Equestrian Souls: Fires of War

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Chapter ten: A nights respite
Written by TheCrimsonDM

We had arrived at my old home, The Lit Fuse tavern, in the late afternoon with little trouble. The four of us got to work cleaning the place up. We worked mostly on just getting the broken furniture out of the way and putting the door back up. Upstairs I gave everypony the choice of their own bedroom. Void Runner seemed to be the most excited about that.

It took a few hours but with a little help from my friends, and a nice a little song we got it done. My old bar was finally rebuilt. I was very happy about this to say the least. It was fairly late with the sun almost gone by the time we had finished though. I had really hopped that Storm Feather would be back by now, but I knew I would see him again soon.

I had tried to find Masquerade when we first arrived back in town, but I was unable to find him. So we cleaned the house instead. I decided I would give another try at finding Masquerade tonight before the sun got too low in the horizon.

In town I found a lot of ponies going about their daily lives, washing rags and clothing. Cooking delicious smelling food. Even found a group of colts playing hide and seek. Finally I came across the familiar feeling of magic coming off of an abandoned building. I went inside already knowing what I would find there.

Although the layout inside the building was different then the last time, there were plenty of familiar things. The masks, the weapons, and the handsome blue earth pony stallion wearing a mask. I walked up to him and said. “Masquerade. I got the Moonlit Butterfly Soul for you.”

He gave me a playful grin and said. “Oh, thank you my dear. And how was the little huntress?”

I was happy to tell him. “She’s doing great, it looks like I have two new additions to my team.”

Even though he was wearing a mask I got the oddest feeling that he was raising an eyebrow as he asked. “Oh, and who are they?”

I held a hoof to my chest in pride as I said. “Rainfall the awesome archer, and Void Runner the crazy hoof to hoof fighter.”

Masquerade looked a little serious as he said. “Crazy is right, you may regret bringing her along with you.”

I gave him a sour look and said. “My team, my friends, my rules. You can’t tell me what to do.”

He gave a small chuckle and said. “That’s just what you used to say to her.”

I opened my mouth to ask him who he was referring to but Masquerade cut me off by saying. “Now onto the matter of that soul you have with you.”

I looked at my saddlebags and began to reach for it with my magic, but stopped as he raised a hoof and said. “I’m sorry but another...adventure has already brought me one. I want you to keep that. Besides it will be important for this next part.”

I gave him a confused look for a few seconds, and then I remembered he now owed me payment for the quest. Even if he didn’t need the stupid soul thingy, I went and got it, so I needed pay. I looked him dead in the eyes, which was hard because his mask covered them almost entirely. I then said. “Alright, I need to be paid for the quest.”

He gave me a grin and said. “That is exactly what I expected from you. Alright, I can give you access to a rare and powerful sword. One that will not break from common use as you’re other two blades have done. There is only a small issue with this though. You will need to find it.”

I looked at him skeptically and said. “Oh really, you don’t happen to have the location of this sword do you?”

He continued to smile as he explained. “Yes I do, well to be precise I know both the places where the sword is located. You see it’s the sword you had been trying to find once in the past. The handle and the blade had been separated from one another a long time ago in an attempt to keep them safe.”

I looked away and muttered. “Great, now I’m going to be searching everywhere for a magic sword.”

He gave another small chuckle at me and continued. “The blade is protected by a great and powerful spirit, you will find it inside the home that is no more. The handle however is located up high, a place where you had once rested and awoke to a new life.”

I really hated cryptic advice like this, but at least he was going easy on me. I sat there for a moment and thought about what he had said. A home that is no more, that could be ponyville, maybe it’s in my old home there. The other one is up high, a mountain or a tower, a castle maybe. But it’s where I had once been resting and a found a new life. That one was hard because I couldn’t remember much of my life from before…The Asylum.

I looked up at him and asked. “Do you mean that I have to go to both Ponyville, and The Asylum?”

He smiled and said. “That’s a good girl, you will also need that Moonlit Butterfly’s soul to repair the old weapon. You best take care with gathering everything though, you could cross a line that cannot be undone.”

I nodded in understanding and left his shop. I was more then grateful for the information. I was going to go and get myself an awesome sword. What could be better than that?

***

Back at the my old bar the Lit Fuse tavern, I found myself sitting at a table drinking a little bit of the alcohol from the cellar. There was a distinct flavor of apples in it, I didn’t much care for apples. Moon Shadow was sitting across from me with a questioning stare. I tried to ignore him for a few minutes but eventually it became less awkward and more annoying.

I let out a sigh and asked. “What do you want Shadow?”

He continued looking on in silence for a few moments, and I could swear his eyes just looked…off. Almost like he wasn’t entirely there, but he answered anyway. “What are we doing next? We fixed up the bar, we got two more allies, and we will be getting Storm Feather tomorrow. What do we do now?”

I took another drink from what I’ve decided had to be Cider before answering. “We will be sneaking into Ponyville so I can grab something from my house, then we head for Asylum. “

He didn’t change his expression as he asked. “Why are we sneaking into Ponyville. You could just ask for permission from Twilight Sparkle.”

It was now my turn to give him the questioning stare. He explained further. “We could head to New Canterlot tomorrow after picking up Storm Feather. Since you have a connection to Twilight Sparkle she may be willing to allow you passage through Ponyville.”

I wasn’t sure about that, three hundred years of being a princess and a leader. That had too of changed her significantly, although I could hardly remember anything about her that could hurt my chances. But if she remembered me, she might be willing to let me pass. This could work.

I gave a small smile to Moon Shadow and said. “Alright, let’s do that. How long does it take to get there?”

Moon Shadow was silent for a few moments while he thought to himself, then he said. “If I remember correctly it’s about an eight hour journey from Ashwood on hoof.”

That was a good thing to hear. It was decided, tomorrow I would pick up Storm Feather, and then the five of us would head to New Canterlot. Hopefully everything would work out okay, otherwise I may have to ransack Ponyville in order to get the darn sword. I continued drinking for a little while before finally heading upstairs and going to sleep for the night in a soft wonderful bed.

***

In my dreams I found myself walking through a dense forest of crystallized trees, the trees were all made from various shades of blue. As I walked further along I became increasingly aware of the fact that I wasn’t alone in here. I could catch glimpses of things moving out of the corner of my vision, and hear things moving just out of sight.

I turned to see if anypony was behind me, only to find nothing. In addition the road I was walking on had vanished from behind me. I looked ahead and there was no read there either. I was scared, lost, and alone. I knelt down and began sobbing from it all. There was a deep sense of pain that I couldn’t understand, and the frustration only made me cry harder.

After what felt like an eternity I heard a gentle voice calling out to me. It was a mere whisper at first but as I listened in it became stronger. It increased in volume until it was a shout, and I could tell where it was coming from.

I ran towards the shouting, faster than I had ever done so before. I couldn’t be left alone in this forest anymore. The trees began to make terrible cracking sounds behind me as I ran. Something was chasing me, and it wanted me dead. I refused to give in though and pushed myself past my limits causing pain to burn through my legs.

I finally reached a clearing and as I entered it the noise behind me vanished. I stood there feeling safe, but I was still alone. I laid down on the blue grass beneath me, the blank sky offered no heat, but it wasn’t cold here either. I closed my eyes giving in to the loneness again.

The same voice from before, that of a young mare began speaking gently to me. “Light it’s okay, you’re safe now.”

I looked up to see the little blue mare with the green hair smiling down at me. She still looked like a teenager, but she made me feel like I was safe. I asked her. “What was that?”

She laid down next to me and said softly. “It was your own fears. You fear being alone so much that it is beginning to creep into your dreams.”

I sniffled a little bit as I said. “But I have so many friends now. Why am I still scared?”

Dream Weaver looked away for a moment as she contemplated my question. Finally she said. “Have you any regrets? Is there anything that you want to tell somepony but have been too afraid to say?”

I looked away from her and muttered. “Well…there is Storm Feather. But he’s on a trip with his family right now.”

Moon Weaver then said. “That must be it, you’re afraid that you will lose him before you can tell him whatever it is that you wanted too. You must tell him soon, or you’re fear will begin to eat you from the inside.”

I looked at her and said. “Thank you Dreamer.”

She looked away shyly and said. “It’s no problem…were friends after all. And this is kinda my thing.”

We stayed quiet after that as we rested in each other’s company. After awhile I felt myself beginning to wake up, so I gave her my farewell and said. “I’ll see you next time Dreamer.”

As everything began to brighten she said. “Good luck Light.”

Then I awoke.

***

We had Moon Shadow cook breakfast for us again, although he wasn’t alone. Void Runner decided to help him as much as she could. When we finally got around to eating we had pancakes sitting in front of us. I expected them to be bland and boring, but these were delicious and flavorful.

I looked up at Moon Shadow and said. “These are delicious. Thanks.”

Moon Shadow looked at Void Runner and said. “Actually I was destroying them, if not for Myst here we would have to eat more mush.”

I cocked my head to the side and asked. “Who?”

Void Runner looked at me and said. “My real name is Myst…don’t you remember? Anyways I want you guys to start using it, that old title is a bore anyways.”

I looked at Void Runner-er-I mean Myst and said. “Alright Myst, I’ll keep that in mind.”

After breakfast we went down to the Crusader’s guild hall and found Storm Feather standing outside. He was wearing some new armor, it was more shiny and had gold trimming. His armors chest piece now held the insignia of the sun on it. I couldn’t help myself as I galloped to him and pounced on him wrapping both of my forelegs around his thick neck and giving him the tightest hug I possibly could.

Although he was a little shocked at first he quickly returned the favor giving me a tight but gentle hug. After I finally let go I said. “Stormy I missed you so much. And I have an awesome story to tell you all about.”

He smiled and said. “That sounds wonderful, I can’t wait to hear it Light…I missed you too.”

I grinned widely at him. Then he looked at the ponies and zebra fallowing me. He pointed a talon at Myst and said. “Void Runner, what are you doing here?”

Myst looked away shyly and said. “I…um…I decided to join you guys.”

Storm Feather looked at me and asked. “Is this true?”

I nodded and explained. “She got kicked out of her home because of me, and then she saved me…twice. The least I can do is offer her a spot on the team. Besides that, her combat skills are impressive.”

Storm Feather gave me a stern look for a few seconds and then relaxed letting out a sigh. He then said. “So long as she stays good, then I will offer her a chance at redemption.”

I could understand why he would be upset, Myst had nearly killed us all once before, especially after how badly she hurt Storm Feather. I was glad that he was taking this a lot better than Moon Shadow had. Even after being saved by her he was still not okay with this. Hopefully his stubbornness would subside in time.

I explained to everypony the plan. We were going to head to New Canterlot and get Twilight’s permission to enter Ponyville. After that we were going to the Asylum. After I rebuilt my sword we would take a look at how we were all holding up, and then perhaps we could venture into the Grays. Everypony agreed with the plan, and after resupplying on food and drinks we began our journey to the kingdom of New Canterlot, Twilight’s kingdom.