//------------------------------// // Portal Pandemonium // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// Dinner proved to be a little more eventful than anticipated with Valkyrie boasting about adventures of her own apart the Battle Foals telling their own tales. One in particular involved her protecting a crew of freight sailors traveling to Trottingham from a band of pirates, whom she beat into submission with minimal effort. She said that she was a little insulted that she was acting as nothing more than a mere mercenary, but the treasure haul they seized from the apprehended pirates was worthy payoff in the end; it did a lot to improve the overall infrastructure of Griffonstone, which she was also thankful for. The foals were beginning to see the source of her ego, and despite how overbearing it could be, saying that it wasn’t totally unwarranted was a fairly safe statement. Valkyrie pretty much slurped up the rest of her stew and threw her bowl down before gulping the stew down in one fell swoop. “Ahhh! Whew! Thanks for the grub, Fire Fight.” Fire Fight was a bit annoyed at her relative lack of manners, but he figured that trying to antagonize her about it might change her mind about the portal. “Sure! Thanks for the help. Griffon food is….interesting.” The Griffonstone wheat ended up having a sort of leathery aftertaste. Valkyrie brushed her feathers off. “Yeah, yeah, little dude. So uh….we ready to do the portal, or what?” Fire Fight turned to the Battle Foals. “Any last-minute preparations, guys?” “I tended some of the snowberries out in the courtyard while you were gone. They should be ready for harvest by now.” Greensprout said. “Would you like some help, my dear?” Air Slash asked her. Greensprout smiled at him. “If you would.” “Could Ah ask ya to whip up some more bullets for me real quick, Ms. Quantum Tech?” Kickback asked. “Sure, Kickback!” Quantum squeaked as she fluttered her eyelashes at him. Kickback audibly sighed as he just looked away from the swooned scientist. “That won’t take you too long, will it?” Shadow Shroud asked. Quantum shook her head. “No, darling. Assembling them isn’t quite as tedious as I thought, especially when you have the components ready and safely stored away.” “Ok, great!” Fire Fight said. “Anything else?” “Nah, man. I’m straight.” “Same here.” “Shrapnel and I are ready when you all are.” “Yeah, I’m ready to blow this popsicle stand.” “I YEARN TO REUNITE WITH MY LONG-LOST BADMINTON RELATIVES!!!” Everypony just rolled their eyes, but Bullseye let out a small chuckle. “To be fair, they are birds.” “Ahem! Only half birds, thank you very much!” Valkyrie said. “You have feathers, and you can fly. What’d I miss?” Bullseye retorted. Valkyrie turned her body around in such a way that she could she off her feline lower half. “Um, this!” Bullseye rolled her eye. “Still a f****** bird…” she said. Valkyrie glared at her and was ready to draw her sword out of frustration. “Bullseye, they are what they are. Don’t be rude.” Fire Fight said. Bullseye sighed. “Alright, alright. Sorry.” She sassed. Crazylocks suddenly grabbed Bullseye’s hoof. “COME ON, BULLSEYE!! LET’S BRAID EACH OTHER’S EYELASHES!!!” she shouted before taking off like a rocket with her ‘friend’ in tow. “AAAaaaAAAAaaaaAAAAHHHH!!! SLOW DOWN FOR A G****** SECOND!!!” Bullseye plead before they disappeared into another room of the temple, leaving everypony else to deadpan. “Well, we ain’t seein’ her no more…” Turf War said. With Fire Fight’s assistance by casting a heat bubble, Air Slash and Greensprout carefully harvested the snow-surviving fruit growing just outside of the courtyard doors. Greensprout held the plants up in such a way that Air Slash could carefully cut them at the base of the stem so that they might pick the berries off within the warmth of the temple. Fire Fight noticed a couple of instances where the two stole loving glances at one another, albeit with nervous smiles. Even if their relationship was just starting to bud, Fire Fight was more than happy for them. Their mutual respect meant that their utopia would be more than just a refugee camp. It’d be a place of harmony. Using her magic, Quantum Tech quickly whipped up a batch of bullets for their resident gunslinger. Curious, Zebota observed the manufacture of the little metal pellets while Quantum Tech explained how they work in relation to Kickback’s guns. The forest dweller could barely make heads or tails of what anything she explained meant, but he remained interested so as not to upset her. At one point, she let him hold a small cup containing a little gunpowder. While the compound was repugnant in odor, Zebota did find himself fascinated by the black explosive. He let Shrapnel take a whiff of it, but when Quantum Tech tried to take it back, her magic accidently got a little excited, and it caused the gunpowder to burst right in the mystic duos’ faces, earning her a glare from Zebota and an irritated growl from his wooden titan. When all was said and done, Fire Fight gathered the Battle Foals in the portal room along with Valkyrie. The griffonlet herself got the chance to marvel at the simple, yet impressive piece of architecture. Knowing full well its purpose and function fed her pride as a griffon, even if it was influenced by the ponies. She couldn’t wait to return home in style and with her precious cargo. “So the time’s finally come, huh?” she said. Fire Fight proudly nodded. “Yep! Time to travel to the far east! Quantum, is there anything we should know about going through the portal?” “Nothing of great magnitude, darling. Portals generated by magic have to remain stable via some sort of conduit, be it the caster or some sort of foci. In the case of this portal, that would be the twin keystones needed to activate it. I’ve examined them thoroughly, and rest assured, they’ll function properly during our departure. We should have nothing to worry about.” Quantum explained as she hopped into her mech. “Then Ah reckon we ain’t got any reason to wait any longer, y’all! Let’s settle east.” Kickback declared. Valkyrie walked up to the keystone marked with a griffon’s talon, which was no doubt specified for the use of her kind apart from the other keystone, which depicted a horseshoe. She gently laid her talon on it, and it began to glow a gentle, golden light. “Looks like my end is kicking!” she said. “So who’s gonna be the lucky pony who gets to open the gateway to Griffonstone with its mightiest warrior?” “I don’t know! When d’hey gettin’ here?” Turf War sassed. Valkyrie shot him an annoyed glare. “Are we gonna have to bet again, numbskull?” “Guys, don’t start.” Fire Fight said. “Turf War, you do it.” Turf War shrugged. “A’ight.” The ghetto colt followed suit and approached the pony-activated keystone. When he laid his hoof on it, it shined a rainbow-colored light rather than a gold one. About a second later, light suddenly erupted from the keystones simultaneously, and their respectively lights shot out at one another where they met in a kiss in front of the portal. The cross of light then beamed into eight corners of the portal where they powered conduits built into them before petering out. The conduits then projected their own beams that touched in the center of the portal where it finally erupted into a swirling mosaic of golden and rainbow light. Valkyrie and Turf War let go of their respective keystones and found themselves in awe of the spectacle they had worked together to create, as did the other Battle Foals. They had surely seen some amazing, albeit oftentimes terrifying things along their adventure, but for once, Fate had graced them with serene beauty. Like the light at the end of a long, treacherous tunnel, the foals gazed in awe and sweet relief, knowing that freedom was just on the other side. Their adventure was nowhere near over, but just beyond this portal were new trials and tribulations in a whole new land, and the very thought brought the foals loads of excitement….. …..so much so that they failed to hear the door behind them creak open….. ***** “Ms…..!” The world was spinning around Film Noir as her conscious slowly started to reactivate. “M…..ir!” As her senses regained their balance, her memories before her blackout were uncovered. She had at last found Fire Fight and the other runaway foals! But one of them panicked and started a rockslide that caused everypony to scatter. “M..No..!” Her last memory was of Fire Fight saying ‘I’m sorry’ before everything went black. Everything else happened so fast. “Ms. Noir!” “” Film Noir was shocked awake by the voice of one the cameramen calling out her name. “Oooh….Backlight?” The cameraman helped her up. “Ugh….Thank you.” She said dizzily. She looked around the scene to find that the rockslide had damaged some of the filming equipment, but not beyond repair, thankfully. “Oh my word! Is everypony ok?” It was then that her memories finally caught up with her conscious. “ Where’s Fire Fight!?” She started looking around frantically, praying that he didn’t get crushed under the fallen boulders. Backlight calmed her down. “We checked, Film. He’s not here…..sorry…..” “Yeah. I dunno how the kid did it, but he slipped away. No idea where he went.” Another cameraman said. “Nrgh! Am I the only one with a nasty ache in the back of my neck?” Film Noir grabbed her neck when a sharp pain suddenly erupt in the back. “Oof! Nope, nope. Me too.” Backlight felt it as well. “Yikes! Surely we all didn’t happen to have rocks land square on our heads?” “We’re not that unlucky.” Film Noir said, but then she thought back to the moment before the blackout where her last memory was the sight of the colt whose life she’d witness be crushed. If only she were quicker on her hooves…. “ Well…..maybe we are…..” she muttered. “But we can’t just mope around! We need to tell Princess Twilight that he was here!” “You’re absolutely right, Film!” the director said. “We need to get all this equipment fixed before we can shoot again anyway. No reason why we can’t make a pit stop in Ponyville.” However begrudgingly, the crew packed up their things and hiked out of Galloping Gorge, but Film Noir could care less about broken cameras if it meant finding Fire Fight. ***** “FIRE FIGHT!!!!” “Ugh! What is it now?” Fire Fight said as he and everypony else happened to look back at the open door, and their hearts all just about stopped. “M-M-MOM!?!?!?!?” Right at the threshold of the door was his mother accompanied by Twilight, Cheerilee, the CMC and some of their class, Rarity, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and much to his surprise…. “D-D-DAD!?!?!?” Fist was equal parts thrilled and nervous to face his son again after so long and what had happened. “H-Hey, champ!” “DUDE! WE FOUND YOU!!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “FIRE FIGHT!!” Silver Spoon shouted with noticeable excitement in her tone. “Fire Fight….” Cheerilee muttered. “I hope you can forgive me….” Sky Strike suddenly burst out from the crowd. “TIDAL WAVE!! IS THAT YOU!?” Tidal Wave’s heart started racing even faster. “WHAT THE!?!?....DAD!?” Just beside him, he noticed that Spiral’s horn was about to go crazy from panic. He grabbed her horn in an attempt to hold back the impending destruction. “Spiral, don’t you dare!” Before anypony could say anything else, Shrapnel slammed his claws and assumed a predatory pose. “” “OH MY WORD!!” Rarity said before scurrying away, but as she did, she looked back at caught a glimpse of a familiar set of amethyst eyes, who promptly masked her face and vanish without a trace. However, it was all that instant that Rarity needed to recognize the filly from the train. It was her, the one that must’ve been called ‘Shadow Shroud’, the ninja filly that attacked her. Cheerilee ushered all of the frightened class out of the room to protect them from Shrapnel. Twilight shined her horn and readied a spell. “Fire Fight, stop! None of you have to run away anymore! We were wrong, so please just let us talk about this.” She launched magic that was intended to deactivate the portal, but Air Slash swooped in just in time and blocked the spell with one of his swords, letting it absorb into the blade. “HUH!?” Twilight was perplexed. “I THINK NOT!” Air Slash declared. He swung his charged sword and launched a sword beam above the search party, which strike the wall above the door and caused some rocks to fall from it and distract them. “GO!! GO!! GO!!” Air Slash ordered. The foals broke out of their shocked trances and started hurriedly jumping through the portal one by one, starting with Tidal Wave and Spiral Galaxy. “AIR SLASH!!” Knight Soul shouted, who was elated to find his son again, but was just as perplexed as Twilight was as to how he pulled off the magic counter that he did. Air Slash himself was both stunned and terrified to see him there. “F-F-FATHER!?!?” He wasted no time escorting Greensprout through the portal along with him. Twilight regained her focus after she dodged the rocks and moved out of the way. “FIRE FIGHT, YOU NEED TO LISTEN- ACK!!” Something suddenly struck her in the back of the head and knocked her out. “SHROUD, NOT THE PRINCESS!” Fire Fight exclaimed, but when he looked over, he saw that Shadow Shroud was helping the other foals get through the portal, and she was just as surprised. “What the?...” “What in tarnati- GIUH!!” Applejack suddenly fell victim to the unseen force. “SIS!!” Applebloom shouted. “Now, now, Applebloom! I’m sure- UGH!!” Cheerilee said before she too fell in heap. Rarity started looking around in a panic. She knew what was coming to her, but she couldn't stop it, and the past was repeated. " "Rarity!" Sweetie Belle shouted. Knight Soul drew his sword, sensing his enemy. “SHOW YOURSELF, DEMON!!” Feeling a presence rushing him from behind him, he turned around to block, and sure enough, a cloaked stallion with magenta eyes shining through his mask had attacked him with kamas. “SHADEWALKER!!” he shouted. The fihure jumped back and disappeared in a puff of smoke and suddenly fell from the ceiling, but Knight Soul managed to parry him away. The other Bladerunner’s surrounded the cloaked rogue, but the Shadewalker did like Shadow Shroud and summoned illusory copies of himself and began jumping around them, disorienting all of them save for Knight Soul, who led his troops to combat the phantom menace as best they could. “WHAT THE HELL IS EVEN GOING- WHOA, HEY!” Valkyrie said as Turf War dragged her through the portal with him. “FIRE FIGHT!!! FIRE FIGHT!!!!!!” Cat exclaimed as she and Fist made a mad dash for their son. Fire Fight was too panicked to be able to move in that instant, but he last saving grace was none other than his cloaked friend. Shadow Shroud wasted no time taking down his parents, much to his dismay and relief simultaneously. “What are you doing!? Just go!” Shroud said, snapping Fire Fight out and prompting him to take her with him. “OH NO, YOU DON’T!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she swooped down towards them, but when she was about to get close, she felt something strike her shoulder with enough force to throw her off balance. “OW!!!” When she looked at her shoulder, she saw that an arrow had been fired into it! “HUH!?” “HEY, S***FACE!!” Rainbow Dash looked over to see Bullseye soaring towards her, and she could have sworn she saw hell itself burning in her one good eye. “GET BENT!!” Bullseye used her bow and her momentum to punch the Wonderbolt in the gut and ram her into the wall. The pain was so great that Rainbow Dash could only curl up into a fetal position. However, Bullseye somehow found the mercy keep her arrow lodged in Rainbow Dash’s shoulder and left. "RAINBOW DASH!!" Scootaloo shouted as she rushed towards her idol. Zebota was the last one left, and he pulled out one of the rocks for his sling and quickly enchanted it. As it glowed a fierce green hue, he threw it up into the air before rushing through the portal with the rest of his comrades. When the rock hit the ground, the magic put into it caused it to detonate right at the base of the portal, leaving the ancient gateway, and the only way for any of the search party to follow them destroyed…..and the shadow that had aided them suddenly vanished…..