“Whe… where am I?” the mare asked weakly as she looked around the cart that she had awoken in.

The cart was an enclosed wooden space. The only light was brought in from a barred window on the door. As the mare attempted to climb to her hooves, she noticed that she was bound by chains to the floor. Even if she wasn’t, she didn’t know whether or not she would have had the strength to stand up on her own.

Her legs were sore and damp and somewhat sticky, and her head was throbbing with a crippling pain. She could have sworn that her coat looked darker than it should have, redder, but she wasn’t sure. Not about her coat, or anything else for that matter. She remembered falling and screaming for help. A face without a name. She could connect her screaming to the face, but couldn’t recall the name to which the face belonged.

“Hello there, I’m glad to see that you are alive.” said an old sounding voice.

“Where are we?” she asked again, unable to move enough to look at the pony in the cart.

“We are going to their castle. It won’t be long now before they arrive, only a day or two left.” said the pony, who the mare was able to discern was also a mare like herself. “My name is Exuvia, what is yours?”

“I…” the mare thought for a few seconds. “I can’t remember.”

“Lost your memory? Terrible tragedy.” Exuvia stated. “Perhaps you shall regain it soon, or maybe its best you don’t.”

“What do you mean?” Just as the mare finished speaking, the cart hit a bump and her body came off of the floor and floated in air for a second before slamming back down onto the wooden planks. “Ow!” she yelped in pain as her head bounced off of the floor.

“I mean that if you can’t remember those you care about or anything about yourself, you cannot have their wellbeing used against you.” Exuvia whispered as she gently ran a hoof through the mare’s mane.

There were so many more questions that the mare wanted to ask, but the two that she’d gotten through took all of the energy that she had to spare. Instead of speaking, she chose to try to put a name to the face of whoever she was screaming for. She soon found that her thoughts were slow and her headache worsened before she finally conceded an empty victory to her pain. Tears welled up in her eyes as if she was sad, but she couldn’t recall why. The only explanation that she had was the face of the pony that she yelled for, perhaps he meant something to her, or perhaps it was just the pain that coursed through her body.

“You must rest, young mare. The Constellar ones wish for you to be at your weakest. You must not let them take you, you must fight back.” Exuvia stated as she pulled her hoof away and became silent.

The mare couldn’t find the strength to nod, so she instead followed her instructions. Moments later the cart came to a complete stop and hooves could be heard stomping outside. As the noise grew closer to the door, the mare tensed, fearful of what may come.

The door swung open and a rush of icy air flooded the room. Snow drifts were lifted by the powerful winds and thrown inside the cart. Two shadows stood in the doorway, the lack of time to adjust to the light made it hard for the mare to make out any specifics, only that both of the ponies were pegasi. In a matter of seconds she was able to discern that they were covered in blood that was not their own.

“Exuvia, are you all… right?” asked one of the ponies, his voice slowing and growing quieter as he spoke. “Is that a… an earth pony?”

“Yes, and she is quite injured. We need to take her to safety.” Exuvia replied to the stallion.

“Rip, I want you to stay back here and work on freeing her of her shackles. Firefly and I will pull the cart back south.” Exuvia commanded. Her voice no longer soft or caring as it had been when addressing the mare. “I promise that everything will be all right.” she once again spoke to the mare before shutting the door behind the stallion.

In a matter of seconds, the stallion known as Rip had shattered the metal shackles that had bound the mare. He didn’t say anything, he simply watched her as she drifted off into a world of dreams where she could feel safe.

~~~ ----- ~~~

When the mare awoke sometime later, she found that the pain was dulled. The cart was no longer moving, but the stallion that had been with her when she’d fallen asleep was missing. She could hear faint speaking outside as she attempted to climb onto her hooves. It was still painful, but she made a little progress before falling flat on her flank.

The noise must have been audible outside as Firefly poked her head into the cart before cautiously approaching the mare. Firefly was a young mare with a bright orange coat and golden eyes. Her mane was a flurry of reds and yellows that swirled together much like the fire that generated warmth and light behind her. Her companion sat around the fire, trying to ward off the chill of the northern night air, while also telling a thrilling tale of confrontation and whimsy to Firefly.

“And then I looked him dead in the eye and I said, ‘jump.’ And he did. He jumped straight onto the Con and…” Rip’s voice trailed off as his and the mare’s eyes met. He seemed slightly less grim in the flickering of the firelight than he had in the dark cart.

“Let me help you.” Firefly stated, wrapping a wing around the injured pony and helping her out of the cart and to the fire. “Are your legs feeling any better? Exuvia is out searching for another herb to speed up your recovery.”

The mare noticed that Rip’s eyes locked onto her neck, closely examining her. She glanced down to see what had caught his attention, and then she saw a necklace with a ruby as the focal point. “That’s very nice. Who got it for you?” Rip asked.

The mare stared at it in silence. In her mind she could hear a familiar stallion’s laugh, but she wasn’t sure why. “I don’t remember.”

“Exuvia had mentioned your memory loss. I’m sure that it will come back to you soon.” Firefly said reassuringly as she laid the pony down by the fire.

“We need to call you something though. You’re cutie mark is a musical note, so something related to that should do. How about Elegy?” As Rip asked this, the mare could see Firefly signal something out into the woods before returning her attention to the fire.

“I think that is a beautiful name. Wouldn’t you agree Exuvia?” Firefly asked as a unicorn mare walked out from amongst the trees.

“Quite. I was to find this root, which once ground up, may assist you in your memory.” Exuvia stated as she dropped a shriveled root before the fire. “Rip, go and acquire tools that could be useful for the task. Firefly, I want you to scout out ahead for any potential obstacles.”

Both ponies nodded in response, neither showing the slightest hesitation to follow their orders. It was clear that she was in charge and the others were entirely subservient, however, there did seem to be room for their input.

“All right. You can call me Elegy then.” the mare answered. “At least, until I remember my real name.”

“Good. We need to get moving soon, and we can’t afford the weight of pulling that thing around with us. I will help you walk until you are healed.” Exuvia told Elegy. “It won’t be long before they find this little campsite of ours.”

Author's Note

The upload schedule is being changed to Wednesday until I have finished uploading what I have written (Chapter 10.5). This change is due to my work and school schedule posing numerous problems.