Sparkler exited her teleport on a particularly flat stretch of rock, situated on the southern face of the short mountain. The strangeness of it was what drove her to it in the first place, on top of being a perfect place to appear in: from what she initially gathered, it was at the same altitude as the forest all round. And when her hooves hit nearly level ground, the first thing she saw was the towering stone walls on either side of her, easily as tall the pine trees she just escaped. A very deep, but very short gorge stuck nearly to ground level and pushed its way towards the heart of the mountain, ending with what appeared the be the opening to the cave almost a hundred meters away. This gorge was like a cake missing a very thin slice.
The walls carried strange etchings not unlike cresting waves, and the rock beneath her was likewise akin to a frozen torrent. Except for the occasional blocky step, which had been carved into the rock at some point. Bits of grass stuck to small pockets of dirt. Nearby, a flat window had been chiseled out of one of the walls. Etched into its stone, it read ‘Welcome to Granite’s Tomb’.
“Huh.” She glanced up the path towards the cave entrance. Then she glanced back, where another short walk away would return her to the surrounding forest. But there was also a small square shack, and a brown earth pony running up to meet her.
“Hey!” he shouted as he approached, which seemed to be waste of breath he desperately needed to hold on to. His uniform, which amounted to a rigid-brimmed hat and matching green shirt, seemed like it’d seen better days. At this distance, she didn’t know if those were patches or a profuse amount of pockets covering it. Perhaps both. There was also a gold slash over one of his soldiers.
But as he neared, gasping for breath, she realized those patches weren’t the kind she was expecting. They were more like badges. The stallion stopped in front of her, still trying to catch his breath, but he was able to ask, “What are you, I mean, how, what, how did you get over her?”
Sparkler scratched the side of her head. “I uh, teleported. Sorry. I didn’t know I couldn’t do that.”
The stallion rolled his eyes and, as his breathing settled, smiled. “Hey, it’s not something to worry about. You’re supposed to sign in back there when you visit any of the Quatros’ national monuments,” he added, pointing back at his wooden shack in the distance. He squinted at her. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
She chuckled. “Ah, you’ve caught me. No, I’m from...” There was a brief pause. “...Collisunda.”
The stallion whistled. “You’re quite a way’s away from the Lanoitome lands. Welcome to Granite’s Tomb, I suppose!” He offered her his hoof. “The name’s Patch Moss, but most ponies call me Mossy.”
Sparkler shook his hoof and returned a smile. “My name’s... Sparkler. But most ponies call me Sparkler.”
He laughed. “Nice to meet you! I’m a park ranger for the greater Walsuis National Park, more specifically Granite’s Tomb. At least during the summer, anyways.” He snorted. “Must’ve been quite the distance for you teleport all the way up here without me seeing you coming out of the woods.”
“It really wasn’t that far,” she said, shifting on her hooves.
Patch Moss nodded. “I’ll take your word for it. I can’t exactly cast spells, y’see?” He lifted his hat to show his messy green hair and the certain lack of a horn. “So, what brings you to Granite’s Tomb? Or this side of the Luna Ocean, for that matter? I can’t say we get too many ponies nowadays from across the ocean.”
“Oh, I’m just wandering around,” she was quick to say, just to bite her own tongue. Quick on her hooves, she continued with, “I’m a cartographer, actually. For the High King of Collisunda, His Majesty Sharp-sky. Sharpsky.”
Patch Moss blinked at her, apparently stunned. But before he could respond, Sparkler followed up by saying, “And no, it’s not like that.” She laughed. “I’m not... some... royal dignitary. Believe me, if I was, I would have an entourage and this thing on my head would be trailing ten feet behind me.”
A wave of relief fell over Patch Moss. “Well then!” He laughed again. “I was worried I missed a memo or something. And now that I think about it, royalties aren’t exactly the adventuring type.” He then looked up at her forehead. “And uh, what is that, by the way?”
“A bandage,” she said, absentmindedly trying to hide her scabbed leg. “An improvised one, at that. I kind of hit my head earlier today.”
“Ouch!” Patch Moss whistled. “Hey, why don’t you come down to my station real quick? I can get you patched up properly and split a meal with ya. Looks like it’s about lunchtime anyway,” he said, glancing up at the overcast looming over them. The sun was just a not-so gray area in the sky. “And after that I can give you a tour of Granite’s Tomb, if you want. It’s what I’m paid to do, after all!”
“Yeah, sure,” Sparkler said. She turned and followed Patch Moss down towards the forest, but not before sparing one more glance at the cave over her shoulder.