‘Whoa!’
As soon as Alces opened one eye, he jumped up and recoiled from his bed as if the pillow were made out of snakes. Flashing his eyes, turning his head, and after a second or three, he realized again where he was and, some seconds later, what had happened. He saw a bucket with cold water, dipped his sleep-laden head in it, and marveled at the freshness and clarity that came to him through the water. He quickly dried his head with a towel, strapped on his sword, and prepared to go downstairs.
‘…complete strangers. I know you are quick to trust, well, everyone, but…’
Alces halted. This conversation sounded interesting. Even though he wasn’t the sneaky kind, he also knew next to nothing about the ponies who were his hosts. He stood upstairs, listening, without showing himself yet.
‘I know Lily, I know. But I couldn’t just leave them like that. My doctor’s oath says I shall do no harm, and help those in need.’ It was the old voice of the doctor, and the other must be his wife.
A sigh. ‘I know, I know. But at least you could have looked at them and asked some questions. The elk with the collar might have been an escaped criminal, and the other his partner in crime, for that matter. And don’t forget that that one elk was wearing a sword! Did you see that?’
Alces had heard enough. Revealing himself and stepping down the staircase, he said, ‘The fact that I’m wearing a sword doesn’t mean I’m a bloodthirsty maniac.’
‘Oh heavens!’ Both ponies jumped in exactly the same way, utterly startled as if a ghost had appeared.
Letting a smirk play on his lips, Alces resumed his monologue. ‘We elks are certainly wild, but we’re not savages, unless’—and he thought very much about his duel with Brawn as he spoke—‘they’re provoked, or when their honor is damaged.’
Now that Alces was at the bottom of the stairs, he saw that the two ponies were actually holding on to one another. ‘A-a-and I hope we’ve not done that…?’ said the doctor in a wavering voice.
Reaching back, Alces took off his sword, and offered it to the frightened couple. ‘You have saved both me and my brother, for which I am very, very thankful. I don’t have much on me. Actually, this is all I really have. But I’ll give it to you as payment.’
The doctor let go of his wife. ‘A sword? I’m a doctor. What in Celestia’s name would I do with a sword?’
‘Eh… You can keep it,’ said the doctor’s wife. She was an earth pony with fiery red hair, perfectly matching her frightened, wide-open eyes. But she forced her voice not to waver, when she said, ‘I’ve actually made breakfast for all of us. You… you can join if you want.’
To that, Alces smacked his lips. Sleeping always made him hungry. He swung the sword back over his shoulder and nodded. ‘Very well. Your kindness is startling, really.’ He stuck out his hoof. ‘My name is Alces Roameling.’
The doctor cocked his head at such a peculiar name, but took the hoofshake nonetheless. ‘Doctor Mayflower, and this is my wife, Missus Mayflower.’
Once they were seated and eating, Alces asked the first thing that was on his mind. ‘How’s Elkia?’
The doctor wiped his muzzle before he spoke. ‘Doing much better. His breathing is regular and slow, as if he is having peaceful dreams, and even his heartbeats seemed to have increased in power. Taking off that collar certainly did the trick.’
‘Just as I expected, or hoped, really,’ said Alces.
‘Yes… about that, eh…’ Missus Mayflower nudged her husband, who took the hint. ‘Oh, yes,’ he said, doing his best not to sound too nervous. ‘We were just wondering, eh… exactly how did you obtain such a nasty piece of equipment? D-d-don’t get me wrong, but collars and shackles always belong to certain kinds of… well… folk.’
Alces paused mid-bite. His eyes narrowed, but he managed to keep his manners. ‘We’re not criminals, if that’s what you’re thinking,’ he said, voice low. ‘We just made a very powerful enemy, that’s all.’
Both Mayflowers nodded in approval, although that answer only conjured up more questions in their minds. But Alces just continued eating, and the Mayflowers did the same, seeing that no additional explanation came forth from their guest. ‘Anyway,’ Doctor Mayflower said after a while, ‘Your, eh, brother, was it?’
Alces nodded.
‘He’s doing well. I think he will be up on his own hooves this afternoon or maybe in the evening. It shouldn’t take long.’
‘That’s great,’ Alces said. ‘You’re both great too, even though you’re ponies.’
Those words left a very uncomfortable silence hanging in the air. Brave Missus Mayflower tried to dispel it with a simple enough question. ‘Well, Mister Alces, I always thought elks lived way up north, just like deer and reindeer. What does an elk do here in the desert, if I may ask?’
‘It’s a long story, one that Elkia is much better at telling than I,’ Alces said, talking with his mouth full. He couldn’t help it. He was just so hungry.
‘Oh, ok,’ said Missus Mayflower.
Doctor Mayflower decided to give it another go. ‘What we mean is where did you come from. We saw you staggering in from the east, but, as far as we know, there’s nothing there.’
‘There’s a village,’ Alces said. His voice grew harsher as he talked about it. ‘But I don’t know much about the village. The only thing I know is that it’s filled with ponies who were ready to kill and die for some cause—I believe it was freedom. I hitched a ride on a griffon airship, and moments later found myself caught in some battle I had no interest in fighting. But it didn’t matter. What matters is that I got Elkia, and that we got out of there.’
The Mayflowers looked at each other, both wearing the same startled expression. The doctor took the word. ‘You’re describing this village so vividly I’d be a fool not to believe you, but…’
‘But what?’
‘But everyone living here in Dustbowl will tell you that there’s nothing out there. Our village stands right on the frontier. I’ve never heard tale of another village even further to the east.’
‘I see,’ said Alces. ‘Maybe it’s better this way. Trust me, you don’t want to go there.’
‘But a village would explain a whole lot,’ said Missus Mayflower. ‘You see, sometimes we get the occasional explorers or adventurers and we tell them the same thing, that there is nothing further to the east. Yet still they venture further into the desert, and we never see them back here.’
‘We always assumed they met their terrible fate and perished in the sand,’ said Doctor Mayflower.
‘That would be better for them,’ said Alces bluntly. ‘I wouldn’t want to live in that village myself. It’s full of blood-thirsty crazies, that’s why.’
The doctor cleared his throat. ‘Good to know,’ he said, although his tone was so that Alces was still not quite sure whether the doctor believed him. With a shake of his head, Alces decided it didn’t matter. Perhaps it was better for everyone to let the village be a mystery. So long as nopony went there.
After some minutes of chomping down another sandwich, it was Alces who spoke up. ‘You asked me where I was from, and I said the village, but that isn’t entirely true. In return for your help, you deserve a better answer. That, and perhaps you might be able to help me some more.’ Reaching for his belt, Alces grabbed the map he got from Elkia’s marefriend and laid it out on the table. Pointing to the northern forests which made up a field of green in the north-east, he said, ‘That’s where Elkia and I are from, from the Bugbear Territory.’
Both Mayflowers gasped. ‘Oh my! You’ve come a long way,’ said Doctor Mayflower.
‘Where are we now?’ asked Alces.
‘Here,’ Doctor Mayflower said, pointing west of Starlight’s village, still on a blotch of brown that indicated a desert.
Alces whistled. ‘We have come a long way, now that you mention it.’ Then, more to himself than to the two ponies, ‘This adventure has taken long enough.’
‘I suppose you want to go back to where you came from,’ said Doctor Mayflower. ‘No matter how adventurous you two are, a desert is no place for an elk. Biologically, it doesn’t make sense.’
‘And what about your herd?’ Missus Mayflower added. ‘Don’t you elks live in a herd of some kind?’
At the word “herd” Alces remembered the curse he still bore, but tried to ignore that thought and let it pass by. Missus Mayflower saw his shoulders quiver, and involuntarily did a step back. ‘You’re right,’ said Alces. ‘Even though elks are largely solitary when they patrol their areas, we are also part of a whole. I lived—no, I live—in a herd, and I would give a whole lot to see them again. Hay, I’d give a whole lot just to see anyone of my kind, whether elk, deer, or reindeer.’
Doctor Mayflower adjusted his glasses and studied the map. ‘So, if you want to go back to the Bugbear Territory, I think your best choice is by train.’
‘By train?’ Alces said, repeating the foreign and strange word.
‘Yes, by train,’ said the doctor. He pointed at a strange line that went all through the map and even ran through the southern edges of the Bugbear Territory. ‘Unfortunately there’s only one trainline that goes through the Bugbear Territory on its way to Griffonstone.’
Then Alces remembered something. ‘Don’t you guys have something called a “train station” here?’
‘Yes we do,’ said the doctor, ‘but our line is just a supply line. Nopony really travels to Dustbowl, save the occasional fortune seeker or homesteader, seeking calmer places where they can build a new life on the frontier. No, this line goes directly to Ponyville.’
‘Ponyville? I don’t like that name,’ said Alces. ‘But I see a forest. That’s good.’
‘Eh… right,’ said the doctor, not entirely sure what to think of that comment. ‘But in Ponyville you can switch trains to one that goes through the Bugbear Territory. Although… well… it’s a bit of a scenic route, if you catch my drift. The line goes beneath Cloudsdale, through the Frozen North, through the Crystal Empire, and then through Rainbow Falls before reaching the Bugbear Territory.’
Missus Mayflower did a step closer and spoke, although she didn’t yet dare to look into Alces’s eyes. ‘The forest you see lying close to Ponyville is called the Everfree Forest. It’s a wild place, and some say even dangerous. Many strange creatures are supposed to live there. I was just thinking, maybe there are elks too?’
‘Hmm… Maybe,’ said Alces. ‘Perhaps there are other tribes further down south, although I haven’t heard of them, and don’t know much about our doings beyond the Bugbear Territory. But you might be right. Maybe there are deer. Deer always like a little more warmth, so it make sense if there is a tribe there.’
‘Well that’s great,’ said Doctor Mayflower. ‘You can take the train from here to Ponyville, scout out the Everfree Forest, and if you find nothing you just take the next train towards Griffonstone and stop at the Bugbear Territory.’
Alces nodded. Then he nodded again. ‘I like this plan,’ he said. ‘And I’m glad I finally have another plan. It feels good to be working towards something, to have a mission on your mind. I’ll tell Elkia about this once he wakes up.’
‘Would anyone care for some tea?’ Missus Mayflower said. Without waiting for an answer, she retreated towards the kitchen.
‘There’s only one question that’s still in my head,’ said Alces to Doctor Mayflower.
‘Ask it,’ said the doctor. ‘I’m happy to help.’
‘What exactly is a “train?”’
After a quick chuckle from Doctor Mayflower, he proceeded to tell Alces everything he wanted to know and enlightened him with the wonders of modern railway transportation. Alces couldn’t believe his ears when the doctor talked about giant steel machines capable of pulling goods and ponies all across Equestria. He had no idea how to envision it in his mind. Days of traveling compressed in mere hours of sitting still! To Alces, it sounded like magic.
‘Wait until you see it,’ said the doctor. ‘I’m sure you’ll be amazed.’
When the tea came, they talked a bit more. The doctor told Alces some things about Dustbowl, the village he found himself in. At first Alces became quite bored, as he wasn’t that interested in the town at all. For him it was just a hole filled with sand. Yet he perked up when the doctor spoke about a river which ran a little out of town, the life-blood of Dustbowl and a gift from above for the agriculture business.
Elks like water, and water likes elks.
However much he fancied a swim and a welcome refreshment, Alces found himself doubting whether to go. He also wanted to be with his brother and help him in whatever way he could. But then again, how could Alces help him? It was not as if Elkia would awake sooner with Alces’s watchful gaze upon him. Elkia was in good, caring hooves, the hooves of Doctor Mayflower. Alces nodded when he made a decision, as he had to prepare himself for a whole new journey.
‘Send him to the river if he’s fit enough,’ he said. ‘And if he’s not, then let him wait. I’ll return to the house again.’
The doctor nodded, and Alces went outside. He managed to sell his sword to the local blacksmith for quite a number of Bits, thanks to the precious gems and gold embedded in the hilt. At least it’s good for something… Alces thought. With the money he made he went to a general store. He bought two saddlebags without saddles—‘Elks don’t wear saddles!’— and the two biggest water bottles he could find. Dehydration felt absolutely awful, as Alces had experienced first-hoof, and he was not going to let either him or Elkia die from such a terrible enemy—an enemy even Alces couldn’t beat without water. He bought some more things, including a compass, rope, some food, and other equipment he thought necessary for his next journey.
And then he went to the river. It wasn’t much more than a thin strip of water through a clay-covered riverbed, but it was water, and water in the desert is more precious than any treasure. After drinking so many mouthfuls until he felt there was more water than blood in him, Alces jumped into the river with a big splash. He floated on his back and let the sweet, cool stream flow all around him, caressing his fur and stroking it like the gentlest hoof.
Of course Alces wanted to go back to the house and see if Elkia was awake yet, but the river just felt so good. One more minute, he thought, and after that, Two more minutes, and, Three more minutes. To the point where the sun hung low above the horizon, casting rays of light which shimmered on the water. Shadows became longer and things became harder to see. That’s why Alces didn’t see Elkia coming.
‘At least one of us is having a good time.’
‘Elkia!’ Alces swam for the shore, and noticed his brother sitting on flat rock protruding from the clay. ‘I’m so glad you’re alive and, judging by your presence here, well.’
Elkia watched how his brother grabbed his stuff and joined him on the stone, now gently warm against his cooled down behind. When Alces reached him, Elkia saw how he hesitated.
‘You don’t have to hug me if you don’t want to,’ Elkia said with a smile.
Much more at ease, Alces showed a faint smile himself and sat down next to his brother. ‘You scared the living daylight out of me, when that trap around your neck went off.’
Elkia rubbed his neck as if the collar was still there. When Alces looked closer, he could see a faint ring of matted fur around Elkia’s neck. He hoped it wasn’t a scar. ‘To be honest, I totally forgot about that thing too,’ Elkia said. ‘Until it went off. Starlight had said that if I’d venture too far out of town it would turn red and, well, unfortunate things would happen.’
‘Yes, we saw what happened alright,’ said Alces, growling as he spoke.
‘But I’m alive, Alces,’ Elkia said. ‘I’m alive and I’m here with you, and that’s what counts.’
‘That’s what counts,’ Alces said. His voice was now as low as the sun on the horizon. ‘I just felt so powerless when you went down, screaming. I had no idea what to do. And then again with the doctor treating you… I just… I just couldn’t do anything. You know how much I hate losing a duel, but no matter how intense the duel becomes, there are always moves I can make, or tactics I can use. But with this magical thing I could do exactly… nothing.’
‘Let’s just forget about it,’ said Elkia. ‘The doctor said I needed rest and as little psychological and physical strain as possible.’
‘I cried, Elkia.’
Eyes wide, Elkia stared at his brother. He had certainly never seen him cry. It was as rare as water in the desert. ‘You did?’
‘I did,’ said Alces. He sucked in air and let out a long sigh. ‘I cried and I’m not embarrassed by that at all.’
‘That’s good,’ said Elkia. ‘But you didn’t have to tell me that. I know you care about me. Who else would escape a forced labor camp and travel all the way to some Light Elk-forsaken desert to rescue my behind?’
‘Well, if you put it that way,’ Alces said, a smile appearing on his face, ‘it must be someone very caring, or desperate—’
‘Or a bit of both,’ Elkia added.
‘Yeah.’
As the sun sank down lower and lower, with the elk brothers watching it, conversation turned from more recent events to the things that happened to either of them when they got separated. Alces suggested he went first, as to get the sad stories over with. His tale started the moment Elkia had to run away, disguised as a guard to take a peek inside the magical orb. Alces talked in short, choppy sentences, skipping parts he didn’t like and plainly describing the other things. When he spoke about how the guardpony mistreated him, Elkia’s gaze wandered towards Alces’s flank.
‘So that’s how you got the scars,’ he said, his mouth open in a silent gasp. ‘I’m so sorry that happened to you. Does it still hurt?’
Alces turned his head away, as if he were studying the sunset intently. ‘It doesn’t hurt anymore. And nevertheless, I got a sweet portion of revenge in return for those scars.’
But first Alces had to tell Elkia about the herd. Elkia’s gasp became even bigger as Alces revealed the secret of the herd’s resurrection, and Alces reckoned that if he talked more, his brother’s jaw would unhinge and fall into the water, and he would have to dive it back up.
‘They… they were alive?!’ Elkia said, mouth agape, eyes wide.
‘Well, I don’t know if they were alive or actually undead,’ Alces said. ‘But the fact remained that Moussa apparently resurrected as many as he could save. They looked… well… healthy, I suppose? Their forms had merged with pure essence—dark essence—and it looked as if they were ablaze with fury. In any case, I think they were more powerful than before.’
Elkia tried his best to sketch an image in his mind, but found the whole return of the herd too big an item to manifest in his head. There was one thing he wanted to know, one thing that Alces hadn’t told him, but he hoped that he was going to tell him soon. ‘And… Mother?’
A slow shake of the head was all the answer Elkia needed. He shed a tear or two, as he thought about her.
‘Apparently, even dark essence has its limits,’ Alces said, trying to hide his own tears by flicking them away when Elkia wasn’t looking at him.
Next up was the revenge, and at this part Alces really got into the mood of storytelling. He dissolved the lingering sadness by telling, eyes ablaze in fury and with a maniacal smile on his muzzle, about how he rounded up every single guard of Scribblers’ City using the army of elks, deer, and reindeer that Moussa had put him—more or less—in charge of. Then he told of the fight with Brawn, speaking of every move he made in horrifying detail, and painting the picture of Brawn, helpless and skewered to the tree.
Hearing that, Elkia had to swallow hard. ‘That sounds… well… interesting?’
Alces punched his hoof against the rock. ‘I know you don’t like violence and duels, Elkia, but it had to be done. My honor was damaged and needed to be fixed. It simply had… to… be… done, and I did it.’
‘Are you sure you didn’t do it because you wanted to, and not because it was necessary?’ Elkia said, carefully as not to enrage his brother and shatter the brotherly bond.
But the brotherly bond proved to be stronger, and maybe Alces adjusted his viewpoint a little too. His voice was just a soft grumble as he said, ‘Maybe. Anyway, it has taught me that sometimes you need violence, and sometimes the time is, well, let’s say not quite appropriate for a one-elk crusade of vengeance.’
Elkia’s questioning glare was quickly dispelled as Alces told about how he found something he’d lost, and lost something he’d found. Yes, he did manage to reclaim his honor, but also had to bear a curse in return, a curse cast upon him by the king of the elks, deer, and reindeer himself. A curse which had already proven to be real, and not just empty words.
Alces ended his story with Captain Gaffer and his griffons, and both Elkia and Alces had to chuckle about the strange Captain Gaffer, who had offered Alces a place amongst his crew, while he should have tossed Alces’s sneaky ass overboard. Alces said he hoped to one day see the silly captain again, and maybe repay his kindness with service to him as a mercenary. ‘Maybe in the future,’ Alces said.
And now it was Elkia’s turn to tell a story. Much unlike his brother, Elkia spoke in long, flowing sentences, making everything he had encountered sound like it was pure fiction, fit for an exciting story many pages long. He spoke about Starlight Glimmer the dictator, and the village she ruled with an iron hoof. Even Elkia wasn’t entirely sure what drove Starlight into creating a commune of equality and no cutie marks, but he reckoned it had perhaps something to do with her childhood. Starlight never spoke of her childhood, and Elkia knew that the greatest villains in every story had faced something truly traumatic in their lives that made them become evil. Yet what exactly happened to Starlight Glimmer, Elkia couldn’t tell.
‘I just wish I could look into her mind, instead of the other way around,’ Elkia said. ‘Despite her being a steel-hearted dictator and all, she treated me well. Maybe I could have done something for her, and prevented the whole battle before its seeds were even planted in the minds of the revolutionaries.’
‘Elkia, Elkia, Elkia,’ Alces said. ‘You’re once again the goodie-two-horseshoes of the story. Just don’t forget whose side you’re on, okay?’
Alces’s tone was a bit brusque, but Elkia waved his words away with a shrug. Then he continued.
What he could tell was how some brave souls defied Starlight Glimmer’s norms and values, and met in secret inside the basement of a bakery. Night Glider, Sugar Belle, and Party Favor were there, laying out plans for which they needed more ponies. There were still traces of pride left in Elkia’s voice, as he told about how he made their illegal newspaper, the Proud Prickly Press, possible. He hoped to clarify the reasons the ponies were so worked up and eager to partake in the revolution that had ended so disastrously. Elkia hoped to offer Alces a little insight into their minds, so that he could understand the motives behind their actions better.
‘At least now I understand what they did it all for,’ said Alces. ‘Now that you speak of it, it does sound like a cause to fight and die for, this freedom of the fake equality and, of course, their cutie marks.’
‘Yes…’ Elkia said, his voice trailing off. ‘I just wish I could have known this in advance. Now that I think of it, I shouldn’t be proud of the Proud Prickly Press at all. In fact, I think I should never have partaken in making that newspaper for them. That way, Starlight Glimmer might have moved against them sooner and ground the revolution to a halt.’
‘Elkia, you’re once again rooting for the villain.’
‘No, I mean it,’ Elkia said. ‘If Starlight could have stopped the revolution with her iron hoof before it even started, no ponies or griffons would have gotten wounded—or maybe even killed!’
There was a silence. Both brothers looked at what remained of the sun. Clouds were painted in lush red, pink, and gold, as the sun casted its rays of light as a last goodbye, before it would hunker down below the horizon and let the moon take its place. Both brothers had told their stories, and now both brothers were silent. They both plunged into their thoughts and memories, thinking about everything that had been said, and guessing at what the other was thinking in the silence that followed.
Alces made the first guess. ‘You’re still thinking about that battle, aren’t you?’
After a sigh, Elkia said, ‘I am. I wonder if it’s over yet, and I wonder who has won if it is.’
‘We’ve traveled through the desert a couple of days, and we’ve been here in Dustbowl for a day more. I think it’s safe to say the battle’s over,’ Alces clarified.
Elkia traced circles with his hoof in the sand. ‘If the revolutionaries have won, they have finally gotten what they wanted, but if not…’
‘I understand what you mean,’ said Alces. ‘If not, all the bloodshed has been for nothing.’
After a sad nod, Elkia said, ‘Exactly. Then everything is back the way it was, and Starlight sits on the throne. Not only that, but Night Glider, Sugar Belle, and Party Favor, my friends, will be suffering daily brainwashing in Starlight’s “re-education program.”’
‘But Captain Gaffer will be alive then,’ Alces said.
Gazing ahead, Elkia took a moment to fantasize, to dream. ‘I just wish… I wish I could help in some way.’
‘But you can’t,’ Alces said, perhaps a little too harshly.
Elkia didn’t answer. His thoughts sent him right back to Starlight Glimmer’s village, thinking about everything he did, everything he said. Could I have done things differently? He thought to himself. Could I have made a difference after all?
Alces saw his brother’s face, and how his eyebrows were narrowed in deep thought. He didn’t like that one bit. ‘Oh no! Oh no you don’t!’ he said, shaking his head.
Those words instantly dispelled Elkia’s musings. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re not going back to that village,’ Alces said. ‘Hay, we barely made it out together!’
‘But—’
‘You’re not going there.’
‘But—’
‘No way,’ Alces said, firmly shaking his head, his voice rising in volume. ‘There’s nothing you can do anyway. Do you want to gather a new army and march towards Starlight Glimglom? Then you will have to give a damn impressive speech to convince these ponies into joining you. They are not interested in fighting or getting involved in other ponies’ troubles. By the Light Elk, the ponies here don’t even know there’s a village further east. They don’t even know that insane village is there!’
Elkia was about to object, but Alces’s last words left him speechless. After a brief pause, he said, with a voice soft and weak, ‘Is that… is that true?’
Alces forced his voice to be gentle again. He didn’t want to scare his brother. ‘It’s true. I’ve talked with the doctor and his wife, and they didn’t even believe me when I told them about the battle and the crazy situation in that village. They must have thought I got a sunstroke.’
Elkia’s shoulders slumped, and his ears drooped down. He looked down into the water, which got darker by the minute with the fading light. ‘If that’s true and nopony even knows of Starlight’s village, then…’
Then, Alces did something he’d normally never do. He wrapped his hoof around Elkia, and clapped him on the shoulder. ‘That’s right. There is nothing you can do, but your willingness to stand by your friends’ sides, to think about helping even when you yourself are gravely wounded, speaks of your loyalty. You might not look like it, Elkia, but you’re as tough as any duelist. You’ve proven that to me, to your friends in Starlight’s village, and maybe even to Captain Gaffer too. I certainly noticed the look of bafflement on his face when you gave your little speech about shunning violence. You did what you could, but now it’s time to put the past in the past.’
‘So you want me to simply forget about them?’
Alces retracted his hoof. ‘It’s not about forgetting them, it’s about accepting.’
‘What do you mean?’ Elkia said.
‘It’s about accepting what has happened. The things that happen shape you, and the experience you gain from those things will be useful in your future life, wherever you may go. Some things, no matter how hard you try or how often you try again and again, you just can’t change.’
‘That…’ Elkia had to swallow some sadness away. ‘That sounds very true, Alces. Thank you for saying that. It will be a long time before I can accept what has happened, but I think your words will help to put my mind at rest, so I can still sleep soundly in the night.’
‘Don’t mention it,’ said Alces. ‘I too wish I’d done things differently. Perhaps, back when I decided to rumble into Scribblers’ City to get my revenge, I could have let the herd behind and sneak inside instead.’
‘Alces, you and I both know you don’t sneak,’ Elkia said.
‘No, let me finish.’ Alces traced symbols in the sand as if he were laying out a battle plan. ‘I could have snuck into the city, found that one damn pony, and quickly attack like a stealthy assassin. That way, I would have been happy, the herd would have been happy, and Moussa would have been happy.’
‘Only the pony wouldn’t have been happy,’ Elkia said, silently judging Alces.
‘Don’t worry, he’s probably alive,’ said Alces. Then, at Elkia’s cocked head, he said, ‘The last time I saw him he was conscious, talking, and wriggling away from me like a scared little rabbit. He’s alive and he’s shamed and that makes me feel content.’
‘Alright, if you say so.’ But Elkia’s words implicated that he meant something entirely different.
Once again there was silence. The sun had almost completely gone down, and the town of Dustbowl was made of shadows. When Elkia looked, he could hardly see his brother. Yet, before he wanted to go, there was one more thing he had to ask. ‘And what about you?’
Alces looked directly into his brother’s eyes. ‘Me? I’m going to find the herd.’
Elkia raised an eyebrow. ‘Huh? But how can you do that? You just spoke about the curse, and—’
‘Damn the curse,’ said Alces, venom in his words. ‘I’m gonna prove that Moussa’s magic is not as strong as he thinks it is. I’m going to find the herd, no matter the cost.’
‘But how are you—’
‘The train,’ Alces said. His eyes were ablaze with devotion, and Elkia swore he could see them burning in the darkness. ‘We will take the train out of this town and to Ponyville. There’s supposed to be a forest there, which might be crawling with deer. We’ll do a quick search, but if we find nothing, off we go onto the train towards Griffonstone. Then we’ll reach the Bugbear Territory, and we’re right back where our adventure started. Once we’re back in the Bugbear Territory, it’s just a matter of combing out the forest until we find the herd.’
‘Eh, Alces, you—’
‘And we don’t even have to find the complete herd. Maybe we will find smaller herds of reindeer, or deer, or maybe an elk with her calves. We will ask them where to find the herd, or we can go to the Shimmering Eye itself. There will certainly be some elks there.’
‘But Alces…’
‘Yes, Elkia?’
‘You said “we.”’
Alces narrowed his eyes. ‘Yes, that’s what I said.’
‘But I’m not sure if I want to come along.’
‘What?!’ Alces jumped up and rubbed his ears as if he hadn’t understood what Elkia said.
‘Maybe it’s time for you and me both to let the herd go,’ Elkia said.
Alces shook his head and waved his hooves around. ‘How can you even say such a thing?’
‘Well, you said yourself that the herd cast you out, so they obviously don’t want you to find them.’
‘But that was just Moussa,’ said Alces, fury in his voice. ‘I still have friends who would love to see me again. Old Cervidus asked me himself to try and find the herd.’
‘But what about the curse?’ said Elkia. ‘It sounded like a pretty serious curse—a curse powered by dark essence. How in Equestria are you going to find the herd, if you have to battle this curse too?’
‘I’ll find a way,’ Alces said, snorting hard through his flaring nostrils. ‘But what about you? Don’t you want to see your friends again? Come on, Elkia, I need you for this. The curse was not cast upon you. Maybe you can find them for me.’
‘And what happens then?’ Elkia said. ‘Then I get to be in the herd and you don’t. Alces, we shouldn’t be separated like that. Then one of us will be happy, but the other forever sad.’
Suddenly, Alces jumped to his own hooves. He piled up his newly bought travel gear and threw it on his back. His muscles quivered with rage. ‘I can’t believe you’d not want to see your own friends again, and that you would forsake your duty to guard the Shimmering Eye,’ he spat.
‘Alces, please don’t be mad. You know…’ Elkia had to start over. He knew he might lose his brother there and then, if he said the wrong thing. No, Elkia had to tell him everything that was on his mind. ‘Alces, just come back here and I’ll tell you what you want to know. There is another reason why I want to let the herd go.’
No matter how angry Alces felt, he also received the pang of curiosity his brother’s words conjured up. He froze, dropped the gear, and marched back towards his brother, once more sitting down beside him. ‘Speak.’
But before Elkia did, he sighed heavily. He sighed as if he could sigh away the heavy feeling of something lying on his own shoulders. Searching for Alces’s eyes, he spoke up. ‘I am… tired, Alces.’
‘But the train will be very comfortable and relaxing, according to the doctor,’ Alces said back.
‘No, not that kind of tiredness. I feel mentally tired.’
Alces cocked his head. He didn’t understand.
And Elkia was ready to explain. ‘After everything that happened to us—to me, after all the strain and troubles and sorrows and misadventures, I need a rest. You seem to be up and ready for the next adventure, and I envy you for your strength of mind and character. But I… I think my mind is not as strong as yours. I think my mind might be more vulnerable to bad influences.’
Alces had never thought of things like that. Yes, he was ready for the next adventure, because that seemed to him like the most logical step. He never thought about things much, and maybe that was his strength. He managed to hold back his commentary—only barely—and let Elkia speak.
‘And it’s not only that, Alces. I feel… strange inside. I think it might have something to do with Starlight Glimmer’s mind readings. Those tricks of magic also still weigh heavily on my mind. It feels as if someone has broken into my house and has rummaged through my things. Maybe Starlight left something behind in my head, a negative impression of some sorts. I’m not sure.’
‘Oh, that damn awful witch!’ Alces growled.
Elkia waved his hoof to calm his brother down. When he couldn’t hear Alces’s teeth grinding against each other anymore, he continued his story. ‘But it’s not only my mind. I think my heart has a scar too.’
‘Let me guess: your marefriend?’
Elkia nodded. ‘I thought Strawberry Blonde and I were happy at first, but that was before I realized she was just toying with my heart. Or was she…? She deceived me, but then she pledged her love to me, and then she got you out of Scribblers’ City, and then… and then… Oh Alces! I don’t know what to think of her, and if I try to think of her, the wounds in my heart open. It will take a long time before I definitively make up my mind about that strange mare and heal my heart little by little.’
‘Time we don’t have,’ said Alces.
Elkia blinked hard. This talk was getting very emotional. Yet he hoped he got the point across. ‘So as you see, everything has piled up in my mind and on top of my heart… and I need time to process it all. I need time to psychologically heal, before I can go and hunt down the herd. Or actually, before I can embark on any new adventure, for that matter.’
‘So… what do you want to do?’ Alces’s rage had dissolved like a deflating balloon, now that he saw how difficult it was for Elkia to speak about this. He still didn’t exactly understand what Elkia was talking about, but he did reckon it was something heavy, something big, something that troubled his brother dearly. Now, he didn’t want to convince him anymore. He just wanted to help him if he could.
‘The doctor and I had a long talk when I woke up,’ said Elkia. ‘He turned out to be an expert on the psyche of creatures as well. He understood what I felt, the burden I have to bear. It’s actually quite funny. He recommended me to do two things. Number one is taking some alone time, and number two is writing a book on our adventures. If I’d do that, he said I would heal slowly but nicely, without leaving any scars behind.’
‘So… that means we will be separated again,’ Alces said slowly, trying his best to wrap his hoof around everything Elkia said. ‘Because alone time means being alone.’
‘Yes,’ said Elkia. ‘I myself envisioned it as living—oh, I don’t know—in a cabin in the woods, or something like that. You know, going some place where I can really find rest in some way.’
Alces got up on his hooves again. He walked over to the pile of equipment and hoisted it onto his back once more. ‘But we’ll travel out of this dust hole together, right?’
Elkia got up too. ‘That’s right. I was not planning on staying in this baking oven, however nice the ponies might be in this town. But Alces?’
‘Yes?’ said Alces, turning around.
But before he could completely turn around, Elkia caught him in a warm embrace. Even though he knew that being apart would be hard, he also knew it was the best thing to do for himself. Elkia did realize that this moment was not the final goodbye yet, but he also reckoned this was an important moment, a moment worthy of a hug. Elkia didn’t let go yet, and instead stroked his brother’s fur softly. ‘Remember that no matter how far we’re apart or whatever might happen to us, one thing stands strong, and that is that we’ll always be brothers.’
And for once, Alces let go of the travel gear and hugged back. He didn’t know what to say, so he just repeated Elkia’s words.
‘We’ll always be brothers.’