Tales of the Battle Foals

by Sirdubya

Eye in the Sky

No sooner than the lunar princess foretell, the light of her sister’s sun coaxed Fire Fight awake. The same stony room that had been a place of heavy subject matter felt strangely lighter, as though he knew that all would be well, especially considering that his friends were rising about the same he was. “<yawn!> Morning, guys.”

“Mornin’ sheriff.” Kickback said. Everypony else bid their good mornings as well, save for Crazylocks, who was still slumbering on the side of her bed.

“Hey. Crazylocks.” Bullseye roughly nudged her to try and wake her. “<sigh> I f****** swear, if she shouts….”

Thankfully, while the frenzied filly jolted awake, she didn’t go ballistic. However, she did fall on her head onto the floor. “Yipe!”

“Naptime’s over. It’s morning.” Bullseye said.

“Aww!” Crazylocks crossed her legs and arms as though she were sitting down and pouting. “Just when I was about to uncover the secrets of the tree masons!” Her pigtails suddenly stiffened, supporting her upside-down body like legs, and then they moved to and fro like legs carrying her towards the door. Even the understanding Greensprout couldn’t help but give a baffled expression at one of the mutant’s more befuddling acts of insanity as everypony else did.

“Umm….okay. I guess we oughta get some breakfast?” Fire Fight said.

Air Slash nodded. “Yes. I will need a hearty meal to be at my peak today. It would be a grave insult to Valkyrie if I battled her unfit and unprepared.”

Greensprout gently grabbed his hoof. “Just make sure you two don’t overdo it. I trust that you’ll practice restraint, but that day on the Great Horn Summit is still fresh in our minds.”

Air Slash raised up her hoof and kissed it. “Even our contest does become heated, it nothing more than that: a contest. But, I will surely exercise caution. That…..incident made me more aware of how reckless I can be.”

“Good.” Greensprout said.

“Wonder what d’hey servin’? I kinda digged dat griffon food Valkyrie let us have.” Turf War said.

“Unless you planned on cooking something, Fire Fight.” Quantum Tech said.

Fire Fight shook his head. “Nah. I think I need a break from cooking to help clear my mind.”

“Understandable”. Quantum said. “Come to think of it, I should probably see to my mech.”

“Yes. Shrapnel has no doubt woken by now. I should hunt the woods with him so he can find a nice meal.” Zebota said.

“Alrighty. Ah reckon we could save some food fer ya if yer still hungry.” Kickback said.

“That would be kind of you, friend.” Zebota said. He and Quantum Tech were the first out the door.

Before Fire Fight could start going towards the door, Shadow Shroud suddenly appeared beside him. “Hey…” she muttered.

“Oh….H-Hey.” Fire Fight replied. “You sleep alright?”

“Yeah….” She said. “Look, sorry about how I acted last night. I…”

Fire Fight put his hoof on her shoulder. “It’s okay. I-I’m sorry to. I got a little pushy because I was worried.”

Shadow Shroud creased a little smile and lightly giggled. “Sometimes I wonder about you, you know? A raging inferno one minute, and a gentle flame the next.”

Fire Fight chuckled. “Would you have it any other way?”

“No. No, I wouldn’t.” Shroud said.

“Whaddya say we relax for a little while and watch Air Slash’s duel?” Fire Fight offered.

Shroud playfully cocked her eyebrow. “Relaxing by watching a swordfight? Whatever you say, fearless leader.” She teased.

With that, the two followed the others out into the hallway where they returned to the lobby. The receptionist was quick to fare them a good morning, which they returned. The breakfast being served was an open buffet that included the tufts of wheat that Valkyrie had introduced, but they had clearly been baked. Some wheat pancakes and muffins were also present along with some scrambled eggs. Amongst the fruit was something that caught the foals’ eyes.

“Golden apples?” Tidal Wave said as he picked one up.

“Tidal Wave, I highly doubt they’re actually gold. Just sayin’” Spiral Galaxy said.

Tidal Wave rolled his eyes. “No duh, Spiral. I’ve just never seen any apples like this before.”

“I bet it’s native to Griffonstone. Wonder what they taste like?” Spiral said as she magically lifted one for herself and for Tidal Wave onto each of their plates. She then noticed one last plate on the end that held slices of bread with some broiled vegetable baked into it. Taking a whiff of it, she identified it as seaweed.

“Umm… Didn’t Valkyrie to stay away from that stuff?” Tidal Wave asked.

Spiral put a slice of her plate. “I’m a brave filly.” She said confidently.

“If you say so…” Tidal Wave muttered as they and the other foals apart from Zebota and Quantum Tech sat down with their food.

Curious, Spiral decided to take a bite of her seaweed bread right away, and almost immediately, she regretted not heeding Valkyrie’s warning. “HRR!” She spat out the little chunk she bit off onto her plate. “Gluh!”

Tidal Wave took a bite of his gold apple. “And…. I’m a smart colt.”

Spiral gave him an annoyed glare, and then she noticed Crazylocks had popped up next to her eyeing the slice of seaweed bread like a dog eagerly awaiting its master to give a treat. Spiral slid the blasphemous bread over to her, and she chomped it down in one bite. “<BUUURRRP!!!> Aaahhh! Reminds me of home.” She sang. Spiral just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

After their breakfast, the foals paid for their meal and headed outside to meet Quantum Tech and Zebota. As promised they brought them some food as well, but it looked like Zebota and Shrapnel were still out, so Quantum was alone inspecting her mech to make sure that the would-be thieves didn’t manage to make off with anything or otherwise damage her prize. “Oh! There you are.”

“Howdy, Ms. Quantum Tech.” Kickback said as he handed her some fruit and wheat muffins.

Quantum giggled as she graciously accepted the offering. “Why thank you, my sugar pie! It looks simply delicious.” She cooed. Kickback, being somewhat desensitized to this treatment just lowered his hat in front of his face.

“Zebota’s not back yet, huh?” Fire Fight asked.

Quantum shook her head. “No. As it happens, a tame timberwolf is a rare sight in this part of the world, so the locals were rather quick to…..usher them out of town. I’m sure if Valkyrie spoke with them, then they would not be so judgmental.”

“Tch. More like cautious of not getting chomped.” Bullseye said. “Speaking of which, where is feather-face? She was supposed to meet Air Slash out here, right?”

“At noon, Bullseye.” Air Slash said. “It will be a good half-hour before she arrives. We did sleep in a little.”

“No s*** we slept.” Bullseye said. She then noticed Crazylocks on the other side of the street balancing a mass amount of building stones on her pigtails, much to the chagrin of the nearby builders. “Ugh! This stupid…. I got her guys.” She said. “Hey! Crazylocks!!” She flew towards her.

Greensprout giggled. “Bless their souls.”

“At least we’ve got somepony to babysit her.” Spiral said. “Hey Air Slash, do you mind if I…..not watch your duel? I kinda…..wanna work on meditating. Ever since what happened on the way to find Valkyrie….”

“I understand, Spiral Galaxy.” Air Slash graciously replied. “If any of you want to be left to your own devices, I am in no place to stop you. I do not seek glory anyway; it’s merely a contest. However, let us all be prudent as to enacting our decision to explore that route we discovered on the map.”

Turf War gave him a bro nudge. “Word, son. Let us know how yo’ spicy chicken nuggets was, with o’ widout barbeque sauce. Whaaaat!?”

Air Slash chuckled heartily. “I presume you’ll be spectating then?”

“Damn straight!” Turf War said. “Yo! We gotta ask her what’s poppin’ over on dat south road after y’all rumble too.”

Tidal Wave turned to Spiral Galaxy. “You want some help? I heard water flow calms you down.”

“Hey! Good idea! Although, we’d have to find a river or something….” Spiral said.

Using his water sense, Tidal Wave looked around until he spotted a suitable candidate. “There’s a really big pond at the base of the stone incline leading up here. It’s a bit of a walk, but hey.”

“I should accompany the two of you just to monitor Spiral Galaxy’s magic influxes.” Quantum Tech said.

“Thanks, Quantum Tech.” Spiral said.

“When do y’all reckon Zebota n’ Shrapnel will return?” Kickback asked.

“Hard to tell. I imagine these wilds would be particularly foreign to them, so it’s not crazy to think that they’d take some time gauging their new surroundings.” Shroud said.

“Well in that case, Ah reckon Ah oughta go wait by the woods n’ make sure they get back safe n’ sound. If not, Ah’ll let y’all know so we can look for ‘em.” Kickback said.

Fire Fight nodded. “Sounds like we have a plan. Alright, let’s agree to meet at about….two in the afternoon where Spiral, Quantum and Tidal Wave are gonna be. That way, we’ll have a bit of a head start towards our goal. Sound good?”

“No objections.” Shroud said. Everypony else agreed. “Oh! And Fire Fight and I are coming to watch your duel.” She said to Air Slash.

They all then heard a mighty, familiar <caw!> resound from the Griffonstone skies. “Good, because the show might be starting sooner than expected.”

In the Woods Surrounding Griffonstone…

The grand serenity of the forest stood as firm as the city its wilderness hugged, and the only thing that caused it to ripple was the presence of the mighty alpha timberwolf and his mystic master stalking its lush fortress of mighty flora. The hunters that they were, the silence of the woods evoked by the presence of a predator was anything but foreign. If anything, it was the closest thing to a symbol of his high pedestal in the world of the wild, however immaterial. With his sling loaded and ready to fire, and Shrapnel ready to pounce, no potential prey was safe.

Even in this foreign land, the rules of nature applied all the same, and with the distant sight of a large buck grazing in a small clearing, the duo were ready to make their claim. All it took was a mere moment of eye contact with his beast to give the desired command. With a simple glow of his brooch, the wooden titan silently crept away from his master while Zebota crept his towards the buck. “Mei kifo wako kuwa mwepesi na bila mateso, kiumbe wa misitu.” He whispered.

After taking a second to gather his focus, Zebota took aim and swung his sling with precision that would make Bullseye proud. The sonic boom that followed the rock being flung spooked that deer so that it raised its head to look up, causing the rock to fly right into its neck. Its cries of agony were Shrapnel’s cue to crash through the bushes and deliver the final blow to his meal, which the buck could do naught to resist.

Zebota trotted over to his monster and their claim. Before Shrapnel took a bite of his breakfast, he let his master carry out one last prayer for the animal. “Je, si dharau sisi kwa hili, ndugu, kwa Nature ni mama kikatili. Hebu roho yako kurudi kukumbatia wake, na kuruhusu mwili wako kurudi duniani.” Satisfied with the last rites, he let his pet eat away at his well-earned meal. “Eat well, my friend.”

Shrapnel wasted no time chowing down, and Zebota watched in delight. It was then that he realized that he was feeling a little hungry as well. Looking around, he noticed a tree bearing apples of a golden hue. “Hmm….interesting.” he thought to himself as he approached the tree. Shrapnel then walked up behind him and lowered his head, no doubt sensing his master’s desire to harvest an apple and sparing a moment from his breakfast to do so. “Thank you, Shrapnel.” He said as he jumped on his titan’s head. With Shrapnel boosting him, Zebota was easily able to procure one of the apples, and Shrapnel promptly went back to his meal. Sensing that the apple wasn’t poisonous, Zebota took a bite to find that the fruit’s glamorous coat matched its rich taste. “Mmm! Perhaps I should harvest more of these for the others. Although…..they probably have plenty of food, and I should not take more than I welcomed to.”

He then suddenly heard Shrapnel lowly growling, and he looked back, his beast was looking up at something. “What is it, Shrapnel?” he asked as he walked up to him. Looking more closely, at the sky above him, Zebota could make out something slowly descending upon them. He readied his boomerang in case it was something dangerous. However, what revealed itself was something….odd. It was a metallic orb the size of a baseball that seemed to be glowing red from the inside and was inexplicably floating in place with no clear source of thrust. A small part of it opened up to reveal a lens that protruded out of it and eyed them.

The mystic duo remained cautious, but they weren’t sure what to make of their visitor. The encounter lasted for a short moment or so before the orb flew back into the sky, and the two eased up. “Was…..that Quantum Tech’s creation?” he thought. “Perhaps they are calling us back for some reason. Finish your meal quickly, my friend.” Shrapnel took a moment to check the sky again before resuming his meal, clearly sensing something sinister.

Comments

[KingJoltik]

Interesting. I'm guessing the metal orb has something to do with our last foal. Otherwise, feels like we're just setting up something with Valkyrie. Here's hoping the duel finally happens next chapter.

Spacing errors:

out the door.
Before Fire Fight

Whatever you say, fearless leader.” She teased.
With that,

[TCGnRPGfanJ]

8485238

I'm looking forward to meeting him. As for further critics, nothing much other than some nitpicks and quirks that I can contribute to your writing style/vision for the series, and the fact that you spent only 6 chapters in Ponyville with Firefight mostly acting like an outsider, and we're supposed to believe he has deep connections there is a bit of a stretch. There is one concern of mine regarding where this story is going, and that regards the length...

  After "Deep in the Heart of the Gorge" you responded to a question regarding how long you intend this story to be, to which you said about 150 chapters(8271373). As we are now rapidly approaching that mark, I really hope that that was just a guess off the top of your head. A lot of anime that I watch are series that have already finished, and I've noted a troubling trend from ones that last only one or two seasons, which I like to call "train-wreck endings". Basically most the story well-paced, and we get to know the characters, the world, and the conflict very well and are invested, but then the writers find themselves running out of allotted episodes and have to cram the ending of the web of subplots and the complex main conflict into the last 2 episodes. It's usually a mess and leaves me unsatisfied and/or completely overwhelmed.

For example, there was this Space Opera anime that was watching called Glass Fleet. I was enjoying it up until around episode 24, when I noticed the episode count, and foreseeing another Train-wreck ending I just had to step back and ended up not watching the finale. Now since I didn't watch the finale they might have stuck the landing, but I have a really hard time believing it. (Spoilers for nearly every major plot point leading up to the finale, but hopefully the length of this section alone will be enough to make my point.) After all, they have to explore the relationship between the main hero and heroine who finally hooked up; explore the emotions of the engineer who fell in love with the hero and already had her heart broken after falling out of love with the very heroine he hooked up with (before you ask, the main heroine started the series disguised as a man); see if the code officer who has had a crush on the engineer will finally confess and how she will react; settle the love triangle surrounding the main villain between the loyal aide who truly cares for him and the woman who he married for political reasons, who is developing feelings for him in part due to his manipulation; have the main hero and villain, who hate each other on a instinctual level, have their final confrontation and come to terms with the fact that they're twins and both sons of the late king, and the fact that the prophecy they've both been trying to decipher and the Villain has been trying hard to fulfill says they're supposed to rule together AND that Villain was supposed to be the velvet glove to the Hero's iron fist (despite the fact the Villain was convinced he was the iron glove); and settle the MAIN conflict and stop this worlds main religion, who's head is both behind the coup that killed the Hero and Villain's parents and is the Villain's father-in-law, from (and I know this sounds really wired out of context) from using their father's sword to literally drive their world into what is heavily implied to be a black hole. Not to mention any B plots I'm forgetting and anything they choose to throw in at the last minute. they have at most 2 episodes to settle all that and make it believable.

I'm not saying this should be some 700+ chapter Shouen series, but I would hate for this series to fall apart at the end. After all, not to put words in your mouth, but as far as I can tell from the story structure and promises you made, you have to finalize Valkyrie as a party member, recruit our final foal, give him some character development, finally find them their home base, you seem to be hinting at an arc with Shadow Shroud and the other Shadewalkers, settle the romantic subplots you have set up, their true confrontation with Twilight and the search party, the promised "badass" role of the CMC, the introduction of our big villain and his backstory, the foals choice to return to Equestria, and the final battle arc. My point is that this isn't a TV series or even a syndicated publication; you can make this story as long as you need it to be, so don't hamstring yourself with a deadline or chapter limit. Of course I understand you have a life and I don't want you to suffer burnout and leave this as another "in progress" fic that is never finished (lord knows how many of those I've read), but if you need a month off to recuperate, we are willing to wait (so long as you 1. let us know in advance and when to expect you back and 2. don't leave us on a cliff hanger). I guarantee that your readers would rather you take another 50+ chapters to finish this story well than take 10 chapters to rush to the end.

PS Apologizes to anyone who is reading this and got bored halfway through. When I feel I have something worth saying I have a hard time being concise.

[Sirdubya]

8495603
That 150 chapter statement was indeed a rough guess, and I definitely know what you're talking about with the whole anime trend. Rest assured, I have plans for each and every character, even the last one. Thank you, sir!

[KingJoltik]

8495603
I completely agree with you. I wish this thing has...I don't know, another 30 chapters at least. (50+ would be really nice though!)

[Ryuyu]

8499341
I was operating under the assumption that eating the resin was a sort of religious rite