Difference

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.”