Prologue: A mystical birth of the north
The night sky was no stranger to the ponies who looked on here in the marshlands; the stars almost invisible, the darkness enveloping each and every ounce of light that radiated off the moon. With each new day, a new life was started and an old one ended. This day had begun just like any other, but how unfortunately with the death of the pegasi chieftain that watched the skies near the marsh. Oh how his presence will be missed, for he reigned the longest of any other pegasi before him. The only thing, at this point he was no longer ruling. No, he had come out of power several years ago, when the love of two ponies overpowered the wisdom and strength of their clan leaders. Now as the day ends with the sorrow of a lost chieftain, a stallion of no children, but many words of wisdom and thoughts of valor, we find ourselves graced, for the new leader of the pegasi has gone into labor, and her foal will be born.
Quietly I listen to the sound of the marsh, it has grown in sound since the marriage of the two leaders, and in turn the plant life has grown in beauty too. But tonight a sound distinctly heard by both land and air creatures is a sound that was the cry heard around the marsh. So as I sit in sorrow of our lost leader, who stepped down so long ago, I rejoice in the birth of one pony that will change the perspective and the hearts of all who live here . . . and her name is-
“Mudvine the baby has arrived! What shall we do next?” a green stallion asks the brown unicorn with stress in his eyes. The day was long and the night even more so, but by orders of the head doctor nothing was to be stopped until the foal was born. Mudvine looked over to the stallion with her soft teal eyes and nodded for him to continue. As the other nurses assisted in cleaning the mother and helping her balance, the green stallion then proceeded to clean the baby pony and return it to its mother. Almost as if on cue, a tall, muscular, dark brown stallion entered the room with a look of pure disbelief in his eyes. His orange orbs gazing at the precious new addition to his family and as he slowly made his way to greet her his armor clinked with each step. The mother, a beautiful dark blue mare, held the baby in her arms, cooing at it and encouraging it to open its eyes. She then turned her head to her husband and smiled with a genuine smile that only one such as her could produce. The couple joined at the bed and embraced their family in one hug.
The brown stallion turned to look at his wife and spoke softly, “what shall we name such a wonderful little filly Moonshine? Isn’t she just precious?” The blue mare then replied “Yes Midnight Drop, she is very precious, I feel we should name her according to her looks, she is quite a looker” Moonshine chuckled as they gazed upon their new daughter.
Indeed she was a looker, with the strangest of color combinations, an almost grayish lavender coat with dark green hair. In her hair there were ebony spikes, almost like eagle talons protruding from her head and tail.
The proud parents thought about a name for the young filly for quite some time. After the two stared in deep thought at their child, then at each other, then back at the filly again, they came to a conclusion.
And I will tell you, it was my honor to be here for the birth of this little filly. So here it is, the name of the filly that could bring our clans together more so than her parents. Tonight at almost midnight, she was born and named-
“Mosstalon.”
Chapter 1: A bushel and a patch
The day was bright and sunny, much like every other day here on Sweet Apple Acres. The apple family worked hard to bring their tasty treats to the citizens of Ponyville and other surrounding towns. Quite honestly, the hard work was part of the ingredients that went into their tasty treats. Their magnificent apple pies would be moot at best if not for Big Macintosh’s delicate tending to the trees. Without Applejack’s harsh bucking of the trees, all the just ripe apples wouldn’t fall from the tree and would go bad. And of course who could forget Granny Smith’s eye for perfection, not allowing a single bruised apple into any of the finished products. With all the love and care put into the treats, it was no surprise that they could be not surpassed. ‘If only there wasn’t so much work’ Applebloom thought to herself as she pulled another cart of apples from the south field to the barn.
Sweat dripping off of her magenta mane, it was quite interesting how one little filly such as herself could possibly pull such a thing. The big cart alone weighed about 15-20 pounds, and on top of that the full apple buckets were about 10 pounds apiece. Luckily, she had a smaller cart of her own that only carried two buckets at a time. The only problem with this was that she had to make more trips back and forth between the fields and the barn. After dumping the apples into a larger bin close to the back door, Applebloom re-hitched her cart and slouched back toward the south field where her brother and sister were bucking. Their working forms seemed small from afar, but up close they were pretty big to little Applebloom.
As she got closer to her siblings, she craned her neck from underneath the leather harness she wore and cried to her sister, “Applejaaack, Ah wanna go play nayyyooowww! Can’t Ah just skip this part and do it later?” Applejack slowly turned her head, which was also covered in a sheet of sweat, and looked at her baby sister sympathetically “C’mon Applebloom, ya know if we don’t get these here apples in the barn by midday we’ll lose a lot of money cuz of rotten apples. Big Macintosh and Ah are almost done with buckin, so we can help ya in just a bit” Applejack reassured her sister as she continued to buck the last of the trees left. Applebloom groaned disdainfully and then proceeded to gather two full baskets of apples to put in her cart.
Applejack and Big Macintosh stopped momentarily to watch as Applebloom sulked back to the barn and smiled with pride. “Ya know Big Mac, Ah’m proud of Applebloom, she works so hard here on the farm, and on top of that she goes to school.” “Eeyup…” Big Macintosh responded. Applejack smiled in acknowledgment and continued to buck the apple trees. Big Macintosh however, stared off into the sunset and contemplated on his thoughts.
It had been a while since he had any kind of thoughts to himself. It felt nice to think. Big Macintosh was always a stallion of few words, his responses generally consisting of ‘eeyups’ and ‘nopes’. His thoughts, however, roamed free like the cotton fluffs blowing in the wind after being untimely ripped from their stems. He began to think about the adventures he had seen his little sister take on, somehow stopping on that one day when the girls got him to fall in love with Cheerilee. As much fun as it had been that day to make the girls to do his work as punishment for causing such madness between the two of them, he never really thought of Ms. Cheerilee that way. “big macintosh…” Thinking more on the matter, he never really thought of anypony that way. Sure there were many beautiful mares available in Ponyville, he just never had a true spark with any of them. “Big Macintosh” He wondered if maybe his soul mare was not going to be from Ponyville, maybe he had to travel great distances to find her. Currently it didn’t matter, he has work to finish and to help Granny get lunch set up. “BIG MACINTOSH!”
He was jolted awake from his thoughts by Applejack screaming his name. “We still got a heck of a lot of work ta do. Get to it iffin you want to be done by lunch time!” Big Mac just stared at his sister, nodded in approval and continued his work. He had no time to think about the process of finding a mare-friend, he had too much work do and there was just too much at stake with the farm bein low on cash and all. “Oh well…” he whispered to himself as he prepared himself to buck the next tree full of green apples.
“Ms. Mosstalon, do you really think that this is the correct procedure to fix my strawberry plants?” An orange pony asked in concern as she watched a grayish lavender pony pluck fruits off her strawberry patch that were small and white. It had been months since she had seen beautiful big strawberries grow in her patch, and she figured having the best plant healer in the country would help her in some fashion.
The lavender pony stopped momentarily, whipping her mane around in circles to get the dirt and sweat out of her eyes and face, then turned to the orange pony, “Mrs. Jam, I appreciate that you are concerned, but please allow me to do my job. I promise you that what I am doing will guarantee future success in your strawberry patch, these smaller fruits are not ripe yet, and you mentioned they have been this way for quite some time. This means that they are not growing at all and in order for fuller plants to grow in, these ones must first be taken out.” Mosstalon reassured her. The orange pony only looked on with more concern in her eyes, her attempt to shrug off her worry a pitiful display of ‘hmphs’ followed by her walking away.
The day had been much like any other day here near the marshlands. The shrouds of trees covering almost every inch of ground near the water, blocking a majority of the sunshine from reaching the plant life that inhabited the area. Mosstalon, upon finishing her job, looked towards the tree bank with content in her bones. Above her there was a patch of tree missing to allow for the sun to reach the plant. The freshly removed tree branches scattered about her made the ground look like a small prickle bush.
Carefully she cleaned her mess and walked up to the door to notify Mr. and Mrs. Jam that she finished. “This job wasn’t as easy as normal; I actually had to climb that tree to give their plants light. My poor hooves are going to be sore for days. Oh well, when a job calls, I answer.” Upon knocking on the door she was greeted by Mr. Jam, who grumbled about the way his strawberry patch looked, handed her a bag of bits, and shut the door.
It was lunch time in the marshlands, and everyone was eager to get some food. Many small restaurants had been built in the marsh so that ponies could enjoy the pleasure of each others company and a great home meal as well. It might be a good thing to mention that most of the ponies were not really food growers. The general type of pony walking down the hoof-stricken paths were unicorns, utilizing their magic to create light in the darkness since they were constantly covered by shrouds of trees. Another pony you may find inside the marsh or maybe above the marsh were pegasi. They helped to keep the weather pretty stable. Since they all lived in a marsh, it was very easy for homes to be destroyed due to flooding or falling tree branches. There was however one pony, one which did not use magic or have the ability to fly; one pony that made growing food conceivable here in the marshlands to the north of Equestria.
Mosstalon made her way down the main path of the marsh town known as Witherknawl, glancing ever so often to the stores on the sides of the path, and greeting the many friends she had seen on her way to a small restaurant on the corner. The restaurant, called The Living End, was a quaint place; every corner filled with vines and adorned with golden encrusted water lilies. The building itself was made from the strongest of chestnut trees found in the local area. The outside covered in all sorts of marsh creature figurines, such as alligators, swamp snakes, dragonflies, and on each end of the entrance a figurine of a pegasus and a unicorn.
As Mosstalon made her way into the restaurant she was greeted by a screaming from the far end of the room. “Mosstalon! Come over here! I found us a spot!” a lavender pony with a curly, yellow mane and tail awaited her arrival. Her cutie mark glistening in the warm magic light that was powered by the unicorn employees. Her pink eyes huge and smiling for her friend nearly bounced out of their sockets as Mosstalon got ever closer to her table. “Kana Loa, could you please not make such a ruckus? We are in a restaurant…” Mosstalon replied as she sat down in one of the hoof-stitched wooden chairs that sat on both ends of the table. “I just can’t help it, I never get to see you anymore, you are always working!”
“Well it’s not like I can just not work Loa, you know how the economy is nowadays.”
“Aw please, Moss you practically are royalty here. First of all you’re the chief’s daughter AND you are the only earth pony that lives here. I bet you could make a lot of dough just by stepping on someone’s grass and charging them 50 bits for your energy to be transferred into the grass!”
“I prefer to work hard for my bit thank you; I am not some silly cloud dreamer like you. I have morals and values that allow me to be the best pony I can be, and that is how I tell ponies to grow their crops; to allow them to utilize their natural surroundings to the best of their abilities an-“
“Excuse me ma’am, may I take your order?” A waitress pony asked Mosstalon out of nowhere. It seemed like every day she was faced with too many ponies striving for her attention, and Kana Loa was no exception. Mosstalon quickly looked over the menu and spoke “Just get me the usual, a dandelion salad with feta cheese bread to side it.” Mosstalon handed the menu back to the pony as she proceeded to ask Kana Loa what she wanted. Mosstalon resumed her thoughts, for she knew that Loa took forever ordering.
As sad and true as it was, she didn’t have time to hang with her friends anymore. She was constantly working, constantly telling unicorn ponies how to grow plants with ease, and constantly ordering pegasi to removes patches of the tree line to enable sunlight to shine through. This was her job, to make sure that the citizens of Witherknawl and of other marsh counties had food to eat. As she glanced over to Loa as she was still gazing over the menu she noticed a couple in the other corner of the restaurant just tables away from hers. They were an older couple and looked at each other with pure love in their eyes. She noticed how they never spoke a word, just kept eating, looking at each other, smiling, and then returning to their meals. ‘I wonder if I will ever find a stallion that makes me that happy’ Mosstalon thought to herself as she finally broke her concentrated stare and resumed to wait on her friend to finish ordering.
“Ok yea, I am allergic to brome hay and I seriously cannot stand the way that milo tatses….so I guess I will have the molasses seed sandwich with the berry crisp to go with it. Thanks!” Loa finally gave the waitress her order and resumed talking with Mosstalon “So how have you been lately? I hear you have a lot of time on your hands once the crops start to grow.” Loa started the conversation; Mosstalon had a bad feeling about where this was going. “Loa…what are you thinking?”
“Nothing, just trying to talk casual….like”
“You wouldn’t happen to be trying to talk me into finding a long hobby that will take my time until crop season starts again would you?”
“No way girl, I was just thinking. Well…you see…I saw this stallion flying around the other day. OH man you should have seen him, his shoulders were huge! And the way the sweat was dripping off of him…oh I thought I was gonna have to take a break after seeing that hunk. I thought that maybe when you have time we can double-“
“No, absolutely not.” Mosstalon sternly replied, her light orange eyes searing heat into her friends coat. Loa instantly jeered away and gave her a pouty face that could match any misbehaving toddler. “But why nooooot?”
“Because, I am not interested in such things, and you know it.”
“You big liar, I saw you eyeing that couple over there, the way you were watching them you started turning green with envy. Pretty soon you will wind up becoming a green eyed monster.” Loa smirked as she noticed Mosstalon widen her eyes and giggled. Moss then tossed paper wad at her friend and the two continued to talk after receiving their food.
Pretty soon it was time for work again, and the friends parted in front of the restaurant. Mosstalon did feel slightly guilty for not having enough time for her best friend forever. Kana Loa was the first pony to ever be her friend when other fillies and colts thought she was so odd. She was also the only pony to play with her even when there was work to be done. And she has stood by her side through some pretty rough times, like when they ventured too far into the Forest of Souls and got chased by an angry Ursa Minor.
“She has always been a good friend, and I owe her a lot. Maybe I should hang out with her more in my spare time.” Mosstalon said to herself as she trotted down the path to her next line of work.
Chapter 2: request only the best
The sun rose quietly and faintly through the leafy blinds that hid Mosstalon’s room from the outside world. Just minutes after the dawn had settled Mosstalon opened her eyes to see about the new day that had presented itself in such a calming manner. She lifted her head from her feathery pillow and looked out the window, but she wasn’t looking at the ponies walking throughout the street, nor was she looking at the fruit stands that had set up close to her home. No, she was looking out in the distance, far beyond the horizon to someplace hidden and wonderful. As she gazed through the window she allowed her mind to roam freely, something she rarely did in these busy times. She began to see little earth ponies frolicking in a field, fillies and colts just like her with no responsibility of magic or flight. The brooks babbled as the fillies and colts played almost too close to the running streams. In the distance were their parents, two loving, young, admirable parents. Never before could two ponies be in such love, so engrossed with one another yet they knew their surroundings better than others. It began to dawn on Mosstalon that her mind had drifted into a part of her subconscious which she aptly called the pit of wishes. She tried to imagine herself in the daydream, but found it impossible.
It had been several days since her lunch with Kana Loa, and Mosstalon had felt, in a sense, different. She continuously thought about the topic Loa had pushed on her and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t shake it. ‘There is no one in Witherknawl that even thinks of me that way’ she thought to herself, doting back to her daydream from just a few seconds ago. Sure it would be nice to have a coltfriend; someone to love that cared about her day and welcomed her into his heart; someone who blessed her lips with sweet kisses that lifted her higher than any Pegasus pony could fly; someone who made her feel more enlightened with magic than someone as powerful as Princess Celestia could in a lifetime. To live a long and happy life and to be able to enjoy a nice lunch without ever saying anything, just like the couple she had encountered last week at The Living End.
Finally deciding that these thoughts were of moot point, she shook her head in dismay and rose from her cot. She walked towards her vine covered mirror and as she smiled into it exclaimed that her mane looked horrid. Using a brush she had locked into place in the wall she brushed out her mane to make it look decent to say the least. Using her mouth she grabbed another brush and used it on her tail, catching a few of her ebony hairs in a knot and roughly pulling them out altogether. After wincing for a few seconds she then continued to go about her daily routine of getting ready for the day.
About an hour later Mosstalon left her cottage and set off on her morning duties in the rural areas of Witherknawl. As she passed by all the buildings on her way to the Jam’s house she noticed a sort of quietness that screamed from the town. Every door was shut; every window had its blinds covered, and every door mat pulled inside. The only living things to roam the streets were the food vendors that had no idea as to the silence that wreaked the air. Mosstalon however remained relatively calm. She knew this time of day, heck she knew this day of the year. Every year on the 19th of April the town ponies performed a strange ritual. The unicorns refused to use any kind of magic all day and the pegasus ponies avoided flight at all costs. This seemed like a very interesting ritual, but it was very special for the town ponies, for today was the day of revelation, the day that both clans finally settled their differences and came together as one. As a rule that was established when the two clans jointed neither race was to use any particular advantage that they were born with. Thus the unicorns did not use magic and the pegasus ponies didn’t fly.
Mosstalon had heard of another ritual performed by other towns that was very similar to this one. She often heard it referred to as the Winter Wrap Up season; it was meant to mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring. “Whoa! Watch Out!” Mosstalon had to jump out of the way quickly to avoid a loose fruit stand that rolled down the street. The gray unicorn pony chased after his fruit stand with such gusto it was almost inspiring; ‘He could use his magic to catch his cart’ Moss thought to herself, but then quickly rebutted it, remembering the event.
Her trek to the Jam’s house was quiet and seemed to take forever, but only due to the lack of interaction with her fellow neighbors and friends. She finally reached her destination; a small cottage for two built out of wood and stone, topped with a brushy looking roof with algae hanging from the ends. Just as she was about to knock on the door, she saw dark blue majestic pegasus marching up to the house. It was none other than the pegasus chieftain, Moonshine. Her swirly navy blue and white mane bouncing with each step she took closer, her bright pink eyes smiling at the lavender pony, greeting her with a warmness that only a mother could. “Hello Moss, how are you today?” she asked Mosstalon as she finally reached her.
“I’m good, just here to help the Jam’s with their strawberry patch, again. It seems they can’t get the grasp of growing strawberries like their daughter did. What’s up mother?” Moss asked Moonshine with a soft and respectful voice.
“I am asking you to relieve yourself of your duties for a while, there is something important that came up yesterday and I really need to go over it together with you and your father.” Moonshine looked at her daughter with concern and sternness. Mosstalon nodded in agreement and followed her mother down the street to the main office building of Witherknawl.
The official unicorn and pegasus ponies collaborated at a long oak table about the statistics of Witherknawl until a dark brown unicorn pony with navy green hair entered and silenced them all with a wave of his hoof. His voice rang throughout the room, powerful and stern “Officials of Witherknawl, are we ready to start the meeting?” he asked and was received by nods of agreement and all the ponies found a comfortable place to sit. He cleared his throat and began the meeting “Today as many of you know is the day my wife and I brought together the two rival clans, the unicorns and the pegasi of the marsh. As is custom, we are all advised to not use magic or flight so that we can all bond together, and see past our differences. There is however one subject that we do need to discuss that does not correlate with today’s event.” The unicorn stated as two other ponies made their way into the room, Moonshine and Mosstalon. The brown unicorn smiled as Moonshine made her way to the front of the table and sat next to him while Mosstalon sat in the middle of the table, receiving some gentle nods from the other ponies present. Moonshine then continued where the brown unicorn left off, “My friends and colleagues, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to our 21st annual Revelation Celebration. On another note, I have received some disturbing news from other cities closer to Canterlot. In the past year recent studies of the agricultural department of Equestria have revealed that certain cities, such as Manehattan, Las Pegasus, and Fillydelphia have seriously decreased in the amount of local farms. As such, there crop output has also drastically decreased and is still declining as we speak.” She took a moment to breathe and awaited the response of her peers, especially awaiting Mosstalon’s response, which was as always focused on the task at hand. She then continued, “Most of you may ask ‘what does this have to do with us?’ Well, I am about tell you. The earth ponies in those areas have had a tough time growing on their fields, apparently all of the nutrients in the soil have been used up and the land that they normally grow on has become useless. I have been informed by the mayors of these big cities that they need a plant nutritionist, someone to come there and assist in rejuvenating their plant life as well as assisting in their crop outputs. Specifically, they have asked for my daughter, Mosstalon.” Moonshine finally stopped talking and then was surprised to see Moss’ face stricken with shock. Immediately Moonshine became concerned, no job before had been too much for her little filly to handle, but maybe she thought she would never leave this place and that was what comforted her to do her job to the best of her abilities. Either way she knew that this request had to be filled and she was by any means going to try to convince Mosstalon to go.
Finally after a few seconds of letting her words hang in the air, Mosstalon shook her head and spoke “When am I to leave?” Many ponies patted her on the back and clopped their hooves in admiration for her determination. Moonshine looked to her husband, smiled, and turned back.
“We will help you make preparations this afternoon, thank you so much my dear for accepting this challenge. These cities are a great deal far away from home, but just know that if anything bad happens or you need any kind of assistance, just ask a fellow pegasus and give it this notice.” Moonshine slid down the table a small scroll with her and her husband’s seals on it. Mosstalon gazed blankly at the scroll for a moment, taking in everything she had said and heard. Her head started to spin and all down her spine were chills of excitement and nervousness, her hooves slightly shaking.
The meeting was adjourned with a swift pound against the table by the brown unicorn, even for some of the officials who had been part of the board for years were still a little frightened by this method. The family trio walked out of the building and towards Mosstalon’s small cottage that was only half a mile away. Not much was spoken in the first couple of minutes; all the three could hear was the clopping of their own hooves against the stone and dirt roads, and the shallow breathing that emanated from Mosstalon.
The two parents looked at each other nervously, maybe they had made the wrong decision, maybe they should go with their daughter. No, that was a cruel and impossible wish in itself. They both had to stay to govern each race, even though they had joined the two together for years, there was still minute problems for each race that had to be dealt with by leaders of their own faction. Finally Moonshine spoke up to break the silence, “So Moss, what is your plan for this journey? Midnight Drop and I haven’t really talked about how you are to go about this quest and we feel maybe we can help you.” Mosstalon jolted her head out of her dismay and looked into her parents concerned expressions with questioning eyes,
“I’m not sure; I have never been outside of the marshes before, so honestly I have no idea about how to even begin my quest. I was kind of hoping one of you could go with me…”she started but knew deep down the request would be difficult for them to answer. She then smiled and exclaimed “it will be ok, I’m sure I can find my way if I have a good map.” Unbeknownst to her, her father Midnight Drop had asked a map maker in Canterlot to come up with a good map of the entirety of Equestria long before she was even requested for such a task. In a small saddlebag he carried on his back, the map protruded from the very edge of one of the flaps, “I have a map for you to use, I just hope you can use it to its full extent, it was a bright bit to get.” Mosstalon received her parent’s expressions, now much calmer than they were before as they approached her cottage.
She would miss her cottage; it wasn’t anything fancy, just a cottage for one that had a bathroom, kitchen, living space, and bedroom. It was actually under her supervision that the cottage was built, so that she could be close to her clients in the event of a total disaster, such as infestation of caterpillars or a sudden drought. Moss and her parents walked through the small doorway, Midnight almost hitting his head, and then proceeded to help Moss pack her stuff. It was very lucky for her that the saddle bag was big. Due to her many trips around the marsh she needed to be prepared for anything, and this large saddlebag was definitely useful. The bag was made by her friend Cross Stitch many years ago and it seemed like time and time again it had the best item in her arsenal. Unfortunately though, even a bag as big as this one had its limits, and Moss advised her parents while they helped to only pack the essentials, for some of her tools were items she could purchase or use in other areas of Equestria.
After about an hour of searching for the correct items and scanning through her bag, Mosstalon was confident that she was ready to go. The parents invited their daughter into a huge group hug and whispered “Good luck” and “You’ll do fine” into her ears. Finally the three came out of Moss’ cottage only to be welcomed by the entirety of the Witherknawl. They gathered upon Mosstalon’s doorstep, ready to send her off in a manner fitting for a dignified young mare such as herself.
Mosstalon made her way through the crowd accepting hoofshakes and cheers of excitement, coming close to tears when she saw Kana Loa at the very end, giving her a teary but happy expression. The light purple pony with long blonde hair hugged her best friend so tightly it almost knocked the wind out of her. Her yellow eyes piercing Moss’ dark orange eyes, begging her not to go, but knowing there was no other way. Kana Loa then spoke “You better find some cute stallions out there or I will find you personally and kick your butt” she joked. Mosstalon kneed her in the shoulder jokingly back, knowing she would deeply miss her best friend. With one last gaze at her parents, who still stood at her doorway with glistening eyes, she turned around and trotted down the lonely path that would start her thousand mile journey.
