Harbinger Rising

A sweet summer breeze blew out across the serene waters of Horseshoe Lake, sending ripples along its placid surface. Celestia's sun was at its highest point in the sky, blocked only now and then by the occasional cloud as it drifted by. In a row boat down below, two young mares giggled at something the young stallion pegasus pony hovering above them has said. Two more ponies, another mare and stallion, tread water just to the side of the boat.

“I'm serious!” exclaimed the airborne pegasus. He tossed his navy mane and zipped through the air, his coat leaving a silver streak in his wake. “I could be as fast as her.”

“Not a chance,” ribbed the pale purple stallion in the water, his white mane hanging over the side of his face, soaked. “Commander Dash is the fastest pegasus alive. Why else do you think she's head of the Royal guards?”

“Was,” said the confident stallion above as he resumed his hovering.

“Give her a break,” barked his friend. “She's kind of pregnant.”

“I thought we came out here to relax,” moaned one of the mares in the boat, a bright pink earth pony with pink and orange pigtails. “Can you not stop talking about the amazing Rainbow Dash and how you're going to be way more awesome than she ever was? Besides, Jackpot, you can't be 'kind of' pregnant.” She scowled up at the pegasus above. “Come on, Eagle Eye. Can't we just have fun today?”

“Sweet Tooth is right,” said the red pegasus mare in the water. Her fiery mane hid half of her face but it was easy to see that this was a conversation they'd all had before and she was tired of hearing about it. She nodded to the pale pink unicorn in the boat and said, “Check List organized this day so we could forget about real life for awhile. So shut your face holes, get in the water, and see if you can beat me and Jackpot to the bottom of the lake!”

From the boat Check List eyed the water, then touched her pink and brown curls. “Um...I don't think so Java Jolt.”

Eagle Eye dove straight down, then quickly, before anyone could think about what he was doing or try to stop him, he was coming up again and turning the boat over. Sweet Tooth and Check List screamed as they were dumped unceremoniously into the lake while their friends could only laugh. Check List surfaced first, sputtering and crying about her mane. Sweet Tooth came up yelling, even before her mouth broke the surface of the water. She splashed Eagle Eye and cried, “You jerk!” But he was too busy laughing to respond. This seemed to stem the mare's anger and she eventually began laughing herself. It was only moments before a splashing war broke out and soon everypony was in stitches, even Check List.

As the sun began its slow decent in the sky, Java Jolt floated on her back, swimming slow circles around her friends. “You guys, can we make a pact?”

“What kind of pact?” asked Jackpot. He reached for one of her hooves and pulled her closer to him, grinning. “One that says you have to follow me wherever you go?”

“Try again, buster.” She kissed his nose. “You'd be the one to follow me if that were the case. No, I mean all of us. We've been best friends since we were just foals. Now that we're growing up and probably moving on to other things in different places, I want us to stay best friends. I mean, let's face, eventually we'll be invited to Sweet Tooth and Eagle Eye's wedding.”

“Wait,” said Sweet Tooth.

“What?” finished Eagle Eye.

“But I don't want to lose touch with you guys.” Java Jolt righted herself in the water so she could tread beside Jackpot. “Whether we end up in Canterlot, we say here in Stableside, move on to one of the new settlements or even go to Harmony. I want to make sure we get together as much as possible.”

“We will,” Jackpot promised, nuzzling her gently.

Check List nodded her agreement. “Of course we will. I don't know where I'll end up. Part of me wants to go see Harmony just to see how they live there with the dragons and the gryphons. I mean, I remember it a little from when I was a foal but part of me thinks it's really weird. Twilight Sparkle lives there and I've always wanted to meet her again.”

“Most of the Harbinger War vets still live there, don't they?” asked Eagle Eye.

“I think so.”

Sweet Tooth shook her head. “Can you imagine something like that happening today? Some huge war? Yeah that was crazy to live through but we were all so young. I don't remember much of anything about it besides the fact that I was scared and I was with Princess Cadance the whole time. Maybe I've repressed the memories, I don't know, but it doesn't feel like it ever really happened most days. And since then the closest we've ever been to a real fight was when Ocean Breeze lost the mayoral election last year.”

“And we never will be that close again,” Eagle Eye said with confidence. “Anyway, I thought we were supposed to be having fun.”

“That's right!” Jackpot let go of Java Jolt and slicked his mane back from his face. “A race to the bottom of the lake and back. Java and I made it in thirty-seven seconds.”

Eagle Eye snorted. “I can do it in-”

“If you say 'ten seconds flat' I will buck you all the way to the Manehattan ruins.”

He looked at Check List and gulped. With a self satisfied smirk, she narrowed her eyes and said. “Let's just see if you can put your money where your mouth is.”

“Are you...do you seriously think you can beat me?”

“No. I know I can.”

Sweet Tooth cleared her throat. “Does it matter? You'll both be way behind me anyway.”

Eagle Eye snorted. “Okay, let's do this.”

“I'll keep time,” Jackpot offered. “On your mark! Get set...go!” Three ponies sucked in big lungfuls of air, then disappeared under the surface, leaving Java Jolt and Jackpot above the water. Jackpot looked at his fillyfriend and quirked a brow. “Aren't you racing?”

“Of course I am.” She swam closer and snaked her forelegs around him, touching her nose to his. “I'm just giving them a head start to show them how ridiculously slow they are when I fly past them.” Java kissed Jackpot and let him go. “How does it feel to be dating a winner?”

“Go get 'em, hot stuff.”

She inhaled deeply and winked, then disappeared under the water. Jackpot watched the bright red of her coat until he could no longer see it, then exhaled and looked around. He'd always loved the lake and had so many memories of being there with his friends. There would be entire afternoons spent in the water when they had been younger, building sand castles on the shore, singing songs and sharing stories while their parents looked on fondly. Once they were old enough to go out on their own they had made the place almost their own with campfires and parties. It would always be a special place for all of them.

The summer breeze that had been playing along with them all day tousled Jackpots drying mane in a gentle caress. Then it pushed him with a forceful gust. His brow furrowed and he bore down, realizing he was drifting and wanting to get back to his spot in the water. But the wind had another idea. It gathered intensity and blew so hard across the surface of the lake that waves rose. They were small little ripples at first, then became whitecaps almost a foot high. And then the wind blew one more time, quick, icy and sharp like a slap on exposed flesh and froze the lake around him.

The once warm water was now frozen in place looking like glass that had been shattered and left in broken pointed shards. Jackpot tried to move but his withers were locked in a layer of thick ice, jagged and unnaturally strong as it cut into his pelt. The now cold water below was quickly robbing him of warmth and unkindly replacing it with sharp needling pain in each of his legs. He struggled again, straining against the ice and grunting, bleeding, panic rising in his chest. “Help!” he called to no one. “Somepony help!”

There was a thud on the underside of the ice.

Jackpot whipped his head around to see bright red hooves pressing up against the ice from beneath. Soon there were gray hooves, pale pink hooves and hooves so bright a pink they were impossible to miss joining in on the pounding.

He swore he could hear them screaming.

“Java!” Jackpot kicked his legs harder, wiggled in a continuous struggle to free himself and ignored the pain of his flesh tearing. If he could just get loose there would be a way for his friends to get free. “Eagle Eye! Somepony, push me up!”

The colorful hooves had gone and the stallion kicked his legs out, fighting uselessly. “Please, somepony help me!” Something hit his legs and he froze. Looking down, he could see his friends directly below him. Eagle Eye swam up with Sweet Tooth. They pressed up against his underbelly with their hooves, their withers, anything to try and budge him but he could not move. Tears clouded his vision when their efforts went unrewarded. Then Check List seemed to choke. Any breath she might have had left was gone and her pale body began to convulse.

“No!” Helpless to do anything but watch, Jackpot saw one of his oldest friends sink and disappear in the inky blackness of the lake. “Check List!” Eagle Eye abandoned his efforts and dove down, Java Jolt quick to take his place in trying to push Jackpot free. Eagle Eye never came back up.

Soon enough there was only one pair of hooves pushing against him, and the effort was getting weaker and weaker by the moment. Jackpot, at a loss for what more he could do, squeezed his eyes shut and slammed his muzzle into the ice in an effort to break through. Then again. And again until the ice before him was slick with blood and somehow completely undamaged. The last pair of hooves pushing against him now dropped away and he screamed Java Jolt's name.

Suddenly she was before him, hooves and face pressed up against the ice directly in front of him. He pressed his cheek to the cold and tossed his head to clear the blood away, to be able to see her better. Her eyes were full of sorrow and he knew she felt all the same torment and confusion as he. “Java...” He choked on her name. “I'm so sorry.” In reply she kissed the ice and mouthed the words, “I love you,” before pushing away to die where Jackpot couldn't watch.

“No! Please, no! Java!” He struggled once more but there was little energy left to be spent. All around him the ice was stained and still solid. “Java,” he said once more, weak. All the adrenaline had left him and exhaustion was quickly setting in. It had been such a perfect day. He'd lived such a perfect life. How he wished he could go back and live it all again, to not take any single moment for granted.

As his head slumped the ice began to melt. Before his bleeding muzzle had a chance to hit the surface Jackpot was surrounded once more by the calm, warm waters he'd spent all day in with his friends. Now as he sank to the bottom of Horseshoe Lake he would join his friends once more and reunite with them in the afterlife.