//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Ouranios // by Amadeus //------------------------------// Chapter 1 ‘Tis hotter than a furnace out here. Gold Rush grumbled to himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow with the rag wrapped around his neck, looking up at the sun beating down on him. Its position in the sky told him it was high noon and well past time to take a break but unfortunately there was still much work to be done before that could happen. He still had to finish plowing and seeding this field hopefully before the storm clouds he saw looming on the horizon arrived. But the fiery orb in the sky wasn’t going to make it easy for him. Normally it never used to bother him because the pegasi took care of the weather. But now it seemed that the pegasi were busy off dealing with some threat that, as rumor had it, was spreading across the land like some dark plague. Gold had to laugh at himself about that. Rumors never really held any merit to an earth pony like him, all that mattered was the land that he worked himself to death on everyday trying to make a living for him and his young wife. The land was fertile but still very much wild as he surveyed over his property. It was nestled in the valley between two mountain ranges, and didn’t have much on it yet as far as modern conveniences just a little thatched roof cottage with a field of oats out back and a small red barn. The rest was nothing more than trees and dense underbrush that he had yet to get around to clearing. He had just started on the field this morning and was already making good progress. With any luck he should have the field planted by the end of the day ready for it to have its first fill of rainwater. “Thou knowest that thou shouldn’t work thyself so hard.” He heard a smooth voice ringing like a bell come from behind him. He turned to find a lilac colored earth pony coming up to him carrying a tray on her back with a pitcher of lemonade and a couple of glasses. He marveled at her beauty as she stopped in front of him and set the tray on the ground, her wavy white mane falling over her eyes. As she raised her head and used one of her fore hooves to brush the offending hair out of her eyes, he got a look at her rich sapphire eyes that seemed to draw his very soul into her. And why should he deny their spell as he leaned in and nuzzled her neck which elicited a giggle from the mare. How could he have gotten so lucky, he thought, as he looked longingly into her eyes; to call this visage of beauty in front of him his and he hers, his precious wife, Lavender Breeze. He leaned in to nuzzle her neck again as she laughed, her voice igniting a fire in him. His body had to hear more from this pony before him as he slowly made his way down her neck, until she playfully swatted him away. “And here I thought my poor stallion was working so hard out in this unbearable heat that he might desire some refreshment. But methinks that thou hast plenty of energy left in thee.” Gold Rush pulled his wife close to him as she let out a surprised squeak and he gave her a devious grin, “Art thou offering thyself as said refreshment my wife?” “Down boy.-” Lavender said silkily as she wiggled out of his grip again, “-Thou still have a lot of work to do before this e’en. Just wanted to bring thee a drink, don’t need thee passing out on me after all.” She told him as she began pouring the lemonade into the glasses and handed him one. “Thanks wife.” Gold said as he took the outstretched glass and gulped down a huge mouthful of the refreshing drink. The welcoming liquid cooling his parched throat and in no time flat he had downed the glass, and smacking his lips, he eagerly held the empty glass out in front of him for it to be filled again. Lavender just giggled as she filled his glass, “My, my, thou really were thirsty.” She said as she handed the glass back to him which he took and began to drink again, this time much slower. Lavender raised her own glass to her lips drinking the sweet yellow liquid with all the grace and skill that one would expect from a proper mare. She sat the glass back on the tray delicately as she waited for Gold Rush to finish. “How is the work going my love?” “Quite well actually, as soon as I finish tilling these last few rows then we will be able to plant the first batch of saplings,“ Gold said as he surveyed the field he was working on. “From there we should hopefully start seeing our first crop in a couple of summers. But fear not, for we shall be fine with the oat fields that I have already planted until the apples come in.” Gold looked towards his wife to see her reaction to this news. She wasn’t originally raised on a farm like he was, her family were cooks by trade, and he wanted to make sure that she understood the timeline that now drove both of their lives. But he found her looking at the ground absentmindedly as she scrapped her hoof in the dirt. He was about to ask her what was wrong when she spoke up. “I went and saw the healer this morning.” Lavender whispered in a voice almost too soft for Gold to hear. He watched as her eyes began to water. “She told me we can never have any foals of our own.” He quickly wrapped her into his embrace as she broke down in tears. He slowly stroked her back with his hoof, trying to comfort her as best he could, as she sobbed into his neck like a small filly. It was sobering news for him to hear especially after they had held out hope for so long. “Maybe she was mistaken.” He began after a few moments “Maybe we should go see another he-“ “No!-” Lavender interjected as she pulled away from him and walked a couple paces away. As she stood there with her head drooped low, so close to him yet so far. She spoke again in a voice that no longer held any of the happiness that Gold had always been familiar with. “-No more healers. “I’m tired of being told that I will never know what it feels like to be a mother. Never watch the foal that I carried take their first steps, or be able to comfort them when their hurt or ill, never watch them grow up and venture out on their own. I’m just tired of trying to hope for something that’ll never be.” Gold looked at the figure of his wife. Gone was the ray of sunshine that had greeted him just a little while ago and in it’s place was a mare so weighed down by grief that it seemed like she would be swallowed by the very ground itself. He walked over to her and gently rubbed his head under hers comfortingly, which she reciprocated by leaning into him. “I’m sorry. I was meaning to tell thee later tonight, but I was too weak and now I've interrupted thy work.” Lavender said as tears threatened to fall again. She leaned down to retrieve the tray of lemonade and leave, but she was stopped as Gold Rush pulled her back into his arms. The tray fell to the ground, glass shattering on the hard dirt, forgotten there as he held her to his chest. “Darling?” Lavender asked surprised as his actions as he pulled her to arms length. As she looked into his eyes, they stared back at her with a determination that she had never seen before. “Don’t ever apologize for feeling the way you do. Not to me, not to anyone. You should never have to feel sorry for feeling bad.” Gold told her in a stern voice. Lavender just stared at her husband in disbelief. Never had he spoken in such a harsh tone before, but as she looked into his eyes she could see what he was trying to tell her and she gave him a small smile. “I will my love. I shall be strong for thy sake and mine.” Lavender told him as she gave him a reassuring kiss before she leaned down and picked up the tray and broken glasses. Once she was done she moved to head back to the house. After a few steps she stopped and looked back over her shoulder at Gold. She gave him a little smile and he could see her eye’s shimmering in the sunlight from her recent tears, “Grammercy dear for being there for me.” After which she continued on her way before he could say anything more. Gold stood there for a moment watching Lavender leave, as if to make sure that his wife was truly okay. He was also still in a little disbelief at the news. They had recently moved here away from their families and old village, to try and start anew in a place and get away from the grief. In their old village once news got out that they where unable to have kids, the rumors spread like wildfire. He despised the gossip and tried to keep it away from his wife as best he could, but there was no way he could protect her from herself. He had come to this realization when woke up to the sound of his wife crying softy one night as they lay in bed. At that moment he made the decision to take his wife far away from there and find somewhere new so that they could start over again. Have another chance of happiness. He told his plan to their families and even though they may not have agreed to it entirely they couldn’t deny that Lavender deserved to be happy. So they packed up and moved across Equestria to a village where no one knew their names, to build a new life with their own hooves. But now, as he slung the plow collar back over his head, he had a lot of work to do if he was going to make that life happen. Lavender came into the cottage and made her way to the garbage can to throw away the broken glass. She then made her way over to the kitchen to begin working on dinner, because she knew once Gold Rush was done with the field he would have a massive appetite. As she started to pull out the bowls and ingredients, she found herself dwelling on the conversation she had just had with her husband and found her eyes beginning to water again. The emotions rushed into her heart again and she soon found herself on the wooden kitchen floor sobbing uncontrollably. So many emotions tore at her heart at once like a pack of hungry timberwolves. Anguish, confusion, depression, and sadness, but most of all was anger. Why! She yelled to the heavens in her mind for fear that Gold Rush would hear her. What did we do that was so wrong? Is this supposed to be some kind of test? I just want an answer to why I have to suffer so much and I just want… I want the pain to go away. I’m tired of feeling that my heart is being ripped out of my chest. Please… answer me. But no answer came as she continued to stare at the roof. The cottage was silent save for the clock on the wall and her tears. She just continued to cry on the floor until she had no more tears to cry. As soon as she was able to compose herself she pulled herself up and made her way to the kitchen sink and grabbed a towel. After a few pumps from the hand driven faucet she was rewarded with a flow of clear water. Which she quickly used the water to wet the towel and began to press the cool cloth under her eyes trying to minimize the swelling that she knew was there, so as to not alert her husband to the fact that she had been crying when he came back in. She looked out the kitchen window towards the barn as she waited for the cool cloth to work its magic when she noticed the barn door open. Normally it wouldn’t have drawn her attention just Gold Rush forgetting to close it that morning. But that wasn’t what had drawn her attention, just inside the door, deep in the shadows she could have thought she saw something moving. She waited, watching. There! There it was again. What was it? It was too big to be a rat. Normally she would call Gold in from the field to take a look at whatever it was. But as she looked out another window facing the field he was in she could see that he was far to busy to be bothered by something that could just as well be nothing. Gathering her resolve she made her way out the back door and headed toward the barn. As she reached the barn she poked her head in through the open door and peered around. Nothing seemed out of place as she looked around to see the empty stalls and tools hanging in their respected places, and was about to rack it all up to her imagination when she heard a noise come from one of the stalls in the back. “G-g-good day?” Lavender called out in a shaky voice. She didn’t hear anyone reply so she called out again, and again no reply came. As she made her way over to the stall she began to look for something to arm herself. Soon she found a pitchfork leaning against one of the post that Gold Rush used to bail the hay. Grabbing it in her hoof she crept closer to the stall, the rustling of the hay louder now. Slowly she peeked around the corner post into the stall and let out a gasp in surprise, dropping the pitchfork on the ground. Sitting in the stall, huddled in the far corner, were two little fillies one of them slightly bigger than the other. The bigger of the two was covered in the whitest hair that Lavender had ever seen, save for her mane and tail which was a rosy shade of pink. She stood over the smaller pony protectively trying to look intimidating to this possible threat staring at Lavender with a pair of narrow violet eyes. Meanwhile the smaller pony was almost the complete opposite of the first one being covered in navy blue hair with an indigo mane and tail. Her aquamarine eyes were watery from tears as she curled up in fear. But the most unusual thing about these two was the fact that they both had the wings of a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn. Lavender just looked at them in disbelief as they just stared back at her. Where did they come from? She thought to herself confused. We’re too far away from town for them to be from there. Speaking of that they do not look like any kind of pony I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a pony with both wings and a horn. She began to approach the two fillies slowly so as to not scare them anymore than they already probably where. The white filly stomped one of her hoofs on the ground to let Lavender know she was close enough. “Tis okay little ones I will not harm ye,” she said in a gentle voice as she laid down on the hay so as to not seem so much bigger than them. “Can you tell me what your names are?” Nothing more than a flutter of a wing from the blue pony. “Well can you tell me where you two are from?” Still silence, although Lavender could see the resolve beginning to waiver in the white ones eyes. “Well what about thy parents? Do ye know where thy mommy and daddy are?” At that the waterworks broke as both fillies began to cry uncontrollably. Lavender, reacting purely on instinct, covered the distance between them and wrapped the sobbing fillies in her arms trying to calm them down with reassuring coos and stroking of their back. “Tis okay little ones, tis okay. We shall find thy parents.” The fillies’ whimpers slowly faded under Lavender’s consoling but they refused to let go of her. Finding comfort in this strange mare’s soft embrace as they breathed in her scent with quick little breaths. After a moment she tried again to talk to them turning their little chins up so they could look her in the eye. “Now then, do ye know thy names?” She asked them with a gentle smile, but little by little she watched as their eyes began to tear up again. Without thinking she slowly kissed away their tears before continuing. “That’s ok we’ll just come up with some, now let’s see what kind of cutie marks we have here.” Lavender placed her hoof to her chin in thought looking the little blue one over first. Her mark consisted of a black spot that covered her whole hind quarter like someone had spilled ink on the poor thing. Inside that blotch of black was a pure white mark in the shape of a waxing crescent moon. “The moon? Let us see moon… moon… moon.” Lavender repeated as she thought out loud, “The moon has phases like thy cutie mark is showing, which art called lunar cycles. So what about Luna, doth thou likest that name?” The little blue filly almost jumped for joy as she hugged Lavender fiercely around the neck, which made Lavender pleased in her heart that she had made Luna happy. With one filly down she turned her attention to the other one. Her cutie mark consisted of a single majestic picture of the sun. Hmmm, sun and the moon? Lavender found herself thinking to herself before she addressed the white pony with a warm smile. “As for thee little one, being as ye where so brave in defending Luna here and thy mark is of the sun which is another celestial b- That’s it! What about Celestia?” The little pony seemed to be thinking it over for a minute before smiling at Lavender with the same warm smile that Luna had given her and she soon found herself on the bottom of a filly pile. The trio rolled and laughed in the hay for what seemed like hours, until they had thoroughly worn themselves out. As Lavender finally pulled herself up she had to giggle at their disheveled appearances as they now had pieces of hay all in their manes and hair now coated in a fine layer of hay dust. She slowly stood while Luna and Celestia just looked at her with confused faces, wondering why this nice mare was leaving them. Lavender just smiled as she began to pull the stalks of hay out of the little one’s mane and tails. “Well I think we are all in need of a bath now, plus I need to get started on making dinner,” she said as she began to walk out of the stall, while the fillies stayed in the stall unsure about what to do. Lavender noticed the two weren’t following her and looked behind her and gave them an encouraging smile. “Come on now, I think I might have a piece of cake for ye two.” With that the two bounded up to Lavender and flanking her on both sides, began to nuzzle her affectionately. Making her feel something in the depths of her soul that she thought she’d never feel, the love of a child. She gave each of them a loving rub with her muzzle before she trotted back to the house, the little ones in tow.