Final Fantasy: Eidolons of Harmony

by Belligerent Bindlestiff


Ice Breaker

////Pinkie Pie////

It took all of her strength to restrain herself from bursting out in a song as the yaks brought the party to Yakyakistan. Pinkie knew that this was an important mission that the others probably didn’t need her to ‘go crazy’ on. While she did her best to contain her excitement on the outside, on the inside Pinkie Pie’s mind was going a hundred miles per hour with all sorts of ideas.

What to make first? What games to play? What songs are we going to sing?

Though the mare was doing her best to stay quiet in all of her excitement, her pegasus friend flew low to check on her. “Hey um, Pinkie. Are you doing alright?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“What do you mean?” Pinkie retorted quickly. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“You’re kind of jittery, well more than usual.” Rainbow Dash said with a hint of worry. “Your tracks are digging into the snow, just look behind you.”

The confectioneer looked back to see that she had been hopping so fast that she practically burned a path through the snow deeper than even the yaks had made.

“Oh hey!” she said, slowing herself down to a “normal” pace. “Guess, I’m just really, really excited to be meeting the yaks and cooking for them, especially now that I know that they like the way my food smells! I really can’t wait for us to get to Yakyakistan-“

“Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash interrupted.

“I know, I shouldn’t go overboard Dashie, but I really can’t wait-“ Pinkie was interrupted again.

Pinkie.” the raptor said again.

“What?”

“We’re already here.”

Prince Rutherford didn’t even slow his pace as he and his company of yaks approached the city gates, which were opened on cue to allow them passage.

Inside the kingdom was a multitude of homes, personally built and adorned with colored banners. Pinkie noted the pairs of colors contrasting the browns of the buildings. To her, the yaks were another group she had to make friends with.

Sure, the fate of the world wasn’t probably connected to making new friends, but the mare knew that the new friends can always be helpful in some way. Or maybe, the fate of the world was tied to making new friends! Pinkie’s imagination spun with ideas of having the world’s largest literal party being used to stop a cataclysmic meteor from crashing down on the world, only for the sound of the music and revelers to blast the space object away.

Her cooking had brought the yaks to help smash the last of the snowdigos, so maybe it was a sign for Pinkie to keep doing what she was best at. A friend at the least expected moment could change everything, like the time with Nightmare Moon. That was also the time she invited and forced Twilight to that welcoming party.

Yeah, I think I’m on to something here. Maybe I should make Twilight write a book on this. And then we can have a book deal, a play, and then we could go on-

Before she knew it, Pinkie had again travelled some distance amidst her musings and was already in Rutherford’s court, meeting with all of the important yaks.

Kain and Wedge had removed their helmets as a sign of respect, one of the things that Pinkie knew that knight ponies did as formalities. She noticed that Rainbow was trying her best to follow along with the others.

Trixie, however, just stayed back, as if to avoid any interaction. The confectioneer wondered why Trixie was being skittish. Another glance showed the black mage’s beady eyes narrowing.

Is Trixie giving them the stink eye? Pinkie saw her head nodding up and down. No, she’s falling asleep!

“We thank you for your aid in that last battle.” Kain said. “Intentional or not, you most certainly had the best timing.”

“Yeah, and we’re so thankful, that yours truly is going to cook up whatever makes your mouths water!” Pinkie exclaimed, breaking past the knights and directly in front of the yak prince.

Rutherford’s guards shifted briefly before relaxing when Pinkie threw herself closer, the prince’s bellowing laughter put them at ease. “Oh, you’re a much more interesting pony that that one guy that visited a while ago.”

The rest of Pinkie’s party relaxed as well with the ground the confectioneer had made.

“So, are you going to cook for us tonight” Rutherford asked.

The mare beamed, “Of course I will! I thought you’d never ask!” she broke into a gallop into the kitchen, leaving all the formal ponies of her group in the throne room. Wedge was about to start a conversation when Pinkie bolted back into the throne room and grabbed Trixie, the showmare letting off a surprised yelp.

////

A rather bored magician sat in the kitchen watching Pinkie set about cooking for a hall of yaks. She yawned, “Well, at least you got Trixie out of there.”

The tent flap opened, and a young yak entered. “So, you’re the cook who made that food that got the prince to run off out in the storm?”

Pinkie smiled. “Yep, that was my famous garlic soup!” She looked excitedly at the newcomer. “I’m Pinkie Pie, and this is Trixie.”

“The Great and Powerful.” The black mage added.

“Who are you?” Pinkie asked.

“I’m Yona!” the young yak replied. “That food smelled really good! The prince was getting ready to throw a party when that smell made its way over here. He then stopped everything to find ‘the great cook’ and bring them here!”

“Do you wanna watch me cook?” Pinkie asked.

“Yeah!” Yona said, hurrying closer to watch the confectioneer in action. There were a multitude of ingredients already laid on the table for Pinkie to work with. “Wow, I thought you said it was a garlic soup!”

“Of course, it is!” Pinkie said. “But you need different ingredients to make the best flavors come out! Just like a party!” she set about tossing ingredients in the air and had them land in bowls. She grabbed some spoons from behind her and tossed them perfectly into the bowls as well.

“Whoa.” Yona said, enthralled.

“Hmph, big deal.” Trixie said, getting up from her spot and moving towards Pinkie’s cookware. The performer began to juggle the items, slowly adding more with little effort.

“Wow Trixie, you’re good!” Pinkie said, and then she grabbed her own dishes, filled with ingredients and began juggling as well.

One of the mage’s glowing eyes twitched and she began adding sharper implements to her juggle, all the while Yona was impressed by the spectacle.

Trixie began turning in place amidst her juggle. “Well of course Trixie is good at this!” she said with an eyeroll. “Any audience deserves the best show Trixie can muster!”

“You two are definitely more fun than that boring rich pony that came here last time.” Yona said.

Pinkie’s brow quirked. “Hey, Shining Armor isn’t that bad, he’s not even boring!” she exclaimed in protest and ended her juggle to resume cooking. “I don’t think he’s rich either.”

“Ugh, rich ponies can be the worst, let Trixie tell you!” the showmare said. “They hire you and then they only pay you the exact amount that you agreed on. And it never matters how much work Trixie puts into her shows, they never add anything extra.”

After staring at Trixie, Yona turned to Pinkie. “No, it wasn’t some pony named Shining. It was some prince named Blue….”

“Blueblood?” Pinkie exclaimed. Oh boy, Rarity told us about him. That’s one selfish stallion.”

“Yeah, he came over to Yakyakistan, acting nice to us, passing out gifts to all the yak kids and fancy stuff to the grownups.” Yona said.

“Hey, that’s not very nice to say!” Pinkie said.

“All the girls got these dolls, and they fell apart!” Yona said. “And he looked like he didn’t care, like it was for charity! So, I put a bunch of them into our snow catapult!” She laughed. “Well, they were fun for one thing!”

Trixie turned toward the young yak. “Trixie approves of getting rid of gifts given in poor spirit.” She finished her juggling act by returning each piece she juggled back to its original spot. “Especially if they came from Blue Blood.”

“Huh, well I guess it wasn’t really nice of him to give you not so nice gifts.” Pinkie said, returning to her cooking. “But somepony might still have appreciated them.”

“Anyways, it’s about time for Trixie to put on her show for these yaks.” The black mage said. “Pinkie, when you’re ready, you can bring your refreshments for our audience.”

Trixie held her head pridefully in the air when a ding sounded. She turned to see carts filled with dishes and bowls clinking with Pinkie pushing them out of the kitchen tent.

“Those weren’t there before, were they?!” Trixie asked Yona.

“I don’t know, I was watching you before she was done cooking.” Yona said.

“Ahem. Onward to the dinner show!” Trixie said, attempting to keep her composure.

////

Pinkie was glad to be in her element once more, not laughter, the element of parties. As she happily served bowl after bowl of her hearty soup to the yaks, Pinkie took in the close-knit warmth that the yaks had despite living in such a cold place.

Rainbow and the boys were at one of the tables off to the side with what looked like the fighter type yaks, buff in only the way Bulk Biceps could appreciate. Though next to these yaks, all of the ponies looked so much smaller.

Once things settled down at her serving station, Pinkie went out for a stroll in the great yak hall. She saw Trixie standing on one of the tables, spinning plates on three of her hooves, her nose, and her horn while one of the yaks played a jaunty tune on a horn.

“Well, Trixie is in her element, alright!” Pinkie said and then moved to the fighter table to see that Rainbow Dash had jumped onto it as well, drawing her sword to the air when she approached.

“And that’s how I got this sword!” The raptor said, pridefully. The yaks at the table visibly impressed with her recounted tale.

“You know what this calls for?” One of the yaks yelled. The other looked at him in agreement. “Yali-Ho!” he let out.

The other yaks nodded in agreement and let out, “Yalio-Ho’s” in suit. A series of yak servants bursted into the hall with trays of tankards of frothy drink. The “Yali-Ho’s” continued to be chanted, closely becoming synchronized as the drinks were set before everyone. All of the yak revelers took their alchohol and chugged in unison and ended once more with a hearty, “Yali-Ho!”

Rainbow, Wedge, and Kain all partook in the toast, but at a much slower pace than their larger friends.

“Ah, that’s some good stuff!” Rainbow Dash said. “Way different than cider, but good!”

The instigator of the drinking laughed and turned to Rainbow Dash, “That was a good story, little pony. Worthy of a yak celebration! We toast every great deed of heroism.”

“Or when we want everyone to party!” Another yak at the table said.

“Wow, that’s so cool!” Pinkie said, arriving to the table. “We don’t have anything like that back in Ponyville! You yaks have some cool party traditions! Say, Kain over here has had some really cool stories. There was the time he fought off his own, evil double and saved the day!”

“Did you really do such a thing!?” Yargoth, the lead yak, asked.

“Yes, it was a dire battle. I had to fight with a non-preferred weapon and without my armor.” Kain said, absconding the personal details.

“Whoa, you ponies sure have a lot of good stories. Another round! Yali-Ho!”

Just a quickly as before, the servant yaks poured into the tent and passed out more tankards of drink. The dragoon took his and downed it, impressing the yaks even further. When he finished, he slammed the tankard on the table and yelled, “Lali-Ho!”

The music coming from Trixie’s part of the room stammered into silence and every yak, including Rutherford turned their attention at the dragoon. Pinkie’s party looked around the room confused that people this rowdy had fallen into silence.

Rainbow Dash, Wedge, and Kain stared wide-eyed at the yaks. Pinkie wondered if Kain had accidentally said some sort of yak swear word. Oh no, is this gonna undo all of the friendship making we were doing?

Before she could spiral into probabilities of being run out or being told that she was banned from baking ever again, the crowd erupted in cheers louder than before, much to the party pony’s surprise. What did Kain just do?



Servers emerged with massive platter being held between them, and atop it was the largest flagon of ale that she’d ever seen. Pinkie watched the dragoon eye the drink as was paraded to his table and set down with a satisfying sale.

“Hurrah, dragon pony!” Rutherford said, “How did you know how to order the biggest drink we have?”

Kain, after a brief moment of disbelief, turned towards the yak prince and addressed him. “I met people just as jovial as yours in my travels. They yelled this chant.”

“Then you are in good company, Highwind.” Rutherford said. Now drink!”

Pinkie watched as the dragoon stared at the drink and then hefted it up with both of his hooves and drank. He would have taken only a swig, but the yaks in the room cheered, “Yalio-Ho, Lali-Ho!” in unison.

The dragoon then resumed downing the entire tankard of ale, bringing the noise level of the hall to its highest yet until Kain finished his drink and slammed the empty tankard onto the table.

The crowd erupted in an applause of stomps and cheering while Kain stared outward in shock of his act of revelry. Wedge and Rainbow Dash looked at him with surprise.

Pinkie blitzed Kain before he could respond. “What’s the matter, Kain?”, she asked in her usual bubbly demeanor. “Did the yak ale not taste good or something?” she finished in a stage whisper.

“No, I’m just wondering why I haven’t fallen to the ground yet.” Kain said. “That was more drink at once than I’ve ever had in one night.”

Pinkie rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Oh, that’s right. You weren’t always an earth pony! It’ll take a lot more than that to make us tipsy!”

She stood up on the table and let out, “Lali-Ho, Lali-Ho, Lali-Ho!”. All eyes were drawn to her just as they had been with Kain and somehow, the yaks were able to bring out three massive tankards of ale.

The party pony downed each of them with ease and let out a ground shaking belch. “Yeah, it takes way more to get us tipsy, but don’t every try to compete with AJ, ever.”

She trotted away from her friends and went back her hostess duties. After that spectacle, she checked on Trixie’s show to make sure that the mare wasn’t feeling left out. Pinkie knew that Trixie had a tendency to be the center of attention when performing, so she set about building an audience for the now current juggler.

“Hey, you wanna see a really dangerous pony?” Pinkie asked tables of yaks. As she made her way down the hall. Some of the more inebriated yaks cheered and rowdily followed Pinkie to see the performer she had been hyping up.

“Take a look at the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Pinkie exclaimed, having led the drunk revelers to Trixie. “She can juggle more than just plates you know!”

Trixie quirked her head at the help that Pinkie had been helping her. Giving her new audience members, thought drunk, was still appreciated. That appreciation visibly faded when Pinkie returned with a slew of cutlery.

“Hey, Trixie, catch!” she exclaimed, tossing one sharp object after another into the juggle.

“Ha ha!” Trixie laughed through a difficult catch. “No problem for the Great and Pow---erful Trixie!” she said, nearly losing her balance. “You’ve done well in aiding her show, Pinkie Pie!” Beads of sweat began to form somehow visibly on her obscured face, “She’ll take it from here!”

“Okay, great job!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Keep it up!”

She walked away from the crowd of yaks she could hear amongst them chanting and she thought one of them said, “Hey, go get the axe!”.

Slowly, the party died down and Pinkie began to do the important, though less exciting job of cleanup. It was always that time after a party that made her feel the strangest, as difficult as that might seem to others.

Her energy had nowhere else to go but to her mind. Parties always preoccupied her thoughts and her mind would race with ideas, but once the party was finished, she didn’t think immediately about the next celebration as many ponies believed she did.

Dinner pickup? Sure, that’s done pretty fast, but when its time to clean up after a party like this, for so many ponies and yaks? That’s kinda weird.

Though she moved at a brisk pace, her thoughts came in steady and purposefully.

Everypony was so happy tonight, but tomorrow we could all be mad at each other, or even sad. Will everypony have a reason to celebrate, if we fail? What if some of us don’t make it back?

Her mane began to deflate before she moved to another thought. I wish Twilight or Rarity were here, I could talk to them during cleanup and I wouldn’t have to think these over-thinky thoughts.

She began to breathe slower. Okay, Pinkie, it’s not as bad as that one time, just think about the good things. She steadied herself as she put up the last of the supplies and made her way to the guest tent for the night.

“I guess this adventure is nothing like the other stuff we’ve done before. Everypony’s so serious, but it’s my job to keep our spirits up!” She said aloud on her walk. “And maybe I’m not the pony that should be thinking all the serious thoughts, we’ve got ponies being seriously smart, seriously serious, and seriously strong.”