//------------------------------// // Wake up and smell the gil! // Story: Great power comes in Small packages // by Izalith //------------------------------// "Ul'Dah, the greatest city in all of Hydaelyn, this magnificent metropolis of sandstone and marble is the commercial hub of Eorzea and with good reason. Its reputation as the wealthiest city in all of Eorzea as it has pretty much anything that you can ask for! Walk among our stalls in the market district and you will see it all, beautiful gemstones, priceless silken garments, potent potables, and so much more. Our mighty stone walls boasts the best protection this city can offer, you can see the walls from malms away and that deters would-be raiders cause, honestly, would want to attack something that can't be scaled without being sent back down screaming to the hard dirt? Our precious city was built around the dome-shaped citadel that lies in the heart of Ul'Dah and each ring is divided by the towering walls and battlements that serves as our shield and armor against those that would try to remove us from our home." "Everything that you can see in the market stalls all come from our hardworking disciplines of the hand, these people are the blood that helps pump life into the veins of Ul'Dah, these people of all races work hard to become the masters of science and nature of alchemy, or to be able to weave from fiber to thread and thread to cloth and so on and so forth as the weavers, or if your more into dealing with delicate metals and gemstones then our goldsmiths is where it all happens on their grindstones and specialized hammers. And I know you may be wondering where does our alchemists and goldsmiths get all of their respectable materials to even create such extravagant wares? Well from our discipline of the land, the miners! These hard working men and women of all races are responsible for finding, excavating and handling the mineral wealth here in Ul'Dah, be it precious stones, ores, fossils or something that has yet to be discovered! And how do our miners receive their training techniques? Why, by undertaking a large field of tasks ranging from constant prospecting of most minute elements to large-scale civil engineering!" "If our crafters are the blood and bones of Ul'Dah then our Gladiators and Pugilists are its skin and muscles. Fighting on the front lines on the Thanalan desert or fighting for fame and glory in the arena who fight with sword and shield, an impressive feat when they are wearing metal armor all the time but when you need someone to take the hit for you from a barrage of arrows or from a beast's talons then you will know who to call upon. If fighting with a sword and shield is not your style then fighting with the metal, bone or leather on your fists is your thing then our Pugilist league! The arts of hand-to-hand combat is one riffled with incessant training of the body and mind, the ability to unleash flurry after flurry of blows is something that only they can master! As for what they wear to protect themselves, they don't even bother with the heavy stuff since their mobility is what makes them a dangerous threat when fighting, they need to be light on their toes to come in close to deliver the one-two knock punch to win the day!" "And lastly we have our minds and spirits of Ul'Dah, the Thaumaturgists! These brave magic wielders use the very latent aether inside of them to cast spells and curses upon those that crosses their path! This school of magic is a force of terrifying destructive capabilities that one mustn't abuse for it can destroy yourself if you are too careless with it. To even mold the power that is thaumaturgy one must have a medium to turn the aether into sorcery such as a simple scepter or a big staff which must have a magical natural stone at its source to help control the flow of energy within you. Once you are armed with such magical apparatus you can send forth magical doom and destruction upon those that would dare harm you or your friends! "So tell me buddy, is this everything you have come to expect of Ul'Dah or what?" "Momodi....I am finally home!" "Excellent! Now just follow me to the Quicksand Inn and I can get you all sorted out before you can start your life as an adventurer, just have to get your room and board set up and your name registered and before you know it your name will be remembered as someone of great importance!" POOF! "Tata! Tata wake up!" shouted an angry voice from outside my room, the knocking that was going on only grew louder as I maintained my will to sleep. "Urg...five more minutes Momodi..." mumbled my sleepy voice, my body still tired and sore from yesterday's adventure. "If you don't wake up right now Tata then I will get Barb in here and let her wake you up!" the voice on the other side of the door shouted again as I grumbled and moaned before rolling over on the bed, facing away from the door. "Just...five more minutes of sleepy times..." I groaned out before falling back asleep, my pleasant dream of Ul'Dah interrupted by my caretaker/employer. Once the sound of knocking was gone I let out a happy sigh of relief, my mind going back to the beautiful scene of the Quicksand Inn, the proprietress Momodi was busy writing my name, age and other important information in her ledger. Hopping onto a nearby bar stool and peering over the side to see what else she was writing but all I got was a quill to the face. "If you don't get up now I'll give you a big kiss." and before I had a chance to back up the proprietress lunged forward and grabbed my face before forcing me into a kiss with her. It wasn't bad at all, sure it was sudden and forceful but her lips was so warm and that her tongue was long and...and... Wait a minute. Opening my eyes immediately I was face-to-face with my kisser, Barbara the Dragoness, or just Barb to her friends which somehow includes me. My reaction was to immediately push Barb back while myself was falling backwards, over the side of the bed, go head first onto the floor and give myself a bump and a headache all in one go. Pulling myself off the floor and with one hand cradling my head to rub away the pain I saw that Barb was sitting on my bed, a dopey blushing grin on her face as her tail waggled from side to side slowly like some cat found the bowl of cream. "Barbara! What did I tell you about knocking! You must always knock when you enter my room! And also why did you kiss me while I was sleeping!" I shouted, my face red from both being angry at Barb for the surprise kiss and from the blush of me kissing a female dragon, something that no one back home or in the Free Company has ever done before. "But Tatalito, Twilight told me to come wake you up since you weren't doing it yourself so I just improvised." Barb said in her innocent voice, her hands behind her back as she stood on my bed and was moving side to side slowly and in a playful manner. "By kissing me!" I said back, my voice not as loud as before but still in the range of pissed off and raging. I stood up and started to look around for my staff, the one thing that Barb is afraid of is me turning her into a block of ice and since she is cold-blooded that is pretty much my only deterrent against the dragoness. "Don't act like you didn't like it, I can see the blush on your face." she said with a grin, my eyes widening a bit before quickly putting my hand into my satchel, grasping around for something to toss at the amused small dragon. "I am not blushing it is just...just...just the heat is all!" I said before finally grabbing something that is round and slightly rough, not entirely sure what it is I only mentally shrugged before slowly pulling it out to get it ready to throw at the bothersome lizard. "It's only six in the morning." Barb said with a smirk on her face, crossing her arms in a triumphant pose only to duck out of the way of a thrown La Noscean Orange, said orange sailed through the air and hit the side of the wall, not exploding upon impact but instead just leaving an orange circle on the wall before falling to the floor with a soft thud. "Just get out of my room!" I shouted before reaching back down into my satchel for another orange. "Oh and one more thing, your in your underwear." was all that Barb said before I threw another La Noscean Orange at her, the second one entering the hallway and same as the first one did not break upon hitting the wall and the floor. Sighing in relief that the little troublemaker is gone I let out my customary large yawn while stretching, the sounds of my bones popping and cracking filled my room and before long everything was silent except for the sounds of birds chirping outside and the occasional early morning pony trotting about. 'I swear that dragon is going to be the death of me...' Going over to the door to my room I closed it gently and then locked it to prevent any future break-ins by one Barbara the Dragoness of House Sparkle, that little bugger caused me enough trouble, especially when she ate my grade five dark matter, that thing was hard to find out in the field and mining was even more troublesome with beasts roaming about. Sure she spat it out and said it tasted like dirt and feet, but its the principle that counts, you just don't go around eating other peoples things without their permission, especially if it is something as important and hard-to-acquire dark matter. 'What did I do to deserve such a punishment?' As I thought that I started to put on my clothes that I first wore in Ul'Dah, my Lalafellin tunic, gaskins, wrist guards, and top boots, all in pristine condition and dyed black to match my black mage attire. Once I had my clothes on did my possible reason to being sent to this land dawn upon me like a meteor coming down onto a Sahagin camp. 'Oh...right...I ignored the invitation to the party in the palace at Ul'Dah...an invitation from the sultan no less...wow I am an idiot.' Facepalming myself in failure to realize it sooner I let out a sigh of shame and defeat, my fellow Thaumaturgists and Black Mages are probably laughing at me and rolling in their graves for my tragic mistake. Reaching into my satchel I pulled out my first thaumaturgist scepter, the weathered old stick with a stone at the end has seen better days and so have I but we must make do with what we have, after all my Stardust Rod Zenith is nicely stored in my satchel which makes me wonder how an adventurers satchel is even able to carry so much crap and not burst from being overstuffed. I mean seriously, how can I managed to shovel in a couple hundred pounds of metal ore into something that weights only five pounds? Putting the satchel around my shoulders and putting my top boots on till they are tight and snuggle and my scepter was hanging loosely on my belt and with that I opened my door and went out only to go face first into a sea of warm purple fur. 'Who turned out the lights?' "Sorry about that Tata, umm breakfast is ready?" Twilight Sparkle said as she nervously laughed a bit and backed up before turning back and went down the stairs, my eyes transfixed on her 'cutie mark', a six edged star with five more near the central one, those so called marks are supposed to be ones life calling but to me I believe in that you can be anything you want as long as you have the time, patience and energy to do more then one job. Rolling my eyes at the pony's cutie mark policy of 'one mark=one job' I went down the stairs, having no trouble since the stairs was perfect for a Lalafell of my size, and that the hand rail was also perfect. This tree house would be perfect for Lalafells everywhere since it fits perfect to our size, enough room for us to run about and the basement is perfect for me to do my research and botany. Once me and Twilight have reached the kitchen, the sweet smell of pancakes and toast filled the air and assaulted my nose, the oh so tasty smell was enough for me to start drooling but seeing how Twilight was giving me a grin and that Barb was grinning as well but was more along the lines of being seductive, which might have worked if she was Momodi and was wearing an apron that said 'Kiss the Chef' but sadly all I get are these two knuckleheads. "So...Tata-" Twilight said but I cut her off, my teaching years finally being put to some use. "My name is Tatalito, Tata, not Lito, and Nald'thal forbid that you use my last name again." I said, slightly irritated that Twilight has yet to use my actual name instead of these nicknames. I am an instructor on the art of thaumaturgy for Ramuh's sake not some lowly student that can't grasp the fundamentals of ice magic! "Alright then, Tatalito, who do you plan on taking to the Gala this year?" "The what? You know I have only been here for a week Twilight Sparkle, and you have yet to explain to me what this 'Gala' is along with the purpose of the two gold tickets that came to me in the mail yesterday." I said while eating my pancakes and toast, the latter being buttered a bit more then normal since dry toast isn't really my thing, need something on it since they don't have Rolanberry Jelly. "Sorry, forgot that you weren't from around here. Well then the Grand Galloping Gala is an once a year event that takes place all the way in Canterlot and it is always held in the gardens of the royal palace and everypony that is anypony will be there." "Sooo, basically it is one giant party and gathering with the most wealthy and influential beings of the country come to talk about boring nonsense and flash their money to see who is the big shot pony. Am I not correct?" "Well...no, not exactly but still it is an honor to even receive a ticket let alone another for a date!" "Ha ha, no, not going." "What! But why not?" "Because young Sparkle, I have been to many like this 'Gala' before back home, all of them were boring, all of them had rich people trying to bribe me to join their side, and a creepy sultan that tried to get into my pants when she had way to much Cooking Sherry." I said, remembering that one time the poor girl got so drunk that when she finally got me alone with her it well...it all went down hill from there. I was just lucky that one of her bodyguards found us before things got out of hand. Shaking her head Twilight just sighs and goes back to eating, Barb finished washing the dishes that was used to cook our breakfast and was enjoying her own little pile of gems and pancakes. Something I did not know that dragons did was consume gemstones, I thought they only consumed meat and plants but when I saw Barb take a large bite out of a ruby that she found growing out of the ground and not break any of her teeth, that little bit surprised the hell out of me. 'Note to self, keep all squishy bits of myself away from her teeth.' "Well sorry to say this Tatalito but you are required to go to the Gala." "Why am I required to leave the comfortableness of this tree home to go three malms into the distance, one-eighth a malm up a mountain and barely a tenth of a malm to a palace just to show to the country of Equestria 'Hey look at me, the new race that your princess's sister brought over on accident when she was still the biggest evil since the elder primals.'. In all seriousness though Twilight Sparkle, I am refusing to go because the one that brought me here is still not in chains nor is she rotting in a dungeon for almost killing all life on the planet by bringing an eternal night. That plan would have never worked without thinking of ways to keep the day and night balanced, a way to generate heat with the new lunar/solar phases and a way to prevent a rebellion from breaking out." I said as I took a bite out of my toast, enjoying the rich flavor of rye and wheat with butter, it is not the same as Rolanberry Jelly but still it comes close to it, maybe if I had some tart berries. "Sorry Tatalito but Princess Celestia's word is final, your going and that's that." Twilight said and with a small triumphant grin she finished her breakfast before levitating her dishes to the sink, dropped it in and went off to her library to get started on whatever thing she has working on. Rolling my eyes at Twilight's response, my end of the year plan seems to have been canceled for a party with the rich snobs of a city that only cares for the wealthy. My plan was to get drunk, get dizzy, and pass out with at least five bottles of Cooking Sherry and wake up somewhere in the quiet little town in my pants and boots. Grabbing today's newspaper from the counter-top I moved from my little spot in the kitchen, shuffled around the floating books in the library, and moved down the stairs into the basement and when I got to my workstation I found that my flower boxes were filled with tiny sprouts, plants from back home. Walking over to workstation number one, the twelve six-by-three flower boxes held different samples of weaver's seeds, four of them were Moko Grass, both their normal conditions and in their high quality breed, next was four seed patches of Cotton Boll, both normal and high quality, Flax was next and with a small smile I gently watered the twelve batches of weaver's seeds, the more advanced seeds are being kept safe within a small wooden box underneath my bed for future storage. I know that my Moko Grass will be used for my future clothing samples, I heard that Rarity is a clothespony and that she is the best in her business so maybe I could trade some secrets that I learned from the Weaver's Guild for some tips and maybe supplies for my own small projects. Writing down the progress of the first station I moved over to the second which held some of my culinary seeds, mostly Kukuru Bean and Cloves for half the box, the second half is filled with Faerie Apples and La Noscean Oranges, both of them being planted with high quality seeds since I want to enjoy the taste of juicy apples and oranges without having to pay for them. The last box held something from the Gridanian forest of Black Shroud, I heard their nuts were good but when I tried their walnuts and chestnuts I knew that I had to have more, and so now their seeds rest within this last box, hoping to grow into fine trees. Grow my pretties, grow big and strong for me, I want to be able to cook and eat you all one day. Hopefully before Twilight uproots any of you and earns a Flare to the face. Just like that one pony that I blasted when I first got here...what was her name again...Black Snooty? Going back to all the stations I placed the fire cluster crystals above the plants, using them as improvised suns to give light and warmth to my little plants and after a few seconds of the light hitting my babies I saw the little leafy greens all twitch a bit before waving side to side happily. How did I know they were happy, well when your a botanist you learn these things. I do hope they grow fast enough before the Gala cause I am not going if I have to miss my plants for a few hours cause of what one pony said. Yawning to myself and checking the small clock that I had repaired I saw that it was already 3 PM I saw that I should give myself a small cat nap, seeing how that my botany work is tiring and since I wasn't interrupted by Barb or Twilight to come up for lunch I guess I can forgo to the outside world and use what bits I have earned by giving that apple farmer some seeds of the Faerie Apples and Mirror Apples, and here is hoping that the orange farm mare can make those trees grow fast so we can sell the new brands of apples to Equestrian markets here, forty percent of the profit sounds nice since its their lands my apples are growing on so that was ten percent which also covered keeping bugs and pests off of it and watering it. Climbing back upstairs I opened the door to my room and locked the door and without even taking off my top boots I leap onto my bed, roll over and just start snoozing. Sadly my snoozing didn't last long as I heard the front door to the tree house get forced open and the mixed shouting and yelling voices soon found its way to my room, my left eye cracking open before turning to the door to my room. "Oh...oh no, those ponies better not be fighting over two stupid gold tickets to a stupid party. I did not escape one hell just to enter another." I nearly shouted as I hopped out of bed, put on my Black Mage uniform, placed my giant black cap on my head and pulled out my Stardust Rod from my satchel and with an angry thought the door to my room just burst into flames before being reduced into a pile of ashes, my arm slightly pointed to the door and my staff angled directly at it. Crap...I owe Twilight a new door... Growling at the sight of the ash pile I stormed downstairs and before I know it I saw the girls arguing with among themselves over who would get the other ticket and go with Twilight to the Gala, so I did the most sensible thing I could do at the moment. I silently and calmly walked over to Barb, pulled her aside, found a piece of paper, ink well and quill then quickly wrote to Celestia with the two golden tickets attached to the scroll. What I wrote was simple. "Dear Princess Celestia" "I am writing to you on such a short notice because your student is currently having a hard time trying to decide which of her five friends will go to the Gala with her this year, and because of her indecision to pick one of them to go they have taken it upon themselves to try and bribe their way to earn that ticket. I do not know how long this shenanigan has been going on but it must come to an end. I am sending back her two tickets in the hopes that if she can not come up with a viable pony to go with her to your rich party. I am also sending back my two tickets as well because plainly, I am not going for any reason whatsoever, secondly because if I even sense it being a trap you will have to deal with a hailfire storm and I rather not end up in a dungeon because I am going against my will." "PS: If I see Nightmare Moon or Luna or whatever her name is, I will blast her again with Flare till she is nothing but ashes or she apologizes for insulting my people and myself." Nodding at my letter I passed it over to Barb who gave a quick look over and with a great puff of green flame the letter turned into a cloud of green dust and flew out a nearby open window and went straight to Canterlot. "My business here has been concluded. Now if any of you blockheads want to keep fighting over a damn ticket then do so outside, its my three o'cloak nap time and I need my rest. Good day to you girls." I said and with a happy grin I turned around and before I was even half way up the stairs before Barb let out an unladylike belch, blushing slightly before handing the letter to Twilight who didn't know anything about the letter I had sent. As Twilight started to read the letter I saw that she was smiling quite widely, her smile only grew larger as her horn glowed brighter then before to reveal that instead of two tickets that came with the original letter this morning, she pulled out and into the view of everyone in the room to see six golden tickets, one for each of them. What I did not expect to happen next was that Twilight then pulled out two extra tickets and said aloud what else was on the letter for me to hear. "And Twilight, these two tickets are for your sister Barb and for your friend Tatalito Yayalito, I know that he does not want to go to the Gala but it is mandatory that he shows up, the first reason is that Luna apologizes to him for insulting him and the Lalafell race, secondly for Tatalito to make himself known to the archmage and principal of the school for gifted unicorns as we have much to learn about his home and where he came from, lastly Tatalito must try to enjoy himself at the Gala." "PS: Tatalito Yayalito must be in his black uniform that he arrived in since he said that is his symbol of his office." God damn it... Sighing out loud for all of them to hear I grab the ticket that Twilight held close to my head, the one eye that everyone can see is clearly glaring at Twilight, my mood now ruined because of the solar princess practically invoking her power over me to come to the Gala just to show me off. I hate being shown off to other people. Just because a Lalafell managed to become great and powerful doesn't mean you need to parade us around, you just might get more then you bargained for. Looking at my gil purse I saw that everything was still right where I left them and after hearing from Twilight that since our coins are practically made from the same thing and weigh the same so they are of equal worth. That and one gil is worth one bit and the same backwards, that and it a few ponies seem to want my gil since its a collectible. Not often that money from another dimension comes to your doorstep and wants to be spent on necessities and other items of value. Once I am back to my room I went over to the window and took off my hat and placed it on my bed, my eyes scanning the town as a pony or two look up to see me standing there, only able to see my head and the ones that are nice to me stopped and waved, the ones that still haven't warmed up to me just give a cautious stare before going back on their way. Grabbing my hat from my bed one last time I went back down the stairs, the six mares talking to one another about what they are going to do at the Gala since they all got a ticket, Barb was busy giving me those big heart eyes and without even giving her a stare back I went out the front door, closed it behind me and with a sad sigh I went straight to the nearest coffee shop, my body needing the sweet blend of equestrian coffee before I set something on fire because of my short temper. I wonder what Dizzy is up to right now...that yellow bird better not be getting himself into trouble again.