Welcome to New Ornithia
Outside of the castle, Princess Ocypete led Queen Novo, Princess Skystar, Captain Celaeno, and her crew to the vacant residence, that was near the castle, where they’ll be staying for the night, which is the guest room that she had mentioned. From the size, it appeared to have a single room. “This here is where you’ll be slumbering tonight,” Ocypete said to them. “So, make yourselves at home. Have a goodnight.”
She left back home, and they went inside the house to get some rest. The room is not too spacious, but it’s cramped and looked like it can fit 3-4 people. It also has three small beds linear to each other. It’s tight, especially for both hippogriffs. Queen Novo couldn’t find herself getting comfy with the small beds they had when she sat down and laid her back.
“Ugh, my back is gonna be jacked if I sleep like this,” the queen groaned.
She stood back up to see if she could do some adjustments until she accidentally bumped into Boyle. “Sorry, Your Highness,” the hook-handed pirate apologized. “I couldn’t take this here cramped space anymore.”
“That’s okay. The feeling is mutual.” Novo noticed that Boyle was carrying a couple of sheets of cloth, which she didn’t fully understand. “What are you doing with those?”
“I’m about to set up these hammocks fer us, but it’s hard to work with just one claw. So, could ye lend me a claw, please?”
“It’ll beat sleep inside of the equivalent of a sardine can. Sure, I’ll help.” The queen stepped outside with Boyle to set up their hammocks as Celaeno was struggling to get comfortable. Mullet was sitting up in his bed as he was having an equally hard time.
“Blast, ye reckon Ocypete would allow at least some of us to stay in the castle,” the captain complained.
“If ‘twas the castle everyone knew, we would’ve,” Mullet noted. “The castle here is….”
“Is a diet off-brand castle,” Lix Spittle stated. “I can’t be the only one who thought it was a backdrop to a play, been I?”
“I did look kind of… flat,” Celaeno commented.
“I may have seen some cutouts at my cousin’s play before,” Skystar spoke. “I kind of think they looked more appealing than the castle here.”
“You’re smarter than your mother gives you credit for kid,” Lix committed.
“You think so?”
“Let’s not be blunt here,” Mullet suggested, “Everyone here is likely struggling to use what they have to survive.”
“Yer right,” Celaeno commented. “But there’s something I don’t get about those yetis. Thar shouldn’t be any grub left up there, so why’re they staying around?”
“Ye’re tellin’ me. There could be more going on here than we’re being told.”
“So, you’re saying that… someone or something is feeding the yetis?” Skystar asked. “Why’d it do that?”
“Who knows,” Celaeno shrugged. “We have to wait ‘til mornin’ to get answers.” The captain tried lying down in her bed again, only to bonk her head against the wall. “Son of a b****…” Celaeno cussed, rubbing her bumped head. “…Anybody wanna use Boyle’s hammock?”
“Yep,” said Skystar.
“Aye,” the crew replied. They all got up and grabbed some sheets outside to see if they could tie them up and make hammocks.
It was going to be a long night, and the hippogriffs and pirates would have difficulty getting some sleep. Skystar was one of the last of them to fall asleep as she heard some footsteps. She only guessed there were some guards on night watch, similar to the guards back at Mount Aris. She didn’t quite know how things worked around here so she just went back to sleep.
The next day, Celaeno woke up first from her slumber. Still, in her resting position, she turned her head to both sides to see her mates and the hippogriffs sleeping. Wanting to give herself a few minutes more of rest, she was about to close her eyes again, until she smelled something strange. The odor was strong. “What was that smell?”
She got up from her hammock and left her spot to check where the scent was coming from. Roaming around for a bit, she found a group of avians serving bowls of soup to the villagers. Many of them being served didn’t seem so happy, as the soup itself didn’t look so appetizing.
“Cellie,” gasped a voice. The captain turned to see Ocypete was already up and helping to serve the stew. “Good morning. You want some breakfast?”
“Um… What are we havin’?” Celaeno asked.
“Well, food is hard to get down here, so we have to search everywhere what we can down here. We did manage to find a fair amount of edible mushrooms.”
“That’s… something. Is that what’s in this stew?”
Ocypete looked at the strew that was being warmed over a small fire. “I don’t remember, honestly.” One of the chefs handed a bowl over to Celaeno. She leaned her head near the bowl and gave a whiff only to get a stench. It was foul, and she let out a dry heave and a cough, knowing that she wasn’t going to enjoy eating this. “Once you have your first one, the next batch goes down easily.”
“...Petey, my matey, do you want to live like this for long?”
“Normally, I’d say no, but the others and I have no other choice. Those yetis above could yank us in half if they wanted to.”
“That’s why I’m going to make a plan with my crew to take care of those things.”
“Say that to the last guy when he tried to save the day,” said a voice. The pirate and the princess looked to see Madam Harpy walking toward them.
“Morning, Madam Harpy,” Ocypete said. “How’re you and your crew feeling?”
“Most of us are still tired from last night given our new guests. No offense.”
“None taken,” Celaeno responded. “My navigator, Boyle, thought of the idea of setting up hammocks to take a nap outside of the building. I gotta say it was much better than the bunks we were given.”
“I apologize, Cellie,” Ocypete sighed. “We’ve only got so much space that we can use for the village. Everything above ground is too dangerous.”
“Captain,” called a voice. The three avians turned to see the royal hippogriffs and the rest of Celaeno’s crew heading over to them. Princess Skystar sniffed the scent of the stew and didn’t know whether to make heads or tails of it. “What is this stuff?”
“Unclear,” Celaeno informed. “Lix, do ye feel that it’s salvageable?”
Lix Spittle took a peek at the stew and examined how it bubbled. “I’d say… it’d be lucky to be labeled as prison food,” Lix Spittle guessed.
Squabble decided to test this himself by getting a spoon and taking a sip of the stew, only to gag and drop his spoon. He let out several coughs as Mullet pulled him away from the pot. The first mate looked around the village seeing that other fellow avians weren’t enjoying their breakfast either. “There has to be somethin’ else fer these people to eat,” Mullet commented.
“My family is having us ration out our food,” Ocypete said. “It’s not easy living down here, you know.”
“I know how that feels,” Skystar commented.
Ocypete looked at her a little perplexed. “Excuse me?”
Skystar was about to speak up, only to have her mother speak up first. “Our kingdom had to retreat into hiding just like yours,” Novo explained. “It took a while for many of my citizens to recover and move home, but some had gotten used to the new kingdom. My sister stayed there to help keep track of it.”
“Oh, dear. The Storm King knows how to leave his mark.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“No kidding,” Celaeno sighed, “and I’m glad that he’s gone.” Everyone couldn’t help but agree.
“We know he’s not coming back,” Ocypete noted, “but that still doesn’t mean we’re safe up there. How are we going to take care of those yetis?”
“There has to be a limit to them,” Novo said.
“Are there any other exits to New Ornithia?” Skystar asked. Novo looked down at her daughter as Ocypete spoke up.
“We’ve blocked most of the tunnels that the yetis that big can fit through,” the avian princess explained. “All the other holes can only fit us. It has a couple of drawbacks as we can’t fit too many supplies through.”
“Is that where you use the bigger tunnels?”
“Sometimes. After the last attempt, my father ordered the tunnels to be sealed permanently.”
“Then how did you build most of this here stuff?” Boyle questioned. “There ain’t no possible way you’ve brought down enough materials to construct all of this, even if it’s the bare minimum.”
“We still had to use the bigger tunnels. We just stopped when things got too dangerous.”
“Then you’ve got to take that risk,” Skystar proclaimed.
“Silence!” Novo ordered. She quickly turned back to Ocypete. “Maybe I should have a conversation with your parents. We should be able to come to an understanding and form a plan about it.”
“That sounds good. I’ll take you to them.” Ocypete led Novo away to her family while Skystar let out a frustrated sigh.
Madam Harpy looked at the hippogriff and raised an eyebrow. “Yer mother been like that, laddie?” she asked.
“Yes. She has been more open since the Storm King’s defeat but… she’s still having issues with me being free.”
“Yeah, didn’t she ground you aft you went with us to defeat him?” Celaeno asked.
“Yes.”
“I’d say it been worth it. He wasn’t going to avast if ye just kept hiding.”
“But it was also a risky move,” Mullet noted. “There were like 13 of us when we went to battle with the Storm King.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re siding with the royals.”
“I’m not sayin’ they’re wrong. We have t’ reckon about this afore we act.”
“Okay then. How ‘bout this here? We’ll sneak up to the surface, have a check on how those yetis act, and gather supplies from the deck if we can. Sounds good?”
“Sounds good to me,” Skystar commented. “I’ll go with you.”
Captain Celaeno and Mullet both faced each other in concern before responding to the princess. “Ehh, it might be best if we go, lad,” Mullet commented.
“You gotta be kidding me!”
“Princess, it’s one thing to go against orders,” Celaeno said firmly, “but it’d be another thing if we’re responsible for you feeding the fishes. We ain’t going to let that happen to yer li’l pretty self.” She then turned back to her crew. “Boyle, Lix, Squabble, keep an eye on the princess.”
“Aye-aye, cap’n,” they proclaimed with a salute as the captain and her first mate left them to get back to the surface. Skystar was unhappy knowing she was in a position similar she was to at home. Squabble could tell that the princess was frustrated and glanced towards Boyle, thinking of an idea.
Squabble quickly grabbed one of Boyle’s empty maps and pencil, much to the surprise of the navigator. “Hey, what’re you doing?” Boyle questioned. A couple of squawks quickly explained what he was thinking. “Make a map of this place? It would give us something to do if we weren’t told to watch the princess.”
“I won’t mind exploring,” Skystar commented. “It’ll give me something to do.”
“Okay, just stay close. And Squabble, if anything happens to her, I’ll blame you.” Squabble nodded. He hopped onto the princess’s back as he thought it would be the best way to keep an eye on her.
“Well then, let’s go.” Skystar followed the pirates throughout New Ornithia as Madam Harpy let them enjoy their fun.
Up on the surface, Celaeno and Mullet poked their heads out of the holes. They squinted their eyes since they had gone a while without sunlight. Once they can fully open them, they scan around clearly. They even turned towards themselves with their beaks touching, making them flinch in weirdness. As they scanned, they couldn’t see one yeti in sight.
“Aight, let’s stay on the safe side,” Mullet suggested. Celaeno nodded and the two carefully sneak out of the hole and quietly tiptoe their way back to the ship without making a noise, hoping they wouldn’t find any yetis that were awake.
They managed to make their way back to the dock, where they can see the ship was still intact. “Huh, they would’ve attacked the ship at least, right?” Celaeno whisperingly questioned.
“Possibly, but the only reason I think of is that they would do that is if there was meat on the ship,” Mullet commented quietly.
“Let’s see if there’s anything useful we can bring back to the hideout.” The two avians sprinted to their ship and quickly dashed onto the ramp and the deck before they were caught. They then opened the hatch door that leads to the hold of the ship and hurriedly climbed down. Within the hold, they both found two empty wooden crates.
“There,” Celaeno pointed at the crates. “Let’s fill them up.” Soon, they hastily filled them with essentials like food from the kitchen and utensils for cooking. As they load, Captain Celaeno noticed the chest that Queen Novo brought from Mount Aris. It was moderately big and would be difficult to carry back to the tunnels. “We could’ve brought the third claw along.” She sighed in frustration.
“We’ve at least gotten food from the ship afore they’d get ‘em,” Mullet said. “Let’s bring it aft, and then we could hopefully bring some of our weapons with us.” The two carried their loaded crates and were just about to make their way back when the captain saw something on the deck. Her face turned white.
“Mullet…” she shivered in a quiet and fearful tone. “Don’t… move…”
“Why?” She grabbed his head and twisted to where she was staring at. His jaw almost dropped. They saw one of the yetis had gotten on board and was searching for something. Celaeno and Mullet didn’t move a muscle, they were worried that one small creek could lead them to danger. The yeti inspected and stood up on its hind legs, scratching its head. The avians were a bit confused by this.
The confusion turned to fear once they saw it leaving to check the rest of the ship. Celaeno and Mullet quickly ran into another room to hide. They managed to get to the sleeping quarters and hide behind the changing curtains.
“Great. Not through with the first plan, and we need to improvise,” Celaeno grumbled quietly.
“Take it easy, Cap’n,” Mullet said, trying to calm her down.
“I can’t believe that the Storm King be managing to mess up our lives… even ‘til death.”
“Believe me, that meeting ain’t somethin’ I enjoy remembering either. What matters now is understandin’ what these yetis be doin’.” Mullet peeked out of their hiding spot, and while he couldn’t see any yetis come in, the sound of shuffling bits could be heard, which gave them a bad feeling.
“Are they looting our booty?”
“I believe so. That’s the least of our troubles now.” Mullet kept trying to think of an idea until Celaeno remembered something.
“Mullet, did we get that trap door installed afore we came here?”
The captain quickly figured out what her first mate was thinking. “Yeah, we did, but we don’t exactly know what’s below us. We’ll be fortunately lucky if we land on a cliff.”
Mullet quietly stepped over to where the trap door’s lever was. He pulled it, and the trap door was opened for Celaeno to peek down below them. They looked to be close enough to the cliffs to glide down. She looked back at the crates of food they had gathered.
“Aye, I’ll glide down onto that cliff, then ye throw the crates, and I’ll catch ‘em.”
“Is that really what you want to do? I’m worried that you might miss and…”
“It’s either that or ‘ave a long battle with a bunch of beasts who’re more intelligent than they look. Unless ye ‘ave a better idea.”
Mullet took a minute to think about their situation before responding. “Fine… Get ready.”
Celaeno smiled and nodded and leaped down from her ship towards the cliff. The feathers under her arms unfolded and helped her glide onto the cliff edge, which she was thankful that it was bigger when she landed on it. She looked up at the ship, where Mullet was looking down to see the captain giving a thumbs up.
Mullet soon tossed down the crates one at a time, which Celaeno managed to catch. Though the impact they had on her talons was a little more complicated than she was expecting. When they had them down, Mullet jumped through the trap door and glided down in a similar way to Celaeno.
They knew the yetis wouldn’t have a safe way of getting down the cliffs or even jump down from the airship, so they were likely in the clear. “Cap’n, I do admire yer quick thinking,” Mullet commented, “but how are we supposed to get back down?”
Celaeno was slightly concerned as she had only been focused on getting away from the yetis. Lucky for them, she saw a small passageway on the corner of the cliff. “There,” she pointed. “A small passageway. That’d be our way.”
Mullet agreed, knowing it was their only option. They picked up their crates and walked through the passageway, hoping that it is connected to the tunnels leading to New Ornithia.
Back underground, Skystar was with the rest of the crew exploring the tunnels of New Ornithia. The princess was venting her feelings about her mother to Squabble who was sitting on her back. “I mean, she’s been sitting in Seaquestria since that day, and then when I finally take care of the problem with you, I get grounded for it!” Skystar ranted.
Squabble squawked in agreement, having a feeling that she wasn’t wrong. Lix Spittle was more focused on making sure she and Boyle didn’t get them lost. She also helped him with the map since Boyle had a hook hand. “Arrrgh, I can’t believe these tunnels were heard fer so long,” Boyle commented.
“Could ye imagine if we explored these things while we were laddies?” Lix questioned. “Squabble wouldn’t need to get lost for too long.” An angry squawk could be heard, knowing that Squabble was also listening to their conversation.
Taking a minute to have a look, Princess Skystar noticed parts of these caves were rather spacious. “Did they say something about running out of space?” the hippogriff asked. Squabble thought for a moment, and so did the rest of the pirates.
“It could be a limited amount of resources,” Lix commented. “Thar is not any other open tunnels leading outside.” Squabble let out some squawks and other gargled words that Skystar couldn’t understand. “Aye, one fire around here, and folks’ heads will be grub for the piranhas.”
“Um… I don’t want to sound rude, but…. how do you able to understand Squabble with his random squabbles and gargles?” Skystar asked.
“Well, ehh… it’s complicated,” Boyle shrugged. “A simple answer be that it pays t’ know him fer a while.” Squabble nodded in confirmation as the pirates started hearing sloshing water.
Curious and concerned, they prepared themselves to protect Skystar. Boyle and Lix Spittle carefully sneak towards where the noise was coming from to find a large body of water. It looked like an underground lake.
“SQUAAAAAWWKK!!!” Squabble squawked, pointing to the lake. Boyle and Lix were puzzled until Lix noticed something from the distance.
“THERE!” Lix gasped. They spotted air bubbles from a distance, and it’s moving toward them. They’re about to stab whatever it is with a hook hand or a spoon until they saw who emerged from the lake. Captain Celaeno and Mullet resurfaced from the water, both gasping for air and holding their crates of food and utensils above their heads. “Cap’n, how on earth did ye get down here?”.
“We… had to improvise,” Celaeno panted. “The yetis ain’t wild animals.” The Captain took a minute to catch her breath before she continued. “They’re… presumably soldiers of the Storm King’s army.”
“Huh… They do look familiar,” Boyle commented.
“Same here,” Mullet commented. “We should’ve known. On the bright side, we manage to get more food fer everyone here.”
“Did y’all make good progress with the map?” Celaeno asked.
“Aye, cap’n.” Boyle grinned as he showed the sketches he had made. “Here it is.”
“Great work, matey. Let’s give it a test, hopefully, it can also help us with this food we’ve brought.”
“Allow me,” Lix spoke. She quickly took one of the crates and carried it back to the village. Squabble and Skystar heard the conversation and saw the crew starting to head back to New Ornithia.
“Ugh… Can I help?” Skystar asked.
“No thanks, lad,” Celaeno responded. “I’ve got this.”
“But I wanna help. Maybe there’s some way we can take out those yetis.”
“That’s kind of you to offer, but like yer mother said: ye’re nah getting involved ‘til we know what we’re dealing with.” The pirate carried on as Skystar felt disappointed, feeling as if history was repeating itself.
Novo was sitting at a small table with Ocypete and the royal family; King Thaumas, Queen Ozomeme, Prince Aello, and Princess Zephyra. “…And I think we can agree that you can’t survive down here much longer,” Novo explained.
“Tell us something we don’t know,” Prince Aello grumbled.
“Silence, son!” King Thaumas ordered. The prince just crossed his arms in frustration. “Anyways, Your Majesty, you said you knew how it was to be forced out of your home.”
“I did, but…” Novo paused as she thought of something she didn’t like remembering. “All I’m saying is that being down here is becoming a temporary solution. What we need to do is figure out how to take care of the situation outside and how to rebuild it after the moment. My query to you and me is: what is keeping the yetis around here?”
“The most likely factor, in my theory, is that they’re hunting food,” Queen Ozomeme noted. “Though… they should be eating nothing but scraps by now.”
“What other reason could they be still up there?” Thaumas questioned.
“Maybe there’s something else going on,” Aello muttered.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Seriously? Any other pack of animals would just leave or perish because of a lack of food. Those yetis up there are still alive, possibly because they’re getting help from someone. And here we are, sitting with our thumbs up our butts, starving ourselves in a castle that smells like a rotting dilapidated outhouse in the middle of a desert!”
“Aello, that’s no proper and formal way to talk,” Queen Ozomeme stated firmly.
“Somebody had to say it, mother. Do you expect anybody to keep living like this?”
“He’s right,” Ocypete commented. “We’re wasting away.”
“But we’ve tried everything against the yetis,” Princess Zephyra noted. “It’s a matter of time before they come to kill us down here!”
“Zephyra, that’s not going to happen,” Thaumas said. “All entrances that can fit those monsters are sealed up.”
Princess Ocypete felt that things were going far. She heard a ‘psst’ and turned towards the front of the castle, seeing her friend, Celaeno, grabbing her attention. “Father, I’ll be right back,” Ocypete said. She left the table to join Celaeno outside of the castle. “Cellie, please tell me you have good news.”
The pirate captain took off her hat and rubbed the back of her head, figuring out how to put her words together. “…Kind of,” she spoke. She pointed the princess over to where Skystar and the crew helping to prepare the food they got from the ship into a proper meal.
“Oh, good. You found more food.”
“Yes, but… me first mate and I weren’t able to get any weaponry from the ship. Without those, we won’t have a reliable way of combating the yetis. And about those said yetis,… uhh… I hate to say this… they ain’t wild animals.” Celaeno began explaining what she and Mullet discovered during their supply run.
“Wait, they actually have sapience?”
“Apparently. ‘Tis kind of a supportin’ theory I have that somebody is workin’ with ‘em.”
Ocypete cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Do you mean that somebody here is helping them?”
“It’s a long shot. I mean it won’t be the first surprise.” Then the captain began feeling suspicious. “Where’s Madam Harpy?”
“…I don’t know. Last time I saw her, she…”. Their conversation was interrupted by the sounds of screaming, followed by crunching wood. The captain and princess quickly sprinted to where the noise was and found some of the yetis had broken in.
“Shiver me timbers!” Celaeno gasped. While there weren’t that many, they were still causing destruction. Celaeno quickly pulled Ocypete back before either of them could be spotted. “Get back t’ the castle ‘n warn yer family,” she ordered. “I’ll see if me and my crew can kick their asses out.”
“Cellie, they’re enormous! They’ll…”
“Go!” Celaeno forcefully shoved Ocypete back before she was punched by one of the yetis, knocking her to the soil. She quickly recovered and tried slashing at her opponent with her sword, only to see the yeti block her attack with a similar weapon. Celaeno looked at the sword the yeti held. “Hey, that’s mine!”
The yeti didn’t respond and just kept attempting to slice the pirate in half. Celaeno dodged every swing before blocking the blade and delivering a headbutt to her opponent. When the other yetis noticed her fighting back, they quickly ganged up on Celaeno and started overwhelming her.
“Blast ye!”
Skystar and the rest of the pirates had heard what was going on and rushed to the scene. Mullet quickly jumped into action by pouncing on one of the yetis and taking one of their swords away as Boyle used his hook hand to pull one of the yetis back.
Skystar was wanting to help, but Lix Spittle held her back. “Easy there,” she said. “We’re keeping ye out of trouble.”
“But I want to help.” Skystar had turned around and didn’t see a yeti about to tackle her. Luckily, Squabble jumped onto the creature and started pecking at its forehead like a woodpecker. Lix joined in the fight as Skystar thought it was a good idea to get back to the castle.
Along the way, she saw three avians in a predicament. A mother was helping her son rescue his father, who had gotten stuck under some debris. Worried about their safety, the hippogriff princess flew down and tried to help lift the debris off the father. Her assistance worked. “Thank you so much,” the mother complimented.
“You’re welcome,” Skystar replied. “Now hurry, get to safety!”
The family made a run to safety. Skystar was about to follow them until she felt something grab her tail. Looking back, she saw she was caught by one of the yetis, who was holding a spear.
Just before it could make the princess into a kebab, somebody rang up from behind and sliced the spear’s handle in half. The spearhead went flying into a wall as Skystar saw who rescued her: Madam Harpy.
One of Harpy’s crewmates decked the yeti in the face, knocking it unconscious onto the ground. Madam Harpy faced the hippogriff. “What are you standing here fer?” She questioned, “Get to the castle!”
Skystar didn’t say anything and just flew away as Harpy and her pirates saw the chaos ensuing. She looked at the other pirates and simply nodded, they knew what to do.
The fight carried on as the avians were quickly getting the upper hand. Most of the yetis began retreating, though a couple of them were either caught or knocked out unconsciously. Those that didn’t escape were quickly tied up with a rope.
Celaeno looked around and saw the chaos had stopped. She placed her sword back onto her baldric, and she and her crew were able to catch their breath. “Boyle, did you see any other tunnels while you were exploring?”
“We were wandering around the tunnels fer a while,” Boyle explained. “We had t’ get at least half of it.” He handed the map over to the captain, who she scanned at it herself. There was a marking for where New Orinithia was and the flooded tunnel. Most other markings were to show where dead ends were at.
“Maybe these guys are finally breaking through the blocked tunnels.” She rolled up the map and tucked it away before she looked around at the damage that was caused.
Mullet stood over with Lix and Squabble, saying what needed to be said. “Those monsters are going to get us whether we’re hiding or not,” he said. “Cap’n, any plans?”
Celaeno thought for a moment before she looked over to Madam Harpy and her crew, who were helping any avians that were injured during the attack. “Aye. Let’s talk about it… privately,” Celaeno suggested.
“Huh?”
“I have a feeling that someone here can’t be trusted. Where the hippogriffs at?”
“I think they were heading to the castle.” Squabble then drew everyone’s attention to the avians that were heading towards the castle. Many of them looked to be angry and were grumbling about the royals.
They started swarming around the castle, where the guards were struggling to keep them at bay. King Thaumas walked onto the castle’s balcony with Queen Ozomeme and Princess Ocypete standing by his side. “Citizens, please, this is no time to panic!” Thaumas ordered.
“How are we supposed to calm down when those things have gotten into our hiding spot?” one of the avians questioned.
“My husband was almost crushed by what happened,” the rescued mother added. “If it wasn’t for that… other creature helping us, we wouldn’t see him again!”
All other avians tried talking over each other about how the kingdom was failing. Thaumas kept trying to raise his voice, but everyone kept talking over him. Seeing things were getting out of control, Queen Novo flew above the crowd and let out a loud shriek.
After everything went quiet, Novo spoke. “That’s enough. Is this how you get things done!? By quarreling each other!?” the hippogriff queen shouted. Once everybody went silent, Novo faced King Thaumas. “My apologies. You may resume.”
“Thank you,” the king said, giving a bow of respect. He cleared his throat before focusing back on the crowd. “Citizens, I know it looks like I’ve been a bad head, but you must comprehend that I want to protect the most important thing in my life, which is… my family. If anything were to happen to them… I don’t know if I could go on.” The crowd started murmuring amongst each other as they understood what the king was talking about. Novo couldn’t agree more about how crucial protecting the family was. “I wish this day wouldn’t come,” Thaumas continued, “But we will have to fight for our home, or die trying.” Those words were hard to swallow as he could hear several avians protesting against this idea.
Captain Celaeno saw things were getting ugly, and had to get the crowd’s attention. She looked at the buildings that were still standing that led to the castle, specifically the balcony the royals stood on. “Boyle, give me a boost,” the captain requested.
Boyle squatted down and held his hand and hook together to form a small step for Celaeno to step her peg leg on. Quickly being tossed into the air, Celaeno managed to catch some wind and glided onto one of the rooftops. She jumped and hovered over more buildings, heading towards the castle. As she was close, she grabbed a rope, twirled it like a lasso, and toss it to the pole sticking out of the dirt wall. Heading towards near the edge, she jumped off and swing towards the balcony until she landed perfectly, much to the royals’ surprise.
“Celaeno, what are you doing here?” Queen Ozomeme questioned.
“Raising this kingdom’s spirits,” Celaeno responded and gave a wink. She turned her attention to the crowd and spoke up. “My friends, I know what it’s like to be trapped and forced to do things against your will… No offense, Your Highness… We cannot stay here for long doing anything to our enemy currently conquering our land. You heard what His Majesty said: we have to fight back, and bring back what’s ours. My crew and I had a run-in with the Storm King, we were stuck making deliveries for him. Then one day, we had an encounter with a couple of ponies, one of which had a rainbow mane.”
“Did you say ponies?” Ocypete questioned quietly.
Skystar leaned closer to whisper to her. “Yep. Six of them,” the hippogriff explained. “They’re real fun.”
“With those ponies I’ve met, they gave us hope again. We got to do what we were best at. We’re buccaneers! We live for adventure, just like our founder, Black Beak. Would he sit and hide all day all night until those yetis leave? Of course not, all he would do is stand up, grab his mighty sword, and take those beasts down if it means taking back what was his! If it means taking back our motherland, Ornithia, then so be it, because we are avians, and we stand for Ornithia! Let’s bring it back! Who’s with us?” Celaeno drew her sword and held it up high as the crowd went quiet.
Everyone remembered the pirate that first discovered their home. Some clapping started to be heard, followed by the sound of cheering. Queen Novo, Princess Skystar, the royal avians, and Celaeno’s crew join in by clapping for the captain’s speech. Celaeno felt super proud as she felt that her home would return to its former glory.
Later that evening, the avians were preparing for the day tomorrow. Celaeno and her crew were having a chat with the royal family to form a plan. “We’re happy you’ve raised everyone’s spirits,” Ocypete said.
“Hey, from one creature to another,” Celaeno shrugged.
“Maybe when this is all over, I could help you guys have fun again,” Skystar suggested. The pirate captain chuckled as her friend spoke up.
“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to stand a chance,” Ocypete admitted.
“Listen here, we’re going to give everything we’ve got,” Celaeno said. “We won’t let anything happen to you either.” The princess smiled as Queen Novo took a peek outside. The avians were picking up pieces of scrap wood and metal or anything they could use for a weapon. Those that weren’t preparing for a fight were staying to help protect their families.
“How does it look?” King Thaumas asked.
“I’m not sure how it’ll go,” Novo admitted.
The king sighed as he looked at what the hippogriff could see. “I’m worried how many will live through this. I wish this didn’t happen. Why are those yetis still here? If they’re smart enough to use weapons and know that the Storm King is dead, what point do they still being here?”
“Someone else is likely pulling the strings. I hope they aren’t as bad as him.” Just even thinking about his name made Novo’s blood boil. “Let’s make sure your family is safe.”
“Of course. …I shall be joining the fight to retake our home.”
Novo was surprised by this. “You said you know what the risks are…”
“I know, but if that means protecting my family alive, I’ll gladly take those chances.”
The queen hippogriff slowly smiled, admiring the selflessness of Thaumas. “Your kingdom should be happy that you’re in charge.”
“I appreciate it. I’m also sure the hippogriffs feel the same about you.” Thaumas walked back to check with his family as Novo took a minute to think about what he had said. The king was just in time to see his family heading to where the beds were at. Ocypete was finishing up her conversation as they saw the king. “Ocypete, you should get to bed. Whatever happens tomorrow, I want you to be well rested.”
“Yes, father,” the princess responded. She looked towards Celaeno feeling concerned.
“Now, whatever those yetis have planned,” the captain said, “We’ll be ready for them. And whoever is pulling the strings.”
A smile returned on Ocypete’s face. “Thank you, Cellie.” She hugged her old friend, making Celaeno blush in surprise. After that, Ocypete left to rest as Thaumas went with her to ensure she was safe.
Celaeno rubbed her arm before looking to see Novo return at the same time as Thaumas. “Um… Ugh, Your Highness,” she said speaking to the king. “I might have a suspicion about who’d be doing this.”
“Who do you have in mind?” Thaumas asked.
“It might be a long shot… But it could be Madam Harpy.”
“....Madam Harpy?”
“It’s a long shot sir, but she’s the only one I could think of.”
“Then I suggest thinking about someone else before you start pointing fingers.”
“In her defense, we haven’t seen her since until we need help,” Skystar noted.
“She’s been helping to keep civilians alive ever since the Storm King attack! We’re desperate, and we’re going to take whatever we can.”
Celaeno and Skystar both would’ve spoken up if it wasn’t for Novo butting in, “We’re likely under a lot of stress for what’s about to happen,” the hippogriff queen guessed.
“You’re right. Celaeno, I suggest you should get plenty of rest too.”
“Y… yes, your highness,” the captain responded. King Thaumas just nodded and walked away as Celaeno focused her attention on the hippogriffs.
“Are you certain that Madam Harpy is responsible for this?” Novo questioned.
“She and her crew only show up when they show their heroic acts,” Celaeno commented. “But what could she gain from this if the Storm King’s…”
“Cap’n!” Mullet cried. He came running into the castle towards Celaeno and the hippogriffs. He looked to be frantic and out of breath.
“Mullet, what’s wrong?”
“It’s the yetis. They’ve escaped somehow!”
“What?!”
“How is that possible?” Novo spoke with concern.
“We don’t know,” Mullet replied. “Boyle, Lix, and Squabble have gone looking for them, but they need backup.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Huh?” both avians exclaimed.
“We’ve come too far to lose right now.” She then turned to her daughter. “Skystar, stay here and be safe. Mullet, take us to where the rest of the crew is.”
“Aye-aye, Your Majesty.” Mullet bowed and did just that, leading Novo and Celaeno away from the castle. They were starting to run towards the tunnels that led to the flooded tunnels, with tracks of yetis’ footprints leading inside.
“You reckon they have an unknown entrance that they hid from Boyle?” Celaeno questioned.
“I don’t know,” Mullet guessed. “Boyle wouldn’t miss something like that.”
“They could let the one in charge know about the attack tomorrow,” Novo worried. They quickly followed the tracks until they reached a dead end. The yetis and pirates were nowhere to be seen. That’s when Celaeno pieced something together.
“Oh crap!” she gasped. “It’s a tra-!” Celaeno wouldn’t be able to finish as something struck her in the back of her head, knocking her unconscious.
Stats
Page generated in 0.022 seconds
Total duration
1,082 users online
1,951,882 hits today, 1,996,409 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Kind of reminds me of rainbow when she tried to make the pie out of whatever and she has no idea what she put in there
Aww lol that's actually kind of cute 🥰 I wonder if they like each other
Wow it's just like Taz mania devil and ed from Lion King you just had to take a guess what they're saying
Boy I really felt bad for skystar she really wants to Tribute to the mission but apparently everybody is overprotecting her
My
Yeah we have a spy down here
It looks like things are getting really difficult and something is not right about this whole situation so it looks like Captain Celaeno and queen Novo and the rest of the creatures trying to figure out what is going on here and it looks like Captain Celaeno and Mullet to scout out the outside area what the yetis are doing and while the rest are basically mapping the underground just in case they get lost which that's also a good idea and queen Novo is talking with the other family Royals about the situation outside Celaeno and Mullet went back to the show to get the food is necessarily to grab but unfortunately one of the yetis were on the ship and it looks like they're not wild animals but they are sapience and they had to make a hasty Retreat back to the cave and worn the others about the situation they discovered once they return they told the others to go back to the castle to check in with the royal family and it feels like princess skystar is feeling left out I'm sure she'll find her chance to shine soon but anyway once they made it there she told Ocypete about the situation and apparently they have a little suspicious about Madam harpy but before they could have gone with the conversation the yetis attacked and they breach into the hiding spot all of them fight back and coincidentally Madam Harpy and the others help out with the situation now it's starting to feel like something is wrong and it looks like the people are getting frantic about this whole situation but the king wanted to be sure that everything will be okay but unfortunately the people are getting frustrated with their decision but luckily With a Little Help from Queen Novo and Celaeno and bringing the hopes up to bring back their home so they had to prepare for the fight for tomorrow because this has to end but unfortunately something happened in the dungeon one of the yetis Escape but once the others made it down there there was no yetis or anybody down there and it turns out it was a trap somebody knocked out Celaeno and queen Novo I wonder who could be that corporate who portrayed their people I guess we'll find out next time
11325437
It’s pirate talk, buddy. They use me instead of my.
Example:
“Avast ye, me matey!”
11326685
Oh yeah that's right I forgot about that 😅
Good day, this is Gregory the Griffon here, the editor of PonyPixel.
I wanna say that I apologize for the hiatus for this story is because I’m currently in college as a freshman doing a lot of homework, and because of that, I didn’t have the right time to edit his drafts. As you know, I’m currently studying Animation in De la Salle-College of Saint Benilde, one of the prestigious colleges in the Philippines, and from the past 2 weeks after the orientation of the courses I’ll be taking, I’ve been given a lot of assignments related to the course to work on, and the procedures were… let’s just say… tiring, and the deadline is tight. It is stressful, but I’ll overcome these stresses, and will make to my success in education.
Don’y you worry, as of now, I’m still editing his recent draft on the 3rd chapter of this story, while simultaneously (or not) working on my assignments that’re important. So to all readers, be patient with it, so I can feel relaxed while doing these tasks. I hope y’all okay with that, and hopefully to not stress myself out with these.
BTW, you can also check out my DeviantArt account where I occasionally post a few artworks of my illustrations of PonyPixel’s Student OCs. I was improving my skills from time to time.
Thank you 🙏🏻
God Bless You.
11366211
Oh ok no problem take your time you guys I know school is very important and I haven't been to the Philippines when I was seven so I'm sure things are a little different