Haven galloped down a long-unused road in the dead of night. She was sure that her mother had guards out looking for her, but she hoped they had no leads on where she was or how to find her. In truth, she didn't have much of a clue where she was, and if she didn't know, then hopefully, the guards didn't either.
Weeks of trying to reason with her mother to reach out in peace to the unicorns and earth ponies had been futile. According to her mother, such a thing had been near impossible before the war and completely impossible due to the war. Her mother kept stressing that all they could do was control the narrative in Zephyr Heights, saying that the royals could protect the citizens from attacks from the other two types of ponies. They were downplaying the fact that the only reason they should ever need to fear an attack was because they'd committed an unprovoked one first. No, never speak directly about that; the public didn't want to feel like the bad guys. It was only partially a lie that they were telling anyway since it was unlikely the earth ponies would be any more successful attacking them than they had been attacking the earth ponies. The royal family protecting its citizens was being truthful enough.
Haven didn't want to control the narrative; she wanted to write a new one. She wasn't so naive that she believed she could walk into the middle of Maretime Bay or Bridlewood and be welcomed with open hooves as a peace emissary, but she couldn't be the only pony to want to bring the tribes back together. She just had to find others like herself to show that it could be done. There had to be ponies living out in the wilderness somewhere, or perhaps ponies living on the outskirts of the other towns that she could test the waters with. She knew Bridlewood was somewhere in the direction she was headed, and the unicorns didn't have the same reasons to hate pegasi as earth ponies did.
She snorted. So she didn't have much of a plan. She did have some parts, parts about how to present herself, about what she wanted to accomplish, and a full awareness she still had to be careful about what she said that could be turned against the pegasi. Maybe she was being a little too hopeful she could accomplish something, but she was going to at least say she tried.
I'm not my mother. I'm not going to give up.
After cresting yet another hill, she ducked down. There was a campfire in the distance. That meant that somepony or someponies were out here. Her heart fluttered with excitement; this could be exactly what she was looking for— random uniforms or earth ponies that lived apart from their tribes, ponies she might possibly be able to safely talk to. Still, she had to be careful. There was no telling how they would react to her. There was also the possibility that these were her mother's guards who were out looking for her. She knew she wasn't following the fastest path to Bridlewood, and it was possible that the guards could have gotten ahead of her despite leaving afterward.
Deciding it was best to stay out of sight until she was sure of who she was dealing with, Haven practically crawled towards the campsite.
The camp was set on a low hill, under one of the few trees that bloomed in the area. It wasn't a little tree, as it had a massive trunk and spread its pink-leaved branches in a broad canopy that kept the smoke of the campfire from rising to where it could be seen at a greater distance. As she got closer, she could make out just two pony shapes; neither seemed to have horns, but only two ponies would rule out the royal guard who would come in more significant numbers. She had no way of knowing by just shadow if she was dealing with earth ponies or pegasi, not unless some pony flexed a wing wide enough she could see its shadow. Best to assume earth ponies.
When she finally reached the bottom of the hill, she paused. There was no cover at all on the approach. The only reason she hadn't been noticed as of yet was they weren't looking in her direction, seeming more concerned with tending their fire. That might seem not very smart of them at first, but then again, there was nothing of note for miles around. This tree was the only significant landmark she had seen, and hills obscured anything too far in the distance. The fire would keep any wild animals at bay anyway. They probably knew better what they were doing than she did, so there was no point in trying to be critical of their judgment. She was big enough to admit she was out of her depth traveling cross-country on her own.
Well, she couldn't just sit where she was, and she was on a mission to try to befriend ponies from other tribes. Earth ponies weren't the ideal first choice, but at worst, she could run away if they turned hostile. There were only two of them, which would make it difficult to corner her.
She crept closer, and one of the ponies' ears twitched, followed quickly by the pony spinning around.
"I heard something!" a mare yelled out. "Lucky, is that you?"
The other point walked over to the mare's side and looked down, straight at Haven. "Unless Lucky somehow turned into a lavender-colored mare, that's not Lucky."
"Oh, poo," the mare said in disappointment and turned her gaze down on Haven. "You there! What are you doing stalking around out here! No self-respecting earth pony should be skulking about in the dark!"
"Yet you seemed to think that's what Lucky would do," the second one said with mirth.
"Shut up, Argyle!" the mare snapped.
Haven blinked. They thought she was an earth pony? She supposed they might not be able to see her wings in the dark when she had them clasped to her sides. The immediate question was whether she should correct their misconception or let it continue and just talk with them from a distance. It took only a split-second's consideration to reject the second option. She'd accomplish nothing if she didn't present herself as a pegasus, and there was too much chance they'd end up noticing on their own and be even less receptive of her for trying to deceive them.
Taking a deep breath, she spread her wings.
"AHHH! A PEGASUS, FLYING IN TO STEAL ME AWAY INTO THE NIGHT!" the mare screamed, causing Haven's ears to flatten in pain.
"She's on the ground, not in the air, Phyllis," the Argyle said disparagingly.
"She could take off at any moment!" Phyllis counted, sounding frantic.
"I can't fly!" Haven called out to them. She almost corrected them to say that no pegasus could fly but stopped herself. She didn't dare give that information out. Her parents had gone out of their way to hide that fact during the war and had stressed it was important the other tribes not find out for the sake of the city's safety. "I'm...I'm disabled."
"You can't fly?" Phyllis asked, sounding skeptical. "How do we know you aren't lying?"
Haven narrowed her brow. "Do you think I would be hoofing my way across all these stupid hills if I could just fly over them? Please, let me join you at your fire. I'm cold, and I'm alone. You can keep a closer eye on me up there."
"She makes a good point," Argyle said encouragingly.
The mare considered her for several seconds. "You can't fly? Well, I suppose some cripple of a pegasus isn't that dangerous, and I don't trust you hiding out there in the dark. Come on up, but keep your distance!"
Haven's ears flattened again at being called a cripple. Still, she knew how to be diplomatic and keep her trap shut, rather than put this infuriating mare in her place for speaking to royalty in such a manner, not that Haven dared announce she was a princess.
She strolled up the hill, trying not to make any movements that would spook the mare. The stallion seemed less skittish, but that only made her warier of him. Being less nervous could be a sign he was simply more confident he could subdue her. This was probably even more nerve-wracking for her than either of them. There were two of them and just one of her, and they were earth ponies, the tribe that had killed her father. She knew she had a prejudice on account of that, but she was going to bury it.
The mare, Phyllis, backed away as far from her as she could as Haven reached the top of the hill. She could see them clearly now that she was sharing the light with them. Phyllis was a light peach pink with a long golden blonde mane and glasses. Her mane was a mess, and Haven got the impression that it typically received much better care. Perhaps this earth pony was not used to roughing it.
Argyle was blue on blue with his mane and fur and also wore glasses, although he kept his mane much shorter. Where Phyllis held suspicion in her gaze, Argyle seemed more curious than anything. Both looked around her age, or at most were only a few years older.
She went beside the fire and sat down, raising her forehooves to try to dry them in the heat after having spent hours walking in damp grass. As a royal, she had received extensive education on conducting diplomacy— even if she had always been unsure who she was supposed to be conducting that with. She decided to let them speak first. That allowed them to set the terms of the encounter and give them an extra sense of security. It had been only fifteen years before that they were fighting a war against a group of hostile invading pegasi, and it was best to do whatever was possible to put them more at ease.
Phyllis positioned herself almost completely opposite her at the fire, and Argyle took up a spot halfway between the two. The silence stretched on, and she could feel Phyllis's eyes boring into her.
"So, cripple, what are you doing out here by yourself and without any supplies?" Phyllis asked at last.
Her ears flattened involuntarily again. "Perhaps we should introduce ourselves before explaining ourselves. My name is Haven, not cripple. If I heard correctly, your names are Phyllis and Argyle, correct?"
"That's right," Argyle said with a smile. "You've never been out in the wilderness before, have you?"
She raised a brow at him. "How can you tell?"
He gestured to her raised hooves. "Those have recently been hooficured, and the damage I see is all fresh. You aren't used to walking on rough terrain. Also, as my companion has pointed out, you seem to lack supplies. Are you a runaway?"
"Great, some snobby filly that ran away because she's a cripple," Phyllis muttered. How dare this mare call her a filly! They were practically the same age!
She pulled her hooves back and set them down. "This is my first time away from Zephyr Heights, and I do come from a well-off family, but I'm not running away. I'm old enough to go where I choose." The last part was a blatant lie, but not because of her age. The guard would be hysterical if her mother tried the same thing. A royal never had the freedom to go where they chose.
"Then what are you doing out here?" Phyllis demanded.
"I wanted to meet earth ponies and unicorns," she said, deciding to tell the truth, even if only in part.
"Soil and branch save me! Another Argyle!" Phyllis moaned.
Argyle chuckled. "There is nothing wrong with wanting to expand your horizons. One day you may learn that, Phyllis."
"I have no desire to get killed!" Phyllis sneered.
Haven looked back and forth between the two. "Are you two friends, relatives?"
"Acquaintances," Phyllis said immediately.
"Distant relatives, very distant," Argyle said, still smiling.
"Once the number you put before the term cousin goes over the second, it isn't worth mentioning anymore," Phyllis corrected.
Argyle sighed. "I did say distant. All of ponykind are technically distant cousins."
Phyllis glared at him. "I share no lineage with pegasi or unicorns."
"If you want to believe that, you can tell yourself that," Argyle replied, looking disappointed.
It was easy for Haven to see who was the more amenable to peace between the tribes. Despite Phyllis's clear hostility, it was heartening to meet at least one pony so soon who might be on the same page.
"And what are you two doing out here?" she asked.
Argyle cleared his throat. "There's a bridge just over that next hill that predates the division of the tribes. I came out here to study it."
"And I came out here to make sure this blockhead doesn't get himself mind-controlled by a unicorn. This is way too close to Bridlewood," Phyllis said in a huff.
Argyle smiled at her. "I'm touched. I thought you were only out here because you and Lucky had a spiff, and you were trying to make him jealous and protective enough to come galloping to save you."
"He'll come; you'll see," Phyllis asserted.
Haven could care less about Phyllis's relationship status. Argyle, on the other hoof, had caught her interest.
She looked at him, trying to hide her eagerness. "You're a researcher, about the past?"
He nodded. "That I am. It is kind of a family tradition to try to bring the different tribes back together."
"Yeah…. when those other tribes aren't trying to burn our town down or enslave us," Phyllis spat. "Your family is going to be the death of us all."
Haven continued to be resolved not to respond to Phyllis. She instead drew in the dirt the star she had seen in the ruined station. "Have you ever seen this symbol?"
Argyle looked at it and then slowly raised his gaze to meet hers. "That's the mark of a very special unicorn that lived long ago. She helped spread the message of friendship to all the tribes. Where did you see this symbol?"
"An old abandoned part of Zephyr Heights," she replied. "Can you tell me about her?"
Argyle smiled wider. "I'd be happy to."