Bird's Eye View
Agate flew westwards, looking for the tell-tale glow of a pony's spirit all the while. Searching for a potentially injured pony in an area you weren't actually familiar with wasn't ideal, but life rarely was. She did have the advantage of being able to take in huge swaths of land from high up, without having to criss-cross them on hoof, though it didn't really get her any results.
She did find the occasional pony in the distance, but when she moved closer to get a better look, it was pretty clear that none of them were who she was looking for. One was a caravan of several stallions, sleeping soundly in an old campsite fortified with sharp sticks and stones. Another was a young mare, though from her bags stuffed with plants, it was clear that she was a travelling herbalist and not a messenger. Taking off again, Agate continued on, towards River Rock.
The landscape below slowly changed as she kept going, with no signs of her target. The tundra plains gave way to sparse vegetation, which then slowly became denser and denser, with trees beginning to appear here and there, eventually turning into a forest. While the distance was a multi-day journey for a pony on hoof, flight really sped things up. As dawn broke, Agate was circling the woodland settlement, debating what to do next.
The few ponies that were already out and about looked calm, doing the tasks they set out for their days. Nothing seemed out of place, so Light Step's disappearance probably wasn't caused by something happening to the village. Figuring that the first thing she should do was to ask around whether the mare made it to the settlement at all, Agate circled lower, looking for a place to land.
There weren't any big open spaces, but Agate was fairly maneuverable. Darting between the trees, she picked a small clearing between several houses, landing silently and shifting back to a pony. Her somewhat stealthy arrival didn't go unnoticed, though, as a curious stallion approached her, looking Agate up and down.
"Well now, you're an unfamiliar face, relatively speaking. I heard the stories, of course. What brings you to our village, traveler? Are you carrying a message for someone?"
"Not really, no, though I am actually looking for a lost messenger," Agate shook her head. "According to her mother, she was very reliable, and was supposed to have come here six days ago. Does the name Light Step sound familiar?"
"Hmm, can't say that it does. I never really used any messenger's services, though, so I wouldn't really know."
"Any suggestions to whom or where I should go if I wanted to ask about her?"
"Ah, I can only direct you to the village elder, I'm afraid. No clue where else to send you," He shrugged helplessly.
"That should do just fine. Which way?"
After getting the directions, Agate trotted off, giving polite nods to the occasional curious passerby. After a whole bunch of zig-zagging through the uneven roads, she found the place the stallion told her about. There were multiple buildings, and quite large ones, at that. It was pretty clear that the family was both old and successful, as their homes were mostly made of sturdy stone, rather than lumber.
Pondering whether to go through a door or start yelling "knock knock", she heard some sounds from somewhere behind a house. Trotting around, she saw a low wooden workshop, with a mare working on tanning an impressively large piece of leather. In a stroke of luck, she seemed to match the description of the elder that the stallion gave her, and Agate trotted over to say hello.
"Greetings, elder."
"Well now, you're an unfamiliar voice," The mare calmly remarked, not raising her eyes from her work. "Let me guess, you heard about what happened and wanted to buy this bastard's hide? It's not nearly finished yet, but since you did come early, I could agree to a deal - if you give me a fair price."
"Ah, no, I actually have no idea what you're talking about, elder. I came here looking for a lost pony," Agate explained, which made the mare look up.
She was a curious sight. Her face was wrinkled and her coat was gray and patchy, but it was pretty clear that she was a fierce hunter of some kind in her youth. There were several scars across her face and muzzle that could only have come from a beast's claws, and she showed no revulsion whatsoever in handling the leather. It was usually a role of a stallion, but given her appearance and age, she was clearly quite capable at it.
"Huh. Aren't you an interesting sight? If you are who I think you are, then calling me "elder" isn't quite right. You're older than my grandmother, and she's long gone," She remarked, going back to working on the leather. "Quite an unusual issue you have there. If someone from the village disappeared, I'm sure the locals would have told me. You, on the other hoof, haven't been around here before, to the best of my knowledge. So which pony could you be looking for?"
"Well, you might not be my elder, but you're still the village elder. And the reason I'm here is a messenger from Snowpitt. She was supposed to come here, and return to Snowpitt a couple days ago. Her mother asked me to find her. Her name is Light Step."
"Ahhh, so it is related to this thing after all," She huffed, giving the leather a firm smack. "The name doesn't mean much to me, but some ponies did come to me six days ago, telling me about a southerner courier getting attacked by a bear. Don't know if it's the same pony, but it's a bit too much of a coincidence for it to not be her."
"Did she make it out alive?"
"She did, far as they told me. It nicked her leg pretty badly, but the herbalists should have been able to patch her up. I don't know myself, I was busy with the hunt. Any bear that gets ideas about eating ponies gets put down immediately, I make sure of that personally. And don't give me that look. I might be old, but I can still track the arrogant bastards in the middle of a storm," The elder said, almost growling while talking about the bear.
"I wasn't giving you any looks," Agate rebutted with some amusement, given that the mare didn't even look up from her work while she talked. "You seem rather angry about the bear, though. Are they a big problem around here? Back in Snowpitt, the hunters have cleared out the yetis and other dangers for leagues."
"Huh? 'Course not! River Rock is old, almost as old as Snowpitt, as the stories say. It's the second settlement to ever be built by our ancestors, and we certainly had enough time to kill everything in sight a hundred times over, if we wanted to. We didn't want to, though. Bears and yetis are quite different, and there's dozens of them living in the woods."
"Really? Isn't that dangerous? You called them arrogant bastards just now," Agate asked, confused.
"Aye, but I called those that hunt ponies arrogant bastards. The difference between bears and other predators is that bears are smart. Smart enough to know better. Smart enough to leave us alone. So smart, in fact, that there are well-known bear dens around here that have been inhabited by different bears for centuries, and we never had a single problem with them. Some are smart enough to be arrogant, though, and think they can make a meal out of us. We make sure to teach those ones just how wrong they are.
See, back in the day, when the first settlers came here, lured in by the massive resources of the forest and the river nearby, there were clashes. Fights, attacks, retaliations, hunts, ponies getting dragged off, all of that stuff. And I don't blame either side. My ancestors were just trying to survive, while the bear's territory was getting invaded by a great herd of prey. At least, I assume that's how they saw it.
Needless to say, my ancestors won, though when the dust settled, ponies noticed that there were plenty of bears still around in the woods. They weren't trying to hunt us, though, content enough to feed on the salmon from the river and the other prey and berries in the forest. Times were hard enough without picking needless fights, and the ponies let the bears be. It was an uneasy truce at first, but over the years, we more or less quietly agreed to stay out of each other's territories. These days, if a pony and a bear pass each other in a forest, they'll just politely nod at each other, and go their own ways."
"Except the arrogant ones?"
"Yes, either some arrival from deeper into the wilderness that got kicked out of its den, or a youth that didn't learn the lessons by watching its parents as a cub. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, we make sure to deal with it swiftly."
"And all the others really just leave you all alone? No one's worried about them at all?"
"Sure. I told you, they're not like yetis. They only stalk and kill, and I think they might hunt ponies so often because we look a bit like mountain goats, which are their main prey. The settlements closer to the mountains do the same thing the southern tribe does, which is hunt them down before they hunt you down. The forest animals are different, though, and we try to maintain a balance with nature here in the west.
Heck, there's even been a case where a pony took in and raised a lost bear cub. He pretty much acted like a pony in just about every way possible. He'd cuddle with his family, liked getting back scratches, knew how to open doors and jars, and would sit at the table when they ate. He lived so long even his coat turned white, and when he finally passed, they held a full ceremony, treating him like one of their own. That family decorates their home with carvings of bears and wear charms with bear heads to this day, believing that the bear's spirit still protects them."
"Wow. Okay. Is it like that everywhere in the west? You made friends with all the beasts instead of fighting them?"
"Well, we didn't exactly make friends with them without fighting them first. Nature still has its rules about who gets to settle down and claim territory for themselves, and it's not those that can't back their claims up with strength," The elder laughed. "But, largely, yes. Different villages tend to have different animal patrons, though. We don't play around with wolves, for example. They are also very smart, in a very dangerous way - they know how to work together, much like we do. They can separate ponies, herd them where they want them to go, and then rip them to shreds in moments.
However, I heard a village up north tamed a pack of wolves and even use them to help hunt down yetis, which sounds... Interesting, to say the least, but you wouldn't catch me letting a wolf come anywhere near me. Others make friends with other animals, like squirrels and birds and suchlike."
"Birds... I'm more familiar with those than I would like..." Agate muttered, remembering the sensation of claws tearing through her.
"Hm? Why? Is it because you're a bird yourself? I thought that was something you came up with. Is it actually some kind of curse?"
"I'm not a bird," Agate snorted. "I'm just good at pretending to be one. And, no, it's... Old history by now, from back in the day. Back when the spirit war of woods and ice happened."
"Aah, I heard about that little spat. Didn't amount to much, but the shamares got put in their place pretty hard, didn't they?"
"Well, the forests near the coastline got destroyed, but I guess that didn't really affect the settlements that were far away. And yes, it changed the attitudes towards shamares quite a lot... And I'd be happy to tell you more, but we went on quite a tangent already. Could you tell me where the herbalist lives, please?"
"Sure, it's not too far. Just go up that hill, turn right at the broken pine tree, and look for the house with drying racks next to it."
"Thank you, elder."
"Don't mention it. I'd tell you not to rush since the herbalist probably told the mare to get more sleep, but if she's anything like me when I was younger, by this point, she's probably thinking about chewing her own leg off just to get out of there," The old mare laughed.
❅ ❆ ❅
Finding the herbalist's house wasn't hard. Although River Rock was old, it wasn't very large. Agate guessed that the local geography was to blame, as the terrain was extremely uneven and hard to expand on. The houses were stuffed into whatever flat places the ponies could find, instead of making mostly neat rows, like most other settlements did.
The house was a fairly large affair, as the herbalists that knew how to treat wounds also often had infirmaries built into or next to their homes. Figuring that it'd be rude to just walk through a wall and go straight to the infirmary to look through the patients without asking permission, Agate stuck her head through the door, looking for whoever was in charge. The room was empty, but she did hear quiet snippets of conversation and the sounds of eating from behind another door nearby. Trotting over, she stopped before the door, cursing her immaterial nature. Through the years, not being able to knock remained the biggest bane of her existence.
"Knock knock," She spoke calmly, trying not to startle whoever was behind the door.
"What in the world?"
"Am I hearing things?"
"No, mommy, someone's behind the door."
A bit of shuffling later, a confused mare opened the door, becoming even more befuddled when she saw Agate. As she silently stared at the spirit, the other ponies in the room became curious, trotting over as well. A stallion peeked over the mare, while a pair of curious foals looked at Agate as they hid between the mare's legs. Agate took the chance to examine the mare as well, noting the many green splotches on her coat, no doubt from mixing herbal mixtures of all kinds.
"I'm afraid it's a little too late for me to help you, spirit," The mare finally spoke, making Agate chuckle.
"I'm not looking for healing, no. I was actually looking for someone that I heard was in your care. A southerner messenger from Snowpitt, Light Step - is she here?"
"Oh. Ooooh. Of course, silly me," The mare shook her head with a grin. "Yes, she's been a real pain, and not the kind that I'm equipped to deal with. I had to threaten her by saying that I'm going to tie her down to the bed if she kept trying to move. Much as she's keen to gallop again, if she tried that with her injury, the only solution would be amputation. That particular threat seemed to make her calm down, at least."
"May I see her?"
"Certainly, ah..."
"Agate."
"Oh, of course! Now it makes sense. I was wondering about your odd appearance. Don't see many ponies with missing coats, and even then, it's usually patches, not the whole thing. I'm Bitter Leaf, by the way. Follow me," She nodded to Agate, while gently pushing her excited foals back into the room.
"You don't have to interrupt your breakfast for me."
"Oh, it will take but a moment, and I'll leave you two to discuss your dealings afterwards. Right here," She cantered away, as her husband managed to wrangle the grumbling foals back into their seats.
She led Agate through a hallway and through another door, entering a large common room with multiple beds set up. Only two were occupied, one with a snoozing stallion that had a binding on his foreleg, and one with a bored-looking mare with a bandage on her right hindleg that didn't even bother to look at them when they entered.
"Well, Light Step, it seems that the patron spirit of travelers and messengers herself has heard of your plight," Bitter Leaf said quietly, her voice slightly mocking of her impatient patient.
"The... What now?" Light Step asked, completely confused.
As she finally raised her eyes, Agate took the moment to examine her. She was a lot like her mother, only with a much lighter coat, an eggshell color of sorts. She wasn't overly muscular, but her lithe legs were clearly built for speed. It took her a bit, but she did recognize Agate, gasping excitedly and taking in a sudden breath. Bitter Leaf immediately put an end to it, though, silencing her with a hoof.
"No excited yelling. You'll take the others," She shushed.
"Yeah yeah," Light step whispered, deflated.
"Alright then, I'll leave you two to talk. I'll be back later with breakfast. Behave, youngling," Bitter Leaf nodded, giving Light Step one final warning glare before leaving the room.
There was a moment of silence as neither one of them knew whether to start talking first. Figuring that since she was the arrival and she probably needed to tell Light Step the reason, Agate spoke up.
"Your mother asked me to find you."
"Oh, that makes sense. With what the herbalist said, I was wondering if it actually had something to do with me getting injured. I didn't think you had that kind of knowledge."
"And I don't," Agate confirmed with a roll of her eyes. "I don't have any kind of magical sense of what happens to messengers that are out in the world. Your mother was just very worried about you, and asked me to investigate when you didn't show up on time."
"Hey, that was only... A day or two ago, right? How long did it take you to get here?"
"Well, I flew through the night, so about half a day or so."
"Wow... So fast... Aren't you tired after that, though? Do you need to lie down?"
"Not really, not yet, anyway. Sleep is a bit different for spirits. You don't get tired, you get stupid, and you can go a little longer without sleep."
"...Stupid?"
"Yeah. Your mind gets foggy and clouded, but without feeling physically tired. It's a bit hard to describe."
"Oh. So, um, if you're able to, could you, well..."
"Tell your mother you're okay? Of course."
"No! I mean, yes, but also, could you please tell the merchant who's message I was carrying that I got here in time? We agreed that I only needed to deliver it to River Rock one way, and I didn't actually have to make it back in five days. I can still keep my unblemished reputation that way!" Light Step excitedly whisper-shouted.
"Heh. Sure, I can do that. You should probably be more concerned about almost getting eaten than your perfect record, though."
"Hey, reputation is a hard thing to build, and an easy one to lose. I'm still young, and these things matter. If I don't get more work, I don't get to eat. And then, I'd have to... Forage, or something. Ech. Not my style."
"Alright, alright. Do you know how long you're going to be here?"
"Ugh... At least another week, and even then, I'd only be able to carefully hobble around on three legs for a while. I'll either have to stay here for a while, or sloooowly make my way back to Snowpitt, once my leg is at least somewhat better," Light Step grimaced, sticking out her tongue in disgust at such a long period of forced inactivity.
"I guess you have no choice but to take a lesson in the virtues of patience."
"What about the virtue of speed and being on time? I'm a mare of action," The young runner huffed, crossing her forelegs.
"You'll be back to galloping across the tundra soon, I'm sure," Agate shook her head, smiling at the mare's energy. "Anyway, if it's that important to you, I should probably get going. Tell me where to find that merchant of yours, and I'll be on my way."
"Right, his name is Strongback. His house is east from the ceremonial grounds, near those other merchants-"
"I don't really know anything about the merchants. I never bought anything around here, ever."
"Oh. Huh. Well, you turn left from..."
❅ ❆ ❅
Once Agate got her directions, she went to say a quick goodbye to Bitter Leaf before leaving. Stopping outside for a moment, she went through her mental checklist to see whether there was anything else that she needed to do. Her main mission was complete, and she needed to return to Snowpitt to pass on Light Step's message.
Glancing around the village, Agate shrugged before taking off. Her first real peaceful visit to the western tribe's territory was interesting, but she had nothing to do there. Either way, she figured that she was probably going to see lots more of the westerner's lands anyway, if she did end up accompanying Dream Step on her shamaric learning journey.
She didn't bother looking down as she flew east, only using her totem's pull as a guide. As she was getting lower, she almost smacked into her totem, ungracefully flopping face-first into the ground. Shaking off her feathers, she proceeded to shake her head, looking around.
"Need some sleep..."
It was past midnight, and probably too late to go bother the merchant stallion. Wildflower would have probably welcomed hearing the news about her daughter even if Agate came to her right then and there, but the spirit realized that she didn't actually know where the mare lived. After a minute of scratching her head, Agate shrugged, and went to sleep.
Once she was well-rested and fully functional again, she went to find the merchant first. It wasn't too hard, as Agate did see the merchants hawking their wares plenty of times over the many years she spent in Snowpitt, but she never really gave them anything but a cursory glance.
The front of the house Light Step had given her directions to was silent, but she heard some shuffling sounds from a heavily reinforced door further in the back. Sticking her head through the door, she saw that it was a storage room, stuffed with shelves, boxes, jars, and so on. Strongback, or so she assumed, was counting a bunch of western-made metal spearheads that were neatly stacked in a chest in a corner. Pulling her head back out, Agate cleared her throat before speaking up.
"Knock knock."
"What's this now? Bit rude to enter my home without actually knocking, you know. Did you really want to buy something so badly that you forgot how to be polite?" The stallion grumbled, a few metal dings sounding out as he put the spearheads back into the chest.
"I'm afraid I can't knock, and the only other option is to start yelling really loudly, while hoping that it will get your attention, and not the attention of everyone else around me but you," Agate explained to the offended merchant as he opened the door and saw his visitor for the first time.
"What in the ancient- Oh. Traveler spirit. Well, my apologies, then, but this isn't exactly something I was expecting."
"I fully understand, and you don't need to apologize. I haven't exactly been a frequent visitor to the local merchants, heh."
"What brings you here, then? Looking for something for one of your quests? I'm sure we could work out some kind of deal," The stallion grinned.
"No, I am on one of my quests, actually. A mare named Light Step sent me to you."
"Oh, excellent! I was getting a bit worried about her. It's really not like her to be late. The filly really puts that youthful energy to good use, and- Hm. She's actually alive, yes? She didn't send you as a messenger from the spirit world, or something like that?"
"No, nothing like that. A bear nicked her leg, and she needs to stay put for a little while. She asked me to tell you that she made it on time to River Rock, though."
"Ha! Always diligent, that one. Well, she'll receive her payment as soon as she comes back."
"Her mother was actually the one that sent me to find her, but in the rush, I didn't even ask where her house was. I don't suppose you know where she lives?"
"Ah, I'm afraid not. My relationship with Light Steps is purely business. When she'd take her payment, though, I think she would go towards the northern part of the village," The stallion shrugged.
"That's better than nothing. Thank you."
"You're plenty welcome. And if you ever feel the need, don't be afraid to visit."
"I'll keep that in mind if I ever need to decorate my totem," Agate laughed, Strongback chuckling along.
❅ ❆ ❅
Finding a pony in a large settlement wasn't a complicated matter. All you had to do was approach every single pony that you saw, and ask them whether they knew the pony in question. It was a time-consuming matter, though. Wildflower and Light Step weren't exactly well known, even if the young messenger was respected in certain circles.
As such, it did take Agate a couple hours to track the mare down. Once she delivered the good news, Wildflower didn't say much, or, at least, anything coherent. She babbled and wept, trying to hug Agate a little too hard, making her hooves pass through the ethereal spirit.
Reforming her body, Agate shook herself from the weird feeling as Wildflower stood off to the side, ears folded in embarrassment. Brushing a hoof through her mane, Agate nodded to the mare.
"Anyway, she should return soon... Ish. Depends on whether she decides to stay in River Rock until she's healed. I think I've done all I can here."
"You did, you did more than enough! Oh, thank you so much, kind spirit!"
"Well now, there's no need to be overly dramatic. It's not like I rescued your daughter. She was well enough by herself. Anyway, I should probably go and find my student. Be well, Wildflower."
"You too, traveler spirit!"
Nodding, Agate went her way, her mission complete. It wasn't remotely the first time she was asked to help with something by a stranger, but finding a lost pony was a new one. That usually involved other ponies and either shamares or search groups, as well as much smaller distances. Despite the safety of the area around Snowpitt, these things still happened from time to time.
Finding Dream Step was much easier. Even when she was out and about, there weren't all that many places the mare went to, and Agate eventually found her conversing outside with one of the elder shamares. Standing some distance away, she waited while the two finished their conversation.
"...And the weather up north can turn nasty in an instant. If you go there during the colder months, bring some clothes. Most importantly - do not, under any circumstances, attempt to travel across the sea by yourself, even if you get a chance to somehow acquire a kayak. Without training, you won't just get lost, you'll flip over and drown faster than you can blink. The northerners make it look easy, but sea travel is incredibly treacherous. Find a space for yourself on board a merchant vessel, or something of the sort."
"Thank you, elder. I'll be careful," Dream Step nodded.
Agate observed her student as she got up and left, trotting after her. Dream Step had acquired a durable set of saddlebags, or perhaps simply retrieved the ones she came to Snowpitt with. By the looks of it, she was fully committed to leaving on her journey.
"All ready to go, then, student?" Agate asked, approaching the mare from the side.
"Gah! Don't sneak up on ponies like that!"
"You snowponies snuck up on me dozens of times," Agate grinned. "Just returning the favor."
"Right, of course, even though I never did anything like that. Hmf..."
"I'm sure you'll live through this terrible incident. And if you can't, well, you won't do well on your journey."
"Yeah, yeah, you smartflank spirit, I'm preparing, see? I've been talking to other shamares about what it's like, and gathering things, too. I'd say I'm almost ready to go, really. Maybe even ready, but... Maybe I need a couple things more, and a bit of dry food, just in case. It might be spring, but you never know."
"Hey, if I'm such a pain in the flank, I can stay here..." Agate suggested with a grin, making Dream Step whip her head towards her.
"Don't even think about it. I'll become the strongest shamare to ever live just to smack you. There's still a lot you have to teach me."
"You're just making it sound like I should leave and motivate you."
"Ugh. Why are you being such a smartflank? Did your mission go poorly, or something?"
"No, I found Light Step. She was injured, but fine. She's recovering at River Rock right now. I didn't even have to do anything much. And I guess all those stories I told you about the past made me remember some old friends."
"Were all your friends massive smartflanks?"
"No, but one of them was the biggest smartflank I ever met. Anyway, if you're ready to go, then I'll go with you. I won't exactly be able to act as a guide, though, at least for the western tribe. This will be completely new for me as well."
"I'm sure you'll live," Dream Step quipped sarcastically. "Anyway, I'm not worried about going west. We'll be moving on land, like normal ponies, instead of getting into a construction of wood and hide and slap the water with long sticks until we finally reach land again, hoping something doesn't come out of the depths and eat us all the while."
"You make the northern tribe sound stranger than they really are. The other tribes have boats too, and they fish plenty in the many lakes and rivers."
"I know, but it's not the sea. The descriptions others tell me... Are the waves really taller than a pony?"
"...Sometimes, if the winds are strong. You'll see."
❅ ❆ ❅
Agate didn't exactly have anything to pack, so her preparations only involved telling various ponies that she was leaving on one of her long adventures, and having one last look around her crystal collection. Absent-mindedly poking at the crystals, she waited for Dream Step to show up.
"I'm here," The mare exclaimed, excitedly trotting into the clearing.
"Well, I packed everything I need. Let's go," Agate nodded.
"But you're... Ha. Funny," Dream Step rolled her eyes as Agate grinned.
"No clothes?" Agate inquired, looking her student up and down. She brought a good amount of gear with her, even acquiring a spear, though she didn't bring anything to cover herself up with.
"No, it's spring, so I don't think I'm going to get cold any time soon, and it's probably better for me to buy something from the westerners when the time comes. I'll need something when I go to the northern tribe for sure."
"It might get cold if we go higher up in the mountains... And what do you have for trade?"
"Well, I do know how to make spell charms, and I'm hoping I'll learn how to make dreamcatchers soon..."
"Best not to hinge your survival on hopes. Here," Agate motioned to her, trotting over to a spiky crystal formation. "Grab on to these and pull."
"I don't think I'm strong enough- Whoa!"
As Dream Step was saying that, Agate stuck her hoof into the crystal, sending a few precise magical pulses that made the crystal rods cleanly snap off the base. Harvesting a half-dozen of them, the mare carefully stacked them in her saddlebags, shifting to adjust to the weight.
"I know that carrying a bunch of rocks can be tiring, but they're worth a lot. Ponies really like crystals that were made by me," Agate shrugged.
"Well, they are quite beautiful. They're not the kinds that anyone finds, after all," Dream Step nodded, admiring the final piece before stuffing it into her bags as well.
With that, they were off. The pair made their way past the homes and the ponies, exiting the village boundaries soon after. It was only after they were trotting for a while that Agate thought to ask a rather important question.
"Do you know where we're going?"
"Of course. Same place you went to. The shamares told me that River Rock is the closest westerner settlement. The terrain's rough by the end, but it should be a safe trip. What happened to that mare you went to look for, by the way?"
"Got attacked by a bear. Fortunately, she was too fast for it."
"...Oh. Um."
"Don't worry, they hunted it down," Agate reassured the suddenly nervous and not very athletic mare.
"Does that happen often, though?"
"From what they told me, no, not at all. And you have me. If something goes for you, run away while I jump in its face and distract it."
"If you say so..."
They continued on in silence for a while, Dream Step glancing around her with a mix of curiosity, fear, and excitement at setting out into the world on her first journey as an adult. The monotony of the tundra wore those emotions down into boredom after a few hours, though, and they went back to talking to pass the time.
"How long has it been now? You haven't been my student for a year yet, I think," Agate mused.
"No, my parents brought me to Snowpitt somewhere around the middle of summer last year, and you only found out about me late autumn. So, half a year at most."
"Most shamares begin manifesting their skills in their childhood, though. Any reason they only brought you there when you were already an adult?"
"Well, it's not exactly easy to know which dreams are nonsense and which are visions, and I didn't really see or hear the spirits better than others, so it took me, and everyone else a while to figure it out," Dream Step sighed, with a touch of bitterness.
"Oh? Are you disappointed that you didn't get to start training earlier?"
"Not really... I'd have had to leave my family even earlier..." She said, despondently this time.
Agate hummed, thinking it over. While they engaged in the occasional bout of banter, Dream Step was still her student, and Agate didn't really know much about the mare's past, and none of it came from the mare herself. The few times Agate tried to ask her about it, Dream Step shut her down. She was clearly unhappy about something, something that happened back in her home village. She was also determined not to talk about it, but Agate was an old hoof at dealing with ponies by then, and quite patient, to boot. Bit by bit, she circled the issue, gently prodding her student in an attempt to get her to share.
"You say it as if you can never return to your family again. Surely they didn't banish you? And when you finish your journeys and sharpen your skills, you could become the village shamare. Yours didn't have any, right? Probably part of the reason no one noticed."
"I- I can come back to my family any time I want, no matter what some morons say. Become a helper in that village, though? No thanks," Dream Step scoffed, angrily pinning her ears back.
"Well now. That sounds like some deeply held anger," Agate noted, giving her student a sideways look.
"It's nothing you need to worry about," She shook her head.
"Yes it is. Deeply held and repressed emotions can affect your magic, a lot."
"I don't want to talk about it. It's really irrelevant."
"Sometimes, you need to do things you don't want to do. You'll find that it's a large part of an adult's life, unfortunately. And I have a feeling it's not as unimportant as you're making it out to be."
"..."
Dream Step just pursed her lips, saying nothing. The journey to River Rock took a while, though. Even an experienced courier like Light Step took five days, which meant that Agate had plenty of time to slowly and patiently keep poking and prodding, until Dream Step finally snapped.
"Argh! Fine! I'll tell you, you nosy spirit!"
"Were you nosy when you asked me to tell you about my life and adventures?"
"...No, I wasn't. You were free to tell me no. Doesn't matter, anyway."
"For something that is so unimportant, you're certainly spending a lot of effort trying not to divulge even the tiniest details."
"Stop with the "wise old spirit" shtick already," Dream Step groaned.
"But I am a wise old-"
"Shush!" She shouted.
"Start talking, then! I'm getting bored out of my wise old mind here!" Agate yelled back with a grin.
"Fine," Dream Step huffed, though Agate could see that she was trying to hold back a grin. "It all began in Foamy Rapids, one of the eastern riverside settlements. My family were one of the first settlers. My grandparents, to be precise, so it was fairly well set up by the time I was born, though with plenty of room to improve and expand. There was the tundra to the north, a sparse forest and the mountains to the south, and a rushing river dividing it all. One of my first memories is a celebration when they finished building a bridge over the river, since there were no places to ford anywhere within half a day's travel.
Anyway, I had dreams of all kinds since I was a foal... A lot of bad ones too, as I'm sure you already heard, so the village kind of knew that about me already. So when I started dreaming about things happening to other ponies, they didn't really take me seriously. I wasn't even trying to tell them that I saw the future. I just... The first one I fully remember was when I dreamt about one of the hunters that was making sure the forest was safe getting jumped and eaten by a yeti."
"I think you mentioned that one in Snowpitt before I left."
"Yeah, I did. I dreamt about it, and I just saw the stallion trotting about the next day, and I told him about it. It rattled him a bit, and he let it slip that he was planning on going to the forest in a couple days, but he still went anyway."
"Oh. Did... Did he die?"
"No, but he did bring extra backup with him, and they successfully took down not one, but two yetis in one trip, so he didn't make much of my dream, and I more or less forgot about it a few weeks later."
"You probably saved his life, though. The very point of the visions you see is that they are not set in stone, and you can warn ponies about it," Agate shook her head.
"Well, I know that now, but I didn't know anything about it back then," Dream Step sighed.
"So is that why you feel resentful towards your former village? They thought you were a fraud?"
"No- well, yes- kind of? That wasn't the only instance. I dreamt a similar thing about another stallion, one named Sure Strike. It was a vile nightmare about getting chased down and ripped to shreds by something terrible, and his family crying over his remains afterwards. It was incredibly vivid, and made me wake up screaming in the night, something which hadn't happened for years."
"And he was the one that didn't take you seriously?"
"Oh, he said that he didn't, but he did much worse," Dream Step huffed angrily. "I went to find him in the morning, meekly approaching him with a story of what I saw in my dream. Thing is, he is one of the most well known hunters in the village with the most kills, and he's always insufferable about it. He'd brag all day and night, wearing a ridiculous necklace made of so many yeti's fangs, it almost reached the ground. And he took my attempt to warn him as some kind of insult to his skill and pride, loudly proclaiming that there was no way he could ever be bested by some beast.
Thing is, we were in public, and he didn't stop there. He berated and belittled me in front of the entire village, stating to anyone and everyone that I was a daft fool and a honorless churl that was jealous of his accomplishments and was trying to shake his confidence. Me! A foal! Well, I wasn't a foal, but I wasn't an adult back then yet, either. I was only trying to help! Like I cared about his title of the best hunter or whatever! I just trotted off with tears in my eyes, doing my best not to start bawling and galloping away."
"How old were you when that happened?" Agate asked with a frown.
"Fifteen."
"To challenge a teenager in that manner... If you were an adult hunter yourself, well, those would be fighting words. Surely the other villagers didn't approve of his disgraceful behavior?"
"Well, they didn't approve, but he was fairly well respected for his skills, if not his attitude, so all that happened was that I got some looks, but no one shunned me afterwards or anything like that. My father was furious after he heard what happened, though. My mother had to hold him back from challenging the fool saying that if my vision was true, he'd end up dead anyway."
"And... Did he die?"
"No," Dream Step shook her head, her tone sour. "But not because he went on his hunt, oh no! See, he did go on a hunt, and then, once again, loudly proclaimed to everyone that I was a fraud and a liar when he returned unscathed. After that, my reputation did dip for a while, at least in regards to my dreams being true. But then, a few weeks later, while on one of his many bragging sprees, the ever-capable and skilled Sure Strike let it slip that when he went on his hunt, he didn't go the same route that he had planned before! In fact, he went in the completely opposite direction, and stuck to a region the other hunters already knew to be largely safe!"
"And the truth comes out," Agate snorted in amusement.
"Yeah. A number of ponies heard it, and rumors began to spread. It actually took a couple weeks for me to hear about it myself. Of course, Sure Strike immediately began changing his story, calling the ponies that overheard him liars and slanderers as well."
"Ah. I see now. And it turned into a never-ending circle of "he said, she said", with neither side having definitive proof. I've seen similar situations over the years," Agate nodded.
"Right. My youth and lack of standing actually worked in my favor. Whether my dreams were true or not, the others could at least see that I was just a bumbling teenager that didn't know what she was doing, and didn't mean any actual harm, so Sure Strike's freakouts only implicated him more. Still, that wasn't enough to get him to stop, despite several village elders telling him off for harassing me. He'd quiet down for a few weeks, and then go on a rant about me again soon after."
"You really, really hurt his pride, huh?"
"I did. I still don't know why."
"Some ponies are distrustful of visions like that because they're like that first stallion - they think it's fated to happen, and that means that their skills and their own capabilities are meaningless, which is completely untrue. His reaction was still completely inappropriate, though. How did it all end, then?"
"It didn't. I had a few more dreams, and showed an aptitude for magic in general, though that could have simply come from me spending more time alone in contemplation, focusing on things and working. Then again, I mostly contemplated about kicking Sure Strike somewhere it would hurt a lot, so who knows, heh. Eventually, my parents decided that the best course of action was to bring me to Snowpitt, and ask the shamares to figure out whether I am one or not. And you know the rest."
"So the issue was never resolved?"
"No, and enough ponies took Sure Strike's side to make my life annoying. I wasn't cast out or anything, but getting dirty looks from half of the ponies you live with in the same village got old pretty damn fast. My parents were not happy, and even considered taking the entire family somewhere else, but decided not to let themselves be bullied out of the life they toiled for and built by an overblown fool."
"Do you regret having to leave?"
"Heck no," Dream Step emphasized the statement with a fierce shake of her head. "Snowpitt was very interesting, and the thought of travelling to other tribes always fascinated me. And I didn't have to leave, exactly. I was more or less an adult by the time they sat me down to have the talk, and my parents left the choice entirely up to me. So I left by my own volition, but I wasn't entirely happy about it. Even though I knew it wasn't, it still felt a bit like I was running away from Sure Strike."
"I see."
"Happy now?" She inquired, giving Agate a flat look.
"Yes. Aren't you?"
"Why would I be happy?"
"You don't feel even a tiny bit better after getting it off your chest?"
"...No." She said, purposefully looking away.
"Really," Agate grinned.
"Yup."
"Not even the slightest bit lighter?"
"Noooo."
"You know what, Dream Step?"
"What?"
"I don't believe you."
"Oh, stuff a... Hm," Turning back towards Agate, Dream Step began, only to falter.
"Yes, my student?"
"Bah. There has to be some way to insult a spirit," She huffed, though Agate could see that she was smiling again.
"Perhaps you'll think something up... Once you're as old and wise as me."
"Oh, be quiet already."
"If you wish. I'm sure you'll start talking again soon. At this pace, I'd say there's still a good two days until we reach River Rock."
"Great..."
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Nothing clever to say this time. Not every adventure is as grand in scope as a potential war between two thirds of the snowpony population.
Time marches on.
Light Step sounds like an ancestor to a certain cyan pegasus
great chapter
So how long has it been since the shamare fracas? Just a thought, but at some point, would you ever consider making a visual timeline of what's happened in the story? yr0=agate's death or rebirth and so forth.
That was a good chapter.
11768176
One hundred and eight years.
Maybe.
11768435
So that would mean (mentally counting on fingers) that agate has been a spirit for somewhere between 250 and 300 years.
11768639
....no?
11768660
I forgot about that, maybe it's just one of those things where it feels like it should be longer
Really like the chapter with the lore of the West tribes. Can’t wait to see more
I love reading the story, thank you for the story.
11770140
You're welcome.
Ha! Some bants!
Ahh how times have changed. I still remember when Agate would deny such a thing.