> The Land Of The Greedy: Equestria > by RoseHawk313 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prolouge > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I flew into the boss of PonyTravel agency's office. He looked at me sternly and motioned for me to sit down. Wanting to make a good impression, I sat down immediatly, my saddle bag hitting the chair, hard. Mr. Point winced, and put his hooves together. "Hmmhmm." He cleared his throat. "Now, miss Hawk, is it true that you are wishing to write an article for our agency?" He asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice. I nodded politely. "An answer would be nice." He mumbled, but I still heard him. What the hay was his problem? He was treating me like a filly! "Sorry, Mr. Point." Keep your cool Rose! I thought to myself. "Yes, I am wishing to write an article for your agency." I said, trying not to let my own annoyance show. Mr. Point nodded and got up. He walked over to his long wall of photos, straightening each one. I tapped my hoof on the floor in annoyance. After walking across the whole room, he finally turned around and faced me. "I will allow you to temporarily work for our agency. Your first assignment is to write an article about the fine land of Equestria, you will visit each of these cities and write about the food, entertainment, style, shops, and note some wonderful monuments or other things that should definetly be seen in each town. Understand?" He looked at me harshly. I got out my notepad and scribbled down all the thing that he had said. I looked him in the eyes and said yes. He gave me a sheet of the towns I needed to visit. I excused myself from the room. As soon as I got into the hallway I jumped up and punched the air! "YES!" I smiled widely. As I skipped out of the building I wondered what it would be like in Equestria. None of my friends had ever been there, so it was a mystery to me. Filled to the brim with happiness, I raced the wind, my wings outstreched. I imagined that I was snapping beautiful arial photos of Equestria. I couldn't believe that my dream was coming true! > The Boat To A New Land > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I looked out over the rim of the boat, my hooves clinging to the slippery railing. I was standing on the deck of a small transport ship, my bag thumping against my side as the ship rose and fell across the waves. The air was salty and humid. My mane was a complete mess, frizzy and soaked, but I didn't really care, I was too exited! "Wahoo!" I yelled out to the sky. "Rose Hawk's going to Equestria!" I settled down a bit and trotted across the wooden deck towards the small cabins near the middle of the boat. I jumped onto my bed and lay there, my back on the mattress, and my face towards the rotting ceiling. Before catching the ferry to Equestria, I had done some research on the place. There were a lot of great cities, Manehatten was said to be quite modern and wealthy, whereas a little town called Ponyville was quiet and peaceful. Canterlot, the website said, was the crown jewel of them all, literaly! It was the city that had the great palace! Apparently, there were two princesses that ruled the land... I squirmed with exitement! Tired of sitting still, I opened my saddlebag and took out my computer. Wanting to know a bit more, I went back to the website. It was a nice website, very explanitory, but for some reason all of it's posts were put on it some 50 years ago. Bored with that, I shut my laptop and put it back in my bag, when it fell on the floor. I reached down and picked it up. Some of the things in it had spilled out. I picked them up and put them back in the saddlebag, when I saw a photo. I picked it up and layed it on my hoof, examining it. It was old, and worn away at someparts, but I could clearly see myself as a young foal, my green color, red mane with blue and light-blue highlights, my bright yellow eyes, and my happy-go-lucky expression. My wings were perked straight up in exitement when the photo was taken. I saw a light-blue hoof around my neck, apparently pulling me in for a hug, or as a friendly gesture. The rest of the pony was worn away by time. I sighed and carefully and put the picture back in my saddlebag. I was about to take a nap when I heard a loud intercom blaring from the corner of the room. "We will be arriving in Equestria soon, our dock will be a small fishing town in Mane." The captain of the boat said into the intercom with a deep sailor's accent. I meediatly flew all around the room at top speed, and had finished packing up my stuff in ten seconds flat! I grabbed my saddle bag in one hoof, and my trusty hat in the other, and sped up the stairs out into the sky! "EQUESTRIA, HERE I COME!" I yelled to the horizon! Tired of the boat, I sped off towards the small town, my wings were faster than the wind! > Grey Skies And Wishing That I Was Home > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I stepped off of the boat and waved my hat at the captain. I watched the ship sail back over the waves. "ALLL RIGHT!" I jumped in the air, taking in my surroundings. The dock we had landed on was short, and old, and it was attached to a large wooden platform that had 5 buildings on it, a large inn, a general store, and 3 houses. I walked up to the general store, the rotting wood creaking beneath my feet. About 7 planks in front of the store, my hinds legs broke the wood and fell through. "AAAAH!" I grabbed onto the plank in front of my and looked down. About 26 feet down was some very murky water moving rapidly in a circle. Who's great idea was it to build a town, ON TOP OF A WHIRLPOOL! I screamed out in my head. Suddenly, the plank I was holding onto broke in half and I fell down towards the whirlpool, when I felt a hoof around my waist, pulling me up back onto the wooden platform. I closed my eyes, scared out of my wits. "Um, miss, are you okay?" I heard a soft yet masculine voice say. I slowly squinted open my eyes and saw the face of a grey colt right in front of mine. "Ah!" I jumped back and hit my head on a wall of one of the houses. "Ow!" I clutched my head with my hooves. "Sorry! Um, are you okay?" The grey colt leaned in close to me, his bright green eyes locked onto mine. "Um, er..." I blushed, then turned away trying ot hide it. Great Celestia was he handsome... I shook my head rapidly. What was i thinking? A traveling writer can't get married, let alone hav foals! "Hmm." I cleared my throaght. "Yes, I'm fine." The grey colt stepped back and helped me get up. I grabbed his hoof and got onto all fours. "My name is Cloudy Daze, I'm pegasus, I live here." He help out his hoof, and I shook it awkwardly. "My name is Rose Hawk, I'm a traveling writer, I'm writing an article about Equestria." Suddenly, Cloudy Daze's face turned cold and serious. "About Equestria? Don't you know what happened?" I shook my head. "Er, well, you should leave. Now." I was taken aback. "What! Um, why?" He shook his head. "Just, leave. It's too dangerous." I was angry, to say the least. At first he helps me, now, he wants me to leave. "I'm not leaving! You can't tell me what to do!" I began to walk out, when I felt his hoof on my back. It sent shivers up my spine. I heard his voice, soft and kind. "Please, at least let me come with you. I can help you stay safe." I rolled my eyes at his serousness. "Ugh! Fine, you can come with me, you live here, so I suppose you know more about this place than that website I was looking at." He nodded and walked out of the old wood-plank house. He lead me to the inn. "This is the inn, basically, a bunch of houses put together." He pointed to the small general store. "Basic store, supplies, provisions, yada yada yada." I nodded. "Well, as the leader of this mission, I think that we should camp out yonder there." I gestured to the inn. "Yes capatin, sounds wonderful indeed, shall I go hunting for dinner, then, while you set up camp?" I saw a childish glimmer in his eyes. I put on a mock serious face. "Now, what makes you think that a lady can't do the dirty work?" I flexed my imaginary muscles, and, not able to keep it in, bust out laughing. Stormy Gaze wiped his eyes, and, it was only when he was walking off towards the general store did I notice that he was a pegasus. > The New Journey > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After spending the night at the inn, Storm and I decided to head out. The sun was just peaking it's head over the grey horizon. After leaving the small fishing town, we found ourselves walking through a dense forest. "Is it just me, or do you feel like we're being watched…" I said to Stormy Daze. He gulped. "That's why I have to come with you, I have permission." He said mysteriously, his face completely serious. "What do you mean, (Permission)?" I asked, a hint of annoyance in my voice. What was he keeping from me? Stormy Daze said nothing. He simply began to walk forward. reluctantly, I followed him. We had been walking for a while, the dark forest was giving me the creeps. Every second, I would turn around, expecting to see somepony following us. The dark trees were bare of any leaves, and deep dark bushes full of tangled twigs and silver spiderwebs covered the ground. I constantly heard growls from far away, and sometimes I would see blood red eyes staring at me from the gaps between the trees. In the distance, I saw a small, pure-black cloud hovering over a black stone bridge. I poked Stormy Daze. "Uh, Storm, there's a , well, cloud, and a gate, over there-" Stormy Daze suddenly threw his hoof over my mouth, and got out a rope. I screamed into his hoof, but he gagged me with a cloth and tied my hooves together behind my back. He pulled out a small knife and put it right at my back. "Make a single noise, and I'll run you through." Tears clouded my eyes. I closed them and began to walk forward as he ordered. I felt the knife get closer and closer to my back as we got closer and closer to the gate. One of the guards called out to Stormy Daze. "I've got the prisoner." Storm replied.