When in Alafreo, Do As
"Good heavens!" A snapping turtle adjusted his bifocals and smiled against the early morning glow. "They have wings now!"
Rainbow Dash hovered in front of him. "Errrrrr... yeah. Sure."
The Noble Jury was yards behind her, coasting eastward slowly. Rainbow had jumped off and flown over to speak with the pilot of a tiny, tiny gondola suspended from a wobbly balloon. Tiny gears and motors puttered all around the miniature gondola, and a thick rope connected it to one of several jutting cliffaces down below.
"Tell me, madame, are they real?" the turtle asked. "Or the product of leather stitchwork combined with mana reinforcement?"
"Seeing as I was born with them, I'd say they're about as real as horse wings get," Rainbow said with a nervous laugh.
The turtle laughed, coughed, then ultimately cleared his throat. "Ahem. Yes. Well, we certainly don't get much like you visiting around these parts." He adjusted the controls of his dirigible, pivoting it around to face her more directly. "As a Peak Watcher, I often dream of spotting more exciting things than the errant, stray seagull."
"Believe me. There are a lot of 'exciting things' from back west that you are better off without brushing paths with."
"So you are from across the Wastes, then? Hmmm?"
"Er... yeah. You could totally say that." Rainbow nodded. "Well, I guess the bulk of my friends on board, are." She pointed at the Noble Jury. "Three are Ledomaritan. One's a Xonan, another's Searonese. Two are from Gray Smoke. One's from Franzington. And then we've got an elk and... uhm... an idiot."
"Sorry to say, but very few of those names have any meaning to me, madame," the turtle said. "Except for Ledomare and Xona, of course. Horrible... terrible war they're embroiled in, from what we Alifreons have heard."
"Well, actually, that war's kinda sorta over."
"Oh really?" He smiled through his beak. "How fanciful. There seems to be a common pattern now."
"What... k-kind of pattern?"
"Three fishing ships have returned to the Churning Bluffs over the past week, and all of them have claimed that the Flurries have dissipated. Hah! Can you imagine, the Wastes without a maelstrom!" The turtle adjusted his bifocals again. "I'll tell you one thing for sure. It'll certainly make trade and shipping lanes a lot less treacherous."
"Yeah, imagine that." Rainbow fidgeted in midair. "Say, uhm. Sorry to break a conversation short, but I gotta get my friends someplace."
"And just where might you be heading?"
"We're looking for a town called 'Abinadi.' I... uh... I do hope I'm pronouncing that right."
"Hmmmm... Good metalworking village. Also, home to some of the finest filet of fish this side of the Churning Line." The turtle smiled. "The twin peaks above the township hold a burning brazier that is almost impossible to miss."
"Yeah. I've heard about that. But I still dunno whether we're to head north or south."
"You'll wish to turn north a bit," the turtle said, rotating his gondola about so he could point past a ridge of rocky spires. "Skim the southern edge of the bouldery ridges. You'll know you're getting close once you see smoke in the air. There's a foundry not far from the twin peaks, and it's constantly billowing fumes from the forging stations. They built it so that the smog is carried off along the northern currents, you see."
"Alrighty. Thanks a ton."
"No, thank you." The turtle smirked as he pulled a pair of levers and ascended his balloon. "For giving me a conversation I won't soon forget."
Rainbow Dash flew low over the crooked rock structures. Every now and then she'd look behind to make sure the Noble Jury was following closely. Floydien and somepony else inside the cockpit would signal back, so Rainbow continued her careful flight.
Every now and then, a nervous twitch would overcome the mare, and she'd jerk her eyes left and right, envisioning some horrible battleship emerging from the spires or a deeply nestled sniper with a manarifle attempting to pick her friends off. But nothing dramatic of the sort happened. The air was calm, blisteringly cold, but somehow soothing. Flakes of snow fell gently to the rock summits, and far below Rainbow could hear the roar of waves constantly churning between the hard foundations of the slender mesas. It made for a soothing backdrop of white noise to the mostly peaceful environment.
At last, she did see smoke. A current of dark gray fumes carried its way north, bending sharply towards the arctic horizon from a trough of wind. Following the source of the trail, Rainbow could spot a billowing pulse of light along the horizon. What looked like a tall tower loomed in the distance. As the sun rose and as Rainbow scaled more plateaus, she saw the tower morph into double spires, in the center of which—high up—was a wide and shallow cauldron suspended from four massive chains. A blazing fire rippled from the center of the brazier, casting a cool, pale glow across the plates below.
The metal platforms almost entirely covered the rock formations beneath Abinadi. For the first time since entering Alafreo, Rainbow Dash saw massive courtyards and four story buildings and urban districts with enough room to allow roadways and traffic. A ring of dense apartments formed in the center, and they connected via suspended walk-ways and metal hanging bridges to other plates where blacksmiths and metalwork shops were huddled. It was still early morning, but Rainbow could see that more than half the city was already awake and bustling. She saw turtles at their forges, hammering metal tools and planks into shape. From what she could tell, they were building pieces of bridgework, presumably for expanding Alafreon cities all across the continental shelf.
Several of the residents looked up at Rainbow Dash and the Noble Jury. Most of their eyes were locked on her and her wings predominantly, and this led to all sorts of bright eyes and murmuring conversations.
Rainbow Dash fidgeted. She looked up at the Noble Jury and signaled them to come to a stop. As the vessel hovered still, she glided down and landed in the middle of a random street.
Her hooves struck metal plates and rivets. It was an odd way to make her first landing on a continent, but she wasn't about to complain. Sea turtles, tortoises, and snapping turtles gasped and murmured from apartments, workhouses, and store fronts. Rainbow glanced at them all, cleared her throat, and said, "I'm... uh... looking for the Boreal family."
"You mean you talk too?" a female tortoise uttered from a street corner.
Rainbow couldn't help but smile. "Yeah," her voice cracked. "So I've been told. Anyways, the Boreals—?" She felt a scaled foot touching her feathers. She glanced behind her.
A young male turtle was stretching and unstretching her wings. "Just like a bird. How ingenius." He glanced at her. "How long did you take to build them?"
"They're real. Look, this is really important, here. I'm trying to find a specific family of snapping turtles. Do they even live in this place anymore?"
"What name did you just say, dearie?"
"The Boreals."
"Hmmm... quite the common name. Could you be referring to the Boreals who own the western foundries? Or the Boreals who fish along the central canal? Or maybe the cave diving Boreals of the Churning Ridge?"
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow gulped. "The Boreals who... recently or not-so-recently lost a family member." Her eyes narrowed. "By the name of 'Elma.' Elma Boreal."
The various turtles and tortoises glanced at one another.
A citizen walked out from a nearby house and tugged at Rainbow's mane. "Perhaps, ma'am, you would like to speak to Boxer."
"Who's that, your leader or something?"
"Hmmm... something to that extent." The turtle smiled. "He is the elder of the group. Every turtle in Abinadi looks up to him."
"You think he'll know all about the Boreals?"
"Presuming the family you're asking about have been hatched sometime over the past four hundred years, then yes."
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That moment when you realize that of course giant tortoises are going to live longer than ponies.
Long enough to invent their own languages, even.
Adventure!
Have't seen turtle culture since forever.
If the Abinadis are expert forgers, probably by the time Rainbow leaves everyone will have built their own Pegasus wings.
"Alifreons"
I've been wondering what to call these guys.
Also, Boxer? Aren't they worried he might try to fight them?
Geddit? Because he's a bo-
...nevermind.
-Spirit
Welp...that's quite a time frame there.
4604634
Heh, I dunno about that, but I'm betting Roarke might be getting her hooves on some scrap and spare parts before everyone leaves.
Yay Turtleworld!
A 400 year old tortoise named Boxer..........seems legit
4604634 Flying turtles?
An important thing to note is that Turtleland is home to the best +Def gear in the game.
4604646
I'm pretty sure this Boxer has AWD and a turbo.
But that's just me.
Let's hope the Noble Jury's observation room gets fixed up soon.
I'm sure Rainbow Dash misses the comfort of her hammock.
4604634
4604721
Flying turtles, yes.
Loads of turtles. Watch out Dash, you might bump into an otter if you are not careful.
That, and the pizza delivery boys.
These guys probably take the long view when it comes to decisions. This of course could lead to missing what is right in front of them...
4604876
Starting to get some Mario vibes from this thing, does Boxer has spikes on his shell and breathes fire by chance?
4605151 LOL
I'm curios as to when Elma vanished. I know turtles like this would live a long time, but 400 is pushing it.
4605172
The names are even similar!
I like these turtle dudes already.
And speaking of which, it just occurred to me that Rainbow never got Tank in this timeline.
I wonder if there'll be teenage mutant ninja turtles.
4605331 Huh... I didn't think about that... Well, let's hope that if another turtle joins the group, he/she is at least nicknamed tank by someone. Maybe that could finally give 4604563 a real named character.
Hmmm well this is going to be interesting, Elma has been missing for a really long time.
Hmm. Didn't realize they've only ever met mutes before.
But I'm not Ledomaritan.
Forgeries and stuff huh? I bet roarke and floiden can get some stuff done here. Patch up the jury and what have you. Roarke can probably do just about anything.
4605642 They probably thought that Dash was more closely related to a bird than a pony.
4604646
aaaaaand time lord turtles.........
Important thing to note, Roarke is armed so when everything goes terribly wrong, the taser can come to the rescue. Chekovs gun and all that.
They forge? So they are anthromorphic after all or how does that work? Also, hasn't Elma already mentioned how old they can get? Well,
Enter Shell in 3.
4606432
welp, that could either be extremely good, or horribly bad...
where is Floydien from anyway?
I seem to have missed this chapter.
Eh, I like these turtles.
I like the sound of these cities. Although, I suspect they could get quite hot in the sun.
Hmm seems like it may be a nice visit, but knowing IC they probably worship discord and eat ponies or something.
4605729 no, clearly you are the elk.
Roarke will finally get some new armer
4605729 you're the idiot
but at the end of the day, you prove to be a badflank.
4608153 no....shell is over and done with. drop it!
SAME GOES FOR YOU IC
Nice neighborhood. But all that smoke can't be good, especially if it helps people find the village.
5134325 Jesus, Shell is ACTUALLY dead, Rainbow Killed him, Properly, IF we get a disaster It'll be someone else guys.
6058510 Wasn't Shell fizzing with Necromancy after he fused his horn with Imre's? Maybe he'll make a reappearance in Book 8 as a Lich, having hunted Rainbow east and stealing the souls of everypony along the way. Or maybe he went straight west to Equestria, burnt Ponyville to a crisp and contacting Rainbow with the Solstice Sword, only to have him curbstomped by a REALLY pissed off Luna/Celestia. Who knows. Wait, is there a Book 9 yet? I'm so far behind
Let's hope this place goes well.
[DAVID LYNCH INTENSIFIES]
Just once, I'd kill to have rainbow introduce herself by say saying
"Me?.. I'm from the west, out there beyond the horizon, past the sunset... The far west."
https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLrujouwU5RnYobmTE5gMUFC2SEqzwG_99&v=Uh-5vlNusrA
Steampunk turtles!
Hey now, that's Zaid's occupation, not his demonym.
HOLY SHIT A TALKING TURTLE
4608552
Floydienland, at least that's my headcanon until I see a proper answer from IC
Fucking crackerjacks, these cardboard pacakges comes with quite the expiration date don't they?
6440528
I know Shell was a really bad dude and all, but damn if you can't admire his...sheer charisma, undying devotion to his own twisted cause, expert religious lines, and not to mention the dude was a fucking Omega level telikenetic with Faust only knows what kind of spell repwtoire.
As of date, Shell has been the most powerful and well learned (efficient) unicorn to be introduced yet.
He was strong enough to catch poibt-blank fired mortar shells. 3 of them. And if that's not enough, after losing his own horn, his intense love for Imre somehow bonded him to her on a magical and psychological level.
Now tell me. Does that spell out Uroringr's most powerful unicorn to date? Or just some random psychopath that had some serious mental problems?
...hmm, I suppose you could also add Lasaifion and Kera to the list, but I didn't see Princess Xon stop mortar shells from pasting her bauetiful royal face. And Kera hasn't reached maturity yet to see how far she can advance.
4608552
The North fucking Pole.
That's why he's so bitter all the time. Probably only had some shit like Scrabble to play down there too, so he ditched those melon fudges.