Redux: Lineage

The four of us made our way to the forest where the manticore was said to be attacking travellers. We'd geared up as best we could, being supplied basic armour on Angie's part, as well as equipping the weapons we'd brought with us. We'd used the Guild's alchemy lab to brew up a few anti-venom potions, just in case one of us got stung by the manticore's tail. Now, we were ready to track the thing down. The forest the creature inhabited was cold and thick, with snow clinging to the evergreen trees and lining the ground with nearly twelve inches of snow. Thanks to last night's mini-blizzard, any older tracks would be completely gone, and we had to hope that the creature hadn't spent the entire morning in its den, or else we'd never find it.

"We looking for anything in particular?" Annerose asked.

"Scrap of fur would be nice," I nodded, looking over at the shorter woman. "Anything to help Grael catch a scent."

"Anything besides that?" Zane asked.

"Nothing that isn't going to be buried in a foot of fucking snow," I sighed, placing my hands on my hips as I came to a stop, looking through the trees for any sign of the manticore's steel grey colours. "Any idea where the main road is?"

"Rick, I've got no idea where the fucking floor is," Annerose said, angrily trudging through the snow. "I could be standing on an ice-lake now and not be able to tell."

"I'm willing to guess that it's where the trees aren't as thick," Grael said, pointing his nose in the direction of a clearing, a few yards west of where we were. "Manticores are big creatures, so he'll probably like his open space, too."

"Good point," I said, making my way over to the clearing and having the others follow behind me.

Once we were out of the thick treeline, we started looking around in the clearing for any signs of the large creature. Broken branches, toppled trees, scraps of fur caught on bark, or paw prints were just a few clues that'd help us track the thing down. The search took us all in separate directions, each of us yelling out to one another occasionally to inform the group of the lack of anything we'd found. I was beginning to get bored after half an hour, slapping myself on the hips in a rhythmic manner, just to keep myself occupied, before my eyes spotted an off-colour in the trees.

It wasn't the manticore. It was much too small for that and the colours were much too bright to be the grey-scale, hulking behemoth of a creature. Whatever it was, it was brightly-coloured, definitely a stand-out from the white, brown, and dull greens that made up the forest. I then heard a loud crunch, the sound resembling a tree branch being snapped before the colours reappeared again.

"Hello?" they called out to me, signaling that it was sentient, if not entirely visible just yet.

The creature/object/entity walked through the trees, the insane brightness of its colours dying down and revealing that it was indeed an earth-bound creature, though it wasn't human. The pointed ears, icy-white skin, and frosty-blue hair gave away the creature as a Snow Elf, garbed in thick leather armour and a cape around her shoulders. Her eyes were the most striking part, lacking different-coloured pupils and instead appearing as one single, blue iris. A friendly smile appeared on her lips, waving gently towards me as she approached.

"Hello there, traveler!" she said, greeting me in a welcoming tone, rather uncharacteristic of her usually-nomadic and distant race. "You wouldn't have happened across a woman with black hair and red eyes anywhere in these woods, would you? Wearing black armour? Rather unkind?"

"You mean Arala, right?" I asked her, crossing my arms as I looked her up and down.

"You know her?" the Snow Elf asked, cocking her head and causing a bang of blue hair to fall over her face. "Is she causing trouble?"

"Yes, she attacked me and my friends when we were trying to get a contract from the Hunter's Guild," I answered. "In fact, she tried to kill me at least twice."

"So I was right to follow the trail of bodies," she mumbled to herself, looking over her shoulder as she spoke. "Do you know where she is?"

"Angie kicked her ass out of a window and we haven't seen her since," I shrugged. "I figure she's got beef with us, so we'll probably run into her sooner or later, if the stories we've heard about her are anything to go by."

"Yes... she never did let anything slide," the Elf said in a heavy tone. "If... if you'll allow it, I'd like to join your group for a while. She and I have business that I need to urgently discuss with her."

"And that business would be?" I asked.

"She needs to die, and I need to kill her," the Elf said, growing serious suddenly.

That response certainly caught me off-guard. Up until now, she'd seemed like a friendly character that was chasing after a companion with an attitude problem... but this certainly changed the mood.

"Why, exactly?" I asked.

"Because she's insane and she's dangerous," the Elf responded. "She and I both trained under Princess Luna's guidance, and while I managed to complete my training and become a fully-fledged Lunar Knight, she... well, she went rogue after a particularly bad spat with Luna. The two of them had always been at odds, but it came to blows this time around. It happened in Luna's bed chambers while she and I were trying to sleep. Arala nearly kicked the door down and demanded Luna train her properly."

"Why were you in Luna's bed?" I asked, that of all things getting my attention.

"Oh, she and I were romantic at the time," the Elf answered with a bright smile, rather open about the concept. "We often settled down for the night in the same bed, and I just happened to witness the argument."

"What exactly was the argument about?"

"Arala was angered about Luna's refusal to put her forward to a more advanced stage of training, training that I myself had just started several days earlier, while Arala had been held back," she explained. "Luna had confided in me that while most who came to train with her did so to protect and watch over those around them, Arala was one of the few who had done so for power. Luna never described her as evil. She knew what evil was and Arala was not as such, but she knew that Arala was too angry and too unstable to allow her training to be completed until she'd ironed out her flaws."

"Did she know that?" I asked.

"Oh yes, Luna informed her several times that she wasn't mentally ready to handle the power the next step in her training would bring. The genetic enhancements given to the Lunar Knights, especially at the third stage of training, puts you well above any normal human on the planet," she continued. "And as everyone knows, absolute power corrupts, and power corrupts absolutely. Luna didn't want to give her that power boost and set her off into the world, she compared it to chumming the waters of a children's play pool and throwing a shark in with them."

"I think I can understand that," I nodded. "Arala definitely seemed like an arrogant bitch... with more than enough reason to be so. So she got pushy with Luna, she said no, and she ran off into the night, I'm guessing?"

"That's the cliffnotes of it, basically," she nodded. "Luna was upset about Arala disappearing, feeling as if she'd just let loose a convicted killer onto the world. It was the reason she didn't kick Arala out the minute she knew she was trouble. 'Friends close' and all that. If she was right beside her, she could keep an eye on her, and possibly control her somewhat. But she vanished without a trace, and Luna hasn't seen her for twelve years."

"And you went looking for her because..." I inquired.

"Because both of us understood that she needed to be brought to justice, I've heard reports of her murdering and maiming people, as well as robbing and destroying buildings," the Elf continued. "Luna wishes she could come looking for her herself, but she doesn't have the time to chase leads all over the world."

"True."

"So I elected to do it myself, so is my duty as a Lunar Knight," the Elf said, standing up straight with a determined expression.

"And you're hoping Arala comes after us, so you can kill her?" I asked.

"That's the long and short of it," she nodded, giving an innocent little smirk. "I assure you that I can defend you from her if you're afraid of being live bait."

"There's only two things in this world that truly terrify me: my mother and crappy alcohol," I said with a smirk. "So no, being your 'Goat on a rope' doesn't really make me quiver in my boots. Though, I would like to ask for something in return for helping you."

"Is it sex?" she asked, her pointed ears slouching for a second.

"What?" I asked in shock. "No! What the hell kind of amoral jackass asks some random woman to sleep with him as a reward?"

"You'd be surprised," she said, blinking in a blank manner. "Every sleazy guy I've asked for help has demanded some kind of sexual favour in return for their help. One guy even said he wanted to cum in my ears."

"That's..." I said, shocked to the core. "That's fucking nasty."

"I know," she said, shivering at the memory. "So... what's your condition?"

"If we help you kill Arala, you need to help us kill a dragon," I explained.

"So... do you have a specific dragon in mind, or is it kind of an I.O.U?" she asked in a confused manner.

"Her name is Heimili, and she's a rogue dragoness, banished from her people, goes around making skewers out of the mountain folk," I described. "She's big, she's tough, and she's gonna be hard to take down. We've already got Winter's Maw's court mage helping us out and we're in the process of getting the Barb Tail mercenary group to help as well. Your support would be greatly appreciated, especially if you're a Lunar Knight."

"I... I guess I can do that," she nodded, scratching the back of her head. "I mean, I swore an oath to protect people, and this would really impress Luna... a-and help me fulfil that oath."

Ah. One of those kinds of girls.

"Then welcome aboard," I said, holding out my hand for her to shake.

"I'm Lot, by the way," she said, shaking my hand firmly.

"Richter," I responded.

"Wait... is that Prince Richter?" she asked, her eyes widening in shock. "Luna's nephew?"

"Have... have we met before?" I asked in confusion.

"Not at a point you'd remember, but I was finishing up my last few years of training when you were born!" she said in an excited manner. "Your mother brought you to see your Aunt for the first time, a few days after you were born. I remember watching Luna play with you for a while... and there was the most adorable little puppy that whined and growled at everyone that touched you. He sat yapping at Luna's feet the entire time she held you."

"Sounds like something he'd do," I chuckled. "Grael always has been a yappy bastard."

"As if you were any better," I heard the Direwolf sigh from behind me, followed by the sound of a fallen tree groaning under new weight as the enormous wolf leaped onto it. "Ah. I see you've got company."

"Is... is that him?" Lot asked, her eyes wide with awe as the taller Direwolf padded down beside me.

"The one and the same," Grael said, nodding his head in response. "Your scent seems familiar... it doesn't resonate with any particularly strong memory, but it's there all the same."

"My name is Lot, I trained in Canterlot with Luna when Richter was a baby," she explained. "You might remember because you grew up a lot faster than-"

Lot was cut off by the sound of an explosion, several trees behind us being incinerated by fiery red light. The three of us turned around in horror, hearing the sounds of angered roars and clashing steel.

"The manticore?" Grael asked.

"Manticore don't use magic," I snarled angrily.

"I can sense Arala over there," Lot said, her features narrowing in anger. "She's putting out a lot of power."

"Then let's not waste any time!" I said, taking off at a sprint towards the battleground.

The other two fell in behind me, Grael bearing his fangs, Lot sliding a sword out of its sheath by her side, and my hand wrenching the sword I'd been gifted from over my shoulder as we broke through the treeline to see Zane guarding Annerose with the large shield he'd picked out, the blue-haired woman clutching at her arm with heavy blood flow seeping through her fingers. We spotted Arala firing blasts of red energy from her palm, her face contorted into an expression of pure rage.

Lot suddenly broke away from the rest of us, going the long way around the side of the clearing while Grael and I charged at her head-on. She saw us coming a mile away, obviously, and turned her palm to fire at us. I managed to dive-roll underneath the blast while Grael leaped over it, the two of us getting back onto our feet and continuing our charge. Grael threw himself at her, being caught once more, only this time I was right behind him.

I launched myself forward, leaping as high as I could and slamming my knee straight into her nose. Both of us tumbled, Arala recovering first and aiming her palm at me again, but Grael was there on the intercept, digging his fangs into her arm, not managing to break or puncture the armour, but easily being able to move her arm away from me, firing the blast out of the clearing and into a random group of trees. At this point, Lot had joined the fray, leaping at Arala with her sword aimed for her face.

Arala reacted, swinging Grael at me and knocking us both across the snowy ground, before rolling backwards, managing to kick Lot straight in the face and knock her away, getting back onto her feet and tearing her sword from her sheath, panting and angry at this point. We all managed to group up again, Zane taking point with his enormous shield providing protection for us.

"Great..." Arala snarled furiously. "This is going to be annoying."

"This ends now, Arala!" Lot snarled, pointing her blade at the black-haired woman. "You've gone unpunished for far too long!"

"Well, well, if it isn't Luna's full-time boot-licker," she snarled, rolling her shoulders and squaring her stance. "Did she finally let you out of your pet carrier?"

Lot snarled angrily, firing a white blast of magic at Arala, but the black knight was able to deflect it with a swipe of her black and red magic guard. Lot rushed forward, ignoring our protests, and charged for Arala. The two abandoned the magical blast, focusing on trying to cut the other down as fast as possible with brutal, lethal strikes that would spell the end for either of them should one connect. It seemed that despite Lot's strength, she was losing ground, Arala somehow being much stronger than the Snow Elf.

I patted Zane on the back, signaling that we needed to move up and received a slap on the back from Annerose, showing that she too was ready to go. We all moved forwards, charging as fast as we could and keeping behind Zane, Arala somehow managing to handle Lot's incredible speed while also firing blasts as us. The battleground was soon torn to pieces, with shredded dirt and blasted trees littering the environment, leaving a scar on this place that wouldn't heal anytime soon.

Zane threw the shield forward, knowing it wouldn't be useful at close range for any of us, and hoped it would topple Arala. Instead, the mighty warrior was able to grip the solid object as it came at her, her fingers clenching it so hard as to rend the metal itself out of shape before using it to slap Lot aside, the Snow Elf's cry of pain barely audible over the colossal din of the shield's impact. Zane rushed at her, drawing the jet-black greatsword he held and unleashing a mighty strike, only to have it be caught on the guard of Arala's sword; clearly it was more than a normal blade.

She shoved Zane back, their equally-matched strength appearing to have only existed in Angie's office, as she was now easily able to throw Zane about as if he were a rag doll. The large man's feet dug trenches into the floor as he was shoved back, Arala moving her attention to Annerose as she ducked under Zane's right side and unleashed a flurry of katana strikes that Arala was able to block and deflect. She then sent Annerose's sword flying out of her hands with a flick of a wrist. Arala cocked back her fist and aimed again for Annerose's gut, only to have Zane pull the slender woman out of harm's way in the nick of time.

I gripped the hilt of my sword hard enough to turn my knuckles white, rushing the woman in black armour just as she slammed her boot into Lot's stomach and sent her flying backwards and skimming over the dirt like a stone on water before smashing through a tree. Arala turned her attention to me and slashed for my chest with great speed. I barely managed to dodge out of the way, skirting to the side just enough to miss the fatal blow but not enough to upset my run at slashing at her neck.

She ducked under the strike before catching the blade of my sword with her armoured hand as I attempted to bring it back, wrenching it from my grip and attempting to turn it on me, only for Grael to tackle her to the ground, knocking both of the blades out of her hand and sending them skidding away. I recovered mine and threw hers to Annerose; Arala was now unarmed and outnumbered... I just hoped that it was enough of a difference to make this fight go our way, as we hadn't even scratched her at this point.

"Alright... this is starting to get on my nerves," Arala snarled through gritted teeth, her eyes lighting up a bright red colour as she spoke. "I'm done playing now."

She held her hand up, her sword tearing itself from Annerose's grip and landing in her palm, erupting into a fiery blaze mere seconds after Arala clenched her hand around it, rolling her neck once more and squaring her stance, ready for battle. Lot returned to the fray at this point, teleporting behind Arala in a flurry of white light, slashing at her neck, only for Arala to disappear in her own cloud of black sparkles, reappearing some distance away and launching a wall of fire at Lot. The Elf brought her hands up, summoning a magical barrier that blocked the attack, but shattered in the process, knocking Lot back and seemingly tiring her quite considerably.

"You..." she panted as Arala walked over to her. "You're not meant to be this strong."

Not letting Arala get a foot closer, Zane and I rushed at her, both of us leaping at her and bringing out swords down, only for her to cast hers aside and catch the blades in the palm of her hand. Her shoulders jolted on impact, but her body showed no signs of being overpowered by the force of our blows. She threw us both aside, the two of us landing at bad angles and hitting the floor hard, while she turned around and slammed her jaw into Lot's face, once again sending her skidding across the ground in a shocking display of power.

"Even if these idiots don't put up a challenge," she snarled, her eyes flaring up brighter, clearly funneled by anger. "I'll at least have the satisfaction of tearing Luna's little pet limb from limb."

"Don't count on it!" I snarled, getting back to my feet and pointing my sword at her. "We're not done yet."

"Only because I haven't decided to kill you," she said, summoning her sword back to her hand and beginning to walk towards me. "But I'm getting bored of your mouth. So let's change that, shall we?"

"Bring it on," I said through my teeth, flicking a loose strand of hair out of my eyes as I rushed towards her, swinging as hard and as fast as I could, trying my best to either slip past her guard or at least get her to take a half-step back, but I had no such luck. She remained rooted to where she was, using a single hand and nary any effort to block the full might of my strikes, booting Grael aside as he returned to battle, cutting Annerose' cheek wide open with a backhand, and knocking Zane clean onto his back with a headbutt to the chest as he approached her from behind.

My muscles soon began to tire, sweat clinging to my body, and my chest heaving from the exertion this fight had brought onto me, and Arala could sense it. She slapped my sword aside, the gentle motion she made resulted in as much force as a castle tied to my arm being thrown off a cliff, and she grabbed me by the throat, tightening her grip to such a degree that it nearly snapped my neck. I stared into her burning eyes for a long moment, slamming my fists into her face, kneeing her in the neck and chin, and booting her in the stomach as hard as I could. It didn't work. She didn't even seem to register the blows as anything more than annoying, this causing the panic to truly set in as she began to choke the life out of me.

"What's wrong?" she asked in an arrogant manner. "No witty response? No stupid boast? Come on, kid, I thought you were supposed to be mouthy."

I couldn't respond. I didn't have the air for it. My face began to go blue, sounds started fading, and it became a struggle to keep my eyes open, having to strain to hear her boast as she continued to choke me.

"Once again, another worthless contender to my power," she chuckled. "But I'm not done yet, not by a longshot. Once I've got what I need, once he gives me my full power, there won't be a damn thing on this planet that can stand up to my might... not even Luna."

"Really now?" a familiar voice asked from behind her, a dark-skinned hand clenching tightly onto Arala's shoulder. "Care to test that?"

She was turned around by the hand and was soon caught in the jaw by a shot so powerful it sent her blasting backwards, even throwing me for a brief moment before I landed hard on the ground. I managed to pull myself back to my feet, looking between Arala and our new and very welcomed companion.

"Arala, you're a gifted fighter, I can admit that... but if there was one thing you never got the concept of," Luna snarled, cracking her neck and knuckles as she walked towards her former stupid. "It was when to shut your damn mouth."

"No..." Arala spat, her nose utterly crushed and blood flowing like a tap down her face, tears in the corner of her eyes as she got up, swaying slightly. "You aren't supposed to be here."

I stared at her in disbelief, seeing the injury on her face as clear as day, and wondering exactly how hard Luna had hit her to achieve it. Zane had punched her in the face with enough force to knock a stone wall down. I'd seen him do it before, but it hadn't even left a red patch on her face. Yet, here she was, with her nose nearly blasted through the back of her head from one shot that looked like a warning one. I turned to face Luna at this point, the colossal fighter having tied her hair back into a pony tail and dressed in combat attire, seemingly ready for this.

"Why... why are you here now?!" Arala demanded, her cool arrogance melting away to reveal nothing more than a bratty tantrum. "This isn't the way this was supposed to go! I'm supposed to beat you."

"There's only one thing you're supposed to do, kid, and that's die," Luna said, walking towards Arala with no urgency, as it seemed that they both knew she'd already won this fight. "I told you to be careful. Warned you that if I ever caught wind of your scent or your energy, I'd come running to put you in the fucking ground. And here you are, firing up your power like a damn locator beam."

Arala gritted her teeth, blood pouring down her once-beautiful face, holding her hands out and firing an enormous beam of energy at Luna, the attack screaming with energy, only for Luna to knock it aside with nothing more than a fingertip, sighing in disappointment.

"I always told you: you couldn't win every fight through brute force alone, and yet again, you disappoint me," Luna said, darting forward at inhuman speed, catching Arala under the jaw with a vicious uppercut, launching her off her feet before Luna teleported behind her, booting her square in the back and sending her rolling through the dirt, smearing the ground with blood.

"Though I'm not sure why I'm surprised," the Lunar Alicorn said, shaking her head. "You always were always a disappointment. But you were never this pathetic."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Arala screamed, throwing herself at Luna as soon as she was on her feet, throwing a barrage of punches, only to have each one be caught effortlessly in the palm of Luna's hand. The Alicorn showed no signs of strain as the punches that were strong enough to create a ripple in the air somehow collided with her hands. Luna tore Arala's hands downwards, slamming her forehead into the woman's already shattered nose and getting a scream of pain from her as she collapsed onto the ground in pain, clutching at her face in agony and weeping in sorrow.

"I told you the night you attacked me, the night you ran away, when you were standing on the tower, that'd I'd always be willing to forgive you for what you'd done, so long as you came back, apologised, and tried to start again," Luna said, kicking her hands away from her face and putting her boot on her throat. "I offered you the chance to wash all of this away, to be friends once more and to learn from your mistakes, but you ignored me. You ran off into the night, obsessed with power and too blinded by your own arrogance to realise you were wrong. The offer was always there, I was willing to let you start again..."

Luna pressed her boot harder onto Arala's throat, the woman now choking as tears rolled down her face, looking up into Luna's blue eyes and seeing nothing but anger and fury.

"But now? That chance is gone. Not only have you gone mad with your desires, wearing a deal with a demon like a summer dress for all to see, you also attack my nephew? My family?" Luna asked, leaning most of her weight on Arala's neck, the woman begging and sobbing to be freed. "I offered you a chance to save yourself for nearly fifteen years. You tested my patience and spat in my face when I offered you kindness. So now I'm going to give you the only thing you deserve."

Luna held her hand out, a bright ball of energy building up, screaming loudly with charged power, before removing her boot from Arala's neck and firing the beam, the attack swallowing her entire body whole and being too loud to hear the scream of pain the black-haired woman let out before she was turned to ash, leaving no more trace of her existence than a burnt scar on the ground, and the sword she'd used to try and kill us all.

"Good riddance," Luna spat, closing her hand and looking up at the rest of us. "You guys okay?"

There was a chorus of yes, Luna nodding with a satisfied grin, before Lot called out her name, the smaller Snow Elf charging over to the Lunar Alicorn and hugging her, the two kissing passionately for a long moment before breaking apart.

"Thank the Goddesses you're alright!" Luna exclaimed, hugging her lover tightly. "Why the hell were you still on this stupid goose chase?"

"I... I felt like I needed to take care of her," Lot said, looking into Luna's eyes with a nervous smile. "I also... I also thought you'd appreciate it if I got rid of her."

"You've always been an overachiever, haven't you?" Luna asked with a chuckle, kissing her again.

"I try," Lot shrugged.

"And you lot," Luna said, turning her attention to all of us, standing with her hand snaked around Lot's hips. "What the fuck kind of display was that?"

A small laugh came from each of us as we lay on the ground, scattered and exhausted with our injuries starting to be noticeable at this point. Zane pulled himself to his feet and helped Annerose up while Grael bit down on my hood and dragged me over to Luna, eventually collapsing onto his side and panting loudly.

"Hey... we tried," I said, looking up at my Aunt with a smirk.

"Indeed you did," she said, offering me a hand and pulling me to my feet. "And that's all I can ask for."

"How did you find us?" Zane asked, essentially dragging Annerose with his hand around her waist as she refused to move.

"I've been keeping a passive ear out for Arala's energy signature for years," Luna answered. "She's never flared it up to be noticeable until today. Just lucky she did it before she vaporised you all."

"Thanks for that, by the way," I said, getting a pet on the head in response.

"You're welcome," she smirked. "So, how's the quest going?"

"We're working on the mercenaries," Zane answered.

"Court Mage is on our side," Grael woofed.

"And I smashed," I said with a wide smile.

Luna looked at me with a bemused expression, sighing quietly while Lot merely looked at her with a confused expression.

"What does he mean by that?" she asked.

"It's a slang term for fucking someone," she explained. "A lot of people collect souvenirs whenever they go to a new place. Richter collects hoes."

"Liberated women, thank you very much," I cut in.

"Oh," Lot said, her cheeks flushing a very noticeable red at this. "That's rather lewd. Does he do it often?"

"Oh yeah," she nodded. "I usually just hit him with a scroll and he usually stops harassing women."

"I don't harass anyone," I said, crossing my arms and glowering in an offended manner.

"So, you smashed Celana then?" Luna asked.

"Oh yeah," I nodded, this topic lightening my mood something fierce.

"She's a thick one, ain't she?" Luna asked with a smirk.

"Oh fuck yeah, I haven't eaten anything that good since mom's last dinner," I grinned, a giddy feeling washing over me.

"Eaten?" Lot asked, clearly out of touch with the sex talk. "What does that mean?"

"Richter eats ass more than he eats breakfast," Luna answered. "It's kind of a bad habit, really. Bad for his health."

"That's... rather disgusting, actually," Lot said in a grossed-out manner. "I don't even want to consider the health detriments to that."

"I don't either," I shrugged. "But booty is life. And it's the life I love to lead."

"So... about the dragon you wanted me to help you with?" Lot asked, more than desperate to change the subject. "What do you need me to do again?"