//------------------------------// // 11. On the way to Fjaereir // Story: The Tears of Gaia // by Redback Spino //------------------------------// Fluttershy’s eyes slowly opened, and the first thing she was consciously aware of was the hard stone surface beneath her. She was lying on her side, on a small rocky outcrop, near the foothills of some mountain. Above her the sky was beginning to brighten as the sun rose. But as her surroundings came into focus, she found that even the warmth of the morning sun brought little comfort. A thin, iron chain stretched away from her to a wooden stake that had been hammered into a crack between some rocks, and the other end of the chain hooked onto a collar fastened tightly around her neck. Tugging at the collar, she shuddered as the faint smell of leather came to her nostrils from the offending strap around her neck. To her left, she saw with some relief, Applejack lying on the rock with her, a similar blackened leather collar and chain around her neck as well. Her hide was darkened with ugly bruises here and there, lingering reminders of the events of last night. Slowly in her head, Fluttershy’s memory put itself together. They had been with the others; Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Starswirl, and had been riding on Tharos’ back. Then there were flashes of light as those Blight things swooped in and attacked from all sides. She had been the first to duck down and take cover as the battle began, but from her hiding place among Tharos’ spines, she could easily see Twilight and Starswirl, side by side, firing blast after blast of magical energy at the flying monsters. But then there was some explosion. Something enormous slammed into Tharos’ underside from below, throwing her clean out of her shelter. A rush of air, shrill screams from all sides. And then she felt it. That tickly tingling sensation around her entire form. Somepony had her in a magical grip, most likely Twilight. The tingling became stronger as her magenta, magical glow enveloped her, ready to transport her far away from this dreadful fate. But something caught her, pulled her out of Twilight’s grip. There was another blinding flash, and everypony was gone. The rest of the night was a bit of a blur. She, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the only remaining ponies, were flown to the ground, where the fight began afresh. She had shied away from the scuffle, eager to get as far away from their Blight captors as possible. But out of the corner of her eye, she could see Applejack and Rainbow Dash, bucking and kicking, shouting and swinging, but even their efforts were not enough as the yellow-eyed monsters began to overwhelm them. Something snapped in Fluttershy in that moment, and she dived into the fray as well. She managed to get a few nips and kicks in here and there, but even her brave charge was not enough, and soon she and her friends were pinned, chained and subdued. Even as her nerves finally got the better of her and she began to black out, she could still hear her friends, making their captors’ lives as difficult as possible. The pegasus gently nudged her sleeping friend, who just mumbled in her sleep in response. She tried again, slightly harder, but to little avail. “Leave her alone, little thing,” said a voice behind her. She whipped around and found herself face to sneering face with one of her yellow-eyed keepers. He was a peculiar little thing, scrawny and short, about an inch or two shorter than her. For the most part, he looked like an ordinary colt, except for his front legs which were yellow and clawed, like those of a griffon. His tail was different as well, long and whippy with a tuft of fur on the tip, like that of a lion. And, as with all of these Blight creatures, his eye were that chilling yellow and black, and that strange black smoke seeped from his mouth every now and then. “You three may as well relax while you can,” he continued. “because we’ll be on the move before too long.” Another Blightling, a hulking brute of a stallion with short spines sprouting through his cheeks, joined the scrawny one. “I don’t know why we even have to keep these things around anymore. We searched all three of ‘em, and they don’t have that jewel thingy we’re looking for. And if last night was any indicator, they’re gonna be nothing but nuisances anyway!” The shorter one shrugged. “Maugoth’s orders. After we searched them, he just gave the order to leave them alone and get rest for the night. We’ll be on the move before too long, so you might wanna get some food down yer gullet, Shataz.” The larger one, Shataz, mumbled something no doubt vulgar before stomping off to a nearby campfire. The scrawny Blightling cast one last look over the three ponies, before joining him to grab some breakfast. Fluttershy took the opportunity to get a proper look around herself. Applejack still lay asleep by her side, but to her right she saw Rainbow Dash, and whimpered. Her pegasus friend was not just tethered with chain and collar like her and Applejack, but also had a crude muzzle tied around her snout, and her coat was stained red in a few spots. She must have put up quite a fight, Fluttershy thought to herself. Poor Rainbow, she looks dreadful! She took the time to get a good look around at the Blight’s small camp. They were in the foothills of some sort of mountains, and were in some rocky copse. The Blight with them numbered about twenty or thirty in total, maybe a few more. One thing that surprised her was the variety of the creatures. She could tell that most of them were at least partially ponies, or at least were at one time, but there were also a handful of griffons and even a few telltale antlers of deer, and a mule or two, as well as several wild animals who had also been turned. Some were very obviously corrupted, with spines bursting out from under their skin, patches of scales and in a few, entire extra limbs! But some were less affected, with little more than a few spines, maybe some fangs or tusks, and little else. Those that were talking with eachother were speaking in a variety of languages; some were conversing in normal Common Equestrian, while a few were resorting to primitive animalistic growls and grunts. But she also caught snippets of a strange language that she did not recognise. All she knew is that she wished that she could not hear it. She found it difficult to focus on it for any more than a few seconds before her head began to throb and her stomach began to churn. The scrawny one returned, a steaming bowl of something in one hand and a canteen gripped in his teeth. He tossed it to the ponies and put down the bowl before them, revealing it to be full of a very unpleasant smelling gruel of some kind. “Go on, get some food inside you,” he sneered. “This is the last stop before we head to the outpost, and we’re not gonna carry you. Wake up yer friends, or I’ll do it for ya.” Fluttershy nodded silently and nervously nudged Applejack again, as the Blightling sat down with the others. The cowpony’s eyes flickered and cracked open slightly. “Nng… Boy, my head’s throbbin’ like nopony’s business… Hey, is that food I smell?” Applejack took one look at the bowl of gruel before them, and closed her eyes again. “Ergh…Don’t think much of their cookin’. Wake me up when they give us somethin’ edible.” A pale yellow glow of magic surrounded her ponytail and yanked upward, forcing her upright. A few Blightlings chuckled nearby. “Didn’t yer mummy teach you that you should eat what yer given, little pony! It’s the only food yer getting until the next stop, and that's not for a while!” shouted the spellcaster in question, an older Blightling, with a curling horn in the middle of his forehead and short tusks jutting from his lower jaw. The glow around his horn went out and he went back to his food. The small group of creatures watched as the timid pegasus helped her friends up, and the three reluctantly started eating. “So Laga,” the scrawny one asked. “When d’you think Maugoth’s gonna let us in on his plans? He hasn’t spoken since last night.” “He’s probably just sulking because we got the wrong ponies,” Shataz interrupted. “The idiot was counting on us grabbing whichever one had this gemstone he was after, and now he’s clueless.” Laga, the horned one, glared at Shataz before adding, “Sulking, maybe. But clueless? I doubt that. And ye might wanna savour his sulking, Gahdup. The more he sulks, the longer we get to rest.” Gadhup nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. B-besides, he’s probably just thinking up some big new plan to get that gem back, you’ll see!” Shataz chuckled humourlessly, “Pff, gruglup.” “You got something you wanna share, big guy?” Gadhup growled at Shataz. “No, nothing.” “Anyway,” Laga continued. “If you guys are so curious, maybe someone should just go ask the guy.” There was a general murmur of agreement from the small group, but none of them seemed willing to get up and do just that. “Ugh, don’t all jump up at once or anything, ya bunch of lulgijaku,” Laga muttered as he got up. He tossed what was left of his food to his cohorts and headed to where Maugoth was seated. Nopony could read it on his stoic, emotionless face, but on the inside, Maugoth was fuming. All this buildup, all this hard work tracking those ponies, setting up the ambush, taking out that dragon, and what foils us?! We grab the wrong damn ponies! Four of them get away, one of them with the Tears, and they’ve gotten to who knows where! “Umm…Maugoth, sir?” His inner raging was cut short as he looked up and saw Laga standing before him. “What is it?” Laga asked, “Well, y’see Maugoth… the others are startin’ to wonder what we’re gonna do now, since the ponies with that Tears thing you were after have disappeared and we’re stuck with those three instead… What’s the plan?” Maugoth smiled. A deadly, cruel smile. “You mean Shataz is starting to wonder?” Laga nodded. “Well, yeah, him mostly. But he has got the camp talkin’. I guess they just wanna know if you have any sort of plan now.” “Well, as it happens, I do,” he replied. “Yes, it’s a pain that those ponies got away from us with the Tears, but at the very least, we have got some hostages now. If we do find them, we can cut them a deal: their friends’ lives for the Tears.” “But we don’t even know where they are!” Maugoth’s smile widened. “Maybe not. But I’m sure our little hostages may have some idea of where they could be heading. We’re just about a day or two’s journey to Maudhul. Seems as good a time as any to get to the outpost and rest a bit. And then, if our little hostages refuse to talk, we can stick them in The Pits for a bit of fun.” “The Pits? What good would-“ Laga paused as he spotted his commander’s raised eyebrow. He grinned. “Oh… those Pits!” “A few days in there ought to loosen their tongues.” Maugoth said. “And that’s not the only thing of theirs it’ll loosen, if’n ya know what I mean!” Maugoth cackled at his soldier’s little joke. “Alright, tell the troops to strike camp and get the ponies on their feet. We head for Maudhul in five minutes.” Laga saluted and hurried off to spread the word, but stopped and turned back a moment. “Don’t you think we should tell the big guys back at Burzkala about this?” Maugoth got up and stretched, donning his cloak once more and standing atop the rocks. “Why? They’ll just yell at us and demand we give them the hostages so that they can turn them. Where’s the fun in that?” Within minutes, the campfires were out and the Blight were assembled and ready to go. In the middle of the group stood the three ponies, each of their chains held by another Blightling soldier. As flavourless as the gruel had been, the ponies were now awake and fit enough to walk, though Rainbow Dash was wobbling a bit, still weak from her many injuries, and all three were hunched under the weight of their shackles. Fluttershy looked up as Maugoth stood tall at the head of the pack “Now listen up, you lot! It’s a long ways away to Burzkala, so instead, we’re taking a little detour. The outpost of Maudhul is only a day and bit from here, so we can head there. We’re not stopping until we get there, but once we do, we can have a nice long rest while we have a little… chat with our new friends here.” A malicious chuckle echoed throughout the company, and a few eyes turned to face the three ponies. Fluttershy recoiled, trying to hide behind her own mane. With a final barked command, the Blightlings were on their way, jostling and pulling the three ponies along. Fluttershy looked out to the horizon one last time before she trotted clumsily to keep up. Please, she prayed. Please, somepony...anypony! If you can her us or see us, please... help us. As the early afternoon sun began its descent, Twilight Sparkle found herself and her friends being led through the foothills of the Western Mountains by the three griffons. The trek had not been too difficult, since it was mostly through flatlands, and the group had been going at a leisurely pace, so they made good time in the walk, with spirits relatively high. “How much further do we have to go?” Rarity asked from the middle of the column. Gilbert turned around in mid-air, expertly hovering backwards. “Heh, not too far. You’ll know Fjaereir when you see it, trust me!” Twilight asked, “Have you ever been there before?” “A long time ago, yes, back when I was young,” Gunda replied. “But back then, it was a relatively new place. I’m just going by what I’ve heard, but it’s apparently expanded into a full-blown stronghold by now.” Pinkie grinned to Gerard, who flew beside her. “So it’s your first time there too then?” The young griffon nodded. “I can’t wait!” As the group chattered to eachother about what they hoped to find in Fjaereir, Staswirl trotted ahead and motioned for Gilbert to join him. “What is it, Mr Starswirl?” he asked. “I’m just a little curious about something. What exactly have you heard about these creatures that are abroad? The yellow-eyed ones?” Gilbert shrugged. “Not much to be honest. I’ve just heard that they’re dangerous and to be avoided at all costs… Why do you ask?” “Oh, no reason in particular,” Starswirl replied. “I was just curious if you knew anything we might not have known. If we only knew a bit more about these Blight’s motivation…” “These what?” “Blight, those creatures, they are known as the Blight… Anyway, if we only knew a little more about their motivations, we might have some greater idea where they took our companions.” “Maybe, yeah…” Gilbert trailed off for a moment. “By the way, I was curious about something myself. Those mares you’re travelling with, they certainly seem to be close friends with eachother, but what’s your connection to them?” “Connection? How do you mean?” the old wizard asked. “Well, you know, are you related to one of them? Are they students of yours? Are you one of their friends too?” Starswirl thought about this for a moment before answering, “I suppose… Well, I was sent with them as their protector, so I guess I’m their bodyguard of sorts.” “Ah, I see… So if they need bodyguards, they must be pretty important in some way, right?” “Yes, I suppose you could say that,” he replied with a small smile. “Well, you see, they are out on a journey to…” “Hey look! There it is!” The travelling party came to a halt and looked up. Before them stood a tall ridge of mountains, rising up proud and grey, peaks reaching high up into the clouds. A road snaked and wound up across the face of the mountains, where there stood on broad ledges and platforms all manner of buildings, ranging from tiny cottages to massive halls, all connected by narrow walkways and stairs carved out of the rock. They were dotted all over the mountainside wherever there seemed to be space, with little regard for organisation or pattern except that the larger buildings seemed to be higher up the mountainside, culminating in a massive cylindrical keep which jutted out and towered over the rest of the town. Surrounding these buildings was a high wooden palisade, made from what seemed to be entire tree trunks. Where the road met the walls there was a giant gateway made from similarly enormous logs. Thin columns of smoke billowed from several tall buildings on the outskirts, spiralling up into the sky. The tiny figures of griffons could be seen milling about on the platforms, flying from level to level. “Well…They’ve been busy since last time we were here.” Gilbert muttered. As they stood before the massive gates of the fortified town, Twilight could not help but feel a little intimidated. The only gates she had seen that were anywhere near as big as these were the gates of Canterlot, and those gate were nearly always wide open, eagerly welcoming any visitors who came to the city. With its spiked palisade and heavily fortified gates, the entrance to Fjaereir seemed to be anything but welcoming. Gilbert gave a piercing cry to the guards at the top of the gate, who peered down at them. Twilight noticed that instead of the spears she most often saw used by Canterlot’s guards, she saw that they carried something else. It was hard to make them out, but they seemed to be some sort of short staves. The guards made to open the doors wide when they saw Gilbert and his family, but as soon as they spotted Twilight and her friends, they hesitated a moment. Twilight thought nervously, Are non-griffons not welcome or something? “It’s alright, they’re with us!” Gilbert called. Up to the gate. The guards looked less than convinced, but nodded and called down to open the gates. The massive wooden gateway split down the middle, and each half seemed to slide away from eachother, until the round doorway into the town stood wide before them. The four ponies, and three griffons, entered the massive city, awestruck by its sheer size. Not just in scale of the buildings and the settlement itself, but the population. There seemed to be hundreds of griffons of all kinds, shapes and sizes, crowding the walkways and platforms. Several were hawking (If my dear reader will pardon the unintended pun) their wares on the side of the streets, while a few had set up wooden platforms where musicians and actors were performing to crowds of cheering griffons. Twilight was awestruck, but also delighted. Despite its rather intimidating outward appearance, it was like any bustling city in Equestria or beyond: Active, crowded and full of life. That said, many a curious eye was cast in their direction. Indeed, the three mares and one stallion were the only non-griffons in the entire town. Onlooker poked their heads out of windows to get a look at the newcomers, and the crowds dispersed slightly before them as they walked. “Do they think we’re celebrities or something?” Pinkie asked nopony in particular. Twilight looked around. “I guess they’re just not used to seeing ponies around here.” As they walked through the main walkways up through the town, they found more and more griffons staring and some even following on until they came to the top platform and stood before the stone keep, complete with a small crowd of curious onlookers. For a few seconds, there was silence, except for the murmuring gathering of griffons around them, as they stood still before the doors to the keep. Then, the wooden doors creaked open, and a group of about five griffons came out. Four of them, likely the guards of the keep, were dressed in dark-coloured plate armour, with brass goggles covering their eyes, and round helmets on their heads. Twilight finally got a good look at the short staves that they wielded, and her eyes widened with amazement. They weren’t staves at all; they were muskets! She had read about such weapons before, but they were extremely rare in Equestria! The fifth, who stood taller than the rest, was dressed far more ornately, with golden trim around his armour, and a short white cape. His left eye bore a long jagged scar, which complimented his no-nonsense scowl perfectly. “Who let these horses in?” he growled. Twilight frowned back at the griffon, and made to step forwards, but Gilbert put out a claw to stop her. “These ponies came with us, sir. They’re seeking information about friends of theirs, and we suggested that they ask here in Fjaereir.” The griffon paced back and forth, eyeing the ponies up and down, before turning back to Gilbert. “And you are?” “Gilbert, sir. My family and I have travelled up here to seek refuge.” “From what?” asked the griffon. “From some strange creatures that have been sighted near our home,” Gilbert replied. Twilight stepped forwards. “That’s why we’re here as well, sir. You see, several of our friends were taken by…” “Nobird asked you, hross!” the griffon snapped. “We have heard similar stories from other travellers, Gilbert. I am guessing they have black and yellow eyes?” “Yes, exactly! We were told they were dangerous, so we came here for shelter. No better place than the mighty fortress town of Fjaereir, right?” For the first time in the entire conversation, the griffon smiled. “Indeed, no better place. This fortress is impenetrable! There are plenty of spare rooms and vacancies in the inns on the third and fourth levels. You can take your family there.” As Gilbert gave his thanks and led his family away, the griffon turned to the four ponies and his smiled disappeared. “As for you, I am afraid we have no room for you here.” “I’ll be the judge of that, Gellert!” The griffon, Gellert, frowned even more as another griffon emerged from inside the keep. This one was much smaller and younger than the commander, but dressed in a fine velvet jacket and a fur-lined cloak, instead of the bulky armour of his companion. “Galahad, sire,” Gellert spat that last word out as if it were a bad piece of fruit. “I was unaware that you were in.” “Well as you can see, Gellert, I am,” Galahad replied calmly, gently pushing the larger griffon aside. “And unless I am mistaken, there is more than adequate amounts of accommodation for these four ponies. I can take these four from here, if you don’t mind.” Gellert stared daggers at the smaller griffon, but said nothing as he stalked past, his four guards following quickly behind, back into the keep. Galahad smirked slightly as he watched him leave, before turning back to the ponies just in time to catch Pinkie Pie waving goodbye to the retreating Gellert. He grinned. “I must apologise about Gellert. He can be a little… touchy around newcomers, especially ponies like yourselves. My name is Galahad, I speak for the King. How can we help you today?” Twilight stepped forwards again “Well, first of all, a place to stay would be nice, but we can sort that out later. More importantly, we’re looking for some friends of ours who were… well, taken from us yesterday. We were told that if anypony knew what might have happened to them, this would be the place to go.” Galahad nodded. “Hmm, yes well, we would be more than willing to help however we can. But such appeals can only be made officially during Royal Court before the Council.” “So when would that be?” Rarity asked. “The next court will be at sunset today. Come back up here then and you can make your appeal properly,” Galahad replied. “Will that suit you?” Twilight looked to her friends who all nodded. “I suppose so. I’m guessing you are part of this Council, since you speak for the King and all?” “Indeed I am, miss. I’m afraid I have some business to attend to, so until then, welcome to Fjaereir!” he said cheerily, bowing slightly before returning to the inside of the keep and closing the doors. “So,” Starswirl asked. “What do we do now?” “Ooh, ooh!” Pinkie squeaked as she bounced up and down on the spot. “Can we go explore the town? Can we, can we, can we?!” Twilight shrugged. “I don’t see why not. If we’re going to be here for a while we might need to find somewhere to stay… Plus, I could use a bite to eat,” she added as her stomach grumbled. “I’m on it!” Pinkie trotted up to a guard who was making his way into the keep, and tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, where’s the nearest cake shop?” The guard was taken aback, not just by the odd question, but especially by the glaringly pink pony who asked it. “Er…Cake shop? I dunno if we have one of those… I guess you could try one of the bakeries; the closest one to here is down on level four.” Pinkie smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks!” With that, she bounced down the stairway from the keep, down to the fifth level of the town, wither friends in tow. The now rather confused guard simply shrugged and carried on into the keep.