Shifting Winds and the Nightmare Armor: Part 1
Ever since I could read, I've always been fascinated with stories of adventure. I even earned my mark looking for my father after he left. I never found him, but I guess you could say I found myself. It was on my thirteenth birthday though that my love of adventure really took off. That was the day I was given my first Daring Do storybook. I was instantly hooked on the series! I would save my allowance for weeks to buy the next one and stay up way past my bedtime to read the stories countless times. On my sixteenth birthday was when I realized that reading the books wasn't enough for me, I wanted to write my own stories about adventure, not just read somepony else's! Despite my poor mother trying to stop me, I set out within a week. I explored for months, selling what I found to collectors and keeping anything I liked in particular. Eventually I had made enough money to buy some gear and a home of my own, not that I stayed there much. However my career really took off after almost a year of exploration, when I was contacted by a noble of Canterlot known as Fancy Pants. This is the adventure that started my career going full swing. An adventure I'll never forget.
His home was unlike any I'd ever seen before. A beautiful four story mansion in the heart of Canterlot itself, only a block away from the castle! High walls surrounded property, not to keep anypony out, but to mark territory. the The Royal Guard patrols were heavy and seemed to be watching me. Marching in pairs with their bright white uniforms and rifles in hand. They knew I didn't belong on this side of town, but couldn't approach me on the grounds of "I didn't fit in." Of course, I didn't fit in. Most of the ponies were wearing suits or dresses, and those who weren't were working for somepony. This was noble territory, and my cargo pants, matching jacket, and white tank didn't fit the bill of any of those. I was independent of anypony's employ, but not a noble.
As I approached the gate, a security guard stopped me. A gray-blue earth pony with a gray mane. He was wearing a white shirt and green pants and hat, with a pistol in his holster and a baton. He raised an eyebrow when I arrived at the gatehouse.
"Name please?" He said with a tired voice raising a clipboard.
"Shifting Winds," I replied with a smile. "Fancy Pants called for me."
He looked at the clipboard and flipped through a couple pages. "Yep, there you are," he yawned. "Go on in, he's expecting you."
I smiled as the gate opened. As I walked in I could see his beautiful yard leading up to his mansion. Hedges perfectly trimmed, fountains perfectly cleaned, and statues of his family and various Equestrian heroes. The stone walkway leading up to the doors was made from perfectly cobbled stone as I approached the mansion itself. The guards at the front doors didn't bother to check me again as I walked inside.
The inside was as beautiful as the outside. Paintings of his ancestors and several members of his wife, Fleur De Lis', family. I saw him in the main entry hall. Standing by one of the two sets of stairs to the second floor was a tall white unicorn with a dark blue mane, wearing a tailored suit and a monocle.
"Ah, welcome!" He smiled as I walked in. "Miss Winds correct?" He had a thick Canterlot Noble accent. "I'm Fancy Pants, the owner of this fine manor."
I approached and extended my hand. "Yes, that's me. What did you need me for? Your letter mentioned you wanted me to retrieve some old artifact, but not what or from where. Why not send that to me?"
"Come with me Miss Winds," he said walking up the stairs. "To my study, I'll be able to explain it better with the books in front of me."
I simply followed silently, taking in the splendor of his estate. I had never imagined I would be in a home like this, well, invited anyways.
When we reached the study we walked in. The walls were lined with bookcases, maps, and old relics from days past hanging on the walls.
"Here we are," he said picking up an old tome. "Now, are you familiar with Equestrian history?"
I nodded. "Hard not to be when you make a living diving into ancient temples. But what part of history are you talking about specifically?"
He handed me the book, the page was opened to a section about Nightmare Moon. "Nightmare Moon's return was a surprise to most of us, however her defeat at the hands of Celestia's star pupal, now Princess Twilight Sparkle, was a surprise to everypony who heard."
I read the pages over as I listened to him. The pages mentioned who Princess Luna was before her banishment to the moon and who she was as Nightmare Moon. It also mentioned a few things about her castle and her lifestyle.
"However there is one question we have yet to answer," he continued. "What happened to her armor?" He motioned for me to turn the page.
As I did I could see a rather well illustrated picture of what appeared to be an old church in a forest, and next to that was another picture, this one of an armor rack with Nightmare Moon's armor placed upon it.
"I believe my search has finally pinpointed the general location of this church to Nightmare Moon," he placed a map down the the table and opened it, pointing to a location in the Everfree Forest. "There's no way I can go into the Everfree Forest myself to check and none of my security is willing or experienced enough to do so. That's why I'm hiring you Miss Winds," he concluded with a smile. "Bring me the armor and you'll receive a small fortune, if the armor isn't there I will still compensate you for your expenses."
I looked at the map. The church must have been at least twenty miles deep into the Everfree, and that was farther than even the most brave and equipped ponies would go. Even a pegasus like myself couldn't fly there as the canopy would be too thick to see through and I couldn't bring my gear with me. To take an air mission to a place like that would require at least a small airship, something I'm sure Fancy Pants owned, but I doubted he'd risk landing in the Everfree.
"Small fortune huh?" I looked at him questioningly. "Can I get an amount please? I'm not rushing into one of Equestria's most dangerous locations for a vague amount of bits. I need a solid amount before I agree to anything."
"After talking it over with my board of accountants, we've settled for about seventy-five thousand bits as a fair amount." He smirked, clearly a smart pony, but not a poker playing one.
"Or I get the armor for myself and sell it to one of the princesses. I think Princess Twilight would love to have a piece of history like this."
He quickly lost his smirk. "I'll go to eighty thousand."
"Let's call it one hundred?" I countered.
"No higher than nintey thousand," he lost his smile completely and stared me down. "I could always hire somepony else to do it."
"Really you can't, because now I know where it is. Even if you did hire another pony, I'd have a head start, and you yourself asked for me because of my experience. You want the armor, we go with no less than one hundred thousand bits," I said giving him a flat stare. I could see it in his eyes that he was pissed, but he knew I was right. He made a mistake and told me where it was before negotiating a price, now the bargaining was on my terms.
"Fine, one hundred thousand bits," he growled. "But if you cross me, you'll regret it. I may not have physical power, but my political reach is far."
"Alright, you've got a deal Fancy Pants," I said rolling up the map. "I'll bring you your armor, but this had better be worth it when I return."
He chuckled. "Miss Winds, we could banter here all day, however that won't get me my armor."
I smiled. "I'll set out now then, and please just call me Shifty, everypony else does."
He , "It's been a pleasure to meet you, Miss Shifty. I look forward to your success in this endeavor."
I took the map and left the room. I could hear him mutter something under his breath, but I knew I had him this time. I had every intention of living up to my end of the deal. I'm still sure to this day that the armor was worth far more than one hundred thousand bits, but I was new on the scene and likely wouldn't find a better deal for the armor as it was.
After a couple days of driving, I arrived at the entrance to the Everfree forest. Before me was a path into darkness, with multiple signs telling me it was a bad idea to continue. One creative fellow even placing one stating "abandon all hope ye who enter here." Sometimes ponies were just too dramatic. I gently put my foot on the gas pedal and slowly started my journey into the Everfree. I could feel a nervous tingle in my gut, but I knew this was only the beginning of my adventure.
Author's Note
I really hope you enjoyed this one. I've finally got my inspiration to write back, and look forward to any opinions you may have.
