Mountain
I turned around, and what met my eyes was surprising, to say the least. The creature that was there looked like you had stretched Sandshrew, added slim, long hands with extremely long nails, slapped an armadillo's head on it and added a long, probably prehensile tail. In short, like a giant, bricked out pangolin. I blinked.
"Forgive me if I offend, but would you mind telling me your species?"
I definetely did not want to make this guy angry. Sure, I was twice as tall as him, but he was three times as long, and had impressive muscles. Clearly not to be messed with. I realized I was holding a breath, but I let it go silently when he laughed.
"Surely you would recognize a cousin, wouldn't you? But then again, it could be possible, seeing as you are from elsewhere."
An image flashed through my mind.
"Hold on. Are you an earth being?"
"That I am, lord of the sky. A terradore."
'Okay, so now I know the name and looks of the earth being, and I know that the water being is slightly frog-like."
"So tell me, exactly how old are you? Surely around three centuries or so?"
"Um... I am sixteen years of age."
His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide.
"But that is impossible! Judging by your size, physique and appearance, that would be the correct approximate age! How can you only be sixteen?!"
I looked around and acknowledged that no one was around.
"You're going to have to keep this a bit of a secret, okay?"
He nodded.
"Good. The truth is, I wasn't always a ventolian."
"WHAT?!"
"Shhhh! Not so loud! But yes, I was once something else, and the age limit on that species was around eighty years old in good condition, some made it to ninety, and very few made it over a century. Of course, in unfavorable conditions, life expectancy was more of a lucky fifty years, and a common forty."
"So, you were once a pony?"
I considered telling a lie, but decided against it.
"Actually, my old species, I don't think they exist on this planet, maybe not even in this universe. I, through intervention of a crazy entity, actually managed to reach this reality after me and what could count as my friends died and I didn't have anything left over there. So, this is me, a sixteen year old ventolian."
"I am indeed confused, but I think I get the main idea. However, it would pay to not give away your age, not even if it is asked of you."
I nodded.
"So, I suppose now you would like me to tell how I ended up in Zebrica?"
"If you do not mind."
"Very well. I have come here in a journey to seek knowledge about my abilities and the ventolians before me. Could you assist me there."
He hung his head.
"Alas, the last ventolian died peacefully a few millenia ago, before even the birth of the alicorn sisters that rule today. And, though we live long, none of our kind managed to meet a sky lord and be alive today. Yet their legacy continues to be taught to all of our kind, and the kind of the water beings as well."
"Do you know of any place that does have that information?"
He scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"Now that you mention it, there is one place that might have what you are looking for? A mountain, which so far no one has managed to climb yet, not even terradores can reach the absolute flat peak. The reason for this is unscaleable walls with magic spells that prevent burrowing or teleporting, and there is a noticeable lighter atmosphere which prevents all fliers from gaining entrance. Few actually know that thousands of years ago, it was an important peak in the society of the beings of the air."
"What was it called?" 'Okay, it's gonna be something from my world that has been altered to an equine version.'
"It is Mount Kilimanejaro."
'NAILED IT! Mental high-five!'
I must've had an odd expression on my face, because my acquaintance shrugged and said:
"Hey, don't look at me, I didn't name it. Blame it on the pony explorers from a few eons ago." he huffed.
"You know, this seems to be going around a lot. I still haven't told you my name. My name is-"
"Ah ah ah!" he yelled. "Names have a certain power among us. Don't give me your real name, just tell me what to call you. Only tell your real name to somebody who you are absolutely sure you can trust, who knows how to keep a secret, and remember that your real name is only to be used when absolutely noone is around. You may call me Geocraf, but that is not the name I was given as a child."
"Very well, you may call me Truenis."
"Truenis... it fits you for some reason."
'Heh. I'm lucky. No one's going to try to... do some sort of weird magic with my name because they aren't gonna guess it.'
"I have been hearing that a lot."
"It is quite true. So, I see that you have already completed the rite of passage."
"Rite of passage?"
He chuckled.
"You truly do not know much, do you? The rite of passage is different depending on our species, but in the case of the ventolians, the young fledgeling had to find a great beast that had evil intentions and slay it, making a weapon from what remained in a select style. Some even chose to make clothing or armor as well. It is quite clear that you have slain a dragon. May I?"
I nodded and handed my weapon to him. Immediately, blue lightning coursed all around him, but he didn't seem to be fazed at all. He handed it back to me, upon which the energy stopped.
"As I suspected. Your weapon has taken a liking to you. Don't let any other person touch it. As I am a lord of earth, I can channel the energy into the ground, but any other being would most definetely be shocked quite severely. So, how did you slay the dragon exactly?"
"Uh... I don't remember all the details."
He cocked his head.
"Beg pardon?"
"The details are kind of fuzzy. I gouged out it's eye with my claws, and then I used some sort of magic to make a big hole right through it."
"How much magic do you know, exactly? It must be a good amount, seeing as how you used a cloaking spell with almost no effort."
"Cloaking spell?"
He gave me a 'Wut?' look.
"The spell you were just using to hide yourself from the zebras."
I blinked.
"Okay, add that to the list of involuntary magic spells. Really, the only magic I've used has been accidental, one time caused by what I could assume to be the ghost of a ventolian from long ago. I know practically diddly-squattage about the arcane."
"Well then, you should learn how to feel the flow of magic."
"Flow of magic?"
"Sort of a sixth sense, impossible to teach or describe, we all find it in different ways and no I can't tell you how to find it."
"So, changing topic, what was that rock monster back there?"
"Oh, you mean Kraktos? He's one of the creations of a terradore from a few millenia ago. They say he had a lot of spare time and used it to make a few creatures, which is way harder than you would expect, and I'm not going to teach you because I don't know, and you would do it differently."
"Okay. So, can you show me the way to Kilimanejaro?"
"Very well. See if you can keep up. I'll extend a tracking signal from where I'm burrowing so you can follow."
He closed his eyes, and then a rod suddenly popped out of the earth. He grasped it, and pulled upwards, revealing a large brown hammer. He chuckled at my expression of surprise.
"Trokaaj here is my weapon. He is a bit heavy, so I just summon him when I need him."
As strange as it seems, the hammer seemed a bit offended at the 'heavy' remark. Geocraf held his hammer out, and a red glowing marker appeared over his head, clearly visible.
"Now, if you take to the sky, I'll just burrow, and we'll be there in no time."
I had to internally smirk.
'How the heck is he going to burrow as fast as I fly?'
He then just sort of dived into the ground, as if it was an illusionary surface, and the marker, staying above ground, started moving at a pace that would make an Olympic runner jealous. My eyes widened and I took off to the skies.
'He wasn't kidding. He moves through dirt like a motorboat through water.'
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The marker finally came to a stop at the base of a grey mountain, that extended far beyond the clouds in height. I actually got a bit woozy looking at it. I touched down at the ground as he surfaced.
"Welcome to Mount Kilimanejaro. Just remember, scale the mountain on foot first, and when you reach the giant wall, fly, and use all your wings. Two wings don't cut it here, which is why dragons and birds can't get up there. Good luck, Truenis."
"You know, I consider that an insult."
"What?"
"To wish one good luck. To me, it implies that I need good luck to do something, and that my skills would not allow me to succeed by themselves."
"That's a way of looking at it. In that case, break a leg."
"I take offense to that as well. Wishing harm upon another?"
He faceclawed.
"Fine. Use your skills, don't break a leg, and if you die, stay up there so I don't have to bury you."
He disappeared under the ground before I could come up with a witty comeback, and I turned my attention to one point of interest.
'How in the name of heck am I going to scale this thing?'
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Eventually, I had to resort to walking up the mountain. It was slow going, but I wanted to conserve my wingpower for when I needed it. I could feel that the air was lighter around this mountain, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to fly as high. So I had to use my claws to go upwards, going among the bushes and the few trees that were on the landscape and hopping over small gaps. For some reason, I wasn't frying in the sun. A vague notion of my body temperature being maintained constant by my coat of feathers presented itself in my head, but I pushed it away, concentrating on the climb. After a few hours of walking, I stopped beneath the scant shade of a large tree, took a bit of juicy sky-fruit out of my bag and munched on it, letting the watery juice quench my thirst.
After finishing the sweetish treat, I took Thunderhilt and began tracing my claw around it, examining it's every detail. It seemed to crackle to life, a small spark of lightning appearing at random intervals.
"Interesting..." I muttered. "I wonder exactly how alive you are. That other hammer seemed to even have emotions."
Thunderhilt crackled a bit more, now glowing slightly. I shrugged and placed it back on my back, held by the leather that was strapped there. I then resumed walking up the mountain.
Two hours later, I was ambushed by what I could only define as a plant monster. It had a head reminiscient to a smiling venus fly-trap(cliché, right?), and a thick vine extended from there into the ground. Branching out from the thick vine were several smaller vines, each ending with a point, with thorns all over it. But what was really threatening about it was the two bigger vine-arms that were maybe three times as long as the others, and the thorns that were on them were about the length of a human shoulder to the elbow, slightly curved, and insanely sharp. I had Thunderhilt drawn, and I was in the air, dodging the smaller vines, cutting a few of them that came too close, but most of all, staying away from the wicked thorns that seemed capable of cutting a limb off. I flew to and fro, grateful that flight was a gift and I didn't need to learn it from scratch, when one of the huge thorns caught my left forearm slightly, leaving a small gash that would count as barely more than a papercut. The head of the plant seemed to smile even more, and the attacks ceased. I wondered for what reason this was, until I felt it. Pain. All over, but mostly in my left forearm. Burning. A scream. I realized it was me. I dropped to the ground, managing to shut my mouth, but wriggling almost uncontrolably, barely avoiding the small vines that went out, one by one, to pierce me. The head itself tried to get me, to grab me with it's giant, thorny teeth, but Thunderhilt somehow managed to bonk it on where the nose would have been, and it retreated momentarily. The pain subsided slightly. I stood shakily up to my feet, Thunderhilt weakly grasped in my right claw. A giant vine swung towards me. I had had enough. I roared like a berserker, rolled under the vine, got up to my feet and sliced upwards, chopping the appendage. The monster screamed in a high-pitched, whistly voice, and scampered away, it's main vine surfacing from the ground, displaying several large roots that carried it away, the stump that was left of the arm wriggling wildly. I sighed and limped again towards the peak, the pain slowly leaving my arm.
'So the giant plant monster has a pain venom, meant not to kill, but cause inmense discomfort, to say the least.'
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I gazed upwards at the grey wall, an impeccable cliff with no cracks, footholds or platforms anywhere. It stretched pretty far, and a mist presented itself after a short little bit.
"I'm guessing that this might be the unclimbable wall." I said to myself. My thoughts responded to me.
'Gee, ya think, Captain Obvious? I wouldn't have noticed, given the fact that it can't be climbed.'
"Shut up, brain."
'Not brain, dude.'
I realized with a start that it actually wasn't me that was thinking that. I shook my head, confused, and started the arduous climb upwards, to reach the top of the mountain.
Hello there, and welcome back to Ancient Wings, New Soul. This new chapter took a while because, frankly, I didn't have much time, and there were a few things that were a bit more active. Like this new game we've got at our house. At my house, we like to play racquet games, such as fronton, tennis and squash. So we take this squash racquet, go to our backyard, and take turns. And you see, we have a bumblebee burrow there in the grass. So we take the squash racquet, and when a bumblebee buzzes along to try to enter or exit, well, *SQUASH!*. And that is what we've decided to call the game(true story). And for some reason, they're not lessening in numbers. Over the past two weeks, we must've squashed about a couple hundred. Even today, we killed a total of 66. Anyways, thanks for reading, and keep your stick on the ice.