Into That Wild Blue Yonder

by CptBrony

The Charge

The remained of the ride to the city was easy and relatively quiet, mostly just the king droning on and on about how great his lands were and how strong his people were. The young man and Colm just nodded along, throwing in occasional compliments here and there. They weren’t foolish enough to risk angering him after their previous conversation, so every chance they had to make a good impression, they took.

“Approaching the city!” the guard captain shouted from outside.

“Ah, nearly there,” King Yakesh said. “Let me open the hatch all the way so you can both see our glorious city.”

When the king opened the hatch, Colm and the young man stood up to look. Yakesh wasn’t kidding when he said it was a magnificent city. Seemingly carved out of a mountain, or several, it consisted of numerous, incredibly tall stone towers with hundreds of caves and holes for griffons to fly in and out of. There were spirals and lifts for griffons and visitors who liked or had to walk to and from various places.

The only problem for Colm and the young man was that the towers were hundreds of feet tall; going up and down would be nearly impossible. The good news was that, as they got closer, Colm and the young man could see slides for going down the mountain built next to the stairs. There was no single slide; it was broken into parts; but it meant a quick way down. It was a good idea to take a note of that for later.

“You like it?” King Yakesh asked from inside.

“It’s incredible!” Colm shouted. The king laughed

“I knew you’d be impressed!” he said. “My people carved down two mountains over hundreds of years to make it. It’s still under work on the other side of the city.”

“Holy moly,” the young man said. “Sure don’t see those back home.”

“No, but I do imagine you humans have thing far more impressive than what we can conceive of here,” King Yakesh admitted. “It was the intelligence of one of you whom we met that inspired this.”

“Wait, for real?” the young man asked. “Who would be that smart?”

“He went by the name Isaac,” King Yakesh said. “First introduced the world to the physical sciences that enabled us to engineer such feats.”

“Isaac?!” the young man said. “Like, Isaac Newton?!”

“Yes, that was him!” King Yakesh said.

“He died of mercury poisoning!” the young man said incredulously.

“Mercury?” King Yakesh asked. “I don’t know how that could happen. He said it was medicinal. And he was alive when he got here, anyway.”

“Okay, quick note; NEVER consume mercury, it’s seriously toxic,” the young man said. “Alchemy isn’t real. That’s one thing he was NOT right about.”

“We can’t figure out where to find it anyway,” King Yakesh said. “It certainly doesn’t exist within our borders. Naturally liquid metal? Such a thing sounds magical.”

“Second thing,” the young man said. “How long ago was this?”

“Hundreds of years ago, effectively at the beginning of civilization,” King Yakesh said.

“What?” the young man asked too quietly to be heard. It didn’t make any sense at all.

“We’re very grateful for what he did for the world,” the king said reverently. “The father of modern civilization, he is.”

“Wow,” the young man said. He and Colm dropped back into the cart.

“Now you see why this must be defended,” King Yakesh said. “The magnificence of this city must not be lost to those who would ransack it for resources and power. My daughter’s marriage must happen to preserve our way of life.”

“Well, I think I can sympathize with you when THAT’s what’s at stake,” Colm said. The young man remained silent.

“What of you?” King Yakesh said. “Do you sympathize?”

“For preserving your way of life? Of course,” the young man said. “Freedom to live as you will is important.”

“Second only to loyalty,” King Yakesh added. The young man would disagree, but he was in brown-nosing mode at the moment and didn’t want to slip up. He was never that talented at discourse; his arguments usually consisted of some variation of “Fight me, bro.”

“So, uhh, how high is the princess’s room in whichever place you live?” Colm asked, failing to hide his discomfort. “Really high up, or..?”

“Two levels below mine in the palace tower,” King Yakesh said. “About forty meters down from me, a quick drop.”

“For those who can fly,” the young man added.

“Of course, you two will be outfitted with safety harnesses if you desire,” King Yakesh said. “We also have parachutes from Equestria in case you must make a quick getaway with my daughter.”

“How likely do you think an attack is?” Colm asked. “If you’re outfitting us with parachutes…”

“An attack is imminent,” King Yakesh said. “My spies tell me there are plans in the work to derail my kingdom from within, targeting the royal family. Your job is extremely vital.”

“Oh, joy,” the young man said. He was beginning to regret this decision. Not that it was much of a decision to start with.

“No worries; when we arrive, I will have you both outfitted with armor and weapons suited for your combat styles,” King Yakesh said. “In fact, why don’t you tell me now so I can order them made by tonight.”

“Oh, sweet,” the young man said. “Let me think for a moment. Colm, you’re up first.”

“Alright then,” Colm said. He thought for a moment. “For my weapon, if you could give me a couple of spiked bracelets for my hooves, that’d be good.”

“You should include retractable blades,” the young man piped in. King Yakesh looked at him with surprise.

“That’s genius,” he said simply. “Easy to make, too.”

“Alright, give me those on the bracelets too,” Colm said. “For armor… I guess standard pony-style plate will do.”

“It shall be done by tonight,” King Yakesh said. “And you, human?”

“I have what I want in mind, but it’s hard to explain to someone without a human body,” the young man said. “Do you have a piece of paper and a writing utensil?”

“Certainly,” King Yakesh said. He pulled a piece of parchment and a quill and ink from somewhere behind him.

The young man took the items and started drawing the armor he wanted. It consisted of a three-piece chest plate, where there was a centerpiece underneath two side pieces that moved left and right to give him more mobility in the shoulders and chest. The abdominal section was a series of small, rectangular sheets strung together underneath to let him move freely and prevent restriction of his torso.

The shoulder pauldrons were fairly standard, as were the greaves and boots. The back of the armor was similar to the front in design to allow maximum mobility. On his arms, there was a small metal plate that would go over part of his triceps. Nothing went over his biceps.

The gauntlets were the most important part, though. They worked by having a sleeve underneath that the metal was attached to, like all gauntlets, but the fingers had layered sheets of metal, similar to the abdominals section of the cuirass. The knuckles were thicker than the rest and had small spikes on them for more precise application of force.

King Yakesh looked over the drawings as the young man explained them. When he finished, the King shook his head and handed back the drawings.

“I think you’d better just explain it to the armorer,” he said. “You need to go there to get fitted anyway.”

“Alright,” the young man said. He then thought of something else. “Should I just take my knife design to him, too?”

“Might as well,” King Yakesh said. “I understand the concepts, but applying it to your body is confusing me.”

“I’m also going to ask for thinner plates than standard,” the young man said. “I need mobility.”

“Of course,” King Yakesh said. The carriage stopped abruptly. “Ah, we are here.”

The side door of the carriage opened up, and outside, there were numerous griffons waiting for the king. The king exited the carriage first to a cheering crowd, followed quickly by Colm and then the young man, whose presence hushed the crowd.

“Featherkin!” King Yakesh boomed. “I present to you, the duo that defeated the Blooded Tong! They shall serve as the guards of my beloved daughter in this time of reckless hazard!”

The young man gave a big, toothy smile, and Colm did the same. The crowd cheered for them.

“I was hoping this would be kept under the rug,” Colm said.

“No kidding,” the young man said. “How much do you wanna bet our job just got a whole lot harder?”

“Like it wasn’t hard enough to begin with,” Colm said.

“Now!” King Yakesh continued. “Good news! The marriage of my lovely daughter Nikita to the Prince Valdmer is on its way, and we shall have the prosperity we deserve!” The crowd continued to cheer. He turned to the duo. “How about I take you up to meet my daughter? You can see the armory later.”

“Sounds good to me,” Colm said.

“Ditto,” the young man agreed.

The king led them through the crowd and to the tower, where there was what looked like a basket ready to carry them up to the top of the tower. There were no safeties on the basket, no rails or anything. Colm and the young man both swallowed hard and stepped up onto it with the king.

They both opted to sit down as it rose into the sky. The motion was erratic and inconsistent, leading the duo to believe it was being pulled by workers and not something steady. The two of them said a silent prayer that they would come out of this alive. Who wanted to be killed on the job before even meeting the objective?

When they made it to the top, Colm and the young man leapt off the basket and onto the rocky piece of heaven. The king laughed behind them and made some remark about how first-timers always had trouble.

“Come, this way,” the king said. “Nikita will be in her room.”

“Lead the way,” the young man said.

King Yakesh led the pair through the palace tower, through all sorts of winding corridors and strange tunnels. The tunnels were typically only six to seven feet tall, giving the young man trouble every now and again. He would have to remember not to fight in any of these halls, which were also only illuminated by the occasional lamp.

When they rose to the next level, though, the tunnels suddenly became hallways, well cut and refined. The king explained how the exterior of the city was done, and they were trying to make the interior more like modern castles with real hallways and staircases as opposed to sloping and snaking tunnel ways.

“Come, this way,” King Yakesh said. His talons clicked and clacked on the floor.

A mere ten meters later, they were upon a set of double doors made of metal and wood, looking completely out of place. The first thing this king needed to do was hire a real interior decorator.

He knocked on the door. “Nikita, I have something for you!” he said.

“Does she not know?” Colm asked.

“This literally happened today, Colm,” the young man said. “I don’t think they had time to tell her.”

“Yes, sire?” Nikita answered. The door opened.

On the other side was a very clean-looking, well-kept griffon with porcelain-white feathers at the ends of her wings and amber feathers elsewhere. Her head was white and tipped off with a red patch. Upon closer inspection, the white on her feathers appeared to be dye, and they actually looked red where the dye was fading.

She wore a lot of gold jewelry, from bracelets and a crest to little chains hanging from her ears in front of her face. She wore a small dress with gold threading. The griffon princess stood shorter than her father and the guards, but looked like she could probably handle herself almost as well.

“You have two new guards,” King Yakesh said, pointing at the duo. They gave her big, goofy smiles and waved at her. “They defeated the Blooded Tong in the village to the east, and will be assigned to keeping you safe until all is settled.”

Nikita looked past her father at the goofballs behind him. They were giving off the most ridiculous presence. How could these smiling ninnies have defeated the Tong gang? The human wore what appeared to be a traditional battle garb, but the pony was naked.

“That’s them?” she asked. Yakesh nodded. “They don’t look like much.”

“I guarantee you, we’re more than-“ Colm couldn’t finish before the young man grabbed his muzzle.

“Ignore him, he’s a dunce,” the young man said with a nervous laugh and a shooting glare at Colm. “Watch what you say,” he muttered.

“They can protect me?” Nikita asked.

“More than capable,” King Yakesh said. “I must be going. They will stay with you for now, and after dinner is served, you will accompany them to the armory. Whenever you go somewhere, take them with you.”

“Yes, sire,” Nikita said. King Yakesh encouraged the duo into the princess’s quarters, shut the door, and made his way elsewhere.

The room was deathly quiet. No one knew what to say. If a pin were dropped, it would sound like a bomb went off.

“Soo…” Colm said.

“Don’t talk,” Nikita said.

“Alright then,” Colm said. He turned to the young man. “Simply lovely,” he muttered.

“Ma’am, we’re here to protect you,” the young man said. “If we’re going to do our job, we need to be on good terms.”

“Oh, yes?” Nikita said. “And how much is my sire paying you to be on good terms with me?”

The young man raised his hand to object, but stopped. He had to think about that. Yakesh never did say he would pay them or compensate them. He was giving them the armor, but that was job-related. There was no compensation.

“We… never did go over that,” the young man said.

“What?” Nikita said, surprised.

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re getting paid,” the young man said.

“Took ya that long to figure out?” Colm said from afar.

“So… why are you here?” Nikita asked.

“We were travelling. Ran into your dad. He asked us to protect you, we said yes. After it's done, we’ll continue on our way west,” the young man summarized.

“That’s… very strange,” Nikita said. “No one does anything without getting something in return around here.”

“So we’re the first?” the young man said.

“Yeah, since we ain’t getting JACK for this,” Colm said.

“Oh,” Nikita said. “Umm… okay.”

“So, can we be on good terms?” the young man asked.

“…I suppose so,” Nikita conceded.

The young man clapped his hands. “Lovely! So, tell me about your quarters, and once I’ve done a check, we can talk like old pals.”

“Okay,” Nikita said.

Nikita led the young man and Colm through her quarters, showing them all the windows and furniture. It was an incredibly nice setup, considering she could fly. Anyone else might get sick from the height, as the young man and Colm were feeling. But the freedom of flight must have been wonderful.

“It must be nice, bein’ able ta fly whenever ya want,” Colm commented.

“I don’t get to fly out there,” Nikita said.

“What?” the young man asked.

“It’s too dangerous, my father says,” Nikita said. “Too many bad griffons are out there who might do me harm.”

“What?” the young man said. “Isn’t that what griffon guards are for?”

“Most hens don’t go out flying, as they must take care of the nest,” Nikita said. “It’s our duty.”

“Sounds heinous,” the young man said.

“What?” Nikita replied.

“Come on, you’re telling me you don’t wanna fly?” the young man said. “You’re semi-casual but hiding tone tells me you don’t like this.”

“This is simply how we live,” Nikita said with irritation. “If you don’t like that-“

“Just an observation,” the young man said. “Don’t get your feathers in a bunch.”

Nikita huffed. “Well, what’s your assessment of my quarters, guard?” she asked.

“Pretty good I guess, but the windows will need to be watched when we’re with you,” the young man said. “CLEARLY designed for griffons to get IN and OUT-“ The young man pointed his hand at the princess as he spoke- “So one of us will be on you and the other nearby.”

“When did you become a security expert?” Colm asked.

“Since I found this thing called shut up,” the young man said. “I learned from the TV, I think I know what I’m doing.”

“Whatever, man,” Colm said.

“Well, if you two are quite done, I’d like to get back to my personal activities,” Nikita said.

“By all means,” Colm said. “We’ll just be watching.”

The princess sighed, but said nothing and took a seat in a chair toward the corner where she started knitting. The young man watched with curiosity. She seemed like she was hiding something about herself. She seemed so discontented with knitting in her little corner. There had to be something in here that would reveal more about her.

“Care to tell me why you’re knitting?” the young man asked, winging it.

“I like to,” Nikita replied aggressively.

“I don’t think you do,” the young man said. Nikita didn’t answer. “Fine, then.”

“Where are we going ta sleep, exactly?” Colm asked.

“There is a couch over there,” Nikita answered curtly. “At night, you will take turns.”

“Turns?” Colm asked.

“If we both sleep, she is vulnerable,” the young man said slowly, as if Colm were slow himself. “Guarding 101.”

“Ah, stuff it,” Colm said. “I hadn’t anticipated this.”

“Well, feel free to leave,” Nikita said.

“We’re no freer to leave than you,” the young man commented. Nikita pouted for a brief moment, then brought her face to stone cold stoicism.

Colm and the young man decided to simply take a seat for the time being while they waited for their turns to head to the armory. The princess wasn’t about to warm up to them then and there and spill her secrets, that would take time. If this was going to go even remotely safely, they had to do things right, and they only had one chance to do it.

Comments

[Lt Rainbow Slash]

Calling it now. They get attacked. Have to flee with Nikita. She joins them on their merry adventure!

[Bazing]

7128679 I can see it happening, but more so that she stows away with them/runs away

[Lt Rainbow Slash]

7132896 Same difference!

[Bazing]

7133919 Not really but kinda :/

[That One Brony Dude]

My prediction: after her assassins fail to take her out, she will escape and merry someone from the kingdom's enemy kingdom. The prince she was supposed to merry will be... less than thrilled.