Thirtyseven
When they reached the harbor both the reindeer who carried her wanted her to be released and put back on her own hooves. Twilight wanted the same, but Jarl Ahto was adamant.
"That old fogey Mustikka isn't known as The Tracker for nothing! I want him to believe she went the whole way against her will!" he said.
Having trudged through a freezing blizzard (according to Crimson Coat) or a heavy snowfall (according to the reindeer) for almost an hour while dragging Twilight Sparkle along, the reindeer guards were rather grouchy. Twilight was not much better, her body aching. Neither was her grand attire made to be worn in a freezing blizzard (an area where she agreed with Captain Coat).
Earlier, Spike had climbed out of his saddlebag and onto Hakon's back, at his own insistence. Suddenly, he gave up a surprised cry.
"Look out!"
"What?" said Hakon whose ears were unpleasantly near the shout.
"Th- that mast is moving!" he shouted and pointed to one of the ships by the quay (they were now very close to them, though her 'captors' had given no indications to Twilight which they were to board).
The mast really was moving, a strange tapering yellow mast covered with large brown spots, and decorated with a row of thin colorful flags tied directly around it. Then Twilight, who had lifted her sore neck, and Spike both saw that the mast ended in a large body, ambling along on long, spindly legs. The legs were clad in rolled-up cloth of some kind, just like the neck (because that was obviously what the ‘mast’ was). The hose were of the same color as the scarves around the neck, muted by the darkness and the snow.
"What - what is that?" Spike stammered as the huge shape lumbered close.
"A giant," said Hakonen, sounding a bit nervous. "From zebra lands. Giant sorcerer!" he said and spat.
As the giant came closer, Crimson Coat flew up to it.
"All clear, Mr Motelele?" she shouted.
"All cleah, Cabtain," said Mr Motelele with what was either a heavier Nuuban accent than most zebras or evidence of a very bad cold.
"May I introduce Mr Motelele, our lookout and navigator!" she shouted to the reindeer.
"Is Mr Moccus here yet?" she said to the giant.
"The first mate is heah. All accounted foh excebt you, Cabtain," Mr Motelele said dourly and sneezed. Spike and Twilight observed that the giant wore a rather fetching purple fez on his head, held in place with yet another colorful scarf. He had a mangy, dirty yellow coat with large splotches of brown paint - or maybe his fur was coloured like that, it was hard to tell.
"Allright!" Captain Crimson shouted. "All aboard!"
As the reindeer, about a dozen of them, milled aboard, Mr Motelele put his head close to his Captain and said with a lower voice:
"I see we caught a unicorn, Cabtain. That was not in the plan."
"That, oh, that's just an idiotic idea of Ahto's!" Crimson Coat scowled.
"Foh what?" said the giant, clearly annoyed with the whole concept. "Hostage? His sleeping hut? Some barbarian reindeeh rite?"
"I don't know what it is supposed to look like," said Crimson Coat, "but she is here of her own free will. It is some plot or another against his enemy, to pretend she was kidnapped."
"Is that so?" said Mr Motelele. "I hope you see the risk, my Cabtain. At least have the mahe blindfolded during the journey so she cannot easily tell the way, or something like that."
"Do you think I'm stupid, Motelele?" said Crimson Coat. "Of course I was going to do that, I just haven't had time yet, gimme a break!" With that she fluttered down to the deck, as the sailors started to make ready for takeoff. Mr Motelele glared at her, and then turned his gaze to Twilight, who was rubbing her wrists and talking to her dragon familiar. There was an eerie sheen from his small horns within the fez, illuminating it with a crackling blue light. The same light shone in his eyes.
"I don't think you are stupid, Cabtain," he said to himself. "I know for a fact you are stupid. That’s why I am the one who have to think on this ship!"
The journey took several days. Despite the pegasi sailors' best effort, the weather didn’t allow any better, and it was obvious the pirate camp wasn't that close to Sarvvik. A very nervous Crimson Coat had insisted on keeping Twilight Sparkle blindfolded as long as she was on deck. At first she had protested, and tried to tell Jarl Ahto that her escaping was part of the plan, so she would need to know the way back to Sarvvik. This caused some panic and quarrel among the conspirators.
Ahto had a long discussion with Twilight. While he seemed quite determined to let her go as soon as they were back ashore, it also seemed he did so mostly to spite Captain Coat. She tried to bring up the things she had promised him, like Ukko’s demise, but he didn’t seem interested. More than anything else, he seemed tired.
After consulting her crew, the Captain suggested to Ahto to let her go back blindfolded as well, with a guide, "or something". That settled it, and Twilight stayed mostly under deck where she didn't have to wear the blindfold. She had figured out it didn't matter as long she just got one good look at the night sky to get her coordinates. Ahto had also let her send a message to Luna through Spike, since he figured she would need to be into the plot anyhow. To give the alicorns the wrong impression would just make his work that much harder. The Captain protested, but to no avail. They had received a letter that had been concise, to the point and with nothing incriminating in it. Twilight felt she could smell Luna’s anger from it, but any reprimands were written behind the lines.
Twilight gained a special kind of pleasure from telling the Captain that they'd better blindfold Spike as well, then, when they started to do it to her. The pegasus had entirely forgotten about him, and had some sort of panic attack. Spike was less pleased when he wasn’t given free reign of the ship, even if he already preferred to stay down below. He could tell Twilight about the crew and the ship, though, since no one had stopped him when he explored it.
"They weren't friendly or anything, but they weren't mean or rude either," said Spike. "They just stared at me."
"Well, few people have seen a baby dragon," said Twilight Sparkle.
"I wouldn't know about these people, Twilight!" said the dragon. "The crew is like a mix from all over! Maybe some of them grew up where they have more dragons!"
"Well, I’ve read that pirate crews are most diverse," Twilight mused. "They only require you to be ruthless and a good sailor."
"Like one third of them are pegasi," said Spike. "Another third are donkeys and mules, and the third third are zebras. Then there are like an extra third of other people from all over the world!"
"You cannot have four thirds, Spike" Twilight chided gently. "You mean fourths."
"Yeah, but the fourth third is much smaller than the other thirds!" Spike said.
"Nevermind, what do you mean with people from all over the world?" Twilight said and rubbed her forehead.
"Well, there are sheep and cattle and goats, but then there are strange people, like that guy who is like a deer-griffon! A persimmon, or whatever he was called!" said Spike.
"A peryton!" Twilight exclaimed. "Oh, I almost thought those were a legend! Did he do anything with his shadow? My books said that perytons have mysterious shadow magics..."
"I dunno, I didn't see anything," said Spike and shrugged. "Though he complained several times about it being such bad weather he cannot see his shadow... Then there's another griffon-thing, like a pony-griffon..."
"That's a hippogriff!" said Twilight. "Those are rare, but I have seen some..."
"A what?" said Spike.
"A hybrid between griffon and pegasus," Twilight explained. Or at least thought she did. When Spike looked confused, she continued: "If a daddy griffon and a mommy pegasus manage to get a baby, it's a hippogriff."
"Oh!" said Spike. "Well, that's weird, right? And then there’s the giant..."
"The giraffe," said Twilight. "Though old books call them camelopards. Zecora calls them giraffes. She told me about them, and she didn't like them..."
"She did?" Spike said. "She didn’t, I mean? Was it because he's so big?"
"There are many giants living in zebra lands, beings like elephants and monoceri and mokolekombes," said Twilight, "and Zecora didn’t seem to fear or dislike them. I'm certain it wasn't just that they’re big. She spoke in hushed words, as if the giraffes could see and hear her. She then said that they might, and tried to explain their special magic as something of both me and her. I guess she meant unicorn mind-magic and zebra artificiery. I’ve never known Zecora to be cowardly or superstitious, so there must be something to it."
"I-If they could really see and hear you, they must have reindeer Sight as well," said Spike nervously and looked around him. "What if he can see us now...?"
"No need to be paranoid, Spike," said Twilight, though she was a little bit uncertain herself. "Not all unicorns are sorcerers, and few are as good as say me or Shining Armor, even if they all have a little magic. We don't know what this particular giraffe can do. Now, tell me more about the other crewmembers... Are those pegasi all Equestrian?"
"Are there any others?" said Spike.
"Oh yes, there are many small groups of ponies outside of Equestria!" said Twilight and smiled. "And I believe anywhere that has a coast and pegasi will produce pegasi sailors, with their talent for flight and weather control!"
"Well, they all speak Equestrian, but so do everyone else," said Spike and scratched himself. "Well, sometimes the zebra talk with each other in their own language. The donkeys don't."
"There is no donkey language," said Twilight, going into lecture mode. "Well, except Ancient Asinine, but that's only used on things like tombstones..."
“Well that explains it,” said Spike hurriedly, since he could sense that a lecture was coming on. “Also, the reindeer speak only Poatsi among themselves, and they spend almost all their time huddled in a herd...”
“Well, they’re just passengers, of course,” mused Twilight.
“But sometimes the rest of the crew forgets that the reindeer speak Equestrian, and they say mean things about them behind their backs, but of course they understand, so...” Spike said uneasily.
“Yes, Spike?” said Twilight. The tone of his voice gave her reason for concern.
“There has been two fights,” said Spike. “I haven’t seen the brawlers after that...”
“Justice can be very hard on board a ship, Spike,” said Twilight. “Even among pirates. It is always wrong to start quarrels and fights, but on a ship when you need everypony to work together, it can be even more dangerous.”
Spike looked worried.
“I mean either the Captain or an assembly might have had the brawlers thrown overboard for it,” she added in a quieter voice. “Or maybe just clapped in irons, if they’re lucky.”
“Assembly?” said Spike.
“Both normal pirates and old-fashioned reindeer Vikings are more democratic than normal ships,” Twilight explained. “Unless there’s a battle or storm or something, the Captain cannot do just everything he wants.”
Lifting her gaze from Spike, she continued: “I wonder if Ahto insists on doing it differently. He was an admiral of an actual fleet, with stricter discipline and all-powerful captains.”
“It sounds like him and the Captains aren’t that great friends,” said Spike.
“No,” said Twilight. “They must just have allied when the reindeer plundered the Equestrian coast, and he needed somepony who knew the lay of the land. Besides, this ship can take the weather better than a dragonship, and control the weather as well. And as for the Captain, she can attack bigger targets than she could by herself.”
“Can we use that?” said Spike.
“Turn them against each other?” said Twilight. Really. It was simply her friendship training, backwards, and it wasn’t like she hadn’t already started. “Yeah, maybe. If it is useful. Right now, it could probably get us thrown overboard. If there is a conflict, it would get violent. The Captain’s crew would win, even if we helped them, and the Captain has no reason to keep us around.”
“Just give me one reason not to cut theih throats right now and throw them overboard,” said Mr Motelele to the Captain. She was flying in a slow circle around him, as was Mr Moccus, the flying pig first mate.
“Ahoy there, ye can’t do that!” Mr Moccus protested.
“Lissen to him, he’s an old trotter at this,” said the Captain.
“I mean, 'ave ye seen a reindeer warrior go berserk?!” the megasus said with concern. “Look, I knew this donkey who started a brawl in a bar in Trotholm. One reindeer started frothin' at th' mouth. They had t' send his corpse home by post -”
“Well, that wasn’t what I meant - ” the Captain started.
“In ten packages!” said the megasus. “Really, attackin' a score o' reindeer openly be suicide!”
“Look, the thing is if we can set up this deal with the Jarl, we have a great time after that,” said the Captain, giving the flying pig an evil eye.
“I don’t trust the deal, Cabtain,” said the giraffe.
“Is this about your visions, Mr Motelele?” said the irritated Captain.
The giraffe nodded. “My visions always come true!” he said haughtily.
“Yeah? So why were you confused by the appearance of the unicorn wench?” said the Captain and glared at him. “Explain that to me!”
“Well, eh...” said the giraffe but trailed off.
“So you’re not omniscient, huh?” said the Captain triumphantly. “Then I’ll give you the reason why you shouldn’t slit the throats of the northern barbarians - in their beds,” she added with a glare at her first mate who whistled innocently as he flapped in the cold wind.
“It’s because if they die we miss a great opportunity for which we’ve worked a long time, just because you can’t stand a sore throat and cold ears!” she said. “Take this to assembly if you want, but I’ll win, and you’ll lose, lose even more of that popularity you don’t have. Remember it takes you some time to rise when you have been asleep, Mr Motelele, and that your magicked juju-coffee can’t keep you awake forever!”
With those words she flew down to the deck. Mr Moccus shrugged apologetically and followed her.
“Who needs popularity when you have feah?” Mr Motelele snarled, but he did look worried. He would need to brew some more coffee...
Twilight and Spike had their berths in one of the few, small, separate cabins under deck. Most of the crew slept in one large room, the pegasi and other fliers on tethered clouds, the others in hammocks. There was one room for the captain, another for the first mate and one other privileged crewman (it so happened to be the carpenter, a zebra), and a third one where right now Ahto and his closest retainers slept. The other reindeer and the lookout slept on deck. Mr Motelele couldn’t have gotten down below even if he wanted to, and there was no room below for the reindeer. They seemed to take that in stride, raising tarpaulins over themselves, reminding Twilight that reindeer warships didn’t have a roof to sleep under.
The cabin Twilight and Spike slept in (and spent most of their time in) was some sort of minor meeting room. (Any gathering of the whole crew happened on deck, of course.) It had a very minor library, mostly magazines, some technical volumes and a few trashy paperbacks. It was still a library, and Twilight organized the books out of boredom.
It also had a TV-set.Of course it could not receive any transmissions, since wireless thaumaturgy was impossible. It was for watching movies, though it could conceivably play music as well. There was a couple of paper boxes full of silver movie discs, mostly pornography of Equestrian origin. Twilight blushed and put all those movies in one box. The others were a strange mix of just about everything from all over the world. Twilight realized the pirates must have got them as plunder, but not bothered to sell them, since they weren’t worth much.
Hence, when Mr Moccus came down with their dinner (he had turned out to be rather gossipy, and had simply tired of pressing the cabin colt for news) he found the most dreaded sorceress in Equestria and her unique dragon familiar watching zebra cartoons. The unicorn was trying to translate for the dragon, who looked a bit bewildered.
“Okay, why does the crocodile fail to catch the zebra?” said Spike.
“It’s because when the zebra and his spider friend does the special chant, the crocodile cannot bite anyone, and he has to bite the zebra to catch him,” said Twilight.
“‘Biter, no biting!’” she sang.
“Why can’t he catch the zebra in some other way?” said Spike.
“Because apparently he’s supposed to be very stupid,” said Twilight. “I mean, he is a talking animal in a cartoon, but he is still just a crocodile. It’s a bit more obvious if you know Nuuban and can hear how he speaks...”
“Exactly how old are the foals supposed to watch this?” Spike asked.
“Preschool,” said Twilight.
“Then why are we watching it?” said Spike.
“Because I’m bored,” said Twilight. “You can otherwise choose between a camel soap opera without Equestrian subtitles, a Neighponese historical drama (I think) without Equestrian subtitles, and a nice collection of flying training movies for the Equestrian navy with Equestrian subtitles for the hearing impaired.”
“Thar’€™s also three copies o' a video o' th' inauguration rites fer th' recent Mansa o' th' Zebras,” said Mr Moccus as he chose to make his presence known. “Some o' th' court beauties 'ave nice hocks. Or beautiful dresses, if ye’€™re more into that.”
Twilight quickly collected herself and paused the TV.
“Hello, Mr Moccus,” she said. “Are you a connoisseur of hocks or of dresses, hmm?”
“Mostly hocks,” he said amiably. “'n yourself, Lady Sparkle?”
Twilight swallowed and fluttered her eyelashes.
“I prefer my hocks clad in dresses,” she said. She didn’t bother with her forced laughter. For sure, Mr Moccus had seen real villainy.
“Why do you speak so funny?” said Spike, who didn’t find the... he was a flying pig, for Celestia’s sake! He wasn’t very scary for a violent criminal.
“I’€™m ole, sprog,” said the megasus and grinned. “Much older than ye reckon. When I began t' sail under th' skull 'n crossbones, 'twas on a ship wit' mostly Ponyland pegasi, 'n they spoke like this. That’€™s how I learnt Equestrian.”
“How does... somehog become old in your profession, Mr Moccus?” said Twilight Sparkle.
“Ne'er lead a charge. Ne'er insult somehog’s sire or dam or god. Ne'er steal somehog’s rum or bedmate or silver,” said Mr Moccus and made as if to leave. “Oh - 'n one more thin'!”
“Yes?” said Twilight.
“Ne'er play at politickin',” he grinned. “Everyhog wants t' be cap'n. Nohog wants t' be th' first mate. I’€™m th' oldest part o' this ship, me beauty.”
Then he left, the lukewarm food made from canned goods he had brought sitting on the table.
“He forgot ‘ne'er look threatenin'’,” Twilight murmured. “We’d better keep an eye on him.”
They would be reaching their goal tomorrow. A donkey sailor turned up and offered to do their laundry with the rest of the crew’s. For some silver, of course. This caused Twilight to repack, and of course Spike had to help.
“I didn’t think pirates washed their clothes,” he murmured.
Twilight laughed. “It’s a ship like any other, and on good-kept ships you have to keep things clean. Though I doubt the clothes will be as well treated as when Rarity does it.”
She had piled up the content of her saddlebags, mostly clothes, books and scientific instruments. Of course, there were no things packed for Spike. His warm jacket and cap had begun to stink. She had made a list and Spike had packed them before the fateful night. Spike hadn’t missed anything, but there were a few additions.
“Matches?” she said.
“If you couldn’t use magic to light a fire,” said Spike. “And I wouldn’t be there with you.”
She frowned. “Unlikely, but OK.” She lifted an odd package from the heap.
“What’s this?” she said.
“Don’t you remember?” Spike said. “It’s Pinkie Pie’s gift! The party grenade!”
“The what?” said Twilight.
“Look, she’s let me help loading the party cannon several times,” Spike explained. “That looks exactly like a charge, except that here you’re supposed to pull this string and throw it. So it’s a party grenade. Pinkie said it would be an instant party.”
“Why would I need an instant party?” said Twilight, more amused than upset.
“Well, you’re here to negotiate with a bunch of pirates and a bunch of ex-soldiers,” Spike said. “Everypony knows pirates like a party, and we know from Shiny’s friends that soldiers like a party. So I thought you’d need it to butter them up, like. Besides, it’s a neat trick, it fits a sorceress.”
Twilight laughed and shook her head.
“Pinkie manages to be random even when she’s not here,” she said and put the package back in the saddlebag.
Then she suddenly sniffled.
“I miss them so much,” she said. She hadn’t known she did until now, seeing Pinkie’s handiwork. “I wish I didn’t have to do this... this manure! I wish we were home!”
“Me too,” said Spike and they shared a hug.
“I told Luna to tell everypony we were OK,” she murmured into Spike’s back. “I hope they’ve been told by now.”
“I’ve told her family and her friends in Ponyville,” said Celestia as they watched the grey skies and the constantly forming blizzards from a mountain outside Sarvvik.
“Thanks, sister,” said Luna.
“I think you should have done it,” said Celestia.
“Were they upset?” said Luna.
“Upset and relieved at the same time,” said Celestia. “Upset with us, relieved they are safe - safer - for now.”
“You think this is my fault?” said Luna.
“No, it is your responsibility,” said Celestia. “I don’t know who to actually fault for causing this mess and I don’t really care. I just meant you should have been the one to explain it. For one, I am not as knowledgable about this as you are, since you planned it, so I might have misrepresented your actions.”
Luna sighed.
“I think Twilight Sparkle too a horrible, unnecessary risk, and that childish prince didn’t help matters, in any case,” she said.
“How is he?” said Celestia.
“Grounded and scolded, as far as I can tell,” said Luna. “He shouldn’t cause any more trouble.”
“That was not really what I meant,” said Celestia.
They were silent.
“I ache to clear these clouds away,” said Luna.
“What about the quest?” said Celestia.
“What quest?” said Luna, her eyes fixed on the mocking storm, which in their country would have been a horrifying abomination in its independence.
“The quest for the Sampo,” said Celestia.
Luna snorted.
“A mere fancy of the temple-fawn, I’m sure,” she said, but there was a small nervousness to her voice.
“You seem very sure of that,” said Celestia. “Twilight wasn’t so sure.”
“You know how enthusiastic she is about arcane arts,” said Luna. “Shouldn’t we clean the sky?”
“And now you’re avoiding the subject,” said Celestia.
Luna didn’t say anything.
“What did Wiglek the Wicked do for you?” said Celestia. “What payment did you receive? You never told me that, just how you betrayed him.”
Luna shuddered.
“Did you tell Twilight?” she said anxiously.
“Of course not, it was a secret between us,” said Celestia and nuzzled her sister. “But you shouldn’t keep this pent up, and I swear it is only a bad thing because it hinders you from doing what’s right for some reason - shame, I think.”
Luna swallowed.
“He... founded the temple of Hrimfaxi,” she said quietly.
“What?” said Celestia and laughed, then caught herself. “Sorry, it was just silly! Why would you want that?”
“I was jealous of your temples,” said Luna mournfully.
“I didn’t want them!” said Celestia. “You could have had mine! Look, they still keep giving me... junk like that horrid statue!”
Luna cracked a faint smile.
“And they send all those prayers I can’t hear and can’t fulfill and don’t want,” Celestia continued. “They make all these claims about me and my history and my powers and my life and don’t let me tell my story myself! They are like the tabloids, only actually literate! There’s a reason I outlawed such things in Equestria centuries ago!”
“Anyway,” said Luna, “that wasn’t really the reason. I just wanted to... put him in his place, for the laughs, like I was Discord. I would probably have agreed to some other price, had he offered it. The important part was the triumph. That rotten, rotten feeling of being superior, of having hurt somepony and making them weaker and smaller, so you were stronger and bigger...”
“That’s past now, Luna,” said Celestia and nuzzled her again. “Don’t let a bad deed in the past stop you from doing a good deed in the present!”
“It just feels so... painful...” Luna said mournfully.
“Will you let me deal with it?” said Celestia.
“Why?” said Luna.
“The reindeer insist I am the actual Goddess of Summer,” Celestia shrugged. “I’m just going to protect my interests in having one again. And let’s just say I have more faith in mortals than I think they should have in me.”
“May I ask how?” said Luna.
“Oh, I’m just going to move in mysterious ways, as usual,” said Celestia and smiled enigmatically. “Should we perform some more divine intervention and smite those clouds righteously?”
“Verily, we shall,” said Luna and smiled as the two sisters took flight and started to form the wind and clouds.
“If Twilight doesn’t come back soon, what do we do?” Celestia shouted.
“Then we march in the general direction of the camp - North,” Luna shouted back. “That’s were I assume the first battles against Winter will be anyway. We will lack the information Twilight was looking for, but honestly, I think we can manage that. The pirates are the least of our problems. How large could their forces be?”
“It’s a whole city!” said Twilight as the ship slowly sailed into the harbour. “This... this is a whole army!”
The gently sloping cliffs around the harbour had only a score of actual houses, but must have hundreds of small tent-like huts.
“Those are kota huts,” said Spike. “Vigg showed me! Grazers use them when they move around, they are like tents but sturdier. There must be lots of Grazers here... “
“I’ll bet the Poatsulan Army uses them on maneuver as well,” said Twilight and gritted her teeth. “They know how to set up camps, of course.”
“Where did they get all the stuff?” said Spike.
“They stole food and clothes and such in Equestria and sold it here where there is a great lack of goods,” said Twilight, “and since the bad weather conditions made a lot of workers unemployed it was probably easy to find reindeer to build for them. We should have trawled more through Sarvvik for informers who for money could have told us where this place was, instead of this stupid stunt...”
“Look, they’ve cut down almost all the trees...” said Spike and pointed.
“A good defense, and they needed the wood,´” said Twilight, mentally mapping and memorizing the temporary city.
“Except those, which they made towers out of,” said Spike and pointed elsewhere. “Towers with cannons in them!”
“Those look like ballistas and flame cannons,” said Twilight. “This doesn’t look nice...”
“I bet they took the weapons off the ships when they laid ‘em up for winter,” said Spike, “and just hoisted them up the tree-towers.”
He pointed to the harbour where scores of dragonships and a dozen broad-bottomed merchant vessels laid on the beach, in a way Equestrian ships wouldn’t have been. Some were being worked on by reindeer crews. Their ship wouldn’t be able to land like that, so it was being steered towards a jetty.
“It is lucky Jarl Ahto is a stag who thinks much of himself and is very foolish,” Twilight mumbled.
“Why?” said Spike.
“Because I’m afraid that’s the reason he has the very odd plan of wanting to make a coup d’etat but absolutely not wanting to make civil war,” she said. “That’s the only reason he hasn’t marched on Sarvvik already.”
“You think he really, like, rules this place then?” said Spike.
“Yes,” said Twilight. “It is far from impossible that the various outcasts who live here and use the place as a base could have formed it anyway, but look how organized everything is! Pirates would do this on their ship, just because they are still sailors and need to make the ship run, but this city is ruled and planned and controlled. They wouldn’t do that, and it would fit with a competent if a bit foolish military stag like Ahto.”
“So, do we know everything we need then?” said Spike.
“Almost,” said Twilight. “I still need a location, and for that I need either a map of the place or a look at a clear sky. We really need that to escape, because I am teleporting back! Aaand... there are some details. Like if there are any other minor leaders in camp who opposes Ahto. If there are walls or other defences. Or what other resources they have, like magic. This is an international crew and you don’t know what they can come up with. Like what Mr Motelele can really do.”
“You can probably not just ask him,” said Spike and looked warily at the giant who was busy helping piloting the ship into harbour. “He doesn’t look friendly.”
“I’ll start with that anyway,” Twilight said and followed his gaze.
“Twilight, we’re kind of in trouble here,” said Spike worriedly. “I hope you don’t get caught up in researching giraffe lore when we need to get out of here as soon as possible!”
“I’ll try,” said Twilight and patted his head.
“But I can’t promise anything!” she said and stuck out her tongue at Spike.
The usual thanks to my great proofreaders!
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*Reads throug hseveral comments first*
Oh. My. GOSH! Someone actually did research for a fic to make it better in not only their eyes, but the eyes of the readers?!
I am definitely going to read this!
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I hope you are not disappointed.
Ooo this looks really interesting! Added to my growing "Read Later" pile (honestly, too many awesome stories and not enough time!)
684430
It's kinda long, I know...
Thanks!
Very nice story Reminds me of When I read the Kalevala in high school. Very well done!
684448
Thanks!
“Okay, why does the crocodile fail to catch the zebra?”
I know this is meant to be the pony version of Dora but this line brings to mind an old racist trope from my country.
Unfortunate (and wholly unintended) implications aside, great chapter and congratulations on getting featured.
A giraffe, interesting. And mention of elephants and various other animals from the zebra homelands, very interesting.
monoceri = magical rhinoceros or rhinoceros hybrid I'm guessing?
mokolekombes = no clue
Oh Twilight, even on a pirate ship you find a library to live in and reorganize.
Just be glad Sieurin did not decide to do this as epic poetry in Kalevala form. Would be fun if he did. Kalevala from the witch of the north's point of view
Twilight is too curious for her own safety.
Thirty-seven chapters before you get the feature box?!?
Better get reading then!
So, Twilight found a stash of pirate DVDs, then?
684415 Nope. I'm not at least. You actually mentioned the Mokelemembe (I can never spell that stupid word -_-), and as far as I know that's uncommon information. Hippogriff reference... good... elephants and zebra and giraffes and pegasi and oh my head that's a kaleidoscope of species...
Really though, this worldbuilding is fantastic. You have all my 'staches.
684497
And we are talking about actual crocs and zebras...
It's not just a Dora reference but also a reference to a certain newspaper comic.
684509
Mokolekombe is my horrible spelling of a legendary beast that is sort of the Congo River version of the Loch Ness monster. People who believe it is just not a myth tend to say it's some kind of dinosaur. More here. I decided it was a giant pachyderm or ungulate just for the heck of it.
685217 Interesting, never heard about that legend before, but I do remember the movie referenced on that wikipedia entry.
"How much of a threat can they be?" *camera pans out to reveal a fucking army*
Anyway, fantastic as always. When the shit finally hits the fan, it's gonna be crazy.
684709
i cu wut u did thar
Wow good story. Loved the flirting between Saga and Vigg!
but the plot is getting really complex all of a sudden. still i give you five Celestias 
and 5 spikes 
I'm looking forward to the use of Pinkie's Party grenade, Chekhov has loaded his gun and is just waiting for a target.
686587
1, He is a stallion of mystery. He never told me.
2, But seriously, that's part of who he is. Note that at the beginning, they are certain he is a very important... something in the Equestrian delegation. Given that his name is a (lame) pun, it's possible that's not technically his name, even if Celestia uses it later in the story.
3, He's of lower rank than Prince Blueblood but higher than Mr Cake.
"Of course it could not receive any transmissions, since wireless thaumaturgy was impossible."
There is no omnipresent thaumaturgic field then? Not at all like electromagnetism then? How does a magic dvd player work at all?
You don't have to answer this, I'm just overly curious about stuff like that.
689650
You need a cable-equivalent to "send" thaumic messages to an electronic device any longer distance than a few feet, or they dissipate uselessly. Luckily the same can be used to send magic energy if the device need it.That's why an earlier chapter described a conference room as "runed for thaumaturgy". If you just need power to a device, you can simply use a power-dust on it (if it is zebra-made), or have a power-spell cast on it (if it is unicorn or qi-rin-made). Hence, having places and cities runed for thaumaturgy is rare. A place like Ponyville probably has a few phones and a TV or two - one in the mayor's office, one in the post office, a couple by rich ponies' houses (Filty Rich certainly has one so Diamond Tiara can gloat to other children about it) but a fair amount of practical devices equivalent to electric fans, refrigerators and cassette players. Magic energy isn't like electromagnetism, no, other than on the surface. Of course, the above is "with today's sorcery"...
And the whole purpose is of course to explain electronic devices in the series and this fic when use for fun, but excuse why phones, TV etc isn't common.
I'd be curious to read an exposition on your lore's races and their magical practices.
Obviously you have the standard Earth/Pegasi/Unicorn and their 'normal' magics, but the other races are interesting too.
Zebra use totemic magic though seemingly nothing innate.
Giraffe have some sort of pre-cog?
Reindeer universally have 'sight+' with potential expansion into conjuration/evocation/necromancy/spirit calling? Though they aren't avid users.
Megasine? Griffins?
Petryons have 'shadow' magic.
Ki-rin?
In addition, I wonder just what fields Unicorn magic can go into, specifically for one of Twilight's versatility. Obviously necromancy isn't really available, but clearly abjuration/alteration/conjuration/evocation and even divination to an extent apply.
706010
Zebra: there is a magic that Twilight called by the fancy name of 'magia naturalis' in an early chapter. That's simply using the magical properties of the world (plants, animals, gems etc). Just as the creators of the show said that earth ponies have some sort of connection to the land, so they are good at growing things, zebra are good at feeling and using the innate magic of things. Anyone can do that, just as Twilight can plant a carrot. It's just that she can never be as good as Golden Harvest, and she can never be as good at potion-making as Zecora. (Look how Zecora always uses props for magic, while Twilight almost never does in the show).
Reindeer vs Unicorn: Anybeing who has either horn or antlers can learn and cast spells. Others cannot. However, learning even the slightest of spells takes very long time and hard work. A unicorn's cutiemark enhances their magic talents in that narrow area, so almost all unicorns know a few spells. Among most other beings with horns - cows, deer, yaks, etc - only professionals ever learn magic. The magic is technically the same, but all magic is wrapped up in various cultural differences, so learning from some other being is usually difficult. Twilight is special - and so is actually Saga, she's not just that special. Reindeer magic can be almost as diverse as unicorn magic, but since there are so many fewer spellcasters, it isn't very well developed. Reindeer are good at "information" magic and dealing with spirits, because their Sight assists them. Of course, lot of spirit magic involves little of spells. Galderhorn simply treats his spirit friends as Fluttershy treats her animal buddies, and they help him in return.
I simply haven't decided for this fic or others what other beings can do. Moose have some talent for using earth and stone, and are better at learning spells relating to it (their short-range flight to not leave tracks is a 'repel earth' spell). Urox (and other cattle) are good at making things grow, just like earth ponies. Megasi have similar weather-talents as pegasi, but they don't come from a highly civilised superpower with weather factories, so they are more used to make their weather by hand. Perytons can animate their shadows and use them to manipulate things. A peryton without a shadow is like a pegasus without wings that isn't Fluttershy, that's why Jorges was bitchin' and moanin'. For most others I have no idea; I don't even know what ki-rin are. (In the real world, they are an imaginary creature from East Asia which is sometimes described as a kind of unicorn... that can fly. Alicorns?)
Giraffes... well, giraffes come with reindeer clairvoyance, unicorn telekinesis, zebra sense for innate magic, and a powerful talent for spells to boot. Whoever of Luna's and Celestia's "aunts and uncles" who thought them up was obviously a munchkin! We're lucky they're not ninja as well!
Ki-Rin are frequently thought to be some sort of draconic variant. Dragon/Pony (specifically Unicorn normally) or Deer crossbreeds. A little 'munchkin' as you say. At least that's how the fluff normally portrays them. Scaled equine forms with horns, but a more draconic (in the eastern style) muzzle. Google image search gets quite a few examples. Giraffes have horns, but they are pretty nubby things. I always assumed horn size has at least some parallel, though obviously deer/rams have significant horns/antlers, over a unicorn anyways.
Wonder if reindeer magical powers wax/wane when they shed their antlers.
706215
And as you said, unicorns don't win the league.
Giraffes are cool, that's why they are giants who are super-wizards in this immensely fanon world.
The antler thing is interesting. Remember that reindeer are the only cervines where both sexes have antlers. Unless you can somehow channel antler-dom just by being a cervine, that might indicate that females cannot do magic... (I might have given the elder moose-cow antlers, now think about it...) I do think the power would wax and wane, though I suspect it never disappears completely.
I'm mostly used to ki-rin from various pen and paper RPGs, where they are usually ugly unicorns who can walk on air.
Oh, and donkeys have no inborn magic, uniquely among sapient species. They are instead innately anti-magical, sort of like stereotypical D&D dwarves.
No mention of the most deadly creature of Africa, responsible for more deaths per year then lions, hyenas, and snakes combined? I speak of course of the dreaded Hippopotamus.
709602
True dat, but they don't live on the savannah. But if reindeer think moose are ogres and zebra think giraffes are giants, what will other people think of hippos? It is indeed scary...
(Humans are mindflayers or something, of course)
710021
this could easily be the most consistent and varied and enjoyable fan created AU that I've ever had the luck to read, I probably already showered you with compliment in some earlier chapter, but I think you can stand to read some more right?
710482
I'll steel myself!
Oh man, I don't remember if I mentioned that I love ha characterization in this story?
I remembered it because the author of "Banishment Decree" Offhandedly (and amusingly) events of this story as part of Twilight's background as a spy. I love this community.
Keep up the good work!
712129
yay for miss-tagged story then? 
I still bless the day I started reading this by accident, it was tagged as TwiLuna and while none of that kind of action actually happened I found more than I hoped for...
726850
Forgetfulness is universal, don't worry too much about it.
712780
In my defense, that wasn't my doing! While the story is marked with Twi and Luna as characters, it isn't marked as Romance, so I hope nobody else makes that mistake!
I think the tag you mention is its inclusion in the Twiluna group, yes?
I'm glad you found my story worthy of reading anyway.
758625
There are some fair pieces on zebra culture and so on later, but nowhere near the reindeer: there simply aren't that many around that it becomes a plot point.
The griffins have it worse; so far only one griffin with a name has been seen, and nothing about her says anything about her people, really; only about herself and her profession. They are even less important to the plot (and I have very little ideas about them anyway).
I am very glad you like my fic; thanks for following it!
759109
I have some things which hasn't come up in the story and it is not likely they will. I can send them to you in a note if you want, and you can just discard anything you dislike.
777839
Thanks!
Before I became a librarian (a neurotic librarian in a small town where everyone is crazy with assistants who do all his work, which is probably why I like Twilight
) I was a translator, and "sleeping dictionary" was an actual slang term. Best way of getting native fluency in a language is to have a partner who speaks it.
Remember, they were speaking Nuuban, so make it a zebra term in your fanon slang!
(And zebra lands in my headcanon has few ponies, but a lot of savannah ungulates have their own communities under the Zebra Mansa - gnus, gazelles, antelopes, and so on.)
777992
Remember, to be a true Captain Ethnic, a reindeer superhero would need to fit one of the clichés of his species, like true-seeing psychic, northern berserker or somehow connected to ice and snow.
And you forgot the donkey hero(ine) who in my headcanon would of course scoff at all these innate magical powers and just be what those eggheads at TV Tropes call a Badass Normal.
785910
The creation of a wall. It is an extremely stupid injoke, and you're right, it's not a word.
798714
I have succeeded if I can put the reader in affect like that...
But did you mean Twilight, or was that a misprint for Luna?