Chapters Before, the tall trees and rolling hills had made for a very pleasant landscape, but after hour upon hour of that same scenery, it began to become monotonous. Occasionally a different bird would sing it’s song, and the woodland creatures scurried about, but that too began to become repetitive.
Thankfully, Honey Suckle had no shortage of subjects to talk about. Starry had decided to pick her brain, and learn all that she could about the world around her, and maybe even herself. Honey, despite appearing to be a country bumpkin, was quite knowledgeable of the wider world. She talked about the big cites, such as Trottingham, Manechester, and Vanhoover. There was even a Pegasus city in the sky, Cloudsdale.
When she got to it, Honey could not stop talking about Canterlot. She talked for what seemed like an eternity about the opportunities that awaited anypony who wanted to get a fresh start. Honey spoke of taking her floral business there, but only as a dream. She seemed to think it would never happen.
Soon though, it was getting to be sundown, and both ponies were tired from the long day’s hike. “Just a little further, dear. I can see a cave we can sleep in for the night.”
Those words encouraged Starry forward, but then her heart sank when she saw where it was. The cave was on the other side of a river, and the only crossing they could see had definitely seen better days.
Starry was visually unsettled by the rickety rope bridge. “Are you sure we can get across?”
“We’re gonna have to. That cave is the only safe place to stay for miles.” Honey was equally troubled by the condition of the bridge, but was trying her best to make Starry feel better about it. “We’ll go one at a time. I’ll go first, one hoof in front of the other.”
Honey set off, gingerly setting each hoof down, each step eliciting a creak from the plank she stepped on. With each successful step, Starry grew more confident that the kindly earth pony would make it safely.
Not far from the other side, Honey suddenly fell through one of the planks. The jolt caused the ropes suspending the bridge to snap, sending both it and Honey swinging back towards the side of the cliff.
Starry didn’t even think. She immediately dropped her saddlebags, spread her wings, and started a steep dive to catch Honey before she could hit the cliff face. She flew closer and closer, till she was finally able to get a hold of Honey. “I got you! Don’t let…” Just then, a sharp pain radiated from her wing, which wasn’t over the old wound. Slower, they both swung helplessly on the bridge.
“I’m sorry! I tried to catched you, but my wing just gave out!” Starry was hysterical, but she could see through her watery eyes that Honey gave her a familiar, comforting smile, like none of this had ever even happened. She spoke in a calm voice, “Don’t fret over it now, sugar cube. You did everything you could.”
Just then Starry had an idea. “Not everything.” She closed her eyes, and focused on the ropes holding them. Her horn began to glow, and a magical aura began to surround the ropes. They pulled taught, and the two began to slowly rise to the top of the cliff. It seemed as if they would be okay.
Not long after she started the spell, Starry got another headache. She began seeing herself running again, but this time from what appeared to be a massive castle, everything drowned out by the sounds of alarms and the deep, commanding voices of stallions shouting orders at each other. The sounds grew quieter the farther she ran, and eventually, everything faded to black.
Starry was aroused by the bobbing she felt. She could tell her entire body moving up and down in a steady rhythm. It was enough to jolt her awake, and she frantically began looking around, even though her vision was still a blur.
“Good morning sleepy head! I feel like a nurse looking after you like this.” Honey Suckles voice came from behind, and actually made Starry focus her eyes.
“Honey, you’re okay! I’m okay! How, the bridge, I...” Honey began to tap her gently on the shoulder.
“Don’t you fret. That’s behind us now. This kind gentleman saved us just as you passed out.” Honey gestured behind her, to the head of a large, purple sea dragon.
“Good Afternoon, Ladies.” As he spoke, he stroked his obviously pampered mustache. “I hope your felling better, Miss Night. You must’ve really pushed yourself to faint like that.” Starry didn’t mention her flashback.
Honey continued her introduction. “This is Mo. He just happened to be passing by, and saved our lives. What a Gentleman.”
Mo was visible blushing. “Oh stop it. I just did what any good samaritan would have done.”
Starry returned a smile to Mo. “Thank you.”
Suddenly, Mo lifted his head high above the ponies, and pointed over to his left. “There it is girls. The great city of Maresailles.”
Starry suddenly regained her energy. Now she may finally get to know who she really is.
Even if she could remember being in a city, Starry would have been impressed by the port of Maresailles. The docks seemed to be endless, filled with ships of all shapes and sizes. The buildings seemed to reach into reach into the sky, continuously buzzed by pegasi. Against the night sky, they seemed to be regal in addition to titanic. She was truly in awe.
As they disembarked, Mo lowered his head to the height of the two ponies. “You two be careful, and enjoy the sights.”
“Thank you kindly Mo. I hope we get a chance to meet again, when one of our lives isn’t in peril.” Honey and Mo shared a laugh, and the sea dragon swam back to the mouth of the river. “Starry, are you ready to move along?”
Starry was starred entranced by the city, but still aware of her surroundings. “Yes. Where should we start?”
Honey let out a loud yawn. “How ‘bout we hit the hey. This pony needs her sleep.”
This took Starry by surprise. She was tired from the journey as well, but didn’t feel a need to sleep. “Sleep? But we just got here.”
“Yes dear, and it’s also the middle of the night, when normal ponies go to bed.” Honey’s eyes were half closed by this point. Her cheery voice now dramatically lowered in volume.
Starry flexed her wings to show off their leathery texture. “I don’t think I’m a normal pony.”
“Be that as it may, we’ll need a place to stay. Come now, my cousin Buttercup will keep us for the time bein’. She shouldn’t be far from here.”
The walk to Buttercup’s place seemed to fly by for Starry. She took in everything around her, from the glowing signs on the shops to the sounds made by the occasional carriage that passed them by. It was all very different from Honey’s humble farm.
Eventually, Starry realized that she didn’t know Honey all that well. It’s only right that she be friendly after all they’ve been through together. “So Honey, how did you get your cutie mark?” She gestured to the olive brach on her flank.
“Oh it was a wonderful day! I remember it like yesterday. My father actually made saddlebags for a livin’, right here in Maresailles, so I started helping him with that. I had always been fascinated by plants though. Everything about them was just beautiful. The aromas, the colors, it all made me get all fuzzy inside. I started a garden outside the city. Soon enough, it was the talk of the town. I had so many different herbs and plants, even the Mayor took noticed, and asked me if I could name it in her honor. At naming ceremony, it popped up, right there on my flank.”
Starry was inspired. Honey was industrious even as a filly. “So what brought out you out to Green Pastures? It’s awfully far away from your home.”
Just then, the atmosphere around honey turned gloomy. Her ears folded down, her head was hung low, and the all important smile was gone from her face. “It was a personal choice, that’s all.”
Starry wasn’t accustomed to Honey stopping a conversation like that. That farm must’ve been more than just a business to her. Before Starry could ask any further, Honey stopped them both, and her features had returned to their normal, perky condition.
“Ah-ha! Here it is.” Honey walked through the door, but Starry noticed the sign read ‘Best Friends Forever Pet Shop’. “Are you sure this is where she lives? It just looks like a store.”
“Buttercup does love her animals. She’s actually a pegasus, but since she couldn’t pass the flight exam, she came here, and discovered her special talent.” She knocked on the door very back. Immediately following were less footsteps than the sound of constant stumbling, gradually making it’s way over to the door.
The door was opened by a sleepy eyed pegasus, her pink coat was matted, and her lime green mane was frayed in every direction. “Oh sorry Butters. Did we wake you?” Starry couldn’t tell if Honey was making a joke, or just oblivious. Buttercup didn’t appear to respond. Until she rubbed her eyes, then a gentle smile appeared. “Oh hello Honey,” her voice was soft and quiet, a stark contrast to Honey Suckle. “I wasn’t expecting you till next month. But my door is always open for family.”
“Well I had some pressing matters to tend to. This young lady needs our help. She came to my door a wreck. I took care of her, but the poor dear can’t remember a thing about herself.” Honey gestured over to Starry. As she did so, Buttercup’s jaw dropped. Any grogginess she may have had was gone. She grabbed Honey and Starry and harshly yanked them upstairs, locking the door behind them.
“Butters, what in Equestria is the matter? Your acting like you’ve seen the walkin’ dead.” Honey was just as confused by Buttercup’s behavior as Starry was.
“I might as well have!” she exclaimed in a loud whisper. “And keep your voice down! Nopony can know it’s here!”
“It? What are you talkin’ about?” Honey was whispering too.
“That thestral! They aren’t supposed to exist! Who knows what it’s capable of!” Buttercup kept frantically gesturing towards Starry, who was getting progressively more insulted.
“I have a name, you know!” She exclaimed. She was the only one not whispering.
Buttercup leapt into the air, and would have gone sailing out the widow, had Honey not grabbed her tail and pulled her back down to earth. “Buttercup! That is no way to treat a guest! Her name is Starry Night. You of all ponies should know that we love and accept everypony.”
“She’s not a real Pony!” Buttercup raised in voice to match Honey. “Princess Celestia was supposed to have banished all of the thestrals beyond the Hadrian Mountains. If she finds out one of them got back here, who knows what she’ll do to us!”
Starry suddenly realized that this pony knew an awful lot about what she was. “Wait a second, you said I’m a thestral?” Buttercup just stared at her, jaw hanging open, apparently confused as to how to respond. Starry kept talking regardless. “I actually can’t remember anything about who I am. If there is somewhere I belong, I would appreciate it if you could tell me all you know about it.”
Buttercup slowly worked up the courage to speak to the mare who moments before she had labeled ‘it’. “You really don’t remember anything?” She had reverted back to her normal voice. Starry shook her head.
“Well, Ancient lore was always a hobby of mine. I apprenticed at the library before I got my cutie mark. I can show you all we know about you.” Butters smile had returned as well. She was starting to feel more comfortable around Starry.
“Sounds like we got ourselves a plan, girls.” Honey interjected. “But first, how about we all get some shut eye.” Starry agreed this time. She couldn’t remember the last time she slept voluntarily.
The sounds of horns were distant now, but the huffing and panting was constant as Starry Night galloped, jumping logs and ducking under branches as she penetrated deeper into the forrest. She couldn’t run forever, she needed shelter. Not even an alacorn such as she could defend herself from whatever wildlife stalked at night.
As the thought crossed her mind, she spotted a old farmhouse; with a light on inside. “Praise the Stars! I hope they’re not another outpost.” Starry mustered the last of her strength in a dash to the house. The wound on her wing was taking it’s toll. She was barely staying conscious. Her legs gave out just as she reached the porch. The sound of hoofsteps was comforting for once.
As the darkness crept in around her eyes, the shape of a pony opened the door and looked down at her. Starry struggled to lift her head, but managed to peak “I...Starry Night. Help.” Then darkness.
Starry felt herself being gently shaken. Buttercup’s quiet voice called out to her. “Miss Night, are you okay? You looked liked you were having night terrors.” Starry’s eyes snapped open, and she quickly rolled over to face Buttercup and Honey Suckle standing over her.
Honey looked very concerned. “You gave us quite a fright, dear. You were thrashing so hard, we had to hold you down.” Starry just stared at them both, panting as if she really had run like she had in her dream.
“I remembered part of the night you found me. It wasn’t a lot, all I remember was that I was being chased by something, but I’d lost it by the time I found your house. I have no idea what I was running from.” Starry awaited a response from the other ponies, but her explanation seemed to give more questions than answers.
“Honey told me her side of that night,” Buttercup explained. “are you sure there wasn’t a detail that might hint at what you might have been running from?”
Starry thought hard, picking through every aspect of the dream. Then she realized, “I remember when I saw Honey’s house, I was relieved that it wasn’t a military post of some kind. Maybe that’s who was chasing me.”
“If that was true, then we would see wanted posters of you all over the city.” Buttercup stated. “Unless it wasn’t our military that was chasing you. But how could that be?”
Honey spoke up now. “That’s the only explanation. I don’t know who, but It’s our only hint, so let’s pursue it.” The three mares nodded in agreement. Starry threw off the covers and hopped out of bed, but when the sun hit her eyes, it was blinding, to the point where she couldn’t see anything but light. Reflexively, she shut her eyes ducked out of the sun’s rays.
The only pony not startled by the reaction was Buttercup, who threw a cloak over Starry as she huddled in a corner, hooves over her eyes. As soon as the cloak was on, a shield for her eyes, the pain disappeared. “From what I’ve read, thestrals are very sensitive to sunlight. You’ll need this to be outside during the day.” Apparently, Starry wasn’t quite finished learning about herself.
Once outside, it still took Starry a while to adjust to the brightness, but it had turned into a rainy day, which helped keep things dimmer, and gave her an excuse to wear the cloak. When she could see, she suddenly realized that cities are filled with other ponies! If what Buttercup said was true, she needed to keep a low profile.
“This way.” Buttercup began to walk down the street. “The University library isn’t far from here. We should be there very quickly.” Honey and Starry followed her down the street. This walk too seemed to take no time at all for Starry. She could finally observe what normal ponies do during the day. They ran their shops, bought their food, and took little fillies out to play. It was peaceful, but at the same time, sad for her. No pony can know the future, but Starry knew she could never have the life that these ponies did.
Honey took notice of Starry’s depression, and gave her a gentle bump on the should. “Chin up, sugar cube. We’re gonna find you everything you need to know, even if it takes a thousand moons.”
“Thank you, Honey.” Starry replied. “But I have to wonder, seeing all these ponies, will I want to be what Buttercup says I am?” Her mood hadn’t improved much.
“Dear, That’s just your outside. It’s not who you are. What you do and what you live for is all up to you. Don’t you let anypony tell you any different.” After that speech, Starry couldn’t understand why Honey’s cutie mark wasn’t a smile.
“Right here.” Buttercup pointed over across the street. The building itself was a monument to the past. Starry didn’t know what the style was, but it definitely stood in stark contrast to the surrounding buildings. “The Ancient Lore is in the basement, so nopony will notice us.” Starry could barely hear her soft voice over the city ambience.
The interior of the Library appeared to be inspired by the exterior, though nopony seemed to want to enjoy it; the whole place only had a dozen or so ponies. The basement was completely abandoned, and it had far more books. Starry was genuinely dumbfounded. “How come nopony is down here? There’s a lot of information.”
Buttercup just shrugged her shoulders as they walked down the aisles. “Most think there isn’t anything down here worth reading. All of the most frequently requested material is upstairs.” Her soft voice was now the perfect volume for the library. “Only real snoops look for books down here.”
“I guess if your not a stranger to yourself, you don’t need a library.” Starry joked. Honey let out a brief snicker, and buttercup just turned around to smile.
“I think this is the section we need.” Buttercup flapped her wings and began hoofing through the books, slowly drifting down the shelves. “Let’s see; Ancient history. and we want... This one! Equestrian Lore and Myths.”
Starry was puzzled. “I’m a myth?” She almost took it as an insult. “I thought this would tell us who I am, not tell a story.”
“Actually, nopony in our time has ever seen, let alone met, a thestral. This book has all the information available on you.” Buttercup, dragged the mighty book off the shelf, the weight nearly brought her crashing to the floor. She descended as fast as she safely could, and threw the book down on the table in front of Starry. A plume of dust puffed when it landed forcing Honey and Starry to cough.
“Well, it knows more than I do right now. Let’s get to it.” She lifted the cover, and the musky smell of the ages wafted upwards. She scanned the index for ‘thestral’. She found it fairly quickly, located on page 642. Her anticipation was building unbearably, when she finally found the page, she simply slammed her head on the desk.
Honey was behind her, but couldn’t quite read over her shoulder. “What’s wrong dear? What did you find?”
“Nothing.” Starry replied, in a monotonous tone. “Absolutely nothing.”
“What?” Buttercup stood at perfect attention. She flew over to read for herself.
Starry lifted her head, and both the other ponies could see her disparaging frown. “All it says is what you were telling me yesterday. ‘They were all banished beyond the Hadrian Mountains by Princess Celestia, never to return’. It doesn’t say when or why.”
Honey was looking for ways to improve the situation. “Are there any other books, Butters?”
Buttercup flew up to the shelves again, looking each and every book over for something that would relate to bat ponies. “Nothing. That’s the only one.”
Starry stood up and began to walk away. Honey was still trying to think of a solution when she noticed. “Starry, where are you going.” Starry turned around, her expression of despair had transformed into one of determination.
“I’m going to the Hadrian Mountains.”
Buttercup and Honey Suckle were aghast. “The Mountains!” they exclaimed in unison, before they remembered they were in a library. Buttercup was the first of the two to regain her bearing. “You can’t be serious!” She had lowered her volume, but still came across as hysterical. “Nopony goes over the Hadrian Mountains. Who knows what over there!”
Starry was unfazed. “That’s the problem. I need to know what’s over those mountains. If I go there, there may be other ponies like me who can give me answers. It’s the only chance I have, right now.” Buttercup and Honey exchanged glances of concern at one another. “I appreciate everything you both have done to help me, and I don’t expect you to come with me, so once again, thank you.”
“Hold it right there!” Honey exclaimed. “Did you just think that after all we’ve been through together, I’d just let you waltz outta here on your own?” Starry stared at her in amazement. This was not the reaction she was expecting. “You have no idea where you’re going or what you’re gonna need. Since you’re a friend in need, I’ll be your friend indeed.”
Buttercup landed alongside her cousin. “I’m coming, too. I haven’t known you that long, but I take care of animals and ponies alike. I want to do everything I can to find you you’re home.”
Starry was touched. She couldn’t remember having any friends, but now she knew she would never forget it. She actually began to tear up. She wiped her eyes before speaking again. “Thank you, girls. Thank you very much.”
“Well now, we can’t be sittin’ ‘round here forever. Let’s hop to, hop sing!” Honey exclaimed, only to be met by loud ‘SHHH!” from a passing librarian. Honey blushed, and lowered her volume. “Back to your store, cousin?”
Back at the pet store, the three were hard at work preparing for the long journey that lay ahead of them. Honey Suckle was hard at work making their food, while Buttercup charted their route. Starry had made a list of the supplies they would need; blankets, canteens, tents, and all of Honey’s food had to fit snugly in their packs.
“OK girls, here’s our plan.” Buttercup gestured them both to come over to her table. “For the first leg of our trip, we’ll be heading northeast along the coast, towards San Franciscolt. It’s a long hike, so we’ll camp part way along the trail. We’ll pass through the city, and head to Manechester, the last town before the mountains. We’ll get whatever we need there before we...” Buttercup gave out an audible gulp. “...cross over.”
Starry could see she was still distressed. “Don’t worry. As long as we stick together, we’ll get through this just fine.” Starry wasn’t entirely sure what she said was true, but it did help Buttercup’s nerves.
“The path from here to San Franciscolt isn’t very well travelled.” Honey interjected. “We’re gonna need a guide to get through safe.”
“I’ve thought of that.” Buttercup explain. “Which is why I’ve already arranged for a guide to get us from here all the way to Manechester. We’ll be meeting her around 5 this afternoon, and depart immediately.”
It seemed like a sound plan. The three mares nodded in agreement, and proceeded to pack their saddle bags. Buttercup headed for the door to the shop. “I’ve already packed. I need to go make sure the animals are taken care of.”
After she left, Starry noticed that Honey was packing a picture into her saddle bag. It looked to be her homestead, with her and a stallion standing in front. They both had smiles from ear to ear, like whatever was happening couldn’t get any better. “Are you all packed, Honey?”
Honey fumbled the picture into her bag, and quickly turned to face Starry. She was obviously trying to hide the fact she was startled. “Yes, yes deary, of course. Got everything I need. I’m good for the whole trip.”
Starry was concerned now. Whoever that stallion was might explain some of the strange behavior she’d seen. Starry would hide her concern, for the time being.
The three made their way to the edge of Maresailles. Starry continued to be hypnotized by the myriad of sights and sounds the city had to offer. Honey answered any questions she had, because Buttercup was too busy worrying about her animals.
As they approached the city limits, Starry noticed a somepony leaning against a building. She had very plain features; rather appropriate for a rough and tumble trail guide. Her jet black mane was mostly hidden beneath her pith helmet, and her khaki rucksack contrasted against her orange coat. She noticed the three ponies’ shadows, and lifted her head to reveal piercing blue eyes. “Butters! Good to see you again, girl!” The pony immediately dashed and gave what must have been a very powerful bear hug. Buttercup’s eyes looked like they were about to pop. She was released just in time to take a breath. Butter cup took a second to catch her breath.
“Hello, Rosie. It has been a long time, hasn’t it?” Her voice seemed to be the opposite of the guide. “You know my cousin, Honey Suckle. That over there is Starry Night. She’s the one we’re making this trip for.”
The guide pony walked up to Starry, before Starry could react, her hand was being shaken violently. “How’s it goin’? I’m Compass Rose, the greatest navigator in all of Equestria, here to deliver you safely to your destination.” This certainly was a humble pony. “I have to ask though; why exactly are you going all the way to Manechester? There isn’t really that much out there besides trees and rocks.”
Starry wasn’t sure exactly what to say. How would she react if she told her she was going over the mountains? “It’s just some personal buisness. I’d rather not say.”
“Okay then. Whatever you’re doing out there, you won’t be late to it. You can count on that.” It was a relief to know something in her world was sure. Rose threw on her rucksack, and pointed in the direction to go. “C’mon girls! Let’s hit the road!”
The start of this journey was much the same as the first one for Starry. She was still entranced by the wildlife, but couldn’t concentrate on it much, since Compass Rose was always starting a conversation. It wasn’t a bad thing. She had some exciting stories to tell, everything from riding out storms in a cave, to her encounter with an Ursa Minor. “You know, I’ve been talking a lot about myself. I’d like to hear some of your stories.”
Starry began to stutter. She couldn’t remember her life past a couple of days ago. What would Rose think if she found out she was escorting a mythical creature? Buttercup looked over with a concerned look. Before Rose could ask any more, Honey spoke up. “It’s gettin’ to be sundown, Rosie. How’s about we get some shut eye?”
Rose snapped her head to face the group. “Good idea. I’ll scout ahead and look for a good spot.” She dropped her rucksack, revealing the wings on her back, and took off straight up. Once she was out of earshot, Starry let out a sigh of relief.
“Why didn’t you tell her?” Buttercup asked.
“Tell her what?” Starry replied. “Honey spoke up before I could answer.”
“No. You were afraid to tell her the truth. You did the same thing before we set off.” Buttercup’s voice was still soft, but now quite stern.
“Well, what would have thought if I told I was some monster banished by her Princess to beyond the Hadrian Mountains? It can’t be good.” Starry was distressed. She began biting her lip in a futile bid to calm herself.
“Sugar cube, I’ve told you before that it’s you, not what you are that ponies look at. Compass Rose is no different. You’re gonna have to tell her the truth eventually.” Honey Suckle gave her familiar smile, but Starry didn’t buy it this time. Honey was keeping secrets, too. Why should she take advice from a hypocrite? Starry’s anxiety had passed. Now she fumed at her ‘friends’. Starry looked away from Honey, who was taken aback by her hostile reaction.
Before the conversation could go any further, Rose had come back down. “I think i’ve spotted a clearing just off the path. It’ll be perfect for tonight.” She had expect excitement at the news, but was upset by the oppressing atmosphere she had returned to. “Is everypony OK? You all seem a little sour.”
Starry walked by her, without sparing a glance at Rose. “Everything’s fine. Let’s just get over there.” The other two walked by, eyes staring at the ground out of despair.
That night, Starry didn’t sleep. She couldn’t believe that Honey, of all ponies, would tell her not to keep secrets! She won’t even explain a to picture her, and she’s supposed to tell a stranger her life’s story?! The nerve!
Over the woodland ambiance, Starry heard something that nopony can ever forget, the sound of crying. It was coming from outside their campsite. She poked her head into Honey’s tent, but it was empty. Was that her crying the woods?
She followed the sobbing, and eventually, she found Honey, sitting on a log spanning a creek. She was staring at the picture of her and the stallion. “Honey?” Honey wiped her eyes before turning to face her, but they were still tearing up. She did her best to fake a smile.
“Oh, hello dear. What are you doin’ up and about at this time of night?” Her voice was quivering. She had obviously been crying for sometime. Starry walked over and sat down on the log.
“That’s just one question I was going to ask you. Why are you crying? You’re usually the one telling me to cheer up.” Honey was no longer smiling, but Starry could tell she was glad to see her.
“Starry, when you showed up on my porch, I was concerned for your safety. Once I got you inside and in bed, I realized I finally had someone to talk to again. It was almost like he came back to me.” Starry was glad Honey was finally opening up.
“Who? Is it the guy in that picture?” Starry pointed to the picture in her hoof.
“Yes. This is my big brother, Trail Blazer. He and I were the best of friends. We moved out to the homestead together once we’d saved up the money.” Honey glanced back at the picture. “We lived there for a while, but one day, we were out in the woods collecting firewood to make supper, we came by a group of dragons who were stealing phoenix eggs. Blazer was always very protective. He tried to stop them and...” Before she could finish, she stared bawling again. Starry wrapped an embraced her, to keep her from falling off the log.
“I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me before?” Starry asked. Honey forced herself to stop sniffling long enough to answer.
“I stopped talking to anyone after that. except for an occasional trip to town, I stayed away from other ponies. My parents probably don’t even know, if they’re still around. I was afraid that something would come along that would remind me of him. I don’t want to remember that kind of pain.”
Starry felt sadness welling up inside her, now. Her eyes began to water now, too. “You know, I was mad at you when you said I should tell Compass Rose who I really was. I thought you were a hypocrite.” Now it was Starry’s turn to give a comforting smile. “But you feel better now that you’ve told me a secret, right?” Honey nodded, but remained in Starry’s embrace. Starry pushed her upright, holding her by the shoulders. “I know now I shouldn’t have assumed the worst of you, after all you’ve done to help me. I’m going to go tell Rose first thing in the morning.”
“Tell me what!?” Rose burst through the canopy, landing violently on the log. She almost sent the three of them into the creek. Rose stood hoofs apart, almost like she would charge. “You’re not the only one who can hear crying, you know! Now what aren’t you two telling me!?”
Starry knew there couldn’t be a right answer, so she would just use the truth. She placed herself between Honey and Rose on the log. Reaching around, she removed the bandage from her injured wing, revealing the skin, rather than feathers that composed them.
Roses aggression had subsided. She couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. She kept looking between Starry’s wings and her own, looking for an explanation, to say nothing of her horn. “You...I...wings...horn...What are you?!”
Starry remained stoic as Rose frantically looked for answers. “I don’t exactly know either, but that’s the point of our journey; to find out what I am.”
Rose had absorbed most of her new reality by this point, but still was not comfortable with it. “But, why are you looking in Manechester? There’s nothing there.”
“Manechester ain’t our destination.” Honey spoke up, apparently over her crying.
Rose was even more confused now. “But, Buttercup told me..”
“Buttercup told you the truth; that you were taking us to Manechester.” Starry explained. “The three of us are going over the Hadrian Mountains.”
Roses reaction was surprising. Compared to everything else, she seemed to take it in stride. “Despite being the most believable thing you’ve told me tonight, it’s still crazy. Even I know you can’t go over the mountains. Nopony even knows what’s over there. It’s just stories of...” Her eyes widened and her ears perked. She had finally put all the pieces together. She looked directly at Starry. “This is just...” another Pause. Then began to grin from ear to ear. “Awesome!”
Starry was now more surprised that Rose was. “Awesome?”
Rose was still grinning, fly around Starry, inspecting her from every angle. “Oh my gosh! This is so cool! I had no idea you guys existed. I thought thestrals were just an old foal’s tale! I can’t wait to tell everyone!”
Before she could dash off, Honey grabbed her by her tail. “Hold yourself, Rosie. That’s not a good idea.” Rose was disappointed more than confused.
“Why not! She’s from beyond the mountains. She could tell us all sort of stuff we’d never know before!”
Starry stepped forward. “That’s the problem, Rose. I can’t remember anything about who or what I am.”
“Huh?” Roses feeling were now reversed.
“You see, I woke up in a cave in the middle of the woods. I don’t know how I got there, but Honey said I’d come to her days before, and that I was probably running from somepony.” Starry’s explanation seemed logical, but no less crazy to Rose.
“Well, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ll take you over the mountains.” Now it was Honey and Starry’s turn to be shocked.
“Oh no dear, we can’t ask you to do that. Who knows what we’ll run into.” Honey wasn’t quite sure what the best response was, but she knew she didn’t want to risk anymore ponies on this trip.
“Are you kidding? It’s what I live for. My cutie mark tells me I live for trekking the wilderness,” She pointed to the map on her flank. “you can’t afford not to have me with you.”
Starry smiled. She was beginning to like this friendship thing. “If your sure it’s your destiny, I won’t stop you.”
Rose was overjoyed. “Yahoo! This is so exciting! I’ll go down in history; the first mare to cross the Hadrian Mountains!” She looked back to notice Honey and Starry looking disapproving. Rose chuckled. “All to help my friends of course.” This was going to be exciting indeed.
The hike to San Franciscolt was much more relaxing now that there were no secrets between to ponies. Compass Rose was flying around constantly. It seemed as though she never took a breath, she was so excited about going over the mountains. It actually helped Starry see her journey less as a grasp for memory, and more as an adventure.
“What do you guys think is over the mountains?” Rose inquired. “I can only imagine if the legends are true. I wonder what the thestrals did to deserve banishment.”
“I can’t imagine Princess Celestia getting angry enough to banish a whole race of ponies.” Buttercup gave a worried look to Starry. “Who knows what she would do if she found out one came back.”
As Buttercup was talking. Starry started to hear a high pitched whine. She didn’t remember much, but she knew this wasn’t normal.”Hey girls.” She cried out, but it felt meek. “Does anypony else hear that?” Her speech was becoming slurred.
“Hear what dear?” Honey’s question was the last thing she heard. After that, everything melted into a sea of white noise. She couldn’t even hear her own voice, anymore. She started to develop tunnel vision, but she just kept walking. Everything was out of her control.
In a snap, it all went away, but Starry was not where she was before. Honey Suckle, Buttercup, and Compass Rose were all gone. She was left alone, in nothing. She could plainly see that there was no ground, yet she could still stand. No light, yet she could still see. Strangely, she wasn’t frightened. More curious. “What is this place?” She said to nopony in particular.
“A safe place, if only for a while.” A voice came out of the void. Starry whipped her head around, to find, of all things, a pony just like her, sans wings. “It’s good to see you again. I was starting to think you were gone for good.”
“What do you mean again?” Starry retorted. “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember anything beyond a couple days ago.”
The thestral was taken aback by this. “Quit kidding around Starry. Don’t tell me you don’t remember me, Harvest Moon.”
Starry shook her head. “I’m sorry. As far as I know, this is the first time I’ve ever seen you.”
“Oh no. He used something different on you.” Cracks suddenly started to appear in the black void, allowing rays of light to slip through. “I can’t sustain this for long. You have to make it over the mountains. Do you understand?” Starry nodded as she looked at the crumbling space around her. The other pony gave her a smile. “It’s good to see you’re alright, Princess.”
“Starry! Starry wake up!” All was still black, but Starry could hear the voices of her friends. When she opened her eyes, she was on her back, they three had formed a circle over her. Rose was talking to her. “Starry, what happened? One minute you’re talking about a whining noise, the next you’re about to walk off a cliff!”
Honey helped her back on her hooves. “You don’t seem to have good luck with gorges. Do you think you can walk?” Starry gave her a nod, and began taking steps forward. “What happened to you?”
“A thestral spoke with me.” She spoke in a very monotonic voice. “Another thestral. A unicorn. She told me I had to get over the mountains as quickly as possible.”
“Did she say why?” Butter cup asked.
Starry shook her head. “She told me her name was Harvest Moon, and that we had met before.”
Honey was actually happy at the news. “Well that’s just dandy! Somepony cares enough about you to come find you, even if it is just in a trance.” Honey still saw the silver lining.
Compass Rose strapped her rucksack back on. “That’s great and all, but we lost a lot of Starry’s supplies when she tumbled of the cliff. We’re gonna have to move quickly to resupply in San Franciscolt.”
The other ponies agreed and they resumed their hike towards the city. Starry was still distracted by the things Harvest Moon had said. “Princess?”
As they approached the city limits, Starry was looking forward to a well needed rest. Rose though, stopped her just before she could get onto the ring-road around the city. Starry was a little concerned. “What is it?”
Rose’s eyes were shifting from left to right. She quickly backed up, and pulled the rest of the group behind a shrub with her. Starry couldn’t understand for the life of her what Rose was doing. “Rose, what’s the matter?”
“Didn’t you all notice that?” She surveyed the other three, but they all shrugged their shoulders.
Starry peeked out again to double check. “Theres nothing out there.”
“Exactly.” Rose pointed out. “San Franciscolt is a big city. I could see the west gate from where we were. Don’t you think it’s strange that nopony is going in or our out, or even using the ring-road?”
She did have a point. It ought to have been packed with carts. “Buttercup, you’ve lived in the city most your life.” Rose looked over to the nervous pony. “Why would nopony be out here on the roads?”
Buttercup stuck her head out, and began pondering. “Well, it could be a number of things, but none of the seem very likely right now.”
“Well which one is the least unlikely?” Starry could tell from her tone that Rose was starting to get anxious, but she managed to keep her bearing in spite of it.
“Ruling out natural disasters, it’s probably a military emergency.” Even Rose was visibly unsettled by this news.
“What’s the military doing here?” She asked. “It’s only been 2 days since we left Maresailles. What could have happened in that time?”
“I think we just got an answer” Buttercup pointed across the road. There were soldiers putting up posters along. Once they were gone. They rushed over to inspect the poster. What the three saw made their hearts sink. Starry was especially devastated. “Who, where, when? How did this happen.” It was a wanted poster; with Starry’s face on it.
The four ponies stared in utter disbelief at the poster. None of them could understand how Starry could have been spotted, or by whom she was seen. Rose was the first to realize that standing in the road wasn’t a good idea. “C’mon, we need to rethink our plan.” She beckoned the rest to follow her back into the woods. “We need to find somewhere else to camp tonight.”
Starry just kept staring. Buttercup had to shake her to get her to follow. “I don’t understand. The only time other ponies saw me was in Maresailles, and I covered my wings the entire time.”
“It was probably your eyes. I know you’re the only pony I’ve ever seen with eyes like that.” Buttercup reminded her of the thin slits for pupils she had noticed in the cave. “Somepony probably noticed it at the library. I’m sorry, I should have thought about that.” She lowered her ears and hung her head low. She obviously felt Starry being seen was her fault.
“It’s not your fault. I should have remembered at least that about myself.” Starry attempted to make Buttercup less anxious, but she maintained her feeble posture.
Honey was still fretting, though. “What are we going to do about food? I only made enough so we could resupply at San Franciscolt.”
None of the other ponies seemed to be able to come up with a plan. Honey couldn’t make any food from the wilderness, and Rose didn’t know of anywhere they could go that wouldn’t be searched by soldiers. Buttercup was hardly able to form a sentence. By now, she was on the verge of tears.
Starry thought about their situation. She was the reason they were there together. Now she had to come up with a solution. “Girls,” She spoke up to get their attention, but they each stayed in their own worlds. She wasn’t angry, but she knew she needed to assert herself now. She spread her wings, and dashed to face the group from the front. They were all surprised at Starry’s actions. “Girls! Worrying isn’t going to get us anywhere. We need supplies and a place to sleep. Right now, it seems the only place to get either of those things is inside the city.”
The other ponies instantly snapped to attention. At this point, nothing could really surprise them. Still, it sounded insane. Rose was the first to point it out to Starry. “Are you insane?! You’re wanted by the military, and you want to go into the place where they are actively searching for you?”
“I don’t want to, but right now, our best bet is to try and sneak into the city. If we stay out here, we’ll either run out of food or get found out. At least in the city, only one of those things can happen.” The rest of the ponies exchanged looks, and eventually, they came to the same conclusion Starry had. “Now the only problem is how to get in.”
The ponies pondered different ideas for getting into the city. Rose spoke up first. “I got it! We all have wings, right? We’ll just fly over the wall!”
“Not everyone, Rosie.” Honey reminded her.
“That doesn’t mean we cant fly over. The three of us can easily carry you over.” Rose turned to Starry. “You think your good to fly, Starry?”
“I can only ever remember flying for a couple of seconds before,” she explained, “I can try again.” Starry flexed her wings, and did a couple of circles around the group as a test. Her landing was tentative, but successful.
Honey again reminded them of reality. “I hate to be the downer, but y’all still have to carry your saddle bags. I know even you can’t do that, Rosie.” The optimism that had been in the atmosphere evaporated.
Buttercup stepped up. “ I might have an idea. But, I’m not really sure about it.” The other ponies instantly turned their heads to her.
“Well, spit it out!’ Rosie demanded. “What are going to do.
“OK,” Buttercup nervously answered. “Here’s the plan...”
The more Starry thought about Buttercup’s plan, the less confident she was in it’s success. Still, nopony else could come up with anything better. “You’re sure this is going to work, Buttercup?”
Buttercup was tying the last of the vines. “I sure hope it will. I really don’t want to let you down again.” That wasn’t very inspiring. “That should do it. Is everything ship shape, Honey?”
Honey was checking the boards. “Fit as a fiddle. We should be good to go. Ready, Rosie?”
Rose was positioned in front of the wooden cart. “Ready to rock!”
Buttercup, Honey, and Starry hopped into their makeshift cart, while Rose began push the cart against the vines. The vines began to pull taught, and the sound of creaking boards increased the already high anxiety of the group. Rose began to strain the farther back she pushed. “I think that’s as far as it’ll go. Hold on, everypony!”
She threw herself into the cart, and as she did so, the taught vines slung the cart forward, faster than any of them had gone before. Starry stuck her head out just long enough to see two startled guards at the gate. “Get out of the way!” The two dove away from the gate, moments before the cart smashed into the gate.
The cart itself held up remarkably well to the impact. It kept rolling down the street, forcing ponies to duck every which way. Buttercup suddenly noticed the cart was headed for an apple stand. “Look out!”
It was too late for them to avoid it. The four ducked down into the cart, and braced for the impact. When the cart hit, it’s already weak form was shattered by the impact, throwing the ponies down an alley. Starry was separated from the rest of the group, and kept tumbling further, until she struck the fence at the far end.
The darkness crept in and out of her vision, but she could still hear Honey calling out to her. “Starry! Hold on girl!” She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn’t support her. She reached one hoof out to them, but suddenly felt herself being dragged away. She tried to kick, but again, her body was non-responsive. She could only see long enough to see the others charging down towards her, then everything faded to black.
“Don’t worry, Princess. You’ll be safe.”
A princess is supposed to be a rally point for her subjects. The role model which all other ponies should look up to. Despite the title, Starry was still new to her duties, and she was finding it difficult to maintain her bearing.
Her throne room, once a place of constructive discussion and festivities, now contained an atmosphere of dread. The Nighthawks weren’t present, but the nobles were still divided over their course of action. Some called for them to reconcile with the Nighthawks, since if they did not, they would be banished beyond the mountains. Others called for them to stand their ground, and not cede their principles to a tyrant like Captain Crow.
Starry was at a loss. She wanted to avoid harm to her people, but she simply had no way to make any demands. Her wisest advisor and dearest friend, Harvest moon, had already been captured by Crow’s guards, and banished over the mountains. Since then, no one had dared oppose his quest for the throne.
Now, all of Starry’s actions merely delayed the inevitable. Still, she had to try to escape. As the nobles bickered over their plans, she quietly slipped away, but as she did so, Crow’s guards kicked in the door, and began to arrest everypony in sight. Once they saw her, there was nothing more she could do.
Starry jerked her head up, and began looking around to get some idea of where she was. Her friends heard her, and came into the room where she lay in bed. “Starry! Oh my goodness, are you okay? We didn’t know if you would ever wake up.” Buttercup was frantic, putting ice packs on her head while handing her fresh brewed tea.
Starry had so many questions buzzing around in her head, she simply didn’t know what to ask first. Eventually, she got her thoughts in order. “What happened? I thought somepony else was dragging me away.”
“They were sugar. But Rosie here went berserk and scared them off. It was actually quite terrifying.” Honey glanced over to a blushing Rose.
“I would have done it for anyone of you. It was nothing.”
“I had another memory. It seemed like it took place over the mountains, though I’m not exactly sure what it means.” Starry glanced at the other ponies to see if they had any thoughts, but they were just as stumped as she was. She decided it was finally time to taste the tea Buttercup had given her. To her surprise, it was really good, she had to remind herself it was hot before she could try and gulp it down.
“Slow down on the tea. It’s better if you take little sips.” Starry headed her advice. “Try not to think about your memories too hard now. You need to regain your strength for the climb.”
This confusion made her finish the tea, without even realizing it. The heat of the liquid going down her throat made her cough, like her throat was on fire. “What climb?” Starry asked. “We haven’t even left San Franciscolt yet.” She looked around for a reaction, but was puzzled when there was none. “Haven’t we?”
Honey took away the tea cup. “Actually, dear, your were unconscious for quite a while. Once we snuck you out of the city in a luggage carriage, it was a days trip to get here, to Manechester.”
Starry was even more curious now. She wanted to get up, but her whole body was stiff. Buttercup helped her onto her feet, and the two made their way to the door. Starry was intrigued by what she saw outside.
“Welcome to Manechester.” Honey said, like it was an attraction of some sort.
Starry immediately ducked back inside. The speed with which she moved showed no sign that she had eve been injured. “Are you crazy!? I can’t go out there! It’s broad daylight. They’ll be able to tell what I am!”
Honey pulled the blanket off from her head. The light didn’t hurt anymore, but it was still unpleasant for Starry. Honey offered a hoof to help her back up. “Relax, dear. Even news like that doesn’t travel out here.” She mustered Starry back over to the door. “These ponies are as plain as they come. Mighty Hospitable, too. We’re lucky Miss Triage was here to help.”
The name was not familiar to Starry. “Is she the one who owns this house?”
“Oh it is much more than just a house. It’s my Palace of Healing.” Starry turned around to see a teal blue unicorn standing behind her. Her snow white mane didn’t hang far below her shoulder, and would’ve blended perfectly with her nurse’s cap were it not for the red cross. “It’s good to see you’re awake darling. To be honest, I was beginning to fear for the worst. You have some of the worst night terrors I’ve ever seen.”
Starry was slightly overwhelmed by her new friend. “Are you Miss Triage?”
“Oh you don’t need to bother with the ‘miss’. Triage is just fine.” Starry suddenly realized that Triage could see her wings. She looked around for anything to cover them with, but Triage but a hoof on her shoulder to calm her down. “Deep breaths, Starry. You don’t want to make yourself unconscious again. Come back inside. I understand Honey Suckle here has made you a nice hot meal.”
Starry hadn’t gotten this from anypony so far. “Most ponies ask me about my wings or my eyes before they befriend me.”
Triage let out a dismissive breath. “Oh hush. It’s not like I haven’t seen a thestral before.”
Starry brushed off Triage’s hoof, and whipped around to face her. “What!? You’ve seen somepony else like me!?”
“Why of course. I thought you would have known her. She described you down to the horn on your head. She was actually off to San Franciscolt where you four were coming from.” Triage spoke as if she ought to know this information.
Starry was genuinely speechless. It was as if her mouth had forgotten everything. as well. “Why don’t we get you some food? You can fill me in on everything over dinner.”
The meal Honey and Triage had prepared was remarkable. It didn’t seem to be a lot, but the two mares knew how to fill a pony’s belly. There was apple cobbler, daffodils, and even clover cocktails. Once the five had all finished Triage began to converse with Starry. “It seemed like you had something to tell me back outside. What was it.”
Starry looked at the other ponies across the table, then back to Triage, who stared patiently, waiting for a response. “Have the others not told you anything?”
Now Triage looked at the other three. “Well, no. We’ve simply been so busy tending to you, we never really had time to make much small talk. Why? Is there something I should know?”
Starry took a deep breath, as if she was going to give a speech. “I can only remember anything back about a week ago, when I woke up in a cave. For a short while, I couldn’t even remember my name.”
Triage kept looking intently at Starry, and was obviously intrigued. “Continue.”
“Once I got out of the cave, I ran into Honey, and she said that I had I had collapsed on her doorstep just few nights before. She took me to Maresailles to see if there was any information there about me.” She took a break to see that Triage was still looking intently at her. “We found out that thestrals might come from over the Hadrian Mountains. That’s where we’re headed right now.”
Triage nodded. “I see. The amnesia you described is identical to the affliction of the bat pony that came to me. She had no idea who she was or how she had gotten to my clinic. She stayed with me for a couple days, then I woke up and found a note saying that she remembered again and was headed to San Franciscolt to find...” Triage’s perked up, then started to grin from ear to ear. “...Starry Night! She was looking for you!”
Now it was Starry’s ears that perked up. How could this pony know her name, unless, “Did she ever give you her name?”
“Yes. Her name was Harvest Moon.”
It was no coincidence. It couldn’t have been. “Harvest Moon!?” Starry exclaimed. “That’s the pony who came into one of my dreams. We have to find her!” She dashed off from the dinner table, not even thinking about anything but this other thestral.
Rose dashed in front of her, before she could get back to her bed room. “Hold it! Think about what you’re doing. You don’t even know where she is right now. This Harvest Moon could be anywhere in Equestria.”
“I know exactly where she is! She’s back in San Franciscolt! She was the pony that you three chased off!” The room fell dead quiet. Everypony stared wide eyed at Starry, who was now in no mood to be questioned. “She was trying to help me, and now she’s the only pony who can get me any answers! If none of you will come with me, I don’t even care!”
Honey now came over and placed a hoof on her shoulder like she had always done when Starry was distressed. “Sugar, the last thing any of us want is to keep you from your memories.” Starry was beginning to calm down, and started feeling guilty about getting angry at her friends. “But we believe that you’ll find more answers if you go back to your homeland over the mountains.”
Any semblance of calm now left Starry. Her heart rate picked up again, this time trying to run outside. Compass Rose tackled to the ground before she reached the door. “No! No, I can’t go back there! It’s not safe!” She struggled with all her might to break free from Rose, but the pegasus had her pinned.
Triage trotted over to her side, first aid in hand, incase anypony got hurt. “Darling, what are you talking about? Don’t you want to remember your home?”
Starry was now furious. She could feel rage boiling inside her, filling her up from horn to hoof. “If I go back, who knows what Crow will do to me! Now get off!”
Her eyes glowed white hot, and an intense light emanated from her horn. In a split second, everypony but Starry was thrown against the walls, and lay motionless.
Starry came back to her senses. She saw what she had done to her friends, and her feelings now turned to dread. She didn’t know if her friends were hurt, or worse. Her eyes teared up uncontrollably, and felt like waterfalls down her cheeks. She dashed outside, and saw that numerous lights were turning on in the buildings. As ponies began to file out into the street, she darted behind the house, which stood in front of the woods.
She ran and ran and ran, until her hooves didn’t want to carry her any farther, and she ran past that. The entire time, she never stopped crying. Overwhelmed with guilt, she wondered what kind of monster would hurt their friends like that?
She kept running, until suddenly she tripped over a log, and summersaulted further, finally coming to a halt by the edge of a creek. “Running through the woods in fear.” she said to herself. She stared at her reflection in the water, now ashamed of what she was. “Why is this happening to me again?”
Starry now shambled through the woods. She had hurt her front right leg when she fell, but she didn’t care. She actually felt as if she deserved it. No amount of punishment could atone for what she’d done to the ponies that had been nothing but kind to her since she met them. Despite all of their good deeds, she lost her temper, and did the unthinkable.
She realized she wasn’t walking anywhere in particular, and realized she needed a place to stay, far away from any other pony, lest she hurt them as well. Eventually, she stumble on a small shack in the woods. Now this really was deja vu.
Upon closer inspection, the structure looked like it hadn’t been lived in in ages. There were no obvious roads or paths that led to it, and it was covered from above by the forrest canopy. Perfect for a pony looking to avoid all contact with civilization.
She pushed the door open, and the smell of old wood and natured filled her nostrils. There were still bits of furniture left there, even a stove. The only peculiar thing was the copious amount of tools hanging from the walls, but she figured these could be useful. She figured this would be a good place to hide, forever.
Before she could get to comfortable, she heard the door close behind her, and then she heard her stomach turn in knots. She whipped around to see a silver, red maned mare turning to face her at the same time.
“Hi there! What can I help you with?” Starry couldn’t say a word. She didn’t know how to introduce herself in her current state. This new pony raised an eyebrow, and walked closer to Starry. “You don’t look like anypony I’ve every seen. Where are you from?”
Starry finally mustered words to her lips. “I’m not really sure.” she said, in an unusually meek voice.
The pony immediately rushed over and embraced Starry, harder than any force she had experienced before. “Oh you poor thing. I know exactly how feel. My parents left me to fend for myself, too. But I made this place, and now, I’m completely self sufficient.” Her tone shift sharply from feeling sorry for Starry, to being proud of herself. She abruptly let out a loud gasp. “I almost forgot. My name is May Day. What’s yours?”
Starry was still intimidated by this pony’s personality. “Starry. Starry Night.”
“Well, Starry Starry Night, what can I do ya for? Have anything that needs fixing?” Starry wasn’t really sure what May Day was talking about, until she noticed her cutie mark was a crossed wrench and hammer.
“Actually, I just need a place to stay for now.”
May Day’s eye’s lit up, and she smiled from ear to ear. “That’s great! I’ve always wanted some company out here. It gets really lonely, you know. People only come to see me when they have bad news. This is such a nice change. C’mon, I’ll show you where you can stay!”
Even Honey was never this happy. She was a little bit uncomfortable, where ever May Day was taking her. At the same time, she was glad that a pony could bring her in after what she had done. “But, this is just a one room shack. How do you have guest space?”
“Oh, there’s way more than just one room.” May Day placed a hoof on one of the wall planks, and leaned in on it. She kept pushing on it, straining as if she was trying to move the whole wall, but it didn’t budge. Starry was beginning to question her sanity. “Oops, hee hee. I always get these mixed up.” She shifted down the wall to another planked, and this time, the board sank into the wall a couple of inches.
Sounds began to come out of the walls, and the floor opened up in the center, to reveal a stairwell leading underground. May Day hopped over to the entrance, and beckoned Starry to follow her. “Follow me! I’ll show you my subterranean sanctuary.”
Starry followed her down the stares. When she reached the bottom of the stares she was astonished that May had built it all beneath such a shanty shack. The stares led into an enormous, two-story living room, with several doors leading into different rooms. May Day was hopping between doors, and eventually stopped at one just a few steps away from the entrance.
“This is the guest room. I don’t normally have visitors, so it ought to still be spick and span!” Starry went over to the room, and it was quite well decorated for an underground abode. “Make yourself at home. I’ve got some some job requests to file through.” Starry ran a hoof along the top of the dresser, and couldn’t help but notice the copious amount of dust it collected. May Day really didn’t get much company.
She decided now she could finally rest. She threw herself face down on the bed. She didn’t care that she wasn’t properly under the covers, she was just glad to be in a safe place, not caring about her future, or her past.
Through all of the open doors, she was able to hear May Day answer the door. When she did, it was like a hard punch the gut.
“Hello May. Are you busy? Something happened at the clinic, and I could really use your help to get it looking spiffy again.”
“Okey Dokey, Triage. I can get there in a jiff!”
“What happened anyway? It seems like I was there just yesterday.” Starry’s stomach was in knots. What if Triage found her here, or brought guards here to get back at her? She had to try to escape before she was found.
She dashed out of the guest room and into the living room. She didn’t have time now to marvel at the size, she needed a hiding spot. The closest door to her meant she had to cross in front of the stair well, which was a risk she couldn’t take.
Looking the other way, she saw a room with its door already cracked open. It was perfect for her to slip into and wait for Triage to leave. She darted into the room, and even though the light wasn’t out, she was able to feel around for a closet, and wasted no time in making room for herself.
May and Triage’s voices drew closer. She was able to hear their voices again. “I simply don’t understand why she would run away like that. She probably hurt herself casting that spell, as well.” Triage didn’t sound angry at all. Starry kept wondering if she really needed to be afraid.
“She didn’t say anything about that when she got here. She did seem a little down in the dumps, though. I put her up in my guest room.” Starry could hear May gasp as she opened the adjacent door. “Starry? Where are you. Triage says she needs to talk to you.” Starry stayed put. She was still too afraid to face her. She knew Triage would never forgive her for what she’d done.
All of a sudden, the door to her closet were thrown open, and Triage was staring right into her eyes. Starry was sure whatever she planned on doing, it wouldn’t be good, but she did deserve it.
Triage leapt forward, and embraced Starry, for once, it wasn’t a death grip. “Starry, Darling! Oh, we thought we’d lost you forever! How on earth did you find May Day?”
Starry couldn’t understand why Triage would’ve been happy to see her. “Triage? But...I...why are you happy to see me, after what I did to you and the others?”
The expression on Triage’s face didn’t change for an instant. She maintain her overjoyed smile and tears of joy. “Sweetie, you were just upset. It happens to everypony. Your way of expressing it was just more... kinetic.”
Despite that reassurance, Starry could not stop fretting. “What about the others? Are they OK?”
“They’re fine. They’re actually waiting out in my carriage right now.”
Starry wasn’t just happy, she was overjoyed. She couldn’t help but bend over and cry, but Triage caught her and helped her back to her feet. “Take a minute to collect yourself. There’s no need to rush.”
Starry sniffled, but was otherwise able to pull herself together. Triage escorted her out of the room, where May Day was waiting for her. “Starry! There you are! Are OK?”
Starry gave her a nod, and wiped away the last of her tears. She was genuinely beginning to feel better. “Yes. Thank You May Day.”
Outside, Starry had never known the relief of seeing her friends smiling to see her. She was still nervous about how they would react, but that melted away the instant she saw their smiles.
Butter cup was the first to reach her. “Starry! Oh my goodness! Are you alright? We were all so worried about you. We had no idea where you’d run away to.”
Honey rushed up to her soon afterwards, followed by Compass Rose. All of them expressed nothing but joy at seeing her again. Starry had to ask them. “Why were you all worried about me? I could’ve really hurt you. I thought I had.”
“Sugar, you were just scared. That spell you cast was just an accident. We all know you would never hurt us on purpose.” Honey to give Starry a hug, but winced from a pain in her leg. “Though, it did hurt just a tad.” It had been a while since Starry had heard a joke, and it it wouldn’t have been better coming from anypony else.
“How did you find me?” Starry asked. “I just ran into the woods. I didn’t know where I was.”
Triage and May Day stepped forward from behind her. “We actually had no idea where you ran off. We turned the whole town upside down looking for you. You did do a bit of damage to my clinic, so I came out to visit May. She is the Fix-it Filly, after all.” her ears perked after she finished her sentence. “Oh my. I almost forgot why we came here. Do you think you’d be able to start now, May?”
May Day dashed inside, and in what seemed like only a few seconds, returned with a cart filled with tools and 2x4’s. “Absotivly Posibalootly. It’ll be like it never happened at all.”
When the ponies returned to town, Starry was surprised that nopony gave her curious look. Aside from the occasional greeting from passersby, the six didn’t receive any special attention. It was almost like they were used to seeing a bat pony just walk down the street.
“They don’t seem too concerned that a freak is walking around in broad daylight.” Starry observed.
Triage was slightly taken aback back Starry’s statement. “Freak is an awful strong word. Sure, your eyes are strange and your wings aren’t feathery, but you’re still a pony, just like them. To treat you any differently would just be indecent.”
Triage’s explanation of the town’s hospitality made her feel better, but she still needed time to adjust to not being an outsider. As she walked along with the group, back toward Triage’s Clinic, Starry got a closer look at what one of her fits could do.
There wouldn’t have been any need to open the door for May Day; there simply wasn’t one. Not that they could have used that entrance, anyway. There was a substantial crater directly across from where the threshold used to be. Starry tucked her ears back in shame, but May seemed more impressed than anything.
“Wow, Triage. You were kidding when you said it was blown away.”
“I mean what I said. Do you think you can make it presentable.” Triage was visually worried at the damage, which only made Starry feel more ashamed.
“No problemo. I’ll fix’er up lickity split!.” Again, May Day seemed to move faster than lightning. In no time at all, she had already laid temporary planks across the crater, so the ponies could walk into the building, and the door frame was completely replaced. Starry had never seen such intense focus before. It was inpony the amount of work she could do in such little time.
When May had finished, the only thing more astonishing that the speed with which she did the job, was the quality of the work itself. There wasn’t a nail nor a splinter out of place. She hadn’t just repaired the damage; she had renovated the doorway. “The floor panels are temporary until I can get some new bedrock. But for now, you can consider it good as new!” May Day hopped inside to demonstrate the safety of the new floor.
The other ponies were astonished. Triage seemed as giddy as could be. “Oh, this is simply marvelous, May! How can I repay you?” Triage began reaching for her bit-purse, but May Day intercepted her hoof.
“No need. This one is on me.” She began to gather up her tools but noticed that Starry was still in awe of her craftsmanship. As she ran a hoof along the silky smooth woodwork, she almost jumped out of her skin when May came up from behind. “Pretty cool, huh? It’s actually a good thing you demolished this when you did. I was here last week, and the place seemed like it was about to fall down.”
Starry gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Thank you, May. Even if I had my memories, I don’t think I’ve met anypony as uplifting as you. I’m really grateful.”
“You’re going the mountains, aren’t you?” May suddenly blurted. Starry was aghast.
“Wait, how did you know that? I never even mentioned traveling anywhere.”
“It’s obvious, silly. You said you were grateful, like you about to leave for a really, really long time. You’re also a bat pony, so I know you’re nor from around here, so you had to just be making a pit stop. You already came from the city heading west, and the only thing west of here is the Hadrian Mountains, which is where bat ponies come from anyway, so that has to be where you’re going.” May finally took a breath, and then grinned from ear to ear.
Starry’s jaw hit the new floor. She could not fathom how a regular earth pony could be that insightful. “That’s remarkable.”
“I guess. Alright girls, throw your bags in the wagon! We’re off to adventure!” May day exclaimed to the rest of the group.
Rose stepped up, obviously puzzled by May’s enthusiasm. “Uhh, May, do you even know what we’re going to need for this trip.”
“Du’uh. Of course I do. I’ve got it all in the cart; 4 days worth of food and water, fresh bandages, a fire starter, 6 tents, and a paddle ball.” The other ponies were impressed but Rose was still confused.
“A paddle ball?” she asked.
“Well we don’t to get bored to death. C’mon, Let’s get crackin’!”
Starry watched as the others packed they’re things. If she had been exiled from her homeland, it wasn’t out to be such a bad punishment.
Starry was used to long journeys, now. Ever since she met Honey she’d been traveling non-stop from town to town, looking for any clues as to who she was. Even now, over a week after first waking up, she was still on the move. She didn’t mind at all. She counted herself blessed that 5 ponies, whom she had not know for more than a few days at most, would stick by her side all these many miles. It made her feel less anxious about being a stranger to herself.
May Day and Compass Rose were hard at work pulling the supply cart. As the day dragged on, their sweat seemed to come down in streams. “Don’t push yourselves too hard girls.” Triage was standing by with her aid kit, ready at a moment’s notice if anything happened. “Heat exhaustion is not fun business. I can remember the time when I was getting new flowers for my sick beds, when all of a sudden, a young foal came swaggering in, fell flat on his face, asked for water, and then just passed out. And yes, he did do it in that order.”
Rose face was in a grimace, as sweat continued to pour down her face. “He was probably out of shape. I’d never let my self pass out from a little he...” The last words were slurred, and Rose’s knees looked like they were about to buckle. Triage rushed over, propping rose up against her shoulder. “Oh no! Rosie! Don’t give up! Get me some water and chocolate! She needs to raise her blood sugar, now!”
Before her orders could be executed, Rose bucked herself back up, and started guffawing at Triage. “Ha ha! That was great! You all totally fell for it!” She continued laughing, but Triage’s concern had now turned to rage.
“Funny!? You think that was funny!? You had us all worried sick! What if you had actually succumbed? Think about your friends!” Triage would have ground her teeth to dust if Honey hadn’t interrupted her.
“Oh lighten up, sweetie. It was kind of funny.” triage wasn’t angry anymore, but she was still fuming about Rose’s little prank. Starry couldn’t help but chuckle at their antics. She may have traveled far, but she’d never before had fun while doing it.
Buttercup pulled up along side Starry, who had been staring at the looming mountains, and apparently nothing else. “What do you think we’ll find over there.” Butter cup inquired.
Starry shook her head. “Well, I had another flashback not too long ago, and I think theres a thestra; kingdom on the other side. Although, I’m not sure it’ll be very welcoming to us, especially me.”
Buttercup could understand the 5 ponies not being welcomed, but one of their own? “But your the only one who would actually fit in. Wouldn’t they accept you as their own?”
“Actually, I think I was banished by someone who took over. He must’ve been the one who wiped my memory.” The description of her punishment, for whatever she did, had Buttercup shaking.
“You mean, there’s a powerful thestral over those mountains, who can erase my memories, and throw me into the middle of bat pony wilderness?” Her tone had shifted from inquisitive, to extremely anxious. Starry gave a gentle nod, after which, Buttercup dove into the cart, causing May and Rose to lose momentum, and shift backwards.
The group came to a halt, as they all tried to pry Buttercup out of the cart. Eventually, they loosened her grip on the floorboards enough to get her out, and Starry bent down to face her. “Buttercup, whatever happens over those mountains, we’re all going to be there for each other, no matter what.”
Buttercup was still shaking. “But what if they wipe my memory, too. I like knowing who I am.”
“I’d have my mind erased a thousand times before I would let that happen to you. None of you deserve to lose your identity.” Starry’s words obviously had an effect on the nervous pegasus, as she rose to her feet without so much as a quiver.
Starry looked around, and noticed they had stopped near an inconspicuous clearing, perfect for a campsite. “This seems like a good place to rest for tonight. Let’s get set up.”
May and Rose both fell flat on the ground, panting hard as the harnesses fell from their backs. Rose was on her back, looking straight up at the sky. She could see Triage walking by, simply stepping around Rose. “What’s wrong Rosie, tired?” Now it was Rose who ground her teeth.
The group was very fortunate to have found the clearing they did. For such a large clearing, it had enough flat ground for all 6 tents, as well as being adjacent to a clean stream. May already had enough scrap wood that they didn’t even need to gather firewood. As soon as the tents were pitched, all of the ponies were in the cots asleep; all of them except for Starry.
She simply didn’t feel like sleeping. She couldn’t even justify it to herself, but she felt no fatigue whatsoever. It was strange, but she wasn’t about to complain about it. It was a cloudless night, so Starry felt like looking up and admiring her namesake.
During the trip, Buttercup had taught her that before Equestria was fully explored, ponies used the stars to find their way around. The glowing dots were fixed in place, the only thing they could ever be sure of in a strange land.
In a way, Starry felt like one of those explorers. She had come back into the world knowing absolutely nothing about it, but after all these miles, and all of the obstacles she’d overcome, her guiding stars were her new pony friends. She knew that she could trust them to have her best interests at heart, and that they would guide her out of whatever trouble befell her. She was fortunate indeed.
A rustle from the bush brought her attention down from the heavens. She stared out to the tree line, trying to find where ever the noise may have come from. “Hello?” She called out. “Who’s out there?”
As if responding to her question a familiar face jumped out from the trees, with what seemed to be a contradictory expression of big smile and watery eyes. Starry knew she recognized the face from somewhere, but it took a second for her to know exactly where. “Harvest Moon?”
The new pony let out an enormous gasp, before dashing over and embracing Starry. “Oh, Starry! You have no idea how relieved I am to see you’re alright! I tried to rescue you in San Franciscolt, but I got chased off.” Starry wanted to be welcoming, but this pony was still a total stranger to her. “Come with me. We need to get you back to Nocturna.”
Harvest tried to pull her by the hoof, but Starry pulled back, much to Harvest’s astonishment. “Look, I’ve only ever seen you once before, and I wasn’t even conscious. I’d like to be more open with you, but I just have no idea who you are.”
To Starry’s surprise, Harvest didn’t seem surprised. She was, however, saddened by the revelation. “You don’t remember me at all?” Starry shook her head, and Harvest let out a disparaging sign. “I see. You haven’t been able to break the spell yet.”
“Spell?” The word had caught Starry’s attention. “What spell?”
“It’s the reason you can’t remember anything. Crow cast an Amnesia spell on you when he banished you from the kingdom.” Harvest moon spoke as if Starry knew the slightest thing of what she was talking about. “I’m actually surprised. An alacorn like you ought to have found a way to break it easily.”
Starry had to introduce her to the reality of the situation. “I can only remember doing magic twice, and one of those times it was an accident.” Harvest was intrigued by this news.
“So you can do magic, but you’ve forgotten how to control it. We need to reteach you before going back for the throne.”
Starry was having trouble processing Harvest’s words. “What throne? Who’s Crow? I still have no idea what’s going on with me.”
Harvest caught herself. “Sorry. I’d love to simply explain everything to you, but your spell is more powerful than the one he put on me. While mine was simply on a countdown, your’s appears to be under a kind of lock. We just need to find the key.”
“How do we do that?”
Harvest’s horn began to glow, and a bright light enveloped the two thestrals, and in an instant, both Starry and Harvest were on a mountain top, overlooking a city below. “By reminding you who you are.”
Starry’s mind was about to burn out. She had just been teleported to the top of a mountain, stolen away from her friends, and now she was in a strange land she was only supposed to know. Before she could even think about what questions to ask, Harvest moon collapsed to the ground next to her. She’d only met the pony moments before, but she still wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt.
“Are you alright?”
Harvest struggled to stand up. Eventually, one leg at a time and with Starry’s help, she was able to stand again. “I’ll be fine. That was the first time I’d ever tried to teleport that kind of distance.” Her legs were still shaky, but she seemed able to walk, albeit at a considerably slower pace than Starry.
Starry gazed around, and couldn’t help but notice the change in atmosphere. Everything about the world around her seemed to fill her with a sense of foreboding. The sky was a uniform shade of purple, clear except for a single star and the moon. Even the earth on which she walked seemed to be hostile to plant life. What little there was was any shade but green. “Where are we? This seems a lot different from Equestria.”
“This land hasn’t known of Equestria for generations. When the Princess of the Sun banished us here, all of the bat ponies seemed to think it was better to forget and try to survive out here.” As the two slowly descended the mountain, a chariot soared over their heads, whipped up a cloud of dust around the two mares. It appeared to be towing a large crate, but the two could only guess as to what was inside.
Starry was glad it didn’t seem to notice them, but Harvest seemed disturbed by it. “Crow’s guards don’t usually go over the mountains. What could they be doing?”
“I remember that name. Who is he exactly?” Starry’s question obviously struck a personal chord with Harvest.
“Captain Crow is the one behind what happened to us. He took over Nocturna’s military, and forced you off the throne. I don’t know what his endgame is, but it can’t be good for anypony.” Starry remember the being dethroned, but only that fact. She was still unsure of how or why, and since Harvest didn’t know, she’d have to discover it on her own.
The two kept trekking down the mountain, but it appeared to Starry that they weren’t headed for the city at the base. “I understand why we aren’t going to the city,” she stated, “so where are we going, exactly?”
“Most ponies accept Crow’s takeover as inevitable, but there a handful of nobles who remained loyal to you.” They came upon a boulder field, and Harvest began tapping a hoof on the rocks. “Most of them have been arrested, but there may be somepony left in one of these safe houses.”
As she tapped one of the rocks, it sounded at if it was hollow, and Harvest’s face lit up. She lifted it up from the bottom, effortlessly, which was no surprise given the fact that it was hollow. “Follow me. we’ll need a plan to sneak you back into the city.”
Starry followed her down the spiral staircase, which wasn’t lit save for the light from Harvest’s horn. Eventually, they made it to the bottom, and there stood a single wooden door. It looked as if it had been made generations before. Harvest gave it seven knocks, with a pause separating the last one.
The door creaked open, but was held just ajar by several chains. Starry could only make out the eye of the pony who answered the door.
“Harvest? You’re back! How did you make it out of the badlands?”
The stallion wasn’t as excited as Harvest was. “Her? Who are you talking abou...” as he leaned forward slightly, his eyes widened when he saw Starry standing next to Harvest.
The door immediately slammed shut, and the sound of rattling chains and clicking locks was the only sound for a solid minute. The the door flew open, to reveal a dark purple mare with an exasperated expression Starry had never seen on anypony else. He grabbed the two mares by the shoulders and hauled them inside.
“I can’t believe it. Your highness! It seems like years since you disappeared!” The Stallion dropped down in a bow, making Starry feel slightly embarrassed. Harvest raised him to his hooves.
“Starry, this is Umbra. He was one of the nobles who protested Crow’s coup.”
“Well, since Crow stripped me of my title, I’m just a normal stallion hiding from the Lord Protector’s watchful eyes.” Umbra went around lighting lanterns, revealing a humble residence, even for an average pony. The bed was merely straw with a sheet, and there was no food left anywhere.
Starry felt a bit of pity for the stallion. The fact that he had endured all this for her was quite touching. “Mr. Umbra, I’m grateful for your loyalty, but I’m afraid I can’t quite remember being royalty.”
Umbra seemed not at all surprised by the news. “I wouldn’t expect you to be. I saw Crow perform the memory wipe myself. It’s amazing you remembered your name.”
For once, somepony understood.
“We can’t stay here though. I’m afraid I’ve run out of supplies to sustain one, let alone three ponies for any length of time.” The news was distressing for both Harvest and Starry. Harvest was about to speak up before Umbra cut her off. “Luckily, I just finished making arrangements to sneak back in. It’ll be a bit more tricky with the three of us, but I can make it work.”
This was a rare case of good news. Starry could finally have piece of mind knowing that a plan wasn’t going to be all improvisation. “When will we be departing?’ She inquired.
“Right now actually. The sooner we leave the better.” It seemed a little jarring, but it was just icing on her cake.
Harvest was just as eager to get going. “This is wonderful! Where are we headed?”
Umbra pointed to a map of the city of Nova on an adjacent wall. “We’ll be going directly to the west wall. Since it’s just mountains on that side of the city, there are just about no guards patrolling it. I’ve discovered an old hatch that leading into the underground. From there, we can roam the city freely.”
It sounded perfect. Harvest and Starry wasted no time following Umbra out of the safe house, and towards the city of Nova.
The landscape was barren save for the occasional boulders. It was quite shocking for Starry to see the looming city walls. It seemed as if they just rose out of the earth in that spot. Umbra didn’t give them much time to admire the scenery, pushing the group further down the wall.
Eventually they came upon Umbra’s hatch, and the two mares jumped into the stench filled tunnel below. Starry actually felt pain in her nose after breathing in. The air was filled with the smell of sewage and vermin.
Umbra seemed not unfazed, but more accustomed to the atmosphere than the other two. “There’s no time for admiring the aroma. We need to get to a safe place to surface.”
The mares struggled to breath the air, but were able to force their way through it and follow Umbra farther beneath the city. The group soon came upon a ponyhole cover, and Umbra forced it up and over to expose the world above. “Come on, I’ll boost you two up.”
He lifted Harvest up first, with a grunt, he lifted with all four feet, until she could pull herself out. He did the same for Starry, though she was surprised that Harvest didn’t give her some help getting out. It wasn’t a bother, though.
When she was finally out of the hole, she turned around to look back down the hole. “OK, I’ll help you up now.”
The only sound was Umbra’s hoof steps as he galloped further into the tunnels. This was strange. Starry was sure she could explain it away, but she simply couldn’t think of why he would do that.
Without warning, a bright light shined down on her from all directions, making it bright as day. Through her squinting, she was able to make out Harvest being suspended and bound in a magic field.
A voice started calling out to her from just beyond the lights. “Starry Night! You finally decided to come home.”
“Speechless. Perfect! looks like you did learn something from your time in their land.” Crow acted as if he had just given her the time. His action made no sense before, but this simply defied logic.
“It may be easy to say I can be their ruler, but they have a princess. You have no right to take it from them.” Starry’s reaction caused another mood swing in the Lord Protector, to brief, but intense, rage.
“We have every right to take it back! Our kind were banished out to this wasteland because we refused to be assimilated with the day ponies!” Crow caught himself, cleared his throat, and resumed his calm tone. “Pardon me. We are now just moving back so our race can survive. We’ll try to keep violence to a minimum, but that all depends on how much compassion the day ponies have.”
Crow’s argument, however awful the end result sounded, was reasonable. There was no way the thestrals could survive over the mountains much longer. They needed a new home, but Starry didn’t want that to happen at the expense of the day ponies. Starry didn’t want anypony to have to suffer.
As she was pondering, a guard burst in through the door, startling both Starry and Crow. “Lord Protector, the Harvest Moon has escaped!”
Starry was concerned, though glad Harvest was free. Crow cursed under his breath, but quickly regain control of himself. “She’s a crafty girl, that’s for sure. Take the guards from the West wall to search for her. She doesn’t have anywhere to go in the city, so she’ll probably try to get out.”
The guard rendered a salute, and bolted back out as quickly as he came in. Crow seemed concerned about her escape, but none the less appeared to expect it and have plan. He began to walk towards the door, while still talking to Starry. “I’m so sorry to cut our time short, but this development has me worried about our other guests.”
Starry quickly went from happy for harvest to concerned for these other prisoners. “Others?”
“Oh, just some trespassers. They’ll be dealt with appropriately.” Crow stopped at the door. “I’ll leave you here to think about our situation. I hope you will have our best interests at heart this time around.” With that, he closed the door behind him.
Starry was left alone with her thoughts, and there were many to be had. She was being forced to make a decision about the fate of two worlds, with only days spent in each. She didn’t want to choose. She wanted to stop doing anything. She’d been struggling for days to figure out who she was, and she still didn’t have her memories. She started to cry, more than she ever had before. Her sobs filled the empty hall, only making her feel more alone.
Suddenly, an epiphany hit her. Crow had left her here without any guards. They were all probably looking for Harvest. It was the perfect time to try and escape her self. First, she needed to see who these ‘other guests’ were.
As she made her way down the winding corridors of the castle, she made sure to make as little sound as possible, in case any guards were left. She would only get this opportunity once.
She eventually made her way to the lower prison cells. She could here voices down the hall, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Inching closer, she couldn’t believe who it was.
“I’m serious. This is the perfect breeding ground for mold. Don’t get me wrong, it’s quite well appointed for a dungeon, but they really should get better housekeeping.” It was Triage!
“Is that really our biggest problem!? We need to bust outta this place!” Rosie was there too.
“Rosie’s right. Celestia only knows what they would do to us if we stay here any longer.
“It won’t be that bad Butters. C’mon, sing a cheer up song with me!”
“Hold yourself, May. Last time you started singin’ that creepy ‘Lord Protector’ came down, and I’m pretty sure he threatened to wipe our minds, too.”
Triage, Rose, Buttercup, May Day, and Honey were all there! Starry didn’t think about how they had gotten captured, she was simply glad they were here, and she had a chance to free them.
Starry galloped up the cell where they were being held, with the biggest smile she’d ever made gracing her face. When the five stopped bickering and turned to face her, none of them could say a word. “Girls! I’m so glad you’re OK! I’ll get you out of here.”
Starry dashed down the hall to grab the spare keys, and unlocked the prison door as quickly as her hoofs would allow. Once the door was opened, she was immediately tackled to the ground by Rose, quickly followed by the other four. The force of their embraces was painful, but at the same time, the most joyful experience she had known thus far.
“Starry! I don’t believe it, we thought we’d lost you forever! How did you get here?” Triage was the loudest of the group, but Honey quickly put a hoof to her lips.
“Keep it down! We don’t want them runnin’ back here to find us all escapin’.” She was right, and the other ponies bit their lips to contain their excitement. They didn’t need to say anything anyway. Starry knew they were worried for her.
“I’m sorry I ran off on you, I met Harvest Moon again, and she teleported me over to Nocturna.”
Rose took a deep breath to regain her bearing. “We figured you’d gone ahead for whatever reason, so we set off after you. Once we crossed the mountains, though, we were caught by some guards.”
Starry had a moment of clarity. They were the one’s that were flown over her and Harvest. Now she felt even worse about leaving them. “I’m sorry I was the reason you all were caught.”
Honey was as comforting as ever. “Don’t let it get you down, sugar cube. You’re here now, and we’re all going to break out together.”
Starry, with her new found confidence and surrounded by her friends, felt like she could do anything. “I think I saw a way out while I was heading done here. C’mon!”
The 6 made their way, quickly but quietly, back up the castle halls. They didn’t seem as depressing, now that she had company. The group itself, though, was alone. In the entire time they made their escape, they didn’t see a single guard. It made Starry a bit uneasy, but it at least made their escape easier.
Eventually they reached the door marked ‘SERVANT’S EXIT’. The ponies filed off through the door, and found themselves in the Servant’s living quarter. However, there was nopony there, save for the rats chewing on the meal set at the table.
The table was set, complete with simple wooden utensils and dinnerware, but the food was everywhere. some of the baskets were half empty, but others were completely full. It looked like everypony had just taken what they want, not even thinking about eating it right.
They didn’t have time to reflect on that small detail, she searched for an exit, but she noticed the a steady stream of ponies and wagons filing past the window. The more ponies she saw, the more concerned she became. Everypony outside at once? Something had to be amiss.
Starry again had to regain focus, and concentrate on getting her friends to safety. She directed them into a sewer hatch, but Triage hesitated. “Have you lost your mind?!” Starry could not believe those words came out of her mouth. “That place will make us sick for sure!”
“Would you rather be sick, or allow Crow to takeover your home?!” The question snapped Triage back to reality.
“Is...is that really what’s at stake?” Starry gave her a nod. “Well, I suppose I don’t have a choice. She closed her eyes, and leapt into the hatch. with a small splash to signal her arrival. She cried out in a sheepish voice, “ew.”
Starry followed soon after, and proceed to guide them outside the city. Luckily, there were signs pointing towards the city wall, presumedly for other ponies who got lost. The entire time, nopony spoke a word. They merely followed Starry to what they hoped would be safety.
Once the group emerged from the sewers, outside the wall, they were greeted by an astonishing sight; the entire city appeared to have filed outside, and had formed a semi-circle around a pedestal, upon which stood the Lord Protector.
“Brothers and sisters, today marks a new era in our history! Today, we retake our homeland!”
Crow had everypony wrapped around his hoof. The entire crowd cheered as he gave his speech, while Starry watched helplessly as Crow’s plan came to fruition. Glancing to the left, she noticed the huge formations of soldiers standing at attention. Everything that surrounded indicated one thing; she had failed.
“Those were not just stories you were told as foal. The land of Equestria is real, and that is our true home, wrongfully denied us by that monster Celestia!” The crowd again erupted in noise, this time in shouts of anger, so loud as to shake the earth itself.
“Is this real?” Honey asked. “How could the princess let this happen to these ponies?”
“This isn’t the princesses fault!” Triage gasped. “If these ponies let themselves succumb to such barbaric living conditions, that’s all on them.”
Rose began to hover above the group. “It doesn’t matter now why they’re here. We need to stop them from invading Equestria!”
Buttercup was shaking nervously. “Maybe if we asked them nicely, they’d be willing to stay here.”
“That’s a great idea! We’ll have an Equestria-didn’t-get-invaded party afterwards!” May Day actually sounded excited.
“No! We need to show those bats who’s boss!” Rose tried to fly over the crowd, but Triage used magic to drag her back down.
“Don’t play their game, Compass Rose! Violence won’t solve anything.”
“I suppose you have a better plan!” Rose turned and stared angrily at Triage, who stood her ground.
“No, but at least I’m not trying to get us all killed!” The two began to butt heads. One could almost hear their blood boil.
“Girls, this is not going to solve this problem. Starry, do you have any ideas?” Honey had broken up Rose and Triage, and now the entire group was looking at Starry, who simply looked on at Crow, not even reacting to Honey’s question.
Starry’s mind was racing. Even if she tried Buttercup’s idea, she could at least say she tried something. It was still hopeless, though. She was about to watch two groups of ponies, who had never even seen each other, go to war, and there is no way to stop it.
Just as she was about to give up entirely, she was blinded by a bright light coming over the mountains. The other ponies obviously saw it, too. Even Crow didn’t expect it.
Once the initial blindness wore off, Starry uncovered her eyes, and was in awe of what she saw. I tall, pure white alacorn was descending right behind the pedestal where Crow stood. Her multi-colored mane flowed almost to the ground, and moved as if it wasn’t even hair, but pure magic.
Starry heard Triage muttering behind her. “Princess Celestia?”
That was Princess Celestia? Starry wasn’t sure how to feel upon seeing her. Was she the one responsible for the prosperity in Equestria, or the misery in Nocturna?
Starry noticed that all of the thestrals were staring at Celestia, away from the 6 of them. “Come on. Now's our chance to get close.” None of them disputed her plan. Any action was better than no action at this point.
The group were able to get close enough to hear both Celestia and Crow, but were disheartened by what they heard. The Princess was talking to Crow. “Lord Protector, you have been a good leader in the absence of your Princess, but you must see that this is no way to right the past. We will be will to assist your people’s recovery, but...”
Crow cut her off. “Princess, judging from your handling of our matters in the past, you’ll understand when I tell you we have no interest in dealing with you, or any of your precious day ponies.”
The Princess was taken aback. “Crow, I do not wish harm on any of my subjects, especially those who have suffered as long as all of you have.”
“I must correct you on that point. We are not your subjects. We are a sovereign kingdom, and as such, we must act to ensure we survive. Unfortunately for you, that means taking back what was taken from us all those generations ago.”
The Princess tried to give a reassuring smile, but Crow obviously wasn’t biting. “I banished those ponies because they were attempting to bring about an eternal night. I did what I did to maintain the proper balance of the world. I know you’re not the same ponies I banished, which is why I’m extending a hoof to help.”
Crow was apparently insulted by the offer. “All we want is apparently what you will not offer. We have plotted our course, and nothing you can say will change it. “
“Crow, please...”
Crow dropped his personable demeanor, and became a intimidating ruler. “Enough! We are done!” A bolt of magic bolted out of his horn, and headed straight for the Princess.
After that, Starry didn’t know exactly what happened. When she saw Crow try to attack Celestia, she felt a massive energy well up inside her, and in the next instant, she was between Celestia and Crow, surrounded by aghast ponies.
Celestia and Crow were by for the most shocked. Celestia hadn’t expected a thestral to help her, and Crow was surprised she was out of the city. “Princess!? What are you doing? I could have hurt you!”
“Please stop! Nopony needs to be hurt!” Her voice had a visual effect on the rest of the crowd, who were murmuring among themselves; Princess Starry Night? She’s still alive?
Celestia lowered her head to speak with her. “Princess? You seem to be on the wrong side of this dispute.”
Starry turned around to face her. “I’m trying to end the dispute. I don’t ever remember being a princess, but the thestrals are my subjects, and the day ponies are my friends. I don’t want either of them to be harmed.”
Crow had come back to his senses. “I’m glad you remember some magic princess, but the only way we can get our ponies’ land back is by force!”
“No, Crow! Please be reasonable! I don’t want any part in ruling a conquered kingdom.” Starry stood by Celestia. Crow thought for a few seconds, but when he looked back at Starry his expression was hostile.
“I took an oath to defend you and your subjects. Right now, their welfare is more important than yours.” His charged another bolt of magic, but this time, it wasn’t Starry who intercepted the bolt.
A thestral dove in front of the princesses, taking the bolt in her stomach. Starry couldn’t believe who it was.
“Harvest!”
Harvest looked up at her friend and princess, but could only manage a weak smile, before collapsing back to the ground. Starry could only look on, while Triage came and dragged her off and began barking orders at anyone within earshot. “Don’t just stand there! Help me carry her!”
Starry felt nothing but rage. Crow’s intentions may have been to look out for the bat ponies, but now he had crossed several lines. She could feel and unlimited energy all throughout her body, and she began to levitate, without the help of her wings. “How dare you! You claim to care for your ponies as you attack them!”
The ground beneath everypony’s feet began to crack, and Crow was suspended in a glowing sphere of magic. The bat ponies were all paralyzed with fear, and couldn’t even run from the furious alacorn before them.
Suddenly, Starry felt a hoof on her shoulder. When she turned around, and saw Celestia, looking right into her eyes. She began to speak, but she didn’t move her lips. “Don’t let his hatred into your heart.”
She didn’t know how, but Starry felt the rage begin to subside. Her thoughts were no longer focused on revenge, but on Crow. She looked straight at him, right through his eyes and into his heart.
She could see it; the hatred that had welled up inside him over all these years. He hated Celestia, and the day ponies, with a fiery passion. That was what was causing his behavior. His hatred had corrupted his devotion to Nocturna, and twisted it into bloodlust.
She no longer felt any anger, because she understood everything now. Crow’s actions were not his own, and the Princess did indeed care about the thesrtals suffering. She knew what to do now.
“You are forgiven.”
With that, Starry ceased her magic, and the two fell to the earth, Starry barely stopped her self from falling over. She felt as if she’d walked a thousand miles. Crow merely collapsed into a heap.
She felt sore, but she managed to move herself over to Crow, who was beginning to come to. “Princess, please tell me that was a dream?”
Starry shook her head, and Crow bowed his head in shame. “Then I’ve almost destroyed our people.”
Starry, weak as she was, helped Crow to his feet. “You are guilty of nothing. Your love of your home was twisted by hatred, you can’t be held accountable for something like that. You heart may have been stained black, but it was still in the right place.” Crow bowed properly this time, as did the rest of the thestrals. Only then did Starry notice the others working over Harvest.
Her heart sank. How could she have forgotten? She raced over to where she lay on the ground. Triage had found a stretcher, and was treating her with whatever medicine the thestrals had on them. Despite her efforts, Triage did not appear confident. She began to tear up.
“I’m sorry. I tried everything.”
Harvests breathing was labored, now. She could barely open her eyes when Starry came over. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget this.” She attempted to chuckle, but only elicited a heavy cough from herself.
“Harvest, stop. We can get you help.” Starry held one of Harvest’s hooves in hers, but felt it going cold.
“You’re safe now. That’s all I wanted.” As she finished, Princess Celestia walked over to where Harvest lay, and somehow, made the two less afraid.
In one fluid movement, she raised her horn high, then slung it straight towards Harvest’s chest. I beam of light shot out, and in an instant, Harvest sat bolt upright, breathing deeply, but normally. It was as if she had never been hurt at all!
Starry was in shock. “How did you do that?”
Celestia just gave her a smile. “You have the best set of friends a pony could wish for. What kind of princess would I be if I let that get taken away from you?”
Starry was eternally grateful, and almost wanted to bow herself. The Princess spoke up before she could get a chance. “There is one more thing I’d like to do for you.”
Starry didn’t want to question her, but she was curious. “What’s that?”
“Well, I already rule over Equestria, and all the day ponies. However, these thestrals have no future here. They must move back with us.” Celestia turned to face Starry. “I won’t be able to do a very good job on my own. That’s a lot of ponies to cycle day and night for. Since you’re already a princess, I’m inviting you to sit on the throne with me, side by side.”
Starry was speechless. Every bad thing that happened in the previous days seemed to vanish away. “Pinch me if I’m dreaming.”
She then felt a sharp pinch on her flank, and turned around to see May Day by her side. “No need to thank me!” She dashed off as quickly as she appeared.
Starry focused back on Celestia, who had had a bit of a chuckle over the incident. Starry laughed too, but quickly remembered what was happening. “Princess, I would be Honored to sit on the throne with you.”
“Very well.” She nodded her head, and a ribbon of light wrapped itself around Starry. She thought she should be afraid, but that thought disappeared quickly. The light made her feel warm, like she was in a comforting embrace. When it went away, her friends were starring at her, as if they were looking at a stranger.
She looked around, and notice she had changed. She felt taller, and her mane now moved in the same manner as Celestia’s. Her wings were no longer leathery bat wings. In there place were large, majestic wings of feather.
Celestia raised her head, and her voice. “All hail Luna, Princess of the Night!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, everypony around bowed to her, even Celestia. “I..I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t need to say anything.” Celestia told her. “Though there is one more matter that needs to be attended to: your memories.”
Strangely enough, Starry had complete forgotten that about her memories. “Can you give them back to me?”
“I can, but if I do restore your old memories, you would lose all of the experiences up to this point. The choice is up to you. Do you want them back?” Celestia didn’t seem to sway one way or the other on the issue, but Starry knew which one to choose.
“Before I lost my memory, I let everypony in my kingdom starve, and couldn’t bring myself to confront the problem.” She turned to her friends, “I’ve learned a lot of lesson’s traveling through Equestria. One of them was how to stand tall and confront problems, not hide away from them.” She noticed Honey blush slightly. “I’d have to say, I much prefer the pony I am now.”
Celestia gave her a smile. “A wise choice, from a wise princess.”
The 6 other ponies came over to the princesses. They all seemed very concerned. “What’s wrong, girls?”
Honey stepped forward to speak for the group. “Well, since you’re a real princess and all now, we need to treat you a little different, but we were hopin’ that you still see us as friends.”
Luna gave them a chuckle. “You needn’t worry. I may be Princess of the Night, but to you ponies, I’m still Starry Night. I’ll always have a place in my heart for all of you.”
All of the ponies began to tear up, and gave the new princess a bow. Celestia called Luna’s attention. “Come now, there is much work to be done.”
“Since then, I have ruled side by side with Celestia.” The little foals clopped their hoofs together at the conclusion of Luna’s story.
“So you used to be a thestral?” One colt said. He leaned forward to better hear the answer.
“Yes little one, that is why I now rule over their land in Equestria. I keep an eye on their activities at night.” The colt leaned so far forward, he fell on his face. Luna used a bit of magic to right him.
A filly raised her hoof as high as she could, forgetting that she wasn’t in school. Luna humored her, and called on her anyway. “Don’t you ever wonder what you life was like before you lost your memory?”
Luna actually turned a slight frown when the foal asked, and all the children noticed. “I’m sorry Princess. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
“It’s no fault of yours. I actually did find out from Crow what happened. It is not something I like to recall, but I think it would good for you to know.” The foals inched closer to hear.
“I was very young when I ascended to Nocturna’s throne, and I was not prepared at all for the hardships the bat ponies faced. I failed them as their leader.”
“But princess,” the same filly didn’t hesitate to speak up this time. “You came back and saved them all. Doesn’t that make it all better?”
“It didn’t undo the damage caused, but in a sense, you are right. No pony is suffering in that wasteland anymore.” Another hoof shot up into the air.
“Princess, what happened to all of your pony friends? Did you still play with them.” The filly’s phrasing was adorable, which help put Luna in a better mood.
“Of course. I saw them every chance I got. I actually invited Honey to the castle. Her deserts were unlike anything I’d ever had. Triage became the royal physician, and helped care for all the nobles and their families.” She had to pause and remember. This was all such a long time ago. “Oh, Compass Rose and Buttercup started a wilderness adventure group together. I’m not entirely sure what became of May Day, though. I guess she went back to being the Fix-it-Filly.”
“What about Harvest Moon?”
Luna leaned back, and let out a deep sigh. “Of course, Harvest. She stayed by my side for many years. Whenever I had to go away on royal business, she stayed at my castle and watched over the rest of the thestrals.”
“Where is she now?”
It was a question she didn’t want to hear. “Well, she lived long and worked hard to serve me, but since she was just a normal pony, she grew old, and eventually...”
Before she could finish, the door opened, and the castle guide came in.
“Pardon, your majesty, but the parents are here for the children.” There was unanimous groan from all of the foals, eliciting laughs from Luna and the guide.
“Don’t worry children,” she consoled them. “I’ll still be here next time you can visit. Now go see your parents.”
The children joined again in a chorus. “Yes Princess Luna!”
As they all filed out the door, Luna reflected on what she had just told them. She had come back for her people, but was it actually enough? Before she could ponder any further, she got a pleasant surprise.
“Hello, Luna. I trust you had a good time while I was gone?” Celestia stood by the open door.
“Tia! I didn’t hear you come in. Your back from your trip awfully early.” Luna lept to her feet in excitement, but she calmed down quickly.
“It was quite quick. Turns out the Equestria games had to be postponed until a later date. A majority of citizens thought the games were going to be in Cloudsdale, so there were almost no ticket sales.” Luna chuckled when she heard the news.
“How did somepony pull that off? I commend them for the effort.” Celestia looked over to her. She wasn’t angry, but she was not amused.
“I suppose we can hold it next month. Personally, I was excited to see the team magic shows. Canterlot usually wins, but I had a feeling Trottsdam might come out on top.” Celestia went over to the balcony to survey the city. Luna followed her over. The sun had almost finished setting.
“I do enjoy the ends of everyday. You must work very hard to make the night as beautiful as it is.” Luna blushed at the compliment.
“Thank you, it’s just...” Celestia noticed her pause.
“What’s the matter?” Luna looked away.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“Luna, you don’t need to hide anything. Be honest.” Luna looked back up, but she struggled not appear to upset.
“It just bothers me that nopony sees my work. They’re always so tired from their activities during the day, that they sleep all night.” Celestia was surprised at Luna’s response, and at first, it seemed like she couldn’t give a response. “I just want somepony to appreciate what I do.”
Celestia turned to face Luna. “Luna, the ponies need to rest, they do appreciate what you do, which is why they sleep. Your Starry skies and cool air comfort them and help them rest after a hard days work.”
Celestia’s words put Luna at ease, and she looked back out to confirm that the ponies were in fact enjoying the night. “I think it’s time I went to bed as well. Take care, Luna.”
“Good night, Tia.” Luna thought about what Celestia had said. It made sense; the night air was very relaxing, and it did put her at ease. She looked up, and saw the starry night she had made, twinkling above the earth below.
If only the other ponies would just look up and see.
An audible gasp, as if she had awoken from a deep slumber. She frantically looked about for something, anything that could comfort her. But there was nothing. Nothing but water pools and cave walls. "What is this place? How did I get here?". Her mind was racing, then stopped dead. She realized she had to answer one question before any more. "Who am I?".
Any other pony could answer instantly, but she couldn't. Nothing came to her mind to describe her own self. In a panic, she began to gallop around, hyperventilating to the point of being sick. She looked down, and noticed she wasn't running anymore. She was flying. Now that had something else to think about, the mare looked behind her, and noticed a set of leathery wings beating steadily to keep her aloft.
Wondering if there were any other parts of her anatomy she missed, she made her way to a small pool of water. "Let's see what else we can find."
The face she saw seemed like that of a stranger, though it was oddly comfortable, as if she had known the pony her whole life. When she looked, she saw a pretty young mare, a dark grey coat and midnight blue mane, and was met with a curious stare from her own yellow, almond shaped eyes, centered around her cat-like pupils.
"Well, sure got the luck of the draw when it comes to looks." She stroked her mane make sure it was in fact beautiful. Before she could even reach her forehead, her hoof hit, something. With her other hoof, she felt around until they came to a point.
"A horn. I have a horn and wings." It was the first time she actually felt happy. "Starry Night you really are something special."
As the words left her mouth, she didn't know whether to be confused as to where it came from, or overjoyed that she remembered. "I remember." She said with restrained excitement. "My name is Starry Night."
Now that she had answered the who, it was time to figure out the where and how. She new that she was a pony named Starry Night, but that was it. No recollection of what she was or how she got to where she was. Since she couldn't see much inside, Starry figured outside would hold more answers.
"I got myself in here, so I must be able to get out. These wings oughtta help out." Starry didn't know how she knew the language she did, but knowing it at all was a gift horse she was not a out to look in the mouth. She spread her wings and made for a ledge with what appeared to be a doorway. Flying came naturally, almost on instinct. Before she could even ask how, they had delivered her to the ledge. When she peered through, how she had gotten there seemed of little consequence.
Outside was a landscape of infinite beauty, the twinkling stars contrasted above her on an inky black sky, all centered around the immaculately white moon. Below it all lay the swooping lines of the earth, all covered in a dark green blanket of trees with sparkling blue streaks marking the rivers and streams. Suddenly, the who, what, when where, and why were irrelevant. Starry no longer cared that she didn't remember anything. She would have looked at the night sky forever more, had she not been alerted by a loud, an anxious drawl.
"Starry! Starry Night! Where'd ya get off to!"
Starry wasn't scared, just curious. I wonder how they know my name? Maybe they know other things about me too! She instantly swooped down to the the pony calling her, and hit the earth with a loud crash, eliciting a shriek from the frightened mare.
"Star, deary, ya'll nearly made me jump outta my skin." The pony's accent was quite pronounced. It took Starry a few seconds to get used to it.
"Yes! It is my name! I picked it out of no where. I didn't know if was right." Starry's exuberance confused her mew friend.
"What are you talkin' about, sugar cube? You're the pony who told me."
"I don't understand." Starry admitted. "I don't know you at all. I only met myself a few minutes ago."
"I only met you a few days ago." She replied. "You don't remember me, Honey Suckle?"
"If I did, the memory is gone now. I don't know anything."
"Oh my. Sounds as if your mind is in a bad way. Come back to the garden. I'll see what I can do." Honey Suckle beckoned Starry Night to follow her.
Starry trotted up alongside her new friend. She couldn't wait for the garden she had to ask now. "So, if you know my name, does that mean you know what I am and where I came from?" Honey Suckle let out a sigh. "Sweetheart, I doubt the princess herself knows what you are."
“Princess? Princess who?” The importance of a Princess stuck with her for some reason.
“Child, you remember less than I thought. I’ll start at the beginin’, the night you showed up at the garden.”
“It was just last sunday night you appeared on my doorstep. And my oh my, it seemed like you been jumped by Timberwolves!” Honey Suckle almost appeared to enjoy telling the story. To Starry though, it sounded like something she wanted to forget.
“Did I say anything to you? Anything that would tell you who I was or where I was from.” She inquired.
“All I got from you was your name and something about over the mountains. After that you just collapsed. I wasn’t sure what to do. The nearest doctor was in Maresailles, but that was a three day hike through the forrest.” Honey had at least helped Starry find out where she was; nowhere. “I cared for ya best I could, but you really just slept for three days. Then, I came in the check on you one mornin’, and you were simply gone.”
This didn’t answer much. Starry had to push a little. “Did anything happen while I was there? Out of the ordinary at all?”
“Now that mention it, I did hear noises at night.”
Anything was significant at this point. Starry couldn’t write it off. “What kind of noises?”
“Oh ya know, typical night time sounds. There was some scratchin’ and scrappin’, but it was passin’. I figured at the time it was just the usual critters, but lookin’ back, they sounded a lot bigger than just squirrels scamperin’ around.”
This certainly seemed curious. A small detail though. It could probably be explained away.
Before Starry could ask anymore, Honey spoke up. “Ah, here we are. Welcome to Green Pastures. You can make your way over to the homestead to your right. I need to make sure the sunflowers face the right direction.” It seemed like a strange chore, but Starry didn’t say anything about it. In any case, maybe this homestead would help her jog her memory.
The house itself was as plain as they come. The only decorations were the plants on the window sills. It didn’t seem like the type of place that a pony would go looking for. Maybe that was the point.
Despite the homely exterior, Honey Suckle kept a very pleasant atmosphere inside, even with an apparently modest budget. Various farm trinkets acted as mantlepieces, while giant, overturned flower pots served as tables.
Starry headed upstairs to see where Honey said she cared for her. The second floor was as simple as the rest of the house; a single, square space with three rooms, one per wall. The room to the left was obvious Honey’s, mostly because of the sign reading “Honey”. The room directly across from her appeared to be just a linen closet, there couldn’t have been anything there.
The final room, to the right, was what intrigued Starry the most. It had no sign, and didn’t appear to have been painted or dusted in ages. When Starry opened the door to peek in what she saw underwhelmed her. It was just a bed and a nightstand, both in slightly better shape than the door.
Suddenly, she felt a splitting headache, as if her entire head was being crushed. Then she had flashes of herself in the room. Waking up in this room, not once, but three times. Each time she saw herself climbing out the window and climbing onto the roof. Then just as the sun was breaking the horizon, she was getting back into bed. Her right wing was in pain the entire time.
Every time it was the same, except for one. All she saw of the last night was herself climbing out the window and running.
“Starry? Starry dear, are you okay?” A voice snapped her out of her trance, and Starry returned to reality. “Is everything alright? You’re not sick are you sweetie?”
“No, Miss Suckle, I’m fine.” Starry replied, only half honestly.
“Call me Honey. Now don’t you lie to me. Are you sure nothin’s wrong?”
“Actually, I remember some of the past few nights. It only came back in flashes, but I saw myself getting out of bed, and climbing out of the window onto the roof. I couldn’t fly because my wing was hurting so bad.” Starry looked back at her wing, and noticed it was completely healthy, like nothing had been wrong with it.
“I noticed that when you arrived. It was all kinds of beat up, so I took you upstairs to...” There was a noticeable pause. Starry turned to her, an inquisitive look on her face, but then Honey continued “...the guest room. I wrapped you up and treated it with some of my medicine. I have to say, you heal very fast, almost like magic. No surprise with that there horn of yours.”
Starry thought of asking about the pause, but questions were still swirling furiously around in her head. “But I still don’t know why I would come here. I just don’t feel like this is the kind of place I would flee to. No offense to you, Honey.”
Honey looked back with a reassuring smile. “None taken, sugar. With a cutie mark like that, I wouldn’t be hangin’ ‘round at this ol’ place.”
“Cutie mark?” Starry was genuinly surprised, not because she didn’t know what a cutie mark was, but because she didn’t know what her’s was. She turned around and on her flank, was a whole moon with one five point star on it’s surface. “I wonder what it means.” She thought out loud.
“Well I can tell you for sure it doesn’t give you a green hoof, else you would’ve fallen at my door a long time ago.” Honey was trying to sprinkle humor into the situation, but Starry Night was too busy trying to figure out what her cutie mark was telling her.
All of a sudden, Honey’s ears perked up, and a ten mile smile spread on her face. “I know! We’ll take you on over to Maresailles! A big city like that will have somepony that can help you.”
Starry didn’t know about Maresailles, or any other city, but it did sound like a good place to start. “That’s a good idea. When can we...”
Before she could even finish her sentence she felt a pair of saddlebags land of her back. Her knees almost buckled under the weight. “Why we can head out right now! Quickly and expeditiously now! We’re gonna figure out who you are. I can see your already excited for the hike.”
Her grimace was from the weight of the bags.
So many emotions were filling Starry, she didn’t know whether to feel sad, angry, or simply give up. To be betrayed by one of her supposedly loyal supporters, a pony whom she had trusted with not just her safety, but that of Harvest’s as well, was too much for her process.
A few of the lights were extinguished, and Starry was able to get a better look at her surroundings. She was disheartened to see herself surrounded by guard stallions, all clad in jet black armor. A voice from the back broke to silence. “Make way for the Lord Protector!”
The guards shifted to form a walkway, through which walked a thestral stallion, though he was nowhere near as intimidating as those around him. He carried himself almost casually, but still with enough authority to have an air of professionalism about him.
The pony Starry assumed was the Lord Protector walked right up to her, and gave her a not so friendly smile. “Princess Starry Night, I can not tell you how good it is to see your face again. Did you enjoy your trip? I hope the locals were friendly.”
Starry didn’t know where to begin. This was the Lord Protector, of which Harvest had said nothing but ill things about. On top of that he was supposedly the one who took away her memories, and he was asking about her trip?
Now she decided to stand up and confront this ‘Lord Protector’. “Why did you do with my memories?! Don’t lie to me!”
The dictator just kept smiling at her, as if they were having a normal conversation. “I wouldn’t dream of it. It would be unforgivable for me to tell a lie to royalty such as yourself.” He began to walk over to where Harvest was being held. “I must say, I’m very proud of you. You managed to make your way all the way across Equestria, while finding another one of your compatriots. All the while not knowing any more than your name. It really is admirable.”
Starry struggled to maintain her bearing with her captor. “You probably don’t even know who I am. A good job on my end, if I do say so myself. Now Lord Protector Crow, I’ve been running the kingdom in your absence.”
Starry was becoming enraged at Crow’s pseudo-friendly demeanor, but she didn’t lose her temper. “I’m not your friend. Quit trying to win me over.”
Crow let out a sigh. “Tsk, tsk, I was genuinely glad to see you again. And you go and try to start a confrontation. That’s not very becoming of a princess, is it.” Starry maintained her silence. “Anyway, it’s a good thing you showed up when you did. The preparations are almost ready.”
This caused Starry some concern. “Preparations for what, exactly?”
“I can’t tell you now. That would ruin the surprise.” Crow walked back up to her, and had the gaul to place a leg around her shoulder. “Very soon, you are going to get a very special gift. But that’s all I can say for now. I think it’s time for you and Harvest Moon to go to bed.”
With a stomp of his hoof. Starry was surrounded by the guards in black. There was nothing she could do. She had to comply to make sure Crow wouldn’t hurt Harvest. She allowed herself to be escorted into a wooden crate, as Harvest was unceremoniously thrown in, though at least she wasn’t bound anymore.
“Harvest, are you okay?” Harvest didn’t even look up, she just kept her head firmly against the floor of the crate. Starry could hear her sobbing softly. All she could do was keep her close. There was nothing left to say.
Seconds seemed like hours as Starry and Harvest sat silently in the prison wagon. Harvest hardly moved the entire time. She leaned against the wall across from Starry, staring at the rickety wooden floor. There was nothing to say between the two of them. They both knew what had just happened. They’d been betrayed, and now they were helpless to stop Crow’s plan.
The cart came to a stop, and the door opened up to reveal the cell that had been designated for them. It wasn’t as bleak as Starry had imagined it, if anything, it was rather accommodating. There were two separate beds, a dinning table, and even a closet. The furniture itself was very plain, but was it was a far cry from the dungeon Starry had expected.
Once the two had left the wagon, the door was closed behind them, and a stone wall was lowered in it’s place. The room was now sealed, with the only exit being a single metal door. “Why is he being so generous?” Starry pondered aloud. “He wiped our minds, banished us, and staged a coup, and now he’s treating us as guests?”
Harvest couldn’t give an answer to her question. “Don’t let him get into your head. He’s a monster. We need to find out what he has planned for Equestria.”
“How are we going to get out? There’s only one door.”
As they were both planning their escape, they heard the locks outside the door clicking and sliding. When the heavy door opened, a guard stood in the doorway, flanked by two more. “The Lord Protector wishes to speak with Princess Starry Night.”
Starry looked over at harvest, who simply gave her a nod to go along. Starry swallowed her fear, and proceeded outside the room. She glanced back one more time before the door slammed shut. She started to cry. This was the second time she’d abandoned friends.
As she was escorted down the halls of the palace, Starry started to get a sense of how desperate the fight for control had become. The tapestries were all in tatters, and the stained glass windows were covered instead by sheets. The remains of carpet had been pushed off to the side, to make walking easier, but the hard stone that took it’s place filled the halls with the hollow sounds of hoof steps.
Eventually, the guards stopped in front of two massive doors, but only cracked open one of them for Starry to enter through. Inside, she saw Crow, who just stood staring at the empty throne, not moving a muscle. The door slammed shut behind Starry, leaving the two of them alone.
“What is the meaning of this?” Starry didn’t raise her voice, but she maintained a stern tone. “I’ve been banished from my home, taken away from my friends, and now I’m a prisoner of the one who is supposedly behind it all. I want answers.”
Crow turned around, revealing a sombre, expressionless face. He no longer appeared to be the maniacal dictator who had captured her earlier. “When I first joined the Nighthawks, I took an oath to serve, protect, and defend the Princess of Nocturna, and all her subjects. On that day, I was swearing an oath to you.” He raised a hoof and pointed directly at Starry. She was now even more confused as to his actions.
“But the more and more I served, the more I saw that we as a corps were failing in our mission.” He beckoned Starry over to the window, where she could see exactly what he was talking about.
She could see for miles, but in all that expanse, there was not one spot of green. Everything was a monotonous shade of muddy brown, occasionally interspersed with the grey of the rocks.
“The thestrals haven’t been able to turn a crop in years. We’ve been sustaining ourselves on the harvests of other cities, but now they are beginning to starve. The entire kingdom has nothing.” In only a second after his last sentence, the serene smile with which he greeted her returned, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to change. “But soon, that is going to change. I have a plan to end the suffering, and you will be the greatest beneficiary.”
Starry was stuck by his abrupt change in mood. She almost forgot that he was actually speaking. “What are talking about? I’m your prisoner, why would you try to benefit me?”
“I said so earlier. I stand by the oath I took as a cadet, and you are my princess.” Crow walked up to the vacant throne, and examined the craftsmanship that made up the intricate woodwork. “This was your throne. From here, you ruled Nocturna as the benevolent Princess Starry Night.” As quickly as he sang it’s praises, Crow gave it a swift kick, shattering the once majestic seat of authority.
Starry stood aghast. Had he really just destroyed the throne of the princess which he claimed to love and serve? “What are you doing?!”
Crow walked back down the steps, completely devoid of remorse. “That throne is dead. There is nothing left for it to rule over.”
Starry was enraged. “Stop! I demand you return my memories at once!”
Crow didn’t react at all to Starry’s outburst. “I’d be happy to abide by your wished, your majesty. Unfortunately, I can’t let you do something that is against you interests.”
His smug arrogance was getting the better of Starry. “Hold your tongue! If your only wish is to serve your princess, then you do as she commands!”
“And that is why I erased your memories in the first place. You couldn’t make rational decisions. A good leader holds their principles in their heart, but makes decisions with their mind.” Starry thought about his words, and whether she liked it or not, they made sense. “You didn’t use your head, and that is why you had to forget everything.”
“But why send me to Equestria? If you were going to recondition me, why not do it here. Surely that is less of a hassle.”
“That would be true, if rewriting your brain was my goal.” Starry was about to speak again, but then heard what crow had said, and again, stood in confusion. “I didn’t send you over to Equestria out of spite. I know what’s over there, and more importantly, you do too. Better yet, with a clear mind.”
Starry’s confusion gave way to curiosity. “Why did I have to see Equestria?”
Crow’s serene expression turned to excitement, to Starry’s worry. “Because, Princess, you are going to rule it.”
