Starlight walked into Mortar.
Mortar was the name of the small town that she had intended to find answers in. Upon hearing the two wagon pullers, she waited before slowly making her way down the main road. As she neared, she could see the houses were less built with love and more out of necessity. More blocky than anything, each house seemed to be dull in colour, and the grey clouds above only made it seem drabber than it already was.
Ponies milled around, minding their own business. Only a few seemed to be smiling, and there was no where near enough cheerfulness and energy to combat that of Ponyville’s. Though it still felt somewhat homely, it was not a place Starlight would choose to live.
Then again, Our Town had once been even greyer and lackluster than this village, so she didn’t say anything.
She couldn’t seem to find anything that could lead her to somepony who knew about the ‘Ancient One’, and she was now attracting a lot of stares. With her cloak and saddlebags, she must’ve looked like some shady pony who had come with ill intent. Sighing to herself, she gently pulled back the hood from her head and watched the ponies around her ease up.
Frowning inside, she continued forward. She was here for one reason, and she intended to follow through. Looking around, she looked for signs of anypony who seemed important. Searching as well for the two stallions that she had stumbled upon, she trotted through the main streets of Mortar.
Tracks spotted the roads she walked on and most she could see were hoofprints. With one exception; fresh grooves of continuous and otherwise uninterrupted tracks marked some of the ground and she could only assume that this was from her two leads. Following the tracks, she couldn’t help but feel a bit happy that she was now closer to some answers. She didn’t come this far, only to be disappointed…
Right?
Starlight’s stomach grumbled, bringing Starlight out of her reverie. With a huff, Starlight moved to the side of the lanes ponies traveled on. Opening the clasp on one of her saddlebags, she was greeted with the precious image of nothing. Deadpanning and looking ahead with empty eyes, she closed the flap before moving to the other bag. Opening it up, she found her remaining rations, her as-of-yet untouched bag of bits, and some twine and small miscellaneous items. Hoofing the bag of bits, she fished out a few bits before looking around for a general grocer.
Eyeing a dried fruits and veggies stand, she put her saddlebags back on and walked over. “Hi there,” Starlight smiled. The vendor looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“You new around here, miss?” she asked after a few seconds of awkward silence. The question caught Starlight off guard.
“W-what?” Starlight stammered, and the purveyor smirked.
“I haven’t seen you around before, so I assumed as such, you know?” she stated, and Starlight gulped nervously before shrugging off the butterflies in her stomach.
“Heh, yeah. Just dropping by, I guess. So, um, can I have some dried potatoes, apples, and, uh, ‘the highest quality hay’?”
“Only the best,” the stall-mare rolled her eyes before getting the items for Starlight with her magic. Without thinking, Starlight looked at the shimmering glow of magic around the seller’s horn, forlornly thinking about her own situation. A feeling rushed through her chest and heated her up inside, and she took a deep breath before the unicorn mare turned around to set the requested items on the wooden dividing table between them. Unbeknownst to Starlight, she had seen Starlight looking at her horn.
“The name’s Dro. Just Dro, yep, and that’ll be 5 bits.” Having hoofed over the bits and popped a few of her replenished rations into her bags. As she was about to embark, Nim spoke up. “Hey, you never gave me your name.”
Turning around, Starlight sheepishly raised one corner of her mouth. “It’s Starlight. Starlight Glimmer.”
Before she could leave again, Dro nodded. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s wrong with your horn? I don’t see many unicorns like you still walking around when they have a hurt horn like that.”
Wincing, Starlight sighed before walking back up to the stall. “I… it’s broken. I broke it. When I use magic, it hurts like Tartarus burning through my mind… and it potentially makes it worse…” Sighing, Starlight turned her head to the side. “I’m looking for… for something. I needed to prove myself, I needed to heal myself, so I went on a journey, and now here I am, buying dried fruits and veggies because I nearly died and lost half of my stuff.
“I’ll probably never even find it…” Starlight finished. “I better get going. I have to find two dolts that might lead me to where I need to go.”
Dro hushed just as Starlight finally began to leave. “Do you mean Kamare-taj?” Starlight froze in her tracks, turning once again to face the vendor.
“How did you know?” Starlight inquired hesitantly.
“Intuition, and the whole ‘self healing’ thing you went on about,” Dro said, and Starlight neared her with hope in her eyes.
“Do you know what it is?” Starlight asked quietly.
“Not what,” Dro said, “Where.”
With a spark of joy in her mind, Starlight smiled. “Do you know where it is?”
“Not exactly, and I doubt you’ll get answers from the two stallions you’re talking about. All they do is transport things back and forth to a drop off point. They probably know less about why they're even transporting goods than you would think,” Dro explained. “As for me… well, I knew somepony a long time ago. A very good friend of mine… she got herself hurt in some fashion like you did and went on her own ‘journey’.
“She came back to town a while ago, and believe me when I say she was a completely different mare, yet the exact same,” Dro finished. “All I know is: it’s a place nestled between the mountains and the hoof-hills, and the cost to get there is high.”
“Thank you, thank you!” Starlight whispered gladly, catching Dro by surprise by hugging her.
“Whoa, watch it!” Dro called and Starlight let go.
“Sorry, I’ll leave now,” Starlight nodded, and briskly made her way once again to the roads leading out of town. Slowing down just a few hooves away, she turned around once more. “How can I ever repay you?”
“Just come back for me, how about, hm?” Dro smiled, waving. “It might seem strange, but watch for the signs! Stay safe, my friend.”
Waving a hoof as well, Starlight breathed in deeply, rejuvenated from the tiny spark the mare had so willingly given. With her mindset renewed, she began to follow the roads and soon found herself at the edge of town. Once again seeing nothing but the vastness of nature ahead of her and the sounds of a bustling town behind her, she smiled.
“Looks like we’re making progress, girls,” Starlight whispered, holding the crystal around her neck in one hoof.
“We’re almost there.”