your way out via payment of the Dragon's Heart... or you can be my enemy and die at a time and place of my choosing, and Ridge Dasher knows it. He can't stop me.”

Ridge Dasher and Ocean's Sledge exchanged looks. To call out for help in an inn full of ponies would likely just cause Jester's Thorn to run for it and for the base to make the village's life difficult.

“He's not getting it.” Moonlight Silence said.

“And how do you know that?” Jester's Thorn asked.

Moonlight Silence's patience ran out and her eyes fully opened, revealing the supernatural green sheen and orange flames. Instantly the crimson pony recoiled with a look of horror as he recognized the honey-gold mare.

“That's right.” Moonlight Silence said as her stripes slightly shone through like oil on water against her hide. “You remember me now, doncha, dearie?”

With an expression of “How did you wind up with a thing like her!?” on his face, Jester's Thorn quickly left the group with a snarl on his muzzle. This little game just took a sharp increase in difficulty, and Jester's Thorn had to go plan carefully. He had NOT intended to get an old enemy involved, especially one he'd never succeeded in killing in six attempts! As he reached the door of the inn, he whirled back on the group. “Be careful, Ridge. You don't have the... safety net you thought you had.” Another wry smile, and then he was gone.

“What was that all about?” Sunkissed Amber asked.

“He fears his own death, because of where he knows he'll end up.” Moonlight Silence said after a minute, her accent coming out. “He's tried ta kill me a few times for interfering with his local plans. Ah don't consider this village under my protection, but any time he gets involved I tend ta lose... information gatherers.”

“You mean those in thrall to you.” Ridge Dasher almost spat. “If Jester's Thorn threatened me like that, I can only assume...”

“Not all of them.” Moonlight Silence quietly shot back.

Ocean's Sledge finished Ridge Dasher's sentence. “... that Blazing Wheel and those 'in the know' are somehow compromised.” He put a hoof to his face and groaned. “Over before it began.”

“Are we having fun yet? Because I sure am not.” Ridge Dasher groaned.

“So what do we do?” Sunkissed Amber asked. “He hasn't found the Dragon's Heart, which is good for us, right?”

“Well, I can't go back to base now.” Ridge Dasher replied, setting aside his mug. “If Blaz... oh, gods, Silent Rings!” He shivered for a moment, thinking of what Jester's Thorn might do to the lovable doctor pony, then steeled his resolve. He'd gotten into the military to deal with bad types like Jester's Thorn, and if Jester wanted a fight, he was going to get one the likes of which he would never forget, assuming he was found and all the pieces recovered! He was going to look forward to having a Jester's Thorn-shaped muzzle imprint on his shield resulting from the force of a death blow...

“Got something in mind?” Ocean's Sledge asked.

“Okay, we don't really have any other plans. We have to get the Dragon's Heart before Jester's Thorn finds it. As little as I like the idea, I think Moonlight Silence should be the one to get it out of its lockup. Sunkissed Amber can buy our supplies with her profit while trying to locate Gleam, because we're going to need some more muscle besides Kavesh. Ocean's Sledge can shadow Sunkissed Amber and watch for Jester's Thorn, because he's going to want to stay away from Moonlight Silence and might even use Amber as a hostage to get it.”

“I won't let him.” Moonlight Silence said quietly.

“I'll go to where we hid a cache of gear for Blazing Wheel. He can hold his own for now; we have to get out of here and find some better terrain to make him come to us, then we can turn Cra-- Kavesh on him; he's been scratching for some glory in between scratching the fleas out of his filthy hide. With him out of the way we can head for Triple Hooves and onward to the coast.”

“Somehow I don't think this little trip is going to be that easy...” Ocean's Sledge said.

“They never are, dearie. They never are.” Moonlight Silence replied, looking out the window and watching Jester's Thorn fly off, resuming his laps.

Implied Death, Potential Death, Living Death

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Act 1 of 7: Episode 3 of 15: Implied Death, Potential Death, Living Death

Life is a precious thing. It's precious enough that others want to take it from you.

“Alright, let's split up.” Ridge Dasher said almost commandingly. “We'll meet at the north gate out of here when we're done with our respective jobs. Ocean and Amber can head for the wagon shop while Moonlight goes to the pawn shop, and I'll go secure the cache then circle around and meet you later. Ocean can lead Amber to the cache when we've got ourselves a wagon, but stick to the back alleys. I don't want Jester's Thorn spotting us and thinking that we're up to something.”

“What about Kavesh?” Sunkissed Amber asked as they headed away from the inn, pointing over at Kavesh with her hoof. The Ruined had a little group standing in front of him in a semicircle and it looked like he was boasting a tale of his exploits. The muzzle he'd been forced to wear earlier was now off and laying in pieces nearby; he'd ripped it off as a show of strength and several guards were surrounding him yet wisely keeping their distance. Kavesh was completely ignoring the guards, having told them “Not eat soft ponies today.” He didn't even notice Ridge and the others leaving the inn.

“He'll live. He would have attacked by now if he thought he could get away with it. We can swing by when we're ready and hitch him to the wagon.” Ocean's Sledge replied, pointing toward the far corner of the village where four wagons were hitched to a long wooden pole. “We'll see you soon, Ridge.” The group split up, each of them keeping a careful eye on the sky, watching where Jester's Thorn was flying and trying to stay out of his line of sight.

The group split, with Sunkissed Amber and Ocean's Sledge heading to the wagon shop to acquire a means of travel and a place to store their supplies. The store was built on a hill overlooking the village, and the sign hanging from the doorway had one corner broken off so part of the shop's name was unreadable.

“Wagon Wheels and Better Deals.” Ocean's Sledge said, pointing at the sign and smiling at Amber. “My friend Wing Mist runs the place and will give us a great deal on an armored wagon we can use to travel through the Blistering Mountains.”

The pair entered to see an old mare with her back to them, bent over and rummaging through a crate. She was completely oblivious and tossing bits and pieces of wagons aside, obviously looking for something in particular. Sunkissed Amber ducked as a piece of an axle went whizzing by her as they approached.

“Wing Mist!” Ocean's Sledge said. “We're in need of some help today!”

The mare turned around, her silver eyes and brighter silver hair shining in sharp contrast to her dark brown coat. Her tail had been clipped very closely to her rump, showcasing several interlocking scars marking an old-yet-severe injury of some kind. “Ocean's Sledge! Whatcha need?” She smiled. “And who's your friend?”

“My friend Sunkissed Amber here needs to go into the Blistering Mountains. Ridge Dasher has some work up there for her.” Ocean's Sledge replied. “We need a wagon that can withstand a long trip and come out the other side in one piece.”

Wing Mist tilted her head and another deep scar just above her right eye caught Sunkissed Amber's eye. “The Blistering Mountains? That isn't an easy trip at all... they're named that for a good reason.” She looked down at her hooves, one of them gnarled and twisted a little as if it had been crushed in the grip of something huge a long time ago. “It's not a safe stretch by any means, and none of my wagons are currently armored for such difficult movement.” She turned back to the crate, thinking. “I can have one armored within a week, though.”

“We don't have a week.” Sunkissed Amber explained, shaking her head. “We need to leave immediately. Do you have anything ready on short notice?”

“You've obviously never been to the Blistering Mountains.” Wing Mist replied, rolling her eyes and trotting over to a large map, showcasing the trail most commonly used to get through the mountains. “The path is treacherous, the ground uneven and littered with sharp stones that will go through a hoof like a dagger's point, there are many places where robbers and thieves will set up falling rocks as a roadblock or trap, and bandit activity is on the rise. Shantyshack got pillaged five times in the last three months.”

Ocean's Sledge turned to Sunkissed Amber. “Shantyshack's one of the only towns in the Blistering Mountains. It's got a strong outer wall but its name implies its nature. It's hard to live out there, and is a haven for outcasts. It's harder still to directly assault it, and if it's been successfully hit five times in three months, that makes me worry. Blazing Wheel often told me even he had problems with the place when on a bounty hunt.”

Wing Mist nodded. “If your wagon isn't sturdily built for the heavy road and armored to survive the bandits, you're going to end up with just damaged remnants to show for it. Besides, an unarmored wagon would just be a tempting target for thieves. I did hear that the royal family is doing something about it, though.”

“What are they doing about it?” Sunkissed Amber asked, looking at the wagons. She wanted something big, so it could hold more supplies while adequately sheltering them all during the long chilly nights.

“They're sending one of their old knights to lock the place down with a regiment of elites, or so says the local gossip. The guards at the gate even said they might even bring in Shattered Shield, one of their best ever, despite him being almost beyond elderly by now.” Wing Mist replied matter-of-factly. “No one, not even the lowliest of thieves, would dare harm somepony who turned a pair of dragon clans on each other the way that Shattered Shield did.”

Ocean's Sledge nodded at Sunkissed Amber. “She's right. The bloodshed the dragons caused to each other left them without the numbers to come down and bother us without a fight they could not afford to take.”

Sunkissed Amber froze.

“That's recent history... something like forty years ago if I--” Ocean's Sledge began, about to tell a story before Sunkissed Amber interrupted him.

“Listen,” Sunkissed Amber said, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “One of my... things to do is meet up with Shattered Shield. I was supposed to meet him in Triple Hooves for some 'answers', but if he is this close...”

“Triple Hooves?” Wing Mist asked. “That's a looooooooong way.” She turned back to the wagons that were available for rent or for sale, then glanced over at the map of the lands while making a second map in her head. “That's through the Claw's Run... if you're still planning to go out there... hmmm... okay, I think I can help. Ocean, can you get some metal plates together and attach hinges to them? I'm thinking a series of plates on hinges to cover the wagon like a curtain, so it can all be removed to lighten things up when you need to move, but still have a defense handy at night.”

“That's a lot of plates...” Sunkissed Amber said, unsure.

“Yes, but we don't have any better ideas, do we?” Ocean's Sledge asked back at her before turning to Wing Mist. “That's a tall order for just one pony on our schedule.” He looked up at the map of the lands while accepting a smaller copy of the map from Wing Mist. “We're on the go and need to leave soon.”

“But you have some spare plates laying around, right?” Wing Mist asked. “Or better yet, shields. Shields strung together on metal chains.”

The dark blue pony nodded. “I'll get what I have available and work on them while we're traveling and hopefully I'll have something ready by the time we reach the more dangerous points. Things shouldn't get serious until we reach Stone Bridge; the bandit activity is particularly thick out there last I heard. We can't go around it, either. Stone Bridge is the only easy way into the heart of the mountains without taking a month or so in a detour into even more dangerous areas."

“Yeah, if you're going anywhere at all,” Wing Mist agreed before walking Sunkissed Amber up and down the line of wagons. “You'll want to head for Shantyshack. How big of a wagon are you looking for?”

“How big do you have?” Sunkissed Amber asked back.

Wing Mist's eyes glittered greedily. “My largest wagon is a very sturdy model that can hold up to eight ponies, but it needs big ponies to pull it. I'll even throw in a few supplies for the road since you sound like you're in for the long run.” She was only half joking. She smelled gold and she never failed to pounce on an opportunity for it.

“Well, we do have a Ruined to pull the wagon for us, so at least that part is covered.” Sunkissed Amber replied, hooking a hoof behind her. Even from where they stood, one could pick out Kavesh far in the background where the group had dispersed and he was alone, left laying down with his head in his front paws, waiting and watching ponies pass by. The guards around him seemed confused since he wasn't attacking rabidly, but none of them lowered their guard even for a moment.

Wing Mist blinked, then blinked again, then a third time as she looked into the distance before looking back at Sunkissed Amber, obviously impressed. It wasn't easy to impress her.

“I... uh... I think I can give you a discount...” Wing Mist stammered. “Let me go get some rations and supplies for your journey then. It's NOT going to be a short one.”

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

After several careful, planned movements through the streets of the village, Ridge Dasher waited until he saw Jester's Thorn turn his back to him and dive down. He noticed that Moonlight Silence had attracted his attention, and he knew that while that wouldn't end well, the heat was off him and he could head for the cache.

Ridge Dasher was pretty sure that Blazing Wheel was at least still alive; if he were dead Jester's Thorn would have gloated a lot more back in the inn. The fact the crimson pony was that cocky heavily suggested that the planned “action operations” that Blazing Wheel was attempting to pull were compromised at the very least and known to the Commodore at the very worst. Ridge Dasher knew that returning to base looking for help and a proper squad for a mountain journey would be a very bad idea.

Moving to a large pile of refuse and irregular boulders stacked up against one wall of the village, he looked for a specific arrangement of circular stones. Ocean's Sledge passed by this location in the mornings on his way to work and a key leading to the cache was hidden under one of the stones. To keep ponies guessing if in fact they knew where to look, Ocean's Sledge moved the key to the cache daily on his way home, making sure that nopony was watching as he hid the key under a different stone each time. Ridge counted the days since he was last here, did some complicated math in his head, then put his hoof under one stone and pushed it aside. He was rewarded with a wrought iron key, which he then used to tap against one of the bigger boulders.

The boulder and key were enchanted to react to one another, and the boulder parted to either side, revealing a stairwell down into a back room of the village's communal wine and water cellars. Slowly he went down as the boulder behind him sealed back up, went to one of the walls and removed a false wall panel, and after a minute of crawling through a narrow space on his hooves and knees, he emerged into a large, hollowed out spare chamber.

Lit by a few candles set into sconces in the walls, Ridge Dasher could see that lining the walls were a large number of shields, flails and swords. Here and there was the occasional piece of armor to protect the rump or flanks. Heaped in the corner were six hardened leather-and-steel battle saddles fitted with spears and crossbows depending on the wearer's role. Finally in the back corner was a small stone chest carefully made from fitted slabs of stone.

The key fit the chest, and he opened it to reveal Blazing Wheel's enchanted horseshoes, enchanted coral necklace and his father's metal badge insignia affixed to a ribbon. Captain Running Waves had done as hard as he could to raise Blazing Wheel right, and when he had been assassinated the badge was one of the only things left to Blazing Wheel thanks to base politics and the Commodore's meddling. Ridge often had three guesses as to who had put the captain down (and on whose orders) and the first two didn't count, but no one could ever link Jester's Thorn to the crime.

“Good, it's been untouched. Now how am I going to get all this out into the open? The original plan was to hide it in plain sight under 'orders from the base'...” Ridge Dasher said to himself. “I can't carry all of this out on my own.”

From behind him he heard the sounds of movement and low voices. Somepony had followed him down!

Thinking fast, he put on some of the pieces of armor, carefully covering his cutie mark. Putting on a helmet almost too big for his head so his eyes would be almost completely concealed and leaning a shield against himself, he worked himself into a battle saddle just as the first of a pair of front hooves emerged from the crawl space. He froze, remaining stock-still as if he were a fashion dummy. In the dim light of the room, his fog-colored coat worked to his advantage. How could he have been followed?

Keeping his eyes shut except for the faintest of squints, he watched the pony... no, ponies... appear at the crawlspace. His blood ran cold when he saw it was the Commodore's flunkies, Frozen Breeze and Cracked Shadow! The former was an idiot whose mouth couldn't be sealed even if it were removed from his muzzle and the latter was an assassin in training under Jester's Thorn. Of the two, Cracked Shadow was far more dangerous.

The black colt often feigned ignorance and ineptitude with melee weapons, and in public he acted like a sniveling worm, cowardly following at the Commodore's flanks. Ridge Dasher knew better, as the black colt could be the spitting image of Jester's Thorn when he wanted to be and in the barracks in private he was a wisecracking psychopathic smartass capable of betrayal. Cracked Shadow was a sociopath that would probably find ruining the Commodore's plans amusing if he thought he could get away with it, but it was more funny to him to remain allies to the Commodore and therefore annoy the hell out of Blazing Wheel and Ridge Dasher.

Jester's Thorn was cocky and overconfident but knew his limits and when not to betray or anger somepony in order to save his own skin. Cracked Shadow had no such restraint even if outfoxed or outfought and would likely die while trapping himself in a corner, laughing all the way while monkey wrenching somepony else's plans. Ridge Dasher was surprised he hadn't already tried something and had always gotten the sense that the black colt was waiting for something...

“Well, this stuff is still here, just as the Commodore said.” Frozen Breeze said. Ridge tensed slightly; the babbling pony's mouth could prove most useful.

“I lost sight of Ridge Dasher while watching Jester's Thorn. Do you think he's on his way here?” Cracked Shadow asked, walking over to inspect the stone chest before glancing at the 'fashion dummy.'

“Not yet. He'll stay out of Jester's way first, and he was looping by here a few minutes ago.” Frozen Breeze replied. “Do you think he'll actually 'pay' the ransom for Blazing Wheel's release?”

Ridge Dasher felt himself tighten and he suppressed a growl.

“I think so, once he learns we have Silent Rings in the lockup.” Cracked Shadow said, tapping his hoof on a shield and resisting the urge to gloat about it. “They like each other and it's easy to twist that, although I think Commodore Triangle Star has been having an itching to kick the horseshoes right out of him for a while now.”

Frozen Breeze held up what appeared to be a copy of the key used to get into the chamber, and Ridge Dasher had to use his training to remain calm and unmoving instead of jump in surprise at the sight of a spare key. “Then it's 'pay the ransom,' then the base spins it as Blazing Wheel taking a bribe from Ridge, then they're both out of our hair once we chase them down and arrest them. On the other hoof, that honey-coated pony that they're with worries me. She spooked Jester's Thorn back in the inn when I was watching them from an opposite corner. Is that even possible?”

“We'll have to tell the Commodore about her and await new orders. I want a shot at them before they reach Stone Bridge.” Cracked Shadow said. “I don't want to fight Ridge in Ruined territory. They'd jump on both parties and kill us all.”

Ridge Dasher furrowed his brow. That... meant problems. Stone Bridge was usually safe even with the occasional banditry being more bark than bite, but if it was currently Ruined territory...

“Agreed.” Frozen Breeze said, turning his back to Ridge Dasher. “Current intel suggests that their war chief has quite a bit of dragon in her. If the bandits don't get them or we don't get them, she will. Let's get out of here before they show up. Leave the chest, it has Blazing Wheel's personal effects and those things are enchanted to backlash on anypony wearing them instead of him or Ridge Dasher, his 'heir apparent'. A speed enchantment on the horseshoes I can understand, but a water breathing enchantment on the necklace?”

Ridge Dasher arched his eyebrows, causing the helmet to move slightly. Neither of the other ponies noticed. Bloody hell. He thought. Okay, Crash. You got what you wished for, now live up to your boasts!

Frozen Breeze blew on the key, and a thin enchantment issued from it, its sparkly motes of white light coming together in a dimensional portal. “Let's give our report to the Commodore and await orders. We need to move before they leave the village.”

Both ponies slipped through the portal and as it snapped shut behind them, Ridge Dasher relaxed a little bit.

“Okay, recap to self.” Ridge Dasher said to himself, looking up at the shields. “Blazing Wheel and Silent Rings are being held, there is trouble impending at Stone Bridge for sure, and they were planning a smear game against me. I know the Commodore doesn't like me, but to do the things he is doing, even with his reputation as a war hero and 'savior'... now he's nothing more than just another 'accepted' thug with power. Blazing Wheel was right, he does need to be removed. But can it be done without force? We'd be no better than he is if force were used.”

He pawed the ground in annoyance with a snort, unintentionally mimicking Kavesh while resigning himself to the fact that his friends were in trouble and his new-found friend Sunkissed Amber was going to be in way over her head with the Commodore's antics.

That was the last straw.

“Okay, gentleponies.” Ridge Dasher half-growled under his breath as he took off the armor and went to return to the others. “You just bought yourself some trouble. If you thought Jester's Thorn was bad...” He let himself break into a full on sarcastic grin from ear to ear that would rival Jester's Thorn's. The clever prankster, master of one-liners, and completely immature (if resilient) brat came back out of him, repressed by weeks of focused military training. Now, with some training under his belt, he was ten times as obnoxious.

“... No more mister nice Ridge Dasher. You ain't seen nothin' yet.”

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Moonlight Silence made a beeline for the pawn shop, keeping her eyes peeled for that obnoxious dragon. She'd given her word that he wouldn't be killed, but she hadn't said that she wouldn't be gentle, either. The reptile was more trouble than he was worth and if she didn't keep him out of the way, she was sure he was going to cause far more problems to her in the future.

Nudging open the door, she took a quick look around before heading to the center counter where there was a small bell and a “Ring Bell For Service” sign. The room was very clean and well-kept, housing all manner of bric-a-brac and odd pieces from all over the local lands. Hanging on the wall was a mounted serpent-haired dog's head, lining the walls were an odd assortment of pieces of armor of many different styles, in the center of the room was a glass sculpture that looked almost too big to have fit through the doors, and in one corner were several large wood chests with bronze locks that bore the royal seal.

She went to the central counter and rang the bell, and after only a minute a cocoa-colored stallion with a gray mustache that flared out almost half a foot in either direction stepped from behind a curtain.

“Wasn't expectin' any business today...” The stallion began. “Name's Glass Bottlecap. What can I do for you, miss...?”

Moonlight Silence tensed a little. Somepony with shadows on their heart was approaching from the air, fast. She had no doubt she and this stallion were about to have unwanted company, and rather than make with pleasant talk to try to sweet talk him into getting the Dragon's Heart out, went for the direct approach instead.

“I'm looking for a particular... valuable object that was... delivered here.” Moonlight Silence replied quietly. “Don't play dumb, we both know you're in possession of something rather valuable you recently acquired.” Her horn glowed briefly and she turned from looking at the door to Glass Bottlecap. The surprised expression on his muzzle told her all she needed to know.

“I see.” Glass Bottlecap said nervously. “It belongs to you?”

“After a fashion, yes.” Moonlight Silence replied matter-of-factly as the darkness-hearted pony quickly closed the distance. He'd be here within a couple of minutes at most. “And in about three minutes another party will want to take it from you, by word or by force.”

“Now, now. I knew something that exquisite was going to be trouble, and trouble is the last thing I want in my store. Wait here and I will retrieve it. I assume you don't want questions asked and, as they say, 'you were never here'. I've read my history. I know what it is.” Glass Bottlecap said, rubbing his front hooves together nervously.

“Then you should know that somepony who preys on the innocent is about to arrive right through those doors.” Moonlight Silence said. “You are an innocent stallion and the pony about to arrive might use the Dragon's Heart in the service of evil. I will compensate you fairly, later, for the safe procurement of it.” Moonlight Silence oriented her spell on Glass Bottlecap, turning away from detecting the incoming Jester's Thorn.

Glass Bottlecap was mostly innocent, though there was a huge stain on his heart about the width of one hoof. He'd done something bad as a colt and had gotten away with it, but the guilt and remorse stuck with him. She guessed murder of another colt or filly, and it was likely not an accident, either. While normally such a deep stain was enough to turn him into a thrall to her, harming ponies at this moment would only cause more trouble than good. Still, later on she was going to return and “compensate him fairly”... giving him what he deserved.

As Glass Bottlecap returned with the Dragon's Heart in hoof, Jester's Thorn burst through the doors and waltzed right up to the center counter, scowling at Moonlight Silence as he rudely pushed her aside. “You, shopkeep! That's mine, not hers, and I think you'll want to give it to me if you know what's good for you.”

Glass Bottlecap frowned. “I don't take well to threats, sir.” He took a step back. “What are you offering that can beat what she's offered? You both want it; I want a profit. What's in it for me?”

“I can pay you twice what she is offering, guaranteed.” Jester's Thorn boasted.

Moonlight Silence put one hoof to her mouth to hide a laugh.

“Not good enough. Let's hear a price in coins.” Glass Bottlecap stubbornly said, clutching the Dragon's Heart close to his body. “Not going to lie, she's only said 'fair compensation'. I want a value in coins instead of in words.”

Jester's Thorn scoffed, dropping all pretense of payment and threatened Glass Bottlecap. “I can give you your life. Give me the Dragon's Heart.” He looked slightly nervous.

“On a schedule, dearie? Am I in your way?” Moonlight Silence taunted, easily picking up on it.

“You're going to kill me to silence me anyway, I'm sure. This thing is too valuable to not invite death. But you're not going to have it easy. Not without a fight.” Glass Bottlecap growled, edging backward toward a sharp, notched axe in the corner.

“Don't try that, you'll never reach it.” Jester's Thorn warned. “I'll let you keep your life if you give it to me.”

“I can give you eternal life...” Moonlight Silence tempted, her stripes briefly rippling on her coat for a second.

“As an undead mindless husk, necromancer?” Jester's Thorn accused, turning his head to look at Moonlight Silence, who snarled just a little bit.

Glass Bottlecap's eyes snapped open as Moonlight Silence's eyes briefly flashed their supernatural green color and he caught sight of them.

“I won't serve those that deal with the dead! I hope you mean it when you say you can give me my life!” Glass Bottlecap said. “Catch!”

In a series of agile moves that caught Moonlight Silence off guard, Glass Bottlecap vaulted the counter, tossed Jester's Thorn the Dragon's Heart, and charged at Moonlight Silence, body-checking her and knocking her off balance before spinning around and sprinting behind the counter, disappearing into the back room. Both of them could hear a pair of heavy doors being slammed shut and a lock being turned. He was likely hiding in a panic room.

Jester's Thorn bolted out of the shop, crashing through the window as his clockwork wings unfurled and he took off into the skies. Moonlight Silence cursed her luck and turned to look at where the stallion had dashed off behind the counter; she'd be back for him later. For now, Jester's Thorn needed to be stopped.

She darted out of the building and began to give chase, passing Ridge Dasher just as the stallion reached Kavesh. The two looked at each other and joined her in the chase, but Jester's Thorn made it to the edge of town first, flying past the stockade and out in between a pair of tall trees that marked the start of the forest on that side.

“Looking for something?” Jester's Thorn gloated, holding up the Dragon's Heart. He never missed a chance to taunt Ridge Dasher, though he kept a very sharp eye on Moonlight Silence.

“Give that back!” Ridge Dasher growled.

Kavesh squinted, staring at the crimson pony. Even with a lack of depth perception, he could see that this particular pony was not ordinary. He noted the pony's scars just under his fake metal-and-feather wings, and could feel the malevolence radiating from him. He could tell this was a pegasus who'd lost his wings in battle, and the scars that remained combined with the fact he didn't seem to quit showed that he was a strong survivor. This was a worthy opponent! This pony would feel his wrath for glory to the tribe! Kavesh would bring back his wings as a trophy after he was done tearing the dead-yet-walking pony's head from her neck!

On the other hoof this was a cocky, strong pony that could probably kill Kavesh's entire tribe, and it looked like the fog-colored stallion and the dead-yet-walking mare were his enemies. For several moments he was tempted to side with this powerful pony; he appeared to be the enemy of the soft ponies, he had something the soft ponies wanted, he mimicked the Ruined through use of his wings (an artificial mutation), and his coat was the color of blood... a very powerful mark of status.

For the first time in a long time, Kavesh felt threatened and nervous... even fearful.

Kavesh decided against it... for now. He was still in the territory of the soft ponies, and he didn't want to be ganged up on for picking the wrong side to ally with. Glory was one thing, but not being alive to bask in it was something else entirely.

“Don't bother using your magic, sorceress.” Jester's Thorn taunted. “I can dodge anything you can throw at me.”

“SIC' EM, TWISTER!” Sunkissed Amber suddenly called out, stepping out from behind a building.

Twister dove out of the sky and flapped her wings right in front of Jester's Thorn's muzzle, causing him to growl and slap the avian aside with his free hoof. The hawk spiraled into the trees, almost slamming into a tree trunk beak first.

“Your attempt was for the birds, Amber.” Ridge Dasher said.

At the same time Jester's Thorn was distracted slapping the bird aside, Moonlight Silence took a step forward to make her move.

“Dodge this, dearie.”

Her horn pulsed, and she sent a beam of scalding white light out at the trees, snapping a big branch above Jester's Thorn. The crimson stallion could only look up as the branch came down on his back, fouling his wings and causing him to drop the Dragon's Heart as he plummeted.

“NOW, Gleam!” Sunkissed Amber called. She'd found the dragon just as they were concluding their business with Wing Mist. He'd been hiding in the forest all this time, waiting for a time when it was safe to make himself known.

Faster than Jester's Thorn by a fair bit, Gleam darted out from behind the crimson pony and caught the Dragon's Heart in mid-air with his front talons. With a taunting hiss of sarcasm he stuck out his tongue at Jester's Thorn then flew off through the trees, running away as fast as his wings could carry him until it was safe to return.

By the time Jester's Thorn recovered from his fall a couple seconds later by opening his wings just before he hit the ground, the dragon was out of range and rapidly disappearing into the distance.

Now the ponies of the village were beginning to assemble behind Moonlight Silence and Kavesh, wondering what was going on. Jester's Thorn knew he would be outmatched here if a scene were made; the village was neutral but would not take kindly to him especially if his earlier threat to Glass Bottlecap became common knowledge. While the village could be cowed into submission by the base as it relied on the base for most of its guards and protection, the better action in the short term would be to retreat. Then later when he located that damn dragon, follow them and look for a new opportunity. He would not return to base empty-hooved.

“All right, you win this round.” Jester's Thorn growled, launching himself high into the sky and hopefully out of range of Moonlight Silence's interference. “But it isn't over yet!” He cursed himself at getting too overconfident for once, and it was a mistake he would not repeat in the future when it came to dealing with this group.

“You'll wish it was when ah get mah hooves on ya.” Moonlight Silence muttered quietly as Jester's Thorn zoomed off, trying to catch up to Gleam.

Descent Into Birthright

by Amber-Citrine Sunset

Act Zero Intro

Losing The Inner World, Gaining The Outer World

Protecting the Weak From Themselves

Unnatural Nature and Ruin's Rot

Sunlight's Dirge, Moonlight's Symphony

A Fragile Party Alchemy

Interlude: MEANWHILE...

Act One Intro

First Stop, Waterlock

Pawning One's Heart

Implied Death, Potential Death, Living Death