Ponies of Deltora: Monsters and Magic

Day one, Time, 9:20 AM

It felt like eons passes as the young dragon walked through the tunnel into the white city. Every step he could feel immense magic pulling and prodding at him. Instinctively he swapped at these nuisances, but touched nothing. Fear began to grip at the young dragon; not only of this place, but once again of his friends. Did this magic exist wherever they were? Was it tormenting them as well?

Spike’s thoughts were interrupted when he felt a cold tingle wash over him like a wave. For a moment, time stood still, and Spike seemed to forget where he was and what he was doing. Quickly he regained himself, shivering from the experience and thoughts of turning back entering his mind. Before these ideas could even bloom, he spotted light at the end of the tunnel. The pull of magic returned, this time more eager and annoying than before. “Fine, I’ll go on just stop pulling me.” He said to no one. He made his way to the end of the tunnel, and the explosion of light was so great he had to shield his eyes.

He had exited the tunnel only to end up in a pure white plaza, surrounded by perfect white buildings. Upon closer examination, Spike realized that, like the outside, these were all made of marble perfectly cut and sculpted. “This is impossible. How can you make these marvels without damage?” Spike’s scales then began to tingle with magic once again. Instinctively he began heading further into the white city, towards its heart. When he finally reached in his pupils shrank to tiny black dots.

Directly in its center was huge slab of marble flickering with a cold green flame. The magic emanating from this stone was greater than anything the young dragon had ever experienced. Cautiously he approached it, his scales feeling like they were going to leap off his skin from all this magic. In all of Twilight's books there had been no mention of an artifacts that caused the same affects as this one. Finally he reached the stones base and gazed at it. The green flames danced on the surface of the stone like a painting, and seemed to direct the dragon to text carved into its base. Spike leaned closer to read it.

We, the people of Tora, swear loyalty to Adin, King of Deltora and all of his blood who follow him. If ever this vow is broken, may this rock, our city’s heart, break also and may we be swept away, forever to regret our dishonour.

“Breathtaking isn’t it.” A kind voice spoke in the young dragons ear.

Spike nearly leapt from his scales in fright. Quickly he spun around and was met with thousands of black hared bipedal creatures dressed in elegant robes. Each of them wore kind and friendly smiles on their faces. One of them stepped forward towards the young dragon. Spike guessed that this creature was female and in her golden years.

“Welcome to Tora stranger.” she said in the same voice from before. “I am Zentha, leader of the Torans. We are most honored to be visited by a foreigner.”

“Umm, thanks.” he said, slowly taking in everything. “My name’s Spike.”

Zentha gave a small bow. “Hello then Spike. Pardon my curiosity, but are you a dragon?”

“I sure am.” Spike said, proudly pointing to himself.

The crowd began murmuring excitingly amongst itself. “I’m sure you must be weary from your travels, pleas follow me.” Zentha said, gesturing to the young dragon. Spike followed her through the town as the citizens dispersed and went along with their daily lives. “I’m sure you must have many questions about where you are.” The old Toran asked as they headed towards what Spike assumed was the city hall.

“Well, yeah I do. Like what’s up with all the magic here?”

“We Torans are the most skilled mages in all of Deltora, young dragon. Why Tora herself was carved from a single slab of marble using magic.”

Spikes eyes widened with shock. “Wow, Twilight would love to learn something like that!”

The old woman smiled. “That is not even the fullest extent of our power. We can also unite our wills together to banish wicked creatures form our land, or speed friends along great distances.”

Spike stopped suddenly. “Wait, so were you the ones pulling me here?”

“Indeed,” Zentha said. “We sensed your presence but didn’t know what to make of it. We decided it would be best to bring you here so we could judge you personally.”

Finally they reached the city hall and entered through its perfect white doors. Inside was a large circular room with seven elegant seats encircling it. Six of these seats were occupied by Torans around Zentha’s age. Each of them rose upon their entrance. “Is this the newcomer Zentha?” One of the men asked.

“Yes. His name is Spike and he says he is a dragon.”

The elders seemed shocked by this, but remained standing. Zentha beckoned Spike to the center of the room while she took her seat among her fellow elders. Spike was begging to worry about the situation. What were these mages going to do to him? He felt like panicking, but strangely he didn’t. Once they were all seated, the first elder spoke again. “Now then ‘Spike’ is it?” he nodded. “Spike, you came to our land from the sky itself. How is that?”

Spike swallowed hard. “I-I don’t know. I just remember something cold, and the voices of my friend. Then I woke up by the lake outside your city, and you beckoned me inside.”

“You say you were with your friends. Are they dragons as well?” Another member asked.

”No, they’re ponies. Did they come here to?”

The elder’s all looked at each other and seemed to be debating the young dragon’s story. Now Spike really wanted to panic, but still he felt no such emotion. Finally the elders looked back down at him. “No we have not sensed any other foreign presence in our land besides you. If your friends are on Deltora, they are in another territory.” Zentha then stood up, with the other elders following suite.

“We thank you for your time young dragon. It seems you have quite the journey ahead of you, so we shall allow you permission to remain in Tora for one day.”

“Wow, thanks.” Spike said. He suddenly began wondering what he’d do for an entire day. “So what is there to do here?”

“For visitors sadly, there is very little. You are more than welcome to go through our library though, so long as you don’t damage anything.”

“Ok thanks.” he replied. While the young dragon didn’t like the idea of reading for a whole day, it was at least a way for him to occupy himself. It would also allow him to learn more about this new land and whatever else may inhabit it. Maybe he could even find something hinting to the location of Twilight and the others.

Smiling, Zentha led the way from the city hall towards the library. It was much like the one in The Royal Palace, with rows upon rows of scrolls, parchment and books. Two Torans were busy sorting through a large pile of documents in the far corner. They immediately lifted their heads when the two entered. “Zentha, what can we do for you today?”

“Our young guest wishes to browse through our knowledge. Pleas assist him with any questions he may have.” She then turned towards the young dragon. “I must return to the elders now; best of luck in your search.” She then turned and headed back to the elders chamber.

“Excuse me, but is that yours?” One of the librarians asked pointing next to the dragon. Spike followed his finger and to his amazement discovered a deep violate Bindle with a lavender egg stitched to it. Opening the sack, Spike found a flask of water, some freshly cut Quarts, an empty bottle and a sealed envelope. Opening it, Spike found a letter and a torn up map fragment.

Spike

You will begin the game outside of Tora, no matter where you were intended to. Far to the south of Amethyst territory are many rolling sand dunes, commonly called the Dreaming Dunes. Fill the bottle with some of their sand to receive more help.

Best of Luck