The pair meander their way over the nearby grassy hill, picturesque like out of a desktop background or perhaps some old musical film. The wind blows their hair lightly as the birds chirp from nearby rustling trees. The sky filling more, and more of their sights as they traverse over the incline.
Reaching the top they find the sight of a small village. Wooden houses, dirt roads, and fields of crops litter the landscape. There are no cars, no utility poles, no signs of anything they might consider “modern”.
“At least there’s houses. That’s a good sign! I’ve heard of certain groups of ponies that live off the grid and refuse to use modern technology, you think this might one of them, Posada?” Skystar asked her partner with curiosity.
She shakes her head defiantly, “No, I’ve been to places like that before. They might not use modern technology but the state would still provide them with paved roads and electricity for those who might use or need it. I don’t think it’s possible for this isolated of a group to exist in modern day Hippogriffia.”
Her eyes squint as she examines the village a bit closer, seeing a creature exit from one of the buildings. “There are people here, griffons or hippogriffs, it’s hard to tell from this far.”
Skystar raises her eyebrows, “You don’t think we got transported to a whole different continent, do you?”
Thoughts race through both of their heads. Countless possibilities, no matter how unlikely, enter their minds. It had been warned by Terrafin that Operation Sunset could have catastrophic ramifications if it were to end in failure, but this seemed otherworldly. It’s as if they had been punished by the Gods for messing with things they shouldn’t have.
“There’s only one way to find out. Let’s check out the village.”
Casually walking into the village the two of them can’t help but shake the feeling that they’ve been sent back in time. The dirt road showed no signs of tire or tread marks, only the imprints of hooves and claws from the villagers. Small wooden houses dot the areas around the road, with numerous fields of crops in the distant being worked by claw by the residents. The village is truly something out of the old “Middle Ages” history books that Posada would read over during her college years.
In need of information, they enter the first bar they see. Barkeepers are usually a wealth of local knowledge, perfect for gathering information in unknown towns.
The bar itself is entirely of a wooden construction, walls and floors included. Open air windows don the establishment with candles throughout for when it gets dark. Shutters outside to close up the open windows in the case of night or adverse weather. Behind the counter is a single hippogriff with his back turned.
Greeting the bartender, they’re both given wide-eyed looks, the gruff and gray hippogriff looks them down with suspicion. Wearing a simple button-up white shirt, he continues giving them a mean look from his bearded face as he speaks, “Never seen you folks around here before. From out of town for sure.”
Skystar pipes up “Out of town? Hey, just because you haven’t seen us before doesn’t mean we’re from out of town. Maybe we’ve just been cooped up in our house until now!”
He rolls his eyes and responds, “Right… So, what’s your business here?”
Despite Skystar’s “attempts” at lightening the mood it still feels tense, Posada takes the lead and carefully tries deescalating the situation. “We’re just passing through, needed a rest. But if we’re going to be a bother we can keep on walking.”
The barkeep lightens up slightly, still keeping his eyes set firmly on the unusual pair. “No. You lasses are fine. Just not everyday we get new folk coming in, especially ones dressed like you.” He says looking them up and down, taking special note of Posada’s hat. “We’re not exactly on the way to anything, if you know what I mean. People tend to travel different routes. But it’s nice to see new faces sometimes, long as they don’t cause no trouble.” He says with a slight snarl.
He puts down the cup he was holding, putting it on the counter along with another cup from under the table. “Feel free to have a seat.”
The hippogriffs relax somewhat, grabbing the barstools and taking a seat. “What can I get you gals to drink?” the Barkeep says gruffly.
“Uhh… Give us a minute, please.” Posada replies, the barkeep nods his head and continues with his business.
Whispering to her partner, Posada says, “Sky, um, on account of the whole post-scarcity thing I implemented, we don’t exactly have any money on us. Even if we did, I highly doubt he would accept it. What do we do here?”
“Why don’t we just be honest? Worst case scenario we have to leave. Maybe he can just give us some water for free since we’re traveling,” Skystar says to an eyerolling Posada.
“Sky, you’ve seen the village, do you really think they have free and clean drinking water? Secondly, some capitalist bar owner isn’t exactly going to be happy about two creatures taking up seats without paying. Traveling or not.”
“It’s all we’ve got Posada. Like I said if it comes down to it, we just leave and ask someone else in the village.”
They both sigh. Posada raises her claw and gets the attention of the barkeep, “Hi sir, um, look we don’t have any money. Or much of anything, really. What you see us with now is all we have. Would it be okay if we just.. maybe have some water?” She says putting her two claws together. “Or-or if you don’t have that, can we just stay for a minute and ask you some questions? I know, I know it seems weird, but it would help us a lot. We might even be able to pay you back sometime in the future!”
The barkeep lets out a loud, audible sigh, squinting at both of the girls as he contemplates what to do. The man then grabs both glasses, taking them to the a nearby keg, filling them both up with a light brown liquid before placing them back down. “Light ale. The closest thing I have to water. If you really want water, just go to the nearby stream and cup your hands,” he says without much change from his expression. “Can only give you one round though. I’m sure you understand.”
They both nod and thank the barkeep for his generosity before picking up the glasses. The light ale has the faintest malt scent to it, much like the beers they were used to back home but to an even lesser degree. The taste… is decent. Nothing to write home about, but both Skystar and Posada drink it down quite willingly, finding it fairly refreshing.
“It tastes good, thank you. May we ask your name?” Skystar exclaims.
“I’m Breezy. Or Breezy Vortex if you want to be proper,” he chuckles. “But everyone just calls me Breezy, so no need for that. Mind if I ask for y’alls names in return?”
“I’m Skystar, sir. Happy to meet you.” She smiles.
“And I go by Posada. I would like to thank you as well for the free drinks, it’s greatly appreciated. If there’s anything we can do to return the favor before we leave, let us know.” She smiles and nods.
“No need lass, I won’t miss the few bits from two glasses of ale. However, you did mention wanting to ask me some questions, what might those be?” he says in a curious tone.
“Oh man,” Posada sighs out, “Skystar, where do we start?”