The news that Ponyville, a once humble little town of Equestria had become the new capital after a disaster befell the great city of Canterlot. Many people flocked towards the city to see if it was true and if it was, to see if they could make a living in the advanced and growing metropolis.
A wanderer had crept in the forests of Equestria, sometimes showing up in a town and leaving the next day. He was slightly bigger than the average person. His long black hair was unkempt and his bright blue eyes possessed a predatory instinct to them. He was clad in dark leather, cloaked and hooded with a dark green cape. A mask would cover all his face up to the bridge of his nose, leaving only the eyes of this hunter staring back at one from the darkness. His weapon of choice was a bow, his aim was honed by years of hunting in the woods of Equestria, relying on his skills alone to survive. He travelled with a Timber Wolf at his side, named Tim. Tim seemed to be larger than some other Timber Wolves. The wanderer seemed to have an understanding with their kind, never bothering him if he left them alone. The wanderer’s named himself Ash, naming himself after the kind of tree he fashioned his bow and arrows. He too heard the rumours of a thriving place in Equestria that seemed to draw many people towards it. Being the curious type, Ash had decided to make the trek to see this great place that apparently held so many wonders. As he drew within a mile of the awe-inspiring Ponyville, he turned to his faithful companion, “Alright, I need you to stay here, Tim. I’ll be back.”
Tim stared at him and sat down, informing Ash that he understood what he was told. His face did not have much expression that was readable, with a face made of wood it was hard to make small changes.
Ash smirked and pat Tim on the head, turning away and waving goodbye as he strolled towards Ponyville. He had walked for a few minutes, eventually arriving at the large gates. He spotted the guards before stepping out of the tree line. He continued on towards the gate. As he was drawing nearing the gates, the guards at the great door stopped him.
“Halt, Citizen.”, one of the guards droned in a lifeless, static tone. The guards wore a full outfit of leather with metal plates on the shoulders, chest, knees, and forearms. On the chest plate was a gear symbol indented into it. Their faces were covered by a gas mask of rubber and glass. Their eyes could not be seen through the glass lenses of the mask. Their entire body appeared to be covered, not a single inch of skin was shown, which seemed like it would be unbearable in the heat.
Ash stopped in his tracks. He was curious as to why they stopped him from going into the city.
“Citizen. Show Identification.”, the guard demanded in his monotone.
Ash gave them a confused look, having no idea what they were talking about.
The guard approached Ash, “You are under arrest for suspicious activity and attempted illegal entry into the city.”, the guard grabbed onto Ash’s wrist quickly, “Do not resist or we will use force.”
Ash was surprised at the guard grabbing him, quickly reaching for the knife in his belt. He grabbed the knife and was about to swing at the guard, stopped by a sudden sensation of all his muscles tensing up at once. His body shuddering violently as he fell to the ground shaking. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the butt-end of a gun being jabbed into his face by the guard.
Ash woke up in a dark cell, with a throbbing headache, a bloody nose, and no idea where he was. He sat up and shook his head, trying to clear his blurred vision. He saw the iron bars that kept him in his confined space of imprisonment. He stood up and walked to the door of his cell.
“What are you in for?”, a slightly muffled voice asked from the darkness.
Ash quickly snapped towards the source of the voice. A figure emerging from the dark of the cell next to his.
The stranger inhaled deeply, his face covered by a gas mask like the guards wore, “I’m sorry…”, he took another breath, “… for startling you.”
Ash approached the stranger, “They said I was trying to enter the city illegally…”
“Ha… Ha… Ha…”, the stranger laughed in his wheezy fashion, taking a breath between each chuckle, “What’s… Your name?”
Ash examined the door of his cell, trying to see if he could open it, “Ash.”
The stranger nodded slowly, “I’m… Burning Smoke… Now that… Introductions… are done… you can… help me…”
Ash turned back to Smoke, “Help you with what?”
“Escaping… Of course…”, Smoke lifted one of his arms, reaching to a hidden pocket near the pit of his arm and pulling out a small vial and shaking it up.
“Why do you need my help?”, Ash asked, curious why he hadn’t escaped himself already.
“My body… is weak… and frail… my tanks… are nearly… depleted… You need… to fight… the guards…”, Smoke was having trouble speaking, breathing was becoming more and more difficult, “You ready?”
Ash pondered his options for a moment, expecting that this may be his only chance to get out. He looked Smoke in the eye through the mask and nodded, “Okay… I’ll help us get by the guards…”
“Excellent…”, Smoke walked up the bars of his cell and popped the cap off the vial he was holding. He poured a small portion of the liquid onto the hinges of his prison. The liquid fizzed and bubbled on the hinges as they turned a brownish red. Smoke poured some on the lock, turning it into the same colour as the hinges were now. He took hold of the door and pulled on it, snapping it off it’s weakened joints. He lowered the door to the ground and went over to the wall that had a set of keys hanging on a hook, grabbing them and walking over to Ash’s cell and unlocking it.
Ash stepped out of his cage, he was only wearing his regular leather pants and coat, his cloak and mask; as well as his bow and knife were missing, probably confiscated by the authorities.
Smoke took another deep breath, “Come on… I haven’t much time…”
Ash nodded and crept towards the door to the next room. He slowly cracked open the door, not seeing anyone in the room. Only an empty desk and some wooden boxes sitting behind it. He opened the door fully, still seeing nobody in the room. He walked over to the desk to see some paperwork that he couldn’t make sense of.
Smoke walked over to the metallic crates and opened one of them, pulling out several vials filled with all sorts of substances and slipping them into loops and pockets that were through his heavy, brown leather outfit. His pants overlapped his boots and were tied to seal off air from the outside. His gloves looked like leather but were coated with something that made them look waxy. His sleeves were tied at the wrists, his entire outfit seemed to be airtight, not revealing a single bit of skin. After he was finished stuffing his pockets with his vials he opened the box next to him, “Your… possessions… are here…”
Ash looked over and then peaked in the box to find his cloak, mask, knife, bow, and his quiver of arrows. He took them out and suited up, covering his face with his cloth mask.
Smoke crossed his arms and looked over Ash, “A bow… Really…? You don’t… use… a gun…?”
Ash looked over at Smoke, confused at what a ‘gun’ was. He ignored the comment after and moved over towards the door with knife in hand in case he had to defend himself.
Smoke crept behind Ash, trying to keep quiet.
The door handle turned slowly, Ash quickly hugged up against the wall, as did Smoke, the door opening towards them. Ash, in a sudden act of desperation, pushed the door back. A heavy collision with whoever happened to be opening the door was heard, and shattering of a cup on the floor.
Ash looked on the other side of the door to see a man unconscious on the floor, a drink spilled on the floor next to him.
Smoke peeked in from around Ash, “Good… Thinking…”, he walked over the unconscious man and proceeded into the hall.
“Where are we?”, Ash asked.
Smoke turned back to Ash, “We’re… under… the tower…”, his breathing indicated he was suffering under that mask. He continued down the hall, pulling out some vials and mixing them while he walked.
Ash was curious while Smoke worked with the vials, curious of what kind of wondrous effect he can come up with. They started walking up some stairs, coming to a door at the top of them. He peaked under the door, noticing a few pairs of feet in the next room. He turned to Smoke and whispered to him, “It looks like there are a few people in the room.”
“Those… are the… COG members… I can’t… fight them… but…”, Smoke quickly opened the door and threw the vial into the room and closed the door before it hit the ground. A bright flash of light and a loud booming sound came from the room. Smoke threw the door open, “Get them…”
Ash quickly sprinted over to the men in the room, shoving his knife into each one as they were dazed to kill them. He stood over their dead bodies and looked back to Smoke who was walking towards him and giving him the thumbs up for a job well done.
Smoke walked to the next door, trying to turn the handle to find that it was locked. He shook his head and pulled out another vial and stepped back a good distance tossing the vial into the door above the lock and handle and watch it melt the part of the door.
They opened the partially melted door and continued into the next room which Ash noticed many of the guards laying down. He froze as he saw all the guards laying down on metal tables, still in their armor. He was afraid he might wake them up.
Smoke continued on through the room, still walking at a leisurely pace, not that he could quicken it if he wanted to. He turned back to Ash, “Come on… before… they… reboot…”
Ash quickly snuck over to Smoke, wanting to leave immediately.
Smoke shook his head at Ash, “People… are so… clueless…”, he continued walking towards the other side of the room to the sealed door. He stopped at the door with Ash, “Okay… so we… need to… get to… my shop… follow me…”, he said as he melted the lock of the door with another vial. They opened the door to find themselves in a back alley. Smoke leading Ash down the alleyway into a crowd of people walking in the street.
Ash put down his hood and mask, allowing his face to meld with the others in the crowd. Smoke seemed to not care that he stuck out in the crowd, almost taking it to a degree of being overconfident. Ash kept close and followed as he entered a building about a block away from their prison.
Smoke opened the door, letting it smash against the wall as he seemed in a rush. Ash closed the door after they were both inside. Smoke was busy rifling through some things in a steel box. He pulled out a filter and removed the one that was already on his mask, replacing it with the one he had found. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, “Much better… I really needed that.”
Some creaks came from the stairs, a wall hiding whoever was coming down. Around the corner came a young woman with long blonde hair and yellow eyes. She wore a white spring dress with her hair fashioned into a ponytail. She held a gun and pointed it at Ash, “Who are you? Don’t even think of trying to steal from my shop!”, she had a hint of fear in her voice, with Ash looking quite menacing in the darkness with the shop lights off.
Smoke turned to the woman, “You aren’t fooling anyone, Dinky. This is my shop.”
Dinky snapped toward Smoke, “But… You were in prison… for weeks…”
Smoke nodded, “I escaped, we’re leaving. Pack your things.”, his speech was a lot better now that he had a new filter for his mask.
Dinky nodded, “Alright, I’ll go get ready.”, she put the pistol on the table next to Smoke and sprinted up the stairs.
Ash looked at Smoke, obviously confused.
Smoke turned to Ash, “She’s a good kid… My apprentice for years since I decided to settle down.”, he told Ash as he filled his pockets with more chemical vials.
Dinky got back downstairs, now equipped with a backpack filled with clothes and a small toolset. She smiled at Smoke, “I’m ready!”
Smoke turned back towards the door, “Oh, right, by the way this is Ash, helped me in my escape.”, he motioned towards Ash, performing a shoddy attempt at introduction.
Dinky waved at Ash in greeting, “Sorry for threatening you with a gun earlier, I’m Dinky Doo.”
Smoke walked towards the door, “Okay… now we need to go talk to Father X.”, he opened the door and stepped out onto the street with Dinky and Ash following. Smoke led the way through the crowds, not worrying about guards quite yet due to the fact that the city alarm hadn’t gone off yet. He walked down a back alley, towards some less than decent looking fellows, one almost immediately pulling out a blade from his pocket.
The boy seemed like he was only about eighteen years old and stupid to boot. He threatened Smoke at knife point, “Listen, buddy, I don’t think you realise where you ar-”, his words were cut short from Smoke grabbing his wrist and twisting it, bringing him to the ground swiftly with little effort.
Smoke took a breath, “I don’t believe you know who you’re talking to, youngling…”, he squeezed the boy’s wrist and took the knife from him. Releasing the boy, he examined the blade and shook his head before tossing the knife aside. He pushed the boy aside and approached the older one of the shady characters, “I’m here to see Father…”
The man nodded, “Sure, Smoke, head on in.”, he motioned over to the door behind him that led into an abandoned building.
Smoke nodded and signalled his companions to follow him. All of them heading into the dark interior of the structure, barely able to see anything. They all walked towards one place that had a single circle of light, the three of them standing in the center of it.
Ash felt something press against his back, not quite sure what it was. He froze as he watched many hands holding guns point at the three of them from the shadows. He wasn’t sure what these things were, but realised they were probably dangerous.
“So… What do you need now, Smoke? More gunpowder? Other Chemicals? Test Subjects?”, a voice asked from the blackness.
Smoke crossed his arms, “No… I need to leave the city, as well as my companions. Think you could pull that off?”
There was a silence for a moment before the voice spoke, “I may be able to get you out of here… I need something done though…”
Smoke nodded, “I can help you out, I suppose.”
“We have Crusader Co. cracking down on our… spice trade… We’re setting up a deal… I don’t care about the deal right now, but I want whoever tries dropping in unannounced: dead. Got it? The guards won’t show up, I have taken care of that.”
Smoke bowed slightly, as did Dinky. Ash looked at them confused for a moment before going along with it. All three of them stepped outside shortly after. They reached the edge of the alley.
“So I guess we’re going to leave the city for a long time then?”, Dinky asked Smoke.
Smoke nodded, “Yes, I suppose it is about time for another adventure. Now you can come with me, of course.”
Dinky smiled, getting rather excited to accompany her mentor on his unexpected expedition.
Ash was clueless, but knew this would get him back outside the city walls. He kept quiet, not being the type to say much from living with animals almost his whole life.
Smoke took lead again, bringing them back to his shop. He looked back at them, “I just have to grab something, I’ll be right back.”, he told them before heading inside.
Dinky and Ash waited outside, keeping an unwary lookout.
“So, where are you from?”, Dinky looked at Ash, his appearance not fitting in with the city’s manner of dressing.
Ash shrugged, “I don’t really come from a certain place. I spend most of my time moving around. I follow herds of animals and stay clear of packs of creatures that may be inclined to attack me.”
“So, you live in the forest?”
Ash nodded, “I don’t like living in this sort of place. You can’t be by yourself here.”
“Why would you want to be alone?”
“I don’t get along with people very well… I’ve had bad experiences…”
“It doesn’t always have to be like that, maybe you didn’t know the right people?”
“I suppose that may be true, but I still have a friend outside the city waiting for me regardless.”
“What happened to ‘I live alone’?”
“I don’t live with people.”
“So you have a pet?”
“I guess you can call him that…”
Smoke emerged from the shop door, “Well, I got my things, let’s be off.”, he declared as he merged with the travelling crowd once more with Dinky and Ash following him. He led them to an empty square of the streets in the less developed part of the city. Smoke spotted a crate with a purple X on it. He looked around for places for them to hide, examining nearby buildings with windows they could hole up in.
Dinky ran ahead right away, sprinting towards one of the buildings with a window on the second storey. Her skin glowed a dull blue for a second as her hands came in contact with the wall. Her hands planted flat against the smooth cement wall, she seemed to pull her self up and climb into the seconds storey window quickly. She waved to Smoke and Ash with a smile on her face.
Ash was somewhat confused, not expecting this of her. He turned his confused expression towards Smoke, who looked back to him.
“She climbs things in her spare time, kids today.”, Smoke shrugged and walked towards one of the nearby buildings. He opened a window to the ground level of a house and hopped inside. He crouched so he could just peek over the window sill. He pointed over to a building across the street, “Hide in there and get that bow of yours ready.”
Ash nodded and sprinted across the street, stopping at a window and turning back to Smoke, who gave him a thumbs up. Ash opened the window and climbed inside, still having no idea when he was supposed to attack, or who they were attacking. He knew how to track and hunt almost any kind of animal in the wilds, but this was clearly the ultimate prey. Of course they did not have the animalistic instincts like he did, but they may have been clever, or disciplined. He put up his mask and donned his hood, putting his bow in hand, he awaited his time to strike in the darkness, a few metres from the window.
They waited for hours as the sun was setting. Dinky was bored, waiting on the second storey with a rifle she assembled, a customised scope on it to allow her marksman talents to be put to better use. She also had a few pistols at her side, knowing that if she was caught loading her rifle without a firearm to retaliate she would most likely be killed.
Ash knew this feeling. The silence as an animal had to wait for its prey to arrive and spring a trap to take it down. Survival was all about knowing how to take down whatever creature you marked as your enemy, reason being that you were to eat it or that it’ll kill you if you don’t kill it first. His bright blue eyes were fixed upon the center of the square, prepared to kill any who entered.
Burning Smoke was leaning back against the wall next to the window. He felt very relaxed for what the situation was. He attached a small piece onto his gas mask’s filter, taking a deep breath. On his exhale he let out smoke with his breath, chuckling slightly when he did so. He peeked out the window to see a man sitting on the crate that had the purple X on it, the crate now turned so the X was not visible. Smoke readied himself in a crouching position, still giggling to himself about some distant thought.
Dinky had watched the man take his place on the crate below her window, she was ready for when the Crusader Co. Mercenaries would come. Her eyes narrowed as she took deep breaths, trying to steady herself and prepare to take a shot at a moment’s notice.
A smaller framed man, accompanied by two larger men walked towards the person sitting on the crate. They didn’t look too friendly, but they weren’t exactly in the mood of making friends tonight.
Dinky peeked out the window, making sure not to be seen until after she took her shot.
Ash watched from the darkness, totally invisible to all but those who already knew where he was. He had his bow drawn and trained on the three in the center of the square.
Smoke was trying to hold in a laugh, “Oh wow they look so ridiculous in that uniform…”, he chuckled as he prepared some chemicals and mixed them in a round glass bottle, sealing it afterward. He threw it out the window, laughing as he did so.
The Glass shattered next to the three mercenaries. There was a bright flash of light and a booming noise that was followed by sudden headaches from the fumes.
Dinky popped out of her hiding spot and lined up her rifle with the smaller man’s head. Time seemed to freeze for her as the adrenaline pushed through her body. She exhaled slowly as she pulled the trigger, igniting the gunpowder and propelling the small ball of metal out the barrel of the gun and into the man’s skull. The shot was obviously heard, the other two men pulling out pistols and pointing them at Dinky, taking a shot at her. She ducked down as quick as she could, the bullets narrowly missing her as she went down.
Ash was watching the three men before Dinky made her shot. He also noticed a figure on the rooftops above, on the building that Smoke was in at the moment. He aimed for the one on the roof, knowing they would put Dinky in danger if he let that one have the chance to take a shot. He watched as the glass bottle flew through the air and shielded his eyes before it shattered. After he heard the gunshot from Dinky’s rifle, he aimed towards the roof, noticing the figure was holding a rifle now, pointing towards Dinky’s direction. He let the arrow fly, watching it to make sure he hit his mark. The arrow sunk into the chest of the person on the roof, taking them a few seconds to fall down dead and roll off the roof to the street below. He watched as another glass bottle was lobbed over to the men, shattering on one of them and engulfing them in fire. His screams were that of fear and agony as he thrashed about before becoming still from death. One was left, Ash drew his bow once more and took a shot, landing the arrow in the last one’s back. The man had fallen. Ash figured there would be others on the rooftops, so he waited.
Dinky noticed the extra body on the street, she turned to her side to see the rooftop nearby had a person on it. She heard something rocket past her as she was narrowly missed by a bullet. Her eyes were wide as she proceeded to reload her rifle. She waited for a moment to fire, knowing full and well that poking her head out now would end in her death.
Ash heard the gunshot, knowing it wasn’t Dinky. He ran outside with his bow ready. He turned to the building and trained his bow on the person to see them standing still, with a shocked expression on their face. They fell off the roof as the figure behind them was revealed. A hooded figure who only made a silhouette in the moonlight. They turned and ran after watching the Crusader fall from the roof, disappearing into the night. Ash put his bow away, knowing the fight was over. He walked over to the new dead body that was face down on the street. He noticed a bloody patch in their clothes, examining it to find a stab wound in their back, that seemed to lead straight into their heart.
Smoke walked over to Ash, “I didn’t manage to see that one, good eye.”
Ash looked over to Smoke, “I didn’t get this one. I saw someone else kill them.”
Smoke tilted his head to the side, “Another hitman, maybe?”
Ash shrugged, “I couldn’t see their face.”
Dinky walked over towards them, her rifle slung over her shoulder, “That was exciting, what now?”
The man on the crate approached them, “I was told to bring you to where you would be smuggled out, follow me.”, he started running down the street. He led the three to a bar in town. He walked inside and pointed to a man with grey stubble.
Smoke nodded and approached the barely bearded man, taking a seat at his table.
“Ya lookin’ fer work?”, he sounded as if he was a sailor of the illegal variety. His clothing indicated he was of high standing on the seas.
“We’re looking to get away from the city a while, Father sent us.”
The sailor nodded slowly, “I’ll bring ya with me when I leave the city. I’ll be packin’ ya in crates.”, he finished his drink and stood up. He walked outside and led them to an alley where he had a few guys waiting with empty crates. He pointed to the crates, “Climb in, and we’ll smuggle ya out of the city.”
Smoke nodded and climbed into one of the decently sized crates, as did Ash and Dinky. They waited as they were moved and lifted, having no idea where they were going. Eventually they stopped moving, hearing a voice call out, “Last train out, all aboard!”
Smoke nodded in his crate, “Sneak away on a train, clever…”
Ash waited in the darkness of his crate, almost finding it comfortable. Eventually his crate busted open, Burning Smoke looking inside to him.
“We just left the city, we’re free now.”, Smoke told him before backing away from the crate.
Ash quickly went over to the side of the train, pulling out a small wooden whistle and blowing into it. No sound came from it, which kind of confused Dinky.
“What are you doing?”, Dinky asked while she was sitting on her crate.
A Timber Wolf ran up to the side of the train and leapt onboard, causing Dinky to jump in shock.
“I suppose that is what was waiting for you…?”
Ash nodded as he patted Tim on the head, “This is Tim. My timber wolf companion.”
They did not share much conversation as the rest of the train ride went on rather slowly. Only the sound of the engines and the cars rolling along the rails to replace the silence. They arrived at a port town, SeaHorse. It had a large wooden ship docked, it didn’t fly any flags at the moment.
Dinky looked over at the ship, “Oh, are we going sailing?”
Smoke nodded to Dinky, “Yes, we are. We’re going across the ocean to the other continent. Maybe we’ll see Trottingham, or Warneigh, any of the places across the ocean is a wonder on its own.”
Dinky imagined the kinds of things that could happen, excited for all the adventures they will have.
The train grinded to a halt, it was noon and they had finally arrived at their destination.
The man with the grey stubble walked by and motioned for them to follow him. Leading them towards the ship that was docked in the harbour.
Ash looked at the ship as they walked by, taking note of the name that was on the side of the bow, “Nightmare Moon?”