Chapter 4
The morning quickly followed as the group quickly left the small inn. Rarity and quickly bought supplies and some bread and nuts for the others before they went out.
The group had found themselves walking down the path, eventually passing where they first arrived in Sapios. The first town they would have to travel to would be Riventevile, a small river town north of Littlecove. The trees that hugged the path were filled with their leaves as they rustled through the wind. The only sound was the small talk between the four to occupy their time.
“I wonder what other dragons there are in Bigwell City,” said Spike as he held onto Twilight’s bag.
“I wonder if there are any magical users in Sapios. We haven’t run into any since we got here,” said Twilight.
Luna nodded, “I agree. There was at least one magical human in each town as the local mage before the plague. The lack of any magic worries me.”
The group stopped as they noticed Rarity staring at the woods next to the path.
“What is it?” asked Twilight.
“I... I thought I saw something,” muttered Rarity.
The two waited for a few seconds before they returned to walking but again Rarity stopped as she heard the sound of leaves rustling nearby.
“What was that?” asked Luna as she looked around.
The group quickly scanned the area around them to see nothing. Whatever it way, it didn’t seem to want to say hello.
Suddenly, something grabbed Rarity’s leg before trying to pull her into the bushes, forcing Rarity to claw the ground in retaliation.
The others quickly noticed a large scaly tail wrapped around Rarity’s leg as she clawed the dirt for her life, screaming like a maniac in the process. Twilight quickly jumped forward and grabbed Rarity’s arm as she pulled back against the grip of the creature’s tail.
With her magic, Luna quickly conjured a long deep grey to black long sword with a midnight blue hilt before taking a swipe at the creature’s tail, cutting it cleanly like a hot knife through butter.
A large hiss quickly filled the air as birds flew away from the trees.
“What was that?!” exclaimed Twilight as she pulled Rarity free.
“I don’t know... But I don’t think I want to...”
Large fangs suddenly jumped out from the woods as they charged towards Luna but the skilled blue haired woman jumped out of the way before slicing the creature, creating a large gash in its hood.
“It’s... it’s a snake!” exclaimed Rarity as the creature held its head and stared down at the group. The three scattered as the creature lunged at them, filling its mouth with dirt.
“What do we do?!” exclaimed Rarity as the creature stood there stunned for a moment.
Luna gritted her teeth as she charged forward with sword in hand, “I’m going to kill this snake!”
With a quick stab, Luna pierced the snake’s throat before taking a second swipe and decapitated the monster, staining most of her clothes instantly.
The snake quickly fell and twitched as its ugly head rolled onto the ground.
Luna sighed, “I never knew this island had such terrible beasts.”
The princess quickly conjured a scabbard before sheathing her blade and returning to the others.
“Where did you learn to do that?!” exclaimed Twilight.
“I sometimes practice in my free time,” muttered Luna, “Maybe I should give you two a weapon just in case.”
“I don’t really like the idea of weapons,” muttered Twilight.
“I think Luna is right, if there are monsters like these then we can’t travel anywhere unarmed. Besides, I’ve got DIRT stuck under my nails now and my and Luna’s clothes are ruined! My nice shoes have... snake blood all over them!” said Rarity.
“Fine but I don’t want one. I really don’t think I can bring myself to kill any creature,” muttered Twilight.
“Is it ok to come out now?” asked Spike as he hid in Twilight’s backbag.
Twilight stared at the bloody mess as she thought of what to say. “Not right now. Stay in there until we reach the village,” said Twilight.
“Is there a specific weapon you’d like?” asked Luna.
“I don’t know... I don’t really want to get even dirtier,” said Rarity.
“I guess a bow and quiver should do,” said Luna.
The princess quickly conjured a bow and a quiver filled with white fletching colored arrows before handing them to Rarity.
“Once we reach town, you should practice. I noticed that blacksmiths usually set up dummies for people to test their products on,” said Luna.
Rarity nodded, “I will.”
The two quickly returned to their journey as they left the carcass to rot. Twilight looked around for a moment before catching up to the other as she felt like someone was watching them.
The group found themselves in the town by noon and it seemed as if something was going on as a large crowd surrounding something.
“Let me take a look,” said Twilight.
Rarity and Luna nodded as Twilight sneaked into the center of the large circle of people. In the middle were a few guards and a two men with the brown jackets and unusual emblems shaped a stylized V over a golden cog. Right next to them were a group of locals that were under arrested with their arms bound by unusual magnetic bracelets. Twilight quickly heard the townspeople shouting insults and jeers at the suspects as the guards kept a few from trying to give their own form of “due process.”
“Settle down. We’ve recently unearthed a den of magic users. As you know these magic users bring misfortune and chaos to peaceful towns such as this one. We thank you for your help in apprehending them and we will be escorting them to Bigwell City where they will face their just punishments. Remember, they released the plague and without your help, the plagues WILL ravish us all!” exclaimed a Seeker.
“We didn’t do anything!” yelled one of the arrested.
“Quiet! You are an enemy of the state and a danger to everyone. We WILL keep order and stop anyone who wishes harm to our great land!” exclaimed the Seeker.
Twilight watched as the guards forcefully opened a path for the Seekers to escort the arrested out of town. The crowd quickly dispersed as Luna and Rarity caught up to Twilight.
“What happened?!” exclaimed Rarity.
“They just.. they just rounded a group of magic users and accused them of releasing the plague,” muttered Twilight.
“What?! That’s utter nonsense!” said Luna.
“Be careful! We don’t want to attract attention,” whispered Rarity.
“Spike, you can come out now.”
Spike quickly poked out from Twilight’s bag as he overheard what happened. “That didn’t sound very pleasant,” muttered Spike.
“What’s going to happen to them?” asked Twilight as she saw the last Seeker disappear in the distance.
“I don’t know...” muttered Luna.
Rarity noticed a young girl behind a stall of apricots staring at where the guards went. She had short blonde hair and deep green eyes that seemed to match her light pinkish skin. She wore a white dress with black trimmings underneath her apron as she stood at the stalls. The look on her eye seemed sad as Rarity noticed a tear staining her apron like she knew someone.
“Why don’t you two look around town for a nice hotel? I’m going to browse a bit,” said Rarity.
The two nodded and went off as Rarity walked towards the stall.
“Um, excuse me but may I ask what happened?” asked Rarity.
The girl quickly turned to Rarity as her mind returned to reality, “Oh sorry, what can I get ya?” asked the girl.
“Why does the guards and those Seekers taking those people away?”
“Because they were discovered using magic. The King believes that the plague was brought about by those magic users as a way to kill off all non-magical people. People who know magic are completely immune,” said the girl.
Rarity sighed, “Do you believe what they said?”
The girl shook her head, “I don’t think so but most people believe otherwise. Anyways, what’s your name?”
“My name is... Rarity of Bigwell,” Rarity lied.
“So... Rarity... What brings you to Riventevile?” asked the girl.
“I was just visiting a friend of mine in Littlecove and I’m returning home.”
“It must have been a LONG walk. My name is Jenith. I’m from Brookway in the west of Sapios,” said the girl as she smiled”
Rarity smiled as she shook Jenith’s hands, “So... why were you staring at the group that left?”
Jenith’s smile quickly disappeared, “Some of those captured were close neighbors of this town.”
Rarity frowned, “That’s sad. I’d be a little sad too if close friends of mine were labeled as traitors.”
“Anyways, is there something I can do for you?”
“No, not really,” said Rarity.
“Well if you need something, just ask me. I see you got some Giga Cobra’s blood on your feet. I guess you got tangled with one of those creatures. Crushed rose petals combined with some salt in a water mixture can remove blood, “ said Jenith as she noticed Rarity’s blood stained shoe and leg.
“Thanks, I’ll try that once I get a chance,” said Rarity.
With that Rarity left the stalls and quickly found Twilight as she watched a few of the local farmers digging away within a local field.
“What are they doing?” asked Rarity.
“I don’t know... It seems as if they’re digging channels or something from the river,” said Twilight.
The two watched as some farmhands digged between the fields. The men quickly stopped and got out of the trenches before one man broke down a small wall holding the water from the river back. The river water quickly filled up the trenches at high speed as the men smiled and congratulated each other on a job well done.
Twilight looked in surprise at the small feat, “I think they’re water their fields.”
Rarity frowned, “Why don’t they just bring rain clouds in?”
“Remember what Luna said. Humans are detached from the environment so they have to force it to work into their favor. It seems they channel water to continuously feed the fields,” said Twilight.
“It must take a lot of hard work just to do that. The Apple family just gets the weather patrol to feed their fields and orchards,” interjected Spike.
“The three quickly noticed an open area nearby where a few cows were grazing. They seemed unusually tired looking before one of them mooed.
“What kind of cow... “mooes?” asked Rarity.
“I guess cows and other animals here don’t talk like in Equestria,” said Twilight.
“So in this world only humans and dragons can talk?” asked Spike.
Twilight nodded, “It seems so though the librarian mentioned that dragons are popular up north as rare pets, not companions with full rights like in Equestria.”
The three were quickly caught off guard as a rumbling sound filled the air.
Twilight and Spike turned to Rarity as she felt her stomach yelling for food.
“Sorry, I’m kind of a little hungry,” muttered Rarity.
“Let’s find Luna and eat lunch,” said Twilight.
The three agreed and quickly went around town searching for Luna. After a few minutes, the three found a small crowd behind a building chanting. As they took a closer look they quickly found Luna fighting a tall man in a sword fight. The crowd chanted as Luna kept her ground and fended off the man. Before long, Luna quickly disarmed the man, causing the crowd to cheer.
“You win...” muttered the man as he picked up his sword.
“I guess I won the bet,” said Luna as she sheathed her blade.
The three quickly noticed someone handing Luna a bag before two other people jumped into the circle with their swords ready while Luna left.
“What was that?!” exclaimed Twilight as she and Rarity caught up to Luna.
Luna smiled, “Oh that? Just a small game. I was able to us some money.”
Rarity quickly took the bag before examining it. There were silver colored coins inside the bag with the King Mortem emblem embedded on it. They were in different sizes with each size equaling a different amount of currency. Rarity quickly counted the coins markers before concluding that Luna had netted 342 pinions.”
“This is a good amount you won Luna!” exclaimed Rarity as she tied the bag and gave it back to Luna.
“What is the currency called anyways?” asked Twilight.
“Pinions. From what I’ve seen a good dress is worth a few hundred while a meal would equate to maybe 20 pinions at most,” said Rarity.
“Well that means if we need anything we have some money on hand,” said Twilight.
“Let’s get some rest for now. We have to head out tomorrow,” said Luna.
Applejack frowned as Fluttershy stood next to her eying the exterior of the museum in Canterlot. The museum was closed but Princess Celestia and asked them to come back so she could show them something. Before long one of the museum's caretakers came out and escorted the two in where the Princess was waiting.
“It’s nice to see you two again,” said the Princess in her calm and soothing voice.
Applejack smiled and curtsied with her two right legs as Fluttershy bows normally.
“I want to show you two something,” said the princess.
“What is it?” asked Applejack.
The princess smiled and escorted them to the museum’s storage area where extremely old artifacts were either waiting for restoration or were waiting for their time to see the light of day behind glass. Applejack thought of Twilight looking in excitement as she walked through the aisles of old items. The air was dry and warm as Fluttershy looked around, noticing either bones of ancient creatures and pictures of others.
The three eventually stopped at a small section that seemed to have been there for awhile. Most of the items were covered in a thin film of dust as Celestia showed the two the items. One artifact was a sword with a long hilt. The sword’s fuller gleamed under the light as bands of numerous metals made up its blade.
“This is a human made sword,” said Celestia as she levitated the weapon.
Fluttershy looked at in a bit of fear as it floating in mid air, only supported by the ethereal glow of Celestia’s magic.
“It looks like any other sword,” said Applejack.
Celestia smiled as she pulled out from the corner a scale of an ancient dragon.
“Do you know what this is?” asked Celestia as she held the large grey scale in midair.
“It’s... it’s a mountain dragon scale,” muttered Fluttershy as her mind pictured the original owner in their full ferocity. The thought made Fluttershy’s legs shiver at the image of the creature.
“Yes and next to diamond, it’s nearly indestructible,” said Celestia.
“What are you goin’ to do with that?” asked Applejack.
“Watch.”
Applejack and Fluttershy watched as the princess flung the scale up into the air. The scale started falling before a sudden quick swipe cleaved it cleanly in half. Applejack and Fluttershy looked in awe as Celestia rested the sword back in its place. It had no chip marks and had cut the scale like scissors through paper.
“How I the hay did that sword cut through that?!” exclaimed Applejack.
Celestia smiled, “You know understand what humans are capable of? They were masters at using metals and they also combined technology with magic. Here, follow me. I’ll show you something else.”
The two nodded and followed Celestia as she showed them a large sky blue crystal. It had a faint glow as it sat on its place in the shelf with its film of dust.
“This is a special crystal humans created to harness magic,” said Celestia as she levitated the crystal.
“So even a normal human could use magic with that crystal thingy?” asked Applejack.
Celestia nodded, “Yes. Even we don’t know how it works but it had become a common thing before the plague appeared. Now let me show you one more thing.”
The two followed Celestia until they reached the end of the aisle. At the end was something under a brown tarp with fragile written on it in big bold red letters. Celestia quickly pulled of the tarp to reveal a stained glass window. It was quite different from the ones that adorned the castle as it showed a picture of a silver haired creature in great detail. The creature wore pale silver and white robes adorned with jet black trimmings. In its hand was an hourglass that seemed to have black sand in it.
“What is this?” asked Fluttershy as she stared at the picture.
“This is a picture of Aetas, the guardian of humans. Very few have even known of its existence let alone seen it,” said Celestia as she slowly placed the work of art back in its place.
“Thanks for showin’ this to us Princess Celestia,” said Applejack.
“There’s no need. I just thought that you should understand what humans are capable of doing. I’ll get another report of Twilight tomorrow at some point,” said Celestia.
“We hope to see it soon,” said Applejack.
Rarity yawned as she looked around the small hotel room. She could barely sleep thanks to the basic beds the inn provided. The fashion girl sighed as she got out of bed. Twilight was across the room on her bed with Spike sleeping on top of her like her cat Opal did back in Ponyville, all curled up.
The loud sound of torrential rain reverberated through the building as Rarity looked outside. The small inn sat nearby the river that flow through the town. Upon looking outside, Rarity quickly noticed some of the townspeople placing large bags at the riverbanks. The river had apparently risen within minutes of the thunderstorm occurring and the rushing water surged downstream as the townspeople continued placing bags at the riverbanks.
Rarity quickly turned around and ran over to Luna’s bed which sat at the foot of Twilight’s. Luna frowned as she found herself unceremoniously woken up by Rarity.
“What? Is there something wrong?” asked Luna as she sat up in her bed.
“There seems to be a problem outside. We should investigate,” insisted Rarity.
Luna nodded and the two quickly ran outside as Rarity grabbed an umbrella from a drying rack next to the lobby door.
The thunderstorm was strong then before as Rarity felt the wind playing tug-o-war with her umbrella. Luna ignored the rain as it pelted her face and backside as they investigated the river.
“What’s happening?” asked Luna as she turned to one of the townspeople.
“We’re making a levee to stop the river!” she said.
Luna watched as the townspeople piled bags of sand on the river banks. The water surges periodically soaked the townspeople as each one worked their hands and legs to the bone to build the wall.
“We should help them,” muttered Luna as Rarity came up next to her.
Rarity nodded before noticing Jenith from earlier running away from the other townspeople.
“You help the others, I need to check on something,” said Rarity as she ran off.
Luna was about to say something but held her tongue as Rarity ran off. “I guess I should start doing something,” muttered Luna as she turned to helping the townspeople. The moon princess quickly picked up a sandbag that had fallen and began doing her part as the strong wings took their toll.
Rarity frowned as she felt the winds picking up. Before long, the umbrella quickly slipped through her delicate fingers, leaving her to face the rain alone. Rarity frowned but continued followed Jenith before ducking behind a rock as the blonde haired girl looked around.
Rarity watched as Jenith ran dangerously close to the surging river. The girl slowly dunk her hand into water as she tried her best not to be swept into the rapids. Suddenly, a sky blue glow appeared in the water before the water around Jenith’s hands instantly became ice. Rarity watched as Jenith pulled her hand out of the water and did the same over and over again until eventually she had small wall of ice holding some of the water back.
“That should give them enough time to finish the levees,” muttered Jenith as she made sure nobody was watching.
Just then, a clash of lightning struck a nearby tree that made Jenith jump. The girl quickly lost her balance and yelled in fear as she felt gravity betraying her. Rarity quickly jumped out from her hiding spot as she ran towards the riverbanks downstream from where Jenith fell from. The purple haired girl watched the rapids in fear as she tried to discern any hint of Jenith’s whereabouts in the white foam. Suddenly, a hand and eventually Jenith’s head popped out from the water as she tried to keep her mouth above water. Rarity reached out as far as she could as she held onto the riverbanks for dear life. Jenith clawed the riverbanks until she felt Rarity’s soaked hands. With a big tug, Rarity pulled Jenith out of the water and onto safe ground.
“Are you ok?!” exclaimed Rarity as Jenith tried to catch her breath.
Jenith sighed, “I’m fine... Let’s just get back to the levees.”
Rarity nodded and helped Jenith back up as they returned to the rest of the townspeople. The two arrived as Luna finished placing the last levee in place. The river had calmed just enough to give the townspeople a chance as the levees stood there like an immovable shield.
“Is everyone ok?” asked Luna as the townspeople regrouped.
“What happened?!” exclaimed someone as Rarity held Jenith at her side.
“Someone get a towel or something! She’s cold to the bone!” exclaimed Rarity.
Luna watched as a man gave Jenith a towel.
“Luna, come with me back to the inn. We’ll take care of Jenith there,” said Rarity.
Luna nodded and followed Rarity as she took Jenith back to the inn.
“Just sit down and relax,” said Rarity as she showed Jenith her bed. the now soaked girl sat down on Rarity’s bed as she coughed a little.
“Do you feel dizzy or anything?” asked Rarity.
Jenith shook her head, “No, I’m fine. Just a little tired, that’s all...”
Rarity smiled weakly before noticing Twilight waking up.
“What happened?” asked Twilight as she rubbed her eyes.
“Jenith fell into the river. I was able to pull her out and I brought her here to rest for a bit,” said Rarity.
“What was she doing at the river?” asked Twilight.
“I was.... I was seeing how bad the river swelled. There’s been a sudden torrential thunderstorm and the town was trying to set up levees to stop the river from flooding,” said Jenith before having another coughing fit.
“Why don’t you rest for a bit? You’ll be fine by tomorrow morning,” said Rarity.
Twilight frowned as she noticed that Jenith was completely soaked and had probably caught a cold or something else.
“Rarity’s right. You should rest. A cold or worse a fever isn’t going to help you,” said Twilight.
“Thanks,” said Jenith as she pulled the blankets over her.
“What are you going to do?” asked Twilight.
Rarity sighed, “Well my ma...err hair is ruined and I’m all wet by the rain. I guess I’ll just dry myself off and buy some extra clothes to change into.”
“Ok. Where’s Luna?” Twilight asked.
“It’s almost morning. She went out to a field somewhere... You know Twilight,” hinted Rarity.
Twilight quickly understood what Rarity meant and left it at that knowing Jenith was right next to them.
Somewhere just outside of town, Luna was standing in a field as she looked at the sky. The storm had calmed down to a small drizzle but the ground was soaked as Luna’s boots sank a bit in the mud.
“It’s sad to see how much humans have lost since the beginning of the plague,” muttered Luna as she stared at the pearl white face of the moon.
The princess sighed and after checking her surroundings, closed her eyes and used her magic to begin setting the moon. As Luna finished her job, the moon began its slow descent towards the Western horizon as the sun began its rise from the East.
“I should return to the inn,” Luna muttered to herself.
The moon princess left the field as she walked back to town. On the way, Luna felt a shiver down her spine as she felt a presence watching her on the way back to the inn.