Prelude : A Chance Encounter
Rainbow Dash grumbled as her cloak’s hood was blown off her head as the wind picked up, blasting her face with rain; the event punctuated by thunder ringing out. She had been grounded by this damned storm, thankfully, she'd been close enough to this little border town to walk in.
Ponyville, she believed it was named.
It was a small, dreary, town, little more than a blip on the royal highway. Its only noteworthy feature was that it was right on the border between Equestria and the Kingdom of Moorea, one of the human lands.
Surprisingly, given her position as a courier for the royal crown, she'd never crossed into the human Kingships. That’s not to say she'd never seen a human, she'd seen many of their kind and frankly she found them a bit… dull. They were big, burly, things usually doing hard labor for next to no pay, and most weren’t on the friendly side. Her friends that had been across the border told her a different story but she'd yet seen anything to the contrary.
Another howl of wind through the street ripped her from her thoughts, the wind ripping at her already tattered cloak. She been traveling hard for three days, rarely stopping for anything, but this storm threatened to take her from the sky so she thought it wise to set down and wait for the storm to pass. She just needed to find a tavern or inn to bed for the night; sadly, a lot of others had the same plan.
“Where is… Ah!” She said to herself as she found her destination; a small two level building.
‘The Hound’ the sign hanging above the door read, the letters curving around a stylized dog in mid-jump. The door was a large double door set in one of the buildings corners; she shook herself off as best she could and walked in.
The tavern was a small thing, a hearth accompanied the far wall adjacent to the bar bathing the room in a soft glow and two rows of booths dominated both walls; the door she stood in taking one corner and stairs to the second floor in the far end behind the bar. The tavern was nearly full at the moment, a host of ponies, diamond dogs, and gryphons sitting around drinking, content to be out of the storm. An auburn coated diamond dog barmaid, garbed in a low-cut green dress that made good use of her curvy form, drifted from group to group assuring all were content. She noted the barmaid made good use of her well toned form, leaning over a little more than necessary as she took an order; the patron not really looking at his coin as he gave her a little too much.
Her scan of the tavern's inhabitants earned her a reward as she caught sight of a human plopping down in one of the recently vacated corner booths, a wyvern snaking its way out of the human’s rain soaked green cloak and onto the table. A double curve short bow was slung across his back along, and quiver of arrows was attached his side.
The barmaid caught sight of the reptile and called, “Human! Keep the pet on a short leash ya hear?”
The human didn’t say a word, simply waving off the girl. The wyvern was not so diplomatic; it reared up on its snake like body and hissed at the barmaid who growled right back at the reptile. The wyvern looked ready to jump at the poor girl, but the human made a ‘tiss' sound and the creature coiled up on the table.
She heard stories of humans keeping wyverns as pets like cats or dogs, the normally ornery creatures calm and obedient at their direction. The best way to describe them would be as a snake with wings, with most growing to be around six feet in length.
The barmaid finally took notice of the blue coated pegasus, “Sorry lass we're up full, try ‘n find a chair if ya can and I’ll be over.”
Dash nodded at her and looked around for a free space. Most spots were taken and the few free spaces left her uncomforting close to rather… unsavory looking individuals. She finally came to the human, sitting alone save his pet on the table. With no other options, she made her way over.
The wyvern cocked its head in her direction as she neared and hissed lightly in protest. That made the human look up from under his, as his face reviled, hood; his narrowed eyes a mismatch of blue and green.
“You mind?” She asked.
He simply looked at her for a moment before shrugging and gesturing to the empty space. The moment she took the offer the wyvern rose up and slithered over to her side of the table, getting into her face and slipping its tongue out at her like a snake. Allowing her to see a pair of mismatched green and blue eyes, same as its owners, along with a strange rune on its forehead.
The man chuckled at that, “She seams to like you.”
His voice was young and a small bit jovial, worlds different from what she was accustomed to from his race.
He made some indescribable sound and the wyvern rushed over and disappeared under his green cloak, its head popping out just under his chin.
“Well trained for a pet.” Dash said. Wincing as his eyes narrowed a bit. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to offend.”
He sighed as his eyes softened back to neutral, “Seems none know our customs. She’s no pet, more of a… companion; I’ve known her all my life.”
“What’s her name?” She asked.
“Spine, named after the forest near my home.” He said.
She was about to say something before the barmaid interrupted, “You two want anything?”
“Mead and some raw meat, if you have it.” The human said, the wyvern at his chin making something akin to a chirp.
“An ale please.” Rainbow said, wanting something to shake the cold that clung to her.
“That’ll be five copper from you lad, two from you.” The barmaid said with a smile, turning on her heel and walking the bar; swinging her wide hips as she went, her fluffy red tail swaying left to right.
The display was lost to the human, who was already looking at her again with a questioning gaze.
“Bit small for ale aren’t you?” He said, pulling his hood down; showing his curly brown hair.
“Can say the same to you, you’re the smallest human I’ve ever seen.” Dash retorted. It was true; this man was about five even, a foot under most humans she’d seen.
He chuckled, “Not about size lass, it’s about how you use it.”
“Really? I’ve had a lot of men tell me that, never really true.” She said, laughing as well.
She saw a ghost of a smile grace his lips, “You got a name?” She asked.
“Dresden; you?” ‘Dresden’ said.
“Rainbow Dash.” She said.
The barmaid returned, “Here you are.” she said; placing two tankards and a plate of raw meat on the table. Dash was about to pull out her coinpurse when the human flipped a silver into the barmaids hand.
“For the two. I’ll need a room as well. Keep the change love.” Dresden said.
Dash looked at the man flabbergasted, a silver was enough for ten days! The barmaid stared at the coin for a moment before finding herself and nodding with a wide smile, showing off her sharp teeth.
“T… thank you kindly lad. Need anything else?” She asked, looking between the two.
Dash pulled ten copper coins from her purse, “I’ll need a room as well.”
The barmaid nodded with a smile and left, a spring in her step that was not there before.
“How long you staying here?” She asked.
“A day at the most; I’ve been watching her for a while, a girl like that doesn’t flaunt herself if she doesn’t need to. Wager she needs it more then me, the lass is probably barely holding on as it is in this backwater.” He said. “Besides, it’s not my coin.” He added with a hearty laugh.
Dash raised a brow, “Not yours, are you a thief or something?”
He really laughed at that, the wyvern in his cloak slithering out and attacking the meat on the table after taking a lick of the mead.
“The king seems to think so!” He began, pausing to take a drink. “No, nothing so low as thievery pads my purse. I’m just well paid, overly so, to some.”
“You work for the king of Moorea? What do you do?” She asked.
“Oh… a bit of this and that. And you?” He said, deflecting the question. Dash finally saw a pair of daggers at his side under his cloak, both on the same side, one above the other.
“I work for the crown as well, believe it or not. I'm a courier of the royals of Canterlot.” Dash answered.
"Celestia and Luna?" Dresden asked with a raised brow.
"No, I don't serve the Princesses." Dash said, running a hoof through her rainbow colored mane. "I answer to the Sparkle family, they are very well... connected in Canterlot."
"Really? I've dealt with one of their line in the past, Twilight Sparkle, I believe. She was an.... odd one. She served as a liaison to your crown." Dresden said.
"What did you do?" Dash asked.
"I was a... guard, you could say; stopped her from doing anything... foolish." Said the human.
"She can get herself into trouble." Dash said, chuckling lightly.
The wyvern finished her meal, Dresden reaching out and petting her. The snakelike creature coiling up his arm and wrapping itself around his neck; the little hand like appendages at the midpoint of its large wings griping onto the man. The pair leaned back and simply enjoyed the silence.
“You passing though?” He asked.
“I was going to Riverrun, a bit to the south, before the storm grounded me. What about you?” Dash said.
“I’ve got… business to attend to here actually. Then I’m back to the keep.” He said.
“What kind of business?” Dash said.
“The kind I can’t talk about.” He said over the lip of his cup.
“You’re a secretive one.” She said.
“Very astute of you Dash. Truth is I’m not that much of a… people person, so to speak. Comes with my line of work.” He said.
“What do you do?” She asked.
“I’m a ‘Ranger’, think of it as a… guard for the kingdom.” He said.
She nodded at the information, no doubt all she was going to her out of him according to his line of work.
They digressed back to idle conversation for a time, the taverns patrons slowly leaving or going up to their rooms.
She stifled a yawn herself and rose from her seat, “I think it’s time to get some sleep.”
“Aye.” He said simply, downing the rest of his drink.
She passed him and made her way to the stares to the upper rooms. The ranger not too far behind, as she reached her door she heard Dresden’s footsteps stop. She turned her head just in time to see him being embraced by the barmaid in a hug, the ranger returning the gesture after a moment. The girl pulled away and whispered something in his ear, flaunting her eyes and brushing her tail against him.
Dash closed her door, not wanting to interrupt. Noting that there where two sets of footsteps going past her room, Dresden’s door closing with the giggle of the barmaid.
‘Great… now it won’t be just the thunder keeping me up.’ She thought.
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Rainbow smiled as she flew over the town, happy to be finally be in the air once more. Her stay was a… interesting one to say the least, though she was glad to have stopped here. Dresden was an interesting person for a human, nice enough, if a little introverted. She saw him on her way out; they passed each other idle pleasantries and went their separate ways, the man grumbling about hair in his mouth as Spine’s eyes flashed brighter for a moment before she flew away.
She pushed her thoughts aside a focused on the task at hoof. She'd been told to deliver a message to Riverrun, though she hadn’t been told what it was, and she couldn’t read so the scroll in her pack would remain a mystery. Though she doubted it was anything truly important as she was rather new to this area of Equestria, new tax proclamations maybe.
She was about to bank out of town when a scream tore through the air. She looked down in surprise, seeing a human running from a familiar creature.
‘Spine?’ She thought perplexed.
Spine was diving at the human, who was garbed in a chain mail shirt; a shortsword in his hand. The human had deep cuts in his face and arms, along with an arrow lodged in his shoulder blade. She thought she saw something else tailing him, a shape flashing from shadow to shadow. The human suddenly spun and tried to slice Spine from the air, but the reptile easily flew out of his reach. Just as the blade reached the end of its swing something happened that surprised her enough to stop flapping her wings for a moment.
Dresden’s cloaked form simply appeared right in-front of the man. Dresden’s hand flashed under his cloak, the hand coming out with a long, slightly curved, dagger. Dresden took a step closer, pulling the dagger all the way back before it flashed forward. He plunged it deep into the man, the blade’s tip exiting out of his back as he jerked up with the force, the blade going through the mail as if it were not there. Dresden pulled the blade from the man, then simply disappeared one more.
The man simply stood there for a moment, clutching the hole in his chest, before falling to his knees.
Dresden’s words echoed in her mind, “I’ve got business here, I’m like a… guard for the kingdom. I’m a Ranger.”
The man fell, his face in the dirt and a pool of blood around him, and not a sign of what had killed him.
