Sunlight, Moonlight, Love, and Friendship

Chapter 3: Stories Still Told.

She woke after a few hours with a mouth that tasted like dust and wondering what had possessed her to ever think wings were a good idea. They were achy and she’d nearly started crying when she’d given them an experimental flap. Nope, wings were horrible things. Her saddlebags pressed them too tight against her sides, the muscles were sore, and the feathers were a pain to groom.

Big Heart took all that pain and weariness and bucked it to the farthest corner of her mind. She had things to do and foals to save.

The tracks continued for a good while. Those Bison—Or Buffalo, she wasn’t sure which one was correct, she’d heard of them being called both—were definitely tough customers if they kept up such a good pace. It wasn’t a pace she would’ve struggled with at the start of the chase, but exhausted as she was it proved challenging. They wouldn’t have gotten so far if they hadn’t hijacked that darn ghost train.

‘Need a plan.’ She acknowledged as more and more often she came across the remains of campsites. Holes in the ground where teepee poles stood, a few scattered feathers and beads, this was obviously a well frequented area.

'Preferably before I get caught.’ She acknowledged again. She sighed and swept her gaze all around, swiveling her ears to match. No signs of life anywhere, just the wind moving dust around and why would anyone want to live in this awful place!? She shook off the exasperation she felt at the desert. The trail led almost exactly eastward, so they were getting closer to more arable land but there was still too much sun and sand for her to like the area.

She couldn’t fight an entire tribe. She hoped they were not aggressive. She hoped they were not the kind to sell a foal to a Stable for some extra food or bits. She hoped she caught up to them soon because she was never going to get all the sand out of her hooves as is and it felt awful.

She couldn’t fight a whole tribe and she had nothing to trade, as evident by the fact they’d left all her gear in the train but taken the foal.

Struck by an idea she looked quizzically at her wings. They felt better for the long hours of rest by her side. Wings and a horn and good, strong legs that had never let her down before. She was a princess and everyone knew what happened when you made a princess angry.

‘Except I don’t know how to turn an army to stone. And I don’t have an army. Tricky.’ She groaned. In fact, she hardly knew any spells at all. She knew a few for providing light, a few laser blasts against enemies, but that was it. They’d never stayed with a unicorn herd long enough for her to learn more. Big Heart never thought she’d need it.

‘As soon as I’ve got Trotter we’re finding a herd.’ She decided. No more hemming and hawing over her wanderlust. She’d take those forcibly restricted years and love them if they taught her any suitably useful magic at all.

‘Right sooo…Be a princess. I can do that.’ Princesses are strong and wise, surely even the Buffalo herds would respect that?

She continued her mission, following the traces and growing progressively stealthier as she sensed a trembling in the earth. The barely-there shaking of thunderous hooves.

‘Now.’ She knew, opening her wings. She knew they were close. She could just about hear them if the wind turned just right. She had to make an entrance they’d remember now.

She burst into the sky, leaving a slowly dimming red ribbon behind.

Once in the air she could see them. She knew they saw her too, because they stopped and began pointing and speaking in their tongue. She wished she knew what they were saying.

But she could see Trotter and he could see her. That was enough for her.

The one carrying him had the most feathers, the chief possibly? She landed before the…What were female buffalo called? Certainly not Mare?

“You have somepony of mine on your back.” That was a terrible way to open negotiations! Why hadn’t she rehearsed? She’d had plenty of time during this horrible, no-good chase!

They obviously hadn’t liked her tone but most of them hung back. Big Heart thought she knew why. She’d expected to be dwarfed next to a full grown buffalo, and she was.

Just not nearly as much as expected.

The orange buffalo stood before her and snorted. The two were almost nose to nose and it made Big Heart wish she’d chosen to confront them from a bit of a distance. This pose was a little too confrontational for her purposes but it was too late now, backing off would be an admission of weakness. She stood and looked up at the buffalo but at most she looked up an inch, maybe two. The hunchback made the buffalo seem even taller, but with her wings flared out Big Heart nearly matched it.

“Some time it has been since a princess graced us with her presence.” The chief buffalo finally spoke. It seemed enough to break the spell of silence.

“Big Heart!” Ah, hooves full of happy-colt, all was right with the world. Big Heart lost the stern look she’d pasted on her face, preferring to flap her wings to keep her balance as Trotter leapt from the back of the chief into her waiting hooves.

“Ahem.” Big Heart started and felt herself blush. She’d gotten a little distracted with checking Trotter for injuries and clucking at his grimy fur that she’d almost forgotten the herd of buffalo staring at her.

Now that she looked up though she could swear they looked amused, kind of friendly actually. The tension had drained from them just as it had drained from her.

“So you are the famous Big Heart.” The chief buffalo chuckled. “For many days we have heard tales of the bravery and wisdom of the pony this foal loves and how she would track us down. I must admit, I doubted his words. So few ponies brave the desert sands, fewer still can match our pace, and yet you manage instead to outrun us.”

“Big ponies look after little ponies.” She shrugged, finally placing Trotter on the ground but still close enough to touch.

“Please, I am Strong Heart, chief of this herd.” They exchanged small bows. “Run with us to our camping grounds, so we may share our stories.”

The run was another long one. Big Heart thought it was incredibly unfair to ask her to continue this harsh pace when she’d nearly killed herself matching it but she did not complain, what’s more she carried Trotter on her back the whole way. Luckily it seemed everyone else was as exhausted as she was because as soon as they reached an impressive orchard of apple trees the running stopped and everyone settled down in teepees for a good nap.

Big Heart had no complaints except for the fact that no one had any rope and she was loathed to fall asleep right after “rescuing” Trotter. She had to scold herself pretty harshly to make herself curl up in the shade of a truly old looking tree. Juicy apples had never tasted so sweet and she dreamed of an orange pony in a Stetson reading a story.

Big Heart woke up with a yawn, feeling better than she had in days. Her chest didn’t ache in some nameless way anymore, her belly was full and though she hadn’t yet groomed herself she felt refreshed. She haphazardly flicked her mane out of her eyes and looked around.

Buffalo were sleeping or talking amongst each other everywhere she turned. Their own children, and she really wished she knew the terminology, were playing with Trotter in some sort of chasing game. It looked exhausting. She never wanted to run anywhere ever again.

She stood up and stretched every muscle in her body. She’d pushed her wings far and her legs even farther and it showed. She was lucky she hadn’t torn anything. She was lucky she hadn’t died on those tracks. She was lucky the Buffalo were friendly.

Actually, Big Heart was just plain lucky all around.

She’d slept long enough. She was bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to take on anything the world threw at her. It was time to talk to some Buffalo.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They gathered around a campfire, though it was warm enough not to need one and the moon had not yet peeked over the horizon. It was probably tradition and she didn’t mind. Big Heart privately thought it was a very authentic touch.

Strong Heart, and how strange was it to share a name with a Buffalo chief, stood and began the story telling. She told a story Big Heart had never heard before. She told of six ponies and a small dragon that helped prevent a war between the herd and the settlers who’d once lived here. She told of a purple dragon who was kind, and loved turquoise. She told of a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane, who was forgiving and swift. She told of a pink mare who did her best to make both sides happy. She told of an orange pony with good, strong legs. She told of a white pony with a purple mane who was as beautiful as gemstones. She told of a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane, who was kind to all who approached her. Finally she told a princess who was not a princess, not yet, who was smarter than all others.

It was strange to hear of them as they’d been. Like normal ponies, she felt like saying.

“It has been a very long time since ponies ran with our herd.” The aged chief sighed, sounding sad and regretful. “When we found Trotter we knew we had made a terrible mistake, but not one we could fix without being late for the harvest. So we brought him and intended to give him to a pony herd as soon as we met with one.”

“I tried to run away, but they caught me.” The colt informed her. She laughed and ruffled his mane. She was glad they had.

“We know Trotter’s story is one of pain and loss and still great joy.” Strong Heart spoke strong for being so old. “Now we would ask for yours.”

Oh, she thought, and wondered why she was surprised. She’d never thought to tell anyone her own story before. It had always seemed too much like bragging. She didn’t want to seem rude though, so she began.

“Once, there was a filly born to two earth ponies in a cave they’d made with care.” She told them, drawing on her story telling skills and entrancing them with anecdotes from her past that she thought would give them what they wanted. They were a good audience, gasping in shock and laughing with mirth wherever appropriate. Their open reactions drew more emotion from her, enough so she nearly choked on tears when she told them how her parents died and she wandered alone, not sure what to do in a world already collapsed.

She told them how she found Trotter, skinny and alone, and she told them of their journey together through the mountains. She told them of the train and how she’d left for only a moment and seen it pull away with her whole world inside. She told them of the chase, the frantic pace that drove her to fever and ascension. She told them of flying and falling and every tear soaked gasp for air as she tried to find her brother.

Trotter had gone very still when she’d said that, solid as a rock. It lasted a moment, maybe two, before he’d hidden his face in her side and just breathed. She’d talk to him, later. When her throat was less parched.

“I flew down in front of you, when really what I wanted to do was swoop down and pluck him off your back, and the rest is history.” She finished, her voice cracking like old, dry twigs. She needed to get some water soon, or maybe another apple.

“Now there is a story for the ages.” Strong Heart chuckled. “So Equestria has a new princess.”

“Um, I don’t even know how it happened.” Big Heart reminded her. “Not to mention I have no idea what to do about it.” Though she did have something in mind it was far too big an idea to fit in her head all at once. Better to take things one step at a time.

“I am afraid we cannot help you with this endeavor.” The chief regrettably informed her. “We are even less knowledgeable about Equestria’s Fall than you are. We do not know what caused the decline of Sun and Moon or where Friendship and Love have hidden themselves away.”

“Love! That’s it!” Trotter exclaimed.

“What’s it?” Big Heart frowned.

“Who better to ask about being a princess than another princess?” He smiled. “You said it yourself, the Princess of Love still dwells in the Crystal Empire’s ruins! We just need to talk to her!”

“We have heard of the Crystal Empire.” Another buffalo snorted, making himself comfortable by the fire. “They say it is colder than a desert night and there everything shines. They even say you can still come across the frozen corpses of the ponies that died in its defense.”

“If your destiny is to lead Equestria to a new age, then you will have to find guidance.” Strong Heart spoke softly, as if she could see the conflict in Big Heart’s eyes.

“But you are still young, and the colt even younger. Stay with us for a time, run beside us on our trails until you are ready to continue your journey.” She requested.

“Thank you…” Big Heart shuddered, wondering why she felt cold right next to a fire. “I think we’ll do that.”

Trotter was happy enough to stay with the new friends he was making. Big Heart felt inordinately relieved by that. For the first time that she could remember she felt content to follow another pony’s lead on where to go and how long to stay. She wasn’t chomping at the bit or longing for greener pastures. She had too much on her mind to feel her usual wanderlust.

This whole princess thing had thrown her off balance. The first time she landed on a cloud she’d nearly started to cry, caught in memories of her longing to walk on them as her parents had. If that was the worst of the changes she experienced Big Heart would’ve counted herself lucky, but the emotional rollercoaster wasn’t even the beginning.

Honestly, the physical changes were the easiest to deal with. Big Heart liked pushing her body, she’d climbed cliffs, scaled mountains, swam rivers, and most recently had traveled a little under four hundred miles in eight cycles, two of those spent collapsed by a river. Once she had recovered from her marathon she found the daily run the buffalo’s underwent to be invigorating, even with the weight of her bags and Trotter weighing her down.

Teaching herself how to fly was a whole new challenge, one she relished too because it made her feel closer than ever before to her lost family. Even though they were a pain to groom, or preen, as it were. She got better at it every day and couldn’t wait until her wings were strong enough to support herself and Trotter so she could show him what the world looked like from a bird’s eye view!

Even the fact that she’d somehow lost all her excess body weight and grown three inches overnight was easy to deal with, though she’d had a brief panic attack thinking she might have picked up some sort of parasite. She didn’t know if growing wings just took up lots of energy that ate away her fat or if the run had taken it from her but Big Heart looked even less like a filly than before. She wasn’t even thirteen yet and already looked like a full grown mare!

It was the new weight of responsibility that was weighing her down. Although the rulers of Equestria historically didn’t have much power over the Buffalo tribes they still treated her very respectfully, like a visiting chief or something. If this was how creatures she didn’t even technically rule treated her she was a little nervous about finding a pony herd. Strong Heart was right, whether she liked it or not Big Heart was probably going to start some kind of “new age” in Equestria.

And at the moment nothing scared her more.

If she thought about it too much she’d break into a full gallop, racing to be at the head of the long line of buffalo as they ran their trail around the apple orchard to make the fruit fall. Trotter wasn’t riding her right now, the very young and the very old were trailing behind to pick up the fruit. That was the only reason she didn’t take to her wings and fly as far away from any destiny speaking buffalo as she could.

At the same time, she couldn’t see herself continuing her anonymous travels with Trotter. Whether she liked it or not, whether she asked for it or not, she was an alicorn. She had a duty to ponies everywhere to try to make things better. She had to find some way to reunite Equestria because if she didn’t even try she’d never be able to forgive herself.

‘Princess Cadance and princess Twilight could go into hiding.’ She thought bitterly. Back when she’d told the story to Trotter, just two weeks ago now, she’d thought she understood. Just because they lived forever didn’t make their losses any less than before. Now, saddled with a responsibility that should have been theirs she felt bitter and afraid and so terribly alone.

Big Heart realized she’d pulled ahead of the buffalo herd and paused. The trails were long and winding and it was very possible for her to get lost.

Suddenly realizing how silly that worry was, Big Heart flew into the air to see how far behind the herd had fallen. How could she get lost when all she had to do was fly above the tree tops and look for the huge cloud of dust they stirred up?

Except there wasn’t a cloud marking their position. Big Heart frowned and quickly landed again. There was no way she’d somehow gotten that far ahead of them, the orchard wasn’t big enough to lose all sight of them!

She concentrated on what she felt through her hooves and frowned even harder. It wasn’t near time to stop and rest, but she couldn’t feel the tremor of hundreds of hooves stomping on the ground.

“Now that’s just weird.” She stomped, very uncomfortable. Big Heart flew into the air again and headed back the way she’d came. A whole herd of buffalo didn’t just vanish. They must have stopped somewhere on the trail, though Big Heart could not see a reason why.

It didn’t take long to find them. Big Heart sighed in relief and looked for a clear place to land. From so high she couldn’t see why they’d all stopped but she was sure it wasn’t anything major. No one was running around in a panic and there weren’t any raised voices, maybe they had just pulled too far ahead of the harvesters and were waiting for them to catch up?

Just as she’d thought that the herd took off, putting on a burst of speed she’d never known such bulky forms could pull off. They didn’t care if young trees stood in their path either, they ignored the well trodden dirt path in favor of a straight line, back towards the harvesters.

‘Back towards Trotter!’ Without any hesitation she landed, knowing instinctively that she was still faster short term on her hooves than her wings. She needed to know what had spooked everyone before she ran recklessly towards Trotter, no matter how much her wings ached for flight.

‘The old Bulls and Cows will protect Trotter and the calves.’ She told herself to keep her wings from flaring out and taking her away. She’d almost caught up to Strong Heart.

“Strong Heart, what’s wrong?!” She shouted over the thundering hooves, neck and neck with the buffalo chief. She’d never seen such a fierce face on the matriarch.

“An attack by Chief Long Run’s herd!” Strong Heart told her. “We just got news from a messenger. The old ones cannot hold out for long!”

“I’ll fly ahead!” Big Heart told her. She knew that face on the old cow, knew it as well as she knew her own. Those buffalo back there were Strong Heart’s responsibility as assuredly as Trotter was hers.

Strong Heart did not waste breath on words, and Big Heart finally unfurled her wings and took to the sky.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chief Long Run was easy to spot. Huge feather headdresses were apparently common apparel for buffalo chiefs. He was almond brown and far younger than Strong Heart. He ran with his other warriors, hemming the defensive circle of Strong Heart’s harvesters closer and closer. The old cows and bulls on the outside of the circle swung their heads, occasionally grazing any foolish young warrior with their horns. On the inside of the circle was the food they had gathered and the herd’s calves, most of them wailing in fear and confusion for they were too young to know why anyone would do such a thing.

Big Heart mentally remarked on how easy it was to understand the full situation from high up. She could also see that Strong Heart’s main herd was still pretty far away, even with this fresh new pace it would take fifteen minutes for them to arrive.

Watching a matronly old cow stumble and fall out of the circle, Big Heart knew they wouldn’t last fifteen minutes.

“GET AWAY FROM THEM!” She roared, charging down on a sharp incline for the hump of Long Run’s back. He didn’t even have time to move, taking three hundred and seventy pounds of mare going at one hundred miles per hour. He brayed in pain and Big Heart bounded off, at once worried she’d hurt him and glad she had.

The warriors, seeing their leader injured, abandoned the defensive circle to charge the intruder. Big Heart saw them coming and banished the worry she felt. It had no place here. She banished it with the fear and the nausea she felt, for they were no good here. This was just like trying to escape a hydra when she’d wandered in the Hayseed Swamps, except she wasn’t trying to escape, she was trying to let somepony else escape.

She flared her horn as a final warning before tearing a tree out by its roots and tossing it at the first line of attackers. They were knocked head over hoof and she flew up, taking herself out of the reach of the second line.

The tree she’d used had splintered into several sharp pieces. She grabbed those with her aura and shot them like arrows at Long Run’s herd. The scent of blood reached her nose. She banished it. She could be ashamed and guilty later, if she survived!

She flew back, towards Strong Heart’s herd and away from the defensive circle. The warriors, caught in their bloodlust and with their chief the forerunner, followed her. Big Heart did everything she could to keep them on her. She pelted their faces with rocks and tossed trees at them, she harried them from the air and dived amongst them in turns so they ran into each other.

After the third tree she made the mistake of getting a little too close to the ground. She wasn’t good enough yet at flying to make it instinctive, focusing her power on ripping trees out by the roots meant she fell closer to the ground. One young bull must have realized this. He struck just as she’d prepared to toss it at the next group of attackers.

“OOF!” She grunted as a solid wall slammed into her side. Big Heart could have sworn something snapped. In pain and afraid she swung her head and ended up swinging a large apple tree with it. Her adversary was knocked off his feet, sailing in an arc into the sky.

Now she felt the rumble of furious hooves and pulled two more trees out. She held them horizontal in front of her as a shield against the army bearing down on her stilled form. Some part of her inside was amazed that she could lift so many, before her ascension she wouldn’t have been able to lift one tree, never mind three of them! That part of her was deep though, and was no distraction for the pain in her side.

Now she was on the defensive. Her trees were being shattered under their mighty blows. Big Heart fought to stand up and hold her trees at the same time but it was a useless exercise. The pain made it hard enough to concentrate.

‘Help! Hurry, please! Somepony!’ She winced and closed her eyes as the last tree exploded in a fountain of splinters. The furious eyes of Long Run met hers. His back was bleeding heavily and she could see it hurt him to walk, there was a visible dent in his hump from where her front hooves had slammed into it. He’d never walk without pain again.

The thought made her a little glad, but the conch shell announcing the arrival of Strong Heart and her herd made her positively giddy.

‘Or maybe that’s the pain.’ She thought blearily as she attempted to move her wings. Her wings weren’t broken, she’d had them fully extended in preparation for her next take off, so her side had taken the full brunt of that attack.

“Big Heart hurt.” She opened her eyes, not sure when they’d closed, and met the concerned eyes of a large cow. The buffalo snorted in satisfaction when Big Heart met her eyes before turning herself to more important tasks, like making sure no more enemy buffalo could hurt the foreigner worse.

Big Heart didn’t mind the dismissal. This buffalo only knew a handful of Equine words and she didn’t feel like talking anyway. She focused instead on trying to move every limb because she was pretty sure something in her back had twisted when she fell.

“Big Heart walk?” She looked up and saw her guard again. The fight was winding down now with Long Run and his friends fleeing the scene.

Big Heart bit her lip and slowly climbed to her hooves. It hurt. If she didn’t have a broken bone somewhere she was going to change her name to Dumb Luck.

She found the broken bone in her right leg. It was broken just below the shoulder, an awkward position to say the least. She found a few torn muscles when she’d tried flying to see if she could move that way. Finally she had to admit defeat and turned towards her guard.

“No walk.” She forced her voice to sound steady, if not very strong. The cow nodded in understanding and lowered herself, allowing the injured alicorn to ride her as they rejoined the rest of the herd.

“Big Heart!” She privately swore never to tell anyone about the stark naked terror she’d felt at that moment, thinking Trotter was going to give his usual tackle hug. That was a secret that would be following her to the grave.

“Whoa there, Trotter!” Strong Heart stopped the colt before he could do more harm. Big Heart shot the chief a grateful look and chose to ignore the wetness in her eyes. “You are injured?”

“Broke my right leg and tore a few muscles.” And she was lucky it wasn’t worse. She was lucky he’d never managed to land his hooves on her to trample her to death. There were nicer ways to die.

Strong Heart and nodded and said some words Big Heart couldn’t understand to her guard. The guard said something back and nodded before walking away from the battlefield, in the same direction as other buffalo who were helping the wounded.

Big Heart saw Trotter being unwillingly escorted to a different area with the rest of the calves and sighed in relief. She loved him, she really did, but now was not a good time for hugs.

A few nurses or doctors or whatever the buffalo called them were going around to the wounded. Big Heart noticed that she was getting VIP treatment when no less than three bulls came to help her get off her guard. She let them, mostly because they didn’t understand a word of Equine. Her guard didn’t leave though, she settled herself nearby, looking out over the orchard as though worried Long Run might return for revenge.

Realizing this was a very likely scenario, Big Heart left her to it and focused on getting it through to the doctors that her right leg was broken please oh please make it stop hurting!

Big Heart bit down on a strap of her saddlebag to keep from crying out as they set the bone. They were well versed in caring for wounds without magic, producing a green poultice to spread over the injuries she had before wrapping her in soft cotton bandages. They did have a little trouble with her wing, trying to find a way to pin it still to heal until she’d forced herself to hold it so they could wrap the bandage over it. Over all they didn’t do a bad job for a race that never had to deal with wings.

Once the poultice helped ease the pain she figured that the worst part about all this was that now she couldn’t walk, let alone run, maybe not for months. She didn’t know any healing magic and wasn’t willing to experiment.

“Big Heart.” She looked up and saw her guard had wandered back over now that her injuries had been tended to.

“Yes?” She asked curiously.

“Name, Flint Arrow.” She said, pointing at herself. Tentatively, Big Heart repeated the words and gestured towards her guard. At the buffalo’s nod she understood that Flint Arrow was her name.

“Flint Arrow bring Big Heart Chief Strong Heart.” Most of that sentence had names in it. She made a guess though that Flint Arrow was supposed to take her to Strong Heart once she was tended to.

That led to another painful climb onto Flint Arrow’s back as they walked towards the teepees. Big Heart fidgeted nervously as she noticed every buffalo they passed would turn their head and watch with dark, flinty eyes.

“Why are they looking at me like that?” She wondered if she was somehow in trouble. Maybe for ripping up all those trees?

Flint Arrow was quiet for a minute, long enough to make Big Heart think she hadn’t understood, before she spoke.

“Big Heart hero.” She said before resolutely continuing their trek.

“Oh.” Big Heart shuddered.