Dance Under Star Kismet

Chapter 3 - Your Fault

It was early morning. Cloudfire had arrived to Julien's house and saw the bodies. He couldn't bare to even glance at them, he hadn't seen a scene like this ever since he was captured in the Saddle Arabian desert by Lacoden. Only a selected few of the Peacekeepers were allowed to be on site, keeping onlookers far. The bodies had been covered with white sheets and loaded onto a cart for a proper cremation. Dawn, Cloudifre, and Gardok began to investigate the house's interior further. With a translator to figure out what the character on the wall meant.

Dawn was upstairs with Cloudfire, "She killed them here." Cloudfire opened a curtain, "Scared them up here and trapped them." He said with disgust.

"Knowing her type. I'm sure she killed their mother in front of them, then moved on to the fillies. There's nothing here, Cloudfire."

"What magic was used here?"

"Magic is so vast as the oceans. Dark magic is certainly in the deepest trenches of them."

"I fear this ally of hers is stronger than you may think."

"I as well. To perform this kind of magic you need to have the strongest of minds." Dawn casted a spell to cleanse the room of blood and make the air fragrant.

On the way down the stairs Gardok appeared and said, "Princess, it seems that Philis may need more time to translate the characters."

"I thought there was just one." She replied. Dawn asked the translator, "So two?"

"Yes, two. One. Two. There's a character within it. Usually to make a single sentence. Not as easy as a single character like the other ones. These stipples around the outer circle indicate a sentence."

"Take as much time as you need, Philis, but we need to clear this house now. Copy down the characters so we can leave." Philis copied the characters in an old notebook. "Cloudfire, I'll tell Julien about this alone." Dawn scolded. She cleaned up the blood stains and proceeded outside.

"Very well. We have some business to attend to. Gardok, meet me in front of the castle at noon." Cloudfire said. As they walked out they just noticed how many of the townsfolk were surrounding the house. "Gardok, protect Dawn." Gardok quickly stepped in front of Dawn. "There's nothing to see here. Please clear a path for the princess."

One from the crowd shouted, "You've failed to give us security!" Another hollered, "The Tartarans are coming closer to our borders!" "We are dying out here and you don't care!"

"Philis, get behind me." Dawn whispered. The old earth equine was trembling.

Cloudfire shouted, "Enough! We hear your pleas. We can only do so much to keep you all safe. You have to help us protect yourselves as well. We can't be everywhere at once. Now please clear a path." The crowd was hesitant, but saw no reason to block them in. They got their word out directly to the princess. They parted and Dawn and her party cautiously walked through them. Once they were far away enough from the crown a Pegasus appeared from a corner of an alley, she called them over. Dawn nodded and they followed her instruction.

The Pegasus led them further down the alley so no pony could see them together, "Dali." Cloudfire said.

"Things are only gonna get worse, Cloudfire. Trust me."

"What makes you think that?" He asked.

"The Tartarans are always a threat, even though they have been rather dormant."

"What do they have to do with this?" Dawn asked, "They haven't attacked for two years."

"I know, but I fear they are the least of our worries." Cloudfire scoffed, "I hear the Painter has killed a whole family. Now to the regular townsfolk it appears as a normal murder, we all know it isn't."

"You're right, it isn't. It's just the start of something new entirely." Dawn said, "Stay with us at the castle, Dali. You'll be much safer." She said with a soft voice.

"I appreciate the offer, but I have to stay. I have a few friends that need my help. Now you must go before somepony sees." Dali flew out of the alley.

"Come on, we haven't got all day. And I don't think I wanna walk into another mob." Philis whispered.

"Let's go." Gardok said in a relaxed tone. "We won't wanna miss our train either."

They returned to the castle and Philis went off to the library to continue her work. Cloudfire and Gardok went their separate ways until they had to meet up at the front gate. The lonesome Princess trotted to her chambers thinking about what was going through the minds of her citizens and why. She also feared that the arrival of Tartarans would destroy Lalifong; and the trust between her and her citizens.

Cloudfire and Gardok were deep in the Eastern Forbidden Forest. The tree line was thick and the only sounds were the chirps of birds and the squeaks of rodents. There weren't any towns for miles and the trainees were not allowed to use their magic or wings, so the only way they could get a sense of where they were was to climb a tree. Being equines this task is difficult, but it was a skill the trainees had to learn. This was the last week out of the dangerous three in the forest.

"Good job, keeping them alive." Cloudfire said to Lancer. Lancer had grown tough, but he still had his gentle center.

"It's my job. How are the princesses?" Lancer asked, his voice almost lost.

"They're all right. We need to finish this up. Let's begin Phase III." The trainees started to gather in front of Cloudfire and Lancer. "Damn it, Gamma."

"That kid is trouble." Lancer said, "He has been quite the leader though."

"He's not punctual. That's no good."

"Once he's completed his training he's Dawn's again." Lancer said happily.

Cloudfire replied sarcastically, "That makes me more comfortable." Gardok appeared from the tree line with a gray earth equine trailing behind him.

"Gamma, get up here." Lancer ordered. Gardok stayed behind as the cocky Gamma walked to his commanding officer, "What held you back now, son?"

"Nothing as always, Captain." Gamma said.

"Nothing will excuse you from this next phase. Get in order." Gamma walked to the back of the group and faced forward. "Commander Cloudfire will now brief you on the next and final phase."

"You all have gone through rigorous and painful tests to get this far, but this test will push you to your limit. Since this test is so dangerous, you will have the whole day to decide if you want to go through with it. You may die during this phase. Two live Tartarans will be released in the perimeter and it is your job to make sure it does not leave it. Using your skills may complete this task. But your communication with each other and teamwork will complete it. We want these Tartarans contained." Cloudfire continued, "Again, you can leave now. No one would blame you or call you a coward. You will be escorted out the forest." A few seconds after Cloudfire finished three trainees stepped forward and quit.

"You three have come a long way. Are you sure?" Lancer asked. They all nodded, "Gardok, guide these three home." Gardok, led them through the trees. No trails or markers to lead the trainees home if they decided to dessert. "The rest of you can relax for the rest of the day. If you haven't decided to leave by the end of the day...I wish you luck for tomorrow."