The day magic died in the desert [FOR Epaphroditos]

Dustfinger has lived for long enough that he really should have visited every region of his homeland by now.  There are a few that he has, for whatever reason, put off though.  This is something that he has recently decided needs to change.  So, a few weeks ago he set out for the desert with great determination.  

Now, while not dedicated to any one deity, he and the deities are not strangers.  At least, not completely.  There are one or two that he has, once again, avoided… though this time with reason.  The Desert Goddess is one of those.  So, it is just his luck to cross the borders of that desert and find Anvey both very present and very demanding.  He is tempted to ignore the summons, but he knows better.  He considers her to be extra dangerous and he is not about to piss her off on purpose.  Of course, this concern doesn’t stop him from being the one to poke her awake once he and the other summoned Quirlicorn stallion finally find her.       

Once awake she wastes no time in getting to her point, after assigning them each a nickname of course.  Dustfinger simply shrugs at the absurde shortening of his own name.  She is a goddess after all and even if she weren’t that just isn’t the sort of argument he is interested in wasting energy on.  He listens with rapt attention to the explanation of their task though he does note that it is inconveniently lacking in detail.  Naturally, she doesn’t hang around to elaborate further.  

Right then.

The pale stallion, having noted the direction that his companion appeared from, allows the multi legged, antlered, skull-faced, star coated male to take the lead.  He falls into step behind and follows along in thoughtful silence for a time wishing that he had given more attention to the matter of magic before now.  He knows very, very little about any of it.  Still, he makes the effort, as he walks, of digging through his memories in search of any tidbits that might be helpful and comes up mostly empty handed.  Truly, his experience is currently limited to three rabbits that live on his coat in the form of tattoos.  All three have been silent on this matter so far.  There have been many instances in the past where they have made it obvious that they think they know more than he does.  Clearly, this isn’t going to be one of them.  

Eventually he notices that they’ve covered quite a lot of ground without conferring once and that he hasn’t really been paying any attention at all to the area they’ve traveled through.  Deciding that this might not be the best way to approach the task at hand he chooses to break that silence.

“Have you seen anything weird here recently?  I’ve never been to the desert before, so I don’t exactly know what is normal for it.”

Maybe any answer he gets will at least give him an idea of what they are supposed to be on the lookout for.

885 Dustfinger
507 words (2 chimes for word count)

Event Links:
https://quirlicorns.com/community/showth...p?tid=4297
https://quirlicorns.com/community/showth...26#pid9426

Other Group Members: 1946 Epaphroditos

@RebeccaM-Art

Epaphroditos pondered the question for a while, before deciding on the answer. In truth the Quirliverse had been rather chaotic lately. Anevay had her chaos party (which he had just chalked up to the deity’s regular antics) and now he’s been hearing tales of zombies from the Mountain region that Aberfa was dealing with. He had tried to ignore it and just mind his own business, but couldn’t ignore Anevay’s summons when he received it. He never cared much for the Desert region deity, taking a preference to Haukea, but since this was his home, he had to pay her some level of respect.

“Hmm, now that I think about it I have, but I’m not sure how relevant it is. I live in my jungle not too far from here, which I keep humid by using my water magics. However, I’ve noticed lately the magic hasn’t been as effective in keeping it lush. Something has been drying it out and no matter how much I make it rain, I can’t seem to keep up with it. You see, while I love heat, I don’t like dry heat, it doesn’t do well for me. Also, do not call me Epa, please call me Epaphroditos. It took all I had to not give Anevay a piece of my mind every time she called me that.”

His four ears flicked back in annoyance just at the thought. What he said was true though and he could feel it. The bat orchid growing on his back was particularly sensitive to the dry heat and he could feel it growing crisper by the moment. Pausing, he lifted his horn to the sky and tried to create a small rain cloud to hover over his back. The cloud began to form but then quickly dissipated, causing Epaphroditos to grumble and stomp his four front legs in irritation in annoyance. Such a menial task should be easy, and yet was proving to be rather difficult. With a great burst of frustration, he reared up and upon stomping his feet on the ground, released a burst of energy from his horn. Instead of just creating a cloud above him, it instead completely altered the weather and started a torrential downpour.

“Ya know what? I’m not fixing it. This is ridiculous,” he grumbled, mostly to himself. Then turning to the pale stallion said, “Anyways, I figured we could start at Delphi and see if we could find anything to start with. Delphi is at the very edge of the desert, along the coast. If we don’t find anything there, then perhaps we can move farther into the region to search for oddities. Maybe by then my magic will work again, but I doubt it. By the way, I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Do you live nearby?”

He wasn’t usually one for idle talk, but the fact that a stranger was here helping in the desert had peaked his curiosity. Plus it would pass the time until they got to Delphi. All he wanted was for magic to go back to normal as quickly as possible so he could continue to live in comfort.

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1946 Epaphroditos

528 Words: +2 Chime

Total word count so far; 1,034: +4 chime total

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Other Group Members: 885 Dustfinger

@LovellaTorendo

Dustfinger’s attention is mostly on his strange surroundings now.  He keeps one ear swiveled toward Epaphroditos to show that he is listening should the other decide to answer him.  The area they are walking through is dry and dusty even the few plants they have come across do not look especially green.  The pale coated stallion assumes this is part and parcel for the desert and so does not comment on it.  Still, there is definitely something off here, the whole place just feels dead.  It is like he has walked from endless swirls of color and life into a great empty void.  He can only imagine what one more attuned to the natural magic of the Quirlverse must be feeling and he offers his companion a sympathetic look.  This might be an incorrect assumption but in general the other Quirlicorns he meets tend to be more magically inclined than he is… he has simply never had the patience to learn.

At first it seems that Epaphroditos intends to continue in brooding silence but eventually he speaks.  Apparently he has encountered oddities with his own magic in his jungle.  Interesting… clearly, as Dustfinger expected, his companion is more familiar with and practiced at magic.  Make him wonder what the heck the fire lady needed him for.  Ah, well, he sure wasn’t going to argue with her.  He grunts a laugh at the other’s frustration with the goddess’s chosen nickname but nods amiably when he is asked not to use it.    

“Very well, Epaphroditos.  I am not especially particular about nicknames, though I suppose my preference would be Dusty.  Nice to meet you.”

Dustfinger blinks in confusion when the empty sky suddenly coughs up a sickly little rain cloud which vanishes almost as quickly as it appeared.  Epaphroditos seems seriously offended by the little cloud’s abrupt exit.  Moments later the sky is cluttered with much larger clouds all endlessly dumping rain down on the pair of stallions.  Dustfinger takes this in stride deciding that being soaked is preferable to being overheated, at least for now.  Though he does gather from his new acquaintance’s grumblings that this was not the intended result.  

Clearly uninterested in continuing to battle this temperamental magic, the star-coated stallion gives up, rather ungracefully, and instead provides directions to the place that he considers the best starting point.  Once again Dustfinger has nothing to add and no objection to present.

“Lead on then.”

Now, after laying out his plan of where to search, Epaphroditos seems to shift his interest entirely to Dustfinger.  The inkheart male does not entirely appreciate this intense regard but he suffers it quietly with no show of discomfort.  It seems that the other is mostly curious about this stranger to his desert home, which is understandable.  This time it is Dustfinger who walks in silence for a time before answering.                 

“I live everywhere and nowhere.  Mostly I wander wherever.  Today I just happened to be on the edge of the desert when I heard Anevay and who is going to say no to her?”

At this point he just happens to glance left and sees, well, he doesn’t really know what he sees.  It sort of looks like a giant dust cloud but whether it is out beyond the rain or forming in spite of it he can not tell.

“What in the world?”

885 Dustfinger

560 words (2 chimes for word count)

Total word count so far; 1,594: +6 chime total

[b]Other Group Members: 1946 Epaphroditos
@RebeccaM-Art[/b]

Epaphroditos observed the pale stallion as he spoke. It even looked like the brown tattoo-like marking on his flank would move from time to time, but he wasn’t entirely sure. “Very well, nice to meet you Dusty. That is very interesting. There seem to be a lot of wanderers coming through the desert these days. Not long ago, during the Summer solstice, I met a young mare named Evaline who was trespassing through my land. She also claimed to be a wanderer/messenger or whatever. Ended up escorting her through Delphi to Ausrune’s land for the Soltice party. It must be because it’s been such an eventful year. Strange things are happening. Have you been feeling them as well?” He kept an ear out for anything else the stallion would say. However, he had another ear swiveled elsewhere listening for any anomalies. Though he didn’t have eyes, he could still see his surroundings just fine and was constantly scanning the horizon for any strange things.

“Ahh yes. Anavay’s call can be a hard one to ignore, she’s certainly an insistent one. You certainly gotta respect a mare like that,” he said, with just a hint of admiration in his voice. 
He stopped in his tracks at Dusty’s question. Ahead, Delphi was in sight, his jungle domain. It certainly didn’t look healthy, but that wasn’t what had attracted Dusty’s attention. No, the white stallion was looking to the left at a.. Dust cloud? The strange sight baffled him. Not only because he had never seen anything like that before, but because it should have been impossible. The typhoon he had accidentally created was absolutely soaking the desert floor. There shouldn’t be dust anywhere for miles. He’d be less shocked to see the beginnings of a lake forming.

“That...that should not exist. I mean, it certainly could since this is the desert and it’s normally hot and dry. However, in this rain, it should not. Maybe we should go closer, and check it out. It’s definitely something we’ll want to tell Anevay about. We can summon Anevay on our way. It’s just dust right? Shouldn’t be harmful to us.”
He began wandering in the general direction of the dust cloud, figuring the pale stallion would fall behind him. He wanted to see if it was just normal dust kicking up beyond the storm, or something else.

One thing he did notice was that the pale stallion hadn’t even tried to use any sort of magic thus far. He hoped Anevay hadn’t stuck him with one inexperienced with magic. How would he be able to help if he couldn’t do magic? Either way, Anevay had chosen the two of them, so she must have some reason for it, magic or not. Still, curiosity got the better of him and he asked, “So, um, Dusty, I can’t help but notice that you haven’t used any magic. Are you worried about the instability of it? Have you been noticing the strange shifts in magic?”

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1946 Epaphroditos

500 Words: +2 Chime

Total word count so far; 2,094: +8 chime total

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Other Group Members: 885 Dustfinger
@LovellaTorendo

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PROMPT 2 RESPONSE BEGINS HERE

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The ink marked stallion does not hesitate in following when Epaphroditos chooses to advance on the very out of place dust storm.  Because, of course, the other male is quite right there is no reason for such a thing to exist in the current conditions.  Where is it getting its fuel from?  Why isn’t the rain dampening it?  For that matter, Epaphroditos does not appear to be doing anything to sustain the downpour so why hasn’t that stopped?

Completely distracted by the oddity now, Dustfinger fails to answer any more of his companion’s polite questions.  Though it might partly be a convenient excuse for evading them.  He certainly isn’t eager to undergo questioning concerning his lack of magic.  Especially since, if his friends are to be believed, that lack is entirely due to laziness on his part. 

They are nearing the spot when a great surge of magic that even the very unmagical Dustfinger can feel flares up and dances teasingly around them.  This surge is followed almost immediately by the very loud arrival of Anevay who seems more than a little displeased with her assistants.  It is Epaphroditos who gets the brunt of her displeasure because there is apparently no doubt that the downpour is his.  But she is happily rounding on her second assistant as well when the magical surge suddenly grabs all of her attention and she turns to march off after it.  No further thought is given to the downpour, the dust storm or anything else they might have discovered and not yet had the chance to tell her about.  She simply marches doggedly on like a hound after a fox.  Clearly she is not at all concerned that they might fail to follow her.  

Honestly, Dustfinger isn’t sure that he could fail to follow at this point and he is curious about the whole thing anyway so he doesn’t consider it.  Maybe for the same reasons, and maybe for reasons of his own, Epaphroditos also follows.  Anevay leads them unerringly in the wake of the surging waves of magic.  The stallions follow the flaming beacon of fire that is the desert goddess until at last they come to a tree.  Well, a sapling really and for Dustfinger this is just a little bit anticlimactic.  It is a strange tree sure enough, not like anything the wanderer has ever seen before but he hasn’t been in the desert before now either so for all he knows the thing is exactly where it is supposed to be.  

Anevay promptly dispels that notion and Epaphroditos, who seems to know the desert nearly as well, agrees with her assessment.  So, what is the deal with the silly tree then?  Apparently that is the boys’ newest task.  The Goddess issues her orders and just as before disappears without a trace.  Dustfinger sighs but is clearly not interested in wasting time.

“Right.  Let’s get to it then.”

With no further thought on the matter he trots right up to the sapling and dives into digging with hooves and horn unthinkingly answering his companion’s earlier question about his lack of magic use thus far.  Surely if he had the use of any great power it would have been his go to in this situation, right?  Instead he is at it with physical force tempered by caution.  “Don’t hurt the tree” had been Anevay’s final command after all.  This looks as if it could take awhile...

885 Dustfinger

570 words (2 chimes for word count)

Total word count so far; 2,664: +10 chime total

[b]Other Group Members: 1946 Epaphroditos[/b]

@RebeccaM-Art

The surge of magic that had swirled around them was unlike anything he had ever felt. Judging by Dusty’s look of surprise and Anevay’s expression, he wasn’t the only one who noticed. Being a Mystic, he was already so used to the feeling of magic inside him, that internal connection with power. To feel it externally, to feel the swirl and tingle of magic buzzing around him was something entirely different...and probably a large reason as to why his downpour continued, though he was not feeding the storm any magic. Though he had to admit, Anevay’s disapproval of the storm entertained him. It’s what she got for continuing to call him nicknames, so he made no attempt to even slow the rain, figuring the Desert would deal with it eventually.

Choosing to ignore the continued and awful nicknames and leaving the strange dust cloud behind, Epaphroditos followed the deity. Though he knew the annoyed flick of his tail and brief flick of his four ears backwards likely told her he was affected exactly as she was hoping for. When they did finally get to their destination, it was a peculiar thing for sure, especially since Anevay said it wasn’t one of hers. The small sapling certainly wasn’t a part of the desert, but it was magical. There was a certain hum of magic coming from the tree...or perhaps it was the stone the deity had pointed out. Part of him was a bit less enthused about the sapling over the dust cloud, but it was intriguing nonetheless.

The fiery-maned deity vanished about as quickly as she had appeared leaving the two stallions yet again to deal the magic...tree and object thing. She left them with no instructions or anything. Just remove the object, how annoying. Then, he noticed Dusty had begun digging at the base of the tree, directly under the object.

“What...what are you doing? Are you digging? That’s going to take all day. Let’s just use magic to cut the roots or something. I know! I could create some water, turn it to acid, and then just melt the roots of the tree. We’ll just rebury the damaged roots. I’m sure Anevay won’t even notice the damage. If you have plant magic of course, now would be the time to tell me because that would make this SO much easier.” The starry stallion just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, so the desert would return to normal and he could return to living in solitude in his home of Delphi.

His tail twitched with impatience and he stomped his feet waiting for the pale stallion to respond. Perhaps he would’ve been better off dealing with this thing himself, diety’s be damned. Something about Dustfinger’s body language already told him the pale stallion was uninterested in his idea. Probably because Anevay had said “not to hurt the tree”. If he had eyes, they’d be rolled so far to the back of his head, all you would see were the whites.

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1946 Epaphroditos

509 Words: +2 Chime

Total word count so far; 3,173: +12 chime total

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Other Group Members: 885 Dustfinger
@LovellaTorendo

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Quite taken up with his digging, Dustfinger at first ignores his companion’s arguments against it.  His endeavors are at last brought to a pause when, while still industriously digging, he opens his mouth to respond to said companion and finds it suddenly full of dirt.  Coughing and spluttering he pulls back slightly from the tree and turns a dust streaked face towards Epaphroditos.  The star coated stallion, obviously restless and impatient, is twitching, stomping and looks to be on the verge of creating the threatened acid with or without the pale stallion’s agreement.  While impressed with the fellow’s magical prowess thus far Dustfinger now begins to question his mental capacity though he isn’t impolite enough to say so… yet.  Instead he throws himself across the stone and sapling holding a protective posture until he manages to get his voice back.   

“Don’t you dare!  I absolutely refuse to be a party to any attempt at hiding something from one of them most especially not that one!  Besides, you both said the tree doesn’t belong here, so it stands to reason that the stone isn’t the only magical thing here.  Who knows what dumping acid on those roots might do?  Would they simply burn like normal tree roots ought to?  I am all for a bit of scientific experimentation most days but I don’t know as I want to try that one just now with everything else that is currently going on.” 

Rather riled up by this time he eyes the other stallion challengingly allowing his posture to turn just slightly aggressive and then suddenly relents all at once with a great sigh.  

“You are correct about one thing though.  My way is going to take far too long.”

A considering glance is tossed over his shoulder at the small tree and the unmovable stone.  It glints definitely at him but the glint draws his gaze back to the limited effects of his digging and a new idea begins to form.  Reluctantly he steps aside to give his companion a clear view of the problem once again.

“Just stop at the water creation.  Surely that won't backfire any worse than it already has, right?  Look, see how my digging has made a bit of a groove around the stone?  I don’t think it would take me too long to make that a bit deeper, then you can fill it up with water.  Maybe even warm water?”

Dustfinger has no idea how that sort of thing works and if making the water warm is possible, but he believes that what he has in mind will do the trick either way.

“If the water can clear away enough of the dirt to loosen the roots we should be able to pull them back from the stone without damaging them.”

He hesitates a moment then, deciding that he will likely be digging more whatever the other male decides he makes a full commitment to his idea.

“Well, if you are willing to try, just give me a few more minutes and then you can have at it.”

He moves back into the digging position and starts up again, this time focusing on making that groove deeper.

885 Dustfinger

527 words (2 chimes for word count)

Total word count so far 3,699; : +14 chime total

[b]Other Group Members: 1946 Epaphroditos[/b]


@RebeccaM-Art

Epaphroditos leaned back in surprise at Dusty’s sudden protectiveness of the plant. Truly he didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. Sure, Anevay might get a bit mad, but what was the worst she’d do against an icy Mystic? Though he guessed Dusty would probably be the one worse off, so he didn’t argue. While he wasn’t thrilled about the pale stallion’s rebuttal, he had to give him props for standing up to him. Not many other Quirlicorns would. Quietly, Epaphroditos listened to Dustfinger’s plan.

“I suppose you have a point, Dusty. Things may not go well for us, well probably you more than me, if we disobey Anevay. She’s been known to have quite the temper.”He moved back towards the pale stallion, examining the small hole he had dug so far. The problem was that it was the desert and sand didn’t stay dug up for long. It just kind of trickled back in. At this pace, it was going to take ages to dig enough to wiggle that thing out of the roots.

“Hold on. Before you start digging again, let me just…” He paused and began creating water to just soak the ground enough to make all the sand stick together.

“That should make things easier. Also, yes, I’ll hold off on the acid part for now. Hopefully you can dig faster now. Heating the water, now that might be iffy. I can freeze water and create ice no problem, but I’m not sure I could heat it up. Plus with how unstable magic is right now, I would rather not test fate and accidentally freeze the thing instead. So unless you have fire magic hidden somewhere, then room temperature water is going to have to do.” As he spoke, his Typhoon suddenly stopped and the clouds cleared, revealing the hot, desert sun high in the sky. Epaphroditos didn’t even have to look up. He let out a heavy sigh and stomped his feet again in frustration.

“Dammit all! Alright, we’re gonna have warmth now, but we need to speed this up before I start to burn. I’ll help you dig and make sure the sand stays damp enough to move.” He then moved in close to Dusty and began digging along with him. Every now and then the starry stallion would summon water and soak the ground to prevent all their hard work from filling back in. Soon the hole was deep enough for the object and he began filling it with water. As he filled it, the pale stallion worked the object in the roots, working to free it.

After several minutes, Dusty pulled the object free from the roots, causing both stallions to exclaim with joy. “Yes! Now, what the heck is it? Let’s get Anevay down here to examine it,” Epaphroditos said, a hint of excitement in his voice. While waiting he decided to try and create his little storm cloud again to protect him and his orchid from the hot sun. Surprisingly, it worked without a hitch. It was almost as if being closer to the sapling was helping to stabilize his magic, like it was a source to draw from.

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1946 Epaphroditos

533 Words: +2 Chime

Total word count so far; 4,232: +16 chime total

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Other Group Members: 885 Dustfinger
@LovellaTorendo

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PROMPT 3 RESPONSE BEGINS HERE

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Dustfinger is a little surprised to have the other stallion agree so readily with his new plan, maybe his points about the tree being magical were more persuasive than he’d thought.  Epaphroditos does not acquiesce without embellishing the plan a bit but these embellishments do seem to make it work even better.  With the added water Dusty is no longer slowed by the grainy sand filling his trench in as quickly as he digs it and he is able to make it deeper much faster than before.  


The warmth which follows the sudden disbursement of the rain storm is not as beneficial as the inked stallion had hoped it might be.  Luckily though, the star coated stallion is able to produce water at a steady enough rate that the dampened sand doesn’t just all dry out again.  After a time, working together, they do manage to get the hole deep enough to be of some use.  Then, as planned, Epaphroditos fills it with water and Dustfinger pushes the stone back and forth until it finally comes loose from the tree roots.

They are not left to enjoy the excitement of success for long.  Dustfinger feels her heat before he sees her and then she is there once again berating his companion.  The pale stallion is hard pressed not to laugh when he sees the twin clouds floating over the two.  Apparently the magic misfiring issue isn’t entirely cured just yet.  Anevay does not leave either of them time to react much before she is diving in to appropriate the stone.  

Annoyed by the sudden confiscation of their prize, Dustfinger unwisely attempts to argue her out of the idea.   

“Hey, wait a minute!  We’re the ones who got it loose can’t we...”

His protests go completely unremarked however.  Anevay on a mission apparently only hears, or at least only acknowledges, mission critical things.  She has the stone inside a strange looking bag and has moved on to examining the very young tree before Dusty is even half way through his second sentence.  After briefly explaining what the sapling is she issues more orders to the pair and vanishes, yet again.

Help the tree grow…

How?  Why, even?  Why are more sacred dew trees needed?  

Well, as we’ve established, Dusty doesn’t actually know all that much about magic and Anevay is, well Anevay.  Maybe the why doesn’t matter… but the how definitely does.

“I am soooo not a gardener!” The pale stallion grumbles loudly as he once more moves in to look more closely at the sapling.  

The tree, of course, has no answers for him at all.  He assumes it probably has enough water for a time given how drenched they had to get the roots in order to remove the blasted stone.  Light?  He squints up at the sky, yep plenty of that… possibly even too much.  Sand though…  he digs absently at the ground, that might not be the best thing for a tree, even a magical one.  
He glances back towards Epaphroditos and brightens noticeably as he is reminded that his companion is practically a walking plant himself.  

“You don’t seem to have any trouble keeping your friend there healthy and hardy,” he nods towards the bat orchid on the other male’s back.  “Got any bright ideas for this baby dew tree?”

885 Dustfinger

550 words (2 chimes for word count)

Total word count so far ; 4,782 : +18 chime total

[b]Other Group Members: 1946 Epaphroditos[/b]
@RebeccaM-Art

Epaphriditos was starting to get really annoyed with Anevay just showing up and ordering them around, even though she is a deity. This time her just up and taking the stone with absolutely no explanation was even more frustrating. It made him not sorry for the little cloud that had also formed over Anevay. Once the deity was finally gone, he turned his attention back to his companion. 
He couldn’t help but notice that it seemed like Dusty was also becoming quite fed up with Anevay and her demands. “That’s a mood,” he thought as Dusty grumbled about not being a gardener. Though his insinuation that he knew much about plants was rather annoying.

“Just because I have one living off me, doesn’t mean I know how to take care of it. I know it really hates drying out and causes me discomfort when dry, but otherwise that’s it. It took a whole team of Quirlicorns with plant and fertility magic to sow my land and grow the jungle. I simply provided the water to encourage growth. However, I do know some Quirlicorns with a type of fertility magic who may be able to help us. It’s a bit of a trek though and I’m going to have to run full bore to hope and get them here quickly enough. If you are aware of any Quirlicorns with plant or fertility magic, it would be best if you could run and grab them too. If not, then you can come with me or guard the tree.” His voice was gruffer than intended, but this whole situation was just too weird for him.

Without waiting for Dusty to respond, he sped off across the Desert, heading towards the Plains Region. As he did so, he called out for Baelfire’s son, since Baelfire’s herd were a great help in creating his jungle. He was pretty sure Baelfire was off on a quest and hoped he could reach the rest of the herd by calling out to them, since at least one of the twins had psychic magic. With the instability of magic currently he was hoping he’d be able to reach him and in turn, meet him halfway.

After what felt like ages, he saw two Quirlicorns on the horizon running towards him. As he got closer he could recognize the palomino and chestnut coming towards him and just hoped it was the twins. He slowed as they got closer, huffing to catch his breath from all the running.

“Epaphroditos right? I heard you calling for us for help, what can we do?” the palomino said.

“Fantastic. Yes I was. Listen there’s a lot of weird shit going on right now. I need your help with growing a tree sapling. At least one of you boys has Golden Goose magic right?” Epaphroditos said, huffing.

The twins looked at each other before responding, “Uh, yea, unfortunately. That’s why you called so urgently? We thought someone was in trouble…” The eyed the starry stallion warily. It wasn’t the magic they were proudest of and seemed kind of silly for him to have come in such a rush from the Desert.

“Well in case you haven’t noticed, magic has been rather...strange lately. Myself and Dustfinger have been working with Anevay to find a source, and we found a Dew tree sapling with a strange object in its roots. Now it needs to be healed and that’s where you come in. I can provide it with water, but we need help with providing it with the correct nutrients and your father’s herd was the only one I could think of,” Epaphroditos explained quickly.

“I see, well show us the way then!”

“Try to keep up!” Epaphroditos spun on his hind legs and raced back towards the Desert with the Palomino and chestnut on his heels. The young stallions kept up fairly well, surprisingly. Several hours later they had gotten back to the sapling. The whole trip had taken about a day it seemed. It appeared that Dusty had beaten him back with a friend in tow as well.

“We’re back. Ori and..Mavuto right? I’ll let you guys get to work with your fertility magic and then I can make it rain.” The twins nodded in response and went over to examine the tree. Each one then dropped a golden egg on the tree's roots, which broke on impact. The desert sand in the spots where they dropped eggs immediately turned to fertile soil. Meanwhile Epaphroditos looked towards the sky and shot magic upwards, summoning a light, drizzling storm.

“All right, Dusty, do you want to work on re-burying those roots and filling in the hole we created? I think we now have enough to fix the roots,” he said and looked up at the pale stallion, waiting for an answer.

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1946 Epaphroditos

806 Words: +3 Chime

Total word count so far; 5,038: +20 chime total

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Other Group Members: 885 Dustfinger
@LovellaTorendo"LovellaTorendo"