Dusky and I fell asleep cuddled against one another, and woke up in much the same position. My entire body was sore from the previous day’s battle, and my stomach growling in frustration that we’d ended up skipping a meal. Still, waking up with Dusky’s head settled on top of me, listening to her breath, made all that worthwhile.
We met with Star to in the inn’s common room, hastily eating our breakfast as she went through the supplies she purchased. Soon enough, we were on the move again, leaving Fort Rhenish through the back gate. The dirt path was hard packed—a much more dedicated trail than anything we encountered out in the salt flats, and that was quite a welcome change.
Once we were far enough from Fort Rhenish, Dusky turned to Star. “So, find anything?”
“Nothing definitive.” Star’s voice was even, but the disappointment was clear. “The innkeeper recalled a few red unicorns, passing through anywhere between one and three days.”
Dusky nodded. “I hope it’s not three. We’ll never catch her if that’s the case. Assuming we’re only a day behind, what’s the plan?”
Starshadow took a breath. "We will follow the trail into the valley, and then move north once we have a more direct path to the Forge. Within the borders of Ostfriesen, we should be far safer. "
"How much safer?" Dusky glanced about, already searching for threats. "If the bulette is any indication, we can’t let our guard down."
Star nodded, the barest of frowns crossing her face. "I agree, though that was outside the ring of our influence. Once we reach the valley, you will see."
“Okay. Would…” Dusky paused. “...Dame Lunaris have really come this way?”
Star turned to look back at Fort Rhenish. “I should hope so. There are a couple other, shorter routes that go straight through the mountains, but the pace required to outstrip the highway would be very dangerous.”
Dusky looked down the path as well. “I just didn't know how close she’d want to get. But this definitely seems too sensible a route to pass up.”
We walked on for half the day, moving at a much better pace than the past few days. The land sloped up gently through the hills, though the walk didn't become much more difficult. Soon, we approached the peak of its ascent.
"The forts and the outlying territories are one aspect of Ostfriesen, a part of our lives we must always be aware of." Starshadow stopped at the top of the path, pointing a hoof downward. "This is the other."
I walked up with Dusky, cresting the rise, and looked down into the valley. It was awe-inspiring.
Below, the path stretched on down the hill and out into the valley, where it began to cut through verdant forests, bright green and filled with a rainbow of flowers. Beyond the forest were bountiful plains, planted crops in neatly ordered rows, all expanding out from a crystal blue lake that sparkled in the sun. Rising above it all, set on an island at the center of the great lake, was an alabaster castle that towered over the land like a mountain.
"Ostfriesen..." Dusky whispered the word.
I could only nod dumbly, staring out at the vibrant landscape, so at odds with the deadly deserts surrounding it. It was beautiful, carrying the same kind of peace that one could find in Equestria. The scent on the wind was familiar, but with subtle differences carried from some distant sea. This was familiar weather, controlled and planned.
"This is the Tanzen Forest.” Star’s hoof began to trace across the land. ”Beyond that, the Dressur Plains serve as the breadbasket of Ostfriesen. That castle in the center is usually called Ostfriesen Castle, though the town upon which the castle is built is called Oasis. Further east lies the Coral Vale along the coast, the city where Merriweather and I were born."
"It's... beautiful." I looked further east, trying to catch a view of the coast, but all I could see was a mountain range, and further fields of crops stretching out beyond my line of vision. "To think... all this, hidden here beyond the Badlands."
Star laughed quietly, and her voice grew wistful. "It was not always so beautiful. Once, this land was as brutal as the Badlands we crossed to reach this point. This is the result of a thousand years of fighting, striving, and determination to make this lands ours. We have reaped many rewards for our efforts."
Dusky blinked, turning her attention to Star. "It's amazing."
Starshadow straightened, smiling wider. "Every Ostfriesen citizen looks out upon this paradise in pride, knowing how hard won it is."
Looking over her shoulder, then back out over the plains, Dusky nodded. "I can see why. How did anyone even survive long enough to turn it into this?"
Her eyes closed. "Necessity. Long, long ago, Ostfriesen was settled by refugees from a terrible famine. Their lands were engulfed in unending ice and snow, and they abandoned it, in need of a new home. They left their nations, their peoples, and journeyed across the Badlands, in search of paradise."
I nodded. "It seems like they found it."
"In time." Star took a moment to consider. "Many of those refugees did not trust one another, but they traveled together across the Badlands. Monsters and salt quagmires and worse cost them lives at every step, but they grew stronger as they traveled. They learned how to fight the creatures here, and how to navigate the land. They learned to work together and they survived despite all odds. Eventually, they reached their destination, a simple watering hole surrounded by sparse vegetation, clinging to life in a sea of death."
Ponies in search of a new home after a season of unending winter was how Equestria had been formed as well. Hearth's Warming Eve was the day the three tribes worked together to drive back the winter and create a nation where earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns are worked in harmony. Save for the terrible physical boundary between us, Equestria and Ostfriesen were perhaps more alike then it seemed.
I looked off to that shining tower in the midst of it all, the great white citadel which seemed to glow even in the middle of the day. "And they settled there? They made that castle?"
Star proudly nodded. "It was not so grand, then. A simple village, sewn from leather and reinforced with clay, they named it after that single source of comfort. Oasis. Fresh water and sustainable food. The earth ponies had brought seeds with them on their journey, and the first fields were planted there."
"So similar to Equestria's story." Dusky thoughts had apparently mirrored my own. "But if they'd already come together, why did Tapioca have to fight a war to unify everyone?"
Star sighed. "Stubborn pride. They prospered as one, but the unity was fragile. Old grudges still boiled underneath the surface, and all it took was one terrible incident to shatter the town. On the first day of the harvest, as the ponies began to gather food, a terrible black shadow fell over the town. A great dragon descended upon the fields, burning the crops and killing many. In the wake of that destruction, facing famine and death once again, the ponies turned on one another. Soon, many left Oasis, splintering out into the various clans across Ostfriesen."
I cringed, and glancing at Dusky, I saw her recoil as well. The only dragon I knew of was Spike, the assistant to Twilight Sparkle. I'd barely spoken to him, but he seemed pleasant enough. Beyond that, dragons were a mystery. "There... there are dragons in Ostfriesen?"
Star broke from her reverie with an uncharacteristic laugh. "Maybe there are. It is hard to say, these days. This is their land, after all. The large depression there, that pathway through the Dressur Plains that leads directly to Ostfriesen Castle is named for the incident, the Path of Dragons."
Dusky lifted an eyebrow. "Ostfriesen chooses strange ways to cope with tragedy."
"If you spend enough time, you may find that my fellow countryponies share a rather dark sense of humor. Dragons are of much less concern to us now, since Tapioca slew their master."
"She... she was amazing. Just, had a presence to her... I could certainly believe she had slain a dragon." My mind drifted back, to the first time I'd seen Bellerophon. A vision of the past, when he'd demanded audience with Queen Tapioca. Her name was said in the same way the ponies of Equestria spoke of Princess Celestia. I stopped as I noticed Dusky worriedly staring at me , and my ears dropped. "Err... just, remembering something I saw. Something I guess Bellerophon showed me."
Her wing draped over my back and wrapped closely. She nodded at Star once again. "So that's when Tapioca united the ponies of Ostfriesen?"
Star nodded, and gave a gesture onward before she began to walk down the path once again. "When Tapioca was born, it was our country's darkest time. Many pegasi had fled to the mountains, broken into various bandit camps and war parties which then resorted to raiding to survive. The unicorns sequestered themselves in their cities upon the western shore, refusing entry to any foreigners, and bickered amongst one another in a constant war. Meanwhile, the earth ponies cowered in Oasis. They farmed as best they could, fighting off the raiders and the monsters to preserve their lives, offering tribute to the dragon that had long ago destroyed their home. They suffered under the yoke of a cruel master, kept divided by our own prejudices and hatreds."
Dusky nodded solemnly. "Sounds a lot like when Equestria had to deal with Discord."
"Judging by historical accounts, an apt, if not perfect, comparison. Tapioca wanted to return to that age of cooperation, when ponies worked together and were the better for it. She wanted to see her people stop living in fear and hate, and to see them prosper. So, she began to train, and to fight, and to defend her village. Her influence grew, and she quickly turned her passion to others, organized them, training them to fight as well. She would unite all the disparate clans, and to do so, she needed a symbol. Something to give every pony pause when she entered a room."
Star traced a line through the air, from the distant capital city, to point at a distant mountain range. "The dragon. She went alone, not willing to risk the lives of her village in this gambit, and wanting to ensure her home remained defended, even if she died. There, they say, she confronted the eldest dragon and forced it to her will. She returned to her village triumphant, carrying a symbol of the dragon's oath with her, a pact that from that day on, the dragons would no longer interfere with the ponies who settled here. Tapioca was their chosen, blessed by the dragon to lead Ostfriesen into a golden age."
"Blessed by the dragon?" I pursed my lips. "It's... so is the dragon evil? Or, um... good? You make it sound like it was a monster, but then it sounds like Tapioca needed its blessing?"
"A little of both, perhaps. Surely, the truth of the dragon's motives, and how Tapioca overcame it has been mythologized, but to this day, the unbroken scale of a great black dragon rests behind the throne of the Queen. There is little doubt that it was given, not taken. Tapioca won the dragon's word through her valor. An earth pony overwhelming a dragon. That of itself is all we need to know." This was a matter of fact to Star, myths or rumors be what they were, it did not matter. Somehow, Tapioca had convinced the dragon to leave her people be. Though, by slaying it or convincing it, that much there was probably no one who could tell the truth.
Dusky paused a moment, then shook her head. "Saying you have an ancient dragon backing you would certainly help rally support."
"Not as much as she hoped. Still, it enabled her to forge an alliance with one of the unicorn cities upon the coast, combining their magic with her clan's strength. That army was enough to win her victory after victory, consolidating her power amongst the earth ponies and unicorns. At the end of her campaign, she turned her attention to the pegasi raiders in the north, but they had not been idle. This is where Bellerophon entered the story, a warlord who had been working in parallel to her, uniting the northern bandits into a military force to oppose Tapioca's rule."
I laughed nervously, assuming Bellerophon was listening in . "I, um... I guess we know how that turned out."
Star nodded. "Indeed. With the war ended, and the country united, Tapioca returned to Oasis, and began the construction of Ostfriesen Castle to serve as her new country's capital. On the ground level, the original oasis remains, and is open to all to visit. Since then, Ostfriesen's territory continues to grow. Year after year, we fight for every inch of land, seizing it and wrestling it under our control. In another thousand years, perhaps our descendants will have eliminated the Badlands altogether, and they may reach out to Equestria to trade in good faith across safe passages. That is the spirit that burns in the heart of our country today."
"It's certainly inspiring." I glanced down from the path into the valley once more. "You've done so much work to make it... to make it a home."
Star nodded. "Every adventurer, every knight, this is what they are fighting to defend. Our Oasis."
All the weight of that duty and history felt like it was crushing down on me. I lowered my head. "I... I'm sorry."
Star shook her head. "You should not be. You may have made a fine knight had you been born in Ostfriesen." She stepped over and set a hoof to my side. "You make a far better friend."
---
Be it from the patrols, the ring of forts with their adventurers and knights, or simply the magic that had tamed Ostfriesen within its borders, our journey along the highway went undisturbed by any kind of creatures. We’d moved swiftly through the countryside, traveling later than we’d dared before, and able to find camp when our exhaustion reached its limits. There were other travelers along the road as well, who greeted us respectfully, but otherwise left us to ourselves.
When we arrived at our next stop, the sun was just beginning to set. Starshadow named it Fort Mareginot, and it was much like Fort Rhenish had been, although everything here seemed grander, in a sense. It made me wonder what the capital must look like, the great white castle which rivaled Canterlot from a distance. I'd seen the interior, sort of, but that was just somepony else's memory of a thousand years ago. Had it changed? Did the heart of Ostfriesen reflect the variety of design that the ponies out on the frontier wore?
Everything here was so much like Equestria, but at the same time so very different. Alone on the streets walking towards the inn, I found myself facing a strange duality. I wanted to go home, but I wanted to see more. It was almost sad that we couldn't go down the Path of the Dragon, and see the capital of this country up close. Instead, we'd be moving north, back into the Badlands, and hopefully closer to Merri and not into more danger.
Most of the bounty we'd collected on the bulette was gone in Fort Rhenish, and so Star had pulled out a portion of her own wealth instead, dividing it up between Dusky and I. Dusky would be bartering for supplies, and I just had to get two rooms for the night.
The inn was similar to the Unfettered Ale back in Rhenish, the building built using heavy logs, but at a much larger scale. Inside, the building didn't open into a bar, but into a small lobby, with sitting areas raised up on either side of the main floor, where a couple groups sat around tables in quiet conversation.
A lone Earth pony sat behind the desk. His ruddy brown coat might have made him blend into the dark room, had it not been for the bright blue robe he wore. He glanced up as I closed the door behind me, shooting me a dark look as if I should know better than to disrupt his peace and quiet. His voice was gruff, and made it clear that I should not waste his time. "Need a room?"
I hesitated, still not quite sure how I was supposed to speak to ponies in Ostfriesen. "Err... well, yes, that is—"
"One hundred sovereigns."
I blinked. That was a little more expensive than I'd hoped, not to mention we'd wanted two rooms. "Well, that is, we uh, we need two rooms. One for um, Dame Solanum, and um, one for—"
"Two rooms? Two hundred sovereigns." His voice didn't change, and his eyes didn't leave mine.
"We're only in, um, in town for the night, and leave first thing in the morning, so um, we shouldn't be a problem. Just um, a knight and two apprentices..." I was starting to believe my argument wasn't going to get us anywhere, as the innkeeper continued to stare. "Err... we're heading north, so I guess the one room will have t—"
"North you say?" His demeanor shifted, as if I were an old friend he only just recognized. "I see, I see. You're going up to participate in the hunt then?"
"The... hunt?" I nearly panicked, letting slip that we were heading north. It seemed I was fairly fortunate that something else was happening in the north to cover my trail. I had to think fast. "I'm not sure. Um, Dame Solanum just said this was going to be very important.”
He snorted in disdain, but was still talking. “You’re just a rookie. You should be grateful to your master for having such insight to allow you to participate.”
“I, uh, well, yeah. Dame Solanum is very skilled, so um, I’m very lucky to have her as a, uh… a master…” I tried not to ramble, but it was never easy lying like this. Not to mention that I wasn't sure when I’d say something wrong, something that’d make it obvious that I wasn't from Ostfriesen, the whole conversation was taxing. “So um, what is this hunt anyways?”
“Hmph. You’ll find out soon enough, rookie.” He dug a hoof down under the counter, then grabbed a quill in his mouth and traced out something onto a scrap of paper. “Here. Two rooms. One-hundred sovereigns. Tell your master that you are amongst friends tonight.”
I started at the sudden price drop, unable to believe my luck. I dug the gold coins out of my saddlebag and set them on the counter. “Oh, um, thank you, sir. We’ll be on our way at, um, first light. So… no worries…” I took the scrap of paper and looked down at the symbol.
It was crudely drawn, an earth pony doing a quick sketch when drawing clearly wasn't his talent, but the design was obvious. A pegasus wing with a lance overlaying it. “My mark…” I said, or, my mouth said, but they weren't my words.
“What’s that?” The Innkeeper narrowed his eyes at me.
I took a moment to recover from Bellerophon’s slip, shaking my head. “Err, I said, um, odd mark.”
“Your master will understand. Make sure they see it, yes? Now run along.” He sat down and set about continuing whatever business he’d had before I entered.
I stared at the symbol a moment longer, then nodded and took the room keys, slipping the symbol and keys into my saddle bag. I’d wait outside the inn to meet up with Dusky and Star. It felt so familiar, but that wasn't me. It was all from Bellerophon, his emotions leaking through. I… I thought you weren't going to take control like that?
Bellerophon’s voice came back clearly. I did not mean to… I was simply shocked by that symbol. It is my own, my mark, and that means…
I nodded, Bellerophon confirming the suspicion I had as well. Th-the hunt… it’s not just a hunt. It’s them. The Heirs.
They are not my heirs. Bellerophon grew stern. And there is no hunt. It is the call to action. They are preparing to make their move. Time may be shorter than we’d feared.
R-right. I didn't like that tone. The last thing we needed was Bellerophon wanting to make this a crusade. We were only here to get Merri. Well… first, we need to tell Dusky and Star about this…
If the innkeeper is one of them, you may consider keeping a watch tonight.
I sighed. Dusky had been right to be cautious, even on the well-traveled paths. Ostfriesen was dangerous, and now we would be marching straight into the fire.