//------------------------------// // Peppercorn Tornado // Story: Farachan // by QTXAdsy //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Peppercorn Tornado The Equestrian capital city gradually became smaller as the red armoured Pegasai flew northwards towards the large port city of Glascolt; to Blue Arrow at least as they were heading to Alba, it was a bit of a homecoming for him. Glascolt sat not only near the sea (thus making itself as a port city), but also sat right on the Equestria/Alba border on Alba's side. Though he was a Maredinburgh born colt, Glascolt had always had developed a bit of a soft spot on him (even though the two cities had a rivalry like with any big cities.) It had been a long time for him since he had been in his motherland and was interested to see how things had changed since he left to become a Red Hoof. By this point while leaving Canterlot behind, the sun had nearly gone over the horizon and the sky was now a glowing orange. Blue Arrow could feel the warmth on his face as he flew alongside with his fellow troops as they continued to fly and was also starting to realise that his own heavy plate armour was starting to weigh him down. Though he simply went on flying, not wanting to look weak in front of his fellow other Hooves (no doubt to Blue Arrow's point of view that they would be feeling the strain too). "Wonder if I'll see this land again?" He thought to himself as he looked at the Equestrian landscape around him. In his own mind, the green and pleasant lands of Equestria would be a far contrast to what could likely be a muddy battlefield in Farachan; despite hearing a lot that many in this land were going there for stating a new life or retiring there, all of which saying that it is was a beautiful land. Who was he to argue with when he got there? The dark blue stallion seem to lose track of time as they carried on flying. By this point, they must had been flying for at least two hours now with the sky become darker and becoming more cloudy as time went on. However, Blue Arrow noticed some large faint formations on the horizon. Just in the distance as the red and white mane stallion squinted his eyes to try and get a better look through the ranks of Red Hooves in front of him. There in the distance, he could just make out the large rugged mountains of the one country that only could warm the Stallion's heart like no other. Alba. From several other Albian stallions alongside him, a few cheers could be heard as they also could see their homeland, and Blue Arrow couldn't help but have a large grin spread across his face upon seeing that they were getting closer. "Could've kept the sun up at least for us, Princess," Blue Arrow muttered under his breath jokingly, referring to the sky getting darker and hoping that they would have at least some light when they arrived at Glascolt. As they got ever nearer to the border, the temperature began dropping slowly, and for those stallions living who had never stepped a hoof in Alba or even lived there, they all had a shiver up their back. They were not use to that sort of cold temperature up north. But for Blue Arrow and his fellow country stallions, they all knew the cold weather pretty well and pretty much well use to it on a daily basis when they were young colts. There was no denying at least from one or two of the Albian ponies there all raised a cheeky grin at seeing their Equestrian counterparts shiver for feeling cold. Nevertheless, they carried on and the group of highly trained stallions soon enough flew over the border and into Alba. It was a great thing with the city being right on the border near the coast that finding the city wouldn't be much of a problem as they went onwards to Glascolt. Looking down below him, Blue Arrow was surprised that the mountains themselves remained unchanged from the day he left his homeland (always thinking that buildings would be built on them in that time he was away), though he could see that a long dirt road had been built that snaked it's way alongside the mountains and uneven terrain. "What else could be different here, especially in Glascolt?" Blue Arrow muttered to himself again, not trying to gain attention from his fellow comrades. Glascolt itself was something that did make him think, when he last saw the port city many years ago before joining the Red Hooves, it only just became a city and was still growing. No doubt the city now would be twice the size it once was. "Ah shoot, not now!" Cried a beige stallion with a southern accent in front of Blue Arrow as several other Red Hooves looked to him wondering what was wrong. Then one by one, they could feel a few drops of rain. For the Caledonian blue stallion and his fellow country ponies, they could only share a chuckle. "A' least we know we're back hame!" Blue Arrow called over to the others, only causing the laughter to increase. It must be know too that Alba had been somewhat the butt of many jokes about its moody weather, even with the help of the large amount of weather patrols who would have to stop the rain on a daily basis. Still, no country in the world could ever be perfect. Just then, they could hear loud chatter from the front of the pack, all excitedly pointing to some flickers of light in the far distance beside the ocean. Glascolt. As other stallions realised what was ahead, some cheered and whooped that they were getting closer to their destination, mostly as they were now getting tired from all this flying. Blue Arrow himself felt like cheering with the rest, but instead focused on the landscape around him. Despite some terrible weather, rugged mountains and almost bleak countryside, it was home to him, and with the thought that he may never make it back home after heading to Farachan, Blue Arrow took the chance to drink in all the sights around him. Even though the city was becoming more larger as they approached it, the air was getting damper and even those Alba born stallions now felt a chill up their spines. Only thing to make it worse for them was the heavens to open up fully on them and that nopony would turn up at Glascolt to say their farewells to them…hardly the send-off any Red Hoof there would want! Finally the stallions at the front of the pack gave a hoof signal to fly low as the entered the outskirts of the city. By this point, everypony there could get a great look at the city, and for Blue Arrow, he was stunned to see at how things had changed overtime. The outskirts of the city was mostly houses all around, all of which to Blue Arrow's perspective all seemed new and weren't there before. But when he looked down closer, he was surprised to see many ponies on the tops of rooftops waving at them with happy looks. "Oh Celestia," Blue Arrow said dumbfounded to nopony in particular. "Even Red Hooves are loved up here!" "Only that the word get's round quicker these days," said a black stallion beside him, with a Brooklyn accent on him. Like the other Red Hooves there, his face was covered by his red helmet and could only see a few bits of a longish dark red mane and tail. "When I was a youngster growin' up in Alba," Blue Arrow replied back to the stallion, remembering the old days for him. "Everythin' was just laid back 'an all, I bloody well need to catch up on things here!" The two of them chuckled at Blue Arrow's words. The black stallion was about to add something to the conversation when one of the stallions leading them cried out an order. "Follow onwards to the docks!" Soon, the many Red Hoof troops turned to their left as they headed towards the city docks. Looking onwards to his right, Blue Arrow could see larger buildings in the centre of the city and the vast field of buildings of all shapes and sizes everywhere. In terms of sheer size, Glascolt could quite easily rival Canterlot in many ways. Blue Arrow did have a tinge of disappointment of not staying here for a night and explore what was new in the city. Still, he had a task to carry out for his country and this was no time for sight seeing. By now the sky was nearly pitch black and the only light was coming from the streets below. A giant dark cloud now loomed over the city that only made everything more darker and bleak. But when they all looked down on the city, every Red Hoof could see thousands of ponies in the streets and on rooftops cheering them on in similar fashion than what it was like at Canterlot. Looking back in front of them again, up ahead they all caught their first glimpses of the vast Glascoltian ports even the large ships waiting to transport them. Blue Arrow remembered before heading to Canterlot to have that send-off from Celestia that there would be ten ships there for the one thousand Red Hoof troops heading to Farachan (one ship for each hundred). For Blue Arrow and perhaps his fellow Red Hooves, there was a sense of excitement and nervousness for each of them. Flying ever nearer to the docks, once again, large crowds could be seen cheering for them. Some eagle-eyed Hooves could see some in the crowd waving banners with messages such as 'Good luck!' and 'Haste ye back!' (An old Albian slang for 'Come back soon'.) Looking at the large docklands around him, Blue Arrow remembered vividly that Glascolt was literally built on its docks, ship building and the various exports it would send around the world. Though it amazed him that despite the quick growth of the city, the docks remained unchanged as far as Blue Arrow could remember from all those years ago with the only thing different being the modern looking ships scattered around the waterfronts. Even with the sky getting darker by the second and the climate becoming quite damp, ponies of all sorts were all standing together giving them a grand send off with a loud exclamation of cheering. With all this going on, Blue Arrow felt quite touched by this support for them. Who knows how their fame was going to last after they returned back from Farachan…then again that is if they all returned in one piece and won the war. They started to flow lower to the ground to touch down on the concrete surface of the waterfront, to the tremendous sound of the crowd that could've deafen any Red Hoof there. For a few moments afterwards they stood there looking around them, waiting for their orders from the leading Hooves, though with the loud roar of the crowd, the poor ordering Hooves perhaps couldn't be heard. "Hooves! Line up!" Cried out one of the commanding troops from the front of the pack, just barely being heard by others. As soon as all Red Hooves heard it, they followed their orders lining up in rows of ten. The commanding Red Hoof started hovering above them with his fore hooves around his mouth in order to get the troops attention a bit better. "Remember boys, hundred to each ship!" He cried out to them before waving his fore hooves leading them to their awaiting ships. As ordered, they headed onwards in groups of a hundred to their ships; Blue Arrow was to aboard the third ship tied up by its berth. After the long trip up North that seemed so slow, everything now was going by in a blur. It seemed that every Hoof there all simply wanting to get on with the final part of the voyage and get some sleep. Before entering through the door way on the gangplank, Blue Arrow stopped to look back at the crowd around him again. The giant crowd did not falter in their support for these brave stallions. It seemed like ages that Blue Arrow seemed to stood there until he utter a few words. "…We'll meet again," He said to himself with a small smile on his lips before entering the ship with the others. Inside, the interior was just barely lit a few oil lamps and because of this, a few tripping's could be barely seen through the darkness. Though that was the least of their worries, the main thing now was to find a good bed for the journey. Though there was exactly the right amount of beds for all Red Hooves there, they weren't marked out for who was sleeping where and now it was a mad rush to find the best bed. Blue Arrow didn't have time to get use to the ship as with the rest headed to the sleeping quarters, all the beds were bunk types. Thankfully it was nearby them when they entered and at once, every Red Hoof there started to swarm around the room like a swarm of bees. The dark blue Pegasus quickly bolted over to one bed near a porthole, which he nearly had to fight off a fellow troop for the bed who stated that it was his. Blue Arrow had no time to argue, after the long journey from Canterlot, he hauled off his red helmet and placed it under his bed before finally collapsing on the bed completely exhausted. Had it not been from the din of other troops there he would've likely fallen asleep on the spot. All he could do was lie back lazily looking up at underside of the top bunk above him… …And wonder… XXX About ten minutes later, the ships were finally cast off and began their journey over the sea to Farachan. Some Red Hooves (after finding their chosen beds and marking them by placing their armour on them) had gone up on deck to wave goodbye to the crowds there. Like the majority however, Blue Arrow didn't bother; all they wanted was some shut eye. By now, the only sound heard was the sea crashing against the ship and various small chattering of a few Red Hoof conversations taken place around the quarters, apart from that, some peace at last, though one certain Blue stallion didn't look himself. "Don't wanna get seasick now!" Said an almost greened face Blue Arrow to himself through gritted teeth as he looked out of his porthole at the darkened horizon in an attempt to try and feel better. Too bad that wasn't helping him. And to think that he had said before leaving that he wouldn't want any medicine…! "No sea legs on you?" Chuckled a familiar Brooklyn voice from behind him. Blue Arrow stopped thinking as he heard the voice. "Hang on, I know that voice…" He thought to himself as he turned round to look behind him to see who it was. There before, without his helmet on, was the black stallion from earlier. The stallion had a round muzzle, with a slight tinge of peace round his mouth. His eyes were a deep blue and his red mane and tail were both quite thinner than Blue Arrow's. "...Well, what'd ye think then?" Blue Arrow asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Look well for a five hundred mile round trip if you ask me!" The black stallion chuckled, which Blue Arrow groaned and rolled his eyes. "No, I'm really no well for this," Blue Arrow retorted grudgingly as he fell back on his bed holding his head with his fore hooves. The black stallion bit his bottom lip at the Albian pony's condition and seeing that he might throw up at any point. He really couldn't blame him if this was his first time on the sea. "Look dude, it'll be over before you know it," He extended his fore hoof over to Blue Arrow. Blue Arrow noticed this gesture from the black stallion. "Hope ya right about that, mate." He then turned round to face the stallion before taking his hoof and shaking it. "Blue Arrow" "Peppercorn Tornado," The Brooklyn sounding stallion replied. "But I prefer to be called Shadow." The blue stallion raised an eyebrow at Peppercorn's statement. "Huh? What's wrong with 'Peppercorn Tornado'?" "Sounds pretty stupid in my opinion," Shadow scoffed while taking a look out of his porthole. "That's why I chose 'Shadow'." "Ye know," Blue Arrow replied scratching his chin. "I think 'Shadow' sounds pretty corny, many damn ponies are named that in some ways…popular common name though." "Hmm," Shadow grunted while continuing to look out of the porthole. The two stallions remained silent for a period as Shadow kept looking outside through the porthole while Blue Arrow tried not to throw up by lying back on his bed. The rocking of the ship wasn't making things easy for him; it seemed only a matter of time until he did throw up. "Bloody hay, I ain't gonna last long at this rate!" Blue Arrow said over to Shadow, who merely laughed at the Albian stallion's predicament. "Boy, you really aren't sea built!" He snickered. "Need a sick bucket?" By this point Blue Arrow was sitting on the edge of his bed hanging his head in his fore hooves. "Ha-ha, very funny." He said sarcastically. "Just talk about somethin' different ta' take my mind o' this." Shadow paused thinking about what to say before having an idea. "So…you from Alba then?" he asked shrugging his shoulders. The Albian pony turned his head round to look at him with a 'well-of-course' look. "Just worked it out then after all this then?" He said rolling his eyes. Shadow rubbed the back of his head a little uneasily. "Oh I knew, just haven't met an Albian before in the flesh. So what part of Alba then you from?" Blue Arrow smiled for a bit when hearing this. "I'm from the capital Maredinburgh. Glascolt doesn't raise a candle to it any day." Shadow rolled his eyes as Blue Arrow beamed, proudly boasting about his home city. Then Blue Arrow cleared his throat before talking again. "So then, you from Manehatten then?" he asked with a knowing grin on his face. The black stallion's eyes widen slightly at that he was right. "Erm, yeah" he replied. "Lower part of the city I came from, not the rich part." Blue Arrow made an 'ah' shape with his mouth. "I see, never like those snobby types, must be hell for you guys gettin' looked down like that." "Yeah," Shadow replied sadly with a sigh and his gaze turning downwards. The blue Albian stallion thought to try and get the Manehatten stallion's mind of this. "Tell ye what when we get there," Blue Arrow stated leaning a bit closer to the black stallion. "When we get there, my friend Dynamo's there along with the other Red Hooves. We can go ta' the pub there and grab a few drinks." Shadow suddenly bit his bottom lip while rubbing the back of his head with some uneasiness. "Well…yeah. But no thanks." Blue Arrow was taking aback by this, where he came from, stallions would have jumped at the chance to have a few drinks. "Really?" Blue Arrow asked surprised, with a hint of amusement. "I remember my dad would say that if ye didn't drink then yer a miserable git. Then again that's up ta' ye." Shadow then fell back on his bed before pulling the covers over him. "Nah, its fine dude, I just want some sleep now." Blue Arrow shrugged his shoulders before he himself tucked himself up in his bed. "Alright then, fair do's. See ya in the morning." "You too," Shadow replied as he shut his eyes as he fell asleep. While Shadow seemed satisfied to fall asleep, Blue Arrow was still feeling quite sick and falling asleep wasn't going to be that easy for him. All he hoped was this sea voyage to be done and most importantly…not to throw up.