Wrath of My Righteous Little Ponies

“Scrolls of Cause Fear? What are we supposed to do with these?” One of the unicorn clerics asked lowering the scroll back down to the table with her magic. The three had volunteered to join the effort on the battlefield and thought they were little more than acolytes, they could provide some healing and defend themselves well enough to hopefully stay alive. They were of different faiths, though Striker knew no difference between them save the different holy symbols they wore. One a bird with a multihued tail, one an angelic ankh and the last a bow and arrow.

Striker smiled charmingly, his demeanor humbled yet eagerly helpful, “Well your healing magic will be needed quite readily no doubt, and we cannot thank you enough for your efforts. However, there will be a few moments of idleness when the cultists and their demons are charging upon us when you could act but no pony would have need of healing. Think of what might happen if those leading the charge suddenly lost their taste for battle.”

“It would be chaos,” The stallion with the bow and arrow symbol said then suddenly regretted the choice of words, chaos being the great love of the hoards of the abyss. “I mean their charge would break.”

“Cultists have a weak resolve, more than a few might choose to follow suit and flee as well.” The one with the angelic ankh added excitedly imagining how many ponies might be spared if the cultists’ attack broke and they fled.

The first nodded in agreement, “Very well, we shall use them.”

“Excellent! Take them at a discount, say thirty-six bits.”

The three hesitated, there had been no word of payment when the scroll had been first presented, but now that their usefulness had been made clear they wouldn’t give then up over some bits. The first unicorn frowned, but her horn glowed and a red gem floated over to Striker side of the table, “That should fetch thirty-six bits.”

Striker took the gem in hoof and examining it deciding he could easily get forty for it, more than full price for the scrolls. “Thirty-four, I’d say.” They clearly didn’t know it’s proper value.

The other two unicorns frowned as well, but each pulled a bit from their robes and tossed them across the table at Striker. He snatched them from the air with a smile and swift swipe of his hoof tucking them and the gem into a pocket of his coat, “Nice doing business with you.” He parted with a nod and a somewhat grandiose sweep of his long coat.

Greenery walked down the line of tables watching as paladins rushed up and down the line carrying more furniture alone or in pairs as others lashed table legs together with short lengths of rope. One colt’s orange hooves were shaking so badly he didn’t seem able to loop the ends of the rope. He tried again only to have the ends slip from his hooves completely and he let out a string of angry curses at both the rope and his own hooves.

Greenery stepped up behind him and he turned on her, his white mane whipping violently at the sudden movement, the anger in his face instantly falling to surprise realizing who it was. “Commander Green Garden I was-”

“Go take a trot Ace,” Greenery commanded him sharply and took the ends of the rope in her steady armored hooves and knotted them together swiftly.

Ace’s eyes grew wide with alarm and he shook his head, “No commander please I can still fight.”

“You will fight,” Greenery corrected him sharply, but her expression softened a little as she looked from her work to his green eyes, “And I’d prefer it if your hooves weren’t shaking so bad you drop your weapon. So, take a trot and calm down.”

Ace nodded silently before giving Greenery a proper salute and, “Yes ma’am!” Then he jumped to his hooves and trotted down the line stumbling only once while Greenery watched him go.

“Sure, they’re top quality,” The light silver earth pony stallion smoothed his dark gray mane back before taking the second chain shirt in his hooves and stretching it out in front of him. His blue eyes wandering over it critically lingering on a dark discoloration in the links around the collar, “You used magic to clean them, it never gets the stains of blood out completely.”

“True, but most customers, tend not to have such a discerning eye.” Striker complemented with a smile relaxing next to the merchant.

“And this one had a whole torn into the front of it. The repair amateurish if adequate, you used magic.” The merchant noted and turned his critical eyes on Striker.

Striker just shrugged easily, “I had some oil of mending.”

The merchant’s eyes narrowed on Striker, but the pegasus met them with an easy smile, “How did you get these?”

“I acquired them from some ponies who no longer needed them, they gave them up quite readily.”

Annoyance played through the merchant’s eyes as he broke contact with Striker unreadable relaxed face and he folded the shirts up. “I could make quite a profit if I took them for your asking price, but no one here has that kind of gold, we’re all refugees, not warriors.”

“Ahh my friend you underestimate your clientele, you could easily turn a profit this very day.” Striker assured leaned over to the earth pony and wrapping a hoof around his shoulder. The merchant gave him a critical glare to which Striker laughed, “Let me explain. The crusaders are looking for refugees to help them against the oncoming attack. I happened to have noticed that the Wonderbolts have acquired a number of volunteers. They can fight sure and the crusaders provided them with barding, heavy plated barding, I think they would like something light that they can fly easily in better. Don’t you?”

The merchant shrugged off Striker’s hoof and gave him a withering critical look, “Volunteers are not going to have the two and a half hundred bits barding of this quality would cost.”

“Ahh no, but their new commander will have a vestige in keeping her new recruits happy, and safe won’t she.” Strike gave a pointed wag of his hoof and grinned sagely.

The merchant’s eyes grew wide and rubbed his chin with a hoof, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Suddenly they feel back to a frown and he turned suspicious eyes on Striker. “If there such a profit to be made why don’t you sell directly to them yourself.”

Striker gave a nervous chuckle at that and rubbed a hoof against the back of his head, “Ah, well you see. Paladin’s don’t really like dealing with someone of my… character. And I prefer the same if you appreciate my meaning.”

The merchant scoffed, that was hardly a surprise, bottom dwellers didn’t really like to venture into the light. The merchant’s eyes moved over the shirts again and he rubbed his chin, this time the grin forming completely on his face, “Alright you have yourself a deal.”

“Excellent, then perhaps you’d be interested in these as well,” Striker clapped his hooves then reached under his coat and drew forth the long flat razor sharp blade and lengthy shaft of a glaive that he could have not possibly been hiding so well just under the fabric of his coat. He laid it out on the table, it too was of fine craftsmanship. “The ponies I got the armor from didn’t need these either, I say there are probably some volunteers that would be glad to have such finely crafted polearms to go with their barding.”

The merchant tried to give the weapon a critical look as he examined it rubbing his chin, but he couldn’t hide the growing grin on his face.

“Ma’am!” The call of a familiar voice drew Greenery’s attention down the line where Bon Bon was quickly trotting towards her. The cream-colored mare stopped with a salute to her commander, “The barricade is set ma’am, end to end with no gaps.”

“You took my table suggestion a little literally didn’t you lieutenant?” Greenery eyes traveled down the line of the barricade, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly at the panicked looked that came across Bon Bon’s face. She quickly cut off Bon Bon as she started stammering an explanation. “It’s adequate lieutenant you’ve performed your duty admirably, just be sure to tell our knights to fall back a step when it’s breached. Let those bastards trip over the splintered debris instead of us.”

“I doubt we’ll be the ones pressing them,” Bon Bon muttered grimly. Her eyes shot wide at her own words and she stammered, “I-I’m sorry commander I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s fine, just watch your tongue around the knights,” Greenery replied curtly a grim look spreading across her face. “Have you seen Silverstar, I wanted to check on the status of the volunteers.”

“I think he went inside to deal with some kind of commotion, I’m surprised you didn’t see him. I asked him the same thing, there had been six volunteers and not likely to be anymore.”

A look of pleasant surprise came over Greenery, “Six? That’s more than I thought we would get.”

Bon Bon frowned her eyes narrowing critically, though not at Greenery. “Yes, and half that number is pegasi. I think Lightning Dust has been acting against her orders,” Bon Bon gave a small growl, “She can argue with me all she likes, but disobeying the pony in charge that’s just anarchy.”

Greenery narrowed her eyes and gave a growl that matched Bon Bon’s, but said, “Well it’s not like we can turn them away now. And without proof accusations against her are pointless. We can just hope that the additional wings will be of use to Striker in whatever he’s planning.”

“You really trust that stallion, don’t you?”

Greenery features softened and she nodded, “Of course. He saved my life and got me home and back here safely.”

“I sure you had far more to do with that than him.” Bon Bon implored, she hadn’t liked a lot of the rumors she had heard drift up from the survivors that had come in with the commander.

Greenery gave Bon Bon a grim look, pain painted the corners of her mouth and welled in her eyes. “The knights I went out with are dead, and the survivors he found are all alive. I think it’s pretty clear who did more.”

“Striker!” Lightning Dust pushed through the crowd of ponies, angry plain on her face as she marched through the common room to the white stallion who turned at the call of his name and smiled brightly, as if seeing an old friend, at the sight of Lightning Dust.

“Lightning it’s-” Striker was cut off suddenly as Lighting Dust grabbed him roughly by the collar of his long coat and dragged him across the common room without a word until she had shoved him into the paladin’s impromptu meeting room and bucked the door shut. “I like a mare that knows what she wants Lightning, but I’m afraid my heart belongs to another and I wouldn’t want ponies to start talking.”

“Shut up,” Lightning Dust snapped and jabbed a hoof into Strikers chest causing the stallion to wince in pain. “Explain why in the nine hells are all my volunteers asking me to buy them some expensive barding and weapons from a merchant that claims he got them from a white pegasus in a black long coat!”

Striker hesitated for a moment his eyes darting with uncertainty everywhere but at Lightning Dust, at last, he slowly spoke. “Do you want me to shut up or explain?”

Lightning’s face went slack for a moment, then contorted in rage. She flared out her wings with jangled and scraped with the sound of her wing-blades as they spread from one another. With a flick of her wing, the blades sank into the wall next to Striker’s head and she growled through clenched teeth, “Explain.”

“Well, I’d say whoever this handsome sounding stallion was who sold the barding and weapons to the merchant probably advised him that for the benefit of those under your charge, you’d be interested in acquiring such items.” The wide grin split across Striker’s face and never left it ever when Lighting Dust growled angrily at his continued plea of innocence in the affair.

“Of all the stupid schemes…” Lighting Dust looked both like she was ready to continue cursing and ranting at Striker for several more minutes as well as strangle the life out of him, but resisted doing either. “I don’t have that kind of money!”

“But your order does.” Striker offered helpfully. “And there must be some leeway in resource use in emergency situations, right?

“I don’t have access to the order’s treasury right now! We’re in the middle of a siege!” Lightning Dust yanked her wing-blades from the wall and paced back and forth spitting angrily.

“It’s not really a siege,” Striker shrugged earning another hateful glare from Lightning Dust. “Offer him an IOU, I’m sure he doesn’t plan on dying or trusting in the good nature of the demon’s anytime soon.”

Lighting Dust scoffed, “No sensible merchant is going to take an IOU with no guarantee of payment, even the word of a paladin isn’t good enough for a greedy bastard like that in this situation.”

“Maybe,” Striker gave a nod of agreement and slipped up next Lightning as if they were good friends. “But that’s because paladins serve two masters one law, the other goodness. But I notice there are those here who’s only loyalty is to law. Assuring the fulfillment of a contract they presided over is as vital a duty as killing demons to ponies like that.”

Lightning Dust's eyes shot wide in alarm and she stared at Striker like he had just told her the floor was pudding. “You want me to enter into a contract with a Hellknight, are you insane, they come for your soul if you don’t follow through to the letter of the contract.”

“Well you have every intention of following with payment don’t you, so there’s nothing to worry about. And our merchant friend most certainly won’t dare argue that he might not get his bits when a Hellknight puts his name to the contract, will he?”

Lightning Dust started to argue, but the words had not substance and died on her tongue. Pursing her lips, she shook her head at Striker and trotted to the door, “You’re a mad pony you know that?”

Striker’s grin widened and turned a little sinister, “Is there any other way to be?”