New Trottland Yard Case 03 - Silver Cross and the Legend of the four crosses

Silver Cross

and the Legend of the four crosses

Chapter 1

Roga was groaning under the additional weight of his cart, as he pulled it towards his next destination. A few days ago he had found an unconscious mare in the high grass of the savanna. She had a high fever and her left foreleg bore a nasty injury. Usually he had left her to die, since she was a Pony and not a Zebra, but the Minotaurs were paying good prices for Pony slaves these days. Since his next stop was one of their settlements, he had decided to take her along and treat her wounds. The white Pony had been lucky that he was such a good healer, and that he had purchased a great amount of healing herbs in Zenabra. Otherwise, she would have lost the leg at the very least.

Roga just hoped that she was worth the effort. After a few more hooves, he had reached a pond that he used a regular resting place on his travels. Many others did so as well, so it surprised the Zebra a bit that there was no other trader here this time. Being in a group usually brought safety, but Roga didn't mind camping here alone for once. Well.... not really alone.

Once more his gaze fell on the unconscious mare. Her fever had went down, and her breathing was much more regular then when he had found her. Not for the first time did he wonder who she was. What had brought her here, while the relations with Equestria were this bad. Everything indicated that there would be a war soon, and yet this mare had been all alone. She didn't look like a soldier or a diplomat either. And what was that cross hanging from her neck? He had tried to remove it several times, but each time the leather string holding it had tightened around the mares neck. Not enough to actually choke her, but enough to make it impossible to remove it. What wondered him the most was, that the string even resisted his sharpest blade. Or... what had once been his sharpest blade.  When he had tried to cut the string, it had heated up enough to melt part of his knife...

All that didn't matter right now however. What mattered was, that he needed some sleep. With that in mind, he lay down close to the mare, just in case she woke up and tried to run away. He hadn't put that much work into her, just to have his prize run away now after all. Binding her had not worked either. After only a few minutes, the ropes he had used had dried and crumpled to dust....

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Roga was tired when he strapped himself to his cart once more. His dreams had been haunted by a big white Pony, with wings and a horn. He tried to recall the conversation they had, since had nothing else to do while he trotted towards Fort Muscle, which was still several days of travel away from his current location.

At first, he had dreamed about his wife and son back home. He had played with the little Zebra colt, when the world around him had suddenly blurred out of existence. Instead of his village, he had suddenly found himself in a throne room. The floor, walls and even the ceiling were made of white marble, and several windows made of colored glass were set into the walls. On the far end, sitting on the center throne, he had spotted the white mare that had haunted his dreams. One moment he had just looked at her, the next he had stood directly in front of her. Her purple eyes bore into his brown ones with a glare, that emanated such serious disapproval, that he had been reminded of his mother for a moment.

“Roga, of the Gentaro tribe. What you are about to do is wrong, and you know it.”, she had said, standing up and looking down on him.

“What do you know about what I plan, Pony?”, he had shot back. Even though he had been aware that he was dreaming, it all felt so real.

“You found a mare in the savanna who was hurt. You treated her wounds, and even used some of your most expensive medical supplies to make her better. Now you are intending to sell her into slavery! Isn't slavery against the tribal law of the Gentaro? You will shame yourself and your ancestors if you do this Roga.”

“A Pony trying to lecture ME about our tribal laws... Interesting. What kind of abomination are you anyways? I have met many Ponies in my days, but never one like you. Besides, selling her will make me rich. My son will never have to worry about money if I do this.”

“And that is a good enough reason to sell another into a life of slavery?”, the mare asked softly, shaking her head and ignoring his own question. She looked deeply disappointed in him. Her gaze basically burned into him, as if he was staring into the sun itself.

“Maybe not, but I have to think about my family first. They need the money.”, he said a little less enthusiastic. Of course this mare was right. Slavery was against his tribes laws. He would be exiled if it ever came out that he did this. His family however, would be able to live in wealth. The mare just shook her head again.

“Roga... You are a better Zebra then this. If it is riches you desire, I can give you all the gold that you could ever desire, in exchange for this mares freedom.”, she said hopefully. Roga paused for a moment. All the gold he could ever desire? He desired quite a bit, so...

“How much exactly?”, he asked, not intending to take the bait this mare threw at him.

“During my rule, there was a vault, not too far away from where you are now. It is filled with gold from top to bottom, and can only be opened by me or my sister. If you agree to release the mare, I will guide you there and open the door for you.”

Roga considered that for a moment. He didn't know this Pony, and since she was a mere mare there was no way she had ever ruled his people. Was he really about to agree to a deal with one of his dreams? With a figment of his own imagination? No. No he wouldn't. Shaking his head he returned the mares gaze.

“You promise riches, yet you have no prove except your word. You claim that you have ruled, yet you are a mare, and I have never heard of a female Kaiser. More over, you are a Pony, not a Zebra. It is the last straw that tells me that you are lying to me. I will sell this mare, and bring the money I receive back to my family. I don't care what happens to me afterwards. All that matters to me is, that they have a future.”

After that his dreams had returned back to scenes of his family, but he always spotted the white mare somewhere. When he was making love to his wife, he suddenly looked up seeing the disapproving face of the mare through the window. When he was playing with his son, she would suddenly appear out of nowhere to glare at him some more... It had gotten so bad, that he had finally awoken, his coat wet from sweat...

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It was nighttime once again, and Ronga didn't get to sleep. His thoughts spiraled around the mare he was about to sell. She wasn't half bad looking either. For a Pony. Who knew what the Minotaurs would do with her?

Whatever it was, he decided to get a little relief before he sold her. Her had saved her life after all, so he doubted that she would mind. And since she was a Pony, it wouldn't even count as cheating on his wife according to his tribes laws.

As he positioned himself over the prone form of the mare, something that he had not expected happened. Her coat began to glow. At first it was soft and barely visible over the light of their campfire. As he lowered himself however, the glow intensified and he had to jump back. There was a heat radiating from the mare that had singed some of the fur on his belly, and outright burned the grass around her. As if that wasn't bad enough, he bumped into something when he had to jump back.

Ronga looked upwards, staring into the eyes of a Minotaur. His blood froze in his veins as he saw the cruel grin on the bipedal creatures face. Before he could try and negotiate something, a strong fist connected with his jaw, sending him flying. He landed, back first, on the campfire. Howling in pain, he scrambled away from the flames, doing his best to keep his eyes on his attacker.

“Why are you attacking me? I'm a traveling merchant, on my way to Fort Muscle.”, he panted, trying his best to ignore the pain of his singed body and cracked jaw.

“I don't care what your intentions are. All I care about are your wares. They should bring a good prize when I sell them to my brothers.”, the Minotaur laughed as he advanced on the injured Zebra.

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Shouting and the sounds of a fight woke me up. Lazily I opened my eyes, taking in the scene before me. I was in a forest clearing of some kind. It was almost completely dark around me, the only light source being the dying ambers of a campfire. A few hooves away I saw a Minotaur and something flew past me, hitting one of the trees with a sickening crunch. My head snapped around to see what it was. I saw a Zebra stallion, slumped against the tree, coughing up blood. One of the broken branches was sticking out of his chest. I instantly knew two things. First: He wouldn't be able to take much more of a beating. Second: His chances of survival were slim as it was.

I jumped to my hooves, positioning myself between the injured stallion and the Minotaur. I had no idea what was going on, but this Minotaur was clearly intending to end the Zebra, and I was not going to sit by and just let it happen. He stopped and grinned at me as he noticed my battle stance. I had my head lowered, snorting steam from my nostrils.

“You are seriously going to defend that scum? Are you even aware that he was trying to rape you when I arrived? Not that it matters to me, though. My brothers won't mind if I fuck you up a little before bringing you to them. In the worst case you can still be used to feed our watchdogs.”, the creature said, trying hard to suppress a laugh.

The opinion of the stallion behind me instantly dropped a few inches, but I wouldn't let that Minotaur have his way nonetheless.

“So? The last thing I remember is passing out in the middle of some high grass, being injured. From the fact that I feel quite good, I can only assume that he found and cared for me. Oh, don't get me wrong, he will get a piece of my mind when I'm done with you. This is your last chance. Leave peacefully or I won't be responsible for what happens to you!”, I bluffed. I was quite aware that my chances of actually beating a Minotaur without any kind of weapon were rapidly approaching zero.

He just laughed and charged at me. The creature was fast, but to my surprise he was the one to howl in pain as his blow connected with my forehead. I didn't even feel the blow. Shocked, I looked at my hoof, which was glowing faintly. It was then that I realized that I felt the same intense heat I had felt in Haunchington. Was this a third power of my cross?

A grin forming on my face, I advanced on the Minotaur. He tried to dodge my rear legs, when I turned around and bucked at him with all my might, but I was faster this time. With a wheezing sound, all the air was knocked out of his lungs. I watched in awe as he was knocked into the darkness of the forest, uprooting several trees in his wake.

Soon after, the glow on my coat subsided, and I turned my attention back to the stallion. Sadly, I was too late. His chest had stopped moving, and I couldn't find any pulse. Removing his body from the tree, I carried him to the center of the clearing, using my hooves to dig a hole. I had no doubt that this stallion had saved my life, and that I had failed to save his in turn. My white coat was tinged a deep red when I finally dropped him into the grave and started to fill it up again.

Just as I wanted to turn to the cart that stood at the edge of the small camp, I felt my legs give out from under me. The last thing I saw before I fainted, was the world blurring around me. After that, I faceplanted onto a very hard concrete floor....