//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 - Stampede // Story: The Earth Ponies // by RomanCandle //------------------------------// Firelock adjusted the feathers strung across her brow. The headband did not sit well on her head for her horn, either sliding up when placed above or falling down to cover her eyes when placed below. For the first time in her life, Firelock envied those around her with flat, featureless foreheads. She sighed. Several days they had spent with the Buffalo, learning the ins and outs of their daily lives, and the smaller, simpler traditions. They were a nomadic people, moving about as the seasons changed to follow food and favorable climates. The Stampede, in addition to being a very spiritual affair, was also their Autumn migration north and west to just south of Los Pegasus, where they spent their winters by the sea. The journey was always long and hot and hard, and it was not unusual for elderly Bison to die on the path. However, this was considered the most favorable time for death, as the Stampede honored the Second and Only Sister, who was the guardian of passing souls, among other things. The Buffalo still would not share all the details, but Mourning Dew had promised to relinquish more once the Stampede had begun. Which was very, very soon. Firelock grunted and adjusted her headband again, looking out over the massive herd. Strapped to the back of the larger Buffalo (Firelock guessed that the males were larger, but most of the Buffalo didn't speak to her and it felt rude to ask who was which) were canvas boards that drug along the ground, laden with the materials for the thipis as well as any material goods worth carrying. It appeared everything was packed, with only a few members just finalizing their preparations. Firelock pulled herself off her rump and walked to the front of the mass, where Mourning Dew and Chief Thunderhooves stood side by side, facing the western horizon and talking quietly to themselves. Tornado Bolt hovered behind them, with Half Note standing off to her side, fidgeting a bit. Dancing with the drummers each night appeared to clear her head of the incessant tune, which had only made her more nervous at her newfound position. Firelock stepped up to the place she had been instructed to take on the other side of her Pegasus friend and stamped her hooves to get comfortable. "Nervous?" She jumped a bit. "Me? What about Half Note -" Tornado Bolt laughed. "I already know she's nervous, she's talked all she's gonna by now. I think the run'll be good for her, honestly. But you..." The Pegasus shrugged. "Iunno. Unicorns aren't know for their speed or stamina..." Firelock gaped. "Wait! You think I can't do it!" "Ap ap ap ap! I don't think you can't. I'm..." Tornado Bolt made a plethora of faces as she groped with her words before settling on a dejected look. "I'm worried you won't." Firelock glared at her. "Do you think I'm weak, or do you just not trust me to tough it out?" Tornado Bolt flinched like she'd been hit. "I...Neither, just - I only -" She buried her face in her hooves and shook her head. Thunderhooves chose that moment to turn around and bellow to his tribe in his native tongue. A monosyllabic answer from the crowd was echoed by a synchronized stomp that carried across the plains. The Ponies jolted to attention. He bellowed again, and was answered in kind, more enthusiastically than before. Half Note and Firelock shared a look. A third bellow and a unified roar answered him, followed by the cacophonous applause of thousands of hooves beating against the soil. The three Ponies tensed as he bellowed one final time and jerked his head forward, eliciting one more resounding second from his tribe before they took off towards the horizon. Half Note and Firelock were nearly trampled as such. jumping up from surpirse rather than forward initially. They ran, a thousand plus powerful and Stampeding Buffalo immediately behind them, keeping pace with the Chief and Elder in front, who were proving themselves with long, supple strides. Firelock had to pump her legs to keep up, and found herself breathing heavily quickly. She glanced to the side to see Tornado Bolt winging through the air easily and Half Note showing no signs of stress yet. She grit her teeth. If they could do this, so could she. She did her best to ignore the odd looks from some of the Appleloosans who passed out apple pies to the passing Buffalo as they ran through the orchards. Ponies wearing the dress and performing the rituals of the Buffalo was sure to bring attention. Firelock just hoped that nopony would recognize them as the missing fillies from Ponyville. They'd pressed their luck already. Hours went by and she felt sweat stinging bugbites under her coat. The sun had been at it's peak when they had started, and it felt like it had hardly moved. It was so hot and so dry and they had been running for so long. Even with an adult body Firelock didn't think any pony could be so tough as to keep doing this for so long. She chanced another glance at her friends. They too glistened with sweat, but Tornado Bolt was keeping an easy pace with her wings and Half Note was still maintaining her stride, focused on the earth in front of her. The Unicorn gaped at them. She could only imagine what the Buffalo behind her, who had grown up with this ritual, thought of her - a newcomer given a place of honor at the front, struggling to keep up. She thought briefly about trying one of her mothers spells before dismissing the thought -Unicorn magic wouldn't help her until she had a better grip on that, and she was pretty sure that Aestrak hadn't given her that. He'd just given her bigger legs to get more tired on. She closed her eyes and tossed her head, trying to forget about everything that hurt. Forget your legs as long as they keep moving. Forget the bug bites, you can't do anything about them. Forget how hot it is, the wind will keep you cool. Don't think about anything except keeping your hooves moving. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop don't stop don't stop don't stop don't stop. The setting sun bored through her closed eyelids and seared itself into her mind, she turned her head and pressed on, tears burning her eyes. She barely felt the wind on her skin or the Earth beneath her hooves, she just kept running. It hurt too much to think about anything else. Her ear twitched. What was that? Some sound. Her name. Someone was calling her. Someone behind her. She planted her hooves into the dirt and screeched to a halt, turning around with her heart pumping wildly. Half Note, Tornado Bolt, and the entire tribe of Buffalo had stopped, and Tornado Bolt was calling her back. She shook her head and galloped back. "Why did you stop?" Thunderhooves grumbled. "The sun has set, and so shall we. We pack up at sunrise, to continue the journey." Firelock blinked and nodded. She blinked some more. Tornado Bolt flew down and waved her hoof in front of her face. Firelock blinked more. She could feel her knees shaking. She could feel every bug bite, every hair laden with sweat and dirt. She could feel every pulse of her heartbeat through every inch of her body, all the way down her legs to her hooves. Oh, Celestia, my hooves. Firelock tilted over and passed out. Halfnote munched on a pie and looked around the fire to her collapsed friend. Firelock was still sprawled out on the ground, exactly where she had fallen, snoring heavily. Mourning Dew had checked her earlier and said that she had collapsed out of exhaustion and should be left alone. The Earth Pony hadn't been too comfortable with the idea, but she wasn't a Shaman. She figured a good nights rest was probably the prescription. Half Note wished, though, that she could at least move her friend to a more comfortable sleeping place. Tornado Bolt swooped down, clutching a pie of her own. She took a big bite out of it and let herself fall backwards onto the ground, a mirror of the orange unicorn save for the wings and carefully clutched pastry. "That was soooo hard today. Do they do that everyday, do you think?" Tornado Bolt wiggled her legs in the air to emphasize her exhaustion. Half Note swallowed. "I dunno. Probably until they reach their destination. I hope the next few days aren't so hard, I don't know if Firelock can take it." The Pegasus perched herself up on an elbow. "I know...but hey, You should call her Summertouched. I like the names the Buffalo gave us - they sound like the names of heroes from some epic story." The Earth Pony snorted and took another bite. "I sure don't feel very heroic." "I bet that's just cause they haven't given you one yet. I love mine - Stormwing. It's just so...just so awesome. I hear it and envision a Pegasus stoically soaring at the head of rumbling thunderclouds, like she's leading them into battle. I almost wanna write a book about it, except it'd ruin the fun of reading it. And Summertouched. Well...It's not as awesome as Stormwing but it's got that mystical, magical feel that fits some kind of sorceress or something. I can only imagine what your's will turn out to be." "Probably something to do with gardening. Or rocks." She munched the last of her pie and made a face as she dusted off the crumbs. Tornado Bolt stared at her friend with her brows furrowed for a minute. The look on the Earth Pony's face was one of discontent and unhappiness. Tornado Bolt blinked a few more times before launching herself into the air and at the offending expression. "What is wrong with you?" "I...I don't...what?" The Pegasus groaned and put her hooves to the sides of her head, as though she were trying to keep it from exploding. Her eyes were windows to the frustration she felt inside. "It's just...we've all worked so hard, come so far just to prove to YOU that Earth Ponies aren't...I dunno, less than Pegasi or Unicorns, and Firelock and I have done so much and tried to help all we can and we even came to face with a giant Spirit Dragon who got super pissed when you acted like you had no magic so obviously you must have something and THEN we come find Buffalo who have this super secret ritual song that you just so HAPPEN to MAGICALLY know and yet you still seem to think that all Earth Ponies are good for is gardening." She panted a bit before continuing. "It's just...I thought with all we learned so far that, at the very least, you'd have some kind of faith that there's more to it than that. You're even getting all this special treatment from the Buffalo because you can dance but..." She sniffed and wiped a hoof across her face, backing up. "...It's just not enough for you, for some reason. I don't even know what to say." Half Note stuttered. "It's not that - I didn't mean - I just - " Tornado Bolt stopped her. "You know what? Just don't. I'm gonna go eat with Thunderhooves. If you wanna sulk, find somepony else to sulk with." And with that she turned, picked up her pie, and flew off towards a more central fire. Half Note stared for a while before burying her face in her hooves. She just sat there quietly for a time, until she was tapped on the shoulder. She lifted her eyes into those of the Shaman. She had a pie. "Summertouched has yet to awaken?" Half Note shook her head. Mourning Dew made a 'tsk' sound. "It is an ill omen. I pray she wakes before we leave on the morrow." Half Note stared at her. "What? Won't we wait for her? She can't run like this, Unicorns just aren't built to handle physical stress as well." The Shaman sighed and settled herself on the ground. "The Stampede does not wait. Any who fail to keep up are left behind, for the Sister to guide to a better plain." It took the Pony a moment to realize what she said. "Wait, so if somepony can't keep up you just leave them to die? You don't even try to help them?" "It has been the way of our people for as long as our memory serves. The Stampede gets us to lands safer for the winter and makes passing easy on those too frail to last it out. Better to pass quietly in sleep than from starvation and cold. When we rest, we recover, but when we run we do not stop." Half Note gulped and looked behind her to the rest of the tribe. Was she just imagining it now, or did it seem smaller? She couldn't see any elderly looking Buffalo, but had she seen any before? Maybe there was a reason for that... "I assume you are wondering how our children handle this. Those too young to run are carried by the strongest of the tribe, often their parents, taking turns, when their legs falter. Little Strongheart has her second name because she was able to run the Stampede unassisted so young. She is strong, in so many ways. Summertouched should be fine, given proper rest. An average Unicorn would have given up early on, or found some clever way around the situation, but not her." The old Bison's eye sparkled and her voice took on a tone of pride. "Her name is well fitting. Not only did the First and Youngest Brother's gift touch her deeply, she is flighty yet passionate - like a flickering flame, or a summer's breeze. I had worried I had read her wrong, for she had no mark, unlike Stormwing. She already knew who she was, and so it was much easier. Perhaps the Unicorn does not know who she is yet, but it shows through." Half Note leaned back and looked at the stars. "But you couldn't see mine." The Shaman shook her head. "No, young one. You are full of potential, completely untapped. Your soul is wrought with confusion. You have an ear for the Song of the Spirits, it is true, but that is not all you are." She hummed a tune that made Half Note's hoof want to tap. She let it. "I have a feeling, perhaps, that your Mark and your name shall somehow be tied to music, but I am not sure. You seem to have an affinity to it, but still I cannot say." She nodded to the pie she had set down. "Make sure Summertouched eats when she wakes. The first day is the hardest, but she will need the strength." She got up and turned to leave, but stopped before fully rounding the fire. "One more thing, my little Pony." Half Note pricked an ear in attention. "It is bad luck to speak during a Stampede, and you will need all the rest you can get. But I know you came to learn about the spirits, so each night you stay with us I shall answer you one question. Your friends may each ask one as well, provided they are awake enough to do so." Half Note tilted her head. Was that a joke? The Shaman lingered. Oh right. Questions. "Uhm, can I ask one now?" The Shaman nodded. "Okay, uh...Does the Second and Only Sister have any other names?" The Shaman closed her eyes and nodded. "A good question. She has many. The Wind Weaver. The Four Wings. The Eternal Sunset. But..." And at this the Shaman stalled, squinting her eyes in thought. "The shortest, simplest name she has ever been given...Zephyr."