RECAP: Celestia as joined forces with Rose of Nonvalue to free Brome and Luna form prison. Mean whale, Martin has been tied up on the wall after tripping a vermin guard with his own ship so as to keep him from beating a pore hare and Luna was taken to the mysterious Room 101.
Badrang had tied Martin between two posts up on the wall of Marshank. "Let's see how defiant you are when the bats finish with you," he'd said.
As a gale shrieked, driving heavy rain before it, Martin's mind went back to the caves on the northwest shore where he had been born. He had grown up in a town on the coast with mice, moles, and hedgehogs. Luke the Warrior was his father. He had never known a mother; she had been killed in an attack by a corsair stoat named Vilu Daskar, not all that different from the stoat Badrang who was keeping him prisoner now. Luke had raised him the best way he could, but Luke was a warrior and sworn to the destruction of searats and corsairs. He was unused to rearing babes.
One day Luke and some other mouse warriors captured a ship from another group of pirates that was trying to attack the village, and they set out to meet Vilu Daskar on the shores of the waters far away and make an end of him. Before Luke went, he gave Martin his trusty old sword. He said Martin should stay behind and defend their cave and land.
"You will stay and defend our cave against all comers, protect those weaker than yourself and honor our code. Always use the sword to stand for good and right, never do a thing you would be ashamed of, but never let your heart rule your mind," Luke said. "And never ever let another creature take this sword from you, not as long as you live. When the time comes, pass it on to another, maybe your own son. You will know instinctively if he is a warrior."
"But what if I don't end up having a son?" Martin asked.
"If not, hide the sword where only a true warrior who is brave of heart, would dare go to find it. Swear this to me Martin."
"I swear it, on my life!"
Martin took his vow seriously. Every day, he patrolled the cliffs with his sword, watching for invaders.
One day, he was up on the cliffs right above his cave home when he saw a battle going on. (See OUTCAST OF EQUESTRIA.) Two ferrets were fighting each other and so were two unicorns. A badger was tied up on the ground, and a Pegasus was trying to untie him, but the knots were too tight. A hare was standing there too.
Martin remembered his father had told him to protect the weak. It looked like the big ferret was the one attacking the others. The larger ferret had just killed the smaller one and was about to shoot the badger when Martin ran up behind him and drove his sword through the ferret's chest.
After killing the evil ferret, Martin tried to ask the other creatures what was going on and why they were there, but they refused to tell him anything. "You're simply going to have to forget everything that happened here today," the hare had said. Then he waved a stick in the air and they had all disappeared.
Martin realized that the hare must have been some kind of wizard or magician. Come to think of it, the hare he had defended from Hisk today looked an awful lot like that hare.
Afterwards, Martin had taken some of his friends up to see the dead ferrets. The smaller one had been taken away by somebeast mysteriously, but the big one was still there. Everybeast was very impressed with Martin, and that was when they started to call him Martin the Warrior instead of "Son of Luke the Warrior."
But a few weeks later, Martin was out chopping wood when a band of villainous looking creatures came running along the shore towards him.
A stoat headed the party. And the stoat was called Badrang! He grinned wickedly. "That's a big sword for a little mouse to be wielding. You'd better give it to me before you hurt yourself."
Martin held the sword point forward, unwavering. "Leave me alone, stay back! My father told me never to let another creature take this sword from me!"
Now the corsairs began spreading out slowly, encircling Martin, licking knives and spear blades as they chuckled evilly at him. Badrang took a step forward, his voice deceptively friendly. "A wise beast your father. Did he ever tell you about those who could slay with a single spear thrust? Like this… or this!" As he spoke the stoat brought up his spear and began jabbing expertly at Martin. The young mouse parried, fighting off the questing spear point amid the laughter of the cruel corsairs.
Martin probably could have won, but a weasel came and hit him over the head with an oaken pikestaff, laying him out flat on the sand. Badrang picked up the sword.
"Hmm, nice sword. It should serve me well. Hisk, we've wasted enough time. Chain 'im up and bring 'im to the slave lines."
That was how Martin came to be a slave to Badrang the Tyrant.
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When Luna was brought into Room 101, there was only one creature in there. He was a strange beast, comprised of parts of many different creatures. He had a deer antler, a goat leg, a bat wing, a snake tail, and the head of a pony.
"Hello, Princess Luna," he said. "My name is Discord."
Luna was too angry at the moment to wonder how he knew her name. "Let me out of here! I'll never be a slave to Badrang!"
"Oh, Badrang doesn't want you to be his slave, my dear," Discord smiled. "He wants you to be a captain in his horde. Your magic can bring anybeast who opposes Badrang to their knees."
"Well, that's even worse!" Luna cried. "What makes him think I'd ever want to help him?"
Discord casually levitated into the air and began walking around on the ceiling. "That's where I come in. You see, I can make creatures do things they don't want to do- or rather, think they don't want to do. You think you don't want to hurt people, but deep down inside, you do."
"That's not true!" Luna shouted.
"I think it is," Discord said, turning into a balloon for no reason at all. "You've always been jealous of your sister Celestia, haven't you? She gets all the attention. The ponies relish and play in the day your elder sister brings forth, but shun and sleep through your beautiful night. You were the one who found those captured hares inside Salamandaston and prevented Doomeye from killing Lord Brocktree (See MY LITTLE BROCKTREE), but no one ever thanked you for it."
"But that doesn't mean I want to hurt other creatures. I know my sister appreciates me, even if she doesn't say it out loud. Anyway, how do you know all this?"
Discord sighed. "You've been kind for far too long, Princess. It's time for you to be… cruel!"
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A strength born of built up rage coursed suddenly through Martin. He stood erect, tugging at his bonds, oblivious to the pounding storm as a mighty roar welled up from deep inside him.
"I am a warrior! Martin son of Luke! I will live, I will not give in an die up here! Do you hear me, Badrang? I will live to take back my father's sword and slay you one day! Badraaaaaaannggg!"
The storm broke as night fell.
"Martin son of Luke, can you hear me?" a voice called up to him from the shore outside the fortress.
He could not see the speaker but he heard the voice clearly.
"Yes, I hear you. What is your name?"
"There are three of us, Princess Celestia, Grumm the mole, and myself, Rose of Noonvale. We heard you calling out. Tell me, is there a prisoner in there called Brome, a young mouse? He is my brother."
Martin shouted back, "I do not know of a mouse named Brome and I don't think I'll have much chance to! I am sentenced to die up here."
"What about my sister, Princess Luna? Have you seen an alicorn?" Celestia called.
"You mean one of those pony creatures with horns and wings? I saw Badrang bring one in today."
"Is there anything we can do for you?" Celestia asked.
"I don't know. I'm tied up between two posts. Badrang said something about bats coming for me. I don't know what that means?"
The next minute, though, he knew exactly what it meant, as a cloud of bats swooped out of the sky toward him. But these weren't friendly, peaceful bats like those that lived in the caves of Mossflower. These bats had been turned evil by Discord and now they were vicious vampire bats that liked nothing better than to suck the blood of innocent creatures!
"Vonderful!" the leader of the vampire bats said. His name was Batula. "Lord Badrang has left another offering for us. Ve vill drink him dry!"
"Aowurr, oi carn't lukk!" Grumm cried.
Martin shut his eyes.
Just as the first bat was about to bit him, Rose let out a scream. It sounded like the cry of a great hunting eagle. The noise scared the bats, and they flew away from Martin.
Rose beamed with pride. "Back home, I used that noise to scare away predators all the time."
"Vot in the name of Hellgates is going on?" Batula demanded. "Vot are you all scared of?"
"That's the hunting cry of a great eagle!" a vampire named Charon cried. "I've heard it before."
"Do eagles eat bats?" another asked.
"There are no eagles on this coast," Batula said scornfully. "Und anyvay, no bird can hurt us. Ve are vampires! Ve can only be killed by a stake or a C-R-O-S-S! (No vay I'm saying that vord.) Now stop playing the fool und help me kill this mouse!"
He dived for Martin, but Rose screeched again, even louder and angrier than before. This filled the bats with consternation.
Charon shielded himself with his wings. "That's a great eagle's huntin' cry. I vould stake my oath on it!"
"Rubbish!" ejaculated the leader. Just then, Grumm fitted a sizable stone into the spoon of his cooking ladle and whipped it off in the direction of Batula's bent bottom. Thump! It struck hard and true.
"Somebeast is slinging stones!" the bats cried and zoomed off.
"Idiots! Cowards!" Batula shouted. "Vith me it's a matter of principle. I vill finish him off myself!"
Rose gave another bird cry, but Batula paid no heed.
"Can you fly up there and stop him?" Rose asked Celestia.
"I have a better idea," Celestia said. She did some magic with her horn and the sun came up. It was suddenly daytime!
Bats don't like the sun one bit, even when they're not vampires. With a shriek of terror, Batula turned on his wing and sped away after his followers.
TO BE CONTINUED: Will Disco succeed in converting Luna to evil? What will Badrang do when he learns how Marten escaped his trap? I am sure it does will be interesting.