Rosiad

By the time I saw light again, I could only reluctantly open my eyes. The room around me was very spacious but it was quite dark. There were candles lit around the room. The floor was very lustrous and you could nearly see your reflection on it. As I stood up and tried to walk around, I found it to be quite difficult as if I hadn’t moved for quite a long period of time. My head also hurt a bit, which was barely helped by the way that the room was made, so that every step I made echoed in the distance. After some walking around the empty yet surprisingly tall halls I started to remember the things that had transpired, at least those that I was still conscious enough to remember. Father told us that he basically was going to be forced to go north and that we had to go south to escape the same fate. When that realization came upon me, I felt sick in my stomach, fell to the floor and started crying, and it was like the building was crying with me, as my foalish wailing was drowned out in tears, echoing down the hallway. Mother must have heard me and she came rushing towards me. She didn’t even ask. She hugged me and told me that it would all be fine and that I shouldn’t cry, and then she began crying as well. We were both such a pitiful scene but I felt a lot better doing this than I would have been, if I had bottled it up. We were most likely never going to see pa again and we had to live knowing that. After all, he had given himself up, so that we could have another chance at life, one which only he could then provide. In my mind, he was my hero and my ‘fellow’ ponies were the devils, just like in those fantasy books where the hero sacrifices himself for the good of his beloved ones. Mother must have felt the same. She kept hugging and kissing me and it took some time for us to get up again. Mother was now smiling, a sight which I had longed to see. Her voice was now again joyful and she spoke while being next to me, whilst we were traversing our way around the gigantic building.

‘Rosa this house belongs to one of your father’s friends. He and his wife are almost as peculiar as we are. They are not unicorns like us, but thestrals. Despite the difference in appearance, we have a lot in common in terms of how we are confronted by the rest of the ponies. That is, in a very unfriendly way.’

‘But isn’t Equestria a nation based on friendship?’

Mother’s face seemed very angry at that instant.

‘Is Equestria a nation of friendship, when it deports thousands of innocents, together with the communists? Along with your- Anyhow, I think not. Not that the communists were any better off of course. If they had appealed to Celestia herself from the start, things would have gone far better. Or, so I think. Point being, darling, that even Equestria is not perfect. No nation is. You may not understand this now, while you are still young, but you will later on. Nations make decisions, but those are barely reflecting what the creatures under them need or want. Not that doing what the people want you to do, is necessarily always the right choice as well.’

I did not understand much of what she said, but I was put off by the face mother was making and she, out of the corner of her eye, noticed it. She smiled again, albeit forcefully.

‘Regardless, all you need to do for now, sweetheart, is focus on perfecting the magic you have been blessed to bear. Many people do not like us for this but we are strong. And you are special in a way. At your age I could have never imagined of doing what you did back home…’

I looked at her with a puzzled face. I did not think that bringing a small plant back to life was such a great achievement.

‘Oh, right. Well, worry not. You have done things that prove you are outstanding and have made me proud, even if you don’t remember them.’

I grinned happily when I heard that.

‘But listen closely. I absolutely do not want you to do anything that will lead you to overexert yourself okay?’

‘Okay, ma. I promise I won’t.’

Inside another large room with a table in the middle there were two figures with very dark purple, or rather greyish purple coats, and weird wings, that were like membranes, rather than feathered, like the pegasi have, for example. I thought they looked weird but nothing more. Most of the ponies in my school were earth ponies and there were some unicorns, too, including myself. I had known some pegasi as well. But never this kind of pony. When we got closer, for some reason, I got weirdly focused on the fluffy ears they had. At any rate I tried to maintain my composure.

‘Ah, so the little one woke up? We are greatly relieved.’

It was the female one that had spoken. I spoke back in confusion.

‘Was I sleeping for that long?’

‘For that long she says! For weeks if not months! You were asleep for so long, we were scared you were badly hurt, when you first came here with your mother. She was the only one, who was certain you were alright.’

The voice of the male one was echoey, so to speak. So was that of the female one, but it was a bit less, as far as I could tell. Mother spoke next.

‘It is an effect of our magic. Normal magic that unicorns use, does consume energy, but not as much as resurrecting a dead body does. Unknowingly she brought a ton of dead plants to life and made them move like living things all over the place.’

‘That must have been quite the spectacle. My husband and I know what happened to your husband and we are very sorry for your loss. He was a great unicorn and teacher and, from what we can tell, a good father as well. But you have to move on. Some things are simply beyond our control. It was the same with our kind when Luna fought Celestia nearly a millennium ago.’

‘Celestia, that tyrant! She will never be forgiven!’, the male thestral exclaimed, loudly.

‘Please, let us not have this discussion now. At any rate, we know that you two would rather be in the light of the sun right now, but, for better or for worse, that’s how we live between our kind.’

‘Ah, we do not mind. It is better for us in the first place. Helps to effectively hide what we are. Besides, we are extremely thankful for the hospitality. I don’t know how else we would have survived. It is really lucky for us that my husband used to teach your foals.’

‘That seems like a long time ago. Our son and daughters have safely moved on, though they come to visit once in a while. They are trying to ‘adapt’ to the rest of the pony society. I will never understand them and their persistence on wanting to make friends out of ponies, who would be elated, if we just disappeared from the face of the world. But they aren’t foals, at least not anymore. It is their lives not ours. I wish they would still visit us more often though. Caves are great, especially when worked so extensively like the ones here, but they can be lonely sometimes, even for introverts like us. Moving all that aside, what do you think you will do now? We went over this when you first arrived here but you must remember that other ponies must in no way know of the symbol you got on your flanks, right? And I am mostly saying this about your daughter, because you have told us you can work around these issues yourself.’

Mother heaved a heavy sigh.

‘I know. I have some spells to keep it hidden for myself, at least for a day or so. For my daughter I thought, if she kept attending school with thestrals, she wouldn’t have a problem, at least for the time being. When she grows older, she will know how to hide it just as I do. After that, I think we may have to move again. I am not fully certain, but we will have to go wherever it will be possible for Rosa to continue her training in magic and necromancy. And I do not think this is possible here in Equestria. We raise the dead. Worse still, we are born with it. Our strength is great, but so is the fear it strikes in the hearts of other ponies. We do not intend on harming anyone, but this is our magic, our nature. The ponies of Equestria, though, have not and will not see it that way. They only see the moving corpses and shout loudly in fear and confusion. We are stronger than they are, in terms of magic, as well. The combination of all that makes us foreign to the common pony. Hence why most of us fled to Griffonia a long time ago.’

‘I fully understand what you mean. Ponies will not think twice about you. You are terrifying to them. At least for those who don’t know how things really are. Equestria is a nation of friendship to those who the majority is comfortable being friends with. The rest are quickly overshadowed and the hatred towards them is covered by the friendship towards everyone else. I am more than glad my husband knew yours. Our kind has suffered much, so we understand how it is. To look ‘evil’ to the pony society of ‘friendship’, yet to mean no harm. And you can be assured your lovely daughter will get enrolled into a therstal school. But you should know they are only teaching us the basics in the usage of the elements.’

‘I know, but I will teach her more advanced necromancy myself. Her potency at normal and elemental magic is increased by the fact that she is a born necromancer. Due to this, she will be able, with limited guidance, to learn most normal and elemental magic, as long as she practices enough. But that she can do by herself and she already had back in our old home. Necromancy on the other hand is only available specifically to us and it needs more than just simple practice. After all, it is a skill that even I have yet to master.’

‘You mean that you have never…’

‘No, at least not yet. I have tried but it didn’t seem possible. I can resurrect bodies, not souls. My husband thought it was possible and he studied the subject extensively in his free time even though he was just a unicorn but not a necromancer, meaning he couldn’t practice this himself. Of course, there was also the problem of “samples”. It is easy to get hold of a pile of bones. But to get hold of a body that has been very well preserved, internally as well, or that has been recently deceased is very difficult if not illegal.’

‘I see.’

I personally was simply hearing words go by right over my head. I was so mesmerized by the fluffy ears of my hostess I was barely paying any attention to the details of the conversation. I think that something about resurrection was mentioned.

‘You like my ears sweetie?’

The mare laughed. That made me come back to my senses.

‘I mean I am not as endearing as I used to be, but you can touch them if you want.’

Everypony broke into laughter then. I felt slightly embarrassed at first, but started laughing as well. I mean, I got to feel the fluffy ears, so all was well that ended well.

Shortly thereafter I was enrolled into one of the thestral schools. To be perfectly honest I felt uneasy at first. I stood out a lot among the thestrals. With the earth ponies I was only separated by my mark. Here I looked completely different appearance-wise. But at least, I didn’t look completely foreign as my coat color was light purple. Furthermore, here I didn’t have to hide my mark. A major inconvenience initially was that I couldn’t fly, like the thestrals. But I learned how to fly with magic. It took a lot of practice, but I figured it out. A teacher at school helped me also. Normally one would use magic to fly via telekinesis, but, since my teacher was a thestral and thus couldn’t teach me that, I instead learned how to formulate wings out of energy in order to fly. I accurately recreated the wings by looking at my teacher’s and then my teacher taught me how to fly. This took a lot longer than it should, because thestrals can naturally use their wings but I couldn’t. However, the end result was worth it and it looked a lot more natural as well. My ‘imaginary’ wings were more purple than my body though, which was odd. The color really reminds me of my father. His skin was coloured in that tone. However, the most important part about the wings was that I could manifest them at will. On the other hoof, I could absolutely not execute any complex maneuvers with them. Flying in a straight line, going left or right are the extent of their usage. Not to mention, they are very demanding in terms of energy and exhausting to use, unless I take breaks when using them. Physically carrying any heavy items is also impossible. I can use magic to hold on to things during flight though. Still, using such magic or any magic for that matter, while in flight, can bring me to the point of collapse in mere minutes. In general, I can fly but it isn’t exactly enjoyable and I can’t do it for too long, unless I fly in a nearly straight course. Aside from learning, I also made a few friends among the thestrals, since here I didn’t have to avoid contact in fear of my mark being discovered, at least not by the thestrals. Among my new thestral friends, there are some that I read books with. However, most of the thestrals my age prefer playing games after nighttime. For a normal pony this would be unpleasant, but I could see in the dark using magic, so it was fine. I also quickly learned about the history of the fourth tribe and it was fascinating to me. I had learned from before the history of Equestria and the well-known facts about the three tribes but my knowledge of the so-called bat-ponies was very limited. At any rate, I felt that the thestrals, while they were not the most talkative kind, were much closer to me than the ponies I had met up to that time.

And so, we lived with our hosts for around two years. They were happy to have us but mother really wanted us not to be a burden, so when she started working again as a writer for a newspaper and made enough money, we moved out to a house on the foot of the mountain, where the cave, or rather mansion, of our hosts was delved. Mother kept close relations with our old hosts though. They were a well-off thestral family, after all. One of the few that had managed to achieve such status within a society extremely hateful towards their kind. The newspaper my mother wrote for was largely owned and operated by them and it was primarily aimed at thestrals. But for the most part it helped thestrals with finding work-meaning work that did not treat them like slaves. It also called for thestrals to report crimes against them to the authorities and there were more than a few to speak of. In other words, there was a lot happening and a lot my mother had to write. I helped her out, whenever she would let me do so. It was the little I could do to repay the time she spared in order to teach me necromancy, time she often had to cut out of her own sleep. I loved my mother and I also looked up to her. Yet, mother always claimed she envied me. She said my capabilities far exceeded hers. In the spring of 1000, I remember that time very well, because it was when I resurrected a plant for the first time, without passing out from the energy I had used. Mother was elated. She hugged me so tight, I passed out. In general, we lived happily, despite all we had to bear in our souls from the past. As our hosts often said, the big heads press their buttons on their big shiny desks and things are supposed to happen. As for what actually happens and the consequences to the common ponies, that is an entirely different thing. We just do what we can to survive and improve. Or in other words ‘The oppressed pony learns that the rich pony doesn’t care for you’. On another note, that same year Luna, supposedly cleansed from the influence of Nightmare Moon, returned to Equestria from her banishment to the moon. Truth be told, the news was received both with joy and skepticism among the thestrals. Our old hosts, specifically, were happy that their goddess had returned but they said that Celestia might have done this to simply appease them and silence any discontent among the thestrals. As for the ponies, meaning Twilight Sparkle and her friends, using the elements of ‘harmony’ to defeat Nightmare Moon, they really didn’t care.

However, two years later, that was in about 1002, something very important did happen that alarmed the thestrals to a great extent. It was an event that shook Equestria altogether, after all, and would have lasting consequences for me and for my mother and for the thestrals. Chrysalis and some of her changelings managed to somehow infiltrate Canterlot. Chrysalis herself put up a masterful performance impersonating Princess Candance and as such managed to drain Shining Armor, the husband of the Princess and leader of the Royal Guard, of his love and thus becoming powerful enough to overpower Celestia. Twilight Sparkle had managed to uncover Chrysalis but by that point, and with Celestia defeated, Chrysalis was able to get her hive to Canterlot to feast in the capital. The Royal Guard was overpowered but Twilight managed to free Candance thus allowing her to use the love extracted on her behalf against Chrysalis and turn her back and also brought Shining Armor to his senses, thus allowing a breach of the magic barrier of the capital, which allowed the Royal Guard in again, who in turn, finally managed to get a hold of the situation. I very fondly remember that article, since I had helped mother out to write it for the newspaper she was working for. It made for a truly intriguing story. But what would be more important, would be the repercussions of the attack. Chrysalis and her changelings were defeated, but who knows how many more changeling infiltrators the bureaucracy of Equestria had in its midst. As I was then in my teens and could understand much more, I could easily comprehend what the whole incident would mean for the ‘undesirable’ races and ponies, like the thestrals. More suspicion and more doubt. After all, how can you trust cave dwelling dark creatures? That’s how the common ponies thought, despite Luna’s best efforts. Officially, ‘tolerance’ was being pursued by Equestria, but those who lived among the thestrals, like myself and my mother, were not blind. Thestrals were being persecuted and actively preyed upon, even more now than before. If a controversial case came up to a court judge and the case was between an earth pony and a thestral, evidence was just scratched on the surface and then the thestral was convicted, with no questions asked. Equestria was not a land of friendship. Instead, it was a land of ponies who pretended to love friendship, so that they could get away with the horrendous crimes they committed! In the larger cities, especially in the poorer suburbs, there were some, though rare, cases of thestrals that were beaten to death by gangs of ponies. As for the police, they just turned a blind eye. They just looked from afar and pretended not to notice it. Sometimes they even participated. And yet it was Stalliongrad, or the Changelings, or the new corrupt government in Olenia or the ‘murderous’ griffons of the Empire, that were the bad war-loving creatures. I feel it is a lot better to, at least, be honest. Yes, most of the griffons in Griffonia hate each other’s guts right now. The Empire hates the Republic. Aqueilia hates the Empire. Wingbardy hates its neighbors and the Empire. The communists north and south, in Skynavia and Prywhen, they hate everyone else. Hellquill hates the ponies of the federation. Longsword is ruled by a bunch of crazy folks. But they are all clear about it. Here in Equestria we hide behind our words. Friends to the creatures it suits us to be friends with. All the rest are scary and detestable. Mother came back every day with new reports on all that. They only made me more irritated. Sometimes, I really wonder if we would have been better off going to Stalliongrad with father, even if, technically, we would have been forced to do that.

‘No, even now Stalliongrad is a mess. Yes, they massively industrialized but ponies are still starving to death there. Let’s not even get into the subject of education. Despite the circumstances we were and are in, Equestria gave you the opportunity to receive an education maybe unparalleled on the continent and also at an affordable price. Not to mention the growing political divide between the supporters of the Supreme Soviet and its opposition in Stalliongrad.’

‘But we would have been with father.’

‘And we probably would have been dead by now.’

I didn’t want to believe that, even though I knew it was the truth. I simply growled silently and kept eating my lunch. Mother turned to me again.

‘We must talk about something, Rosa. And this is very important.’

She had my attention.

‘We may need to move again. I have taught you much, including how to hide your mark and how to conjure even the most complex of spells. We have no reason to be afraid, you certainly don’t and I have ensured of that, but the situation is changing. You can tell, can’t you.’

‘You mean the violence and the articles.’

‘Yes, exactly. Just so you know, while, on one hoof, these events are perfectly true, on the other hoof, they are exaggerated on many occasions. Yes, the thestrals are being oppressed and discriminated beyond measure.’

‘But…’

‘But a lot of it is taken to eleven by many leaders of the thestral communities, who would rather see Luna sorely rule over them than Celestia.’

‘In short, both sides are willfully or unwillfully escalating the situation, is what you want to tell me?’

‘Yes, and I think that Equestria will be tearing itself apart in the near future, while there will be many enemies from without, to prey upon the nation. There is a good reason, that in the end I decided to not send you to any well-known unicorn schools, like the School of Gifted Unicorns, while you very much exceed the skills necessary to get there. It is better for you not to be known much. That’s why I taught you on my own. The problem is that my position makes me known to the society of Equestria, at least among the thestrals and the ponies that stand against them. That is why I have been arranging for you to cross to Griffonia, specifically to the River Republic.’

My eyes widened with fear and anxiety.

‘No, I will not lose you too! I am not going anywhere unless you are coming with me as well! Why? Why must this happen to ME of all ponies! My mark is not a blessing but a curse! I lost my father because of it and now you are sending me away for it!’

I broke into tears but deep down I had a feeling this would happen. I tried to remain as calm as I could in the conversation, thinking that I had to show I was grown up now, but I couldn’t bear the thought.

‘If I am so blessed then why must I always lose those I know and love, to survive by getting away? If this is a blessing then I would rather be cursed!’

Mother opened her mouth, but apparently decided against saying anything.

‘Just say something. Anything!’

‘I don’t have anything to say. I love you, sweetheart, that’s why I want to send you away. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t be doing so. But I know that this is the best I can do. And I have a feeling you know it too. When things break apart, who do you think the Equestrians will go after, if not for the writers of newspapers aimed at the thestrals and the radio stations? Even if things do not break down internally in Equestria, say that the Changelings actually attack in full force someday, do you think that any internal opposing voices will be tolerated? I am literally a target in all of those scenarios. And I am certain that one of those, at the very least, is bound to happen. If I come with you, I pretty much risk your chances of being found out before you can go away, because I am dead certain they are and will be monitoring my movements. And by ‘they’ I do not mean the Equestrian secret services. Those were proven to be defunct, when Canterlot got raided by Chrysalis and her hive. What I mean are the unofficial gangs of ponies who stand against the thestrals, many of whom are in the whole ‘Celestia is our god’ cult. Those are much more dangerous and violent than any Equestrian official. However, in a way, I cannot bring myself to blame them entirely for hating the work I do for the thestrals. After all, through this job I have gotten to know a great many thestrals who, in case of foreign invasion, would rather side with the invader, our old hosts included.’

‘At least try to come with me. If it doesn’t work out then I promise to go on my own.’

My voice had a begging tone to it. I could tell. Mother was hesitant though.

‘Please…’

She hugged me and her warmth was all over my body. I hoped to never have to lose this warmth and even if I had to, I’d never forget it.

‘Yes, I will. I promise.’

‘I love you ma, so much.’