Of Fire and Ice

At some point, I had curled up into a ball on the floor of the dungeon. My companions had tried to rouse me, but to no avail. Personally, when you meet a mythological deity, I think it is completely fair to break down for a bit, especially if you’re in hippy-dippy pastel horse land. I took a few more minutes on the ground, savoring the last bastion of sanity I would have for who knows how long, then shakily rose to my feet. I turned toward Eris, who for some reason was messing around with Gryphos’ wings, unintentionally (or maybe not) turning him into a blushing, drooling mess.

“Eris, could you please stop molesting Gryph for a second?” I asked, my voice tired from the concentrated stupid that had happened in the last few days. “I need to ask you a few questions, then you can go back to whatever it was you were doing, I guess.” Her head whipped around toward me, and started smiling.

“Go on ahead! By the way, did you know how soft the fur on a gryphon’s chest is? It’s amazing for hugging.” She said, in her already gratingly cheerful voice. I just sighed.

“Alright. Firstly, what are you gonna do now that you’re free from that pot?” I said, hoping she wouldn’t say what I think she would.

“Weeeeeell, I was kinda hoping I could go with you guys for a bit! I figure you could use my help, I sort of owe you for letting me out, and,” She looked at me with a sort of half-assed attempt at a seductive gaze “I’ve seen you staring at my assets.” She finished, looking quite smug. I’m pretty sure I was blushing, while simultaneously cursing Murphy’s Law.

“I guess that’s fine by me, those powers, or magic, or whatever you did would definitely be a huge help. Secondly, are you Eris, or Strife?” I asked, calling upon my rudimentary knowledge of Greek mythos.

“I assure you,” She said firmly, black feathered wings growing from her back “I am Eris, not Strife. While I am the goddess of discord, I have birthed no children, unlike Strife. He simply operated under the same name.” By the time she had finished, I could tell she wasn’t very happy at the comparison.

“Sorry for bringing up a sore subject, but I needed to be sure. I would far rather have the Eris who is kind to men traveling with me, than the mother of murder, betrayal, and false oaths. I simply wanted to be sure. Anyway, if you want to come with us, I suppose you can. I’m not going to lie, it’ll be nice to have someone who at least looks and thinks somewhat like a human to come along.” I said, looking as apologetic as I could, given my current state. She seemed to calm down a bit, her wings slowly retreating behind her.

“It’s fine. I just don’t like being compared to Strife is all. What I do is mostly harmless, and the harmful things are to those who would attack those under my protection. Strife causes problem because he thinks it’s funny. I do because it is needed. When too much order compounds, you get boring nanny states and big brother and the like. I keep the balance, as is my job. I also protect mortals where I can, because frankly it makes my job and life easier to have companions rather than slaves.” She said, before walking toward the ramp that lead down the pillar. “Come on then, there’s a door behind the pillar, and time waits for no one except me.” She said, once again cheerful.

I spent the entire walk back to town contemplating her strange reference.

Our arrival in town was heralded by a large group of townsfolk surrounding our little congregation. I honestly couldn’t hear what was being said, though from what I could understand it seemed to be mostly praise for our work in saving the town during the fire. Suddenly, the crowd seemed to quiet, then started parting, starting at the outer rim until it reached us. The mayor had walked up to us, and it seemed he was about to give us a little speech of sorts. As he looked up at me, since I was a good foot and a half or so taller than him, he looked a bit surprised to see the waving Eris standing next to me. Like any good politician, however, he quickly recovered.

“On behalf of the town of Maresden,” He started, taking an almost regal posture “I, Mayor Brownhoof, do thank you,” He did a little rolling motion with his hoof, making it clear he didn’t know my name.

“Albert, but you can just call me Al.” I said, and he moved on down the line, going to Cold, then to Gryphos. He then pulled, from literally nowhere, 3 medallions that he presented to us.

“These medallions show you are champions of this town. If you show them to any innkeeper, you should be able to gain lodging. Having one also demonstrates your bravery, courage, and honor to anyone who would doubt. They also look great on resumes.” He said, causing me, causing me to chuckle. Then he returned to his serious look. “This town owes you three a debt. Simply ask, and we will do what we can to help you.”

“I’ll hold you too it.” I said in what was hopefully a somewhat humorous voice. I then put out my hand, and after an awkward few seconds, he met it with his hoof. There was much cheering to be had, and then the crowd dispersed. I looked to my companions, who were just as surprised and tired looking as me. “Alright, let’s just go back to the inn. We’ll need our sleep if we want to make it to Ponytown or whatever by nightfall tomorrow.” I said, walking toward the tallest building in town.

“It’s Ponyville, but yes, you’re right. It’ll be a long walk, and I’m not sure if the ponies there will be as willing to accept you if you aren’t saving the town.” Cold said. I nodded, not having thought of that somewhat sad fact.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, after all this is the empire and tolerance after all!” Eris said, still chipper. “All humor aside though, I sense something strangely familiar coming from the general area of that town. It seems there are 2 large sources of magic in that general area. I’m sure whatever they are, it’ll be an interesting experience.”

On that ominous note, we retired for the night.