I remember when I was a little filly. I used to frolic in the meadows while my brother would climb up the trees and play with the birds. We had lots of fun in our foalhoods. Everyday we would go outside and it would give us many opportunities to find new ways to play and have fun. We were both introverted as foals, so we didn't make too many friends, but we always had each other. Did we ever have fights? Of course, what brother and sister relationship doesn't have any fights? It would always result in me throwing dirt or mud at him, or him throwing acorns and pine cones at me from the trees. My parents would always be upset when we fought, but we always made up afterwards. Maybe it was because our parents forced us to apologize because they would ground us, or maybe it was because they meant a lot to us.
My mother, Meadow Scent, was a florist, and she would occasionally take me and Fauna to the flower shop. She always told me, "Every flower in this shop has been grown and nurtured with delicate and gentle care, and this is the result: they matured into beautiful, majestic blossoms. Just like the two foals me and your dad raised." She always called us her "little blossoms", which always embarrassed my brother. He always saw himself as a monkey or a frog but not a blossom. Mom would stay home most days because there was a time where she wasn't doing so well financially and didn't want to hire a foalsitter, but she would always say it was because she wanted to be closer to her children which, I guess, wasn't a complete lie.
"Mama, why don't we ever get to see daddy?"
"You know how it is with daddy. He's a royal guard. That means he has to protect Equestria as well as the two princesses. It's a very important job. He cares a lot about this country and will do whatever it takes to fight for it."
"I hope he comes home soon. I miss him very, very much."
"I do too, Flora. I do too."
As a member of the royal guard, my father, Mercury Rider, was away from family a lot. It wasn't because he hated us or anything like that, but because of what my mother told me. He tried his best to make his visits every now and again, but even so, we wished he would spend more time with us. Whenever he was dismissed from duty--which didn't happen very often--he would always come home in his guard uniform and have me wear his helmet and give Fauna his spear which mom got upset about; she wasn't very fond of having her "little blossoms" wielding sharp objects. Dad would always do that, and we would all salute and declare, "As position of the royal guard, I shall do my best to protect our kingdom!" But the best part about when he came home is when he would take us outside to see his collection from when he worked his post in Canterlot. His collection consisted of a horde of colorful, lovely butterflies. He kept them all in a cage for us to enjoy, and he would ask us which one we would like to keep. After we made our decisions, he opened the cage to free the remaining butterflies, unfolding a beautiful scenery in front of all of us. After releasing the butterflies, he would hold us in his arms and tell us,
"Every butterfly you see in the sky is a decision that could affect your whole future. Like the butterflies, these decisions will show beauty, but it may also lead to consequences. And as you watch those butterflies fly away, there's no way of getting them back just like every decision that comes your way; once it's made, there's no going back. But I know you two will make the right choices just like you chose your butterflies."
Those words rang in the back of my head and would take a lot for me to forget his speech. As much as I would like to say that I made the right choice, I'm not sure what would become of today if you and mom hadn't sacrificed yourselves to protect me and Fauna. Would your presence made this place better for all of us, or would it lead to another war? I wonder this everyday when I stare into the sunset, watching the butterflies pass by the horizon. If I could've just found a different butterfly, what would've happened?
Author's Note
I'm going back into writing stories again. Don't worry, I'll make sure to add cover art this time. Until then, tell me what you think, what you like, and what needs improvement.
Chapter 2 - A Glimpse of the Past
The next morning, I woke up a little light-headed. I got out of my room to see my brother, Fauna, making breakfast for both of us. He was too preoccupied to notice my awakening, and I decided not to bother him. I sat down at the dining table and pondered for a bit, wondering "what should I do with mom and dad today?" Wait, why am I asking myself this? You know that they're not here anymore, Flora. Get a hold of yourself. But I wanna spend some quality time with my family. No, I have to forget about my parents. The only pony I have left is-
"Oh! Hey Flora, I'm sorry if I woke you up," Fauna confronted.
I gave him an apathetic grin and said, "It's fine. I'm just..."
"Can't get them out of your head, can you?"
I responded by giving him a small nod in confirmation.
"I know how close you are to them and I understand how much they mean to you-"
"Before you go on your tangent about how I need to get over their deaths, I understand that I need to get over it, and I'm trying my best to get over it."
He gave me a look of confusion. "What are you talking about? Mom's at her flower shop and dad is still serving his post in Canterlot."
Wait, they're...alive? No, that's not true! You know what happened to them. You witnessed what Sombra did to dad and what dad did to mom and himself. They're dead, without a doubt.
"I know that you miss them a lot, but don't treat the situation like a funeral, sis."
Maybe I'm wrong. What if they are still out there, and everything I saw was a nightmare that Sombra implanted in my conscious. Whatever my brother was saying was either the truth that I've been trying to talk myself out of, or he's trying play a "small" prank on me.
"You okay, Flora?"
I snapped my attention back to the situation at hoof. "Uh...actually, I did wake up a little light-headed this morning."
"Maybe you just need to get some fresh air."
"Yeah, I just need to get my head out of the cloud." I opened the front door and what I saw was a complete different reality. The buildings that were once the homes of townsfolk were more temple like, and everypony seemed to have a more strict attitude on their faces. It's almost like I had gone back in time.
"Are you sure you're okay, sis?"
"I will be. It's like you said. I just need some fresh air." I stepped out of my home and trotted around this "new" environment. What the hay is going on here? Here I am standing in the middle of, what I think is, Ponyville, trying to tell the difference of my reality and fantasy. If mom really is alive, then I know exactly where I can find her. I trotted over to my mother's flower shop, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Is this really my mother? There was only one way to find out.
"Mom, is that you?"
The mare turned to look at me. "Hi, my little blossom. What brings you-"
I cut her off by giving her a tight hug. "Oh my Celestia, it really is you!"
"Um, yeah. I've been working my shift all day. Don't you worry, Flora. I ain't going anywhere."
Oh right, she's alive...well that was awkward. "And dad's in Canterlot, right?"
"He's serving his post like the honorable stallion I married. Are you okay, dear? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Well, I guess I've been having some awful nightmares lately."
"Oh, come here now little blossom," she empathized, bringing me in for a small embrace. "Everything's going to be alright. But you know what Flora?"
"What is it mom?"
"Those nightmares..." she paused for a brief moment. "They will never go away." Her voice changed, and the figure that I was formally hugging turned into a cloud of smoke and darted out the front door. I went outside the shop to chase after the smoke when all of the sudden, I saw the dark sky and a giant figure forming into a familiar face: King Sombra.
"NO!" I screamed, not wanting to believe the situation I was forced to be put under.
"Your turn, Flora." the figure claimed. He charged right at me. I tried to move but some kind of earthbound force wouldn't allow me. The cloud of smoke came towards me and put me under a choke hold. I was starting to lose my breath and began to suffocate from the smoke fumes.
"Come and rejoin your parents once more," the smoke said as it was suffocating me. I felt like this was the end, this is how I die. Was it better to accept my death, or should I just-
"Gah!" I exclaimed before hyperventilating like my life depended on it. Then I heard a bang on my door.
"Flora, are you okay?" Fauna shouted from the other room.
It took me a moment to realize my reality or what I thought it was. To make sure I wasn't dreaming, I grabbed the quill on my night stand and-
"Ow!" Yep, definitely reality. I went to my brother's room to open the door and greeted him with a small hug.
"Flora, what happened?"
"I just had some nightmares, that's all." Right when I was about to let go of the hug, he reconnected the embrace once more as I hugged him back.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Fauna asked, clearly in deep concern.
"Do you mind if I get some fresh air first?"
"If you think it'll help. But I'm not letting you out of my sight."
I made my way out of my room, into the kitchen, and over to the front door. When I opened the door, it was just another regular day in Ponyville. "I...think I'm a little better."
"Okay, but you need to tell me what the hay hap-"
"I'm fine!" Clearly he wasn't convinced, but I bolted out the front door anyway. I headed towards mother's flower shop to discover that she wasn't there. She would either be tending the shop or spending time with her "little blossoms". But since neither outcome was proven...I sighed in defeat. "Maybe she is dead," I thought. "Maybe I should-"
"Flora!" Fauna scolded. "What's happened to you?"
The townsponies in the flower shop stared at us in awkward silence.
Fauna chuckled nervously. "Sorry 'bout all this. Just needed to talk to my sister." He pulled us both out of the store and back over to our cottage. "Flora, I am deeply concerned about you. I know that mom and dad are deep down in your heart, but this is not like you. You need to tell me what happened so I can help you."
Listening to my brother's advice, I had no choice but to tell him what happened last night. "I had a nightmare last night..."
"...And that's what happened."
"Oh my Celestia! Flora, I'm so sorry. Now I really wish you told me this earlier." He came over to me and gave me the biggest big he's ever given me in our lives.
"I'm just worried that Sombra might come back and plan an evil plot for revenge. I don't want us ending up in mom and dad's place."
"Flora, you're not worried. You're paranoid. Just remember that we still have the Princesses watching over us, making sure all of us are at peace and tranquility."
"Peace and Tranquility?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Do you want my support or not, sis?"
"But I understand what you're saying. It's just...that nightmare. Maybe it's telling me to be weary of Sombra for when or if he returns."
With that said, a butterfly came into our house through the open window and landed on the kitchen sink.
"We gotta remember to shut these windows," my brother noted.
"We?"
"Fine! I! I gotta remember. Happy?"
"No, because then it'll get all stuffy in here."
"Well, I'm gonna go see if there are any job listings on the billboard. I think you should take some time to relax."
As much as I wanted to take some time off, "We're still a team, Fauna. I may not be fully recovered mentally, but I still wanna find some job listings."
"Are you sure about this?"
"I'm gonna be fine. I promise. Let's just go to town and find ourselves some jobs to do."
"Okay then," Fauna said still showing concern. "Let's go."
I still remember, in my late foalhood, the story of the war King Sombra waged. I can only recall bits and pieces, but from what I heard, it all started in the Crystal Mountains. The Crystal Empire, led by Mi Amore Cadenza, was a quaint and peaceful place where all the townsponies lived their lives in perfect harmony. As long as they knew that the Crystal Heart was there to guide the empire, they had no reason to feel negative emotions towards anything or anypony. As we all know, the Crystal Heart is what keeps the empire together and keeps the crystal ponies in their state of happiness. But as the population of the Crystal Empire was growing, it gave an opportunity for King Sombra to create his own community whether Cadenza liked it or not. The King went to the Crystal Mountains to discuss his negotiations with Cadenza. He tried to talk her into sharing the land with his kind and discuss the benefits of his deal, which, according to Cadenza, there weren't many. Why in Equestria would she trust somepony that she just met for the first time especially when he's asking to take over part of the empire? Without hesitation, she denied his offer, but Sombra would not lose that easily. He pushed his offer further more but still got rejected until he, finally, decided to threaten to destroy the Crystal Heart and wage war against the Crystal Empire. Cadenza was not the type of pony to surrender her kingdom that easily, so she was left with no choice but to defeating King Sombra in war. Her fate was sealed the minute she denied him as a ruler. When Sombra knew she wouldn't take his deal, the first thing he set out to do was destroying the Crystal Heart, which wasn't a difficult task for him to complete. As he mentioned before, he retrieved the Crystal Heart and gave Cadenza one last chance to accept his offer. She denied him again, but it resulted in smashing the heart against the ground, shattering to a million pieces. All of the sudden, the snowstorms struck the town, the weather was uncontrollable, and all the townsponies could only wonder what the hay is going on. When they saw a glimpse of Sombra, they started to get panic-stricken. The atmosphere that had just unfolded set the tone for the situation for the Crystal Empire and Mi Amore Cadenza: The war has begun.
The word got to Princess Celestia and she sent her troops as well as herself to stop Sombra and his evil intentions. By the time she and her troops got to the Crystal Mountains, it had already been too late. Sombra enslaved all the townsponies and kept Mi Amore Cadenza under solitary confinement. His new kingdom was led by fear and dictatorship as his "army" was brainwashed to believe that their nightmares were out to haunt them, and Sombra "encouraged" them to face their fears head on. What the townsponies didn't know was that their nightmares to them were Celestia's royal guards trying to get them back to their original state, but Sombra's new army proved to be very powerful. In the end, many innocent lives of the crystal ponies had been taken, and most of the royal guards sacrificed themselves to stop Sombra, one of them included my father. Celestia had to retreat before any other innocent lives had been taken, which led Sombra to expand his dark kingdom across Equestria. However, Celestia hadn't given up yet. She called her sister, Princess Luna, to help stop Sombra's evil doings. The princesses did not find this task to be easy considering what Sombra was capable of, but with most of the royal guards dead and Sombra's brainwashed army wiped away, Sombra had nowhere else to turn to and left to fight for himself. The battle wasn't an easy one, but the two princesses were able to stop Sombra and sent him to Tartarus, where he wouldn't be heard from for a long, long time. The princesses were able to free the original ruler, Mi Amore Cadenza, from imprisonment. They then set out to restore the Crystal Heart and the remaining townsponies of the empire were happy to know that Sombra was long gone, but they were still unsettled to know that some of their friends and loved ones were taken with Sombra. Even though the kingdom was restored, Princess Celestia still mourned over the deaths of the crystal ponies that were under Sombra's control and didn't know any better and the royal guards that sacrificed themselves to stop Sombra. But, she has a country to protect, so she had to get over those who had been lost in the war. Even though Princess Celestia mourned their deaths in a short period of time, I still mourn their deaths today, specifically my father's death.
My dad was a proud member of the royal guard and promised to protect the country he loved so much no matter the costs. I remember when he would come home greet us warmly. But after that incident in the Crystal Mountains, we never got that same greeting ever again. All me and my brother had left was our mother, but shortly after the war was over, she had passed away due to an unknown illness. Now it's just me and my brother left to hold down the fort, which wasn't easy since our mother struggled to make a fortune and...well you know what happened to our father. Life hasn't been easy for me and Fauna, but we still manage to keep our home alive. We weren't able to get hired around towns, so the only other option was working odd jobs for other ponies like foalsitting, house cleaning, heavy lifting, etc. Some of the jobs are simple, but others can get somewhat ridiculous. But, this is what our parents would want; to see us live the rest of their legacy. Right now, me and Fauna are doing one of those ridiculous odd jobs, but it's what helps us not only help keep our home but also helps bond together as a family.
"You're an idiot," Fauna exclaimed in a childish tone.
"Oh really, I'm an idiot?" I asked sarcastically. "You couldn't think of any better ideas when we were in town!"
"You wanna hear my ideas for once? Here's one, not getting ourselves lost in the Everfree!"
"We're not lost we came from..." I looked around to find an indicator of the path we had taken, but it was too dark to see anything. "from...uh..."
"Go on Flora, lead us the way back. If we're not lost, surely you can-"
"Okay, fine! Maybe we are lost, but that doesn't mean we can't find our way out of here."
Fauna let out a deep sigh, attempting to calm himself down, "Let's just find a way out of here and give that guy his poison joke already. I still don't know why anypony would want to lay their hooves on it."
We put our little argument aside to find a way out of the forest. We looked around for anything that could lead to an exit, but all we could rely on was our sense of touch because of how dark the forest is. All we could feel was nothing but grass; no dirt path or anything to guide us back to an exit. I wasn't the type of pony to panic under a situation like this, but with the loss of our father, life's just been very difficult and my emotions haven't been- "Oof!"
"You okay, Flora?" my brother asked.
"Yeah, just ran into a tree," I replied. But there was something familiar about this particular tree. "Wait, there's something engraved on the tree." I tried to make out the message using my hoof. "Z-E-C-O-R-A. I remember passing a tree like this when we got in here!"
"Do you know where the exit could be?"
I tried to map out the path in my head from the entrance to the tree. "I think so. From what I remember, we came into the forest, took a sharp right, a slight left, a slight right, and that's when I remembered the tree."
"Alright, so we need to follow the path, take a slight left, a sharp right, and a sharp left to get out of here."
Once again, we were only left with our sense of touch to follow the path laid out in our heads. The minute the path turned to grass, we backed up and turned left, following the direction of our own mental GPS. Another half mile later, we hit grass again and turned right. Just when we were about to find the exit, we heard a growl.
"Flora, I know you're hungry and all, but try not to eat the poison joke on our way back."
"That wasn't me."
"Then, what the hay was-" Fauna was cut off again as we heard the same growl a second time. This time, it was followed with yellow glowing eyes.
"Flora, we need to get out now!" my brother warned as we ran away from the disturbed creatures as fast as we can. We trotted along the path with those creatures chasing us. But the minute we stepped on grass, we put on the brakes and made a left for, what we think, is the exit. We were reunited with the path of the forest yet again, however the monsters were still after us. We kept following the path, for what felt like an eternity, feeling nothing but dirt until...
"There it is Fauna!" I exclaimed, finding a light back to civilization. We couldn't stop now: We made a full sprint toward the exit with those monstrosities on our tails. We got closer and closer to town and then...
"Er...Oh Celestia," I said while panting heavily, happy that we escaped the Everfree. "What...in Equestria...were those things?"
"Yellow eyes...that growl...the smell of...sawdust," Fauna said, panting and piecing together the answer. "They must be timberwolves."
When I caught my breath, "Fauna, I'm sorry that I made you go through all this trouble."
"As long as we still have this," he held up the jar of poison joke, "I can't be mad. But let's promise each other one thing and never go back in the Everfree again."
"Pinkie Promise!" I said without hesitation. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," I said while following the appropriate actions.
"Come on, let's get this poison joke to our client." Fauna said as we trotted our way back to town.
Odd jobs like these aren't always that easy, but it does help us keep the home alive and provides just enough necessities for us to get by day after day. After we traded the poison joke for our profit, we headed home. It's a little worn down, but a roof over our heads is better than nothing at all. Besides, our parents raised us in these parts. I wouldn't wanna give up this place for anything else in the world. If our parents were still around, I'm sure they'd be proud of us.
"Poison joke for 50 bits, maybe if we were paid double it'd be reasonable," Fauna complained. "I'm gonna head out to The Hayburger for some dinner. You coming with, Flora?"
I had been lost in thought about our parents. All they did for us, everything they provided, and for what? Just so that black-hearted monster could take them away from-
"Flora!"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I just got lost in thought."
"You coming to The Hayburger with me?"
I let out a deep sigh. "Not really, I'm kinda down at the moment."
"Look, I know you miss mom and dad, and don't get me wrong I miss them too, but they passed away for a reason. Mom knew it was her time to go, and dad did his hardest to protect us. I hate how it led to the worst case scenario, and I know how much you love them, but it's present day. We can't well in the past forever. We need to live in the moment." He noticed that I was starting to tear up, and he wiped my tears away. "But if you're still dwelling over his death, that's understandable." He made his way over to the door, but before he left, "Don't take it so hard, he's still here in spirit." He shut the door and made his way over to The Hayburger.
Fauna's right, I need to focus on what's happening in the moment. If I dwell on the past all the time, I'll never put myself in reality. "Maybe I just need a nap," I thought to myself as I trotted over to my bedroom door, but before I entered I noticed something. My dad's door was opened slightly. "Or maybe I could see how dad's doing," I contemplated. Instead of entering my own room, I entered my dad's, and what I saw are several boxes labeled "Meadow Scent" and "Mercury Rider". I started to look through my mother's boxes which mostly contained photos of me, Fauna, and herself. There were even some photos of her before we were born. Then I went through my father's boxes, which had most of the same, old photos of us back when I was a filly and occasionally photos of himself before he was born. I glanced over to the closet and noticed something. I saw his armor from when he joined the royal guards. Helmet, chestpiece, gauntlets, spear, everything was there. I took a moment to stare at my own reflection in the helmet. As position of the royal guard, I shall do my best to protect our kingdom! That oath stuck inside my head for a long time. "Come on Flora, I know you miss him very much, but there was nothing that could be done about sacrificing himself for us," I told myself as I placed the helmet back in his closet. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It's your birthday today. I'll be right back." I made my way out of my parent's room and went out to get Dad his birthday present.
"Flora, I'm back," Fauna called out. "I got you a double hayburger with carrot fries and some apple cider. I made sure it was alcohol-free 'cause I know how much you hate the taste of it." The only thing to greet him was silence. "Flora?"
"Hey Fauna, sorry if I didn't tell you where I was. I just needed to get something."
"Cherry Blossoms?"
"They were dad's favorite."
"Still living in the past I see."
"Well, it's his birthday today, and I thought it would be fitting if I celebrated it with a gift."
"That's fine," Fauna said with a smirk. "Well don't expect me to stop you."
We both went into our parent's room as I put the flowers in one of mom's vases, filled it with water, and placed it on his nightstand with a framed photo of him when he first joined the royal guards.
"Flora," my brother started, "I just wanted to say sorry about before. You know, back in the Everfree. I'll admit I was being a jerk, but I only acted like that because we're the only ones left of our family, and it's been our job to keep this home where it is now. I don't wanna lose it. It's the only thing left that our parents wanted to keep."
"It's alright, Fauna. Life has been hard on us; hard to find a job. But as long as we keep doing what we're doing now, we'll be sure to keep the house. Who knows, maybe there'll be more opportunities down the road."
"You're right," Fauna agreed. "Anyways, it's getting late. We should probably hit the hay."
"Maybe in a minute. You did get me dinner," I said giving a small chuckle.
"Alright, but you know where I'll be." Fauna went to his room and went to bed.
Meanwhile I was eating my food and reflecting on the past one last time before I got some sleep. "Dad, I know I haven't said this much lately, but I just wanted to say thank you," I thought to myself.
"Thank you for protecting us in a time of need. If only I could have done the same for you..."
Author's Note
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Comment below to tell me what you liked and what could use some improvement. Like I said before, I have not done fanfics in a long time, so it's not gonna be perfect, no where near in fact. But again, I hope you guys enjoyed what I put out.
