The Padishah stands there for a long moment, looking at Ghaliya and considering how to respond. I wouldn’t mind an answer myself. What is going on here? Why is this statue here? Finally, he shifts a bit. “Millennia ago, there were other alicorns. We have illustrations of them. Little is known. Some think they may have been a fourth tribe of ponies.” Turning, he looks up at the statue himself. “Others think they predate the ponies and are or maybe were their ancestors or creators. Still others think they are or were a magical evolution of the ponies themselves.”
I step forward, looking down to see my reflection in the still water.
“The most researched on this topic was Star Swirl, a powerful unicorn. However, from the books we have, he doesn't give a definitive answer to where they came from or went.” The Padishah’s words echo a bit in my mind and send a chill down my spine. “From what I do know,” he continues, “there was a great dark time that came. A time where ponies had to survive for themselves, raising and lowering the sun on their own. It wasn't until Celestia arrived that the ponies once again began to thrive, as she was able to bring the sun herself.”
Putting her hoof down Ghaliya nods. “And now she is the unquestioned ruler of Equestria.”
The Padishah lifts a hoof to stroke Ghaliya’s mane gently. “We know she had a younger sister, Luna, but we don't know when she arrived, or where she left to.”
“She was killed by her sister,” Ghaliya growls.
He looks at her and shakes his head slowly, “That is one theory, but it is not confirmed. We have also heard stories of a dark alicorn, Nightmare Moon who challenged Princess Celestia. There are also stories though of yet another alicorn who was poisoned by a suitor who sought her as his own. I doubt if even Celestia herself though knows the truth of her kind.”
“If she does, she has not deemed others worthy of the information,” Ghaliya says and sighs softly.
He points. “This statue may be a reminder of those dark times, when something happened thousands of years ago that caused lush forests to become desert. Some catastrophe that caused a shift in the climate. All that is left of those times however, are relics, ancient statues, and lost runes. A history that has been forgotten, even to the ponies.”
I find another shiver go down my spine as my wings twitch nervously.
He stood for a long moment, looking at me. “I jumped to a conclusion upon finding out your heritage. For that, I am sorry.” He reaches out a hoof.
I look at the hoof extended in friendship, then up at his face, the earnest smile. I reach out and touch my hoof to his. I turn back to look at the statue, which has grown quiescent when I released my magic. I look over at Ghaliya, then at the Padishah. Closing my eyes tightly, I search back in my memory. What happened to get me here? How did I end up half buried in sand just a matter of days ago?
Screams, the zap of an electrical discharge. I can smell the ozone from the high voltage. Voices, a child crying. Shouts, both male and female. I distantly feel myself take a step back, though it’s as though someone else is doing it. But it is me, I know it is. I try to visualize the memory, trying to see what happened, only white light, and something crystalline comes to the forefront. I feel my body stretching towards infinity, like I’m being drawn through an event horizon. Time, space, gravity, energy all merge in my mind as my own scream rings throughout the cavern. I finally open my eyes, vaguely aware that I’ve wrapped myself in the void, my horn is alight. Ghaliya has moved closer and put a hoof on my withers. She smiles gently at me. “It will be okay, Ki.”
The Padishah glances at Ghaliya, and she smiles at him momentarily, then directs her attention to me, “Come, let us leave here, a feast is being prepared for our midday meal. You should join us.”
The Padishah’s eyes dart between Ghaliya and me several times, finally he turns and walks back the way we came. I receive a nuzzle from Ghaliya before she turns to follow. I trail behind, mind on what has happened as we make our way through the door. Though after watching him struggle to open the door, my magic firmly shuts it as I pass, getting a smile and a nod from him. Climbing back through the palace, I can’t recall more. I fight to keep control of myself as I search my memories, something has to shake loose. They have to be there, somehow!
“Ki?” The sound of Ghaliya’s voice quietly, breaking my concentration as she repeats herself. “Ki?”
I find myself looking around in surprise. Massive widows with their covers drawn back allows the bright daylight to suffuse the room. The low rumble of hundreds of voices fills the air like a river of disjoined thoughts and conversations. The room itself is enormous, decorated with tapestries and rugs of brilliant shades and hue.
I follow Ghaliya around the periphery of the room to a head table. The Padishah takes a cushion and gestures for me to sit next to him. Ghaliya makes herself comfortable on my other side. On the Padishah’s other side is a pink mare with a multicolored mane, though she has a head dress similar to his. The head table easily has enough room for twenty horses. More of these low tables are spread throughout the room, with cushions for seating all around them. I take my seat and look down at the table. Gold is what I see the most of, gold and silver plates. Wine horns, vases and bowls, all made of the valuable metals. I light my horn and lift up a silver fork. I glance over at Ghaliya, who is sitting comfortably and looking at me with a sly grin.
The Padishah stands up. “By hoof and by heart, by the wind and the breath we share. Let this feast of honor and greeting, begin.”
At those words, doors on the edge of the room open, emitting dozens of other horses, all laden with platters of food. A few come up to us, others remove the platters from the laden horses and set them before us. The smells of the food have my mouth watering.
“This is Broccoli Al-rum,” Ghaliya says as the vegetable with tight clusters of bright green cone shaped heads is placed on my plate. She reaches over and picks up another some shoots. “Nice, we’ve got some brokale Apollo. That’s a hybrid between calabrese broccoli and kale.”
I take a bite, and she giggles as my eyes widen at the flavor. “Okay, I see you like it, let’s see what else we have here, oh, this is from the Griffonia wilds,” she sets down a red tuber before me, “Cut it open and take a bite.”
I take the knife in my magic and slice into the tuber, which has a rich orange interior, I glance at the different colors. “It’s called a dragon carrot. It’s got a very unusual flavor.”
I take a bite, and gasp a bit, while it is sweet, it’s also got a strong spicy flavor as well. I suppress a cough and float a goblet towards me, I set it down and pick up a wine horn, pouring the cranberry colored liquid in, I take a swig, “Wow.” I’m able to say, looking at my goblet, “That’s strong.”
That gets a giggle from Ghaliya. “Yes, a very nice Khorashiya variety this time.” She accepts me pouring a goblet for her. She looks at me as she brings her goblet to her lips. She drains half the goblet in a couple of gulps, holding my eyes the whole time. Finally, she sets her goblet down. “It’s good.”
I try and fail to suppress a cough, that wine was really strong. Looking around, I see Irfan at one of the tables, talking animatedly with a taller horse, this one is a deep purple, almost black, with a dark gray mane and tail. This horse is also wearing a large head dress, similar in color to the royal vestments that the Padishah is wearing. My eyes rove around, and I find myself focusing on Faris, who is drinking from his own goblet. Though his eyes are on me. I glance over at Ghaliya, who has speared a small onion with a fork and is looking around at all assembled. A good hundred horses are present, though with the preponderance of gold and other vestments being worn by the horses here, I would guess they are the elite of the City of Gardens.
The Padishah leans over. “I love hosting big feasts like this.”
“It’s certainly different…sir?” I trail off, confusion reigning, finally I say, “I’m not sure how to address you.”
He chuckles, “While you can call me by my title, that would get a bit fatiguing, wouldn’t it?” At my blank look he barks a laugh, “I think my name will suffice, call me Rab Kaspar. I can’t get my wild niece to call me anything but uncle, you can use my name.”
That gets a smile from me as Kaspar gestures and the doors open a second time, quickly the platters are replaced with new. These have large covered serving bowls. The lids are whisked off, revealing cooked rice, along with sort of sauce. I follow the other’s lead and place a spoon full of rice on my plate, then covering in the sauce. I glance at the silverware next to my plate and pull up a spoon. To my delight, the others do the same.
Kaspar leans closer. “That is Sambar, it’s a stew of okra, moringa, carrots, radishes, pumpkins, potatoes, tomatoes, brinjal’s and onions in a vegetable broth. A personal favorite of mine.”
I take a bite, my eyes widening, the flavor is pleasantly strong, the pumpkin and tomato add a sweet undertone. But apparently the spicing included red chilis. The heat is strong with this one. I gather up more rice with my second bite, mellowing it out and getting my lips to smack appreciatively. The serving disappears quickly, and while I’m thinking of seconds, the platters are taken away, bringing out some little white balls. I narrow my eyes as I look at them. Ghaliya notices my consternation, “That is Sandesh, Ki. It’s made with cheese with sugar and caramelized. Take a bite, Ki.”
I forgo a fork and float one of the little spheres into my mouth. I’ve gotten much better at aiming with my magic, and I’m not dropping everything. My teeth penetrate the morsel and I moan in pleasure as the sweetness of the cheese and the preparations attack my taste buds. “Mmmmmmmmmmm.”
That gets a laugh from both sides, Kaspar spears one with a fork and takes a bite himself, his own eyes closing in pleasure. “Sheer excellence.” He moans.
A quick pirouette by the serving staff has a new set of flavorful sensations before me. Over the next couple of hours, more and more food is placed before me. To the point where I take a single, small, bite because I feel as though I’m going to burst. Finally, the Padishah stands up, “Mares and Stallions, today, I have a special treat for you all today. Not very often do we have food brought in from Equestria, but today is special.” The doors open once again, this time, individual plates are floating with a horse walking behind them. The plates zoom through the air, and one settling before each horse and of course, one before me. I look at it for a long moment as Kaspar continues. “In the shadow of the crown city of Canterlot is the recently founded town of Ponyville. The founding of that burg is around two orchards, one of them produces apples, one produces pears. So, straight from Ponyville, I bring you a special treat.”
On my plate is a slice of a pear, and a slice of an apple. Both of them beautifully arranged on a bed of grass. I glance over at Ghaliya, who is spearing her apple slice with her fork. She brings it to her lips and takes a bite, her eyes closing in pleasure. For some reason, a pear and an apple doesn’t seem to be that big a deal to me. My horn lights and I pick up the apple slice myself. Bringing it closer, it looks entirely ordinary to me, perhaps a bit juicier than what I’ve seen before. Then I stop, I’ve seen apples before. Why does this spark a memory. I close my eyes as the memory fades. That gets me to shake my head, then I take a bite. Time stops as I chew the apple slice. I know I have eaten apples before, I can tell that for certain. But all of them pale in comparison to this one. A sharp tang of the juice, the flesh of the apple just melts in my mouth. I can see why the horses here seem to love this. All too quickly the apple is gone, so I pick up the pear. Again, everything else I’ve eaten is dwarfed by this little slice of heaven. I wouldn’t call it better than the apple, though. But on par with it. As the pear finally melts in my mouth I open my eyes. Looking over at Ghaliya, I can tell she’s in as much bliss as I am. “Fantastic.” I find myself murmuring softly.
***
I’ve been in the City of Gardens a week now. I’ve seen it’s light side and some of the dark. I have walked the walls and bathed in the great pools. I have watched the games and traveled through the great markets, to find that even in a city like this there is evil.
Gasping I try and catch my breath, sweat is soaking through my coat. My mane and tail are matted and heavy, feeling like they weigh a ton. Rolling onto my back I find myself struggling to get each breath. Narrowing my eyes, I look up as the shadow of my tormenter covers me. “You are evil incarnate.”
“Are you a foal or are you a brave stallion?” The shadow of the form blots out the sun as it slams a hoof down, “Now, get that horn lit once again. The Lady Ghaliya has requested that I take my valuable time to help teach you how to use that appendage on your head. And you aren’t even to the level of my basic students.”
“Umm foal or stallion?” I lift my hoof weakly to shield my eyes a bit. “Foal, at this point in time, foal!”
“Honestly,” the form says with a huff, “you are below the skill of those I usually accept! But Bibi Ghaliya has requested and be it beyond my station to refuse her.”
The Grand Vizier of the City of Gardens, he insists to only be called Bijan, has become my magic teacher. He has about a dozen other horses as students. All of them with magical aptitude despite no horns on their heads. His best student, Eskandar, was the one floating the plates out for the feast, is sitting comfortably on a cushion, watching me struggle with the interlocking wooden pieces that I’ve had to hold in place, adding new pieces. I’ve been told these are childrens’ puzzles, and are usually placed on a table. But, no, I’ve got to hold the whole damned thing suspended in my magic, picking up a new piece and rotating it in the air to fit, without rotating what I’ve already assembled. Though I’ll admit, feeling a piece snap into place is very satisfying. There were three hundred pieces in the one I’ve just completed. The picture on it a beautiful sunset over the city.
Finally, my breathing works towards normal and I roll over onto my folded legs. “How do you do this?”
One of the junior students, Zana, leans closer, “Lots of practice.” He glances at our teacher. “Wait till you have to do one blindfolded.”
In my learning over the last week, I’ve actually learned quite a bit. Expressed magic, like what I can do with my horn, is relatively weak among the Saddle Arabians. They don’t have abilities like the ponies do to fly or manipulate the weather. Some horses do express magic the way the Equestrian earth ponies can, with increased strength and endurance, but the high magic, moving things with our minds, or conjuring shields is much more difficult. On my first day of training, I was asked to do the shield spell that I had done with the jinn. I failed, miserably. Bijan had mentioned that much of alicorn magic is instinctual, that I’ve got the power within me, but tapping into it to do more than lift a bit of food or a cup is way beyond me at the moment. So, daily drills were the start, just accessing my magic.
I think the hardest practice was having me pick up a ball, release it and my magic, then reassert control over my magic and catch the ball before it hits the floor. Hours of that had wiped me out. The one nice thing about magic teaching was the buffet maintained in the back of the room, sugar laden, high carbohydrate food piled high for the magic users to browse all throughout the day. The kitchens here in the castle make some of the best sticky buns I’ve ever eaten in my life. The treats are stuffed with date passed and crushed poppyseed and saffron.
Finally, I roll back onto my hooves. “So, what fresh hell do you have for me now?”
Bijan grins. “Oh, nothing serious, just a few gears.” He whirls around. “Eskandar!” The horse in question leaps to his hooves. “Pick up the first gear.” Eskandar walks over to the box and his magic levitates a gear. The other horses of the class move slowly and pick up their own gears. The little bit of brass whirls in the air quietly as I glance over and bring the box closer with my magic, then I pick up a gear, joining the others. Bijan smiles. “This should be easy for all of you. Eskandar is providing all the torque. Everyhorse's job is to add a gear, and don’t build it flat, I want to see how much creativity you all have. As you can see in the box, there are several different types, all designed to operate differently, with different tooth profiles. So, you will have to find out how to mesh them together with the various gears.”
I look at the box half full of the small pieces of metal. This is not going to be easy. Zana picks up a gear with two different types of teeth, two different diameters, and brings it up. He sticks his tongue from the side of his mouth as he concentrates. The inner teeth mesh in with the spinning gear and both of them spin quickly. I glance at the next student, who glances at the gear in his grasp. He leans forward and meshes his gear with the first one, opposite to the gear that Zana had already put in.
The other students pick gears and place them, holding them in place magically as Eskandar’s eyes narrow as the load on his single gear starts to increase. I gingerly advance my gear, I see a good place to put it. My ears flick as I push the gear towards the rotating mass. As the teeth touch the spinning gear that is its destination, everything flies everywhere, I get pelted by a couple of gears as the entire structure disintegrates.
“Ki, you hold it by the center, so it spins freely when it comes in contact!” Bijan snaps. “Alright, everyhorse, a bit of a break. He steps forward. “Ki, walk with me.”
He walks sedately out the door, tail flicking in a relaxed manner. I snort softly and give my head a shake, making sure no gears are still in my mane before following. He’s walking slowly enough that I’m by his side quickly as we walk through the halls. He looks over at me. “Ki, you are an alicorn. You have fantastic magical reserves due to your very nature. Magic suffuses through your body at a rate that would burn out every single one of my students, even myself. What you lack is control.”
“Control?”
He nods. “When you threw that shield up, you were acting on instinct, using free magic. You weren’t using an organized spell, you just made a wall of raw power. That is why you were so drained when you finally let it down. Most unicorns, Starswirl for example, use rote and spell to focus their power, like a curved mirror behind a candle,” He continues, “This allows them to use the relatively small amount of power they have to do something complex such as putting up shields, or teleporting. Star Swirl had several different kinds of shield spells for different situations, allowing him to pick and choose what he needed.”
“Wow.” Trying to wrap my mind around this just seems so alien, but at the same time I understand at some level.
“Much like using different types of curved mirrors or colored glass to create different effects. Alicorns like yourself, however, have huge amounts of power they can channel at once. In doing so, they can use brute force to put up shields or fire energy blasts without actually knowing a specific spell to do that. There are stories for example of Celestia throwing up shields to protect her castle from an army of shadow creatures. This is free magic and is very draining, it can’t be maintained for long periods of time, but allows for more flexibility in the short term. Most unicorns couldn't do this beyond maybe their special talent. In making that shield, you made that connection, but had you the necessary training, you could do a shield that could cover the city and have it be no more taxing than you lifting a gold dinar. Difficult, but doable, but most importantly, repeatable over and over. Remember, magic users like unicorns and mages here in Saddle Arabia used magic instinctually like that before there was organized civilization. Over time, the mages learned how to organize and make spells. Those were passed down from dam and sire to foal for generations. Now we have books that have the spells written down. But with your current level of training, you wouldn’t even be able to read them.”
“I see.”
He stops and looks at me seriously. “The Lady Ghaliya has asked me to train you. Not only by the fact that she is related to me, but I also have immense respect for her, that I agreed. And it will take years for me to have you have you doing feats that my best students could never come close to achieving. But for now, you need to listen to my instruction, learn how to channel that immense ocean of magic you are able to access into fine work.”
He starts walking again, giving me a moment to mull over his words, after a bit, I look over at him. “So, I’m using a sledge hammer instead of a fine screwdriver?”
He smiles and nods. “More like lifting a building to get inside rather than opening the door.”
That gets a bark of a laugh from me. “So, how do I get to where I can use that door?”
“Training, and lots of practice. The gears lesson is to work on fine control, you picked up the entire gear and held it immobile in your magic, rather than just by the center. You need to think, what is the minimum effort I can expend to get something done? Even then, any magic use is demanding of your body and your mind. Before Celestia, there were five unicorns that combined their magic with Starswirl to raise and lower the sun. He was exceptionally powerful, but the other five were so exhausted by the time the sun was raised, they were spent after.
He looks around the garden we are walking through, a fountain is there, three horses all standing on their hind hooves, holding pitchers that are continuously pouring into the pool. He stops and contemplates the water for a long moment, “This is something I have to drill into my students continuously, they are far more susceptible to magical exhaustion than you ever will be. Your feats thus far would have drained them to the point of death. More than most unicorns too. They don’t have that natural adaptation, they are called to the magic, it’s exceedingly rare for a Saddle Arabian to have any magical aptitude untrained. I, myself, am one of those few. To have one born within the royal family is a rare gift. To find an alicorn in the desert is something that I normally would want to have nothing to do with. But Ghaliya has prevailed upon me. And in the week that I have been teaching you, you have done nothing to betray her trust in you.” He looks at me. “I don’t know if I fully trust you, Ki. There are ancient stories of alicorns, and few are pleasant. But you seem to be earnest in your desire to learn. You want to know what that horn can do more than stabbing somehorse. So, I will teach you, but that fine control is something you must learn.”
“I will.” I nod.
He nods back with a satisfied smile as he turns and leads me back into the training room. As he enters, he calls out. “Alright, I hope you all had a chance to eat something and rest. Because you are starting again.” He looks back at me, “And since you were the one to mess it all up, you get to be the one providing torque this time.”
I look at the horses, all of them are either hiding a laugh, or glaring at me for destroying the creation. I sigh and join the others in placing the scattered gears back in their box, then I grab a two-stage gear and put it in the middle of the circle of horses, “Okay, let’s try that again.” I murmur softly.
***
Head down, ears flat, I’m exhausted. Over two months of daily training while Ghaliya has taken her caravan out on the grain buying trip. I’m finding that I miss her, talking to her, even being close to her. My clothing, which is cream colored to reflect heat and light, is hanging heavily on me, soaked in my sweat. Nearly every day is occupied by learning magic. I’m a lot stronger than when I started, being the power provider for the set of gears, I had over two hundred gears spinning in a figure eight configuration. That last provides a bit of pride as I open the doors to my room. The last week has been utterly draining. Bijan is an intense task master. Nothing sounds better to me than a bath at the moment. I walk slowly into the bathroom. It takes but a thought to embrace my magic and start filling the tub. I keep an eye on the tub as my clothing flies off me. One nice perk of living in the palace as a guest of the Lady Ghaliya is having servants who take care of simple things like cleaning clothes. Though to be nice to those having to work on such things, I fold everything and hang them up. The tub is sunken into the floor and is big enough for a half dozen horses. I climb over the low lip and get into the pool, hot water soaking me up to the neck as I sit down in the water. I lean back my head to look at the ceiling. The windows are up high near the high ceiling, allowing plenty of light in, but not much of a view. The setting sun gives the light coming through an orange tint. Oil lamps are around the entire periphery, I light them with a thought as I finally close my eyes with a deep sigh. The hot water lulling me to sleep quickly.
“Ki.”
Did I hear my name? Huh? I moan and growl as I shift in the still warm water.
“Ki, are you going to invite me in?”
That gets my eyes to open wide, I know that voice. I open my eyes. Ghaliya is standing there, for once not wearing anything. I look over, and her typical outfit is hanging next to mine. She takes a small, hesitant step and smiles tremulously. “You have been avoiding me since the feast.”
“I-I’ve been busy, m-magic t-training.” I’m able to stammer out. She shifts in her hooves and my eyes widen further, “Of course you are welcome to join.”
She steps slowly to the bathing pool, she steps over the lip and into the water, she lets out a long, pent up sigh as the water closes over her withers. She moves over and sits next to me. For a long time, she sits there quietly, enjoying the water's warmth.
“Have a good trip?”
She nods as she sighs, “It was profitable, and the amount of grain we brought back from the Equestrian traders will last a while, we got tons of it into town. Supplemented with our own supplies, the city will be good for months.”
I lean my head back again, closing my eyes and listening to her talk. I love listening to her talk, no matter the subject. Then something surprising happens, she leans her head on my neck as she says, “I’m so tired.”
I have some control over my wings, I bring one around and fold it over her, and in response, she snuggles up closer, getting my eyes to open wide. She’s never gotten this close before.
“Ki?”
I lift my head and look at her. “yes?”
“I missed you.” Her cheeks blossom with a blush, and it rapidly has even her ears a bright red.
“I missed you too, My Lady.”
She laughs, “No need to be so formal when in the bath, Ki.” She shifts even closer, her nose is mere inches from mine. “I missed you from the moment we left the city, to the point where I wanted to turn the caravan around and get you.”
“But my classes…” My words are smothered by her leaning forward and pressing her lips to mine. I sit there for a moment, shocked. But I finally respond, using my wing to bring her closer.
“Ki.”
I snort and open my eyes. I’m alone in the water, I thrash around a bit, confused.
“Ki, you were sleeping, you had better be careful, might slip under the water and drown.” I finally see her, she’s not wearing her normal vestments, but they aren’t hanging next to mine, but are nowhere to be seen. I blink up at her stupidly. She smiles down at me. “Looked like you had a pleasant dream.”
I blink at her for a long moment, then I shake myself, “Um, yes, quite pleasant.”
“Want to tell me about them?”
Is my face on fire now? It feels like my face is on fire now. “Just dreams, don’t really remember them.”
She rolls her eyes as she turns towards the door. “Get out of the bath, I want to talk to you.” Her tail flicks as she exits the room. I scramble out of the tub and shake my body hard. Then I grab a towel and quickly dry off to the point where I’m merely damp. A few moments with the towel on the floor has it fairly dry as well. I trot into the living room, where Ghaliya has made herself comfortable on a large cushion. She smirks, “Took you long enough.”
I look back at the bathroom, then at her. “I came as fast…” I stumble to a stop at her rich laugh.
“I’ve got a new commission, it’s going to be a long trip. I want you to come with me this time.”
“Me?”
She nods. “How have your classes been?”
Remembering the gears exploding in my face, I answer, “Could be better.”
She laughs again, “Well, not according to Bijan, he says you can be trusted to not stumble over your hooves and he can have you work on practical spells while out. So, want to come?”
I nod, a smile forming on my face.
***
The chaos of starting a caravan is now behind us, we are approaching the city walls, though we are heading to a different gate than when I arrived in the city. Ghaliya is again at the head of the caravan as we pass the large gate. This time, we are heading south. I walk happily next to Ghaliya. Faris seems to have been banished to farther back in the caravan, apparently some new hires are walking with us, getting trained up in the work.
“My Lady, Master Ki,” comes a familiar voice. Getting us both to look up. A griffon is hovering there, “May I approach?”
Ghaliya nods and the griffon lands, bowing deeply before turning to walk with us, I know her. “Guerina?”
She nods, “None other!” She clicks her beak, I think it’s the way the griffons laugh. “I’ve been all over since I last met you. But I found something. I would normally take it to Celestia, but the relations between the Griffon Kingdom and Princess Celestia has been rather cool recently. And Ki, you are the only other alicorn I know of. So, I need your help. I’ll pay for it, naturally.”
“What is it?” Ghaliya leads us off to the side, allowing the wagons to move on as we stop.
Guerina reaches into her satchel, rooting around. “I was up around Yakyakistan, and I was in a shop. This is something I would normally think would be pony related. But the store owner said he found it himself in the wilds. Ahh.” She brings out a cloth wrapped bundle and sets it on the ground. Her claws deftly untie the package and she pulls back the cloth.
Ghaliya looks at what the griffon has brought, then looks at me, “I’ve heard of that before.”