A Bad Day to Fish

by FlashKenshin77

25 - Moonbeak Mountains

It was early when Martin awoke, the sun barely touching the horizon. The moon was almost completely lowered and the sky had begun to turn red. He stood in front of the door, his armor on as the helmet was in his hands. "Guide me Apollo…" He muttered before putting it on and headed into town. The town was just waking up, making the trip fast. He got to the library and saw Michael resting in a nearby tree. "Michael, come down here for a second." He said, underneath the tree.
Michael jumped up and shook his head, rubbing his eyes before falling to the ground on his hooves. "Yeah?"
"See anything suspicious?"
Mike shook his head. "Nope, Ganir was on lookout for most of the night."
Martin sighed. "Well ok, thanks anyways."
Mike yawned. "No problem."
Martin headed back to the library as Mike flew back up into the tree, closing his eyes. As Martin got closer, he could hear raised voices coming from inside the library.
"He doesn't need to leave; I've told you he's not a spy." Twilight said angrily.
"Still, he's neither pony or griffin, they could be using him." Ganir replied.
"Ganir, we've been over this. If Ms. Sparkle says he's not, then he's not." Vandir said with a sigh.
"But sir, we don't know-"
"Ganir enough!" Vandir said loudly. "I'm not sure what's gotten into you, but I'll trust Ms. Sparkle's word that her most trusted friend is not a spy for the UEA!"
Martin knocked twice before the door opened, revealing a depressed Spike. "Hey Martin." He mumbled.
"What's wrong little buddy?"
He waved a claw at the arguing trio. "Them."
Martin sighed, going inside. "The meeting will be around three." He said, hoping to break up the argument.
"Sounds good." Vandir looked at the baby dragon. "I'm sorry Spike, my guard is slightly paranoid." Ganir huffed and stiffly walked out of the library, walking into Martin. They glared at each other before Ganir left.
"These are dangerous times."
"There comes a time when being paranoid hinders life saving alliances."
Martin sighed. "An alliance would be the best. Anyways, maybe you should take a walk around town to pass the time." He suggested.
"I'd love to take a look at the infamous Ponyville."
"I'm sure you'll like this peaceful place, well apart from the recent UEA attacks."
"Yeah, it's a lot more peaceful than home." Vandir chuckled.
Martin opened the door. "Please, take a look. I'm sure you'll enjoy Ponyville."
"Don't mind if I do." Vandir said, walking out with a smile, randomly picking a path to walk. His guards quickly followed, leaving Martin alone with Twilight and Spike. "So what was all that shouting about?" He asked her.
She sighed, looking angry. "That stupid guard Ganir keeps thinking Spike is a spy for the UEA. He wanted to kick him out again or at least keep him away from Vandir."
Martin shook his head, exasperated. "That's just ridiculous."
"Just because he's a dragon…" She groaned, holding her head with a hoof.
Spike sighed, walking into the kitchen. Martin watched the little guy disappear. "I'll send Vaahala to ask the dragons for help, just in case there's war."
"You think they'll listen? I know Princess Celestia has asked for their help already."
He shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not sure what his 'rank' is in the dragon clans or whatever it is."
"Guess it wouldn't hurt."
"Yep, we'll see how far it'll get us."
She sighed and got up. "I guess I should go make sure Regal Boots doesn't need anything."
"Yeah and I have to go tell Forge I have to leave early today. See you at the meeting." He said, leaving the library with a wave.
"Bye." She said, heading towards town hall.

=

The day went rather fast, Forge grudgingly agreeing to let Martin leave early. He checked on the girls, making sure everypony was ok. Apparently Vandir was welcomed with open hooves after a moment of tension, Pinkie greatly aiding in that fact. She was his tour guide, showing him to everypony in the town. Finally the meeting was fast approaching and the guards were standing around the town hall. Martin walked past them and inside the building, heading to the meeting.
All the ponies and griffins were seated, Vandir talking with Regal Boots about something. Ganir's seat was surprising empty, the griffin nowhere to be seen.
Martin coughed, everyone looking at him. "This is meeting is very important. Prince Vandir, how should we deal with the UEA? A group of guards spotted some members just outside of town and arrested them. They're being questioned as we speak."
Vandir raised an eyebrow. "Why ask me? I have no jurisdiction here."
"I'm afraid it concerns you as well. They found a map of the Griffin Empire, there's markings on it. We're pretty sure it’s the locations of possible attacks or meetings. Maybe both, if we're really lucky." He unrolled the scroll and placed it in the middle of the table.
Vandir's beak fell open as he looked at the map. "Well… buck." He said flatly, staring at it. "With this map, I can finally get my father's support to rally the troops." He gave a small smile.
Martin nodded. "We don't know how long they've planned this but I hope it's not too late to take action. You can count on our support, if you need any soldiers."
"That's kind of you." He paused. "In return, I'll tell you where we believe they're hiding your missing pony."
The room instantly fell silent, every pair of eyes on Vandir. "Thank you." Martin said.
"It's the least I can do." Vandir leaned down, staring at the map. "Now…" He paused, looking at it intently before pointing a talon at a mountain range. "Right there, in the Moonbeak Mountains."
Everypony leaned in to see it. "That's very close to the border; it'll be dangerous to go there."
"That’s not the only thing. The peak's the highest on the planet. You'd die before reaching the top. Only pegasi, dragons, and griffins can reach it and even then, it's extremely risky. Our scouts saw activity at the peak."
"We'll have to see." Martin tapped the bottom of his helmet, thinking.
"I'll go scout it out." Dash stated.
"No you won't." Martin countered.
She glared at him. "It wasn't an offer."
"You'll get yourself killed Dash. You aren't going, at least on your own."
"I'll go with her." Mike said, walking inside.
Martin sighed, thinking. "Alright, but Vaahala will tag along, just in case you two get in trouble."
Dash and Mike nodded as she got up and hovered over to him. "Come on, let's go get Fluttershy."
"Shouldn't you look at the map?"
"Already did, now come on, time's wasting." She said, dragging him out of town hall.
They walked over to Vaahala, the large dragon napping underneath a tree. Mike walked up to the slumbering dragon. "Hey Vaahala." He said rather loudly.
Vaahala slowly opened his eyes and yawned, his sharp teeth glistening and a smell of ashes and death hit both of the ponies.
"Wanna go for a ride?" Mike asked, coughing.
He shook his body like a dog before stretching his wings, the tips sticking out on either side of town hall. He closed them against his body and leaned closer to Mike's face. He looked at him intently, waiting.
"We're going on a little rescue mission and we need your help." Mike stared back at him.
He calmly blinked a few times before looking at Dash. He leaned closer and sniffed her.
She looked nervously at him. "It's ok Dash; he's just familiarizing himself with your scent." Mike said.
"Yeah, not helping." She said. Her mane suddenly shot into his nostrils as he raised his head, dangling Dash above the ground as he looked at Mike.
"Easy Vaahala, she's ok." He said, trying to get him to let go of her mane.
He nodded, letting Dash go as he crawled away from the tree, into open space. Mike hopped on his back as Dash opened her wings, shaking her mane.
"You ready?" She asked.
Vaahala roared and flapped his wings shooting onto the sky, leaving her behind. She quickly caught up and the race to the mountain began. Hold on Flutters, we're coming.

=

The mountain was in sight as Vaahala slowed down and landed at the foot of the mountain. Mike climbed down, letting blood flow back into his legs. Dash landed next to them, seemingly unaffected by the race.
"That's a tall mountain." She said, looking up.
Vaahala yawned and crawled over to a nearby tree and wrapped his neck around the trunk, closing his eyes as he began his nap.
Mike looked at the mountain and sighed. "This is going to be fun."
"What? Scared of a big rock?"
"Nope, more scared of falling off the big rock."
She laughed. "You can fly you hay brain." She hovered. "Come on, let's go!"
He rolled his eyes and lifted off, following her. "Lead the way oh mighty one."
They got to the halfway point, nothing too significant so far. They took a brief rest on a cloud, after much arguing from Dash that he wouldn't all through said cloud.
Mike looked at the edges. "Are you sure we won't fall through?" He asked for the fifth time.
She let out an annoyed sigh. "Yes Michael."
"But how-" He started as she put a hoof over his mouth, rolling her eyes.
He sighed before looking back up. "You ready to continue?"
She jumped off the cloud and hovered next to him. "Hay yeah I am!"
He nodded and they continued higher still. As they got higher, the oxygen started to get lower and lower, getting harder to breath. Even the fast and agile Dash started to slow down, the lack of air causing them to pause more often.
What seemed like a few lifetimes later, they could finally see the top of the mountain, a cave just on the inside of a plateau.
"There… it… is…" Mike wheezed out and both of them landed heavily on the rock outing. He tried to look inside; it wasn’t very deep but a small iron door was shrouded in darkness. "I think we found it…" He said as he crept towards it.
Dash suddenly moaned in pain as Mike turned around, two stallion pegasi standing behind her. Both held wicked looking sticks, thicker than a hoof and almost as long as their legs. "We don’t like ponies snooping around." One said. They both wore weird masks with tubes attached to a small cylinder on their backs.
Mike paused. "Let's not be hasty guys…." He took a deep breath. "VAAHALA!!" He yelled as he charged the two stallions.
The one with the stick raised his eyebrow before easily smacking Mike on the side of the head. "Screaming names now." They both chuckled as a loud roar interrupted them. They looked at the cave. "What was that?"
Mike lay on the ground, twitching as he struggled to his hooves. The roar echoed again, this time even louder.
Vaahala landed in front of them, blocking the cave entrance. He opened his mouth and roared with his sharp teeth on display. The guards screamed in fear as the dragon's head struck one with lightning speed, his teeth sinking into a guard's flesh. Vaahala lifted his head, the guard following as blood exploded from the wounds. Vaahala bit harder, the guard's body squishing until it was nothing but goo. The dragon flung the body into the, catching and swallowing whole. The other pegasus tried to fly away but the dragon was too quick, catching the guard right beneath his wings and tearing him in half. Blood pooled beneath the guard, his wings still beating as he fell to the ground.
Mike stared at the dragon in new respect or fear, he wasn't sure. He got up shakily on his hooves before stumbling to Dash and threw her on Vaahala's back, wrapping her hooves through the ropes so she wouldn't fall off. "Go back to town and tell the others, I'll stay here and make sure nopony else knows." He said, grabbing the stick from the lifeless guard.
The dragon nodded, drips of blood falling from his mouth as he let out another roar and jumped off the mountain, flying away.
Mike paused for a moment, leaning against the cave wall as he held his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. The iron door flung open and more ponies ran towards him. All of them wore those weird masks with the tubes. Almost all carried halberds. “Get him!” A stallion's voice as he pointed the tip of the halberd at Mike.
Mike dodged the charging ponies, weaving his way through the mass and whacked a few on the legs, taking them out. He ran into the cave, trying to find shadows to hide in as they chased him.
A pegasus dive bombed him and knocked him into the wall. The others quickly surrounded him, the tips of their spears and halberds pointed at his head. "Surrender or die."
"Let's be reasonable guys…" Mike said before he felt the blood drain from his face. “It's that dragon from earlier!” The mass of ponies quickly turned to look as Mike whacked the nearest one before hopping across the other's backs and took off again.
"After him!" They charged, quickly catching up to the fleeing pegasus as he went deeper and deeper into the tunnels.