Tales of the Battle Foals

by Sirdubya

Ghastly Search

Air Slash’s head was pounding. All was completely black and his senses were inactive. Yet for some reason, he could feel…..comfort. Whatever this comfort was, it was coaxing his senses into stirring. “…ka…?” His consciousness was slowly coming back as his senses reactivated. “A….ou…….?” He could feel his body lying on something soft, there seemed to be sunlight, and he could detect a soothing aroma in the air around him. But….was there somepony calling out to him? “Are you okay? Please, open your eyes.”

“Wha…..huh?.....Where……..Where am I?” Air Slash’s vision finally regained focus, and he was met with a slightly startling sight.

“Oh, good. You’ve awoken! You had us all so worried.” The soft voice of an earth pony filly his age who sat before his aching body spoke to him. She had a beige coat, a wavy, chocolate-colored mane and tail, and soft violet eyes that bore no ill will. She seemed to be wearing some kind of robe that was turquoise colored and had silver-colored lining along its edges. Her Cutie Mark depicted a vitablossom, a pink and white tree hibiscus known in Equestria for its excellent potency as an herbal medicine for many ailments and first aid. The filly gently grabbed Air Slash’s hoof. “Can you stand? You and your friends seemed quite hurt when we found you floating down the river.” She spoke very softly and with motherly care in her tone.

Air Slash was certainly a little startled by his sudden surroundings, but he could immediately sense that this filly meant him no harm. He let her hold his hoof as he staggered to his hooves. His body ached a little from being assaulted by nature, but his lifelong training had granted him a sturdy spirit; he wasn’t so easily broken. He looked into the filly’s gentle violet eyes and warm smile. “Er….y-yes….um……who are you? What is this place?”

“I am sister Greensprout, and you’re in a place of peace and harmony, brother.” She answered.

‘Sister’ Greensprout? Was she some kind of monk? It would explain her rather odd apparel. “H-Hello, er….Greensprout. I….I-I am Air Slash of the clan Bladerunner.”

Greensprout gasped. “A Bladerunner? My goodness! I don’t think we’ve ever had such a visitor before.” She said. Her smile then disappeared. “But it seems that you’re still hurt. I would implore you to rest some more, Air Slash.”

“Huh? Oh, no no no. I’m…..I’m quite fine. Th-Thank you though, Greensprout.” Air Slash stammered. He was conflicted. On one hoof, he wanted to figure out just where he was and find his comrades, but…..he hadn’t realized yet, but…..he had never seen a more beautiful filly in all his life! He could feel his cheeks burning red hot as though Fire Fight had punched both of them with his gauntlets ignited, and his breathing became slightly heavy. It wasn’t until he looked down a little ways that he realized that he was still holding her hoof. Despite the code of honor that he was born into, he couldn’t find himself wanting to let go. “Where have you been?” he whispered.

Greensprout leaned her head in a little closer. “I’m sorry?” she asked.

“Where ha….uh-uh-uh-uh!....are my swords!? Yes….uh…..where are my swords? They were not lost to the river, were they?”

Greensprout smiled. “Oh! <giggle> No, Air Slash.” She let go of his hoof, much to his dismay and walked over to the other end of the room. “They’re right here. You were wearing them on your back, so they must be yours, yes?”

Air Slash trotted towards them happily. “Yes. Thank you.” He said as he put his scabbard back on with swords in tow. This gave him an opportunity to observe the room he was in more closely. It was a very….traditional room. He could see that he had been lying of an old style of futon with wooden and screened walls surrounding him. There were sliding doors leading into a closet and probably outside too. The windows also slid open and let lots of sunlight in. In the corner of the room was a burning incense that gave off that soothing aroma. Wherever he was, he knew he was safe, but it begged the question…. “Where are my friends?”

Greensprout went over to the rooms entrance and opened the sliding door. “I think they might still be resting, but maybe they’ve awoken by now. Come with me.” She motioned for him to follow as she exited the room.

Air Slash happily followed Greensprout and walked right at her side through the hallway, occasionally glancing over at her nervously. He could feel his cheeks blushing again. Despite his captivation with her, he knew he had to look for his friends. “So….what is this place?”

Greensprout giggled as she approached a bigger sliding door. She opened it. “This is our humble abbey, Air Slash. Welcome to Gardenia.” The sunlight faded out to reveal a peaceful village surrounded by lush plant life with crystal clear rivers running through it into the river where the presumably were found unconscious. Foals played blissfully in the gardens and streets, farmers sold the freshest-looking produce Air Slash had ever seen, and more ponies wearing the same kind of robe that Greensprout was could be seen peacefully meditating and praying in various locations.

Air Slash was awestruck by what beheld him. If he didn’t know any better, he’d almost swear that Fire Fight had succeeded in building his utopia without him! “Air Slash!” Speaking of which….Air Slash looked to see the red colt running towards. “Dude, you’re awake! You were out like a light. I guess Greensprout here took care of you?” he asked.

Fire Fight was thankfully still with his armor and gauntlets, much to the proud smith’s delight. It was even more delighting to see his friend alive and well. “Yes, friend. I am relieved to see that you’re alright. What of the others?” he asked.

“They just got up too! We’re all okay, but…..I guess Kickback, Quantum Tech, Zebota and Shrapnel didn’t get hit by that bolt, huh? We need to go look for them.” Fire Fight said.

“Oh dear. You got separated from your friends?” Greensprout asked.

“Yeah. Thanks for helping us, but we need to go gather the others.” Fire Fight said.

Air Slash’s eyes widened. “W-W-W-Wait!! Wh-What’s the rush!?” he hurriedly asked.

Fire Fight exhibited some surprise. “What do you mean ‘what’s the rush’? Our friends could be in danger, Air Slash! Come on! I know you have more honor than that!”

Air Slash glanced back and forth nervously between Fire Fight and Greensprout. “Well, yes, but….Do we know where this place is in relation to where we last saw them?”

Fire Fight cocked his eyebrow. “Dude, Ghastly Gorge is just up the river. We floated down here after we got hit by that lightning bolt.” He said bluntly.

“Oh my word!” Greensprout exclaimed. “You’ve all been through so much!”

“Yes, we have. We cannot thank you enough, Greensprout.” Air Slash said. He smiled nervously at her while blushing.

“There you are!!” They looked over to see the remaining foals running up to them. All of them were also with all of their armaments and being followed by an elderly stallion wearing the same monk robe that Greensprout was. “You guys okay?” Spiral Galaxy asked.

Before any of them could answer, Crazylocks pounced onto Fire Fight. “FIRE FIGHT! YOU GOTTA HELP ME!! THEY TOOK THEM!! THEY TOOK MY WOUNDS!! THOSE WERE MY WOUNDS!!” she screamed frantically.

Fire Fight had to shove her off of him. “Crazylocks, they were helping you.”

“JUSTICE FOR LOST WOUNDS!!” Crazylocks declared.

The old stallion chuckled. “My! Aren’t you an eccentric one?” Crazylocks glared at him and hissed loudly as she backed herself into a wall. The old stallion was suddenly a little off put. “What might be the problem, young madam?”

Shadow Shroud went over to her to comfort her. “It’s ok, Crazylocks. You’ll get new ones…..trust me…” Something about her tone made it sound like she was pretty sincere. “You’ll have to excuse her, sir. She’s…..impaired…..severely.”

“I don’t know ‘bout ‘impaired’, but homegirl just a li’l wild.” Turf War said.

“A little, Turf War?” Spiral said.

“Greetings, abbot Meadow.” Greensprout said.

They all looked up at the old stallion. His gentle smile radiated calmness amongst the whole group. “Hello, young Greensprout. I trust all is well with this last one?”

Greensprout nodded. “Yes. He tends to stammer, but I believe that his senses are simply still reconstituting.” She said.

Air Slash found himself gazing at her once more. He was able to contain his blushing better, but little tints of red were visible. “Damn, son. You good?” Turf War asked.

Air Slash was broken out of his trance. “Huh!? Oh! Um…<ahem>….y-yes, of course.” He tried to keep his cool while Greensprout stood there confused. Spiral seemed to catch onto what was going on and started snickering a little. Shadow Shroud then caught on and gave him a devious smirk. Air Slash was doing his best not to lose his temper in such a peaceful place and in front of Greensprout.

*****

As the morning dawned, the three foals and timberwolf began to stir. Kickback had managed to use some gunpowder from one of his bullets to start a fire, and Quantum spared some ingredients stored in her mech to cook. Zebota and Shrapnel monitored the storm as it passed before passing to bed themselves. Much was on their mind right now, namely where their friends were and the state of the relationship between two forces. “Y’all ready to head out?” Kickback said.

Quantum Tech and Zebota were facing away from each other as he said that. Zebota was facing out towards the canyon while sitting under Shrapnel while Quantum inspected her mech. They both looked at him. “Oh! Yes, darling.” Quantum said.

“We shall go.” Zebota said. Shrapnel lowly grunted. The mystic duo eyed the mechanical-minded filly with disapproval as she climbed into the cockpit of her deadly machine.

Quantum could feel their eyes as she activated the rest of her mech from inside. The sounds of engines starting up filled the small cave that they occupied. She sighed. “All systems: operational….” She said sorrowfully. She gazed for a moment at the interior of her cockpit. She never meant to create a WMD, but yesterday served as hard proof at the sheer destructive potential she held with all the knowledge she had filled her head with over the years. How far was she willing to go? How far could she go? She didn’t want to become another Gene Splice and be at the wrong end of Shroud’s kunai…..even though she’d deserve it in the end. Shroud was right to warn her. Moving forward was all she could do now, but she had a wall between her and Zebota to break down.

Quantum walked her mech outside and scanned the downward trail ahead. She found that it was stable and nowhere near close to collapsing anywhere. “Okay, we should be good to travel down from here.” She said.

Zebota sighed with annoyance. “The spirits just told me that….” He said as he retrieved his thrown boomerang.

“Oh…..good! Then….we are on the same page….” Quantum said nervously. Zebota didn’t seem amused.

Kickback grimaced. “Here we go….” He whispered to himself. “Tell ya what, Ah’ll take point while y’all two cover the back. That way, nuttin’ can surprise us from behind. Zebota n’ Shrapnel should be in the back since they’re more agile and junk. Sound good?”

Quantum giggled. “Sure thing, handsome!” She cooed.

Kickback rolled his eyes. “This is fer the greater good….” He whispered to himself.

“That is sensible, my friend. Very well.” Zebota said. He levitated himself up into Shrapnel’s chest and followed suit.

“’Least Ah got ‘em to agree on somethin’.” Kickback whispered to himself. He knew that he’d have to take Fire Fight’s place. Carefully, the small group treaded down the mountain trail and into the pit of the gorge. The scenic view of the waterfall and the natural design of the gorge itself was breathtaking. Mists created from the water hitting the bottom made for quite the spectacle. As they neared the bottom, it became more and more wet from all the deposition. But even nature’s beauty couldn’t quell the tension between Quantum and Zebota. Kickback could tell that they still weren’t too keen on eyeing each other. “Hmm….this ain’t gonna be easy.”

They finally reach the bottom of the ravine and had access to much wider ground so that they didn’t have to stand in a straight line. They began scanning around and calling out to their friends. So far, nothing. The gorge was desolate with only local birds to answer them. Their echoes rang out into oblivion across the rocky ravine. Quantum then happened to turn around to face the waterfall.

“Hmm?” Her infrared scanners suddenly picked up something beyond the wall of mist at the foot of the waterfall that resembled a pony. Whatever it was just stood where it was and just stared at them. Quantum Tech observed it for a moment before it suddenly disappeared behind the waterfall. “Huh!?”

“What is it, you fool?” Zebota asked.

“B-Behind the falls! Th-There was….something….”

“There was nothing. Now, let us continue.” Zebota said. Shrapnel huffed at her.

“Take it easy, you two. Ah don’t reckon Fire Fight would too happy none to see y’all yappin’ like bad neighbors on Neighbor Appreciation Day.” Kickback said. The other two eyed him curiously. “It’s a li’l somethin’ that we do in Dodge City to cherish one another. Really helps to settle disputes an’ all.”

“Well, holidays will not heal the forest that Quantum Tech wounded.” Zebota said.

Quantum was becoming a little frustrated with Zebota. “Perhaps, though had it not been for your little storm, we would not be in this predicament.” She hissed. “Our friends could be safe and sound with us, and we could continue our journey without pause. I’d say that’s more pressing.”

Shrapnel leered and growled at her and Zebota leered with him. “What a shame it is that your ‘technology’ could not save them. I had to call upon the spirits to save them!”

“Well, bless the water spirits’ hearts that they were kind enough to help! The other one saw fit to try and fry us into a gala feast!” Quantum argued as she pointed one of her railguns at Shrapnel.

Zebota raised his boomerang as Shrapnel reared back. “Yes, and not the forest around them like a mad scientist!”

“Who are you calling a mad scientist!? Oh, right! The same zebra that enslaved a poor creature of nature in a fit of rage from said creature slaying his parents! And in a ‘fair contest of survival’ might I add!” Quantum shouted.

“Shrapnel is my friend! That is far more than what can be said of you and your artificial abomination!” Zebota shouted. Shrapnel roared.

The two were pretty much at each other’s throats as they argued up and down. Things were getting intense as Quantum’s mech seemed to power up and Zebota’s brooch glowed as Shrapnel growled and roared more fiercely. Kickback had seen enough; he drew one of his guns and removed the silencer.

<BANG!!!>

The startling noise shut the arguing forces up as they looked over at Kickback, who was pointing his gun in the air. “Now y’all two listen here, an’ you listen good!” he said as he placed the silencer back onto his gun. “Ah’m gonna tell ya more about the night Ah lost mah mama…” he took a deep breath to calm himself and to remember his late mother. “Ah fired that shot that night. Ah took mah mama’s life. Ah couldn’t look in mah pa’s eyes for a long time. Seems like that’s all that really mattered, but lemme tell ya somethin’. There was certainly more to it. Ah ran up to mah mama while pa was cradlin’ her. Ah’d never been so ashamed of mahself in mah whole dang life. What was she gonna say? Was she gonna die spurnin’ her son fer endin’ it all so soon?.....No….mah mama was a kind mare. She knew how to forgive. She knew how to smile even if the desert got a bit too hot, an’ ya know what? She never let go of that, even at her last breath. Ah’ll never forget her dyin’ words to me….‘Ah promised that Ah’d always love you….that Ah’d love everypony. It’s ok if they never loved back, but those that do are truly the ones that the world was meant for’. Ah know that mah pa didn’t exactly adhere to that so well, but he simply forgot about the mare he married, and only remembered the son that took her from him. If y’all too are gonna spend the rest o’ yer lives rememberin’ each other like mah pa remembers me, that’s fine, but Ah hardly reckon either nature nor technology would be too happy havin’ to share the same bad apple.”

Kickback’s speech sank into the techno-filly and mystic zebra. Zebota never had the luxury of hearing his parents’ dying words since Shrapnel was busy mauling them, so to hear such a tale was….somewhat heartwarming. Quantum hadn’t felt such love from her own parents since she attained her Cutie Mark, hence why she abandoned them. The two looked at one another in guilt. Even Shrapnel had eased up and let out a couple whimpers. While they might have still been a little mad at one another, they couldn’t deny the truth behind Kickback’s words.

Quantum lowered herself from her cockpit and walked over to Zebota and Shrapnel. “It seems….that we’re both childish…..yes?”

Zebota sighed. “Yes….Even if nature is in balance, it falls to all that is in it to maintain that peace….however difficult it may be. You cannot deny that we both went to the extreme.”

“I’d say ‘extreme’ might be putting it lightly.” Quantum said. Shrapnel whimpered and lightly nuzzled her. She reached up to stroke his jaw and sighed. “Is he perhaps saying that he agrees with me?”

Zebota smiled and shrugged. “Meh. Close enough.” The two shared a little chuckle. Shrapnel then licked them both.

Kickback smiled and tipped his hat seeing that his work was done. He took a deep breath as his thoughts drifted towards the sky. He removed his hat and held it over his heart. “Thank you, mama….” He whispered. He put his back on and continued the search with Quantum Tech, Zebota and Shrapnel along the ravine of Ghastly Gorge…..unaware that they were being watched…..

Comments

[KingJoltik]

Huh. I seem to remember last chapter I said that Kickback would make them get along again...huh.

Also, looks like Air Slash is in trouble now. I wonder if he'll have problems staying with the group after meeting this 'nun'/healer/monk, I guess? About time the group gets a healer either way. I suspect Quantum can't fully fill that role with her being busy with her mech suit.

Anyways, another error:

You cannot deny that we both went extreme.”

I suspect you mean 'went to the extreme'

Also, the paragraph where Quantum looks at the waterfall needs to be separated from the other paragraph. Probably a fimfiction error.

[Sirdubya]

7964992 I initially meant just 'extreme', but thinking about it, your suggestion flows better.

[KingJoltik]

More errors:

“I am sister Greensprout, and you’re in a place of peace of harmony, brother.”

Greensprout, you like using 'of', don't you?

he knew he was safe, but the begged the question….

Same with 'the' in this one.

I think they might be still resting,

Switch still and be.

[speedking535]

Turf War is the best pony in the group thank u for making this bad***!

[KingJoltik]

Found another few errors:

There were not lost to the river, were they?”

I think you mean they at the start.

Yeah. Thanks for helping us, but we need to gather the others go.”

Didn't finish the sentence here.

[Umbra Animo]

Its always around this point i lose the mental images of what the foals look like