The Long Road

"Lone..." I heard someone behind us call his name. I looked over and saw my companion grimace underneath his hood. Something about him changed: his stance grew more aggressive, his whole body seemed to shake and he slightly arched his back.

"Stay here....do not turn. Do not run. Stay here." He turned, and I did with him. I didn't care what he had to say, if something bad was going to happen, I needed to watch in case he needed what limited help I could give. Standing at the gate to the small graveyard was a Griffon. She wore traditional Griffon battle armor that gleamed in the moonlight, and her helmet had violet accents around the eyes. "Gilda..." By Lone's tone, he obviously knew the armored adversary.

"You have caused us a lot of trouble, Lone. I'll take pleasure in killing you." The Griffon, Gilda, clacked her beak and rapped her talons against the ground.

"You will fall, Gilda. Just like your father..." Lone's hoof undid his cloak, the wind blew it off for him. That's when I got my first glimpse of his body. Scars crisscrossed his body, they were so numerous I couldn't count. His wings were black and white feathered, but they look wrong, mangled. The most shocking thing was his empty eye socket: the interior was covered in pale skin, a sign of a bad healing spell on an old injury. He was older than I realized as well, I could tell by the graying at the base of his mane and tail. Though underneath the robe he was not entirely naked: He wore a sheathe on his back that housed a curved blade and several pouches lined his sides.

"You're looking old, Lone. Sure you won't break when I hit you?"

"Who says you will hit me..?" Lone stood up on his back hooves, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Gilda took the bait and lunged, the Zebra hybrid easily sidestepped the aggressive and clumsy attack, only to bring his hoof painfully down on the armored griffon's exposed neck. The bird squawked and hit the ground, she rolled away from one of his rear hooves that aimed to crush her windpipe. With a mighty flap of her wings she righted herself to her feet.

Lone smirked, his one good eye carefully watching his opponent with great interest. Gilda on the other hoof, growled and pounded her claws on the ground: She was frustrated, angry. Even I knew this was going to lead to mistakes.

She pounced with her powerful feline legs, assisted by flapping her wings. Her armored claw balled into a fist as she closed the distance, Lone did not flinch. At the last possible second, he deflected her fist with his hoof and jumped over her in a single bound.

"Your father was a much better fighter." Lone now had his back to her, I could see his smirk clear as day. I could also see Gilda's fury building from being bested by an old, one eyed zebra. "I think it's time to end this..." I couldn't tell if he was telling this to me, or to her, but he reached into one of his various pouches and produced a green powder. On the next charge, he turned around and in one fluid motion, blew the powder into her face.

The warrior half squawked, half roared and stumbled backwards. Her irises turned a deep purple and she fell onto the ground, writhing in what could have been pain or confusion. I couldn't be sure. My companion picked his cloak up off of the ground and put it on, acting as though nothing had happened.

"Sh-Shouldn't we help her..?" I was genuinely worried about the fallen foe, she looked in pain.

"It is just a hallucinogen. She is having a...." He looked up as he put on his hood. "...bad trip." I had heard of Zebra drugs, 'Vision Powders' they called them.

I looked back at Gilda one more time, then followed Lone out of the graveyard and into the streets of Gull. We walked for a few minutes in silence, I hated silence, especially with Lone. When he was silent, it always made me feel as though he was thinking of ways to kill me.

"So...your cutie mark.." I noticed it during the fight, but I just realized the implications. His cutie mark were two freshly made graves, side by side. Fitting considering where we had been.

"You know what they say...when you seek revenge, dig two graves."

--

"I see..." The unicorn before him was young, younger than him, that was obvious. He had definitely spent a lot of time and money to come out to this remote village in the Zebrahara. Even though he was obviously roasting in his dark blue coat, he kept his cool. His voice was smooth and practiced, his eyes were calm and thoughtful. He was a pony that Lone actually liked.

Shortly after Lone murdered his father, he went back to the Zebrahara and went through a spiritual transition. He absorbed every ounce of spiritualism and culture that the Zebras had to offer, he also vowed to never kill again for as long as he drew breath. He absolved himself of sins in the spirit oasis and pledged to protect all life and make it equal for all in the name of the spirits.

Now, this stallion comes in with the same dream. Equality and getting back at the traitors of the overworld. He knew how, and he wanted Lone's help. It was a righteous cause, and he could see the pure heart of this pony.

"What do I have to do?" This made the outsider smirk.

"All I need is some help with these maps..." His horn glowed and he produced maps from his saddlebag. They were star charts.

"You have a deal, Star Shine..."