On the shoulders of giants
“Wh..what did I just see?” Gideon was still looking down the track in the direction the thing had disappeared, smoke still trailing in its wake, with a mixture of both awe and disbelief. Sure life had been far less predictable in the two years of becoming Sir Wallace’s squire, but even Gideon was having a hard time believing what had just happened.
“So long as you saw several moving carts, traveling quickly, and carrying a kaleidoscope of miniature ponies, then we are fine” Sir Wallace also seemed a little confused as to what he had just witnessed, and it had been a long time since the knight had seen something new and unknown. It felt almost as though he had tried to take a step down only to discover there was no step. The truth was, the thought of something new was exciting, but there was more then just himself to think about at the moment.
Gideon turned to see ‘The Wall’ falter, the man who, through their time together, had been like a rock throughout every challenge. This was Sir Wallace, a knight that had seen it all...all but this it seemed.
“Fine? FINE? How is any of this fine? Where are we? What was that? What were they? I thought you said the travel powder would be safe.”
“Gideon!” The knight’s voice rang out with an authority that slapped the youth in the face harder than even his metal gloves could have. With one word he had the child's full attention, two more followed soon after to keep it.
“Calm. Down.” Sir Wallace talked slowly and calmly, keeping a force to his voice that not only helped stem the tide of panic in his ward, but also gave the child something to grasp onto. While he might not be sure of everything at the moment himself, he was confident and hopeful that everything would turn out for the best, it always had.
“We are fine because we both saw the same thing, and, as the horses also saw something, we can assume that whatever it was, was real, and not some sort of illusion. We are fine because neither of us are hurt or in any immediate danger of becoming hurt. Lastly we are fine because we still have our horses and our supplies. That is why we are fine. You hear me. We. Are. Fine.”
“OK. We are fine” Gideon started to take deep slow breaths while the worry began to seep away. Sir Wallace was here to sort everything out. They had been lost before, this was nothing new. Apart from the pastel ponies riding around of horseless carriages on dwarven tracks. Nope nothing new at all.
“But what did we see? Are those dwarven horses? And what did you mean by ‘not an illusion’”
“I’m still trying to work that out Giddy, and no, while dwarves do keep ponies, they are bigger and stockier than what we just saw, and certainly not multicolored. Something in that forest must have really messed up the travel powder and sent us way off track.” Sir Wallace saw a question already forming in his young companion’s head.
“And before you say it, yes, the travel powder was made correctly. It smelled, looked and acted just as it should. This is not a mistake on our end, but some sort of outside influence.” Gideon nodded, that had been the question bugging the youth, and while it offered comfort that no one was to blame for their situation, it still gave no answers as to what their situation was.
Reaching up the Knight unclipped the cheek guards to his helmet before removing the piece of armor and setting it between his legs. He scratched at his graying brown beard before untying the arming cap that protected his head against the top of his helmet, to run a gloved hand through his also graying hair and clear it of the sweat that had collected.
“Hmm, let me think for a bit.”
Gideon looked towards the man that had gotten them through so much in only two years. His face held a scar that ran from the top of his right ear towards his jaw at a sharp angle, but apart from that one line, it showed little sign of combat; the sign of a smart fighter, Sir Wallace would always say. Age, however, could not be avoided, no matter how smart one was, and the knight was certainly starting to show his forty years with the wrinkles he now wore. Most of them however simply showed the sort of man he was. There were very few worry lines, but plenty of laughter creases around his eyes.
Even now, as he sat in thought, his hands gently patting Honor’s neck absently, he did not seem to be concerned that they were lost, on the contrary, he had a twinkle in his eye that always ended up leading them into adventure. His eyesight was also beginning to age and had started to fade, just a little. He found it harder to see things in detail when they were up close, thus often needed Gideon’s help when reading letters from the courts and Kingdoms concerning princesses that needed rescuing, and tournaments that were to be held. He rarely took part in these summons any more, but he did like to keep an eye on how his friends were doing.
Gideon was actually quite glad that the knight’s eyesight was going, or he might have found out, long ago, that his squire was hiding a couple of details from him. They might not be very large details, and thus easy to hide, but they did set - her - apart from the other squires. She had never meant to deceive the middle aged knight for as long as she had, but after two years she found herself reluctant to potential lose this life simply because she didn't have anything hanging between her legs.
Shifting in her saddle Gideon noticed a different bulge in her pocket before remembering the pear she had snagged. It looked so good right now, and would not likely survive the hard ride that was sure to follow Sir Wallace’s contemplation. She was about to take a bite when something pulled the fruit away from her mouth.
“Not a good idea Boy.”
“Why not? It’s only a pear.”
“Because if we want to get home we are going to have to keep our wits about us.” Gideon frowned and looked down at the pear and then looked back up at her mentor.
“So eating a pear will...OH!” Gideon dropped the pear so quickly one would think it had just burned her.
“Nononono, I paid. You saw, I paid my debt. They can’t take anyone they have no claim over.”
“Gideon, I don’t think we are in the Fairy realm, but yes, I do think we might have ended up in a different realm to our own. So, until we can be sure, its best if we don’t eat or drink anything from this place.” Gideon nodded but looked down at the pear forlornly, she was still hungry and that fruit had smelt so good. Getting back to her own realm, however, was worth more than a pear, and all knew the rules when it came to crossing realms, that eating the food, or drinking the water, could bind you, or let the inhabitants lay claim to you.
“I have also heard tell of tiny horses the Fairies keep, that they are colored as vastly as the flowers in their realm.” Sir Wallace was now thinking out loud.
“I thought you just said we are not in the Fairy realm.”
“I said that I don’t think we are. Look back at the tracks, what are they made of?” Lessons. Sir Wallace never missed an opportunity to teach his squire something new, however he prefered the approach of letting his ward work things out for himself rather then telling him directly.
Gideon turned to where the tracks lay. They were too far away to actually see them in full, but she could remember what they looked like, and were made of.
“Wood and metal, likely iron...Oh, fairies can’t stand iron.” That was an easy one. Silver, iron, salt, running water, there were lots of things that could work against magical creatures. Iron was one of the fair folks greatest foes.
“So now the question is, why are there fairy horses in a realm other than their own?” The knight’s tone was more puzzling than directing, this was a question for himself rather than for Gideon.
“Hmm, they could have been captured” Mused the knight, his eyes narrowing towards the direction the machine had traveled as though he could maybe gain new insight if he narrowed his vision.
“What use would tiny, bright colored, horses be?” They were clearly only suitable for the Fae to ride, as even dwarves would be too heavy for their fine frames, and they certainly did not look fit enough for manual labour.
“Anything from the Fairy realm is filled with magic, who knows what they could be used for. Hmm. Well it looks like I have a plan to get us back to where we belong.” Sir Wallace gave his mount a hard pat on her neck before reaching down and replacing the protection to his head.
“Really? How?” Gideon was cautious. Normally Sir Wallace spent at least a day planning things out. He only rushed into things when he could see no other option, and those times usually ended up quite messy and chaotic.
“Well those horses were being taken to the city you saw from the tree. So all we have to do it go in, rescue them, and then have them lead us back to the Fairy realm. The Fae are sure to grant us free passage back to the mortal realm if we are able to return their steeds.” The Wall sounded upbeat and hopeful. He had a plan and it would involve storming a Hold and rescuing the innocent from some nefarious ne'er-do-weller. This was a true knight’s plan.
“And how are we going to rescue them?” That really did not sound like a well thought out plan to the squire, and the sight of her mentor returning his greaves back to his hands meant that even he thought that things were going to get messy.
“I have no idea lad, we will see when we get there. Come on Honor.” Sir Wallace flashed a smile to his ward before snapping his visor shut and kicking Honor into action. The pair were soon cantering towards city that they knew lay at the end of the tracks.
“Sir wait for me!” Gideon kicked Duty on to follow. At least life was never boring as Sir Wallace’s squire.
Just as the group of interlopers had decided on their plan of action, the train that had passed them pulled into the Manehattan Grand central station. While it was a false assumption, on Sir Wallace's part, that the commuting ponies were prisoners, at this very moment, it was fairly accurate, as none of them were being allowed off the train.
After seeing the strange creatures next to the lines, the driver of the train had called the station to report them in. They in turn, had called in the police department to a possible situation. At first the police had simply thought that they were dealing with a train full of slightly hysterical passengers, after all ‘Giants’ were nothing but a ponytail, but it soon became apparent that, while nopony could say specifically what they had seen, they had all seen the same thing.
The best description the police could come up with, was that two ‘giants’ had been spotted a few miles up the track. These giants, one gray and one brown, seemed to be carrying equipment and a pair of other creatures, that nopony could quite identify, on their backs. One of the creatures had been in armor, so perhaps, they were some sort of guards to the giants. Whatever they were didn’t change the facts; there were a pair of large, unknown, lifeforms currently very close to Manehattan with unknown intentions.
Several procedures quickly took effect. First, all passengers were taken in for questioning as well as to keep them from causing panic within the city. Second, all trains were suspended from leaving or entering the city. Thirdly, a unit from the Manehattan air police was sent out to get visual confirmation on the whereabouts of the giants, as well as reporting their movements. Contact however was to be avoided unless necessary, or they were given permission to do so. A messenger pony was to also accompany the squad so that, if the giants turned out to be real she could fly directly to Canterlot to give news to Princess Celestia. After all, it was possible that these giants, if they existed, could be ambassadors from another land, and thus, would need to be handled appropriately, and by the correct ponies.
All this was set into motion quickly, after all this was not the first time the city of Manehattan had had to deal with this sort of a threat.
While it was not common, sometimes large predators would come in from the wilder regions of the north. These beasts had to be dealt with quickly and were usually soon sent packing long before they could even become visible from the city. These giants however had taken no hostile action against the train so, for now, they would simply be observed.
Captain Mistral was in charge of the reconnaissance. He had heard some of the statements given by the passengers of the train, though he was still a little skeptical as to how true they were. Pushing his gray wings to increase their speed he turned round to check the rest of his squad was keeping up. Only eight ponies had been sent out, himself included. More were on standby, but at the moment they were hoping whatever had been seen would simply turn around and go back the way they had come.
The squad did not have far to fly before they spotted the creatures that had been reported. Their size, judging from where he hovered, had not been exaggerated nor the fact that they were carrying equipment and unknown creatures. The worse of it though was the direction they were heading, and how fast they were traveling.
“Buck! They are heading straight to the city! Haze, fly back and warn the Chief, we might need back up.” A yellow female saluted before braking formation and flying back towards the city.
“Sir, I have instructions..” started a light pink mare, the only pegasus in the flight not wearing a uniform. Mistral nodded and wished the messenger mare luck and good winds. The sooner the Princess heard of this the better for all involved. That would take time though, and time was something they were running out of.
Captain Mistral was left with very few options at this moment. The giants, or whatever they were, had to be stopped from reaching the city, that much was clear to the police pegasus. Even if they turned out to be non hostile they would surely start a panic if they were seen, and the force simply did not have the hoof power to deal with the giants, and, a city full of panicking civilians.
“Alright, looks like we don’t have a choice. Form a line on that hill there and lets see if we can at least slow them down. I want no heroics, if things look like they are going to go bad get ready to fly.” The six remaining pegasi turned in unison to land on top of a hill directly in the path of the two huge ponies. It was time to see just what the intentions of these creatures was.
Both Sir Wallace and Gideon pulled back on their reins and slowed their mounts down to a trot when they saw six large shapes moving in the way of their ride. It would have been a simple task to just go around them but these were not birds, they were tiny, colourful pegasi.
“Um sir, they look like...”
“Yes, I can see that Gideon.” These were certainly the same as the ponies they had seen in the machine, or at least kin to them, but they hardly looked like they were captured and enslaved. A spell of control maybe? Sir Wallace pushed that thought away. All from the fae realm were known from being near impossible to control with anything other than debt contracts, and even they could be broken fairly quickly if the need arose. No there was something else going on here.
As they drew closer the knight looked the winged herd over and frowned. They were wearing some sort of uniform; not the usual caparison’s that the mounts would wear during tournaments to show of their masters colours, but proper fitted clothing that formed sleeves down the forelegs of the petite ponies, it looked almost like a jacket.
“Ok time for a change of plan.”
The gray captain wanted to let out a sigh of relief when he saw the invaders slow down to a trot. It was hard to tell the genders of the two huge ponies, they were both heavily muscled and very long in the face. Their eyes were small and beady, giving them a gormless look that was not helped by the fact that they were placed too far apart. The two creatures on their backs were also odd, and, just as the reports had said, the one was in full armor. It actually looked quite intimidating, even more so when he caught a glimpse of a sword that looked to be twice the size of any he had seen before.
The strangers stopped at the bottom of the hill and words passed between them. Mistral was unable to catch anything that was said, so he could only contemplate as to what would happen next when the armored creature un-straddled the giant and began walking towards them.
“Sir, what do we do?” Captain Mistral couldn't risk taking his eyes of the creature as it slowly made its way towards them, but he knew it was Free fall that had asked the question that was clearly going through every ponies mind right now.
“Stand your ground, lets see if we can talk this through” There was comfort that the creature had come alone but it still had its weapon, thankfully not drawn however. The Captain stepped forward to greet the creature. Up close he could now see that it moved strangely on its two hind legs, not at all like a bird,which had been his first comparison, but it looked to suffer no problems with keeping its balance.
The creature stood at over twice a normal ponies height, and the Captain could hear his squad ruffle their wings as they fidgeted. ‘Just keep it together everypony’ Mistral thought, any sudden movement could provoke them.
Silence stretched between the parties as each side looked over the other. It was the biped that made the first move.
It slowly lowered its top half towards them while curling one of its forelegs; or should that be forearms, thought the Captain; in and around its chest. It...it had bowed. After a moment of uncertainty Mistral bent his own forelegs and returned the bow before they both straitened to look at one another with a new respect. The simple gesture had lifted quite a bit of tension. Captain Mistral had meant to talk to the creature, but found his throat suddenly very dry. How was he meant to handle this?
The problem however was taken out of his hooves when the armored creature took of its helmet and began to speak.
“I pray you will forgive this intrusion into your lands, but myself and my squire find ourselves lost and in need of directions. Is this, by any chance, the Mortal realm?”
Captain Mistral heard Free fall at his side again.
“Did you understand any of that?”
“Not a bucking word.” replied the gray stallion honestly. So much for negotiations.
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4.bp.blogspot.com/-xc3fLuM4aC4/UHAsttMnbKI/AAAAAAAARxU/xE82dBZEmkg/s640/don't.jpg
2118948 I take it that that means you like it?
2118956
yep, I thought it would give someone a good laugh
Well... it is a different twist on the HiE plot line; they can't speak Modern Equnic, they are confused about location and technology... so far pretty good.
Oh and one thing, 2nd Chapter, 4th section, 2st paragraph you misspelled invaders as "invadores".
I am enjoying this story immensely, I do hope you continue. It will be interesting reading a non sci-fi story about how they have different languages.
It's great so far (I'm not a person good at spotting errors unless they are simply breathtaking).
My only problem is the usage of "Buck" as a stand in for... something else.
It's annoying to me for some reason i can't really explain.
This requires more attention.
First I was like, "Giants, k. Nothing new there. Wait. Unknown creatures ON the giants? What do you mean OH, RIGHT, PONY GIANTS LOL."
Well played.
And the twist with Gideon...
You just made me a very happy man. That has to be one of my favorite tropes of all time.
Considerably better checked as well, it seems like you're getting your gear up. Keep going!
Wait Gideon's a girl now?
2119069 Thanks for spotting that, I will change it right away.
2119921 I simply look at things from the ponies point of view. Hoofed animals, in particular equines, are the intelligent race in this world thus when they see a rider on a horse of course they are going pay more attention to the horse. As for Gideon's reveal, more of her story will come up in a later chapter (and it is likely not what you are expecting hehe).
2119988 She has always been a girl, its just that Sir Wallace has been calling her a lad.
2120579
Yeah, and I realized that after thinking it through for a while - and of course it makes more sense in the context. However, I think we're all a bit used to seeing humans referred to as giants for some reason - it's been used in so many HiE fics I can't count them all, which was why it got me confused at first - and it's very refreshing to see you make a "proper" use of the term.
As for Gideon, I'm not really "expecting" much, as I am enjoying the reverse trap (or whatever you call it) trope in general. It is, in my opinion, a severely underestimated plot mechanic, and one that can be used to great effect if the author knows what they're doing. We'll see how well you succeed at that, but I'm hoping for the best! :)
2120587 I'm also hoping that I know what I am doing
. Thankfully I do have a friend that I am able to bounce ideas off IRL. This really helps as it lets me talk things through and see where there might be plot holes. For example, the pair were going to continue to believe they were in the fairy realm for quite a while until I realized that Sir Wallace would point out the iron tracks, thus that plan fell through.
2120637
Having a ballplank is quite invaluable indeed. Another set of eyes makes it a lot easier to make sense of things, as well as more importantly see what sort of stuff makes sense to others than yourself.
2120579
Not a problem
Wait, Gideon is a chick? Huh... I did not see that coming.
This is getting really good.
Well, I read through it all and... you got yourself a like/fave.
2121764 and I am very glad to have your support
2122523 You're welcome. I'm a sucker for medieval-like xovers.
2120579
And so will you Boy! Give Duty his head. He’ll throw you if you don’t start riding with him and give him some rein."
“Sir Wallace?!” The squire was forced to pull his mount into a trot as soon as they had fully entered in emerald realm in order to avoid running into a tree or tripping over vegetation."
“Sounds like our cue to get out of here Boy. Powder it up with the rest and lets see if we can’t rob this dragon of a meal.”
With the payment made the two males left the enchanted glade feeling only a small amount of resistance as they passed over the toadstools
I'm sorry for having to point these out I just wanted to show a couple of detail errors. But I do applaud you for being able to go so long without dropping any hints of what the characters look like and/ spreading them out so we get a little detail every time we read. Naturally this bugs me but not for this story. Anywaykeep up the good work
2123245 Thanks for catching those, they have been changed, however I am not sure if I should change the 'Boy' comments. It is much like a nickname for Gideon, Sir Wallace tends to use it when he is berating the youth, hence the reason I capitalized it. If it is wrong though I will change it, still getting use to writing and all its rules.
I like giving out bread crumbs when it comes to describing characters, I'm not sure why but it just seems to fit with my writing. After all what they look like means very little to the story over all, so I tend to leave any descriptions till they are naturally occurring.
Again, thank you for catching those slip ups (It is the reason the reveal was so early on)
Oh my word and stars above! This is freaking awesome! I love both Sir Wallace and Gideon, and I think that you are doing a great job creating their characters. I can't wait to see what happens next; but most of all I want to see how the ponies react to Duty and Honour, since I've never come across a fan fiction where a real horse enters Equestiria.
P.S. This may be a little out there, but will there be any kind of "action" between any of the ponies and the steeds?
2151026 Glad you are enjoying it and that you like Sir Wallace and Gideon so much, especially as they are the main focus of the story. As for if any thing will happen between the horses and the ponies, the short answer is no. Thats not to say that things wont get mentioned (its only natural) but alas no action.
2151270 Thank the Nine, it would have gotten really weird then. And not to pressure you or anything, but can you tell us when the next chapter might come out? This is easily going to be one of my favorites of 2013, and I can't wait until the next release.
2152100 Can't really give a date as I have learnt I never stick to them. I can say that it is about half way though even when fully written I usually spend another day or so editing and rereading till I feel it is right before posting. Had a busy week hence the wait.
2152344 I agree, and the fact that Sir Wallace and Gideon know about magic and mythical creatures will also change the focus. Celestia is incoming in the next chapter which leads to some interesting interactions.
The knight’s voice rang out with an authority that slapped the youth in the face harder than even his metal greaves could have.
-Greaves are lower leg armor. As I doubt the knight is practiced in rather impractical applications of round-house(?) kicks, I don't think that is the word you are looking for.
and the sight of her mentor returning his greaves back to his hands meant that even he thought that things were going to get messy.
-A systematic error then. I think the word you may be looking for is "gauntlets".
but he knew it was Free fall that had asked the question that was clearly going through every ponies mind right now.
-Free Fall or Freefall.
-Ah, I see there is a language barrier.
only thing that I found really annoying was that the different languages was not marked out in the text by differing marks of some sort, which made it confusing. In this particular instance it was kind of fun because it gave it a humorous twist, but otherwise it will probably get very confusing later on
.
I haven't read any chapters after this so it might not be an issue, but I needed to get this down while I still remembered it
. I was really into this, but the size thing threw me off. so I have to ask, why?