Sunset in the gods

by red-sun

Act II – Fallen Gods – Chapter 9

THREE MONTHS AGO

CRYSTAL EMPIRE

In the Royal Gardens of the Crystal Castle Princess Cadance was in a meditative position with her hands together, then she slowly separates her hands and dust particles begin to form and then dissipate.

"I am glad to see that in a short time you have managed to master the basics of the aura materialization technique, I am really surprised, the simple fact of having the mental eye has greatly accelerated your training." Filthy Rich says proudly. “Unfortunately, since I didn't have the mental eye, it took me longer to learn the techniques of the aura. But with your natural talent you will be able to master more advanced techniques”.

"I am grateful for your teachings, Master Rich, I will make sure not to disappoint you." The princess says respectfully.

“Diamond Tiara! Why don't you pay attention?!” Filthy Rich strongly rebuked his daughter who was sleeping right next to the princess.

"Because? I already learned the art of aura faster than the princess.”

“Child, you have seen me use the aura all your life and also you have the mental eye, It is natural that you have learned faster, but the princess only started training half a year ago and she has made a lot of progress, at this rate she will be better than you."

After listening to her father's sermon Diamond Tiara gets up to leave. "I'm going to leave the castle for a while."

"May the Silver Spoon be with you." After seeing how her daughter leaves, Filthy Rich sighs in resignation. "I don't know what I'm going to do with her."

"She just needs time, I guess her kidnapping affected her too much." Said Princess Cadanse.

“More than you can imagine, before the kidnapping she had no interest in anything other than having fun but after that she seemed to mature a bit, she began to study more and put more effort into her training with the aura but when she finally managed to materialize something. ..”

"She just thinks she's missing something."

"Suppose she wants to find slave Sun so she can take revenge." When Filthy Rich finished speaking she saw that the princess stood up but she had a gloomy face as if she didn't like to be left out of the subject.

---

"Are you sure what you want to do, Master Tiara?" Silver Spoon asked as he saddled a couple of horses.

"It doesn't matter, as long as I wait it seems that the princess will never be able to find the escaped slaves and the gods have their own business." Diamond Tiara said. "I guess I'll have to find it myself."

“But Master Tiara. Where should she start looking?

“Well, where it started, the northern mines. And I'm going to need your skills, Silver Spoon."

---

“We've been traveling for three weeks, how are you sure it's around here? The mines are on the other side of the mountain and I understand that Master Filthy Rich found nothing." Silver Spoon says as she and Diamond Tiara ride through a forest.

"Daddy never looked for the slaves." Silver Spoon was surprised by what her friend said. "The goddess Chrysalis prohibited any search or investigation."

"Because?"

"Officially all the slaves died in the collapse of the mine but the reality is that I don't know what happened, the goddess simply said that it was a problem that the gods had to solve."

"Miss Tiara, look." Silver Spoon points out what appears to be an abandoned town. "This place must have been without inhabitants for months." While the girls continued advancing they could see corrals, steel mills, blacksmith shops, food stores and small houses. "It's like this place was made especially as a supply base."

"Just by seeing this town I can deduce that the plan to escape from the mine took a few years." Then Diamond Tiara kicks a wall in frustration. “That slave had me kidnapped, gagged and stayed in a hole for a whole day! I need to find a trace! whatever!".

Silver Spoon begins to scour the makeshift settlement looking for clues. “Master Tiara, it is true that that slave was responsible for what happened to her, but why is she looking for her? Now you are fine, what is the need to seek revenge and…”

"You misunderstood me!" Diamond Tiara interrupted her friend. "Who said I'm looking for revenge?" Diamond Tiara noticed how taken aback Silver Spoon was. “As you already know, all my life I have never been in any danger, not even the most insignificant. Daddy was always there to protect me. But while I was kidnapped I realized how spoiled, vulnerable and weak I was and that experience taught me a valuable lesson, now I have managed to understand many things”.

"It's true, lately I've noticed that when you ask for something and you're denied, you no longer throw a tantrum and accept that you won't have it." Says Silver Spoon. "I also noticed that he put more effort into his aura training."

"Silver Spoon, please keep looking for traces."

"Sorry, continue with what she was saying."

"What she was going to say is that I want to find her and get to know better the girl who freed more than thirty thousand slaves."

"Master Tiara, I found something."

"What did you find?"

"Look over there." Silver Spoon points out a large area that despite the passage of time some traces of footprints are still preserved. "It is hard to believe that more than thirty thousand slaves have camped here."

"I don't think they have all been here at the same time, I would say that after collapsing the entrance, most of them stayed inside the mine and gradually came to the surface." Diamond Tiara stares at the tracks that left the town. "Most of the tracks go in the direction of Equestria and the rest go other ways."

"They should be the slaves of other nations who want to return to their respective countries." Then Silver Spoon notices something curious. "Master Tiara, look at this." She points to some footprints that look different. "These tracks are not caribou tracks, they actually look like tracks of Running Lizards."

“Running lizards?”

“Yes, they are wild creatures from the barren lands to the east. It was said that before the gods abandoned those lands, the inhabitants tamed them and used them to travel long distances, although now they are just predators".

"Can you track it Silver Spoon?"

Silver Spoon smirked. "I belonged to the tribes of the eastern lands, I can track anything." Then examine the tracks. "Despite all this time, it's incredible that these traces have lasted so long, I suppose it's because no one else should pass through here because it is so remote."

"If dad had made an effort to search, he would have found this place but... the goddess Chrysalis specifically ordered him not to look for the slaves, I think there was something that involved the affairs of the gods."

"I think I know where they're headed, they're definitely going south."

---

“We have been moving south for almost a month! How far should we keep traveling?”

“Since we're tracking running lizards, they definitely traveled a long way,” Silver Spoon replies.

“But do we have to cross the forest? Wouldn't it be better to surround the area to avoid danger?"

"If we surround the forest we could lose a lot of time." Then they both realize that it is getting dark. "We will have to camp, it would be very dangerous anyway to continue traveling."

While Silver Spoon sets up a tent, Diamond Tiara gathers dry branches and wood for a campfire. But as she picked up the branches she felt that something was watching her from the middle of the trees, Diamond Tiara tried to see what she was and what she saw scared her. It was a black wolf almost the size of a horse, but when Diamond Tiara was about to escape, but the wolf bowed his head in greeting and left.

---

"That? That a wolf greeted him":

"It's true Silver Spoon." Diamond Tiara says as she throws nearby branches around the camp. "That wolf was huge and when he saw me he bowed his head in greeting."

"Master Tiara...do you remember what I told you about eating any mushroom from the forest?"

“I haven't eaten any mushrooms...! Lately, But I know what I saw!"

“I'm not saying otherwise, just that it's hard to believe. For now, let's sleep tonight and tomorrow morning we'll continue talking."

"Okay... but I know what I saw!"

"Good night, Master Tiara."

"Good evening, Silver Spoon." So the two girls entered the tent. "Silver Spoon?"

"What's up Master Tiara?"

"Thank you for accompanying me on this capricious journey."

---

In the middle of the night Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon woke up to hear branches breaking, someone had approached the camp.

"What was that noise?" Whispered Diamond Tiara.

"They are definitely bandits." Silver Spoon answers as she discreetly peeks out of the tent. "I can see three beloved men with swords and two others who appear to be archers." The raiders were wearing remnants of armor that appeared to be from different sets. "Their equipment doesn't seem to be very good, it seems that the equipment they own is looted."

Diamond Tiara quickly materialized two chakram. "I can take care of the three who carry swords, you kill the two archers when I give you the signal."

"But Master Tiara, isn't it better to be a little more discreet?"

"Attack!" Diamond Tiara yelled, interrupting what Silver Spoon was trying to say.

Diamond Tiara quickly comes out of the tent and quickly attacks a bandit cutting his neck and before the others react one of the archers received an arrow to the chest and the other archer received an arrow to the head. At the same time, Diamond Tiara threw her two chakrams at the other two bandits, cutting off their heads.

"Good job Silver Spoon." Diamond Tiara said as Silver Spoon came out of the tent holding a bow and arrow.

"Thank you for the compliment, Master Tiara, but there is a possibility that more bandits are coming."

Then a few arrows are fired and Silver Spoon quickly dodges them.

"What was that!" Diamond Tiara screams in alarm.

"More bandits... RUN!" Silver Spoon yelled as she pulled a bag out of the tent and then both girls ran straight into the woods as the bandit group rode out to capture them. "I was going to tell you to wait to analyze the situation but you are always that reckless!"

"But why are they chasing us?!" Diamond Tiara asked as she ran through the trees trying not to get hit by the arrows.

“Are you serious?! We just killed five of them and you ask why?!” complained Silver Spoon. Then they begin to hear their pursuers screaming and the two girls noticed that they were no longer being followed.

The two stop to see what happened but they didn't see any of their pursuers. "Why aren't they after us anymore?"

"I don't know but we better keep moving forward."

"Isn't it dangerous to walk through the woods at night?"

"I think it would be more dangerous to go back to where the bandits are."

"You have a reason, keep moving forward."

While Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon decided to continue advancing, the sky cleared, leaving the moon to shine and illuminate the broken bodies of the bandits.

---

It was already dawn and the two traveling girls had not stopped walking. "I'm hungry, we should try to find food." Diamond Tiara says tiredly.

“Look Master Tiara. There is a cabin in that direction”. The cabin was made of bricks and mud, it also seemed to be too old but it stood firm.

"Do you think there is someone living in that house?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"Yes, surely there is still someone living in the cabin, look that way." Silver Spoon points to a pair of graves that were in what appeared to be the cottage's courtyard, “although one grave appears to have been there for over a year the other grave appears to have been dug just a few days ago”.

“About a week ago to be precise.” Says a voice that comes from the house.

Instinctively Silver Spoon points his bow and arrow in the direction from which he came from. She was a girl who looked the same age as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Her hair is red and her skin is yellow, she wears a pink bow in her hair.

“I see that you are both tired, my name is Applebloom. Would you both like to come in and rest?"