//------------------------------// // Bird in the Hoof... // Story: Ofolrodi // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// The Herald trudged through a wide-stretching valley filled with dense, knee-high glowing mushrooms. Kepler picked several for samples. Ariel flew wide circles in the air, surveying the landscape ahead. Rainbow Dash and Wildcard sat facing each other in the wagon. The Desperado flashed his natural hand in multiple formations. Rainbow watched... watched... watched—"'Austraeoh','" she blurted. "That spells out 'Austraeoh.'" Wildcard nodded. He signed again. Rainbow's eyes darted left and right, following the talons. "'Urohringr.'" A smirk beneath his beak, and Wildcard gestured again. Rainbow's ghostly companions watched intently. They looked at the griffin's claws, then back at Rainbow Dash. She took a deep breath, then stammered: "'Rohbredden.' Wow. That's how you spell it?" "Ha-hah!" Kepler laughed from where he scampered alongside the wagon, picking mushrooms. "Whew-boy..." Rainbow stroked her bangs back. "These are getting long." The wagon skirted the edge of a precarious canyon wall. Logan was drawing the wagon this time. Kepler and Flynn sat close to one another, examining a map left by the Darkreach Expedition. "Okaaay..." Rainbow Dash squinted. She was trotting behind the wagon, looking at Wildcard who sat on the very back. "That one means... means..." She blinked hard. "Could you repeat it again?" Wildcard nodded. He patiently complied. "Eugh... I wanna say 'whale,' but..." "It's 'sea serpent,'" Twilight Sparkle said. "Shhhh!" Rainbow hissed at her. "I got this!" "But don't you remember? He taught it to you six days ago—?" "Twilight! Girl!" Rainbow frowned. "I can do this! How else am I gonna learn?!" "Ohhhhhhhh..." Twilight sighed and hovered in a slumped position. "What I wouldn't give for some ghostly flash cards." Beside them, a lavender portal of translucent energy opened up. Pinkie and Rarity stuck their heads out, yawning. "Are they still learning Wyvern Wind Speech?" Rarity whined. "Mmmmmhmmmm." Twilight nodded. "Awwwwwwwww candy corn!" Pinkie cursed. "Whelp!" She and Rarity limped back into the comfortable folds of limbo. "Call us when there's a fight scene or something!" "Nyeeeeuuu..." Rarity held a dainty hoof over her yawning muzzle as she disappeared. "What she said..." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Not everypony respects lesson time." "Hey Wildcard!" Rainbow's voice cracked as she smirked at the griffin. "Can you combine 'egg' and 'head?'" A lavender hoof motioned to punch the petite pegasus, instead phasing through her skull. Rainbow merely winked into the dim starlight. "What about adding 'cracked' as an adjective?" The group huddled under a smooth, curved swath of pale stone overlooking a luminescent valley. The air was filled with reptilian creatures darting after one another in sporadic formation. Kepler squatted over a pot of meat stew. As he stirred, he looked over to where Rainbow Dash was tightly huddled with Wildcard. But he wasn't the only one looking. A pair of charcoal brown eyes reflected the pair. Seraphimus sat in the dead center of the camp. Several chains anchored her to the wagon. After a prolonged period of staring, she shifted upon hearing a set of heavy hoofsteps marching closer. She made way for Logan, who squatted perpendicular to the griffin. "Alright..." He placed an Emeraldinian bowl of broth down before her. "Got ya some of the stew. Extra meaty. And not in the sexy way." Schiiiing! He propped up his axe so she could see it. "You know the drill. I'll free one talon during the meal—but no funny stuff." Seraphimus sighed, but nevertheless stood obediently still as the stallion undid one half of her forward shackles. "By now, Logan, you should know that I'm not capable of 'funny.'" "Hrmmmff..." He released her front right limb and leaned back next to his axe. "What does any of us know?" She raised the bowl to her beak, all the while squinting at the two. "It's a very bad idea." "Like Hell it is," Logan grasped a sample of reptilian meat himself and took a hearty bite. "Mrmmmfff... you're a tactician... hrmmmfff..." He swallowed. "If you expect a team like us to do well, then it's super friggin' important for our leader to be able to speak to anyone. That includes your old buddy over there." "She's already infected his blighted mind enough," Seraphimus droned. "Opening communication is just..." She fidgeted. "...allowing her to funnel more nonsense into Jordan's consciousness." "Well..." Logan chewed and shrugged. "If his mind is so 'blighted' already than what's the worst she can do to him at this point?" "I shudder to find out." Logan paused for a moment. He squinted at Seraphimus. "... ... ...maybe you've already found out." She took a sip and looked at him. "Hmmm?" Logan smirked ever so slightly. "You're jealous at the attention Wildcard is getting, aren't you?" The former Talon Commander nearly spat out her stew. She placed the bowl down and wiped off her beak. "That is preposterous." "Hey, I get it. You're passionate about the dude. We all are. In your case—it showed the first time you tried to rip his heart out over Bleak's Plummet." "Jordan drew a line in the sand a long... long time ago, Logan," Seraphimus grumbled. "Even he knows he is without honor. I have no feelings about him whatsoever. No feelings about anything." "Heh... sure thing, Sera." Logan sat back casually and nibbled on his dinner. "Mrmmmfff... For a hardass who no longer feels, you've gotten pretty darn used to my name." Seraphimus blinked. "Hell..." He shrugged, glancing off into the valley below. "...makes one wonder just how much else you're capable of feeling." "I am not jealous." "Okay." "... ... ...I am not." "Friggin' eat your stew already, ya buzzard." Seraphimus fumed. Glancing back at Rainbow and Wildcard, she very quietly... very angrily raised the bowl back to her beak. A few bubbles formed in the broth.