The Equestrian Gourmet

by Gamel_Lightshow

Meeting

Author's Note:

I forgot to proofread this 😐

Richard couldn't believe his eyes. He wouldn't believe his eyes as food falls from his mouth at the impossible sight before him. He shouldn't call it impossible, but he can certainly call it unlikely. He would stand if not for the fear and anxiety crippling him further than his mana withdrawal has already, but a single finger raises from his seated position towards the three figures standing in the doorway. One he can safely say he has become accustomed to in the late days of recovery, but the other two are foreign beyond belief.

Well, he can't call them too foreign. After all, he already knows there names just by looking at them. Above both of the figures flanking the right and left of Celestia are humanoids like him with their names on full display above their heads. Underneath that is the class and beside that are their levels which, he might add, are much higher than his own. He hadn't been able to do anything other than rest and speak to the passing nurses and doctors, but their levels are absurd to him. The right one being twenty-one and the leftmost one being twenty-five as if it's completely natural to be well in the twenties. He can't help but consider the possibility that he's been slacking at his duty on getting stronger if people like him are already this high in levels.

Of course, people like him don't mean exactly like him since they certainly don't look anything like him. The right one resembles a more well-built version of a proper minotaur he would see in movies and shows. He visage is very muscular without a single thread of clothes to cover his bruised chest. The class is called Shield Defender and he wields a very daunting silver shield on his right arm that covers a large portion of his arm and body.

The tower shield, if his memory serves him correctly, is painted silver with the shape of a circle in spikes of red in the center of it. The lining of the shield is painted gold and the entire thing seems to radiate a power much like the creature it's attached to.

The person in question standing to the right of Celestia has longhorn like horns protruding from the side of his head and pointed forward. They're light brown and swirled from the tip all the way to the base of his head where jet black hair sticks out wildly from his light brown head. He has a bovine snout that goes covered in fur like most of the rest of his body that's uncovered. He eyes are a dull green and cow-like ears flop every so often on the side of his head.

The next thing to catch Richard's attention is the Minotaur's hands. They have three fingers and a thumb attached to very large palms. Richard wonders for a short second if the palm of the MInotaur's hand could cover the entirety of his own face.

Despite no shirt, his pants are more like armor, silver to match the shield and looking to be made of not only cloth but some sort of metal integrated with the material in question. They reach all the way down to his black hooves that seem to move without making any noise indicating either a spell or some sort of wear underneath his hoof to help with the noise of clopping one would expect.

Either that or Richard had grown used to the sound long ago.

The next figure is lither in figure giving away feminine curves despite the black, silver, and blue cloak that masks the body except for the head and hands. The class seems to be "dark mystic" and her hair is very long and tied back into pigtails with what seems to be dark energy bands in place of a rubber band or whatever hair product used to keep the hair in such a style. In size, she would probably stand somewhat smaller than he would but more on eye level to Alicorns. Her eyes are a very deep purple with what looks to be a deeper shade of purple, almost black, lining her mystic eyes. Whiskers sprout from above her lips that are pulled up into a very wide smile as her cat-like ears twitch here and there. Her hands are the same as the Minotaurs except for the white hair that grows along the back of her hand and down into the sleeve. Her feet are properly covered, but Richard assumes that they are mostly cat-like since most of her features would hint at it.

They're not human to say, but they're human enough for Richard to feel both relieved as well as startled at the current situation. Their human traits are easy to make out and can be mistaken as one of his kind at first glance for the most part. But what really strikes him is their names. The cat-like one named Liloth and the Minotaur called Armon share the same name as the one that had appeared in the chat room while he had been unconscious. He could chalk this as one of the very surreal dreams he has been having, but the food that lays wasted in his lap would have to disagree.

Richard opens and closes his mouth wordlessly trying to come up with anything to say.

"Good morning to you too," Celestia says walking further into the room and levitating an apple from the rather large wooden basket from the center of the long table that could probably fit a least ten of the Alicorn, "I see that you're recovering well. They told me to expect a full recovery from you in a day or so."

"Y-Yeah..." Richard says watching as Liloth walks into the room following behind Celestia while watching him with those purple eyes of hers.

Armon on the other hands stands by the door as Richard slowly returns his finger to his hand and his hand to the table. Armon just seems to be looking Richard over as Richard had looked over them. Armon's expression seems stoic and unchanging before he seems to decide to enter the room and takes a seat towards the middle of the table laying the shield against the wood. The other one takes a seat beside Celestia who sits right beside Richard at the head of the table. Richard and Liloth look at each other as Celestia bites into her apple with a satisfying crunch.

"So." Celestia asks after what seemed to be a full minute of silence and staring, "I'm guessing everyone here knows one another?"

"Not in the slightest other than a name." LIloth says with the voice of that of a pampered teen, "The name is familiar, but can't say I've seen a face like that at all. Furthermore, he doesn't seem to be a Neko."

"I see. And he certainly isn't a Minotaur or a ponykin." Celestia says nodding her head, "But you already know each other's names?"

"Yeah." Armon speaks out in a deep bass, "It's one of the few things each of us seem to understand about this world. There's a place where we can all talk secretly and discuss things. But also we can see each others name, class, and level above each other's heads."

Richard nods his head slowly listening to the two while wiping the dropped food off of him. The appetite he had from earlier is all but gone as the room seems to be tense. Celestia seems perfectly at ease with the situation, but that probably goes with being in a situation like this. Probably.

Celestia finishes off her apples before levitating the leftover to a nearby garbage can, "You know you two can eat anything you see that might look good."

"Ate already," Armon replies.

"I'm more of a carnivore than a herbivore," Liloth says smiling to show off her long canines.

"Noted." Celestia says looking Richard up and down, "So remind me again what your race is called."

"Humans. The basic makeup that leads to their subspecies I suppose. Unless it's some sort of evolution into what I'm assuming from cow/bull and or cat. I could be wrong since it's only an assumption." Richard says trying not to stare at the people that usually only exist in stories and shows.

"Well on to the next stage of business since we don't have to worry about full introductions, do you all know what you are doing here and do you know anything of the recent events that have happened? We'll start with Armon and have his input."

"Yes. My people have chosen me as their champion and have sent me here in order to combat the demons that may be laying waste to this land. They told me that there would be a few others to help me, but I hadn't realized they meant people from other planes of existence. I thought they meant the people of the land would help me, so please excuse my surprise."

Richard tries to keep a calm expression as internally he feels himself growing panicked. Apparently, it wasn't at random? Does that mean he got here not on his own? Or was there something already set before his time? He can feel a headache growing very fast.

"As far as the creatures go, I only know that they are supposed to lay waste to worlds if left unchecked. I hadn't realized they show up as they do since none of the champions ever seem to return to the homeland. This is the final and greatest quest and way of death of my people. We believe that through this, ascension is guaranteed."

"Nyaaa~ That's just adorable! A cult of Minotaurs!" Liloth suddenly cries out at the end of Armon's talking, "We really must come from different worlds if this is perfectly normal for you."

"Why don't you talk next than," Armon says crossing his arms.

"Gladly." Liloth says standing and walking to the other end of the table proudly, "Good morning everyone! Unlike Armon over here, I arrived here semi-willingly. I was working on an experiment when it sort of blew up in my face. Upon happening, I began to stumble away before falling into my assistance spell circle during his preparations for the second part of said experiment. Upon falling into it, the magic holding it in place as well as the magic inside of it went off and boom. Here.

I won't go into the inner workings of the whole process, but I somewhat got the desired results. Though the circle was meant to only making a viewing port into a world and not actually displace someone." Her expression goes from something of joy to that of irritation while talking all while her tail flicks here and there.

"So it's safe you know nothing of the creatures attacking?" Celestia asks.

"I wouldn't say nothing. I can sense the magic pouring from the portals and it definitely feels familiar. Which is the only reason I knew how to dispell it after awhile in the first place. Of course, there are some very foreign parts about it that don't make a sense when you look into the smaller part of the construct of the spell."

"Thank you for your input. Remind me to clash what I know and what you know later in order to see if the foreign parts you speak of are merely the natural magic of Equestria or something more." Celestia says nodding her head.

Liloth nods her head and returns to her seat with quite a smug expression. Celestia than turns to Richard and waits for him to speak.

"I... I don't really know what to say. I mean about how I got here and everything. I just got home from visiting a friend and I went to bed. Then I woke up in a grave and dug my way out full of desperation and panic. I know nothing like you guys do since this all seems to be quite random."

"Well, that's boring," Liloth says flatly propping her head up on the table.

Richard sinks back into his seat wondering if he should've just made up a story to tell them. Some brave and heroic like Armon or something like an accident like LIloth. He can only sigh inwardly as the time has passed.

"Sorry to disappoint."

"Nyaaa... You look like you say that to all the ladies."

"I think that's quite enough." Celestia says staring at Liloth, "Now, it seems that Armon has some sort of idea about the creatures pouring through. I'd like to focus on the creatures and the portals they come through in order to better benefit us all so we may take them out as efficiently and as easily as possible to reduce the damage that may be caused by them. Last time, multiple of these portals opened here, in the forest, in several cities, and of course one in every major capital outside of the borders of pony-kind.

"I'm curious. How did you two go about getting rid of the creatures and the portal itself."

Armon stands up picking up his shield and backing away from the table. The shield suddenly changes to show inch long spikes all along the front of it.

"Through various skills and a beam that can be shot from our hands. I'm the defender and have various skills to help protect people and deal damage. One such ability is shield bash and spike shield."

"Me on the other hand." Liloth says smiling wide, "Am a sorcerer of the dark arts and one of my abilities is life drain. Very useful, but unfortunately it requires me to be pretty close to my enemies. Luckily my natural dexterity keeps me out of harm."

"Very interesting. So tell me, did you learn these skills on your own or did you have to read up on them?" Celestia asks looking Armon's shield over.

"They are all skills that we've gotten from one branch or another of abilities we can use whenever we gain enough experience or levels. Every five we can pick a new one with no foreseeable end in sight."

Richard suddenly shoots up, "What!?"

Liloth frowns, "Please tell me you don't know what we're talking about. Have you not been using your abilities and menus right. I guess that would explain your level of all things. Not as high as mine, because no one here can be as great as me, but pathetically low."

"Shut up! You act like this is completely normal."

"N-Nya! Did you just tell me to shut up you worm!" She yells shooting up from her seat, "You best watch yourself, Chef!"

Armon shakes his head as Liloth and Richard stare daggers at one another.

"Both of you calm down! I'll not have you both raising your voice against one another like this. This is a time of danger and co-operating with one another is a must. Now all of you sit down and please walk Richard through the process of acquiring such skills."

Hmph." Liloth says plopping down into her seat followed by Richard and Armon.

"Thank you." Celestia says shaking her head lightly.

"He has a point I guess." Armon says, "It would probably catch someone like him off guard after having to crawl out of a grave. I guess I can try to do my best to help you out.

"First go into the menu. Next, find your name and basic stats and such. Underneath that should be your class and level. Beside your level should be a yellow arrow. Click that and it should pull up a tree of skills that seem to stretch on forever. From there you should be able to pick at least three skills to help you."

Richard stares at the branches before him. As the Minotaur had said before Richard were branches of various skills he could gain with the bottom ones not looking too great. He figures they'll only get better as time goes and tentatively reaches his hand to the middle of the three main branches and watches as one of the yellow numbers at the bottom of the screen disappears.

He's able to get three abilities in all from this. The first being Instant Cooking Fire, the next being Green Thumb, and the last being Fire Enchant. It's pretty nice all things considered. The first allows him to create a fire for cooking anywhere he goes, the next ability allows plants to grow healthier and produce better food for ingredients, and the last one lets him embed fire into the food to increase certain stats and decrease certain stats which means even more experimenting. He nods his head and gives thanks to Armon who simply nods back.

"Great! Now this beam you said that closed the portal. How did you two go about this?" Celestia asks.

"Well, it wasn't us that came up with the idea. It was Beatrix, but she left at the first sign of someone discovering her. She said to be careful about the citizens of this world, but so far things have been pretty nice." Liloth states.

"And I'm assuming you don't know where this Beatrix is."

"You assume correctly."

"Can you reproduce the beam right now?"

"I've tried and it only seems to work when there is a portal. Speak of the portals, they seem to be only minor ones since a true demon never came out. Only minions. So it's probably just starting all things considered."

"That's foreboding..." Richard mumbles.

"You would be accurate. I believe its time I put in some of my knowledge as well. I've been alive long enough to see this happen once, and I'm not about to allow ignorance destroy what I and all the others have sought to set up. So let me be the first to call you by the proper title of all those that may and or have come before you. Each of you are Mytherils.

"Through one mean or another, you have been cast into this world. The process is usually random or on purpose. When chosen, the Mytherils are meant to stop the coming of a great evil that will not only destroy this plane but all the others that are now connected to it from your worlds. So Armon's people have the right idea of sending a champion through in order to prevent disaster on not only their plane but all the other planes as well. The number of Mytherils are always random, but last time there were at least over one thousand of your kind and almost every one of them died.

"Not all of them were good and not all of them were evil. They stood side by side in order to cast out the greater threat that loomed over all of us. I ask that you do the same in order to prevent your world and ours from being destroyed."

Celestia stands after dropping the information and makes her way past the small group and towards the door they had entered from, "I understand that this is a great task I'm asking you to do and I shall give you all time to-"

"Not needed. My people sent me here and I will not let my homeland be destroyed." Armon says with ease.

"Well, I don't really care honestly. My people saw me nothing more than a scapegoat at times of great tragedy. I'd love to see all their smug faces as skeletons. Do you think I could strike up a deal with whatever evil we have to face?"

"Are you serious!?" Richard blurts out looking bewildered at the Neko, "You can't be serious right? Just people treat you a certain way doesn't automatically label them for life or death."

"Depends on whose issuing life or death I say." Liloth replies rolling her eyes, "Besides, what's a race compared to everything else. Planes of existence come and go you know. Science and magic go hand and hand and can do some pretty amazing things. I'm sure, in a century or so, we could easily remake all of this if we put our best foot forward."

"That's my people you're referring to as being able to remake." Armon says leaning against the table and glaring at Liloth, "Perhaps I should have let you died to the fiends."

"Yea, Cause that would've solved things. Listen, Celestia. I understand what you're doing, but let's be honest. If you already know what's going to happen and what needs to be done. Let us not beat around the bush. I wanna sit one on one with you and really talk everything over from survival rate to if we will receive anything from actually beating this evil bad.

"I'm sure you guys want to do the right thing, but I want to do what's best for me. If nothing other than destroying can be done, sure. But I want to be open to all options. If this is a magic we can use and harvest, I'm all up for using it various types of ways and seeing if it works. Especially if it makes me stronger and allows me to go home."

"You're sick," Richard states leaning away from her.

"And you're dull. Let's keep stating the obvious."

"You son of a-"

"Enough! You, Liloth. We shall have the talk as you like. I figured one of the Mytherils would most likely have this way of thinking. I have a few things to show you. Seafoam will be around to take you back to your room Richard, and I'll have someone show you to your room, Armon. I'll personally escort Liloth myself."

"Oh goody!" Liloth says hopping up her tail moving excitedly as she approaches Celestia.

Richard closes his eyes and lays his head down as the door closes leaving only him and Armon together.

"Her words are unkind, but she means well. She's just nervous and doesn't do well outside of a seat of power. She is mearly trying to assert dominance over you."

"Well it's working..."

"Give it time, Richard. The day will come where we will all have to work together. For better or worse and overcome this challange."

"I hope your right Armon. I really hope you're right."