EPISODE 10 - Ponies - Fairies and Dragons, Ponies and Knights
Performed Live June 27th, 2021
Podcast released July 3rd, 2021
Official site: dirtroadtheater.com/fadpak
Podcast: https://fadpak.buzzsprout.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/fairiesdragonsponiesknights
Instagram: www.instagram.com/fad_pak
Twitter: www.twitter.com/fad_pak
TikToc: www.tiktok.com/@fad_pak

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Talora stood on the bow of the makeshift raft as it headed down the Crystal river, her spear clutched tightly in her blistered hands. She held the blunt side out, ready to push the raft away from the bank, or rocks, or any other obstacles. It was their second day since leaving camp on the raft, since they had left Tom behind. And almost three days since Beatrice had been stabbed by the unicorn. Beatrice was still asleep, in a kind of hibernation caused by the dragon’s tooth tea. Her breathing was getting slower and more labored. They had to get to the ponies in time. Talora felt sure that the ponies would help her, they had to. She squinted above her, and could see a small dark speck in the sky, slowly getting bigger, taking the shape of a far-off dragon. That would be Azrael, coming back to report on the river up ahead. Smudge was asleep, his new best friend Furball curled on top of him, purring blissfully. Petra swooped low over the shallow edges of the river, looking for fish.     
    
    The river here was calm and deep, thank the stars. Talora closed her eyes, the sunburnt skin of her face wrinkling painfully. Yesterday, and most of this morning, had been one disaster after another. For a moment, she thought back to The Slide, the second task in the Dragon Games. The obstacles had seemed so silly and childish- and yet, they had served as a great preparation for what she had to do now. Maneuvering an inert, fully-grown dragon on an extremely makeshift raft down a winding and treacherous river, accompanied by two huge packs, a restless baby dragon, and a cantankerous kitten, was much, much harder thanThe Slide. From the moment they had set off yesterday, the river had been shallow and fast-moving, with rocks and branches everywhere. The raft, heavy and awkward, seemed to be in constant battle with the never-ending obstacles that threatened to break it, trap it, flip it, or beach it. Talora and Smudge were in a constant struggle to keep Beatrice from rolling off the raft, while Petra and Azrael did their best to help from above.  If the raft got stuck, it took everyone’s combined strength to push it free again. Low branches or fallen trees that hung over the river threatened to sweep the riders off, so Azrael and Petra took turns flying up ahead, trying to burn through any major obstacles to clear the way. A few times their blaze hadn’t been fast enough to clear the trees, and the raft had headed full speed into an inferno. Talora and Furball, not fireproof like the dragons, had to jump overboard, and so far the raft had managed to break through these blazing trees, and not catch fire itself. Meanwhile, there was hardly any room on the raft to move, so Talora and Smudge were constantly climbing all over Beatrice to get from one side to another. 

    And yet… they had not been defeated. The raft held. They were all still alive. Beatrice was still alive.They had been able to find and brew the dragon’s tooth into tea that they tipped down her sleeping throat, wishing there was more they could do. Furball seemed to think that he was Beatrice’s personal protector. Whenever he was awake, and they weren’t fighting for their lives on the river, Furball climbed all over Beatrice, inspecting and cleaning her. He loved to nibble and lick her ears, her claws, even her shoulder where the unicorn had stabbed her. In fact, Furball’s favorite place to perch was right on top of Beatrice’s wound. He would sit there and purr loudly, blinking his eyes slowly as he gazed around him. At first Talora had chased him off, but he was so determined that she eventually gave up. 

    Cue: fade forest loop. Talora’s gaze shifted back to Azrael, who was getting closer, flying fast. Not a good sign. Talora blew her whistle to summon Petra, since her voice was hoarse from all the screaming she’d done yesterday. Petra swooped low over the raft and hovered there, just as Azrael arrived. 
        
    “Okay!” said Azrael. “I’ve got some really, really good news… and some really, really bad news. The good news is, we’re almost there! I could see the grasslands up ahead, maybe just a few hours away, actually! Really pretty. Wow. I’ve never seen anything like it. I wonder if that’s what the ocean looks like? Only it’s just like… grass, you know? Forever. It’s just like this huge, golden ocean of -”

        “Azrael!” interrupted Petra. “What’s the really, really bad news?”

        “Oh, yeah. Well… the river stays pretty calm like this for a while, but then, right before it leaves the mountains, there’s this giant waterfall. Well… kind of like a bunch of giant waterfalls. First, it’s like this one big waterfall, and then it keeps falling, almost like stairs, all the way down, for about a mile, until it calms down at the bottom. But then at the bottom you’re like, practically there! That’s right where the grasslands start. Again, really pretty to look at... if you ignore the fact that we have to get this raft down it. ”

        Talora closed her eyes briefly. Why can’t anything be easy? She thought. When she opened her eyes, Azrael and Petra were both looking at her. Of course. It was always her job to figure these problems out. “Okay,” she sighed. “What’s the land like around the waterfalls? Can we pull the raft out and continue on land?”

        Azrael considered. “Um, hmmm... I’m not a big climber myself, so it’s hard to visualize, I mean, a goat could probably do it, but-”

        Talora interrupted him impatiently. “Being that none of us are goats, and we have a dragon on a raft here, what do you think? Is there a path of any kind, or a slope that we could somehow pull your mom down?”

        “Oh! Right. No, definitely not. Pretty much just giant cliffs all around.”  
        
        Talora thought for a minute. “Well, we’ll have to get off the river before the waterfall. We’ll have to look for another way down.” She couldn’t think of anything else. She looked at Beatrice. They all did. Her chest was barely rising with each breath. Even if they could find a way down, how would they carry her? It would take too long. As Talora’s tired brain twisted in knots, looking for a solution, something strange happened. A picture entered her mind, unbidden, like it was coming from outside of her, then it vanished. She looked up at Azrael and Petra, but they were deep in thought. Then it happened again, a different picture this time. Talora couldn’t quite make it out. It felt like one of the dragons was trying to speak to her except there were no words, only the simple, fractured images. She shut her eyes and concentrated. There were words now; soft, whispery words in a dragon’s voice she had never heard before. “Falling… mom…water… fall...ing.” Suddenly, it hit her and she laughed out loud. It was Smudge! Smudge was talking to her! He had an idea, and he was trying to tell her! She looked at him, and his body started to wiggle. His eyes were wide and bright, staring directly into hers. 

        “Keep going, Smudge!” she said encouragingly. 

        “Wait,” Petra exclaimed. “Is he talking to you?”

    “Yes, he is!” Talora exclaimed in delight. “It’s only some words, mostly pictures, I can’t quite see it…”

    Petra turned to her brother. “Do you have an idea, Smudgie?” Smudge tossed his head like a wild horse as he looked up at his sister; he was getting excited. “Well don’t be shy you little smokestack, tell us!”

        Cue: smudge concentrating Smudge shut his eyes grunting, concentrating hard on his idea, and sending it out. Images kept flashing through Talora’s brain in this new voice, but they were impossible to understand, they were moving too fast and they flickered for a minute before disappearing and starting over. They were flying. No, Smudge was flying. They were untying the raft. A rope was getting tied around a leg. Beatrice’s leg? What was Smudge trying to say? 

    “Why is he thinking mostly in pictures, instead of words?” 

    “This is how it starts,” Azrael explained. “Pictures are easier, more abstract. His thoughts aren’t complex enough for words just yet. Hey, Smudge? This is good. I see you’re flying in this idea you have. What are the rest of us doing? Can you show us what we’re doing, when you’re flying?”

        Cue: smudge sounds Smudge shut his eyes again.The pictures and word fragments continued. The raft was empty. The raft was broken? The rope was… wrapping around something? They were flying… Petra and Azrael were flying… but where was...  then, suddenly Talora gasped. Sun and stars. That seemed impossible. But it was clear now, what Smudge was saying was crystal clear. She looked at Petra and Azrael. “Did you get that?”

    “Oh yeah,” said Petra. 

    “Well? Could that work?”

        Azrael thought about it. “Whew. I don’t know. Maybe. If it doesn’t work, it could kill mom… and me… and Petra. But if it does work…”

        “Then we are awesome, and Smudge just saved the day,” Petra interrupted. “Well, unless we think of something else, we have to try. It’s our only chance. Let’s get to work! Good job, Smudgsicle. You picked the perfect time to start talking!” Smudge looked like a happy puppy as he beamed with pride. “Azrael, is there a spot to pull off of the river? To get ready?” 

    “I don’t know… I’ll go check…” Azreal leapt off the raft and flew ahead. 

    Talora breathed deeply. Inhale… exhale... deep breaths prevent panic. Deep breaths prevent panic.  

Cue: forest loop
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Many miles away, already out of the mountains and high above the grasslands of Shasborough, flew Edwine and Lyle. Besides the occasional tree or large rock, there was only grass as far as the eye could see: an ocean of tall, wavy, golden grass. This was their second day of searching, with no sign of the ponies. They were getting anxious, and bored.

        “Hey, Edwine?”

        “Yeah?”

        “Remember when you ran away to see if you could find the ocean?”

        “Yeah.”

        “Well… did you ever see anything like this?”

        “No, I never really made it out of the mountains.”
    
        “What was it like? Were you scared?”

        Edwine took a minute to consider this question. This had been years ago. Beatrice had told them about the ocean- how big it was, and about all of the incredible creatures it held. Edwine could still remember vividly her mother’s description of the whales: enormous, elegant beasts, bigger than dragons. She hadn’t meant to run away, she just sort of… went to go find them. She figured she’d run into the ocean eventually, then come right back. She’d be gone for a few days, tops. Anyway, she’d been in pretty big trouble when her mom found her, so she’d never really talked to anyone about it. “I don’t think I was scared. I was mostly just excited. To meet the whales, and to see the ocean. But then, when I’d been flying for so long and I didn’t see anything, I got really sad. Then mom found me, and I felt like a baby. And everyone was mad at me.”

     “I was sad too,” said Lyle. “Well…. I was sad that you didn’t ask me to go with you.”

        “Would you have come?” asked Edwine.

        “Oh yeah! Are you kidding me?! I would have gone with you in a second! I would be too scared to go on my own, you’re way braver than me, but I totally would have gone with you.”

        Edwine seemed surprised. “I’m not braver than you! You’re the bravest dragon I’ve ever met!”

        “Really? I don’t know, I feel scared a lot of the time. I guess… I’m not that scared of getting hurt exactly, cause I get hurt all the time but… I could never do what you did.”

        Edwine thought for a minute. “I’m definitely afraid of getting hurt. I could never do what you do. Remember when Petra dared you to fly with your eyes closed and you ran into that cliff, and fell into a river, and we all thought you were dead, but then you came out with like ten fish in your mouth? That was… amazing. I guess we’re just brave about different things, you know? And… maybe that makes us a good team.”

        Lyle seemed encouraged by this idea. “Yeah. Yeah. We’re a good team.”

        “Oooh, can we have a team name?” Edwine asked excitedly. “No one ever wants to have an official team name with me.”

        “Yeah, okay!” said Lyle. “What about…(long pause) team ‘Smash It Up’?

        “Hmmm,” Edwine said uncertainly. “Are we going to be smashing things up?”

        “I mean, you never know,” said Lyle. “The point is, we would be ready to smash things up, if we had to. We can try it out for a while, then change it later if we feel like it.”

        “Okay, deal,” said Edwine. “Team Smash it Up. The Smashers. Smash Dragons. Yeah, I like it.”

        “Do you think we’ll find the Ponies in time?” asked Lyle.

        “Yep,” said Edwine.

        “How do you know?”

        “Cause we’re team Smash it Up! And…. ‘cause they’re right over there.”

        “What?? Where??”  cue: pony music

        “See all those different colored rocks down there?” Edwine gestured with her front leg.

        “Yeah?” said Lyle, squinting. 

        “I don’t think those are rocks. I think those are ponies. Rainbow ponies.”

        “Gulping groundhogs! That’s impossible, there’s so many! They’re everywhere. There must be thousands of them!”
    
        “Look, they’re moving!” said Edwine. “They must see us!”

        They were indeed moving. As Edwine and Lyle swooped lower, what looked from far above like thousands of brightly colored rocks now appeared to be animals... ponies, galloping together to form a tight herd. Then, something very surprising happened. Four of the ponies leapt into the air, spread giant wings, and started flying towards Lyle and Edwine.

        Lyle gasped. “Uhhhhm. Did you know they could do that?”

         “No,” Edwine responded nervously. “No, no I didn’t. I did not know that they could fly. That I did not know. No one told me that they could fly.”

        “What should we do?” asked Lyle. 

        “Just play it cool,” said Edwine. “We’re going to smash this.” She looked at Lyle and winked.

        As the four flying ponies got closer, Edwine and Lyle became more and more amazed by them. They were, without a doubt, the most incredibly gorgeous creatures that they had ever laid eyes on. They were bigger than horses, but not just in terms of size. Yes, they were taller, rounder, wider, but they were also just so much...more. Each was a different vibrant color, one was blue, one pink, one orange, and one yellow. Their manes and tails, also vibrant to the point of glowing, were a different color from their bodies, and swished like thick curtains of silk through the air as they flew. Their wings were like giant bird’s wings, lush with shimmering feathers that matched the colors of their bodies. It looked like they were flying in slow motion, their wings pumping gracefully up and down like an effortless dance. With the sun shining bright behind them, it was like the sunset itself was flying to greet Edwine and Lyle.

        Finally, the ponies were upon them. They stopped moving forward and held their position, blocking Lyle and Edwine from flying further. The draglings hastily stopped their gliding and pumped their wings to fly in place. The orange pony with a brilliant red mane spoke to them, in the same way that dragons spoke, and that most animals spoke to each other.

        “Hello, young dragons!” the pony said in a friendly voice. “You aren’t hoping to eat any ponies today, are you?”

        Lyle couldn’t speak, but Edwine answered smoothly. “No,” she said. “We love ponies! We were actually hoping you could help us save our mom.”

        “Oh! That’s great news.” The orange pony tossed his mane and pawed a wide hoof through the air, almost as if he was on the ground. “That you’re not here to eat us, I mean. We didn’t want to have to kill you. I’m sorry to hear that your mother is in trouble. Would you mind coming to the ground with us? Flying dragons make our earth brothers and sisters very nervous.”

        “Oh, sure.” said Edwine, and she and Lyle drifted down to the earth with the four flying ponies. Almost as soon as they touched the ground, the greater herd was upon them, and the four who had flown out to greet them had moved back to their positions at the outskirts of the others. The ponies now surrounding them were no less magnificent in their appearance than their winged counterparts. They were just as colorful, maybe slightly bigger than the flying ponies, and almost bigger than Edwine and Lyle. cue: fade out pony music + horse snort None of them stepped forward. None of them spoke, they just surrounded the draglings and then stood, motionless, the wind rippling through their rainbow manes and tails. 
 
        “Uh, hi there!” said Edwine in the friendliest voice she could muster. “We’ve come a long way to find you.” cue: horse snort Silence. Lyle looked at Edwine. Edwine wasn’t sure what to do. She decided to keep going. “Our mom is in trouble. She might die. And… we were wondering if you could possibly help us?” The ponies just stared at them. cue: horse snort  One younger pony was sneaking closer to Lyle to get a good sniff of him. Lyle nervously let some smoke out his nostrils and the little pony backed away. Then the silence was broken by a voice, coming from someone that neither Lyle or Edwine could see. Cue: horse whinny

        “Tell me. Why should the ponies of Shasborough Grasslands help a family of dragons? What have the dragons ever done for us, except hunt us, or terrorize us? Why should we care if your mother dies? Why shouldn’t we trample you right here, right now, before you grow big, and hungry?” The herd parted to allow the speaker forward. A purple stallion with a blue and red mane emerged. He seemed young, but imposing, and certainly not very friendly.

        From the very back of Edwine’s memory she recalled the words of Knight Morgan on the day they left Durga. When Beatrice had asked him who she should speak to amongst the rainbow herd, Morgan had said, “Whomever will speak to you.” Well, I guess this was their pony, Edwine thought. He seemed kind of grumpy, but she was not scared. She’d once talked a badger into having a tea party with her, and when she was younger than Smudge she had coerced an entire hive of bees into learning a synchronized flying routine. She could handle this fancy pony. “First of all,” she said. “My name is Edwine, and this is my brother, Lyle. It is very nice to meet you. What is your name, please?”
    
        The pony seemed slightly taken aback, but finally he answered. “My name is Moonbeam.”

        Edwine exhaled with admiration. “Moonbeam… I love that name! Listen, Moonbeam. I am so sorry to hear about the bad experiences that you’ve had with dragons. That sounds so, so, so awful. And, guess what? That’s kind of why we’re here. I mean, not exactly, but kind of. Before our mom got hurt, we were already coming to find you guys because some ponies have done some bad things to us too, and our mom, the one that might die, well, she wanted to talk to you about it, instead of just getting all angry and hurting ponies and stuff. She thought, maybe we could stop all this. And, don’t you think that’s a good idea? Don’t you think that if we talked about things a little, we might get along better? I have never seen a pony before, and I am really excited to get to know you better. So, that’s all. Please don’t trample us. We really want to be friends.”

        Moonbeam’s face was still and stony while he listened to Edwine. He stared long and hard at her, then at Lyle. He swished his tail a few times, and stamped his hoof. Then he said, “Your mother was coming to TALK with us?”

    “Mmm hmm” replied Edwine. “We even went to the knights first to get their help. That’s how come we knew where to find you.”

    “Hmm. What’s wrong with your mother, what happened to her?”

        Finally Lyle jumped in. “She was stabbed by a unicorn horn! Right in her shoulder.”     

        Moonbeam’s eyes grew wide in surprise, but then he said, “horse unicorn, or pony unicorn?”

        Edwine and Lyle looked at each other. They didn’t know there was a difference, and Talora hadn’t said which it was. Edwine took her best guess. “Horse unicorn.” Moonbeam stared at Edwine. He was motionless, considering. Edwine didn’t dare interrupt.

    Finally, he seemed to come to a decision. “Then we’d better hurry. Take us to her.” cue: pony chords

        Edwine knew a “yes” when she heard it. She turned around, leapt into the sky and started flying back the way they had come. Lyle followed. When she looked behind them, a small group of about fifteen ponies had detached from the main herd and was following Moonbeam. They were fast, streaking along the ground at a pace that could easily keep up with dragon flight. They were positively magnificent, and Edwine could have watched them run all day.

    “We did it, Lyle! The ponies are going to help us! How do you think the others are doing?” cue: fade out ponies, fade up waterfall

    Talora was scared. They were close enough now, she could hear the first big waterfall, a wild rushing, pounding sound that got stronger as the river’s speed picked up. Every passing second filled her with more dread. She knew that Smudge’s plan was the best chance they had to get Beatrice safely down the mile of cascading falls, but now, as she surveyed their sorry little group, it seemed destined for failure. Talora and Smudge were perched on either side of Beatrice, on the raft, with Azrael and Petra hovering in the air, directly above them. Furball was tucked safely in Tom’s pack; Talora had wrapped him in one of her water resistant oilskins to keep him dry; he looked like a tiny seal. Now they just had to wait until they were close enough to the waterfall to pull off the first step of their plan. 

    First, they had to get out of the water, which was easier said than done. The river was flowing through a kind of canyon; large rocks and steep cliffs bordered the water on either side. This meant there was nowhere to stop the raft, except just before the waterfall. Azrael had found a beach hidden behind a giant cliff that jutted out into the river. The cliff protected the beach from the river’s current, making a calm, still pool behind it. If they could just break out of the ravenous current as soon as they rounded the side of the cliff, they would be able to get into that calmer pool of water, and get Beatrice out of the river and onto the beach. From there, they could launch the next phase of their plan. 

        Petra swept upwards and looked down, watching the raft’s progress, readying herself to give the signal. Talora watched Petra closely, and forced herself to take slow, deep breaths. In through her nose, out through her mouth, in through her nose, out through her mouth. This was a technique she’d learned in training; it was meant to help you with your fear. It kept your heart from racing and your muscles relaxed. This waiting was the hardest part. As soon as Petra gave the signal, they would all work furiously to guide the raft as close to the upcoming cliff as possible without hitting it. Once they passed the cliff they would have only a short window of time, mere seconds, to push the raft out of the current, into the calm water, and up onto the beach. If they didn’t make it in time, the current would keep them, ushering them straight over the edge and into the waterfall. If this happened, Azrael would grab Smudge, Petra would grab Talora, and they would fly them to safety.  Talora didn’t ask “what about Beatrice?” because she knew if this happened, there would be nothing they could do for her. They had to make it to the beach. Cue: slow fade waterfall

        “NOW!” Talora heard Petra’s signal, and she and Azrael sprang into action. Azrael, his hind legs clutching the raft, dipped one wing fully into the water and used it as a giant paddle, scooping water furiously, and propelling the raft towards the bank. Talora was in the back of the raft, using her spear to push off of rocks, boulders, the river bottom, anything, as best she could. Smudge stood on top of Beatrice, flapping his wings hard, which was surprisingly helpful. Their combined efforts were moving them towards the bank of the river and the cliff, Petra returned to the raft, and started scooping the water furiously with her wing like Azrael. The cliff was now about a hundred feet away. Now seventy-five... now fifty... 

        “Push! Push!” yelled Petra. The sound of the waterfall was getting so loud that if Petra’s voice wasn’t inside Talora’s head she wasn’t sure she would have been able to hear it. “Here it comes!” They were upon the cliff, and they had driven the raft as close to the side of the river as they dared without getting too close to the cliff itself. As the raft swept past the cliff’s edge, Petra yelled, “GO! GO! GO!” Azrael and Petra paddled with all their might, while Talora pushed and Smudge flapped. They could see the beach now. They only had a few more seconds to get out of the current, or they would miss their window. Petra’s voice repeated itself in Talora’s head over and over until she couldn’t tell if she was imagining it or not. “Push! Push! Push!” Closer…. closer. Talora felt a choking feeling in her throat. No, no, the current was too strong, they weren’t going to make it. Petra seemed to notice this at the same instant as Talora. “Smudge!” she called. “Hold onto the raft, and then grab my tail!” 

    Smudge understood. He jumped off of Beatrice and gripped hard to the logs of the raft with his back talons. He caught hold of Petra’s tail with his front feet as she leapt into the air, pumping her wings as hard as she could. It was working; the raft was slowing down and inching closer to the calmer water. Azrael leapt into the air and flew ahead of Petra, who grabbed onto his tail, the three of them forming some kind of frantically flapping dragon rope. Talora dug her spear down with all of her might, finally bracing it against a big rock beneath the water, and pushing with everything she had. This last bit was all they needed; the raft passed out of the fast-moving current into the still water on the other side of the cliff. Azrael, Petra, and Smudge pulled the raft the rest of the way, and then they were safe on the beach. They collapsed with relief. 

        But they couldn’t rest long. It was time for phase two of Smudge’s plan.