Chapter 8 The Big Apple: New Yoke
Chapter Eight: The Big Apple: New Yoke
I gawked at the massive stone and brick buildings that rose to heights which even the best mason amongst the Vikings of Berk could only dream of! It was as if the buildings had been chiseled and carved from a massive rock. Or as though some great force from below the ground hammered the bedrock up into great towers of stone and mere mortals hollowed the rock out. Not even our grandest temple to Odin could compare to the towering heights that the builders of Manehattan had built.
I could see thin metal towers rising above the skeletal frames of newer buildings which appeared as though they were trying to outdo each other in regards to height. Thick cables of metal dropped down, some lifting beams of metal, that looked like a cross-section of two walls with another wall dividing the two spaces evenly.
“What manner of sorcery is this?” I breathed as I marveled in an almost reverent awe. I could only imagine the time and effort that must have gone into towards erecting these massive towers. I could spot dark specks of … something in the skies above the city of Manehattan.
“Well, I don’t know if you’d call it sorcery, but a lot of unicorn power, earth pony strength, and pegasi wing power. It’s thanks to the efforts of all different kinds of ponies, that we are able to build these skyscrapers,” Rainbow Dash informed me.
“It’s just … despite all our feats, this makes everything that Vikings have accomplished look small in comparison. Especially when it comes to marvels of building. I mean the Great Hall of Berk doesn’t even compare to these skyscraper buildings. But why are they being built in the first place?”
“Tartarus if I know, if we had the time, I’d tell you to go over and talk to the various ponies and ask them why these buildings are going up. Maybe after the race and if you still want to while looking for that big cloud that brought you to our world, then you can ask them. Right now we need to focus on getting these foals hoofed over to the guards and get back into the race.
“‘ey, yo still gonna give me da ship a’ter we unload da likkle uns und ‘and dem o’er ta da guards, right?” interjected Flying Jib.
“Of course! Besides, I don’t know what use Rainbow Dash or I could possibly need a ship for, once we’ve safely delivered these little ones over to the Royal Guards. Well, that and you’re gonna need a crew to row it when not using the sail,” I reassured and informed Flying Jib.
It was a little while later when we pulled into port. I was constantly looking around in this exotic environment. There were some familiar sights such as the vegetable markets where merchants would try to sell their goods, some with familiar staples such as potatoes, carrots and corn, while others had vegetables and fruit to which I not only didn’t know the names of, but couldn’t even imagine how they might taste like. Then there were really strange sights like horseless carriages!
I pointed to one of the horseless carriages and asked Rainbow Dash, “What in Odin’s name is that!?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s an automobile,” she explained.
“Is it some kind of magic?”
“Kind of. I know that it’s powered by something called crystallomancy and there’s a wheel you turn on the inside that controls which way it goes and pedals on the floor that you press to make it go and stop,” Rainbow Dash explained somewhat.
“Anyways, I’m going to go talk to the captain of Manehattan’s branch of the Royal Guards. Why don’t you take the foals to play at Central Park?”
I crossed my arms and just stared at her, frowning slightly. “You want me to take a bunch of foals in a city with that many ponies out on the city’s streets and where I don’t know where anything is, to a place in this city?” I asked, requesting clarification and hoping that she’d realize just how stupid that sounded.
“Oh for the love of Tartarus; you could find a Royal Guard to show you the way!” she cried.
“I have a better idea. How about you find and bring a Royal Guard here first before leaving me in an unfamiliar city with a bunch of little ones to look after.”
“Ugh, fine! I won’t leave you hanging, Hiccup!”
“I’d rather not hang at all. I rather quite enjoy living.” I responded, confused on why she’d leave me to hang if I hadn’t asked her to retrieve a Royal Guard for me.
“No, no, no, no, no! It means that I’m your friend and that I wouldn’t leave you unprepared. It’s a pony thing, I guess.” Rainbow explained.
“Sometimes the words you ponies use confuse me. Irregardless us talking isn’t getting things done. So, I’ll see you at Central Park once you’ve brought back a Guard to lead us to Central Park, right?”
“Right! Back in a flash!” Rainbow cried before zooming off in search of a guard to lead me and the foals to the right place.
* * * {C} {T} {D} * * * {C} {T} {D} * * *
Rainbow Dash returned in about five minutes. “Guard says he’s coming,” she informed me.
“Hmmm. So did you catch the name of the guard that you’re gonna have escort us?”
I watched as Rainbow snickered a bit before replying, “Yeah, her name’s Honeysuckle. I-
I’ll let you find out for yourself what kind of pony she is.”
I crossed my arms and frowned slightly as Rainbow Dash turned her back to me and continued to snicker into the crook of her right foreleg. I didn’t know why, but I suspected that she was up to something.
“Rainbow, is there something that you’re not telling me?” I heard clopping approaching from behind and I turned around and gaped at the guard. “Good Thor! She’s huge!”
To give you an idea of just how tall this pony was, most ponies backs come up to about middle of my chest. This mare, I was eye level with her back. Plus, she was heavily muscled. She’s what I’d expect our Viking women might look like as a pony, well the warrior types. Astrid and my mom definitely wouldn’t look like that. I’d imagine even less with Tuffnut, though I guess I just don’t see her feminine charm the way Snotlout and Fishlegs views her. I mean, she pretty much acts like a guy, most of the time. It’s like if Tuffnut had a twin double that then got turned into a female.
“Name’s Honeysuckle, stranger. I gotta say, I’ve never seen whatever it is that you’re supposed to be. What are you?”
“I’m a Viking, a proud seafaring people. A Viking has no peer when it comes to sailing the seas. We know her moods and temperaments and we use the night sky as our map and and the sun’s movement to determine direction.”
“If you’re such a seafaring bunch, how come you’re the first Viking I’ve ever seen?” Honeysuckle queried, an eyebrow arching as she asked her question.
“Because even a Viking knows that sailing into a fogbank is a good recipe for sinking your ship, especially with the jagged and jutting rocks in the parts of the seas that we sail in.” I paused for a while, before continuing. “Plus, Vikings don’t change easily or even like change. Vikings used to fear dragons and be enemies with them, but in time Toothless and I were able to eventually convince the other Vikings that dragons weren’t the ruthless, savage beasts that we Vikings had previously considered them to be. The change was slow and gradual, and it wasn’t without its challenges and difficulties, but now Vikings have a friendship with our dragon friends, which very, very few Vikings ever thought possible. So, venturing into magical fogbanks in search of adventure isn’t exactly a Viking norm.” I chuckled, aware of just how special a Viking I was. I am my father’s son, but I certainly didn’t have the muscles that he or even many of the Viking warriors had.
“So, if Vikings usually don’t do that, then why did you? Go into the fogbank, I mean.”
“I had observed some enemy Viking ships go in, but never come out. So I wanted to see if I couldn’t sneak up on them and find out what exactly they were up to. Because those Vikings are always up to no good.”
“So how do I know that you’re not one of these enemy Vikings?” she asked, while looking at me from the corner of her eyes.
“You don’t. Besides, even if I told you I wasn’t one of them, would you believe me? Let my actions speak for themselves. That is how you will know if I am one of them or not. Besides, why would a bad Viking be turning in all these foals? A bad Viking would have sold them to the highest bidders to do whatever it is that their new masters required of them. Or I could have kept them for my own personal slaves. If I was a bad Viking, why would I be turning away a resource from which I could profit from in various and multiple ways?”
“You could be doing it to cast suspicion off of yourself,” Honeysuckle responded.
I chuckled. “Perhaps, but then wouldn’t you hear news of a bad Viking riding on a dragon as black as coal doing bad things? Even if I were to do it to cast suspicion from myself, sooner or later, I would resume doing the bad things from which I could profit from. Which is why I said to let my actions speak for themselves. Because it is by his actions that you can know the kind of Viking he is.”
“You speak as one with many years. But you don’t look that old. How old are you?”
“I’m 21 years old.”
“Many ponies who have attained your age do not speak with such wisdom. Why is it that you speak so?”
“I’ve listened to the wisdom of the ancestors and seen truth in what they speak, be it by my own experience, or seeing it played out in the life of another. Though, I’m a bit of an oddball among Vikings. Like exploring the possibility of dragons being something other than an enemy, a commonly held belief before I started to show to my fellow Vikings that we could be friends with dragons.”
I made sure to walk at a comfortable pace so that even the slowest foal among us could keep up with my pace. I saw what looked like an illusioned play taking place behind a glass screen and light was coming out from it. “What kind of magic is this!” I looked over to see Honeysuckle and some of the colts and fillies laughing at my reaction to the strange magic I was beholding.
Honeysuckle chortled for a short while before finally responding. “That’s not magic! That’s a t.v.!”
“What does t.v. mean?”
“It’s a shortened form for television.”
“How does it work?”
“Tartarus if I know! I’m a guard, not a repair pony. I just know that we like it when it works and hate when it doesn’t.”
I moved over to a rectangular object made of wood and metal with some kind of screen or mesh over the circular holes in the surface of the rectangular object. “What about this? What is it?”
“That’s a radio.”
“What does this radio thing do?”
“All kinds of things! As long as the radio can pick up the signal, then you can listen to all kinds of music, listen to stories, current events, or even whatever topic that’s being discussed in a talk show,” Honeysuckle explained.
I pointed to some weird boxy device with an arch and what looked like a wire. There was also a weird stick thingy attached to a smaller cord. “What is that!?” I exclaimed in fascination, so many strange and amazing magics to be seen in this city!
“That is a telephone.”
“What does this tele-phone thing do?”
“Well, the gist of what I understand is it enables near instantaneous communication across long distances. You just need two ponies to possess a telephone device on each end and for them to be connected to the telephone lines and the right number to dial. The only problem is anyone can listen in on your conversation. That’s still something that the telephone companies are working towards solving.”
“Amazing!” I responded in a breathy murmur.
I looked down at one of the foals, a colt, as he complained at me. He had a dark orangish-brown mane and tail, while his coat was several colors lighter, but his moderate blue eyes really stood out from his orangish coat and mane colors. He was an earth pony of average build, but he still hadn’t gotten his cutie mark.
“Come on! We want to play in the park!”
I chuckled and ruffled his hair, and he tried to return his mane to its pre-mussed form “And your name is … ?”
“Orange Juicer!”
“Alright colts and fillies! Stay close and don’t wander off, while Honeysuckle guides us to the park. Don’t forget to thank her once we’ve arrived,” I instructed them. “I’ll bring up the rear, so Honeysuckle, if you would take the lead, please?”
Now, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Toothless and I weren’t tempted to ask about all these strange magical devices that we didn’t recognize within the city. Toothless and I did frequently stop to marvel at many wondrous and frightening things. Plenty of windows which held these marvels temporarily misted from our breaths as we peered into window displays.
It took longer than I thought it might as Honeysuckle, Toothless and I seemed to be chasing this foal or that foal, which had gotten distracted by something and wandered off from the group. Plus, there was the fact that the foals would occasionally encounter some foals playing in the streets and it was difficult to separate them from each other and resume our quest to arrive at Central Park. It wasn’t easy, but we all eventually made it to Central Park.
“Alright, here is Central Park. The park is pretty much defined by its greenery, so if you start seeing buildings across the roads, then you’re at the edge of the park,” Honeysuckle informed me. “I got to resume my patrol, but feel free to contact us if you need us.”
“Thanks for showing us how to get here, Honeysuckle.”
“No problem, happy to be able to be of assistance to you folks.”
I eased myself into the grass as I watched the fillies and colts playing on the playground, though some of the colts were wrestling with Toothless, who was enjoying himself immensely from the toothless grin I could see on his face.
{C] {T} {D} (Rainbow Dash) {C} {T} {D}
I left Hiccup and the foals in the hooves of one of the Royal Guards of Manehattan. Since I didn’t know the area as well as a pony that had lived in Manehattan for a long time, I decided that the fastest way for me to locate New Yoke’s Royal Guard Headquarters was to locate one of their pegasus guards and ask them to show me the way. It might not get me there as fast as I’d like to, since I would have to match the guard’s flying speed, but it would definitely be faster than if I flew throughout the entire city of New Yoke as I searched for the New Yoke’s branch of the Royal Guards Headquarters myself.
It wasn’t too long before I spotted a pegasus mare wearing the armor of the Royal Guards. Her coat was a really light green, like that of bleached pistachio, while her hair was a few shades darker, so that it was a more moderate emerald color. Though I wasn’t all that impressed with the armor for the New Yoke division of the Royal Guards. It was just a simple cuirass and four simple greaves. The Canterlot Division had their pegasi in full plate mail, which was a lot more weight than what this fledgeling was carrying. It just makes me wonder about how well these guards would perform in a crisis scenario. Maybe I should bring that up the next time I see Princess Celestia.
“Excuse me! Name’s Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria, winner of the Best Young Flier’s competition and member of the Friendship Council and bearer of the element of Loyalty and a hero to Equestria on several occasions. I need to go to your headquarters to speak with your superiors. Would you lead me to your HQ?”
“Wow! It’s such an honor to meet you, Rainbow Dash! Am I dreaming?” the guard squealed in excitement, fluttering this way and that as she looked at Rainbow Dash from all angles.
I gladly basked in the praise and admiration of a fellow pegasus, pushing my chest a little farther out, and felt my smile grow until it was as big as it could get and I closed my eyes. It wasn’t too long before I was striking poses one after the other. I eventually came down from my ‘hero high’ and realized that I still didn’t know the guard’s name.
“I don’t believe you ever told me your name,” I observed.
“My name is Spring Breeze. Would it be alright to get an autograph from you?”
“Sure thing, lemme just see if I can’t find a photograph here for you,” I replied and began to rummage in my saddlebags to see if I had a photo that I could sign and give her. I usually carried some photos of myself ever since I had helped save Equestria from Nightmare Moon. I found one of me wearing a fake Wonderbolts uniform. I’d only wear the real uniform once I was accepted into their ranks. Well that and authentic Wonderbolt uniforms are imbued with a special magical signature and forging that magic signature is subject to some pretty heavy punishment. Twilight told me that it was the magical equivalent to a coat of arms. I took a permanent marker and signed the photo with my awesome signature and then turned it onto the blank back. On the back I wrote: Keep striving to be the best and one day your efforts will be recognized. I drew an icon of my cutie mark after it and then turned it back over and handed it to her.
“So awesome!” Spring Breeze squealed and with slow and tender care placed the photo into one of her saddlebags. “Follow me, Rainbow Dash!”
Hanging out with fans who admired me and the accomplishments I’ve got under my horseshoes usually makes me feel better and I could feel myself grinning as I flapped my wings and followed Spring Breeze. I just hoped nothing bad would happen before I made sure that the New Yoke division of the Royal Guard would properly see to finding the foals families and reuniting them with their parents. I chuckled to myself softly as the thought that trouble seemed to follow Hiccup and Toothless. Usually trouble would come to me and the girls with some villain wanting to conquer Equestria. And with the girls and I being bearers for the Elements of Harmony and with us generally being our kickflank selves, then usually it was up to the girls and I to restore peace and harmony to our kingdom.
But ever since I’ve bumped into Hiccup and Toothless and hearing about their experiences in this strange new world, I could feel myself being both amused and somewhat sympathetic to all the bad things that had happened to them. Running from murderous dragons, the deer folk’s elders thinking that he was an ill omen, falling out of the sky from hitting yours truly, having to fight against rebellious youths, and then having to kill off other Vikings, even if they were bad, and after all that, then us having to hightail it out of the harbor before the angry mob could swarm us as we made a hasty departure from Bearmingham and the country of Ursland.
Colt, wait until the girls hear what happened on what was supposed to be a regular global race. I’d win of course, but it would have been rather uneventful had I not brought Hiccup and Toothless along as my trainers. Speaking of races, I should check in to one of the checkpoints and figure out by how much I might have fallen behind by. What with Hiccup and I having to sail and stay with the foals until we could safely deliver them into the hooves of authorities whom we knew could be trusted.
I looked around me as I kept pace with Spring Breeze. I had been to this city before with Rarity and the girls when Rarity had been competing in the Fashion Week tournament that was taking place here at the time. But with everything that happened, we didn’t get to see the sights quite so much due to a mare that Rarity knew well stealing her designs and with Rarity presenting after that whorse of a pony, it could look like Rarity had copied that other mare, rather than the other way around. So we all ended up helping with Rarity’s emergency fashion line; Hotel Chic.
Let me tell you, there are a lot of sight to see in a city as big as this. From authentic Istallion pizzerias to huge financial offices on Wall Street to five star hotels where I cringe to think what even a night in one of those must cost! And that’s not to mention the sheer variety of cultures of ponies from all over the world. It’s like a pony-watcher’s pilgrimage site. For those who had any kind of interest in ponies, then this city was the number one vacationing destination, where they tried to make it at least once in their lives.
But we eventually made it to New Yoke’s Royal Guard headquarters. I said eventually, because even the airspace over New Yoke was regulated by patrol ponies and lightning sphere traffic lights.
So, eventually I hovered in front of the main doors to New Yoke’s Royal Guard headquarters.
“Do you think you’ll be alright on your own?” Spring Breeze asked me, sounding hesitant.
“I’m Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash! I don’t think, I know that I’ll be alright now that I’m where I want to go! Thanks, Spring Breeze.” I waved to her watching her fly off to do Celestia knows what. Probably look for troublemakers and help ponies who need help. I opened the door to the front entrance. “Take me to your leader!” Heh, I’ve always wanted an opportunity to say that!
One of the guards was being snarky because he replied with: “But Celestia isn’t even here! Luna isn’t either!”
I laughed, “Ha! Good one! But seriously, I really do need to speak with your head honcho,” I responded.
A dark grey earth mare with a strong azure colored mane and tail with Vivid cerulean eyes limped out of an office with ‘Captain of the Royal Guards; New Yoke division and beneath it was a plaque that read Street Beat. What really caught my attention was a large jagged scar running down the side of her face, from just behind where her eyes were all the way down to the bottom of her muzzzle. There was also an x shaped-scar on the upper part of her right foreleg.
“Ah, the famous Rainbow Dash. What brings you here? Aren’t you currently in the middle of a race?” Street Beat inquired.
“Yes ma’am!” I snorted in amusement at how deeply the Wonderbolts Academy drilled into us the addressing of ponies of captaincy rank. “That’s actually part of the reason why I’m here. Because while we were flying along our course, my coach spotted a ship with a spiky dragon shadow on it. They were engaging in slavery and foal trafficking. My coach and I managed to defeat the bad guys and rescue the foals, but now we, that is my coach and I would like to turn them over to you guys so that the foals can begin being reunited with their families.”
“I see. Well I certainly can understand how that would hinder your ability to race. Alright, I’ll send a squad of guards to bring the foals you rescued back to HQ and we’ll see what we can do to reunite them with their families. Officer Nightstick, front and center!” Street Beat bellowed.
I watched at a cream colored mare with a pastel yellow mane and a moderate magenta colored eyes stood before Street Beat and saluted. “You summoned, ma’am?”
“It has come to my attention that Rainbow Dash and her coach rescued some foals intended to be sold in the black markets or used for labor. I want you to gather nine ponies to go and retrieve these foals and once they’ve arrived at HQ, then you and your squad are to begin to research on these foals’ families. Anything that might help facilitate getting these foals back with their families,” Street Beat ordered. “Also, talk with the foals and find out who’s been with these slavers the longest and use that to narrow your search through the Lost Foals report bulletins.”
“Yes ma’am! I’ll get started right away, ma’am!” Officer Nightstick replied, before hurrying off to assemble her squad.
“Would you like a cider or perhaps some water, Rainbow Dash?” Street Beat asked me as I watched Officer Nightstick scurry off to assemble and prep her squad.
“I would like some cider, if you have the non-alcoholic stuff. I mean, I like the alcoholic stuff, but I’ve learned not to try mixing athletic activities and the hard stuff. Usually doesn’t end well for me. Especially if you crash from high enough up. Alcoholism is one of the leading causes of death among pegasi. That’s why I really like the slogan the pegasus Royal Guard division started spreading on billboards about ‘If you’re drunk, don’t fly, be safe and arrive alive.’”
“Of course. I’m actually happy to hear you say that, since a lot of athletes seem to try to do anything to enhance their performances and beat records, sometimes even trying illegal performance drugs and turning to drugs and alcoholism when they don’t win,” Street Beat said as she poured the cider from a glass gut and into a smaller drinking glass for me.
I chuckled, “Maybe if they spent more time training. I mean, when I’m not working as Ponyville’s head weather mare or hangin’ with my girls, then I’m training. Because I know full well the temptation and consequences the trap of complacency bears, not only to me, but to other ponies as well. I mean, there are few pegasi who can actually give me a challenge. One of them being Lightning Dust.”
“Yes, I’d heard about that. Nasty business, that,” Street Beat replied with wrinkled muzzle as she bared her teeth in a sneer of disdain with her brows furrowed and her eyes narrow as she stared at me. “I’m honestly appalled that she even made it past the screening process, much less was made a wingpony!”
“I honestly don’t think that she’s a bad pony. She just needed to be shown how her disregard for the safety of her fellow Pegasi was alienating her and how her behavior and attitude would have affected any teamwork maneuvers that we would have been practicing later on. … Well, those that were still around that is. She wrote to me about a week before the G.E.R. was supposed to start. She informed me that she’s a wingpony again, but that the coaches are watching her more closely for violations to the new safety regulations. She even wrote that she’s sincerely going about to her fellow pegasi trainees and apologizing for how she’s treated them. To be honest, I think this whole experience has been an eye opener for her and being revoked of her wingpony status showed her that endangering her fellow pegasi wasn’t okay. So I actually have high hopes for her once she joins the ‘bolts,” I expounded.
“Hmm … well, I certainly don’t know her as well as you do, so I think I’ll just wait to see if her attitude change lasts or not. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that she has decided to change, but it’s so easy to fall back into old habits. Especially when faced with tough times and challenges. But only time will tell, I guess,” Street Beat replied and poured herself a glass of cider and proceeded to drink about 1/3rd of the cider in the glass.
Street Beat and I began to talk about more our friends and the activities we participated with them, the crime rates of New Yoke and what the Royal Guards were doing to bring the rates even lower, and the kind of things we want to do before we get too old to do anything.
However, what happened back in Bearmingham weighed too heavily on my conscience and I wanted to be sure that the Guards here would give her the proper care and hopefully help that that poor filly. I took a sip of the cider, bracing myself to release the ugly and torrid history of that filly that I saved. “Okay, you remember how earlier I told you that we rescued a group of colts and fillies from some slavers, right?”
“Yes,” Street Beat looked intently at me, her obvious experience showing as she patiently waited for me to continue.
“Well, there’s one more pony. Her name’s Lemon Daze … and … and she’s been … sexually abused,” I choked out, my forehooves covering my eyes, as my tears streamed down, before falling into a small puddle, each teardrop shimmering like a fragile crystal, before splattering and joining the larger puddle.
“Is this true, Rainbow Dash?” a calm looking Street Beat asked, as she leaned back in her chair and took a deep draught of cider from her cup.
“I’m no Applejack, I know. But this isn’t something that I’d ever care to lie about. Just the thought of something like that happening to Scootaloo scares the buck out of me and makes my blood boil. There’s a filly out there, that’s probably hurting and questioning her own self-worth right now. I’m asking that you and your guards look properly after her, since I won’t be able to,” I pleaded, looking ashamed.
“What about the scum committing these crimes?” Street Beat asked in a soft voice.
“I certainly intend to let Celestia know when we hit Canterlot. Though I’m not too familiar about Celestia’s policy regarding such despots. She’ll either send the Council of Friendship to deal with the problem, or send a specialized task force of the elites of the Solar and Lunar Guards to address the problem,” I speculated.
“Well, I can’t promise miracles, but we’ll try to do our best by her,” Street Beat swore solemnly.
“I hope that whoever gets sent to deal with that … spawn of Sombra beats him to within an inch of his life, or else I’m not gonna be satisfied.”
“And if Celestia does choose to send you?” Street Beat queried.
“Then I’ll be first to beat that sewer scum within an inch of his life and then we’ll go from there,” I reasoned.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Rainbow Dash. I think you should really let somepony that has years of experience, like Celestia and Luna handle meeting out his punishment. As it stands, I will need to send a report to Celestia about your intentions towards the perpetrator,” Street Beat informed.
“It’s probably for the best. If she sent me, I’d probably pound him into paste just so that another filly wouldn’t have to be his victim. Plus I still have my race to focus on. I just wanted you to know what happened to Lemon Daze so that you can treat her right,” I informed her.
“Of course,” Street Beat replied.
A short time later, Officer Nightstick came back to the chief and saluted crisply before informing, “The squad is ready to depart, Ma’am!”
“Excellent! Take Rainbow Dash with you and retrieve the little ones so that we can get started on reuniting the little ones with their families,” Street Beat commanded.
I hoofed my empty glass to Street Beat. “Thank you, Ma’am for the cider.” I smiled as she nodded to me and I turned to Officer Nightstick. “They should be somewhere in Central Park. That’s where my trainer said that he’d take them,” I informed Officer Nightstick.
We were now before the assembled squad. Officer Nightstick stood before them before clearing her throat. “Right then, this should be a simple escort and retrieval mission. We have a bunch of foals that we’re going to be bringing back to HQ and then we’ll begin information gathering in order to reunite these foals with their rightful families! Move out!”
I flew beside Officer Nightstick, while the other members of the squad followed the others in a single file. I continued to take in the sights until we got to the first sight of widespread greenery in the midst of the concrete and cobblestones of New Yoke. Being from the village of Ponyville, we frequently encountered natural greenery, so Central Park wasn’t impressing me all that much, but for ponies that lived in the Big Apple, it was probably one of the few places they could go to to enjoy nature. It was kind of a saddening thought, to be honest.
I looked over to Officer Nightstick, “It’ll probably be easiest to find the foals if we look for my trainer. So keep an eye out for something that looks like a tailless monkey in clothes and a black dragon.”
“What!? They let a dragon near the foals!?” Nightstick exclaimed loudly in surprise, the other squad members and ponies walking past her stopping to look at what the commotion was.
“Toothless? He acts like a big foal himself. He wouldn’t hurt them,” I tried to reassure her.
“He must be something else, since all the dragons that I know are grouchy, irritated, and insular. They’re more interested in hoarding gold, gems and jewelry, rather than ‘stooping’ down to play with pony foals.” She turned to face the squad as they gathered around her once again. “Right, so according to Rainbow Dash, we should keep an eye out for a tailless, clothes-wearing monkey and a black dragon, because the foals should be with them!” she informed loudly.
“Yes ma’am!” The squad replied in near perfect unison.
“If you find them, fire a red flare into the air. The rest of you know what to do after that,” Officer Nightstick instructed. “Dismissed!”
The ponies from the squad scattered. I will admit that it was a well diversified squad with three earth ponies, three unicorns and three pegasi. I joined the pegasi in the sky as I looked for Hiccup, Toothless and the foals that inadvertently joined us in our travels.
{C] {T} {D} (Hiccup) {C} {T} {D}
I watched the sun’s gradual movement across the sky as I took a break from playing with the colts and mock-wrestling them. I’m definitely going to be carrying away some fresh bruises, but the colts had difficulty knowing just how hard some of their accidental blows hit. Toothless, on the other hand, was swarmed with the colts as they tried to ‘conquer the ferocious dragon.’ It had been about an hour since we’d arrived, judging by the gradual movement of the shadows. I spotted one of the pegasus Royal Guard ponies looking around for something … or someone. “Hey! Over here!” I called and waved my arms and hands frantically, trying to get his or her attention.
It seemed like several moments before they spotted me and hovered right over my position and shot a red flare into the sky before finding a decent area between the trees to come down to more of my level.
“Are all of the foals here?” I heard the guard ask me.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on them the whole time.” I replied before turning my head back to the playground they had been playing on. The little foals mainly focused on climbing this square shaped stair-like structure and sliding down the slides on it, though there was also what looked to be a small winding snake wall, before it joined a straight section. At even intervals in the stone wall make me think of the gap between merlons, though these were very narrow in width. They were approximately one to two inches in width, while an actual merlon gap could be several feet apart. Apparently some of the older foals would build up speed and approach the straight section and then would try a kick-flip or a spin on the wheeled boards they were riding on. I was rather interested in watching these older foals making use of this apparently useless miniature battlement. Especially one that snaked this way and that, like a mason gone mad part way through the foundation laying. Ponies are weird, sometimes. Though these permanent magical items that the shopkeepers were trying to sell to the ponies of New Yoke were endlessly fascinating.
The guard reached into a satchel he carried around his neck and fired a bright red flare into the sky, watching it a few moments to make sure it stayed lit, I guess. The bright glowing red must have been endlessly fascinating for the foals, as they stopped whatever game they were playing and started to gather around the guard and I, looking upward at the glowing flare.
The guard and I watched as 11 foals gathered around us, chattering with each other excitedly. I clapped my hands, getting their attention. “Right then. This nice pony is going to tell you what’s going to happen.” I made a pushing gesture with my palms facing forward, with my hands pointed downward and moving my arms forward, gesturing for the guard pony to tell the foals before him what’s likely going to happen to them.
“Right then! My name is Swift Wind and I understand that you little ones have been on quite an adventure! So, once my friends arrive, we’re going to escort you to a safe place where we’ll do our best to reunite you with your families.”
It wasn’t too long before eight guards and one Rainbow Dash arrived on the scene. Each guard took a foal under their supervision, while what I would guess was the lead pony took two. I smiled and waved goodbye as the foals waved to me before trotting off with the guard ponies. The filly that Rainbow Dash rescued came trotting back and looked to Rainbow Dash.
“Will you rescue me, if they can’t find me a home?” the filly asked Rainbow Dash with upturned brows, large watery eyes and lightly biting the bottom of her trembling lip. I had to turn my back on the filly because she was tugging on my fatherly urge to protect and reassure made make a promise that I might not keep.
“Sure kid, what’s your name again?” Rainbow Dash replied.
“Lemon Daze,” the foal replied, before trotting back to the guard’s side and both of them heading to wherever the guard pony’s headquarters was located, I think.
{C] {T} {D} (Rainbow Dash) {C} {T} {D}
I watched the foal until I could no longer see her amongst the hoof traffic of New Yoke. My emotions and mind was as tumultuous as a twister. So many questions and doubts raced through my mind faster than even the most awesome Wonderbolt in a race competition. Did she think I would rescue her by adopting her? Was I even ready to bring up a foal? Did I even like foals? I mean, I’m not exactly Cheerilee, surrounding herself with foals for most of the day. I mean, could I even give a foal like that the love and care that she might need? I shook my head as though to rid myself of the questions floating through my head. I can think about that stuff later. Right now, I needed to focus on the here and now.
“Right! Now that we don’t have to look after the foals anymore, then let’s head for the New Yoke checkpoint on the west side of the city, near the city limits and find out what my current ranking is and restock on what we need. Race you there!
I grinned as Hiccup scrambled to get Toothless’s gear on and get in the sky. I zoomed off in the western direction, but at the edge of the park, flew around the perimeter until I was on the opposite point from where I had entered the park, and being as quiet as I could, I landed and tip-hoofed up behind Hiccup. Toothless totally saw me, but from the toothless grin he was giving me, I knew he wouldn’t give me away. Hiccup was busy cinching the belts to his saddle and checking it for any weakness or signs that it might fail, trying to do this as quickly as he could, so he could try to catch up with me.
“Boo.”
Hiccup gave a shout of surprise and from the grunt of displeasure from Toothless, he’d probably cinched one of the securing belts too much.
I couldn’t help but roll in the grass, tears streaming from my eyes as I howled with laughter. “Ha ha! Oh Luna! You should have seen your face! Bwahahahaha!”
“Very funny, Rainbow Dash,” I heard him say, but from the slight upturn in his mouth and soft occasional chuckle, I could tell he found amusement from the little prank I’d played on him.
Once Hiccup had finished with his checking of the straps and belts he climbed into the saddle.
“Alright Toothless, let’s hit the skies!” I could hear him yell, somewhat excitedly.
I once again took the lead and looked about the sky for the bright colored magi-torches which marked the racetrack, or a large gathering of carriages with G.E.R. emblazoned on the side, as that would indicate the checkpoint for the sections of track which went over the lands the track was positioned over. I really wanted to find out what my current ranking is and I wonder what the rest of this race might hold in store for me and Hiccup.
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Alright. I haven't seen the second movie. How much of that is put into this story?
6319811 If this takes place after the second movie at all you're pretty much screwed. There is no possible way to avoid spoilers for HTTYD 2 if it happens afterwards. A lot of stuff goes down in that movie. (I haven't read this yet either
)
6319853 Oh geez. Time to watch the second movie then.
I’ll get started right away,.ma’am!
that we would have been practicing later on. … Well,
I flew besides Officer Nightstick
Especially one that snaked this way an that
1. Extra fullstop here.
2. Personaly, I don't think you need the fullstop, just go straight into the ellipses.
3. Beside.
4. And.
Hmm... So I guess that we have a Nerdy Author leading the new Genesis. Could I call them as our... next Gen author?
6319811 Do yourself a favor and do so. Fd. Dvd, find a download online, anything. It's really, really good. If you have netflix, it is available there.
6319930 Will do when I can get around to it.
6319885 AG: Thanks for catching those, refferee. Don't know how those slipped past us. Which is why I appreciate you pointing out things we might have otherwise missed. I appreciate it. Keep on being your awesome self.
Yaay, what we believe to be true law enforcement officers now have the foals to deal with. Better get their statements down so they can start setting up direct Celestial notifications and interventions on certain jurisdictions?
Season 3 of Dragons, The Race To Dragons Edge, takes place before Movie 2, through a couple over very obvious spoilers. Depends if they are going to severely flex the time line so they can keep putting series in, before the Movie 2 timeline.
Your Dash is still highly annoying to me, but otherwise I enjoyed it.
6323507
RF: Isn't Dash always annoying?
I think they've probably only lost about twenty ranks or so.
Somehow we missed the notification for the prior chapter, off to backtrack now!
Keep going! ;)
6323638 To a certain extent? Yes.
However the only time she's ever been THIS bad was in "Mare do Well" Like I said way back when we you first introduced her a little Dash goes a long way. God knows I've toned had a lot of authors (and even myself) dial her down a notch. She's probably the easiest character to go overboard with.
I'm stopping here; the introduction of all this stuff is very disorienting, coupled with the mistakes I've found in this chapter; I've lost interest. On the bright side, the story deserves every up vote it gets.
Thank you for the story.
Was the rest of the explanation really that necessary? If so, the guard must be absolute morons.
6425013
OTOH, this could explain A LOT of things we've seen on the show....
Um, didn't Rainbow Dash forget something kind of--you know--important? Like that filly she rescued from the mayor? The mayor she wanted to kill?
You'd have thought she'd have mentioned it to the police captain...
6444384 AG: Yeah, I kind of missed that important point while PhilChez, Doctor Candor, and I were going through the story. Someone brought it to my attention and I finally got around to making some additions to Ch. 8 to address that which had been neglected the first round through. Thanks for catching that though.