After Hoarfrost’s death and a chance to explain what had happened, the Earth Ponies had let us into their village. “A distraction doesn’t attack their raider friends” was their reasoning. They let us stay in a building they called “the tavern”. I didn’t know what that was so I didn’t comment. Not that I was doing much more than sniffling occasionally.

Of the twelve of us that had voted, only eight of us remained. Hoarfrost was obviously dead, Emerald and Sapphire were missing. But perhaps most distressingly, Snow Step had been found in the woods with her throat slit.

Brisk Road was perhaps the only pony more miserable than I was. While he had seen and heard what his father Hoarfrost had done, and understood why he had died, Brisk didn’t know why his sister had died. I wanted to at least sit by him, because I couldn’t imagine what I would do if Tia had been the one that died. But at the same time, I had been the one to kill his father. If the hydra that had killed Mom had been a pony, I wouldn’t want them to sit by me.

So I kept my distance.

Earth Ponies came and went. A few talked with our group. Discussing adult things with each other. Fewer still had come to talk to me. But those conversations never lasted long, because for some reason I had lost my ability to speak. I wanted to, I really did. But I couldn’t even muster up the will to even speak with Tia.

The highlight of my evening was when the giant in armor had come to talk to me.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

“So lass…” the giant set her helmet down on the table in the corner I had chosen to sulk. The mare, yes she was a mare, was massive. Easily the size of three of the largest Unicorns I had ever seen. “Word amongst yer kin is that yer a right terror with a spear.” she smiled good naturedly. “Not many mares worth their salt can claim to take down a hydra, much less a wee filly like yerself.”

I nodded.

“Was that stallion the first pony ye killed?”

I nodded again.

“Ah. My apologies. Wee lil’ lass like yerself should’ve never had ta take another pony’s life.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Ken ye talk wee lass?”

I nodded.

“Well? Why ain’t cha?”

I shrugged.

The mare seemed to snort at that.

“Well, ain’t my place ta tell ya how to go ‘bout yer business. Earth knows what queer shite everypony gets inta.”

A much smaller Earth Pony mare brought the giant of a pony a wooden mug full of strange smelling liquid.

“Cheers love.” the maid chirped before moving on.

“Cheers!” the giant cheered, lifting the mug to her lips and taking a swig. She set it back down with surprising roughness. “Well lass, if ye want, it’s a tradition in these parts where ponies get their first drink after their first kill. If the word of yer kin is true, yer due five mugs. Four fer every hydra head and one fer yer kin traitor.”

Confused, I tilted my head, but then I realized she was talking about what was in her mug. I sniffed towards the mare’s mug. It smelled… Funny.

I reached my hooves towards her mug, but stopped halfway, wordlessly trying to ask “May I?”

The giant chuckled.

“Aye, sure lass.”

Tentatively, I took the mug almost as large as my head and lifted, letting a small portion reach my tongue.

“BLEH!” I all but dropped the mug to the table, spitting out what little had got into my mouth. It has been SOUR. Like someone had taken a loaf of bread, liquefied it, and had decided to make dark yellow water into it!

The giant mare was laughing uproariously.

“Aye, we all have that reaction. Ye’ll get used ta it though.” she chortled. “Yer alright lass. If the rumor mill is true and yer sister decides ta stay with us, Ah wouldn’t say no ta teaching ye a few tricks with yer eye poker.”

Eye poker? What was a- Oh. The Pegasoplian spear.

Despite the awful taste still in my mouth, I nodded. Seeing the look on my face, the mare started laughing again.

“Good with a spear and tough ta boot! We’ll get along jus’ fine!” she grinned and patted me gently on the shoulder. “See ya around wee Hydrabane.” With that, the giant mare got to her hooves, her mug of foul liquid cradled like a foal, and left to go talk to other ponies.

Hydrabane? What had she meant by that?

The Earth Ponies “Tavern” turned out to be a building they used specifically for visitors to sleep. Which was a novel idea to me, as visiting merchants in Queensford simply stayed with the family that had the most room in their hut. Mom had never hosted one, because our hut was one of the smaller huts in the village. And with two mares and a filly, space was already in demand, and it would’ve only become more cramped as I grew bigger.

Another difference between Queensford and Ùllahdmaiden, which I learned was the name of the Earth Pony village, was that despite Queensford being surrounded by forests and Ùllahdmaiden being in a plain, Ùllahdmaiden was constructed with sturdy timber logs. While Queensford was little more than dried river mud piled against sticks in the ground. I knew trees could be cut down for logs to make things, but it never occurred to me that you could make buildings out of thick and sturdy trunks! And it was so sturdy too! In Queensford, you had to be careful to not run into a wall, in case you accidently broke through, but the Earth ponies didn’t care! In fact I saw a couple of fillies running around and playing, and they accidentally rammed into one of the homes. At first I was afraid I was about to witness a pair of fillies get in trouble, but who I assumed to be the owner of the house smiled kindly, gave them something to eat, and thanked the two for testing her walls!

That was another novel idea! Why hadn’t we thought about testing our homes? Surely if a monster wanted, dried mud wasn’t going to stop them from taking a pony! How many of my fellow villagers had been taken in the night because we didn’t test our home's sturdiness?

Another thing that astounded me, as I sat in my and Tia’s room in the tavern, was the hard yet clear material set into the window. “Glass” they had called it. I didn’t know what it was, or how you even began to make it, but it allowed light in without letting cold gusts of air or rain in! We never had anything like it in Queensford!

The more I thought about it, the less Hoarfrost’s Unicorn superiority made sense. If Unicorns were so smart, then why were they building with mud when there were stronger materials not four pony lengths away from their front door?

Who cared if you were chosen by the Sun to shoot light out of your horn if you lacked the smarts to do anything with the skill?

I sat at the room’s window, occasionally tapping the glass as I watched the sky fade from blue to orange.

Tia had left briefly to go talk to a few ponies, to discuss adult stuff I supposed. But she returned after not too long.

“The giant pony said you were thinking about staying.” I said, surprising myself with my own voice.

“Giant? Oh! You’re talking about Appleflower.” Tia responded. “Yes, I’ve been speaking with the mayor about staying.”

“Why?” I asked, not that I was against the idea, but because I was curious.

“Well-” Tia began as she began to fiddle with something in her saddlebags. “We’ve traveled very far South Lu. Further than we thought. If we keep going any farther, there’ll be no villages to bargain with for food. So we stay here permanently, offering what we can in exchange, or we head back North.”

“Oh.” I stated simply.

“Oh? Is that all Lu? Tell me what’s going on inside that head of yours.” Tia encouraged.

“I’m… I like it here.” I started. “I like how much sturdier the Earth Ponies do things. I like how strange yet familiar the Earth Ponies are. I’m just surprised the options are ‘stay’ or ‘go back’. It’s just, after everything, this is the end of the road.” I sighed. Tia stopped fiddling with her pack.

“... You’re being very thoughtful about this.” she sighed. “You should’ve been out playing and making friends with the other fillies.”

“Until they make fun of me for being Moon Marked and tease me like Emerald and Sapphire. Or say something like Hoarfrost and I stab them too.” I stated grimly as I watched as the sky began to turn from orange to a navy blue that matched my coat.

Tia fell silent.

“Come on Lu, time for bed.” she said after a few minutes of silence.

“Okay Tia.” I sighed, turning away from the window, slightly disappointed I wasn’t about to see the stars come out from the safety of the Tavern window.

Nice