Chapters Prologue
Princess Twilight Sparkle sighed in frustration as she scanned over the book in front of her. It had been hours since she had locked herself into the royal library in Canterlot and she was no where closer to finding what she was looking for. With another sigh she tossed the book in front of her, and with her horn aglow, grabbed another book from the shelves to start her quest anew.
It has to be here. She thought to herself as she read over the ancient text in front of her. How can something that important to the history of Equestria, nay the world, not have any real information on it?
She was so wrapped up in her search that she didn’t notice the door open behind her and a shadowy figure walk in. They made there way over to where the young alicorn sat at their desk, deep in study.
“Good e’en to you Twilight Sparkle.” the figure announced quietly, startling the young princess out of her seat as she fell unceremoniously into a heap on the floor.
Twilight rubbed her sore plot as she shot the stranger a nasty scowl for daring to interrupt her. Only to find a much larger alicorn in front of her with a bluish-black coat, and whose starry mane and tail flowed out from them like it was being blown by some unseen wind. She quickly got up and bowed before the larger pony.
“Princess Luna, I didn’t hear you come in. What can I do for you?” Twilight said cheerfully as Luna gestured for her to rise with a motion of her hoof.
“Methinks the question that thee means to ask is what can I do for thee, Twilight Sparkle?” She asked as she gazed around the once pristine library, “Thou hath been locked in here for hours now. What is it that thou art looking for?”
“Well princess, I was trying to find more information on the Elements of Harmony-" Twilight began to place the books back to there assigned locations on the shelves, "- like where did they come from or why where they created? I know that the history books state that you and Princess Celestia created them to beat Discord all those years ago. But what was it that made you realize that you had to create something like the elements to be able to beat him? I know that his power over chaos is similar in strength to alicorn power, but wouldn’t you and Celestia have more than enough power to beat him together? Also why did they disappear all those y-“
Twilight’s ramblings were cut short by Luna raising a single hoof. Twilight winced as she thought that she had crossed some invisible boundary with the princess of the night, as Luna stared at her with a calculating look. And then she saw the corners of Luna’s mouth slowly curl into a genuine smile before turning to leave out of the library.
“Come; follow me Twilight Sparkle, we have much to discuss.”
“But,-” Twilight started cautiously as Luna stopped, “-what about this mess?”
Luna’s horn began to glow a deep blue as the books on the floor became wrapped in her magic momentarily before flying back to their designated spots on the shelves. Then Luna slowly continued towards the door calling over her shoulder again. “Come Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight followed her out of the library and down the halls of the castle, giving slight bows to the servants as they scurried along doing their different errands. They continued along up a flight of stairs to a section of the castle that Twilight recognized as Princess Luna and Celestia’s private wing. Eventually they came to a giant set of dark wooden doors at the end of a hall with gold finishing’s weaving up its surface like a set of vines. A set of grey pegasi clad in golden armor stood on either side of the door unflinching as the two princesses drew closer. Luna stopped in front of the door and gave it a quick knock with one of her large hooves.
After a moment the door opened to reveal a white alicorn that stood even taller than Princess Luna and seemed to be her polar opposite. While Luna’s coat was a dark blue and her mane and tail flowed around her like a living representation of the night sky. This new alicorn was the purest of whites and whose hair, while ethereal in nature like Luna’s, was colored like the sky of a morning sunrise consisting of ever changing shades of pink, blue, indigo and even green. The larger alicorn looked from around her door and gave a smile when she saw her guest and opened her door wider as she greeted them. Twilight did not need an introduction to know who she was. Everyone in the world knew who she was, one of the two rulers of Equestria and Princess Luna’s older sister, Princess Celestia.
“Luna, Twilight Sparkle what can I do for you at this late hour?” Celestia asked them curiously.
“Sister we come to thee to aid me in answering the questions posed by your student, Twilight Sparkle, who has been dwelling in the royal library for most of this night.” Luna said as she gestured back to Twilight with one of her forelegs.
“Oh...,-” Celestia raised a dainty eyebrow inquisitively and gave an almost knowing smile, “-and what is my favorite student delving into at such a late hour?”
Twilight stepped forward to answer her teacher quickly. “Princess, I was trying to find out more information on how and why the Elements of Harmony where created?
Celestia just continued to smile. “Why the Elements of Harmony where created by me and my sister Luna to defeat the spirit of chaos Discord and to bring harmony back to the land of Equestria.”
Twilight gave a slight sigh in frustration knowing that her teacher was giving her the watered down answer on purpose. “I mean how did you and Princess Luna make the elements, and how did you know that they would be able to defeat Discord?”
Celestia continued to smile at Twilight for a moment before opening the door all the way and beckoned them into her chambers. “I believe you should come inside, my sister and I have much to discuss with you.”
As Twilight and Luna made there way into the room Celestia motioned to one of the guards to go and fetch some refreshments for her guests. Once the guard left to do as he was told Celestia closed the massive door and walked over to the other two.
“Please have a seat.” Celestia offered while motioning towards a set of giant cushions she had laid out on one side of the room.
Each of the cushions was more than large enough for Twilight Sparkle, having been made big enough for the much physically larger sisters to be able to lounge on comfortably. Even Luna who was the smaller of the two stood a good head height taller than Twilight. Which made her wonder if by now being an alicorn herself, would she continue to grow taller to the same height as Luna or even Celestia. Because as Celestia was the older sister, it wasn’t too far fetched to believe that Luna herself could also still get bigger. Then again did they ever stop growing? Would even Celestia get bigger as time went on? Twilight couldn’t be entirely sure of this because she didn’t truly know how old the sisters really where.
“I’m sorry Princess, I was just caught up in my thoughts.” Twilight apologized as she laid down on one of the pillows. While the sisters laid on a pair next to each other so that they were facing her.
“Quite all right,-” Celestia said as she raised a fore hoof, brushing it aside “-now how much do you wish to know?”
“I want to know everything. I’ve always wondered at the origins of the Elements of Harmony and how they came to be. The history books only state that you and Princess Luna –“
“Just Luna please, Twilight Sparkle.”- Luna interjected- “Thou art a princess of Equestria now, as well as our friend, so there is no more need for such formalities when we speak.”
Twilight gave Luna a smile which was returned, “Of course Luna. Anyways, as I was saying, the history books only state that you and Princ-I mean Celestia challenged Discord and he was defeated by the elements.”
Celestia gave a look to her sister before turning back to Twilight. “And why do you want to know? You and your friends already posses the elements and use them with great ability. There really isn’t much else to learn on them than what you already know. I’m afraid that you’ve already learned that lesson my faithful student. Surely there is something else troubling you other than that?”
At that moment a knock came from the door and Luna got up to go answer it. She opened the door to reveal a maid who was carrying a tray of refreshments on her back. She bowed low to the princess of the night, who returned the curtsy with a small nod of her head, while using her magic to grab the tray from the servants back. As Luna walked back to the meeting the servant closed the door quietly behind her and continued on with her duties.
Luna set the tray down so that it was positioned between the trio of princesses, and upon taking her seat again, used her magic to pick up a cracker. Lifting it towards her mouth, she took a dainty bite from it. Meanwhile, Twilight was still trying to figure out a way to answer Celestia, her wings fluttered a little as she thought deeply on it.
“I guess…-”Twilight began while looking up at the sisters“-what I really want to know about is you.”
“Us?” Celestia asked raising an eyebrow slightly.
“Yes, I guess if I knew more about you and Luna then I might be able to, in a way, better understand the history behind the elements. Because unfortunately the books are just as vague on your twos history, if not more so, as they are on the elements. And I figured that if I knew a little more on one. Maybe I would learn a little more on the other.” Twilight said as she looked between the two trying to gauge their reaction.
The sisters stared at her with stoic expressions for a moment, as if trying to come to a conclusion. Then they slowly both gave her a warm smile, that helped ease the worries that Twilight held in her head.
“Very well Twilight, we shall tell you about how we created the elements to help us in our challenging of Discord, and in turn how we came to rule Equestria.” Luna said finally.
“Really!” Twilight exclaimed with excitement.
“Yes,” Celestia replied as she lifted a cup of tea with her magic, and took a small sip before setting it back down on the tray. “You see in the beginning there was nothing, not even thought existed. It was void of all the things that ma-“
“Please excuse me Celestia.” Twilight interjected causing the princess to frown ever so slightly at being interrupted. “I thought you where going to tell me about when you and Luna faced Discord?”
“Would you like to hear the story?” Celestia asked with ever the slightest tone of irritation.
Twilight’s ears folded back against her head as her wings drooped, knowing that she had done something wrong. “Yes Princess. I’m sorry please continue.”
Celestia gave a reassuring smile before continuing, “In the beginning there was nothing, not even thought existed. It was completely void of all the things that make this existence what it is today. Then in a moment of light and thought the High Goddess Faust and her siblings came into this dimension, and upon looking into the nothingness she wept a single tear in sadness.
“As the tear fell it formed into the world and Faust took a drop of her blood and formed the land. Looking on the new world she was pleased with the results, but saw that this new world would need stewards to take care of it. So she created the three races of ponies to watch over the three realms. The earth ponies to tend to and cultivate the land, the pegasi to watch over the skies and control the weather, and the unicorns to watch over the magic and control the heaven’s beyond the planet.
“After the creation of the races Faust’s brothers and sisters blessed the new world with gifts. Giving them all the plants and animals that roam the land, swim in the sea, and fly through the air. Then Faust gave the gift of light, in the form of the sun to light and warm the day, and the moon to light the night so that their creations would never know total darkness again.
“Pleased with their new world, the gods and goddesses came and lived among their creation for a time. Which gave rise to the other species of the world like the zebra tribe, the griffons, and even the minotaurs. For a time the planet flourished and all the tribes lived in harmony. But nothing is meant to last forever, and soon there was strife between the different tribes which led to many wars. “
Celestia paused for a moment to wet her throat with another sip of her cup. She stared at the contents in the cup with a sad expression as she swirled the liquid around lightly. -“Faust and her siblings cried as they looked at the suffering ravaging the world, but were unable to interfere according to the laws that they had placed upon themselves. Unable to make the tribes see the error in their ways, and unable to live among such unjust actions. The gods and goddesses retreated to their home in the heavens. After that the tribe’s hate and mistrust in each other grew until it brought forth the blizzard and the windigos. As the blizzard decimated the land, the tribes tried to escape their hardships by traveling across the sea to a new land that they called Equestria.
“All seemed well for a short time but they still had not learned to trust each other, and the blizzard soon followed them across the sea to the new land. So once again the ponies were trapped in a blizzard that seemed to have no end. When all seemed lost the different pony tribes came together and finally put their differences aside lighting the Fire of Friendship which drove back the windigos and ended the blizzard that threatened to consume the planet.”
Luna took over narrating while Celestia took another sip of her tea. “Unfortunately the damage had already been done. While the blizzard had ended it was just the first part of what was to come. From the first disagreement the spirit known as Discord was born. At first he was just a simple spirit and no real immediate threat, but with each disagreement, each act of chaos that happened he drew more power till he was almost on par with the gods themselves. And it was at that point, shortly after the end of the blizzard that he made his move to recreate the world in his liking.”
Twilight seemed a little puzzled by this new information as she tried to put the pieces together. “So Discord isn’t a god?-“ Luna and Celestia both nodded in agreement. ”-Then why didn’t the Goddess Faust or one of the other deities deal with him before he was able to get to that point?”
Celestia cast her eyes away from Twilight in what looked like shame, and even Luna now held a look of grief on her face. “Twilight…”-Luna started solemnly-“thou hast to understand that the deities while very wise and powerful are not omnipotent, nor are they omnipresent. Plus they had never dealt with a creature like Discord in their existence.
“Faust and the other deities whole purpose is doing good and creating harmony in their creations. Unfortunately, by giving the ponies and other creatures in this existence the gift of free will to do what they want without the binds of the deities they brought about beings like Discord. So in a sense Discord was a creation of the world, unlike the other species who where created from the essence of harmony that is the deities.”
“I see.” Twilight said as she contemplated what Luna had told her. And here she had always believed that Discord was part of the old order of deities that had helped create the world, or at least had been created to help maintain a balance. But to hear that he had been created by the creatures of this world made her see him in a slightly different light now. He wasn’t necessarily bad, that much had been proven in his recent rehabilitation, just mainly mischievous because he feed on the very nature of chaos that dwelled in every pony and creature even herself.
Twilight looked back at the sisters who were waiting while she digested the tale so far.
“Well that kind of explains Discord, “Twilight started, “About as well as you can explain him. But where do you two fit in, along with the elements.”
Celestia gave a warm smile before she spoke, “That is where we begin.”
Author's Note
Okay everyone here's the start of my first MLP fanfic. Trying to get back into writing some more and I know I have a lot of learning to do so any constructive criticism is more than welcome and hope everyone enjoys my attempts at writing.
Chapter 1
‘Tis hotter than a furnace out here. Gold Rush grumbled to himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow with the rag wrapped around his neck, looking up at the sun beating down on him. Its position in the sky told him it was high noon and well past time to take a break but unfortunately there was still much work to be done before that could happen. He still had to finish plowing and seeding this field hopefully before the storm clouds he saw looming on the horizon arrived. But the fiery orb in the sky wasn’t going to make it easy for him.
Normally it never used to bother him because the pegasi took care of the weather. But now it seemed that the pegasi were busy off dealing with some threat that, as rumor had it, was spreading across the land like some dark plague. Gold had to laugh at himself about that. Rumors never really held any merit to an earth pony like him, all that mattered was the land that he worked himself to death on everyday trying to make a living for him and his young wife.
The land was fertile but still very much wild as he surveyed over his property. It was nestled in the valley between two mountain ranges, and didn’t have much on it yet as far as modern conveniences just a little thatched roof cottage with a field of oats out back and a small red barn. The rest was nothing more than trees and dense underbrush that he had yet to get around to clearing. He had just started on the field this morning and was already making good progress. With any luck he should have the field planted by the end of the day ready for it to have its first fill of rainwater.
“Thou knowest that thou shouldn’t work thyself so hard.” He heard a smooth voice ringing like a bell come from behind him.
He turned to find a lilac colored earth pony coming up to him carrying a tray on her back with a pitcher of lemonade and a couple of glasses. He marveled at her beauty as she stopped in front of him and set the tray on the ground, her wavy white mane falling over her eyes. As she raised her head and used one of her fore hooves to brush the offending hair out of her eyes, he got a look at her rich sapphire eyes that seemed to draw his very soul into her. And why should he deny their spell as he leaned in and nuzzled her neck which elicited a giggle from the mare. How could he have gotten so lucky, he thought, as he looked longingly into her eyes; to call this visage of beauty in front of him his and he hers, his precious wife, Lavender Breeze.
He leaned in to nuzzle her neck again as she laughed, her voice igniting a fire in him. His body had to hear more from this pony before him as he slowly made his way down her neck, until she playfully swatted him away. “And here I thought my poor stallion was working so hard out in this unbearable heat that he might desire some refreshment. But methinks that thou hast plenty of energy left in thee.”
Gold Rush pulled his wife close to him as she let out a surprised squeak and he gave her a devious grin, “Art thou offering thyself as said refreshment my wife?”
“Down boy.-” Lavender said silkily as she wiggled out of his grip again, “-Thou still have a lot of work to do before this e’en. Just wanted to bring thee a drink, don’t need thee passing out on me after all.” She told him as she began pouring the lemonade into the glasses and handed him one.
“Thanks wife.” Gold said as he took the outstretched glass and gulped down a huge mouthful of the refreshing drink. The welcoming liquid cooling his parched throat and in no time flat he had downed the glass, and smacking his lips, he eagerly held the empty glass out in front of him for it to be filled again.
Lavender just giggled as she filled his glass, “My, my, thou really were thirsty.” She said as she handed the glass back to him which he took and began to drink again, this time much slower. Lavender raised her own glass to her lips drinking the sweet yellow liquid with all the grace and skill that one would expect from a proper mare. She sat the glass back on the tray delicately as she waited for Gold Rush to finish. “How is the work going my love?”
“Quite well actually, as soon as I finish tilling these last few rows then we will be able to plant the first batch of saplings,“ Gold said as he surveyed the field he was working on. “From there we should hopefully start seeing our first crop in a couple of summers. But fear not, for we shall be fine with the oat fields that I have already planted until the apples come in.”
Gold looked towards his wife to see her reaction to this news. She wasn’t originally raised on a farm like he was, her family were cooks by trade, and he wanted to make sure that she understood the timeline that now drove both of their lives. But he found her looking at the ground absentmindedly as she scrapped her hoof in the dirt. He was about to ask her what was wrong when she spoke up.
“I went and saw the healer this morning.” Lavender whispered in a voice almost too soft for Gold to hear. He watched as her eyes began to water. “She told me we can never have any foals of our own.”
He quickly wrapped her into his embrace as she broke down in tears. He slowly stroked her back with his hoof, trying to comfort her as best he could, as she sobbed into his neck like a small filly. It was sobering news for him to hear especially after they had held out hope for so long.
“Maybe she was mistaken.” He began after a few moments “Maybe we should go see another he-“
“No!-” Lavender interjected as she pulled away from him and walked a couple paces away. As she stood there with her head drooped low, so close to him yet so far. She spoke again in a voice that no longer held any of the happiness that Gold had always been familiar with. “-No more healers.
“I’m tired of being told that I will never know what it feels like to be a mother. Never watch the foal that I carried take their first steps, or be able to comfort them when their hurt or ill, never watch them grow up and venture out on their own. I’m just tired of trying to hope for something that’ll never be.”
Gold looked at the figure of his wife. Gone was the ray of sunshine that had greeted him just a little while ago and in it’s place was a mare so weighed down by grief that it seemed like she would be swallowed by the very ground itself. He walked over to her and gently rubbed his head under hers comfortingly, which she reciprocated by leaning into him.
“I’m sorry. I was meaning to tell thee later tonight, but I was too weak and now I've interrupted thy work.” Lavender said as tears threatened to fall again. She leaned down to retrieve the tray of lemonade and leave, but she was stopped as Gold Rush pulled her back into his arms. The tray fell to the ground, glass shattering on the hard dirt, forgotten there as he held her to his chest.
“Darling?” Lavender asked surprised as his actions as he pulled her to arms length. As she looked into his eyes, they stared back at her with a determination that she had never seen before.
“Don’t ever apologize for feeling the way you do. Not to me, not to anyone. You should never have to feel sorry for feeling bad.” Gold told her in a stern voice.
Lavender just stared at her husband in disbelief. Never had he spoken in such a harsh tone before, but as she looked into his eyes she could see what he was trying to tell her and she gave him a small smile.
“I will my love. I shall be strong for thy sake and mine.” Lavender told him as she gave him a reassuring kiss before she leaned down and picked up the tray and broken glasses.
Once she was done she moved to head back to the house. After a few steps she stopped and looked back over her shoulder at Gold. She gave him a little smile and he could see her eye’s shimmering in the sunlight from her recent tears, “Grammercy dear for being there for me.” After which she continued on her way before he could say anything more.
Gold stood there for a moment watching Lavender leave, as if to make sure that his wife was truly okay. He was also still in a little disbelief at the news. They had recently moved here away from their families and old village, to try and start anew in a place and get away from the grief. In their old village once news got out that they where unable to have kids, the rumors spread like wildfire. He despised the gossip and tried to keep it away from his wife as best he could, but there was no way he could protect her from herself. He had come to this realization when woke up to the sound of his wife crying softy one night as they lay in bed.
At that moment he made the decision to take his wife far away from there and find somewhere new so that they could start over again. Have another chance of happiness. He told his plan to their families and even though they may not have agreed to it entirely they couldn’t deny that Lavender deserved to be happy. So they packed up and moved across Equestria to a village where no one knew their names, to build a new life with their own hooves.
But now, as he slung the plow collar back over his head, he had a lot of work to do if he was going to make that life happen.
Lavender came into the cottage and made her way to the garbage can to throw away the broken glass. She then made her way over to the kitchen to begin working on dinner, because she knew once Gold Rush was done with the field he would have a massive appetite. As she started to pull out the bowls and ingredients, she found herself dwelling on the conversation she had just had with her husband and found her eyes beginning to water again. The emotions rushed into her heart again and she soon found herself on the wooden kitchen floor sobbing uncontrollably.
So many emotions tore at her heart at once like a pack of hungry timberwolves. Anguish, confusion, depression, and sadness, but most of all was anger.
Why! She yelled to the heavens in her mind for fear that Gold Rush would hear her. What did we do that was so wrong? Is this supposed to be some kind of test? I just want an answer to why I have to suffer so much and I just want… I want the pain to go away. I’m tired of feeling that my heart is being ripped out of my chest. Please… answer me.
But no answer came as she continued to stare at the roof. The cottage was silent save for the clock on the wall and her tears. She just continued to cry on the floor until she had no more tears to cry. As soon as she was able to compose herself she pulled herself up and made her way to the kitchen sink and grabbed a towel. After a few pumps from the hand driven faucet she was rewarded with a flow of clear water. Which she quickly used the water to wet the towel and began to press the cool cloth under her eyes trying to minimize the swelling that she knew was there, so as to not alert her husband to the fact that she had been crying when he came back in.
She looked out the kitchen window towards the barn as she waited for the cool cloth to work its magic when she noticed the barn door open. Normally it wouldn’t have drawn her attention just Gold Rush forgetting to close it that morning. But that wasn’t what had drawn her attention, just inside the door, deep in the shadows she could have thought she saw something moving.
She waited, watching.
There! There it was again. What was it? It was too big to be a rat.
Normally she would call Gold in from the field to take a look at whatever it was. But as she looked out another window facing the field he was in she could see that he was far to busy to be bothered by something that could just as well be nothing. Gathering her resolve she made her way out the back door and headed toward the barn.
As she reached the barn she poked her head in through the open door and peered around. Nothing seemed out of place as she looked around to see the empty stalls and tools hanging in their respected places, and was about to rack it all up to her imagination when she heard a noise come from one of the stalls in the back.
“G-g-good day?” Lavender called out in a shaky voice.
She didn’t hear anyone reply so she called out again, and again no reply came. As she made her way over to the stall she began to look for something to arm herself. Soon she found a pitchfork leaning against one of the post that Gold Rush used to bail the hay. Grabbing it in her hoof she crept closer to the stall, the rustling of the hay louder now. Slowly she peeked around the corner post into the stall and let out a gasp in surprise, dropping the pitchfork on the ground. Sitting in the stall, huddled in the far corner, were two little fillies one of them slightly bigger than the other.
The bigger of the two was covered in the whitest hair that Lavender had ever seen, save for her mane and tail which was a rosy shade of pink. She stood over the smaller pony protectively trying to look intimidating to this possible threat staring at Lavender with a pair of narrow violet eyes. Meanwhile the smaller pony was almost the complete opposite of the first one being covered in navy blue hair with an indigo mane and tail. Her aquamarine eyes were watery from tears as she curled up in fear. But the most unusual thing about these two was the fact that they both had the wings of a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn. Lavender just looked at them in disbelief as they just stared back at her.
Where did they come from? She thought to herself confused. We’re too far away from town for them to be from there. Speaking of that they do not look like any kind of pony I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a pony with both wings and a horn.
She began to approach the two fillies slowly so as to not scare them anymore than they already probably where. The white filly stomped one of her hoofs on the ground to let Lavender know she was close enough.
“Tis okay little ones I will not harm ye,” she said in a gentle voice as she laid down on the hay so as to not seem so much bigger than them. “Can you tell me what your names are?”
Nothing more than a flutter of a wing from the blue pony.
“Well can you tell me where you two are from?”
Still silence, although Lavender could see the resolve beginning to waiver in the white ones eyes.
“Well what about thy parents? Do ye know where thy mommy and daddy are?” At that the waterworks broke as both fillies began to cry uncontrollably.
Lavender, reacting purely on instinct, covered the distance between them and wrapped the sobbing fillies in her arms trying to calm them down with reassuring coos and stroking of their back. “Tis okay little ones, tis okay. We shall find thy parents.”
The fillies’ whimpers slowly faded under Lavender’s consoling but they refused to let go of her. Finding comfort in this strange mare’s soft embrace as they breathed in her scent with quick little breaths. After a moment she tried again to talk to them turning their little chins up so they could look her in the eye.
“Now then, do ye know thy names?” She asked them with a gentle smile, but little by little she watched as their eyes began to tear up again. Without thinking she slowly kissed away their tears before continuing. “That’s ok we’ll just come up with some, now let’s see what kind of cutie marks we have here.”
Lavender placed her hoof to her chin in thought looking the little blue one over first. Her mark consisted of a black spot that covered her whole hind quarter like someone had spilled ink on the poor thing. Inside that blotch of black was a pure white mark in the shape of a waxing crescent moon.
“The moon? Let us see moon… moon… moon.” Lavender repeated as she thought out loud, “The moon has phases like thy cutie mark is showing, which art called lunar cycles. So what about Luna, doth thou likest that name?”
The little blue filly almost jumped for joy as she hugged Lavender fiercely around the neck, which made Lavender pleased in her heart that she had made Luna happy. With one filly down she turned her attention to the other one. Her cutie mark consisted of a single majestic picture of the sun.
Hmmm, sun and the moon? Lavender found herself thinking to herself before she addressed the white pony with a warm smile. “As for thee little one, being as ye where so brave in defending Luna here and thy mark is of the sun which is another celestial b- That’s it! What about Celestia?”
The little pony seemed to be thinking it over for a minute before smiling at Lavender with the same warm smile that Luna had given her and she soon found herself on the bottom of a filly pile. The trio rolled and laughed in the hay for what seemed like hours, until they had thoroughly worn themselves out.
As Lavender finally pulled herself up she had to giggle at their disheveled appearances as they now had pieces of hay all in their manes and hair now coated in a fine layer of hay dust. She slowly stood while Luna and Celestia just looked at her with confused faces, wondering why this nice mare was leaving them. Lavender just smiled as she began to pull the stalks of hay out of the little one’s mane and tails.
“Well I think we are all in need of a bath now, plus I need to get started on making dinner,” she said as she began to walk out of the stall, while the fillies stayed in the stall unsure about what to do. Lavender noticed the two weren’t following her and looked behind her and gave them an encouraging smile. “Come on now, I think I might have a piece of cake for ye two.”
With that the two bounded up to Lavender and flanking her on both sides, began to nuzzle her affectionately. Making her feel something in the depths of her soul that she thought she’d never feel, the love of a child. She gave each of them a loving rub with her muzzle before she trotted back to the house, the little ones in tow.
Chapter 2
Later that evening as the rain was pouring from the sky Gold Rush was busy putting away the last of his tools in the barn. It was a hard day but he had been able to finish planting the last of the orchard before the rain had become too heavy. Now, as he wiped the sweat and rainwater from his eyes, he just wanted to get clean and grab some food. He hung is harness on the hook by the door as he walked out into the downpour, closing the door behind him with a flick of the latch.
He quickly made his way to the house and came through the backdoor, lest he track mud over Lavender’s carpet. Which he had had the misfortune of doing once before and his sweet wife had beaten it, for lack of a better term, into his brain that he was never supposed to do that again. As he came in through the door he watched Lavender Breeze jump by his sudden entrance.
“Oh Gold Rush I didn’t hear ye coming in,” She said as she held a hoof to her chest trying to regain her composure.
Gold smiled sheepishly, “Sorry about that.”
“So how did the work go?” Lavender asked as she hurriedly tried to set the table.
“It went well dear. Got all the work done just in time and with some luck we should be well on our way to having our dreams become a reality.” Gold said as he sneaked behind her and grabbed her in an embrace. She squeaked in surprise at his action and soon found herself giggling as he nuzzled her neck.
“Speaking of dreams -” Lavender said as she wiggled out of his grasp, “- something happened today after I talked with thee, something wonderful.”
“Really? -” his ears perked up as he saw the sparkle in her cerulean eyes,”- That’s great! I can not wait for thee to tell me all about it over dinner, but first I need a bath.”
“Yes but I –“ but he was already out of the kitchen and into the bathroom. Oh dear I hope he doesn’t run into them by mistake.
At that point Lavender saw Celestia come from around behind the couch, giving her a look as if to make sure that it was safe. Lavender just gave her a heartening smile and beckoned the little filly over. To which Celestia happily obliged bounding over to Lavender and nuzzling into the mare’s chest, her tail swaying in excitement. Lavender gave her an affectionate rub with her nose remembering to be wary of the little pony’s horn. Stopping the moment she remembered one very important detail. There were two fillies originally.
“Stay a moment, Celestia,-“ the white filly looked up at Lavender at the sound of her name with that same smile, ”-where is Luna?”
Celestia just continued to smile at her. Obviously unaware of what the mare was asking her and a sense of dread began to overtake her heart as she began to look for the missing filly leaving Celestia standing in the dining room. Wondering with a tilt of her head, what the violet pony was doing by looking under the couch before rushing into the kitchen.
Oh no.
Gold Rush gave a relaxed sigh as he slowly dipped into the hot water. He could feel his knotted muscles relieving their tension one by one as he sank deeper allowing the water to kiss his skin. He could feel the loose dirt releasing its hold from his tan coat, and the stray pieces of hay become untangled from his long black mane and tail. Closing his eyes he settled so that he was lying comfortably on his stomach with his head and front hooves resting on the rim of the tub.
Ah…this is what I needed. Gold thought as he half heartedly tried to not fall asleep in the welcoming warmth. He could still hear the rain falling on the roof above him; it seemed to finally be slacking up, which wasn’t helping him in his battle against sleep.
Plop-plop-plop-clop-plop-plop-clop
W-what? Clop? Gold thought groggily as he willed his brain to start working again.
He rotated his ears from side to side trying to pinpoint what was making that noise and waited.
Silence-clop-That sounded like it was from inside. In fact-clop- that almost sounds like it was right in front of m-clop. He slowly opened his eyes to find himself staring into the biggest pair of aquamarine eyes he had ever seen. Eyes which belonged to a small navy blue unicorn filly with a long indigo mane and tail; he also noticed a black blotch on her flank with a white moon cutie mark.
Wait a moment…not a unicorn. - He thought to himself in a daze- unicorns don’t have wings.
Shimmering gold stared in to pools of blue-green for what seemed like eternity. The little filly smiled at him and took another step closer, her little hooves causing the clopping noise he had heard earlier. Her long wavy tail flicked with excitement as she took yet another step closer. The stallion and filly just stared at each other for a moment, before Gold’s mind began working at full capacity and he remembered where he was. He sat up in the tub with a jolt, spilling water, and startled the little filly who ran to find cover.
“Lavender Breeze!”
She heard her husband’s scream from the kitchen where she was busy looking in the cabinet under the sink. It startled her so much that she hit her head on the cabinet’s face frame, and fell back on her haunches. She let out a hiss of pain as she carefully touched the spot with a hoof where a bump was no doubt forming. Celestia came over and rubbed her little nose against Lavender’s neck, in an attempt to ease her pain. Lavender reassured the filly to let her know she was okay, but quickly remembered her husband’s outburst and the mystery of the missing filly. She quickly stood up, startling Celestia in the process, and headed towards the bathroom. Before she could reach the door though, it flew open to reveal a very upset and dripping wet Gold Rush. He had a slightly irritated look on his face; ok strike that, a very irritated look on his face as he narrowed his eyes at his wife.
“Lavender…-“ he began as he took a step forward and she took a cautionary step back, “- can thou tell me why there is a filly in the bathroom?”
Lavender tried to play it off like nothing new, “Oh I see that thee found Luna. That’s great I was just wondering where she had gone.”
“Luna?” he asked raising a single golden eyebrow, but was soon frowning again, “And when was thoust planning on telling me about this?”
Lavender let out an irritated humph as she sat on her haunches and crossed her arms, “Right before thee went to go take a bath.”
Gold let out a sigh of defeat, knowing that arguing with his wife on this would be a loosing battle. Luna poked her head out of the door to see what was going on, and quickly galloped past Gold over to Lavender, her little wings fluttering as if trying to carry her there faster. She wrapped her arms around the light purple mare’s stomach and nuzzled into her warmth. Lavender ran a hoof through Luna’s blue mane eliciting a giggle from the filly. She was lost in the tender moment as she continued to stroke Luna’s tresses till she heard Gold gasp in shock. Lavender followed his gaze towards the white filly that had positioned herself at her side, next to Luna.
“There art two of them?” Gold said in disbelief at what he was seeing.
“Well yes, this one is Celestia.” Lavender said motioning to the white pony, which held her head with pride at having her name called out.
“From where did they come?” The stallion asked, beyond confused at the situation.
“I know not,” Lavender admitted, “I found them in the barn earlier today, and they haven’t said a word yet. Then again, I’m not even sure if they know how to speak. They do seem to know what I’m telling them but that’s about it.”
Gold thought about this for a moment trying to put the pieces together. They certainly didn’t look like any pony he had ever seen, they seemed to be about the size of a normal school age filly, but their action’s where more like that of a newborn foal. He took a step towards the females and saw Celestia and Luna get in front of Lavender their heads low, pointing their little horns at him, warning him to stay back. The big stallion and the little fillies had a staring match for a moment, before Lavender walked between the two and stood next to Gold Rush.
“It’s alright little one’s. Come here-“ she said beckoning the two, who seemed to be relaxing with Lavender’s approval of this big tan pony, “-I want thee to meet my husband Gold Rush.”
Celestia and Luna took a couple of steps closer to Gold, who tried to give them a reassuring smile. Luna took another couple of steps forward while Celestia stayed back, keeping a wary distance. This action came as a surprise to Lavender, due to the smaller filly’s actions in the barn earlier that day. Luna gave a wary look between Lavender and Gold, as if silently asking if it was okay to trust this big pony that towered over her. Lavender gave her a reassuring nod and Luna’s mood immediately brightened, and Gold soon found one of his legs on the receiving end of a filly hug.
Gold looked down at the filly, which was currently trying to rub against his chest but was too short to reach. He took one of his powerful hooves and gently rubbed her head which just made Luna hug tighter. Celestia, on the other hand, waited a few moments still wary of him. But just like Luna, all it took was a reassuring nod from Lavender before Gold found himself in a filly sandwich.
As the two fillies continued to shower Gold with affection, Lavender just had to smile at how cute the scene looked. That and she was secretly relishing on how uncomfortable they where making the usually well composed stallion as he fidgeted under their continuing affection. But there was something else that this scene reminded her of …a family.
After a couple of minutes she decided to step in and save her husband before he could no longer feel his legs. She clopped her hooves together to get everyone’s attention.
“Okay little ones it’s time for dinner. Let us go to the table so we can eat.-” Celestia and Luna quickly let go of Gold Rush’s legs and bounded into the kitchen and sat at the table with eager faces. Gold also moved toward the kitchen but was stopped by Lavender placing a hoof on his powerful chest. “-Not so fast; thou still needs to finish thy bath.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Thou knowest that they can’t stay, Lavender.” Gold told his wife later that night as they prepared to bed down for the night.
Lavender just nodded absentmindedly as she slowly brushed her white locks in front of her vanity. She knew that he was right but she wanted to hold onto that sliver of hope as her thoughts drifted back to earlier. From the moment that those precious fillies hugged Gold’s legs, to the dinner where Gold and her had tried to explain to them the intricacies of dinnerware. This didn’t end as well as she would have hoped for, as stew ended up all over Celestia and Luna along with the kitchen. Which earned the two another bath after that.
All the way to when they tucked the two tired little ponies in a makeshift bed that Gold and Lavender had laid out for them in the family room. As she stood in the doorframe of her room and watched them snuggle into their pillows, she found herself not wanting them to leave her sight, least they disappear. It eventually took Gold to physically guide her into their room so that the two younglings could sleep in peace.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear her husband calling to her.
“I’m sorry, what did thou say honey.” Lavender said as she sat down her brush and turned to face Gold.
“I said on the morrow I shall go into town and see if I can find any information about them, and hopefully I can find their parents. Okay?” He looked at her with eyes that where screaming for her to agree with him but she just hung her head and gave a little nod.
With that they crawled into the bed, pulling the covers up to their necks and extinguishing the lamps on the nightstands. Gold was asleep almost the instant his head hit his pillow, more than likely worn out from all the happenings from that day. Lavender rolled over to face away from Gold as she continued to dwell on her thoughts. She knew it was selfish for her to want them to stay, because she couldn’t imagine being a mother and not knowing where her offspring where. Yet she also couldn’t deny the feeling of fulfillment that she got from watching those two.
As she laid there trying to calm her mind to sleep, she heard the bedroom door open. She looked up towards the door to see the shadowy outline of the two fillies.
“Celestia? Luna? What’s the matter honies?” She whispered to the two, but they just ran over to her side of the bed and stared up at her with eyes that shone in the dark under the moonlight. “Art thou scared?” Celestia and Luna just gave her a whimper that melted the mare’s heart and she pulled her cover’s back inviting them into the bed. “Come hither you two.”
The two fillies jumped up into the bed and snuggled in between Gold and Lavender and where soon snoring peacefully along with Gold. She smiled peacefully as she absentmindedly stroked their manes as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
“Mommy”
Lavender stopped her stroking at that one little word and she could begin to feel her heart swell as her eyes began to water. She leaned down and kissed the two on the forehead before wrapping them in her embrace and began to drift off into a peaceful sleep.
Tomorrow we’ll look for their parents, she thought to herself as she closed her eyes, but for now I’m going to enjoy this. At least, until…tomorrow.
Chapter 3
The sun shone brightly over the land of Equestria one early spring morning. Its rays of life giving warmth cast themselves upon the land as the earth woke from the long sleep of winter. Most of the snow had already melted but a few spots still lingered, tucked into the many crevices of the valley floor.
The farm that Gold Rush and Lavender Breeze shared was busy this morning as farms are come springtime. One could find Gold Rush out in the fields cultivating the land in neat little rows, preparing it for the seed to come. The harness of the plow strapped tight around his massive tan frame, his muscles taunt as he dragged the blade through the dirt, breaking the terrain as he went along.
Meanwhile, Lavender Breeze could be found in her garden pruning one of her rose bushes. She would stare at each cane of the plant, looking it over for any signs of disease or irregularities. If it passed her scrutinizing eyes she would slowly move on to the next one, if not it would receive a snip from her special sheers and discarded into her waste bucket. She continued on in an almost meditative fashion for what seemed like hours, going from plant to plant.
Even though it was a fairly cool day, Lavender still found herself working up a little bit of a sweat as the sun shone down on her. She pushed the straw sunhat off of her head, letting if fall across her back, the stampede string now snug against her neck. Closing her eyes she took a hoof and wiped the offending perspiration dripping from her forehead as she tilted her head back to relish in the familiar warmth of the burning orb in the sky.
She sat there for a moment welcoming the feeling of warmth through closed eyelids, even as a shadow from a passing cloud separated her from the rays. Expecting the cloud to soon pass so as to allow her to get back to her sun worshiping; she was surprised when it lingered longer than she would have liked it to. Furrowing her brow in irritation she slowly opened her eyes, lest if the sun did come back she would not be blinded by its fury. To take a look at this object that dared to ruin her good mood.
Settled above her floated a decently sized cumulus cloud, she could see the fluffy rolls of white vapor rolling in on itself in a seemingly endless cycle. From the sides of the cloud she could see the beams of sunlight trying to pierce through its opaque thickness. But what caught her attention the most was a dark shadow on the underside of the cloud, a shadow that was darker than the surrounding grey of the cloud bottom.
“Celestia…” Lavender spoke in a cautionary tone to the cloud.
The shadow immediately moved to the center of the floating puff, hoping to hide from the lavender colored mare that now sat with her arms crossed.
“Celestia, I know tis you up there.” Lavender called again.
The shadow crept slowly back to the edge. The first part of Celestia that Lavender glimpsed of was the point of her long white horn, which was soon followed by the wispy pink locks of her mane. As she continued to expose herself, eyes of violet meet eyes of sapphire which seemed to shimmer even in the shadow of the cloud. Celestia swallowed a little in her throat as she gave Lavender a small smile and a nervous chuckle.
“Good morrow to thee mother!” Celestia shouted down to the light violet mare while continuing to smile.
“Come hither young lady.” Lavender said back in a voice that told Celestia that it was not up for debate.
She quickly jumped off the cloud and spread her massive white wings, which worked to slow her descent to a graceful glide; she banked slightly to the left and went into a leisurely spiral. Lavender couldn’t help but notice that her daughter resembled on of the falling leaves that she would find Celestia watching for hours in the fall time.
Celestia landed daintily on the ground in front of her mother with a slight bounce in her step as she slowed her momentum to a stop. Lavender had to actually look up to her daughter now, being as the white winged unicorn now stood as tall as her husband Gold Rush, and she was only just now entering the phase of puberty. The lilac mare exhaled in frustration as she thought about how even Luna was as tall as she was now, gone were the little fillies that she used to wrap in her arms. Celestia gave Lavender Breeze another small smile which was met with the same unamused look by the mare. She hung her head low and nervously crossed her front legs, scrapping at the ground absentmindedly.
“Did thou pusheth that cloud over me?” Lavender asked the shrinking filly.
“Aye mother.” Celestia replied but not daring to look the mare in the eye.
“Thou knowest how I feel about thine pranks.”
“Aye mother.” Celestia said digging the little trench at her feet deeper.
She was surprised however when she was pulled into the embrace of the smaller mare, she could smell the natural flowery scent of her mother mixed in with the smell of her sweat. Celestia didn’t have time to enjoy the relaxing scent before Lavender Breeze began to mercilessly tickle her ribs. The large white filly’s legs gave out from under her and she fell to the ground laughing and gasping for air as the assault continued, her legs bucking in vain defense.
“Thou knowest that thou can’t pull pranks on thy own sweet mother.” Lavender said as she to began to giggle.
Celestia could barely make out a word as she struggled to answer through her short gasp of air. “-T-t-twas, just tryin-g to snicker p-provide snort y-ye with some shade mother.”
Lavender Breeze stopped her tickling suddenly and gave her daughter a warm smile, “I knoweth.”
Celestia held a bewildered look as she slowly regained her composure, “W-what?”
“Does thou thinkest that thou art the only one who knoweth how to pull a prank on somepony?” Lavender said with a delight in her voice as she sat up and headed back to her flowers, “Now then, where is thy sister; tis unusual to find the two of thee apart?”
Celestia slowly walked over and sat next to her mother and picked up a spare set of sheers that were sitting in the bucket that Lavender used to throw her discards in. “She is in the fields helping father.”
Lavender gave a small smile. Of course Luna would be with Gold, ever since that first meeting that seemed so long ago, the little blue filly had had the massive stallion wrapped around her hoof. Not that Celestia held any less sway on his heart, but one could always find the two usually together somewhere. He teaching and her sitting captivated in wide-eyed awe. There was one time that they where out past nightfall and Lavender had become so worried at where they could be that she and Celestia went to go search for them.
Celestia flew in the air trying to find them while Lavender searched the property grounds. Eventually they found them sitting on top of a grassy hill staring into the night sky. Luna nestled in between his massive front hooves, with wonder written all over her face. She would point out a star and Gold would give a throaty chuckle before telling her it was actually a planet, to which the little filly would gasp in awe that that little speck of light could be a whole other world just like the one she was sitting on.
Lavender and Celestia walked up on them slowly so as to not interrupt them but Gold, ever the alert protector, had heard them long ago and just turned his head to them and smiled. It was a content smile that parents have when they are able to share something special with their children. She smiled back at him knowingly, sharing in the moment with him, before Luna pointed to another object in the sky wondering what it could be. They ended up spending most of the night there up on that hill, the children pointing out objects and her husband telling them the grand stories of the creatures of legend that they where named for.
She was so caught up in her memories that she didn’t realize that she had stopped pruning the lily plant midway through a cut. It wasn’t until she felt Celestia’s gentle touch on her arm that she was able to knock herself out of her stupor. She turned to her eldest daughter who now held a look of concern on her face, but Lavender just gave her a reassuring pat with her hoof to let her know she was ok.
She quickly finished her pruning with Celestia’s help and soon enough she was picking up the waste bucket to go throw its contents onto their composite pile; that was situated on the backside of the barn so as to be easily accessible for when Gold Rush required the nutrient rich mush to renew the fields. But she soon felt the weight of the bucket lift from her back as it was lifted by Celestia’s magic.
That was another thing that she had yet to fully get used to, was the ability of her daughters’ to use magic and the skill that they had shown with it even for ones as young as they were. Being as both Gold Rush and herself were earth ponies they had no magic to speak of themselves and had never really known any unicorn families growing up. At first they had tried to teach the two how to get by without using their magic, but one day there was an incident in town were a couple of bullies were trying to intimidate the sisters. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt, but it did open their eyes to the error in their decision.
They knew that they needed to find somepony more experienced than them to help teach Celestia and Luna how to harness their powers, lest they lose control again and hurt somepony. Eventually, they were able to gain the help of a unicorn a couple of towns over who was eager to get the chance to teach a couple of ponies with the abilities of both a pegasi and a unicorn. Unfortunately the name of their teacher eluded her. All she really remembered about the old unicorn was his long white beard and the bells on his cloak, which would jingle as he walked like a sleigh at Hearth’s Warming Eve time.
The old unicorn soon praised the two sisters with their ability to grasp the concept of magic, almost like they were born with an innate sense to bend the very element of magic to their will. And then there was their strength in the art. Their abilities allowed them to do things that no other unicorn could do, like their ability to talk with one another over great distances by thought alone. Or like the incident that had happened in town, were the two were able to lift a whole cottage from its foundation by themselves with no experience in using magic and at such a young age. Since then their strength had grown leaps and bounds in the same relation to their physical growth.
The duo made their way to the backside of the barn to dispose of their waste, talking idly as they went along. When they had reached the pile Celestia tilted the basket over and poured out the contents onto the mound. Lavender saw her pause for a moment afterwards, the now empty bucket floating in front of her wrapped in her golden aura of magic. It was a habit she knew that they had picked up from her, to show that they where thinking over something.
“What bothers thee my daughter?” She asked as she took the bucket from her daughter and headed into the barn to put it and the tools away.
“Well mother, on this day I was wondering if we might visit the town to partake in the festival?” Celestia asked with a little more hope in her voice than she meant to let out.
“The festival?” Lavender asked a little confused before what Celestia had asked dawned on her. She had forgotten about the annual springtime festival that the village put on every year to celebrate the rebirth of the world. “But thou knowest we have much work to do hither on the farm to ensure that the crops are ready come harvest time.”
Celestia lowered her eyes as her mother’s words rang out, the hope of fun now gone. “Aye mother I know.”
“But…-“ Celestia raised her eyes back up to look at her mother who was now smiling at her, “-tis no reason why we can’t ask thy father now is there?”
Celestia almost leaped to the sky in joy, but settled on a hopping like a little bunny. She rushed over to Lavender and picked up the smaller mare wrapping her in a hug, wings and all. “- Oh grammarcy mother! Grammarcy!”
Lavender laughed at her daughter’s sign of affection, even if she was a little sad that her once little filly was now able to lift her up. “Don’t thank me yet, we still have to convince thy father.”
Meanwhile out in the pasture Gold Rush was busy trying to remove a particularly stubborn rock from the dirt of a new field he was working on. He stabbed at the dirt with a pole trying to get up under the offending object, so as to be able to move it out of the way.
“Good morrow father.-” He heard a voice from behind him say that rang in his ear like the song of the robin in spring.
He didn’t have to turn around to know that the voice behind him belonged to his youngest daughter Luna. “-Good morrow little one, I taketh that thy sister and thyself decided to sleep the day away?”
Luna only gave the massive tan stallion a small giggle, “Nay father, I have been up since before the sunrise.”
“Oh…-“Gold said casually between grunts as he gave the prybar another tug, “-and what were you doing up so early in the morn little Luna?”
“I was just flying to the top of Mt. Matahoof to get a better look at the aurora borealis from last night. I saw it out mine window in the middle of the night and just had to get a better look,” Luna told her father with excitement a wide smile on her face. “After sunrise I went for a flight with a flock of returning geese.”
Gold had to give a chuckle at his daughter’s enthusiasm over something that most ponies usually wouldn’t think of. After nightfall most ponies went indoors, for fear of the creatures that roamed the night, and never got to see the wonders of the night sky. But he had always loved looking at the night sky and he was happy that Luna shared the same sympathy. He gave one final pry and with the pole bending and creaking, threatening to break; finally the stone surrendered its hold on the ground and rolled over on its side.
He wiped his brow and looked to Luna to address her properly, leaning on the end of the log for support as he let out a sigh, “Whew… Your old father is getting too old for this.”
“Nonsense father-“Luna replied shaking her head, before smiling at him, “- thou haven’t aged a day.”
Gold Rush let out a deep laugh, the love and worship of a child always seemed to blind them to the realities staring back at them. The fact was that he wasn’t a young buck anymore; true he was still in his prime years and had many more years of work ahead of him. But the fact was that he wouldn’t be young forever nor would he stay the center of his daughters’ affections. One day they would find their special somepony and go off and have families of their own. That part was inevitable, but as a father he still wanted to protect them. He grabbed a length of rope and began to tie it around the offending obstacle.
“I’m glad to hear that my daughter still thinks so highly of this old pony, but I’m glad thou art here I wanted to talk to thee about something.” He gave a slight grunt as he pulled the rope tight.
Luna looked a little confused about what he would want to talk about. -“What is it father?”
“Luna, there’s going to come a time when Celestia and thyself are going to find a pony that thou will want to be thy special somepony, and at that time thou will want to go off and have a family of thine own -“ Gold started but was interrupted by a gasp of shock from his youngest.
“There’s no way that I could ever want to leave my family. Furthermore no stallion is a strong as thou art father.”
“Be that as it may, I just want to ensure that both thy sister and thyself are well taken care of,“ he said as he stepped into the rope harness and pulled the cord taut. He had to smile a little that she still viewed the world so innocently, because despite her size and appearance, she was still a very young mare. “After all I may have to put some eager colt in his place for getting too familiar with my little fillies.”
They both shared a little laugh at the idea of some unsuspecting colt who dared to get on the wrong side of the massive stallion. Gold Rush began to drag the rock out of the field while Luna attempted to help him push it from behind. She could have levitated the rock with her magic easily enough, but her father preferred the satisfaction of doing the work with his bare hooves. He always said that you appreciated things more when you gave a little of yourself to make it happen. And after giving so much to the farm over the years in the form of blood and sweat, he had much to be proud of.
The two had just finished moving the rock off to the side of the field when Celestia and Lavender Breeze walked up. Gold Rush rubbed his muzzle against his wife and older daughter’s necks in greeting before he began to remove the rope from him and the rock.
“Good morrow husband, how goeth the work?” Lavender asked as she helped him remove the harness from one of his shoulders.
“Tis good, this field should be done by early e’en, and should be seeded by this night,” Gold Rush told her as he surveyed the part of the large field that still sat undisturbed. “How did your flower’s fair through the winter?”
“Better than expected, I’m grateful that this harsh winter didn’t take more. Even with that we will have plenty of flowers to sell this year though.” - She gave him a reassuring smile, to which he returned. -“But we came to see thee because thy oldest daughter has something to ask of ye.”
“Oh really?-” Gold asked slowly as Lavender gave the white mare a push on the rear with her head. As Celestia’s eyes meet the golden gaze of her father she suddenly lost her courage and began to shift nervously. Even though she was almost as tall as him now, the sheer presence of him still made him an imposing figure in her eyes. “-What is it that thou wanted to ask of me my daughter?”
“Well father, today is the spring festival in town and I was wondering if we might be able to go this year?” Celestia asked her father, unsure of what he would say.
Gold Rush remained silent as Celestia tried to read his expression, but all she could pick up in his eyes was the faintest sign that he was thinking about it. The fact that he hadn’t shot the idea down right away was always a good sign, and Celestia knew it was time to bring out the secret weapon. Giving a mental call to her sister, who was currently standing next to Gold, nodded back in reply.
“Aye father can we go?” Luna asked excitedly as she tugged a little at Gold’s arm, turning his attention away from her sister.
“Art thou saying that thou wisheth to neglect thine responsibilities just to go to a festival?” He asked in a questioning voice at the two, as he narrowed his eyes.
The two winged mares both lowered their heads and gave weak nods at his question, figuring that they where being admonished for even suggesting such an idea. They both knew that there was still a lot of work that needed to be done to get the farm ready before the end of the seeding season. Gold Rush turned his attention to Lavender Breeze who stood behind her daughters with a smug smile on her face. It didn’t take a genius to tell that she was enjoying this.
“And what does thou sayeth to this wife?” Gold asked looking over the heads of his daughters to her, but Lavender didn’t cower under it like they did.
“I leave the decision in thy capable hooves dearest.” Was her reply in an almost sultry voice as she looked at him with half-closed eyelids.
Gold Rush gave a small cough as he quickly looked away from his wife, least he be drawn further into her seduction. Instead he turned his attention to the two mares in front of him, looking back and forth between the two for a moment.
“Very well we may go to the festival…-“ he started as the two’s heads shot up, excitement on their faces. He held up a hoof to silence them before they had a chance to speak, “-providing that ye three are ready by the time that I’ve put everything away.”
The two mares gave a squeal of excitement as they latched onto the stallion giggling in excitement. They gave him a quick kiss on the cheeks before uttering their thanks, as they took flight and shot off towards the cottage leaving Gold and Lavender in the field.
Lavender Breeze could see that Gold Rush was bursting with fatherly pride that he had made his little fillies so happy, and that fact made him all the more attractive in her eyes at the moment. She slowly sauntered up to his side and gave him a slow lick on his neck over his jugular; she felt his skin shiver under her sudden action which put a smile on her lips. She could taste the salt on his skin mixed in with his natural earthly scent, the smell that only a hard working stallion would have.
“Before thou taketh a bath, come find and taketh me,” And with a turn of her hooves and a flick of her tail, that brushed his nose filling his nostrils with her flowery scent, she was off herself.
He watched her walk away towards the cabin for a moment, mesmerized by the seductive sway of her derrière, as another feeling began to swell up inside him as a mischievous grin crept on his lips.
Chapter 4
Celestia was alive.
She laughed as she flew through the air, the wind whipping her mane and tail behind her in a streak of pink as if the sky itself was trying to hold her back as she zoomed ever higher. Her lungs burned as the cold air rushed into her airways and her muscles cried out in protest as she urged them on harder in an attempt to be truly free of her earthly burden.
On the ground she felt trapped by having her movements restricted; only being able to go where the ground led her. But here in the sky she could move anywhere with nothing to stop her except her own limitations. But not today, today she was in too good of a mood to even let that stop her. She wanted to know; no… she needed to know what waited for her on the other side just as desperately as her body needed air.
She heard a voice call out from behind her and allowed herself to look back, seeing her younger sister Luna off to her right struggling to catch up with the larger pony. Laughing again she called back for her sister to keep up and continued on higher into the atmosphere passing through a layer of cirrus clouds, their moisture cooling her hot skin for the brief moment it took to pass through. The air was thinner up here which allowed her and Luna to pass through it much easier, but at the same time it would have been impossible to breathe if she didn’t have her magic to rely on.
As she continued higher she could see the sky in front of her begin to fade from blue to black with little pinpricks of starlight peppering the black abyss. About that time she felt her wings go light as exhaustion began to overtake her muscles. Catching sight of a patch of translucent ice clouds shimmering in the sunlight she landed down on it lightly, the crunching sound of the ice filled her ears as it compressed under her weight. Soon she was greeted by the sound of Luna joining her on their perch at the top of the world, obviously out of breath by her ragged breathing.
“C…C-Celestia I don’t t…think that we should…be so far from mother and father…-“ Luna took a minute to catch her breath which took longer than normal even with the magic helping, ”-what if they become worried? Thou knowest how worried mother gets when we fly too high.”
“Dearest Luna-” Celestia began as she gave a smile through her own heavy breaths, “-thou hast to learn to stop being so serious and learn to have some fun.”
Luna furrowed her eyes at her older sister, “Thine idea of fun and mine are two different things sister.”
Celestia just gave her navy blue sister a look of mock shock bringing a fore-hoof to her chest. “Thou hast wounded me sister with such harsh words…but-“ her face turning into a mischievous grin, “-it was still fun was it not?”
Luna chose not to reply and instead just looked away from her violet eye towards the planet below; causing Celestia’s grin to grow bigger knowing that her sister agreed with her, whether she wanted to admit it or not. Celestia knew that behind Luna’s up tight and proper attitude was a mare screaming to break a couple of rules and have fun.
“Tis beautiful tis it not?” Luna finally said.
Celestia looked down and had to agree with her sister, it was beautiful. She could see the mountain range and valley where they had come from below them but couldn’t make out any serious details other than that. Gone where the borderlines and landmarks that separated the different countries and in its place was a simplified picture of a unified world. Even the lower cumulus clouds just looked like freshly fallen snowflakes on an early winter morning, their shadows being cast out onto the land below them by the still rising sun. Off on the horizon many hundreds of miles away, she could see a cumulonimbus stretching up into the sky as its top flared into an anvil. Flashes of lightning danced all around the storm cloud like a swarm of the brightest fireflies. Going higher up to the level where she and Luna where standing, she could plainly see the curve of the world and make out the border between the blue of the sky and the blackness of the unknown beyond. As she looked out from their overview Celestia found herself having a strange sensation of her soul being separated from her body only to be combined with the very soul of the planet itself.
Finding herself lost in the sheer awe of the moment she had to pull herself away when she remembered that they still had a festival to get to. Placing a hoof gently on Luna’s shoulder to get her attention, she simply smiled at her younger sibling.
“Let us go Luna, mother and father are waiting.-” as she neared the edge of the cloud she looked over the edge once again and her sense of adventure kicked in once more, “- Try to keep up!”
And before her sister could protest Celestia leaped off the edge of the cloud, shattering the fragile ice in the process which sparkled around them like diamonds in the sunlight, and the two where soon falling back to earth. Hoping to take advantage of Luna’s moment of surprise, Celestia tucked her wings close to her body and pointed herself as perpendicular to the ground as she could and was off in a streak of pink and white. Faster and faster she dove until she felt a small jolt rack her body as she slipped past the sound barrier and continued to accelerate.
After a couple more moments of freefall she chanced to look behind her only to see Luna right on her tail. In fact she seemed to be riding the vortices that were swirling off of Celestia as she cut through the air. Knowing that by riding that lower air pressure it wouldn’t be long before Luna would pass her and she wasn’t about to give her sister the win that easily.
She extended her wings just enough to give herself some maneuverability, and began to do a tight corkscrew so as to break up the wake behind her. But Luna must have been expecting this as she broke away so as to not hit Celestia as she slowed ever so slightly in her maneuver. Celestia righted herself from the spin to see Luna now in a dead even heat with her in their race to reach the ground first. Figuring she had an easier chance now that they were on an even playing field she gritted her teeth and knew that it was time to take off the brakes and go all out.
Extending her wings fully she began to beat them for all they were worth, the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears once again. Faster she went as they reached the halfway point neither of them were giving any ground as the air vapor in front of them compressed into a bowel shape. As they continued to pick up speed the vapor slowly began to collapse as the sisters pierced the very sky.
Harder Celestia pushed as her vision began to bleed away into a field of blinding white, beating her wings until she felt like her muscles would give no more. She stole a quick glance towards Luna to see her little sister still neck and neck with her, determination on the night blue pony’s face. Digging deep she willed her muscles to give the last amount of strength that they had, as the last of her vision faded away.
Meanwhile on the path into town, Gold Rush and Lavender Breeze were walking side by side admiring the scenery around them. At least that’s what Lavender would have been doing if she didn’t have her sights skyward scanning for any signs of her daughters.
“Where art they? “ She asked absentmindedly, more towards herself than to anyone in particular, “They know that I don’t like it when I can’t see them.”
Gold Rush just had to give a chuckle at his wife’s over protectiveness, which earned him a glare from the lilac mare in question. She had always been a watchful mother-hen to their daughters ever since the day that she found them in the barn, always fretting when she didn’t know where they were. The two sisters would go off and get into the kind of trouble that siblings do, while Lavender would nervously pace a hole into the floor until they returned home and she knew that they were safe. He was about to reassure her when she started to rapidly tap one of her hoofs on his shoulder as she pointed skyward.
“Gold Rush, look here they come! Oh, it looks like they’re in trouble!” She cried out in a worried tone.
He looked up to see what she was talking about to only see something that he had never seen before in his life. In the sky, almost too far away for him to see clearly, were his daughter’s racing to the ground at an unbelievable speed. They streaked towards the ground like a couple of arrows, trailing ribbons of pink and navy behind them back up into the sky. Then suddenly before his eyes they seemed to erupt into a flash of white, temporarily blinding him and Lavender. Once he regained his sight he was greeted by a sight almost beyond words.
In the sky, slowly spreading out like ripples in a pond was a blue and pink tie-dye colored shockwave which seemed to rip the very sky itself as it went along. He watched slack jawed as the wave spread out further above him and Lavender before continuing on its way. About that time he heard the sound of the flash he had seen moments ago rip through his ears with such ferocity that he thought he was going to go deaf. As the echoes began to fade he dared to look skyward again to try and find the where about of his daughters, worried that they might have been hurt.
He found them a little ways below where he had spotted them last, and a sense of relief began to flow through him. The little daredevils had seemed to give up on their little head on race and instead now seemed settled on trying to outmaneuver the other. They danced through the air like a pair of dragonflies on a hot summer day, each trying to get the better position on the other. As one of them would bank hard their wings would sprout vapor which would tapper off of their wings like white ribbon. Watching them fly with each other seemingly without a care in the world, he could honestly say he was jealous of the freedom that they had earned.
When they finally reached treetop level it looked like Celestia was in the lead, but at the last moment Luna dove under her sister and managed to pull ahead at the last moment. Her hooves touching down on the dirt path in front of Gold and Lavender and was shortly followed by Celestia, both of them throwing up dirt and dust as they skidded to a stop. Lavender rushed over to make sure that her children were alright, and Gold planned on giving the two a piece of his mind for the stunt they had just pulled.
As Gold walked over he found his daughters laughing and boasting to each other at their accomplishment, and pointing out the moments when they thought the other didn’t play fair. Gold knew these conversations well, from his days of his colthood with his own siblings. But that didn’t excuse their actions any less than it did him all those years ago.
“What dost thou think thou were doing?” Gold Rush asked irritated at his daughters.
The two young mares’ smiles quickly left their faces under their father’s admonishment, and they were quickly shrinking under the large stallion’s gaze as he looked down on them with a stern look.
“Ye two practically gave thy mother and me a heart attack with that display thou just did! And what if thou had gotten hurt or heaven forbid thou hurt someone else! Did thou even thinketh about what it would do to thy mother and I?” Gold continued to berate the two almost grown mares like a pair of young foals.
Lavender, always her daughter’s savior, must have figured it was best to try and diffuse the situation before it continued to escalate, as she placed a hoof on Gold’s shoulder. Gold immediately turned his fiery stare towards her momentarily before she felt his muscles relax as he let out a sigh.
She turned her attention to the two mares in trouble, and spoke to them in a gentle voice to let them know she wasn’t angry at them, “Me thinks what thy father means is that you two need to be more careful. Thou two knowest that thine abilities allow thee the possibility to do things that most ponies could only dream of. Now not everypony is going to like this fact, some might even be outright hurtful to thee because of it.
“Which means that the two of you need to practice restraint at all times and keep an eye on for each other, because thy father and I will not be there all of the time. Dost thou understand?”
Celestia and Luna just nodded their heads slowly in agreement never daring to look up. Lavender gave them a little smile before continuing on down the path and Gold followed her, who was soon by her side again. Lavender called back behind her at the two sisters.
“Come along ye two! We still have a festival to get to!”
The two sisters followed their parents with their heads still hanging a little low as they continued on down the path towards the village.
After about another hour of continuing down the dirt path they came to the outskirts of the town. The mood in the group had lightened up considerably as they neared the village. Celestia was talking to Luna about all the games they would have there, while the younger one listened with interest. Meanwhile Gold Rush was fantasizing about all the good treats he would get to eat, while Lavender teasingly warned him about eating too much lest he get too big. Gold just snorted as the girls all shared a laugh at the big stallion’s expense.
The laughter immediately stopped as they came to the wooden bridge that crossed over a stream at the edge of town. On the other side they saw the town in disarray, it wasn’t under attack at least not in the traditional sense but instead it didn’t look anything like the town they all knew. The grass was no longer green but instead now was a checkered pattern of dark and light blue. Houses were in all sorts of states, some were cut up like Swiss cheese, while others looked like someone had turned them inside out exposing their guts, and even others were floating upside down in the sky. Gone were the leaves on the trees replaced by what looked like pink cotton candy.
“What happened here honey?” Lavender whispered to Gold so as to not alert the other two.
Gold just stood stunned as he tried to absorb what he was seeing, slowly he shook his head, “I don’t know? You three stay here while I go and check it out.”
“There’s no way I’m letting thee go by thyself.” Lavender said as she grabbed his arm to prevent him from leaving, Gold solemnly gave her a nod and they slowly made their way into the village.
Everything seemed wrong to the family as they walked into the town square. From the clock tower now being a giant bananna, to the group of muscled out pigs that were currently having a pose-off on the other side of the square. Suddenly Luna saw a pony walking up from an alley way off to their right; she touched her father to point her to the figure walking towards them. The stranger was a red pegasus stallion with a white mohawk for a his mane, Luna figured her father knew this pony because he quickly ran over to him.
“Velvet what happened here? What happened to our village?” Gold asked this new pony.
Velvet just looked at Gold for a moment before opening his mouth, but instead of words they just heard the bleating baa of a sheep. As Gold and his family stood shocked yet again by the weirdness that their town had become they heard a deep almost maniacal laugh ring out from everywhere. Upon hearing the laugh Velvet Skies quickly dashed for safety as fast as his legs would carry him.
“Father what is that?” Celestia asked as she and Luna crept closer to the safety of their parents.
“You mean ‘who’ is that, -“ the mysterious voice spoke again before there was a flash of light in the clearing, leaving a strange looking creature before them giving a little bow, “- the name is Discord.”
Standing in front of them was the single weirdest creature Celestia had ever seen. His overall appearance reminded her of a serpent like dragon but he didn’t look like any kind of dragon she had ever heard about. Every part of him was made up of a different animal and he stood on two legs at least four times taller than anypony she had ever seen. His left leg resembled a goat’s with its brown hoof and tan color fur, while his right leg was that of a green scaled dragon. His tail continued the dragon look except instead of green scales it was coated in shimmering red ones and ended in a tuft of white feathers. His snakelike torso was coated in the brown feathers of an eagle with a set of wings on his back. The left wings looked like it had come off a bluebird while the right one sported the leathery skin of a bat’s wing.
Judging by the smaller stature of his wings in relation to the rest of his body Celestia had to wonder how he was able to fly with them if at all. The eagle motif continued to his left arm which was the claw and talons of the raptor. Meanwhile his right arm was a powerful leg from some kind of big cat, a lion, if Celestia had to take guess at it. His neck and head was that of pony but on a much longer neck, and was grey in color with a black mane. On top of his head sat pair of horns but not even those matched as one was the antler of a deer while the other was something that resembled the horn of a goat.
“Lord of chaos and Ruler of Equestria,” Discord said as he rose from his bow.
“Ruler of Equestria?” Gold Rush pondered in disbelief, “That is a fallacy; Equestria is ruled by the tribal council.”
“Yes I know that I haven’t been able to make it to the more rural locations yet, plus-” Discord snapped his fingers and in a flash of white he held an hourglass in his right paw,”-the change of supervision was only recently.”
The four ponies had to squint as Discord held out the hourglass for them to see. Inside of it they could make out what looked like nine ponies, three from each of the different tribes.
“W-who art they?” Luna asked timidly.
Discord just continued to grin as he snapped again, causing the hourglass to disappear once more, “Why they’re the tribal council my dear.”
The four ponies let out a gasp of shock at what this creature had done, and a sense of fear began to creep up at the fact he had seemingly done it with ease. It was Lavender who managed to find her voice first.
“Whatfore art thou doing here?” She asked with as much bravery as she could muster.
“Why I’m here to reshape this land into one more of my liking, don’t you like what I’ve already done with the place?” The creature asked as he presented the town to Lavender and her family.
“Tis an abomination of nature,” Lavender said which caused the him to frown at having his work insulted.
“You ponies and your lack of imagination always so satisfied with the mundane way of living, never relaxing and allowing yourselves to have a little fun. Honestly it’s such a bore.” Discord said before flashing a smug smile, “So I offer this choice, either join me in changing this world into a better one, or join the fate of your council and cease to exist in it at all.”
Fear rushed through Gold as he turned to his family, “R-”
But it was too late as they heard the snap of his fingers before the four ponies were consumed in a burst of white light. Once it faded Gold and Lavender were no longer to be seen leaving Celestia and Luna behind, the look of horror still etched on their faces. Shock flashed upon Discord’s face for a moment before he pondered what had just happened a slight frown began to form on his lips.
“Odd…,” Discord said thinking to himself, “usually that works.”
“Where art our parents? What did thoust do to them?” Celestia asked, her voice trembling, when she managed to gather the courage to speak.
Discord just gave them a shrug, “I told you already, they are no longer a part of this world, and I will not have troublemaker’s mucking about trying to ruin my good fun.”
“Thou art a monster.” Luna spat at him in disgust momentarily loosing her fear of the creature, but he just reacted in fake shock.
“Me… a monster? You wound me madam. Very well then I bid you two goodbye,” And with that he vanished in a flash of light.
The two sisters waited a moment, wondering if he was truly gone before they heard his deep voice coming from above him.
“Still I wonder… why didn’t you two disappear along with them?” The sister’s looked up to see him lounging on a hammock made of marshmallows staring down at them. “What’s so different about you two? I wonder if it has something to do with your physical oddities.
“Now I’ve been all over this planet in my life and can honestly say that you two are the first of your kind I’ve seen. That makes you two an anomaly to this world like me. Almost like we were cut from the same cloth why don’t you join me? We could mold the world in our own chaotic image.”
“We art nothing like thee!” Celestia yelled at him, the sister’s fear of him diminishing by the moment. Being replaced with anger as their horns began to glow with their magic, yet Discord still seemed unfazed by this threat. “We’d never join someone like thee! Now release our parents!”
“No… no I won’t,” Discord said plainly, obviously not impressed with their threats. “They are now part of my perfect world so why would I let them go. And don’t think that the glowing horns of two young mares are going to scare me. Do you honestly think that two of you are the first ponies to ever threaten me with unicorn magic?"
But the sisters didn't answer him, continuing to stare him down until he let out a sigh of frustration before flashing back on the ground in front of them.
“Very well then take your best shot.”
With that a nice red and white bull’s eye appeared on his chest as he placed a blindfold over his eyes and began to smoke a cigarette. Celestia’s anger boiled to a point till she could no longer hold it in and let it flow out from her in a hot yellow wave of vengeance. Discord didn’t bother to even dodge as he was swallowed by the attack that continued off into the horizon. As her energy dissipated and the wave tapered off the two sisters were disheartened to see that he had been telling the truth as he still stood there, although this time holding a sheet mirror under his chin and sporting a pair of sunglasses.
“See, I told you. I’m immune to pony magic.” He said as he discarded the objects which landed with the sound of a quack on the ground.
Celestia and Luna just snarled at the arrogant creature, Luna finally spoke up defiantly, “We shall beat you Discord.”
Discord waved off the threat, “Please like I’ve never heard that before,” after looking at the two ponies who were still snarling at him he let out another sigh, “You guys are no fun. Very well then how about we play a game? If you win I shall free your parents and return your village to the way it was.”
“And what if we lose?” Celestia asked warily but Discord just grinned at her bringing his fingers together.
“Oh, let’s not worry about that just yet. So do we have a deal or not?”
Celestia looked at Discord with narrowed eyes before glancing over to Luna who gave her a subtle nod. Turning back towards him, “Very well we accept.”
“Excellent and to make sure that you don’t just skip out on our little game, I’ll be watching.” And with that he disappeared leaving the sister’s wondering what they had just gotten themselves into.