Journey Home

Ah yes, that’s right... I had just met John, the Bard...

“Onwards”

We helped John stand and, as a group, we began walking towards the town of Oldoaks. He explained that he had been on the road, when the bandits had attacked, though he now knew they had been Solar Empire soldiers instead. He had seemed confused at this, claiming that the Empire had not ever seemed that bad to him, and had, in the past, been one of his primary sources of income. They always paid fairly and never stiffed him on the bill.

After me and Simile explained some of our ‘misadventures’ in their territory, he winced and agreed that, perhaps, the Solar Empire was not for everyone.

We continued walking for several hours, before taking a break. Pulling canteens from Simile’s saddlebag, the group drank deeply in companionable silence, until I asked John what he wanted to do. Looking miserable, he replied that he had no idea for the moment, he’d been traveling in hopes of finding somewhere to work, as he had been running low on money, and now had none.

“Well, Mr. John, you can stick with us! We’ll help you out!” Colgate said. Her trusting and gentle nature was one of the things that had attracted me to her in the first place, and it made me grin like an idiot then. Simile looked a little unsure, but I chose to support Colgate in this.

“Yeah. We might’ve only just met, but you seem like a nice guy. We’ve got plenty of supplies to share, and we’re headed north anyways. Why don’t you at least come with us as far Oldoaks. It’s the least we can do.”

John looked more than a little befuddled, understandable as most travelers wouldn’t think of simply handing out supplies, as hard as they were to get ahold of.

He even tried to tell us it wasn’t necessary, but Colgate wouldn’t hear it, and eventually he gave in. By then, nearly an hour had passed, and the four of us got up, brushed off the dirt from our pants or rumps, and began walking again.

After walking for nearly another hour, we are nearing a small river, on which stands a lone figure. A tall, strong-looking human male in bandit garb (that is, furs and leather armor) stood, a mean smile on his stubble-covered face. He yelled for us to stop.

“You gotta pay da toll.” he said, he voice as thick as the handle the oversized waraxe he leaned on. It was a voice that would fit perfectly for a troll, an orc, or some other dull-witted, two-bit goon in a fantasy movie.

John looked nervously at the big man, and turned back to us.

Thinking nothing of the big man’s request I shouted back for him to stand down, to which he simply repeated his demand.

Simile’s ears had gone flat, I had noticed.

“We’re surrounded.” she stated plainly.

I called back to the man on the bridge, “What’s the toll?”

His grin grew larger and meaner. “All yer stuff. And those two lovely pieces of horsemeat.”

I responded with two words:

“Fuck. That.”

As if taking that as a cue, the ragged group of bandits burst from the forest at the sides of the road, screaming a war-cry and brandishing poor-quality weapons. Drawing and extending the Changeling Blade, I fended the first several attacks easily, me and Simile standing side-by-side and facing opposite directions to fight effectively.

I slashed and the blade bit deeply into bandit flesh. Colgate and John were huddled by our sides, as emerald flames and the black blade flickered into the group surrounding us, charring flesh and parting flesh.

The men and ponies surrounding us had no organization, and no way to seek commands. Even the big man from the bridge had joined in, and was trying to hack at me until I cut his fingers from his left hand, making him drop the heavy axe with a howl.

As each of the humans and the ponies appeared to have no magic, being almost all earth ponies, it was almost too easy to slay them. Obviously used to relying on weight of numbers, the dozen or so of them were no match to Simile’s magic and my skill. With a shout, I cut one bandit’s head off and the arm of the next with a single swing, their paltry armor offering no resistance to the magical edge.

Finally, the only one of them standing was the big man, and he was running, holding the stump of his fingers, into the woods. These bandits wouldn’t be attacking anyone again.

Turning, I surveyed the carnage, stopping when I saw Colgate shivering and hiding under her hooves. Her breath came in shuddering, horrified gasps, red flecks and splotches splayed across her coat from the arterial spray the bandits’ deaths.

“Is... is it over?”

My heart almost broke at her voice. It wasn’t so much scared or terrified as... resigned. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Returning the Changeling blade to its form as an armband, I leaned over and put a hand to her withers.

She flinched, before peeking out from behind her arms cautiously. She flung her arms awkwardly around me, and I drew her into a hug, stroking her gently to help calm her down.

John looked at the two of us. “What, is she some sort of sheltered city-bred?”

At this, Simile inhaled with a sharp hiss, and edge to her voice as she replied, “She is not some piece of property, and I would request you watch what you’re saying. I don’t care if you’re an unarmed bard, I will cause you great pain if you even think something like that again.”

John backed off, hands raised in surrender. “I’m sorry, I thought she was only along as a bought caster.”

Simile stepped towards him, still furious, spitting, “No. You didn’t think that, maybe, she was a real person and not just some dumb animal to look down upon.” Her horn was coated in an emerald halo of dancing flames.

John stepped back, hands still raised, visibly nervous. He didn’t even see as I glared at the two of them.

“Would you two stop fighting? Colgate is sitting right here, and she’s not used to this. Now, would you kind stop being a pair of little children, and be helpful?” I snarled each world, fury evident in my voice.

I picked up the shivering blue unicorn, and held her to my chest. Standing up, I shot another glare at the now-stunned pair. Striding towards the river I murmured to Colgate, “Here, I’m going to get us cleaned off. The river’s a little cold, so...”

She sniffed as she pressed her face against my ribs.

“Did you have to kill them?” she asked.

I didn’t even pause to think before replying, “Yes. Because if I hadn’t, you wouldn’t be with me anymore, and I wouldn’t be able to live with that.”

She sniffled again. “Oh.”

And that’s all she said.

An hour later, the four of us, Simile and John looking and acting sheepish and apologising, had cleaned up.

We began walking down the road again, the sun rising towards its zenith, and we dried in the warmth of its rays.

Several terse, quiet hours later, which I carried Colgate for a while of, We finally came into sight of Oldoaks. Shifting the weight of my backpack, I motioned us onwards.

We approached the town, which seemed surprisingly empty. Looking about, a villager (I assume) motioned to us from a doorway.

“You folk look like travelers. Heros, perhaps?” He sounded a bit desperate.

Sighing, I agreed, and he looked very relieved, “So you can help us. Good. There’s some sort of crazy ork-slayer in the tavern. He looks a little dangerous, but who knows what he actually thinks. Just, uhm, talk to him, please? He’s scaring my kids and I don’t feel safe.”

I nod, and begin walking in the direction the man gestured, Simile, Colgate, and John following. I turned to the door of the tavern, and my blackened skin ruptures as my remaining lung re-inflates, flooding my numbed nerves with pain, a signal that reaches nothing, a phantom of what once was...