The sunlight illuminated the entirety of Mount Aris, every inch of the mountaintops covered by its warm rays of light. The peaks stood tall amongst the might of the ocean beneath.
Princess Skystar felt the warmth of the sun beating down onto her fur. She lidded her eyes, taking in a deep breath in as she allowed herself to bathe in its wonder.
Skystar felt the misty air flowing all around her. She could feel the grass growing out beneath her hooves. She knelt down to pick up a star lilly with her talon, inhaling the aroma of the flower. Smiling, she trotted serenely, frolicking through the garden area on top of Mount Aris.
She halted in her steps, seeing one of the many monuments of their kind: a statue of two hippogriffs leaning towards the other in comforting and joyful expressions.
Princess Skystar smiled gently, admiring the statues of her history. “I wonder what their story was. Maybe Mom would know, she knows everything!” She quickly covered her mouth, realizing she was being a bit too vocal; she knew how much her mother enjoyed the quieter moments of living up on Mount Aris.
There weren't a lot of creatures that knew about their ancestral home. Princess Skystar could almost hear her mother telling her the importance of not letting strangers know about it, in an effort to keep them safe from outsiders.
Looking out beyond where the statues were, she could see the stairs that led down the mountaintop. Princess Skystar often considered venturing beyond their homelands, but could never fully muster the courage to take that first step.
“I wonder what is all out there, what is Mom so afraid of? Would it really hurt for me to just take one tiny little glance?” she asked herself aloud, though this time her voice was much softer, almost a whisper.
She lifted her front claw to take that first step. Skystar felt her heart pounding rapidly as she felt her talon hit that first step. She hadn’t realized she had closed her eyes in the midst of her inner panic. But nothing bad happened. Was her mother wrong? What if what she was really trying to hide was herself from the world outside…?
Deep breath.
She took a second step. She bit her tongue right as her talon hit the stone. “Owwie,” Skystar whimpered, backing up ever so slightly.
The view ahead was filled with a vibrant mix of blues, the deep dark almost azure-like shade from the ocean, complimenting the much lighter shade of baby blue from the sky. The sunlight made for a warm contrast between the two.
“Woah… I always thought the view from the top was grand, but this is spectacular!” Skystar shouted aloud, jumping into the air, filled with pure joy. Beaming full of light, she didn’t think much more about her mother’s warnings and continued down the stairs, wondering just what all was out there beyond their homeland.
Bounding down the stairs, she finally reached the bottom and the ocean. Princess Skystar admired the ocean; it was both simple and significant. The ocean, to her mother, was a protector who kept out all intruders that might threaten their kind. But at the same time, the thing that kept them away from their own kind was... the ocean.
Skystar found herself immersed in the beauty, captivated so completely in her surroundings that she almost didn’t notice the fog at her feet.
There was a cold nip in the air.
It made Skystar shiver as she stood there silently watching the waves roll over in almost seamless motions. Daring to move forward, she reached her claw towards the shoreline of the water.
The water was almost bubble-like and foamy. Princess Skystar was about to jump right in when she felt another chill at her hooves. She stared down at the sand, wondering why it felt cold.
“Isn’t sand supposed to be hot? Or at least warm to the touch.” She tilted her head back and forth, keeping one talon under her chin.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed a thin haze. She looked, and realized it was a whole cloud of fog forming around her. It wasn't moving up her body, but still managed to smother her up and choke her, making her step back towards the stairs. Giving the sloshing fog another uncertain glance, she made her way back up the stairs to tell her mother what had happened.
“Oh, Mom is gonna be so mad at me,” she whimpered, stopping halfway up the stairs. She stood there for what felt like forever, even though it was only a moment. Her body seemed to clench up, almost refusing to move even if her mind willed it. For just that split second, she felt helpless.
Swipes of what felt like sharp talons grabbed at her legs, almost seeming to try to trap her in where she stood. Yet, when Skystar looked down at her legs, there was nothing there.
“I... felt it. I know it. Aaaaaaaaaahh!” Skystar screamed, and her voice reverberated all through the mountainside; she hoped to reach her mother. She no longer cared about being grounded, whatever this strangeness was; it was far more intimidating than her mother could ever be.
“Mom!” she shouted, continuing to bound up the stairs; but as she pushed forward, it almost felt like she was stuck in one moment. She felt the weight of her talons moving further up the path, yet she still wasn’t making progress towards the top.
The fog circled around Skystar endlessly. She coughed as she felt the very air choke her. Tears welled in her eyes, but she continued pushing forward, inching up the stairs despite the ominous fog trying to hold another prisoner in its grasp. She had to get to Mother. With gritted teeth, she pushed at the invisible barrier and began moving forward.
Deep breath.
Princess Skystar finally saw her mother in the distance and her lips curled upwards ever so slightly into a soft and resilient smile. A sigh of relief escaped from her mouth. Sprinting forward and leaping into the air, she went to tell her mother about the fog. However, as she turned the corner she saw a twisted giant looming over her mother. Quickly she covered her beak and took a step back, gasping aloud. It was the very thing her mother had warned her of, the very reason she was told:
...Stay on the mountaintop.
It was him.
Princess Skystar hyperventilated for what felt like a whole minute but she noticed it hadn’t even been a full second yet. She stoodthere frozen, shaking, unable to even budge. Tears began to fall as she dared to reach a foreleg outwards, her talon reaching forward, desperately wanting to save her mother from this monstrosity.
“I have to try. I can’t just let him win…” Princess Skystar clenched her talon tightly, her face beet red, as her eyes stared at the creature threatening her mother, threatening her sense of safety and belonging. She would not let him win…
My mother, I could... I could lose her. Forever. She dashed forward with all her strength. I won't let you fight alone! Even though she didn't know what she could do, she wanted to do something, anything. Without Mother, she would have to bear the crown. And that thought was even more terrifying than the Storm King.
“Mother!” Princess Skystar shouted, leaping into action without thinking. She reached a foreleg out towards her mother, but her mother didn’t even seem to acknowledge she was there.
For a moment Princess Skystar felt like a ghost, as if she wasn’t really there with her mother. She put a claw to her chest to feel her heart. It was beating rapidly, almost too frantically for her to count each beat.
Sweat dripped down her mother’s face as she struggled to keep her footing against the Storm King. His raw power and sheer finesse was unlike anything Skystar had ever seen before. Taking a gulp of a breath, she charged forward to try and help in some way, even if it was for naught.
Skystar trembled, her entire body stiff, motionless, and heavy. She grit her teeth, trying to rush to her mother, and yet with each push she felt pulled back. It was like tug of war with her own body, which simply refused to function. Her heart sank as she watched the clash between her mother and the Storm King. Trying to get closer, it was like there was a barrier preventing her from ever getting there.
Trapped, helpless, numb.
“No matter how much I try, I can’t move…” she whispered aloud, shivering. She was stuck like a stone statue on a cold night. There was nothing she could do but watch helplessly as her mother fought. Princess Skystar shuddered against herself, holding her arms around her chest, trying to find some solace, some manner of comfort.
She could hear her mother talking about her as she fought. Her words gave her hope, when it felt like there was none.
“I will protect my kind, and I will defeat you. You won’t be allowed to trespass these lands ever again, and if you dare touch my daughter, I will find you in the afterlife. You cannot scare me, you cannot win,” Queen Novo said bluntly.
“Mother!” Princess Skystar screamed.
The silence around her was deafening, choking her. She saw the Storm King’s large figure cackling with maniacal laughter.
“Once I have the pearl in my hands, no creature will be able to stop me. And you, Queen Novo, will be nothing more than a piece of history.”
“You will not defeat me, and it will be you that shall be a piece of history for my kind.,” Queen Novo stated, seeming to stare daggers into the Storm King’s fierce, unwavering gaze.
“Mother!” Skystar cried, trying desperately to reach her, but the more and more she shouted, the further away she was pulled.
Princess Skystar gasped as the air evaporated around her. She felt her light fading, and through her clouding vision she could see her mother fighting for their future, a vicious snarl on her face. Skystar reached out, stretching her hoof as far as she could.
"Mom!" she cried as everything faded to black.
She lunged up from her slumber, hyperventilating. Her bloodshot eyes stared out endlessly at the water surrounding her. She dared to reach out with her fin, to feel the seashell bed where she rested her head at night.
"It was a dream... You're crazy, Skystar," she murmured to herself as she panted for breath. The water enveloping her was dark and murky. Just one look at the dim light around her told her it was still early - still before dawn.
Taking a deep breath in, she tried to calm her pounding heart. Her body shivered as she felt tingly all over.
“None of it was real. It wasn’t real, it wasn’t…” Princess Skystar said, trying to assure herself, feeling her body still trembling from everything. “I have to tell Mom about this.”
Desperate, she arose from her seashell bed and swam haphazardly towards her mother’s cove.
The entire time she worried what her mother might say or think about her dream. “What if she doesn’t believe me? What if she thinks I’m crazy?” she asked herself as she kept swimming deeper into the ocean depths of their underwater home.
She stopped, her teeth chattering. The water was always cool and refreshing, but right now even the comfort of the sea couldn’t calm her nerves.
For a moment, Skystar felt frozen. Gasping, she tried to move forward, trying to inch closer to her mother's cove. However, no matter how much she padded at the water, it was like she couldn't move at all. Was she truly paralyzed?
Skystar tried to move her fins, but every inch of her body felt trapped.
“No! I can’t let this consume me. It’s almost like he’s haunting me…” Even now she shook her head, propelling herself forward. “Mother put us here so we’d be safe, he can’t… surely he can’t find us here.”
She brushed a clump of seaweed out of her path as she felt it attempt to tangle around her body. She struggled against a jumbled mass of kelp as she pushed her way forward, frantically scanning the area for signs of her mother.
Trembling, she saw her mother talking to her servant Jamaal. Gingerly, she approached cautiously, feeling the weight of every step.
“Mom!” she shouted, frantically wrapping both her fins around her, and pulling her against her frame, clutching her tightly.
“What is it now Skystar? How many times…” her mother replied, stoppingherself when she realised how much her daughter was shivering in her arms. She paused as she raised a fin up to the top of her daughter’s head, and lightly patted it. “Sssshh… It’s okay. What in the world has frightened you so?”
"It’s him, mother... the Storm King," Princess Skystar half-whispered as she clung to her mother with all her strength. She could barely hear herself over the loud, irregular thumping of her heart as she shuddered against the warmth of her mother’s body.
“Ssssshh… Deep breaths. It was just a dream. He can’t hurt us any longer. You are safe here,” whispered Queen Novo, holding her daughter in a tight yet comforting manner.
“Mom… I’m terrified. I thought he was going to…” Skystar began, before feeling her mother’s fin on her muzzle. She watched silently as her mother leaned her forehead against hers, putting both her fins to the sides of her face. She didn’t utter a word; she didn’t need to. Skystar let out the stream of tears that had threatened to fall from her face, hiding her muffled cries against her mother’s comforting embrace.
At first, she stared pleadingly into her mother’s eyes. Deep breaths. Her gills flared open, but she retained the water held inside her mouth. She felt her chest tighten as her body gasped for oxygen. Those breathless seconds of panic gave way to clarity. She exhaled.
“You have nothing to be afraid of as long as we stay hidden. Remember, Skystar, I ensured that our kind would never have to fret or fear ever again.”
“But Mom… How do you know?” asked Skystar, her big blue eyes pleading for some sort of solace. If the Storm King had found them once, who’s to say he couldn’t do it again…
“Princess Skystar, I am your mother, and not just that, I am the queen of the hippogriffs. I know what is best for us,” Queen Novo reprimanded whilst keeping eye contact.
Princess Skystar recoiled, her eyes widening with shock at the harshness of her mother’s tone. Trembling, she opened her mouth to speak, but before she could even utter a word, she felt her mother’s stern gaze silencing her.
Her mother sighed, leaned back against her throne, and rolled her eyes. “Skystar… listen to me, there is no danger,” Queen Novo began, noticing the pleading puppy dog eyes her daughter was giving. “There is no Storm King, you had a nightmare. It happens. You need to learn to grow up, I cannot shelter you forever.”
Princess Skystar bit her bottom lip, fidgeting her fins together, tilting her head slightly away from her mother. She’s right, I don’t know why I came here… She doesn’t understand me.
"Of course, Mother. I'm fine," said Princess Skystar. She pulled away and swam towards the shallows. The water was murky there, with glistening, warm beams piercing through its azure surface. Skystar let the currents carry her in endless circles and stared up, wishing…
Endless thoughts clouded her mind. She remembered songs of their heritage; singing and dancing; a life without fear of him.
"I miss it. I miss the joy of others’ smiles and exploring the vast wonder that was our home. This... is this home? I'm no longer sure.
“I want to go back to normal. I’m tired of hiding from everything and everyone.” Princess Skystar said aloud.
The water swirling around her was warm and inviting - some might say magical - but it wasn't home.
“I could go back… There’s nothing stopping me,” Skystar murmured aloud. Yet she hesitated to move even a fraction of an inch.
The current of the ocean began flowing ever so swiftly around her, almost as if wrapping her in its embrace. She could barely hear her mother’s words even now through the mist of her own turmoil. “You have nothing to be afraid of, as long as we stay hidden. Remember, Skystar, I ensured that our kind would never have to fret or fear ever again.”
“Hide from the world, never again to explore what it truly means to be free. Is that what you want for me, Mother?” A gentle trickle of a tear began to roll down her cheeks into the ever flowing current.
Splash.
Just one simple noise, almost too soft to hear, yet the ripple of the water made the circle expand around itself. Skystar found herself staring into it, and beginning to understand. It was clear as day, no matter how hard it might be. She had to move forward. This constant staying still, staying safe underwater, would never truly help her breathe.
“I can’t. Mother would be so mad,” Princess Skystar reminded herself. She couldn’t ever truly be a hippogriff again. There were endless amounts of water to swim through. Shelly and Sheldon were always there to keep her company when she was lost in her own thoughts and her aching and burning desire to start anew raged in her mind.
Princess Skystar aimlessly stared up at the surface, that dim light shining down onto her, inviting her to come closer. To explore a new feeling and a new sense of herself. But she clenched her lips and held her fins together.
Gazing endlessly up at the giant beam of light, she fought against herself.
“I wonder what it’s like up there… I wonder if anyone even remembers us. Are we nothing more than a memory?” Skystar asked herself, while looking to Shelly and Sheldon for some sort of solace.
The shells wiggled in her grasp, shaking back and forth, silently nodding. Shelly and Sheldon’s big googly eyes stared back at her, and for a second it appeared that they blinked. Looking at the two of them, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was some creature out there who might just understand her.
“I know Mother says we are safe as long as we stay hidden,” Princess Skystar said. “But I can’t live like this forever. I have to know…”
Every muscle in her body began to relax even as she struggled to reach the surface. Yet she was set on this now; no matter what, she was going to go to Mount Aris and find who she truly was.
She pushedtowards the surface. With each movement forward, she felt this tingly feeling coursing through her entire body. She trembled and shivered but she pushed forward, her course becoming faster and easier as she finally broke through the water and came up on top, breathing in air for the first time in forever.
The water rippled as she pushed her head above the surface, gasping for air before turning her attention to Mount Aris itself.
Slowly, she gently waded towards the shore, then leapt out of the water. In a flash of light, she transformed into her hippogriff form, landing gracefully on dry sand. The air around her enveloped her in its mist.
Deep breaths.
“I actually did it, I’m on Mount Aris!” Princess Skystar shouted happily, before quickly covering her mouth and dashing behind the nearest rock structure. Cautiously, she poked her head around the area, looking for any signs of the Storm King. She gulped and tried her best to steady her beating heart. For all she knew, he could be stalking her even now…
Just waiting for her to let down her guard.
Carefully, she moved as slowly as possible. Her every step was taken with the utmost caution. As she gazed around the area, she saw the pillars of her ancestral home standing solemnly, almost as if no creature had been here in years.
There was no one around. Not a single sound could be heard. Princess Skystar wanted to feel relieved, yet her body visibly trembled as she dared to take her first steps onto solid ground. She flinched, and turned her attention back towards the water.
It would be easy to just dive back under and pretend she had never even been here.
“That would probably be for the best…” Skystar whimpered to herself. What was she expecting? No creature had been out here for who knows how long. She couldn’t magically expect someone to just suddenly be here. For all she knew, no creature even knew what the hippogriffs were or that they actually still existed.
Skystar turned around, staring down at her own reflection in the water once more.
“Why?” she asked herself. She reached instinctively for Shelly and Sheldon. The two shells bounced ever so slightly in the palm of her talon. It felt different to hold them like this. Their big googly eyes just watched her, almost waiting for her to do something.
“What can I possibly do? There’s no one here. Just pillars… So many pillars,” Skystar stated as she craned her neck from side to side, observing the innermost layout of Mount Aris. Empty, void of sound or comfort. She shivered, her fur feeling slightly matted from the water’s depth.
Walking over to one of the pillars, she admired an image of one of the heroes of her kind. It was sad to think how he had sacrificed himself during the attack on Mount Aris. She instinctively reached out and touched the base of the statue, where his name was forever etched into the stone.
“Oh, Commander Plumegraph, I wonder what you were like. I didn’t really know you well. Mom used to talk about you all the time. I wonder if she still remembers you and the others. Oh, how I wish you didn’t have to leave us so soon,” Princess Skystar said. Her ears perked from an odd sound in the distance. She jumped back from the statue, inching closer to the staircase back down, daring to look down for any signs of anything or any creature…
Scuttling along the stairway was a tiny crab barely two inches tall, with big round eyes that almost seemed to gleam against the sunlight.
“Oh! Hi there, little crab. What’s your name?” asked Skystar.
The crab reached out one of its pincers and poked at her claw, trying to jab her.
Skystar recoiled and glared daggers at the little crab. “Hey! It’s not nice to attack other creatures. I was just saying hello. Sheesh, who knew crabs were so rude!”
The critter tilted its shell at her, before scuttling down the path towards the ocean’s waters.
Princess Skystar sighed and kicked at a random stone in her path. It slowly began its descent down the staircase as she turned around in her tracks.
“There’s nothing up here…” Skystar began, sighing to herself, slowly pushing herself back up to the pillars and the inner cove that led back to the underwater dwellings of her kind. “Why did I think coming up here would make a difference? I… just wanted to make a friend.”
Shelly and Sheldon wiggled in her claws instinctively, almost as if they were jealous they weren't good enough for her.
“No, no it’s not like that, I swear. You both are great. It's just… is it wrong for me to want something more?”
Silence.
“Okay, I get it. I’ll just go back home. It’s clear there’s nothing here to see,” Princess Skystar retorted, eyebrows narrowing as she frowned. Not even the sunlight could bring her warmth.
Skystar began walking back towards the cove, but found herself stopping short of diving in. She felt her entire body hesitate.
“Do I really have to keep hiding? Why can’t I just breathe? I just want to know if there’s something, someone who remembers us,” Princess Skystar said, eyes drooping as she sat down, staring at her own reflection. What kind of princess was she?
“It’s not easy being a princess, I know,” a voice in the distance called out.
Princess Skystar twitched, hurrying to turn around and look around the cave entrance, but there was no creature there. “Oh, of course, now my imagination is playing games with me. No one is here Skystar. Just go back home…” she whimpered, lifting a claw and forcing herself to step into the water’s edge.
“Wait, please. You aren’t hearing things. I have come here to get away from everything. Please, don’t run away. Just breathe.”
Deep breath.
She stiffened, shoulders slacking. How could she know it wasn’t just her imagination again? That voice... It sounded genuine but she had been fooled before…
A slight touch upon her shoulder, a regal golden shoe shining against the side of her face. It was so illuminating that it was almost blinding her. She dared to look back at the pony the hoof belonged to.
Standing there, regal as ever was none other than Princess Celestia. Princess Skystar knew all about the Princess of the Sun and what she meant to the ponies of Equestria, but why was she here?
“Princess Celestia…” Princess Skystar said aloud, stepping backwards into the water, hyperventilating with every step she took.
Princess Celestia’s smile felt as warm as the sun itself. “Princess Skystar, I do believe. It has been quite a long time since I’ve seen one of the hippogriffs. May I ask what brought you out here?” Celestia asked gently, approaching closer to put a hoof on Skystar’s shoulder. “Do not be afraid, I am here. I am not merely an illusion nor a crab.”
“Wait… You know about the crab?”
“Oh course I do, little one. There is much I know about the ponies of Equestria, but right now that isn’t important. What brings you here all alone?”
Skystar hesitated to speak. She stuttered awkwardly for what to actually say. For so long, all she had wanted was to be able to actually talk to someone, and now before her was not just anypony, but the ruler of Equestria herself. Her whole body trembled as she mouthed the words and attempted to speak.
“I… “ she began as she looked out to the ocean beyond them. Mount Aris had been their home, and they had left it all behind. She could practically hear her mother in her head, reminding her of the dangers beyond the water, but they couldn’t hide underwater forever.
“I came up here because I’m tired of hiding. I know he’s out there, I know how much pain he’s inflicted, but I can’t spend my life living in fear. There has to be more…”
“Is that all?” asked Celestia as she took a step closer, leaning a hoof under Skystar’s beak and lifting her face towards her.
“Well… sorta. It’s complicated.” Skystar started rubbing the back of her mane with a talon.
“Complicated. I see. A lot of things seem to be this way lately,” Celestia began as she sat down on her haunches. “Sit with me; we can admire the beauty of the ocean while we take time to breathe.”
Skystar sat down beside Celestia, feeling the sand shifting underneath her. She stared at her own reflection once more, trying and struggling to find a way of telling Celestia exactly what the problem was. How could she possibly understand?
“Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try, you can’t change anything? You can’t help…?” Skystar asked, half-mumbling, as she shifted on her body trying to get closer to the water, just in case she had to make a dive for safety and the comfort of the sea.
“Why, yes I do,” Celestia said. She turned her gaze towards Skystar, placing one of her forehooves upon her shoulder. “I know this may seem hard to believe, but I know exactly what you’re going through. So many times where I wished I could have done more.”
Skystar wanted to bite her bottom lip. She didn’t wish ill will on her mother, but she just didn’t understand why things couldn’t change. Why couldn't they get better? Why couldn't she do anything for her kind but hide? You can keep away from all the dangers of the world, but if you never truly explored any avenues, then how did you grow?
Suffocated, trapped, consumed by fear.
It was easy to feel why her mother wished to keep things the same, to never truly consider the possibility of returning to their ancestral home, and staying where the Storm King could not follow.
“My mother, she protected us from him and I know she means well, but she’s suffocating me, and maybe the others too. I am so tired of making shells, and staying in the same place. Is it wrong of me to want more?”
“Of course not. However, I will caution you that your mother most likely had to make hard sacrifices for you and your kind.”
“She tells me that all the time. It’s almost like a weight on my shoulders.”
Celestia lifted her hoof from Skystar’s shoulder at this moment and simply nodded.
“So tell me, Princess Skystar, what will you do now? Surely talking to me won’t change things. And I highly doubt there is anyone else around here.”
“I don’t know… Honestly I don’t know what to do. I thought about coming up here to our old home.” Skystar paused and took a deep breath. “I thought coming up here would give me the answers I sought. Turns out, I still don’t know what to do about anything.”
“Sometimes, that’s okay,” Celestia replied in earnest. She leaned down a bit, eyes level with Skystar. “It’s okay to not always know the answer.”
Skystar listened to what Celestia said, and tried to understand exactly what she was saying. It was almost like she had been here herself once… She wanted to say something, but as she opened her lips to speak she stopped herself short. The words, they refused to come to the surface.
It would be okay.
Deep breath.
“Do you know my mother, Queen Novo?” asked Princess Skystar curiously.
“Yes, I do. We used to be quite good friends before she just disappeared. I knew she lived out here on Mount Aris, but I had no clue she and her kind had been affected by the Storm King so drastically.”
“Oh, I see,” Skystar replied. Princess Celestia knew her mother. They were friends. It was kind of cool that her mother was friends with the leader of Equestria. Skystar didn’t know a lot about Celestia, but right now in this moment she finally felt relief. She stared at her reflection into the sea and, for once, could truly breathe.
Things weren’t going to go back to normal anytime soon, she had to accept that. However, that didn’t mean she had to change or stay stagnant; she could still grow, she could still learn and find her own path someday. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that she found herself relaxing into the sands and smiling back at the regal Princess that had graced her with her presence today.
