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// Bard (III):The Traveling Minstrel 
// Story: The Night Bard: The End of Dawn 
// by Iridescence T Wind 
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“Stories ought not to be just little bits of fantasy that are used to wile away an idle hour; from the beginning of the human race stories have been used - by priests, by bards, by medicine men - as magic instruments of healing, of teaching, as a means of helping people come to terms with the fact that they continually have to face insoluble problems and unbearable realities” 

~ Joan Delano Aiken 

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The night was soft, still, and deep blue overhead as Sonata left the edge of the forest that had lead to her old town and headed across the rolling hills towards the distant Evergreen Valley. If any of her lessons her father had given her were accurate, there she would find a town to take shelter in. She had heard that minstrels were often given free room and board by inns or nobles as long as they agreed to provide quality music. Sona hoped this was true, and that they would accept the songs sung by one so young. She was barely a teenager at her age and already, she was traveling alone on the dusky road not by choice but from necessity. 

Eventually her tired limbs groaned, weariness overtaking her as she trudged onwards forcing each step. Was it just her or was the sky getting darker fast? She blinked and found her eyes a bit lower when she opened them again. Her head was beginning to droop and she saw a light ahead. Her hooves ached for a break but she continued, moving on towards the light that was not so far away anymore. Dimly she saw the outlines of three figures in the light as well as the soft sounds of general chatter. The last thing she saw before passing out was one of the silhouetted forms rising exclaiming at her dirty appearance before she passed out. 

Her mind was darkness for a while, the void of unconsciousness not giving her a dream, soon enough she began to stir, it felt like hours had already gone by, and there was a red glow she could see from behind her eyelids. As her consciousness regrew so did a conversation enter her range of hearing. The first she made out was a deeper voice of a stallion's, "How do you think this young colt got covered in so much soot and ash?"

A second voice responded in a sarcastic yet inexplicably mare voice, "Probably walked through the remains of a fire of course. Unless you are suggesting something else makes soot and ash besides fire?"

"But so much soot? What did he walk through a field of It?" The first voice shot back, much to Sona's annoyance she was being referred to as a colt it seems. 

A frequent problem with the young mare, having the look of a colt to her muzzle in shape. Her father had said that she would grow more feminine in years to come, but as a teenager most did the mistake of calling her a him instead. She almost missed the next ones voice as he began to speak, "Well, we can ask that when he wakes up. Look he's stirring now. That's just brilliant, can never keep a young one down can ya?"

Well, no more point to faking unconsciousness it seems. With a groan of protest from her muscles sonata sat up meeting face to face with a eccentric dark stallion who had an even darker mane and a strange wide rimmed hat siting proudly on top of his head. She was speechless at the hat, it was just too strange after a unicorn riding dragon and the death of her entire village to see such a bright cheery face wearing a ridiculous hat that looked as if it could hold several foals if not an entire pony in its width. This ended up leading her to give the strange stallion a blank stare of incomprehension until he spoke, the same deep tone she had heard earlier with almost unnatural enthusiasm, "Why hello there! What's your name and why are you covered in Soot?"

Instinctively Sona scooted a few paces away from the stallion that was almost literal in her face her lips locked shut as she recoiled. On the other end of the campfire the mares voice spoke again, "Seriously doctor? Not going to introduce yourself first? How rude." A small white object then proceeded to bounce off the Doctors hat, presumably thrown at him before disappearing into the fire. 

"I was going to get to that Starry." the brown stallion, 'Doctor' presumably, looked across the fire at his fellow companion and interrupting her before she could respond, "Anyway, I am 'The Doctor'. People call me Doctor more often then not, My friend who threw the marsh mellow at my head happens to be Midnight Star. The gloomy one in the corner is Alex. Say hello Alex." He looked a little off to the left gesturing for him.

"..."

"You'll have to pardon him, he's been a tad bit moody since his headphones are put away in a bag rather than being worn. Speaking of worn, I wonder how the Tardis is doing. Clever girl probably still sitting around waiting for me." The doctor continued to ramble off, giving Sona some time to look at the other two ponies who were at the campfire.

Midnight was a Unicorn mare, not a mage judging from the lack of large flowing robes and gold on her body. Her coat was a cheery light blue coat that looked dirtied from travel but well taken care of. Her eyes seemed almost a mix of changing red and orange but Sona thought that was simply the campfire reflecting off them. Midnight's mane however looked like it had seen better days, while light purple in color the poor thing had once started off looking like a fluffy singular curve ending at a suddenly bent tip. In contrast her tail was long, enough to trail on the ground if she trotted, and both were filled with bits of odd sticks that she was currently at work getting out.

Alex in contrast was a quiet earth pony stallion around her own age with a darker blue coat color. His mane was a black spikey mass that was littered with white tips around the edges of each point. The only clothing he was wearing was a Scarf and his face was covered by it preventing her from seeing his face, but from the slow rising and falling motions of his chest was the subtle signs of sleeping rather then consciousness. The funny thing was he didn't have a cutie-mark however. 

Checking Midnight's flank, at a glance, was a Dark purple star cutie-mark surrounded by smaller stars, though when she went to look at the Doctor's she was instead greeted to the end of his monologue, "That was how the Sub-Space Harmonizer was invented. Anyway, Enough of me, who are you?"

"Sonata..." She whispered quietly.

"Pardon?" eccentric brown stallion asked.

"My name is Sonata... Your doctor....?"

"Thee doctor. Doctor who to be precise." The Doctor said with a  flourish.

"Doctor...Whooves?" Sonata wasn't sure she heard him right.

"Close enough. Just call me Doctor. By the way, do you know what year it is?"

Sonata was more confused, how did he not know? "Five AD... Five after Discord..."

"Ah, I see." The brown stallion went on, "Oh, and what were you doing wandering alone covered In soot again?"

"Well... My village was attacked by a unicorn mage riding a giant dragon..." Sonata knew this was going to take a while to explain, but began to explain what had happened to her and the village she had so recently called home.


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With a shuddering sigh both Applejack and Fluttershy regained their conscious back from the journal and pondered over what they had just seen. Fluttershy was the first to speak however, "She's barely older than the girls and she is traveling all alone? That's just..." Fluttershy made an strangled sound, unable to find the words needed for it. 

Applejack was more practically confused, "That Doctor fellow seems familiar. Haven't we seen 'im around town before?" Without a response from her Pegasus friend Applejack continued on, "Nah, couldn't be. Must of been a relative. No way any pony could live that long but a Alicorn. Granny smith is the oldest earth pony I know and even Apple Bloom knows she's not even a tenth the way to a thousand."

Fluttershy nodded quietly agreeing to Applejacks sentiment, "Maybe we should view the rest of it first before jumping to conclusions?" 

Applejack nodded, "Eeyup. Maybe we can squeeze in another entry before I have to head back to the farm."

Fluttershy was about to speak for agreement when a rumble was heard, more specifically a pair of stomach rumbles. Both blushed, embarrassed before Fluttershy brought up, "How about we have some lunch first?"

Applejack chuckled and nodded in agreement. Food first, Journal later. It wasn't like it was going anywhere anytime soon.