Corners of the Earth

by raven618

Chapter 3: The Mill

[ERROR! SPLIT VOTE: MILLER 50%, FLUTTERSHY 50%]
[EXTERNAL INFLUENCE REQUIRED]

“I can’t decide,” Twilight murmured, “It seems like this Fluttershy has identified the most results of whatever this is. But then we have this miller, whose daughter could apparently taste the magic, that’s not something that should just be glossed over.”

“Miller, you mean Water Wheel?” It was the Human girl, Pinkie, she had walked over to their group and was leaning over their shoulders. Twilight and Moondancer were both shocked that they hadn’t noticed her, while Lyra was more curious.

“You know him?”

“Oh yeah, I collect flour from his mill every week. I could show you if you like.”

“Well, that would be quite helpfuuUULLLL!” Twilight’s arm was grabbed, and she felt herself being dragged off by the Human maid.

“I’m taking my break now, Mrs. Cake!”

“Okay, dearie.” The older woman waved as the Half-Elf and Wood-Elf chased after their classmate and guide. Professor Celestia walked over to her.

“She seems, very friendly.”

“Professor, you have no idea.”

[Temporary party member added: Pinkie Pie]

Twilight was eventually released from the girl’s iron grip and allowed to walk with the other girls. As the only ones with elvish blood in the area, they drew a fair amount of attention to themselves. Lyra and Twilight were used to the suspicious gazes, but Moondancer was more used to disappearing into the crowd, and thus felt very uncomfortable. Lyra put her hand on the girl’s shoulder to alleviate some of that discomfort.

As the group continued, the spaces between buildings became greater, and the traffic on the road became less. Before too long, the sound of the river filled their ears as the mill came into view. It looked like an atypical water mill; a small wooden house built on the bank of a river with a large wooden wheel turning as the flowing river pushed it. A cart loaded with bags of grain sat outside the front door. A young girl had just grabbed one of the bags before she saw the approaching Elves and hurried inside.

By the time the girls had properly arrived, an older Human had appeared in the doorway. He looked to be in his late forties, with a short grey beard and moustache. He wore a pale white work apron over his brown work clothes, all of which was slightly powdery with fresh flour. Behind him stood the girl, who was presumably his daughter. She wore a lilac colored skirt and a cream shirt which were as floury as her father’s. Sat on her nose were a pair of pointed glasses. Her silver hair was tied into two pigtail braids.

“Pinkie Pie!” The man, Water Wheel, said, “What are you doing here? Your next order isn’t until Sunday. And who are they?” He seemed rather hostile towards the three strangers.

“Eh-hem!” Lyra cleared her throat to draw the man’s attention, “Hello Sir, did you submit a report to the Elvish council regarding a magical anomaly involving the river?”

“Yeah, I did. I was expecting them to send an expert, not a couple of kids.” He sighed, “Oh well, at least you’re here. So, what do you want?”

“We’d like to interview you and your family before we begin the investigation.”

“Alright, come on in.” The three students, plus Pinkie, followed him into the mill. The inside was rather sparsely decorated; a few wooden chairs and stacks of bags of flour acting as the only seating in the main area. Water Wheel sat down on one of the bags, the girl sitting next to him.

“Will your wife be joining us?” Moondancer asked.

“Mother’s gone on business.” The young girl said, “She won’t be back for a month.” She nodded and the girls all sat down (Pinkie and Lyra took the flour bags).

“You already explained the situation in your report, but we’d like to hear it again, in more detail.” Twilight said.

“Alright. Well, it started about two weeks ago, we started to see more fish in the river. Normally, a few extra fish is just fine, means we can get more to eat from the market. But these were different from the usual trout and minnows we get; they were colorful and had a weird shape to ‘em. ‘Bout a week ago, a few of them got stuck up on the bank here. Silver Spoon here, thought it would be a good idea to throw ‘em back in the water.”

“I was being careful!” The girl, Silver Spoon, retorted.

“Not careful enough. She ended up falling in, and me and few friends had to fish her out. When we did, she kept talking about some magic that she could taste in the water. I’m a simple man, I don’t understand what she was talking about. But then I heard about what Burnt Oak said he saw, and I thought it would be best if I told you pointy ears what happened.”

Twilight held her chin in thought. ‘A sudden influx of bright colorful fish. That doesn’t quiet seem to match up with what the reports Fluttershy and Burnt Oak had filled out said.'

Water Wheel leaned forwards, “Is there anything else you want to know?”

Author's Note:

Firstly, thank you to the two people who voted.
Secondly, because it was a split vote, I resorted to the old fashioned coin toss between the two choices which were selected (Results: 2 for the mill, 1 for Fluttershy, and one nickel lost on a hill somewhere. You guys owe me 5 cents).

Moving on to the more immediate matter, This chapter is ending in what I will be calling, An Open Voting. Leave any questions or actions you want Twilight and the party to ask/make down in the comments section. Follow questions will also be asked. Next chapter I will give credit to the persons who submitted. It's just a way for you, the readers, to be more engaged with this story.

Here's hoping for a faster update next time,
-Raven618

Comments

[Kauetheadventurer246]

How about we ask Water Wheel if he can show us the strange fish that have been appearing? If he can’t, we can always ask him to describe the color and shape.

Although I am curious about Silver Spoon, that fact she can “taste” magic is very interesting. We should ask him if there were any kind of magic users in his family tree and ask Silver Spoon herself to describe what exactly she tasted.