Golden Dawn trotted along the dirt road. It was about as well maintained as a dirt road could be. Meaning that it looked pretty but that didn't stop dust from being kicked up and dirtying the edges of her robes. Had she been wearing the proper white robes for a Vestal of Celestia, the dirt would've been obvious. But she wasn't wearing that robe, she'd burned it months ago. Instead she wore a tattered brown robe with a hood. Its edges were frayed, it had been stitched in many places, and several ugly dark splotches covered it. Some were long dried blood stains, some were not, Golden Dawn had long stopped caring.
She paused to adjust her saddlebags. She was no stranger to carrying heavy loads long distances, but armor was heavier and much more bulky than rations and bandages. After she made sure her mace was within easy reach, she continued forward. She didn't have any time to waste. The heir to that accursed estate had told her she could have the entire month off if she wanted, but she refused. How could she possibly relax? Every minute she was gone could be the minute a villager or one of her comrades needed her help. What if Night Spark's bad leg started acting up? What if Kunala took too much blood on a mission? What if Conall had another-?
Golden Dawn shook herself.
Faith in the Gods has failed me. I will not lose faith in my comrades.
Having calmed herself down, she picked up her pace a little. She had faith they would all be there when she returned, but she still wanted this trip to be over with as soon as possible. For one thing, she felt vulnerable without her own armor. Despite her earth pony heritage, wearing her chest plate and pauldrons while carrying a full set of body armor proved to be too much for her to handle. She could've hired a carriage, but due to her claustrophobia she only hired those when absolutely necessary.
Still, I imagine this trip would've gone much faster if I had the spine to hire one. I'll have to request a visit to the Sanitarium once I return.
Golden Dawn shuddered, visits to that hospital were never pleasant. She shook herself again and continued forward. She was almost at her destination, a small town called Ponyville. When she was at the top of the last hill she could see it in the distance. More importantly, she could see the town's Cathedral of the Sun.
Golden Dawn curled her lip.
Let's just get this over with.
It was midday when Golden Dawn arrived at the cathedral. It was a massive church made from shining white marble. A golden emblem of the sun was emblazoned above the church's oak doors. Standing in front of said doors, Golden Dawn could hear a preacher give the midday sermon. Today was Sunday, Celestia's sacred day of the week, so it was likely the bishop giving the sermon instead of a lower priest. Plus, the midday service was the most popular, with both casual believers and the devouts attending, so the Cathedral was likely packed. Interrupting now would break her oaths as a Vestal, disturb the believers from their prayers, and embarrass the bishop in an almost unthinkable way.
Without hesitation, Golden Dawn threw open the doors with a loud 'BANG'!
A thousand ponies jumped, then turned and stared at her. The bishop had apparently been making extravagant gestures before her interruption, and was now frozen with his hooves extended, staring at her in shock.
Golden Dawn strode forward, not sparing a glance to any member of the congregation. Her eyes were solely focused on the bishop. He was a red maned unicorn with a yellow coat. He was wearing a traditional white robe with a golden trim. As she approached, he recomposed himself and frowned.
"All are welcome to worship but you must be respectful to your fellow believers."
Golden Dawn ignored him and trotted over to the base of the stairs to the altar. She reached into her left saddlebag with her hoof and pulled out her Celestial amulet.
"I am Golden Dawn, Vestal for Celestia. I'm here to return the remains of the fallen Crusader Reynauld to his hometown." Evidently there was a voice enhancement spell placed around the altar, because she hadn't raised her voice yet it rang through the church.
The ponies of the congregation gasped. Crusaders were the elite soldiers of the church, the unbreakable wall of defense against the unholy. A Crusader being defeated was unthinkable, yet it had happened.
The bishop's eyes widened but he remained composed.
"Ah, I understand your interruption, Sister. He was your Brother in the light correct?" asked the bishop.
"He was my brother in ways you'll never know," said Golden Dawn.
The bishop gave her an odd look.
"You speak of battle?"
"In more ways than one."
The bishop scrutinized her for a moment, but then shook his head.
"Regardless, I assume the body's outside in a wagon? Along with the others needed to bring him?"
"No, I traveled alone. A wagon wasn't needed," said Golden Dawn.
"Wasn't needed? But then where's the body?"
Golden Dawn patted her bulging saddlebags. The bishop's eyes widened.
"What we could recover anyway," said Golden Dawn.
The congregation gasped again. The bishop trembled.
"Wh-what in the name of Celestia happened!?"
"We set out with two others in order to kill a hag hiding in a nearby forest. We failed, and Reynauld was killed."
The bishop had stopped trembling and nodded solemnly.
"I see. He sacrificed himself to save you and your comrades. A true warrior of the light."
The congregation began to murmur. No doubt discussing memories of Reynauld and admiring his 'sacrifice'. Golden Dawn's breathing became heavy.
"ARRAGH!" Reynauld cried out from the iron cooking pot. His unicorn form barely visible through the sickly brown boiling concoction. The giant of a hag cackled with glee and smashed his form back under with her over sized spoon.
"Hang on Reynauld, I'm coming!" yelled Dismas. The outlaw griffon fired his pistol at the hag. The round hit her shoulder, staggering her back. Dismas flew forward and lunged toward the cooking pot. His talons scraped the edge of the cauldron, ready to tip it, but the hag recovered. She grabbed a bloodied meat tenderizer and smashed it into the side of Dismas' head. The griffon was launched off the pot and landed roughly on his side. He lay there dazed for a moment, then struggled to his feet, blood dripping down from his wound.
"Dismas, we need to run!" shouted Swift Shadow. The Grave Robber was supporting a paralyzed and burned Golden Dawn. When the hag had dragged her into the pot she had made the mistake of swallowing some of the brew. Reynauld had managed to strike the pot hard enough for it to tip, allowing Dismas to swoop in and drag Golden Dawn out. But it felt like her entire body was made of lead. Trying to move at all aggravated her burns and made her vision swim. Dismas had tossed her to Swift Shadow and told the thestral to watch her. It had been several minutes since then, Reynauld had taken Golden Dawn's place in the pot and Golden Dawn herself showed no sign of recovery.
"Fuck that, we're not leaving him behind! Now drop Goldie and distract this bitch!" shouted Dismas.
"And let her be scooped up again by that monster's magic!? Are you insane? We're all hurt, and our healer's down! We need to get out of here!"
"MY FLESH! OH CELESTIA HELP ME, MY FLESH! IT, IT'S MELTING!!" cried Reynauld. Both his armor and the thick liquid covering it prevented them from seeing if this was true. The hag pushed him back under with her sickly green hoof, then threw a butcher's knife at Dismas. The griffon ducked beneath it, and began reloading his pistol.
"I'm not leaving him to die!" he shouted.
"We'll all end up dead if we don't run! I've got at least four broken ribs, Golden Dawn can't move and you've probably got a concussion! How are you supposed to aim if you can't see straight?" demanded Swift Shadow.
"I can see fine!" Dismas fired at the hag again, he missed.
"FUCK!" He began reloading. The hag threw another knife, Dismas jumped to the side, but the knife buried itself into the base of his wing.
"Arrgh!" Dismas fell to his knees, then yanked the knife out with his beak. He glared hatefully at the hag. She simply chuckled, and sprinkled some herbs into her cauldron.
Golden Dawn groaned. She had to help them, she had to move, she had to do SOMETHING.
"Dawn," Swift Shadow's voice turned soft. "I'm sorry, but you can't." She turned back to Dismas.
"We need to leave, NOW!"
"Then run! Run like the goddamn cowards you are you vampiric whore! I'll kill this bitch myself!" Dismas readied his dagger, the hag seemed to smile.
"No, you'll be boiled alive and eaten! You and Reynauld are our leaders, we can't lose both of you!"
Dismas hesitated, glanced at the hag, then at Golden Dawn. He hung his head.
"F-fine," his whole body was shaking. "Let's go."
The hag straightened up, her expression unreadable through her thick dark mane. Her twisted horn glowed an ugly black, and Golden Dawn felt her body being yanked off Swift Shadow and towards the pot.
"NO!" The thestral flew forward and grabbed Golden Dawn's hoof. She planted her hind hoofs into the ground but the hag continued to drag them forward.
Dismas' pistol fired off with a loud 'CRACK' and a ball of lead tore through the hag's cheek. She fell back, but not down, and she growled like an enraged dragon.
Swift Shadow hoisted Golden Dawn onto her back.
"Come on!" she yelled as she ran for the lair's exit.
Golden Dawn groaned again. What were they thinking? They couldn't leave Reynauld behind! She had to do something!
But all she could do was turn her head back to look back. Dismas was following behind Swift Shadow but paused at the edge of the hag's reach. If he said something, Golden Dawn didn't catch it.
She did however, hear Reynauld's anguished cries.
"PLEASE! PLEASE NO! DON'T LEAVE ME! AGH, IT BURNS!"
The hag didn't push Reynauld back into the pot, she just cackled as her meal's friends abandoned him.
It took every bit of Golden Dawn's will to remain composed. The entire memory had flashed past her in an instant, but it had felt like hours. She didn't trust herself to speak, so she nodded to the bishop.
"Very well. We shall prepare a funeral for this fallen hero as soon as we can. I will bestow upon him every honor within my power to grant. I trust you will say something at the ceremony?" asked the bishop.
Golden Dawn swallowed, and took a deep breath.
"No."
The bishop blinked.
"No? But why ever not? You clearly want to honor him, seeing as you came all this way."
"Everything I wanted to say to his corpse has already been said. I've honored him all I can, and I need to return to my comrades before more funerals are needed," said Golden Dawn.
"W-well, would you at least come to this evening's service to speak about him?"
"No, if ponies want to know that badly they can find me at an inn. I'm resting here tonight then I leave first thing in the morning."
"Please Sister. You are a mare of Celestia and you have experienced things most ponies could never dream of, hearing about you and your faith would be a tremendous honor."
Golden Dawn looked the bishop directly in his eyes.
"There is no Celestia, and if somepony proved to me that there was, she could rot in Tartarus for all I care."
Everypony froze. Hardly anypony breathed. All of them stared at Golden Dawn in shock.
The bishop stared at her, mouth agape. He opened and closed it a few times, then found his voice.
"How can you say that!? You're a Vestal of Celestia! You said it yourself!" he protested.
"I only said that to get this over with quickly. I want to get out of this house of lies as soon as I can."
The bishop sputtered.
"But, but, I can feel Celestia's blessing on you! You wield the sacred magic of the light, I can feel it!"
"Light magic's just a tool anypony can learn to use with the right training. It can heal, it can harm, just the same as 'dark' magic."
The entire congregation gasped.
"You would DARE to compare the sacred magic of our Goddess to the magic wielded by heathens and demons?"
Golden Dawn snorted.
"Compare it to them? Hell, I've worked with them. Kunala even saved my life once with blood magic."
If the bishop got any paler he'd be see through.
"You work with Nightmare's Occultists?!"
Golden Dawn glared at the bishop.
"Yes," her voice began to steadily rise. "I work with Occultists, criminals, Bounty Hunters, heathens, and Abominations and I am PROUD to call each and every one of them my comrade." She was now shouting. "No one in the Blueblood estate gives a FUCK about someone's species, race, beliefs, past or methods as long as they help us kill monsters."
The bishop turned to the congregation.
"Brothers and Sisters of faith, please bow your heads with me and pray for this lost soul. She does not know what she says," it wasn't a command, it was a plea.
As the ponies of the congregation bowed their heads, Golden Dawn threw hers back and laughed. A loud, humorless laugh that when combined with the voice enhancement cell, seemed to shake the entire building.
"Yes! Go on and pray to your great lie! See how far that gets you." she shouted.
"Our Goddess is real and she will save you," said the bishop.
Golden Dawn laughed again. "If she's real and she's so keen on saving ponies where was she when I was bleeding out on the forest ground? Where was she when Amber Star's face was stomped into mush? Where was she when that bastard old Blueblood unleashed the armies of darkness onto his estate?"
She tore off her saddle bags and threw them to the ground. They burst open with a loud clatter, armor and bones spilling out all over the floor.
"WHERE WAS CELESTIA WHEN REYNAULD WAS BOILED ALIVE AND EATEN!?!"
Most everypony in the congregation was reeling from the thunderous noises made even louder by the spell. Anypony who wasn't was in shock.
Golden Dawn stormed past them and threw the church's doors open once more. She was so focused on getting away from that place that she didn't notice a pair of golden eyes following her with a mixture of interest and awe.
Lyra Heartstrings watched Golden Dawn exit the church, and quickly got up to follow her. She had to know if what she said was true, she had to.
Author's Note
Just a story idea I couldn't get out of my head. No specific update schedule and as a freshman in college with bad planning skills it probably won't be too often.
Specific classes capitalized, general descriptions of them aren't.
To any of my followers waiting for a Not Every Mark is Cute update. I'm really sorry but I haven't even started the next chapter. There's no way in hell I'm abandoning it at this point but like I said, freshman in college and I'm still getting used to it.
Brawler will appear in this story but he's a minor character with a changed backstory. (He also may or may not be cannon fodder)
To any Darkest Dungeon fans, I'll be including a few classes that have been modded into the game. If you want to know where I got them let me know.
