# Ponyfinder: Roots of Stone

## by David Silver

### 68 - Call to Action

A pony worked diligently to patch the hole in the side of the tent as Rome examined a map spread over his desk. "I'm sorry you've been greeted like this. If you can believe it, it used to be more common. There's a reason I don't wear that many identifying marks or decorate my tent." He waved a hoof. "Bloodsuckers." The hoof came down in a thump on the desk. "Ponies that would rather clutch to their tiny shreds of power than allow the whole of the nation to heal and thrive." His eyes swept back and forth. "Where's the quiet one?"

Maud was nowhere to be seen, for she was not there.

Elsewhere, two agents appeared in darkness. "That went poorly."

The other nodded back, but paused. "Do you hear something?"

The ground beneath them exploded upwards as Maud burst free between them. As they gawked at her in surprise, she brought down a hoof on the one to the left, slamming him to the sandy earth. The other shrank away, then vanished even as she moved over the would-be assailant and pinned him to the ground. "You're coming with me."

Maud heard a crunch as the pony gritted his teeth, loosening something in his mouth. She smashed his face with a hoof hard enough to knock the object free, disrupting his attempt to poison himself. "Alive." There was enough to make him queasy and weak, but not enough to end his life quickly. Maud hefted him up and draped the weakened and dizzy pony onto her back, trotting back towards the tent she started from.

Other soldiers gaped at her. "Do you need help with that?" asked one, but she shook her head quietly and marched on.

Back in Rome's tent, the others looked around for Maud, but there was little sign of where she might have gone but a small hole in the ground. Paul shook his head. "No way she bloody made that. Somethin' else must have grabbed her and pulled her under!"

Tabitha put her hands on her hips. "Then we have to go rescue her, like now!"

Fast circled around the hole. "How did she even fit through it? It looks barely large enough to contain her."

The sound of the flap being disturbed turned their gazes swiftly to see Maud step in with one of the figures in black over her back. "I caught one."

Rome clopped his forehooves together. "Fast, you choose your companions well! Maud was it? Set the wretch down here." He pointed close to himself. "I'll have some of my men apply a little 'creative' diplomacy to get some words out of him."

Though weak and sick, the pony found the strength to snort. "Bloody imperialists. You sink to torture quick enough for being so 'high-minded'."

Maud dumped him where requested. "You could just talk to us."

"As if you'd believe me even if I wanted to."

Maud raised a brow. "I know liars. Tell me the truth."

Tree nodded at him. "Tell us and we'll let you go."

Rome snorted. "By what command? You're not in charge here, druid. Mind your limits."

Fast raised a hoof. "Don't be hasty. No, we should let him go." She leaned in. "If he talks. Of course, his friends probably won't like him after that, so, were I him, I'd go retire somewhere far away and leave these messy politics to less sane ponies." She reached forward and tapped the pony on his masked face. "We'll even leave this on you, if you start singing."

Rome looked irate, but kept his counsel to himself. His eyes turned to the map of the empire, but an ear kept trained on the exchange.

Maud crossed her forelegs. "My word is my bond. I don't lie."

"That a fact?" The pony sank a little. "Can you get a dying pony a drink?"

Tree approached with worry in her eyes. "Are you hurt?" Her gentle hooves pat down the stallion, easily finding where their scuffle had left him bloodied, some even from her own temporary claws and teeth. "Be still and relax. Let the goodness in." She sang a soft song of nature, green magic rushing into him and leaving him sprawled over the ground, but quickly healing for it. "You'll be alright."

The pony laughed a little bitterly. "That won't fix poison, but thank you."

Maud tilted her head. "You didn't swallow much. Will you talk to us?"

"I'll be dead either way." He looked to the ground. "At least this way I'm doing my part."

Fast set a hoof on his shoulder. "I know that feeling. I understand where you're coming from entirely, but your story isn't done yet. You may feel hedged in a corner, but there's always another way." She sat on her haunches. "We mean to make things better, for all of ponykind. We'll find its rightful ruler. Isn't that worth fighting for?"

Paul shrugged. "Hey. Just calling you 'you' is gettin' old. You have a name?"

He closed his eyes a moment. "Quiet Step."

Fast smiled a little. "Well, Quiet Step, nice to meet you. Now how about we work together and make the world just a little better?"

"You won't succeed."

"But I'll try." Fast nodded slowly. "We're all ready to try. That's all anyone can ask from us."

He gave a single rough laugh. "There's a truth to that... Fine, you want to know? We've been hiding with Silvanus' men for months, waiting for anything that'd threaten our employer, then you came along, and we did what we were paid to do." He snorted softly. "We tried... I doubt she will be as kind to us as you are."

Rome leaned forward over his desk. "Are there others?"

"Just... one. You killed the other, besides me, and you have me." He licked over his lips. "Time to die?"

Fast shrugged softly. "You did what we asked. Does your employer have a name?"

"Not one she shared with us. You know how that works."

Tree shook her head. "Can't say I do, man."

Rome waved a hoof. "It's exactly for this situation. He can't say what he doesn't know. What would you have me do with him, turn him out and wish him the best?"

Tree smiled placidly. "That'd be nice." She put a hoof on him. "See, we're keeping our promise."

Rome stiffened. "I meant that sarcastically, but fine, if you are certain he's said what he can... Wait..." He glared down at the limp pony. "Where would you have met your would-be employer?"

"The next time we stopped at a town near the railway, we were to send a missive."

Rome held out a hoof. "Good, give me the seal you would have used."

"Can't."

"Why not?" Rome frowned.

"I wasn't the one that'd write the missives." He pointed to the blood stain on the floor. "That was his job."

Rome nodded. "We'll recover it from his body. Shame, he would be the one to know how to address it, but we'll take what we can get." He tapped his hooves gently. "Of course, setting you out here is almost as good as any death sentence. The desert is hardly hospitable, and you're ill-equipped for the journey."

The would-be thief shrank on the floor, curling a little. "You were just mocking me with the idea of living."

Rome tapped the desk. "There is another way. You served as my soldier once. These people have reminded me, perhaps we can still learn and grow. Take off your mask, let me see who has betrayed me, and then you can start working off your crimes."

"W-what? You'll keep me?"

"Prove you're worth keeping." He pointed at the pony. "Start with admitting the truth. Who are you?"

The room became silent for a moment. Maud leaned in. "The truth is better."

The pony smiled up at her, slowly sitting up. "Is it now? I suppose... I've trusted you before, Silvanus, sir..." He brought his hooves up to the bottom of his mask and pulled it free with a rough wrench, throwing it aside and revealing his dark-grey fur and ashen mane. "I'm sorry, sir."

"Timothy?!" Rome scowled. "I wouldn't have expected, but maybe I should have, with such an unusual name. So, is Quiet Step your true name?"

Timothy sighed softly. "The one given by my parents, sir."

Rome shook his head. "Well we won't be having that. Pick a name to stand by." He leveled a hoof at Timothy. "I'll not have soldiers with code names unless they're a spy, and you aren't going to be one of those anymore, are you?"

"No sir." He smiled a little. "Timothy's the name I picked to be your soldier, sir. Can I keep it?"

Tabitha slid up beside Fast. "You sure this'll work out?"

Fast nodded quickly. "It's about time we started acting like ponies. Rome?"

Rome looked up from his conversation with Timothy. "Hmm?"

"We should probably get moving."

Rome scowled. "I should think not. At least let us see you past the desert. The destabilization of the empire has had effects everywhere. You'd swear even the monsters can smell the chaos and have redoubled in number and ferocity." He sank with a sigh. "I pray the Sun Queen smiles on both of our paths, and that you may set that crown on the right head one day, but until then, at least past the desert."

All eyes in the room turned on Fast to make the decision and she shook her head slowly. "Very well, but traveling with a whole military detachment will win us no favors as we reach more civilized lands. I don't need that kind of reputation. I'm an adventurer, gods blast it, not a soldier."

Rome laughed at that, "We could change that, if you were of the mind for it."

Fast turned away. "Pass, but thank you. Come on, everyone, we'll set up camp inside theirs. For now, we're guests of Sir Silvanus here."

As they filtered out, Rome gestured for Tabitha to stay behind. "You're a curious case. Paul's obviously human, but you're not so easy to identify." He gestured at her tail and up at her ears. "What are you, if I can be so blunt?"

"I'm a pony satyr," replied Tabitha with a smile. "I hope that isn't a problem?"

"No, no it isn't." He shrugged. "I won't blame a woman for her parents having interesting tastes."

Tabitha huffed. "More like grandparents or further, sir."

"Oh?" Rome tilted his head faintly. "All the more reason then. So, which do you fancy yourself, human, or pony?"

Tabitha looked uncertain a moment. "I'd like... I'm not sure, sir."

He waved dismissively. "You'll need to decide, but not today. Go on, your friends are waiting for you."