//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: When Worlds Collide 
// Story: A Vacation in Romaneia 
// by The_Last_Centurion 
//------------------------------//

This story is a fan-fiction of MLP:FiM. I don't own any of it. It belongs to Hasbro, etc, etc. 
Don't sue. Seriously. That would be so uncouth. 


Chapter 2: When Worlds Collide


Twilight woke up in her small-cushion bed with a kink in her neck. She grimaced and stretched, getting up slowly in the dark wooden room. She wondered how anypony could sleep like that, in a small layer of cushions on an unforgiving floor. She rose to her hooves a little upset from her harsh night's sleep. She felt fully rested, but couldn't get the sick and persistant feeling out of her head.
The feeling had started within her dreams. The dreams, more like nightmares, had plagued her sleep, yet she did not wake up once. The dreams were especially strange in that Twilight actually remembered them. Usually the memories disappeared with the morning sunlight, but theses nightmares had stuck in her mind making her wonder their meaning. Were they just figment of her imagination, or could they be something more? Twilight had never been superstitious, but these dreams, they were too....real.
In these nightmares Twilight felt alone and trapped in a long plane of darkness. Then she felt herself traveling quickly though the plane without moving one hoof. Then she was jerked back and stopped while a bright, harsh white light shone down onto her from above. 
In the dream, Twilight cringed at the light, and opened them up when the light started to get hot. She saw herself in the center of an illuminated circle, surrounded by the darkness she had been in. Then she heard a squeaking and a rolling as a metal gurney rolled into the illuminated circle. There was the old mare's body on it, its face turned directly at Twilight. Twilight tried to run in horror, but was frozen in place by some power of her dream. She eventually calmed down enough to stare at the face without total horror. That was true until the body spoke.
The dead mare's eyes were clouded, but her eyelids blinked over them. She coughed and started to speak in Romaneian. Twilight tried to scream, but a force blocked out her voice, much like the force holding her rooted to the ground. The mare spoke quickly and fluently, but Twilight couldn't understand a word she said.
“Please,” Twilight cried. “leave me alone!”
The dead mare shut her mouth and glared at Twilight.
“No.” she said in Equestrian, with a little pout. “Not, until the debt is paid.”
“What debt? Why don't you leave me alone???”
Other gurneys rolled into the light. They were the others from the General's slaughter, all holding the same black body bags. Twilight almost fainted when the body bags started moving, and then corpses burst from them. Many were younger stallions, but then there were the odd elderly stallions and mares. Twilight was horrified when a young filly and colt burst from a bag. She started to scream as the corpses climbed off of their gurneys and started to stumble towards Twilight. She closed her eyes in fear and screamed louder and harder.
She kept at it until a corpse said “Shut up.” as they passed her. She opened her eyes and shut her mouth as she saw all the corpses surrounding the old mare.
“Baba, baba. Baba Yaga.” they said as they greeted her.
“Hello, my friends, my brothers, my sisters.” the dead mare said to all the corpse-ponies. “Make space so I can see her.” she said to the corpses who obediently obliged, flocking behind the old mare so she could view Twilight once again. Many of the corpses did so solemnly, but quickly, wanting to please the mare. From the looks in their dead faces, they respected the mare reverently.
“I will not leave you until the debt has been paid.” the mare repeated.
“Please, I don't owe you anything!!!!! Just leave me alone!!!”
The mare shook her head. “It is not you who must pay a debt....”
The dead mare's words were the last Twilight head before she woke. 
Twilight tried to dismiss the dreams, any way she could. This entailed her creating a small aura around her horn so she could see in the darkened room. She looked around the room as it was splashed with a faint purple light. 
The room was completely wooden, except for where Twilight had slept and a small rug in the center of the room. She looked up and found the red lamp hanging down from the curved ceiling by chains that extended to each corner of the room. Instead of lighting it, she just looked at it. It was ornately made, with intricate textures and lines running through the red glass and gold-colored metal that held it. 
In fact, everything in the room seemed to follow the gold and red colors of the lamp. Twilight looked to the blanket she used last night, it was a deep red. The carpet underneath the lamp, again red with a gold trim and golden lattice-work running through its circular shape. Even the drapes that hung from the otherwise bare walls were dark red with golden tassels. She chuckled as she wondered what Rarity would think of this. 
Rarity. The other mares. Spike. She cringed as the initial thought of Rarity leaped to her friends and her number one missing assistant. Would she ever see them again? She pondered this as she felt pangs of sadness. She let her horn go dark as tears came down her cheeks. She sobbed in the darkness, until a sound came from outside. 
Light pinging of metal guitar strings created notes of beauty that soothed her. She started to feel even better when she hear some drums enter in, then a tambourine, then the unmistakeable sound of an accordion, then what sounded like a violin. She smiled when she heard a familiar rough voice enter into the song, singing in Romaneian. They played for what seemed like an eternity to Twilight, and she found that her mood was getting lighter. She even smiled when Red Star sang something in Romaneinan that made all the musicians stop playing and start laughing boisterously. Twilight was infected by the mood and had to see what they were laughing about.
Relighting her horn, she found the heavy wooden door and opened it. She covered her eyes to the mid-day sun and took a step out of the shelter. Her hooves faltered as they hit nothing but air, and she tumbled to the ground, landing hard in a small, cold mud puddle.
The laughing increased as the musicians spotted her and started pointing and laughing. Twilight was dazed from the fall, so she looked at what she had fallen out of. To her it looked like Trixie's caravan, but to the gypsy ponies it looked like home. In fact, there were wagons like that all around them. It looked like the wagons extended out into a half-circle from the one she had just fallen out of.
The caravan was made entirely out of wood, except for the door hinges and the cross-braces on the wheels. The wheels were made of wood too, but immense in size, elevating the wagon high off the ground. At its front, there were two long planks of wood that would allow ponies to pull the home. Twilight immediately saw the steps coming down from the door to the ground and realized how stupid she had just looked. She blushed in embarrassment as she looked back to Red Star and the musicians who were still laughing. They were sitting up against another caravan, under a homemade awning that drooped from the caravan's roof. There was six of them, four five stallions including Red Star and one mare. 
Red Star strode over to Twilight with a smile and one of his signature cigarettes put behind one of ears. He extended a hoof to Twilight, who took it gratefully. She was lifted to her hooves, shivering from the cold mud, and Red Star walked around her, inspecting her. She blushed under his gaze.
“Good, you are not hurt. Come now Twilight Sparkle.” he said jerking his head back to the smiling musical ponies. “ Soon you will be helping us, so it would be wise to meet my friends.” he said.
Twilight was confused about what he meant about 'helping them' but Red Star turned around quickly and walked back to his friends before she could ask him. She followed him mutely until she stood shyly in front of the other ponies. 
Red Star addressed the musicians. The only thing Twilight could understand from his quick Romaneinan was 'in Equestrian'. The musicians nodded in understanding some even muttering “Ahh. Ok.”
Then Red Star switched back to Equestrian. “Comrades, this is Twilight Sparkle.”
The ponies looked at her interested. 
“What kind of name is Twilight Sparkle?” asked the stallion holding a small drum.
He had a light tan coat, a salt and pepper mane, and was obviously oblivious. The way he said it made Twilight shift uncomfortably, remembering bad memories from magic kindergarten. But the mare of the group who held the tambourine came to her rescue.
The pegasi mare had a windswept blue coat and an orange mane that was cut short, yet still feminine.
“Crashed Cymbal! So rude you are, you little schmuck!” she said slapping the stallion on the shoulder before getting into an argument with him, shouting in Romaneian at him.
“Forgive the younger fools Miss. Sparkle.” said the elderly pegasi stallion who held the violin. His coat was a deep blue and his mane was a sharp white. 
“My name is Grafted Scroll.” he finished.
“This group of foals are my closest friends. They will help you out if you can not find me, as long as you decide to help us.”
“Wha...”
Red Star quickly pointed to the ponies, introducing them.
“You met Grafted Scroll, yes? He plays our violin. That quiet one over there is Squeeze Box.” he said pointing to a smaller stallion who held an accordion. He had a slick black mane and mustache with a hat like Red Star's. However, his horn still managed to poke out from underneath it. His coat was a muddy-gold. He waved at Twilight sheepishly.
“He doesn't know much equestrian, but can play the accordion great. That one in the back” he said pointing to a lounging stallion in the back of the group. He looked up at the sky and seemed distant, yet still plucked the strings on his guitar out of muscle memory. His coat was a shiny brown and his mane was black with specks of gold in it. 
“That one is String Saddle. He is often like that drifting off. Such foolishness...” he said as her took off his hat and scrunched it up into a ball. Then he threw it, hitting String Saddle in the face.
“Oy, baybak! Get up, greet my guest.” 
String Saddle sat up and waved to Twilight. “Don't hkang around him for too long. He's a meshugener.” the guitar playing pony warned.
“Oh yeah?” Red Star said challengingly. 
String Saddle put down the guitar and walked right up to him. He threw the hat square in his face. 
“Yeah.” the cocky stallion said, before Red Star pulled threw him to the ground. Twilight was shocked by the behavior. She was even more surprised when she was picked up from the middle and pulled away from the ground, as the stallions rolled in a fighting mess where she once was. 
Twilight looked behind her to see Grafted Scroll holding her. He flew her over to where the other ponies were watching the spectacle and gently let her down.
“Again,” Grafted said. “I apologize for the way they act. Youth....” he said with a shake of his head, a shadow of a grin coming over his face.
Twilight looked at the two stallions. The rolled around in the mud and grass of the clearing throwing punches and kicks. They looked like they were trying to kill each other.
“Shouldn't we stop them?”
“Why? We both know that Red will win.” said Crashed Cymbal.
“Nu. String vill win. I have been training with him.” said the pegasi mare proudly.
“Perhaps you have not met my daughter, hmmm?” Grafted said loudly to Twilight, drawing the pegasus's attention.
“Oh, I am Streaking Comet.” she said extending a hoof. Twilight took it and almost had her leg shaken off. Streaking Comet didn't stop because she was watching the fight. 
“Oh! Look String vill vin!” she said excitedly as he landed a loud blow on Red Star.
“You want to bet on that?” Crashed said slyly. 
Streaking dropped Twilight's hoof to her relief.
“Sure. 40 bits String vins.” 
“40 he doesn't.” 
“Deal.” both ponies said as they shook hands. Then they started cheering loudly for their bet-pony in Romaneinan.
“Are you sure we shouldn't stop this?” Twilight whispered to Grafted. She was deathly afraid somepony would get hurt, but the gypsies around her seemed not to care about the seriousness of it. Two even had bets on the fight for Celestia's sake!
Grafted shook his head. “Don't worry. They do this all the time.” he said as he sat back down and picked up his violin. He started to tune it with all the care in the world.
“But somepony could get hurt!”
He arched an eyebrow and looked at her, paused in his tuning. “Pfft. You think this is a true fight? We gypsies are resilient. As the legends say 'You can not kill a gypsy by cutting him into ten pieces, you only make ten more gypsies.'”
Twilight muttered “What?” as Grafted went back to tuning his violin. Then he picked up his bow and started to play a soft, sad tune that carried on the wind.
Twilight watched the fight while listening to the tune. Was this really how they lived? It eluded Twilight how a group of ponies who made such beautiful music could be so violent. She soon saw the fight slow down and both ponies stop since they were out of breath. String was the first to rise from the ground, covered in mud and grass.
“Old one! Play something better suited to a fight! Love songs don't work!” he said cupping his hooves to his mouth. 
Red Star hopped up behind him and put him into a headlock. “You idiot. Love songs are songs about fighting!”
String rolled, taking Red down to the ground again, yet he was still trapped. “How so?” he croaked out, his face starting to turn blue.
Twilight couldn't help but giggle. Here were two grown stallions carrying on a conversation about love songs while they were fighting!
“You always fight loneliness or sadness with a love song. Thus they are about fighting.” Red Star explained as he sat back, putting more pressure on String's head. String's eyes bulged and he reached up and patted his hooves on Red Star's legs. Red Star released him. String sat up and breathed deeply while Red Star stood up and brushed himself off. Crashing and Streaking engaged in a loud argument in Romaneian, most likely over the bits they bet. 
Red Star strode over to Twilight and removed the cigarette that miraculously was still behind his ear. 
“Would you mind, frumos?” he said breathing deeply and wagging the cigarette in front of her. 
Twilight sighed and just went with it. She produced a small flame and Red lit his cigarette.
He took a deep drag, then breathed out a volley of smoke that would rival any dragon's breath.
“Vă multmesc, frumos.”
“Are you done now?”
“Why are you so angry frumos? I just won a fight!” Red said flexing.
“Can we just get moving. You keep on saying I'm going to be 'helping' you and 'working' with your friends.”
“Yes! So you are eager to help!”
“Not really.” Twilight replied coldly, putting out the cigarette with magic. “I just want to get Spike to safety.” she said feeling a pang of sadness when she thought about him. She needed to work as fast as possible. Spike might have been able to be tough in the face of danger for Twilight, but she knew he was still a baby dragon. She shuddered at the thought of what conditions Spike could be facing right now.
Red Star frowned at the cigarette and put it back behind his ear. Then he and the rest of his friends, even String Saddle followed him towards a larger caravan at the end of the half-circle. 
“Come Twilight Sparkle. You will learn of what we do, and why you will want to help us. Not only for your friend, but out of goodness of your heart.”
“Horse-apples.” 
“Hmm? Did you say something?”
“I said 'can't wait to help.'”
“Very nice!” he said as he trotted up the steps of the caravan and opened up the door. Twilight sullenly followed him and his friends inside.
The inside was much like that of the one Twilight had slept in, except for three very big exceptions. One, this room was green. Like Twilight's caravan, it had drapes, a rug, cushions, and a lamp hanging above the center of the room, but instead of red and gold, it was green and black. Second, there was a table in the center of the room that sat on top of the rug, but below the lamp. It was tall enough that ponies could sit around it on cushions and see what was on it quite comfortably. Third, the walls and table were covered in maps. There were different maps everywhere. Some were political, showing Romaneia's borders, some topographic, showing the mountains on Romaneia's western border and then the decreasing altitude of the land as it moved eastward. However, most of the maps showed routes marked out in red, with markings like red circles and writing in Romaneian. 
Red Star and his friends sat around the table, Red sitting at the head of the table. Twilight followed suit, sitting down at the corner of the table next to him and Grafted Scroll.
He had a serious demeanor on his face and he looked at Squeeze Box.
“What do you have for us today?”
Squeeze unrolled a map and spread it out over the table. It was a road map of Romaneia and it had large red circles all over it. It also had a little Romaneian scribbled next to the circles. Some of the circles closer to the western border were crossed out and there were numbers next to them. 
Squeeze cleared his throat and started to speak in rapid Romaneian. Red Star nodded every so often and sometimes spoke back, his voice less friendly, but more serious and down-to-business. Occasionally, their friends would speak up, getting wither a curt nod or a head shake and a few words from Red Star.
Twilight couldn't understand a word of their conversation, so she just looked at the map trying not to be rude. She looked around a little bored at the circles. They were spread out along all the side roads, but were never on the main roads and there were a lot of them. Twilight thought this was strange. What could the circles be? Toll booths? No, there would be some on the main roads too. Stops that the gypsy ponies made? Why were they crossed out then? She looked at the map and found the city She and Spike had arrived in yesterday. She felt pangs of pain when she thought about Spike, but she pushed the thoughts aside as she tried to trace where they were. She found the main road out of Oatadea and tried to follow it, but it led straight to Clip-Nacloppa. Twilight quickly found the scale of the map and did some quick math in her head. If the bus she was on was going to Clip-Nacloppa, she would've never been here. She would have been to Clip-Nacloppa before the sun had even started to sink in the sky. So where had that bus been going?
Twilight put a hoof under her chin and looked at the other roads leading out of Oatadea and tried to find the one she and Spike had traveled on last night. Finally, she found one that might have been it. She traced it until it hit one of the red circles. She quickly did the math, and found that they had  stopped at the red circle. The red circles! That's what they were! Those horrible checkpoint-buildings, they were all over Romaneia. Then why were some of them crossed out? Twilight had to know.
She stood up and placed a hoof on the sinister red circle and spoke up. 
“This was where Spike and I were last night. If we hurry, do you think he could still be there?” she asked the group. The stared up at her blankly and then at each other a little guiltily. Twilight had assumed that Red had told them her story.
“Miss. Sparkle, I do not think your brother will be there.” said Grafted Scroll.
“Why?” she almost cried.
“Twilight, they would have taken him to the capital by now.” Red spoke up, gently and openly. 
“But we haven't done anything! Please, we need to check there! Please!” she pleaded, tears starting to spill from her eyes. Red Star took a long look at her and then broke out into a large smile.
“What do you say comrades? Infiltrate this one?”
“Well it's the closest to the capital we've ever done.” said Grafted a little apprehensively. 
“Yes, but that will just send a message!” replied String Saddle.
“I don't know, I might have to agree with the old one here.” said Crashing Cymbals. “We could go after it when the rest of our caravan comes back.”
“I say we strike hard and fast! They von't know vhat got zem!” interjected Streaking Comet. 
Red sat with a hoof pawing at his chin. “Squeeze, how long will it be until Golden Sickle and the rest of the caravan comes back from the shanty town?” 
Squeeze tried his best Equestrian. “Fffffffoure dais.” 
“And what of the checkpoint?”
“Aafffter Twii...” Squeeze made a face at Crashing and Streaking who were giggling at his bad Equestrian. He dropped trying to speak the language and switched back to his own. He spoke rapidly, and Red Star went back to stroking his chin.
“What did he say?” Twilight whispered to Grafted Scroll.
“The guard detail has been increased by two-fold. However, their building is still not at full operation, thanks to your little adventure.” 
Grafted finished his translation and looked at Twilight with a little doubt. 
“Listen Miss. Sparkle.”
“Just call me Twilight.”
“Alright, Twilight, I can assure your brother is not there. It is valiant you want to save him, and make no mistake, we will. But, we can't go there right now. We don't have the pony-power, and we can't afford to lose anyone here.”
Twilight was confused. “Why are you talking about it like we're going to attack the place? I was thinking we just sneak in and save Spike.”
Red Star brightened at Twilight's words. 
“Yes, yes. Very good plan Twilight. We will sneak in and liberate the 'goods' along with her brother.”
“Goods?” 
“Do not worry about this Twilight, it is not your concern.”
“If she's going to be helping us, it is her concern.” Grafted said to Red Star sternly.
“Not now Grafted......”
“NO!” Twilight screamed at Red, tears streaking her face.
“This is my brother, MY BROTHER! I need to know what you're doing before you end up endangering both of us, because you're too busy looking for 'goods' then I won't help you!”
“I am sorry Twilight, but it is none of your concern.”
“SHUT UP!” Twilight shouted, her horn starting to glow. “How dare you put simple materials in front of anypony's life. HOW DARE YOU! Do you know I have half a mind to do to you what I did to that building?”
Red Star looked at Twilight with a scowl at first, but then looked at her horn and a little fear came into his eyes. Not terror, but fear from understanding that this was no push-over mare. He sighed.
“Fine. The 'goods' we speak of. They are things we need for our cause. Medical supplies, food, blankets, military documents, weapons. We need them. I am sorry I put them before your brother's life, but to me these things are more important.” he said methodically and bluntly.
Twilight was shocked. A cause? She could understand a cause would need food and blankets, especially out here, but weapons and military documents? What kind of cause would.......
“You're Gogol.” Twilight said with sudden realization.
“Yes.”
“And your leading a revolution?”
“Again yes.”
“Why?”
Red Star looked up at her as if she was crazy. “You ask me these things you should already know Twilight Sparkle. You have seen the death they create, the pain. They have even separated you and your brother.”
“But they thought we were spies, because of your operation.”
“You do not understand. You do not live in our country. We Roma, we gypsies, we see everything.”
“Then tell me.” Twilight crossed her hooves in front of her chest. Crashing and streaking looked  at each other with pained expressions on their faces while Squeeze looked at the ground and shuffled uneasily. String Saddle glared at her while Red gave her a muddled look.
“Are you sure you could handle these truths, Twilight Sparkle?” Grafted asked in a wizened voice.
“I am a bearer of an Element of Harmony. I don't approve of this revolution” she spat “But if it means I can save Spike, then I will help. But, I need to know both sides of the story.”
String Saddle gave out a rough laugh. “Both sides? There is only one side of this story and it is paved with bodies.” 
“There is always two sides to a story.” Twilight said, pouting a little.
“Tell that to the dead you fool!” he screamed at her in anger. He stood up from the table and headed towards the door. He opened the wooden door, but held it as he cast a glance to Red. “This is why I told you to leave her. She does not know, nor will she ever. This is our world and she is just visiting.” he said coldly before leaving. The door slammed shut and shook the caravan. Everypony in the room except for Twilight looked at the ground in sadness. 
“Well, why are you creating a revolution?” Twilight asked after she regained her composure.
“Shut up.” Red said without remorse. Twilight was shocked at what he just said, but when he looked up at her with tears brimming in his eyes she realized the gravity of what she had just done.
“W...What?” Twilight asked feeling very small.
Red took a ragged breath. Then he leaned his head back and closed his eyes as tears came out from the sides of his eyelids. He sat like that for a minute, before pulling his head back down to face the ground, never opening his eyes once. He lifted his hoof to his ear, and then waggled his cigarette in front of Twilight.
Twilight lit it without complaint and Red took a drag. He breathed out a long smokey breath and then began to speak.
“String Saddle has felt the worst of this world. Neigh, we all have. Us Roma, we...we have had such pain in our own land. It is not right.”
“It all started with my father's father. It was in his time when the rulers turned against us. They were once kings, and loving kings too. But then one rose to the throne when my grandfather was a boy. He was narcissistic and greedy.”
“We Roma by nature are a free people. We travel throughout our homeland. We are, how do you say, nomads, yes? The greedy king he wanted power and a capital he said 'the other countries should be proud of'. So he looked for workers. He started off with his subjects.”
“But the city we landed in, Oatadea, it was beautiful. It looked like a utopia.” Twilight said sadly.
“Hah. Looks can be deceiving, yes? That is part of the kingdom's debauchery. But back to the past, we will catch up to the present in just a moment. Back to the subjects. The king, he enslaved all the ponies above a certain age to work for him. When he was king, he had them mine for the strong marble and granite to the east for his battlements. But now it is much worse. The king's son took over when I was young, and he is all his father was and worse. He is more than greedy. He is coldblooded and power-mad.”
“I understand how you are worried for your country, but the gypsies sound like the buffalo in Equestria.”
“Buffalo?”
“Yes, they live alongside ponykind, and they are much like gypsies from what you tell me.”
Red was quiet for a minute as he took another drag on his cigarette. “You do not know how lucky you are to live in a land of true freedom. My grandfather's father's people could be called the last truly free Roma.”
“But you're nomads. You can escape from the king!”
“We can run, but we can not run forever. Even the strong winter winds must sleep in the summer. But at first we did. We ran from the king and his forces. My father and his generation of Roma, they even tried to fight back, but not in the way we do. They sought a peaceful solution.”
“Then he was doing it right!”
“YOU KNOW NOT OF WHAT YOU SPEAK!” Red screamed as he stood up. He breathed heavily and stared at her in pure fury. Twilight shrunk back, thinking she would be hit, but she bumped into somepony. She squirmed around to find she was being loosely held by Grafted.
“Do not do something stupid Roşu Stea.” he said to Red calmly.
Red took one last angry breath in through his nose and then turned to the rest of his friends.
“OUT!” he shouted. The all rose silently and left, casting worried glances back Red as they left. Red breathed hard and then took the longest drag on his cigarette, pulling it down to a stub. He tossed on the floor and stepped it out, holding his breath. Then he released a dragon's breath, calming down as the smoke cleared.
Grafted sat Twilight back down, but with in hoofs reach, just in case. Red stayed standing, and he started pacing around. He did this for a few minutes, his mouth working silently the whole time. Twilight could only guess what he was saying, until he stopped and pointed a hoof at her.
“You want to know the truth? Then do not talk. Listen until there is nothing left. Then listen some more. You will learn something, perhaps. So quiet.”
Twilight nodded her head and Red sighed, walked back to his cushion-seat, and sat down.
“My father was doing what many ponies would see as the 'right thing'. He protested this enslavement of the subjects. He even went so far as to protest at cities that tourists would come to, to try to get ponies from other countries involved. At first, he succeeded. It was a beautiful thing. All the Roma were on his side, common ponies would follow his lead anywhere, and he even managed to get the ponies working the mines to leave their enslavement and join the cause.”
It may sound easy to you Equestriani, but it is not so easy to leave enslavement when your family could be killed by your actions. But still, they followed, and they were an true force of justice and beauty. Their cause shone like the noon sun.” Red said smiling sadly.
“But then, they tried to march to the capital. They had a great force and they marched and marched, swelling in numbers each town they passed. The finally reached the doors of the castle and protested the injustices of a dying king. The king's son, our current ruler, ordered all the ponies be arrested and he even called the royal army on the peaceful protestors. It was a bloodbath. Ponies were beaten, arrested, and killed. Luckily, my father and many of the Roma were able to make it out of there, but the common ponies.....they were not so lucky. Later, we found out that all the ponies that were arrested were killed and hung outside the castle walls as a warning to any more protesting.  The towns that allowed tourists in were fixed up and all the countries money went to them, and any sign of protesting was dealt with immediately.  However the worst was to come.”
“Three days after the protest and the bloodbath, the old king died. His son, called Pyrite, our current nenorocit of a king, who calls himself an Emperor, ordered that the protest was an attempted coup. Can you guess who he named as leaders?”
“The gypsies.” Twilight said breathless with understanding.
Red just nodded and looked away for a moment. Twilight saw his shoulders heaving and could tell he was sobbing. She looked back to Grafted and saw a unnatural look on his face for such a nice old stallion: hatred.
“They came in the night.” Red said, his voice cracking. “And they attacked. Our caravans lit up like the pyres that they became. Whole families were killed, fathers, mothers, children, newborns. The soldiers did not stop. In fact they couldn't, for their new king was leading them in person. Many of our other sister tribes were attacked too, but because my father was in ours, the king had to come to us personally. He wasted no mercy on us and slaughtered us as if we were animals.” 
Red gave a sad and angry chuckle. “We had no chance. That was the worst part. If we had any warning, any at all, we could have fought, or at least run. But nothing. It was as if our gods left us specifically at that time.”
Red picked up his head. There were tears streaming down his face. “But they are back. Our gods lead us, because our god is this land, and the land will never leave the Roma.” he said as he smacked his chest.
“Now you know Twilight Sparkle. We tried the way of peace. But peace is not what will solve our problems now. We are left with but one choice: to fight. Our revolution started small, but we are gaining strength to free ourselves once again. Will you help us Twilight Sparkle? If you are an Element of Harmony, then this is your fate. To help us restore our harmony.” Red said looking at her with a teary, yet proud, face.
Twilight was stunned she didn't know what to say. She just sat there thinking and looking at Red. After a while she noticed she was crying like he was, but she didn't know why.
'What if it was Spike?' 
'What if it was our friends?'
'What if it was Ponyville?'
“I'll help you.” 
Red looked at her and laughed, his face breaking into a sad smile. He grabbed her and pulled her close. Then he kissed her on each cheek and the forehead below her horn. Twilight blushed despite the tears and how she felt. 
“It is a Roma custom to bless their loved ones like this.” Grafted explained as he turned her around to face him and he did the same. 
“When you join us, you become part of our family. Never forget that Twilight Sparkle.”
“But I thought...I mean I haven't even lived here. How can I be part of your family.”
“'All ponies are our brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers.'” Red said with a hoof up.
“Another Roma saying?” 
“Yes.”
“But now you also see why it is so hard for us to go to war.” Grafted said before getting up. “Dinner will be ready in about an hour. I think we will have Sarmale. I assume we will be leaving at dusk?”
“Da.”
“Then I will be leaving you for now.” he said leaving the caravan. He poked his head back through the door seconds after he left. 
“No naughty business, you two.” he said before leaving.
Twilight blushed furiously and looked away from Red, but he just shrugged.
“In this caravan?” he said looking around at the walls and table covered maps. “We would tear up all the maps.”
Twilight was now the color of Big Mac and had enough of this. “Excuse me?”
“No you are alright. Other than your ignorance, you did not do anything to upset us. But you might want to apologize to String.”
Twilight's embarrassment faded because of Red's misinterpretation and her curiosity.
“S...so why was he so angry?”
“I am sorry Twilight Sparkle. It is not my location to tell of his story.”
“Well then, what happened to you?”
Red grimaced for a moment but then said “It is hard to talk about, but for you, I will frumos.”
Twilight smiled sadly and hugged Red. “Thank you.”
Red blushed and said “This is enough. Ok, thank you.”
Twilight giggled. He could talk about sex so easily, but when it actually came to the touch of a mare, he became as shy as a schoolyard colt. Twilight loved that.
Red cleared his throat. “As I had said earlier, we were attacked in the night. My brothers and I woke up to screaming. I had two twin older brothers then, Golden Sickle and....and Shining Hammer. My father would have been called Steel Sword in Equestrian. He knew that the corrupt king and his troops had come for him, so he told our mother to take us and run, while he ran out of our camp and directed the troops attention.”
“We Roma, we do not get our true name until we receive our mark. For example, I was called something that would translate to 'Third son' in Equestrian until I received my mark. So, my father was named after his too. It hurt him greatly to raise his sword and use his skill against other ponies, but to protect us, he would do anything.”
“I remember our mother rushing with us out of the camp. We crested a hill and were about to run away when one of my brother saw something that made him cry out. It was Shining Hammer, he saw our father being overwhelmed while the king looked on. He screamed and escaped our mother's grasp. He rushed down back into the camp to help our father. Of course we tried to follow him, but our mother bucked Golden Sickle and I in the chest so we couldn't move. I've come to see that she did that to save us, for if we went back in our foolishness, we would have died. I learned this by watching both my brother and my father die.”
Red took a deep breath in. “Shining Hammer. He was.....he was a smith. An artisan with the hammer that made work as beautiful as an musician could on their instrument. After he ran away, into the flaming camp, our mother looked around for him from our perch. Finally she saw him, as did we. He was carrying his hammer in his mouth. Just as my father started to get overwhelmed, Shining Hammer brought down his fury upon the soldiers. He and Father fought a hero's battle that made every Roma proud. But it was all in vain. The soldiers soon stopped with their swords and retreated, taking out crossbows and killing our family members from farther back.”
“Shining was the first to fall to a shot to the leg. Then my father protected him all he could, until he took a vile bolt that took his life from him. Then the soldiers came back with their sword to take the bodies away, but Shining wasn't done. He rose off the ground with the bolt still in his leg, and took down a few soldiers, until he was eventually overwhelmed as well. The soldiers held him while the king came in and ran him through.”
Twilight put both hooves to her moth and gasped. What if that was Shining? Wait......Could it just be a coincidence that both brothers had the name “Shining”? Nevertheless, Red continued.
“Our mother went into hysterics when she saw them die, but she was of the strongest Roma blood. She picked us both up and ran and ran and ran. We stopped when we found other Roma survivors. We have been traveling with them ever since.”
“What happened to your mother?” 
“Two years ago, Baba Yaga took her from the living.”
“I'm sorry.” Twilight said turning pale, thinking the name sounded familiar.
“It is alright, she is not here with us, but she is. She is now the earth and she will be with us where ever we go.” 
“That's very profound.”
“Prowhat? I do not know this word.”
“What you said. It was deep.”
“Like sea? You are strange Twilight Sparkle. Words are not like seas.” Red said shaking his head.
Twilight decided to just go with it and laugh at the cultural barrier. Unlike most language confusions, it didn't make everything harder, it just made the mood lighter.
Red tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “Come. Dinner should be ready soon.” He smiled at her laughter. This mare was strange, but likable. Not to mention he didn't lie when he called her 'frumos'. She came from a completely different world from him, but they could still laugh together. That was the beauty of this world, he knew it. Now all he had to do was bring this beauty back to his home. 
Twilight and Red rose and left the planning caravan to walk out into the chilling dusk. Twilight shivered and Red noticed. Twilight stopped waking and looked at the sunset over the green hills. The clouds had come back, but they weren't rain clouds. Twilight thought back to last night and shivered harder, remembering how cold she had been in the mud and the rain. She stopped shivering when she felt a large warm thing surround her midsection. She looked around to find Red putting his vest on her.
“I...I can't take this.” she said sheepishly.
“You are cold and not used to Romaneian weather. Use. I have others I can use.” 
“Thank you.” she said slipping it on and sidling up next to him. His cheeks soon became just as flushed as hers. He led her over to another caravan which had smoke trailing up from behind it.
“I thought I told you two no naughty business?” Grafted said from behind the couple, making them jump up and away from each other. 
“Ahum. Grafted if you are here, then who is making of the dinner?” Red said quickly.
“That would be String Saddle.”
Red moaned. “Why do you torture me so??”
“Is he really that bad of a cook?” Twilight asked.
“Not at all. Actually he is the best one out of all of us. However, he likes the spices. By the way, we will be having potato soup tonight.”
“You mean potato soup from hell..” Red moaned, pulling at his face with his hooves.
Twilight giggled. So he couldn't stand spicy things and got embarrassed by a mare's touch. Interesting.
“You should apologize to him now before he makes your bowl and dish of hellfire.”
“I'll do that after dinner; I actually like spicy food.”
Grafted chuckled as Red's jaw dropped to the ground as Twilight went into the dining caravan.
“That mare is so strange.” Red said to Grafted in Romaneian.
“Yes, but you chose to take her home an lay her in your cushions.”
“Sh..shut up.” Red blushed. Both stallions knew that gypsy marriage was considered full, only when the stallion had taken his wife home and laid her in his bed.
“Let'sgoeat.” Red blurted out, fuming at the ears.
Grafted just laughed as he followed Red into the dining caravan. 


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After a pleasant dinner, aside from all of Red's complaining about how 'demons have my tongue! They have my tongue!'. Twilight approached String Saddle, who had apparently decided to wash dishes as well. 
“Please excuse me.” she said as she approached the bucket of hot water String was using as a sink. 
Sting stood up and got out of her way.
“No I don't mean like that.” String sat back down and resumed washing.
“Look, I didn't mean to insult you. I didn't know, and I was ignorant to think I could impose anything on anypony. Could you forgive me?”
String continued to mutely wash the dishes.
Twilight sighed and was about to walk away when String said “Finish these dishes and I will.”
Twilight happily obliged, completing the task with magic in mere seconds. 
String Saddle whistled. “You have some pretty impressive magic Equestriani. You should teach Squeeze a thing or two.” he said jerking his head in Squeeze Box's direction.
“Do you want some magic lessons?” she asked him sheepishly.
He nodded his head furiously. “Nnnot manny Corni in Romaneia. Hhhkard to leearn.” the short unicorn stuttered out. 
“Ok, then why don't we start now!”
“Sorry Twilight.” Red interrupted, putting a dampener on things. “We leave in two hours and assault the post a little after 1 o' clock, understood?” he addressed the whole caravan. Many pony heads shook in agreement. 
“Good. For now we sleep. Squeeze, make the accordion play when we must wake up.” Squeeze box said something in Romaneian, and then he left the caravan. He came back minutes later carrying a lot of cushions and blankets on his back and floating his accordion above his head with magic. 
The cushions and blankets were dispersed, so that each pony had a small bed. Squeeze's horn glowed a dark gold and an aura surrounded the accordion for a second before slowly fading. Twilight was impressed, but from the tired look on his face, she knew that Squeeze had little magical training. In fact that was probably the most he could do. Twilight's thoughts were stolen from her as Red started speaking again.
“We go to sleep now to awake in victory!” he said cheezily. Then he said “Would you turn off the light frumos?”
As Twilight put out the lamp with magic, a loud 'OOOOH!' came from the inhabitants of the caravan. String Saddle even made kissing noises.
Streaking spoke up in the darkness. “Hey Crashing?” 
“Da?”
“40 bits Red ends up in Twilight's bed.”
“I can't bet against something I know is going to happen!” 
The whole caravan broke out into laughter as they fell into a gradual, happy sleep.