Home is Where the Heart Is
Twilight’s quill skirted across the mountains of forms and scrolls before her with effortless thought and perfect precision, guided along by her magic. It was Friday, and that meant signing off on all the forms and business items that had accumulated over the week for her to deal with. As the Princess of Friendship, she had much less of an administrative load to tackle than Princesses Celestia, Luna, and even Cadance, but that didn’t stop her from getting involved in the guts and meat of politics. The often challenging task of slicing her way through a stack of papers with quill and ink was a joy of hers second only to the magic of friendship, something that left her with a solid sense of pride and accomplishment whenever she finally signed that last form.
Oftentimes, her friends complained about how she kept herself busy on Fridays. As far as they were concerned, Fridays were for partying and doing things together, and while she couldn’t fault them for that, statistically it was the best time to wrap up a week’s worth of work. Pinkie Pie was usually the most vocal one of her friends, chastising her for spending so much time consumed in her duties, and she made it her mission to drive Twilight out of her study and to a party with her friends as often as she could.
But when the doors abruptly opened tonight, it wasn’t Pinkie or any of her friends. Instead, a light orange pegasus with golden regalia and linen clothing stepped forward, her eyes tracing the grain patterns of the crystalline walls with seemingly limitless wonder.
Twilight blinked and set aside her quills. “Somnambula?” she asked, standing up behind her desk. Her excited hooves took her around the piece of furniture and she met the ancient Pillar in the center of her study. “What are you doing here? Is there anything I can help you with?”
Somnambula smiled, but her gaze remained elsewhere, the pegasus too uneasy to make direct eye contact with one of Equestria’s princesses. “Equestria has changed so much since my time,” she said in a thick and melodious accent. “Buildings made out of crystals and gems? Why, we only had sandstone and limestone to work with in the Old Kingdom. Its marvels never cease to amaze me; I find I am always surprised by some new invention ponykind has made since my disappearance.”
“Well, I wish I could say more about the architecture of my castle, but it literally sprouted from the ground in seconds because of the magic of friendship.” She chuckled, and Somnambula reflected her mirth with a smile of her own, before that too died away into a sullen, uneasy frown. It didn’t escape Twilight’s notice, and the princess advanced a step closer to Somnambula. “What’s bothering you, Somnambula? I know you didn’t seek me out alone without a reason.”
Somnambula’s wingtips fidgeted at her sides. “I wish to see my home,” she said. “I have been gone for so long… I wish to know that it is still okay. That it thrives and prospers under the hope I left for it before my departure so long ago.” Worried purple eyes sought out Twilight’s own. “But it has been so long… I am afraid that I will not recognize it. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash have both told me about their visit there… but I do not yet know what to make of it.” Sighing, she hung her head. “A thousand years is a long time. When I traveled to Limbo with Star Swirl and the other Pillars, the Old Kingdom was still ruled by pharaohs. We were mighty, powerful, and fair. Ponies aspired to be like us. But today, the pharaohs are gone, and my home is merely a footnote in Equestria’s history. I want to go back and see how it has fared the passage of time… but another part of me fears that I will only find pain and sadness were I to visit the place of my birth today.”
Twilight regarded Somnambula carefully, like a counselor scrutinizing a student who’d come to see her for aid and advice. “Why do you want to go back?” Twilight asked. Her hooves carried her a step closer to the legendary pegasus, and she watched her reactions with an insightful eye.
Somnambula blinked. “I thought I just said as much. I want to see that my home is alright.”
“No, that’s just what you’re telling yourself.” Softly smiling, Twilight put her hoof on Somnambula’s shoulder “I understand wanting to see your home. It is your home, after all. But why come to me? If you only wanted to know it was prosperous, you could have done some simple research on it. Census figures, economy numbers, even an abridged history lying around in an encyclopedia somewhere. But instead you came to me and have all but asked my permission to go.” Her features took on a softer expression as Somnambula carefully met her gaze. “All I want to know is why? I think that’s much more important than any excuse you could give me.”
After several seconds of quiet thought, Somnambula sighed and hung her head, her wings falling slack at her sides and wingtips nearly brushing the ground. “It is… personal. I left a part of myself back in the Old Kingdom when I confronted the Pony of Shadows. Ever since my return from Limbo and my rebirth in the waking world, it has consumed my thoughts and dreams. I wish to put an end to the matter once and for all.”
Twilight blinked. “Do you mind if I ask about it?”
But Somnambula merely gave her a sad and sweet smile. “You live in a library, dear Princess. If you do research on the Old Kingdom, perhaps you will understand my desire to return to the land of my birth… and my worry and fear about doing so.”
That wasn’t a particularly helpful response, but it left Twilight curious nonetheless. “Well, if you say so. It sounds to me like you’ve made up your mind but you’re reluctant to set your hooves in motion.” Her eyes darted to the pegasus’ wings. “Or, well, wings. You know what I mean.”
The Pillar let an amused smile take hold of her muzzle. “Yes, I believe I do. In the Old Kingdom, there was a saying that I believe is similar. ‘Baking the bread and hiding it in the kitchen.’ We know what we want to do, what we must do, but are reluctant to do so, because there is no going back once you do.”
“Then you have to decide if it’s worth it to go back.” Twilight’s wingtip ran along the edge of her desk as she returned to the seat behind it. “I’d love to come along, but royal duties and all that. You wouldn’t believe how busy that can get.”
Somnambula returned her an innocent smile. “I was an advisor to Prince Hisan for some time before I fought the Pony of Shadows. I understand the struggle, especially as I tended to help him with most of his duties and papyrus-work.”
Twilight chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck. “Well… right, then! Then you totally get it.” Her laughter turned into a weary sigh. “Even though I can’t join you, I know somepony who’d be more than happy to take you along. Making ponies feel welcome and happy is her special talent, after all.”
The Pillar blinked, and a satisfied smile appeared on her muzzle. “You speak of Pinkie Pie, yes? She is a wonderful mare, and I would be more than happy to have her accompany me on my journey.”
“Great!” Lavender wings fluttered, disturbing the delicate piles of papers and scrolls sitting on the desk in front of Twilight. “You two will have a wonderful time. Whatever worries you might have about your visit, Pinkie will make you forget all about them!” After a moment, she leaned forward and added, “You do know where Pinkie lives, right?”
Somnambula momentarily furrowed her eyebrows. “Sugar Square Intersection?”
“Close,” Twilight said with a little chuckle. “It’s Sugar Cube Corner. Ponyville’s bakery.”
“Yes, that is what I said,” Somnambula said with a look of growing confusion on her face. “How is that different?”
“It’s…” Twilight’s mouth hung open as she searched for words. Shaking her head, she dispelled that feeling and leisurely waved the pegasus off. “You’re right. Just ask around for the bakery. Somepony will point you in the right direction.”
“I see.” Waving a wing, Somnambula bowed to the princess, combining the two motions in a fusion of ancient and modern signs of respect. “Thank you for your time, Princess. My mind is clearer now. A return to the ancient lands of the Old Kingdom will do much to set my soul at ease.”
“Glad to have helped.” Twilight’s magic grabbed a quill and dunked it in ink. “If there’s anything you ever need, don’t be afraid to ask. That goes for the rest of the Pillars, too. I know adjusting to modern life can be hard, but we all want to help you, whether it’s something big like this, or something small like how to work a microwave.”
“An offer I truly appreciate.” Bowing and waving once more, Somnambula began to march to the door. “Please, do take care. And if you find the time, I would recommend reading a scroll on the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom. What you learn might be surprising to you.”
And then she was gone, leaving Twilight to blink and frown at the closing door to her study. After a moment, she sighed and grabbed a stack of library reference cards she always kept close at hoof. “There goes tonight’s plans,” she grumbled to herself as her magic shuffled through the cards.
“This. Is. So. Exciting!” Pinkie Pie bounced in place, her hooves making muffled clops against the thinly carpeted interior of the train car. A beaming grin was plastered to her face, and her eyes were wide with characteristic Pinkie Pie enthusiasm. “I can’t believe I get to take you to your home! Isn’t that amazing?”
Somnambula groaned and put her hooves over her muzzle. She hid underneath the blankets of a bed in the sleeper car, her orange face taking on a sickly shade of green. “You… you have said that already,” she moaned, grimacing as her eyes spun in their sockets.
Pinkie Pie momentarily stopped bouncing and cocked her head to the side. “Are you sure you’re alright, Somnambamamamnalamu?” she asked, concern replacing excitement and anticipation. “You’ve been curled up in the bed since we left Ponyville. You’ve missed all the awesome scenery!”
She whipped around in place and practically plastered her eyes to the cabin window. Outside, the white sands of the desert blurred by, only occasionally interrupted by the sparse cactus or scraggly shrub dotting a dune. The baking sand and cooking air added a sweltering heat that slowly permeated the train cabin, and Pinkie Pie’s coat started to take on a glistening sheen of sweat.
“I… feel sick,” Somnambula grunted, and her eyes bulged as she burped and dry heaved. “These ‘trains’ are unnatural… Ponies were not meant to travel like this.”
“It’s the fastest way to cross Equestria!” Pinkie flopped down onto her little bed and smiled at Somnambula. “Unless you’re Rainbow Dash, then you could just fly anywhere. Or you could take an airship, but that’s really expensive. Trains are super-duper important, and super-duper cool!”
“I am… not sold.”
Pinkie waved her hoof. “You just need to experience them more. They’re fun!”
Somnambula rolled around under her covers and looked at Pinkie with bloodshot, glazed eyes. “Crawling through a snake was more enjoyable than this.”
“Sounds like you need some motion sickness pills and a nap!” Pinkie Pie pulled a bottle of pills out of her mane and held them in front of Somnambula. “Modern medicine is amazing! It’ll help you get over your motion sickness lickety-split!”
“I feel like there is a sandstorm howling in my gut,” Somnambula moaned. “Is there a wastebasket nearby? I… I may have need of it.”
Pinkie’s smile immediately flipped around into a worried frown. “Uhhhhh…” She grabbed the tiny garbage can in their room and dumped it off at the head of Somnambula’s bed. “Just… make sure you hit the bottom of the bucket, okays?”
“Mmrrfffggghhhh…” Somnambula slid halfway out of her bed and put her head directly into the bucket until the rim supported it around her forehead and jaw. “Somepony send my Ka onwards to the Field of Reeds, for I have suffered long enough.”
“Eh heh heh… the marvels of modern engineering, right?” Pinkie Pie nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m, um, gonna go see if they’ve got any cake in the diner car. Just yell if you need me, alrighty? I’ll be here in a jiffy!”
Somnambula’s only answer was a moan echoed by the bucket surrounding her head.
“Just hang in there, Somny-nomny! Only another day on the train until we get you back home!” She winced as Somnambula heaved into the bucket, and her hoof quickly pried the door open. “You can do it! I hope…”
And then she slipped outside, leaving the poor Pillar of Equestria to her fate.
Somnambula struggled against the shadowy net anchoring her in place. In front of her, the Pony of Shadows stood tall, confident, and victorious. Around her, her friends, the other Pillars, were similarly ensnared and tethered. Yet Somnambula did not worry; it was exactly as Star Swirl had said it would be.
The Pony of Shadows leered down at Star Swirl. “Drawing me here will only make me stronger,” he said, and the light began to bleed and dim around them, while the Pony’s shadows only grew darker and thicker. “You will never defeat me!”
But Star Swirl arched his back defiantly. “We did not come here to defeat you,” he said, and with a burst of magic, severed the tendril of darkness holding him in place. While the Pony of Shadows reeled, Star Swirl lifted up his journal with his magic, which began to emit a white glow. That white glow then spread around the circle, first to Flash Magnus’ shield, then to Mistmane’s rose, and then to Somnambula herself.
Somnambula held up her blindfold as the magic holding her in place faltered and failed. Star Swirl’s magic struck it and caused it to glow as powerful enchantments and spells began to draw on its strength and the essence of Hope she had imbued it with. Within a split second, the shroud glowed brighter than the moon above them, and the magic continued on to Meadowbrook’s mask, Rockhoof’s shovel, and finally finishing once more at Star Swirl’s journal.
Worry and surprise colored the Pony of Shadows’ voice. “What? What are you doing?!”
Star Swirl stared him down. “We came to contain you.”
The magic began to shift and carry Somnambula and the other Pillars into the air. The very air itself howled with magical energy, and the static pricked at Somnambula’s coat. Somnambula felt it harder and harder to move as the magic surrounding them began to blur over into another plane entirely, and the Pony of Shadows screamed in defiance and rage. The energy continued to build, and build, and Somnambula knew it wouldn’t be long now.
Her final thoughts were of home and all the friends and family she never got the chance to say goodbye to.
And then, in a bright flash of light, she was gone, surrendering herself to Limbo.
Somnambula staggered into the passenger car the following morning with her wings outstretched for balance. Her feathers brushed along the backs of the seats as the train rocked and rumbled down the tracks. She quickly found Pinkie Pie seated in one of the booths near a window, and so she carefully shuffled her way over until she was close enough to flop down on the chair and use her hooves for balance against the table.
Pinkie Pie brightened upon seeing the Pillar out of their room and active. “Hey there, Somnamalalalala! You look like you’re feeling better!”
“For a given value of ‘better’, I would say.” The pegasus still grimaced and pointedly avoided looking out the window. “I still do not like it. It is not right.”
“On the bright side, we’re almost there!” Pinkie pointed out the window where wood and sandstone buildings began to appear along the railway. Colorful ponies in white clothing to keep out the sand and the heat marched along roads, some pulling carts, others merely talking with their neighbors. Lush oases dotted the flat desert expanse, a stark contrast with the miles and miles of dead sand surrounding them. Cliffs of rock rose out of the ground, giving rough shape and definition to the topography of the empty wastes.
The sight of home filled Somnambula with a giddy joy that managed to drive away the worst of her motion sickness for the time being. “Oh, sweet Mahrdina, how I have longed to see you again. It has felt like only a few months since I last stepped hoof in your warm sands, yet a thousand years have passed since then.” Somnambula sighed as the scenery scrolled by the window, feeling more and more at ease with the passing of familiar sights, of rocks and valleys and dunes that hadn’t changed in a millennium. “So much has changed, yet so much still remains the same.”
“Mahrdina?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head almost parallel to the floor. “I thought the village was called Somnambula!”
Somnambula blinked. “No, that is… that is my name. Mahrdina is my home. Why would you say that my home is named after me? Or… me after my home?” Her eyes went cross. “The future is so confusing.”
“But the ponies in Somnambula—Mahrdina—Somnambadina said that their ancestors renamed the village after you when you defeated the Sphinx! They even built a big statue of you and everything!” As if to illustrate her point, Pinkie pulled a photo album out of… somewhere… and put it on the table between them. In it, numerous pictures of Rainbow Dash, a pegasus Somnambula didn’t recognize, and Pinkie herself stood in front of a blindfolded statue of Somnambula’s likeness while villagers around them smiled and waved.
The orange pegasus’ face contorted into a confused frown. “None of this existed in Mahrdina while I was there,” she said. “There was no statue and they still called themselves Mahrdina. There was talk of building a statue and renaming the village in my honor, but I dissuaded them from doing so. I did not deserve those things, nor did I want them.”
“Oh.” Pinkie uneasily smiled at the Pillar and glanced out the window. “Then, uh, I think you’ll be a little surprised by how much has changed since you were gone!”
“I should say,” Somnambula mused. It was then that she noticed the odd looks she was receiving from a few other ponies in the train car. Lowering her head, she hissed across the table at Pinkie, “Why are they all looking at me like that?”
Realization dawned on the pink party pony, and she hurriedly pulled over a travel bag and started digging through it. “Oh, uh, remember how I was saying that they built a statue for you in your hometown?”
“Yes?”
“And how they named it after you?”
“…Yes?”
“And that they were so upset when the statue accidentally got destroyed by Daring Do when she was fighting the evil forces of Dr. Caballeron that they ran her out of town and were about to throw riots and everything because their cherished memorial to you was destroyed and then we had to build a new one with Daring Do’s help so they wouldn’t hate her and would be happy again?”
Somnambula shot a concerned look down the length of her muzzle. “No, but I believe I am starting to see what you are worried about.”
“Yeah! So I was thinking, to avoid creating a crazy amount of hubbub, we should get you dressed up in a disguise!”
“A disguise?” Somnambula echoed. She picked up the bundle of clothes Pinkie had placed on the table and unfolded them. What amounted to a collection of colorful, floral print t-shirts, hiking boots, and sunglasses spilled out in front of her. “What is this?”
“Tourist stuff!” Pinkie said. “Nopony will look twice at you if you look like a tourist! In fact, they’ll want nothing to do with you because tourists are some of the most obnoxious ponies in the whole wide world, so they’ll just look the other way and try to pretend you don’t exist!”
Somnambula scowled at the clothes and pushed them away. “I do not want to be treated like a pony to be avoided in my own home. Is there not a middle ground to choose from?”
“I mean, you could just go naked,” Pinkie said. “That’s what I plan on doing!”
“I… would rather not.” Somnambula’s hoof touched the linen hood covering her mane. “When I lived in the Old Kingdom, only servants went naked in public. My parents would turn in their sarcophagi if they saw me trot around Mahrdina naked.”
Pinkie blinked. “Wow, what do you think about all of us, then? We go naked all the time!”
Somnambula teased the inside of her cheek for a few moments before answering. “Times have changed, and I have learned to accept that. It has not been easy, but the worst of the culture shock has worn off.” She sighed and added, “Still, I was the daughter of priests, and I will carry myself as one. If that means no disguise and a chance to interact with the descendants of Mahrdina, however overly enthusiastic they may be, then I will accept that burden. In fact, I would be delighted in the opportunity to do so. I am sure I will recognize a bit of myself in each and every one of them.”
Pinkie Pie rubbed the back of her neck with one hoof and slowly took the clothes away with the other. “Gee, well… uh, Somny? Are you sure you’re ready to see what your home is like nowadays? It’s probably not what you’re expecting.”
“I know that the Old Kingdom no longer holds power and sway over the Equestrian south like it once did,” Somnambula said. “But so long as the spirit of hope still remains with its people, then I am confident it will be just like I remember.”
The train whistled several times, and Somnambula’s wings shot out from her sides as it began to slow down. After a few unsettling seconds, she pulled them back in and wiped at her brow. “The train is stopping now, correct?”
“Yup,” Pinkie said. “We’re pulling into the station!”
Somnambula hazarded a look at the window and managed to catch the desert disappearing behind a modern building of wood and brick and stone. The train station swallowed up the arid background, giving way to an outpost of civilization in the desolate landscape surrounding it. Ponies in robes and suits gathered their bags about the platform and started slowly advancing on the train even before it came to a complete stop and the doors hissed open.
“Here we are!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing out of her seat with her travel bags in one swift motion. “Come on, Somnabala! Home awaits!”
The Equestrian disappeared through the doors at the end of the train car, and Somnambula slowly rose to her hooves after her. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to ready herself for what she’d finally see beyond the walls and windows of the train. “Hello, Mahrdina,” she murmured to herself under her breath. “It has been too long.”
As it turned out, the train station did not stop directly in Mahrdina, but a few miles outside instead. Thankfully, there were several friendly camels waiting around the station, and they offered to carry Somnambula’s and Pinkie’s bags with them into the town. As they lumbered along a sandy path leading away from the station and into the village, Pinkie and Somnambula lagged behind in idle conversation.
“I cannot wait to see Mahrdina once again,” Somnambula said, her wings fluttering with excitement every few steps. “I wonder how much it has grown in a thousand years. It was a pearl in the desert, and like a pearl, it would only grow and become more lustrous with time.”
Pinkie Pie panted and panted at Somnambula’s side. “It’s got water and shade,” she said around her tongue lolling about in her dry mouth. “That’s all I need right now.”
Somnambula chuckled and held her wings out at her sides, letting the hot desert sun fill them with warmth. “It feels good to be home,” she said. “I missed the heat and the sun while in Ponyville. It is too cold for me there. Also, too humid.”
“It’s summer in Ponyville!” she gasped. “That’s hot enough! This is, like, super extra hot!”
“The desert is a dry heat.” The Pillar giggled and offered her waterskin to Pinkie Pie. “Take a drink, and try to avoid breathing through your mouth,” she said. “You will not dry out so quickly.”
Pinkie popped the cork off the waterskin, stuck it between her teeth, and tilted her head back, letting water pour down her throat and splash out of the corners of her mouth. Somnambula watched with amusement, at least until she realized Pinkie had drained the entire thing, at which point she frowned and shook her head. With a satisfied sigh, Pinkie dropped the waterskin in the sand and wiped some water off of the pink hairs around her lips. “Much better!”
Somnambula collected the waterskin, but she couldn’t help but smile at Pinkie’s rejuvenated spirit. “You would not survive a day in the desert, Pinkie,” she said, tucking the waterskin back into her saddlebags. “You would become vulture food by sundown.”
“Jeez, have a little faith in me, Somnamna,” Pinkie said with a wave of her hoof. Her eyes fell on a snake curled up on a stone, and she practically squealed with delight. “Ooh! A little snakey! I wonder if Fluttershy has one of these?”
Before she could bound over to the snake, Somnambula bit down on Pinkie’s tail and hauled her back. “Do not go near cobras,” she said. “They are ill-tempered and can kill with a single bite.”
“I just wanted to see if he was friendly like the snakes in Equestria,” Pinkie said, but nevertheless shied away from the snake at Somnambula’s urging. “Maybe he just needs somepony in a funny dress to play him a song on a flute!”
“I imagine that Twilight would be very cross with me were I to allow you to perish from playing with a cobra.” Shaking her head, Somnambula pushed forward a bit, craning her neck to see further up the road and past the camels leading the way. Clearing her throat, she waved and smiled until she caught the attention of one of her lanky traveling companions. “Excuse me, but I have not visited Mahrdi—err, Somnambula in a long time. How much farther do we have yet to travel?”
“Not much farther at all,” one of the camels responded in a heavy accent. “You will see over the next dune.”
Somnambula grinned and immediately spread her wings, her patience finally exhausted. With a flap of orange feathers, she began to climb into the air, stopping only when the dunes fell away beneath her and she could see for miles. Her eyes immediately trained to the southwest, and she gasped as she saw stone buildings rising up out of the sands.
From afar, the familiar skyline of her city greeted her, a beacon of hope in an endless wasteland. Though it had grown over the course of a thousand years, she still recognized some of the notable landmarks. She could easily pick out the market district on the north face of the town, and the religious district with its tall obelisk placed in the middle, still standing upright after more than a millennium. The pharaoh’s old palaces still occupied a lofty perch on the rocky shelf bordering the city’s east, and behind it all, a beautiful pyramid rose to incredible heights like a parent watching over its children. Her homesickness simultaneously redoubled and vanished upon seeing home for the first time in so long. She wanted to do nothing more than fly into the embrace of her hometown now that she saw it was still standing there waiting for her.
But the longer she stayed in the air, the less and less she smiled. It was clear that Mahrdina had been prosperous and booming once upon a time, but that time had passed. Somewhere during her thousand years spent in Limbo, the town had grown only to shrink back, little by little. The outskirts of the town were dotted with crumbling ruins, and dunes of sand piled themselves high against abandoned buildings. Some of the old temples and monuments inside the city had been demolished or burnt out, left as lifeless husks from another time, and the once gleaming, whitewashed limestone with its straight edges and colorful decorations that made up the bulk of the city had all faded and cracked like the bleached rock the city stood upon. The magnificent palace, once filled with lush gardens and colorful ponies trotting in and out almost constantly, had been reduced to an empty shell, a curiosity for tourists and little more. Even the ancient pyramid wasn’t free from damage, with many of the smooth stones and gold that gave it its majestic look having vanished and crumbled away, leaving behind only a staircase-like exterior.
If the Mahrdina Somnambula had known was a child when she left it, she had come back today only to see that it was a sick old stallion. She couldn’t wrench her eyes away from the heartbreaking sight. Every second she lingered and stared at the crumbling ruin that once was her home was another second she regretted leaving Ponyville to see it in the first place.
Eventually, like a deflating balloon, Somnambula slowly drifted back to the earth. The camels had continued their swaying march toward the city, but Pinkie had lingered behind to greet her when she landed. The bright smile on her face somehow made Somnambula’s pain sharper. “So, how’s it feel to be home?”
“It feels… depressing,” Somnambula admitted.
Pinkie blinked, and her smile slowly fell apart. “Depressing? Why? What’s wrong, Somnambula?”
Somnambula opened her mouth, but it took her several attempts before she could find the right words. “It is… I do not know how to say it best. I expected Mahrdina to be more. Bright, busy, bustling, an oasis in the desert. But instead, I have come to find the oasis drying up and the suffocating sands choking the life out of it.”
“Oh…” Pinkie craned her neck over the rise in the dune enough to see some of the tired ruins of the city poking out over the horizon. “I mean, yeah, it looks bad, but that’s not everything! It doesn’t matter what the city looks like, the only thing that matters is the ponies inside!”
“If Mahrdina has fallen into this much decay, then the ponies inside must have given up hope a long time ago,” she said. “Not even during the worst of the Sphinx’s greed did I see my home so destitute.”
“Now you’re just judging a book by its cover!” Pinkie proclaimed with a stern shake of her head.
Somnambula frowned. “What?”
“Oh. Right. You guys didn’t have books.” Pinkie thought for a moment. “A… uh… a papyrus scroll by its ribbon?”
The Pillar’s eyes widened in understanding. “Ah. I see what you mean now.” Sighing, she rubbed at some sweat forming along her muzzle with a wingtip. “I just… you are right, first of all. Maybe I am jumping to conclusions too quickly. But it hurts me to see my home like this, with landmarks that stood when I was a filly having fallen into ruin and neglect. I knew that the Old Kingdom had declined, but I could not prepare myself for this.”
Pinkie gave her a supportive shoulder bump. “It’s not gonna be that bad, Somnambula, I promise! Me and Rainbow Dash were here not too long ago and everypony was awesome and hopeful! It might look a little rough around the edges, but inside, I just know it’s the same old town you knew when you left all that time ago!”
The encouragement managed to chase away some of Somnambula’s wariness and melancholy. “I suppose you would know better than I,” she said, allowing the corner of her muzzle to inch upwards. “I feel silly now, fretting about my home before I have even had the chance to visit it.”
“And then you’ll feel even sillier when you realize you were worrying about nothing!” Rubbing cheeks with the orange pegasus, Pinkie started along the road once more. “Come on, let’s get out of the super hot sun and get into town where it’s not nearly as bad!”
Somnambula chuckled and started after Pinkie. “In my experience, it was always worse in the city. The air does not move as easily.”
“Yeah, well at least there’s shade!” The earth pony began to bounce down the road, swiftly catching up with the camels. “So, like, do your humps actually store water or what?”
The camels ignored Pinkie Pie, as Somnambula knew camels tended to avoid interaction with ponies unless absolutely necessary. While her traveling companion attempted to make small talk with the camels, Somnambula sighed and watched as her city drew closer, one dune at a time. Maybe Pinkie was right; maybe the ponies of Mahrdina would be different than Mahrdina itself. But even if they weren’t, Somnambula still had one important reason to visit the city, her home.
She just hoped she could enjoy herself along the way.
Somnambula hadn’t expected to hear a knock on her door so late at night. She was tempted to ignore it; today had been exhausting enough as it was. Between two long flights to the Sphinx’s pyramid and back, then the festival and celebration and feasting that had gone on well after sundown, Somnambula was tired. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and pretend she wasn’t home.
But of course, that was a lie, and she knew that everypony knew it. Besides, there had to be a good reason why somepony would bother her this late at night, and she wasn’t about to turn down a pony in need. Grumbling and rubbing at bleary eyes, Somnambula quickly threw on some robes to hide her body and sloppily positioned her linen headdress on her mane to cover it. Middle of the night or not, it wasn’t suitable for a daughter of priests to be seen naked, even in the privacy of her own home.
“I’m coming,” she said, her words half-slurred by drowsiness and her hooves awkwardly shuffling across the floor. She opened her door with a wing, not needing to bother with locks or latches, and was surprised when she saw a blue pegasus with a curly orange mane standing upright on his head, framed by gold and topaz regalia. Almost immediately, she swept her hoof back and bowed her head. “Prince Hisan! Forgive me for making you wait so long, I did not know you would come calling on me at this late of an hour.”
Prince Hisan offered her a genuine smile. “No, please forgive me, priestess. I arrived unannounced, wishing not to place the burden of more attention and speculation upon your shoulders from my visit. If you wish, I can perhaps come back another time.”
Even though Somnambula selfishly thought of the sleep she would be missing by entertaining the prince, she was not about to turn down the pharaoh’s son, especially when she had done so much to save his life that very day. “Your presence is never an intrusion, gracious one,” she said, stepping aside and once more bowing her head. “Please, do come in!”
The prince obliged and stepped inside, his eyes traveling approvingly up the shrine Somnambula had erected to the gods inside her entryway. “Forgive me, priestess, but I do not know who you offer your services to. Is it the Lady of the Sun, like your parents?”
Somnambula laughed and shook her head. “Oh, you misunderstand me, Prince. I am not yet an anointed priestess. I have not yet passed my twentieth year. That being said, I do aid my parents in the temple and help perform the minor rituals.” She hesitated, then looked over her shoulder. “Do you want me to wake them? They are always early to go to bed, as they have to complete their prayers before the sun rises every day, but they will be more than happy to accommodate you.”
“Please, do not feel like you must. They need their rest, and tell them in the morning that my father and I appreciate their service.” The prince nodded once and smiled at Somnambula. “So in any event, you are well on your way to becoming a holy mare. Mahrdina will be well served by you when that happens.”
“I only hope that I can keep hope and happiness alive in my city,” Somnambula said. But, after a moment of fidgeting her wings, she cocked her head at the prince. “Forgive me for asking, gracious one, but to what do I owe the honor of you calling upon my family home at this hour?”
The prince fidgeted, a little motion that was not lost on Somnambula. “I wanted to thank you for everything you did to save my life today,” he said. “I do not know if the Sphinx would have cared for me or if she would have left me to rot in that temple until somepony answered her riddle. I am fortunate that somepony as brave as you rescued me before I had time to wonder about my fate.”
“I merely did the right thing,” Somnambula said. “Anypony would have done the same.”
“My father tells me you were the only one who volunteered to go,” Prince Hisan said. “What you did was a scary thing for any pony. I do not deride the inaction of your friends and family, but rather laud your selflessness and bravery. And to that end, I wanted to see you properly rewarded.”
“You have already repaid me with your kindness and your friendship, gracious one,” Somnambula said. When she dipped her head, she remembered the faintly luminescent glopaz necklace around her neck, which immediately brightened her smile. “And you have given me precious jewelry worth more than anything I own. You do not owe me anything else; in fact, it is now I who feels like I owe you something.”
Prince Hisan softly smiled at the orange mare. “Your kindness knows no limits. But I came to talk to you tonight to offer you a position as a personal advisor to me.” His lips twitched, and he ultimately found himself unable to meet Somnambula’s easy gaze. “It would mean a lot to me to have a pony whose instincts and bravery I can trust so close to my ear. One day I will be pharaoh of this kingdom, and only with ponies like you will I ever hope to be as successful as my father.”
“You do not need ponies like me to be a good pharaoh and a good leader,” Somnambula insisted. “You only need to listen to your heart. The heart is the house of the gods, and if you are just and faithful, they will not lead you astray.”
“Hearts can be easily swayed and tempted,” Hisan insisted, “which is why they need pure fellows to keep them along the path of righteousness. I offer you this position not as a boon to you, but as a favor to myself. I would appreciate your counsel in the years to come, but if it is not what you desire, then think nothing of it. You will be a wonderful pony in whatever you choose to be, be that a prince’s trusted advisor, a holy priestess, or something else. Of that, I am sure.”
Somnambula felt warm stirrings in her heart and her cheeks, and she tried to return the prince’s smile as easily as she could. “You make a good point, gracious one,” she said. But even then, she still wasn’t ready to commit. “I… must think about this wonderful offer you have given me. It is not something I can make without consulting my family and the gods. Give me time to reflect upon your offer, and I shall deliver it to you by sunset tomorrow.”
Prince Hisan bowed, and Somnambula mirrored the gesture. “Then I shall wait with bated breath until night steals upon the desert sands once more,” he said. “You will find me in the palace gardens at sundown. I look forward to resuming this conversation there, and if nothing else, enjoying wine and an evening meal with a friend.”
“If you would do me such an honor, then I am bound to accept it.” Somnambula followed the prince as he moved back to the door, and she lingered against the frame as he stepped outside. “Do take care, gracious one. Never forget that it was through your actions that the events began to end Mahrdina’s famine. We owe you more than anything you might think you owe me.”
“I will remember that, then,” Hisan assured her, and bowed his head. “May you rest well, Somnambula.”
“And you, Prince Hisan.”
The camels returned the bags to the Equestrian travelers right outside the gate to the town before they disappeared into the desert once more. All they asked for in return were a few bits, which Pinkie and Somnambula readily gave them. Then, as the lanky desert dwellers returned to the sands, Somnambula turned around and stared down the archway standing in front of her… and the ponies lying beyond.
Pinkie noticed the uneasy look on Somnambula’s face. “What’s the matter, Somny-womny? It’s just an arch.”
“An arch that stood when I was a filly and stared past it in wonder, imagining the infinite possibilities that existed beyond.” Her eyes traveled up and around the stone arch, noting its cracks and chips, but also the faded paint that still clung to crevices and recesses, giving it a hint of its former color. “Ten or eleven centuries later, it is still here. I do not believe you could understand exactly what it is that I feel when I look upon it.”
“Is it hope?” Pinkie asked, swishing her bushy pink tail across the sand. “I bet it’s hope.”
Somnambula chuckled and fanned her orange feathers. “You know me too well. Yes, perhaps that is the best way to describe it. Hope. Hope that what I find will settle my soul and put a troubled heart to rest.”
Pinkie angled her head, her muzzle scrunching in a confused expression. “What do you have to be troubled about? You’re one of the bestest ponies who ever lived! Everypony loves you, especially here!”
“It is not for myself that my heart flutters so.” Somnambula shook her head once, her linen headdress flouncing with her mane. “I have business that I must attend to. There is something I wish to see in the royal palace.”
“Oh.” Pinkie Pie was silent for a moment. “Like what, though?”
Somnambula chuckled, but though her voice was lilting and soft, her eyes fell to the sand. “It will become obvious in time, I think.” Then, her attention shifting once more to the archway, she set her hooves in motion. “Come. I wish to walk among the streets of my youth once more.”
It was a surreal experience for Somnambula, walking through the archway. When she’d originally sacrificed herself with her friends to bind the Pony of Shadows in Limbo for eternity, she’d accepted the fact that she would never return to see her town again. But here she was, the same sands she’d walked on as a filly caressing her hooves and clinging to her fetlocks. She feared that it was all a dream, and she didn’t know whether she wanted to wake up from it or not.
But then her eyes fell on the ponies. They dressed differently from how she remembered, and even spoke differently. Their robes and garb had changed with the times, modernizing over a thousand years, with silk headdresses covering manes and framing modern glasses perched on many a muzzle. Modern business suits like she’d seen in Canterlot and central Equestria had somehow found their way into the arid streets where a long time ago stallions wore dyed cloth to showcase their status. Robes branded with the insignias of fashion lines provided ponies with shelter from the heat and the sun, performing an ancient function with a stamp of the modern world in the corner.
Even the goods around the marketplace had changed. Though she recognized many of the staples of the market, like bread and fresh grains, now there were also products from distant corners of Equestria, like watches, sunglasses, and expensive perfumes and luxury items. Dead streetlamps had been fastened to the stone corners of the buildings, and here and there an electrical cable leapt between rooftops while modern music wafted out of open windows and from behind storefronts. The strange blending of old and new was simultaneously dazzling and disorienting. Somnambula could still recognize her old home, but it had traded its crowns of gold and wood for a baseball cap and silver aviators.
And then, in the center of town, Somnambula’s eyes wandered up an impressive sight. Towering over the crowd, a massive stone pony stood with wings outstretched, a smile on her face, and a blindfold over her eyes. Unlike everything else in the town, the stone seemed new and exquisitely cared for. Ribbons and streamers decorated the pony’s wings and chest, and all around the statue, the ponies of Somnambula were arranging wild desert flowers and ornate carvings.
“This is…” Somnambula’s words trailed off as she stared up at the likeness of herself. Eventually, her mind settled on the first word to come to her muzzle. “…large.”
“You like it?” Pinkie Pie asked, bouncing up next to the pegasus. “The ponies of Somnambula love this thing more than, like, anything! And then it got broken and stuff and so Daring Do went and bought them a new one! So this thing’s like, not even a year old!”
“It is… disconcerting,” Somnambula said. “I am honored and flattered, but to see something this impressive erected in my honor is something else.”
As they stood and marveled at the statue, an older stallion wandered over from the group of ponies assembling decorations around it and gave Somnambula a curious look. “You’re a little early to be dressed in costume, young filly,” he said. “The festival isn’t until tomorrow.”
“Festival?” Somnambula asked, cocking her head to the side. “For… Somnambula?”
“What, you didn’t know? I figured that was why you were dressed up. You got to be the lucky mare this year.” Then, chuckling, he shook his head. “Ah, you must just be pulling my leg. Glad to see you’re enjoying the role.”
Pinkie blinked. “But she’s not just an actor, she’s actually—!”
Somnambula quickly silenced Pinkie with a wing over her muzzle. “My friend did not know about the festival when she came down to visit, but since you seem like you know what you are doing, perhaps you can explain it to her better than me.”
The stallion smiled and turned his gaze to the Somnambula statue towering above them. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of when Somnambula defeated the Sphinx and saved Prince Hisan. She gave our town hope and joy in a time when we didn’t think we had any. Tomorrow, we honor her for that, with plenty of feasting and parades from sun up to sun down. It is something you have to see to believe.”
“A party?” Pinkie asked, her whole body quivering. “So you’re saying there’s a big party going on all day tomorrow?” She turned to Somnambula and grinned. “We have got to stay for that!”
“Please do,” the stallion said. “It’s open to all visitors. After all, it’s what Somnambula would want for us to do.”
That put a bright smile on Somnambula’s face. “Yes, you are quite right with that.” She bowed her head to the stallion. “Thank you for your time, sir.”
The stallion returned the bow. “Of course, young lady. Though I do have to say, you are the spitting image of Somnambula herself. You will be the best Somnambula we have ever had, that I can assure you.”
Somnambula giggled and tried to hide her smile with a wing. “I will take that as a compliment, then. Do enjoy your day.”
“And you, too.” He nodded his head and turned away, but hesitated and glanced back at Somnambula. “Oh, pardon me, I didn’t get your names.”
“Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing once or twice. “I was here before, though, so you’ll probably remember me in a sec.”
“…Mahrdina,” Somnambula said after a moment to think. “My parents were from the south. Much deeper in the Old Kingdom.”
“That explains the name then.” The stallion nodded once more, and he waved his hoof. “Enjoy yourself, Miss Mahrdina and Miss Pie. I look forward to seeing you at the festival tomorrow.”
“You too,” Somnambula said. “I look forward to participating in it.”
While the stallion returned to his work, Somnambula and Pinkie walked away from the statue. “Why didn’t you tell him who you were?” Pinkie asked. “I’m surprised he didn’t just recognize you immediately!”
“I would not expect to see a pony I thought dead for a thousand years walking through my town as if nothing was wrong,” Somnambula said. “I cannot fault him for failing to recognize me, especially if a mare dresses up as me every year for this festival.”
“Lucky you, then!” Pinkie said. “You don’t even have to put on a disguise! You can just go around like yourself and nopony will notice!”
Somnambula winced and held out a hoof. “I do not know if I wish to attend.”
Pinkie blinked and cocked her head to the side. “Awww, why not? They do it in honor of you!”
“I feel like such a thing would be awkward and embarrassing,” Somnambula said. “I do not particularly want the honors they do me. I do not feel I deserve them.”
“Try telling that to these guys.” Pinkie gestured around the square, where many ponies were hard at work setting up for the festival. “I bet they’d say otherwise!”
Somnambula looked around, noting the occasional odd look thrown her way. “Perhaps, but I was a larger than life figure to them, growing up,” she said. “They would surely argue in my favor, even if fame and recognition was not something I particularly endeavored to pursue. And on that note, I feel like a few ponies are beginning to catch on. Perhaps I should find a shawl or some white robes to hide my body for now.”
Pinkie’s eyes darted around the marketplace before settling on a stall not too far away. “Ooh! How about this?” In the blink of an eye, the pink pony became a pink blur, and the dust hadn’t even settled before she returned to Somnambula with some robes in her hooves. Across the market, a confused mare glanced down at the wobbling bowl of bits in front of her, noting that it seemed a little bit fuller. “Try these on! I think they’re your size!”
Somnambula stupidly stared at the robes Pinkie Pie held out in front of her. “How did you…?”
“How did I what?” Pinkie asked.
After a few more moments of trying and failing to come up with a satisfactory explanation for what she’d seen, Somnambula shook her head in defeat. “Nevermind. Thank you, Pinkie Pie.” With the aid of her wings, she took the clothes from Pinkie and moved off to the side of the market before throwing them over her body. The white robes hid her coat and cutie mark easily enough, and the blue and gold shawl Pinkie had gotten her concealed her mane from the desert air. Finding a nearby mirror, she wandered over to it and gave herself a look. “How do I look?” she asked Pinkie, making a few adjustments to the folds of her robes to get them to sit comfortably on her shoulders.
“Like you’re not even you!” Pinkie said. “You just look like an orange pony! Definitely not an ancient Pillar of Equestria come back to visit her hometown after a thousand years in Limbo!”
“Erm… yes, that is good to hear,” Somnambula said. After one last glance in the mirror to make sure she looked as inconspicuous as possible, she turned back to Pinkie with an easy smile on her muzzle. “Now that this has been taken care of, I have places I want to visit while we’re here. And with the parade tomorrow, I do not believe we will be able to see them all if we wait until then.”
They started walking down one of the streets, Pinkie happily bouncing along at Somnambula’s side. “Okie dokie lokie! Sounds good to me! One question, though.”
“Anything,” Somnambula said.
“Where are we going?”
Even though times had changed, the streets certainly had not. They were almost exactly how Somnambula remembered them, save for a few renovations or new buildings here and there. But the layout was the same, and that was all that really mattered, because it meant she could still find her way through the city.
It still wasn’t entirely without its difficulties, though, both physically and emotionally. Occasionally a street had been closed off and filled with new buildings sometime in the past thousand years since she’d last walked through her town, so she’d have to find another way around to get to where she was going. Often, that meant she resorted to flying up above the buildings to get a layout of the land before returning to Pinkie and showing her the correct way to go. Even worse than the physical blockages, however, were the decaying and crumbling buildings around her and the painful emotions they carried. They were tired and old, and Somnambula recognized many buildings from her youth now barely standing after so long. The bakery had been closed down and looked like it hadn’t been used in at least two hundred years, and the seamstress’ shop had been converted into a storehouse for grain and other supplies for the city. Even the seer’s home had been taken over by a cheap tourist trap gift shop, where greasy stallions peddled cheap trinkets and knickknacks to visitors from all across Equestria. It all made Somnambula want to simply fly to her destination instead of walk the streets with Pinkie.
But again, the ponies reminded her that the spirit of her home was still there. There weren’t any beggars on the streets, only friendly ponies talking to each other outside of homes and shops. Many of them wore glopaz around their necks, which made Somnambula feel right at home. Even after a thousand years, ponies still wore the glowing gems, the same kind the pharaoh’s son had given her so long ago. Somnambula’s hoof instinctively touched her bare neck. How she wished she’d never lost her necklace!
Eventually, her and Pinkie came to their destination. Somnambula stopped in front of an unassuming house wedged between two taller buildings. Unlike the buildings around it, however, the short stone structure had been immaculately cared for over the past millennium. The exterior had even been freshly whitewashed and the carvings and charms placed above the doorway to protect it from evil had been painted in vibrant paints. In all, the building looked exactly how Somnambula remembered it, perhaps in even better condition, if such a thing were possible.
“Wowee,” Pinkie said, looking the building up and down. “This one’s really important! You can tell by the paint!”
“It is my home,” Somnambula said. “I grew up here.”
“You did? No way!” Pinkie bounded over as Somnambula walked up to the face of the structure. “It’s still standing after a thousand years? It looks like brand new!”
“It is almost exactly how I remember it.” Somnambula pressed her hoof against the doorframe, and a sense of calm and familiarity washed over her. She felt like a ship tossed about in a storm that had just found safe harbor. Her home centered her just by being here and being the same after so many things had changed. Her eyes wandered down the doorframe, and her hoof found a notch carved into the stone, and then another, and another. Warm memories stormed the front of her mind, and she sniffled and carefully wiped at her eyes to avoid disturbing the heavy makeup she wore around them.
“What’s wrong, Somny?” Pinkie asked, her voice falling into genuine worry and sympathy. The pink pony moved closer to her and brushed her coat against Somnambula’s, trying to comfort her.
Somnambula pointed at the notches in the door. “My father carved these when I was growing up. Every year on my birthday he would leave a notch in the doorframe to show how tall I had gotten. And they’re still here…”
“Wowzers!” Pinkie craned her neck and started working her eyes down the notches. “Heehee, you were a little filly then! You must’ve been so cute!”
Somnambula blushed and touched the marks once more. “My neighbor was an old baker. She always made cookies and snacks for me. And she would say as much whenever she delivered them. She was like a grandmother to me.” Her eyes darted to that building, but she only allowed them to linger for a few moments before the crumbling façade could drag her spirits and memories down with it. Sighing, she patted the doorframe once more and turned away. “I am starting to grow hungry. How does lunch sound?”
Pinkie blinked. “You aren’t gonna go inside?”
Somnambula shook her head. “It is not my home anymore. It is just a museum. I do not need to go inside to remember what it is like.” Her lips quirked into an amused smile. “Besides, they likely have gotten it wrong.”
Seeing a smile on Somnambula’s face was all Pinkie Pie needed to follow along. “Okie dokie! It’s still cool though to see your house! Say, you think any of your favorite restaurants are still in business?”
The orange pegasus chuckled. “Of that, I doubt very much, but I suppose it is worth a look. If Alshawfan’s children carried on her legacy, then I know where we can find the best oats in town.”
“Sounds good to me!” Pinkie exclaimed. After looking left and right down the unfamiliar street, she frowned. “So, uh, which way do we go?”
Somnambula quietly giggled to herself. She’d perched herself on top of a column overlooking the stairs leading up to the pharaoh’s palace, watching the procession from above. Her little legs swung over the edge of the column, and she fluttered her wings in excitement. After all, it wasn’t every day that the Pharaoh and his family came to Mahrdina for a visit.
The ponies, the music, the colors, it was all so wonderful. Somnambula could hardly remember the last time the Pharaoh had visited Mahrdina; she was just a little foal at the time, and though the Pharaoh maintained a home here, it wasn’t in use as often as his home in the capital. But now that she was older, now that she’d gotten her cutie mark, she could finally understand and enjoy the festival. It was like one big party that she hoped would never end.
And to see the Pharaoh and his son, too! Even as young as she was, Somnambula could respect and appreciate a pony like him. Beneath the crown and the robes was a powerful pony, a pony chosen by the gods to bring prosperity, harmony, and hope to the Kingdom. He was everything good about her home, and he and his armies and advisors vanquished everything bad that plagued it. Somnambula couldn’t imagine just how many terrible things the pharaoh had to have defeated in his lifetime. And everypony loved him for it, too! Somnambula was tempted to flutter off her column and go down to the pharaoh to meet him personally, but she remembered what her father had told her. It was never proper to approach the pharaoh unless he asked her to, and as a daughter of priests, she had to listen to the rules.
She almost didn’t hear the wing flaps behind her, but when she did, she looked over her shoulder to see a stallion approaching her. “Hello, Papo,” she said. “I’m watching the pharaoh!”
“So you are,” Somnambula’s father said. “But why do you have to do it up here, shari?”
“Because I’m too short to see from the ground!” Somnambula’s giddy wings flapped a few times. “I can see everything from up here!”
“Your mother would be very upset with you if she saw you up here.” The stallion rubbed his nose against Somnambula’s cheek. “She would be worried you would hurt yourself.”
“I can fly!” Somnambula protested. “I won’t fall and hurt myself!”
Her father chuckled. “I know, I know, shari. But think about your mother. Will you at least let me carry you so she doesn’t have to worry?”
Somnambula scrunched her muzzle and pouted, but eventually stood up. “Okay…” she said, and used her little wings to give herself enough lift to move to her father’s back. She settled against his warm coat and wrapped her hooves around his neck, her head craned to the side to watch the procession make its way up the stairs.
“Good, Somnambula. Your mother would be very proud to know that her little filly is a good listener.”
“Listening’s easy,” Somnambula said. “I do it all the time!” Her eyes fell on a blue colt at the pharaoh’s side, and she pointed with her forelimb. “That’s the pharaoh’s son!”
Her father nodded. “That he is. His name is Prince Hisan. He’s around your age.”
“Really?” Somnambula asked. Giggling, she bounced a few times on her father’s back. “Then I’ll marry him and I’ll be a queen!”
Chuckling, her father stroked her mane, making the filly mewl in protest and try to duck her head away. “So ambitious! You better be careful what you wish for, shari. You never know if it will come true.”
The procession made its way up the stairs, and after briefly stopping in front of a statue of the sun goddess, continued on into the palace. Though the sheer number of ponies in the procession meant it would take some time to finish, the pharaoh and his family were the first to enter the building. As the crowd began to break up, Somnambula’s father carried the two of them back down to street level. “You were very good today,” he said over his shoulder as he carried his daughter through the busy streets of Mahrdina. “Perhaps we can stop at the bakery on the way back for a pastry?”
“Yay!” Somnambula exclaimed. “Thank you, Papo!”
Her father chuckled and sweetly nuzzled his daughter. “Of course, shari.”
As Somnambula had expected, all of her favorite restaurants and bakeries had closed or relocated since the previous millennium. She ended up letting Pinkie decide where they should eat, since everything was foreign to her anyway. Again she found herself in the strange and awful position of feeling like a foreigner in her own home. She didn’t even remember the name of the restaurant Pinkie had ultimately chosen for lunch; her mind was elsewhere, and though Pinkie hadn’t stopped chattering during the entire meal, Somnambula neither heard the majority of it nor responded to any questions that may have been thrown her way.
When they left the restaurant, Pinkie frowned and moved to Somnambula’s side. “You’re not enjoying your stay, are you?” she asked the pegasus.
Somnambula quickly shook her head. “No, no, it is not that. It is…”
Her words trailed off into nothingness, because there wasn’t anything she could think to say. Pinkie Pie was right. She wasn’t exactly enjoying her trip home.
“If you want, we can just get back on the train and leave,” Pinkie assured her. “It’s no big deal.”
The offer was tempting, Somnambula had to admit. She’d already seen enough of Mahrdina to know that it was not the Mahrdina she once knew. She even started to doubt whether the sands under her hooves were the same ones she used to walk upon so long ago. There was nearly nothing left of her hometown, and what she had seen had only made her sad and upset.
But even still, there was one reason above all the others for why she’d come back home, and she hadn’t yet fulfilled it. Shaking her head, she let her eyes wander to the old palace ruins on the hill overlooking the city. “There is one last place I must visit before I do,” she said. “It is the entire reason I came here in the first place.”
“Really?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Why didn’t we go there right away, then?”
Somnambula’s eyes fell to the warm sands around her hooves. “I did not have the strength to go there,” she admitted. “It is personal. Alas, I still do not know whether I have the strength or not, but I must see it regardless before I leave.”
With those ominous words, she started to walk across the market, leaving Pinkie Pie to follow her in confusion. Though she could tell Somnambula wasn’t in the mood for any of her normal excitable antics, her curiosity still gnawed at her. “Do you mind if I ask what we’re going up here for?” she asked, eyeing the enormous staircase at the far end of the town square with a little hesitance. “That’s a lot of stairs!”
“There is a place in the palace that I wish to see,” Somnambula said. “Underneath it, specifically. I do not care so much about the condition of the palace itself.” After a second of sullen silence, she added, “I only hope that it too is still intact after all these years.”
It took them ten minutes to cross to the other side of the city, and then another ten simply to climb the stairs. Somnambula used her wings to make the ascent easier, but she couldn’t just fly straight to the top; that would be rude to Pinkie, who had to labor up the stone steps one or two at a time. Though Pinkie never asked for one, Somnambula thought the Equestrian would have to take a break when they reached a small landing around what used to be a statue’s base, but the pink mare pushed on undeterred. By the time they both made it to the top of the stairs, sweat glistened on their colorful coats, though Pinkie suffered from the heat and scorching sunlight far more than Somnambula did beneath her robes and her natural tolerance for the arid climate.
Somnambula knew she didn’t want to look at the ruins of the palace around her, but like a moth drawn to a flame, her eyes wandered to every cracked stone and crumbling column. She could tell that attempts had been made over the centuries to keep the structure from falling into a bad state of decay, but time and weather had hollowed out many of the buildings, leaving only walls and supports standing around floor tiles overgrown with weeds. What had once been one of the many palatial gardens was now home to dry dirt and scraggly, hardy weeds, and the roof had collapsed in the grand entrance, the rubble carelessly swept to the sides to allow ponies to access the other rooms of the palace. Signs and placards hung next to wounded statues and empty, dusty rooms, attempting to explain their purpose or who or what they represented. Somnambula knew what everything was used for, what it had meant in her time, so she didn’t bother to read the signs. They were probably wrong anyway.
Even despite its ruin, it was obvious to anypony that the palace had once been grand and ornate. It took Somnambula and Pinkie several minutes to navigate its corridors and halls, especially when the route Somnambula wanted to take to her destination had been closed off by debris and preservation work on the structure. Thankfully, she knew the inside of the palace like the back of her hoof, and she moved through it like she owned the place, never once stopping to figure out where she was or where she needed to go next.
“Jeez, Somnamama, you really know this place inside and out,” Pinkie said, her eyes wandering across the ruins while Somnambula led the way. “Wasn’t this a royal palace? How do you know so much about it?”
“I was well acquainted with the royal family,” Somnambula said. “I was an advisor to Prince Hisan before I joined the other Pillars to fight the Pony of Shadows.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that!” Pinkie bounded up to Somnambula’s side, where the pegasus had briefly stopped in front of a mural of a faded blue stallion. “So I bet you practically lived here, didn’t you!”
“Prince Hisan liked to keep his advisors close at hoof,” Somnambula said, dipping her head. “I moved into the royal palaces here with him when he made Mahrdina his personal holdings while his father ruled from the capital. When his father passed, I assume he moved his family back to the capital and ruled the Old Kingdom as pharaoh.”
“You assume?” When Somnambula simply glanced at her sideways, Pinkie nodded in understanding. “Right. Pony of Shadows. Sorry!”
Somnambula started moving again, turning down another hallway that ended with a steep set of stone stairs spiraling into the earth. Despite how steep they were, they were surprisingly wide, with an open air center in the middle. Somnambula immediately started down the stairs, snatching a torch from its sconce as she did so and stepping past the chain bolted into the walls warning ponies that what laid beyond was for archaeologists only.
Pinkie stopped at the chain and shot a worried look at Somnambula. “Uh, Somny? We’re not supposed to go down there! That’s off limits.”
“Really?” Somnambula asked, her head flipping back over her shoulder. She smiled and winked at Pinkie, her hooves already reaching for the next steps. “I can only read hieroglyphics, remember?”
“You can’t—?” Pinkie’s eyes crossed. “No, you’ve gotta be messing with me! You can read Equestrian… right? You haven’t just been pretending you can all this time, have you?”
Somnambula chuckled and continued down the stairs regardless. Eventually, she heard the chain rattle and hooves clop on the stone steps behind her, and Somnambula soon found Pinkie right back on her tail, albeit with an unsure look on her face. “Where are we going, Somnambula?”
“The catacombs of Mahrdina,” Somnambula answered her. “We interred our dead down here beneath the palace. Generations of mummies have been placed within these tunnels for thousands of years.”
“Why under the royal palace, though?” Pinkie asked. “Wouldn’t you want someplace else for that instead of where the pharaoh lives?”
“It is said that the pharaoh’s power and right to rule arises from the ponies of his nation,” Somnambula said. “The Ka of the dead shall judge him and keep him loyal to the Old Kingdom throughout his reign, and they will prepare a feast for him in the Field of Reeds when he is finally ready to join them.”
“What if he was a meanie pharaoh?” Pinkie asked. “What then?”
“Then during his judgment, if his heart was found to be heavier than the Feather of Truth, it would be cast to the floor and eaten by the Great Devourer, and his soul would cease to exist.”
Pinkie blinked. “Oh,” she said. “That sounds… not fun.”
“It is why we have always strived to be kind and fair to each other in life, for the happiness we sow while we live, we will reap when we die.” Somnambula’s hooves touched the sandy floor of the catacombs and she pried her robes off of her head with her wings. She didn’t need to conceal her identity here in the ancient catacombs. There weren’t any other ponies around to recognize her, and it was not possible to hide her true self from the spirits of the tombs. A nearly overwhelming sense of déjà vu struck her as she looked around the catacombs, virtually unchanged since the last time she had seen them, unlike so much else of Mahrdina. The only things different were the tables placed in the corners of the main chamber and archaeological equipment scattered here and there. If it weren’t for that, Somnambula could have almost believed she was still in the past.
“How many mummies do you think are down here?” Pinkie asked, already bouncing into the catacombs. “There’s gotta be like, at least a hundred, right?”
“Likely far more than that,” Somnambula said, chuckling. “The catacombs do not look like they are used anymore, but they had been in use for centuries when I was born. What we seek lies on one of the lower levels.”
“I feel like I’m in a Daring Do book!” Pinkie exclaimed, ogling over a shiny gold facemask placed on a table. “I bet Dashie would’ve loved this!”
Somnambula gently encouraged her to put the artifact down with a touch of her wing. “Leave the treasures and the offerings to the dead alone,” she said. “We are here to pay respects, not intrude and blaspheme.”
Pinkie sheepishly retreated from the table of archaeological finds and fell in line behind Somnambula. “Sorry,” she said, but that didn’t stop her from looking on at the trove of treasures in the first chamber of the catacombs with harmless wonder. “This is really cool, though! And every mummy has a little box of their own?”
Somnambula let her eyes wander to a couple of sarcophagi placed into shelves cut out of the walls for them. At least they seemed undisturbed by the activity in the catacombs. “Each mummy is given a sarcophagus to protect it so that the soul may peacefully live in the Field of Reeds, knowing that its body is cared for back on the earth. Most are just made out of wood and painted, however. Only the pharaohs, nobles, and priests received sturdier sarcophagi of stone and metal.”
“Are they organized in any way?” Pinkie asked. “Or are they just put in here however?”
“Families are grouped together,” Somnambula said. “Wealthier families would buy larger sections of the catacombs to house more members. They would also fund expansions to their own sections if they could afford it. Otherwise, immediate family was given a chamber of their own, and different branches and generations of a family could be scattered everywhere.” Then, smiling softly, she made her way to a rough staircase at the back of the catacombs and started to descend them to the lower levels. “My family was moderately wealthy. We were priests of the sun goddess for generations. I likely would have been one as well had life not had different plans for me.”
Fine particles of sand and dust covered the steps as Somnambula descended them. She passed by two or three levels without bothering to glance into them, but the closer she came to the fifth level, the more uneasy her hoofsteps became. It wasn’t until she stood at the entrance to the fifth level of the catacombs that her nerves had tightened to the point where she could hardly force herself to walk any further beyond.
She heard Pinkie Pie quietly approach from behind, and she swallowed hard. “The fifth level of the catacombs of Mahrdina is reserved for the priests of the city and their family,” she said. “I have been here many times as a filly and a young mare. But I am afraid of venturing further beyond.”
“Why?” Pinkie asked her. “Are you afraid of what you’ll find inside?”
“Not what, but who,” Somnambula said. She laughed, but it was strained and almost painful. “It is so silly and stupid of me. I know exactly well that everypony who was alive when I left to fight the Pony of Shadows is now dead. I know that the mummies of my family are inside of this chamber. But facing them and coming face to face with that fact terrifies me. Whatever blissful ignorance I may have about their fates now will be gone as soon as I step inside and read the runes on their sarcophagi. I will know how they lived and how they died, and I do not know if I am ready for that knowledge.”
“But I mean… isn’t that why you’re here?” Pinkie asked. She stopped at Somnambula’s side and tried to offer the mare some support with her shoulder. “Isn’t this why you wanted to come all the way back here after you spent all that time in Equestria doing nothing?”
“It… is,” Somnambula admitted. “I came here not so much as to see Mahrdina again as to visit the graves of my family. It would put their spirits at ease to know that their daughter is still alive and still remembers them. They have been gone for a long time, and they have spent their afterlife in the Field of Reeds without me alongside them. Perhaps they worry that my heart was eaten by the Great Devourer and that my Ka is no more.”
“Then it sounds to me like you’ve gotta go and talk to them,” Pinkie said, gently encouraging the pegasus toward the door. “If it’s not for you, then do it for your folks. I bet they’d love to hear from you again after all this time!”
Somnambula reluctantly smiled, but she still eyed the entrance to the fifth level with wariness. “I suppose you are right in that regard,” she admitted. “Hopefully they can forgive me for vanishing for so long.”
“You’re their daughter!” Pinkie happily proclaimed. “They love you no matter what you might think! They’ll be thrilled to hear from you, spooky spirits or not!”
“If you say so.” Somnambula took a deep breath and started to move into the catacombs. “I suppose there is no reason in waiting around any longer…”
With cautious, nervous hooves, Somnambula finally walked into the chamber of the catacombs. She looked left and right as the familiar sight of the priests’ tombs loomed around her, lit by industrial lights powered off of a generator somewhere. It looked almost exactly how she remembered it, but layered with several coatings of decay and age like everything else in Mahrdina. The once vibrant paints used to decorate the carvings and glyphs in the walls had faded and rotted away, but traces of color still remained. Somnambula could still make out the shapes and colors of the death portraits of each pony on the wall above their sarcophagus well enough to figure out their race and sex, as well as the general shape of their face. Many of the older portraits she recognized, and she approached one, feeling like a little filly visiting the catacombs again.
“Who’s that?” Pinkie asked, bouncing over to Somnambula’s side. “Did you know her?”
“No,” Somnambula said with a chuckle. “I do not know many of the ponies here. They were priests before my time. This is the grave of Priestess Haki, who died a century before I was born. She was one of the most important priests of our temple during her life. She sold all she had to pay for much needed renovations and repair to the temple and its statues. She slept on the floor of the temple since she had no place of her own. We would all strive to be as selfless as her.”
“Oh, neato!” Pinkie looked up and down the chamber. “Where’s your family?”
Somnambula winced at the eager tone in Pinkie’s voice, but nevertheless started walking to her right and along the wall. “Down here,” she said. She passed by several more sarcophagi, many covered in spiderwebs, before turning along a branching hallway and stopping about halfway down. Her breath caught in her throat and her hooves awkwardly shuffled across the dusty stones, but, coughing, she stepped aside and pointed to a faded portrait of an elderly yellow unicorn. “This is my grandpapo’s tomb. He died when I was too young to remember him. Grandmama rests next to him. She died when I was eight.”
“Were they both priests?” Pinkie asked. “Like the rest of your family?”
Somnambula nodded. “They met at the temple when they were young acolytes. They married and had kids. My papo was one of them. They taught us all about the ways and traditions of the Lady of the Sun.”
She moved further down the tomb and abruptly stopped before the next pair of sarcophagi. All Pinkie had to do was glance at the portraits above them and note the resemblance to Somnambula to make the connection. “Are… are those your parents?” she asked in a quiet, caring voice.
Somnambula swallowed hard. “They are,” she finally managed, her voice on the verge of breaking and her eyes rapidly fluttering to keep the tears away. Sniffling, she sat down in front of the tombs and stared up at the portraits. On the left, a ruddy-colored pegasus stallion stared forward with a soft, caring smile on his muzzle, and on the right, a pink pegasus mare grinned with a wizened yet beaming expression, full of hope and optimism. Both portraits depicted the ponies in their later years.
“Mama… Papo…” Somnambula hiccupped and pressed her cheek against the thin stone wall between the two sarcophagi. Her hooves pressed against each sarcophagus, and tears turned the thick eyeshadow around her lashes into a runny charcoal paste. Her wings joined her hooves, and soon she had her entire body pressed against the stone wall of the catacombs, the closest she could get to hugging her long dead parents. “I… I am so sorry…”
Pinkie didn’t know what to say; she quickly decided there wasn’t anything she could say. Sometimes, the best way to help somepony smile was to let them cry their sorrows away. And Somnambula looked like she needed a good cry. Of that, there was very little doubt. All those pent up worries and fears had to find their way out of her system somehow.
So she sat down next to Somnambula, close enough to provide comfort if needed, but far enough away to provide space if desired. She even wiped a tear out of her own eye as well as she watched a legendary and nigh mythical mare shatter into a little filly mourning the loss of her parents.
Several minutes passed before Somnambula’s tears stopped. Her cheeks were matted with tears and runny black charcoal smudges from the makeup around her eyes, and she wiped her nose on the back of her fetlock. Puffy red eyes stared at the floor, glazed and unfocused, and the mare’s feathers had become disheveled by the catacomb stones. But, inch by inch, Somnambula raised her head, put a hoof on her father’s sarcophagus, and kissed the base, repeating the action with her mother’s. Then she shuffled back a few paces and leaned against the opposite wall, simply watching over her parents’ mummies while wiping tears from her eyes.
Pinkie Pie slid in next to her and carefully gauged Somnambula’s expressions. “Feeling better?” she asked in a soft voice.
“I… yes. I think.” Somnambula sniffled and wiped at some of her running makeup, even though she knew it would not come out until she washed her face. “My well of sorrows is drained, for now. It is still just… I cannot properly explain it.”
Pinkie nodded, and with a caring smile on her face, embraced Somnambula in a friendly hug. “You don’t have to,” she said. “I think I understand anyway.”
Somnambula weakly smiled, and she slowly returned the embrace with a wing of her own. But even as she did so, her purple eyes wandered further down the line of sarcophagi. At first, she didn’t pay them much thought, but then she noticed that they were inlaid with glopaz. Frowning, she moved away from Pinkie and towards the other sarcophagi, her curiosity at why these ponies would use a gem like glopaz on their sarcophagi driving her onwards. Priests of the sun goddess did not use glopaz, they used wood and gold, mirroring the radiance of her beauty against the plain and simple ponies they were. But when she saw the portrait above the first such tomb and the simple opulence that surrounded it, she gasped and froze in place.
“Somny?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head to the side. “What is it?”
“These are… these are tombs of pharaohs!” Somnambula exclaimed, and she touched the portrait of a blue pegasus with an orange mane. “This is… this is pharaoh Hisan’s tomb! I… I thought he would have been laid to rest at the Valley of Kings!”
“Huh, that’s pretty neato.” Pinkie joined Somnambula and regarded the glowing sarcophagus. “But why would he be buried here instead of with the rest of the pharaohs and pharettes?”
Somnambula smiled and rubbed her cheek against the portrait of the famous pegasus. “I know why,” she said, smiling and feeling long dead stirrings in her heart begin to pluck the strings with a mournful happiness. “He was my husband.”
“Your husband?!” Pinkie blinked in shock. “You were married?”
“Yes, I was. We were.” She wistfully smiled and let her mind wander to the happiest days of her life, however brief they had been. “We married about a year after I saved him from the Sphinx. I loved him with all my heart, and he multiplied my love tenfold and returned it to me. We never fought and never argued.” The smile fell away from her muzzle and settled into another hurt frown. “He was always faithful to me. It would appear he remained faithful to the day he died.” Hanging her head in shame, Somnambula squeezed her eyes shut. “I wish I could say the same. I abandoned him to answer Star Swirl’s call. Abandoned him and our children.”
Again, Pinkie sputtered in surprise. “You had children?” she asked. “But you can’t be a day over twenty-five!”
“I am twenty-six, actually,” she said. “Biologically, at least. I married Hisan when I was twenty. Our first child came not even a year later.” Her eyes moved even further down the line, and her heart froze when she recognized two distinct faces. Crying out in alarm, Somnambula scampered to them, stopping in front of the two glowing tombs. She hadn’t expected to see them here, given their heritage as the children of a pharaoh, but here they were. Side by side, the sarcophagi of her two children stood, again bedecked in a simple opulence that at once proclaimed their royal status yet openly displayed their humility. Souls carried the luxuries laid in their tombs with them to the afterlife, and to forgo bringing hundreds of pounds of luxury into the afterlife so they could instead be used to to ease the suffering of others was the ultimate selfless act. It left little doubt to the authenticity of the graves in front of her; Somnambula knew she would have done the same thing herself.
“Oh, my children,” she cried, falling once more to the ground in front of them. “Amal, Sakha… I am so sorry that I never got to see you grow up. I was not there for you when you needed me most. I failed you as a mother. How… h-how could I have done such a thing? What kind of a mother am I?”
Pinkie felt her heart break. “Somnambula…”
“You do not understand!” The ancient Pillar wailed. “You do not have children of your own. You… you cannot comprehend what it is like to abandon them. They lived their lives and grew old without me, with only their father to guide them. If they had any memories of me, surely they were tainted with betrayal and hate for the mare who abandoned them!”
Before the mare could tear herself down any further, Pinkie stepped in and put her hooves on Somnambula’s shoulders. “That’s not true!” she insisted, roughly shaking the mare to snap her out of it. “That’s not true at all! They would’ve known exactly what you did from their dad. There’s no better thing to being a parent than protecting your children, right? And you did exactly that when you went to fight the Pony of Shadows!”
She pointed to the decorations surrounding the tombs of Somnambula’s children. “I don’t know what any of this means, but I think they lived pretty good lives in a world that wasn’t consumed by darkness or shadow or angsty spirits. And their tombs are covered in glopaz—just like the necklace you wore! Do you really think they’d decorate their tombs in memory of you if they didn’t love you all the same?”
Her expression softened, and she brushed some of Somnambula’s tears away. “You gave up your family and your happiness to protect them. You saved your husband and your children. Wouldn’t it have been worse to do nothing just so you could selfishly be with them a few more days? To not let your children grow up and live their own lives because Equestria got eaten by darkness?”
When Somnambula didn’t have any words to respond, Pinkie quickly nuzzled her cheek. “You did the most loving thing you could’ve possibly done, Somny. Only a real mother who really cared about her foals could have done something like what you did. And that’s why I know that they still loved you even if they didn’t get to know you.”
Somnambula sniffled and wiped her muzzle with a wingtip. “I just… I wish that I could go back and be with them. To watch them grow. To see them be successful. But all I have now are memories and records left by ponies who could only look on from afar.”
“But what about the notes left next to their tombs?” Pinkie asked. “Didn’t you say that ponies got their achievements and stuff written down next to them when they were buried?”
The Pillar’s purple eyes wandered over to the glyphs decorating the tombs. Brushing away some dust with a hoof, she slowly began to read. “Within this stone lies pharaoh Amal, loved by all throughout the Kingdom. Through his wisdom and generosity, all of our lands knew peace and prosperity.” Bit by bit her smile began to widen, and she sniffled and wiped away more tears pricking the edges of her eyes. “He lavishly spent from the Kingdom’s treasury to build homes for the poor, wells for the thirsty, and farms for the hungry. He died in his sixty-eighth year, and wished to be buried not in the tombs of the pharaohs, but here with his father and family.”
Somnambula’s head ticked over to the side, and her puffy eyes read the next set of glyphs. “Within this stone lies the noble and just mare, Sakha. She was the soothing voice and attentive ears of her brother Pharaoh, and traveled the Kingdom to better understand the plights of its people. She lived a modest life of charity and reverence, much like her mother, and became High Priestess of our Lady of the Sun. She died in her seventy-fifth year, and wished to be buried along with her brother and her family in the city of Mahrdina.”
The orange mare leaned back, and the sad but proud curve to her lips was unmistakable. Pinkie Pie matched it with a small smile of her own, and she leaned against Somnambula’s side, comfortingly rubbing their coats together. “They sound like they were great children,” she said. “I’d be proud of them if I was their mom.”
“I always hoped they would understand what it means to give hope to your fellow ponies one day,” Somnambula said. Sniffling, she once more found her eyes drawn to the glopaz decorating the sarcophagi. “Hisan taught them well. I… I am so proud of them.”
Her lips parted into a brighter smile, and she leaned forward, wings outstretched, covering the sarcophagi of both her children. “Amal… Sakha… I love you so very much. And though you have slumbered for so long, one day I will join you in the Field of Reeds. I will see what beautiful ponies you became, and finally, for once, our family will be whole again.”
Squeezing the stone one last time, Somnambula withdrew and leaned against the opposite wall, content to simply sit and bask in their presence. Pinkie joined her, and the silence dragged on for a long time before she finally broke it.
“Was it worth coming back for?” Pinkie asked her. “To see all this?”
Somnambula slowly nodded her head. “I had dreaded this day every waking moment since my return from Limbo. I had put it off for so long because I feared that I would never have the strength to forgive myself for leaving them all behind. And I also feared that if I had come here alone, I would join their bones, and so return to the obscurity which I belong.”
Pinkie blinked in surprise. “You weren’t gonna really…?”
“Maybe, had I gone by myself and let my melancholy consume me.” Somnambula shook her head. “But doing so would be a dishonor to their memory. I see that now. They have inspired me to follow in their example. To spread hope and happiness wherever I go.” Chuckling, she added, “Perhaps then I can live up to their names as truly good ponies.”
The answer seemed to relieve Pinkie, and she relaxed against the wall once more. “It’ll be like the Somnamnonombula Hope Return Tour 2: Electric Scootaloo! Bigger and better than ever! It’ll be great!”
“Yes… if you say so.” The mare quietly laughed to herself, then glanced at Pinkie. “I hope you do not mind, Pinkie, but… I would like a few minutes to be alone with my family.”
Pinkie nodded in understanding and stood up. “Take all the time you need,” she assured her. “I’ll be outside. Then we can get dinner! Sound good?”
Somnambula expressed her agreement with a smile. “Yes, it does sound good. And then tomorrow, we can stay for the parade.”
“The parade?” Pinkie blinked in surprise. “You want to stay for it now?”
“I feel it would be a fitting farewell to Mahrdina before I leave again,” Somnambula said. Winking at Pinkie, she added, “Perhaps I will even reveal myself to the ponies. Who can say?”
“Well if you do, you’ll need somepony to help coordinate the parties!” Pinkie winked at her and began to bounce out of the tombs. “I’ll get my emergency supplies ready juuuuust in case!”
And then she was gone, leaving Somnambula and her family behind. Smiling faintly, Somnambula wiped some of her running makeup off of her eyes, turned her attention to the three sarcophagi side by side by side, and shifted to make herself more comfortable. In the dim light of the tombs, surrounded by the graves of family and friends, she finally felt like she was back in Mahrdina, not the village that now bore her name.
She did not move for a long time.
The night air was cool and comfortable, a welcome change of pace from the hot sun of the day. Birds sang and the occasional locust buzzed, and the oasis settled down for another quiet night under the stars.
Somnambula lingered by a stone banister with lush, green plants all around her. She loved the Mahrdina palace gardens. Every single night, she found herself wandering them for at least a few minutes, simply reveling in the quiet tranquility. They carried many happy memories for her, and over the past six years, they had simply grown by the day.
Tonight, however, she knew would be no happy memory. She had long ago put the children to bed, but her own sleep did not come easily. In fact, it was the constant toil of restlessness that had taken her away from her husband’s side and out under the stars once more. Now, high above her, the moon hung full and bright, and the darkness that covered the desert was little more than a few thin shadows chased away by the pale white light of the heavens.
She heard hoofsteps on stone behind her, but she did not move or react. Soon, a warm, blue presence joined her side, and a wing spread across her back. The comforting, silent companionship of the stallion standing next to her made Somnambula want to cry. She knew that, come morning, she’d have to leave him behind.
Forever.
The stallion at her side felt her shake and tremor, and he pressed his weight against her, nuzzling her just behind her ear. It burst the dam she’d managed to hastily prop up, and soon her tears fell like rain, her body heaving and convulsing as anguish and sorrow washed over her. The stallion whispered soothing words in her ear, gently trying to shush her as he held her as tight as he could.
Eventually, between hiccups, Somnambula managed to croak, “I do not want to go.”
“Then don’t,” the stallion cooed. “There has to be another way.”
“But there is not.” Somnambula buried her face in his blue coat. “Hisan, you do not understand. There is only Star Swirl’s way. If I do not help him, then Equestria, the Kingdom, our family…”
Hisan tried to hold her tighter, as if that would comfort her, but it did not. It only made Somnambula’s heart break further.
Somnambula squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from leaking out. “I do not want to go, Hisan,” she said again. “I do not want to leave you and our children. But I must. I must go to save everypony. And I will never see you again.”
“You do not know that,” Hisan said. “You told me before that not even Star Swirl knows what will happen once you… once you leave.”
“He told me that he did not know if we would return,” Somnambula said. “He did not think it was likely. We will all go to Limbo, and there we will remain. Forever.”
“It will not be forever.” Hisan leaned back and lifted Somnambula’s eyes with a feather. Though he smiled at her, Somnambula could see the sadness buried in his own eyes, held back for her sake, but impossible to hide. “We will see each other again, my love.”
Somnambula swallowed hard, and eventually she could only let her ears fall and look away. “I would very much like to believe that. But I do not know. I simply do not know.” Swallowing hard, she sniffled and wiped at her nose. “The children… I do not think they understand.”
Hisan sighed and reluctantly nodded his head. “Sakha is too young,” he said. “But Amal might. He is five, after all. We do not give foals enough credit for what they can understand.”
“Perhaps it would be better if he did not,” Somnambula said. “I… I don’t want them to live with that pain. I do not want it to mar their foalhoods. The reasoning behind why would be hard for them to grasp until they are older.”
“It would be.” Hisan stepped closer and put his forehead against Somnambula’s. “They will miss you. We will all miss you.”
“I have not left and my heart already aches for my family,” Somnambula said. “I will be gone by sunrise, and though it is but the middle of the night, I already miss you.”
They pulled their heads apart, and Hisan lowered his muzzle until his lips met hers. They kissed, only reluctantly parting after several seconds. Then they pressed their necks together, each fighting back tears through shut eyes.
“I will always love you,” Hisan whispered to her. “There will never be a day that passes that I will not miss your company by my side or fail to think about your beautiful face. I will turn the tools of our Kingdom toward bringing you back, if only to look upon you once more.”
“I do not know if I will dream in Limbo,” Somnambula said. “But I will go there with your faces in my mind. If I never dream again—if I never think again—then my last memories will be of you.”
“It is a brave thing you do, my love,” Hisan said. “I could never be as strong as you.”
“You will be stronger than me,” Somnambula insisted. “It is easy to go and do this for my family. It will be much harder to care for our family when I am gone and to live with this burden I selfishly place upon you.”
“It has never been a burden to care for our family,” Hisan assured her. He kissed her forehead once more and wrapped both his wings around his wife. “I promise you, Somnambula, they will live happy lives. They will want for nothing, and I will teach them to live in your example. What you do brings hope to all of the Kingdom. Never has a pony done so noble a thing.”
“You flatter me,” Somnambula said, pressing into Hisan’s embrace.
“You are my wife,” Hisan said. “I would be sleeping on the cushions if I did not.”
Somnambula chuckled aloud despite the melancholy of the moment. “They are the finest cushions one could buy, at the very least.”
“Indeed.”
After several moments, Somnambula gently pushed her way out of Hisan’s embrace, just enough to look him in the eyes. “Hisan?”
“Yes, my love?”
“Stay with me,” she said. “If this is to be our last night together… then I want nothing more than to share it with you.”
Hisan smiled and kissed her between the eyes. “You shall have this night, and every night to come.”
The two ponies sat down on the grasses, side by side, wings brushing and feathers interlocking. Somnambula held out her hoof, and Hisan covered it with his own. Her orange cheek rested against his blue neck, and Somnambula shut her eyes, listening to the quiet sounds of the night, the breathing of her husband, the beating of his heart.
A beating that, one day, in another life, she knew she would hear again.
