It Starts With a Single Step

by BronyBrozly

Chapter 5: A Step Forward

I sat on the shore of the beach, closing my eyes as I felt the cool breeze of the morning sea air brushed against my burnt coat and mane. The smell of salty sea wafted into my nose, listening to the gentle sound of the waves washed onto the shore. I slowly opened my eyes, looking into the golden rising sun in the horizon. Its warm glow bathed Port Osglen and everything its path, filling me with solace for once.

My ears suddenly twitched as I heard Rose’s soft snore behind me, sleeping peacefully under my tattered robe. It has been quite an adventure for her in just one night and this just the beginning. I looked at my right and saw Ivy sat next to me as she played with her daggers by rolling it in her claws, looking in the distance. Then, my stomach grumbled. Right... we haven’t eaten anything since we got to the town, I grunted inwardly, clutching my empty stomach as I grimaced. Ivy noticed my expression.

“I think I’ll head into town to get us some grub,” she offered as she sheathed her dagger, standing up but I quickly grabbed her arms, looking up towards her.

“It is dangerous to go into town. Whoever that was hunting us last night might still be in the town,” I explained, shaking my head.

“Pssh,” she snorted, grinning. “Don’t you get your tail tied in a bunch, I’ll be fine. I’ve been in these kinds of shitty situations plenty of time. I know how to avoid an enemy if I need to,” she explained with a proud grin on her face. I noticed she had a fresh scar ran up the side of her left cheek. “Oh, this,” she spoke up as she touch her cheek, noticing that I was looking at it. “It’s from the blast last night but it is fine. Nothing that I can’t handle,” she chuckled, freeing her claws from my hoof. “I’ll be back and don’t die on me yet,” she said, grinning. I nodded in respond. With that, she gave her wings a mighty flap, rocketed into the sky.

I looked back into the ocean, sighing despondently. The bombing incident, my injury and even my mission to search for my mother began to start to weigh on my shoulders. I didn’t know why someone wanted to kill me so suddenly – well, except for Ivy. I killed one of her friends. But there was one thing that I know: I have to find my mother no matter what happens. Like Ivy said to me the night before, I have to toughen up. This world not will get easy for me in this whole journey and I need to get ready for anything, not matter how big or small the situation might be.

My ears twitched, hearing Rose let out a soft yawn behind me. I looked over my shoulder, smiling. Her light pink coat and her flowing golden mane glowed under the morning sun. “I-is there somepony here?” she stuttered, worry plastered on her face as she groggily stood up. I shook my head in respond, ringing the bell that hung from my neck. “Oh,” she gasped, looking at my direction with a relief smile on her face. “What time is it?” she asked, slowly walked towards me.

“It is morning,” I answered, looking into the rising sun in the horizon in front of me.

“I see,” she giggled, sitting next to me. I let out a chuckle in respond.

“Did you sleep well?” I asked, looking at her with a gentle smile etched on my face.

“I did.” She nodded. “Thank you for lending your robe for me to sleep in,” she said, smiling as she looked at me.

“It is fine. You need the rest more than all of us,” I replied, looking back into the ocean. I closed my eyes, feeling the breeze brushed my coat once again. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with fresh and salty air to clear my murky mind.

“What are we going to do?” I heard Rose asked, clearly worried about the situation at hand.

“I do not know. But I wish to discuss about it when all of us are here,” I answered, letting my mind wandered off into a happy place.

“Oh? Where’s Ivy?” she asked again.

“She’s in town, finding us some food to eat. I think it is agreeable that all of us are hungry at the moment,” I answered, nodding.

“Will she be fine?” Rose’s voice filled with worry.

“She is a warrior like me, I am sure that she will be fine,” I answered. “A better one as well,” I admitted, grinning. “Oh,” I spoke up, looking towards her. “Did you notice that Ivy had a scar on her face?”

“I did,” she nodded; her head was looking at the sea. “Last night, while you were... unconscious, I offered to heal the wound but she kept insisting me to heal you,” she continued, smiling.

“Wait,” I mumbled, looking at her with a questioning eyebrow. “How can you see the injuries that you are treating when you are... blind?” I asked with a wince, feeling guilty that I might touched on a sensitive subject to dwell.

“Well,” she began, smiling. “It is because of my talent of course,” she continued, looking at me with radiating kindness. “Let me demonstrate,” she concluded, closing her eyes, her brows furrowed in concentration. Then, I noticed her horn let out a gentle grey glow. The glow slowly became brighter – and in just a split second, a sizable magical dome appeared around her. The size was probably two hooves length from her body.

“In this dome,” she started, waving her hooves around. “I can ‘see’. The image that I see is somewhat gritty and colorless but it still gives me the ability to ‘see’ the wounds either internally or externally,” she explained, smiling as the dome disappeared with a zap.

“That is amazing,” I gasped, my eyes widened in amazement.

“But,” she spoke up; her head looked onto the ground with a frown tugged onto her face. “I still can’t properly heal an injury without the proper tools and equipments,” she said softly, looking at my apologetically.

“It is fine,” I replied, knowing what was on her mind. “There is nothing more that can be done in our weakest state. I accept the misfortune that had been given to me,” I continued, smiling weakly.

“Hey!” We heard a familiar voice called out. Our heads quickly turned and saw Ivy glided towards us with a sack in her claw and a smile on her face. “Got us some food and drinks,” she chuckled, landing between us. She opened the sack, showing us –me—the variety of breads. We immediately sat in a circle with the food and drinks passed equally between us. I greedily bit down on my piece of bread; my hunger took over my body. Ivy was alternating between two breads in her claws as her primal instinct started to show and unlike the two of us, Rose was eating her piece of bread with ladylike fashion.

Breakfast was quiet and only accompanied by the sound of the waves washing onto the shore. I knew the reason why we were quiet. It was because the incident that happened last night burnt into our minds. After all the food and drinks were finished, we all let out a sigh of contentment, patting out filled stomach. “So...” Ivy started, picking her teeth with a claw. “What do we do now?”

“We need to find who attacked us last night and find out what was his or her motive on the attack,” I answered, standing up. I hobbled towards my robe; Rose’s sweet scent wafted from the robe and into my nose as I gingerly wore my tattered clothes. I carefully fastened my saddlebag onto my injured body and strapped my spear over my shoulder.

“How?” Rose asked as she stood up, hearing the bell on my neck jingled.

“We have to lure him out. Letting him or her know that we are still alive,” I answered, looking back towards Port Osglen, eyes furrowed.

“What’s on your mind?” Ivy asked, hovering above me.

“I got a plan,” I answered, grinning. “Follow me, I’ll tell you along the way,” I said, slowly hobbled towards the town with a knowing grin on my face. I looked into the blue sky above; praying to the gods above for my plan would bare fruit.

---

The sound of walking ponies, zebras and griffons filled the main market area of Port Osglen. Many street vendors and traveling merchants were calling out towards the sea of crowd, hoping that they would attract potential customers’ attention with their ‘special offers’. The bell on my neck jingled in every step as Rose diligently trying to keep up with me. I looked at the edge of my tattered hood and saw Ivy sneakily hid in the rooftops, scouting from above.

“Hear anything unusual, Rose?” I asked, whispering as my eyes darted in every direction. Anyone of the crowd can be a potential attacker and I must keep an eye on every movements.

“No, just hearing the massive amount of hoovesteps walking,” I heard Rose replied, whispering. Then my ears twitched and I noticed Rose picked up the sound as well. Her head darted around as we heard a lone hoofstep that was not walking but galloping towards us. I looked at Ivy who was hiding behind a chimney to my right and gave her the signal with a nod. She nodded back, slowly backing behind the chimney.

My eyes darted below the shadow of my hood, looking for any suspicious pony or zebra. My heart started to hammer in my chest and adrenaline began to pump into my blood. I closed my eyes, mentally preparing myself.

“AAAAAAHHH!” I heard a muffled cry in front of me and I quickly opened my eyes. I saw an earth mare with dark brown coat and a yellow mane, wearing a black cloak running towards me with a dagger in her mouth. Her eyes filled with determination to kill. She made a mighty leap, aiming the dagger towards my neck. In just an instant, the mare was violently tackled on her side, flinging her to the side of the street with a loud thud, her dagger clatter onto the stone street.

I hobbled towards her, brows furrowed as Rose quietly followed behind me. I swiftly equipped my spear, lightly pressed the tip of my spear on her neck. Ivy landed next to the mare -- daggers ready in her claws with a maniacal grin plastered across her face.

“Well, lookie what we have here,” Ivy chuckled, licking the blade of her dagger.

“Go fuck a tree,” the mare spat, glaring at her.

“Ooh, you’re so cute,” the griffon cooed mockingly, grabbing the mare’s neck in a tight grip.

“Enough,” I growled. Ivy looked at me with a frown. She let go the mare’s neck, sighing. “Why are you hunting me?” I asked, looking into the mare’s green eyes. She grinned and spat on me.

“You’ll never know,” she chuckled darkly. I quickly pulled onto her cloak, looking at her eye to eye. I was clenching my teeth hard and breathed heavily in anger.

“I’ll ask you again: Tell me why you’re hunting me,” I growled, my patience wearing thin. She just chuckled in respond. Then her mouth bubbled and her eyes rolled back. She let out gurgling noises and her body went limp. I slowly released her, confusion plastered across my face.

“Fuck!” Ivy spat, kicking the lifeless body. “That bitch killed herself,” she hissed, sheathing her daggers.

“H-how?” Rose stammered, her eyes widened in shock.

“There’s a method where an agent puts a fucking poison pill under their tongue. If they are caught or compromised, they’ll fucking swallowed it to save the fucking organization or agency,” she explained, angrily pacing around the body. “Wait,” she suddenly whispered, looking down at the body. She quickly reached down and ripped the side of the cloak, holding an emblem in her claw. “Ha! What a rookie!” she barked, chuckling.

“What is it?” I asked, looking at the piece of cloth. I saw a red picture of a lion’s head roaring. Suddenly, my body convulsed involuntarily, a shock of pain jolted in my head. I winced, feeling lightheaded.

“Are you okay?” Rose asked, her horn let out a grey glow as she softly grabbed me closer.

“I-I’m fine,” I answered, wincing.

“Hey, Stripes,” Ivy spoke up, throwing the cloth towards me. I quickly grabbed it as I looked at the emblem. “I never seen that emblem before but I know someone that might help. He’s been in this hellhole longer than any guards stationed in this town,” she explained, grinning.

Then, I noticed that we were surrounded by the residents of the town when my ears heard a wave of whispered broke. We looked around, seeing the faces of the residents who witness the whole incident. After a few minutes of silence between us, all of them returned to their activities, nonchalantly walking passed the dead body.

“Won’t they report to the authorities?” I asked Ivy, worry started to creep in my voice.

“Nah,” she replied nonchalantly. I looked at her with a mix of confusion and worry in my face. “Remember, this town is filled with murderous mercenaries and killing bastards. These things happen in town pretty much regularly,” she explained, shrugging casually. My mind began to reel as I don’t understand how someone could be so ignorant and just disregard such cruel act. But, somehow in the deepest part of my mind, I was relief that we were not in trouble – which disturbed me deeply. “Right, let’s go,” Ivy said, walking away as she stepped over the body. I nodded in silence and followed her with Rose in tow.

---

After an hour of silence, I noticed that we were heading towards the gateway of the town. I quickly lowered my head, hiding my face under the shadow of my hood. I felt Ivy’s claw on my chest, stopping me. “How’s your mother look like?” she whispered, eying the guards in front of us.

“A zebra, blue eyes and star glyph mark on her flank,” I answered, whispering as my eyes darted towards the hovering armored guards.

“Right, you guys stay here. I’m going to have a little chat with Gratul,” she replied, slowly gliding towards the gateway. “Hey, Gratul! Bring your ass down here,” she called out, chuckling.

“So,” I heard Rose spoke up behind me. I looked at her with a questioning eyebrow. “You’re searching for your mother?” she asked, her voice soft as cotton as her face hid behind her flowing golden mane.

“Yes,” I answered, nodding. “I remembered that she was taken from me when I was a colt. Now, I will find her no matter what and I will bring her to her rightful home,” I added with determination in my eyes.

“I wish I could search for my mother,” she sighed, her eyes brimmed with tears and a frown tugged on her face. My ears drooped, guilt filled my heart as I grimaced. “But,” she spoke up with a warm smile beaming on her face. “I have good friends that I always can count on,” she continued, grabbing me into a hug. I was stunned, my eyes widened in shock as my body went tense. I don’t know what to do. This was the first time somepony hugged me since I was still a colt. I hesitantly pat her in the back as a smile cracked on my face.

“Having fun are we?” I heard Ivy’s voice teased from behind me. I quickly escaped the embrace, lowering my head to hide my blush. In the corner of my eyes, I saw Rose smiled, her cheeks flushed red. “Well,” Ivy started, coughing into her claw. “I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?” she continued, exchanging glances to the both of us.

“I wish to hear to good news,” I answered. I swallowed nervously, my heart hammering in my chest in anticipation and anxiety.

“Right,” the griffon started. “The good news is that Gratul know a report where a zebra mare that the descriptions match with your mother was sent towards the Griffon Kingdom years ago. The bad news is the emblem that we got from that mare had no origins. That’s very bad actually since Gratul knows pretty much every underground organization in existence. Whatever this organization we mess with is way more underground that expected,” she concluded as she tapped her beak in thought.

“Very well,” I started, walking away. “I shall go towards my next destination.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Stripey,” Ivy began, stopping me with a claw as she swooped in front of me. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked, glaring at me.

I looked into her eyes. “I’m going towards Griffon Kingdom. I must press forward,” I answered, pushing her claw away.

“How are you going to go there? You’re going to swim? It’s two weeks travel even by flying,” she said, looking at me in the eye with a frown on her face.

“I will find a ship that is heading towards my destination then,” I replied, strapping my saddlebags tighter.

“You’re not going alone, are you?” Rose asked with worry plastered across her face and a frown tugged onto her face.

“Look,” I started, exchanging glances with the both of them. “Whatever agency or organization that is chasing me is a dangerous one. For that, you two must not follow me,” I continued, looking at them with my brows furrowed.

“So, we should leave you alone with some maniacal organization that will fuck your day?” Ivy asked with a sarcastic tone as she crossed her arms, looking at me with a questioning eyebrow. I only groaned in return, walking away.

“No!” Rose spoke up behind me as I heard a stomp. I turned to look, my eyes widened. Her eyes were brimming with tears that were accompanied with determination. “You are my friend and I will not leave you travel alone into the dangerous world. I will follow you, whether you like it or not,” she croaked, stomping her hoof once more as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Also,” Ivy started with a grin on her face. “If you die out there, I would not have the chance to kill you,” she concluded, cracking her knuckles.

“So, you two will follow me no matter what will happen out there?” I asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“Of course,” Rose sniffed as she gave a nod, smiling.

“Fuck yeah,” Ivy added with a grin on her beak, cracking her neck.

“Well then,” I started as a smile etched on my face. I actually felt a bit better knowing I am not alone in this journey. I am glad I had such loyal companions that will follow me in my mission. “Let’s go,” I chuckled, walking away. I heard Ivy’s wings flapped and Rose’s hooves trotted on street behind me as I walked away. I felt something in my heart... something warm started to radiate within me. My eyes looked upwards towards the sky above, smiling. Here I come, mother, I prayed silently into the wind, taking another step closer towards my mother.

Author's Note:

Helpful feedback is always welcome.