Emerald wiped the sweat from her brow and replaced her borrowed sunhat as she took in the vast, immense, enormous, really big desert in front of them. “Next stop: the fabled scorrow homeland, where everything is either poisonous, sand, burning, or spiky.”
“Scorrow?” asked Rarity. “What are those?”
“Giant scorpions that burrow beneath the desert, and have a millennia-long blood feud with the zebras,” answered Emerald.
“Well. They certainly sound… unpleasant,” Rarity said hesitantly. “But they shouldn’t be a problem since we don’t have any zebras with us, correct?”
“Sometimes they attack ponies before realizing they aren’t zebras. And other times they realize, but decide they’re hungry and attack anyway. If you can persuade one to parlay they are often very useful, since they live for a long time and revere knowledge. But usually they just try to eat you, or drive you away from some holy site or another, it seems like they make sites holy as an excuse some days.”
“Umm… Maybe we shouldn’t walk through their home if they’re so mean and territorial?” Derpy asked.
“Yes, and perhaps you could have mentioned them sooner,” Rarity added. “I certainly had no idea that this desert had such…” She waved a forehoof, looking for the word that encompassed her intention. “Brutes!”
Emerald blinked in confusion. “What are you-” Her eyes widened as the realization dawned on her. “Oh, this isn’t The Long Lost Homeland of Scorpionkindtm, I just thought that this is what it would look like.”
Her companions stared at her. “Darling, perhaps next time you should open with that.”
Emerald debated whether to reveal the other reason they had nothing to fear from the scorrows, and decided that even though it might make her look bad, it was worth it to allay their worries. “They’re also fictional. I know them from A Journey Through the Skies, and they’re also in O&O.”
“I was wrong, that is what you should have led with.”
“Anyway… How do we proceed?” Emerald asked.
“We walk, unfortunately. I brought water, but even so this next stretch is going to be hard.”
“What are the odds we won’t make it?” Emerald asked.
“Um, what if we call the Doctor before that happens?” Derpy offered.
“We- Yes, that is an excellent idea, Derpy. Very well. Let us march upon these golden sands!”
“And so the brave explorers set hoof on the sands, not deterred in the slightest by the burning heat, nor the way sand gets in everything. For they were on a mission, and nothing short of a giant sandworm would stop them!”
“Do I even want to know whether those are real?” Rarity asked.
“And you’re sure you don’t mind my narration?”
Derpy nodded and Rarity lifted her head to reply. “Dear, I already told you. It can be a bit much sometimes, but it’s grown on me. And it certainly beats the wind for a break from the tedium of walking over the sand.”
Emerald levitated her bird skull that she had picked up earlier and mimed it speaking. “Having traveled for hours over the all too yielding dunes of sand, and with nothing but the howling of the wind and bones of the unfortunate travelers before them for company, our intrepid heroes finally stumble across the first signs of civilization.”
“Huh?” Derpy mumbled, looking up.
“Civilization!” Rarity gasped looking around at the horizon. “Where?”
“Before them stood a cobbled stone path, barely visible at the crest of the next hill. Almost certainly this meant that they were quite near their next destination, and it would be easier walking an actual path.”
“Oh thank goodness. I don’t think my hooves have ever felt this worn out.”
“At least Doc was able to find us some great snowshoes,” Derpy pointed out. “I still don’t know where he found them in the middle of Spring.”
“Yes, but they are rather troublesome to learn.”
“At this point they crested the sand dune and saw Klugetown spread out before them.” Emerald tilted her head. “No, it isn’t spread out before them. It’s more like… They saw Klugetown towering before, no no no, towering is too grand and purposeful. That thing looks like a giant ship that ran aground, then the ocean dried up and the ship decayed, and then ponies came along and turned it into a shantytown that could fall over at any moment. I’ve got it! It teetered ominously before them.”
Emerald took off her snowshoes, then caught up to the others who had already done so when they first reached the path. Then she cleared her throat as they reached the bottom of the dune. “The land lay flat before them, with wrecks of large boats to either side of the path, adding to the imagery of Klugetown being a giant ship that had run aground in the distant past. However, as they drew closer they saw that it was actually made of an enormous stone outcropping. There was a narrow rock bridge extending out to the city, connecting it to the end of the desert. The bridge was the only thing that continued past a line running East to West, everything else beyond was obscured in a strange sandy fog. A few pillars of stone jutted out of the ground, and some of these billowed smoke, almost like there was a giant machine hidden beneath the fog, rumbling away with some unknown purpose until it was discovered by some wandering soul, or until it arose and ushered forth the end of the age…”
“Well that was… Charmingly terrifying. You certainly have a way with words,” Rarity offered. “A disturbingly morbid way at times, but definitely a way.”
Before they got close enough to see the ponies, or whatever creatures lived here, Rarity and Emerald reached into their saddlebags and donned cloaks, to avoid drawing attention. Emerald turned to Derpy. “I’d been wondering how you could stand wearing your cloak through the desert, but I actually feel cooler now.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of weird, isn’t it?” Derpy answered.
When they reached the town proper Emerald was struck by just how well it fit into her idea of a rough frontier town with more bandits than cops. Though the caged animals were a touch of realism that she could have done without.
Everywhere they looked they saw the double lightning bolt symbol that Rarity had identified to them as The Storm King’s sigil. “It looks like his reach has spread further than we thought,” Rarity whispered to her friends.
“Well, it looks like Dr. Caballeron was right. Now we just need to figure out a solution.” Emerald said. “Let’s look around and see if there are any resistance movement rumors, that tends to be a good place to start.”
“Oh? How many times have you done this, if you don’t mind my asking? I know you made contact with the Everfree Holdouts as your first action in our world, but I had been led to believe that was your first insurrection.”
“Oh, that.” Emerald glanced away. “I’ve read about it pretty commonly…”
“Oh, this is another of your story conventions, is it?”
“Yes.”
“Well, even so it does seem like a solid plan. We just need to be subtle about it.”
“To the bar, then?” At Derpy’s quizzical glance Emerald explained. “If they’re drunk, they tend to have looser lips and fuzzier memories, so they’ll tell us what we want to know and forget us in the morning. Plus, it tends to be something of a gathering place in rundown frontier towns. And if I were to describe this place in one word, I think ‘shabby’ is putting it mildly.”
They headed further into town, careful to avoid drawing unwanted attention. The occupants were a motley assortment of bipedal versions of various animals. Like a minotaur, but instead of just one species for the entire group, if each creature was based on its own. Desert animals would have made sense, given where they were, but Emerald thought some of them looked more like fish than anything deserty.
“So, how do we know where the bar is?” asked Derpy.
“Well, I suppose we’ll simply have to ask for directions.” Rarity shuddered. “Though I don’t like the look of these… folks.”
“I’ll ask,” Emerald offered. “I’ll just draw on Daring’s style.”
“Very well, but do be careful. There’s no telling what these ruffians might do.”
Emerald walked up to one of the many market stands dotted around the street, her friends a few steps behind. The shark-thing behind the counter watched her approach, and when she reached him she slammed her forehoof down on the counter, causing him to start in surprise. “My mates and I just crossed that sun-blighted desert on our way South, and we’re feeling mad thirsty,” she said in her gruffest no-nonsense voice, usually reserved for running off ponies who tried tagging her shop. “If you could point us towards the best bar you’ve got in this town, I might leave ya a tip.” At this she began leaning on the counter, grinning just a bit, and tilting her head as she looked up at Sharky. The perfect picture of confidence.
Sharky regained his composure while she was talking, but he still swallowed nervously before answering. “Let’s see your money before I tell you anything.”
“You can look,” Emerald said, grabbing a bit in her other forehoof and setting it on her edge of the counter, “but you’d better not touch until I get my directions, savvy?”
“That’s not storm bucks," Sharky said doubtfully.
“No, but it is gold. And I’m not asking you for your goods, just some easy directions. Don’t make me look for another guide,” Emerald retorted.
As she had suspected, the threat of losing out on the deal spurred him into action. “It’s on the end of the second road to your right.”
She stood up, leaving the bit on the bar. “A pleasure doing business with you.” He swiped the coin into his palm and out of sight, before she turned back to the others.
When they had made it far enough that Sharky wouldn’t be able to hear them Emerald spoke up. “So, how did I do?”
“Oh, you’re a natural darling. If I hadn’t already known you, then you would have had me convinced you were an unruly laborer.”
“I thought you sounded like one of the bad guys who starts a bar fight in Daring Do,” Derpy offered. “Or like Daring Do.”
“I know Daring Do helped out during the Day of Winter, but I can’t say that I appreciate much else that I’ve heard about her,” Rarity said. “She seems like an uncouth ruffian.”
“I believe the proper term is ‘adventurer’,” Emerald retorted. “You know, the main reason we’re out here.”
After a few moments they reached the tavern. It was a rundown hole-in-the-wall joint, hardly inspiring if it truly was the ‘best in town’. In one corner was an aardvark-thing nursing his drink… or napping, it was hard to tell. Taking up the center were a few pig-things playing some sort of game, gambling of some sort, if Emerald were to guess, based on the sounds. And finally there were two bird-things sitting at the counter. One was broad and the other was lean, and they both looked to be about as tall as Celestia, horn and all. They were wearing black suits and caps, and the larger one seemed to be missing a talon.
“I like the look of those two,” Emerald whispered, pointing at the birds.
“As long as we avoid those… pigs?” Rarity agreed. “I’m afraid I don’t know if that’s the appropriate term for them.”
Emerald led the way, taking a seat to the left of the larger one, with Derpy sitting on her other side while Rarity remained standing. Emerald set a bit on the bar, and the bartender came over. “It’ll be three Storm Bucks.”
“And what’ll that be in bits?” Emerald asked.
The bartender opened up a notebook and peered at it. He scratched his head, and then perked up. “Fourteen.”
She sighed and reached into her bitpurse inside her saddlebag. Fourteen was a ridiculous price for a drink, back home she wouldn’t have needed to pay even half that, but it wasn’t really the drink she wanted anyway. She just needed to fit in for a bit.
The bartender took her bits and left her a mug of… something. Emerald didn’t know if it was actually ale, but that sounded thematically appropriate, so that’s what she would think of it as. She grabbed it in her hoof and sipped it slowly. She wanted to have a drink for the whole conversation, but even beyond getting drunk she didn’t feel like paying for another one.
“So… What brings you around these parts?” Emerald asked.
Lefty looked over at her. “Hauling cargo. You?”
“Just looking around. We heard there was a new king down South, and thought we should look around. A shame how things look, isn’t it.”
“Careful,” Rarity whispered in her ear.
“This place has never been nice,” Lefty answered. Emerald couldn’t tell if he had caught on to her subtle hint or not, so she decided to try again.
“I see. I don’t suppose you know of anywhere that did used to be nice? And would maybe like to be nice again?”
“Abyssinia, I guess. That’s where we’re heading next.”
“I see. Just one moment.” Emerald turned to the others. “What do you guys think,” she whispered.
“I certainly doubt we’ll have much luck here.” Rarity offered. “Anypony who’d be willing to try anything drastic to make things better has probably left for greener pastures.”
“I’m thinking that we ask them for passage. It’ll give us time to ask them about things. If they run cargo then they probably know how things are all over the region.” Rarity nodded and Derpy shrugged. Emerald turned back to Lefty and took a swig from her mug. “Me and my mates would like to see Abyssinia. Would you mind hiring us aboard for the voyage?”
“That’s for the captain to decide.”
“Okay, could you tell us where you’re docked and we’ll go see them?”
After a quick trot through the streets of Klugetown they reached the docks. It was easy to find the ship they were looking for, because there were only two ships in the port, and one of them was an armored warship bearing The Storm King’s symbol. The other was a larger ship that lacked the heavy metal plating of its neighbor.
Emerald led the way up the gangplank, Rarity and Derpy flanking her a step behind. As they walked another bird-thing squawked loudly, presumably serving as lookout. When they made their way onto the main deck A bird-thing with a pegleg was waiting for them, holding a large book with The Storm King’s logo on it. She froze for a moment, realizing that the outfits the bird-things were wearing all had the symbol on the shoulders. But she decided that it was too late to turn back, and they were probably not loyal, just working a living.
“What are you three looking for?” Asked the one with the book.
“We were hoping to find passage to Abyssinia,” Emerald answered. “We’re willing to work our way, if that’s okay with you.”
They looked at their book, and flipped through it for a bit. “Well, the book doesn’t say I can’t pick up new crewmembers, just that they won’t earn a paycheck without an official inspection. So if you’re willing to work for room and board, then I suppose you can come with us.”
“If it’s alright with you, I’d rather simply buy passage,” Rarity said.
“Well, we’re not built for passengers,” the parrot began.
“I don’t mind staying in a bunk, or hammock, or whatever you use for your crew, I simply don’t think I’m cut out for the manual labor of cargo delivery.”
“Well… I suppose so. That’ll be forty bits.”
“Not storm bucks?” Emerald asked.
“Ten storm bucks if you prefer, but I thought you’d rather pay with bits.”
“I was just expecting you to ask for storm bucks, since every… other business did.”
“We travel around, my little ponies. And storm bucks aren’t as widely valued as bits. That’s as important as the official price, for a traveler.”