Chapter 4: Collective Amnesia

Chapter 4:  Collective Amnesia

Neither princess knew how long they had been unconscious since their landing, but apparently it was long enough to be covered in a layer of snow.  Celestia hadn’t realized they were asleep under the snow until she felt herself being stirred from her slumber.  She looked up blinking to see the friendly face of an unfamiliar white unicorn.  The unicorn gently wiped the snow from Celestia’s face with a curious smile, glad to see that she was awake.  “You poor dear!” the unicorn said with an alleviated sigh as she began to dig Celestia out of the snow.  “What a relief that you are alive!  I was so afraid for the worst.  What are you doing all the way out here in the cold?”

Celestia began to look around her and take in her surroundings.  She looked with adjusting eyes at the friendly unicorn smiling down at her, watching the pony fuss with some loose two tone green hairs and wondering where it was that she had come from.  “Where are we, and who are you?” she asked, wincing at her still prevalent headache.

The friendly unicorn rushed to Celestia’s side as she watched her grab her pained head in her hooves.  “Take it easy dear!” she said in a soothing tone.  “My name is Clover, or Clover the Clever by those who I work with.  You are in the woods at the base of Foal Mountain.  I found you on my way back from the earth ponies marketplace.  It seems food is getting rather scarce the more I go if you ask me.  Better question is, who are you and what are you doing here?”

Celestia held her sore horn in her hooves as she thought over the question.  “I... do not know,” she admitted, watching another pony stir beneath the snow.  “I remember an argument with another pony, but I don’t remember what I was arguing about or who it was that I was arguing with.  I can’t remember anything else if I must be honest.”

Clover gasped as soon as she noticed Luna, rushing to her side to help her out of her cold slumber beneath the snow.  “No wonder you were arguing!” Clover exclaimed, lifting one of Luna’s wings.  “This one is a pegasus!  What is a pegasus doing on unicorn land?”

Luna crankily pushed Clover away from her wings.  “My sister, what is going on?  Where are you?” she wined, falling on her side and shivering as she looked around .

Clover gasped at Luna’s words.  “Sisters?” she exclaimed in a tone so breathy that it looked smoky in the cold air.

The sisters watched in confusion as Clover pace around them in circles, chattering to herself about what an abomination they were to have been conceived in the same blood line.  “What will the king say, or that brute commander?” she blurted out, her breath fogging up the air around her head as she spoke a mile a minute.  “You’ll be thrown in the dungeon, that’s what!  Or banished!  Or worse!  And I don’t know what’s worse, but mark my words they will find a way to make it worse!  Oh, what if they throw me in the dungeon, or banish me, or worse!  But what’s worse?!?  Oh… no…”

Luna held out her hooves to stop Clover’s rapid chattering.  “Be still, please,” she complained, watching as Clover stopped in mid sentence.  “Who are these ponies you speak of, and why would they wish to harm us?”

Clover lifted an eyebrow at Luna’s questioning.  “You don’t know Commander Hurricane?” she asked, watching Luna shake her head.  “But you’re a pegasus dear.  How can you not know your own commander?”

Luna looked even more confused than ever.  “I am afraid we are not familiar with your commander,” she replied.  “All that I know is that my sister and I are lost.  Is there anything you can do to help us?”

Clover looked at both girls with a sense of wonder.  “Goodness me girls,” she smiled.  “You must not be from around here.  No wonder you’re unfamiliar with the segregation that goes on around here.  If I must be honest, I find that rather refreshing.  Where are you two from?”

Celestia looked to her sister, who looked just as confused as she was.  “We’re not sure, kind Clover,” she said, wincing as a strong gust of wind kicked up.  “The wind so cold here!  It’s like a sheet of agony!”

Clover unbuttoned her cloak to cover both girls.  “I should take you back to my mentor, Starswirl the Bearded.  He should know what to do.  We just need to make sure to keep the both of you hidden from King Hullabaloo and his daughter, Princess Platinum.  Heaven only knows what they would do if they found out the two of you are sisters!”

Since the two sisters were weakened by their stay in the snow, Clover helped them onto her market cart.  It was a tight squeeze, but at least the two sisters didn’t have to walk to the castle.  Celestia breathed a sigh of relief as she lay on her back, looking up into the afternoon sky.  Something about the sun seemed familiar, almost like she had forgotten something.  But what was it?

It took several hours for Clover to haul the cart back to the castle, and in that time the sky had gone from dark to light twice. Clover described the phenomenon as ‘most unusual,’ mentioning that the unicorns must be experimenting with their magical abilities.  “They must be trying to convince the pegasus ponies to clear the clouds away again, or using this as a strategy to get the earth ponies to grow food faster,” she guessed as she hauled the wagon over a hill, revealing the sight of the unicorn castle known as Castle Horn.

The sisters were stunned by the sight of the magnificent castle, its intricate stained glass windows showing the triumphs of the unicorns over the years.  Clover stopped at a door hidden under one of the castle’s many buttresses.  “Here we are!” she said in an enthusiastic tone that seemed to annoy the exhausted girls.  “Welcome to my home, or Starswirl’s home I should say.  I live with him while under his apprenticeship.  Don’t be surprised by the smells.”

Clover quickly knocked on Starswirl’s door, smiling eagerly as she waited for somepony to open it.  She could hear Starswirl’s voice on the other side of the door, along with a small series of explosions.  “I’m coming!” Starswirl’s annoyed voice bellowed from within.

Clover blushed as she backed away from the door.  “Girls, I think we interrupted something,” she whispered, not taking her eyes off the door.  She winced at the sound of glass breaking, and at the barrage of curse words that followed.

The door opened abruptly, allowing a plume of pink smoke to escape the chamber.  The sisters could see a tall blue unicorn immerge from the smoke, coughing heavily as he tried to magically adjust his singed brown beard and mane.  “Clover the Clever!” he shouted as he put his glasses back on his nose.  “Where have you been my faithful student!  I have been waiting ages for you to return with my tea.  Have those stingy earth ponies been miserly with it again?”

Clover was most apologetic about the wait as she ran to the cart.  “It’s right here, oh great and noble sir, but it cost more than usual,” she said, lifting Celestia up rudely to grab the box of tea out from under her.

Starswirl quickly grabbed the squashed box of tea from his apprentice, opening it up to take a whiff of it.  “Just like an earth pony,” he scowled as he closed the box.  “Charge more to get less.  Just take a whiff.  Not a speck of cinnamon what so ever!  It’s highway robbery if you ask me.  If we didn’t have to depend on them for food I’d say let them rot where they root.”

Clover blushed at her mentor’s harsh criticisms.  “Well, they did say supplies are running low,” she admitted.  “If it wasn’t snowing so much, than maybe they would have better luck growing food.”

Starswirl snorted his disapproval as he tossed the box of tea back at his assistant.  “Excuses, excuses,” he said, walking up to the cart.  “Now what other garbage did you pick up?”

Clover gently removed her cloak from the girls resting in her market cart.  “Forgive my tardiness, but I was delayed by finding these two girls in the snow,” she explained, watching the girls shiver in the high winds.

Starswirl rubbed his chin in thought when he noticed Celestia’s blackened horn.  “Hmmm,” he said as he grabbed Celestia’s horn to better examine it, ignoring her pained yelp.  “Burnt out your horn, did you my dear?  Must have been some battle!”

Celestia tried to back away as best she could in the tiny cart, uncomfortable by how hard Starswirl had grabbed her horn.  “I… well… yes?” she stuttered as he let her go.

Starswirl began to laugh as he spontaneously backed away.  “Well, nothing a good brew can’t fix!” he exclaimed before trotting over to the other pony in the cart.  “We need to get you back to a full bill of health.  We don’t need a unicorn down, what with the pegaus ponies wanting to wage war on anything that moves.  Now, for your friend.  Is her horn just as bad as yours?”

Luna began to fuss as Starswirl grabbed her head.  “Unhoof me!” she shouted, standing up and hissing as she extended her wings.  She would have been more successful at intimidating the unicorns if a strong gust of wind hadn’t made her lose her balance and land humiliatingly back into the cart.

Starswirl gasped fearfully as he cowered behind Clover.  “What is a pegasus doing here!?!” he shouted, making Luna recoil her wings.  “Is this an attack?  You will never get away with this you overgrown vulture!  Where are your allies?”

Clover tried her best to quiet Starswirl, but with little luck.  “They’re sisters, sir!” she exclaimed as she stood between her mentor and the pegasus.  “I found them buried under the snow on my way back from market.  I don’t think they’re from around here.  They don’t know anything about our rulers.”

Starswirl used his magic to levitate his apprentice out of his way so that he could approach the girls.  “You!  Whitey!” he hollered at Celestia.  “Are you in on this ambush?  It’s treason you know!”

Celestia began to panic at the accusation, backing down at Starswirl’s threats and glowing horn.  “No!” she shouted, cowering in the corner of the narrow cart.  “I mean, I don’t know, but no!  I don’t even know what’s going on!  I can’t remember!  Please don’t hurt me!”

Luna held her sobbing sister at the fearful advance that Starswirl was making on them.  She gave Starswirl a dirty look as she wrapped her wings around Celestia for protection.  “Fear not my sister,” she said, keeping her eyes glued on the threatening magician.  “I am here to protect you, and will not see him hurt us.”

Starswirl stood down at the tender affection that the pegasus showed the unicorn.  “You really don’t know, do you girls?” he asked, sighing as he watched the girls shake their heads.  “This is not good.  If King Hullabaloo sees the two of you together we’ll all lose our heads.  I’m afraid I have to ask you to leave.”

Celestia rose from the cart, her face a picture of worry.  “Where will we go?” she fretted, wrapping her forelegs around Starswirl’s hoof to beg him for sympathy.  “We don’t even know where we are, or where we came from!  You can’t just abandon us!”

Starswirl began to pat Celestia’s back, a gesture he looked unfamiliar with doing.  “Oh, there there Whitey,” he started, looking to Clover for guidance.  “You are a unicorn, so you are more than welcome here in the kingdom.  We can find you a job or something.  It’s the pegasus that can’t stay, unless she wants to stay in the dungeon.  If she’s in the dungeon than she is more than welcome to stay at Castle Horn.”

Luna gulped as she listened to the magician ramble on.  “Dungeon?” she shivered, surprised to see an amused smile on Starswirl’s face.

Clover rushed to Luna’s side, watching her shiver in fear as she cowered down in the cart.  “Master Starswirl,” she said, her voice teeming with sympathy.  “Surely there is something we can do for this poor girl.  How can you suggest separating sisters?”

Starswirl dismissively stuck his nose in the air at his apprentice’s concerns.  “Let the pegasus ponies take care of this giant vulture,” he said, pointing at the distant cloud war structure known as the Fortress in the Sky.  “It’s their fault we have all this snow anyway.  Maybe if she can convince Commander Hurricane to stop this ridiculous weather, then we can strike a bargain.”

Luna stood hesitantly on her shaky legs, hoping to look more strong than frightened of the unknown.  “Fine!  I will!” she declared, getting nothing but a raised eyebrow from Starswirl as a response.  “I will talk sense into this Commander Hurricane who has put so much plight upon your kingdom, and I will put an end to this commotion!”

Starswirl stroked his long brown beard as he listened to Luna speak.  “Is that so, Miss Vulture?” he questioned amusingly.  “Well, his domain is hanging right there in the sky.  Hop to it!  Chop chop!”

Luna flared her nostrils at Starswirl’s rude behavior.  “I am going!” she hollered impatiently, beginning to flap her sore wings to try to intimidate him.

Starswirl only smiled at her pathetic teenaged display.  “So what’s stopping you!” he heckled, clearly enjoying getting a rise out of Luna.

She gritted her teeth as she hopped up on the edges of the cart like an angry cat.  “Nothing is stopping me!” Luna hollered down at the smug smiling Starswirl.  “I will go now!  Goodbye!”

Starswirl began to laugh at Luna as she jumped up to fly, only to fall flat on her face.  “Well color me impressed, Vulture!” he chuckled as Luna pulled her face out of the snow.

Luna spat at Starswirl’s hooves, which she was disappointed to see hadn’t phased him.  “That was just a warm up,” she lied unconvincingly.  “This time I’m sure to soar!”

Starswirl rolled his eyes as he extended a sarcastic hoof toward the sky.  “We’re all eager to see you go,” he said, laughing at Luna’s aggravated grunts.  “Don’t forget to send us a postcard from that floating hell hole once you get there!”

Celestia watched her sister take a running launch into the air, this time successfully taking flight.  She reached out for her sister as she watched her wobble through the air before making a proper assent.  “Come back my sister!” she cried out desperately, watching Luna clip a tree branch on her way up into the sky.

Luna flew higher above the trees to avoid any further collisions, making a gliding turn toward where the unicorns were standing.  “Stay here, my sister,” she commanded, having a hard time hovering above Celestia.  “I’ll come back for you in due time, of that you have my promise!  Just stay safe!”

The three unicorns watched Luna struggle through the air on her way to the Fortress in the Sky, Starswirl particularly enjoying the show.  “Looks like Vulture isn’t much of a flier, is she Whitey?” he said, poking Celestia in the side as they watched Luna recover from an unplanned nosedive.

Celestia dipped her head as she watched her sister disappear into the clouds.  “I guess not,” she said sadly.

Unlike her heckling mentor, Clover noticed Celestia begin crying again.  “Are you alright dear?” she asked, handing Celestia a handkerchief.

Celestia blew her nose noisily into the handkerchief before trying to pass it back.  “I don’t know,” she said, noticing that Clover didn’t want to take the dripping handkerchief back.  “I feel so lost and alone now that my sister is gone.  She was the only pony I felt like I knew when I woke up, and even then I didn’t feel like I knew much.”

Starswirl’s expression softened at the sight of the crying teenager.  “Chin up now Whitey,” he said, smiling for Celestia’s sake.  “Why don’t we go inside, drink some overpriced tea, and complain about the bad quality of it.  You look like you could use a hot meal and a good laugh.”

Celestia raised her head at the friendly prospect.  “Thank you,” she sniffled.  “Only my name isn’t Whitey.”

Starswirl tilted his head curiously at the teenager next to him.  “Oh?” he asked.  “Well, what is it then?”

Celestia rested her hoof on her chin, thinking about it for a moment.  “It’s…” she thought, her new friends looking expectantly at her.  “I… can’t remember.”

Starswirl put his hoof to his forehead, rolling his eyes at the build up Celestia had put on.  “I guess Whitey will have to do for now,” he replied, not even caring about the disappointed look on the young one’s face.  “Now follow me inside before we freeze to death.”