Airship Mauled

by Darkonshadows

Chapter Nineteen, The Whimsical Witch of Even: Little world.

-Fizzle-

Okay, I could still hear. Apparently Sugar took the brunt of the shock and sound waves she created slamming into the floor faster than I or even Jade could blink.

Speaking of Sugar, she was shrinking down to her normal size and Jade looked tired as well. Doing the clone thing is very tiring for her, doubly so because both of her were firing magic missiles and were very active at the same time.

“Come on Jade, get up and let’s get out of here while everyone is still coming to their senses.” We had both gotten off of Sugar and I tugged at Jade’s arm with a hoof, she scooped up a whining rabbit sized Sugar and then we were off.

-Hollow Heart-

I coughed the dust out of my lungs. I was only vaguely surprised at the eruption of power from a creature so small, fearing any Al-mi’raj was quite warranted as they were powerful creatures in the right circumstances.

Looking out over the stands, the guards and almost every thestral had been knocked over by the impact. Very few guards had stayed standing and were currently in shock. The fact that they were still standing showed that they had merit as part of my regime. The failures could all go to Screaming for all I cared.

It was only now that the horned beast was weakened and it was no longer a valid or capable of defending itself through the power to grow to obscene sizes for a limited time frame. The sun priest and her companions were vulnerable, only in so much as their little pet doesn’t stab someone with its horn. Its illusions would never catch a truly attentive thestral off guard.

Yes, it was quite the show that the sun priest had put on. She was a powerful foe indeed and I don’t think she showed everything that she was capable of. I also took note that she didn’t seem to fear my presence or even acknowledge my might, foolish even if there is quite some power backing her lack of respect.

I turned to the fool who just lost us two golems on a prisoner that has been toying with him since she arrived. Speaking of the dangerous nuisance, the sun priest and her companions were currently fleeing the arena. It reminded me of my time among the Minotaur’s and how I came to start building my empire on this mountain.

“It seems you’ve failed again Screaming, I wonder what you’ll do now. I have things to attend to, try to deal with the problems that is now plaguing ‘MY’ city.” I got up and walked off to leave Screaming to his sour mood. I had plans to make, rooting out Prime and the members of EVEN was one of my goals. “You’re numerous and continuous failures amuse me, but you’ve lost us two golems with your incompetence. See that you make up for it… or else.”

I would destroy them all and get them off of my mountain, I had no illusions to the fact that they would continue be thorns in my side in the near future. There’s also that prophecy surrounding me to worry about.

“One shall stand… and one shall fall...” I muttered as I walked down the corridor. The nightmare’s return was already prophesized, we didn’t need to aid in its hastening its return. It was an inevitability, only the prophecy actually surrounding me was worrying.

Who is the one that will be standing… and who is the one that is falling?

If I am to fall, then I will be taking everyone with me!

-Kuril, seconds after impact-

Upon standing up and all the dust in the air clearing out, I stared into the arena and saw a beam fire off in the cloud. Once it cleared up some, the second golem’s core was shattered and my children made their escape along with Sugar out the destroyed doors leading into the arena.

Not like the guards could stop them, they were either stunned or injured to various degrees by Sugar’s explosive drop from the ceiling. It was about time we joined up with Jade anyway, I’m sure she’s had her fun given most of the ODD faction now had bright neon green rooms.

Where did she even get that paint from? I knew she was resourceful, but that was ridiculous.

All the bat ponies surrounding us had been scattered and knocked about by the blast wave, I was smart enough to tell Jacky to duck and cover her ears. I could see the writing on the wall when it’s about to happen in front of me.

Given how sensitive a general bat ponies hearing was, I felt sorry for all of them as it was my familiar that did that.

“Are you okay my little chick?” I asked of Jacky next to me. Pulling her in close to me, I started to fuss over her to make sure she was okay. She seemed only slightly disoriented. “We need to go meet up with Jaded to hear about what kind of trouble she’s going to cause now. I don’t want her annoying Prime and the EVEN faction too much.”

“I’m fine mom.” She was still looking a little woozy as she looked at the arena floor, Jacky quickly assessed the damage for herself. The floor was now a crater and the walls of the arena were all cracked, I’m not surprised the actual war golem was totaled after an impact like that. “When Captain said that Sugar was dangerous, she meant dangerous with a capital D and then some.”

In summary my familiar, Sugar, had just knocked out a majority of the crowd and surrounding guards while decimating a rather large golem that both Jade and Fizzle would have had a lot of trouble with. A golem with a shifting core was far more dangerous than a golem with a static core like the Quake Maker’s head.

“Well now I know why Jade and so many others kept warning me about Sugar, but she’s still such a little sweetie to me.” Really though, my familiar was something else and a witch’s work was never done. Aside from meeting up with Jade to stop her from doing anything too destructive now, I had to make sure my familiar and Fizzlepop were okay as well.

We made our way down the stairs and towards the exit when we heard Screaming Star do what he was known for, screaming a lot and uselessly at that according to the ponies of EVEN. He was really quite talented at blustering.

“Get up and go get them you buffoons!” He was trying to rouse his partially disabled guards. “They’re escaping you idiots!”

It was either the fact that the guards couldn’t actually hear him, or the more likely thing that they’ve been scared so badly that their low morale was preventing them from taking any swift actions to give chase.

We continued on our way out of the arena, ignoring the fact that Screaming was trying to organize something loosely resembling a squad to catch Jaded. It wouldn’t work, especially since Jaded has been giving him the run around since she was first ‘captured’. Even thinking it made it come in air quotations.

“So mom, how are we going to find Captain?” In answer to Blackcap’s question I held up a claw and sniffed the air.

“In the simplest manner possible Jacky, Jade’s been denied good or at least decent food over the last several days.” Not that denying my kitten food really stopped her from escaping her confines to go eat. I snickered at the thought of anyone trying to prevent Jade from getting into the nearest source of food when she was truly hungry. “So the simplest answer to finding a tired and exhausted tom cat would be to… follow your nose!”

With one strong sniff and I caught the smell of something that would definitely attract my rambunctious Jaded. Knowing her as well as I do, she used the big kitty eyes on Fizzle and got her to stop for one of Jade’s favorite type of meal cart.

A random and out of place bizarrely run taco stand!

We weren’t very far from the arena when I turned a corner and saw Jade and Fizzle waiting patiently in front of a humongous black dragon with metallic looking scales. Fizzle looked a bit antsy and Sugar was snoring away in Jade’s arm, my playful familiar had tuckered herself out.

Returning my gaze to the dragon, he was apparently the proprietor of the taco cart.

“Are you okay kitten?” My words caused Jade’s ears to perk up and turn toward me with a gleeful smile. She passed off the snoozing Sugar into my arms.

“Hey mom, I see you found your way into Night Fright Grotto. I’m waiting on a well prepared fish taco discus supreme.” That and you likely didn’t care that it was a giant scary looking black dragon preparing the meal. “Bahamut here is a god of all good dragons, justice, wisdom and frankly terrifying challenges for heroes of light to make them fully realize their true potentials. I really have no idea what he’s doing here, but apparently he’s running a taco cart when he’s not helping to save this or other worlds from destruction.”

The black dragon just grunted and concentrated on the food he was preparing and fired tiny streams of fire as he did so, exceedingly tiny for his given size.

“Isn’t him being here a little ridiculous or even the slightest bit suspicious Jade? Doesn’t a god running a taco cart in the middle of a cultist built city come off as even a little exceedingly odd to you? Not to mention that you knew the god by name as soon as you saw him.” Well I could see Fizzle believed that this would stretch anyone’s suspension of belief, but it also had me asking the same question that was likely on her mind. “I’m beginning to see a pattern with you and gods Jade.”

“For curiosity, why is a god of justice running a taco stand in the middle of a darkness and nightmare cultist built city?” I asked out loud, while specifically directing that question to the large dragon who was wielding the tiny utensils expertly despite the size disparity. He really seemed know what he was doing and was apparently a good cook.

The dragon just glanced at me and rolled his eyes, he continued his work without a single word. He must have had his reasons for being here and selling tacos at the very least, who was I to question gods about their daily lives? I certainly didn’t question Sekhet becoming addicted to airship crashes. I should probably put our local goddess through an intervention.

“Does it really matter mom? I’m getting a taco made by the dragon god of heavy metal himself!” Ah yes, bizarre stuff occurring did not phase Jade at all these days. She still had her distaste for heart songs and here I thought it was cute when she broke out into song and dance every once in a while.

I wanted to eventually do a heart song myself and was kind of jealous of my daughter experiencing several already, but it still hadn’t happened to me yet. I guess I needed an emotional moment for the magic to fill my heart with music.

Once he finished wrapping the hard shelled taco plate covered in the general taco fixings with a large tortilla, he toasted it and wrapped it up even further in a paper wrapper and dropped it off into Jade’s eager claws.

Jade unwrapped a portion of it and bit into it getting her face covered in molten cheese. She gave a happy sounding mewl of appreciation before swallowing, she looked up at the dragon looking down upon her sternly.

“Right, I forgot, it is really delicious though. Hold this for me would you Fizzy?” She passed her round taco off to the emotionally flat looking Fizzle’s hooves and reached into her bag to pay for the round taco snack. She paid Bahamut the bits for her taco and smiled up at him before pulling out a small booklet. “I know of several different beings named Bahamut, but I’m glad to have met you the mighty dragon one and not that humongous fish one. Could you do one small thing for me, can you sign your name in this? I’m a big fan of your work with all the heroes of light you keep helping by beating the tar out of them and giving them a wakeup call.”

Jade looked pleadingly up to Bahamut and held out the booklet to him, he rolled his large eyes and took the booklet from her between two of his large claws. After a second of holding it and seeming to have done nothing with it, he gave it back to her and she looked inside.

I looked in it as well by looking over my kittens shoulder to see that Bahamut’s name was now written in it, I even saw all the other gods Jade had gotten to sign it. He magically wrote his name down for her, which was nice of him to do.

“Thanks Bahamut, you’re the greatest dragon ever!” The dragon gave her a small, smug smile. After Jade got her circular taco back he eyed me, Fizzle and Jacky.

“I’ll have what my daughter is having Mr. Bahamut.” When in Roaming, do as the Roamers do. I was kind of hungry and I wanted a taco too. The dragon nodded solemnly at me with a big toothy grin, he looked to both Jacky and Fizzle with a raised brow.

“Loaded nachos if you have them, extra jalapenos.” Nodding to Jacky, Bahamut turned to the quiet Fizzle who seemed to be a little bit intimidated by his size.

“Fine, I’ll have taco salad… extra sour cream.” After saying that Fizzle just turned to me. “Can you pay for me mom?”

“Sure thing my little filly, otherwise I’d make Jade pay for you and we both know she would if you asked.” I cuddled Fizzle in front of Bahamut, much to her embarrassment. "Aren't my children just precious?"

Bahamut just got to work on their orders and stopped to hold out a napkin to Jade, even I thought she needed to wipe the cheese off her face. What a polite monstrous looking dragon.

Eventually we were found by a guard, but upon closer inspection it was just Blade. She stared in horror at the dragon making food for my family with a rather jaunty disposition for something so big and scary looking.

“Hey Blade, having fun among your kin?” Nodding to me, she moved on as if she hadn’t seen us waiting for a dragon god to finish making us our requested food items. She turned to some other guards and signaled that she didn’t see us in this direction to them.

-Celestia-

“They’re where?!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, the mayors family decided to just go on vacation to such a dangerous place.

“You heard me. I doubt a little thing such as a nightmare worshipping cult on a cold mountain with wendigo’s, black dragons and other things would really stop them for long.” I watched as Sekhet lazily stretched out and rested her head on her massive paws, all while looking bored... stupid sexy sphinx. “They’ll be fine.”

Comments

[theoldhunter]

You know one one hears of blacks dragon in a cult built city one does not think they running a toca stand or that they are THE BLACK DRAGON BAHAMONT

[Majk]

Oh Sekhet, throwing your friends a line like that? You should know better.

[The Faceless Maker]

Stupid sexy sphinx? Celestia, do you have a size-shifting cat fetish?

[The Faceless Maker]

9134583
Ah yes, the Toca Stand. the pinnacle of modern science.

[Sigmacipher]

9134583
It's called hiding in plain sight...Any mage worth his weight in salt knows how to do it.

[Phoenix Swift]

9135506
Hey now, don’t kink-shame our perpetually god-zoned Tia. Besides, I ship it

[Shadowshame]

This is the best I can do right now

Catos control!!!

[Pensive]

“You heard me. I doubt a little thing such as a nightmare worshipping cult on a cold mountain with wendigo’s, black dragons and other things would really stop them for long.” I watched as Sekhet lazily stretched out and rested her head on her massive paws, all while looking bored... stupid sexy sphinx. “They’ll be fine.”

I wish we had more Princess Celestia in this story... If and when Princess Luna I'd like her as well. I enjoy seeing the other side of them that isn't "IM A PERFECT PONY PRINCESS WARSHIP ME IM A GODDESSES" Oh if only....