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Swirling Stars3,098 words
Bogslime Marsh1,307 words
Road to Dream Valley1,678 words

Road to Dream Valley

Two days had passed when Starswirl found himself walking along a dirt road, which extended parallel to the river. It was much easier to move now, since he at the very least had a secure source of clean water and grass. His hooves were now clean and dry, thanks to the frequent baths he had been taking. Finally, this trip was becoming much less of a burden than it used to be.

Once in a while, a squirrel or other running critters would catch his eye, but the unicorn decided not to bother them. He had observed that eagles and falcons, however, didn’t think like him, and often swooped in to grab a meal or three for themselves. They took them toward the nearby peaks. Such an observation made Starswirl recall that, after the Marsh, the canyons separating Dream Valley from the Unicorn Lands could be found.

At school, Starswirl had learned that Dream Valley was an ancient and fabled place. It’s said that in such a place lived unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies in perfect peace. However, these claims are often regarded as simple fables to teach foals about the sense of equality, even if the unicorn government had certainly been insisting on the contrary these last few years.

Loud hoofstomps against the road interrupted Starswirl’s train of thought, making his head turn. It had been quite some time since he last spoke to somepony. And even then, it didn’t go quite well, what with getting himself kicked out of an earth pony village. The young unicorn stood aside, hoping that whoever it was would simply keep going and not even turn to look at him. As the sound got louder, the colt managed to make out a figure coming his way along the road. A red chariot had a large, golden, painted sign on top, which read ‘RAZZLE DAZZLE THE MAGNIFICENT’ in bold white letters. An alarmingly large tan earth pony pulled the vehicle with all of his strength, making Starswirl move back even more, cautiously.

The vehicle came to a halt near Starswirl, though. The brutish pony eyed him up and down with his large eyes, before pulling the saddle off of himself and making his way to the chariot’s door. The stallion pulled it open, revealing a tall, slim male unicorn. His horn was exceedingly long, just like his neck. His coat was a pale blue color, close to grey, and his wide green eyes made quite the impression. A smile spread on his muzzle, giving Starswirl some confidence, as he walked off the vehicle and onto the ground. “Somepony walkin’ these roads is an unusual sight, kiddo! What’re ya up to, ‘ey?” he asked, in a cheerful yet sophisticated tone.

“I’m… traveling,” Starswirl responding, stating the obvious. He really did not know where he was going, after all. “I want to get to Dream Valley,” he finally added, looking at the tall stallion with a determined smirk.

“Dream Valley? That darned place, kiddo? O’well. I ain’t headin’ there exactly, but I can give you a ride. It’s near my destination,” the tall unicorn offered. “Ah! The name’s Razzle Dazzle, ‘n case you hadn’t figured it out by now!” he added, and extended his hoof to his new acquaintance.

“Starswirl,” the blue pony exclaimed with a confident smile, shaking the other’s hoof. As soon as introductions were over, Razzle Dazzle moved aside so that Starswirl would be able to hop on the vehicle, and as soon as both were inside, he raised his hoof to let the earth pony know when to start pulling the chariot again.

“Oh! Y’come from Shantalar City, then!” the tall pony exclaimed after listening to Starswirl’s tale. The young unicorn had gone through a lot, and felt like telling his new friend everything, from the origin of his cutie mark to the reason he was on an aimless journey. “Right! Well, m’mother’s from there, too!” Razzle Dazzle nodded. “But then we moved to good ol’ Hoofeltat. Oh, that’s a village far north, kiddo, y’wouldn’t know ‘bout it!”

“Why are you traveling?” Starswirl asked after a few seconds of silence. The taller stallion offered him a daffodil sandwich, while taking a big bite out of another identical one.

“Kiddo, I wasn’t made for village life. I must show m’talents to the world!” he exclaimed. Something Starswirl had noticed about this pony since he first looked at him was that his flank was bare. No cutie mark was visible whatsoever.

“What are these… talents?” the young unicorn asked. He didn’t want to intrude too much, or insult this pony. Nopony likes being kicked out of places, let alone twice.

“Why, m’showponyship!” the other one exclaimed, raising his forehooves to the air. “Let me explain. I am a pony of many talents, but I’m not especially good at any specific one. I c’n do any kind of magic tricks, I sell exotic souvenirs and artifacts. A jack of all trades, if y’will.”

“I… see,” Starswirl nodded with a smile. It was then, thanks to Razzle Dazzle, that he finally realized that a cutie mark couldn’t hold you back. You could make your life what you wanted it to be, without minding the mark on your flank one little bit, but it wasn’t so easy, because everypony kept saying the opposite. Starswirl either had to try harder to fit in without doubting himself, or make honor to his magical talent and forcefully get rid of these erroneous views everypony had.

Of course, the colt was not easy to budge. He’d continue to try and do anything necessary to make his people take him in and accept him just the way he is.

Almost a week later, Starswirl already seemed as if he was another addition to the family. Almost every night, he’d hop off their vehicle and walk next to Clamdot, the muscular earth pony in charge of drawing the chariot. He wasn’t a pony of words, and often could be found singing to himself, or humming. The young unicorn joined him in song some times, as long as the piece was popular or a common lullaby. During the day, he’d leave the chariot with Razzle Dazzle and help him gather berries, fruit, and water near the river. Occasionally, the tall stallion would tell Starswirl a story or two about his travels and the tales he heard while moving from town to town. “As a performer,” Razzle Dazzle explained one time, “One has to take advantage of the location. There’s certain things that will get the local ponies interested, and they are the key to success.”

Another time, Starswirl had been refilling the water keg by using his levitation spell on it to scoop up the crystalline liquid, when the other pony approached and took a seat next to him. “There’s a funny story ‘bout that keg," the stallion smiled. “There was this inn I stopped at t’sleep during the night. ‘twas a while before I got the chariot actually! So, anyway, I stopped there t’sleep, and I happened to come ‘cross the cider bar downstairs. I d’cided to take the opportunity to talk to some of the locals, and they were more than pleased t’share their stories.”

Starswirl dropped the keg between the two ponies, and then climbed on top of it and smiled at his friend. “What does that have to do with the keg?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck in confusion.

Razzle Dazzle raised his hoof. “Almost there, kiddo! Be patient,” he exclaimed, before resuming his story. “So I start talkin’ to this ol’ pony. His name was.. Er, Saltsea, I b’lieve. He was a sailor. He told me about a local legend. S’pposedly, a ghost lived in a sunken ship close to town and, during the night, he visited and took their cider and their apples, j’st because he was mean like that.” Starswirl nodded, as his hooves gently tapped the keg’s surface.

“So I decided, kiddo, to stay f’r a week instead. I put on my show, as I normally do and, on the last night, I ask the bartender for a few kegs that, of course, would be paid for after the show. I was supposedly goin’ t’use them for a magic trick. I hired a few ponies t’help me put on an act: The kegs would slowly fly off towards the shore, as if ‘twas the ghost in action, while I freaked out on stage and scared the ponies. ‘Twas a success, and I got to keep one of these kegs!”

Starswirl looked down at the wooden container and hopped off, while Razzle stood up and stretched his hindlegs. “A’right kiddo, time to go!” he exclaimed, as they both started making their way back to the chariot.

It was a few days later that they finally crossed the canyons and entered the land known as Dream Valley. One could see that the place was no longer what ponies spoke of in the past, as it now looked more like a forest than anything. It was an enormous forest, with tall treetops and tons of different plants. The roads that were supposed to be there were not visible from the high road the ponies were standing on, but Starswirl decided to part away from his friends for now. Waving goodbye and thanking them both for the lunch they packed for him, the young unicorn made his way downhill with utter care, doing his best to not trip over any rock or root, until he arrived at the edge of the towering forest. He spotted a dirt road nearby, and decided it would be best to follow it obediently, hoping that one of these days he’d finally be able to find something he was supposed to do.

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