//------------------------------// // Just when things were getting good... // Story: The Life and Times of Flix the Hippogriff // by AlaskaIsCold //------------------------------// Space… So many times Flix had heard both Luna and Destined talking about it, but the way he thought about it was different from the two alicorns that spent who knew how long toiling over relative distances, absolute magnitudes and stellar masses. Flix thought that it was more of an infinite canvas, and Luna had the only brush and pallet capable of painting on it. This time it was different however. He stood at the highest mast on the catamaran and slowly reached for a brush, the tip of which was the same purple starry pattern as Luna’s mane. The hippogriff started to paint new nebulas before he heard a giggle behind him. “And here I thought that thou didst always love my sky. I guess I cannot be perfect,” Luna said with a laugh, her horn glowing steadily. “Luna!” Flix realized that if she was here, then he was definitely in a dream. He flew over and hugged her, then blinked and backed away, looking at her large belly. “I thought I was too far away and it took too much power to visit me?!” he asked. “Normally that would indeed be the case, but while Destined is resting from his latest time jump, Blue Streak offered to let me tap into him. With all of his energy at my disposal, I can reach where thou art at these times. ’Tis alike to how thou can go faster in a carriage with four ponies pulling instead of one.” Luna explained as she rested against the mast with Flix. “So – how has my wandering son been faring? Hast thou explored anything new of late?” She rested on her belly lightly, looking up at him with interest. “Actually, we have gone further south, and through what IkaIka calls the Straits. I have been cataloging as much as I can. Every day I see new stars and new nebulas. I’m not kidding; it’s like every time the sun dips below the horizon, I see something novel! Did you add something new? Are you working on this part of the night sky?” Flix asked, his ears completely perked up in interest. “No, I have not worked on it in over a millennium. However, when I first worked on the night sky, I cast out many large chunks of ice. I could not throw them far enough to escape the pull of my sister’s sun, and so much time has passed that I do not remember how hard and in which direction I threw them, Some may be lost to Equus forever, while others may yet be trying to find their way back home,” Luna said almost sadly. Flix then stood up to attention and said in his most authoritative voice, “Princess Luna, I want you to commission me! I still remember your class a–” Luna cut him off. “The one for which Destined helped you cram?” Flix continued, but this time with a blush. “Y-yes…. Well… I want to catalog any of those wandering bodies that I happen to see, and then I can give a report to you when I come back!” Flix grinned hopefully. Luna rolled her eyes at his over-the-top attempt to be formal, but she responded in kind. “I, Luna, Princess of the Moon and the Night Sky, command thee to catalog the many details of the Southern Skies.” Flix grinned and hopped up and down, deliriously happy. “Yes! Thank you! I’m gonna have almost Twilight levels of–” The entire dreamscape shuddered, and Flix slammed into the mast of the dream vessel. “What in Tartarus?!” Luna looked around, realizing that something was happening to Flix in the real world. It was then that the dreamscape shuddered again and they heard Orlonda screeching. “FLIX – WAKE UP!” Luna chuckled. “See to your consort. I will be in touch.” Before Flix could respond, the dreamscape collapsed and he woke up. # # # Roaring… he was not expecting roaring, and rocking. “FLIX! FLIX! GET UP! WE ARE IN A STORM!” Orlonda shook him as he looked around for a few seconds before the hard rocking slammed him up against the side of the internal cabin. “Oh crap! Oh crap! Are the sails still deployed?!” Flix, now fueled by fear and adrenaline, ran out of the cabin and to the top deck, only to be greeted by strong winds and heavy rain. IkaIka was on the main deck, trying to pull down the sails, but she was not strong enough. Flix starting running around and Orlonda joined him, shifting into a diamond dog form for added strength. “Ika – grab the ropes that are attached to pulleys. They will be easier!” Flix held onto one of the ropes and started to untie them so that the sails would spill the wind. Once the sails were down, the inherently-stable catamaran would hold through the storm; he just had to get them down before the wind and rain snapped the masts. With all three of them working together, the first sail was quickly brought down. However, because only one of the two sails was down, the boat was now starting to spin. “No! No! No!” Both of you grab the main rope! We need to get it unlocked!!” As they pulled, he noticed that there was a hitch at the top of the mast. He took to the air and almost instantly he realized that it was a bad idea. Now that he was moving independently of the boat, he was suddenly made aware of how much the boat was moving. He had to fight the wind and rain to keep from getting hit by the various swinging ropes and masts. It was only with great effort that he reached the top. However, he failed to notice the strange bright blue-violet glow coming from the tip of the mast and his feather tips, and it was far too loud for him to notice the hissing sound. With one hard slash, he cut the rope and the sail went slack. The hippogriff started cawing in victory, lifting one of his talons up to the sky. “I WIN! I WIN! BUCK YOU, STORM! BUCK YO–!” between the sound of the storm and his screaming about his victory, he did not hear Orlonda screaming something called ‘St. Palamino’s Fire’. The last thing he experienced before everything went black was a bright flash of light and an earth-shattering boom. # # # Warm…. Storms weren’t warm… or bright for that matter. He slowly opened his eyes to the sound of crashing waves and the sound of a seagull. He let out a faint caw and rolled over onto his side, his entire body twitching randomly. He kept cawing weakly, completely confused as to what was going on and where he was. Soon he heard the stomping of hooves as he was hugged hard. “SQWARG!” he groaned out and he was let go. “Flix! You’re alive! You were out for days! We were getting ready to use the tripod thing to call your family!” Flix just groaned and leaned against Orlonda as she checked him over. “You only lost a few primaries… and some fluff here and there, but you are okay!” Flix looked over himself slowly, noting how parts of him were covered in seaweed and changeling resin. “You spat on me?” He looked up at her confused, and Orlonda started to blush. “I don’t know how to make a changeling pod, so this was the best I could do! IkaIka used her first aid talents to take care of the burns.” Orlonda was going to continue when she heard a familiar chitter and Ika jumped out of the water and landed onto the deck, holding about six fish. She smiled when she saw Flix looking around. “Ah, he’s finally awake!” Flix finally managed to refocus his eyes. “What happened?” He grunted when a hoof smacked him upside the head. “Did you hear the last thing I was screaming at you?” Orlonda growled. “Umm… no?” He hesitantly smiled. The changeling groaned. “You were proclaiming your victory just as Saint Palomino’s Fire was starting to form on the mast you were holding onto. Then in your limitless brilliance, you stuck your talon up and started cursing at the storm.” Flix blinked. “Did I win?” “You were struck by lightning, you dumb-arse! We were lucky to grab you as you fell and pull you below deck while we waited out the storm!” Orlonda was now beyond angry. “Okay! Okay! … I’m sorry – please my head...” he whimpered and held the side of his head with his talons. He blinked in surprise. “Why can I feel skin on my face?” His eyes went wide as he started looking at his body and noticed large swaths of feathers were missing. “Did you pluck me?!” Flix stared at the two of them in disbelief. “We only plucked and cut away the burned feathers and fur!” Orlonda yelled back, now getting very defensive. Flix was about to say something when his stomach rumbled. “Ugh…. Hungry,” he whimpered and lay back down. The pair laughed at the hippogriff and let him sleep as they prepared the food. Once they finished cooking, they woke him up and giggled as he scarfed down the food. Even though they were crudely docked on a beach that must have stretched on for eighty miles, they did not notice that they were being watched. one being asked. a much larger being replied. # # # Three days later…. Flix had never paid attention in the diplomacy classes with Roseclaw. He never really figured that he would be in a position that he would need it, but here he was, staring at some kind of envoy that was walking toward him and his group. These... beings were absolutely massive, standing at least half as tall again as Celestia, and their manes, if you could call them that, looked thick and coarse. Their tails looked thin and powerful, and they had a nose unlike anything he had ever seen before. And those fangs! They were twice as big as Free’s when he was in changeling form, and instead of two, they had four. There was a long silence before they tried to communicate, but the two sides just could not understand each other. The smaller one starting yelling at the larger one and then drew his spear. Flix and Ika didn’t know what was going on. They suddenly jumped back, and the sea-pony let out a loud skree as Flix gave him an aggressive caw. Orlonda, however, didn’t seem to react. The young one started to charge while the changeling just sat and attempted to talk to the large one. The pair were exchanging opening phrases, trying to build some side of common language base. the younger one roared out as he started thrusting his spear, immediately closing the distance. Flix jumped back and ran around him, as did Ika. Every time they would try to land a hit, it either did no real damage due to his thick fur and hide, or they missed by a mile. Flix ran up to Ika and grinned. “We can take to the air, and dive bomb him. I can use my speed to get you within range and you can use your ultrasonic chirps to disorient him!” “Flix… are you sure? I mean, I don’t think my screeches are going to do anything against him,” she said, doubting his plan. “Nonsense! I know what I’m doing!” He didn’t. “I have seen this in tactics class before!” He hadn’t. Flix picked her up and flapped his wings. The hippogriff managed to get high up as he circled around the thing while he held Ika. “See? He can’t get u-oops!” He veered to the left to avoid the spear. It was then that both of them started laughing at the being, which only made the younger one even angrier. “What is he pulling out now? An L-shaped piece of wood? What good is that going to do?” Flix wondered. The pair intently watched him as he threw it, and it sailed under and past them. “What was that? How can a fighter be so bad?!” he taunted. While the pair laughed, they didn’t notice the peculiar weapon arcing up and coming back behind them. “We don’t even have to do anything to w-ACK!” The heavy boomerang cracked him right on his left wing joint. The wing spasmed and folded in. As he started to spiral downward, the hippogriff tossed the flailing sea-pony into the water. Flix had one last thought before he went splat on the beach: “Buck.” WHAM! # # # # # # # --Next time: Enter the Dreamtime--