Chapters "This is a Home, and absolutely everything that word means. It is a safe place, where no harm will come your way. This is a place of acceptance. This is a place of peace. It is a place of -" the pegasus suddenly stopped mid-word. She had given this speech dozens of times, to every colt and filly who walked in her door. Sometimes it was to calm tears, sometimes giddy laughter at finally reaching somewhere away from the war.
This time, for the very, very first time ever, it was to two unicorns, not other pegasi: A white filly with a sun emblazoned on her flank for a cutie mark, and one midnight-blue with the accompanying moon, who was apparently far, far too young to have yet gotten her cutie mark otherwise. The pegasus guessed that the blue one had gotten hers at the same time as the older one, synchronously. And if they were that soul-boundedly close, they must be siblings. She knew how to read children; she'd seen enough of them.
Pagasopolis Home for Wayward Youngsters was filling up fast with pegasus children, mostly orphans from the war against the unicorns and Earth ponies. Some merely got separated from their parents, either gotten lost after a bombing, or those whose parents were out fighting, brought by pegusus guards. Occasionally, they were dropped off by the parents themselves, who simply wanted to keep them safe.
Never, ever alone. And most decidedly, never ever EVER ... the enemy.
Admittedly, the pegasus did hesitate but for a moment, then chided herself, and finally sighed and raised her lantern over the door to invite them in. The dark of the midnight sky outside could not hide the words she knew were emblazoned over the door of Home, for they burned bright in her mind:
"Heart is a part of the body; Home is a part of the Soul."
No one's soul would go without Home, not on her watch.
"Come in, little children. Are you hungry? Or thirsty?" They were, of course, both, as they all were when they arrived here. Food of the belly would be provided. Food of the mind... well... that would take longer to prepare.
* * *
Deep in her third bowl of breakfast cereal, (where were they putting it all? They must not have eaten in days, poor dears) the smaller one whispered in fits and starts to her older sister, who whispered equally fitfully back. They hadn't spoken to their host since they arrived, which was actually a good thing. None of the other Wayward Children in the Home would be woken from their beds at four in the morning, as had happened in the past with bombing runs, or simply oblivious guards. Also, with only the three of them sitting in the kitchen together, away from the prying eyes of the others, the situation afforded more privacy and a much deeper, more open understanding of each other than when newcomers are surrounded by strangers with prying eyes. This would be just them and her. They would talk when they were ready.
At last, they were ready. "Thank you," said the oldest, barely above the previous whisper. Well, they had manners at least. "You're really nice. I wasn't expecting that from pegus-" she stopped, realizing mid-sentence that she'd stuck her hoof in it, and clammed up, sticking both hooves over her mouth.
Broad smile. Breath. "You weren't expecting pegasi to be nice? Well, now you have met a nice one, and maybe you'll meet many more. My name's Homeshine." The pegusus deliberately did not ask for the children's names. They would either volunteer it in response, or they wouldn't.
"My name's Celestia."
"Well, I am SO very happy to have you here. It's terrible what the war is doing to all the children. I would so much rather have them here, receiving care and attention, than lost in the woods."
Celestia nodded, "Yes; I'm guessing the orphanage is here in the woods, and not in the clouds proper, to keep it away from the attacks on the more strategic resources? If it were situated closer, it would be more endangered." These words did not sound as if they came from a filly. Stunted growth, perhaps? It would explain them having cutie marks already. Lack of food would cause that, and food was in short supply in some lands, she'd heard.
"Can I ask how old you two are?"
" 'Leven"
"You sound very smart for eleven."
"You don't believe me. " Her head slammed the table, face-down, "No one does."
"Actually, I do. It's okay. No one tends to believe me, either, when I say things. I tell others about the Home, and and how it's Safe Place, and people think I'm making it up, somehow. My name was almost Cassandra."
Luna looked curiously, not recognizing the name, "Who is Cassandra?"
Celestia explained in a classic 'I'm explaining to my sister' voice, "Cassandra had the ability to see the future, but if she told anyone about what would happen, they wouldn't believe her." She turned to the pegasus, "You're the first one I've met who knew of Cassandra. How did you know?"
"Well, we have a big book of mythology; would you like to see it? We can learn about Theseus and the Minotaur, and -"
"YAY!" they chorused together, front legs raised high.
"BUT you'll have to keep it down out there. Other ponies are trying to sleep."
"Sorry," Celestia whispered. Luna stuffed her front hooves in her mouth in a rather adorable manner.
"And maybe you'll tell me your story afterwards."
"Maybe ..." Celestia looked dejectedly at the ground, mood completely changed in an instant. Shouldn't have suggested it.
"Or not if you don't want to. Or later, if that. But know that whatever your story is, this is the Home, and everything that word means. Whatever you say or do, whatever you've said or done in the past, (she'd known others feeling horribly guilty about stealing food, poor dears.) there is nothing in your story that can stop this from being a Home for you. You are cared for here. You are accepted here. And nothing you can ever say or do will ever change that," she was stopped by the Oomph of a rush of air, as the little Luna glomped her lower half in a hug.
"Love you," she said.
The pegasus returned the unicorn's hug, "I love you, too. I love all my little ponies."
All in all, it was a perfect first welcome.
* * *
"I am given to understand there are Unicorns who have arrived in your orphanage?"
"Small children, yes."
"They are likely spies. They will share tactical knowledge with their ... kind." The pegasus guard appeared as if he wanted to substitute a different word there, a more malicious one, but decided not to at the last second, as there were children present.
"I'm not kicking them out. They are children."
"On the contrary, you must keep them in. They shall not be able to report what they have already learned. See that they do not escape." With that final order, the pegasus guard did a stunningly perfect turn, and paraded out the door into the dawning sun as if he were an entire platoon, and not a one soldier Just Following Orders from an equally clueless bureaucrat. Homeshine finally let her breath go that she didn't even know she was holding. Well, time to check on her new … prisoners? Sheesh. She did not understand the military mind, but … they were at war. Perhaps they knew better than her.
Homeshine had belonged to Home as a filly. Home was the only home she had ever known. She'd inherited it from the previous caretaker, and doubtlessly one of her charges might prove particularly special and inherit it in turn. She looked once again at the heading etched over the door, golden in the sunrise, and golden in her heart. It had softened her tears when she was no more than her Ponies' age. And it still softened them now.
And, by golly, she meant every word of it.
"Wakey Wakey
Rise and Shine
Shake a leg
The weather's fine!"
Matronly Homeshine called out to the sleeping pegasi. The well-rehearsed assembly line of the morning had begun, with the occasional inevitable hiccup. The Pegasus bus would be here at dawn to take the little ones to school. Officially, it was all the little ones who hadn't gotten their cutie marks yet and couldn't fly. Homeshine was supposed to teach the older ones herself.
Today's lesson would include two more: the unicorns. Although they weren't "old enough to fly", (as much as such a phrase means for unicorns), there was no way they would be able to walk on the clouds up in Pegasopolis, even if their lack of wings could be explained somehow. They would simply need to stay with her. If questioned, Homeshine planned to claim they already had their cutie marks, and were therefore in her dominion.
Although why had they gotten their cutie marks so early? The question was in the back of her mind as they thought over breakfast cereals and toothbrushings. It must have something to do with their obviously high intelligence. Were all unicorns this smart, or were these two simply unusually gifted? She'd wondered how she would educate them before, but they would undoubtedly do fine alongside the older children.
"No, you can't hurry someone in the bathroom, wait your turn." Doing one thing at once was a luxury Homeshine couldn't afford. She was used to thinking about twelve things at once. "Is everyone ready for the bus?" She needed to introduce the unicorns to the others first, or at least the other older children.
Finally, the pegasus- drawn bus landed, and all the smallest of little ones filed on. Finally, the chaos was over for another day.
"Luna? Celestia?" The youngest was said first, as that would make her feel special. Generally, siblings were introduced the other way around. "I have some new friends for you to meet."
School was always done in the orphanage's makeshift classroom. It helped the children concentrate when there was a room specifically for that purpose. Homework for the littlest ones was done there, too; it made them feel more 'grown up'.
"This is Luna and Celestia. They're sisters."
"What happened to your wings?" A pink pegasus said, astonished.
"We are also unicorns." Celestia deadpanned, "Miss..."
"I'm a colt." The pink pegasus looked down at his right hoof, making small circles in the fabric of the carpet. "I know pink is a rare color for colts. And my name is …" he grumbled for a second "Pink Punch. Call me Punch. Don't you dare call me Pink!"
"I'm Integer Switch" the dark blue pegasus said.. "I'm good at math, if you need help. I seem to be the only one that is actually good at it. I can help you, if you want."
"I like you already," Celestia responded. She noticed that Integer Switch's glasses were almost the same shade as Homeshine's pale, light blue coat color, rather than Integer Switch's more dark hue. "Are those Homeshine's glasses? They're her color."
Integer blushed slightly, getting out naught but "yeah...", shyly.
Homeshine answered the question for her, "Integer's glasses arrived broken, so I loaned her mine. She needs them more than I do, anyway."
"I'm basically blind without them," Integer Switch confessed.
"See? Everyone is different." Homeshine summarized. "Switch is good at math, and needs glasses. Punch is a colt. And Luna and Celestia are unicorns. Respect your differences. I don't want to see anyone made fun of here. This is a safe place. Home goes both ways; treat the others nicely."
* * *
"The first derivative of the sine of x is the cosine of x," Celestia answered Homeshine's question.
That tears it, Celestia had gone all the way through the math book. She was firmly in integer Switch's territory, now. "What do you normally study at your school?" Homeshine asked.
"Magic, but you're probably kinda not good at that," Celestia put a hoof over her mouth to stifle a giggle. She looked down at the discarded math book and sighed "I sometimes wish I was a pegasus like you guys. Then you could teach me to fly out of here. It was a long walk from …" Celestia trailed off.
"Hey, look at me," Homeshine said. "Never ever ever feel guilty about what you are. I tell Punch the same thing. And Integer can barely see, poor dear. We all have our specialities. You two are really good at math, be glad of that. Some of the children really struggle with it, just as Integer struggles with seeing, as some of them struggle with reading. Everypony has a struggle."
* * *
Perhaps not surprising in trade for increased intelligence, the unicorns had almost no stamina. Homeshine had tried to get them to play a ground-based game in the after-lunch recess, so Luna and Celestia could play, too, but even that was too much activity, reducing them both to exhausted panting heaps, albeit smiling exhausted panting heaps, judging by the broad grins on their faces. Homeshine left the two older pegasi to flying practice laps, in order to give the fillies a proper tour by the light of day.
"You've seen the kitchen, of course, and the schoolroom. This is the rumpus room, although if you want anything truly rumpus, you should do it outside,"Homeshine smiled as the fillies laughed at that. She didn't think it would be a problem, but you never knew. Speaking of... "Also, I want to warn you about the bridge over the canal. The thing is ancient and won't support even a pegasus's weight, let alone a unicorn."
Celestia thought for a second, "Isn't that the road to Pegasopolis proper? At least, the landed bits?"
Homeshine nodded, "Yes, but since the addition of the school bus service, no one needs to go over it over who can't fly, so it's fallen into disrepair. All efforts are going towards the war against..." Homeshine stopped.
"Us." Luna looked down. "We overheard the guard telling you not to let us leave. Is that why we mustn't cross the bridge? We have to stay here?"
Oh, what they must have thought. Homeshine quickly replied, "No, no. I would never lie to you. And where else would you go? If you have family somewhere, I'd certainly take you to them."
Luna looked backed up, hey eyes clinched questioningly, "Even if you're not supposed to?"
"Even so. You're more important."
"What if... what if we don't want to leave?"
"Then you can stay. Come, I'll lead you upstairs to your room. You got here quite early, so you must be tired. You'll need to share; we have many rooms, but never enough, I'm afraid."
* * *
One of the downsides to going to bed in the middle of the afternoon is waking up early in the morning. The sisters were whispering to each other conspiratorially.
"What do you think of this place?" Celestia asked Luna.
"Homeshine seems nice. And the other students."
"But the guard Pegasi didn't seem to like us," Celestia replied. "We're not like them."
"She doesn't care. And that's all that matters."
"I want to see what's across that bridge," Celestia said. "I should know why they're so against us crossing it. Come on."
* * *
Celestia remembered Homeshine's words to stay off that old rickety bridge. 'It wouldn't do for someone who couldn't fly to try crossing it, it's due to break any day now.' But was the warning real? The bridge certainly SEEMED sturdy enough, although it was very creaky. She was determined to cross it, anyway.
"See? No problems," Luna jumped up and down on the bridge as it creaked, making it even creakier, and creakier, and ... creakier.
"No!" Celestia shouted and dived towards Luna in a leap even Celestia herself didn't know she was capable of, splatting directly into her sister, towards the other side.
And with a crack, and terrifying screech, the bridge accordion-ed in on itself, and fell into the gorge.
"Wow. Homeshine was right." Luna admitted. "Thank you for saving me. I would be down there... but... you could have been down there, too, if you'd missed. And it would be my fault..." Luna's eyes got wide.
"It was kind of instinct," Celestia admitted, "and I couldn't let anything happen to my sister. If I had to die to save you, well, so be it."
"Don't do that; I'd risk my life to save you, too." And with that, Celestia noticed an eerie white glow that was engulfing them both, more visible in the dark of the night. It was as if they were getting their cutie marks, but they'd gotten their cutie marks already. Were they getting a second? As the glow subsided, they looked at their flanks. No, only the one cutie mark was there, but...
They had wings.
"I'm a pegasus," Celestia said breathlessly stroking her newformed downy wings. They tickled and tingled. Amazing. Was that how she managed to dive across the entire bridge at once? Did she glide? Did they appear as she realized her devotion to other ponies? Was it some kind of mix?
They were interrupted by Homeshine streaking to their side like a meteor, faster than they'd ever seen her, "Are you okay?! Please tell me they're okay."
"We're fine, but, well... now you can teach us to fly."
Homeshine smiled, even wider "I would love to. Just … in the morning, okay?"
"And I still have a horn! I'm … both? Oh, Princess Platinum is going to KILL me!"
"You're related to the leader of all the unicorns?! Oh, that would explain why the guards were so eager to keep you from escaping.
"Oh, it also means These Two are next in line for the unicorn throne.
"Oh. Oh. OH!
.
"oh...."
Celestia and Luna sat at the kitchen table with thermometers in their mouths. Well, they didn't have a fever. Homeshine frowned down; It was the first time the two no-longer-unicorns had seen Homeshine without her perpetual smile. She was talking half-to-herself, "Should I take you to the doctor? And tell him what?" Finally, she looked Celestia straight in the eye. "Alright. Start talking. I don't want to punish you, so I need you to be honest with me. What happened out there?"
"I'm sorry." Celestia pulled out her thermometer, broke her gaze, and looked straight down. "I thought you were hiding something from us, and I realized too late that I should have just trusted you. You've been nothing but kind to us."
"Which is why I'm especially disappointed right now. I put my reputation with the Guards on the line to take you in, and I had only one requirement. And you managed to violate that."
Celestia flinched as if the words physically struck somehow. "I'm so very sorry. I misjudged you. I shouldn't have been so suspicious. Is there anything I can do? Maybe we can rebuild the bridge, or something?"
Homeshine finally smiled again. "No. I'm not worried about the bridge; I'm more worried that you two didn't trust me; that I couldn't trust you. Why does no one believe when I say things?"
Celestia chuckled at that, finally bringing a smile back to her face.
Luna responded, "Well for us... Unicorns are very practiced at castle intrigue; saying exactly the right things to exactly the right people to be polite. Celestia thought … there was something in Pagasopolis that would help with..." She looked to Celestia, and their eyes met, sharing an unspoken conversation between sisters.
Celestia broke the gaze with Luna, "You tried to save us, and weren't keeping anything from us; we trust you now. I need to tell you a secret. There's … something we can do."
"Oh?"
"It's hard to explain. We have to show you."
Celestia and Luna hopped off their chairs, leaving their discarded thermometers on the table, and walked over to the small kitchen window over the sink, through which the full moon was visible. They stood in front of it, and locked their two horns together like sword-fighters preparing for a bout.
Homeshine wasn't as familiar in the ways of magic as a unicorn would be, but she did know a few things from her many books. Pegasus weather magic was standard issue, and unicorn magic was increasingly better-researched due to the war against them. She recognized this as a twincast. It allowed for a much, much MUCH more powerful spell than either pony was capable of separately, but required the two casters to be close enough to cast precisely the same spell, timed perfectly synchronously, in exactly the same way. Some weather ponies could make lightning in a precision flying formation, but it required months of intense training until they could essentially think each other's thoughts. For two untrained adepts...
No wonder they got their cutie marks at the same time.
Just as it appeared that the twincast had failed and nothing was happening, the moon set and the sun ... rose. A fast-time spell? Well, that was impressive. Homeshine looked over to the clock on the wall, which still read four in the morning. What? But that would imply …
No. It wasn't possible.
In sixty seconds time, the sun had rose to a full noon height, and then set again. The moon retook its rightful place in the window, exactly where it started.
The sisters turned to look at Homeshine, eyes wide, and their arms around each other for comfort, afraid of her reaction.
"Well. How were we winning this war? The unicorns could simply plunge the planet into eternal night until their demands were met. Or eternal day, and grow all the food they wanted."
The girls looked each other in the eyes, Celestia spoke first, "We're the only ones who can do it. We're the only unicorns who are... that close with each other. Most of the other unicorns are very … suspicious of each other."
"And we're pwodigy.... prodigies," Luna added. "We're the best at magic. We're the personal students of Auntie... Princess Platinum herself."
"And it's not really a hard spell as you would think." Celestia said. "You don't move the sun or the planet; you simply change the time of day. That way you're enchanting the Cosmic Clock, rather than anything actually inside the universe."
"I thought of it," bragged Luna, "but I needed my big sister's help." The two hugged, basking in the memory of it. "We'd only done it once before, right before we … had to leave."
This was becoming clearer.
"Let me guess, the others wanted to use you as a weapon of war, rather than children, who needed to be protected."
Celestia and Luna excitedly nodded in perfect tandem. It was cute. Luna started, "Auntie Platinum helped us escape when the King and Queen disappeared."
Celestia finished, "She brought us near here, on the border. She said no unicorn place would be safe; we'd be recognized instantly."
"I think you were still recognized. Although, perhaps not anymore with those wings."
They twirled around, chasing their own tails, trying to get a good look at them. Celestia spoke first, "I wanted to help my sister. I felt so guilty dragging her along into danger based on my suspicions. She spoke very highly of you, and I talked her out of it. I failed her, and wanted to make it right so very much."
Luna continued, "I wanted to help MY sister, I wanted to cast a spell, any sort of spell that might help.. This new spell was in the same place as the moon was."
Celestia picked up after that, "Yeah, the spell in the Cosmic Clock. Well, I did always want to be a pegasus, and help my sister escape... all of this." She trailed off.
"Cutie mark magic," Homeshine responded, "The kind I know best. You wanted to help others, your sisters, the whole world; it's your special talents, and you believe in it so strongly you got your cutie marks in record time, and can do it strong enough to change the cosmos itself when you want to help bad enough.
"Let me get you a mirror," Homeshine interrupted herself, "So you two can stop twirling in place."A power failure cut the looky-look short as all the lights went out. "Well, this again. And some candles, as well."
She was only though half a dozen of them before the incoming blur of Pink Punch started snuffing them out, one by expedient one, "Burning burning. Smell burning."
Homeshine blew out the candle she had just lit before it even took, "Oh, I am so sorry, Punch. I'd forgot."
The sisters' horns glowed, replacing the light levels, revealing Punch sobbing on a kneeling Homeshine's shoulder, who was patting his back and trying to comfort him, "It's okay. There's no burning here. It's all out."
The sisters looked at each other, the shadows in the kitchen moving abruptly every time one of their heads moved, taking the light source with it. Celestia's yellow; Luna's a deep blue.
"What-" Celestia started.
"Punch is afraid of fire. He's a recent arrival at Home, after his old home was... lost in a bombing. I didn't think. We haven't had a rolling blackout since he arrived."
Punch was, of course, followed by every single other student at Home, who had to be similarly comforted by Homeshine, and put back to bed. "It's not an attack, just a power outage. Go back to sleep, the power might even be on by morning. And if not, we get the day off of school!" That, at least, calmed their fears enough to restore normality, and they went back to sleep, finally including Punch, Celestia, and Luna.
* * *
Sadly for the students, the power was restored and school did resume the next day, leaving Homeshine to teach the promised Flying Lessons, which the sisters tried to make up for in heart what they lacked in skill. "You're thinking like unicorns, not pegasi; you're not planning a step-by-step elaborate plan to get to your destination. Simply veer in a general direction. It doesn't have to be right or wrong, it doesn't have to be useful, just move in the way the wind makes you feel. It's more like dancing than swimming. What's your favorite song?"
Celestia matter-of-factly said., "Haydn Cello Concerto Number 1 in C-Major. The castle orchestra plays it all the time."
Homeshine paused. "Um." She scratched her head with one wing. "Don't give me some pre-decided 'correct' answer. What's your real favorite song? What's your secret pleasure? What do you sing when no one is watching?"
The two sisters looked at each other. Luna spoke in a tiny squeak, almost as if it were a question, "Yellow Submarine?"
"So sing it as you fly, and as you fly, dance to it. Fly loops. Fly fast. Fly slow. Fly however you want, not what the 'correct' answer is. You fly with your heart, not with your head."
"But," Celestia protested. "How can we do that if we can't even fly in a straight line?"
"Trust me. Try it. I think you'll be surprised."
And they were.
Safety
"You led them here. You led them Home!" It was Homeshine's turn to put hoof-marks in Commander Hurricane's desk.
"The distraction gave the rest of our citizens a chance to escape. With the unicorns focused on the Platinums, their missiles weren't targeting the city. We were able to move it off successfully."
"I want my glasses back."
"What glasses?"
"Switch is wearing my glasses, as hers arrived broken. She couldn't see. You know she's blind without them."
"Why didn't you requisition another pair?"
"I did."
"If I'd seen a requisition for glasses for my daughter, I would have granted it."
"But you didn't. I ordered new glasses for me. Which you denied. Just like you brought up your daughter and left my Home to take the fireball. You lied to me. You don't lie to friends. You lie to enemies. You lie to hurt them."
"It was a sound strategic decision."
"You backstabbing … Unicorn." Homeshine was glad the sisters weren't there to hear that.
In response to that, he got deadly calm. He inhaled like a bellows furnace making steel. Homeshine had never seen him so mad before. That word had made her point more strongly than a thousand others.
"Speaking of, turn over the unicorns. They are no further use to us."
"No, Sir. They escaped in the explosion."
"You were ordered not to let them escape."
"We were kind of on fire at the time."
"Insubordination. That's grounds for arrest."
"Then I am under arrest."
The blast furnace completed its breath back out again as they stared across the desk at each other in the Battle of The Desk, the most telling battle of the war.
Commander Hurricane retreated for perhaps the first time in living memory. "Your glasses will be returned to you. Seeing as you are no longer the matron of the home, you are relieved of duty until it is rebuilt elsewhere. Dismissed.
* * *
"I like your glasses," Celestia said helpfully, once Homeshine was back on the ground with all of her other personal possessions in her saddlebags. What was hers and what was Home's? The two had been intertwined all her life; it was strange to think about them as separate entities.
Homeshine walked up to the plaque above the door, with the letters written in Gold. She carefully pried off the board and placed it in her bags in a place of honor. It was going with her, "I'm taking this. And no one is stopping me."
Luna looked up curiously, "What are we doing now?"
"We're going to see your aunt and show her you're okay, Luna and Celestia Platinum."
* * *
The saddlebags hid their wings, but there was no explaining Homeshine's lack of a horn. Homeshine planed to come up with an explanation before one was needed. But thankfully, there was too much running around in Unicornia for anyone to look at them twice.
Unicornia, like Pagasopolis, was relying on the strategy of constantly moving around as a defense against attack, albeit using teleportation instead of clouds. When combined with the castle-built-into-a-freaking-mountain architecture they'd borrowed from the Earth ponies, there were pretty impregnable to any large-scale areal bombardment.
But Homeshine had never seen so much running around! There was absolutely no attempt at security. Not a single store was open, but everyone, everywhere was franticly focused on construction. From the tiniest of children to the oldest of elders, not a single head could be spared.
"What's going on?" Celestia asked the first person who managed to stop long enough to go around them, rather than barge right through.
"You don't know? The final teleportation."
"The FINAL teleportation?" Homeshine asked, arching one eyebrow.
"You need to report to our section leader. I can't spare the time!" With that, he grabbed up a hammer and some nails and started frantically nailing little silver disks into the side of a building.
Homeshine, Celestia, and Luna looked at each other. Celestia spoke first, "With no other option, we should find this person."
Luna asked the hammering stallion, "Where might we find this section leader?"
He stopped hammering but a second to point in a direction, then resumed hammering, "Clover the Clever."
Celestia and Luna gasped at hearing the name. Seeing Homeshine's questioning eyes, Celestia explained, "Clover is Princess Platinum's right hoof vizier," they ran off towards the castle with Homeshine in hot pursuit.
* * *
Ordinarily, she would have glided instead of ran such a distance, but Homeshine didn't want to unfurl her wings in a Unicorn city. It would certainly attract unnecessary attention. Luckily, those running around the castle recognized Celestia and Luna immediately.
"Oh, Princess Platinum and Clover will be so happy to see you! They'll be down as soon as the Final Teleport is complete." Said a rather ancient janitor, carrying around a binful of silver disks in a repurposed mop bucket, with the mop still sticking out of it.
Homeshine asked "What teleport?"
Celestia asked "What are these things everyone is nailing to the walls?"
"Spell focuses. For the teleport. You know, the one that will teleport all of Unicornia to another dimension? We got the idea from Luna and yer spell. The Princess and Clover the Clever are casting it even now."
With a lurch, everything in the castle shook. Little silver-colored disks jangled in place, occasionally falling from the walls like hailstones. The four of them ducked under a 20-seat dining room table to escape the rain of debris.
"Yes, I recognize the spell. But on such a scale." Celestia looked around her, wide-eyed. "I can feel the connection to the cosmic clock. We're moving sideways against it.
The janitor nodded, "The Pegasuses and Earth ponies can fight over Earth. We're going someplace else.
Homeshine grinned "The pegasi had the same idea, although not as drastic. I wonder if the Earth ponies, too..." Homeshine stopped.
"What?" Luna asked, "Are you okay, Homeshine? Did a focus hit you?"
"Pegasopolis will be too close. They'll be teleported along with Unicornia."
"What are you youngsters sayin'?" The janitor asked, and with a final, silver-rain-generating bone-startling clatter, the rumbling ceased.
Cautiously, the four emerged from the table, looking around them at the carpet of bedazzling disks. "Well, I guess we don't need these, anymore." The janitor said, tumping them back in the mop bucket. Luna and Celestia enthusiastically helped.
"Celestia?! Luna?!"
"Auntie!"
What could only be the regal Princess Platinum ran over and gathered them in a teary hug. "I thought I'd never see you, again. We'd put the teleport off as long as we could. When we found out where they were keeping you prisoner, we thought you'd escape, but you never showed as you were supposed to! Oh, how I missed you!"
The patter of happy tears on the carpet was softer then the tintinnabulation of disks, but it was more audible in the soundlessness of the room around it.
"Thank you so much for returning them safely. You're done your empire a great service, miss..."
"Homeshine."
"Wait … you are not a unicorn, GUARDS! I don't understand. Are you asking for a ransom?"
"No. I'd rather not be arrested, though. I ask only for time to explain."
"Perhaps we can give you that. I demand an explanation! Imagine, an airheaded pegasus."
"But auntie, we're pegasi, too." And with that, Luna shed her saddlebag and unfurled her mighty wings. Celestia followed suit.
Princess Platinum, leader of all the unicorns, fainted dead away.
* * *
"Why is it still cold? Even if the Pegasuses followed us, their spell should be limited to the old dimension."
"The pegasi aren't casting this. We were told you unicorns were."
"That's absurd. Why would we kill our own food supply?"
Celestia stopped, horn lit with intense magic, "It's not. No one is casting it." Luna's horn sparked in tandem. They were casting their spell, but it was ... different.
"What do you mean?" Clover the Clever was the world's foremost authority on magic theory, just as Starswirl the bearded was the foremost authority on magic practice. When Clover spoke, unicorns listened..
And when Clover listened, well...
Celestia continued, still lit like a fireworks show as her analysis completed, "We are causing this with the war. The three pony tribes each focus an aspect of the cosmic clock. Unicorns are the masters of thought and logic, of mathematical exactness, propagating the cosmos from one tick to the next with perfect accuracy. Pegasi are masters of the weather and the sky, of the flow and ebb of the seasons, of the eternal cycle of creation. Earth ponies focus the power of life itself! of family and togetherness, of society. The same spell that sustains us is destroying us. We physically cannot be separated as we were becoming. Look what happened when we tried this teleportation spell, the cosmos itself conspired to bring us back together. That's why the windigos pull all the energy out of the world, like two gears grinding together, it jams the system."
Clover the Clever absentmindedly sucked on one hoof, lost in thought. "That does seem to match the magical detritus from the cosmic clock spell. I'll have to explain it to the Princess; she's off to yell at the other tribes. I'm not sure she'll believe it. But having a pegasus return the girls... just maybe. What could we possibly give you in trade?
"I've seldom known a Home. It pains me to see ponies without. I don't suppose we could find one for all the children traumatized by the war? I know that's a tall order, but I've been told thinking big is my specialty."
"Starswirl has been doing research into a spell called Limbo. It's a magical location outside of space and time. I think he could do something for you."
* * *
"Hello," Homeshine says. "Are you hungry? Thirsty? Most everyone is. What can I give to you?" She fidgets, straightening her glasses with one wing. "This is Home, and everything that means. Everything. It is also your Home now."
And it is.
"Well, we've never had a snow day that was delaying summer break before."
The kids loved it, though, the day off school (The last day of school was tomorrow. Really, weather ponies?) snowball fights, and building a snow-pony.
The weather ponies swore up and down that they weren't responsible; that it was something called 'windigos', and must be some unicorn spell, but Homeshine wasn't sure she believed that. The other pegasi were all too ready to believe it, though. Some of the remarks concerning the unicorns were atrocious. Homeshine was glad the former-unicorns weren't going to flight school; they would have gotten into so many fights by now from what the other students were discussing about 'unicorn treachery' . Homeshine was almost ready to, and she didn't even have the excuse of being that age. Ugh.
The current strategy was to simply pretend the sisters were ordinary older pegasi, like Integer Switch and Pink Punch. Homeshine simply had them wear a hat whenever anyone was over, to hide their horns, and that was pretty much that. She didn't know what the long-term plans the Powers That Be had for the children, and was starting to question whose side she would be on when it finally decided. She couldn't simply hand them over, but she couldn't put the other Little Ponies in danger. It was a question that would be hard to solve when the time came. But for now, snowball fights were immeasurably preferable to the horrors of the real War before her.
"What do you mean there are no food shipments?" Homeshine demanded of the guardspony who replaced what ordinarily would have been a food caisson convoy.
"The sudden frost killed the newly-planted crops; new ones must be laid down, and food is already scarce as it is. Also, the Earth ponies have refused all food trade shipments whatsoever, due to war, a sound strategic decision."
Oh yes, no matter what, we have to admire sound strategic decisions over those actually starving. "And what are we going to eat?"
The guard handed over a piece of paper, saying "Here is a strict ration schedule. 680 kilo-calories per day. Until October. The new harvest should be adequate to replenish the stocks then, if we haven't won the war first against the mud ponies."
They were talking about winning this war six whole months ago. And we're not any closer to it now than we were then. "These are children. They need more food to grow. There's no way to prioritize more?"
The guardspony simply shrugged "You can't farm clouds. Perhaps something will grow down here in the shade," and with that, he turned and left, duty followed to the letter. With all of the times Homeshine had told her unicorns to think like a pegasus, she was starting to feel the opposite, thinking like a unicorn; less reliance on duty and strategy, more regard for individuals. Then again, from what she heard about the unicorn clans constantly backstabbing each other, she wasn't sure their way was any better.
Homeshine dutifully posted the ration schedule on the fridge. It was ironically appropriate, somehow.
* * *
"You can have mine," Luna offered her dry cereal bowl to Homeshine, realizing that Homeshine didn't have one.
"No, you eat it. I'm thinking." The milk had gone first. Then the juice. At least the water was still running. She would need to think about rain barrels in case that, too, had problems. And even under the overcast sky, some things would grow. Perhaps zucchini? That grew fast and plentifully. Where would we get seeds? Did Celestia know any growing spells; or was that an Earth Pony thing? Homeshine looked up. All the other students were staring at her. "What?"
"You don't have any." Punch said. They weren't going to eat until she did, were they? Homeshine dutifully poured herself a bowl of cry cereal and absentmindedly snacked on it while she pondered. At the last, that got the other children eating.
And this was one week; there was no way they would last six months. Even on 680 kilo-calories per day.
* * *
"Moving the entirety of civilization. That's your great plan? Well, Homeshine, you certainly think big. I guess size does matter."
"It's a firm strategic decision," Homeshine lay her plans on Commander Hurricane's desk. "A substantial portion of our infrastructure is in the clouds. We move everything up here and simply move the cloud somewhere else. We can then grow food below, and expand without getting into constant conflicts with the other races."
"Yes, we just move the cloud somewhere else. That will be easy."
"Your sarcasm is unbecoming. It will work, and it's our only choice, and you know it."
"And just run away? What about the honor of the pegasi?"
"What about my students' hungry mouths? Integer Switch is your daughter, isn't she? You want her going to bed hungry every night? You want to stunt her growth so bad she can't be in the military? You want all flying lessons cancelled to save calories?"
He smashed the desk so hard his metal horseshoes left little indentations in the table. But she had him! They both knew it.
…
"Dismissed."
* * *
Homeshine packed canned food into boxes while supervising all the others, some of who required more supervision than others, "Pack the food first. Then, everything else as we have space. Blankets, lamps. More blankets? Punch, that's too many blankets for one box."
"WHY IS IT SO COLD?! It's July!"
"Well, it will be warmer where we're going."
"Tartarus" Celestia mocked. "Unless it's frozen over, too."
Homeshine laughed. She had to admit it was funny. "Keep only what you need for tonight. Everything else goes on the cloud cart. We move out in the morning. Punch, where is Switch?"
"Her father sent a chariot to collect her for the VIP shuttle. Commander Hurricane's orders."
Of course he did. He funded Home to keep the children out of harm's way. Don't fetch them back up with no notice, putting them right back in that way again. Why didn't he trust her? Bu she had other things on her mind.
The packing went into the wee hours; still, she didn't know how she would get to sleep that night, although they could sleep in the morning she supposed. Children didn't go to sleep well even in the best of times. And this was not the best of times, so perhaps a bit of tiredness could do them good. Her mind wouldn't stay quiet. She wondered about everything. Should she have packed the rain barrels? Why is commander Hurricane so grouchy to deal with? Should she have presented this plan in the first place? Would it work? And …
What was that noise?
It didn't sound like anything she'd ever heard. As if someone was killing a slinky. Was Celestia and Luna casting their night-to-day spell again? Homeshine went to the window, "I'll have to tell her to stop doing that …"
This had to be a nightmare.
It was a fireball, but it wasn't the sun.
It was aimed at her.
Homeshine moved faster than thought, on instinct.
Ran down the stairs
jumped over the side
fell the last half-story
Luna, Celestia's, and Punch's room
"Wake Up!"
next room, the little one's dorm.
No more time.
Homeshine could feel the fireball strike Home from her bones to her feathers. Everything vibrated. Time resumed. "We've all had fire drills. Let's go. Outside." At least the cold had let up some, or maybe that was simply the radiant heat from the fire.
The littlest of little ones made it out. Also Luna, and Celestia. "Where is Punch? No. Oh, God no."
Punch was curled up in a ball in the entryway, too traumatized by the fire even to escape it.
Homeshine was fast. But Celestia was faster. Before Homeshine had gotten halfway to the door, Celestia and Luna had already gotten to the door, balanced Punch between them, and were on their way back out.
They deposited Punch in front of Homeshine, still curled up. The radiant aura of the Cutie Mark magic still emanating from them in its final sparks.
"Don't worry. We got 'em" Celestia said to Homeshine as her horn got longer and slenderer.
The same happened to Luna as she chimed in, "I don't know if Pegasi are really light, or becoming a pegasus made us really strong, but he was much easier to move than I remember."
Homeshine knew what had happened. "Becoming a pegasus doesn't make you physically stronger, but becoming an Earth pony does."
The girls looked down as Punch gradually unrolled and looked up at them all, seemingly over his trauma.
Celestia said naught but "Oh."
Luna concurred. "That explains it."
* * *
Home was burning.
They were going to leave it eventually, but still ...
"Who would do such a thing? And why?" Homeshine begged the stars. The stars were silent.
Celestia answered for them, "Because they know we're here. We were the target. Who else launches projectiles? Pegasi drop bombs. Earth ponies invade over-land. Only one of the races uses rockets."
Homeshine realized the logic, "The unicorns. …"
