Duel
"Well, now that we know what we gotta do, I hope we're all ready. We're gonna make sure the hydra killing plan goes off without a hitch, then bail out of here. Etch, Growl, your signal to kidnap Trixie is a massive explosion, most likely followed by cheering. When you get her, remember what the medicine vials look like and grab a whole bunch of the same. Since you can't read, don't worry about the labels. I'll sort em out once we're in the clear. And then I'll get you two educated. Can't have you running around being ignorant can I? Gilda, you're with me. We don't need to scout anymore, so I'll need you to stick with me. I'll be getting my armor today, you can pick out something else you want while we're at it."
All in acceptance of my plan, we headed back to Wethoof in the morning. The dogs with their typical underground method of transport, Gilda and myself walking through the center of town. I found my way back to Bellows, the black smith, and a shiny new set of chain mail and harness were waiting for me. So was Echo. Apparently, his armor had been beat up a bit and he was getting it looked at. He quickly dressed himself in his repaired garb, but did not leave. I tried not to stare at him. Despite him not being an assassination target anymore, something about him unnerved me. He felt strange, and yet familiar at the same time.
"Ah, Edge, ya said you'd be back today. Didn't take ya for an early riser. Most mercs I've come across are a right lazy bunch." Bellows called out.
"Honestly, who needs sleep nowadays anyway? I'm used to pulling all nighters."
"Ya didn't sleep a wink? What, the excitement of killin some hydras, or of gettin in yer new armor?" He asked.
"Habit. I've dealt with insomnia before, it's no big deal." I shrugged.
"Well, look at me just wasting time when there's things to do! Here, try it on." He passed me the chain link armor. The harness was actually a part of the suit, fitting perfectly in a chain loop on the armor so that the softer cloth straps would be protected.
"Well, look at that, fits perfect. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've been doing this a while." I jabbed at him verbally. It's all in good fun.
"So, how much I owe you?"
"Thousand."
"Take gems?"
"Sure do. Ever since the Greenclaws got wiped out I been hard pressed to get gems around here for crafting."
After debating the value of various pieces, we finally settled on a good price and I passed him the glittering jewels. Echo spotted them and looked at them hungrily.
"None of that you damned hound." Gilda scowled. Echo let his claws out, causing her to enter a fighting stance. To her surprise, his claws glowed with a faint light as he proceeded to draw a number of symbols and such that we didn't recognize.
"Eh, sorry Fido, could ya repeat that, English... I mean Equestrian this time?" He looked at me incredulously before using the standard alphabet, with which he wrote,
"You mean you can understand this?"
"Why wouldn't I be able to? All those fancy symbols from before looked like gibberish. Half the books from the library were written the same way, while the other half were normal." He paused for a moment in thought.
"Everyone around here uses those characters. I had to learn a whole new written language, and you're telling me you can understand this perfectly fine? How?"
'Crap, he's on to me, wait, if everyone here uses that, how does HE know it? Suspicious. He's probably thinking the same about me.'
"Well, while the 26 letter alphabet is the main written form, the symbols seem to be pony specific. Kind of like how if two french..ponies meet each other in a foreign country they'll speak french to one another, but the native language to everyone else. Given that there are only ponies in Wethoof, us three excluded, it makes sense they'd use their own written language." He looked at me questioningly again when I paused to say ponies instead of people. I think he's on to me.
"Oh well, at least I know a new language. A little annoying that I could have used this one the whole time." He didn't look like he bought it. Despite the fact that it was true. I know these things, I read them in a book.
"Well, sucks to be you. Anyway, I was gonna have Daring introduce you to me later at the barracks, but it looks like I beat her to the punch. I'll still let her do it, but right now, I need to go talk to the mayor. Some important business needs to be taken care of." Echo scowled at my mention of him.
"Just who are you anyway to have connections with the mayor?" Shit, not good, he's asking too many questions! I thought diamond dogs were supposed to be dumb! Oh, right, Daring told me he's not an idiot like the rest of them.
"Um, nobody. Nobody at all. Just someone he hired to help deal with the town's problem." I tried to fly away, avoid the situation, but he grabbed my tail and flung me to the ground.
"So, the mayor sends his spy after me? Why am I not surprised? I heard you talking with your little crew before and had my suspicions, but now I know for sure. I don't know who you are, but I know what you're planning. I won't fall into your little trap. I know full well the mayor has it out for me, and now he's sending you to do his dirty work."
Lying on my back, I kicked Echo in the chest, knocking him to the ground and flipped myself over, taking a defensive stance.
"Hold on, just listen for a sec. Just listen to me for a moment. Hear me out."
"Why, so you can stab me in the back while I'm distracted?"
"Then there's no reasoning with you." I flew up into the air, out of his reach. Echo got to his feet and looked up at where I was, writing in the air,
"Come back down here and fight. I'm not letting you get off that easily."
"How about this, we fight, if you win, I tell you everything you want to know, and if I win, you hear me out okay?" Which are exactly the same thing, but I'm not tellin HIM that. The various guard ponies, as well as some citizens began gathering around. I pointed over to a clear area that was used for sparring. I didn't look forward to Tythus killing me.
"Fine by me."
"So, we can do this one of two ways. First, we can have an honorable duel, bow, shake hands, whatever."
"Or?" With that, I dropped a smoke bomb right on him, blinding him and causing him to cough, something particularly painful for him given his throat was slashed. I dove into the cloud and clubbed him with the flat of Hades, sending him flying into the town wall. He grumbled slightly as he stood up, in pain from my attack but unphased from the impact with the structure. I replied to him as the smoke cleared.
"Or, we can do this the pirate way."
We had a fair audience of civilian ponies, as well Frost Snap and Tythus. The guard captain was about to intrude, but the mayor held him off, saying it was a duel and he shouldn't interfere. Apparently, the mayor figured this was my attempt at killing Echo, and wanted it to go smoothly. Bellows was also watching, probably hoping to see how well his armor fared. Echo drew his spear, while I held the wide flat of Hades towards him in defense. We stared each other down, and I motioned to Gilda to stay out of the fight, Echo did the same to Daring.
"This is my fight. Stay out of it." The two of them just looked at each other and scowled, threatening to start their own scuffle if the other so much as looked at them wrong. They were also ready to jump into the brawl the moment the other tried to interfere. I have to say, having the guts to take on an armed griffin with nothing but a whip and hat, I'm impressed. They were promptly separated by the guards.
"Got it." They replied annoyed. In situations like these, it's best to just let us fight it out, rather than getting themselves involved. I could tell they were disappointed. Daring was never one to back down from a fight, and Gilda was always up for staining her claws with blood.
You could hear a pin drop as the crowd waited for us to begin. Slowly we circled each other, sizing each other up. He was a full two heads taller than me, and more muscular, but my sword and various other weapons gave me an advantage, as well as having the lower center of gravity. Echo's claws glowing with a faint light seemed eerie, unnatural.
I moved first, using Hades like a shield and charging him, colliding with him and pushing him to the wall. He pushed against my blade with his massive paws, trying to push back. He couldn't twist the blade from my grasp, as he couldn't hold the edge without getting cut. He had no grip on it. He crouched low and kicked me, sending my towards the crowd which darted out of the way. I quickly controlled my fall and got back to my paws. Standing on my hind legs, taking my blade in both hands, I assumed a side stance with it, flapping my wings for balance. He seemed confused by this, as to why a quadruped would take a bipedal stance, and eyed me inquisitively, trying to figure me out. He took a lower stance, clicking his claws together until they caught ablaze.
'Even though I heard about it before, It's really surprising to see it. Too bad for him that his move will make no difference to my blade.'
Echo thrust with his spear, over and over, each time the tip simply bouncing off the flat of my blade uselessly as he circled around, trying to find a weak spot. Seemingly frustrated by the lack of progress he was getting with his weapon, he threw it to the side and began slashing frantically at me, each time his claws being blocked. He stopped for a moment to inspect, becoming confused as to why he hadn't damaged my blade at all. During his momentary distraction, I flew up, dove down, did a somersault and smacked him on the back of his head with it. Unfortunately, it was only a grazing blow and did not have nearly as much of an effect. It still sent him stumbling. Considering that he couldn't get around my defense and he couldn't get through it, he decided he'd smash right into it and try to crush me with it.
Echo jumped into the air, balled his paw into a fist, still blazing, wound his arm up, then came crashing down at me. His fist collided with the flat of my blade, sending vibrations all through my arms as I struggled to keep my guard up. The flames washed over me, thankfully blocked by the blade they went around, leaving only a couple of my feathers with blackened tips. Realizing that he had finally gotten serious, I intended to do so as well. I dropped Hades, causing Echo to fall by the sudden lack of resistance, reached into my pack, and threw a vial of knockout gas at him. It smashed on his face, the fumes wrapping around him. Slowly, he fell to his knees. I drew Hades from the ground and pointed it at his face.
"Looks like I win Echo." Frost Snap looked very pleased. Then shocked. To my surprise, when I tried to move my blade, I found that I could not. Blood was coming from Echo's cheeks. He had bitten down on the tip of the blade and was holding it there. His jaws were locked on it. Despite being a creature that eats gems, the blade did not crack or break. It's edge did not even dull in his maw. I pulled back on it and punched him, causing a single bloody tooth to fall out of his mouth. He then turned and struck me, his flaming fist catching me on fire.
"I'm burning! I'm burning! Somebody! Water! Help me out here! I'm on fire!" I yelled as I ran around ablaze. Echo did some kind of silent laugh, while Daring had fallen over in hysterics, as did most of the crowd. Thankfully, Frost Snap decided to intervene at that point, using his ice magic to put out the flame..... as well as freeze my feet to the ground.
"Whew, thanks Frosty." The mayor gave a huff then walked off, obviously disappointed that I failed to kill Echo, even though that wasn't the intent. Besides, if I had decided to, I would have done exactly this. Have a friendly duel to figure out what I was up against. I'll have to talk to him later.
"So, now you tell me what I want to know." Echo wrote after his claws extinguished, yet pointed at me while I was frozen in place.
"Yeah, you won I guess. You held your breath when I gave you the knockout gas. Smart move." Come on, change the subject. Please work.
"I figured you'd try something like that when you used a smoke bomb. You're rather clever. Can't figure out why I couldn't bite through your sword though. Yes! He's going off on a tangent! Now I just need to free my feet.
"Dragon scale. The thing can cut diamond if I swing it hard enough. Have to say, last thing I expected when I came to Equestria was getting Falcon Punched by a diamond dog." As soon as I said that, Echo's eyes went wide, as if he had just seen a ghost.
"How do you know about Captain Falcon?" He asked. I stood there for a second, letting it sink in.
"How do you?"
"Er."
"Um."
"Uh."
For a couple minutes, we both stood there, stumbling with our words, fighting the obvious conclusion. Every time we tried to ask the other something, it just came out wrong. You try asking someone if they're an alien.
*Loading*
*Done*
'Equestrians don't know about memes. He does. Therefore, he is not an Equestrian. Well shit. Not positive, but there is one way to make sure without making myself out to be a total idiot.'
"Um, tell me Echo...... Bananas, do you like them?"
"What?"
"I asked, do you like, mmmmmm, bananas?" I didn't think it was possible for his eyes to go any wider at that moment. Gilda and Daring looked at the two of us wondering just what the hell bananas had to do with anything.
"I know where you can go bananas." Holy shit! I'm right! What the hell! After thinking several more random curses, we both looked to the sky and saw the full moon, hanging there. The two of us pointed dramatically towards it, he wrote and I yelled,
"ON THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAA BEEEEEEEEYYYYAAAAATCHH!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?" Gilda punched me in the back of the head while the entire rest of the crowd looked at us awkwardly.
"Ow. Okay, I'll explain later, once we're in private. I need to talk with Echo first..... alone." I whispered to my companion.
"Alright folks, nothing to see here, shows over, it's time for the grown ups to talk. Move along, move along." I carefully ushered the crowd away until all that remained was Tythus, Gilda, Echo, myself, and Bellows.
"Y'all are crazy, I'm out of here." The smith said before wandering off back to his forge.
"Griffin, Echo, would you mind explaining just what in the blue blazes happened here?" Tythus demanded, giving me a dirty look.
"His name's Edge captain." Daring piped up.
"Nope, that was a lie, I'm kind of supposed to be under cover. Hi, nice to meet you Daring Do, the name is Griffin the Griffin, don't ask. This is Gilda."
"Wait, that's Gilda, as in GILDA Gilda?"
"Yep, and Trixie is in the medical tent. The two of us need to talk alone, would you mind leaving us? Gilda, just don't gush too much with Daring, I know you're her biggest fan." She scowled and flipped me the middle claw before flying off with Tythus and Daring back to the barracks, leaving me and Echo alone.
"So, human, what's your real name?" I asked.
"Just, call me Echo. I'm not a human anymore. That's my old life, and it's gone. You?"
"Understandable. My name really is Griffin, it's just irony that I am one." Echo gave a smirk.
"How'd you get here?"
"Some old dude in a net café snapped his fingers."
"Discord punted me out of my universe. I should have known it was him, he was rather obvious when I think about it."
"My guy was completely unassuming. All he did is ask me questions like if I'd miss my family and friends, and when I said no, he said 'Off you go!' and that was it. If Discord is Sheogorath, my guy was Jygalagg."
"That's one way to put it."
Echo then explained that he woke up in the temple of chaos, met Daring Do, killed Ahuizotl after getting his throat ripped out, saved Daring, and now was stuck helping Wethoof out with it's hydra problem.
"Pfft, Mary Sue."
"Am not."
"Are to."
"Oh, well then, what have YOU been doing?"
"Well, first I woke up in some.... Celestia...... forsaken desert, was unconscious for a day or so while Gilda looked out for me. Then I killed a dragon by flying down it's throat. Then a bunch of diamond dog slavers. After hearing Gilda's sob story about being a slave and all, I decided to take over the whole damn northern province. Hmm, then I went to Ponyville, ended up making Pinkie and RD cry...." At which point, I found myself lying on the ground, looking up at a VERY angry Echo.
"WHOA! Hold on there! Let me at least explain! Since I got here, the fact that my name is ironic has been a source of unending annoyance. I made Pinkie Pie Pinkie Promise not to laugh at my name. Given that she's the element of laughter, it was kind of a bad idea. So, she broke her promise, then started crying."
"That doesn't explain Dash." If he had vocal chords, he'd be growling.
"Well, she thought I was Gilda and came back and made Pinkie cry, so she beat me up. Yeah, I got my ass kicked by Rainbow Dash. Then she molested me. Before I came to Equestria, I had a....... bad life. Like, really bad."
"Bullies?"
"Yeah. So, I kind of blew my fuse at her. I ended up apologizing and telling her my story, minus the different world bit. She still never said sorry for accidentally raping me. Then I fled Ponyville after I stole some books from Twilight's library. Before you say anything, I was gonna pay for them, but they weren't for sale. I REALLY need them though."
"I never thought RD would be like that. I don't know whether to laugh at you or be jealous. Why didn't you just buy the books at a book store?"
"Well, I don't know if you've noticed or not, but ponies are..... well.... they're racist okay? Most of the stores I go to, I get kicked out of without even doing anything. The only way I can get the things I need is dealing with sleazy characters. Black market and con artists. Books are NOT contraband, so finding a place that is accepting of different cultures, namely Ponyville, was my only option. In that place, they weren't for sale, so I had no choice but to steal them. I'll be sure to return them one day, or pay for them, when I eventually see her again. Anyway, where was I?"
"After Ponyville?"
"Right, so, I went to Stalliongrad and got arrested for carrying a weapon. Non ponies carrying arms is illegal there. Again, racist. That's where I met Trixie. After the whole ursa thing, she couldn't get a job and took to stealing to live. She got caught and thrown in jail. Me and Gilda busted her out and she joined the team. Then we saved Blueblood from some diamond dog slavers, found out there's some prophecy of a diamong dog, except he's a wolf or something that goes around killing dragons and is gonna take over Gem Fido or something. I don't know. Then Trix caught jungle fever and we brought her here for treatment. That brings me to my business with you."
"Let me guess, in exchange for her life, the mayor is blackmailing you into killing me?"
"That's the gist of it, yeah. He figures you're gonna get Ginger killed. He let us in, knowing we're pirates, because griffins hate diamond dogs. He was hoping I'd get rid of you. For the sake of making things go smoothly, I'm gonna tell him I can beat you, and I'll deal with you during the hydra fight. Then, after I fail to do so, I'll have my own dogs kidnap Trixie from the medical ward and we'll scram."
"Well, everyone but Daring thinks I'm from a far off country, what about you?"
"Gilda and Trix know I'm an interdimensional alien, and I directly-indirectly told Twilight that, so I'm sure the rest of the mane six and the princesses know. Judging from the event timeline, I got here within a day of you arriving, either before or after. Maybe the dimensional barrier was weak or something and all the gods pulling the strings decided to send their pawns on the same day. At least you know who sent you. As for my team, they know I'm from another world, but they don't know about bronies. I'm not about to tell them that their entire world is fiction in my own."
"Disarray explained that Discord watched our world, and that we're actually more chaotic than he is, so he brought me here to stir things up. Which means that it's not fiction, despite the fact that we're drawn. I mean, we have outlines for goodness sake."
"Sounds like he should have picked me instead. Wait, who's Disarray?" at which point something that looked like Discord, although a little smaller, with lobster claws and such popped up and gave a bow.
"OOOOH I've never seen a genie like this before!"
"Don't, he's fully aware of the internet, and unless you want to get lazored, I suggest you stop right there."
"Oh, that's no fun! You shouldn't have warned him! Hello Griffin, I am Disarray." He gave a bow.
"Yeah, okay, so a draconnequuis with a flowing mane. Glad to know Celestia did THAT. Thanks for the disturbing mental image."
"You're welcome!" Disarray laughed. "What WAS my father thinking bringing you here Echo? Griffin would have been a MUCH better choice for his goals, whatever they are."
"Right, this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. A diamond dog who's actually a human, Discord and Celestia's son. Maybe you should head back to the barracks. When they ask what the hell is going on with the two of us, just tell them that we're from the same place, go way back, and we didn't recognize each other because it's been so long. I have to go lie to the mayor." They agreed, Disarray vanishing and Echo heading back to the cabin.
"Mayor Frost Snap, a griffin is here to see you."
"Send him in."
"Hey Frosty, what's up?" Time to annoy the hell out of him.
"I see you failed in your attempt to slay Echo. I am not impressed Griffin, not impressed at all. You played around too much. You could have killed him several times easily and you simply let it go."
"Do you not remember what I said previously? I never head into anything without gathering information and planning it out first. If I had killed him there, I would have been run out of town. That would not have been a good idea since one of my crew members is still in the infirmary. I was testing the waters if you will. Have a 'friendly' duel to test his strength, see how he fights, without any risk. I now know for a fact that I CAN kill him, meaning when we go out together to fight the hydras, I can cause a little accident quite easily. You really ought to have more faith in me. Given that, thanks for putting out the fire. Feathers burn rather easily. It wouldn't do for me to be running around without any."
"You truly are not an average griffin. Although, wouldn't he now know how to fight you as well?" Frost Snap asked.
"Shows what you know. I was playing. It was a bit rough, but I didn't give away any of my secrets, other than that I don't play fair. He knows I have smoke bombs and knockout gas, and that he can't get past my sword. If all goes according to plan, and knowing me, it will, he'll be dead before he knows I'm attacking him."
"I'm sorry for ever doubting you." The mayor stated, impressed at my foresight.
"Never forget it. By the way, stage two is complete. I've earned his trust. It'll make it much easier to deal with him since he'll cooperate with me. I'll be off now. It's time for dinner."
"Oh, one more thing. I'm not at all impressed at the fact that you lied to me. Echo happens to be a key element in the defense of this settlement. If I had killed him before and your daughter's hospital stay took longer than expected, you'd be in a heap of trouble. All it would take for that gunpowder to be useless is a bit of rain. Considering we're in a rain forest, that's a big risk. I'm glad I know what I'm doing. Giving me a job with no info at all, making me waste time trying to figure out something you could have told me right from the start, it gives me less time to prepare other things, and that pisses me off."
"So, he's from the same place as you are Echo? With all the hairless monkeys?" Tythus asked.
"Yeah, he basically explained that the mayor wants me dead and is holding Trixie's life over him on it. That's the only reason he's here. He was actually surprised to see me. We didn't recognize each other at first. As for the moon thing, it's an inside joke. You wouldn't get it." Gilda face palmed. Daring face hoofed. Tythus just listened.
"So, I suppose he won't be causing any trouble then?" The commander asked.
"No, he'll behave himself. Our kind has a bit of an understanding. You don't need to worry about him anymore. All the trouble he got in before was actually the result of ponies treating him poorly because he's a griffin."
"Hmm, sounds familiar." Coconut added. At that moment, the doors opened.
"Ah, there you all are." I walked over to the group of Gilda, Tythus, Coconut, Daring, and Echo sitting at a table. I was stopped by guards who were quite upset at the trouble I had caused earlier, even though Echo was the one who attacked me. Tythus motioned for them to let me through. The civilians glared at me the whole way over there. Fighting against the voice of the people gives you a bad reputation, not that I care but it makes certain things more difficult.
"So, what's for eats?" After listing off a number of pony only dishes, the waiter finally got to the ones I could eat, I chose an omelette, which I then scarfed down with haste as soon as it arrived.
"So, I take it Echo explained what's going on?"
"Yes, except what you're going to do." Tythus replied. "Considering that Ginger Snap will be back on her hooves tonight, and we'll be ready for the hydra's tomorrow, he's going to be expecting results."
"I've already got that taken care of. If the reinforcements come before the hydras, I'll just grab Trixie and bail. If the hydras show up before the guard, then I'll be airlifting Echo and Ginger out of the danger zone after they set off the fireworks. After the whole thing goes up in flames, I'll be cleaning up anything that survived. Just make sure that when two diamond dogs go in the medical tent that nobody stops them. We'll be out of your hair before the celebration starts."
"Kind of a shame, first time I see an old friend, he's a damn pirate and he's gotta bail as soon as he's done."
"Yeah, but what are you gonna do right?"
"What do you mean old friend? You act like you know each other, and at the same time, you don't." Daring asked. Echo began to explain, but given that he'd have to do so in two different written languages, I decided to do it.
"While we may not know each other personally, we both come from a certain group of individuals that were all brought together by a certain cause. The purpose was to make the world a better place. So even though we may not actually know each other, we're cut from the same cloth, which is why we say 'old friend.' Even though we've never spoken before, he knows me better than you and Trixie do."
"So, you really are just a big softy after all aren't you? 'Life sucks, I wanna make the world a better place!' That's rich. YOU, out of everyone, wanting to make the world a better place." Gilda elbowed me.
"Ah shut up. Besides, you know the plan, what do you think would happen if we succeed?" I shot back. Only myself and Gilda knew exactly what we were gonna do, with Trixie, the dogs, and now Echo being aware of the goal.
"Well, I'm going back to camp. Gotta keep the dogs in line." Gilda then left and flew back to our camp. She was just pissed off that I had a reply to her snide remark.
"I'm going to get some shuteye as well. We've got a big day tomorrow." Tythus then left.
"I should get back to the kitchen." Coconut left.
"I'm off to bed. Don't stay up too late you two." Daring scolded.
"Yes mom." I replied with a smile. She scowled.
"So, is there a reason why you had me stick around afterwards?" Echo asked.
"Yep, it's time to write a letter to the princess."
"Wait, what? But I thought you were a pirate? What are you doing writing letters to Celestia?"
"And Luna. As for what.... trolling."
"You can't be serious."
"I am. I asked her what the airspeed of an unladen swallow was, which she surprisingly told me to specify the type, and the other day I asked Luna if she's ever mooned anyone. I haven't actually sent that letter yet. I usually send a group of them all at once whenever I get a chance. Let's see."
Dear Princess Celestia,
I met your son today. Discord locked him up for 2000 years over a misunderstanding. What kind of villain locks up family for two millenia over a little spat? Anyway, that's not the point.
Do you like bananas?
Sincerely, Griffin.
"Really? Isn't that kind of.... mean? I mean, she'll be thinking about Luna on that one."
"In case you didn't know, I AM kind of an asshole. Alright, now you write one." I passed him the quill and parchment.
"I'm not sure."
"Oh come on! It'll be fun!"
Echo looked at it thoughfully before he began to write.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Where I come from, there is a saying about those who find themselves graced with the opportunity to do great things: "Speak softly, but carry a big stick."
Well, I can't speak at all, and my spear is taller than me.
It is unlikely that you have heard of me, and I could care less if you have. I do not bow to your sovereignty, as I am not a natural-born denizen of your realm.
Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to move on to do something great. I am exploring your territory - Princess, and I mean the entirety of it - in the name of Science and Exploration. Should you see fit to assist me, I would not turn it down, and all findings and observations recorded on the expedition will give a small tribute to you.
I look forward to encountering you one day, and hope that we may meet as friends, for we have much to discuss, indeed.
Oh, yes, before I forget. My feathery compatriot here, one "Griffin the Griffin," (odd name, is it not?) has asked me to mess with you. As I always love a good joke, I shall oblige.
Have a riddle: I have two coins. They add up to thirty bits total. One of them is not a nickel.
Sincerely, Echo the Diamond Dog
P.S. - LUNA IS BEST PONY! BWA-HAHAHAHAA!
"Feathery compatriot? Speak softly and carry a big stick?" I slammed my head on the table.
"I do not have any qualms about the way you write your letters, why do you care how I write mine?"
"Fine, point taken. Still, what did you major in, liberal arts? Hey Disarray!" At which point the Draconnequuis-Alicorn cross appeared in a poof.
"For my FIRST wish, I wish for all these letters to be sent to Princess Celestia, and for her to burp them out like Spike. See how she likes it."
"Only if you stop calling me a genie. And what about the magic words?" He mocked.
"Alright, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, I won't call you a genie anymore. The joke was getting old anyways. Now, can you please send these letters to your mother?" I batted my eyelashes, to which he gave an annoyed huff, clacked his lobster claw, and off they went.
Art by Netikras01 on Deviantart.
Rust was the the one who wrote Echo's letter.