The dawning of a Chronicle
To my childhood friend living in the faraway land of Yggdra
I believe it has been a long time since I have contacted you when you left Equestria, 10 years as long as I can remember. Now as Equestria's mail system now reaches across other lands, I believe it was the chance to hear from you or see your words once more. How is Yggdra by the way? I may not know a lot about it, but to the extent of my knowledge, I believe your homeland has been very peaceful and is home to more than just the ordinary earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi. Breezies, Sprites, Ents and half-orcs also call the land their home and no matter if they live in harmony or separately from each other, they are watched over by the Holy King. Apparently him and Princess Celestia has some secret connection or bond with each other, even though they're far apart. I guess the bonds of friendship, our invisible ties, are stronger than magic and steel, unbreakable with even the longest of distances. How I envy you basking in the time of peace in Yggdra, It's never that peaceful with Princess Twilight and her friends around. Which reminds me, I joined the Royal Guard of Equestria just after you left, 10 years of it and now I'm a Lieutenant and the Captain's 2IC. Also, the protege of Princess Celestia has been crowned the 4th princess of Equestria, the Princess of Friendship. Do reply if you get the chance, I want to see how you've been in Yggdra since the last time I saw you, and if you need any aid from Equestria, do let me know. If you allow it, I'll try to request aid from the Princesses if your situation is dire.
Best regards
-Flash Sentry
A young Earth stallion in a light skin colour with a bushy brown tail and a short brown mane along with brown eyes, found himself standing in the midst of a vast spatial area of blue and green light. In the front, he saw a unicorn mare just as young as he was, with the pointy ears of a breezie. She had a light blue coat, tail and mane, though the mane and tail was darker in tone. She wore glasses, a head and neck accessory, and a ribbon on her front mane. The most perplexing interest to him was, she had several shapes of light surrounding her, they looked to be like cards.
"You've done well to come this far, fulfiller of the Chronicle's Destiny. But you now must embark on a journey..." The unicorn spoke, the Earth pony could utter no word nor make a sound, for he was utterly confused of where he was and what he was hearing. Without any hesitation, the mare continued speaking.
"Your duty is to save your land from this overwhelming darkness, and the journey will be long and treacherous..." The stallion then remembered that before he appeared here, he knew that his homeland of Yggdra was under attack by an evil force known as he Black Army. Understanding that the unicorn was referring to the Black Army, he reluctantly nodded to show that he understood the situation.
"Tell me, courageous warrior. Do you have a name?" The mare asked, this question made the Earth Pony very flustered, as he looked around and tried to explain the problems about his christening, but the mare continued speaking.
"No need to explain. I know you've never been given an actual name. Even so, whatever name you carry is a fine name." At that response, the Earth pony nodded and gave a shy smile.
"Very well, the Chronicle shall begin. A breezie by the name of Pirika will be your guide. Together, you will face many trials and difficulties that may risk your life." The Earth Pony hesitated for a moment, knowing that the path he will trot is going to be very dangerous one. But as he looked at his equipment, an empty blade holder was tied onto his right front leg. Reminding of what path he has chosen, and what he was doing before meeting this mysterious mare, he nodded in understanding.
"Then, I wish you the best of luck on your journey." The unicorn smiled as she and the vast space around her began to fade into darkness while the Earth pony began to collapse onto the floor.
"Hey!" A small voice snapped "wake up!" The earth pony lifted his eye lids to faintly see a small red maned breezie staring straight at him.
"WAKE UP!" The breezie yelled, making the pony fully open his eyes and senses with surprise. What he can clearly see is a very light-teal breezie with a red mane tied up in a hair bun, with two antennae attached to her head and a green hibiscus flower resting on it. Unlike the normal small breezies that had two wing clips on each side, this breezie had three wing clips instead and it was angled a little away from each other. Despite looking into her enchanting green eyes, the breezie wasn't looking happy.
"Honestly," the breezie scolded "we've got a battle in our hands, and you find the time to dose off?" The earth pony then remembered from the time with that mysterious mare and from before that this breezie's name was Pirika.
"Seriously, you're the captain of the first ever Volunteer Army, and this is their first mission... I mean, our first mission. Since we're the only two in the army." Pirika continued as the stallion sighed.
"Um... You do know what's happening... Right?" Pirika asked with concern. The captain looked around and just shrugged in response.
"Need I have to repeat to you?" The breezie roared with frustration. "Listen, you know that we're currently under siege of the Black Army, right?" A nod of response came from the captain,
"Currently, as the Holy Capital is trying to rebuild their morale and city, many guilds are cooperating to help prevent the Black Army from attacking any further. Currently, our job is to approach them from the front lines such as this village, and drive them back. Making sure they don't reach the Vice Capital" The captain nodded with resentment.
"Looking glum," Pirika spotted "I understand. You told me that you were born in this land of Yggdra, then moved to the faraway land of Equestria for the majority of your childhood. The land you so dearly missed is under invasion of the Black Army 5 years later after your return. A massive attack from the Capital, the Holy King perished, Yggdra's forces torn apart. Look where we are now, even we have to pick up the sword and fight for Yggdra too. But we're doing this by our will right?" The stallion determinedly nodded.
"I admire your determination and persistence." Pirika noted "but can you at least say something instead of nodding? I wonder if you were like this in your childhood. It'd be hard for you to find friends with your silent demeanor!" At that moment, an explosion was heard nearby. "Why are we talking about your memories again? " Pirika gulped "we need to focus on fighting off those monsters! Let's go!" With response, the stallion stood up and pulled out his sword and swung it a few times. It reminded him on how he only started a few months ago with the adventurer's guild. Now establishing his own independent team, he will take what he learnt and put it to the test. Before he galloped off, he noticed that a letter fell off his mane. Saving it for later, he plopped the letter into his backpack and ran towards the horde of shadows.
"The garrison soldiers constructed a fort of defence behind where we stand." Pirika informed "we are to defend this fort from the approaching enemies. If any of them gets through, we lose." The captain swung his sword a few times to warm up before the breezie announced. "The first wave is coming! Give them what for!" The captain stallion marched forward as he confronts the first wave of monsters.
"Grr..." 3 skeletons growled as they circled around the stallion. With a abnormal roar, one charge straight at him with his blade ready to taste blood. With the sword clenched between his teeth, the light-coloured stallion blocked the downward swing, parried away the enemy's weapon and drove his into the skeleton's body, where it crumbled into dust. Though the fight was rather anti-climatic, it was far from over. Turning to the remaining two skeletons, he nimbly dodged their stabs and swings and he furiously flung his sword straight into the two, skewering their fleshless heads. As he retrieved his sword from the smoky remains. He realised that he felt something wrong on his front body. Looking closer, a dreadful slash opened up on his front chest. The stallion pushed hard on his wound to suppress the blood loss as he grit his teeth through the dreadful pain.
"That was some amazing swordsmanship there!" Pirika complimented "but that's not a very pretty cut. Let me patch you up!" And with some breezie magic, the wound on the stallion was closed up.
"No need to thank me!" Pirika replied as a smile of gratitude appeared on the stallion's face. "But you did forget something important." And she tossed a leather tunic with a durable wooden shield tied to it's back. "You've forgot to take your armor with you. Quickly suit up before the next wave comes!" Nodding in agreement, the stallion quickly slid the tunic through his head and legs and adjusted the shield to rest directly on his back.
"Now you're ready!" Pirika admired. Swinging his sword one more time, the stallion prepped himself, fully armed and ready for the next wave.
Another trio of skeletons started advancing towards the stallion and the fort, their magical eyes glowing with an intense hue of red, signifying their hunger for the thrill of massacre and destruction. Despite their hunger for war, these skeletons were moving slower than that past wave and as they slowly trotted forward, their bony hooves slowly sliding across the dirt. Losing the patience for the enemy's arrival, the stallion trotted forward and immediately started severing each and every bone from the skeletons until they disappeared from existence. When one skeleton remained, the pony made a leaped into the air and brought down the sword straight through the skeleton's tunic, skull and spine. The skeleton split apart in two and fell into a crumpled heap before crumbling away into gas.
"Nice critical hit!" Pirika watched "the main ability of a warrior in the soldier class! You certainly gave them what for! But it's not over yet! There's one more wave coming up, 5 skeletons this time, three with swords and two with bows, and look at one of the skeletons! It's covered in armor!" And it was true, one skeleton seemed to be wearing a metal helmet and armor, leading the group of skeletons as they approached. Just like before, the stallion charged, ready to send the black army back to the dead. Just as he was about to do that, an arrow whizzed past his face, whipping up his mane and slicing off some of the fur near his head. He abruptly stopped his charge to see what was going on, and spotted the two skeleton archers pointing their arrows at him.
"Be careful!" Pirika warned "you're under fire from those archers!" As the archers let loose the arrows, the stallion began focusing on reflecting and evading the arrows in order to maintain his life. This however, gave safe passage for the sword-wielding skeletons to advance on the lone captain.
"Oh no! Be careful captain!" Pirika cried as the stallion bravely continued knocking the arrows away from himself until he was backed onto the fort wall.
"This is bad..." Pirika gulped as she flew to the captain's side, "we're surrounded... So much for helping Yggdra to fight back against the Black Army..."
"Hey!" A voice came from the top of the fort. The captain looked up to see the silhouette of a pegasus dive down and cover the space between the monsters and himself. Coming into full colour, the pegasus was a coat of blue with a blond mane and tail. He wore brown leather armor like the stallion, but in a different style and colour, and also had a red cape tied around him.
"Leave those archers to me." The mysterious pegasus replied, and pulled out his sword before charging towards the pesky bowmares. In haste and anger, the skeletons set their targets onto this intruder and opened fire. Instead of dodging or cutting reflecting the arrows, This pegasus stood his ground and held a large shield strapped on to his other leg up high, the arrow colliding with the metal surface and snapping in half onto the floor. Although the arrow still caused damage, the pegasus showed no signs of drastic pain.
"This pegasus... He's a guard trained in the knight class!" Pirika watched as the guard continued on advancing towards the frantic archers.
"This ends here!" The blue pegasus yelled as he swung his sword in one wide horizontal slash, cutting off the skulls from both skeleton archers to cease their existence. Finished with his job, he saw the light coloured stallion had defeated the skeleton swordsman and currently clashing blades with the armored one. The stallion furiously bared his teeth as he held his sword against the foe, before sidestepping out of the way, letting the enemy's sword swing through the air, then thrusting the sword through the skeleton's neck.
"Phew! That was close." Pirika sighed as the skeleton's bones dissolved into the air, before she turned her attention towards the blue pegasus. "Thanks for your help back there!"
"It's no problem." The blue-eyed pegasus smiled "I'm living with my family here in Dawning. But hey, you've got some amazing moves yourself!"
"But I thought all the villagers have evacuated." Pirika wondered
"They did, but I wanted to stay behind to protect the village. I may just be a farmer, but I'm familiar with using a sword and shield. Unfortunately, that's not enough to take on that horde of monsters. If you didn't show up, I wouldn't be able to take them on, so you have my thanks for that. Might I know who you are by the way?"
"We're the Volunteer Army!" Pirika introduced "I'm Pirika and this is my companion, the captain of the Volunteer Army!" The earth pony bowed as a sign of greeting. "He doesn't really have a name you see, and he's quite silent and shy."
"That's fine with me. My name's Kain." The pegasus introduced "I'll help you defend the village in anyway possible."
"In that case..." Pirika replied as she gestured towards a humongous silhouette, "perhaps it's the time to do this now?" As the silhouette became clear, a large skeleton was trudging towards them, clad in a crimson coloured armor, and a helmet with horns. The skeleton's red eyes was glowing brightly, desperate for destruction. Seeing the fort still standing, the skeleton roared and charged towards the 2 ponies and breezie.
"Oh dear..." Pirika gulped "I think this is the enemy commander of those wave! If you take him out, we win! But not to be demoralizing or rude, but this monster's huge! Can we take it on?"
"We're going to have to take it down together then!" Kain encouraged, agreeing with the farmer turned guard, the two galloped towards the large skeletons, swords gripped between their teeth. The skeleton stood on it's hind legs and with it's front legs, held a sword.
"Looks like this monster's a dual wielder!" Kain spotted as they galloped closer and closer. With the skeleton poised in defence, the three soldiers violently clashed together. As the captain dueled with one sword leg, Kain dealt with the other. The skeleton however, skilfully blocked and parried both the ponies blows with each hand.
"This thing is a pain!" Kain irritatingly grumbled as he tried to find an opening strike.
"It's like his hooves have got minds of their own!" Pirika watched as she saw the skeleton's other sword spinning the captain around.
"..." The stallion silently held his ground as the enemy's blade continued swinging and clashing with his.
"Hey Mark! What are you doing?" Pirika called,
"Wait... Is that his name?" Kain asked,
"No..." Pirika replied "I'm just trying to get his attention. He's busy letting the monster hit his blade."
"Wait... I got it!" Kain gasped and he disengaged from the enemy. The crimson armored skeleton immediately focused both his swords on the stallion, now pushing him back.
"What are you doing?" Pirika asked as Kain charged forward.
"Raaah!" Kain roared as he flew forward and knocked the monster off-balance with his shield. Its swords swinging in the air in an attempt to regain balance.
"Take this!" Kain yelled as he continuously slashed the wide open skeleton and not letting any counter-attack come through. At the time, the captain found the distraction a moment of opportunity and prepared his blade.
"All up to you now!" Kain signaled to the captain as he flew out of the way. The captain pulled his sword backwards and propelled himself forward in a fast dash.
"Grab the Light!" The Captain yelled as he jumped high in the air during his dash and slid his blade through the skeleton's neck. As the Captain landed skidded to a halt behind the giant armored skeleton, it's head toppled off it's neck and shattered as it hit the ground, it's red eyes fading away. The rest of the bone structure soon followed, where all (including the armor), crumbled into dust.
"Did... Did you just speak?" Pirika gasped, the captain just rolled his eyes. As Pirika still floated in front of his face dumbstruck, he finally spoke out of frustration.
"Yes, I did, and now I am. Do you have a problem?"
"You spoke! You spoke!" Pirika jumped and flew around with joy. The captain irritatingly sighed and moved his hoof across his mouth.
"I have to admit Mark... That is, If it's okay calling you Mark?" Kain started, the captain calmly and weakly smiled back. "Anyway Mark, that was some amazing moves you have there!"
"It's nothing!" Pirika replied "just his signature Dash Blade. Though I'm pretty sure a lot of other warrior ponies can handle it!... No offence there Mark." She added as she saw the captain looking at her with embarrassment.
"By the way Mark," Kain replied "I have a small request. Even though you've protected my village, who can say that the Black Army's invasion will affect many other villages? I want to train myself and become stronger. Can I join you in the Volunteer Army? It's just that, I think travelling with you would be great training. Please let me fight with you!"
"Wow! Your style of fighting seems to have inspired or impressed some ponies!" Pirika whispered to the Captain "If you keep your charisma through your values, beliefs, goals and whatnot, you would probably make some powerful allies!" The Captain took a deep breath to give request some thought, then decided by stretching out his hoof.
"Welcome to the Volunteer Army Kain." The captain spoke as he shook Kain's hoof. "There's just two things you need to know."
"Anything."
"My name is of no importance, so call me by any name except for Flash and the names of any ally we have in the future."
"Why not Flash?"
"It's personal." The Captain replied "secondly, I may still be the captain, but we are all of equal position and importance. Therefore, we fight together not as superiors to subordinates, but as allies, partners and friends."
"Sure." Kain nodded "I can definitely live with that."
"Well then, it seems everything is done here!" Pirika announced "let's head back home!"
The Captain and Pirika had established The Volunteer Army to help protect the ponies and capital of Yggdra from the murderous claws of the Black Army. As they approached for their first mission in Dawning, the young stallion decided to take a nap and fall into that mysterious realm with that mysterious mare in his dreams. After being woken up by Pirika, the two hurried to face their first oncoming cohort of monsters. With the help from a former farmer named Kain, the two young stallions managed to pull through and protect the village. After the victory, Kain decided to journey with the captain and the Volunteer Army, making him the first member the join the newly developed Volunteer Army and they travelled back to the Vice Capital. There, the young stallion lived in a common double-story house, though it lacked any special features, it quite spacey with rooms and bedding that it could house many people and would offer the same amount of comfort to all, but the Captain had enough time living and sleeping in the same place. For the Volunteer Army, he will travel and live in the wide open world, but he wouldn't mind sleeping in inns in any town or city if he has the opportunity.
"This is where you'll be sleeping tonight Kain." Pirika gestured as the captain pulled out a covered mattress.
"Thanks for letting me stay with you." Kain bowed,
"We're partners and friends. Why shouldn't we?" Pirika smiled,
"Tomorrow morning, we'll report to Silva." The Captain debriefed, "for the rest of the day, it's down time."
"What's with the break?" Pirika asked with confusion "when you were busy filling out forms and trying to establish the Volunteer Army, you were so hasty to do things. Do you have anything to do?"
"It's personal." The captain replied. As he trotted up to his bedroom, he pulled out the letter from this morning before battle. Upon one glance at the wax seal and he knew whom the sender was. Prying it open, the captain read the letter with great interest of what his childhood friend in Equestria had been up to.
To my childhood friend living in the faraway land of Yggdra
I believe it has been a long time since I have contacted you when you left Equestria, 10 years as long as I can remember. Now as Equestria's mail system now reaches across other lands, I believe it was the chance to hear from you or see your words once more. How is Yggdra by the way? I may not know a lot about it, but to the extent of my knowledge, I believe your homeland has been very peaceful and is home to more than just the ordinary earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi. Breezies, Sprites, Ents and half-orcs also call the land their home and no matter if they live in harmony or separately from each other, they are watched over by the Holy King. Apparently him and Princess Celestia has some secret connection or bond with each other, even though they're far apart. I guess the bonds of friendship, our invisible ties, are stronger than magic and steel, unbreakable with even the longest of distances. How I envy you basking in the time of peace in Yggdra, It's never that peaceful with Princess Twilight and her friends around. Which reminds me, I joined the Royal Guard of Equestria just after you left, 10 years of it and now I'm a Lieutenant and the Captain's 2IC. Also, the protege of Princess Celestia has been crowned the 4th princess of Equestria, the Princess of Friendship. Do reply if you get the chance, I want to see how you've been in Yggdra since the last time I saw you, and if you need any aid from Equestria, do let me know. If you allow it, I'll try to request aid from the Princesses if your situation is dire.
Best regards
-Flash Sentry
As he finished reading the contents of this letter, a warm, fuzzy feeling washed over him as well as a feeling of embarrassment and confusion. It took more than 10 years for Equestria's mail system to go global? Anything can happen in that long time period, especially when Yggdra's already in the middle of a war! But as he knew that Equestria was always that slow with these kinds of developments from what he's seen in his childhood, it wasn't that much of a surprise to him. Nevertheless, he grabs a quill, a bottle of ink, and a piece of parchment, and started writing back. Talking about how he's been fairing, the current situation in Yggdra and how this war started 5 years ago. When he was done, he trotted off into the Vice Capital's trading office to send the mail straight away.
"A letter to one Flash Sentry in Equestria, away!" The baby dragon mailer replied as her magical flames engulfed the letter and flew off somewhere to prepare for it's long trip to Equestria. As dusk falls, the captain spends the rest of the night with Pirika and Kain in the tavern, getting to know more about each other, before hitting the sack for tomorrow's adventures.
Cutie Mark descriptions!
This part will be talking about the design of each character's cutie mark Chain Chronicle game, just to give a description of what it would look like and for your imagination to know what's on it. If only I could draw...
The Hero (or Captain in this case): His cutie mark is a long sword that has the Chain Chronicle symbol engraved on the blade closer the hilt.
Pirika: Her cutie mark is a mana that is light blue in colour (unlike the blue knight mana) and has the same Chain Chronicle symbol on it (instead of the shield, crossed swords, etc.)
Kain: Kain's cutie mark is a silhouette of a pony firmly raising a sickle to the sky. The sickle is to symbolise Kain's previous job before he picked up the sword and the firm pony is to represent his moral excellence and righteousness, his 'Virtue'.
