It's Always Worth the Price. (2022)
Chapter 32: Returning home.
Previous Chapter Next ChapterThe day had begun with a joyous start, Chrysalis and I awoke within each others embrace and had breakfast in bed, compliments from the chef for calming the raving queen. The meal was fantastic and my week of freedom was two days closer to its end. I explained to Chrysalis that I needed to get some things done before the week was over and she understood.
As I stuffed my equipment into my pack, I was interrupted by the ebony queen as she wrapped her arms around my chest and smiled as she stared into my eyes,”Dark, I wish you could stay here with me.” she buried her face into my back.
“I would if I could love, but I need to get some things before my week of freedom is over. On the last day, I promise you that I will come back and spend the day with you.” I reassured her as I continued to pack. Once my pack was filled to the brim in equipment and food for the travel, I strapped it around my waist. I turned to the changling queen and planted my lips against hers. We stood in the bedroom for a moment, holding each other until I realized I was burning daylight. “I’ll see you once I return, but until then.” I gave her a quick and embracing hug.
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Some time had passed since I left the Hive and I arrived at the campsite once more. I spent a lot of time here, and it could use some improvements. I set my pack down against the log near the campfire and left for the nearby woods. One after the other, I dragged four large logs out of the woods and towered them in each corner of the site. I scavenged for twigs, brush and leaves in the area and set them in a large pile. I gathered more and more until I had all the materials I needed. With the help of my gauntlets, the materials that I gathered, and a bit of ingenuity, I set to work on fashioning a small hut.
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After two hours of slaving away at the small hut, it was finally finished. “Pretty good shack ya got there.” called a voice from behind. I turned around and caught gaze of a scruffy blue pony with flaming hair. “The names Pyromancer, good to meetcha!” the strange Pegasus stallion reached out his hand and I cautiously took his.
“Hello Pyro. My name’s Darkmoon.” I gave the sketchy stallion a quick glance over. He held an ocean blue tint in his coat and a red and blue flaming mane. His more defining features were his pegasus wings and his interesting cutie mark. The mark was a cyan and blood red flame. His hooves were orange and had a small red goatee.
“What’s the matter? You look as if I were a passerby looking to kill something,” asked Pyro.
“What?” I asked.
The stallion blinked his eyes a few times and tapped the side of his head with his hand. “Nothing, sometimes my mind tends to wander and words come out without going through my brain. A few screws loose they tell me but I try to ignore the sods.”
“Ignore who?” The more he talked, the more confused and intrigued I became.
The pony stopped pounding his head and faced me once more,”The town’s folk. I can’t stand the thought of them rejecting me so easily, but whatever happens to make them think or do these things, happens for a reason.”
“And why do you think they rejected you?”
“Ha that’s a joke. They ‘Say that I’m crazy’... Just because you burn down a town hall on accident and stay to watch it fall to the ground in a heap of smouldering ashes. Apparently, that makes me insane.”
Again, the more he spoke, the more worried I became. I just built a hut out of logs and I was sitting with a pyromaniac.
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We sat around inside the hut for quite awhile and Pyro told me a bit about himself. He was always on the go, never quite place that would accept him due to his mentally unstable state of mind. The blue stallion was surprisingly... a fairly good cook. He threw strange sets of miscellaneous ingredients into a pot and the water inside shifted into a strange color.
“So... What’s this made of?” I asked the stallion as he stirred the pot of assorted ingredients.
“All sorts of things, rocks, sticks, leaves, berries I found on some bushes, bees...”
“Did you just say ‘rocks’?” I turned my attention to the pot and saw the color of the soup. It was a deep shade of purple. “That looks... delicious?”
“Don’t let the look define the taste, you’d be surprised.” He grabbed a small bowl and used his ladle to pour some into the bowl. He handed it to me and gave a large smile,”Try it.”
I took the small bowl and it looked to be full of some purple poison and slowly brought it to my mouth. I could feel my insides churn at the sight of the soup. I pressed the edge against my lips and took a quick sip. “Oh.” I took a bigger sip. “Damn..” I continued to down the rest of the soup and after I finished my soup, I spoke through a mouthful,”How, did, you.” I decided it was pointless to speak with my mouthful seeing as how I could barely speak. I swallowed it and took a breath to ease the rush of my mouth. “Where did you learn to cook like that? That was amazing!”
“Living on the road, you kinda have to work with what you got. A while back, before they said that I ‘snapped’ I was a cook at this fancy pants restaurant. I made things like caramelized pears and cheese souffles and other fancy stuff. I tried to get my own shop set up in Roamania but alas, they won’t allow that because of my so called ‘condition’. Screw them I say, all I need is fire and food.” the blue stallion continued to stir the soup and then poured himself some.
As the stallion sat himself down beside me and sipped on his soup, he took notice of my sword. “Hey, is that..” He quickly snatched my blade out of its sheath and locked his eyes on the hilt of the blade.
“Hey, what are you..”
“Ah ha! You’re the guardian right? I can tell you are due to this symbol.” He pointed to the small carving within the hilt and smiled wide,”That’s the symbol of the Old Guardian guild. I tell you, they were not the kind of people to mess with. I wish I coulda been there to see them in person. I guess I was just born too late. Damn.”
“How do you know all this?” I asked the entranced stallion.
He took his awe filled gaze and centered it on me,”I studied up on it back in Cloudsdale’s Library, I’ve always found them so interesting. Many ponies have things that interest them greatly, for me, that is the Guardians.”
“So what can you tell me about the old Guardians?” I asked the blue stallion.
He squinted his eyes as he placed his hand against his head,”Well for starters, they were big in terms of honor. If you did anything to bring dishonor to the guild, you were forced to train in the courtyards through night and day, rain or shine. And you did this till they saw it fit for you to go back into the field.” He took a sip of his soup. “They were destroyed after the war with the gryphon kingdom. The only one that was left was Senior, the last guardian of Equestria before you came. He was a master in both ground and air combat, and when it came to magic, he was... almost too good. I bet if he wanted, he could’ve taken a group of dragons by himself.”
“If he was so good, then why was the guild destroyed? If he had all this power, they would’ve pulverized the gryphons.”
“This is true, but his mind wasn’t set on the battle. His mind was set on something else they say.” he took a deep breath to relax himself. “For what I cannot say.”
I placed my bowl down and placed my hands against my head, I was intrigued by the story and the guild, but the pain of Senior’s betrayal and abandoning of me were brought back to mind. A lone tear managed to form in the corner of my eye as I thought. “I’d like to stop talking about this, at least for now.”
“Sure thing bud.”
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The sun was a couple hours from setting and I brought the misunderstood stallion along with me to Ponyville. We were nearing the edge of town and talked the entire way. We talked of simple things. We spoke of foods, society, and magic. I thought that it was about time for a drink to ease into the night, so I suggested we stopped at Tolsa’s.
Once we strode through the wooden swinging doors and sat down at a booth, I signaled the waitress over. She quickly approached our table and asked,”Hiya Dark, What can I get you and your friend?” I turned to Pyro and waited for him to finish looking through the menu.
“I’ll have a...lettuce sandwich with some hay fries and some hard cider,” stated the blue stallion.
“And what can I get for you, Dark?” asked the mare.
“Well, I’m not really hungry, so just a mug of anything alcoholic really.”
“Hard or soft.”
My mind went perverted for a moment as I laughed inside my mind,”Hard, please.” A light chuckle came out.
“As you wish!” the mare turned around and set way to retrieve our drinks. I leaned back into the soft booth chair and took a sigh in relief, the walk had been long and tiring. The barmaid returned a moment after with Pyro’s hard cider and my surprise. It was a tall mug and the foam was overflowing, the drink was pure black and was giving off a strong, lingering smell. “Here you two go.” She turned to Pyro and gave him a quick wink,”Your food will be out in a few minutes.”
As she turned away back to the bar, I could see Pyromancer watching her walk away. “She wants me, I can tell.”
“Come on, she only gave you a wink. Don’t get all emotional on me now.” I prodded his ribs with my elbow in a joking manner. “Anyways, she’s married.”
“Yeah right, you’re just saying that because you want her all to yourself. Not this time Dark, not this time.”
“I’ll have you know that I already have a special someone, and the barmaid is married to the barkeeper.”
“No joke?” the blue stallion asked.
“Not one.” I replied. He shrugged it off and took a drink of his cider. I followed by taking a drink from my mystery drink, and it burned as it trickled down my throat. “Goddess that’s strong! What is this? I..I... really like this. What do you think this is?” I asked the pyromaniac beside me.
“Don’t know, I’m not a casual drinker.” He took a few bites out of his sandwich.
“Thanks for the help.” I said with sarcasm. I turned away from Pyro and caught the sight of a large grey and forest green dragon, he wore a full suit of finely crafted armor. He had dark grey scales that faded into green as the scales reached their end. His emerald green eyes caught my gazing and he looked to me. I called out to the dragon,”Hey. I like your gear! Where can I get a set?”
He picked up his bottle and sauntered over to our booth. “Hello, My name is Terra. Terra Firma.” he sat down across from me and stared me down. I was about to reach for my blade when his words interrupted my actions,”That armor... Guardian status, are you? What makes you think that you’re fit to wear such armor.”
I growled at his accusation,”I don’t care for boasting.”
The large dragon leaned against the table and continued to stare me down. I squinted my eyes as I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword. The large dragon bowed his head and smiled,“You... you’re worthy of this precious gift. I once was the apprentice of the Master blacksmith who forged this incredible armor, this grade of armor was once only given to the protectors of the land, the Guardians. Their guild was a group of mighty and fierce warriors, masters of combat. Celestia sought out the greatest blacksmith in the land, Firefist. He crafted many sets of this armor for the proud warriors gladly. I was taken under Firefist’s smithing ways shortly after most of the armors were crafted. I witnessed the many stages of his craft, heat treatment after heat treatment, one hammer smash after another, folding and bending of the metal. He was truly a master of his trade, and I was honored to be able to witness his ways. Sadly, I’m sorry to say that your armor is not complete. You only bear the gauntlets and Pauldron, you still require the chestpiece and the greaves. I remember this set, Firefist crafted it especially for the guardian by the name of Senior. The last I saw of him was with the complete set, but after he left in search of a cave; he came back with only the upper half of the set. He must have left the greaves back in this cave, of that I’m not positive though. It’s just a guess.” He leant back into the chair and took a large gulp of his beer.
“Why is it so important for me to retrieve Senior’s old gear? I haven’t needed it before, why should I need it now? Plus we’re in a time of peace, so there’s no need for it.” I told the drake.
“This is true, but like you stated, we’re in a time of peace.. for now. I’m sure you’ll need it if the time of war arises, and I’d feel safer if I knew that the guardian was protected by mighty armor so that he may protect us.” There were wisdom in his words, and I could tell that it all came with age. He may have looked young, but a dragon ages much slower than a regular human or pony. “I would ask this of you, please find his gear. It would do many good to know that you are protected.”
“Alright, I’ll do this if think it’ll help.” I took a long drink of my mysterious beverage and took an abundance of joy from the fizz and small stings for the strong taste.
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The night begun to a pleasing start, the small group of Pyro, Terra Firma, a few miscellaneous ponies and myself sat around and got hammered. I could feel my body begin to loosen up and my mind relaxed. I felt content with everything. My company was a pleasant crowd and I learned much about the armor bearing dragon. I found that he lives near Ponyville, his house was built on the mountains near the small town. He was a blacksmith and created his own dazzling set of armor that he wore at the moment. He usually wandered the countryside keeping the peace of the nearby regions. He seemed to be a little bit too dramatic for any given moment, thought couldn’t compare to Rarity’s sense of drama. The very sound of her crying about something being wrong sent a rather chilling shiver down my spine.
“I need to set off now, I have plenty to do tomorrow. I shall catch up with you all sometime later. Farewell, my friends” I managed to say through drunken slurs. The buzz took hold of me after my fourth mug of the mysterious brew. They all gave me a nod in respect and returned to the constant laughter and chatting around the now lively table. I turned to the door and made my way to the door and stumbled out into the nights cool embrace.
As the moons light shone upon me, I could feel something take hold of my body. My wings spread open wide and I shot into the sky. “What’s going on?” I asked myself aloud. The wings on my back seemed to have a mind of their own as they rocketed me towards the Everfree. “Why am I going here?” I asked myself again. As I flew over the Everfree forest, my wings cut away and slapped themselves shut. “Not again!” I plummeted towards the ground at a rapid pace and crashed through tree after tree, finally coming to a halt in a familiar ruin.
I stood from the ground and leaned my body against a stone wall,”I’m gonna feel that in the morning.” My thoughts of future pain was ended by the sounds of small cries of sorrow. I quickly remembered the small filly known as Moon Shadow returned to mind. I almost completely forgotten about her, and I left her alone... here. My thoughts turned dark and depressing as I began stumbling through the corridors trying to find the small mare.
“Moon?” I called out, but all I got were constant sobs. I needed to find her, I needed to help her. I couldn’t just leave her anymore, I needed to deal with this. This is why my wings brought me here, I was sure of it. As I staggered through the halls of the ruin, the cries came closer. My head was spinning and I could only see a short distance in front of me before the images turned into blurs. The sobs became more and more frequent as I neared the end of the hall. The last room to the right had a dim light brightening the room and I slowly approached the large wooden door.
The door crackled and creaked as it opened, I slowly and cautiously peeked inside. I could see the shadow of the small mare cascaded across the wall in the far end of the room.
“Moon, is that you?” I called out to the shadow. The only response I got were small gasps of air between light sobs. “I’m coming in.” I pushed the door open and staggered my way through. The light dissipated into thin air as the door slammed behind me, I shot my gaze behind me and found the door had been locked. “What’s going on, Moon? Is that you?” I tried to look around the room but was denied this pleasure with the tonic in my system and the absence of light.
I remembered that I still had my gear and charged the inferno spell. As the spell reached its peak, I cast it to illuminate the room. The once dark room was now lit by the torch that was my hand. I heard laughter in the distance of the long stretching room and could feel my senses turned grim on the outlook of my situation.
“Well... fuck.”