Author's Notes:

Again thanks to AzureNightLight for correcting and editing this chapter.

There are a few world specific words thrown around so if you wanna stay on top of that then click here.

The sky shone brightly as birds took flight. The trees had a green hue like never before seen. The streams dodged and weaved and flowers bloomed in the breeze. However, one would be mistaken if they were to think that this particular day was good.

Two figures slowly stumbled across the open plains of Noriphmy; one stood tall, donning dark maiden armour. Its plates ripped, its mesh, torn and the fur of her hide looked simmered and charred. Two arrows were skillfully placed by the string of a warrior clung to her, refusing to release their barbed ends.

The other figure, commonly taken as a Celestial, laid weakly atop the dark armored mare. His wing broken, his body pierced by arrows, succeeding the mares count only by one. With a wing folded tightly against his side and the other dragged along the ground with singed feathers and broken bones.

The mare missed a step, inducing a cry from the celestial.

“Please Lindestic,” she pleaded.

She could feel the arrow tear at her muscles lining the rightmost back leg for each step she took. Each one, of agony but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t stop. She had a peer to save from the armies of Istudios as she and he both slowly bled from the inflicted wounds leaving trails of blood in their wake.

“H-hol-hold on.” Her words stuttering, fatigue strengthening and muscles aching. Yet she still carried on taking this injured Pegasus with her as she slowly made her way across the lands of Noriphmy.

One step after the next. One hoof in front of the other. Each, taken with increasing stress, each one worse than the former. She couldn’t give up, she didn’t even know where she was heading. One thing was clear though, that she needed to distance herself from the Armies of Istudious. Their defining war rigs of cataclysm no doubt trailing them ready to unleash volleys, upon volleys of heavy metal jackets once more.

However it wasn’t the fear of obliteration that pushed Adridge on. It wasn’t as if she had never felt the paralysing sense of fear, during all her time she served as a Falconer, no. Of course, she had, at many stages, felt scared. Scared of losing one of her team members. But this time, this time she was terrified. Never before had any pony of hers had been so close to death such as Lindestic. So close and only creeping closer as time passed. She simply had to save him.

Pain shot through her suddenly and her vision blurred. She tried to take another step but her rightmost back leg failed her and together they fell to the grass. Adridge couldn't even offer up a cry as she fell. Lindestic could only hold his breath as he was dumped to the ground.

And there they laid, with Adridge only able to gaze up at the northern mountains, unable to look to Lindestic just behind her. Both ponies riddled with arrows, both slowly bleeding out. Tears filled her eyes at their utterly helpless situation.

“I'm sorry,” she whimpered. “I'm so sorry Lindestic. I tried to run. I t-tried.”

As the sun began to set they laid there. Her strength being far too weak to conjure up any type healing light magic to heal her dying friend. “I’m so sorry,” she came again, tiredness setting as natural as the night. She could still hear his breathing however; faint as it was. As she begun to drift of from weakness, she feared it would be the last time she ever did.

Adridge felt cold. She felt lost. And worst of all, she felt terrified. The winds howled, and the snow came down in what seemed like sheets upon sheets. Adridge, this little filly, was lost. She had taken cover underneath a tree, it too had leaves backed with snow, in a desperate attempt to flee the weather. Still the wind bit at her skin and she continued to slowly freeze.

She had found herself here when she fell off the cart her parents were hauling just before the blizzard hit. They didn’t see her tumble down the snow covered cliff nor did they hear her cry out from below. She was traumatized and in desperate need of help but who would find her all the way out here? She had been like this for nearly a full day, with the snowstorm never letting up as the overwhelming storm raged on.

With each breath she saw the faint puffs of vapor dissipate into the air. She found it continuously harder and harder to move. Her limbs seized and her body refused to move as she slowly began to succumb to the cold. She had hardly realised at the time but she was beginning to freeze to death. Slowly, but surely.

Soon, with the wind howling and the snow continuing to fall she found the coldness strangely comforting as sleep tinged at the back of her mind. Every thing was becoming warm, the snow itself too. Her senses were beginning to fade as on thing prodded at her young little mind. ‘I’m so tired,’ she whispered. It being drowned out by the howling wind.

There was another character on the mountains that night and even as he fought the conditions he stormed through the blizzard looking for this filly. He had been at it for hours even as the others had given up and conceded to the conditions, giving up all hope, condemning this little filly to the monstrosity of a storm all together. Not him; he would never allow it.

There were no tracks, but only the relative location of when they last saw her, and even that was vague. Still, he continued on unbound to any path, flogging through the chest high snow itself. He wore a dark cape that kept him warm even without robes or garments as the cape kept itself warm with heat that resonated from within. He kept it close, wrapping it around his chest and parts of his face while he continued to push forward.

He came around a bush completely buried beneath a mound of snow. It was dark so he kept his catalyst alight with light magic letting the source guide his way and on he went. “Hey!” he called out trying to listen for a reply. His voice was growing horse after having spent many hours doing so. “Where Are You!” He came again. The same two phrases over and over as he traveled further and further.

He focused his energy and fired off his light source in the middle of a patch of darkness, watching as it sailed through the air almost becoming obscured just a short distance from his face. But he caught a glance of something. A silhouette of a tree far off into the distance. ‘How could there be?’ he thought to himself. This was a rocky mountain and if one were to look at it from a distance one wouldn't see even the faintest of greenery.

But there it was, only a hint. She had to have found shelter somewhere and even if it was just a trick of the mind, his determination urged him to never doubt at this time of need. And so he pressed forward through the snow towards this potential haven keeping in heart that she might actually be there.

He set off for it breaking the snow in his wake, making slow progress. Slow but he actually was making great progress despite the conditions, that is, until he took one wrong step, causing a significant portion of snow just in front of him to give away. It fell loose, tumbling down into a previously hidden ravine.

In the whiteout, he couldn’t even see the bottom and in the howling winds he couldn’t even hear the collision of snow on snow. Whatever the case or condition it probably wasn’t a risk he would rather be taking.

He launched another white signal this, time not into the air but straight ahead to gauge how far the jump distance would be In a distance sense it wasn’t very far but in an athletic sense it was very unreachable. Maybe even five times his body length and no runup.

Even so it wasn’t a problem to this experienced unicorn as he was an expert in the light magical arts. Something most ponies find unsavory outside of the health and healing sector of that particular magic.

He began to focus as he took a step back, gathering all his light magic near the tip of his catalyst letting it grow and strengthen. He was in good health and very experienced so in no time at all a white light popped off hovered in his magical grip.

“Right!” he said as he crushed the light beneath his hooves letting it dissipate into little white specs that gathered at his legs. He took one more look, calculated his angles and with one breath lept into the air.

His body sailed easily overtaking the ravine by several yards even coming closer to the tree than the cliff itself. His landing wasn’t very graceful as he dug face first into the snow with his hind legs sticking straight up into the air. Still he quickly corrected himself, pulling himself up and adjusting his cape and proceeded to the tree shelter.

“Hey!” he called again. The tree itself had a very wide base which left a large open space to hide under even though the ground was still snow covered. “Are you there?”

There was no answer. Still he let himself beneath the canopy. Taking care not to ruffle the bottom branches, burying himself beneath the snow that would fall, he lowered his head and carefully let himself in.

Looking around he found nothing, nothing around the trunk of the tree nor beneath the canopy itself. He fell to the floor in defeat as intrusive thoughts flooded his head. All this effort for nothing. The village left her for dead and nopony risked life out in this blizzard. He was always told that with enough determination anything is possible.

Then what was the problem? Was he just not determined or was she really gone. He dug his hoof in the ground just before him out of idleness. This was really poor of him, everything he had ever done was stripped from his mind, from his legacy to his final effort in his expected life. It only came up as fruitless. A cruel world this place is; couldn’t have been even worse if he actively tried.

Just as he was about to completely admit defeat his hoof hit something soft. He petted it again out of curiosity and it was warm.

“What?!”

Quickly he sprung into action, getting up on all fours digging furiously at the snow. When enough of it had been excavated, he plunged a hoof down and took the filly by the body hoisting her up.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” He laid her down on his back. He pushed his ear against her chest. There was a beat, however faint it was. “No, no,” he calmly said as he began to focus. “Stay with me little one.” Sparks began to ignite as he focused on his alchemy. “Come on,” he urged in frustration as the cold and lack of fuel ensured the fire didn’t ignite.

Then he remembered his cape that always kept him warm in the harshest of colds. He quickly removed it in his magical grip letting the cold bite at his fur and lick at his skin. He ignored the sensation and quickly began to wrap the darkened cape around the little filly leaving nothing but her snout uncovered.

“It's okay,” he told her as he begun to rub the cape around her with his hooves trying to generate heat. “You’ll be alright, I swear by it.”

The sparks were still continuously lighting in and fading out just beside him as he continued to try to light a naked flame. There was no wood nor dry grass so a naked flame would be rather difficult to start but he tried nonetheless.

A withered, tired breath came from the little filly along with some movement from within the cape and the stallion fell back on his haunches with a sigh of relief. She’s alive, he thought. He’d given up on his alchemy fire. Fine by him; his fur would outlast the blizzard all night if it had too, but as long as this filly was safe and alright he would be fine with himself. Another tired sigh came from the filly and he said, “It's okay, you're safe now. Sleep now, everything will be alright.”

Beneath the darkened, starless night he awaited for the morning to come as the little filly slowly begun to recoverjust next to him. Countless times he would try to light a fire. A few times, he would actually get one going, and equally few times it would be blown out again leaving him exposed once again to the cold. He was sure the cold would kill him at one point, but the storm had to ease off eventually.

Just as he sat idly he heard a soft little voice say, “Are y-you a falconer?”

The words stung him in the heart. He swiveled his head to see the filly poking her head up from the cape he left her with.

“A falconer?” he asked. Her little face gleaming at her rescuer nodded. He cleared his throat, “no little filly. I uh… I was just doing the right thing.”

“You saved me,” she said. “Falconers save lots of ponies.”

He shook his head. “I'm not a falconer,” he said in a low voice. “Not anymore.”

“Then you’re,” she began nervously. “A bandit? Unjustified?” She slowly leaned away in worry.

He couldn’t help but simile. “Neither. I’m just a stallion.”

“But you said you were a falconer,” she said warming back up to the stranger.

“No! Little filly,” he said bluntly. “I said I'm not a falconer. I lost my title.” Her ears flattened at having been spoken to so cruelly and he only sighed. “I'm sorry. Little filly I'm sorry. I’m not a falconer.”

She then asked, “Then what are you?”

His ears perked up and he said, “What is pressing you on so? Should every pony be branded with a title?”

It confused him why she was only thinking of him in one way or the next. He could be a multitude of things if he really wanted to be and same with any other pony too.

“Well,” she began. “Everypony has their thing. Mother is a farmer, Father is a miner and Brother’s a smelter.”

“And what are you little filly?” he asked.

Her ears flattened as she became lost in thought. “Um…”

“Not so easy little filly,” he said as he begun to rest his head in between his hooves. “You talk too much. It’ll be good to get your rest in this cold.”

“I…” she began. “I could be a farmer like Mother. Brother could teach me to become a smelter.”

He sighed,her relentless prodding finally overcoming him. “You really want to know who I am, don't you?”

The filly nodded her head.

“Honestly?”

Again she nodded.

He took a deep breath as he settled himself, and with one breath he let out a single phrase. “A murderer.”

He braced himself for the ensuing shock or panic that would come of the little filly. It never came. He looked over to her to see that she was still comfortably tucked away in the black cape he wrapped her in.

“You can’t be,” she whispered. “Murderers are bad.”

“All of them?”

She nodded her head.

“Despite any reason or circumstance leading one to commit such a grievous crime?”

“But murderers take lives,” she said nervously slouching back into the warm fold of the cape. “You saved mine.”

“I killed others,” he suddenly said, causing a slight, ‘eep’, to come of her. “I killed them all. Bandits, thieves, criminals and smugglers who had the gall to swing a stick they mistook for a sword. I am not a clean soul. My sword can attest to that,” he said as he now held a blade in his magical grip for the filly to see.

He laid it down on the ground just next to her,

“I used to be a hero little filly. Something ponies like you could look up to could rely on. Only now,” he said, picking the sword back up in his magical grip.

He examined the blade, its perfect symmetry, sharpened hycrome tipped edges and luminescent shine. “Only now, I’ve been stripped.” He tossed the sword into the snow outside of their tree shelter letting it get partially buried in the snow fall. “Now I’m marked as a criminal for a crime justly committed.”

She tilted her head. “H-how?”

“Curse the name little filly,” he said with spite lingering in his voice. “Dehlvin Barundack! That dafted Falconer.”

“Who… what happened?”

He glanced at the little filly and said, “Little filly I was forsaken during a collaboration between two teams. The one I led, his team,” he said adding a bit of a hiss. “And the elusive group led by a stallion of many names. He is one only known by his son’s name, Mace Volcod. This was mere weeks ago you see, and we were to combat one of the few remaining major bandit stronghold freeing the north end of Noriphmy of its thieving bandits. Our efforts weren’t without leads, I do say. We were aided by a prisoner named Yunagawl who knew the location and weak points of each stronghold we were to attack. He was very cooperative and deserved his life in the care of the keepers at safeguard.” His voice then took a dark tone, “Barundack, that yewling diggit, suggested otherwise.”

“We were alone with our teams scouting the surrounding mountains and Mace’s father was also scouting unable to oversee the prisoner himself. That left me and Barundack alone with the Yunigawl himself. Barundack who outranking me by seniority commanded me to kill him. This prisoner was very young, and looking to me with fearful eyes as he was bound by restraints. I initially refused but Barundack wouldn’t see him live. He drew his weapon in advancement towards the defenceless prisoner and I drew mine in defence of the him.”

“We had a fierce bout, us throwing magic and weapons left and right. I fought for what I knew was right were as he fought for some petty urge. Eventually I was victorious scoring wounds to the unicorn, none of which were mortal. Then suddenly I was attacked from both sides. One by arrows and the other by clawed gauntlets and bladed feathers. Barundack leapt back into the fray declaring right then and there that I was a traitor and had sided with the bandits.

“It wasn’t entirely true little filly. I fought against the ideology of banditry, I only fought for the life of one stallion who had renounced such beliefs. It didn’t matter because not soon after I had two more corpses in score with Barundack now very well mortally wounded. Just then, Mace’s father and his small army of heavily fortified earth ponies arrived. I looked to Yunagawl only to see that he had fled.

“There was nothing else I could do but follow suit. And so I was declared a criminal on account of two murders with multiple eye witnesses to attest. I ran and ran and yet they still sent two teams after me. I slaughtered the first with my light magic, and the second…” He paused in recollection. “That final kill in self defence. All the pleading couldn’t deter that mare. The look on that colts face as he watched her die. I inflicted a wound that day. A wound that would cut deeper than any blade or spear in that colt's life to come. It wasn’t a physical wound, it was something spiritual… and I saw it written all over his face. That colt… will live in that moment infamy for the rest of his days.” he swallowed and sparing the filly another glance.

“Filly,” he began. “I'm a terrible, terrible pony. The countless lives I’ve taken. This one I forever condemned... It's unforgivable.”

“But it's not true,” she said. “You said so yourself.”

He began to shiver in the cold as the winds continued to blow and the snow relentlessly began to gather on his fur.

“Little filly,” he said in a hushed tone. “The world doesn’t think so.”

“But I know so.”

“Little filly...”

“Adridge,” she said. “My name is Adridge.”

He drew in a deep stiflingly cold breath. “No more,” he said still shivering. “No more words, Adridge. Go to sleep,” he softly bidded.

“Please.” His catalyst briefly glowed then suddenly dissipated to darkness.

The cold then began to bite its way at her and sleep bidded at her now more than ever. She could sense the stranger was distraught even at her young age and so with ever increasingly heavy eyes she snuggled back into the warm cape. She recognised this familiar sensation as light magic. Often times her mother would induce sleep to her on nights she found herself scared, but before she became lost in dreams she had one last question to ask the stranger.

“W-what is your name?”

There was a quiet answer. “Qudake. Qudake Hongarious.”

“The cape is really warm,” she said beginning to drift off.

He shivered again. “Its dragon skin, Adridge.”

She fell asleep a few moments after that. The snow hadn’t ceased to fall and the wind blew, but through it all Adridge slept soundly within the folds of the dragon skin and its radiating heat and as she did hours passed by in her sleep along with a frozen fate solidified and fulfilled.

Suddenly, she was stirred within her slumber and slowly she came too. Slowly her eyes began to open and as they did clear broad sunlight filled her sight illuminating the whitened mountainside nearly blinding her all together. Her cape was covered in snow that nearly buried her again but she was not cold.

She quickly realized what had stirred her from her sleep and in the distance she could hear calls coming her way closer and closer. She looked out from under the branches decked in snow and saw silhouettes from above, again calling for her.

She called back with her little voice saying, “I’m here, I’m down here.”

In the stillness of the day and tranquility in the mountains she was heard and they beckoned her to stay put as one anchored an arrow and began to lower another down the mountain to her. A pegasus took flight and also made its way down albite a lot faster as she glided downward to the little Adridge.

So was so excited to finally be rescued she began to excitedly nudge Qudake just beside her, but when she did look she found he was covered in snow, tail to snout. He didn’t move nor acknowledge her prodding. She worriedly continued, “Qudake? Qudake, wake up. Qudake we’re saved, wake up, please!” She didn’t understand, she was too naive only thinking he was still asleep.

The pegasus landed nearby but Adridge was paying no attention to her as she gently began shoving the stallion with both hooves ceaselessly trying to wake him up. Her breath caught in her throat at the mention of his name. Qudake. Looking up to her peer descending the mountain by string shot she approached Adridge saying, “Little filly.” Adridge still payed no attention to her. “Little filly, please,” she said resting an armored hoof across Adridge’s shoulder.

Only then did she take notice and she looked up to see a face masked by the guard of a helm with her silky yellow mane flowing down her neck in a braid. Her wings glistened as they were reinforced with bladed feathers and her slick gauntlets held slits for three retractable claws to spring into action at the press of a chest button. She had seen this mare before, she’d been to her village twice

Adridge cautiously ventured, “Nimbus?”

Softly and kindly she said, “We're here for you. Come let us go.”

“But… Qudake. He’s still asleep.”

She looked down to the falconer murderer, feelings towards him began to warp her perception. “Did he save you?” she softly asked.

Adridge nodded, “He kept me warm. He gave me this cape. He… saved me...” she motioned, lifting a flap for Nimbus to see.

Nimbus didn’t know what to say but for Adridges soft spirit she had to lie. “That's...very nice of him. He’ll be okay I… I promise. Let's get you home to your Toral; Mother and Father.”

The unicorn landed on the snow surface along with a second that made his own descent with the help of a little light magic. For the little Adridge, she pulled her up onto her back with the cape draped across herself and together, Nimbus took her to the dangling string shot to be hoisted upwards.

The first unicorn walked up to Nimbus.“I see you’ve found the filly.”

She watched as they neared the unicorn .When Nimbus passed by his ear, she whispered something, so quiet even Adridge sitting atop her couldn’t hear. She then left the unicorn who seemed petrified; stopped in his tracks and in thought.

“Kohligan?” came the second unicorn walking past Nimbus and Adridge. “Kohligan what's the matter?”

Adridge could sense something within Kohligan had broken, something inside and deeply personal, She watched as Kohligan advanced for the tree aggressively drawing his sword snarling in anger.

“Kohligan!” shouted the second unicorn rushing up to his friend, preventing him from acting so brash. He wrapped a hoof around his chest yelling, “Stop Kohligan!”

“Let. Me. Go!!” he retorted trying to break free.

“He’s dead, Kohligan!” he said.

“Let. Me. Do this! Let. Me. Go!!” He emphasised each word.

Kohligan, now standing above the dead Qudake laying in the snow and with fury he raised his sword ready to strike him when suddenly the second unicorn threw himself in front of it drawing his longsword blocking the strike against the broadside of the blade. Standing there in the middle of the snow he calmly said, “Kohligan… He’s dead. Please stop.”

Adridge watched as this armored pony began to shudder. His sword fell from his magical grip and he dropped to his haunches. “No. He killed her,” he softly cried.

“I know he did, I know,” he said trying to comfort his friend.

Even though her gaze was averted by Nimbus, Adridge could hear Kohligan begin to bawl, “I wanted to kill him myself, Hilliph. I wanted to kill him myself.”

Hilliph held Kohligans head in his fetlock comforting his friend in his darkest hour as Kohligan himself became lost in emotion.

“I know you did, I know.”

That was the last thing Adritdge saw before she was lifted into the air by wire back up to the path from which she fell. The dragon skin cape was hers now and deep within she found injustice, and with it, a legacy was forged.

Her eyes sprang open jumping to all fours despite the pain. Taking Lindestic by his armor, she hoisted him onto her back once again and now with renewed vigor she charged on taking him across the landscape.

“I will never give in. I will never fall again.”