The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Party

Maple sighed as Amber disappeared from the window, and turned to Starlight. "Well, I guess-"

Thump.

She raised both eyebrows as Amber climbed back inside. "You," the yellow mare began, seating herself on Maple's counter and folding her forelegs, "might wanna go check your porch."

Slightly nonplussed, Maple turned down the heat on the gravy and softly stepped down the stairs. She crossed the darkened interior of her store, eventually reaching out a hoof and swinging the door open. "Hmm?"

A very wet griffon stared back at her, standing a respectable distance away... but no further. Gerardo bowed. "I do wish to apologize for anything I may have said or done that was unbecoming. Is there any chance this is a better time? I am, as you can see, in a slightly uncomfortable position."

"Uhhhuhummm..." Maple laughed nervously. "No, that was my fault. You can come in. Sorry." She waved him in, at which he gratefully rushed past. "It's rude to enter others' homes without asking, though."

"I gathered as much," Gerardo said wryly, beelining for a stack of towels and rubbing his head and face against them. "And before you ask, fear not, I didn't smash any of your crockery in search of money. That's one stereotype even I won't be living up to any time soon."

"What?" Maple squinted, tilting her head.

"You friend Amber invited me here, for the record," he said before the conversation could continue in that direction. "I felt I should mention that sooner this time."

"She's upstairs. She told me." Maple kept her distance from the big griffon as she spoke. Regardless of her intentions of hospitality, she still felt a significant awkwardness around him. "Did you really do that for Starlight?"

"Your filly?" Gerardo blinked, shrugging off his sodden garment and hanging it next to the towel rack, the clattering of steel emanating as he did so. "If by that you mean giving that fraud at the river a piece of my mind, indeed I did. That isn't to imply that I'm not grateful she saved my ship, nor that I'm unfamiliar with the circumstances that can cause one to want to lie low, of course."

"So..." Maple began warily, keeping her curiosity in check. "Amber said your ship is broken, but you say it's saved. What happened there?"

Gerardo sagged slightly. "More precisely, what has been saved was the cargo aboard it. I am, or at least was, making a delivery, you see. As for the ship, its core components and hull appear to be intact, but the cabin was completely smashed when that crane fell on it. I'm afraid I will be stuck here until it can be returned to service."

"Okay." Maple hesitated, unsure of where to go next. The griffon was still dripping, but she could invite him upstairs... or go look for more towels. Thanks to Amber, the kitchen was already wet, so his sogginess probably wouldn't make a difference.

Suddenly, the door breezed open and a large mare in a long raincoat walked through. Willow tossed off her hood, preparing a cheery greeting... then stopping in her tracks, eyes widening at Gerardo. "You're here?" she managed, sounding nearly breathless.

"Willow?" Maple tilted her head. "What are you doing here?"

Willow composed herself with remarkable speed. "I heard from Amber that Starlight had had a hard day and wanted to come see if there was anything you needed, but..." She shook her head.

Gerardo blinked concernedly nevertheless at her. "I hope I haven't managed to offend again."

Forcing his concern back with her stare, Willow stood her ground... then swiftly glanced up at the stairway, catching a yellow head retreating around the top. "Amber?" she called, smiling like she had caught a naughty foal. "Is this your fault?"

"No promises," Amber replied, lazily backstroking down the stairs. "Sure would be a shame to let all three of us being here with an awesome adventurer go to waste, though, wouldn't it? Maple, I sure hope you made a ton!"

"If that's an invitation to stay, I do have nowhere else to be," Gerardo helpfully volunteered. He hesitated, and added, "Technically, Hemlock invited me to borrow his residence for the time in compensation. I told him to go jump in the river."

"C'mon, Maple..." Amber pleaded from behind the counter. "This is actually, literally a once-in-seven-years opportunity. Let's have a party and stuff! We can be the luckiest mares in Riverfall tonight!"

Maple sighed, smiled, and let go. "All right. Come on upstairs, everyone. I'll get extra started."

---

Three mares and a griffon sat around Maple's small upper-floor table, warmed by lighting, hot biscuits and general good cheer. Gerardo beamed broadly, firing off answers to questions as rapidly as they came, with Willow, Amber and Maple asking whatever came to mind between bites.

Maple sat back and sighed, feeling much better than earlier now that Starlight was sound asleep in the bedroom with the door shut tight and her friends were all present. She was still working off her surprise and annoyance toward the griffon, but for the moment felt much better. Swallowing, she asked, "So, you talked about llamas before the river? What were they like?"

"Ah!" Gerardo twirled a biscuit on one talon before devouring it whole. "The llamas live in a port city far to the north. I'd tell you its name, but the city is run by a council who gives it a new name each and every day. I suspect them to be insane, blind adherents to tradition, or both."

"I've never seen a llama," Amber belched, licking gravy from her plate. "How big are they?"

Gerardo shrugged. "Quite a bit of variance. Between ponies and griffons, I would say. Of course, if I'm the first griffon you've seen as well, that can't be a perfectly good reference."

"About that..." Maple licked her lips. "I thought you were red earlier, but you look sort of blue now. Does being wet change your coat?"

"This is my natural coloration," Gerardo responded, stretching a blue-gray wing for emphasis. "I imagine what you saw before, if from a distance, was my coat, which hopefully won't end up shrunken."

"Oh. Yeah... Sorry about that..." Amber bit her lip. "Probably should have been there too when you turned up, huh?" She munched the end of a green bean pulled from the gravy for emphasis.

"Think nothing of it." Gerardo calmly spooned himself more gravy, adjusting his talons carefully to use the utensils designed for gripping by pony mouths and hooves. "I'm sure this town has a tailor somewhere I could get something new at. Perhaps black would look good on me? I have been meaning to try a new look..."

"I have a question," Willow asked, putting down her drink. "Have you heard the legend of Blazing Rain? We were having an argument earlier over how much of it is true."

"Now there's a legend ponies are good at putting spins on." Gerardo sipped from his own, eyes increasing in intensity. "The pegasus who stopped a Yakyakistani civil war forty years ago. The closest anyone has come since times of legend to saving the world. There's no doubt she existed."

"Forty years?" Willow leaned forward with interest. "That's not outside living memory."

"Saving the world?" Amber practically vibrated. "That's the part that's true?"

"Yakyakistan is built predominantly on top of a large glacier," Gerardo narrated, setting down his food. "That glacier, according to legend, happens to be the resting place of a race of demons known as windigoes. Windigoes are said to feed on hatred and strife, so if a war transpired in Yakyakistan..." He drew a talon ominously across his throat.

Amber had stopped eating, watching him with wide eyes. Maple and Willow still politely chewed, making as little noise as possible.

"Whether or not the windigoes even exist beneath the glacier is indeed up for debate," Gerardo continued with significantly more levity, "but what is certain is that the war was snipped in its infancy and the windigoes did not come out."

"But what about the magic?" Amber asked, gauging the amount left in the pot. "She had special powers, right?"

Maple smacked her hoof away. "Save some of that for Starlight, please."

As Amber shook her sore hoof, looking more hurt than she really was, Gerardo answered, "That's difficult to verify, considering the only witnesses were members of her band and yaks. It is, in turn, impossible to tell who really accompanied her when it is such a tempting position to lay claim to, and the yaks are..." He stared upwards thoughtfully. "An interesting bunch, to say the least."

"So, have you ever been south of the mountains?" Maple asked casually, preparing a bowl and setting it aside for Starlight.

"The mountains?" Gerardo blinked. "Which ones, if I may?"

"To the south," Maple said, doing her best to keep her tone as innocent as it had been. "From here. The tall ones."

Gerardo shook his head ruefully. "I'm aware they aren't as infinite as some lore makes them out to be, but crossing them remains truly impossible. Travel east or west as far as you please, there is no way around them. The distance and altitude gain make them insurmountable to even the best-equipped airships. And if the height of technology cannot conquer them, what hope do lone adventurers have?"

"But they have tried, haven't they?" Maple consciously kept her ears straight. "And just failed?"

"They've been trying for thousands of years," Gerardo laughed. "The most successful barely scratched the foothills. One did discover the natural formation upon which Ironridge was founded, however. I imagine that worked out nicely for him!"

Amber, Maple and Willow shared a look among themselves, and instantly knew what the others were thinking. "...So!" Amber chirped, before the silence could get suspicious. "Could I get a rerun of how you battled those mercenaries to buy your boat?"

Comments

[AppleTank]

Amber replied, lazily backstroking down the stairs.

What

[Mini-Joe]

9016014
ooze horse

[Quinch]

9313740
The mental image is definitely... something, either way.

Also, wouldn't utensils designed for gripping with a mouth kinda... defeat the purpose?

[Backlash91]

Griffon!!!!

Griffin griffon griffon griffon griffon!

Am happy floof now.

[Merula]

Well, there goes heading south

[bronyheat]

Well wendigos are definitely getting involved at some point then. Better find a way to get a message to RD, I hear she's got some experience kicking their icy butts. Sacrifice of virtues and an entire continent is optional but encouraged.

[Venlinelle]

It occurs to me that no one here likely knows that the sun and moon are controlled by a pony hundreds of miles away. Boy will learning that be a shock.