Moxie Doo and the Staff of Kaku

by MoltenXKid

Chapter 2

The skyscrapers were long gone and gave way to rolling planes of tree and grass. Every so often a farm would come into view and pass as quickly as it came. In this moment of time, everything was peaceful.

Two ponies sat in one booth opposite of one another. The mare sighed heavily while trying to keep herself occupied. She had examined everything she could in the area and was now fiddling with the strange coin she had in her possession. She noticed the lanky stallion across from her; he was deep into a book that had hard cover. The word “Journal” was written on the front.

“Whatcha got there?” asked Moxie pointing towards the journal.

“It’s nothing,” answered Les, not looking up from his book ,“ Just my journal to keep track of my life.”

“Oh….what kind of stuff did ya write? Bet it’s filled dirt about the hotel staff and certain customers.”

Les scoffed before speaking.

“Unfortunately no. I keep that in my head,” Les said, tapping his head, “My journal includes things about me,my experiences, or interesting things I’ve read. It’s mainly my everyday life, which I remind you, I’ll be returning to once all this mess is figured out.”

Moxie reached across the gap between them and snatched the notebook away. Les tried to grab it back, yet Moxie kept him at bay with her hind leg. She opened the journal and quickly flipped through it. Inside, she saw detailed descriptions of the events in his life. Every day was documented well; a little too well for her liking. She even noticed beautiful drawings of different ponies that she see assumed Les had met. Then near the end, she saw a picture of herself; It was her when she was intoxicated on the night they met; it captured her perfectly.

“You have a very elaborate way of telling how you brush your teeth…” she jested,handing the book back, and hiding her own blush, "Your art is amazing.”

“Thankyou, but it’s nothing;I’m not that good,” he replied back, “I just used some tips from an art book I read to get things right.”

“Instead of reading books and working at a hotel, you should draw...maybe even write.”

“Trust, no one would want to look at my works…”

Moxie went to reply, but as she did, the train’s brakes locked, and Les was launched forwarded into Moxie. It took a moment for the train to completely stop, but when it did, the sound of disheveled passengers could be heard. Seconds later, the conductor began to talk over the intercom.

“Sorry for the abrupt stop, but we ran into...a problem.” he explained, “All passengers please exit the and remain calm.”

Moxie pushed Les off her and looked out the train window. Before her were the tribal buffalo in droves. They stood there, emotionless and not moving as passengers passed them and began standing near the front of the train where most of the buffalo stood.

“Les, you know anything about the buffalo?” Moxie asked.

The stallion stood up and began to gather his gear. For a moment, he thought to himself trying to remember anything.

“To be honest, no. The last thing I can recall is news of a town being potentially built near some of the stomping grounds, but that’s it.”

Moxie frowned. She knew how defensive the buffalo could get about their traditions; but she had to keep going. She grabbed her things and waiting till they were the last on the train to exit. Once she got outside the sun hit her directly. She squinted her eyes to see; she was trying to find the one in charge. Les kept close, not making eye contact with anyone as he walked.

“Hey! Which one of you guys are in charge?” she asked loudly, “I’m in a rush to get somewhere!”

“What are you doing?” Les whispered, getting worried.

“I’m getting to the point, so we can go,” She whispered back, “Anyway, who’s in charge here?!”

Most of the buffalo stayed silent. They still didn’t move nor did they express any emotion. It wasn’t until one buffalo, larger than the rest, came forward. Scars covered his torso and one of his eyes were gray. This creature took a deep breathe and bellows of air spewed from his nose.

Les visibly back down at the site of this creature and slid closer behind Moxie who stood there, eyes locked with the leader. They stood sizing each other up. The passengers nor the other buffalo interrupted this dance. Everyone just waited in the silence for something to happen.

“You ponies know no respect,” The leader huffed, “Moving through life with not a care in the world.”

“Someone has to blaze the path in life; we just decided it would be us,” Moxie retorted, “Now why did you stop the train?”

The buffalo looked her over one more time before responding.

“We were ordered to stop all incoming trains from entering buffalo territory. Your machines are upsetting the land. Plus, you all plan to expand your empire which will directly block our stomping grounds. We warned that any further acts to expand near us will be met with a show of force, but your business ponies didn't listen,” The leader fumed as he pointed towards one such pony, “She’s the leader of this whole movement; we want her.”

Moxie glanced over towards the mare. She was in a pantsuit and for some reason, wearing a cowboy hat. Next to her was a briefcase which Moxie assumed held the paperwork for the new town.

“Right right...I get you...sacred land...rituals and whatnot, but I’m still busy and really don’t have time for this. How about we meet with the chief and work this out?”

“None shall see the chief!” The buffalo said sternly.

“But-”

“No outsider shall see the chief unless he calls for the meeting.”

“What kind of stupid rule is that?”

The buffalo did not respond. He simply turned around and began to walk away The others of his tribe began to surround the business mare to take her somewhere away from the group. The began shaking, unsure of her fate, but Moxie didn’t know what to do.There were too many buffalo to fight and she knew she couldn’t outrun them,especially while pulling someone else.

“We could do the Stampede Column,” Les whispered, more talking to himself than anyone else.

All at once the Buffalo stomped. A dust cloud rose above the entire crowd, obscuring everyone's vision. Though no one can see, the sound of movement surrounded the crowd. When the dust settled, Moxie and Les were in between two lines of buffalo; the leader stood in front of them.

Even through his scowl one could see the essence of a smile peaking through. Rhythmically, the buffalo began to stomp and chant in their language. Both of which the volume rose and fell. A few buffalo became walking towards the start of lines, still chanting along.

“It’s been years since someone wanted to take the challenge,” mused the lead buffalo, “A tradition almost forgotten.”

“Wait...wait…” Les spoke, getting from behind Moxie, “I just read it in a book and offered it as a option. I never meant to start it.”

“Well you book forgot to mention, that when an outsider speaks on it, the challenge starts.”

“That doesn’t make sense at all....My book was written by a buffalo!”

A buffalo behind Moxie grabbed her by her light green shirt and dragged her outside the column. She tried to get back in but the buffalo were too strong and she could only watch as Les was left alone, surrounded by huge creatures on either side.

The first two buffalo began charging head first into Les. Their speed increased as the tunnel visioned on the lanky stallion. Les seemed to stuck in his thoughts, remembering his book and all of its content. Unable to actually do anything to help, Moxie screamed a warning at him.

At the last second, he managed to dodge the hooves from trampling his body. He spit the dust out his mouths, and stood up. Beginning to shake, he looked all around him to see the where the new danger was coming. More stampedes were coming and there seemed no time to think things through.

“Nice going, Les, “Moxie yelled, “Your books have gotten you into this a mess.”

Les, unmoving and frozen in fear at the incoming doom, replied, “They...it wasn’t supposed to be like this. I...I'm am suppose to accept the challenge. Not just be thrown into it.”

Les jumped out the way of another incoming buffalo and quickly had to roll to get out the way of another. Sweat dripped down his face and he was taking deeper breaths than normal.

“Well it’s too late for that now! How do you win this?”

“Well, I just gotta keep going,” Les explained, crawling out the way of more hooves. His fear appearing on his face. “We only lose when we quit, but the horrific part is that we can keep getting hit…until we actually quit”

“Okay so when does it stop?” Moxie exclaimed, climbing on the back of a buffalo making a side of the column so she can see better.

“Celestia why are you asking so many questions?!,” he yelled back, clearly out of breath, “It’s supposed to stop when their chant is over...so maybe in 3 minutes?”

Moxie let out a worried sigh and looked towards both side to see the buffalo were now coming from both sides and in troves now. Even though she barely knew Les, she wasn’t sure he could keep this up for another three minutes.

The other ponies who got off the train simply watched; to afraid to intervene or else they’ll be caught in the danger. Some even took pictures as if this was some tourist attraction.

The chanting from the buffalo was getting louder, as if it was hitting the climax. The thundering hooves of the buffalo seemed to make the ground unsteady.Because of this, he began to have close calls. It started off with him brushing against a buffalo, feeling their surprisingly soft fur against his.Soon, he started to feel their hot breath as he kept dodging at the last second, close enough to see their eyes, trapped in some trance.

Les began having a harder time keeping balance and dodging. His heart beat in rhythm to the chant, matching it’s pace.His lungs burned, trying to supply oxygen to his body, yet his muscles were worn and not responding as quickly. Years of sitting behind and desk and reading did nothing to increase his physical ability and his was suffering for it.

He say the latest buffalo approaching. He told his body to move and slowly it was responded, yet it was too late. Les was hit and he was tossed far, his body twirling in the air. Moxie waited for him to get back up, but he didn’t move. She began to climb over the buffalo she was on, but was held back by the one besides her. She was powerless.

“LES! Are you okay?” Moxie screamed.

“Barely…,” Les struggled to reply as he slowly rose to his feet, “My books said they were strong, but words didn’t tell me this.”

A small smile crept on her lips as she settled back into her spot on the back. The stampede seemed to be slowing down and the chanting getting lower and less power.

The crowd of ponies started to cheer, unbeknownst to them that the leader of this troop of buffalo was preparing one final assault. He stood in the middle of the aisle of the buffalo. Beside him were others filling out the space around him so there was no way to get around them.

As the chanting stopped, the hooves of this last run stormed on, rushing towards Les.

“Les watch out!” Moxie warned, eyeing the stampede speeding up

“What do you mean?” Les asked, circling-with a slight limp now- around himself and squinting in the direction the loud hooves were coming from, “Tell me what’s happening, please!”

One quick look, and Moxie knew his glasses were knocked off. He was a sitting duck, waiting to to be hit. She looked on the dusty ground, but didn’t see them anywhere. Chances are they were crushed under the hooves.

“Information, Moxie!” Les demanded with his voice cracking and knees shaking, “I kinda don’t wanna die...”

“There’s a wall of buffalo coming towards you. The leader is in the middle, kinda like...forming the point. They aren’t splitting up or slowing down.”

After hearing what she had to say, Les buried his hooves in their spot,closed his eyes, and faced directly what was ahead. He could feel the ground getting more and more unsettled as they approached. His heart was already racing but now it wanted to leap out his chest. He heard Moxie yelling something, but his ears were filled the sound of hooves hitting earth and his own blood rushing through his head. He said his prayers and hoped the book he had read was accurate and telling him facts. His life depended on it.

---

When Les awoke, he was in dimly lit hut. A thick smoke that smelled of roses filled his nostrils and hindered his vision a bit. All he could make out- still having trouble without his glasses- were two figures across the room.

The figures were passing around a tube of some sort that was the source of all the smoke. One figure, a pony began to take a deep inhale before she handed the pipe back and shook her head.The other figure, larger than the one before, began to laugh his deep laugh. Les assumed this was a buffalo as he watched it grabbed something, stuff it into the pipe ,and lit it again.

As Les rose from his cot, the figure began speaking.

“Moxie...what have you gotten yourself into this time?” came another buffalo.

“What makes you think I gotten myself into something?” Moxie replied.

“You only come down here when something has you completely stumped…or to get more of our herbs.”

Moxie’s cheeks went a light said of pink and she waved her hoof dismissively.

“You guys are one of the oldest cultures in Equestria, so I know you guys will have the best info,” she explained, taking the coin from her shirt pocket, “It’s this. I’m keeping it away from Senior Dieb. I’m not sure what’s it’s really for besides being a key to something else.”

The buffalo reached over and grabbed the coin; he examined it for a moment. The smile he wore not turned to a deep frown.One stomp of his free hoof and another buffalo came. He ordered her to bring in the eldest shaman of the village immediately.

Les managed to finally to make his way to the voices he heard. He hesitated before taking a seat next to Moxie who promptly brought him in for a hug. He winced in pain , yet the heavy smoke made it not hurt as bad as he thought it would. The buffalo across from him offered the smoking pipe, yet Les refused, saying it wasn’t for him.

“I guessing those buffalo really did a number on me, huh?” Les spoke,rubbing his aching shoulder.

“Maybe that one hit, but you fainted, my friend,” the buffalo explained, inhaling from his pipe, “The final part of the challenge is to see if you would run from a situation that seemed hopeless. Most challengers run from the final wall, but you stood your ground...more or less.”

“Yeah. At the last minutes they went around you. Everyone thought you were so brave for not moving...that was until when I approached you, you didn’t respond and flopped over.” Moxie laughed.

Les’s cheeks went a bright red and he let out an embarrassed chuckle.

“I was just following, what the book said. Plant you hooves and don’t move. Besides, I don’t think my hooves would have moved anyway.”

"Oh trust me, my general could smell the fear off you," The buffalo said, "By the way, sorry for everything. We've been trying to meet with the representatives about the new town, but they would listen, so we had to take more drastic methods to prove a point. I never thought anyone would actually call for a challenge."

"It's no problem, but has everything been taken care of? Especially with that mare?"

"Don't worry, Les, "Moxie grinned, "We talked out with her, and we feel confident that they wont be building anytime soon."

This didn't necessarily make Les feel good, but it felt better not to ask questions and accept what happened.

The group spoke a few more formalities and more cultural aspects of the buffalo tribes until the shaman tottered through the door, escorted by her apprentice. She went directly to the other buffalo and began to speak in some old tongue neither Les nor Moxie could understand. However, they could tell from the tone that things were sunshine and roses.

The Shaman received a jolt of energy and waved her arms as if saying a warning. The smoke seemed to swarm around her and she used her body to convey the message to them. She pointed towards Les and Moxie, her voice lowering and her body slowly making its way towards them.. The lights all centered on her as she continued with her harsh warning and finally they went out and see finished speaking. The one last notion, she placed her hood on Moxie abdomen, her face now solemn and bleak.

The assistant ran over and grabbed her. Almost immediately did the elderly buffalo collapse.Others came and assisted her on her way out and returned the coin back to Moxie. Another went towards Les, pulled some glasses from his satchel, and handed them over. One quick examinations and,Les knew they were quickly repaired from a broken state, but there was some buffalo repair aesthetic that made his glasses seem spectacular. He hastily put them on and thanked the buffalo for returning them.

“What in tartarus was that all about,Thunderhooves?!” Moxie exclaimed, standing from her seat.

“Well, obviously it was a warning?” Thunderhooves replied, keeping calm sucking in more from his pipe,”Not a very nice one either.”

“No duh! What did she say?!”

“Long story short, it’s a dangerous path for you three…”

“Three?! There’s only two...oh…”

“Really thought you’d like muscular stallions and not...his kind.”

“I’mma go take a walk...I’ll be back.”

Moxie stormed outside of the tent a trail of broken pottery in her wake. Left behind were, Les and Thunderhooves just sat in each other presence. Minutes passed and Moxie didn’t return, and Les was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“Erm...can I try?” Les asked referring to the pipe.

“By all means, friend!” Thunderhooves replied, almost pushing the stallion down while handing it over.

Not having smoked before, Les was unsure of what to do, so he imitated what he saw Thunderhooves do. He put his lips on one side breathed in deep.The first thing he noticed was the taste-like roses with hints of honey and different fruits. It went down easy and seemed to dance on the way down. However, his lungs were untrained and he let out a violet cough. But, what followed was a sense of calmness and the throbbing in his shoulder completely disappeared.

“My, I didn’t expect you to go that hard,” Thunderhooves admired, taking the pipe back, “So tell me, why are you here?”

“I..don’t know,” Les answered, slouching in his seat, “Moxie doesn't need me to help. We had one night of druken sex and boom, I’m running and dodging for my life. I’m just along for the ride honestly.”

“We buffalo say that nothing happens without a reason, but it's the creatures choice to accept that reason or go against it.”

They sat once more in silence, passing the pipe back and forth, this time Les taking smaller inhales and sometimes opening his journal to scribble something inside.

“The shaman said, the coin was griffin in origin,” Les spoke, “Am i right?”

“You speak ancient buffalo?” Thunderhooves asked, impressed.

“Celestia no...I wish. The book I read on the buffalo tribes referenced the griffons a few times in you all’s language, so the word stuck out when your shaman said it.”

“You have a good ear; she did mention the griffons. If you all continue this path, you’ll find yourselves deep in their territory in places they no longer tread. The real threat however isn’t the griffons. It’s Moxie’s foes. She built quite the enemy list over the years.”

Les leaned in, getting intrigued.

“What else did she say?”

“The coin leads to nothing but pain. She could feel the aura coming off of it and it felt dark and sickly. Unfortunately, that’s all she could tell. The griffons may know more.”

Les sighed, knowing that the griffons were the most helpful creatures in Equestria.It was easier to talk to a brick wall than to get a griffin to do anything nice for someone. Though, he figured the sooner this adventure was over, the quicker he could have his hotel job back and return to his books.

“Alright, so griffon territory, talk to a knowledgeable bird, an stay away from bad ponies, “ Les gulped, “Does Moxie do this alot?”

“At least once every other year. She seems to stumble in a lot of messes for just being an archaeologist.”

The thought didn’t even cross his mind that of what Moxie did for a living; he didn’t bother to ask. Part of him felt shame, and the other interested in asking her about everything she uncovered.

Les rose from his seat and thanked Thunderhooves for all his helped. He walked towards the opening of the hunt and stepped outside, only to be pushed back by a hooded figure. When they uncovered their face, it was none other than Moxie wearing a serious look.

Getting a closer look, he noticed there was a cut across her lip, which was swollen. Sweat dripped down her brow as if she’d been running and her hot, deep breath confirmed his suspicions.

“Moxie, what happened out there?” “Les asked, worried.

“We don’t have much time. The goons are in the village looking for us,” Moxie explained, throwing a cloak on Les, “Put that on. I hindered them a bit, but now they’re mad.Thunder, I need a Number 13 escape.”

“Awww, my favorite, “ Thunder said, “Though it’s a bit early for a run. I suppose I can make an exception this time.”

He stood up from his seat and let out a mighty roar. Once again, the ground began to vibrate and the sound of hooves hitting the Earth grew louder until it was right out the hut. Items in the room began to fall over and break and the dust rose from the ground and replaced the rose smelling smoke.

Thunder rose from his seat as well and walked over to the two ponies. He leaned down and Moxie climbed on his back. She offered Lesa hoof, which he grabbed and was hoisted onto the back of the huge buffalo.

“Where to Moxie?” Thunder asked, his voice low and rhythmic, as if entering a trance of his own.

“I lost them in the eastern stomping fields. From there, Les and I can leave and guide them away from you all, “ Moxie said, holding on tight, “Also, congrats on becoming the new chief. I heard you put up on hell of a fight.”

Thunder only smiled as he stepped from his hut.The sun blinded the ponies for a moment and then settled down revealing the hundreds of buffalo all chanting and stomping. This was more spectacular than what Les had read; his face was struck in amazement as he experienced the culture. The song they sung went perfectly with what seemed to to be random stomping. It was was magical.

Then Thunderhooves began to run full speed towards the east. Behind him, a cloud of dust that was immediately blown away by the hundreds of buffalo coming behind him. Like drums, the hooves crashed and crashed as they made their way closer and closer to the fields. And the chanting filled everyone one with some kind of joyous energy.

Les couldn’t help, but smile as soaked in his surroundings. A small part of him wanted to jump of and run alongside the group, yet before he could, Moxie tapped his shoulder, and pointed towards a group of stallions in the middle of the path. It didn’t take long for Les to recognize these goons; it was the same crew from earlier. This time, he could clearly make out a few.

They all wore dumb expressions, as if constantly waiting for instructions and they equally confused as where the loud noise was coming from. One stallion-Les presumed was the leader- had gray fur and wore sunglasses; his cutie mark was an explosion. Another one was small, smaller than Les.His mane was slicked back and carried a nice in his mouth. His leather jacket was a few sizes too big for him and almost swallowed him whole. The others didn’t stand out to much and seemed to be happy to be there.

“Hey! Dumbasses!” Moxie screamed, “Get a load of this!”

It was like deer stuck in headlights when, the goons zeroed in on Moxie’s caravan. It was too late to run or dodge out of the way. They were swept away in the tsunami of buffalo hooves. A few grunts and pained yelps could be heard, yet soon those were muffled in the brown fur.

A few more moments passed before Moxie grabbed Les and hopped off the back of Thunder. She let her out her own excited version of a buffalo scream before running through the trees. Les followed her, keeping a few paces back and looking around to make sure those goons were not on their trail.

Soon, both ponies found themselves in a clearing. In front of them were a group of sweaty stallions with carts attached to them. A sign on the side read, “Jenkin’s Transportation”. Without hesitation, Moxie ran towards them.

“I’ll pay you double whatever those bozos are paying if you ditch them here and take us to the nearest airship dock,” she offered.

Both stallions just shrugged and nodded before tightening their straps. The mare jumped on the back of the wagon and offered a hoof to Les who grabbed it, and got in the wagon himself. Not sooner after did the cart start moving. Slowly at first, but soon picked up speed to almost match the buffalo.

“Once we get to the airship, we have to go to the Griffin Territory,” Les said, leaning towards Moxie, “The shaman said that’s the coin’s origin…deep in their long forgotten areas.”

“Celestia damn it...I hate dealing with griffons…they are so selfish, but I know a bird who will help for a price, “she replied, "And that price may not be money, so if you have to dress up in a dress...don't ask why."

Les went to laugh, but when Moxie's expression stayed serious, he opted not to ask any more questions and changed the subject.

So you’re an archaeologist? I never would have guessed...”

“I got a lot more than I signed up for trust me," replied Moxie, remembering her past, "...wanna hear about the time I found the SS Luna in Canterlot Mountain?”