Dawn

Chapter contains some mildly gory images

Slow, steady breezes whipped around, blowing stray strands in Dawn’s mane around her head. She sat on the wooden deck of her new, wooden cottage located closely outside the exterior walls of the monastery. She rubbed her enlarged, pregnant stomach affectionately as she watched Hydrangea rolling in the grass. She smiled at her daughter and called to her.

“Hydrei!” she yelled. “Stop rolling in the grass and come over here, daddy’s about to leave, and you don’t want to be dirty when you say goodbye!”

She stopped rolling and ran up to her mother. Dawn wiped Hydrei’s face with her sleeve, laughing. “You’re absolutely filthy!” When she was done cleaning her daughter’s face, she pulled her in and kissed her on the forehead. Hydrei sat down hard on the deck and started fiddling with the ends of her thin, grass-stained dress.

The front door to the cottage opened, and Dusk stepped out. His mane was clean and combed, his pale red robes expertly crafted to fit his body, and the two saddlebags on his bag were packed to near-full levels.

“There are my fillies,” he said as he walked to where his wife and daughter were sitting on the porch.

“Daddy!” Hydrei yelled, jumping up and grabbing Dusk’s shoulders. She kissed him on the cheek. Dawn turned around and waved her hoof toward herself, gesturing for him to come. He walked over, young foal still hanging from his neck, and hissed Dawn on the forehead.

“You said your trip was going to be a surprise until you were going. Now that you’re going, where’s the destination?” Dawn asked.

Dusk sat down next to her. Hydrei jumped down and sat next to him. She grabbed Dusk’s rope belt and started shaking it. “I’m going to where I was born,” he replied happily.

Dawn looked at him strangely. “I thought you said before that you already went to where you grew up?”

He shook his head. “Different places,” he replied. “Same motives for going, though.”

“Daddy, can I come with you?” Hydrei asked, stopping her playing with his belt.

He smiled and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but no. But I’ll be sure to bring back a hydrangea for my special little Hydrangea.”

She tilted her head. “Daddy?” she asked, elongating her vowels just like a child would. “What’s a hydrangea?”

“It’s my favorite flower,” he replied.

“They’re beautiful. And strong, too. They grow like weeds where I was born. They grow great in sandy soil with lots of salty air. The grass where I was born is thin and wispy, trees dry, aged, and weathered, and flowers sparse. But hydrangeas defy what the other plants do. They grow big and thick, with huge, deep green leaves. The flowers themselves are soft, pastel shades, with the most common ones being blue. I haven’t seen one since I left there, but they are some of the most beautiful things in the world.”

“Wow!” Hydrei exclaimed excitedly. “Really?”

“Undoubtedly,” he said, rising up. He walked off the flat, wooden deck and onto the dirt path leading to the village. “I should be gone a month at max,” he said, turning around. “I’ll try to write when I get there. Bye!” He turned back around and started walking.

“Bye!” Dawn yelled after him, waving her hoof.

“Have fun, Daddy!” Hydrei yelled, jumping up and down. “Make lots of new friends!”

Dawn looked back at her daughter and laughed. “Come on,” she said, leading her inside. “Let’s go get you a bath. Half our lawn must be on you!”

***

Dawn sat on the cool, soft lawn and stroked Hydrei’s mane delicately. The thick, grey clouds obscured the sky. Humidity hung in the air, sticking to Dawn’s mane and fraying her mane. Hydrei kissed Dawn’s stomach and looked up at her.

“Mommy?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“Are all foals in their mommy’s tummies before they’re born?”

“Yes, why?”

“Was I in your tummy before I was born?”

Dawn smiled. “Yes.”

“How do foals get out of there?”

Dawn smiled and rubbed Hydrei’s head. “You’ll find out when you’re older, honey. Maybe you’ll have children of your own one day.”

“Really?”

Dawn pulled her in close for a hug. “Of course. I know you’ll make daddy and I proud.”

Dawn grabbed her stomach and started breathing deeply. “Mommy?” Hydrei asked.

Her face clenched, and she grabbed her stomach harder. “Go get the doctor from the monastery,” she yelled.

“Mommy?” Hydrei asked, tears of confusion filling her eyes.

“Go!” Dawn yelled. Hydrei turned toward the walls of the monastery and ran. Dawn grabbed her stomach and screamed.

Her mind began racing. Why was this happening? It was a few months before she was supposed to be having a baby, but sure enough, she could feel it coming. Small drops of water began to fall from the clouds, stinging her. For what felt like hours, she sat there, raindrops almost suspended in the air as time slowed. She looked off in the distance and saw a pony wearing blue robes sprinting toward her, Hydrei on his back, grasping his neck to hold on. He stopped a few feet before he got to Dawn and slid on the wet grass the rest of the way. Hydrei jumped off and ran to her mother’s side.

“What’s happening?” she screamed, terrified.

“Dawn,” the doctor asked her, “Are you sure you’re giving birth? You shouldn’t be having a child this early.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” she snapped back, “And would you mind telling the foal that it’s too early? That’d save a ton of pain right now.”

“Where’s Dusk?” he asked.

“Out on a journey,” she replied. “Why would that be important now?”

The doctor sighed and looked back at Dawn. “Dawn, this foal is almost out. I’m just going to need you to push a little bit, but as hard as you can. The harder you do, the quicker and less painful this will be. You understand?”

She nodded, her lips clenched together. She pushed with all her strength.

“It’s coming!” the doctor yelled. “Just a little more!” Hydrei ran down next to him and started watching. Dawn pushed once more, and the familiar pain of childbirth overcame her, and then it was gone.

She looked at Hydrei and the doctor, who was now holding a tiny filly, who was abnormally silent.

“What’s happening?” she asked. The doctor put his ear to the new filly’s chest. After a minute, he moved his head and hung his head.

“Stillborn,” he sadly replied. Dawn’s eyes filled with hot tears, which mixed with the cool raindrops. A jolt of pain overcame her again.

“There’s another!” she yelled. The doctor set the tiny, deceased infant in the grass and turned back to Dawn.

“Are you sure?” he asked in a shocked manner.

“As sure as I was last time!” she yelled back at him. She began to push, but this one was putting up more of a fight than the last one. After minutes of sheer agony, she felt another child come out; this time though, she heard the shrill crying of a newborn.

“He’s alive!” the doctor yelled with excitement. Dawn began to cry, this time with the joy of a new son. She reached her hooves out, and the doctor delicately placed the tiny colt in her hooves. Hydrei ran back to her mother’s side and looked at her new brother.

“Hydrei?” Dawn asked.

“Yes?” she replied.

“Say hello to your little brother, Xolecon.”

***

The bright, morning sun shone through the cloudless sky and onto the small, glass prism Dawn was holding in the air. Xolecon was chewing on Dawn’s mane from his sling on her back. Hydrei stared at the wall of their cottage, fixated on the rainbow that was appearing there.

“How are you doing that?” she asked Dawn.

She giggled. “I’m not,” she replied. “The light’s going into this prism, and it’s being broken down into the seven colors that make up sunlight. Do you know what I’m saying?”

“No,” replied with a straight face.

Dawn laughed and walked over to her. “Do you know what the seven colors of light are?”

Hydrei’s face beamed, as she was being presented with a question she knew the answer to. “Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet!” she yelled excitedly.

Dawn smiled and hugged her. “Yes!” she said excitedly. “Such a smart little filly!”

They both began laughing and sat down on the porch. “Look!” Hydrei yelled, pointing into the distance. Dusk was slowly walking up the dirt path that lead to their house, looking at the ground as he walked. Hydrei ran up the path to him, and Dawn set down her prism and began walking toward him. When she got to him, Hydrei was already on his back, kissing his neck.

“How was it, daddy?” she asked.

He looked instead at the small colt in the sling on Dawn’s back. “Who’s that?” he asked.

Dawn smiled. “He’s your son,” she replied happily.

“Xolecon?” he asked.

Dawn smiled. “Sounds like you listened to me when I was talking to you,” she replied.

“So, basically, you went and had all the fun without me?” he asked.

Dawn rolled her eyes. “Yeah, fun. Woohoo,” she joked back at him. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked.

“Well, that’s exactly what I was going to ask you,” he replied. Dawn walked up to his ear and whispered the story of the twins to him.

“Oh, my. That’s terrible,” he said.

“What were you going to tell me?” she asked. They were at the front door of the cottage. Dusk turned his head toward Hydrei.

“Could you stay out here while mommy and daddy talk?” he asked. She jumped down, grabbed Dawn’s prism in her mouth, and walked out onto the lawn, tilting it and trying to figure out how it worked. Dusk and Dawn walked into the house. Right as he closed the door, Dusk sat down and began crying loudly into his hooves.

“What’s wrong?” Dawn asked.

He pulled his head out of his hooves. His face was red, his eyes puffy, and his face soaked with salty tears. “I didn’t go to the same place as I remember.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, sitting down next to him. “Did you get lost?”

He shook his head. “No, I knew exactly where to go.”

“Did you go to the wrong place?”

He shook his head again. “No, it was the right place.”

Dawn looked at him strangely. “Then what’s the problem?”

“It was all gone,” he choked out between tears.

“I didn’t recognize anypony there. Nopony recognized me or even heard of my siblings. Over half the ponies there didn’t even know about Mr. Whitcomb’s cranberry bog. Everything I remember was gone. The beaches, the swamp, the rocks, all gone. Even the hydrangeas. None of the houses were the same. Ponies hardly even knew their neighbors. It’s the complete opposite of everything I remember. I kept telling myself not to go back, that it was a stupid move. I knew going to my past was a bad move, but I was an idiot and kept going.” He ripped his saddlebags off and threw them at the wall.

“It wasn’t a stupid move,” Dawn sympathetically replied, picking up his bags. “No matter how bad our pasts were, we always want to go back to them. They’ll always be with us. We wouldn’t be able to get to the present if it weren’t for the past.”

“Yes,” he irritated replied, “But trying to go back to them is stupid. If you write a story about your life, no matter what we do now, our actions stay the same. Trying to go them and fix a chapter of your life that’s already been written is frivolous and will only make the present worse.”

“Don’t look at it that way,” she said, sitting next to him and putting her hoof around his shoulder. “Stop focusing on the past, and instead focus on the present. I personally would say you have a pretty good life right now.”

“Yes, but for how long?”

“Huh?” she asked.

He looked out a window. Hydrei was running around, trying to get the prism to work the same way it had for Dawn.

“My life’s changed so constantly, I can hardly keep up with it. Many times I was foolish enough to believe the present was the future. When I was young, I believed it was my life to stay in that tiny community, with that tiny area being the entire world I knew. Then I thought it my future was to live with Earth Ponies. Then I thought it was to be a soldier. Then, I thought I was going to end my life on the streets. But then I came here. I desperately want my life to stay this way, but there’s nothing I can do to make it so. The present’s not the future, and I should know this. Life’s given me a big ol’ slap in the face multiple times, and yet I foolishly persist. All I’m saying is that I can’t be certain that this reality is truly my real life.”

Dawn hugged him. “No matter what life ends up being for you, I promise we’ll be together.”

Dusk’s breathing slowed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he replied, hugging her back.

***

A white cake sat upon a large, clean plate with the words Happy Birthday, Hydrei! written in green frosting over the top. Hydrei, Dusk, Dawn, and Xolecon all sat on the red and white-checkered blanket on the front lawn of their house. A small pile of packages sat on a corner of the blanket.

“Go ahead,” Dusk said, pointing at the cake. “Blow out the candles and make a wish!”

Hydrei closed her eyes, tilted her head to the sky, smiled, and moved her mouth. She opened her eyes and blew her candles out.

Dawn grabbed a small box on the top of the pile and put it in front of Hydrei. “Open it,” she said.

Hydrei opened the top of the package and pulled out what was inside. It was a small, blocky, chiseled stone figurine of a pony. “What is it, mom?” she asked, looking at the little statue.

“It’s a gift,” she said. “My father gave it to me when I was your age. I hope you will enjoy it.”

Dusk looked at Dawn with a confused look. “How did you get that?”

Dawn smiled devilishly. “I have my ways.”

The family laughed. Dawn stopped laughing and stood up. “Stay back,” she said.

“What?” Hydrei asked. “What’s going on?”

Dawn walked farther up the path. A slouched, hooded figure was walking slowly and stopped when Dawn got to her. “It’s been a long time, Dawn,” she said. She pulled her hood down and smiled at Dawn.

“What are you doing here?”

Hydrei walked up the path to Dawn. “Mom, who is this?”

The stranger hugged Hydrei. “This must be your daughter, is it not?”

“Mom?” Hydrei asked nervously. “Who is this? What’s she saying?”

Dawn glared and pushed her off her daughter. “This is my mother.”

Hydrei turned her head. “What?”

Dawn lightly pushed her back. “Go back to your father and brother.” She turned back to her mother. “Why are you here?”

Her mother sighed. “I’ve come to seek forgiveness from you.”

Dawn laughed mockingly. “What do you really want?”

She hung her head and started moping. “Exactly what I told you I came here for.”

Dawn looked at her curiously. “Why do you want me to forgive you?”

She sat down and stared at the ground. “I’ve gotten to the point in my life where I won’t be alive for much longer. I want to go to all those who I’ve wronged over the years and apologize for everything bad I’ve done to them. You’re the last one, and the one I feel the worst for.”

“Really?” Dawn asked. “Do you really feel bad?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes. I was foolish and stupid when I was young. I killed my only lover and turned in my only daughter. And why? Have you ever found out why I turned you in to the king?”

“No,” she replied. “Why did you do it?”

She sighed and mumbled something.

“What?”

She sighed again. “I was jealous of you, Dawn.”

“Huh?” Dawn asked. “Jealous? Of me? For what?”

“Your father.”

“Dad?” she asked. “What does that have to do with me?”

“He paid so much attention to you. Being the idiot I was, I became jealous of you. I allowed envy to overcome me. I immediately regret my choices. I tried to fall in love with someone else. I ended up marrying someone I don’t love and had three children I didn’t want. Every day, I would wake up, walk into your old room and cry. The day you came back, I couldn’t believe it. I was still confused about my decisions back then, I didn’t know if I was glad or not to see you.”

“Wow,” Dawn slowly spoke. “Is all of that true?”

She shook her head slowly, tears beginning to fill her eyes. “Can you forgive me?”

Dawn looked around, lost in thought. The grass was a dark green hue in the mid-spring day. The trees swayed gently in the cool breeze. Her family stood yards back, staring at them, waiting for the end of their conversation. “Well?” her mother asked.

Dawn’s eyes filled with tears. “No.”

Her mother’s eyes grew red and damp. “What?” she asked.

Dawn shook her head gently. “I don’t know if I can forgive you.”

“But…why?”

“With all you’ve done to me, I’m not sure I can find forgiveness. Even though you feel sorrow, that can’t undo the actions of the past. Even though your actions brought me to my life today, what you did was unforgivable.”

“Please, Dawn,” she begged. “Give an old Changeling a second chance. My actions were terrible, and if I could change them, I could. Please, just look in your heart.”

Dawn turned her body toward her mother and opened the blouse of her robes. She pointed to a line on her upper chest.

“What’s that?” her mother asked.

“It’s what you caused,” she said, looking into her eyes.

“When we were in the dungeon before daddy died, they were brutal to us. One time, I tried to starve myself to death. You’ll find in situations like that, death is more preferable than the abject torture of bearing life. They tried many things to open my mouth. The last thing they tried was slashing me on the chest to get me to scream. I regret to say it worked. But I have carried this scar for all of my life as a reminder of the atrocities you inflicted on my life.”

Her mother turned her head away and started crying. “I’m…I’m sorry, Dawn. You’re right. I deserve no forgiveness.”

She got up and walked to Dawn’s family. She walked up first to Hydrei and Xolecon, who backed behind Dusk when she came.

“I know you can’t understand me,” she said through her tears, “But you two hold a vital role in your mother’s life. You will give her happiness and love, and just as she cares for you when you are young, you will care for her when she is old. Don’t be a fool like we were. Maintain a good relationship with your mother.”

She looked up and into Dusk’s eyes. “And you,” she said, “You are her lover. Your role is far more important. Stay with her for all your lives. Enjoy each other, love each other, and grow old with each other. Leaving her will be your biggest regret. Trust me, I know from experience. She is the only one in this world I still hold love for; I entrust you with the task with keeping my daughter the one thing I never wanted her to be; happy. I know my pleas are falling on ears that cannot understand them, but I hope that I shouldn’t need to tell you to do these things.”

She turned around and walked back to Dawn, who had moved to the soft blanket where her family was standing. She hugged Dawn for the first and last time in either of their lives. “Never forget me,” she said as tears started rolling down her face.

Dawn remained silent. Not even the sounds of her weeping were audible.

***

Dawn stared out the window in the kitchen, silently counting to herself. The moonlight peered through, casting a silver glow over the floor.

As Dawn got to fifty-one, she stopped counting. Warmth engulfed her body, and she smiled. She rubbed her eye, and a single tear was wiped away. She looked around; the house was empty. She turned back out the window and started smiling at the heavens. She was too preoccupied to hear the soft creaking of the stairs behind her.

“Mom?” Hydrei asked from behind.

Dawn turned out and grimaced at her daughter. “Hydrei, why are you up so early in the morning?”

“I could ask you the same question,” she quickly snapped back.

Dawn sighed. “I can’t sleep.”

Hydrei walked up to her mother and jumped on the counter. “Are you restless for the same reason I am?”

Dawn stared out into the infinite blackness of space. “Wondering about my mother, are we?”

“Mom, if you don’t mind me asking, how exactly is she your mother? I mean, she’s a Changeling, and you’re, well, a pony.”

Dawn sighed. “I guess now is a better time than any to tell you.”

Dawn took in a deep breath and started speaking. She wove for her daughter her unabridged tale of woe and sorrow. When she finished, Hydrei’s face was flooded with hot, salty tears. “Mom?” she asked.

“Yes?” she responded.

“Is all of that true?”

Dawn nodded. “Every word of it. The world is a dangerous and terrible place, Hydrangea. I should hope that you never have to experience anything of that horribleness.”

***

The huge, smooth wooden door leading into the Canterlot Castle throne room opened. Princess Platinum, sitting in a throne surrounded by two other large thrones, looked up.

“It’s been long, Dawn,” she said.

Dawn walked to the center of the room and gavee the princess a light, elegant curtsey. “What is it, your highness?”

“A threat to national security,” she said. “And once again, we need your aid.”

“Oh, no!” she yelled. “I’m not doing anything like last time!”

The Princess shook her head and held her hoof up. “This is nothing like the last time you have been summoned.”

Dawn’s attitude lessened in ire. “What is it?”

The Princess knocked her hoof on the arm of her chair. “This is a much simpler task.”

An armored Pegasus walked up to Dawn, a letter in his mouth. Dawn levitated the letter out of his mouth and started reading.

“Well?” the Princess asked. “Do you recognize the language it is written in?”

Dawn nodded her head. “Yes,” she said nervously, “It’s in Changeling,” she said, pointing to the complex, confusing writing system on the piece of yellow paper.

Princess Platinum’s eyes sparkled. “What’s it say?”

“I don’t know,” Dawn replied.

“What?” she yelled. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

“Well, I’m a mare.”

“Yes, I can see that,” she snapped at Dawn. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Dawn sighed and looked away. “Mares in Changeling society aren’t quite the same as ones in our society. They don’t get freedom like in our society.”

The Princess slowly nodded her head. “How so?” she inquired.

“Well, stallions are placed higher in Changeling society than mares are. Religion, stories, songs, and politics all are centered around stallions. Mares are subjugated to stallions. There are many things they’re not allowed to do. Learning is not one of them. I…I never learned to read or write Changeling.”

The Princess sighed in an irritated manner. “No idea at all?”

She shook her head. “No.”

Princess Platinum looked down to her side, where a Unicorn was standing. The pony craned her neck to Princess Platinum’s mouth, and she whispered. The Unicorn nodded her head and walked away. The Princess looked back at Dawn.

“Seeing as we do not know what the message says, we need to take preemptive measures.”

“As in?” she asked.

“We are deploying troops to your village for protection.”

“What?” Dawn asked. “You can’t send troops just to protect me.”

The Princess shook her head. “They’re not just for you. I believe your whole village to be in danger. The troops are for the well-being of your whole community.”

“Why do you think I’m in danger? Changelings sent a letter for you, in their language. Why would it say that it’s for me?”

“Changeling war philosophy,” came an angry voice from behind. Dawn turned around and looked at the source of the voice.

It was Commander Hurricane, old and tired from years of war.

“Commander,” Princess Platinum roared, “You should not be here. You need to be resting.”

She ignored the Princess’ warnings and limped to Dawn. “They’re trying to get to your head and catch you off guard.”

“How do you know this?” she asked.

The Commander laughed. “I’m a soldier,” she chuckled, “I know these things.” She looked up at Princess Platinum.

“They sent her the message so we’d think they’re after her.” She turned and looked back at Dawn. “They wrote it in Changeling because they knew you would recognize it. They also knew you couldn’t read it, so they wouldn’t be giving themselves away. They want to instill fear in you.”

Princess Platinum smiled. “Always got that fire in your heart, Commander. I will put you in charge of the platoon. This falls into your hooves now.”

Commander Hurricane chuckled and pat Dawn on the shoulder. “I’ll be seeing you in the future.” She walked out of the throne room. Dawn curtseyed again and walked out.

***

Dawn walked into the large, expansive library of the orphanage built off the monastery. She walked up to a bookshelf, where Hydrei was studying the racks of tiny books. Dawn grabbed her daughter’s shoulders and turned her around.

“Congratulations!” she exclaimed.

Hydrei smiled and blushed. “Oh, well, thanks, mom,” she stuttered. “I’m certainly glad to be a member of the monastery I grew up on the outskirts of.”

Dawn smiled and looked around. “Time flies so fast. It seems like just last week I was joining this monastery. Now, Xolecon’s starting his induction.” She sighed a happy breath and grabbed a book from the shelf.

She handed the book Unicorn Myths for Foals to Hydrei. “You used to love it when I would read this to you as a filly. Maybe the foal you’re reading to would love it too.”

She smiled and hugged Dawn. “Thanks, mom.”

One of the armed guards ran into the library, and the ponies turned in disbelief. “Miss Dawn!” he yelled.

She walked up to him. “What is it?”

He panted heavily. “In the town,” he said. “We need your interpretation services.”

Dawn ran out of the library. Hydrei dropped the book hastily and followed her mother. They ran through the fields of grapevines leading from the monastery to the village, the tiny, under ripe green grapes hanging delicately.

When they arrived in the village, they saw Dusk standing in the doorway of the small, old townhouse, beckoning his hoof toward them. As they walked into the musty, still-aired room, they looked around. Xolecon, the village leader, and a few armed guards stood around a central beam. They fanned away to reveal a changeling tied to the pole. She stomped up to the prisoner and looked into his eyes.

“How many more of you are there?” she asked, hissing at the Changeling.

He laughed. “Many.”

“Why have you come here?”

“Same reason anyone plunders. For fun. But this time, we will get you once and for all. Dawn, when this day is done, you will be dead.”

Dawn laughed. “I doubt that. You will see your mission fail. I will make sure of that.”

He laughed loudly. “I’m sorry, but this is the first time you will be wrong today.” He pulled hard, and the ropes binding him snapped. With great speed and agility, he flew low in the air and landed straight on the spear of one of the guards, who had not fully realized what had been going on yet.

He pushed the skewered Changeling off, who fell on the ground with a hard thud. He started laughing. “Have fun,” he manically laughed. His laughing stopped abruptly as the life slipped from his body.

“What did he say?” Xolecon asked.

A loud crash came from outside. “What was that?” the village leader asked.

“Run!” Dawn yelled. “Everypony to the monastery!” She turned to the guards.

“You gather the other guards. Get everypony to the monastery first. We need the villagers to be safe.” The guards nodded. She turned around and slammed into the door, opening it.

All color drained from Hydrei’s face as she looked up. “Oh, no,” she whispered. The morning sky was dark with the shiny, black bodies of thousands of Changelings blotting the sun out of the sky. Dawn ran back to her daughter, who was frozen in a state of shock.

“Let’s go!” she yelled. As they started running up the path to the monastery, the ocean of Changelings cascaded down, creating a torrent of bodies. As the ponies sprinted up the small dirt path, Changelings landed all around, making craters in the dirt and shredding the delicate leaves of grapevines. “Go!” Dawn yelled. “Faster!”

As they approached the monastery, a Changeling barreled down onto Dusk, slamming him to the ground. “Dawn!” he screamed. “Dawn!”

She turned around and sprinted toward him. The Changeling was biting into Dusk’s stomach, causing a stream of bright red blood to pour all over her fangs and Dusk’s body. Dawn tackled the Changeling and smashed her to the ground, cracking her neck. She ran back to Dusk.

“Dusk!” she screamed through her tears. “Dusk!”

He removed his hooves from his stomach. A large hole was present in his chest, spewing thin, sticky blood. He put his bloody hoof to Dawn’s lips, silencing her.

“It’s okay,” he said.

“No, it’s not okay!” she yelled, tears mixing with Dusk’s blood.

Dusk’s horn started gently glowing. “Touch your horn to mine.”

“What?” she yelled at him.

“Do it.” She reluctantly moved her head toward his. The moment her horn touched his, the world started swirling.

***

She was standing on a small, circular beach. Ponies of all ages were there, some swimming, some playing in the sand, others just enjoying life.

“Where am I?” she asked.

Dusk walked up to her. “My memories,” he said fondly.

She looked back at him. “What?”

He smiled. “It’s a spell. You’re now living the fondest memories of my life. Stick around for as few minutes.”

Dawn looked around at the beach, which soon melted away. Scenes varied from the beach to a small seaside cottage, a tiny agricultural village, streets in the Unicorn Tribe, and a small basement bedroom.

The last half of the montage included images Dawn knew well; their first meeting, their wedding, Dawn’s birth. The last memory consisted of Dawn and Dusk lying together in bed, soon after they met.

“Dawn?” the dream Dusk asked.

“Yes?” dream Dawn replied.

Dusk turned Dawn’s face toward her. “I love you. For the rest of our life, we shall be together. Never before in my life have I ever yearned to be with a mare so much.”

The world melted, and Dawn found herself back in the vine fields. “Dusk,” she begged, “Please don’t die.”

Dusk smiled and put his hooves back over his stomach. “Do you remember what I said about the books of our lives?”

“Yes,” she said through her flood of tears.

Dusk smiled. “Go write me a damn good epilogue, dear,” he smiled, and he took the last breaths of his life.

“No!” she screamed. “No!”

Hydrei and Xolecon ran up to Dawn. Hydrei was choking on her tears. “We have to get to the house!” Xolecon yelled. They grabbed their mother under the forelegs and started pulling her.

“Dusk!” Dawn kept screaming at her dead husband. Changelings swarmed over the ground, crawling over Dusk’s bloody corpse. As they walked around the monastery and started up the path to their house, Xolecon let go.

“Take mom!” he yelled to Hydrei. He ran down the path and was immediately tackled by a Changeling.

“Xolecon!” Hydrei yelled. She put Dawn around and turned to look into her eyes. “You have to go inside,” she said to her. “Run straight for the house. I have to save Xolecon, you hear?”

Dawn silently nodded. As Hydrei sprinted toward her brother, she ran to the house and jumped inside. She looked outside. A Changeling was attacking Xolecon’s face, and he was struggling to get it off. Dawn tackled the Changeling and grabbed her brother, helping drag him to the house.

He was grasping his left eye, blood gushing onto his hoof. “Open the door!” Hydrei yelled to Dawn. She swung the door open, and her children trudged in and fell onto the floor.

Hydrei picked up her brother, who was grasping his eye. “Move your hoof,” she demanded.

He pressed his hoof harder against his face. A tiny squelch noise came as he pushed his face. “It hurts so much,” he complained.

She glared at her brother. “Move it!” she yelled. She grabbed his hoof and shoved it aside. When she looked at his face, she gagged.

The socket where his left eye used to be was bloody and mutilated. His eye was little more than a pit filled with a tiny mass of nerves, like overcooked pasta lumped in a pile.

“How bad is it?” he asked, oblivious to his condition.

She stared at his eye with shock. “Horrible,” she whispered. She ripped his shirt off and folded it to make a long strip of thick, white cloth. Tying the makeshift bandage around his head, she smiled. He smiled back at her.

“Thanks, big sister,” he spoke, hugging her.

Hydrei hugged him back and started to cry. “No problem, little brother.”

The sounds of Changelings slamming into the ground grew louder and more common. Dawn crawled to her children and gave them a broad hug, encompassing both of them. “I love you two,” she whispered. “I am just happy that we shall die as a family.” They say in the living room for a few minutes, hugging silently.

Dawn’s horn sparkled.

“Mom?” Xolecon asked in a terrified manner, “What’s happening?”

She looked up at her horn and backed away in fright. “I don’t know!” she started panicking.

Hydrei released her brother and ran to Dawn, tackling her in a tight hug.

“What are you doing?” Xolecon yelled.

Hydrei squeezed her mother harder. “I don’t know what’s happening either,” she yelled, tears trying to escape from her clamped eyelids, “But whatever it is, our love is causing it!”

Xolecon walked over, sat down, and squeezed his mother as well. Dawn reached out around them, pulling them in for a hug as well. Her horn grew brighter. Hydrei’s horn emitted a faint glow, and Xolecon’s soon followed. The three spots of light fused together in a shower of sparks and flashes. The little, volatile ball of light hung in the air for a few seconds. Shaking wildly, it started emitting tiny little jolts of electricity and soft pops. The ball exploded violently in an explosion of light and sound.

When Dawn opened her eyes, all she could see was a blinding whiteness. The only sound in her ears was a high, faint screeching. She blinked a few times, and her vision started to return.

The living room was a mess; the tables smashed into the wall, plants uprooted and flattened against the floor, and all loose items, including their belts and shoes, were blown back, scattered around the room. Hydrei opened her eyes and blinked, much as Dawn did. She moved her mouth, but nothing came out.

Dawn yelled something at her, and realized she couldn’t hear anything. She reached her hoof up to her ear and started fiddling with it. Nothing. It must have happened to all of them, as Hydrei was doing the same thing.

Hydrei moved her lips again, and nothing but a hardly audible whisper came out.

“WHAT??” Dawn yelled back at her.

Hydrei yelled again

“WHAT?” Dawn yelled again.

“I SAID, CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Hydrei yelled.

“Ow!” Dawn yelled. Her hearing returned to full power all at once. Coincidentally, it was right as Hydrei was about to yell at her. Hydrei smiled and blushed.

“Sorry,” she said, giggling with childlike happiness. They walked over to Xolecon, who was lying on his back on the floor. “Can you hear us?” she asked.

He sat up. “Yeah, thanks to your constant yelling with each other,” he joked bitterly. Feeling his eye, he smiled. “Hey, I think my eye’s back!” he joyfully yelled.

“Really?” Dawn asked, running to him. She removed the bandage and smiled. Hydrei gagged and looked away.

“Nope, still gone,” Hydrei said, averting her gaze from his face. Xolecon laughed, delighted by his ability to still gross out his sister.

“Well, that’s weird,” he said. “Because I don’t feel any pain.”

Dawn pulled the bandage back over his eye. “What was that flash?” she asked. Hydrei shrugged. Xolecon got up and opened the door. Looking up, he gasped.

“Come out here!” he said, motioning for Dawn and Hydrei to join him. When they were outside, he pointed up.

“Wow!” Hydrei exclaimed.

Dawn looked at the sky. “What is that?” she asked. The sky was silver and shimmering. Light reflected off its shiny surface, glowing all over the town. A huge, silver bubble was encompassing the town.

Hydrei looked around. “That must be where why all the Changelings are gone.”

Dawn stood smiling at the sky, but a morbid look quickly grew on her face. She ran off around the monastery, toward the path to the village. As she saw Dusk’s body, and dropped down before she stopped running and slid to his corpse. She turned it over.

“Dusk…” she started crying. His eyes were still open, fixated on a point thousands of miles away only he could see. His mouth was in a half-grin, slightly open. The wound on his stomach had stopped bleeding; it was now just a hole to his body. His intestines were splattered over his robes. She shoved her face into his chest and started weeping.

Hydrei and Xolecon walked up to Dawn and stopped. Dawn knelt by her father’s head, gently closed his eyes, and looked down at the dirt, weeping. Xolecon bowed his head slightly, and a few teardrops ran from his one good eye.

***

Dawn took a portrait off the wall of Dusk’s office in the monastery. As she looked at it, both joy and sadness flowed through her. In the painting, Dawn was lying across the floor. Dusk was sitting cross-legged behind her. Her head was in his lap, and his hooves were holding it, almost as if he were stroking her mane. On both their horns sat two small, shiny gold rings; it was their wedding portrait.

She heard a knocking at the door, and she immediately dropped the painting on the ground. She wiped a few, solitary tears from her eyes and made the door fly open with her magic. Xolecon stood in the doorway.

“You mind if I come in here?” he asked. His left eye was no longer covered with his own bloody shirt, but instead a large, black eye patch strapped around his head.

Dawn smiled. “Why are you asking me?” she asked. “This was your father’s office, not mine.”

He walked in and up to the other end of the table Dawn was standing behind. “Hydrei said you had something for me?”

“Ah, yes!” she said. “A gift.” She started looking around on the large, expansive desk.

“A gift?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “Here it is!” She picked up a small package wrapped in bright cloth. She placed it on the table in front of him.

“Go ahead,” she urged him, “Open it!”

He removed the cloth, and a glass sphere rolled out. “You got me…” he pondered, “A marble?”

She walked around the table. “No, silly, a new eye.”

He looked back at the sphere and studied it. “I think one of us is missing something here,” he said.

Dawn removed his eye patch. His eye socket was now just an empty hole. She levitated the sphere and put it into the empty hole. “How’s that?” she asked.

He turned his head a few times and blinked. “Well, my right eye’s good, but my left eye’s a bit glassy.”

Dawn chuckled. “Glass eye. A personal invention of mine,” she said, looking into his new eye.

He smiled. “It’s great.”

Hydrei ran into the doorway, sweating and panting heavily. “Oh, Xolecon,” she wheezed, “You’re here. Good. I need to talk to you. You know, about that, uhh, thing.”

“Right here?” he asked. “Right now?”

“Yeah,” she said, walking up to him.

She looked into his eyes; a comical sight, as Xolecon, despite being her little brother, was a full head taller than her. “Right here. Right now. In front of mom. No, of course not!” she yelled.

Dawn looked at them suspiciously. “What thing?”

Her questions were ignored. The started whispering to each other then stopped and looked back at Dawn. “My room, let’s go,” Hydrei whispered. She turned around and walked out, and Xolecon followed.

Dawn sat down and started thinking to herself. What “thing” were they talking about? Why was it important? Why was it so secretive? After a few minutes passed, Dawn got up and walked out of the room.

She made her way through the hallways to Hydrei’s room on the second floor, as all non-elite members rooms were. She put her ear up to the door, knowing she was safe, as all the other ponies were in town.

“I’m not going to tell her!” she heard Hydrei yell.

“Come on,” Xolecon pleaded, “Please? She’ll take it better from you.”

“No!” she yelled back. “I’m not going to be a part of this! This is your decision! The only reason I’m not stopping you myself is because I’m your sister!”

“Well, we have to tell her somehow!” he quipped at her.

“Tell her as you’re leaving. That way, it’ll be too late for her to do anything.”

She heard Xolecon sigh. “I can’t do that. That’s too much in too short a time. She deserved to at least have a little bit of time.”

Dawn opened the door and stormed in. “Tell me now. I have plenty of time.”

“Mom!” they both yelled simultaneously.

“What is so important that you are trying to keep it secret from me?” she roared at them. Xolecon looked at Hydrei, who was doing a terrible smile of innocence and motioning toward Dawn. “Well?” she yelled.

Xolecon stepped foreword. He sighed, and then took a deep breath of confidence. “I’m leaving the monastery.”

Dawn was shocked. “What?” she yelled. “You’re staying right here!”

“No, I’m not!” he yelled back at her. “I’m joining the military to avenge dad’s death. It’s the least I can do!”

“No,” she yelled at him, “The least you can do it move on, like he would want us to do!”

“How do you know what he wanted? And even if you wanted to stop me, it’s too late! I enlisted already. I leave for training in Canterlot next week.”

She stomped toward him and glared into his eyes.

“He was my husband. I have seen his life. Before he came here, he was living on the streets. Of all the places he lived, this was his favorite. The time he spent with his family were the happiest moments of his life. He was willing to do anything to keep you out of danger. You don’t need to go throw yourself into some now.”

“Well, mom,” he said, filled with rage, “Maybe just sitting by and letting his death just pass along like leaves in the autumn breeze is fine for you, but not for me. I am joining the military to kill those who killed him, and that is final.”

Dawn scowled. “Go. I no longer have a son.”

Hydrei ran between them and pushed them apart. “Hey, stop it, you two!” she yelled.

“Mom, don’t say stuff like that. Xolecon, listen to mom long enough to hear what she’s saying. We just had dad die, we don’t now need divisions in this family. Now, please, stop before somepony says something they’ll regret.”

Xolecon pushed his sister out of the way, completely ignoring her speech. “Good. I guess I’m going.” He turned around and stormed out of the room. Dawn ran out after him.

“Don’t ever let me see you again!” she yelled down the hallway after him. She turned the other direction and swaggered away, her head in the air. Hydrei ran out after both of them.

“You two come back here!” she yelled. “You’re not walking away on each other!” She stood there, fuming, for a few moments.

When it was clear nopony was coming back, she fell onto the floor and started crying.

***

Dawn sat in the living room of her house, drinking tea and reading a think, dusty, old book. Hydrei opened the door violently, slamming it against the wall.

Dawn stood up. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Hydrei ran and tackled Dawn to the floor. Tears poured from her angry face. “Do you know what you have done?” she screamed.

Dawn gently pushed her daughter off her. “What is it?” she asked.

Hydrei reached into her bag and shoved a letter into Dawn’s face. “Xolecon’s dead.”

Dawn sat up. “What?” she asked.

Hydrei glared into Dawn’s eyes. “Read it.”

Dawn examined the paper and read it. Small tears filled her eyes. “Is he really dead?”

“Yes” she yelled at Dawn. “And it’s all your fault!”

“Mine?” Dawn yelled. “How is it my fault that he left us?”

“You pushed him over the edge! Neither of you wanted to calm down long enough to have a civilized discussion.”

Dawn sighed and started crying. “I…I guess it is sort of my fault.”

“Of course it is!” she yelled. “I don’t have a fucking brother anymore because of you!”

Dawn put her hoof on Hydrei’s mouth. “I’m sad, too,” she whispered, crying.

Hydrei’s mood immediately softened. “What?”

Remembering her mother’s words, she started crying. “I was a fool, Hydrangea. I said many things I regret that day. I was just being overprotective of him. I had just lost your father, I didn’t want to lose my son too. Can you forgive me?”

Hydrei smiled as tears flowed from her eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. “I can.”

Hydrei reached out and hugged Dawn. “Mommy?” she asked in a childlike demeanor.

“Yes?” she asked in response.

“You’re the only family I have left, and I’m the only you have left, right?” Dawn nodded. “We can never leave each other, mom.”

“Of course,” Dawn agreed.

Hydrei exited the hug. “We have to promise this to each other. Deal?”

Dawn nodded and smiled. “Deal.”