Meta Gamer in Equestria: Champion's Folly

by reflective vagrant

Troubled Reflections (Stemming the Tide, Part 2.)

We were approaching our stop after a long train ride, where we were to set off and walk the rest of the way.

"So you can finally call out to the Animus Mundi, battle brother?" Speaks with Talons asked me with a spring of hope to his voice.

I shook my head and brought my hand up to perform the short version of the spell.

"I didn't say that."

With a quick twirling of my hand, and a half twiddling of my thumb, I called out, "Lⁱn_gu^a a_ni^ma_li^s."

The subtle sounds of some birds calling in the distance turn into the sounds of words being yelled, not quite able to be heard clearly over the sounds of the train. I immediately let go of the spell and turned towards him.

"You once said you use a trace of Æther in your spells as a handicap to your casting. As such, you don't speak with her directly when you cast, but weave the spell with just a nudge of guidance from your mind with the secrets she taught you. I think it's similar with me in this case. The Animus Mundi didn't just make the spell available to me by calling out to her. She outright taught me how to cast the whole thing all by myself. It's almost as if I'm casting one of my wizard spells, but not quite. I think the only reason why I can cast it is because it's bypassing the block I have with having to call out to her like with all my other druid spells."

I paused and shirked my shoulders. "Well, besides the cantrips."

When he heard this, he paused for but a moment and shook his head as the train stopped. After he stood up, he grabbed his quivers of his custom bolts, strapped them back onto their proper location just under both wings, and looked back at me with hope. "Then perhaps it will act as a stepping stone for you some day."

With everybody getting ready to disembark, Scraps put his magic short sword back into its corresponding sheath. He then put the sheath back across his belly for travel alongside his quick grab vials, filled with just about anything and everything short of a healing potion. I was still amazed Tempest let him keep the sword after he nicked it from one of the invaders we rounded up. Though I was also a little confused as to why he always had it on his front instead of his back or hip. It was a short enough variety for him to still draw or stow it without a problem, but the sheath looked so uncomfortable placed there.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Mandible were packing up the last of their medical kits they had been going over and swapping notes on. They both were skilled enough to act as field medics, but apparently they went about it slightly differently. Fluttershy had knowledge more appropriate for a veterinarian and at least a couple years of practical experience with her animals. This limited her knowledge on immediate aid in the far less than ideal treatment settings of a battlefield, but extended her ability to understand the long term needs of a patient's injury.

On the other hand, Mandible, while having only about a month's practical experience, had basic military medical training from the Equestrian forces with more emphasis on working under fire. He had also gained a tiny bit of knowledge on herbal medicine as well from his time with Wild Storm after his recovery from the rift war. So they had found the differences in their approaches to field medicine fascinating.

Tempest simply popped her neck after the long ride and stood up to crack the rest of her bones. She never opened her pack or removed her armor through the entire trip. She instead opted to run through scenarios with Scraps on when to draw his blade and fight and when to keep it sheathed and take a different approach, be it talking peaceably or something in the middle like his hiding and tinkering skills.

I could only imagine how stiff she was, but I could understand why she did it. She hated having to drag him back into a possible fight yet again. Apparently this was his home land and the princess said that the map table and Tree of Harmony probably sent him here for a reason connected to that.

---

We were trekking along with Scraps leading the way. Instead of his normally happy and playful nature showing through, he was on high alert and constantly sniffing at the air. Every so often his paw would go to the grip of his sword out of reflex, but he never drew it.

Tempest and Speaks with Talons decided to keep an alert pose going as well. Tempest kept her ears and eyes peeled to catch the items that the diamond dog's nose couldn't and Speaks with Talons was up flying in the canopy, making quick peeks top side to not be easily spotted while scouting the skys.

Mandible and Fluttershy, neither being warriors nor our guide that was familiar with the territory, stayed back and spoke softly with me on different subjects. Some were on medicine again, some were on his injuries and how his horn was permanently damaged like Tempest's. He said the injury made it to where he could never shape shift again. Because of this, he had been taken in by Wild Storm as an apprentice when his hive had no idea what to do with him. This in turn led up to the next topic of discussion, his attempts to learn the ways of the servants from Wild Storm the last few months and his uncertainty of where he fit in among them.

"Are you certain it is alright for me to call you cousin, Beast-kin?" Mandible asked me for the third time, "I am still only a student. The Animus Mundi has not opened up to me under Wild Storm's teachings. I am not a servant yet."

I turned my head to him and shook it with frustration at the constant re-asking of his question. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not even fully comfortable with Speaks with Talons calling me battle brother. I'm not from this world and I really have a pet peeve about being accepted into a family just because I'm helping out."

Mandible looked at me oddly for several seconds while we walked before finally shrinking back into Archimedes for comfort. Having been the symbol of hope he had seen back during his literal darkest hour, he had grown fond of the owl.

"I had no idea you were that displeased with us. It's a wonder you and your familiar were so willing to aid somecreature you did not like when you helped save me. I'll..."

Fluttershy signaled to him, cutting him off and leaning into his ear. With a few seconds of whispering what was surely her sugar coated version of my internal frustrations, Mandible's eyes widened in shock.

"I'm so sorry! I... I didn't know." He tried to form more words, but seemed unable to find any.

I looked into his empathetic eyes and shrugged it off with a turn away from him and back to the path ahead.

"You have nothing to apologize for. The term brother as it's used between Speaks with Talons and myself just does not sit well with me. It implies a close bond of someone you can trust wholeheartedly, but I fear that trust might be abused some day. Maybe not by me, but somebody."

Turning a corner in the path, a break in the trees several yards down the path revealed a series of dirt fields coming into view eventually yielding to the mountains that we saw on the map.

Bringing my head back down with a huff of sadness, I forced myself to finish.

"When Wild Storm called me cousin for the first time, I wasn't sure how well it sat with me, as it was still tied to the term the title Speaks with Talons bestowed on me. But since then I've decided I'm indifferent to it. It has that degree of separation that I find myself wanting. I've got no more problem with you using it than Wild Storm, or Zecora, or even Tree Hugger. So go ahead and call me it if you want. Just don't use any title closer than that, OK?"

A few seconds later, we were a few yards into the dirt field as Scraps tensed up and waved at everybody to stop. The fir on his back that peeked out the top of his studded leather hide stood up with tension as he sniffed the air frivolously.

Without moving from his spot, he signaled at us again with a whisper of urgency.

"Friends. Get in air."

With a signal to Speaks with Talons, Tempest jumped up and was swept up in his talons. Fluttershy and Mandible opened their wings and likewise took flight.

I readied myself to shape shift into a mouse so that Archimedes could carry me, but held up.

Scraps kept scanning the ground as he whispered back to me. "Fish friend need to get into air."

His eyes zeroed in on a bit of ground almost right in front of him and his teeth came to bear.

Curious, I moved my hand in a way that was similar to how I move water to use my most recently acquired cantrip. Instead of a wave of a hand, however, I formed a scoop with my hand, then moved that scooped hand almost as if I were scooping ice cream.

Once I did, I saw the dirt from where he was looking move aside and pile up onto the ground right next to the hole I just dug with my magic.

Inside that hole, however was a kneeling diamond dog. It was a little bit bigger than Scraps and snarling.

It jumped at Scraps, reaching for the sword at his chest.

Scraps however, had beat him to it, putting his paw on the handle first. He managed to struggle with the snarling diamond dog that toppled him over and keep his sword in its sheathe, but just barely.

Just as this was happening, however, I saw another, even bigger diamond dog burst out of the ground to my left. I barely had time to see him reach for my amulet before I pinged my good luck charm of about four to five to push him to fail at stealing it.

With just a split second of vision, I saw his hand waver considerably as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, but his paw still managed to find its mark around my jewel encrusted amulet. With a sharp tug, I felt the cord of the amulet snap.

Before I could even react, I saw the diamond dog disappear into the hole he came from. My Amulet of Equine Tongue, my lifeline for reliable communication, was gone.

Comments

[DerpTape]

Ok, I am hooked and really looking forward to what comes next!

[reflective vagrant]

9998997
16 comments on this series in just over 6 hours. Someone sure binged. Not that I'm complaining about the attention.😋

[DerpTape]

9999021
I had the first story in an open tab for about a week while I finished up a few other tails. Very glad I saved it. I don't consider it bingeing, rather a pleasant journey away from my mundane troubles, and thank you for being the conductor on this trip.

I seriously hope this story gets the exposure it deserves, as it is such a well written, and enjoyable one!

[reflective vagrant]

9999382
It's dated, but you might check my "Compass for a Lost Dreamer" too. you might notice a few... peculiar consistencies.

Sadly, a lot of the "exposure" and hot box stuff goes to click baity titles with people wanting a quick laugh or other fix. Most my stories involves making my audience think at least a little deeper, and not enough people care about that to have any of my works become popular.

I dreamed of being in the featured tab at one point or another, but it's probably for the best that I don't actually get a taste of fame lest it go to my head.
(But my abilities definitely have flaws that hinder my work in other ways and the lack of an editor doesn't help either, though. Not that I've let those imperfections stop me from finishing a story I've already published.)