The Steadfast Sky : Chapter 17
The Grey Potter
http://cosmicponyfanfiction.blogspot.com/

I’m nervous, though I’m not entirely sure why. Arriving in Stringhalt… it’s a culmination, a conclusion to a lengthy first leg of our journey. It was a goal, a short-term goal formed to give us a vague sense of direction, but a goal nonetheless. My heart felt all fluttery while I walked. What would we find here, our first city since Canterbury?

The dirt path we had been following for so, so long suddenly turned into compact white cobblestone. And suddenly, walking was easy. I had hardly realized just how much effort it was to walk on dirt, but the compact stone felt like a dream to my hooves. Carts packed with all sorts of goods clattered by us, some off for Bolton, a wayside town loaded to the brim with all sorts of traffic. It had been easy to find a clothes vendor, even though their streets were an uncontrolled chaos.

I watched the gray sky, light of step and jittery of heart. The day was starting to fade away as we left Bolton behind us. Should we have stopped at a stable for the night? Did Stringhalt have the same strict ‘curfew’ as Canterbury did? Would we even be able to get into Stringhalt? There was no gate into Canterbury, no entrance or exit. Certainly Stringhalt couldn’t be the same, not with all this ground based traffic. We used to have the road all to ourselves, now we had to proceed in single file, lest we become overrun by the continuous cart stream.

And really… There was a really strange stink in the air! I wrinkled my nose, wondering what it was. Sickly sweet… But putrid, and overpowering.

Finally, the forest around us abruptly cut off, and the city walls came into view. Surrounded by other ponies, and several carts, we were confronted with our first true look at the Earth Pony city.

“Ew! Gross!”

Stringhalt was, in fact, surrounded by a wall. A gray brick-and-mortar one, with a large wood and iron gate as a point of entry, road, and obviously the line of carts, leading right up to it. Surprisingly, this wall did not reach the cloud cover. In fact, jutting down from the cloud celling was a solid wall of white fluff, slowly billowing upwards, coloring and swirling with the normal gray cover.

But what really caught my eye, and demanded the attention of the nose and currently upset stomach, were the massive piles of waste. Black rot streaked down from the top of the bricks, collecting in massive sprawling piles, staining the earth, and casting up that putrid, putrid stench. Black birds squawked and cawed around the piles, rooting through, fighting for scraps. I wished I had an efficient and non-magical way to plug my nose, because as we approached, we had to pass piles of the garbage on either side of us, ditches dug far into the ground to keep the rotten spillage off the road.

“Heavens,” I said, “I hope the city itself doesn’t smell this bad…” I eyed the crowds. Some ponies seemed to be reacting the same as I was, but the majority seemed unaffected by the sights and stench. Luna did not respond, her cloak lopsided as she stuffed her nose into the side of her hood. Discord’s expression was difficult to see under the shadows… But to my comment, he snickered.

“You think the entire city is just an ocean of filth so big, it leaks over their walls?” He laughed into his gray hoof.

“Does that mean…” Luna said slowly, voice muffled, “They would have to take boats to school? Or…”

“No!” I cried, “No, we are not having this conversation! Please, let’s talk about something else! You two are disgusting!”

“Fine, sorry!” Discord slowly stopped laughing, and looked towards the gate, retreating as a cart rumbled by his head. “Sooooo uhhh… Getting into Stringhalt seems pretty straightforward so far,” he finally said, “Lot more straightforward than getting in and out of Canterbury…”

“This place is a bit more active, a major trade city, far as I’ve gathered.” I thought for a moment. “You know…” I slowly started, “I’m not even sure what Canterbury offered, what they traded with other cities… Other than being the seat of the government.”

Discord shrugged. “Yeah me neither.”

“Eh…”

Conversation dying off, we fell into a crowded and quickly moving line, exit traffic still spilling by our left. The gate wasn’t as big as I would have expected, maybe only three or four ponies high, the wooden structure lifted off the ground. Several earth pony guards stood around the entrance, their armor silver, red sashes hanging across one shoulder or the other. There was a small wooden booth beside the gate, and people seemed to stop there briefly before heading inside Stringhalt proper.

The Shadow Stallion’s banner waved above the gate, the entire thing, not just the plain star symbol that we saw in our travels. A thin flag, the black and five-pointed star in a field of purple, crude gray alicorn imposed in its middle, wings outspread. Expected, but no more welcome for it. On the other hoof… for the first time, the banner was accompanied. Two identical flags flanked it, with a pattern I didn’t quite recognize. Both were divided into four segments, One showing fields and another brimming with flowers, one panel decorated with the sun, the last, a blue sky.

Were they old Earth Pony flags? I vaguely remembered seeing these before, and they definitely give a sort of Earth Pony feel…

“Next, please!”

“Oh!” Well that was fast! I hurried forward, called over by the Earth Pony in the wooden booth, coat a dusted gray from his age. He clenched a quill between his teeth, feathery part shorn off for an easier grip. He dipped the pen into its well as he methodically pulled a piece of paper out of its stack.

“Names,” he said, voice impossibly flat.

“Celestia, Luna, and um… Discord.”

Without question, he scrawled on the page. I nervously eyed the guards, chatting lazily across the road. ‘Discord’ was so clearly not a pony name, I would be surprised if—

“Tribes.”

“I’m sorry?” Tribes? What in Equestria…?

He turned his head to us and blinked, bags very clear under his eyes. He looked over us, and then scratched three triangles on the paper, under our names.

“Sponsor.”

“Uh…”

“Family,” again, he slowly turned to look at us. “Are you privately owned?”

“Um… owned? We uh…” I floundered as the pony stared at us. “Helios?” I quickly offered.

He looked over at me once more, eyes dim. “I see. So you’re students?”

“Yes, sorry,” I immediately jumped on the alibi. Oh, Luna, please don’t ask me why I jumped to that answer, at least not until we’re inside the city! The old pony scrawled one last note, stamped it with a rubber, well, stamp, and pushed the page towards me with his nose. I yanked it towards me, ready to get the heck out of here!

“Toll is two bits, miss,” he said.

“Oh, right!”

I floated the coins towards him and scurried through the gate, watching the guards, who seemed to pay us no mind. I hovered the printed paper in front of my nose, intending to read it over, then stow it.

But I stopped myself. Because over the edge of the page was a place of, well, surprises.

The city itself wasn’t filthy or dark… in fact it was dazzling. We had entered into a kind of open area, where buildings were sparse, and gardens plenty. Green pastures, scattered with trimmed floral trees and stone paths. There was grass, not long like in the wild, but neatly cut and evenly grown, petals coating nearly everything, making the road almost vanish. Ponies milled about the streets as carts clattered by us The city slowly ascended, miles from where we stood, into a stone and brick acropolis. Lights winked to life on its distant streets, beginning to glitter with the fall of the sun. Jutting from its peak were dozens of stone and tile towers, barely even attempting to reach the sky above their heads.

But, curved over the city, in a gigantic reverse dome, were a number of massive structures built entirely out of soft white clouds. It was a castle or city, spires and minarets hanging like stalactites in a cave. Towers swirled together, black and stormy streaks lining soft white puffs, enclosing Stringhalt in its own personal dome. Some of the… highest? The low-hanging outcroppings even came close to touching the earth. They still hovered far beyond and one pony’s reach, but were considerably closer that the continuous sky ceiling. Staring up, I could spy movement, masses of flying creatures, too high up or far away to determine what exactly they were.

“Goodness!” I exclaimed. I glanced around, hoping my idleness hadn’t blocked traffic. Thankfully, no. I pushed Luna forward, her head stuck upwards, cloak still lopsided over her nose, exposing her Element. Discord followed after us, silent and expressionless as the shadows made him. “Well… well that was stressful!” I stumbled over my words, looking back down at the paper I held. “Thought we’d be noticed immediately by everyone, back there… Fumbling over our responses.”

“I think they cared more about the line moving than they did about us specifically,” Discord commented, also trying to encourage Luna forward.

“Thank goodness for that… though, Discord…” He looked up at me, as a question bubbled to the surface in my brain. “You said there’s no slavery out here? He asked if we were owned.”

He shrugged under his cloak. “I don’t know any more than you about that. We haven’t seen it in the towns.”

“Well…” I returned to the page, looking over it… when something very strange caught my eye. “Huh.”

“’Huh’ what?”

“I don’t see Helios written on here at all,” I replied, eyes rescanning the page. “And under ‘Affiliations’ it lists ‘Canterlot.’” I looked to my friends, Discord still trying to keep my preoccupied sister in pace with us. “I didn’t mention anything like that, did I? I don’t remember saying anything about Canterbury either… Not to the gatekeeper, at least.”

“No, you definitely didn’t,” Discord replied, distracted. “C’mon Luna, Tia’s going to leave us both behind at this rate!”

“I would not!” I retorted.

“It’s so pretty!” Luna squealed, snout stuck pointing up.

“Well if anyone asks, we’re students from Canterlot now.” I folded up the paper, considering the conversation complete.
We quickly left the floral garden paths, and began our ascension into the city proper. Buildings became closer together, tightly packed, squeezing away any hint of a garden or flora. They grew taller, but I never saw a structure get more than four stories, practically minuscule compared to the walls of Canterbury. They became lopsided, growing and blending together in a mix of stone, straw, and mud brick, balconies of cloth jutting across the streets, which had become far too narrow. Or simply unable to accommodate for the traffic that packed them tight.

Even at such a late hour, when most would be fleeing for their homes in Canterbury, the streets were filled with ponies. Carts tried to shove their way through the foot traffic, pushing aside what were already cramped crowds. Just walking, we were all jammed shoulder to shoulder, flank to flank, voices and wagon wheels providing a persistent rumble.

Canterbury was quiet, looming. Even in a crowd, there was a level of dignity. No, more likely quiet fear. Even in the crowded blocks, the most packed streets, you could barely see more than a dozen ponies at one time, let alone be packed so tightly that staying close to your friends became an issue. I tried, fruitlessly, to speak with Discord or Luna, but couldn’t be heard over the din, even as they tried to remain as close as possible.

And it wasn’t just ponies I saw… So many crazed things clamored for my attention, demanding focus before vanishing a few seconds later. Griffons screeched laughter in an open bar, banging their mugs on the table as dozens of ponies crowded for a seat. Four or five slow and plodding creatures, massive and hairy, horns curling over their ears as they carried blankets and other cargo on their backs. A striped pony rested in a dark alleyway, pushing strange plants and powders quietly, eyeing all that passed. Two knobby creatures that looked like ponies, but with long ears and no cutie marks, one pulling a cart that stunk something fierce, the other barking, slamming together two metal sheets strapped to his legs. “Last call! Last call!” he shouted, over and over. More striped ponies, golden jewelry jangling, chattering as they pulled a cart full of barrels, all marked and stamped in symbols I didn’t recognize. We stepped aside for a silent entourage of hooded ponies, the banner of the city held above them, a casket carried in a finely carved chariot. And over the crowds—

“SHOWER COMING, HALF HOUR.” Someone shouted. This was echoed and repeated, rising from the masses, passing us by, a mantra carried by the ponies surrounding us. I wondered… did that mean a rain shower that could come in half an hour, or that would last…

A raindrop plicked onto the end of my snout. Well that answers that! I stared up at the sky. A dark cloud passed overhead, pulled by a Pegasus, ridden by a hint of a griffin. It was followed by a line of clouds, like an unfurling blanket. Two more drops splashed my face… The streets emptied almost instantly, faster than instantly. How did that happen so quickly?

Discord yanked at my cloak with his… hoof, apparently. He ducked under the overhand of a store, in front of a frosted window, and I quickly followed. I hoped no one noticed how bizarre Discord’s action looked… He could at least pretend his claws were actually hooves!

Ponies still rushed by us occasionally as the air around us cooled, rain becoming a steady shower. A pair of guards stood under a different awning, yards away, chatting. Don’t look at them, Celestia, don’t even worry about them. They don’t know who you are, they don’t know—

“Stringhalt is louuuuud!” Luna declared with a laugh, her cloak finally straightened out.

I laughed nervously, “Yes, it seems to be!”

“Did you two see all those weird ponies?” Discord asked, looking down the streets, “What were those?”

“Discord, are you feigning unintelligence again?” I asked.

“What? No. Why would I?”

“I thought they would have brought some these through the castle… “ I was actually kind of hoping that he knew what some of the different ‘ponies’ were. Apple-a-Day never told me about anything but Earth Ponies and Unicorns…

“No, nothing like that,” he replied.

“Or you would have learned about them, in your weird… knowledge repository…”

“Sorry, still no,” Discord said flatly and honestly.

I stared down at my friend, hood shrouded in darkness.

“What you seem to know is very random,” I commented.

He shrugged, “I had a random education. You went to that baroness school, right? With structured lessons? Well, my lessons were like…” He changed his voice, as if he was trying to do an impression. “‘Hey little one, this is something I want to tell you, because it just came to my attention right now. Got it? Well … The End.’”

“That’s a terrible system!” Luna laughed. “How’d you learn anything that way?”

Discord’s hooves shot above his head in a very confused shrug.

“Well anyway…” I started, “We can’t keep wandering these streets forever!” I looked out in the rain, dreading what will probably be a very dull wait. “We’ve got to find somewhere to stay, hopefully somewhere that can offer us board for a job. Or maybe…”

“HEY!” I leapt into the air as the shop’s door slammed open beside me, “Either buy something or get the heck away from my bar!”

“Oh! Um…” I fumble over my words as a mint Earth Pony in a white apron glared at us, propping open the door with one hoof. “I’m sorry, but we’re new to the city, and a little bit lost…”

“There’s a good stable just two streets that way, the Apple-Blossom,” the pony barked, waving vaguely down the street. “They can answer whatever questions you have!”

“Well, it’s still raining, so do you mind if we just stay here just a little bit longer…” I dipped into my begging voice almost unconsciously, hating myself all the more for it. Is this my automatic response to having no money? The storekeeper was unimpressed.

“I don’t want any riffraff hanging round my shop, not paying for anything!” he snapped.

“Why don’t we just get something while we wait, Tia?” Discord offered, glancing up at me.

“Are you kidding?” I replied, “I don’t even know if we have enough bits to stable for the night, we can’t just drop money on, um, whatever he’s selling.”

“I’ve got some of the best cider this side of Stringhalt, some soup and fresh bread!” The shopkeeper pitched this to us like he was throwing rocks. “Just buy something or get out!”

“Oi, Ratty!” Another voice rose from within the store, “Why’re you still yelling at plebs? I’m dying of thirst over here!”

Two pale Earth stallions shoved past the owner, movements slightly exaggerated. One had three small green apples on his flank, the other, a horseshoe imposed on a green apple. Both wore simple red doublets, right sleeve emblazoned with the flag of the city. The shirt cut off in a simple cloth belt, and when one turned, I could see that he carried a whip, curled neatly into his sash.

“Aw, Ratty. Ratty, Ratty, Ratty…” the one with the horseshoe cutie mark shook his head. “How could you yell at these poor, poor downtrodden fillies? Do you see her poor little face?” He strolled up to me and threw a heavy leg around my shoulder. I tried to pull away. The man stank heavily of cider. “See this face? You want to throw this fine gal out in the streets?”

The storekeeper, Ratty, grumbled something, but the other pony just patted him on the back.

“Don’t worry, Ratty! We’ll pay for them!” He flung a hoof towards the open store door. “Come on, all of you! Don’t be shy!”

I yanked myself out from the stallion’s leg as all three ponies headed inside, the horseshoe throwing me a very obvious wink. I spun around.

“Well I think I’ve been convinced. Rain it is.”

“But Tia!” Discord cried, already at the closed door. “They’ve offered us a free meal!”

“Yes, but… They’re drunk, and it’s best not to take advantage of the mentally impaired.” Discord stared at the door, then walked back to my side. “Let’s just head out, and we’ll find…”

“Hey, I said come inside!” The green apple stallion’s head popped out the door, no longer cheery.

“I’m sorry,” I said as politely as I could, “Your offer is generous, but no thank you.”

“Hey cutie…” I felt my nose curl as he addressed me directly. “There’s a lot of guys, a lot of guys that you just don’t say ‘no thank you’ to.” He wobbled on the door, and thrust his sleeve forward, grinning stupidly. “I’m one of those guys.”

“C’mooon doll baby,” the other stallion poked his head around his brother’s shoulders. “We won’t hurt you. Just want a nice face round this nasty, nasty city…”

I realized something very important right then. My biggest, most grave mistake of this entire trip. I did, in fact, pick the absolute worst place to hide from a storm. I strode confidently out into the rain, the loud shower instantly drenching me. My sister and my friend followed quickly behind.

My cloak was yanked, digging in my throat and stopping me short. I flipped around, and its hem was held in the stallion’s mouth. I tried to pull it loose. My eyes flashed over to the guards. We were making a scene now, how would they react? Hopefully in our favor, oh please let it be in our favor… For the moment, the two of them simply watched, their attention held, but no alarm raised.

“Let go!” I demanded.

“You said you were new to the city?” The pony slurred. “Well, new face, there’s a bunch, a bundle of things you don’t do. One of those things is opposing the Apple family.”

“I’m not opposing a family, I am rejecting your offer!”

And suddenly, my cloak loosened, and Luna was in front of me.

“Leave my big sis alone!” she shouted.

“Big sis?”

“Aw, that’s cute…” the second stallion, the green apples one, strode forward, crouching down to Luna’s eye level. “What’s your name? How old are you lil filly?”

“Okay,” Discord hissed up at me, “While he’s distracted, I’ll make a copy of you standing here, then we can sneak away. Just hold still for a second.”

“Why can’t we just run?!” I whispered back. Discord gave me a blank stare, or I take that’s what his silence meant. I turned back to my sister wondering if I should just… grab her! This isn’t worth making a fuss over!

“Can you tell your ‘big sis’ to stop being such a stick-in-the-mud?” said Green Apples, “Just sit down, have a couple drinks…”

“I said…” A light flared from Luna’s face, and both stallions recoiled.

“Luna…!” I cried in warning.

“LEAVE US ALONE!”

Luna’s voice blasted like a strike of lightning, sending the two stallions sprawling, glass fracturing, certainly not only on this store’s window. Stunned, ears ringing, I grabbed the back of Luna’s cloak, certain that—

“OI! STOP RIGHT THERE.”

“Guards!” I squeaked, spinning around, seeing the two guards running right for us, pulling out their own whips…
“Run!” Discord shouted. He slapped his hooves down on the pavement, water snapping into ice, making the guards stumble and slip. Just like in Canterbury… Will we have to run here, without answers, without any gain at all? I shoved Luna in front of me and broke into a gallop.

There was a strangled sound, and I whirled around. Around Discord’s neck was a thick, bulging leather strap, pulled tight by one of the guards, standing firm as the ice transformed back into water. Discord dug his fingers under it, falling onto his back, his own illusion vanishing. His forefeet fell away, and he sort of… slumped a little.

“Discord!” I screamed. Was he…?!

“Stay right where you are, nice and easy.” Another guard, in front of me, three others splashing up behind him. A metal rod was clasped tightly in his teeth, head low, glaring at me with one eye. “No funny business, and no one gets hurt.”

Luna’s horn flared up, and there was more shouting. A second guard yanked a whip, no, a lasso from his belt, and in an instant it snapped around Luna’s neck, dragging her forward. She blinked slowly, and ceased to struggle, dropping down into a puddle.

“Now, you’re going to cooperate!” the guard barked, “Got it?”

“Y-yes…” I refused to remove my eyes from my sister. It was like she just… fell asleep. Please, let them just be asleep!

One of the guards began question the two stallions that heckled me, while another went to look over Discord, examining him as rain seeped through his entire coat. A number of ponies, other creatures, peered from doors and windows, some grumbling and shouting about their window panes, about the guards, about crazy unicorns…

“Do you have a permit for this, miss?”

“For…?” The questioner nudged Discord with his hoof, nearly kicking him. Oh, I could feel the water on my face boil. “Discord is not a ‘this,’” I snapped, “He is an intelligent being.”

“Alright, alright, let’s not get all huffy,” I looked back at the stallion who had stopped me, shoving his weapon back into his sash. “I just want to see identification, your operating license, as well as a voucher or permit proving the beast’s intelligence or ownership otherwise.”

I stood, still, and fuming. But more importantly, completely unable to respond. What were all those things? Why were they necessary?

“Some identification, miss,” the guard demanded.

“Alright…” I reached for the pass we had gotten, horn lighting up.

“WOAH!”

“What are you doing there?!” The rod shook in my face once more, and I recoiled as two other guards reached for their lassos.

“I was just going to get the papers out of my bag!” I shouted.

“No magic. Get them out the old fashioned way.”

The two stallions that were heckling us were let to leave, and they promptly ran off into the rain. I rooted through my bags with my mouth, something so simple, yet made so difficult without magic… Finally, I drew out the page we had gotten not a half hour past, holding it open in my mouth as rainwater began to splotch and blur the letters.

The guard gave it one glance, and said, “Alright, that’s one crime, lying on your entrance papers. Now show me your identification and your permits.”

“Lying?” I said, nearly dropping the page. “What..?”

“Your identification, miss.”

"Well, I'm um, a student from Canterlot, so I didn't realize..." I said softly, looking away, for an escape. “I didn't realize I needed any?”

The guard regarded me silently, then yanked his head to his second. In just a moment, the stallion’s lasso was within his grip, unfurled.

“Alright, you’re all coming in.”

“No!” I squeaked, letting my papers, backing away.

“Now look, miss, don’t make us—!”

There was a loud cawing sound, apparently from nowhere. The guards looked around, the ones holding my friends drawing them underfoot as the sound built up, echoed by two voices, then more.

“Not again,” one of the guards groaned.

“You will oppress the ponies of Stringhalt no longer, authority scum!” A new voice rang out, a young voice, confident and clear.

“Uhg, where is that dumb brat…”

“Up there!”

I followed a pointing hoof as it jutted to a place behind me, up above. Standing on a rooftop, getting soaked by the rain, was a pony, a colt no older than I was, coat a splotchy white and brown, wearing nothing but a drenched and floppy cap.

“Sickle Ravens!” he shouted, throwing out his chest, “TO THE RESCUE!”

A dozen uneven voices cawed and screamed bird cries as smoke and flashes of light engulfed the entire street. I stumbled backward, lighting my horn as shadows and shouts closed around me. And I clearly wasn’t the only one disoriented.

“Darn stupid kids – fifth time this – for the love of! – GET THE HECK OFFA ME!”

“Caw! – Take that! – Release them, you foul ogres! – CAWCAW! – Sickle Ravens, yeah!”

“This way miss!” A brown earth colt only Luna’s age appeared out of the fog, tugging at my cloak, pulling me towards an alleyway.

“Oh! But my friends…!” I turned in the fog once more. Luna was just a few feet away, I could find her, couldn’t I?

“Don’t worry, the SICKLE RAVENS will save them!” the colt declared, “Now hurry! Hurry!”

Hesitantly, I stumbled a few steps forward, then quickly followed the vanishing boy. I dashed down the alleyway, splashing through puddles as I watched the running colt, wondering where in Equestria this would take me.