With only small clouds here and there, Sunveil was kept warm by the bright sun overhead. The lost village of the nymphs was a very cheerful, merry place. Everyone knew everyone there, they exchanged “hellos” and “good mornings” as they passed each other by. Children waved at the adults as they ran about, playing in the fields. As they always had been, the high, mountainous walls of the valley stood firm, shielding the nymph’s home from the real world.
As she looked out across the river and at the lush valley beyond, Apple Bloom sighed. “Girls? Are y’all as upset as ah am bout what happened? With that there black dragon and all?”
Scootaloo had her front hooves dangling over the short pier, just over the water. She too sighed, looking over at her companions. “How can we not be? He used us to get to our sisters and their friends.”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “And not only that… but it worked. If what Zecora tells us is right, he got what he was after… which means…”
Glancing over at them, Apple Bloom then returned her gaze over to the river. “Which means it’s all our fault.”
The three of them went silent for a few moments, trying to convince themselves they were wrong, but nothing challenged the claim. Despite the bright sun, the fillies felt their world darken. They were meant to inspire good in other ponies, and help them find their calling… not help sew such grief and turmoil.
Shaking her head, Scootaloo looked at the two of them. “You know what? How could we have known that was his plan? It’s not our fault, he tricked us.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at one another upon hearing this. “There’s no point moping around, so what are we gonna do about it?”
Sweetie lifted her head, turning to her uplifting friend. “Yeah… you’re right. We may have found ourselves in this situation, but it doesn’t mean we can’t fix it!”
Seeing the two overcome their mistake, Apple Bloom felt pulled up from under the wake, a smile covering her face. “We’ve never met a challenge we couldn’t face, so let’s face this here one all the same!”
The three jumped up and high-hoofed, shouting in unison. “YEAH!”
A young nymph halted a few feet away from them when they did that, sighing in relief as he had come over to try and raise their spirits. “Excuse me?” He asked, gaining their attention. He had golden-brown fur with white feathers, gray scales, and white tail.
“Howdy there.” Apple Bloom greeted him, having not really met any of the nymph children since she’d arrived.
The nymph chuckled lightly at hearing her accent. “I thought I’d ask if you girls wanted to take a walk and see the village. I’ve never met a pony besides Mrs. Daring Do before.”
Scootaloo fluttered her wings in excitement. “That sounds awesome!”
Apple Bloom smiled wide, happy to see they were so easily accepted here. “That’s very kind, we’d love to, right Sweetie Belle?”
The filly unicorn nodded, smiling as well. “Of course! I’ve been dying to really take a look around this place.”
The CMCs all trotted up on either side of the nymph as he walked them on the path along the river. “I’m Skylance, but most everyone in the village just calls me Lance.” He told them with a bit of pride.
“Ah’m Apple Bloom,” The earth pony introduced herself, lifting her hoof to her friends. “And this here is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”
Lance laughed lightly. “I heard the other ponies talking, you three call yourselves the…?” He asked, having a hard time remembering. “What was it again?”
Apple Bloom beamed with pride as she answered him. “Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
“We help ponies find their purpose!” Scootaloo added in.
“And get their cutie marks, or even understand them better!” Sweetie Belle continued.
Lance lifted a paw under his chin as he looked up slightly. “Cutie Mark Crusaders… that’s catchy, I like it.” He paused, noticing their cutie marks. “Oh wow… so you three really all have the same marks? And are destined to help others? Like, that’s your purpose?”
It always made Apple Bloom so happy to hear that. “Absolutely!”
Scootaloo chimed in with a smug grin. “Yeah, we know we’re awesome.”
Laughing again, Lance shook his head. “That is so cool…” He stopped when he realized he was failing as a tour guide. “Oh! Right, that’s the granary, where we store our food from the harvests.” He said, pointing to the dome-shaped building out in the fields. “Over there is the windmill, where we can control the flow of water from the river.”
Lance walked them around town, showing the three various buildings and meeting a couple other nymphs along the way. Despite having been sheltered in this haven for so long, there weren’t an abundance of nymphs there.
As they crossed the small bridge over the river, curiosity got the better of Sweetie Belle. “So… if you’ve all been here so long, then why aren’t there more of you? I would’ve imagined there would be so many more nymphs if you’ve been living here in peace for hundreds of years.”
Lance sighed, but only after a quick chuckle. “Yeah… it goes in part with our sacrifice we made to stay hidden from the world. The elder keeps the population balanced by deciding which nymphs are allowed to have families.”
Scootaloo looked over at him in shock. “Whoa… seriously? That doesn’t sound very fair.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Lance had been told why this had to be since he was very young. “If we didn’t, our peaceful valley would become overpopulated and we wouldn’t be able to feed ourselves…” He glanced over in the direction of the entrance cave at the base of the valley wall. “If that ever happened… leaving would likely become tempting to us…”
Apple Bloom tilted her head slightly, having wondered this but never quite asked out loud. “…why do y’all stay here hidden like this? Equestria’s a nice place, don’t you think you’d be just as happy out there?”
The question was always a difficult one, and Lance remembered asking his parents the very same question upon hearing stories from Daring Do. “We aren’t told why until we reach a certain age. The elder says we aren’t ready to learn why as kids.”
“Hmm…” Sweetie said to herself. “Well… if it’s helped you survive until now without being discovered, then there must be a good reason why they would. Adults don’t always know better… but it’s safe to say they usually do.”
Lance nodded in reply. “Yeah, that’s the way I figured it too. Doesn’t stop me from wondering, but it does keep me from being nosy about it. If we’re told when we grow up, then I’ll find out what it is eventually.” Looking forward once again, the nymph smiled wide. “Hey, you girls want to go talk to Leonyx?”
“That big, awesome-looking dragon that guards the entrance here?” Scootaloo said, hoof-pumping the air. “Totally!”
Breaking into a trot, the four changed course, following the narrow path out towards the valley wall, where the cavern entrance was. Reaching the end of the path, Lance looked as excited as he always was to meet him.
“Hey Leonyx!” He shouted into the cavern, his voice echoing through it.
After a few moments, the ground beneath them tremored in short intervals more progressively. Silver eyes glowed through the pitch black of the cave and the giant dragon’s form emerged from the dark, his soft gaze upon them. “Good evening Skylance,” He boomed, resting down onto the ground and crossing his claws and looking to the crusaders. “Nice to see you three again.”
It was still completely awe-inspiring to know a dragon of such size existed in the world, and so close to Equestria. Despite his obviously intimidating traits, the crusaders had quickly come to enjoy his company.
“So, are you always guarding the entrance here?” Apple Bloom asked him, head tilted.
The massive dragon kept up his smile, nodding. “Well, I do have to sleep, but in all my years I’ve been here, no one has ever gotten past me if I didn’t want it.”
Sweetie Belle looked up at him, curious. “How long have you guarded it? The elder said that Sunveil went into hiding over a thousand years ago… so are you…?”
Leonyx chuckled lightly, shaking his head. “No, I’m not quite that old. I’ve been watching the entrance for the last two-hundred years, and they’ve been relatively quiet years, thankfully.”
Lance knew what question was coming next, and so he answered before they asked. “Sunveil has had different guardians since its establishment. There have been many, many only staying for a few years, and some like Leonyx, who stayed for centuries.”
“One of those guardians was even a pony,” Leonyx told them, knowing it would fascinate them. “Would you like to hear about her?” All three crusaders nodded at the same time. “Hehe, I thought you might. She was a unicorn, one of Princess Celestia’s first students if I recall. Her name was Azalea Moongleam, and from what I’ve heard about her, she was one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestrian history.”
All three fillies sat with wide eyes, enraptured by the thought of her. “How long was she the guardian?” Scootaloo asked.
“Thirty-four years, and they weren’t easy years like mine.” The dragon replied, shaking his head.
“What do you mean?” Apple Bloom continued.
Leonyx sighed. “Well, you see-”
“Leonyx!” came an excited voice from behind the fillies, who turned in response. She was a nymph around Skylance’s age, with black fur, aurora blue scales, and gray feathers. She came running up to them, stopping in front of the crusaders. “Oh, hi, I’m Juniper Daze.”
Lance tilted his head, confused to see her there. “Aren’t you supposed to be helping your sister with her flying lessons?”
Juniper scoffed, lifting her paw and looking away for a moment. “I said I’d help her learn to fly, but that doesn’t mean it’s all I’m going to do with my time. Besides, like I’m going to let you hog up the ponies while they’re here.”
The crusaders chuckled a bit, but Lance grimaced. “I’m not hogging them, I was just showing them around.”
Leonyx found all of this very amusing, but he didn’t want it to become too deep an argument. “Why don’t the both of you escort the fillies around? I know they don’t have long to stay, you might as well be with them together.”
“Well, obviously we’re both gonna hang out with them, Leo,” Juniper said, looking up at him. “I’m just really excited to finally be able to have more pony friends.”
“Apple Bloom!” called Applejack from the village, earning everyone’s look. “Y’all come on back, Zecora’s askin’ for us.”
“Comin’!” Apple Bloom replied, turning back to Leonyx. “Thanks for the story, Leonyx!”
The golden dragon smiled and waved as the three ponies and two nymphs went running back across the fields towards the village. They crossed the bridge and made their way to the village square, where AJ, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Daring Do, and Zecora were all gathered with Aura Song.
“Now that we’re all here, there is something the elder must say,” Zecora told them, turning to Aura. “About your time spent here, and your trust while away.”
Everypony sat, curious of what this was all about. Aura sat slowly as well. “The six of you were given sanctuary in our hidden home for your own protection, and because our friends believed you to be worthy of our secret.” Her smile slowly faded away. “But staying a secret is important beyond all else. When you leave this place, you must swear to never tell a soul about what you’ve seen.”
The ponies were all blindsided by this truth. Looking back, they realized that they should have seen it coming. All six sat silently as the elder continued.
“The sad truth of our burden is a difficult one to understand, especially for our youth,” She said, looking over at Lance and Juniper, returning her gaze to the guests. “But it is necessary… for the good of our kind and those of the entire world that nymphs remain extinct. In the eyes of griffons, dragons, changelings, and ponies alike.”
Applejack sighed, and was the first to speak. “We understand, Aura. Ah think ah speak for everypony when I say we’re mighty thankful, you doin’ this for us.” Everypony nodded in agreement.
This earned Aura her smile back. “There was once a time when we nymphs did our best to keep safe all races of the world. It was our honor to host you as guests.”
Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow. “Do we have to go already? We just made two new friends.” She said, the crusaders all looking to the two young nymphs beside them.
“Afraid so Scoots,” Rainbow replied. “We have to get home to Ponyville, everypony is still worried about you, and probably us now too.”
Lance tried offering a smile to them. “It’s alright… we’ll see you three again soon, yeah?” He asked, looking to Juniper.
“Yeah, definitely!” She continued, smiling wide. “We’ll be waiting for you to come back.”
Sweetie Belle hesitated, but then asked, “Can we ever come back? To see you all again?”
Daring was the one to answer this time. “We’ll just have to wait and see. Sunveil must remain a secret to Equestria and the many lands beyond it, but I imagine if your disappearance didn’t cause too much of a fuss… you should be able to return in time.”
Zecora nodded. “Time indeed is what we must endure, for the nymphs’ way of life we must secure.”
Everypony nodded, accepting this as what needed to happen. Aura looked to them all, her smile genuine and warm. “I truly am grateful to have had the chance to meet you all. I pray the day comes soon when our paths cross once again. Until that time… be safe, and always remember that our home was all the brighter with you here.”
Author's Note
Hey there everypony! So good to be back!
So there you have it, the mysterious nymphs are alive and well, living under the protection of a magic valley and a dragon guardian.
Come back September 2nd for the Part III premiere of Lights and Shadows!
See you all soon!
Stay awesome everypony!
