Return

“As you can see the Ursas in the caverns to the west will most certainly have to be relocated,” a cream-colored pony stated, tapping a map with a forehoof. I found her annoying.

“The Ursa that dwell in that region cannot be relocated,” Princess Luna’s voice carried through the private reception hall. It wasn’t the royal shout that I remembered from before; apparently modern ponies had more sensitive sensibilities. I had to admit that it was certainly easier on the ears. Before the annoying cream pony could interrupt, Luna continued. “The caves in that region are the only caves that produce star-coal, which the Ursa feed on. Other Ursa colonies will not support the added numbers of these.”

The cream pony gaped at the princess. “But, Your Highness, I’ve already invested so much time into the plans for this. And we have the equipment ready to install.”

Luna regarded her with a steady gaze. “Thou shall have to install thine equipment elsewhere. The Ursa cannot be moved. Anypony found attempting such a deed shall be punished. You are dismissed, Ms. Gedda.”

The pony stood in place, blinking as though she could not believe her ears, before being ushered out of the way by a servant. Another pony, this time a unicorn, quickly took the cream pony’s place and began another dialog with the Princess of the Night.

I sat beside and slightly behind the princess. I eyed the crowd in the small reception hall. It looked as though the swarm of ponies even went outside the door. Princess Luna would definitely have to think about holding general court in the main throne room soon. This small reception hall was no match for the great numbers of ponies here this night. Where had all of the ponies been yesterday when I sought audience with my princess?

“That will be all for now. I shall return anon, when the moon enters the third quarter, for those who still seek audience,” Luna’s voice broke my thoughts. There were various statements of displeasure through the crowd, but Luna turned to leave anyway, I slipped in behind her, and we both retreated through a doorway behind a curtain at the head of the room.

I followed my princess through a winding back hallway. We climbed several flights of stairs before the hall ended abruptly in a blank wall. To the right, was a large window opening to a short balcony. Princess Luna’s horn glowed as she used her magic to throw the doors wide and stepped out into the cold night air. She turned back to me.

“Wouldst thou join me for a flight?” Her eyes, large and clear, were unreadable as ever. I could never tell what she was thinking. She always took me by surprise.

“Happily, my princess,” I replied eagerly. It had apparently been over a thousand years since I had last flown through the sky. The prospect was a heady one.

“Come.” With the simple command, she leapt gracefully into the night sky, flying briskly away from the castle. I was right behind her, my wings stretching wide.

Luna flew straight ahead. Did she have a destination in mind? I didn’t know. There was no telling. It didn’t matter. The freedom of flying was intoxicating. The feeling of the wind filling my wings, the comfortable ruffle of my feathers. I yearned to dart ahead of Princess Luna, racing her across the sky. But that would be impolite; one didn’t outdistance a princess. Besides that, she would surely out-fly me were she so inclined. I settled for making loops as we passed over a village below.

As I arced again, I saw Luna’s form below me, matching my speed. As I descended, she came up beside me, spiraling around me as I looped. I smiled, increasing my speed and spiraling the opposite direction and doing a series of triple loops. Luna matched me again, continuing a lazy-looking spiral around me. The spiral was anything but lazy. We were going too fast for lazy. But she made it look easy, the fulgor of her hair seeming to leave a trail of sparkling stars in her wake.

We passed one another, barely a yard apart. She looked at me, head tilted with a slight smile and a questioning look on her face. I was already grinning. As I finished the loop I was in, Luna pulled ahead of me, straightening her spiral and evening out into a straight line again. I stopped my aerobatics, pulling alongside her, slightly behind.

The landscape beneath me came into better focus as we began our descent. The lay of the land seemed intimately familiar, though I could not place exactly where we were in my mind. I hadn’t been paying attention to our direction as we flew. The area was wild with vegetation and little else. Then I caught sight of a river.

The river. Memories flooded me as I saw the familiar snaking shape of the river. A river I had known for as far back as I could remember. I stopped in mid-air, hovering and looking below me in disbelief.

“What happened here? Where... where are all of the ponies?” The thoughts escaped me as I struggled to take in what I saw. Which was nothing. Nothing but the river itself, cutting through a tangle of untamed forest in every direction. “Where is the city? The villages? The main road?”

“Scattered and gone,” Luna’s voice came from my right, where she was also hovering. I didn’t remember her stopping and coming back to me, but my attention was obviously elsewhere. She continued, her voice subdued, “After the war, Celestia felt it best to leave our castle. Establish a new center in the attempt to banish the old memories and any hard feelings that were left behind. Many ponies from the city and villages along the river followed her to Canterlot. Slowly, their numbers dwindled until they could no longer keep back the forest. The stragglers were eventually forced to leave as well and the forest did what forests will do; take over.”

“But... my village...” I choked on the words. I had grown up along this river, a small village to the south of Zapple City and the Castle of the Two Sisters. Now there was nothing. No sign that a village had ever even been present along the banks of the river, nor a large metropolis city. Nothing stood except trees and other vegetation.

I blinked back the sudden tears that sprang to my eyes. Certainly, I knew that things would be different after the banishment, but this? I had never imagined that the whole of what I had known my entire life would be gone, as though it had never existed at all. Since I had first awoken and Heart Charmer told me how much time had passed, I had a half-formed plan to come back to my village when time allowed and see if there were any distant relatives still here. I could see now that such a plan was pointless. There was no village to return to. Where would I look for relatives now?

A timber wolf howled below us, breaking the silence of my thoughts.

“Come.” The command was softly spoken before Luna began moving forward again, in the direction I now recognized as toward the old castle. Her speed was decidedly slower now.