Twilight quietly sighed as she sat beside a fire, Chieftess Cassidy and her husband were also there. The fire was located in the middle of a cloth tent with an exhaust hole cut at the top, and the sound of rain against the oil treated fabric was one that Twilight had never heard before, a soft thudding noise that muffled the usual sharp sound of rain. The woman watched as Cassidy looked over several ancient looking books and scrolls, they were all that the Chieftess could come up with in regards to getting Twilight home. The smaller woman had already read through several dozen papers and scrolls regarding teleportation spells like those Twilight had used.

Nothing had happened, there had been no help to be had so far, but that didn’t mean Twilight was going to give up. The woman continued to take papers and scrolls from Cassidy and her husband, though both of the tribal leaders had been nearly completely quiet since they had started looking through the papers. Twilight assumed it was out of respect for her focus, though the two of them had each had small hits of Coyote. Twilight’s clothes had gotten soaked by the rain, still she refused to take them off, as that would likely make some of the tribal men think she was looking for a mate of some kind.

In between her reading she would run through the Griffish dialect she knew in her head, adjusting her understanding to better communicate with her hosts. Cassidy seemed to be the talkative one, while her husband only seemed to speak when he was on the battlefield. It had made detecting how much common he knew difficult, especially since it seemed only the enemy of his tribe spoke it fluently. From what she had heard, they had been fighting the ‘Equestrian Usurpers’ for a millenia. Their worlds had merged when they had bombed on another with Thermo-Arcane weapons, which accounted for the Arcane radiation. These human’s had lost much of their history and past in the last thousand years, all that they knew was the war with the Equestrians… It had kept Twilight from revealing her true identity to Chieftess Cassidy and her spouse.

As Twilight continued to look around the tent, she found herself noticing sketches on the walls. Red figures of people in various activities, they reminded the woman of ancient cave art, but they were far more fresh and far more clear. They seemed to tell a story, the story of the Onorussian tribe from the looks of it. Cassidy noticed Twilight’s interest in the images and set down the scrolls she held, her eyes drifting to where Twilight was looking.

“Are you interested in the story?” The tall woman asked in Griffish, Twilight was glad she’d managed to understand it first without having to translate it in her head. She nodded to her host, prompting Cassidy to hum. “Many years ago, our world was lush and green… Ruled by a massive empire… Onorus, our home. All was peaceful, until one day… The off worlders attacked, in an effort to take our land.” Cassidy gestured to the corresponding images on the inside of the tent. “Great fire spread over the land… As you have been told. Turning it from green to grey. Many died.”

“The years that followed were bloody as well… My husband lost his parents to the off worlders, his parents were the former chiefs of our tribe.” Cassidy said quietly, she looked over at Altair with a sympathetic expression. “He vowed not to speak to anyone but the enemy until he had avenged their death… And so I have not heard his voice in nearly five hundred years…” She rubbed his shoulders, the man smiled, but he said nothing. “Now that the war has ended, we must find the last of the off worlders wherever they hide and wipe them out... Only then will we be rid of them. Only then will my husband’s voice speak for me again.”

“But… I’m an offworlder.” Twilight said nervously.

“You have not earned our ire.” Cassidy replied simply as she used a stick to adjust the wood burning in the fire. “You are not of the usurpers world.” Twilight let out a slight sigh at that, it seemed that these tribals at least had some semblance of common sense. “Speaking of… Have you made progress in seeking your return?” Twilight paused, then looked at the papers that she had already gone through. The ancient texts had yielded nothing, not even a mention of the spell she had used to enter this realm. With a sigh the woman shook her head. “I am afraid there is no more we can do to help then… These texts are all our tribe has in regards to words of the before era.”

“Could there be more out there?” Twilight asked, Cassidy shrugged.

“It took us many years to gather this many remnants… If there is more, it is likely to be very scarce…” Cassidy replied while gathering up the papers and scrolls before setting them aside. Twilight looked like a whipped dog at that point, all hope of going home seemed lost, or at the very least slim. “Do not give up hope, outsider… Perhaps your ancestors may help you.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, Cassidy lifted an old looking wooden pipe from the floor. It was stuffed with Coyote, the powerful drug was highly illegal in Equestria… “Smoke from this pipe, and your mind will open…” Twilight was about to decline, but… She had no other ideas at the moment, perhaps Cassidy was right, and the Coyote did seem to have relaxed her husband. The woman reached out and took the pipe, it smoldered as she brought it to her lips and took a very deep breath.

Almost instantly Twilight leaned back, feeling like gravity had lost its hold on her as she plummeted through what felt like an endless void. Dots of rainbow colors ran through her thoughts, dancing along like ballerinas to some sort of unhearable melody. Twilight felt good as she hurtled through the void, her arms outstretched over her head. Things seemed to be going well until suddenly a large snake appeared out of nowhere and coiled itself around her leg. Twilight tried to push it off, but the snake continued to slither up. It was gold and green, with a bright green fin… The emblem of Discord, the same that she had seen on Cassidy’s husband’s arm. Was the universe telling her that the man was the key to her escape, or that Discord was…

Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the snake vanished into a cloud of nothingness and the void began to fade back into reality. Twilight sat up, panting and sweating with her glasses askew, Cassidy was watching her with an almost… proud expression? Cassidy’s husband had left, and the fire had turned to embers… How long had Twilight been out? It felt like only a couple minutes, but seemed it had been much longer.

“Discord…” She blurted out. “I need to find Discord!” Cassidy hummed quietly before she shook her head and looked at the embers of the fire.

“He is an old one, he does not associate with us any longer.” The woman said softly, she looked back at Twilight. “The only one who may help you is Altair, but as you know… He is sworn to silence off the field of battle.”

“Can’t you force him or something?” Twilight asked desperately, Cassidy hummed again and looked back to the embers, nudging them around with the end of a stick.

“I could ask and he would likely say yes, but he has spent five hundred years keeping his word…” Cassidy looked once again at Twilight. “I will not ask him to throw that much effort away, even if it is to help someone.” Twilight was about to protest, but the look on Cassidy’s face told her that the matter wasn’t up for discussion, unless Twilight wanted to challenge a seven foot tall amazonian warrior. “You are welcome among us, offworlder, do not feel like you have no allies here… But you must know that we cannot drop our beliefs on a whim.”

“I… I understand…” Twilight said as she looked towards the embers of the fire. “Why are you so willing to help me, you don’t even know my name.” Cassidy smiled and gestured upwards to the roof, there were five images of large beings, Cassidy was pointing to a very feminine one which seemed to be holding an olive branch while a baby nursed at its chest.

“Goddess Maria teaches us that acceptance is important, especially in times of strife… So far, you have been peaceful towards our tribe, so we are bound to aid you to a point.” Cassidy said with a smile, Twilight felt her breath hitch in her throat as she looked at the five portraits above her. These were the tribal’s gods, she was finally being granted a chance to see what they believed in. “You wish to know more of the Occisors, offworlder?” Twilight could only nod. “Next to Maria is her Husband, leader of the gods, Dominic.” Twilight recognized the pose of the warrior beside Maria from the statue, his arms outstretched with what looked like a single eye at the center of his head. “He is the most powerful… The Colossus. The bringer of war and granter of honor, those of us that die in battle go to join his army of spirits.”

Cassidy went on to explain the other gods, there was Discord, who was pretty self explanatory. Then came Luna, goddess of the night and stars, another wife of Dominic. The fifth and final god was known as ‘Putin’. The god of trickery, deceit, and deception, he was depicted by a simple pyramid with an eye at the center that was opened wide, as if it could see all. Cassidy explained that there were many more gods, but that these were the five that she and Altair had asked to watch over them, it turned out that Altair’s parents had ‘ascended’ to godhood when they were killed five hundred years prior… Twilight didn’t much believe it, then again, who was she to tell someone what to believe, especially if one of the things it taught was NOT to kill people for being different.

“If you wish to know more, share another pipe with me… Though, perhaps don’t inhale so deeply, offworlder. You were out for nearly two hours, though you seemed to enjoy it.” Cassidy said with a slight giggle, Twilight rubbed her head and looked at the Chieftess quietly.

“I… I suppose, a little more wouldn’t hurt…” She said as she scooted a little closer, for some reason she felt drawn closer to the amazonian woman. Something about Cassidy reminded her of Celestia, perhaps her calm teaching voice, or maybe her openness to new ideas… Twilight paused and blushed faintly, there must’ve been something in that pipe that had made her a little warmer than usual. Then again, her rational mind was telling her that maybe she could let loose here, after all, here she didn’t have the reputation of princess to uphold… Despite all the violence and death, she was learning new things, and no one was grovelling around her… Sure, she wasn’t any closer to getting home, but there was no reason she couldn’t let her hair down while she waited for new leads. She could do whatever she wanted, give in to every whim without fear of bringing scandal to the royal office. “Or perhaps… We skip the pipe?”

“Mmm… I see you are a Consar.” Cassidy said with a smirk, Twilight raised an eyebrow. “All are affected by the pipe in different ways, some become brave, some become meek… Some prudish, and some, like you… Become adventurous.” The amazonian scooched a little closer to Twilight. “I am a Consar as well.” Twilight felt her heart skip a beat as the Chieftess put a gentle hand on Twilight’s cheek. “Don’t worry, my husband understands this about me…” Twilight looked at the pipe, was she having these thoughts because she was still under the effects of the Coyote? In all honesty, she didn’t care… She felt lonely and scared deep down, and here was someone who wanted to be with her.

“I-I’ve never done anything like-” Before Twilight could finish Cassidy had leaned closer and planted a kiss on her lips. Twilight felt the amazonian put a hand behind her head, holding her in place as the two kissed gently by the light of the embers. Just as Twilight was about to put her arms around Cassidy there was a commotion outside, the two of them broke the kiss, Cassidy smirking widely while Twilight awkwardly smiled back. The Chieftess stood up and moved to the tent entrance, she peeked outside to see what was happening. To Twilight’s surprise, the tall woman stepped out of the tent with a look of resolve on her face. Twilight followed her, the light from outside nearly blinded her. She blinked several times before she was able to see what was happening, there was a crowd of tribals around a wooden cage being pulled in by several soldiers, inside the cage was an bipedal Equestrian like those the Onorussians had been fighting… The only thing was that his uniform looked clean, and he wasn’t covered in dirt.

Rocks clattered against the side of the cage as it was pulled along, but those rocks stopped flying when the Chieftess approached the cage. Her husband stood beside it, appearing rather angry, as did the other tribal soldiers. Twilight stood back and watched as the soldiers gave their report to Cassidy, at which point Twilight saw the woman’s expression become one of anger while she looked at the captured Equestrian. Twilight felt a chill run through her body as the Chieftess grabbed a sword from one of the soldiers and held it high above her head, shouting something that Twilight couldn’t quite understand.

“Occisor Vult!” She bellowed, though Twilight had no idea what it meant. The soldiers among the crowd began to shout and cheer, the Equestrian in the cage looked absolutely petrified as some began to rock the cage on the cart it was resting on. Twilight pushed her way through the crowd to get closer to the cage, she could tell just from looking at the stallion that he was young, no more than eighteen. It was likely the tribals would call for him to be executed, and as much as Twilight was willing to do to remain in their good graces, standing idly by while a young man was needlessly executed was not something she would do.

“Stop!” Twilight shouted loudly as she got to the cage, doing her best to push the more bloodthirsty tribals away. “Chieftess, please!” Cassidy raised an eyebrow at being addressed by her title, she looked over and saw just what it was Twilight was trying to do. The chieftess wasn’t a fan of executions either, but the truth was that keeping prisoners would put a strain on their resources… “Please, chieftess! Spare his life!”

“I will spare him, but only so long as you can provide for him.” Cassidy said sternly, her voice silencing the crowd. “We have little resources as it is, I cannot afford to give anymore to our enemy… He will be in your charge. Do you accept these terms?!” Twilight nodded, prompting Cassidy to gesture to her guards to push the crowd back. Twilight saw that the Equestrian couldn’t understand what was happening, so she moved towards the cage as the other soldiers rushed off towards the more industrial portion of the village. All of them chanted loudly, and Twilight could see they were preparing for battle by pulling on their armor and grabbing swords. They began to look like a death squad of samurai as time went on, but Twilight was more concerned with the responsibility she had just taken on.

[♠]

The sun was setting near the small village of Ponista, Equestria was surviving despite losses in Canterlot against the last remnants of the Onorussian tribes to the north. The mountain may have belonged to the tribals, but the meadows surrounding it, which now flourished with crops, would belong to the village of Ponista. For those that had settled it under the banner of Equestria, it was their greatest hope for a decent future. Of course, that meant that they needed to protect themselves, and that started simply enough with them sending out scouts. So far all of them had returned, except for the one that the Ponista City Council had sent to the North. They were mostly simple farmers, with a small contingent of guards to protect them. That meant that if the Onorussians decided to attack, there would be little for them to do to defend themselves.

One young colt didn’t see things this way as he ran around near a hill on the edge of town, dressed in rugged farm clothes and carrying a toy soldier, he was pretending to march like the guards that paraded through town the first day that all the buildings had been completed and the crops had been planted. The colt ran up to the top of the hill to get a better look at his new home, much better than the little shack they had been living in to the south west. He stood there for several minutes before he heard a noise behind him, a sort of snorting noise. Slowly the colt turned around and found himself looking at a horde of Onorussians on horseback, all of them wielding swords and wearing terrifying armor. At the head of the horde was a single man with a mask that covered half his face and was decorated with fangs.

The Colt began sprinting back home as soon as he saw them, the sound of drums echoed over the land as he continued to run, the Onorussians all coming to a stop atop the hill and looking down at the small settlement. The sun was setting on the horizon while the guards in the village began to mobilize at the sound of the drums, the Colt ran past them towards his house where he mother was waiting. His father meanwhile was joining the town guards as they rushed to take positions to defend themselves from the Onorussians. More time passed, and gradually the town began to become surrounded by men on horseback in the thick armor of the Onorussian Samurai.

Silence settled over the village as panicked settlers peeked out their windows at the Onorussians. It was a sudden yell of the man with the fang mask that kicked off the battle, he thrust his sword forward and seconds later the light of the sun began to grow dim. The guards looked up as they heard a soft whistling noise, hundreds of arrows rained down on the village, skewering the thirty guards that had run out into the open. The citizens of the village watched as another volley of arrows fell upon them, but these arrows were different, they carried a flame with them. Thatch roof houses caught fire, as did crops and grass. Villagers rushed out of their homes with whatever it was they could carry, screaming and crying as the Onorussians began to torch their homes.

The only small mercy they received was that it was only one of the Onorussian tribes, if the tribes ever united it would spell disaster for the last remnants of Equestria hiding to the south. The houses and buildings burned on and on as the sun finally set, the black smoke of battle becoming hidden by the darkness of night. Like ghosts, the Onorussians rode off into the night without a trace, save for the tracks of their horses in the dirt.

[♠]

Razor Grass sat nervously in the tent that the Onorussians had put him in, the embers of a fire were nestled in the center of the room, giving the stallion just enough light to see the drawings on the inside of the tent. He had seen Onorussian tents after they had been burned, but not before, it was an interesting experience to see what they looked like on the inside. He was more interested in the fact that the bottom of the tent was staked to the ground tightly, meaning there was no real hope of him slipping out without being noticed. As he sat there he could hear chanting and cheering from outside as what sounding like thundering hooves, which could only mean that his village had been attacked and likely destroyed by the tribal heathens that held him captive… Why one had begged for his life was a mystery, but he didn’t much care, so long as he was still breathing.

The stallion looked over as the flap to the tent opened and the woman who had begged for his life entered, she carried a single slab of meat and two trays, as well as a knife. She was shorter than him, which was odd for an Onorussian, as most of their women towered over Equestrians. Her clothes also appeared more refined, like those of the Equestrians, rather than the rough and rugged clothes of an Onorussian savage. The woman sat down near the embers and pushed a couple fresh logs on, the fire began to pick up, and once it was back to its normal strength she began to cook the slab of meat.

“Oh, great, you’re going to make me eat dirty flesh?” The stallion mused to himself, he didn’t expect the woman to glare at him.

“If you aren’t hungry don’t eat.” She replied in Common Tongue, something that barely anyone but Equestrians could understand. The woman adjusted her glasses, she actually had glasses, and looked back at Razor Glass. “Just know that you either starve to death or they execute you, so please… Eat.”

“I would rather starve than eat that filth.” Razor Grass replied harshly, the woman scowled and simply continued to cook the meat anyway. “Didn’t you hear me?”

“Well just because you don’t want any doesn’t mean I won’t have some.” She said back simply as she flipped the slab of meat, it hadn’t dawned on Razor Grass that the woman was sharing her food with him. “No wonder they don’t like you people, you’re rude. I’m Twilight by the way, thanks for asking.”

“We’re rude?! They’re savages! Look at them, living in tents and shacks!” Razor Grass shouted, the woman scowled at him intensely. “But of course you don’t see them that way, they’re your kind.”

“Actually no, they aren’t.” Twilight replied simply. “I’m not from this place… I’m an… Offworlder? I think that’s how it translates to Common.” Razor Grass was about to tell her she was full of it, but it would explain how she knew common and wore such refined clothes. “As for savages, so far from what I’ve heard you're the ones that ruined this world. If your kind hadn’t attacked them thousands of years ago none of this would have happened.”

“We wouldn’t need to keep fighting them if they just let us resettle OUR land! We won the ancient war, that means it’s ours!” Razor Grass protested, Twilight shook her head at him as she continued tending to her meat.

“You don’t know, do you?” Twilight asked. “They’re still fighting the ancient war, they never stopped.” Razor Grass seemed a little surprised by that, he could’ve sworn that he had been taught the Onorussians had lost the war. “I’ve only been here a day or so, but so far I’ve had no problems with them, they’ve been very helpful… They even spared you because I asked, so if you wouldn’t mind not being a prick, I’d appreciate it.” Razor Grass scowled and looked to the side, his stomach growling slightly as the smell of cooking meat entered his nostrils.

“Alright… Maybe I’ll have a little.” Razor Grass said begrudgingly, Twilight nodded and cut him half of the meat which was now finished cooking. She put it on a plate and pushed it towards him, he looked at it for a couple seconds, trying to build up his stomach’s courage. “So, you’ve been here for only a day and they just… Took you in?” Twilight nodded. “You said you needed their help, help with what?”

“Getting home… I cast an ancient spell and ended up here.” Twilight admitted as she began to eat her food. “It was an accident, but still, here I am. They’ve shown me every ancient scroll they’ve recovered, but so far I haven’t seen much of anything.”

“Of course not, everyone knows we have more scrolls than them.” Razor Grass said with a superior tone. “If you wanted real help, you’d have been better off coming to us than these heathens.” He watched as Twilight began to eat the slab of meat without any sort of fork, which was a little disgusting to watch. “You seem like a refined female, we could help each other…” Twilight looked at him with a raised eyebrow before she wiped her lips. “Help me get out of here and I’ll take you with me to our main city, they’ve got more scrolls there than you could shake a stick at!”

“Even if I was to believe a word of that, you would be asking me to turn against people who have used what little spare resources they have to help me.” Twilight said flatly before she took another bite of her meat, Razor Grass sat there for a couple seconds, trying to think of a way to convince the woman to help him.

“Well… If these people really aren’t savages, you would be able to tell us… Who knows, maybe you could finally hammer out a peace agreement between us?” The stallion said with a raised eyebrow. “After all, you’re one of the only ones that knows our language and theirs.” That got Twilight’s attention, mainly because she knew it was likely true. She was the only one that could speak both Common and had a chance of fully understanding the Onorussian Dialect of Griffish. If she could get both sides to the table, she could possibly bring an end to a thousand year conflict… If that wasn’t a job for the Princess of Friendship, she didn’t know what was. What was more, if both sides were at peace, she’d have more resources to find a way home.“So, what do you say?”

“I say… Let me talk with the Chieftess first.” Twilight announced, Razor Grass sighed… He had been hoping this female would be impulsive like other Onorussian females, but she wasn’t, she wasn’t about to rush out the door with him in tow. “Now… You go ahead and eat, I have unfinished business to attend to with the Chieftess.”

Author's Note

So here's another chapter for you lovely dovelies, I'm liking developing a new culture from old lore, it feels like fanfiction within fanfiction, if that makes sense? Whatever it is, I enjoy how this is going. I realize now that I've become a bit more infatuated with ancient mankind, as opposed to Sci-Fi stuff that I used to be into. Anyway, here's your clip of the day. I was reading about the Atomic Bomb, Albert Einstein's quote stating that 'WW3 will be fought with Atom Bombs, but WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones' while listening to this song, and I was like... 'Whoa'.