Solid Script Equestria
Chapter 35: Side Chapter 4: An Exceeds Mission
Previous Chapter Next ChapterEcho POV
Ten minutes away from Chicoltgo
I released a small sigh as I watched the landscape go by. It was calming, yet I was rather bored, all alone in this moving train. This was my first ever solo mission, Sonbā was too busy with his kids to come along, and this was a simple quest in my opinion.
I flexed my hands, endlessly fascinated by the lack of fur on my limbs aside from my tail and ears. I was currently in a new form I had learned and unlocked after months of magic training from Lex in Transformation magic. I looked, according to Lex, like a thirteen year old human female, but she referred to me as a Neko, whatever that is. It took about two months of training to unlock this form, and another month and a half to be able to actively use it without much repercussions.
As opposed to my normal form, I was shorter than average for a human at this age, around 4’10, with my fur being replaced by lightly tanned skin, purple hair that barely passed my human ears, with some bangs swept to the side. I still had my white ears on the top of my head and my long tail, but everything else was human. I was wearing a red strapless dress that went just above my knees with yellow details on the bottom and a yellow bow on the front, some red sandals, a dark blue hood and finally I had a yellow bow on my tail.
I had to admit, this form was actually really comfortable. Now I didn’t need to fly around to reach things and I felt I could release and use more magic that before in my original form. Because of that, I took some initiative and began to learn Wind magic. Right now I can only create some wind that could blow over an empty cooking pot, but it really helped increase my speed when I’m flying.
I looked out the window and saw the city appearing over the hill, and knew I was only a few minutes out. I dug out the request form and read through it again. It was a mid D-class quest. Apparently a couple of pickpocket’s have been ‘terrorizing’ the local farmers market on the eastern end of the city, and they sent a request for help.
The problem was that apparently they couldn’t find anyone. All they knew was that the ones responsible were small, fast, seemed to glow when running away, and seemed to know the back alleys and streets incredibly well to avoid detection. But some Diamond Dogs that lived in the area said they could smell cat wherever a place was targeted.
Normally Lex would send Nate, Raine, Zen or even Capper on this type of mission because of their senses, but I managed to let her allow me to go on it alone since, as a feline myself, I could probably find and talk to the ones responsible. Who knows, maybe they are some Abyssians that need a home.
Before long the horn on the train sounded out, showing we were nearly there. Standing up and grabbing my stuff, I waited by the doors to the train. Within minutes, we arrived and I departed the train along with the crowd. Now I knew how Lex felt when she first appeared, getting all the questioning glances as I walked through the bustling city towards the eastern side.
Before long, I arrived at the address on the quest sheet. It wasn’t much, just a four floored department store, but considering all the ponies, Minotaurs and diamond dogs coming and going from the building, both customers and suppliers alike, I knew this was the place.
Walking to the front desk I showed off the quest and my emblem before being led to the fourth floor, which had its own section for employees and also doubled as a meet area.
Walking in, I saw several farmers, seamstresses, inventors and what have you, and noticed all of them frowning. I cleared my throat, earning everyone’s attention.
“Um, Echo from Fairy Tail? I’m looking for a,” I checked the mission sheet again, “Honey Blues?”
One of the farmers, a blue furred, yellow manes earth pony mare stood up. “That’s me, Honey Blues, provider of some of the best honey sweets this side of Canterlot.” I shook her hand and smiled before glancing around at the assembles creatures.
“I take it all of you have been hit by these thieves?” And now they’re all ranting. One of the farmers, one of Applejack’s cousins apparently, lost a quarter of her apple juice she brought, one of the D-Dogs had a bunch of jewelry stolen only to find it in a pawnshop window, and even the Minotaur had been picked of their Bit pouch, nearly getting arrested for supposedly trying to scam somepony with intent not to pay.
It took a few minutes, but eventually everyone got their complaints out of the way and looked to me as I took a sip of some orange juice from a pack of boxes nearby.
“So, are you all done?” I asked, genuinely curious, and it showed in my tone lacking a snap or sarcasm. They all nodded to me as I finished my drink and tossed the box into the recycling bin nearby. “Now then, this shouldn’t take too long.” I pulled out a map of the area and laid it on a nearby table. “Can each of you highlight the area you have been stolen from, and I’ll start investigating there.”
After a few minutes, everyone had coloured in an area in the map, inadvertently creating an circle on the map showing that the thieves operate in a specific area. It looked to stretch about seven blocks, but the area was a hotspot in the market with plenty of back alleys and dead corners. I nodded and rolled up the map, a plan coming together.
“Before you go,” I turned to AJ’s cousin, Apple Crunch, “what are you? Not to be rude, but I have never seen anything like you before.”
“Oh, I’m an Exceed.” A smile and a poof of smoke later, I was floating head level with everyone, their eyes wide and jaws dropped. “This is my regular form, that other one was the result in practicing Transformation magic alongside Master Lex, which makes me physically stronger and allows me to release more magical energy than this one.”
“Woah.” Was the general response as I smirked and floated out the window, leaving behind a room of gaping creatures.
I flew above all the buildings, looking down at the map in my paws before heading to an area where these pickpockets last struck. They last stole some honey candies from Honey Blues about a week ago, before going silent as the mare sent the request to Fairy Tail. I guess she decided to brag about it or something and that worked as a deterrent. Unfortunately, that just made my job harder since I had to now act like a detective. I’m no Magic Sensor like Capper, Trixie, Pinkie or Silk, so this is going to be tough.
Flying down towards the street, I flew above everyone else, avoiding the odd pegasus here and there, before arriving at the small candy stand. Obviously it was closed up for the day, but that was okay.
I landed behind the stand and began looking around, seeing if I can find anything that could help me figure out what and who I am looking for.
It took a while, but as I was checking the empty Bit register, I found something of note. A couple strands of whiteish pink fur. Ordinary this wouldn’t be odd, but it was caught on the side of the register, where a staple was poking out of the table. It wasn’t much, but something is better than nothing.
With that, and a sense of familiarity with the scent on the fur, I took flight again, heading to the next stop. The area that the Minotaur was relieved of his Bit pouch. It was a corner between two alleyways, a designated smoking area away from the market to prevent any second hand smoking. Already coming it, I had to stop from gagging at the smell of tobacco and smoke. I haven’t even gotten used to Capper and his smoking yet, let alone this place.
I managed to curb my response, but was all but forced to stay in the air and even turned back into my Neko form since my sense of smell wasn’t as strong. The place was beyond filthy, but I guess I may be biased since Ponyville was remarkably clean a vast majority of the time. I glanced to a fro, scanning the dark alleyway for anything of note. I really liked my natural night vision right now.
After a couple of sweeps, I finally noticed an odd glint nearby. Floating over and lowering myself down, I found a Bit. Just a simple Bit. Nothing was odd about it, it was just laying there right next to the stallion hole cover to the sewers.
“Hmm, could these thieves be using the sewers to get around?” It would make sense, the underground system spread throughout the city and there were plenty of entrances in the area. If they were underground, then it could point to some D-Dogs being responsible, but an earlier comment about cats threw that theory for a loop.
With a shake of the head, I pocketed the Bit and was prepared to take off again, but before I could summon my wings, something else caught my attention. Walking over to the nearby trash can, I glanced behind it and one of my brows rose up to my hairline.
I picked up a feather. A bright, clean white feather that had a faint grey glow around it. I frowned for a moment before summoning my own wings with my Aera magic, looking back and forth between them.
My feathers had a faint red glow around them, not unlike this one’s grey glow. That brought an impossible idea to mind.
Was one of the pickpockets an Exceed, or someone who had Aera magic?
Impossible for the latter, the only ones with that magic are Exceeds, who I believe can use it instinctively, or maybe someone who can learn it from the guild. I know Lex has a small notebook in the Archives about it. With a frown, I pocketed the feather and took off again. I could see that the sun was going down and decided I needed to find a hotel for the night.
It was after I left, that a quartet of felines poked their heads out from behind the trash.
The Next Day...
I was flying above the farmers market, watching with a critical eye as the booths sold their wears, food, clothes and equipment being bargained and sold every second of the day. I had to admit, this place was way more hectic than the market back in Ponyville or even the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago.
I was keeping my eyes peeled, trying to find anything of note that could give me a hint to find these thieves. I watched some people I thought would be easy targets, like an old unicorn stallion with a broken horn or that Minotaur selling antiques with a missing eye. But everything seemed pretty calm. But still, I couldn’t let myself get distracted.
“Hey! Get back there!”
I glanced down below me and saw two small blurs running down an alley, a unicorn stallion running after them. I swept down from the skies, but still kept to the rooftop level. I couldn’t get a good estimate at the thief as they ran down another alley, which I knew led to a dead end. With a frown, I boosted myself with my wind magic and stopped above the alleyway. I couldn’t see anything, but I swear I heard metal scrapping against the ground.
Hovering down, I began to look around the area, starting at the entrance to the alley, seeing several small paw prints entering, before heading towards the sewer entrance. Like I expected, the paws stopped right before the cover. I frowned as I tried to get the thing open, but I wasn’t strong enough.
With a sigh, I was going to head back, before blinking and shaking my head at my forgetfulness. With a small application of magic, purple pixels appeared around me before I felt my body change into my Neko form. With a smirk and a crack of my knuckles, I bend down and gripped the holes in the metal cover before slowly pulling it up and pushing it to the side. It was still heavy, but I managed to move it.
Looking down the hole, I mentally prepared myself and jumped down, landing softly with a boost of Wind Magic. I had to hold my nose at the smell of sewage assaulted me. Looking down to the ground, I saw that the paw prints suddenly stopped again. I tilted my head, it didn’t look like the thieves ran after they got down here.
Glancing around, I saw a small shine down the system. Following it, I blinked a couple times at what I found.
It was a feather. A bright white feather with a dusty pink glow. I subconsciously, summoned my wings and dug out that feather I found the other day and compared them all. They were the same aside from the glow. Mine had a red glow, the one I found had a dark grey glow and this one, again, was dusty pink.
“There’s more than one.” I muttered, pocketing the feathers and making my way through the sewers. I am not sure how long I was walking for, passing each intersection with caution while spotting the odd feather that showed I was going the right way, before, as I turned another corner, I spotted something and pulled back.
My back to the wall, I carefully glanced around the side, seeing a small camp in an empty area. There were a couple of makeshift beds and tents, a small campfire, and a few other things like empty carts, empty cans of food and fruit cores littered about.
I decided to be a little discreet and turned back into my normal form, and silently hovered over to the campsite. I glanced around, not seeing anything or anyone for a minute, before I got closer, now in the centre of the camp. I could see there were several spots for sleeping, two sleeping bags, two mattresses and the tent.
My ears shifted as I heard something breathing. Turning to the sound, it was coming from the tent, and it sounded weak. Hovering into the air again, I slowly made my way over to the tent, hearing whoever was in there coughing, they sounded in pain. We’re they sick?
Stopping right before the entrance to the tent, I gently and quietly moved the flaps to the side, and poked my head in. My eyes only widened a bit at what I saw.
There was a...canine? Feline? Whatever, there was someone there. They had some messy chocolate brown hair held in a small ponytail with a blue band. Her fur had three different colours, the area around her face, presumably her chest and torso being an off cream colours I think, with what visible amount of her fur being a light brown, while her arms and legs were a darker brown giving the impression of gloves and tall boots. She also had tons of dark brown, nearly black, spots all over her body from what I can see.
She was just sleeping there in a ripped and dirty pink shirt that left next to nothing to the imagination and jeans that were clearly a size or two too big for her. It didn’t take me very long to figure she was homeless if she was sleeping in a place like this. That really sucked, this girl looked to be in her late teens and she is living like this?
I frowned as I floated above her, seeing the girls face was flushed and she was breathing a little heavy. Her fur was matted and her hair was visibly greasy. She looked awful.
My ears snapped to attention as I heard voices coming this way. Looking around, I quickly floated out of the tent and behind some garbage.
“Dammit, I knew we should have hit that pharmacy yesterday.” I heard a males voice.
“It can’t be helped Gil, you know that it’s next to impossible to get antibiotics without a prescription, especially around here.” Another voice, a females, replied, her frown all but audible.
“But what are we supposed to do Joy? Kat’s getting worse, and we can’t take her to the hospital, they’ll just turn us away again.” The male, Gil, replied in anger.
“Well first we should calm down, getting worked up isn’t going to help anyone.” Another females voice, one that sounded more mature, interjected.
“Big sis is right, we can’t do anything rash or Kat would just get worse than she is now.” A third female added. I frowned, looks like I found the thieves. I should have figured they were just creatures trying to survive. I don’t like putting others on the spot, especially when their intentions aren’t obvious.
Quietly, I shifted around my hiding spot, looking into he camp. I had to clamp my paws over my mouth to prevent a gasp from escaping me.
Exceeds. Four Exceed were the ones I was hearing.
The first one, obviously Gil, was barely a quarter inch taller than the rest with sandy gold fur, some tufts near the end of his head acting like bangs like me. He was wearing a patchwork black vest with a small blue bag on his back. His eyes were a sharp grey.
One of the felines, the smallest of them, had maroon fur and blue eyes. She was wearing a patchwork dress and had a small red purse attached to her side.
The middle feline, one that actually reminded me a bit of one of my friends in the Crystal Empire for some reason, had dusty pink fur with her paws being red. Her eyes were a bright neon pink. She was wearing a handmade black hoodie and purple shorts.
The last one, likely the ‘big sis’ had deep forest green fur with a blue gem hair clip near her left ear and deep brown eyes. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a brown turtleneck.
It was clear all their clothes were specifically made for them, it is next to impossible to find anything off the rack for ones our size. I glanced to the tent, remembering there was a bunch of scrap material next to the girl. So she was likely the one who made their clothes. But, then why wouldn’t she adjust her own clothes?
I hide back behind the garbage as the quartet made their way to the tent. I managed to watch them as the pink one and the maroon one took out some supplies. Water bottles, juice boxes, some cans of food and finally apples.
“Ok, if we can ration this we can probably last a couple more days before we have to go get more.” ‘Big Sis’ said, looking over the supplies.
“But none of this will help Kat! She can barely keep her food down right now, and we don’t exactly have any sterile equipment to make stew or something.” Gil said, frustration clear on his face. The others frowned as well.
“We need help. Kat couldn’t even fix her clothes before she passed out last night, and she’s still asleep.” The pink one said, coming back from the tent.
“Well it’s not like we can just walk up to a random pony and ask for help Joy. I know they preach that whole ‘harmony’ and ‘friendship’ thing, but that only seems to work in small towns, not the big cities.” Gil said with a frown, going over to the fire pit and taking out some matches.
“Hate to say it, but Gil’s got a point. If Kat was a little better we could maybe make our way to the train station and stow away to another town, but right now she is in no condition to be moved.” ‘Big Sis’ said sadly, taking a half sip from one of the water bottles before handing it to the maroon one. She took a half sip as well before they crowded around Gil as he managed to start a fire. I noticed a stallion hole cover nearby and saw that I had been down here longer than I thought since it was getting dark already.
“Joy?” I brought my attention back to the group nearby. “Do you think we could ask that creature we saw before?” The maroon one questioned.
“You mean that weird flying monkey with a cat’s tail?” Gil added, making me frown. My other form was a Neko, not a monkey!
“I’m not so sure Saya. I mean, if that earth pony we hit earlier is to believed that thing could be from that Fairy Tail guild everyone’s been talking about.” Joy said, a deeper frown on her face.
“Another reason we need to try and lay low right now.” Big sis said, using a stick to move the fire. “We don’t know what they are capable of. We’ve survived here for years, since Kathrine hatched us, we can do it for a while longer. Once that Fairy Tailer leaves the city, and Kathrine in well enough to move, we’ll try and get as much as we can and head to another town. Maybe Appleloosa.”
The others nod. I could tell they didn’t like this. So, they have been here for several years, and that girl in the tent, Kathrine, hatched them. She must have found their eggs and decided to see what they would be once they hatched. Not bad, considering she is just one....thing. I really need to figure out what she is.
“But first thing’s first.” I turned back to them as Big Sis got up and stretched. “Dinner time. Saya, your turn to help out.”
“Okay Marnie.” Saya said, going with Big Sis, Marnie, and grabbing a couple of cans and some old pots and spoons. They were clearly only washed out and not actually cleaned, but I guess they are just doing what they can.
Saya brought over a small grate that she placed over the fire to work like a grill and Marnie began making what looked like chilli. I had to admit, it did smell pretty good, but I had my own food. Quietly digging into my pockets, I pulled out one of my favourites, Crystal Berries. More accurately Ruby Cherries. They looked like cherries made of the gems, but they were really soft fruit that had very long shelf lives because of the magic from the Crystal Heart. The Crystal Fruit and Vegetables is the main export from the Empire now that its back.
It was quiet for a while, the four felines nearby cooking their food while I quietly munched on my fruit, when a low moan echoed through the silence.
“Well, sounds like someone’s finally up.” Marnie quipped, but I could hear the undertone of motherly worry. Funny since Kat hatched her.
“Joy? Gil?” Kat called weakly from the tent. The two Exceeds ran over and a minute later, the duo were helping a weak Kathrine out of the tent and towards the fire. I frowned as I watched her, she looked worse than before, her face still flushed and sweat beginning to stick to her fur. Despite this she was shivering, like she was without her fur and in a tundra. I could also see her turquoise eyes were bloodshot and she had tear streaks on her cheeks.
I knew that the girl was just getting sicker, and it was a fact that the others were aware of. Hmm, maybe I can find a pharmacy nearby and come back with some medicine? I frowned and readjusted myself to get a better look as Kat began to eat. Unfortunately, my moving caused a can from the pile of garbage I was hiding behind to fall. I mentally screamed as the can landed with a deafening clatter.
“Who’s there?!” I flinched at Gil’s threatening tone. For someone barely taller than me, he sounded scary when he wanted to be.
I gulped as I heard one of them stand and make their way over here. I mentally prepared myself, ready to bold when the steps tripped and Kat fell before me.
“Oh crap!” Stealth thrown out the window, I ran out from hiding and towards the downed girl. I ignored the others surprise as I checked her. She was worse than I thought, her breathing was heavy and irregular and I just now noticed that, despite her very curvaceous form, she was showing signs of malnutrition.
“Hey, hey keep your eyes open!” I yelled, helping the girl turn onto her back. The girl, while weak, showed surprise at me.
“A-another...flying cat?”
“Exceed. We’re called Exceeds.” I corrected, going behind her and pushing the girl into a sitting position. I then flew up and grabbed the back of her shirt, carrying her over to the others.
“Who?” I glanced at Marnie with a frown.
“Echo.” Is all I said as I went through what I had. It wasn’t much, but I managed to find a couple of crystal berries. These should help at least a bit because of their magic. Carefully I flew up and offered the berries to Kat, who just opened her mouth for me. It was silent as I fed the sick girl one berry at a time. She scrunched her face up at the slightly sour flavour, but pushed through it and ate the fruit, spitting out the seeds.
“She needs medical attention.” I stated firmly.
“We know.” I turned to Marnie and the others as she flew over to me, revealing the white wings with a faint brown glow. “We’ve been trying to get enough Bits to buy some medicine, or even to pay for a checkup, but we can’t even afford food a majority of the time, let alone overly inflated placebo candies.”
I frowned at that, but knew that things worked differently in this day and age compared to a thousand years ago. I frowned more as the girl began to fall asleep again.
“If I can get you guys some help, will you stop stealing things?” I questioned, throwing them all off. It took a moment for me to remember they had only seen me in my Neko form apparently, so they didn’t know I was a mage.
“Say what? How the hell do you expect us to survive?” Gil stated with a glare.
“Hate to say it but he’s right. There isn’t exactly a lot of places willing to hire creatures like us.” Joy said with a frown, petting the sleeping Kat on the head as her face scrunched up in discomfort. “Especially since, technically, we don’t exist.”
I rose a brow at that, Saya walking up. “Kat hatched us alone. She’s been on the streets since she was eight, so nearly eleven years, because some sicko at her orphanage want to ‘have some fun’.”
Oh? Oh...oooohh, that is disgusting! Seriously, the fuck?!
“And it’s only gotten worse lately, after she went through puberty.” Marnie said with a sad yet disgusted frown. I could understand, if she wasn’t so messy and sick, I am sure she would be quite the looker.
“Hey, not to sound rude or anything, but what is Kathrine anyway?” I questioned without thinking.
“She’s a hybrid.” Saya answered. “Apparently one of her parents was an Abyssian and her other one was a Diamond Dog. That’s all she knows, she’s never met her parents before.”
“Oh.” I frowned. Another orphan. Why is it that we Fairy Tail mages keep....finding...My eyes open wide as an obvious answer enters my head.
“Well, I think I know who can help.” The four Exceeds and the barely conscious Kat looked to me as I grinned. “So, here’s what’s going to happen...”
The Next Day...
“So, you managed to find their camp, and made sure these thieves, who happened to be some homeless stallions, that if they attacked anyone nearby again they would get the wrath of the entire Fairy Tail guild on their backs?” Honey Blue questioned to which I nod. I was back in my Neko form since this was the one most saw me in first, plus I still needed to be able to go back and forth between forms in seconds.
The people paying me noticed I was missing my hood though, but I just said that I had it in my bad and that it was getting hot out. Not a complete lie. After a minute, the group all nodded and handed me a bag full of Bits and the mission sheet, now signed at the bottom as completed.
“Thank you so much Echo. It’s nice to know there are those in this world we can count on for things like this.” I just nodded and grabbed my stuff heading down, but I didn’t take the elevator. Going down the stairs and checking the third floor, I found a small pharmacy and picked up some antibiotics and other medicines. Paying with my reward money, I made my way to the main floor and left the large store.
Looking around, I spotted the alleyway across the street and rushed over, heading to a specific spot. Arriving, I pulled up the stallion hole cover and jumped into the sewers, looking around for a moment before heading in.
After a minute or so, I arrived at camp, seeing the other four Exceeds helping a tired and weak Kathrine Spot as she stood up, wearing my hood. I smiled to them as they noticed me and I took out my water bottle and some medicine. Kat was more than eager to get better and didn’t struggle as she ate the pills. She was still weak, so I crouched down, and the larger female all but collapsed on my back. I stumbled for a moment, before adjusting us and nodding to Gil, or Gilded Breeze, who nodded back and flew towards the closest cover by the train station.
After about ten minutes, we arrived and began to leave. Saya Source and Marnie Daisy flew the now sleeping Kathrine out first, followed by me and Joy Fleece. Gil was up top already and made sure the area was empty. I nodded and the gild helped Kat onto my back again.
The trek to the train station nearby was spent in silence as the others were unwilling to break the silence. They all noted the odd looks we were getting from the ponies and other creatures, but I ignored them as we arrived, the next train for Ponyville set to arrive in ten minutes.
“So.” I turned to Saya. “What’s it like in Fairy Tail?” I smiled to her as the train approached.
“It’s like being home.”