“Hey Twilight?” Dash called from the castle’s main room. There was a hesitant confusion to her voice that worried Twilight.
“I’m in the kitchen,” She called back. Looking up from her morning coffee and newspaper, she waited for Dash to walk in. She would have risen to meet any other pony half way, but Dash usually reached her before she could even stand.
A moment later and she could hear hoof steps nearing, but Dash still wasn’t in the room. “You okay, Dash?”
“Yeah, just hoping you could help me and Dad out,” Dash said, walking into the room with a book tucked under her wing, and several scrolls in a sable bag. It was a strangely academic look that made Twilight want to snicker.
Moving her paper aside, Twilight motioned for Dash to set her book down. “I’d be happy to help, what’s up?”
Dash laid the book on the table, then dropped the saddlebag onto the floor. “Dad and I were working on making a family tree, but we can’t find anything on my grandmother.” Rummaging through the saddlebag, she pulled out a scroll, then unfurled for Twilight to see.
It was a beautifully drawn family tree, going back dozens of generations in some lines, but there was one that ended up painfully short: Rainbow’s maternal line ended in just three generations.
“Air Heart!?” Twilight read the name aloud. “Your grandmother was Sky-Fire Air Heart?” The red-maned pegasus had been the icon of the Wonderbolts in her grandmother’s time.
Dash laughed. “She was a tough old bird, but she had a heart of gold. You would have liked her.”
Looking closer, Twilight studied the names and dates better. Air Heart had died only a few years before Twilight met Dash, many years after her daughter Fire Fly had passed. Two generations of headliner Wonderbolts: no wonder Dash was determined to become a bolt. “So you don’t know who her parents were?”
Dash shrugged with frustration. Reaching into the bag, she pulled out another scroll. “We don’t even know where she was born,” she said, hoofing the scroll over. “The oldest document we have, is her and Grandpa’s marriage certificate.”
Sure enough, it was a marriage certificate from Cloudsdale. “Do you have any stories about her, like where they met?” Twilight asked, pointing to the two signatures.
A smile crept over Dash. “Yeh, Gramps was a weather pony that worked the sky over Granny Heart’s farm.”
Twilight’s ears perked up. “Where was the farm?”
Dash’s expression wilted a bit. “We’re not sure, I was hoping you could get his work records and figure that out. She moved to Cloudsdale right after they met. Grampa died before I was born, and she never liked talking about her past. Maybe Mom knew, but...” Dash just shrugged, not finishing the sentence.
Twilight moved to put a wing around her friend. “I think I can help.” Releasing Dash from the hug, she pulled out paper and quill to make a few notes.
Twilight looked over the fruits of her research. It had taken quite a bit, but she had scoured every record in Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and half a dozen towns from here to the frozen north. Air Heart had lived most her life off the records, but her husband had been a public worker from the moment he got his mark.
“So, your grandfather worked the same town for five years before he married your grandmother,” Twilight said, showing Dash copies of various tax forms. “Air Heart had to be living near there.” Unrolling a map, Twilight pointed to a little town on the northern plain. “It’s just going to take a little wing-work to figure out which one.”
“Wow.” Dash pulled the map closer, and examined the locations Twilight had pointed to. “That's in the middle of nowhere.”
“Only way to get there is to fly,” Twilight said, throwing on her saddlebag, and stepping towards the window. “Ready for a road trip?”
Dash grinned. “Lead the way.”
A day of flight was ended with cloud camping. An odd experience for Twilight, but something Dash seemed familiar with. The morning sun woke them both to the beautiful sight of sunrise over Equestria's great, wild plains.
“How much further?” Dash asked through a yawn as she stretched out her wings.
“We made good time yesterday. We should be there by lunch.” Digging through her bags, Twilight pulled out two granola bars. Hoofing one over to Dash, she made quick work of her own.
Their cold breakfast eaten, the two left their cloud tent behind.
“I can’t believe Grandma Heart grew up out in the boonies. She was such a city mare.”
Twilight laughed. “I guess she was like Rarity. Saw the city lights and fell in love with them.”
Rainbow echoed Twilight’s laugh. “You know, now that you mention it, Rarity does remind me a bit of Grandma Heart. If Rarity was a tomcolt anyway.”
As the ground passed below them, the grass began to give way to trees, and the first town they'd seen since the day before appeared on the horizon.
“That’ll be Pinto Point,” Twilight said, pointing to the water tower in the distance. “Your grandfather was assigned here, but their weather team takes care of everything for miles around.”
“Sounds like a rough gig. At least they don’t have Everfree weather rolling in on them.” Banking away from Twilight, she made straight for the town square.
Twilight landed just as Dash disappeared into the town hall. She paused for a moment to look around. It was a good sized town, bustling with ponies going about their everyday business. While there was no rail to this town, a river gave them access to the not-so-distant ocean. Even from here, she could see river barges loaded with lumber.
Turning her attention back to the town hall, Twilight stepped inside. She found Dash chatting with an earth pony, that looked every bit as old as Granny Smith. The two were laughing about something like they were old friends. “You know each other?” Twilight asked.
The ancient stallion laughed again. “No, but I’d recognize Thunder Clap’s grand filly even in the dark.” Stepping forward, he gave Twilight a simple bow. “I’m mayor Purple Hull. It’s nice to meet you.”
Rainbow grinned, and pointed to the stallion. “He knew my grandpa.”
Twilight nodded in return to Purple Hull. “You did?”
“I barely had my mark when Clap moved out, but he was like an uncle to me. What brings you two out here?”
“Well, we think Thunder Clap may have met my grandmother out here, and we were trying to learn more about her.”
The mayor scratched at his chin in thought for a moment. “Pretty little thing, red mane, would pull the teeth out of a windigo just because somepony said she couldn’t do it?”
Twilight snorted. “Well, now I know where you get it from.”
Taking Twilight’s jib as confirmation, Hull continued. “She wasn’t from Pinto Point. Be honest, she struck me as a little awkward, like she wasn’t used to being around many ponies. Back in the day, there were a few farms that kept to themselves. Half-wild ponies that came into town only when they needed. She could have been one of theirs.”
“Aww... nuts,” Dash whined.
“Are those families still around?” Twilight asked. “Do you know if they kept records?”
Hull shrugged. “Some are, some aren't.” Motioning for them to follow, he lead them into his office, where a wall map hung. “Every house that still gets mail, is marked on this map, study it all you need. Inbreeding was a pretty big risk for them, so they keep family records. That’s also why the ones that are still around are pretty friendly to strangers now-a-days. So I wouldn’t be worried about old stereotypes. You’ll find them a friendly lot, if not a little strange.”
Twilight and Dash studied the map for a moment, making note of the dozen little communities in the surrounding area. “Any of these farms have pegasi living on them?” Dash asked.
“That’s a good point.” Twilight scratched her chin. “Most these are going to be earth pony families.”
Purple Hull hummed a moment as he joined them at the map. “The Squash family had a few pegasus. The Mustards did too, but those colts left for the city a few years ago, ain't been back since,” he said, pointing to one spot on the map, then another.
“Well, that’s a start,” Dash said, turning to leave. “Thanks for the help.”
Back in the air, it only took Dash and Twilight a half-hour’s flight to find the Squash farm. It was a rustic place, with barns and little houses scattered all across the flat farmland. Picking out the largest of the houses, they landed just short of the porch.
“Stars and fire, look at that!” a voice yelled.
Twilight looked into the shadow of the porch to find two stallions staring at them as if they had just burst out of Tartarus. Before Twilight could say anything, one of the pegasus bowed as deep as he could to her.
“Bow you idiot, that’s princess Celestia,” he said to the still standing earth pony.
The other pony jolted, then fell into a bow. “No, she’s purple, that’s princess Luna.”
Dash laughed, speaking up before Twilight could gather her words. “You’re both wrong, this is Princess Twilight.”
The two stallions looked up with a curious eye, but kept their heads low. “I read something about a new princess...” The pegasus said.
“You... don’t have to bow… really...” Twilight said, motioning for them to rise.
As they rose, the old door beside them creaked. They thought it was the door creaking anyway; the sound may have been the old Pegasus’ joints. The old mare stared at them for a moment, first studying Twilight, then Dash. A little smile played across her muzzle as she gave a little bow, proving that it was the door that creaked, and not her.
“Boys, go inside and make us a pitcher of tea and warm some biscuits. Wash your faces first, too.”
“Yes Mam,” the two chimed, before disappearing inside.
As soon as the two were gone, the mare turned back to Dash and Twilight. “I’m North Star,” she said, a bit of sternness fading from her. “We don’t see many new faces around here. Please, sit and tell me what’s brought you to us.” Pulling up a couple of chairs, she cleaned a bit of dust from them with her wing.
Twilight and Dash traded glances before shrugging and accepting the offer. “I think my grandmother was from around here,” Dash said taking a seat.
North Star squinted at her for a moment, then shook her head. “You ain’t any of ours. What was her name?”
“Air Heart, cutie mark was a heart with wings,” Dash answered.
“Hmm...” Star mused for a moment, before turning to yell through the door. “One of you boys bring me the photo album.”
Twilight’s ears perked up as she leaned forward. “You think she was part of your family?”
“No,” Star said, taking the wind out of both Twilight and Dash. “I think she was one of the Mustard girls, but I may have a picture of her. I think her and my father dated, before he met my mother.”
The door creaked again, as the pegasus stallion stepped out onto the porch, with a large book on his back. “Here's the album,” he said, stepping to where Star could easily take it.
“Thank you Summer Storm,” Star said, taking the book from him.
Storm gave them both a quick smile before going back inside. Twilight couldn’t help but notice that he was quite a bit more brushed than he was just a few minutes ago.
The album cracked as Star opened it, revealing page after page of carefully kept photos. Dash and Twilight both scooted closer to watch as Star hunted for the one of Heart.
“Here we go.” Carefully removing an old tin-type photograph, Star hoofed it over to Dash. “That her?”
“Wow!” Dash held the photo up to look at it as close as she could. The photo showed a mare and a stallion poised by a market stall. “She’s like, my age here. Is that your dad beside her?”
“Sure is. Red was a navigator for the barges, before he settled out here.”
“What’s she selling?” Twilight asked, looking over Dash’s shoulder.
“Let me see...” Star took the picture from Dash to look it over. “Strange, those are persimmons.”
Twilight tilted her head. “What’s so strange about persimmons?”
Star sat the picture down, then leaned back in her chair. “Well, nopony goes out to the old persimmons farm. It’s haunted! Has been since before I was born. The ponies from Canterlot even came out and put up warning signs and spells a few years ago.”
“That persimmon farm!?” Twilight said, the color draining from her.
“What happened?” Dash asked, feeling lost.
Twilight lowered her head a moment before answering. “About a hundred and fifty years ago, there was a fire, killed the whole family. They suffered... a lot...”
“Grandma Heart wouldn’t have been scared off by ghosts, maybe she was living there anyway.”
Both Star and Twilight shook their heads. “They ain't that kind of ghosts,” Star said. “More likely she was just slipping in when the sun was bright, and picking fruit to sell.”
“You’re probably right,” Twilight said, nodding in agreement. “Is the Mustard farm far from there?”
“Not for a pegasus,” Star said, just as the two stallions returned with iced tea, hot biscuits, and an assortment of fresh vegetables. Tucking the photo back in the album, Star sat the book aside. “But before you go, please stay and have lunch with us. We don’t get to hear the news from Canterlot much.”
An hour later, and the two were flying towards the Mustard farm with full stomachs. There had been an awkward silence between them since saying farewell to the Squash family.
“So,” Twilight finally broke the silence. “You gave Summer Storm your address?”
Dash shrugged. “He asked if he could write me, and he was pretty cool.”
“And his wings were almost as big as Celestia’s.”
A smirk spread across Dash’s muzzle “Yeah, that too.” The smirk vanished, as something below them grabbed her attention. “Oh, hey! We’re over that persimmon farm.” Looking around a moment, she pointed towards a barn. “I thought you said everything burned down.”
“The house was on the other side of the property. That barn isn’t even inside the hazard zone.”
Dash hummed a moment, looking the old barn over. There was something about it nagging at her. “I want to check it out.”
“Sure,” Twilight said, turning towards the barn.
As they neared, Twilight began to share Dash’s interest in the place. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but something was off.
“This place is locked up tighter than a barrel,” Dash said, trying to open up a window, after finding the doors bared.
“I got this,” Twilight said. Taking the huge doors in her magic, she unraveled the chains, and threw aside the bolts. Wood cracked and groaned as she used brute force to overcome what she couldn’t unlock.
“What is that!” Dash said, as the doors finally yielded to Twilight. Inside the barn was a machine, twisted from some accident, and rotten from age.
“I... don’t know,” Twilight said, stepping inside the barn to get a better look. The twisted hulk of metal was covered in dust, but there was very little rust. One part, broken off and laid beside the rest of the machine, had writing in it. The letters as tall as her, but dirt and cobwebs obscured them.
“There’s a little room inside it. I’m going to look,” Dash said for the other side of the machine.
Using her magic, Twilight begin to clean the letters off. “Be careful.”
“I found a book. I thinks it’s a journal,” Dash said, stepping back out of the machine with the book under her wing. Surprisingly, Twilight didn’t answer her. Walking around the mangled machine, she found Twilight lost in thought and staring at something written on the metal.
NR16020
“What’s it mean?”
“I have no idea.”
