The Roof of the World: A Journey through Mustikk

by Prince_Staghorn

Chapter 1

The author discusses her supplies and preparations for her journey. A further description of the Crystal Tundra, its flora, and the natives of the village of Crys. She encounters the Crystal Kingdom that has risen after the fall of the Crystal Empire.

Before I leave, I must have supplies. I shall be travelling light, as I believe our ancestors did in their flight from their homeland.

Food will not be a problem, as I can subsist on what nature gives me. Even as I travel away from the grasses and flowers, I will find the exotic plants that are sometimes sold at markets. Due to the traders who bring them, I have eaten bearberry, arctic moss, Caribou moss, Diamond leaf willow, Labrador Tea, Pasque Flower, and the Tufted Saxifrage, and found them all adequate to my needs. For protein, a number of birds nest on the ground during summer and spring, providing eggs and meat. In the case of water, springs and rivers will provide in the summer, melted snow will do the same in the winter.

Concerning clothing and other essentials, I will be taking warm furs for the winter months, along with a tent, sketching paper, a sharp knife, several quills and pencils, a tinderbox, a pot to boil water in order to render it safe to drink, and this journal.

I have contacted a friend of mine via carrier pigeon to watch my home while I am away. Barring accident or injury, she will arrive by nightfall.

I have locked my door securely and am now heading northeast. I have heard stories of the fallen Crystal Empire, now considered a myth by many, and wish to see where it stood before continuing with my actual quest.

I look back at my home one last time, then I continue onwards.

The Crystal Tundra during the summer is beautiful. The grass is a beautiful emerald green, and flowers of various colors hug the ground, painting a brilliant patchwork across the landscape. The occasional crystal berry bush dots the landscape, its red, purple, mauve, and blue fruits glittering in the sun. These bushes in particular become more prevalent as I get closer to the small village of Crys.

Crys is not big or grand, consisting of small, round tents which can be quickly packed and moved when the village changes location for the winter. Its inhabitants are not ponies, but a type of sheep.

The Crystal Pygmy Sheep differ from their larger cousins in size and color, as where the sheep a pony is likely to meet are either white or black, these sheep have a soft violet colored fur, and wool ranging in color from purple to pink, with the occasional yellow or blue individual.

They are a surprisingly sturdy folk for their size, and withstand the harsh winters with ease, moving from the plain and up into the mountains before the first snow falls. In spring, the move back down, setting up the village and harvesting the berries planted the summer before. The sheep claim they were here before the empire, and showed the Crystal Ponies how to survive in the winter. In return, the ponies provided a more permanent home for their ovine neighbors.

According to other accounts taken by other explorers, the sheep were unaffected when the Empire disappeared, simply returning to their nomadic life of migrating between the mountains and valley as the seasons changed.

I passed through their village, drawing some attention, though the majority ignored me, before I continued onwards.

Note- Here, Ice Crystal changes her tone of the book, writing mostly in past tense, as opposed to present tense. Presumably this is because she began writing about the events of the previous day rather than making notes as they happened, though lack of dating makes this a guess only.- Quill Scribe, head of the Canterlot Archives' Historical section.

Nothing remains of the Crystal Empire today, beyond the descendants of its sheep and the farmlands holding the crystal berries. No buildings remain as ruins, no ancient roads cross the land, and the only crystals remaining are deep underground. Were it not for the groves of berry bushes, I would have thought this was simply another part of the tundra.

However, the Empire was not abandoned.

My first and only warning was a buzzing noise. I turned to see a changeling standing there, looking at me curiously. It called out something in its language, and I was soon surrounded by several. However, they made no move to attack, instead nudging me, gently herding me into a cave hidden within a small slope.