9:08 am
In the hospital in Ponyville, a single stallion walks in circles, head down and seemingly desperate.
"Please survive! Please survive! I cannot lose you!" These were the words he kept muttering over and over again. He looked back at the door, which was labeled "Intensive Care Unit", and once again wept.
A nurse who kept an eye on him the whole time decided to console him. She walked over to the poor individual.
"Don't feel too bad, dear. She's going to be perfectly okay in about three hours," she said while giving him a piece of candy. "Here, this will calm you down."
The already-twitching individual put the red candy in his mouth and chewed. Suddenly, his eyes shone. The sullen expression on his face slowly faded into a more happy one.
"Say, what do you call this kind of candy?" he asked. "It tastes amazing!"
The nurse grinned. "Haven't you heard of Skittles, my dear? You must be living under a rock." She jokingly laughed.
"Skittles? Isn't that the name of a cereal brand?"
"No, silly. It's a candy. Here, have some more." She handed him a cloth bag filled with Skittles. "It's all yours. Hope it calms your nerves down a bit. At least, it works for me."
"Gee, thanks!"
He sat down on a chair, opened the bag, and began eating. His expression became increasingly happier each piece he chewed on. The nurse went back to her post, and kept observing the individual. When he finished, he looked just like a normal, nerved and calm stallion. He looked a bit too calm, though.
Yet another child has fallen victim to the power of drugs, she thought. Clutching a small plastic bag of a silver powdery substance, she went back to her desk and read a newspaper.
9:44 am
Word of the once-crazed individual's top priority reached the nurse, but only the nurse. She was pronounced dead. The doctor who gave the news said that she was the one who was going to tell him. The nurse thought for a few minutes. What would happen if she broke the news to him? Would he react violently? Would he just sit down and cry and howl indefinitely? Either way, she needed to be prepared. She grabbed three packs of spiked Skittles from under her desk and a small bladed weapon called a shiv. Once again, she looked at the individual. He was reading a book titled "The Gates of Hell" by Flippin Page. From the gold-colored title and the leather-black cover, one would make no mistake concluding it was Dark propaganda. But, why would such a book exist in the Light land? Reading those books as a Light guarantees the death penalty!
Nevertheless, she walked over to the eating stallion, and sat down beside him.
The stallion noticed the white-furred nurse sitting beside him in such a suspicious way, so he put down his book.
"I saw the doctor speak to you a few minutes ago," he said. "What did he say?"
The nurse readied her weapon away from his sight. She turned away, paused for a moment, and in a somewhat mournful tone, said these words:
"Princess Cadence is... with the gods."
The stallion did not say a word. The nurse was still looking away from his face. She already has experience of handling situations like this, but for a royal relative, their reaction could be much more different. It would be just safe for her to avoid eye contact for a while.
But not a single sound came from him for a solid minute. Finally, the nurse decided to face the stallion. She aimed her eyes on the floor, then slowly moved her line of sight up. That's when she sees --- the stallion was gone!
She stood up, surprised. Where could he have gone?! Suddenly, a distant blood-curdling scream echoed through the corridor she was in. The nurse ran towards the apparent origin, armed with a shiv and three more bags of drugged Skittles.
Blood lined the floors of Room 21, the room where she went in, and two bodies with stab wounds on their necks lay on the two beds. The grisly sight of the area caused her to scream. Who would do such a thing? More screams would soon be heard. She cantered out, but she heard a voice coming from the same room.
"H-help..."
She scanned the room and found out that one of the bodies on the bed had spoken. As a nurse, it was her duty to cure injured patients, so she lifted up the dying Pegasus, still with live electric equipment attached to her body, and brought her out. Blood dripped from the Pegasus' slashed mouth.
A figure darted out of one of the rooms and down the stairs. It appeared to be wielding a knife.
"Hey, come back!" the nurse called out. She ran down the stairs together with her injured.
More screams could be heard from the rooms of the 1st floor. The hallways replete with fresh glistening blood and dead bodies greeted the nurse, who was now feeling faint from all the death. When the nurse inspected room 7, she found the same stallion from before, slashing his hoof. He was indeed, a Dark, refilling his knife with his fresh blood.
"S-Shining Armor!" she cried. "What are you doing?!"
She placed the injured mare on the floor and readied her own weapon.
Shining noticed the nurse inching towards him and aimed his butter knife at her chest. She reacted by aiming her shiv at his.
"Stop right now!" she exclaimed. "The Lightfighters are going to arrest you soon enough."
He paused for a moment. Looking at his knife, now with his own blood, he slowly walked to the nurse until he was just inches away from her face. The nurse's guard was still up. She was about to strike.
He gently put his knife down on the ground. "Those innocent ponies I stabbed will wake up soon, a loyal servant to Lord Fthora. Better kill them now." He flashed an evil smirk and magically teleported away.
The poor nurse grabbed his knife and stared at it. Precious Dark blood flowed down from the knife onto her hoof.
"Oh my..." she whispered to herself.
She went back to the spot where she left the injured Pegasus and discovered that she was dead. Saying a little poem to calm her down, she opened a wardrobe door and placed the body inside. Suddenly, the electronic equipment attached to her started sparking violently. In response, the nurse scurried out of the room.
10:32 am
Thirty Light soldiers surrounded the hospital, armed with obsidian swords and steel shields. These were the standard weapons that the Light soldiers use.
A unicorn mare stood in front of the platoon. She was wearing a red fox fur helmet and chromium armor.
"Okay, guys. The murderer is somewhere in these three floors. If you see him or her, take him or her out immediately. Team A, go around the first floor. Team B, the 2nd floor is all yours. Finally, Team C gets the 3rd floor. Okay, let's not waste any more time. Move out! I'll go with team B."
All thirty soldiers entered the building.
"This place smells horrible," one of Team A's soldiers groaned. "All the dead bodies lying around! I cannot work with this!"
"Shut up, Kristine," another soldier said. "We have endured worse during our training!"
Suddenly, Kristine tripped on a body and face-planted onto a pool of blood.
"Holy shit! It got in my mouth!"
The others laughed.
"Hush! He might sense our presence here," a dirty white Earth pony warned her companions. "Stay alert!"
"Yes, Rose."
They investigated each room they found on the first floor. At least 50 percent had some sort of violent history embedded in them. When they analyzed most of the bodies, they came to an agreed conclusion.
"Looks like all of these bodies have one single stab wound," Kristine reported to Rose, who was alone inside one of the rooms. "A Dark attack must have happened."
But Rose was not paying attention to the Pegasus. She looked very vigilant.
"Shh. I can hear hoofsteps approaching. Ready your sword." She pulled out a dagger from its holster and went out of the room on tiptoe. Kristine followed behind, sword in hoof.
A nurse with a knife ran towards the pair without looking and collided with Rose, the knife barely missing her body. Kristine helped Rose up. It was the same nurse that confronted Shining earlier.
"Who are you?!" Rose asked the nurse, sword pointed at her. "And why are you holding a knife? Say, were you trying to kill me? Answer!"
The nurse just looked at Rose in horror. She clutched the knife.
Rose grabbed the nurse by the neck and hoofcuffed her. "I'm going to have to take you back to the questioning lair." She proceeded out of the building with the nurse. Kristine was ordered to stay and continue investigating, so she did.
12:23 pm
Kristine was alone in Room 7, cleaning the room of blood and bodies, when a deep moan suddenly emanated from inside a large wardrobe in the room.
"Who's there?" asked Kristine, a bit frightened.
No reply was heard.
"Must be my imagination, then." She continued cleaning up.
As she was cleaning a mirror, she stopped for a moment to gaze at herself. Many stallions admired her perfect shade of green, and soft, flowing olive mane. Her cutie mark was a blue star with a glowing trail, because all her life, she was nicknamed Sirius, which in Questrish means "profound beauty", and Sirius was also the name of a bright blue star beside the Alun Galaxy, the largest galaxy viewed from the planet. True to her cutie mark, she used to be a child prodigy, learning how to fly and do complicated stunts when she was just a filly. Now, she remains one of the most skilled and respected fliers in Ponyville.
"Look at you! Miss Kristina Sapphiria! All the stallions getting you right now. You look so charming, don't you? But, look at these horrible, disgusting blood and flesh on my perfect silk fur! Ugh, it pains me to see you dirty!"
Let me just add that she is somewhat vain.
The deep moan returned, but this time louder.
Kristine walked over to the wardrobe.
"Hello? I know someone's inside."
A deep exhalation was heard. Then, a really deep, somewhat demonic and warped voice said:
"Hail Akatharsia, our Almighty Creator!"
The wardrobe door suddenly started shaking violently. Thankfully, it was locked. Kristine backed away and drew her sword.
"Fight me, you fucking bloody Dark!"
Something grabbed her from behind. Kristine immediately acted and stabbed it. It was another Dark.
B-but where are all of these Darks coming from?
She noticed that each of the bodies she placed in the corner were resurrecting.
The Darks have come alive.
The wardrobe door burst open. An indescribable organism jumped out onto Kristine and brought her and her sword to the ground.
Kristine could not scream or call for help. Her voice would just drown in the organism's body three times bigger than hers. All she could do is flail and pray.
It started slicing into her with its razor sharp claws. The sound of flesh and bone getting ripped apart filled the room. Blood oozed down onto the floor.
The mysterious organism then aimed at her throat, and let it rip.
3:21 pm
The interrogation room was cold. Two ponies sat on opposite ends of a wooden circular table. One was bound up in rope on a chair in between two Light guards. The other was holding a folder filled to the brim with papers.
"Okay, miss. Tell me your name."
"Miss Redheart, sir."
"Miss... Redheart..."
He opened the folder and browsed through them. He then pulled out a document labeled "Criminal Records".
"Were you the same mare who assaulted and drugged your client when you were a prostitute?"
"Yes, sir... Please don't mention it again..."
He put the paper back into his folder.
"Would you kindly explain what you witnessed in your place of work a few hours ago?"
She hesitated a bit, as if remembering something, and spoke up.
"There was this pony who had a-"
The door burst open. A baby blue unicorn entered.
"Trixie demands you hear me out this inst-"
The stallion shrugged her off. "You are interfering with important business. Get out."
"B-b-but sir, somepony in a fur helmet told Trixie that she needed to tell you about an incident that happened in the hospital!"
The stallion just stared at Trixie. If somepony who wore a fur helmet had told her this, then it must be important.
"Okay, Trixie. Speak up."
"Okay." She stood up tall and proud. "This incident was a gruesome one, wherein a Darkdraught attacked a Lightfighter in the hospital!"
"Stop!" the stallion exclaimed. "Did you just say... Darkdraught?!"
"Trixie did say that."
He grabbed one of the guards beside Red Heart and whispered something to him. The guard saluted and ran out.
"My gosh... Continue."
"The so-called Darkdraught was mercilessly attacking a female Pegasus by the name of Kristina Sapphiria, a Light soldier working for Queen Ruby. Poor Kristina had been beaten up so bad! Luckily, the Great and Powerful Trixie passed by in the nick of time and slayed the evil beast before it could slice open her throat! It simply evaporated into thin air!"
"So the rumors are true..." he muttered. "Where is this Kristina?"
"Trixie teleported her to her home, since the hospital is obviously not operational. Doctors are currently caring for her. Just a tip: If you would want to visit her, call her Kristine. Never call her Kristina, she might get... pissed off."
The stallion whispered to himself, and looked at Nurse Red. She just sat silently, gazing into his eyes. He looked again at Trixie, who was also looking at him intently.
Finally, he stood up. "I'm going. This is a matter us Lightfighters need to deal with immediately. Fractale, take care of the interrogation for me."
The guard beside Red saluted. "Yes, sir!"
"Please don't call me Sir, just call me Mr. Xe. Now, Trixie, where is her home, you say?"
She held her hoof out. "Hold Trixie's hoof, Mr. Xe, and we shall go there."
He did so, and him and Trixie teleported away.
Fractale grabbed the folder, sat down opposite Redheart, and continued the interrogation.
3:40 pm
The shredded up Kristine lay down on her bed in her home outside Ponyville. Her entire body was covered in bloody bandages. The areas around the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose were the only visible part of her. Three doctors sat down by her bedside, monitoring her conditions every now and then. Even though hospital machinery and medicine is rare in Light territory since the Darks have taken over most of Equestria, they were able to hook Kristine up into a working vital sign monitor and give her proper medicine. Her room was basically transformed into an intensive care unit.
Trixie and Mr. Xe appeared by the door. The doctors moved aside for Xe to get a closer look at Kristine.
"Dear Akanar..." he said astonishingly. "She's practically a living vegetable now. How do I get information out of her?"
"Actually, her body miraculously survived the massive trauma that was inflicted on her," one of the doctors spoke up. "She's still able to speak, write, read, all the things a normal pony can do. Except, fly. One of her wings was dismembered in the attack. So much for being a well-known acrobat..."
Xe scanned her entire body, lifting Kristine's arms and touching some areas of her body once in a while. "Can you guys please remove some of the bandages for me so that I can take a closer look at the wounds? I'm Dr. Xe from the Forensics Department of Ponyville," he asked the doctor after two minutes.
He nodded. "Sure."
The three doctors began removing the bandages wrapped around Kristine's left thigh gently. So much bandages has been put into her that it took them five minutes to completely expose one wound.
"There we go," the doctor said. "Hey, it looks like it's healing pretty fast!"
Xe and Trixie looked at the wound. It was shaped like a crescent with the top and bottom edges flat. There was also a significant amount of muscle showing underneath, indicating the wound was really deep. Blood oozed out every few seconds.
"Ugh! The amount of gore Trixie is witnessing is making me queasy!" she remarked.
"This is amazing!" Xe exclaimed. "We have actual proof that Darkdraughts exist!"
"But what is a Darkdraught?" Trixie asked. "You've been so shocked in the interrogation room when Trixie first mentioned it."
"A Darkdraught is a being that spawns when the leader of the Darks, King Fthora, absorbs enough power that certain objects within a regular Dark's range that possess a magnetic field of any type gets warped so much that the matter that is enveloped in the magnetic field gets super compressed around the object, creating a black substance, as the amount of energy acting on the surface causes everything to melt. As that happens, the magnetic field weakens. Once the magnetic field is almost no more, the black substance, now hardly compressed, expands into a larger being that is controlled by Lord Fthora himself. His mind control over the being does not originate from his blood, but can be directly controlled by the dark energy produced from the compression. This being is called a Darkdraught. Its razor sharp claws can rip through anything. It seeks the land for Lights to assault, but it does not turn them into a Dark. However, if the dark energy is interrupted by a reflective material such as silver or steel, the energy reflects and bombards itself, creating real energy. The huge amounts of energy produced causes the substances that make up the being instantly vaporize into nothing. Just like how regular Darks die."
The rest of the ponies in the room, excluding Kristine, stared at Xe in surprise and confusion.
"What did he just say?" one of the doctors asked the others.
"I have no idea!"
"Did that even make any sense?"
The perplexed Trixie could not find words to satisfy her supposed after-statement.
"Guys?" Xe asked. "Anything wrong?"
"Err..." said Trixie. "Trixie does not speak... science mumbo-jumbo, sir."
Xe lowered his glasses. "Oh, forgive me, Trixie. The scientist part of me must not have faded yet. Even after thirty years... So basically, a Darkdraught is something that forms when King Fthora has exceeded the threshold of his power going insane. It means that... we need to do something fast."
"Oh." Trixie lowered her head. "I see." She was trying to act calm, but she was trying hard in hiding her terrified self.
I don't want to die... I don't want to die...
"Hmm, Trixie? You spoke in first person, dear. Something bothering you?"
"What? Trixie did not!" she exclaimed.
"Yes you did. Us three heard it too. You also looked like you seen a ghost!" They began laughing.
Trixie sighed.
Xe put his hoof in the air. "Okay back to the subject matter at hand! We have to ask this... Kristine questions so we could better prepare against an additional danger we have, the Darkdraughts. This will also aid our offensive force currently stationed at the banks of Lake Croane. So please sit down, and let me conduct the interview."
Man, Xe is such an oldie, Trixie thought.
Xe took a chair and placed it on Kristine's bedside. Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, Xe sat down and lightly tapped Kristine's nose. She shook a little, and let out a powerful sneeze.
"Achoo!"
Kristine gently opened her eyes. Emerald green shone under the ceiling light.
"My my, her eyes are so beautiful," Xe whispered.
Her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. She blinked three times, and in a cute little voice, she asked "What happened?"
"You're back in your home, sweetie," said Xe in a rather soft tone, like he was speaking to a foal. "You got brutally assaulted back in the hospital."
Kristine did not say a word. She just stared at the ceiling.
"You're the head of the police department, is it not?"
"Yes, I am," said Xe. "Don't be afraid. I'm just going to ask you a few questions."
She nodded slightly.
"First... could you please tell us a brief description of what attacked you?"
She looked directly at Xe's eyes. The old pony had both seriousness and gentleness written all over his face.
"I saw... I saw..."
"Take your time, dear."
"I saw... this black slimy thing with claws. It burst out of a wardrobe and attacked me on sight while I was busy fending off the Darks that had resurrected in a hospital room." She exhaled deeply.
"Poor Kristine must have been through a lot," Trixie whispered to herself.
Xe wrote down her statement on his paper. He touched the mare's nose several times. She closed her eyes each time, like a cat.
"You said there were resurrecting Darks in the room?"
"Y-yes. They were the bodies of dead ponies I cleaned up."
He wrote once again on his paper. This time, he put his hoof on his chin as if thinking. He shook his head every once in a while.
"As you may have known, when Darks resurrect from infected Lights, their wounds instantly heal and close, preventing any infected blood from entering anypony they attack unless they add some of their own blood on the weapon they shall use. So, you must not worry about becoming a Dark."
Kristine closed her eyes. "Okay, sir."
"Third. Have you, by far, accidentally let any blood enter any of the orifices in your body?"
Kristine's pupils suddenly contracted. She, however, did not say a word.
"Anything wrong, Kristine?"
She gulped.
"I-I-I... have. When me and my teammates were walking through the hospital. I fell on a puddle of blood and accidentally swallowed some of it. That was a horrifying experience. I'm still frightened by it."
The doctors started mumbling to each other. Trixie started taking baby steps toward the door. Xe's face scrunched. His eyes slowly closed.
"Dear Akanar..."
"Hmm, why?" Kristine asked.
Xe ran towards Trixie and whispered in her ear.
"Trixie, let's kill her."
"Sir Xe! We can't let a loyal soldier die!"
"You don't understand. Summon yourself a spectral sword, and stab her!"
"But sir, it's just a myth-"
"Do it! This is an order! No taking chances!" His old face scrunched.
Trixie did as told. She conjured herself an incorporeal sword and walked over to Kristine. She looked so innocent, but judging by the look of her face she knew what was going to happen.
"Kill her!" Xe shouted. The doctors present in the room scampered out.
"What?!" exclaimed a horrified Kristine. "I'm not a Dark! I swear on my life! Not all myths are true!"
"If won't do it, I'll do it!" He tried stealing the sword, but each time Trixie would avert it from him.
"Trixie, don't listen to him!" cried Kristine. "He's an old pony; he believes in a lot of myths!"
Trixie started sweating. She knew it was a myth, but it was only a myth. Following either could lead to consequences. What if the myth was true? But, what if Xe snaps?
Kristine was one of the army's best. Her wounds would heal and she will be back to normal. But, if she doesn't kill her, she might end up turning into a Dark and possibly murder everyone in the room. Her brain battled fiercely with thought in her head.
"Do it!"
"Believe me!"
The stress was real. As a Lightmage, adding stress to her already chaotic mind was painful.
Finally, she could not take it anymore, and she snapped. "How about I just fucking kill the both of you pests! I would love to do so!"
Silence ensued immediately. It remained as if for a long time. Nopony has ever heard Trixie snap. Never. If she ever did, it would not look good.
A knock on the door broke the silence.
"Hello? It's Roseluck, may I come in?"
Sweet, sweet Roseluck. The only mare more charming and pretty than Kristine. According to Xe.
"Y-yes you can," Trixie said. "Trixie was just chatting with a few ponies here."
Xe and Kristine were simply laid-back. They both knew of Roseluck pretty well. She was the Lightfighter who gave out important news to her fellow Lightfighters and Xe, the chief of the police station of Ponyville.
The mare entered the room with a piece of paper and a proud look on her face. "We have lots ot good news!"
Trixie immediately despawned the spectral sword as she stepped in. "Please do share."
Rose read the paper.
"First, we have captured the true serial killer just outside the Light borders! He is a known noble and the husband of the recently deceased Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, also known as Princess Cadence. She was to take the throne when our High Queen Ruby Charm were to die, but unfortunately, she was attacked when traveling near the border. She was brought to Ponyville for treatment and died in hospital. We presume Shining Armor is a Dark, because as he executed his murder spree in the same hospital, the bodies had resurrected and attacked everypony in the hospital, which are our fellow Lightfighters. Even a Darkdraught was present, but luckily Trixie slayed it in time before killing Kristina-"
"It's Kristine!" shouted Kristine. "Only I have the right to call myself Kristina!"
"Okay, okay! Calm down, Kristine," exclaimed Rose. "Ehem, moving on..."
"The Darkdraught was apparently formed when Shining Armor passed by some electric wires in a wardrobe. Shining's dark energy was transmitted to the magnetic object and turned it to a Darkdraught. This is a bad sign, because it means that King Fthora must be close to reaching the ultimacy of his power."
She folded the paper neatly and put it in her bag. "For Number Two..." She looked at Xe. "Ingesting Dark blood does not make someone a Dark. Three doctors who came here two hours ago conducted tests on the patient, and no traces of dark energy was present. Therefore, the myth has been debunked."
Xe did nothing to oppose. He just accepted defeat with a sad smile. So much for being a pony of old.
"I'm so sorry Kristina..." he whispered to himself.
Kristine glared at him.
Roseluck brought out another paper. "And, for the most important part, the Queen has requested a meeting with selected Lightfighters. Those who will be going are..." She handed the paper to Xe with a smile on her face.
Xe glanced at the paper. "It seems like the Queen wishes for... everyone in this room including you, Roseluck dear. She wants us all in her castle tomorrow at 4 pm."
"Th-The Queen?!" exclaimed Kristine, nearly jumping from surprise, but obviously can't. "B-but I'm not special at all! I'm really not!"
"My my, now this is a surprise," said Trixie. "The Queen has recognized the Great and Powerful Trixie's indisputable illustriousness!"
Xe let off a little laugh. "Now now, we should all get ready to leave for Canterlot. We can travel overnight. Kristine can stay here. We can just tell the Queen she is currently under medical care. Rose and Trixie, go back home and get some hiking equipment. The main and only road is unfortunately closed. Let's meet at the police station at eight o' clock."
"Yes sir!" saluted the two.
"Now, my little ponies, move out!"
"See you, Kristine!" called out the two before they went out. "Get well soon!"
"Now, Kristine," said Xe. "You better behave back here. Listen to the doctors and drink your medicine. We'll see you in probably two days. Hope you get well soon!"
Kristine's eyes glistened. "I will, Xe! I promise!"
He opened the door and went out. "Before I go," he added. "I have to tell you that one of your wings has been dismembered. Good day!" He closed the door, leaving a flabbergasted Kristine.
The room was succeeded with a chain of doleful wails and cries.
8:03 pm
The nights of Equestria are usually cold, since the country is located close to a large desert biome to the southeast. That's why when if you want to Equestria, even on a summer, you must remember to bring some warm clothes!
Xe glanced at his wristwatch. Eight o' clock. They should be here soon, he thought.
Inside Xe's travel bag was a gallon of water, assorted lightweight food, and other essentials such as a tent, medicine, a hunting knife, and a radio. Because the Darks have taken over most of Equestria's technology, Lights are forced to use older tech such as radios and Morse code to communicate.
Trixie arrived with roughly the same items as what Xe had, excluding the knife.
"Hello Trixie. Are you ready to go hiking?" he asked her.
"Trixie is always ready for anything!" She stood straight with pride.
"Good, good. Now, where is that little red-haired mare?"
Rose, who was still wearing her Light equipment, tapped Xe's back from behind. "Boo."
"Aha! There you are, ya little rascal!" exclaimed Xe. Rose giggled.
"Should we set off now?" asked Trixie. "It's 8:09."
Xe double-checked his items. "Ready."
"Readier than ever!" remarked Rose.
They headed down the road to the Velahichi Mountains, where Canterlot perches on.
10:57 pm
At last, they have arrived at the first layer of the mountain, the jungle layer. The mysterious sounds of the night creatures echoed out of the forest.
"Hoho! The beautiful sound of nature! I can't wait to traverse this forest!" said Xe, tapping the backs of Trixie and Rose, who were both frightened.
"C-Can't we go another way?" whispered Rose, whose voice was shaking. "This does not look like a good idea. Imagine all the horrid creatures living in there!"
"Trixie totally agrees with Rose!" added Trixie.
Xe tousled Rose's mane. "I'm sorry, but this is the only way up. Blame the government for not giving us a proper road."
His companions sighed, and went on.
The trio had barely traveled five minutes when they were already met by danger. A camp of bipedal cat hybrids.
"Shh," whispered Xe. "Those creatures are called Khajiits. They are foreign creatures from the land of Tamriel up north. If they see us having lots of equipment, they'll attack us!"
"So, are they Darks?" asked Rose.
"Umm, not exactly. But, they're notorious for their acts of thievery and hidden assault, as far as I know. Only a few are present here in Equestria, but that doesn't mean that they're harmless."
The three sneaked past the camp without danger.
"That was easy," Rose said.
Suddenly, a Khajiit darted past the trio, barely hitting Trixie. Fortunately, he did not notice any of them.
"Master Ri-isan," he said, approaching a sleeping Khajiit. "I found some berries and pony meat we could eat. I ambushed a couple higher up the mountain and harvest some of their fresh meat. "
"Well done, Da-ak'for," Ri-isan told him. "Pony meat as a Sundas dinner meal is marvelous. Hurry and bring the food out, Ri'orad and Dar'ar here are starving."
Da-ak'for opened his bag and took out a cluster of blueberries and chunks of red, bloody flesh. It still had some patches of fur stuck to it, although the color could not be deciphered.
"Dig in."
Two other Khajiits emerged from their tents and ate and chat.
"By the gods," Rose stared in astonishment. "Pony meat... and they ate it raw!"
"Let's get outta here," whispered Xe to Trixie and Rose.
Each pony took baby steps in crossing the area of the camp. Trixie was clear of the camp, then Xe was too. Rose, however, mistakenly stepped on a twig halfway through. The crack echoed through the forest.
"Who goes there?!" Ri-isan shouted. He raised his paws and readied his razor-sharp claws. Rose ducked into a shrub.
His three companions followed him into a tree.
"Go!"
Trixie casted a fire blast into the tree, causing a big explosion and the surrounding trees to catch on fire. The Khajiits retreated, aflame.
"Augh! Hot hot hot!" cried Ri-isan.
"Help! I'm dying!" Da-ak'for screamed.
Trixie couldn't hold back her laughter. She let out a loud, hearty laugh.
The two other Khajiits heard her and took out a bow. Dar'ar aimed at Trixie exact location.
"Run!" shouted Xe.
Trixie tried to do so, but Dar'ar fired beforehand, striking her forehead, just under her horn. She fell and groaned in agony.
"Gotcha!" he said with a smirk.
He walked towards her and tried to stab her with a dagger he was holding too, but unfortunately for him, Xe was beside her, and fatally stabbed him in the chest.
Dar'ar let out a loud growl and fell to the ground, dead.
"Don't mess with my little ponies!" he roared.
Now, all three remaining Khajiit realized what was happening.
"Kill those two pests!" Ri-isan commanded his two minions. "I want their throats ripped open and their belongings in my possession!"
Xe stared in horror as Da-ak'for and Ri'orad surrounded him, gripping their swords and thirsting for blood. Trixie tried firing a spell, but she could not focus enough. She was gradually getting weaker.
"No mercy for you!" Da-ak'for cried, bringing down his sword over Xe's head.
Luckily, Rose reacted quickly. She jumped out of her hiding spot and straight-out dismembered his arm with her sword, sparing Xe's life. Poor Da-ak'for fell to the ground and never budged again. His arm trembled on its own for about ten seconds before dying off.
On the other hand, Ri'orad tried to retaliate by swinging his sword at Rose, but she dodged every attacked hurled at her like Muhammad Ali. She ended Ri'orad by stabbing him in the abdomen.
Ri-isan could not do anything. His followers have been killed, and he was outnumbered two to one. Clutching his tiny iron dagger, he backed off into the woods.
Rose grabbed him before he disappeared from sight and grabbed him by the throat.
"It's time for you to die!" she screamed. She stole Ri-isan's dagger and centered the blade on his throat.
"Wait!" he cried. "I'll give you anything you want! Just spare me, please! My poor kittens will die without me!"
Rose went back with her hoof still clamped on his neck and analyzed the camp. There were weapons, jewelry, and food. But, a gold dagger stored inside a display case caught her attention.
"Can we have this?" she asked Ri-isan, tapping the display case. "We can sell this for a big sum and use it to aid our military to fight the Darks."
"Ah, yes. the Darks," he replied. "Traded with them for twelve years. They love to haggle with us. Kind of a hard time with them, but it pays well."
Xe saw this statement as an opportunity. "Excuse me, did you say that you have traded with them for twenty years?"
"Yes, I have."
Xe whispered to Rose's ear. "Hey Rose, how about he just give us information concerning the Darks? He apparently has lots of experience."
Rose whispered back. "Are you sure we can trust him?"
"Yes. He's a Khajiit. He travels all over the world to sell their wares. He also must have made friends along the way."
Rose nodded. She faced Ri-isan.
"Okay, we'll instead spare you for all the information you can give us about the Darks. Every single thing you know."
Ri-isan pondered on the question for a while.
"I have made many trusted friends in the land of the Darks, but I suppose I can let them go."
Rose let go of Ri-isan and placed him under Xe's watch. "You tell all you know throughout our trip to Canterlot in the mountains. However, you will also be arrested for eating ponies as food."
He nodded in agreement.
Rose went up to Trixie. "Can you walk?"
"I-I think," she weakly replied. Rose removed the arrow from her head and helped her up. She managed to walk three uninterrupted steps.
"T-The Great and Powerful Trixie feels no pain!" she exclaimed.
"Let's go, Mr. Khajiit," said Xe as he tightly grabbed Ri-isan's arm and followed Trixie and Rose, who already continued ascending the mountain.