The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Innovating Is For Winners

"So this is the way you came up with to power the ship," Valey remarked, standing on the Immortal Dream's beaten deck with her wings folded at her sides. "Can't say I've ever seen this one before."

"Technically, they came up with it," Shinespark replied. "Even if we connected a power source to the sea engine, the circuitry on the bridge is damaged, so we needed a new steering mechanism either way. And once the idea to use an external mechanism was raised..."

A flock of Equestrian guards wheeled overhead, pushing and packing clouds and fanning gusts into a miniature thunderhead. Wind streaks danced around it and the bottom crackled with threatening weather, but the pegasi were somehow able to command it, pushing it and moving the entire storm in repetitive practice drills.

"However they got that thing aside..." Valey scratched her head and turned to the prow. "Why do I get the feeling it's not just for a tailwind?"

Lashed to the front of the boat, using a complex harness assembled from materials the pegasi had spent a solid day ferrying back from their ruined fortress, two surviving brood beasts floated, both badly burned and treading water and looking like they wished they were anywhere else. An unhappy moan echoed from one, watching Valey from just above the surface.

"Lightning power," a pegasus Valey wasn't sure if she should recognize said, landing on the deck and nodding appreciatively at the storm. "These hooligans are smarter than most give them credit for. On land and all together, they have a big upper hoof, but they know they'll get the zap if they try anything now. Ever been struck by lightning while swimming?"

Valey squinted. "Yeah, I'll pass on that."

"Best for you to keep that sword nearby regardless," Shinespark mumbled in her ear. "The Equestrians are convinced this will work, but I'd feel a lot safer with you checking them as well."

"Eh..." Valey strolled closer and frowned, judging the tingling in her cutie mark. "They're definitely wishing they could attack us, but I don't think they're gonna for now? Bananas, pointing a storm at them is either ridiculous or cool, and I have no idea which."

The pegasus who had landed nodded firmly. "We've guarded them for years in the border fort. We know these creatures well, so don't you fret. Of course, with what you did to the last two, you probably wouldn't be fretting anyway, haha..."

"And will it matter that they look really explosive-fireballed?" Valey raised an eyebrow. "Keeping them in check is great, but we're not letting them on the deck to rest. If they give up and sink halfway through and we're stuck out in the middle of the ocean, it's not gonna be a fun time for us."

The guard shrugged hard. "They can swim well, according to ancient griffon lore, and we've never seen them get cold. You saw how they were swimming when they chased this boat."

Valey's face fell into a more serious look. "Actually, I only showed up after they got here... Never mind. Look, how fast are these guys?"

"On their own? Born hunters. Tied to a ship? Who knows?" The guard shrugged again. "We'll ferry the storm along in shifts and see how long it takes for them to get tired."

Nearby, another patrol was assembling, this one around Howe and Neon Nova. "Heading to the border?" Shinespark asked.

"That is our prerogative." Howe bowed. "Should the fates be willing, we will never meet again."

Neon Nova innocently whistled. "Though if we happened to, and you wanted to ensure it was a happy reunion, a token of goodwill or two wouldn't be amiss..."

"You're not getting a kiss," Valey replied, dismissing them with a raised wing. "Either of you. Don't even bother asking."

"Bold of you to presume what we want," Howe swaggered. "But have you forgotten our penultimate motivation throughout our adventures in Ironridge, notwithstanding keeping our skins in one piece?"

Valey glanced over her shoulder. "Pancake, there's a ton going on and I have stuff to do and it would be swell if you just packed it up and gave me one less thing to worry about."

Howe had no intention of obeying. "Our ancestral treasure!" he intoned. "Nothing other than two windigo hearts, one of which Starlight melted to slag."

"And the other was devoured by a windigo who hijacked our ship!" Neon Nova added with a wink. "So now we're heirloomless. And you just so happen to have four you aren't using... You never know when it's a good idea to have someone like us in your debt, am I right?"

Valey squared her shoulders. "From what I've heard, we wouldn't have had enough power to make it across the mountains without every one of these. Whatever we do next, we can never have enough."

"It was worth a try, my dear brother," Howe sighed, patting Neon Nova's shoulder. "Shall we away?"

"Are we waiting for you to return?" Shinespark asked the three guards who were with them. "They're getting ready to test the brood beasts."

The leader of the trio shook his head. "Someone needs to keep recon on the pass. We won't be able to stop anyone who passes through, but there are few enough we can find resources to survive."

"Fair enough." Valey shrugged. "That mean you don't have the resources to get Gazelle and Meltdown back where they belong...?"

"Her Majesty indicated that she wished the Prince to be kept in her company a while longer," another pegasus cut in, soaring to a landing. "As foreign royalty unable to act under his own agency, he and his entourage will be treated in accordance with her wishes. The Prince stays with us."

From above came a cry, and the pegasus formation changed, a team of eight surrounding the cloud on one side and pushing its burgeoning mass through the sky in a swift, practiced streak. One who was overseeing drifted down, nodding at Howe's group. "Everypony has had a chance to drill," he reported with a feathered salute. "We wait only on you."

Howe and Neon Nova gave one last, intent look at Valey and Shinespark... and then one grabbed the other and together they flew, surrounded by guards, swiftly toward the northern horizon.

"There," Shinespark said, sparing no words for the duo. "See what this plan can do, but follow the coast after we pass Griffonstone for at least a day. I want us to stay close in case anything happens."

The pegasus formation shifted again, a crew of eight maneuvering the micro-storm to their backs and fiddling with it until a heady gale was blowing against the ship. Four more hovered out over the front, the brood beasts watching unhappily from the waters.

Whatever commands and gestures the leaders used, they were understood. Something jolted at the boat, nearly throwing Shinespark off her hooves, and it began to slide slowly forward as a splashing sounded at the prow.

Slowly, the boat picked up speed. The beasts were strong enough to tip and jostle it when it was on land, and its hull provided less resistance against the water than it did the hillside. Several other ponies emerged from below to watch, Gerardo along with them. But the acceleration didn't slow, the beasts pumping their hairy arms and cloven hooves in broad butterfly strokes, until the ship was almost skimming.

"How...?" Valey stood by the shattered railing and lifted a wing, feeling the wind trail under it. "Bananas, how are they pulling us so fast?"

"Magic, a tailwind and fear for their lives," one guard replied. Two thirds of the pegasi had landed, and most were filtering below to rest before their own shifts. "The same way we can fly with stubby little things like these." He showed off a wing of his own.

"Species magic," Shinespark said, standing at Valey's side. "They would need to move quickly if they were hunters."

"Or for fleeing," another guard added. "Lore says they were once master thieves who raided, plundered and fled into the night. They can move quickly through any type of terrain, including the sea... or so they say."

"Or being tied up," Shinespark added warily. "As many contingencies as we have, please be careful."

Valey bit her lip. "Honestly, there's one last thing that's sort of spooky about this."

The guards eyed her.

"Didn't you guys have a big war with the griffons for keeping these things locked away?" Valey raised an eyebrow. "How utterly thrilled do you think they're gonna be if this brood is down to two survivors now, and they see you running away with them? It's not like we aren't extremely obvious out here and in plain sight of their city."

Another guard chuckled. "That should hardly be an issue, miss. Their vigilante force completely exhausted their strength fighting the brood before we even engaged them. We still have our numbers, and would see any attack coming from miles away at sea. And soon, we'll be far enough beyond their lands for it to matter at all."

"Yeah... I'll say." Valey eyed the city, figuring what had been a multi-day walk for Gerardo would likely be passing by within minutes. "Well, let's see how this goes."

---

A dusty roof covered a dusty platform at the base of a dusty mountain trail, the train tracks leading up and ending there looking slightly duller than they had several days ago. But the griffon who sat atop the roof was the same, his suit battered and damaged but the same sparkle of distaste in his gray eyes as he stared around, up at the city and at the lands around.

On the horizon, a ship slowly rounded a corner, chased by a storm cloud and sporting no mast or sails whatsoever. Gunther flipped a sound stone lazily in one talon, sighed, and got up, wincing slightly at a pain in his legs.

"Didn't see things going this way any time soon," he muttered to himself, swinging by his tail and dropping to the ground as he pocketed the stone. "Maybe I'll tag along at a distance. Can't be any less interesting than waiting for this place to get itself in order, can it? And besides, I owe that lot a thing or two..."

Comments

[Phoenix Kitten]

Well hey, needs must and all that.
Farewell Pancake and Blueberry, you shall not be missed.

[KMCA]

9916240
Don't worry, they'll be back. That or they already stole the hearts before they left... and we'll probably be seeing them again when they get in trouble... Then again they had a pretty sweet gig when they caught up last time, so we might be surprised.

[Oberth Effect]

We know these creatures well, so don't you fret.

Next chapter: "We've never seen them do anything like this before! Help!"

And you just so happen to have four you aren't using... You never know when it's a good idea to have someone like us in your debt, am I right?"

If I remember correctly, they weren't that helpful when hired by Maple in Ironridge, so it's not exactly like they have shown themselves to be that useful in the past... Right up until they reveal themselves to be Varsidelian royalty or something. Still curious to see how they fit into the larger plot.

"How utterly thrilled do you think they're gonna be if this brood is down to two survivors now, and they see you running away with them? It's not like we aren't extremely obvious out here and in plain sight of their city."

Oh, so the guards managed to kill the other three? Wonder how they managed that, given the explosives they were using didn't seem to have much effect earlier. Perhaps they were holding back earlier because they had ponies to protect, and with the Immortal Dream gone they could pull out more destructive weaponry?

And here's hoping Griffonstone doesn't have long-range artillery or some larger force beyond Gunther's group.

[Czar_Yoshi]

9916648
There were five in total. One got incinerated by Glimmer's harmony comet and two drowned after Valey paralyzed them with the black sword, these are the two the pegasi successfully led away from the Dream.

[Oberth Effect]

9918035

For some reason when I read this chapter I thought that these were the two that Valey paralyzed, but it makes more sense that they drowned like I thought earlier. Totally forgot about the decapitated one to be honest. Thanks again for clarifying!