"Weyt yeh wint?"
Lightning Dust is looking at Buckface too, but I think she's just checking him out.
Oh-ho, eating the eye candy, is she? Wait until she sees the
big lads...
Scrivener frowns at him. "Come on, now. You kin speak their language jes' as weyl and I kin."
"What af it?"
And well-read too? (So to speak.) Quite the full package.
"Hi." Sunset smiles. "I'm Sunset Shimmer. I'm from Equestria, the country on the far side of the pole." No obvious reaction. "To the north. Past the yaks."
"Oh, aye?"
I don't think he's impressed. Presumably not taking in the sheer distances involved. Or caring.
"Yes! And we don't have anyone who knows earth pony magic. And you -apparently- do."
His cutie mark is a log-. No. A caber.
Och, aye? How appropriate.
"Oh. Aye."
"So I was hoping you'd come back with us, and teach other-"
"No."
Of course not, he's still only a student himself.
"-pon-." She frowns. "What? Why not?"
"Masters teach. I in't a master yet."
Like I said yesterday, probably better off looking for the local cities for masters...
"Oh… Kay..? And how do you become a master?"
He looks at her. Then he looks pointedly at his load. Then he looks back at her.
I'm picturing him thinking "Is this bint barmy or summat?"
"O-. Is that all?" She looks at me. "Grayven, we can get some weights, right?"
"Yes, I think we can manage some training weights. But Equestrian earth ponies drag trains for training. It saves on coal."
"Trains?"
Oh-ho, he's interested now.
I wouldn't say that Buckface-.
"Is Buckface your actual name, or is it more of a nickname? I can't believe that your parents actually-."
Grayven, blunt and rude as ever.
"This snoot not gi' yeh a clue, jimmeh?"
Lightning Dust sniffs. "If you're so tough, how come your muzzle got broken."
Don't turn your nose up, girl, not until you've heard
why and
how.
"Dragon."
"How big a d-?"
"An' a moontain."
...Was there
throwing of said mountain involved, or...?
Lightning Dust looks thoughtful for a moment, then smiles. "This I gotta hear."
"Fought a dragon. He wus losin', 'til he got a hold a' me and slammed me int' a granite cliff. I thank it wus three ower four times. Then he flew owf."
Okay, add 'nigh-invulnerability' to a Lacertomancer's skill-set...
"So are we talking a baby dragon, or..?"
"A mite bigger than that. An' yu." He looks at me. "Ma an' Pa named me Hearthguard. But 'til I get that dragon back but gud, it's 'Buckface'. Now wa's this aboot 'trains'?"
Ah, it's a point of honour. Understandable. And that's why he's training up, isn't he?
"They're giant metal carts that run all over the country. Also worth pointing out that there aren't any masters of earth pony magic in Equestria."
"Eh?"
Non-sequiteur much? Then again, telling him he'd be the first Lacertomancer of any kind in the country...
"None. It's a forgotten art. There might be one or two who intuit parts from first principles if they're got the right cutie mark, but that's it. No teachers. No masters."
"How do they gat anythin' dun?"
HA. He's got a low opinion of the other breeds, doesn't he?
Sunsets eyes narrow. "And what do you mean by that?"
"How d' they fight chaos beasties or move stuff? Nah wee pesagapods or unicorns kin dew at."
Oh, is he in for a surprise...
"Oh, can't we?"
"Ah han'na see it."
She smiles. "Unhitch yourself for a moment."
Ah, time to show off what she's learned, eh?
"Tchhaa! Twig a' a thang like yerself?" He jerks himself free of the hitch and steps aside. "Ha' a go iffin yah like, filly."
"And if I move it, you'll come back to Equestria with us?"
Appealing to his honour, eh. Or his Ego. Much the same with some folks.
"Werl, I hafta finish moving it furst. But wance the deal's done with, aye." He nods.
"Grayven, open a boom tube to…" She frowns. "Where are you going with this?"
"West aways, teh the river."
Not far, eh, just a hundred miles or so?
Ring…
Location confirmed.
Boom!
Typical Renegade, taking the shortcuts...
A tube aperture large enough for the giant cart appears next to a rather stunned shipwright.
"Hm." Sunset nods and then returns her full attention to the cart. Her horn glows and the cart glows in sympathy. "You know, a year ago I'd try lifting this with pure force. Now?"
She knows better than that. Sneakiness beats muscle.
There's a small flash, and the cart… Floats a little way off the ground, no longer affected by gravity. Sunset walks around to the back of it, makes eye contact with Buckface, and then rears up on her hind legs and gives it a gentle shove. It drifts forwards, wobbling left and right as the rollers catch on the ground.
"See, while we don't know anything about earth pony magic, unicorn magic? We're kinda good at that."
Heh. This will be very interesting...
"Aye. So ah see." He watches as the cart drifts through and Sunset cancels her spell. "Werl, I'll nah go back on mah wurd. Let's tek a luuk at these 'train' thangs, then."
Bet's a bet, eh? I suppose he's looking forwards to a little break.
I smile. "Scrivener, I image that actual ambassador from Equestria will be along presently. In the mean time, a little something to remember us by."
I take a Wilsonian world map out of subspace and hand it over to her. Her horns glows as she opens it and looks it over, then cuts out as she gapes in shock.
World's a lot bigger than she thought, eh? Kind of humbling to see how small the part you know is.
The boom tube booms shut, then a new one opens back to Canterlot. A palace balcony with a good view of the whole of the city. Lightning Dust flaps through a moment later and does a quick loop over the city. Buckface steps through next, the aperture wobbling slightly as he passes through. He frowns as he looks around at the city, far larger than anything that my drones found in Ponyland. Sunset brings up the rear, and I close the tube behind her.
Wait, Boom Tubes usually don't wobble... Something hinky about his mass?
Buckface frowns as he walks to the edge of the balcony and looks out across the city. Canterlot is only mildly industrialised. The country's main industrial centre is Detrot, located near their largest coal deposits, and while Canterlot does have industry it also has harsh clean air laws passed by the landed gentry who have no interest in breathing smog. Magic pollution filters are available, but they do make it inefficient to do anything too heavy.
Ah, some good reasoning as to why the local towns seem so medieval...
"Well?" Sunset smiles as she walks over to him. "What do you think?"
He looks at her in bewilderment.
"What nincomninny built a city hangin' off a mountain? One gud stomp an' it'll awl tumble down!"
Someone else had that thought in-universe! It's amazing!
Sunset blinks.
"Then.. please don't stomp?"
He snorts and goes back to taking in the sights.
That's like asking him to not breathe...
Okay, got the one for each breed.
"Sunset, I think it's time to do your demonstration. Let's go and round up the survivors of Miss Dust's lesson."
Demonstration... Her ritual, or her lecture? So many threads to keep track of...
