Night Zero: A Thief Named Destiny... Or Ne'erdowell.
If they knew...
Like a whisper, the thought sounded in the back of Rainbow Dash's head. It was always there, lurking behind her every motion, threatening to burst out in a scream from her into the high heavens. But whenever it tried, she swallowed it hard and whitened her knuckles. It was a taboo... It could never be told... It was her darkest truth. And it invigorated her to no end.
They just wouldn't get it.
As her blade flew from her hip and drew the final blood from the tremendous beast challenging her, she thought those words again. How many times had she reasoning with herself that "they just wouldn't get it"? She couldn't recall. And the beast grimacing in pain as it retching on the cold cavern floor could offer no answer either; nor did it seem to try. Rainbow Dash offered a passive glance to the monster while its throes finally subsided and it embraced its lot in death. Nothing. Not even a smithereen.
She didn't expect much, honestly. But, it certainly would have made the effort worth it in the end if they offered something more. Rainbow Dash sheathed her blade once more at her side and returned to her investigation down the cavern. This wasn't her first burrow, and it would not be her last... But she could feel something new about this one. The further she drove down the tunnels, the less and less she began to notice man-made markings. Even the most dangerous of caverns -by now- had a fair few nicks and cuts born from adventurers wavering around their blades in self defense; or a less experienced traveler making notches in walls so as not to lose their way. But this one was naked of those blemishes. Which led her to believe one very exciting implication.
She was the first one here.
These caves weren't anything special, of course. In her quests, Rainbow Dash came across dozens just like it. Dank, dark, narrow, hulking monsters hiding in too-small holes hoping to get the drop on someone; bog standard. But, if this was a cave nobody had gone through yet... The prospects whizzed around in her head, guiding her blade hand to dice through every beast that tried to make a meal of her. Their screams of mutilating pain followed by chilling silence offered no hindrances for Rainbow Dash. In fact, the more monsters she found blocking her way only made her more certain she was going the right path. After all, why would any monster lie in wait down the path nobody would venture down?
Rainbow Dash carved her blade through another unfortunate beast that attempted to impede her, its claw falling limp upon her shoulder as life drained out from the gaping hole borne in its cut. As its limp form flopped down on and off of Rainbow Dash, that pesky thought reared its annoying head once more. "What would they say?"
Before the thought could expand any further, the beast slayer noticed a glint reflecting off the side of her blade. Rainbow Dash followed its reflection and smiled the brightest grin as she saw a small light at the end of the tunnel she was traversing. As suddenly as the thought came, it was just as soon left where Rainbow Dash once stood before she bolted down the rest of the passage. With each bounding step the light grew bigger and brighter, and Rainbow Dash's hopes swelled more and more.
The end of the passage welcomed her to the source of the light; a massive underground shrine decorated with luminescent moss covering the ceiling. The shrine was lit as well as if it were left open to the surface sunlight; opal statues and white stoning holding the light as beautifully as one could hope. There were hundreds of shrines like this one throughout the world. All of them buried deep in the earth, hidden beneath a thicket of trees, or obscured by the heavens high above. Yet, unlike all those before that Rainbow Dash had visited, this one was beyond special. It was something she had hoped to find for many years.
This one was untouched. It was unspoiled by other adventurers yet. Which meant one crucial truth...
Her eyes fixed in on the center of the shrine where she knew it would be; and there it was. The seal was as pristine and pure as the white stone that made up the shrine itself. Though, the golden loops decorating it and the casket beneath it were all too telling how important and special it truly was. There it was, in the center of an untouched shrine, in an untouched cave... An untouched treasure chest.
In all of her travels and monster carving, Rainbow Dash had never found one such chest. One all her own. Unspoiled by other greedy spelunkers or dungeon crawlers. Yet, here it was. She wasted not a moment more; like a man lost in the desert coming upon his first water after three days, Rainbow Dash pounced upon her prize. The moment her hands touched the slab of a seal over the chest, the golden rings keeping it locked in place dissipated into flecks of little golden dust. After that, the seal offered no challenge in being pushed aside; outside of being a very large piece of stone. The thick slab fell to the shrine floor with a satisfying crash as Rainbow Dash finished displacing it in search of her long awaited prize.
They wouldn't understand this...
The thrill. The positively exhilarating euphoria filling every inch of Rainbow Dash's body. It would be hard for anyone to understand just how it felt. Rainbow Dash brought herself back, moving to look over the treasure she won for herself. Before her eyes could catch sight of her prize, she heard a familiar growl coming from the tunnel left to her back. A smirk played across her face and she spun around, drawing her beloved blade once more. As she expected, one the beasts that filled the cavern she took was poised up in the doorway leading into the shrine.
"Guess you heard all your little friends crying and ran to help," Rainbow Dash taunted to beast, bringing another sharp growl from it, "Just a little to slow, buddy. But I'll do you a favor and send you packing to meet up with them."
In a flash of a step, Rainbow Dash closed the gap between she and the beast. Her blade found a new home sheathed in-between the beast's shoulder and neck. It offered nothing in the way of a death rattle, simply slumping over and accepting its death at the foot of the elegant blade master. Rainbow Dash drew her blade out from the monster and returned it to its one true home at her hip. These monsters guarding this shrine didn't offer much in the way of a challenge for a seasoned adventurer like Rainbow Dash; but it didn't detract from the amazing feeling of finding her very own treasure.
After all these years, it was finally her own. After dozens of treasure hunts and leads, she found an untouched treasure for herself. No matter how weak the defenses were, this was still a momentous occasion.
"Whoa-ho-ho-ho! Look at this!" Rainbow Dash could have sworn someone said something, but that was impossible. Her head shot back towards her treasure chest only for her whole body to run cold. Someone was standing over her treasure, a brilliant royal blue cloak adorned over them and an over sized purple wizard-like hat propped atop their head. Rainbow Dash stood there stunned; all the color in her trickling out like a busted pipe. She could only see the other person from behind, but it was clear they were taking things out from the chest. Her chest.
"Man-oh-man, find of finds," the other person chirped out.
Finally, Rainbow Dash found herself and color returned to her body; mainly red. "Hey!"
The other person leapt at the suddenness of Rainbow Dash's shout. "What now? I didn't think anyone else was here," the person turned to reveal themselves, showing to have a veil of purple fabric completely covering their face.
"Didn't think--? There's only one way in here!" Rainbow Dash shot back furiously.
The other person threw their hands up as if being put under arrest. "Yikes! You got me. I saw you heading in here and I thought, 'say, that gal can probably clear out the cave for me'."
"Thief! You're a dirty thief! Not cool," Rainbow Dash fumed.
"Hey now, I didn't know this was an untouched shrine. It's my first time seeing one," the stranger defended themselves. "If I had known how these chests worked, I wouldn't have taken anything."
"'If you knew how they worked'? I haven't said how they work yet! You already knew they were a one time deal, you jerk!" Rainbow Dash called them out.
The thief recoiled at the accusation. "Well, I..."
"If you really didn't mean it... Give me the treasure," said Rainbow Dash, offering her hand out for whatever it was that they stole.
"Yeah... About that..." The thief paused for a second, seemingly buying a moment.
Before Rainbow Dash could say anything or stop them, a series of golden rings surrounded the thief and a blue beam of light enveloped them. As the rings shattered into flecks of light and the blue beam faded away, the thief was gone; leaving Rainbow Dash standing alone in the spoiled shrine with her hand extended out.
For a moment, she just stood there, hand waiting for her stolen plunder to be returned. Then, suddenly, Rainbow Dash let out a loud scream. "FGEAGBRVTSWAEFVRJHKEAGBVKREWAE!@21@!@1#^1#@"
What used to be a pristine oil and water resistant keyboard was now short a few keys between A and M. The little keys that once filled out the board were now either smashed and left to the ground, or still clinging to the sweaty fists of the assailant. Rainbow Dash, fists balled into fists of fury, glared deeply into her monitor. The whole of her room was pitch black aside from the still lit monitor stationed right before her fuming face. The monitor brightened her enraged features while her eyes scanned the scene of the crime left to her.
That thief logged out without so much as a word. Logged out with her treasure, her glory, and her hard work. All that was left was Rainbow Dash looking at her avatar who was as stunned and still as she was.
"Who steals another--!" Rainbow Dash screamed at herself, unable to even finish her outburst before slamming her fists into the keyboard again.
On screen, her avatar let out another rant or incomprehensible gibberish to mimic its player. Rainbow Dash quickly looked to the small chat-box tucked away in the upper left corner, still unable to believe what just happened.
10:27 Sable: Guess you heard all your little friends crying and ran to help.
10:27 Sable: Just a little to slow, buddy. But I'll do you a favor and send you packing to meet up with them.
10:29 Ne'erdowell: Whoa-ho-ho-ho! Look at this! :P
Ne'erdowell. That was the name of that big hat wearing, shabby cloak having, good for nothing thief. With a right click to the name, Rainbow Dash pulled down a list of options the game allowed to interact with other players. Add as friend, ignore, Send Personal Message, Inspect, Report. Her cursor highlighted the final option for a moment. But...
No... No they won't do anything. It's a 'dumb fight' between players. They'll get a wag of a finger and be let go while I get called a cry baby! No... Man! Gotta think of something else!
Amidst her inner turmoil, a bright idea popped into her head. A sinister grin crossed Rainbow Dash's features as she recalled a little trick another player told her about. By copying a player's name and running it through the main site of the game, you could look up the stats of a player down to the region they play from. The point of the feature was to help players interact with others from their own region for server purposes or to spread more word around if there was a problem in the area. But, there were also some players that would edit their personal information to include the town or city they lived in. Maybe...
Ne'erdowell... Either it was complete luck or impossible happenstance, but they did update their public information on the site to say where they lived. They probably thought it would help the company of the game to give them bonuses or something of that kind. Lots of players did that. But, no. All it did now was help Rainbow Dash zero in on them.
Zero in on her own town. If they lived in town, then her little plan might just work out. When Rainbow Dash caught that thief again, she'd out her as to knowing where she lived and telling them that she lived there as well. Sure, it would seem creepy and heinous; but if she scared them enough, maybe they'd give the treasure back and relinquish rites to the discovery of the temple to Rainbow Dash proper. Obviously she wouldn't stalk this person like a crazy person... But...
Now, it was time for the waiting game. Eventually, Ne'erdowell would have to relog into the game; and that's when she'd catch her. She'd put the pressure on, and...
A familiar animation of a blue beam of light surrounded by golden rings appeared on the screen before Rainbow Dash, signalling someone was logging in nearby. And, seeing as only one person other than Rainbow Dash herself could have been in this cave at all; it was about to go down.
Rainbow Dash -Sable- was pensive in the way she stood waiting. Stiff, arms crossed over her leather bound chest, foot tapping an annoyed rhythm on the cold temple floor, her blades tucked at her hips bounding at her sides with each tap of her foot she made. Her eyes remained transfixed on the same exact spot her thief vanished from, watching the same one return to the scene of the crime. The cloaked thief emerged from the beam of light, shattering it behind them as they entered into the previously empty temple. The moment they did, however, they recoiled back in surprise.
"Yipes! You're still here?" they said with a shriek.
"What?" Rainbow Dash scoffed, "Yeah? You stole my loot! Hate to repeat myself, but... Not. Cool." With each word, Sable moved up onto the thief.
"Well, now, you say that, but...!" They stammered, looking around the temple for a way out that didn't involve going through the girl with the blades coming towards her.
"'But' nothing, you! I want my stuff back, now!" snapped Rainbow Dash, offering her hand out once more to the thief.
"Y'know... I can't do that... Seeing as I found the stuff," Ne'erdowell reasoned, the veil over their face preventing any of their facial expressions to come through; if they had any.
"Oh-ho-ho. You found it? You know, I found some stuff too!" Time to put the plan into action. "Yeah. I went ahead and looked up your info... And it turns out, we live in the same town. Crazy, right?" Rainbow Dash flicked one of her blades out from around her hip, aiming the end of it pointedly at Ne'erdowell's throat as a smug smile crossed her face, "Soooooo... If you don't want me to come and pay you a visit and make a scene with you... You'll just be a pal and hand over what's mine."
For a moment, Ne'erdowell was stunned silent. Their arms were raised up over their head like they were being robbed, Sable's blade inches from her throat. Far behind them both, the sound of water dripping to murky stones below echoed through the temple, breaking the very limited silence between them. Gradually, Ne'erdowell lowered their arms and a snicker arose from behind their veil.
"Oh... Oh wow... I get it now... Totes makes sense..." though they were talking out loud, they were seemingly wording their own thoughts to themselves, "I had a guess. But, now I know for sure... Thanks for that, Rainbow Dash."
With an audible, echoing clang, Rainbow Dash's blade fell onto the whitewashed flooring of the temple. Rainbow Dash felt her entire body run cold and her fingers go numb. How...?
"How did I know? I mean... Come on! Look at you!" Ne'erdowell made a gesture to Sable's entire being.
The customization features in the game were very detailed if someone wanted to be. From scars on the fingers to the density of eyelashes; someone could get into the deepest of scrutiny. But, that level of customization wasn't Rainbow Dash's interest. That is except for one 'crucial' element... The spiked in the front, long in the back, multicolored head of hair that stood out about Sable. As well as her creator; Rainbow Dash.
"Sure, anyone could put that much work into making their hair look like that... But, judging by your reaction, my guess was on the money," like hot pokers, Ne'erdowell's words stabbed at Rainbow Dash deep and with searing pain.
They'll know...!
"Except... Huh..." Ne'erdowell started to muse to themselves, "That is an idea..." They snapped their fingers and brought Rainbow Dash back to reality, "Listen up! I know who you are, obviously. But... You don't know who I am, clearly."
They had her there. All she had was that they lived in town. And while the town wasn't huge, there were too many people to interrogate.
"Soooo... Why not make lemons out of this lemonade?"
"...What're you getting at?" asked Rainbow Dash, picking her blade up off the floor with a weary glare.
"Today is the start of a new month, fittingly enough! So... You have until the end of the month to find me outside of the game," Ne'erdowell moved up onto Rainbow Dash, newly emboldened by the turn of the tables.
For a brief moment, Rainbow Dash felt a flash of warmth come over her and a hard stop in her chest as Ne'erdowell touched their hand against Sable's cheek, fingers curling and running their nails tentatively against the rogue's flesh with little taps, "Find out my intimate detail of who I am..." breathy were their words from behind their veil as they spoke, making the hairs on the back of Sable rise up with a chill, "...And you win!"
With a quick jump back to her feet, Ne'erdowell did a playful spin and gestured to the whole of the temple they were occupying for this exchange. "I will hand over all your little treasures, and I'll even contact a Game Master to clear up that this temple was your find."
Rainbow Dash picked herself up, still put off by the strange encounter Ne'erdowell pulled off a moment ago, yet still offered an attentive ear to this gamble. "Buuuuut... If you lose... You gotta go in front of all your friends and tell them that this is what you do in your free time." A cold wind splintered down Rainbow Dash's spine at the mere mention of those conditions.
They wouldn't understand...
They wouldn't get it...
"You'll have to admit to all your little friends that you -Rainbow Dash- are in fact a giant nerd," Ne'erdowell's words stabbed deeper than any blade Sable ever swung. "So... Have we a deal?" Ne'erdowell offered their hand to Sable, in-turn offering a stranger's hand to Rainbow Dash.
If she won she would get what she deserved; her treasures, her fame, and her justice. Yet if she failed... There was no coming back from that. The humiliation alone would bury her for decades if she failed! And yet... Pride outweighed reason in that moment as two hands clasped together into an agreed bargain. "Not only do we have a deal, buddy, we also have a promise!" All at once Rainbow Dash felt her entire spirit return and melt away her fears, "When I unmask you, you're gonna hand over everything that belongs to me and I'm gonna laugh in your face in real time while you do it!" Rainbow Dash clutched Ne'erdowell's hand with the ferocity of a snake coiling around a rat.
Still with their face obscured by the veil it was hard for Rainbow Dash to get a read on how Ne'erdowell was taking the sudden confidence. In some form a reaction came with Ne'erdowell chuckling suddenly and bringing themselves in tantalizing close to Sable's face. In a low, taunting tone that dragged on each syllable, Ne'erdowell spoke one final time: "I cannot wait..."
Bathed in the light of her monitor Rainbow Dash watched as her thief vanished in the log-off animation once more. This time, however, she was certain that Ne'erdowell was not going to be returning anytime soon. They got what they wanted most likely: a rise out of Rainbow Dash. But to outright challenge her in such a bold, unconventional way? Then again, Rainbow Dash herself did not have much room to talk on that matter. What with fishing up another player's info and pretty much threatening them with it like a creep...
Regardless, she was in it now. A disheartened groan passed through her lips while she leaned back in her chair, throwing her unkempt hair down over the backrest; the palms of her hands slapping over both her eyes in grief to accompany the groan. She was in it and in it deep. There wasn't some backstep button to this and no escape ropes to pull her to safety... Just a quest stretched out before her with a rare "failure clause".
Ugh... Listen to me... Maybe I HAVE been playing too long...
Brevity. She found the strength to chuckle just a little at herself despite the sudden change in circumstances. Her eyes lazily peeked through the spaces of her fingers towards the neon clock flickering by her bedside; 11:55 PM. Did she have to work tomorrow? No. Not this time. Maybe a goodnight's rest was all she needed. Because tomorrow, without fail, she would find this snake "Ne'erdowell" and out them. They gave Rainbow Dash a month to win? She'd only need a single day. She'd wake up bright and early around 12 o'clock and find "Ne'erdowell" by five.
Before Rainbow Dash could start counting all of her reclaimed gold in her head, she felt a light buzzing in her pocket. Rainbow Dash quickly fished her phone out and checked the display: Twilight Sparkle.
Twili: $50 says you're still awake?
She was already in the middle of a hard deal as it was. Rainbow Dash snickered as she fired off a reply.
Rainbow D: Safe bets are lame bets. What's up?
Twili: I just thought I would send you a little courtesy message to remind you that it is your turn to do pick-ups tomorrow.
Rainbow D: Srsly?
Twili: I know you find it to be a chore. But it's helpful overall.
Rainbow D: lol k got it.
Twili: Promise me you'll be up bright and early for the pick-ups?
Rainbow D: I promise to BE there. But, let's see if the Apples have their trash ready this time. :P
Twili: Too true. Spike'll be waiting for you. Now go to bed, Rainbow. It's late.
Rainbow D: You texted me!
Knowing well that the conversation was over and done once Twilight was caught in such superior logic as "you started it", the phone was returned to whence it came; screen flat against the side table so she could be alone with her thoughts in these fleeting hours.
One month, huh?
Rainbow Dash flopped over to her back and allowed the moment to sprawl her out over the bed, thoughts racing through her mind one right after the other. She wouldn't be made a fool of. She wouldn't lose out on her prize. She would rip that no-good thief's mask clean off their snide face and confront them... Whoever they were! It all started tomorrow---today when she decided to wake. After "pick-ups", but before lunch.
Moment by moment, enraptured by the thoughts of victory over the icy maws of defeat, Rainbow Dash drifted off to yet another land of escapism and imagination: Dream. In her final glancing moments laying in her bed, a stray thought slipped through her mind and against her eyes...
Ne'erdowell… Who's behind that mask...?
A heart skipping a beat just before sleep claims them. A fleeting thought; nothing to mind.
Author's Note
Welcome to the mystery! Who could this dastardly Ne'erdowell be? Rainbow Dash has but a month to find out! Will you figure out the puzzle before she?
In all honesty, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your time. I hope to regularly update this to keep the mystery going. But I encourage you all to piece the mystery together on your own; start a dialogue. There's sprinklings of hints here and the next chapters. I hope to keep everyone guessing.
Have fun!
