King of Serpents: Concord's Dawn

by nobreiner

The Deal

As Maggie and I strode across the bridge, I stopped to give a confused look to the pony. “So… just like that, you’re letting us in? What about the whole ‘lacking supplies’ shtick?” I asked, cocking my head in confusion.

The pony chuckled in response. “That was before I knew you could drive off those damn acros. Plus, I think a new spot just opened up.” He finished darkly, looking away.

Following his gaze, I saw that he was staring at the pit into which the unfortunate guard had fallen. I bowed my head sadly. “I’m sorry. I’m sure he was a good… stallion.” I said, hoping he didn’t notice my hesitation.

Judging from his reaction, he didn’t, simply continuing to stare. After a few moments of silence, however, he turned away and began walking back into the village. Taking a moment to regard the scene in silence, I moved to follow.

I was just about to pass into the town proper; I realized that a familiar presence was no longer at my side. Looking around, I saw that Maggie was standing at the edge of the pit, over the poor guard’s body. She was standing stock-still, her eyes locked on the broken form of the pony before her. Confused, I slithered over to her and said, “Maggie? You okay?”

There was no response.

I tried again, lifting my tail and poking her in the side, my concern for her overriding my reluctance to poke a swarm of insects. “Maggie.” I said. “C’mon Maggie, you’re freaking me out.” She continued to ignore me, and I poked harder, actually piercing the wall of bugs that was her skin and tapping one of the wooden ribs inside.

This seemed to finally bring her out of her trance, as she snapped her head up to look at me. It was then I saw that lines of golden sap were running from her eyes, and down the carapaces that formed her cheeks. She was crying.

“Maggie?” I asked urgently, drawing closer. “What’s wrong?” The Spriggan didn’t respond, only casting a glance at the mangled corpse in front of us before returning her gaze to mine.

In dawning comprehension, I brought my tail forward to rest upon her withers in what I hoped was a comforting gesture, ignoring the feeling of tiny legs crawling across my skin.

“Umm… I’m sorry, Maggie. I-I don’t really know what to say here. It’ll… be alright, okay?” Crap, that was pathetic. I thought. I always sucked at this comforting stuff. Thankfully though, this seemed to draw Maggie out of her trance. She gave a small smile at my pitiful attempt, and as I looked on, the golden tears leaking from her eyes slowly began to slide back in, until they disappeared into the glowing orbs altogether.

“Thanks, Sal.” She said, sniffling slightly. “Sorry to get all emotional there, I just-“

She was suddenly cut off by the pony’s gruff voice yelling, “Hey! Just because I’m letting you in doesn’t mean I’m gonna wait all day! Get your flanks in here, already!” I shot him a glare and was about to respond when Maggie simply brushed past me, striding across the bridge to join the pony. Grumbling slightly, I moved to follow.

Catching up with the waiting pony, I shot him a glare, and jerked my head in the direction of the town. “So,” I said venomously, “Are you going to give us a tour?”

The pony shook his head in response. “They don’t pay me enough for that, I’m just security. I’ll be taking you to the Docs and telling them about your ‘encounter’ with the acros. I’ll let them decide what to do with you.”

Docs? Acros? What is he talking about? I thought bewilderedly. I then thought closely about his last statement. “Wait.” I said urgently. “These ‘Docs’ are deciding what happens to me? What if they want to kick me out?” The Pony laughed in response.

“I really doubt they’d get rid of something like you. And even if they did, I wouldn’t let them get rid of our own personal acro repellent.” This only served to confuse me more. What is that supposed to mean?

Suddenly, the pony stopped in front of one of the lean-tos, grunting, “We’re here.” He then raised a hoof and gave three solid knocks on the door. There was a pause, before the door opened a crack, and a nervous voice stuttered out, “I-Iron Ore? Is th-that y-you?” I shot a look at the newly identified pony. Iron Ore? That’s a fitting name; this guy’s a brick shithouse.

The pony “Iron Ore” apparently shot me a glance before responding, “No worries Doc, they’re gone. And I brought you a present.” He grinned at me, in the same way a cat would grin at a particularly large mouse, and I felt a shiver of trepidation run down my frame.

We watched intently as the door before us opened, revealing another pony. It took only a second to identify him as an earth pony, with a teal coat, and a messy forest green mane. His cutie mark was, oddly enough, a paw print. His azure eyes conveyed relief as they fell upon Iron Ore, but quickly shifted to horror as he regarded me.

“BASILISK!” He hollered, slamming the door- right onto Iron’s outstretched hoof. If the pony was in pain from this motion, he didn’t show it, the only outward change being a small frown forming on his lips.

“Doc, it’s fine. This thing ain’t gonna hurt you. He scared off the acros for us.” He said, before shifting his hoof and opening the door, revealing the shaking pony behind it. As Rock’s words began to sink in, the “Doc’s” expression quickly shifted to one of intense curiosity.

“The Acromentulae? Really?” He said, pushing past the door and inspecting me closely. “Amazing. An adolescent Mistwatch Basilisk. Definitely not a Greater Basilisk, would already be petrified otherwise. But, very rare. Never seen outside of Mistwatch. An outcast? Exile?” He said all of this amazingly quickly, and I was immediately reminded of Mordin from Mass Effect. The fact that he was apparently a doctor only made the comparison easier. If he starts singing Gilbert and Sullivan, my life will be complete. He continued to mutter rapid notes to himself, until Iron stepped forward and stopped him with a hoof.

“Look Doc, you can study him later.” He said. “Right now we gotta meet with Doc Greenhorn. Is she in here?”

The Doctor didn’t seem to be paying attention to him, his eyes locked on my form with a rather disturbing degree of curiosity. Nevertheless, he responded, “Yes. Inside. Were working together before attack.” He stepped around Iron Ore’s hoof and approached me. “Would love to study more closely. Perhaps, a one-on-one examination?” Now, had I heard this question, I probably would have begun slithering as far away from this guy as fast as possible. But I didn’t, because I had more important things on my mind.

I am the very model of a scientist Equestrian.

I’ve studied species Griffin, Dragon, not to mention zebrican.

The Doctor, taking my silence and dopey smile as a yes, beamed and said, “Excellent! Looking forward to working with you!” With that, he turned around and proceeded back into the lean-to, disappearing into its interior. Iron Ore spared a confused glance at me, before moving to follow.

Suddenly realizing Maggie and I were alone, the former giving me a worried stare, I looked to her and asked, “What just happened?” The Spriggan could only shake her head dumbly in response.

Standing in the center of the underground laboratory, (I had discovered the lean-tos were in fact only staircases to underground buildings) I observed the pony in front of me. She was a unicorn, with a deep emerald coat that matched the color of my scales. Her mane was silver shot with streaks of white, giving her an aged look. Finally, she had a maple leaf cutie mark, and chestnut eyes. According to Iron Ore, who I had now learned was commander of the guards in this town, she was Doctor Greenhorn, the head scientist for this research outpost.

After introducing myself, Greenhorn had curtly brushed me off in favor of glaring at Iron Ore.

“Alright Commander.” She said brusquely. “You have ten seconds to explain why there’s a Basilisk in my lab.”

Well how-de-doo to you too. I thought, frowning slightly. Iron Ore shot a quick glance at me, before replying, “Look, Doc, I just-“

“I am a Doctor Iron, and I will be addressed as such.” She interrupted, her eyes narrowing dangerously. Geez, what a bitch.

“Alright, Doctor then,” Iron continued. “This thing was able to drive off five acros just by looking at ‘em! You can’t tell me that won’t come in handy out here.”

The Doctor shook her head. “As useful as it is, Commander, we have no way of housing him. We are filled to capacity as it is, after that last wave of reinforcements you hired.” She said all of this in the tone a kindergarten teacher would use to explain that one plus one equals two, and I found myself gritting my teeth in irritation.

Iron Ore, however was either used to this treatment or didn’t care, as he responded evenly, “Actually a space just opened up, the acros just took out one of the new recruits. He can stay in the barracks.” This rebuttal seemed to surprise Greenhorn for a second, but she was quick to regain her composure.

“And what of the situation with his diet, Commander?” She countered. “I very much doubt gems and apples will sustain him.” Iron Ore had no response to that, and wilted slightly. Greenhorn grinned smugly at her victory.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, the doctor from before stepped forward. “Have a solution.” He explained. “Have acquired many acromentula carcasses during our time here. Dozens in storage, all preserved.”

Not liking where this was going, I cautiously replied, “Yeah, so how does that feed me?” The Doctor gave me an unsettling grin.

“Acromentulae staple of Basilisk diet, reason for fear.” He explained. “Simply allow him to feed on carcasses.” There was a pregnant pause, in which everyone considered the implications of his plan.

“WHAT!” Greenhorn and I shrieked, her in outrage, and me in revulsion. We stormed up to the doctor together, each of us sputtering our rebuttals.

“Doctor Keeper, those carcasses are of immeasurable importance-“

“You want me to eat a spider?!”

“-to our research here. Simply giving them away to be eaten-“

“You want me to eat a SPIDER?!”

“-would destroy any evidence that our findings were even conclusive!”

“You. Want me. To eat. A SPIDER?!”

The Doctor quickly silenced us by raising a hoof. “Is the best possible solution. No other meat in camp, even for diamond dogs. Part of contract with mercenaries.”

Iron Ore stepped forward. “It’s true, you scientists forced my boys to swear off meat for the duration of their stay here. You said it was ‘unsettling’.” Doctor Keeper gave him an appreciative nod.

“Yes, so only source of meat in entire camp is collected acromentula carcasses in storage. More than enough to sustain adolescent Basilisk for some time. Will even have enough to present as evidence after study is over.” Doctor Keeper grinned widely as Greenhorn fell back, muttering darkly. I however, pushed forward.

“Look, Doctor,” I said pleadingly. “I have many issues with spiders. I don’t know why, but I do. One thing I do know, though, is that I would never put one of them in my mouth!” I ended with a snarl, causing the doctor to quail slightly.

“Apologies.” He said nervously. “But is the only option. No other source of meat, except in forest. Cannot allow you to leave to hunt, would leave us vulnerable to attack.” He seemed to be gaining steam as he continued. “Acromentula is primary part of Basilisk diet. Would provide all necessary vitamins and proteins, would support you completely.”

I could only sputter incoherently in response. As much as I hate to admit it, I could make no argument against this plan, aside from my own fears. Also, every time he said the word acromentula, I felt my mouth begin to subconsciously water.

This is insane; there is no way I could… Could I? I mean, I never minded dead spiders. I found them disgusting, but never scary. If I can get over that, I would be set on food. If not, I’ll probably starve. Even if I could convince them to let me hunt, I would have no way of knowing how to do that. I’ve only ever hunted pheasants, and that was with a dog and a gun and everything! I’d probably get myself killed if I tried to hunt in that forest. As this reasoning continued to assert itself in my head, I felt my resistance begin to crumble. Eventually, I bowed my head in defeat, and sighed. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

Doctor Keeper grinned widely. “Excellent. Will prepare one of the corpses. Will be ready in an hour if you wish.” Realizing that I was in fact starving, and deciding to get this over with as soon as possible, I nodded. “Very well. We can even use time to hold one-on-one study I mentioned. Should be very exciting!” This brought a look of confusion to my face. “One-on-one? What are you talking about?” Doctor Keeper looked to me with an expression of impatience.

“One-on-one study. Examination, questions. Mentioned previously, you did not object. (Damn you, show tunes!) Now, I must go prepare the body. If you’ll excuse me.” He turned to leave, but was halted by my cry of “Wait!” He turned, as I quickly tried to think of a way out of this. I couldn’t refuse to do the interview; it would seem suspicious. But giving him false information wouldn’t just be suspicious; it would prove I was lying. Luckily, I came up with an idea. “Before you go, do you think I could borrow something?”

As Iron Ore, Maggie, and I walked, floated, and slithered down the street, Iron Ore gave me a confused look. “I still don’t get why you needed that bestiary.” He said, nodding to the book Maggie was currently carrying for me.

I attempted to shrug in response, and when that failed, I settled for rolling my eyes. “Like I told the doctor, If I’m going to be keeping the acromentulae out of this town, then that book will come in handy. I may find out some weaknesses I can exploit if I have to fight them.”

Iron Ore looked unconvinced. “But they’re terrified of you, you won’t have to fight them.” I gave another eye-roll in response.

“I doubt that fear will hold them back forever.” Deciding to change the subject, I said, “So where are you taking us, anyway?” Iron Ore looked at me suspiciously, but thankfully decided not to press the issue.

“We’re heading to the barracks. They’re the twelve buildings closest to the gate, so we’re ready in case of an attack. You’ll be staying in Omega barracks. That’s where Windrunner, the guard you saw, was staying before.”

I was about to nod, when I realized something. “What about Maggie? Where will she stay if there’s only one spot open?”

Maggie shook her head in response. “Oh, I’m not staying in town. I have a home out in the forest. I’ll be staying there tonight and come back tomorrow, okay?” I nodded in confirmation, and we continued on in silence.

Eventually the quiet began to grind at my nerves and I began looking around randomly in search of something to occupy my attention. I spotted two more of the plate armored diamond dogs and, suddenly confused turned to Iron Ore to ask, “So, if you guards are part of the Royal Guard, then why are there diamond dogs in your ranks?” To this, Iron Ore gave a sharp bark of laughter.

“Oh, we’re not Royal Guards, not by a long shot. We’re mercenaries. We were hired by the scientists to guard them.” This revelation surprised me, but after some thought, I realized that it made sense.

However, this rose yet another question. “Why wouldn’t the Princess send guards to help a scientific expedition?” Iron laughed again, this time a bitter chuckle.

“’Cause we ain’t in Equestria, kid. We’re in Black Marsh. The northernmost part of it, in the Blackshore forest, to be exact. To send guards here would be to send ‘em into another nation, and that’s generally looked down on without declaring war first. Now cool it with the questions, we’re here.” He finished; stopping in front of another one of the lean-tos, before pushing open the door. Surprise Surprise, it revealed yet another staircase. The three of us proceeded down the stairs, until finally entering Omega Barracks.

The interior was sparsely decorated, but surprisingly well lit and spacious. There were four cots, two against each wall to the left and right, as well as a metal footlocker next to each one. From the walls hung several burning torches, and in the center of the room was a large wooden table. Seated around that table playing cards were two pegasi and a diamond dog.

The first of the pegasi had a sky blue coat, and a poofy white mane that looked remarkably like a cloud. His cutie mark was a treasure chest, and his eyes were a shade of blue slightly darker than his coat. Upon us entering, he looked up, gave a jovial smile, and waved.

The second pegasus was slightly larger than the other, with more clearly defined muscles. His coat was red, and he had a close-cropped, golden mane. His eyes were a solid gray and his cutie mark was, I shit you not, a crossed hammer and sickle.

The diamond dog was actually not too tall, only about half a head taller than the blue pegasus, and had sandy colored fur. His face was reminiscent of a bulldog’s, and he was the sole occupant of the table to be wearing his armor, minus the helmet. His eyes were a dark brown, almost black, and held a cold intelligence that immediately set my teeth on edge.

Upon realizing we were there, the red pegasus and the diamond dog immediately jumped up from the table, snapping to a salute. “Commander, sir.” They chanted in unison. Despite them attempting to keep their focus on Iron Ore, I caught them stealing curious glances at me, except for the blue pegasus. He instead was openly staring at me, not even bothering to salute, instead looking over my form from his seat with a curiosity that unlike Doctor Keeper’s brought a smile to my face. He looked like a small child first experiencing something fascinating, like a circus or a zoo.

“At ease.” Said Iron Ore, and the red pegasus and the diamond dog relaxed their stances, the pegasus lowering his hoof to the floor and the diamond dog lowering his paw to his side. “Alright boys, listen up. We got a new roommate for you three to replace Windrunner. I know this may seem sudden, but we need a place for this guy to stay. It turns out the acros are scared to death of ‘im, and that’s good for us. Are there any objections?”

The three responded with a spirited “No sir!” and Iron ore smiled. “Good. Now, let’s make some introductions.” Turning to me, Iron gestured to each of them in turn. “Sal, this is Sky Box,” He pointed to the blue pegasus. “Axel,” He pointed to the diamond dog. “and Red Dawn.” He finished, pointing to the red pegasus. Of course. I thought snidely.

Iron Ore then turned to the guards and gestured to me. “Boys, this is Sal, and you all already know Maggie.” He said, gesturing to first me then the Spriggan in turn. “I expect him to be treated well, ‘cause right now he’s the only thing keeping us from getting eaten by these acros. Understand?” Another chorus of “Yes sir!” followed, and Iron Ore nodded. “Alright. As you were.” With that, Iron Ore turned around and promptly left the barracks, without so much as a backward glance.

Maggie then turned to me and said, “It’s getting late Sal, I should probably get going too. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Setting the book down next to me, she then left as well, zipping up the stairs before I could reply.

Slowly, I looked to my new roommates, all of whom bore curious expressions, and lifted my tail in a wave. “Umm. Hi?”

Author’s Note: Okay, well, that chapter was both a great achievement and severe disappointment to me in several ways. Achievement, I managed to avoid the whole FurryGoose Basilisk problem in less than five words. Disappointment, I could not for the life of me go any further without this feeling like it needed a break. I’m sorry for those who expected the Basilisk description to be in this, but this seemed like a good place to leave off, and if I attempted to include more this would not be up by Sunday. I promise you now, though that the next chapter will have a description of the Mistwatch Basilisk and its abilities first thing. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and expect another to be coming in a few days, probably by Tuesday at the latest.

Comments

[TheEnemyCube]

So, his powers have not developed yet eh? Damn you for finding a legitimate explanation. I wanted to see something get paralyzed or turned to stone or something. And also, no first for you!

[The_Deceiver]

it took me a while but whlie i was reading i just remembered why the spiders are afraid of basilisks

[FurryGoose]

Well, that's the basilisk situation sorted.
Would be hilarious if one showed up. Well done on the chapter, keep it up!

[nobreiner]

885111
Thanks, I'm glad to have it resolved too. Though, unless either of us feels up to a crossover anytime soon, I doubt a Greater Basilisk will make an appearance.