Jump to content

Tropical Trials & Tribulations (Closed: Taco)


SteelEagle

Recommended Posts

 
 
BvPhcWP.jpg?2
 
 
Fire Walker nodded as she listened to their scout. A temple. She silently wondered what sort it would be. A traditional, holy one that had been long abandoned and converted into a hangout for villains? Or maybe it’s like the temple the red coated officer discovered while training with Lady Lanceguard and Steel Dagger. That was an horrible underground temple of horror! The bone filled Ossuary still haunted the mare's dreams. Hopefully it won't be one of those. And finally, there's always the silly Daring Do type temples. Usually themed as a spooky skull or pyramid or something that did not make a lot of sense.  The officer was pretty sure A.K. Yearling didn't bother to do any real research but just simply swiped some of her story ideas from old 'Hardy Colts' mystery books.
 
Y7puJr6.jpg?1
 
The Pegasus did not see it yet, but she would be rather disappointed to see that it was a silly Daring Do type temple. A pyramid with a big monster face and lots of stairs all carved out of a mountain. It was more of a 'Play Set'. Probably comes with all what is seen here. Sturdy plastic build. Lights light up! Experience six different types of scary sounds! Special trap door! Rolling boulder! Trap that sends foes flying! 'Ssssssee you later, Lord Snakeface!'.
 
They need to get into that temple play-set! They could fight, but they were five against twelve. It could work. Brickhouse could easily steamroll over several foes. Fire Walker was trained to fight against multiple targets. If there were a few standing close to each other, Shield could nail them with a sleep spell. Fire was well aware of Applejack's fight against the Changelings during Shining Armor's wedding. She managed to take on a whole slew of foes. Of course they were stopped eventually. There was also a chance that the guards would alert whoever was in the temple and then there would be more to fight.
 
"Hmmm.", she 'hmm'ed'.  "These fellows have been hanging around outside for probably a while. Only hearing their fellow guards or the strange sounds on this island. Maybe we could freak them out a bit. Even use some of your illusion spells.", she nodded at Gleaming Shield. "Scare tactics..Might freak them out so much that some might scatter into the woods...Or they might be easier to pick off.". Fire Walker's twin 'punch daggers' were made to disarm and knock out her foe, not injure. " We leave one conscious that our good friend Brickhouse could get some answers from. These are probably all sell-swords that are here just for the bits and might not have any real alliance to whoever is in the temple. Does anypony have any suggestions?", she whispered.
 
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

                                                                                         5HbB79Q.png

 

 

From where Applejack was sitting, it didn't seem likely that they couldn't just steamroll these twelve. Heck, she was angry enough at times she reckoned she could beat a whole army at once! But her Captain had her mind screwed on right and more sound than Applejack did. The tactical outlook was pretty good. They could frighten them into splitting up or running, assuming they were the type to be afraid. There was always the other option. If they didn't think it was frightening, if they didn't take the bait. They could alert those inside, assume a defensive formation, and make this a lot harder. But there was always a thousand ways things could go wrong, and no plan ever survived first contact. Still, they had to trust in their Captain. No matter the result they had a plan and committing to that plan was one of the few ways they could conquer the task ahead of them.

 

"Aye aye," she said with a short salute and a whisper, watching as the other guards went about their jobs. Gleaming Shields had a list of illusions she could choose to deploy. Her magic wasn't going to wow anycreature with its over the top power but she knew exactly what she needed to and when she needed to do it. Everypony else assumed their positions. Brickhouse and Lighthouse both took positions next to some nearby trees, weapons at the ready. Bightblade stood further back, analyzing the treeline and preparing his own spell while their flight scout took to the trees. Applejack for her part started setting some traps at the treeline, just far enough in to be out of sight. No doubt that if they were trained well enough or didn't fall for the bait that it would be a waste of time but any effort that could be made to make the most of a possible ambush was effort that truly couldn't be considered wasted, regardless of the outcome. 

It took only a few moments in all actuality for Gleaming Shield to settle on her illusion. Everypony had a native fear of poisonous creatures and when you made them incredibly large that fear could only ever be compounded. From the top of the mouth of the temple slithered a giant snake, appearing behind the majority of the mercenaries as it reared up, big enough so it blocked the majority of the entrance. It was a giant king cobra, and the mercenaries were unlucky enough to be its meal target as it hissed loudly and flared its hood majestically!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

BvPhcWP.jpg?2
 
It had been a rather long time since the red coated officer had been in an actual real battle. This was always a good thing, because she believed her job was to keep the peace. Technically she recently had been part of a rather large force of ponies, dragons, gryphons yaks, changelings and many other types of creatures that were asked to stand against the Changeling Queen, Lord Tirek and some small child. She was not asked to attack, but to keep the two villains and one child unfocused by flying really quickly by them. This was successful and the baddies were turned to stone. Something that ended well. She was also later told the kid was a evil kid. Huh.
 
After making sure the others had the right spot to hide, Fire Walker quickly found one of her own. Once the spell was cast and the mercenaries were startled into fleeing into random members of her squad, their foes would be easy pickings. And sure enough, Gleaming Shield's scary snake illusion was terrifying. But something was wrong. Instead of running for the hills, the mercenaries stopped what they were doing and slowly waddled towards the fake snake with their weapons drawn. The way they walked reminded her of a horror movie, a zombie movie.
 
She then noticed something was odd with their eyes. Oh dear. Worried, the officer poked her head, 'They are being hypnotized', Fire mouthed to the farmer. And what creature had the ability to do that?
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

                                                                                   5HbB79Q.png


Applejack licked her lips. How would it all go down? Well, not as she thought it would. The guards seemed controlled, like puppets on strings. Her eyes narrowed as she looked about, trying to pinpoint just why it was.


It was then she saw...something. She couldn't quite make it out since it wasn't entirely solid. It wasn't even a shadow- more like a bending of light that tried and failed in a small way to keep something hidden. Something four legged, pony shaped even. Applejack could swear she saw what looked like lines heading from it to the guards, even heading inside of the temple. She could swear she saw something snaking near them. She watched these tendrils move into the underbrush. They were hidden as best as it could be and it felt like only Applejack could see them. Why didn't anypony else see them? Granted they were small and had the same light refraction as the origin. But it was as if-

 

-okay too close.


One tried to reach up to her, and Applejack had barely the time to react to it. It scrapped up against the armor on her fetlock and she jumped back in alarm. "Watch out!" She slipped through her clenched teeth. The tentacle started to retreat once it failed to attach itself to her. She looked around, seeing the same ones reaching the others. "Move! Watch out!" She said as she pushed Fire Walker over, tumbling deeper into the brush and ending up besides the mare. "Y'all seeing what Ah'm seein'?" She asked as she dared to take a look back at the temple.

The illusion was gone. Either they had attacked it and it had vanished in the face of physical contact or the pony casting the illusion wasn't able to do so anymore. That option boded ill for them. The guards who had tuned in unison started to look out into the woods and started a measured, careful march into them. "What tha hay is controllin' 'em?"

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 
7xSUtnu.jpg
 
 It was her second year at the academy where they taught defense against mind control. Even non-unicorns needed to study and learn how to defend themselves from nasty magic. And unlike unicorns, they couldn't just throw up a magic shield. There were other ways. Never looking directly at the spell-caster. Never concentrate on what they are saying. Ugh. There was so much more! And they learned about those who could use such spells, from unicorns to great beasts. Even horrible aquatic spirits that could put you under their control and drag you into the sea.
 
"Huh?", Fire Walker allowed herself to be slack, making it far easier to be moved, or pushed into the bushes. Where she tumbled far longer than she really wanted to tumble.
 
"Ouch.", the Pegasus pony groaned. She was going to be hurting tomorrow. Thankfully she was very sure nothing broke. Did she see anything odd? Besides the stars that were circling her head, she didn't see a thing. "No..I wonder if our valley girl friend has something to do with this. She is a Siren after all." The red mare really hoped it wasn't her.
 
"We should be sneaky and find the creature that is controlling everyone. Usually if you knock out the puppet-masters, all the puppets go free." But first they needed to know where they were.
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

                                                                                    5HbB79Q.png

 

"Ah don't reckon she is. Whatever's controllin' em, its more physical," she said as she activated her armor. She pressed the sigil of Twilight Sparkle and a brief purple glow surrounded her before fading deeper into the armor. That should protect her from whatever it was that was trying to take control. She looked around and saw similar flashes from the rest of the group, all of whom remained hidden but were making their way over. She adjusted herself and took a deep breath breath.


"Ah'll admit, Ah ain't seen nothin' like it. Tendrils, snakin' about, comin' from some...well, not invisible since Ah saw it, but near-invisible pony," she said, keeping a lookout for those tendrils. She saw something move in the underbrush and pointed it out as it drew close. The tendril reached Applejack and tried to touch her, but fell away from her as it was rejected by the protection of her armor.

 

By then the rest of the Guards had arrived, each one half-watching the perimeter as the mercenary guard started to move in slowly, methodically into the woods. Fire Walker made a good suggestion and Applejack nodded. "Agreed, we should take a look," she said as she peeked out and towards the temple. No sign of the creature, though it would be hard to see even in good conditions. Did it head deeper inside?

 

"We'll provide a distraction."
"On yer lead, cap'n'."

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
 
“Oh, right. Magic stuff.”, Fire Walker was HORRIBLE when it came to special armor. Somepony would give her a impressive suit of magic armor to wear, and the forgetful mare would almost always forgot to use the cool features, either due to the rush of battle, or maybe she felt it was cheating. But she would be of no use if some creature started to control her.  She would probably end up attacking her friend or even worse be forced into poses one should never be caught dead doing, and have rude pictures taken of her and mailed to loved ones. True evil. 
 
The mare pushed her purple button and paused to let the magic do its thing. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted more of those cute little beach piggies. So cute! If Wind Walker hadn’t already owned a dog, she would have brought one of the little porkers home with her. The officer slowly walked along with the farmer of many talents. There probably wasn’t a single thing that mare couldn’t do, and if there was, it wasn’t worth doing!
 
Still, she could not help but notice more pigs. There sure were a lot of them on this island! The red mare nodded her head as she moved along with the Earth Pony. Right a distraction, she would do one of those. Before she could think of a clever diversion, one of the pigs stepped out from the woods. Unlike the others, this one walked on two of her hooves, and held a mirror in her right front hoof. The odd creature had curly red hair and a golden crown with a emerald that oozed unpleasant energy from it.  The crown was matched by a medallion of the same color and build.  Her green, rather greedy looking eyes glanced away from the mirror and with an malicious grin on her face and pointed at the pair and let out an loud squeal. In moments, a small army of no longer cute piggies appeared behind her.
 
Fire Walker really wanted to laugh at the whole spectacle. Somepony actually put lipstick on a pig! Instead she asked...
 
4KYm6EO.png?1
"Uh, Applejack? What is that?"
 
 
Spoiler

OOC: Twenty points if you know who this is!

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

                                                                                       5HbB79Q.png


Applejack had quite clearly lost the plot. They were about to sneak into the temple with half the squad providing a distraction when an unexpected and weird variable showed up, on two legs instead of four at that. She had never seen a farm pig like this heffer before. She even had all manner of jewelry and special accoutrements that seemed rather excessive. It made Applejack wonder. Wonder just what farmer owned such an animal, why it would be out here. Wonder why it walked on two legs and had such a truly mischievous glint its hazel eyes. She couldn't make heads or tails of it at first and she was happy for it because the pig made her feel mighty uncomfortable.

 

The only stranger pig experience she had in her life was when a farmer from Hoofington claimed he had a pig that could understand Ponish and did all manner of tricks. Turned out it was all just a show and a lie and that got him in some hot water but it did make her briefly consider the possibility that it was some sort of trick-pig. If that were the case, where in Celestia's fetlocks was the scheming farmer behind it all? "Ah don't rightly know. It ain't no normal pig, that's for sure," Applejack said as she observed their surroundings. Sure were a lot of little piggies running around. Some seemed close behind the one on two legs, but many others seemed to stay away- though, as if by force, never too far. She looked back at the temple- where were the guards? The moment this heffer showed up they seemed to have, what, retreated into the temple?

 

Did that mean they had gone inside? Damn.
"Alright, uhh. Well we should keep eyes on her 'course, but we need ta get inta that temple-"
"You mean my temple, yes? Or should I say, soon to be my temple?" A voice rang out, with almost the same preening haughtiness of Rarity.

Applejack looked around. Where did that voice come from-
"Oh, you ponies-"
Wait, that pig was talking? 
"-Not realizing true grace when it stands in front of you!"
It sure was. Applejack's eyes bugged out.
"Wait a minute. You can talk?"
The well-off looking heffer stared daggers at Applejack.
That didn't seem good.
 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...
 
 
Okay! This is it! Fire Walker was very sure she was actually still laying in that ditch and was just dreaming this. Or maybe she had an concussion? The odd pig was not only standing, which wasn’t that odd. Wind Walker taught her corgi Gumby and how to stand up and shake his fuzzy rump. But he eventually had to get back on all four. This odd creature was now talking. Maybe they breathed in some wacky mushroom spores during their travels? Was Discord behind this? He was behind all those sea-monsters eating her ice cream!
 
“Of course, I’m talking.”, the pig turned to Fire Walker, “Maybe I should be talking to you instead, as you look a bit more..er..”
 
The red mare was trying her very best to register all of this. A piggy princess and her piggy army. All this wedding stress was getting to her brain. She really should have kept her original plan. A quick and cheap wedding at one of those twenty-four wedding chapels at Las Pegasus. Only 29 bits for the wedding and a coupon to one of the many questionable buffet style restaurants nearby. They would even have a pony dressed as the famous rockabilly artist, Juke Joint handle the wedding!
 
The pig was not very happy. She spoke to a pony and she did not respond. She was being IGNORED.
 
"PLEASE LOOK AT ME, when I talk to you.", she growled. "I am Princess Porcina and I intend on taking over that temple. I was told that there was an powerful and very large gem inside that I could use to amply my powers.", she moved her piggy hooves away from a gold necklace that she wore. The emerald attached to it oozed magic. "I've been converting all those stupid guards into pigs for my army, but for every five guards I convert, ten more replace them. I have no idea where they are coming from! I need you two ponies to break into that temple and bring me back that gem...Or I'll." she stroked the gem, "Turn you into mindless pigs and try to overwhelm those guards. Most of my pigs will probably die in the process, but as long as I get that gem, it does not matter."
 
WHAT WILL THEY DO? Will the ponies pilfer precious stones for Princess Porcina or proceed to pair up with her peccable piggy patrol?
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

                                                                       5HbB79Q.png

 

 

Applejack didn't know how or why her instincts worked the way they did. Maybe it was years of living near the Everfree, where timberwolf attacks and weird magic meant an Apple pony grew up with a certain sixth sense and a knowledge of how to react in a threatening situation. Maybe it was her experience as a mare and a guard, that had seen her battle foes extreme and mundane alike. Or maybe she was just really, really, good but even as the pig was talking in her honestly somewhat charming way Applejack was already working on her plan. And when the pig was done talking sorry, Princess Porcina was done talking- Applejack made quick and good on her plan.

 

She slapped the sigil on her armor as her other hoof shot out and slapped against Fire Walker's, and then immediately started galloping towards the temple, ignoring the screaming fury behind her. She knew Fire well enough to know that she wasn't gonna wait either and could only hope she was right behind Applejack. As she galloped towards the Temple she could feel the impacts of magic slamming against Twilight's protective barrier, dispelling whatever magic the porky princess had up her bacon sleeves. She leaped over a bush and found herself in the clearing that contains the temple, where an odd battle of pigs, illusions, and guards was taking place. She wanted desperately to stop and find the other guards, but they had their jobs and she had hers. So she continued her gallop towards the doors, leaping as arrows, illusions, spears, and explosions popped around her in ways she'd rather not. One guard stood in her way, and she leaped over him.

 

She didn't use him just as something to leap over, however. As she flew over him her back legs took him by the neck and she did a cartwheel, using the momentum to throw him at high speeds towards the door to the temple- the door that was closing slowly, in any case. He went flying through the door and hit the pair of guards operating the mechanism. They tumbled into the darkness, and Applejack used the momentum to send her galloping even faster into the temple. She waited for Fire Walker to get inside before shutting the door- just as the Princess and her pigs started marching up the steps, the door closing on a vista of anger.

 

Then silence. Applejack turned to the Captain. It had been an interesting start to this leg of the mission, but now they knew a lot. Whatever was attracting to both sides about this gem didn't matter to her as much as ensuring neither side got it. "Well, Ah didn't have 'piggy princess' on mah villain bingo card but Ah reckon Ah shouldn't have expected anything less weird. Figure we need to get ta that gem before tha pig or whoever else is inside?"

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
 
 
 
“Well, I don’t intend on spending my life as a pig..So I guess.” Once Applejack bolted, she quickly followed. Towards the temple of doom!
 
While the farmer was a good deal faster than the Pegasus, Fire Walker managed to trail slightly behind her and with a gasp, she saw the weirdest battle. Pigs verses cloaked ponies! Little pink piggies rolled up into hog-balls and slammed into the heads of the ponies. She did not like seeing the weapons the guards had, but it seemed both side were fighting to stop, not to kill their opponents. Maybe the spell-touched ponies were fighting against their respective spells! Or whoever was behind the temple did not want blood outside their creepy temple.
 
While not terribly fast, the Pegasus pony was rather agile and had little difficulty avoiding the guards, pigs and spells. “Sorry.”, she tried her very best to avoid interacting with the warring factions, but as two threatening, but still adorable piggies tried to sneak up on her, the officer sent them into slumber-land with two quick thrusts of her wings. Geez! Pig on somepony your own size!
 
Oh no! Now there was the staple of the Daring Do books! The slowly closing temple door! And behind her, one of the larger hogs rolled up into a giant hog-ball! That’s another! It was similar to the larger boulder-trap the heroine would come across while lurking around creepy tombs! Thankfully Applejack got inside! But she was going to be late! The fleeing pony doubled her speed and quickly dropped into her stomach and slid....rather slowly under the door. which was still open. Applejack had control of the door. She could have ran and made it. Oh boy.
 
“Uh.”, the officer grunted as she slowly got up. They were now in the temple.  “Huh.” It looked all rather temply. But the closer she got, the cheaper it felt. “I think this ‘temple’ is an old movie set.  She spotted a wall that was slowly rotting away and behind which was probably painted Styrofoam was a wood plank. Movie studios had a bad habit of filming on location and simply leaving their sets behind as it was more cost effective to do that instead of ripping them down.
 
Still, while the temple was fake, the magic was real and she needed to stay on her hooves as anything could happen. What were they going to do? As she tried her best to come up with a clever voice, a creepy voice could be heard. It was SINGING?
 
Oh I wouldn't try that if I were you
You never know what I might do
I'll disappear then peek-a-boo
I'll hold your nose till you turn blue
I'd get out fast if I were you
Before you end up in a stew
I'd say a'hey, say toodle-doo
You've bit off more you can chew
I'd get out fast if I were you
You won't catch me, ever
No one can match me, ever
I'm simply much too clever...clever!
I think it's time that you were through
Or something awful may ensue
Before your darkest dreams come true
I'd get out fast, I'd get out fast
Oh, yes, I'd get out fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast
If I were you
 
NxQTHaM.jpg
 
- boo!
 
Oddly enough, Fire Walker had 'spooky singing ghost' on her bingo-card.
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5HbB79Q.png



Applejack looked around, examining their surroundings as they trotted along. It didn't take long to concur with Fire Walker's assessment. The ground beneath them was stone, but the walls were fake. Maybe the path was also fake but just built to last. She'd worked on enough productions herself to know that either way this place was extremely high quality. The weather and general climate of the area meant that this place should have fallen apart years ago. Yet here it was, only now starting to show signs of decay. She had seen most of the Daring Do projector shows with her wife recently and while they almost all blended together in her head she did know that most of the recently filmed ones had more of an urban tint to them. So she could only reckon that this was here for a while and that it was built to last.

 

But none of that really mattered because it was all window dressing. She doubted the ponies she saw enter earlier were so foolish that they didn't know the temple was fake, which meant there must have been something truly wild deep inside. That didn't even take into account the portly pig princess outside and what she wanted. So even if the setting was manufactured there had to be something real down below. And if attracted the attention of both a portly pig princess and ne'er do well mercenary types, then it was clearly something that the Twilight Guard would be interested in. The questions that came to her mind were in waves crashing against the bedrock of her logic. 

 

Why was an important gem here? Was it here before or after the temple was constructed for the shoot? Were the Mercenaries aware of this place's provenance (thanks Twi) before they moved in? How was the Pig Princess related to this place? The siren? Why was there so many random things on this island? Maybe this was all a bad apple induced nightmare. It would explain so many things. It wouldn't explain the ghost, though.

Wait, a singing ghost?

 

Applejack wished she could be scared but so many weird things had happened one after another that she couldn't really give the ghost the proper respect it deserved. All she felt instead was a deep level of annoyance, and there was only one creature she could take it out on.

So after it said boo all big and bold like, she greeted it with a swift slap and then roughly grabbed it and pulled it in closer, nearly face to face, her hooves bathed in the purple magic aura that allowed her to interact with so ethereal a creature.


"Stop it!" She seethed.
"I'm plum sick an' tired of these here shenanigans! Pig Princesses turnin' ponies inta swine, mind controlled mercenaries, Daring Do sets, a real gem, a siren, and now you!?" She pulled him in closer, staring him down snout to...ethereal snout. "Ah ain't spooked and Ah'm not afraid, but Ah'm about ta get real angry! So you tell me what tha hay is going on or Ah'm gonna bust ya down like they do on tha projector shows!"

She was too pregnant to handle this tomfoolery.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
 
 
This was by far the silliest adventure she had ever been on. More so when she, Dunder, Muggo and her brother, Walk Walker were chased about the Everfree by a pack of vicious wolf fly-ders! These were Fly-ders, who in turn were a race of green-skinned multi-legged insects that fly, bite, and spin webs that were giant versions of said flying insects but also had wolf heads were reasons. Nature is weird.
 
As the 'Ghost' broke out into song, the officer's boggled brain tried to catch up with everything, she caught sight of an old tin sign that were near the hooves. "Paradise Estate Studios", she read out-loud. Before she noticed the farmer was getting into a fight with the large what's it. But as she turned and got ready to rush over to her friend's aid, an trap door opened and she fell! This door closed, once the Pegasus was gone!
 
At first, Applejack could not lay her hooves on the frightful fright. It dodged and weaved as it sung it song. It bopped and bobbed like a professional prize-fighter. Until its song ended, it stayed still just long enough for the feisty farmer to knab it, and she probably wish she didn't.  As it felt like a very cold and very large pile of phlegm..It was basically a very large booger.
 
"Ha Ha!", it laughed before it broke out into another song. As it sung, Applejack realized it was not it who she had caught, but It was 'it' that had caught her and was slowly pulling her into its body.
 
"I am the meanest meanie I ever met
But I'm just half as bad as I'm gonna get
Why should I be humble?
I'll make the mountain crumble..."
 
Out of the corner of their eye, she noticed one of the robed guards had wandered into view who quickly shook off said robe. It was Swift Star! She appeared to have been in a trance and seeing her commanding officer in trouble was enough to shake her out. "Captain Applejack!" She was missing her uniform.
 
She bravely charged towards the 'ghost' and pony, and gave the farmer a good nudge, breaking her free of the spirit's pull. Unfortunately she went directly into the gunky ghost's open maw.
 
MaDqrqa.gif
 
 
But after a quick tussle, she soon was out, and covered in a white, slimy goo. The 'Ghost' took off and floated up into the ceiling, leaving another pile of goo. As it left, it added. "You an't seen nothing yet!"
 
Poor Swift Star curled up into a ball and groaned, "This is exactly how our last officer party went. Exactly..", she shivered.
 
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...