Winds of color, book 1: Digging up the past

"I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

• Robert Frost

=========================================

Flameclaw had heard the commotion outside of the tavern; he had also seen all the other guards, drunk or not, exit the tavern to look for the source of trouble. To be quite frank of the matter he just didn’t care anymore in his current state. Lucky for him this is what prevented him from getting slaughtered by the escapees in their flight. The Diamond dog mulled over how bad his race had become over his thirteenth mug of strong cider. Unless all the higher ups in line to the alpha suddenly dropped dead , he didn’t see a way to get these slaves their freedom and his society upright.

His thoughts continued on after another mug, completely oblivious in his thoughts to the commotion outside. Later on he would be awoken from his drunken sleep with a nasty hangover to find out that every other guard below and above him was hospitalized and that he was their only leader left. His efforts would reform this town’s society and let free many a pony until there were no slaves left in the diamond dog settlement. Though mysteriously while a majority of the guard was found One-eye Pete had vanished over the course of the night as well as several of the alphas personal diamonds, With nothing else that could possibly go wrong Flameclaw was a wonderful alpha indeed for the distraught society of dogs.

=========================================

Irid and Baney stopped running to rest at last. It had been four hours since they had escaped that cursed settlement of slave owners and Twig had regained conciousness after the first two hours.

Chatting animatedly, though her legs were still numb but by the time they had stopped they were a good long way away from the town they had so recently escaped. The trio stopped, Irid was gasping for breath from both running and carrying the small filly, she was a lot heavier then she looked. Then she found out soon why after she had collapsed on the ground and twitched a few times legs sore.

Twig hopped off and grinned sheepishly and pulled an apple out from behind her giving it to Irid. Irid’s eye twitched at the impossibility of such a thing. Even Baney seemed curious, “Where did you pull that from Twig?”

“It’s a secret~” was Twigs cheerful demeanor.

“What else do you have secretly stored?” was both Irid and Baney’s disbelieving voices.

Twig pulled out a chest with the name PETE’s Stash no touching and a backpack full of apples from behind her. Irid couldn’t resist a face-hoof, so she had been carrying a chest and a backpack full of food as well as a chest? No wonder Twig was heavy. Though the magic behind both and how twig had got both between the span of going from the cell to Pete’s lab dumbfounded her. She would regret her curiosity of asking, “How exactly did you get all of this?”

Twig took a deep breath in before starting a long winded excited and quick explanation that would just leave the askers more confused then before the question was asked,

“well you see when Pete took me out of the show we happened to pass by a barrel of apples so I was like, Oooo what’s that! And he was like ‘None of your business. And when some pony tells me that in a despairingly tone of course I looked, when he wasn’t looking I stole its contents and hid them away in my secret storage spot and then we passed by his room in a blur it was fun. I got to play tag with some guards even though they Suuuuucccccckkkk at catching me, eventually though they surrounded me again though several were sleeping somehow. It was rather silly, who sleeps in a pile in the middle of a training feel with dented helmets? Anyway by then Pete lead me through a second route since the first route was detoured from unconscious doggies and I noticed a chest behind a painting like some secret Vault! It wasn’t nailed into the wall though so I couldn’t dig it out like those thief books or daring do though. That was disappointing. So instead to teach him a lesson I took it also and he never noticed. He Isn’t the most alert dog ever, Then he gave the filly he was carrying in his arm a Cloth and told him to sniff it, he obliged and soon fell asleep! Seriously it must of smelt good I thought, so I smelled it. It wasn’t that good but then my body got sleepy, last thing I Knew I was falling asleep in the Loo of all places. I mean awkkkkkwarrddddd!”

Irid had become confused at the rapidly said story and Baney’s jaw had dropped after the word ‘Oooo’ in complete non-understanding. Irid was first to recover, “What?”

Twig sighed, calming down and gave them the short version, “Stole it from Pete on the way to the loo of all places.” Comprehension dawned on both the older Unicorn and the Diamond dog, Twig finally face-hoofed continuing her domination of the chat while they rested, “you guys need to pay more attention…”

There was a pause as both unicorn and dog simply stared at Twig, then Irid began as if the conversation had never happened, “so Baney, How far are we before we get out?”  Twig looked disgruntled.

Baney shrugged, “half days walk, quarter day sprint, or if you knew a strong teleport spell, anywhere in the world, instantly.” Twig looked dissapointed with them ignoring her well thought out explaination.

“And how do you know the way out?” was Irid’s reply. Twig pulled out a pear from the apple barrel and threw it away with a look of disgust the small thing bouncing down the tunnel they had just came up from, pulling an apple out and eating it instead tentatively.

“I lived here before you know,” Baney deadpanned.

“oh.” Irid looked sheepishly in response at Baney, “sorry.”

Baney waved the apology away with her still covered claw and took an apple as well to munch on it the entire thing, core and all, disappearing into her mouth in one chomp. Twig opened Pete’s chest and suddenly bit signs replaced her pupils, this didn’t go unnoticed by Baney, “what did you find Twig?”

Twig didn’t respond so Baney looked too and a similar Icon appeared on her eyes, Irid rolled her eyes and had a look to, “Rocks?”

“Not just any rocks…” Twig said in an awed tone of voice.

“Diamonds,” was Baney’s in a similar tone.

Irid looked at the two friends and back at the gems, “I don’t get it. They are just shiny see through rocks that can burn in fire. No useful purpose whatsoever besides to look pretty.”

Both of them glared at Irid, Twig spoke with a defensive tone, “Rocks aren’t worth a fortune of bits! Diamonds are!” Baney also stated her remark at the same time, “Diamonds tastiest of all gems. Rocks are not.”

Irid deadpanned, “What is a bit?”

Both of her friends looked at her like she had brain damage or some mental disease, “She is kidding right?” that was Baney pointing at Irid with her dirtied straight jacketed arm.

Twig replied also looking at her with disbelief, “I don’t think so Baney…”

Irid sighed, "Look, I recently woke up from some strange bed called a VLARP with no memory what so ever, I only know my old name and that apparently my native tounge is called 'Old Equestrian' Now and that i had somehow learned 'New Equestrian', She proceeded to rant off in her own language leaving both Baney and Twig confused to what she was saying for a while. But Irid had already put her point across.

They both looked at each other and started pulling Irid along up the path, Twig putting away the chest and apple barrel in the process, and explaining everything they knew to her in short animated bursts, though Twig and Baney contradicted each other constantly. Twig summing up the good and fun, and Baney describing the few bad experiences she had done in some place called ‘Las Pegasus’.  Before they knew it she was up to date and in the middle of asking twig about the government officials and the Rulers of Equestria when they noticed a light up ahead.

"Brace yourselves!" Twig cheered.

"Equestria coming up." Was Baney, in sync with Twig's antics.

First there was blinding light, as all of their light starved eyes were blinded by the sun momentarily, the bright orb seemed to grin at their displeasure in secret. As their eyes adjusted they figured out that they were just outside a Pretty ordinary looking entrance of a cave, the rocks roughly hewn, and less than thirty feet away the forest began again, already thick of trees bushes and shrubs. What caught their attention however was the pack of wooden wolves who had turned to stare at their sudden arrival into their clearing. Twig jumped onto Irid's back, hiding behind her ruffled unkept mane clinging onto her for dear life, barely daring to peek an eye out to watch, It would of been adoreable in another situation but these wolves of wood didnt look freindly, and to her shock the wood began to move.

"odd," baney started, "Timber wolves usually don't wander this far out." She stared at Irid and Twig, "Any of you ask for bad luck by doing something that caused as such?" A wolf of wood growled somehow, despite lacking lungs. Both ponies shook their heads no. Baney grinned and cracked her knuckles, "okay then, lets see how much fun these wolves can give me."

so far, Irid thought as Baney began smashing wooden wolves, This world is full of strange things. what fun...