Well after that I cleaned the dried blood off of my spear. I wasn't allowed to step outside of the room I was currently residing in without Ahuizotl's permission and so I had sent Midnight to get me some food, the first time she came back with some sort of grass sandwich and after explaining to her that my digestive system couldn't handle grass and that I would prefer something with meat. Luckily because of Ahuizotl's jungle cats they kept a supply of it for them, so I got a nice steak and some salad for Breakfast. Also I learned the ins and outs of this world from Midnight. Then I was summoned by Big A himself, his name is to long and hard to pronounce so I'm shortening it to Big A. After being "persuaded" to leave my spear with Midnight, (*cough* cough* death threat), by the very polite stallions that served as guards for Big A. I was then escorted through the maze they called a Temple to his office where I am sitting now. That happened 2 hours ago and Big A hasn't made an appearance.
His office was very nice, Artifacts lined the walls on shelves of a very fine oak wood. The artifacts themselves were interesting ranging from necklaces, to cups and chalices. But one thing was common with all of them, they gave of a feeling of dread and hatred if you got close to them. His desk was also of a fine oak, a couple papers littered his desk some were newspapers focusing on the pony named Daring Do, a couple more on rare artifacts of supposed power. There was also a little familiar nic-nac resting on the very edge, Newton's cradle, I pulled back one of the little balls and let it go letting it hit it's metallic brothers and send the last one swinging. At least in the land of Magic and flying ponies somethings stay the same. My inner voice stayed silent. The seat behind his desk was more like a beanbag indicating he was probably some kind of quadruped. There was one on the other side of the desk for guests which I sat down in. The only word to describe it was heavenly. I looked to the tag on it to find what filling they used for this as not even my bed was as comfortable as this beanbag chair hybrid was. All it said was Cloud, made in Cloudsdale. I guess the Company is called cloud as there's no way inside this fabric was an actual cloud. I sat there for another half hour before the door opened and he came in. He was Dark blue except for part of his chest, his hands on his front limbs and the bottom half of his muzzle which was light blue, He had a very long face, His eyes on the very front of it, Must suck for peripheral vision, his nose was also pitifully small, his ears were also large and pointy, a single golden earring on the left side adorned it, sharp teeth lined his muzzle. His tail ended in another hand and a bracelet just above the hand. His back limbs ended in paws, the other two front limbs ended with hands, just above the elbow was another set of golden jewelry, also a golden neck guard was present on his neck but there was no other piece of armor on him. He did have a small bit of hair growing off his neck in three long strands two were dark blue the middle was light blue almost gray, possibly signalling his age of that being in the older side.
He then spoke in an accent I didn't recognize "No, this isn't some strange dream, I took you from your dimension to serve me and serve me you will."
"Prove it" I said vehemently back.
He sighed and said "Very well." He took a emerald bowl off a shelf it was encrusted with Rubies giving it an almost Christmas color look. He continued speaking "With certain sacrifice, of blood, it allows you to see into a dimension of your choosing for a brief moment." He then tossed an what would be in my world, if this is supposedly a different dimension, an Egyptian styled dagger. I contemplated killing him then and there but before I could enact on that thought inner voice spoke up, If he doesn't care that you have a weapon of murder in your hands so close to him he is truly stupid but more then likely he has a way to dispose of you with out harm to him, or he really outclasses you in combat and you pose no threat to him, don't risk it. And I didn't. He then motioned for me to stick my thumb with the dagger and I did, the blood began to trickle from the new wound and he set the bowl below the little drop of blood. It then landed in the bowl, it seemed to multiply into it filled the whole bowl with it. I set the dagger down and looked into the bowl, the blood rippled and began showing my house, police tape ran across the yard, the view then went into my hallway, the blood stains were still there, two people were also there, a detective and a regular cop.
"The blood trail, ends here he might have been kidnapped or something, no one can just disappear off the face of the planet." The cop said, the detective replied with "Put out a Bolo on the missing guy as well as the arm-less robber we might be able to find them."
The blood then began receding. To where? I don't know but it soon appeared that there was no trace that there was a pool of blood in it any more. I was in shock was that really real, am I really in this land of motherf-ing magic and flying ponies and unicorns who can shoot goddamn lasers (one of the guards was one and saw fit to show me when I began lagging behind). I shook with anger, this CREATURE pulled me from all that I loved and knew, now I couldn't go back, no wait he pulled me here, he can put me back, oh wait I'll find my own way back as this A-Hole will be choking on his own entrails when I get the chance. His chuckling brought me out of that oddly pleasing mental image. I then regained some semblance of control over my emotions and calmed down with a bit of trouble.
"Now, for the job I have for you. It's the reason I pulled you here, for your skills at hunting, I saw you take out those animals, I just need you to do that, but for Daring Do, and I have made it easy for you, on her last adventure to steal yet another Artifact from me I planted a small tracker on her vest." He then gave me a small device sort of like a watch. On the screen it showed a map on that map was a small green dot, the scale roughly 500 miles north west of my position. I put it on my wrist. He smiled which was a bit off putting and continued "To keep you from betraying me if you leave the 600 mile radius circle from this temple then the device will flood you with a paralytic until I can pick you up and deal with you." Shit, shit shit. `Inner voice then spoke up WHAT WERE YOU THINKING don't put on everything the BAD guy gives you willy nilly now look what you've done. I only had this to say for myself My bad.
Your right your bad don't ever do that again, I swear sometimes I'm an idiot. Inner voice complained.
"Now don't kill Daring I want you to bring her to me alive, and mostly intact. Here is 100 bits, our currency, to pay for any expense you might come across, She is currently residing for the night in the town of Cordale. It is full of criminals and outlaws, as these Jungles in the South of Amareica are a great hiding place for us criminals as no guard would dare follow us in here. She will stay there for a max of Two days before moving on in her search of this temple. I will arrange for your transport to just outside the city, it'll be up to you to make it in and take her alive, you fail and the consequences will be very unpleasant, if you succeed you won't have to go through unpleasantness." He set the money on the table and I grabbed it tying it to my belt loop on my pants.
It was a hot air balloon, a frigging hot air balloon, normally that would be fine but I have this small fear of flying, not of heights but of flying, but me next to a 500 foot drop and I'm fine but on a plane, helicopter, glider watch me find a corner to curl up and cry in, ok scratch the crying part, but I will freak out. And this is why I am in the corner of the basket clinging to my spear like it was a teddy bear. My back resting against the sturdy straw wall of the basket. The unicorn pilot smirking as he used his magic on the lever to raise and lower the balloon. His fur was a light brown, his mane and tail black, his mane was styled so only the tip of his horn could be seen. He had a rugged air about him, like he has survived many a fight, his scar running down his cheek complimented that.
"You afraid of heights." He called to me, his voice struggling to be heard over the wind, as he was using his magic to create wind to make us go faster.
"No, not of heights of Flying." I shouted back from my corner.
His raucous laughter had no problem being heard over the wind. "Flying, Flying, How do you manage that."
"I don't really know, possibly my first experience on one of these most likely, Me and my family, I was only 4 at the time, Well they thought it was a good idea to take a ride on one of these. It was during a fair and we were on vacation. So there we were about 200ft off the ground and being the curious little boy I was I tried climbing the wall and actually succeeded, so I was peering down at the passing ground when my father called out. It must've startled me and made me slip and I went over the side. And then I died." I said sadly to him, a hint of mirth betraying me.
"Ah then so your one of those ghosts, it must be fun to go invisible and spook people." He said amusement lacing his voice.
"Among other things, In all seriousness though he caught me by the foot and hauled me back in, and since then I've had a fear of flying, most people would've developed a fear of heights but I didn't, it was a fear of flying." I responded.
"Hmm... can't says as I blame ya." He replied and lowered the balloon a little.
With a grin on my face I said "So I told you something about myself, so tell me how you got that scar."
His eyes narrowed and very sternly said slow and clear "No."
My grin faded right there and then, I then said "I sense a tragic and sad back story so avoiding that, what do you think of Big A."
"Tragic sure, sad not so much," He sighed, and continued "Name's Blood Smear, but most call me Brawl or Blood, the former because it's not as intimidating and I can never pass up a good Brawl. And who is Big A?"
"Ahuizotl, Big A for short as the full name is to long and difficult to pronounce." I explained
Brawl let out a chuckle "Well, the only reason why I'm working for him is because he made me sign a contract while I was drunk, and I haven't had a good chance to escape these past 2 years. At least I don't have it as bad as those ponies that he rescued from the diamond dogs."
"Well, have you heard of a Pony named Midnight Lily, well she's planning to overthrow him, If you want in on the action talk to her. If you tell Big A or any loyal to him then my spear will get well acquainted with your insides." I said the last part rather harshly, but Brawl seemed unfazed by it.
"I just might throw my chips in against Ahuizotl, and you don't have to worry about me telling on your little rebellion." He said gruffly.
"Good to hear."
The remainder of the flight was in silence.
Brawl's landing was smooth and I soon disembarked from it. I took the time, as the balloon lifted up again, to observe my surroundings. I was in an open field the rather dark Jungle starting again about 50 meters behind me and about 25 meters to the left and the right, but in front of me was the saddest little town I ever expected to see. There were quadrupeds and Bipeds moving about from what I could see from my distance. As I got closer I could make out more details. The buildings were made of varied materiel some being sheet metal, mud bricks, rocks and wood, they were all the same in that they looked sad and worn out. But as I got closer I could tell it was full of life, Peddlers selling their most likely stolen Junk off to anyone, One man bands playing, their partners pick pocketing the lookers. Bandit groups roamed the streets looking to offload what they have stolen. Money, what people will do for it Inner voice popped in with. A couple bar fights spilled out of their respective saloons and continued on in the streets. What got me was the diversity of sentient life, there was all three sub races of ponies, Diamond Dogs if Midnight's descriptions were correct, and if I knew my mythology Minotaurs and a few Griffons. Even if this was a criminal town, It was still amazing to see others then just humans walking around and talking to each other. I looked to my wrist tracking device and the green dot did cover this town, well this half of the town. Time to search, I once again used my Spear as a walking stick, blade pointed up towards the sky. Despite my very different appearance I only got a few stares before the people/mythical creatures went back to their activities. Turning down an alley way I noticed a mugging taking place, the victim a stallion lay bloodied and bruised as the Minotaur and griffon used him as a punching bag. I quickly turned and walked out of there real quick.
Definitely a town of crime. Inner voice said. Yep, these people are surprisingly not racist imagine if one of these wandered into a town back home. Yeah definitely but the government would try and cover it up most likely. Inner voice said in response to my comment. I stepped over an unconscious griffin well I think it was unconscious, I didn't stick around long enough to see if it was still breathing. The makeshift dirt road led me to a tavern, the sounds laughter and scuffling emanating from it.
Do we even know what she looks like? Inner voice made a good point. I think so from that black and white photo on the newspaper, plus if I've learned anything from movies the Bartender know everything. This is the response following my former statement You don't really believe that do you... we are doomed. That shows what Inner voice knows Doomed? No!. Our rugged good lucks and our charm will keep us alive. The response And don't forget the elephant size helping of luck. By that time I had opened the door to the tavern and stepped inside. The unmistakable smell of Rum and Vomit with a bit of Blood assaulted my nose all at once. A lone bartender tended to the bar, most of the patrons were drunk, a few slumped down unconscious on their table or floor, what I think was a Female griffin was on a raised wooden stage and earning a few wolf calls from the male patrons. Then Inner voice broke some of the hardest news I've had to swallow today You know, I don't think we will ever see a decent rack again as long as we are in this world. My resolve to get out of this dimension and back to mine practically doubled at that. That's probably the only reason I'm functioning right now That small spark of hope that I'll find a way to go home.
With that bombshell, I walked over to the Bartender and said "Hey you seen a Pegasus named Daring Do come through here."
He sighed and said "Why does everyone think the Bartender knows everything, its not our job to learn about our patrons just serve them a drink."
I chortled and said "Give me a diet water." He looked at me strangely the joke lost on him. I continued speaking "No but you do run a social hub and when people get drunk their lips loosen and information that might be worth a bit or two comes out, and any bartender worth his salt would love to make a bit, so it makes sense that you would remember any information that spills out of these drunken idiots."
"Well, your a smart one ape, if you want to know where she went it'll cost ya, 15 bits." He said with absolutely no emotion in his voice. I quietly deposited said amount of bits into his outstretched hoof. Which retracted as soon as the flow of golden bits stopped.
"She left here not a few minutes ago, would've out drank a griffon, a couple of stallions and griffon left after her, you better hurry they have a habit of robbing drunk victims." He said. I thanked him and left. The sun was in the position of just past noon.
I then made my way through town looking down alleyways looking for the right mugging. Nope, that's a griffon, nope that's a unicorn, ouch that had to hurt, nope that's a homeless person, nope that looks like a drug deal, no, that one looks like a weapons deal, Hey this one is empty, and that's an earth pony, Here we go, female Pegasus, pith helmet and vest, looks like our stop.
The mare, presumably Daring Do, was tan in color, mane and tail was different shades of black and grey, she was in an offensive pose, a whip in her mouth. Surrounded by 6 robbers, The griffon was the leader it seemed, there was a mare Earth pony, one Unicorn and 3 Pegasi of varying color.
"Give us your valuables and we will let you leave unharmed." The griffon said to her.
"Your goiiinng too rregret messssing with me." She drunkenly slurred back.
Why would she get drunk in the middle of day in a clearly criminal town. The sound of fighting interrupted my thoughts for a second Well since she isn't backing down my guess is drinking contest or someone spiked her drink or drugged her. Well she's still kicking their ass, Yes and that scares me, we are going to take the easy way out. Good. Since the building was only maybe 15 feet high I made short work climbing it. And watched Daring mercilessly beat the crap out of the six attackers. Definitely a veteran and the lack of scars certainly proves her skill. At least no one looks up. It took a few minutes before the attackers ran away, beaten and bruised and that's when I made my move. I then leaped off the building aiming myself to come down on her back. The butt of the spear was aimed towards her head. It took less then a second before I landed on her, the wood hit her head with a loud smack and she slumped down unconscious. I had her body cushion my fall but it still hurt especially with her leg digging into my side. I quickly rolled off and began tying her up, Her wings first, then her front hooves and limbs then back hooves and limbs then those two pairs of limbs together. I then put her in a net Big A lent me and slung her over my shoulder, the weight was actually pretty light, maybe 50-60 pounds. I stood up and walked away garnering a few looks my way as I walked back to the temple only 500 miles and about a week away if we can make good time.
Feeling pretty psyched.
We just took down a veteran explorer with little trouble.
Well, lets take a look at that impressive feat, she didn't know you were there, she was drunk, she just got done beating up 6 others and you had a weapon, a whip doesn't count should I continue
Hey don't harsh my victory.
I could tell I was in for a long week.
A/N: Well does this story feel rushed? any criticism is appreciated. if you see any grammar mistakes please let me know.