Chapters A/N: This story is dedicated to Margaret Wise Brown and all the mother bunnies who never let their little ones run away.
~~~
Arcus whirled through the air, executing a lazy loop before sliding into a landing on the ancient clouds belly first.
“I made it!”
The smoky grey pegasus colt rolled over to lay on his back and let his exhausted wings splay out on the puffy cloud streets. His deep breaths came and went rapidly, pausing only as the young pony blew his maroon forelock out of his eyes. As his magenta eyes scanned the wispy cirrus clouds in the higher altitudes his breathing became regular and his heart rate steadied.
“You did it Arc, you made it.” he spoke to himself.
Arcus tucked his wings in and rolled several times through the clouds. Enjoying the slightly moist and spongy feeling of it in his feathers and coat. The dust his wings had collected from the long journey was drawn out and away by the ruffling. Standing to his hooves he hopped up and down a few times and flicked his wings together before stretching and folding them in once more.
“Ohhhh. Never thought I would say this, but i’m going to be glad to not use you guys for a while.” The colt chuckled to himself as he gave his tired wings a cursory glance.
They had carried him far today. The journey from Ponyville to Zephyns, the old Pre-Equestria cloud kingdom of Commander Hurricane was nothing to sneeze at. Almost 500 kilometers at a steady cruising speed of 150 kilometers per hour was a long trip for the young blank flank pegasus. With nothing but chance clouds to rest on along the way and a pair of saddlebags stuffed with sandwich fixings, Arcus had gone far.
“Well, I guess this qualifies me to race in the Windy 500 this year huh?” The colt ruffled his wings one last time and let them settle against his side, partially covering his bare flank once more. “Psh, yeah right Arc, like you would ever be a racer. Rainbow Dash could fly over 1225 kilometers per hour when she was just a filly. As if I could ever forget that story.” A rasp left the colts muzzle.
Arcus felt the pangs of hunger before his stomach announced them. Turning back to look at his saddlebags he shifted his weight from hindleg to hindleg to ensure that the weight was right and remind himself that he still had food, enough for a few nights if necessary. Beyond that he hadn’t planned, but that was the most exciting part about flying away.
“Time to find a good place to eat.”
~~~
The ruins of the once proud city of Zephyns deteriorated slowly. The majestic and mighty cloud structures would not erode the way an earthen structure would from wind and rain. The magical clouds would forever hold their place in the sky between the strong jetstreams the long forgotten pegasi soldiers would use to travel far and wide. The cloud city would only be reduced by the occasional mild high altitude breeze, flowing horizontally through the streets and open air buildings. The beautiful and sturdy Ioneighan columns held up roofs no longer. From the cornice to the capital of the support clouds, most of the buildings on the outskirts of the floating city state had been whisked away by the centuries of gentle breezes. The remains didn’t go far for most of them and the city itself was surrounded in the “rubble” of its former glory in the forms of misty streets and large staircases that resembled a time lapse photograph of a waterfall. All around the massive stratus and cumulus formations the wispy tendrils that remained from the ancient pegasus craftsmen tumbled in a swirl of opaque slow-moving waterfalls.
In the midst of all of this history and majesty sat a young colt eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He was kicking his hindlegs in absent-minded joy as his eyes roamed across the ruins, humming happily to himself as he chewed.
Arcus sat below the frieze of the “Partly-non”. The ancient structure sat at the highest point above the deteriorating city state. The frieze depicted the varying types of weather ranging from terrible hurricanes, relentless blizzards and dark storm cloud covered skies on the far left to the scorching hot sunny days and drought inducing heat on the right. But in the middle was the balance, the partly-cloudy weather. It reflected the ancient pegasus mythology of them as the guardians of climate balance. Their patron goddess Zephyra who brought the winds was said to have gifted her pegasi children with wings in her image so that they may water the crops that were thirsty and give them sunlight when they were hungry. As she provided the winds in the sky her children would use their gift of wings to provide the lift so that they may reach to the heavens and spread the magic of balance and harmony to all corners of the globe. They turned dry deserts into lush oasis, frozen tundra into warm forests and sunken swamps into rolling plains.
But as with all grand missions of inexorable change, those who resisted were either converted or swept aside. Penguins lost their homes to make tropical paradises and reptiles lost their watery glades to make farmland. The pegasi back then didn’t have the modern system of balance of all three pony tribes to put the needs of the ground bound critters in line with their own. Modern ponies had learned that there was perfection in diversity as well, that all who lived on the planet deserved a share of it, no matter how small.
Arcus sat and contemplated it all as he watched the high noon sun filtering through what was left of the cornice of the Partlynon. He had finished his sandwich and closed the jars of peanut butter and strawberry jam. It was almost as good as how his mom made it, but he could never tear off the crusts as well as her, just the way he liked it. But it didn’t matter anymore. He thought he didn’t need her anymore, he had vowed to get his cutie mark on his own.
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a soft whimpering sound on the breeze.
Standing to his hooves and knocking his saddlebags to the side before he could close them and wrap up the loaf of bread he scanned the area for the source of the sound.
“Hello? Is somepony there?” He called, his wings raising partway in case he would need to fly away in danger, just as his mother had always told him, fly away and fight another day.
sniffle
Arcus had definitely heard that, he cautiously made his way along the side of the structure, moving from cloud column to cloud column as stealthily as possible. He knew that whatever it was must be dangerous, nopony ever flew out this far on their own. Except for him he supposed.
“Where are you?” The colt asked to the quiet ruins.
gasp
Arcus was zeroed in on the target now, it was right behind the last column on the corner, the opposite side of the great temple from where he had sat to eat lunch. It must be something small if it could be concealed by such a worn down column. Hardly anything was left but the base.
A scuffling of hooves was heard and before Arcus could get react and get airborne he was encountered by the sight of a tiny pegasus filly with bloodshot eyes and damp cheeks. She rounded the edge of the column quickly but nervously and stared at him with hope in her eyes but fear painting her body language. Arcus registered that the tiny wings wouldn’t be able to carry her, she couldn’t have been more than six years old. A helpless child.
“Hi. Are you OK? Are you alone out here?” Arcus felt the immediate need to protect this helpless filly. Her pristine white coat and long pink mane trembled in the breeze as her skinny legs seemed to almost struggle to support her.
“I-I’m lost. I haven’t eaten in so long and...” The young filly struggled to speak as her throat was full of phlegm and holding back sobs, trembling on her hooves as she fought to maintain eye contact. But Arcus knew immediately what she needed. He swept forward in a smooth motion and gathered her up into a wing hug and held her while she fell to her knees and continued to cry.
“Shh. Shh it’s going to be OK, I can help you. My name is Arcus what’s yours?” He held the small and lanky filly close. She was practically freezing and her coat was a mess. He could feel her ribs through her soft white fur and tiny wings.
The young filly looked into the young teenage colts eyes and brought her breaths under control. She spoke softly and quickly, “Sundrop. My name is Sundrop.”
She sobbed once more and buried her muzzle into his neck began to cry once more.
Arcus realized that his plans of flying away from home just got a lot more complicated.
Arcus let out a long sigh as he watched the sun moving across the sky. It was past noon and he hadn’t seen more than the Partlynon. He flew from home to find adventure and a cutie mark but only ended up finding a pony who was just plain lost. A little helpless filly who was now his responsibility.
“Thanks again for this sandwich Arcy it’s the best ever!” the content ball of white feathers and pink hair said as she chewed happily with her eyes closed. Strawberry was her favorite.
A little filly who, once fed, seemed to radiate happiness and energy like she was made of it. Ten minutes after meeting her and she had already taken to calling him the same nickname his mother used for him. Arcus rolled his eyes once again and cursed his fortune. His one chance of finding his special talent and all he does is find some pony that was lost. He would have to change his plans completely to account for the filly with no sense of direction.
“Sundrop, I need you to tell me why you are here. Why were you crying in the Partlynon by yourself? How did—”
“The what?” Arcus paused as he realized he was just interrupted by the little filly as she clutched what remained of her PB and J and looked up at him with her light magenta eyes and pouted in confusion.
Arcus cringed at how cute she was when she wasn’t crying. “The, the Partlynon? This building? It’s the most important landmark in Zephyns! Do you even kn—”
“Zephyns?” Sundrop giggled as a look of disbelief rolled across the colt’s face.
Arcus let out an explosive sigh and held a foreleg over his eyes as he looked to the sky. He prayed to Celestia for strength as he realized this sad and lonely filly was now turning into a giddy and playful filly. Two things he definitely did not want to be right now.
“I need you to be serious, Sundrop! What are you doing out here?”
Sundrop chewed slowly, taking slower and slower bites as she squinted and looked about in deep thought.
Arcus waited patiently for an answer as he held his breath in anticipation. Sundrop paused to swallow a large mouthful of sandwich and then took in a deep breath. The white filly paused for a short moment with her mouth held open comically wide before releasing in a quick exhale all at once, “I’ll tell you after I eat my sandwich.”
Arcus felt his jaw practically unhinge and fall to the ground as he saw the filly close her tiny mouth over a giant bite of the sandwich. His blood pressure was rising and he didn’t have the patience to put up with this, not right now. His hoof moved with lightning fast agility and snatched what remained of the sandwich from the little fillies tiny hooves attached to her lanky legs. He threw it over the edge of the cloud with a mighty roar and then stomped his forehooves back down in front of her. “Hah! No more sandwich, now you are going to answer my questions so I can just...” He trailed off as he saw the lower lip trembling on the alabaster visage of the filly. Her pink mane began to vibrate as her body began to shake with sobs and tears welled in her eyes.
It was all too much for Arcus. “No. Sundrop I’m sorry I didn’t—”
“I h-haven’t had any f-food in almost a whole day... and y-you j-just take it away and... and throw it off the edge like that!” Sundrop was choking on sobs as she finished the sentence. It broke Arcus’ big dumb heart. He was a total sucker for a sad girl.
“I’m sorry Sundrop, I just need to know if y—” He was interrupted once more as he tried to reach a hoof to dry her eyes and bring a wing around to embrace her again. The skinny filly needed food just as much as she needed comfort he realized.
“Meanie!” She turned her back on him and extended her little wings like a privacy screen as she continued to cry into her forehooves and hide her face.
Arcus moved slowly to her side so he could look her in the eye as he apologized but she kept shuffling on her dock and turning away from him. He moved left and she turned right, he moved right and she turned left. He desperately wanted to embrace the little filly and tell her he was sorry but she kept turning away and hiding her face with her long pink mane.
“Sundrop, really, I’m sorry. Please just look at me. I’ll do anything. Just please stop crying.”
Sundrop paused as the colt continued to walk around her and let him stand in front of her. Her voice was practically a whisper as she spoke. “Anything?”
Arcus sighed in relief, he was making progress. “Yes, Sundrop, whatever you want.”
“M-maybe... maybe another PBJ?”
“Sure, I’ll make it right now.”
“With extra strawberry jam.”
“Of course, Sundrop, any way you like it.”
“And could you. Um. Tear off the crusts.”
Arcus rolled his eyes and groaned. But was immediately halted as whimpers began to leave Sundrop’s little muzzle and her wings began to flutter in agitation as her eyes squinted.
“OK! OK! No crusts.”
Sundrop simply smiled and leaped to her hind hooves to wrap her skinny forelegs around Arcus’ withers in an embrace.
“Oh Thank you Arcy!”
Arcus felt his heart bursting at the cuteness of the little filly and cursed his weakness once again. He could never leave a pony in need of help, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
~~~
Two sandwiches for a little filly later and short trip down the cloud stairs from the Partlynon to the main plaza of Zephyra and Arcus found himself finally exploring the ruins of the legendary birthplace of the Pegasus tribe.
Two hours passed as the happy flightless filly and the curious colt moved as a duo through the ruins. He told her of all the history of every building. Of the champions and legendary heroes that lived there. The great politicians and military leaders, the poets and architects, the scholars and philosophers. So much history left to drift away beyond the reaches of Equestria, so much mystery left to be rediscovered.
Arcus walked down every street and through every building still standing or intact. He flew from ledge to ledge with Sundrop as she giggled and pointed and cheered him on. Arcus was having more fun than he thought he possibly could. He assumed this must be what it’s like to have a sister.
The day was just as he had imagined it would be that morning when he took wing from his house in Ponyville, almost. The pale grey colt felt more burdened now then he thought he would be. He expected that being on his own and seeking adventure would be more liberating and carry a lightweight sense of freedom. The filly on his back probably had something to do with what was weighing him down.
“Sundrop, are you ready to tell me why you are out here alone yet?”
The white ball of fur and downy feathers raised a muzzle out of her pink mane that was draped all over the colts back and merged with his maroon mane. She had been enjoying her piggy back ride a little too much it seemed. “Mmm, my tummy still hurts too much.”
Arcus wished once again that he had a bit for every revolution his eyes made after talking to the strange filly. He had known her for less than a day and already she was treating him like he was her big brother. “Lunch was almost three hours ago! That’s why you asked me to carry you all the way down the stairs on my back from the Parrtlynon. And all through the rest of the city! Your tum-stomach should be fine by now.”
Sundrop raised her head to look down at the colt and crossed her forehooves over his withers. She turned her chin up and closed her eyes, looking off to the left as his head was turned around his right shoulder to look at her with a frown.
“Princess Sundrop decrees that knight Arcus will continue to carry her until she has regained her strength!” She gestured with a forehoof at nothing as if signing an official decree or that by gesticulating made the statement any more official.
Arcus just huffed and continued to walk and look straight ahead. He reminisced over all the time he had done something nice to someone and simply had them take advantage of him because of it. His frustration came out in a muttered sentence, “It’s not like I forced you to eat those three sandwiches.”
“Two and a half.”
“Whatever.”
“A princess needs her strength my noble knight! Being stranded on a cloud by monsters is not good for her complexion.”
Arcus paused and looked to his passenger once more, “Monsters?”
“Well... Yes! Monsters of course, big scary ones, with claws, and fire breath, and spikes! Lots of spikes!” Her little white forehooves spread apart and she smiled wide to show all her pearly whites. Her gesture was meant to indicate that the monster was terrifying or large, perhaps both, but it only warmed Arcus’ heart as he watched the little filly smile. She nearly lost her balance before wrapping her legs once more around his barrel and nuzzling into his withers with a giggle.
Arcus was worried. Not because of some imaginary fire-breathing spike-monster but because the filly wouldn’t be honest with him. “Sundrop. I need you to tell me the truth, where are your parents.”
Sundrop remained quiet as she looked to the horizon over his shoulder he wasn’t turned to look over. “Let’s go over there, Arcus. Let’s go on an adventure, far away from here, over there, anywhere but here. Just you and m-me...”
Arcus dropped to his knees and elbows once more in the grand plaza of Zephyns and rolled the filly off his back with a gentle nudge from his wing. She was crying once again.
“Sundrop. What happened.”
“No! I won’t tell you, you can’t make me. It’s not like you have to tell me why you are here, why should I have to!” She met his eyes with an angry glare as she nuzzled further under his wings. Her skinny and bony frame still trembling against his barrel.
Arcus couldn’t deny the logic of that statement. This small filly needed someone to open up to her before she could open up to him. He took the first step. He decided to be honest and extend the olive branch first.
“I flew away. I came here because I’m a blank flank, I was looking for an adventure to get my cutie mark.”
“Flew away? From what?”
“Well... My life I suppose. My friends, what few I had. My school, I didn’t like it anyway, It’s not like I had any plans after I graduate in a year. All that happens to me is I get teased at school for being a blank flank.”
“What about your family? Won’t they miss you?” Sundrop looked at Arcus with genuine hope in her eyes.
“Family, heh, I hardly have one. I never even met my father, no brothers or sisters, and my mom is just a flightless pegasus living in a little earth pony farming village. It’s not the life I want, I had to get away. I just had to. I wasn’t going to get a cutie mark bucking apples or baking cupcakes. I was made for something more.”
“Just you and your mom?” The filly looked to the colt in concern.
“Well, I mean, yeah. Now I know what you’re thinking OK. I love my Mom but I had to get away, she would understand. I mean it wouldn’t be forever, just until I got my cutie mark and then I would be right back. She was just holding me back, I had to—”
“Your mommy loved you and you just flew away?”
Arcus was quiet. He looked to the sun in shame, it was just slowly drifting past the edges of the ruined buildings now.
“Sundrop. You wouldn’t understand. It’s so difficult being a pegasus who doesn’t live in a cloud house. I couldn’t go to flight school until I was two years older than every other colt and filly in the class. I was just so... different. It didn’t matter that my mom loved me. Love can’t make her wings work, love can’t give me a dad, love can’t give me a cutie mark and stop the bullying at school. Nobody understood what I wanted.”
Sundrop was quiet and still for a moment as she looked at his eyes. Her gaze swept from one eye to the next, focusing on each intently with her wide open magenta eyes, her irises so bright and caring.
“You know what I always wanted Arcus. A family who loved me.”
Arcus felt the guilt wash over him now. He knew he had gone too far, this wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have, not with this filly. He looked away from the filly in shame even as she nuzzled closer into his neck and pawed at his face to make him look back at her again.
“How could you say no to that? Your mommy loved you and you flew away from her?”
“It’s not like that Sundrop, not exactly.”
“My step dad woke me up early yesterday, before the sun rose. He said we were going on an adventure. I was sleepy still so he carried me on his back while I slept and he flew, just me on his back flying high in the early morning. Then he dropped me off here and said he would be right back.” Sundrop paused to bury her muzzle into the neck of the colt. “Yesterday, Arcy. That’s when he said he would be right back. Yesterday.”
Sundrop was deathly serious as she quivered with not sorrow but anger.
Arcus was speechless.
“My papa, my only family, left me.”
“Sundrop, I know it hurts but it’s going to be OK. I found you and we can go back to your home.”
“Back? I don’t want to go back! I hate my home, I hate my dad!”
Arcus hugged the angry little filly close as tears filled her eyes once again. The playful and happy filly exterior crumbled into sad anger before his very eyes. He was silent as he felt tears forming in his own eyes. He held her close and looked up to the sky as the sun began to cast shadows from the stunted cloud columns into the courtyard to cover the unlikely duo. Two young ponies away from home for two very different reasons.
“Sundrop, you have me. I won’t leave you.”
“Arcy.”
“Yes, Sunny, what is it.”
“Let’s go away from here. Far away, just you and me. The princess and her knight, we can have an adventure and make our own kingdom. We can live in the clouds forever and you can teach me to fly and we can get our cutie marks together. We don’t need anypony else.”
Arcus saw the road opening up before him. On one path he could stay with the filly and talk to her and figure out where she was from and then fight to bring her back where she belonged, or at least to a better family. Or he could take her with him, away from her past and sadness. They could be best friends and a family of their own. They could take on the world, just the two of them. No responsibilities, no family, no bullies. Just them against it all.
But Arcus was a realist, he always had been. As romantic the idea must have sounded to the little filly, he knew it was impossible. He had to admit to himself that even though he flew from home to find his special talent he knew he would have to come home at some point. The colt, nearly a stallion, couldn’t view the world through the literally rose colored eyes of the little filly huddled up next to him. She was so weak and dependent. Arcus was strong and independent. He knew what his choice had to be. They were both alone but they didn’t have to be.
“Sundrop. We can’t do that.” Arcus sighed.
“What? What do you mean? It’s easy! We just keep flying Arcy, you and me, chasing the sunset for as far as it goes and we never stop, not for anything or anyone!” Sundrop was pleading as he held her closer under a wing. She was his responsibility now.
“No. Sundrop I’m taking you back, we’re both going back. We don’t belong out here. We belong in Equestria.”
“No, I won’t let you take me back to that stallion. I won’t go back to my father!”
“Sundrop, please listen, I’m not going to let him hurt you, I can protect you. You’re like a sister to me, I know it sounds crazy but I won’t let you go. I’ll bring you to my mom, she’ll know what to do.” Arcus took a breath and collected his thoughts as he tightly held to the little filly next to him. The sun was lowering and the twilight hours were beginning. The tiny white wings fluttered in protest.
“Arcy it won’t work! I’m just a useless little filly with nobody who loves her!”
“No, Sundrop that’s not true. I love you!”
Sundrop stopped all protests and relaxed into his grip.
“You, love me?”
“Yes, Sundrop, I won’t leave you. I’ll always be at your side, we can fly together and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together and go on adventures just like you want. The Princess and her royal knight, now and forever. Just please let me take you back home, where you belong, where it’s safe.”
“But what about your cutie mark?”
“Sundrop, some things are more important.”
“Oh Arcy, thank you. I love you too.”
They hugged as tightly as they could. A small little princess and her big strong knight.
The sun reached the horizon and prepared to begin its descent.
Arcus and Sundrop stood to their hooves and shared a nuzzle like a brother and sister would. It had only been an afternoon and yet they depended on each other for so much more than food and comfort. They had shared their dreams and aspirations. Their frustrations and flaws. They were tired of discussing the small things that were so important to young ponies like them. Cutie marks and adventure held little importance to them. Now their thoughts were turned on the return trip. The journey home.
“Arcy, are we going now?” Sundrop was once again upon the colts back and wrapping her forelegs as far as they would go around his neck. Her muzzle against his maroon mane and her bright pink eyes glowing in excitement as they both watched the sun approach the horizon slowly but surely.
“Yes, Sundrop, we’re going home. Back to where we belong.” Arcus smiled a genuine smile. He was hopeful again, he was doing something good. He was saving a filly.
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Saving the princess of course, it’s what a knight is supposed to do you know.” Sundrop giggled as she smiled and wiggled against his coat.
“Really? All knights? Is that all they do?” Arcus giggled at the simplicity of her logic.
Sundrop seemed shocked by the colt’s comment. “Of course! What else would they do?”
It was always sunshine and rainbows in the mind of little fillies. No wars to fight, no freedom to defend, just mean step-father’s, fierce dragons and sleeping beauties. Arcus wished that life could be as perfect for everyone. No fear, no danger. Just the knights who saved the princesses and nothing else. “I guess you’re right, princess. I’m just glad I could be your knight today.”
“Always and forever, Arcy!”
“Always and forever, Sundrop.”
Arcus flapped his wings and took the skies, he rose a few meters before adjusting his angle of attack and pushing himself forward and falling over the edge. Sundrop squealed in delight as the ancient city state rose up behind them as they fell down away from it. The cloud walls and streets, the columns and buildings left to float in peace and crumble with the passage of time. Their loneliness and silence having served their purpose. The lonely island bringing lost souls closer once again.
The crepuscular rays of a fading sun were glowing deep red behind them. The city of Zephyns had long since faded past the horizon. Arcus estimated that they must be halfway home by now. The border of Equestria was somewhere in the mountains below them and receding far behind them as Arcus rode the Zephyra jet stream. The western wind blowing them from the ancient pegasus Capitol city beyond the San Palomino Desert was complemented by the favorful Sirocco southern wind blowing from Zebrica guiding them easily and gently towards Ponyville. Arcus could barely make out the river to the east of them flowing just by the Macintosh Hills. He knew he would just have to follow it north to the Ghastly Gorge it had carved out and from there over the falls of Froggy Botton Bogg and finally the Everfree Forest. Beyond that was home, their home.
The colt’s flight was relaxed and gentle. The wind and updrafts were so favorable he hadn’t had to flap his wings in nearly a hundred kilometers to rise over the mountains. The coming night time was greeting him with a few bright stars peeking over the eastern horizon as the moon prepared to make its ascent for the night. On his back was the now welcome and comforting weight of a tiny napping filly. Her skinny legs holding onto him as she mumbled in her sleep and snored gently.
Arcus couldn’t believe how fortunate he was. He left his home feeling more alone, helpless and angry than he ever thought he could be. But he returned happier than ever before with hope, a dream, a purpose and a new friend. His princess, his little lost filly who needed a protector. He could be that protector. He would fly any distance to save her, to bring her home.
Sundrop was startled awake as a brief flash reached her eyes. She looked behind her to the saddlebags of the colt carrying her with a smile. Then she looked beyond them to the western horizon and the sunset.
“I love sunsets, don’t you Arcy?” Sundrop yawned and smiled again as her magenta irises reflected the deep red glow of the fading day through half-closed eyes.
“I’m sorry, did I wake you Sundrop?” Arcus sent a brief glance back at his passenger.
“No, I just thought I should be awake for this.” Sundrop smiled back at him.
“For what?” Arcus asked with concern.
“Our arrival back home, well your home, but my new home.” Sundrop smiled and closed her eyes to nuzzle into the withers of her new best friend.
Arcus smiled and turned to look back to the distant lights of Canterlot, his beacon guiding him home. The lights in the mountain at the center of Equestria were like a lighthouse, he had always dreamed of going on adventures to distant lands and flying back to that majestic place. The center of the world and a heart of a nation. Canterlot was a light in the darkness for him as he stared out of his second floor bedroom window. He wished he could be up there instead of down on the ground, his mother could be there and he could be close to the clouds. It would be perfect.
Arcus was startled from his thoughts as he noticed a bright flash in the night sky to the north, just above the gorge. Another flash, this time closer and what sounded like voices shouting. Arcus kept his pace constant and kept his sharp eyes scanning the half light beyond him. A third and final flash and then he was certain he heard voices now. And then he began to see the shapes resolving. A team of nearly six ponies gleamed in the dim purple radiance of the sun now completely beyond the horizon. They were divided into teams of two and each was carrying a chariot. One was large and golden, one was sleek and black and the third was wooden.
There was a pop and a flash and Arcus had the strange sensation of a weight being lifted off of his back. He turned around frantically and looked about him in shock and utter terror.
“Sundrop! Sundrop, where are you!” He zipped down and spiralled to see if she had fallen in her drowsiness. He had been so careful to fly straight and still as he carried her, he couldn’t believe she would fall now, when they were so close. Arcus chased down out of the jet stream and flapped his wings in agitation as he zipped every direction searching for the small white shape plummeting into the gorge but found nothing.
A cough and a greeting broke him from his thoughts as he hovered with his hooves ruffling his mane in frustration and emotional agony. Arcus thought he had lost her.
“Arcus, I presume?” Spoke a feminine voice, soft but strong.
The colt looked to the source of the voice and saw a deep blue alicorn princess speaking to him from a sleek black chariot. It was being pulled by two royal guards ponies. Next to her, arriving second was a wooden chariot being pulled by a similar duo, but its occupant was far more familiar and less regal.
“ARCY!” The orange pegasus mare was practically leaning over the edge of the wooden chariot as she shouted for her son. Her little runaway colt had finally come home.
“Mom?” Arcy could hardly believe his eyes, he was being confronted by royal guards, a princess and now his mother. It was too much for him.
“Mommy, I’m... I-I’m sorry mom, I don’t know what I was—” He flew into her grasp as swiftly as he could. Her warm coat and rapidly beating heart greeted his own like the warmest autumn night or the gentlest summer breeze. Her maroon mane mixed with his as they nuzzled and rub noses as a mother and son would. They opened their eyes to find that they both contained tears, the magenta eyes of the young colt meeting the magenta eyes of his dam. His strong and powerful grey wings wrapping around her body, brushing against her small and flightless orange ones.
“Oh, Arcy. It’s going to be OK, I love you, I love you so much. It’s all going to be OK.”
The reunion was broken by a realization of the colt.
“Mom! There was a filly, I went to Zephyns and found a little filly and she—”
A slight giggle from the Princess of the Night interrupted the colt from his flustered and emotional explanation. But it was followed by a more polite cough from the newcomer.
Arriving on her own golden chariot, Princess Celestia, Bringer of the Dawn, arrived and addressed the group.
“I believe that I can explain, Arcy.”
Arcus was awestruck. He had only ever seen the princess from a distance, but up close she was breathtaking. Even in the barest fading light of day she was radiant. Her spectral mane practically capturing the tiny threads of light and amplifying them to glow against the night sky. While her sisters mane seemed to wrap the night around her like a shroud, The Princess of the Day seemed to stand apart and float above the night as if it were oil on water. Arcus was awestruck.
“Scootaloo, I would like a minute with your son, if you don’t mind.” Celestia spoke to the mother mare who was overcome with tears of joy in her wooden chariot.
“Of course, mo-your highness.” Scootaloo choken back a sob of happiness as she hugged her little colt once more and nuzzled him. Before giving him a gentle shove with a forehoof and wiping her eyes again with the other.
Celestia rose from her chariot on her large graceful wings. Powerful with each thrust but gentle enough as she rose from the chariot and moved away from the group, gesturing for the colt to follow. Arcus rose from the wooden chariot behind her and followed her. He left his saddlebags with his mother in the wooden chariot and he felt her hoof keeping contact with him as he slowly pulled out of her reach. Her tears slowed as he moved away from her.
“Arcus, why did you return home.” The Regal elder alicorn asked the young pegasus.
“I-I wanted to return to my mother, your highness.” Arcus was at a loss for words. Her large form hovering in the air with him, dwarfing him with her size. Her regalia, the heavy golden royal peytral and tiara with their star amethyst gems seemed to amplify the power of her magenta irises. Her serious and strong gaze penetrated him behind over her thin muzzle and black lined eyes.
A mirthful smirk appeared on Celestia’s visage as she continued to look at the colt. “Is that all, Arcy? Is there no other reason that you would come home for?”
Arcus paled at the use of his familiar nickname coming from a being of such power and fame. “U-umm. I guess there was a filly and I was supposed to be rescuing her and she umm. I don’t know what happened she. Just disappeared.” Arcus couldn’t believe it. He must have been hallucinating, it was all a dream, something was wrong, it didn’t add up.
“Arcy. That little filly will be with you for as long as you will be with her. You made that promise to her did you not?” Celestia smiled once more as she looked at the colt who seemed to be on the brink of epiphany.
“A-Always and f-forever, my Princess.”
“Always and forever, my knight.”
Arcus gasped and cried in joy as he lunged forward and wrapped his hooves around the princess of the dawns long slender neck. Her once skinny and tiny frame was now much larger but still just as slender and fragile as it was only moments before when he carried her on his back. Her coat was just as soft now as it was when he nuzzled and comforted her and protected her. Her smile just as genuine now as when he sat and laughed with her and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. His princess had never really gone.
“S-Sundrop?”
“Yes, Arcy, it’s me. I knew you would come home if you had a purpose. That purpose is to use your kind heart and strength to protect those who are in need. Those who are lost and need to be found. You can go so far and achieve so much, as long as you have a goal, a purpose.” Celestia smiled down at the little colt who she had just recently looked up to as a big colt. A colt she showed vulnerability to who didn’t take advantage of her, lie to her or abandon her. He had saved her, protected her and loved her as a best friend.
Arcus couldn’t believe that Sundrop was this same princess. The mare who ruled his country, who lived in the royal palace, who was worshipped above all else. She was his best friend then, could she be his best friend now? “Princess, what do I do now? How can I be your knight now? How can we go on adventures now?”
Celestia smiled and looked to her favorite pegasus filly in all of Equestria. Scootaloo looked back to her favorite mare in all of Equestria and simply nodded back in understanding.
“I think I have the perfect home for you, Arcy. But first, there’s something you should see.”
Celestia gestured to Arcus’ flank and as the colt turned to see for himself he couldn’t believe his eyes. He had a cutie mark.
The image of a pristine white cloud was shielded by a protective embrace of a pair of large grey half-extended wings.
As Arcus shouted for joy and began to fly in circles he hugged Celestia and his mother who was all but blinded by tears. Then he proceeded to hug Princess Luna, much to her surprise, and every royal guard present, much to their surprise. But they let a small smile of pride sneak through for their newest member.
10 years later
~~~
The sun shone brightly down on Canterlot that day. The sky was partly cloudy, the perfect balance, not too humid, not too dry. But the faces of two ponies were very damp as they watched the ashes blow gently into the wind off the cloud they stood upon. The tallest spire of Canterlot Castle was behind them as they faced west and into the sunset. The pillowy cloud they shared was all their own. The soft cries of two ponies were only met with the gentle breeze of wind blowing through their manes from the east carrying the remains of their favorite mare into the sunset.
“Goodbye, mother. I will never forget you. You were the wind beneath my wings and the cloud I rested my hooves on. I could never have made it to where I am without your unrelenting guidance and support. You never gave up on me, even when I pushed you away as hard as I could. Even when I flew away as far as I could go. Even when I cried away the night as hard as I could. You were always there. And I want you to know that even though you are no longer with me in body you will always be with me... in spirit. I love you mother, always and forever”
Arcus squeezed his eyes shut as he watched the small cloud of grey ashes get carried away like a flock of birds on the high altitude gusts. The tears were cleared from his eyes as he blinked and watched. The beautiful mare who gave him life and raised him on her own was now reduced to ashes and memory. The beautiful, vivid and spunky orange mare with the maroon mane who was so full of life and lively spirit had lost hers to an incurable sickness of the body.
“Goodbye, daughter. I will never forget you. You were the light in my darkness and the dawn for every night. I could never have kept going, day after day, night after night, without your bright smile and happy stories. You never gave up on me, no matter how hard it was for us to be apart. I wish I could have loved you as much as you deserved. I wish I could have given you more of myself than I had to give. I wish I could have given you my wings so that you could feel how you made my heart soar to know that you were happy, and that you loved me. I wish I could have been half the mother to you that you were to your own foal. I want you to know that even though you are no longer curled beneath my wing, or riding on my back as I carry you across the heavens, that you will always be with me in spirit. I love you daughter, always and forever.”
Celestia turned to look at her grandson. Her powerful and infinitely kind knight was huddled under her wing and resting his head against her. His maroon mane mixing with her spectral one as they held each other close and blinked away tears together. Their magenta eyes, similar because of so much more than a coincidence. Their embrace so much more than friendly. They were best friends, and family. A grandmother and her grandson. A princess and her knight.
“Princess, let’s go away from here. Far away, just you and me. The princess and her knight, we can have an adventure and make our own kingdom. We can live in the clouds forever and you can teach me to live forever and we can be together, forever. We don’t need anypony else.” Arcus nuzzled into his grandmothers barrel and felt his sobs abating. It was a question he had asked her many times. He loved her and wished she would never have to feel the pain of loss ever again. But she always said.
“Arcy, I won’t leave you, I will always be at your side, we can fly together and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together and go on adventures just like you want. The princess and her royal knight, now and forever. But no matter how far we follow the sun or for how long we all have to eventually come home, back to where we belong, where it’s safe. If we live like immortals we can’t appreciate the things that are most important.”
Arcus and Celestia shared a nuzzle and held each other closer.
“Like family.”
“Like family.”
Author's Note
Thanks for reading my story.
This is my first attempt at a short story/one-shot. The inspiration for this story came from the MLP:FiM DVD box set bonus features where the voice actresses and production crew were talking about the parents of Scootaloo. Nicole Oliver jokingly suggested that Celestia was her mother, much to the chagrin of all the other voice actresses. I thought the idea was beautiful because Celestia and Scootaloo have always seemed like the loneliest characters to me. I also wanted to explore the idea of what it meant to be close to Celestia as a royal guard, and how that even Princesses could play favorites now and then.
As for Arcus' father, I briefly hint that his coat is a light grey color and in my mind I link that to Rumble. Why or how Rumble left Scootaloo is up to your imagination. But Arcus' eyes and mane are from his mother, just as Scootaloo's eyes are from her own mother, Celestia. His strong wings comes from his father, and his determination and rebelliousness from his mother, but his protectiveness is his alone.
If you liked this story please check out my first story here: Time Makes Foals of Us All
