Prologue - Into the Night, Part One
Drip…drip…drip…
One by one, three drops of water fell from the ceiling of the damp prison cell, and onto its inhabitant. Growling in frustration, Shining Armor, Prince of Equestria and husband of Princess Cadance, curled up as tight as he could to avoid the droplets. He and his wife had been imprisoned for three days now, and the only thing that the Prince knew was that his wife was alive and in the dungeons.
Other than that, he was completely in the dark as to his wife's health or state of living. Cursing angrily at the name of his captor, he sat up and leaned against the wall of his cell.
"Prince Blueblood, you traitorous bastard…" he swore under his breath. "You won't break me, you won't break my wife, and you certainly won't take my sister away from me. I promise, whatever's out there…I will keep Twily safe, and I will stop my…cousin. I swear it."
Shining spat onto the floor, and slid downwards till his head was in his arms. Blueblood's goal had clearly been to usurp the Queens all along, and now that they were negotiating with King Sombra, far from Equestria, it seemed everything was falling into place for him.
Shining closed his eyes, and slowly felt himself drifting off to sleep. After all, it was practically the only thing he could do to pass the time. However, had he looked out of the cell doors, he would've noticed the three guards taking up their swords and heading outside in a hurry…
===
Ten minutes earlier…
Outside the dungeons, in the courtyard, a lone guard on watch by the main gates suppressed a yawn. Guard duty was quite tiring when the place one guarded was one of the safest, most well-defended areas in Equestria. The Canterlot Royal Palace's walls were considered impenetrable, and the soldiers on watch were dedicated to their duties.
After all, many reasoned that as long as they got paid, they didn't care who sat on the throne of Equestria. Others had openly sworn allegiance to Prince Blueblood and sheriff Gladmane, and those that didn't fall in line often "changed their minds" very quickly.
The guard scoffed as the rain fell around him, lightly drizzling enough that it was still rain, but not enough to extinguish the lamps that illuminated the perimeter of the palace walls. As he turned to walk to his other posting on a different section of the wall, there was an odd metallic noise that sounded from behind him.
The guard turned to investigate and saw a grappling hook had latched onto the ramparts. Before he could even call out to warn his fellow soldiers, there was a blur of movement, the drawing and sheathing of a sword, and the guard fell dead against the stone.
The figure stood up with a chuckle, quickly dousing the nearby lamp. Feminine in stature,she was clad in leather, with steel gauntlets and sabatons, and a chainmail cuirass. In her hands was an expertly-made shortsword and a parrying blade. Emblazoned on her shoulder was a crest of a Lion, Raven, Dragon, and Koi fish.
"Hmm. Amateurs." the Peacekeeper scoffed, moving to aid another figure in climbing up onto the wall. This one was masculine, wearing eastern robes in black, red, and dark blue. His face was obscured by a mask and hood, and a pair of sickles linked by a chain lay at his waist.
"Where's Freyja?" the Shinobi asked. "She should've been ready and given us the signal by now."
"Patience, Hakato." the Peacekeeper replied. "I've worked with Freyja before, her timing is excellent, especially in matters like these."
Then, there was the faint sound of an alarm bell, and the two could see guards rushing towards the main gate. The Peacekeeper looked to her ally, and the Shinobi merely shrugged.
"I concede your point." he mused. "Come, let us accomplish what we came here to do, Alanna."
"My thoughts exactly." the Peacekeeper replied. As they leapt over the wall and onto a stable house, and then slid down the roof and into the courtyard, they could hear war cries and strangled screams coming from the main entryway.
===
Freyja, a Viking Valkyrie, gave a grim smile as she finished off one of the soldiers, and her shield caught the sword of a second. WIth relative ease, she swung her longspear up and across the unfortunate guard's throat, before kicking another to the ground.
Seeing their friends be felled so easily, the remaining soldiers started to fall back as Freyja advanced, eagerly awaiting the next one to fall by her. Then, the doors to the palace were knocked open, and a man wearing heavy Knight's armor approached, wielding a longsword. The other soldiers quickly fell behind him as he walked forward. Freyja took a ready stance, balancing her grip on her longspear.
"I do not know who you are, not where you come from, but I shall kill you for your trespasses!" the knight bellowed, readying his sword to strike. Freyja laughed loudly in response, causing the knight to raise an eyebrow.
"Come and get me, then!" she called back. "Should I die here, Valhalla awaits me!"
The Knight growled and moved to an attacker's stance, with Freyja matching his steps and keeping her shield ready to counter. With a roar, the Knight charged, and Freyja expertly deflected his attack with her shield, before following up with a thrust to his legs. Her opponent staggered, and the Valkyrie seized her chance. She bashed the edge of her shield into his face, knocking off his helmet, before following up with her longspear.
The spearhead pierced the knight's neck, and he fell dead. The remaining guards turned tail and ran back into the palace, and the doors slammed shut. Freyja simply turned on her heel and headed towards the entrance to the dungeons.
====
Shining Armor looked up at hearing the clinking of keys, and then the door of his cell came open. He looked up to see two figures standing there, alongside his wife. The first was clad much like a rogue or outlaw, only with some steel plating, and the other wore strange robes in black, with some dark blue and red.
"Prince Shining Armor?" the rogue asked, a female by her voice and stature, and he nodded in reply. She merely tossed him a sword and sheath, which Shining took stunned one look at before he quickly took up the blade and strapped the sheath to his waist.
"Do as we say, and you and your wife will be kept safe." the one in black replied. "Follow us, and stay close."
As the two of them began escorting the couple to the stairs that led out of the dungeons, Shining Armor quickly exchanged a deep kiss with his wife as they followed. To their shock, once they reached the courtyard, they saw the dead bodies of at least seven soldiers on the ground.
"We came with one other." the rogue told them. "She acted as a diversion so we could rescue you both unhindered."
"And who exactly are you?" Princess Cadance asked. "You're not from Equestria, I can tell."
"That is a story best saved for another time." the black-clad one replied. "We will tell you, but now is not entirely the best place to do it. Now, hurry up, we don't have much time."
Shining Armor and Cadance gulped and followed them towards the stables, where four horses could be seen at the ready. Atop one was a woman clad in furs, mail, and leather, with a long spear and shield on her back.
"Mount up!" the rider called, and they did so, with Cadance electing to ride with her husband. As the alarm bells began to ring loud and clear, the four of them kicked their mounts into a gallop, heading out of the city, and then into the southern forests.
====
Once Canterlot was far into the distance, and the terrain turned rough, the rogue held up her hand as they approached a nearby river. As the four of them stopped to let their horses drink, Shining Armor asked again who they were, and where they came from.
"Very well. My name is Alanna, and I am a Peacekeeper of the Chimera Alliance." the rogue nodded. "These are my friends, Hakato, a Shinobi, and Freyja, a Valkyrie. We are friends, I can assure you of that."
"Why did you rescue us?" Cadance asked. "I've never heard of this Chimera Alliance anywhere in Equestria."
"We come from the land of Heathmoor, far to the southeast." Freyja replied. "We have heard stories about this land, and we traveled a great distance to come here. When it became known to us of your Prince Blueblood's treachery, we decided something would be done about it."
"We also passed through the lands of the Crystal Empire, where your two queens are deep in negotiation with King Sombra." Hakato added.
"You met with Queens Celestia and Luna?" Shining Armor dropped his jaw. "How are they? When will they return?"
"All will be explained in time." Alanna nodded. "Come, our camp is not far, and our leader very much wants to speak with you."
As the four of them guided their horses back to a steady pace, traveling down the riverbank, both Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance tightened their grip on the reins, realizing that if these outsiders had truly met with the Queens…that there might still be hope for Equestria after all.
Author's Note
Well, this has been on the back burner for quite some time. I've started and stopped this project multiple times, and now it's here to stay. I already got permission from CartoonNerd12 to write this, and I also hope she updates the source material soon. The Tail of Robin Jack is a great story, and I do hope it is continued soon.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed.
Chapter 1 - First Meetings
"We're here."
Shining Armor and Cadance's reverie of thought was interrupted by Hakato, who merely motioned to the wall of torches and wooden fortifications not too far ahead of them. As their horses came to a stop, foot soldiers clad in green and white helped the Prince and Princess down from their mount.
"The Gryphon expects you in the command tent. Straight ahead, in the center. You can't miss it." Freyja said, as she, Alanna, and Hakato dismounted. The foot soldiers then led the horses away, and Shining Armor gently grasped his wife's hand as they followed Freyja's directions. As they walked, they got a few odd looks, but no one seemed to want to, or was willing, to disturb them.
"These soldiers seem uneasy." Cadance murmured. "I wonder why that is."
"Perhaps there's more to it than we see." Shining replied. "I agree that they seem to be on edge, but there's something else to it. Perhaps this "Gryphon" will tell us more."
As they approached the center of the camp, Shining's ears twitched at hearing the clashing of weapons, and they turned to see that a Knight and a Viking, each armed with a broadsword and longaxe were sparring quite avidly in a fighting pit, with large stones for seats.
The Knight wore steel, leather, and mail, and his armor was painted a pale green, blue, and white. The design of the armor itself was made more for combat rather than ceremony, and had been clearly altered for such purposes. The Knight's left pauldron was larger than the other, and emblazoned with the logo of the Chimera Alliance, and three small pouches lay across his chest on a leather sash.
Shining was shocked to see that the Viking wore only leather and furs, with no plating whatsoever. He wore a large horned helmet, with a leather harness and fur-lined pants and shoulders, with shoulder bracers and greaves.
"Why doesn't that one have armor?" Cadance wondered out loud. "Won't he need to protect himself?"
"Raiders have no need of armor, or of fear, as their fellow Vikings say. They prefer a more…mobile style of combat, seeing as their main tactic is charging headfirst at the enemy. Quite simple and straightforward, yet very effective.."
The two of them turned to see a man who could only be the Gryphon. He wore a set of plate mail, made from a silvery-white metal. The armor itself was a puzzle of different pieces worn together. However, the weapon he carried on his back was what made Shining Armor raise an eyebrow.
It was a polearm of some sort, with a long, curved blade instead of a traditional axehead. It had a blunt pommel, but the blade itself had both a cutting edge and a piercing tip, designed for versatility in offense.
"You are the Gryphon, I presume?" Cadance asked.
"Indeed I am. My name is Holden Cross, but I would very much prefer to be called by what my allies know me as. Thus, call me the Gryphon." he replied. "Come inside, I imagine my spies told you there was much to talk about."
"They did." Shining replied as they entered the large tent, and sat down on proper wooden chairs.
"Good. Because there's more to talk about than you think." Gryphon sighed. "I suppose that you'll want to know about your Queens' whereabouts first?"
Both the Prince and Princess nodded in response.
"I have good news and bad news." Gryphon replied. "They are alive and well, and King Sombra has hosted them as his personal guests. The negotiations are coming along smoothly between them. The bad news is that they still can't return just yet."
"What? Why? Do they not know what's going on!? What Blueblood and Gladmane have done and are continuing to do?" Shining said, standing up with a start, feeling very much dumbfounded.
"As a matter of fact, they do know, so calm yourself." Gryphon admonished Shining, who sat back down. "However, they assured me that the exact moment their negotiations are complete, they will return, but not a moment before that. They also have their own problems to deal with in the Crystal Empire, so don't assume the worst."
"However, they did send us along with a message for you both, and for your eyes only." he continued, handing a sealed scroll to Princess Cadance. She unfurled it, and breathed an immense sigh of relief at seeing her aunt, Queen Celestia's handwriting.
To my dearest niece, Princess Cadance, and Prince Shining Armor…
I…don't know what to say to you both right now, so I suppose I must start at the beginning.
When King Sombra invited us to the Crystal Empire, as part of negotiations for them to join us in an alliance with Equestria, both my sister and I knew that acceptance would not come without consequences. I also knew that the exact second that we both left Equestria, Blueblood (I refuse to address or refer to him as a Prince anymore, now that I know the treachery he has committed) would seize the throne and rule in our stead. I have heard all of the terrible things he has done, and make no mistake, when we return, he will receive no mercy in his punishment, whether it be from us or another.
However, it would be too simple and yet too…complicated to return now. You see, my sister, Luna, has…well, become quite close with King Sombra, and I know it's only a matter of time before they admit their love for each other. I am certain it was true love at first sight when he laid eyes on Luna, and I imagine it won't be too long after they confess that we'll be hearing wedding bells…but I digress. He has been a wonderful host, and I can see why the citizens of the Crystal Empire sing his praises in the streets.
Anyway, what I was most intrigued and surprised by was when envoys of the Chimera Alliance arrived, having heard of Blueblood's treachery along their journey from Heathmoor. Their offer to deal with Blueblood for us was surprising. I was uncertain of their intentions at first, but after learning of their origins and their own struggles back in their homeland...well, let's say that my mind was settled after only a few hours' discussion and bargaining.
I know that the situation is dire, likely beyond the scale that word can describe, but please, believe me when you read this, that we are moving along as fast as we can. For now, Cadance, Shining, the Chimera Alliance has agreed to host you and keep you safe, and I am holding them to their word on that.
Stay strong, and with the grace of heaven, we will endure and return to our realm to right what has been made wrong.
With all of the love in my heart, from your aunts,
Queen Celestia and Queen Luna, the Royal Sisters of Equestria.
Cadance felt not, fresh tears starting to fall down her cheeks as she finished reading the letter, and Shining gently wrapped his arms around his wife. The Gryphon stayed silent, and when the couple turned back to him, Gryphon merely motioned to the outside of the tent.
"I suppose we should get you fed, and then we'll find you a tent to bunk in. We'll continue our meeting in the morning." Gryphon said, holding up the tent flap up for the couple to exit. As they did, the smell of seasoned meat grew stronger by the moment. Gryphon led them to the sparring pit they were at before, which was now apparently a dining area. As they sat, the Knight they saw sparring earlier offered them both a plate of seasoned meat, with some roasted potatoes, two full canteens of water, and a knife and fork.
As they took the offered plates and began to eat, Gryphon looked over and gave a small smile, remembering some of the earlier times in Heathmoor where such a meal was a scarce and treasured opportunity for a mercenary. Even after he had regained the trust of many as the Gryphon, Holden was still a little wary of what he ate. After all, there were still those that would've slipped poison into his meal, for some still saw him as Asmodai, a Lord of the Blackstone Legion.
Pushing those thoughts out of his head, he took up his plate and began to eat, comforted by the presence of his fellows, both new and old.
Author's Note
Update!
Yeah, I may be diverging a bit from the Tail of Robin Jack with the Sombra/Luna ship, but I think it's a nice touch.
Anyway, next time...rumors begin to spread of Cadance and Shining Armor's escape, and the Merry Mares take notice...
