Loyalty to the Moon

Shadows danced across the wooden planks of the flooring, though their movements were anything but delightful. A filly lay curled with her tail around her at the back of the room, shielding her from the disputing shouts outside her mostly ajar door.

"YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T DO THIS AGAIN! I TRUSTED YOU, WHEN I KNEW I SHOULDN'T! I GAVE YOU ANOTHER CHANCE, YET STILL, YOU CHOSE TO SNEAK OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND... AND I DON'T EVEN WANT TO KNOW WHAT!"

"OH, YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO GO AND BLOW EVERYTHING OUT OF PROPORTION, DON'T YOU?"

"BLOW IT OUT OF... UGH! DO YOU EVEN REALIZE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? YOU WENT AND STABBED ME IN THE BACK AGAIN, CLEARLY NOT EVEN CARING ABOUT ME, OUR FAMILY, OR OUR CHILDREN!"

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW? I'M THE ONLY FATHER THEY HAVE, ALL THAT MATTERS TO THEM IS THAT I'M HERE!"

"THAT'S JUST IT, YOU'RE NOT HERE, YOU'RE NEVER HERE! AND WHEN YOU ARE, YOU BARELY EVEN BOTHER TO SPEND TIME WITH THEM! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A-"

A pained scream could be heard, followed by an unsettling crash. The filly whimpered, tucking her tail closer.

"IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU, YOU'LL SHUT YOUR MOUTH, HAG."

The filly listened to the sound of the heavy footsteps fading and the creak of the front door being opened then slammed shut. Her mother's shadow was seen slumped over on the floor, the mare's flank rising up and down from her shallow gasps of breath. A second, older mare then joined her, kneeling down to tend to her.

"Oh, dear, are you alright?" the old mare asked.

"Y-yes, Mother. I'm okay." the wounded shadow replied.

"I knew that stallion was bad news right from the start. Come, child. Let's get you to bed."

"Thank you, mother."

The old mare slowly helped her daughter to her hooves, supporting her as best she could with her shoulder.

A light lime coloured pony trod into the filly's bedroom. She knelt next to the filly's bedside and stroked the top of her head with her hoof.

The filly sniffled. "Mommy and Daddy were fighting again."

The mare looked at her sadly. "I know, Sugar Blossom."

"Why? Don't they love each other?"

"Oh, of course they do. It's just, well... they've been having some troubles for a while."

"Troubles?"

"Yes... it's... it's a bit complicated to explain."

"Auntie Lemongrass, do you... do you think they're going to leave each other?" her tiny voice shook with grief.

"I don't know, Blossom..."

The filly reached forward, wrapping her little hooves around her Aunt's neck and buried her face under her chin. "I, I just want them to love each other again! To love me again!" Salty tears poured from her dark turquoise eyes, dripping down Lemon's fur.

"Starbeam, of course they love you. They'll always love you."

Lemongrass continued to stroke the heart broken unicorn's mane and hold her tightly.

Mommy...

Mommy...

Starbeam woke crying out for her mother. Tears stained her pillow and were smeared across her face. She sniffed, recalling her surroundings.

It was just a dream... nothing more.

She sat upright on her bed, wiping the remaining liquid from her eyes. Her woeful nightmare had caused her to wake up much earlier than the previous day, the sun was nowhere near ready to set. But she dared not slip into unconsciousness again, for fear that the awful images would play over once more in her mind. She decided to take the opportunity to have a decent breakfast. Often times she didn't get the chance because of the onslaw of nightmares trapping her in sleep and nearly making her late for her duties at the princesses' castle.

Putting on her grandfather's necklace and uniform armor, she left her home and went in search for a hearty meal. Star recalled seeing some different kinds of edible berries and plants over near the river when she first moved to Everfree. She always liked exploring new places, it made her feel like her grandfather was still with her. When she arrived, she found the place to be plentiful of herbs and fruit of all sorts. The river provided an abundant source of nourishment and mineral-rich soil for them to grow. It also made them extra tasty! Of course, it could never beat her grandmother's soup recipes. She made a mental note to try using some of the plants she found there for a broth or chowder sometime later on.

By the time she'd eaten her fill, the sun hung much closer to the west in the sky, a reminder to get on her way soon. In the courtyard, she met up with her unseemly partner. Shimmer once again was yammering on and on. It was like that pony didn't have an off switch. Star was half-relieved once they got deeper into the darker parts of Everfree, shutting up Sheep Shimmer. The other half of her was incredibly irritated by the pegasi's yelps and squeaks from every falling leaf or small gust of wind.

It was mostly quiet, which was rather odd for where they were. Today's patrol took place close to the path to where the zebras lived. Luna had told Starbeam about the strange striped "ponies" that lived together in a village in the tall grass lands on the other side of the forest. She hadn't actually met one before, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to, either. Apparently they spoke in a different tongue and performed magic with potions and mixtures, unlike most unicorns who used their horns. But the princess also said they were friendly and generous as well, and found their uniqueness and traditions interesting. Star wasn't completely convinced at this, but she decided to just go along with the princess' word.

Later on, they crossed paths with a huge, growling creature; a Manitcore. Sheep Shimmer nearly fainted at first sight of him, but his presence didn't faze Starbeam in the least. Despite his humongous, sharp-clawed paws, fangs, and scorpion-like tail, she knew he wasn't anything but a soft baby kitten on the inside. After all, Melvin was a good friend of Princess Luna's. She introduced him to her several moons ago, and told her how he had helped her many times over. Melvin had become fond of Starbeam as well, but since she couldn't speak Manticore, it was difficult for them to communicate with each other without the princess to translate.

The winged beast recognized the grey unicorn right away, and was happy to see her. He told the two ponies how he was glad to have some company since neither of the royal sisters had come to visit lately, but Star couldn't understand anything he said. She explained to him that they were patrolling Everfree, hoping he was fluent in at least some pony tongue. He nodded, seeming to understand. Melvin followed them around for awhile, having not much else to do, making Shimmer more restless than ever.

A murky river blocked their path, though it was dotted with stepping stones to allow them to cross. Star skipped across easily, Melvin following right behind. Sheep Shimmer stood frozen on the other side, unwilling to move.

"Come on, Sheep Shimmer. We haven't got all night." Star called above the sloshing river waves.

"Oh, um, I dunno... you sure it's safe?" she replied hastily.

"You have wings, featherhead."

The yellow pegasi still refused to budge.

Starbeam sighed. "Okay, look. There's no way you're gonna fall in, and even if you somehow manage to, Melvin and I are right here. Now will you please just hurry up already?"

Shimmer thought for a moment, then, gulping, mustered up the courage to say, "Okay."

A bit clumsily, she hopped onto the first stone. She breathed out, glad to have made it there. Star rolled her eyes. Shimmer took another breath and hopped to the next one, and then the next. The fourth stone was kind of wet from the water splashing onto it, causing Shimmer's hooves to slide around. She gave a high-pitched, "EEP!" while trying to remain upright, her legs shaking. After regaining her balance, she leaped onto the next stone. Something was off.

I don't remember that stone being there when I first crossed...

Shimmer was about to move to the next stepping stone, when suddenly the abnormal one she was standing on began to quake beneath her. It flipped her into the air, sending her crashing down onto the rock she'd been aiming for. The head of a young cragadile popped up from under the waves, opening its jaws to snap them down onto Shimmer. More of them began to float towards the pegasi from upstream, their eyes gleaming in the darkness. Sheep Shimmer, frozen with fear, lay on the rock squealing with panic. The first cragadile loomed closer, preparing to take a bite out of the little pony. It moved forward, beginning to clasp its mouth shut, when a bright beam of magic shot itself directly into the reptile's maw. It roared in frustration and pain, swerving its head away. Starbeam leaped in front of Shimmer, blasting the carnivorous monsters with spells from her horn. A particularly head-strong one ignored her attempts to make them fall back, and threw itself at them. In the heat of the moment, Star drew up a defense spell and formed a shield bubble around them. It sent electricity through the cragadile's body, and it thrashed in the water, growling and hissing.

Melvin flew from above, swiping at the cragadiles with his claws, trying to lure their attention away from the ponies. Two of them began to back away, sulking into the cover of the low-hanging trees. Starbeam swung her head around at the sound of a deep-throated moan behind her. A ginormous, blood-thirsty, full-grown cragadile skulked out of the bushes, baring its yellowed teeth and blowing its hot, reeking breath in her face. She suddenly went ice-cold.

Those are just younglings... and now... Mama's here.

The mature crag lunged at them. It sank its teeth into the protective bubble, ignoring the shocks and jolts. Cracks began to form as it broke, weakening their defenses. The younger ones also began to have at it, while Melvin's attempts to help became useless.

"Starbeam, what are we gonna do?!" Sheep Shimmer shrieked.

Star grunted without replying, trying to focus her magic to keep the cragadile family at bay. But their attacks began getting stronger, and their shield wouldn't last for much longer. The bubble finally shattered like glass, its pieces scattering across the rock and flying into the river. With a swift movement, the mother crag knocked Starbeam into the water with her tail. The normally brave unicorn began to flail helplessly in the river, as it tossed her around until she couldn't tell which way was up or down. Her armor, which was meant to protect her, began dragging her down as the river washed her downstream. A couple of the younger cragadiles swam after her, hungrily chasing their prey. The others surrounded the now defenseless Sheep Shimmer. Melvin continued to strife against them, only seeming to fuel their rage.

Meanwhile, the two going after Starbeam began to speed up, as the river's current grew quicker. Water filled the mare's nose, only allowing her to breath every once and a while when her head met the surface. Her limbs grew weaker as she hopelessly fought the current.

Come on, Starbeam, think! Use a spell, you just need to-

Her thoughts were cut short as she began to fade in and out of consciousness. All she could feel was a deep pain in her foreleg, the cold, dark blackness of the water around her, and the suffocating lack of oxygen in her lungs.

Suddenly a pair of warm hooves embraced her, pulling her upwards. Sound instantly filled her ears like thunder as they broke the surface, a mixture of roars of wrath and screams of alarm. She also thought she heard the beating of wings. She was completely unsure of what was going on now, and became more confused as she was lifted high into the air. Below, she could see four ponies and a lion fending off the cragadiles. Or at least, it looked like a lion. A lion with wings and a pointed, arching tail. How peculiar.

She was soon lowered to the ground, away from the fighting. A muscled stallion appeared in front of her, with a look of concern in his eyes. She then realized that he was one of her troupes. She began to cough up water, her chest burning like fire.

"Starbeam Prism, are you alright?" the stallion asked her.

Instead of speaking, she swung her head over to watch the battle between her troupes and the hungry cragadiles. She recalled that the winged scorpion-lion was actually Melvin, and saw that he was fully engaged in the fight now, rearing at the reptilian creatures and spitting fits of rage. She was the most surprised to see Sheep Shimmer though, who was perfectly unharmed and actually fighting back as well now that she had the support of so many other ponies. Star's attention was refocused to the stallion who'd saved her from the river, who repeated his question.

"Y-yes. I'm fine." she told him, her voice hoarse.

"Can you walk?" he also asked.

"I think so."

Starbeam clambered to her hooves, wincing as she felt the sharp pain from her foreleg once more. She saw she had a long, deep cut near her hoof that was dripping with blood. But she put on an assured face and stood up straight despite it.

The dusky grey stallion turned to his four brawling companions. "Alright, let's go! She's okay!"

They all looked at him, and then quickly dashed from the crags towards the two grey ponies. The six of them, followed by Melvin, raced away from the scene to an enclosed section of the forest, stopping to break only once they were certain the cragadiles hadn't followed them. Not one of them wasn't huffing for breath from their endeavor. Starbeam, who was still a bit shaken, filled with anger. She turned on Sheep Shimmer, who was sitting on the ground nearby.

"Featherhead!" she shouted.

"Wh-wha?!" Sheep Shimmer yelped.

"Why in Equestria would you be such a senseless ignoramus? You're a pegasus for Celestia's sake! You could have just flown over the river and none of this would have happened! Your cowardice nearly cost us both our lives, and for what? Because you were scared of a river? I cannot believe-"

"Starbeam! That's enough! It was just a mistake, anypony could have done it." The grey stallion said to her.

She was absolutely miffed by his retort. There was rarely ever a time when any of her troupes ever talked back to her.

"Hey, yeah, calm down, Star. Everything's fine now, we're all okay." a mottled, burgundy pegasus mare with amber eyes coaxed her. "We're all a little rattled from it, but you can chill now. It's over."

Sheep Shimmer began sniffling, tears streaming down her flushed face. "I... I'm... so sorry... St-starbeam, I was just... I didn't... pl-lease forgive me..."

Starbeam suddenly dropped her guard, realizing how ridiculous she had just been. She looked at Sheep Shimmer, suddenly resenting what she'd said. It was her job to be protect Everfree, her troupes, and the princesses. And she hadn't done any of that. She just yelled at Sheep Shimmer. She awkwardly sat down, turning away from the others in shame.

"We should probably head back to the castle soon, right, Jasper Wing?" Brass Sheath, one of the ponies who Starbeam had caught slacking off on the job days before asked the dark grey stallion.

"Indeed. No doubt McTarnish will want a full report on all this." he agreed.

The small group made their way back to the courtyard, Melvin accompanying them until the edge of the trees. Starbeam kept her head down the entire time without a word. The night guards were abuzz with the news of the cragadiles, asking non-stop questions to the tired out group. McTarnish wasn't too happy to hear about what had happened, and stated that that area would have to be avoided for the time being. Afterward, Starbeam stepped outside alone. She saw Sheep Shimmer trotting to leave, unhappily. She quickened her pace to catch up with the yellow pegasus.

"Um... hey. Look, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I was really out of line, and, it just wasn't right of me."

"I never wanted to be a castle guard." Shimmer piped up. "I always knew I wasn't cut out for it."

"Then, why did you?"

"My dad thought it would be good for me. He said it would toughen me up, make me less of a wimp. Though, honestly, I think it was just because he wanted a son."

Starbeam listened carefully, she hadn't known this about Shimmer. Now she felt a whole lot worse.

"I always thought it would be fun to be a seamstress. You know, making clothes, and sewing and stuff. But I guess I wasn't meant for that, either. I mean, I tried, I really did. But I could never make anything right. It always turned out wrong, with holes or accidentally sewing things in the wrong places, and missing stitches. I don't really know what I'm talented at."

It was only then that Star noticed that Sheep Shimmer lacked a cutie mark. She looked at her own flank, which bore a star shooting through a light spectrum prism. She didn't fully understand what her cutie mark meant, but compared to not having one at all, she was pretty lucky. She couldn't imagine what it must be like not knowing your destiny.

"Anyway, I really should get going. My dad is expecting me at home."

Star nodded.

"But, thank you. For the apology. It means a lot."

As Shimmer left, the rampant pounding of hooves sounded behind Starbeam. She turned around to see Dusk Wind hurtling toward her.

"Is it true?" he asked her worriedly.

"Is what true?"

"Arabia Song said you had a run in with cragadiles, and that you fell into the river."

Star found it rather silly of him to ask that when she was dripping wet and bleeding.

"Oh no, I just jumped in for a leisurely swim with the native wildlife." she said sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm only making sure. That mare likes to make up stories. And I was worried about you."

"Well, I'm perfectly fine."

He looked down at her wounded leg.

"Okay. But you really should put some bandages on that before it gets infected. And you'll catch a cold staying out here like that. Come on, I'll walk you home."

She gave him a stubborn half-smile, and reluctantly agreed. She acted as though she could handle herself fine the whole way back, but secretly, she was very grateful he offered to be there for her. Reaching her home, she noticed her escort was particularly fascinated by the likes of her house.

"What?"

He gave a disbelieving laugh. "This is where you live? All the way out here, by yourself?"

She turned up her nose at him, slightly offended. "Yes, and I happen to like it this way."

He looked at her, sympathetically. "Well... okay. Get a good sleep, alright? And don't come to work tomorrow night unless your leg is healed. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine." she said less defensively.

"Night, Star." he said to her, looking over his shoulder as he turned to leave.

"Goodnight Dusk."

She watched him until he was completely out of sight, then went inside and sprawled out on her bed. She looked around the room, thinking about what she said to him. A voice in her head kept nagging at her, and as much as she tried, she couldn't quite silence it. It made her question herself.

Do I really like it out here by myself?