Any sign of civilization could mean danger.

On the Rim, you could never tell if someone was being friendly, or secretly wanted to skin you alive when you slept. You just had to trust them, I guess, but such a thing hardly existed on this planet. You didn't want to get back-stabbed, so you end up back-stabbings others out of paranoia. It's a vicious cycle, taking even the most trusting of individuals and turning them into paranoid freaks.

I suppose I'm one of those freaks.

The only reason why me and some people that passed by got along really well is because of two or so years of trust building up. And, even then, I still had my doubts. With the incident back at Tarbo's place, I don't really know if I'm able to trust anyone on this planet. Twilight and Starlight are great companions, but they aren't from here. That fact alone secured their trust in my heart.

Speaking of Civilization, we could see what looked like to be a town off in the distance. Well, a tribal camp, from the looks of it. Shacks, tents, and wooden walls. Not an advanced society in the slightest, which usually spelled trouble. Tribal's were known to be desperate and savage, willing to do anything they needed to do to get even the slightest advantage in life. Even if that meant eating the meat off your bones. However, they could possibly have what we needed. And, if not, then atleast could offer supplies if willing to trade.

"Let's go check it out. We've all got weapons, and they likely only have bows and spears. That's not to say they're not dangerous, but we've got the superior tech advantage. If you don't know what to say, say nothing, and let me do the talking. Don't want to piss of tribals, believe me. They keep grudges." I said, pointing in the direction of the camp. Twilight walked on my left, while Starlight walked on my left.

And, just as we noticed the people at the camp, they noticed us as well.

Children were present. I could see them poking their head from the side of the wooden barriers that were set up. A couple of the adults were holding spears, another holding a bow. They were definitely in tribal wear, wearing only loin-cloths and other such things. They picked a decent area to set up camp, as on the left and right were mountains, with what seemed to be little towers on top. Outlook towers, for sure.

I raised both of my hands up as we slowly approached the tribals.

A woman stood in front of the men with spears and bows, staring the three of us down. She lifted her chin up slightly, before opening her mouth to speak, before closing it, eyeing the multi-colored ponies that were with me. I looked at them as she did, before looking back up at her. I then made a split-second decision, something that might either help us, or harm us.

"The Anima sent them."

That seemed to shock the woman and the men in the back, as almost all of them took a step back. Well, I guess it was the wrong call, wasn't it? Hopefully I can reach for my revolver in time before they can get an arrow off-

The woman got onto her knee's, as did the men, and they placed their hands out in front of them and bowed. They were silent for a little while. Twilight, Starlight and I just stared at them awkwardly, a little unsure of what to do. Before long, the woman lifted her head up and stood up, along with the others. "We had been praying to the Anima for days on end for help, and it seems it has finally answered! Please, come- come." The woman ushered, motioning her hand for us to follow.

The three of us awkwardly followed her into the camp, which seemed bigger now that we were inside it. Those wooden walls really did obscure a lot of it. Children played around, adults worked doing various things, but once we were in there for longer than a couple of seconds most of them stopped to look at us.

We were brought into the middle of the camp, where the woman began to usher people to come. Within a minute, Twilight, Starlight and myself were all surrounded by a circle of people, the woman standing in front of us still. She gave us a wild smile, as did the rest of the tribe.

"People, the Anima has blessed us with help, and these three are it. Please, tell us your names."

"Ahehm.. Uh, this is Twilight-" I said, pointing to Twilight who nodded with as confident of a look as she could pull off. "-this is Starlight-" I said, pointing to Starlight, who seemed to be scanning the crowd. "-and I'm Rex." I finished, raising my hand, before letting it down.

"Twilight, Starlight, Rex- you must be Sun Disciples! Their names- my people, their names. Starlight, the gleaming brightness of a distant star, just like our sun, but so off into the distance that it's become well-known with it's black sky. Twilight, the time of beauty in the world, where all is equal and tranquil. And Rex-" She said, pointing to me. "A worthy name for someone who guards the Anima's precious specimens."

Wow... She got all of that just from our names? She got more meaning out of that then I did my entire education somehow, and I'm quite impressed. She was well versed in words, that was for sure. It made sense why she was the leader, or at-least the spokesperson for the tribe.

"What is it you need help with?" I asked out of general curiosity. Though, if they were praying to a god, it likely wouldn't be anything we could control. All we needed to do was play along, right? I suppose it's my fault for getting us into this mess. This just made me more and more nervous.

"My people are falling sick."

I looked around. "There seems to be plenty here, and they don't seem sick."

"Come- come." The woman ushered once more, guiding the three of us into a far-off tent in the camp. It was large, and coughing was constant once we got into earshot. She opened the front of the flap for us to enter, and once we were inside, we could see what she was talking about. The tent was filled to the brim with easily fifty or so people, blood coating the floor of the tent. People were coughing it up, and open and infected wounds were present all over their bodies.

They definitely caught something bad.

I guided Twilight and Starlight out of the tent hurriedly after seeing the people. I wasn't sure if they were contagious, and if they were I didn't want to get sick with whatever they had. If I'm going to die, it's going to be by the damn Luciferium. Not some plague from hell. Though, in your final days, I suppose they're one in the same.

"Is there... anything you can do?"

"Yes." Twilight spoke. I turned to her in surprise, but she didn't look back at me. "I might be able to help, but I'm not sure if it'll be able to help completely. If anything, it'll just ease their pains, or clear up some wounds. I can't promise anything."

"Who am I to judge what a Sun Disciple can or cannot do? Anything will help. We are in your debt." The woman said, about to get onto her knee's once more, before Twilight spoke up once again.

"If you are in our debt, we're looking for something."

I looked at Twilight confused, but she continued. "We're looking for a pill called Luciferium. It's red, can be taken in solid or powder form. If you had any, I'd certainly be more than willing to help you get your people back into shape. Each Disciple needs a bit of a nudge, after all."

Twilight was certainly playing into this thing, and definitely for my sake. The only problem was that Luciferium was a high-tech drug. Only the most advanced civilizations usually had it, and had the means to produce it. The likeliness of a tribe having it was almost zero-

"We have some, but not much. Let me show you-"

"Great. Starlight, Rex, stay here."

What in the... Okay, first, the tribe actually has the pills. Or, thinks they do. That means a couple of more weeks added to my lifespan! That was fantastic news. Oh, and second, Twilight just ordered me and Starlight what to do. Things are getting weirder day by day.

"They sure are!" I heard it say as the spirit thing inside of my head manifested in front of me.

Fuck me..

Tarbo's POV

"Controlling the weather, hm? That sounds magnificent. If we were able to do such a thing in this world, we wouldn't have the trouble of having to worry about droughts, or worry about severe deadly winters. If you control the weather, who says that you can't just force it to rain on the crops and keep it moderately warm out all day?"

Celestia shook her head with a smile. "We follow a strict guideline on weather control. It's mandatory for us to manage it well and with diverse conditions, or else things don't end up going over well. I won't bore you with the details of how magic works based on weather condition, but I'll give you a quick summary. Magic in our world is so prevalent that it is in the very air that we breathe. With that in mind, we have to control the weather based on magic stimulation. Though, I don't believe we've ever had 'deadly winters' as you say."

"Well-" I said, shrugging. "-it's only deadly if you don't have the right equipment. My empire is mostly safe against the heat and cold, but the same can't be said for all the tribles in the land. Most of them die within a couple of weeks into winter, which proves to be quite a depressing sight to stumble across on patrols."

Celestia nodded. "I could imagine so."

"Sir!" A guard yelled from the front of the truck. He was holding a strange phone-like device in his hand. "We just found a clue to where they went. Guards patrolling up ahead have just picked up hoof-like prints and shoe-prints in the dirt. No other prints have even come close to matching those."

"How recent?" I asked.

"Really recent. The others estimate that if they're walking at average pace, we'll meet up with them in only five or so hours. Even at a sprinting pace, we'd be there within nine."

I smiled towards Celestia. "We're almost there. This is good news, for both you and I. I don't like seeing such a benevolent and beautiful princess such as yourself looking so tragically sad. Even if you hide it, I can still tell. You and I are quite alike."

Celestia simply smiled. "You're quite the charmer, Mr. Tar. I'm quite happy with the news, though a pit has formed in my stomach."

"Why, Princess?"

Celestia sighed, now looking out of the bed of the truck they were in. "Seeing my student and her friend will definitely boost my mood, but I might not like what the result of this harsh world on them is. They could be maimed forever. They already are scarred emotionally for sure, from such a terrible man such as that Rex. I'm nervous of him, as well."

I nodded to her, looking over at one of my guards. "What's the standard procedure for meeting Rex, soldier?"

"Standard Protocol for E-Convict Rex is shoot to kill. Stalled time will result in a soldiers punishment."

I then looked to Celestia. "Do you see, Celestia? All of my men are trained to remove the threat as soon as possible. I understand that you are powerful yourself, but having the extra manpower would certainly help. Especially with your own guards-" I said, looking at the truck behind us, which carried some of them. "-he's no match for us."

"Going so far to help me, I can't help but feel a little disappointed I can't prove to be just as useful to you, Mr. Tar."

"You are certainly useful, Princess. You've provided me with fantastic conversation~" I said with a smile.

Poor Rex has no idea what's going to hit him.

Author's Note

God, I hate finals.

Oh, and I'm probably gonna' sign on to the airforce.