Dark Harmony: Fiendship is Magic

Act 1: Fiendship is Power
Prologue: Tavern Stories

There is always constant activity at the Fool's Oasis tavern. Located as a pit stop of sorts at the very edge of the Badlands desert, travelers of all races and backgrounds stop there to drink and trade stories of their respective journeys across the world. Two travelers wearing hooded cloaks walk into the tavern, hoping to hear one traveler's story in particular.

The Fishman bartender looks at them, cleaning a glass with a rag. "You two again? Damn, that's three days in a row. Should I start considering you regulars?" The equine traveler of the two with a grey goatee and a dark purple satchel around his neck smiles, two distinct underbite fangs pointing above his upper lip. "Maybe. We'll see."

The other traveler, a griffon, raises his clenched blue claw over the counter, dropping several gold coins on top of it. "Ravenshire Ale. Make sure it has ice this time." The bartender takes the coins, turning around to look through his wall of bottles filled with various types of alcoholic beverages.

The two travelers look around the room, eyeing and taking note of every creature they see. The griffon gasps as he spots a middle-aged stallion with a beard and prospector's hat drinking alone. Nudging his companion, the griffon points out the stallion before they make their way towards him.

The old stallion looks up from his glass of cider as the two strangers sit down at his table. He looks the two over for a moment before speaking. "Uh, howdy. What can ah do fer you two?" The griffon leans closer, coaxing the stallion to lean closer as he catches on that this must be a private matter.

"You're Gold Rush, right?" The prospector; Gold Rush, smiles at the recognition. "Yessir. Lookin' to do some business, are ya?" The equine traveler shakes his head. "Not exactly. We want information. I've heard rumors that you claim to have saw something ludicrous." The stallion's eyes widen a bit in realization before he frowns, seemingly annoyed.

"Oh, ah see. You gonna make fun of me too?" The equine traveler shakes his head to assure Gold Rush. "We wouldn't come all this way to insult a hardworking stallion like you. We're just interested in what you claimed you saw. Would you mind telling us about it?"

Gold Rush scratches his head, a bit confused as to why two complete strangers would be interested in his wild story. "Um… well, alright then. But if ya laugh at me, know that ah won't take kindly to it." The griffon traveler taps his claw on the table, impatient. "Noted, now get on with it."

Gold Rush clears his throat, disregarding the griffon's rudeness. "Okay… Ah was out on a mining expedition in the canyons of the Badlands, lookin' for gems ah can sell, like always. Most folks are too chicken to go out there cuz of the monsters, but ahm made of stronger stuff." He lifts his foreleg and drinks some cider from his glass before continuing. "Anyway, ah scaled the mountain range to the east and caught sight of the Hayseed Swamps. Ah had never been there mahself and it ain't exactly no tourist attraction, so ah reckoned ah'd do some explorin'."

The equine traveler adjusts the position of his chair, getting comfortable so that he can continue listening to the tale. "Ah wasn't prepared to go sloggin' through the marsh, so ah just hopped between all the solid ground ah could reach. Now, here's where it gets crazy. Ah found a ginormous rock formation slapped right in the middle of the swampland! It was unbelievable! It looked like a giant goat skull!"

The equine traveler leans in closer, his curiousity now fully piqued. "A goat skull you say?" Gold Rush sits up and begins using foreleg motion to emphasize his points, the prospector amusingly enthusiastic about telling the tale. "Yeah, with the curvy horns and everything! Ah ain't never seen anything like it!" The griffon traveler raises a skeptical eyebrow. "Did you go inside this goat head rock?" Gold Rush shakes his head in response. "Oh… No, b-but I did LOOK inside. What ah saw is really important, but there ain't nobody around her who'll listen to old Gold Rush! Just a crazy coot is what ah am to them!"

A kind smile spreads across the equine traveler's lips. "Well we don't think you're crazy. We're interested in hearing what you have to say." The prospector raises an eyebrow, confused and suspicious. "...Why? Who even ARE ya?"

The two travelers look at each other, silently debating their answer before they turn back to Gold Rush. Taking a hold of their hoods they pull them down to reveal themselves.

The griffon is white and blue with three spiky, blue head feathers pointing up towards the ceiling like a set of tiny mountains. He peers at the old stallion with aggressive yellow eyes, his impatience to hear the rest of the story plain to see.

The equine however appears much more friendly, albeit unusual. His fur is light grey and he has a messy cerulean mane with light purple highlights. The stallion flares his oddly shaped nose with content, his purple eyes conveying kindness while also hosting a mysterious darkness to them. Strangest of all is the curved twin horns adorning his head, baffling the aged prospector.

The strange-looking stallion maintains his smile despite Gold Rush's visible confusion. "My name is Grim Tidings. I'm glad I can greet you properly, Gold Rush. My impolite friend here is Phantom Tail."

Phantom leans in toward Grim and whispers through his teeth. "Dude, don't just go throwing my name around! Creatures could recognize me!" Grim rolls his eyes at Phantom's paranoia over his own criminal reputation. "Oh calm down, will you? I doubt anyone knows you this far south."

Gold Rush shakes his head, snapping himself back to reality. "W-well it's nice to meet ya too, ah guess. Um… 'scuse mah manners, but what exactly are ya, son?"

Grim rubs the back of his head, knowing that very question was coming. "I wouldn't want us to be sitting here all day, so I'll just tell you I'm part goat and leave it at that."

Gold Rush blinks, furrowing his brow for not making the connection sooner. "A goat, is that right? Ah didn't know goats could talk." Grim lets out a sigh, as he is forced to reiterate. "Again, I don't want to talk about me all day, so to make a long story short-."

Before Grim can finish speaking Phantom slams his fist on the table, spooking the prospector. "Speaking of stories, can you get on with yours already?" Grim takes a moment to frown at Phantom before returning to Gold Rush. "Forgive him. He's just been a bit on edge lately. Please, continue."

Gold Rush clears his throat and regains his composure. That's alright... Where was ah again? Um… Oh right, the goat rock. So ah climbed up the southwest side; ah reckon it was, and looked inside to see a big ol' cave, lookin' all sinister-like. That description's right on the nose too, cuz ah saw some real bad folks all hanging around in there! There was that nasty changeling queen Chrysalis, the big red guy Tirek, that real old evil king Sombra, and that crazy little pink filly ah can't quite remember the name of."

Phantom sits up, his eyes flashing with excitement for some reason. "So he really WAS there!"

The griffon had exclaimed himself too loudly, for he had drawn some eyes to himself, but he was apparently too happy to care.

Gold Rush sips his cider, trying to ignore the prying eyes. "A-anyway, they were all talking to this big blue feller with big horns, and ah mean REAL big." Grim blinks curiously, finding that description familiar. "I'm sorry, a blue guy with big horns?" Gold Rush nods. "Yeah. They were real huge and curvy, kinda like yours only way bigger. He had a nose and fangs like yours too."

Grim's eyes widen as he makes a connection with those descriptors. "That's… that's impossible." Gold Rush looks at the goat, concerned. "Wut?" Grim shakes himself from his train of thought. "Forgive me, it's nothing. Finish your story, please."

Gold Rush leans back sheepishly at the rejection of his concern. "Alrighty then. Home stretch, ah promise. So, ah took to listening in on what they were talkin' about and heard that the blue guy wanted all of em to team up to take down Princess Twilight and her friends. Everybody was agreeing with him, but then Sombra started actin' all snooty with the blue guy, saying that he was gonna take the Crystal Empire all by himself. The blue guy got annoyed and made him disappear; with magic ah reckon, and then they all started watching this weird orange eyeball thing. Ah got kinda weirded out after awhile and snuck away. Ah tried telling this story to anybody who'd listen but nobody believed me. Ah bet y'all don't believe me either."

Phantom smiles. "Oh we believe you alright. This is GREAT news!" Gold Rush cocks his head to the side, confused. "Great news? Why?" Grim quickly answers, not wanting their true intentions to be known. "Uh, let's just say we're looking for someone. You wouldn't happen to remember where you saw this 'goat rock', do you?"

Gold Rush hesitantly reaches into his travel bag and pulls out a map, laying it on the table. "Ah made a map, but ah don't think you two should be goin down there. Them villains might still be down there."

Before Gold Rush can object, Grim pulls the map to his side of the table and pulls out an oil well and parchment before plucking a feather from Phantom's hide. Phantom exclaims his sudden discomfort directly at his goat companion. "Ow, hey! Ask before you start taking feathers from me, you dick!" Grim rolls his eyes at his friend's remark. "Oh, stop whining. The pain's only momentary."

With the proper tools in hoof, Grim proceeds to make an impressive copy of the prospector's map before returning the original to a thoroughly impressed Gold Rush, who gives a drawn out whistle at the sight of the complete copy. "Mighty fine job there, son. You're a fine cartographer."

Grim puts everything away before waving a hoof in smug dismissal. "Oh, it's nothing, really. It was just one of my courses in magic school. I remember this one time when my cartography teacher-."

Phantom abruptly gets up and grabs Grim by his collar, dragging the goat towards the door of the tavern. "We've got what we need, Grim. Let's go." Grim struggles against Phantom's grip until he turns himself around to walk properly. "Alright alright, Faust! So impatient." He turns to call out to the old prospector before they leave. "Thank you, Gold Rush! I wish you luck with your mining!" Gold Rush calls out back as the two make their exit, but not before Phantom grabs his Ravenshire Ale from the bartender. Yer welcome! Hope ya find who you're lookin' for! Gold Rush chuckles at their youthful energy as he returns to drinking his cider alone.

The two unlikely travel companions leave the bar and turn away from the desert towards the canyon that will lead them to the wasteland, Phantom flying low to enjoy his drink. Grim pulls the map out to prepare for navigation once they clear the canyon. "So that lead didn't turn out to be a waste after all. I bet you're excited."

The griffon pauses from chugging his beverage to hold up the conversation. "Damn right I am! He was there, Grim! My dad was there! If we can find those guys I might finally get answers!"

Grim gives his friend a skeptical look, ever the cautious one of the pair. "I wouldn't get too excited though, Phantom. We're going to be talking to villains, need I remind you. They'd be more likely to attack us than tell us what we want to know."

"C'mon dude, you worry too much."

Grim frowns, a bit annoyed at the griffon's cockiness. "I don't have a healing factor like you, so I'd say I'm worrying just the right amount."

Phantom rolls his eyes "Yeah yeah." He finishes his drink and tosses it aside, the glass shattering against the canyon wall. The griffon's brow furrows, a determined look in his eyes. "If that guy was messing with us about all this, I'm going back there and kicking the last of his teeth in."

Initially wanting to scold him for such a comment, Grim instead decides to reassure him, knowing that his companion is trying to hold onto hope. "...We'll bring him back, P. If Gold Rush was talking about who I think he was talking about; and he brought Sombra back once, then he can do it again."

Phantom Tail doesn't look at his friend to respond, wanting to keep his eyes on the path ahead as they move onward. "Yeah… Thanks, Grim. I'm coming, Dad…"