653 Difèrne || Land Quests || First Land

“This is one of the most famous cities in the Plains Region.” Zealin waved her hoof around. “You can tell by the amount of… well, quirlicorns.” She turned slightly to Difèrne. “This is your first time in a city, right? Or, at least, in a Plains Region city?” Ember hovered next to her, following the two quirlicorns in a protective manner. 

Difèrne looked around in wonder. “It is!” she exclaimed. She lifted up her nose and breathed in the city air. Friend padded next to her, excited. Her tail wagged furiously. “So many good smells.” She sneezed. “And weird ones.”

“Are you hungry?” Zealin tilted her head towards a hot dog stand. “I can buy you something from a vendor if you’d like. You probably haven’t seen those before. Don’t worry, they have vegetarian choices if you don’t eat meat.” She sniffed the air. “If you want a formal restaurant though, there are a few options down the street.”

“There’s no need for that,” Difèrne said hurriedly. “A regular vendor stand will do perfectly. What do you recommend getting? I’ve never seen so many vendors or options before!” Friend barked in the direction of a hot dog stand. “Are those really made out of dogs?” she asked worryingly.

“Hmm… No. I think that they’re made of pork and beef.” Zealin trotted closer to the stand. “Up there’s a menu, if you want to choose something in particular.” She greeted the vendor. “Good afternoon. I would like three grilled hot dogs. And Ember…” Zealin silently asked Ember what she wanted and received a few chirps as a response. “She’d like four. Greedy phoenix.” Ember batted her with a fiery wing, although no harm was done. 

The yellow mare ended up ordering two plain hot dogs, and a weiner for her dog. Zealin suspected that she was uncomfortable asking for more, but said nothing without any evidence to support her hypothesis. Zealin gave the vendor several coins to purchase the meal. 

Difèrne suggested that they find a green area to sit and eat their food. “Maybe like a park? The places with grass are called parks around here, right?”

“Some of them, yes.” She turned to her familiar. “Can you fly higher and scout for a park?” Ember first gobbled down a hot dog before soaring upwards. A few minutes passed before Zealin nodded and relayed the information. “There’s one around a half hour’s trot down that way.” She pointed in a direction. “You want to go there?” 

“That far away?” Difèrne exclaimed. “How big is this city, anyway?” She looked at her hot dogs. “We might as well eat them now or else they’ll be cold… Unless you can and want to use magic to warm them up later.”

“Well, I did say that it’s one of the famous cities… So they squeezed in more places for visitors to earn more money.” Zealin stored away her bag. “Well, I do have Ember. She’s a phoenix, so she can warm them… I don’t think that zapping the food with lightning is a good idea.” Her eyes narrowed. “I admit that I haven’t tried it before, but the hot dogs would probably be burnt. Though, I can probably force someone to warm it up for us?”

Difèrne laughed. “It’s alright, we can keep on visiting the area and eat them on the way. Is there anything special to do here? Not that sightseeing is boring, of course. I’ve never seen buildings like this.”

“Sure, there are a few delicacies that are specific for the Plains Region.” Zealin paused in her speech. “Probably postcards too, if you want to send something back to your folks.” She wasn’t really sure on how ‘emotions’ and blood-related family worked, but quirlicorns did often do something like that. 

Difèrne’s aura brightened. “That’s a great idea!” While Zealin guided her to the post office, Difèrne asked: “Do you ever sent this kind of stuff to your family? Or do you find different souvenirs for them? Postcards must be boring when you tour the world regularly.”

‘Well, technically speaking, I do have a martial family,’ Zealin thought to herself. Out loud, Zealin answered, “Well, no. I don’t send postcards to them. I give them something more useful. Like workable herbs or building materials. Or books. Some of them love to read and grasp knowledge. Hmm… Well, weapons too. To train with.” She shrugged. “I mainly send them whatever they might be interested in using, I guess.” 

“That’s so sweet!” Difèrne beamed as she finally picked a card from the rack. It had flowers on it and overall looked nothing like the city they currently were in. “Do you use the weapons for jousting?” She seemed a bit lost.

Zealin wasn’t exactly used to being called ‘sweet,’ but she found that she didn’t mind it. “I suppose that it is.” She glanced at her two dark blue spiritual javelins, which had several new totem patterns weaved into it by her mane hair. “Depends on what you and your jousting partner decided on. I have two javelins that I’m familiar with. I’ve done several hoof and magical battles as well. You want to try jousting someday?”

“I’d love that,” She hesitated. “But I don’t have magic. And I never trained.” She smiled, embarrassed. 

“Magic isn’t necessary for jousting,” Zealin reassured, though her voice remained closer to neutral, “I mentioned that hoof battles are permitted. Or jousts with just weapons. No one aims to kill within jousts.” 

“I’ve never heard of hoof battles before. Isn’t it dangerous?” The yellow mare looked at her hardened mountain hooves.

Zealin blinked. She thought that the term ‘hoof battle’ was clear enough. “Well… No? Not if you put proper regulations beforehand? You fight with your hooves against your opponents without magic or weapons. I guess that you might get some dirt on you though.”

“Surely there must be some sort of protective gear involved though, right?” The yellow mare was not convinced.

“Well, you’re allowed to bring sparring tack, usually. But it’s mainly up to you and your jousting partner on whatever protections you’d allow.” Zealin rubbed her chin. “I don’t think that I’ve worn any protective gear for my jousts, other than sparring tack.” Her ears suddenly perked up. They swiveled to the right. “Did you hear that?” 

The yellow mare was about to answer when her ears perked. “Yeah, I hear it!” She took off in the direction of the sound, leaving Zealin behind a second time with her dog companion on her tail.

“Hey! Think first, act second!” Zealin shouted after her. She sighed, activated her phasing in case of any projectiles, and galloped in that direction too. Ember darted upwards to receive a better view, then sent Zealin an image from a bird-eye’s perspective of a dark alleyway with a gang of five quirlicorns and a hurt cat. 

Difèrne was the first to reach the gang, who were, as Zealin expected, rather hostile. “Hey,” Difèrne neighed in alarm. “Leave that cat alone!” She dodged a bolt of magic.

“The cat’s going to bleed out if it’s not patched up soon!” Zealin realized. Her eyes darted around. She had around no expertise. Zealin shuffled through her bag and found a roll of bandages, then decided to toss it at Difèrne. “You take care of the cat. These quirlicorns are coming with me.” Lightning crackled around her, and she grinned when all of their bolts of magic went through her and hit the opposing wall instead.

The other mare hesitated, then nodded. She rushed over to the injured animal, avoiding eye contact with the gang members.

Difèrne, Zealin telepathically sent the mare. How long do you need? I can blast them if necessary, but I’d prefer to not be tracked down for questioning. Sure, she was a demigod, but she wasn’t a deity. You can push your thoughts at me, and I’ll hear them.

There was a second of silence. Not much. It’s injury is only superficial.

Do you need more bandages? Zealin had no idea how many bandages she had tossed at Difèrne. The cat will live? 

That should be plenty, thank you. But I’m worried this little one won’t have someone to look after it like the one at the train station. We might want to bring it with us. The yellow mare sounded almost pleading.

We’re not adopting a cat. Zealin blasted water mixed with lightning at the five quirlicorns, who leapt back and yelled in agony. Ember weaved around them, her sparks of fire hitting their hooves. 

Please! The least we can do is find someone who’d be willing to take it in. There are plenty of quirlicorns around here who might be open about the idea.

I’ll agree to send the cat to an animal shelter. Zealin watched as the quirlicorns quivered and ran off. The mare turned back to Difèrne. And if someone on the way wishes to take in the cat, they may.

Difèrne sighed in relief. “Thank you,” she spoke, gently scooping up the cat and placing it on her flowered back.

“I’ll clear the way for you,” Zealin said. She walked into the street, located the nearest animal shelter, and proceeded to force all of the quirlicorns who were in their way out of the way with her Puppet Mastery. 

“Quirlicorns here are very kind.” Difèrne smiled innocently. “I can’t believe you guys have entire places dedicated to taking care of lost animals. I could live in a place like this.” She laughed.

Zealin waved her hoof, thought about arguing that point, then decided not to. Finally, Zealin said, “There’s a hotel over there. I’ll pay for two rooms for us to stay for tonight. We can continue exploring tomorrow. How does that sound?”

Difèrne hadn’t realized how tired she was until she was offered a room. “That sounds nice.” she sighed, content.