//------------------------------// // To Find a Griffon... // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// Tidal Wave just swam…..swam away from the unforeseen havoc he’d just wrought. He had just been granted an awesome power, and it took him barely a day to abuse it. But…..he was just protecting himself, right? Those bullies were threatening him, and he simply reacted in self-defense. But even so…..did he really have to go so far as to nearly drown them? Furthermore…..was his amulet truly capable of such a feat despite its affinity with water? Did Zebota really entrust him with that kind of control over a whole branch of Mother Nature? He didn’t have time to stop and think about it. It was getting late, and the others were probably worried about him, so he just swam on. When he reached the waterfall, he realized that it was time to see if Zebota was really so trusting. He took a deep breath and focused on the downward force of the cascading water that would push him back like an explosion. The same warm feeling surged through his body, namely his wings. It felt as if he simply melted into the water around him, and then he suddenly rocketed up the waterfall as a mysterious blue glow rising up the thundering shower. He returned to normal when he reached the top and began navigating the underground tunnels, and then he at last returned to the well. Unsurprisingly enough, nopony was waiting for him when he emerged from the once frozen pool; it was still pretty cold out, and waiting for him when they had no idea when he’d return, if he’d return would be…..cumbersome. So he raced through the chilling winds before they froze his drenched body and went through the back door. Once he was safely out of the elements, he shook his coat to dry it, causing sprinkle of heavy mist to cascade from his form that left a small puddle around him. “H-Hey, guys!” he called out. Quantum Tech and Zebota were the first to notice him back, since they were still working on the portal. “Goodness, darling! We were growing rather concerned.” Quantum said. “I trust that your new boon has served you well?” Zebota asked. Tidal Wave felt a slight lump in his throat. He didn’t want to tell Zebota about the destructive feat he had achieved earlier for the risk of upsetting him, so he decided to be discreet. “Yeah! This thing is amazing! I can breathe underwater, swim up waterfalls, see what’s around me even in pitch-blackness underwater, it’s just fantastic! Ya know….could I possibly control water like Fire Fight can with fire?” “To a degree.” Zebota answered. “The spirits that dwell within your jewel will guide and aid you as you traverse that world below the surface, but actually commanding the very waters themselves would require communion with the spirits themselves.” Tidal Wave was utterly confused by that answer. He didn’t have any sort of communion with the water spirits when he attacked the bullies in Yodelneigh; it just sort of….happened. Unless they simply came to his defense beyond his control, he could find no other explanation. “O-Oh! Yeah, I probably shoulda figured. Just curious.” The other foals save for Air Slash and Shadow Shroud walked in. “Hey, Tidal Wave! Have a nice trip?” Spiral Galaxy asked. Tidal Wave shrugged. “Meh. It was alright, but I got something for you guys!” He suddenly felt a presence behind him. “Then please waste no time.” He turned around, and Shadow Shroud was suddenly mere inches behind him. “GAH!!” Tidal Wave jumped back, and tried to draw his spear out of habit, but he was of course without it at the moment. Shroud playfully sighed. “’Gah’? That’s it? How you disappoint me Tidal Wave.” She teased. Tidal Wave just shrewdly glared at her and shook his head. “Funny, funny.” “Eh, you’ll get used to her, dude.” Fire Fight said. “So, what’s up?” Tidal Wave explained his meeting with Aesir and how that led to him learning about a griffon named Valkyrie that’s supposedly in Galloping Gorge. “I figure that if we go there, we’ll find her and convince her to help us get through this portal. I think Aesir said that she lives in Griffonstone, so we’d kinda be helping her anyway.” “She’s following a gorge that gallops!? What kind of smooth moves does she think she can pull!? THE PENALTY FOR SMOOTH MOVES IS A LIFE SUPPLY OF MUD SANDWICHES!!” Crazylocks blurted. Bullseye facehooved. “No, you retard! It’s just called that for whatever stupid reason!” “Now, now, sister.” Greensprout said. “Now, you said that she was supposedly on a mission of sorts, correct? Do you know what?” Tidal Wave shrugged. “I dunno, but my guess is that it has something to do with the whole….being a hero’s descendent thing.” “I can’t say I’ve heard much of this ‘Siegfried’ that your friend in Yodelneigh spoke of, but his name has definitely popped up in some tomes I’ve read, so clearly, he’s of considerable significance.” Quantum said. “Only one way to find out, y’all. We better make like a herd o’ bison and stampede right on over yonder b’fore we miss her.” Kickback said. “But, would she really be willing to help total strangers like us? Ponies no less?” Spiral asked. “I bet I could talk homegirl into it. Back in da hood dis one time, I tol’ some teenage dude dat was tryna start robbin’ joints dat he could start at some convenience store, so he started makin’ plan n’ all d’em while I tipped off da cops and da store dat he was gonna do it behind his back. Y’all do da math.” Turf War said. “Snitching? I thought that was against the rules of the street, Turf War.” Shroud said. “Nah. Dat’s only when ya do it to yo’ homies dat it f***ed up.” Turf War said. “When it’s what?” Quantum asked authoritatively. “Whoa! U-Uh….Dat it messed up! Yeah…” Quantum fixed her glasses. “I thought so.” She said sternly. “Regardless however, if there’s a chance that we can negotiate with her if need be, then I have no objections.” “Yeah, but there’s only one path down the mountain, and Galloping Gorge is on the other side to the northeast of here. We’d have to go around the mountain just to get to her, and that could take almost a day.” Fire Fight said. Zebota started pondering when Shrapnel lightly nudged him. “What is it, Shrapnel?” the wooden beast lowly grunted and howled at his master. “You would do this for us?” Shrapnel nodded, and Zebota smiled. “I see. Thank you, my friend.” “What’d he say?” Bullseye asked. “He will carry us down the northern side of the mountain on his back through the rugged terrain.” Zebota answered. “Oh, how gracious of you, Shrapnel!” Greensprout said. The wooden titan lightly nuzzled her and whimpered. “He says ‘It is my pleasure, child’.” Crazylocks said. “I’ll keep a heat bubble up so we don’t freeze.” Fire Fight said, but then a thought crossed his mind. “Wait. How’s he gonna carry Quantum’s mech?” “Whoa! Uh, yeah. Homie gonna need about 15 chiropractors af’er dat.” Turf War said. “Unless yer mech can trudge down the mountain, Ms. Quantum Tech?” Kickback said. Quantum shook her head. “I’m afraid not. Its feet are not designed to traverse more mountainous terrain.” “That, and Air Slash is still ill, and I must take care of him. Hmm….Could I trouble a few of you to stay here with me? I’ve little capability to defend myself, and I don’t want Air Slash to have to get out of bed in case something happens.” Greensprout said. “Well….I guess if it’s gonna be anypony, it might as well at least be Quantum since her mech would be an issue.” Fire Fight said. “Alright, tell ya what. Quantum, Bullseye, Crazylocks, and Air Slash can stay here.” “Huh? Why me?” Bullseye demanded. “Because we don’t want Valkyrie to get a bad impression of us and risk her not wanting to help.” Fire Fight said bluntly. Bullseye narrowed her eye and looked down. Even she herself couldn’t deny that her cold personality wouldn’t sit well with a griffon, especially they were known for being self-centered and arrogant. “Tch. Fine.” Crazylocks suddenly popped up in front of her. “We’ll braid each other’s eyelashes!” “After I braid your mouth shut.” Bullseye hissed. “Ah reckon Shrapnel oughta stay behind so he can scare off anypony who try to come up ‘ere.” Kickback said. “In that case, I shall remain here as well. Perhaps I should mix herbs of my own to try and cure Air Slash’s ailment.” Zebota said. “Thank you, Zebota.” Greensprout said. “Alright, that sounds good. It’s getting late, and from Tidal Wave told us, Valkyrie’s probably not even there yet. So, we have time to sleep tonight.” Fire Fight said. “Oh! Actually, I forgot something.” “Oh, yeah! I got it, Fire Fight.” Spiral said. She trotted out of the room for a moment, and then came back magically carrying a set of aqua-blue armor and Tidal Wave’s spear. However, his spear had very noticeably changed. It shared that aquatic color of the armor, and was tri-pronged at the head. The two outer prongs were bladed at the edge. “Air Slash made these for you while you were gone. Try it out!” Tidal Wave took the equipment. “Really?” He slipped into the armor, and it fit him like a glove. It felt pretty light, so swimming underwater with it wouldn’t be a huge hassle. He then noticed that in the center of its chest area was a little depression that matched the shape of his water crystal. “Hmm…” He placed the jewel into the armor, and as expected, it pressure fitted perfectly. “Aw, sweet! I’ll have to thank him later!” “Looks good on you dude.” Fire Fight said. “Alright, let’s call it a day and head out tomorrow! I’ll go ahead and get some dinner started.” With that, the Battle Foal took a much needed break before setting out tomorrow, hopeful that the griffon known as Valkyrie would lend them her claw. Earlier in The White Tail Woods... Twilight, Rarity and Spike had at last caught up with the search party and were filled in on what happened. The sudden of appearance of Tidal Wave’s father, Sky Strike was certainly unplanned for, but seeing as their goals more or less coincided, they saw fit to work together. “And you think Tidal Wave might’ve ended up somewhere down here?” Twilight asked him. Sky Strike nodded. “Y-Yes. Cloudsdale was above this area around the time that he must’ve disappeared!” he stammered. “But, couldn’t he have just flown away somewhere else? A foal in the sky would be kinda easy to miss.” Spike asked. “NO! HE CAN’T FLY, SO DON’T ASK!!” Sky Strike suddenly shouted. Everypony jumped back, startled, and Sky Strike had to take a moment to calm down. “S-Sorry….” “Uh….right…..Fin-wings….” Spike muttered. “Ever since he was born and….we had to continue without his mother…..…..I’ve done everything I could to make things work, but his stupid classmates and my stupid coworkers just have to hinder us at every step!! And he leaves a note saying it’s his fault before leaving me….….Tidal Wave….” Fist leaned in and gave him a bro hug. “You’re a damn good father…..You know that?” Sky Strike eased up some and hugged him back. “Yeah….Thanks….” They broke off. “Well….Tidal Wave ran away of his own accord, so there’s no guarantee that he met Fire Fight…..Guess we’ll just have to keep going.” Cat said. “Yes, but let’s find a place to camp for the night. The sun is starting to set, and I think we’re all pretty exhausted.” Cheerilee said. “I agree.” Twilight said. “And Sky Strike, at some point, I’ll have to make a point of paying a visit to Cloudsdale and addressing all of the bullying issues there. It’s absolutely horrible what you and your son have had to endure.” Sky Strike nodded. “Thank you, Your Highness.” “Can Silver Spoon and I come too, Twilight?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Yeah. We of all ponies should know just how unsatisfying being a bully is in the long run.” Silver Spoon said. Twilight happily nodded. “You sure do, and I think you’ll be quite the tide-turner.” As everypony was getting camp set up, Rarity and Spike couldn’t help but to share worried looks. Despite their silence, they both knew what was on their minds- the Shadewalkers. Rarity nearly passed out at the notion that she could have very have been killed by one, and Spike was just as freaked out knowing that one snuck into Twilight’s castle without so much as subtly alerting her guards to their presence. The mention of a mysterious shadow suddenly taking out appearing and vanishing the second it took out what they believed was a windigo was going to have them keep one eye open tonight- they were surely in the company of the shadowy ponies, and Rarity was terrified for the safety of her little sister….. Especially with a pair of dark magenta eyes dimly gleaming down from the treetops watching them, completely unseen and their very existence veiled by the growing dark of the coming night…..