29 Hunger Moon 1008

A day after Jet Set’s visit, Star, Emerald and Flurry left the mansion together.

A roughshod path led from the mansion’s gates to the village of Sunville. If it rained, the path would turn muddy, but for now it was just dry dirt, in which the treadmarks of the cars from yesterday were still visible. Flurry was nestled on Emerald’s back, looking out at the countryside that surrounded the mansion.

‘’Sunville is a farming community,’’ Star explained to the other two as he led the way. ‘’Not a lot of ponies live there, but they’re good folks.’’ He paused, then added, ‘’Unless they have some dark secret I’m not in on, but I don’t think so.’’

‘’Hear that, Flurry?’’ Emerald said, turning her head to look at the foal on her back. ‘’There will be plenty of other foals to be friends with.’’

‘’Yay!’’ Flurry cheered.

‘’Come on, it’s not far anymore,’’ Star urged them on. No sense in delaying.

Soon enough, the unused land gave way to crops and farmland, and the vague shapes on the edge of their collective vision formed into houses and barns.

‘’That’s Sunville,’’ Star affirmed.

The dirt path suddenly turned to cobblestones, still dirty. Lampposts stood on either side of them, signifying the end of the town.

They were still a ways from the centre of town, and on a Sunday morning, there weren’t many ponies out and about.

Or perhaps there were.

‘’Watch out!’’

Star spun around, horn already alight with a spell, to see two foals rushing past him in a haphazardly constructed soap car, made out of wood. He blinked, idly dismissing the spell he had been about to cast.

‘’Interesting,’’ he remarked dryly.

‘’Very interesting,’’ Emerald agreed with a nod.

‘’That looks like fun!’’ was Flurry’s addition.

Well. I guess it does. It’s certainly intriguing.

Emerald and Star shared a look. After a moment, Star shrugged. ‘’Might as well try.’’

The soap car came to a halt a few dozen meters away from the trio, screeching it’s wooden tires against the stones. The two foals climbed out of it. Both were earth ponies, one with a pale yellow coat and a blue mane and the other with a lilac coat and a mane of teal and orange.

‘’Sorry about that, mister,’’ one of them, the one with the blue mane, said politely. ‘’Car didn’t do like was asked.’’

‘’No harm done,’’ Star assured them smoothly. ‘’No one was hurt.’’

‘’But the car’s done in,’’ the other filly pouted, glaring at the wooden thing. ‘’Stupid.’’ She kicked it slightly with her foreleg.

‘’I can fix it, if you want,’’ Star offered with a reassuring smile. ‘’It would be a shame to see your hard work undone.’’

Both fillies’ eyes lit up. ‘’Really! That’d be great, mister!’’ the filly who had spoken first said. ‘’Oh, by the way, I’m Lily Bloom, and this is my sister Berry Light.’’

‘’My name is Star Tower,’’ Star introduced himself, ‘’and this is my friend, Emerald Gleam.’’

‘’Nice to meet you both, sir, miss,’’ Lily said. ‘’Are you the ones that live in that large house to the south?’’

‘’That we are,’’ Star affirmed with a smile, before turning his attention to the broken soap car. ‘’I’ll fix this soap car on one condition.’’

‘’What condition?’’ Berry asked with a tilt of her head.

‘’You’re going to have to share it with my adopted daughter,’’ Star replied. Here we go.

‘’Come on Flurry,’’ Emerald nudged the filly.

After a few seconds, Flurry spread her wings and flew off Emerald’s back, landing next to Star. ‘’Hi, I’m Flurry Heart.’’

‘’Hi Flurry Heart!’’ both fillies chorused.

No reaction.

‘’Can you fix our car now, mister?’’ Berry asked, looking up at Star.

‘’Of course, my dear,’’ Star said. His horn glowed as he lifted the broken car up, restoring the wheel that had broken off. ‘’That should do it,’’ he said as he put the car back down.

‘’Thanks a lot, mister!’’ Lily beamed at him, before motioning for Flurry to join them. ‘’Come on Flurry, let’s take this thing for a ride!’’

Tentatively, Flurry walked over to the car and hopped on, followed by Berry and Lily, the latter taking place behind the wheel.

‘’If it’s not too much trouble,’’ Emerald spoke up, causing all three fillies to look at them, ‘’can you show us the town?’’

‘’Sure! Follow me!’’ Lily replied, before the car inexplicably began to move. True, it had the speed of an average walking elderly pony, but it was moving.

‘’How?’’ Emerald asked Star.

‘’Earth pony magic,’’ Star said sagely, ‘’works in mysterious ways. These two don’t have a cutie mark yet, but I’ll wager something that it’ll be something to do with engineering.’’

Emerald reflected on this as the two adults followed behind the car, moving towards the centre of town. Then she realized something.

‘’They didn’t react to Flurry at all,’’ she said out loud, before glancing at Star.

‘’Children don’t notice those things unless pointed out to them,’’ Star answered her unspoken question. ‘’It’ll be a couple of hours before they start grilling her on her life.’’

‘’Do you think she’ll be alright?’’ Emerald asked quietly, casting a worried glance at the three foals.

‘’Probably,’’ was Star’s answer. ‘’She’s a strong filly,’’ he added after a moment of thought.

‘’Uh, miss, mister?’’

‘’Hmm?’’ The two adults looked at Berry.

‘’My sis was explaining about the town,’’ Berry said dryly.

‘’Sorry, we were caught up in our own business,’’ Star confessed. ‘’By all means, continue.’’

|-x-X-x-|

Flurry hadn’t ever been so close to other foals before. But Lily and Berry seemed very nice. Dad had warned her that people would probably be staring at her or asking not so nice questions about her, but Lily and Berry had done neither.

So far, they had just been showing Flurry and her two parents around. And Flurry had to admit, the car she was in actually worked. She could feel some sort of strange sensation that made it drive, made the wood move without any incentive. Dad had explained the difference between the three pony tribes to her, and Flurry knew that this was probably earth pony magic.

‘’This is the centre of town,’’ Lily explained, making Flurry snap back to reality. The alicorn looked around to see they had arrived in a large, empty square. Well, not completely empty. There were a few trees planted scatteredly around the square, from which unlit candles hung, and a couple of lampposts dotted the square as well.

‘’Normally it’s a lot busier here,’’ Berry took over her sister’s explanation, ‘’but market was yesterday, so we’re all sleeping in today.’’

Flurry could see that: aside from Lily and Berry, she hadn’t seen a single pony outside.

‘’Interesting,’’ Mom said. ‘’When’s the next market?’’

‘’In a month,’’ Berry answered.

‘’Is there anything else important in town?’’ Dad asked next.

‘’School’s that way,’’ Berry motioned to the west with her hoof, where a street ran. ‘’The rest of the important, grown-up stuff is all here, on the market.’’

‘’Thank you,’’ Dad said, before Flurry saw his eyes dart to meet Mom’s. He then cleared his throat, and asked, ‘’And where do you live then?’’

‘’We live on a farm, to the south,’’ Lily answered, ‘’on the edge of town, together with Mom and Dad.’’

That stung more than Flurry liked to admit to herself. Her parents were dead; she’d never see them again. And these two fillies saw them every day.

Flurry closed her eyes and let out a breath. She wouldn’t be jealous. She had Star and Emerald, who both loved her. And she loved them.

‘’Are you alright, Flurry?’’

Flurry’s eyes snapped open, and she looked to see Berry’s concerned face. ‘’I’m fine,’’ she half-lied.

‘’Could you show us your house?’’ Mom asked after a moment of silence.

‘’Of course, follow me,’’ Lily requested, before turning the car around and beginning to drive away from the market. The same houses from just before flashed by again, and before she knew it the five of them were back on the edge of town.

‘’We need to follow the path for a few minutes, and then we need to go right,’’ Lily instructed.

Dad chuckled. ‘’Lead the way.’’

The car hobbled over the dirt, and Flurry thought about flying up. But she didn’t know how far it was to Lily’s and Berry’s house, and she didn’t want to draw their attention to her appearance. So she remained seated.

‘’And this is the path we’re supposed to take,’’ Lily announced after a few minutes, gesturing at a smaller path hidden slightly by bushes. ‘’The car won’t fit, we’ll have to carry it.’’

‘’I can do that,’’ Dad offered. ‘’You won’t even have to get out of the car.’’

‘’Star, don’t overtax yourself,’’ Mom warned.

Flurry frowned. She didn’t know what overtax meant, but if it meant to not do too much; she’d never seen Dad be tired after using magic.

‘’I’ll be fine,’’ the stallion said assuredly.

‘’That’s very kind of you, mister,’’ Lily said. ‘’Can we stay on?’’

Dad nodded at Lily. ‘’Of course, though I suggest you hold on to something.’’

Lily grabbed the wheel, while Berry clamped her hooves on the car’s side. Flurry just held onto her seat.

Dad’s horn lit up, coating the car in golden light. Slowly, it rose from the ground until it was a meter or so above it.

‘’Straight ahead we go!’’ Dad declared, before beginning to walk forward.

‘’Woohoo!’’

‘’Yeah!’’

Flurry didn’t get why they were so excited: it was just levitation. Then she realized that the two earth ponies hadn’t ever flown before.

Soon enough, the house Flurry’s two new friends lived in came into view. It was made of red-painted wood, with white support beams. Two stories tall, with a tiled roof.

‘’We’re back!’’ Berry called out, jumping from the car as soon as Dad had placed it back on the ground.

The door opened and an earth pony mare stepped out. ‘’Children!’’

|-x-X-x-|

‘’Did they make trouble?’’ the mare, who was obviously the two fillies’ mother, asked. The resemblance between her and Lily was a little uncanny, even. They had all the same colours.

Star shook his head. ‘’Not at all, ma’am. In fact, they’ve been showing us around the town.’’

‘’Oh, you’re new here?’’

You could say that.

‘’I own the mansion down the road,’’ Star supplied in reply. ‘’I’m Star Tower.’’

‘’I’m Emerald Gleam,’’ Emerald added. ‘’That is our adopted daughter, Flurry Heart.’’

‘’I’m Sandy Grass…’’ Sandy trailed off as she saw Flurry Heart. ‘’Wut.’’

‘’It’s a long story,’’ Star cut off any other comments. ‘’Why don’t we let the children play while we discuss it inside?’’

‘’Y-yes, of course,’’ Sandy stammered. She glanced at her daughters. ‘’Girls-’’

Lily waved her hoof dismissively. ‘’You can go talk about grown-up things, mom. We’ll just play in the garden.’’

‘’Don’t break anything,’’ Sandy cautioned, before looking back at Star and Emerald. ‘’Come in,’’ she said after a moment.

Star stepped into the house. It smelled just like he expected farms to smell; of nature and rustic charm. Everything in this house was made of wood, which only added to the charm of it all.

Sandy led them into what appeared to be the living room. ‘’Have a seat,’’ she offered as she sat down in a chair. Star and Emerald both sat down on the couch.

‘’My husband is out on the farmland,’’ Sandy informed them.

‘’What do you farm here?’’ Emerald asked. Star didn’t know why.

‘’Wheat,’’ Sandy replied. ‘’We also have chickens.’’

‘’Sounds nice.’’

Small talk. Still better than discussing fashion trends.

‘’While I’m sure it is,’’ Star interjected, ‘’we are here for a reason.’’ He paused. ‘’I’m sure you’ve seen Nightmare Moon has placed quite the bounty on the heads of Flurry and myself.’’

Sandy’s eyes narrowed. ‘’I have.’’

‘’Then you can surely understand the risk in our home becoming public knowledge,’’ Star continued. ‘’Emerald and I want Flurry to have a childhood that is as normal as possible, so she can grow up free of care and worries. I am willing to go quite far to ensure, as is Emerald.’’

‘’Of course, I can understand that.’’ Sandy nodded. ‘’You care for her.’’

‘’We’ve adopted her,’’ Emerald clarified so Star didn’t have to. Presenting a united front would prevent it appearing as if Star controlled everything. ‘’Princess Cadence gave Star the papers before we left, and the president took them with him yesterday to ratify them.’’

Sandy’s eyes bulged. ‘’The president was herer!?’’

‘’One of the two military trucks carried him here,’’ Star smoothly explained. ‘’Secrecy and all prevented him from staying too long, but he offered me a job and I accepted his offer. To cut to the chase, we would like to ask you, and the other residents of Sunville, keep us a secret.’’

‘’From who?’’

‘’From the world,’’ Emerald replied. ‘’From reporters, from people, but also from any family you might have outside of Sunville. I know we’re asking a lot.’’ She frowned. ‘’But we want Flurry to be happy and safe.’’

Sandy remained silent for a good minute, which Star spent running increasingly unlikely scenarios through his head, up until the entire town turning out to be lunar cultists.

‘’I will need to talk with my husband, and with the other families,’’ Sandy finally said. ‘’Sunville doesn’t have a mayor, if you didn’t know; we make all our decisions democratically. But I don’t think anyone will object to you staying here.’’

Star had noticed that. It seemed to work splendidly for them, so Star had no problem with it.

‘’Nightmare is going to look for us,’’ Star couldn’t help but point out. ‘’I don’t want to endanger you; there are other places we could go, if necessary.’’ Jet Set had offered safehouses all across New Mareland to them, but they would have to remain hidden for years. It was not a life Star wanted to live, and certainly not one he wanted Flurry to live, locked away from the world.

‘’That is true,’’ Sandy agreed. ‘’But if she doesn’t know you’re here…’’

‘’She probably knows we’re in New Mareland,’’ Star admitted. ‘’She- Luna knew I had a mansion here.’’

Sandy’s lips drew into a thin line as she frowned, and Star could feel Emerald’s glare at his cheek. Maybe, I should have told her this beforehoof.

Too late for that now.

‘’I’ll call a town meeting this evening,’’ Sandy said. ‘’In the market square. I’ll visit your home to tell you when it is, but it'll probably be around seven o’clock. The three of you can come then.’’

‘’Three?’’ Emerald asked, and Star had to agree. Flurry probably would be bored by such a conversation.

Sandy smiled. ‘’You’re not the only ones with young children. Sunville is only a decade old, and we all moved here as students. Most of us got our kids three, four years ago. We’ve already built a school, and whenever we call town meetings, we all bring our kids and they play together under the supervision of one or two adults while the rest of us talk. It’s never failed before.’’

‘’That is ingenious,’’ Star acknowledged.

Sandy tipped her head. ‘’We’re trying a simple lifestyle. It works for us.’’

Star looked around the room. Simple, yes, but not poor or rundown. He had tried to make his mansion look the same, but he was well aware that he had a tendency to go overboard on details. And of course, a self-made magical water filtration system, heating, and electricity were not things just anyone could afford. They’d cost a fortune, even for him, and he’d cut on the costs by doing everything but the actual construction of the things himself.

‘’Of course.’’ Star tipped his head at her. ‘’Thank you. We’ll be ready for tonight.’’

Sandy glanced at the clock. ‘’Why don’t you stay for lunch?’’ she suggested. ‘’The children can play some more and when he gets back, I can introduce you to my husband.’’

Emerald and Star shared a look. Star shrugged. Fine by me, he wanted to communicate.

‘’We’ll take you up on that offer,’’ Emerald said a moment later. Evidently, she had understood his message.

|-x-X-x-|

‘’So after dinner we’re going back to the town?’’ Flurry asked to make sure she understood it.

‘’Yes.’’ Mom nodded. ‘’The grown-ups are going to talk with each other, and you can go play with Lily and Berry again.’’

‘’Yay!’’

They’d had a lot of fun playing in the fields around Lily and Berry’s house, running past the wheat stalks and playing with the toys Lily and Berry owned. Then they had all eaten lunch at Lily and Berry’s home, where Flurry had met her new friends’ parents. After lunch, they had played some more, until it was time for their naps and Mom and Dad had taken her back to the mansion.

‘’What are you going to be talking about?’’ she asked after a silence had fallen.

Dad and Mom exchanged looks. ‘’’Well, you know how Nightmare Moon is looking for us?’’ Dad finally said. When Flurry nodded, he continued, ‘’So we’re going to ask the grown-ups if they want to keep us a secret.’’

Flurry frowned. ‘’Why wouldn’t they?”

‘’Because it could be dangerous for them,’’ Mom replied. ‘’We don’t want to put them in danger, but we also don’t want to leave.’’

‘’I don’t wanna leave either,’’ Flurry admitted. I’ve just made some friends!

Mom smiled sadly. ‘’I know, sweetheart. With luck, we won’t have to.’’

‘’But we’ll handle that,’’ Dad spoke up, sounding confident. ‘’You just go and have fun. Maybe make some more friends?’’

Flurry nodded. ‘’Okay, daddy. I’ll see.’’

The smiles that got her warmed her heart.

They were just finished with cleaning up after dinner when the bell rang. ‘’That’ll be Sandy.’’ Dad got up from his chair and turned to face Flurry. ‘’Ready?’’

‘’Can I be on your back?’’ Flurry asked after giving him a nod.

‘’Of course.’’

‘’Thanks, daddy!’’ Flurry said as she flew up and settled herself on Dad’s back.

The three of them made their way out of the house and towards the gate of the fence, where Sandy stood waiting on the other side. ‘’Good evening,’’ she said as they came closer. A lantern stood on the ground next to her.

‘’Good evening,’’ Dad replied. ‘’Shall we?’’

Sandy nodded. ‘’Let’s.’’

Dad’s horn lit up, and the gate opened. The walk from the gate to Sunville was silent, and so Flurry kept herself busy with looking at the shadows of the trees and plants. The stars and moon provided some light, but most of it came from Dad’s horn and the lantern Sandy held in her mouth, plus the fading light of the mansion behind them.

‘’Everyone’s gathered in the market square,’’ Sandy informed them. ‘’We’ve set an area aside for the foals to play.’’

Dad hummed. ‘’I’m sure Flurry is eager to see her friends again.’’

She was, but Flurry didn’t feel like saying it. So she just nodded, and snuggled further into Dad’s coat. It was easy to do that, when it was so soft and warm.

Flurry almost dozed off, rocked to sleep by the stable steps of her steed, but Mom’s voice banished away the tiredness. ‘’We’re here, Flurry.’’

Flurry opened her eyes and saw they were indeed in the market square. The lamps and lanterns were all alight now, bathing the square in soft light and keeping the darkness away. Gathered in the centre of the square were many adult ponies, clustered around two long tables. And under one of the trees, Flurry saw Lily and Berry together with several other foals.

Flurry slid off Dad’s back. ‘’Can I go to the other foals?’’ she asked.

Mom smiled. ‘’Of course. I’ll walk with you.’’

‘’Have fun, Flurry.’’ Dad gave her a hug which she eagerly returned, before he turned and started walking towards the other adults together with Sandy.

I wish I could stay with them, Flurry thought as she looked at Dad go, and then back to Mom as the two of them walked towards the other foals. But I’m not old enough.

‘’Flurry!’’

Berry was trotting forward, smiling widely. ‘’Come on!’’ She grabbed Flurry’s hoof and dragged her to the other foals.

‘’Everyone, this is Flurry Heart!’’

All the foals stared at her, until the only adult besides Mom cleared her throat. ‘’Good evening, Flurry,’’ the unicorn greeted. ‘’I am Daygleam. Magic, come here for a moment, please?’’

A foal with the same sun-yellow coat as her mother, but with a brown mane instead of dark blue, walked away from the other foals. ‘’Mommy?’’

‘’Flurry’s new here,’’ Daygleam said. ‘’Can you make sure she’s comfortable?’’

The foal, Magic, nodded very seriously. ‘’Okay, mommy.’’ Then she turned to Flurry and offered her hoof. ‘’I’m Magic Tulip.’’

What just happened?

‘’I’m Flurry Heart,’’ Flurry said after a moment. ‘’It’s nice to meet you.’’

‘’Nice to meet you too,’’ Magic replied. Instead of letting go of Flurry’s hoof, she grasped it a little tighter, leading Flurry to sit down with the other foals.

‘’Have fun, Flurry,’’ Mom said.

‘’You’re not staying?’’

Mom shook her head. ‘’I have to talk with the other adults as well. But Miss Daygleam-’’

Flurry cut off her sentence by lunging forward and hugging Mom’s neck. ‘’Don’t leave, mommy,’’ she begged.

She felt Mom sit down and wrap her forelegs around her. ‘’I’ll just be over there, Flurry,’’ she said softly.

Flurry was so afraid. She didn’t know why; she’d spent the afternoon with just Berry and Lily, her adoptive parents nowhere in sight. So why didn’t she want Mom to go now?

Suddenly, two more things pressed against Flurry’s back. ‘’You’re not alone,’’ Lily whispered into her ear.

‘’Make a little room,’’ she heard Daygleam say.

‘’Group hug!’’

Wha-

Mom and Flurry both fell over as Daygleam and the other foals piled onto them. After some writhing and shuffling, they all sat together on the grass, Flurry and Mom in the centre, surrounded on all sides by the foals.

‘’Thank you,’’ Flurry heard Mom say, to no one in particular it seemed.

‘’Anytime,’’ was Daygleam’s response, and Flurry believed her.

She wasn’t surprised when Dad came half an hour later and announced that they were staying.

Author's Note

In case you're wondering, Sunville will be expanded upon greatly; this is just an introduction.

(Edited on 9-10-2021)