{"id":27751,"date":"2022-05-06T13:16:37","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T18:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/?p=27751"},"modified":"2022-05-06T13:16:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T18:16:37","slug":"forest-brook-chapter-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/2022\/05\/06\/forest-brook-chapter-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Forest Brook: Chapter 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOur investments in the Uskia mines are starting to pay off, making up for poor returns on the Sabrilkious project,\u201d the cloaked human at the head of the conference table droned on. General Nikto doubted that any of his equine audience were really listening; but this was the business he was obligated to share with them, and they had to hear it whether they liked it or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nikto\u2019s suspicions as to the direction of his listeners\u2019 attention were confirmed a moment later when a scuffle broke out between the two stallions, one salmon with white hair and the other ivory with gold.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was our contract; you stole it!\u201d the salmon one, Cecil, shouted, banging on the solid oak table.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had Victoria in our pocket from the beginning,\u201d said the ivory one, Reginald, with a smirk, relaxing back in his chair. \u201cWe just had her collecting some inside information from you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a scoundrel! That\u2019s unethical!\u201d Cecil\u2019s face turned red with anger.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re the definition of unethical!\u201d scoffed Reginald. \u201cRemember the time–\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGentlestallions, please!\u201d Nikto barked over the quarrel, but his words fell on deaf ears.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s nothing compared to–\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, can it, you blowhards!\u201d Sophia, a purple mare with red hair, interrupted the fight.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re both fools,\u201d agreed the petite pastel mare known as Aphra. \u201cNobody cares about your superfluous blood feud!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nikto sighed. This was par for the course for this yearly meeting. \u201cCan we stick to the topic at hand… hoof… please!\u201d he appealed to the ponies. \u201cThe less unnecessary conversation, the sooner we\u2019ll all be free to go our separate ways.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Burt Stone isn\u2019t renewing his contract with you, and I happen to know who will be the publisher on his next novel,\u201d Cecil said snidely to Reginald. \u201cIf you\u2019re such an upstanding company, why do you keep losing talent? Making contracts is one thing, but keeping them is another.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou–\u201d Reginald snarled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAH-HEM!\u201d Nikto gave the stallions a stern look. \u201cMoving on\u2026\u201d He cleared his throat. \u201cAs the heads of the four houses of the royal family of Atlantis, it is time to consider your future,\u201d he stated authoritatively, reading from the prepared script in front of him. \u201cFor generations, the Royal Order of Krulotin has arranged beneficial marriages with foreign magic lines to bolster Atlantean magic, which also served to foster political alliances to further our interests on the global scene. However,\u201d he cautioned, pausing, \u201cwe must remember that Atlantean magic is the core of our power, and must be conserved. If we continue in this manner, the magic will be depleted, overshadowed by a muddle of magic from other realms.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou want our children to marry each other?\u201d Reginald asked, appearing bored.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn short… yes.\u201d Nikto looked out over them appraisingly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, don’t expect a Monk to marry a Fairfax!\u201d Cecil said, a thunderous look on his face.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Battle of Veshobar was four hundred years ago; it may be time to let go of that grudge,\u201d Nikto said dryly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNever!\u201d the two stallions cried in unison, then glared at each other, probably provoked at being in agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf your ancestors had bothered to deliver that message to King Lucian\u2019s forces,\u201d Reginald challenged his rival, \u201cthe battle wouldn\u2019t have turned into the total rout it devolved into!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou fool, my family never had the summons!\u201d\u00a0 Cecil roared. \u201cIt was clearly withheld from them in order to bring about our shared demise!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we <\/span>do<\/span><\/i> know,\u201d interrupted Nikto sternly, \u201cis that records from that time were all destroyed by a Feflurg raid in 1762, and oral tradition is notoriously unreliable. No one knows for sure what happened, and holding each other accountable is wasted energy.\u201d The squabble subsided\u2026 for now. \u201cAnyway\u2026\u201d Nikto addressed the purple mare. \u201cSophia, your son, Hubert is a sturdy young colt; and Cecil, you have a newborn daughter, Caprice; they would be a fine match down the line.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the sake of Atlantis, it will be,\u201d Sophia said solemnly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, it could be worse,\u201d Cecil sighed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Reginald,\u201d Nikto turned his glance to the ivory stallion, \u201cyour son, Dietrich; and Aphra’s daughter, Agatha–\u201d He nodded in that mare\u2019s direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, yes, I understand,\u201d Aphra said, impatiently tapping her hoof. \u201cI suspected something of the sort was in the works.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as the boy will cooperate,\u201d scowled Reginald. \u201cA more hard-headed colt I have yet to meet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder where he got that from\u2026 I mean,\u201d Nikto coughed, \u201cthat settles things for this meeting. So long as there is no more Krulotin-related business to attend to?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m missing my soap operas,\u201d Aphra snapped.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to get back to my office,\u201d Cecil growled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cVery well.\u201d Nikto gathered together the papers in front of him. \u201cThis meeting is adjourned. For Atlantis!\u201d he cried, holding up his arm in a salute.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor Atlantis,\u201d the ponies repeated somberly before leaping to their hooves to leave.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOur investments in the Uskia mines are starting to pay off, making up for poor returns on the Sabrilkious project,\u201d the cloaked human…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1071],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27753,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27751\/revisions\/27753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fakiespaceman.com\/toyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}