10. Journey
The sound of a heavy bell rung out across the camp side of the trade caravan. Just in time to witness the first rays of light peek over the horizon, life slowly returned to the stallions occupying the campsite. Some of them had too much to drink the night before and found themselves in weird, and uncomfortable positions upon waking up. In various states of disarray, they got up and started their workday with close to no enthusiasm.
Among them was Alex. After the initial introductions yesterday, he was offered a beverage. Not one to turn down good alcohol, Alex started drinking the night away with his new companions. Something which he now started to regret.
His head throbbed to the beat of an imaginary drum, his mouth was drier than a desert, and his eyes beamed pain directly to his head. Getting up with the sun, and being woken up by a loud bell certainly didn’t help in any way. Crimson on the other hoof seemed to not be affected at all. Even though he drank way more than Alex did last night.
‘Must be used to this…’ Alex thought.
They had partied right in front of the wagon they would be in charge of, so turning around was all they had to do. It was a simple wagon, it looked kind of like a big cart that had a roof made out of fabric, shaped like a half circle. It reminded Alex of the old game Oregon Trail.
After the both of them stretched their sore muscles, Crimson began to explain the in’s and out’s of Alex’s new job.
“Well first thing we need to do is check if our cargo is properly secured.” He said as they walked to the back of the wagon. “I already did this yesterday, but it never hurts to check again in morning. It’s possible that one of the guys messes with your wagon while they’re drunk.”
He started tugging on various ropes, and tapped a few places along the latches securing the interior from spilling out. He continued doing this for every rope and latch in sight, until they arrived back at the spot they started.
“Well, everything looks in order. So now we just gotta get in our harness, and hook ourselves to the wagon. It will be a small wait for ol’ Banana to give the departing signal.” He explained. “After that we just pull. Pull, pull, and pull. All day long. You can’t do anything wrong, so let’s go.”
Alex hadn’t expected this to be the most exciting adventure, but the more he heard from Crimson, the more he realized it would be flat out boring. Considering how he joined a group that formed a line and walked from A to B. But at least this way he was guaranteed to not get lost along the way. There was also the matter of safety in numbers. While everything up to here seemed peaceful, there was also always the possibility of getting mauled by a wolf in the wild. Something Alex wasn’t to keen on experiencing.
So even though he seemed to have a few boring days of work ahead of him, he did as he was told. After Crimson helped him into his harness, he strapped himself in as well. They stood around for about five minutes, when the bell rang out once more.
“That’s the signal.” Crimson stated.
They waited until the wagon in front of them lurched forward, and made sure to leave some space between them. Both of them had to strain themselves for a moment to get the wagon moving, but once they got it rolling, the power needed to move it decreased significantly.
So the duo pulled, just like Crimson said they would. Aside from a few short conversations, neither of them talked too much. Alex was still dealing with the hammers in his head, so he didn’t mind the silence. While it was a lot less noticeable on Crimson, he had the same problem. Alex made sure to follow the wagon in front of him, his body moving on autopilot.
It was almost noon when Alex felt good enough to once again function as a human being. Or rather, pony, as he had to remind himself. Feeling slightly less like shit, he started actually taking in what was happening around him. On his left side, Crimson looked like his autopilot was still the one in charge. His eyes weren’t focused on anything in particular, and he was mindlessly pulling the cart, one step at a time.
The caravan was following a dirt path, which was surrounded by vast fields of green on both sides. Although he couldn’t see much of what was going on in front of them, due to a wagon blocking his line of sight. Every now and then, he would have to consciously blink out the dust the wagon in front kicked up. It was clear to him that they were coming up on a small hill, because the terrain started to shift slightly upwards. To his right, Alex could see the mountains that he came from just a few days ago.
As he was looking at them, he was reminded about Vibrant Colors. He was surprised to find that he missed her already. While a small part of him still couldn’t believe that any of this was actually real, he knew now that the time they spent together definitely was.
He thanked her once again for everything she had done for him in his mind. Hoping that one day, no matter how far away in the future, he could see her once again.
As the gradual incline increased, he snorted at the added difficulty of dragging the wagon. The harness dug into his shoulders, further spurring him onwards. Taking his gaze off the distant mountains, he focused on what was in front of him. It only took a few minutes until they rounded the crest at the top of the hill. Almost immediately they were going down on the other side again. As soon as the wagon in front of them sank beneath his line of sight, the scenery changed completely.
In front of them, a broad mass of water was snaking its way through a sea of green. On both sides of the river, trees lined the shallow shore. Animals could be seen taking a drink or relaxing. Sometimes a fish or two pierced the surface of the water, disturbing the otherwise calm currents. Alex estimated it to be about two thousand feet from shore to shore, making it one of the largest rivers he had ever seen.
“The Crystal Snake” Crimson said.
Alex looked over to him, surprised. In stark contrast to a few minutes earlier, Crimson looked positively alive. His eyes were following the shifting mass of blue all the way to the horizon.
“We’ll be following it for the next six days.” He explained. “It runs right past High Rock, so walking alongside it is the easiest way to not get lost. We also won’t need to worry about water. Or food, as it grows in abundance in the woods surrounding it.”
As he talked he pointed out several fruit bearing trees, and berry bushes.
“Literally, the only thing we need to worry about are bandits. They know us caravans use this road as a trade route, so from time to time they’ll try something.” Alex began to worry a bit. “But that’s why we have some mercenaries on security detail, so we’re safe. The smaller caravans make easier targets. But with our size and protection, they most likely won’t bother.”
Alex let out the breath he was holding. For a second there, he really thought he might be in trouble.
“But still, as your superior for this trip I need to run you through the safety procedures.” Crimson sighed. After confirming that Alex was paying attention he continued. “First off, do you have any combat experience?” He asked.
Alex shook his head at that. “Never been in a real fight my whole life. A few scuffles here and there, but nothing serious.”
“That’s ok. I know you have amnesia. But do you, by any chance, remember any offensive or defensive spells that could be useful?”
“No.” Now it was Alex’s turn to sigh. “In fact, I don’t remember anything magic related. Can’t even levitate the smallest of objects.”
Crimson nodded thoughtfully. “Ok, so as of now you’re classified as non-combat personnel. In case of an attack, you go to the center wagon as fast as you can. An Earth Pony named Yellow Shield will be there with further instructions. His coat’s a bright yellow, and his mark is two shields, one in front of the other. Hard to miss, that fellow.”
He rattled down the information routinely, as if he told it many times already. They were coming up on the river now, and the road took a gradual turn to the left, following the flow of the river.
“Leave the fighting to the combat personnel. Don’t be a hero. Save your life instead of the cargo.” He took a breath. “Simple rules, hope you won’t need to follow any of them.”
Alex confirmed his understanding. After their brief conversation they went back to silence again. Alex looked longingly to his right at the delicious looking clear water. He could really go for a drink right now, because he still had cotton mouth from his hangover.
-------------------------------------
It was the second day of the caravan's journey. The sun was already making it’s way towards the horizon in front of them, signalling that the day was coming to an end.
Just like the day before Alex was beside Crimson, pulling their wagon filled with trading goods. The work they did was a monotonous one. After the excitement and wonder of seeing the river biome died down, he was mostly just bored. So he and Crimson spent their time either talking, or not talking to each other as there was literally nothing else to do.
“So how’d a pegasus like you, end up in an earth pony caravan?” Alex asked.
“Oh it’s not that great of a story.” Crimson answered. “I was working as a courier back in the day. Inter-tribal messages were my speciality, because I’m a good long distance flier. But uhhm.. Some things happened, and I found myself out of a job. That’s when I met the old Banana. He offered me a job, and here I am. That was about four years ago and I’ve really grown to like the life on the road.”
Alex was curious with what had happened to Crimson to make him lose his job in the first place. But if he wouldn’t tell him, Alex wouldn’t ask him. It seemed like a private matter after all.
“So what are your plans after reaching High Rock?” Crimson asked Alex.
“Well, my goal is to reclaim as much of my memory as possible.” Alex lied. “And right now my best bet at accomplishing that, consists of going to the Crystal Kingdom and ask around.” He started to explain. “So I’ll look around for some sort of transport, or join another caravan to get there.”
“And you really have no memories at all? Of how you got way out here and stuff, I mean.”
“None.” Alex sighed. “As far as I’m concerned my life began around a week ago. But just spawning as an adult in the middle of nowhere is pretty much impossible. Somewhere, somepony will know me. I just gotta find ‘em.”
“Wow. That sounds scary.” Crimson said.
“It kind of isn’t really.” Alex said to the surprise of Crimson. “If you don’t know what you lost, you won’t miss it.”
“Shit dude, that’s deep.”
They fell into silence for a while, as their caravan moved ever Westwards. Alex watched as two squirrels fought over a few nuts, and suddenly felt hungry.
“You think we’re gonna stop soon? I could eat a Ho... “ Alex had to catch himself. “Whole lot of food!” He said nervously.
Crimson looked over at Alex, who was sporting an awkward smile. He shrugged it off, and looked towards the sun. It had almost reached the horizon at this point.
“Yeah, should be any minute now.”
At Crimson’s words, the sound of a bell ringing three times could be heard ahead of them, signalling them to stop.
“Told ya.”
They pulled their wagon into it’s rightful position in the circle. It was the same circle they set up at every stop. Already ponies could be seen setting up for the night,executing their assigned jobs with practiced ease. Two stallions were piling up wood in the center of the formation, starting up a fire for the cook. Others were filling canteens of water in the river. While others again were just relaxing, having had no tasks assigned to them.
Amongst them was Alex, and he used the time he had to get himself something to drink. He trotted the short distance towards the river, sitting down at the shoreline. He dipped his head down to the water, letting the cool liquid flow into his mouth. He took a few gulps of water, and settled down once again.
The sun was now casting it’s last rays of light over the waking part of the world, and Alex was content just sitting there. He let his muscles relax after a hard day of work, as Ponies came and went around him. Some collecting water, some firewood.
As he sat there, he contemplated his new spot in life once again. As well as the cards he was literally dealt by the gods. As far as he could tell, they didn’t give him one single advantage besides his apparent immortality. Which he still wasn’t happy about.
The world slowly turned from orange to gray, and finally black, as the sun disappeared completely. Making way for the moon’s ascent. As the sun vanished he stood up, and turned towards the orange glow from the campsite. He headed back towards his new temporary friends, eager to finally get something solid into his belly.
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Keep up the good work, Orthoros
You were in the featured box, the bottom 3 that track new updates to good stories. Glad to have found this!
When is the next flash forward chapter going to be? Like chapter 2 was.
7095990 thanks, and i will!
7096294 hurray for getting featured! Glad you liked it!
7096341 I have decided against doing that for now, beacause the ending has now changed from before (tbh i had no idea of where to go with it after writing chapter 2, (that chapter was the original idea that spawned this story)but now i know) and doing more flash forwards right now would result in huge spoilers, instead of vague foreshadowing :(
7097216
I highly recomend doing an outline for the whole story. Even if you have to not write for weeks just doing the outline, and then stay true to it as possible. Alot of stories just get wrote by what ever the author thinks up along the way chapter to chapter. Plot holes form or just random stuff that doesn't make sense (story about an AI getting to equestria from unknown means. 10 chapters later a general from earth arrives to kill him. No explination. The general IS a giant mech. The general is pissed. It made no sense and the story started going to shit). Don't do something lke that. (Like having the gods come do fuckery when they are out of the picture for good)
7097216
7097683
I second that, take notes! It help making sure your story will make sense, but it also help finding back the inspiration after taking a break. Often author forget what they were writing about after a while, having an outline with key note about the plot and the characters is always useful.
7097683
7097784
Ok, it looks like i need to clear up a slight misunderstanding. The one thing i didn't know was literally how to end the story. I knew i'd need some sort of "final boss" considering this is an adventure story. I decided to just start with what i had, and as storys tend to write themselves after a while, i was sure the needed plot device would reveal itself.
That happened just recently, and as my bad luck would have it, one small detail needed correction in chapter 2.
As far as notes go, this story is planned out quite thoroughly. I have an array of plot points, lined up all the way to the end, and the list just keeps on growing, to make the transitions from A to B smoother.
As it is this story is going to end up with way over 100k words. And as far as the gods are concerned they aren't completely out of the picture, zeus just said that they would never contact him again. *hint hint* All within reason of course.
I'm also always 4 chapters ahead of my readers, so i have sort of a buffer in which i can react to eventual mistakes (which already happened twice right now) So whenever i finish a chapter, i post one on here. F.e. i just finished chapter 14, so i posted chapter 10.
Hope i could clear up any misunderstanding, and reassure your worries
7097838 Good, good!
Let the writer's side of the force flow trough you!
7097838
Excellent. You know what your doing.
i.imgur.com/d4Qp6Xl.png
7097869 UNLIMITED! POWEEEEEER!
7098435 I would dare say that i have no idea of what i'm doing :D (Also your pic seems to be broken^^ )
7098497 It is just imgut that doesn't work on Fim fiction, something about imgur blocking it. I don't recall why.
Got that right!!
On the road again...
I thought for sure this chapter was brought by not stopping the believin'.
So why not just edit chapter 2 instead of posting an author's note about it?
My history teacher in middle school let us play that when we had nothing else to do
I don't know how to respond to that video...
Alex has died of dysentery.
Oregon trail: the only game I never beat.
“Shit,
It still says 250
9712462
Twilight Sparkle is generally adorable
Omg That video for Caravan Palace was great....don't know what it has to do w the chapter besides the obvious about the title of the song.....but who cares...it's like the A/N says: bc why not it's a fun song.
Too.
Comma needs some space
Another oddity, shouldn't be capitalized.