//------------------------------// // The Town of Clay Tower // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// Mud didn’t just cover the ground Rainbow Dash was flying over now. Mud was the ground. Mud was the ocean below her. It stretched in every direction as far as she could see. If she ever made the dumb decision to land on that mud down there she was certain she’d sink up to at least her chin. Plants didn’t exist anymore and the water had so completely mingled with the earth to make this mud there were hardly any actual little puddles or pools of it. Just mud, mud, mud. It wasn’t as bad as being in a desert at least. Or still being back in the swamp. But it was pretty boring. She’d been flying out over this brown mud all day. Such a place could never be settled by ponies or other creatures, there was just nothing here. Did civilization actually end at the swamp? Cart D’Evron had known about the swamp, or at least heard about it, but neither he nor anyone else she had met on this journey could give her a solid answer on what existed south of it. If there was any sort of civilization on the horizon, it was probably far enough away where nobody could be bothered to make the trip up north through this mud to see if anything was above them. Obviously if they saw a huge, flat, ocean of mud ahead and nothing in the distance they probably wouldn’t be in any hurry to go exploring. That was if there was anything. Rainbow Dash could think of a lot of different reasons for why there was no knowledge or contact past this huge mud field. But it was all guesses at this point anyways. She might as well keep flying until eventually she did find something. Or starve. But she didn’t think she was that unlucky. Her mind drifted back to her time in the True North… maybe she shouldn’t entirely count on her luck. Good news was the weather was nice, it wasn’t too hot or too cold here, there were plenty of clouds overhead to give her shade or a place to nap on if she needed to, and the wind had been nothing more than an occasional breeze. Ever since she had made it to Hoofica the weather hadn’t really been an issue, only occasional bad spots to get through like the small desert south of it and then the swamp of course. There had to be a decent amount of rain here too. All in all, it wasn’t the worst place to fly through. She was just hoping she’d find something new soon. It hadn’t been a long flight yet but her patience had already ran out. There being a real mystery as to what came next was making her too excited. She started thinking about Twilight again too. There was so much she was going to have to tell her and fill her in on, the promise to Claude was just the tip of the iceberg. And Twilight was going to especially like hearing about unknown places just newly explored. After about another hour of flight things started to dry up below her. The very wet and porous mud was changing and becoming more solid. Further on from that it started to dry up completely and crack. “Okay, so we’re changing a little bit,” Rainbow Dash said as she followed the ground. She looked ahead and squinted her eyes to see if there was anything else on the horizon, now that she at least knew it wasn’t all going to be the same wet mud. In a few minutes the horizon of dried, brown, mud started to change. Much to her delight. More color appeared at first. Red and orange, the mud ahead was giving way to clay. Not the most inviting stuff to see just yet but it was still a change. Rainbow Dash welcomed it. The landscape became far more uneven as well instead of just a flat field of mud, there were large rocks pocking out and large shelves and formations of the red and orange clay. No buildings, trees, or anything like that yet, but she was getting somewhere. Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and rose up a little higher, she wanted to be able to see a little further now with rocks and stuff partially blocking her view. There still wasn’t a ton of detail that she could make out at this height and distance, but as she flew some more she thought she saw something else on the horizon that stuck out more than a simple rock. She had to squint again but she was pretty sure now about what she was seeing. What looked like a tower—an orange tower—was shooting up into the sky. It was already standing on top of a small plateau of clay that any pony could’ve easily walked up, giving it a commanding view and presence of the area. Whatever it was for didn’t matter, it was a sign of civilization. Someone had built it and now Rainbow Dash had proof that yes—there was indeed something to find if she kept going south. When she got closer though she noticed that it looked pretty old and dilapidated. One side of the top part of the tower had fallen away completely and there were cracks going all the way down to its foundation. This didn’t bother her too badly though since at this point she could now see what lied just south of the tower. And it was a far more inviting sight. The first thing was a few patches of green and yellow land, that she was guessing were farms, the second was a smattering of small buildings in the shadow of the large tower. While there was no road leading to or away from this “village” she highly doubted they were responsible for the much grander tower. There had to be more even further south, either that or these were the last remnants of some other, larger civilization. Before landing she took another gander south and saw that the clay continued on in a flat expanse for quite a bit further as well. She was unable to see the end just yet. Tilting her head back down she got a better look at the small village. The buildings were all huts and hovels made of red adobe clay and bricks. There didn’t seem to be any streets, just lots of wide open areas with most of the buildings built up against the plateau or close to it, and others built alongside the large shelves of clay and rock formations to the south of the tower. And there were ponies down there. Walking amongst the buildings and enjoying the pleasant day outside. “Score,” Rainbow Dash grinned. With not a second to spare she descended towards the middle of the small village. A lot of ponies were out there in the open spot she had chosen, ignorant of the pegasus about to touch down. When her hooves reached the hard clay ground she noticed one of the reasons for all the ponies in this spot was the large communal water pump built into the ground. A few ponies here had buckets of water they were carrying on their backs, tied to wooden sticks. Others were carrying baskets of corn, beans, and some kind of yellow rice. Others still looked like they had just been walking and talking with friends. Most wore wide hats on their heads and ponchos covering their bodies, but more than a few were bereft of clothes to make Rainbow think it wasn’t out of the norm to not be wearing anything. And every single pony she saw so far was an earth pony—no pegasi or unicorns just yet if any lived here. Naturally, once they noticed her descend from the sky and intrude into their town, all the eyes of the ponies here turned to her. Conversations stopped and everybody froze up at the sight of the colorful pegasus. “Hi!” Rainbow Dash cheerfully waved to them. A few young fillies and colts who were out looked at her with a mixture of surprise and amusement, but they were being held back by their parents and older siblings. “Er…” Rainbow Dash’s pleasant grin became a bit more sheepish. “What’s up?” Those stopped conversations turned into hushed whispers and one enterprising stallion wearing a sombrero finally had the courage to take a single step forward and speak to her. “Hello… miss.” He said as he looked her up and down, the fact he didn’t seem weirded out by her wings at least told Rainbow Dash that he probably knew what a pegasus was. “Where uh, where in the world did you come from?” Rainbow Dash sighed, she looked behind her to the expanse of clay and mud to the north. “Do you want the long version or the short version?” “We never thought there could ever be so much north of the mud fields. It almost doesn’t seem possible,” the stallion—Early Riser—said to Rainbow Dash as they sat down at his dinner table in his family’s humble abode. “Did anyone ever try looking?” Rainbow asked him. Early Riser shrugged. “Not especially, not in a long time at least as far as I know, it just seemed like mud and more mud that never ended. There wasn’t really reason to think there might be a “beyond” or anything.” “Well if you ever feel like traveling now…” Rainbow Dash trailed off. “Just make sure you really prepare yourselves. It’ll be a tough trip for anybody walking.” “The sun forbid anyone gets any crazy idea in their head,” a mare’s voice cut in as she plopped a spoonful of rice and beans on the plate in front of Rainbow Dash. “We quite enjoy our lives here, thank you very much.” Early Riser’s wife, a red-head by the name of Sunny Forecast, had already been wary of Rainbow Dash the moment she met her. And that wariness only grew the more Rainbow Dash’s story unfolded. “Sweetheart, don’t be rude to our guest,” Early Riser lightly admonished her. Sunny Forecast stuck up her nose at him. “I don’t want her negatively influencing the children.” “I wouldn’t do that on purpose or anything,” Rainbow said nervously and looked across the table at the couple’s two children. A filly and a colt, they were both staring at her while they ate from their own plates. While they had been pretty excited to see her at first, a stern look from their mother was all it took to make them quiet. “I’m not even planning on staying that long, I just wanted a quick meal and to hear about what’s south of here. Uhh… speaking of, does this place have a name.” “Clay Tower. Not a very creative name but it’s clearly the most obvious thing to call our town,” Early Riser said. “Who built that big tower anyways? It looks really old,” Rainbow asked. “You’re right about that. It’s a few hundred years old, Clay Tower here is right at the edge of the old Golden Empire. The tower is the northernmost outpost it ever had,” Early Riser told her. “When the Empire fell apart, our ancestors settled here to make a quiet living away from the heart of the Empire and the more heavily populated lands to the south.” “Golden Empire?” Rainbow tilted her head. “Yes, an old empire ruled by the Triarchy of Ponies that existed up until a couple of hundred years back before fracturing. Now most of its lands are taken up by the Hundred Kingdoms,” Early Riser said. “Hundred Kingdoms?” Rainbow tilted her head the other direction. Early Riser coughed. “Right—my apologies, I’m sorry, I’m not used to ponies not knowing any of this. I kind of forgot where you’re from…” he looked to his wife. “Dear? Can you get me a map and pencil from the chest?” Sunny Forecast snorted in annoyance but walked out of the kitchen and into another room, presumably looking for their storage chest. Meanwhile Rainbow, Early Riser, and his kids quietly ate their meal. Rainbow Dash could already tell that someone was going to be having an argument with his wife later today. The kids could probably tell too. Rainbow Dash took a brief look around the home, checking out the red walls of the building and some of the stuff the family owned. They had a few decorative plates, some tapestries and paintings, along with a number of clay pots and sculptures. A few seconds later, Sunny Forecast returned and placed a large map on the table and hoofed a pencil to her husband. “There,” she said and sat down. “Thank you,” Early Riser said and spread out the map for Rainbow Dash. “Here, come look at this.” Rainbow leaned over it and took her first look at the world to the south. Most of the map—three quarters of it—was taken up by land, with only the bottom quarter being water. The top half looked like it was mostly dry, arid, and empty, while below that it was much greener and hilly with lakes and rivers worming through it. She wasn’t a map expert but she could at least tell these things. Early Riser took his pencil and made a small “X” near the top and middle of the map. “This is Clay Tower. The edge of the known world to the Hundred Kingdoms,” Early Riser said. “And this-” he made a large circle around most of the dry land directly to the south. “Is the Disputed Lands. A land mostly of salt flats and old mineral mines. Officially declared off-limits to settlement or development by any ponies from the Hundred Kingdoms as part of a treaty they’ve all agreed on. Though there are plenty of ponies that still live there, they just aren’t from any kingdom. They eke out a small existence just like us, mining salt and precious metals and trading them to us and the kingdoms. And finally this line-” he drew a line across the length of the map, right where it first started turning green. “From it all the way down to the coast is the Hundred Kingdoms. To be blunt though, it’s more like “The Two-Dozen Kingdoms” but Hundred Kingdoms has a better ring to it and that’s what everybody calls them.” “Well I can’t say I don’t understand that sentiment,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “If you’re going to continue flying south, let me fill you in on them as much as I can,” Early Riser smiled. “The Hundred Kingdoms formed out of the remains of the Golden Empire, the lands below the Disputed Lands and between the Grand Ocean are at any moment divided up by a couple dozen minor kingdoms. Some have existed since the beginning, others are relatively new, some are unstable, some aren’t, you get the gist. If I was you, I would just fly south and get through them as quickly as possible.” “How come?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “The heartland of all these kingdoms, where every capitol and major city of each independent kingdom sits, is very insular. They care nothing for the outside world. Every ruler sees themselves as the inheritor of the Golden Empire, and all the kingdoms just spend time playing war and jockeying for position with each other. I doubt you’d be welcome anywhere—and no one would spare the time for you as some outsider from the north. If you want an adventure and exploration like you’ve said, I’d say go right past all that and just make it to the coastline. Officially all the cities and ports on the coast are part of their respective kingdoms, but they’re mostly allowed to do whatever they want and there’s barely any sort of oversight or government to them. So long as trade and business continues.” “So you think I’ll have a more fun time out on the ocean then?” Rainbow asked. “I think there’s more waiting for you there to be sure,” he said. “Almost the entire coastline is taken up by various ports, docks, trade outposts, small cities, and the like. The whole world is connected by those ports. You’ll find something.” Rainbow Dash grinned in excitement. “Alright, thanks for the advice.” “One last recommendation then before you finish eating and head off,” Early Riser said and brought his pencil back to the canvas of the map. He drew two lines down from the Disputed Lands to the coast, a little closer to the left side of the map, so west, and created a rectangular slice of land. “This is the Kingdom of Malkonrik—well technically it’s a republic, they have an elected Prime Minister, but everyone calls them kingdoms no matter how they’re actually run. Either way, it’s one of the more stable and peaceful kingdoms last I heard, with one of the largest ports on its southern coastline. I’d suggest you go there and travel through Malkonrik on your way to the ocean.” Rainbow Dash took in the map and imprinted it in her brain as much as she could. She had a knack for naturally and instinctually finding the right directions for where to fly to. She was pretty sure with just a glance she’d be able to find the right spot. “Got it,” Rainbow nodded. “Good luck on your trip then. I hope you have a fun time,” Early Riser said. “I think an ocean at least sounds way more fun to travel than a desert or a snowy wasteland,” Rainbow shrugged. “We’ve never seen the ocean,” the filly whispered to her brother. Sunny Forecast frowned. “And you should be glad. Who knows what sort of trouble you’d have to go through on the way there.” She then turned and glared at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow coughed. “Ahem… that’s probably my sign to go. T-Thanks for the meal.” Early Riser sighed and rubbed his head. “You’re welcome. It’s very dry out in the salt flats, so take a drink of water before you go, and try and be on the lookout for any small villages since they’ll have wells of their own. Other than that I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about.” “Cool,” Rainbow looked over at Sunny Forecast and tried to put on a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you, and you have really nice kids too.” “Hmph,” Sunny Forecast snorted in defiance. Rainbow Dash winced and turned to the kids as she sat up from the dinner table. “Bye, and listen to your mother.” “Aww...” they both glumly looked down at their plates. “Heh… sorry,” Rainbow said. “That’s right,” Sunny Forecast glowered at them all. Early Riser was much more polite as he stood up from his seat as well and smiled. “Goodbye, and take care.”