The Solution

by P-Jay

Chapter 3

Hiero woke with a start. He blinked once, before groaning, realizing that his time in the dreamworld was over, burying his face in the soft, feather-filled pillow, in some vain hope to retreat back to sleep. After a minute or two, he succumbed to defeat...And slumped out of the bed.

He yawned, using his levitation to bring a silver comb up to his mane, styling it in the traditional 'swept on either side of his horn' look. His golden-colored mane shined in response, and he smiled, at his reflection. Another day of being...Him.

Hiero was the son of one of the more impactful ponies in this Tribe. A lord, who was in charge of overseeing construction of additional rooms being built within--and outside--their Tribe. If you could even a well-defended castle the home of a Tribe, really. They were more of a Kingdom. A civilization. Far above those other two species, in terms of resources, and prowess against the predators, they were the highest of the three.

Or so they liked to tell themselves.

To be honest, they suffered from slight overpopulation, within the castle's walls. Not enough food to go around, and the many, many positions the castle needed to be filled to properly defend themselves, commonly prevented them from making any real progress on their magic, and production. They only had one scribe--a prodigy by the name of Starswirl--but seeing as he was the only one working on new spells, the progression was slow. They'd be lucky to have a spell that'd make some mundane task easier, created every other month. Which maybe meant that they should learn how to do things the hard way, without magic, but then again...If that were true, then why were they gifted with horns?

Hiero opened the door, looking down the corridor that greeted him beyond his room. A dusty, dull grey floor and walls surround the hallway, with doors speckled along either side. Likely leading to some other high-ranking pony's room, no doubt. But Hiero paid the doors no mind, as he trotted past them, into the door on the far end of the hall, opening it to reveal a larger room. His room was just outside the center of the castle--which was a large lobby of sorts. Unicorns dotted the grand room, some in groups, some practicing magic in solitude, and some merely eating their breakfast...Looking strangely protective of their food. All of them looked grim. Hiero cocked his head, wondering if he had overslept, and missed some grave news.

Hiero ventured near one of the larger groups, picking bits and pieces from the conversation, before realizing with a jolt: someone had left the front gates open, when his shift ended, and before the next resumed the post, a small pack of imps had flocked in, destroying their crops, devouring the saplings. It took a full hour to catch them all, and put them down, but within that time...

Hiero swallowed.

They weren't going to survive winter, at this rate.

He ran off, in search of his father. They would still be able to power through, right? Didn't they have a safe-fail storage of food, in case this exact situation happened? Didn't they have a plan to fall back on? At the very least, a storage of seeds ready to be planted, at the moment, with a spell to accelerate growth?

He found his father, talking to the Head Mage. The most magically adapt pony in their Tribe, and unofficial leader--surely he had a way to fix this!

"Father, I--" Hiero was silenced by a levitation spell on on his mouth, that forced his lips to be sealed together.

"Not now, Hiero." His father replied sternly, looking back to the Head Mage.

"...As I was saying, our Magi Force cannot grow food, in the way those Earth Ponies can. We must do it naturally--or risk making the crops wilt the moment we exert our magic. It's too big of a risk--we wouldn't have any food for winter--nor would we have any seeds to plant the following spring."

Hiero watched as his father fumbled for a counterargument. But the Mage's reasoning was irrefutable--age spells were tricky, a type of magic largely unpracticed, and attempting to use it to grow their crops might result in them having nothing all year.

"...What choices do we have?" Hiero heard his father ask.

"...We must plead for help. Gather a patrol. We leave for the Earth Tribe at once."

Hiero would've shouted his disapproval, had his mouth not still been covered. He watched his father nod in agreement.

"Understood. Shall we gather trading supplies, to offer them, as well?"

"Yes. Bring them...Clothes. I have a feeling they're short on that--and with winter coming, they'll be more inclined to accept."

His father nodded once more, before turning, beginning to bark out various names of their travel ponies. Hiero felt the magic on his mouth lessen, and immediatly made his opinion known.

"We can't let ourselves be shown as weak and needy!!" He exclaimed, not even backing off in the slightest, when his father turned his forbidding gaze towards him.

"...Would you rather us be shown as dead, and forgotten?" He asked quietly, which inspired Hiero to deflate slightly.

"N-no...But...We don't need their help--"

"We do." Came the stern reply, his father's gaze piercing into his own, "we can't afford to take such foolish chances, on things such as pride, Hiero. I taught you better then that."

"I--..." Hiero broke off, narrowing his eyes, before bowing his head down. "...Understood..."

Satisfied, his father turned, to address the ponies he had called for. Hiero slinked away, muttering under his breath. Why couldn't they find any other solution, at all? He'd rather eat dirt, then have to beg for food! He had just woken up, this was too much to process at once...

"...Actually, Hiero..."

"Yes?"

"...You're going to be coming with us, to the Earth Tribe."

"What?!"

His father made a small smile. "You'll see...That ponies are not to despise eachother--we are all still allies, in this dark, dark world. Even if we choose to ignore that fact."

Hiero tried to stutter a reason why he couldn't go--but turned up with nothing.

"We leave at noon..." His father informed him, turning to leave, and prepare for the trip.

~~~

Hiero seethed to himself, as he plodded alongside the cart, stacked with supplies such as silk...Wishes he hadn't opened his mouth in defiance. Seeing the vague village in the distance, he could only grit his teeth. Maybe he could just stick near the cart the entire time, say nothing, and end up not having to talk to any of the earth ponies...

They approached the gates, where a drowsy--but watchful--guard blinked up at them.

"...Trading week isn't until Summer."

"It doesn't have to be, does it?" Came the patient reply of his father, "we find ourselves in need...Please let us pass."

Somewhat bewildered at the submissive behavior, the guard wasted no time in raising the wooden gate...Allowing the unicorns passage.

To some, the village would've been well-made, with wooden houses, organized, and rather well-protected by the five-meter-tall wooden gate, surrounding the entire village. But Hiero could only smirk to himself, knowing how their wooden walls didn't match up to their stone castle...

'Yet they weren't the ones who had a breach problem recently.' A rogue thought streaked across his mind. He shook his head, and continued walking forward, beginning to drift away from the cart, due to not exactly watching where he was going, before...

He bumped into a pony. He looked the same size as Hiero--but obviously more...Physically fit. He could see the muscle definition. A stick in the vague shape of a sword rested on the pony's back.

"S-sorry." Hiero muttered, refusing to make eye contact.

"Ah, don't be. It happens." The earth pony shrugged, sitting down. "A unicorn, huh? I haven't seen one of you up close..."

Hiero suppressed a superior smirk. "Well, I'm sure its not everyday you meet a being such as a--"

"You look just like an earth pony that just has a horn. Nothin' special..."

"..." Hiero sighed, "I'll just pretend I didn't hear that. My name is Hiero. Can I have yours? Because it feels like now that I've started talking with you, my father wont allow me to stop..."

The earth pony blinked, shrugged once more, and replied.

"Eh, what can ya do? My name's Abel, well-met."

Author's Note:

finally, chapter 3 is up. and finally, PLOT CAN START HAPPENING. XD