Chapter 8: The Morning After
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill
Appleloosa, Equestria
21st May C.R.
9:51PM
It had been no longer than a few hours since the tragic events that took place in the desert that surrounded Appleloosa, yet Nathan Drake already found himself staring at the bottom of a glass, feeling sorry for himself. He lazily looked to his right to see Sheriff Silverstar, surrounded by a few bottles of liquor, and still downing another. He glanced around the interior of the saloon to see all of his friends, with similar somber expressions upon their faces.
Today had been terrible. Just terrible, or, as Marston had put it, "An absolute fucking mess." Silverstar had not taken the death of his deputy well, and so it had been up to Braeburn to deliver the bad news to his family. Naturally, they couldn't believe it either. The farmer was still with them, trying his best to console the grieving family as they tried to come to terms with what had happened.
None of the four 'ex-humans' were strangers to the pain and suffering of losing a loved one. For Nate, it was the suicide of his mother when he was a child, leading to his father abandoning him. Ezio's family had been condemned to the gallows after being falsely accused of treason, while Cole's girlfriend, Trish, was cruelly taken from him in a horrible test of morality. However, John might have had it the worst, having the deal with the loss of his daughter to tuberculosis. Yet, no matter how many times it happened, the death of someone they knew was never easy to deal with, even if they'd only known them for a few hours.
Nate supposed that it was a good thing. Death was a serious matter, so he guessed being affected by it meant that they all still clung to a semblance of humanity and morality. Drake remembered the first time he had taken a life. It was in South America, and he was only eighteen. Even though his assailant was a pirate, Nate was haunted for days by the sight of the man's cold, lifeless eyes, staring out into nothingness.
After the rush of the moment had passed on, he had expressed his regret to his best friend, Victor Sullivan. The older man had smiled warmly and said, "Good. Keep hold of that, kid. Sometimes, you have to end a life. But never do so lightly."
The fortune hunter was snapped out of his voice by the sound of a voice in front of him. “Another round, mister?” He looked up to see the bartender and owner of the saloon looking at him, holding a bottle of whiskey in his mouth.
Nate glanced down at his empty shot glass, before looking back up at the stallion. “Yeah, screw it.” He clumsily threw a few bits on the counter as his glass was filled again. He downed it quickly, coughing as the liquor burned his throat, before turning around to see Cole, slumped over a table surrounded with about a dozen bottles of beer. Noticing him, the conduit got up and trotted over to the bar, still perfectly sober.
“Jesus,” Nate commented, “How many?” he asked MacGrath.
Cole shrugged. “I don’t know. About twelve.”
“Not drunk?”
Cole smirked. “No. Don’t know why, but something about my powers altered my blood stream. Unless you leave me alone in the middle of a brewery, I’m not getting pissed any time soon.” He paused for a second, before squirming uncomfortably on his stool. “On the other hand, I think I need a piss right about now.”
Nate laughed, probably a bit louder than he should have. “Then get going. I’m not gonna clean it up if you wet yourself.” The fortune hunter could have sworn he saw MacGrath blush with embarrassment, making him laugh even harder.
Marston looked up from the other side of the bar and called out to them. “Hey Nate! Had a bit too much, have we?”
Drake rolled his eyes. “Ah, shut up, I’m fine!”
John hopped off his stool and trotted towards the exit. “Y’know, today’s been a long day.” He turned to Ezio, who was sitting in the corner of the room. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think I need some shut-eye.” Pushing open the swinging doors, he bid them all farewell, then left.
Ezio stood up and walked over to Cole, who was still talking to Nate. “Marston was right,” the assassin told them. “We should all get some dormire.”
Cole nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He hopped off the bar stool. “Let’s go. Good night, Nate.”
“Yeah, yeah, see ya,” Drake slurred, before downing another shot of liquor. He wobbled slightly, almost falling off his stool. “I don’t need you guys anyway,” he muttered, slamming his hoof down on the bar to call for another drink.
The bartender trotted over to him. “You sure, mister? You look a touch drunk.”
“I’m fine!” Nate insisted, thrusting his money at the stallion. He shrugged, pulling the bottle from underneath the bar and filling Drake’s glass. The pegasus was about to drink it when he heard someone clear their throat from beside him. He turned his head to see Strawberry Smiles sitting next to him.
“Oh, hey,” he said, blinking a few times in an effort to focus. “How you doing, Strawberry?”
“I’m fine,” the earth pony mare answered. Judging by the smell of her breath, Nate could tell that she’d had a few drinks herself.
“Sorry about Sure Shot,” Nate told her mournfully. “I should have done more to save him.”
Strawberry tipped her stetson back. “It’s okay, Mr. Drake. I’m sure you did all you could.” She smiled and took a rather large swig from her bottle of beer. “Didn’t really know the colt, but he seemed nice enough.”
There was an awkward silence as they both tried to think of something to say. Glancing up at the clock, Nate groaned. "Shit. Nine o clock," he muttered. "The others were right, I better get going. It'll take forever to get back to Braeburn's."
Strawberry turned around to face him as he went to leave. "Aw, leaving already?" She pouted. "Come on, Nate, just one more drink."
Drake paused for a second, considering her offer, before shaking his head. "Sorry, but if I leave it any later then who knows what I'll bump into on the way back."
Strawberry looked up to the pegasus, putting on her best puppy dog eyes. "Not even one?" She held out a bottle of beer, beckoning for him to come over. "Besides, if it gets too late you could always stop at mine for the night."
Drake took a few seconds to consider, before shrugging. "Sure, why not?" He held out his bottle to hers. "What could possibly go wrong?"
***
Ponyville, Equestria
The following morning...
“Come on, Twilight. You’ve hardly slept or eaten in days!”
Spike the baby dragon stood at the foot of the stairs inside the Golden Oaks library, calling out to the lavender unicorn in her room at the top.
“You need to come out!” he shouted. “Look, I know you’re curious about all this, but you know this isn’t good for you!”
There was a brief moment of silence, before a loud crash. “Fine!” came an agitated voice. Soon enough, Twilight Sparkle at the top of the stairs. She looked a mess. Her mane and tail was out of place, and large bags under her eyes indicated that she had been putting off sleeping for a few days.
Her assistant handed her a hairbrush as she trotted down towards him, which she took with her magic. “Alright Spike, so maybe I’m being a little obsessed,” she admitted, running the brush through her unkempt mane. “What are we going to do, then?”
“Rarity invited us both to breakfast this morning,” Spike informed her. “Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are going to be there too. Come on, it’ll do you some good.”
The studious unicorn sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.” She brushed her tail one last time before setting the brush back down on a dresser. “Okay then, let’s get going.” She turned around, flashing a small smile, before setting off outside the door. Spike pushed his chest out proudly, before quickly following after her.
The brightness of the mid-morning sun near blinded Twilight as she left her library, causing her to shield her eyes. “Wow, maybe I was inside a bit too long,” she murmured.
“Maybe?” her assistant commented sarcastically, walking past her. “Come on, if we don’t get going to Carousel Boutique soon, we’ll be late.”
Twilight nodded, setting off on a brisk canter towards the town centre. It was almost ten o’clock, so many of the townsponies were out in force, be it spending some quality free time or going about their daily businesses. Being as friendly as usual, many ponies waved to the pair as they made their way through Ponyville, which managed to put a genuine smile on the otherwise extremely tired unicorn’s face.
“So,” Twilight began. “Heard anything from Canterlot recently?”
Spike rolled his eyes. “Oh, come off it, Twilight!” he told her. “I’m sure the princesses have everything handled. Besides, if I had, you would know already!”
Twilight cringed at the dragon’s outburst. “Yeah... I guess you’re right, Spike. I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough anyway. No need to get worked up about it.”
He smiled. “Exactly.”
By now they had just reached Rarity’s boutique. Seeing the two of them approach from her window, the fashionista graciously opened the door for them before they could get a chance to knock. “Good morning,” she said to them, smiling. “Oh, and thank you Spike, for getting Twilight out of her little rut.”
The librarian glared at her friend. “What do you mean, rut?”
Rarity ushered them both in. “Sorry Twilight, but we hadn’t heard from you for days and, well, we both know what you’re like.” She lead them through the front of her shop and into the dining room, where Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were already seated. “Now, how do you like your eggs, Twilight?” Rarity asked.
“Uh, sunny side up,” her friend answered, before greeting the party pony and pegasus.
Rarity nodded. “And you, Spike?”
“The same.”
“Perfect,” the unicorn exclaimed. “I’ll be back in a jiffy.” With that, she trotted over to the kitchen.
Spike and Twilight both found themselves a seat as Pinkie and Fluttershy said hello. “So, Twilight, heard anything from the princesses?” The pink pony asked immediately.
Twilight shook her head. “Not yet, but I imagine it won’t be too long until we get some news. Besides, I’m sure those four are handling themselves just fine, anyway.”
“I hope they haven’t got into any trouble,” Fluttershy mused.
“It’s just Appleloosa,” Pinkie Pie told her. “What are they gonna do, make enemies with an apple tree?”
“I don’t know Pinkie, they look like the type of guys who know how to cause trouble,” Twilight commented. “I’m sure it wouldn’t take too much effort.”
“They only went there to make friends,” Pinkie Pie said. “It’s not like they were looking to upset anyone.”
“Look, Pinkie, I don’t really want to talk about it,” Twilight said to her friend. “I need to focus my mind on other things right now anyway.”
Five plates levitated past them and settled down on the table, closely followed by Rarity. “Here you go girls, I hope they’re to your satisfaction.”
“They’re perfect, thank you.” Fluttershy told her, smiling warmly.
Boy, these look great, Spike thought, licking his lips. Piercing a piece of egg with his fork, he was about to pop it in his mouth when he suddenly felt bloated. “Oh, I don’t feel so good,” he groaned.
“What’s wrong Spike?” Twilight asked. “Are you okay?”
The dragon opened his mouth to speak, but instead emitted a loud belching noise, which was closely followed by a magical piece of parchment. It hovered in the air for a second, before dropping down onto the table.
“A letter from the princess? What could it be about?” The lavender unicorn wondered. Using her magic, she picked it up and floated it over to her, unraveling it along the way.
“What does it say?” Pinkie Pie hopped off her chair and cantered around the table to get a closer look.
“‘I hope I’m not interrupting anything’.” Twilight read aloud, a perplexed look upon her face. “What?”
At that moment, the doorbell rang. “Oh, who could that be?” Rarity trotted out of the room to answer it. There were a few brief moments of silence, before the rest of them were alert by a sudden gasp from the next room. Shortly after, the regal figure of Princess Celestia stepped into the room.
“Good morning, my little ponies,” she said warmly. “I see you got my letter.”
Twilight chuckled nervously. “Uh, yeah, we sure did.”
The princess nodded, a coy smile upon her face. “Just a little joke of mine,” she admitted. “However, I do have news for you, and I thought I should deliver it to you in person.”
“Of course,” Twilight said. “What is it, princess?”
“As you are all aware, the four descendants are due back in Canterlot from Appleloosa today. Their next stop, however, is Ponyville,” Celestia informed them. “I was hoping some of your friends could accommodate them.”
The five of them nodded. “It would be a pleasure, princess,” Rarity told her.
“Good.” The princess stepped aside to reveal a unicorn stallion, clad in a black pinstriped suit and red tie. “I would also like to introduce my personal advisor, Orion Gazer.”
“Good morning, ladies,” he greeted. He spoke with a soft accent, one that, if they had been here, the humans probably would have associated with upper-class English society.
Twilight’s face lit up. “Orion? Like the constellation?”
The stallion smiled and chuckled slightly. “Yes, Miss Sparkle. It’s just a name, though. Aside from being her majesty’s advisor, I also work at the Canterlot Observatory. I majored in astrology, after all.”
The lavender mare’s grin only seemed to widen. “So did I! I mean, I would have, if I wasn’t here, studying friendship, but I almost finished my course at the academy.” She only stopped rambling on when Spike silently put a claw to her mouth.
"Not like you really need to, right Twi?" Spike said.
Orion raised a single eyebrow, but remained smiling. “Well, I will also be staying in Ponyville for few days to make sure our guests are comfortable.”
Celestia nodded. “Indeed. I have set up Orion to stay at a local hotel for the week. I trust it will be to his satisfaction.” She smiled at them, a warm, radiant glow seemingly emanating from her. “Well, I really must be going. I have important issues to attend to in Canterlot.” The sun princess started to trot out of the room. “Goodbye, my little ponies!”
There were a few short moments of silence after her departure, before Orion turned to Twilight. “So, you enjoy stargazing, Miss Sparkle?”
The studious unicorn grinned. “Do I ever!”
“Then we have much to talk about.”
***
Appleloosa, Equestria
Around the same time...
Intruding rays of sunlight pierced through the window of the bedroom, causing Nathan Drake’s eyelids to lazily flutter open. He stared at the ceiling for a second, but reeled as he was hit by a sudden pain in his forehead. Great, I’m hungover, he thought to himself. “Shit, how much did I have?”
Deciding it was the best remedy, he turned over and tried to drift off back to sleep. He was about to roll over again to get comfortable when something grunted beside him.
Wait, what was that?
Dreading what he might find, he slowly turned towards the sound of the noise to find none other than Strawberry Smiles lying next to him, snoring peacefully.
Oh no, I didn’t. He cringed at the thought. For Christ’s sake, tell me I didn’t. That is SO wrong!
His ears perked up at the sound of approaching hoofsteps. Oh shit! Shit! he thought. This isn’t good! He turned to Strawberry and shook her. “Wake up! C’mon, Strawberry!”
The mare beside him groaned. “Just five more minutes, dad.”
“Dad?!” Nate was having trouble comprehending the sudden situation that was unfolding before him.
Strawberry groaned again and turned her head to face him, before gasping. “Wha... Drake?” Her eyes went wide. “Oh Celestia, we didn’t!”
“I don’t know! Probably!” Nate hissed, clumsily stumbling out of bed and throwing on his clothes, all the while listening out for the hoofsteps from another part of the house. “Look, I’m sorry, okay, but I really need to get out of here! Someone’s coming!”
Strawberry seemed to go pale. “Oh shit, that’ll be my dad. I was supposed to help him out with something this morning!”
“Your dad!?” Nate felt like he was going to faint. “Ah, crap!”
The mare shuffled out of bed and over to the window, budging it open. “Quick, hop out the window,” she told the pegasus. “I can hear him coming!”
Drake didn’t need to be told twice. Whispering her thanks, he clambered outside as quietly as he could, before leaning back against the outer wall of the house. He cringed as he heard Strawberry’s bedroom door creak open.
“Good morning, Strawberry!” came a cheerful elderly voice from inside. “Rise and shine!”
“Heh, morning dad,” Strawberry replied. Through the tone of her voice, Nate could tell she was nervous. Deciding that hanging around wasn’t the best idea, he picked himself up quietly and made his way toward the centre of Appleloosa, periodically checking over his shoulder to see if anyone had noticed him. Thankfully, no one had.
Trotting towards the train station, he saw his friends standing outside. Braeburn looked up and, seeing him approaching, smiled. “Well, howdy Nate!” he called out. “Where ya been? We’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
Drake chuckled nervously. “I, uh, stayed at a friend’s for the night.”
The farmpony before him raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question him. “Well, your train back to Canterlot’s gonna be leaving soon. Marston told me all about it.”
“Wait, he told you everything?” Nate really didn’t want to have to explain how he and the rest of them were entirely different beings from another universe to the stallion, especially while hungover.
“Well, he didn’t need to, really. After what happened yesterday, I got a letter from Princess Celestia. Told me all about them things up there,” he pointed towards the sky, before continuing his explanation, “and how you four are the trained stallions that are gonna help defend us.” He put a hoof on the pegasus’ shoulder, looking him deep in the eye. “Look, I don’t know what they are, or when they’re gonna come, but I just want you to know the entire town of Appleloosa has got your backs, I swear.”
Nate nodded respectfully. “Thanks, Braeburn. You’re a good friend.”
The beige colt chuckled. “It’s what I’m here for. Now get going, y’all got a train to catch.”
Drake smiled at him before rejoining the others, who were boarding the train. “Hey, John,” he whispered to the gunslinger.
“Yeah?”
“He doesn’t know who we actually are, does he?”
The unicorn shook his head. “Don’t think so. I sure as hell didn’t tell him.”
“Good. We can’t be sure how anyone would react if they actually knew.”
By now the four of them had reached their own private car and had sat down. “Sì, but the six girls seemed to take it pretty well,” Ezio commented.
“Yeah, but they were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony,” Cole spoke up. “It’s safe to say they’ve seen their fair share of strange things in their lifetime.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Nate yawned and stretched back, cradling Francis’ ring in one hoof. “We shouldn’t dwell on it, though. We’ve got a long ride ahead of us, and we’ve got business to attend to in Canterlot when we arrive.”
They all nodded in agreement, and made themselves comfortable in the decidedly uncomfortable seats. Turns out, the main royal carriage was still being used in other business, so they had been relegated to the backup yet again. It was still hot as all hell.
There were a few moments of silence as the train pulled out of the station, trundling slowly along the tracks, before Cole spoke up.
“Man, to think I owe my life to a bunch of talking horses.” He chuckled at the absurdity of it all. “One second, I’m saving all of humanity, the next I’m saving a race of magical ponies.” He laughed again, and the others joined in. “But you know what? I think I kinda like it here.”
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Author's Note:
Oh, a new update - what's this?
The feature box?
Be right back, dying of happiness.
But anyway, onto the chapter itself. Hurrah, Drake shenanigans!
Also, Celestia's advisor, Orion, will have a larger part to play later on in the story. Oh, and if it helps, try to imagine him voiced by Robin Atkin Downes. I know that's the voice I had in mind when I wrote it.
But I digress. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
1608960 I saw your Facebook message and thought, this must be some sort of sorcery, but it was not. Very well done.
1608965 Alas, it has gone now. Updated stories don't last long in the feature box, but it was an awesome accomplishment all the same.
1608996 Maybe,i shoud make a promotional poster that says something like 'get this story featured or ill gut your family'
Dear god, this fic is made of pure awesome sauce...
1609008 Eh, no.
1609042 Just admit it Matt, you would love to gut somebodys family...
Oh dear Primus, I hope Drake didn't do anything of explicit nature to Strawberry Smiles...
oh my god. do a bonus chapter with Mr bean or captain Blackadder as one of the desendents
WHY DOES THIS NOT HAVE MORE LIKES!!!
I was gonna doa story similar to this, with humansforced to take the position of the elements of Harmony. I n fact three of them are in this story, Ezio, John and Cole.
Was also gonna use Naoto from Persona 4 and Legoin from Mass Effect (weas gonna keep Dash as Loyalty.)
Anyway I like the story so congrats on it being awesome.
Officially Carnage Approved!
1665998 i.chzbgr.com/completestore/2010/12/3/9c99423c-943d-4975-b5ed-2991267947a6.jpg
Close enough.
1666110 He's Nathan Drake. If he says something's going to be fine, then of course something will screw up.
Ain't Murphy a bitch?
1666071 That'll work!
C'mon! Update already! I DEAMAND MOAR!
John might have had it the worst, having the deal with the loss of his daughter to tuberculosis
I think Ezio's is worse then John's
in my opinion having you family publicly executed while in your teens under the suspicion of treason is worse then losing a daughter...
Did one of them have sex with a mare? Yes .
Did the father come up to check on his daughter? Yes.
Did he jump out of the window to avoid trouble? Yes.
Was it Ezio? No?
I really expected the Italian playboy to be the first one to pull this shit.
3242066
Well that would have been a nice reference to AC II, had it been Ezio
This scene had be rolling on the floor laughing! It is cliche' but it is just so adaptable you cant help but use it!
that awkward moment when you read your name, and think "wait what?" .... celestia's assistant
no less, gaaa, that was confusing!
The stallion smiled and chuckled slightly. “Yes, Miss Sparkle. It’s just a name, though. Aside from being her majesty’s advisor, I also work at the Canterlot Observatory. I majored in astrology, after all.”
Uh, do you mean Astronomy? or are both of them into the Zodiac?
Didn't one of the earlier chapters say Strawberry looked no more than 18... Nathan you probably maybe fucked a minor... good for you, I guess?