Drake's Empire

by Pentel123

Chapter 29: Turning Wheels

Chapter 29: Turning Wheels

“Roll on highway, roll on along/Roll on daddy till you get back home/Roll on family, roll on crew/Roll on momma like I asked you to do/And roll on eighteen-wheeler roll on (Roll on)”
-Roll On by Alabama

The wind tugged at Trixie’s hair, pulling it backwards and upwards, as she stood atop the strange machine that made its way down the road at a frightening speed. Well, frightening to a lesser ponies, but not for the Great and Powerful Trixie, not even when it hit potholes and threatened to throw Trixie from her position.

It had been three days since that fateful night at the tavern. Three days of the unicorn Flim driving that machine at that crazy speed, burning out his magic till he passed out. Three days of living without stopping. Flim had been clear on that point. Not to stop, not even for a second. That made certain things uncomfortable for Trixie and that other pony, Novelty, who, lacking magic, took the responsibility to rationing the supplies and ensuring Flim slept in his bed rather than the driver’s seat.

Trixie felt the machine begin to slow and climbed down from the roof, asserting control over the vehicle with the spell Flim had shown her in one of his rare moments of lucidity. “Trixie has control and will follow the road until the next town which should be our destination of…” Trixie said as she entered the cabin, drawing a blank.

“Nieghvannah, and Iron Will should be there when we arrive,” Novelty said as she tucked Flim’s whimpering form into his bed.

“He burned himself out again?”

“Yeah, eye scanning the horizon the whole time.” Novelty said taking the shotgun seat.

“What happened? Trixie doubts he was always this unstable,” she said a hint of pity working its way into her voice.

“Do you really want to know?” Novelty asked surprised to see Trixie show interest in someone other than herself. The whole journey had been spent listening to her talk about herself. At least it helped her get to sleep at night.

“Trixie wouldn’t mind learning about her traveling companions. Not that she particularly cares, but that is a stallion that has seen and experienced the rough places of this world,” Trixie said glancing back at the scars over Flim’s right eye.

“Alright, I’ll tell you what I know.” Novelty said.

It didn’t take long for Novelty to share what little she knew about them, augmenting what they had told her with what she had learned Drake from various sources. Finishing the tale with a yawn Novelty bid Trixie goodnight and crawled into the bed.

Trixie continued to power the machine all through the night pondering what Novelty had told her. When the sun finally rose the next morning, Neighvannah stood out on the horizon.

* * * * * * * * * *

Prince Blueblood knew something was up. As one of the most influential socialites in Canterlot, both from his pedigree and position, it was his duty to know when something was happening. First it was the deployment of guards to Ponyville. A short time later a group of bureaucrats came by the Office of Cartography, his office. Soon thereafter bits started moving and Princess Celestia’s businessponies started making inquiries and requesting maps for the North-Western region. Then guard commanders came by asking for detail road maps and anything he had on The Wildlands. He suspected the dragon was up to something, not Spike who was at once a skillful maneuverer of the masses and completely clueless, the other one.

This was why he was not surprised when he was called to meet with Princess Celestia in her breakfast nook. Knocking respectfully, he waited for the door to open before entering and taking an empty seat at the table.

“Good morning Auntie, you look radiant as always this morning.” Blueblood said, donning his three time award winning smile. “How has your week been?”

Celestia grimaced for a moment, looking down at the lone grapefruit on her plate. “Well enough my dear nephew, though it has had more trials and challenges than I expected.”

“Ah, these trials wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain serpent that hails from lands beyond Equestria by any chance, would it?” Blueblood asked, pouring himself some tea and spooning sugar into the oatmeal that was placed in front of him by one of the kitchen staff assigned to the nook that morning.

“Perhaps, though one might ask what makes you think that?”

“It could be the number of ponies coming by the Office of Cartography, and since there aren’t any succession crises among the nobility I know of, or large business deals on the verge of happening, it seems likely to be an aberration in the normal operation of the kingdom causing the rush. Then again, perhaps it is the rumors in the merchant quarters of a new trade route that is about to get a royal sanction to go where no merchant has gone before, under escort no less. Mayhaps it is that every pony that has my ears seeks for me to whisper their name into yours for a new court position that is about to be created,” Blueblood said, taking a small measure of satisfaction in seeing Princess Celestia smile as he told her that whatever she had set in motion was snowballing on its own.

“It is good to hear you’re paying attention, it saves time on explanations. Yes, a new position is being created that reports to me, but it will not be in my court. Instead they are going to serve in Forum, an old ruin were Drake has established himself, some followers, and will be raising the next changeling queen. Or rather you are going to serve in Forum,” Princess Celestia said smiled as she waited for Blueblood to process what she had told him.

Blueblood considered what she had said trying to think who best to suggest to her when her final line hit him. He gasped for a moment as his world crashed down around him. She was going to send him away from Canterlot, away from everything he had built for himself.

“Surely there are far more suited ponies than myself you could send Auntie,” he said once he regained control of himself.

“But none that I can trust like you,” Celestia said, smiling like a cat that’s caught a canary.

“You flatter me Auntie, but what about the Office of Cartography. If I leave who shall run it.”

“Gerry Mander is more than qualified and there are no major issues at the moment.”

“But, Auntie! I am not a pony made for ruins and exploration, I am an urbanite, a socialite, I beg you to find some other pony for this assignment!” Prince Blueblood said slowly realizing that he was doomed to the wilderness.

“I have made my decision Blueblood, you are my first choice for this position. I trust you to perform it with the same excellence you put into your other duties. Besides think of this as an opportunity to get away from all those mares that just want you for ‘your looks and wealth’ as you put it,” Princess Celestia said ending the conversation.

Breakfast was finished quickly after that and Blueblood returned to his apartment in a funk. He ordered his servants to prepare his things for travel and began writing letters to his contacts informing them that he would be leaving for an unknown amount of time and would contact them when possible. Once the letters were prepared, being able to write several at once with his magic helping greatly in the task, Blueblood went to talk to some guard commanders that owed him favors. It would be foolish to go into uncivilized lands unprepared after all.

* * * * * * * * * *

As Blueblood prepared for his exile, the Super Speedy Tank 7000 arrived in Neighvanna. Flim awoke as Trixie came to a stop in the center of the town, the sound of seagulls coming from the harbor and the scent of sea water wafting into the tank.

“Why are we stopping?” Flim demanded, jumping out of bed.

“Because we have reached Neighvanna,” Trixie said with a yawn, opening the side hatch. “Now Trixie is going to go stretch her legs and if you give her some money will procure provisions the next leg of our journey.”

“No, we can’t stop. We need to keep moving until we find Iron Will,’ Flim said throwing the SST 7000 in motion as he jumped towards the driver’s seat. Trixie struggled to keep from falling out at the tank lurched forward, and was saved at the last moment by Novelty, who pulled her back in.

“Flim, calm down! We can stop for a moment while I go find Iron Will and bring him to you,” Novelty said as Trixie leaned against the bulkhead and caught her breath. “Look, there is a fountain right there, you can keep the SST 7000 moving around it while I got get my boss and Trixie gets supplies so we doesn’t have to keep trying to forage from the roadside while we are moving.”

Flim looked at the fountain. It was three tiered, water pouring from a pair of spigots at the top. It looked safe enough, there was plenty of room around it, there were ponies, but not too many. “Okay. I’ll slow down so you can get out. Do you know how long it will take?” Flim said after a moment’s thought. It didn’t feel right but he needed their help.

“It will take longer to convince Iron Will to come with me than to find him,” Novelty said then turned to Trixie.

“It depends on if you have any bits Trixie can use to procure the supplies or if Trixie have to get them with Trixie’s own wealth,” Trixie said holding up a sad depleted bag. Flim said nothing, merely brought a bag of gold over to her.

“This will do. Trixie will be back in a couple hours.” With that Trixie jumped from the crawling SST 7000 and trotted into Neighvanna putting together a mental list of what to procure.

“Flim, I know you are having trouble without Flam around but you have to pull yourself together.” Novelty said standing at the hatch.

“What do you know?” Flim snapped back instantly regretting it. “Just go get Iron Will, I’ll be fine until you get back.”

Novelty wanted to say something, but the Flim’s defeated posture convinced her that it would be useless. Instead she too left, off to find her employer.

* * * * * * * * * *

The SST 7000 crept around the fountain drawing stares and questions from young fillies and colts who were told to ignore it. Inside Flim sat seeing danger in every shadow.

'Can’t rest, no dreams, no nightmares. Sleep lets the monsters in. Sleep is why I wasn’t ready. If I don’t sleep I’ll never stop. If I’ll never stop they can never get me. If they can’t get me then there is still hope for Flam.'

These thoughts and others like them ran through Flim’s mind as he circled the fountain. He and Flam had been inseparable. Flam took care of the master plan and he ironed out the details. Flam looked out for him, and he looked out from Flam. Now thought, now Flam was lost to the dogs, and Flim was lost to his fears.

For several hours Flim waited. Trixie was the first to return, laden with supplies for the next part of the journey. Flim said nothing other than telling Trixie to grab an iron pan and Trixie ignore him. Though she did grab the pan. Storing the supplies she then climb onto the top and fell asleep in the warm sunlight. Far later than expect Novelty returned with Iron Will following atop a pair of goats, scowling with his arms crossed.

“Trixe! Trixie can you tell Flim I’m back and that he needs to talk to Iron Will,” Novelty said when the SST 7000 came into view. Trixie huffed, annoyed at having been woken, but did as asked. Iron Will took his first look at the SST 7000. It was a dusty, dented metal contraption that did little to impress him. After a short wait it came to a stop and a ragged looking ponies, one with a blind eye, climbed out of the vehicle. The pony looked familiar but Iron Will couldn’t place him.

“Hello Iron Will,” Flim said standing at the hatch his back legs twitching nervously in stark contrast to the façade he was wearing. “If you have your stuff hop on we need to be going.”

“NOW HOLD ON little pony,” Iron Will said, hopping off his goats and Marching up to Flim. “Just who do you think you are to be trying to order Iron Will around?”

“Willie, I don’t have time to be dealing with your adequacy issues. Either hop on or I will knock you out and throw you on. Your choice,” Flim said, looking Iron Will in the eye. Iron Will returned the stare just as intensely.

“Wait a second only two ponies would ever dare to call me that,” Iron Will said taking a closer look. “Flam is that you?”

Flim took a deep breath, fighting down the urge to yell, to scream, to cry. “No, I’m Flim. Flam was- he was- he was taken by Diamond Dogs a few day ago, and every minute we spend debating how you join us is another minute wasted in getting him back,” Flim said, his voice breaking as he spoke of his brother.

Iron Will eased back. “Alright Flim, I’ll come with you at least to meet Drake. It’s the least I can do after what you two did for me. Just give me a minute to take care of a few things with Ten and Kue.” he said, and after a nod from Flim, went to speak to the goats that had carried him to the fountain.

“Thank you Trixie you can put that away now,” Flim said as he ducked back into the SST 7000 feeling accomplished. He had expected Iron Will to be more difficult to convince. Hence why Trixie was standing ready with a cast iron pan atop the vehicle the whole time.

“Good, Trixie is glad we can finally be going. The sooner this job is done, the sooner I can get paid.” Trixie said hopping down when Novelty stuck her head inside.

“You already knew Iron Will?!” She asked, just shy of a scream.

“Not now Novelty, not my place, and definitely not the time,” Flim said as he double checked how Trixie had stored the gear and looking over the remaining equipment from Forum.

“Fine, but I expect the full story next time we stop.” Novelty said as Iron Will returned.

“Alright, I’m ready. Lets go!” Iron Will said mounting the SST 7000. “Where are we headed to meet with your Drake?”

“I’ll tell you once I find out, but most likely… In Ponyville.” Flim called up as he started the machine rolling out of town, off to the north.

* * * * * * * * *

Author's Note:

Almost done with Equestia and back to Forum. The next chapter will be a normal one, but after that we will go through a period of time using Bluebloods reports to Celestia to keep us informed.

Thanks as always to my editor Alfamaxis, and to everyone that reads. If anyone is super gungho about the possibility of helping out with the next chapter please let me know via PM.

Also can anyone spot the reference?

Comments

[Doomhunter]

yes new chapter and it's great. I think bossing Blueblood like the will bite Celestia later. He's not happy being told he has no choice in the matter.
If drake picks up on this he could make Bluebood loyal to him instead of Celestia.

[PestilentHail00]

I have an odd feeling that it involves the "I don’t have time to be dealing with your adequacy issues. Either hop on or I will knock you out and throw you on. Your choice" part but I'm not sure.

[Bazing]

Oh yeah loving it so far!

[The electric bomber]

The last bit of the chapter gave me a feeling of Deja Vu.

[ArchAngelGundam]

Is the reference Gerry Mander? If not I got nothing. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.

[Pentel123]

6409936 Nope, though good guess.

[deathcombo99]

6410505
When I think of iron wills voice. I think of Torgue
From borderlands 2