The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi


A Royal Summons

Morning greeted Maple too quickly, in the form of a sharp knock against the adjacent room's door. She uncurled herself from the bed and slipped to the floor, rubbing her eyes with a hoof and trying her best not to appear bleary, but by the time she had made it to the entrance separating her room for the other, Gerardo already had the door open and was being addressed by a smartly-armored Stormhoof griffon guard.

"Greetings, Ironridge travelers," the guard began, speaking with a perfectionism that suggested he was reading from a script. "This is a royal invitation for breakfast with Lord Stormhoof in his private dining chamber. It extends to the seven of you, and should you accept, begins in one hour. Glory to Garsheeva."

He bowed, exiting backwards and closing the door in his wake.

"Quite a way to begin one's morning," Gerardo announced, ruffling his feathers and trotting back to his bedside table. Sweeping a wing, he parted the curtains, casting light on the rumples in his uniform and the still-blinking forms of Shinespark and Slipstream in the room's other beds.

Maple frowned, pointing at his clothes. "Did you sleep in that?"

Gerardo blinked down at his attire. "Ah, this? Indubitably. I find it most useful for times like this, when I am called upon to stand at attention at a moment's notice. Why do you ask?" He tipped his beaked face, blinking curiously.

"Because I'm still waking up..." Maple yawned, rubbing her muzzle and then her eyes again. "Ooh. Breakfast in an hour. I wonder if I should go back to sleep first..."

Shinespark curled back up in her bed. "It's barely dawn. I wouldn't blame you."

"I had to get up way earlier than this for work," Slipstream murmured, tucking her forehooves against her chest. "Maybe I should go for a morning flight while you all are sleeping..."

"Hah! All of whom?" Gerardo crowed, fixing his crest and puffing out his chest. "I, for one, embrace the sunrise. Give me one moment to ensure my attire is in proper order, and I shall happily accompany you. After all, during a life of adventure, it is those who embark early who arrive before nightfall!"

"Suit yourself," Shinespark muttered, rolling over. "Whether we earned it or not, this is a vacation..."

Smiling tiredly at their antics, Maple went back to bed.


Just under an hour later, Maple found herself amid a procession of guards, more a formality than a fighting force, escorting the six of them up a winding staircase. Jamjars, as usual, was elsewhere, and as she watched the path turned out onto a bridge to a parapet suspended from the tower's side.

Stormhoof's dining room was a balcony, protected from the outside world by a faintly-tinted magical bubble that reminded her of the one Arambai had made in Riverfall to protect the bathhouse from rain. A semicircular platform with a low, crenellated edge, the view looked northeast, just angled enough so there was room in the building's shadow to sit out of the rising sun. The height of the balcony would have been breathtaking had she not just come from Ironridge, but instead, Maple was left to be impressed by the shoreline's vast sprawl, a solid coastline of buildings merging into docks and ships and then open blue water. It was nothing like the craggy, mountainous coastline of the Yule's mouth, nor was it the quaint, ornamental deck that lined northern Riverfall, far bigger than anyone needed it to be. This was a city that transitioned between water and land like the Stone District flowed into the Earth, and it stretched into the northern horizon in a bumpy line of development as far as her eyes could see.

"Ever seen something like this before?" a voice asked she thought she remembered but couldn't quite place.

Maple turned, blinking, and was greeted by a sea-blue unicorn mare with a mane that clung tightly to her skull. "Brightcoil," she said, nodding. "We met in the meeting yesterday, but it was a little too chaotic for introductions."

"I'll say," a pegasus grunted next to her, the room's only other occupant. "I guess Stormhoof has just as many administrative issues as Ironridge..."

"Ah, my companions!" Gerardo beamed, swooping in and grabbing Brightcoil's hoof and shaking it. "I was indeed hoping we would meet again before parting to the corners of the world! Were you too summoned here by Lord Stormhoof?"

Brightcoil nodded. "Sharpie and I have been here for several minutes, but Stormhoof isn't supposed to be here for a little while still. We're early."

"Excellent!" Gerardo crowed, lifting a talon. "In that case, perhaps introductions and hanging out are in order? Who here already knows whom?"

Maple shrugged, smiling helplessly. "I don't think I met either of you in Ironridge."

"Sharpie," the pegasus introduced. "I worked for a while as an inspector for Skyfreeze's regulations department, which does exist but might as well not. Worst job of my life, unless you like doing meaningless and stressful work that benefits no one and earns a high salary. I got dragged into some things it was probably my job to poke my nose into by Gerardo, found out about the bombs, and was planning to quit my job and leave Ironridge when Shinespark offered the two of us free airline tickets to anywhere in the world. If I was smart, we'd use my savings and just find a place to retire, but..." She sighed explosively. "Do I look like retirement age to you? I've already wasted most of my career, and need to do something with myself! So we'll find something to do eventually."

Brightcoil nodded alongside her. "The last two years in particular were extremely stressful. At this point, we're just waiting for Ironridge to blow over here, and then going to take a long vacation to unwind. Maybe go north to Goldoa... I hear that's a nice tourist destination, though we might look for somewhere quieter. How about you?" She smiled welcomingly. "Where are you going next?"

Shinespark cleared her throat. "It depends on our ship. It needs... repairs. For now, we need to make sure there's no political bomb about to go off regarding any misunderstandings between Stormhoof and Ironridge, and then we can focus on where to go next."

"However!" Gerardo eagerly interrupted. "We have received an invitation from the Wallace Whitewing to visit Izvaldi, and would be absolute fools not to jump at the-"

"We're thinking about it," Shinespark said, cutting him off with a flash of her horn and smiling grimly. "Trying to keep our options open."

At that moment, there was a shuffling of spears from the balcony entrance, and the guards parted, allowing a strong, robed figure through. Lord Garland Stormhoof stood slightly shorter than a normal big-chested stallion, with a muscular grace to his aging form, lithe and limber even though he was clearly approaching his sixties. His black-and-blue asymmetrical garment was styled like a military coat yet open in the front, clearly showing off his paws and the alternate-colored fur along his underside, and his lack of a mane was replaced by the same ornamented beret he had worn to the war room.

"Yo." Valey waved, grinning as he appraised them. "Before you say anything, I just wanna let you know that you have a really awesome hat."