Unusable Story Husk

Take the baby and leave. Don’t worry about me, I will hold them off.

No, sister. I won’t let you fight them by yourself!

I will be fine, I only need to hold them off for a little while. The girl is far more important, just get her to safety. As far away from here as possible.

Are you sure? How will you find her?

Sister, I know she will find her way back. Now go! They are coming, there isn’t much time left. If you don’t leave now, you risk her safety.

I will be back as soon as it is done, sister.

I await your return, both you and my daughter’s.

Good luck, Celestia.

Same to you, Luna.

Taken Away

*******

THIRTEEN YEARS LATER

“Gloria? Are you upstairs in your room?"

"Yes, mother. And I'm not done cleaning yet."

"You know very well your father hates to come home to a messy house!”

Even though I love my mother, she tends to be a little too bossy sometimes. It’s as if she expects me to be just like everyone else on good ol’ Everfree Island - proper and polite. Is she expecting me to get a fancy cutie mark like everyone else? Ha. I’m turning 13 today, why won’t she get that I can make my own decisions now?

I swear, even if I didn’t have wings and a horn, I’d still think I didn’t belong on this island. Their colours were so boring too! Emerald is so much better. Why can’t everypony be emerald like me?

I do feel in place with my mane, though. Black with white streaks is pretty boring, and I guess that’s one similarity I have here.

“Gloria? Gloria!”

“I’m fine, mom. I’ll finish it later, don’t worry about it.”

Something I said must have hit a fuse, because her tone got a lot more stern after that.

“I’ve already told you to clean your room many times today, and you will do as you are told. Just because it’s your birthday doesn’t mean you can disregard everything I have to say!”

I sighed as loud and as obnoxiously as I could, exaggerating enough that I could hear my mom scowl.

Perfect.

I decided that it was probably best to clean the room anyway, since my dad probably wouldn’t be happy if it was messy. My dad seems to be the only one I can relate to on this island. He’s always encouraging me to try flying on our rooftop, even when my overprotective mom doesn’t think it’s a good idea. He’s always telling me stories about magic unicorns and wondrous tales on the mainland that he had heard as a kid. It made me feel a little self-conscious that I couldn’t use my horn for magic or fly with my wings like the ponies in the stories could, but the stories compelled me nonetheless.

It only took me a few minutes of cleaning the various books and trinkets scattered throughout my cramped room that I gave up and jumped on my bed, staring out from my window. Even though our house wasn’t very big or tall, I still had a pretty good view of the ocean from my window, which I could stare at for hours and hours.

Why imagine the tales happening past the water when I can read about it, though?

Even though most of the island, always being quiet and boring and all, labelled me as a rambunctious teen, I still loved to settle down and read like they did. Just not the old, dusty tomes they liked to study with - I loved exciting adventure books like ‘Daring Do’ or ‘Haunting Mare’. It was a great escape from the lackluster island I had been living on for years.

Just as I was about to pick up the latest edition of Daring Do I had gotten today as a birthday present from my dad, I heard my mother coming up the stairs. Well, I guess I have no excuse out of it this time. I quickly resumed cleaning as she opened the door, tapping her hoof on the ground in annoyance.

“So you decided not to clean even though I told you to do it a zillion times already. Yet again,” she said, rolling her eyes at me. “Seriously, what am I going to do with you?”

“You’ve survived me living here for thirteen years, you can’t take any more?”

My closing statement seemed to amuse her, but she seemed dead set on continuing the discussion.

“Listen, Gloria. I know you might be different from everypony else on the island...”

She got that right. Not a single pony on this island had wings or a horn, let alone both. Not to mention their personalities weren’t exciting. If it wasn’t for my dad, I’d be certain that these weren’t even my real parents.

“I know I may seem a little harsh on you sometimes...”

She got that right too. I know she loves me, and I’m certain that’s what she’s going to say next, but I’m simply too old to be treated like a child.

“But I want you to know that I love you.”

Bingo.

“Once your dad gets home, we were thinking of going to Everfree Ridge so that we could have some family alone time, maybe clear your head a little. Now, I know you might not be so willing to be stuck with your boring family, but it’s your birthday, maybe you can enjoy yourself too!”

I knew she was trying to bond, but I couldn’t find any way this could be fun.

“What would I do there that could be fun? Er, besides spend time with you, of course!” I added quickly, pulling off a big, fake smile I thought of at the last second.

My mother didn’t seem convinced.

“Right. Anyway, that’s not what I meant. Before having some family time, you could go on the big rock overlooking the ocean so you could practice flying! It'd be safe with the soft moss covering the ground, too!"

Flying? I like the sound of this already.

"How long will it be before dad gets home? I'm excited already!"

She gave a genuine smile to me, probably pleased with my response.

"He'll be back in a bit. In the meanwhile, clean up your room as I said!"

"Sure thing, mom."

As she left, I thought I'd get to work straight away, but instead found myself reading my Daring Do book again.

"Daring Do is on her latest adventure, trying to locate the… *yawn* well, I guess I can clean the room later."

Before I knew it, I was out like a light, even though I hadn't felt tired before. Maybe Daring Do bored me now?

*******

Take the baby and leave!

"Uh, hello?"

How will you find her?

"Who's there? What's going on? I can hear your voices, but I can't see anything!"

I await your return.

"Please tell me!"

"Gloria? Gloria, are you all right? Wake up, darling!"

I was woken from my dream with a start, seeing my parents' worried faces staring right at me. I guess I was talking in my sleep, and it would've been frightening to onlookers. It was frightening to me too, but something inside me couldn't shake the feeling that this was more than a dream.

"You must've taken a nap while cleaning. I should've seen that coming," my mom said, probably trying to put me at ease after that dream.

"I just got home, and I'm all ready. It's pretty late, but I can already see the full moon coming out past the sunset. It'll give us lots of light!" my dad explained.

I was eager enough to forget about the ominous dream, happy to get a parent-approved opportunity to try flying. Too bad I didn’t know a way to try and start up my magical abilities, because that would be pretty cool.

“Come on, let’s head down now before the sunset is over!”

When we began heading to the ridge, I noticed that something didn’t seem right with the town. Even though it was late... wait a second, how long was I out for? Did I miss dinner too? I guess I’ll feel the starvation later.

But even though it was late, nopony was outside to watch the sunset. Oh, wait, I remember now! They’re all scared of the supposed ‘monster’ that lives in these woods on full moons, coming to eat them all up! They’re nuts. Monsters aren’t real, and even if they were, where would it live the rest of the year?

Despite my logic, the setting sun did make the forest a lot darker and a little scarier. If the moon wasn’t full, it’d be nearly pitch black, and that would be frightening to anypony. Maybe the darkness scared the other residents of the island hear things coming out from the forest out of their imagination.

Thankfully, we were able to get to the other side of the forest before the sun finished setting, giving us direct light from the brilliant moon above us.

Something about the moon made me feel empowered. I’ve never been outside on a full moon night, and it felt amazing.

I felt I could fly.

“Now, darling, be careful. Just try flying once, and if you do, don’t-”

I couldn’t hear another word she said, I had already dashed up the largest visible rock, preparing myself for flight.

This time, it would work. No more disappointments.

Extending my wings as far as I could, I pounced off of the rock hard and fast. I felt the wind fly past my face as I continued on, watching my parents look at me from below. But I didn’t feel as though I was accelerating, just going at the same speed. No, I was descending down and decelerating.

I guess I’ll have to put up with gliding for the rest of my life.

My parents had already caught up with me, eager to reassure me that I’d be a great flyer someday.

“Today wasn’t your day, sweetie. You’ve got a lot more birthdays to try it out!” dad said, comforting me with a nice, light-hearted smile that couldn’t help but put my nerves at ease as the corners of his mouth glisten from the moon’s light. “Although, there is one thing we promised each other we’d tell you on this birthday in particular.”

My mother nodded her head, looking too solemn for a normal parent-to-daughter discussion. Was this going to be very serious?

“Me and your father know you want to choose your own way, and we understand if what we are about to tell you would make you want to leave the island to find your own way.”

What? This is making no sense.

“Mom, what are you talking about? Why would I leave you guys already?”

My mom couldn’t take it any longer. Something inside her must’ve set her off, letting loose a stream of tears from her eyes, contrasting with her usual stern and serious expression. It almost made me want to cry, even though I hadn’t heard the news yet.

“Listen, Gloria. We’ve been a family for 13 years, and we’ve loved and cared for you every minute we have been. But surely, you know that you are different from other ponies on this island, someone special.”

I nodded my head, still unaware of where this was going.

“You are an alicorn, and based on news I’ve gotten from the local tradesman who heads to the mainland, there are only two other ones like you. And with information from tomes from my book collection, only four alicorns can exist at once. I don’t know what happened before, but we met one of these alicorns who visited the island 13 years ago, entrusting us with what she claimed was her sister’s only daughter.”

I knew what he was implying, but it couldn’t be true. It was impossible! I had no magic abilities, so the horn was just a defect. I couldn’t fit into this equation, could I?

“We aren’t your biological parents, despite everything we have done for you. You were that daughter given by the alicorn to us, but we were told no more,” dad finished, inhaling and exhaling deeply to relax himself.

“No, this isn’t true. It’s impossible! You wouldn’t lie to me for 13 years, that’s not what you would do, right dad? Mom?”

My mother looked away in shame, bringing out another batch of tears to shed. My father maintained his composure, but I didn’t know if I could do the same. It seemed all so believable.

“We didn’t want to tell you because we wanted you to just enjoy your childhood, not having to worry about your lineage. You’re becoming a grown mare, and we thought it’s best if you make the best decisions about yourself.”

I backed away from my dad, climbing up the rocks absent-mindedly. I couldn’t grasp the situation, it hadn’t sunk into my head yet. It wasn’t until I reached the top that I really understood what was going on.

Extending my wings again, I thought about my life. All a lie, a shadow of what it really was. Because of the two ponies standing below me, beckoning for me to come down and talk.

“No, I am not speaking to two liars! You kept me in the dark! Are you ashamed of who I am? Do I scare you? I sure hope-”

I didn’t get time to finish my accusation, because I realized that I had slipped on the top of the rock, falling down closer and closer into the icy waters below. Faster and faster I approached the hostile looking waves, until I noticed my wings slowly generating enough lift to raise myself. I was flying, but it wasn’t the thing on my mind right now.

Flying away from the island, I never turned back. This wasn’t where I belonged if I wasn’t born here. Now that I know that truth, I need to find out the rest on my own.

I needed to find my own way, and it wasn’t here.

END OF CHAPTER ONE