On a Train to Griffonstone…
Twilight was too anxious to sleep even in the late night, as were Sky Strike, Cat and Fist, all of whom were too excited at the prospect of once again catching up to the foals. Everypony else slept, a little annoyed at the sudden nighttime field trip but nonetheless eager to finally complete their mission.
“What could have happened to make that little filly cast that kind of spell? I hope she and the other foals are alright…” Cat said.
“I really hate to be a downer, but we don’t know for a fact that it was this ‘Spiral Galaxy’ filly. This might be a mistake.” Fist said.
“Any lead’s a good one, buddy.” Sky Strike said.
Fist smiled. “I know. I just don’t want us getting our hopes up only to be disappointed, but I want us to find our kids too.”
“Let’s approach them calmly this time. We freaked them out the last time and they didn’t give us a chance to talk.” Twilight said. They all agreed.
Suddenly, they could feel the train begin to slow down for some reason, and it didn’t feel like the conductor hit the brakes, until they felt the telltale jerk of brakes being activated. When it came to a complete stop, a train worker entered their car. “Princess Twilight?” She said.
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. Our train will have to be delayed until we can….fix the tracks.” She said.
“Fix them? Well what’s wrong with them? I could help.” Fist asked.
“I…I think you should see for yourself. W-We might need your help.” The worker stammered.
The four of them followed her outside to the front of the train where they were met with a puzzling sight. The train tracks were frozen over! “What in the world?” Cat said.
“But we’re roughly ten miles from the Frozen North! It can’t that cold over here.” Sky Strike said.
The worker shivered. “Brrr! Now that you mention it…” It was indeed unusually cold outside….ominously cold.
In Griffonstone…
The light of dawn rose and graced the land, and King Grover kept his word from last night. He had apparently sent some servants to wake the foals up a little before eight in the morning, which was a bit aggravating, but they’d made him a promise.
He had them all gathered in his throne room, and they came in one by one. Fire Fight was first, and most of his comrades shortly joined him. The only ones absent were Greensprout, Air Slash and Spiral Galaxy.
“Good morning, Battle Foals. I trust you slept well?” Grover asked.
Turf War loudly yawned. “Slept like a damn baby, yo!”
“No nightmares?” Shadow Shroud teased. Turf War just rolled his eyes.
Grover then noticed that the servant escorting Bullseye and Crazylocks was holding his eye and looked rather annoyed. “Is all well, young man?”
The servant simply eyed down at Bullseye, who had a guilty look on her face. “Y-Yes, sire… I’m fine.”
Bullseye looked gloomily at Grover. “S-Sorry… I…kinda panicked…” she muttered.
Fire Fight sighed. “I’ll deal with her, Your Highness. She’s a bit of special case.”
“I understand.” Grover said. “Hmm… It would seem not all of you are present.”
“Sire, the remaining three of them are a bit occupied. They will be here momentarily.” A guard said.
Just as she said that, Air Slash walked through the main door with another servant who pushed a wheeled weapon rack that had the foals’ armaments while he had had his swords on his back. “A thousand apologies for my tardiness. I can only carry so much weight on my own.” He said with a hint of pride.
The foals happily gathered their tempered equipment and geared up. The only thing left on the rack was Spiral Galaxy’s armor along another set they hadn’t seen before, which made them feel a little empty.
The main hall door opened again, and the foals were more than elated to see that it was Greensprout leading a slightly dazed but very conscious Spiral Galaxy but the hoof. The foals happily approached her while Frostbite just looked on a creased a little smile.
“Spiral!” Tidal Wave hugged her.
“Be gentle, brother. She’s still stirring.” Greensprout said.
“Oh. Sorry…” Tidal Wave let up.
Spiral weakly giggled. “Hey, bro…” She nuzzled his neck, making him blush. “Greensprout filled me in on everything that’s happened until now. I’m sorry I worried you all…”
“Hey, at least Skadi’s taken care of, right?” Tidal Wave said.
“Just do make a point of warning us before you go doing something like that again. You scared us half to death.” Quantum Tech said.
“Have you been fed?” Zebota asked.
“Greensprout gave me some leftovers from last night.” Spiral said. “Fire Fight’s got some competition!”
“Whoa! Let’s not be too hasty now!” Fire Fight said.
Grover chuckled. “I’m delighted to see that you’ve recovered, little one. Some breakfast is being prepared as we speak, but I’ve called you all here for a small briefing about your objective.”
“If I may, Milord?” Air Slash said. Grover nodded. “It is but a small token, but…” He grabbed to other piece of armor and handed it to Frostbite. It’s shade of grey matched his underbelly and horns, and embroidered in the center of the chest was a Battle Foals emblem. “You earned this, friend.”
Frostbite was surprised that a pony could accurately craft dragon armor, and when he strapped into it, it fit like a glove! “Not bad, kid. Not shabby at all.”
“I realize your body is fortified enough as is, but it makes your union with us more formal.” Air Slash said.
“Ya wear it well, partner.” Kickback said.
“Ehh…th-thanks…” Frostbite stammered. The foals could tell he wasn’t one for sappy emotions.
“Frostbite had it n’ his heart to carry ya when you were unconscious, Ms. Spiral.” Kickback said.
“I know! Greensprout told me.” Spiral went over and nuzzled his leg. “Thanks, big guy! It’s gonna fun having you coming with us.”
Frostbite eyed her for a moment before reaching down to ruffle her mane. “Eh, least I could do, twerp.”
Air Slash then grabbed another Battle Foals medallions on the rack that they had yet to notice and presented to Valkyrie. “And for you. I know you’ll likely never formally join our ranks, but I think we’d all be remiss if you were not at least considered a close ally.”
Valkyrie took the medallion and inspected it, then smiled proudly. “I guess it wouldn’t too big of a hassle.” She tucked it away in her armor.
Grover chuckled. “Now then, onto the briefing. Heimr Island is not a terribly large landmass, but its dense jungles both of flora and the prison’s crumbling ruins can make it a difficult place to navigate. As such, you will be accompanied by not only trained guards to aid you in battle, but also a scholar of history who possesses maps of the island, both from the days of its operation and its current state today.”
“How big is the prison itself?” Shadow Shroud asked.
“Half the size of my castle if I had to estimate, but that’s only the portions of it above ground.” Grover answered. “There are catacombs underground which leads to submerged caverns where inmates harvested their own water and mushrooms to bring to the cooks.”
“More caves…hell yeah…” Turf War muttered.
“Are there any sort of specific dangers that we should expect to encounter whilst there?” Zebota asked.
“Other than the obvious crumbling ruins, nothing in particular. There is no presence of venomous fauna or flora. Although, it warrants mentioning once more that the island is quite misty, namely on the coast.” Grover answered. “The so-called ‘demons’ are what is unknown to all of us, so do proceed with caution.”
“There aren’t a whole lot edible plants on that island, so we’ll have to pack a lot of rations in case we take forever.” Valkyrie said.
“Ah! Thank you, Valkyrie.” Grover said. “You will all be escorted to the docks where you will you meet the captain of my royal guard. She will be leading the expedition and is preparing your ship as we speak.”
“Oh wonderful…” Valkyrie mumbled. “You guys are gonna love her…” Her sarcasm was obvious.
Grover rolled his eyes a little. “At any rate, I wish you luck.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. We won’t let you down.” Fire Fight said. They all took a bow before being escorted to the dining hall before their departure.
*****
As the foals were led through Griffonstone, the townsfolk seemed to mind them a little more if they didn’t already despite what little mischief they may have made earlier. Not only that, but the atmosphere around town seemed noticeably less tense than before. Perhaps the news of Skadi’s defeat and arrest had lifted a weight from everyone’s shoulders, or was it the mere presence of the bearer of the Valhalla?
Far in the distance and clearly visible was a massive ship big enough to carry a sizable battalion of soldiers. What wasn’t obvious until they got much closer was that dock accompanied by some guards were loading the galleon, and the one giving order was an elderly female griffon wearing armor that was decorated in such a way that she was obviously of higher position than the grunts.
“I’ve seen pregnant snails move bloody faster than you lot! Ya think the king’s sendin’ us on a luxury cruise r’ somethin’!? Put yer spineless backs into it n’ move, ya wee guppies! The sooner we see what the bloody hell is up with that hunk o’ rock, the sooner we can finally sleep at night without these bloody rumors creepin’ around the streets like spiders in our pillows! Have us Griffons ever been nothin’ more than wee chicklin’s!?”
“No, ma’am!!” The workers shouted in unison.
The foals could feel the armored Griffon’s fearsome presence before they even set foot on the dock. That coupled with her stern expression made it easy to tell that she was a fierce old hen. Her thick accent instantly reminded Tidal Wave of Aesir.
“Sh-She sounds…friendly.” Spiral stammered.
“That’s about as far as it goes…” Valkyrie grumbled. They calmly approached the obvious captain while noticed them, prompting the captain to look behind her. “Hello, Captain Frigg…”
“Well, well, well!” Frigg boomed. “If it ain’t the wee urchins who swabbed up Skadi!” she said rather aggressively. “Can’t say I’m terribly shocked. She always seemed like a milk drinker hidin’ behind her science n’ whatnot.”
“Yer not too far off the mark there, Ms….Frigg, was it?” Kickback said.
“That’s Captain Frigg to you, horsie!” she asserted. “Ya better count yer blessin’s that the king decided to be impressed with yer li’l arses. Otherwise, I’d sooner swallow a pound o’ seagull droppin’s whole than let even step onto the dock to board the might Jotun!”
“Tch! You’re welcome by the way!” Bullseye growled.
Frigg glared at the little archer, and Bullseye could suddenly feel her very soul being crushed under the intense weight of the old hen’s gaze alone. She quivered a little and lowered her head. “Yeah.” Frigg growled. “You wanna hit me with words, you better be ready to hit me with a sword, girly.”
Air Slash cleared his throat. “It seems we’re off on the wrong foot, honorable captain. If you asked our dear Valkyrie, I believe she could attest quite nicely to our strength. She barely managed to best me in duel.”
“It’s true.” Valkyrie muttered blankly.
Surprisngly, Frigg seemed to eye Valkyrie more disapprovingly than anything else. “Hmph. Just one li’l play fight was all it took fer you to take a shine to these swabs, eh? Typical…” she said. “Yer given the weight o’ yer ancestors, n’ lets ya think you can judge a book by the first chapter. Ain’t I at least taught ya how to use a sword and shield, chicklin’!?”
“Yes….you did….” Valkyrie muttered.
“You’re the one that trained her? That’s cool!” Fire Fight said.
Frigg just waved her hand. “Eh, what’s it to you?” she said. “Listen good now. If the king thinks you can help us again, I’ll humor him, but ye li’l swabs better show me why Skadi was sunk by a few tykes on a field trip. Otherwise, I’m shippin’ ya back to Griffonstone in a dingy. Is that clear?” She looked up at Shrapnel. “That goes fer yer li’l pup here as well.”
Shrapnel growled at her, obviously not taking kindly to being called a pup.
Frigg spread her wings and flew up to him, getting right in his face. “Ya sure ya wanna take that tone with me fido?”
Zebota patted his titan on the paw. “At ease, Shrapnel.” At his master’s command, Shrapnel calmed down, and Frigg landed back on the dock.
“You’ll have to give us a minute to finish loadin’ supplies onto the ship b’fore ya board her. We’ve always made sure a ship’s crew n’ passengers actually have survival needs b’fore settin’ sail.” Frigg explained.
“Fair enough.” Shroud said.
Quantum Tech couldn’t help but to marvel at the Jotun itself. It was a massive beauty of a ship that looked like it had withstood the test of time. Whoever was responsible for its maintenance was obviously very diligent. “Quite a breathtaking galleon I must say.”
“Like it, do ya?” Frigg replied. “She’s a hardy ol’ girl. Been around ever since the times of Siegfried himself. Some legends claim that the bastard even helped build her in his youth. I guarantee ya won’t find a boat better fit fer the sea anywhere else.”
“Captain!” a crewman called out. “All the supplies check out! We’re ready as soon as everyone else in aboard!”
“’Bout bloody time, ya sea slugs!” Frigg shouted. She then faced the foals. “Alright, onto the ship with ye, swabs! We got a dangerous voyage ahead of us.” She flew onboard ahead of them.
Turf War shook his head. “Boy, don’t f*** with her!”
“Yeah… Get used to it. Nothing ever impresses her…” Valkyrie muttered.
“A warrior’s spirit must keep her aged body so strong.” Greensprout said.
“Maybe I should show her my mental scars collection!” Crazylocks blurted.
“R-Right…” Fire Fight said.
He and the foals began boarding the Jotun. Quantum had to have Spiral and Fire Fight help her magically lift her mech onto the deck, but the real task was figuring out how to get Shrapnel aboard. The boarding plane was only wide enough to make for two lanes of traffic, and he wasn’t a small creature. Seemingly without easy options, the wooden titan saw fit to leap aboard the ship, and his sheer weight caused to rock violently for a moment, startling most of the crew.
“OI THAR!! YA TRYIN’ TO SINK HER B’FORE WE EVEN WEIGH ANCHOR YA BLOODY BAG O’ SPLINTERS!?!?” Frigg exclaimed.
The foals could tell that this was going to be a long ship ride…