Chapter 5. Getting to know you. Ragnarok. A new Village.
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Matthew got off of Sarah and looked at the broken bridge “Now I wonder what caused this?” Matthew asked himself as he walked over towards the broken bridge.
“What’s wrong?” Applejack asked getting off the wagon and seeing the broken bridge.
“Seems something broke through the bridge.” He said looking back at Applejack “We can’t cross here, we’ll have to keep heading down this beach till we reach a shallow crossing.”
“Is that a good idea?” Applejack asked.
Matthew climbed back up onto Sarah “It’s fine, I think the storm knocked out the bridge, we are still safe on the beach so don’t worry.” He said as they continued down the beach.
“Are ya sure somethin’ didn’t take out that bridge?” Applejack asked.
“Might be a Bronto.” Matthew said “They tend to try and cross the bridges and they break them.”
“What’s a Bronto?” Applejack asked.
“It’s a herbivore, very big, has a long neck and tail. Harmless.” Matthew said “I’ve been telling the tribes they need to reinforce these bridges so the bronto’s won’t break them.”
They moved down the beach “About that letter, what was that about?” Applejack asked.
“Seems my father is alive.” Matthew said not even caring “The letter is encrypted, the pictures are the keys to unlocking the true message.”
“Aren’t ya happy ta know ya dad is alive?” Applejack asked.
“The handwriting on the letter looks like my fathers but I don’t think he’s alive.” Matthew said “We all saw his ship sink.”
“What if he is alive?” Applejack asked.
“Then I’ll have to punch him in the jaw.” Matthew said “Oh I bought this for you.” Matthew changed the subject and pulled out a book from his bag “It’s a journal.”
“Ya got me a journal?” Applejack asked as she notices an apple on the front of the book.
“Everyone on this island has a journal.” Matthew said “You can use it to write your journey or even use it as a guide to what you find in this world.”
“Thanks, once Ah get on my feet Ah’ll pay ya back.” Applejack said looking at Matthew with a smile.
“Don’t worry about, I’m happy to help anyone who needs it.” Matthew said with a smile.
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Amber walked through the jungle with her paper and chalk.
“Do you really have to follow me?” Amber asked Kate who was following her.
“Matthew did want me to make sure you were safe in my jungles.” Kate said “Plus I want to know more about these symbols.”
“If I find a way off this world I better get credit!” Amber said “I think these ruins here might be it.” Amber said as she notices the ruins.
“Alright, let’s see what we can fine.” Kate said walking past Amber.
The two searched the stone ruins, What felt like hours of searching Amber found what she was looking for “Kate! Found it!”
Kate rushed over towards Amber “Woah.” Amber notices the stones were carved just like the symbol “What does it mean?”
“Means these ruins are connected to the center! Which means the map that I’m gonna buy is real!” Amber started jumping up and down with joy “I’m gonna need to tell Matthew the good news!” Amber took off running leaving Kate standing there.
Kate pulled out a few pictures and notices the symbol in one of the pictures “What have you found father.”
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Matthew stopped as he saw a group of people with spears and guns walking along the beach.
“Are we gonna be alright?” Applejack asked concerned.
“Yeah, we will be fine.” Matthew said “They might be keeping the area clear from carnivores.”
“Is there any tribes around here?” Applejack asked.
“There are smaller tribes but the bigger tribes keep them in check.” Matthew said “Small groups go out hunting in areas they feel safe at.”
They watched as the group went into the woods. Applejack notices Matthew keeping his hand on his pistol as they walked.
The sun slowly began to set as they came to the next checkpoint. Matthew began setting up a campfire as Applejack tended to the animals.
“We should be at Drayo's Cove by tomorrow afternoon.” Matthew said as he notices a few ships anchored off the cost.
“What are those ships doing?” Applejack asked.
“Those are diving ships, they dive and collect resources from the ocean along with searching wreck ships that are sunk by Leedsichthys.” Matthew said.
“There is a fish that sinks ships?” Applejack asked shocked.
“Yeah, however some of the tribes have made traps for them or found ways to scare them away from the ships till they are out in open waters where it doesn’t roam.” He said placing some food in a pot.
“Is this whole world just trying to kill everyone?” Applejack asked.
“Well yeah.” Matthew chuckled “Everyone is fighting to survive in this world, if the dino’s aren’t trying to kill you, then it’s the rogue tribes trying to kill you.” Matthew kept an eye on the forest “With the bigger tribes keeping peace however it’s rare to find people being killed by rogue tribes.”
Applejack sat down near the fire to try and get warm as the cold air slowly started to come in.
“Yet ya seem ta be worried about the ones hunting right now.” Applejack said “Since ya spotted them ya been watching the forest and keeping your hand on ya gun.”
Matthew looked at Applejack “Before the bigger tribes formed a truce on the island there was a tribe that would kill and steal from the smaller tribes.” Applejack could see anger building up in his eyes “I just started out as a trader and when I went to the smaller tribes I saw villages destroyed and bodies everywhere, those who paid never got hit till they couldn’t pay no more.” Matthew looked at the food cooking “The bigger tribes soon felt the hit and they worked together and drove them back to their hiding place and they were either killed or locked away.” Matthew looked back out at the forest line “I have trust issues with the smaller tribes since most of them are from the tribe that killed people, you never know if they have changed.”
“Understandable, ya don’t want what happened in the past ta happen again.” Applejack said.
“When we reach Drayo's Cove I’ll give you some coins so you can explore and if you find something you want you can buy it while I’m unloading these crates.” Matthew said.
“Ah’m gonna have ta repay ya back for everythin’ ya done for me.” Applejack said.
“No need, I know how hard it can be for newcomers to the island.” Matthew walked over to the other side of the wagon and opened up a small crate and pulled out a bottle “A guy I knows makes these drinks that are pretty good, it will give you a buzz.” He said walking back over and pouring her a glass “He mixes beer with berries and his own herbs and have made a killing off it.”
“Does he charge you?” Applejack asked taking the glass and looking at the liquid.
“I get a discount since I’m the one who brought him the herbs.” Matthew took a sip of his drink “So, before coming here what did you do?” Matthew asked.
“Ah ran my family’s farm.” Applejack said as she took a sip of her drink. Her eyes widen as her taste buds were given a pleasure of sweetness. Matthew chuckled.
“That’s the magic of the herb, brings out the sweetness in the berries making them really good.” Matthew said.
“Ya friend really out did himself, if Ah could get my hands on that herb back home my hard cider would be in higher demand.” Applejack said taking another sip and letting the liquid wash over her taste buds.
“From what I can remember from one of the pony members here, your world is run by a princess right?” Matthew asked making sure his facts were right.
“Yeah, Princess Celestia, she rules our kingdom but soon a new ruler is gonna be taking over, my friend Twilight has been helping her get ready for the throne.” Applejack said.
“Oh, is she of royal blood?” Matthew asked.
“She is not, she was adopted by Celestia and have been living at the castle all her life. Celestia believes she’s ready yet she feels she’s not.”
“Well ruling a kingdom is kinda hard for some.” Matthew said as she checked on their stew “You know, it just now hit me, you're a pony, and I’ve been feeding you meat.”
Applejack chuckled “We eat meat in my world, we have humans in our world like yourself but they have their own kingdom and live far, ever since our two kingdoms came together and we tried some of their food we enjoyed the taste, however there are some who stay with the veggies.”
Matthew chuckled “And you enjoyed the taste of meat?” He asked.
“Ah couldn’t complain when Ah was given the chance to taste it.” Applejack said “Ah mean from what Twilight said, before we became who we are, our kind did hunt to survive before we switched to plants.”
“Seems your friend Twilight is very smart.” Matthew said as she poured some of the stew into some bowls “Are your kind more Anthropology or do you all walk on all fours?”
“Anthro what?” Applejack asked confused.
“It means human like, tho that’s what I’m told.” He said taking a bite of his stew.
“Well he have fingers but we don’t have feet, we have hoofs and fur.” Applejack said.
“Matthew!” The two looked up to see Amber flying towards them.
“I see Amber found us.” Matthew watched as she landed and rushed over to the two of them.
“I found it!” She placed the piece of paper down “I have found the symbol!”
Matthew lifted up the paper and looked at the symbol “And what does this prove?”
“The map is gonna lead us to Ragnarok!” Amber said sitting down “Kate thinks your dad's letter is the key to where he is.”
“Ragawhat?” Applejack asked confused.
“Ragnarok, it’s supposed to be an island filled with more history than this island and the center. It is said it holds a key to leaving.” Matthew said handing the paper back to Amber “There is no proof it exists.”
“The old man who lives in the swap claims to be from there, we should visit him.” Amber said.
“Yeah no, I’m not going into the swap and getting myself sick over a wild goose chase.” Matthew said going back to eating his stew.
“I’m still confused.” Applejack said.
“Years ago this guy washed up on the shores claiming he was from a place called Ragnarok. The old guy built his home in the swap and it’s filled with traps, you can either get sick from the leeches or get killed by his traps.” Matthew said “Just stick with your map.”
“We can fly over and land, his traps won’t stop us from flying over.” Amber said trying to use her puppy dog eyes to convince him to change his mind.
“No, I’m putting my foot down! You can go but I’m not.” Matthew said “If you want some stew you can have some.”
“Fine, be mean.” Amber sat down and got herself a bowl of stew “Maybe I’ll get Kate to go.”
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Grant was walking through his fort with papers in his hands and a smile on his face.
“Sir! We seem to be having an issue!” A guy said rushing up to Grant.
“What’s going on?” Grant asked looking at the guy.
“We are getting strange cracks and heat coming from them.” The guy said “We don’t know what’s going on.”
“Take me to cracks.” Grant said.
The two made their way out of the fort and walked towards the cracks. Grant felt the heat “Seems this mountain is a volcano.” Grant looked at the guy “We are moving, get all Dino's ready, we are not gonna stick around when this mountain blows.”
The guy took off running. Grant looked at the steam coming from the cracks “Wonder why it’s now acting up?” He asked out loud as he went back to his fort.
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The next morning Amber took off to the town as Applejack and Matthew went the long way.
Applejack saw the town and was in awe, she could see ships docked and a lot of people walking around selling things and so many dinosaurs roaming around. She couldn’t believe how many people were roaming around.
“Amber said she would show you around while I make the delivery.” Matthew said getting off of Sarah.
“Are ya sure ya don’t need help unloading?” Applejack asked.
“Nah, mostly just dropping off the crates, they will have guys take them off for me.” He said “Here is the coins, Amber should be in the Pteranodon pens, just follow the signs and you’ll find her.” Applejack took the coins.
“Alright, Ah’ll see ya later.” Applejack said walking down the path leaving Matthew alone with the dinosaurs.
“Alright you three, stay close and don’t wander off, I’m mostly talking to you Firebrand.” Matthew said patting the Equus head.
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To Be Continued.