Lush forests and verdant plains were abundant. Flowers bloomed seemingly everywhere, every rich color of the rainbow. A large snow capped mountain fed multitudes of rivers, which flowed clean and clear.

The one and only issue was the three tent cities that faced against each other in the closest valley, separated by only a single winding river.

“Hold up. Stop please.” Tia ordered from her lead cart, one of the old wooden plackarts around her shoulders. I pulled up beside her cart, my eyes drinking in the lush valleys below.

“Can any of you see whose flags are above those camps?” Tia asked the Ponies surrounding her.

“I see a few Ùll banners over that one.” One of the stallions pulling her current cart pointed.

“Aye, and a fair few United Clan flags as well.” his partner added.

“I see banners of the Noble Houses and the Royal family.” I added. “The same ones that flew over Ùllahdmaiden.” I grunted.

I could never forget the bright intricate banners that sat outside the village that night. I knew the names of the houses that were present, and could recognise those that I didn’t know the name of.

“Then I imagine the camp with banners of lightning and clouds are Pegasoplian?” Tia guessed out loud.

“Sounds right.”

“Not a bet I’d bet against.”

Tia thought to herself for a moment, running through options in her head.

“... Slowly approach the Clan encampment.” she ordered. “At the very least most of us will be welcomed there.”

“What about ye and the other Unicorns Madam Mayor?” the puller on the right asked.

I inwardly noted how much respect Tia had earned over the past month. She could’ve lost a lot more ponies very easily.

But she didn’t.

“Don’t worry about us. If it comes down to it, we can hide in the Unicornian camp.” Tia responded.

“... Some of the villagers won’t like ye returning to the Crown.” the puller on the left remarked. The implied accusation hung in the air like a thundercloud.

“Neither will we.” Tia stated. “Hopefully it won’t come to that. I’d personally rather camp an hour's walk away before we tried Unicornia.”

The stallion on the right snorted with amusement.

“No time like the present then.” he stated, starting to pull on his half of the cart. The stallion on the left joined him a second later, and the caravan rolled down the hill towards the three encampments.

Much like the final hours of Ùllahdmaiden, the Clan encampment had been ringed with palisades. Unlike Ùllahdmaiden however, these fortifications were mighty, made with the thick trunks of trees that had to have been older than a century, plastered together with mud and clay. Many great trenches had been dug into the earth, each deep enough for even Appleflower to stand in comfortably and remain totally hidden, easily more than any single army could accomplish in a single day. What little we could see on this side of the palisade, it looked like spare dirt had been muddied and compacted into bricks and further reinforced by building half buried bunkers that Earth Ponies could hide in, protected from swooping Pegasi and spellfire from Unicorns.

The beginnings of tall trebuchet could even be seen deeper within the camp.

This wasn’t the work of frightened villagers protecting their home, this was a military force settling in for a fight.

“Halt!” boomed a stallion’s voice from the front gate, made with more thick logs that could lower over the moat of spikes. “Ye are trespassing on Clan Territory! State yer business or bugger off!”

“Hail! Ponies of the Clans!” Tia greeted loudly. “I wish to parlay for our entry or protection!”

“Absolutely not horn head!” the stallion shouted in reply. “How am I supposed ta know if yer not a spy keeping a bunch of our villagers hostage?!”

“Then just let in my Earth Ponies!” Tia pleaded. “With Pegasoplis and Unicornia here they’ll be much safer with you!”

“Yer Earth Ponies?” the stallion stressed.

“No! No no! Not like that!” Tia started to panic, waving and crossing her forelegs. “They made me Mayor!”

“Aye! And I’m Princess Platinum!” The stallion retorted. “Git lost ye Earth forsaken spy! And all yer brainwashed Ponies too!”

Tia sputtered incoherently.

“Split Bark ye feckin’ idiot!” Boomed the voice of Appleflower as she hobbled forward on her pegleg.

“Wh- Appleflower?!” the stallion finally poked his head above the palisade, his chocolate brown face framed by emerald green locks of mane and a metal helmet that looked suspiciously like Appleflower’s. “What the Tartarus are ye doin’ behind a horn head fer?!”

“Same reason yer behind Puddin’ Head dumbass!” Appleflower exclaimed. “Now open up ‘fore I pull down that gate an’ all the ponies holding it up by myself!”

“Feck no!” ‘Split Branch’ retorted, spittle flying from his mouth. “Ye wanna pull it down? Go ahead! Ye can explain to yer father why the gates broken!”

“That sorry sack of shit’s still alive?!” the giant mare exclaimed. “Figured he’d have drowned in whorses or got the clap from a bottle!”

“Idjit! Ye gottem backwards!”

“Yeah? Come down here and ‘correct’ me then!”

“Feck no! I ain’t opening this gate fer nuttin’!”

“Guess I’m coming in then!” Appleflower rolled her shoulders as she suddenly started for the gate. I glanced at Tia, catching her attention.

“Do we… Do? Something?” I asked her quietly. She shrugged.

“Nah, ye Unicorns are big on being polite and proper, this is just how the Ùll Clan Earthbreakers greet each other.” The left stallion pulling Tia’s cart commented. Appleflower and Split Bark continued to argue, seeming to insult each other with every other word.

“Wait, they’re related?” Tia asked.

“Cousins.” the right stallion supplied. “Split Bark has stopped by Ùllahdmaiden everytime the Chancellor dropped by.”

“The two always knocked down at least one building with their greeting rituals.” the other stallion drawled.

“D’ ye think she’ll actually pull the gate open?” The stallion on the right asked.

“Nah, she’ll at least get the gate and somethin’ else.” the left replied.

“I’d bet a ration on that.”

“Done.”

The two shook hooves as Appleflower began to knock threateningly on the gate.

“I’ll do it!” she exclaimed loudly, staring at the gate as if she could bore holes through the wood with only her eyes. “I swear on yer Mum I’ll rip this whole gate off its hinges!”

“Don’t ye fecking dare ye trollop!” Split Bark exclaimed, fully leaning out over the palisade to keep the mare in sight.

“Then gitchyer ass down here so I ken kick it inta next week or open up!” the giant replied, her accent thickening by the sentence.

“I toldj ye! Ye daft excuse fer a mare!” Split Bark ranted. “Ain’t no way I’m openin’ this here gate!”

“Well ain’t thata shame?!” Appleflower exclaimed as she reared up and began to push with a single hoof.

The log gate, and a sizable portion of the tower that kept it up, swayed dangerously.

“Aight!” The stallion relented. “I ken letcha in! But only ye! The horn head and everypony else stays outside! Grandmaster’s orders!”

“Feckin’ finally! Ye sorry excuse uva hat rack!”

“I’m counting that. Pay up.” the stallion to the right stated.

“Day’s still young…” the left murmured as Appleflower returned to the caravan.

“Sorry about that.” she calmly said, as if she hadn’t just been in a shouting match for several minutes. “Split Bark and I haven't spoken fer a few years.”

“Spoke?” I asked. Tia shot me a look that would’ve been the equivalent of an elbow to the side.

“Just sit tight nearby.” Appleflower continued, either not hearing or ignoring me. “Ah’ll talk to my father about lettin’ ye all in. Might get a word inta Puddinghead’s ear too.”

“Th- The same father that you just said ‘drowned in whorses and got the clap from a bottle’?” Tia asked incredulously. Appleflower erupted with laughter.

“Old fart will probably get a kick outta that when Split Bark tells him.” she finally chuckled after a few moments. Tia put her head into her hooves and began to rub her temples.

“This was a mistake.” she groaned.

“Doncha worry Tia.” Appleflower reassured her by clapping her gently on the shoulder. “This time tomorrow we’ll all be safe inside those walls.” She smiled good naturedly. “Now go on, my daft cousin won’t open up if yer standing here.”

“Alright Appleflower.” Tia sat up in the cart. “I’ll trust you just like you trusted me.” She reached and offered a hoof to Appleflower. The Giant took it and gave a firm shake, her hoof looking almost comically huge compared to Tia’s.

“Gentlestallions? If you would?” Tia asked softly.The two shared a nod as the stallions took their cue to turn around and leave.

The rest of us, sans Appleflower, followed.

As the caravan left the fortified behind, I could hear the gate lower, and rise back up to permit Appleflower.

“So Tia.” I called out conversationally. “Any idea where to set up camp?”

“Definitely not right here.” she remarked, chewing the inside of her cheek. “With all three tribes breathing down each other’s necks and pointing hooves, I don’t want to set up right in front of one of their gates.”

“Where ta then?” the right hoof stallion pulling Tia’s cart asked.

“Upriver.” Tia decided. “We’ll get clean water and might be able to start a field or two of crops on the bank if we’re forced to stay.”

“Sounds like a plan ta me.” the left stallion remarked.

“I don’t have any better ideas.” I added.

“South along the river then.” Tia proclaimed.

Everything aside, it's fun to write "colorful and creative" conversations

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