“The moon withered and fled. The unicorn heard herself cry out, not in terror but in wonder,

“Oh, you are like me!” ”

-Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

It was long after dark when the rowdy circus folk had each returned to their wagons to sleep. Laying contentedly in her hammock, Azalea could barely keep her eyes open with her belly filled up with a potato and leek soup, and the fun socializing she had experienced over dinner. Once Azalea finally closed her eyes, it seemed like only a minute had passed before she heard a knock on the door.

The sound brought back memories of the boar-like stallion from The Tavern not too long ago. She had felt so safe and calm moments before, and now her heart raced as Rex’s warning popped into her head:

“Lock the door at night.”

Azalea’s first instinct was to flee, but in letting her guard down she hadn’t left her bag on her body like usual. In her half asleep state, she twisted in a frenzy so fast that she lost her balance, and fell from her hammock.

“Lily? Are you alright?” Azalea heard Swift Star whisper through the door. His voice eased her worry for a moment, but thinking of his late night arrival twinged it with suspicion. The Pegasus have been quiet during dinner, but he seemed to meet her eyes every time she looked at him. Azalea didn't move, staying still on the ground, hoping he'd go away. He didn't.

“Lily, may I come in? I have to talk to you, and I'd rather not risk some creature overhearing.”

“No, I think I'd rather you go back to your wagon so we can both get a good night sleep.”
“I have some important information you may want, Princess Amulet Azalea.”
The princess in question leaped up in a panic and hurried to unlock her door. Peering cautiously outside at the stallion, she whispered urgently,

“How do you know that name?”

Swift Star looked around before the darkness around him before answering.

“I admire unicorns a lot, and that encouraged me to look into their disappearance. I know a lot about your Royal Family’s History. But please, let me in so no creature overhears more.”

Reluctantly, Azalea open the door wide enough for the stallion to step inside, and then locked it after him. Although she kept the stern expression, her old curiosity about what happened to the unicorns stirred inside.

“Most unicorns didn't like speaking to the other pony races,” Azalea stated, implying a question.

“I wasn't an exception to that. Although I tried to befriend average unicorn citizens, there were no takers,” Swift Star replied. “So I ended up doing a lot of eavesdropping to satisfy my curiosity from high places I might not be noticed from. Most unicorns seem to stick to a daily routine- At least until the day you all disappeared.”

“Let me guess - a few soldiers were sent to the Villages nearby the castle and threatened the citizens?”

“At first. But when no pony could find you by noon, the entire Army was sent all four directions across the Unicorn Kingdom. Many citizens volunteered to help search even before rewards were offered. Somehow, the youngest princess’s disappearance seem to bring out all the unicorns’ protective side.”

“Really?” Azalea asked, shocked. “I assumed I was just one of many princesses that could be easily overlooked.”

“From my perspective, you appeared to be the Kingdom's baby: a pony to be adored,” Swift Star said.

Azalea shook her head.

“If all that's true, why didn't they leave the kingdom to find me? Or was their leaving the kingdom why they all disappeared?”

“I honestly don't know. All the unicorns looking around made them more aware of their surroundings, and I couldn't hide from them any longer. I decided to go elsewhere until things quieted down a little. I do admit that I searched for you a little as a plan to get on any unicorn’s good side, but I gave up after year. When I returned, the Unicorns had all vanished.”

Azalea gave a frustrated snort.

“That's barely relevant. I don't know why you needed to tell me this in the middle of the night-”

“Because you can't stay at the Circus a day longer,” Swift star explained seriously.

“Why? It's perfect. I'm with creatures that appreciate me, provide food, protection, transportation- I may even find more ponies like you on the road that know more about what happened to the unicorns- if I don't find more half unicorns like Levanna.”

“The thing is, your Highness, is that Cait Sidhe is only interested in making money. Sure, she may say you don't have to be seen on stage, but ‘The Last Unicorn’ will draw crowds. She’s charming enough to manipulate you into doing what she wants eventually. Or make you docile with potions if she can't. That’s why I didn’t want you eating the soup she gave you.”

“Where’s the evidence of this?” Azalea asked coldly. “Are you sure you aren't just trying to scare me away so I won't steal your act?”

“No! I'd like to go with you! I may not be able to do magic like you, but I can watch your back on the road. Besides, I'm sure that Cait Sidhe is up to something right now. We should leave tonight!”

“No.”

“No?”

“I'm staying. Please leave.”

“Princess, please reconsider-”

Azalea began to shove the stallion towards the door. He gave her a pleading look, but he didn't resist.

“Please let me protect you,” he begged from the door frame.

“I've never needed protecting,” Azalea replied before locking him outside.

Azalea had trouble getting back to sleep after Swift Star left, and had nightmares of unicorns being chased by a giant Centaur while she was trapped in a hole.

Azalea felt only been sleeping a minute when her door was knocked on again. Judging by the light streaming through her carvan’s small window when she opened her eyes, it was merely midday. She leapt out of her hammock, ashamed so much of the day was wasted.

“Miss Lily? Levanna called through the door. “We missed you at breakfast.”
“Yes, I'm fine!” The unicorn shouted back, throwing on her cloak and saddlebags as she rushed towards the door.

Levanna Belladonna carried a small wooden spoon and bowl, which she presented to Azalea with a shy smile.

“I saved you some oatmeal,” the half-unicorn told her.

“Thank you,” Azalea replied, scooping the dish with her magic towards her. “I apologize for sleeping in. I hope I didn't miss the circus preparations.”

“No, we're not planning on putting on a show today. Cait Sidhe wanted me to rest because of the accident yesterday.”

“My word, I should have asked-are you all right?”

“Yes, but Ringmaster wants her entertainers to be healthy in mind and body, so she makes us rests after accident like this- not that we have accidents a lot! We master all our tricks with safer methods before moving up the difficulty. It takes many months of practice to perform a show like we did last night, but all the hard work is worth it to hear the audience’s cheers.”

“It sounds like you really love what you do.”

“I do,” Levanna replied, and the two mares sat in companionable silence on the wagon’s steps while Azalea ate her oatmeal. It was sweetened with blueberries and biting into the occasional walnut piece was a pleasant experience. As Azalea scooped the last oats from the sides of her bowl, Levanna spoke up while looking at her hooves.
“Say, Azalea... do you have feelings for Shift Star?” She asked the unicorn.

“No, why do you ask?” Azalea replied. She had barely talked to the pegasus outside of last night, and wondered where this question came from.
“Oh. I saw him leaving your wagon last night, and you're both attractive ponies, so I wondered…” Levanna wouldn’t meet Azalea’s eyes, and the mare worried that she thought that they had been intimate.
“That stallion is way too paranoid for my tastes,” Azalea replied quickly, blushing in embarrassment. Not sure how much about herself she was willing to share yet, Azalea struggled with her follow up. “He... seemed to be worried about Cait Sidhe, and didn’t want… me to stay.”
“B-b-but why? Cait Sidhe's only been kind to him since he joined,” Levanna asked, swishing her tail nervously. “What reason would he have to worry about you?”

Azalea quickly tried to organize her thoughts. Too much hesitation made her sound insincere, but she didn’t want her new friend to misunderstand.

“He says Cait Sidhe is manipulative, and has been slipping you all potions to make you receptive to her orders. He said he’s worried I’ll be enchanted by her, too, and wanted to help me leave.”

“That does explain why he doesn’t eat when it’s Cait Sidhe’s turn to cook… but Swift Star’s only been with us half of a year, and many of us have been together since as long as we could remember... I think we’d notice if she was putting potions in our food,” Levanna replied.

“He may be afraid of the magic competition now that I'm joining the show- even though I won’t be performing,” Azalea explained.

“Even if you wanted to perform, we wouldn’t just replace his act with you,“ Levanna said with a sniff. “He's part of the family! We’d have you assist him, or perform in some other way!”
“Levanna, what's wrong?” From between caravan wagons, the karkadon appeared, giving Azalea a distrustful look as he neared. Azalea stiffened, not sure she wanted to share this info with any creature else, but Levanna didn’t seem to hold any reservations as her voice rose in turmoil.
“Azalea says that Swift Star doesn't trust Cait Sidhe! He wants Azalea to run away with him!” Levanna cried.

“I'm sure he means well,” Azalea added, realizing she may have caused trouble for the Pegasus.

“How could leaving us in the lurch mean well?” Onyx asked, his temper slipping through.

“Who is leaving? Azalea, are you not staying after all?” Xanthe asked, appearing from above them with Jett on her heels. Azalea begin to panic - how could she fix this? She had opened a can of worms about Swift Star that could get the pegasus hurt, and he had only been worried about her.

“No-”

“Swift Star doesn't like Cait Sidhe and wants to run away with Azalea,” Onyx Bolt grumbled.

“That's oversimplifying it a tad-”

“It's no big deal if he wants to go - any of us can do his part, really.” Jett interrupted.

“Swift Star’s family now!” Levanna argued. “No creature can replace him!”

“I never liked him,” Onyx declared.

“We should give him the opportunity to explain himself,” Xanthe said, crossing her talons protectively across her torso.

The circus creatures continued to bicker in circles like this, but Azalea couldn't assert herself it back into the conversation. As she stood slightly away from the entertainers, Azalea felt a slight tug on the hem of her cloak. Looking down, she saw Jezebella staring up at her.

“Oh, hello,” Azalea murmured to the Almiraji. Jezabella hopped a few feet away from the mare, looked back, and waved her paw to beacon Azalea closer. As Azalea started walking after Jezebella, the Horned Bunny led Azalea down the wagon line. The moment they reached the front wagon, Cait Sidhe's door burst open, and Swift Star was pushed out to the ground on his back.

“YOU THIEF! I ought to cut your Hooves off!” Rex yelled. He stomped on the wagon steps,Cait Sidhe close behind with an expression of silent fury that made Azalea momentarily hide behind the wagon, peeking out warily.

As a tiny filly, Azalea had taken to hiding in wardrobes to hide from her sister, Emerald Gaze. But Emerald had an uncanny ability to find her sister anyway, so Azalea began to look for places her sister wouldn’t go. After weeks of observation (and bruises she’d get when her sister found her “spying” on her) Azalea realized Emerald wouldn’t go into the rooms that belongs to their eldest siblings.

So it was one evening before supper that Azalea found herself running near the Crown Prince Golden’s Rule’s chambers. Emerald was only a room away, and Azalea knew that the tapestry that had fallen on her wouldn’t keep her for long, so she darted into a bed chamber.

Golden Rule, luckily, wasn’t present, but she quickly hid in the nearest wardrobe as she heard hoofsteps cantering down the hallway close to the bedroom.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” Golden’s voice boomed, and Azalea flinched, but was relieved to hear Emerald reply.

“I-I-I was-” the mare said, voice quivering.

“GET OUT OF HERE!” Golden commanded, and Azalea was relieved to hear the mare’s hoofsteps galloping away. But Azalea wasn’t safe yet. She heard the bedroom door creak open, and hushed voices followed.

“It’s ok, she’s gone.” Golden whispered, and a mare’s voice replied,

“Did you really need to scare your sister?”

“I don’t want any pony to interrupt us. Now where were we?”

Quiet giggles, smacking noises- the covers on the bed shuffling. Azalea didn’t know what was going on, but she had a feeling she shouldn’t stay. She peeked out of wardrobe, and saw her brother kissing his maid on the bed! Azalea’s maid barely talked to her, and this one had the gaul to question her brother. Not to mention, Golden was betrothed to a Princess of one of the neighboring unicorn tribes.

Azalea want to be quiet, pretend she hadn’t seen anything and slip away when they left- but fate had other plans. Her hoof resting on the wardrobe’s door slipped, opening it wider and creaking loudly. Golden immediately stomped over to the wardrobe, opened the door, and glared at the filly with the same fury present day Azalea saw in Cait Sidhe’s eyes.
He seized his little sister by the throat, and shoved her against the wall.

“Never. Ever. Tell. Anypony. What. You. Saw.”

The Diamond dog roughly dragged Swift Star to his feet, gripping the stallion tightly by the collar of his cloak. Azalea touched her own throat, remembering the fear she felt when her brother threatened her. But voices broke through her memory.

“What's going on?” Xanthe asked, all the other circus members gathering at the commotion. Azalea stepped out to join them, feeling safety in numbers.

“Our magician was after our profits, Cait Sidhe declared icily.

“I was not!” Swift Star argued.

“Then what were you doing in the Mistress’ wagon?” Rex barked.

“Skulking around like a rat?” Onyx growled.

“You had a good thing, pony - why ruin it?” Jett snapped.

“I had to prove to Lily that Cait Sidhe's keeping something from her - and I’ve found proof!” Questioning eyes met Azaleas’ and she took a small step backwards, nervous from the unwanted attention.

“H-he hasn't shown me it- I don’t know what it is!” she stuttered, wanting to hide herself in her cloak.

“Well, what is it?” Xanthe asked impatiently.

“It's Lily's eyes only,” Swift Star explained, tightening one of his wings close to his body. It was clear as Azalea wasn't the only one who noticed the movement when Jett roughly picked up the pony by his back legs and shook him.

Swift Star’s hat was the first thing that smacked on the ground, and his cape fluttered over his head as he yelped and protested his treatment. A few copper and silver coins came from the Cape’s elaborate pockets, followed by a waterskin and tarot cards. Finally, his wing loosened enough that a yellowed poster drifted to the ground. It was quickly snatched up by Xanthe’s talon, while Jezabella helped herself to the pegasus’ coins.

“It's a wanted poster for some unicorn,” Xanthe mused, turning it around to inspect it.

Jett roughly dropped Swift Star, who sullenly dusted himself off, and began to pick up his things that had yet to be taken. Jett grabbed the poster from Xanthe, squinted at it, sighed, and then gave it to Levanna.

“Please read this out loud.”

Levanna’s eyes widened in comprehension as she spoke.

“Reward: Twelfth Heir to the throne of the United Unicorn Kingdom Princess Amulet Azalea. Wanted Alive. Is this about that princess filly that went missing? What does that have to do with…. Lily.”
The circus ponies looked at Azalea again, suspicion In their eyes. As they faced the paper towards her, Azalea recognized a drawn portrait of her filly self decked out in a dress and crown. Adding even further detail to recognize her since it was hidden in the portrait, a rendering of her cutie mark was drawn in the upper corner- an identification much harder to hide.

“That cutie mark looks an awful lot like yours, Lily.” Onyx Bolt stated.

“I admit it - I'm the Lost Princess. But what does that matter? The kingdom doesn't exist anymore, so Cait Sidhe wouldn't get anything from this reward anyway!”

“Then why did you want to keep it a secret from us?” Xanthe asked indignantly. Azalea didn’t need to explain or apologize, as the Ring Master answered for her.

“How could she know that she could trust us?” Cait Sidhe declared. “One might think a princess might have a great amount of wealth on her to steal, and she's only known us a couple of days. But you can trust us, child. I've been hiding that poster and anymore I could find since we met- to protect you from any Ruffians we might encounter on our journeys. We’re family now, and we protect family, you see.”

“You're wrong if you think no creature is looking for you, princess.” Swift Star declared. “The red Centaur pays a fortune for any pony with unicorn blood. Cait Sidhe could retire the show with that money.”

“If I had wanted money, I could have turned in Levanna ages ago. A half-unicorn’s blood is better than no unicorn’s blood, and it was only recently that I met you.”

“But Levanna-”

“Don't, please!” Levanna begged. Cait Sidhe’s hair stood on end, looking alicorn-smacked at Levanna. Rex angrily lunged forward, but the diamond dog was too late.

“-isn't a half unicorn. She’s a Longma,” Swift Star finished.

Azaleas feelings whirled around in her head, making her heartache. She tried to meet the eyes of the others, hoping they would tell her it was a lie. Many eyes wouldn't meet hers, including Levanna's, who was wilting under Cait Sidhe’s accusing gaze.

“What does it matter if she isn’t a unicorn!” Onyx Bolt snapped. “Levanna is worth twice as much as those snooty creatures.”

“Onyx, stop,” Levanna said, beginning to cry. “Azalea can do magic, she's pretty, resourceful - she's even a princess! I can't compete with that.” From the way the Longma sent a little glance at Swift Star, Azalea could tell what Levanna thought she was competing over.

Yet Azalea did not know how to reassure Levanna. She spent her childhood being compared to her siblings, and in her point of view had never stood out as more talented in any way. Instead of trying to find her place in the kingdom- even stand up for herself when she was bullied- Azalea had chosen to run away.

Though he flinched at her words, Swift Star wouldn't spare Levanna a glance. His gaze, while cautious of the beings around him, mostly stayed on Azalea- as if awaiting her command. It filled the princess with anxiety.

“We apologize for lying to you, princess. None of the unicorns that have been sought out by the red Centaur have returned- they are all assumed dead. We merely thought the only unicorn we'd seen in years might want a little protection from the same fate,” Cait Sidhe explained, her expression apologetic.

“The circus can barely pay to feed everyone- even if you believe that she'll keep your secret and not sell you off, don't you want to know for sure if they're all dead? Because if you were missed, certainly there must be others.” Swift Star countered. Both the Abyssian and the Pegasus glared at each other, waiting for Azalea’s reply. But she didn’t respond as they expected.

“Do any of you actually like me? Not my title, my race, or my powers, but a lone mare looking for a family?”
There was an uncomfortable silence, and the creatures around her looked ashamed. After a moment and a few shared glances, Xanthe spoke.

“We barely know you,” she said bluntly. “But you seem kind.”

“She rescued me!” Levanna cried out. “I may not be a unicorn, but you'll always be family to me!”
Hope filled Azalea’s chest. She wanted so badly to reach out, belong to a family-

“You remember how gracefully she lands in the performance?” Swift Star muttered, his voice barely a whisper yet unmistakably clear. Azalea met his eyes and saw regret in them, but it didn’t stop his next statement:

“Longma can float. Levanna was never in any danger.”

Levanna began to cry on Onyx’s shoulder, and Cait Sidhe hissed. Azalea felt sick. Everyone she met lied to her- even her birth family. Did she belong anywhere?

“You are really getting on my nerves,” Cait Sidhe spat. “Why should she trust you over us?”

“Because I haven’t lied to her yet. And a family shouldn’t be built on lies,” Swift Star declared.

“You're nothing but bad luck, male Pony. We never should have hired you! You act so noble, but you jealous! Rex barked. The Diamond dog threw a stone at the Pegasus, who flinched. Rising in the air to avoid more, Shift Star proclaimed:

“I'm not jealous! I'm going to just like her someday!”

“A princess?” Jett asked with a laugh.

“A unicorn!” Shift Star declared.

“Foolish stallion. You can't change what you are!” Cait Sidhe cackled.

“There's no telling what magic can't or can do! Maybe it can make a Pegasus into a unicorn! And maybe it can bring one unicorn to many more of it’s kind!”

“Ok, Sir Unicorn. Use your “magic” and block this!” Jett challenged, sending a stream the silver flame at the Pegasus. At near point-blank range, Swift Star couldn't dodge, and he cowered at the attack. Yet, fire bounced off the Pegasus as an orb of purple light surrounded him. The Flames instead landed on the nearby tent and the caravan wagons.

“Jett, you idiot! What have I said about playing with fire?” Cait Sidhe snapped. “Quick every creature, get the water buckets!”

After being released from Azalea’s protective magic, Swift Star ignored the circus performers racing to save their possessions and followed the retreating unicorn mare into the woods nearby. Neither heard Levanna Belladonna’s sobs as the Longma’s world crashed around her.

Author's Note

I may be averaging a chapter a year, but I'm trying!