Camaraderie is Sorcery

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 4:2.1 - A Court in Exile

Author's Note:

Translations

Chapter 4:2.1 – A Court in Exile
Spring, Year 1002 of the 4^th Age

The port town known as Settler’s Folly wasn’t really much of a town at all. It had the necessities of a port town—buildings and docks—but of the two, only the latter was kept in a decent state. The town’s name itself was a warning to disabuse anypony of the notion that they could live here for an extended period of time. Built on the east coast of the Equestrian Divide, in the narrow strip of land between that desert and the Shimmering Sea, it had long served as an outpost north of the pirate kingdoms that dominated the lands south of Equestria’s border and the Duchy of Balte-Maer’s territory. It was an in-between place where disgraced pirates from the south or criminals from the north could lay low until it was safe to return home or carry on their flight, perhaps seeking passage on a ship bound for Los Pegasus or the Zebrikaanian Empire. Since the pirate kingdoms had begun to creep north in recent years, Settler’s Folly had lost some of its status as neutral ground, since any port, even one with access to nothing but sand, was valuable. Despite the dangerous and gritty conditions, there were still some brave or desperate individuals squatting in the town’s run-down hovels to witness a fleet of ships pull into port.

The ships and their banner were unfamiliar to those who braved a look: neither the style of a pirate crew nor an Equestrian merchant. Those that disembarked were also strange to the pirates and smugglers of Settler’s Folly. They were ponies, but all stood taller than most; they were well-armed, their attire more closely resembled garments worn in the Zebrikaanian Empire than here, and the mare at their head was crowned. The Saddle Arabians had arrived in Equestria and, turned away from other ports, found the one place they could land.

***
Summer, Year 1003 of the 4^th Age

As Twilight Sparkle practiced hovering in place, keeping the Equestry River below her in case she fell, she looked out over Ponieville with a perspective she’d only had before when scrying. The last of the palisade that had surrounded the town when she’d first arrived here was being cleared away. Some stretches had already been removed for convenience in the later stages of Mayor Mare’s wall project, and the vines and monsters of the Everfree had demolished most of what remained, leaving only a few bits to be torn down to remove the division between the old Ponieville and the new. A more permanent dividing line had been drawn in the form of Mayor Mare’s stone wall; the barrier had been completed on the northwest bank of the river and now enclosed all the town’s buildings on that side, with some room to grow. Even with the extra land, there wasn’t quite as much space as the mayor had initially intended when she’d first set out her plans to expand the town’s boundaries. Ponieville had continued to grow after Twilight’s alicornification, and although many sorceresses desired solitude, they tended to attract ponies who saw them as a means of protection. Needless to say, becoming an alicorn had only increased Twilight’s pull.

Another unforeseen factor was the recent influx of loggers into the town. Since the events at the start of the year, the Everfree Forest had become considerably less frightening than before. Most of the monsters had fled and been cut down by Hunters or dispersed into the surrounding countryside. Even the strange magic that permeated the forest seemed weakened at the disappearance of the vines and the recovery of the Tree of Harmony, and spells cast within its boundaries no longer went so catastrophically wrong. Ponies were eager to begin harvesting the wood that had been out of reach for so long, and Mayor Mare was onboard with the construction of sawmills to help facilitate it. It wouldn’t be long before the walls the mayor had already built were filled to the brim.

Twilight Sparkle practiced rotating in the air to get a look at the land across the Equestry River. With the aid of a little sorcery, she was able to make out the posts driven into the ground that formed the outline of the other half of Mayor Mare’s wall project. It was mostly farmland now, but in time it would be covered in homes and businesses just like the other bank. There were rumors that Ponieville’s priestess was petitioning her masters in Cant’r Laht to establish a second or larger chapel across the river from the growing population, perhaps even a cathedral if Ponieville’s expansion continued on its current trajectory. As long as Twilight still lived in Golden Oak’s laboratory—a name that continued to stick despite her occupancy of it for over three years now—she suspected that it would.

One of the things that Twilight regretted about her flight practice was that she was unable to work on other studies while she was in the air. True, she often practiced some spells (she couldn’t force herself in times of crisis to focus on either sorcery or flying), but it wasn’t as in-depth or effective as when she was on her own four hooves or curled up on a cushion. She’d tried to have Spike read dispatches to her, but that only really worked when she was practicing hovering close to the ground. He was too large to carry on her back anymore, even when she wasn’t trying to hold herself up with her wings, and he could only shout so loudly without disturbing the townsponies. Without being able to do anything else during her flight practice, Twilight let her mind wander from thought to thought.

Her contemplation of Ponieville and its expansion at its end, her mind returned to a topic that had often occupied her thoughts in the last weeks. She had just saved her home again, and that was something to be proud of. However, there were others on her mind who had recently lost their home: the Saddle Arabians. Twilight had read the reports about the devastating Zebrikaanian conquest of the peninsular sultanate until she almost had them memorized. She’d sworn to do “everything within her power to defend them,” but there had been nothing in her power she could have done while she was away in the World Across the Divide. In fact, it was likely that she couldn’t have turned the tide even if she had been in Equus. Still, this reasoning did little to dispel her feelings of guilt for not being there to help the Saddle Arabians in their hour of need. Their home was now yet another province of the Zebrikaanian Empire, and Equestria had stood by and watched it happen.

Although Twilight knew she alone couldn’t retake the country, she felt that she had to do something. From the missives she’d read, the Saddle Arabian court hadn’t been captured by the Zebrikaanians, managing to escape and flee across the Shimmering Sea to Equestria. If there was a way to make amends, it would be found by seeking them out. With no reason to delay other than trepidation, Twilight resolved that, once she finished her flying practice, she’d find Spike and prepare to set out for the Equestrian Divide.

***

Across the mounts the enemy came a’clothed in darkened cloth.
To claim the fortresses that held at bay the Empire’s wroth.
From the shadows they struck out to claim the lives of all.
That guarded fast those mountain hills and threw them from the wall.
And so the border forts did fall, our shield torn away.
Afore the dawning of the first of twelve terrible days.

***

Twilight Sparkle opened a portal to the Equestrian Divide, and an oppressive heat exuded from the portal and raised the already warm temperature of Golden Oak’s laboratory. Ream and Baldavin passed through the portal first to ensure it was safe before their charge followed. They’d been embarrassed by their absence during the crisis in Cant’r Laht and about being left behind during both of Twilight’s excursions to the Everfree, and they were trying to make up for it in some way. Though it seemed even more ridiculous for Twilight to have bodyguards now that she was an alicorn, it was something she’d learned to accept, and she could appreciate the logic of it. Even the greatest sorceress could be brought down by a mundane method if she were not careful, and that was especially true for Twilight Sparkle’s destination: the Saddle Arabian camp near Settler’s Folly.

Her sorcery would be no use at all if somepony had something to counter it, such as dimeritium. The metal was fairly uncommon (though not uncommon enough for sorceresses’ comfort), and the only place it was used more prevalently than with pirates was with the priests of the True Faith in Manehattan. While it would be a remarkably bold or stupid pirate who would actively seek out sorceresses, the chance that they would run into one on a raid and catch her unawares was not unheard of. A phenomenal profit could be made by selling captured sorceresses to the Zebrikaanians, so many pirates owned or had access to dimeritium shackles, collars, and other tools.

Traveling south of the Equestrian Divide had always carried this risk, but it was getting to be a problem now even in the south of the Duchy of Balte-Maer’s territory. The jungles south of the Divide had been the territory of pirates (and before them, slavers) for a long time, but something was changing. A satyr king had not only united the Storm Isles in the past few years but also expanded onto the Equestrian mainland and begun conquering and displacing the pirate kingdoms established there. Three years ago, the jungles had been home to fourteen pirate kingdoms; now only four remained, all clustered on the eastern coast and constantly fighting each other for the little bit of territory they could scrape out. The pirate kingdom of Kezzen, formerly one of the largest based around Slavers’ Bay, had fled all the way to Balte-Maeri territory. The chance that Twilight would encounter pirates in her journey to meet with the Saddle Arabians was much greater now that it would have been even a few years ago, and she was grateful that Ream and Baldavin would be along in case the worst came to pass.

“All seems clear, your highness,” Ream spoke back through the portal, and Twilight and Spike followed the guards, whose gambesons were already soaked through with sweat.

Twilight Sparkle had scried out the area in preparation and opened her portal to the south of Settler’s Folly, between the ramshackle town and the Saddle Arabian camp. A city of tents with vibrant colors and patterns even larger than Settler’s Folly had been erected to house the court in their exile. It followed much the same pattern as Maer-Dina, with few through routes and tents built up against each other forming complexes and blind alleys that wove through the camp. Twilight considered testing out her new skills with flight to circumvent the maze, but thought better of it. She didn’t want to alarm the Saddle Arabians when her very presence would be a surprise.

There were a few guards patrolling the camp’s perimeter, lethargic in the midday heat, and Twilight made sure she was seen by them before entering. None moved to stop her, though a several ran off, no doubt to bring news of her arrival to the sultana. The last time she’d visited Sultana Rashida, she’d been forced to endure interminable courtly maneuvering to gain access. She hoped that would not be the case this time.

The Saddle Arabians mostly stayed in their tents as she walked past, though a few showed themselves and expressed a mixture of shock and intrigue upon seeing her wings. Some actually sat outside in shaded areas, but even so, the camp seemed subdued compared to the lively streets of Maer-Dina. The Saddle Arabians had lost their homes to a Zebrikaanian invasion that took only twelve days to conquer their entire sultanate; what else could Twilight expect?

It was clear which complex of tents at the center of the camp was occupied by Sultana Rashida, and Twilight Sparkle eventually found her way to them through the camp’s meandering paths. When she arrived, though, she found her passage blocked by a cohort of guards. The Saddle Arabians bore stern expressions as they stood in double lines, the points at the top of their turban-wrapped helms gleaming in the desert sun.

“I am Twilight Sparkle Hatrotsun, Crown Princess of Cant’r Laht,” Twilight announced, hoping at least one of them spoke Low Equestrian. “I have come to speak with Sultana Rashida.”

“Dah sultana does not fish to speak fith you,” a stallion marked out as a captain by his yellow turban said. “Norrr does she fish you among gherrr tents.”

Twilight stopped her advance, surprised at being shut out so quickly.

“You should leafe now,” the guard captain said firmly.

Rebuffed, Twilight regretfully turned and trotted away from the sultana’s complex.

***

The zebra armies poured across the desert like a storm.
‘Til our own soldiers stood to hold at bay th’ deadly swarm.
Blood flowed freely in those days, the desert sands did drench.
An off’ring made in time of war not matched ‘til then nor since.
And though our troops stood nobly to fight the zebras back.
They could not stand forever ‘gainst the weight of such attack.

***

“What are you going to do now, Twilight?” Spike asked as she trotted through Settler’s Folly.

“I am not sure,” the sorceress admitted. “I need to make amends, or at the very least make an apology, but if I am not welcome in the Saddle Arabians’ camp, then how am I to deliver it?”

“You could always teleport into the sultana’s tent,” Spike offered.

“I doubt that would make a good impression,” Twilight humphed.

She needed to think of some way to deliver her thoughts to Sultana Rashida—perhaps a letter would convince her to allow Twilight Sparkle to meet with her in person. She wasn’t going to leave Settler’s Folly until she had figured it out; it would be a waste to come here only to return immediately to Ponieville empty-hooved. As she trotted down toward the town’s docks, Twilight spotted several Saddle Arabians perusing the (likely plundered) wares that had been off-loaded for sale from a few ships docked there. One of them, a unicorn, was familiar to her.

“Shazira!” she called out to the magus as she approached, and the Saddle Arabian sorceress looked up with an icy expression.

“Tfilight Sparrrkle, fhat has brrrought you gherrre?” Shazira asked without enthusiasm. “You’rrre a tad bit late, I’m afrrraid.”

“I know, and I am sincerely sorry for that,” Twilight apologized. “I tried to go to Sultana Rashida to explain to her, but I was turned back before I could enter her tents.”

“Fhat is derrre to explain?” Shazira asked, remorse creeping into her voice. “You ferrre not derrre fhen fhe needed you. Fhe trrried to contact Celestia, but she said you ferrre unafailable. I trrried to contact you and could not. You ferrre not derrre to ghelp, so Celestia fas not derrre to ghelp, and Saddle Arrrabia fell! You hafe seen ourrr camp, ghow small it is, ghow few of us made it out. Fherrre fere you?”

“Would you believe I was in another world trying to reclaim the Element of Sorcery?” Twilight asked.

“I was a hound,” Spike added, for what it was worth.

Shazira looked at Twilight and Spike, her eyes compassionate and distraught at the same time. Her gaze lingered on Twilight’s wings, marking her out as an alicorn now.

“Yes, I can beliefe dat,” Shazira said at last. “I know you liff a ferrry efentful and full life, Tfilight Sparrrkle.”

“So, will you explain to the sultana?” Twilight asked.

“I do not see fhat differrrence it fill make,” Shazira said with a slow shake of her head.

“I was unable to fulfill my oath,” Twilight said.

“Yes, you ferrre,” Shazira replied, “And fhile dat is not as terrrible as choosing to ignorrre an oath, dah rrresult is dah same. You know dis, oderrrfise fhy fhould you be herrre? You seek to clearrr yourrr name from blame, and ferrry fell, I beliefe you dat efents out of yourrr contrrrol kept you frrrom fulfilling yourrr oath, but dah fact rrremains dat yourrr oath fas unfulfilled. You must do morrre to amend dis dan to prrroclaim yourrr innocence.”

“Like what?” Twilight asked, feeling chastised.

“Dat is someding you must figurrre out, Tfilight Sparrrkle,” Shazira said as she placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder before trotting past her and back toward the Saddle Arabians’ camp. “I fill pray dat you do.”

***

The padishah sent ‘cross the waves a fleet of ships so grand.
Their masts were like a forest to be planted ‘pon our land.
But we sent out to meet them our magi oh so brave.
To with the Staff of Kipit drown the foe beneath th’ waves.
But tho’ we had that sacred relic of Nostrocom the Wise.
The Zebrikaanian Padishah let loose a dark surprise.
‘Board the ships a horde of shamans great with sorcerous bent.
Kipit’s Staff was broken, and with it our defense.

***

Twilight Sparkle sat in the shade of a collapsing building as she puzzled over what she could do to fix ties with the Saddle Arabians and regain their trust. Shazira had been right; Twilight’s own conscience had compelled her to come here and make amends, but what? Surely there was something that Twilight Sparkle could do, if only she’d thought things through more before coming. She was an alicorn now, crown princess of Cant’r Laht, and leader of the Brave Companions, but what could she really do to help the Saddle Arabians? What could they use that she could offer?

“Your highness,” Baldavin interrupted her musing. “There appears to be a disturbance to the south, by the Saddle Arabians’ camp.”

Twilight sensed the sizzle of magic a few seconds after her guard’s announcement, and she stepped out into the sun to peer around the building in the direction of the camp. It was difficult to see through the haze rising off the sand, but there was definitely movement there, watched by Ream and Spike. Just off the coast, she could also make out a couple of ships with colorful sails.

“Pirates,” Ream opined as Twilight came to the same conclusion.

“Come on,” the sorceress said as she opened a portal to bridge the gap between them and the Saddle Arabian camp.

Ream and Baldavin drew their swords as they stepped through the opening, and Twilight prepared protective and offensive spells. Pirates, most of them gryphons with colorful plumage, were trying to plunder the Saddle Arabians’ camp, slicing through tents or swooping down from above. The Saddle Arabian soldiers were putting up a defense, throwing spears into the air at the gryphons or coming at those on the ground with swords. More pirates appeared out of thin air, betraying the presence of a sorceress somewhere.

“Humbran’r ket!^[1]” Twilight called out, focusing on a point in the air at the center of the swooping gryphons.

A deafening thunderclap sounded in the air, sending out a shockwave that blew the gryphons from the sky and ruptured their eardrums. Twilight Sparkle left Ream, Baldavin, and the Saddle Arabian soldiers to deal with the gryphons as she sought out the pirate sorceress. She wasn’t hard to identify, standing in the shallows near the beach, currently engaged in a magical duel with Shazira. Twilight teleported herself nearer before casting any spells against the mare.

“Mrinessen’r ossi!^[2]” Twilight called, and the water froze in a cone of cold. The spell not only affected where the enemy sorceress was standing but also extended out nearly to the pirate ships, freezing waves in place only to have them crack as they were pummeled by the warm water behind them a moment later.

The pirate sorceress, however, managed to levitate before the water froze around her hooves, the many beads and fetishes woven into her mane and tail clacking as she ascended.

“Escand, leya nof ita sarey’i’r kalar!^[3]” the pirate sorceress incanted, and the sand along the beach rose into the shape of soldiers.

“Escand, ita Ye’r falan!^[4]” Shazira called, and the sand soldiers dissolved and swirled around her in a protective dome.

Seeing that she was outmatched, the pirate sorceress elected not to stand and fight, quickly teleporting away to one of the ships waiting offshore. She began teleporting the remaining pirates fighting at the camp back to the ships as well. It was the way of pirates to strike only when convenient and withdraw the moment things no longer became favorable, but Twilight wasn’t going to let them get away with attacking the Saddle Arabians that easily. She had failed to protect them once, but she wouldn’t again.

Twilight Sparkle reached out toward the ships with her alicorn magic as they prepared to retreat back out to sea. She altered the density in the water beneath the nearest two so that the vessels would rise out of the waves. Distant shouts could be heard as the pirate ships lifted nearly all the way out of the water; now top-heavy, they were unable to maintain balance and tipped toward each other. Splintering wood reached Twilight’s ears as the ships’ masts and rigging and then their hulls crashed into each other. She altered the density of the water again, and the ships rapidly sank down beneath the waves, cracking and shattering as they descended. There would be surviving pirates who could flee to the lone ship making for the open sea as quickly as it could, but hopefully this would serve as a deterrent. She hoped the message would be clear as retribution not only for their attack on the camp, but also for the Saddle Arabian ships sunk near Settler’s Folly’s harbor.

“Dank you,” Shazira said as she trotted up to Twilight on the beach, turning to look out across the waves at the disappearing wrecks and fleeing pirates. “Fe fled frrrom de zebrrras, and it seems fe hafe not been able to escape frrrom conflict since. I fear my people arrre doomed now to fight forrrefer and fill not find somefere fherrre fe can be at peace.”

Twilight stared out across the sea with her. The Saddle Arabians had lost their home and this place would never serve as a safe haven, what with how cut off and vulnerable to pirates it was. They needed their home back, though that seemed out of reach at present; until then, they needed somewhere to live. Perhaps there was something that Twilight could do after all.

“Shazira, please get me an audience with Sultana Rashida,” Twilight said, and the other sorceress gave her a curious look. “I think I have an idea of how I can make amends.”

***

We fought and fought against th’ foe, a futile fight it seemed.
But still we fought them on and on, and of a vict’ry dreamed.
The truth we had to face at last and let Maer-Dina go.
Th’ sultana’s court departed thence, all their heads bowed low.
Across th’ sands and o’er th’ hills, to Trasans they did flee.
And tho’ we’d had enough, ‘twas there we found more treachery.
While zebras gnawed on us from east, the dragons came from west.
And burned to ash all we had left, with vicious fiery breath.

***

Twilight Sparkle stood before Sultana Rashida, in a much less ostentatious setting than when she’d last been in the sultana’s presence. They were still surrounded by riches, fine tapestries and rugs, golden and gem-encrusted treasures, and fine pottery, but the tent was a far cry from the palaces and gardens of Maer-Dina. The sultana’s surviving court was arrayed before her, nobles without lands to rule, stony-faced as they stared down the mare many of them blamed for their misfortune. Sultana Rashida looked down from a cushioned bench placed upon a carpeted pedestal, a veil of mourning for her lost sultanate draped over her face.

“Your majesty, I wish to express my profoundest apology that I could not come to your aid when you were invaded by the Zebrikaanians,” Twilight began her speech before the sultana. “I wish to swear a new oath to you.”

Murmurs of surprise and displeasure rose up from the assembled nobles, but Rashida silenced them with a raised hoof.

“You fish to make anoder oad, afterrrr you ghaff failed in yourrr last fone?” Rashida asked.

“If I could go back and change things, I would, but that is impossible,” Twilight said, “The best I can do is undo what has been done in another way. I swear that I will return your people to Saddle Arabia one day and your family will rule again.”

“A bold claim,” Rashida said.

“Nevertheless, it’s one I believe I can fulfill in time. Even if it takes my whole life to accomplish, I swear that it will be done. I, Twilight Sparkle Haltrotsun, Crown Princess of Cant’r Laht, promise that you will be restored to your homeland,” Twilight said. “But I know that a promise of an eventual restoration does nothing for you now, and so until I fulfill my oath, I will make you another promise. I want you, all of you, to come to Ponieville, at my invitation, to live under my protection and my provision. Until I can help you reclaim Saddle Arabia, I will support your court in exile however I can. Please, allow me to do this for you.”

The exiled nobles looked to Rashida for her answer, whispering their own thoughts among themselves. It was difficult to tell beneath her veil, but Rashida looked pensive.

“Ferrry fell, Tfilight Sparrrkle,” Sultana Rashida said at last. “I fill accept yourrr offerrr. Fe fill gho to Poniefille as yourrr guests, and fone day, you fill brrring us ghome.”

***

Upon the last ships the sultana left a burning, broken land.
Fortresses, armies, magi fallen, none left to take a stand.
It faded into distance, a home abused and burned.
And as it did, Rashida swore, “One day we shall return.”

Comments

[TasermonsPartner]

So did the zebras and dragons divide Saddle Arabia? Or did the dragons just burn most of the Saddle Arabian ships as they attempted to flee?

I wonder what the Saddle Arabians will think of Zecor? She is a zebra, but, then again, there were many zebras in Saddle Arabia and they lived peacefully alongside ponies.

Heh, I was kinda rootin' for Twilight to invite them to Ponieville (or at least the city at the base of the mountain) when earlier you mentioned the land available to be surrounded by the wall. Good foreshadowing on your part! I'm sure Mayor Mare will be against it initially (not that she can do anything about it, since Twilight outranks her), as will many Ponyvillie residents afraid of foreigners; however, that will probably taper down once they realize the Arabians still have money to spend.

[FireOfTheNorth]

10996488
In this war, the dragons were content to simply burn things down, in exchange for tribute from the Zebrikaanians.