Ponies of Deltora: Monsters and Magic

Day two, Time 7:17 PM

The dance halls of Broom were deafeningly loud with the pounding of feet and cheers of celebration. Every corner of the city shook from the force of their festivities. It truly was a night to remember, and why shouldn’t it be? There was much reason for celebration today.

Earlier that very day the brave crew of The Serpents Spine had sailed out from the harbour with a crew fifty strong. When the ship had returned its crew was reduced to a mere five injured and the entire bow was horribly disfigured. And tied firmly to it was the great, bleeding body of a massive Sea Serpent.

When the survivors made port they were greeted with heroic welcomes. This was a feet few members of the city had ever done, and fewer were still alive to speak of it. Even the Ruby Dragons who witnessed the battle gave silent credit to the sailors before soaring off to find their own sustenance in the deep blue.

Once they had landed the financer of the expedition began to divide the serpent up. She stoke claim to at least a sixth of its scales and bones and gave the rest to their willing captain. He split the spoils up between his surviving crew and the families of the deceased. The only ones left out of the deal were the injured fisherman’s daughter and a strange talking pink pony. Neither of them minded however; the two fangs each of them held were enough of a winning to see them through.

Once her wounds had been properly bandaged Lynette had the fang made into a wonderful pendant. She offered the same for Pinkie, but was turned down. The pink pony had other reasons for wanting her fang. A big smile spread across her face as she thought of them. Soon she would be able to see her friends.

Once all the claims had been made and repairs were begun on the damage ship the celebrations began if force. The first thing they did was serve up the serpent’s flaky meat. Despite the rest of them being foul, there flesh was a real delicacy.

Once the sun had set the people moved the victory celebration inside. While the rest of the town was busy partying and having fun, Pinkie, Lynette and the women in green sat in the corner. Each of them had a drink at hand (hoof) and were busy swapping some more stories with each-other. As before Pinkie’s were a real ear catcher.

“So you and your friends broke into your capitals archives to prevent a disaster that was never going to happen?” The women in green clarified.

“Yep, we got to be all sneaky and spy like!”

The women took a sip from her drink. “Well it sounded quite the riveting tale.”

“Oh it was!” Pinkie smiled happily. “So how about you-“Pinkie suddenly planted her face into her hoof. “-I just realized, I never learned your name, and I know the names of all my friends. Like Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Cheerilee, Zecora...”

“She has a point; we never did catch your name stranger.” Lynette said as Pinkie continued her listing off thousands of odd sounding names.

“That’s because I never threw it. See in my profession its best not to give ones identity to anyone.”

“Maybe so, but surely you can afford to tell us?”

The women lowered her glass and seemed to ponder for a moment before she spoke softly. “Gainell Masters.”

Suddenly her hand was being crushed between two hooves and being shaken vigorously. “Hello Gainell!” Pinkie cried happily. This got a bit of a laugh from Lynette. Suddenly she noticed something on the table and gestured to the others to look. It was a small piece of parchment with a wax seal in the shape of a chariot. Something was riding in it, but the object was too small to make out. Along both sides of the seal were words spelt out in bright red letters.

PINKIE PIE

Pinkie’s face lit up suddenly and she vigorously tore into the note. “Dear Pinkie, congratulations on completing your challenge. As promised you are to be given some help. Head to the west to End Wood; the last and smallest section of the Forest of Silence.”

“So it seems you have your next destination ready.” Lynette said sadly. She had grown quite fond of the pink mare in there short time together. And from the look on the pink mare’s face she was going through the same turmoil.

Gainell placed a hand on both of their shoulders and gave a small smile. “Let us not think of these thoughts now, but instead celebrate. This is a party after all.”

Both of them perked up a little and flashed each-other ghost smiles. They then spent the rest of the night laughing, smiling and celebrating the fun they had had in their short time.

*****

Time, 6:50 PM

The sun was just beginning to graze the horizon as the Kin began their decent back to the earth. Each of them circled the forest below them, searching for their yearly breaking spot. The fittingly named Kinrest.

Fluttershy was just grateful to finally be returning to the earth. So when the Kin announced that they had found the spot she was among the first to land among the sheltering trees.

It was a beautiful and tranquil spot indeed. A bubbling stream flowed through the area and the large trees were adorned with toadstools and wild plants. A large cave sat at the edge of the trees. There was the faint sound of a waterfall in the distance.

Fluttershy tore herself from the beautiful scenery to assts tamer to the ground. The man seemed just as excited as the pegasus by his surroundings.

“What an amazing place. You never see anything like this cramped up in the palace.”

“Oh you should see some of the places where I’m from.” Fluttershy said. “There are some truly breathtaking areas.”

“What is your land like, if you don’t mind my curiosity.” The scholar asked.

Fluttershy wasn’t the best at explaining history to ponies, but she decided to try. “Well it’s allot like this land, but Ponies, Minotaurs and Donkeys inhabit it instead of you humans. We are ruled by our two princesses Celesta and Luna who are Alicorns, ponies with both wings and horns. See ponies normally only have either wings, horns or nothing at all...”

Tamer listened inventively to the yellow mare and took a roll of paper and pencil from his bag. Quickly he began to jot down all she was saying. Such fascinating things came from the pegasus’s mouth. Detailed descriptions of the three pony tribes, the different surrounding regions, and even some of the wildlife. By the time the pegasus was finished the sun was nothing but a sliver coming from the land. Fluttershy noticed this with alien curiosity.

“Odd, seeing the sun move on its own?” Tamer asked. She responded with a small nod. “Well I don’t know what I can do to assist with that.”

“It’s alright, and thanks for caring.” She moved a bit closer to the scholar. “So umm, what is it like living at your palace?”

Tamer let out an amused huff. “It is like most other high class establishments. Everyone is so concerned with themselves and their reputations that they barely speak to each-other. Thankfully I am employed in the library or I would not stand it there. And things have gotten so much worse since the king got sick.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yes it is a tragedy. Especially now that chief adviser Drumm is in charge.” Fluttershy could feel the distain in his voice when he spoke that name. “You will never find a viler man in the entire kingdom. How he got to his position is well beyond me.”

“You don’t like him I take it?”

“My dear you would have a hard time finding anyone in the palace who openly likes Drumm. Why just before I left for Hira I heard him arguing with Palace Librarian Romis about shutting down one of the libraries wings. Can you believe his nerve!?” He paused to vent his frustration. “I am sorry me dear.”

“It’s alright, I understand your frustration.” She said calmly before letting out a tiny yawn. Tamer smiled at the yellow mare and the two of them made their way to the cave with the Kin.