Ponies of Fayra — Legend of Harmony

Flare squeezed her eyes tightly as a sliver of sunlight shone in her eyes, waking her up from her dreams. Sluggishly sitting up, her mind was still racing. She had spent the entire night dreaming about running around collecting glowing balls in the strangest places.

As her vision focused, she suddenly remembered that she was sleeping at River’s apartment. After staying out late playing games, he had brought her home and explained digital art to her.

Looking around the sparsely decorated single-room apartment, Flare could see River sleeping on the opposite side of the room from her, along with her reflection in the mirror. Her hair and feathers were a mess. It was clear that she had been tossing and turning all night.

Flare kept staring at her reflection, something felt off about herself, but she couldn’t quite place it. Getting up off her makeshift bed, Flare began stretching until River yawned.

“Morning, River,” Flare said, feeling a little awkward as she hadn’t ever stayed over at a stallion’s place alone before.

River stared at her in a daze for several long moments before replying. “Morning to you too, Flare.” River shook his head and yawned again before staring at Flare some more. “I’d swear you were different colors yesterday, but then again, I’m not really a morning pony, so I don’t really think straight until I’ve had coffee.”

Flare froze in place as she watched River lethargically make his way out of his bed and over to the kitchen area of the room.

Looking at her reflection once more, Flare’s eyes went wide. The reason it had felt off was because she was back to normal. Frantically feeling herself, Flare realized she was no longer wearing Amber’s cloak. Looking around the room, she found it on the ground to the side of where she had been sleeping.

Flare just barely managed to get the cloak back on before River turned back around.

“I assume you want… a… cup… too… huh, weird… I could have sworn you were just yellow and orange a moment ago… Starting to wonder if I don’t have a coffee addiction,” River said before laughing awkwardly.

“P-probably just the sunlight. And, sure, I’ll try some cof. How much is the fee going to be?”

River burst out laughing. “I’m not charging you, silly.”

Flare watched as River yawned again as he turned back to the now roaring machines behind him. A moment later, Flare began smelling a rich aroma that filled the air.

“That smells really good. What kind of herbs are they?”

River turned back around to Flare in shock. “You’re not going to tell me you’ve never had coffee before—are you?”

Flare shook her head as she began to regret having said anything.

“Wow… I didn’t even think it was possible for a pony to make it to adulthood without having coffee. You’re not actually just a mature-looking filly, are you?”

“No.”

River smiled at her. “I was just joking.”

A few moments later, River brought over two half-full, large, colorful ceramic cups and placed them on the table next to Flare.

Taking a sip of the drink, Flare instantly felt herself become more alert. Looking over to River, Flare noticed the dazed look in his eyes had faded to a calm awareness.

“It feels good to be able to think again. Of course, now I’m thinking if you’ve really never had coffee before, maybe I shouldn’t have given you any. It’s pretty easy to get addicted to.”

“It’s certainly interesting, but I don’t think you have to worry about me getting addicted to it.”

As Flare finished her sentence, she noticed River was staring at something. Following his gaze, she saw one of her feathers lying on the floor.

River walked over to the golden feather and stared at it in awe. “Cool feather. As weird as it’s going to sound, this is the color I thought you were when I first woke up.” River laughed awkwardly as he brought the feather back to the table and set it down next to Flare. “I’m assuming it’s something you dropped, since it’s a pretty big feather just to blow in.”

“Oh—yeah, it’s, uhm, a lucky traveling feather?” Flare smiled nervously.

“Cool. I don’t actually believe in superstitions, at least if they’re bad, but who doesn’t want more good luck? Which is why I keep an acorn charm on all my bags.”

“Seems like I also saw them quite a bit in your art last night, too.”

“Yeah, I try to sneak them in where it feels natural. Speaking of feeling natural…” River pulled his mobile away from its charging stand. “Let’s see what’s in the news this morning… Nothing on the dragon, no new Ari announcements, yet another post for Argon…”

“I’ve seen quite a few of those. What do you know about him?”

“Argon?”

Flare nodded.

“That seems like an odd question for a pony wearing a Starshine supporter’s pendant… Did you, by chance, manage to buy that without knowing what it meant?”

“It’s to charge my mobile in emergencies, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes, but it’s also a symbol of support for Starshine. Those things are—really expensive, so ponies only actually buy them to show their support for her ideals.”

Flare cringed as she bit her tongue right before she asked another question.

“You okay?”

“Y-yeah.”

River stared at Flare suspiciously for a long moment. “You want to ask a question, don’t you?”

Flare nodded instinctually.

“Then ask. At this point, you could tell me you don’t even know who Starshine is, and I wouldn’t be that shocked.”

“Well… I don’t really know who she is, outside of the fact she owns TriStar.”

“I know I said I wouldn’t be—that shocked, but I’m still pretty shocked. Okay, so you at least know the general political drama going on, right?”

Flare shook her head.

“Wow… You wouldn’t happen to be a pony from an alternate or parallel world that crossed over into this one, would you? Because if you are, I’m fine with that—I love those movies.”

“A what?”

“When we’re on the train, we’ll watch a movie and it’ll make more sense to you. In the meantime, getting back to your question. Starshine is widely regarded as the most brilliant pony of our era, as the company she founded in her youth with the help of her great-grandmother has pioneered or revolutionized virtually everything we consider modern technology today. Mobiles, personal computers, smart appliances… etc. Because of that, Starshine holds immense sway with the people, and as time has gone on, she’s become more vocal about opposing traditional ideas, which has caused her to clash with the royal family and general nobility more frequently as the years go on. I haven’t lost you, have I?”

“I think I’m following.”

“Okay, so as for Argon, he’s Starshine’s childhood pet slash personal mascot. No pony knows where she got him. Some ponies theorize that he’s some kind of childhood experiment of Starshine’s, but virtually everypony can agree that he’s utterly adorable. Getting back on topic, though. The two were virtually inseparable until he went missing. Personally, I agree with the conspiracists and think he was taken by the royal family or greater nobility as a way of showing Starshine that she’s not as invincible as she thinks she is. But that’s just pure conspiracy. As far as the official news is concerned, he simply went missing, and no evidence of foul play was found. He most likely just wandered off and got lost. Of course, that doesn’t make any sense. Argon isn’t a normal bunny. He holds the top score in several online games, and Starshine has credited him as a key programmer of StarOS. Yes, a lot of ponies believe that anytime he’s credited for something, it’s just Starshine in disguise—which could be true—but there seems to be a lot of evidence against it. Of course, I don’t know. In the modern day, it’s so easy to fake things… which is why I just stay neutral.”

“I don’t know what a programmer is, but Argon is one smart little bunny.”

“And how do you know that?”

Flare stared into River’s sky blue eyes as she mentally chastised herself for making yet another slip-up.

“Just from what I’ve read?”

“You sure you just don’t know an alternate world version of him?”

“Uhm…”

“I’m joking. You’ll get it later. That said, it’s easy to feel like you ‘know’ things when you read them, especially if you see the same things repetitively. Which is why it’s dangerous to read too much news or hang out on social media a lot—at least in my opinion. Of course, that’s also one of the reasons I have a hard time with my art. Trying to be a digital artist without social media… but I hate the idea of doing it so much. I don’t want ponies paying attention to me, just my art.”

“I think I get it. I want to make the best pizza. I don’t really care if people are talking about me, but I want them to love my pizza.”

“So why pizza, anyway?”

Flare blushed and tapped her hooves together. “Oh—it’s just a silly little reason…”

“Now I—have to know.”

“I got lost in a cave when I was pretty young, and a then-stranger helped me out. When I asked her what her favorite food was, she told me pizza, and for some reason, I decided I—really wanted to promise to make her the best pizza in all The Lost Isles to thank her. And ever since then, it’s been a lifelong dream to fulfill that promise. She tells me I’ve already repaid her plenty, but I just don’t feel the same way.”

“Sounds romantic. Are you two together?”

“No. Cozy and I are just friends.” Flare watched as River began using his mobile again. “What’re you up to?”

“Just doing a search for ‘The Lost Isles,’ but doesn’t look like anything’s coming up. Only thing even close is the Lost Island of the Maremaids, but that’s a movie…”

Flare held her breath, not sure what to say, nor what to think about her lack of ability to think before she talked.

“Suppose we should get going. We can grab breakfast on the way to the train station. I know an awesome crêpe stand.”