Post-Rise: A Legend Begins
Author's Note
ThePonyBros are exactly what we sound like: two brothers. Both of us are writing two intertwined stories, alternating chapters. Let's get this thing started.
Post-Rise: A Legend Begins
Two Months. It was two months, today. Luna sighed as she looked out across the water, light blue hair waving in the wind.
“You shouldn’t be out here. There’s a storm coming.”
Luna’s frown deepened. “I can see it, Tia.”
She wasn’t lying either. Out in the distance, coming from the Mainland, she could barely make out the swirling mass of colors that would become the storm. It had everypony frantically running around trying to nail everything in place.
Celestia cocked her head, taking notice. “It’s funny. So far away, it looks almost beautiful.”
Discord’s storms always started that way; they had every color imaginable and ‘rained’ everything from chocolate milk to shards of glass. Usually the former, thank the Guardians.
Alicorn Island was small and far enough away that they only ever had to deal with the occasional storm, the leftovers from the chaos that was the Mainland.
Celestia shook her head and tugged at Luna. “C’mon, let’s go.”
It was a short walk to the temple from the shore, but it quickly became apparent to Celestia that something was eating away at her sister, and it wasn’t hard for her to guess what it was bothering her.
“You’re thinking about Mom, aren’t you?” Celestia said.
“How could I not? She should have been back by now, Tia.” The young mare paused. “What if something happened?”
“Luna, this is Mom we’re talking about. She’s probably fi-”
“Then why isn’t she here?” Luna snapped. “It’s been two months Tia. Two months.” She swallowed. “What if… what if she’s not coming back.”
Celestia visible bristled. “Don’t talk like that. Don’t even think like that. She’s coming home. She has to.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
***
That night they, and the rest of their family, huddled in the basement, waiting for the storm to pass. Everything shook, and strangely, cacophonies of feline mewlings were the loudest part of the storm, almost drowning out the thunder.
Despite her assurances, Luna’s words continued to bounce around Celestia’s mind.
The trip to the Mainland wasn’t supposed to go this long. Does the mainland go through these storms often? Could she have been hurt, or worse? What if she’s trapped somewhere? What if no one else but us knows where she is?
A thousand scenarios all went through Celestia’s mind in the space of a few minutes. She was suddenly overcome with a sudden wave of helplessness. What could she do? Go to the Mainland herself? Ridiculous.
Ships that traversed the gap were few and far between, and rarely took charter trips. Not to mention food and other supplies; those alone would almost clean out her savings. Like any Alicorn, she did have some training surviving in the wilderness, Chaotic or otherwise, so that allow her to forage some food. That would save money for necessities. A compass, a map, hardier clothes, gemstones, books, some –
She caught herself mid-plan. She couldn’t leave, there was so much stopping her like… like…
“Huh.”
Celestia arched her head, peering over the other Alicorns who had taken refuge in the dank temple cellar. She spotted Luna across the room, sleeping, of all things. Celestia took a deep breath before diving into the veritable sea of ponies crammed in the space between them. She could see some of them mouthing her off as she jostled her way through, but couldn’t make out what they were saying over the storm. A silver lining to everything, she supposed.
Then suddenly. Freedom! She broke through the crowd and entered a tiny bubble of space that the other Alicorns had allotted Luna’s sleeping form.
“Luna! Hey Luna!” Celestia yelled over the storm. “WAKE UP!” Nothing.
Celestia took a deep breath to calm herself down. She could barely hear herself think. How could anyone sleep through this? A quick jab to the stomach rectified the situation.
Luna shot up. “Ouch! What the hay was that for?”
“We need to talk!”
“Now? Are you serious? Can’t it wait?”
She must have seen something in Celestia’s eyes, because a moment later she shouted “Give me a second!” and dived into the crowd, only to come back a few minutes later with a quill and paper. She scribbled on it, showing a note a moment late.
So we don’t have to shout ourselves horse.
A confused look appeared on Luna’s face a moment after. She scribbled another note. What’s so funny?
It’s nothing. Celestia wrote back after she stopped giggling.
Luna arched her eyebrow, but shrugged it off.
Then what’s so important?
It was a long time before Celestia was done writing. Luna’s eyes widened at the words.
Are you insane?
It could work. Think about it.
No.
You’re not thinking about it.
NO.
Come on, think about Mom. You want to find her, too.
We have responsibilities here, Tia. Just forget about it.
Celestia was angry now. Forget about mom? She added a glare for good measure.
Luna was quick to return the glare. Never. But a wild goose chase won’t help anyone. Especially if we get lost ourselves! And think about Dad, what would he think about this oh so brilliant plan? Come on Tia, I thought you were smarter than this.
Before she could respond, the room was struck with a sudden quiet. One of the Alicorns, an older gray one she recognized as councilor Ship Shape got up and went to peek out of the cellar hatch. He let out a long, low whistle, before turning to the rest of the crowd.
“Alright everypony, it looks like the storm has passed, for now. But we have a bit of cleaning up to do.”
Luna turned to Celestia with a softened look.
“Look, we need to go help, so, can you just drop it for now…please?”
“Fine.”
The moment they exited they left the cellar they let out a grown. The entire temple court yard was filled with cats, dozens of them. No, Celestia thought, by the way the swarm extended to all the way down the path to the village, there had to be at least several hundred.
“Well,” Ship Shape spoke up. “At least it wasn’t dogs this time.”
***
The night after next Celestia lay in bed, listening for movement outside of her room. When she was as sure as she could be, she very carefully got up. She looked underneath her cot, where two pre-packed saddle bags lay. With only a moment’s hesitation she donned them and set out, making sure to take slow careful steps when passing by the rooms of the other temple acolytes. Everything was going rather smoothly until she reached the temple courtyard, there were always a few Alicorns, going about their duties. Alicorns took shifts maintaining an artificial day, or like now, night, over the island. Celestia stopped and took a moment to wonder what it would be like, living under Discord’s Sun and Moon. Where day and night came and went without any recognizable pattern. She shook her head. She’d find out soon enough. Better to focus on the task at hand. Luckily, she had planned ahead for this. She used her magic and pulled out a half of a green gemstone. While certainly pretty, gemstones held an especially high value to anyone who could work them into their magic, a skill Celestia happened to pride herself on. Her gemstone half was linked to another above the courtyard, locked in a cloud. A quick flash of magic seamlessly affected its counterpart in the sky.
It was a simple spell, really. The gem in the sky transmuted itself into yet more cloud. The effects were immediate: the original cloud absorbed the gem’s cloud. As it became heavier, it descended to the courtyard as a heavy fog. At that point, sneaking past the Alicorns became a breeze, and she was out of the Temple in moments.
Celestia took a more leisurely pace as she trotted down the path to the docks. She had a boat ready to take her to the Mainland. She was just about to the village docks when she heard a voice that made her jump.
“Going somewhere?” Luna said. She appeared on a boulder by the path, where she sat with a frown.
There was a long silence before Celestia found her words again, finding her way from awkward silence to stubborn glare. “That was the plan, yeah,” She huffed, “And it still is.”
Luna looked away first, sighing. “So there really is no way I’m going to be able to talk sense into you, is there?”
“Not really, no.” Celestia began to move again when Luna spoke up.
“Whoa, what do you think you’re doing? You’re still not leaving.”
Celestia frowned at her. “What are you going to do, Luna? Go tell an elder on me?”
“No, that would be a waste of time.”
Celestia let out a breath of relief. “Thank y-”
“Because I already did that.”
Another Alicorn stepped into view, much older than the sisters. He carried a kindly smile that would reassure the sad or worried, and held a knowing look in his bright amber eyes, a look of wry understanding. This was the face of a pony that cared, one Celestia instantly recognized.
“Grandpa!” Celestia made no attempt to hide her surprise, or anger when she turned back to Luna. “You ratted me out to Grandpa!” She hissed.
Their grandfather, the oldest and most respected of the Alicorn council, let out a lighthearted laugh.
“Hey, if anypony can talk some sense into you, it’s him.” Luna said with a shrug, before that frown appeared back on her face. “Tell me, did you even try to think this through?”
“Hey, I had everything ready and mapped out.”
”Oh, yeah? You mean you planned everything, like you planned your ship there?” An angry scowl crossed Luna’s face as she pointed a hoof down the path, where the silhouette of Celestia’s chosen transport was visible. “I hope not. I’ve seen your grand transport, Tia. Were you really planning on heading to the Mainland in a canoe?”
“Luna is quite right, Celestia. That won’t be nearly enough to take you to the mainland.”
Luna nodded her head sagely. “Thank you Gra-”
“You’re going to need a proper boat.”
At that moment the old stallion set off down the trail, towards the docks as the two sisters shared baffled looks.
“Well, are you coming or not?” He called back. They had to trot after him to catch up.
“Now, you two. Listen to me very carefully.”
“I miss my daughter every day. I know you miss her, too. Two months is long past when she planned to return.”
“Grandpa, you’re not saying what I think you’re saying… are you?” Luna says.
“Aye Luna, I think that I am.”
“But… why?”
He sighed. “I know you expected differently of me, Luna, and forgive me for favoring the bolder action. But I’ve traveled this world from pole to pole. In all my years, and all my hurts, I know the greatest pain is the void of lost family. You don’t need to be my age to feel that pain. I respect Celestia’s desire to find closure to this ordeal, whatever that entitles… and I respect yours as well.“
Luna scrunched up her face in a moment where she found herself at loss for words. “But…”
“Oh don’t give me that Luna, I’ve seen that look in your eye, you want to leave just as bad as Celestia does.”
“But grandpa, what about our responsibilities here? We can’t just leave, can we?”
“There’s far more to the world than our small island, Luna. You’ll need to see it at some point, to try to understand more than what the role we are born into, this is apart from what it means to be an Alicorn. I’ve already spoken to the other elders and they agree, should you wish to leave, everything has been taken care of, for both of you.”
They stopped at the end of the dock.
“My granddaughters.” He turned to Celestia. “So brave,” Then to Luna “And so wise. You’ve grown up into quite the mares; I have no doubt in my mind that you will go on to do great things, long after I’m gone.
“I’m scared for your mother, and when you leave, I’ll be scared for you, as well. But you’re old enough to see the world, and young enough to do so. And I think if anypony can find her, it’s you. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes!” Tia said enthusiastically.
“Maybe!” Said Luna, only slightly less so.
The old stallion swelled with pride at the words. “The fire,” He nodded at Celestia, then to Luna. “And the light. You will do fine, as long as you stick together. Can you promise me that?”
Luna nodded. “Always.”
“Then board my boat. My acolytes can sail. They will get you as far as the mainland. Good luck to you both.”
Candelight was in a bad mood, but disguised it well under a show of aggressive patience.
As librarian, Candlelight was king of a small kingdom. A very, very small kingdom. He’d heard stories of the old country, when ponies had permanent land and farms. When buildings were made of stone and bricks. When there were books.
But they didn’t live in that world anymore. When the wendigos drove ponykind out, twenty years ago, the three tribes had been optimistic about their rich, new home. But what they didn’t understand was war.
The spirits had been fighting the same conflicts for longer than any mortal could guess. The violent energies that they released were exactly what gave the land such bounties. And kept their new neighbors, the ponies, from taking advantage of the rich soil.
There were no farms. There were no towns. When the strict racial ideas of the old ways fell apart, the tribes melted together. New leaders usurped the old, incompetent ones. And the pony nation split again.
And then the Nemesis was discovered: one of the most powerful spirits, a Variance that had been leading a slave army across the land, conquering and then abandoning, for thousands of years. Ponies were new to the cycle of devastation; they needed to be able to uproot their lives at a moments notice.
And that made for terrible libraries. Books were too heavy to carry for any distance, so smaller scrolls were much preferred. Scrolls that carried much less in the way of words.
As the only full-time librarian, Candlelight was expected to carry most of them on his back. As well as everything he owned. Attacks happened, and ponies could not own more than they could carry. Everything that was left behind was taken or burned to ashes by the Nemesis and her slaves.
Knowledge was the most valuable thing in existence. It was there, immutable, whether you knew it or not. Candlelight wanted a cathedral, but all he had was two rough-cut yew shelves that would be emptied and left behind at the first sign of trouble, inside a pitiful tent that barely kept out the rain.
It ate away at him. He dreamed of books.
“Hi. Is this the library?”
Candlelight snapped out of his daydreams. “Ah, yes, I suppose it is. Or what passes for one.”
The young mare blinked at one of the shelves. Her coat was the color of a campfire burning low. “Not much, is there?”
“I, yeah. Um. Are you new here?”
She blinked, then smiled. “How’d you know?”
“There’s only a few hundred here. I know pretty much everyone. Well, everyone who reads.” Everyone who I care to meet, he thought but didn’t say.
“Do you have anything worth reading?” The mare asked. “Stories? History?”
“Not really, no.” Candlelight sighed. “Mostly manuals and practical nature scrolls. Which plants aren’t poisonous, stuff like that.”
“Really?” The young mare looked as disappointed as Candlelight felt. “What about Red Roarer? Anything by him?”
“No.”
“How about the classics of Grenwallis? The griffin?”
“Nope.”
Her jaw hung. “You have to have the Sun Dancer trilogy, though.”
Candelight shook his head. “There aren’t enough hooves to spare. I would assume you’re here to help with the whole sun and moon situation, but we’re pretty far from the neutral zone, this year.”
“Yeah. And I can lend a hoof, in terms of general labor,” Her eyes lit up with excitement. “But I’m actually a weather pony.”
“How so?” Candlelight raised an eyebrow.
“Well, magic, of course.” She giggled.
“Well, yeah,” Candlelight coughed out a chuckle, despite himself. “But, I mean, aren’t pegasi the ones who do the weather?”
“In the short term, yeah. But I’m more of a long-term pony. I play with the weather system as a whole. I’ve turned away storms. And I can calm down a tornado before it becomes a tornado.” The mare looked exceeding proud. Then she turned and showed her flank. “See?”
Her cutie mark was two lightning bolts flanking a cloud.
“My mom’s a pegasus. She thinks my job is hilarious.”
“I’ll bet,” Candlelight laughed for the first time that day. “I’m sorry that I can’t help you more. We don’t have enough ponies helping. We can barely carry the stock we have.”
“Nah, it’s alright.” She tried to smile and failed. “It’s just, I moved from the High Rock area. I’m used to a bigger library.”
“High Rock?” Candlelight beamed. “I used to live there. I grew up on the South Isles, but High Rock is where I lived on my own for the first time.”
“Really? That’s awesome.” She said politely. She didn’t hide her emotions well—she was still depressed by the selection.
“Yeah. We all went hungry a few nights, but there was always something to read.”
“I remember,” She said, pausing. “Is it worth it? The trade off?”
Candlelight’s nostrils flared. “I think it’s just stupid that we have to choose at all. Especially at the only permanent settlement. You think they would have time for both.”
The mare nodded. “Well, I should go. But we should hang out sometime. Reminisce about the Rock, you know?”
“Yeah, we should do that,” Candlelight agreed before really thinking about what the question meant. “I get off at seven. How about then?”
“Sounds good. I’ll pop back again at a quarter till.” She smiled, and headed for the exit.
Something seemed off.
“Wait! What’s your name?”
***
“So, yeah. Her name’s Sunbeam. I think we’re going on a date-shaped-thingy. Maybe.”
“Ha!” Riot laughed. “I always knew you had it in ya, buddy. When is that happening?”
Candlelight grinned. “About an hour.”
“Not much time to prepare, then.” Night Riot gave Candlelight a firm look. The uniform made it look much more convincing. “We’re going to need one hell of a montage, my friend. I should have trained you a long time ago.”
“What? I think I know what I’m doing!”
Riot scoffed playfully. “No, I don’t know. When was the last time? That mare from out west, right? What was that, five years ago?”
“Two years,” Candlelight corrected, grimacing. “Okay, maybe I could use a few pointers.”
“Great. We’ll start at the beginning. When a stallion loves a mare very, very much, they—”
“I don’t need that!” Candlelight spurted. “And I know the platitudes, Riot. ‘Be yourself’, and all that junk. I just need—”
“What? No, no, ‘light. That’s awful advice. What you need to do is be somepony else!”
“Thanks. That instills so much confidence.”
“Okay, that sounded bad. I mean, be the best you. Be a good representation of who you really are. You can show her the warts later.”
“You’re right. Yeah. My comb is at home.” Candlelight started bringing heavily. “Oh, no. My comb is at home. I haven’t washed my mane in two days! And my teeth are—”
Night Riot smacked Candlelight lightly in the mouth, and looked like he was having far too much fun doing it. “Get a hold of yourself! You’ll be fine! We know she’s got low standards, anyway.”
“You haven’t met her. She’s new. How could you possibly know that she has low standards?”
Riot just grinned until Candlelight understood. “Hey!”
The big earth pony laughed. “Sorry, sorry.” He clapped a hoof on Candlelight’s shoulder. “You’ll do fine, good buddy. And if you don’t, I swear, I will despise her for it. You don’t even have to tell me why.”
It was a rare friend who declared that your enemies were theirs. Candlelight smiled.
Author's Note
Thursdays sound good. We'll try to get a chapter out every thursday.
