Grand Epilogue, A New Era: Found Vikings… what do we do now?
-Early Morning, Airship Mauled, Jade’s room, Kuril-
I looked in on the lovers and smiled at the adorable sight. Mara had her head resting on Fizzle’s flank, Fizzle had hers rested on Jade’s butt with my kittens tail wrapping around her neck gently and Jade had her head on Maries’ left hind leg. Maria had her head off to the side on its own pillow and Marie had her face pressed against Jade’s neck.
With the triangle they formed, Silvers was happily ensconced in the middle of them and curled up against Maries’ Belly. This was a really cute scene and I wasn’t about to disturb them when they were like this.
I went to get a camera and came back to capture this cute scene forever as a moment for the photo album. I’m sure they’d appreciate it.
-A short while later, Train Station, Rockhoof-
I stepped off the train and looked about, this place seems fairly interesting and a bit quiet. Next to me Mage Meadowbrook also got off the train looking around at all of the town. Every house here looks like a boat, in varying designs.
“So where do you suppose we should be starting, heard about a group of heroes that went all over the place putting out fires and then ended up here. Seems like a nice place to rest ones hooves.” I was big burly earth pony stallion with blue fur, my legs were wrapped tightly in cloth, my chest was protected by a round metal plate that hung over my vest and my orange and yellow striped mane and tail were as rugged as one could possibly get.
“If you’re looking for a place to get something to eat, then The Witch’s Fare is definitely the town’s most popular place around and I hear its run by a verified witch.” Looking at the Kirin as she got off the train next to us, she seemed particularly peppy with that tune she was humming. “I’m Autumn Blaze, I’m here to visit some friends of mine. Heard they finally got to where they needed to be. Never met a group that seemed as directionless as them, they even taught me a few things about survival in the wilderness. Kind of helped me with gaining control of my anger and frustration at what was happening to my home.”
“I could go for something to eat.” Meadowbrook had fur as blue as mine and two shades of red for her braided mane and tail, her blue eyes looked at Autumn with some interest. She always wore that green skirt of hers, a hoof bracelet and a matching neck accessory to go with it. “So what does this witch’s place serve exactly?”
“I heard it depends on what ingredients the place has at the time, if the good witch is in or not, also what kind of mood they are in when it comes to making food. Come on, I want to go find out personally!” Autumn pranced ahead of us merrily humming that tune of hers, the girl seemed to be a bit of airy sort. “They say it’s the easiest place to find as nobody could miss the ever burning flames that mark where this town began. Oh… right… manners you two! I introduced myself, so who are the both of you?”
Kirin have been traveling far and wide recently, you don’t just see them around Huoshan or The Peaks of Peril these days. They are no longer acting shy, that’s for sure
“I’m Rockhoof.” I say bravely slapping my shovel against my metal chest plate, which was literally a thing I’ve eaten off of once or twice with the Mighty Helm’s as one of their number. It’s sad that they are no longer around, since time got the best of them. I’m a stallion a thousand years in the future and it was as strange as it was wondrous.
“I was called Miracle Mask, but my name is Mage Meadowbrook, but just call me Meadow.” Meadow was a sweetheart and always looking for the next problem to cure or fix. “Also, please don’t confuse me for a unicorn, a lot of ponies did that a thousand years ago.”
“Now that we introduced ourselves… did you say there was a good witch here?” Nary has there ever been a nice witch I’ve ever met, because I’ve never had the chance to find one. Fought a few bad ones back in the day though.
“Yeah, she’s the mayor of Airship Mauled and the owner of the restaurant that was the first Airship to ever crash here and be converted into a home.” The cheerful lass Autumn was leading us towards a large pyre of burning fire, I immediately noted something was wrong with the wood. The wood wasn’t actually burning in the fire and yet there were marshmallows and fish being roasted over it. I wasn’t big on the fishy smell, but I’ve come to appreciate marshmallows at least. The fire was an intriguing oddity. “She’s a friend of my friends and they’ve been telling everyone they meet about this town. I heard it was a bit hard to find this place at first, but the food here was so amazing that it started attracting people from all over. Woah, look at that fire… I wonder how long it been going?”
“Ever since Mayor Kuril’s daughter, Jaded, came back and put it right back where it rightfully belongs. It’s actually a bit of a long story.” The stallion in the white coat stated warmly as he sat next to the fire, watching as it wiggled about. “Welcome to Airship Mauled, I’m Potassium Permanganate. I specialize in skin and fur care; like any other group, I’m going to assume that you’re here for The Witch’s Fare. Before you ask, yes, everyone’s favorite witch is currently in. Though it’s usually the beautiful and perky in the morning Fresh Start that gets the day running with the restaurant, hard to see her around in the evening as she usually turns in earlier than most.”
“Say, you seem local, do you know where the Vibrant Vikings currently are?” Wait, why did Autumn ask about… Vikings? Color me curious now.
“In the restaurant with everyone else getting in a hearty breakfast. Speaking of...” The stallion got up and walked over to the restaurant. “I’m hungry and it’s time to go see the mare I’m dating. Hey Fresh, we got a couple of incoming newcomers to The Witch’s Fare!”
“What do you want today Potassium?” Fresh was really quite busy as she darting about the room carrying multiple trays and delivering them with precision to various people, she wasn’t the only one doing this. There were also a Diamond Dog and an Abyssinian that seemed to be in tune with one another something fierce with how they moved about the room without colliding. It was like watching the two dance. “Find a seat wherever, if we don’t have room, we’ll find a way to squeeze you in!”
“So you really just wanted to destroy a castle Jacky? So it wasn’t just the largest game of live action O and O?” We walked by a table with an Abyssinian sharing a meal with a parrot and the two seemed friendly enough, but what was this about destroying a castle?
“Always wanted to wreck a castle and smash a few vases, didn’t ask Discord to clean it up afterwards either. He really enjoys a good mess doesn’t he? The Ogres and Oubliettes bit was just a bonus to it all.” The parrot blinked and immediately tossed the griffon child she was holding to the left into a male griffon’s lap. The child didn’t seem to mind being tossed at all, though he did immediately give the parrot a worried look. I immediately almost tripped, my shovel holding hoof flailed and I let go of it at the right time to send it careening into the poor birds skull. “Agh, why?!”
“I’m mighty sorry about that… I tripped over… uh…” I paled as my eyes met a pair of lethal looking peepers and scrambled on my backside away from one of the most monstrous things to ever exist… an Al-Mi’raj. One that was the natural size of a bear even!
I froze and felt my heart quicken, why was there such a dangerous beast in this restaurant?!
“Sugar, did someone trip over your horn again, I swear you could choose better places to lay about!” An Abyssinian approached us wearing robes and a pointy hat. She put her fists on her hips and stared down the bear size rabbit with the magical death horn. It chittered something at her and she then turned her gaze on me. “You, apologize to Sugar for tripping over her. Sugar you don’t have to apologize because someone wasn’t paying well enough attention to where they were going and you are really hard to miss if someone’s paying attention or you were using illusion magic! In any case if it’s too busy in here go up and sleep on deck, there’s a cool breeze out today.”
“Er… I’m quite sorry for my misstep? I truly am at that, I really don’t want to tangle with something as powerful as you!” The rabbit glared me down, huffed and then started away towards the stairs, she ascended them easily enough and they didn’t even creak at all.
There was no way I was going to survive something like a mirage rabbit, not one that was naturally that large anyway. I could only imagine the size it could grow to when threatened, there isn’t a bigger predator around here.
“Hello and welcome to my home; I’m Kuril La Perm, the witch of good taste! If I remember right, Somnambula told me a thing or two about you guys visiting and how to identify you on sight… she wasn’t kidding about some things. Meadowbrook and Rockhoof right?” The lady cat, Kuril, turned to our Kirin companion with grace and a smile that most witches wished they had. “Who are you?”
“I’m Autumn Blaze and I’m here to see the Vibrant Vikings!” Autumn quickly found herself in an affectionate hug and then she turned and started to lead us towards a table.
“Heard about that bit of sordid business, it’s nice to hear things turned out alright for you.” It seemed Kuril knew about something that we didn’t. I hadn’t exactly read the friendship book all the way, but I’m sure Autumn Blaze might have been mentioned in there somewhere.
“Hey, catch!” Turning to the sound of that parrot’s voice, I got beaned in the head by my own shovel and I caught it after it spun upwards into the air. “Keep a better grip on it next time! That could have seriously hurt someone other than me! I’m used to it, but most of those who visit here are not!”
“Well I can see you’re alright Jacky, thankfully nothing got destroyed and you’re only coming out of this with a headache this time.” What did Kuril mean by this time? How often did that parrot take shovels to the head?! The witch pulled out and passed a potion to the parrot once she came over to us, that the parrot quickly downed it without a second thought said a lot about how trusted this Kuril was. Kuril turned to us and motioned for us to follow her. “Well come on! Let’s get you seated with the Vibrant Vikings, minus Gene over there who is also one of them, so you can enjoy your first meal here!”
She indicated the griffon that passing the child back to the parrot rubbing at her head with a small knot on it, I would have thought that my shovel would have left a bigger bump than that. The parrot must have been made of some stern stuff to walk that blow off.
The griffon pecked her on the cheek and the parrot soon lit up the room with her smile. Ah, I can see why he wasn’t with the other Vikings, he had a family. Wish I still had mine…
We were led up to a table containing three very distinct figures and someone I vaguely thought I recognized.
My hometown was near a volcano, but I’ve seen a few peaceful Viking homesteads in a few frosty mountains traveling about the world. This mare was making me recall a few faces that I saw, I believe it was someone who fixed waterwheels and other stuff in Soar Way maybe?
The Mighty Helm guard had a run in with someone who dug up the graves of the deceased and turned them into Draugr by stealing souls from their rightful rest… but the mare couldn’t have possibly lasted that long right? No, must be a descendant of hers. Still haven’t seen hide nor hair of anyone that could be one of mine.
“Okay, this morning we’re specializing in fruit or cheese pancakes and hash rounds. We’ll give you Abyssinian brand ‘cat-sup’ if you ask for it, we’ve got plenty of regular syrup today so you can go completely wild with that. Just don’t make a mess if you don’t intend to clean it up afterwards.” Lady Kuril was speaking my language, which was good food. The Abyssinian waitress dragged over three chairs for us with smile, then she eyed me up and then eyed up Meadowbrook afterwards too. Why did suddenly I fear for our lives? The Mirage Rabbit should have been what caused that feeling! “Flavored syrups are going to cost you extra though, I’d recommend the strawberry syrup in that case or at least blueberry. If you want eggs, we can swing those as well. If you want lunch items, then know that we have plenty of salad options today. Hey guys, do you mind if these three eat with you? Two Equestrian Legends and someone who obviously knows you. Oh and this is you’re waitress Savanna ‘The Wild’, just don’t give her any openings. Also do not tell her about your recent medical history and you’ll be fine. ”
“Oh come on, I’m just looking Kuril.” The named Savanna muttered as she took out a notepad. “He’s a solid eight for muscle, the Kirin I like because she’s fluffy and peppy, then there’s the one with the exotic swamp accent. She’s a yes.”
“Wait… what?” I was distracted as I sat down. “I’m Rockhoof, last of the Mighty Helm guard from a thousand years ago. I’ve got plenty of stories to tell of them though.”
“Thank you for the compliment, but I have other... obligations.” Autumn said in a friendly tone.
“Uh… I need an adult?” Was Meadow’s response.
I noticed that the silent mare of the group at the table was staring at me, but she didn’t say anything.
“Hey guys, remember me!” Autumn Blaze stated cheerful as she approached the group. “Cause rainbows won’t light up the sky, if you don’t let it rain~. You guys helped me out when I was alone and in pain~. So it’s really quite nice to see you all again~!”
“Hello, I’m Mage Meadowbrook, call me Meadow.” Meadowbrook said politely as we sat with the odd group.
A yak, a dragon, both clearly Vikings, the kitsune looked more like what I would expect from Mist Mane’s part of the world. I looked at the last pony, she looked so… unassuming. Yet she was staring right at me, there was something quite unnerving about her and I couldn’t quite put my hoof on what that was.
“I am a sweet fox, my name is equally so, for I am Sweetcakes.” The vixen stated in a stilted manner as she bowed her head to us regally.
“I’m Flamberge the Fiercely Flammable, Sweetcakes obnoxiously loud and loving boyfriend!” The red dragon was as loud as his heart, I liked him. “It is nice to meet you oh ancient heroes of old and our old friend Autumn as well! It was nice to hear that the Kirin are recovering from their silence.”
“I am Fortitude, the Fantastically Fragrant!” Taking a whiff in Fortitude’s direction, I reeled back in horror and covered my nose.
“Did I just die a little inside?” I asked with horror.
“Yeah, Fortitude’s smell kind of does that!” Flamberge answered loudly. “It’ll raise you out of the ground and then put you back in it seconds afterwards!”
The mare at the table just rolled her eyes and sent Flamberge a flat look.
“Who’s the final member of your group?” Hearing Meadowbrook asked this, I noticed that she was looking at the mare who had been staring at me.
“She is Skelly, the Superbly Spirited!” Both Flamberge and Fortitude said together.
“Flamberge, Gene and I are all brothers… we don’t have much family resemblance do we?” Stated Fortitude with a jolly tone. He seems to be well built and he was equipped with an impressive looking shield. His dragon brother had a sword at his hip. I don’t know what the griffon at that other table had, but they were all family if they said they were. “Skelly can’t talk due to an incident that left her mute and incapable of smelling things, but I am sure she welcomes you to our table as well. How are things with you friend Autumn?”
“Well ever since you guys left me after helping me, I was mostly keeping to myself and talking… to myself… a lot. I might have cracked a little bit, but those cracks got paved over and things are good now. So eventually two ponies wandered in and I noticed them stirring things up and they helped out my entire village for the better after I told them what was going on.” This sounded like quite a tale Autumn Blaze was weaving. “So do you guys want to hear the story of ‘The Silencing Water’? I’m writing a book about it and I need to bounce it off of you guys.”
It was a pretty good story.
-Ten minutes later, Skelly-
Rockhoof… he reminded me of some young stallions I knew. The Mighty Helm’s didn’t make it to the attack on my home in a timely manner… they likely showed up in force to help after I had left and became what I am.
I don’t hold it against them and I’m not going try and tell anyone about that, it’s all in the past and I was there to see the birth of the Mighty Helm guard. Rockhoof was the last Mighty Helm guard left… I was never technically one, but my father could have been a retired Mighty Helm. I might even be related to Rockhoof as an ancestor, but I would never act on my suspicions.
Rookhoof took the short way around when it came to coming to this time period. Unlike Jade and me who withstood the horrible tests of time, he should be thankful that he skipped that entirely. He and his friends were luckier than us in that respect, he didn’t have to experience it all like we did.
I just ate my pancakes in silence, they tasted pretty sweet with strawberry syrup. I was happy with my friends that cared about me and pulled me from the darkness.
Until Yakhalla finally calls for me, then here I’ll be.
If not Yakhalla, then maybe Elysium or somewhere as nice at the very least.
Fortitude really cared about me, but I really don’t see what he sees in me… aside from the obvious emptiness between all my bones.
Fortitude wrapped a hoof around me and exclaimed something excitedly, I smiled a little.
I might be a bit messed up, but my heart was still ever present and feels like it was beating in my chest. I never wanted to lose the ability to feel, even if that’s what happened when Stochastic crushed most of my bones to splinters.
I’d take that excruciating pain any day, it reminded me that I’m alive in spite of what my nighttime appearance might suggest to someone.
-Mage Meadowbrook-
There was just something off about Skelly, but no one seemed bothered by the unnatural air around her. It was nice to see someone like Fortitude be so protective of her, he seems to be highly protective of his friends and family in general.
Flamberge was quite boisterous as he told the story of their travels with the mystical artifact known as Travel On, especially the tale of what happened to them in an odd place named ‘Nowhere’.
Sweetcakes apparently joined them when they crossed paths and she apparently took to Flamberge, at first she was just trying to annoy her father. Now the two were actually together and I thought that the love story was sweet, if a little odd.
“How is that going to work though, are dragons and kitsune even compatible?” My question received a snort from the two.
Sweetcakes wrapped her tails around Flamberge’s back and he stretched a wing around her shoulders and she nuzzled into her his neck affectionately.
“Yes, Dragons and Kitsune are actually compatible, you’d be surprise to hear that ponies aren’t the only ones with odd genetic quirks! Even if we weren’t, then there’s plenty of magic research going on around here to make it work unless one of us was completely infertile! I’m open to adoption, because I adopted my brothers well enough!” What Flamberge said had me tilting my head at him curiously. “Gene, Fortitude and I grew up together, we will have each other’s backs to the end! Maybe I’ll even still be around to help their families in the future if their family lines go on for that long.”
“It can happen, my descendent Cattail proves that… unfortunately it seems that he’s the only descendant that I have left. I should probably prod him about finding a special some-pony.” Also it was nice that my descendant kept my old place tidy, even if it’s a bit sad there’s not many ponies living around there anymore. “There’s still a fairly strong family resemblance though and being an ancient aunt doesn’t bother me as much as it should. Oh and then there’s a descendant of a stallion I once loved, but work kind of got in my way and I think I’ve made my peace with things there.”
“It’s fairly lonely being the only one of my family left and the only ones I have left are my friends that came with me to this time. That and my new friends in this day and age.” Poor Rockhoof, at least he was a good storyteller and had many new friends that cared about him.
That yak, Yona I believe, really liked Rockhoof a lot and showed him that he still had a lot to give in this world.
Now if only Rockhoof had table manners when he was eating his stack of hash rounds and a side salad, though admittedly my eating was also quite a sight too. Kuril really does know how to cook some delicious victuals and if she’s this good at cooking, then I have to wonder how good she is at fixing illnesses or making potions? At least nobody around here seemed to be sick at the very least, in fact everyone here was really quite healthy.
I saw a motion and turned to watch as Skelly got up to move over to Rockhoof, she took up one of his hooves in hers and bowed her head onto his hoof. I didn’t understand what that gesture meant, but Rockhoof seemed to.
“Thank you for the kind sentiments lass and that cheers me up somewhat. Silent you may be, but you certainly speak with your heart quite loudly. Did you know I tried to get myself turned to stone since I didn’t feel needed? All those kids from that friendship school in Ponyville came to stop me from being silly. They enjoyed my stories about my time in the Mighty Helm guard and the past my friends and I come from.” Seeing that Rockhoof would be okay, Skelly smiled and moved to be beside Fortitude once more. “I just wish there was a way I could relive my old glory days in more ways than just stories you know?”
“Why not take our magical boat Travel On then? It’s currently stored away and has a sign on it that reads ‘in case of extreme boredom’. If you need an adventure, it’ll be sure to take you where you need to be the most.” Fortitude seemed to smile at the thought. “It always leads to many grand adventures, sometimes people need your help and sometimes you’re the one that needs the help. Travel On always knows exactly where its passengers need to be, even across dimensions, time and space!”
“It didn’t exactly fail us when we used it! Our adventures are going to be more around Equestria than this or other worlds from now on, we’ll be acting as regional adventurers for hire! We’re also fairly tired of dealing with eldritch abominations!” Flamberge proclaimed loudly with a bit of anger in his voice. “We’ve met a ton of interesting people and sent them Kuril’s way, Airship Mauled needed to expand somehow and we’re proud of our accomplishments in helping this one airship place become the town that it is today! It’s even how we met Skelly, Sweetcakes and so many others!”
“Like me!” Chirped Autumn Blaze as she chewed through her crepes with enthusiasm.
“Dreams have drift away? Your nightmares don’t have to stay. Dream anew and see.” Sweetcakes stated pleasantly in a stilted manner.
“Why does she talk like that?” I know I talked strangely, but the kitsune was taking the whole cake and the table it was on.
“Oh she tends try and speak only in haikus! I don’t mind that about her, she always gets right to the point! That’s something I appreciate, as she has a good point this time too!” She does Flamberge? I didn’t quite see it personally. “If you don’t feel like you have anything important to do, then have Travel On take you out on an adventure! If you have no dreams to follow, then it’ll find something for you to do when you’re feeling useless! It certainly helped us out when we lost a good friend for several years and didn’t know how to get her back! We arrived at the right place at the right time to help bring her back, so that’s a victory for us getting horrendously lost using the Mists of Travel On!”
“I… hrm… how soon would you expect it back?” Was Rockhoof actually considering the offer? Well if he wanted adventure, then always being where you were needed most seems like the way to go about it.
“Whenever it feels like coming back, we don’t control the boat aside from some minor steering. I sometimes think Travel On knows exactly where it needs to be too.” It seems like Fortitude and the others didn’t mind if someone else used their magical adventure boat. “You’re welcome to see where it takes you friend.”
“I’ll actually consider it, might even be able to bring some new stories to share at the School of Friendship.” Rockhoof rubbed at his thick beard looking thoughtful. “I wonder if it came from the same place that the Cutie Map does.”
A second later we heard raised voices.
“I’m warning you, don’t push me!” We all turned to the sound of the local witch getting angry, Kuril was interesting to say the least when we first saw her. She was holding a vial in her hand threateningly and glaring down a dragon.
“Or you’ll what, turn me into a newt?” The teenaged looking grey dragon stated, he then laughed at her and pushed her slightly.
“Actually… no.” Before the dragon could say anything, the proprietor and witch of this establishment threw the vial at the dragon. “I’m going to turn you into a chinchilla.”
After a flash of bright light and the sound of shattering glass, I blinked the spots out of my eyes to see the Abyssinian scooping up a fairly frightened looking chinchilla. I looked around for glass shards, but didn’t see any… did she just use all the glass for a chemical magical reaction? I had to know how she even did that!
I definitely wanted to get to know this Kuril La Perm better after seeing something like that.
“Consider yourself lucky that this is only temporary.” Kuril stated coolly as she held the squirming chinchilla by its tail. “Now you’re going to be in the time out corner until this wears off and you have had time to cool your jets. Just because my familiar isn’t currently playing bodyguard in the dining area, it does not mean I’m weak or should be trifled with in my home personally. You don’t seem me coming into your home and pushing you around do you? In fact, my familiar says a lot about my talent as a witch, as does turning a dragon into a chinchilla in the first place.”
Dragons were somewhat resilient to magic and I think I was a bit star struck by how she handled the situation, she placed the chinchilla in a box and looked at him.
“Stay here until you transform back, I expect an apology afterwards or will at the very least see you quietly leaving my establishment.” Kuril adjusted her hat and turned to everyone. “Sorry about that, but I don’t like rowdy customers.”
Kuril received an applause, she blinked a bit in confusion.
“He was a fairly annoying customer Kuril.” The pony waitress said with no hint of malice. “Okay people, shows over, who ordered the hash tots and mustard on the side?”
I got up and proceeded to approach Kuril.
“Excuse me… I’m Mage Meadowbrook and I want to know, where did you learn that thing with the potion?” After I asked this Kuril brightened up.
“Oh that, that’s something I picked up on my own. A zebra named Zecora helped out a bit with some knowledge, but then I added my own twist on things. I’m pretty good at making a number of rather odd potions.” Kuril was a friends with Zecora? Well I can tell that we were already going to be great friends already. “So Meadowbrook, what’s your passion in life?”
“Curing what ails people, I like mixing a good tonic personally.” Thus I started wanting to talk shop with the friendly witch.
“Talk to me while I work?” Nodding to Kuril, I followed her over to the kitchen while getting into an interesting conversation.
The thestral working in the kitchen did give me a bit of a glare, while only looking at Kuril in an affectionate manner.
I had no intention of interfering with the relationship, I just wanted to talk shop and apparently the kitchen assistant picked up on that quickly enough.
-Rockhoof-
Well Meadowbrook looks like she was happy talking with the proprietor.
“Well this was a nice… brunch I think it’s called?” The five nodded to me. “So what’s there to do around here?”
“Well we can summon puks, but that tends to be frowned upon heavily given how often they attack the town!” After Flamberge said this an elephant trumpeted loudly, this drew my attention to the green haired Abyssinian chasing a large elephant holding a pouch of bits in its trunk.
“Get back here you stupid elephant!” Turning away from the screaming Abyssinian I raised an eye at them.
“Don’t ask about the super thief elephant, it’s been annoying this place for as long as we’ve known about it being around.” You know, this place reminds me of something Fortitude. “I think friend Jade will certainly be able to take care of it.”
“We can go look at the trained myrmekes or look up the adventurer’s bulletin board at Sekhet’s pyramid to see if anyone needs help!” It seemed Flamberge was enthusiastic about helping people and dragons aren’t usually as noble sounding as this one is. “First, we need to finish our meals and pay for them, we do not want to run up a tab here. Kuril can get a bit scary at times… also I don’t want to be turned into a chinchilla today.”
“The adventurer’s bulletin board?” Now that had peaked my interest as much as having access to a boat that can take you on amazing adventures where you will always be needed for something.
“Yeah, Sekhet has been working on getting a guild up and running, she’s the secretary of the mayor, the local bank and our favorite local goddess of physical education. She really enjoys teaching, I know that much.” The griffon, Gene, came over to us and gave the yak and dragon a hug. He sounded dull of voice and emotions, but he certainly showed it more than he spoke it. “I’m Gene Eric, The Swift Reaction. I’m free up for the rest of the day, how about we do something together brothers? I’ll go get my spear and meet you at Sekhet’s pyramid.”
With that Gene took off for the door and nodded to a sea pony and a cat with leaves around their head like a mane, both of them were playing with that wee griffon child.
Now I knew what this place reminded me of, this place was just as weird as Ponyville.
“Yes, the Vibrant Vikings are fully together for this day! Now let’s see what kind of trouble we can get into!” Flamberge belted out loudly while raising a flaming sword towards the roof.
“Ahem, I believe you should pay for the meal first Flamberge… before you get ahead of yourself.” Savanna stated plainly as she started taking up dishes, Flamberge blushed and sheathed his flaming sword.
“Right, do you mind if we pay for you?!” It was a nice offer Flamberge and I wasn’t exactly one to pass on a free meal.
-Five minutes later, outside, Fortitude-
“What’s happening over there?” Asked Rockhoof as he turned to see a reindeer beating a certain cow into a crater in the ground.
All friend Arizona did was block the constant attacks with her hooves and not much else.
“That is nothing to be worrying about, it is just Arizona and Velvet. They are well known around here for always bickering or fighting about something. Arizona, the cow, would normally be fighting back, but her wife Velvet is pregnant.” I leaned closer to Rockhoof and he covered his nose. “It’s their wife Paprika that you have to worry about, she has a tendency to hug everyone she meets violently if it’s your first meeting. She’s been getting better about it, but even I am find trouble breathing when hugged by her, she continues to hug good friends the way she does the first time. You’ll know she likes you if you’re out of breath.”
“So where would she be at this… oof… he-lp…” Rockhoof found himself held in the air by a surprisingly fluffy and strong alpaca that was hugging the life out of him, his face was going dark blue and starting to turn purple. Eventually, Paprika dropped him and moved on into The Witch’s Fare. The alpaca has been eating a lot more lately, she does have little ones to nourish after all. Rockhoof coughed a few times before looking to us. “I take it that was their wife Paprika?”
“Oh yes, she is apparently feared by numerous gods and several civilizations for all the hugging she’s done!” Flamberge exclaimed with an infectious cheerfulness. “All of them are happy she’s finally settling down, but I think she still has to hug someone every once in a while or she’d go stir crazy or something!”
“I’d believe it.” That was a sincere sentiment among many who lived here Rockhoof. We led him over to the pyramid where we saw Gene going through some training forms with his spear.
“Sekhet’s not busy with a class today, so we should see what the adventurer’s bulletin board says and then see her about take something on.” Nodding to Gene, I smiled brightly.
Gene was happy and both Flamberge and I were happy that he was. Gene had Jacky, Flamberge had Sweetcakes and I had Skelly. Things weren’t going to be easy for me or Skelly, but I would certainly make the effort to make her as happy as she can possibly get!
We entered the pyramid and saw Sekhet doing some paperwork.
“Oh hey there, what do you need mortals?” She said it in a more pleasant tone than she usually does, must be quite happy today.
“Adventurer’s bulletin board?” Gene queried lightly. Sekhet flicked her paw and it appeared in the glow of an ankh.
“Hello goddess Sekhet, souls are sacred!” I yelled up her, she picked me up and gave me a friendly hug.
“That they are Fortitude. If you guys find something interesting, then bring it to my attention and we’ll see if we can get you started on the job.” Sekhet quickly went back to her paperwork. “There’s always a need for adventurers around here with how dangerous things can be.”
-Flamberge-
I scrutinized the board with a discerning eye and then I saw something that stood out.
“What about this one?!” I picked up a post for a job to scare off a rat.
“Scare off a rat? That doesn’t sound all that dangerous. I’m sure those Abyssinians could do it, why is this even on the board?” Was Rockhoof serious? Did he not understand how big things got around here?!
“I think we should take this job, if just to prove a point about things not appearing as they seem!” It said scare it off, it implied that we couldn’t win and I was willing to believe that if this creature came from Barely Bearable Woods.
“Okay, we’ll scare off the little biter and we’ll then be back in time to do another more worthy adventure.” There was something Rockhoof seriously needed to know about this mission, but I wouldn’t tell him until we actually ran across it.
I’m pretty sure there was a very good reason it was labeled as ‘exceedingly dangerous’. I don’t know what a Sumatran Rat is, but I had a feeling that this was going into eldritch abomination territories. With us, it was pretty much a sure thing at this rate.
“Be honest brother, what’s the expected danger level of this one?” Gene was calm, but alert.
“It says ‘exceedingly dangerous’, this was also posted by Jade of all people and she’s not one to joke about something like this.” I received a long quiet look from Gene.
“Okay, we’ll deal with it.” Gene said calmly.
“It can’t be that hard to deal with a rat, we’ll be done three minutes tops.” Wished we had your confidence about this Rockhoof.
-One hour later, approximately two miles from Airship Mauled, Gene-
I was quiet, my back against a boulder and looking over my shoulder as something moved through the trees at an incredible speed. My brothers said they have had many problems with eldritch entities. I believed them wholeheartedly, especially now.
“What was that unholy thing?!” Rockhoof asked with a look of horror in his eyes.
“A Sumatran Rat, which is apparently an eldritch entity of some sort.” Fortitude muttered as he kept his shield in hoof and at the ready while looking in all directions slowly.
“Our luck hasn’t changed very much at all has it?!” Flamberge yelled while holding his sword aloft and lighting up the surrounding area with its flames. He was looking around with wariness as the foliage hid the sun from us.
I stared at the splotches of black blood as they burned the ground, this thing was quite unnatural. At least my spear was made of sterner stuff than its seemingly acidic blood.
My eyes narrowed, I rolled away and slashed across the belly of the creature as it tried to bear down on me and blinked when I saw that my spear didn’t do much damage, but I did cut a few sharp spikes from its belly.
I quickly deflected the tail as it swung around for me. Fortitude slammed it’s side a second later knocking it over and both Flamberge and Rockhoof started beating back its flailing fur covered tentacles.
It roared to the sky and its blood red glowing eyes seemed quite angry.
“Why is it always tentacles with you things?!” Flamberge screamed back with flames blasting from his mouth as he did so. This made the giant rat flinch, lit it on fire and left it open to a shovel and a spear pincer attack by me and Rockhoof.
My dragon brother was really quite angry and he even started to drive the massive rat back by himself out of the pure ferocity he was putting into his swings. Skelly joined him by attacking its tail with her axe to stop it from whipping around at us.
-Airship Mauled, Fizzy-
“Jade, Sekhet said your post on the adventurer’s bulletin board was answered.” Giving me her complete attention, Jade lifted her head from nuzzling all of Silvers heads affectionately. “What, pray tell, is a Sumatran Rat and why couldn’t you have taken care of it? Don’t Abyssinian’s usually like hunting rats?”
“Not this kind of rat we don’t.” Jade stated flatly and shivered a little. “Hunting and eating rats is something I don’t mind doing, yes. In this case, however, Abyssinians make an exception of never having to go near this monster in question.”
“Why?” Tilting my head at Jade, I couldn’t understand what she was so scared of.
“Imagine, if you will, a rat twice the size of Sugar as she currently is and mind you Sugar is already the size of an average bear. Now imagine said large rat with razor sharp spines for belly fur, various tentacles that grow back quickly coming out of its spine and a hairless tail that can whip about and unleash a relatively potent poison upon impact with its whip-like tip. When you take all that into account, it’s very dangerous and that’s not even getting into how dangerous its front teeth are and its blood being a slow acting acid.”
“Should we be worried about Flamberge, Fortitude, Skelly or Sweetcakes if they were to theoretically go after one?” Like they were currently doing right now.
“I’m sure Sweetcakes can deal with the poison, Skelly can’t get poisoned, Fortitude is incredibly defensive and Flamberge has plenty of firepower. I’m sure they’ll be fine if they fight one.” Well that was a relief to hear Jade.
“What about Rockhoof, he went with them.” Meadowbrook looked a bit worried as she approached us.
“So it’s not theoretical… I’m sure Rockhoof will be fine, he’s with four professional Vikings from Soar Way and Sweetcakes.” Jade passed me Silvers and moved to pat Meadowbrook on the back. “If they can scare or beat the Sumatran Rat up enough to send it into the Barely Bearable Woods or somewhere less troublesome, then it won’t bother trying to come back. So we won’t have to deal with this thing twice, though we might want to tell my mom to work on some healing potions or at least a few poison antidotes just in case.”
-One hour later, ever burning fire, Jade-
“Are you guys alright?” When I spoke up the four Vibrant Vikings, Sweetcakes and Rockhoof flinched.
They all looked ragged, dirty, bloodied and beaten, that was what I could expect from going two rounds with a monstrous Sumatran Rat. Usually only see them in the deserts of Abyssinia though.
“How could you put something like that up on that board?!” Rockhoof exclaimed with downright fury.
“What part of ‘exceedingly dangerous’ did you not understand? The ‘exceedingly’ or the ‘dangerous’ part?” I simply returned. “I was entirely honest about the request to run it off.”
“I… er… huh… the post did say that didn’t it? I didn’t exactly think a rat could be so dangerous.” So you have no legs to stand on here Rockhoof and as soon as you realize that you can apologize in three… two… “I’m sorry, but that monster has left me a bit mental.”
“Yeah, Sumatran Rats do that, did you run it off or did it run you off?” They all stared at me and Rockhoof broached the topic. “Please tell me you were the ones to run it off, things might get worse if you didn’t.”
“What would happen if we were the ones that were run off?” Rockhoof asked tentatively.
“It would learn that we’re not strong enough to fend it off and would try to attack any nearby settlements believing that it could eat whatever it wants. We’re the nearest thing to that monster and it will eventually come for us if that was the case.” I paused a few seconds and they didn’t look too worried. “Otherwise if you were the ones to run it off, it will never bother this area again. Sumatran Rats are thankfully not territorial, they prefer to be more nomadic and safe… which way did it go exactly?”
“We think it went southwest and, yes, we scared it off!” Answered Flamberge with his usual ear grating volume levels.
“Good, it shouldn’t bother anyone out that way unless someone likes to go on scenic explorations.” Now comes the painful part, I have to pay the Vibrant Vikings for their timely assistance in making Airship Mauled slightly safer. “Well come on then, Dr. Bones, Sekhet, Meadow and mom are waiting to help you with medical attention. Did any of you get hit by the tip of the tail?”
“No friend Jade, we did not. We did get flung around by the tentacles though and learned an important lesson to never get underneath it when it jumps in the air. We are mostly okay.” Thank you for the report on your general health Fortitude, but we needed a second opinion.
“Come on, let’s go get you guys patched up.” I shivered at the thought of having to go near that thing again, I was only lucky that it didn’t attack me when I was spending time scouting the surrounding areas with Bracing Knight. “Oh and good job, you saved Airship Mauled from having to deal with one of the nastiest kind of rats to ever exist.”
-?-
Rockhoof eventually took up the offer, Travel On would take him on many wondrous adventures, but he didn’t go them alone. He took one of his six other friends, the pony pillars of Equestria’s past and the stories he told of those times would be legendary.
The adventurer’s bulletin board didn’t always lead to success, but it did so more often than not and a stallion named Linked Heart came to town fairly often to take up anything dangerous.
The Vibrant Vikings would go on to have many more adventures, sometimes with Gene when he wasn’t working with Jacky as her beloved first mate. They were famously known for taking on the most ridiculously dangerous things that somehow tended to sporadically grow tentacles while they were fighting them. This was very much to Flamberge’s immense displeasure.
While Skelly, Flamberge and Fortitude didn’t exactly have a leader, they made up for it with incredible teamwork and their backup support Sweetcakes. They each took the lead depending on when the situation needed them to.
Fortitude would continue to be the King of Minos, not that anyone minded him being the leader of the minotaur race and his approval ratings was oddly at one hundred percent and never dipped whatsoever for as long as he lived. He eventually married General Skelly and an increasing number of oddities came from that marriage, such as children. Nobody wanted to question how that even worked with Skelly, it sounded too complicated to think about the mechanics of how a skeleton could functionally have children.
Flamberge eventually marries Sweetcakes and has a few kitsune with her. Their marriage would practically last eons thanks to both of them having extremely long lifespans. He does eventually grow too big for his sword and eventually gave it to someone he found worthy of it. He only ever had one thing in his hoard, his wife, of whom eventually stopped speaking in haiku after five thousand years of being married.
Sweetcakes would make traditional Neighpon treats, Skelly moonlights as a vigilante, Flamberge could sometimes be seen flipping hayburgers and Fortitude makes a pretty good living as the ultimate paint stripper. All in all, they would all continue to live at Airship Mauled and didn’t feel like getting lost again anytime soon.
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hi pony link!
For those playing at home, Zephyr Breeze's introductory episode included a background stallion with a Heart Container cutie mark, a floppy green hat, and a cart full of large gems. Darkon really knows the source material.
People are settling in nicely, though that rat was getting nasty. I mean, only 2 miles outside of town? Would have to be care with the secondaries due to the blast effects.
Takes a lot of good luck around town to keep Jacky counterbalanced, or does she spend more time in casinos etc?
At least Flamberge and Sweetcakes could make sure Airship Mauled remains. After all, it takes a town to raise a dragon?
I wonder if anyone can build comment pugwugdies. I probably sound drunk, but I think it might be humorous
Welcome to Airship Mauled!