Moonlit's Journey

Chapters

1-Prologue
2-Awake
3-The Meeting
4-Heading Out

1-Prologue

Moonlit Night was a regular young Unicorn mare living in Tanzanite, a gorgeous village near a canyon. Moonlit had a beautiful carbon black coat with a black mane streaked with white. Her cutie mark was of a full moon surrounded by stars. Moonlit was relaxing by a tree, enjoying the light summer breeze that ruffled her mane and the leaves above her. She watched the sun, with teal eyes, as it dipped below the horizon, painting the sky with vibrant pinks, reds, and oranges. She suddenly remembered that her father was going to be home just after the sun had set. She sprang up and sprinted home, passing Unicorn couples walking together in the last light of twilight. She arrived home and found her mother, Sapphire Radiance, well-known for her kindness and warmth towards other ponies, in the kitchen. She was a beautiful mare with a sapphire blue coat, baby blue mane, and her cutie mark was a shimmering sapphire surrounded by three white stars, and rich teal eyes matching her daughter’s. Sapphire Radiance was talking quietly with her husband, “Solid” Black Night, still in his armor and looking drained after the meeting. He was the Captain of the village’s Silver Timberwolves Regiment, and one of the most respected ponies in the village. He had a dark gray coat, pitch black mane speckled with gray, betraying his age, and cutie mark of a clear black sky within a white shield. As Moonlit opened the door, their conversation stopped. “What were you talking about in here?” Moonlit asked.

“It is nothing, Moonlit, your mother and I were just talking about the advisements of the council meeting,” Night said, his deep plum colored eyes betraying his worry.

“That’s right, dear, there’s nothing to worry about,” Radiance said, hesitantly. “Why don’t you go to your room and wash up? I’m about to start dinner.”

“Alright,” Moonlit said. As she walked up the stairs, she stopped where her parents wouldn’t see her, and stayed quiet for a few moments. Her parents, making sure that their daughter was out of earshot, started to talk again quietly.

It was early afternoon as Black Night was making his way to the town hall for the meeting he scheduled. Clad in his magenta armor and walking with an air of authority about him, saying hello to everypony he passed. He arrived at a three story building of a rough circular design. As Night entered the town hall, he crossed the lobby, walked down the hall and towards the fourth door on the left. Walking into the room, he noticed a large round strategy table in the center surrounded by officers of his guard. Two of Night’s lieutenants and four of his sergeants were patiently waiting for him. Upon seeing him, they stood and saluted their captain. The Mayor cleared his throat and addressed Black Night, directly, “I see you finally made it, Captain.”

“I wish it were under better circumstances, Mayor,” replied Night. “Anyway, let this council begin. What have you to report, Lieutenant?”

“Sir, the defenses of Tanzanite and Pyxis are presently being modified after we learned of new information from the scouts,” Lieutenant Flash Saber said. She was a light gray mare in dark gray armor, with a green mane, and her cutie mark was of two crossed swords.

“Where is this scout, Saber?” Night asked.

Saber motioned to a stallion with a blue coat and a red mane. Night saw that his cutie mark was of Pegasi wings. “Captain Night, my name is Blue Jay. And what I have to report is anything but happy news.”

The Mayor was getting anxious by this point. As he pounded his hoof on the table, he exclaimed, “This is an outrage! We’re Unicorns! We shouldn’t be at the mercy of those feather-brained Pegasi! We should have them at a disadvantage! Have them bowing before us, as is our right!”

“Calm down, Mayor,” Night said, with a frustrated sigh. “This is a strategy meeting to which you are only to lay witness. Please continue, Blue Jay.”

“Very well, Captain,” replied the scout. “I’ve infiltrated the Pegasi keep at Nimbostratus several times. And this last time revealed a strategy for the attack of a Unicorn village. I’m unsure as to which village was to be targeted, but they hinted that it would probably be one of the ones on the outer edge of the Centauri Kingdom. The pony in charge of the attack is Cyclone Tempest, Commander of the ‘Silver Falcons.’ Also there is a rumor going around that there are four generals with massive bloodlust led by a Pegasus named Storm Blade. They are called ‘The Laughing Reapers.’”

“That is indeed troublesome.”

“What of the Gaia Kingdom? What are the Earth Ponies doing?” A sergeant interrupted.

Another scout stepped forward and replied, “The ponies of Gaia are going about their daily lives. They haven’t had a war meeting or strategy council in over three months.”

“Well, it seems we shouldn’t have anything to fear from them, for now. As for the Pegasi, did you manage to gain any information about what they are doing?” asked Captain Black Night.

“Well, sir,” Jay replied, hesitantly. “I’ve managed to uncover plans concerning the gathering of thunder clouds. And that isn’t the worst of it. They’re building war machines, Captain. Massive ones…”

The room went silent upon hearing the Pegasi plans. Black Night stood with an unreadable expression on his face. Around him the council broke into arguments on how to fortify the village and those surrounding it.

“We should send out troops…!”

“Walls need to be built around…!”

“What about the rest of the village…?”

“What about the Royal City? Can’t they help…?”

The Captain had enough of the banter. “Will you all calm down?” He said, in a firm, commanding voice. Instantly, the room fell silent, as all eyes turned on him.

“First, Blue Jay, when do you think the Pegasi will be carrying out this plan of theirs?”

“Over the next week surely, sir.”

“Second, Lieutenant, get down to the barracks and wake the rest of the guard. We’ll need every able bodied soldier to help fortify this village. Also, send a messenger to Pyxis and the Royal City telling them of the attack soon to come.”

“At once, Captain.”

When the Lieutenant left, Night turned to the rest of the ponies in the room and said, “We need to have this village fortified and defended until this attack is over. As of right now, we are officially at war with the Pegasi. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to seek the council of my wife. Meet at the barracks once you’ve sufficiently rested. Dismissed.”

“We’ll talk about this later, Moonlit should be down soon,” Radiance said. Moonlit walked toward her room with sweat upon her brow and fear in her eyes. ‘War?’ she thought, ‘But that can’t happen, right? No, of course that won’t happen. We’ll be fine. They would know if we were going to be attacked, wouldn’t they?’ She tried explaining to herself, though doubt filled her mind. Moonlit cleaned herself up and walked downstairs, her parents were sitting at the table with troubled looks on their faces. They saw her and they forced a smile, trying to fight back the fear and worry in their hearts. They started eating, but it was quiet, almost deathly silent, if not for the sounds of wooden spoons scrapping the dishes. Night and Radiance shared a glance, figuring Moonlit had heard at least part of their conversation. “Moonlit…” Night started to say, but was cut off by his daughter getting up and walking out of the room.

Inside a gray tent, with a red flag depicting a silver falcon flying atop of it, a lone figure sat happily eating his dinner, which consisted of a fresh salad, delectable berries, and a cup of liquid rainbow. “Ahh,” he sighed in content. “Nothing beats the spices of a homemade rainbow.” He continued to eat until another figure burst into the tent.

“Commander Tempest,” a Pegasi soldier interrupted. “Your generals are here.”

“Well? Show them in already,” the Commander sighed, unhappy that his meal was interrupted.

The soldier left the tent and, soon after, three Pegasi stallions and a Pegasi mare walked in. The four then sat in front of Cyclone Tempest with an air of confidence about them. The rest of the Pegasi called these four ‘The Laughing Reapers’. The methods they use were enough to make most hardened veterans sick. Commander Tempest sighed, facing his Generals, saying, “And your report couldn’t wait until later?”

“We are deeply sorry for disturbing your meal, sir,” said the mare, in a shrill, but alluring voice.

“General Storm Blade,” Commander Tempest continued, “what do you have to report?”

General Storm Blade was easily the largest of his generals, standing two heads taller than any other Pegasi. His muddy brown coat contrasted greatly with his stark white mane and tail. His flank bearing a steel long sword with a lightning bolt behind it, as his piercing ruby red eyes calmly watched his superior. “The Earth Ponies of Gaia have sent word that they wish to be neutral in this war. Also, the Unicorns are moving. Setting up barricades and readying their troops. We suspect that they planted a spy in our midst,” Storm Blade reported in a deep, rumbling voice, similar to a storm cloud.

“Of course they did. Why do you think I let it slip that the attack would take place next week, then move our troops out here tonight?” Commander Tempest interrupted.

The generals stared at their commander with something of admiration in their eyes. They knew how cunning he could be, and he has proven it to them several times in the past. Standing up, Commander Tempest motioned to a large map showing the outline of the village they were about to attack. “Gather around and listen.”

Standing on a hill overlooking the Unicorn village of Tanzanite, four figures were outlined by the torches around them. Hundreds of Pegasi on plains beneath the hill waited for the signal. All eyes turned to General Storm Blade as he launched into the sky and grabbed one of the storm clouds above them. With a blow from his hooves, the thunder cloud rumbled. He sent the cloud zooming off towards the village, landing shortly after. With bated breath the Pegasi watched the runaway cloud, until the first lightning bolt struck the town hall, catching it on fire.

Moonlit was in her room, laying on her bed, crying. “Why?” She sobbed. “Why do things like this have to happen now?”

A lightning bolt struck the town hall. Moonlit raced to her window. Her eyes widening as she saw a thunder cloud running rampant over the village striking everything it could. She could hear the screams of the residents as they tried to get rid of the cloud and put out the fires.

She ran downstairs and burst into the hallway. Her father, already wearing his armor, was heading towards the door. He turned and shouted, “Stay inside and stay away from the windows.” With that, he ran outside unsheathing the sword at his belt.

“Mom! What’s happening?” Moonlit cried, as her mother was standing still as a statue, continuing to stare at the door. “MOM!”

Moonlit’s shout broke Radiance out of her shock as she turned and saw her daughter wearing a very concerned expression. The two silently looked at each other, Moonlit becoming even more worried about her mother. Eventually, Radiance spoke, her voice heavy with emotion, “I think it’ll be best we hide in the kitchen, behind the table.”

Moonlit was confused for a moment, before another loud crash and more shouting were heard on the other side of the door. Radiance and Moonlit quickly glanced at the door and rushed into the kitchen, throwing the table onto its side and hiding between it and the wall, with Radiance comforting her crying daughter.

Black Night was running through the village trying to settle down civilians and organize his unit. Another bolt of lightning struck down a Unicorn stallion unlucky enough to be under the cloud. His scream lasted only a second before he collapsed onto the ground. Night silently cursed the cloud.

As the flash ended, Night saw four figures standing on a hill just beyond the buildings. Upon closer inspection, he saw that they were Pegasi. Eyes widening at what he saw, the captain shouted, “Sneak attack!”

All the guards currently on duty ran to the captain to receive their orders. Some soldiers were sent to wake the rest of the guard, others were sent to evacuate the village, and the rest were to stay with him and confront the enemy to stall their advance into the town. “Sergeant!” Night called.

“Yes, sir!”

“Find Lieutenant Saber and send her to me.”

“At once, Captain.”

The soldiers were running to town hall and grabbing their weapons and armor from the armory. Once they were fully equipped, they rushed to their captain’s side again. Black Night stood near the town hall taking in the destruction around them. Fires sprung up everywhere, corpses lined the roads, ponies screaming in pain or crying over lost loved ones. It was pure chaos. Night spotted a gray filly wandering through the bodies, crying for her mother. The sight brought tears to his eyes. “Curse those blasted Pegasi.”

As every soldier was grabbing their equipment, Night shouts to them, with anger in his voice, “We are this village’s shield and its sword, it is our motherland. Will you fight to protect it?”

“Hooah! Hooah!” chant the soldiers.

“Will you teach these Pegasi why you don’t mess with Unicorns?”

“YEAH!”

“Protect the villagers! And drive out the Pegasi,” Night screams, charging for the outskirts of the village where Pegasi were starting to appear.

“Charge!” commands Captain Night. Captain “Solid” Black Night lived up to his name by smashing through the Pegasi ranks with barely any wounds, his sword cleaving through the air and dropping his foes. The carnage all around him faded as he focused on one thought. ‘I must protect my family. I must protect this village.’ His soldiers were starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of the enemy. Night’s body was starting to fatigue as well when a familiar voice sprang up beside him. “You hanging in there, old man?” A mare slashing at a Pegasi behind him.

“This is no time for jokes, Flash,” Night said, as he blocked and countered, killing the attacker. “Bring out the catapults.”

The soldiers wind back the catapults aiming for the thunder clouds, which the Pegasi were using to destroy the village. “Fire!” A volley of magic coated projectiles fly towards the clouds, obliterating them. A few hitting the Pegasi as the tried to flee, killing them instantly.

The death count on both sides was staggering, the village continued burning to the ground, innocent ponies were massacred at the hooves of the Pegasi or under the hooves of fleeing innocents, and still the lengthy battle drew on.

The Unicorns were fighting well, swords flashing and horns glowing. Several of the soldiers were standing away from the ones fighting and were firing bolts of energy into the crowd specifically targeting those with wings. Pegasi numbers dropped to about half and the Silver Timberwolves were drawing more strength and morale from their enemy’s dropping numbers.

The fighting went on for hours and the Unicorns were very slowly pushing the Pegasi back. Though the Unicorns had suffered severe losses, they were still holding their own. Then, four new figures arrived on the battlefield. The fighting stopped momentarily as they made their way up the road. The Unicorns stared at the newcomers with caution, while the Pegasi starting to quiver in their armor. Three of the Unicorn recruits rushed them, swinging their weapons high to strike them. In a flash, the smallest of the four took out her twin short swords with her wings, jumped into the air and twirling around, managed to slice all three of their throats. The Unicorns dropped to the ground struggling to breathe as they choked on their blood, looking up into the eyes of the mare. Nothing, but cold humor was in her eyes, taking her blades and began skinning them as they slowly died. All the while, the mare never stopped laughing. The Unicorns, as well as the other Pegasi, were deeply horrified.

Night and Flash recovered from their shock first and sounded the retreat. As the rest of the soldiers snapped back to reality, they broke into full retreat upon hearing the command. The Pegasi just stood there confused as to what happened, when all of a sudden the large stallion in blood red armor, his red eyes glowing from under his helmet, shouted angrily, “You fools! Don’t stand there gawking. Kill the Unicorns!” The Pegasi followed the order immediately, fearing that what happened to the recruits might happen to them if the failed to obey.

Night and Flash bolt down an alley to catch their breaths. “Who were those Pegasi, Night?” The lieutenant gasped, fear and fatigue affecting her voice.

“I-I don’t know,” Night answered, equally affected by the monstrosity of Pegasi mare. “One thing is for sure, though. Those four have a completely different set of morals that they go by. We should steer clear of them as much as possible.”

Flash looked her captain dead in the eyes for several moments, before nodding. They both tensed when they heard a chilling voice echo down the alley from above. “Aww, look at the little Unicorns hiding from the big mean Pegasi. What’s the matter, scared?” Something hit Night on the head, and as he looked down at the object, he realized that it was a Unicorn horn. Flash’s eyes widened when she saw the object as well, slowly drawing her sword. All of a sudden dozens of Unicorn horns fell into the alley accompanied by the stallions crazed laughter. Flash screamed and they both fled from the alleyway, the laughter still echoing behind them.

All at once, Night and Flash were confronted with a sight of devastation. Pegasi were rounding up the remaining Unicorns and throwing them in front of the Pegasi from before, the laughing stallion joining them a second later. The Unicorns trembled in front of the four Pegasi, all of them still smiling. Night and Flash continued to watch the event taking place in front of them, silently rooted to the spot. All around them the village burned, the last of the unicorns were rounded up and gathered in the square at the center of town, the remaining soldiers as well as the last of the residents. Dozens of innocents lined up and forced to the ground in front of those four figures, the fire from behind casting most of their features into shadow. All except their eyes. Four pairs of red eyes, above four white smiles. Night had never looked upon an enemy so terrifying in his entire service to the village, even the darkest of stories paled to what was in front of them. Four Pegasi... no. Four demons…

At last, somepony broke the silence. “Who are you?”

The four Pegasi laughed. “You dare ask us our names?”

“I am General Storm Blade, leader of the ‘Laughing Reapers.’ And we’re here to eradicate all you Unicorn trash from this world.”

The Unicorns were utterly terrified. Night couldn’t help but think, ‘May the stars help us.’ Everypony froze, their gazes transfixed on the generals as they walked off the platform weapons in wing. They walked calmly through the crowd, laughing, swinging their weapons at random slaughtering the gathered Unicorns one by one. Night and Flash could only watch in terror as nopony even moved as they were killed. “We need to run, Night,” Flash pleaded. “Now.”

Black Night could only watch as Flash tried shoving him away from the gruesome scene in front of them. Only one thought was going through his broken mind. ‘I-I failed them. I’ve failed them all.’ Flash slammed her hoof across her captain’s face, snapping him out of his stupor. “Get a grip, you geezer,” Flash scolded. “How many times have you told me the same thing on a field of battle?” Flash slumped against a wall, utterly spent. “At least we are still alive. We can regroup at Pyxis. Give them a heads up as to what’s coming.”

Night knew that that was the logical thing to do. And yet he couldn’t get the dying screams of the villagers out of his ears. It was like living one’s worst personal nightmare. Except, you couldn’t wake up and everything would be ok. Finally, the captain lifted himself off the ground he had slumped to when they stopped, gathered his wits about him, and made a swift decision. “Flash, will you help me get my family out of this village?”

Flash stared at him for a few moments before replying, “Are you kidding? I’ll always help you with your family. Have you forgotten that I used to foalsit that little Moonlit of yours?” They chuckled at the memory before Night spoke up again. “Well it’s always a pleasure being with you, my old friend.”

“Who are you calling old, you geezer?” Flash replied, light-heartedly.

“Well, well,” a dark voice said, with a chuckle, “I thought you’d have run away by now, little pony.”

Flash immediately tackled Night out of the way, barely missing the swung sword herself. They rolled before standing back up, and their faces turned white when they saw who it was. Storm Blade stood over the two with a massive long sword in his wing, the blade crackling with lightning, sending sparks showering over the ground. “Too bad. I seem to have missed,” the Pegasi said, in mock disappointment.

Night pulled Flash up off the ground and the duo bolted for the end of the road. Before they could reach the turn, however, the Pegasi mare charged into Flash, knocking her to the ground. As Night turned to help his friend up, a third general dropped from the sky, beheading her in front of his eyes. Before he could so much as shed a tear, he blasted all the generals back with a wall of magic shouting, “FLASH!” The only one unaffected was Storm Blade due to his magic cancelling armor. He slammed his hoof straight into Night’s chest causing him to fly ten feet away and skid across the ground. Night, however, just got back to his hooves and galloped full speed towards his home.

Night opened the front door, bloody and injured from the battle. “Night, are you ok?” Radiance asked, from the kitchen. “Oh my stars! Black Night!”

“No! Father, are you alright?” cried Moonlit, as he ran into the kitchen.

“We have lost, my men are dead, the residents are dead, and Flash was taken as well,” the aged captain sighed, “but I still have enough magic left in me to protect you. Radiance, we must keep our daughter safe, no matter the cost.”

“What? No! What about you and mother?” Moonlit cried.

“Honey, we will be fine, we have to make sure you are safe,” Radiance said, shaking with fear, but resolve shone in her eyes.

“You mother is right, we’ll be fine. But you need to be protected,” Night said. “Quick, get to the cellar!” They all ran to the cellar door and rushed into the darkness beneath. “I’m too weak to do this alone. Honey, I will need you to help me with this spell, it's the only way to keep her safe,” Night says.

Black Night lit up his horn, causing a deep purple like aura to surround Moonlit. Sapphire Radiance added her own magic to the spell, hers a more rich blue color. As the spell charged, Moonlit watched her parents, unsure what was going to happen, or even if she’d see them again. Just before the spell was ready, Night looked his daughter in the eye and said, “I love you, Moonlit.” Radiance also had something to say to her daughter. “Moonlit, you be a good girl, now. We do love you so very much. Always remember that.” Radiance sniffed, as tears started to flow down her face.

Goodbye.

Black Night had discarded his armor and currently sat in the family room holding his wife, Sapphire Radiance. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since they had cast the spell on their daughter. Now, with both Unicorns spent on magic and strength, they could only sit and wait for the inevitable. They hardly flinched when the front door flew into the house and slide to a stop in front of the kitchen, nor did they show any fear when confronted with the four Pegasi generals as they walked through it. “We have nothing to fear from you, so do your worst,” Night boldly stated.

“My, my,” the Pegasi mare giggled, darkly. “If only you knew what you just asked of us.”

“Patience,” Storm Blade cautioned, laughing himself. “Wouldn’t want to end this too quickly.”

“Aww, come on. Let’s slice them to ribbons,” the slim stallion whined, a necklace of Unicorn horns around his neck.

The fourth general, being mute and second tallest, only nodded vigorously, rubbing his twin daggers together as a chuckle escaped his throat.

Radiance clung to Night as she heard the fourth general laugh. Night only stared them down saying, “You’ll never be able to kill all of the Unicorns. It’s impossible.”

Storm Blade let out a deeply disturbing laugh, with the other Pegasi chuckling as well. After calming down a bit, Storm Blade retorted, “We will. But, one thing I’m most certain of is that you won’t be around to see it. Now, is there anypony else in this house?”

“No, there is not.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Storm, there’s a magical aura on this cellar door”

“Well, would you look at that? Protecting some food storage, are we? Break it open and kill any who are inside.”

“NO!” Radiance dove over to the cellar door, shoving the slim stallion away from it. “Nopony is laying a hoof on my baby!”

“Aww, how sweet. Mommy still thinks she can protect her little brat,” the mare said, drawing her swords. “Let’s put that to the test, shall we?”

“Don’t you lay one hoof on my wife, demon!” Night exclaimed, jumping in front of Radiance. “I swear that if you do, I will end you.”

“Interesting challenge, Captain,” the mare sneered. “Can you back up your words with action, is the question.”

Even low on strength and magic, Night still managed to lift his sword and point it at the Pegasus. “Certainly, let’s find out.”

They rushed each other, the Pegasus jumping and twirling in the same manner that killed his recruits. But Night wasn’t going to fall for it. He slid on the floor, right under the general, slashing upwards as his sword clanged against hers. Rising from the ground, Night faced his opponent once more. As they circled each other, the other Pegasi and Radiance stood watching, Radiance holding her breath, silently praying that everything would turn out alright. Night threw his sword forward, barely glancing off the mare’s left sword. Her right sword slashing Night’s left foreleg, causing him to grunt in pain and almost drop his sword. But, the mare wasn’t done with him yet, jumping passed him twirling her blades and leaving deep gashes in his side. With that final wound, Night could no longer concentrate on keeping his sword wrapped in magic and the blade dropped to the floor, with him following soon after.

“Night!” As Radiance rushed to the side of her husband, the mare was laughing along with the other Pegasi. “Ha! I knew he was all bark and no bite. Should’ve seen that coming.”

In a fit of rage, Radiance grabbed Night’s fallen sword in her hooves and swung it hard at the unknowing mare. The mute stallion rushed forward and blocked the sword with his mace, only for the handle to shatter, leaving a large gash across his chest. The other Pegasi were shocked as to the ferocity of this Unicorn mare. Before Sapphire could raise the sword a second time a hoof slammed into her forcing her to drop the weapon and fly towards a wall. Night weakly began crawling over to his wife, ignoring the enraged arguing behind him. Unfortunately, Night was stopped before he reached her, with a sword jammed through his right rear leg and into the floor. His screams shook Radiance awake, and she almost fainted at what was happening to her husband.

“Please, stop,” she begged. “Why are you doing this?”

Storm Blade smiled as he answered her, “We do this because it’s fun. A great way to get entertainment out of this miserable life.”

Storm Blade lifted Night from the ground leaving his leg attached to it with the mare’s sword, and slammed him into a nearby wall, taking the slim stallion’s sword and jamming it into Night’s right foreleg, pinning him to the wall. He picked up Night’s fallen blade and forced it into his other foreleg, causing him to hang from the wall, Storm then took the mare’s other sword and shoved it through Night’s remaining leg leaving him barely conscious due to the pain. All the while Sapphire was frozen with fear, not even trying to contain her tears. Storm whispered into Night’s ear, “Now, you get to watch what my unit gets to do with your wife.”

The mare forced Radiance to her hooves, while Storm held up Night’s head so he could watch. The slim Pegasus took the broken mace and slammed it into her rear legs crushing them. Night struggled against the swords pinning him to the wall upon hearing his wife’s screams of agony. The mute one, still angry at the mare for the wound in his chest, broke both of her forelegs and started slamming his hoof into her face over and over until he was held back the slim one and the mare. Radiance was barely conscious at this point so the mare decided to end her misery. As the Pegasus approached Radiance, she took the mace from the lanky Pegasus and dragged it across the floor. Right before she swung the mace, she snapped off Radiance’s horn. Radiance screamed as she felt a pain worse than any she had felt before, only to have those screams silenced by the mace as it came crashing down on her head.

All of a sudden, Night stopped struggling. He knew she was gone and he longed to join her. “Just get it over with,” he said, utterly broken and defeated. “Please just kill me.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we will,” Storm Blade said, adding a chuckle. “Just tell us how to open the cellar and we’ll kill you nice and quick.”

“Y-you’ll have to kill me then. That c-cellar can only be op-opened from the inside, now. Not e-even I could open it for you,” Night gasped, as his vision darkened.

“That a fact,” the mare said, displeased. “Shouldn’t have to wait long before the brat decides to come out.”

Night laughed and chocked on his own blood, “You’ll be waiting a long time, then.”

“What are you talking about?”

Th-there’s a spell on her that put her to sleep. She c-can wake up i-in a few ho-hours or a f-few de-decades. Serves you right, dem-.”

Storm Blade was furious. He cut Night off with his own long sword by jamming it into his throat. A gurgle came out of Night’s neck along with a large amount of blood, and then all was silent.

“How do we open the cellar then, Storm?” The mare asked, as the four Pegasi walked up to the cellar door and stared down at it.

“Shut up, Cloud Swirl.”

2-Awake

I feel weightless, trapped in this dreamless sleep. How long has it been? How long?

The magical bubble I was in popped suddenly and I awoke realizing that I was falling. I flailed my hooves trying to grab hold of anything to break my fall. Hitting the ground, I grunted in pain, “Oof.” I glanced around while slowly getting up. The cellar looked like it hadn’t been used in years. The walls were cracked and slowly crumbling, the stairs were broken, and there was moss growing on the stone floor and walls. I stumbled towards the stairs and inspected them. “I hope they can hold my weight,” I said to myself. Placing a forehoof on the bottom step, I firmly pressed down. It held, but I did hear the distinct sounds of stone crumbling. I plucked up some courage and bolted to the top of the stairs and out the door before looking back down. The stairs fell into dust the moment I was off of them. I sighed in relief that I wasn’t stuck in my own cellar. Looking up, I was shocked by what I saw…

The room I found myself in looked like a kitchen. Well, most of a kitchen. The roof was partially caved in and one of the walls was knocked down. Grass was beginning to grow in from the missing wall, moss covered the cabinets, and everything just looked run down. I walked through the kitchen and noticed stains on the ground. I inspected the rest of the area and found two Unicorn skeletons, partially decaying to dust. I felt tears fall down my face. I didn’t know who these Unicorns were, but it was sad all the same. I walked to the stairs and looked up, noticing that they were relatively intact. I slowly made my way to the next story, gasping when a stair gave out. On the upper floor I noticed two bedrooms, a master bedroom and a guest bedroom. I went into the master bedroom to see if I could find out who had lived here. The bed was broken, blankets in tatters, and dust everywhere. The dust made me cough as I walked through the room. I noticed several broken and charred pictures on the ground. Picking one up in my magic, I saw a smiling family. On the left was a proud dark gray stallion with deep purple eyes looking at a blue mare with rich teal eyes holding a black foal in her forehoof. They were standing in front on what I was certain was the house I was in. Suddenly I dropped the photo in shock and bolted down the hall towards the other bedroom. ‘It couldn’t be true!’

The other bedroom was in ruins, but I still could picture the way it used to be. I saw the bed in the far corner with a black blanket with my own cutie mark, a full moon surrounded by stars, still clearly visible on the burned cloth. I stumbled through the debris, looking around the ruined room. The chest where I had stored my accessories was open and empty. ‘Must’ve been taken while I was asleep,’ I thought sadly. ‘I lost the necklace my mother made for me.’ My eyes blurred again as unshed tears built up in them. I continued to look around my room from the charred curtains, barely covering a hole in the wall, to some tattered clothes scattered about the area. I ran out of my room and down the stairs, not caring if they collapsed or not, and into the hall. ‘Please, no…’ I silently pleaded. Walking slowly into the living room/kitchen area, I saw the two Unicorns again. I looked more closely at them; one leaning up against a support beam and the other on the ground beside the cellar door. The one near the cellar was kind of hard to identify because the skull was flattened like it was crushed by something heavy. The other was missing a rear leg that I noticed a few feet away, with a thin hole sliced through it. Both of their horns were broken off, which must’ve caused them so much pain. I sat there with my head bowed, my tears starting to flow freely as I realized who they were. My father died pinned to the support beam, and my mother died trying to protect the cellar from whoever was trying to get in. I wept for my parents, not being able to tell them I loved them one more time. “Why? You promised me that you were going to be fine. WHY DID YOU LIE TO ME?”

I don’t know how long I stayed there crying. It felt like hours, and eventually my tears ran dry. I encased their bodies in my magic and slowly walked out the back door of our home. I spent twenty minutes scraping at the ground, until I had a grave big enough for both of them. I gently laid them down into the hole. As I placed the dirt over them, I whispered, “Goodbye.”

I placed a large stone near the head of the grave and carved into it with my magic. It read:

HERE LIES BLACK NIGHT AND SAPPHIRE RADIANCE

BRAVE, LOYAL, KIND

LOVING PARENTS

I’LL MISS YOU

-MOONLIT

Walking back to the house I noticed the village was in ruins, the town hall partially burned down, and most of the houses were nothing but piles of rubble. The worst part was the bodies of Unicorns scattered all over the ground in groups. It looked like a mass killing had taken place and these remains have been left here forgotten as they slowly rot away with the passage of time. “This is horrible!” I said, tears building in my eyes again. “How long was I asleep in that cellar?”

I realized that it must’ve been years, since most of the dead had little to no skin left. Sadly, I went about cleaning the village and laying all my friends and neighbors to rest. As I worked, I stumbled across a headless skeleton with its head a few hoofsteps away. I examined the body and discovered a cutie mark: two crossed blades. I didn’t think I had any tears left after so much crying already, but learning that my old foalsitter hadn’t escaped either made it seem so surreal. I let loose a few more tears as I picked up her body and carried it to where I was placing the others. Of the ones that still had enough left of them to be identified, I found the Mayor, a market cart pony, a couple soldiers that still had a few pieces of armor, and one of my friends from foalhood.

I began to think that nopony made it out of this village during the attack. So many lives ended. It was tragic. As I neared the end of my daunting task, I ran across a group of foals huddled together trying to hide from what was happening around them. I scooped up their remains and carried them to the others. It took me roughly half a day to bury the whole village, and I was exhausted and depressed when I had finished. The ruined town wasn’t comforting as I walked towards the park, which had relatively remained intact. As I reached the park, I remembered a similar time I came to the park with Flash when I was a filly.

I was walking beside Flash Saber on our way to the park, sometimes running off ahead. “Don’t wander too far, Moonlit,” Saber laughed. “Your father would be rather cross with me if I lost you.”

“Sorry, Saber,” I replied, returning to her side. I looked up at her with a grin on my face.

“And what’s with that face?” She asked.

“Race ya to the park!”

“Hey! Cheat!”

She was laughing as she ran after me, catching up to me just before we entered the park. We stopped next to a lone tree and lay down beside it. “You are one fast filly. I wish I still had a bit of that energy,” Saber said. She chuckled as she looked up at the sky, lost in thought as she watched the clouds swirl against the backdrop of brilliant purple and orange hues of twilight. “Hey, Moonlit,” she said.

“Yes?”

“Your birthday is in a few days, isn’t it?”

“Yes! I’ll be six!” I cried happily.

“Really? Well then I’ll have to get you something,” Saber told me, grinning. “Anything in specific you would want?”

“Hmm… A wagon!”

I was blinking back the tears in my eyes as I sat under the same tree we sat under all those years ago. I placed a hoof on the slightly blackened bark and asked myself, “Had it really been so long ago?”

I sat there looking out at the village trying to imagine what had happened after my parents had placed me under their spell. The last thing I saw of the village was just before the door closed behind my father. Fire. The village was burning and judging from the rest of the ruined town, the fire burned through most of it. The town hall was mostly gone, just a few rooms at the back survived.

‘Two hundred and thirty-five. That’s how many Unicorns lived peacefully here. Now… now there was only me,’ I thought bitterly to myself. A tear rolled down my cheek as I recalled what happened to my mother’s necklace. It was a beautiful gift that day…

“Moonlit, can you come in here, please?” My mom asked from downstairs. Then she whispered to the others in the living room, “Alright, everypony ready?”

I came down the stairs to see what she wanted and I was assaulted by a shout from everyone in the room. “SURPRISE!”

I jumped in shock at the number of ponies crammed into one room. I could barely get out a “Wha-?” before everypony was hugging me and telling me happy birthday. I noticed Flash with an easily recognizable wrapped package and mom and dad had a couple gifts to give me as well. My cousin Glittering Rubi was walking closer to me and grabbed me in a hug. Rubi was a couple years older than I was, with her brilliant red coat and stunning emerald eyes. Her light purple hair wasn’t too long and was held in place with a headband that matched the blue highlight in her tail. She had a gold heart-shaped locket hanging around her neck. I never asked what was in it though. “Don’t just stand there. It’s your birthday. Talk with everypony, and enjoy it.”

She floated over a present for me in her magic which was unsurprisingly a ruby color. I took the odd shaped gift and started to unwrap it. Sitting there in my hooves was a middle-sized fire ruby. I stared at it, shocked. I had never received a gift like this before and I loved it. I tackled my cousin to the floor, with tears in my eyes, saying, “Thank you, Rubi. I love it.”

My parents laughed at the scene I caused and soon everyone was joining in. I got up, not even the slightest bit embarrassed, and was soon in the arms of my grandmother, Crystal Venatici. She had light purple fur and topaz eyes. Her mane was a pale blue that faded to white tips but her tail had full white strands. She had a red-orange bead necklace on as well. Completing her look were the blue glasses she wore. “Now where do you think you’re off to, missy? I haven’t seen you in such a long time.”

“Granny Crystal!” I embraced her as well, before looking around at all the smiling faces that were around me. “Can I open more presents, Grandma?” I pleaded with wide eyes.

“Well I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to. It is your special day after all,” she said, smiling at me. “Why don’t you open your mother’s gift next? I hear she made it especially for you.”

“Mother!” Radiance scolded playfully from across the room as a tightly wrapped parcel floated towards me. “Don’t spoil the surprises.”

I looked at the gift I was presented and started to open it. As I lifted the lid, I received a shock. The most beautiful necklace I ever saw was staring up at me from the bottom of the box. It had a silver chain, and rich teal sapphires cut into triangles and placed in an intricate design. I looked at my mom with tears in my eyes again, “It’s pretty. Thank you, mom.”

“You are very welcome, Moonlit,” she responded, smiling at my reaction.

“Oh oh open mine next, pleeease?” A voice pleaded from behind the other guests. The group was shoved aside as Saber pushed her way up to the front with her large gift. The others only laughed at her silliness as my dad just grumbled under his breath and sighed. “I just managed to snag this one last minute.” She winked at me while waiting for me to reveal what her gift was.

I unwrapped it to find a small wagon that was teal and had a green handle. I squeed and jumped at her knocking both of us to the ground and hugging her. “You remembered!”

“Well yeah. I can’t forget what my favorite little foal wanted for her birthday.”

We sat there giggling as the group slowly went to other activities and the snack table. I finally got up and was pulling Saber with me towards the wagon. “Come on. I want to ride in it.”

I was walking back through the burned village towards the makeshift cemetery I had made. I just wanted this nightmare to end, but I knew that nothing was going to change what happened. This was only one more thing I was going to have to live with. “Maybe I’ll rebuild my house. Or at least find a place that’s still closed to the elements.”

My ears swiveled forward as I suddenly heard a noise. I jumped through the door of a random house and listened. A group a four or five Pegasi flew overhead bringing a thunderstorm to the area. I shrunk away from the door I was hiding behind. ‘Why would there be Pegasi here? Isn’t their kingdom several miles to the south?’ A sudden thunderclap made me jump and cower in a corner as I recalled the last time I heard that sound. Then the rain started and the ground was soon soaked. I cautiously poked my head outside to see if the Pegasi were gone only to jump back in as a bolt of lightning snaked across the sky.

“Alright, Moonlit, get a grip. For all you know it’s just a normal storm. The war might even be over… right?” I told myself as I waited for the storm to pass me by. “Well this is going to get boring fast.”

I headed to one of the bedrooms and found that one of the beds was relatively usable, besides the slight burn marks and dust. At least it had a blanket. I climbed into it and drifted off to sleep…

I was walking through the village. The buildings were on fire and the ponies were running in every direction. I saw my father yelling to the Silver Timberwolves as they all charged out of the village towards the little hill just on the outskirts. I followed them and saw Pegasi waiting to meet their enemy, swords out and resting in their wings. I watched from a distance as the two groups met, their swords flashing and blood flying. I noticed Flash coming to stand alongside her Captain and hold off the Pegasi as the newer recruits were losing their lives, showing everypony how experienced they were on the field of battle.

As I stood looking down at the scene, I observed four strange Pegasi walking towards them. The fighting stopped instantly. I was beginning to wonder why, when three of our recruits rushed the newcomers. The smallest mare, about the size of Saber, unsheathed her two swords and slit all their throats by jumping and swirling in the air. I stood as mortified as the rest of the ponies when she stepped towards them and started to skin them alive. The thing that scared me the most was the fact that she never stopped smiling.

My father snapped out of his trance and sounded the retreat, forcing everyone to turn and flee from the four Pegasi before anything else could happen. I turned and saw that he and Saber went into a nearby alley and, I assumed, waited for the chance to attack. When I turned to look at the four Pegasi, I noticed that they had already killed thirty or forty of the villagers. I was shocked at their brutality and lack of morals, as I witnessed them cutting down their own army who failed to follow their orders. Suddenly, one of the Pegasi jumped into the air with a bag of Unicorn horns that they had recently snapped off, which caused me to feel nauseous, and flew towards the alley my father was hiding in. I saw one of the horns fall from the bag as he started laughing. Then he dumped the rest of the bag and my father and Saber ran from the alley and back towards my house.

I followed them but when Flash was hit by that Pegasi mare, I watched as the other stallion was falling from the sky in slow motion. I tried screaming out but I couldn't make a sound. As the blade reached Flash’s neck, the scene vanished…

I jolted upright in the bed, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. "What was that?"

I was staring at the wall trying to figure out what the dream meant. After deciding that it was just a dream, I got up and stretched, feeling some of my stiff joints popping, and walked back to the front door and peeked out. I immediately noticed that the rain had stopped and the Pegasi were nowhere to be seen. After seeing that it was safe, I walked out and stood facing the sun as it started climbing into the sky. I headed down the road towards my house.

“Why were there Pegasi here, anyway?” I asked no one in particular. “I suppose if we lost the war then the Pegasi would start inhabiting the territory. But I didn’t expect them to do it so soon. Unless… I was asleep longer than I thought.”

Still wrapped up in my thoughts, I almost walked right into a statue that I hadn’t noticed from before the war. I was surprised to find it there, and wondered what it was. As I inspected the bronze statue, which depicted an Earth Pony, I noticed a plaque. The writing on it read:

TAKEN FROM PEGASI CONTROL BY THE EARTH PONIES OF GAIA

THIS STATUE WAS ERECTED UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THE QUEEN OF GAIA

THIS 14TH DAY OF THE 3RD MONTH IN THE YEAR 129

“129?” I stared at the date for several minutes. “But… it’s 127! This statue looks like it’s been here for a long time. HOW LONG WAS I ASLEEP?!”

A pony, wearing nothing but a traveler’s cloak and saddle bags filled with food and water, was walking up a hill, hardly straining from the climb and the long walk from the village. Finally at the top of the hill, the pony looked at the ruined village, its eyes shining from beneath its hood.

“I finally arrived. So these are the ‘The Ruins of Tanzanite.’”

3-The Meeting

Dancing Embers was an Earth Pony with sunset orange fur, two tone red mane, and green eyes. Her cutie mark was an anvil and a gem. And why not? She was a magic blacksmith, one of the best in her village, especially studying under her father. And she had set out to search a ruin for magic imbued stone.

Ember had just reached Tanzanite, a village that was one of the first Unicorn villages to fall. It saddened her to think of all the lives lost during that war. Well, she was too young to know much about it, but she heard the stories the older ponies told. A horrible thing, that’s what they called it, right on the edge of peace, and the Pegasi tried to wipe all the Unicorns from existence. “This is really a sad place,” Dancing Embers said to herself as she walked through the deserted roads. “I thought that there would still be bodies of the Unicorns. Unless somepony had cleaned up the bodies.”

She stopped and stared around. “But… nopony’s been here since that statue was erected in 129. Who cleaned the streets then?”

Moonlit was just staring at the statue, completely stunned. “What year is it?”

She turned towards her home and just gazed at the sky. She slowly made her way home. As she passed by the old market, she sensed something odd. It was almost as if something familiar was nearby. But, looking around she thought that it was just the loneliness that made her feel that way. Continuing on her lonely walk home, she tried to think about what she was going to do. ‘Well, now what?’

Standing outside her house, she made her way around back and laid in front of the grave she made for her parents. A few tears streamed down her face when she realized that she would never get to see them again. “I wish I could do something, anything,” she mumbled to herself, frustrated that she was useless during the attack on her village. “Why did you seal me in sleep for this long?”

She walked back inside and up to her room to sleep; falling into a dream just as a figure walked passed her house into the ruin.

Ember walked into the village and noticed a grave behind the house she passed. Curious, she walked up to it and read:

“’Here lies Black Night and Sapphire Radiance.’ Who dug these graves?”

Looking around she noticed more graves, rows and rows of mounds each with a stone marking it as a graveyard. She took notice that only some of them had names on them. “It’s almost as if whoever dug these didn’t know everypony that they buried… or couldn’t identify what was left,” she said to herself. A note on the first grave caught her eye. “’I’ll miss you, love Moonlit.’ Moonlit? That is definitely a Unicorn name. But… where is this Unicorn? Could they still be in this village? No. Every Unicorn from this village was killed. There was no warning, no time to react. It… it was a slaughter.” A tear fell from her eye as she thought about how heartbreaking the event was.

Leaving the makeshift graves, Ember walked along the now clean roads and made it to what was left of the marketplace. A shiver went up her spine as she walked passed the stalls. A glow emitted from her saddlebag. Looking into her bag, she pulled out a necklace that her father had found when he helped put up that statue. It was an odd piece of jewelry, since it never fell into disrepair and never lost its luster. A silver chain with triangle cut sapphires placed into an intricate design. She knew that it was of Unicorn make and it was very beautiful. He said that he found it in a house on the outskirts of the village. In a house where two Unicorns were killed in the living room, near the cellar.

‘Two Unicorns?’ She thought. She turned to the house she passed and wondered if this Moonlit was the owner of the necklace. ‘Well, if I ever meet that Unicorn, I’ll ask.’

On the other side of the marketplace, she spotted the statue. The bronze had turned a pale green from age, along with the weeds growing up around the base. Her highness, Queen Cypress, commissioned this statue eight years ago. It was well made and showed the expertise of her father and the other blacksmiths who molded it together. It just looked eerie standing like a sentinel over a deserted village.

Ember made her way to the park and marveled at the burnt tree that continued to struggle for life. “Magic definitely was strong here. I wonder what other secrets can be found in the air and stone of this place.”

Moonlit shivered and opened her eyes. She knew she hadn’t been asleep long since the sun was still in the sky. Getting out of her bed, she stretched and began to head down the stairs. That odd sense she felt at the marketplace was there again, but she paid it no mind. Instead, she left her home and walked out of the village towards the small hill just a short trot away. Reaching the hill, Moonlit lay down and watched the sun set while marveling at the beauty of it. A sad beauty that sparked a sense of loneliness in her. Moonlit could only sigh as the sun touched the horizon.

‘If only there was somepony left to enjoy this with.’

The sun was almost behind the distant mountains of the Gaia Kingdom when Moonlit decided to get up and head into the village again. Her growling stomach reminded her of something she had dearly forgotten about. “Oh no, where am I supposed to find something to eat?”

Moonlit doubted that anything in the village would be edible since, for all she knew, it had been at least two years she had slept away in her cellar. ‘Somepony was bound to have some edible food that could last this long. Otherwise, I’m bucked,’ she thought bitterly. “Well… let’s get searching.”

Despite having gone a whole day without food, Moonlit wasn’t feeling drained from lack of nourishment. She barely wondered at that while she entered every house on the first street. Starting on the next road, she entered the third house and started rummaging through the cupboards and cabinets. Using her magic to check every nook and cranny so she didn’t miss anything, she stumbled upon a sealed jar of something she couldn’t identify. Opening the container she noticed that it had a pleasant smell, but she was hesitant to taste it. ‘Oh, just taste it already.’

With a sigh, she licked the substance inside and was amazed at the flavors that hit her taste buds. ‘Mmmm, it tastes like spiced apples and peaches.’ She greedily gulped down the rest of the sauce and looked around for more. She found four more containers and decided on taking them back to her house so she wouldn’t have to find where this house was again. She stopped at a few more houses on the way back to her home and picked up more sealed jars full of various ingredients. “Well… it’s not the same as a cooked meal but I can’t really complain,” she told herself as she walked into her kitchen, setting down the food and heading to her room for another nap.

Dancing Embers had long since left the park and was now inside the burned and collapsed town hall.

“Ugh, why is this so hard?” She whined as she stumbled for the third time on the debris. “I never thought searching for magic imbued items would be like this. I thought, ‘Hey, maybe the magic will jump out and say Here I am!’ but nooo. It has to be sooo difficult.”

She continued her whining while she searched through the building for anything that set her ears twitching. She walked down the first hall and through the door to the meeting room. She was standing there with a sad look on her face at something she couldn’t understand and began searching the cabinets in the corner of the room. Her ears were twitching once she went into the next room and, immediately, got a smile on her face. “Oooo, gonna get me some artifacts here.”

Ember shifted through the wrecked room looking for that one object that set her ears twitching. Moving a fallen support beam out of the way, she found a stone. An unremarkable pale blue rock. But she knew from the buzz she felt in it that it was filled to the brim with magical energy. Energy she knew could make her weapons stronger.

After putting the stone into her bags she left the Hall. Walking in a deserted ghost town was depressing and since the sun was starting to set, she decided to set up a camp near the village, not really wanting to sleep in any of the houses. Walking towards the outskirts again, she passed by the ‘Tanzanite Graveyard.’ A movement out of the corner of her eye made her stop and look at the house.

What she saw was enough for her to gasp out loud and draw attention to herself…

(5 minutes earlier)

Moonlit woke up from her nap several minutes ago and was currently scooping out candied jelly out of a jar that she found in one of the houses. She wanted some real food but didn’t have the supplies needed for a journey to another village. As she finished the jar of ooze, she wondered what she was going to do. After a couple minutes, she decided to just sit by her parents’ graves and remember the good times they had. With her first idea in her head, she walked towards the back door and outside.

The moment Moonlit stepped outside she heard a loud gasp. Startled, she spun to face the noise and noticed an orange Earth Pony staring at her. “NO!” Moonlit shouted. She lit up her horn and teleported into her room. She didn’t know what else to do. ‘No… how can an Earth Pony be here? It doesn’t make any sense.’ An image of the statue flashed into her mind and she gasped. ‘My village belongs to them, of course there would be Earth Ponies coming here.’ Moonlit groaned. “I really didn’t think that through at all…”

“Hello…?”

Moonlit’s ears perked up at the summons and she didn’t respond. ‘Oh, I’m a fool.’

“Um… I’m sorry for startling you. I’m Dancing Embers. Umm…” sigh “please come out. I promise I’m nice.”

“HA! And I’m supposed to believe that?” Moonlit thought sarcastically.

“Umm… yes?”

Moonlit’s eyes widened as her pupils shrunk. ‘I really said that out loud?’ She snapped her head to her door as she heard knocking. “Please, just… just leave me alone,” she called out.

The other pony stopped knocking and spoke softly through the door. “Did you live here?”

Moonlit tried to fight back the tears that threatened to fall as she said, “Yes…”

The door opened slowly and the Earth Pony walked in. “I’m sorry. This is a sad place and I can only imagine what happened here.” She walked closer and sat in front of Moonlit with a sad look on her face and her ears pointed down. “It was a tragedy what happened to Tanzanite. I wish I could’ve seen it before that war happened.”

Moonlit looked at the other pony and noticed how sad she looked. It only brought back images from the past that finally started to break her down. A few tears escaped her eyes and Ember noticed. Coming close, Ember wrapped her hooves around Moonlit as the floodgates were released. Moonlit cried for what happened, cried for everything she missed, and everything that can never be. She’ll never see her parents again and it started to press down on her. She cried into this pony’s shoulder until the tears finally stopped.

“Do you feel better?”

“I do. Not much better but… thank you.”

When they finally let go of their embrace, Ember spoke up, smiling. “I’m Dancing Embers. What’s your name?”

Moonlit smiled back and said, “I’m Moonlit Night. It is certainly a pleasure to meet you.”

Ember’s mood damped a bit hearing that and Moonlit noticed. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Ember scraped her hoof on the floor and said, “You’re the pony who dug the graves, huh?”

Moonlit’s ears drooped and nodded. All of a sudden she noticed that Ember’s bag glowing. “Umm… did you know your bag is glowing?”

“What?” Dancing Embers asked, confused. Looking at her bag she remembered the necklace in it. “Oh… umm it’s a necklace my dad gave me that he found in this village.”

“A necklace? It wouldn’t happen to be silver with triangle cut sapphires, would it?”

“So it IS yours. I thought it would be when I noticed your name on the grave. Since it’s yours you can have it back.”

She pulled the necklace out of her bag and held it out to Moonlit. Moonlit’s eyes started to water again. She used her magic to put the necklace on and pulled an unsuspecting Ember into a tight hug. “Oh thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me,” she cried, smiling as she continued to crush Ember.

“It’s… fine. Can’t… breathe…”

“Oh no. I’m so sorry.” Moonlit let go of Ember so she could suck in air. “It’s just… my mother made this for me when I was a filly. It’s the last thing I have of her.”

“Hmm… did you, by chance, have say… a fire ruby?”

Moonlit gasped as she jumped on Ember, knocking her over. “You found that too? My cousin gave me that.”

“My dad found a lot of items here years ago.”

Moonlit froze. “Years ago…?” She backed off of Ember and walked to her bed. “Say Ember?”

“Yes?”

“Umm… what year is it?”

“Oh that’s easy. It’s 137,” Ember said smiling.

“…”

“Is everything ok, Moonlit?”

“I’ve been asleep…”

“Well, yeah. Everypony sleeps silly filly.”

“You don’t understand. I’ve been asleep since 127… I’ve been asleep for ten years,” Moonlit told her, softly.

“…oh.”

The sun had long since set and Ember just realized she had nowhere to set up camp. She jumped up and exclaimed, “Oh no, where am I supposed to set up camp around here?”

Moonlit looked over at her with a confused look on her face. After a moment she said, “Why don’t you just sleep in my room? I’ll go sleep in my parents’ old room.”

Ember stopped pacing and stared at Moonlit. As Moonlit was starting to feel uncomfortable Ember tackled her into a hug. “You are the nicest pony ever! Thank you!”

“Gah!” Moonlit squeaked as she was being crushed by the other mare. “Too…tight.”

“Oops,” Ember said sheepishly as she unlatched her hooves from her friend. “Sorry, I was just happy I didn’t have to sleep outside. Though I sleep outside on almost a daily basis.”

Moonlit’s ears perked up at hearing that and asked, “Why do you sleep outside so much? Don’t you live with your parents?” It shocked Moonlit that Ember would consider the outdoors to a warm bed. But, she wasn’t really in a position to question the strange pony in her room.

“Oh… well the thing is… I kinda move around from village to village,” she explained as she kicked her hoof on the ground. “I enjoy it but… it gets kinda lonely. The only friend I made was Shadow, he’s been with me for a while and he is waiting at the last village for me to get back from this field trip I wanted to go on. I mean this is Tanzanite! The first village to get hit in the war and the village that the Earth Ponies took away from the Pegasi. I wanted to see it… and look for magical items to make my weapons stronger.”

Moonlit just stared blankly at Ember for a few moments. “You travel? By yourself? Why would you do that?”

“I said I travel with my friend Shadow. And because I’m a travelling blacksmith wandering and collecting raw materials for my craft and making money to keep from going hungry…” Ember was cut off by the growling of her stomach as she blushed.

Moonlit laughed, but soon followed with a blush as her own stomach growled. The two mares looked at each other and started to laugh at the look on the others faces. After a minute of laughter, Ember looked through her bag as Moonlit walked down to the kitchen where she stored her jars of jelly. As she made her way down the stairs her ears swiveled backwards as Ember came rushing out into the hallway. “Moonlit!” She skidded to a stop in front of her as she spoke again. “Where are you going? I wanted to eat my dinner with you.”

“Oh, I was just going to get a couple things that I found around the village earlier. Just a few jars of preserved fruits…”

Ember gasped an impossible amount of air and got within a hoof’s distance of Moonlit’s face. “You have ten year old fruits in a jar?! Are they good? Can I have a jar? Please please please?” Ember begged with a sad puppy look that would probably melt ice.

Moonlit looked into those eyes and couldn’t help but sigh. “Fine. You can have a jar if you really want one. Bring your food to the kitchen and we can eat there.”

Moonlit continued down the stairs as Ember bolted back to the room, grabbed her food and was downstairs next to the other mare in the kitchen, startling Moonlit in the process.

“How do you do that anyway?”

“I just put one hoof in front of the other, silly,” she said, giggling.

Moonlit stared at Ember for a couple moments before replying, “Really? You are a strange pony, you know that?”

“Yep I do. My dad always said I was special and I believed him,” Ember laughed as she made her way into the kitchen to set her bags on the table that was, amazingly, still usable. She then started taking out daffodil sandwiches and a fruit salad. The food made the two ponies stomachs grumble again.

Moonlit went to the cabinet and took out two jars of spiced fruit. As she set them on the table, Ember gasped and tore one of the jars away from Moonlit’s hooves. “You have spiced strawberries? I love strawberries! Ooo can I have it, pleeease?”

Caught off guard by her sudden begging, Moonlit just sighed, “Fine, you could’ve just asked instead of pleaded. I would’ve let you have it anyway. I actually prefer the apples to any berries.”

Ember surprised Moonlit again with another bone crushing hug. “Oh, thank you. You’re the nicest pony ever.”

“Gah! Can’t… breathe.”

And for the second time, Moonlit got dropped on her flank. “Hehe. Sorry, Moonlit.”

“Well, it’s fine. Can we just eat now? I’m dying here,” Moonlit said, as she made her way to the table to sit down. Ember walked to the table as well and sat opposite Moonlit. After they finished laying out all the food, they started to eat. Moonlit grabbed one of the sandwiches as Ember started opening the jar of strawberries.

“So… how did you become a traveling blacksmith?”

“Oh. Umm… you see, my dad was the best blacksmith in our village. If I wanted to get any of my stuff sold I was going to have to do that in another village. My dad was completely for the idea probably to see if I’d be able to make it on my own.”

Moonlit wondered on that for a minute then asked, “How did the first village go?”

Ember shifted in her chair for a while before answering, “Umm… well, I guess starting out was harder than I thought. You see, I’m a magic blacksmith. I work with magical items and artifacts. Like medallions and amulets. Even enchanting weapons with magic stones I come across. But at that first village, most ponies didn’t buy into the magic thing because of the war between the Pegasi and the Unicorns…”

Moonlit’s ears drooped when she said that. After an uncomfortable silence, Ember spoke up, “What about you? You said that you were asleep for ten years. You must’ve been awake before the war, right? Say… how old are you, anyway?”

“Umm… well, I was eighteen when my parents put me to sleep. But, it doesn’t look as if I aged while I was under the spell. Either way, because of the year I’m twenty-eight, I guess?” Moonlit answered. They sat there for a good few moments before Ember blurted out, “Wow… you’re old.”

Moonlit’s face lit up as she heatedly replied, “I am not old! I haven’t aged in that sleep.”

Ember just fell out of her chair and laughed at the look on her friend’s face. “You… your face is… haha… priceless.”

Moonlit cast a glare towards the laughing mare and asked, “How old are you then?”

Ember quickly stopped laughing and looked straight at Moonlit before saying, “Oh, I’m seventeen. I’ll be eighteen in a few months.”

Moonlit’s face broke into a sly grin as she thought about what to say to that. “Well if I’m an old mare, I guess that makes you a little filly.”

Ember’s face lit up in return as she stumbled over her words. “Hey… but you… I… Oh, you’re good.”

They both started laughing until they couldn’t breathe. Sitting, or rather lying, on the floor for a few minutes while they calmed down enough to sit back at the table, they felt relieved that they could have a laugh with a good friend… something Moonlit hasn’t been able to do for the last few days.

“You know? You are a very fun pony to hang out with,” Moonlit said, as she lay down in her parent’s bed. “Aside from being completely random, you are funny and kind. I wasn’t expecting that. So… thank you.”

“Oh you’re welcome. You are pretty fun yourself. You’re a nice Unicorn. I still can’t believe that the Pegasi tried to wipe you all out… But, it’s ok now. There’s peace in both remaining kingdoms,” Ember replied as she got into Moonlit’s bed that they managed to squeeze into the master bedroom.

Moonlit looked toward Ember as they got comfortable. In the darkness, it was a calming feeling to have another pony nearby, especially after all she went through in the past couple days since she woke from the spell. “Hey, Ember?”

“Yes?”

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Umm… we’re friends… right?”

Ember smiled into the night as she replied, “Of course we are. You, Moonlit Night, have nothing to worry about. I’ll be here for you.”

Moonlit smiled at the thought. “Thank you, Dancing Embers.”

They both drifted off to sleep wondering what the new day will bring them, content that they both found a new friend.

4-Heading Out

Moonlit woke with a yawn, blinking in the sunlight that floated through the torn curtains of her parent’s room. Getting out of bed, she stretched and looked towards the sleeping form of Ember, nestled in the blankets still. Letting out a soft giggle at how she looked, Moonlit made her way to the kitchen to make a breakfast out of what they had for ingredients. When she finished, Ember stumbled into the door frame of the kitchen with her eyes still closed. “Ow…”

“Well, somepony slept soundly,” Moonlit laughed, looking at Ember’s bed mane. “I have a jar of strawberries and a daisy sandwich for you on the table.”

Ember looked at the table, then back to Moonlit. As she slowly walked to the table, she mumbled, “Thanks.”

“Not a morning pony, are you?”

“Not in the strictest sense, no,” Ember replied as she sat down. “Though, I suppose that’s what I get for staying up half the night.”

Moonlit finished making her own breakfast, which was a jar of apples and a tulip and cucumber sandwich, and sat down across from Ember, who was slowly eating her food. After taking a couple bites from her sandwich, Ember looked over at Moonlit and said, “I was thinking. You know a bit about me, but I know nothing about you. Umm… so, could you maybe tell me a little about yourself? Like the friends you had, or your family? Ooo, what about the birthday parties you had?”

Moonlit looked towards Ember with a confused look on her face. “Birthday parties? Why would you want to know about that?”

“Oh, just because those are happy moments and you should cherish those memories,” Ember replied with a large smile.

Moonlit smiled back and said, “You’re right. They were some happy times. Uhh… as for telling you about myself? It’s complicated. It was different before I went to sleep, you might not like it.” Moonlit’s ears turned down at remembering the war and what happened to the village.

“I do wanna know about what happened that day. But, I wanna know about you. Before that battle, what were you like?”

“Well… where to begin. I guess you could say I was a militia child. My father was the captain of Tanzanite’s Silver Timberwolves Regiment, Black Night. My mother was Sapphire Radiance and she was a jewel maker and seamstress,” Moonlit said, thinking back to her parents.

“Wowwie that sounds really cool. So was your dad really strong? What was his weapon like? Oh and what kinds of equipment did your mom make? She made your necklace right? That is just sooo cool,” Ember exclaimed. She then took a deep breath to replenish the oxygen she spent in that rush of words.

Moonlit was caught completely by surprise by the sudden onrush of questions. She opened her mouth to respond, but soon closed it again for lack of anything to say. After about a minute or so, she tried again, responding with, “Uhh… ok. I-I think he was strong. And I don’t remember where he kept his sword, but I do know that he had it when he went into that battle. Umm… mother? She made all sorts of jewelry and clothing. Mostly battle gear like enchanted cloaks that were for concealment as well as bags for storing weapons. Yes, she-she did make my necklace. It was for my sixth birthday. I-I remember being s-so h-happy.” Moonlit sat in her chair as tears started falling. Ember got up and walked over to her friend and pulled her into a soft embrace.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve known that it would be hard for you to talk about. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Moonlit wrapped her forehooves around Ember as her tears continued to flow. She said, “No, it’s a-alright. We’re friends, right? We should get to know each other more. Maybe we could become best friends.”

Ember tightened her hug as her face split into a broad smile. “Yes! Let’s become the best of friends,” She laughed. “What was your family like? You don’t have to talk about them if you don’t want to though.”

Moonlit laughed and shook her head. She released the hug and responded, “Ember, I’m fine. I’d love to tell you about my family. Especially my cousin, Glittering Rubi. And I haven’t told you about my parents enough either. Oh! And Granny Crystal, you would’ve loved her; she was really nice and kind.” Moonlit got excited as she talked about her uncle and aunts. Talking freely made Ember smile as she listened to Moonlit vividly describe her family, occasionally laughing at some silly joke one of her aunts played on her grandfather or the time Moonlit’s father was pranked by his new in-laws to see if he was good enough for Sapphire.

“Wow, your family is amazing. Who would’ve thought that he would prank them back like that? I’m really jealous of you Moonlit, that you had a happy family and had such good stories. And I’m sad that you had to go through what you did.” Ember smiled, but soon turned to tears. “I’m so sorry for you, Moonlit.”

Moonlit put a forelimb over Ember’s shoulder and smiled. “Don’t be. I had a great childhood and such wonderful parents. The memories I have of them are enough that I don’t have to be sad. At least you’re here to help me through it. And I’m not done yet, Em. You mind if I call you that?”

“Em? No! Please do. That makes us sound even closer. Hmm? Can I call you… Moon? Or how about ma’am?” Ember added slyly. She laughed as Moonlit’s face lit up.

“Ma’am? I-I’m not that old! You little…” Moonlit stopped as she looked at Ember with a smirk on her face.

“Uhh… why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, nothing. A kid couldn’t understand what goes through an adult’s mind anyway.”

“Hey! I’m not a kid, ok? Why do you have to be a meanie?” Ember’s cheeks puffed out as she looked away.

Moonlit laughed at Ember’s antics and said, “That’s payback for making me sound old. And yes, you can call me ‘Moon’ if you want. I kinda like it.”

Ember’s eyes instantly brightened as she spun around to face her again. “Really? You mean it?”

“Of course I mean it. We’re friends, remember? Oh and I’m totally going to pick on you,” Moonlit said with a grin. “It’s just you look so cute when you get mad like that.” Moonlit laughed as Ember blushed.

“Meanie,” Ember mumbled, but she soon smiled and started to laugh as well. “Alright then, mom.”

“Hey, watch it there,” Moonlit said, playfully. “I’m bigger than you.”

“By only two hooves!”

“Anyway, back to where I was. Glittering Rubi was my cousin. She was a few years older than me and had a red coat. She also had a light purple mane with a blue streak going through her tail. She had a golden heart-shaped locket around her neck with a picture of our family in it. She would often enlist my help to pull a prank on her father or another of the family, sometimes we’d prank the village to see everypony’s reactions. We were as close as sisters; laughing, playing and having a good time together. She lived with her parents in Ceralite, a city close to the capital of Centauri.”

“Wait… ‘Ceralite’? I’ve heard of that city before. It was one of the cities that managed to have a few survivors. I think. I’m actually not all that sure. But we could go that way and find out. The ‘Town of Gems’ was close to there wasn’t it? Anyway, the Earth Ponies now live near that town,” Ember said, with a hoof on her chin. She looked over at Moonlit. “Maybe that could be our next stop.”

“What do you mean ‘our next stop’?” Moonlit asked, curious. “What about your friend?”

“Well, duh. We obviously have to go pick him up at the other village first. Then we’ll head out to the ‘Town of Gems’.”

Moonlit just stared at Ember for a few moments. “I guess that makes sense, but it is a pretty far way to travel. And my saddle bags have been uncared for since I’ve been asleep. I’ll need new bags for one and we’ll need food for three now and equipment for camp if we don’t want to sleep on the bare ground. It’ll cost several hundred bits for all that. Do you two even have any currency?”

Ember lowered her head and mumbled a few indistinct words at the table.

Moonlit leaned forward and swiveled her ears forward. “Uhh… I’m sorry but I missed that. Could you speak up?”

Ember’s cheeks lit up as she lifted her head. “Umm… no. Not really, no. We barely had enough for the food and supplies to make it to the last town. We’ve just been scavenging fruits from the forests nearby for food…”

Moonlit sat back on her chair, shocked. “You have nothing? How can you expect to get around on no bits-?

“I can make bits! I… just need to sell my weapons and other equipment I make. I’ll do it. It’s that no one believes in magical items anymore since the ‘Fall of the Unicorns’,” Ember interrupted, looking away from Moonlit.

Moonlit was silent as she watched her friend slump in her chair. “Hey, how about we finish our breakfast and start packing up? We can talk once we’re on the road back to the other village. Sound like a plan?”

“Yeah, definitely. Let’s eat.” Ember immediately forgot about the sadness and took a huge bite out of her sandwich also eating the whole thing in one bite. Moonlit laughed at her now bulging cheeks as she chewed her mouthful. She took a smaller bit of her own sandwich followed by a scoop of spiced apples.

After the shenanigans at breakfast, they were up in Moonlit’s room looking for anything that was still salvageable to take with them. In the end, only a few blankets and a spare set of saddlebags could be used. Moonlit went into her parent’s room and searched through the night stand locating the key to the safe. “Ah-ha! Found it.”

“What did you find, Moon? A key? What does that go to?”

Moonlit turned to Ember who was in the doorway looking at the key in her hoof. “This is the key to our safe. I’m sure there are some bits still left in it. We could use those to buy the things we need in the town.”

Ember’s face brightened. “Really? That would be so kind of you. Where’s the safe?”

Moonlit’s ears dropped as she remembered where it was. “The basement…”

“What’s wrong?”

Moonlit walked out of the room, followed by Ember as they went downstairs to the entry hall. She opened the cellar door to a fifteen foot drop. “The stairs gave out as I climbed out a couple days ago. There’s no other way in.”

“Well, I could build a ladder. I just need a bit of time is all.”

Moonlit glanced over at the other pony to see a bright smile on her face. She mirrored the action and said, “That sounds reasonable. I’ll go pack the remainder of my things while I leave you to build.”

Ember watched as Moonlit walked back upstairs to pack anything that they missed. She turned back to the cellar door and thought about how she was going to find the parts she needed to actually build the ladder in the first place… she really didn’t think this through at all.

“Hmm…” Ember mused as she searched around for something to make a ladder out of. “Maybe there are some materials I can use in the village somewhere.”

Moonlit was in her room packing up anything that she would need on her journey with Ember and her companion. “Maybe I still have some accessories that haven’t been taken yet.”

Looking around she proceeded to place a few more armbands that she couldn’t remember having into her saddlebag. She made her way to her parent’s room and saw the photo on the floor. Moonlit picked up the photo of her family and placed it in an outer pocket before searching through the rest of the room. “I know it’s here somewhere.”

Ember was walking around the village collecting pieces of wood that weren’t too burnt or destroyed and dragging them back to Moonlit’s to get started on the staircase/ladder to get into the cellar. As she passed through the square, her ears stated to twitch. Ember’s face broke out into a wide grin as she said, “More magical artifacts are near. Now… where are they?” She dropped her load of timber and started to search for said ‘magic’.

After looking in several of the stalls and shops lining the square, she struck a load of magical gems that held some advanced magic in them. “Maybe I should ask Moonlit what’s in these.”

Ember picked up her timber and made her way back to the house to start building the ladder.

“YES!” Moonlit cried. “Found it.”

After searching through her parent’s bedroom, Moonlit found a dagger that her father had given her for her 18th birthday. After a few days of training with her father, her mother took it away because she had cut her hoof during practice and had to be stitched up. Moonlit rubbed the thin scar on her left forehoof as she sighed.

“I missed those times out back with dad…” Moonlit said, sorrowfully. “I wish he was still here. I had fun even if I got hurt a few times. Heh, he wasn’t very easy on me since his training kicked in a couple times.”

"Come on, Moonlit. Your form is terrible. You're leaving your left side completely exposed."

Moonlit glared at her father. "I'm trying dad." Moonlit raised her dagger in her magic and takes a stance, closing the opening on her left unconsciously. Her breathing steadied and she looked for an opening in her father’s stance.

Black Night, watching his daughter, started to smile and let his guard purposefully drop to lure her in. “How are you supposed to learn if you keep to yourself over there?” He said, still smiling.

Moonlit blushed and saw the slight drop in his guard. Taking her chance she lunged forward and swung the dagger. “Here is your answer, dad.”

Moonlit’s dagger came swinging from the right and Night immediately blocked the attack with a lazy swing of his sword. “Good. That’s the fire I was looking for. How about we stop and I’ll teach you some stances and attacks with defense?”

“Alright,” Moonlit replied.

Night took a stance with his legs slightly splayed and held his sword angled to the side. “Now, what you need to keep in mind is that you should let the blade control where it wants to go. Let the blade protect you and attack for you.” He swung his sword in an arc, neatly slicing though his imaginary opponent. “Make sure you keep a strong defense or you won’t be able to protect from a strong blow that could cripple or even kill you.” He then brought his sword up to defend from another attack. “A counter strike after a defense is a perfect opportunity to finish any battle.” Immediately, he went from defense to strike a piercing stab forward. “Do you understand? Try to cripple an opponent rather than kill them. And it’s easier on your conscience, too.”

“But, what if they don’t stop after you end the fight?”

Night sighed. “That’s when you don’t have a choice but to end the fight, permanently,” he replied darkly.

Moonlit gulped. She got into the same stance as her father and tried to copy his movements. But, on the arc she followed through too far and sliced into her left foreleg. The cut immediately sent pain through her and she collapsed, crying. “AHH!!”

Night was at her side instantly. “SAPPHIRE!!!”

Moonlit stared at her scar, smiling at the distant memory. “I miss you guys…”

Moonlit placed the dagger around her waist and continued searching for anything else her parents may have left in the room. After twenty minutes she gave up and headed downstairs. When she got to the bottom, Ember came through the front door, a little pale. “We may have a problem.”

“What’s wrong, Em?” Moonlit asked as she set her bags down. Walking over to her friend, Moonlit noticed Ember was shaking. “Ember?”

Ember calmed down enough to respond. “There are scavengers out there. Two Pegasi and an Earth Pony and they didn’t look nice.”

Moonlit just stared blankly at her. “Scavengers? You mean like bandits?”

“YES! Bandits, that’s the word. But, there are three of them and I think one of them saw me in the marketplace. OH whatifIleadthemhere-?”

Moonlit put her hoof on Ember’s muzzle to stop the flow of words. “Whoa there, calm down, Em. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Suddenly, a deep male voice was heard on the street outside Moonlit’s house. “Hey, I heard some voices over here.”

“EEP!” Ember squeaked and spun to face the door as she whispered to her friend, “Moonlit, hide! Unicorns are rare remember?”

Moonlit’s eyes widened and dove into the closet in the hallway. She cast a one-way portal spell on the door, so she could see what went on in the hall. She also cast a soundproofing spell, just in case. With those in place, she sat down to watch, ready to run out to Ember’s rescue, her dagger held in her magic.

Ember looked to see if Moonlit was hidden before turning her gaze back to the door as more voices could be heard from outside.

“Did you find something Hammer?” A softer, but definitely male, voice asked.

“More like somepony,” the deeper voice replied. “Sounded like a mare in that house over there.”

“Well,” a feminine voice answered, “let’s go and introduce ourselves.”

Ember jumped when a heavy hoof pounded on the door. She remained silent as the pounding eventually knocked the door from its hinges.

Standing in the doorway was a large brown Earth Pony who smiled as he made his way inside. “Why, hello there miss. Hope you don’t mind if my friends come in.”

Immediately following the pony was a pair of Pegasi, a gray stallion and light blue mare. The mare was the second to speak. “Well well. What’s an Earth Pony doing this far into ‘No Ponies Land’?”

“Maybe she’s plundering the village by herself?” The gray stallion suggested, narrowing his eyes at Ember.

“Y-you have no r-right stealing from Tanzanite,” Ember stuttered, trying to act brave.

The trio of bandits laughed at her attempt of intimidation.

The brown stallion took a few steps toward the shaking mare. “I don’t believe you have a say in what we can or can’t do. Besides, it’s just a bunch of ruins, who would even care?”

While the conversation took place, Moonlit just sat inside the closet watching the scene play out, while silently fuming. I would care, you jerk.

Ember’s eyes flicked to the closet as if she heard Moonlit’s thoughts. She stood taller as she shouted at the trio. “And who wouldn’t care? This village is the resting place of the Unicorns who lived here. This town is a historical place with a connection to the past and should be preserved.” She glared at the ponies who thought they could just take what they wanted without thinking about the tragedy that took place here.

“Oh, the mare’s got a bite to her,” the cyan-colored mare quipped. She marched up to Ember and stood muzzle to muzzle with her. “Now, you listen here missy. This dump is a treasure gold mine and there isn’t anyone left alive who would care if a few things went missing here or there.”

Ember backed up a couple steps. “I-I… oh. Well, it still isn’t right to take what isn’t yours.”

“We only take the gold and silver, honey,” the gray Pegasus said as he walked into the kitchen. “Hey, Hammer, there’s some food here. Let’s relieve the young mare of some of her provisions.”

The Earth Pony, Hammer, walked up to Ember saying, “Looks like you have some food for us. How about letting us have what we want?”

“No. That’s my food and you won’t get any,” the mare responded. Ember stood her ground when the other ponies stared at her. Then, they started to laugh.

The Pegasus mare was nearly on the floor, rolling, when she gasped, “You-you think you can tell us what we can or can’t have?” She took to her wings and hovered above Ember with a dark glare. “I think we need to show you your place.”

Moonlit was starting to have a bad feeling about what was going on. She held her dagger in a ready position, about to burst out and help her friend. Ember was starting to shake as she retreated towards the closet.

The three ponies were walking towards her until they were almost to the closet. Moonlit couldn’t sit back and ignore it anymore. With a magic shockwave, she blasted the closet door off its hinges and hit the three approaching ponies, knocking them down while standing in front of Ember protectively. “Back off my friend, bandits,” Moonlit growled.

“Moonlit?” Ember asked. “What was that?” She was shaking and staring wide eyed at her friend as she stood behind Moonlit.

“A simple shockwave. A filly could produce one,” Moonlit replied, not taking her eyes off the trio in front of her.

“Blast it, Hammer. I thought this was an abandoned village,” the Pegasi stallion cursed, as he started to hover. “Why is there a Unicorn here?”

Hammer slowly got to his hooves and stared daggers at Moonlit before answering his colleague. “Unicorn village, remember? I suppose one of them came back to check in on the place. Not that unusual is it?” He replied in a grim tone.

“I say we kick them out. They’re obviously just fillies,” the mare said, reaching for a wing blade.

Moonlit saw the motion and took a stance against it. Drawing from her knowledge of her father’s training, she was ready when the mare shot forward. Side stepping the blade while bringing her own in to cut a few feathers out. The Pegasus stood there, furious, when she whirled on the Unicorn without mercy. But, Moonlit put the defensive moves she learned on display by dodging almost all of the wild attacks from the mare. After a few moments, Moonlit was standing over a defeated, exhausted mare, with her dagger held near her head. Panting, the mare called out, “Are you going to help me or not?”

The two stallions looked at each other and then called back. “I’d say we’re outclassed. We’ll leave quietly so no one gets hurt.”

Moonlit looked to the bandits then levitated the Pegasi’s weapon over to her group and they walked off, the mare shooting off as soon as Moonlit let her up.

Ember stood there in shock for a moment then zipped into Moonlit’s face, sparkles in her eyes as she exclaimed, “That was amazing, Moon. You were like whoosh, POW, bang and she was all like gah and fell over. You rule!”

“Uhh, thanks, I guess. I took some lessons from my father years ago and I guess it worked out pretty well. Did you need help with the supplies you brought? We should gather our things and leave before they come back.”

“I should be able to build it real quick. You can go gather all your things and we’ll be outta here lickity split,” Ember replied with a big grin.

“Alright, I’ll get our things and meet you back here to grab the bits and leave.”

Moonlit walked away while Ember started building a ladder from the wood she collected. After ten minutes, the ladder was finished and Moonlit was once again in the basement. Next to her, Ember was looking around excitedly. “You were really asleep down here for ten whole years? Seems really uncomfy.”

Moonlit just laughed and pointed into the corner where a large circle of ash stood. “The spell was cast over there. And I wasn’t on the floor, I was suspended in a floating bubble of magic.”

“Oooo. Sounds neat,” Ember shouted as she zoomed over to the spot while Moonlit shook her head and turned to the safe.

Pulling out her key and opened the rusted safe, exposing its contents for the first time in a decade. Inside was a pile of ten thousand Centauri Kingdom bits. Ember’s eyes nearly exploded out of her head when she saw them.

Stammering, she said, “T-t-that’s a whole ton of bits. Outdated too.” *GASP* “Lemme see.”

After examining the bit for several minutes, she fell to her rump and exclaimed, “Moonlit! These are genuine Centauri bits! Do you realize how much these are worth today?”

Moonlit was taken aback by the sudden outburst. “Nooo?”

“Like 500 bits per bit. These are extremely rare. Especially since the Kingdom doesn’t exist anymore. They can’t buy anything anymore either, so we have to cash them in to spend them.”

“Oh, wow. That should help us right?”

“Yes indeedily,” Ember exclaimed while bouncing up and down the small room. “Let’s load up and head out.”

“Good idea,” Moonlit replied as she stored the bits in her saddle bags and followed Ember up the ladder.

Finally finished gathering their food and supplies, the heavy-laden ponies left the house and headed out of the town. Moonlit stopped by her parents’ graves to say farewell and followed Ember out of the village towards the one she came from.

“Woo Hoo! Road trip!”

“Calm down, Em.”

“Aww.”