Legends from Ages Past

The sun was lost above the forest canopy as the three small ponies meandered through the dark trees that loomed over them. Birds sang amongst the rustling leaves, their melodies fluttered down as gently as the tiniest of feathers. The quiet breeze whispered to them amongst the birdsongs it carried, and as they passed each tree their branches waved in the wind, greeting the three of them in turn.

This was a tranquil place, far from the troubles of Canterlot and the unending civil war. Here you only had to walk out your front door to be met with the serenity of the forest. There was no intrusion from the outside world, not a hint that anything lay beyond the edges of their woodland home. Rose Petal looked around their perfect corner of the world, a flicker of a smile crossing her face before she turned her gaze to the green blanket above her world. It was the ideal place to raise the girls; away from Canterlot; away from the Order; and away from the civil war.

“The shade always seems so cold when you’ve been out in the sun,” Celestia grumbled to herself, flapping her wings agitatedly. “Why can’t the sun, just, follow me. Then I can always stay in the sunshine!”

“You never know girls, one day you might be able to move the sun and moon and do with them as you please,” Rose said to her, smiling as she thought of what Celestia would do if she could control the sun at her age.

Celestia was the eldest of Rose’s two young fillies. She had a coat as white as snow that had freshly fallen on a cold winters morning, and was yet to bear the tracks of passing creatures. Her mane and tail were long and pale pink in colour, like the flowers that dotted either side of the path they were following. Celestia was a very excitable filly who enjoyed nothing more than to run beneath the sun’s gaze or practice flying up in the sky alongside the birds.

Luna, on the other hoof was very different from her older sister. Her coat was a deep purple and when hit by the light of the moon it sparkled with a faint silvery light. Her mane and tail were shorter than Celestia’s and were the pale blue of a frozen pool of the purest of waters. While daylight brought out the best in Celestia, Luna preferred to stay up at night and watch as the moon crept out and covered the world with its mystical light. It was this staying up late that explained why little Luna was currently half asleep, rocking back and forth as she meandered along beside Rose.

Rose had looked after Celestia and Luna in their small cottage deep in the forest and, along with the others they shared the woods with, ensured the two little fillies were looked after. She herself had a pink coat and when they were all together as a family it looked as though the white of Celestia had mixed with the dark purple of Luna until it had become the bright pink of Rose. Her brown mane with its darker streaks swished back and forth in front of her eyes, constantly making the forest around her grow darker and lighter with each wave. On her flank was the image of a single rose, her cutie mark, showing her love for all things that grow. She would spend many hours outside tending to the needs of the forest and her garden, and when she wasn’t gardening there were her girls to look after. Rose never wasted an opportunity to play with them or encourage them at every chance she could.

Now that the last of winter’s vices had melted and spring was upon them, Rose had decided that today they would all go out to visit one of the meadows that lay hidden at the heart of the forest. Together they could enjoy the fresh air as they listened to the songs of the returning birds who had flown away for the winter and smell the newly blooming flowers awaken from their long sleep.

Since leaving the cottage on their small adventure Rose had been taking in the beauty of all that was around them. Not only was the forest gorgeous to behold with its many creatures, patterns and multitudes of colours, but it was also a delight to listen to. The sounds of nature were like a symphony that told the story of the forest and its many inhabitants.

All around them the trees swayed back and forth, groaning under the pressure of the wind like tall cellos and bases letting out the deep rumbles of the symphony. The buzzing of the insects was like a staccato of violins, building tension as they approached before drifting away into the distance. High above, the birds sang an endless variety of songs to chime into the mix: the rhythmic calls of the Quails could be heard quietly in the background as the melodic voices of the Nightingales took up the lead role of their section. Every so often the sound of animals such as bears, wolves, deer and foxes could be head far off in the distance, booming like trumpets and tubas. Finally, the footsteps of the three ponies themselves was the drumming beat that kept everything around them in time.

Rose’s attention drifted from the ballad of sounds around her to her eldest daughter. Even though the suns light was kept at bay by the forest canopy, at some points it was able to break through tiny gaps between the branches, causing little islands of light to appear across the woodland floor. Rose laughed to herself as Celestia, instead of walking in a straight line along the path, tried her best to island hop from one sunlit patch to the next, berthing at each to take on fresh supplies of light before setting off across the dark sea of shadows to her next destination.

At one of her moorings Celestia stopped. Suddenly the little filly erupted with excitement, and began bouncing from one tree to the next enthralled at Rose’s earlier idea of controlling the sun.

“If I could move the sun I would make sure everypony in Equestria was able to go outside and play and we would all laugh and run in the meadows all day! Do you really think I could do that?” The more excited she got at Rose’s idea the squeakier her voice became.

Luna, however, continued to meander along at Rose’s side, quietly thinking to herself as she normally did. She waited until Celestia’s bouncing had taken her far enough ahead that she could speak without being interrupted before turning her sleepy eyes to look up at Rose.

“Mother, if I was able to move the moon I would sit up and listen to all the creatures that come out at night. I love looking out at the dark trees on those magical nights from my window, listening and sometimes singing along with the sounds the world makes.” Her voice was much softer than her sister’s, like it was something from a dream. Quiet and gentle, but wise and thoughtful beyond her years.

Celestia had managed to bounce back a few steps to within earshot of what her sister was saying and was now scrunching up her face at her.

“Why would you want to sit and sing in the dark when we could be outside playing in the sun sis?” Celestia stopped long enough to speak while moored at a small island of sunlight on top of a grassy mound. “Then we could go exploring in the woods and see if there were any evil ponies to defeat and Iron Shield could come save us!”

“Now sweetie, I have told you not to joke about that kind of stuff. Always stay in the parts of the forest we spoke about and not to go too far from our home, especially out past Iron Shield and Angus’ cottage. Angus might be a strong pony who could look after you but he is not there all the time and Iron Shield is only slightly older than you and isn’t ready to be rescuing mares in distress.”

“I know Mum, but sometimes I want to go see what is beyond the woods and visit far away lands and meet more ponies and hear tales about Dragons and Changelings and Griffons and Ursas and Zebra and Crystal Ponies and—”

“One day you will Sweetie, but not today. And when that day does comes you will need to be more serious and understand that when your young its ok to be excited and run about exploring. But, in the future you might not be able to play. You will need to act like grown ups, look after each other and make sure you are both safe if things become so dark that you don’t know which way to turn to find the light.”

“But Mother, you will be here to look after us.”

Rose gazed into Luna’s deep blue eyes. They were as deep as the ocean and as endless as the night sky. Before she could say yes a voice from her memories whispered to her, but was quickly shut out. She would not bear to relive those memories. Even the happy ones. It was too dark a time, and deep wounds never truly heal.

One day, they will learn to be more serious about things, Rose thought as she brought her mind back to the present and locked the door to that corner of her mind. “Yes my dear, you know I will always be right here if you need me.”

They slowed to a stop as the trees thinned and a great meadow came into view. The suns light bathed it in a golden hue causing the grass to shimmer. The droplets of dew dotting the thousands of blades of grass were like a sea of jewels, untouched and yet to be discovered. The islands of light from before had been replaced with small clumps of flowers dotted across the meadow like an archipelago of colourful islands extending out from the mainland forest. With stiff legs from walking Rose slowly made her way over to the enormous Oak that stood like an eternal sentinel some way out into the meadow and lay down in the shade beneath its great branches. The two young fillies followed close behind and lay down in the grass to stare up at the sky and rest their weary legs. The wind was gentle here but strong enough that it kept them all cool and carried with it the smell of a new spring. It made the flowers dance from side to side all around them like little ponies all dancing in groups at the Hearth’s Warming Eve festival. The clouds overhead were few and far between and sailed across the sky like the great merchant ships of the old Saddle Arabian Sultanate, a mighty and wondrous nation now condemned to the pages of history and legend. Celestia’s ears pricked up as several birds flew into view overhead while Luna snuggled up to Rose’s side and began to breath gently as she fell asleep.

Celestia rolled over and stood up slowly so as not to wake Luna. “Can I go fly with the birds for a bit Mum? I promise to keep where you can see me.”

Rose nodded and was met with the widest of smiles imaginable from the little filly. As Celestia moved a bit away before spreading her wings out Rose couldn’t help but feel more than a little proud of the two of them.

“I hope this is what you had planned for them,” Rose said quietly to the world that lay before her, “I hope that they will one day go on to fulfil the destinies you laid before them. I just want you to remember how much these girls mean to me, and that I want to be with them for as long as you let me.”

“Who are you speaking to Mother?” Luna breathed out as she rolled her head over to look up at Rose with one half open and drowsy eye.

“No one sweetie, you go back to sleep I was just thinking out loud. You will need to be well rested if you wish to stay up tonight and listen to Beardy’s stories again.”

Luna smiled as she snuggled back down again. “You don’t need to worry about me staying up Mother. I love Beardy’s stories. You would think he was actually there in most of them. It’s almost as if he was the background pony who made sure everything worked out as planned.” With that, Luna’s eye closed again and her breathing returned to a steady rhythm as she descended back into her world of dreams.

Rose looked up at Celestia who was hovering overhead looking about from left to right to try find the birds who had evidently outwitted her and hidden amongst the branches of the old Oak. What Luna had said made Rose think back to all the stories Beardy had told her daughters over the years. Sometimes he would embellish bits to make it more grand for the girls and other parts he missed out completely because of their age. What she did know however, was that he certainly was there in each of them. He really was the background pony that ensured the story stayed true to the end.