14 - Dreams of a Warm Bed
It quickly became apparent that Gneech hadn't lied. He knew what paths to take, and how to set camps, and generally how to navigate the mountains while avoiding trouble. When they rested for the evening, Diamond spotted him fiddling around the campsite and approached curiously. "What are you doing?"
Gneech abandoned what he was doing to bow low before the alpha female. "Nothing important, your eminence. Gneech is preparing traps. If anything dares to interrupt your sleep, a nasty surprise, yes? Pull them upside-down with snares, then we poke them until they are dead. Maybe good lunch? Gneech is useful, yes?"
Diamond nodded. "I'll leave the eating of flesh to you, Gneech, but keep up the good work." She turned away to head back towards the fire. "That's exactly the kind of forward-thinking I like to see in our employees."
Silver Spoon tilted her head at the exchange. "You sound just like your dad."
Diamond felt twin surges of pride and fury suddenly explode through her. "Of course! I'm every bit the business-pony he is."
Silver bobbed her head in agreement. "You really are." She pulled out the book of facts about Luminace and settled to read through it. "Do you think we'll be able to set up shop in the capital?"
Diamond waved a hoof. "It won't be easy, or fast, but nothing worth doing is either of those." She smiled confidently. "But we will do it. Just stick with me, Silver Spoon, and we'll have the city eating from our hooves."
The book had a lot more information than just facts on Luminace. It was apparently some kind of primer on Everglow gods. Silver Spoon had to work to read through the goblin defacement, but she was quite persistent, and every time she learned a few new things about the greater cosmology that she had become part of. Before retiring to bed, she said her thanks to Luminace for giving her such a useful tome, and for their safe journey through another day. She didn't receive any direct reply, but they were making it, and that was good enough.
One morning they were awoken to the loud twang of Gneech's snare going off. A wolf dangled, snarling and struggling, but it couldn't quite bend itself enough to get its teeth at the rope while hanging upside down. Gneech capered and cheered. "Ah ha! Gneech's trap work good. Foolish wolf, trying to sneak in kobold warren!" He looked to Silver Spoon and pointed to her bow. "Kill it!"
Silver drew her bow as she scrambled to her hooves, peering at the wolf. Diamond softly cuffed her. "Go on. I think it's the same one."
The same one? Silver frowned. "It followed us this far?" Pushing thoughts about it from her mind, she pulled back and arrow and let it fly, piercing the dog with a pained yelp. She winced, hoping it would be fast and easy, but her aim wasn't true enough for that. She quickly grabbed for another arrow, fumbling and dropping several before she got another nocked and ready. With a soft twang from the bow that was far too tense for her to make full use of, the second arrow proved more effective, and it robbed the wolf of consciousness.
Gneech hurried over to where he had tied the snare and let the wolf drop to the ground as a limp sack of furry flesh. "Gneech will eat good today," he sing-songed cheerfully as he got right to work dressing the kill. "Alpha is sure she does not want any?" Diamond nodded. "More for Gneech!" And he continued his work with building cheer.
Pinkie was mildly annoyed. She'd checked the bigger cities and the little hamlets, but no signs at all of the fillies. Where could they have gotten off to?
"Ma'am."
Pinkie looked up to see a pony with adorably short legs and squat form. "Ma'am. Are you the Pink Pie?"
Pinkie bobbed her head and pointed at herself. "That's me! Pinkie Pie! What can I do for you?"
The small pony smiled brightly. "I had a vision! I was straightening out the library, you see, and I dropped a lot of things. I never drop books, ma'am, it's very bad to do, but I had a feeling it was intended. I tried to make sense of the words and maps, and it seemed to say that the Pink Pie had to go into the griffon mountains. Does that make sense, ma'am?"
Pinkie bobbled her head all the more strongly. "Sure does! That's great news!" She clasped one of the little mare's hooves between two of her own and shook it excitedly. "Thanks a bunch!" She dashed off before the little pony could speak further.
The small one sighed and rubbed behind her head. "I hope she knows how to survive there. She was barely dressed for the tropics." There was little she could do about it, so she turned back to Luminace's temple and the books that needed sorting and reading there.
That evening, they saw a sight that lifted their spirits. High on the next mountain, the lights of a city were clearly visible, shining as beacons of safety to the weary travelers. Silver clopped her hooves with excitement. "How long do you think before we get there?"
Gneech looked along the trails that seemed obvious to his eyes. "Maybe end of next day, or early day after. Faster if we hurry, but Gneech not sure good idea."
Diamond raised a brow. "And why wouldn't it be a good idea?"
Gneech dipped his head towards her. "We will go as fast as you want, oh great and powerful mistress, but trails look ready for avalanche. Slow, quiet, is better maybe? Less falling, less snow, less dying."
Diamond nodded. "I see." She clapped Gneech on the shoulder. "Just remember to stay behind us when we get there. We'll get you into the city. We have work to do, all three of us."
Gneech smiled, looking excited by the idea. "Gneech has never been inside city before. Do they have good food, and gold, jewels?"
Diamond shrugged. "They'll have all of those things, but we have to earn them. So I need you on the same page. Together, we're going to win this game. If we work against each other, then we all fail, and we get nothing."
Gneech bowed low before her. "Gneech will do as you say, wise horse mistress."
Silver Spoon offered a hoof to Gneech. "You don't have to keep bowing in the snow. That has to be cold." He accepted her hoof and stood up. "We're friends, right DT? We'll win, together."
Diamond waved a hoof dismissively. "Yeah yeah, friends. Partners. Those other kobolds will be so jealous of you when they see how much better off you are with us."
Her words pleased Gneech, and he grinned at the thought of turning his exile to wild success. "Maybe Gneech will return and taunt them with his vast wealth, and maybe get girl-kobold come with him? They go with Gneech if he is big winner."
With visions of upcoming success dancing in their heads, they retired for the night, secure in a dizzying array of snares and spike traps to ward off any creature that got too curious.
As they ascended the next day towards the city, they could see griffons in the sky. Most stayed in or over the city, but some would soar out over the mountains. Most ignored them, not even seeing them, but one flew in close to noon. "Halt!" She was dressed in heavy-looking steel armor that shone in the light, and despite its weight, she flew gracefully. "State your business."
Diamond Tiara stepped forward in front of her allies. "I am Diamond Tiara, and this is Silver Spoon, and Gneech. We've come to do business in the city above." She pointed up to it.
The griffon raised a brow. "Two pony fillies and a kobold? They'll never believe me when I report this in." She landed in front of them easily, long spear clutched in left talon. "Is this kobold forcing you to go? Say the word and I'll have him gutted, little ones."
Silver Spoon moved in front of Gneech, hooves spread wide. "No! He's with us. We made him come here, not, like, the other way."
Diamond Tiara snorted softly. "Is it that rare that kobolds would just trade?"
The griffon laughed at Diamond, much to her annoyance. "Kobolds don't trade often, at least in nothing that's considered legal in whatever town they choose to infest." She pointed the long spear at Gneech. "Watch yourself. It would be quite a shame to get your pony friends evicted for your mistakes." Her eyes moved back to Diamond and Silver. "You two look like you've been dragged on the back end of a cart for a few weeks. What do you have to trade in this sorry condition?"
Diamond hefted up the amulet around her neck. "This, to start. And the first thing we'll be getting is a nice long shower and maybe a change of clothes."
The guard leaned in, looking at the amulet before scowling. "There's something familiar about this... Come on then, we'll have it appraised and see if you can even afford a room, let alone to do any real trading." She turned away and began marching up the trail they'd been following.
Diamond whispered to the others. "We're in. Step one complete. Just stick behind me and we'll be fine."
They followed after Diamond Tiara, and ascended into the city. It really was shaped like an egg. The bottom, as their new guide explained, was the Lower District, home of menial workers, outlaws, and anyone else that didn't have the money to move up, literally, in the city. "It's getting late in the day, so you'll be staying here." She pointed to a small way-station where other guards seemed to be coming and going from. "On the positive, it's free, on the negative, only for tonight. We're not a rude people, but we expect people to stand on their own paws. Tomorrow, we get your goods appraised, and maybe you'll find better arrangements, or depart for less 'demanding' cities."
None in the group were quite up for arguing the point too much, tired from a full day of hiking. Silver Spoon asked as they were led through the hallways, "Say, there hasn't been a raven-headed griffon, Dark Streak, around?"
The guard tilted her head. "There are a lot of griffons in this city, even scavenger aspected. Is he or she a friend, guardian?"
Silver Spoon shook her head. "More of a friend. We got separated on the way here. I hope she's OK..."
Diamond Tiara nudged her. "Come on. If we got away, I'm sure she's fine. She'll find us if she hasn't already gone off somewhere by now."
The guard opened the room, showing a double-bunk bed, a dresser, mirror, and everything a little inn room should have. It looked like heaven compared to their wilderness beds, and they were quick to claim soft places. "Thanks!" chimed Silver Spoon. The guard smiled quietly and closed the door, leaving them to get their rest.
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You know, these stories are probably the best advertisement for your game immaginable. I'm definitely getting the books in time to run a game at Dragon Con with who-ever I can drag into a pony-D&D-game.
6205856 That is, perhaps surprisingly, quite encouraging. Glad you're enjoying the story enough to feel the need to throw money at a screen.
6205921 I was actually gonna use pay-pal, but I can throw money at the screen If you'd rather I do it that way. Seems like a dicey way to make a transaction, but you're the pro.
rested
upside-down
(Also, calling it now: Gneech's traps are going to catch either Dark Streak or Pinkie Pie)
extra word
Should be a question mark
That sounds like the Unspoken's style of communication
exile
heavy-looking
Oh no, they did it again. "This belonged to my dear relative who died mysteriously while you happened to be nearby"
6206900 Typos neutered.
6206328 Arcanist is the obvious choice for Twilight, since they can spontaneously do her signature spells, but also have to do lots of reading. (Although to imitate her Equestrian mode, she'd need about 200 points in her arcane reservoir)
6206263 Most people in leadership need to go to that school. It must be really expensive or something, because hardly anyone seems to go there.
It's not an error per se, but "how to set camps" sounds better as "how to set up camp."
The proper form of "upside down" has no hyphen.
6208027 Nobody goes to that school because it isn't accredited.
Yay, I've finally all caught up with these stories!
So...anyone wanna lay odds that the amulet's cursed and Diamond won't be able to take it off?
This chapter had the group finally reaching civilization. Now that they've managed to reach a populous area, we'll get to see if Diamond Tiara can effectively put her plans into action. Of course, there's still plenty that could go wrong between now and then.
The biggest potential issue seems to be Gneech. As I suspected, most griffons are going to look at a kobold servant the same way that they would a trained cockroach. It's mildly interesting that it follows your commands, but it's still vermin, so why would you want it around? Worse was that guard's implication that Diamond (and probably Silver) could be held responsible should Gneech run afoul of the law. And depending on what kind of culture this city has, that could be as simply as some griffon not liking the look of him.
There's also that amulet that Diamond has, which has received further hints dropped about it. The scowl that guard had wasn't promising, and I'm wondering if Diamond is about to find herself accused of tomb-raiding and promptly thrown in jail. Even if they believe her, I expect that they'll take it back without compensating her for it at all. In that case, she might be able to gain something in exchange for telling them where the tomb is (presuming that it's lost), but even that's iffy.
Silver Spoon goes deeper and deeper into (self-taught) clerical school. I'm honestly a little surprised at how devout she's becoming, since the story has only mildly emphasized her dissatisfaction with her "spoiled rich girl" destiny. I can understand her feeling like that's a rather shallow life to have, but so far she hasn't expressed that much consternation over it, to the point of running into the arms of a goddess to escape it. Is her current escape into faith borne purely of utility (e.g. it's keeping her and her friend alive in a hostile world)? Or is she really that unhappy at just being a rich kid? To put it another way, it doesn't feel like the story is telling us why she's driven to worship Luminace.
Also, the Pinkie vignettes seem to be coming to an end! We got a nice little (unnamed) cameo by Blue, but now Pinkie Pie is finally on her way to rendezvous with the fillies. I'm curious to see if her presence improves things or not, since it seems like she'd rub Diamond Tiara the wrong way...or would she? Pinkie is the soul of gregariousness, and for a little girl who wants more than anything to feel valued, she might be the best thing for her. After all, even Diamond Tiara admitted that Pinkie did a good job with her cute-ceanara, and a compliment from her is likely to be incredibly rare.
Or, to put it another way, the prologue is (almost) over (something driven home by them slaying that wolf that attacked them way back when). Now the real story begins!
6208827 The game unfolds now! The amulet has more stories to tell, as does Pinkie. But how quickly will they get to it?
6208827 As for Silver Spoon, she encountered something powerful at the right time. Luminace was there to offer a way out. She saved her friend from certain death, and she hasn't said a single mean thing despite Silver Spoon calling on her a lot, with measurable and distinct power being granted in return.
I don't think it's unreasonable Silver Spoon's attention has been grabbed.