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....
New Trottland Yard Case 03 - Silver Cross and the Legend of the four crosses
Silver Cross
and the Legend of the four crosses
Chapter 2
I wasn't out for long. Only a moment after my face had hit the ground, I jolted fully awake again. I looked around frantically, but I wasn't in the forest anymore. I was in front of a ruined building, and the rest of the city I was in didn't look any better. There were bullet holes in the walls, and most of them had collapsed. What caught my eye however, was a pure black Earthpony mare, fighting several Changelings not far from where I was. I struggled to my tired hooves and galloped to her aid as fast as I could.
She dodged and weaved around them, striking their necks with her bare hoofs. The strength she used to do that however, was enormous. I could see their necks snap with each of her strikes. Suddenly a few of them fired arcane bolts at her. I was almost there, but I wouldn't make it in time to knock her aside. What came next almost rooted me to the spot. Her shadow came to life from under the mare, enveloping her fully and disappearing into the ground. A moment later, she reappeared behind the group that had tried to use their magic on her. Her hoofs rained down blow after blow, until all of them lay motionless.
A bigger one, looking almost like a twisted version of the legendary Alicorns, came out of a building to the mares right. She didn't seem to notice it as it charged at her. I switched into high gear and slammed my head right into the things flank, shortly before it could impale the mare on it's horn. We both tumbled over the ground, the strange Changeling hissing and biting at me, while I brought down my cross three times on it's head. The forth hit finally crushed it's head, splattering me with green blood and brain matter...
Somepony put a hoof on my shoulder carefully, and I turned around. The mare from earlier was grinning at me, her amber eyes gleaming with joy. Her mane and tail were soaked with Changeling blood, so I could barely make out their original gray color.
“Good job there Silver. You saved my sorry flank once again. Guess I owe you.”, she said, looking down at the crushed head of the Changeling.
“How... how do you know my name?”, I asked confused.
The grin on her face disappeared as she mustered me from head to hoof. When her gaze fell onto the right side of my face, she gasped. Her hoof shot forward, pointing at the bite wound I had suffered there.
“What the hay? You don't even know who I am, are you? Oh this is such a mess....”, she cursed, beginning to pace up and down in front of me.
“What... what's going on here? Where am I, and...”, I started, but the mare just waved an impatient hoof at me.
“Look, you shouldn't be here. Well... you should, but not you YOU.... Argh! Ok, let me try to make sense of this. That wound on your cheek... When I first met you, it was already long healed. You never told me where you got it, but I guess I know now. Oh this is such a mess...”, she whined. Unconsciously, my hoof went up to my cheek. What was the meaning of this? She knew me? This wound had already been healed when she “first” met me?
“Answers please?”, I asked weakly. My head started to hurt, trying to make sense of it all.
“Ok... Well... My name is Shadow Cross, but my friends, including you, usually call me Nighty. You are... about ten thousand years in your relative future, and well... I am the bearer of the Luna cross.”, she rattled down so fast that I took me a moment to get the meaning of her words. When I nodded, she held out a foreleg and I noticed the cross that was strapped to it. As the one Dancing wore, this one was basically the twin of my own cross, except for the symbol etched into it. On the right side of her cross was the image of a crescent moon.
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Several hours had passed since I had ended up here, and Shadow and I had set up camp in one of the ruined buildings. It took me a while to digest what she had told me. Right now, she was explaining the crosses to me since she thought I ought to know about them.
“You see... About... thirty thousand years ago, Equestria was ruled by three Alicorn Princesses. They ruled fair and the land enjoyed a very long era of peace and harmony. A fourth Princess ruled the Crystal empire. In your era it should be known as the badlands. It was destroyed during the first Changeling invasion, but the Alicorn ruling it could escape to Equestria. After the Changelings had been defeated, their Queen allied herself with some kind of demon from Tartarus. It granted her enormous power. That creature changed the entire Changeling swarm. They are servants to the Nightmare since then. The swarm almost overwhelmed Equestria, had it not been for the four Alicorns. They fought valiantly, and finally defeated the Nightmare. The Alicorns however, had been weakened by the battle as well, and so the Nightmare was able to banish them to Tartarus before it died. It took the demon several millenia to regain it's strength, but the Alicorns knew that it would. Still trapped in the underworld, they used the only materials they had on hoof... They used their own flesh and blood, forming them into the four crosses with their magic. Each cross holds the power of one of the Alicorns. Only one bearer was intended for each cross, which means that the mission they were made for will fail if one of us dies, before she fulfills her destiny...”, Shadow explained, while I listened intently.
“Our destiny? What is that?”, I interjected.
“To defeat the demon, and to seal the gates to the underworld forever. The spell the Alicorns used to send the crosses to this world however, went slightly wrong. They got scattered through time and space, as did the souls of the intended bearers. Luckily, Twilight Sparkle the Alicorn of friendship, connected the crosses with each other. That little spell she cast on them is the reason you are here right now. I was in a bind, and your cross brought you here to help me... It's how it works. The only one who can travel willingly is Dancing, the bearer of the Cadence cross, but she's never been much of a help to me to be honest. “, Shadow elaborated.
“Ok... so... How are we supposed to do that? I mean, if we are all scattered like that? There has to be a way to get us all in one place, right?”
“Dancing is the only one who knows all the details, and she is very scarce with any information. I figure one of us, most likely you, will have to face the Nightmare and your cross will summon the rest of us to join the fight... Sorry that I can't tell you more about that, but our dear sister in destiny isn't very talkative lately....”
Shadow let her head droop a little. She was obviously devastated that she couldn't help me any further, but I didn't blame her for it. Dancing hadn't exactly been forthcoming with information when she talked to me either...
“Don't sweat it. We'll figure it out. So... how do I get back home, and why do you think I will have to face the Nightmare alone and summon all of you?”, I inquired, looking down at my cross.
“It's your era in which the Nightmare is coming back, so I think it's only logical. What you see all around you is what will happen if it's plans succeed. It will destroy the world, and enslave all of Ponykind. That big Changeling you killed earlier was one of it's surrogate bodies. They are like bad copies. Not very strong, but dangerous because they can move silently.”
“So... ehm... that fight earlier. You used some pretty neat tricks there. Looked like magic, even though you are an Earthpony.”, I wanted to know.
“Oh that? Amplifying magic, combined with shadow walk and shadow spears. Nothing special. It's all my cross really. Yours is much more amazing.”, she chuckled, pointing a hoof an my cross. I cocked my head. Amazing? I had only ever hit things with it, or fired that blast of sunlight. Oh and then there was this weird glowing coat thing, which I had no idea on how to activate it... I told her as much, and she went serious once more.
“You... Ouch... Ok how long have you been a bearer? I bear my cross for almost all my life now, and still haven't unlocked all of it's powers.”, she said seriously.
“Well... ehm... about three months I guess.”, I answered honestly. Shadow facehoofed at that, and I felt like a foal that did something wrong.
“So you're still at the beginning of your journey... That explains it. Look, I first met you when I was about ten years old. During that encounter, you took out a fully grown dragon without moving an inch! You gave me a piece of advice back then, and I will give it right back to you: Don't just take your cross for granted. Explore it's powers and history. Learn about the Alicorn whose powers you wield. That is the only way you can truly use it to it's full potential. Understood?”, she said in a serious tone. I nodded, wanting to move on to another topic entirely.
I wanted to ask how she had found her cross, when the wall behind my companion erupted in a rain of rubble. We both jumped back, readying ourselves for a fight. I had expected one of these big Changelings, or maybe even several of the smaller ones, but I couldn't be so lucky, could I? A giant scorpion like creature with a burning hide stood in the hole in the wall.
“Hell Scorpion!”, Shadow snarled and disappeared into the ground with her little shadow trick. I was left facing off against a Scorpion that was as big as four Timberwolfs, and whose chitin armor was burning in white hot flames...
“Here goes nothing!”, I shouted, running farther into the ruins, hoping that the thing didn't follow me. Alas, it did. Walls crumpled as it simply charged through them. I ran as fast as I could, wondering where the buck Shadow Cross had run off to, when I hit a dead end. There was a wall there, and I was too exhausted to try and beat it down with my cross. The creature came up behind me, and I could feel the heat emanating from it as it screeched in anticipation of a meal.
Just as it's burning stinger came down to meet me, the ground in front of me turned dark. Shadow emerged from it, her eyes glowing in a silvery light as she took the blow that was intended for me. Her body was flung back against the wall that had blocked my way earlier, knocking it down in the process. I had just managed to jump out of the way in time to avoid being crushed. The giant creature pulled back it's stinger, and I ran over to Shadow to see if she was still alive.
She was, but the light in her eyes was flickering on and off as she was panting hard. Her right side looked as if several of her ribs had been broken, along with her shoulder and hip.
“So...rry... I... I... lied... to … you...”, she panted as I tried to scoop her up on my back. Shadow just shook her head, holding her uninjured left foreleg out to me.
“Take... it.”, she added nodding towards the cross that was strapped to it. I hesitated.
“No. No come on, you'll be alright. I'll get you out of here.”
“Don..'t be... a foal. I won't... make it. Go on... take it... I was... only... safeguarding it.... for... you. It was... my... destiny...”, Shadow panted, now pressing her foreleg against my chest to make me take her cross.
Feeling the heat of the flaming creature on my back again, I took the cross from her foreleg. It erupted into a blinding flash of light and I saw Shadow grin before everything went white for me.
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When I could see again, I was about two meters in the air, dropping down onto somepony. It turned out to be my boss, sitting on the toilet. My eyes fell upon my cross as my plot landed on his lap, and I saw that there was a crescent moon on it's right arm, in addition to the sun symbol at the top....
“Silver Cross? What the.... Where the hay have ya been?”, my boss growled from under me.
“Long story boss, long story... And I doubt you'd believe me even if I told you...”, I replied tears streaming from my eyes as I looked down at my cross....
