Scarlet and Primrose traveled for around two days, taking shelter, sleeping off of the road whenever night fell and pressing on quickly in the daylight. Their eyes were always over their shoulders, keeping watch for Nightblades or any other threat. Luckily, no enemies presented themselves, and the surrounding countryside was steadily becoming obscured through patches of trees and shrubbery.
About halfway through the day yesterday, they had truly slipped between the Twin Forests. The road weaved neatly between them, leaving a mile or two of mostly empty grasslands separating the road and either treeline. Wild animals could periodically be seen prowling the hills, though they always gave the traveling duo a wide berth. More often than not, the extent of the wildlife was merely the odd case of a wild bird of prey flying by overhead.
And now, coming over the top of a small rise in the terrain, Scarlet felt her body relax with relief as Twinwood Canopy came into view. It was a cozy town, able to comfortably house maybe two or three hundred ponies. Every building was carefully made by hoof with notched logs stacked together. Some had foundations made of cobblestone, but most were without such a luxury. The occasional chimney stack poked up from the slanted, wood-tiled roofs, emitting puffs of smoke.
Perhaps the most eye-catching structure of the settlement was the impressive wood mill. Even from this distance, Scarlet could clearly make out the sound of wood being carved down into planks.
And, of course, there were the ponies. They all had something they were doing, that much was clear even from this distance. In such a small village, there was hardly time for luxury until the day’s work was done. Most ponies who were out and about were hauling supplies from one place to another, delivering messages, or doing some other mundane task that worked with all the others to keep everything moving like a well-oiled machine.
“Is this the place?” Primrose asked hopefully, no doubt eager to get off her hooves for a little while. “It looks nice.”
Scarlet nodded. “Yes, this is Twinwood Canopy. Don’t get too comfortable, though,” she pointed out simply. “We’re not going to be here long. We’re just grabbing supplies for the road, and then we’re leaving. Come on.”
Primrose groaned quietly in disappointment but did not otherwise offer up any form of complaint. She fell into stride beside Scarlet as they made their way into town.
A few ponies on the outskirts gave Scarlet and Primrose curious glances, most of their attention drawn to the former. Her well-kept appearance, hardened expression, and expensive travel cloak were severely out of place, and having a scrawny and dirty filly following her around only made it worse.
They would be easy to remember, which meant Silent and his subordinates would get a trail to follow if they came by asking after them.
“We’ll just have to be quick, then,” Scarlet whispered to herself, trying to soften her expression into something less intense.
“Uh, miss?” One of the ponies suddenly called out to her, making her come to a stop and shoot him a questioning look. He tipped back his wide-brimmed sun hat before nodding at something behind Scarlet. “Yer foal’s fallen behind.”
“She’s not my-” Scarlet immediately went to retort before catching herself. She looked to her side and, sure enough, Primrose was no longer there. Scarlet turned around and, to her relief, found that the filly hadn’t wandered far. She was standing in front of a wooden sign that had been erected right at the edge of town, a distant look in her eyes.
Scarlet was quiet for a second before offering the stranger a short nod. “Thank you for letting me know,” she said plainly before turning and cantering back to Primrose, curious about the holdup. She slid up to her side and looked at the sign.
On it was a crudely-drawn depiction of a creature that resembled a pony impaled upon wooden spikes jutting from the soil. However, instead of colorful fur and cheerful eyes, the creature had dark chitin and compound eyes that were narrowed in a feral hatred for all around it. A curved horn rose from its forehead, sharp teeth jutted out from its open mouth, and a long, forked tongue lolled limply from the corner of its lip. Holes tunneled through its hooves and wings, giving the creature a tattered and ragged appearance.
“Wh-what is this…?” Primrose asked quietly, a tremor in her voice at the gruesome depiction.
Scarlet’s eyes remained glued on the monster on the sign, her heart accelerating with long-buried loathing. “That… is a changeling,” she stated in a low, cold growl. “The lowest denominator of life. Demons that should be slaughtered on sight…”
Primrose’s eyes turned to look up at Scarlet in surprise, her jaw hanging open. “What?”
Scarlet huffed, her nostrils flaring. “They are feral monsters, and a small swarm of them attacked this town, perhaps two decades ago. They drove the villagers out, slaughtering many and turning the abandoned homes into their own personal nests and breeding pits. When the lord of Swanrun caught word of the tragedy, he sent a large force from the garrison to drive out the invaders. When the villagers moved back in, they put these signs up as a warning to any other changelings to stay away.”
Primrose was quiet for several seconds, her eyes again latching onto the sign. “Ponies really hate changelings, don’t they?”
Scarlet shot Primrose a disbelieving look. “Hate them? Why wouldn’t we? If ever I met a creature that held even a shred of sympathy for the abominations that caused The Fall, I would have every reason to believe they had taken leave of their sanity,” she remarked with no small degree of bitterness before giving the sign another scowl. “The lives they have taken cannot be returned, and the world is proving slow to recover from their evil deeds. The changelings that died here deserved it.”
Primrose didn’t say anything else. Her eyes lowered somewhat before she gave a timid nod. She turned away from the sign and drew close to Scarlet’s side, displaying her desire to get a move on.
Scarlet gave the filly a somber look, and internally, she berated herself for allowing her personal hatred for the species to bleed into her speech so much. She gave a quiet sigh and gingerly guided her away and deeper into town. “...I’m sorry if I scared you. I just feel very strongly about this, that’s all.”
Primrose said nothing, only offering a tiny nod.
With that, the two fell into a tense silence as they made their way deeper into Twinwood Canopy.
When Scarlet and Primrose arrived in the central plaza of the village, the amount of activity had increased significantly. The plaza was wide and long, a rudimentary fountain having been built in the center. Wagons loaded with a wide range of goods had been parked at the edges of the plaza, the ponies in front of them occasionally calling out to announce what they had on sale that day. Mostly food and produce.
Casting her eyes beyond the wagons, Scarlet took note of the various signs hanging over the doors of the buildings. She was quickly able to pick out personalized images that clearly advertised what each store sold, and by extension, which ones she was going to be visiting.
“First order of business, a dagger, and cloak for Primrose,” she told herself simply, turning first for the smithy. “Then camping supplies, then waterskins.”
Before she set off, she gave Primrose another glance, concern starting to gnaw at her heart. The filly had been quiet ever since they came across the sign, more than usual, and her overall demeanor had taken a turn for the solemn and subdued. Not really surprising, given what little she knew of the filly and her past, but it was still worrying.
Scarlet contemplated sitting Primrose down by the fountain and letting her rest while she bought what they needed, but the practical side of her brain made it perfectly clear that the risk, however slim, of Silent or one of his cronies strolling by and spotting her was far too great.
Before she could give the matter much more thought, a voice cut through the air from behind her. “Scuse me, miss!”
Scarlet turned to face the stranger, having had just about enough of random ponies interrupting her. Her feelings of discontent were washed away and replaced with a far more complicated emotion when she saw the creature before her.
It was a Griffin, male. He was colored primarily in browns, with the feathers on his head and neck being a few shades darker than the rest of him. His eyes were a shade of orange that resembled finely-polished amber. He gave Scarlet a warm smile and a nod of his head. “Sorry to bother ye, but I noticed ye were new in town. Was wondering if ye’d be up for a spot of conversation?”
Red flags shot up in Scarlet’s mind in an instant, and try as she might, she couldn’t force them down. She took a deep breath through her nose before giving the griffin a sideways glance. “I’m afraid not, sorry. We’re not going to be in town long, and we’d rather get a move on sooner rather than later. Excuse us,” she deflected his request plainly and bluntly, though she inwardly cringed when she realized she had allowed some venom to slip into her tone.
“He’s no different from me,” she reminded herself vehemently. “I’m not at war with him. He’s just a Griffin.”
He leaned away from her, his face scrunching up in surprise. “Well, pardon me, miss. I just don’t see newcomers very often and thought I’d be friendly,” he replied with a furrowed brow. “But if ye’d rather be left alone…”
Scarlet looked away, her cringe becoming visible on her face. He must have caught her tone, then. For a moment, she toyed with the idea of apologizing and relaying that she had fought in the war to try and make him understand. She quickly discarded the notion, however. The odds of him misinterpreting her attempt at rationalization for plain and simple racism were too high to be worth the effort.
So, instead, she offered up a different explanation. She turned back to him with a quiet sigh. “I’m… sorry for my tone. It’s just been a very difficult few days, and I am short on patience,” she explained simply before glancing down at Primrose again. “Now, we need to be going. Farewell.”
The griffin’s tail flicked to the side, though the intensity of his frown decreased, albeit only somewhat. He looked Scarlet up and down for a moment as if he were sizing her up. A tingling sensation formed on the base of her neck under his scrutiny. He then turned his eyes to look at Primrose. The filly shrank back before diving under Scarlet’s cloak, taking shelter beneath the larger mare.
That seemed to be the last sign the griffin needed to see. He let off an indignant huff before shrugging his shoulders. “Fair enough, I suppose. Have a good day, lass,” he said slowly before turning and walking away.
Scarlet watched him go, feeling very interested in finishing their shopping and leaving town as soon as possible. She glanced down at Primrose to see that the filly had replaced her solemn mood with one of anxiety and unease. She looked back up at Scarlet with a pleading look in her eyes. “C-can we get our stuff and go?” she whispered.
Scarlet looked back up to where the griffin had been only to find that he was gone. Somehow, though, the unease she felt only grew worse. “Yes… come on,” she replied to Primrose’s question simply before turning and making her way for the nearest of the shops they needed to visit, making sure to keep Primrose within hooves reach at all times.