Ponies of Fayra — Legend of Harmony

Flare slammed a glow berry roll down in front of Zain before rolling over to the other side of the table and sitting down in a huff.

“This is so annoying! Emmy’s hiding something!”

“Still thinking about yesterday, I take it?” Asked Zain half heartedly as he bit into his glow berry roll.

“Why are you not more bothered by this!? Your sister is missing, and the only thing we have is some cryptic message from Cozy saying not to worry, but who’s now also missing.”

“Call me crazy, but I do trust my sister and Cozy. I’m sure they’re fine.”

“And I’m sure we need to figure more out. After breakfast we’re going to the library and refusing to leave until Emmy tells us what she really knows.”

“Or, hear me out. We could continue on with our lives like normal ponies. I’m kind of supposed to be heading to the South Island to review a new restaurant tonight.”

“Even if you trust Zeph and Cozy, how does that make it okay to leave things as they stand and go on like life is normal?”

“What else am I going to do? Worry, run around the island aimlessly looking for clues? Pester ponies who have told me everything they seem to be able to tell me?”

“At least it’s something! I am not losing my two best friends without a fight!”

“They’ll be fine and back before you know it. This isn’t even the first time Zeph has up and vanished for a long while without telling you.”

“No, but it’s the first time she’s done it without telling you.”

“I mean, yeah, that is a little concerning, but not—that concerning. She’s a big pony, she’s allowed to do things on her own.”

Flare growled at Zain and got up from her seat. “Fine. You can go off and eat whatever new weird thing whatever pony is trying to make popular. I’m going to find your sister, whether you help me or not.”

Zain let out a sigh. “Technically, it’s an old family recipe that was discovered in a recent time capsule opening. Believe it or not, it’s a pretty major deal, a lot of ponies will be disappointed if I don’t have a review up ASAP.”

Flare took a long breath and then turned to Zain.

“I’m not going to argue anymore. I need to get going. Can you at least clean up for me?”

“No problem. I don’t have to be at the docks for another couple of hours.”

“Thank you.”

Skating into the kitchen, Flare grabbed her closed sign and put it up outside her pizzeria as she made her way out.

As Flare zipped through the market, Clover waved her over.

“Hey Flare! Great news, I got some new types of greens in.”

“Sorry, Clover. I need to get to the library so I can talk to Emmy this morning.”

“I don’t think you’re going to find her at the Library. She passed through the farm stands not too long ago. Pretty sure she was heading out of town with three other ponies, that I don’t see around much. When they passed my booth, though, I heard them mention the weather bell.”

Flare turned and rushed off towards the weather bell as she yelled back a thank you to Clover. Rushing through town, Flare arrived at the edge of town just in time to see Emerald disappear down a side road. Skating after her, Flare followed the group of ponies from a distance as they made their way out to the old weather bell tower. An old stone tower surrounded by a tall thick stone wall to protect it that no pony knew the origins of, but that every pony accepted as the foremost authority on when to stay indoors. When the bell rang, it meant a serious storm was coming, and it wasn’t safe to come out again until after the next time it rang. Despite its accuracy, no pony seemed to know who ran the tower. Many, including herself, believed it was haunted. Especially after she had let Zeph talk her into camping there for a week during the storm season and seeing no pony ring the bell. In the end, even Zeph had to simply put it in her file of unexplained mysteries.

Moments after the group entered the bell tower courtyard, Flare rolled up to the gate and carefully looked around the corner. She was surprised to see no pony. As her eyes frantically looked around, she saw a doorway in the stone wall that she was sure wasn’t there when she had stayed the week in the tower with Zeph.

Quietly rolling over to the doorway, Flare could hear voices from inside, and soon after, a rumbling under her. Looking down, she saw that the stones on the ground were beginning to rise. Scrambling through the doorway, Flare watched in awe as the stones closed off the entrance, leaving nothing but a stone wall behind her.

Rolling a little further down the dark hallway, Flare suddenly found herself rolling down a spiral staircase. No longer concerned with staying quiet, she did all she could to avoid tumbling over as she came down the stairs at full speed. Entering a rather small eerily green lit room, Flare was unable to avoid ramming into the group of ponies she had been following, causing them to all pile together.

Still dazed from the impact, Flare’s attention was brought forward as a demanding female voice called out. “Who are you, and what are you doing here!?”

Looking towards the voice, Flare froze in place as she stared at a green female dragon, which stood at the height of a tall stallion standing upright with her arms crossed. Flares’ mind stayed blank as her eyes wandered across the details of the form in front of her until they reached the piercing yellow eyes which demanded an answer.

Gulping hard, Flare stood up. “I-I’m Flare, F-Flare Brightdawn. I-I was following Emmy to find out more about what happened to my friend Zeph.”

The dragon let out an annoyed huff, which caused a bit of smoke to escape her mouth. “Yet, another unconvinced cause by our dear Emerald. Though perhaps a favorable one this time. Anyway.” The dragon’s voice changed to one of airy annoyance as she uncrossed her arms and made a waving motion that seemed to dispel the uncomfortable intensity of her gaze. “Before we get to anything useful, you’re going to need to understand what you just stumbled upon, and the importance of keeping your muzzle shut about it.” At her final words, the dragon stared back into Flare's eyes with such intensity that Flare could feel her heart skip several beats until the dragon’s gaze shifted to Flare's right. “Which goes for you too, Emerald.” The dragon rolled Emerald’s name in a low growl, which, well, not directed at Flare, sent a cold chill down her spine.

“First, how much do you know about the true history of the lost Isles?”

Emerald began to speak, but was cut off by the dragon. “Not you. I already know what you know. Unless you haven’t read the books in my mother’s archive, but I doubt that’s the case.”

“Sorry.” Emerald said in a meek voice as she bowed her head.

“Oh right, you probably think I’m my mother. While I do share her name and initial appearance which inspired her statues. Make no mistake, I’m not the Amber who founded the lost isles. But her daughter, who hatched centuries after she was driven away from the Lost Isles.”

“Driven away?” Emerald muttered in surprise.

“I’ll explain, after we catch the other pony up on things. Now, Flare, what do you know?”

Flare stared blankly at the dragon she now assumed was named Amber as she tried to recall what she was taught in her history class. “A family of pega—”

Amber held up her hand as she cut Flare off. “That’s enough. You clearly don’t know anything more than any normal Pegasus. Emerald, if you would summarize what you know for the girl.”

“Of course, during some kind of turbulent period on the mainland, the dragon empress Amber guided the pegasi to the Lost Isles. A place where we could be safe from the troubles of the mainland in exchange for our loyalty to her. Would you like me to go into more details about what’s known about her reign?”

“No, I’ll take it from here. The dragon empress ruled the pegasi until she was driven mad with power, like any dragon who allows themselves to hoard treasure, power, and influence. When her greed became too great for the pegasi to bear, they rallied together and drove her from the Lost Isles never to be seen again.”

“I-I’d never read anything about that before. The books say she was a kind, benevolent leader who vanished when she felt the pegasi could manage themselves.”

“A pleasant story, which I’m told the elders tried to keep alive for quite some time before letting it, along with everything else about the dragon empress, fade from history. One that I let survive for those who go seeking to find. That way, when ponies find the ‘true’ history of the pegasi they are content and seek no further.”

“Why would you do that?”

“For the same reason, some pony crafted the story in the first place. Because it’s more inspiring.”

“Then why even tell us that it isn’t true?”

“Because I need you to realize the importance of keeping my secret. The reason why you’ve never met me in the past, despite the fact I trust you to manage my mother’s archive, is because the fewer ponies who should know of my existence, and the less I come in contact with treasure, the better. I want to spend my life on a peaceful island inhabited by peaceful ponies.”

“I see, so that’s why Ironhoof does everything for you… But then why do you do anything? Why not just live in peace away from ponies?”

“Why do you help any pony? Because it’s the right thing to do. Besides that, do you even realize you’re asking me, why don’t I just spend my life alone in a hole somewhere without friends or family?”

“Good point, sorry. Wait, family?”

“Ironhoof, Northstar, and Inkwell, all three I consider family. And all pegasus kind, I consider friends.”

“You’re clearly not related to them…”

“The Inkwell of the past hatched me, The Ironhoof of that time trained me, and the Northstar believed in me. They may as well be considered my true mother, father, and sister. The ones besides you now are their great many grandchildren… Dragons live quite a lot longer than ponies.”

“What’s with having the same names?”

“A silly tradition, and nothing more. Digressing, you—both understand the importance of keeping my existence secret?” Amber said while staring into Flare's eyes.

“I think so, but what does all this have to do with Zeph?”

Amber laughed bombastically. “You’re either not the most curious of ponies, or you care for your friend an awful lot. So let me skip to the point. Zeph is in—serious danger… and/or in the process of putting the rest of us in serious danger too. The pegasi of old didn’t follow my mother because they otherwise had a nice life.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Flare stood firm and looked into Amber’s eyes to show her resolve.

“A way to find her. Which is where one of you two is needed. Northstar, if you would.”

“Yes, ma’am. This is…” Northstar pulled a flat stone out of her saddlebag and held it in front of her. “A waystone. It allows the user to locate anything that they are well connected with. For example, if I think of finding Amber while holding the stone.” The stone in Northstar’s hoof began to glow, with the brightest section pointing straight to Amber. “As you can see, it points you in the direction of where to find the thing you seek. However, the distance in which it can guide you is based on how deep your connection is to it. For example, if I think of finding the blue pony who crossed my path on the way here…” The stone in Northstar’s hoof stayed dark. “Now you try.”

Northstar handed the stone to Emerald, as she was closest to her. Emerald held the stone for quite a while, while staring at it intensely. When a look of defeat washed over her face, the stone began to glow and point to something.

“It seems I can use it … to find my favorite book, but not Zeph…” Emerald said in a bitter tone as she held out the stone for Flare.

Taking the stone, Flare immediately thought of finding Zeph, which caused the stone to glow, which, in turn, caused Flare to smile. “Of course, I’m well connected to my practical sister.”

“That means you’re the one who’s coming with me.” Declared Amber as she walked over to Flare and patted her on the back. “I hope you like water, because we’re going to be on it for a long time based on that glow. Anyway, head home, pack light, get some rest, and Northstar will come get you when it’s time to depart. We’ll be leaving in the dead of the night.”

“W-why not now?” stuttered Flare.

“It’s too hard for me to get around the island in daylight. I’m oddly quite proud of it. Because I hoard so little treasure and have so few followers, my magic is quite weak. I can only pull off an invisibility spell at night or similar times when visibility is already low.”

“Why are you even going then?” Asked Emerald with a clear tone of distrust.

“I’m not going to put any ponies’ life in danger that I don’t have to. I’d go alone if I could, but I have no compass to track Zeph with, and I’m unable to use a waystone to track her myself.”

Flare watched as Emerald turned her head away from Amber with a look of guilt and disappointment.

“Don’t overly blame yourself. At the time, you did at least believe you had two working compasses, and I also believe you when you say you didn’t expect Zeph to leave so recklessly. Anyway, we all have things to prepare.”

With that, Amber walked away from the group and made her way to a door at the side of the room. Halfway through the door, she turned back around and looked at them again.

“By the way, Emerald. It was nice to finally meet you. Thank you for all your hard work.”