Decades of Equestria: The Filly in Orange

by Jdbener

Rating: teen
Tags: Mystery, Tragedy, Alternate Universe, Dark
Length: 9536

A young filly learns the true meaning of sacrifice while finding her place in the world.

Time… Time never changes. Always moving forward, never stopping, never going backward, and never skipping ahead; the ultimate consistency, or is it? Spotlight is a young mare with a troubled past. After years of neglect and loneliness, she gets a chance to meet her Mother and her baby brother. Together they recreated the world, but… were their changes for the better or for the worse?

This is the first entry in the Decades of Equestria series, in this series we will delve into Equestria's past discovering what happened and how it all eventually ends. In battle and strife? or peace and harmony? Only the decades will tell!

The List of People who have been helping me has become a little long, so I have created a Credit Document to thank them in a less confusing way!

The story has been canceled due to a decision on my part to focus on my artistic skills. I am planning on bringing the story back as a webcomic, which can be found here (once I start it up)

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-01-14 00:17:13 UTC

Infection

Dear Shadow Shine,

I’ve never tried writing a book before, so I hope I’m doing this correctly. Recently, you have been asking me about my past. Instead of continuing to brush you off, I am going to tell you the story of my life-- at least, the interesting (and important) parts.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

It all began with a letter. I was in the middle of posing for one of Love Bright’s pictures when one of the butlers presented me with a letter from Princess Platinum herself. I was less than thrilled. The last time I had gotten one of these letters, it informed me that I was being taken from my home and farmed out to the Bright House, all because I apparently had some Unicornian nobility in me. If you're a noble of some sort, it’s considered illicit to live with one of the other “lesser tribes” unless you are assigned to them as an ambassador. Why couldn’t she have done that instead?

Fortunately, I wasn't getting new parents. I was getting assigned to a province all my own, which I guess is slightly better. Since Father, as he requested I call him, had perished by tripping over a pebble, his provinces were now in need of new ownership. Princess Platinum decided to grant me one of the most prominent. As I continued to skim through the many passages dictating my new responsibilities, I noticed further down that the scroll also mentioned that there was a plague in the area. It said a disease was affecting most of the Earth Pony population, leaving them sickly and unable to grow food.

I was bothered at being given a town that was literally starving though I couldn’t complain. It was a way out of this waking nightmare. Since I arrived, everypony aside from Love had made a point of making sure I understood how much of a nuisance my presence was. I was the “little-horned earth pony.” The worst part was that I wasn't even doing anything bothersome, unless sitting alone for hours in a library is now considered so.

When she learned of the news, Mother literally kicked me out of the house with only half the trip’s worth of provisioning. Since I arrived, Lady Bright and I were constantly at odds, why couldn’t Platinum have given me to somepony decent? For the first time in my life. I learned what it was like to be hungry. I kept trotting onwards, following the directions the scroll had given me, hoping that this newfound fiefdom of mine would at least put a roof over my head and some food in my stomach.

I opened my eyes and was greeted by a stream of bright morning light. Gritting my teeth, I raised my head and glanced around as my pupils adapted to the light. My head ached, and thinking was difficult. I felt drunk, but I couldn’t remember drinking anything. An earth pony was sitting beside the couch I was laying on, which was situated against one of the walls in an uncomfortably small room.

I heard the stallion’s voice call out through the haze of my mind, “Good morning, miss! It’s good to see you’re awake and in good health.” The mystery stallion chuckled. “I was starting to fear that you'd caught a case of Greywater.” All those hours of study were beginning to prove useful as I was beginning to understand the magnitude of what I was up against, even in my diminished mental state. Greywater is a disease originating from ingesting water that had been contaminated with fecal matter.

Upon inquiry, the stallion informed me that the city was just up the road, about two twists up the mountain. The trip was slow: balancing while intoxicated is a rather difficult task. As I walked, I couldn’t help but question why I was there. The details of my mission which I have previously explained were fading in and out of my memory. The constant winding of the road was not helping with the attention of my task at all.

My thoughts were silenced when I exited the small tunnel that the road ran through, giving me my first glimpse of my new home. It was a beautiful work of modern architecture, a city built into a sharp overhang of a mountain so perfectly formed that it seemed to be floating by its own power.

Canterlot was a very important territory to all three tribes, and, as such, there were several reasons they all wanted it. It is the province in the exact center of all three tribes. It also had control over the Hoofington River, which is an important asset to all non-aerial based trade routes.

In a way, whoever controlled Canterlot, controlled the trade between the three tribes. I was now the one with this control, and I was starting off at a disadvantage; Unicornia had conquered the province about ten years prior and most of these earth pony inhabitants were alive at the time, and still hated the idea of a Unicorn ruling over them. On top of that, I was only a filly. Why should they respect a child in any way?

I technically wasn't a filly in any way but name and appearance; I had celebrated my 14th birthday about 6 months prior, probably the primary reason for my promotion. The only problem was, my body didn’t seem to agree. I hadn’t grown one inch since the day I got my cutiemark, and any bypasser who didn’t know better could easily have taken me for just another street urchin. To make matters worse, I was meeting a new group of ponies and needed to make a good first impression.

After wandering around for several hours trying to find where I was supposed to be, I found a line of ponies stretching out of an official looking building at what seemed like the center of town. It's curvy, white and purple design towering over the other buildings. Figuring that something interesting must be happening and that I could possibly ascertain who I should talk to about becoming governmare, I joined the line.

The mare in front of me whirled around, eyebrows raised. “Did you catch the plague too? I thought it was only affecting us earth ponies, but I guess not. Don’t drink any more of the water, it will make you feel worse.”

I hiccuped. In hindsight, I realized that I was hiccuping the entire trip, but this was the first time I noticed.

“You must be worse than I thought.” She took a step back from me, bumping into the pony behind her, “You're already at the hiccuping stage.”

“Hiccuping stage?” I queried, the book hadn’t mentioned anything about Greywater having a hiccuping stage.

She nodded, “There's a plague in the water, you silly filly. And it’s making you hiccup. Mother said that some unicorn was coming to fix it for us. Are you that unicorn?” she asked, her eyes widening.

“I don’t know, but I think so.” My vision was beginning to blur, and I felt dizzy.

“If you are that unicorn- what was it mother said that Unicorn was named- oh right, ‘M-Lady’ then you should be inside,” she said, pointing at the Town Hall.

“Inside?” I asked drowsily.

“Yes inside, are you-”

I toppled over, my ears rang, blocking out the rest of her statement. It was strange. I felt like I was underwater, drowning. My vision was closing in on me, and that was it. I was completely surrounded by icy tendrils of unconsciousness as they wrapped themselves tightly around me. A feeling I would become quite accustomed to in the months to come.

The ringing suddenly faded; I could hear muffled talking from somewhere. I was lying on my back in a bed with no covering on its feathers. Feathers surrounded me on all sides. They tickled-- especially the one resting on my muzzle. I sneezed, and the talking outside stopped.

A light brown stallion trotted into the room and smiled at me, “Good morning. It’s good to see you awake, Lady Spotlight. Where have you been? Everypony was worried sick about your disappearance. Poor Skywalker even has the sniffles, although that could be unrelated.”

I sneezed again and asked in a sleepy voice, “Where am I?”

“This is Canterlot M’lady, do you not remember that?” he queried.

“I… do… Where am I?”

He sighed, “You're laying in the receptionist’s room of the town hall. You fainted on the doorstep so we brought you in here. I was still adding feathers to the bed, I apologize for any inconvenience.”

“And… you are?”

“I’m Flawless Cut, your carpenter.”

This was a bit of a surprise, aside from a carpenter having a jeweler's name; I had never really “had” anything before. Given, I had always had everything I needed, but my entire life nothing had really ever been mine, not even my family was mine. It was given to me at birth. For the last several years, I wasn't even my own, being constantly reminded that I was an outsider. It was with this view that I asked, “What do you mean, ‘my carpenter’?”

“I’m a carpenter… and I worked for Lord Soft Serve, which means I work for you now...” he explained slowly.

I sat up, wiping the feather off my muzzle. I was in a small room with a single window, which looked out over the wide rolling fields of the countryside below. I looked at the carpenter, “How bad is it?”

“The plague?” I nodded “Pretty bad, about half of our population is sick. Due to the medical steps Lord Serve took the spread of the disease has been halted. The sick ones are mostly still sick, though.” Despite the gravity of the subject, I couldn’t help but smile at his ignorance of Unicornian.

Rolling off the bed, I sauntered into the main room of the hall. I could walk normally now. There had been a slight pain in my stomach that I hadn’t quite noticed before. The room was crowded. The line which outside didn’t appear to be all that long took up most of the interior space. Many of the ponies were coughing a little while the ponies at the desk passed out medicine.

I wondered why medicine was being passed out in a town hall since that is what hospitals were built for. That, however, wasn't important right now. I needed to find the source of the epidemic. Looking at the crowd, I shouted, “Can anypony show me the way to where you get the water?”

A pegasus sauntered out of the crowd. “Yes? Do you need something?” he asked me with a small smile.

“Do you know where the water comes from?”

“Nope!”

“Then… why did you respond?”

“You called my name,” he deadpanned.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn’t, I asked for some po...”

“Yes, you asked for Anypony, and that's my name,” he said, rather rudely cutting me off mid-sentence.

After a few moments, I retorted, a sly smile plastered upon my face, “Are you a dirty bastard?” He stared at me blankly. “Mother said you Pegasi were dirty bastards. All the pegasi I have ever met seemed nice, but, well... are you a dirty bastard?” I asked with a grin.

After thinking for a few moments, he asked me to show him my hoof. I raised a hoof, confident in my logic. He put out his hoof, and, after looking at both of them closely for a moment, shrugged, “Mine’s cleaner, I’m gonna kill some Cervids. Bye!”

He flew off before I could make any kind of response. I was stunned! I had just gotten outwitted by a pegasus. That was unheard of! Surprised, sure, outmaneuvered, of course, but getting outwitted… That meant making a good first impression was out of the question now. Flawless Cut was snickering behind me and before long I was afraid of getting a new title ‘Spotlight, The Little Dull Unicorn.’

I was yanked out of my musing by a gentle tap on my shoulder. A brown Earth Pony was crouching down next to me. She smiled softly and whispered, “I, know.” I smiled back. Hers was the first friendly face I had seen since that time Crimson visited.

“Can you show me the way?” I asked.

She nodded and started slinking off towards the door, with me following closely behind. After leaving town, we silently traveled the same path I had followed several hours before. At the bottom of the first tunnel, we turned off onto a small hoof-path that zigzagged down the cliff face. It was a little unsettling, trotting down a path with only a few inches of space between you and a several-thousand-foot drop. The forest below was rather beautiful, but I know what happened to a pegasus who stopped flying and I wasn't expecting a unicorn to fare much better.

My guide, however, didn’t seem at all fazed by our peril. She trotted happily along, like a foal chasing a butterfly. Glancing down again, I asked, “Where exactly are you taking me?” Her response was less than desirable, amounting to little more than the promise of a lake. Nothing at all to help ease me of my worry.

We continued onwards in silence while I tried to make sense of her response. (There was apparently a “lake”-“down.”) When we finally got to the bottom of the hill, safely thank Arcana, she led me down an even smaller path that was probably made by a roaming herd of Cervids.

We continued onwards in silence until my guide stopped abruptly in front of me. “What was that!?” she stammered.

I stopped listening, “That? Just a cricket.” I couldn’t help but grin at how scared she was at such a harmless little creature… Well, at least harmless to ponies, the same can’t always be said about agriculture.”

“Big?” she demanded; terror portrayed upon all her features.

“I don’t... think so-,” I said, trying to remember ever hearing of a ‘Big’ cricket “-all the ones that I have ever seen are about the size of a really small pebble.”

“O-o-o-o-kay,” she said, voice still quivering.

She started down the path again, furtively glancing around her. I was following closely behind until I felt something crawling on the underside of my muzzle. Wiping it off onto my leg, I could see that it was a little cricket.

I galloped after her shouting, “I got a cricket- OW!” I had somehow managed to trip over a root and was rolling uncontrollably down the hill. I felt a sharp pain in my nose, and nighttime came in an instant.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

I laid on my back in the cold forest leaves. It was mid-autumn and all the trees were a bright crimson color. A cold wind blew up below me, my guide was shivering.

“How much further do we have to go?” I asked, looking at her. She was curled up into a little ball, watching me sleep.

“F-f-f-ar” she responded, her teeth chattering, and her entire body shivering. It was at times like these that long fur comes in handy.

After a few moments I asked, “Are you alright?“ She nodded.

“Is there any kind of shelter down there?” She nodded.

“How long have I been out for?” She hesitated for a moment before answering, “Five.”

We continued trotting in silence as I tried to decipher what exactly ‘Five’ meant. Another wave of cold air came flowing up the hill, making her shuddering worse. I was starting to feel the effects of the cold through my fur, which has always been longer than that of other ponies, but not even that was protecting me from this wind. It was an unnatural wind, something was wrong about it. We huddled together for warmth as we walked.

To my relief, after climbing out of a small valley which the path ran into, we came in sight of a small thatched hut dug a few feet into the foot of an aqueduct which ran from the lake up to the city; looking up, I saw that we were directly under the outcropping that Canterlot was built upon.

The lake was a beautiful bluish-white. It all seemed surreal, like something you would imagine in a fairy tale. That was until a sharp hissing sound came from the hut. It was nearly deafening. Inside, I could see a large spider web, with something moving within. My guide had lost her mind and was running around bucking at everything she saw. The commotion she was making seemed to agitate the spider further as the hissing grew louder, taking my hopes of diplomacy with it.

As I was trying to figure out what to do about the spider and the frightened pony, I heard a small voice in my head, “try fire.” Picking up two sticks, I ground them together the same way my ‘brother’ had taught me back when I was little. Before long I had a spark, and piling up some dry leaves, I soon had the thatch hut nicely ablaze.

Smoke began billowing out of the hut, mixing beautifully with the sunrise. Satisfied with my work I turned my attention to my guide, who had decided to repeatedly buck a poor tree standing near the edge of the forest. I had succeeded at calming her with a hug when the spider started screaming. It was a blood-curdling sound of death. I still remember how cold it made me feel.

My guide crawled underneath my legs, whimpering uncontrollably until the screaming from the hut subsided along with the fire. The entire time, I was trying to figure out how some pony twice my size could fit underneath and leave me surprisingly comfortable. The biggest surprise, however, was about to come. I was looking down at her trying to figure out exactly how she was managing to fit under me when she told me. It was in rather unsatisfactory detail, but it was a complete sentence, “I have always been flexible, that’s how I got my name.”

“So you can talk in complete sentences?” She nodded.

“What's your name then?”

“Flexible Wood but everypony calls me Flex; I don't know why they call me that. What’s wrong with the name Flexible?”

I was rather surprised that such a shy pony, who had spoken barely a word up until this time, was now being so... open. My mind was quickly set at ease as to why. She didn’t even give me time to respond to her question. “How are you so big? Your-your things, that is… they’re um… bigger than mine, and-and-and, there are four of them, and you're so small,” she said pointing at my hindquarters.

I should take a minute to explain something about my genetics, and technically yours, but you're a stallion dragon pony thing so it doesn't apply as much to you... We are from a breed referred to as Cheveux Licorne. We are known for having thicker than average fur as well as four mammaries; two where they normally belong and two on the center of the chest. Commonly the hind two are rather large while the front two just make hugs irritating, while the entire setup leads to more milk.

In hindsight, I was probably rather harsh to her demanding her to get out from underneath me in a good bit of color. She, however, seemed really calm about my glowering, aside from her relapse back into one-word responses--

By this time, the fire was beginning to die down.  It had done its job of warming us and weakening the spider. Now it was up to me to put the poor creature out of it’s misery, something that I sadly had no problem in doing. I was mad. Given somepony groping you is a good thing to get mad over, but the poor spider hadn’t done anything wrong (scary, but not wrong) and I had burned it and it’s home.

I regret the relish I took in stomping its head over and over again. Its spasming, the crunch of bone smashing through an exoskeleton, the smell of burned flesh drifting out of it, and the pale-blue blood that was splattering my leg, I loved it, and then I felt sick.

The adrenaline and anger that I was taking out upon that spider was now gone. I was left standing there next to a spider with its brains all over my hooves. I looked at myself, this was what I was becoming. I had always this twisted dream of killing something, to watch something beg for mercy at my hooves. However, having done that, I just felt... empty. I wanted to go home and cry, but I had a job to do. I had come here to find out what was wrong with the water.

By this time, the Sunlight Council was beginning to raise the sun. I had been unconscious for so long that morning was beginning to dawn. It was a beautiful sunrise, little streaks of orange dotted the sky where clouds rested while the rest of the sky clung to the bluish-purple color of night. Sunrise and sunset were always my favorite times of day; it might just be me being biased to my color scheme, but, there was something about it that I loved, and that something was something that no pony could ever take away from me.

After my momentary relishing I again returned my attention to the task at hand. The lake which had looked so majestic in the moonlight had now acquired a very different appearance. The beautiful silver glow had been replaced with a murky brown. Little black globs of... something... floated in on the surface, giving it a very vile appearance.

Given the situation, what would a smart pony do? Obviously not what I did, which was to levitate up a ball of water and lick it. Even if it was safe, why would you need to lick it? The experience did one thing, however-- clarify without a shadow of a doubt that this was the source of the Greywater.

I braced my hooves, took a deep breath, and focused. A faint orange glow began to envelop the lake. The glow began to intensify in brightness as the water in the lake began to form itself into an orb which then started to float, defying gravity. Underneath the water was a rather thick layer of light brown goo which clashed dramatically with the rest of the stony lakebed.

Flex, who at some point had managed to come up beside me, let out a low exclamation that described my feelings as well, “Awful.”

After setting the water down and wiping away the sweat that was flowing freely down the side of my face, I braced myself again. This time, I focused on the brown goo. An orange glow covered the bottom of the lake and grew as I focused on lifting it up into the air. A dripping brown glob came floating out of the surface of the water. It was heavy-- really heavy. Heavier than all of the water in the lake combined. With a heave, I drifted the ball over to an indentation in the ground that had once been the residence of a giant spider.

I collapsed panting, with sweat rolling down my neck and dripping onto the ground. I felt nauseous and could barely stand. Something like this had never happened before. I had, of course, read about what happens when a unicorn has a ‘magical burnout’, but those didn’t come with this kind of major physical weakness. This was something far worse. Greywater only affects earth ponies my rear.

The world began to blur again, I hiccuped, and for the second time since arriving here, I found myself wrapped in the frozen tendrils of unconsciousness. I had been thrust into a whole new world, and this was my initiation. The pattern of pain would continue for many days to come. And I thought the hangover earlier in the day was bad.

Filly Tears

A warm, cheery smell hung in the air, gently clinging to my muzzle as I inhaled the odors deep into my nostrils. I was in a small room, laying on a small bed in the center. The bed was soft, gently supporting me as my eyes tried to adjust to the light.

“Good morning,” a voice called out through the blinding whiteness. I could faintly see the form of a mocha earth pony. She was smiling at me.

“Am I dead?” I asked sleepily.

“Oh no, you are very much alive, thanks to my daughter. It makes a mother proud when your little filly saves a half-dead pony out of the kindness of her heart...” she paused, retreating into her own thoughts “...I’m sorry about your tail! Don’t worry, it will grow back.”

“My… tail?”

“Oh goodness, I’m getting ahead of myself again! I had to cut your tail off. There was no way I could have cleaned it. A good fire was the only way to get rid of all the… regurgitation which covered it. I could have sworn you were heaving out your insides, sweetheart,” she said, seeming far too jovial for the topic at hoof.

“I was sick?” I remembered the wave of nausea that followed that statement all too well. The worst part was that nothing came out. I just laid there, chest heaving, feeling awful all over.

    As I finished, she smiled at me and told me to rest, and that I would probably be able to go home the next day. I agreed readily and allowed sleep to gently welcome me into its embracing hooves. It was an amazing feeling to fall asleep. It seemed… almost foreign.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

Light streamed through the window behind me filling my entire library with a beautiful golden yellow light. The subtle sound of chirping birds drifted in from outside while images of the book I was reading played across my mind.

I knew this moment. This moment had woven itself into the very fiber of my being. It had replayed itself in my mind over and over again; that fateful moment that ruined my life.

A shrill whistle behind me broke me from the confines of literature. A red and gray pegasus hovered just outside my window, a brown bag slung over her side and a sloppy grin plastered upon her face. “Come on, Spots. You’re leaving me hanging!” she smirked. ”There’s a scroll for you, if you aren’t too busy reading that to listen to me!”

“Crimson, you know I can’t hear you flying,” I grinned, taking the scroll she was offering. “Are you still coming for dinner tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it!” she called, flapping her wings forward, sending a small gust of wind into my face.

The scroll was made out of paper not the normal papyrus I was used to. It had an official looking silver stamp on it, bearing the likeness of a unicorn. I opened it slowly, not sure what to expect. As I finished reading the letter, tears began streaming down my cheeks. I ran downstairs to tell mom, leaving the scroll lying open on the bed.

Respects,

It is my great pleasure to inform you that by order of her royal majesty, Princess Platinum, you are being promoted to an apprentice of our majestic art of statesmareship. A convoy will arrive for you on April the 6th of the 36th year of our lord Unicolas. I truly wish you my greatest compliments on your promotion.

Bezier Curve, Royal Scribe to her esteemed majesty Princess Platinum.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

I awoke, feeling completely refreshed, though slightly saddened at my recountature. The nurse was still smiling through lidded eyes and a familiar brown mare was sitting in a corner of the room reading a scroll.

As I stirred, Flex looked up at me and tapped the slumbering nurse, “Mother, awake.”

Her mother awoke at the disturbance and glanced at me. “How are you feeling, Lady Light?” she asked through a yawn.

This was novel! Until my arrival here nopony had ever referred to me as ‘Lady’ before, at least in a non-derogatory fashion. It was rather exciting! The ponies here didn’t hate me, maybe even respected me… and I hadn’t even done anything hard! I was beginning to like my new home.

“I feel… decent. When can I go home… and where is home?” I asked, sheepishly.

She smiled, “Follow main street up the hill and you’ll find the keep.” There was a special emphasis on that word ‘keep’. “As long as you take it easy, you should be fine to go home. Be sure to come straight back if you experience any negative effects.”

“Do you know where I can find a good scribe?” I said, glancing behind me as I started for the door. My legs were still slightly quaking from hunger and exhaustion as I waited for her response.

The establishment she directed me to was a small shop near the Town Hall. As I entered, an earth pony looked up from where he was writing and motioned for me to wait a moment. I sat down on a bench and began examining the walls, which were littered with posters promoting everything from lost cats to my arrival. The majority of them, however, were publicizing various treatments for clean water. Best of all, most of them were written in Earth.

The stallion spit out the quill he was holding in his mouth and turned his attention to me, “Good evening. What brings your Ladyship (so exciting!) to my humble shop?”

“I want to take a letter, my good sir, ” I responded, withholding the squee I wanted to expel so badly, “and it needs to be in Unicornian. You know Unicornian, correct?”

“Of course! Your ladyship hurts me-” He looked genuinely hurt “-what kind of scrivener would I be if I wasn't fluent in my native tongue?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume...” It had just now struck me that I was speaking in Unicornian. This wasn’t back home where it was rare to find a scribe who knew my race’s language.

He motioned for silence, went to a shelf and acquired a scroll, then picking the quill up again, he waited for me to dictate my letter:

Αγαπητοί πριγκίπισσα πλατίνα

(Dear Princess Platinum)

Έχω φτάσει πρόσφατα στην καλπασμόςπαρτίδα όπως ανατεθεί. Μετά την αξιολόγηση της κατάστασης

(I have recently arrived in Canterlot as assigned. After assessing the situation I was wondering if)

Αναρωτιόμουν αν είχατε κάποιο ανταλλακτικό πυρομανής πόνι που θα μπορούσε να στείλει το

(you had any spare pyromantic ponies which you could send my way. I am planning a few)

δρόμο μου. Είμαι σχεδιάζει μερικές ανακαινίσεις του συστήματος παροχής νερού.

(refurbishments of the water delivery system.)

δούκισσας Καυτάνέα

(Dutchess Spotlight)

“I’m assuming that's all?” he asked, setting down his quill. “Or do you have a post scriptum that you wish to append?”

I shook my head, thinking of how I was going to pay the bill. “Can I get the postage cost on credit?”

He looked confusedly at me for a moment, “I was just going to bill your treasury. Would you rather I didn’t do that?”

It was now my turn to look confused, “I have… a treasury?”

“Of course! Don't you know that? Where do you think all of our tax money goes?”

“I have a treasury. I have taxes. Do I have anything else?” This ‘reassignment’ was turning out to be rather nice! For once I had people telling me I ‘owned’ something.

“You also have the keep.”

“Great, now I’m living in a castle,” I said sarcastically, even while my insides bubbled with joy.

“It’s more of a mansion, really.”

“Ok then… where is this mansion?” My ears drooped a little as I said this. A castle would have been such a magnificent place to live.

In response, he returned to his wall of scrolls and selecting one behoofed it to me. “Here is a map of the town, the keep should be on the top,” he said, pointing to a rather large square on the map. I noticed that it was on the main road through town, just like Flex’s Mother had told me.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

The location marked on the map was a large Unicornian building surrounded by many smaller huts. A small moat surrounded the entire compound. Compared to the architecture back in the Unicornian capitol (or the rest of the town for that matter) it was a slum. But it was my slum!

Inside the side door, I snuck through what seemed to be a kitchen, filled with the overpowering smell of fresh strawberries. Trying not to get noticed, I wanted to see how far I could get before somepony noticed me. Several earth pony chefs were talking around a table while a Unicorn lounged on a mat in one of the corners of the room.

I snuck out through an open door into a tight hallway as a maid passed by the door. She stopped as she saw me and straightened up into an awkward salute. Apparently, I couldn’t get far.

I looked at her and then grinned. “At ease, soldier,” I growled, imitating my brother, Iron (the adopted one). After rethinking my situation, I inquired if she had a map of the grounds.

As it turns out, most of the maids have a map in their possession. She said that it was because, “Lord Serve was always getting lost.”

I opened the map and she took this as her cue to leave. The map showed that the mansion had three stories, with a staircase going up on the third story, as well as a staircase on the first floor which went down. The map made no mention of where these staircases went. The biggest thing to catch my attention, however, was the fact that the entire third story was one room: the ‘Master Bedroom.’

Something tapped my shoulder. The same maid was standing there and taking a deep breath she started, “I told the mistress that you had arrived, and I was instructed to inform you that your presence is required in the Council Chamber.”

After a big breath, she was gone and I was left alone in the hallway, wondering where the ‘Council Chamber’ was and what kind of a council I was going to have to attend. The first question had a simple answer; the map showed that my destination was just down the hallway.

I was almost to the chamber when a door opened straight into my face. It hurt. Worse than that time I managed to slam my hoof in a door. It, however, lacked the longevity of said injury, and after shaking it off I was able to continue. The worst part-- I didn’t even get to see the culprit.

Rounding the final T-section of the hallway, I stood in front of a large room with the words ‘Councill Chamber’ engraved in large letters upon the door. Inside was a chair. There was a lever next to the chair and a large door made up most of one of the walls while a single guard stood next to the chair. Other than that, the room was empty-- seriously devoid of any of the council that its name implied would be there.

The guard snapped into a strong militaristic salute as I entered. I noted that it was much better in form than the one the maid had presented. Then, in a voice far more cordial than his body language would have suggested, he wished me good morning.

“Good morning, I think… What time is it?” I responded, trying to maintain my controlling demeanor.

“11:23… there is a clock on the wall over there,” he said, pointing towards a wall with a clock hanging from it.

        I nodded, “What does this lever do?”

        “It opens the door M’lady.”

        “So… where is the council or whatever it is that I am supposed to be seeing?” I finally decided to ask after several moments of silence.

        “Outside.”

A small patch of orange light surrounded the handle of the lever, gently rotating it back. The door lifted up slightly and then with a horrific screeching sound continued on its assent.

“It apparently needs to be oiled,” the guard said sheepishly.

“You don’t say...” I said as every single muscle in my body dripped with sarcasm.

Outside stood a small herd of ponies, each in their own stage of suspense. All of their attention immediately snapped to me as I reached the very large doorway. Every pair of eyes in that field were locked on mine, each saying the same thing, “Help!”

I was standing there trying to decide what to say when a mare slowly nudged her way out of the group and vocalized what must have been going through all of their heads, “Um… I don’t mean to assume, but... I was wondering what you were planning to do about the water? There is only so much wood we can spare for clean water... and with winter coming; we are already short on firewood!”

This brought a new angle to the problem! Winter in the northern territories was bad, and if ponies had to choose between drinking and staying warm… it could prove disastrous. My plan was beginning to look even more brilliant! I gulped. They were expecting something definite and all I had for sure was an idea that no matter how brilliant it looked, it wasn't anything comforting.

“I-I-I-I,“ deep breath, ”I have a plan, and I assure all of you that it will work!” Smile, Spots. Look confident. Hope they buy it.

There was a slight murmur and they all turned away and started back on their half-mile trot home. It would have been really sad if the mare who had spoken up first hadn’t stayed behind.

She was eyeing me-- skeptically, “Madam, if I could be so bold… would you please tell me what precisely your plan is?” That was a good day for new titles. It honestly helped my self-esteem tremendously!

“Well, not to go into too much detail. When I was younger, I saw a pyromancer pony who claimed that he could make an infinite flame, so my plan is to create an infinite flame at the aqueduct and boil the water at the source. I have already ‘cleaned’ the lake. Between those two the plague should be cured!”

She thought for a moment, “Where are you going to find a pyromancer? We only have nine of you unicorns as residents, not counting your honor. And I assume that if you could cast that kind of spell you would have already done so… So, where are you going to find a pony like that?”

“I already wrote a letter to the Princess requesting such a pony.”

She nodded. My stomach growled, painfully reminding me of my lack of food. “Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?”

She seemed to have heard my internal cue with a quick, “No M’lady.” With a small curtsy, she trotted off.

The map, which I still had nestled securely in my flank pocket-- right you don’t have a flank pocket do you Shadow? Well, most ponies (not you for some reason) have a small pouch of skin which their flank marks are engraved upon. They are like what kangaroos have but with a magic tattoo that shows what’s special about you on it as well. They prove incredibly useful when trying to carry objects. Now, back to the story-- showed that there was a room labeled ‘Dining Hall’ next to the kitchen. Without delay, I hastened back down the hallway towards my next meal.

The room was huge! More like a military dining hall than a civil one. The table which took up the majority of the room could easily fit fifty hungry ponies. Right then, the only thing I cared about was the place at the head of the table, where two plates and four bowls were neatly arranged.

The next few minutes were a blur… where I completely ignored everything but the plate in front of me. I ate like a crazed starving mare, which for the record I was. Leaving only a… yellow dandelion.

Why was a dandelion on my plate? What was going to happen to me? How many more dandelions had I eaten? I had read of ponies dying from eating too many dandelions; each one was laced with a small amount of poison, which in high enough concentration could prove fatal. Was an entire arrangement plate enough to be fatal?Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

I sat there momentarily stunned. As the shock faded I was left feeling sad and empty even if my stomach was full. My life began floating by me as the world around me began to blur… I was sad because I had been abandoned. Sad because I had reveled in blood. Sad because I was now trusted with so much. Sad because I had failed. Sad because I had eaten poison! Sad because this was the end; the end before my life had really even begun.

The world wobbled around me as tears streamed down my face. In the darkness that was building in my vision huddled a foal. It looked helpless and cold. Then looking me straight in the eyes it screamed, “Mommy!” Icy tendrils surrounded me, and I was brought once again into the realm of those half dead.

Shadows

A dim redness began to sneak into my closed eyes as I began to regain consciousness. My eyes fluttered open and were greeted by a stream of beautiful white morning light. A gentle voice drifted through my ears. “Good morning Lady Light! It’s good to see that you are finally awake. If you had been unconscious for two more days, there would have been no hope for you...”

“No hope for you,” I echoed back, realizing the gentleness was gone and letting the meaning of those words sink in. “What do you mean, no hope?”

“You came very close to dying, your heart had stopped by the time that Chef got you here, then you were unconscious for two months--”

“Two months?” I was close to dying!

“Of course... We normally would have considered you dead after a month, but based on your record, the doctor decided to--”

“My record?” I interrupted. Her grey coat was beginning to clash with the tranquility of the room.

“Oh? Didn’t she tell you? That’s just like her--“ she snickered “--just like Hard Wood, never telling her patients just how bad their conditions really are. You know her daughter’s shy-mentality is beginning to make a bit more sense now... Anyways, your ladyship was being kept alive by a thread for nearly two weeks...” I had been here for months? Had the princess responded to me yet? “Nopony has ever survived with Greywater for that long before... They either got over it in the first week, or they died. Before you, there was no middle ground.”

She turned towards the door, “I’m going to tell the doctor that you aren’t dead. You lucky filly-- or should I say mare... I counted your rings...”

Two months of unconsciousness? So I had been poisoned. Why was poisonous food set before me? Who had paid off the chiefs? What had I done to make somepony want to kill me? Was I rude to somepony? This world of Unicorn politics was absurd-- things were so much simpler back home. But still, who would want to kill me? Why had I survived? Why was the nurse talking about my growth rings? I want to go home!

Now listen Shadow, mares haven't always had growth rings, they are a rather modern, novelty. It’s not completely vital for somepony looking at your intimate places to know how old you are. Yamaha, however, seems to disagree. Nopony can disagree that Star Swirl, or Lily as she goes by now, is one of the greatest mages of all time, but did he really have to make a sentient troll of a tree? Especially considering the tree has control of the very fabric of existence? Why did he have to make it enjoy playing pranks?

My musings were disrupted by a white and blond stallion (a handsome color scheme if you ask me) walking into the room carrying a clipboard in his mouth. Setting down his clipboard, he glanced over me.

“Welcome back Lady Light. It has been a long time since you were last with us. It is my pleasure to finally have a chance to meet you, ” He said with a warm, comforting smile. He glanced at the clipboard, “You’re awake! That’s all I can tell you, I don’t have the equipment--” he tapped his hornless forehead “-- to do a complete investigation, but from what I can see you are healthy… Your body seems to have efficiently dealt with the poison that was plaguing it and to my knowledge, you are safe to go home. Just be sure not to do any kind of strenuous activity for the next few days or get overly excited. And, of course, don’t eat any more dandelions.”

The grey nurse had reentered the room while he was talking and had quietly seated herself in a corner of the room. Finished with his analysis, the Doctor nodded to her and left, leaving me rather void of the reassurance that I was hoping he would give.

“Well, you heard the doctor. It’s safe for you to go home.” The nurse smiled, offering me a hoof in assistance.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “And what kind of operation is this, where the practitioners ogle their patients?”

“The best kind of operation,” she smirked. “If you need to almost die again, we’ll still be here,” The smile which accompanied that statement was so disturbing, I decided the best course of action would be to get out as fast as I could!

Outside, gusts of cold winter air blew freshly fallen snow into huge banks. Light glinted off every tiny particle, sending the whole world into a brilliant array of gloriously, sparkling white.

An assortment of school foals were playing in the snow. An intense battle for supremacy raged in front of the town hall, while a few young pegasi provided more ammunition for the combatants below them. Several others were holding a fast-paced race down main street, while still others were making snow-ponies out of the leftover ammunition from the battle. It was all so wonderful. Nothing is like the magic of the first snow of winter to bring even the bitterest of enemies together.

Our three tribes (and the Crystilians) haven’t always been enemies. Until recently, we have had a ‘peaceful’ alliance between the four of us.The pegasi haven’t ever been hostile to any party, although they are the only tribe with a standing army. They seem content with just being messengers, wagon pullers, weather managers, and priestswith a purely defensive military. Maybe it is because of their church that they have remained neutral. Whatever the reason for Pegsia’s neutrality, it still stands that Unicornia and Earth have been fighting for centuries and many ponies (like myself) view it as a senseless feud. Both Unicornia and Earth have integrated pegasi into our societies. Why can’t we do the same for each other? Like the Crystal Empire-- they have had all three races living harmoniously for years.

A pegasi wagon flew overhead, landing on the street in front of the scribe’s shop I had used for a moment before flying off again. When I arrived, a small herd of passers-by was beginning to gather around the spot. Ponies jostled me right and left as I tried to push my way through the crowd. Everypony wanted to see the newcomer who had disappeared into the shop. Secretly, I was a little glad that I had arrived in the way I did, half drunk and alone. It saved me from having to endure this kind of excitement at my arrival.

“How many of you saw the wingless pegasi last night?” Those words echoed above me, slowly rippling through the crowd as several others echoed the question. A haze fell over them. The boisterous, bustling crowd fell silent. In ones and twos, they began to saunter off. All hope of discovering the importance of their visitor, vanished.

A cold wind blew up the lonely street, chilling me to the bone. My eyes flittered from side to side, and my entire body shook in a state of consternation. I had been gone for months, not upholding my responsibilities, and now there was something, who knew what, out there with us. Something that could make me cold… Visions started replaying through my head… Was I the foal who had called for its mother? If so, what was that shadow behind it? Was that shadow the ‘wingless pegasus?’

The door opened and a gust of warm air blew out from the shop, banishing the cold back to the foul source from whence it came. The unicorn who had been the total center of attention moments earlier looked out upon a single filly shivering in the street. Bending down he looked into her morning blue eyes and smiled, “Hail, young filly! This town’s fair scrivener informed me that thou governor hast been missing forthwith time.” There was a hint of concern in his voice, “Wouldst thou knowest whereforth she hath partaken herself?”

In hindsight, I wished I had pretended to be somepony else for a while. Instead, I looked up at him with a smirk to complement his smile, “You’re looking at her!”

“Thou art the Governor?” He asked incredulously. Then, shaking his head, he looked calmly at me, “Prove thyself.”

Turning my body slightly to the side, I showed him my flank mark and started off towards the Keep. He started after me, obviously approving of my identification. I was suddenly very aware that I was missing my tail. It had grown back a bit, somewhat confirming that I had indeed been unconscious for several months. It, however, still hadn’t attained its full protective length, leaving me feeling naked.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

Silence pervaded our trip back to the keep, broken only by the steady sound of hoof steps behind me. As we came in sight of the Keep, my companion cleared his throat. “If thou art, how thou sayest... what wouldst thou requesteth of me?”

“Well, first, I would like to know your name. Second...”

“Emberoseaus Ash at thine service my lady,” he said bowing to kiss my hoof. What is it with Unicorns and doing that? It’s a bit creepy, having random stallions just kissing your hoof… whatever happened to hugs? Or hellos? Or just waving a hoof?

“I’m a lady now? What have I done to ‘prove thyself?’--” silence “--Second, I would like you to create an infinite flame. --“ he nodded ”-- And third, may I call you Ember?” he nodded again.

“Wouldst thou be able to gather such small group of ponies as you deem necessary for this venture?”

“Group? Why do you need a group?” It wasn't like it needed fuel or anything-- right?

“To protecteth thine flames, making for sure naught besiegeth it.” That made sense, in his convoluted way of making sense. We wouldn’t want any stray giant spiders messing with our new sanitation department.

I nodded, opening the door we had just reached. “Tell one of the servants that Lady Light has sent orders to provide you with a room.” He nodded. Confident that he would be well taken care of, I turned back towards the town.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

What had at first appeared to be a large-scale snowball war had turned out to be several small scale battles. That was until one valiant filly charged the defenders of the Hall, rallying the besieging forces behind her. The victory won, she entered her captured fortress in search of a group of fiery defenders.

Inside the Town Hall some ponies talked within small groups. Some huddled near the fire, but all of them were avoiding the battle raging outside. I entered, bringing a large gust of cold air, and a few unfired, telekinetically holding snowballs with me.

Twirling the snowballs around me, I did the cool magic rune thing that I still don’t understand the purpose of and bowed to the crowd. “Hello, everypony! My name is Spotlight. You might have heard of me --” my magic flickered “-- and, this is really hard to keep up... Would you all mind if I dropped the epic act?” The majority of the crowd nodded. Throwing the magical snowball rune behind me I closed the door and clasped on my side wheezing, “I... need a moment… to... catch my breath… and then… I have an announcement to make.”

Magic isn't my forte. Doing almost any spell (aside from telekinesis) uses up most of my mana, leaving me physically drained.

Several minutes later, I rose to my hooves. “Let’s try that again… Hello, everypony! My name is Spotlight. You might have heard of me. You know, the one who is in charge around here. To cut to the chase, I need some volunteers willing to leave your homes, to go out down to the lake, and keep a small fire lighted down at the bottom of the aqueduct.”I could have phrased that better.

To my surprise, five ponies came forward. I had expected to have to offer some kind of compensation to entice people to leave their homes and families, especially considering the way I had marketed my little proposition. But no, these five were willing to throw away something I never had. At least it would keep the rest of the town safe.

I soon had my little party of firekeepers, each with their name written on a chalk board nailed to the wall: Bundle Bread, Sour Cookie, Emerald Bearer, Spoon Dipper, and Strawberry Lemonade XII. They were an excitable group, hardly letting me get a word of instruction in and scattering like flies the moment I gave them permission to leave. It had been settled that we were all to meet at the hall the next morning. All I had left was to dine with Ember.

I was tired. Being poisoned is exhausting, while their endless yammering and the fighting to make myself heard wasn't helping either. Which is why I was less than thrilled to see Strawberry standing outside the hall waiting for me.

“Lady Light, do you think we’ll be safe? I know that we four mares aren’t very strong. Could you find a few other stallions to protect us? Dipper will only be able to do so much.” She worriedly asked.

She had a point, four mares and a thin stallion wouldn’t be much good against anyone trying to deposit more excrement, even if they could fend off the giant spider. “Did you have anypony in mind?”

“Is there anypony in your army who is willing?” Great, now I have an army, too...

“I have an army?” I asked, trying to hide my disgust. I don’t like fighting, or war, or violence. It’s just a horrible excuse of a past time to keep others occupied.

“Yes... locked up in the Keep somewhere. A recruiter came through several months ago and got a few colts to join the ‘Army.’ Why didn’t you just ask them to take care of your fire?”

“I… honestly didn’t know I had an Army.”I hate being in charge… but, maybe if I’m lucky, she can bring some of them. “Tell you what, how about we both go and take a look at them, and you can pick out a few to protect you.”

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

The maid’s map led us to an Earthen-style building off the side of the Keep. A small patch of orange light encapsulated the door’s latch. With a creak the door opened, revealing thirteen sweaty stallions. By sweaty, I mean… sweaty! As I opened the door, out came a whiff of a completely unbearable odor that just made me want to throw up.

Strawberry had already charged right in and was ferociously hugging one of the stallions. So she did have somepony in mind. Content that Strawberry would now have sufficient “protection,” I opened the windows to hopefully keep some of them alive and turned back towards the Keep. Dinner with Ember, then I could go to bed.

I froze, spellbound by one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen. The sun gently wobbling back and forth as the council put through their last effort to get it over the horizon. And then-- it was gone.

I quietly opened the door to the empty kitchen. From a corner of the room came the rhythmic breathing of a sleeping pony. I had almost reached the door to the dining room when his breathing stopped. Hearing nothing for a moment, I turned to investigate.

Rising off the sleeping pony was a shadowy pony. Its back half was missing, replaced with a tapering twirl. It grinned at me, a terrifying toothy grin, before vanishing.