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Ruins of old


Davroth

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Seeker looked up into the sky. The sun was high, and he had finally reached his destination. During his stay in Ponyville he had heard lots of rumours about this place, but now that he stood here, none of them seemed to come even close to the truth.

In front of him lay the Moon Palace, or what was left of it. Not much was known about this place, because most ponies didn't want to be close to it. For him, this was a wondrous place. He could feel it in the air, this was a place of rich history.

Recently, some ponies from Ponyville had recovered a set of old artefacts, the Elements of Harmony, from this place, but that didn't interest Seeker in the slightest. No, to truly fathom the past of this place, he would have to dig deeper. A place like this surely had libraries, and whole legions of scribes, and maybe even secrets, forgotten by time. He was almost shaking with anticipation now, just thinking of what might be buried here.

'But first thing's first.' he thought, looking around for a place to camp. "Up that slope, on that flattened piece of grass, that looks good" he said to the world in general. As always when he stood somewhere for too long, Blacky, his shepherd dog, came running up to him, sitting down in front of Seeker with an asking expression. "Come, boy." he began, trotting up the slope. "Let's build our camp."

It was late autumn now, but it didn't look like rain. He wouldn't need his tent tonight. A few minute later he had a decent fire going, and sat there with his back to the fire, eating one of the rations he had packed. Behind him a slurping and gnawing sound told him that Blacky was enjoying his food, too.

He would rest here for a moment, and then start examining the area, so he could start digging tomorrow.

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Today was not turning out to be a good day for Silversword.

She'd been trotting for half a day, having been told earlier by an inhabitant of Ponyville, (where she was currently visiting,) that there was a stallion headed for the Moon Palace. Anxiously, she had set off at once, as she wasn't sure on just how safe the ruins were. It might have deteriorated even more since the time that the Elements of Harmony had been there.

In a state of agitation, she had galloped the entire way. She was covered in mud and burrs, had used her wings to fly over the river, landing in it a few times when her wings gave out, and had climbed the mountain. It was a good thing she had a quick pace and strong legs.

She was tired, now, however, exhausted from the efforts it took to make it there. She crossed the last obstacle to the Moon Palace, a canyon, with much difficulty from her wobbly wings.

Silversword made it, finally, sweating and muddy, looking as if she'd tangled with a marsh monster. It was of little importance to her, however.

She must find the one that was travelling through these parts! She smelled smoke and saw it rise lazily, in a wispy sort of way, up ahead.

It was on a slope. Even though her legs ached and her muscles protested against every step, Silversword walked up the slope feverishly, panicking.

What if he went in and it crumbled on him? she asked herself, and sped up, before being met with the sight of...

A stallion, sitting behind a campfire, with a black dog next to him. He seemed perfectly at home in this place.

He didn't look as if he needed rescuing at all. In fact, he seemed to be having a good time here, up at the Moon Palace! She clenched her jaw in agitation. Half a day, wasted! Half a day spent rushing to find this stallion at a break-neck pace! Her muscles ached more than they had in a long time, but she ignored the pain momentarily.

"What in the hay are you doing in this place?!" Silversword hissed in surprise, unsure if she was in sight of this pony or not. She stepped forward, her dragging wings shuffling restlessly, her hooves thudding upon the ground as she stepped heavily.

"It isn't safe here! You must return!" She muttered, before stopping a bit before the fire, her chest heaving. Her wings dragged behind her, and her legs wobbled.

She was angry, of course, but tried hard not to snap at him. Silversword tried to hold herself up straight, but it was difficult on these wobbly hooves.

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That was rather surprising. Blacky had jumped up, and seemed to listen. Seeker didn't hear anything over the crackling of the fire.

"What in the hay are you doing in this place?!"

"It isn't safe here! You must return!"

He stood up, and slowly made his way around the fire. To his surprise, there was a silvery pegasus mare standing on the other side. She had a sword strapped on her, wore a cload, and some kind of metal hoof protection. She looked kind of winded, and her wings shuffled disquietingly.

"Excuse me, are you talking to me?", Seeker began, doubtful. He couldn't quite place her tone. "Why wouldn't it be safe here?"

Blacky stood by his side, looking a bit uncertain as well.

"But, please, where are my manners?" he said. "I am Seeker, of the desert nomads. Can I offer you something to drink, or a bite?"

He shook his head in direction of the fire, and then looked at her, waiting for a reaction.

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"I don't mean to sound snappy.. but who else would I be talking to?!" she muttered, panting a bit from exertion.

The stallion was fine, he was safe and sound, but why was he outside the Moon Palace? Would he attempt to explore the ruins? It would be a foalish thing to do, when it was uncertain whether or not the structure was stable. She listened to him speak, and she calmed down a bit, her tail finally still, ears slightly folded back.

He seemed polite enough..

She saw movement, and noticed a dog beside him. A slight look of surprise came over her, as this would be about the second or third time in her life that she had seen such a creature. They weren't rare, of course, but she simply hadn't met many ponies who had them as pets. She watched the creature for a moment longer, before realizing she was being offered food and drink.

She bit her lip, uncertain, before deciding that she might as well, before telling him that he must leave once again.

She nodded at the desert nomad, wondering why he was so far off from the desert. Perhaps he was lost, then?

A moment after she trotted up to the fire, she eased herself on the ground, refraining from just crumpling onto the ground and massaging her aching muscles.

"I am Silversword. And this is not the best location for a traveler." she murmured, watching the stallion carefully. Why, of all places to go, would somepony come here?

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"So, Miss Silversword, what can I offer you?" Seeker said, more to himself. He rummaged around in his saddle bags, looking through the conserved food he had bought in Ponyville. That had been surprisingly hard, because most of the ponies there only prepare conserves for the winter. He had eventually found a family that sold him some, but most of it was apple based, and he didn't know how he felt about that.But that wouldn't do, he had a guest after all.

Blacky had walked over to the pegasus and sniffed a bit, then he sat down in front of her and panted happily. "You can pet him if you like." Seeker said, only half noticing it. "He is very well behaved." He added.

He had some mushroom stew he had prepared for the evening. 'That's perfect!' he thought, turning to the silvery pegasus. "You are in for a treat. This is a recipe my aunts taught me. Those are not the same mushrooms from the mountain outskirts of course, but I let them all get checked by an expert in Ponyville." He reheated it a bit over the fire, and poured it into a fresh bowl. "It tastes a bit different then back home, but as long as I got some of the herbs left from back home, it always turns out right."

He produced a fresh spoon from one of the bags and let both float over to the pegasus. "I hope you like it" he said, warmly.

"I can assure you, I'm no simple traveller." he began, conversationally, "I sought out this place specifically. You see, I am an archaeologist, and I suspect to find traces of a pre discordian civilisation here." He radiated pure, untarnished joy as he spoke "I've spend my whole life searching for it, but up to now with little success. But I have a good feeling about this place."

He smiled: "But here I am, blabbering on about my work." he laughed nervously. This whole "Small Talk"-thing felt still new to him. "So, Miss Silversword, what kind of danger are you talking about?"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Silversword looked up to watch the nomadic pony, bewilderment apparent on her features. The unicorn was kind to her, hospitable even.

Quietly, she stole a glance or two to see what he was searching for as he rummaged through his saddlebags, and the black dog had made its' way over to her, seemingly curious.

It was a strange creature, that was sure, and dogs often came in different shapes, but this one seemed friendly, unlike the Diamond Dogs she had heard of and seen a few times in her life.

This dog, however, seemed fine, and so she lifted a cautious hoof and tapped its head, eyes narrowed in suspicion as if expecting it to bite her.

Silversword listened to him speak of mushroom stew, and gratefully accepted the bowl and spoon, sitting back and holding both.

"Thank you. I apologize for snapping earlier. I was worried."

Silver glanced at him, a flush of embarrassment creeping onto her features.

"I believed you to be a simple traveler, and worried that the Temple would not be stable enough for the examination of a rambunctious explorer." she took a sip of the stew, and found it to be quite tasty.

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Seeker watched her happily as Silversword took a few sips from the stew. He wasn't used to company, but he did spent some time in Canterlot lately and being her all alone in the wild made him feel weird, when he allowed himself to think about it. But then again, most of his mind was occupied with the prospect of finally finding something of greater significance then the marks he had found in the mountains.

A happy bark pulled him back into the now. Black had sniffed around Silversword, sat down on the ground, waggling his tail and panting. "I think he likes you" Seeker began friendly "And he is an excellent judge of character."

He looked over to his maps that he had lied out. This would probably take some time out of his schedule, but it would be rude to not cater a guest.

"You are a guardpony, Miss Silversword?" he said, in what he hoped was a conversational tone. "I met some of them before, but they had more armor." He smiled. "So what do you do when you are not looking after endangered travelers?"

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  • 2 weeks later...

This was.. not half-bad! Good, even! Silver thought to herself as she sipped her mushroom stew.

The dog, Seeker's pet seemed inclined to sit with her, his tail moving at a furious rate, tongue lolling out of his mouth. She was a bit confused, and wondered if the dog was exhausted. Her own pet, Nicodemus, merely flew around and sat on her shoulder when he was tired.

Of course, he was not here, having decided to catch up with her when he wanted to. He could find her when he wanted, she remembered, and turned her attention to the unicorn.

"Thank you for the meal, once again," she said graciously, bowing her head, before listening to him speak.

"Perhaps your dog is correct." she blinked and turned to face the creature curiously, patting its' head with a sort of hesitant affection.

Upon hearing his question, her ears perked.

"Of a sort. I am a Destrier. A.. a knight, if you will. I patrol, help others, and work for the general good of the Equestrians," Silversword stated proudly, her chest puffing out with pride.

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"A knight you say?" Seeker went thoughtful for a moment. He had read about knights, but those were in old books his parents kept. It wasn't quite what he had pictured, but he wasn't the type to judge. "I've never seen one before, but I'm sure there are many heroic deeds you could tell me about."

Now that Silversword had finished her meal, Seeker felt the drive to get back to work. He wanted to get done with it before the sunset.

"Well, Miss Silversword, it's very thoughtful of you to check on a traveller, but there is a lot of work still ahead of me today." He began "Would you like to see what I do here, so you can be sure it's not dangerous?" He added "I'd like to hear some more about the life of a knight, too."

Seeker waited for a response. He knew that Blacky was aching to run around some more, too. 'I should be able to sight the east side at least, that should do.' he thought 'And it's not like I'm on a schedule here.' Absent minded he began packing his tools and papers back into his work saddle bags.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Seeker seemed to be honestly interested in her, demonstrating a curiosity for what Silversword did that she hadn't seen before.

It was flattering, really, but she didn't deal well with anything like that. The unicorn probably didn't get to see much of the Royal Guard, or of Destriers while on his travels through the wilderness, so it was to be expected that he would wish to learn a bit more.

She'd never met an archaeologist before, either, so he probably had stories as well.

"Perhaps a few, if you would care to hear the tale." Her voice was soft, and her eyes were focused on the dog nearby.

Silver noticed that there was a sort of restless energy that Seeker had, and after asking her on whether she would like to come along with him, she pondered it for a few moments, carefully choosing her words.

"That seems to be in order. At least, until I am completely satisfied that you will be fine. And.. I suppose I could tell you a few stories, as long as I receive a few in return."

She smiled slightly, knowing that she would learn a bit as well if she went along with this.

Seeker packed his belongings away, and she offered her help, hating the feeling of being unable to do anything.

"Do you require assistance?" she asked, reaching a hesitant hoof out.

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Seeker gave this some thought. Actually, his saddlebags and pouches were designed for him to be able to carry all of his equipment by himself. He had worked alone all his life. On the other food, he didn't want to pass such a kind offer.

"Eh.." he began, fiddling at the the lock of one of his pouch belts "It would help me greatly if you could take some of those off my hooves." He stuck out one hoof, handing her the pouch belt that had been around his shoulders up to now. "It sometimes hinders my movement, you know."

Those pouches held lots of his instruments that he didn't need all the time, yet he made it a point to be able to carry all of his equipment at all time. It had irked him a lot that he had to leave most of his bags back in his room when he had visited the libraries and sights of Canterlot.

"Well" he said, picking up the last of his maps and tugging them away in one of his saddlebags. "Let's get on our way, then."

Now that he thought about it, Seeker had never had anyone to help him with his research. Then again, the grey mare would probably be on her way soon enough as she was sure that he was safe here. 'I better enjoy it as long as it lasts.' he thought.

As they trotted down the slope to the east side of the ruins, Blacky ran around them, barking happily. A dog his size needed a lot of movement, Seeker knew. It was for the best that they were back in the field, where he could run around to all his hearts content.

"So, Miss Silversword, what kind of excitement holds the life of a knight?" He said in a friendly tone, vibrating with genuine interest. Although his excitement was usually reserved for his work, meeting a real life knight, a figure he'd only known from story books, was kind of exciting.

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