The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20150106072026/http://www.fimfiction.net:80/download_story.php?story=273&html

by SlyWit

Chapters

Chapter 1

It's hard for ponies these days to imagine what it was like back then. If they were dropped into this time before Equestria, it'd be unrecognizable to their eyes.

Whip Scar chewed with his head low and his eyes peeled in the soft moonlight. Tension filled his every muscle and he wandered amidst the herd aimlessly. Deep in the wilds of the wide, wide forest known as Everfree, the simple herd of ponies grazed the grasses in the fields that sometimes broke the expanse of trees. They, too, were tense though they did not show it.

Foaling was a dangerous time for all. During the first few hours of life, a foal cannot walk. Predators sought those times. They preferred to not attack the strong or swift, it did a carnivore no good to pit themselves against the best when all they wanted was a meal. They liked their prey helpless, be it sick, old, or simply unaware. There was nothing so helpless as a new foal.

For that reason, the herd grazed around Lightning Kick, hiding her from stalking eyes, and Whip Scar wandered to and fro with nervous energy. Slowly weaving his way to the center, he kept his head below the grass line and spoke while pretending to eat.

Lightning Kick curled on the grass and rested, keeping a small figure protectively close. A soft breath rose and fell on Lightning's chest, but she spoke between the quiet pants. "She's healthy. Just . . ."

Whip Scar's heart leaped several places it didn't belong. "Just what? Is something wrong?"

Whip couldn't keep up his charade of nibbling, and walked around Lightning to see his daughter. No thought in his mind could have prepared him for what he saw. "Pink . . . hair?"

Lightning's observation was uncannily accurate. Before Whip's eyes, a foal curled peacefully with her mother, wearing a mane pink as a pale rose. If that was not all, her coat shown flawlessly in moonlight, white as a cloud or a drift of snow. But otherwise, a perfectly healthy Earth pony.

"But . . . how?" Whip stared at her in confusion and some of the rest of the herd couldn't help but crowd closer in curiosity. Browns, blacks, spots, and grays, not a one had a color as wild as pink or pure as white. Whispers began to pass between them. Some in amazement, others in concern.

Whip’s shoulders instinctively flexed as he discerned the words, feeling unease. His hide bristled, showing the scars from the lash of human masters he escaped. “We’ll ask the shaman.”

"You won't have to wait long," Charging Hoof whispered, his head still down. "She's here."

Lightning Kick jolted, but stayed down close to her foal. Whip stood erect in shock, then looked over the backs of the other ponies to see her coming. Where the Shaman came from or went was anyone’s guess, but she knew things no other pony knew. The rest of the herd parted like a sea, and closed up behind her.

"Whippy," she responded in a bubbly voice and moved past him. Whip wasn't sure how, but he got a sense that under her concealing cloak, she smiled. "So this is the foal born tonight? Ya-huh! No mistaking it, now!"

Lightning watched silently, fear creeping across her frame and features, and she huddled the new foal just a little closer.

"The stars have guided me here, silly. They gave me a message." Shaman pointed a hoof matted with dirt, but the gesture seemed to hide a surprising amount of gentleness just beneath the mangy surface. "This foal has been blessed by their hands. The stars wanted to give us a present. She will have the capacity to change this world in ways not even they can see." Shaman looked to the parents once more, and a giggle erupted from under her hood. "You have reason to celebrate, but be warned. How things change is beyond anyone's power but hers." She turned and walked away just as she came, a slow, deliberate trot, until she vanished under the forest's shadow. A traveling song echoed through the woods in her voice, slowly fading from ear.

Moments passed, a collective and silent awe on everyone’s lips as the herd surged and fell back, wishing to see this new foal while maintaining their vigil. Finally, Lightning Kick broke the silence with a quiet laugh. “I think I know her name. In honor of those who blessed her." She licked her new daughter’s pink mane. “Celestia.”

The sun beamed down over Celestia's flank, warm and bright. The filly bounced between blooming flowers, stopping occasionally to eat one in a gulp and see if they tasted as pretty as they looked. "Bleh!" She spit out a bluebonnet, then continued to prance. "Gotcha!" She shouted to a colt, lying in the grass before she pounced. But the warning gave Painted Hoof time to spring up and run.

Painted Hoof stuck out his tongue and laughed as he kicked up dirt in his sprint.

"Celestia?" Whip Scar's deep voice carried over the field. "Celestia, come over here."

"Oh, no!" Celestia shrank away from the chase and trotted back to Whip Scar with her head lowered. "Yes, father?"

But Whip smiled and pulled a stray grass from her mane. "I've got something to show you." Together, they walked through the herd and Celestia had to press close to her father to squeeze between some of the grazing flock. After passing through, she caught sight of Lightning, laying on the ground. "Mommy!" She trotted the last few steps over to the gray mare and touched her neck against Lightning's in a pony style embrace.

"Celestia, you may look now." Lightning gestured to a form between her legs, a baby pony with a coat of dark, midnight blue.

Celestia's eyes widened to the size of saucers and she gasped. "Wwwoooooowwwwwwwwwww . . ."

“Just as you are named after the stars,” Lightning added after him, “she is named after the sister of the stars. Meet Luna.”

Celestia leaned forward and sniffed the dark foal. Luna looked up at her with large, inquisitive blue eyes.

The pink-maned filly sprung into the air, bouncing around in front of them and speaking in sing-song. “I got a sister! I got a sister! I got a sister!”

“Careful now!” Whip laughed and nudged her a step away from the newborn. “You have to be gentle with foals.”

Celestia darted away, weaving between the grazing ponies. “Wait until my friends hear!” Then singing in a cocky voice, “I got a Luna! I got a Luna!” Half way back to the fillies and colts, her eyes caught sight of a butterfly and she pranced behind it from flower to flower.

Whip laughed to himself and shook his head as he watched Celestia disappear. “Cheerful as the sun, she is, yet, named after the stars.” He lowered himself by degrees until he laid down next to Lightning and gave her cheek a lick. “And how is Luna? Able to walk yet?”

Lightning pursed her lips in thought, then slowly nodded. "She is quite different from her sister. But I think she is strong in ways harder to see. If we nudge her, I think she'll walk."

Whip stood up and moved to Luna, giving her an affectionate touch from his nose. "Best we get started, then. The sooner she walks, the safer she'll be."

Luna turned and looked at Whip, confused by the nudge at her hind quarters. But inch by inch, Luna responded by getting closer and closer to standing.

On all four feet, Luna looked as confused as he ever saw a foal, and promptly fell to her side with a bleat.

Some minutes later, with patient nudging and encouraging nuzzles, Luna took her first step.

Lightning and Whip both let out a little cheer and Luna responded with a wide smile and a proud lift of her tail before falling on her side once more with a bleat.

"IN THE SKY! GRIFFIN!" Charging Hoof's bellow rung out over the field before he turned to the forest. Already, the first bubbling of panic erupted from the herd. Brays and neighs of surprise and alarm quickly grew into a cacophony, and one by one, ponies began to head for the cover of the forest, bumping and stumbling into each other in chaotic fright that spilled to others like wildfire.

Whip turned, but Lightning was already on her feet, standing protectively over Luna. With broad shoulders, he shoved a frightened stallion away and reached under Lightning to grip Luna by the mane with his teeth. Whip was as gentle as he could manage, but Luna brayed at the discomfort before she was set on Lightning's back. Keeping the foal steady, Whip and Lightning moved as one within the herd.

Ponies bumped into each other, stumbled, got in the way, or otherwise jostled Whip and Lightning. Normally, such group movements were nothing to an adult pony, but he was trying to steady a foal, and each bump on his side or Lightning's threatened to dislodge Luna and send her tumbling under the rampage of hooves.

Whip's nostrils flared in anger as a mare took a sharp turn to dodge a hill and rammed her shoulder against his chest. The impact shook Luna violently and she cried in pain and fear. But Lightning slowed a step for her mate and Whip used his large size to shove the mare out of the way. Finally, they slipped under the canopy and safety of the trees, Luna still crying out her heart. In a sigh of relief, he set her to the ground and wiped away the tears with a gentle touch of his nose.

But Lightning's eyes were back to the field and asked a question that sent a chill through his spine. "Where is Celestia?"

Her mom and dad had trained her to listen to the warnings of predators. "When you hear the shout of 'griffin" They said. "Run to the forest." They'd repeat the last part. "Remember, griffins, run to the forest." Whip and Lightning drilled it with her. They'd whisper "Griffin!" in her ear and together, they all ran under the trees and stopped once the shadows enveloped them down to their hooves.

The butterfly tickled her nose, when the call went out and sent it flying off. It boomed over the field and she dropped to her haunches in the scare of it, tail pulled up tight to where she sat. She looked to the other ponies. Their faces were like that she had never seen. Their eyes wide and wild, lips peeled back in horrible grimaces. They didn't look like ponies anymore and their hooves beat a terrible thunder as they barely dodged around her to either side, colossal beasts to the little filly.

Celestia cried out in fear of those horrible faces, and pinched her eyes closed. To the sky, she called to mom and dad, over and over as the hooves beat their wild noise. She opened her eyes and ice plunged into her heart and pumped cold water through her veins. The griffin glided above.

The wings spread wide and black as it silhouetted in the sun. They beat slowly and soared, the creature sailed like an eagle on the wind. Celestia froze stiff and couldn't turn away. It was a sight she felt was not meant for her eyes. Like Death itself hovered above her.

A stallion leaned over on its run and bit Celestia across the back of her neck, lifting her off the ground. The force of the grip hurt. Teeth pinched through her coat and mane and she cried anew kicking violently for the pain of it. She knew the stallion, though, and called him Uncle Apple, despite lack of blood relation (or even "Apple" in his name). The struggles were not directed against him and she was carried to the forest behind the herd and set down in the shadows.

She stood up and took off, skating along the trees until she found Whip Scar at the edge, looking out. Celestia ducked under his body and pressed her head against his chest.

"There you are!" He breathed a great sigh of relief and let the filly hide underneath him. "Stay close, he'll pass over soon."

Chapter 2

"C'mon, we're going to play Griffs and Ponies." Celestia trotted to where Luna had secluded herself, already mid turn back to the field and expecting Luna to follow as soon as the sentence left her mouth.

"No." The word rang sharp, the young filly's attention down on a fuzzy caterpillar. She studied the multiple waves traveling down its long body as it moved, from end to end in mesmerizing grace.

"C'moooooooooon!" Celestia moved beside her sister and pushed her by degrees with her forehead.

Luna shifted her hooves for balance, still trying to watch the caterpillar. "No. I don't want to. Everyone is faster than me."

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Celestia continued to push, nearly getting Luna to her feet. "I want you to play, too."

Celestia bound forward, her trot hopping proudly as she returned to the field of her peers. Luna came up behind, tagging along closely with her head low as she approached the field of taller, older ponies.

"Hey! Hey, everyone!" Celestia's voice carried well over the general disordered play of her peers, and they all stopped to listen as she bounced up in enthusiasm. "Painted Hoof is a griffon!"

Every filly and colt took off a different direction, screaming in the exhilaration of play. Painted bolted up to his feet and gave chase to a group of colts that all scattered. Celestia whooped and cheered in excitement and ran with a mini-herd for no other reason than that they were running. Luna took a different route. She watched Painted's movements carefully and ran to the opposite end of the field, putting as much distance and as many ponies as she could between the two.

Dirt kicked up behind Painted Hoof as he took off like a shot and another pony was tagged in an instant. The new "griffon" singled out a slower runner and tagged her. And so on it went, the griffon changing hands, causing a wild flow as the herd scattered, combined and scattered again in the game. Eventually, Luna was singled out.

Celestia's younger sister weaved and zagged with the griffon in hot pursuit, buying herself time. But longer legs and stronger bodies eventually paid off and Luna became the new griffon. She stopped, panting fiercely, neck drooped in the inevitability of the game's course. With that moment's rest, she singled out a group in hopes numbers would slow them down, and charged.

Many scattered, but several of the cocky colts stayed behind letting Luna approach, only to bolt a few steps at a time and dodge her every time she got close. They laughed, taunted, stuck their tongues out daring her to continue. Luna pressed on, galloping at full speed trying to surprise them, before moving to a new cluster of ponies and trying to catch them.

The excitement started to die. Celestia groaned in the air of boredom that settled. Each time Luna approached a new group, they'd canter out of her way until Luna moved on and galloped slower and slower as chase appeared fruitless. Celestia reared up and kicked in the air, yelling as loud as she could. "Crimson Coat is a manticore!"

The wails of play erupted anew with twice the chaos as before. Colts and fillies ran in all directions. Two predators about them instead of one, added to the confusion, excitement, and most importantly, the fun! And the disarray gave Luna a chance to catch one unexpected.

In the insanity, Celestia found she caught Luna's eye --hard to miss that pink mane-- and her younger sister galloped with renewed vigor after her. Celestia smiled at the challenge and shoved off the other direction, running clear of the herd. It wasn't an uncommon tactic to break away from the crowd when the turmoil grew too great.

Luna stayed tight on her heels, having chosen her target, herd or no. Celestia weaved her path in long arcs more from the thrill than anything. Luna paced herself in a steady run, evidently trying to overtake her sister through exhaustion. The elder grinned lowered her body and put on even more speed as she crested a hill.

Painted Hoof laid limp as a wolf held his neck in its jaws. In those precious seconds it took to come to a halt, every detail about the scene shown in the clarity of a still lake on a sunny day. Painted Hoof was on his back, his limbs hanging in awkward, uncomfortable positions Celestia had never seen a pony take. The blood pooled around the wolf's lips, like drool, from where the colt's throat was crushed or the life choked out of him by teeth and jaw. Painted's tongue dangled out of his mouth, perhaps from when he tried to scream, but the eyes had since grown vacant of any spirit.

Wolves were among a pony's most feared predator. They dwarfed Celestia and Luna, standing as tall as an adult mare. From nose to tail, their body's bled swiftness, and rending teeth could wear down animals far bigger than a mere pony. But worst of all, they never worked alone.

While one wolf made the kill, four others competed for the prize and tried to tear Painted Hoof away, or whatever piece they could hold. But none failed to notice Celestia's approach. The cold, steady stare of a wolf was what nightmares were made of. The emotionless, calculating gaze of yellow eyes set in black faces.

Every limb in her body stiffened as hard as oak and her stomach left her body, leaving an empty, quivering hole where her insides had been. Somewhere in her thoughts, she was aware of Luna's tiny hooves coming up behind her.

"Gotc--!" Luna bumped into Celestia, but never completed her triumphant cheer as she crested the hill herself.

"Run." Celestia turned, pushing her shoulder into Luna before her sister stared too long. "Run! Run!" she screamed and shoved Luna to get moving.

Luna fell into step that quickly turned into a panicked flight as she responded half to her sister's state and half to what she saw. "Mom! Dad!" Her terror filled voice cracked as she began to call over and over again, between lapses to breathe.

Behind them, Celestia heard the soft impact of padded feet coming for her. A pair of pursuers, by the sound of their breath. "Wolf!" Celestia felt tears whip down her cheeks, cooled by wind. She drove Luna on, determined not to leave her. "Wolf!"

The alarm already sent waves of loosely organized panic through the ranks of the playing young and grazing adults. The fillies and colts' whoops of play turned into just general noise as they all ran to fall behind the protective rank of their parents. Some adults fled at the sound, others formed together into a cohesive mass. Still more sat still in raw confusion. Unlike griffons, there was no set plan of escape. Wolves' hunting tactics were too varied and cunning for a simple solution.

Whip Scar broke from the herd and flew across the field. His nostrils flared in wild rage, muscles and sinew from his shoulders swelled to power the large stallion's gallop as he went to meet his daughters. Lightning Kick was quick to his side, grim determination on her face. In the disorder, a few more followed their lead.

The wolves peeled off of their pursuit. A meal had already been won, and the opportunity of a quick second started to dissipate.

Whip Scar plunged past the fleeing fillies and placed himself between them and the carnivores. He kicked the ground and stomped feet with an angry whinny warning off any thoughts of passing him without a fight. Lightning stopped short and drew Celestia and Luna close. "Come on, girls. To the herd, I've got you."

A mare with a brown coat and black feet broke from the ranks that followed Whip and marched forward with an anxious hop. "Oh no, oh Sun, oh stars, oh no, oh no." She mumbled as she went even beyond Whip to look over the hill. She gasp as if she had been dunked in a winter stream. "No. No! Painted! PAINTED!" She reared on her hind legs and kicked into the air, eyes the size of saucers. "My Painted! No! Get away from him you monsters! Get away!" She pounded the ground, looked as if she'd charge, lost nerve and ran to the side, braced for a charge again, then went back to running. "GET AWAY FROM HIM! GET AWAY! GET AWAY! PAINTED! GET AWAY, GET AWAY, GET AWAY!"

"GET AWAY! MONSTERS! GET AWAY!" She stomped and screamed. Other mares moved to her side and slowly pressured her back while she resisted and pushed through them. "GET AWAY!"

"Celestia?" Lightning Kick's soft but firm voice drew her away from the scene. "Back to the herd, let's get you away from here."

With her daughters pressed close to either flank, Lightning retreated to the other mares.

The chief mare led the herd across the fields, away from the expanse with the wolves. Not that they'd be a threat now that they ate, but to move everyone away from the scene of Painted's end. What was left of the afternoon, then, was spent in migration, a carefully organized affair that carried everyone to new fields between the vast expanses of the Everfree Forest. As the sun dropped below the horizon, the migration stopped to rest.

The moment she stopped, Celestia's fell to sitting on her haunches and broke into a loud wail. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks in small rivers, dripping on to the ground below. Whip stepped behind her and stroked her back with his nose. "It's alright. It's been a rough day for you."

Eventually, his low, bassy voice and soft touch turned down the wails into sobs. Celestia choked out words. "Why Painted? He was fast! He was the best at Griffons and Ponies! Why him?"

Luna slipped underneath her mother and pressed her head against Lightning's chest, as she had done since she was a foal. The younger sister had always been hard to read. She never lost a quality about her blue eyes that made her appear to be a distant observer. Luna watched Celestia and her mother in silence, whatever thoughts she had never coming to the surface.

Lightning frowned in sympathy and slowly shook her head. "My poor Celestia, my poor, dearest Celestia. No pony has an answer to that question, other than that what is, is."

The elder daughter's sobs slowed to near ceasing. Only a bad case of sniffles remaining as she listened. "But why?"

Whip's low voice responded. "This is our lot in life, as Earth ponies. That is the only answer any one knows. We are prey, and all that entails. Creatures will hunt us. Sometimes, bad things will happen to those we care about."

The pink mane fell over her eyes, and her ears pinned themselves back and flat. Her shoulder's sagged and her forelimbs threatened to buckle.

With her tail, Lightning dried her daughter's cheeks. "This is something we all must pass through, my dearest. It is a tough chew which no one likes to swallow. I was your age when I lost my first friend."

Celestia wasn't sure, but when she looked up, she thought she saw a gleam of a tear in her mother's eye, reflecting the colors of sunset.

Lightning lowered he head and checked on Luna, nosing her side. "Her name was Fall Arrow, and she was like a sister to me. One day, we were playing at the river's edge when a cougar attacked us from behind. It could have killed either of us, but had chosen Arrow. They both fell into the river and I ran to warn the herd. Arrow didn't make it. You never forget your first lost friend, and I am sorry to say it will not be your last. It hurts right now, I know it does. It will hurt worse than anything you know. Tonight, you will feel like grieving, and you should grieve for your friend. Tomorrow will come, and you will feel like grieving just a little less, and a little less. One day soon you will stop grieving and life will continue."

Everything felt too heavy, she wanted to shrink into a ball. She slowly lied down, silently staring at the twilight.

"The one about the Sun and Moon." Luna spoke up again in a quiet voice and retreated back under Lightning.

Lightning took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her voice was moved in a strange poetry, her narration like a song with invisible melodies that none the less touched the heart in her quiet delivery:

A long time ago, back when legends lived and walked the Everfree Forest, there was born a very special pony. The first unicorn. Her coat was perfect and shined out a magical light on all that gazed upon her. Her mane and tail were as soft as a warm spring breeze. They made her into a princess, for her beauty was unlike anything ever seen, and she used her magic to bring peace to all those who saw her.

Hearing of such wonders that roamed far below, the stars traveled many miles through the sky and came here to gaze at the world that created such wonders. Amazed by the unicorn princess' beauty and kindness, they shined down on earth a small reflection of her magic light, and continue to do so in her honor.

Seeing that the star's attention turned from her, the Sun grew jealous and moved to Earth to claim it as her own. Trying to overshadow the princess unicorn, the Sun made itself glow with as much glory and passion as she could. But her vanity betrayed her and she shined so bright that it blinded any who tried to look at her.

The stars grew angry at the Sun's petty jealousy and made an appeal to their sister, the Moon to put a stop to the Sun's poorly thought out actions. The Moon agreed and tried to reason with the Sun. When the Sun would not listen, they battled. The Sun turned the sky blue to chase away the stars and deprive the Moon of their help. But doing so tired the Sun, so she went to rest. The Moon restored the sky so that the stars could watch the planet and all its wonder. Each morning, the Sun reawakens and turns the sky blue once more in her battle against the Moon. Each night, she tires and the Moon restores the night. They have been fighting for so long, they have forgotten why they fought. But even as they battled through the ages, life continued below and the unicorn lived happily underneath the Sun, Stars, and Moon.

As they story concluded, Celestia's chest rose and fell in the silent sighs of sleep. Yawning, Luna left Lightning and curled up to her sister's side, resting her head against Celestia's shoulder.

Chapter 3

Celestia's gaze traveled in a practiced motion, a set of movements instilled from when she was a foal. Left, then right, then skyward. Left, then right, then skyward. The motions had long since moved into muscle memory so the filly, on the cusp of being a mare, practiced them unconsciously. Vigilance was needed when traveling the Everfree Forest, even mid-day.

Between thick branches of the tree canopy, Celestia caught a glimpse of sunlight, moving lower on the horizon. "It's growing late. I really don't want to be here at dusk." Colts and fillies of a certain age braved the forest during the day, despite the danger. The craving for adventure was too strong in the young. But even the young had enough sense stay out of the forest at soon as the sun touched land.

"One more moment." Luna dug at the ground with her forelimb. Her hoof made rhythmic clops on the dirt as she unearthed small pebbles of imperfect turquoise. They had found this deposit not long after the herd had settled along this new edge of the forest. Ponies loved beauty: flowers, butterflies, and stones included. But they likewise understood it could be captured in memory, only. Migratory and without tools, it was said that memories are the only things you keep. So each day, Celestia and Luna traveled back to the mineral deposit and gathered a new stone. A new stone, a new memory—and a new chance to show it off to the other fillies' jealousy.

Luna frowned at her quarry once she gathered them. Selecting the brightest, bluest rock with her lips, she planted it safely in her tail. "Yesterday's was better." She fell into a trot beside her sister, practicing the similar motion of a look-out as the two traveled alone. Nothing to the right, nothing to the left, and nothing on the branches to attack from above.

Celestia lead the way, winding through the forest to return to the field. "Yesterday's was great. Round and with specks of black."

Luna's voice fell into a daydream like daze. "Do you think Chosen Oak will like this one?"

The halt came so fast, Luna nearly rear ended Celestia. The younger sister's admiration for the colt Chosen Oak was a poorly kept secret. Mares grinned and giggled to each other to watch Luna's large blue eyes light up when Oak passed by and watch him quietly from a distance. That information passed down to the fillies, who teased Luna and only made her that much more shy about approaching Oak. Celestia glanced over her shoulder. "Oh my, Luna, you must not have heard. Oak stepped on a snake just yesterday. He's seriously sick." It did not need to pass between them that he was unlikely to recover, or survive.

"Oh." The word left Luna as quiet as a breeze. She stopped her look-out's gaze to stare down at the trail in front of her. Celestia resumed the walk back, Luna behind her with head lowered. "That makes two this week."

"Uncle Apple is growing old. His joints hurt when he moves. They say his Time is coming soon, and he is making peace with his family."

Celestia shook her head. A pony's Time came when they could no longer keep up with the herd. Whether it was a snake bite, or old age, if they could not run, it was simply impossible to shield them from predators. "Two in one week." Thoughts of Painted Hoof drifted through her awareness. Her mother had been right, you never did forget the first. But even prepared to lose more, losing too much, too fast still stung with unexpected pain.

The forest ended on ahead, trees giving way to long shoots of grass and rolling hills. Celestia broke out into a canter, Luna doing the same to keep up. Ahead, a loose crowd of ponies roamed. Foals played, adults grazed or rested, and sentries kept a careful watch on the forest and sky. Only once Celestia was in the herd with ponies at her back did she let out a sigh of relief.

"We're back!" Celestia found Whip in the throng and greeted him by wrapping her neck partly around his: an equine hug.

"Welcome!" he said with a wide smile, and greeted Luna as he did Celestia. "So, what did your forest adventure find this time?"

Luna fished in her tail and pulled out the turquoise rock with her lips before dropping it on a hoof to show off. "Do you like it, daddy?"

He leaned in, admiring the details of the rare stone. "It's lovely. A thing of beauty."

A smile pulled stretched the lips of the midnight filly, and she raised her tail in a proud arc at the comment. "Is it like what the humans wear?"

"Sometimes, sometimes." Whip gave a nod, then knitted his brow, thinking back. "I didn't see many humans with such stones. Only their chiefs and people who had lots of money could have ones with colors like this."

"It's something that humans love. They give it to each other to get more things. Do you remember how they live in houses rather than fields or forests? When you have a house, you can fill it with things. Money is a thing."

"Oh!" Luna seemed satisfied with this answer and smiled broadly before tucking away the rock back in her tail. "Did your master have a lot of things?"

A laugh erupted from Whip. "That crotchety old cuss? Maybe he had a lot of things, I can't tell what is a lot for a human. But he didn't have a lot of nice things in his house or mind, and that's for sure!"

The laugh was infectious and Celestia smiled, but inwardly the line of questions started to bore her. Scanning over the herd for friends' faces, she found her eyes drifting over the forest and her thoughts turned to Uncle Apple and Chosen Oak. "Did you fear predators while you were with the humans, dad?"

Whip took a seat on his haunches, considering the question with a long moment of silence. "I suppose there were other things to fear. If master was in a bad mood," He gestured to his back, striped with the scars from where he got his name. "Or if I fell and broke a foot. When I ran, I feared his dogs, nasty creatures like wolves, but louder and stupider. But I did not fear predators."

The trees swayed in a breeze that ripped through the field. Dark, foreboding leaves turned only darker as the sky gave way to twilight. "Do you ever wish you could go back and not have to be afraid of them?"

The brown stallion shook his head and the answer came without hesitation. "Never."

"I suppose watching out for medusa, cougars, manticores and the like is not fun." Whip shrugged his shoulders, and tossed back his black mane. "We'd all be happier to be rid of those things. But forcing a pony to stay when he wants to go, or work for what is not his, and whipping him when he doesn't please you, that just wasn't natural." He gestured with his neck to the field. "Here, I have a herd." He sat up and nuzzled each in turn. " And my daughters." His eyes fell on Lightning Kick and a quiet smile, one he only ever had for her, grew on his muzzle. "And my mate. Things I want to work for. Here, I am happy. Monsters, or no."

Celestia fell silent in thought, but that only lasted a breath before Crimson Coat nearly bowled her over. "Ahhh!"

"Celestiaaaaaa!" He grinned and trotted around with a giddy bounce. "C'mon, we got ol' Tank Flank dared to try to dance the Star Trot in front of everyone! It's going to be hilarious." As quick as he came, Crimson was off like a shot to spread the word.

The night passed fitfully. Dreams of wolves and griffins filled Celestia's rest, and several times she found herself flung to her hooves, awake and panting with fear. The yellow eyes of the wolf remained clear in her mind, still staring with their cold, calculating gaze impressed into her ever since that day some time ago. She curled back up to sleep each time and tried to shake off the feelings that lingered. These things occurred often enough with her, and to some extent, universally, called the Shared Dream.

At a time all too early, warmth bathed her body and light flooded past her eyelids. Celestia groaned over the lost sleep and rolled over. But it was a losing battle, the sun merely grew brighter as it raised itself into the sky. Finally, she rose to her feet and shook out her disheveled, pink mane.

"Good morning, Celestia." Luna's voice held a light and teasing quality. "Not often that I beat you out of rest."

Luna looked over her shoulder with a smile. "Dreams bother you last ni—" The smile vanished and Luna stared unwittingly, jaw dropped, body frozen, eyes wide.

Without saying a word, Luna approached step by slow step, reached up a hoof and tapped something attached to Celestia's forehead.

"H-hey!" She raised her own hooves and felt along her face, annoyance rising in her gut. "Did some pony play a prank on meee …" Everything melted away from her awareness, like water smeared over ink, as her hooves told her the shape and feel of the new addition to her features. A long, unyielding substance, shaped like a thin cone, curved with ridges that spiraled up to a pointed tip, on the center of her forehead. Celestia's disbelief nearly matched Luna and she exchanged a single glance before she sprang on her feet and ran full gallop to the river's edge, heedless of anything else.

She snorted out in agitation as the river's flow proved unable to catch a reflection. She ran up and down the river bank, bumping into Crimson Coat and knocking him into the water as he drank. "Hey--!" he got out before the splash silenced him. Not that it mattered at the moment. In a crevice of still water, the blue sky bouncing off a smooth surface, Celestia had her first glance at her new, white, unicorn's horn.

Her breath was stolen by that image. Gingerly she touched it and felt the real sensation of it being a part of her body. She explored it all over, looking for seams, or perhaps some sticky sap that meant someone stuck it on her forehead as a joke. But it was too perfectly matched to her white fur coat, felt too real in hoof, and she threw doubt out the pasture.

"I'm a …" Her face lit up in the pond, shining brighter and smiling wider than she ever had. "I'm a unicorn!" She reared up, bucked, kicked, bounced, screamed and hollered, unable to contain the raw excitement of the fantasy made reality. "I'm a unicorn! I'm a unicorn! I'm a unicorn!"

The commotion gathered attention, heads poked up curiously from the herd, Luna came running over at a canter, and even Crimson Coat came out of the river with the sour look wiped from his face.

What followed was, at best, calm chaos. Murmurs rippled through the herd in waves. Mares, stallions, foals under their feet moved forward. A crowd formed around her, growing thicker and thicker. Whispers were traded until the sheer number grew loud. The whispers gave way to outright talking, and that into a cacophony of voices speaking over each other. Gasps, cries to the Sun and Moon, praises, swears or mere trading words all merged. Sentries abandoned their posts as the commotion stretched to the outermost edges, and joined the growing cluster.

Celestia pranced and posed and grinned wide at the attention, strutting through the crowd that left her a respectful distance, while savoring each gasp, each jealous stare from a disliked filly, each look of astonishment as she sought her friends to speak to and squee and bounce with in shared excitement. "I'm a unicorn!" She repeated to herself. More than anything, that was her thought. Still finding it hard to believe.

It was the stern command of the chief mare that called sentries back to their posts. The throng of ponies parted, allowing her passage, flanked by Lightning Kick and Whip Scar. The chief, in her grizzled gray fur, stood taller than most mares, though Celestia was not sure if that was merely because she held herself more erect. With serious brown eyes, she broke through the crowd and leaned in close to the new unicorn. Celestia, for her part, knelt politely.

The Chief's presence hovered close to that horn, her breath ruffling the unkempt mane. "Little filly, can you cast a spell?" She risked a gentle touch to the spiral of the horn

"I don't know how I'd do that." Celestia blinked up at the chief, but the old mare's attention already turned inward and she went to leave with a purposeful trot. Lightning and Whip followed stealing glances back at their child. The crowd closed around their wake, still marveling at the new horn, but with a curious kind of murmur.

The night justified her discomfort. "Celestia." Lightning Kick summoned her away from her friends, with whom she whittled away the last of daylight. As Celestia closed, Lightning Kick turned to lead her to relative privacy among the herd. "There is something important your father and I need to discuss with you."

Whip gave Lightning a passing affectionate nuzzle as she turned to sit and both faced their daughter. Celestia chewed her lip and waited.

"The chief, your father, and myself have been discussing your new … blossoming."

The filly nodded her head. Whip exchanged glances with Lightning before she continued. "The uniqueness of your birth has never been hidden from you. Or most of the herd, for that matter. Hard to hide a mane of pink, as I'm sure you know." Lightning let a smile pass over her, but the humor was chilled by the gravity on her face. "There are no stories in our collective memory like yours, no tales of such a birth or growth, and only the faintest stories of unique colors. We believe that this turn of events is the blessing of the stars playing itself out."

"Yes," Lightning's grave smile returned. "That's good. But it also has certain implications we have been discussing."

Whip gave a quick nod. "The point of this being, it's been decided to take you to the unicorns."

"The unicorns?" Excitement charged Celestia's voice, with equal parts reverence. A wide grin stretched her lips and her eyes dazzled.

"Yes, this herd has no idea how to support your growing. The unicorns will know if you have magical talent, and be able to teach you, if you do."

"I'm going to learn magic?" She'd thought she'd squeed the last word and rose to her hooves, trying not to prance off right away.

Whip raised a single eyebrow, then burst out in a short lived laugh. "You're taking this rather well. But yes, you just may learn magic."

"Thank you, daddy!" Celestia's hind and forequarters rocked as she hopped over to Whip and gave him an equine hug. "Mommy!" Lightning received one as well, and Celestia felt her mother hug tighter than normal. But too many other things were on her mind, and she turned to gallop off. "Wait until my friends and Luna he—" Dirt kicked up under her hooves as she ground to a halt. "Luna is not coming with me, is she?"

Lightning shook her head. "I'm afraid she isn't going. While you have a horn, she's just an Earth pony."

That night brought much needed rest to Celestia. The dreams treated her kindly, and she slept with a peaceful grin and a soft sighing chest. But before sleep had carried her off, her mind was filled with stories of unicorns. Descendants of the first unicorn princess, inheritors of magic. Elegant mares of grace, weaving beauty with their horns. Stallions strong in magic, commanding the elements, striking at predators. Time could not pass swiftly enough. And yet, what of Luna?

The next morning, she tapped her sister on the flank and watched her large, blue eyes slowly open to the early morning light.

"Ehh-mmm …" Luna slowly stretched out. The remnants of sleep still gripped her. "Whaaat?"

Luna pursed her lips and shot Celestia a skeptical look. But silently, she rose and followed. At the river, with other early rises, Luna refreshed herself, drinking cool water and smoothing over her mane with one hoof. Feeling the last dregs of sleep shrug off with the daylight, she shook out her tail and turned to her sister, waiting in silence.

"Uhh …" Celestia's flower-colored eyes of soft pink widened at the question. "We'll figure that out." Turning away Celestia took off at a canter for the rolling fields of green grass. Plenty of room around them, and fewer distractions from all the adults. "Alright!" Celestia stopped and Luna had to back pedal after the unexpected halt. "Well, I think I know what we can do to get you your horn!"

Luna took a seat on her haunches, long shoots of grass tickled her back and rump. Celestia marched and paced in front of her like a teacher addressing a group of younglings without looking at them directly.

"So, the stories say that magic comes from within, and horns are magic. So, we need to get that magic in you, out of you, and on your head. Then you'll have a horn!" Celestia stopped and smiled to her sister. "That easy!"

A nebulous feeling of doubt rose at the back of Luna's mind. She maintained a serious expression when met with Celestia's smile.

"So, start on that. Umm, concentrate. Concentrate on getting that magic out of you."

Sun rose over head. Shadows marked the passing of hours as Celestia coached Luna in the spacious field, repeating the exercise again and again. Luna had long since collapsed to the ground as her legs grew tired of sitting.

"Concentrate harder! Find that magic." Celestia only had so many ways she could convey that one idea, so she simply repeated herself.

"Ehhh!" Luna grunted out with the sustained effort. Muscles tensed all along her body, her face, her head. She grimaced with the force she pushed herself, harder, and harder, imagining a horn of her own. "Ehhh-GAH!" She stopped, exhaustion set into her once again, head and face numb with the unusual work out.

"Luna!" Frustration took over Celestia's voice. "You've got to keep trying. Otherwise, you can't come with me to the unicorns."

A colt's laugh interrupted the air, and Luna jerked with surprise. Crimson Coat approached, having gotten close while Luna tried to find her magic. "Luna? See the unicorns? Why would she do that?" He smirked with the confidence of a joker, a mocking in his voice.

Celestia swiveled to face him with the bulk of her body and held her neck proud and aloft. "Because she's my sister!"

"Yeah, so? Stars never said anything about her. She's never going to have a horn. Just going to be a little Earth pony." A self-amused, uninviting laugh finished his sentence.

Luna stared down, low, observing the grass around her feet, the intricate seedpods, wide blades, and thin, stiff stems. Crimson's words stung like barbs across her back, each one hooking into skin and drawing blood. She stayed low, and quiet, watching the grass while feeling the words.

"She can get a horn, and she will. Just you wait." Celestia huffed and widened her legs to stand her ground. "We share blood, so we might as well share this."

"I'll be waiting a long time. Just 'cause you want her to have a horn isn't gonna get her one. Face it, all she's going to be is the boring Earth pony sister."

Celestia dropped her head low and grunted, closing her eyes and pointing her horn at Crimson. It glowed with a translucent pink aura, and he fell to his hind quarters, gasping as fear gripped him and paled his face. Celestia strained and groaned louder, the pink glow became brighter, more vibrant. Crimson broke out into a sweat, frozen in place.

The white filly let out a cry as she released the building magic, rearing back. A single, white ember leapt from the tip of her horn and drifted down to the ground on the dalliance of the wind, harmless as a firefly.

Crimson Coat fell to the ground in uproarious laughter. Limbs flailed and he rolled uncontrollably back and forth on the ground.

Luna rose to her hooves and tapped a disappointed Celestia on her flank. "I think I need a break. All this concentration has given me a headache."

The younger filly trotted away from the colt and across the field of green. Adults and others milled about, grazing or talking as they always did and Luna weaved her way through the herd to put some distance between herself and Crimson. Returning to the blue river, she trotted downstream, following the winding curve until she felt satisfyingly secluded from the company of others.

Sitting down at the edge, she finally let out a sigh, releasing the pent up tension of Celestia's training and Crimson Coat's remarks, though she could not say the sigh was a relaxed one when it left her lips. She knelt to the ground and dunked her face beneath the tugging waters of the river. Closing her eyes, the refreshing coolness stole away some of the headache until she needed air. She laid and thought while staring at her reflection in the water. No horn in sight under that waterlogged mane.

Briefly, she tried to envision the horn using Celestia's methods, but abandoned it as it returned the headache at the very thought.

"Magic comes from within?" Luna posed to herself and closed her eyes, experiencing every emotion as it whirled around in her head and sorting through them. The pain still lingered from Crimson's comments, finding a true soft place to pierce. Pressure weighed on her. Celestia would leave without her unless she earned a horn. What would she do at this herd alone? However, these were simply emotions. "What is magic even suppose to feel like?"

Her frame lifted in another sigh, this one filled with hopelessness. No shaman ever came at her birth. No pink and white colors marked her as special. Luna opened her eyes and looked down at her leg's midnight blue coat. While a dark blue didn't stand out, her shade was at least a little different, and far more pure a color than any pony had seen. But still not special when she stood next to Celestia.

A yawn stretched out her jaw and she rested her head on crossed forelimbs as thought gave way to a light sleep.

When she opened her eyes again, the sun had travelled another short distance across the sky, no longer rising but descending to the west. Luna stretched out her limbs and shook out her neck, casting her mane over her shoulder. With a pang of thirst she knelt to the river and drank. Satisfied, she pulled back and stared into the water, assessing herself after the nap.

"Oh!" Excitement flooded her veins and she tapped her horn with a forelimb to confirm what her reflection shown her. It was there, responding with a physical sensation that signaled it was a part of her. Face flushed, she inhaled a happy breath.

Her hooves could scarcely carry her fast enough back to the herd as she yelled out her sister's name. "Celestia! Celestia, come quick! Where are you?" She darted between mares, searching all around, poking her head out at the river and circling back to check the field. Out of the corner of her vision, she caught Lightning first and turned sharp to her

"Mother! Mom!" Luna's feet slipped on the grass, and her hind quarters fell out from under her, but she stayed on her forelimbs and was up as quick as she fell. She threw herself around Lightning Kick's neck in a hug. "Mom! Look! Look what I just got!" She stepped back and tossed her mane, showing off her new, blue horn.

Lightning gasped, and caught off guard, her mother was unable to block the anguish and shock on her features. Quickly, she covered it with a smile, but it was too late. Luna had seen it. "That's a lovely surprise, dearest."

In that moment, Luna realized her mistake. Whip and Lightning already had to lose one foal. Now, they were going to lose both.

Chapter 4

Change, even that which we most desire, is bittersweet. It's our dual nature to long for the past, while trying to leave it behind.

Leaves crunched beneath a dozen hooves. A small party surrounded Celestia and her sister, three stallions in all. Charging Hoof, and Little Apple (Uncle Apple's young nephew who Celestia felt earned the title) took place along the young mare's sides, while Whip guided them deep into the Everfree forest. The trip had gone under way in a silence that grew uncomfortable for Celestia. Last thing she needed now was a chance to think. But despite her feelings, the chance at conversation seemed remote, all consumed in their tasks and Luna as quiet as ever.

Instead, the rhythm of the steps at all sides lulled Celestia into a sense of daydreaming. Her mind wandered over her situation, taking her back to that early morning. Saying farewell to friends was easier than she expected. The little pangs of sorrow were overwhelmed by the excitement at going to see the mythical unicorns. She hugged some, made promises to others, and for the best of friends, even shared a teary departure. But even under watering eyes, her smile beamed.

With Lightning Kick, that changed. They both embraced and tried to wear their smiles, but Lightning's mood began to rub off on Celestia. Sure, a mother expected a stallion to leave the herd at that age when wanderlust took them, but she was losing both fillies she had expected to keep to old age. For the first time, Celestia felt the sadness extinguish her enthusiasm.

"I will come back, mom." She buried her face in her mother's neck. "I will come back, I promise."

"My dearest Celestia, don't be so quick to give your word." Lightning's wet cheek pressed up against her daughter. "You have a unique life, and it may carry you far and wide before it brings you back here. Promise me instead that you will make good on that gift the stars have given you. That you won't let sentiment be your guide."

Lightning shared a similar teary eyed farewell with Luna. At first, Celestia thought that Luna's composure--that of a distant observer-- would win out, but after only a few minutes, her younger sister was bawling and Lightning was drying her tears. What words they exchanged were private, as was Celestia's time with her mother.

She kept her head low to the ground, wishing that something would distract her. Excitement to see the unicorns gradually turned into anxiety. Doubts plagued her mind, growing in strength as each hour passed and she stewed in the silence. Would they like her? What were they like? Did she have any actual magical talent or was that little spark all there was? More and more, she began to chew her lip in apprehension.

Finally, she could stand it no longer. "Are we close?" She forwarded the question to Whip at the lead.

Surprise shook her and she raised her head over the backs of her escort. Yet, all she found was an empty, still forest, answered only by the chirps of a bird. "I--uh, don't understand?"

"They're probably watching us right now." Whip kept his deep voice low. "Checking us out before they show themselves."

She gasped, recalling the stories shared at home when the Sun drew down. Unicorns could turn invisible? She had doubted that bit of lore, yet now …

"Luna? Celestia?" Whip looked over his shoulder and gestured from his neck for the two to come closer. He then spoke at a whisper. "When we meet them, don't reveal you were born as Earth ponies."

"Why not?" Celestia blinked, bewildered. Luna looked between them with curiosity in her blue eyes.

"One day, you may understand more. But for now, just accept that sometimes it's better to wait before you tell your whole story to those you don't know. Only when you feel it is absolutely safe should you reveal the secret of your birth." Having said all he planned to, Whip continued the slow walk with his head forward.

Celestia paused her step, the concept hitting her from somewhere unexpected. Luna stopped next to her, still following the lead of her big sister unthinking. Among the close knit herd, there was never room for secrecy, and a secret was always a temporary state. To harbor one? So different from her life in a familiar herd. She marched forward with that on her mind.

"That's far enough." A sharp male's voice called with a tone of one accustomed to being obeyed.

A full day and more leading to this. Curiosity surged in Celestia as soon as her hooves stopped, and she peaked around Whip's flank, trying to steal her first glance at the mysterious pony. The unicorn must have been average male size, except he stood erect, much in the manner of the chief mare back home, only that his spiral horn made him appear taller still. His coat of faded gray was so heavily spotted with white that the gray appeared as mere lines between milky spots. The mane and tail, a dusty off-white, flowed behind him well groomed. Celestia would have called him a mere pony with a horn on his head, except for a sheen that made the colors almost imperceptivity richer.

"Three Earth ponies, and two filly unicorns come wandering into the forests. Such an unusual arrangement. And far from an Earth pony's home." No jest could be found in him. Dark eyes approaching black marked them with suspicion.

"We come with a matter that concerns your herd." To the unicorn's tone of command, Whip responded plainly and with his own kind of dignity. "We've come to return two of your kind who were among ours." Whip stepped aside and revealed his daughters.

Celestia felt exposed as those dark eyes fall on her. A flush came over her face and her knees wobbled despite the fact she tried to stand straight. She felt as much as saw that Luna sidled a few inches closer to her side once Whip left.

It became easier to stand once she saw the surprise on the unicorn's face. "What's with her colors?"

His eyes narrowed, aggression filling his voice. "She is well into her years as a filly. Why was she not taken to us as a foal?"

The unicorn shot Whip a glare, but turned his attention back to the girls. "Your names."

The midnight blue unicorn shuffled out but remained quiet, the question answered for her.

His eyes narrowed again, this time in contemplation. The chief turned to a unicorn next to him who Celestia only just noticed. Quiet, and stoic as a rock, he was easy to miss. Short for a stallion, with a curly mane and tail, a gleaming horn of silver sat upright on his head. Flank and shoulders slim, he held himself strangely for his stature: his gaze brimmed with an inner intelligence and he stood like a pony twice his size.

The chief unicorn whispered to his partner who nodded and exchanged a brief word. To the guests, he turned again. "We will accept Celestia and Luna into our herd where they belong, despite their age. You three Earth ponies may return to your fields."

Whip gave the chief a curt nod then went to Celestia and Luna. In turn, he wrap both in a hug, his neck to theirs. "Take care of each other. Who can you trust more than a sister?" He chuckled, though his amusement was darkened by the moment.

Luna might have teared up again, but pursed her lips and tried to appear strong as Whip and her exchanged one last glance. Celestia's chest tightened at the sight and when Whip turned to her, but she fought off any more reaction than that.

"Come." The chief's commanding voice gave no tolerance for delay and the sisters jerked their heads toward him. Impatience marked his gait, a hurried trot. When they came along behind him, he spoke again "Why did the Earth ponies wait so long to bring you here?"

"Uhh, it's complicated?" Celestia grinned wide, innocent only in the fact she felt clever remembering Whip's answer.

The chief grumbled under his breath and stopped before the trunk of a massive tree. With a magic glow of gray, the bark on one side of the great trunk folded away and rumpled with a property like hair and ease of brushing aside a leaf. Beneath that covering rested a hole large enough for a pony to slip in with ease.

Celestia had to pull her jaw off the forest floor. She rubbed her eyes with one forelimb and stared agape once more, looking from folded faux-bark, to the hole and back again. Luna exchanged a glance with her, blue eyes wide in wonder and astonishment.

It took a nudge from the small, gray unicorn to get them moving, and they both filed in, wonder not diminished in the slightest. Inside, she found the seams where wood joined wood. Three, or possibly more lesser trees had been molded into the appearance of a single great tree, hollow on the inside, but with a ramp that spiraled up to the top.

The sound of hooves clopping on hard wood came from on high and a black unicorn trotted down the ramp.

"Ebon, I need you to babysit these fillies. I need to call a council. Until then, they are under your care."

Fillies! Celestia spat the word in her mind. Blood boiled within her. Babysit! She glared at the chief's backside when he left the trunk.

The façade of bark fell over the hole, but the inside remained lit by a soft, yellow light that Ebon sent high above them with magic.

"Babysit?" he said with a good natured laugh. His light aloft, Ebon smiled to both of them wide and friendly. Compared to the chief or Whip, he was young, but unmistakably into an age where he could be called a stallion. A black mane fell long around his black shoulders, suiting his name. Ivory teeth appeared all the brighter set into a dark face. "These two young, beautiful mares?"

The glare was wiped off Celestia's face, and her cheeks flushed red. "Th-thanks you." The fumbling of her words only made the blush brighter. Luna shuffled a forelimb on the floor and averted her gaze, but stole a glance at Ebon with her own light flush.

"Don't mind ol' Grumpy Gus, he can be like that when he has something on his mind." The moment the words left him, he winced and made his way over to the hole to peek out. "Don't tell him I said that, or Silver Spear for that matter."

"Silver Spear." Ebon let the disguised tree bark close again. "He's the quiet one always next to the chief. That chief would be Phantom Spell, the Grumpy Gus you just met. My name, I am sure you have heard only a second ago, is Ebon Swift." He inclined his head to the sisters, a playful grin ever present. "It's unusual for me to not recognize two mares around here. What would your names be?"

The white unicorn composed herself, remembering the dignified tone her father took. "I am Celestia. Well met."

"Luna." The midnight blue pony attempted to make her announcement strong, but her voice squeaked out her word under the strain of her shyness. Embarrassed, she drew back a single step, letting her sister stand at the front.

"Well met. Two beautiful names for two beautiful mares. So, tell me." Ebon's eyes glittered in magic light and he leaned in just a hair with interest. "What's your story? If I am to guess, you are new."

Celestia returned a short nod. "We were raised as--" She stopped and recovered without missing a beat. "--by Earth ponies. They just brought us here only a moment ago."

"Is that so?" The exclamation was more for surprise than an actual question. He sat back on his haunches at the thought. "Then you know nothing of the unicorns?"

Luna, who had slowly been moving forward from her sister's side, gained her voice. "Which isn't much."

"Hmm, perhaps I understand now." Ebon nodded his head, and raised a hoof to his chin in thought. "That explains Grumpy's grump, alright." He hopped from his haunches and turned to walk up the spiral ramp. "Whelp! There is a lot I need to show you, then. If you don't mind, follow me."

The dozen of hooves thudded on wood and echoed across the chamber as they climbed higher and higher. Turning an ear and an eye, Ebon spoke to the mares behind him while leading. "May I ask something, Celestia?"

"The pink. Is it …" Ebon took a moment to rephrase. "Was it the color you were born with?"

"Oh, ha, ha!" Her cheeks pulled back in a smile. "Yeah, I was a pink-haired filly."

Ebon nodded his head up and down in a slightly exaggerated motion. "Very interesting! I don't think I've seen anything like it."

The black stallion burst into a laugh and stopped as the ramp ended at another hole. "Oh, no! That'd be way to much effort. Especially, when we have--" With a white glow of his horn, he pulled back the hole's cover. "--this."

Light--natural light--poured inside the tree, smothering the magic glow provided by Ebon, who wore a giddy grin. Celestia and Luna walked past the black stallion and stood at the edge of the tree, staring out.

Neither could hide their gasp. They had travelled up into the forest's canopy and into a whole new world. In front of them, a wide, long branch extended forward with a flat, wide base large enough for two ponies to cross comfortably. That branch met far ahead by other branches and tangled together in smooth transitions like the joining of strands in a spider web. Down, up, this way and that, the web stretched on in the canopy, unicorns coming and going from tree to tree on their own business. All of this in a world swimming in green leaves, above, below, either side, and bathed in cool shade as the sun trickled through.

"Welcome to the unicorn herd." Ebon's said in supreme smugness. "And this is how we hide."

Celestia stole several more breathes, still taking in all she saw. Timid at stepping forward, it felt as though the world would vanish once she touched it.

"C'mon." Ebon trotted gaily between them and the branch creaked with his passage. "I'll show you around."

Luna stared down at the pathway and tentatively placed her hoof on its smooth surface. Next, another hoof, than three. Finally, she stood high above the ground, on this living bridge. A smile parted her features and she looked up to Ebon for approval.

Kind eyes met Luna, then turned to Celestia. "You are quite safe, I'll catch you if you misstep."

Taking a deep breath, she willed herself forward all at once and found her hooves clopping on a strong surface.

"There we are." He turned back and led the sisters along the pathways, showing them bends and turns that extended far in all directions of the canopy. "Phantom Spell did have some reason to call this 'babysitting,' even if the word is a bit harsh. You two don't know our ways and until you do, it's best you stick close to me. With a little time, you'll pick it up. Otherwise, it won't be safe. The first thing you need to know about is the birds."

"Birds. We use them to give warning. Different bird calls, different warnings. Ahh, here we are." Ebon stopped and gestured up with a hoof. High in the branches sat a mare of brown, her head going back and forth in a pattern Celestia recognized as similar to the sentries of her own herd. But over her, a woven mesh of vines and leaves camouflaged her from the sky. "This is just one such look out. This one is responsible for making sure no crazy griffin accidently chooses to rest here. If one does …" Ebon pointed to a series of birds of several shapes and sizes, that snoozed, preened, or rested on a branch close to the mare. Tied about the ankle with a vine, none attempted escape. "The lookout uses one of them to send out a call. Other lookouts will echo the bird's call until the rest of us know what's going on, which lets us know where to go for cover. We have these all over, guarding the sky, watching the ground … so if you hear a bird's call, do as I do and stay quiet."

The talk of griffins caused a lump to form in Celestia's throat and she nodded with a swallow.

The warning system taught, Ebon spent the rest of the day showing the new unicorns routes around the forest to different places of safety hidden inside the hollowed trunks of trees. The nature of the forest and need for concealed entrances made the task difficult, so Ebon taught and retaught the locations until the memories formed strong, stressing the importance of remaining hidden.

"Do wolves or cougars try to sniff us out?" Through the day, Luna had just gained enough knowledge to become inquisitive.

"Those little guys?" Ebon laughed and shook his head. "No, nothing that small. They were chased out of this side of the forest years ago. Occasionally, a lone coyote might try to wander through, but a quick zap of lightning sends him on his way."

Her pupils grew enormous, and her lips curved into a silent oooh. "You can do that?"

For the first time in a long while, Ebon stopped smiling. "There are creatures out there far too dangerous to confront, even with magic."

"Hydra, ursa, when griffins travel in groups, wyvern, manticore, loup garou, trolls, gnolls, occasional human explorers, dragons, well maybe not so much dragons. Dragons aren't much interested in ponies, but it's best to play it safe. Nothing quite as scary as a dragon that I know of."

The rest of the day passed adding routes and safe areas, for either on the ground or in branches--for all the complicated cultivation of the trees, walking the forest floor remained just as vital and it had its own set of hiding holes. Eventually, the sun crested the horizon, and the colors of dusk settled into the sky.

"Enough for today? I think so." Ebon nodded his head, and trotted along the tree-paths to another hole in a wide trunk. "Make sure to stay only in places where you know the route to another safe room. You'd never want to get caught outside when a warning goes off." He chuckled to himself, peeling back the covering with a glow from his horn. "Here we are. It'll be where you can rest for tonight." Ebon lifted another magical light aloft to the low ceiling.

Celestia filed in, Luna right behind. At the word "rest" Celestia breathed a long sigh.

The elder sister nodded. Thinking back, the single day felt like many as a memory. The early rise, departure, long and nervous trek through the woods. And then, here, paths to memorize, a new herd, and unfamiliar ways, words, concepts. Her legs ached, her mind fatigued in retaining what she learned, and emotionally she was used up. "It has."

"Time to rest those eyes, then." Ebon gestured with his horn. "I'm sure you need no guide to your beds, but if you need anything, just walk down that ramp and ask. Tell them you are the new arrivals, and that should be enough. Sleep well."

The cover closed in a ruffle, and Ebon's magical light already began to fade without his presence. "Beds?" Celestia asked herself aloud as she shuffled to a pile of leaves that had a quality of being knitted together with magic. "Like river 'bed?'" Ebon didn't think to explain what he meant, and what did a river bed have to do with sleep anyways? Earth ponies slept on soft grass, not "beds." Touching a hoof to the leaves, they gave the feeling of cushion and Celestia promptly flopped herself hard into its embrace. Close enough.

The light had long since faded. Only pitch black greeted Celestia's groggy eyes, and she debated if there was a purpose in opening them at all. Enclosed in a room up high in a tree, not even moonlight softened the night. To her sister's call, she groaned.

Thoughts of the cool earth filled Celestia's mind. Thoughts of peaceful nights on the field of grass.

"And no one is here. Everyone is sleeping all separated in other trees, instead of together. Celest?"

The woven leaves across the room ruffled, the sound of hooves approached. A moment later, she felt the brushing of a warm body against hers and Celestia adjusted to make room so Luna curled against her side.

Celestia closed her eyes and rested on the leafy pad once more. A long sigh left her. Luna's chest lifted in her own. Sleep still did not come easy, and her night was filled with the dull ache of knowing what she left behind.

Chapter 5

As the years and generations pass before me, there are some things that never diminish. Love, hope, friendship, and learning. Perhaps the last of these is why I decided to make Canterlot a university, for I am ever a student.

The camouflage cover to their room flew open, rustling in the motion. Light, sharp and bright, flooded in and stung Celestia's eyes. She turned her head away, groaning. Luna shifted against her, burying her face under Celestia's mane. Their first night here had little sleep and they clung to what more they could get. But in vain.

Tendrils of sleep still slackened Celestia's muscles, and it took some effort to rise. Luna made a squeak of complaint as she lost the comfort of curling against her sister and she too had to find her feet. It was strange to wake up here. The sun had always been gentle in its beckon to rise, shining gradually brighter and slowly warming those who fell under her gaze. But here in the darkness of the hidden room inside the tree, it came as a slap in the face, as if night had been torn away in one swift jerk.

"Come." Phantom Spell turned from the hole and his hooves could be heard trotting away in an impatient gait.

Celestia shook herself, mane and tail flying, to send a jolt of energy down her body. Tapping Luna on the flank with her nose, she motioned to the hole. "Come on, before he turns into Grumpy Gus."

The two sisters stepped out of the tree and onto the living bridge at a quick trot. Phantom paused, but resumed his walk as they closed. "I have consulted the heads of the crafts. Your arrival has thrown an unexpected twist in our vines. You know nothing of our ways, and nothing of magic. You are like foals."

Curiously, Phantom peaked over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the path. "But you are not foals. Had you been younger, we could have merely tossed you into class with the rest of the fillies, and that would have been that. But now, you need special arrangements. Special considerations due to your age. That means time and resources." Arriving at his destination where the bridge met the trunk of another converted tree, he turned around and sat back on his haunches, lifting one hoof to gesture. "We have to draw teachers away from their normal duties, arrange for times, lessons, we have to expend yet more in giving you chaperones and teaching you the basics of what every foal knows." He stomped his hoof down against the wooden bridge where it punctuated his sentence with a bang.

"As you can imagine, the situation is precarious. Here is how it will go. You get those arrangements. For now. Your tutors will report directly to me with your progress. Show talent or skill that justifies the resources, you get to keep the personal tutors. You don't, and you learn with the fillies."

In the pause, Celestia swallowed a lump in her throat, only after realizing that Luna did as well at the same moment.

Phantom's eyes shifted between the sisters. "It's not a threat, but simply a fact. You are unknowns thrown into a very efficient system. It will take some trial and error before we find out the best way to make use of you." The pale horn on his head took on a gray glow, and the camouflaged cover of the tree peeled back. "On to your first lesson."

Celestia and Luna lurched forward, tension driving them into the hole without delay. Behind, the cover fell closed, and the sound of Phantom's hoof-beat drifted away.

A fraction of a second passed before Celestia could see clearly in the lesser light of a fairy lamp suspended from the roof. Shadows danced and played as the creature fluttered around its small prison, perhaps too primitive to understand its cage. Unlike many rooms, this one appeared built with a specific purpose. Indents, in rows in columns just large enough for a small pony, sat in a floor that sloped to focus point. At that center stood a pony of brown with a mottled white midsection and a pale horn.

The teacher wore a smile that lacked sincerity. It sat on her face like a decoration, a friendly mask she could wear to hide any other feelings. Despite that, her demeanor did not seem sinister in the slightest. "Welcome to your first class day!" Her voice matched her smile, bubbly and approaching singsong in delivery. "My name is Levity, and I teach the basics of magic."

Despite the fatigue, the abrupt morning, stern Phantom, or this silly mare, it only took one word to wipe it all away: magic. Giddy feelings bubbled up in the white mare with the pink mane. In a surge of energy, she bounded down the sloped floor and rested her haunches on a front row indent.

Skeptical at first at this teacher, Luna's eyes sparkled and a grin spread her features as she took a seat next to her sister. Sitting tightly on her forelimbs, she eagerly awaited more.

"Ahh, those are good names," her singsong voice replied. "So this will be your first lesson in magic, will it? I'm sure this is quite exciting for the both of you. Never before cast a spell? We'll start at the very beginning."

Celestia gave a glance to Luna, who mirrored her incredulous expression. "No offense, Levity, but we are not foals."

Surprise wiped the smile off her face. "What? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I'm so use to giving this lesson to the yearlings that I guess I just fell into my old habits." She cleared her throat, most of the singsong gone. "I'll try to speak more at your level. So," she paused to think. "Do you connect to your horns, yet?"

A blush reddened Celestia's cheeks, finding the concept unfamiliar. On the heel of what she just said, she felt quite foal-ish. "I'm, uhh, not sure."

Taking a deep and calm breath, Levity half closed her eyes. In relaxing tones, she recited a litany that felt well practiced. "Close your eyes, and follow my instructions."

"Relax. Breath in until you fill your chest completely. Now relax as deep as you can, letting the air flow out. Reach deep into your thoughts with a still mind and feel what is there. Pay attention to what you experience. In the quiet, do you feel that inner thrum, like a heartbeat? If you don't, reach for it, let it gush to you like a spring. This is your will. It is a power inside you that wants change things. For other ponies, their will is separated from the world. It can only change themselves. But we are unicorns. Our will has a way to the outside world: our horns. Now, take that will you have, it responds to what you want it to do. Take hold of that will and guide it forward. Project it out of you, but don't release it." Her tone changed to hold the tiniest amount of giddy mischief. "Now, open your eyes."

Two new glows bathed the room. One a dark blue, the other a pale pink. Celestia gasped aloud. She kept her thoughts on her horn, sustaining the light, and bounced in excitement. "Ohmystars! Luna!"

Levity's melodious laugh caught their attention. "Almost, almost! But what you have right now is nothing more than a lamp." With a green shimmer from her horn, Levity drew out a round stone no bigger than a hoof, and placed it directly in front of her. "Now that you have it glowing, though, it's ready to channel magic." Her masking smile returned as she fell into habit. "A skill every young unicorn must learn is simple telekinesis, otherwise known as moving something with your will! Practice on this granite ball. Your goal is to lift it up, off the ground!" She gestured to Celestia with a forelimb. "Oldest first! Your will that you have up in your horn. Shape it into what you want to change, give it guidance. Connect your will to what you want to accomplish. Then, release it."

Phantom Spell's voice echoed in the back of Celestia's mind as she stared down at the stone. "Show skill or talent . . . or be thrown to the fillies." The thought quickened her heart beat. She drowned out the voice by focusing on the task. The rock. Lift that rock. She envisioned it happening, the stone rising off the ground at her command. She lent that image to the power channeled in her and felt it take a specific shape, molding as easy as water yet retaining the desired form like clay. It had a purpose now, ready to impose itself on reality. Celestia stared intently at the ball and released the energy of her will toward where it sat.

The stone blasted into the air with the fury of a shooting star. Levity shrieked and threw herself to the ground. It struck the solid roof, splintered a section of wood, and bounced around the room like a hyperactive grasshopper. Luna took a cue from Levity and laid low, covering her head with her forelimbs. Celestia stared dumbfounded, trying to track the rock's frantic flight as the energy bled off in each collision. Eventually, it came bouncing to a stop, then rolled down the floor to bump the cowering, brown mare on the flank.

Levity rose, horrified and staring at Celestia. Her chest heaved in a fearful pant as she tried to catch her breath.

Celestia glanced around the room, noting each dent and each shatter of wood. A split piece of lumber the size of a branch fell from the ceiling and thumped on the floor. Turning back to Levity, she smiled wide and innocent. "Sorry?"

She didn't make the same mistake twice and produced a feather for Luna, rather than a stone. Using these small objects, she put them through the basics of managing their magic, releasing just the amount needed and no more. So engrossed in the reality before her very eyes --in the floating of objects by thought, or creating light at will-- time passed in a blink. The next thing she knew, Ebon Swift stood at the entrance, leaning against the wall with a wry smile. Levity took notice and ended the lesson with teaching mental exercises they could practice away from class.

"Already on to control?" The black stallion made room for Levity to file out. She went in a rush not staying a second longer in that room with those two mares than she needed. "You must have left quite an … impression?" His dark eyes caught the fresh split wood on the ceiling and he raised a single brow.

"Umm, you could say that." Celestia blushed but smiled, happily trotting up the incline to greet Ebon. Luna followed in her wake. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, just your next lesson." He shoved off of the wall with his shoulder and opened the canvas with a white glow of his horn. "More pathways and hidey-holes."

The blue unicorn let out a tired groan, and Celestia sighed with disappointment.

A quirk found its way to his lips. "Or, tell you what. I'll show you a little something at every place we stop. Take you around the other unicorns and show you what they do."

Luna gasped and her wide eyes sparkled at the prospect. Celestia raised her head with some curiosity.

"Out we go!" Ebon went with fresh excitement, holding the canvas open for the girls until they followed him out. The bridges they cross twisted, joined, and forked with no obvious pattern. A pattern would have been a flaw in the camouflage, Ebon explained. So the bridges were erected trying to mimic the forest in all its chaos. Yet, there were signs for those who knew how to look. Vine arrangements, leaf or bark patterns, other things that would not stand out in the canopy, yet could be seen by trained eyes. It was by these things which the web was navigated.

"Hey! Good day to you, Cres!" Ebon nodded his head to an older mare sitting at the edge of an out of the way branch, deep in thought with horn aglow.

She glanced up from her work and the corners of her lips stretched in a soft smile. "Ebon, how good to see you."

"Cres, I've brought you a couple of mares who I'd like you to meet." He moved to the side and gestured to his followers. "This is Celestia, and her sister Luna. They are the new arrivals from the Earth ponies." He gestured to the older mare. "Celestia, Luna, this is Crescent Change. She is one of the best weavers of the craft."

"Weaver?" Luna lifted her head in curiosity, throwing back her mane from her eyes to see more clearly.

Surprise came over her face. "Oh my! The Earth ponies are really different, aren't they?" She drew up what had been tinkering with. On the pathway, she laid out a bundle of multicolored hairs--browns, whites, grays, blacks-- wrapped together like a single pony's tail at one end. At the other, the strands separated then joined together in a crisscross pattern, formed into a broad square. "This would be a curtain, in the making, anyways. Weaving we call it. When I am done, it will vanish on the bark, like all the others we use to hide. We put it in front of doors."

Thoughts of the trees she had been going in and out of all day struck her. Even if life on the fields had no doors or curtains, her question took on a humiliating edge in retrospect. "Oh. Those."

A good natured laugh shook Crescent's frame. "Volunteers, and they are quite happy for the exchange."

"You'd be able to see how this all is done," Ebon offered with a raise of his hoof.

"I don't want to be bald!" Luna blurted out in panic and took several steps back.

Ebon and Crescent Change turned to each other with a wide eyed stare, then burst into riotous laughter. Luna shrank to Celestia's side as Ebon sat on his haunches and clapped a hoof against the ground. "Oh no! Nothing like that!"

"No." Crescent wiped a tear from her eye. "No, dear, I won't make you bald. We only take every third hair or so. In exchange, I groom your hair. Take out the knots and straighten it."

"Oh." Sheepishly, Luna left Celestia's side and walked forward. "O-okay. You can take my hair."

Standing up from where she sat on the side of the bridge, Crescent moved over to Luna with her horn shining purple. Luna pinched her eyes closed and stiffened her body as she lowered her head for Crescent to look. Gracefully, Crescent bent close to Luna and began to manipulate her hair. She unweaved the knots and tangles, taking the occasional strand from her mane. She cleaned the hair of blemish or oil, and arranged it so it fell around Luna's face and neck anew. Luna blinked her large eyes open. Gentleness calmed her nervous feelings as the older mare worked, curling the ends of some strands, straightening others and arranging them around her horn. Ebon, thinking ahead, gathered dew and water from among the leaves, and suspended it in air so Luna could see her reflection clear as day.

"Oh my!" the young pony gasped and slowly shifted her perspective to see all sides. Never before had her mane been arranged by anything more than the dalliance of rain or broad gestures of a pony's hoof. "It's … beautiful!"

"Your hair," Crescent responded with her own amazement. "It's exquisite. Soft in texture, but with the richest, most pure blue I have ever seen. I love your mane."

Luna flushed and she giggled to see the reddening of her cheeks in her reflection. "Hey, I have a question?"

"You can change the color, right?" She lifted a hoof and pointed at the multicolored mat that lay across the bridge.

Crescent chuckled and concentrated on the mane for a fraction of a second. In a swirl of purple magic, Luna's rich blue turned vibrant rose.

Seeing her reflection, Luna clomped her forelimbs against the branch in a bounce and giggled impishly.

"Now, for a living mane, the change won't last. It will gradually fade back to your natural colors."

Luna teasingly stuck out her tongue in reply. "Okay, I was just curious, auntie Crescent. But better change me back, I don't think Celestia will like my new look."

Another brief gleam of purple and Luna's mane was restored blue. "All the better, probably. Phantom Spell would not approve of me changing colors of all the adventurous mares that come my way." She gathered up the bundle of freshly cut, blue hair and sighed at the sight of it. "Wasted effort or some such."

Catching a grim look from Ebon at the sigh, Celestia felt a strange impulse. Like an inkling of something greater sat just below the surface . "Is something the matter, Crescent?"

"You have beautiful hair, both of you." She tied the new strands together and set it aside, next to the larger, half woven curtain. "It's a joy to fix manes, but Phantom insist on restricting the arrangements to being practical. Then there is this weaving. For once, I'd like to create styles, or sew a curtain into something to be admired and nothing more. Not for hiding or other things. But …" she shrugged her shoulders. "It's not deemed important by Phantom."

"Oh." Celestia nodded her head then dropped her gaze in thought. Luna knelt close to the curtain and occupied herself with watching Crescent spin new strands into the design. Something felt wrong. Quickly, her mind went awry when she realized again she was standing on a branch, many pony-lengths off the ground, sea of green leaves anywhere she looked. Vertigo clouded her and she began to sway.

"Whoa, now!" In an instant, Ebon was by her and she was leaning against his broad side. "You okay there, Celest?"

She blinked, then sat down. "I-I-I think so. I'm sorry." With a forelimb, she wiped her face, trying to rub sense back into it. "Just had a sudden rush." So much was new, so much different. Her friends gone, parents, starry nights. Left back home.

"Alright, go ahead and just lie down a moment. Let Crescent fix up your hair while you catch your breath. Maybe that magic lesson was tougher than you thought."

Wordlessly, Celestia complied and the older mare cleaned up her mane and tail, adding stylized curls much as she did for Luna. Once done, Ebon lead them to the ground level and continued to teach markings.

A streak and flash of blue-white light blinded Celestia. A pop, a pale reflection of lightning and thunder, crackled up ahead. Closing her eyes, she shook her head to wipe the after-image from her vision, then peered through the trees. Several young colts and an equal number of intense fillies stood in row, finding space in the underbrush. One of the fillies bent her head low and her spread her legs wide and aggressive. Her horn gleamed yellow, flashed, and released a burning ember that shot through the forest and exploded on a tree in a shower of sparks.

Silver Spear was there, behind that filly. He whispered something to her ear. She nodded and her horn glowed yellow once more. The fires caused by that ember became smothered in their own smoke, burning dimly than dying. The filly looked up to Silver Spear for approval and he gave a brief nod that brought a smile to her face.

"Combat training," Ebon answered. "You are a ways off from even considering such a thing, but I thought you'd like to see some wild spell casting."

Luna moved to Ebon's side, observing carefully. A colt bent low next, and a gush of wind stripped a branch of all its leaves. "Can you do stuff like that?" she asked, looking up to the stallion with wonder.

"Magic is complicated." He peeled his attention away from the practice range and looked down to the young mare. At that instant, Luna's blue, wide eyes had captured him. Distant eyes of the observer nevertheless held the impression of deep intelligence. She'd understand what he had to say. "It's a lesson you'll probably soon have covered, but most unicorns can only use their best magic in a single given skill."

"So, magic comes from your inner will, right? A lot of things influence that will. Mood, sleep, and so on. One giant influence is your passion, what you are passionate about. Crescent Change," he gestured up to the canopy of trees from where they came with a flick of his neck. "She is passionate about design, or being creative, or maybe just hair." Ebon gestured to the practice field where the colts and fillies cast spells. "They are passionate about defending those who need it, or maybe just passionate about fighting or seeing fireballs explode. The specific passion can be very different for two unicorns, even if they use it in the same skill."

Luna smiled to him, and nodded her head, pleased. A brief pause brought forth another question. "What's your passion?"

Celestia was shaken from her thoughts and leaned in to listen. "I'd like to know that, too."

Ebon blinked at that remark, blushed deeply at a thought on the tip of his tongue, then shook his head laughing. "I'm not really sure. I just know how I use it. I shape the branches we all use to cross the canopy. My passion is related to … bringing ponies together, I guess."

Celestia stepped forward along Ebon's other side. "That's a wonderful passion." She found herself smiling before a nagging thought resurfaced. "So, who is Silver Spear?"

She pointed her horn down the field at the stoic stallion. "Silver. He was with Phantom when we arrived."

"Phantom often calls him when there might be trouble," Ebon responded matter-of-fact. "A close ally, friend maybe even? Either way, Phantom feels just a bit safer when Silver is there, but I guess we all do."

Celestia stopped her expression somewhere between a chuckle and a grimace. "Isn't he a bit . . ."

Ebon snorted with an unexpected laugh. "Yeah! Yeah he is. But let me put it this way." Ebon knitted his brow in thought. "He's not the most powerful--magically or in size. If you wanted to lift a big rock, or buck a giant tree, you wouldn't go to him. But if you were being chased by a hungry … manticore, the first pony you'd call is Silver Spear."

On ahead, a filly summoned a stream of water, only in her inexperience, she summoned it all over the entire line of students in a shower. They screamed like children and scattered to keep dry. Meanwhile, Silver Spear lifted a hoof to his face and shook his head with a sigh.

That night passed easier than the first. It was no less uncomfortable to sleep up high in that tree, cut off from the ground, from the stars, and from the herd. They shared a bed again in the pitch black, the touch their only reminder that they were not alone. But the second night, it was less of an alien place, less of an unfamiliar herd, and it was less difficult to fall into a peaceful sleep.

Chapter 6

Sister, or brother: I hear the term used sometimes in affection among close friends. Sometimes I wonder if they really understand the complexities of siblings.

"The elements of harmony are a form of magic that unicorns must be at least aware of."

Celestia laid her head against her hoof, bored and slouched in one of the indentation meant for sitting. One of only two students in the class, there was no hiding such blatant displays. The tutor, an old stallion who had decidedly little patience and even less charisma, glanced in her direction with an increasingly irritated look. But for the moment, he continued his long-winded lecture, segueing into a topic only loosely related.

The pink haired pony shifted, glancing over to Luna. Her little sister put up a much better front at remaining interested, sitting soundly in her place, hooves tightly nestled between her legs. She even came to life once the old grump actually covered magic, but her eyes glazed over when the tutor prattled.

"I had first learned of the elements under my sixth master, when I was but a colt and he instructed me …"

Their days among the unicorns had fallen into a rhythm, rising in the morning for magic lessons and spending their afternoons under a guide teaching the way of life. Phantom stayed true to his word. Or if he broke it in some way, they never experienced it. The arrangement stuck and a new private teacher was provided each time Celestia and Luna completed the lessons of the last.

But Arcane Pride, the current one, deemed himself doing the two girls a favor, pulled away from whatever his other duties were, and did not appreciate their lack of respect.

"On using the elements!" He raised his voice and stamped a hoof against the wood floor.

Luna started and came awake with a yelp, then sat carefully paying attention once more.

"There are five elements which are utilized: Honesty, loyalty, mirth, generosity, and benevolence. They augment magic and open a vast number of unique spells. Today, you will use one of these elements for a desired effect." Arcane blinked and leaned forward, trying to see passed his poor eyesight. "Ehh, yes, Luna?"

A raised, midnight blue hoof lowered once he called on her name. Another strange custom he insisted on maintaining. "If the elements of magic are emotion, how is honesty or loyalty an emotion?" Questions, at least, guided the topic and made Arcane more tolerable.

"While those values are typically displayed through acts, they are associated with emotional motivators. There is an impulse that drives an individual to be honest or loyal with their fellow pony. It is that impulse which we use as an element." The old stallion cleared his throat to stall for his next thought; a sickly sound. "Will is the base and can be used on its own for most spells. Think of will as water. The elements are herbs. Water alone is very adaptable and useful. It quenches thirst, soothes, or cleans. But when combined with herbs, the water vastly expands its range. Some herbs deaden pain, others bring about a pleasant taste. Think of magical elements in this way."

He motioned for her to lower it. "Yes, there are other elements, but never use one that is not an element of harmony."

"The elements of harmony," his voice came at a hushed tone, "are safe in magic." Arcane Pride stared at Luna with an intense gaze, his expression grave as any Celestia had ever seen. "If you use another emotion as your element, it changes you. Don't ever augment another feeling."

A shiver crept down Celestia's spine. The gravity of the moment was out of place on such a dull pony like Arcane. The most she ever seen from him was irritation.

"Now, for your task. " His resumed the deadpan delivery, but it was easier to pay attention as his phrase signaled an upcoming exercise. "Using the element of loyalty, entwine these saplings." His horn took on the color of gold as he brought forward four uprooted, tiny trees that he placed between them. Two in front of Celestia and two in front of Luna. "A chief feature of loyalty is binding two separate things. It should compliment such a spell so that the saplings become like one."

Celestia hoisted herself up from the slouch and into a proper sit. The blue light of Luna's horn washed over the green buds of the saplings as her sister spoke. "I've heard of these elements before. The basis of unicorn society, right?" She called her own will forth and added a pink light to the room.

"That is correct. The elements were discovered by Kong Qiu, that being his name in the old tongue, during the chaotic times, when he tried to unify magic philosophy with societal functioning …"

As Arcane droned on, Celestia toned him out, concentrating on the spell. Loyalty, that was the element. It only took a single thought to find that impulse in her: Earth ponies. The herd. Whip Scar, Lightning Kick, all her friends. The binding force that kept even those she didn't like together while living in the danger of the Everfree Forest. Loyalty. Taking that feeling to her will, she felt the magical nature change and she unleashed it at the saplings. Pink magic swirled around the baby trees, and in a flash, the bark meshed so completely that the two appeared as one. "So, they are like suggestions I guess." The act had taken little effort and Celestia showed that by slouching back in her seat.

In confusion, and with a hint of indignity, Arcane blinked and tried to stare passed his eyesight at the mare. "I beg your pardon, young lady?"

"The elements of harmony." Celestia shrugged. "Generosity, benevolence …" She lazily poked each thought in the air as if they had manifested before her. "I'd have expected to see more of it, being the ideals and all."

"That is a very momentous statement from the mouth of a foal such as you." Arcane's nostrils flared and he snorted in mounting frustration. "One that makes you look the fool as well. You, of all, could learn much from how we behave. Our society respects the elements."

Celestia flew to her hooves and leveled a glare back at Arcane. "Yet, our cousins in the fields, the Earth pony, are left to fend for themselves. I suppose generosity doesn't apply to them?" Something invisible struck the side of her face and threw her head around. The thing curled around her muzzle like growing vines and pinched her mouth shut so only grunts could escape.

Arcane's chest heaved, his horn wreathed in gold flame."Enough! This is a classroom, and you are a student! You will keep your mouth closed until the end of this lesson, whether you will it or not." He took a deep breath, and on exhaling, released most of his fury, if not his annoyance. "Why, if you had been my filly, I'd have tanned some manners into that hide of yours. Something your Earth pony caretakers evidently failed to do."

Luna sat dead still in shock. Glancing over at her elder sister, whose lips pressed together awkwardly under the binding, she began to smirk, then giggle. Seeing Arcane's, flustered, red face, the giggling turned into out right laughter.

The rest of the class passed with the muzzle of sorts in place. But she spoke plenty with her eyes, fuming, or rolling sarcastically, or generally holding contempt at her teacher. Yet, she obeyed, casting spells or sitting in silence. Arcane exchanged an occasionally angry glance at the young mare and only once he was already half way out the door, did he loosen his spell.

Luna laughed again as Celestia shifted her tight jaw and worked her lips. "Heh, heh. Wow, you really made him mad this time. I think he even ended class early."

The pink maned unicorn shrugged. "Whatever." But upon setting foot outside, she saw the sun several lengths low, early from its usual place at the end of class. She smiled. "Worth it."

"All the unicorns are talking about her." Her face lit up. "They say that she made this--this … thing from hair and wood. She's treated the hair and bound it so it's pulled taught. By plucking the strands, the thing sings. It must have taken her hours and hours to make it just right. Apparently, she never got permission and built it in secret. Phantom is mad, but others are begging to keep it. They say that it's as if she's given the stars themselves a voice and it weaves a magic all its own."

"Huh, that's weird." She looked ahead again, tensing to go. "But let's see Ebon, today."

"What?" Luna sat back, dismayed. "But what if they take it away? This might be our only chance."

Celestia shook her head. "No, not today. Crescent will be in the middle of work, and you want her to stop, dig it out of whatever hidey hole she's put the thing in, and then play it for you. Too disruptive."

Luna pursed her lips in a pout. "Crescent likes talking to me. She'll probably be happy to take a break. And Ebon is at work, too."

"Only probably, not definitely. And Ebon can chat while he works. If we go to Crescent, we might waste our free time. No, we're going to see Ebon."

A deep sigh lifted Luna's chest, and she exhaled dejected. Celestia went, Luna followed behind.

Finding him, at work or even in general, was among the easier tasks Celestia went about. When it came to Ebon, she knew his job and where it took him. The bridges and homes were still living trees, growing and changing as they are prone to do. Given time, they warped at their interconnections and needed routine care, the kind Ebon was skilled at. All she needed to do was remember which places she passed that were still smooth and which were in need of attention. Narrowing the list down, she trotted at a youthful pace across the canopy of the forest, checking them out one by one.

"Ebon!" Seeing the black stallion up above, she broke into a gallop and chose a ramp that would lead to him. Luna came up from behind, galloping just to keep up.

"Celestia, Luna!" He smiled wide and pleasant. White teeth gleamed in contrast to his dark coat. "You're out of class!"

"Yeah." Celestia smiled in return, and giddily trotted her forehooves. "Got out early, and going to see how long I can escape the next duty."

He laughed good naturedly. "Always keeping your chaperones on their toes, like usual. Walk with me as I work." He trotted to the next interconnection with a pale glow of his horn. "So, what's new?"

"Ugh, so much!" Celestia grimaced and rolled her eyes. "You won't believe what Arcane did to me today! Threw a spell on my mouth to get me to stop talking."

A snort erupted from him as he laughed hard and unexpected. "Wow, I mean, I know each of your teachers must have thought about doing that at least once, but you must have really had Arcane going if he went that far."

She raised her lip in contempt. "Psh, it's been building a while. He goes on and on about whatever, and acts like I should enjoy his blah-blah-blah. Don't get me wrong, I like magic, I really do. I can respect teachers who, you know, teach. But Arcane Pride only gets around to teaching after a saying a bunch of random details and it's soooooo boring."

"Pride may be a little hard to pay attention to, but he's also one of the smartest unicorns in the herd when it comes to magic." He bent low and parted the bridge from its neighbor, molding it in white-colored magic.

"You may get you wish soon." Ebon chanced a glance at her while he reshaped the wood. "The craft elders are just short of exchanging blows to get the both of you."

"Arguing like mules. You're approaching the end of training. Actually, you've had more than most, especially advanced stuff. You'll be getting into actual crafting now. Phantom had hoped you'd show a specific skill and then you could simply go with that. But if at this level, neither of you have shown leanings, then that's a griffin's hope. He's going to have to make a decision soon, and even if he divides you and your sister, a lot of ponies will be unhappy."

A vague, uncomfortable feeling followed Celestia at the thought of division. "Why are they all fighting over me?"

The glow faded and Ebon jerked his head up in surprise. "Are you kidding? As far as I know, nobody has ever seen anyone like you. Just look at you." He turned and gestured over her body with nod of his head. Celestia felt her heart skip a beat as his eyes traveled down then up again. "Your horn is taller than anyone else's, you've got a coat and mane that can only be explained through magic, and you are quite beautiful to boot. Every knows you are special, and your sister too. And that was before you started to show magical talent the likes of which have never been seen in living memory."

Celestia blushed brighter and brighter as Ebon went on, feeling like she grew as red as an apple. Shyly, she averted her gaze from him and tried to resist speaking, knowing it'd come out as a squeak.

"So, anyways," Ebon bent low to his task again, fusing the pieces back together in a seamless join. "Each group wants you for their own reason and are arguing where you'd be best. The sentries are convinced that'd you drive anything short of a dragon away with the volume you can unleash spells. The wood workers believe you will expand our network many fold. The weavers think you'd be able to make new kinds of veils the likes of which are only in imagination. So on, and so on, among all the rest. They go back and forth."

"D-don't I get to decide?" She fought through the flush to say, that idea still making her uncomfortable.

The stallion pursed his lips into a smile, then chuckled. "Ehh, you just might. Phantom might think that'll be the best way to end the fighting."

"I should hope so." Celestia poked Ebon's side. "I just heard today that he was going to destroy someone's toy, that they made on their own. Grumpy Gus is a name well earned for him."

Ebon Swift raised his head and took a glance to both sides before motioning silently for her to keep it down. "I'd rather not have him learn that nickname from me."

Celestia sat down on her haunches, giving Ebon a teasing smirk. "Someone scared of ol' Grumpy Gus's grump?"

"Hey!" He lifted his nose with playful indignity. "I use to have classes under him. You don't know how scary he can be. Phantom was the only teacher who ever got me to stop goofing off. As for the toy, I assume you mean Crescent's invention."

"Who else? If I understand what I've heard, that thing she's built is the talk of the herd. And Grumpy wants to break it."

"Break it? Well, who knows. That's just hearsay. I'd guess he'll just confiscate it. It won't be good for him to leave Crescent's actions unanswered. She spent too much time away from her duties to finish that instrument she made. It'd set a bad example."

"What a serious killjoy! No element of laughter for him." She managed to sit back and cross her forelimbs over her chest with a huff.

"Look, I know you don't really like what he does, but Phantom is a good pony when it comes down to it." With a brief flicker of white from his horn, he merged the pathways. Lifting a hoof, he gestured to the expanse of the canopy. "We owe this all to him. Before Phantom took charge, we were all disorganized. The pathways were unusable, we crowded in the few unbroken hidey holes like rats, food was hard to come by. Unicorns died, Celestia. I was a colt, I remember it happening. Then Phantom stepped forward. He made things work. So many fewer have lost loved ones, now."

"Oh." Celestia slowly placed her hooves back under her. She thought of Painted Hoof and Chosen Oak. Of all the ponies that sent her here at great danger.

Ebon craned his neck, looking back over his shoulder. Following his gaze, Celestia noticed Luna sat quietly at the edge of the limb, some few pony-lengths away. The dark pony stared up at the canopy and tilted her head, flopping one ear as a butterfly of black and turquoise fluttered across a tree's blooming flowers.

"I'll be heading to the next one." Ebon motioned on ahead at another joint, cracked at the seams. "If you give me a moment, I'll meet you up there."

Ebony Swift turned the other way and closed the distance between himself and the midnight unicorn. "Hey, you," he offered in quiet greeting.

Luna jumped, and jerked her head around, blue eyes large as saucers. "Oh, hey." Her soft spoken voice strained under some hidden unease.

Luna turned away to gaze at the butterfly once more. She had a curious way of watching it, not marveling at the beauty so much as studying it with interest. "Not much," she shrugged.

Luna nodded. "Celestia accused the unicorns of being generous only when it suited them."

Ebon choked in surprise and coughed on the saliva, beating his chest with a hoof. "Oh, wow! No wonder Arcane was upset. Do you think your sister was right?"

"No …" Only then did she glance at Ebon again, marking him with a curiosity. "Why do you ask?"

"You seem very quiet. You use to come to me with a lot of questions and liked to listen to me as I'd ramble on about them. But recently, you kind of sit by yourself in your own little world. I guess I wonder why. If there is something wrong, I'd help in any way I can."

"Oh …" Curiosity gone, she looked away, distant once more. "Not sure why. Nothing is wrong."

The black stallion frowned as he regarded her in silence. It had been some time since he had seen a smile on her face in regards to him. Always in tow of her sister, too, but that could be merely a similar schedule of duties. She sounded honest, at least in her confusion. She wasn't sure why.

"Alright." Ebon stood up. "I've still got things to mend. I'll be just up ahead if you want to talk. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything." He managed a smile.

Luna turned over her shoulder and watched him go with a raised eyebrow. But did not think much more on it. Watching the butterfly, she sighed, her mind trying to guess at what stars sounded like and how hair could make sound. As if it heard, the butterfly descended down from the blooms and landed on the tip of her horn, investigating the enamel with a curled-straw mouth. Luna giggled and stared up at the insect. Then blew a puff of air at its wings, causing it to flutter in the air again before landing back on her horn. Giving it another puff, her eyes caught the purple glow of magic shining dimly through the foliage.

With a gasp of delight, Luna was off like a shot, galloping through the trees and down a hidden ramp that led to the forest floor. Hearing the melodious hum from a skilled voice, she doubled her pace. "Crescent!"

The mature mare sat upright and turned in her direction. Seeing the young pony, she smiled softly. "Luna, how good to see you."

"Oh, you know." The mare sent a purple jolt to flop a canvas over, half covered in bark that didn't quite blend. "Making these things, like always."

Luna took a step back to a comfortable conversation distance and sat down on her haunches, keeping her hooves close together. "I heard you made something beautiful."

Crescent smiled with some satisfaction. "That I did, finally following my whim."

"Well and so, I am pleased to have built it and it has already been shown off. Let them burn it now, if they wish, for I am happy."

"Ah, yes! I nearly forgot that." Crescent stood up like an excited filly, prancing off with youthful energy. She must have kept it close, because she returned as quickly as she left. "I thought you'd appreciate this more than most."

Hovering before her in a purple light sat a creation unlike anything Luna had seen, among the Earth ponies, unicorns, or in nature. The wood was shaped like a giant pony's horse shoe, bowing deeply at the center, and fashioned perfectly smooth. At the curve, a series of strands, also treated in a way Luna had never seen, sat taught, strung from a bar at the top to the bottom of the bow. Luna touched the strings, in all the gentleness she could muster, afraid to break such a delicate looking device.

"Do you remember those human pathfinders who came through our woods, some months ago?" Crescent broke the silence.

"Well and good that you did, we're not suppose to peak out." Crescent giggled. "I did anyways." She smiled, the memory as sweet as honey. "At one point, before they left, they sat down to rest. I heard a sound that I thought came from Moon herself, so I poked my head out to see what such a creature was. In the hand of one of the humans was this." She sent a purple shimmer over the instrument she levitated. "He plucked at it with his fingers and it sang such a lovely tune that I never forgot. That night, I went back to my work and secretly began to make what I saw. It was fraught with problems, but here it is now. A work of pure beauty."

Drawing it close to her body, she held it upright in her hooves and closed her eyes. With magic channeled through her horn, the strings began to pluck and song wept forth as if the wood and strands themselves mourned some loss that no one could understand. Crescent Change hummed with the tune, wordlessly creating a duet, voice complimenting voice. By the time the last note was plucked, both ponies wiped tears from their eyes.

"Yes, yes." Crescent recovered quickly. "But, enough of it, or my soul will never stop it's anguish. Where is your sister? It's rare that I see you alone."

"Oh," Luna shrugged and sniffled the last song-induced sorrow away. "She's just up there somewhere." She gestured at the trees. "Talking with Ebon."

"Ebon?" Crescent laid down atop folded legs, leaning closer to Luna. "Ebon Swift? And you are not there with her?" She cocked an eyebrow. "Didn't you use to like him?"

Crescent shook her head with a smile. "I mean like him. I saw how you use to gaze at him, so deeply whenever you could steal a glance. I may look old to you, whippersnapper, but I am a mare in my prime, and I know he cuts a handsome figure."

"Oh." Luna averted her gaze, staring down at her hooves. "No. Or … I don't know, maybe I did?"

Unsure why, a thought surfaced and propelled itself to Luna's tongue with the piercing force of a needle. "Celestia likes him, you know."

"She does, does she?" Resting her elbows on the ground, Crescent propped up her chin on her hooves. "Did she tell you not to like him?"

Luna rocked once, back and forth, while looking up at the trees. "I don't know. It seemed important. When you asked."

"So I see." The mare paused to consider what she heard. Looking back at Luna like an aunt, she continued. "He likes you too, you know. He told me he found you adorable."

Grimacing at the word, Luna shook her head emphatically. "Adorable? That doesn't sound like like to me. My parents, and my sister find me adorable." She reconsidered. "Okay, she finds me adorable when not annoying her."

Her heart beat fiercely in her chest with some icy fear. She stared down in thought. The information Crescent gave sat on her mind like a stick above water, ever floating atop the rapids. But she could not pierce below the waves and understand past the turmoil. "Does he like Celestia?"

Crescent shifted her gaze then sat back up on her haunches. Solemnly, she replied, "He likes her, too. Ebon Swift has a little bit of a reputation among mares here. He's a charmer, that they all know, and he has stolen several hearts before, not all intentionally. However, he often lets a number steal his heart back, for good or ill. He is a kind boy and he means well by his charm. I think it hurts him to have to hurt others. You and Celestia both share his heart right now, and he would not like you giving up on him to defend your sister's feelings. It's not fair to either you or him to act in such a way."

Luna nodded in silence. The tumult ran deep, deeper than Crescent even realized or understood. Thoughts of Ebon swirled the water fiercer and fiercer, until she felt uncomfortable sitting down, agitated and fearful of something in the depths which lurked like a leviathan. She got to her hooves, and shook her body, from head to tail, trying to shake away the lingering thoughts until only silence remained. The tumult faded, as she shifted her attention elsewhere, putting distance between her and that unease.

"LUNA!" Celestia's harsh voice cut through the silence like a shard of obsidian.

"Luna! Where did you go?" Celestia's brow creased in anger and she spoke through teeth half gritted, galloping the last few steps.

"Because you went off without telling me, I had to lose the last of our spare time looking for you! We're late for the next duty, past any excuse they'll believe. We're going to be in trouble, again, and I've still got a stop to make."

"Sorry …" Luna flattened her ears and used her mane to cover her face. She knew well she should have told her sister and couldn't find an excuse that justified her position. It had been a willing choice to leave without speaking.

Ebon's voice jumped in at the slight pause. "Time just gets away from even the best of us, every now and then. You might be alright."

Celestia hissed through her teeth as she turned, rearing up on hind legs as she scouted for a path up. "C'mon, Luna, and hurry."

The sisters left at a gallop, Ebon letting them go on ahead. At this point, navigating the forest's secrets was easy, if slow going. She found a tree with an inner ramp up, and her hooves clattered on the wood in the reckless speed which she ran; up into the forest canopy, across the ramps, the sound of Luna keeping up behind if just barely. Sweat soaked through her back, the sustained and vigorous gallop combined with midday heat. She peeled around turns, breathing hard, hooves sliding under momentum.

The pink-maned unicorn slid to a stop, staring at another hidden door. Luna skidded her hooves against the wood, but too late. The midnight pony bounced off her sister's backside and fell into a heap of fur and hoof. The impact sent Celestia to the ground in the other direction and she cursed allowed. "Horse apples! Clumsy mule!" Though to the air rather than her sister.

Horn aglow in sparkling pink, Celestia rose while channeling a spell that cast off the sweat she collected. Taking a deep breath, she gathered her composure.

Which she lost when the curtain flew open and Phantom Spell stood at the entrance. He, and Silver Spear, came trotting out and stepped around the stunned mares with little concern.

"W-wait! Chief Phantom!" Celestia ran a few paces to keep up, then fell into a trot next to him. "Do you have a moment, I'd like to talk."

Phantom eyed her coolly without slowing. "You have until we make our next destination."

"Thank you." She cleared her throat and let out the words in a hurried gush. "So, I have been studying the elements, and that got me thinking, as I learned more and more about the set, you know, honesty, loyalty, funny, giving, and niceness --all that stuff-- about the part of unicorn life and how it all worked."

Celestia took a deep breath and answered in a burst. "IthinkweshouldletEarthponieshere."

She repeated slower. "I think that we should expand our herd to include Earth ponies." But nervousness compelled hasty additions. "Maybe just a few at first until we figure out what to do and then more as we're capable of adding them, I am sure we could-"

"Stop." He raised a hoof, and stilled her tongue with the simple gesture. "Enough. And absolutely not. What would we do with a bunch of powerless ponies?" He resumed his walk, though he went a bit slower, Celestia half in his gaze.

"But, they're not dumb!" She lurched forward to stay at his side. "And they aren't weak. They could help if we find a way, magic or no."

"My answer is still absolutely not. Last thing we need here is more mouths to feed, more hooves tearing up dirt and branch, and more bodies to fill our rooms. Let alone ones who will be as ignorant to our system as you were when you first arrived. Even more so, let alone useless ponies who will have no powers, and no way to contribute."

Celestia's jaw dropped in horrid dismay. "Just one or two, until we give them work. What of kindness, or generosity? Does that have to stop at the end of a horn?"

"Filly, I know it was your home, but the answer remains no. Trees need mending, food needs collecting, and we must watch the skies and ground for threats. Despite how cozy it must feel to you in the classroom, we are ever at the edge of disaster. Every day, there is a battle against the Everfree Forest's propensity to chaos." Stopping at the edge of a door, Phantom turned around while Silver Spear parted the curtain. Using a forelimb, Phantom gestured for emphasis. "One forest fire, one rampaging hydra, one hurricane, and what ground we gained will be lost. I cannot spare ponies for frivolous tasks or flights of fancy. Now …" He stepped through the door. "You had your moment. Return to the tasks assigned to you."

The scolding they received was not at all as harsh as Celestia expected. The chaperone, a mare of middle years, treated the whole affair as more trouble than it was worth and kept it brief. She took the sisters among the unicorns responsible for preparing food and had them pick tree-ripened fruits or gather edible leaves as education on the system of distribution and collection.

But throughout the afternoon, matters weighed heavily on Celestia's mind and pressed down her thoughts. Craft heads, ponies, elements, what she learned had given her a great deal to digest and sort. Though, with the steady work of picking fruit --and the sneaking of an occasional apple for her and her sister-- came a clarity of mind that allowed her to think and chat about her thoughts to Luna.

The sun had fallen behind the mountains before the pace of life here gave her another spare moment. Luna laid down on folded legs to give them rest after the long day, enjoying the touch of the cool, earthen, forest floor. But Celestia couldn't sit still. She paced back and forth, mouthing words to herself of random thoughts as restlessness prohibited any relaxing.

Phantom would pass by here. She left a message with Silver Spear that she wanted to address something further with Phantom, and she was confident that Silver was reliable. Phantom had to come here anyways on his return from responsibilities.

She tossed up a pink light that hovered in the air and danced like a fairy. Under the thick leaves of the Everfree Forest, moonlight seldom reach this low. It was in that light that that she saw the first shadow of their approach.

Luna jumped to her feet, and Celestia faced the pair of ponies. Only to find that it was more than a pair, but a full half dozen. She swallowed before she spoke. "Phantom? I'd like to make an … announcement. Of sorts."

"I believe so, but hear me out and see what you think." She cleared her throat, having prepared the basics of what she'd say many times over. "It's come back to me that the craft heads are bickering over where I should go. And that you, Phantom, are caught in the middle."

"I want to tell you that I'd like to take the decision out of your hands. My sister and I, we will return to the Earth ponies, after you feel our teaching is complete." She paused, knitted her brow, then hastily added. "Oh, we'll work long enough so you, you know, didn't feel you wasted your time. But after that, we want to go home."

The half dozen unicorns murmured to each other in bewilderment, yet still sat back as mere spectators. All save two, Silver Spear, who stood quiet and impassive as a rock, and Phantom, who lifted his forelimb to his head and rubbed before replying. "That's ridiculous. This is your home. What is the point of such a decision?"

"Well, chief Phantom." Her knees shook beneath her and she prayed to Moon and the stars that it wasn't noticeable. "The unicorns here, you have it all together with your systems and things. But the Earth Ponies who raised me, the smallest amount of magic I bring back would do them far more good there then having all my magic here. So, uhh, just sparing two unicorns isn't all that much anyways." She kicked at the ground with her front leg. "So it seems better. Generous and all."

"No, absolutely and unquestionably no." He planted his hoof on the ground and stood firm and unmovable as an oak. "We cannot and will not spare you."

Anger, hot and pent up, boiled inside her. "Don't I get to decide where I go? What is my home?"

Cold, dark eyes stared back at her. "Filly, that is simply a luxury. And a dangerous one."

Something about the situation, about the trade with Phantom Spell, brought a memory to surface from within her. Words echoed, in her father's voice deep and pleasant. But forcing a pony to stay when he wants to go, or work for what is not his … that just wasn't natural. The thought lent righteousness to her anger and she pounded a hoof on the dirt. "Well, we are going back."

"Celestia," his voice carried harsh warning, like a biting winter wind. "You belong with your kind."

She planted her hooves firm and shouted without thinking. "You aren't my kind!" Whispers exploded around her, barely contained. When they quieted, she added in a determined voice. "I was born and raised an Earth pony. With no horn. It just came one day." With pride swelling, she stood up straight and tall as a chief, tail arching in defiance.

Phantom raised his hoof to his head and breathed a deep exhale. "Just how thoroughly have they got to you? I was sure the Earth ponies had some plan, but this is perverse by any standard." There was a slight gestured he made to Silver as he lowered his hoof. A shifting of his eyes and a tiny nod.

Celestia whirled around, breath suddenly lost and chest tight at the sound. Roots, aglow in silver, burst from the earthen floor and coiled around her sister like snakes, tying legs, waist, and mouth, clamping it shut from sound. A second shimmer, black as water at night, engulfed her horn and snuffed out any light it could emit.

"No, Luna!" Before Celestia could move, the roots broke themselves from the earth and Luna was drug to Phantom's side by an invisible force, kicking and screaming muffled protest all the while.

"Listen here, filly unicorn." Phantom leveled an intense gaze, harsh and inflexible as frozen iron. His horn didn't glow like others, it only reflected light across its surface in the texture and color of his black eyes. "I had hoped against hope that there was no deception in the Earth ponies bringing you here. But now I see their abomination of a scheme."

Silver already faded into the foliage of the woods, Luna in tow, as the other ponies closed the gap. Celestia surged to follow the gray light, but a level, steady stare from Phantom stopped her, cold sweat breaking out at what she saw. Droplets streaked across his face from that horn, like blood in moonlight, from whatever spell he channeled. Words soft spoken were all the deadlier. "We'll undo what they did to you in time. But until then, you'll have to remain for this simple fact. If you run away or disobey me, you will never see your sister again."

Chapter 7

One part of growing up is realizing that the idols you've constructed of gold are merely gilded granite.

The nature of Celestia's stay among the unicorns had shattered that evening. Phantom motioned to two of the others to take her away before he turned to his own path. They used their bodies to press Celestia back, shouldering and nudging the mare the other direction. She resisted as water resists a brush, holding still and trying to seep through the cracks, all to keep her eyes on the silver light of magic that took Luna away. But Phantom's unicorns won out and she lost track of where the light faded.

Her heart sank deep into her chest, finding a hole in her stomach to settle. Dread and fear raced through her mind and chased away clear thought. Too sudden, too fast did everything change, too much to know where to resist and where to comply. Celestia let herself be guided for that lack of knowing what else to do, and her chaperones--that title unbefitting them now, were they even friendly?--took her into a tiny, dark room where they stayed and watched, trading shifts through the night. The herd had to sleep , after all.

But Celestia found none. Curled into a tight ball atop her bed, she clutched the mattress of leaves between her forelimbs and stared into empty space, shivering. The first night she ever spent truly alone; her insides ached at that fact with a visceral intensity, almost physical, as if her flanks had been slit open. In the open fields of the forest, Earth ponies always slept next to one another. Coming here, Luna had always been at her side. Luna was gone, now. Life as she knew it gone, with a threat than hung over her head like a boulder. Slavery, her father had called this feeling, stripped of choice to go home, forced to compliance. She longed for another, longed for Luna, to be here to ease her suffering. Occasionally, she cooed softly to herself to nurse the pain.

Confused, tired, and scared, Celestia could only wallow as the hours passed, each one feeling as if she was slowly mauled. After a time seeming an instant and eternity all at once, the curtain parted and Phantom Spell stood at the door, sunlight streaking in through the cracks.

"Get up." His voice had an unusual wariness, confidence that she'd follow orders lost and replaced with an edge of threat.

Without hesitation, Celestia got to her hooves and headed to the door in a determined trot. Phantom came as a relief, ending the hell of the night. She'd meet his challenge head on and take her first steps through this new situation. In grim silence, she watched and he led.

Their hooves pounded across the dirt and over the roots of the forest floor, each one having their own reason for the impatience gait. Phantom took a route leading to one of the larger tree-homes of the unicorns, composed of six or more converted forest woods. As a student, Celestia never ventured inward, having no business to be at the meeting hall of the craft leaders . But as what she was now, whatever that might be, she'd make her debut.

Phantom filed in and held the curtain. Fearless, Celestia hopped over the threshold and into the magically lit interior, though as her eyes adjusted to the paler light, she hesitated. The hall reminded her of an oversized classroom, same sloped floor, same indentations for seats, only the focal point was the dead center of the room rather than one side. However, what made her hesitate was that it was filled to capacity. Most were varying degrees of old, when compared to herself. Mares, stallions, coats of all natural colors, and many speaking in a turmoil that hushed and died at her entrance. All eyes turned to her, and her pink mane, and her pure white body. Celestia shrank back from their stare. Her head lowered and her hind quarters bumped against the wall at her back peddle.

"Forward, filly." Phantom's harsh tones cut the silence and echoed off of the walls.

Taking a hesitant step, she felt every grim face follow. Mane drooped forward, she did her best to hide behind bangs of hair.

"To the center." He directed in that same tone and Celestia took a seat on her haunches there.

Off to the side, Phantom gave a nod. The lights dimmed, the crowd disappeared behind a veil of black, all except the center focal point, and one lone mare hoisting a bright, white light high toward the ceiling.

Celestia considered her old as well, though not as old as some. An unadorned tan coat with brown hooves, mane, and nose prompted Celestia to dub her Sandy. Sandy's horn shimmered with a faint magenta from the hoisted light and continued to shimmer subtly as she questioned. "Would you please state your name?" Like her coat, her voice was plain, though nasally in delivery.

"C-Celestia, daughter of Whip Scar and Lightning Kick, sister to Luna." Curling her tail close to her body, she scanned the darkness, trying to make out any sort of shape.

"Please, pay attention." The brown mare said with polite insistence. "Now, who are Whip Scar and Lightning Kick?"

"My . . . parents," She hesitated, unsure of what exactly was being asked. "Earth ponies from the herd that brought me."

Whispers passed back and forth around the room. The mare looked off to the side for instruction, then focused back on Celestia. "Such things are impossible. Unicorns aren't born from full blooded Earth ponies. Now, tell us what you know of your birth."

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and did her best to search her memories. Lightning and Whip had told her the story long ago, and the details had to be collected and pieced back together.

"Shaman?" Sandy repeated when Celestia came to that part. The mature mare raised her eyebrows. If she did not know the Shaman herself, she at least knew the word's meaning.

"Yes, she visited my parents and gave them a message. That I had been touched by the stars."

Whispers and murmurs doubled, someone laughed and a loud hush was given. Celestia frantically looked left and right, trying to make out anything among the darkness.

"I'm afraid that's impossible. Continue, please, with your next earliest memory."

Celestia sighed in frustration and began to relate her life story as best she could recall. Perhaps in the telling, some may be convinced and release her sister. But periodically, especially on the subjects of the stars, horns, or her parentage, Sandy would interrupt and calmly stress that such things just didn't work that way. Each interruption threw Celestia off balance again in her recall.

The back and forth lasted hours. Fatigue set in from lack of sleep and blurred her concentration. Thoughts became fuzzy and her eyes burned. Losing attention, Celestia got lost in a daze and wondered when the questions would end, or if it would drone on for yet hours more.

Finally, Phantom raised the lights and stepped past Sandy. "That will be enough for today. Celestia is past usefulness here." With a gesture, he motioned for Celestia to follow.

Groggily, she stretched stiff limbs and swayed as she got to her feet, following with lids that occasionally closed in an inescapable desire to nap.

She snapped awake from her sleep walk, with a mane frizzed in surprise to find Phantom glaring at her. "Huh, wha-!?"

"Despite your predicament, you still share our protection, our food, and out shelter. As such, you will be expected to share in labor, like all others. Until you are made well, I will dictate your tasks. I need not remind you what refusal will cost."

"Today, I expect you to till these earth paths." With a gesture of his nose and pointing of his horn, he singled out several winding trails where horseshoes compressed dirt. "Make it appear as no pony has tread over the forest. Make it disappear and keep us hidden and safe. Food will be brought shortly."

Celestia gave a broad yawn at his back, half in need and half in contempt. When she closed her mouth, she froze an instant, noticing that the chaperones --two mares who whispered to each other but spoke seldom to her-- had seen the act.

Fine by her, she thought while drawing will into her horn. Needed the time to think anyways.

The task moved at a snail's pace. The forest was complicated in its chaos, several times did one of the chaperones point to a mistake she missed in tired inattention. Pausing, she rubbed her eyes. The sun traveled lower on the horizon but would not set for some time. Upturning dirt and rearranging plants took little energy or concentration, so she reserved as much of her mind as she could to assessing the situation.

That was the thought that kept returning. She wanted Luna back, and wanted to take them both home.

And to nap, though that was more an immediate concern. She kept circling back over those few facts, fatigue ever growing.

By an act of mercy, the Sun when it finally set and Celestia whispered thanks to the sky turning orange. They finally led her back to bed and she collapsed into the soft leaf mattress, nuzzling it like a friend. Yet, it was not a friend. Celestia slept, but only in fits. Anxious feelings jolted her awake several times, and she clutched the bed tight between her limbs as she tried to fall back into dreams. Until then, she passed time in thought. Celestia knew what she wanted. Knew her situation. Now, she merely had to plan to reach her goals.

The tasks Phantom set her on would work to her benefit. The unicorns had to care for Luna. At the least, taking water and food to wherever they hid and imprisoned her. With an ear to the ground and a careful eye while she worked, Celestia could construct a mental map of where mysterious food was going and what different trees were being used for. That would narrow down where they kept her sister. Just like looking for Ebon.

Phantom Spell woke her again the next morning, and the day unfolded much as it had before. This time, the meeting hall was nearly empty. Far fewer old ponies sat and watched, though what few were there still disappeared all the same when Sandy hoisted her light.

Already feeling the routine and bored with it, Celestia drew on her vague recollections of yesterday, and rushed out the same answer. "I chased a colt in a game, yelling that I was a dragon--"

"Stop!" Sandy's nasally voice cut her off, then resumed in polite insistence. "Dig deep, reexamine your memories, and tell us again without drawing on what you said yesterday. Add to it what you can."

Celestia sighed at the task and searched her mind. "Sunny day, I was just a little filly and chasing a colt, Painted Hoof I think was his name . . ." And from memory again, she began to relate her life story.

"Very," Celestia gritted her teeth. The interruptions were already getting under her skin.

But even as Celestia did so, Sandy questioned the veracity of almost everything, interrupted her even more than yesterday. To make matters worse, Sandy began to give suggestions to the story, ones she hinted were more plausible, but not going so far as insisting. Everything ground to a halt every time she yelled, "Stop!"

And on and on it went until Celestia began to mumble her answers in sleepy exhaustion, only half listening.

"That will be enough for, today." Phantom stepped forward, raising the lights. "She has use elsewhere." He guided her out of the hall, leading her to a new chore. "Tree mending." He gestured to a thick trunk that housed a few rooms and a path to the canopy. "This one has over grown its last correction and is now at a risk of being found. When you are done with this one, there are others. Corona Blaze will show the rest." Without saying more, he left her to the chaperones.

The pattern repeated. A new day rolled around. A day after. A day after that. Sandy questioned her in the morning over her past and Phantom took her to some new task in the afternoon. Each time the sun fell, Celestia added to her mental map and tried to think of more ways to narrow where Luna was hid.

The pattern repeated. And grew worse. Sandy threw Celestia off balance more and more with interrupting suggestions, and the process wore her down. Phantom's task became more and more challenging as he tailored better to her level of skill. The map grew in size and complexity as she added location after location. Sleep alone seldom brought rest.

Celestia shrieked in frustration, a high pitched, girlish screech that hurt her ears as it was loosed. Hurtling the bed against the wall of her room, she screamed again. One chaperone tensed, and the other started awake. Tears streamed from her eyes and Celestia buried her face in her forelimbs. It's hopeless. Her mental map descended into fog. The details converged, mixed, became blurred. Too much to recall, too much to keep track of, it all slipped beyond her tired grasp. The despair wound its way around her heart and sank it low. I'll never see Luna again, I'll never see home again. She bawled and felt like a tiny foal. The tears soaked her cheeks and her hooves and came unending as her voice descended into sobs and sobs carried her into another night of restless sleep.

Luna kicked and squirmed against the bindings that dragged her away. The magic-imbued roots only tightened under the struggle, painfully grinding bone on bone. Mouth pinched shut, her screams of fight came as perturbed squeaks. Summoning a spell, she sent a surge of will to her horn only to find it impeded part way there.

"Sun and Moon!" A pony cursed but she couldn't arch to see who. "She won't hold still."

"Quickly. Phantom Spell can't suppress someone of her power very long." Silver Spear's voice. Calm in delivery and matter of fact in tone.

Doubling her efforts, Luna kicked and screamed anew, surging more will to her horn and lashing out in all directions. An alien touch brushed her forehead, a nearly gentle thing. Gasping, she screamed again and heard her voice ring clear. "Noooo!"

Luna flew to her hooves, her breath panting under the exertion. The binds were gone. The hold on her magic as well. A shining blue light from the will channeled to her horn illuminated a plain and comfortable room. A bed sat at one side, sizeable and sewn with more leaves than others she had seen. Water collected from rain fed into a bowl via hollowed bamboo, smelling natural and refreshing.

The curtain to the door rustled, sunlight washed in. Silhouetted except for his gray horn, Silver Spear peered in, resolute. Seeing the midnight blue unicorn, his features softened with calm. "Luna, you are awake." He was soft-spoken and quiet as a small stream broken over a rock.

"Yes," Luna nodded, chest still heaving. "I am." Gathering her composure, she sat on her haunches and brought her tail to her side.

Turning to look outside, his horn took on a brighter glow, levitating a bowl and sending it inside as well as holding the curtain aloft. "You are likely hungry. It's been some time since you last ate." Fashioned like a large bird's nest but built from living wood, leaves still budded at the bowl's edges.

Blue eyes shimmered in lust of what she saw. Apples tucked inside, a fine variety of leaves tossed in a salad with hay sprinkled on top. Her stomach growled with the thought of hunger and she looked to Silver with embarrassment.

"You may eat as you are ready." He simply stated with a nod of his head toward the bowl. "Were you hurt in the struggle?"

Luna bent to the bowl and took a large bite from the apple. Food still chewing in her mouth, she shook her head. "No,"

"You have been confined to these quarters for the foreseeable future." From Silver, the statement came as a mere fact, carrying no veiled threat. "There is an enchantment around the walls. I suggest you don't test it."

"Okay," Luna swallowed the bite she had taken. Her stomach replied with great satisfaction.

"You may be here some time." Silver quirked his lips as if addressing a problem. "Would you like some company?"

"No, thanks." Luna shook her head. Silver was no Crescent or Ebon and she dismissed the thought of asking for either of them. What she needed most right now was time to think.

Silver Spear gave a quick nod, accepting the answer. "If you require anything, a sentry will be at the door. Knock for him. The enchantment will otherwise contain sound." Closing the curtain, Silver's hooves trotted away.

She sent a bright yellow light into the room and floated it like a fairy, adjusting it so it could mimic the intensity of being in forest shade at high noon. Luna replayed the events of the night before.

Celestia had just revealed the uniqueness of her heritage. Phantom Spell reacted with disbelief, then . . . that's when the roots came out of the ground. In the struggle, things became disorienting. Next thing she realized here, she woke up here.

Calling new will forth, she shaped a spell to reach out and feel along the walls and enchantment. Like the antennae of an insect, the invisible fibers swept over the room and sent back a sensation, both tactile and magical. As Silver had said, a spell had been in place to confine her, her magic, and any sound she made. A strong, thick bubble, very elastic in construction but not invincible.

Forming a new spell, Luna shaped her will into a forelimb with a needle-like hoof and pressed it against the barrier's side. It flexed and held as expected. Gradually, she pushed the hoof deeper, until the magical construct threatened to tear under the pressure.

In the thinness of the stressed bubble, she felt the second spell. Yelping, she jerked back the forelimb and nearly knocked herself over with her own magic.

"Stars and Moon!" She gasped and worked herself back to calm. A binding enchantment layered over the barrier. If the barrier is broken, the spell will swoop in and bind her legs and feet. Undoubtedly, it'd alert the sentry and she'd be subdued before she could break free.

Mulling over the thought, Luna stood up and refreshed herself on the water. At the wall, a voice caught her ear.

"I don't get it." One chatty mare said outside the tree. "Why only that other crazy one? This one Phantom just keeps locked."

"Because Phantom has a system, he always does." A stallion. Could it be the sentries? They must be changing watch. "He's just made another to fix this problem."

"Only one of them. After that pink one is helped, we got her insane sister still locked away."

The mare laughed. "Your innocent act won't work on me. I know how you are about gossip."

A pause. "Okay, fine. I may have heard something." The voice grew quiet and Luna used a little magic to draw the sound to her ear. "They say the pink one is the older of the two. Wherever she goes, lil'sis goes. So, they help Pinky, and Blues follows."

Luna slowly sat back on her haunches, realization dawning on her. Pieces fell into place, one after the other. While Phantom kept Luna safe-but-caged, Celestia was subject to this mysterious "help." A memory from the night before became clear. If you run away or disobey me, your sister will never be seen again.

"Stars and Moon." She spat and glared at the wall where the voices came from. Phantom was using their bond to manipulate each in their own way. A sick feeling gripped her stomach and she scooted the bowl of food off to the far side of the room.

"So, wherever Celest goes, her little sister follows?" With sound confined, no reason to not voice her thoughts aloud. "Let's see what happens when little sister cries for big sister."

Using the bed as a seat, Luna started to shape a complicated spell while musing in thought. Eyes closed, and lips moving silently, she planned her escape. The first part felt easy enough.

The binding spell that sat around the bubble. If she could bring Celestia here, her sister would have no problem destroying it from the outside and they could break free. All the defenses were facing the inward, it would be a cinch.

No magic, no sound, no way to signal. But, constructs could be flawed. Perhaps there was a weakness in the barrier she could exploit.

Luna turned her spells to feeling and testing her room, poking at the walls, prodding the enchantment's elasticity and thickness. Each time she felt she learned something new, she added more and more to a complicated spell she built up in the reserve of her mind.

The going was slow, and lasted the rest of the day. When she grew stuck or fatigued, she turned to her salad and ate, or refreshed in the water. At a regular interval, Silver Spear peaked in, checked her condition, and took the bowl to gather more food. Politely, she thanked him at each turn. For all his aloofness, Silver was diligent in seeing to her needs, almost managing to soften her disgust at Phantom's ploy.

When the cracks at the seam of the curtain darkened with nightfall, Luna extinguished her faux-fairy lamp and curled up on the leafy bed. Sleeping alone for the first time, she began to shiver and moan softly with unease, but constructing that spell kept her occupied until sleep whisked her away.

The next morning, she awoke with Silver bringing her breakfast. "You've been alone for a full day. Would you like company?"

The blue unicorn giggled to him with a smile. Only Silver Spear could managed to say those words in such a way that it did not imply flirting. "No, thanks. I'd prefer privacy, today."

She spent the morning perfecting the spell she came up with the night before, drawing her will forth and letting it assume the intended shape. It was complicated. Very complicated. It needed to serve a variety of purposes at once and very specifically. First, the spell had to find Celestia. Luna shaped that aspect like lightning seeking the tallest tree from miles away in the sky. Knowing her sister well, she merely had shape it to strike her rather than a tree. Next, it had to draw them together. This part proved more challenging. The signal had to be invisible, and untouchable to outside harm in case a unicorn found it and tried to sever it. It also had to guide Celestia. She went through several ideas before settling on a root. A root sifted nutrients to a tree, likewise Luna could send messages along the tether. If she could "bury" it in the air, then it'd be hidden from attack.

One final problem. Getting it out the bubble without popping it. Feeling the barrier carefully, Luna tried to soak her spell in another layer of magic that would mimic the texture of the enchantment, like soaking a stick in water so it wouldn't burst a bubble it poked through.

Taking a deep breath, she summoned will to her horn. "Here it goes . . ." She brought the idea fully realized to that will, felt it take shape as she desired, then unleashed its reality-altering power.

Her magic arched like lightning, then grew like a vine. Reflecting off the bubble, it crawled across the wall, up and around, the tether disappearing in the wake. Eventually, it faded out, expending itself of all energy.

With little more to do, she closed her eyes and felt along the barrier again. The day unfolded quickly in Luna's mind, full of more experiments and failures. And so did the next, Silver Spear always prompt with a delicious meal. But that was the only thing that went her way. Something about her plan wasn't compatible. She tried new aspects to her spells, substituting the lightning for a curious and slower dragonfly. The roots for spider-silk strands. Soaking the magic different shades of enchantment. Even adding what elements of harmony she could.

A deep sigh lifted Luna's chest, and she held her head low, thinking of no magic and no spells. Just a solemn emptiness that filled her mind. Like being submerged and staring into the abyss of a lake at night. Stillness.

"This spell was perfected by a herd of unicorns and I'm trying to break it in only a couple of days. Am I a foolish foal?"

"Perhaps it's time I ask Silver if he could bring Crescent here. If she still has her instrument. That'd be nice." She answered for herself. "Yes. Maybe I'll ask."

Rising onto limbs weak with lethargy, she walked for the door. But a little visitor caught her eye. "Oh, hello. I remember you."

A black and turquoise butterfly fluttered at the seam of the curtain, passing into the room.

"Come to visit me? I'm glad to see it." She smiled as it landed on her horn, investigating her with its curling mouth.

Luna's eyes widened into saucers and she inhaled a deep breath. "Oh, butterfly, you are a true friend!" With all the gentleness she could muster within booming excitement, she trotted to the center of the room, butterfly in tow. "I can't pass through the barrier, but Silver Spear has many times now in giving me food." She paused. "Do you know what this means, butterfly?" She grinned wide. "You can pass through the barrier as well."

Sitting down on her haunches, she lowered the insect to the remains of an old apple. It settled there, flashing its wings open and closed.

"A friend like you needs a name." Luna lifted a hoof to her chin. "How about," She pointed to him. "Flutter Brave. Because you will bravely carry my message to my sister." Unable to sit still for her excitement, she stood up and arched her tail proudly before leaning down to whisper. "Don't worry, Flutter Brave. I'll give you a little guidance and magic. Then you can signal my sister."

Chapter 8

Fear is a powerful tool, but it's best unused. What you control with fear, you destroy.

"My sister, Luna." Celestia stared at the floor, a numbness deadened her spirit. Every limb felt a loss of strength and she struggled to keep pace with Phantom that morning as he led her to the hall. All she wanted right now was to collapse on the floor and simply lie.

"I- . . .I- . . ." Some strange details stood out fresh, clean and a memory unraveled in a thread from the thought. Others folded and distorted like a reflection on water when she went to grasp it. What was suggested to her, what she actually remembered, blended together and became indistinguishable.

"I don't know!" Pinching her eyes shut, a sob caught in her throat. "I don't know." Unable to hide it, the sob escaped and the tears pooled at the corners of her eyes.

A hoof scraped against the floor, and Sandy's steps approached. "There, there." She placed a forelimb about the white mare with the pink mane.

Though the tone of the Sandy felt detached, Celestia couldn't help it. The touch had been the only real comfort she felt since the night Luna was taken, and she wept for it. Wept for everything. The horrible mess she was in, being barred from returning home, the jumbled memories, her failed plan, the threat that hung over her head and around Luna. The tears came and came and soaked the tan-colored shoulder.

The moment lasted until she could sob no more and silence filled the room. "Come," Phantom interrupted. "That is enough for today."

Peeling away from Sandy, Celestia dried her eyes with her forelimb and followed. Nothing had changed.

After a distance, Phantom halted. "This stream," He gestured to a modest river that cut a swath through unicorn territory, "is notorious for flooding when the rain hits the mountains. Under Simplicity's direction, you're to improve the flow and reduce the flooding."

A black mare with brown-shadowed markings, trotted up gaily at the mention of her name. "I'm afraid I got you doing some grunt work today, if you don't mind." She beamed a smile.

Enamored with the project, Simplicity talked far more than instruction required. Led up and down the bank, she rattled on about plants to be grown on either side, diverting the stream, widening the base. A chaperone tagged along with ever growing disinterest. Celestia all but stuffed hooves in her ears to make it stop.

But finally, it did. Simplicity became distracted with another matter and left Celestia to a task.

No heart in it, the young white mare trudged up dirt and rock from the river bed. Such a mindless task gave her time to contemplate. A stick, loosed from the mud, drifted down stream and away. How long must this continue? A dried leaf floated over the crest of waves, chasing the stick. How long can I keep going like this? The whole of the slop she gathered lowered into the river and oozed away in a muddy drift. Not long. She bit her lip. I'm sorry, Luna. Not long.

"Shoo." Celestia wiggled and contorted her face to shake it off. "Shoo, you little bug."

Much to her surprise, it did. It fluttered off. Landing some pony-lengths away, spindly feet clung to a trunk and it flashed its wings open and closed. A speck of color caught her eye and Celestia curiously tilted her head. On the lower wing and off to the side, a single spot didn't match. Pink. A bright, tiny fleck of pale pink.

A gasp involuntarily sucked in breath and Celestia bit off anymore of a reaction. Turning back to the river, she took up a new heaping scoop of riverbed while her heart raced. A tiny fleck of pink next to a tiny fleck of midnight blue. No more of a sign was needed. They were sisters. They grew up together and had taken the same magical training. Celestia understood. She had to follow this butterfly.

She checked over her shoulder. Simplicity talked with another, distracted with directing her plans. But her chaperone, one of the mares that traded whispers, boredly kept an eye on the white unicorn. So, at least, she hadn't noticed the message. But she would notice Celestia casting a suspicious spell.

Returning to her work, Celestia hefted the pile of mud up from the bottom of the stream. A song from home casually hummed, she took a step forward and guided the scoop of soggy sludge high in the air along the bank. Another step, another few lengths to drift the mound. When she turned to keep the scoop in view, her rear hoof slipped on a moss covered stone and she stumbled a single step for a single instant. Just enough to intentionally disrupted her magic. "Whoops!" Celestia announced, trying to hide glee as muck fell and splat at on the bank. The splash covered the chaperone along one side from tail to nose in mud.

Simplicity and the unicorn accompanying her rushed to the chaperone's side, blabbering in a distracted panic. Celestia whipped around and called forth a spell to the butterfly. It cast true and hid the discolored spots while leaving a mark, an invisible string that responded to her magic alone.

Whether it had been conditioned to respond to her voice or her magic, she did not know. Either way, the butterfly fluttered from the tree trunk and disappeared into the forest, the string unwinding in a trail.

With a sigh of relief, she turned toward the babbling mares and failed at hiding a smile. "Oh, my dear, I'm so sorry. It just slipped right out when I nearly fell."

The chaperone cast glare that marked her with equal parts anger and disbelief, to which Celestia giggled. Let the little revenge-prank stand as cover for the true trick.

That night, she found rest. Not daring to actually call the string, sleep whisked her away as she imagined clutching it to her chest. While watched day and night, while still subjected to Sandy's interrogations, to chores and heavy lifting, to loneliness, and a herd that held her hostage, she had this string. Now, she just needed a chance to use it.

Morning came as it always had, Phantom at the door, rousing her awake. Though, today felt different. Ease and a subtle air of confidence surrounded the white mare, backed by a good night's rest. Eyes fell upon her anew as she entered the hall that morning. Still only scantly occupied by a group of old ponies, they fell silent with anticipation seeing Celestia's self-assured gait. Sandy, too, looked at her with equal parts hope and trepidation as she adjusted the light.

"Crimson Coat had joined us to make fun of Luna. He said that she'd never have a horn--"

"Stop!" Sandy raised a hoof to halt her. "Recall again, you appear to have let inaccuracies slip in once more. Unicorns are born with horns. Try to recall before that, when you and Luna were foals and made your horns glow."

The memory unraveled, crisp and clear. They giggled, keeping up Whip and Lightning on the moonless light by adjusting the color of their horns. Celestia shook her head, dismissing the images her mind filled in. "That never happened. We didn't have horns until we were almost mares."

Celestia's horn surged pink as she threw a spell at Sandy, manifesting a hair that wired her mouth shut. "NO! You stop, you old goat!"

Eyes widened in shock and fear, Sandy dropped the light she held aloft and darkness swallowed the room. Hooves scuffed over wood, shuffles of weight and movement surged all around as several unicorns brought glows forward, standing and aimed at her. Phantom narrowed his eyes and stood unflinching. Realization hit Celestia, they all waited to see if she'd throw a malevolent force in some ill conceived tantrum.

Tucking her tail close, she sat and took a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she slowly sent a light aloft, dispelling the darkness from the room and illuminating everyone clearly.

Seeing the mare with the pink mane calm and passive, several unicorns extinguished the glow of their horn yet still marked her with suspicion.

Sandy stared dumbfounded and unable to talk, causing the corners of Celestia's lips to pull back in a smirk despite the seriousness of the situation. "Please, allow me to speak uninterrupted." Rising to her hooves, she paced the center of the room. Words came from an intuitive place formed and ready, surprising the young mare as she tried to not let the moment slip by. "Craft leaders, sages, and chief Phantom. For several days, you've heard my story repeated over and over. It is a true story. I was born an Earth pony, as was my sister. We came without a trick, only wishing to ask for your help, you being so knowledgeable with magic. And you have helped." Emotions swelled up inside, the topic too close to untwine thought from feelings. Her voice gained earnest edge of pleading as she continued:

"My sister and I, we've learned so much with your herd, and we have become strong. I know our lives are hard to believe, but isn't my color proof enough? Luna's pure blue and my rose colored mane, isn't that enough to make you believe that there just might be something unique to our birth, something you don't know? My parents, my Earth pony parents, didn't lie, just acted in love for their daughters. Yet, all of you choose to believe an easy lie over the truth. It's led to unfortunate decisions, but ones you can undo." The emotions grew intense, swelling ever stronger, and her breath shuddered as she breathed. "We wish to repay you for your kindness and teaching, the whole Earth pony herd is grateful. But let us go, or you'll make us slaves."

Too much, Celestia stopped. Her body quivered, but she kept her eyes dry. Slowly, she turned her head to meet the gaze of what few respected heads of craft decided to watch that day. The ponies stared unmoved, faces implacable and continence stubborn.

Mules! Old, curmudgeony mules! Anger shook her knees. What could some young mare ever do to change their mind? A deep sigh lifted her frame and she lowered her head in defeat.

Phantom's horn shimmered and the spell that kept Sandy silent fell unraveled. "Come with me," he stated calmly. "Now." Jarring harshness punctuated the sentence, a crack in Phantom's composure that seeped fury like a crack in the earth seeps steam.

Out of the hall, he walked slowly across the forest floor with Celestia in tow. Phantom remained silent, choosing his words carefully as he visibly battled inner frustration. "We. . . the elders and I, have watched your progressing condition."

"You show great promise, Celestia. The good you could accomplish is beyond estimation. For that reason, we have given you great allowances in your actions, your training, and your current problem." Muscles in his flank stiffened and rippled, his voice grew gravelly. "But my patience has limits. I've dealt with lost causes before." He whirled around and his black eyes stared unwavering, bare inches away.

Her mouth dropped open in a grimace of fear and she cowered a step back. A root caught her hoof and she fell to sitting, unable to tear away from his gaze as he loomed over her.

"One more time." His nostrils flared and breath ruffled her mane, hot with rage. "Step out of line, have another outburst, or be anything but the most helpful, cooperative, responsible unicorn of the herd, and I will kick you out into the wilds of the Everfree forest alone, and we'll try our luck with Luna."

She wanted to tear herself away, but the piercing black eyes pinned her. Wanted to find her feet, yet could do nothing but back peddle uselessly with her forehooves. For several long breaths, Phantom did not move.

Finally, he turned away and resumed a slow walk down the forest path. "Your tasks will be two fold today, as you have morning and afternoon to work now. Fir--"

A ripple of tension passed through the air, traveling like a wave across her body, nose to tail. The sensation was so palatable, she struggled to breath the thick atmosphere. Ponies raised their heads one by one as it passed, ears and eyes peeled for an imminent threat, Phantom's included. Celestia had seen reactions like this before from her Earth pony home.

The call mimicked the path of the tension wave, other sentries signaling their birds to carry the warning across the forest. The falling notes of a warbler soon filled the unicorn occupied land.

"Stay with you chaperones!" Phantom shot already midflight, galloping with purpose.

Warbler. It took a moment for Celestia to recall her training and match the bird kind to the specific threat. Warbler. . . Warbler. There was a mnemonic to help remember:

Her stomach sank. Adrenaline surged, dilating eyes, and priming muscles for action.

Unique among the creatures of the Everfree Forest, Ursa were part magic, being composed of night sky, and part animal, kin to bears. Legends described them in impossible terms, dwarfing mountains and reaching the heavens when they rear back. But there was a difference between wild tales of a single witness and the legends of lore passed down in pony kind. The truth was that ponies--even unicorns-- posed neither a significant threat or meal to Ursa. As such, they were ignored much in the same way a pony might ignore a colony of ants. But just like insects, an Ursa could crush one beneath its foot and be none the wiser or caring. To unicorns, that threat was doubled as its wide paws flattened trees, and limbs demolished the bridges so carefully maintained as if they were twigs. Little could be done except get out of the way.

Unicorns trotted this way and that, through the canopy, across the ground, each acting on some part of the preconceived plan to be mobile once the Ursa came. While not galloping or braying in panic like the Earth ponies might, to call the subtle chaos calm would have been flat out mistake.

And yet, they had forgotten her. Hearing the call, Phantom left without summoning the chaperones.

Thoughts turned to the night before and that single wish. The chance to use the invisible thread. That chance was now. Breaking out into a gallop, she fled from where Phantom had left. If the chaperones had a sudden clarity of thought and came looking, Celestia would be long gone. At first the direction didn't matter, as long as it was away. She peeled around trees, obscured herself behind a curtain, and took a ramp up to the canopy's branch pathways, spooking unicorns the entire way with her speed and purpose.

Pink light from her horn called to the string, and it answered, bending and contorting to Celestia and laying itself out in a path to guide her to the butterfly. "Yes!" Celestia bucked mid-run with joy and felt a different kind of excitement pulse through her and speed her steps. Shifting her weight to turn and follow the thread across the network of branches, it shimmered only as her light approached. Unicorns gasped, ducked, cursed as she dodged around and turned sharply at the bends and joints.

A stallion's hindquarters backed out of a door, unaware. A cold and sudden fear gripped Celestia as she found her course was straight into his broad side. She planted her hooves, gritting teeth in strain to stop. The bark gave little purchase, but it was enough and she halted just short of disaster. Hearing the sound of enamel scraping wood, the stallion threw himself out of the hollowed tree and whirled to face the unruly pony that barreled down the narrow paths.

Celestia likewise found no words. Hope surged, sank, then embroiled with confusion as she watched his reaction. Undoubtedly, he of all the herd could recognize she was breaking Phantom's order.

The surprise melted as indecision gripped his features. Tension filled the air where words did not. Ebon looked over his shoulder, staring off into the distance. Celestia followed the gaze and found Phantom Spell's place of work, a large tree that served as a minor meeting hall. The corners of Ebon's lips curved with worry, his gaze locked in place. Eyes widened slightly with visible white contrasting his black coat.

"Ebon, please!" Her heart thudded wildly in her chest, her voice strained with desperation. "Ebon! I just want my sister back. Nothing more! I just want Luna safe, and with me." Tears formed just behind her lids, threatening to break forth. "Please . . . Ebon!"

Slowly, he turned back to Celestia, pity on his features and an agony growing even then in his eyes. Lowering his head in shame, he averted his gaze. In a whisper, he broke his silence. "I'm sorry."

A white light enveloped his horn, a spell cast off, invisible. A second bird added a tune under the warbler's, a series of sharp chirps. The tree swallow; signal of an internal pony conflict.

A wound opened up inside, focused and centered in her being. Pain bled from the aftermath in something that simply grew. "Ebon, no . . ." Her voice came as a whisper. The damn broke, the tears rolled freely down her cheeks. Blinking away the watery vision, she shoved passed him with her shoulder and took off in a gallop driven by affliction. Down the ramp, hooves scuffed and slid on smooth wood, spooking two stallions who raised their head to listen to the new bird. But she cut the corner on the last few feet to avoid them, leaping off the side. Legs buckled on a hard landing. Still, she ran, and chanced a glance over her shoulder. Ebon sat unmoving on his haunches, head still lowered, the warnings of a coming Ursa meaningless.

The wind dried her tears. A determination steeled Celestia and stopped the flow of hurt. There could be no time for that now. Phantom had left her with one final chance. Failure now and she'd be thrown to the forest, Luna stolen forever. How long she could survive on her own, she didn't know. It simply wasn't done, ponies were meant to be together. Alone in the forest, anywhere, she'd reek of vulnerability and the first predator that found her trail--

Painted Hoof's final moments appeared in her mind. His body limp with limbs laying about unnatural. His neck in the jaws that crushed out life. The thought of her in that place flashed in her mind and she hurtled the very idea from consciousness with all the force she could muster. Such treatment seemed unusually cruel, even for Phantom. Would he go through with it or was that anger speaking? Even the chief had to answer to the herd sometimes.

Either way, it didn't matter. If he didn't throw her out, he would take Luna. He'd give her the same series of questions and lead her down a road full of doubts and suspicion. How long Luna could resist giving in, she couldn't say. But they nearly broke Celestia, and she had little doubt that time would be worse on her little sister.

So, she had no time to cry over Ebon. She had an alarm to race. Hooves tore at the ground, kicking up dirt and dust in her wake as she followed the glowing thread. Long curves lead her around tree trunks increasingly less populated. The number of out and about unicorns dwindling as time gave them a chance to organize the flight away. Celestia nearly held her breath, expecting at any moment that she'd round a corner and find the butterfly resting on some trunk or hole that signaled the presence of Luna.

Silver Spear stood, simply waiting. He had chosen a position at the edge of a small expanse cleared of trees. Dust and earth field underneath the overarching arms of the Everfree trees. The thread travelled right between his legs and on beyond.

"Stop." The soft spoken word carried very different qualities than Phantom. It did not come as confident command --though it had a measure of command at the moment-- or an implied threat. He had no need or ability for that sort of charisma and spoke simply, as if the words themselves were enough. Celestia had taken lessons under him for combat magic, and an ingrained reflex caused her to listen, slowing to a stop.

A chance, perhaps, he offered. A chance to walk away and undue her actions. But, the string had been revealed. Silver would destroy it when Celestia turned away. Luna would fall under stronger watch, and the pattern of life would repeat until they were both tools for Phantom's battle against the Everfree forest. Forced servants for a herd not their own.

"Silver Spear, I can't do that. You have my sister, and I'll have her back, now."

A moment of silence lingered between them. From some distance away, the low, thud of a giant's foot quivered the earth, almost more physical than actual sound. With it, the snapping of trunks and collapse of trees carried. The Ursa yet approached.

Regret flashed over Silver like a single flicker of flame. Stoically, the stallion spread the stance of his fore hooves, and lowered his center of gravity. Angling his horn at the defiant mare, it emitted a soft gray glow.

Celestia matched him, her horn answering with a bright shade of pink. Living in the dangerous wilds, Earth ponies had, at the least, this in common. When cornered, they would fight.

Staring down Silver, a small smile found its way to her lips. From birth, Celestia had been told she was special. Pure white coat, unique pink mane, touched by the very stars. Her teachers, one by one, all marveled at her talent and power. Phantom would not give her up, the craft leaders all lusted for a chance to have her. Yet, for all the promises of potential, she had never done anything but play the games of a filly.

Calling forward the idea of a simple attack spell, Celestia supercharged the it with will and felt it swell with power. Aiming her horn and thoughts, she unleashed the thing at Silver.

A fireball was about as basic as an attack spell could get, taught to scare small and medium predators who had an innate fear of fire. For this reason, a unicorn with a measure of skill typically fired one no more large than a hoof. Celestia's fireball was no shorter than three pony-lengths wide.

It roared to life from her horn, singing the hairs of her mane and obscuring all her vision with its size as it rumbled through the air, feeding on the wind generated by the flight. As far as spells go, it wasn't difficult to dodge. In the end, Silver was a pony. While at odds for the moment, Celestia did not have it in her to end his life. The belch of oversized flame ponderously rolled through the air. Merely a flexing of Celestia's muscle to intimidate Silver into retreat.

That's why Silver's next move, shocked her. As the fireball closed, a whip of pure water curled overhead, and lashed down across its center. Steam exploded as water struck hot flame, cleaving the ball in twain. The force of expansion as the water changed form forced the two ends apart and opened a hole. Silver didn't move, didn't even flinch or blink as the path of the fireball separated in front of him and splashed uselessly on the forest behind, burning leaf and trunk.

All her show of strength, all the power that so many had praised before, defeated in a fashion of pure grace; a simple, elegant, controlled counter. Celestia finally realized why a stallion as short as Silver held himself with such confidence.

In an instant, Celestia called up a new spell laced with an abundance of power, and formed an oversized horse tail of pink, glowing magical energy. She swept it along the ground in a wide arch, the way a pony might flick a fly off its back. No need to hurt Silver, she'd brush him out of the way.

Silver’s horn shimmered gray and the ground rose ahead as a ramp, off to his side. As the tail swept, he knelt down and slid on his knees. The earthen wedge deflected the strands of energy harmlessly up and over stallion. The spell dodged, Silver rose from the slide with all his momentum maintained.

Both her spells defeated, and he wasn't even slowed. Silver hardly even expended magic. Jaw dropped, Celestia back peddled away from his charge, buying what little distance she could as her mind stuck on one simple fact. Silver outmatched her.

Seizing the moment of hesitation, Silver's horn shown a shade brighter. Wind summoned from behind him and swept up the smoke from the aftermath of Celestia's fireball. It spiraled in a corkscrew through the air and hammered against Celestia even as she braced for it. The smoke stung her eyes, laid obscuring and thick about her, and an unthinking breath sent her into a wild coughing fit.

A panic surged in her mind when she found herself unable to see, and she lashed out blindly. Her magic seized the very ground, and she jerked it hard, up then down, imagining the top layer as a single, wide curtain that would carry a wave down the length of it. Roots snapped, severed as the ground bucked and separated only to collapse down again in place.

Whatever happened, Celestia seized control of herself and called up her own counter wind to clear the smoke. Vision returned, but Silver was nowhere to be found. With the smoke, he had vanished.

Still trapped in a coughing fit, Celestia had a sudden ping of thought, she was vulnerable. In an instant, she threw up a hardened dome of force that covered her. A gray spell collided low on the barrier, throwing off dazzling spectrums of light and reflecting off to the side. The diverted spell sunk the ground next to her in a sink hole, evidently intended to trap her legs in earth.

Celestia followed the trajectory back to find Silver looking down from the branch walkways up above. "How in the--?" No time to think, and no longer could she concern herself with Silver's safety. Drawing on a large store of will and energy, Celestia snapped a solid oak apart at the trunk and hurled the entire tree up and through the bridges that held Silver aloft. They shattered, flung some into the air, others hung limply at the points of the break.

Silver sent a wave of gray strength over his small section of the bridge, diverting the point of break, and knelt down for stability. As the broken bridges tumbled through the air, Silver guided their descent. Celestia watched in awe as they to fell one by one, building a bridge back to the forest floor even as Silver ran across it.

Leaves, ripped from branches as the tree was flung through the canopy, cascaded down in a flurry. At the same moment that Silver guided the falling pathways, he fired a second spell into the leaves. They buzzed to life like insects and descended down on Celestia in a swarm, stinging her body from every side and obscuring her vision from Silver.

She yelped in surprise and threw her tail side to side while trying to brush off the stings with her forelimbs in an instinctual reaction to swat them away. Another second past, long enough for her thinking to catch up, and flame jetted from her horn. She swept the fire along the horde, burning leaves to ash.

But, by that time, it was too late. Silver was down his makeshift ramp and charging her but only a few lengths away. His horn gleamed gray. At such close range, spells crossed the distance in no time. The fighting would be fast and fierce. Celestia drew her own will up, lowered her stance, ready to counter whatever Silver Spear threw her way and--

It came as a dim realization in some distant part of her mind, piecing together the current sensations with the last seconds of image from her vision. Charging in, Silver had reared back and threw his hoof against her cheek. Everything disrupted. She lost hold of her will, her sense of balance thrown off as her head snapped around. Eyes pinched shut in reflex, keeping her from regaining bearings as pain exploded across awareness. In rapid succession, more blows came, each one snapping her head to the side and stunning her anew.

In the briefest pause, her eyes opened in time to see Silver had twisted around, rear legs coiled back. He kicked with both feet, burying hooves into her ribs. She yelped a sharp, loud cry, air forced from her lungs by the blow amplifying the sound. Intense, consuming pain erupted in her chest and she went down.

"No, no, no, no! Not good. This is not good!" Luna paced restlessly around her enclosure, foregoing the water. Sweet tasting apples lay abandoned. The magical barrier and the stiff wooden walls of the room did not prevent the chirps of warning from passing through. Ursa! It had to be Ursa!

The rapid, rhythmic thuds of trotting surrounded the tree, scattered in undiscernable directions as the herd made ready their flight. A chill crept up Luna's spine as the single, distinctive beat of a gallop approached the entrance.

"Gather a few unicorns," Phantom ordered a sentry. "Bring them here and go like your tail is on fire."

The curtain flew open in a rush, Phantom's white and faded gray body stepped through and crossed the threshold of the spell. Luna felt her pulse quicken at the sight, fears becoming realized.

Any number of threats would have meant little or nothing to a pony trapped in one of the converted tree-homes of the unicorns. Being hidden usually was enough. But an Ursa! That required careful flight out of the path, out of hiding. Away from the clue she left her sister.

"I just can't go." Ears folded flat. She sensed the coming tension between them and fell back another step.

"Are you mad, filly?!" His black eyes widened in shock and Phantom leaned a hair away from rearing. "There is an Ursa Major on approach! He'll crush you and this tree on you!"

A lump formed in Luna's throat and she swallowed. Lowering her head, she felt the impulse to give in, avoid his anger, avoid the cutting words. It started strong, then choked at her neck before impulse became words. Flutter Brave, her butterfly friend, came to her mind. A stroke of luck that would not repeated, and central to her plan of escape. Directed to first seek Celestia then wait here, Luna had never anticipating being moved in her spell on the butterfly. If she went with Phantom now, it would not simply be losing Flutter Brave's help. No, Flutter Brave rested here only and would unintentionally mislead her sister into disaster.

Luna raised her head. "I can't go." A short beat passed where she watched Phantom stare with disbelief. "But if you lower the barrier, I promise to leave if the Ursa comes."

Phantom raised a hoof to his temple and rubbed it to soothe a headache. "I don't have time for this!" Without another sound, he trotted determinedly out the door.

The midnight blue filly cautiously stepped forward, heart racing from the warnings of an Ursa Major and her stand to Phantom. This was not over.

She heard her breath, deep but stressed, in then out. In then out. By the time she counted the third inhale, the curtain all but tore open. Phantom led the way, serious but with building frustration behind black eyes. Unicorns filed in behind him, both mares and stallions with grim expressions, and arranged themselves either side. Four, five, at least a half dozen spread around in a half circle Luna at the center.

"Come willingly or by force." Phantom's patience had been worn that day and it showed by the gravel in his voice. "But you're not being left here to die because of foolish stubbornness."

Glancing both left and right, shadows danced in a spectrum of colors as horns came to light. Luna tensed, but not in anxiety, legs planted unmoving as a mule. She met Phantom's gaze and matched every ounce of determination in his eyes with her own. "No!" The strength and vehemence of her voice surprised her. An inner, untapped emotion, long since buried from the surface of awareness, surged with power and she latched on to that feeling, fueling her defiance. "I'm not going with you, I will decide when I leave here!"

Phantom regarded her with cold silence. His horn shimmered to life with a black, reflective glow. "Take her."

The air physically swelled with unleashed magic. A tendril formed into a snake that slithered around Luna's rear legs, attempting to coil. With a thought, Luna tore the snake to pieces in a blast of raw force. Someone gasped as the collision of such power sent dual colored sparks of green and blue ricocheting off the walls of the insulated bubble. Pinchers of translucent red, inspired by a scorpion, grasped at Luna's midsection before they were split at the seams of the exoskeleton by a formless lance of blue will, adding yet more dances of color.

Several attacks came at once, likely out of luck rather than coordination. Vines ripped through the floor and spiraled up her ankles. The curtain flew open and a spider web, amplified in size and strength by magic, spread to ensnare. Her hairs stood on end, a second's anticipation of lightning being charged to attack.

A primal whinny erupted from Luna and she reared back, snapping the vines. Horn gleaming with blindingly bright glow atop glow, hurricane force winds swirled the room, Luna at the calm center. Wood creaked, the tree shook, and the bubble stressed to hold the bellowing air

Wind caught two unicorns off guard and swept them tumbling and sliding across the ground, crying out as they bruised. The rest broke concentration to anchor their hooves against the ground or otherwise counter the pull. Vines halted, the lightning failed to materialize, and the spider web folded into a useless, sticky ball that rolled like a tumble weed.

"Burning Sun!" Phantom cursed while squinting his eyes against the sting of drying air. His horn bled a black liquid and Luna felt the closing of a familiar dam that obstructed the path of her will. "Now! Do it now!"

"I'll try!" The voice brought out the memory of the night they took her, the pony she heard just moments before the gentle and alien caress stole all consciousness.

"No, no, no, no!" Her will doubled, forcing its way out the closing gap of Phantom's spell and tearing at the dam as it formed. At the edge of her awareness, she felt the gentle brush trying to reach her and she threw her head from side to side and pinched her lids shut in instinctual struggle.

That sounded like an idea. Luna peeled the wood that Phantom anchored himself to straight off the tree. Wind scooped the board and finished her work, turning it into a plow that shoved Phantom off his feet to tumble and collide against others.

The chief stallion grunted in pain, snorted with fury, rolling as helpless as a foal. Yet still, the gentle caress tried to close in past the tumult of rampant magic.

Opening her eyes, she found him--a dusty colored colt, who stared up mouth agape. Who stared up. The floor rested several tail-lengths straight down. Startled by her sudden high vantage, she kicked out and found only air beneath her hooves. Confused, a panic took her. Limbs flailed, she screamed, caught in a lazy spin from the swirl of wind. Jerking wildly to see, what she found filled her with awe and stole breath. At each flank flapped a large, blue pegasus wing, wholly her own.

The wind slowed, and the creeping touch moved in, drawing Luna back to reality. She looked upward and willed her wings to fly for the roof. Picturing the idea of a huge spinning horn, the spell encompassed her. The brush, the barrier, and the wood of the tree shred to pieces against the blue, transparent, magic force.

Bubble burst, the trap sprung. The binding spell broke free. It enveloped her pinning legs in a bond too tight to break with struggle. But Luna just grinned. The enchantment had been built for a unicorn, not a unicorn that had wings. Magic and feet hampered, the wings still beat as strongly as before and she flew out the punched hole, dodged through the canopy of the Everfree Forest, and shot into the sky.

The world opened up beneath her, expanding like a sea of green in all directions, mountains and hills like waves, only the blue sky and shining Sun above.

However, now wasn't the time to lose herself. Shrugging off the binds with concentrated effort, Luna recalled the spell she had tested a hundred times over now in the solitude of her cage. It came primed and ready. With a thrust of will, she sent out her lightning-guided tether to seek Celestia.

Following the bolt, icy fear chilled her veins. "Oh no . . ." The spell arched toward the Ursa Major.

Pain overwhelmed reason and coordination. Celestia writhed helplessly and whimpered as each breath brought a renewed agony. Liquid, the taste of blood, dribbled across her tongue. Several bruises on her face throbbed and swelled. The earth moved. It jumped. Startled, senses began to return. The entire world bucked in a steady interval and she bounced painfully, whimpering again.

Opening her eyes, Celestia felt the gentle pressure of a hoof hold her in place where neck met shoulder. Silver Spear glanced down and repeated his hush, the sound soft but urgent.

She followed what caught the stallion's attention just in time to watch a purple paw fall to earth like a meteor, and the ground bucked again under the collision. Celestia froze stiff in terror. The legends had not been exaggerations at all. The paw of the star bear was beyond estimation, leaving prints the size of a large pond. A single, long, curved claw could have been an ivory tree in its own right, yet was just a fingernail on the beast. Following the paw up to the shoulder, it was impossible to take in the sight of an Ursa Major all at once from this distance. Walking as a quadruped, it was like a wondering mountain, towering above the very tallest trees of the forest. And the Ursa was no more than fifty pony-lengths away, a single step by the bear's reckoning.

A shudder passed over her body, and she felt the presence of a familiar magic. Luna!

Something came to mind. Not speech, but a thought; an idea from an outside source. Her sister was free.

Celestia tried to answer, but found no channel. Another thought came to her, unaware. A question if she needed help followed by a realization that Celestia couldn't respond; the connection went one way. No, duh, sis.

The ground continued its steady bucking under the Ursa's weight, Silver seemed oblivious an exchange took place.

A more complex idea filtered down to her; Luna sent a spell that allowed her to track Celestia, as well as send messages. She thought it best to flee in this confusion and sent her best guess as to a path out. If Celestia could make it, try to immediately. If not, Luna was coming to meet her. Also, there was an Ursa Major harrowingly close.

Celestia rolled her eyes. Again, no duh, little sister. Even as excitement softened pain, nothing had been of use. She was in no condition to run and Silver--

Fear layered on fear. If her sister charged in now, Silver Spear stood ready and waiting, not even singed from his first battle. Luna would stand no chance.

Silver pressed with gentle but firm insistence and whispered hush to Celestia's ear once more as the white mare moaned with struggle, trying to find her feet and ignore the pain.

Bewilderingly, another thought came; laughing. An excited, joyous whoop of her sister. The spell--the thought continued-- had unexpected qualities; communication wasn't the only thing it could send. Right on the heels of that thought, Celestia felt a surge of energy fuel her body and magic, deadening the pain in her chest and from her bruises.

Not wasting an instant, Celestia seized Silver's leg in pink magic and hurtled him straight off like a plaything. For a brief moment, the stallion tumbled in the air, surprise riddled his features. Then, he amazed Celestia. Silver's horn shimmered gray, and he used telekinesis on his own limbs, righting himself like a jungle cat. He came to a soft landing some pony lengths away--his center lowered, his stance wide and ready.

Exhilarated by the abundance of free energy and jumping to her feet, Celestia lashed out with a tendril of force. Silver prepared to counter.

But it had never been meant for him. The tendril split in two and bent around a puzzled Silver, and he craned his neck to follow the trajectory. The tendrils seized the limbs of the Ursa Major at the wrist. Timing it just as the front paw came crashing down, Celestia shoved with all her strength.

The bear had expected a limb's support as he shifted his weight, only to find nothing. Unable to catch himself as something pinned his other leg, his massive body had no choice but to fall with the momentum that the step had started. To his shoulder, he began to collapse and roll.

All things considered, Celestia could not blame the stoic Silver Spear for a show of true and genuine surprise, a purple and night-sky colored mountain collapsing in a wave to bury him. It was a testament to a calm and agile mind that Silver Spear cast a spell to half sink himself in the ground, calling forth root after root to harden around him in a sphere of magically-reinforced wood. Ursine being a fatty animal, Silver would be trapped but alive.

The Ursa's rolling collapse had not ended at Silver, and Celestia saw the massive, confused head looming over her, still in the process of the fall.

Only a few times of her life, had Celestia ever moved that fast. A trail of dust, leaf and ash kicked up behind her as legs pumped with crisis-induced strength. No time to yell, or even time to breath as the shadow crested over her body, a sound encroaching in a rumble as crushing flesh met forest floor. Trees snapped and popped, ground shook, Celestia gave everything she had to escape the swallowing shade.

Without a blink in between, the shadow stopped and Celestia slipped out as the head of the Ursa crashed. Earth mounded in a wave from the impact and threw Celestia with a yelped squeak, tumbling across the forest floor.

Sprawled and dazed, a moist, wet wind ruffled her mane. Vision came into focus on a single ivory tree, the girth of a redwood. It took a second before her mind caught up, and Celestia found herself staring at a single fang at the end of the Ursa's cavernous jaws.

Having energy yet to spare from Luna's gift, Celestia screamed, sprang to her feet, and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

Leaping over fallen trees and ducking under hanging vines, Celestia left unicorn controlled territory and entered the wilds of the Everfree Forest.

Chapter 9

The bond of sisters is never stronger than when faced with adversity. And never weaker when left to ourselves.

The border between the unicorn controlled forest and the wilds remained unclear, but Celestia saw she had passed it. Accustomed to a clear floor, telling trail signs, and the subtle influence of magic cultivation, the white mare with the pink mane now ran through a forest filled with underbrush, decayed logs, and hanging vines. Choosing clear paths amidst the uncared growth, she slowed to a smooth gallop. Immediate danger laid out of reach, now she needed to sustain the flight and gain distance. But her thoughts kept turning inward to an anxious question. Where is she? For all the reassurance of the spell's message, her sister's escape remained just that: a spell's message.

Shoving through the clinging branches of a shrub, Celestia found herself in a small clearing. A freshly fallen tree had left a hole in the forest canopy, and grass sprung up eagerly at the chance for light. Ahead, a midnight blue pony stood as if waiting where the grass mounded in a hill.

"Luna!" Celestia called, at once desperate and relieved. Redoubling the gallop, she shoved, heedless, through the clinging branches of a shrub.

Blue eyes came up at the call of the name, and a smile rose on Luna's cheeks. She ran to her sister in an excited canter.

Digging her hooves into the ground to slow, but just barely, Celestia flung herself to Luna and wrapped her neck half around in an equine embrace. "I thought I lost you." The words choked with emotion as tears pooled in her eyes. "I thought I lost you several times over." She clung hard.

Luna returned the embrace, her head resting on Celestia's shoulder. A deep sigh lifted her frame, like one letting go of a long held burden. "I was never lost, big sister. You just didn't know where to find me, yet." A smile remained at the corners of her lips and she closed her eyes.

For a long time, Celestia merely held Luna. Weeks of struggle, of desperation, of hope and despair, of planning and action, all culminated in this embrace. She had her sister. She had Luna leaning against her, safe and sound. And most of all, they were free. Joy welled up from within and forced out blissful tears, content to silently roll down her cheeks.

The spell that had connected them faded, in that time. The will that sustained it dwindled, neither pony pouring energy in now that it served its purpose. But as the spell faded, so did the relief from pain. Celestia's breathing grew shallower with each passing moment as the very act of drawing in breath aggravated the injury on her ribs.

Feeling the shift, Luna let go and took a step back. Her gaze traveled over Celestia, from hoof to head. "You look awful."

Jaw dropped in shock, blue gaze tinged with a betrayed sting. "But . . . why? He was always so nice to me."

Celestia raised her nose with a thought, then lowered it. "I . . . may. Have thrown a fireball at him first."

"Oh," The younger sister fell into a surprised silence, her question answered. Turning her head, she gazed off into the distant brush toward the unicorns' home, worry evident on her features. "Do we have time to rest?"

"I think so." Worn legs complained from exertion and Celestia winced as she laid down, atop her knees. She spoke quickly, between the shallow breaths. "The Ursa. It tripped. They're scared now. We have time."

"So . . ." Luna lightly and nervously kicked the ground with a forehoof. "What happened to you, while I was gone?"

"Alright." The younger mare paused to think, then related her tale starting from the night she was abducted. Few details were spared in her style of pursing loose memories together into cohesion. She told of Silver's polite vigilance, the bubble spell, her frustrations at crossing it and the stroke of luck with the butterfly.

When she reached the stand against Phantom Spell, Celestia raised a brow. First, curiously at Luna's adamant defiance, then both brows in surprise over the ensuing battle, one against seven.

"Wait! Wings?" Celestia nearly rose to her hooves, except pain sent her back down.

A feathered wing, cradled close to Luna's side and unnoticed, stretched out in demonstration, wide and strong and colored a matching blue. Luna gave it a long glance, still caught in admiration for the new limb.

She shrugged her shoulders and folded it back in place. "I don't know. So much magic was being thrown everywhere, and I was just trying to stand my ground. Suddenly, I had wings, and I was in the air on them."

"Wait! No . . ." Celestia's gaze drifted to the ground in thought. "This is good. Very good."

The elder sister glanced up with narrowed eyes beneath her pink mane. "And somepony saw you flying?"

Celestia grinned. "Then we have a lot more time. Than I thought." She unfolded a portion of her story, falling breathless when sentences grew too long. With struggle, the meeting hall evaluations eventually came out, including her appeal on the last day. "Those were elders. And not all of them. I tried to tell that I was Earth pony. You know how stubbornness sets in when old. They didn't believe. But when they hear about the wings. Maybe some will believe. Even after the Ursa goes. If Phantom wants to chase us. It'll be hard now. Craft leaders will argue."

"If you think it'd do any good." Celestia spoke incredulously, rather than giving the idea support. Healing magic was complex, and raw power or talent meant little. Pouring energy into the simple thought be healed did nothing. Healers spent many seasons trained on how to properly imagine mended injuries, for even a part as simple and innocuous as a bone was a complex arrangement of shape, life, marrow, and connected to many points of muscle, padding, and sinew. The other half of healing consisted of rote memorization. This herb did that, a fever meant this. Neither Luna or Celestia had anything more than passing knowledge.

A glow of midnight's light engulfed Luna's horn, and she bent her head, eyes closed, as magical antennae felt along and inside Celestia's chest.

It tickled. "Ha, ha!" Laughing sent a fresh jolt of agony. "Stop! Stop that!" Celestia slapped away the feelers with a swat of her hoof.

Glow extinguished, Luna shot her sister an annoyed glare. "Do you want help or don't you?"

A sigh left her lips, and Luna closed her eyes again to reach out and feel, changing the sensory magic to be like warm, flowing water.

It was no less oogly to have foreign magic pass inside, but it no longer tickled and Celestia resisted swatting again.

In utmost concentration, Luna twisted her head. "I . . . don't think anything is broken. Or if it is, it's only a small crack. I . . . think it's just a bruise, swollen and sensitive since its fresh." She dropped the spell and opened her eyes, panting heavily. "Rubbing it might reduce some of the pain."

Celestia nodded. Finding the center of the bruise left by Silver Spear's kick, she shaped her will into a warm and gentle caress that massaged the swelling. The tactile sense softened the pain, if not removing it. Knotted muscles uncoiled to the touch and Celestia turned back to find Luna half lying on her side, gasping deep. Legs tucked underneath, she held her head tired and low.

As her sister rose, Celestia saw the haggardness on Luna's face, half covered by dark bangs. Two and two suddenly came together. "That spell you used, when you gave me strength . . ."

"That was your strength, wasn't it? You sent me your magic to use." Enough to trip an Ursa Major and have plenty to spare. That was, after she fought Phantom Spell with six unicorns at his side, and cast a complicated link spell. The desperate situation might have drawn out force of will in abundance, but not made it limitless. The magic examination her sister gave was not free either, and not aided by dire circumstances. It must have used up anything she had left, including the strength to keep composure.

"A spell for pain, too, in case you were hurt." Luna added lethargically before lowering her head.

"Rest, then. We have time." Celestia crawled over alongside, propping Luna up and giving her a warm body to lean against.

A pink glow lit Celestia's horn. Magic gathered latent moisture from the air and extracted what it could from plants. It wasn't much, but enough for a few gulps. Celestia brought the moisture to Luna's lips, cradled in a bowl-shaped leaf, .

Draining the water, Luna let a satisfied sigh escape her lips, some small portion of strength regained. A question now hung in the air, one they both felt coming. "So . . . what now?" A spark of hope lit her words. "Do we go home?"

To see their parents again. A dull, bittersweet ache came with the thought. To be among their own kind, or as close to anything that approximated kind for sisters such as them. That had been the plan that set this whole chain of events in motion. They were going to return home and bring the aid of magic. The dull ache grew as Celestia imagined the faces of Whip Scar and Lightning Kick at a reunion. Yet . . .

"It's like," Luna paused to give it thought. "suddenly having six legs. It's weird to have extra limbs hanging off."

"I don't know. I don't even know what 'well' is for these things. I fly, I know that."

"But you know only that." Her mother's parting words coalesced in thought. Promise me that you will make good on that gift the stars have given you. That you won't let sentiment be your guide. The dull ache turned into an inner soreness, a plea, a reminder of how much she missed mom and dad, and longed for their company, their presence, their comfort. But I promised. "No, we're not going home."

"If the Unicorn taught us how to use magic, then we'll get you taught how to fly by the Pegasus pony."

The younger sister met that with a contemplative silence and the distant look she wore more often than not in her observant eyes. A slow nod followed. "How will we find the Pegasi?"

Blue gaze drifted in recall. "There is Ariel, the pegasus that told the heroic chief Virtue Blaze where she flew over water during the Great Drought. Fore Runner, who carried a message of warning to the unicorns of the devouring sprite horde." Luna shook her head. "None of this is of any use. Pegasi had such a minor part to play in our lore. Just nomads and travelers, living more in the air than anything."

"I think I might know just a little more." Celestia peered up at the hole in the forest canopy. The sky looked down from far above, spotted by neither bird or cloud. Leaf and branch shrouded all else."You were just a foal and couldn't speak when a pegasus came to rest with our herd." She glanced down at the young pony. "You'd probably remember it too, if you were just a little older. I stayed up, listening. I forgot most of what happened now, but I do remember one thing. She said she was heading to the mountains, where her kind herded."

"The mountains?" Luna turned abruptly to her sister in realization. "Could it be the White Top Mountains?"

"That's my hope." Celestia bit her lip. The mountain range that sat west of the Sun's rise and east of the Sun's set was one of the symbols that meant home. No matter where the herd stopped to graze, as a foal, Celestia could crest a hill and see the thrust of Earth reaching so far above the forest that the tops turned white. It was also the only mountains she knew of in any travelling distance. "It's all I have to go on. And it seems reasonable enough. Can you walk?"

In response, Celestia hoisted herself to her hooves. Luna struggled a second longer, but got her hooves under her with a little assistance of her wings. It struck Celestia as odd to see the new appendages stretch out, flap briefly like a giant bird's, and shift for balance. Her whole life, she'd grown accustomed to Luna's appearance as a pony, horn notwithstanding, and the change was alien.

Stepping forward, Celestia led the way. Luna followed behind, unconsciously falling into the same place she had since she was a filly, on the hunt for turquoise with her sister. Heads and ears remained alert, seamlessly adopting the sweeping gaze of the sentry while Celestia weaved her way through the untamed forest.

Forest navigation was a rare skill which few Unicorns possessed, and even fewer Earth ponies. Whip Scar had been one such to learn it, by necessity and luck on his flight from his human master, and he taught some of the dangers. Unlike a field, where one can see far and walk in straight lines, a forest required a curving, winding path around obstacles. Each turn made a little error off the original path. Over miles, that error compounded, throwing ponies far off course, or in giant circles forever lost in an endless maze until--Celestia banished the thought of bloody end at the end of a fang and continued forward, judging her path by the angle of light that crept through the branches. West of where Sun rises, east of where Sun sets. It would do for finding a mountain range, at least.

Walking was a kind of rest in and of itself to a pony. Celestia and Luna spent a life time on their hooves, running and playing when fillies, or walking to and fro for duties as mares. With a light pace, the travel allowed them to recuperate.

Leaves grew thick and broad, trees high and tall, as the nature of the land changed. Greedy in their drinking of light, the trees expanded their branches, thickened the canopy, and let nothing but shadow fall to the forest floor. Celestia's orientation was gone and she froze, unsure.

"What is it?" Following, for Luna, let her mind wander and it did not appear to include thinking about how they navigated.

"I'm lost." Celestia gestured ahead with her neck to where the forest grew even darker. "Or will be, if we keep going."

Halting the unconscious vigil, Luna took a more active glance at her surroundings. " I've been thinking."

"Too much is risky." Luna continued in a neutral tone, a faint sign of worry along her brows. "We're going on an old memory and an assumption, either of which could be wrong. And we're travelling dangerous paths where we have little skill to go. What if the pegasus ponies aren't even at White Cap? Maybe we should go back. If we stop at home first, we could get help."

A mirthless smirk pulled one side of Celestia's lips. "And where, pray tell, is home?"

"Exactly." Self-satisfaction filled her voice. "I got a little confused in the rush to escape, and I bet you did, too. But I know how to find the mountains. Our choices right now are go to White Cap, or back to the unicorns." A hint of sarcasm filled her words. "I don't know about you, but I'm not so eager to throw my trust back on Phantom Spell, wings or no. So, we're going to the mountains."

"Going back to the unicorns is my last choice. I'll take my chances on the extra trip."

"That's right!" Celestia jumped to her hooves and excitedly pranced in place. "You can!" She pointed overhead. "Could you fly through the canopy and see White Top?"

Blue wings stretched out wide, but hesitant. "I guess so . . ." Flapping softly, Luna looked straight up into the air, focused and intent. A moment later, her hooves lifted off the ground.

For the first time, Celestia realized, she saw the wings in motion. They beat the air in a relaxed manner, giving Luna a characteristic incomparable to any bird. Birds battled the tendency to fall, flapping rapidly or stretching feathers to catch gusts of wind and keep aloft. Luna's wings treated that tendency with a casual disregard, as if obeying gravity was optional, and one they disdainfully chose to ignore. It contrasted the determination on Luna's face, to make the wings do something as simple as carry her up to the trees. Perhaps she really does need to see the pegasi . . .

Staring with that thought, she returned to her senses when Luna stopped at the canopy and looked down expectantly. "Oh, right." Luna's magic was still exhausted. A pink glow of her horn, and Celestia opened a hole in the trees. Though this allowed sunlight to flood in once more, though Luna's direction would be far more accurate than the angle of Sun.

She tarried above the trees, glancing all around and taking in more of the view than what was needed. But she found her mark and raised out a hoof to point. Gingerly, she lowered to a few pony lengths above the ground, careful to keep her arm as straight as a pine. "That way."

"Good," Matching the direction as close as possible, Celestia set off again, winding through the forest. "We'll need to repeat this every hour or so, to stay on course." She said, any argument about the trek as good as over.

A creeping sensation crawled down her spine and settled at the base of her hips. Instinctively, ears shifted for sound and she realized she'd yet heard the footfalls of her sister. Peering over her shoulder, she found Luna still hanging in the air, banking in side to side arcs on her wings as she followed. Celestia turned her head back to the trail at hand, but found her thoughts still back there and her spine still crawled. "Luna? Would you mind coming down for now?"

"I don't know. It just is." It was one thing to become a unicorn; a foal's fantasy to listen to the stories of ponies that played with the elements of creation and wish to join those ranks. Even with the tempting thought of flight, foals rarely fantasized about pegasi, they being largely uninvolved in the histories passed down to through generations. But Luna was neither unicorn or pegasus now, or even Earth pony. She was something new, different, unheard of, and unseen in any lore. While not bad --at the least, Celestia hoped not-- the change went beyond juvenile fantasy and into something estranged.

The pink-maned mare halted their progress. "That's right, I forgot. We both could use some water, and some food." Chewing her lip, she glanced to the dark trees, and leaf-covered forest floor, mind working over the problem. Eyes closed, her horn lit with summoned will and she began to shape it under guidance of thought.

"Finding water." A hint of annoyance in her tone as she tried to keep the spell active.

"What?" The horn's glow vanished in an instant, and Celestia jerked her head in the direction of Luna's gaze.

Celestia shook her head, trying to clear her vision, then turned to Luna. "How do you know?"

The blue mare hesitated. "I'm . . . not sure. It feels like there should be." She gave an inquisitive look to her sister. "Earth pony sense?"

The ancient inheritance and part of the Oldest Story. Celestia could recall by heart every beat in the tale her mother recited.

Long, long ago, before the stars turned their eyes to Earth, before Sun grew jealous of the beauty down below, and before Moon answered the call of her sisters, the Earth was naked. Cold winds swept through barren hills, the sky existed in darkness and chaos, and nothing stirred or lived.

One day, the Wild Magic passed over the Earth and found it wrong that such a place should have nothing but darkness and nakedness. So, the Wild Magic began to play. It touched the Earth and made things grow. Small at first, the Wild Magic played long and danced with joy at what it saw. Things grew bigger, taller, more imaginative as it got carried away in the throes of creation. Eventually, the Wild Magic covered the Earth with the forest we call Everfree, and made all manners of creature to live and play, too, so that the Earth would never be naked again.

Before the Wild Magic left to continue its journey, it made one last creature that it loved more than most. From the Earth itself, it made a mare called Pony, and gave her a companion called Stallion. Because they were made from Earth, they understood it, and the creatures closest to it.

Now, we call ourselves Earth Pony, for we came from Earth. And still, many of us remember our connection to the ground where we walk and live.

Seldom had Celestia given that innate sense thought. Amidst the herd, grass was plentiful, and others always marked rivers or ponds for water, no matter where the Earth Ponies rested. But here, now, what if she did not have that sense? What if it was a story so old, it was mere legend? Then, what was it that Luna saw?

Closing her eyes, she swallowed and emptied her mind. The magic of the unicorn dimmed and constant voice of conscious thought grew quiet, opening the field of her mind to feeling and intuition. When she looked again, she saw nothing new. No magical sight. No empathetic connection to Earth. No ancient heritage awakened.

The dirt beneath her hooves was dark and soft, giving ample nourishment to the trees and allowing them to grow with their thick branches and wide trunks. The slope of the land channeled rain water though this area, but not so much to cause flooding or turn the soft ground to marsh. Winter would pass by every year, which caused the carpet of dry leaves, but the cold would not be so harsh as to give evergreens an advantage over their sturdy, wider leafed cousins. And somewhere, down the direction where Luna guessed, the rocks had moved and allowed a spring to well up with cold, refreshing water.

All of this she understood without being taught, as natural and instinctual as language. Afraid the epiphany would suddenly vanish, Celestia marched slowly, wordlessly, toward the spring. Luna fell in rank behind, already drifted off in thoughts only she knew. Soon, the sound of water lapping on rock disturbed the air.

Leaping with excitement, Celestia cantered headlong to the spring. Luna broke into a gallop to keep up, and both pranced in, forehooves first, quickly followed by lips slurping clear water.

The spring welled up from between a rocky outcropping and flowed in a gentle, constant stream where it ate away dirt and splashed downhill across smooth stone. Frigid for coming from cold places of the Earth and all the more pleasant for it, Celestia dunked her face in the pool to ease the swell of bruises. The pink mane soaked in the liquid and dripped it down her shoulders, sending her skin to goose bumps. "Brr!" With a shiver, she shook out her mane and sent the water splashing all about. Luna squealed, the cold droplets chilling her side, and it gave her a burst of energy to summon a translucent shield against any more.

The blue mare squealed again as a shower of frigid rain tickled her side and sent shivers down her flank. She ran, breaking off into a high-pitched laugh while Celestia gave chase and shook herself out to send more freezing water at her sister.

The mane ran dry and Celestia stopped. Only to find Luna already soaking her tail, a wide, mischievous grin on her face.

"You little--" The tail flipping water across her chest cut that statement short with a gasp.

The play sent both mares up and down the spring's banks, tables turned every few minutes. Squeals, laughs, shrieks of surprise broke the otherwise tranquil forest. But the burst of playful energy could not last long before the exhaustion of the day caught up.

"Okay! Okay . . ." Luna was the first to slow, sprawling herself across the ground, wings and legs akimbo. "I give." Her coat sopped wet in places as she heaved for breath.

"I win! Princess of the spring!" Celestia posed triumphantly before collapsing in a sprawl herself, a laugh still on her lips. "My first order as princess is to declare you . . ." She touch a hoof to her chin. "Umm, second princess."

A light wind blew through the undergrowth. Leaves rustled, tree branches swayed, and both ponies shivered with a sudden chill. At once, the sisters scrambled toward each other and clung tight for the warmth.

The white mare stopped shivering to look down at the blue pony she'd wrapped her forelimbs around. "Huh?"

"I'm glad you're back." Luna leaned her head against her big sister's side. "That's all."

"Yeah. Me, too." Closing her eyes, Celestia called forth her will and sent out a spell to dry the water collected from the game.

Luna blushed and averted her gaze. "Sorry. I didn't want to be constantly complaining on this trip."

"I think asking for food is qui--" The word food caused an answering rumbled from her own stomach. "Quite okay." Though held with a straight face, the pink of her cheeks started to out due her hair.

Rising to her hooves, Celestia surveyed her surroundings. Tall trees, non-nutritious leaves surrounded the spring's banks. On second thought, she realized the assessment of the foliage came without traceable reason. Instinct told her they tasted bitter and held little value. Earth pony sense. Once she was aware, the knowledge became easier to draw from. Following those instinctive hunches, she walked a path unseen, based on rainfall, plant competition, and soil. But this was different than finding the spring, the goal less assured. Celestia didn't know where an edible grass or tree grew, just the most likely place they would.

Stomach complaining all the while, time eventually paid off. The white mare stopped and looked up with a smile. The tree above carried branches weighted with ripe, purple figs. A simple telekinetic spell plucked several from their stems and gingerly lowered them to the ground.

Pupils dilated in Luna's eyes until the whites nearly disappeared. Drool dribbled at her lips as the prize came to rest on the floor. She chose one and launched forward, just short of a pounce. The smell of fresh torn fruit wafted through the air as Luna devoured the fig. Standing up straight, words came from a mouth still chewing. "It's really good."

Plucking several more, Celestia finally lowered her neck and popped one into her mouth. Sugary juices exploded in her mouth, squeezed from a fruit with savory texture. Swallowing quickly with intense hunger, her lips picked up another and crunched the skin beneath teeth. Her eyes rolled back in pure overwhelming bliss."Mmm," No food on Earth had ever grown finer than these figs, at this moment.

As the purple fruit disappeared one by one beneath greedy lips and empty bellies, the distraction of hunger dissipated and ambient sounds grew clear.

The tree existed as a hub of activity. Monkeys made mocking, cacophonic noises of play and battle. They swung nimbly from limb to limb, shaking branches and rustling leaves as they chased away rivals, groomed, or gathered their own food. Birds squawked, sang, flew, danced, courted, centering themselves around this ample source of nourishment. Glancing up, Celestia made out a myriad of other, quieter animals. Tree climbing foxes with a taste for figs, chameleons stalking bugs, squirrels and other mammals.

"Grab what you can." Celestia forced her voice to remain calm. "We've got to go. Now."

The younger sister moved without questioning, tucking fig after fig beneath her wings, one final fig kept pinched in her teeth. Fruit followed in a trail behind Celestia, scooped by magic as she resisted the impulse to flee in gallop, instead striding briskly, direction unimportant. Luna in tow and wide eyed, looked at all her surroundings in muffled silence.

It only took a moment for curiosity to get the best of her younger sister. Midnight's light engulfed her horn and magic carried the fig from her mouth just long enough for a question. "What was it?"

"It was so different than everything else we've passed." Celestia gestured with her horn to the expanse of trees overhead. "These support so little, by comparison. So, all of the animals gathered for the tasty and easy food."

"And where the prey gathers, so will the predators. It'll be safer if we stay away." A sigh left her lips and she stopped, gently setting down the three or four figs she took with her. "This will be far enough for now. We need to find our orientation again." She turned around to her sister, expectantly.

A fig dropped from her lips. "Oh, right." Luna lifted her wings. A heaping pile of purple fruit tumbled to the ground at each side, more than two or even three ponies could eat in one sitting.

She just shook her head. "Go on." A pink glow danced at the tip of her horn, and a hole opened up in the canopy. "Watch out for tree snakes on your way up. We're still kind of close."

With a brisk nod, Luna concentrated and the wings carried her aloft. Reaching a height above the trees, Luna briefly glanced to all sides. Her eyes fixed on something and she gasped, body going rigid with tension. She scrambled down to the forest floor, limbs moving awkwardly and hurried.

Blue eyes rose and met Celestia's. They held a look rare for Luna, always so distant and calm, an observer from far away. But now, they sent ice through Celestia's veins. In those seas of liquid cerulean, she saw a child-like, primal terror. Luna's voice cracked as she answered. "The Sun."

Realization blossomed in a physical wave through her body, from nose, to the hairs of her flank. How many hours had past? So much had happened that it was hard to keep track. Neck craned, head shot upwards, and she threw open a hole in the canopy again to look at the sky. Bright afternoon's light faded, darkening slowly to the beginnings of a burning red-yellow.

Fear and adrenaline quivered her lips and she found herself slowly backing away from nothing.

And trapped under leaf and branch, far from home, Luna and Celestia stood awaiting the coming of darkness.

Chapter 10

Much of what the unicorns did hurt: myself, Luna, their own kind. I understood why.

Do not enter the forest at night. Do not ever. Always return to the fields before Sun touches the ground to rest.

Whip Scar’s grave, deep tone impressed upon Celestia the importance of the rule. The look on his face scared the young filly. Never would she be tempted to disobey. The more she learned, the more the temptation shrank, and turned terrifying.

Many prey, ponies included, used keen sight as their chief defense against predators. Night shifted the balance toward the predator’s favor, especially those that favored stealth. They were built for darkness with strong noses, silent paws, and eyes that pierced the veil of black. Such creatures arose at dusk when the light changed and stalked the forests, on search for food caught where their senses were weak. One of the reasons the Earth pony –having no ability in magic— favored the fields was that Moon’s light aided their vision and their enemies were less apt to hunt in the open, sticking instead to deep shadows. While the Everfree Forest was dangerous under the Sun, it was death under the Moon.

And here they were, far from home, the shadows growing long and the sky going dark.

“Celestia?” Luna’s voice strained under a sense of helplessness, nearly to tears.

The pink-maned mare jerked her head to the young sister and stared in silence, heavy breathing shaking her frame. The mocking calls of the monkeys, still fighting over the figs, echoed from some distance away, laughing and cruel.

Regret, sullen and bitter, sunk down to her stomach. This trip had been ill thought out after all. Luna tried to give warning, but Celestia –the elder and confident— just short of ridiculed her for it. She should have listened. Should have thought this through. It had been nothing but problems from the start.

Should have listened. My fault. Gone back home or to the—Unicorns! Celestia gasped, pieces falling into place faster than she could think. “Luna!”

The excitement in her elder sister’s voice steadied Luna and she rose with hope.

In a gallop, Celestia shot off through the forest, Luna at her side. With the days of separation and imprisonment still fresh in their mind, they stayed together. Splitting up now was inherently dangerous, besides.

They raced against time, Sun ever lowering to her rest and the sky ever darkening to orange, then violet. The trees, uncultivated by the unicorns, stretched out their roots and drove other saplings to distance, or simply did not grow wide enough to make a safe shelter. Eventually, Celestia skidded to a stop, kicking up loose leaves. Too much time had passed already. Hunters were waking.

“We’ll have to make do!” she shouted, eying three thick trees that stood marginally closer than the rest.

Lower lip bit between teeth, Celestia concentrated on the first tree and called up her will. It warped and moved like a fresh, green stem, finding a new position along ground. “Follow my lead.”

The darker horn glowed and the second tree moved very much like the first. Luna fell to her knees, teeth gritted with the effort.

“That’s enough!” Celestia broke Luna’s concentration and the blue glow vanished. “You’re still drained.” The spell that gave her strength enough to trip an Ursa Major, after all, came from Luna just earlier that day.

The third tree bent down and joined its near-cousins. Silently, she mouthed thanks to Arcane Pride for the lessons in the elements of harmony and summoned thoughts of loyalty. Luna sprang to mind, tired and in danger. Whip Scar and Lightning Kick, who had two lost little fillies. All the Earth ponies, still in the field, unknowing of the gift Celestia wanted to bring. All waited. All needed her. She lent those feelings to her gathered will.

The spell changed, a new kind of power imbued. The trees meshed together, bark merging with bark, wood with wood. Three trees, separate but entwined. They stood like a bulb at the base, wide and odd, thinning at the top and jutting upwards like a massive onion plant. Luna stared at it as if her sister had just summoned a foul-smelling weed.

Skepticism wrought on her features, Luna glanced at her sister. “I think it might attract attention.”

“It just needs to pass for tonight. We’re not living here. It’ll still fool a coyote, or manticore. C’mon! Inside.”

Quietly, Luna obeyed, squeezing in the hole on the front. Slipping in next, Celestia summoned her magic and closed it behind.

The orb-like dwelling encompassed all sides, except for a slender hole at the top that followed the shaft of the merged trees, opened for light and air. Already, stars flickered, showing through twilight, Sun nearly gone. Celestia called a faux-fairylamp with her horn and sent it to hang on the roof, washing the interior in a pale pink glow. Finally, she breathed out a sigh of relief, though it was only partial. The adrenaline still coursed through her veins.

A crunch, loud and sudden, of dead leaves startled Celestia and she whipped her head around to find Luna, frozen stiff at her sister’s gaze. She shifted for balance and her hoof crumpled more underneath, the snap of dried plant reverberating off the wooden walls in a sound shattering silence.

“Shhh!” Celestia hushed out harsh and desperate. Luna flinched at the sound and her ears folded flat at the reproach. A flicker of pink magic brushed the leaves into a corner and left soft dirt underfoot. “We can’t make a sound, not even leaves. If anything outside hears, there will be no point in hiding.” Celestia shrugged her shoulders, trying to loosen her taut back. “C’mon.” She breathed out at her most quiet whisper. “It’s been a wild day. We’ll just rest here until morning and move on.”

The thought of the day spent in fleeing the unicorns sent a fresh awareness of the little aches and pains she’d collected. Bruises throbbed on her face, her chest reminded her of the buck she received on her ribs. As she folded her legs beneath her, she felt the little complaints of sore muscle and an eerie drained quality at all the magic she expended little by little.

Luna chose a spot of dirt close by her sister and folded her legs as well. She shifted her weight to one side and settled heavily, head lowered at the effort it took to hold it aloft. While Celestia felt the injuries of a fight, Luna sagged with an exhaustion far greater.

But as Celestia glanced up to extinguish the light, her eyes caught sight of the violet sky and all the aches and pains washed away under a surge of chilled fear. In the end, they were still trying to survive the night in the Everfree Forrest, alone, herdless.

Having built the shelter, she knew how slight a protected it offered. The wide spacing of the trees meant the wood stretched so thin that it offered only concealment and little else. She counted the creatures that would break it at a slight effort. Hydra, ursa, tiger, dragon, chimera, bear, manticore, even a swift buck would smash a hoof through, or perhaps a storm’s wind would topple the whole thing.

In the darkness of the shelter, her eyes had no distraction and she kept them squeezed shut. Instead, her ears stood erect, keeping pointless sentry of the outside. The ice of her fear turned even colder in her veins with the thoughts of latent danger that lied just beyond the thin walls.

Time slowed to a crawl with nothing to tell its passing. Minutes could have been hours, or hours minutes. But sleep, peaceful and serene, was as far away from that place as they were from home. She yearned for her mind to slow the troubling thoughts and allow rest for the day that would come tomorrow. But the knowledge that they slept in Everfree could not be shaken.

A sound, rhythmic and lazy, sent her heart into her throat with a jolt. Feet, wide and padded for silence, stirred over the brush outside, each isolated beat coming closer to where they hid.

She sensed more than saw her sister start and raise her head, alert and listening. Reaching with one hoof, Celestia touched her on the shoulder, a reminder to keep quiet. Luna squirmed under the touch and turned, trying to maneuver close while taking great pains to remain silent. Lips and breath tickled Celestia’s ear as Luna leaned up to whisper.

The sounds were unintelligible at first, Luna hardly giving them voice. But after a repetition, a pair of words came into startling clarity as a thought. The smell!

A gasp came dangerously close to leaving Celestia’s lips before she bit them to keep silent. In setting up this shelter, she had not done a thing to hide their scent!

The padded feet circled the enclosure. A moan –low, deep and rumbling in a huge throat— called through the wooden walls.

Terror seized her body and mind. She wanted to scream right then. Cry out in her terror for no reason other than that she was afraid. Run, too. Run far and fast and without ceasing. It was what she always did, what ponies did. Flee from danger and harm. An antsy feeling filled her legs, nearly rising of their own volition to get up and bolt away from this place. The impulse grew in her mind out of something instinctual. All she had to do was let go of the control for an instant and she’d scream and run. She’d fly out of the tree . . .

. . . into the Everfree Forest at night, something huge and deadly on her heels as she condemned her sister to die in the broken cover.

Celestia locked herself down tight to stay put. Uncontrollably, she quaked with the suppressed need, the shudder encompassing her whole body. The halting only amplified her terror, the control over instinct so tenuous that it could slip at any moment and a choked whimper would reveal their presence.

The creature moaned again in agitation. Claws bit into the tree, wood cracking as the sharp nails pierced the outer bark.

The pink-maned unicorn threw her face into the soft dirt, wishing that the thing outside would just go away, wishing it over and over. Cool earth rubbed her forehead, that fearful whimper rising so close to being uttered. Any moment, the claws could bite too deep, the beast could press too hard, and once a small hole started, the beast would dig its way inside on just sheer curiosity. She threw her head back and watched the walls, afraid that she’d see a pinprick of moonlight that would mean the animal-of-prey found them.

Instead, the pale glow from the hole hidden at the top illuminated Luna. The midnight blue pony curled in on herself, a wing covering her face and her chest heaving as if she cried. Celestia crawled forward and reached a forelimb around her sister, drawing her into an embrace. Luna buried herself against her sibling’s shoulder and Celestia pressed tight in hopes that any accidental sob would be muffled. Blue wings and forehooves enfolded the pale unicorn with a desperate cling. After only a moment, a wetness soaked through Celestia’s coat where Luna’s cheek lay.

Outside, whatever lurked circled, clawed, circled again, occasionally uttering a moan so low that it approached a growl. The instinct still remained inside Celestia, the urge for a terrified scream and frantic flight, but they no longer pressed. With Luna clutched in her arms and her chin resting comfortingly on her baby sister’s neck, the impulses merely existing as objects in her mind, and nothing more.

After a time, the sounds of padded footfalls faded into the night. Silence enveloped them, only disturbed by a creak of wood or rustle of branches in the wind.

Three more times, they were visited that night, each a variation on the same encounter. One scratched with dull claws scraping over top the wood. Another made not a sound except for the touch of feet on the forest floor. But each one soon passed and disappeared into the night, silence again returning inside the trunk. After surviving the first, the next three could be endured.

Celestia realized she had fallen asleep only when light tickled her senses. Her eyes rolled open slowly, feeling as if they were set in sand. Daylight trickled in from the hole on top of their shelter and settled in a bright circle off the tip of her nose. Luna still laid in her arms, softly sighing in peaceful sleep. She had adjusted herself, sometime last night, resting her cheek in a more comfortable position along her elder sister’s shoulder.

Carefully disentangling herself from Luna –who, though now woken, nevertheless resisted the pull of day by curling in on herself and never opening her eyes— Celestia began to stretch out her limbs. The sleep came with great relief. Pain had been downgraded to merely sore, tired muscles had become simply stiff. The time of separation, imprisonment, and betrayal of the unicorns was now just a memory, with Luna once again hers.

“Come on. Up, you sleepy-head.” Celestia nudged her sister with a hoof, then peered up at the sky. “It’s well into morning. We’re late getting up. I’d rather not spend another night here if I can help it.”

Though Luna did not rise that instant, what Celestia said had an effect. She stretched out every hoof at the mention of another night in the forest and slowly found the way to her feet, stretching out both broad wings with a groan.

“Mehh . . .” The blue pony exhaled, eyes still half closed and adjusting to the light. Celestia had opened up a peek-hole in the tree by the time Luna composed herself enough for an answer with actual words. “Better . . . I think I can do magic again.”

Pressed up against the tiny hole, Celestia held off her remark until she got a clear view outside the tree. Nothing lurked now that the day broke, just an empty forest with tall trees and barren floor. “Sleep has always been the best cure for that,” she said absently while widening the hole to stick out her head. If something had yet been waiting at the edge of their scent and now heard them, she was prepared to use the thin walls as a shield against a lethal pounce. But glancing this way and that revealed still nothing but birds casually chirping their songs that filled the void in the trees. Finally, Celestia chanced a exit and slipped outside. Wordlessly, Luna followed. The birds continued thier cheerful noise unabated by their presence and not a thing stirred to meet them. The hunters had left with Moon.

The thought melted her tension and a deep sigh expelled it. Her rump fell to sit, finally feeling a measure of relaxation. Luna took the opportunity to sit as well, patiently observant and tucked her tail tidily close. Craning her neck, Celestia traded a glance with her younger sister, piecing together what came next. A shadow of a pang in her belly quickly guided the direction. “Well, breakfast it is.”

Luna rose and stood with a perky posture at the word. A split second later, she huffed out a breath and pouted off to the side.

“What is it?” The white mare rose and a four-beat walk propelled her forward.

The pout melted away as she was addressed, blue eyes regaining their distant quality. “Oh, I forgot the figs when we were searching for shelter last night.” The corners of her lips curved up in blissful memory. “They were so good.”

A brief snerk left the elder before she shook out her mane and turned her concentration to the task at hand. She called to mind the method of finding food she had used yesterday. The instinctual understanding of the Earth guided her, and the pale mare led her sister down paths that promised food. All the while, she kept one eye on the woods.

“Keep careful.” She flipped back an ear to pay attention to Luna. “I think the safety of the unicorns made us forget how dangerous this place really is.” A glance back confirmed that Luna gave a nod and she was keeping sentry to both sides and above. Celestia swallowed, her next thought voiced. “Not everything will have gone to bed with Moon.”

Standing straight, Celestia marched forward. “After breakfast, we’ll press hard. I want to be at the mountains before nightfall.”

The trot of her sister faltered, then redoubled to catch up. “Before nightfall? Half the day is nearly gone already.”

“We’ll have to make it.” Celestia’s neck drooped in a feeling of dread. “We’re simply not safe here at night. The trees here just are not good for protection. Our only hope is seeking shelter with the pegasi. So, we need to make the mountains.”

This time, Celestia’s trot faltered. “It doesn’t matter anyways. A makeshift cave in the mountain will still be better than any of these old trees.” She resumed her trot.

The pony with the pink mane gritted her teeth and withheld a biting answer. After all, just yesterday, Luna had been right about her worries. With a sigh, she released the building annoyance and continued her walk without replying. “Ahh, here we are!”

The change in the forest had been subtle, unnoticeable to those who paid little attention to flora. Standing overhead, a slightly different tree had taken root, an outlier on territory its species would claim. What mattered to Celestia, though, was that the leaves were highly edible and contained no poison. Licking her lips, she plucked a bundle from the lower branches with a pink glow. Luna did the same and they both hoisted down a small pile which to eat.

The leaves quickly vanished into greedy mouths, each sister getting her fill with a sense of hurry. After breakfast, both went about the task of navigation with little pause, the pattern established from the day before.

“Up you go.” Celestia parted the branches of the canopy above while Luna took to the air to find the mountain range and came down with a hoof outstretched in the direction.

With a short nod, Celestia set out, leading Luna as they weaved through the trees. If they were to have a chance of making their destination before sunset, the pace had to be brisk and Celestia set the gait at a clipped trot. Remnants of fear birthed from the night before remained ever present as a sense of urgency.

The haste gave little chance for idle conversation or to appreciate what they found in the depths of Everfree, where few ponies had tread. Wonders of colors passed, flowers, butterflies and poison frog. Of form, too, strange spider webs and vines. Life as well, with the small animals going about their business. This and yet more all passed by where little attention could be spared and absolutely no time. Ambient sounds of birds, insects, and occasional larger life were the only back drop. Deeper and deeper they plunged into the diverse landscape, eyes always watching for danger.

Sun completed her rising arc overhead and began the long travel to the western horizon. Celestia and Luna paused sparingly and only when opportunity arose. For a drink as they crossed over a river. Food as they spied a tree of nutritious leaf, or where a hole in the canopy allowed grass to grow. Every so often as she felt need, Celestia sent Luna up to view the sky and regain their bearings.

“Not that much farther!” Luna’s voice beamed with excitement. “We’re really getting close now.”

By the shadows cast on her sister, Celestia saw that Sun slowed for no one. There’d still be a push over the last bit of ground. “Alright, let’s hurry the last leg.”

“W-wait!” Luna called down seemingly distracted, her gaze fixed far away. “I think I see something.”

Apprehension at any pause bubbled with an equal share of curiosity. "What is it?”

“Just—just a minute!” Luna made a quick placating gesture with a hoof, her wings already prepping to race. “Let me go see.”

Celestia parted her mouth to answer but before a word could be uttered, Luna darted away from the hole and out of sight. Taken off guard and too late to say anything else, Celestia yelled to the vacant hole. “Be careful!”

“Okay . . .” The answer already drifting from some distance away as Luna chased the object of her curiosity.

“Tssh!” Celestia huffed out a breath between clenched teeth as she let go of the magic that parted the canopy. Branches whipped back in place with a rustle and the sunlight closed with them, leaving Celestia alone in cool shade. Annoyance and frustration rose in her chest, contracting her brow and putting some tension in her shoulders. Later, she’d have a talk with Luna about that tendency to run off.

At the moment, however, there was nothing for it and nothing to do. After a deep breath inwards, she sighed and released a tension she held since from that morning unthinking. Shoulders and neck relaxed, drooped, and she lowered her hindquarters to sit. The muscles in her legs burned with a dull complaint, no restful walk today for them. Yet, the burn was faint and they had strength yet to spare as they closed the last miles.

The relative quiet and rest of the moment set her mind to thinking. It found little to consider in the trip itself, she was already doing all she could to keep them both safe and make it to the pegasi, and confident in that. Instead, her mind wandered around the forest and all its curiosities.

Tall, straight pines stretched high above the earth, branches fanning out above with thin, needle-like leaves. Cloves sprung forth all along the ground, as thick as grass but many times more vibrant, half burying the scattered fallen bows of trees from past generations. The thin leaves allowed sunlight to brighten the pines and the cloves until the whole world seemed to glow with green radiance. A delighted smile crept across her lips as she saw the beauty, luminescent greens rolling with earthy browns, surrounding all the eye could see above and below. Like all things of beauty for Earth ponies, she absorbed the feeling and committed it to a memory she could revisit or tell in a story.

Birds chirped their song, a pleasant and ambient noise that she realized she missed more than she thought. Among the unicorns, who used their call for warning, the forest was bereft their presence. The singing, then, reinforced the feeling that she escaped. Swept up and glad to be so, she listened to them sing and watched the forest’s rolling colors. Though, as her attention turned to the birds, she found a strange absence of sound behind her. Curiously, she craned her neck around and—

Yellow eyes met hers in a passionless gaze. A wolf –black and trimmed with gray— stood eerily still, just watching her, one paw lifted in stalking.

In that instance, a time so short as to be instantaneous, her mouth parted in shock and fear. Her heart leaped out of her chest and beyond even her throat while her stomach turned into weightless mush. Every part of her body coiled as taught as a scared snake, while thought and sensation melted into a slurry bathed in panic.

She bolted. Celestia was aware of the intention to run a few heartbeats after her hooves were already on the move, churning dirt and clover with a furious thunder. Somewhere inside, a part of her wordlessly knew exactly what such a creature would do to her with its jaws and teeth, the images of that being one of her strongest memories.

It was written in those yellow eyes, how they regarded ponies so emotionlessly, that killing for food was as a part of them as eating grass was toward ponies. How could a pony feel mercy toward grass? How could a wolf feel mercy toward a pony? The utter unfeeling of their gaze was the part that gave Celestia her nightmares.

A chuffing breath followed close on her heels, the wolf giving chase with the same instinctual suddenness that Celestia fled. The instinct to scream half asserted itself, every quickened breath her lungs exhaled holding with it a sound of half girlish-squeak, half terrorized scream.

Seldom had she ran this fast, only times when extreme danger had gifted her legs with near magical speed. Her pink mane and tail whipped behind her as she plunged headlong into the forest, and she may have outrun the wolf then. She was a young mare in her physical prime, moving at full gallop and driven by fear for her life. On a field, escape was certain.

Celestia never had a clear line through the forest. Every few paces, she plowed through some low-hanging branches or shrubberies, leapt over logs strewn in her path, or weaved around the never ending obstacles of trees, her hooves kicking up clumps of dirt and cloves at each shift of her momentum.

While Celestia handled this well, the wolf simply handled it better. Its long-legged swiftness deftly navigated the forest without slowing, padded feet pushing off logs and dull claws digging into dirt with equal ease.

Together, they weaved the forest in a contest as old as Everfree itself. Unable to turn her attention away from directly ahead, lest she run deadly fast into the bough of a tree, Celestia tracked the wolf’s chase with her ears. She weaved her trail always in response to his— never thinking, simply doing— placing a tree between them, or an out-thrust rock, or a rolling hill, or anything that would force the wolf to take a slightly longer path, winning a few inches of lead, a few more seconds of time, until the predator would have to give up—the prey too clever and troublesome. In turn, the wolf did the opposite, always looking to cut his path short and close on Celestia until she could be brought down by his jaws.

More chuffing breaths entered her awareness, closing on her flanks. She chanced a quick glance and saw a wolf, a new one, running parallel to her and closing its way through the forest, waiting for its opportunity to sweep in and snare her. A scream ripped from her throat and she veered away. Her ears spied yet another’s sound, cutting off that retreat and she had to correct her turn to keep from letting it close.

Her chest contracted, breath coming rapid with a fearful whine on each exhale. With each new wolf she sensed by eyes or ears, her terror grew, until now it was its own adversary that sapped her strength and snuffed rational thought.

The wolf on her flank made her move, darting in from the side. She heard it coming and the terror erupted like a geyser, freezing her breath in place.

She seized her magic. As it closed, Celestia rammed will into a raw intention.

The air at her side thumped with a sudden influx of power. Magic, raw and unfocused, cascaded out like a gale-force wind. Pines creaked loudly and popped, swaying back under the push. Branches snapped, twigs and leaves tore from their anchors and thrown like feathers. The she-wolf was lifted off her feet, eyes wide in surprise.

But the magic remained as unfocused as the intent. Without a thought-construct to give magic form, the power —even as much as Celestia could call— dispersed everywhere and what little hit the wolf washed around her like a strong wind. Sent ungracefully back to the ground only few lengths away, the wolf tumbled end over end, mostly uninjured. She found her feet again and resumed the chase undeterred.

Her unicorn magic had failed, some part of her realized in that flight. If she threw power out like that over and over at each wolf, she’d sap herself of strength before she’d scare any of them off. In the height of fear, she simply could not organize effective magic.

A despair came with the failure, a slow sinking feeling that made itself known even at that moment. Still, she ran, never stopped running and relying on her speed to stay ahead of the wolves.

Though, of course, the wolves knew that about a young and healthy pony. Their hunting tactics were too varied and clever for a simple solution.

That realization struck only as she saw yet two more close off her path. They had herded her, using their numbers to press her flanks and guide her retreat. They turned her around so their pack mates could head off her run and entrap her. She was surrounded.

Immediately, Celestia dug in her forehooves, reared back, and bucked with all her might. The first wolf, the one that chased her from the beginning, did not have time to react. Celestia struck out blindly, but one of her hooves sunk into something fleshy and giving. A pop of bone, wet and disturbing, coincided with a sharp, high pitched yelp.

The wolf hit so hard that Celestia was thrown off her forelimbs and stumbled forward, mouth coming up with the taste of dirt she planted into. When she was up, the wolves already enclosed her.

They circled her from all sides, all of them, taking a position to bare teeth and growl ferociously, only to take a new position at some other angle. Celestia threw her head around, trying to look all ways at once. The wolves assumed this tactic in perfect coordination, harassing every side with their presence, distracting her with noise, shuffling as to add more confusion and keep her within the circle of teeth.

When cornered, a wild Earth pony fights. Without magic, Celestia fought like a wild Earth pony. She raised back legs, intimidating the canines with a chambered kick. She reared and brayed in equal parts fury and fear, pressing the circle with the threat of a painful stomp. Each side she approached fell back just out of her range, still growling with sharp teeth on a long, snarling snout and shuffling so no single wolf ever faced her alone.

She never heard the quiet one that sprinted in from her flank. That might have been the point of the growling and noise. The wolf came from an angle behind, avoiding the chance of a kick from the rear legs, but only on the outskirts of peripheral vision and easily missed in the confusion. Teeth sunk into the back of Celestia’s thigh. She screamed in pain. She had never experienced it like this before. The teeth had sunk deep and tissues that had never been touched, so deep beneath the skin, suddenly cried out in fresh agony.

Without thinking, Celestia tried to whirl around and gore the wolf from her leg with her unicorn’s horn. The instant she did, the wolf peeled off and rushed back into his pack mate’s circle, blood still on her lips. Her blood.

The instant Celestia’s attention changed, another silent wolf swept in and bit down on her other rear leg. Startled again, she screamed. The teeth weren’t the only pain. The strength of their jaw clamping down pinched her thighs, though “pinched” seemed hardly a word to describe just how much it hurt.

Her injured leg came down to save her balance. It stumbled. A third wolf came in for her forelimb and jerked it out from under her.

She fell. The motion seemed to last forever. Her body hung in the air for several terrifying moment as her legs were swept out. Then, she hit the ground. They rushed in. All she could see behind her eyes was Painted Hoof, that scene of him being torn to pieces as the wolves rushed her. Her mouth parted in wordless horror.

Bubbly, girlish laughter stopped all of it. The wolves froze, heads whipped around in surprise. Even though two still held her legs, their eyes darted nervously to the sound of the laugh.

Celestia held deadly still –dead still, even—afraid that the slightest bit of movement would draw their attention once more and they remember their hunger.

Hoofbeats, casual and carefree as a stroll through a field, carried forward the figure of a pony, concealed in an earth-tone cloak. Only one such pony ever wore such a thing. The shaman! Celestia resisted sucking in a breath in surprise.

One of the wolves –a male larger than the rest towering over the mare— leapt out from the pack and interposed himself between the new pony and their won meal. The alpha bristled his fur into something huge, widened his stance, and growled low and intense. The rest of the pack followed his lead and began to close ranks just behind, leaving Celestia where she laid.

The shaman burst out giggling again as if the wolf just told her a really great joke. She raised a hoof to her chest and padded it to calm herself down, then stepped forward as if Alpha was an old friend, closing to a mere outstretched hoof away. Celestia’s hope died at that instant, waiting for the shaman to be killed before her eyes by the pack of wolves.

But Alpha stepped back, his growl redoubled, ears pinned to his head nervously. Sensing his apprehension, the rest of the pack let out confused, anxious whines. Some of the smaller broke a few steps away, including one that badly limped.

The shaman didn’t hesitate, moving as if oblivious to danger. She lifted a hoof and touched it to Alpha’s nose, loudly declaring, “Honk!”

Celestia’s jaw fell agape, and she wasn’t even sure who was more shocked, herself or Alpha. The wolf stopped growling, ears shot straight up in complete surprise, his own jaw slackened like Celestia’s. After blinking surprise several times, his ears pinned down nervously and he bolted backwards. The pack began to scatter, then stopped in front of the downed pony. Shaman resumed her walk forward, ignoring them. The pack broke before her, fanning out into the woods with their tails between their legs.

The mare with the pink mane, laying on the ground in utter confusion, searched desperately for words. “Wha- . . . how. . .”

“Hi, Celi! Good to see you again, and all growed up!” The shaman lifted a travel dirtied hoof and pulled back her hood. She was an old mare, though younger than the elders of the unicorns. Wrinkles lined her face, already deep with laugh lines. Her coat was predominantly brown, except for a grayed mane, and it held a subtle quality to it that made it unique; very much like the unicorns’ richer colors, yet different. A tiny hint of strawberry underneath the brown, perhaps. But her eyes, those were the most unique of all. Pale blue irises like that of a little filly’s, retaining all vibrance and wonder of childhood unmarred by years. Patiently, the shaman waited for Celestia to collect her thoughts, a smile on her the whole time.

“How--” Celestia didn’t know whether to stare in awe or fear. “How did you do that?”

“You mean the wolfies?” The shaman giggled, a sound it seemed she made often. “Oh, old shaman trick. All the animals that eat other animals think everyone is scared of them. If you’re scared, they know you’re food! If you growl, they know you’re scared and will fight. But if you don’t growl or run, then they’re scared because you’re not. ”

From all the exertion, Celestia’s breath came hard, though she felt the tendency to hold it, staring confused. “What?”

“If you aren’t scared of wolfies, then wolfies are scared of you,” Shaman repeated with infinite, seemingly oblivious, patience.

Celestia knitted her brow before flopping her head on the ground in defeat. “I still don’t understand.”

The old mare’s face became almost motherly, like an expression an aunt wore for a cherished niece. “Oh, you will, after it sinks in. Go ahead, ask me another!”

Though she lay there, confused, ragged, aware of small wounds still bleeding but not life-threatening, the shaman just played games! Stranger still, she found herself playing along. A question popped into Celestia’s mind and she raised her head. “How did you find me?”

“I’m a shaman, of course!” Laughter came like punctuation with her. “I followed Shaman Sense!”

“The message in the ground! Earth talking to me. Little tickles, or itches, or twitches, or wiggles, or giggles, or acheys, or shakeys, that’s how she talks. I was out looking for you when my nose began to itch. That was Earth telling me that some pony would be chased by wolves.”

Celestia creased her brow in worry, rolling to a more comfortable position upright. The thought occurred that the shaman might, as another pony once put it, ‘drink the wrong kind of water.’ Mad, in other words. Though she had met the shaman once, twice counting birth, and heard plenty of rumors or stories, this was the longest conversation they’d ever had and she was witnessing firsthand where some of the rumors came from.

And yet . . . she showed up exactly when Celestia needed her and chased away a pack of wolves by laughing at them. Part of Celestia wanted to believe. After all, it was the shaman who had first said Celestia was special. “You were looking for me?”

“Uh-huh!” The shaman nodded. “My back is prickily. A message!” In a blur, the old mare was upon Celestia, holding the white pony’s cheeks between her hooves. The sheer speed startled young pony, who found herself staring at those blue eyes, unable to turn away. Their youth was gone, replaced with a frightening intensity. “Know your limits.”

The intensity melted like a snowflake on a warm patch of grass. A smile grew on Shaman’s features. “That’s the message! ‘Know your limits.’” She gently let go of the startled pony and took a step back to reach underneath her cloak.

“It was something I received from the stars, meant for you.” The shaman spoke with her face buried underneath the earth-toned fabric, still searching it. “My prickily back meant it was super-important. Make sure to remember it!”

Celestia let out a sigh to calm herself down. Even if not of unsound mind, Shaman was still odd.

“C’mon!” The shaman came out with a weaved basket’s handle in her mouth and spoke with it between her lips. The basket was not unlike that of unicorn make, except that it was still fresh and green rather than dried. “Now, show me the bites. They might get sick if we don’t put on ooie-gooy.”

“Ooie-gooy.” She gestured with a bob of the basket. “It feels all icky, but it’ll stop the sicky! It’ll fix some of the oww as well, so you best let me do it, little Celi.”

Celestia sheepishly outstretched her bitten forehoof, pure white of her coat streaked by blood that slowly ran down the length. Seeing the injury for the first time, Celestia’s eyes welled with tears, her lips pouted, and she felt like a silly foal for that reaction.

“Oh, there, there.” With surprising gentleness, the shaman applied some of the goo and smothered it with soft, furry leaves before binding it all tight with longer, flat ones. Where the shaman got her cloak, and her never ending supplies for healing or mischief remained a mystery to all. Some said it was of unicorn make, others that she traded with many non-ponies. But seeing the hooves tie off the plant securely about her forelimb, Celestia could believe she made it herself. “There we are, little Celi. Now, isn’t that better? You remind me of my own daughter.”

A jolt sent Celestia choking on swallowed saliva and threw her into a coughing fit. “Wait!” she managed between coughs, “Shaman take mates!?”

“Of course, silly!” She waved off the matter. “How else would us sha-mares have little sha-foals?” She leaned in to whisper covertly with Celestia, a just-between-us-girls tone. “Don’t tell him we’re mates. I don’t think he knows it yet that I’m just a little bit crazy!”

“Oh,” Celestia tried to hide her smile and did a poor job of it. “He doesn’t, does he?”

“Nope.” The shaman began work on Celestia’s rear legs, smearing more goo. “So far, so good. All the way to grand-foals and he hasn’t run away scared yet, so I think it’s working.”

It seemed to be the reaction the shaman was hoping for. “You can call me Granny Pie.”

“Ever since my daughter had her foals, she calls me Granny Pie. It’s a little more catchy and less weird than calling your momma ‘The Shaman’ or ‘the Shamom.’ If we meet again, you can call me that too.” Granny Pie finished the binding on the last leg. That seemed the closest thing to an explanation Celestia would get. “Oh, one more thing before I go.” Reaching under the cloak, she pulled out several pieces of white bark with her lips and set it in front of Celestia. “Chew on this before you begin your journey again. If you’re going to make it, you’ll need to.”

Granny Pie laughed. “No, silly. You wouldn’t be in the Everfree Forest if you weren’t trying to go somewhere else! Now, tell little Luna and her new friend that I said hi.”

Granny Pie scratched her side like a dog. “Itchy flank. It means that someone just made a friend.”

Chapter 11

There are things we overlook in our youth, I was no exception. I neglected to realize that one vital step to growing is to uncover the mystery that resides in ourselves

Above the rolling leafy expanse of the upper canopy, the mountain range cut off the horizon. Rising up into the sky, they weathered the clouds with granite.

“Not much farther!” A smile parted Luna’s lips as she felt a thrill. The mountains were so very large at this distance, sitting high above Everfree with a sense of stubbornness; old, powerful chiefs towering over the tumult below. “We’re really getting close now.”

“Alright, let’s hurry the last leg.” Worry mixed with determined hope in Celestia’s words.

About to answer, a tiny hint of motion caught Luna’s eye. At first hidden against the backdrop of mountains, a dark speck passed into blue sky, where it stood in contrast. “W-wait!” Luna focused her gaze, nearly able to make out a rhythmic movement within, like the beating of wings. “I think I see something.”

The doubt in her elder sister sent a jolt of unease through Luna. “Just—just a minute.” She reflexively gestured to stall for time, several thoughts all warring for attention at once. The speck was large enough to be a flying creature—a pegasus, even— and Luna tried to study it. If it was not a pegasus, it was still something and Luna wanted to know. Celestia, already hesitant, could overrule Luna’s desire to explore. Words fought for place to be spoken and justify herself, in a mind already preoccupied. All of this and her chance was slipping by. The creature flew fast, faster than anything she had ever seen. “Let me go see,” she mumbled. Wings, already prepped for flying, launched her, escaping before Celestia could refuse.

A surprised and probably displeased Celestia called from behind at the last second, powerless. “Be careful!”

The realization of how little she had flown came as soon as Luna applied her wings. Celestia had not liked the casual use of gliding, calling it “weird,” so her experience was not much more than two days of brief hovering hops and one haphazard escape. Another realization came entwined. Flying —that was actually beyond hovering— was hard. The moment Luna threw herself forward, she dropped like a tossed stone and nearly dove headfirst into the upper branches of the forest. With a startled yelp, she flared her wings and jerked back, halting and avoiding disaster by a mere nose lengths. Carefully this time, she concentrated on her new limbs and willed herself up. They flapped furiously, yet oddly gave very little lift, their movements inefficient. Slowly, she rose anyway, and began to flutter forward. Catching sight of the speck once more, she flew in pursuit.

The roaming dot streaked across the sky like a comet. Literally streaking; a long, fading tail of the same unclear color trailed behind, evaporating like dew in the Sun as it went. A wave of urgency doubled Luna’s efforts, the opportunity to investigate vanishing as fast as that tail.

Unsteadily at first, she tried to hurry along the tops of the trees, faltering and dropping mixed with quick recoveries and smooth gliding. By not thinking, using pure instinct, her movements became smoother and she gained speed. Luckily, the creature did not fly directly away. Luna closed and it became clear.

Her insides danced with butterflies. Shock killed them a second later. The pegasus flew so swiftly that it would be long gone in only a minute.

“HEY!” Luna shouted to the distant flyer and saw no reaction. “HEY, uhh, PONY!” She called up will to the tip of her horn and sent it to glow bright blue with white crackling sparks, anything to get attention. “Hey, pony, over here!” Rising higher above the treetops, she flew straight up and waved her forehooves. “HEY, YOU!”

She dropped. A split second of weightlessness and she was falling. In struggling to get the pegasus’ attention, she forgot that small bit of concentration required to keep her wings in motion. With a yelp, she plummeted, flailing all limbs in panic. A quick thought sent a spell into a tree below, stretching out its branch and expanding it wide to catch her. The tree creaked, bent, and groaned as her hooves clattered against the wood platform. Feeling only a mild pain in her ankles from the fall, her heart remained aflutter at the scare and Luna panted for a gasping breath. Losing little time, she turned her attention to the sky for the comet-like pony.

And found nothing. The sky was empty and clear of all but sparing clouds and Sun on her journey to the west.

Dismay flooded her insides. She scanned the sky again in quick jerks, trying to catch a last glimpse before the pegasus slipped away. Nothing. The pony was long gone. Her shoulders went slack, the dismay congealed inside in her belly. She sat down quietly and tucked her tail close, staying that way for a long moment as disappointment buried her.

This was her fault. She was simply slow and unable to keep up, just like in the old games of Griffs and Ponies. Thoughts turned to Celestia and reporting what she had found. The sight of the pegasus meant something, at the least. She turned and took to her wing, heading back to where she last saw her sister, a weight lightening in her stomach.

“What do you want?” A colt’s terse voice sent a jolt through Luna’s body.

Her wings snapped to her flanks and stuck there. Without warning, Luna fell into the treetops, only able to squeak in surprise.

Her face buried into the sea of green, leaves thwacking it on all sides. Thin branches bent and whipped her chest and legs with stinging force, others snapping as she fell through them. Thicker branches caught her like rough fingers and she laid sprawled on her back, limbs splayed all directions.

Opening her eyes and peering up the hole her tumble made, she caught sight of a colt peering back down. A fraction of a second later, his wide, young eyes smiled. He burst out in loud, ridiculing laughter, throwing himself back away from the hole with the force of it.

“Wait!” Luna called, struggling to right herself. “Wait!” Half climbing, half flying, and half swimming through the trees, Luna fought her way back up through the canopy until she burst through the top. “Don’t go yet . . .”

He hovered on his wings, on his back as if solid ground had been there, still clutching his sides with the last of his laughter. From head to hoof, his body was splotched brown and white, even his mane and tail, as if someone had thrown balls of color on him which never washed off. Likewise, his wings were both brown feathered and matching his coat, as unquestionably a part of him as horns were on unicorns.

“What?” He spun around and faced Luna, the question still terse when he noticed she was staring. The colt’s eyes, blue as the sky, held what Luna could only call a youthful transparence. Guileless at hiding anything.

“Uhh, yeah.” He drew down his brow as if he’d just spoken to an idiot and he turned to go. In the space of a blink, his wings launched him away, leaving a brown trail in his wake.

“W-wait!” Luna hurtled herself forward. “Don’t go yet!” She hadn’t a prayer of catching him, even as she flapped as hard and fast as her wings possibly could.

The colt continued on ahead, Luna in failing pursuit for several agonizing heartbeats.

“I need to ask you something!” She took in a deep breath and nearly screamed to make herself heard. “Where are the pegasi?!”

He peered back over his shoulder in an effortless motion, an eyebrow quirked in curious confusion. Luna’s hope rose, then crashed as he turned back ahead and continued on. Until she noticed thought turning over in his head. Reluctantly, he slowed and allowed Luna to close the distance. “You really don’t know?” He sounded surprised.

A sigh relaxed part of her, even as her wings strained with furious flaps to keep up this pace. “Yes, I need to find them.”

The colt looked her over from head to hoof, having no ability to hide his scrutiny.

Self-awareness, lost in the tide of Luna’s eagerness, forced its way back with a kick. The colt taking stock of her, Luna parsed exactly what was to be taken stock of. Sap from the fall matted her coat in sticky lumps and ruffled the feathers of her wings distraught. Her mane and tail—which she kept so neat and pretty ever since Crescent Change showed her how— had twice the problem. It’s own helping of sap knotted her hair into wild, messy shapes and twigs lodged themselves everywhere, green leaves often still attached. If she had been placed next to the shaman at this moment, Luna guessed she’d appear the madder of the two.

Then, there was the matter of her horn. Though perhaps that could be lost in the quite literal fray.

“You don’t need to kick your legs like that.” The colt pointed down to her hooves, which she realized she unconsciously pumped through the air as if she was running.

Luna pulled them back and tucked them underneath her, trying to mimic the colt. “Oh,”

He regarded her again, a hoof to his chin. “You look like a foal on his first flight. Clumsy and dumb.”

The words pricked Luna and she narrowed her eyes in contempt. A brief flash of her horn sent a stream of summoned water leaping out of the forest and into the colt’s face.

The liquid cascaded across the stunned pegasus, splashing in all directions as his flight carried him down the length of it. Giddy laughter from Luna turned into a full belly laugh as the pony’s surprised yelp turned into a prolonged gurgle.

Luna still grinned as the colt shook out his mane in violent jerks, sputtering his lips to spit the unexpected taste from his mouth. Then, his eyes found her again.

The colt could not have missed her horn now. If she had meant to keep it a secret, she had dashed that plan for her little jab. An impulse rose in her, to shrink away. To meekly weather his rebuke and wait for it to pass. Though he was a colt, he was also a pegasus and his acceptance mattered.

Her ankles itched, remembering the roots that leapt from the ground and ensnared her legs, and the unicorns that dragged her off into the night. The thought occurred of this colt’s reaction being similar now that she revealed herself. The threat stirred something deep inside, a buried thing she had felt twice before. Once when she stood up to Phantom Spell at her escape, and again when Crescent Change accidentally brushed upon it, asking her feelings about Ebon Swift. It peeled her lips back in a snarl, vehemence coursing through her veins.

The colt evaporated all that unease in a flash, modicum of respect dawning in those transparent eyes. What was more, the respect wasn’t directed at the horn, but at her. “I guess we’re even, now. You looking for where we gather?”

“Yes.” Luna nodded, feeling a great deal of relief. And a growing fear of her own emotions.

“You can follow me back.” The colt rolled gently to the side and began to pull away.

“I have to go bring my sister. If you could tell me where to go instead, I’d be very grateful.”

“Your sister?” The colt digested the information, thoughts turning over in his head again. It lasted just long enough to make Luna suspicious, except for how poorly the colt hid his thoughts. “The mountain with the cloud.”

“That mountain with that cloud.” He lifted his hoof and pointed to a tall White Cap with a snow-crested peak. It sat in the middle of the range with a cloud nestled to its side just above the treeline. “That cloud will always be there.”

“Alright.” Luna stared at sight before her, committing the details to memory with the tricks she’d learned as an Earth pony.

“No!” He rolled to his back, a childlike pout to his lips and his brows drawn down in offence. Even upside down, he glided effortlessly. “Not Rebel like what somepony is. Rebel, like something you do. Rebel Bolt!”

An odd look passed over the pegasus at her last statement. “Sure.” With that, he rolled again and shot off like a star, that same trail from before appearing in his wake.

No longer having to move at the colt’s pace, Luna slowed to a hover and watched Rebel’s form shrink further and further, brown splotched coat disappearing among the colors of the ground.

Then, it all sunk in. She sucked in a breath and with it a rush of giddy glee. “Yes!” In the air, she bucked out her hooves, then reared and kicked her forelimbs in a rocking motion of pure joy. “Yes, yes, yes! I found them! The pegasi are here! They’re here, they’re here! Celestia, I found them!”

As if responding to her mood, her wings flapped excitedly and she dashed off the way she came. A moment passed that nearly put a damper on her spirits. She was lost. All the forest looked the same from above. She darted left and right, looking for a landmark, a visual cue of where Celestia and her had parted ways, only to find the canopy stretching out endlessly in rolling green.

“Oh, duh. Magic!” She pressed a hoof to her forehead. Just some days ago, she’d experimented with a hundred ways to find Celestia. Calling one to mind, she summoned a dragonfly construct of blue magical will, one that would seek all the traits of her sister. The luminescent blue insect floated in the air, large eyes searching, antennae twitching. After only a heartbeat, the agile dragonfly zipped off a few pony lengths at a time, always waiting for Luna to approach before skipping forward again.

The dragonfly led her a long distance. Evidently, she had covered a lot of ground in her chase after Rebel. As Luna crested another hill, something attracted her attention away from the flitting dragonfly. A star of pink light rose from the canopy, resting at the center of a hole where the branches had been brushed aside in a unicorn’s magic glow. A wide grin stretched her cheeks and she let her concentration lapse, the dragonfly fading into the air.

“Celestia!” The winged unicorn plunged into the hole at a dive, passing into the shadows of the Everfree forest once again. “Celestia! I found them, I--” She paused midsentence.

Her elder sister slowly opened her eyes, dispelling the will she called to her horn. One of her cheeks puffed out, hiding something she chewed with methodical motions of her jaw. Three bandages bound tight on three of her limbs, and her hair had not dried completely from the sweat it gathered.

“I could ask the same thing.” Celestia’s lips curved wider and wider with suppressed laughter.

Luna glanced down at herself, aware again of the twigs and sap in her mane. “Oh, this?” Her smile beamed and she hopped in place on all four legs. “I met a pegasus!”

Confusion stopped her hopping. “Isn’t that great news? We’re on the right path!”

“It is, it is.” Celestia turned and began a slow trot. “It’s just that I expected some news like that.”

“That way.” Luna jumped ahead and pointed with an outstretched hoof. “The mountain with the cloud.”

“First.” Celestia glanced over her shoulder with an arched brow. “We’re going to a stream to clean you up and get a drink.” Her voice grew chastising, from elder sister to younger. “You shouldn’t have left like that. It was foolish.”

“No, that doesn’t matter.” Celestia’s pace grew brisk with a restrained anger. “If he had been unfriendly, then what? You left without asking, off alone, flying high above the forest. Just days ago, the unicorns kidnapped you. What if something else happened? A manticore or a gorgon found you? How could I help? How would I know?” She paused and leveled a glare back at her sister. “That tendency to run off you have is going to get you into trouble. Bad trouble.”

Luna shrunk under Celestia’s gaze, ears folding flat, gaze cast leaves on the ground. Quietly steaming, Celestia resumed her walk forward, ever so slightly limping, and drew Luna’s eyes back to the leaf-bandages that wrapped around her rear legs. “What happened while I was gone?”

The anger Celestia had built on Luna’s reckless, foalish actions evaporated as the question hung in the air. Her steps paused, and she found a crossroad before her in the answer.

A pack of wolves attacked and nearly killed me. She knew what that would do. Guilt would crush Luna, she’d blame herself for leaving. Never again would she run off, always keeping Celestia in her sight, always afraid of leaving her elder sister vulnerable.

No, the choice was easy. Keeping Luna by her side through guilt and helplessness was the opposite of her desires. She wanted her little Luna to feel safe and protected, to protect her in reality as well. For that, she needed to know where Luna was and not have her run off without telling. “Granny P- . . . The shaman was looking for me.” Celestia shrugged her bandaged limbs. “She gave me this stuff to help me keep going.”

In any event, Luna might have been able to help with the wolves. Or she might have been as scared and helpless as Celestia was herself. The scene of Painted’s end appeared in her mind, only it was Luna in his place, Celestia pinned and helpless as the wolves—she shuddered. The thought was disturbing. Disturbing down to her very core.

“What stuff?” Luna’s head held high again, eager curiosity written all over her features.

Thankfully, she allowed the question to distract her. “Just these bandages where I was hurt, and this. Bleehhh--” Celestia opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue, resting the white bark she chewed on the tip.

Celestia brought the bark back inside her mouth and grinned. Her sister was here, safe and sound. It calmed the nerves that her previous thought frayed. With any luck, Luna would assume the injuries came from their flight from the unicorns and not question them more. “Oh, and a message." She parodied the shaman’s intensity. "Know your limits!”

With that for their minds to chew on, it wasn’t long before they found the shallow stream and sat at its edge. It flowed languidly between muddy banks, having failed to carve through all the sediment last it was fed by rain. Yet, it wasn’t stagnant or soupy, safe to drink for ponies and clean enough.

“Can’t stay long.” Celestia’s horn held a pale shimmer as she gathered water in a ball and used it to dowse Luna’s mane. “Sun was already far on her journey. You met a pegasus? Tell me what happened. Did you find their herd?”

Luna soured as the water flushed over her and soaked her mane. It loosened some sap, but the sticky mess pulled hairs as Celestia scrubbed at it with a magical touch, intent on not staying longer than need be. The question brought back some of the blue pony’s former excitement. “Yes! I did, he told me where. I met Rebel Bolt, he’s just a colt, but old enough, I talked to him and he told me where the herd is.”

“I-uhh . . .” Luna’s voice trailed into a shy whisper and she used her wet bangs to hide her eyes. “I’m not good at flying yet.”

Celestia dowsed her with another splash of water and separated twigs and leaves from her blue mane, hiding a small smile of amusement. “Can we make it to the pegasi before nightfall?”

Luna pursed her lips to think. “I think so. It’ll be close, maybe at Sunset. And you’ll have to climb part way up a mountain.”

On injured legs, no less. Celestia paused the cleaning to give that thought. “Alright.” She resumed, a tad rougher than she meant. “As soon as you’re cleaned and presentable to the new herd, we’ll push hard. Will you be ready?”

Luna opened her wide, distant eyes to stare at her elder sister. “Between the two of us, I have the wings.”

After the wash, they quenched their thirst and drank a little extra. Celestia took the lead and crossed the stream, soaking her legs to the knee. Luna cared little for the water, already being soaked, and splashed her way through. At the other side, she spared a little magic to play with her sopping mane, laying it about so it would dry in a dainty, appealing way.

Despite the injured legs, Celestia moved at a brisk trot. In truth, she did not feel their pain over much. Anxiety damped the sensitivity, for the memory of the wolves was still fresh in Celestia’s mind.

“Keep careful watch.” She reminded her younger sister again that day, yet it held more gravity than before. “The forest . . . it’s far more dangerous than we thought, daylight or no.” Celestia could hear the worry in her words as her eyes darted through the forest that had lost its luster. Now, she only saw the potential danger around every bend, where things might stalk.

The change was not lost on her sister. Luna stretched her neck tall, looking over the white mare with close attention.

Celestia glanced back. “I saw a wolf,” she answered to quell curiosity. It was true, at the least, and would keep Luna’s senses sharp. She did see one, after all. And they might come to stalk her once more, now that the shaman they feared had gone. With her spare attention, she prepared a few spells and kept them ready in her mind. She’d not be caught off guard again.

One more time on that trip, Luna flew above the trees and regained their bearings. After that, they were so close for it not to matter. It was more important to make good time.

With the sky turning orange, and Sun taking a lazy shade of red, they came to the foot of the mountain. Staring up the incline, Celestia swallowed a growing lump in her throat. The ground leaped up from a flat plain and began to reach into the sky. Trees nestled where they could, clinging to dirt and earth that had settled in all the crevice, but within sight from the bottom, they lost their footing. Jagged, harsh rocks, gray or brown and dusty, forced all but the spare weeds from their face, hopping up the mountain in a series of uneven sheer cliffs. For a moment, Celestia’s head felt light the enormity of the task which she was about to undertake.

“We don’t have to go all the way up.” Luna came along side her sister. “Just to the cloud up there.” She pointed with her nose to a large and slightly out of place puff of fluffy white that rested atop a cliff. “Just . . . most of the way.” She paused. “At least the mountain’s steepness will mean no wolves will be able to follow.”

“I suppose that’s why the pegasi chose this one.” Celestia took her first steps up the side. “C’mon, before nightfall.”

In truth, it was too steep for plains-bound ponies to cross. Almost exactly where the trees lost hold, Celestia had to stop as she had no footing to scale the first cliff. After a moment’s silent deliberation, she called forth will to her horn and unleashed a spell. The rock molded like clay, rising up in a steep ramp. The attempt proved flawed, and her hooves slipped out from under her on the smooth stone. A second spell and she added to the ramp a series of ripples for her hooves to find purchase.

With a thought, she sent another spell to undo the ramp behind her. Leaving a walkway straight to the pegasi’s home seemed rude for a new comer, if they wished to keep it hidden. “Keep watch of the sky. I’m not exactly well hidden from griffins out in the open.”

Not far into the journey, the worry of predators vanished from Celestia’s awareness. The unease she felt evaporated in a relative security of being so high on the cliffs. Walking was fine. She could walk for days. It was leisurely, restful. It gave one time to think and occupied antsy energy in the legs.

Exhaustion slipped in where the unease left. Every step she made, she could feel her leg hauling her entire weight up against the pull of Earth, groaning in protest and struggling to lift the load. It strained her concentration, sapped her energy, sweat broke out all down her body and she gasped for breath in air that grew thinner and thinner.

The bites marring her legs, though, proved less a problem. They were there, still. She could feel them with every working of her leg in a tactile sense. But even without the anxiety to dampen the pain, something else did. They were no more trouble than the bandages that bound them.

Mindful of that, she turned the white bark over again in her mouth. It made sense, then, what Granny Pie said. Chew on this before you begin your journey again. If you’re going to make it, you’ll need to. Wordlessly, she thanked her.

Her little sister had taken to flight once her legs grew tired, hopping up from ledge to ledge in a single bound. She spent more time sitting and waiting for her sister than climbing.

“Look, pegasi!” Luna’s cheery voice grated on Celestia’s nerves, not a hint of effort in it.

Never before had the white unicorn felt such intense, juvenile jealousy as she did right then for those wings. “That’s . . . nice.” She couldn’t hide the irritated grumble in her voice. Yet still, she glanced up and saw five winged ponies leave the cloud.

Perhaps out of sympathy, Luna took up disassembling the ramp behind Celestia’s progress.

Finally, Celestia’s hoof touched the last ledge underneath the cloud. Unable to bring herself all the way up, she rolled over the lip and on to her back, panting for all she was worth. Sun’s last rays peaked over the horizon far too the west. Violet overtook the sky, stars glimmered high above, and Moon began her journey, giving pale light to all the creatures below in lieu of Sun.

Luna laid down close by to her sister, waiting patiently for Celestia to catch her breath. The pink-maned unicorn gathered some small bit of magic into her horn and started to sweep away her sweat and the dust from the journey. In only a moment, they would meet a new herd, and a new kind of pony.

Rested sufficiently, Celestia rose to her feet and faced the telltale cloud. It stretched over what she could now make out to be a massive cave, concealing it from prying eyes The cloud apeared to be constructed of two layers, the top fluffy white and solid, while the bottom was merely a thick mist. Comparing this work to what she learned under the fastidious unicorns, the cover was sloppy. Very sloppy. The entire thing had blown too far to the left, revealing the edges of the cave on the top and bottom. The shape was strange, slightly unnatural for a cloud in a way that caught attention longer than it should. The passage of many creatures on the ledge left a clear trail, guiding the curious intruder right in.

Noting all this, she hesitated. Nervous energy crawled back into her skin. When they had gone to the unicorns, they were able to hide their identity. Blending in had garnered them acceptance, Revealing their true nature, suspicion. Here, she could not hide. Even with wings, Luna wore her heritage on her head, and using magic to conceal it would only work until they had to sleep, at best. Celestia, though? She had nothing. She was coming as a unicorn into a foreign herd. How did the pegasi feel about other ponies? True, they often rested with others, but that was a far cry from accepting a wingless mare with unheard of colors, and a blue pony of confused breed. Would they be barred from entering? Or worse, open hostility? Luna, who had wings, seemed to imply the colt was friendly. What if the pegasi allowed Luna and rejected the elder sister? And a colt could be ignorant of his parents’ ways, as well.

Luna drew up to Celestia’s side and waited patiently. Swallowing that tension, Celestia marched forward and plunged into the mist.

Chapter 12

Very different talents created very different circumstances. Very different circumstances created very different ponies.

The mist that guarded the entrance to the pegasi’s lair whisked around Celestia as she plunged in, leaving a cool, wet touch. The world vanished in the cloud at the cave’s entrance, swallowed completely by fog so thick she thought it might be solid beneath her hoof were she to reach out and touch it. Laden and dense with water, the air felt heavy and cloying. Tiny droplets of moisture clung to Celestia’s eyelashes, coat, and stray hairs. It muffled all sound except her breathing and the hoof falls of her and her sister; obscured all sight as effective as a curtain.

Any second now, she’d meet the pegasi. If she didn’t walk blindly into a wall first.

Celestia mitigated the tension by running through what would happen next in her mind. After they crossed this cloud into pegasi territory, the sentries would be the first to spot them. They’d move forward to bar the newcomers and assess their motives. The fact that they were mares might garner suspicion. While not unheard of, it was far more rare for mares to seek new herds, whereas it was expected for stallions who just came of age. No herd would accept newcomers who might prove a danger, and it might be thought that the two strange mares had been exiled from their home for a good reason.

After the sentries assessed what they could, they’d be brought to the chief for a final decision. Or might be, if they got that far. The sentries could turn them away right there. Not only were they mares, but she was a unicorn trying to gain entry into a herd of pegasi. What if they deemed her mad by that alone? Then, there was Luna, a cross between an Earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus. What would they think of that oddity?

Everything depended on the attitudes of these pegasi, the one factor she had no knowledge of and could not plan for. That fact did nothing to assuage her apprehension. The stakes couldn’t be higher and rested on a complete unknown. If they were turned away, it would mean a trek back through the Everfree forest that would carry them through night once more.

They’d have to be on their absolute best behavior was all Celestia could surmise; charming and polite to mitigate fears. Also, the flight from the unicorns would have to be carefully framed so as to not cast further suspicion. Her last days among the unicorns had taught her the power of words given without thought, even if uttered true.

The cloud thinned before her, then all at once, parted and revealed the first glance into where the pegasi dwelled. In the final moments before rest, Sun was still bright enough to touch the cloud with her rays and light the interior of the cave. It was indeed as massive as the entrance had led Celestia to believe, stretching both wide and tall, more than she cared to estimate.

And, it was populated with pegasi. They milled about, a score or so of them. Some sat along the cave floor together. Others flew high overhead, playing with little bits of white cloud that littered the air, their wings flapping with lazy efficiency.

Glancing to her side, Celestia checked Luna. She stood quietly, blue eyes observant as ever as she took in the details of this new world. A faint smile upturned the corners of her lips, excited yet unobtrusive.

With another swallow of tension, Celestia composed herself to stand with dignity and waited at the edge of the entrance. She straightened the bandages around her legs that covered the wolf bites. It would be better if they did not try to invade the cave without seeking the sentries’ permission first.

A small group of pegasi —half dozen, give or take— sat along the cave wall, not far off from where Celestia had entered. They arranged themselves in a circle and chatted amicably, unnoticing of the visitors. Clearing her throat, Celestia garnered her courage and called their attention. “Hello.”

A rust red mare was caught mid story and raised her head, looking over her shoulder. Celestia held her breath and waited for the recognition that would follow, a reaction to the fact a pure white unicorn with a pink mane just stepped into their home.

The mare stared for a moment, regarding the new pony. When Celestia said nothing, she returned to her friends and continued the story at the point she left off.

Celestia blinked. Taken completely off guard by the lack of response, she stood there stunned. Recovering somewhat, she gathered herself to try again. “Well met.”

The mare’s story continued unbroken as she glanced at Celestia with irritation, then ignored her.

With a great flap, she took flight. The group followed suit. Together, they soared over Celestia’s head, through the mist, and out of the cave.

“—that you . . . would . . .” She trailed off, watching the cloud swirl in their wake.

Celestia stared dumbfounded after them, unable to comprehend what just happened. Luna regarded the entire exchange with silent curiosity, still appearing distant by the side of her sister.

“So, umm . . .” Celestia turned back and faced the cave anew, at a loss. Awkwardness clung to her skin, her back, her cheeks. It sealed her lips and stuck her hooves to the ground, while blooming like a flower that advertised the fact she felt out of place. They were still uninvited to the territory, and now on top of that, asking some pony seemed to have gained her nothing but ire. She was trapped and needed someone to rescue her from the inability to act.

The pegasi continued to occupy themselves, none taking notice of the unicorn with the pink mane or her midnight sister. If nothing else, Celestia had a chance to look more closely at her surroundings. The cave stretched deep into the heart of the mountain, angled mildly down with the flow of water. Dirt washed into the entrance with the rain and covered the floor, pounded hard and flat by countless trotting hooves over time. The flat, earthen floor contrasted the rough walls that stretched high, full of crevices, nooks, and crannies.

The ceiling had an odd feature. At one time long ago, countless water-smoothed stones hung from the roof like spikes. And at some time later, all these pointed rocks had been snapped clean off and now hung as time-worn stubs.

As she thought on this, a stallion caught her eye, gliding softly in their direction. A long sigh of relief left her frame as she finally had her rescue from the awkward position. With a pleased smile, she took back a sense of dignity and politely nodded to the approaching pegasus. “Well met.” With how sloppy the cloud outside was kept, their sentries appeared to be no better organized.

“Likewise,” he let out quickly, distracted. Boldness shown clearly on him, to the point of being cocky. He lifted a hoof and pointed it at her. “You’re a unicorn.”

“Prove it.” The line came straight on the heels of Celestia’s answer, a phrase the stallion had been waiting to let out. He gave her another cocky smile to have succeeded.

Celestia rolled her eyes at the pony, then regretted it. Polite, be polite. With a thought, her horn glowed pink with summoned will, then extinguished a moment later. “There.”

“No, no, no.” He shook his head. “I mean prove it.” The pegasus lifted a hoof to his chin and rubbed it consideringly as he glanced back and forth. “That!” With exaggeration, he pointed down the cave where a boulder sat nestled against the wall unmoving. “Lift that rock.”

The boulder wasn’t overly large, and Celestia had moved far heavier things with ease. Feeling some small irritation, she nevertheless called a small telekinesis spell forward and the stone glowed pink with magical energy.

“Lift it. Higher, higher. A little more. Now hold it steady!” The stallion spread his wings and was off like a bolt of lightning. He slipped underneath the glowing mass, into the crag in the wall, then was out with nary a pause. As he soared past the sisters, he gave them a little wave and the widest, most cocky smile Celestia had ever seen behind the pomegranate in his mouth.

“Hey!” The word cut through the air, strong and angry, startling Celestia. Her concentration broke and the stone dropped back down to the ground with a heavy thud.

An auburn face and black mane rounded the corner, nostrils snorting with fury. Another pegasus stallion, all shoulders and muscle, stomped over to meet them. Recognition came instantly to Celestia as to this one’s kind. Born big, these ponies quickly learned how to throw their weight around, and needed few skills other than bullying to get what they want. For an instant, the situation made her feel regressed to a filly again, facing down some big colt back on the fields at home.

“What do you think you are doing with my rock!” He stepped close to Celestia and loomed over her with all his intimidating stature. “Where is my fruit?”

“I’m terribly sorry.” She shrunk herself away from him and stepped back. With ease, Celestia could have swatted him away with magic, not evening needing to hurt him. Even as a filly, she never cared much for bullies. Also with ease, she could have her first act among the pegasi be the attack of a herd member, and be assuredly kicked out. “I didn’t know, I was just running by and . . .” She tilted her head in a subtle gesture to her sister at the word running.

Luna didn’t notice. She watched both her sister and the pegasus, interested and aloof.

“Where is my fruit!?” The heat that bellowed from his nostrils burned on Celestia’s skin. Violence rose in him like a spring not quite frothing out.

“A-, a-, a pegasus took it, he ran off with it.” Again, Celestia gestured, letting one eye twitch and one lip sneer to her sister, indicating where to go while juggling responses to the bully.

“Either you give me back my fruit,” He lifted a hoof and shook it between them. “Or I’m giving you bruises.”

“Oh, of course!” She let loose a nervous laugh and shifted her hips to bump into Luna’s side. “Just give us a minute to run and find it.” Turning, she glared at Luna and hissed through her teeth. “Run.”

Hooves digging into the packed dirt, Celestia launched backward, her tail hooking around Luna’s shoulder and tugging her to come with.

It wouldn’t have mattered even if Luna had caught on. The bully spread his wings and leaped over them with impossible speed, cutting off the escape out the cave before they even started.

Celestia nearly tripped over her own hooves in an effort to stop. The bulky stallion marched forward, all too much rage in his stance. Nary a second’s time to prepare, Celestia called forth a spell, closed her eyes, and cast. Sunlight flashed from her horn, blinding and pure, aimed just off the tip of the pegasus’ nose. In the wake of the light, a crack of miniature thunder made the ears sing in pain.

When she opened her eyes, the stallion had shut his tight, feet back trotting defensively while his ears shifted about aimless and unhearing. Luna sat down, rubbing her own eyes with a forelimb until Celestia nudged her younger sister. “Go! Go!”

The midnight blue pony stood up blinking away the effects of the spell, and obeyed. Together, they galloped down the cave in haste, down the slanting floor covered in pact dirt and deeper into the mountain. As they ran, Celestia searched frantically for any hiding place in which to shake pursuit.

“This way!” Celestia took a sharp turn as she noticed a branching path, then peeled around that into a large chamber where Sun’s fleeting light could not reach. Inside, she submerged herself in shadow, and pressed against the wall to catch her breath. Luna sidled up alongside, though a bit careless in hiding herself.

Nose and eye peaking around the corner, Celestia kept quiet and waited to see if the pegasus came down after them. With bated breath, the watch felt long. While others passed by on occasion, none were the auburn stallion. Eventually, curiosity got the better of Luna and she peaked around the side of her sister as well. Feeling a sense of relief, Celestia pulled back and sat on her haunches. “Not exactly the first impression I wanted to make,” she said to Luna with both a sense of humor and gravity. “Now, we’re deep in their territory, and we’ve yet to be invited.”

Luna nodded with a grave expression that nonetheless held naivety and looked every bit the younger sister.

A frustrated groan left her lips. “What am I going to do with your silly head?” She peered past the dark pony and into the chamber at large. After all that waiting, her eyes had adjusted to the shadowed room and shapes regained their detail. What she saw stole her breath.

Clusters of mushrooms scattered themselves among nooks along the wall and on the dirt of the floor, glowing in luminescent green. Salamanders, lizards, long millipedes and a few other creatures of that size wandered or rested in the cave, each one glowing in its own color: Blue, violet, or red scattered about the walls and floor. Fireflies populated the air and walls, speckling the room like a sky of green stars. All these things provided wells of light which to see by.

It was beyond anything Celestia had ever witnessed, save the night sky itself. “Magic?” she asked, her mouth agape. Like the cloud at the entrance, the scattering of light was uneven and imperfect. Most of the glowing creatures congregated together in pockets with fewer exploring the expanses in between.

“I don’t think so.” Luna ventured part way into the room and poked testingly at a mushroom. It jiggled and bounced back under each poke. “No more than most things.”

The chamber opened up wide and tall and deep, like most else in the cave, able to house more ponies than Celestia could guess. It, too, had pegasi. Breaking up the open expanse of the room, fluffy white clouds scattered about with no real organization. A number of colts and fillies, ranging from her own age to younger, rushed about shrieking with play. In their tails they had tied tiny fairies, dragged along helplessly for their game. The fairies lit beacons behind the ponies, as well as left leaving trails of sparkling dust in their wake as they played some flying game.

Steeling her nerves, she approached their area of play and singled out an older mare, close to Celestia’s age. “Excuse me!” she called up, stepping into the light-well of a mushroom. “Sorry to bother you.”

The young mare paused, hovering, then swooped down to Celestia with effortless grace. She looked at her curiously, spying the horn and pink mane. “You’ll have to get a fairy first before you can play.” She smirked with contained laughter. “And some wings.”

Giggling erupted around them. The other pegasi had stopped the chase and hovered around the two on the ground, fairies still fluttering on their tails and shedding dust from above as they kept a safe distance.

“I’m sorry to stop the game, but I have need of help. I’m looking for the chief here, of the pegasi herd? In order to introduce myself properly.”

The mare stared oddly at Celestia, as if she asked for a frozen moon beam. Then, something clicked. “Oh. Oh! The chief! Why, of course.” She smiled politely. “You are not from here, obviously. I’ve travelled before to a few different herds.”

A smile spread wide on Celestia until her eyes smiled too, and she breathed a great sigh of relief. “Yes, yes. And thank you.”

The pegasus turned half away. “I need to settle something first, before I can take you to the chief.”

The mare gestured up to a puffy white cloud that stood in the center of area they played. “It’s in the way of the game. I would have moved it earlier, but I ran into a few . . . problems of sorts.”

Tilting her head, Celestia gauged the cloud and found nothing special. “I . . . think I can help.”

“Could you?” The mare smiled sweetly. “I’ve heard the unicorns valued cooperation, but I haven’t had a chance to test it myself.”

Creating a spell for the job took little effort. Briefly imagining the cloud vanishing like dew on a warm day, she filled that thought with will and unleashed it. A pink sheen enveloped the cloud and it dispersed into rolling puffs of gray fog.

Young, shrieking laughter exploded from the other pegasi. Celestia went stiff and still, grimacing at the unintended results.

As the tired figures groaned and sat up, shooting glares at the laughing ponies, Celestia slunk out of the mushroom’s light, not at all wishing to catch the blame again. The pegasi mare clutched her belly in the pain of laughter. Wiping tears from her eyes, she launched herself into the air.

“Hey!” Celestia poked her head back into the light and breathed out a harsh whisper. “Wait! You promised.”

The mare turned lazily over and hovered in place, speaking through an amused smile. “And I kept my promise, every word. I said I would take you to the pegasi herd’s chief, and I did.” With a single wave of her hoof farewell, the young mare returned to the game with all her peers.

“I-, wha-, you did not!” Celestia stomped a forehoof, nostrils flared, glaring daggers at the back of the playing mare.

With a soft trot, Luna approached curiously. Her attention shifted between the pegasi and her sister, assessing what happened with the odd sense of distant observation common to her. “I think it was a trick—”

“I know!” Celestia cut her off and marched away, full of impotent anger, frustrated and unable to find a vent. She felt trapped by her newness, not knowing where to go, who to go to, and unable to relax. She was dancing on a blade of grass to be accepted and no one was telling her the rules. Instead, they all just toyed with her and laughed.

The march carried her to the chamber’s entrance again, where the feeling of entrapment shifted the tide of her frustration and drained her. In the empty wake of those emotions, aching fatigue seeped through all her limbs and weariness sapped her mind of will and thought. The wounds on her legs made themselves known with sore discomfort and she collapsed to sit and stare into the cave. The day had been long and especially trying even before she had come here.

Luna approached and sat next to her, leaving a fraction more space than usual. Celestia eyed her and those new wings that rested on her side. All this trial for those star-cursed things. Still, Luna was no closer to being trained, or even invited.

“Wolves take their invitation,” Celestia spat the words. “I’m tired. I want to go to sleep.” With that, she whirled around and walked back into the glow-lit room.

Sitting upright at the sudden action, Luna trotted behind Celestia with a small measure of gaiety at the anticipation of resting.

Having a suspicion, Celestia examined the room more carefully. The four she ousted from the clouds had left, finding new perches and thankfully no clear victim to blame. From her perspective down on the floor, she had missed it the first time. On each of the fluffy clouds, shadowy shapes lied strewn about, silhouettes of wings and hooves and bodies that rose and fell with relaxed breathing. Pegasi tossed about in careless slumber. A room dedicated to sleep.

The pegasi playing games here did so in contrast to the purpose, and while the rest of the herd tolerated the noise and commotion, they had not allowed her to move the sleeping clouds. Which was where that mare’s trick came in, having Celestia do it for her.

She narrowed her gaze, but ultimately ignored the resurgence of anger. Celestia did not have the energy to indulge it. “We’ll sleep here.” She spoke aloud to Luna, marking the soft, floating beds and trying to find one she could use without wings. “Tomorrow, we’ll try again.”

“I don’t know.” Celestia raised a hoof to her forehead and rubbed away the growing stress she felt. “No one has stopped us so far. And every time I ask for help, things just get worse. I’m done trying tonight.”

A rocky outcropping from the floor grew up in a series of short hops, and a cloud lowered to meet it with a ramp into its fluffy embrace. Celestia could have moaned out loud to fall into that bed, and it was in reach for those who did not wish to fly.

“C’mon,” She walked slowly up to the rocks and paused. Luna, an inner excitement filling her, hopped on to the first rock and spread her wings for balance. A few hops later, she trotted onto the ramp and up the cloud.

“Whoa,” She tested the fluff with her hooves and perched to sit. “This is very soft.” The midnight blue pony flopped to her stomach and nuzzled a rolling mound. “I’ve never slept on a cloud before.”

Shaking her head with a smile, Celestia fought her way up the first rock. Hopping proved difficult, as her legs threatened to buckle and felt weak each time she caught herself. Mustering a bit of determination, she leapt over the last hop and caught herself just before the ramp. This is interesting. She thought as she stretched out her hoof. I’ve never touched a cloud before. She fell right through.

The white unicorn might as well tried to walk on a thick mist, or thin air. Celestia set out her hoof and simply tumbled off the rock, tail over mane. A sharp breath was all the time she had before she passed through. The ground jostled her, hard packed dirt bruising her back and hips.

An instant later, she focused and found a hole in the cloud, roughly her size. Luna stared down at her with wide, surprised eyes. “Are you all right?”

No! Celestia barked sarcastically in her mind. I’m only upside down, bruised, bitten, hurt, lost, tired, and everyone is treating me like a sap-for-head, what do you think?! Tears pooled at her eyes and she rolled to her side to lie down and face away from Luna. “I’m fine!” She wiped her cheeks, her back singing with pain. It hurt too much to stand at the moment. “I’ll just sleep down here, I guess.” Celestia couldn’t hide the anguish in her voice and she felt like a little foal to lose herself now.

A draft brushed along her coat. She heard the awkward flap of wings and the soft impact of four hooves. She did not need to turn around to recognize Luna’s trot to her side. Celestia dug in her hooves and slid herself over to lean against the rock. Luna followed and nestled herself in the crook of Celestia’s body, her head resting on her elder sister’s shoulder. Finally, Celestia regained enough composure to face her sister and saw Luna’s eyes closed and relaxed. Her wing stretched out and curled around Celestia’s side before she let out a sigh.

Memories resurfaced, from a time that felt so long ago, when they were not quite yet mares, newly arrived at the unicorn’s land. She had held Luna then, in the darkness, when everything felt so strange and foreign, and it was so hard to sleep up high in a tree.

Here, once more, they were strange and foreign. But rather than a soft bed of leaves, hard and uncomfortable ground gave her no kindness. Rather than mysterious and heroic unicorns offering the gift of magic, bizarre and contradictory pegasi laughed at her.

“At least we are not prisoners.” Celestia lowered her head on her hooves and closed her eyes. “Yet.”

For once, the exhaustion helped her. Despite the floor’s discomfort, sleep whisked her away moments after she closed her eyes. For all that, the sleep came restless. Her dreams repeated the theme that she was poked awake by a sentry and came face to face with an angry pegasus chief. She had to run a few times, only to find her legs stopped working and her magic had left her.

On the tail end of one of these dreams, Celestia stirred awake. It took a moment to realize that no one had come. No sentry stood before her with a grim expression, or angry chief mare to see a unicorn had trespassed.

She stretched the last dregs of sleep from her legs and back, finding remnants of soreness from all the collected bruises and wolf bites. The movement stirred Luna and she let out a bleary groan, not keen on rising yet.

Chuckling at the familiar sight in the middle of their situation, Celestia nosed a blue bang out of Luna’s eyes. “Wake up, sleepy head. It’s time to get up.”

It gave Celestia a chance to rise and she shook out her mane and tail. As lethargy retreated, her mind became clear and sharp. “Very funny.” She nipped her younger sister’s ear. “Now, get up. Let’s go make our introductions.” Using her horn’s gift, she undid her bandages and checked her wounds. They had scabbed without festering, thanks to the shaman, though the bruises looked swollen and ugly. Quickly, she refastened them to hide the injury.

Luna sat up and stretched out, letting loose another yawn. “How do you even know it’s time to get up? The cave is still in night.”

“But we’re still Earth ponies and we rise with Sun’s light, not a cave.” It was only a guess, but Celestia felt reasonably confident that day had broken outside. Both now risen, Celestia retraced her steps from the night before.

As Luna had mentioned, the ponies of the chamber still lounged in sleep, one or two with unapologetic snoring. Once they left the chamber, however, light flooded in and small bands of pegasi glided about, as awake as full day. Eventually, the sisters returned to the cave’s entrance and Celestia led them back through the concealing cloud to see outside.

She had been right; dawn broke on the far horizon. The sky grew orange and the clouds turned the color of fire as Sun began her rise to conquer the day once more. As vain and silly as she was in legends, Sun had inadvertently created something beautiful every time she woke.

“To see Sun for awhile, and the sky. Also, to think. Yesterday was a complete disaster.”

Luna accepted the answer and folded her legs under her to lie down and stare at the coming dawn. The rays of Sun soaked them with gentle warmth, breathing new life and vibrance. “What do you think it was like to see the princess?” Luna gestured to the sunrise. “When she protected us from Sun’s burning touch?”

The princess, or course, was the First Unicorn—that old story from their history of the kind and gentle heroine, who inadvertently caused jealousy in the sky with her beauty. Celestia shook her head. “I meant to think about the pegasi herd. I have no idea what she was like.”

Last night, Celestia had been tired and distracted when she entered the pegasus haven. This morning, she had the benefit of a clear mind and some hindsight in which to view her encounters. She cycled through the memories, and found herself returning to that felt strange. “And I kept every word. . .” The phrase did not seem the kind that would be uttered by a liar. Yet, how did that mare keep her word? The chief had not been one of the four on that cloud and the pegasus did not guide her to anyone else.

There had to be an answer. Was that young mare herself the chief? If so, she had not stayed to hear any greetings, nor did she act in charge. It did not fit.

In the end, she sighed and soaked in one last warm ray from the Sun. The problem was not the mystery of the chief, but in getting Luna a teacher. “No one stopped us last night.” Celestia rose to her feet and shook out her mane and tell. With a touch of spell work, she straightened her mane and curled the ends as Crescent had taught her to. “We went running all around inside, went to sleep, and no one kicked us out.”

As Celestia spoke, Luna rose herself, subtle excitement riddled all over her as she sensed where her sister was leading. Pausing over the site of Luna’s mane and tail, Celestia called another spell and saved the blue hair from its disheveled appearance. “I do not think anyone will stop us from going deeper. We can look for answers, and then your training.”

The last strand curled in refined display, Celestia plunged into the cave for a second time. Yesterday’s embarrassing encounters still fresh on her mind, Celestia trotted boldly but made no effort for conversation among the pegasi. Much like the day before, the winged ponies were about their own leisure, sitting or playing among the clouds that littered the roof and paying no heed to the unicorns.

On occasion out of the corner of her eye, Celestia noticed she had the attention of a pegasus who would stare at her curiously. It made the hairs of her coat bristle with discomfort, but nothing came from the looks she won. Luna, by contrast, trotted gaily, attention sweeping to all sorts of things she could spy in the cave and caring not for much else.

“Rebel!” Luna shouted, startling her sister. When Celestia paused, Luna cantered ahead of her. “Rebel Bolt!”

A gang of pegasi soared overhead on a path out toward the open air. One of the pegasus ponies, a small colt of splotched brown and white, followed behind their trail, slightly behind their number. At the call of his name, he hesitated, then circled back and hovered in front of Luna.

“You made it.” Rebel Bolt had a strange quality to his blue eyes that Celestia now noticed that he was close. A quality made even more unique when considered next to the other pegasi. Whether because of his young age or something else, his gaze was transparent, guileless. When he spoke, the eyes betrayed his thoughts.

“Yes, I did!” Luna replied with a broad smile. “It is good to see you again”

“Yeah, and you, too.” The comment was true, but Celestia perceived some hesitation. Luna had no response forthcoming and in the lapse, Rebel’s eyes drifted back to the path the other pegasi had taken. “Hey, listen, uhh . . .”

“Bye!” Rebel turned around and dashed out the tunnel, back to following the group that passed them by.

Luna returned trotting gaily until she saw her sister’s expression. “What?”

Lowering her hoof, Celestia let her frustration leak into her voice. “What have we been struggling to do since we got here, Luna?”

The answering came automatically. “Trying to become part of—” Realization dawned and she meekly added. “Oh . . .”

“Trying to find someone to who will help us join the pegasi herd,” Celestia finished for her sister. “And who did you let just fly by?”

Head lowered, Luna sat on her haunches and tucked her tail close, saying nothing.

“Come on.” She tapped her sister’s shoulder with a pink tail. “We’ve still got answers to find.”

The cave’s width and height varied in a natural way, winding deep into the mountain with all the order of a wild vine. Except when the walls grew narrow. There, the in-jutting crevices were broken, like the pointy rocks from the ceiling, hewn so that the path was always colossal. As with every time Celestia looked up, cloud detritus littered the air, leftovers from whatever purpose the pegasi had.

Soon, they ran into a problem. Every step they ventured in deeper, and every twist or branching path they took, the farther away they were from the light of the entrance. First, the cave grew dim. Then it grew dark.

Unable to see well, Luna bumped against Celestia’s flank, an accident as she crowded close. “Why are there no light bugs here?”

The fear in Luna’s voice made Celestia’s skin crawl. The dark corridor reminded Celestia too much of the night in Everfree. “I don’t know.” Celestia paused and Luna bumped into her again.

“Listen.” The cave was never truly silent. Even here, the rock walls channeled sound from far away, the same way the hollowed tree-homes of the unicorns reverberated noise. Voices echoed incessantly, muddled by distance and unclear by number. The rhythmic flap of wings grew, rising above the faint murmur, a sound approaching. “What is that pegasus doing, coming here?”

“Quick! Follow her!” Calling a dim pink glow, Celestia went galloping after the noise with Luna fast on her tail. They didn’t have to follow long. The pegasus lead them around a curve, where orange shadows danced on the wall.

“Is that a fire?” Luna called over the thumping hooves. “Why would there be a fire?”

“I don’t know.” Celestia extinguished her horn and slowed to a trot once she rounded the bend. The radiance centered on a small flickering flame that shone brightly in the darkness. The fire was not wild, but controlled, nestled into the wall, in a trough where it consumed branches. In the orange glow lounged several pegasus ponies. Some rolled and played. Others chatted or watched the wrestling match.

Above them, the pegasus that caught her attention was intent on another task. With a bundle of stray sticks clutched in her forehooves, she tossed them into a pile on an empty trough opposite the first. Darting away, she returned an instant later pushing a puffy gray little cloud. Once above the sticks, the pegasus stood atop the cloud, reared back, and stomped the rolling gray puff.

Lightning arched across their vision, leaving after images that Celestia tried to blink away. A thunderclap split the air and an instant later, the wood ignited into a healthy flame.

“Ooooh!” Luna let out with eyes dazzled. “Pegasi can do more than just walk on the clouds. They can make lightning!”

“That explains the fire, at the least,” she said and narrowed her eyes, considering what she witnessed. More pieces to the puzzle of the pegasi, but not the one she wanted to solve.

A puttering sound caught her attention as another pegasus passed overhead, tugging a large load. As he passed into the light, Celestia saw his forehooves wrapped tightly around a bright white cloud that he placed in the air far enough away from the first group to be on his own. A look of satisfaction on him, he set himself on the cloud and began to dig as if it were made of dirt.

Light erupted from the hole, as bright as day, and Celestia had to shield her eyes from the intensity. Squinting against it, eventually the pegasus came into focus. He had split the cloud, pouring one half into the other: a waterfall of swirling liquid color, bright and varied as the rainbow. The entire cave bathed in the light as if Sun herself had been there.

Celestia had to collect her jaw, which dropped agape in pure wonder. The rainbow milked from a cloud. The shining light of day in the middle of a mountain.

Before the wonder had entirely sunk in, a stray pegasus leapt from the darkness and bit the tail of the stallion that brought in the rainbow. With a swift yank, the newcomer jerked the tail and darted away. Thrown off his hooves, the stallion let loose a startled yelp. “Hey!” Anger flashed over his features and he gave chase, vanishing around the bend.

Mischievous, cackling laughter followed. A mare casually flew out from her hiding spot, snatched the rainbow pouring cloud, and flew off down the cave, spilling some liquid on her way. The final step in a plan obviously made ahead of time to steal the cloud.

“At least, I’m not the only sap in this place . . .” Celestia muttered to herself before her rose-colored eyes fell on the group of ponies by the fire. They had watched the trick unfold, every step of it, yet not one lifted a hair to prevent it. They didn’t even care where the thief went.

Luna trotted forward and her horn shimmered with magic. A drop of the spilled liquid lifted from the ground and Luna returned, examining it closely. “Look at it! Sun’s light captured in a drop of water.”

The fires, the mushrooms and bugs that glowed, the liquid light. Why did the pegasi have so many different strategies? The unicorns always chose only one, making an efficient system to use it.

“All the colors swirl,” Luna continued to marvel at the drop, rotating it in her magical grasp. “But they don’t mix. It’s beautiful.”

Why didn’t those other pegasi help one of their own? What was it that the mare told her? And I kept my promise, every word. I said I would take you to the pegasi herd’s chief, and I did. “No, no, no, that can’t be.”

She looked back at the pegasi at the fire, a group of six. The pegasi at the entrance, they were also a group of six. Others they had passed: five, or perhaps a pair, an occasional lone pegasus. The only time they came together was for the game.

Pieces fell into place, one by one, arranging themselves into a pattern, all pointing to one answer. “That can’t be right. That’s ridiculous!”

“Celestiaaa!” Luna stomped her forehooves in an irritated dance. “What are you raving about?

“The pegasi,” She turned to Luna and stared, feeling bewilderment at her own statement. “They have no chief, because they have no herd.”

It gave Luna pause. She took a look at her surroundings with new eyes. “Oh, that makes sense.”

“That makes no sense!” Celestia reared back, yelling the words before she settled. “In what possible way does that make sense?”

Luna withdrew a step, one forehoof raised in wounded pride, a small part irritated at her sister’s reaction. “On all we have seen, it works. No sentries at the door, no one caring we have come in so far.” Luna faded as a memory surfaced. “That colt I met, Rebel Bolt.” Her gaze became clear, sharp with new revelation. “He gave me a strange look when I mentioned the pegasi herd. That’s because there is none.”

“But how would that even work?” Celestia felt as though she could jerk her mane straight from her head, that the world had gone mad and she was the last sane filly left alive. “Who keeps the cloud at the door? How do they keep safe? How do they get warning before a hunter attacks? Why would all these pegasi be here and not be a herd?”

Silence followed. Celestia’s outburst had run its course, and Luna remained resolute in her new understanding. They stared at each other, neither with more to add. Somewhere off in the recesses or her awareness, Celestia still struggled. Part of her simply rebelled at the idea that seemed more and more plausible as it sunk in, yet no more easy to accept. A group of ponies, yet not a herd. . .

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Intuitively, she looked up and caught sight of the pegasi by the fire, all staring at her.

Her little sister let out exasperated sigh and fell in line to follow the lead. Two of the stallions by the fire leapt into the air and approached with a casual flap to their wings. Celestia could see right through them. They hid their intentions poorly with how their eyes gauged the mares. Already being fooled thrice and wary of it, Celestia ignored them and turned to retrace her steps.

“Hey,” the first called, a pegasus with a mottled coat. “Hey, Pink Hair!” He swooped down effortlessly and hovered at her side. “What are you doing out here?”

Celestia only looked at him through the corners of her vision, lips pulled tight into a frown.

“Oh, I see. Ignoring me, are you Pink Hair?” He rolled in place, casually flying upside down as if reclining on thin air. He drifted out partially in front and regarded her again, rubbing his chin with a hoof. “What is a unicorn doing up in the mountain, anyways? Got bored of the forest?”

“Maybe she’s not a unicorn.” The second stallion called from behind and pointed down at Luna. “Look at the blue one, she has wings.”

“What?” The first pegasus spun himself upright and darted over to his friend. “Hey, Pink hair! Where’d your wings go?”

“Oh!” He laughed. “Oh, I see now. Magic horn, right?” Once more, he flew beside Celestia. A mocking grin split his face. “You turned your wings invisible! And now, you can’t find them anymore.”

Laughter erupted from the other stallion in a way that galled Celestia and she felt tension mount in her shoulders.

The mottled pony turned to his friend. “You see a pair of wings floating by today? Think hard, because they’re invisible.” Laughter erupted again and the stallion waited for it to die down before he regarded Celestia’s dour expression. “Well, aren’t you no fun, Pink Hair. Just like the rest of those unicorns.” He pulled away from her and hovered over Luna. “Maybe wings taught the blue one to have some humor.”

“Enough!” Celestia shoved will into her horn and it blazed to life as she turned about on the heckling pegasi.

She was met with empty air. They dashed away in a streak of color, leaving nothing for her to retaliate against, only more laughter, scoffing at her anger.

Luna gazed at their wake with wide-eyed wonder and cautious curiosity, but said nothing. Glaring down the tunnel, Celestia extinguished her horn. The pair had lost their interest and there was nothing to do with her channeled will. “C’mon,” she said while beating a clipped trot up the tunnel. “We’ll go back to where we can see Sun’s light. I don’t like being down here.”

Always choosing the brighter path, Celestia retraced her steps, making her way toward the cave’s mouth. Only once she glimpsed the gray cloud shining down on her did she stop. Sitting down on her hind quarters, she breathed in a great breath and turned to Luna with a faint smile. “All this and we still haven’t gotten you a teacher. Enough exploring, we need to make acquaintances.” She stood and faced the room. The pegasi collected here, indeed they seemed to roam everywhere in the cave, their numbers a mystery. “All that business about sentries or light or chiefs or herds doesn’t matter. Now we focus on friend making. Keep watch for Rebel, I don’t want to lose him again.”

Scanning the room, Celestia singled out a mare of dappled gray, who sat in a position of influence among her small group. Approaching with a kind smile, Celestia called out a greeting.

It did not go well. The tone for her interaction among the pegasus ponies had already been set and she only encountered variations of that note. At first, the mare returned her greeting with reserve, but quickly became friendly as she sensed Celestia’s naivety. It was only a guise, and when Celestia refused to do any favors —wary of being deceived again— the guise dropped and the dappled gray mare refused to help.

Others she greeted only cast her annoyed looks at being addressed in the first place, and Celestia moved on.

Some came to the sisters on their own, curiosity getting the best of them. Many came without the guile Celestia had expected, asking questions about their travels. Taking it as a sign of friendship, Celestia asked for help. At that point, they turned sour at the prospect and often left.

She went back and forth, always staying in the light, trying groups, trying pairs, even trying the lone pegasus ponies. Sometimes she brought up her magical skill, other times she downplayed her status as a unicorn. Sometimes she asked for help directly, or tried to strike a friendship before hand, offered to return the favor but only after being taught, or made no offers at all and only answered questions. A couple of times, she foisted Luna forward first to address them hoping wings would make a difference, only to give up as Luna turned exceedingly uncomfortable and resistant, making the conversations awkward.

There was one thing she gained for all her effort: a growing crowd of insults. It didn’t take long for a number of the pegasi to notice what she was doing and begin to follow the pair. Much like the stallions from before, once they could not engage the sisters, they began to make light of them. Celestia contained herself as much as possible, ignoring them, but once she made the mistake of whirling on them with bared teeth and a glowing horn. They scattered in a blink, only to collect again like biting flies once her attention was elsewhere. It became a game to see who could antagonize the pink-maned unicorn into a reaction and their efforts became competitive and unruly. The rest of the pegasi began to avoid the cloud of horseplay that collected around her.

As time had rolled on, Luna became more and more disengaged and antsy. An entire cave of mystery awaited her and the fruitless pursuit proved to be a maddening bore. “I think, maybe, we should divide our search.”

“What? No.” A pegasus hung off the edge of Celestia’s vision, wiggling his rump and inviting her to lash out at him. Many surrounding them had been brought to tears in laughter at his taunts. “We’re not splitting up now.”

“Why not? It’s not like before, we’re in no danger here. Besides, I’ve already made several spells that would find you instantly when we need to meet up again.” They had tried Luna, too. They slung insults at her, or mocked her between each other, but she no more reacted to them than a fish reacts to rain. When they tried to distract her, she’d occasionally give a puzzled stare, but nothing that entertained the pegasi nearly as much as provoking Celestia.

“Still, no. I do not like the idea of us being separated in a foreign herd.”

“What are they going to do to me?” Indignant, Luna lifted a hoof in gesture to the shaking rump. “You’re worried about this? They couldn't care less about us.”

Celestia sighed and rubbed her temple. Rump Shaker's taunts blared in her head and she toned them out. Luna had a familiar glint in her eye, the kind where she may run off again, if it meant she could follow her interests. “Fine!” She sighed, relenting. If Luna dug in her heels now, Celestia doubted she could be swayed. “Fine, you can go.”

“But!” Celestia forestalled the reaction with a raised hoof. “Stay in the cave, stay close enough that we can find each other at a moment’s notice, be careful who you trust, and be careful of exploring the dark. Oh, and keep watch for your friend’s return.”

Her legs primed to go before Celestia stalled her again with a chiding noise. “Ahhh. Repeat them.”

Constraining her excitement, Luna took in a breath to speak, but seeing his chance, Rump Shaker began to shout over her with nonsense syllables. Luna considered the problem unperturbed for a hoofbeat, then her blue horn began to glow. “STAY IN THE CAVE, STAY CLOSE ENOUGH THAT WE CAN FIND EACH OTHER AT A MOMENT’S NOTICE . . .”

The magically amplified volume alone nearly blew Celestia away, even if the wind hadn’t gust so fierce it sent her mane into disarray.

With the pegasus troublemaker stunned into silence, Luna’s finished her reply without the spell. “Be careful who you trust, be careful of the dark, and watch out for Rebel.”

Another smile bursting forth on the blue mare, Luna turned and galloped off down the tunnel.

Once ears began to recover, murmurs grew around the pegasi, trading whispers or comments. Some laughed unexpectedly.

A sheet of icy rain fell all at once over Celestia, sending her rigid with the cold and soaked to the bone. A mare shouted victory above her and leapt off a miniature black cloud, careening down the cave to her escape. Cheers and laughter following in her wake.

The cloud continued to pour out its contents all over Celestia’s white coat, water dripping down her sides. Shivering, she sat down on her haunches, pink mane sopping wet and stuck to her. Luna had spoken true. The Earth ponies always considered her special, the one gifted by the stars. The unicorns were awed by her raw talent and incredible magic strength. The pegasi couldn't care less.

Of all the reactions she had anticipated, she had never thought she’d be ignored. That thought sent a slow, sinking pain deep into her body. All her life, she impressed those around her. Yet those very same traits that amazed others made her the butt of a joke among the pegasi. She touched her horn with a hoof, recalling the day it appeared and how special she felt. It hurt to think of it as considered worthless.

Having not had a drink all day, she threw her head back and opened her mouth, catching the rain as it fell.

Chapter 13

The rain from the dark cloud sprinkled into her open mouth, small respite from a growing thirst. Not quite getting her fill, Celestia swallowed a gulp and sat there with hunched shoulders. Though the water soaked her all the way through and chilled her to the bone, she made no move.

The pegasi’s laughter and jeering slowly died away once their amusement from the prank dwindled. The trouble makers, those bent on antagonizing Celestia, slung a barbed comment or two at her, hoping to provoke her to new heights. In a gesture not entirely unfeigned, Celestia did not respond, or even glance up. Her frustration at the pegasi felt pointless and her attempts fruitless. Her only recourse was to take their barbs and wait until they gave up.

The cold wasn’t entirely evil to her. The pitter-pat of the droplets across her back worked to soothe some of the myriad of bruises she had collected on this journey. A small blessing, though. At the same time, knowledge of just how much hurt—her back, her legs, her neck, her ribs, and the bruises on her face—made her feel beaten down and weary.

At that moment, she’d have given anything for a friend to be there. She needed to vent, to lay out all her frustrations and problems with another, to feel the relief of their support. Her thoughts trailed to Ebon Swift. A small ache went with him, the memory of the last exchange they had when he signaled the alarm and nearly foiled her sister’s rescue. She’d have been eager to forgive him, were he here now. She had other friends too, and felt a longing for them. Other unicorns, and even childhood friends, Earth ponies like Crimson Coat.

The yearning turned into an outright ache for home and belonging. She wished to spill everything that happened to her parents, and hear their advice. They’d have known what to do. Lightning Kick would have remembered a story from the Earth pony past that shed light, or Whip Scar’s strength and wisdom would have supported her.

Then, there was Luna. She let out an exhale, half frustrated and half amused. A companion, yes, and something more complicated: a sister. Celestia could have unfolded herself to Luna, too, had Luna’s quirky and stubborn personality not driven her to careen down the cave to explore by herself. Celestia muttered at the timing of Luna’s stubbornness, leaving her to contemplate the situation by herself.

The question of why still galled her mind. Her skills and magic prowess made her invaluable to both Earth ponies or unicorns. Even here among the pegasi, she saw so much she could do for them with only a tiny bit of effort. She could brighten any stretch of cave with magic light, repair the cloud that concealed the entrance, removed the obvious trail signs outside, organize the glowing bugs and mushrooms into a more effective or appealing pattern. Yet, the pegasus ponies’ chief joy with her talent was either tricking her or teasing her into lashing out and avoiding the blows. Why didn’t they want her help?

Even her strange colors should have garnered some kind of reaction. Sure, many had seemed curious who approached her, but that was all: curious. Both Earth ponies and unicorns regarded her pink mane and pure white coat with a mix of trepidation and awe. Why would a pegasus pony make so much less of it?

Her frustration mounted again, wanting to boil over and spew out. Antsy energy filled her legs and she stood up, looking again at the surroundings. The trouble makers had left, which had been her hope in sitting under the cloud. Seeing that she had reached her limit and would react no more, they grew bored and left to occupy themselves some other way. It would let her travel again without their horseplay.

Celestia felt shivers crawl down her back and she resisted the urge to curl up against the cold while underneath the rain. Teeth beginning to chatter, her sight was drawn to the cave entrance and she forced herself into a trot. The thought of bathing in Sun’s warmth at midday—relaxing in golden light with the familiar view of green forest’s trees, escaping her worries and the atmosphere of barren stone—proved the most pleasing idea she had since arriving and she immediately made her way to the lair’s entrance.

Emerging from the mouth of the cave and onto the rocky mountain shelf outside, she breathed in and filled her chest with the scent of fresh air. Though the wind was cool so high on Earth’s brow, Sun’s touch was all the warmer.

Crafting a spell in her mind and drawing it to her horn, Celestia wicked the water from her coat and mane a bit at a time by constructing a greedy root out of her will and guiding it across her. She watched the water collect into a ball and felt cleansed by the drenching she underwent. Despite being a little thirsty, she tossed the ball down the side of the mountain. Stars know what sort of grime she collected on her journey to the pegasi.

Now, she closed her eyes and let the warming rays work her body into placidity. She needed this. Needed this more than she even realized. Ever since Luna had been stolen from her those days ago by the unicorns, Celestia hadn’t found the chance to relax this deeply. Between Phantom Spell, that Ursa Major, Silver Spear, wolves, and the Everfree Forests, where was the time? Luna was safe now, at the least, and she could afford this moment.

As she rested her chin on crossed forehooves, a sound perked her ear. Close by, she heard the play of ponies carried on the brisk mountain wind. Not that of the other pegasi she met, these voices were much younger, fillies and colts’ shrill screams of excitement and joy.

A desire to go over rose up inside and she lifted her head to contemplate it. As comfortable as she was here, surrounding herself with others seemed all the more gratifying. Also, fillies and colts were very poor at lying. They’d have very little luck at fooling her, and if she wanted answers about the pegasi, they seemed the most likely to be bluntly honest.

Gathering her hooves under her, she trotted curiously in their direction. The high shelf that housed the cave’s mouth curved around the mountain, stretching flat and level, before tucking into a partly obscured crevice. A mostly-hidden spot for the ponies to run.

And run they did, a score of fillies and colts with no overarching game, cantering, leaping, hopping, pouncing, or taking a break in between. Celestia tilted her head, noting that none of the pegasus fillies and colts were flying and no older sentry guarded them. Yet still, to be around so many innocent and excited faces made her smile.

Moving closer, she looked over the side of the shelf in a habit of vigilance. The platform fell away into a sheer cliff face, straight down almost to the base of the mountain. The height played havoc on her senses and Celestia pushed herself away before vertigo took her balance. Taking a deep breath to recover, she supposed it made sense. What was a bluff to a race of flying ponies but extra protection? Celestia gave ample distance between herself and that drop before folding her legs and lying down to watch the play.

With a pink mane and white coat, she should have known it’d only be a moment before they noticed her.

“What are you?” A brave, little, brown pony approached her, looking every bit the young colt in his curiosity. Having been spotted, more ponies turned to look and ventured close themselves, a herd instinct to follow. In an instant, Celestia realized she had gathered a crowd.

“What’s a unicorn?” One filly’s question came on the heels of her answer.

“Why do you have a pink mane?” Another little pony jumped forward, too exuberant to wait between answers.

Yet, Celestia found one matter too pressing to ignore. “Where are your parents or nurse ponies?”

They looked at her in confusion, but one pony smiled gleefully, ignoring the parts she evidently didn’t understand. “Momma is getting food, which means we get to play.”

“No.” The filly skipped along a faint line in the stone, attention divided between it and answering Celestia.

“My momma isn’t here,” another pony added in singsong. “So she can’t stop me!”

“What’s a unicorn?” a colt repeated, changing the subject back to the strange mare.

The idea worried Celestia, that all these fillies and colts would be allowed to play outside unguarded. The pegasi’s ways were still strange, and a bit unsettling. Yet, looking at all their eager and innocent faces, a warm and saccharine feeling pulled Celestia’s lips to smiling. It seemed that no matter what breed, fillies and colts changed little across herds.

At that thought, an idea leapt to the front of her mind, feeling complete and whole, like a final thread was given to her and wove many together. She stood up and flashed her eyes with mischief, donning a storyteller’s grin. Celestia thought of Lightning Kick and tried to mimic the nuance with which she recounted legends. Even of all the Earth ponies, with their pride in keeping of history through story and legend, her mother was the greatest teller Celestia knew.

Then, she stole a trick she learned from the pegasi. “A unicorn is a keeper of secrets!”

It was true enough, and that protected Celestia’s sense of honesty. The unicorns were secretive, hiding in the woods. After being on the receiving end of lies and tricks, she wanted nothing to do with how the pegasi treated her. This was, however, truth given with a purpose.

The adventurous, brown colt that first greeted her bounced eagerly and shouted. “The clouds!”

Her actions played out exactly as she hoped. They all leapt forward, all wanting to impress and gain the mysterious mare’s approval because she was an adult and that made her revered. They fought for attention, speaking over each other and crowding around while Celestia kept her ears perked for subjects she needed to know more about.

Celestia raised a hoof for silence and called will into her horn. The act stalled their competition and they fell quiet to gaze at the horn and wow at the glow.

“Flight?” she said while dispelling the gathered magic. “What is the secret of flight?”

“My mom says you flap your wings like this!” A little filly cleared a space around her and stuck out her tongue in intense focus. Tiny wings flapped methodically in the air, careful with each stroke.

“Nu-uh!” a colt shouted in equal parts enthusiasm and prideful self-assurance. “My mom said it’s not how you flap your wings but the magic in them!” His own pair stretched out and buzzed like a hummingbird. Slowly, precariously, he lifted from the ground and hovered for a few hoofbeats.

“The power of flight is a wonderful secret!” Celestia exaggerated her motions in performance, but did not need to feign the curiosity or interest. “What more did your mothers tell you?”

One by one, Celestia chose an excited, bouncing filly or colt and listened to what they had to say or show. At each turn, the rest would fall silent before redoubling their efforts to be chosen next when the previous pony finished.

In only a few moments, Celestia had learned more about the basics of flight than she had since Luna’s wings appeared. While some accounts contradicted, between all the fillies and colts, she had memorized a wealth of knowledge which to test and perfect with her sister.

As the young ponies continued one after the other, Celestia noticed that the first two who spoke, the filly and that rebuking colt, had disengaged from the cluster of young. The filly glared at the colt with an angry pout, while he maintained a haughty stroll. A few others instinctively sensed the tension and turned to watch. Celestia, too, perked one ear to listen to the exchange.

“Uh-huh!” She breathed out with intense, offended fury. “You do flap your wings like this.” The tiny wings stroked again in the practiced motion. “Momma told me.”

His upturned nose eluded any eye contact. “My mom told me it doesn’t matter, and she is right.”

Celestia nearly ignored the rest of the argument, hearing the familiar stalemate that every foal has experienced a hundred times over and knowing how it’d play out. Despite this, the growing heat of the debate still distracted a number of the young.

Celestia saw the filly’s anger evaporate in a flash and the little pony’s demeanor changed, words coming out as smooth and sly as a fox. “If you could fly, then the cliff wouldn’t scare you.”

The colt flinched. The comment stunned him. Glancing at all his peers watching him, he hid his reaction and puffed out his chest. “It doesn’t.”

“Why don’t you go up to it then?” The filly rocked her shoulders and hips, replying with mocking and smug smile.

Aware of the position he was forced into, of the choice between embarrassment and fear, the colt gritted his teeth and chose what he’d endure. “Fine!”

The practice reminded Celestia of a game young Earth ponies played. Told of all the fearful things that resided in the Everfree forest, the young and rowdy routinely dared each other to get as close as possible to the forest’s border. The dared pony would stalk closer and closer before nerves overcame resolve and they’d go shrieking back with a playful thrill. The adults knew of this practice and tolerated it. The borders of the forest were not necessarily more dangerous than the field itself, so it was reckoned harmless.

The cliff must have been their version of the forest’s dare and Celestia watched it curiously. Either predators could see the edge of the cliff, or there was some thrill to the risk of falling for pegasi who had not mastered their wings.

The colt swallowed, his mounting trepidation showing with the unwitting transparency of the young. Step by step, the colt willed himself to march forward and approach the daunting drop. As he came within pony lengths of the bluff, he all but crawled with how far his shoulders cowered. Front hooves touching the edge, he shuffled his rear legs close as well, pulling up alongside the mortal fall. Assured that his feet wouldn’t slip, he timidly straightened, gained his confidence, then stood with his tail arched proudly, and head raised in triumph.

Realizing her defeat, the filly’s nose contorted with disgust. “That’s still not flying!”

Fear kicked Celestia in the chest as she saw the colt’s spirit rise to the challenge. Unconsciously, she raised one forelimb, a grass width away from bolting to stop him.

His tiny wings buzzed away, again sounding like that of a hummingbird, and his hooves left the rock. With an utterly careful ascent, he rose to a tail length from the ground on nothing but the furious beat of his feathers.

From his new vantage point, recognition dawned on his face. He could see down the dizzying height and how he left the sure, safety of the ground. The whites of his eyes flashed in panic and the colt listed uncontrolled to the side. In the span of a heartbeat, he dropped from view.

The bottom of Celestia’s stomach fell out from her. She surged forward at full gallop, only narrowly stopping at the cliff’s edge to peer over the precipice. The colt had vanished among the visual confusion of the clouds, mountain side, and forest.

The world stalled as she teetered on the edge of her upward bound and coming fall. Her insides tried to leap out her body, a fluttery feeling as she crested her jump. In that span, an odd thought struck her. Even if she had wings like Luna or a pegasus, she had neither the skill or ability to save herself from such a long drop. Then, the wind whipped across her face, through her hair, and she plummeted.

Everything began to happen so fast. The safety of the ledge fell away. The cliff side rushed by in an indiscernible streak. Wind gripped at her body, dried her eyes, pulled at her mane and tail so that they whipped wildly. The ground’s ungiving presence began to grow and enlarge, threatening to break her on its surface. She had never experienced anything like this. Never imagined, never wanted to, never thought she would be falling so far and so fast. It threatened to overwhelm her senses. She fought through the intense fluttering of her belly, balanced on an obsidian edge of panic, desperation, and determination to save this young colt. With too much happening at once for her to comprehend, Celestia simply acted. From a place of intuition and instinct, she moved, while thought grew silent.

Celestia angled her body into a dive, forelimbs outstretched, reaching, and searched for the colt’s plummeting form. The errant clouds and the colt’s own coloring obscured him. Each heartbeat that passed drove Celestia to new heights of dread. She screamed out her fear and exhilaration, blinking to keep her eyes moist and searching.

There, in front of her, the colt tumbled. His wings fluttered furiously and he twirled about, flailing with his limbs to try to right himself. His panic undermined him, but what skill he had slowed his descent and allowed Celestia to close in.

Instantly, she cast a spell that bathed him in a pink glow and drew the colt into her limbs. He clung hard to her neck and uttering scared cries. She held him tight against her body while she raced to save them both. Calling will into her horn in preparation, Celestia threw out her magic again and haphazardly summoned a great wind. Clouds that lay scattered all around the mountain found themselves scooped up in a gale and drawn to the cliff side.

A few thudding heartbeats passed with nothing below her but the rocky ground, coming ever closer. Using the growing fright to strengthen her resolve, her will, she forced even more magic through her horn and a yet-greater wind whirled beneath them, collecting every lumpy white shape possible.

She shoved the colt, hard enough to break his grip around her neck. For a moment, she saw the look of betrayal and confusion in his eyes. It constricted her throat to see his helplessness.

Then, she threw him with all her might. A pink aura of magic guiding her aim, she threw him off of her and onto a thick, bulbous cloud.

The cloud deformed with the impact, a small smattering of white puffs scattered to the air, but it held the colt and Celestia soared past, losing sight of him.

The act twisted her around. She fell facing the sky. Her mane whipped past her vision, blurring the edges with flailing pink strands. The mountain shot into the sky, seeming to grow without end. The cliff side raced by, too quick for her to contemplate. She struggled uselessly in the air to right herself.

This had not been suicide. She had not leapt from the edge expecting to die. What thoughts came to the surface told Celestia of her intentions. When she jumped, she fully expected to catch herself. To use her skill in magic and improvise a spell that would soften her landing or catch her and the colt.

On her back, she could see nothing but blue, mountain, and the blur of that cliff, could think of no solution when there was so much to take in. Some distant, quiet part of her knew she’d hit the ground, and that doing so would hurt. It would hurt a lot. She tightened up and braced herself. Scared, she waited for the painful shock.

When she struck, the ground caught her in an embrace lighter than feathers, more giving than water, and more pliable than a brand new sapling. She drew in a startled breath as it folded, stretched, and bent around her, slowing her fall degree by degree until she thought it’d never quit stretching. Her stomach shot back into place, her mane settled, all the overwhelming sensations ceased except a sense of heaviness until she almost collected herself.

Something told her an instant before she halted that the ground felt unusually taut, like a pine taken to the edge of flexibility. Then, it snapped back into place. It slung Celestia helpless through the air. She shrieked in startled confusion, flailing wildly as she went, unsure what was happening, just that she was hurtling over the ground.

The cliff face loomed before her and she threw her hooves out. The impact sent shocks through her legs as they reduced the crash, though she escaped serious injury. For a harrowing moment, Celestia found herself bouncing off in rebound with nothing to catch herself. She flailed and screamed again, the air opening up around her. A snap decision sent a spell into the rock. Granite grew from the cliff face like an overeager branch seeking light, and a long, thick bough reached out beneath her.

Celestia landed on that round thrust of stone and wrapped her all her legs around, clinging harder to it than anything before in her life. Wiggling her hind and forequarters like an inchworm, she scrambled up the length and back to the solid mountain. Only once her nose brushed against the cliff did she let go, forming another spell which molded the stone into a wide, secure ledge for her to nestle her back against the wall.

Her heart pounded furiously, pumping blood hard and thick in her temples now that she laid down. Her whole body quaked with horrified thrill, and she stared fixedly at the ledge, afraid to step forward and view the bottom. She needed to wait and let the lingering feelings pass, to vent them out with her breath now that she was grounded.

Sharply, Celestia’s thoughts turned to the colt she had left behind. She looked up and searched through the clouds her spell’s wind had collected, eyes darting from one to another. High above and peeking over a fluffy edge, a tiny pony’s head peered out and watched her with an unreadable expression.

A smile burst forth on Celestia. Then, a laugh erupted from her throat. “He’s alright. We’re alive.” The remaining horror melted like a snowflake in Sun’s gaze and left behind pure exhilaration. “We’re alive! We’re alive!” She clattered her forehooves on the stone, that fact both wonderful and hard to believe. The laugh was joined by more, uproarious and noisy. As she craned her neck to stare the distance she fell, she could not stop and it felt more a product of madness than joy. She had fallen many hundreds of pony lengths—an experience that felt instantaneous in retrospect despite so much having happened so fast— and survived by the width of a hair. A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach came with that realization, even as her face split into a wide smile.

Unable to sit still, Celestia stood up with a skip in her trot. Her entire body sang with life and energy in abundance. She lived. She whooped loud and clear with victory. The colt and her were alive. It felt like reason enough to be happy. Out of curiosity, she approached the edge of her granite platform, to peer at what odd thing she landed on that cradled her fall so effortlessly.

The smile stopped. Abruptly, the laughter silenced on her lips and she stared down. The Earth was still fifty or so pony lengths below her, an easily lethal distance.

She had not fallen all the way to the ground. Celestia had landed on nothing. Empty air had caught her and thrown her against the cliff.

“Luna?” Celestia stared wide eyed as she shifted her gaze left and right. She had felt something, she had known for sure. Felt it against her back, her legs, saw it out of the corners of her eyes. Magic seemed the best answer, that Luna had been there and weaved a magical construct to save her from the fall.

Yet, the blue pony’s shadow was nowhere to be found. All that she could see was—

In front and just below her, one of the clouds swept up in her spell-cast wind sat idly, as if waiting for another gust to send it on its way. It stretched long and thin, flat with fuzzy edges except for a single dimple at the center, where something had bruised it. Or some pony.

Celestia scarcely breathed as she looked over her shoulder, quivering at the thought of what she might find. Folded at her side, a pegasus wing nestled against her body.

A gasp ripped from her throat and she stared in shock, a new height of elation coursing through her veins until she felt her skin could scarce contain it. The wings fluttered against her in response. With a thought, they stretched and Celestia beheld two broad, pegasus wings, feathers shimmering beautifully in a pure shade of white that matched her coat.

Luna was right. They did feel odd. Suddenly, extra limbs. Celestia knew this day would come ever since she saw her sister’s wings. Why would it not? They were always a pair, even before their horns appeared. Yet, this was different. When Celestia gained her horn, she became a unicorn, a kind of pony known and revered. Now, what was she? Not unicorn, not Earth pony, not pegasus. Celestia and Luna were things never before seen.

Right now, though, none of that mattered. In what felt all too natural, her wings responded to her desires. She moved them up, down, tilted one way, then the other. They moved with unparalleled dexterity, able to manipulate themselves in tiny, precise ways for flight.

“Yes!” Celestia shouted and reared up, flaring her wings to either side. “Yes, yes, yes, yes!” No longer did she come as unicorn in a foreign herd, but as fellow pony of the air. If not a pegasus exactly, something very close, something equal. It changed everything.

Placing four hooves on the ground, she trotted in place with uncontainable glee. “I have wings! I have wings! Now, I’ll get them to teach Luna how to fly.” The next thought stopped her and she smiled broadly. “And I’ll fly! And we’ll both learn how to be with the pegasus ponies!”

Looking up, she caught sight of the colt, still staring down at her from far off. “Hello, you silly foal!” She laughed and spoke knowing full well that her voice would never carry the distance. “Just stay up there and you’ll be fine. I think the other young ponies will have spread the word by now. Help will come soon to scoop you off the cloud.”

Which left Celestia. A thought striking her, she craned her head over her shoulder and stretched one broad wing. “No. Oh, no.” The wing snapped back into place and she shook her head, scattering the temptation away. The completely untried ability of flight risked killing Celestia at this height if she fell, and she could not trust her life to it. If anything, the colts and fillies had taught her the danger of an inexperienced flier. No, she needed a safer way to return

Leaning against the cliff face, she let loose an unrestrained groan. Without flying, Celestia had to scale the mountain the way she had previously: magic and a steep climb. Memories of the hardship returned and deflated all her enthusiasm.

In some ways, this time it had been easier. She did not have as far to go and had the spells for the task perfected from yesterday. Molding her granite platform like clay, she extended it all the way around, to the side of the mountain she had climbed the day before. As she came to the series of graduated ledges, she forged a ramp, climbed, dismantled it behind her, and repeated the process with thoughtless efficiency. The air did not grow thin like last time, which seemed to be another benefit of pegasus wings’ latent magic.

Though, she had new problems. Luna was not there to undo the ramp and share the strain. That, and Celestia had not eaten since arriving. As boredom set in, her stomach began to complain with pangs and groans of hunger, making the ascent all the more miserable.

Twice, she had to do this. Twice climb this mountain, and that took its toll of energy. With her spare attention, Celestia contemplated the problem of food for herself and Luna while living in the cave.

An alternative way to scale the mountain tempted her. After coming near the top, the burning in her legs and drained quality to her mind wore her down. With a nervous swallow, she stared up at the next ledge. Only a few pony lengths high, a fall that would bruise but not kill. Slowly, and methodically, Celestia tested the motions of her wings. Sorting through all the advice the young ponies had shown or spoken, she took their directions one by one. Starting with the physical movements of the wings, she raised, turned, stroked down, and repeated the motion until it came effortlessly.

Diverting her thoughts away from the physical, she contemplated her need. Up. To hover. A gentle ascent to the next ledge. The wings themselves couldn’t carry her the way such things worked for birds or bugs. But the magic in them had to be connected some way to both their actions and the pony’s need.

Faster, and faster, her wings beat at the air. They were far too broad to buzz like that colt’s and instead swept great swaths, swirling little eddies around her hooves. Firming up her resolve, she stared fixedly at where she wanted to go and let the wings do their work.

In an instant, she felt lighter. The weight on her shoulders and knees, so accustomed to holding her as to not be noticed, lifted. In only a breath, they weren’t even touching the ground and it sent giddy, nervous excitement though her, where she couldn’t help but utter a loud, “Heeee!”

But she couldn’t let that distract her. She tossed the feelings aside and concentrated on her goal: a smooth hover yet higher. Celestia continued to rise in that deliberate manner, slowly progressing until she saw herself on level with the ledge.

That giddy excitement redoubled and she held her breath as she tried to drift forward.

Her wings faltered and Celestia squealed a high, helpless yelp as she collapsed, only half way on the ledge.

Celestia scrambled on the stone, hooves trying to find purchase in which to hoist her rear up from hanging over the ledge. Instead of replying to Luna, she grunted with the effort and a touch of annoyance.

The blue mare galloped to her sister’s side, clutched a bit of coat between her teeth, and helped haul Celestia onto solid ground. Uncomfortable, but the only feasible way to bring her up.

Once there, the elder sister rolled onto her back and let her chest heave for breath. Sweat collected on her brow, beading off in droplets.

“I came as soon as I heard!” Luna broke the silence still carrying a sense of urgency.

Collecting her thoughts together, Celestia rolled upright. “What did you hear?”

“Not much,” The urgency faded, Luna’s expression returning to that of the observer, recounting what she saw. “I overheard the pegasus ponies talking about a unicorn who leapt from the cliff. I hurried away after that.” A relieved smile spread her lips and she let loose a pent up breath. “I didn’t know what I would find. They didn’t mention your wings.” The smile turned subtle, but genuine. “They’re beautiful, Celestia.”

Celestia sat up on her haunches, silent only a beat in introspection. “Yes. Yes, thank you.” She looked over her sister. “They were right, for the most part. A colt had fallen off the cliff before he really knew how to fly and I went after him. I was going to use my magic to save us . . .” She shrugged, her wings carrying the motion to their tips. “I didn’t expect this to happen. They appeared during the fall.”

Luna stared fixedly at the new limbs, lost in thought. Then, she asked, “How?”

The question caught Celestia off guard and she did not answer right away. Between the terrifying fall and the elation of their appearance, she did not think to wonder. “I needed them, I guess?” she said out loud, before she shook her head. “No, I would have needed them before when—” the wolves attacked, nearly fell out of her mouth in a lapse of judgment. It was not yet time to tell her little sister and burden Luna with the guilt that knowledge would bring. “When I fought Silver Spear. They would have appeared then.”

“So it is something else?” Luna stated as she lifted a hoof to her chin. “What was different?”

“It’s not fear,” Celestia mulled her thoughts over out loud. “Or need for one’s life.”

“Magic comes from within, so . . .” Luna’s eyes fell away, searching something inside. Celestia reminded herself that Luna had gained her wings first and had more time to think about these things. When Luna spoke again, her voice came low and heavy. Whatever she found had a deep and powerful place. “What were you thinking about when the wings appeared?”

Attention turning inward, Celestia closed her eyes. Experience fresh, the answer leapt to her tongue and simply felt right. Even if the events occurred too fast to understand all at once, she knew this had been part of her motivation. “The colt.” She opened her eyes. “The colt was even younger than Painted Hoof, when he died. I thought of this pegasus’ friends crying. I thought of them asking their mothers ‘why,’ as I had. I didn’t want them to have to ask, or be answered.”

Celestia regarded her sister, and found she did not like the silence, or her own feelings brought up by Painted Hoof. “When did yours appear, again?” the white mare asked with a slight turn of her head.

“Oh, I was fighting Phantom Spell,” Luna said without pride, just stating facts. “And a few other unicorns he had brought with him. The battle got heated and magic was being thrown everywhere. They wanted to move me to a different tree, but I refused because that would ruin my plan.”

“Aww!” Celestia felt her mouth stretch with a wide, almost teasing grin. “You wanted to be with your big sis!” She pecked Luna’s cheek with a kiss and the grin turned into a laugh.

As far as ideas went, Luna’s felt plausible. “Maybe you’re right, though.” The laugh fell away. “Since magic does come from within, and these wings are clearly magic …” Celestia let her thought trail off. The need to save that colt had indeed been powerful, in ways she felt very hard to express. Powerful enough to awaken another part of the gift from the stars, perhaps?

A young male’s chuckle interrupted the train of thought and both sisters looked up to find Rebel Bolt winding effortlessly through the air. “There you are,” he said while coming to a gentle landing. “I knew it was a good idea to bring you here.” With an expression smug as Celestia had ever seen a pony, he trotted to them. “Everyone is talking about it.”

Inhaling a deep breath, Celestia let out a relaxing sigh and regarded Rebel with the shadow of a smile. “Yes, I imagine they are. What are they saying about me?”

The pegasus replied without missing a beat. “It’s the funniest thing any pony has ever seen.”

Her jaw went slack before she snapped it closed, anger rising in her blood like a burbling spring. “And the fact I saved someone’s foal from falling to his death in front of his friends?!”

Bolt regarded Celestia as if she took leave of her senses. “You jumped off a cliff without any wings.” The statement brought another short laugh and he tried to speak through a smile. “Really, who is that dumb?”

The burbling spring swelled and flooded, and Celestia thought she might begin foaming at the mouth. Her lips worked sporadically, trying to form words over meaningless sounds as Celestia’s frustration mounted beyond language.

“You have wings now.” Bolt remarked mildly before he shrugged. “The story is already too funny, so I don’t think that matters.”

Whatever impediment had been placed over her tongue vanished, and curses flowed without end. “Of all the Sun scorched, Moon forsaken, foolish, idiotic herds I’ve ever seen of in my life!” Celestia marched back and forth with her hooves pounding the ground, bucking at the air, or rearing back and flailing her forelimbs in impotent ire. “These pegasi are the most backwards in the Everfree Forest! The wings are sucking the wits out of their heads! The cave is smothering their Sunless thoughts! They are all mad ponies, goat-headed! A topsy-turvy herd of chuckling fools!”

Luna kept her distance, watching in silence as the tirade sent Celestia from one end of the ledge to the other with her pacing and flailing. Rebel Bolt smiled with amusement, using his wings to hang in the air with a relaxed ease, forehooves crossed.

“I save one of their kind and they think it’s wolf-begotten hilarious!” Most of her anger worked out, she whirled on Bolt. “So, what now? How do I find help as a joke? We need to learn to fly!”

The pegasus gave her a peculiar look, some part of her statement striking him as strange.

The tide of emotions emptying from her, Celestia felt drained and exasperated beyond her capacity. “Will no pony help?”

“Ugh,” Rebel’s face contorted with disgust. “Teaching an adult pony how to fly? That sounds boring, and weird.”

“What about you?” Celestia cantered beneath the hovering pegasus and looked up, face pleading out of sheer desperation. “Luna called you a friend!”

A pair of midnight blue ears shot up and Luna’s neck straightened with sudden, intense interest.

Bolt’s mouth parted in surprise, his sky blue eyes clear as summer day and just as transparent. Pain flashed through them and stayed as Celestia saw her comment had stumbled across tender ground. The humor had left Bolt and he settled his wings to land, folding them at his sides.

“I can’t help.” Remorse, thick and genuine, colored his voice. “Not with all that. But I know someone who might help you understand.”

Chapter 14

Earth ponies survived through unity. Unicorns through their hard work. But Pegasi? They lived by their wings.

Silence fell between Celestia and Rebel Bolt as she searched his eyes, her chest still heaving from the tirade against the pegasi before he made his offer. The cool wind of the mountain ridge ruffled Rebel’s short mane of patched brown and white. The change in his words and in his actions gave something for her to think about and she let the thoughts settle in fertile soil to grow.

Hooves scuffed over gravel as Luna darted close to Rebel at a canter. “Understand? Understand what?”

Astonished, Celestia’s brows shot up of their own accord. The midnight blue mare’s usual distant manner vanished. Her gait gaily bobbed up and down, her voice lost its reserved manner, and she watched Rebel eager and interested, right at his side.

Rebel Bolt shrugged and took to his wings. “You two have been running all over, making all sorts of noise, acting weird in front of everyone.” Whatever had been there a moment ago, the feelings stirred by naming Luna a friend, faded from him and Rebel spoke with an attitude Celestia had grown irritatingly familiar with among the pegasi: lazy disdain. “Any yearling could tell that you don’t know what’s going on.”

He made his way to the mouth of the cave, casually hovering above the ground. Astutely, Celestia noted that Rebel Bolt placed himself several long strides ahead of her, distancing himself as they travelled.

A gesture entirely missed by Luna. She stuck to his side like a feather on his wing, trotting below him and looking up without losing a shade of her sudden earnestness. “So you will take us to somepony who will help us see what we’re doing wrong?”

Celestia kept a slow pace, forcing one of Rebel as well and not allowing him to escape the inquisitive little sister. Having just climbed the mountain a second time in as many days, she felt no obligation to hasten her tired legs for any pegasus’ sake. Instead, she listened with half an ear, still sulking at the results of her bravery in rescuing the foal, and found her mind wandering.

Luna paused at Rebel’s last answer before adding sweetly, “Maybe you could help us understand, too?”

“Look.” Rebel lifted a hoof and rubbed the back of his mane, a note of apprehension in his voice. “I’ve got things to do. Aren’t I helping by taking you to her?”

“Oh, okay.” Luna briefly considered his answer. “But … you’re not doing anything right now.” She gave him a hopeful smile with innocence unfeigned. “Maybe you could help until we see this pony?”

Thinking back, Celestia found herself unsure if she heard Luna call Rebel Bolt a friend, or if that idea had been planted by the Shaman. Either way, stumbling on that revelation changed Rebel, and Celestia finally obtained what she wanted since arriving at the pegasi: a simple act of kind help.

Twice now, she had success where there had been none. The right truth at the right time opened a way, and done so elegantly, when straightforward and simple routes failed. The pegasi at least taught her this, even if only indirectly. Though they used tricks, lies, to get what they wanted, Celestia found equal power in careful honesty. Which suited her. Abandoning the unicorn’s the elements of harmony —the five ideals of their society— felt wrong when all the while she wished the pegasi acted in accord with those guiding principles; to be more compassionate, honest, loyal, generous, and share cheer. Purposeful truth influenced the colts and fillies into sharing their knowledge on flying. The right and honest word to Rebel finally opened the curtain to the pegasi.

It worked in reverse as well. The wrong truth at the wrong time caused the unicorns to doubt and imprison her and her sister. Whip Scar warned Celestia not to share the story of their birth with the unicorns the day he sent them to live there and learn magic. “One day, you will understand,” he said at the time. Today, she believed she did.

“How does this cave work?” Luna continued now that she had permission, diving straight into the questions she undoubtedly collected in her solitary exploration.

“Sorry, I meant more like …” Together, the pair entered the mist that concealed the entrance to the pegasi’s lair. Little whorls formed in the wake of Rebel’s wings as the vapor folded to envelop the ponies. Celestia followed behind and felt the moisture cling to her as she continued to drag her hooves. The potential of the large cloud resting above the mist left a tactile sensation along her feathers and skin. Though it appeared docile when she passed through before, now she felt its sleeping menace, heavy with rain and violent thunder. It left her unsettled just enough to hurry the last few steps out from under its shadow.

Luna resumed her thought on the other side. “How did the pegasus ponies make this cave their home? I see that they’ve changed a lot to make it theirs.” A tilt of her head indicated behind her. “Like that cloud.”

“I dunno.” Rebel shrugged. He drifted slowly through the air on slow strokes of his feathers, leading them down the forks of the cave, ever deeper into the heart of the mountain. “I just flew here. I don’t think about what came before.”

The colt laughed. “Everypony, of course. Pegasi fly here all the time, and they fly away all the time, too.”

Luna’s eyes shot open in surprise. “What? Every pony? Why? Why not stay?”

The custom struck Celestia just as strange as it did her sister, except that at this point, she expected the pegasi to be backwards. Earth ponies and unicorns rarely left herds. Stallions often did, that much was true, but only once to find a new herd and settle with a mate.

Luna’s blue gaze fell to the ground in thought as she chewed over this new idea, working it over like fresh, but odd, grass. “Where do they all go? Are there other caves?”

“I’ve never heard of any other caves.” Rebel shook his head. “Best I know, this is the only one. I’ve been to the cloud banks before. Some others go to the ground-trotting ponies. Ground-trotters are supposed to make great places to sleep or eat a few nights, as long as you act right.”

A frustrated grunt left his lips and his hindquarters sagged in the air. He shoved his hooves against his temples. “Why are you so full of questions?”

Celestia burst into a chuckle, feeling a slight bit of petty satisfaction at watching the exchange. Luna’s hopping trot faltered and continued with a smooth walk, lowering her head in shame. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to annoy you.”

“It’s fine.” He released another sigh, gazing unfocused away. “I guess I said I’d help you understand. You just … really know so little.”

Luna’s head rose, a hopeful smile again on her lips. A touch hesitation remained in her voice. “You’re willing to answer more?”

“So." She licked her lips. “What is a cloud bank like? Pegasi that don’t live in this cave live there?”

“Yes, some.” Rebel Bolt perked up his hindquarters and flew level. “The cloud banks are big groups of clouds. Like, mountains and fields in the sky. It’s easy to hide or play there. They aren’t like the cave at all, big groups don’t stay in the sky. It’s too easy to find other clouds when some dumb pegasus tries to tell you what to do. But in this cave, there is like a million pegasi.”

“It’s the only cave? So, if you want to stay, you have to share. I guess sometimes we want to find other pegasus ponies instead of run away.”

A strange silence fell over Luna, broken by Rebel. “We’re here, and I think we made it in time.”

New light, bright and sky-blue, washed over the two lead ponies as they turned another corner in the deep branching paths within the mountain. Luna’s eyes dazzled as she peered at what lay beyond and her mouth shaped itself with silent awe. After the midnight-colored tail disappeared around the bend, Celestia stepped in to see herself.

A broad rainbow stretched itself across the upperparts of a chamber from cloud to cloud like the proud arch of a giant mare’s tail. The light emanating from it, borrowed from Sun, denied the darkness foothold and lit the entire room as clear as day.

The chamber opened up before Celestia like an Ursa Major’s belly, larger than any other room she had ever seen. The ceiling expanded in the shape of a dome, high enough for a sparrow to fly and live without ever longing for open air—a stone sky in miniature. The dome and the walls were in odd contrast to the rest of the cave. Instead of nooks and crannies shaped by nature, this place was smoothed of any feature save one: a massive stone circle raised at the center, placing what it held a step higher than all else. Twenty or so pegasi gathered there, and still more were arriving.

Rebel descended to touch his hooves on the pedestal and walked the last distance. Luna hopped over the step in time with him, remaining firmly attached to his side. Curiosity stoked by the promise of the pegasus who would help, Celestia picked up her pace to a quick trot and joined Rebel.

“Momma!” The colt approached an elder mare with a grayed mane and palomino coat, giving her a curiously restrained nod of greeting as he did so.

Both sisters’ ears perked in unison and Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but before she did, the old mare seemed to search her memory.

“Ahh … Rebel?” The mare gave the young pony a kind smile. “Rebel Bolt, yes, that was it. Good to see you again, young one, though it is unexpected. I had thought you meant to leave?”

Celestia puzzled at this mare and Rebel Bolt, finding it more than strange that a mother should forget her foal’s name. As the mystery lay before her, two more pegasi landed and gave the palomino mare nods. “Momma,” They said in passing. Celestia blinked her eyes. Momma is her name?

“Ahh, the fickle youth.” She opened a wing. “Then, give me a hug to celebrate your staying.”

Rebel propelled himself into her without hesitation. Momma bore the brunt of all that weight and energy and enfolded the colt in her wing. Despite her age, her movements were deceptively spry.

“I’ve brought some ponies to see you.” Rebel disentangled himself from the mare and stepped to the side. A gesture of his wing opened the way for the sisters.

Celestia stepped forward, and found an uncertain hope. “I am sorry if I am wrong, but are you like a chief among the pegasi?”

“A chief?” Momma burst into a long laugh. With a feather, she wiped away a tear from beneath her eye. “Ahh, no. Nothing of the sort. I am a collector of stories, nothing more.”

“Oh,” Celestia muttered, feeling slight disappointment, then arched an eyebrow. “I was told that you’d help us understand the ways of the pegasi.”

Momma held her in a shrewd glance, eyes taking a full measure of the young mare that stood before her. “You must be Pink Plummet.”

All around her, pegasi burst into quiet snickers. Except one, somewhere, whose laughter bellowed.

Celestia lowered her chin, speaking through gritted teeth. “My name is Celestia.”

“Ahh …” Momma did not share that same sort of amusement the others had, her voice warm and inviting. “Named after the stars? How interesting. You were not given that name lightly.”

“Yes.” She exhaled and let the anger leave her with the breath. “How do you intend on helping us?”

“‘Us'?” The pegasus looked past Celestia and her gaze fell on the blue pony behind her. “Oh, you have a shadow.” She showed a smile. “What is your name, young shadow?”

“Luna.” The demeanor Celestia was accustomed to—that of the quiet, slight-bit shy sister with intelligent eyes—returned. Though, she sensed Luna was already opening up to Momma’s inviting tones.

“The moon? Sister of the stars! Which must mean you are sister to this star, Celestia.”

Momma turned back to the elder sibling. “I’m afraid I cannot offer much, but what I can offer might be enough.” She lowered her head and spread her wings in a gesture of humility. “I am but a story collector, they are my feathers and my flight. So, what I have to trade with you is this: a story. One that will help you understand what it is to be a pegasus.”

Celestia frowned. A core of unease collected in her stomach as she listened. Much about this situation was still incomprehensible. “Simply that, a story? Nothing else?”

“A story for a story,” Momma added. “You are not from the pegasi, that much is as clear as the horn on your head, so your stories will not be either. It is my hope to collect a new one from you.”

“Not at length, I am afraid.” With a sweep of a wing, she gestured to the crowd arranged around her and settling in place. “About this time, I grow hungry, and I must trade with them as well. They have come to be entertained with my tales of adventure, laughter, or love. In exchange, they bring me food.” She smiled. “It is a good bargain, as my wings are old and do not carry me down the mountain and back as they once had. Yet, they will not sit idle for long if I indulge you in questions. They will, however, sit for a story.”

The elder sister’s frown deepened. The reasoning had the scent of another pegasus’ trick, though more sound and convincing than the others she encountered. Yet, this mare was older, and her experience probably made her far more capable at an elaborate ruse. So, Celestia asked the question that seemed the root to it all. “Why would Rebel Bolt take me to you, specifically?”

“Ahh.” A twinkle of mischief appeared in her eye. “That is my question too, though in reverse. What made Rebel Bolt willing to take you, and for that matter, stay? Unfortunately, I will not uncover that tale today because I doubt you could tell me. However, I can tell you yours. I do not make it my game to fool others, like most pegasi. I am of an age where I have grown tired of the traps and tricks, so I’ve adopted a different way. All ponies know that they may trust me without worry. Oh sure, some try to take advantage of this, but they forget that I’ve seen every deception and can’t be fooled.” A wink added flourish to her words.

Before Celestia could answer, Luna stepped next to her. “Is that why they call you ‘Momma'?”

The old mare inclined her head to the young pony in approval. “That is indeed much of it. There is only one other pony that most pegasi can think of who treats with them this way. It is certainly a reason the nickname stuck.”

Glancing over her shoulder, Celestia regarded Rebel Bolt. He had found a place among the crowd and settled to his haunches, watching Momma and the sisters speak from among the pegasi. If nothing else, she trusted Rebel’s honesty. He really took the pair to this pegasus to help them understand, and for that reason, Celestia nodded to Momma. “Okay. A story for a story.”

Momma’s mouth curved with satisfaction and she nodded to the center of the stone circle even as she stepped away. “Please, step forward and share it with all. When you are through, we shall hear mine.”

A knot of tension formed in the pit of her belly and Celestia swallowed a growing lump in her throat. She took her place, standing tall, even as her knees felt weak. All around her, wide and eager eyes from two-score pegasi focused on her at once, waiting to hear what fascinating tale she would bring. The position reminded Celestia of her appeal to the elders of the unicorns the day she made her escape, but only briefly. She had not been truly nervous then. Desperate, but not nervous. Here, put on the spot in front of ponies whose approval she very much desired, nerves struck with unexpected intensity.

Thinking of home, she steeled herself with being raised an Earth pony, of spending countless nights enthralled with a tale of history or legend, of being Lightning Kick’s daughter, the best storyteller she ever knew. Celestia cleared her throat, calling to mind the way her mother use to recount the old tales and prepared one in her mind.

The life of Virtue Blaze was a history very dear to Celestia’s heart, one she constantly asked to be retold over and over as she grew up. Adventure and danger started early for the young pony, and Virtue responded with a life of heroism and character, performing many great deeds as a filly, a young mare, and later a chief of the herd.

One such chapter in Virtue’s early life involved a dire situation where a vicious storm separated her and a number of young ponies from the herd. Once they realized they were without their parents, panic began to set in, threatening to overtake them and leave the fillies and colts at the whim of the wild. Virtue was not so helpless. She rallied the ponies together, uniting them to survive until they could be found. The tale culminated in Virtue breaking from the lost fillies to lead a bugbear astray; a desperate dash through the Everfree forest as she tried to signal the searching herd before being caught.

At first, Celestia’s delivery held their attention rapt. Hushed silence fell over the pegasi, and the air grew taut as if she wove a spell with her words describing the fury of the storm, the desperation of Virtue trying to survive the onslaught of water, lightning strikes, and deafening thunder. But as she went on, the spell over the pegasi unraveled. Eyes that had been wide as they hung on every word began to blink and hold unspoken questions. Little colts or fillies who laid at the front with their chins propped on their hooves, smiling with giddy anticipation, sat up and tilted their heads. The air relaxed, and though the silence never broke, Celestia knew she lost the enchantment she meant to keep—despite her best efforts at drama—as the tale came to an end.

The audience held their peace for a few heartbeats, the story sinking in, until a filly announced, “It must be terrible to be an Earth pony!”

“What.” Celestia held her in a sharp gaze, tone flat and unamused. A few chuckles echoed in the still chamber.

A colt next to the filly, oblivious to Celestia’s glare, added, “Yeah, it sounds awful. Had a bugbear been chasing me, I’d just fly away.”

A smattering of amused agreement or other quiet chatter followed as Celestia pressed a hoof to her forehead and rubbed hard, muttering darkly. She lifted the hoof and spoke over the crowd. “Don’t you fear any predator?”

“Griffins!” Someone shouted, then added as if she were an idiot. “Of course!”

Luna’s hooves clacked on the stone circle as she joined her sister, ears set high and curious. “Nothing else?”

“Nothing else can catch me!” The filly announced with a puffed chest, and many of the adult pegasi subtly nodded their agreement.

Momma cleared her throat. “Eagles avoid places with pegasus ponies. They learn quickly that if there are foals about, a mother would as soon buck one from the clouds as look at it.”

That gave the old mare pause. She weighed the idea carefully. “Perhaps the greater dragons could match us in flight, but dragons care not but for diamonds and gems.” She shrugged, wings open. “Pegasus ponies are hardly known for such things. It is easy enough to stay out of a dragon’s path.” Momma rose and walked to the center, shifting the focus to her as effortlessly as a leaf takes to a breeze. “A wonderful story, Celestia. I do so adore the charm which Earth ponies weave their legends.”

Sensing the cue that her part was over, Celestia made room for the old mare, drifting off to the side.

“It has been a long time since I’ve seen one told in their manner.” Momma continued. “I am very pleased to add yours to my collection. Now to repay you, one for one, I think? A story to help you understand, and entertain my friends.” She eyed the crowd with a shrewd and playful glance. “How does the tale of Quick Wit sound?”

A colt gasped. Several of the younger ponies at the front leapt into the air with cheers, wings aflutter, making their bounces appear weightless.

“Then settle, my dears.” Momma made a motion for them to calm and spoke in what sounded to be a preamble often repeated. “Settle, settle, and be still as we listen to the adventures of Quick Wit …”

Celestia turned the soil in her mind over on what she just experienced, on how the pegasi reacted to her tale and all the little trades of conversation that followed. At the same time, she gave Momma her attention, listening to the legend unfold. While the elements of storytelling were the same, Celestia noticed a style distinct to the old mare. Little tilts of her head or mischievous smiles, sentences that ended in a subtle wink and a low whisper, the mare shared stories like she was letting her listeners in on a joke and that they would all laugh together.

Naturally, Celestia thought while trying as hard as she could to keep the eye-roll to herself. Not even their history can be taken seriously.

She spared a glance at Luna. Her little sister fixed Momma with an intent, studying gaze, ears poised to hear every word. If this story contained clues to understanding the pegasus ponies, Luna appeared absolutely determined to puzzle them out.

Many years ago, no pegasus roamed the sky and the unicorns were still a young breed. Earth ponies, being the oldest of all ponies, were all most knew. With no wings to fly or escape, they walked the ground, living under the trees or in the fields. This did not mean they couldn’t play or travel. Quick Wit was one of these Earth ponies, venturing far and wide across the Everfree Forest, seeing and speaking to all the legends that lived during the old times, dodging those who wished to eat him with his cleverness.

One day, while he travelled with others of his own kind, a griffin named Grenjar swooped down and scattered them into the forest. Quick Wit had been in a valley when this happened and Grenjar cut off his only escape, meaning to devour him in sickly lumps. Now, Quick was scared at first. He had nowhere to run and the griffin caught him by surprise. But Quick Wit was named fairly. He smiled and he laughed and he walked up to the griffin, giving him a friendly hello.

Grenjar was stunned by this. “Aren’t you afraid?” he said with an ugly voice. “Do you not realize that I mean to eat you?”

“Why not?” Grenjar laughed an ugly laugh. “You are trapped and cannot run from me. You have no claws or beaks to fight me. Why can’t I eat you?”

“Because,” Quick said to him. “Nothing can eat me. All have tried. I’ve been blessed and that blessing protects me from harm. I do not have to be afraid of griffins, so I greet them with a hello.” Quick Wit trotted gaily to the griffin as if he meant to pass by. “Why, do you not believe me? Take me to Moon and I will prove as clear as day that I have no reason to be afraid of you.”

Now, Grenjar found this very hard to believe. But when he looked at Quick and saw he was not scared even though he was trapped, Grenjar began to doubt. What if he was wrong? What if the Moon became angry? There seemed to be an easy answer. “I will take you to her.” Grenjar said. “If you speak the truth, she will make it clear. If you are speaking lies, then I will eat you in pieces.”

To that, Quick Wit bowed his head respectfully to the griffin, grinning all the while. “Soon you will see, griffin, that I do not lie.” So he was picked up, and Grenjar carried him on high into the air.

As they travelled, Quick Wit pointed to the sky. “You must take me to Sun first.”

Quick feigned shock and made a loud gasp. “You want to visit Moon without visiting Sun first! Why, that would be a great insult, you see, Sun can get quite jealous. I would not want to be you if Sun were angry at me!”

They met her beyond the sky, at the place where Sun sits on her burning orb. Sun thought the pair most curious and beckoned them forward for audience. “Who comes to see me?” she said to them when they approached.

“It is I, Quick Wit,” he said back. “I’ve come to tell you that Moon has blessed me with protection from harm. She means to use me to spread word of her glory and turn all to gaze away from you.”

Sun found this hard to believe. Yet, when she looked down from her throne on the sun, she saw that Quick had a griffin that held him and did not slay him, and she began to doubt. “I will not let Moon use you to steal what belongs to me!” She said in a fit of jealousy. “Instead you will bring me glory.” With a little touch of Sun’s great magic, wings sprung forth from Quick Wit’s sides. “With these wings, you will have speed unmatched, your colors will streak across the sky, and all who see you will turn their gaze to me.”

Quick bowed his head in respect to Sun, grinning all the while. “Ponies will speak of your actions this day for generations to come.” And the two left. As they flew to visit Moon, Quick spoke to Grenjar. “See, do I not speak truth? Sun is very vain and it was wise to see her first.”

Grenjar had to agree. “But we must still see Moon. What you tell me is very strange and I must hear her piece.”

“Certainly!” Quick Wit said to him. “Your arms must be tired from my weight and your wings too. With this gift from Sun, I can fly myself and we will see Moon together.”

Grenjar’s arms were indeed tired, and his wings, too. Since Quick was right about Sun, the griffin let go so that Quick could fly and they approached Moon, sitting high above the world on her glowing orb.

Now, Moon had never seen such a thing before, a pony with wings and a griffin for a companion. “Come forth,” she said. “You may have my ear.”

“Fair Moon,” Quick Wit said to her. “As you can see, Sun saw fit to grant me a gift, these marvelous wings. Yet, Sun acted in haste and did not think this gift through. I have wings, yes, but what will I do with them? My home is on the ground, not in the sky as a bird. As her peer, I’ve come to appeal to you, for you are as wise as beautiful.”

Moon found this hard to believe as she sat tall on her throne, the moon. Yet, she could see that Sun’s magic was indeed at work on his wings, so she began to doubt. “Sun is a fool,” Moon said in anger. “She acts without thought and blinds those whose admiration she desires. Take my blessing.” she said as she worked her magic. “The clouds will become your playthings, rainbows and lightning will be your tools. With these, your wings have use. Sun meant you to be a sign of her glory, instead you will remind the Earth of her folly.”

Quick Wit bowed his head in respect to Moon, grinning all the while. “Ponies will speak of your actions for generations.” He turned and left Moon’s presence on her pale mountain.

The griffin became confused and confronted Quick Wit. “Stop, pony!” Grenjar was very angry. “You said that you had been blessed, that you were protected from harm! That I could not eat you! You said that if I take you to Moon, that I would see! I do not see! I think you are a liar!”

Quick Wit took great offense. “I’ve spoken nothing but the truth! I told you I was blessed, and I am. I am blessed with cleverness, and that protects me from harm. I told you I greet griffins with a friendly hello, and I did! You, just then. I told you that if you took me to Moon, you’d see that can’t eat me. Now look!” Quick Wit then used his wings to soar away. “You can’t!”

Grenjar tried to give chase, but it was hopeless. Quick’s new wings were far too fast. He swore he’d have revenge his on Quick, somehow, someway, for being made a fool. Yet, the silly griffin, how could he make revenge against lunch? From that day on, Quick went wherever he wanted to go, did whatever he wanted to do, and escaped all who wanted to stop him, by wing or by wit. He was the first pegasus.

The listeners grinned, and some of the younger ponies bounced all over again with glee as the tale ended happily. The pegasi reacted to the tale exactly as intended, laughing together at the comedy, racked with suspense as the danger grew, or with smiles as Quick Wit’s plan became clearer and clearer. The youngest were easily the most animated, showing fear for their hero, laughing the loudest at his tricks, or gasping and cheering at the turns of the story. While the adults appeared more reminiscent, the tale one they heard before yet still enjoyed.

Celestia scanned the group, then lowered her head with a sigh, approaching Momma. “Thank you for the story, but this is all things I already knew. So the pegasi enjoy playing tricks on each other, I’ve seen plenty of that myself.”

“Ahh, so you have.” Momma dipped her head in resignation, closing her eyes in a long blink before she regarded Celestia with a shrewd glance. “You know these things, yet you still do not understand the pegasi. Perhaps you need to ask yourself the right question.”

“The right question?” Luna followed Celestia and sat down next to her big sister, tilting her head curiously at Momma. “What is the right question?”

“You say you know the what of pegasus ponies, my dear, but can you answer the why? In my experience, why follows what.”

Momma smiled to the midnight pony. “Stories always hold many, many more messages than their surface suggests. Why or what is merely the beginning. It is one of the reasons why I do so love a good tale.” She frowned. “But perhaps it is too much to ask of you to understand a breed with just one. See me tomorrow, and I’ll offer the same trade, if you feel I’ve been fair.”

Celestia sighed again and sat on her haunches, gaze drifting while seeing nothing. Luna lifted a hoof to her chin and tapped, eyes darting left and right in rapid succession as she sorted through a myriad of information in her mind.

“You’ve been the most helpful pegasus I’ve met, Momma.” Celestia offered her a smile that was nonetheless forlorn. “I do thank you, and Rebel for bringing me here, wherever he’s gone off to.”

“It was a pleasure. I do look forward to collecting all of your stories.” She took the measure of Celestia once more, from head to hoof, a smirk at the corner of her lips. “You have a look about you that tells me you have many.”

“Was it the pink mane, the horn, or wings that told you?” Celestia said, wearing a wry smile.

From the crowd that gathered around Momma, a pegesus nosed a large bowl across the ground. “Mm,” the old mare said. “That would be my food in exchange for telling my story.”

The bowl nearly overflowed with delicious food, a mismatched collection of fresh or dried grass, edible leaves, cabbage, dates, carrots, and more. Celestia nearly whined pathetically at the sight as a pang of hunger went through her, the scent of fresh fruit sending her mouth to water like a spring. Luna fixed the collection with a desirous, hungry glance before ultimately ignoring it to quest through her mind once more.

The bowl scratched across the floor with a loud, tinny noise, and Celestia felt a sudden inkling of curiosity. She approached the bowl of food and tilted it back with a hoof. It was shaped like the top and back of a hollowed out skull, crafted out of metal—which explained the noise as it ground on stone. Unicorns were the only creature she knew of capable of crafting this mineral with such purity, though, never in such large quantities. Metal often sat far beneath the surface, difficult to extract and not of great use for their way of life.

An agitated scratch of a hoof caught Celestia’s attention and she looked up to see a stallion with wings flared fixed her in his gaze, scratching the stone again in warning. Celestia blew air through her lips, unconcerned. “I’m not going to steal the food right out in front of everyone, you dolt.” She felt some of her past frustration bubbling up and venting out before she could give it thought. “What do you think I’d do? Grab a mouthful and run, as if I could escape dozens of pegasi all at once? How stupid do you think I am?”

“That’s it!” Luna shouted in eureka. The burst sent her rearing back as she leapt up, wings spread broad and fluttering, forehooves kicking out in the air before she landed again to hop and bounce. “That’s it! That’s it!”

Every head turned to the prancing pony, from Celestia, to the stallion, to Momma, as her words echoed in the chamber.

“What’s ‘it'?” Celestia turned away from the bowl and slowly approached her hysterical sister.

She stopped and held Celestia with eyes wide from elation. “The pegasi,” she began, her words running together, sentences stuttering and coming out half formed as her mouth tried giving voice to all her ideas at once. “The flying and th—travel—Earth ponies—by wit or by wing, gr—griffins—pranks.”

“Luna,” Celestia held her sister’s shoulders with her forelimbs. “Luna! Slow down. What are you talking about?”

Luna swallowed deeply, gazing off to the side as some of the frantic wildness became restrained again by Luna’s cool intelligence. “I think I understand why we don’t fit in.”

Puzzling over her thoughts, they began spilling forth rapidly, but with coherence. “There is just so much mystery here with the cave and the pegasus ponies and flying, that my mind has been everywhere, but I’ve been trying to put it all together, everything I’ve heard or seen or asked, exploring and watching and listening, even when I’d flew around myself, like I did from the unicorns. I could see what pegasus do pretty well but I didn’t know why or thought about why only it all comes together when I do.”

“Luna.” Celestia lifted a hoof to stall her sister. “Luna slow down. I’m still not following.”

The midnight blue pony glanced back and forth to all those staring, huffing with frustration. “Can I ask a few questions?”

She chewed her lower lip before speaking. “If you are being chased by a hungry bugbear, what do you do?”

“Fly away!” they shouted in unison this time, finding a rhythm to give the refrain.

Changing to a new line of questions, Luna stuttered an instant. “What if an Earth pony became angry at you, what would you do then?”

Again, the young pegasus ponies shouted together as if it was a game. “Fly away!”

“Fly …” Silence followed as the fillies and colts realized the problem with their answer. A few laughed and playfully punched the shoulder of a pony who started to answer without realizing it.

Again, silence. One of the colts, a small one with a meek voice, lifted his head to answer. “Trick them?”

Realization washed over Celestia like a flood, thoughts and connections previously unmade coming over her in a torrent.

Her little sister grinned and put to words to Celestia’s thoughts. “When we’re in danger, we run, or do whatever we can to hide. But what if we could run faster than anything? What would we do, who would we be afraid of? Pegasus ponies are faster. They’re able to escape from anyone or anything. Except for griffins.” Luna grinned wider. “And each other. Another pegasus is as much an enemy to what they want to do as they are a friend.”

Celestia looked out over the crowd of pegasi, and finished Luna’s thought. “But there is still a way to escape a griffin or pegasus that is faster than you are. You can outsmart them. Trick them.”

Luna nearly laughed out loud as she continued to speak, the exchange rapidly spilling forth between them. “By wing or by wit! So, they wouldn’t be devoted to a herd like we’re used to with Earth ponies and unicorns, they don’t need to be or want to be! They’d just as likely to be against each other as soon as one becomes a bother or a bully! Which is why they have no chief! Who would listen to her commands?”

“Argh!” Celestia shouted, turning a nervous circle while slapping a hoof to her forehead. “And I’ve been spending all this time trying to ask them help like they were an Earth pony! Not a little help, but a lot when I asked to be taught flying! I’d seem both annoying, imposing, and stupid as well! I’ve been chasing away anyone who’d be willing at all to talk as soon as I ask!”

Imagination treated Celestia to a brilliant image of her dive off the cliff to rescue the young colt. She did not see herself as before, a mare filled with brave self-sacrifice to risk herself with a perilous jump. No, she saw Pink Plummet, a ditzy, wall-eyed unicorn with a lolling tongue, shouting, “I’ll save you!” as she tripped over her own feet to tumble off the bluff, too dumb to realize she couldn’t fly.

A groan ripped itself from Celestia and she turned another circle, slapping her forehead even harder. “It was never about if I saved the colt or not, it’s about how I threw myself into danger I obviously couldn’t handle and survived by sheer luck!"

A clapping of hooves interrupted them, and both sisters turned to see Momma applauding with a smile on her face. “Very good! Very good indeed! It sounds like you’ve arrived at your understanding. I must admit that I am a little disappointed, you’ve done this much sooner than I expected. I was hoping to trade another story yet.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes, glancing sidelong at the old mare. “Is that what stopped you from simply explaining this to us? You wanted our stories?”

“Ah,” she laughed. “No, child, it is not the only reason. What I told you before was the truth. I am but a simple storyteller. I did not know you at a glance, and I could not say what would help you understand. Stories teach far better than I can, they would fill in for you the knowledge you lacked.” She leaned in, speaking softly, gaze sharp and hard. “Another reason, as well, Celestia. The rumors that follow the unicorn with the pink mane to not paint her in a flattering light. Had you been unable to learn from what I shared, I would have suggested that this cave is not the place for you.” Her voice softened. “But you and your sister are far brighter than the rumors suggest. I think you may make it among the pegasi, yet.” Having the bowl of food at her feet, Momma bent low and took a great bite of the contents.

Her stomach let loose a loud, embarrassing growl. She glanced away, only to find Luna staring at the carrot with a watery gaze, lips quivering uncontrollably.

“If I give you another story, would you be willing to part with half that bowl?”

Celestia tested the cloud with a hoof. It pushed back against her with a touch as soft as snow. Confirming that she would not fall through again, she threw herself into its embrace and nuzzled the soft mounds with wordless murmur. This time, I do get to sleep on a cloud.

Though the food Momma shared did not quite fill her belly, split in half again with Luna, it would sustain her another day. She’d sleep soundly tonight, after all she’d been through.

Her sister’s weight fluffed the cloud as she climbed on, laying herself far more demurely. Celestia had spared some magic to lower the bed they now shared, almost to ground level. After one fall, she did not wished to repeat the experience.

Luna rolled to her back, finding a comfortable divot, and stared up at the ceiling, marked with ribbons and bunches of glowing green bugs. “I want to see her again.”

A pink glow shown on Celestia’s horn, unraveling one of the old bandages she received from the Shaman. “Hmm?” Without revealing it to Luna, she checked the bite. It appeared to be healing clean.

Celestia spared enough attention from her spell to glance at her young sister. Momma promised that her stories were a regular ritual, after Celestia concluded the second tale. At a whim, Celestia had chosen another chapter from the life of Virtue Blaze. This time, instead of focusing on Virtue’s bravery in the face of danger, she spun the tale depicting Virtue’s skill as she outwitted a minotaur who refused to let the Earth pony herd drink from a freshwater spring. At first, the pegasi appeared skeptical to hear from her again. As she played up the verbal banter, borrowing Luna to voice the bull-headed monster, she could see the fillies and colts become more and more invested in her tale, followed by the rest. It appeared that from no matter what source cleverness came, a cunning pony was still a cunning pony in the eyes of a pegasus.

She altered the spell that illuminated her pink horn, smoothing her white coat over the teeth marks on her leg to keep them hidden. “I think we have no choice, if I am honest. Why do you ask?”

With her hooves free, Luna gestured in the air as she spoke. “This cave is strange, don’t you think?”

A short chuckle burst from Luna. “Yes, yes, but the cave too. Odd things are all over. I want to ask Momma about them.” She turned to hold Celestia in her gaze. “Do you think she’ll know?”

Celestia held the old bandage in front of her in a glow of magic, slowly turning it over. Then, with an effort of will, she tossed it over the side of the cloud. “Maybe she remembers a story about it.”

“I hope so.” Luna settled once more, mouth parting in a great yawn. “I want to see Rebel Bolt again, as well, if he goes back. I liked talking to him.”

The cloud ruffled beneath Celestia as she laid on her side. Soon, the other two bandages landed on the dirt next to the first. “I hope so.”

[Tired of waiting for new Paradise Updates? Check out this recommended reading:

Gaia, by Squeaks-anon. After a strange and adorable creature is discovered by Fluttershy, a mysterious force repelled by life begins to make plans around Ponyville. Whatever those plans are, even the princesses are concerned, but is it all too late? You may like it because it's charming and has a similar tone to Paradise, melding adorable with deadly serious.]

Chapter 15

Celestia sat at the edge of the sleeping chamber and leaned against the sidewall of stone. Sun’s rays swept past the room, illuminating the paths deep into the mountain where the pegasi played. Her white coat only just touched the morning light, pale radiance subdued in the shadow. Looking over her shoulder, Celestia spied Luna still asleep, her midnight blue colors reflecting the glow of fireflies in a subtle sheen as her chest rose and fell, at peace.

Before this, a mysterious, unsettled feeling had plagued Celestia, just slipping under her perception. A discomfort drove her when among the pegasi, beckoning her to rise, to act. She had not found her place with them as a pony, a niche where she felt secure, and there was a pursuit to find how she could fit in.

Last night’s revelations answered that for her. The place was no place, her niche was no niche. With the pegasi as a group so bent on their freedom of wing, and from each other, she discovered that there was nothing to fit in to. Every pegasus went about their aims with no mind to who she was, or where she stayed, slept, or ate.

Celestia lifted a hoof and rubbed the back of her other forelimb. As much as it sounded like freedom when put in words, in her heart it felt like absence. Absence of ponies who cared and would help her, of the mutual protection of herdmates. Most of all, of friends. She missed those things more than she craved any kind of freedom.

What was more, it left her with a lack of anything to do. Celestia had grown tired of searching for someone to teach Luna how to fly (and herself now, she remembered), because that meant dealing with more of the irksome pegasi and she was at her limit of tolerating their attitudes and games. Unlike her time with the unicorns, there were no lessons to attend, no duties to fulfill for the herd at large. Even in the Earth pony herd, every morning began with seeking out her friends to play games, explore, or be together. None of that to do now. Simply aimless, lonely time-wasting. No reason to wake Luna.

The understanding from the night before did breed her new eyes with which to view the pegasi. After she wandered over to glimpse what light she could from Sun’s rising orb, she stayed to watch the pegasi meander up and down the cave or play wherever they pleased. What she saw when she first arrived remained true, even as she half expected to find only a collection of rogue pegasus ponies bent on scams or escape from all others.

The pegasi stayed in groups. Not large groups by any stretch, not even coming close to what could be called a herd. Nonetheless, pegasus ponies preferred the company of one or two, but more often five others. The lone pegasus was an exception. Gangs, she began to call them in her head. Gangs of pegasi staying together in small, manageable groups.

Idly, she rested her head against the cool stone and wondered how the gangs remained together. Were they friends? How strong were those friendships between them? For that matter, why did the pegasi decide to stay crammed so tightly together in the cave when the whole sky was their field? The story of Quick Wit seemed to be only part of who they were, and their society was far more complicated than Luna’s simple deductions.

“Ick!” Celestia grimaced and stuck out her tongue, shaking her head side to side. Entirely too long in the past few days had she been up in her head. She felt as if her chest would burst if she spent one moment more inside herself and not sharing with another. “Or perhaps I’ll simply go mad,” she muttered, turned on her heels, and walked back into the sleeping chamber.

She approached Luna with soft hoofbeats, settling just off the cloud’s side, and watched over her sister’s sound sleep. Celestia smiled in the silence, horn glowing with channeled will. Gently, she ran her magic over Luna’s hair, undoing tangles, straightening some strands, curling others as Crescent Change had taught them so long ago—keeping Luna’s appearance graceful and appealing. As she groomed, Celestia hummed softly in a familiar Earth pony tune. Lightning had once told her it was a special song, old as the first pony, sung from mother to foal for so long that it became imprinted on all and never lost. Songs and dance were at the heart of being an Earth pony, just as stories.

A groan flowed from Luna, roused by the little tugs and tickles of her mane and beckoned to waking by the song. Still, the dosing pony rolled and flopped to her side, turning away from her elder sister’s noise.

“Come on up, sleepy-head.” Celestia kept her voice enticing with singsong, before continuing to hum. “It is well past daybreak and time to rise.”

Celestia laughed, amused, and shifted her magic to fix her sister’s tail. “I will never understand why you insist on sleeping in so late.”

“I’ll never understand why you insist on getting up so early, big sister,” Luna shot back, voice muttering thickly with sleep. Yet, at this point—Celestia had to smile to herself—under all the grooming attention, Luna’s compulsion to laze steadily evaporated and she sat up, wide, blue eyes quickly becoming more alert. After a moment of collecting her thoughts, Luna looked to her sister. “So, what are we doing today?”

Celestia frowned at the question and concentrated on the last of Luna’s tail. “I don’t know.”

Luna alighted with excitement, wings unfurling. “Can we explore the cave? I found so much last time I went.”

“Maybe.” Celestia raised a hoof to wave the idea aside as she became lost in thought. “Maybe, later. For now, I want to get out of this cave and into the open air.” She rose from her seat and walked with a determined beat toward the door. A soft trot of hooves on the packed earth told Celestia that Luna was quick to follow. Together, they left the sleeping chamber.

The path out was straightforward, following the light up the gentle slope of the cavern without incident. At once when Celestia stepped out from the concealing cloud at the mouth sunlight washed over her, relaxed her with warmth, and chased away the lingering shadow of the cave. She took in a deep breath of the cool mountain air and let it out with satisfaction. Luna emerged from the mist a heartbeat later, using her bangs to shield her eyes from the harsh glare of light. But once she adjusted, Celestia saw that she too found vitality in the familiarity of open sky and touch of Sun’s light.

“C’mon.” Celestia gestured and led her sister some distance away from the pegasi, finding a relatively secluded spot along the side of the mountain. Luna wordlessly obeyed, patient and watching with observant eyes while Celestia drew a small cloud over with a glow of telekinesis. Using the soft, puffy thing as a seat, Celestia patted the side opposite for her sister. Luna hopped up and took the indicated spot, facing her sister and waiting.

“So …” Planting her forehooves, Celestia dragged herself closer to Luna, wearing a smile at once giddy and hopeful. “What did you get up to yesterday?” Her tone had a conspiratorial hint, something girl-to-girl.

“Oh, umm …” Luna lifted a hoof to her chin. A grin stretched on her muzzle, slowly becoming wider and wider as she spoke until her teeth gleamed. “I started to go deep into the cave and I found all sorts of strange things. Places where the walls run smooth, and these … these turtle shells! I don’t know how else to describe it, but big turtle shells littered all over in some of the chambers. They were in all sorts of strange shapes, it’s best if I show you instead!”

“Really? That does sound odd.” Celestia mused over what her sister shared; the words, but almost more on the behavior. The strange objects held less relevance for her than they did for Luna herself. “Perhaps you’ll get the chance to show me soon. Was there anything else you found yourself up to? I was gone most of the day, and I’m curious.”

“That only took an hour or so. Most of the day, I watched the pegasi play Griffins and Ponies.”

Celestia blinked, frozen still in disbelief, her reply bewildered. “You … were so determined to leave yesterday … so you could … watch ponies play filly games? ”

Luna’s mouth parted, stung, before she closed it with a petulantly outthrust lip. “You wanted me to learn how to fly, so I tried to see how pegasus ponies flew.”

Momentary guilt flashed through Celestia at her reaction. “Ahh, I see. Sorry … did you learn anything?”

Luna shrugged her shoulders, her wings ruffling at her side. “I’m not sure. I have not tried it yet. Did you?”

“Some, I think. You already know most of what happened to me. I suppose the only thing I haven’t mentioned is that I talked to some fillies and colts that were outside the cave.”

“I don’t know exactly why they were there, other than that their mothers were out for the day, maybe gathering food, so the young ponies took the chance to play outside, which I suppose is a little dangerous. I spoke to them for a while, gathering what I could about flying before that one colt fell off the side.”

Celestia shook her head. “But enough about that. I’m up to my ears in dealing with these ponies and all that flying foolery. I’m minded to speak of other things.”

“I never got to really explain what happened, the day we left the unicorns. About Silver Spear.”

Staring at the space in the cloud between them, Celestia touched a hoof to her chin, deep in thought. “I had to fight my way passed him. I … lost. Handedly. It’s been at the back of my mind ever since we left, how it all happened.”

“Actually, I attacked him.” The glow of channeled magic enveloped her horn and Celestia concentrated, weaving ideas with will to bring about a new spell. “Let me show you …”

Pink, ephemeral figures formed between them. Two ponies, one a small stallion and the other a young mare, stood across from each other, the stallion barring the way of the mare. Trees sprung up into being around the ponies, Celestia crafting a construct in miniature of her memory with pink light, giving it life and motion. The mare slung a fireball at the stallion, who cut it effortlessly with a whip of water. The stallion then charged through the gap. Startled, the mare tried to brush him aside with magical force, only for the stallion to slip underneath, using a spell to reshape the ground. Each time the mare backpedalled and hurtled power, he countered effortlessly and returned with a smaller offense, nevertheless far more effective. Finally, he drew up to her and struck the mare down, surprising her by using his bare hooves.

Luna narrowed her eyes in focused concentration and they darted from detail to detail. Silence stretched out between the sisters as she continued to study even after the memory concluded. “Silver Spear …” she began slowly, checking the answer even as she spoke it, “seemed to use a spell’s nature to his advantage… Go back over what happened.”

“There.” Luna stretched out a hoof and tapped the cloud between them, marking the moments while still half in thought. “Water to counter fire, and steam to open it … Earth as a barrier … That’s curious.” She tapped the cloud again, twice in succession to punctuate a new thought. “He also uses his surroundings. The smoke from the fire spell, he used that to distract you. And he guided the broken bridges rather than summon a new one.” She gestured with a sweep of her forelimb. “This way, he spares his strength. Rather than creating things from raw will, he just had to manipulate what was around him.”

“That much I was able to gather myself.” Celestia sighed and let the spell go. The figures vanished in a wisp. “That’s not what has been bothering me.”

With the spell still fresh in her, Celestia summoned the figures again. “We never learned magic like—” She thrust a hoof at the scene, wings ruffling with agitation. “—like this! Silver taught us plenty, yes, how to use fireballs, lightning, windstorms, magic force, which predators fear what spells, but all this …” She circled her hoof over the display of her memories. “This is a step beyond anything we were taught. Our magic lessons were never complete.”

Luna’s mouth etched into a discerning line and her gaze narrowed at the figures. “But this is combat between two unicorns. Two ponies.” With a flick of her neck to throw back her blue locks, her large, blue eyes met Celestia’s with concern. “With our wings, we have proof of our stories. What reason would we have to fight another pony?”

The question gave Celestia pause. For a long moment, their eyes were joined, neither looking away as Celestia felt a disconcerted frown creep over her features. Finally, she answered, breaking the gaze. “Ponies are not the only creatures that can wield magic. We may have use of these skills one day.”

“Stars and Moon, no.” Celestia shook her head violently from side to side, her pink mane thrown about and banishing the thought from her mind. “But we have much to learn, things we’ll have to learn on our own.” She nodded toward the pink shapes. The stallion and the mare still locked in combat at the moment her concentration slipped. “Some of it, from this.”

Her sister nodded, falling into a quiet introspection. “There is one more thing I noticed.” Luna broke her reprieve, pointing down at Silver Spear. “All his spells, skilled as they are, were distractions. Silver used them to occupy you while moving to his real goal, the surprise of using his hooves.”

“Huh.” Celestia let the memory continue, watching it again until the moment the stallion bucked the mare and the mare went down. “Well, what do ya’know … Something the unicorns have in common with the pegasi. A trick.”

A small motion caught Celestia’s eye and she looked up to see Luna frowning off into space, longing writ on her features.

At the word, Celestia’s stomach rebelled and a pang of hunger spasmed her belly. “I agree … I’m hungry.” She closed her eyes. One thing she had never lacked for in her life was food. The fields and plains of Everfree always overflowed with grass to graze, and the unicorns had long perfected cultivating the forest for their own ends. Even during their escape, her Earth pony sense had guided them to plenty of edible leaves, fruits, or water. Here on the mountaintop? Dead rock, prickling pine, and the new sensation of hapless starving. “Momma’s story time is still hours off. We can’t trade for her food yet.”

“I know.” Celestia’s shoulders slumped and she lowered her head. “I know. But the mountain is barren, and Momma is our only source up here.”

“That wasn’t even much food,” her sister replied with a hint of bitterness.

“It was small, wasn’t it?” Her lips curved in a sympathetic, weary smile. “A meal for one, divided in half, twice. We can’t go on like that for long, we’d still starve. We need to get down the mountain for food and we can’t do that by walking … which would mean …” She stopped. “Flying.” She threw herself down on the cloud, rolling to her back with a pathetic groan. Here they were, right back where they began. They needed to learn how to fly.

Abandoning any semblance of maturity, Celestia whined like a filly. “But I don’t wanna talk to the pegasi any mooooooreeeeee …”

“Maybe we don’t have to.” Luna tapped her chin, in the middle of unfolding more thoughts. Celestia held her peace and listened. “I can nearly fly up and down the mountain myself, right now. Perhaps we don’t need to learn to fly well just … well enough.”

Rolling to her hooves, Celestia stood up. A smile pulled back Luna’s cheeks and she grinned to her sister. “We don’t need to go to the pegasus ponies, just a bit more practice and we can do it ourselves.”

“That … that might work.” Celestia lifted a hoof between them, punctuating her words, then she shifted her weight to peer past the cave. “I think I know what we’re going to do today.”

As the sisters approached the crevice around the bend of the mountain, the ruckus of a dozen young voices confirmed for Celestia that the colts and fillies were once again at play. With her coat gleaming in the sunlight and her pink hair caught in the wind, only a breath passed before they spotted her. Shrill cries, approximating words but not quite intelligible, went up among some fillies who reared to point before they ducked back down to run and play with renewed vigor. “Unicorn!” some shouted in awe, others with giddiness. “Unicorn! Unicorn!” But for the most part, their games went uninterrupted by her presence, if more fervent.

“Pinky!” A young colt dashed out of the gang, his wings buzzing like a hummingbird’s. He darted for Celestia, wings going one way, hooves another, and tried to keep his balance in an awkward gallop. “Pink Plummet!”

Celestia winced at the name and her reaction elicited a chuckle from Luna. The brown colt stopped just short of Celestia and reared up on his back hooves in boundless energy, a smile beaming all the while. “You’re here! You’re here!”

“Yes, I am.” Despite herself, she laughed. The raw joy of the colt, infectious. “How are you?”

The colt went on as if the question hadn’t been uttered. “My momma told me not to play with you, that any pony who jumps off a cliff without wings is a crazy pony, and momma doesn’t like me around crazy ponies, but she’s not here to tell me to not play with you, so I can, and I don’t think you’re a crazy pony, you’re a very nice pony, you helped me when I was falling down.” The colt bounced and hopped, skipping his way in a circle around Celestia. “Pinky’s here! Pinky’s here!”

Luna tried to muffle her laughter with a hoof, but her eyes held mischievous glee as they watched her sister weather the pony while maintaining good grace.

“Pinky is not my name.” She reached out and placed a hoof on the colt’s shoulder on his next pass, halting him. He stared at her with a smile that Celestia found herself mirroring. “My name is Celestia. What’s yours?”

A laugh exploded from Celestia, and she took a moment to recover. “Windfall? How appropriate. I’d like you to meet my sister.” She turned the colt to face Luna. “She’s another, uhhh, unicorn.”

The colt eyed her with speculation before he turned back to Celestia. “Is she nice?”

“Hi!” He shouted to Luna and left Celestia’s grasp to bounce around the elder pony once more. “Celly! Celly!”

“So, Windfall.” Celestia raised her voice just enough to catch his attention. “Have you been staying away from the edge of the cliff?”

The colt stopped, backpedalling his forehooves underneath him. “Oh, no! No, I don’t want to go to the cliff again, that was too scary!”

“Good.” Celestia gave a nod of satisfaction. “I hope you remember that lesson—that sometimes you need to be careful, no matter what the other ponies say.” She stepped up alongside him. “Would you like to play with me and my sister? There is … a game I’d like us all to do together.”

“Yeah!” Windfall lept up to his hooves and led them back to the gang of young ponies, his gait high-stepped and happy.

At returning to the rest, Celestia found reactions to be mixed. Some of their mothers had apparently urged caution around “Pink Plummet,” and many of the little ponies stayed back while Celestia and Luna organized the game.

Windfall’s carefree presence changed that. As they watched him excitedly bounce around, eager to play—and perhaps remembering Celestia from the day before—they did away with their hesitance and gathered to see what the “unicorn” brought next.

“A flying competition!” Celestia shouted. The fillies and colts cheered and bounced, even if they didn’t know why. “With magic!” Her horn flashed and a spark leapt from the tip. They stilled and an undercurrent of awe swept over the group. Celestia nodded to Luna. “With help from my sister, we will see what you have learned, and we’ll have lots of games, all with unicorn magic!”

The plan was quite simple in conception. All of these fillies and colts had learned something from their parents teaching the basics of flight. Celestia knew that much from yesterday. Having them put those skills into practice, then, gave the sisters a chance to observe; what techniques worked and didn’t work.

Each time a game began, five or so ponies lined up. Celestia went to them one at a time, asking what they knew. Luna prepared a spell, and Celestia started them off. Hovering competitions to reach a glowing blue cloud, gliding games to catch a magically constructed dragonfly, and many more contests that stressed the skills Celestia and Luna needed to fly down the mountain and back.

Celestia smiled, watching the next group try to glide over a sloping path set by Luna that sent them in a gentle curve for distance. The fillies and colts each did their best in turn, but laughed or giggled when they careened off course and Celestia caught them in a gentle, telekinetic glow. Though inspired by the pegasi’s use of clever tricks, Celestia scarcely even thought of it as a ruse in the end. The game did nothing to violate her sense of honesty—truly, it was a game, and all she said it would be. The little fillies sharpened their flying skills, and did so safely as she guarded them in absence of their mothers. All the while, Luna and Celestia watched and learned the flying they would need to gather food.

Best of all, it was fun. Whether a filly failed widely only to be caught by Celestia’s spell, a colt showed pride at the victory of success, or the sisters being a part of it all, everypony had fun.

“My momma’s back!” a filly yelped in surprise and scurried off at full gallop. Celestia chuckled at the guilty look she wore as she ran for the cave.

In the lapse that followed, Luna walked to her elder sister. “Do we have enough, today?”

“I think so.” Celestia nodded and watched the fleeing filly disappear behind the cloud. “We’ve picked up much to practice.” She turned to the crowd of young ponies and raised her voice above their chatter. “We have to go now!”

“I’m sorry, I had a great time. Maybe I’ll see you all again soon? For now, I have to go. Goodbye!”

A few responded in their own farewells, Windfall loudest among them. Many went back to playing without the mares, their cacophony growing.

“C’mon.” Celestia gestured to her sister with a tilt of her head. Hearing Luna’s hoofbeats fall into place behind her, Celestia turned to her next thought, the problem of practicing, and chewed her lip as she walked. “Umm, to the ledge.” She adjusted her course, coming to stop where the mountain fell away. The Everfree Forest stretched out before her from her view atop the mountain, vast and endless in all directions. “We need to gather every cloud we can.” She indicated several lazy puffs with her nose. “For our training.”

Luna moved to stand beside her sister, obeying wordlessly. Her horn flashed blue and several clouds changed course, drifting toward the mountain. Celestia followed suit, her magic snaring several more.

They entered the cave in a procession. A host of fluffy clouds followed behind the sisters like ducklings, glowing either blue or pink in turn, towed by magic. Though many pegasus ponies kept their own hours, by now in the middle of the day, most soared about in the cave, and none on the main path could miss the colorful parade.

Whispers echoed as they passed, some in a sudden burst of a pegasus startled, others in the hushed tones of a secret. Yet others were punctuated with quiet snickers. Celestia heard the name “Pink Plummet” repeated more than a few times as she passed. She did her best to pin her ears back, to keep them from swiveling and betraying the fact she heard. Though she kept her ears still, her head lowered as she walked, insides swirling and churning with anguish.

A longing, and a hurt resentment penetrated deep inside. For once in her life, she hated her unique colors. None could mistake the long mane of pink or coat of pure, snow white that always marked her as different; special, unlike any who had come before her. Before, she had always loved the remarkableness and beauty. A signal of great things to come, or her talent, or the otherworldliness that awed any who saw. Here, her coat and mane tied her to a reputation she desperately wanted to shake. By sight, all the pegasi knew Pink Plummet. The lucky fool. The mad pony. Had she been brown, or black, or off-white, or mottled, Celestia could have blended in. But, no … She was pink and white and different. Celestia, the pegasus outcast.

One loud stallion announced her nickname with a shout and boisterous laughter. Luna turned her head, staring with a raised eyebrow, but Celestia gave him no reaction. Last thing she wanted was to repeat the day she collected a swarm of the pests.

For a moment, Celestia let her gaze rest on her sister and felt a flash of concern. Hopefully, none of the reputation rubbed off on Luna by the association with Pink Plummet. She had done nothing herself to earn ridicule like Celestia had. Then again, she did not seem too adept at earning their love. Save some mysterious connection to Rebel Bolt, Luna was at least alone. If not an outcast, then neither was she important.

“Let’s find an empty room, a big one.” Celestia turned to look over her shoulder at the loud stallion and felt a growl of irritation low in her throat. “I’d rather not be interrupted by some goat-headed prankster.”

They were deep in the mountain before Celestia turned a corner and found a large chamber, dark and empty. “Here, Luna. Over here.” Together, they walked inside, each horn shining a light. Cloud after cloud trailed in after and, once they all entered, Celestia turned around and called a spell forth to her mind. A translucent, pink wall sealed the entrance; a magical construct, clear like a thin layer of water yet solid as Celestia’s will. Curious onlookers peaked through the barrier, crowding at the entrance now that their path was barred.

Whether or not they had any benign or mischievous intentions, Celestia didn’t know, and at the moment, didn’t care. She sent a faux-fairylamp to hang on the ceiling, as she had done countless times with the unicorns. The pale light lifted the darkness that veiled the chamber’s deep reaches and revealed the room to be oddly smoothed on the floor and walls, with a high ceiling; a little sister of the chamber Momma chose to recount her stories.

Luna’s eyes sparkled with life. “Oh, look!” A bouncing trot carried her forward and she tossed her clouds aside. “It’s like what I wanted to show you.”

“Show me what?” Celestia added more will to the lamp and increased the illumination until the room’s edges became clear.

In front of Luna, something sparkled in the fairylight. “Ahh, here it is! A turtle shell!”

With quiet curiosity, Celestia slowly approached the object that had so engrossed her sister. The shell, as Luna called it, shined like silver in the ambient light. Celestia saw herself reflected on its surface, clearer than the stillest pond at midday, though misproportioned with a large nose and giant eyes that made Celestia laugh. Sticking out her tongue, she made a face and watched the reflection stretch and distort. “I don’t think this ever belonged to a turtle …” Celestia said while circling it. Though the shell had three holes in the front, the tail end was missing. No, not missing, it had never been there, only meant to cover half a creature. Perhaps to slip on and off.

“Of course not.” Luna’s chipper voice belied the interested smile. “I said it was only like a turtle shell. I didn’t know how else to explain it.” Without hesitation, Luna dove inside the open end. Her hooves made a cacophony of tinny clangs as she crawled in. “I think something use to wear these.”

Celestia’s gaze travelled up and down her sister, head poking out one end, hindquarters sticking gleefully out the back. Luna stretched her forelimbs to the other holes, and blue hooves—the wrist down—poked out each end of a tortoise leg. A pony-tortoise. Celestia arched an eyebrow and failed at hiding a smile. “You look ridiculous.”

“Still, though …” Luna sat up, shrugging out of the shell. “Aren’t these things interesting? I found them other places, too. And Momma had her food brought in a bowl made from the same substance, remember?”

“Yes, that bowl did look similar. There is no denying these things are strange.” Celestia tapped its surface. The shell clanged noisily, hard and unyielding. In the touch, Celestia felt the faintest whisper of enchantment, weak and distant. “I wonder what left them here. Buuutt … wondering certainly won’t fill our bellies. C’mon, time for flying practice.”

A spell scattered the clouds all over the floor, covering every hard rock or shell on the ground and Celestia climbed atop the new canopy. Spying Luna poke her head above the undulating white lumps, Celestia gave her a smile. “Time to put into practice what we learned.”

Celestia closed her eyes, broad wings holding her aloft. Immediately, she felt disoriented in the darkness and opened her eyes again, gathering her bearings before she lost control. Though she tried to hold the ideas she learned that day in mind, putting them into practice proved difficult. She couldn’t escape the feeling of nothing beneath her hooves, and that sensation made her uneasy.

Her sister darted by, hooves outstretched before her for speed, face filled with determination.

Tongue poking out the side of her mouth, Luna rotated slightly and banked in a hard turn. The motion sent her swinging unstably, each limb moving for balance, even her tail. Her wings faltered in their flapping, spreading wide with quick jerks for sudden corrections.

“Luna!” While her little sister never lost control, the turn appeared clumsy, graceless. Celestia craned her neck to keep her in sight, and she felt herself drift forward unintentionally. Out of habit, she threw out her hooves to brace against the motion.

Her heart jolted inside her chest and her limbs began to wheel. Farther and farther off balance, she drifted until she fell. The cloud huffed with the soft sound of her tumble, the impact scattering small puffs in the air. Celestia scrambled in the airy substance before finally poking her head back above the surface. “LUNA! ”

The shout struck her sister’s awareness. She circled back and descended. “What?” Her question filled with innocence.

Celestia narrowed her eyes, anger commingling with disapproval. “Stop racing about the cavern.” Finding purchase with her forelimbs, she hauled herself out of the cloud. “You’re supposed to be practicing a hover.”

The anger washed through Celestia, leaving as quickly as it came. In its place, she let concern show through her voice. “Luna, the clouds are not placed to protect you racing about. If you make a mistake, you’ll crash into stone, head first.”

Luna said nothing, avoiding her elder sister’s eyes. Idly, she kicked at a tuft of cloud with a hoof.

Celestia sighed. “Here …” She called forth a spell of telekinesis, rearranging the clouds to partially cover one side of the chamber. “If you’re going to practice wild stunts, at least aim for that.”

The sulking tension melted from Luna’s shoulders and she nodded, appeased. Taking a few steps, she spread her wings and launched herself into the air again. Celestia rolled her eyes, out of sight. At least, she’ll have no problems going down the mountainside, if she can stay in one piece until then.

Stilling her mind with the intention of flight, Celestia spread her wings and began to cautiously flap, trying to hover again.

A short time later, Luna grew bored of the barrier Celestia provided. The small bank of clouds proved too limiting for the little sister’s experimentation. After a few passes, repeating that banking turn over and over, Luna lost interest and occupied herself instead with the clouds themselves.

“How do pegasus ponies get rainbows from these things?” she announced, poking and prodding a particularly round one that looked full-to-bursting. Luna turned it over, dug at it, sniffed it for scent. When Luna reared back and bucked, the cloud disintegrated beneath her hooves without resistance, and it sent Luna shuffling for balance before falling flat on her stomach.

A chuckle ripped from Celestia’s throat as Luna sat up, the blue pony utterly lacking in chagrin at her fall. A moment later, Luna opened a hole in the rolling white canopy and vanished underneath.

Celestia let her gaze pass over the entrance, idly vigilant. The magical barrier stood secure and translucent as it had been when summoned, passing pegasi crowding close to peek in. The multitude of faces held only harmless curiosity, perhaps over the commotion, the bizarre mare “Pink Plummet,” or the barrier itself. Either way, Luna would be safe for the moment, exploring on her own.

Celestia’s thoughts turned back again to her flight. Her broad wings cut large swaths through the air with idle efficiency, holding her aloft several ponylengths above the ground. Still, looking down renewed her discomfort, having nothing firmly beneath her hooves. Yet, the more time she spent in the air, the more confident she grew in her wings. She felt secure now, in her hovering, and subtly changed the angle of her wings so she floated forward or backward in slow, deliberate action.

A detonation slapped her chest, a tremendous thump! assailed her ears, reverberating again and again along with a startled scream in the enclosed chamber.

Her concentration obliterated. Her wings snapped to her side and she fell like a stone. Again, the clouds caught her in a gentle embrace, yet her heart sped with uncontrollable panic. “Luna!” she shouted and tore at the cloud with both hooves. “Luna?! Luna, are you all right?!” The cloud ripped open and Celestia slipped through, horn already glowing with wild, raw will.

Luna stared blankly into space, wings flared, and chest heaving for breath. Her mane and the blue coat of her face were streaked with black, and the air stank of singed hair. The lock of her mane that spiraled daintily away from her face had a tip alight with a small flame. Gradually, her blue eyes came into focus, centering on Celestia, and her parted mouth turned into an elated grin. “Did you see that?!”

Celestia grimaced and concentrated her will into a fine point, dousing the still burning lock of mane with a strand of water. “What on Earth happened?”

“I was practicing new magic!” Luna shouted, the unabashed grin flashing white teeth.

“Again.” Celestia let chiding creep into her voice. “What on Earth happened?”

“Yes,” Celestia said tentatively, and with worry. The ideals of the unicorns who try to create harmony. She exhaled. “Oh no …” And the safe emotions for altering spells.

Luna pressed on, undeterred. “Arcane Pride taught us one, that element of loyalty, but he never taught us the others! That was the day you told the unicorns we were Earth ponies. I remembered that you said we’d have to learn some magic on our own, so I thought I’d try to play with the elements, and that spell was amazing!”

Raising a hoof to her temple, Celestia rubbed away the growing dread while keeping her gaze sharp on Luna. “What did you do?”

“I was playing with the element of generosity, trying to find out what it could do. I wasn’t getting very far, so I tried to use a spell with generosity on different things. I summoned a little fire, then I struck it with a wind spell that I had imbued with generosity. And … it wasn’t a little fire anymore.” Luna’s mouth pursed into a contemplative frown, and she sat, a hoof rising to her chin. “I think the generosity in the spell let the wind give to the fire.”

Celestia’s rear legs buckled and she sat. “You scared me half to death.” She took a deep breath and exhaled some of the lingering fear. “I suppose asking you to be careful is pointless after this.”

“Oh? Yes.” Luna brushed off the comment with the most sparing of attention while wrapped up in some other idea. Aloud, she mused, “I wonder if other emotions can be used …”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “You mean, emotions other than those on the elements of harmony?”

Luna’s hoof dropped and she regarded Celestia more fully. “Yes, I wonder what they do.”

“No …” Celestia stood up. The gravity of Arcane Pride’s voice still sounded clear in her mind, such an odd change on so boring a teacher. “Oh no. No, no, no.” She shook her head, turning half away.

Celestia craned her neck and met Luna’s eyes over her shoulder. “Don’t.” She turned with a clack of hooves and faced Luna. “Don’t you remember what Arcane said? Never use an element that is not an element of harmony.”

“Ahh.” Disappointment entered Luna’s voice. “I remember …” A moment later, she shrugged off the thought.

They spent what little time they had left resting from the day’s labors before Momma was set to arrive and tell her stories. Celestia cast a spell, unweaving the barrier from the entrance just before they prepared to go. The clouds were left behind to be used again another day, providing not too many disappeared overnight, lifted for some other pony’s use. Only a few pegasi remained watching the sisters, recent lollygaggers who stopped to view the strange barrier. As the spell unmade the magical construct, they dispersed, going about their day on some other whim.

With two bellies writhing in anticipation, Celestia and Luna arrived early in the grand chamber that hosted the storyteller, determined not to miss their chance at a meal by getting lost or making a mistake. Soon, other pegasi arrived, singly, then in larger groups as time went on. The gangs, as Celestia named them.

Each second passed in slow, stewing agony. Celestia rolled her lip fiercely between her teeth. This cusp of waiting for that potential meal proved the most excruciating point of the day, where time seemed to stand still and Celestia was left alone with a belly groaning too incessantly to ignore. Luna fared better, the promise of food being enough to sustain her, and she sat quietly with her mind in some far off place. Mild, fleeting envy burbled in Celestia.

A familiar mote of color, brown and splotched white, gave Celestia distraction from her hunger. Rebel Bolt glided into the room on outstretched wings, low to the ground and retaining a speed more than leisurely. She opened her mouth to voice a greeting, but what she saw stilled her raising hoof. His sky-blue eyes stared sullenly into space, perceiving nothing and preoccupied with some deep seated pain. His mouth drew a line of lament on his features, even as he landed, and he seemed to shrink in on himself, occupying the least space possible amidst in the crowd.

Luna, however, noticed none of these things. “Rebel Bolt!” She closed the distance between them with unmistakable spring in her trot and smiled when she found him. “I was hoping you’d come back today.”

Rebel’s eyes snapped up in shock, freezing for an instant while he beheld the two sisters. “Oh,” he hesitated. “Why?”

“Uhh, okay.” The heaviness that invisibly weighed Rebel down lifted in that moment. His whole body seemed to rise, ears perked up, tail arching a hair. Whatever had been on his mind, Luna’s actions seemed to have driven it away, back to some recess that lightened his mood.

Seeing this, Celestia felt the corners of her mouth upturn in a small smile and she approached young pony as well. “Good to see you again, Rebel. I haven’t forgotten the help you gave us.”

Rebel shrugged his shoulders noncommittally, his voice growing very small. “It was nothing.”

“Still …” Celestia felt herself pressing. She stepped closer, keeping her expression warm. “It’s appreciated. You should see us more often.”

“I’ve got something to show you,” she added quickly and grinned to hide her nervousness. Rebel was one of the few relatively older pegasi who made any sort of connection with either herself or Luna, and he was her best chance to cultivate a relationship they desperately needed. “Tomorrow, if you come by.”

The statement stretched her sense of honesty to its absolute limit. She had nothing to show him, exactly, but her word could still prove true if, by tomorrow, she conceived of something to show.

“Well … okay, then.” Rebel betrayed a look of suspicion at Celestia, to which she held her grin.

Momma’s entrance stilled the conversation. A wave of excitement passed through all those gathered with the speed and force of a tide, and for a moment, Celestia forgot herself.

The old mare was immediately swamped with good-natured greetings of all kinds from the pegasi happy to see her. She handled it with amazing deftness, spending time with the pegasus ponies that approached, exchanging personal words and an occasional embrace. Momma was a name well earned, she treated each pegasus with a familial affection.

“Momma.” Celestia tipped her nose toward the pegasus mare. The filly she talked to held unreserved adoration in her eyes. “It’s different between the pegasi and her. Something about Momma, they just respond to it.”

“We’re nice too, or were nice at first.” Celestia shook her head. “It’s something more, something she was able to tap into.”

After navigating the pegasi as long as the whole of them had patience, Momma took the center to begin her story. With near magical charm, she wove an episodic tale of another old hero, an unlikely pegasus who fell in love with a beautiful unicorn. While their romance was innocent and moving, it caused dark things to stir unbeknownst to the lovers, and the tale ended without conclusion. Instead, it promised more on another night, suggesting a coming tragedy.

The three ponies waited until the end before Celestia approached her with Luna and Rebel in tow, after the other pegasi collected the food for their exchange. “Well met, story collector.”

“Celestia. Luna.” Her laugh-lines creased to see them. “How have you fared, with your new understanding?”

“Better, in some respects.” She dipped her head in a short bow, a reflection of respect nearly automatic to Celestia, when addressing a chief. “I’m surprised you remember our names. My … nickname seems to be all I hear anymore.”

“Oh, nonsense.” Momma brushed off the idea with a gesture of her wing. “I could never forget a pair of ponies such as you and your sister. You have a mark on you, one that tells me you have great stories to tell and yet experience.”

Luna stepped up next to Celestia. “May we share in some food again, today?” she blurted without preamble.

Celestia gave a nervous laugh, awkwardly covering her embarrassment. “We are quite hungry, truth be told. I can offer some of those stories to trade, if you want.”

“Certainly.” Momma’s chuckle felt genuine, having taken no offense at Luna. She pushed the silvery bowl forward, filled with a mix of all things green and delicious.

Restraining herself from tearing into the entire bowl was one of the harder things Celestia ever had to do.

Rebel Bolt exchanged his own greeting with Momma, falling into an embrace with her. After that, Celestia and Luna were too preoccupied with their halves of the food to listen. The meager meal disappeared all too soon down their jaws, slurped up with wild abandon. Still, there was satisfaction to be found and Celestia felt relieved of the main force of her hunger.

“Good, I trust?” Momma interrupted their reprieve and knelt to the bowl, taking a large bite.

“You should probably find more soon.” Momma looked up from the bowl, her eyes wise and canny. “You will be unable to live on these small bites forever.”

“I have so many!” She gestured to the open expanse with both forelimbs. “This room, why is it here? And the cave, I keep finding strange things left behind. Why are they here? Does this all have a story?”

“Everything has a story, but not all stories are known.” One of her wings spread and swept slowly over the chamber. “This place I know. In fragments.” She touched the raised pedestal at the center with the tip of a feather. “It once held something beautiful. What that was, I do not know, other than that it shined like stars and held all the colors of the rainbow. Long ago, it was stolen. It’s splendor captured the greed of fierce creatures, and the pegasi made no move to confront them. The creatures made off with what the room contained, leaving not a trace of it behind, save these.” She tapped the bowl. It rocked noisily over the stone floor. “As for why this room housed such a thing, or the cave exists … that I cannot say. Those stories are old, far older than even this wrinkled mare you see before you.” She laughed. “They have been lost long ago in the passing of time.”

Luna leaned in with the last of a fledgling hope fleeting from her. “Have pegasi always been here?”

Momma considered the question before she answered. “The oldest tales say so. The pegasi have been here a long, long time.”

Luna fell into an introspective quiet, musing on the story she heard. Seeing this, Momma stepped closer and dusted a cheek of the young mare’s face with a feathered-wing. “The cave holds its secrets greedily. It is one of those mysteries we encounter but may never hope to solve. Perhaps, it is best that way, left to our imagination.” Her eyes searched Luna’s face, puzzled. “Now, for the story you owe, tell me. How did you burn your mane like that?”

The unexpected question sent laughter through Celestia’s frame that she tried her best to curtail. Luna laughed too, and her cheeks flushed lightly as she began to explain. An aspect of Momma’s words rang true, but Celestia doubted Luna would end her investigations for this obstacle alone. If anything, the partial tale would only draw more curiosity.

While I have your attention, I'll drop another recommended reading. The fact that this fic, All Aboard, had only 27 likes is a crime against all that is pony. If you like something in the vein of Miyazaki films (Howls Moving Castle, Spirited Away), then this should be on your reading list.]

Chapter 16

Fear and control are interlinked. When we’re sure of our command, we fear not. When our grasp is tenuous, we become afraid.

They had a plan. Unlike the morning before, when Celestia awoke to stare aimlessly at the dawn light, letting her mind wander as it crept into the cave, today had purpose. Direction.

Yet still, a purpose different from before. No heart deep aspirations filled her, like wonder for the magic of the unicorns, the longing to see home, or need for Luna to learn the gift of wings. No, today’s purpose came from the basest of needs.

Celestia’s stomach pained her in reminder and she stifled a groan. Though the generosity of Momma’s shared meals sustained her, she felt the caution of the elder pegasus’ words settle on her shoulders like a weight. You should probably find more food soon. You will be unable to live on these small bites forever.

Luna rose with a stretch and a broad yawn. The hunger did not show on her, those distant eyes reserved, revealing little as they became alert. Only the fact that Luna woke without her elder sister’s beckoning betrayed the discomfort.

“Where are we going?” Luna’s trots carried her alongside her sister, staying just a little behind as Celestia walked to the mouth of the cave.

“Same as yesterday.” Celestia shook her head, then continued the motion to shake out her sleep-mussed mane. “I don’t have any better ideas, unless you do.”

Celestia nodded. “We need to eat, and to eat, we need to fly. Sooner rather than later.”

A barrage of shouts came at their approach, the childlike pegasi unrestrained in enthusiasm and wild in energy. After yesterday’s play, the trust seemed earned and the reservation gone in the face of more games. A smile quickly stretched Celestia’s lips wide and the hunger in her belly vanished like dew in the sun. Even Luna wore a grin, hopping low and playful as she joined a few of the young foals running and shrieking with joy.

“Who wants to play more cloud games?” Celestia reared up, flaring her wings.

As the colts and fillies fell into place, Celestia felt the deluge of their attention and energy much more fully than before. It permeated the air like wild magic, spellbound each pony, and merged together into a single essence. Like a horn channeling will, Celestia found herself at the center, bound by that same air, but controlling it. She could guide it, direct it, or lose it, as long as she kept in the flow of the spell. Luna, though perhaps not as aware, wordlessly fell into concert with her sister, balancing participation with careful study of the young pegasi’s skills. The games went off with river-stone smoothness, rough edges worn away as all sides came to know what to expect.

“Are you alright?” Celestia left her position at the center to stand beside her sister and spoke in covert tones. Her horn glowed, absently holding the last pegasus to chase the magic dragonfly. He had tucked one wing in an attempt to roll. Instead, the colt just tumbled, giggling as Celestia caught him in a telekinetic grip.

Luna shook her head suddenly, regaining focus in her eyes. “Oh, yes. Yes, I’m alright. I just feel … filled up watching all the colts and fillies fly. It’s starting to blur.”

Celestia nodded, privately holding a grave expression. “To the cave then, to practice.” She turned to the young pegasi, setting down the stray colt safely on the mountain shelf. “It’s time!” she shouted. “My sister and I have to go.”

Disappointment sounded in a dreary cacophony, wings and ears drooping like willow branches.

“I’m sorry!” Celestia failed to hold back a peal of laughter. “I had great fun. Tomorrow, maybe, we’ll do this all again?”

“Yay!” some young voices shouted, echoed, many wordless cheers joining the chorus.

Celestia left in a determined trot back to the mouth of the pegasi’s lair, Luna in tow. They passed through the concealing cloud once more, Celestia paying less attention to the clinging mist each time she entered. “How did it go?” She cast an ear back and heard Luna’s hoofbeats come closer.

“They were more relaxed today, more adventurous. I think they were pushing the boundaries of their skill since they’ve become sure we’d catch them.”

Celestia looked back over her shoulder, taking an opportunity to briefly regard Luna as they walked. “It sounds like we have much to work with today.” Recalling what she observed herself in their flights, her mind turned inward and her head bowed slightly. “I think I noticed that too. We’ll have to think of new games tomorrow, go prepared. Then we can really see what they’ve learned.” A sly smirk spread itself on the edges of her muzzle.

Her heart lept. Her eyes flashed wide, her legs braced forward so stiff and fast that they dug small furrows in the dirt that littered the cave floor. “Rebel.”

He stood before her expectantly, turning his head to one side at Celestia’s reaction. Eyes narrowed in suspicion. He spoke hesitantly, yet, Celestia could still hear hope in his words, deep seated and undisguised, transparent and lacking guile. “You said you had something to show me.”

Celestia bit her lip and hard, drawing pain. Honesty! She forgot. At some point between the night before and now, she’d forgotten the words she gave Rebel. Misleading as they had been, she meant to make them true after the fact. That had stretched her sense of honesty to its absolute limit. Now, it didn’t feel like a stretch, but a lie. I meant to be honest!

She felt their eyes settle on her, Luna’s and Rebel’s, waiting for the answer. Her chest heaved in a sigh and she lowered her head in resignation. “I don’t have anything. Not yet.”

Rebel was silent. He turned his head a fraction farther than before, his lips pursing in suspicious puzzlement. Luna said nothing, a distant observer as the situation unfolded.

“I’m sorry. I know I’ll have something to show you, soon. I just forgot to find it today.”

The young pegasus raised an eyebrow. “You’re very weird.” His wings spread and with a flap, he launched off, vanishing around a bend in the winding cave tunnel.

Luna watched the trail fade behind Rebel’s flight before she turned to her sister. Though she said nothing, Celestia read the latent curiosity on her features.

Heaving another sigh, Celestia’s head drooped even further. “I hope I didn’t just ruin my chances at making him a friend. Remind me to not be so haphazard in what I say, little sister.”

Celestia darted a harsh glance at Luna to find the blue pony wearing a mischievous half-smile.

Four days passed quickly into memory, each following a pattern of one before. The fillies and colts welcomed the games and the play, growing comfortable in their roles with the naive ease of their age. Each time she came, Celestia found less she could learn from the young pegasi, sometimes discarding any ulterior motive to just enjoy their caretaking.

After a morning spent with the fillies, Celestia sought out the same vast cavern chamber from before, still filled with the leftover clouds to cushion falls. The transparent barrier she erected every day at the entrance drew attention from the pegasi while she and her sister practiced, but only in passing. Celestia cautiously tested her wings in those times with new tricks and skills, always mindful of the mortality of a fall while Luna seemed to hold no such reservations and threw herself into risky maneuvers. Though Celestia disapproved of her younger sister’s behavior with stern looks, she came to expect it and made allowances in the form of extra clouds wherever Luna trained.

Momma’s storytime came none too soon each day, Celestia and Luna arriving early with bellies writhing in anticipation. Rebel Bolt often glided in just before Momma arrived. Though Celestia feared she lost Rebel’s trust, he seemed less apprehensive each time the sisters approached, his defenses and suspicion lowering as time passed.

“I’m afraid I must bring you a sour tiding.” Momma stood before them, face apologetic. “I will not be able to share my meal tonight.”

“What?!” Celestia’s jaw dropped in horror. Her stomach bemoaned the news aloud as the shock traveled down her spine.

Momma frowned at her. “You are looking rather thin, child. The both of you.” She nodded to Luna.

Reflexively, Celestia gazed at her flanks. Had they always been so slight? Then again, the hunger grew worse every day. Her attention shifted toward her sister, and she eyed the blue mare with a measuring glance. Luna’s sides looked sunken. Not to starvation, but enough and Celestia felt a sudden unease at having missed it thus far.

“In either case,” Momma continued. “As much as I’ve adored your tales, my old, sorry wings cannot go fasting another night. They grow weary and it’s become difficult to kick these old bones into moving. I thought I might find you and let you know before sharing stories today.” She stretched a wing, gesturing with it down the long cave, to where the light leaked in. “Sun has yet completed her journey across the sky. You’ll have time to find food before nightfall.” She closed her wing, eyebrows raised. “I do hope you’ve been preparing for just such a thing these past few days?”

Momma gave her a short nod. “That is well then. Go, and go quickly. I trust your young wings and agile wits won’t fail you.” With a smile, Momma turned, hooves carrying her with an elderly cadence back down the cave.

Agitation boiled up from inside Celestia and threatened to pour out her mouth like sulfur and water. She paced back and forth, unable to stand still with the surge of nervous energy. “What do we do, what do we do?”

Luna’s head tracked her sister’s pacing, to the left and to the right, and back again. “Is there much we can do? If the pegasi have to leave this mountain every day to find food, I guess we’ll have to as well.”

She halted to stare at Luna. Finally, a sigh left her chest and she sagged in resignation. “I suppose so. To the cliff, then.”

Celestia crouched low on faltering knees, peering her nose over the edge and looking down the long slope of the mountain. Cold wind nipped through her coat and she eyed the rugged shrubs and unforgiving rock that waited at the bottom. Swallowing in her throat, Celestia hugged the ground. She had fallen here once already.

“Do you remember the plan?” Celestia backed away from the ledge, keeping it at a safe distance.

“Yes.” Luna’s reply held unmasked irritation. “It’s just flying, Celi.”

Celestia gazed off into the distance, watching Sun’s orb float above the horizon. They had hours yet. “We go together. If one of us falters, have a spell ready to catch them. We watch each other until we’re confident our wings are holding us.”

“I know.” Luna uttered the last word through gritted teeth, stretching the syllable out.

Celestia shook her head and moved on, walking a few more pony-lengths back before aligning herself for the run that would carry her over. From a looming apprehension, fear lashed out and clutched her in its grasp. She stared beyond the precipice, watching the ground fall away, only to reappear in the far-distance, trees of the Everfree forest shrunken and hazy as they stretched ever outward. The fear squeezed the breath from her chest, turned her legs to stiff oak, hooves into stone.

The click of hooves on granite moved next to her, Luna taking position, mind far away from the mountain top as she awaited her sister’s lead.

Unfurling her wings, Celestia freed her knees from fear’s grip by force of will. One step, another. First she cantered, then she galloped, head low and filled with determination. Even still, inside she heard herself scream. Oh stars, oh stars, oh stars, oh staaaaarrrrsssss! The edge rushed at her and she pulled her forelegs up into a leap that carried her over the bluff.

Her stomach left whatever position it held in her body, floating about freely inside as she began to fall. A mad sense of exhilaration arrested her, colors becoming vibrant, contours more clear, and her mind racing with thoughts too fast to form any coherence. A blur of motion, dark blue, stayed at the corner of her vision—her sister staying at her side. Celestia kept her there, kept a full part of her focus on that Luna wouldn’t drop from view. As Celestia fell, she angled forwards, wings bent close in, the same position she’d seen other pegasi dive and practiced herself under the cave’s high ceiling. Her speed increased. Wind gripped ineffectually at her, mane and tail sent whipping. The ground rose to meet her, growing large.

She spread her wings and angled up, leveling off the dive until she stared at the horizon, rock and tree leaving her view. Flicking her head for an instant, she chanced a full look at her sister. Luna tucked her legs in close and kept her neck forward and low. Blue wings at her sides caught the wind effortlessly and kept her safely aloft.

The motions of her own wings felt nearly alien, disconnected from her body. Celestia contained probing thoughts, as if she experienced a dream that, by exploring it, would burst its reality and she’d fall. The wind ran touches through her feathers same as it did her hair and those sensations filtered back to her, reminding Celestia that her wings were a part of her as much as her horn. She traced those sensations to her limbs, found her control over their movements, and the fear melted like snow on a spring day, leaving behind only thrill.

“Yeeeeeeehoooooooooooo!” Celestia bucked her rear legs and threw her forelimbs out in glee. Life radiated off her skin.

Luna laughed in delight, excited and egged on by her sister. She whooped and splayed her limbs, keeping pace.

Never did Celestia dream of moving so fast, never experienced anything like this even at top gallop. The Everfree Forest’s upper canopy smudged beneath her into streaks of green and yellow. Even as she sighted trees far ahead, she passed over them in seconds and they disappeared behind. And the speed! It felt as effortless as a jog. Her heart pounded and she raced forward, putting more effort into her wings, gaining more thrill as the world flew. Curiosity drew her gaze skyward toward the clear air and she rose into it.

The Everfree Forest shrank smaller and smaller turning into tiny miniature and she left the Earth behind in defiance of all its laws that grounded creatures. Her mind filled her with images of what lay beneath, crouching in the forest’s shadow. Wolves, pitfalls, vipers, gorgons, ursa, Phantom Spell, Silver Spear, the myriad and countless other dangers. She laughed at them. Laughed at them all, from the unicorn chiefs to the monsters, soaring high above and untouchable as Sun.

And ahead? Endless blue stretched before her, infinitely deep, and clear, and open. She could go anywhere, to the sky and back, or the far ends of the Everfree Forest. The freedom engrossed her. She twirled gently, effortlessly as she climbed, Sun’s light washing warm on her like an embrace, able to see from horizon to horizon.

“Celestia! What are you doing?” Luna climbed up through the air, some pony-lengths below, brow knitted in confusion.

“Oh.” Celestia leveled off. “Nothing.” She tipped her nose down, wings fanned out for a slow descent.

Luna pulled alongside and her large eyes measured Celestia curiously. “I’m still quite hungry.”

“Right.” Celestia nodded, purpose returning to her thoughts. She stared down at the world below, seeing it from an angle completely unfamiliar. The mountains that sat like chiefs of the land still spired tall, but no longer as incomprehensibly grand. Rivers coursed like serpents, carving furrows through the forest. Just features on the vast rippling curtain that was now Earth.

Tilting her wings forward, she descended from the great height down, down, gliding with spare momentum over the tops of the trees.

“Umm ...” Celestia‘s eyes scanned, recalling her Earth pony sense—the same innate understanding of the land that had served their needs on their trek alone in the forest, leading them to streams and edible plants. Again she tried to intuit the patterns of flora and soil as the canopy streaked by. Yet, it came up empty. The trees streaked by, their nuances impossible for her to read.

“Ehh …” On impulse, her wings flared and she slowed. Luna shot by with a yelp, the stop too abrupt, and circled back around, banking on her wings. A pink glow of magic wrapped around Celestia’s horn and she plucked two leaves from the branch below her, bringing them up to her nose to examine. They were a familiar kind to her intuition, one they had passed countless of on their trip to find the pegasi. Inedible and slightly toxic.

And none of that gave her any clues on where to find more food. “Grah!” She hurled the leaves away from her in a fit of frustration. They caught the air gently, for all of Celestia’s anger, and drifted down in aimless sways.

“Do you sense anything?” Celestia kept searching, left and right. Leaves, leaves, and more leaves. In all directions, that same, poisonous tree grew in rolling hills.

Luna gazed into the far distance, slowly sweeping the forest from left to right. “Umm …” She looked down. “These trees will make us sick if we eat them?”

Celestia’s exhale came with a growling undertone and she rolled her eyes. “C’mon. And keep looking. See if you can pick anything else up.”

They darted low over the upper canopy, rising and falling with the ranging height of the trees. Celestia flitted across the forest like a butterfly in search of flowers. One direction, then another. Stopping here, then over there. Maybe a blemish would catch her eye, a unique plant, an irregularity in the endless layer of leaves that she hoped would spur her Earth pony sense. Yet, each time, the intuition spoke little and she found herself travelling far from the mountain of the pegasi’s home, Sun edging her orb gradually toward the horizon.

“Maybe we should go down?” Luna said, edging closer to Celestia as they flew. “Go into the forest and underneath the canopy?”

Images flashed through her mind unbidden. A wolf’s snarling teeth, a desperate gallop through the underbrush. “No.” Celestia shook her head, feeling a deep reservation in her stomach, an unwillingness to abandon the gift of wings. “Plunging in at random is too much a risk. What if we dive into a snake resting on the branches, or into a hunting pack? Let’s stay above.” Seeing Sun’s glow ebb red, she added, “for now.”

The thought of them going home hungry sent her stomach into roiling rebellion, and a pitiful moan nearly escaped her lips as she imagined trying to curl into sleep amidst near starvation. Why wasn’t her Earth pony sense working? It had felt so sure before, so trustworthy. Yet, so ethereal, out of her control and like she had lost it overnight, with no inkling on how to get it back.

“How do the pegasi find food every day?” Luna’s question came as innocent as spring water.

“All this time, I’ve been chasing my Earth pony sense, wondering why in the Everfree Forest that it fell quiet, as if it’s the only way to find food.” She put her nose to the sky and climbed. Luna pulled close on slow, but powerful beats of her wing, interest piqued. Leveling off high in the air, Celestia surveyed her new vantage point. “There.” She pointed.

Off in the distance, like a patch in the vast curtain, sat a sundried field. Grass bathed in the yellow rays of a late afternoon Sun, dusty and golden. The grass. Neither could tear their eyes away. Not just any grass, but wheat at its peak, crunchy and delicious.

[Thanks to Littlerobotbird, and Lightside Luc for helping me edit this chapter.]

Chapter 17

Silver Spear: the unicorn herd’s top combat spellcaster and instructor, having trained the sisters’ in the basics before dueling Celestia to prevent her escape.

Ebon Swift: A friendly, slightly flirty unicorn who was a friend of the sisters. Attraction was hinted at on a few occasions, though the possibility of it resulted in a complicated relationship between the three. Eventually, Ebon Swift was forced to choose between the unicorns he feared and Celestia. He caved in to his fear and rang the alarm.

Eventually, hunger compels them with the fact they need to fly if they are going to eat. The sisters begin to learn what they can from the foals of the pegasi and develop their own skills on the side. Sometimes becoming bored with Celestia’s slow pace, Luna experiments with the elements on the side.

Momma, who had been sharing her food, regretfully declines the sisters after a few days. Luna and Celestia now must go flying in search of their meal. After being caught up in the majesty of flying, and with it gaining new insight into the pegasus ponies’ mindset, scoffing at the dangers of the forest and feeling free. However, Celestia becomes concerned with her earth pony sense going quiet as she searches for food. Eventually, they spot a wheat field and Celestia challenges Luna to a race.

I’ve heard it said that eyes are windows to the soul. While many say this meaning that we let what we see enter us, I mean something more. The eyes are the hardest place to hide ourselves.

Luna’s ears shot up at the playful challenge. In the fraction of a second she pieced together her sister’s intent, Celestia sprang forward with a burst of her wings, leaving a trail of rose-pink in her wake. Following on reflex, Luna stumbled through the air, leaning too far. Wings flapped furiously to regain balance, and she recovered, straightening her body and finding a pace to gain speed.

The role felt intimately familiar, chasing her big sister in some race, watching her gallop from behind. Even as pegasi—or near-to things—she found all her thoughts and feelings were the same as they ever were. She never could win. Celestia had been stronger and faster from days before her earliest memory. Yet, Luna would never let herself be left behind. That, Luna felt even stronger than before, a resolve growing as firm as iron. To never let Celestia win by much.

She dipped her nose and swept her wings back, entering a dive. With the sense of falling came speed, exhilarating and overwhelming as the ground encompassed her vision. Angling her descent up, she leveled out and borrowed all that speed for a forward dash. Air rushed past her folded ears like the crash of a great river and snapped her mane behind her. Wind split before the tip of her spiral horn and she bent her head down aiming at the field, breaking a path as her wings found rhythm.

Celestia had done something similar, diving and leveling off for speed, leaving that pink trail behind. Broad, white wings flapped furiously, her hooves outstretched, reaching for the goal and buffeting against the wind. Luna kept an eye on her sister, the one of only two still points in the race; the other, the golden field.

Her elder sister held the advantage in this race, always had. The announcement gave Celestia a head start and Luna chased from behind, wishing to simply negate the ground Celestia had gained. In a short span, she did. The distance between her and Celestia closed in the passing of a few breaths. To her amazement, she continued to advance. Luna felt propelled, that somehow she was being flung faster than was capable or safe. A wide grin stretched her cheeks, and she overtook Celestia from below, seeing her sister’s eyes widen as she sailed by.

For all the effort poured into her wings, Celestia’s frantic flaps lacked the efficiency of Luna’s steady pace. It made sense, Luna supposed as she put her attention toward reaching the wheat field, while speed made her insides feel battered by a swarm of wild butterflies. After the days of Celestia’s cautious and timid testing of those wings, Luna ended with far more experience at pushing their limits. It felt like an unfair advantage. And one Luna intended to fully revel in when she landed, a mischievous, fierce grin splitting her features.

The treetops rolled and streaked beneath her, Luna flying just over the uppermost branches as the last leg of the race began to close. The wheat field’s center felt somehow close enough to taste despite still being many ponylengths away.

Luna threw a startled glance over her shoulder. Celestia’s horn glowed, a pink thread tethering Luna to her sister. The magic hauled her back, robbing Luna of momentum and flinging Celestia forward like a dart from a manticore’s tail.

“Celestia!” Luna clipped her sister’s name in a harsh breath and saw her elder sibling’s subtle smirk as she shot by, wings drawn in tight.

Luna redoubled her efforts and regained some speed. Just in time to watch her sister try to land at twice the speed of a dive. Celestia flared her wings to slow her approach. Still, touching her feet to the ground launched her tail over mane with a yelp of surprise.

A laugh ripping its way out of Luna nearly sent her plummeting to the ground. A dusty cloud of wheat flew in all directions, torn and battered from its stalks as Celestia gracelessly tumbled again and again, before coming to stop on her back, eyes dizzy, and a new furrow cut through the field. Gold hay settled about her like dust, gracing the sprawled pony.

It made second place all the more palatable. Luna limped through the air, clutching her sides as the laughter grew so hard it became painful. She flopped onto the field, still laughing and sure her sister could see. Celestia gradually regained her senses and rolled to her side. Eying Luna, she smiled, then broke into a soft laugh herself.

“C’mon, that’s enough.” Celestia found her hooves and strolled over to lightly tap Luna’s side. “Good to know I entertain you.”

A jolt shot through Celestia and she cringed before stepping over, placing a forelimb on Luna, and nipping at the back of her mane. “You’re still the fox’s mother!”

Without another moment’s hesitation, Celestia leaned down and took a great bite out of the nearest cluster of wheat. Stalks hung from her lips in disarray, matching the ones in her hair and she spoke through the mouthful. “We should circle the field. Clear it of any danger.”

“Awwww!” Luna silenced her protest by snapping up a cluster of straw, before Celestia refused the chance. Kernels burst between her teeth. Dried stalks and leaves crunched with delectable texture. The flavor filled her mouth and her lips curved into an utterly blissful expression. “Mmm …”

Celestia chuckled to herself. “Hurry, let’s go while my stomach allows it.” Wings stretched out and she took to the air with a galloping start.

Luna swallowed quickly and felt a wave of satisfaction in her belly, thankful to have something inside. She broke into a hurried trot, snatching another mouthful on the run, and soared into the air behind her sister. After all, Celestia’s precaution held wisdom, despite the inconvenience.

They circled above the field like birds and Luna slowly lost herself to gazing, absently following Celestia and watching the earth spin according to their flight. Gnats danced in harmless swarms through slanting beams of the late sun, and off under the branches of the forest, fairies toyed with will-o'-the-wisp, lights muted by day. The grass swayed, ethereal lines rolling across the expanse with gusts of wind, tantalizing Luna with the stirred scent and proximity.

“Have you seen anything?” Celestia called back, voice carrying over the rush of wind that rumbled in her ears.

The sisters descended down on the wheat like starving hawks. Luna squealed in delight, landing hard but ignoring the brief pain in her ankles. With an audible sound, Celestia chomped low and a bushel of tall stalks fell below sight. Luna attacked the bristly heads, crunching kernels, inhaling straw and leaf, hardly tasting in a ravenous desire to sate her hunger. A trail of wheat taken down to the root started to form behind Celestia’s grazing, growing longer by the blink.

Later, they both lied on their backs, taking soft, cool earth for comfortable cushions. Luna gingerly rubbed her belly feeling swollen, satisfied, and just a little sick. Craning with her neck, she plucked another straw with her teeth and idly chewed for reasons she couldn’t fathom.

“We should keep sentry…” Celestia’s slurred, lethargic tones drifting back to silence.

The sky above them darkened, waning to indigo. Furrowing her brow, Luna looked over and saw Sun settle into a lazy red, the expanse around her orb glowing orange, extending to magenta, to violet, darkening further with the promise of stars and Moon’s coming. Clouds hung suspended in the air, radiant in the colors of fire, only softer and giving long fingers to the last of Sun’s glory. Luna wondered again about the First Unicorn, about her mystic hair and beauty, about her magic and grace, about being loved and given the title Princess of All Ponies. She sighed at the thought and looked for where Moon might reveal herself.

“When should we go back?” Luna broke the long quiet, turning to her sister. “We have to be at the cave before nightfall, surely.”

Celestia considered that and shook her head. “We’ll use our wings. We’ll be safe from the forest in the air, night or no.”

“Oh!” A laugh from her elder sister pricked Luna’s ears. “I get it now.”

“My earth pony sense. Up above the trees, it could hardly tell me a thing. But down here, I see so much more. I feel in touch again.” Celestia smiled and nestled into the ground. “Good to know I’m still an earth pony.”

Luna turned her head and observed the field. She saw its slope, smelled the quality of its soil, felt it withstanding drier summer months, drinking deep in spring rains, and understood why wheat would control the land. Things impossible to catch from the air. “Ah. So I see.”

When Sun had nearly vanished and Moon began to shine bright, they could wait no longer and took to the air. Gliding leisurely in the direction of the pegasi, the White Cap mountains sat far in the distance, hazy in the coming darkness save the snow-covered peaks. Evidently, Celestia’s path to and fro above the forest had led them farther from the cave than either reckoned, and the journey back would take time.

Soon, the last of the day disappeared and night fell over the land like a veil, lessened only by Moon’s presence and the watchful gaze of the stars. Luna stared down at the trees streaking by beneath her, watching her shadow swim in the moonlight over each rise and down each crevice.

An underlying urgency sent hairs standing on the back of her spine and the muscles in her shoulders bunched. “Celi?”

A mournful tone entered her voice, adding a layer to the urgency and hush. “I may have been wrong, earlier. We’re not safe. Look up.” Celestia gestured with her nose.

Luna followed the line of Celestia’s neck high above them. Movement caught her eye. Silhouettes glided across a cloudbank, black on the moonlit gray. Fear shot cold through her veins and she took in a sharp breath. “Griffins.”

“I’m sorry, Luna. I thought that night would hide us, but …” Celestia lifted a forelimb and showed it to Luna.

Light cascaded over her elder sister’s coat, pure as new snow and radiant under Moon until Celestia nearly glowed herself. Even her mane and tail, pink as rose, drank up the starlight—utterly beautiful in her contrast to night. And unmistakable.

Griffins flew above, sharp eyes ever peering, and Celestia stood out as bright as a lone star.

“We have to hide now,” Celestia continued, face set in determination. “If we’re lucky, they haven’t seen us yet, but I don’t know. It may be too late. We need to go into the forest.”

“I know! We’ll be as fast as possible. Hide in the forest until they pass by, then we’ll be back above the trees and safe as soon as they’re gone. Let’s make this quick. If they haven’t seen us, then the glowing of magic will certainly change that. Follow me in as fast as you can.”

For the span of a few heartbeats, Celestia flew on in silence, Luna behind. Time distorted into an oblong shape. The knowledge that at any moment she might hear the cry of a swooping griffin stretched seconds on and on far longer than they should be.

Celestia’s horn sparkled to life. A spot in the canopy answered with a similar glow, branches surrounded in the aura of a telekinetic spell. The trees released a groan of wood and parted, just as Celestia dove down through, startling Luna with the abruptness before the limbs snapped back, pink glow fading in a wink.

“Follow her,” Luna muttered softly to herself, eyes darting to the clouds, trying to find the dark shapes of the griffins once more. They’d vanished beyond the rolling gray, gliding through the air somewhere behind the veil of night.

Banking around in a wide loop, Luna glanced at her forehoof, at the dark blue colors of her own coat and mane. Pure as it ever was, her coat was not radiant; more of the night than contrasting it. It gave her momentary relief to know the griffins were unlikely to spot her.

Taking her best guess at where Celestia had entered, Luna mimicked her sister’s spell. The hole opened before her like a great maw edged in magic blue, and she plunged into darkness.

The branches snapped closed when she released her spell and the last light of the stars vanished, gnarled limbs overhanging in their place. With hooves outstretched, she came to land hard on the dirt, her grunt muddling with the sound of scattered leaves and snapped twigs. Tucking her tail close, she peered up, eyes making their first adjustment to the lack of Moon.

The manticore towered over her, lips peeled in a snarl and a clawed arm already raised to rend her flesh. Luna parted her lips to scream.

Something long wrapped over her mouth, silencing her, another slithering around her waist. She bit down on instinct before it hauled her back with a jerk, the fall jolting her senses. She found herself staring up at the canopy, on her back and shaking off a daze. Celestia stared back, face stern, horn enveloped in a soft glow. Slowly, Celestia lifted a hoof to her lips and blew out a soft. “Shh …”

Timidly, Luna nodded and felt the slithering thing leave her mouth and waist. She worked her jaw and leaned up, taking a second look at the manticore.

It stood unnaturally still. It’s lion-like face snarled with bared fangs, paw swept back to strike the empty space in front of it. The bat wings at its sides flared impressively wide, and the scorpion tail arched behind it. In the light of Celestia’s horn, the manticore looked gray and pallid as stone.

Eyes widened, Luna swept her gaze around the rest of the forest. Other stone figures sat unmoving. A minotaur, expression locked in surprised. Deer, heads risen in alert. A moss covered stone bear laid on its side, at one point reared back in a roar, now fallen as the ground shifted beneath its weight. Luna’s heart pounded in her chest, growing stronger until the entirety of her body shook with each thump.

“We must be absolutely silent,” Celestia whispered and gradually extinguished her magic. In the encroaching darkness, Luna could still make out her sister’s pale gleam. The elder pony tentatively moved one hoof at a time, quieting the crush of leaves as much as possible, slowly scanning the area. Though her head sat low and wary, her eyes held a hard edge as they searched. “This is a cockatrice’s territory.”

“Shh!” Celestia hissed, giving Luna a reproachful glance with those hard-edged eyes. Luna flinched, lifting one hoof away. Returning to her vigil, Celestia nodded. “Yes. All the unthinking animals have been cursed, too. It’s a cockatrice.”

Luna looked into the forest again. A multitude of smaller creatures littered the ground, squirrels, rabbits, foxes, all pallid and all frozen.

Gorgons never cursed an insentient creature intentionally, as their aims laid elsewhere. Only cockatrices had such unfocused malice. Luna shuddered. The stories her mother had told on those countless nights home among the earth ponies circulated through her mind, parsed of their lore. Cockatrices held the power to turn a creature, any creature, to stone. But only if you looked into its eyes. A pony was a fool to think merely averting your gaze kept you safe. A cockatrice happily descended on blind prey, tearing them to pieces with beak and claw. An uncommon viciousness elevated them beyond mere predators. They turned anything they met to stone, if they could not slay it out of hand first, collecting vast hoards with time.

A wise pony fled at first glance and did not risk a second when even an ill-timed glimpse could spell doom. Naturally, their appearance in the lore varied. Some stories said cockatrices were part hawk, or eagle, or even griffon, joined to a reptilian creature; lizard, alligator—or most fearsome—dragon. Feathers and scales were the only agreement, along with a size that belied its ferocity, and luminous red sockets for eye.

“No. We could run into it as easily as run away. Stay quiet, stay hidden. When the griffins pass, we’ll go.” Celestia began to trot slowly, gesturing for Luna to follow.

Each crunch beneath her hoof felt like an avalanche, every snapping twig, a thunder clap as Luna trailed. Coming up to a freshly fallen tree, Celestia crawled in among the limbs, hiding herself under it’s still green leaves. Luna followed, watching her elder sister cringe as she accidentally snapped a branch, settling into the smallest ball possible with her tail close. Peeking out of the foliage, they both gave a measured sigh now that they were concealed.

“It must be ancient,” Luna whispered. “Did you see the number of creatures it turned?”

Celestia lifted a hoof and gestured for Luna to speak softer before nodding. “Keep sentry,” was her only reply.

Discouraged, Luna turned away and watched the darkness in the pattern of the unicorns, who hid in the trees. Preternatural quiet settled over the forest, to the point where Luna held her breath, lest the noise be too great. She paused sweep over each stone figure she could view. Other than the minotaur, no other thinking creature stood frozen. Only foxes, birds, and the other woodland animals, unable to discern what the stone figures warned.

Then, her gaze fell on a creature that sent her heart fluttering. Her lips parted in surprise as she mouthed its name. Phoenix! Celestia stirred beside her, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away.

“It’s a phoenix.” Awe filled her voice and fear washed to the back of her awareness. She turned to Celestia. “We have to see it.”

“Celestia!” She felt herself pleading. “It’s a phoenix! Don’t you know how special that is?”

Luna resumed whispering, but determination rose in her voice. “We may never get another chance.”

Relief and giddy excitement filled the spaces in her controlled by awe. But as she nosed out of the concealing leaves, the fear pulsed again and halted her, turning into trepidation. Lack of light so far below the upper canopy stymied almost all plant growth. Between her and the phoenix, nothing offered protection. A need to go back and cling to the fallen tree’s safety bound her. But …

Inside, she felt something harden. Something that would not be swayed by the trepidation, if it meant to stop her.

Peering as far as she could into the darkness, Luna saw no threat and left the safety of the tree, leaves scraping around her coat. A second set of hooves followed, Celestia, unwilling to leave her sister alone. The strong, familial presence behind her reassured Luna, and she steeled herself for the slow walk to the phoenix, battling between a timid need for stealth and an unflinching eagerness to see.

The safety of the cover dwindled with distance, yet it did not matter. As Luna finally took those last few steps and fear was a distant memory, the phoenix’s stone form at her hooves, pale and gray. She knelt down and swept her tail forward, gingerly brushing the dust and caked dirt that had collected with time. The fire bird’s contours became clear, every detail perfectly preserved, down to the individual strands of feather on its feminine crest. “She’s beautiful.”

Celestia stood over Luna, almost on top. Her head swept back and forth over the forest, acknowledging her sister with the barest flicker of her eye and a nod.

Momentary confusion passed through Luna as to why on Earth her sister wasn’t taking more interest. Straight from the stories, an ave of legend, harnessing fire and renewal, able to live countless centuries was in her grasp. To see one, to be close to it, to wonder about the things it has seen come to pass, or where it has been, and be a part of that legend for a brief moment. At the very least, it seemed to warrant more than a flick of an eye.

Either way, she dusted the bird’s face, the beak, the tuft of head feathers. The phoenix had been ready to fight when she was caught, neck craned back and mouth parted in a warding expression, threatening gouges from a hawk-like beak. Her wings fanned to either side, almost as if she cradled something, talons planted firmly on the ground. Luna sighed. “It’s a shame you were lost to us.” She lowered her head, saddened. Until her horn tapped the stone.

The sudden motion startled her sister, and she replied in coarse whisper. “What?”

“She’s alive!” Luna tugged the stone figure closer to her, too heavy to lift outright. “She’s trapped in stone, but she’s alive.”

Celestia blinked down at the pair, taking them in more fully. “That’s awful.”

For a long moment, Celestia said nothing, expression between conflicting thoughts, though empathy flashed on her features, toward both her sister and the stone-bound ave. “All right, but be absolutely careful.” She tapped Luna’s horn with a hoof. “And hide the glow.”

Reminded of the looming danger at hand, grave feelings weighed Luna down like a heavy robe. She nodded and knelt her head toward the phoenix, touching it again. The pulse returned, wisps of that subtle magic inherent to all life. Stretching her wings forward to cover her horn on either side, she channeled her will and closed her eyes.

Another magic answered, neither the phoenix’s nor Luna’s own. The curse of stone clutched jealously at the bird like a dragon laying atop its hoard, actively resisting change from all sources, be it water or wind or fire or time. The core of it chilled Luna, when her senses brushed against it. It hated. Like a spell cast in an element of harmony, the magic nearly had a life of its own. It hated change. Circulating through every part, inside and out, it ruthlessly snuffed out life’s tendency to progress by entrapping every piece of it behind stone.

“Just the spell.” She paused. “I wouldn’t like a creature that could do something like this.”

Celestia took that in silence. “Can you undo it? I don’t like being out here like this.”

“Give me time. Just a few moments.” She closed her eyes and bent her mind to the task, poking and prodding at the phoenix’s stone snare.

As spells altered reality with the power of will, Luna felt hesitation at a construct that would directly contend with the curse. The hatred would fight her at every step, and as it appeared to be an element, it could exert an enormous amount of strength in the right circumstance. No, she had to come from a different path. Had to exploit its nature the way Silver Spear exploited the nature of Celestia’s spells when they fought.

Luna ran her will through the spell like water, ebbing and flowing without resistance, telling her of its weave. She grimly assessed each aspect, each thread’s purpose, and the potential to unravel the construct and compromise the curse.

If she could undermine the hatred, the lifeblood of the magic, the spell would collapse.

Imbuing a counter-spell with the element of love seemed the most apparent choice. The antithesis of hate, love could perhaps restrain its power. And yet, love was not one of the elements of harmony—why, Luna didn’t know—and that made its use mysterious, possibly dangerous. Instead, Luna turned to the safe choices. Honesty wouldn’t help, neither would loyalty. She paused briefly over benevolence, as her unicorn teacher called it. But when her thoughts came to the next element, she smiled to herself with mischief.

Summoning thoughts of mirth, the memories of the day surfaced, watching Celestia tumble end over end in her spectacular failure of a landing. Though it made her smile with bubbling laughter, it would not do. Mirth came from spreading joy, from the uplifting feeling of seeing someone’s spirits lightened, not delighting in humiliation. She spread out her thoughts and searched for another memory.

Other figures swam past. Her mother, Lightning Kick. A childish pang of longing took her unexpectedly and brought tears to her eyes. She missed the old stories. Missed that quiet wisdom and comfort that supported her and watched out for her. Missed hiding her head underneath Lightning Kick those times she was scared or sad and listening to her melodious voice.

Reluctantly, she shoved those feelings aside and continued to search. When Whip Scar surfaced, her emotions were guarded against the pang and she let him go, finding no mirth there either. A cascade of other memories and ponies past her, each with accompanying emotions, yet they all came up dry of the element she needed.

Despair loomed like a figure cutting through a dark storm. Ebon Swift, her old unicorn friend and … more? The emotions became confused. His words returned, explaining how magical skill came from a unicorn’s passions, and that these passions dictated the spells a pony could excel in. Mirth seemed so far away.

“I need your help.” She wiped away her lingering tears. “I can’t summon mirth.”

“You need it?” Celestia looked at the phoenix, and Luna felt her sister’s frustration swell like a thunder cloud.

“Please, I don’t want to leave her.” She clutched the stone trapped bird close.

“Alright, alright. Do you remember the spell you used to give me strength after the Ursa?”

“I …” Luna had never considered that. Her mind chewed over the idea. “If you’re willing, I might be able to shape your magic.”

Luna closed her eyes, thinking over the possibilities. “Lean down, touch your horn to mine. Will your magic to be lent to me like a spell, and imbue it with mirth.”

Celestia nodded and settled down on her knees. Her body leaned against Luna and that white horn laid atop her blue one, the familial bond nearly tangible, a cord that bound them together. Luna leaned back against her sister, taking comfort in the feelings of warmth and protection, of shared experience and memories, of their mutual loyalty that stemmed from places so deep that it had lasted through life among the unicorns, all the dangers of the forests, and meeting the pegasi.

A moment later, summoned will swirled through Celestia’s horn. Luna answered with her own spell, finding that link between them in her mind and drawing it out, making real what was spirit. Her sister’s magic gathered, found the link, then settled over Luna as a mantle of power, waiting to be used. Taking hold, Luna felt laughter. Laughter of the pegasi children, happy and carefree in their games. Young faces smiling with contagious energy that made Luna want to see them smile and laugh even more. I should have thought of that. Luna took Celestia’s mirth and crafted it into a shape.

The curse resisted at first, its aura shifting away from the touch. Luna reshaped her spell and held it down. The feathers and hairs and tip of a nose assaulted the weave of the stone with giggling sweeps. Everywhere her magic touched, the curse weakened. Where it laughed, it could not hate. The earnest urge to spread joy simply evaporated the hatred. And where it could not hate, the trapped life of the phoenix broke free.

Cracks formed in the statue, widened and the pallid stone flaked off like eggshell. Luna opened her eyes and smiled, dropping her will, the curse broken beyond repair. Celestia stood up again while Luna waited for the phoenix to emerge.

Luna’s mouth parted helplessly as the realization came all too late. The phoenix was terrified. The fire bird’s head wrenched free from the stone and whipped frantically around, the solid yellow orbs of her eyes impossibly wide with fear-induced madness. Her beak already parted, she let loose a scream that pierced Luna’s ears with pain and rattled in her skull.

“Phoenix, please calm down!” She remembered the old tales of earth pony sense. That they could understand and communicate with the unthinking creatures. She needed that now. “You’re putting us all in danger!”

The phoenix thrashed out of the stone, scattering red and yellow feathers. Again she screamed, shrill and terrified.

“Phoenix, please!” Luna’s voice strained in her pleading. She struggled to pin the bird down long enough that it would hear reason. It flailed beneath her, the intuitive pony sense only able to discern the consuming panic. Yet, an oddly calm part of her mind noted that the bird did not peck or scratch at her hooves despite the struggle. It understood something. “You must calm down, the cockatrice will hear us!”

“Luna, get it quiet!” Celestia flung herself down, reaching her hooves into the fray, jostling her sister’s hold.

The fire bird writhed and struggled, finally slipping from Luna’s grip and rolling about. Getting to her talons, she lept from the ground, her tail alight with flames. Sparks leaping from her outstretched wings, and in a literal flash, she cut a path through the forest’s canopy, searing leaf and branch.

Trees rustled in the phoenix’s wake, the flap of her wings fading beyond earshot. Stillness rolled over the forest so profound that the air seemed to swell. Both sisters sat unmoving as any of the petrified creatures, ears pricked for sound, and eyes rolling across the darkness. The swollen air suffocated Luna, and her heart pulsed in her chest, marking the time with an incredible thump in her ears that grew more and more insistent.

Two red eyes glowed in the pitch black distance, bobbing up and down over log and rock with an awkward, birdlike gait.

A wark! shattered the silence, at once curious and predatory, uttered from a deep throat and wrangled through a creature not wholly avian or reptile.

Celestia burst into a gallop, her words running together in urgency. “To the tree, now!”

Luna had already taken to her hooves, cued from Celestia’s bearing. Her entire body from tail to nose played a panicked tune of flight and fear.

They smashed into the foliage, burying themselves in the leaves, huddling into the branches as fast as they dared before going still.

Another wark! shook the forest, unnervingly loud, filled with aggression and growing more sure of purpose. Chest heaving, Luna huddled against the trunk of the fallen tree as tight as her body would allow, moving with such painful caution to not make a sound. Unable to resist, she turned her head and peeked through the gaps of the leaves.

The eyes slithered. The two burning, blood-red gleams barreled through the darkness with a mesmerizing, serpentine sway only inches from the ground. It came closer.

The song of fear double, playing uncanny rhythms through her being. Insides turned weightless, as though lost in a chaotic fog, and her limbs became rigid as ice, slowly shoving away, too stiff with indecision to move.

Celestia’s wings spread partway open, just enough to draw Luna’s notice. Her sister—big sister, elder sister—stood within the cover, her back turned to the cockatrice and her frame facing Luna. The white, broad wings slowly unfolded, feathers ruffled and puffy, an unconscious act of bracing against the outside; of shielding. With rose-colored eyes narrowed in sharp focus, Celestia watched the cockatrice in a sidelong stare cast over her shoulder. Though her gaze never betrayed it, fear had her swallowing mouthfuls of air, fighting between noiselessness and gasping for breath.

The song quieted. It still played through Luna at a terrible pace, but the note of panic died away and something calmer replaced it. She looked away, focusing on her hooves with the knowledge that an ill-timed glance would turn her to stone. But terror kept her darting back, fidgeting in a struggle against the instinct to stare at danger.

The slithering gleams slowed, rising with a disturbing grace until they settled upright once more. Dried husks of leaves crunched beneath a pair of feet shuffling in a curious wander. Two pools of red light emanated from the focus of those luminous sockets, washing the bark and ground in crimson as the creature searched. The pools settled where the phoenix had once laid and paused.

It moved. The eerie crimson glow intensified as the distance grew shorter, as if its eyes flashed with interest or dormant rage at the sight of its stolen bounty. It stared long and hard at the divot, red glow shifting between shed feathers and disturbed earth. A talon reached out and raked the soil. Long, curved claws meant to snare flesh carved furrows with slow, measuring strokes. A rasping sound sent a cringe through Luna’s back, that of a forked tongue tasting the air. Once. Twice. She gritted her teeth against the repulsion that wanted to wrack her body.

A low, guttural noise, somewhere between a hiss and a chirp, left the same impression on Luna as a simmering growl. The two red orbs searched. The twin pools of light from its eyes drifted over the trees of the forest, traveling toward their shelter. Realization that didn’t reach for thought seized Luna and she threw her head to the side, eyes slammed shut.

She didn’t look, didn’t dare look, but could feel it. Red light filtered through small gaps in the leaves and touched her, carrying with it the creature’s magic, its curse spewed forth in a volley over all in its gaze. Legs of spiders crawled all over her. Spiders, and scorpions and centipedes. They writhed on her skin by the hundreds. Spiraling, walking, running, but above all seeking in mad agitation. Luna’s mouth parted in silent scream, throwing her head back, every part of her body cringing under the spindly legs, too overwhelmed to swat them away. Instinctually, she knew the spell wanted the pits of her eyes, that if she opened them, the spiders and scorpions and all manner else would crawl down her pupils, and the curse of stone would take her inside out.

She’d be alive, but what? Would she be aware? Trapped in stone for centuries. No companions, no movement, no sight or hearing, only granite as the earth’s slow churn eventually claimed her as dead stone. Her mouth hung aghast and she fought with everything to not make a sound in her voiceless screams.

The red light passed by, leaving behind the ghosts of the feeling everywhere the spell had touched.

Luna all but collapsed, shudders wracking her in the aftermath. For a long moment, she merely weathered the horror over what had touched her body. The distress slowly receded until the fear of that creature, still out there, became prominent once more. With great hesitation, Luna cracked open an eyelid.

The shining red gleams jerked with avian steps in the darkness, slowly stalking the woods, searching for what had disturbed its territory. Just seeing the light again gave Luna the feeling of more spindly legs crawling down her back, like a lone spider still resided there, and she carefully moved her tail to brush it away.

The red eyes snapped to their tree, washing their cover with violent crimson as a roaring wark! vibrated the air.

Luna whirled, hooves scratching over the bark of the massive tree trunk at the center of their hiding place, trying to mount it and failing. The spider! Not a phantom feeling, but a real spider on her back, from the bark she leaned against. Frightened whimpers escaped her, wings unfurled and battering wooden limbs in frantic attempts to escape. She heard the talons closing, the creature in a dead run. It roared again with its mangled throat.

A pink aura enveloped Luna and shoved her over the trunk. She tripped and stumbled, bracing her shoulder against the branches that battered her on the way down the other side, before thudding on the soil. She half rolled and saw Celestia’s hoof reaching over the top, questing for purchase. Luna snatched that gleam of white with her magic and hauled it over without care for gentleness. Her sister sailed up with startled eyes clear out of their cover, wings spreading to catch the air on her descent.

For a brief second, red enveloped Celestia’s coat, the cockatrice’s gaze falling on her before she dove and dropped from its view. Talons dug into the earth for speed, mere ponylengths away from their shelter. Luna scrambled to her hooves, too frightened for coordination, and ran. Celestia’s horn lighting the way, Luna weaved between stout trees at a gallop she rarely felt. The fallen tree rustled behind her, the creature mounting it in a single leap.

Luna spread her wings and lifted from the ground. Ahead of her, the canopy opened, rimmed in pink magic and promising escape. Celestia dropped in front of her, leading the way and hope surged enough to quell fear.

Wings flapped behind her. Not feathered wings, but the odd whap of leathery membranes beating at the air. Her heart sank at the realization. It can fly.

Flying changed things. It could hunt them through the air. Perhaps a confident pegasus could zip away, but they had hardly a day of real flying between them, and this monster might have decades.

“Luna!” Celestia gasped and struggled to wheel around, panic stealing her coordination as she barely stayed aloft.

The red lights fell on her and the sockets focused the full intensity of their gaze. Spindly legs swarmed over her every part, crawling through her feathers, her mane, over her neck, her eyelids. They were in her nose, her ears, her gasping mouth, writhing, slimy, agitated masses. And the cockatrice closed further.

She threw those feelings aside, her discomfort, her fear, her terror. They fell away, buried beneath some distant sea as if these things were not actually happening to her, and she was merely an observer, feeling little one way or the other. The place she watched from felt familiar, and arriving there came so easily that it momentarily stuck in Luna’s thoughts. She gathered her will.

Somewhere beyond her shut eyes, Celestia shouted, the creature still moved to kill. Luna’s horn lit up so bright, she could see the blue aura fight against the red through her closed lids. In that calm, clear place of the observer, she summoned generosity. A feeling, pure feeling, willingness to give, to share. Splitting the extra piece of fruit with someone who asked, or giving a little time to help with tasks among the unicorns, for Crescent Change or Ebon Swift. Luna felt no pain in these acts, she never had. Too little attachment to those things, and too much hope elsewhere.

Luna bent her element enhanced will into a mental construct, picturing the air between them and weaving her generosity through it. Her horn simply winked out, will expelled, but Luna could feel the atmosphere change, small shifts in the pressure that told her it had worked.

A vine snaked around her waist, pulling her away. “No, Celestia! Shield your eyes!” Luna’s second spell came in a blink. Silver Spear, the most skilled unicorn in combat magic, had drilled such basics into them. One trick he taught, learned from the phoenixes: fire could harm, but it could also dazzle.

The fireball sent out from Luna’s horn struck the generosity-infused air. Its detonation clapped like thunder, and heat seared painfully through her coat. Concentrating, Luna condensed the air and the fire down into a tiny point, shining like Sun’s throne. The air gave and gave to the fire, until she saw only white even behind her eyelids and the scent of singed hair wafted to her nose. The creature cried out again, it’s half-bird, half-reptile throat releasing a long, hissing cry of agony.

The air ran out. The fire died away to yellow, to orange, to nothing. Her ears rang in the aftermath of the shock, air clouded with smoke and ash. Feeling no stare, she opened her eyes and lit her horn. For a long while, she saw nothing but blackness. Gradually, shapes resolved and the forest revealed itself under the blue light of her magic.

The creature thrashed on the ground far below, squawking hideous noises. It threw itself against a tree in blind fury, clawing at it to no avail, before hopping around in mad panic, head thrown back and forth. The red sockets of its eyes had gone out, crimson glow replaced with blind blackness, and Luna could see the cockatrice for the first time.

Scales covered most of its form. A long, serpentine body stretched out behind a bird’s frame, like a powerful tail nearly as large as the bird itself. Muscular legs built for running ended with yellow skinned talons, gray claws chipped and old. The head sported a jagged, red crest and two more flaps under a curved beak. Mouth parting in its enraged, helpless squawks, Luna witnessed two rows of jagged, stained teeth.

“Are you alright?” Celestia’s voice reached past the ringing in her ears and Luna nodded. “C’mon. Let’s go.” The urgency hadn’t quite left her elder sister, and Luna allowed herself to be led along.

Celestia parted the canopy again, a pink aura bending back limb and branch. She guided her sister through the hole and back into the open air above the forest. Moon’s aiding light shone down on them, winds blowing freely through their manes and tails, cool and refreshing as a drink. Luna followed half in a daze, watching Celestia crane her neck and scan the open the sky for any hint of danger.

Finding none, her elder sister’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Celestia drifted closer, giving her a peculiar look. She turned and made her way toward the mountains, flying at an even pace, just a tad hurried from that previous scare. Deep in thought, Luna fell behind until Celestia slowed. “You’re acting a bit strange. Are you quite sure you’re alright?”

“A cockatrice. It’s half chicken.” A smile found its way to her lips, stretching wider and wider until Luna laughed.

“Huh.” Celestia fell silent, putting her nose toward the Whitecap mountains. The rest of the journey home passed without event.

Chapter 18

As we grow old, it’s all too easy to forget the importance of play. It’s trivial, we think, who wins or loses a game. No one is harmed. No one dies. Oh, but how wrong that is.

Celestia lounged long on that round, puffy cloud. Avoiding the darkness of the pegasi sleeping room, she parked her bed near the cave’s entrance. Celestia wanted to taste the morning light, let it beckon her to rise, like it had a long time ago. Though Sun did wake her, she did not get up. Instead, she lounged, idly drinking the morning. Celestia knew most of it had passed when Luna popped up on the cloud like a daisy.

“What are we doing today?” Luna stood on her hind legs, forehooves hooked over the cloud’s edge.

Celestia stretched out her limbs, running her cheek over the soft cloud in satisfaction. “For the first time in a long while, we aren’t hungry, we aren’t in danger, the pegasi aren’t going to bother us. So, why not nothing?”

Luna pursed her lips, displeased. Pushing off from the cloud, she disappeared from view. “Because I’m bored.”

Celestia dug the tips of her hooves into her bed, dragging herself to the edge. Luna paced underneath.

“Alright.” Forelimbs hanging off, Celestia slid down. Extended wings caught the air and she touched the ground as light as a feather. “Let’s play.”

The pegasi milled about as they always had; in their small gangs, with an air of either mischief, or casual self-preoccupation. The struggles of Celestia and her sister—starvation, understanding a strange land, the encounter with the cockatrice, all which seemed monumental, had not caused a flick of a tail. The thought would bother Celestia, if she dwelled on it. Had she starved with the earth ponies, it was because they all were starving. If she fled from a cockatrice with the unicorns, they’d organize how to chase it off their land. She was part of a whole.

The thoughts fled her mind like startled butterflies. She didn’t care, couldn’t care. For once, one disaster hadn’t led to another. The unicorns were escaped, the forest survived, food gathered, pegasi found, and not a cockatrice in sight.

The weight of calamity no longer rested on her shoulders. Celestia’s trot bounced, her neck stood as tall as a chief. An occasional pegasi gawked, whispering to a friend “Pink Plummet” too loudly as she passed. Celestia only gave them a sly glance, a smirk, and kept walking.

Not unaffected by the past days’ events, Luna lost a subtle misery—a frown the hunger pains gave her in idle moments, and a weak posture. Now, Luna trotted to keep up, blue eyes watching her elder sister, curious what she planned.

Celestia led the way down the bends of the cave, deep to the room they practiced with their wings. The left over clouds laid scattered in disarray, some taken for convenience of the odd pegasus, others having drifted about overnight.

Absently, Celestia threw a magic barrier over the entrance before turning to her sister. “Today we play a new game, Magic Griffins and Ponies. The first rule is that now you can use spells. I’ll go first.”

Hooves scuffed on the cave floor. Luna cried out in panic, but with a hint of giddiness. “Celestiaaaa!”

Running, her pace growing into a gallop, she closed on her little sister. Luna swerved in and out, weaving around the clouds, trying to buy time with agility. A dangerous tactic, but a necessary one. Luna’s hooves slid on smooth rock at unpredictable intervals, her tail shifting wildly to keep balance as she disappeared around each bend. Celestia’s longer legs were faster, but the zigzagging limited her advantage and she couldn’t cut her sister off with the clouds in the way.

But Luna was playing the old game, not the new one. Celestia bided her time, letting Luna settle into familiarity. A shift of that blue tail, and Celestia read the next move. Pink enveloped her horn and she shoved a cloud into their path. Luna face-planted at full gallop into the white, thick stuff, her back end lifting off the ground at the impact.

With a dainty trot, Celestia closed the distance and tapped her flank. “That’s one.”

“Is there a difference?” Celestia cocked an eyebrow. “Either way, you better run again.”

Luna reared, flailing her hooves. “You … pegasus!” Coming down, she shot forward with the momentum.

That caused Celestia to laugh and she counted down slowly, watching the blue tail disappear again.

“Here I come!” Celestia worked up to a run, in no great rush. Following along the path Luna took, she caught sight of the tail disappearing again behind a cloud and turned to pursue. Her horn glowed with prepared will, and she took the turn sharp, ready for a counter-spell. Unable to spot her sister yet, Celestia kept pursuit, around and around, until she made a full circle.

Her gallop faltered, slowing to a canter, then a walk. The light of her channeled will winked out as determination changed to confusion. Creeping up close to the cloud, Celestia poked her head around one corner. The cave betrayed no sign of Luna, no glimpses of blue spells or coats. Celestia narrowed her eyes and retreated back with a hum of contemplation. Turning around, the opposite corner gave no further clues, no hints of motion other than the clouds adrift on the wakes of the ponies’ running.

Something giggled. Craning her neck, Celestia looked back and up. Luna hovered on broad strokes of her wings, several pony lengths above the ground. She covered her mouth with her hooves, fighting the impulse for more impish laughter.

Celestia fought against her own chagrinned smile and called a quick spell to her horn. Wind snapped above Luna, and she yelped, dropping her to a tail-length above the ground.

“That’s two,” Celestia said, tapping a hoof against Luna’s side. “But, I think you’re starting to understand the game. Ready for three?”

The game changed from then on. It started with a rising escalation, Luna using more and more spells, and Celestia countering with her own spellwork. Soon, they both used magic freely. Clouds were used as battering rams. Winds whipped the room into a frenzy. Water jetted, splashed, or soaked the other pony. Pink and blue magical constructs shielded, slapped, collided, or whipped to protect their wielder and ensnare the other.

Never did they go all out. The escalation came only in the amount of magic, not its raw power. They adhered to an unspoken rule never to deliberately hurt each other, and the contest became about skill and control within that limitation.

Yet still, this game of Griffin and Ponies was unlike any Celestia had ever experienced. Never before were the Griffin and the Pony on so close to equal footing. More than a few times, Celestia or Luna as the Pony stopped running altogether, standing their ground and protecting themselves with a barrage of magic that kept the Griffin at bay.

Eventually, their appetite for the game diminished and they both stopped, breathless and laughing unexpectedly. Soaked from nose to tail by how many times they used water to slow each other, Celestia sat Luna down to dry her.

Humming a familiar tune to herself while droplets fell from her nose, Celestia concentrated on a two-purpose spell, drawing the water off her sister’s coat while fixing her mane into something presentable.

Normally content to sit and bear it, this time Luna found something to occupy herself. Her horn glowed on and off as she played with a small white tuft.

A blue, translucent sphere closed around the bit of cloud, encasing it before shrinking. The cloud squished, thickened, finally condensing into water as the magic sphere became a tight little bubble.

“Pop!” Luna reached out and touched it. The case collapsed and the cloud erupted with a thump!

Celestia waited a long time before answering, instead focusing on Luna’s mane. Like a seed still beneath the soil, she felt something at the back of her mind, waiting for the chance to bloom. “I’m not sure.”

“I thought you couldn’t join the pegasi.” Luna swallowed a mouthful of grass, looking up from her grazing. “Not like you could the unicorns or home. They have no herd, they’re just there.”

Sun’s light warmed Celestia’s back. The flight off the mountain side came easier today with their growing confidence and yesterday’s experience. To avoid needing a sentry, Celestia put up a magical barrier, a simple dome to keep out an ambush predator. Even in the pink backdrop, she enjoyed the familiarity of earthen fields. “That’s true. They have no herd, but you can’t quite say we fit in.”

The thought made Celestia cringe and she shook her head. “No. I think I’ll always be something of an outcast. But I think I can command more of their respect than I do now.”

They gathered grass soon after, a modest bushel. Likely, their offering to Mama’s stories would be upstaged by something sweeter, but Celestia could not stomach the idea of turning up with nothing. The elderly pegasus had already shared so much. With the grass clutched to their chests, the two sisters returned to the cave.

Storytime came soon after Sun vanished behind the horizon. Celestia and Luna arrived well in advance, guarding their stash and watching for Rebel. A pegasus built a low, crackling fire for light deep in the cave, the smoke vanishing in the high ceiling. It burned at the center with flickering light that made shadows dance along the walls. Accustomed to the romance of moonlight for earth pony tales, Celestia could still imagine sharing stories to this; ones of mystery and suspense, the shadows like allies in the telling with their deep concealing black.

The pegasi arrived in a trickling stream and broke Celestia from her contemplation. Starting in a few, but growing in number as the time approached, she scanned their faces while they came in.

“There he is,” Luna whispered, pointing Rebel out with a lifting of her nose.

The brown and white splotched colt glided easily through the air, passing over the ponies that chose to walk. Before Celestia could approach, she noticed something in his ever-transparent demeanor. He was searching.

“Celi?” Luna took a few steps, leaning forward to see her sister’s face. “Anything we’re waiting for?”

“Just to see.” Celestia broke her concentration on Rebel to meet Luna’s gaze.

He glided down in front of them and folded his wings. His head tilted at Celestia with confused suspicion while her jaw worked dumbly and failed to speak.

“Rebel! I’m glad to see you again!” Luna’s smile and sincerity brought one from him, and Celestia thanked the stars silently for the distraction.

“Me, as well,” Recovering, Celestia smiled with her own happiness for the convenient twist of fate. “I was just thinking about an old promise I gave you.”

“Promise?” In those eyes that hid nothing, Celestia could see that he had forgotten as clear as if he said so.

“Yes, that one from a few days past? I told you that I had something I to show you, but I couldn’t get around to it at the time.”

“Well, I have it now.” In her mind, she had practiced her next set of words, drawing all she could from the craft of storytellers. She needed to draw out all his curiosity, or all her plans might fail here. "I have travelled far and wide under the forest where the pegasi fear to go, and I’ve seen many amazing and frightening things. I could show you one such thing, after Mama’s tale, something that all pegasi lack.” She paused with a devious smile. “That is, if you want to see it…”

Rebel didn’t take long to answer, eyes a bit wide at the flourish, less amazed, more surprised. “I guess so.”

Celestia let out a breath she hadn’t realized she held. “Good, good. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

About to sit and prepare for Mama’s arrival, Rebel’s shifting weight caught her attention. He leaned to one side, one hoof timidly touching the other forelimb. His gaze fell away from her and stared into space, inwardly wrestling with some troubling issue. Celestia could see courage mount up within him as Rebel acted against a great fear.

“If it’s alright with you,” Rebel bit his lip, only once and only for an instant before he straightened. “Could we go see it now…?”

The last words held such deep, vulnerable hope. His blue eyes stared at her expectantly and reflecting how much this answer mattered.

Energy and life washed over Rebel, like Sun’s warmth on his coat after a cold night. It rolled over his body down to the tips of his wings, the bottom of his hooves, the arching of his tail. He didn’t quite smile, but came close with a new, emboldened hope.

Leaving the great domed room didn’t mean they left the shadows, passing by a dozen different light sources from a dozen different pegasi. Some—the clouds and the rainbows—left a glow reminiscent of day, while the luminescent bugs and mushrooms cast soft colored glows. And of course, the odd fire’s deep shadows.

“I’m surprised you came to see us,” Celestia asked once they turned down the wide corridors.

“Surprised?” Rebel rose on idle flaps of his wings, moving closer. “I’m always there when Mama tells her stories.”

“You don’t often come to us.” She laughed, uncomfortably self-deprecating. “To be seen around ‘Pink Plummet.’”

His mood darkened. Rebel lowered his brow to hide his features in dim firelight. “Do I need a reason?”

For a second time, Celestia stared dumbly and blinked in surprise. In all she could recall, Rebel had never evaded, never held back on a blunt answer. She bit her tongue to keep from saying more, already feeling foolish for bringing up her nickname.

Seizing the opportunity, Luna stepped between them. “Rebel, I’ve been wondering something.”

“Aye, what?” His mood lightened, and Celestia felt it best to let her little sister continue.

“Have any griffins, or other predators ever followed pegasi back to the cave?”

“Mmmmm…” Rebel swayed his head, weighing his answer. “Yes, but any cloud could do that. That’s a storm cloud.”

Rebel rolled to his side, hooves flailing. “What do you think it does?! It storms!”

The beginnings of a pout formed on Luna’s lips, and it took a moment for her to answer. “You say that like it is obvious, but I’ve yet to see that ‘storm cloud’ storm.”

“We weren’t raised with the pegasi,” Celestia leaned in to add. “You still might have to explain some basics.”

The colt’s expressive frustration abated. Instead, only after a brief consideration, he darted away. As quick as a dragonfly, he returned with a tiny gray cloud clutched between his hooves.

“Here.” He gave the puff a little shove so it hovered out in front of him. “A storm cloud.” With a quick box of his hoof, the cloud flared angrily, a tiny blue spark jutting out from below.

“Oh!” Luna suddenly stood straight, eyes brightening. “Oh, how amazing!” A blue, telekinetic glow surrounded the gray cloud and snatched it down to the young mare. “I saw a pegasus do this before, but I couldn’t figure it out.” She gave the cloud a testing bop. It flared again and released another little spark.

“You need the right cloud.” Rebel turned over and swooped down with absent minded ease. “Griffins know to steer clear of a pegasus with a storm cloud.”

Her little sister trotted with bouncing steps, horn aglow with the spell that kept the cloud following behind.

“You called me Pink, earlier. My real name is Celestia.” She offered him a little smile. “Or Celi, if you prefer.”

Celestia darted a glare back to see Luna’s impish smirk. “Anyways …” She shook her head. “We’re here.” With a brief light of her horn, Celestia sent a faux-fairylamp high into the room.

The young colt glanced around the empty and unremarkable space. “And what’s here?”

A giddy grin stretched Celestia’s cheeks. “Oh, just a clearing. I have been thinking, you’ve never seen unicorn magic, have you?”

Her grin grew mischievous. “Oh, I have my doubts.” She gestured with a hoof. “You might want to stand back.”

Now, she had his attention. He moved back yet more, his stance showing a sense of foreboding.

Luna took up position some pony lengths away, widening her stance to lower her balance, as Silver Spear had taught. She gave a nod.

When it came to practicing combat magic, Celestia had run into a problem. She could use water, wind, or a few other spells without worry in friendly games, but she always had to hold back. A vast repertoire of her skills could only be used with harm in mind. And as tempting as it was on occasion, she still vastly preferred Luna as a sister instead of an ash crater.

So, she had to choose something else to harm. Like an innocuous stone wall. And if Luna tried to defend it, they had a game.

Her horn flared to life, growing fiercer by the second as excitement rushed through her limbs. Luna’s horn glowed steadily in response, something very steely in the aura.

Rebel yelped in fright as a great fireball roared off the tip of Celestia’s horn, singing the hairs on her mane. Luna reacted instantly, a thick wall of water obstructing the path.

Steam exploded from the collision, rushing out in a hot, wet wave that clouded the entire room.

Celestia gritted her teeth. This won’t do. Rebel needed to see. She gathered wind in the far corner, sweeping it across the cavern. Only to collide into a second gust, Luna having had the same idea.

The two spells smashed and rolled into a spiraling gale storm, howling and throwing debris.

“Griffin’s teeth!” Rebel cursed from somewhere behind, ducking low and shielding his face with a wing.

Blinking the dust from her eyes, a realization dawned on Celestia. She had far less control over this wild display than she imagined. It sat at the back of her mind, haunting her, too late to turn back now. She had to push through.

Threading together a giant mare’s tail out of translucent-pink will, Celestia swatted the gale over and over. The spiral died as rolling bellows of steam. Silver used the environment to his advantage more often than not, and Celestia had not forgotten those lessons. Her eyes darted over her options, trying to catch her breath and think. Throwing her magic into the ceiling, the stone roof undulated like water, granite droplets the size of a pony falling from above.

Snagging each boulder in a glowing magic grip, one by one, she hurtled them at Luna’s wall.

Her sister gasped, tossing up a will-construct of a flat barrier. Each missile smashed the shield with the sound of a thunderclap.

It spoke of their inexperience to Celestia. The hastily assembled defenses lacked any the grace or elegance of Silver Spear. Their direct, forceful nature relied almost exclusively on strength of will, and it took its toll on Luna. Each rock that struck her shield drained energy, requiring more will to prevent collapse. Sweat broke out on her forehead, brow furrowed intensely with the strain.

Though, it didn’t take long for Luna to learn. Her wall suddenly contracted into another shape, a great bear. It snarled, and charged. With two huge, blue paws, the bear slapped each boulder aside, sending it flying. The stones rained down with frighteningly heavy impacts, some rolling with a crushing, grinding noise that made Celestia’s hair stand on end.

The bear grew in size and strength, stopping beneath the liquid ceiling. It reared and struck each droplet away before Celestia could grab the stone with her telekinesis.

Perhaps, there were better ways to counter Luna’s spell. But at that moment, Celestia needed pure spectacle. She steadied her hooves and lifted her head, the pink flare of her horn shining bright. Celestia stopped her concentration on forming boulders, drawing in her mind the form of a magnificent unicorn. The pony came to life around her, massive, mane bellowing in imagined wind. The constructed-form lunged and lept over Celestia, galloping with head low, horn aligned with the bear’s gut.

Luna dug in her hooves. Her horn’s blue shown brighter. The bear braced itself.

The unicorn struck true, a pink-spiral horn planting its tip in the center of the bear’s hide. Blue and pink sparks burst at the impaling like embers from a shaken fire. The bear bore down its weight on the unicorn, claws gripping at the shoulders and showering the room with even more lights.

For a moment, it was will against will, each sister pouring their strength into maintaining their construct. The claws raked at her unicorn’s shoulders, tearing gouges that Celestia frantically repaired and repelled before her spell unraveled. In turn, she pictured the unicorn’s horn driving deeper into the bear, hooves shoving against the earth, sliding for purchase. Still, the bear stubbornly held together, weighing down the unicorn. Never before had Celestia felt a such a close contest of magic, a strength that met hers and held its own.

Without warning, the unicorn lost its footing. Overbalanced, the bear began to tip over in a horrifying mirror of the Ursa Major’s fall.

“Celestia!” Luna shouted, trying to control her spell. The pair of creatures started an ungainly roll.

Hooves scratched and skid, trying desperately to gallop. Celestia lept over top of him, calling a domed barrier.

After a breath, nothing happened. Celestia opened her eyes, slowly rising to her feet. Pink and blue wisps of light winked out, fading rapidly one by one.

Oh, of course. Celestia exhaled. She muttered a timid, “Sorry,” helping Rebel to his hooves. A magic construct lost form as soon as the spellcaster broke concentration. “Are you alright?” she asked with a growing trepidation. She had meant to wow him, not endanger his life.

Rebel stood in silence, his jaw still parted, eyes wide and darting between Luna, Celestia, and the falling embers. “That … was …” His wings flared out and he reared, floating on fluttering tips. “Amazing!” He landed back on all four hooves, trotting quickly between them. “What was that? Those lights! You said unicorn magic? How’d you do that? Why’d you do that?”

The questions flowed like a river until Celestia’s eyes were spinning. “At least he’s alright.”

Luna actually tried to parse Rebel’s flood. “Uhh, sort of. It was our magic, and we’ve always been able to do that. Almost always.”

“There has never been ponies quite like us.” Celestia smiled, pride swelling her chest. Unsettling as that fact had been in the past, at that moment, it felt special.

First step complete in her scheme, Celestia led them back through the winding corridors, to find a place to rest and wile away the last hours before sleep. Rebel had few more questions, instead turning to marvel at what he saw, retelling it with flying loops and rolls. It relaxed Celestia, feeling akin to conversations with old friends, back before the unicorns. She smiled and laughed, adding in details from her perspective, embellishing … only slightly. Luna enjoyed it too, jumping in the conversation once or twice to relay some interesting detail.

In all her previous encounters, Rebel never stayed long, whether wary of being around Pink Plummet, or having his own friends. A quick exchange, a brief visit, and Rebel would be off, doing whatever it was pegasi did all day.

Today, he had been different. From that very start, when he had searched for Celestia and Luna, instead of the pair finding him, she could feel in Rebel a greater desire to be here. A quick thought of forcing Rebel somehow to leave surfaced, and twice as quickly, she banished it. The idea felt cruel. Maybe I don’t need him to scatter about for this to work…

A lull in the conversation passed and she saw wheels turning behind Rebel’s eyes. “What are you thinking about?”

“Magic.” He answered with a tone of Obviously. “We could use it in a lot of ways …”

Celestia felt the unshakable suspicion of mischief. She poked his side. “It’s still my magic. I have the final say in how we use it.”

Rebel huffed at that answer. “Fine.” He crossed his forehooves, withdrawing, opting to hover on his wings instead.

Thoughts of magic gave rise to a question that long since plagued her. “Rebel, you knew we could do spells before.”

He shrugged his shoulders, coming a little closer. “Every pegasus knows about unicorns.”

“And yet, no one cared until I showed it off.” She smirked. “Are you sure you know about unicorns?”

“Your magic is completely different.” He waved a hoof dismissively. “Who cares about some pony who can bend a tree around backwards? Or grab a leaf out of the air? I can do that pretty well myself.”

All the frustration of the last few weeks reared its head like a viper in the grass. “And what was your first clue that we were different? The wings? The horn?” She flipped her pink mane with a hoof. “The fact I’m a walking, flowered-colored, beacon of being different?”

The snarl of her voice pushed Rebel back like a wind, uncrossing his hooves and freezing them stiff. His eyes flashed white and darted, wanting to bolt. Yet, they didn’t reveal the panicky, instinctual terror of danger. A more deep-seated, emotional fear shown through.

“I’m sorry.” She let out a deep breath, remorse drowning the frustration. “I just … sometimes the pegasi make me a bit angry. That’s all.”

Luna glanced between them. In the pause, she gave thought to the words she wanted to say. “I’ve never seen anyone make her as mad as the pegasus ponies, but my big sister is harmless about it. Just loud.”

“I think he’s seen that once before.” Celestia muttered under her breath, feeling a little heat on her cheeks. Rebel seemed far more aloof at the time of her “wolf-begotten” tirade.

“I’m curious, though, now that Celi brings it up.” Luna trotted ahead, passing close to Rebel and briefly leading the way. “Why haven’t more of the pegasi found her coat colors peculiar, or that we have both wings and horns?”

Her sincerity did much to drive his fear away. He followed at a friendly distance. “Pegasi see weird stuff all the time.”

He shook his head. “Not like you, but … things. Like ground that burps the smell of rotten eggs, or a monster with the head of a goat, arm of a lion, and foot of a horse, that flies without wings. Next to that, you’re normal.”

The elder mare digested the new details. Even if Rebel wasn’t woven into her plans like she originally intended, the information he shared shaped and refined the tricks she would use soon.

“Ah, here we are.” Celestia turned to face them at the entrance to the sleeping room. The glimpse of the luminescent bugs and mushrooms invited a yawn in which she indulged fully.

“Aww!” Rebel whined with a tone becoming his age. “I’m not even tired!”

“Not for me.” Celestia lifted her white hoof. “I stand out far worse in moonlight than the day.”

“No!” A jolt of fear ran through Celestia, startling as a clang. “Not alone, not after last time.” She turned and glanced at her sister, seeing her skin crawl with memories of the cockatrice’s magic. “Besides, we’re earth ponies. We rise and rest with the sun.”

A quiet laugh shook her chest. “Good night, Rebel.” Celestia turned and disappeared into the dark room.

Her little sister hesitated, watching Celestia go before turning to the pegasus. “You’re welcome to find us tomorrow, if you don’t go to sleep now.” A smile shaped the tone of her words. “We’ll be practicing our magic again. Good night, Rebel.”

So he’s left. Maybe my trick will work after all. Choosing an empty cloud, Celestia lifted herself off the ground with her wings, landing on its white embrace with an enthusiastic flop. A moment later, Luna touched the cloud’s surface next to her.

In the dim light of the creatures, she watched her sister settle. “Are you ready for tomorrow?”

Celestia rolled to her side, eyes softly closing. Time passed slowly in her thoughts, but she eventually drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow, began her grand trick on the pegasi.

The next day’s Sun rose far past dawn before Celestia could feel it’s beckon. Waking Luna with little nudges, a shared chorus of their stomachs made the first matter of the day settling their hunger. They lept off the mountain side with little difficulty, and more and more, leaving the cave to be beneath the blue sky felt like returning home. That day, Celestia chose a grassy field dotted with trees, hoping to find a treat among the branches. Once on the ground her earth pony sense proved true, and they both had a fill of apples.

“Not too much,” Celestia broke their sounds of joyful chewing, expression turning serious. “We can’t go back overfull. Not today.”

A great, crisp crunch of an apple in her mouth, Luna looked measuringly at her sister. “I don’t know why you’re so concerned about me. You’re the one that has all the work today. I could probably eat thirty apples and still be okay.”

“Work that you play a vital part in.” Celestia wagged a hoof at her belly. “And I don’t want you feeling sick when you do it.”

Mostly, they simply retreaded Celestia’s idea from yesterday, Luna nodding as Celestia spoke. Having the steps repeated caused the younger mare’s eyes to glaze over, but Celestia pushed through until she laid out the entire plan once more.

As they promised Rebel, they returned to the room they had practiced their magic and the game started anew. After yesterday’s near miss, neither sister pushed their limits. That wasn’t the point, and they’d need their strength later. Instead, they started small, and experimented, trading one turn after the other. A jet of flame from Celestia. An arc of lightning from Luna. Each spell came carefully wrought, and was countered with equal consideration.

Though, not every counter was successful. The jagged edge of lightning tore through a bank of earth. Flame still burned the wall on the other side of a transparent barrier. But their practice continued.

And soon, the claps of thunder, roar of winds, and alternating flashes of blue and pink drew a curious crowd. They trickled in at first, but the number of pegasi steadily grew, like a first snowfall in winter.

The edge of Celestia’s lips felt a little tug of glee. Word has spread. Or, so she hoped. She had no way to tell which pegasi had merely passed by, or which ones heard rumors from Rebel.

With a nod to Luna, the magic grew more intense. And like yesterday, they aimed for spectacle. Massive creatures, constructed of will, battled for the cave. Ursa and unicorns, phoenix and cockatrice, dragons and swarms of wasps, anything large and sure to spark beautifully when it battled. Murmurs and gasps made the air feel alive, the pegasi either impressed or frightened when the magic started to fly.

It’s time. With her wolf unraveling from the tears at its side, Celestia turned smartly on her heels and faced the pegasi. They lounged in crevices, hovered on contented flaps of their wings, or stood on the floor, completely covering the far wall like a trove of cliff-nesting birds. Lifting a faux-fairylight into the air, Celestia illuminated the cave brighter and brighter, until it rivaled the shine of day.

The stare of a hundred eyes sent her skin to crawling. Celestia mustered every ounce of pride and defiance she had, raising her head and squaring her shoulders. “Oh, seems like you’ve all come to watch.” Her voice carried loudly, using just a touch of Luna’s trick to amplify it. “I’m kind of bored now, though. I think I’m done. Unless …” She sat on her hindquarters, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow. Her mouth gave a fox’s smile. “One of you would like to play.”

Murmurs passed between the pegasi, confused, but most unmistakably sensing a trick.

“Oh, come now.” She waved her hoof dismissively. “I don’t expect any of you to use magic.” Her wings flared at either side, white and broad. “We’ll have a contest of wings.”

The murmurs quieted, but still whispered, and Celestia could nearly hear minds turning over what she played, saw it on their individual faces.

“Really? Not one?” Celestia paused a beat before shrugging her shoulders and rising to her hooves. “Alright, then. C’mon, Luna. Not a single pony here believes they can fly better than Pink Plummet.”

The held-breath silence to stunned indignation. Celestia took no more than three paces before a stallion lept from their ranks. “I’ll do it.”

Nostrils snorted in challenge from a deeply freckled face. Tall legs stood wide, lean with quick muscle, brown and white with dotted coat. He flicked a strand of his mane back from his face, revealing a sneer for a fraction of a second. “I’ll teach you who’s the best flier in the cave.”

Whoops rained from the crowd, dying quickly and shifting attention to Celestia, for her response.

This sort pony represented the turn she feared the most in her plans. Needling the pride of the pegasi, she hoped someone more foolhardy than smart would challenge her. Instead, this freckled stallion bled bird-like agility, from nose to tail, and intended to prove beyond a shadow that she should never have tempted him. Her smirk now served to hide her fearfully pattering heart.

She nodded to Luna, who returned the nod and cleared the center. “It’s simple.” Celestia gave her wings a nonchalant stretch. “We fly here in this room. If I catch you, I win. If I can’t, you win.”

“Oh, this will be good.” A laugh bellowed from his throat. “Give the word, I’m ready.”

Fast as a jack rabbit, he bolted into the sky, faded white streak in his wake. Celestia followed suit with her own spring, wings flapping furiously to keep up with him. Immediately, he rolled upside down and passed over Celestia, half looping with plenty of birth between them, and passed under her.

Stunned, Celestia lost all her momentum, trying to wheel around and dive back on his tail. It was vital to keep up.

With only so much room in the cave at this speed, Freckles had to turn to avoid the wall. Having regained her momentum from the small dive, Celestia positioned herself to cut him off.

Yet in only their quick exchange, the stallion sensed the level of her skill. He took the turn wide, heading straight for her. Celestia startled to flounder with him barreling down. Just out of her reach, he rolled again, this one different. With his wings outstretched, he flew a literal circle around her, passing above her head on the front, and below her rear hooves on his way by, like the spiral of a horn.

Celestia gritted her teeth in a grunt, turning to pursue again. In the confines of the cave, he’d have to loop around, giving Celestia another chance to stay on his tail. He ducked and turned, left and right again with surprising agility, baiting her to commit. Recognizing the tactic as one played even on the ground by earth ponies, she faked her own commitment before circling around and falling right behind his actual path.

Yet, it still revealed her weakness. Even doing the exact right move, his raw speed kept her out of arms reach. In only a second of a flat burst, he widened the gap between them. Turning to avoid the cave wall, he chanced a glance at her and smiled.

But as he measured her skill, she measured him. Wary of what may have been a trap, he juked and dived and rolled, keeping as unpredictable as possible. In that glance, in his decision to use a straight line, she saw confidence replacing his suspicion. And she only needed one moment of predictability to win.

Again, she cut off his turn, and again he used a flat line to out run her. Gaining altitude slowly, she watched his eyes. His quick glance back was all she needed. Her tongue lulled out the corner of her mouth, as if she concentrated.

Hiding in plain sight, Luna’s horn flicked in a spell so fast that anyone not looking directly at her would miss it. And all sat with their attention on the racing pair.

The wind struck under Freckle’s wing, twisting it at an odd angle. The other flapped frantically for control, sapping all his momentum.

She planted all four hooves on his back and sprung off the stallion. “Gotcha!”

Triumph filled her inside out like a raging flood, fluttering her wings, manic laughter pouring out over the silence. Landing took all her concentration, stemming the jittery, mad glee. She turned away from Freckle and arched her neck, throwing back her mane with a shake. “I suppose you aren’t the best flier in the cave.”

The tide of attention turned to him. It started with a snicker, and it spread. Jeers followed, whoops of excitement. Soon every pegasus lost control, dropping from the sky, with clutched sides, rolling on the ground with derisive, bellowing laughter and cheers.

Immense satisfaction warmed beneath her skin, and she smiled to herself. Celestia had played the pegasi at their own game and won. Never once breaking her word by using magic. Her magic, anyway. Now, all the derision she faced and suffered twisted back on the pegasus she defeated. She turned just enough to see Freckle out of the corner of her eye.

The stallion before her slumped, broken. Wings sprawled limp, hind quarters sat, head lowered to stare at the ground beneath his hooves. Shoulders hardly held the resolve to support him while he withered in the humiliation of could be the worst moment of his life. Freckle had gone from among the best fliers to beneath the lowest fool. He had everything stripped from him in an instant and held the respect of none. Celestia doubted any friends would risk standing by him, and she had been the one to tear him down.

Far sooner than she planned, Celestia spun on the crowd. “OH?!” Making full use of Luna’s trick, the word echoed off the walls and silenced the laughter. “You think you can do better?” She stomped a hoof and stood with arrogance. “Let’s see you be the first to try!”

Faces turned and looked at each other with the hissing tones of whispers. Freckle’s eyes widened and he raised his head, glancing first at Celestia, then at the other pegasus ponies with a measure of hope.

They’d seen Celestia succeed once now. If any had the confidence to risk their reputation remained to be seen. And yet, any who didn’t challenge could not rib Freckle while pretending to be above him.

“Me next.” An oddly confident mare’s tone rose above the gathered ponies. A pegasus of dark, clay red drifted out of the crowd, riding on her wings. The mare lacked any of the telltale signs of flying skill, with rounded edges, a stringy mane, and stature a full head shorter than Celestia. “I bet I could do better.” She tilted her head, exposing a sharp glint in her eyes

An instinct churned Celestia’s stomach in warning. “Alright.” She dug her hooves into the ground, ready to spring. She’d have to trust her sister. “Let’s see what you can do.”

The clay-colored mare didn’t wait. As soon as Celestia finished, a sharp flap from the mare’s wings launched her across the cavern. “Come catch me!”

Reacting from a place just above instinct, Celestia lept from the ground and her broad wings stroked the air, twisting as she went to follow on the red mare’s trail.

Freckle’s skill had eclipsed them both with the intricacy of his evasions and his effortless agility. This red pegasus she faced now dodged left and right, flipping over and half looping in a dive before rising again. None of which had the same impressive or unpredictable effects. Celestia turned and matched each dodge, each roll, and each stunt.

But for all the effort, Celestia still couldn’t keep up. Red’s turns were tighter, her speed was greater, and every maneuver she pulled kept Celestia successfully at bay. After all, Celestia’s wings were new, and this pegasus was a born flyer.

It struck her that Red played it safe, each turn very conservative of her skill with the mare looking over her shoulder more often than not. Again, some instinct rung in warning that the mare’s behavior felt off, and Celestia pushed it down. It wouldn’t matter once Luna cast a spell. And Red behaved so much more predictably.

Rising into position above and behind the pegasus, Celestia timed her signal. A turn, a straight line. Wings aimed for a dive, Celestia’s tongue lulled out her mouth.

Wings snapped closed. The pegasus went into freefall. A ruffle passed through fur of the mare’s coat where Luna’s spell missed it’s mark.

Thought tumulted through Celestia’s mind. How!—could she have seen—no, but, Freckle’s wing, she could have guessed—recognized a signal!

Her intended catch now empty space, Celestia’s hooves wheeled in the air, losing control, trying in vain to salvage the dive. The mare spread her wings a mere nose above the ground, turning her fall into a burst of speed.

The breadth of Celestia’s entire plan unraveled before her. One victory did little to change her reputation. A fluke, a chance, a lucky break. Luck that she survived her fall, and luck now that she defeated a single pegasus. With a loss, Pink Plummet demonstrated little more than bad flying in this challenge. Worse still, she dragged another down with her, a stallion now a victim of her failed trick.

She flared her wings, trying to steady her uncoordinated wobble, watching her hope vanish with the fleeting of the clever mare.

With a yelp, Celestia hurtled through the air vertically like a dandelion seed in a storm, too shocked to do more than watch the world fling around her. She saw the mare’s back like a still point, her heart skipping as it got ever so close to passing right by. Reaching with all her might, Celestia stretched out a hoof and flicked the mare’s ear. “Gotcha …”

Red looked up, whites of her eyes flashing when she saw Celestia, not flying, but flinging through the air.

The world flipped again, and Celestia was horizontal, half dizzy from the spin, and vaguely aware that her space was running out before a rocky stop. Slamming will into her horn, she closed her eyes and envisioned a cloud coalescing from the thin air.

Something soft and very forgiving enveloped her, knocking the wind from her lungs as she slowed. Disoriented, she struggled against the soft surroundings. Her legs quaked with the aftermath of exhilaration and fright. She tore her way through the cloud before dropping to the floor with a thump, the impact tearing a huff from her chest, and she tried to focus.

The pegasi were alive in a sea of flapping feathers. Some soared through the air in a loop, others bounced on the ground near weightless on overexcited wings, and a cacophony of cheers flooded her senses. In a dark spot among them, Luna lifted a hoof in a wave, wearing an impressively wide and proud smile.

Luna, you fox’s get, Celestia thought with playful affection. You did that, didn’t you?

Red stood not far, mouth agape in confusion. Celestia flashed her a grin and strolled past.

Intelligible words soon drowned in sheer volume, pegasi shouting for attention all across the cavern wall. It made Celestia laugh, in triumph and relief, laugh until her sides hurt. One victory could be luck, but two? Now, Celestia proved her skill, ranking herself above the fastest and smartest. Losing lost its shame. Every pegasus wanted their chance to win, to be able to claim they were the one who out-flew and out-thought Pink Plummet.

Somewhere, Celestia knew Freckle sagged in relief. If he hadn’t fainted partway through.

“Alright!” she shouted, trying to stifle her laughter. “Alright…” Lifting her hoof in a gesture to stop, the noise began to die down. “Two is enough. You’ll have to find me on another day.”

Disappointed murmurs passed quietly as the gathering dissolved, each pegasus navigating their own way. A hundred different conversations came to life at once in a clamor as friends bunched together to talk about what they saw. A brief thought of the fillies and colts passed Celestia, contrasting their actions with their elders now. While the youngsters groaned more vocally, less composed than the adults, Celestia found this place familiar, commanding their attention.

Hooves interrupted her thoughts, Luna skirting through the crowd, ducking around others unobtrusively. She strode to her sister wearing a massive grin. “How did you like that!”

Celestia shook her head, chuckling. “A little warning next time, before you start tossing me around in the air.”

“A few, on that second spell. I don’t think it mattered, not for pegasi. It’s not like they don’t use tricks all the time.” She inhaled through her nose, chest expanding. “I think they would have admired that we were clever.”

A brief silence passed. Luna looked over her shoulder, to the left and then the right, watching the pegasi go. “So, what now?”

“Now?” Celestia closed her eyes, crafting a spell. A pink glow enveloped her horn, and a corresponding light ripped a part of the cloud away in a telekinetic grip. Laying it out in front of her, Celestia calmly smoothed it into a soft bed.

“After that, I think I’m going to lay down for a few minutes.” She rolled to her side, tongue lulling out as if dead. “Or hours.”

Chapter 19

Don't get too focused on the differences, my faithful student. In the end, they were ponies, with every need, desire, and pain that entailed.

“Him.” Rebel leaned over their high, rocky perch and pointed down at the cavern floor. A stallion cradled something beneath a wing, head lowered, and eyes darting to glare at any pegasus who came too close. “That’s Rapid.”

The stallion nestled himself into a private little cove, far away from anyone else. Raising a wing, an apple dropped to his hoof and he set it in front of him, licking his lips. A quick thought and a touch of magic sent a flickering light to the stallion’s cove. Rapid turned a questioning gaze behind him. His tail lapped in pink flames.

Rapid jumped ramrod stiff. Wings flapped like a startled bird, legs galloped like a panicked horse, neither working together so he became a mass of flailing limbs. Finally, his hooves touched the floor and he bolted from the cave with an ululating whinny.

Rebel, Celestia, and Luna all erupted in laughter, rolling back and forth. Celestia clutched her sides. The flame had been a harmless illusion. “Oh, that’s so satisfying.” She wiped a tear from beneath her eye with a feathered wing. In a herd where pranks were common place, Celestia found a growing appreciation of their joys.

Without warning, Rebel lept from the ledge, swooping down into the alcove and plucking the apple with his teeth. It reminded Celestia of a crow or grackle with the speed Rebel stole the fruit.

The apple crunched at his return, Rebel taking a deep bite. Sensing her stare, he tucked the bite into his cheek. “What?”

Rebel lowered his head, wings ruffled in anger. “What? He stole my blueberries yesterday! I got mine from a bush and he took it! The whole branch!”

“Fine!” He threw the apple at her feet and flared his wings, launching off the perch. He came to rest far away, sulking at the other end of the cave. His transparent nature again left his feelings open, Celestia reading the betrayal and hurt plain as day.

She sighed and lifted the apple with a glow of magic. Shaping her will into a shard of obsidian, she split the apple in half. The bitten half soared through the air on a telekinetic spell, tapping Rebel on the shoulder. He turned, eyes flashed surprise, then gingerly plucked the apple from the air with his hooves. The other half, Celestia returned to where Rapid had abandoned it in his panic.

“I never wanted it for myself,” Celestia responded softly. “I just don’t approve of you using my pranks to steal. But since he took your blueberries, we’ll split it this time and call it even. Okay?”

He regarded her with a measuring glance, taking another bite of the apple. “You’re strange.”

The statement, delivered so bluntly, caught Celestia off guard. You’re strange. In two words, he captured her state among the pegasi. Rumor of her victory over the two ponies spread like fire in a dry field. Half a hundred pegasi went throughout the cave, telling and retelling the story of Pink Plummet’s challenge. Her grand trick had worked. But like most plans, it didn’t unfold as expected.

They treated her with a growing respect as she had hoped. Very few now antagonized from day to day. After all, she had caught two skilled fliers. If anyone dumped a raincloud on her now, they ran the risk of being caught themselves by an angry mare who could wield fire and wind.

While rumor spread of her skill, rumor persisted over her behavior. Pegasi began to approach, to talk, but mostly to ally. It was never long before they had a scheme with which they wanted her help. Clear a room of others, take a rainbow-filled cloud from some pony, steal fruit—the pursuit of something sweet remained a popular endeavor.

Harmless fun, she could revel in. Treating a pony unfairly, that upset her and she refused. They often gave her distance after that, even ponies she had hopes were becoming friends. If she could benefit from them, and they from her, then why refuse? At the expense of some unknown face was a fact of life for them, and unthinkable for her.

What’s more, Celestia compounded her unusual behavior. She took up the habit of fixing their disguising cloud at the entrance of the cave. She erased hoofprints, trail signs, resettled the cloud into a more natural looking position, like she learned among the unicorns. All more effort than any other pegasus attempted or cared.

From laughing stock, to enigma. The pony that would dive off a cliff without wings, but could outsmart their best fliers. The pony who could outmuscle their strongest stallions, but refused to take anything with her skill. The pony who was a pegasus and not a pegasus.

This new reputation was isolating in its own way. Even if she saved herself from direct mischief, once she began to confuse others, she alienated them. Only Rebel seemed to tolerate her.

The stream of thought broke abruptly when the blue shadow of her sister stood oddly fixated. Luna held as still as a cat at the edge of their perch, eyes narrowed in concentration and horn glowing a soft color. Down below, a stallion’s nostrils flared with the scent of freshly opened fruit, searching high and low. The nose inevitably led to where Celestia left the apple.

Finding the prize unguarded, the stallion examined it cautiously and gave it one more experimental sniff. His mouth watered and he reached for a bite, and his teeth clicked on open air. He straightened his neck, shocked, and he stared at the half-apple again, about three hooflengths from where he expected. Leaning for another bite, the apple hopped out of reach. Lunging, the apple danced away. And it began.

The stallion scrambled to gallop, the apple darted this way and that. He followed it unerring, wings shifting for balance. He ducked and slid beneath the belly of a lanky pegasus that let out a yelp, ran sideways across a wall with help from his wings.

He flew, he dove, and for an instant, the apple seemed in his reach. He opened his mouth to snare it.

The roan yelped, launching into the air, headfirst into a storm cloud. Fierce cracks of thunder peeled over the cave as lightning arched in jagged flashes across the room. The blue roan struggling to get free, unleashing even more.

Ponies screamed. Blackened feathers scattered like leaves. Luna silently cowered down into a little ball.

Days turned into weeks. Despite the obvious path to find acceptance among the pegasi, whenever the choice arose for Celestia, to quit her actions and fit in, she chose not to. The thought of betraying the teachings of harmony, the guiding philosophy of the unicorns, caused something to harden in her, like a stone resisting the tug of a river. Stubbornly, she held to the belief that this was the better way. Instead, Celestia and Luna forged their own routine as they lived in the cave.

The magical sparring and experimentation continued. The sisters spent many hours battling together, in Griffins and Ponies, or Touch the Wall. The memory of Silver Spear’s fight remained Celestia’s guide and goal. Elegant and graceful defense, using nature’s properties to her advantage.

After each battle, they’d share. Discussions began of possibilities, ideas, suggestions. Luna often experimented with how one spell affected another, bringing her ideas to her elder sister, but Celestia often surprised with clever uses of her own. Slowly, they built a repertoire of techniques, each according to their own way.

Celestia favored fire, always had. Fire unleashed destruction on a broad scale, overwhelming threats, licking around obstacles, deadly with heat even on things it did not touch.

Luna slowly grew to favor lightning, a spell with power unmatched, drawing precise lines of devastation that even carved through stone.

Like all spells, these had their weaknesses. Cool earth shielded from flame’s heat, and water redirected lightning away from intended targets. Though they had their favorites, Celestia and Luna’s raw magical talents allowed them to wield almost anything, and each spell’s limitations and strengths forced them to.

As their skills progressed, Celestia began to understand more of Silver Spear’s tactics, the fact he employed deception. Games of Touch the Wall soon became stalemates, every attacking spell countered by the appropriate defense. Earth for fire, a deflection for stone, wind for smoke. Baiting, hiding a spell behind another spell, and acting out in surprise all became necessities.

In the balance, Celestia won more times than not. Luna guarded more than attacked, allowing her elder sister to dictate the pace. However, Luna’s penchant for surprises never gave Celestia an easy victory.

“You can’t do that!” Celestia thrust out a hoof pointing to her sister’s side of the field. The afternoon Sun beat warmly down on her back. Grass rustled in the wind around a deep hole, live a navel in the earth.

“Fine! You want to see why?” Celestia turned and lashed out her magic, ripping open the ground and sinking her tree in as well, deep, deep beneath the surface, impossible to find. “Now we’re stuck. Now we can’t have any more games of Touch the Tree because this…” She circled a hoof gesturing at the two empty fields. “… is what will happen!”

Luna pursed her lips, looking at the holes and taking her time to answer. Anger quieted her otherwise calm voice. “If this game is really meant to teach us to defend ponies, wouldn’t this count as a victory? I protected my filly.”

“Why—” Celestia lifted a hoof to her forehead, rubbing it, and stomped a quick circle. “Alright! Alright! It counts.” She gestured with her wrist. “Once! You can only break the game once. In the same way.”

Challenges resumed. Unlike before, Celestia hid no trick, instead announcing that she’d use magic to help her in the game. The trick served its purpose, and now she had the goal of learning to fly like they did. The pegasi chalked it up to another eccentricity of Pink Plummet, to reveal her advantage instead of hide it as long as possible.

Either way, it didn’t matter. Pegasus ponies still clamored to be the first to defeat her. It often came close. A few times, the pegasus did win, much to the adoration of the gatherings. The chosen pony pranced and celebrated, one of the lucky few able to claim success. Usually, magic gave Celestia an overwhelming edge. A quick buffer of wind against their wing spun the pegasus out of control, a tether at their ankle stopped them in their tracks, or a jet of water grounded their flight.

Her little sister faired even better. Between the two, Luna had flown longer and more recklessly. The gap between her and a natural born pegasus was all the narrower. However, she often relied too heavily on her magic.

“Lunaaaaa!” Celestia stomped her hoof to be heard. “You can’t break this game, too!”

The wind howled through the room, spirally outward with Luna at a calm center. A pegasus tried to approach again, only to be knocked off course by the storm.

“Alright! Point proven!” She shooed at the wind. “Now, drop the spell and try to practice flying for once!”

Luna rolled her eyes and her horn’s light faded. The storm lost its force, slowing gradually to tiny eddies at the edge of the cave.

The pegasi began to win less, and less. Celestia and Luna darted through the air, rolling dodges, sharp turns, flaring their wings to stop, or diving for speed. Though they did not match the best fliers of the pegasi, magic made none equal. A single pegasus could no longer catch the sisters.

Celestia graduated the games to taking place outside, opening the whole sky and all the clouds for training. Now, not one pegasus, but two, six, ten ponies came at them all at once. It took every nibble of their skill to stay ahead, spinning and diving, turning and stopping, watching every angle and opening up paths with blasts of wind or water.

It heralded a bigger change, one both Celestia and Luna welcomed. They could work together. They protected each other from the swarms of pegasi, watching angles, joining maneuvers, laying traps for the Griffins. It felt right, like this was how it had been when they fled the unicorns, sisters guarding each other in a hostile place.

Though they spent much of their time sharpening skills, the atmosphere of the pegasi herd encouraged fun. Luna had the habit of disappearing for hours at a time, exploring the depths of the cave, and Celestia lazed on clouds, resting the soreness in her wings. No predators, no need for worry, or sentries. Just the occasional pegasus unleashing a raincloud in the sleeping room, or soaking someone in rainbows.

Rebel stayed with them more often than not during these times, gradually growing more at ease and talking with more animation than Celestia had noticed in the past.

The old mare laughed. “What has your curious mind come up with today, moon’s daughter?”

“Hmm, hmm …” Momma sat with the rooted feel only the old experience when coming to a rest. “That is a good question. In what way do you mean, child? Are my stories true to the spirit? I do believe so. All that is told and retold holds truth, and the characters and their actions, those are like the petals on a flower, guiding us to the honey at the center.”

“No,” Luna shook her head. “Is the story of Quick Wit true? Did that actually happen?”

“I was just thinking, if that griffin was able to fly to see Moon, then, shouldn’t any pegasus?”

Momma didn’t answer. She paced across the rim of the raised disk where she told her stories each night. “You were not raised a pegasus, so you do not know. Let me answer your question first, then tell you what all mothers tell their brave, young fillies, or adventurous colts. Yes, as much as any story has come to me, the story of Quick Wit is true. He was carried by a griffin to where the stars dwell and spoke to both Moon and Sun. However.” She stopped pacing. “Do not seek them out. Ever since that day, any pegasus who has gone to Sun or Moon has not returned.”

The elderly mare shrugged, sitting once more. “Who knows? Perhaps they are angry at having been fooled. Perhaps their long rivalry has become too intense for all but heavenly bodies to dwell there. We can’t know. Even now, ponies too foolish and headstrong to listen never make it back.”

That night held a surprise. Celestia returned late to the sleeping chamber, yawning and ready to rest. When she stepped over the threshold, she stopped, staring at the ceiling.

The night sky open above, or an impression of it recreated. The glowing insects and lizards—no longer a disorganized lump—speckled the roof in dots of twinkling red, and green, and blue. A great swath of light hung overhead, the mysterious resting place of the stars given color and swirling across the sky. Mushrooms clustered as an orb at the highest point, the moon in pale blue washing all below in a soft luminescence.

Finding Luna’s shadow proved simple. Her dark coat hid her, but her eyes sparkled as they stared up above. Celestia glided through the air, coming to rest next to her sister. “This your doing?”

Luna nodded. “It’s the food. That’s how the pegasi control these creatures. Once I figure that out, it was easy. Gather some wet mulch and put it where you need the light.” Her eyes narrowed in thought. “I think some fireflies would look nice here. What do you think?”

Celestia stared up at the moon in the center. “It sounds lovely.” She pointed off to a far wall. “What’s that?”

Luna lifted her chin at the cloud that sat just beneath the glowing monster. Several pegasi dozed blissfully unaware. “We’ll certainly know when they wake up. Rebel and I thought it’d be funny.”

A grin quirked the corners of her mouth, but Celestia kept her lips tight to avoid laughing. “Where is Rebel, anyways?”

A figure stirred next to her. Rebel rubbed his eyes with his hooves, cracking them just a hair.

“Oh.” Celestia tucked her legs beneath her, getting comfortable between her friend and her sister. “Hey there, sleepy. No moonlight adventure for you tonight?”

“Well, then.” She lowered her head down on to the cloud, feeling the soft texture against her cheek. “Thanks, by the way.” She took a deep breath, and let out a long sigh. “You’ve been a good friend. Other than Momma, you’re the only one who tried to help us.”

An unexpected, warm body settled on her chest and Celestia let out a huff of air.

Luna hooked her hooves over her elder sister’s side, resting atop her. “What do you mean?”

Rebel tapped his hooves in front of him, rousing more from his rest. He stared without seeing at the starry glows, in the grip of an unkind memory. “I was leaving the cave, that day when I met Luna. I didn’t want to be there anymore.”

He stared down, tucking a little tighter into himself. “They called me Stunt.”

“No.” He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “Not like that. Like stunted,” Rebel emphasized the end. “Like I’m small. That’s the joke.”

“I’m old enough.” Rebel crossed his forelimbs, indignant. “Old enough to be on my own.”

The words lashed out with a quick familiarity, like an old argument often repeated. It stirred something in Celestia’s mind, a connection she made between the wandering age of stallions in her own herd, and all the time she spent with the colts and fillies of the pegasi. “You left your mom. And went to the cave?”

Rebel rolled over. For the first time, he regarded Celestia as they spoke. After a moment, he nodded and curled in again. “‘It’s too dangerous to go looking for berries.’ ‘You’re too young to see the unicorns.’” He stuck out his tongue in a sound of disgust. “Bleck! Shows what she knows!”

“I wanted friends.” His voice grew almost silent. “Instead, they called me Stunt. They made fun of me. Sometimes, they’d pretend I was so small that they couldn’t see me and knocked me into mud. ‘Was that a gnat?’ they’d say. No one wanted to be my friend.” He uncurled just a little, and let out a laugh. “Then, came Luna. I never saw a pony look so dumb.”

Hooves tightened on Celestia’s chest, Luna flushing a deep purple, lips tight to hide her embarrassment.

“And I thought, that maybe, if she was at the cave, they’d stop making fun of me to make fun of her. So, I went back.” He smiled to himself with morose humor. “You acted so stupid, it was perfect. Pink Plummet! But—” The smile died. “They still didn’t see me as a friend. I was still made fun of.” He scooted closer, curling up against Celestia. “And you’re still strange. Not stupid, but … strange.” The grip of the unkind memory began to loosen. The small tremors of distressed shoulders slackened for sleep. “Maybe strange isn’t bad.”

Celestia lifted a hoof and stroked aside a length of his mane. She thought of mothers and foals in the way he curled against her, like a need left unfulfilled. It blossomed an ache inside her, at once bitter and sweet. Lightning Kick had hid a deep sorrow the day her daughters parted, and Celestia couldn’t help but imagine the same of Rebel’s. Perhaps they had both left their homes too soon.

Chapter 20

“Here, I found some more.” Rebel released his grasp. A cluster of metal shells fell from his hooves, clanging into a pile on the stone floor.

“Thanks.” Luna winced at the noise, but otherwise ignored it in her focus. She hoofed through all the oddly shaped pieces, searching for more unique shapes. Finding one—a long, tube-like shell, fat at one end, narrowing down the length like —she levitated it from the pile and moved to her assembled pieces, trying to find its place.

“What’s the point of all this, anyways?” Rebel hovered over her shoulder and stared at what Luna had collected.

“That’s what I’d like to find out.” She rubbed her chin, placing down the ‘leg.’

The metal shells laid out like some long dead animal, the bits and pieces that could not be scavenged and consumed. The shape remained, the impression of something that had been but partial and incomplete, the way a skeleton suggested a creature without revealing it. Only this was less clear than a skeleton. The pieces did not fit seamlessly. The head piece had no neck or face to connect it to the chest piece. The arms had gaps for elbows and lacked hands. The legs were a calf and thigh with no knees, and none of the pieces came close to resembling a hips.

Only this did Luna know: the creatures that wore these shells were huge, easily three times the size of a stallion. Their backs hunched with oversized arms, giving them the posture of gorillas, and they were so bulky with muscle that Luna could curl inside the chest piece with room to spare.

“No.” Rebel lazily rolled to hover upside down, sounding exasperated. “Why are you doing all this?”

Luna dropped the piece she had been levitating and scratched behind an ear. “Oh. Well … I just had a thought the other day. I saw the leftovers of one of those bugs we use for lights—it had molted and left behind its shell. I think a lizard walked over the shell and scattered its pieces. That’s when it occurred to me that all this metal stuff is kind of similar. Maybe I could put it together and see what it looked like. And look!” She gestured to the hollowed remains. “It does! Sort of.”

Rebel quirked his lips and crossed his arms, staring a moment at the old creature. “So?”

“You’re not curious about why these things lay scattered all over the cave?”

“Whatever they were, they’re long gone now. I’ve got better things to worry about.”

The bliss rolled back Rebel’s eyes and he murmured with the fantasy of taste. He flipped rightside up. “Yes.”

Luna shook her head and turned back to what she had assembled. Lifting the head piece with a touch of magic, she brought it to her hooves for a closer look. The metal felt anything but natural. It was too pure, too perfect and had to be deliberately formed, or so her earth pony sense said. A subtle seam split the center, where the two halves were attached with a series of flattened pins. Whoever they were, these creatures had to have been skilled crafters.

Closing her eyes, Luna concentrated on building a spell. Her gathered will joined her thoughts and took shape, filling them with the power to change. The intention, the form, was simple, a spell she could do in her sleep. Applying the element of honesty took more effort, but this was one of the five that came more naturally to her. She called forth memories of talking with friends. Crescent Change. Ebon Swift. Rebel Bolt. She stumbled a moment over Celestia, memories surfacing of when she withheld her thoughts rather than face her elder sister’s disapproval. With a little focus, she pushed aside those memories and dwelled on her other friends . Deception never entered her mind when talking with them. From the memories, she gleaned that sense of openness, that freedom to share any feelings without fear. She took this, applied it to her spell and felt it change, become more than it was. Luna released it.

The spell of directed energy carried the element of honesty on its course, bathing the metal in its rays, permeating through its being. It brushed against another magic, something worked into the crafting of the shell, but did so without conflict. The latent spell held little power and an innocuous goal, resisting rust and tarnish, but it gave Luna pause. Just how old is this thing?

The element warped the metal, reshaping its folds. The pins loosened one by one, some falling out, but most merely jutting from the smooth finish. The seam down the center became more apparent, and a few dents and scratches started to show through the shiny surface that Luna hadn’t noticed before. Overall, the shape simplified into a round dome.

“Well, that was pointless.” Luna dropped the reworked metal with a clatter. Honesty had a tendency to simplify things—shapes, directions, visually confusing patterns—but these hollowed leftovers had nothing hidden to simplify. And now, she just had a ruined piece of junk. She picked it up again, setting on her head. Might as well have fun with it.

It fit her poorly, resting on top of her horn like a speared turtle. A touch of spell work soon changed that, magic opening a hole for her horn to slip through. Unlike the creature’s body, its head seemed not much larger than a pony’s. Her nose stuck out from under the brim, even as it covered her eyes, and Luna continued to readjust. Two more holes appeared for her ears to comfortably stick out, and she molded two half circles into the sides, allowing her to see while the metal covered the bridge of her nose. The excess material she sent down over the back of her neck, adding curved embellishments to either side.

“For protection, I think.” She tapped the side of the helm with her hoof. It clanged metal against the side of her skull, rattling her senses. “Ow!” Luna sat down and shoved the thing from her head, rubbing gently at the forming bruise. There seemed to be more skill to this than she reckoned.

“No.” She tilted her head, looking closer at Rebel. “Serpent? That sounds dangerous.”

He shrugged. “If you talk to the wrong one, maybe. This one…” He chuckled to himself. “Trust me, he’s a sight to see.”

Rebel led the way, gliding on his wings. He moved slowly, allowing Luna to trot behind at an earth pony’s pace. She smiled at that and they continued in silence on the path to the mouth of the cave. They crossed several tunnels, some bright with illumination, and others dark, growing to pitch black in their unused depths. Luna’s mind wandered with the pegasi that streaked by overhead, losing focus with the familiarity of following. Her hoof touched the ground, one of the hundreds of steps she took that morning.

Ears stood up, swiveling alertly. Deep in her guts, she felt dread sink in and congeal. She scanned the cave, looking all around, not daring to move. Other pegasi had similar reactions, heads raising and bodies rigidly still.

The ground shook, almost imperceptibly. Vibrations carried through all four of her hooves. Something heavy shifted deep underground. “Do you feel that?”

Again, the vibrations silently rattled in her ankles. Butterflies in Luna’s stomach went mad with panic. It had a pattern. “Rebel. These aren’t natural.” She paused, almost afraid to speak her thought. “Something is coming.”

The cave erupted in sea of commotion. Pegasi took flight, streaming through the tunnels like gusts of wind, some travelling deeper, some flying for the surface, others gathering into groups, shouting to each other over a burst of chatter.

Luna raised one hoof, ready to run. She scanned overhead, following the scatter of the ponies, feeling small and unnoticed. An edge of white shown in all their eyes, a backdrop of that same, confused terror Luna felt.

Luna stared, the answer lost in a fog within her. The ground shook again. The sound of splitting stone cracked the air and echoed down the tunnels. With a conscious effort, Luna tore at that fog in her mind, grasping and ripping away parts of the concealment. The fog resisted like a thick, tangible thing, and she wrestled an answer from its grasp. “We go see what it is.” Her wings spread and bolted into the depths of the cave.

The air overflowed with the colorful wakes of racing pegasi. If not in number, the speed they travelled filled the empty spaces, forcing Luna to dodge and weave around other ponies in the chaotic flight. Sharpening her focus, she put will into her horn and leaned forward in anticipation. Magically drawn wind snapped at her sides and unleashed a dull roar.

The technique had been discovered purely by chance, one of Celestia’s wind spells missing its mark during a game. When Luna angled her wing, the wind struck it head on and sent her careening out of control. But it also gave her a revelation. The magic of flight locked into a pegasus’ wings relied on wind. Celestia and Luna could create their own.

They had never been the best fliers, even with how much they’d grown. But when they called on their magic, only the best could keep up, and only after a dive.

Luna launched forward, doubling, then tripling her speed, leaving behind a dark blue wake. She stilled the flaps of her wings, drawing them close to her sides as if in a dive, and allowed the magic alone to propel her.

“Wait! Luna, wait!” Rebel cried out with a foal’s panic, flapping like a sparrow and falling behind.

A small pang of guilt felt cold in her chest, mitigated by the hope the trail of color would still lead him.

Her horn shown like a beacon, and with the dark blue trail, she streaked through the cave like a comet. Wind buffeted her face mercilessly, drying her eyes, and she thrust out her hooves to keep a portion at bay. Startled ponies peeled away from the roaring light, giving room for the strange blur. She twisted down the tunnels, following her ears, forced to double back every so often as she narrowed in on that distant rumble.

The vibrations grew stronger. What started out too deep to hear, only feel through the tremble of the mountain, now reached into the air as the grumble of restless boulders. Her heart skipped at the shock of each fall and thud. A crack of split granite stung her ears. The air felt alive and rattled her spine with the grinding of stone on stone.

She whipped around a corner, and stopped abruptly. All along the cave’s edges, ponies sat by the dozens and stared at a single point in fearful fascination. Dust fell from an ancient, collapsed tunnel, sealed long ago by a forgotten cave in. Seams joined solid by the passing of time and touch of water held cracks of recent motion and shook at each rhythmic thump.

Rebel darted in the room at his panicked pace, and Luna sucked in a gasp. Her horn flared to life and magic snatched the colt in a blue aura, causing Rebel to yelp as he was yanked backwards.

“I don’t know!” she yelled, craning her neck one way then the other. “Up there!” She indicated a crevasse where the wall slanted, large enough for a few ponies to slip in. “We’ll wait there and find out!” Rebel still in tow, she launched herself upward, taking a perch in the space.

Rebel huffed at the rough landing when the magic released him, then crawled next to her, peeking over the edge while they both knelt down.

The texture in the sounds became clearer, less and less mountain muffling each time the thump pounded. Rocks, pebbles by comparison, rattled between the shifting of boulders, knocked loose in a steady, methodical pace.

Boom, rattle, rattle, rattle … Boom, rattle, rattle, rattle … Boom, rattle, rattle, rattle. BOOM!

A massive chunk of granite fell from the top of the sealed passage, rolling down the pile and into the long tunnel. Pegasi flew out of the way on instinct, giving a generous berth for it to settle.

A clawed hand, each knuckle wider than Luna’s whole body, burst through the hole. Its fingers flexed, dug in, and the claws tore furrows into solid stone as easy as packed dirt. Something shifted in the darkness, a gray motion that brought a single eye up to the fresh opening.

Dilated, luminous black was Luna’s first impression. A gaping, reflective surface that could swallow her whole, like a pond on a moonless night. When the light through the hole struck the surface, the pupil narrowed down, revealing no white. No iris. Just solid yellow, streaked with a burning red that surrounded a narrow, vertical slit. The eye focused, then glared.

In a surge of violence, the creature burst through the last of the collapsed passage by main strength, barreling through stone and rubble that stood no chance of repelling him. Quakes shook the mountain under his footfalls with dust crumbling from the ceiling in waves.

Screams went up through the cave, Luna instinctually adding her own restrained cry when the dust stung her vision. She wiped at it with her hooves before thought caught up with instinct and she cleared her eyes with a quick spell.

The dragon filled the cave like a bear filled a den. He hunched beneath the roof on all fours, unable to stand, sides scraping each wall in turn with a swaying gait. Ignoring the pegasi that scattered before his steps, the gray-scaled giant marched with purpose down the tunnels.

Luna rose to her hooves, staring at the back of the dragon. Her breath caught in her throat. She recognized the path. The dragon turned toward the room that Momma held her stories. Leaping from her perch, she glided down the tunnels, sidling as stealthily as she could along the walls. Other pegasi followed in fearful curiosity, knowing that dragons had little concern for ponies.

As great as the dragon was, the room was yet greater. He entered it and rose to his full height, comfortable on all fours, thick with brawn and muscle. Luna slipped into the room, hiding herself far to one side. A warm body bumped against her, Rebel pressing close and afraid.

The burning eyes focused a glare on the empty stone disk at the room’s center, and for a long while nothing happened. His head shifted subtly, taking in the details with slow precision, but his chest began to heave more and more. Claws flexed, digging their tips into stone. He snapped his gaze to the pegasi at the periphery, taking them in with jerky, rage-like motions.

“WHERE ARE THEY?!” His mouth bellowed waves of heat that distorted the air, emitting a roar that went beyond any earlier quaking. It felt like the world itself shook at his voice, reverberating in Luna’s whole body with depth, deafening her with volume until she thought they’d bleed.

“WHERE ARE THEY?!” he cried over and over again. “WHERE ARE THEY?!” His fist pounded the ground with a wallop, he stomped and shouted, enraged beyond reason. “ANSWER ME! WHERE ARE THEY?!” Pegasi flew for the exit, but his claws lashed out at the floor like a whip, scattering chunks of rock with deadly force all over the doorway. The message was clear. Don’t you dare leave.

Rebel put his hooves on Luna, shaking her with desperation. He tried to shout, but nothing could be heard over that bellowing voice.

“What?” Luna said, trying to show how useless it was. “I can’t hear you! If he keeps this up, he’ll pull the mountain down on us!”

Around the corner, a pegasus entered with two others in tow. But whereas the followers held their heads timid and low, the one at the lead walked with far more confidence, a frown set in her face of grave importance.

Stopping just outside the dragon’s grasp, Momma sat conspicuously patient. Only her folded ears betrayed her discomfort. It didn’t take long for the dragon to notice, evidently waiting for just such a pony. His claws stopped mid motion and he turned to face Momma directly, leveling contempt at her with withering intensity.

He lifted his lip in a sneer, showing great sickles of teeth. Though he no longer bellowed, the sheer size of his voice lent it terrible weight. “Don’t you greet me like a friend, you pegasus.” He spat the word in disdain, like one might have said insect. “Just tell me where they are!”

“Who? Who? Not who! What! My jewels!” The dragon inched closer, lowering his head so that the heated breath washed over the elderly mare. “My ho-o-o-o-oard…”

Momma averted her head in discomfort, raising one hoof precariously. When the dragon finished, she collected herself, wiping away the ruffles of her coat. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

The dragon reared tall, sitting back on his hind legs. One arm swept behind him, pointing down emphatically at the stone disk. “Here! My jewels! Where are they?”

Momma didn’t answer right away, hiding a nervous swallow in her throat. “I do not know.”

The dragon looked ready to lunge, but Momma lifted one wing in a gesture to wait. “But! I might know something.”

He settled to all fours again, Luna noticing by the gouges in the floor that he inched closer. “Explain.”

“About what happened here … It is said that this room once contained something beautiful, a long, long time ago. The pegasi had left it where it lay, respecting its place.” Momma hesitated, choosing her next words with the utmost care. “Explorers came. Old distant rumors say they were dangerous creatures. Dogs. The dogs came in and did not respect this place or its beauty. They took what they wanted, ignored the pegasi, and left.”

The dragon considered the story is silence, a frown set in his face. He tapped his claw on the floor, one, two, three, and it whipped out with uncanny speed. His size shouldn’t have permitted him to be that fast. His hand snatched Momma before the two pegasi next to her could even flinch. Tension held the room silent like a thread quickly fraying.

“Let me tell you a story!” Hatred poured from his eyes. Momma struggled painfully in his grasp as he lifted her. Smoke streamed from his nostrils. “A thousand years ago, I built this cave. I told the pegasi, live here, rest here, defend my hoard while I sleep. And if you fail in this task, your descendants will pay in blood!”

His wrist flicked. The moment lasted a blink, or maybe just a little more, but it was a moment on which so much turned that it would span minutes in memory. The dragon flung Momma, his cavernous maw opening. An eerie orange light glowed in his throat. Momma fell through the air, helpless with frail, damaged wings. The jaws snapped close.

He didn’t chew, he didn’t swallow, he held no interest in eating her. He crushed her between his teeth, and she was gone.

The two pegasi that had accompanied Momma flinched, scrambling their hooves on the ground to turn and flee. They were the first to catch his attention. A sharp inhalation of breath, and fire spewed from the dragon’s mouth with a roar of its own. It rolled along the ground with an almost liquid like swell, flashing heat over Luna’s senses. It enveloped the two ponies and they vanished in orange flame.

The frayed tension snapped and the cave went mad. Senseless panic created chaos of the pegasi, streaking every which way, trapped in the enclosed space. Screams, whinnies, jibbering curses made in fear erupted in cacophony

Luna had the sense of being flung into herself. It was as if she had been standing in some distant field with things happening all around her. She could see what they were, but their significance remained far off and removed; she had been a distant observer. The jaws that snapped closed tore away that field with the abruptness of a shout. A sense of immediacy flooded her awareness, and a decisiveness that suited her like it had always been.

“Momma, no…” Rebel stood rigid, only a little quiver in the outreaching hoof. He didn’t cry, it was too soon for that, too soon for it to sink in.

He wobbled unsteadily at the movement, staring at Luna with a vacant, horrified expression. His face had gone pale.

“Rebel, listen to me!” She pulled him closer, voice firm. “Get Celestia.”

His breath came in a shudder and he made a distressed sound, squirming in her grasp.

Rebel bent his head low, as if bracing himself against a strong wind. He found his footing beneath him and pushed off, galloping, then leaping into the air.

Listening with half an ear in Rebel’s direction, Luna faced the dragon. The great lizard corralled the pegasi with his bulk. Even then, one pegasus stallion attempted to slide around, only for a burst of flame to cut off his retreat. The stallion lifted his hoof to shield his face, falling back, the heat too intense. If the dragon successfully pushed them to the far end, he could kill scores with a single breath.

Luna threw will into her horn and called on a spell, aiming it right beneath the dragon’s legs. Fog exploded outward, enveloping the dragon, the pegasi, and a large portion of the room. She wove the fog thick, making it more and more dense, obscuring all in a thick layer of moisture.

The dragon roared in frustration, a sound Luna had to steel herself against or lose her spell. She noted, absently, that it hurt her ears a fraction less than before, the fog muffling the power of the dragon’s voice.

Orange flashed behind the gray veil, fire thrown blindly into the mist. A losing gesture. The ponies didn’t need to see to escape, but the dragon needed to see to kill. Pegasi rushed out of the fog, some above, some at the sides, a brave soul or two below, tendrils clinging to their wake.

Knowing he’d lost his quarry, the dragon surged for the tunnels, ground shaking under his footfalls.

Chapter 21

Wind ruffled through Celestia’s outstretched wings. Drafts blew in from the east, diverted from their path by mountains where they flowed steadily upwards. The rising air held her aloft and she needn’t flap as long as the drafts carried her. The hawk that Celestia followed regarded her warily, but she ignored it. In his language, the best message she could send was that her attentions lay elsewhere. After all, he was the one that showed how to sail on the winds sweeping the mountain.

The sound that ripped through the air came without warning. The hawk pulled into a steep dive, and fled at once. A voice roared, huge and throaty and full of rage, standing all the hairs of Celestia’s back on end. She whirled on her surroundings, ears erect and swiveling nervously as the echoes came from everywhere.

The first place she searched was up. When flying, danger always came from up. Griffins hunted from above, so did eagles. When playing games with the pegasi, they dove in teams to catch the sisters. Being lower than a predator was a great disadvantage.

Nothing there. She cleared either side and behind. Finally, below. Only the clouds surrounded her, meandering slowly.

The roar repeated itself, and Celestia began to make out a stutter—breaks in the sound indicative of words. The great beast wasn’t bellowing like an animal, it used language. And it was screaming, angry.

Distance muffled the words beyond recognition, as well as direction. Too gigantic to hide behind the clouds, Celestia found herself having to stare through the Everfree Forest, looking for where the trees would collapse under this creature’s weight.

Silence fell. Celestia held her breath, straining her ears. Sun and Moon, what was that thing?! Even if the mountain was a relatively safe shelter, she felt uncomfortable with this unknown colossus sitting on their doorstep and irate. She raised herself on the drafts and started a slow, vigilant circle.

The roar erupted again, this time primal. Pegasi burst from the concealing cloud that hid the entrance of the cave and scattered in all directions. A suspicion too terrible to realize in words began to chill Celestia like dew turning to frost. A brown streak she recognized raced out, dithering while the others fled.

“Rebel!” she said under her breath, knowing he was too far to hear her call. She flew higher, pushing will into her horn to light up bright and pink.

The streak halted, then launched itself in her direction with unmistakable purpose. Celestia leaned forward, pointing her nose just below the horizon and gaining speed to meet him half way. She could see his face, pale and frightened. If he hadn’t been crying, wind still swept back the moisture from his eyes, wetting his coat.

“Momma!” He launched himself into Celestia’s chest, hitting hard enough to knock the air from her lungs. His limbs wrapped around her tight and he clung. “Momma!” He cried the name shaking.

“Rebel, what’s going on?” She shifted the colt in her grasp, moving him to face her. “What was that noise?”

The color started to return to him, and with it, tears pooled under his eyes. “He killed Momma!”

A feeling like a thorny branch impaled Celestia and raked her insides. Sounds blurred in meaning. Despite still seeing clearly, colors blurred as well. In a flash, she saw every memory play out instantaneously. Painted Hoof’s violent death. His mother crazed with grief. That question that plagued her, why? Rebel couldn’t have been much older than her at that time. She nearly lost sense of the need to keep her wings moving.

A cooler, more pragmatic side of her mind cried a shrill warning. Whatever killed Momma still prowled. She shoved aside the grief before it could grow, focusing on the immediate crisis. “Rebel, calm down. I need you to tell me, what is going on?”

He wiped at his eyes with his wrists. “He killed Momma! He bit and ate her!”

“Who?!” Celestia resisted the urge to shake him in desperation. “What?!”

The answer stunned her into silence. A cloying sense of terror seized her, driving away thoughts, stiffening her limbs like oak. She felt deathly pale and bloodless, all of the liquid pooling thick in her chest. “Dragon?”

Celestia fought to get her lips to move, tried to free her limbs from their tension. “Where?”

“Luna?! Oh, stars!” Desperation took the terror and strangled it to death. She squeezed Rebel tight just long enough to say one more thing. “Get somewhere safe.” And she let go. Rebel dropped only a few ponylengths before absently hovering.

Pink light exploded from Celestia’s horn, shining like a star even during midday. Sweeping her wings back, the wind spell launched her with unparalleled speed, and she streaked toward the cave in a roar of air.

A blue flicker caught her attention, shining subtly. Luna hid herself behind a bend, peeking over a rock to watch the entrance. A massive tail swept idly through a thick cloud of fog, waiting. Scales grew overlong at its end, blading the tip like obsidian edges.

A swallow passed down Celestia’s throat and she threw her wind forward, making it like a cushion to slow her and prepare to land. She hit the ledge at a gallop, coming alongside her sister. Despite everything, she couldn’t help but embrace Luna tightly. “You’re alright.”

“Of course I am.” Luna couldn’t hide the minor irritation at the distraction. She gestured with her nose. “The dragon is right there.”

“He says the pegasi made a deal a long time ago, to protect his hoard while he slept.”

“This is the dragon’s cave.” Luna’s gaze narrowed with thought and she spoke quietly. “It explains why it never felt quite right. All those little things that ponies had no way to do.”

Luna’s ears folded flat. Her eyes dropped to the ground. “She was the first one the dragon killed. He said his vengeance would be in blood.” She looked up again, horn still softly glowing. “I slowed him down with fog. He moved to block the entrance so no pony can slip by without him noticing. Now he’s waiting for the fog to clear.”

“Vengeance?” It felt like swallowing something toxic, corrosive. “He’s killing for vengeance?”

“He’s not hungry, he’s not eating anything. He just wants to kill pegasi.”

Celestia’s mouth parted, and she slowly swallowed air. The corrosiveness burned uncomfortably in her belly, churning her insides. The motivations of wolves, griffins, her predators, she understood. They needed to eat. The cockatrice simply was, and could not reason it’s malice. The dragon could. If what Luna said was correct—and why wouldn’t it be?—then the dragon chose to inflict death and misery on scales Celestia had never dreamt. Such abject cruelty went down like poison.

“So, that’s it, then?” Celestia steadied her legs as best she could. “The pegasi didn’t protect his hoard, so he’ll kill them?”

Luna thought long before answering with a nod. “I haven’t seen him falter once while we’ve been waiting. He means to do it.”

“Those wolf-begotten idiots!” Celestia bared her teeth, shoulders shaking with sadness and anger. She could see it now. If those ancient pegasi had been like the ones she’d met, they’d make the deal with no intention on following through. A trick. The dragon would sleep for centuries and the pegasi had generations to plan for the fall out. Plan, or forget of the deal in the first place. Never cross a dragon lightly. “They could have avoided all this! Momma would still be alive!” A deep breath, and her shoulders steadied. “I … I want to talk to him.”

Her sister shook her head rapidly. “No! Don’t. That’s when he killed Momma!”

“We need to convince him to stop, or…” Her mouth worked with difficulty. Fight him? Was that what she was going to say? Fight a dragon? “We have to stop him one way or another. No one else can.”

The little blue pony lowered her head, shoulders falling with a resigned sigh. At last, the glow of her horn faded.

Mountain winds dispersed the fog, carrying off the gray veil. Celestia saw the dragon for the first time, revealed inch by slow inch. Stories told among the earth ponies had prepared Celestia for what she would see. Only for this dragon, they all fell short.

It had been said, despite their size, dragons were slender creatures. Their necks resembled that of cranes, long and thin. Muzzles were narrow and sharp to part the air while they flew.

This dragon had nothing so fragile. A broad, short neck supported an immense jaw that looked more suited to crush than part air.

It had been said that, below the shoulders, their bodies were like lizards. Four lean limbs, a round belly to support the flame, and a thick, lashing tail being their only compromise for bulk.

From arms and legs so brawny that sinew and tendons showed through the thick hide plain as day, to the broad chest that made his belly look thin in comparison, this dragon was muscle and size.

He was not as titanic as an Ursa Major, but then again nothing was. However, where the star bears were round edges, tufts of fur, and pondering steps, this dragon was violence. Scales armored his body from head to foot, ash gray in complexion. Except for the scars. They were bony white and along the arms, legs, chest, one side of his neck, where the scales grew back pale.

He waited with the fog now clear, sitting on his hind legs. Eyes of red and yellow flames stayed intent on the entrance of the cave. The pegasi would have to cross in front of him to escape, pass before his massive claws

Air could not reach Celestia’s lungs fast enough. Her heart beat wild and uncontrollably, and the pain it caused terrified in its own right. She gasped, sides heaving fast, feeling like she suffocated, driven to her knees. The color of blood surrounded her vision and thoughts raced with helplessness.

She had to face that down. The dragon who she couldn’t even reach his ankle if she stretched for it. Unable to retreat without ponies dying, and neither able to move forward for fear, she collapsed under the weight of her turmoil.

Luna stepped forward, everything about her fixed on the dragon. Her little sister seemed unafraid, blue brows set with grim determination that hadn't considered the notion. She stood ready to act, but not impatient, unflinching in her purpose and cool headed. It left Celestia with a sense of admiration, even through the struggle she felt.

“Ha.” She tried the word, unconvinced. “Ha, ha.” Celestia closed her eyes, trying to shut out the red in her vision. What was it the shaman said? When she laughed, she wasn’t afraid? “Ha, ha, ha!” Her own muttering tickled her, the last of the burst starting to sound genuine. Her mouth opened again, only instead of words, there came real giggles. Luna slowly turned to her sister, expression a mix of confused and dismayed, the way ponies looked when presented with madness. And mad was certainly what this felt like. Celestia peeled into manic, crazed laughter, both amused and terrified.

And it worked, if not in the same way as the shaman. Celestia could breathe again, her heart slowed to a rapid, but no longer wild pace, and the sensation of being overwhelmed receded to a manageable corner of her mind. The laughter continued to roll out of her, until she let it slowly die off.

“I’m fine. I’m ready.” Celestia waved off that look her sister held. Calling will into her horn for no other reason than to make it glow, she stepped out from the mountain side. Luna followed, and together, they stood square in front of the dragon and several lengths back. Tension ran through Luna’s blue neck, but Celestia felt it as keen protectiveness, not fear.

His gaze flicked to them and back to the cave, distracted by the light the same way a pony might have been distracted by a buzzing fly, before what he saw registered. His whole head snapped to them, burning eyes flashing wide in surprise. “Star touched?!” He said the words through a hushed breath, as if they were meant for himself, but his size carried the deep, bass rumble across the mountain.

“Enough!” Celestia amplified her voice with Luna’s trick, her words ringing with power and volume. “Dragon, I would speak with you!”

His lips peeled back in a sneer. If Celestia’s voice carried strength and clarity, his compelled the ground to tremble and creatures to cower. “I have said all that needs saying.”

Celestia fought to stay steady despite his voice reverberating in her chest. “But you have done enough!” Pleading entered her voice. “The one you killed, her name was Momma, and she was loved by all!" Emotions swelled. Her words grew thick. "She was innocent, and you killed her anyways! You have made countless grieve already.” She swallowed a growing lump in her throat, her voice falling low. “I know the pegasi don’t treat others fairly, they have given me that same treatment. But this is too far! Surely, you have caused more suffering than they deserve.”

“Why?” Tears pooled beneath her eyes and anger filled her. Though she felt a drop or two streak down her cheeks, the tears did not blur her vision.

“Because I will have blood for every jewel, every piece of gold, every necklace, crown, and trinket they have lost me! And it still won’t be enough!” His voice roared with such rage that it pushed Celestia away like a physical force. The fire in his belly distorted the air in hot, shimmering waves. “I will make such an example of the pegasi that their name will pass only in terrified whisper!”

Celestia cringed in pain under the dragon’s wrath. Breathing deep, she forced herself to recover. “I can’t …” She turned to face him, hooves set wide. “I can’t just sit by and watch you massacre my kind! And for what? Because you’re angry? You could be so cruel for a reason so petty?”

His clawed toes shifted, and the dragon settled the entirety of his attention on the two small ponies. A ripple ran through the otherwise quiet and focused Luna, a hair’s breadth from lashing out. He leveled a glare down at Celestia that seemed to strike her coat with a ray of heat.

“You would challenge me, star touched? You would question me? The kings of man, queens of the fairy, and lords of the avians are but pretenders and pests. Any one of them would cower at the shadow of the least of my kin! They would throw their treasure from their high walls, they would tie their daughters to rocks in hopes to appease me.” He snorted at the last statement. The idea seemed to hold humor for him. “None resists the will of a dragon. They are the true kings of all beneath the blue sky!”

The great expansive of his chest rose and fell with a rumbling growl. For the first time in their meeting, his voice fell to a low, deadly quiet. “Ashes to my kin.” It rolled from his tongue as a curse, his tone making the contempt and insult clear.

Celestia shifted uncomfortably. A creeping sensation rolled up her spine, an instinctual warning.

She kept her voice as sturdy as she could and still felt a small quiver. “No.”

“I am Awe.” His whisper carried the rumble of fire incarnate. “My own kind named me out of fear. If they are the kings beneath the blue sky, then I am the king of dragons.”

“Ponies have no kings. No queens.” Celestia felt her hooves digging in to the rocky shelf for traction. Her wings ruffled, sensing she’d need to flee any moment.

“Yes, you do. Even if you do not know it.” Awe sat back on his ankles, crossing his arms over his chest in an oddly contemplative gesture. “But you are star touched, so much I can see … and stars are beyond the blue sky.” One clawed finger scratched his chin with the sound of screeching copper. “Hmm, yes. That would suffice nicely.” He lowered to all fours in preparation to lunge. “Slaying you, they would say that not even the stars themselves defy me.” He glanced at the cave, where the pegasi watched. “Your star touched will ransom your lives. You will spread the news of how they died at the hand of Awe.”

The hairs all along Celestia’s coat stood on end in a wave as Awe's meaning struck far harder than his absent tone. But that was the extent of her fear. Instead of her panic growing, the need for action became a sudden vent, and an odd sense of imperative calm heightened the colors all around her.

In unison, Celestia and Luna glanced at each other. They needn’t say anything. After all the games and practice, and a lifetime spent growing up together, they understood the other without words. At once, they lept into the sky in opposite directions, horns gleaming with conjured wind as they prepared to fight, flee, or protect.

Awe moved without rush. His lizard’s gait swayed less as he set himself on the precipice of the mountain. For centuries of sleep, his wings laid dormant. Now, they unfurled. Huge, bat-like, and armored with scale, they stretched on either side, each one easily a dragon’s length in their own right. They dominated the cliffs, casting a great, dark shadow that covered the forest in vast patches. And they moved.

Even at this great distance, Celestia felt the air disturbed by that flap. It tugged at her, gave her the sense of lurching backwards for a brief instant, drawn by the pulling of Awe’s wings. The dragon’s presence in the sky had almost its own gravity, the atmosphere of the mountain bending under the swaths cut by his wings.

Her insides squirmed with dreadful overexcitement that wanted to jibber and twitch and overwhelm her sense. Instinct shrilled for as much distance between her and Awe as possible, and the feeling of being pulled closer frightened. She threw herself forward with all her speed banking into a shallow curve. When Celestia looked over her shoulder, she saw Awe coming for her, focused with a glare too angry to be predatory, too calm to be uncalculating. And he came fast, easily rivaling a pegasus' speed.

Luna struck his side like a meteor. Almost literally. In a streak of midnight blue, she gathered a spell underneath her—a construct of a stallion’s bucking hoof or perhaps a boulder, Celestia couldn’t tell—and flew across the dragon’s flank. Rising out of Awe’s reach, she blind-sided him, smashing the hardened construct into his chest.

As large as the dragon was, the spell struck with so much force that his body rocked to the side, bending at the point of impact. Scales were knocked loose from their anchoring and trailed behind the dragon, tumbling in the air.

Immediately, Luna pulled straight up and gathered her will into a wind spell, propelling her skyward. Celestia let out a triumphant whoop, fear diminished at the success. They had performed this trick a dozen times with the pegasi, and did so again with the dragon. Each sister would fly a path like a snake slithers, crossing again and again. At each point they crossed, they’d face each other’s pursuers and swat them down with unexpected spells. Awe seemed just as vulnerable as the ponies. Until she looked again.

The blow hardly broke his stride, his wings pausing just a beat before he resumed barreling down at Celestia. She knew firsthand how much force Luna could wield, and Awe shrugged it off without even slowing. Even if the spell had hurt him unnoticed, the very fact that Awe could appear to withstand it said something.

And what if it hadn’t hurt him? What if they were like blue jays antagonizing a mountain lion?

Banking around the other side revealed that though Luna had knocked some scales loose, his hide was built in overlapping layers and exposed no weakness. Awe changed course to follow her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luna preparing for another blindside run. Though Celestia’s pulse couldn't seem to slow, the need to keep Awe’s attention filled her again with imperative calm. She laid on her best speed, horn bright, watching Awe’s red-yellow eyes focus intently on her while Luna made her approach.

The dragon whirled around, his claw lashing upward with impossible speed. He must have assumed Luna hefted a real boulder, for if she had, Awe would have smashed its pieces into her like missiles, peppering her body with stony shards. Instead, his claws tore through the magic construct and unraveled it, scattering wild embers of blue.

Dread seeped into Celestia’s veins. He had feinted to lure Luna in. The scars should have tipped her off, Awe was not some beast but a fighter with centuries of experience, and an intelligent one.

Again, Luna shot skyward, but the dragon anticipated it. He stopped his forward momentum and launched upward with agility an ace pegasi would envy. Celestia’s heart lept into her throat and she wheeled around with such desperation that her wings threatened to buckle.

Luna had an advantage in a straight climb, bolstered by her magic. But she couldn’t react instantly to Awe’s trap and he was the better flier. For a second, she was perilously close to his reach.

A place just above instinct read what would happen next and Celestia hurtled a spell at the dragon. Magic required time to cross distance. But fortunately, Awe couldn’t call his fire instantly either.

His chest swelled with indrawn breath and his lips parted to douse Luna in flame. An instant before the fire lept out, a pink, translucent shield expanded in front of him. It didn’t have to be strong, flame carried no weight, it just had to be large. The dragon’s fire struck the shield and curled back in on itself, expanding into a blanket of red and yellow. He roared in frustration, smashing through Celestia’s spell, but Luna’s speed already had her out of his reach again.

Celestia’s shout of triumph was short lived. Awe glanced downward, livid. She had placed herself beneath him and facing the wrong way. She yelped and wheeled around again, but Awe was already diving, and a dive was the one time her wind spell couldn’t beat a skilled flier’s speed.

She hurtled a fireball at him instead out of reflex, and it came out at least seven ponylengths wide, charring the ends of her mane black. She felt like an idiot the moment it left her horn. The dragon didn’t even pretend to dodge, immune to fire as Celestia was to a light rain. It splashed off him, tongues of flame curling in the wake of his flight, and he was closer yet.

Seeing the dragon’s reaction, she fired a second fireball, made it even bigger, a great, rolling, ponderous thing that rumbled up at the dragon. Awe sneered in contempt and powered through this one as well.

The moment the fireball blocked his vision, though, Celestia rolled upside down, pulled into a dive and completely reversed her direction. Awe emerged from the flames overshooting her, Celestia going the other way and traveling beneath him. She overlooked one fact.

As soon as his wings came down in another flap with Celestia directly underneath, two giant columns of wind slammed her downward with invisible cyclones. She tumbled out of control, caught in the whirls with sky and ground spinning dizzily around her. Her limbs flailed for balance, wings fighting for control, but she was getting so disoriented. She had to stop the spin, had to right now. As soon as Awe turned around, she’d be helpless. She could fight at range, but a single swipe from his claws and she’d be in three pieces.

A dark shape loomed, Awe’s outline right on top of her. She yelped, bracing for a blow like a filly.

Blue encased her, the translucent glow of her sister’s will. A second later, she was smashed against the side with bruising force and bounced off. The first thing her jostled senses noticed was a dragon’s claw penetrated halfway through the blue sphere before it withdrew and the world span all over again. Luna had shielded her, but just barely. Awe’s strike spiked the shield straight down and the ground was growing larger.

The shield held, retaining its energy despite the hole the claw gouged through it. That meant Luna still actively powered the magic, and while she was doing that, she couldn’t use her wind spell to escape. Leaves swallowed Celestia’s view of the sky, branches shattering with loud snaps, but the shield held before finally shattering on soft forest floor.

Celestia laid on her back, staring up at the way she just came. A branch, at least as thick as her thigh, swung loose and fell somewhere off to her side. The air emitted a basso whum with each flap of Awe’s wings, leaves rustling like a pulse. Fainter, she heard the whine of Luna’s wind spell propelling her.

Collecting her sense again was a slow process. As she struggled to her hooves, gritting her teeth, other parts of her mind spun with thought. Being down below the forest canopy was like taking a breath, the danger not as immediate. The strategy that the sisters settled on naturally worked. Awe could only pursue one pony at a time so he could always be harried by the second. Except that Awe’s experience and Celestia’s lack thereof meant she made mistakes and he capitalized on it.

Celestia threw her head to the sky, panting and following the path of the chase by its sound. One mistake was all the dragon needed to win, while he seemed to shrug off their best magic. The longer this fight went, the better chance he had at killing one of the sisters.

“Please Luna. Please hold on just a little longer.” Celestia closed her eyes. Down here, it was calm enough to think and clear her mind. Honesty… She needed feelings of honesty. She dealt with the pegasi in an honest enough fashion, trying her best to be fair and plain. Memories of her lies interrupted her, of misleading Rebel to stay close with ‘something to show,’ and her tricks to win respect. Did that make her dishonest? Had she betrayed that element only to find it gone in her moment of need? “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I tried to be honest with all of you. I tried to always make my word good. I failed sometimes, but …” Other memories came in. Imperfect, but she tried to change that. She admitted her lie to Rebel once they met, despite everything, and though she pranked some, that wasn’t the same as malicious deceit. The element of honesty began to flood her mind.

Her horn glowed brightly and she released her will in a pulse, throwing pink waves of energy that absorbed into every pine, spruce, and aspen in reach. The element of honesty simplified them. Crooks disappeared, bends straightened, and splits merged into a single, upright column, one Celestia could work with. Her second spell shaped the wood even further, all their thick trunks narrowing into points like the quills of a porcupine

“Almost there.” Shaping matter that existed took far less effort than creating it from scratch. Formless, mentally simple ideas like water, fire, and wind still could be created with relative ease, but taking what already existed and changing it came even easier than that. The right element made magic go even farther.

Generosity penetrated the trees next, and using that allowed Celestia to drain all the water from their trunks and stems. Wood became brittle and hard. Leaves turned red and fell like autumn.

Now, she could see through the canopy of quills to Luna racing away from the pursuing dragon. Awe did not try to catch her with speed alone but merely tried to outlast her with a steady, untiring pace. Seeing a vast patch of the forest change with pink energies, Luna banked and dove just over the tree line, drawing Awe close to the ground. The dragon hesitated, clearly sensing the danger.

“Too late.” Celestia smirked and her horn flared with brilliant color. Trees the shape of spikes separated from their roots and shot at the dragon like darts from a manticore’s tail.

Awe stopped in midair. His claws lashed out in scything arcs, shredding and batting away spike after spike—but there were simply too many.

Unable to lift an entire forest at once, Celestia unleashed the darts in salvo after salvo, and for every one that Awe slapped aside, two stuck him. His wings suffered the worst of it, their size working against them. Wide and far away from his center, Awe could not protect his wings and they were battered by blow after blow. The points of wood failed to pierce through Awe’s multilayered scales, and they bounced off, but not before pummeling the dragon with their size and weight

Realizing the losing struggle, Awe dropped low and used his agility to avoid Celestia’s aim, but she was able to correct the darts midflight and stuck along his back.

The last of her purpose built trees flung through the air, and shattered on his hide, dislodging scales in a shower of splinters and flakes. A wave of exhaustion dropped Celestia to her knees, a temporary lapse in her will combined with the effort it took to fling a wolf-begotten forest at the dragon. She gulped for air and looked up to see what devastation she wrought.

Smoke bellowed in black, toxic columns, rising from Awe's mouth and nostrils as he hovered. His head leaned through the soot, eyes blazing like furious embers. Snapping his body back, he lunged, wings pounding the air and fire leaking from between his teeth like drool.

The sight sent her stumbling back with a scream, and she tripped on an exposed root. All that, and she just made him angry?! Celestia stared at his swooping form, mouth falling open. Hopelessness drained away the will to move, veiled the purpose of action. Awe was unstoppable. He was the mountain lion and they were the blue jays. They’d fight and fly and dodge and swoop, but could do nothing more than annoy him until one unlucky strike finished them off.

Something in her told her to move. The closer the dragon came, the louder it got, until it was screaming, Move… Move! It flung Celestia’s mind over her plight, scrambling her hooves to survive. She was stuck! On the ground, flightless, in the middle of a field stripped bare, with a superior flier diving from a superior position. She had nowhere to fly, no way to run.

Celestia closed her eyes, leaned back, and fell. The moment before she struck the ground, her horn flashed with magic. The loose earth opened up and swallowed her. She fell, and fell, as deep as she dared before stopping the descent. The rage of the dragon’s roar shook the ground and threatened to collapse the hole before she steadied it with a construct. “Break the game, indeed.”

The earth grew quiet. In the midst of being deep underground, the cool touch of dirt walls comforted her, made Celestia feel safe. She stared up at the darkness and waited. If she left too early, Awe would still be there. Too late, and Luna would be fighting alone.

“You did hurt him.” Celestia said to herself. “That’s why he’s angry. For the first time, we surprised him and broke his composure. He’s not invulnerable.” Calling another spell to her horn, she started to climb through the loose dirt and rise to the surface.

Her head poked from the hole like a gopher and Awe’s clawed toe dug in two tail-lengths away, his shadow falling over her. Stomach leaving her body, she choked on horror. That’s it, I’m dead.

But he didn’t strike. The air filled with a rapid, inexplicable sound, as if a woodpecker tried to drill a hole though a tortoise. A glance upward showed Awe shielded his face with one forearm and a snarl peeled lips from teeth. Stones the size of Celestia’s two hooves together ricocheted off his body in streams, shattering whatever scale they struck.

Awe had predicted that Celestia would need to rise and waited for her, but Luna evidently had taken inspiration from Celestia’s attack. Standing on the side of a mountain, she forged stone after stone from the granite sides and hurtled them at the dragon. Though not large, sheer velocity made the granite pieces deadly, and as long as the dragon stayed put, Luna could pelt him mercilessly

The dragon knew it too and lept from the ground. A great blast of wind kicked leaves and dirt all over Celestia’s head and buried her a second time. Shaking it loose, she climbed out of the hole and quickly rubbed the dust from her eyes. Awe powered through the barrage of stone like a stallion’s charge through a hailstorm. They careened off his scales, broke some, but failed to slow the dragon.

However, Luna never wanted to slow him. She wanted to draw him in. With Awe focused on weathering the missiles as he closed in, Luna’s horn flared three times as bright and a granite boulder the size of an ursa major’s paw lifted from the mountain behind her and sailed across the sky wreathed in midnight blue.

Awe’s wings crooked suddenly and the dragon rolled in a blink of an eye, dropping below the boulder’s path. Luna lept skyward the instant she threw the stone, but Awe hadn’t been stunned or stopped like she expected and came at her retaining all his speed, moments from overtaking her. With a gasp drawn through clinched teeth, Celestia lashed out a spell, and a translucent, pink vine snared the dragon’s ankle.

It had slowed dozens of pegasi at critical moments during her practice. Awe wasn’t a pegasi.

With no anchoring at the other end of the vine, the spell snapped taut and flung Celestia from standing to hurtling speed in a blink of an eye, and a yelp of surprise. Awe reached back a claw in preparation to rend Luna, unnoticing of the pony that trailed behind him like a spider's web stuck to an eagle’s foot.

The failure seemed funny to Celestia, in a humiliating way. Using that feeling, she imbued her vine with the element of mirth.

Magic altered living things only at great hardship. All life, down to a blade of grass, carried a spark of magical energy. Life was magic. For a spell to assert its will over a living thing, it had to overwhelm the conflicting energy. Trees, vines, ferns, all had little magic and no will to speak of. Anything larger than a squirrel became far more difficult, and one could feel the touch of a foreign will.

The dragon twitched, an uncomfortable look crossing his face. The vine at his ankle grew up along his leg, twining around his body and across his back. Awe’s wings faltered just a hair, but it was enough for Luna to escape his grasp.

Awe stopped, looked down with a growl and flicked his leg. Celestia’s eyes widened as a wave rolled down the vine’s length and whipped her into the air. The jolt snapped her concentration on the spell and sent her tumbling end over end.

Rather than losing her coordination, Celestia stretched out her hooves to slow the tumble, and her wings spread to recover. Eyes still spinning, she barrowed the momentum of the whip’s snap and launched forwards, direction unimportant. Having a sense of Awe’s pattern, she immediately worked a wind spell into her flight, knowing the dragon would be poised to pounce.

Awe swooped down on her heels, wings pumping with frustration. We can do this, Celestia thought. Instead of being frightened, excitement made her giddy. He can’t catch us. As long as we keep switching off prey and attack, we’re too fast for him! Of course, one mistake was still all the dragon needed to tear their flesh apart, but for the first time, that outcome seemed remote.

A blue light flitted over his shoulder, Luna riding her wind spell, brow set with determination. Celestia recognized that look, her sister stubbornly carrying out some intent and utterly focused on it. Rolling to her back, Celestia angled to gain altitude and worked a second spell into her mind. She started to lose speed, her will and concentration divided between two tasks and Awe gained on her. His eyes sharpened and a primal fear quivered her belly unexpectedly, seeing that same gaze in wolves, bears, and countless other predators the moment before they went in for the kill.

Yet, she wanted that attention, wanted him to forget Luna temporarily. Celestia unleashed that second spell. A stream of water shot from her horn and ran straight across his eyes, moved to shove up his nose, Celestia trying to blind and irritate him. With luck, he’d assume she meant to hide her next maneuver behind the stream in a bid to shake him off her tail, because this would in no way slow him.

Luna chose her moment, angled her wings carefully, and to Celestia’s horror, landed on the dragon’s back. Her hooves touched softly, Awe paying no heed while Luna steadied herself. The blue pony closed her eyes, the shine of her horn growing intense like it had when she lifted the boulder. Whatever she did, Awe took notice, craning his neck to spy her out of the corner of his eye.

Brilliant, violet lightning burned Celestia’s vision, cracking the air with fury and buzzing

with power. The jagged edges erupted from Luna’s horn in all directions, rotating around her in a storm of electricity and drawing lines of destruction across Awe’s back, wings, and neck. Scales peeled off the dragon in their flight, severed in two, the ends glowing orange with heat.

Despite Celestia being almost in his grasp, Awe couldn’t ignore the spell. His back arched and Awe’s bladed tail whipped up and around. Feeling the blow coming, Luna dropped the lightning and encased herself in a hard, blue dome.

The tail smashed against the barrier, flat end wielding like a club, and the dome swelled beneath the blow like a compressed bubble. Luna cried out in the pain of maintaining her protection against such strength, driven to her knee with the single thought of holding it up. Awe grinned.

“Luna, look out!” Celestia’s concentration slipped and the wind faltered. Awe’s bulk rushed at her, but the dragon already had his prey in her siser. Celestia snapped her wings to one side, narrowly avoiding being run down by sheer weight.

Awe’s tail twisted, blade-like scales aimed to bite into the barrier and sever both it and Luna in half. It smashed down with all the rage and frustration of the struggle fuelling the blow.

And Luna did something that Celestia did not expect. In a motion as quick as thought, her round barrier snapped up into a narrow wedge. Rather than biting into the shield, the bladed tail met it at an oblique angle and skipped off. All that power and rage drove the cut into the dragon’s back.

He bent like a bow, wings flared, and for the first time, his bellow came in surprised pain. Luna shoved off from his back, flying in the opposite direction. The tail lifted, end tinged red, and an ugly gash parted the scales of Awe’s hide.

Celestia’s jaw dropped, wings holding her in place. Luna, you did it! I don’t know if you meant to, but you did it! Awe wasn’t dead, not by a long run. But this far, all their attacks had been stopped on his multilayered scales. Luna had opened that defense and gave them a point to wear on him. If they inflicted enough pain and injury now, hopefully he’d be driven off.

Awe rotated awkwardly, trying to peer at his back, wings working hard to hold his giant body in a hover. He reached back with an arm and felt along his scales until he found the wound. His fingers came up red and he eyed his hand speculatively. Craning his neck, his chest swelled to unleash fire.

Cerulean flames wisped with odd angles, perfect curves, and ethereal light. It poured from the side of his lips, climbed across his back and settled on the fresh wound where it licked and dance with water-like fluidity. The scales of Awe’s hide moved and changed, closing over the wound in an interlocking pattern. When the flames vanished, red still dribbled lightly between the cracks, but the cut was protected.

“Moon and Stars ….” Blood drained from Celestia’s face, and she felt lightheaded, vision ebbing. Her wings went rigid and she glided to keep from falling.

He had held back. This entire time, he was just feeling them out, getting their measure while withholding his true strength. Awe was not simply an ancient, battle hardened, dragon so fierce that his own kind was terrified of him.

Chapter 22

No, don't. Don't give up. Sometimes, the fight is important, even if you lose.

Celestia's head swam. It felt heavy and unbalanced, like water pooled in her skull and made it unwieldy. All the while, the thought repeated, He can use magic! He's been holding back this entire time… It settled in with a rising despair. Each time she thought she had a chance, the dragon became more than Celestia reckoned. Now more than ever, Awe felt as permanent and relentless as an ocean.

Her wings struggled to keep flying under the weight of her thoughts, gliding with sudden, erratic flaps. The beginning of exhaustion ate at the edges of her perception. With hope came will, and with hope failing, the toll of her magic efforts sapped her strength.

Awe raised his head, claws flexed in eagerness. Recovered from the wound at his back, he scanned the sky ahead of him and found Luna the closest of his enemies.

A massive slap of air thudded Celestia's chest, and the stroke of Awe's wings launched the dragon. His stare followed Luna's every movement, the red and yellow of his fire-streaked eyes gleamed wide, and with something new. Intensity. Before, behind all that rage and calculation and murderous intent, the dragon had restraint. Celestia could only see it after the fact. Awe resolved to weather the sisters' blows without revealing all his power. He held back no more.

Banking to one side, Luna's horn lit blue and wind swept past her wings, picking up speed. She leveled out, relying on her magic to keep out of Awe's reach, the same prey-and-attack tactic as before.

Alarm flared in Celestia, sudden and shrill as a phoenix's cry. “That's not going to work!” Her wings beat the air. She channeled a spell for speed and flew with all her strength, but Luna's path had carried her away. “Luna, that's not going to work!”

Awe's chest swelled with indrawn breath, and his mouth opened to reveal a gray light. Clear flames shimmered with distortions, erupting from his maw and evaporating instantly. A ball of air shot from the flames, and struck Luna.

The two spell-winds collided and turned into a maelstrom of turbulence. Luna cried out, batted this way and that by conflicting forces, sent into rolls, climbs, and falls; losing control.

Celestia watched helplessly as Awe advanced. The dragon loomed over the pony, chest swelling again, and spewed flame. The heat of the orange plume battered Celestia's coat even at this distance, but she couldn't avert her eyes as the dragon's breath rumbled to engulf her sister.

Mid roll, Luna craned her neck with a grimace and saw the fire. A shout of effort rung from deep within and she twisted, throwing her body further into the spin, horn alight. The air around her became not a maelstrom, but unified into one single rotating orb. Fire the outer edge and was swept up in the rotation, dissipating away from the center— away from Luna.

Fierce relief and pride surged in Celestia, a yell rising full of praise and challenge. Silver Spear himself could not have used the spell so gracefully, Luna turning the dragon's attack into her own defense. Skin beamed with energy. The fire's vanishing swirls held strange, rapturous beauty in.

The triumph was short lived. Luna saved herself from one death, but not much else. Even with magic, the sisters needed to keep their distance to survive, and Luna was caught in the whirling air. Awe tore forward.

Changing the orb into a stream, Luna borrowed all the motion of the wind to throw against him. What swept up the little pony like a leaf merely slowed the dragon, his enormous wings twitching and shifting for minor corrections in balance.

In that instant, Celestia arrived, teeth bared and horn flaring. The previous tactics were dead. The whole nature of the fight had changed. No longer able out fly Awe when he could strike down their wind-driven speed, Celestia had only one option, and a poor one. Intense, mid range clashing. Awe held every advantage: strength, speed, experience. Celestia didn't fight to win anymore. She fought just to survive moment to moment.

The dragon's eyes flicked briefly to the charging mare, now flanking his pursuit. A frown crossed his features an instant before his wings swept forward and his massive bulk halted in midair. Celestia drew in a startled gasp, fanning her own wings out to break off, but Awe was already dangerously close. His head swung around, and what she saw made her heart drop. His cavernous jaws grinned.

Thick, black smoke jetted from his mouth in a raging river, covering the mountainside in seconds. The expanding cloud engulfed Celestia completely, barely the time to hold her breath before noxious fumes stung her eyes. Blinded with darkness and watery vision, a single breath of this smoke would make her sick, dizzy, and vulnerable.

Lungs already burned with need. The tickling in her nose wanted to make her cough and sputter. She started to reverse, not daring to turn her back, but something about this act puzzled her.

Debilitating as it was, the smoke was far from lethal. Even less so if Luna had time to shield herself in a bubble. All Celestia needed to do was flee out of the cloud for safety, so why such a defensive gesture? He can't see through pure smoke, can he? Celestia blinked to clear her eyes.

A speck of blue danced in her vision like a firefly. The light of Luna's horn piercing the darkness. The only thing visible.

Sun and Moon! Celestia's throat tightened with the impulse to gasp and she acted. Her magic whirled out in a swarm of blue fairylamps, all of which began to flutter about and fill the shroud with lights.

A deep, rumbling growl of frustration told Celestia she guessed right. He was tracking them in the smoke by the light of their horns. Now, he'd be hard pressed to pick Luna out from the blue decoys—

Celestia threw herself back and a set of huge claws swept the shroud just in front of her, leaving it roiling in their wake. Her lungs burned out all coherent thought after, leaving only panic and she turned to flee from the dragon hiding in the darkness.

Wings pedaled frantically and her horn winked out while the need to breathe gnawed at the knowledge that doing so would cause death. All at once, sky erupted into view, almost painful with brightness, and mountain air ran cool fingers over pools of sweat. She gaped and swallowed, filling herself with relief.

A shadow fell over her, and in reflex, she rolled inverted to see. Awe eclipsed her vision. Individual scales leaped out in detail, his body too big to take in all at once. His massive head swiveled down, and cold ice froze in her chest, along her neck, as fire-streaked eyes recognized her position with malevolent glee.

Yelping, Celestia arched her back to dive, and Awe swept out with his hand, impossibly fast, fingertips crooked to snare. Only the speed of magic saved her, a pink shield forming around Celestia as she winced to brace for impact. She was too far for him to strike, but as the dragon stretched, his claws dug in and drew her into his grasp.

Celestia wriggled with fright, changing the form of her shield into a snake. As Awe's hand closed, the serpent slithered from between his fingers. Awe lurched, clutching at her before she could escape, and they struggled awkwardly. Awe used both hands to grasp, paw, or hook with his claws while Celestia writhed and squirmed just off the tips of his fingers.

A sharp touch slid across her back in the confusion, leaving behind a sense of heat. While Celestia felt no pain, she knew that a cut split open her skin. The surprise compelled a quick push and she slipped from his grasp and into free fall.

A look of angry disappointment crossed his face, and the dragon's nostril's flared, chest swelling. Celestia's belly turned into a vacuous froth of fear. Too close to react with a planned defense once he unleashed his magic, she hardened a shield, called a water spell to mind, and held her breath.

His maw opened and his throat glowed red—not the red of fire but of a low burning sun. The eerie flame poured from his mouth in a condensed column no larger than a cedar's trunk. It evaporated in the air, turned into a rushing beam of light, and struck Celestia's shield. The magic stuck. Her freefall stopped and she began to rise back toward the dragon.

The kind of magic he used, touching along hers, seemed oddly familiar. Her jaw dropped, realization hitting in a flash. Months ago, wolves attacked Celestia alone in the forest and she hurtled a spell at them with her terror-addled mind. Get away!, raw and unfocused, tossing the wolf off his paws. Awe used this same spell now, but channeled. Pure intention—come here!—and concentrated in a pillar.

Celestia's wriggling redoubled into a wormy flail. Yet, the spell drew her in unerring. Intention left nothing for her to physically squirm against. Awe reached out a clawed hand with deliberate measure and encircled Celestia in his grip. His knuckles tightened, crushing the spell underneath.

And Celestia shot out whole from the snake's head like a seed from a squeezed lemon.

Already having sensed the failure of her first shield, Celestia had watched the dragon's hand come for her. She formed a second barrier inside the snake, based off a turtle's shell, her only thought to hold back his grip as long as possible. When Awe had crushed the snake, the pressure built inside until it burst … and fired the turtle shell off, toward the horizon.

Celestia screamed, not sure if she was thrilled, relieved, or terrified to be hurtling through the air. Flying practice kicked in and she spread her wings, harnessing the speed while looking over her shoulder at the dragon.

Awe's hand still closed on pink embers and he stared with utter bewilderment. Resolve coming into focus, his body wound tight, wings opening to launch himself. Luna banked around the far side of the smoke, horn ablaze.

The workings of the spell drew Awe's attention, and he turned, abandoning pursuit to belch a flame of deep blue. A thin sheet of water spread from the fire at the same time Luna's horn erupted with lightning. Jagged edges of violet crackled in the air, striking the water and forking harmlessly around the dragon. But Luna did not let up. As long as the lightning threatened Awe, he was forced to maintain his protective barrier.

Weaving a spell with care, Celestia cast her magic across the distance, giving Luna speed with the aid of wind and drawing them together. The attack of lightning ended and Awe's glare followed them away. Meeting Celestia's eyes, he turned his head from the mouth of the cave and back to her. The pegasi crowded at the entrance, only a few at a time daring to slip away while primal forces wrestled near by. The message was clear. If Celestia and Luna ran, he'd resume his slaughter. Awe circled, biding time to plan his next move.

“Plans...” In the calm ebb of their struggle, Celestia could think again. Individual actions began to weave a larger picture.

“What?” Luna drew up close by. She turned to face the dragon and kept her horn ready. Wordlessly, they fell into sync, Celestia guiding their direction by sharing the wind spell, and Luna ready to defend against Awe's attacks.

Annoyed, Celestia glanced at her little sister and found Luna's expression the same as before: grimly determined, and unshakably focused. Frustration pulled Celestia's lips into an unseen snarl. Does she not realize how close we are to death? All this struggle, and it's like she's not even aware! “Luna, look! He wanted us to exhaust ourselves on his hide while he held back his magic. Then, he'd attack with spells when we were too tired to use our own. We've forced it out of him before he was ready. We made this a fight.”

Luna paused, a lapse in her solitary focus as she digested this new information. She shook her head. “It doesn't change much, we can't get past his scales.”

“So we hit him where he doesn't have any!” Celestia tucked her legs in, putting on more speed.

“Anywhere.” Banking into a sharp turn, Celestia put her nose to Awe and the wind roared behind her in a gale. Purpose filled her body, quickened her legs and wings. The lingering sense of fatigue melted away in a burst of energy. Saving everyone seemed possible again.

Awe stopped circling. His position shifted to face them square on, shoulders hunched with corded muscle.

He knows we're coming. He can see it on us and he's ready. Doubt slowed Celestia's advance and she prepared her spell to shift direction and dodge for her and her sister once he attacked.

The distance vanished in streaks of forest color beneath them, and cold air that licked at her cheeks, the dragon's size looming larger and larger. Celestia waited for the moment Awe would lash out—only to have him hover in place. Panic squeezed her throat. We're too close, he's lured me in!

She threw wind to one side, catching her wing in a harsh turn. Pain lanced through her shoulder, blood rushed away from her head, and her vision turned to shadow for a brief instant. Luna caught the bank more gently, twisting her wings for a wider turn, but doing so took her closer to Awe.

Instantly, Awe belched out a gray flame that erupted into a wind spell. A ball of air raced to hit Celestia along her side and cause another maelstrom.

He shouldn't have tried the same trick twice on Luna. The shallower arch kept her head clear, and she predicted the first attack. As soon as Luna saw the gray light from his maw, she launched her own spell of wind. The two forces collided just off the tip of Awe's nose and exploded into turmoil. His head recoiled with sheer discomfort, eyes blinking away the dry wind.

Such a minor thing held him at bay hardly a breath. He pivoted from his hover and into a shallow dive, gaining speed to intercept them from below while they went around. Mid maneuver, he inhaled deep and unleashed a gout of flame. It held little chance of burning the ponies, but it forced Celestia to counter rather than pull away.

The speed of her windspell waned in a break of concentration, Celestia instead unleashing a geyser of water. The spells met with an explosion of steam, hissing and masking the air between them in a column of white.

Resolve hardened in Celestia's belly. Tenacity, brought on by the idea that triumph was possible, rebelled against running away and made her shoulders bristle. Tucking in, Celestia tumbled over and stretched out facing the other way. Momentum still carried her backwards and she spread her wings, halting the velocity and dropping several lengths down. I didn't come here to run! She could not see past the thick cloud, but neither could Awe.

A half formed plan took shape in her mind. Luna continued on, but Celestia felt a surge of will. Visualizing a strong, unicorn mare, Celestia imbued the thought with magic, calling it up to take shape. The pink construct encased Celestia at it's center, long mane flowing, horn lowered to spear the dragon as he emerged from the mist. Hooves dug into imaginary ground behind her, bracing, and Celestia gave that thought will, too.

The constructed unicorn only had strength as Celestia's magic provided, weight and reality in proportion to the will to make it so, and Celestia's determination felt powerfully stubborn.

Awe appeared as a dark shape an instant before he emerged from the mist. The horn glanced off his neck, slipped to his shoulder and bit into the scales—where it shattered. She might as well have tried to stop a rhinoceros with bamboo.

The translucent mare's neck jarred at an angle and the dragon's titanic weight smashed into the construct. The collision transferred through to the center, spreading wide and giving Celestia the sensation of being swept off her feet by a violent cloud. With nothing to stop the trajectory, the mare—and Celestia with it—tumbled limply away, pink embers spewing from the shattered horn. Ground and sky alternated in her vision with snapshots of Awe in between.

Yet, she caught him off guard. Awe's bellow came sharp and sudden with the impact, and she felt his surprise even as volume shook her senses. The mare had enough mass to jar him from his charge and tangle the dragon with a creature of close to equal size. Awe's bellow, though, was a battle roar. His claws swiped at the at the mare's hindquarters, carving huge furrows and spewing yet more pink embers of lost magic. Celestia clutched to thoughts of the mare through all the confusion, desperate to keep her only defense from unraveling.

In between the glimpses of sky and ground and scattered embers, a blue light shown along side the dragon. Awe had to know Luna was coming. Her sister pulled into a shallow dive, wings pumping away, horn glowing with a prepared spell. She pulled as close as she dared—air riled from his massive wings threatening her stability—and harried his attack. Thunder split the sky and lightning peeled with jagged streams, raking across his side. Everywhere the lightning touched, glowing lines of heat trailed across his body and split scales in two, penetrating to the skin underneath.

Only a ferocious growl of irritation paid Luna heed. His claws sunk into the constructed mare's sides and tore the mare literally limb from limb. Celestia felt her spell unravel beyond repair in an explosion of wild embers that left her exposed. Her eyes shot wide open and her breath caught in her throat.

Realization dawned on Luna's features in stark clarity. Close, ignored, and spell in place, Awe left her the perfect opening. Lightning stopped raking at random to distract the dragon, and arched up alongside Awe's neck, to his face, rising to his left eye. Only it never made it.

The instant the heated line touched his cheek, Awe jerked his head away, eyelids closing. His nostrils flared, and a quick twist of his neck snapped off a spell back in Luna's direction. It happened so fast and so sudden, it was a testament to Luna's forethought that she had a defense ready at all.

The lightning vanished for a flat, blue barrier. Had Awe used fire or air, Luna's spell would have bought her vital seconds defecting the blow until she could adjust. Awe used water.

It sailed from him like a comet, trailing small droplets behind a misshapen sphere and crashed into Luna's shield. Water is heavy, and the sheer weight of the liquid collided with the barrier and threw it into Celestia's little sister. Luna bounced off the hard surface with a cry, knocked senseless. Her spell vanished and she fell, dazed or unconscious, splashes of water following her down.

“Luna!” Celestia reached out a hoof in a futile gesture, watching the limp body fall. Before she could turn and dive to catch her sister, the eerie heat of Awe's stare washed over her coat.

He towered above her, just out of claw's reach. Luna's distraction at least bought her time to slip from that dangerous range, but now the dragon had them separated, and Celestia faced him alone.

Flipping upside down in an eerie reflection of their earlier exchange, Celestia arched her back into a steep dive to gain speed. She didn't dare let him leave her sight, or pull in too close. If she had a fighting chance with spellwork, she'd have none against his physical strength.

Awe followed her down, gaining. Maddeningly, he still flew better than she did. Thoughts became a jumble of needs and tactics, mixed up in indecision. She wanted to direct her dive at her sister and hopefully save Luna from the fall. Awe was closing in, and she needed to evade or counter or something before he brought his claws to bear. She couldn't dive forever or she'd crash into the ground. Nothing resolved itself, she felt paralyzed without clarity.

Nostrils flared. Awe's chest swelled. Focus snapped into Celestia's mind. This was her chance. As soon as she saw his lips begin to crack, she slammed a spell through her horn. A construct of an oversized manticore's dart raced for the back of Awe's throat.

His teeth clicked closed. Awe turned his chin, and the dart deflected off the scales of his jaw, bouncing harmlessly to the side.

No! The crash of hope felt absolute. The world passed slowly for all she noticed, her wings falling limp with disbelief. Realization dawned in meaning, words too slow to encompass the understanding. Of course, Awe knew his weaknesses better than she did. In all his unconquerable centuries, how many had tried to strike around his scales and failed?

Instinct controlled Celestia, too distraught to think. She shoved water out in front of her, the effort taxing and sluggish. The flames reflected off an explosion of vapor.

Awe's breath continued relentlessly, pressing Celestia down, steam rising into a massive column. A strange dissonance of reason forged its own little space in Celestia's mind. Trying to press flames through water seemed terrible inefficient.

His wings slapped forward and an onrushing gale took the defense of water apart. Steam, heated to scalding from the fire, swept over her. Her skin went from normal to hot to burning with pain in mere seconds. Stings assaulted her every inch, and she flailed in mindless panic, blinded and bucking like a spooked earth pony, before fleeing. Droplets peppered her skin like rain, giving tiny tastes of relief as she sought end to the biting cloud.

She emerged breathless, cringing, fighting down pain. Cool, mountain air ran a soothing touch through her coat, lessening the stings and calming the panic. Cringed muscles took time to unknot, but she slowly opened her eyes, pulse remaining fast. She lost her bearing on Awe. He lurked somewhere, threatening, able to kill her in surprise while she was disoriented. And her sister's fate remained unknown.

A look thrown over her shoulder revealed the dragon, his wing carving through the mist. He took a gamble to find Celestia in the steam, impervious to the heat, but her panicked flight gave her an unpredictable trail. Still, he wouldn't be lost for long. As soon as he stuck his head out, her white coat and pink mane would be like a lone flower in a field of grass. That left Luna.

Celestia swept her gaze rapidly back and forth, chest constricted with worry, eyes darting over the forest and sky. If Luna had fallen from that height...

Over here. The familiar touch of Luna's seeking spell tickled across Celestia's senses, and she heard her sister's voice in thought. The vines constricting her chest loosened. Luna had recovered before she hit the ground.

The hairs all over her back stood on end with the creeping sensation of being watched. Awe had found Celestia. Her wings doubled their pace, and she tucked in her back legs, as if to dodge an imaginary blow.

Her sister's use of a spell meant her horn glowed, and Celestia spied a dim light rising over the treetops and coming to meet her. A base need, rising to hysterical, demanded the company of another, the safety of the herd, and Celestia swept her sister close with a spell of wind.

The angry rumble of a fireball roared in increasing volume. Celestia pulled up, fidgeting at the unseen horror and dragging her sister along in the wind. Luna let out a grunt of effort, and the hum of a magical construct diverted the fire from its path.

“He's just prodding at us!” Luna shouted, moving closer while Celestia controlled their flight.

Unsettled fear made Celestia's hooves shake. It was like being pursued by wolves once again. She darted a wild-eye stare at her sister. “I don't know what to do.”

Luna remained focused on the dragon, gaze narrowed in concentration. “What do you mean?” Another crackling fire roared and Luna's horn flashed with a spell. As long as they climbed, they could keep their distance from the dragon, but to what end?

“You didn't see it.” The defeat rung in Celestia's voice. “He guards his mouth and eyes too closely, we'll never get through. And he's been fighting since before our ancestors were born. He took both of us apart like fillies.” Silence stretched on between them. A feeling sunk in slowly, unspoken, until Celestia could bide it no longer. “We can't win.”

“He's faster, he's smarter, he's better and we have no way to get past his scales. We can't drive him off or stop him. He'll kill us, or the pegasi.”

Luna's blue eyes looked so wide, staring at her. She returned to watching Awe, sullen. The weight of reality finally broke through that grim, naïve determination and her lips moved, too quiet to hear in the rush.

“He's not invincible!” Luna shouted, her brows furrowed and angry with hurt. “Remember, we broke through his back?”

Celestia fell silent again, staring ahead. Another attack of fire came to wary them and Luna sent that one aside, too. Awe gave no rest and forced them to maintain vigilance rather than recover strength. True, they had broken through his scales once, perhaps even bruised him badly beneath his hide with some of their attacks, but those victories felt so small when compared to what they still had to accomplish.

“We have to run.” Celestia shook her head with regret. A wave of exhaustion hit her, but passed just as quickly with the danger still at hand.

“Yes, I know! We'll have to get the pegasi out and away from him. Lead him away from the cave, then disappear.”

“I'm out of ideas, Luna! I don't know what else …” Her voice trailed off. As she stared up into the sky between an uneven cover of clouds, several specks—mere black silhouettes—passed over a white edge and into view. Their sight drowned her insides, riding atop the layers and layers of defeat, and filling her with anguish. Celestia lost concentration on her spell and the wind died. “Stars and moon, no …”

Flight halting and feathers splayed, Celestia yelled. “Griffins. A whole flock of griffins!”

No longer having aid in her climb, Celestia leveled out. How many where up there? Twenty? More than that? Each griffin combined the strength of a lion, sight of an eagle, and supernatural flight. A pegasus' nemesis and predator.

“Maybe they heard the fighting, we're not exactly quiet,” Luna offered in a high, strained voice. “They came out of curiosity, not hunting.”

“But when they see straggling ponies scattered all over the forest, they won't be able to resist! They'll kill scores!” Celestia looked down. Awe circled below, waiting. When their eyes met, he wore a malevolent grin, and she could feel his joy at their crisis. Awe sensed victory finally coming into his grasp. He'd soon have the blood he wanted in exchange for his lost hoard.

Dread combed across her back and neck unwelcomed, tightening the muscles into harsh bands. She stared ahead into nothing, straining against the sense of inevitability. Running didn't matter now. The presence of griffins destroyed that notion, able to dive on anyone fleeing. To abandon the pegasi to that fate remained unthinkable, the need to protect them as constant and unspoken within her as gravity. Just like the wolves that bit her legs in the forest so long ago, she felt trapped. Death was coming. She'd see it soon.

Many species had faced that feeling over time. The feeling of those situations where everything falls apart, of where the enemies and catastrophes out number ability, of where there is no escape or avoiding what comes next. Celestia had seen fawns who cowered down and let their lives end without protest. She'd seen unicorns become a jibbering mess as soon as accepted plans failed and helplessness settled in. Birds that go still as soon as the fangs of a wild cat sink in.

Earth ponies were no stranger to this, either. When the Everfree Forest coughed up animals that craved blood, they too had to face the times when they could not run away. Whether it be from a hydra whose size towered over trees and whose many heads could bite a full grown stallion in half, or from a snake bite where venom slowly crept through their system and made the pony grow sicker and sicker. Celestia had only seen one response from her own kind.

To fight. To kick out against their foes, no matter the number. To struggle against fate with all their might, as if they did not believe their bodies could be broken, as if they could violently reject reality, if they fought long and hard enough.

Indeed, all Celestia had to do was nothing. She could stop and rest and close her eyes, and it would end. Awe would kill her. Or the griffins might find her shining coat and swoop down on her back. The pegasi would escape then, Awe satisfied with his point proven.

But if that was a choice for some, it did not exist for Celestia. Her heart was an earth pony's and she could no more give up than choose to quit breathing. The Wild Magic that created this world formed the pony race from earth, but the forest forged them into something far tougher.

She turned to her sister. “Luna, we can't leave those griffins up there. We have to take care of them.”

“Let me deal with that.” Celestia felt herself swallowing. The needs of the situation demanded an action that went against her core nature, but as her mind chewed it over, she saw no way around. “Awe will attack us from behind if we both go.”

Luna's gaze dropped down. Her eyes narrowed at her adversary circling below. The quiet determination returned to her voice. “You need me to stop him from attacking your back.”

Celestia's heart surged with panic and denial. She did not want to throw Luna at Awe's rage anymore than she wanted to swallow fire. The very idea elicited the impulse to draw her sister close and wrap her protectively under wing. Yet, even less than that, she wanted to foist the problem of the griffins on Luna—to not take care of this new threat herself, and as quickly as possible.

She altered her path and came along side Luna, careful to avoid tangling their wings. She placed one hoof on her sister's shoulder. “You don't need to beat him.”

“You don't need even need to hurt him. Don't try. Just survive him. Do that long enough and I can come help. All right?”

The calmness of her little sister reassured, but only in part. Luna's focus meant she was unlikely to panic at what Awe would throw at her, but that was a far cry from safety. Despite these feelings, any more delay would just make their tasks all the deadlier. “Please. Be careful!” Celestia pointed her nose up and channeled a fresh spell.

The magic built in her horn and she unleashed it all at once, launching into the sky. Air flowed over her wings, propelling her upward while her heart beat as if to pound free from her chest. For what felt like ages, she wanted to glance over her shoulder and see her sister's plight, but could not bring herself to do it.

Finally, she gave in and strained her neck. Awe climbed upward, arms forward, claws out like a pouncing lion. His teeth showed in something between a smile and a growl as he sought the lone blue pony. Luna looked so small and vulnerable in comparison, the blue jay to Awe's lion, but her horn shone like a star and she twisted in a tight turn. The chase was on, and Awe appeared sure it would end in only one way.

There was no point in staring further. Celestia could not help her sister, save to chase off the griffins. She focused ahead, thoughts still left down below, and poured in her anxiety, her desperation, her fear, all fueling her will to push forward. The intensity nearly choked, constricting her chest and throat, but the physical act of pumping her wings and working her magic kept it from stalling her flight.

The griffins hesitated, circled back around, all following the lead fliers like a flock. They'd seen her undoubtedly—a bright, pink flare and shining white coat of a pony below. Now, they wrestled with what to do. A pony was a meal, if caught unprotected, and they had plenty of power to dispatch one. Even a struggling stallion was a small threat to their leonine strength and razor beaks. Yet, Celestia wasn't behaving as a prey should, scrambling for cover. She charged. The naked aggression confused them.

However, Celestia was alone, challenging a predator that routinely ate her kind, that outnumbered her, and held a better position. The lead griffin's wings folded into a streamlined posture and the feline body arched into a dive. The flock followed. They'd come meet their aggressor.

Celestia didn't slow, her only thought being to attack as fast as possible. A nagging side of her mind rebelled against the recklessness, reminding her she had no plan, no idea what came next, and two dozen griffins could be even more deadly than a dragon. Her hide was just as vulnerable to claws, no matter their source, and the griffins had more.

Dozens of eyes fixed her in the long stares of birds-of-prey. Gold irises seemed alien, passionless and unnerving. Celestia held her course, teeth gritted and bared for all their exception senses to see. The lead griffin, a half-osprey half-panther, drew forward his talons, each nail wickedly long and hooked.

For a second, she thought they'd collide, and that there would be an explosion of feathers and caws and a hairball of chaotic fighting. But the moment she allowed herself to be surrounded, she'd die. Celestia folded her body as if she leaped over a fence, changed her spell to press her wings down, and shot at the horizon with her momentum.

The osprey-griffin passed so close, she felt his windstream ruffle the strands of her tail. Celestia hooked her legs closer in reflex, and need not look to know how her predators fared. The first few griffins overshot their dives and would need to turn to pursue, but all their followers had more warning to adjust. And, they'd have all the speed of a dive at their back. Celestia tucked in her wings so far they nearly clung to her body and whipped her windspell so fast, she was no longer sure if it helped or hurt her acceleration.

A moment's indecision seized at her chest and panic threatened to sink in. The griffins were on her. Images flashed through her mind of their talons reaching out, mere nose-lengths from snagging her ankles. If she diverted will from her spell for a fireball, she'd slow. If she turned to look, she'd slow. Perhaps she could swat one or two from the air in time, but if they didn't veer off in surprise, she'd have claws in her back from ten more. And despite her magic, they were closing what little distance she had left.

Celestia banked, and her shoulder started screaming in agony. Even a slight turn at this speed was an immense strain, and her injury threatened to buckle. Rancorous cries of ravens and piercing shrieks of eagles sounded almost on top of her. Yet, she held tight against the strain and worry. The clouds were her only option for miles. Though an option for what, she didn't know. An obstacle, at least, not that she could out maneuver the griffins.

She pointed her nose beneath one gray, ruffled edge and flattened out underneath a cloudbank. Gray mounds rose and fell above her like inverse rolling hills, giving a sense of vertigo while her injury slowed her rises and descents enough that she cut flying close. A feather at the very tip of her wing brushed against one wispy mound, and the shock of it nearly jettisoned her stomach from her mouth. Not only because the griffins had her on edge and the slightest touch could be a swiping paw. Not only because a more serious collision would knock her from the sky, perhaps break her wing. But because the moment her pegasus feather touched the cloud, she felt a jolt of … something.

The next bank streaked over head and she reached out a hoof. Air clutched to her forelimb, altering her course to one side—and slowing her. She raised her rear legs in a reaction too instantaneous to be a conscious decision and felt a talon narrowly glance by and leave behind a wet streak.

But it was too late for that griffin. All Celestia needed to do was the lightest flick, and speed made her hoof strike the cloud with the weight of a boulder.

The sky turned as black as night and roared. The noise pounded her body like a drum, deafened her ears and made them ring with pain, but not before she could make out an eagle's cry of fright. Hill after rolling hill passed over head, her hoof striking each one so fast that the thunder bellowed like the gallop of a colossal horse. Lightning peeled everywhere, and with the size only nature could provide.

Perhaps it was a bit of Moon's magic that she gifted the first pegasus in ages past, but the lightning never peeled to strike Celestia, just around her—despite her every hair tickling static. If it weren't for wind sweeping her mane back, she would have made a passable hedgehog.

Celestia lowered her hoof, slowing for a wide turn. Between the shadowy afterimages burned in by the lightning, she saw the flock in disarray. Some figures fell limp from the sky, others pounded furiously in retreat.

The change came so fast that her thoughts experienced whiplash. One minute, a talon raked her ankle. The next, the griffins fled, screeching. It made sense, she supposed, even as her instincts struggled to catch up. The griffins were hunters, not killers like Awe. As soon as Celestia proved too dangerous for an easy meal, they abandoned the hunt. She glanced at the thick cloud over the cave entrance, the one she passed through day after day with her wings tickling each time. What was it Rebel said? Even griffins know to avoid a pegasus with a storm cloud.

The sharp crack of a boulder broke Celestia from her revery and her gaze snapped down. All the fear, all the desperation, and all the sense of being overwhelmed returned with the sight of Awe. Her heart lept into her throat and she threw herself into a dive. Luna, please hold on!

The roar of wind grew gradually into a cacophony in Celestia's ears, and the ground became a vast wall speeding toward her from far away. At first, she stroked the air, building initial speed, but stopped only seconds later once the dive took over. The passage of air over her wings propelled her far faster than gravity could alone, and as she accelerated, the air moved even faster, accelerating her yet more.

Her mane and tail whipped behind her in a frenzy. Cold fingers gripped tighter and tighter to every limb, every strand of hair, lashing her eyes dry, and breaking on her chest. But for all her gaining speed, she had flown far, far overhead. Perhaps the dive took only heartbeats, but the sense of helplessness at watching her sister contend with Awe, alone, made the span of time seem endless.

Perhaps Luna, or even Awe, had glanced up while the cloud blackened and shook with lightning, but that moment had passed and they returned to their struggle. From here, the dragon's senuous movements reminded Celestia of being on the banks of a river and watching a crocodile chase a fish. A spark of blue light turned and darted, wings twisting and moving like an agile bird, details coming into clarity with each hooflength Celestia closed.

Luna looked haggard. Rolled on her back to watch Awe more carefully as she fled and fought, Luna's mouth hung open and panted for breath. Her wings flapped with a sprint-like pace, and she used every trick she could to evade, fool, or otherwise remain unpredictable in the path of her flight.

Yet, it didn't matter. Awe flew with the skill of an ace pegasus and Luna, without magic, was only a promising novice. His wings flapped to conserve his strength, and his maneuvers never put him under too great a strain. Luna's one flying advantage, the ability to conjure wind, had been negated once Awe revealed his counter, and now their differences in skill could only be made up for by Luna's expenditure of energy.

Never had Celestia doubted Luna's stubborn nature, and likely only that had kept her alive so long, fighting in negligence of exhaustion. Perhaps, all things being equal, Luna could have even outlasted Awe's determination, running him to exhaustion as he tried to kill her. But things were not equal. Awe's magic meant death. Awe's fire meant death. Awe's size, claws, tail, teeth, all meant death. And what had Awe to fear from Luna with his dragon scales? He could afford to move his own pace, and Luna could not.

Eventually, this would end in only one way. Luna's body would give out and Awe would finish her. Celestia might already be too late save her sister even if she arrived right now. How long could she fend off the dragon and allow Luna rest before becoming exhausted herself? If Luna was too far gone, the fight was over.

That chain of events likely already ran through Luna's mind, and probably a lot sooner than it had Celestia's. The heaving of her breath and fatigue in Luna's wings spurring the sense of the situation. However, with Luna's magic freed from propelling her flight, she retaliated. Her magic quested out blind to the ground beneath her, scooping up every heavy, solid object she could find. With bursts of telekinesis, she hurtled stones, boulders, fallen trees, and even scattered clouds of dust and sand when nothing else could be found. She filled the air between them with missiles, using each item to buy herself time and slow the mighty dragon.

It only exhausted her further. Awe's scales repelled everything. With slight adjustments, he took the obstacles to his shoulder and let it shatter against his muscle, or shielded his face with an outstretched arm and let it glance off his scales. Occasionally, Luna found something truly massive. A giant granite slab lifted from the mountainside and flew at Awe with such force that Celestia felt a frightening quiver in her belly. Awe lashed out, claws smashing it to pieces and so that only pebbles struck his hide.

In the midst of all this, Awe harassed with his own spells. Any moment Luna slowed or faltered, Awe's nostrils flared, his chest swelled, and fire, or wind, or smoke, or the red beams of light flung out. At this range, they didn't hit her, she had plenty of warning to will a defense, but neither could she catch her breath, constantly driven to action.

Images blurred. The air from the dive pelted Celestia's eyes relentlessly—all but blinding her with unsteady vision—and tugged at her lips, trying to peel her face back into some horrendous grimace. She used no spells in a dive, it'd only slow her down to draw yet more air across her wings at this point. Instead, she tightened her cheeks, squinted her eyes, and thrust her forelimbs out in front. With her magic available, she willed a barrier just beyond her hooves trying to break through the wind before it struck her face.

The uncomfortable pressure shot a realization through her every bit as dire as the dragon down below, and her limbs tensed stiff in response. Shallow, relatively low speed dives could be accomplished by unskilled fliers, but fast, deep dives were the most dangerous stunt any pegasus could perform. The best fliers in the cave hesitated to enter one, and Celestia let herself be lulled into the fastest, deepest dive she'd ever seen any try. And she was a worse flier than Luna!

Anything could go wrong at this speed. Reaching out a hoof too far, or even turning her head, would alter the airflow and toss her into a spin. Her wings might simply cease functioning, unable to cope with the velocity they parted the wind. Or, most likely, she'd be unable to pull out before she hit the ground. Momentum would break her wings like twigs if she tried to pull out.

She thought about slowing down. Part of her screamed. Her chest tightened as if she did, even as no sound left her lips. Despite all that sensible fear, she still pushed herself faster to aid her sister. In many ways, this was worse than when she leaped off the rocky shelf to save the colt before she had wings. At least then, she thought she'd survive. She knew her limits better now. With her shoulder injured, this dive was suicidal in the most literal sense.

Her stomach lurched back into her body. The acceleration ended. Celestia reached the point where the atmosphere thickened enough to prevent any higher speed though it. It felt like trying to run upstream on a swift river, only many times more noisy and terrifying. Out of reflex, she strained to go faster still, shoving and pushing against the air that congealed around her. She felt it press against her magic, squish into a visible cloud of vapor, only to pop back as she sailed past.

A flash of inspiration coursed through her body and mind like spark of lightning. A memory, Luna's amusement at squishing and releasing a tiny cloud, whirled by in a blink.

The cloud contracting inside a blue sphere. Luna poking it with her hoof. “Pop!” The cloud erupting with a vengeance. Luna giggling.

Celestia nearly lost control of the dive as her hooves quaked. On the obsidian edge of such disaster, with a dragon in sight, and wind ripping at her hair, trying to clear her mind enough to craft an all new spell seemed an impossible task. But that same rush that spiked her fear also sharpened her with a clear goal, and the space formed in her mind like the eye in a hurricane.

She crafted a spell one piece after another, rather than juggling it in her mind all at once. The vision of a phoenix's sharp beak and flared wings altered the barrier out in front, parting and funneling the wind along it's shaped feathers. Two scoops formed on the wingtips, gathering the flowing air in a ball, inspired by a large-mouthed fish inhaling water.

To Celestia's equal horror and relief, she slowed. The wind catches quickly filled up and disrupted her smooth glide through the atmosphere. All for the better, Celestia thought. Despite wanting to arrive at her sister's side yesterday, she'd be no help as a valiant splatter on the ground.

Instead, she poured her energy into what speed she could maintain, and found herself in need of constant fine tuning her magic construct. Initially, her breakneck speed fueled her purpose, compressing the air before gathering it in the scoops. But now they overflowed, the dive alone not enough. With a quick thought, she added a layer of complexity to her scoops, barriers inside moving in waves to constantly compact the air tighter. A pair of orbs formed inside, growing at a slow, steady rate, filling Celestia with a healthy nervousness. The two balls didn't even feel like air anymore. They were too dense, too solid and hot, and the force each one contained demanded more and more of Celestia's will to keep it in control until she strained.

The battle continued to unfold, now in startling clarity with Celestia's lower speed and closer proximity. From the position on her back, Luna undoubtedly noticed the transparent pink light diving down, and her wings faltered, flapping in short, erratic bursts that struggled to keep her aloft. If Celestia saw that, Awe certainly did. Perhaps, Luna wanted to draw the dragon in, giving him the appearance of a vulnerable prey with Celestia approaching unseen. Or, perhaps, the sight of coming help rushed relief through Luna enough that her muscles slowed.

Either way, Awe sensed the killing moment. His wings sped their pace, shaking the air with new violence and he closed on the floundering pony in only a few strokes. Luna's horn glowed, and she unconsciously raised a hoof to shield her face, but held back her spell. Awe didn't need to move into his claw's range, not really. Once sufficiently close, his magical attack would overwhelm Luna's reflexes. Without skilled prediction of what the dragon would launch, Luna would be defenseless against Awe's onslaught. And Awe was too experienced to be predicted.

Celestia didn't aim her spell for his mouth. That, he could close, and the moment she crossed into view, his jaws snapped with an audible click of teeth, sealing his throat. She didn't aim for his eyes. He already shifted his head, blinking the closest one under a protective, scaled lid.

No, there was one space he couldn't shut. With a roaring shout, Celestia took each of her orbs, filled to the breaking point of her will with air, and shoved them up his flaring nostrils.

She pushed the orbs blindly down deep into his body, unknowing of what space or cavity they filled. Opened wings halted her dive past the dragon in a half roll, never breaking sight of Awe.

He froze, stunned. Celestia had seen the same look on a playmate's face when the mare accidentally sucked in a fly through her nose. Awe stood rigid, breath held, confusion written all over his features.

Awe's chest expanded until it was a deformity. Pale skin showed between scales, his multilayered armor failing to cover the stretched hide. Awe's mouth opened, spewing smoke and flame like a drowning animal coughs water, and his chest collapsed again. Fire-streaked eyes went frighteningly wide in shock.

His wings lost all semblance of grace in their difficulty to keep his bulk hovering. His limbs flailed blindly for balance, his mouth opened and closed in a futile effort to swallow air. Luna sensed the opportunity, flipped over in a dive that circled her around, and charged. The spell she held channeled sprung to life as a glowing blue Ursa Major every bit as large as Awe himself. The amount of will Luna channeled must have been tremendous, all her spare energy to create a construct of that size. The great bear reared on its hind legs, lifted one paw, and slapped the dragon down with all its force. Awe's chin snapped to his neck and he fell limp, boneless, dropping from the air.

He landed in the valley between two mountains, on rock and gravel, rolling over once before stopping on his belly. From Celestia's vantage point, she could see the dragon's face, and was unable to look away at what she wrought His lips peeled back, exposing all his sickle-like teeth, locked in a sneer of disbelief. The fire-streaked eyes stared into nothing, glaring with so much pure hatred that Celestia could scarcely believe he felt anything else his entire life. The fire-streaks slowly clouded over, his stare glazing without an ounce of vitriol lost.

Surprise locked Celestia in place, overwhelmed by the magnitude of what she just witnessed. Awe, dead. After all her struggle, the failed attempts, over and over trying in vain to drive off the dragon, after experiencing his titanic like presence, anger, and relentlessness, the king of dragons lay dead.

Her wings flapped in a tired motion that bobbed in place. Emotions filled her head until it buzzed with an almost physical sensation, leaving her to sift through them.

Shock was chief among the gushing wellspring. Shock that her improvised plan worked. Shock that the conflict ended so suddenly. Shock that a being as monumental and ancient as he, the king of creatures beneath the blue sky, could be slain at all.

Relief added notes of joy. Luna was safe. The pegasi were spared. The immense weight of death that hung over Celestia lifted from her shoulders. Fear evaporated, along with desperation, and the despair that tightened her belly when she thought she could not escape. In their wake, the freedom she experienced made her body feel as light as air.

And horror. In no small measure, she felt an inner revulsion at the sight of the dead dragon. Not that Celestia was a stranger to killing. Growing up as an earth pony in the harsh care of the Everfree Forest, her herd had to be willing end a life to protect their own. Even still, it was rare. Once a predator was driven off, there was little need and great danger to run it down. Among the unicorns, and the pegasi, Celestia involved herself even less with that mindset. For the first time, she ended a creature's life that spoke to her. Not a wolf, or a cockatrice, but a speaking, reasoning being. It made her feel sick, to have done such a thing.

Regret was not among her feelings, though. Awe would have killed Luna, her, and countless pegasi if she let him. Celestia may regret the situation, that the pegasi ancestors lied and brought on this disaster. She may regret that Awe's intentions forced her to this course. But she did not feel regret over her decision to defend the ponies he'd have slaughtered.

Shadows darkened her vision, a sensation that was purely internal, and her sense of orientation wavered. Exhaustion smothered all thoughts and feelings, rolling over her like a blanket. Legs went limp, and her flight fell several ponylengths before she found the strength to catch herself.

Will was a kind of energy, and like all energy, its use was finite. A pony couldn't concentrate forever, couldn't ignore pain or keep sentry forever. Extreme situations produced will in excess. An injured earth pony spotted by lions might suddenly find the will to run, or a tired pegasus could ignore fatigue and fly—but only as long as those situations persisted.

Magic burned will for fuel, and Celestia had burned more will in fighting Awe than any practice, any fight, or any chase than ever before. With him threatening her and her sister, will felt like a river she could drink from forever. With him gone, the gap between what she had used, and what she could use normally, drained her strength dry.

Her vision grew darker still and her eyes closed with a sense of weightlessness. Celestia cried out in distress, and gritted her teeth, throwing every thought to keep her wings open. Simply gliding was a grueling effort, even worse than when she climbed the pegasus mountain as a unicorn, but falling to her death now felt too ironic an end and she held on.

Only glimpsing her path through an occasionally cracked eye, she let her wings carry her down to a wide, flat shelf on the mountainside. She let go too soon, fell the last way, and her knees buckled, pain lancing through her legs as they collapsed. Not that she cared. She leaned to one side, legs tucked close, wings falling where they may, and merely tried to survive the wave of exhaustion. She was emptied. Poured out. Hollowed and pained in her head, with the feeling of sand in her eyes, and sweat crusting her coat. Her neck sagged, and she waited. All she could do to live was wait for it to pass in misery.

The sound of hooves landing close by raised her ears and Celestia peeked out. Luna watched in silence next to her, mouth parted to take in deep breaths, and mane disheveled from flight. Despite her appearance, Luna didn't fold her legs to sit or rest. Her stance and demeanor suggesting she felt something remained undone and she was ready to do it. In the looks they traded, an understanding passed without words. Celestia and Luna reassured themselves that their sister was healthy and whole, now that the danger was over.

Wings flickered at the edges of Celestia's vision, and she found herself turning her head. Pegasi approached, landing one after the other. The bravest ponies arrived first, leaving the cave. Herd instinct compelled the rest in some shared curiosity, after seeing no threat aroused. In moments, Celestia and Luna were surrounded by pegasi, gathering thickly on the ground in a loose ring, none daring to move to closer to the sisters while they stared.

Discomfort ran a ripple through Celestia's feathers, and she frowned, scanning the crowd. Memories of her reputation surfaced, of their opinions of her as Pink Plummet, and she prepared for the insults and jeering they thought. Their faces betrayed little, holding her with a respect that nestled somewhere between wonder and fear. They might still consider her mad, or idiotic, or misguided for attempting to stand against a dragon, but none could deny the power they saw her wield. Likewise, the hush of whispers passed between them, too low and fast to be understood.

Frustration gathered in her chest, long held in her life at the cave, and made unbearable by this moment. She placed her hooves beneath her. Her first attempt to rise failed, but she rocked back and hoisted herself up in a surge on shaking legs.

“Why?” She glared at the crowd. “Why do you act so surprised? Why are you all staring?” She paused, looking them over. “Have you never seen a pony risk her life for another? I know you have. I've lived with you for … seasons now. I've watched you every day and tried to figure you out. Why do you live so backwards? You'd have me believe that every pegasus is a pony on her own, with no loyalty except to herself, no others to hold her back, that any pony that does so is stupid.” Celestia's voice grew harsh. “You lie.

“If what you said is true, then—” Celestia shoved a hoof at the cave. “Why this? Why flock to be there? Why live where you're tripping over yourselves with the one kind of creature that can hold you back: each other? Why is it that I never see a pegasus alone? You gather together in groups, four, five, six, and for what purpose? I'll tell you why! You're ponies! You can't stand to be alone! No matter how much you love your freedom, loneliness is worse!”

Tears formed in Celestia's eyes from the sheer rawness she felt at being so tired. She shook her head, flinging the droplets off. Hooves steadied beneath her, Celestia raised her head to look down on all the pegasi around her.

“You betrayed your own lie when you nicknamed her 'Momma.' There was a pony in all your lives that you knew you could count on, that despite the fact you ran away from her one day long ago, you remembered what she was like. Your mothers. As soon as some other mare came along and offered you no tricks, just trust, you loved her more than all the others in the herd. And you named her for that feeling your recognized. Momma.

“I just act in that same feeling. Not from parent to child, but from friend to friend. This is what that looks like, the opposite of lonliness. That a pony will go to great lengths to help and protect another pony, and that she knows she will get the same in return.” She scoffed. “Insult me if you want, call me whatever you feel like, Dragon Dandy or whatever. I don't care anymore. Just know that I insult you. Know that I make fun of you. Because when it came to the choice between friendship and loneliness, I choose friendship every time, and you don't.”

Celestia marched forward, disdaining to look at them anymore. The pegasi parted around her like a school of fish, opening a way before her presence and closing as soon as she passed. Celestia only made it ten paces before the flash of frustration abandoned her and she listed to one side. Rather than catch her balance, she fell as gently as she could manage and tucked her legs beneath her. Her head lowered, and she allowed her mane to veil her eyes, awareness shrinking to the rise and fall of her chest in deep breath.

“Stars, Celi! Your back!” Luna's voice broke the silence, and her hooves beat in a run to Celestia's side.

Turning around to see felt too tiring a task, so Celestia closed her eyes and let her body tell her what to expect. Throbs, previously unnoticed, interrupted her thoughts. A line of pain down her back pulsed with heat, and another on her ankle. The muscles where her wing met her shoulder felt hot and sprained, and bruises beat along one side of her body. “Is it bleeding?”

Luna didn't answer right away. Part of their education among the unicorns included basic healing arts, and she drew on that knowledge now. “Mostly no. But I don't like how it looks. It's very long and you've bled down your leg.”

Celestia rolled to her side enough to lift her head and eye her little sister. “What healer?” The skin felt tight around her cheeks as she spoke. The steam Awe thrust against her must have left burns, and she rubbed it gently with a hoof. Hopefully, they'd only blister and not anything worse. “Do you see any unicorns around here? Or the shaman?”

“Last I knew, the pegasi know less about healing than we do. If it's not gaping, and it's not bleeding, best to leave it alone. Any better healer will be too hard to find, like we are now.” Celestia paused, brow narrowing. “Sun and Moon, Luna! You're completely unscathed!” And still standing. Whereas, I'm a wreck.

“I'm not unscathed.” Luna's tone reflected factual disagreement, rather than false modesty. She lifted a hoof to her cheek and rubbed gingerly. A slight swelling of bruises showed on second glance, where her shield bounced against her when Awe struck it with water.

“At least clean it.” Her little sister added, gesturing at the wound with her nose.

A pony landed with a feather-light touch, and Rebel stood within the ring of space left by the gawking pegasi. He didn't approach, not at first, the same feeling that arrested the pegasi holding him back, even if familiarity allowed him to come closer. As his eyes flicked between the sisters, the sense of fear and wonder melted away, his lip quivering and eyes watering with a sadness to profound to be childlike, and too raw to be adult.

“After …” His voice wavered and he started to wipe at his eyes with his feathers. “After Momma, you went to talk to him. That's when he killed her, and I thought you'd die. I thought you'd die and I'd lose all my friends.”

“Oh, Rebel.” Celestia lifted a forelimb, opening it for an embrace. “Come see. I'm alright.”

The colt galloped forward and threw himself into her, burying his face against her neck. Celestia let out a huff with the impact, but gently rested her chin on him and over one side in an equine hug. “I'm alright.” She whispered, repeating the words every so often. “I'm alive. I'm alright.”

Celestia hadn't the time for Momma's passing to sink in, at least until now. Like most death she knew, it was abrupt. One moment, those entertaining stories and that kind, clever personality were there. And now they'd be gone. Snatched up by one of the thousands of dangers ponies had to live with.

It hurt. It was unfair for Momma to die, among all those who lived, but Celestia was ready. Experience taught her what to expect, of the sense of loss, of the mourning, of the little holes in her life that used to be filled by this friend that would feel empty. She prepared herself to cherish the memories, and to keep them alive in her like all the good stories of the earth ponies. Momma had already given many good gifts, for death now could not rob Celestia of the impact the old pegasus had on her life.

Rebel sobbed lightly, nestling his face into the crook of Celestia's shoulder like a colt.

That hurt worse, and more deeply than her own pain, seeing his. Was this his first? Was he like her all those years ago, wailing in a field after watching Painted Hoof die? Did Rebel experience that same confusion, same fear, and that horrible, horrible question that never had an answer?

Rebel's wings clung tightly, and Celestia fought to whisper again. “You will be alright. It'll pass.”

A hoof touched his back, and Rebel lifted his head. Two streaks darkened Luna's blue coat beneath each eye, but when Rebel looked up, Luna's mouth quirked into a small smile. The colt shifted his weight and that initial storm seemed to have passed.

Much of the attention if the herd had slipped off the three ponies, though the pegasi still milled about. Confusion had to be sorted. Friends had to be found. A sense lingered in the air that everything had changed.

“You don't have to.” Celestia added. Though she had not seen Awe emerge, it took little imagination to fill the gaps of what pegasi would find returning to the cave. A stench of smoke, and blood, and burned hair would linger, as well as the loss of the security the cave provided. “Are there other places for pegasi to go?”

“The pegasi will scatter, then, to places they know are safe?” Celestia spoke out loud, trying to keep Rebel's attention. “The cave will be abandoned?”

“Old enough.” Resentment sharpened his voice, not at Celestia, but at old, familiar lines of thought.

Resentment still lingered on the colt, but it began to relent and he shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe. I think I could.”

“You can.” Celestia remained gentle. “But I see how you hold on to me, Rebel. I saw how you were with Momma. You miss her. You miss your own mom. You left her too early.”

Rebel's body tensed. He withdrew from Celestia, nose wrinkled by his angry frown. “I'm not too young. I don't need to go back.”

“For her sake then. For your mom.” Celestia's throat felt tight. Lightning Kick, her own mother, had to see both her fillies taken away before she was ready, delivered to the unicorns. Despite the strength of her mother, Celestia saw the pain she hid at their parting. “I know she misses you, probably heartbreakingly so. She'll want to see you again.”

Rebel's shoulders dropped. His blue, transparent eyes lingered on the ground, then rose to Celestia, filled with hope. “For her sake?”

Though Rebel said nothing in reply, Celestia knew the idea was beginning to take hold, and he'd go soon to be with his family.

“What about us?” Luna stepped closer to the other pair. “Celestia, what will we do?”

Making no pretense, Celestia flopped completely on her side and let her tongue roll out. “Nothing. Nothing today.”

Drawing her tongue back in to close her mouth, Celestia considered the question. Gravity suddenly felt intense around her chest. “After today, we go home.”

Jun	JAN	Apr
	06
2013	2015	2016