The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Nopony Expects The...

"Excellent! You are learning quickly!"

Wallace Whitewing's gruff, studly voice filled the colosseum as he pivoted in midair, zooming toward an earth pony foe like a winged bathtub. "An aerial charge has far too much momentum to stop with brute force alone," he lectured as he dove, the earth pony widening her stance and preparing to intercept him. "Especially from a heavier foe, like me! You must sidestep and roll with your opponent's momentum, and use what weight you have to unbalance them and cause them to crash! Like... so!"

Maple and Starlight watched in interest as the mare fighting him did as he instructed, landing heavily on her side from the weight of his assault but also managing to grapple his shoulder and make him wobble. He could have avoided it, Starlight was sure, but instead he made a show of crashing, rolling head over heels and landing on his back near the edge of the platform. "Now!" he bellowed. "Strike while you have an advantage! Approach from the side, being wary of hind kicks and my lashing tail, and strike to wind me or incapacitate my wings!"

The mare vaulted toward him, hooves raised in a double-overhead slam, but didn't do enough to clear the kick he warned her of and was launched back several feet, missing her landing and hitting the ground in a pile. With legs like his, a full-force kick should have been more than sufficient to launch her off the dueling platform, if not all the way into the audience.

This was how every one of Wallace's fights since he disrespected Franz the unicorn had gone: he let his opponents get licks in, punished their mistakes without hurting or incapacitating them, freely lectured on what he was about to do and how to stop it, and still handily won without leaving more than bruises on either side. "He's helping his opponents," Maple whispered, watching as the earth pony got back up again. "Even while defeating them. Maybe I've changed my mind about him after all..."

Starlight didn't know enough about combat to tell whether Wallace's advice was sound, but he certainly seemed to know what he was doing. And aside from his first battle, he was never disrespectful in the slightest. Was he really just that altruistic? A tournament like this had to have a prize, so was he just that confident he could win it anyway, or did he not even want it? Starlight didn't have anything against helping others, but she wasn't sure she'd go that far to sabotage herself to do so, and definitely not do it with a smile on her face like Wallace.

"Look," Maple murmured, glancing away. "Gerardo and Shinespark are coming back."

With Slipstream flying above, the two searchers were indeed making their way toward Maple and Starlight's bench. Shinespark's head was down in defeat, but Gerardo pranced along with a spring in his step and a smile on his beak, leaving Starlight wondering what had happened.

"Ah, friends," Gerardo sang, bulldozing past the nerdy colt who had been loudly fanboying to himself ever since Wallace appeared. "I hope we did not terribly keep you waiting, but we have finally returned."

"Did you have any luck?" Maple asked, scooting over as Gerardo plunked himself on the bench and Slipstream settled along beside.

"No." Shinespark sighed, hopping down from a higher tier and sitting beside Starlight instead. "There were three different sets of guards, and we tried all of them. The Stormhoof ones were as polite as last time, but also didn't do anything. Then there were two visiting delegations. The Everlaste ones outright told us to leave, and the ones from Gyre..." She ground her teeth.

Slipstream shrugged, finishing for her. "They asked us to wait while they went to get someone, then didn't actually go get anyone and just made us wait as a joke. I haven't heard of Gyre with my help desk work in Ironridge, so it's probably not a major destination, and I guess that means there's nothing there and the guards are mad that their province is a dump."

"Gyre is one of the two provinces that border the Misty Mountains, so it is expectable that their defenders would be somewhat on edge," Gerardo countered. "That said, they were highly rude and gave me no inclination to visit during our trip. I suppose that makes one of twelve provinces we can cross off our list."

Shinespark slumped. "In short, we're stuck."

"Strange," Maple mused. "I think the announcer said that noisy griffon is fighting for House Izvaldi. Wouldn't they have a delegation here to support him?"

"Speaking of that noisy griffon, however, I bear good news as well!" Gerardo raised a talon and beamed. "Currently dueling is none other than Wallace Whitewing, founder and leader of the legendary exploration team W.M.D., and a great personal hero of mine. He has ruled the untamed wilds since I was but a hatchling, and stories of his deeds were one of the primary influences in my own decision to abandon heritage and luxury and seek the horizon myself. So, while our efforts to forestall national floundering and wasting of resources may have hit a brick wall, this is nevertheless turning out to be an excellent vacation."

"I know, right?" The nerdy colt perked up, attention triggered by Gerardo's admission of admiration. "Wallace Whitewing is the best of the best! With a single talon, he can bench press a hundred hot mares, and when he flexes, the sky turns..."

"What are you all doing here?" a familiar voice asked in Starlight's ear.

"Jamjars?" Starlight glanced over her shoulder to see her short-maned maybe-friend standing behind her, looking slightly cross.

Jamjars huffed. "I thought you were running around looking for the griffons in the castle to tell them about Ironridge," she pouted. "But instead you're all here hanging out. Does that mean you actually finished and I wasted my time getting someone myself?"

The conversation quieted, most of the others catching on to what Jamjars was saying. "Do you mean to imply you succeeded in our quest?" Gerardo asked, baffled.

Jamjars shrugged, pointing behind her up at a path down into the colosseum.

Starlight's ears twitched, and she suddenly became aware that the stadium had quieted. Was Wallace off the battlefield? Yes, but the crowd had grown silent as well, hushed murmurs and held breaths growing all around.

The direction Jamjars indicated showed what had stolen everyone's attention: a covered chariot pulled by four griffons in forest green and midnight purple armor soared through the sky, turning about and preparing a landing on a nearby balcony. The entire chariot was charcoal gray, covered in a web of orange lines that looked like cracked rock floating in magma, converging to form a complicated sigil on the door. Starlight was reasonably sure the lines were enchanted so if it was night, they would glow.

"...Jamjars?" Shinespark slowly asked as the colt sitting near them bolted, dropping his camera in haste. "Who did you bring?"

The chariot landed, and its door cracked open with a hiss of releasing steam. The orange lines pulsed... yes, they were definitely glowing. "What?" Jamjars shrugged defensively, looking cross. "You were messing around with lowly guards, so I went to a tourist station, found a list that said where things were, and looked up the word 'power'. Boom. I got you someone important, and it was easy."

Comments

[RoboRed]

...Jamjars...what did you do?...

[ZanyZapper]

Oh Jamjars - you da best!

Also it cracks me up how she just always goes off to do whatever and nobody seems to notice or care that she's gone! Not the most attentive foal sitters are they? Of course her mom was basically the same.

[Tcranch]

Jamjars.... I still hate you.... But I can't even right now

[sploopy slooder]

jellyjugs i love you but youre a small child. running off alone in a foreign country is a good way to be found dead in an alley.