{"sf1_id":791139,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Equestrian Knights Ch 5. Cloaks and Effeminate Sea Searpents","author":"BluebloodFan91","words":2649,"posted_at":"2014-12-03T14:57:00.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Blueblood","Character Development","Clean","Equine","Fantasy","Flam","Flim","Friendship is magic","Griffin","Gryphon","Hoops","Horse","Humor","Iron Will","Jetset","Lightning Dust","MLP","Minotaur","My Little Pony","Pegasus","Plot Development","Pony","Sea Serpent","Story Progression","Story Series","Suburban Knights","Trixie","Unicorn","Upper Crust","dumbbell","gilda","parody","score"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791139-equestrian-knights-ch-5-cloaks-and-effeminate-sea-searpents","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/791139","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=791139\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Ch 5. Cloaks and Effeminate Sea Searpents\n\n\"All I'm saying is I just don't understand\nCutiemarks,\" said Gilda. The group was still following the path they had\nfound, as per the maps instructions. They had been following it for a\nfew hours now. \"I mean, what's the point of having a picture on your\nflank?\"\"Because they define who we are,\" said\nBlueblood. \"Our personalities, our special talents. What makes us\nspecial as an individual.\"\"That's stupid,\" said Gilda. \"We griffons don't need pictures on our bodies.\"\"Hey,\nthey're really important to ponies,\" said Dumbbell, him and the other\nponies not appreciating Gilda's rude remarks about cutiemarks. \"Some\nfillies and colts wait a long time to get their cutiemarks. Its one of\nthe things we look forward to the most during childhood.\"\"Really?\" She shook her head. \"That's just pathetic.\"\"Well\nyou're kind of mean, aren't you?\" said Upper Crust sternly. \"I bet if\nyou had a cutiemark, your special talent would be making ponies cry!\"Gilda\nshrugged. \"Well, I can't argue with that. But I also don't get WHY it\nhappens. What is it with you ponies that makes those stupid pictures\nappear in the first place?\"\"We told you! They appear when we figure out what our special talent is,\" said Flam.\"BUT HOW? WHY DOES IT HAPPEN?!\"\"It's magic! You don't have to explain it!\" said Flim.Gilda\nface palmed. \"I swear, you ponies are going to drive me insane one of\nthese days.\" She looked over at Iron Will, the only other member in\ntheir group without a picture on their flank. \"You agree with me, right\nIron Will?\"But the Iron Will wasn't paying attention. He was glancing around them, sniffing the air.While this was happening, Blueblood walked up next to Trixie.\"I thought perhaps we could walk together,\" he said to her in an unusually friendly tone.Trixie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. \"Why would you think that?\" she asked in annoyance.\"Well, I just noticed that we seem to have a lot in common, you and I.\" He flashed her one of his charming smiles.Trixie could tell he was trying to flirt with her. She let out a laugh. \"Oh, please. You and I have nothing in common!\"Blueblood was taken by surprise by her outburst. He was not expecting this reaction from her.Trixie\ncontinued to speak, getting right up in his face. \"I grew up with\nnothing! I had to struggle for everything I have, which isn't much by\nthe way, while you got everything handed to you on a silver platter your\nwhole life. People like you make me sick!\" And with that, Trixie sped\nup her pace and moved ahead of him to get away from him.Blueblood stared at her for a few seconds in shock. \"Well excuuuuuuuuuuuse me, Princess!\" he mumbled to himself with a snort.\"Hold\nup!\" Iron Will shouted suddenly and held out his arm to stop the party,\naccidentally smacking Blueblood in the nose in the process.\"Ow!\" Blueblood cried out, rubbing his nose with his hoof. He glared at Iron Will in annoyance.The Minotaur sniffed the air again. \"We're being followed.\"This piece of information got all of their attention. They all began looking around them to see if anyone was nearby.\"There!\" Iron Will pointed off to their side.They\nall looked in the direction the minotaur was pointing. Just off the\npath amongst the trees stood six cloaked covered pony shaped figures.\nThey were pitch black, their hooves were covered by black stockings, and\ntheir faces were covered by black masks inside their hoods. One of the\nfigures was a little taller than the others.The\nsix cloaked ponies stepped forward out of the trees into the daylight.\n\"Greetings, travelers,\" said the tallest one, a male judging by its\nvoice. \"We are the Cloaked Guardians of the Goblet of Life.\"\"Oh no. Not more guardians,\" Blueblood groaned.\"Wait!\" said the cloaked pony. \"Which guardians have you encountered before us?\"\"The psycho bunny,\" said Score.\"How did you get past Angel?!\"Trixie grinned proudly. \"I put a curse on that little hell-spawn.\"\"Nonsense!\" said the cloaked pony. \"There's no such thing as curses. That's just a bunch of hooey!\"\"What?\" exclaimed Gilda. \"Wait. So magic is real, but curses are just make believe?!\"\"Exactly!\"Gilda sighed. \"It's official. This shit makes no sense.\"\"Well,\nanyway, I suggest you all turn around and go home while you still can,\"\nsaid the cloaked guardian. \"We will not allow the goblet to fall into\nthe wrong hooves, such as the likes of yours.\"\"Look,\nwe already heard all this from the little psycho bunny,\" said\nBlueblood, greatly annoyed by this delay. \"I really... err, WE really need\nthat goblet. We promise we'll take good care of it. Okay? So could you\nplease not bother us?\"\"Or how about this?\" said Flam. \"We'll even give you a cut of the profit we make from it if you show us where it is!\"\"Turn around now!\" the cloaked pony simply repeated. \"We don't want to have to hurt you, but we will if necessary.\"\"Yes, turn around now!\" said one of the other cloaked creatures, this one with a female voice.\"Turn around, or you'll be sorry!\" added another one with a female voice. \"And\nwhat exactly are you gonna do if we don't?\" said Trixie, stepping\nforward in front of the rest of her group towards the six cloaked\nponies. \"In case you haven't noticed, there's twelve of us, and only six\nof you.\"\"Do not underestimate us!\" said the male voiced cloak again. \"We have powerful dark magic on our side.\"\"Please.\nUnless one of you is Twilight Sparkle, I highly doubt your magic can\ncompare to the great and powerful Trixie's,\" said Trixie, currently\nstill riding her ego boost from before. Trixie then flared magic into\nher horn to cast a spell. She levitated a long rope out of her\nsaddlebags and then launched the rope at one of the shorter cloaked\nguardians. Using her magic, she quickly wrapped the rope around the pony\nbefore it they could do anything and hog-tied them, knocking them onto\ntheir back with their four legs sticking up in the air all tied\ntogether.\"Ha!\" Trixie shouted triumphantly. \"Beat that!\"One\nof the cloaked ponies, the tallest one, raised his hoof up and pointed\nit at Trixie. Suddenly, a pitch-black ghostly aura appeared around his\nentire body. Then black flames emerged around his outstretched hoof.Trixie and the rest of the adventurers' eyes widened at the bizarre sight.\"What the...?\" Trixie whispered to herself in awe and fear.The cloaked pony then pulled back his hoof and threw a sphere of dark energy straight at Trixie's head.Trixie\nscreamed and ducked down, and the blast narrowly missed hitting her\nhead. Everybody else behind Trixie jumped to the side to avoid the fast\nmoving dark energy blast as well, and the dark orb flew past them into a\nrandom pine tree, which exploded into splinters.Our twelve anti-heroes stared at the smoldering spot where the tree just was, and then turned back to the six cloaked ponies.\"HOLLY SHIT!\" they all exclaimed.The rest of the cloaked ponies all began to emit a dark aura around them as well.\"You should have headed our warning,\" said the lead guardian. \"Now you will suffer the consequences.\"\"RUN\nAWAY!\" shouted Blueblood, turning and breaking into a gallop away into\nthe woods as fast as he could. The rest of his group quickly followed\nsuit, turning and galloping or flying after Blueblood to get away from\ntheir attackers.The cloaked ponies began\nfollowing after the fleeing adventurers, moving at a slow casual pace.\nThe cloaked pony who was tied up by Trixie's rope managed to wriggle out\nof their bindings and got up to join the rest of the guardians in their\npursuit.Minutes passed as out twelve adventures\nraced for their lives to get away from the pursuing cloaked guardians.\nThey kept glancing back behind them every now and then to see if they\nhad lost them, but each time they could still see the cloaked ponies hot\non their tails, despite the fact that the cloaked guardians were going\nat a much slower pace then them.\"HOW THE HECK ARE THEY KEEPING UP WITH US?\" shouted Flim. \"WE'RE GOING AS FAST AS WE CAN, AND THEY'RE JUST TROTTING CASUALLY!\"\"I DON'T KNOW!\" shouted Flam.\"It's\nsome sort of strange power all horror movie villains have!\" Dumbbell\nshouted down to them while he was flying above them. \"They can somehow\nkeep up with their victims even if they are walking slowly just because\nit makes them look more ominous!\"\"AS FASCINATING AS THAT IS, IT'S NOT HELPING US RIGHT NOW!\" Lighting Dust shouted at Dumbbell.They kept fleeing through the woods as fast as their hooves or wings would carry them.\"Look! There's a river up ahead!\" shouted Hoops from the air.They\nall looked and sure enough they could all see the body of water up\nahead through the trees. But when they made it out of the trees to the\nbank of the river, they quickly noticed that this river was currently\noccupied.Sitting in the middle of the river was a\ngiant purple sea serpent. It had blond hair and a mustache. He was\nsimply sitting in the water, admiring his own reflection in the surface\nof water. He looked up when he noticed the group of ponies emerging from\nthe trees at the bank of the river.\"Oh, hello,\"\nhe said to them in a cheery voice. \"How are you this fine day? I am\njust so happy today because my mustache has completely grown back! Look\nat it!\" He pointed to his mustache. \"You see my mustache had been lopped\noff a while back...\"\"Aw, crap! It's a gay sea serpent,\" Gilda groaned while the purple water dragon went on talking, not hearing her.Behind them, they herd one of the cloaked guardians shout. \"They went this way! Over here!\"\"Forget\nthis guy!\" said Lightning Dust urgently, gesturing to the still talking\nsea serpent. \"Those creeps are still after us. Lets hurry across this\nriver!\"The group hurriedly ran into the calm\nwater, or just flew over the water in the case of the four pegasi and\ngriffon. Blueblood, Jet Set, and Upper Crust, however, remained at the\nedge of the water, looking reluctant to enter.Gilda noticed this and quickly flew back to them. \"What are you idiots waiting for?! They're gaining on us!\"\"I\ndon't want to go in the water!\" exclaimed Blueblood. \"I'll get soaking\nwet, and my royal hooves will get all muddy!\" Jet Set and Upper Crust\nnodded in agreement with the Prince.Gilda felt\nlike strangling them, but then another thought occurred to her and she\njust snorted. \"Fine. Stay there and get killed, you sissies.\" Gilda then\nturned back around and flew over to the other side of the river,\nleaving Blueblood, Jet Set, and Upper Crust. The\nthree upper-class unicorns looked back behind them, where they could\nsee their cloaked enemies through getting closer through the trees.\nBlueblood realized he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.\"Darn\nit!\" Blueblood growled in frustration and reluctantly trotted into the\nwater, Jet Set and Upper Crust following close behind him.The\nwater felt cold to the touch, and they hated getting their coats and\nmanes ruined, but they knew it was either that or death. They trudged\nthrough the water as fast as they could in an attempt to catch up to the\nothers.Gilda, Lightning Dust, Dumbbell, Hoops,\nand Score made it to the other side first obviously. One by one, the\nrest of the group all made it to the other side of the river and climbed\nup onto dry land, water pouring off of their drenched fur coats and\nsoaked clothes in the case of those who had any.Back on the opposite side of the river, the cloaked guardians emerged from the forest onto the riverbank.\"Come on!\" urged Lightning Dust. \"Let's try to make some ground while they're crossing the river.\"The\nothers moved to follow Lightning Dust, but Gilda stayed where she was.\nShe looked back at the cloak guardians, and then up at the sea serpent,\nwho by now had noticed no one was paying attention to him and had gone\nback to admiring his reflection in the water, and then down at the calm\nwater of the river.She got an idea.\"Gilda,\nwhat are you doing? Lets get out of here!\" said Dumbbell, him and the\nothers stopping when they noticed Gilda wasn't following.Gilda\nignored him. \"HEY, LAME-O'S!\" she shouted over at the cloaked guardians\non the other side of the river. \"WHAT'S THE MATTER? AFRAID TO GET WET?\"\"Gilda, what are you doing?\" exclaimed Flam.\"I don't think we want to antagonize them even more!\" said Jet Set.Gilda\ncontinued to ignore them and focused on the cloaked guardians. She\ngrinned when she saw them all rush into the river to get across. So far\nher plan was working.When the guardians were\nabout halfway across the river, Gilda put her plan into action. Quick as\nbullet, she took off into the air and flew at the purple sea serpent.\nWith one quick swipe of her claws, Gilda slashed one of the sea\nserpent's mustaches clean off his face.\"HEY!\"\nthe serpent shouted as Gilda zoomed past his face. Then he noticed his\nbeautiful golden mustache lying in the water of the river and he reached\nup to feel his face. Realization hit him when he realized his beloved\nmustache had once again been destroyed. He began to wail, and started\nthrashing around in the water in anguish. His giant serpentine body\nquickly stirred up the water, turning the once calm river into wild\nrapids.And the six cloaked ponies were caught in the middle of it.The\nguardians all screamed in terror as a big wave hit them and picked them\nup, knocking them off their hooves. The currant began carrying the six\nscreaming cloaked guardians down the river, sending them further and\nfurther away from our group of adventurers.Gilda flew back down to the others, who were awestruck by what she had just done.\"Smart thinking there, Gilda!\" said Flim.\"Yeah, that was really clever!\" said Lightning Dust. \"How did you know he would react like that?\"\"Simple,\" said Gilda. \"The guy was totally obsessed with his looks. I figured cutting of his mustache would set him off.\"But not everyone was focusing on Gilda.\"My\nroyal hooves are all muddy now!\" Blueblood whined, staring at his\nhooves with disgust. \"And I'm soaking wet!\" Jet Set and Upper Crust were\nalso staring at their muddy hooves with revulsion.\"Oh for crying out loud!\" said Iron Will. \"Haven't you upper class ponies ever been out doors before?\"\"We're\nall wet and muddy,\" said Trixie as she was wringing out her soaked cape\nand hat with her magic. \"You don't see any of us whining like a baby.\"Blueblood glared at them all in anger. \"I am a Prince! I shouldn't have to deal with all of this!\"\"Well you should have thought of that before you decided to go on a treasure hunt in the middle of the forest,\" said Gilda.Blueblood\nhuffed and stuck up his nose. However he knew deep down that the\ngriffon was right. As much as he hated getting dirty, it was bound to\nhappen on this adventure. And plus, he was desperate. If he didn't find\nthe Goblet of Life, he would have to live the life of a poor pony, and\nthat was WAY worse then spending a day or two getting a bit dirty.'Just keep thinking about the money,' he told himself. 'It will all be worth it in the end.'\"Well, it's getting dark out,\" said Iron Will suddenly. \"We should probably find a place to set up camp for the night.\"The\ngroup all looked up at the sky. Sure enough, the sun was beginning to\nset below the horizon. And they were all starting to feel hungry.\"Excellent idea,\" said Blueblood. \"Lets set up camp so we can get cleaned up and get some well needed food and rest.\"So the group set off to do just that.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/790981-equestrian-knights-ch-4-fluffy-attack.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791143-equestrian-knights-ch-6-camping-chaos.json"}