Tales of the Battle Foals

by Sirdubya


Fiends and Feathers

It didn’t take very long for the expedition team to finish their hike through the meadows and into the forest atop the plateau overlooking the gorge, and even less long for them to actively scout out any sign of Valkyrie. The only thing really holding anypony back was Spiral Galaxy’s sorrow; having learned that what she believed was helping her was merely acting as a seal for her immense power. She felt like she’d been forced back to square one….But she didn’t have time to worry about that. Right now, they had a griffon to track.

“Did that guy in Yodelneigh tell you what she looked like, Tidal Wave?” Fire Fight asked.

Tidal Wave grimaced when he realized that he neglected to get that one important detail. “Umm…no.”

“Well, heck n’ darn.” Kickback said. “Ah reckon we’ll just hafta look out for a griffon that looks like a hero somehow.”

“She prolly gonna be rockin’ some kinda armor o’ some s***.” Turf War said.

“My concern is this ‘mission’ she was assigned to. Depending on its nature, it may or may not hinder our ability to negotiate with her.” Shadow Shroud said.

“Guess we’ll just have to hope for the best….” Spiral muttered.

The woods weren’t much different from any other forest apart from Everfree, but whereas they eventually sensed a threat, the forest was immediately silent. Shadow Shroud instinctively drew her kunai in response to the sudden shift in atmosphere, and the other foals followed suit. They were used to encountering unexpected beasts at this point, but they were fewer in number despite their upgrades. Suddenly, the treetops began rustling, but there was no immediately detectable movement. They would’ve passed it off as a bunch of squirrels, but the rustling was far too violent for it to anything smaller than an adult pegasus. While no pegasi apart from Tidal Wave turned out to be the source, what did was far worse.

“FOOOOOAAAAAALS!!!” A feathery mass leapt out of the canopy and lunged at them, but Kickback quickly fired his gun just before the entity could get within five feet of them. “<CAAAAAAW!!!>” It fell to the ground in a heap, and the foals could get a good look at it. It was a hideous cross between a monkey and a hawk. It’s hands had talons for fingernails, much of its body was feathered, and its head was that of a twisted avian that looked like it had spawned from Tartarus itself. She staggered to her two legs as she struggled against the electricity inflicted by the bullet.

“Damn! You are one ugly m***********!” Turf War said.

The twisted avian growled loudly. “Insolent children!! We’ll make a stew of your souls!!” She cawed loudly, summoning a whole other flock of her friends.

“WELL HERE! AT LEAST LET ME STOKE THE FIRE FOR YA!!” Fire Fight shouted. He kicked a fire disc at the already downed creature, searing her and setting her feathers on fire. He then finished her off with a flame-charged uppercut that knocked her head back so much that it broke her neck. Another one just then lunged at him with a spear, but he manipulated the flames on the downed one into her, sending her careening to the ground in pain. Fire Fight flip kicked her just before she could fall past him, knocking her out.

“YEE-HAW!!” Kickback was going to town, shooting the feathered demons out of the sky. Their stamina against the shock was impressive, but barely enough to keep them grounded. One of them swiped her claw at him, but he pulled out his whip and wrapped it around her wrist. “Now, that just ain’t very polite none!” He used her momentum to fling her into another one of her kind, and as they tumbled back, he swiftly drew both of his guns and finished with two lightning-fast headshots.

“I DON’T KNOW NUTTIN’ ‘BOUT NO STEW, BUT HOW ‘BOUT SOME MASHED POTATOES!?” Turf War shouted as he swung his hammer clean into the abdomen of one of the creatures, sending it flying into the trunk of a tree. Another one tried to ambush him from the left, but he chopped her side with the axe side of his hammer, sending her right into the ground in agony, and he followed up with a downward slam. He wiped his nose. “AND SOME GRAVY!!”

“<CAAAAAWWW!!!>” One of the creatures swooped down from just above him and swiped her claw at him.

He managed to put his shield up just at the last second, but the feathered fiend simply slid off of it and plopped to the ground beside, clawing down on his cheek as she did. “ARRGGH!!! OH, HELL NO!!!” Turf War exclaimed.

Just before he could shield-bash her, a small meteor crashed into her, sending her flying into the brush beyond. Turf War looked over to see Spiral Galaxy, and her horn was alit with power. She gave him a quick wink before redirecting her power onto a small group of the creatures. “HYAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!” Her war cry echoed throughout the forest as she charged and fired a barrage of cosmic bolts at them. Not all of them hit, but it was enough to incite some into crouching down for cover, which Tidal Wave and Shadow Shroud took advantage of.

The lancer and ninja respectively used their spear and kunai to assault the pinned creatures. Tidal Wave jabbed and slashed at them wildly while Shroud cast illusory copies of herself to completely ambush them. Those that weren’t taken down retreated into the bushes. “You’ll regret this, little ponies!!” one of them declared.

“Yeah, yeah. Keep talking yourselves up, you freaks!” Tidal Wave said. He then noticed Spiral crouching down on the ground, clutching her head. He walked up to her. “You ok? That didn’t look easy.”

“<pant> Nrgh! <pant> Y-Yeah….Thanks.” Spiral said as Tidal Wave helped her up. They all then went to check on Turf War. His cheek was bleeding pretty badly from the wound he sustained.

Shadow Shroud pulled out a first aid kit and started wiping off his wound. “Seems your recklessness finally got the better of you.” Once it was clean, she applied some antibiotic serum.

The sting from the antibiotic made Turf War wince a little bit. “Ain’t dat kinda my job, d’ho?”

“It’s technically all of our jobs, dude. Don’t get careless.” Tidal Wave said.

“What were those things anyway? They sure didn’t seem like griffons.” Fire Fight said.

Shroud finished treating Turf War. “I honestly don’t know, but at least they can be dealt with easily.”

“Well, let’s not count r’ chicken b’fore they hatch. Besides, we still gotta find Valkyrie.” Kickback said. Just then, the horde of the hideous avian creatures came flying back through the bushes, and the foals prepared themselves, but the creatures didn’t seem to be regarding them for some reason…

“<CAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!!!!!>” Soaring after them was a female griffonlet their age clad in what could only be described as gilded steel, and wielding a knight’s shield complimented with a one-handed greatsword. Her top, eagle half was a silver-grey with darker spots in some places, and her lower, feline half was a light ebony black. Her eyes were both dark orange, and burning with a warrior’s wrath. “WHO’S UP FIRST!?” She thrust her greatsword forward, speeding her up a little and piecing through the heart of one of the creatures. Before it could fall off her sword, she flung its corpse at another one, staggering it in the air. At this point, they all had their horrific eyes on the griffonlet, but she just responded with a ‘come-get-me’ smile. “Step right up!!”

A trio of them foolishly tried charging them from the front of her, and the griffonlet just swung her greatsword across and hit each of them. She followed up with a series of big slashes and a shield bash to finish. When a bigger horde flew at her, she revealed that her shield was attached to a chain in such a way that she could use it as a flail, which she did. She bobbed and weaved through the air, expertly dodging the creatures’ attacks as she flung her shield into them, and then retracted back to her wrist for bashes followed by graceful slashes and thrusts. One more tried to catch her from below, but she just pulled out a small hammer and smacked it right in the head, sending down in a daze.

“Damn! My girl smoove wit hers, boi!” Turf War said.

The griffonlet looked at him with smug expression. “Oh, you like that, huh?” she said. She swung her sword in a circle above her head, striking another one of the creatures that tried to fall onto her and knocking it hard into a tree. “What can you do?” she asked shrewdly.

Undaunted by the griffonlet’s big attitude, Turf War raised his hammer-axe and swung it into an oncoming fiend. The seismic strike propelled the feathered fury into another, knocking them both out. He then turned around and axed one down, and as a small horde of four of them tried to assault him from behind, he quickly turned around rammed his shield into them and followed up with some shield punches. “How dat!?”

The griffonlet shrugged. “Meh. I guess it’ll do.”

One last horde of the avian abominations suddenly appeared from the treetops and rained down on the foals and griffonlet. Kickback initiated the fight with some well-placed gunfire. He didn’t particularly aim at their heads or wings, but he took each hit he could take; there were too many for him to focus him aim at. “ACCURSED PEA SHOOTERS!!” one of the tried to ambush him from behind, but he just pointed his gun behind at shot her point-blank in the forehead.

Kickback blew the smoke from his guns. “This whole ‘pea-shooters’ nonsense is startin’ to get a mite old.” he said.

Fire Fight and Shadow Shroud found themselves surrounded by the creatures, whose claws were ready to slice them into scraps. “YOU’RE JUST WHAT WE NEED FOR OUR CURSE!” one of them said.

“Oh, there’s gonna be a curse alright.” Shroud said as she drew her kamas. “And it’s your blood that’ll be the sacrifice!” She looked to her fiery companion. “I trust you’ll provide the pyre?”

Fire Fight ignited his horn and gauntlets. “Watch me!” Either foal lunged into opposite directions to strike the wall of creatures. Fire Fight flew into a sidekick that hit one of the creatures square in the abdomen. The subsequent burst of flames allowed him to backflip off of it and hurl down three fire discs down at the ground toward others. The creatures managed to avoid the flames, but Fire Fight redirected them at some of the horde, roasting them. However, his concentration was interrupted when he was suddenly lifted from the ground! “WHA-!?” He looked up to see that he was being held in the feet of one of the creatures. Thinking quickly, he blasted fire into its face, causing it to stagger in the air, but it managed to hang on to him. Fire Fight then head-butted its ankle, causing it to let go, and he used what leverage he could gain to throw himself up at its face, which he blasted with fire once more. He grabbed it by the waist and brought it down; its body cushioned his fall. One last creature tried to swipe at him, which he blocked and followed up with an uppercut and multiple aerial roundhouse kicks that sent it tumbling in a heap. “Fire in the sky, anypony?”

Meanwhile, Shadow Shroud blocked and dodged a flurry of strikes from all around her with her kamas. She followed up each block with a counter swipe; this continued for a moment before she had enough room to throw a smoke bomb down onto the ground, blinding and choking the creatures, leaving them easy prey for Shadow Shroud to decapitate. When the smoke cleared, all that was left were corpses of the creatures, some with their heads severed, and Shadow Shroud folded and sheathed her kamas. “Not quite chickens, but their heads are cut off.” She sneered.

Spiral Galaxy and Tidal Wave were faced with swarm coming from in front of them, but the cosmic filly had a little ace up her sleeve. “Tidal Wave, hold your spear up!”

“U-Umm, okay.” Tidal Wave did as asked, and Spiral used her magic to charge Tidal Wave’s spear with cosmic energy, giving it a ferocious sheen that caused the creatures to cover their eyes. “Whoa! Thanks, Spiral!” he said. He poised his spear as he gave the creatures a snarl. “BETTER BRACE YOURSELVES!!”

“OH, THEY WILL!” Spiral shouted. She conjured up a gravity field around the creatures, holding them down in place so that Tidal Wave could go to town with his spear. He slashed and thrust his charged spear at them, which had enough power to pierce and slice through them like butter, and they dropped like flies.

“Nice trick!” Tidal Wave said.

Spiral lifted her gravity field. “Thanks! I can’t believe that actually worked!”

One last creature was left, and it was doing a good job of holding its own against the griffonlet. It was surprisingly much stronger than the rest of its brethren, and it was able to parry away the greatsword with its bare claw. But the griffonlet just maintained her devious smile as she swung strong and dexterously. “FINALLY! A CHALLENGE!” she said. The creature took a swipe with its claw, but the griffonlet blocked it with her shield, and then let her shield hang by its chain before flailing it at her opponent. It ducked under the shield, leaving the griffonlet the opening she needed to power swing it upward with her greatsword. The creature cawed out in pain as it fumbled backward, and just as it about to fall on its butt, Turf War finished the job by swinging his axe down onto its head.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I thought we coulda buried da hatchet! HAHA!! WHAT!?” Turf War shouted.

The griffonlet victoriously wiped her beak after she sheathed her armaments. “HAHA! What a bunch of losers!” she said as she shoved a corpse out of the way.

Based on the description that Aesir gave him, Tidal Wave knew that this had to be the one. She even had the golden talisman that was shown in Aesir’s book. “Are you Valkyrie?”

The griffonlet brushed her feathers back as if to present herself. “The one and only, dude! In the flesh.” She then waved her talon. “Now, now. Save the applause. I haven’t finished my little clean-up job yet.”

“Clean-up job? You mean these….things? What are they anyway?” Fire Fight asked.

Valkyrie suddenly dropped the cool act and narrowed her eyes. “Harpies. They’re an evil offshoot race of us griffons. I guess you can say they're like what the Changelings used to be before that whole charade with…..Star Gleam, or whatever her name was, but they want to take over the realm by spreading plagues and curses that they haven’t perfected yet, and they’ll do some pretty nasty stuff to try and do so. They’ll abduct animals and even people to make stew out of if it means practicing their dark ways.” She explained. “I guess these were all just grunts, because most Harpies I’ve heard about actually use evil magic.”

The foals found themselves quite surprised at the explanation. Changelings had been feared since their existence was made known, but they had never once heard of these ‘Harpies’. The fact that they haven’t probably meant that they’ve been operating more discreetly then their new insectoid friends. “Ms. Quantum Tech probably knows about ‘em.” Kickback said.

“Well….I hate to impose, but if you’re gonna be done soon, my friends and I actually need your help.” Fire Fight said.

“Pfft! And what could I possibly do for a bunch of ponies?” Valkyire asked.

Fire Fight just shrugged off her rude comment and got to the point. “Well, there’s this portal on top of the Great Horn Summit just over there that leads somewhere close to Griffonstone, but it needs both a pony and a griffon in order to activate it. We heard that you were out here, so we thought you could spare us a moment.”

Valkyrie chuckled heartily. “You seriously want me to waste my time- wait, hold on! You mean the one that connects to the Asgard Forest?”

“Uhh…yeah, why?” Fire Fight asked.

“That thing seriously still works?” Valkyrie asked.

“According to….an acquaintance of ours, yeah.” Fire Fight said.

“Wow….Color me surprised….” Valkyrie said. “But still, I gotta clean out an entire lair of Harpies. I have no time to waste on you guys. Sorry.” She said sarcastically.

“Well, then…..why don’t we help you? You’d be going back to Griffonstone anyway, right?” Spiral said.

“Pfft! What!?” Valkyrie had to laugh a little before calming herself down. “Sorry, sorry. Look, you guys are good and all, but my ancestor is freakin’ Siegfried. Siegfried! You seriously think I can’t handle some stupid pansies like these guys?”

Shadow Shroud rolled her eye. “Modest, aren’t we?” she sassed.

“Ugh. Valkyrie, we-” Fire Fight was going to speak, but Turf War stopped him.

“I got this, playuh.” He said. “Yo, I gotch you. You gotta be somethin’ big, I’m talkin’ ‘bout BIG back yo’ crib. A descendent o’ Siegfried!? What!? Man, I can’t blame d’ese Harpies fo’ being like ‘oh s***!’ when d’hey see yo’ big a** sword swingin’. Let me jus’ say dat my homies an’ I kinda a big deal right now too, a’ight. Trust dat. I mean, damn! If we told y’all ‘bout some o’ the b****es we bashed, I think you’d believe me. You said we was good already, right?”

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. “Uh…..seriously?”

“Fo’ real, homegirl! Y’all want us to prove it? 10 bits says we can bust more harpies outta da sky than you! If Siegfried really yo’ great-great-great-great granddaddy, than you’d show us up b’fore we even got started, right?”

Valkyrie was visibly affected by Turf War’s taunt and walked up to him. “Oh! You’re on, punk!”

The two forcefully shook hooves….and talons…..as they sealed the deal. “BAM!” Turf War interjected.

“And once you lose, I’ll just let you keep those 10 bits out of pity. Sound good?” Valkyrie taunted.

Turf War nodded. “Uh-huh. But I’ll be willing to slide you a handicap in case yo’ worried.” Valkyrie just bore her teeth at him in response. “No? Okay. But we still need you fo’ dat portal joint. I mean like Spiral said, you’d be goin’ home anyway, so it’s a win-win.”

Valkyrie shrugged. “Mm. Yeah, you got a point. I kinda wanna try it out anyway!” Valkyrie then walked away and motioned for them to follow. “This way!”

Turf War’s comrades looked at him in both worry and awe. “Ehh…..Nice going?” Spiral said hesitantly.

“When you dealing with somepony who got a head bigger than d’hey head, you gotta inflate it a li’l more ‘til it pops, y’all know how I mean?” Turf War said.

Shroud giggled deviously. “I’m impressed. Although, I hope she actually focuses on her mission and not worry so much about this bet.”

“Either way, she said she’d help us with the portal, so we’ll just have to roll with it. C’mon, guys.” Fire Fight said. While Valkyrie wasn’t exactly the easiest person to talk to, the foals couldn’t complain about their agreement with her, especially if it meant another little adventure….