Chapter 4: Azure Flames Dancing on the Horizon
***Felix’s POV***
As I slept I felt myself rocking back and forth much like when I was too lazy to walk or my paws hurt and hitched a ride on Bonbon. I opened my eyes then immediately closed them, “Gah, that’s bright… where are we and why am I on your back?”
“Well good morning,” Bonbon said in a happy voice laced with barely concealed contempt, she called out ahead of us, “Hey Geoff, the drunk’s awake!”
“…Who the fuck is Jeff?”
“Are you serious,” she whisper-yelled at me, “You don’t remember the vulture griffon that you brought back to our room drunk off your butt?! Well congratulations; thanks to you drunkenly agreed to help him, we’ve got to go back to that horrible town.”
“Don’t blame me, that was drunk Felix; that guy’s an asshole… or so I’ve been told,” I groaned as I sort of remember agreeing to it. “Did he happen to say why he needed our help?”
“Something about purging the town of the evil magic and finding the party responsible for creating it because it’s his job or something,” she complained as I rolled off her flank and landed on my paws. “Watch out for that little monster he keeps on his back, there have been many a meeting I wish I could have ditched regarding Lurkers of the Black Marsh. Their claws can pierce Royal Guard armor and they have a poison spine they can shoot out of their tail with incredible accuracy.”
“Got it, stay away from the red, white, and blue,” I yawned as I kept up with her pace, an odd looking but familiar black griffon landed near us, “Oh, it’s that guy. I totally remember him; I met him in that tavern place.”
“Morning greets your life with warming embrace, Felix,” Geoff said as he nodded once. “Pierce is waiting for us near the place you collapsed. We will have to set up camp some ways away from the town if we wish to formulate a plan without being ambushed. “
“Right, so what is the plan? Go in claws ablaze?”
“Something like that, my higher ups have developed certain… techniques… for dealing with things of this nature,” Geoff scratched his neck absentmindedly before flapping off and calling back to us, “I’ll explain at camp, don’t worry it’s not too far away!”
Now that it was just Bonbon and I she visibly relaxed, “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing… or maybe everything, this guy shows up right after we escape that horrible place,” she said then took a calming breath, “It’s just too coincidental for my taste, last time something like this occurred the organization shattered itself to provide deniability.”
“Something like this happened before? You’ve faced down a ghoul-town before?”
“Not the exact same, flea-brain. I meant someone coming along and offering help after just we finished a job; a Bugbear was terrorizing Tall Tale so my team was sent to handle it, we succeed in capturing it but we lost Gum-shoe in the process. It was thanks to one of the locals that we did so, as payment he wanted to sign on to T.R.T, and two weeks later the Bugbear escaped.”
“Damn Bonbon, I don’t know what to say.”
She rubbed her nose with a hoof and sniffled, “It’s fine, I holed up in Ponyville and met some great friends… also it’s pretty entertaining watch somepony else run after all that craziness. Oh look; that must be the camp,” she said, pointing a hoof to a makeshift campsite, we must have talked the distance away. Geoff was scribbling something on a notepad while his red and blue armored pet feasted on a massive salmon that looked so good but I blame that on the cat body.
“Ah good, you two managed to get here on time. I just finished the order for the supplies we’ll need,” he held up a small leaf of paper with an intricate circle in each of the corners.
“Holy shit, Amazon actually makes deliveries out here,” I asked jokingly.
“No but my troupe does, I’ll need to carve or etch a beacon rune-circle before I send this off but since we’re close enough to Saddle Arabia the transfer shouldn’t take that long. They should have everything together in a while if not sooner,” He set took a second to scribble a circle with a strange marge in the center on the back of the card then tossed it into the fire, “Et mittes eas ad centrum.” The fire flared brilliant green as the paper was consumed.
“Great… Tell me something Geoff, were you dropped as an egg, cub, or whatever a child griffon is?”
“I was never dropped…”
“Right… I’m just going to ignore what just happened and hope that you actually have a plan.”
“I do have a plan,” Geoff walked over and started scribbling in the sand a crude map of the town, “Don’t you find it offputting that the town is circular? A trading bazaar in the center while residential areas and watering holes encase it?”
“Maybe but I’m not an architect, who am I to judge how they design a town?”
“Would you be able to judge it if I told you it was in fact a Geometric spell-circle?”
I perked up at the mention of spell-circle, “What like Fullmetal Alchemist? Oh man, I loved that show when it came on.” Bonbon and Geoff just gave me confused looks, “Ignore the rambling cat, so spell-circle as in witchcraft or alchemy?”
“It’s more of a Geometric Rune-circles; if the spell-work at the town’s entrance is anything to go on I’d say that place is an energy-well,” he sighed when we didn’t show signs of knowing what that was, “Someone is using that town to absorb the life energy of anything in the town and storing it somewhere. Like I said before; my higher-ups have developed techniques for dealing with this kind of thing; enchanted silver pins in the spell’s focal points, there’s usually five or six depending on how experienced the circle caster was.”
“Right…”
There was a flare of green fire and a leaf of paper was spit out where Geoff could catch it, “Ah good, they have a fresh baker’s dozen ready for translocation. One second,” he apologized while nodding and went off a way to draw yet another set of circles in the sand. He pricked his claw letting a drop of blood fall in the circle before chanting some words, there was a flash of white light with the crack of thunder and a black case stood in the circle. Swinging the case onto his back he brought it back over to us, “Sorry about that, as I was saying; we jam a pin into each of the focal points then cause them to resonate which should unravel the circle and release any of the living that may remain inside.”
“What about the ghouls and ghosts,” I asked, remember the little filly and the ghoul-dog.
“Ah yes… that… Well that’s where you come in Felix; you’ll be rounding them up with Pierce while Miss Bonbon and I will be hammering-“
“You want me to be bait,” I yowled, fur standing on end.
“Distraction but I see your confusion, we need you to cause as much destruction and confusion as possible so that when we start hammering the pins in they’ll be too busy to feast on our innards like trail mix.”
“Uh… and why is Miss Bonbon coming with you,” Bonbon asked as she looked him in his tiny eyes.
“I’ll have need of your strength to break through the hard soil,” he explained calmly.
"So what happens when you break the circle will the ghouls turn to dust and that’ll be that? Fanfare plays as the town explodes," I asked idly while he opened the case to show silver rods that glowed with etched symbols, each of which was five feet long with a pointed end. He pulled out what looked like a rather large tuning fork, "What's that for?"
"The pins need to vibrate at the same tone for the enchantments to activate. Once the pins are in place they will need to struck one at a time then the circle circle should shatter like glass and effectively freeing the living inside," Geoff explained as he looked them over with what must have been a trained eye, "On another note I think it would be best to prepare some additional protection."
"That's all well and good, Geoff," Bonbon said with a huff, "If you know how to stop this then do you have a way to keep them from recognizing me?" He simply hummed while scratching something in the sand then wiping it away, he did this several times so we just turned away to watch the river flow past and listening to the ripping of salmon flesh.
***Godric’s POV***
It had been a long three days since we had left the Diamond Dogs lair. Three long days of trekking through the canyon until we found a way out, three days of my companions having to survive on the meager food rations they had been able to scour from the stocks they had found. Though, they would not want for food should we find a town, as they had managed to gather three wagons worth of jewels and gold, items that they had been forced to mine. We had faced a monster reminiscent of a graboid, a giant worm-like creature with tentacles in it’s mouth that grabbed at us and burrowed under the ground.
Sadly, we lost Grey Back, the minotaur, to the monster. It had attacked him first, and had managed to devour him before I had a chance to drive it off. The others of the group mourned his loss heavily, as he had been the leader of the former slaves and had been the one to keep their spirits up in the dark times. Fortunately, he was the only one we lost in our trekk.
“Are we there yet?” Neapolitan asked from her position on my back. She had taken to laying across my back to conserve energy. She was light, and the burden was thus nothing to complain about, but she tended to do her best to annoy me by constantly asking if we were ‘there yet.’ Apparently, it didn’t matter which world you were in, the young will always ask that question during a long trip. Mimi, the changeling, also was upon my back, but she tended to stay there most of the time and never bothered me. Aside from chattering in her strange language every now and then.
“I am afraid we are still nowhere of note, though, you are always welcome to get off.” I reply as calmly as I can, which is pretty calm. It helps that the sun is shining brightly today, even as it begins to set. Thanks to Bastets blessing, whenever I am in direct sunlight I feel completely content, unless an outside factor draws my ire or pleasure. It is almost as though I am always in that period just after eating a great meal or a good night's rest, satisfied and full of energy, ready for anything.
“What, and miss getting to ride aback the great ‘Chosen of Bastet’? Fat chance!” Neapolitan shot back with a laugh.
I groaned at the mention of the title that had been bestowed on me by the self defined ‘high priest of Bastet’. I am not sure exactly how it had begun, but slowly the group had wheedled out any and all information I had on the goddess responsible for my presence here. Apparently the unicorn I had spoken to, a talented beekeeper named Honey Bee, had told everyone else that I was sent by a goddess to free them. Due to the fact that I was only able to save them due to her interference, they felt honour bound to repay said goddess by following her devotedly. And so the First Church of Bastet was founded around what little I knew of the goddess. It started with only a small few, but it very rapidly engulfed the others.
Hell, they even got me to say a prayer (that they made up) as a representative of Bastet, for Grey Back instead of their traditional one. I only knew they did a substitute thanks to Neapolitan, who complained about it. She was still a firm believer in the church of the sun.
Personally, I wasn’t a fan of the church they had so hastily put together. Not only because it centered on Bastet, who I was having mixed feelings about, but because it stank of desperation. I know the had a rough time, and many felt betrayed by this ‘Celestia’ for not coming to save them, but this, this was just sad. They were singing the praise of a goddess they knew next to nothing about, and pledging their lives to her, and they didn’t know if she would turn around and demand sacrifice. I know that in dark times people will turn to religions, but this was a bit too far. Still, they were free to do as they choose and I will not stop them.
“Please, do not bring that title up.” I groaned quietly, not wishing to offend one of the new ‘bastetits’ around me. “You know how uncomfortable it makes me, and . . . wait, what’s that?” We had just crested a hill, and there before me was something I had yet to see in all my time in the this wasteland.
“It looks like. . .” Neapolitan began, only to be cut off by a gleeful shout from one of the others nearby.
“A town!” With energy I didn’t know the weary group possessed, they charged past me and towards the town, screaming and shouting in joy at the first sign of civilization they had seen in who knows when.
Neapolitan let out an indigent ‘humph’ before sliding off my back, and began to lightly trot towards the town. “I know they’re fuckin excited, but that’s no reason to cut me off! Oh well, let's go and make sure those idiots don’t get us banned from the place by trying to convert everypony to their stupid ass religion.”
Mimi chattered in a chiding manner from my back. I had begun to get a vague sense of what she was saying after listening to her for three days, but this completely went over my head.
“Apologies, Mimi, I didn’t understand you this time.” I apologized, before walking briskly after the others. Hopefully, someone in this town would have a map, I was growing tired of not knowing where I was or where I was going. As we began to get closer to the town, Mimi grew restless and started shifting uneasily on my back, chittering and chattering constantly in a hushed manner.
Mimi only acted more agitated the closer we got to the town, and that put me on edge. Mimi, was normally calm and composed, not overly excitable and not scared easily. She had only quivered at the sight of the monster worm instead of the outright panic of the others, so what was it about this strange town that had her so nervous?
Feeling a little on edge, I slowly made my way towards the entrance of the town with the rest of my group, to find a small group of ponies and griffons waiting for us.
“Welcome to Granite Junction!” A stallion said with a smile.
I give a small smile as I approach the greeter, Mimi burrowing herself in my mane as I entered the town, hissing softly. “A fair welcome indeed, kind sir. I am Godric. And these,” I gesture towards the others, “Are my friends.” I refused to address them as ‘bastetits’ in front of strangers. I should really think of a better name for the group, that name just sounded dirty. “We are weary from our travels, and wish to rest in your town for a short while.”
The ponies grin widened, and he made as though to reply, but was cut off as a pair of diamond dogs came barreling around a corner, screaming bloody murder and being chased by a black cat.
***Felix’s POV***
“Alright then,” Geoff said as he finished up a necklace with two circles hanging from it, each circle held an intricately designed circle with a symbol that looked like someone praying, “an illusion circle for fur and mane color and one for your voice. These are always easier than using dyes and better to hide from prying eyes”
“Thanks,” Bonbon said hesitating a moment before she placed the necklace over her head and the change was immediate; her fur flared white while her mane turned purple and pink. She gave a squeak in her new voice, “Sweet Celestia, I look like Rarity’s little sister... and I sound like her!”
Geoff took one of the circles in his claw and pointed to a specific portion of the circle, “This part right here is where it gets the colors from, it scans your memory for a template; either someone who wouldn’t be recognized easily or someone who you saw at one point but never really paid attention to.” He began loading the case with the pins and fork onto his back, “Here’s the plan; I’ll be flying myself and Miss Bonbon when Felix and Pierce cause enough damage to draw the ghouls and others under the spells to deal with them. While they do that we’ll locate the focal points. Are you two okay with this?”
Bonbon nodded and gained a serious looking face, similar to when she hunted me down back in Ponyville and I just gave a grim grin, “I don’t like being used as bait… I just hope I don’t run into that minotaur again, I couldn’t burn him last time.”
"Here's hoping," He gave a small laugh, "It's almost sunset, we best get into our positions. Would you like to sit on my back or have me fly by and pick you up in my claws?"
"I don't mind sitting on your back, but doesn’t that bother you?"
"Of course not, Pierce spends all his time there," his small eyes twinkled at the mention of his pet. "Hope aboard Miss Bonbon." He laid down low enough for Bonbon to get on his back and held onto the case with her forehooves. "Pierce," the little monster snarled to let him know he was listening, "Remember what I said, don't eat our new companions... feel free to eat the ghouls though." Pierce gave a happy couple of clicks as he jumped in place and Geoff took to the skies with a running start and shouted to me, "Don't forget to give us the signal to start!"
"What's the signal," I shout to him but their already small dots in the sky, I turn to the little monster and jokingly ask him, "Do you know what the signal is?"
"No, but a good explosion or pained screams are always a good one to use," He hissed a gravelly voice that was higher pitched than Geoff’s but still down there.
"Holy shit! You can talk," I shouted in surprise and it just laughed then took off for the front of the town, "Get back here! We're suppose to work together on this!"
"That's not what I heard! He just said not to eat you!"
As I chased him through the town there were guttural roars and howls of the ghouls that escaped me before calling for back up, we soon had Diamond Dogs and Griffons tailing us with spears and bows. Pierce launched himself up the side of a wall to leap at one of the griffons and speared his front claw into the base of its neck causing them to fall without a cry.
"Alright pooches," I hissed at the dogs who chose to chase me, "Who wants to be the first Equestrian hot dog?"
"Foolish cat, this not Equestria, this-"
I gave a grim grin as the dog went up in flames screaming, effectively cutting off what he was going to say. He chased after his still living brethren who were running away while screaming about a demon. I chased after them towards the town's entrance, firing blue bolts at them while laughing crazily, "Stop, drop, and roll! Stop, drop, and roll!"
The two living dogs –the ghoul had succumbed to the fire on the way- ran around a corner and I heard them begging for help from someone. “Oh god, I hope it’s not that minotaur, I don’t want to deal with that guy,” I groan to myself as I turned a corner and found the three dogs, Mauve the tour guide, a ton of different races and the biggest gold lion I have ever seen, “Oh my- fuck, they have a six feet tall lion,” I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping any of my companions had heard me. I turned tail and made a mad dash while the dogs hooted and hollered obscenities at me, “I draw the line at human-sized lions! That’s even worse than that fucking minotaur and that fucker was immune to fire! I change my mind universe; I would rather fight that minotaur!”
“That can be arranged," a familiar voice of the minotaur said as a spiky crystal ball hit me, sending my back towards the giant lion. "Ignis."
I shouted to the sky as I landed, "I was joking!"
***Third Person POV***
[youtube=dd6Sd9EcSN4&feature=youtu.be]
(AN: A little epic music for the fight scene, feel free to stop it at 1:30.)
The dust settled as the large grey minotaur stepped out swinging his flaming ball and chain which he launched but hit one of the dogs behind Felix by mistake, "What the hell?! Fire's my thing, get your own thing asshole,” Felix yelled as his hackles rose in anger and his flames cloaked his entire body instead of just the tips of his tail, “Enjoying the loss of your arm? Good because I’m missing the life your goons took!”
“Your life would have been welcomed by my master,” the dark grey minotaur pulled back on the chain, using the force to make it spin again. “You should have joined us, you’re soaked in dark magic so you will fit right in. Abandon that second-rate goddess, Hecate, and help us; we could use someone with your abilities.”
“Not that I’m not flattered but you kind of have me at odds, I say no and your crew tears me a new asshole. I say yes then I go back on a deal with said goddess and that’s just not my style.”
The minotaur just laughed as he looked at the giant lion that had apparently been following the conversation, “Fine then, how about you? Will you abandon your goddess and join us?”
Felix looked confused for a moment, “You- he- you mean the giant ass lion isn’t part of your crew? Well this just got easier, don’t think I could have taken the two of you.”
Ignoring the cats comment for the moment, Godric shook his head, “I am sorry to say that I will have to deny your most . . . generous offer. I may have my grievances with Bastet, but I made a deal with her and I am not one to go back on my word.”
Felix perked his ears up with the lion’s statement, “Hate to interrupt your wheeling and dealing but-,” The fire coating his fur traveled to his tails and shot the large fireball at a building that burst into flame after a short pause, “Looks like you might want to deal with that. I don’t think your ‘master’ would like having their town being burnt to hell and back.”
I’m glad I asked Neapolitan and the others to wait outside of the town now. Godric thought with a grimace as he watched the building go up like a stack of old kindling. With a frown on his face, Godric turned from the burning building and swiped his paw at the two-tailed cat that had started the fire. Random acts of pyromatic destruction was not something he could ignore. Unfortunately, the cat managed to quickly jump over his paw, and sent him a dirty look.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Felix gave a quiet hiss.
The lion growled, “I do not care for random acts of destruction. If your quarrel is with the minotaur, aim for him. I am sure that the building has done you no wrong.”
“It wasn’t random,” giving a look to the minotaur to see if it had heard them, “I’m pulling bait duty, I need all the ghouls in the town on me… for reasons.”
Godric just looked confused, “Ghouls?”
“You know… undead? zombies?”
“I know what ghouls are, I just don’t know what they have to do with the current situation and you attacking random buildings!”
“Oh! You didn’t see the ghoul-dog… oh right, he burned before he got to you… Well long story short, this is a demonic town that absorbs the life energy of the residents.”
The minotaur gave a disgruntled sigh, interrupting Godrics’ response, and looked in Godric’s and Felix’s direction, “Well that was something… I think we might have gotten off on the wrong hoof; let’s exchange names ...That is typically what you humans do in this situation is it not?” The minotaur gave a mock bow, “I am Ashfur, Guardian of Granite Junction.”
The massive lion returned the bow, though with a touch more sincerity, “I am Godric, Champion of Bastet. A pleasure to meet you, Ashfur.”
Felix stood stock still with his muscles flexed, “Felix Azuretails… Receiver of Celestia’s ban-hoof.” He swished his tails in a circular motion, creating seven balls of floating fire and fired two at Ashfur while getting some distance, “Let’s see if you’ve kept that fire immunity I hate!”
Seeing that the cat known as Felix was the aggravator here, the minotaur at least tried to talk things out,Godric decided it would be best to subdue him so he could figure out what the hell was going on. All the talk of zombies was crazy! Or was it? Godric shook his head as he pounced at the cat, he would sort this all out when he had caught that cat.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up there thundercat. If anyone should be attacked it’s this guy,” Felix jumped out from under the oncoming lion as he pointed a tail at Ashfur, “He’s keeping innocent people and souls trapped here!”
“And what proof do you have to this claim? All I have seen is a city guardian defend his home from a pyromaniac telling tales of the undead. So what reason do I have to believe you, Azuretails?” Godric asked as he darted after the cat, iddly noticing that Ashfur had just picked himself from the ground where he had most likely dived out of the fire's path. Unfortunately, his dodging had caused yet another building to ignite.
“ Why would the city need a guardian when the town literally locks you in the town after dawn? How do you think ass-fur lost his hand; I dragged him past the town border and it got cut off while I was trying to save my companion.” Felix’s eyes glowed as a section of the cobblestone was ripped up then shattered as it blocked a flaming flail from Ashfur.
Godric turned to the minotaur to see if he was alright, but stopped dead at the sight of the minotaur. A good chunk of his side, the side that he had been unable to see earlier, was missing. However, that wouldn’t be the case for long as the wounded area was slowly patching itself up, leaking a black sludge as it did. Now, he didn’t know if the whole ‘locked in after dawn’ thing was real, but he was now convinced something was definitely not right here. Possibly something zombie related.
“I suppose I owe you an apology.” Godric sighed. He had really hoped there was nothing wrong with this town, but Mimi’s nervousness and the fire slinging cat should have clued him in sooner. Now he was really glad that the others had left while he investigated.
“Terraemotus,” Ashfur chanted as he shot the flail-head at the pair.
“Apology accepted- oh shit, spikey thing,” Felix shouted as he dove to the side to avoid the attack which collides into the building behind them. On contact the ground quakes heavily and the building collapses as a large crack forms in the street, Felix looks around in a panic, “Hey, the hell are you doing?!”
“What do you think,” Ashfur gave a harsh laugh, “I’m shaking things up.”
Felix stood there for a moment, “”I’m going to light you on fire now… I don’t know when it’s going to stop.” The remaining five floating balls of fire meld together, expanding in size until it’s nearly three and a half feet across, then flinging it at Ashfur with a flick of his tail.
“I told you, that pathetic fire doesn’t,” he swiped his flail down on the incoming fireball, causing it to explode a few feet in front of him and setting fire to his surroundings, “do anything.”
“Then let us see if my claws fair better in harming you!” Godric roared as he pounced on the minotaur, face in a snarl and claws extended. The massive lion managed to land on the minotaur and knock him over, a tactic he had used to slay more than one Diamond Dog, but Ashfur was a veteran fighter and was able to kick him off, though not without gaining a series of large scratches across his body. With a growl Godric rolled across the ground, before righting himself and charging the minotaur once again. This time however, Ashfur was ready, and brought his mace down on the charging lions head. To his great surprise, the mace did little more than tilt the lions head downwards from the force. Godric, now close enough, swiped at the minotaurs hooves, managing to cleanly slice one off, before being pushed away by the raging guardian.
“Shit what’s this guy made of…” Felix stole a few glances around, his eyes glowing as he lifted a gas lamp out of the ground and crumpled it into a crude spear shape. It started to spin for a while he also picked up a support and several large chunks of rubble from the recently destroyed building. The makeshift spear shot through the air towards the fighting pair, “Dodge!”
Godric watched as the spinning spear launched at the minotaur and couldn't help but shout, “Special beam cannon!” Before leaping away from Ashfur, leaving the minotaur confused for a moment, before the spinning spear drilled through his chest, and continued on it’s way into a building.
Which then exploded . . .as you do.
Ashfur fell to his knee while grasping at the hole in his chest, he tried standing as his black blood pools on the ground when Felix slams the support on top of Ashfur’s head and into the ground, “I am getting sick of this crap, don’t even stand up.”
“You won’t win, you might get this town but not the rest,” Ashfur said, coughing heavily as he stood once more.
“Stay. The. Fuck. Down,” Felix shouted, each word punctuated with a chucks of rubble to the back of his head.
Godric watched as the hailstorm of rocks and pebbles and building chunks rained down on the undead minotaur, and sighed. He may have been a evil undead bastard, but this seemed to be a bit much. So with a single swipe of his claws, Godric decapitated Ashfur, finally ending the guardians’ un-life. Or so he hoped.
“Christ on a bike, it’s finally over.” Felix sat down hard causing a little dust to kick up, “Thanks for the help, didn’t know what I would have done if that hole healed.”
“You would have found a way. You seem the resourceful type.” Godric calmly stalked towards Felix, before looking down on the smaller feline with a light glare, “Now, would you kindly tell me what in the name of all that is holy is going on here?”
***With Neapolitan***
Neapolitan stared at the town with slight worry in her eyes. From their position on a nearby hill, the entire group had a great view of the town. The town had caught fire the minute they had left the town, and it felt like a mother fucking earthquake had gone off not long ago.It was like a war zone in that town, and Neapolitan was begining to worry. She knew Godric would be fine, but she wasn’t to sure how the rest of them would fare if what was happening in the town happened to spill out.
“Maybe we should move back a little, it looks like things are getting nasty in there. What do you think, Mimi?” Neapolitan asked the changeling, wincing as another fiery explosion rocked the town. The changeling failed to respond. “Mimi?” Neapolitan turned to her small changeling friend, only to find her gone. Glancing around, Neapolitan managed to spot the changeling flying frantically towards the town. “Shit.”
Without a second thought, Neapolitan raced after the changeling, cursing as she ran.
***With Geoff***
"Don't forget to give us the signal to start,” I shouted as I flew miss Bonbon high above the town by using the thermals. Sweet ancestors this mare is heavier than she looks.
“Quick question,” miss Bonbon asked as she gripped me tighter around the neck, “how are we supposed to find these ‘focal points’?”
“Normally they’re made with chalk but this one appears to be magically manifested so we’ll need to apply this gel to our eyelids in order to actually see it,” I pulled a my small jar of Conspectu gel and applied a dab over one eye and passed it to her, “Only one eye, coating both causes sensory overload.” I glanced down and viewed the ambient magic of the area and gawked at the complexity, “This might be a problem… ancestors I hope this isn’t a problem.” One, two, three, four, five, six… “Oh no, it is.”
“It is? What’s the matter,” miss Bonbon asked as she finished applying the gel.
“There’s seven Points...”
“I take it that that’s a problem,” miss Bonbon asked with a tinge of worry in her voice.
“If by problem you mean I’ve never seen a circle with seven points before and thought a six point circle was the strongest that was possible and I have no idea if my normal procedure will work then yes, it’s a problem.”
“Well what do we do? Felix can’t pull them forever.”
“Right… let’s pin them first then figure out a way to dispel it. We just need to wait for the signal.”
“Alright, what’s the signal we should be looking for?”
“Uh…”
“You didn’t tell him what signal to use did you?”
“Well pluck,” I muttered while mentally berating myself I turned into a spiraling descent, “Hey do see that?
She looked down to where I was pointing, “You mean the glowing lion? Kind of hard not to- wait what’s with all the colors?”
There was a flash and one of the buildings burst into familiar blue flames, “Looks like he made his own signal, let’s go.”
Folding my wings I took us into a dive to the closest focal point, “Time to get to work.”
“Is it just me or is this place really quiet for a place where things are on fire,” Bonbon asked as she hopped down with the case of Purification Pins.
“I doubt the undead really care about the town, though the lack of ghouls is unsettling. I just hope Felix isn’t being overwhelmed,” I popped the latch and the case swung open, choosing one of the pins out I set it in the focal point, “I’ll hold it, you hammer it?”
“Got it,” miss Bonbon tensed for a moment before launching herself into the air then with one kick she caused it to sink into the hard soil.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing,” a shrill male voice called out behind us and I cursed under my breathe.
I turned around and found myself face to face with a living griffon that had a fluffy blue aura, “Why nothing good griffon, simply on… a date, yes a date.”
“What,” miss Bonbon hissed at me.
“Just play along, he’s living. We just need to knock him out.”
“Hmm,” she gave a grunt of affirmation.
“No one is allowed-” the griffon started saying when Bonbon springboarded herself from the pin and made a mad dash to the griffon and bucked him into a nearby building.
“There, he’s handled,” she shook a stray bit of mane out of her face as she walked back to the case and punched me in the shoulder, “If we’re caught again don’t ever say we’re a couple. Let’s get the rest of these things in and get this crap over with.” I simply nodded silently as I put the case on my back and followed miss Bonbon to the next point.
***With Neapolitan and Mimi***
“This place is a fuckin maze!” Neapolitan screamed in frustration as the duo came face to face with yet another dead end. Mimi, having been on edge since entering the town, was hiding behind her long moss-like green mane, and let out a short bit of unhappy chatter.
“Quiet you.” Neapolitan snapped at the changeling, “If you had just stayed back with the others, we wouldn’t be stuck in this creepy ass town!” The two backtracked and continued down the road. “And where the hell is everypony? I mean come on, we should have run into somepony by now! Fuck, where’s Godric when you need him?” Neapolitan let out a huff, “And what the fuck’s up with this place anyway? From back on the hill you’d think this place was ready to be burnt to ash, and the whole time we’ve been here we haven't seen so much as a bushfire!”
Mimi, looking around her, concentrating on the scents that only a changeling could detect, before chattering excitedly and poking Neapolitan in the side, before rushing down a side alley.
Neapolitan just let out a sigh and raced after the changeling through the dizzying maze of buildings. “Damn changeling. She’s lucky she’s cute.”
“Miss Bonbon, please, I don’t know what I’ve don’t to upset you but it wasn’t intentional,” a male voice called out from further down the alley.
“It’s nothing, just drop it Geoff,” a high-pitch little filly’s voice answered him.
Mimi slowed to a walk upon hearing the two, allowing Neapolitan to catch up. “You really need tostop doing that, Mimi.” Neapolitan glared at the changeling, “I mean, I swear to Celestia that if you don’t I am going to make it so that you won't be able to ride on Godrics’ back for a month! Do you understand me!” Mimi hastily nodded, before chattering and pointing at the corner that the voices had come from, bringing it to Neapolitans attention. “What? What’s so special about that corner?” Walking towards the corner, Neapolitan peaked her head around, and accidentally bashed her head into a slightly shorter pony.
“Oww,” the white pony moaned as she held a hoof to her head, she looked up and blinked several times, “Changeling!”
“Miss Bonbon, wait,” the male’s voice shouted as Bonbon tried to charge past Neapolitan at Mimi.
“Oh, fuck no!” Neapolitan slammed into the other white pony, a scowl on her face. “No one is allowed to hurt Mimi! Godric left me in charge of her and I am not going to let anything happen to her!” Neapolitan slammed a hoof on the ground in emphasis. “Also, she happens to be a friend.” Neapolitan waved her hoof a little, “Well, friend of a friend. Point is I’m not letting you hit her.” Mimi chattered a little and tilted her head, not even a bit worried about the pony struggling against Neapolitan. “You’re welcome, I guess.”
As the pony was sent sprawling to the ground an odd looking griffon poked his long neck around the corner, “Miss Bonbon, you don’t have to attack everything you see- Oh, hello there.”
“Geoff, don’t just stand there like pigeon doo on Discord’s nose, get them!”
“Why? They have done no harm,” his beady eyes settled on Mimi and Neapolitan for a moment before turning back to the fallen pony who was getting to her hooves, “They’re not even under the town’s spell. Merely a misunderstanding, a chance encounter.” He walked up to the pony and held her tail to the ground, “Sorry for my companion, I’m Geoff Plaguewing and this is Miss Bonbon.”
“Idiot, don’t give our names to a changeling!”
“Hey, shithead, she has a name you know!” Neapolitan growled out.
“Oh do tell,” Geoff interrupt the rude pony’s remark, “I wasn’t aware of any changelings that speak Equestrian.”
“She don’t,” Neapolitan let out a grunt as she pushed the struggling pony back down to the ground, “But Godric gave her one, and she seems to like it.” Mimi let out a series of clicks in confirmation. “I’m Neapolitan and that's Mimi. Remember that.” She addressed the last bit towards the struggling pony.
“I don’t trust a changeling… especially one that looks hungry, how are you feeding it,” the struggling pony asked as she rolled over a little and shoved Neapolitan’s hoof away. She gave a huff and muttered something about a cat and a past mistake and she sat down.
“She,” Neapolitan stressed the word, “Has been feeding off of Godric, who is more than happy to let her do so. Something about how he has energy to burn thanks to being able to exist off of sunlight or some shit like that. I don’t know, but the point is the big guy has been taking care of her and he would be very unhappy to find out you tried to hurt her.”
“Well I’m glad to hear that,” Geoff gave a slight nod of his head, “This has been a wonderful encounter but sadly we must go, we have a job to do.”
“Ya,” Neapolitan began, slowly backing up towards Mimi, being careful to keep an eye on Bonbon, “Thanks for the meet and greet but we have to find Godric and get the hell out of here. Knowing the damn lion, he’s probably right in the middle of whatever shit’s going on here.”
“A lion you say,” Geoff and Bonbon shared a glance.
“Yeah, big guy, ‘bout six hooves tall, wide as two ponies, fancy necklace and speaks all fancy. You seen him?”
“That I did,” he pointed a claw towards the center of town, “When we were flying in we spotted a glowing lion and our companion who’s running decoy. Speaking of which, you haven’t happen to have seen a red and blue Lurker running around?”
“The fucks a lurker?” Neapolitan asked in utter bafflement. Mimi let out a confused clicking sound.
“It appears not, you’d know it when you saw it, oh well. I’m sure Pierce is fine.” Geoff picked Bonbon up and tossed her on his back, “Just in case you want to attack more passersby.” As Geoff walked off Bonbon was yelling profanities.
“Think we should follow them?” Neapolitan asked Mimi. “We’re lost as hell and at least they seem to know where they’re going.”
Mimi seemed to consider this for a moment, she was not a fan of the pony in disguise that had threatened her, but it was possible that following the two would get them somewhere that wasn't a dead end. Mimi nodded, letting out a small string of chirps and chatter.
“Alrighty then.” The two took off after the griffon and his annoying friend.
They followed the two quite a ways until they reached the edge of town, Geoff rolled Bonbon off his back and set the case he was carrying down, “Miss Bonbon, you can’t keep giving me the silent treatment. You know their response was completely justified and haven’t you learned your lesson with Felix?”
“What?! How the buck do you know about that,” the annoying one shouted, her face red.
“Felix has loose lips when he’s drunk,” Geoff pulled a large metal rod from the case, “Now come on, this is the last one. I think I’ve come up with a way to activate it but nothing definitive.”
“Who the hell is Felix?” Neapolitan asked as she and Mimi trotted up to the two. “Some poor smuck you beat up ‘cause he looked different? Is that a habit of yours?”
Mimi let out a happy chirp and waved at Geoff.
“Kinda,” the annoying one scraped a hoof in the dirt before hopping up on a wall, “Besides it’s none of your business.”
“Felix is this little and not so little cat with two tails that miss Bonbon captured and ended up getting her banished with him… roundabouts here.”
“Geoff! They don’t need to know that!”
“So, you fucked up.” Neapolitan summarised pointing a hoof at Bonbon, before turning towards Geoff. “So whats up with the stake? You guy’s hunting vamponies or something?”
“No I was doing my job,” Bonbon said as she jumped off, landing on the metal spike and sinking it into the ground.
“Sadly no vampires, haven’t hunted one of those in years. This is a ghoul-town,” Geoff said almost too happily, “or it won’t be here in a little bit.”
“Ghoultown?” Neapolitan asked in a dry voice.
“Ghoultown,” Geoff said matter-of-factly.
“Ghoultown. Of course. The first sign of civilization in days and it’s infected with the fucking undead. That, or you guy’s are bat shit crazy.” Neapolitan sighed, “But considering the explosions and the fact Godric hasn’t come back after chasing that pyromaniac from the gate, I’m going to go ahead and believe that you guys are sane. Or at least telling the truth.”
“Little of column A and a little from column B.”
“Pyromaniac? That’s probably our decoy and don’t worry, the ghoul and ghost problem will be solved. ...As soon as I test a theory,” Geoff said as he shook the rod to make sure it’s in there properly.
Mimi walked up to the metal stake and tapped it with her hoof, before suddenly letting out a screech of fear.The little changeling ran away from the stake and hid behind Neapolitan, curling up into a little changeling ball of black and green.
“Well that was… odd.”
Neapolitan rolled her eye’s before turning around and facing Mimi, “What’s wrong with you? You know you can’t touch silver! Don’t you remember what happened when we were loading the wagons back in that hell hole?” Mimi looked up with tear filled eyes and let out a mournful chater. “I don’t care how shiny it is, you can’t touch silver!” Turning back to the other two, Neapolitan let out a sigh. “Forgive my friend, she’s an idiot.”
Geoff clasped the case shut and strolled over and patted the tiny changeling ball, “I wasn’t aware changelings were affected by silver, how about I make it up to you? Would you like to find your friend?”
Mimi looked up with big watery eyes and nodded, letting out a weak chatter.
Bonbon picked the case up while Geoff gave a small smile, his beady eyes twinkling, “You have the case Miss Bonbon? Good, allons y.”
***Third Person POV***
The fantastic four arrived at the town’s trading center to find their friends talking to each other. Felix was laughing as he and Godric sat some ways away from a decapitated minotaur, “And that’s why I fucking hated that minotaur!”
“Felix,” Geoff called out as he waved a talon, “Our side of the plan is complete… just one hitch; it’s a seven point circle and normal means won’t work.”
Mimi raced past the griffon towards Godric, letting out a rapid series of clicks as she raced towards her friend. Neapolitan calmly trotted after her, though she bore a irritated look upon her face.
Godric frowned as his friends approached, “Nea, Mimi? What are the two of you doing here? I believe I requested the two of you to remain with the others as I investigated the town.”
“That was the plan, until somepony,” She glared at Mimi, who had flown to her usual perch, muzzling the lion's mane, “decided to wander off into this shit hole.”
Godric frowned a little, but sighed. “That is unfortunate, but I am glad to see the two of you unharmed. This place is very dangerous, we will leave immediately.”
“I’m afraid we can let you go,” Geoff stated, “You see, this town is under the influence of a dark spell circle that grants the residents eternal life by siphoning off energy from newcomers-.”
“Skip the bull and get to the part where we do something.” Neapolitan cut the griffon off.
“Right, sorry. We need you two to roar, as loudly as possible. If you both roar at the same time they should strike the rods, activating them simultaneously and therefore breaking the spell,” Geoff said, ecstatically, If this worked it could be a new branch of magic or a fusion of two types.
“So you want to use the sonic vibrations to vibrate your rods, Felix informed me of them, in hopes that this will be a sufficient substitution of the traditional method and break the foul spell that affects this place?” Godric asked the smaller creature.
“Exactly, isn’t that fascinating?!”
“It sounds like you came up with the idea on the spot once you realised that the gear you brought might not be sufficient to do the job required. Basically, you are winging it, and hoping it will work.” Godric gave Geoff a flat look.
Geoff gave a polite cough, “True, it’s just a theory but it’s all we have. Will you help us?”
Godric gave Geoff a long look before sighing, “Very well. I shall aid you in this endeavor, if only to save me and mine. And to rid the world of this horrid place.”
Neapolitan looked from Godric to Geoff, “So you mean all that scientific bull crap I had to listen to while looking for you guys on how he planned to finish this place was all a bunch of bull shit?” At Godrics nod, Neapolitan threw her hooves in the air, “Un-fuckin-believable!” The ice cream named pony stomped away, muttering about smart ass griffons.
Godric looked over at Felix, “Do you believe that you shall be able to match my roar?”
Felix stood, gave a shake, “Can you?” A couple seconds later a large black version of Felix stood in his place, “I hate getting this big, it makes me hungry. Lezdodis.”
Godric took a step forward, and smirked. Felix, stepped forward to match him, the two stood back to back and breathed deeply. And then as one they roared. It was more than a simple noise that left the maws of the two felines, it was the release of their desire, their power, their will given a focus and let loose. A veritable wall of sound was released as the two roared, shaking the foundations of the homes and tossing about the remaining ghouls. Spirits, once full of despair, felt hope once more. And then it reached the stakes.
The sound vibrated the seven stakes at exactly the same time, working perfectly, and began to tear at the spell circle. The ground began to hum and the air shimmered, startling any nearby wildlife, the groups both inside and outside the town looked to the sky as seven colored beams soared into the sky. The beams collided in the air, turning into a brilliant rainbow that soon turned to the town, once it collided with the town. White light flared throughout the town, wiping the dark magic from the face of Equis, when it cleared there were ponies, griffins, diamond dogs and all manner of races coming from their homes looking around in awe.
Felix shrunk down and plopped on the ground, “Well… guess it worked. Go team.”
Godric looked about at the gathered townsfolk, free at last and smiled, “I suppose it did. Are you faring any better, Mimi?” The changeling in question popped out of Godrics’ mane with a wide smile as it jumped to the ground, practically bathing in the positive vibe the town now held.
Neapolitan walked back towards the group, “I guess Geoff wasn’t completely full of shit then.”
“I have my moments!”
Felix pushed himself up, “So what now?”
Just then a large group of beings rushed into the trading center, cheering and laughing, celebrating their freedom. Another cheer came from the southern gate as the freed slaves Godric had been traveling with came in, singing praises to their goddess, and going on and on about the miracle they had just witnessed. And with both groups celebrating the group of six knew exactly what they had to do. Join the festivities.
“This is goodbye, my friends.” Godric stood tall before Felix, Bonbon and Geoff. Mimi and Neapolitan sat upon his back, looking down upon the friends-er-acquaintances they had made within the formerly cursed town. “Though I hope it is not goodbye forever.”
“Of course not, just look for the things on fire or are exploding,” Felix said laughing, “Again, I’m sorry for draggin’ you guys into this.”
“Do not be sorry, Felix. If not for you and Geoff here, me and mine may very well have been trapped in this town indefinitely. Though, I do hope the next we meet it is not under such dire circumstances.” Godric let out a laugh, ”Besides, we humans must stick together.” Godric adopted a more serious tone, “If ever you need me, friend, look in the north. I shall be heading that way for a while.”
“Too true, I’ll be heading to Equestria to poke the bear, see if she can banish me to somewhere nicer.”
“No he’s not,” Bonbon said, shoving a hoof over his mouth. “I’ve had enough banishment thank you.”
“Don’t put your hooves over my mouth, you walk on those,” Felix shouted at her after removing said hoof. It soon became an argument about how dirt don’t hurt.
Neapolitan let out a sigh, “Are we done here? Those two idiots shouting is giving me a headache.” Mimi gave a sound of approval, lightly bopping Godric's head.
“I believe that is my cue to leave. Farewell, Felix Azuretails. May Bastet protect you.”
“And may you never need a spell done by Hecate.”
And with that Godric turned and began to walk away, continuing on his journey north.
***Felix's POV***
"Who knew there were other humans here... Good to know," I looked to the remaining villagers, "So what now? You going to stay here and make this place a real town?"
"Some of us will but the ones who were here the longest wish to just have peace so we're going back home," a tall stallion with a large pack of supplies.
"That's good I guess, do you know if there's anything around here that the ghouls protected?"
One of the diamond dogs stepped forward, "Ash had us seal hole to cavern, smelled weird."
"Weird?"
"Smelled of mom... but not mom."
"Oookay, can you show me where this entrance was?" The diamond dog pointed a meaty finger at the fountain, "Thanks..." The dog nodded and the group headed off.
"Why are you interested in this," Bonbon asked, sipping from a cup.
"Just a hunch, from what Godric told me I have a feline that I'm supposed to find something here," As soon as I said the pun she cuffed me upside the head. "Things like this don't happen without a reason." I stepped up to the fountain, feeling my eyes tingle with magic, I grabbed it with my magic and lifted it out of the ground with loud grinding noises. I set it down then looked into the black hole, "Doesn't look that deep..."
With that I hopped down into the hole causing Bonbon to yell, "Felix!"
"I'm alright, it's a few feet deep... and leads down," I lit the area with my fire and started down the staircase, "I'll be back in a bit."
"Like Tartarus you are," Bonbon shouted from above, "Geoff I'm following the idiot, mind staying up here?"
"Of course."
"Great, be back in a bit then." She joined me shortly after as we continued down into the darkness.
We came out into an obsidian cavern that was absolutely enormous but there was very little there, "There's nothing here!"
"Wait, I think I see something," Bonbon ran towards the back wall, when I got closer I spotted an odd statue; a three-headed dog made of onyx.
"Well no wonder I didn't see it," I groaned, as soon as I got three feet from it torches I hadn't seen either burst to life and a light shot from the statue into me.
"Felix," I heard Bonbon yell and I was suddenly standing in front of the lady from the hospital.
"Greetings my champion or who I hope is my champion... I'm sure you have many quest-chin-chin-chin-ions," Her image became jumpy and skipped several more times. "I am Hecate, goddess of magic and the crossroads, I have chosen you to be my champion for a reason and one reason only. This world is ripe with magic users, I need you to-" She flickered and the edges of her form started to darken and the scene shifted to the town center at night.
There were seven forms bound and gagged around the hole I had entered from, Ashfur stepped forth to this towering snake, "Mistress, the sacrifices are ready and the points set. What are your commands?"
A woman's voice spoke from the snake, I looked closer and saw the upper body of a woman implanted on the snake. Her skin was covered in black scales except for her stomach and face, "I will sacrifice these pathetic bag of meat fool, then the great snake shall finally recognize me as worthy."
Great snake?
She raised a wavy sword above her head and started chanting, "Magna Anguis, septuplum ultio et septem conatur. Rogo autem vos mihi reliquam partem. Animadvertite, et dona." She then proceeded to chop the heads off every one of them, letting their blood flow into the hole as she laughed maniacally. With the spell complete the scene changed back to Hecate.
"With that I wish you luck, my child."
I opened my eyes to Bonbon shaking me, I stood up uneasily, "I... I saw the towns creation."
"What, Felix you just collapsed after that light hit you, what do you mean you saw the towns creation?"
"I..." there was a crack cutting me off, the statue had crumbled into powder and inside was a collar, grabbing it in my magic I brought it over to us, "That was a message from Hecate, the lady who brought me here, I just don't get why she would have shown me that horrible scene." I shuddered as I remembered the gurgling of the decapitated innocents, "Let's get out of here..."
"Right..."
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To those readers who are concerned as to why this is on hiatus, don't worry it'll be back... probably, if you want explanations check out my latest blog post.
Is this story dead?
7645866 I'd like to say no but... I'm going through some things out of my control. I do wish to continue this story but I make no promises.
7650014 damn, hope you pull through
Edited (April 03, 2017): Finally I hear you shouting to your computer screens. *Uses Crouch of the Fierce Tiger* I'm sorry, so sorry, so sorry~! The last year has been a real crap-fest in all honesty. This edit includes minor dialogue changes and spellcheck. I must still like this story since I laughed at two of my jokes while reworking it so that's something. I'm not going to promise anything but I'm working my way back to the latest chapter I never released so that's something.
Looking good my man..