In recent years, there are numerous threats. As governesses, of which they had already fought several torments for the peace, they introduced at the same time a kind of elite guard, remedying and negotiating any attempt to constrain. Only in the last few moons did they fight and overcome the chaos perpetuator himself, they physically destroy one of the biggest myths about the moon, converted a complete population using its source of nourishment and so on.
The team was locally known as "Mane 6" was in fact made up of six members, its intriguing members being representatives of the Elements of Harmony. They are : Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic. Being twilight the representative of magic, Applejack of Honesty, Fluttershy of Kindness, Pinkie pie of Laughter, Rarity of Generosity and Rainbow dash of Loyalty.
Currently, the housekeeper is in her castle, which is also a seat of friendship, ready for political and practical issues related to Equestria and friendship, when Starlight Glimmer, her direct student, notices and nods with a smile, she greets the mentor "Good Twi morning!"
Twilight, who was available at the library,reading some books turns around and answers affectionately, "Good morning too!"
Starlight looks curiously at the housekeeper and asks, "What are you studying so hard at this time of day?"
With a happy look she replies "Artifacts, these things can be magic. For several moons we didn't know that this existed around here, let alone that there was so much magic, these things can give a good boost to the study of magic itself" In fact, the Princess of Friendship is known for keeping quantities of materials from various corners and the case that no one knows these tools makes the situation a little intriguing. "I've been researching them for a few days, would you like to help me?" she completes.
Starlight responds in the affirmative "Obviously, all for science!"
Several days of research passed and no progress was made. Starlight has just arrived at the castle and when opening the door is greeted by Alicornio, who is visibly tired of the effortless, the sovereign soon asks "Did you get any clues?"
Starlight responds with lowered ears "Sorry but no"
The alicorn, who already expected this kind of response, says to activate the more relaxing situation "Come in, you better rest" and then walk around inviting the newcomer to follow him. They soon end up in the library, but instead of incessantly looking for at least one mention of powerful objects, they sit at the table, Starlight deducing that since this is where Twilight spent most of her time, she used to feel more comfortable. After a few moments of silence, Alicornio happily tells Starlight to finish the ice "It looks like these things never existed and we haven't even found anything about the instruments used by Grogar and the gang!"
Starlight, the counselor, sympathetically replies "I don't think these things really have any kind of record, it was a good hunt, I believe when we have rested we can both think about it" The two ponies spent a lot of energy looking for any trace of artifacts and now it needed a break. Twilight agrees, experience has shown her that wear and tear affects thinking that was exactly what was being demanded right now.
The rest was well spent reinvigorating the ponies, the 3 days off were spa trips, reading novels and simple walks for some fresh air. The two are now having breakfast and Twilight says "I hope our time away from school doesn't affect our friends and classes" says the pony thoughtfully.
The counselor, with a reassuring look in her eyes, replies, "I'm sure Spike is doing a good job as a director and the girls always manage to control the situation."
"I'm glad the students are constantly helping each other," says the mentor. A thought spontaneously pops into Twilight's mind as she gulps down her tea: "I think I know a better method for finding the artifacts." Starlight is watching curiously, hoping the housekeeper will continue to say, "We should ask some pegasi or griffins to help search the area." The student seems to agree. In fact, pegasi and griffins always need to fly looking down, making them constant object hunters. The idea also seemed like a unique promise at the time, that all the less practical methods had already been tried.
And that idea also failed. Both the griffin and the pegasus found nothing. As usual, at the end of the day, at the end of sunset, a griffin, being the representative of the searches, delivers the report, and each day, Twilight's hopes fade. "You really haven't discovered anything?" Alicornio asks, she emphasized to them the importance these objects would bring to the advancement of magic and wanted a guarantee that they would try their best.
The griffin responds with an anxious look: "We didn't find any of those things you asked for."
"Not even a bit odd piece?" Twilight persists but already expected what the answer would be.
"No princess, maybe next time we'll be luckier," says the griffin.
Twilight lets out a sigh like she's exhausted and says shaking her head "Okay", which sends the griffin flying. Twilight turns around and now goes down the hall and up some stairs, goes to her room and sits in the chair at her desk where she has some papers with attempts, failed attempts to at least find some stuff about legend that at least mentions one thing about magic powerful or at least people babbling oddities. Twilight leans back in her chair and thinks Maybe Starlight is right, maybe there's no record of these things. All we found was what we already knew. It was already night and tomorrow would be a new day. She is thoughtful, tomorrow she will resume classes like Starlight did. It was already night and she decided to sleep, she sets the table then puts the papers in the drawer and lies looking out the window thinking that later is the new and comforting day
It all happened at once. A few hours ago he was standing in the blinding sun of the day, reflecting on his aspect of life. The next moment, he was in darkness. Total, total, darkness. Then, as soon as it arrived, before he could react, the darkness retreated.
He was standing in grass. Beautiful, vibrant green grass.Low rolling hills stretched out in all directions, a mountain range rising like teeth on the northern horizon.
"What the devil happened?!" he shouted, looking rapidly around his new environment. The silence was so sudden it almost hurt his ears. Nothing but the quiet chirping of birds in a distant forest. "Where the devil am I?!"
Dylan sat down on the grass and tried to understand the situation. It was absurd and frightening to lie down and just be instantly somewhere else "Like in a dream" Dylan mentally says.
He looked down at the grass that carpeted the hills around him. Every blade, every tiny dandelion was completely distinct, completely detailed. If his brain was generating all this, it must be working overtime.
But it is necessary to think and consequently to act. Looking at a lot of flashy green and breathing air without any particular negative will not make him get out of the situation, let alone understand it.
"Well, let's walk, better to continue than stop." Says thinks Dylan.
And he begins to do what his thoughts commanded him to do. He initially climbs one of the hills and looks at the landscape to try to figure out where he will have to go. The view is beautiful but discouraging, as far as the view goes, there were just endless lawns to walk through which discourages and reinforces even more that if it was a nightmare, it could only be scientifically induced, perhaps in an experiment by some crazy person to see how far the human mind is capable of creating a reality.
Dylan inwardly thanks himself for being young and being a creature bred to walk. Dylan also worked a short stint in the police and remembers perfectly well running after thugs in the woods, which gave him an idea of what to do for now. The human could easily become mentally bewildered by his unusual situation, but he'd learned that in stressful situations, it's good to focus on something, and he was now focused on finding a place to spend the not too late night. He walks, he walks across the sprawling lawns for what Dylan could conceive of as at least a few hours as the sun was starting to set. Dylan was tired and thirsty, he was also sporadic hungry and in view of this some change of strategy is necessary. As there was no advance he deduces that he was walking in circles due to the fact that it was practically the same terrain and he was already getting annoyed with this green. He climbs back up another big hill to observe the path and finds more green, just another kind of green. They were trees, a less vivid green, a clear sign of an older site. Even though he didn't see anything that would really lift him out of his physical suffering state, he rejoices that his effort is not entirely futile. Now he could find a possible source of water and he could sleep somewhere sheltering from the wind, which would keep his body heat up.
He then heads towards the trees, it was already early night and the moon was showing itself in the sky. Quickly he arrived in the forest, Dylan wasn't afraid of the dark, he had seen many things in his young life, but this forest was a little intimidating. Maybe it was his little real experience in forests, the event that he would expect that he would wake up and follow his same work routine, which he had been repeating for a few years but ends up in a completely new place and far from any trace of civilization, he had that walking for a long time making him tired, hungry and thirsty, which shook his mental state, leaving him anguished from his miserable situation
Continuing further on he finds a stream, from which he drinks with great desire its clear liquid that glistened under the moonlight. The water was tasteless, but it was extremely satisfying to remove the dryness from the throat and wet the tongue and roof of the mouth. He drinks a little even when his thirst is quenched so he doesn't have to go back to the stream anytime soon. Even hungry, the priority for now was sleep, he would survive if he didn't eat for a day or two, he thinks to himself.
He finds a fallen log and the human chooses to spend the night there. The man takes some branches and leaves and places them on the fallen trunk in order to create a simple tent where he could put himself down and spend the night. He soon gets ready in his bed-trunk. There was nothing cozy about the place and the Man closes his eyes so that the night passes as quickly as possible This place is horrible but it is very exciting to stay. Thinks Dylan with the aim of removing any negative thoughts from your head.
The end of his third night had been much like his first two, with him finding cover and doing his best to get comfortable and get some rest. He settled under a particularly large pine tree, he rested his head on the earth root, closed his eyes and fell asleep. While he would have killed for a bed to rest, he took solace in the fact that he wouldn't have to go to work the next morning.
…
“Hey,” a soft voice began, “you’re not dead, are you?”
The question was preceded by a gentle poke to his ribs, fully wrenching him from his slumber. Bolting upright, scanning the area in a panic, his thoughts went haywire. As he twisted in place, frantically looking for whoever had awoken him, his eyes ultimately settled on a bushy-maned thing.
The question was preceded by a gentle poke to his ribs, fully wrenching him from his slumber. Bolting upright, scanning the area in a panic, his thoughts went haywire. As he twisted in place, frantically looking for whoever had awoken him, his eyes ultimately settled on a bushy-maned thing.
Whatever he was looking at definitely wasn’t a pony, although it had a few similarities to one. Roughly the same size, and with a pair of brilliant, golden peepers, her head was wreathed in a tawny mane. The tree-like horn, fern colored plates on her back, and shaggy tale had him at a loss, yet her smiling face did manage to dismiss his most immediate concern.
“I’m gonna take that reaction as a ‘I’m not dead’ response,” she exclaimed before gasping and grasping his cheeks. “Wait, unless you’re undead! Are you a zombie?”
“What? No,” he balked, reflexively shoving her away, “I’m just a human.”
"And I'm a kirin," she chirped, holding a cloven hoof to her chest, "but that doesn't explain why you're invading our territory."
Her onepunch of glib statement sent him reeling, damn near making him bonk his head on the tree he was leaning against. While the declaration of trespassing was a bit disconcerting, especially since it was coming from a creature he couldn’t identify, the way she’d dismissively mentioned him demanded every iota of his attention. Squinting down at her, he leaned forward.
“What ~ the part about encroaching on our land or the part about l am a kirin?” she countered, piquing a brow.
His jaw hung open, and his heart skipped a beat, as she affirmed his suspicions. Somehow, after all the shit he’d been through, he’d managed to find someone! There were a million and one questions he had for her, ranging from those regarding what she was to others revolving around her knowledge of the intimate, and he honestly didn’t know where to start.
Taking a small step back, she squinted up at him. “You ok there... hmm.." She puts her paw on her chin trying to remember something
Dylan shook his head and tried to compose himself, a slight smile on his face as he watched his captor think about his name. “Actually, the name is Dylan.”
“Autumn,” she announced, thrusting a foreleg in his direction, “Autumn Blaze."
“Pleased to meet you,” he hummed, shaking her hoof. “If you don’t mind my asking, would you mind answering a few -”
“Ah ah ah -” she tutted, cutting him off, “we can talk about whatever you want on the way back to the village. It’s a long walk and we’ll have plenty of time to chat before we arrive for your trial.”
He stops and stares at his captor. His abrupt halt in stride was not due to dread that in a few hours he would be on trial, but some bad memories of being in a courtroom.
Stopping dead, he stared in disbelief down at her. “My what now?”
“Your trial, silly! You know, those things that criminals get before they’re sentenced for breaking a law!” she dismissively explained, turning around and waving for him to follow.
Getting to his feet and walking after her, his thoughts raced. “I’m not sure I follow you - hell, I didn’t even know this land belonged to anyone!”
“It’s alright” she snickered, “then again, I guess it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know about it."
He was trying to compile everything in his mind, he had just arrived in a strange world, he was in a strange place, he was talking to a strange creature, he would be judged by strange laws and more strange beings, the only thing he could get out of it was "All this is strange"
The thought aloud was obviously picked up by autumn that says “Lucky for you,” she continued, shooting him a smile, “I might just have a way for you to weasel out of this situation scot-free.”
Walking to her side, he studied her face. There was a chance that he could book it, but that didn’t seem like a good or practical idea. He was in unfamiliar territory, had no idea where he was heading, and he had a sneaking suspicion that her gnarled horn wasn’t simply for show. Whether she was fully aware of it or not, in spite of his superior size, she had him in a corner.
“I’m listening,” he muttered, keeping an even tone.
"Our ruler, Rainshine, is a listener and for sure she will listen to you, we haven't judged anyone for several moons either," Autumn stated, leading him along an almost invisible path.
Shaking his head and rubbing his temples, having a sneaking feeling as to what was coming, Dylan’s smile faltered. “And…?”
“And that’s just where you come in, mister dragon slayer,” she giggled, slowing to elbow him in the calf.
"Okay, just hold on there," he huffed, stopping in his tracks. "Before me discuss any supposed argumentative plans, you're going to answer a few questions for me and let me take a shower somewhere."
“I don’t know about a shower, but I can show you where you can take a bath,” she countered.
“That’s better than nothing, I guess,” he sighed, waving for her to continue, “lead the way.”
As he followed along beside her, being taken to God knows where, she gave him the answers he'd been looking for—well, most of the time. Apparently his tribe was small and relatively isolated, having almost no dealings with creatures of any kind, so they didn't know who he was and the transgressions he had committed. According to Autumn, the kirin had lived alone for several moons and were happy enough to keep to themselves; it was all fascinating and a little disconcerting, though not nearly as interesting as his apparent devotion to nature.
Chatting with Autumn on the way to and into her lodge, he found himself steadily warming to her company. Her sunny disposition, chattiness, and willingness to help were a far departure from the he was abitued. She’d answered every question he presented, let him use her bath, and had even offered him a few refreshments while they talked.
Were it not for the bizarre circumstances of their encounter, he genuinely wouldn’t mind getting to know her better - that being said, things were far from perfect. She couldn’t explain how he was in that world, which was a bit disappointing, but that wasn’t his chief concern at the time.
Having washed up, dried off, and changed, he walked from her hut and towards the center of the village with her. “So - uh - do you have any tips for how to win this - what was her name again - Rainsomething over?”
"Rainshine,” Autumn corrected, smirking up at him. “And, yeah, I’ve got a few. She’s mute, for starters, so don’t take her silence for a bad thing."
He pursed his lips, noticing her shivering and wiping some drool from her chin. "And are you sure we'll be able to communicate?"
“Dylan, would I lie to you?” she scoffed, balking at her doubt.
"I mean, I don't think so," he admitted. "So just go out there and do what I think is right, okay?"
"Exactly,” she affirmed, opening the door of a particularly large hut. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right here to keep an eye on you.”
“Your majesty,” Autumn loudly says, stepping inside and bowing, “I bring an exotic visitor.”
Dylan’s eyes were drawn to the far end of the dimly lit cottage, where he spotted who could only be Rainshine. Laying atop a dias, garnet-like eyes twinkled in the soft light, she raised her head. Though she bore many similarities to the other kirin he’d seen in the village, she was much larger than her kin, similar in size to an alicorn, and her horn was positively massive.
“Psst -” Autumn hissed, catching the ear of Dylan, “that’s your moment to spoke.”
Dylan moves to the center of the room and fixes his eyes on the Kirin leader, their current judge. His face is serious and he begins with a firm tone, "It's an honor and a privilege to meet a real beauty like you." Autumn is mildly surprised to see the defendant's sudden change of character.
He continues in an even tone "I believe that you, as a representative of peace, responsibility, fraternity and consequently justice, will rationally look at my miserable situation." He checks the housekeeper and her posture says she's paying attention but can't make any other conclusions with her expressionless face.
Dylan quickly looks to the side to see if Autumn is approving what he says. She is sitting with her headdresses on, her gaze between the man and the leader, she also seems to be curious about how he arrived in the region.
He continues "I found myself in a place that I suppose was far from here, however, by an apparent magical force with which I have no involvement, it brought me to this world. Finally, I ended up - without purpose and for not knowing the borders - to violate the territorial space of your lordship. As you can see from my form, I don't have any accessories that give me any power, which reinforces my non-involvement with magic, I am completely fragile and slow. I firmly believe that your final evaluation will be totally without prejudice. "
Dylan feels a little nervous as he sees Rainshine get up, she's looking straight at him, as if she wants to spot any signs of lying. The leader nods to Autumn who seems to agree. "She asked you to leave for now," he tells Kirin. Dylan on the outside is solemn, commanding a certain level of respect, on the inside he's burning up in flames. Autumn had said that he wasn't supposed to take offense at the fact that kirin were mute, but this silence was killing him.
He formally withdraws. Outside he surveys the region, the kirin look at him curiously but then go back to their usual routine, forgetting about their semi-prisoner. Dylan realizes he could easily get away. He could make a run for it and easily manage to slip into invisibility in the bush. He tried to see how the Kirin would go about capturing and holding him but it was hard to imagine these short beings using any kind of violence.
He chases that idea out of his mind, he prefers to do the right thing. There are benefits in following the steps established by the creatures that denoniman kirins, he gets, for the time, some shelter and food. If it weren't for Autumn's hospitality, he would be in a catastrophic situation as he wouldn't be able to find food and in fact, when he arrived at his captor's tent, he was already in extreme nutritional deficiency.
Dylan walks and soon arrives Autumn's tent, it was on a small elevation of the land and was next to some other houses, all of wood. Both externally and internally it was primitive, but somehow warm and cozy, even more so than in her apartment. On the modest hill it was possible to look at the small village that was surrounded by trees and a few meters away there was a stream, from which the inhabitants got water which made it constantly visited.
A question runs through Dylan's mind, what if he was convicted? Even though it wasn't his control that he was in the world, he didn't fall directly into kirin territory, he had to walk a long way before he was found. Autumn said that Rainshine hadn't judged anyone for countless moons, which the man assumed was a long time. If the representative of that village strictly follows its constitution, taking to the letter what was written by perhaps his ancestors, it is likely that he will end up being sentenced indeed.
But what kind of sentence would it be? Would he be detained somewhere? Would they use magic and turn him into some animal for the purpose of slave labor? If Dylan had to choose either option, he would choose banishment. This is most likely because the judgment certainly serves to determine whether the intruders are harmful to their population, as they live isolated in a remote region, they rarely need to use legal means to remedy the situation regarding the invasion of territory.
They also did not seem to have a legislative system of their own based on written laws. It could just be a prejudice but they seemed to live commutatively and problems would be easily resolved centrally in acts of good faith as they are mute and the fine art and paintings that are easily seen seem to strengthen this idea.
Dylan notices the door of the big tent open and leaves Autumn looking both ways as if trying to find someone, she looks in his direction and then starts walking towards him. A small amount of anxiety creeps into the body but luckily his earlier mental exercise has kept him a little more stable.
Autumn arrives with her natural joy and sweetly says "I looked for you all over the village, I even thought you ran out with your arms up while screaming!"
Dylan starts to fold his arms, not that he didn't like what Autumn was saying, in fact her presence calmed him down, but he's tense, he wants to find out what that voiceless mouth says so much.
"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered that possibility," says the man. "Why don't we go into your house first of all?"
Autumn nods and adds in a wry tone "Yeah, when you pass out you won't fall and hit your head on the floor" When they enter she asks "Do you want to know the bad news or the good news?"
"The bad one," Dylan pronounced as he sat in a chair, trying to avoid the captivating eyes of the Kirin in front of him.
Autumn also sits down. "Well, unfortunately, sadly and horribly we will have a hiuman still eating my food" says Kirin happily.
Both the news and Autumn herself caused any negative feelings to be defused in Dylan. Even expecting this result, he cannot let a little satisfaction flow.
Dylan looks out the window and notices that the sun has already set and its glow is dim. He was so focused that he lost track of time. Tonight will be your first night in a more natural way, it will be good to be rested so you know what to do next.
"I'm sorry for going to bed early Autumn, but I really need to rest, things have been really hard for me" says the man who at the end of the sentence lets out a mouthwash.
Autumn looks at the room where there is a bed for guests, "Of course, the region where princes sleep is right there"
she says with her empathetic smile.
Dylan says getting up from his chair and going "Thanks Autumn, I really don't know what it would be like without you"
The kirin gets her white face a little flushed but she quickly reverts to her cheerful posture and says "Maybe dead"
The man, with the door half open, looks at the mare "Don't be too hard on me, you know how sensitive my heart is"
The white mare giggles, this being the man's permission to sleep.
The bed was a comfortable mattress and had a window from which the wind constantly blew. A very pleasant room by the way. Dylan closes his tired eyes and waits to fall asleep, banishing any random thoughts.
