//------------------------------// // First steps // Story: Crimson Dance // by Nightmares Madness //------------------------------// With the tavern filled to the brim, Twilight grimaced as the smell of body odor of many of the humans assaulted her nostrils. So many were clamored around tables, their voices loud, forcing her to pin her ears back as she made her way through the room. The tables were covered in various foods, meats, breads, and cheeses. The thought of being able to eat meat almost made her vomit, but placing a hand over her muzzle helped to ease her, though it did nothing for her stomach. Around some of the tables the human men were laughing and talking, a few of the bar maids in their laps, as hands groped flesh. Despite their barbaric ways, Twilight often had to concede how very effective they could be in so many different ways. Humans were so versatile when it came to survival and thought, it was no wonder they were on fair terms with Elves and Dwarves, though all still saw her kind as less than equal. Twilight shook her head to clear it of the negative thoughts, she was here for a reason and she had to get herself to focus. Finally she was approaching the bar, she looked up to find a large man speaking to a woman before sending her off through a door to the back. A cloud of smoke wafted through from there and floated to the ceiling where it spread out, slowly vanishing. The man turned and upon seeing Twilight there, his face seemed to fall into a deep frown, “We don’t serve your kind here.” he said all too gruffly. “I’m not here for food or drink, I need an escort.” A few of the men beside her at the bar erupted in laughter upon hearing this, “Aye, I can escort ya ta mah room.” One man said, leaning back away from the bar and giving her a lewd wink. Twilight kept herself from shuddering, as she turned from the man, he was filthy and unkempt, and more than obviously drunk. His comrades laughed even harder and clapped him on the back. “Look, I’m heading to the southwest, and I need someone with me on my travels. Is there anyone here who may be able to help?” She implored. “Look, not only are you one of those blasted Horse people, but you’re also a witch, and no one around here much care for them, so you’re striking out all around. Now, I think it best if you leave. I don’t want to clean any kind of mess these guys could leave behind.” Despite wanting to argue the man in his horrible attitude, she knew he was right. She had wanted to find someone who could go with her, but this town was more inclined towards humans, and more often than not, any other race here would have a bad time. Twilight usually did not have to worry much as she never really left the arcane school until now. With a quick look around, Twilight began to make her way out of the tavern. “Ow! Hey,” Twilight turned as a man had lifted her tail, with a strong pull. A few of the men around had began to leer at her. Her heart began to beat in her chest as she took a step back away from the men now beginning to stand only to bump into someone behind her. “Is there a problem?” Came a voice of another man behind her. ‘Oh great, now I’m royally screwed,’ Twilight thought as she gripped her staff and found it bumping into something. She glanced down to see it pressed against a thick muscular leg. With a thought she carefully brought the staff to the inside of the mans leg as he began to speak again. “Well, well, what do we have here, looking for some fun hun?” The man let out a thunderous bark for laughter, quickly followed by the other men present. The man’s breath was horrendous, nearly making her gag as she could smell it from behind her. “No, I was just on my way out.” “Oh, no, luv, I think you was just getting ready to settle in with us.” The man said as he placed a large hand on her shoulder, Twilight slid her hand down her staff and with unflinching resolve, the brought the end of her staff up between the man’s legs. She was glad of two things, one his hand removed itself just as quickly from her shoulder; two, he fell to his knees clutching whatever cracked jewels he had left. Twilight spun around before anyone else had a chance to move and brought her knee up, smashing the man’s jaw. As the man fell backwards, Twilight jumped over him and made her way to the doors, pushing past several of the stunned men, who quickly made to protect themselves in fear of her staff meeting with them as well. Once outside in the heat of the afternoon, Twilight took a moment to breath in the fresh air, helping her lungs as she worked to expel the putrid smells from the tavern. Looking back over her shoulder, Twilight shook her head and decided it was best to go ahead and head out on her own. Her thoughts wandered to the next town, and hoped she might be able to find some help there. From deep within a nearby alley, a shadowed figure watched Twilight as she set off down the dirt road. Once she was out of sight, the figure turned and made his way deeper into the alley until he came to a pile of boards and began to climb up to the top of a stack of crates. A small jump and he was able to hoist himself up onto the roof. There he moved to the edge and spotted Twilight as she continued her way. He looked ahead and considered where she may be headed. He had heard she needed an escort, so if she were to leave town, the most idealistic place was to grab supplies first. She would then have to leave town by the North gate, then follow the road till it split, and she would have to take the one to the South. That is, unless she was fool headed enough to leave by the trade gate and go straight into the woods surrounding the town. The man watched as Twilight entered a shop for general supplies, and turned his head when he heard a noise. He could see a few men leaving the tavern, one large man limping, a strained look on his face. “She’s long gone boss. Some stupid Equine ain’t got what it takes to be mad at.” The man backhanded him, knocking him down into the door his face red. “I don’t give a blast, she assaulted me, and I want her to pay for it. I heard her say she was heading Southwest. So, here’s what we do,” he said, lowering his voice to the other two men. Unaware of additional pair of ears listening in on the plan as well. Twilight looked around, the path before her laid bare as it split into three sections, a sign set between each divide. The far right would eventually turn South, yet, Twilight had stopped here feeling uneasy. Once more she looked over her shoulder to find herself alone on the path from the town, still it persisted as if she were being watched. The trees crowded next to the path, the higher leaves and branches swaying slightly as a breeze came up. The road behind her looked dark, and a small part of her mind seemed to hold irrationality as she began to fear what may be there. Twilight lifted the pack on her shoulder and adjusted it before shaking herself. She mentally scolded herself for something so foolish as being afraid of what was not there. It was only uncertainty, and fear of leaving the Arcane school she had known practically as her home for nearly her entire life. With a steadying breath, Twilight made her way down the far right path, the sound of her staff moving in time with one of her hooves as she moved on. The shadows among the trees some ways back moved, as the men who had been following Twilight began ti move once again. As the day moved on, the sun rode across the sky before dipping down below the tree line on the far side of this world. As if working in time of a myth of one of the great old Gods following the sun, pulling a blanket of darkness patterned with stars, the night encroached upon the world below. Twilight had made several miles at this point and felt weary, her body was heavy, and her legs ached. She found a place in the woods a short distance from the road and settled her back against a tree. Along with a breath of relief, Twilight groaned a bit as her body began to wind down from her extraneous efforts. Looking up, Twilight stared at the sprawling lights far above her, as well as the myriad of colors the universe gave this night, the blues and reds, but most of all the wide patch of white that was left in a streak across the night sky far above the heavens. Twilight could not help but to smile as she stared up in wonder at the night sky. After a few minutes, Twilight shivered and rubbed her hands over her arms. With a small spoken spell, Twilight lit up a ball of light in her hand and allowed it to drift up to just below the lowest branch of the tree she sat under. Keeping part of her focus on the ball of magic as it lit up the small area around her, she stood and began to move about gathering sticks and broken branches. Once done she went back to the base of the tree and began to pile up the sticks as best she could. Once done, she gathered as many large stones as she could and set a ring around the kindling she had. It took effort, as multiple spells were difficult, and with her eyes closed she could not see the light from the ball of magic as it faded to barely a wisp of smoke as she brought a few sparks to the kindling. “Ow...” Twilight clutched at her head, a small pain forming for a second before fading away. Twilight blinked as she looked around, the only light now coming from the stars in the sky overhead, as well as the now two moons rising, almost as if chasing after the sunset. One moon, the one that the humans considered their own, was marred with patches of circles and shadows deep within them, the shadow of the Earth seemed to block most of the light. Nearby, a familiar sight of the Equestrian moon rose slower than the human moon some distance away from where the first one was. It’s surface was much smoother, though only marred by the silhouette of a shadowed unicorn head bowed looking down onto the world. In that moment, Twilight bit her lower lip and wondered if she could do something like this, to really take on the challenge of finding these lost artifacts and stopping the mare in the moon and whatever threat she may pose to this world. Silence surrounded her, but she did not realize it as she internally worked out anything she could think of. She had to try and prepare herself for anything that could possibly happen in the upcoming days. That is, until her thoughts were interrupted by a flash of light some distance in the trees. Twilight grabbed her staff and held it before her, and positioned her body as if ready to launch herself at who or whatever was nearby. “Hello?” Came a voice from the darkness of the trees. “Who’s there?” Twilight called before preparing a spell to protect herself. A spark of light followed the sound of scrapping before a flame appeared in the trees, lighting up the face of a man. Twilight took in a sharp breath as she looked on as the man walked through the trees and into her area. She was fearful for a second it may have been a man from the tavern, but she did not recognize him as he came closer. From what she could see, his complexion appeared normal, at least by human standards, and his hair was a deep dark brown. His eyes were slightly shadowed from holding the torch up over his head slightly as he looked forward towards Twilight. “Hello, I’m sorry to bother you. I was out and lost my way, do you know where the road is?” “Actually, it’s not far from here. Just over there about twenty feet.” Twilight responded confidently as she pointed to her left in the direction of the road. “Ah, thank you. I’ve been wandering around these woods for a few hours now.” “Who are you, and what are you doing out here?” Twilight interrupted, suspicious of the man. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, my name is Clevik Alswyn. I got distracted by an animal that ran off into the woods. I followed it and soon lost my way. I was originally supposed to be going to a town to the Southwest. I’m supposed to be delivering a package there.” “Oh, well, as it so happens, I am also on my way to the same town. There was no name on the maps, but its a little hamlet near the Wilds.” “Do, do you maybe have an outdated map?” Clevik asked. Twilights eyes widened as she thought about that, and realized she had to have an outdated map if it came out of a book a thousand years old. “You know, now that I think about it, I may very well have an outdated one. Would you happen to have a better one?” “Well, I did, but I lost some time ago,” He explained, to which Twilight looked down in disappointment, “But I do have a very good memory. Also, its one of the very few towns that are Equine based. It’s called Ponyville, and it is literally right by an old forest, humans call the Wilds.” Twilight’s mouth fell open, she had never heard of a town that had been successfully set with Equines, she was used to the Arcane school where the humans worked diligently and silently on collecting as much history and knowledge as they could and work out spells and magic over time. “Hey, this may seem odd, but if we are going to the same place, would you care to travel together?” Clevik offered. Twilight clamped her mouth shut as she thought about this, her experience at the Tavern still had her a bit unsettled with some of the humans that had been beyond her home for so many years. Then her thoughts went to those humans who had helped her, taught her the ways of magic, and knowledge, and accepted her as she surpassed even them in so many ways. If she were to take a chance in trust, this would be it. “Actually, it is said, it’s best to travel with others. I do need someone to help me. I can fend for myself, but even I have my limits.” She explained, to which Clevik nodded and offered a smile. Looking down, he noticed the attempt at a fire and waved his hand towards it, “Do you mind if I...” he began to which Twilight caught on to what he was asking about an quickly nodded. Clevik knelt down and looked over the material gathered before lifting a few sticks and holding them up to his torch. He held them there as they began to burn, waiting for them to take strongly before setting it down into the pile and worked to get everything set up. It did not take but a minute or two before a small fire was burning, and Twilight quickly sat on her knees and held her hands up, glad for the warmth. “You know, it’s best if you get actually thoroughly dry kindling for a fire, and you should dig a small hole to set everything in if you want it strong enough to burn hot for food and warmth.” Clevik explained as he cleared some leaves, uncovering cold dirt and began to work his torch to extinguish it. “Oh, well I was actually planning on using something else to get the fire going.” She stopped as she saw Clevik shaking his head slowly. “I take it you know magic, yes?” Twilight nodded before he continued, “Ah, see Magic can be great to start a small fire, but many have found magic is highly unreliable in that aspect. See, you may be able to start a flame and have it burn for a time, but it is basically useless as you need to keep it burning yourself. Whereas using natural elements and flame will allow it to take to itself, if you can create a core for the flame to maintain itself, you don’t have to worry about it beyond adding a little more kindling to it.” Twilight tilted her head as Clevik finished explaining this. “How could you know about something like that?” Clevik shrugged, “I have traveled with wizards and mages before. Many think they can use magic for practically anything and everything, but it doesn’t always work that way. See a flame of magic cannot hold to something physical. It needs something physical to allow it, otherwise it is no better than an illusion, and to make that seem real, you need knowledge, imagination, experience, and fear above all to make it seem real.” Twilight worked to ask Clevik many questions in his gathered knowledge of working with wizards and magic. He took his time and was patient with answering Twilight, though many times he explained he could not give her a full and proper explanation beyond simple guesses as he was not a real mage. They talked for a time, until Clevik could not answer any more and suggested they get some sleep. Once asleep, morning was not long in coming, and Twilight twitched her nose as her eyes fluttered open, the smell of meat turning her stomach. She looked up to find Clevik eating some freshly cooked meat, thin and hard looking as he tore into it, eyes starign up into the clouded sky. “There is a storm coming.” He said simply. When he looked over he saw, Twilight turning her head, hand over her muzzle as she tried to keep from vomiting. He offered an apology and explained he had not been around Equines much, and was apt to forget their sensitivity to others when eating meat. He quickly consumed the meat and doused the fire, waving away at the smoke to disperse it. He waited until Twilight was able to settle her stomach with some water. Once they were ready, they gathered their stuff and made their way to the road, to which Clevik beamed as if happy to be back on the road. Twilight offered a smile in return and faced forward on the road and continued, unaware of the dark look that passed over Cleviks face briefly as he turned back to the forest. Several yards from where he had emerged from the woods to meet with Twilight, there were three bodies of three men, never to see the light of their lives ever again. Their intent had been to wait until Twilight was alone in the night and then attack her and leave her for dead. Clevik came across them quickly and broke them down by his own hands. He had cooked some of his traveling meat, burning it slightly to try and cover the smell of their bodies and the blood that began tom fill the air by the morning. He had figured if he filled the air near Twilight with smoke and the smell of his food, then she would not detect the smell of something dead. Even if she did, he still had a back up excuse and would have quickly said it was nothing more than an animal that had met its end. He was only glad it did not come to that. He had his own reasons for keeping close to Twilight, but until that time would come that he would keep at being the traveled stranger who was kind to the mare.