Little Ponies Lost

by Al-1701

Chapter 6: The Wizard Wantall

Wind Whistler felt a pang of guilt when Daniel said he would be taking Danny and Molly to look for his extended family. His explanation for the decision was perfectly logical. The ponies were unable to provide for their omnivorous dietary needs, and being with family in a time of crisis was more comforting. Still, Wind Whistler could not excise a nagging feeling she scared him off with her outburst.

The others were more thrilled to be visiting a Horse People trading post, able to do the shopping and investigating they could not because of the harpies. Arriving at the trading town also chased away Wind Whistler’s concerns with growing curiosity.

The Horse People were as Daniel had described. They had manes of varying shades of reddish-orange, green eyes, and pink skin with splotches. The women and girls wore frilled overalls over blouses and slippers on their feet they could easily get into leather boots for riding.

However, there were other kinds of humans as well. Along with the fair and blond Boreans, there were people of varying shades of darker skin with black hair and dark brown eyes. They traded in spices, citrus and other tropical fruits, and fine fabrics for local furs, temperate fruits, and ores.

“It’s certainly active,” Truly commented.

“During the late spring and summer, peoples from the southern lands will come to these port towns to trade with the northerners. During winter, the opposite is true as Boreans will travel south for trading,” Daniel said. “I see there are some dragons and diamond dogs here too.”

“Dragons, diamond dogs, where?” Sparkler looked around. There were no massive reptiles in the skies or knuckle walking canines in the outpost.

“There.” Daniel pointed.

There were a few members of a reptilian species in workshops. One of them lifted up a metal blade with tongs and exhaled a stream of blue flame on it until it was red hot and held it to an anvil. They picked up a hammer and began striking the blade, sending sparks from it.

Some canines occupied stalls selling jewelry but weren’t the hunched over, top heavy brutes Equestria called diamond dogs. They had an upright posture and more balanced proportions with boxy muzzles, long tails, and long ears hanging down the sides of their heads. The males wore gray coveralls with jeweled buttons and helmets with lamps built into the front and females wore colorful dresses with jeweled broaches on their chests. A group of them were standing around a table examining one’s collection of raw rubies, sapphires, and other precious gems.

“Will wonders never cease,” Buttons said. “I can see the resemblance, but they’re nothing like what we called dragons and diamond dogs.”

“Anyway”—Daniel turned to the three-story building in the center of the outpost—“I’m going to talk to the local record keeper to see where my sister’s family is living. She moved higher in one of the branches since I saw her last.” He turned to Danny and Molly. “Stay with the ponies and don’t get into trouble.”

“We won’t,” the two said together.

Daniel disappeared into the building.

“So, where to first?” Cupcake asked. “I saw a vendor for dry goods.”

“I actually want to talk to those ‘diamond dogs’ about their gem mining,” Sparkler said.

“Just be careful.” Truly eyed the canines suspiciously. “If they’re anything like the ones in Equestria, they’re nasty things.”

“Equestrian diamond dogs would never think of selling their jewels,” Sparkler said. “That’s something different right there.”

The others dispersed into the town. That left Wind Whistler alone, and she took in her surroundings. The town was built on a moraine, a ridge of debris left at the bottom of a glacier. As Daniel had described, it choked the fjord off with a river feeding into it from higher into the valley. The fjord was so short she could see where it reached the open ocean.

Boats bobbed next to the wooden docks. Many were the long, shallow boats built by the Boreans, but there were ships of other designs as well.

There was so much to take in, but Wind Whistler decided to go watch these ‘dragons’. They were certainly smaller than Equestria’s dragons, averaging around two meters in stature not including their tails. They were wingless and lacked other flourishes of the dragons she was familiar with. They did not have fins at their ears and their tails came to a simple point. Their nose and mouth were also boxier and less beak-like.

Aside from breathing fire and standing on their two hind legs, they had more similarities with the lizard family. The shape of their head and claws were indicative or monitor lizards, but the spines running from the top of their forehead to the tip of their tail was a hallmark of iguanas—the spines being much smaller and more rounded than those of Equestrian dragons as well. There were the ears too which were almost mammalian in their shape.

“I haven’t seen a dragon make a sword.” Danny ran up to join a group watching the dragon blacksmith pounding on the blade.

“I want to watch that one making glass.” Molly pointed to a female dragon behind a booth with several glass sculptures on it. The dragon was the color of wood ash with bright orange spines that almost seemed to glow compared to her dull scales.

She was breathing a gentle flame on a chunk of glass in her gloved hand and using tongs to pull it into leaves. Wind Whistler noticed her flame ignited only halfway up her mouth and never touched any part of her. She had a few onlookers including seven juvenile dragons that could make their own rainbow if they stood side by side in the correct order.

She stopped the flame and the orange glow of the glass faded to reveal the vanes of red glass inside the clear exterior. She stuck out her forked tongue at the glass several times in quick succession, probably gauging its temperature. “Now, the more opaque glass cools slower than the clear.” She picked up a small tube. “That means we can insert air channels.”

She stuck the tube into the center of the leaves and blew, causing the vanes of bulge slightly.

“Now for some dew drops.” She pulled out the tube and picked up another with one end flared. She stuck the narrow end in the glass and breathed fire into the flared end. The vanes started to glow from the heat.

She picked up a small pin and pricked a vane. A glowing, orange bubble of glass expanded into a tiny sphere. She did more on the leaves and it crated the appearance dewdrops were sitting on the leaves. Deeper or shallower pricks made for different sizes of bubbles. It must have been a craft that took years to master. She finished and showed the work to the onlookers who clapped.

“Way to go, Mom!” one of the juvenile dragons, purple with green spines, cheered.

“Thank you, Spike,” the female dragon replied.

She placed the newly made sculpture down on the table with other beautiful crafts made of colorful glass inside clear outer coatings.

Wind Whistler motioned to the blacksmith workshop where Danny had gone. “We should retrieve your brother.”

“All right,” Molly grumbled. She turned back to the dragon. “That’s really beautiful.”

The dragon and her sons waved. “Thank you, little girl.”

The blacksmith shop several meters away was far noisier as the smith pounded on glowing metal. He was working on a long sword, and had a crowd of his own watching.

He turned it more into a show as he pounded on the sword so hard the hammer would bounce up and he let it land on the anvil to absorb the remaining momentum. When he had to turn it, he would spin it. However, it was probably also to check the balance. He would also use his tongue to check the blade after the blade had lost its glow.

Applause came when he would hold up the blade and bathe it in his blue flames. The blade became red hot and he would start pounding it again. When he was finally finished, he attached its hilt and dipped it in a bucket of water that hissed and steamed from the heat.

“Enjoy the demonstration?” Wind Whistler asked as they approached Danny.

“That was awesome!” Danny declared. “When I’m older, I want a dragon-forged sword. Maybe even one made of their light steel.” He mimed swinging. “I’d like to see the harpies try anything if I had one of those.”

“As a flying creature myself,” Wind Whistler said, “I can tell you melee weapons have limited effect on an airborne enemy no matter how well crafted or refined the materials composing it.”

“Besides, the dragon over there was putting dew drops on a plant,” Molly added. “That’s way cooler.”

“Whatever,” Danny scoffed.

“There you two are.” Daniel walked up to them with a piece of paper clenched in his hand.

“That was quick,” Danny said.

“The record keeper had little to do,” Daniel replied. “I found where your aunt is, and we can take a boat there right now.”

“Do we really have to go?” Molly asked despairingly. “I know we can’t go home, but we could stay with the ponies.”

“If you are leaving because of my prior behavior,” Wind Whistler said, “I deeply apologize and wish you would not leave us believing there is any animosity.”

“It’s not that,” Daniel said. “We can’t impose on you, and I should let my sister know anyway.”

Wind Whistler bowed her head so Daniel could take the locket. “I guess I should return the locket.”

Daniel held out his hand. “Keep it. You’ve done more with it than we could.”

Wind Whistler picked up her head, than pang of guilt returned. “Then I guess this is goodbye. We will continue our efforts to rescue your daughter.”

“Thanks.” Daniel ushered Daniel and Molly towards some small boats on the valley side of the moraine parked by a distant building. “Come along, you two.”

Molly turned back to Wind Whistler and waved. Wind Whistler waved back.

No sooner had they climbed into a boat that was pulled away by two horses on the shore, than the others came up to her with a cart hitched to Bow-Tie and Posey loaded with goods. There were sacks of flour, sugar, salt, jars of some basic species, several bolts of fabric, boxes of colorful ribbons, bandages, iodine, basic medicines like penicillin, and one tiny crystal cactus in a pot.

Paradise flew in and showed Wind Whistler a book displaying a title in runes, but including some that were not from the keyboard. “This is a translation dictionary from Old Borean to modern Common.”

“I assume Common is the name of the language being spoken here,” Wind Whistler replied.

Paradise nodded. “It’s convenient it mirrors Equestrian so well.” She held up the book. “And with this, I can translate the books in the library and the labels on the machine as well.”

She showed took out a piece of paper she had folded in the book. “I also made a chart of the sound value for each rune.” She had drawn thirty runes and under it was a symbol for the sound in Equestrian, including the phonetic letters not used in normal text. “Both are purely phonetic alphabets, so every rune represents a specific sound.”

“Glad you found something to do.” Wind Whistler was more of a mathematics pony than linguistics. On the subject of math, she looked at the pile of goods and tried guess how much all of it cost. “Did you spend all twenty kilograms of silver?”

Cupcake shrugged. “Only a little more than five. Though, Sparkler didn’t buy any jewelry.”

“This world’s diamond dogs are nice enough, but their prices are insane,” Sparkler said.

“So, they left?” Cupcake asked.

Wind Whistler nodded and felt a pit in her stomach. “They’re going to stay with Daniel’s sister.”

Cupcake sighed. “That’s too bad. Molly is such a cute little girl.”

“They say it’s for the best,” Wind Whistler said wistfully. Which was true, but that nagging feeling she had done something wrong was still gnawing at her.

* * *

Returning to the castle and not having anything in particular to do left Wind Whistler alone with her thoughts which centered on Daniel and if she was out of line. It would not be the first time she ruined a relationship before she realized what she had done. Friendships were fleeting and fragile for her, shattered before she even picked up on there being a problem. It would also not be the first time someone told her it was not her fault to her face only to later discover it had been because she had said something or not said something or done something that did not register as significant to her but offended them.

How could she absorb academic facts readily, but have so much trouble reading others? It was like she had told Blueflower the previous night. The social setting was such an irrational minefield just looking to blow up in her face, ponies expecting her to always behave perfectly even if they seem to freely display their fault with an expectation of them being ignored. This was why Wind Whistler did her best to avoid it. It could not harm her if you are not in it.

She also had the problem of the harpies and the captured girl. Twice they had encountered the harpies, and it was a tenuous victory against one of their weaker members and a hasty withdraw from just three of them. If they were going to save her, they would need to confront the harpies directly. They did not even know where they were based, so they had literally nothing to even start on.

There was also not much to take her mind off of these concerns. With the mystery of the machine solved, there was not much about the castle that required too much scientific or logical thought. They were making themselves at home in this castle. Powder had finished making ice blocks for the refrigerator room, and Cupcake wasted no time storing the milk and eggs she had bought.

A possible mystery was how a castle could be so well maintained and furnished and yet completely devoid of any foodstuffs. The refrigerator room was room temperature and completely dry when they found it, suggesting ice was never put in it during the winter. There was not even a block of salt in the kitchen, but it had every appliance, container, and utensil you could think of in immaculate condition. The whole castle seemed like a museum piece meant to be seen rather than lived in.

“You look worried,” a voice said.

Wind Whistler turned around and saw Shady step out of an alcove and push her sunglasses from over her eyes to their usual place in her mane. She thought she had hid her expression of her concern, but apparently not well enough. “How can you tell?”

“I’ve seen that face too often in the mirror,” Shady replied. “I worry a lot. I had actually gotten better about it. I had a steady job, a circle of friends I could trust. It wasn’t the best, but it was stable. Now I’m on an alien world with a bunch of strangers and killer bird creatures, and that worried face is back. Are the harpies as bad as I’ve heard?”

“They’re two and half meters tall, have sharp talons for hands and feet, and carry longbows that loose arrows longer than you are tall,” Wind Whistler replied.

Shady swallowed and slouched to make herself appear as small as possible. “We’re all gonna die. I just know it.” She shifted her eyes from side to side and trembled. “They’ll find us and slit all our throats. And that’s if they’re generous enough to make it quick. I don’t blame you for being worried.”

“It’s actually not them I’m worried about,” Wind Whistler said. Well, they were one thing that worried her, but she had more immediate concerns. “I fear I have destroyed a relationship through my actions.”

“You faced down those terrible creatures, and you’re worried about a ruined friendship?” Shady asked.

“Call me strange,” Wind Whistler sighed. “Other ponies typically will.”

Shady shook her head. “Oh! I’m didn’t mean it that way. I actually admire being able to face danger without fear. I wish I could.”

Wind Whistler was going to respond, but realized it would be rather odd and uncomfortable to carry on a conversation in the middle of a hall. “Do you want to have lunch together?” she asked. “It would be more comfortable to converse in the dining hall.”

“Sure,” Shady replied.

* * *

Wind Whistler picked up the tray of grass and flowers. She could hear cheerful singing coming from deeper within the kitchen.

“So many fishes left in the sea,” Cupcake sang. “So many fishes, but no one for me. I’m thinking, I’m thinking of cooking a love, soon after supper is done.”

Wind Whistler put the tray down. “She seems particularly jovial since we returned,” she commented to Sweetie.

“She was over the moon—both moons—once she put flour and sugar in a bowl,” Sweetie replied. “She started baking cookies immediately, and said they’ll be a treat for dinner.”

Wind Whistler sniffed the sweet scent wafting from the kitchen, and her mouth started watering. “Do you know what kind?”

“Just simple sugar cookies,” Sweetie said. “Still, it’s something other than grass.”

Wind Whistler sniffed the air again. “And they smell delicious.”

She picked up her tray and took it to where Shady was sitting and set it down opposite to her. She sat down and looked to the vibrantly-colored earth pony.

Wind Whistler paused as she tried to think of a good way to break the ice. “What part of Equestria did you come from?” Hometown was probably a good start.

“Mareami,” Shady answered. “You?”

“Cloudsdale,” Wind Whistler said. “What did you do for a living there?”

Shady motioned up with her eyes to her sunglasses. “I sold sunglasses. The sun is really intense down there, so you need sunglasses to protect your eyes. I had a vendor’s booth in the visitor’s center.” She slouched. “Though, it’s probably been taken by now.”

Wind Whistler paused as she tried to think of what to say next.

“What friendship do you think you ruined?” Shady asked.

That worked. “I fear I was too hostile towards Mr. Williams because he didn’t tell us the full story of Boreans and the harpies. He’s taking his children to find his extended family. He said it’s because he can’t stay with ponies, but I have this fear he is mad at me for it despite his claims otherwise.

“It’s happened in the past.” Wind Whistler showed Shady her symbol of pink and baby blue whistles. “I was rather late getting my symbol. I pursued various academic fields believing my intelligence was my special talent, but when I succeeded I did not have a symbol to show for it. It didn’t appear until one of my friends was in an extended feud with another pony. My friend was clearly in the wrong, and when I sided with the other pony, I realized my special talent was using logic to remain impartial and not give into to personal or emotional bias. However, what good is gaining a symbol when you lose one of your few friends. She never spoke to me again, and made her other friends purposefully ignore me.”

She gave a shrug. “I knew I was right, but how they treated me still hurt. Since then, I’ve avoided becoming too attached to other ponies and try to keep my opinions to myself. It seems like no one cares what I have to say anyway, so there is no reason to waste my breath.”

“She doesn’t sound like a friend,” Shady said. “She sounds like someone who just wants to be around ponies who agree with her. If she was a real friend, she would have appreciated you pointing out she was wrong.”

“Now that you mention it, that did seem to be the state of her little group,” Wind Whistler replied.

“And Daniel is going to stay with his family now that he can’t go home,” Shady said. “It’s what I would do in his position.”

“Which is the logical reason,” Wind Whistler replied. “I had tried to explain that to myself, but you helped me get over apprehensions of fully embracing it. I mean, he left his late wife’s prized heirloom with me. I doubt someone not intending to see us again would do that. Thank you.”

“Glad I could help,” Shady said. “I can actually relate with not getting my symbol for so long.”

She showed the glasses with dark blue rims and white lenses decorating her haunch. “I didn’t get it until a morning when my dad forgot his sunglasses. I was worried his eyes would be damaged, so I rushed them to him before the sun came up. I felt like it was what I was meant to do, so I now I sell sunglasses.”

She sighed. “Though, I have no sunglasses to sell, and there are only few ponies even if I did. I’m completely useless here.”

“Don’t say that,” Wind Whistler replied, hoping she was coming off as comforting as she intended. “You just helped me gain a new perspective on a negative event in my life that had impeded my development of relationships and stating my opinions. Perhaps your talent is broader than you believe.”

Shady looked to her and mouth bent up in the smallest grin. “Would you be willing to help me?”

“You helped me,” Wind Whistler said. “It only seems fair.”

“And I don’t care if you think I’m wrong and say it,” Shady added. “If anything, I prefer someone who’s honest and I can trust to tell me like it is.”

“You will certainly have it with me,” Wind Whistler replied.

“And maybe you can help me be fearless,” Shady said.

“I wasn’t without fear when I faced the harpies,” Wind Whistler replied. “I was actually very afraid of them. I just didn’t let my fear lead into blind panic and thought my way through the problem.”

“Still better than I would have done,” Shady said.

“Hey, Wind Whistler!” Fizzy trotted up to the table. “Who’s your friend?!” She turned to Shady who was leaning away. “Hey! You’re that pony I saw earlier this morning!”

Shady looked to Wind Whistler. “Do you know her?”

“Fizzy and I met last night,” Wind Whistler answered. “She’s energetic but harmless.”

Fizzy nodded. “I hope I didn’t scare you,” she said in a softer voice.

“I’m just jumpy being around strangers,” Shady replied. “I’m not sure who I can trust.”

“You can trust us,” Fizzy said. She extended her hoof. “I’m Fizzy as you could have already guessed.”

“Shady.” Shady hooked her pastern cautiously with Fizzy’s and take a shook.

“I hope we can be friends,” Fizzy said.

Shady smiled. “I would actually like that.”

“Too it’s bad they didn’t bring me along this morning,” a voice stated proudly. The white unicorn with a red streak in her dark green mane stepped up onto a table with several ponies watching. The purple maple leafs of her symbol were striking against her pale coat. “If I had been there, I would have blown those harpies into next Tuesday.”

An aqua aura surrounded her horn and the energy started to spin around it like a small tornado. The chandelier directly above her twisted and swung in the wind she created. “They might have scared some pegasi, but they’ll rue the day they come against Gusty!”

“Leave it to a unicorn with wind magic to be such a blowhard,” Wind Whistler commented.

Fizzy snickered. “That’s a good one.”

Wind Whistler grinned. “It was, wasn’t it?”

“I wish I was like her,” Shady said. “She’s not afraid of anything.”

“Everyone is afraid of something,” Wind Whistler replied. “Either that, or they’re a fool. Regardless, she hasn’t faced the harpies directly, so she really doesn’t know what it’s like to be in the sights of their longbows. It’s easy to be brave when the danger is only conceptual.”

Gusty must have overheard as she hopped off the table and trotted up to them, glowering at Wind Whistler specifically. “Do you doubt my abilities?” She got almost nose to nose with Wind Whistler.

Wind Whistler had never been much for physical confrontation and avoided it when she could. “No,” she replied. “I just believe you are underestimating our adversary which is dangerous.”

Gusty turned away from her. “When I meet them, you’ll see who’s dangerous.”

A dull, electronic chime came from several points in the dining hall at one. Everyone flinched and looked up towards the ceiling and walls. “What was that?” Shady asked.

“HEY EVERYBODY! WE’VE GOT AN INTERCOM!” Surprise’s voice shrieked around them. Wind Whistler joined with everyone else in ducking her head and pinning her ears back at the piercing scream.

“Don’t yell into the microphone, Surprise!” Magic Star’s voice scolded but sounded farther away. “Do you want to make everyone deaf?”

“Sorry about that,” Surprises voice replied sheepishly. “I just got a bit excited over getting it to work.”

“You have to wonder how we’ve managed to survive this long,” Cherries Jubilee commented to Sundance next to her, but loud enough to be heard by others.

“Assuming you can all still hear, yes this castle has an intercom system,” Magic Star’s voice came from speakers hidden among the beams and stone. “That means we can broadcast regular announcements and other information. Any white panels you see also access the intercom in case of an emergency."

“We’re certainly making ourselves at home,” Shady said. “All the supplies you brought back were paid for with silver out of the castle’s vault.”

“It was rather shocking there wasn’t even evidence of food being in that kitchen for months, but the vault was practically bursting at the seams with real treasure,” Wind Whistler said. “Silver coins, gold bars, precious stones—it must be the equivalent of a few milliards of bits in there.”

“That’s convenient,” Fizzy said.

“It’s also worrisome,” Shady replied. “What if someone owns this castle and they come back for it? What if they throw us out or accuse us of stealing when they find out we used their money?”

“For the love of—” Gusty grumbled. “Do you do anything but predict doom and gloom?”

“I’d sell sunglasses if I had them,” Shady answered.

Gusty grit her teeth and exhaled a groan.

“I am inclined to believe this castle was recently abandoned,” Wind Whistler said. “We’ve been here for three days with absolutely no sign of the previous inhabitants. There would be at least some evidence of them.”

“Why is everything is such good condition then?” Shady asked. “And who would leave that much money just lying in the vault?”

Wind Whistler shrugged. “Who is to say the money has not gone unnoticed for an extended period of time and multiple owners. We only learned of it because Surprise gets into everything and Sparkler is good at defeating locks. The underground chamber had definitely not seen a soul for centuries if the dust down there is any indication.

“As for the castle’s condition, preservation magic might have been used,” she continued. “Maintaining a castle this size would require substantial resources and personnel otherwise. It might have ceased being a dwelling and is instead an exhibit which would explain the lack of food stores.”

“In the middle of nowhere?” Shady asked.

“Or an item in a collection,” Wind Whistler answered.

“And if someone owns the castle, they could be nice and glad we’re staying in it,” Fizzy said. “There’s plenty of room, and we’re taking good care of it.”

“You can beat your gums about theories”—Gusty walked away from them—“I’m going to go practice my magic. Beating those harpies is at the top of the list, not throwing around ideas about this castle’s past.”

“That wasn’t very nice,” Fizzy commented once Gusty had left the dining hall. “So what if we were just talking?”

“Some ponies don’t care about talking,” Shady said. “They just want to do.”

“Taking the time to discuss the matter is better than jumping into the incorrect action without consideration,” Wind Whistler said. “Let’s hope she’ll at least look before she leaps on that day she does come face to face with the harpies.”

* * *

Gusty winked from the courtyard to outside the castle’s perimeter. The world regained form as the shore of the fjord. The air was already getting hot and sticky with hazy sunshine beating down, which meant it was less dense than normal. That was just fine since she could practice maximizing the force she could put behind the thinner air.

The valley was definitely beautiful, even the castle seeming natural amongst the otherwise untouched landscape. She tried to imagine what it will look like in autumn when the leaves begin to change. Along with the apple and cherry trees there were oaks, poplars, ashes, elms, hickories, and her personal favorite: sugar maples. They would be absolutely ablaze with color and dropping them into piles to jump in when the weather started to turn in four months or so.

Four months, she thought. This was only the third day they had been here, and she was already thinking about them being here for months. That was giving up on them getting home too easily. They got here somehow, so there had to be a way home.

“Enough thinking,” she said to herself. “You’re starting to act like those weirdoes in the dining hall. We need action if we’re going to get anywhere.”

She pointed her horn at the surface of the lake. Air against water was always a good exercise, especially salt water which was heavier. She summoned her magic and took charge of the surrounding air and twisting it into a vortex to gain speed. As she got it as fast as it could go, she threw it forward. The air continued to spin like the bit of a drill and slammed into the water. The water was denser, but the wind had more energy behind it as she sent more forward. That was all the science stuff she needed to know. The water gave, splitting away like a zipper being unzipped and the waves rolled aside in either direction.

Gusty relinquished her magic, and the air returned to its calm state. The air had torn across the water for several dozen meters, and the waves were several centimeters high. “Not bad for a warm up,” Gust said to herself. “Let’s see if I can get those waves to a quarter meter.”

She loosened up and prepared to summon her magic when something caught the corner of her eye. At first she thought it could have been those harpies, but it was approaching from the ground. It was a cart with a canopy over it, but there was nothing pulling it. It puttered along, climbing a rolling hill slowly before descending it and coming up the next.

Gusty gave a second’s thought to confronting it, but decided to let the others know. She winked back within the confines of the perimeter wall and ran into the cool air inside of the castle. She ran into Skyflier almost immediately after exiting the foyer.

“There’s something coming at us,” Gusty said, making sure not to sound panicked. “Do you know where the intercom thing is?”

Skyflier pointed at a white panel on the wall. “There’s one right there.”

“Thanks.” Gusty ran to the panel and smacked the button. An electronic chime sounded.

“Wait!” Skyflier called after her. “What’s coming at us?”

* * *

Wind Whistler shook the cup, the dice inside rattling against its interior and her hoof. After enough times that she figured the sides facing up would have no correlation to their starting place, she smacked the cup on the table. “Even or odd, Fizzy?”

“Sometimes I wonder if it’s really a fifty/fifty chance of them either being even or odd.” Shady flicked one of the spare dice with her hoof.

“Including repeats, there are thirty-six possible combinations of rolls with two six-sided dice,” Wind Whistler said. “Eighteen are odd and eighteen are even.”

“What about the others?” Fizzy asked. “Or if we added more?”

The die set they found had seven each of four, six, eight, twelve, and twenty-sided dice as well as seven pairs of percentage dice. Each group was a different color—black, white, red, yellow, green, blue, and purple—with digits indented into them that were slithering symbols. The lighter colored dice highlighted them with black paint and darker colors used white.

They were a beautiful set made of a hardened ceramic. “They all have an even number of sides, so half of the possible results being odd and half being even would still hold true.”

The digits had caught Wind Whistler’s attention. They were similar to Saddle Arabian digits with each one distinct. Though, they were different from those. Fortunately one of the books in the library had a page showing each one corresponding to the staff and bar system used by the machine so they could tell the value of each.

“Speaking of even and odd,” Shady said, “we could use a fourth pony. So many games need two or four players.”

“I would wonder who make a good fourth member,” Fizzy mused.

“That is something to consider later,” Wind Whistler said. “For now, it is still your turn.”

“Oh! Right,” Fizzy said. “I pick even.”

Wind Whistler picked up the cup to show the two dice showing three and five, totaling an even eight.

Fizzy cheered and levitated a cookie off the plate as her prize. She took a bite and chewed it with a grin. “These cookies are so good. It was really nice of Cupcake to let us taste test the first batch.”

Wind Whistler placed the cup back over the dice. “It’s your turn to roll, Fizzy.” She pushed them to Fizzy.

Fizzy pushed the dice into the cup and covered the opening with her hoof.

“How are you doing today?” Paradise asked, clutching a book on her front hooves as she hovered in.

“I’m doing well considering the excitement of this morning,” Wind Whistler replied.

Paradise shuddered. “Don’t remind me of that.” She set down the book. “Now that I know what I’m reading, I’ve started going into the books. The evolution this is alphabet is fascinating.”

“Do tell!” Fizzy chirped.

Paradise grinned, apparently all too pleased to do so. “The twenty-four runes on the machine below us are for the old Borean language before the fall of their Empire. There were six vowels and eighteen consonants.” She laid out her ‘cheat sheet’ with the runes and their sounds. “After the fall, the alphabet was condensed to twenty-one as they decided the voiced and voiceless sounds could be represented by a single rune like the non-sibilant fricatives were, but they kept the g-rune for the sound at the end of loch.” She pronounced the word in its traditional way instead of ending it in the ‘k’ sound.

“What’s a non-sibilant fricative?” Fizzy asked.

“Oh, sorry,” Paradise said. “I should probably not get too deep into the jargon.”

She adjusted the glasses on her nose. “Then came Common which is the language spoken today. It’s a constructed language agreed upon by all of the peoples as the language of international diplomacy of commerce so anyone from anywhere to speak to anyone else from anywhere else.”

“That sure is convenient,” Fizzy said.

“For the writing system, they took the old Borean alphabet—since it was the best known thanks to the influence of the Empire and added to it,” Paradise continued. “They added the ‘sh’, ‘zh’, ‘ch’, and ‘j’, sounds due to their widespread use as well as breaking ‘v’ from ‘f’ and (the voiced) ‘th’ from (the voiceless) ‘th’. The sound the post-empire alphabet adopted is considered too rare and regional to be included as well as that voiceless ‘w’ sound Truly uses in her drawl. They just put their h-rune behind k and w respectively for them.”

Even if linguistics were not her forte Wind Whistler was intrigued. “What about vowels?”

“Vowels are a muddier subject,” Paradise said. “There are six of them, and they seem to be sections of articulation rather than distinct sounds: closed-front, closed-back, mid-front, mid-central, mid-back, and open. There is a long and short sound in each, the former being represented by doubling the runes. There also three diphthongs for ‘ai’, ‘oi’, and ‘au’.”

“Interesting, that almost perfectly aligns with the Equestria sound inventory,” Wind Whistler said, she knew at least that much about language.

“Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?” Fizzy asked Shady who only shook her head in response.

“How can their language be exactly like ours?” Shady asked.

“Perhaps they are like the plants,” Wind Whistler suggested. “The language has same point of origin and were either imported or exported at some point in the past.”

“But languages change all the time,” Shady said. “Think of the words that have been added, dropped, or changed in just the last century.” She pointed to the sunglasses decorating her haunch. "This is a symbol rather than a cutie mark to most now."

“It’s also possible our minds were altered to recognize Common as Equestrian.” Ribbon stepped up to them. “There you are, Paradise. I heard you picked up a book on the Common language.”

Paradise closed the book on her sheet and held it out. “Do you want to see?”

Ribbon held out her hoof and shook her head. “No thank you for now. Language has just been on my mind, and I’ve done some surface scans of my mind and those of others. There are changes to our language centers. Whatever brought us here must have done something to make it so we recognize the local language and speak it as if it was our own. Notice how we’ve replaced ‘pony’ with ‘one’ in terms like ‘everyone’ and ‘anyone’?”

Wind Whistler thought about that and realized she even used those terms in her thinking. They still called themselves ponies as individuals and their kind in general, and they used their particular terms for age and gender for themselves and parts of themselves. However, those particular words had changed. In fact, they seemed more natural and “everypony” and “somepony” seemed alien to think let alone speak.

Shady swallowed. “Then we don’t even speak Equestrian anymore?”

“You can read minds?” Fizzy asked excitedly.

Ribbon smiled and gave a nod. “It’s my—”

An electronic chime came from speakers.

“Hey, I need everyone’s attention!” Gusty’s voice came over the speakers. “There’s a weird land vehicle coming at the castle from the east. Everyone head to the east wall.”

Shady made herself small and trembled. “The harpies found us.”

“They would be approaching from the air if they did,” Wind Whistler said. “I don’t know what would be approaching on land.”

* * *

Wind Whistler landed on the east wall where most everyone else had already gathered. The last remaining pegasi landed, unicorns winked in, and earth ponies came out of doors in the towers. Blueflower took position in the center of the crowd.

The self-propelled land vehicle puttered towards them with no hurry. It followed the shore of the fjord and came to a stop in front of the castle. The blue and white canopy blocked her view of the interior and who or what was driving it. It lurched to the side as its passenger got out of it before it fell back onto its four wheels.

From what Wind Whistler could tell, he was human. However, he was so fat he was almost shaped like a ball with a round head on top and thick limbs coming out of the practically spherical body. His head was mostly hairless with only a spiky mane of reddish-brown hair around the back and a thin line up the middle that curled over his forehead. His attire was bright with a yellow shirt, red pants, and a cape with a tall collar.

He looked up with a smug grin which immediately fell into a bewildered stare. “What are horses doing here?”

“We’re ponies,” Bleuflower responded sharply. “There’s a difference.”

“Who are you?” Magic Star asked.

The man took hold of his cape bowed. “I am the Wizard Wantall of Mount Avarice.” That smirk returned as he looked up to them. “And this castle belongs to me.”

Gasps came from the crowd. “I knew it!” Shady shouted.

“He’s lying,” Ribbon stated. “The previous owner died recently, and he’s been looking to claim it for himself. However, we got here first.”

Wantall’s smirked sank into a frown as he glared at Ribbon. “And why, my dear…lady, would you make such a scandalous accusation of me?”

“Because I’m a telepath,” Ribbon answered. “I picked it up from your thoughts.”

“You dare intrude my mind??” Wantall blustered. “How dare you?”

“I didn’t have to go that far in since you were shouting, ‘I’ll just dupe these candy-colored horses out of the castle,’ at the top of your mind,” Ribbon said.

“We could share the castle,” Fizzy suggested. “There’s plenty of room.”

Wantall clapped his hands together. “Bless your heart, young lady. That is a brilliant idea.”

“And now he’s thinking of how he can get rid of us once he gets inside,” Ribbon said.

Wantall glared up at them.

“If the castle was up for grabs, we claimed it three days ago,” Blueflower said. “Go back to your Mount Avarice and leave us in peace.”

“I warn you, ponies,” Wantall snarled, his voice becoming blunter. “If diplomacy will not compel you to leave, then I have no other option than to resort to violence.” He pushed up his sleeves. “I am a powerful wizard, and my magic is not to be trifled with.”

“Uh huh,” Blueflower replied casually. “Well, I’m a powerful unicorn. Care to put your magic where your mouth is?”

She twirled her horn to build up magic and shot it towards the wheels of Wantall’s vehicle. The rubber tires suddenly became square. Wantall jumped back at this. He swung back to stare up to Blueflower.

“How about I put it this way,” Blueflower said. She balanced her chin on the outside of her pastern and stared down with a sly grin. “Leave our castle and fjord if you don’t want to become the world’s largest die.”

Wantall turned between Blueflower and the tires of his vehicle. He stopped and pointed at her. “Just feel lucky I wasn’t prepared for a fight today.” He bowed. “I’ll leave you for now.” He climbed into his vehicle which almost fell over as it took on his weight. “But you haven’t heard the last of the Wizard Wantall!”

He drove off, his vehicle bouncing along on its square wheels. Wind Whistler could feel her back start to hurt just thinking of the bumpy ride.

Others in the crowd hooted, cheered, and bid Wantall sarcastic goodbyes.

Blueflower turned to North Star and Lofty. “Follow well behind him to make sure he leaves the valley, but don’t get too close.”

“Sure thing,” Lofty said as she and North Star spread their wings and took to the air.

Shady slumped and trembled. “Bird creatures, evil wizards—we’re up to our eyeballs in powerful enemies. Will we ever find powerful friends?”

* * *

Lofty held well back from Wantall as his vehicle bounced along. Fortunately, her sight was good, so even hanging well back let her he his vehicle clearly. She was not sure where he got a device that propelled itself when they had not seen any evidence of this technology before and wondered if it was powered by his magic.

Wantall stopped at the mouth of the fjord where the terrain would become even more unlevel. He rubbed what had to be very achy hind end and grimaced at the tires. Lofty and North Star hid and watched him to see if he would try anything. However, all he did was cast a spell to make his tires round again. Undoing a spell that Blueflower did not have break a sweat to cast seemed take a lot out of him. He wavered before toppling backwards and laid there, breathing heavily for several minutes.

“Obviously this ‘powerful’ wizard was no match for a seasoned unicorn like Blueflower,” North Star commented.

He finally got up and climbed back into his vehicle. He traveled along a winding and wavy path of crushed gravel cut into the wall of the valley and took the corner to parallel the main fjord.

Lofty waited until the sound of his motor faded entirely before she allowed herself to relax.

“Good riddens to bad rubbish.” North Star wiped her hooves against each other like she was casting off dirt.

“You said it,” Lofty replied.

“Fortunately he was easier to dispatch than the harpies,” North Star said. “I dearly hope they never find our fjord.”

* * *

Alecta paced behind the firing line. “Knock!”

The others pulled arrows from their quivers and placed the ends on their bowstrings.

“Draw!”

They pulled back the arrows to bend the bows and aimed down.

“LOOSE!”

They let go of the arrows and they shot down towards targets on the ground far below them. Several of them found their mark while the few misses shattered on the rocks.

“Once again!” Alecta turned and paced the other way.

“Knock!”

Pull out arrows and place them on the bowstring.

“Draw!”

Pull back and aim.

“LOOSE!”

Let the arrows fly.

Alecta turned. “Once again!”

“Beta Frona is approaching!” Bernice announced. “However, only Omega Desdemona is with her.”

“Hold.” Alecta stepped in front of the firing line and watched as the two harpies glided towards them. They landed in front of her and kneeled on one knee.

“Where is Melinda?” Alecta asked.

“She remained behind to lie in wait for the humans and their pony allies in case they return, Glorious Alpha,” Frona answered, keeping her head low.

“Then you failed me as well, Beta?” Alecta snarled.

“If you would spare me your wrath, Glorious Alpha, these ponies are particularly clever prey,” Frona said, her voice even and devoid of emotion. “They will require more strategy to subdue.”

Alecta flexed her talons. “I don’t want to hear your excuses.” She turned her back to her Beta to display her displeasure. “An Omega being bested by prey I will tolerate to a degree, but not from my second in command.”

“The ponies have the locket,” Frona said.

Alecta swung around. “What?”

“Melinda said the pony who assaulted her had it,” Frona reported.

“After generations hunting down that family and the locket, and they hand it over to a bunch of undersized grass-eaters!” Alecta roared, her anger rising above any level of restraint. “How dare they insult us like this?!”

She spun around to the other harpies who flinched before straightening to attention.

Alecta fumed, but she eventually got herself back under control. She corrected her posture and exhaled a cleansing breath. “Get fresh bowstrings and fill your quivers,” she said in a controlled voice. “Split into teams of two and search that malformed valley for any sign of these…ponies.” The very word was acrid in her mouth. “I want to know where they live"—she displayed one of her talons, sharp as any artificial blade—“so I can personally tear open their necks one by one until they give up the locket.”

“Yes, Glorious Alpha,” the others said at once.

They ran into the entrance of the stronghold.

“Glorious Alpha.” Frona stood up. “Shall I retrieve Melinda?”

“No, Beta,” Alecta replied, thinking about her strategies. “You were right to have her lie in wait at their house. However, you two will join the others.”

The others filed out with quivers full of arrows and their bows unstrung.

“Search every corner of that valley and then the adjacent fjords,” Alecta commanded. “I don’t care about the apes anymore. Those ponies are somewhere with the locket, and when you find them report back here. Now, go, my harpies. Fly!”

One by one, her subordinates spread their wings and dove over the cliff. They let their wings fill with air and glided away from the mountain. Alecta watched as they paired off and few towards the north and west.

Thanatos flew out of the stronghold’s entrance and landed on her shoulder. She stroked his feathers, soothing her rage somewhat.

“Horses are very good at running away, my pet,” Alecta said to him, regaining her composure. “They’re swift and can outlast most predators. However, when you corner them and cut off their avenues of escape—” she clenched her fist in front of him “—they’re just big targets.

“The ponies might think they can hide from us, but we’ll find them. We’ll attack where they’re holed up with the locket, and this time they’ll have nowhere to run and know the sharpness of our talons on their throats. The locket and the Bifröst will finally be ours.” She allowed herself a cruel chuckle as the others became indiscernible specks against the sky.

Author's Note:

Wantall was a recurring antagonist from the My Little Pony comic in Europe. He would show up from time to time with the intent on taking the ponies’ stuff. The Waterfall was usually on the top of his list.

Comments

[NobodieZ]

Nice work