Difference

Chapters

Prologue
1: Hidden
2: Cloudsdale
3: Lighting Ember
4: Attack

Prologue

Prologue:

Working Hard were two words that would be used to describe my family. My family owned a farm that had been in the family for generations. Passed from father to son for as long as there were ponies in Equestria. The princesses themselves had even named our farm as a historic land mark and various Archaeologists had discovered artifacts on our land. With our farm being named a historic place and artifacts being found came fame from all over Equestria. My family and I became celebrities in the historic and scientific communities. With all that fame also came buyers offering my family ridiculous amounts of money to buy the land generations of my family had been born on and buried under. My family bought into none of it, the farm couldn't be bought. Even though we had all the fame we could ever want, we never stopped working hard to move onwards. I guess we couldn't simply give in.

I was the second born in my family and I don’t even know what number I was in the list of ponies born on this land. Unlike most foals born in Equestria, I was born during the dawning hours of the day. Most unlike all of my family ever to be born, I was a Pegasus. Of course in a family full of Earth Ponies this came as a shock. My father never accused my mother of cheating, they had that trusting love that is so rare nowadays. My parent’s love couldn't be broken, which is likely the cause for me and my three other siblings. My family searched the family tree like some treasure map in order to explain why I was a Pegasus. Then my grandmother finally confessed.

She sighed looking at my mother and I, which at the time I was still barely a filly. “It has been a family secret for a number of years. Actually ever since your great-grandfather was alive, Cinnamon Lily’s great-great-grandfather. Back in the day when ponies were still settling this area a group of Pegasi came down from what would be Cloudsdale. Mind you the town was vastly Earth Ponies at the time, with some Unicorns here and there. Anyhow the Pegasi came down after seeing our struggle during the winter months.”

“So Saddle Valley had a diversity of ponies,” my mother had said corralling me to her.

“Well as I’ve said the Earth Pony population greatly outnumbered the Pegasi and Unicorn populations at the time. Anyways, your great-grandfather was a stallion who was devoted to architecture and forwarding the Earth Pony way. Being the first born in the family he had a lot riding on him to do something great; without a doubt he indeed did. At the time our family didn’t tolerate marrying anypony that wasn’t an Earth Pony,” she sighed.

“Although one summer while your great-grandfather was building a house for a local family, he met a young wild spirited Pegasus mare. She was working on building the town’s library when he met her. They hit it off almost instantly. Their relationship lasted nearly a year until the young Pegasus mare told your great-grandfather that she had gotten pregnant by him. As you would guess he had to somehow find a way to explain why he had a foal and if the foal was a Pegasus he would have been disowned by the family. So as the months went by he and the Pegasus mare had worked it out, he would get married to one of his best friends and she would claim to be the foal’s mother. The family was elated to hear he finally managed to find a wife and to hear a month or so afterwards that he would be a father. As the due date got closer to his foal’s birth, he and the Pegasus mare became closer until they finally decided to break it off for the sake of their foal. When his foal was born your great-grandfather was relieved to see that she had inherited his Earth Pony genetics.”

“What happened to his daughter’s real mother?” My mother had asked. She was a lover of stories and instantly got caught up in stories.

“They had both agreed that she would keep their daughter until she didn’t need her mother’s milk any more. After all his wife was still technically pregnant for a couple more months. So when the time came when his daughter didn’t need her mother anymore she went to live with him and his wife. His wife claimed to have lost the foal to miscarriage and had adopted his daughter a month afterwards. All of her life your grandmother was believed to be adopted. Only her father, mother, adoptive mother, and I knew about what had actually happened.”

My mother went silent and my father looked at her. “So you and your brother carry the Pegasi gene along with your two sons and my wife. How is it that only Cinnamon Lily only shows the Pegasi gene even though we have three other children?”

“The Pegasi gene is diluted and was a recessive gene in the first place,” my grandmother said matter-of-factly. “It was one in a hundred chance that you would have a Pegasus child. So Dawning Star is truly one of a kind in our family.”

After learning about how and why I was a Pegasus my mother went into studying on how to care for and how to raise a Pegasus child. She did it all in private because if someone found out what she was doing, they would question her. My mother always had my best interest in mind no matter how stressed or over worked she was.

As I grew my mother and father tried their best to raise me like a Pegasus parent would have. On some days they took me and whichever sibling who knew to keep this all a secret out to the woods far out of the town. There my mother tried to teach me to fly from her books that she had read.

1: Hidden

Chapter One – Hidden

{Point of View: Cinnamon Lily}

“Cinnamon Lily?” I heard my mother call as she came towards my room. Moments later she came into the room just as I was hiding my wings under the bandages I used to keep them down. “Could you fly up to Cloudsdale and fetch an airmail package?”

“Why can’t one of the usual Airmail Ponies do it?” I grunted finally finishing with the bandages.

“Because it’s a Pegasus holiday and everypony has the day off,” she walked over to my closet and brought me one of my various hoodies. Taking it from her I noticed it was the Pegasus hoodie she had given to me for my eighteenth birthday. She had claimed she had gotten the wrong one in front of my extended family, but I knew she did it on purpose. She didn’t like that my grandmother had cheated on my grandfather all those years ago, but I was her daughter. She would never abandon me just because I was different. “I heard it was cold up there, so I thought this would be helpful.”

I smiled up at her. “Thank you,” I said pulling the hoodie on. Getting my saddlebags from their spot on the back of my chair, I pulled them over my head and rested them on my lower back. “What does the package look like and how heavy is it?”

“It should just be a couple of medium cubes, it’s a new Unicorn invention we’re going to try out on our Pomegranate trees. They shouldn’t be heavy at all because the Unicorn magic made them light,” she said as we trotted out of my room. I pulled the door closed and locked it. “If the postal office is closed tap on the door three times. I have a friend up there who knows you’re coming in,” she said grinning.

“Wait…Uncle Lighting Ember is there?” he wasn’t really my uncle, just an old friend of my mother’s. She had grown up with him when she was a filly and had become best friends with the eccentric Pegasus. When I had been a little filly myself my mother had called on him to teach me how to fly since she couldn’t. In the dawning hours of the weekends I would spend hours learning to use my wings with him. Of course we had to travel a little ways away from the town in where my family farm was in order to keep my wings a secret. Over the years I had grown close to him enough to consider him like a family member.

She grinned. “Yep, he’ll be there waiting. Oh and don’t mention anything about his latest invention, he’ll make your ears bleed and keep you up there forever,” She sighed rolling her eyes at me. “I learned that the hard way a couple days go.”

I snickered as I walked out the door. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Alright honey,” she said hugging me. “Fly safe,” she whispered.

“I will,” with that I took off. Running across the ground I headed toward the outskirts of town where there were few houses and farms around to see me take off into the sky. As I neared the edge of the town I heard hooves pounding the ground behind me. From what I could tell the pony was quickly gaining speed and closing in on me. I grinned, I knew who exactly it was. Within two minutes a dark black stallion with a green mane and tail got into sync beside me. Looking at him I ginned. “Wanting to go visit Cloudsdale?”

“Hell yeah,” he said with a wicked grin and a flap of his wings. He was a descendant of one of the few Pegasi families who had decided to stay in Saddle Valley. We had grown close together over the years to the point we had become a couple. Of course this was all kept in secret because some members of my family would keel over at the thought of me dating anyone that wasn’t an Earth Pony.

I grinned back and returned the wing flap. Cantering through the town we finally broke out of where the town ended. We kept running until we were well into the woods, then we slowed down. I maneuvered to a section of the woods where no pony ever dared to go. Which was by the Darkling Caves. The caves had been rumored to harbor dark magic and Shadow Ponies since before the founding of the town. While most ponies today just believed it to be a folk tale, the majority of ponies avoided the place out of respect and maybe a bit of fear. However my mother had used this to her advantage. This was one of the places she had taught me how to fly.

Walking into the caves the torches on the walls lit up with a blue hue. A Unicorn friend of my father’s had bewitched these torches to only light up for either my parents or I. Since they glowed blue their light couldn’t be seen outside the caves. Wandering over to the small chest it popped open for me, another thing that had been bewitched for only my parents and I. Pulling off my hood I hung it off the top of the chest while I took my bandages off.

“Here, I’m itching to fly and you’re moving too slow,” he walking forward he pulled the bandages off and I jumped a bit when I felt a sharp sting of a feather being pulled the wrong way. “Sorry.”

“I know you are wanting to get in the air, but be careful and don’t rip the bandages,” I finally felt the last of the bandages slip off and I instinctively flexed my wings up into the air. “That feels so good,” I sighed gratefully. Whenever I was around outside family or people from the town I had to keep my wings bound up at all times. So they usually were set free once a week and even once a couple weeks if I had no time to fly.

“Oh I love seeing those,” he grinned.

I grinned back at him. “I know you do Lime Monsoon,” I came over to him and bumped my forehead to his. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” he said softly.

Before pulling my hood back on I opened the slots for my wings and pushed them through. Walking out of the cave I carefully looked around. Hearing a snicker behind me my head snapped back. “What?”

“No one in their right mind would come around here. It has enough rumors and legends to prevent that from happening,” Lime said trotting up behind me. “Let’s go, I’m itching to see those wings in the air,” he wiggled his brow.

I smirked. “Try anything and my dad will have your wings,” I caught up to him. Shivering a grinned, it had been a long time before I had been in the air. Occasionally I would sneak out at night just to stretch my wings or preen them since having to been pressed down all the time. Unlike most parents mine were fine with me sneaking out at night, they trusted me to stay out of trouble. Plus my mother even loved it since I sometimes brought her back Wild Moon Berries. These only grew in select areas around the valley and only showed fruit and blooms when the moon was out. My mother had managed to successfully transplant some in the garden, but she had said the ‘tame’ ones just didn’t taste as good as the wild ones.

“Want to get some Moon Berries for your mom?” Lime said as if reading my mind.

I gave him a look. “Are you secretly a mind reader?”

“I wish,” he said as he trotted along. “I just know your mom likes wild Moon Berries.”

We trotted along in silence for a while until we got to a clearing far from the town. It took little over thirty minutes to get there, but we passed the time by telling stories. Also by wondering what would happen if my family ever found out that I was dating a non-Earth Pony. I already knew what would happen, some family members would refuse to talk to me or disown me all together.

Entering the clearing I looked around and ignored the snicker from Lime Monsoon. When you had spent your entire life hiding a vital part of yourself from your family, you learned to be on edge when your secret was out in the open like this. When I had deemed it safe I took a running start and leapt up into the air.

2: Cloudsdale

Chapter Two – Cloudsdale

I let out a scream as I soared through the air. I pumped my wing to climb higher and higher to the point I felt the air began to thin. Turning on my back I stopped flying and quickly fell back down to the ground. Throwing Lime Monsoon a grin when I passed him I laughed at his nervous look. Even though he knew I was a good enough flyer he still got nervous whenever I pulled these tricks.

Passing through a cloud on my descent I stopped right under the cloud. Coming back through the cloud I lounged on it. “What are you doing?” Lime Monsoon said looking at me. “We have to get to Cloudsdale and back before anyone at the farm realizes you’re gone from the house.”

“Alright mama bear,” I chuckled getting up from the cloud and began flying towards Cloudsdale.

“From what I heard from my mom yesterday Cloudsdale is now over the mountains. The Pegasi there are working on making some cloud cover there. The mountain ponies had been complaining that they were lacking on delivering rain there,” Lime was very interested in weather and everything to do with it. In fact his cutie mark was of a little sun behind a poufy white cloud. He had the makings to be a successful Cloudsdale resident, but he wouldn’t think twice about leaving his family behind.

“Let me guess the Neo-Gypsies and the Stallsteaders?” he grunted in agreement. “I don’t have a problem with most of the Stallsteaders. All they want is to live off grid and be self-reliant. However Equestria would be a lot saner place without the Neo-Gypsies. They burned half of my aunt’s crops and set most of her animals free into the woods.”

“Really? Your Aunt Bell’s farm?” he asked surprised. Growing up alongside me Lime Monsoon had grown close to my free spirited and lively aunt Bell. She was my mom’s sister and the only one my parents trusted with knowing what I was. “How’d they get pass her?”

“None of them got away with it. If there’s one thing you don’t want to do, it is get my Aunt Bell riled up,” Aunt Bell was as friendly as could be, but she could have the temper of a full grown Minotaur if provoked enough. “Once she had rounded up all of her animals, some of which had been injured, she went after all the Neo-Gypsies that were involved. She even scared one enough that the poor gelding had to go through therapy for two months. After that the gelding abandoned the Neo-Gypsies and is living somewhere around Ponyville. Last I heard of her the gelding had been planning on moving again.”

“Why? Ponyville too hard on him?” He said going side to side as he flew.

“Nah some massive dragon destroyed his home and on top of that the antics of the Mane Six were starting to stress him out. Last I heard from my Aunt Bell was the gelding was planning on moving to where her farm was,” I flew lazily beside him with my front hooves in the pocket on my hoodie.

“Why is she still in contact with the gelding who damaged her farm?” He said puzzled.

“Well they kind of hit it off a month or two ago. Aunt Bell had said that the gelding originally didn’t want to do the whole thing. Other members of the Neo-Gypsies had pressured him into doing it,” I said going quiet after a moment. What I didn’t say was the gelding was a Unicorn and as soon as the family found out that she was involved with him, she would be kicked from the family.

“Let me guess this guy isn’t an Earth Pony?” He said arching an eyebrow at me.

“How’d you know?” Looking over to him I saw the concern on his face.

“You get lines on your forehead when you worry. On top of that I didn’t really think your Aunt would date another Earth Pony,” he said passing through a cloud. His mane was damp when he came back out.

“What makes you…I see your point,” Aunt Bell was the rebel in the family and on top of that she didn’t like all the prejudice our family had towards anyone who wasn’t an Earth Pony. I shoved my front hooves deeper into the pocket as I thought of what would happen if they ever found out about me.

“Hey,” Lime Monsoon said pulling me out of my thoughts. “There’s Cloudsdale,” he pointed his hoof to the cloud city. My green eyes widened, I had been to Cloudsdale with my adoptive uncle before, but it never seized to amaze me. Cloudsdale was really close to the ground, but not close enough for any non-Pegasi to touch it. Rainbows, waterfalls, and fog came from the cloud city as we got closer.

“Look the Wonderbolts!” I followed the superfast flying Pegasi as they streamed through the sky. A rainbow trail was following close behind the one in the middle. “That’s Rainbow Dash!”

Lime Monsoon smiled. “Amazing isn’t she? A Wonderbolt, member of the mane six, and a carrier of an element of harmony.”

“Are you going to fan-colt?” I teased.

“No!” he snorted. “I just admire her,” he said just as we flew into Cloudsdale. Landing on the cloud sidewalk we looked around. Neither of us managed to get up here often at all so it was still a new sight to us. “Hey think we could stop and get something for Bluegrass Sunshine and Jubilee Rose?”

“I can’t say no to those little fillies,” I said trotting with him towards the Cloudsdale gift shop, Bluegrass Sunshine and Jubilee Rose were his twin little sisters. Their mother had died a few hours after giving birth to them and his father had abandoned his mother when he had been a colt. This had left him the legal guardian of his little sisters. Since then he had become a father figure to them and had raised them up to the best of his ability. I had been friends with him so long his little sisters saw me as their own family and often rushed towards me whenever they saw me.

Walking into the gift shop I looked around in amazement. Everything here looked amazing. “I think I’ll get something for my family too.”

Looking around in the young mares section I found a soft blue Pegasi hoodie that had white swirls curling around it. It even had ear pockets where I could stuff my ears in if it was cold out. “No way am I passing this up,” I said to myself pulling the hoodie off the rack. Walking into a changing room I pulled on the hoodie. I looked at myself in the mirror, the light blue hoodie went perfectly with my dun coat. It somehow pulled off the black stipe that ran down my spine and my black socks. I pulled the hood over my head and wiggled my ears into the ear pockets.

“Lime!” I called.

A moment later he came trotting up with a little stuffed Spitfire and Rainbow Dash in a white bag. “That looks good on you, how much is it?”

I bent around to look at the tag. “Thirty bits plus tax.”

“Not bad seeing as that’s a Wonderbolts special. I’d get Bluegrass one, but they only make them in young mare’s sizes,” he said admiring the hoodie. “Question is will you get to wear it?”

I gave him a look and arched a brow as I pulled the hoodie off. “What do you mean?”

“It’s clearly a Pegasi made hoodie and it has the Wonderbolt logo on the back. One look from your family and they’d know something is up. Do you still want to get it?”

I thought for a moment. “Yes, I’ll just keep it in the bewitched chest in the Darkling Caves.”

“You just want it,” he grinned and I nodded. Walking up to the counter I saw who was behind the counter. “Jupiter? Is that you?”

The lavender mare with a white mane looked up. Her brown eyes widened. “Oh my Celestia, Dawn?”

I couldn’t help, but to grin. “It’s me!”

The mare trotted as fast as she could from out behind the counter. “I haven’t seen you in ages! How have you been?”

“Great!” We pulled apart and then I saw her stomach. “You’re pregnant! Who’s the father?”

“Remember that painted Unicorn colt from school?” she said with a grin on her face.

“Little Sticky? Him?” she nodded. “I’ve always thought he would never date seeing as he was always studying every chance he got.”

She grinned. “Well he’s still like that, but now with a foal on the way he’s gotten a bit better. He adores the idea of being a father. The foal already has a fully stocked nursery and play room, I’m not even four months yet. Anyways what brings you up here?”

Then it hit me, she never knew I was a Pegasus. I looked up at her looking for any sign of surprise. “Aren’t you, you know, surprised I have wings?”

“Oh I’ve always known,” she said simply earning a look from Lime Monsoon. “It isn’t hard for me to pick up on things. How do you think I started dating Little Sticky? He’s horrible with words, but I knew what he wanted. So several years later here we are in Cloudsdale,” she smiled again before she walked back behind the counter. “So want me to ring you up?”

“Sure,” I trotted forward and sat the hoodie on the counter and handed her thirty bits.

“Want that in a bag?” she asked.

“Sure,” she wrapped it up and put it into the bag before handing it to us. “Thank you and it was nice seeing you again.”

“Oh you’re welcome and get in touch with me again,” she pulled a little card out of her gift shop apron and handed it to me. “That’s my husband’s business card, he’s an inventor and a computer genius. It has his work cell on it so give it a ring if you want our number. Also we live in Ponyville now so if you ever find yourself in that area don’t hesitate to stop by.”

I smiled at her. Jupiter Bloom had always been a sweet and gracious mare. Nearly everyone had loved her back in school and she didn’t know a stranger. I just hoped her little colt or filly turned out to be like her. “We’ve got to get, Cinnamon Lily has to be seeing her uncle.”

“Oh Celestia! I forgot!” I cantered to the door and rushed out into the open street.

“We’ll see you around,” I hear Lime Monsoon say from inside the store before he cantered out to catch up with me.

3: Lighting Ember

Chapter Three – Lightning Ember

“Where is he?” I groaned looking around for him. We had been waiting at the mail office for my adoptive uncle for nearly thirty minutes now. I had trotted around the block several times looking for any sign of a dark grey Pegasus with a short yellow and red mane. All of those times I’ve had no luck in finding him. This last time I had stopped and sat down on the bench with Lime Monsoon. “Do you think something happened to him?” I asked worriedly.

“He’s probably with some mare,” Lime Monsoon said uninterestedly. “You know how he likes his mares. How

many foals does he have now?”

“I think he has eight now,” and all by different mares. While Lightning Ember was a nice enough stallion he was a pony you didn’t want your colt or filly to see as a role model. My mother only trusted him because she had known him since she was a young filly. Also he had always protected my mother and nearly almost died saving her once. So my mother never saw any problems with him being around me because she knew he’d never hurt me. “Actually I think ten now, my mom said one of the mares was pregnant with twins.”

“How about we try for ten foals?” Lime Monsoon asked with an eyebrow wiggle.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Do you want to lose something?”

“Correct and she has an uncle who isn’t afraid to go to jail,” a thick voice said making us jump. Looking around I saw Lightning Ember standing there with a smirk on his face. “You can be like me, just be there for your foals when they need you,” that was another thing about him. Despite having so many foals, he was always there for them. He rarely missed a birthday and when he did he always sent a present for the foal.

Lime Monsoon kept his poker face on, but I knew he was silently screaming. Lightning Ember had some draft pony blood in him which gave him big bones and hard hooves. Also because of this his wings were huge and thick. They could easily cover up a little mare or a couple little fillies. “It’s nice seeing you again,” I came over and hugged him.

He hugged me back. “Sorry I was late, my oldest girl was having problems.”

“She’s about to go to university isn’t she?” I asked. I had once met his oldest daughter, but we hadn’t really hit it off. She was possessive over her father and it was something I couldn’t really blame her for. Having a father that constantly went with other mares and had more children, had to be hard on her.

“Yeah, she’s studying over in the area closest to the Zebra lands. She had always hoped to study their culture and find a way to further peace among their land and ours,” I hid a grin as his chest puffed out a bit and his wings fluffed up a little.

“What if she hooks up with a Zebra stallion?” I said coyly.

“Then I’ll make sure he isn’t like me,” he looked off to the side like he was ashamed of saying that. Which I had to agree with him, while he was a player he was very protective of his daughters. This was the main reason most of the mothers of his daughters still allowed him to see his kids.

“What would a half Zebra half Pegasus look like? As far as I know there aren’t any winged Zebras flying around,” Lime Monsoon said.

“A flying Pegasus with stripes?” I offered.

“Well the Zebra genome is dominate over the Pony genome. The foal will probably just look like a striped Earth Pony with either his or her parent’s features. Now there is a slight chance that the foal might get wings if the Pony parent’s genome is strong enough,” Lightning Ember said. We both looked at him awestruck. “What? My oldest girl is a science nerd, stay around her long enough, you’ll start picking up things.”

I just shook my head and grinned. “So where’s this Pomegranate Unicorn invention my mom bought?”

“Oh right here,” he said pulling it out of his saddlebag. It was just a simple cube with little spheres on each side of

the cube. “The Unicorn said to bury it in the ground in the orchard and let it do the work.”

“Okay,” I held my hoof out for him and when he didn’t hoof it over I gave him a look.

“I was hoping you’d let me come down with you to see your mother,” there was a look on his face that suggested that he was keeping something to himself.

After a minute I nodded my head and watched him put it back where it came from. “Alright lets go.”

It had taken nearly an hour and a half to get back down to Saddle Valley. Lightning Ember had gone on down to the farm while Lime Monsoon helped me bandage myself back up. Pulling the hoodie back over my head I walked over and placed the new hoodie in the bewitched chest and closed it. Walking back out of the caves I started the trek back home with Lime Monsoon.

“Cinnamon, I’m getting an uneasy feeling about your uncle,” Lime Monsoon said as we passed a pond under a willow tree.

I looked over to him and arched my eyebrow. “Why?”

“He…he just seemed like he was trying to hide something all the way back home. Believe me after raising two twin fillies…I know how to pick up on stuff like this,” he looked around. “Do you think he’ll reveal your secret to your family?”

I was taken aback. “Why would he? He has to reason to.”

He shrugged. “I dunno,” he was quiet for the last leg of the journey until we came into the town. He stopped in

the crossroads between his house and my farm. “Stay with me tonight?”

Normally I would have said no, but the look he gave me convinced me not to. He genuinely looked worried for me. I knew my mom or dad wouldn’t have a problem with it. After all those years of being my foalhood friend and him rising to the challenge of raising two fillies…my parents trusted him without a doubt. “Alright,” I walked with him down the road towards his house.

A couple minutes later we arrived at a small cottage. Before he could open the door, it banged open startling us both. In the doorway stood a little white coated and light green maned Pegasus filly. “Where have you been?” she said with mock anger. “Will I be expecting to become an aunt?”

My cheeks flared with a blush just as another almost identical white Pegasus filly with a light red mane popped up. “Yeah did you do it? Was he any—”

“Bluegrass Sunshine and Jubilee Rose!” he shouted cutting Jubilee Rose off.

Both of the fillies laughed mischievously as they cantered back into the house. When they were gone Lime Monsoon looked at me with his cheeks red hot. “Sorry about that, they are starting to pick things up in school.”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry, their mischievous side is cute.”

“Yeah it’s cute!” the fillies called in unison.

Lime Monsoon stomped into the house. “So help me…” his voice faded as he went deeper into the house.

I smiled trotting into the house. Closing the door and locking it behind me I took my hoodie off and undid the bandages. If only it could be like this at home, I thought rolling the bandages up. After I stored everything on top of a cabinet I trotted off to find them.

I found them in the fillies’ room with Lime Monsoon pulling the stuffed Spitfire and Rainbow Dash out of the bag. “The wonderbolt mares!” they cheered picking up the stuffed mares.

“What do you say?” I said with a grin.

“Thank you, big brother,” they said in unison.

“You’re welcome. Now did Aqua Pond feed you guys?” he asked referring to the sitter who had watched them while he was gone.

“Yes,” Bluegrass said not looking up from the stuffed Spitfire.

“Alright, well Cinnamon Lily and I are going to the other room. I expect you guys to go to bed soon, you have school tomorrow,” Lime Monsoon said from the doorway.

“Okay, go make a foal,” Jubilee said with a smirk.

Lime Monsoon threw her a glare, but closed the door behind him. I walked with him to his room where he sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked tired and looked like he needed some sleep. I came and sat beside him. “Want me to be with you?”

He nodded and pulled me to him with a soft kiss.

4: Attack

Chapter Four – Attack

I awoke to the bed shaking and a pain in my side. As the sleep left me I realized that blood was pooling out from my side right under one of my wings. I snapped to attention and tried to pull myself out of the bed to check on Lime Monsoon’s little sisters when the pain got worse. Screaming I fell to the floor with a thud. It took a moment to realize that there were two little figures standing above me. Looking I saw Bluegrass Sunshine and Jubilee Rose with horrified looks on their faces.

“Cinnamon Lily are you okay?” Bluegrass Sunshine knelt down beside me.

“I’d like to say yes,” I grunted. “What happened?”

Bluegrass Sunshine and Jubilee Rose looked at each other. “Big brother told us to help you escape to the forest line,” Jubilee Rose said.

Worst case scenarios were racing through my mind. What had happened to Lime Monsoon? What caused this splitting bleeding pain in my side? Why were the fillies looking so worried? “Alright get an ice pack and my bandages,” I didn’t know exactly how big the cut was, but ice should slow the bleeding enough for me to get mobile. Little fillies raced from the room and came back moments later with the ice pack and bandages. “Good now press the ice pack on my cut and wrap the bandages as tightly as you can.”

Bluegrass Sunshine was chanting ‘I’m Sorry’ over and over as she pressed the ice to the cut, she knew it hurt me. Jubilee Rose quickly wrapped the bandage around securing the ice pack to my side. Slowly I got up with some effort and a grunt. “Are you steady?” Jubilee Rose said pressing to my uninjured side.

“Yes, but I might need some help until the ice numbs the pain,” I said as I moved out of the room and made my way towards the door. Looking around it was clear that there had been a struggle. “What happened?”

They exchanged looks. “Someone from your family came for you.”

“Lime Monsoon said something about somepony named Lightning Ember being a coward,” Bluegrass Sunshine said looking around when they exited the cottage. She picked up her pace a little bit.

“What did this pony do?” the cut was starting to numb and I was able to move more freely.

“We aren’t sure, Lime just said to hide until the threat was gone and meet him at the forest with you. We did what he said. It was only a couple moments before you woke up we came out of our hiding spot,” Jubilee Rose said angling us off the road.

We were quiet for a couple moments before we got out of the town and the forest came into view. When we got nearer I saw the familiar lime green mane, from a distance his mane looked like a bush, but I knew better. It was a few minutes before we reached him. When we did he came out and gathered us into a hug. Only after he let us go I realized he was covered in bruises, cuts, and scrapes.

“Dear Luna, what happened?” I gasped looking him over.

He looked at the girls for a moment then back to me. “Your mother came to tell me to run, but it was too late. Your so called uncle had told the rest of your family your secret.”

Lightning Ember? It was so uncharacteristic of him to do that? “Do you have any idea why he would do this to my family?”

“I overheard your mother saying that he still held resentment after she had turned him down in order to go with your father. Then there was your mother’s disapproval of him constantly being with other mares instead of settling down with one. Those might boiled up to the point where he couldn’t stand it and so he told the biggest secret he knew of,” Lime Monsoon didn’t really trust other stallions. After his father had left him and his mother he had never forgiven him and mistrusted any other stallion.

I sighed rubbing a hoof down my face. “Is my family okay?”

“The last I heard they had fled into the forest,” he said coming to check me over. He saw the now bloody

bandages behind my wing. “So your great-aunt did get to you before I could. How’d you even sleep through that?”

I shrugged. “I’m a heavy sleeper. Remember that huge earthquake a couple years back that made it into the Canterlot Newspaper?” The three of them nodded. “I slept through the entire thing.”

That made him smile. He gazed down at his little sisters and then back up at me. “Let’s go find your family, your dad will be able to treat that.”

“Cinnamon Lily!” I was nearly knocked over by a little dun colt with a white sock on his right foreleg. He had a messy blonde made and wide green eyes. He wrapped himself around my forelegs tightly. “I was worried that they had got you?”

I smirked. “Since when does anyone catch me?” He looked up at me with a toothy grin. “Where’s mom and dad? I need to see dad.”

He uncoiled himself from my legs. “Over here!” he cantered off deeper into the Darkling Caves.

As we followed I couldn’t help, but to laugh at Lime Monsoon’s little sisters’ awestruck expressions. “These are the caves?” Jubilee Rose said in amazement. “Why wouldn’t you let us come here sooner?”

“Because these caves aren’t for the faint of heart,” he said looking down at Jubilee Rose beside him with a grin.

“I am not faint of heart!” she said indignantly.

“You nearly fainted the last time you saw a spider,” her sister gave her a sidelong glance.

Jubilee Rose snorted. “Spiders are the spawn of dark magic and shadow ponies.”

“Oh what about that Shadow Pony movie where a mare fell in love with the tall, dark, and troubled Shadow Pony stallion?” Bluegrass Sunshine said mockingly. “You were swooning over that stallion for nearly three months.”

Jubilee Rose puffed her chest out. “That was different, it was clear he was an actor.”

Bluegrass Sunshine rolled her eyes. “Yeah your internet history said differently…” she trailed off chuckling and dodging her sister’s attempts to bite her.

“Hey knock it off,” Lime Monsoon said splitting them up placing a hoof between them.

“Fillies will be fillies,” said a familiar voice as my little brother stopped in a large clear cave. Looking to the owner of the voice I saw it was my older sister standing there with our older brother.

“Lunar Star!” I said running up to my older sister and hugging her. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in The Crystal Empire,” Lunar Star had moved there three years ago to study the stars and get an astronomy degree. Her talent was anything space and star related.

“I came to visit, it seems it was at a pretty bad time too,” she said looking around. Her face was lined with worry, which was a shock since she didn’t really show any emotion. “I ran here with Colton River on my back and with Almond Harvest helping Shining Emerald since our great-aunt managed to spear his leg with a sharpened stick.”

“Shining Emerald?” I asked puzzled. I didn’t know anypony by that name.

“Oh I forgot,” she said motioning for somepony to come forward. A sparkling green stallion with a well-kept white mane and tail slowly moved forward. “This is my fiancé Shining Emerald. I met him two years ago when we were placed on a project together. Before you say anything yes I knew the family would disown me even though he is technically an Earth Pony.”

“Not really, my sweet,” I bit my tongue as I heard Bluegrass Sunshine and Jubilee Rose swoon at the sound of his velvet soft voice. “We Crystal Ponies are closer related to the Unicorns than the Earth Ponies. Even without horns we have produced some of the most well-known magic users. I am even well practiced in the use of magic, my sweet.”

Lunar Star rolled her brown eyes. “Show off.”

“Just stating the facts, my sweet,” he kissed her cheek lightly causing Colton River to gag behind them.

“How’s your leg?” I asked in attempts to get to know him.

“Oh it is fine. Your father managed to set it correctly before it healed wrongly and formed a wrong connection. I heal quickly because of my Crystal Pony blood,” I noticed that he spoke very formally and kept a distinguished posture.

“Yes he always talks this way. That’s a reason dad likes him,” Lunar Star said with a grin. It quickly faded when she noticed the bloody bandages. “So great-aunt managed to get to you?”

“I don’t really know, I woke up to it bleeding,” I said pulling the bandage off.

Lunar Star smirked. “I reckon someone could cut your entire wing off and you wouldn’t wake up.”

I gave her a look as I took the last bandage off. Dad instantly sprang up. “My Luna, it looked like she attempted to cut your entire wing off. She nearly got to a major ligament and if she had it could have rendered you flightless. I assume you scared her off before that happened?” he said speaking to Lime Monsoon without looking up from the cut.

“Yes sir. I woke up to find her standing over Cinnamon with a sharp knife in her mouth. I tackled her off her before she could do any more damage.”

“That explains the direction the cut goes,” he said half-absorbed in thought. “Snappy hand me a thread, needle, and a numbing agent,” he said speaking to our mother.

“Did you bring the whole hospital with you?” I commented looking over my shoulder.

“No just a couple first aid boxes. Never mind it isn’t that deep, hand me the Unicorn medical ointment. Lime Monsoon help Almond Harvest restrain her,” he had gone into full doctor mode.

“Why?” I asked warily as I felt Lime Monsoon restrain my front and my brother restrain my back.

“This’ll hurt like birthing a big dragon egg,” Shining Emerald said looking at the ointment with distrust. “Your father had to use it on me.”

“Yeah and you gave me a nasty bite on my withers because of it,” Lunar said. I saw the mentioned bite on her withers and it looked somewhat deep.

He gave her a sheepish look. “I’m very sorry, my sweet.”

She smirked. “I didn’t say it hurt,” another gag from our little brother and a suggestive hoot from Lime Monsoon’s sisters.

“Hold her tightly,” my dad said coming towards me with his hoof caked with dark purple ointment. Carefully he placed it over the cut and backed away.

“It doesn’t…Dear Celestia!” I screamed as the ointment kicked in. Instinct kicked in and I tried to buck and spin, but their grip on me kept me firmly on the ground. I swung my head around with my ears pinned and bit Lime Monsoon square on the neck. He gave a bit of a yelp, but continued to hold me down.

“I bet he liked that,” I faintly heard Bluegrass Sunshine say.

What seemed like an eternity later the ointment finally wore off and the pain subsided. Almond Harvest and Lime Monsoon let me go. When I was able I turned to look at where the cut was and saw nothing. In its place was new tissue and feathers, no wonder the ointment hurt so much. Then I remembered biting Lime Monsoon. I gave him a sheepish look. “I’m sorry.”

He waved off with his hoof. “Don’t worry about it, consider it a mark of our love. Plus try having to deal with Bluegrass when she has to go to the dentist. Now there’s something that could make a full grown Griffon cry.”

We all smirked. Then quiet settled over us. “What now?”

Our mother sighed. “We’re going to move in with Lunar Star while things cool down. So I’ll be taking Colton River with us. Almond Harvest is coming with us as well.”

I turned to look at Lime Monsoon, he just shrugged. “I don’t really know. I was thinking about moving since my family might be a target of yours now.”

I saw my mother look to the ground and our father rub her back with his hoof. “What?”

“We…we think it’d be best if you don’t come with us. Our ‘family’ is going to try to search for us. Since they can use their power to find us and pretty much end our lives…we think it’s best if we spilt up.”

This stung a bit, but I could see his logic. It took me a minute to find my voice again. “Where to you say I should go?”

He looked towards my mom. “We think the best place would be Ponyville since the family doesn’t really have any connections there. A new alicorn princess also lives there, you could ask for her aid if anything happens.”

I nodded. Ponyville the epicenter of the Elements of Harmony. “Alright, I’ll go.”