//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Tales of Equestria // by Lunerpet //------------------------------// Twilight looked around confused, she was walking down a forest path unsure where she was, all she could think about was she needed to be somewhere, she had to be there, where she was going she had no clue, but she knew she had to hurry. “Where is it?” Twilight asked not knowing what she was looking for, she looked around and saw a meadow, she could see Celestia, her teacher was looking around for something as well so she went over to her. “Lady Celestia?” Twilight asked as she walked up to her. “What are you doing here?” “Huh?” Celestia looked over at her and readied herself like she was about to battle, Twilight didn't notice it at first but she looked younger too. “You're one of his aren't you?” “What?” Twilight tried to explain but she ignored her staring past her, which made Twilight wonder what was there making her turn around. Behind her was a white unicorn mare, she had a pink mane and tail styled like what you would see on a crystal pony and tied with some ribbon, her eyes were green and she looked rather young as well. “Celestia? I don't know what your talking about” “You're with Discord, one of his minions aren't you?” The young Celestia spoke with anger in her tone, she never sounded so mad before, it was strange to Twilight. “Just who are you!?” “Whoa, whoa, Celestia calm down, I'm not working with him, I mean I'm with him but I'm not working for him” The white mare said trying to explain herself. “My name is Melody-” “I don't care! You're just a villain, anypony near that monster is a villain!” The young Celestia growled and her horn flashed yellow. “No...” Melody backed up a little. “You don't understand, I'm only trying to-” Before Melody could finish Celestia's magic surrounded her and ice started to form around her. “No, you have to stop, she's going to-” “Silence you villain!” Celestia started to encase her in ice, Twilight was shocked to see this side of Celestia, then again she was so young here. Twilight looked back and forth between them not sure what was going on, but she guessed this was a memory but she didn't know who's. “What is going on here? Who is that unicorn?” “You....” Melody stared at Celestia as if looking into her soul as she was getting frozen over, she tried to use her magic but it fizzled out from the ice covering it. “You killed an innocent girl...” Celestia looked at her confused as she froze her in a large block of ice, her magic slowed to a stop and she took a deep breath. “Wh-what?” “Ugggghhhh...” Twilight awoke with a major headache, she could feel bandages around her head and body, she couldn't move her body well at all, she only managed to move her head a bit, she felt sick as well, but she could see she was in a bed. “Where...where am I?” Rainbow Dash was sitting on a couch near the bed she was on and Twilight noticed she was asleep, her wing also had a bandage on it, Twilight tried to sit up but only managed to hurt herself. “Ouch!” “Hu-huh?” Rainbow Dash woke up to the sounds Twilight was making and rubbed her eyes of sleep. “Twilight?” “Rainbow Dash? What happened?” Twilight asked laying back down so she wasn't in pain. “I feel like I broke something...” “More like everything, you broke a lot of bones from that fall” Rainbow Dash said and stood up. “I was lucky to find you” “You saved me?” Twilight looked over to her and smiled. “Thank you..” “It was nothing, just doing what I do best, but wow, you wouldn't believe what was down there” Rainbow Dash said as she made sure Twilight's covers where back on her. “You stumbled into a frozen cave full of weird...bug things and there was this mare frozen in ice too” “A mare...frozen?” Twilight looked at her confused for a second but remembered that strange figure she saw before passing out. “Is she okay?” “She's getting treated, she was frozen for so long it was a miracle she's still alive even if it is barely” Rainbow Dash continued. “I ran into Pinkie Pie though, she's with her new friend, what was her name? Winter something?” “Pinkie's okay?” Twilight closed her eyes trying to relax. “And the others?” “Yeah Pinkie's fine, she came here in Canterlot with as many survivors from Ponyville as she could, Applejack says she's with Fluttershy still looking for Rarity who's gone missing” Rainbow Dash explained. “We're all worried about her” “Rarity's gone? Oh no..” Twilight was worried but she couldn't do anything right now. “I wish I could help..” “Hey, hey, don't be like that Twilight, we're all worried, but this is Rarity we're talking about, she can handle herself” Rainbow Dash said. “You need to rest now” Twilight nodded as best as she could and closed her eyes as she fell asleep, Rainbow Dash smiled and walked out of the room and Celestia, the princess of the sun was waiting for her. “Rainbow Dash?” “Huh? Princess Celestia?” Rainbow Dash looked at her confused, she knew that with all the chaos Celestia didn't have time to worry about Twilight, so why was she here? “Rainbow Dash, I heard that you saved another mare...buried in ice?” Celestia was quick to the question. “I need to see her” “Oh..sure” Rainbow Dash wasn't sure why she was in such a hurry, but she shrugged it off and took the white ailcorn to the other room, inside was a white unicorn, her mane and tail were pink and very long, her eyes were closed so she couldn't tell what her eye color was, but she had a cutie mark of three flower buds in the shape of music notes, Celestia looked at her in shock. “Do you know her?” “I....yes I do...she's alive, after all this time...” Celestia was shaking, she didn't know what to do, her past was right in front of her and she couldn't face it like she had wished she could. “This is Melody Bloom, somepony from my past...” “Whoa, that's crazy, you knew her that long ago? And she's still alive!?” It was now Rainbow Dash's turn to be shocked. “Tell me when she awakens Rainbow Dash, I need to get ready” Celestia said as she left. “Oh uh, sure” Rainbow Dash rubbed her head with her hoof confused. Rainbow Dash turned and looked at the mare. “Well, it looks like it's just us huh?” Rainbow Dash sat next to her and felt her head with her hoof making sure she was okay, she didn't want her to be to hot or to cold, she was frozen for a long time so increasing her body temperature slowly was the best thing she could thing of, she decided to sit and wait hoping she would wake up soon. Meanwhile Pinkie Pie was waiting with Mr and Mrs. Cake, she was thinking about what had happened, her whole life seemed to turn upside down, she tried to keep the others smiling but it was hard to do with so much lose, she was thankful that the Cakes didn't lose anything or anypony. Pinkie was so deep in thought that she didn't see Winter Sugar walk up to her. “Pinkie?” “Huh?” Pinkie looked up and saw her. “Oh hey Winter, what is it?” “You okay?” Winter Sugar asked. “Do you want to walk around Canterlot with me? It'll do you some good to stretch your legs” “No thanks, I don't really feel like it with my friends still out there” Pinkie Pie sighed not acting like herself. “I'm worried about the others still with those...things” “I understand how you feel, but do you really want to just sit around and do nothing?” Winter asked trying to get her new friend to be active. “We could get some cupcakes?” “That does sound good” Pinkie said feeling glad that she cared. “Let's go” Pinkie Pie stood up and Winter smiled. “There you go, smile right?” “Yeah” Pinkie smiled back. “You're right” Winter and Pinkie walked out of the shelter for the ponyville ponies, things didn't look so good, but for some reason Winter had a smile, even Pinkie wasn't in a smiling mood which didn't seem possible. “How are you doing that?” Pinkie asked looking at her. “Doing what?” Winter asked still smiling. “Smiling, after all that's happened? How can you do that?” Pinkie continued to ask. “How?” Winter gave it some thought. “Well that's an easy one, I made a new friend, so I can't help but smile” Pinkie looked at her and smiled again, she didn't think about it like that, of course it was hard to look at the bright side after what happened to her home. “I guess you're right, but I just wish Ponyville wasn't gone, so many of my friends are missing since it happened..” Winter knew that it hurt, losing friends was never easy, she was hoping that spending time not thinking about it would cheer her new friend up, she couldn't replace all those lose friends, but she could be there for her like any good friend would be. “No worries Pinkie, I'm sure their okay” Pinkie nodded, she knew she had to be strong, with Rarity missing and Twilight really hurt she was one of the few mares keeping everyone calm, and being depressed wasn't helping. “Thanks Winter” “Oh, what's this?” Winter suddenly turned her head and stopped, she saw a candy shop, it had a 'now open' sign so she figured it was brand new and wanted to try it. “Let's go in here!” “Huh? But I thought you wanted muffins?” Pinkie asked. “Oh we can count muffins later, this is a candy shop!” Winter grinned with excitement and rushed in. “Hello!” Inside was a green Pegasi with blue eyes, her mane and tail were blond with her mane styled back into a half down and half up hair style, she must have long hair to pull that off, her tail was medium long and styled to be a bit messy and she had gem earrings only on one side, and on her rump was her cutie mark, it was a thunderbolt that seemed to shoot into a candy all wrapped up. “Welcome!” The mare said with a wide smile. “This is the grand opening of my shop, Sweet Weather, my name is Rock Candy!” Rock Candy signed and hung her head. “At least I would like to say it's grand, but with the sudden havoc, the whole city is on high alert so I can't make a single sell” “That's rough, but it's understandable” Winter said as Pinkie looked around the store, Pinkie could see candy she had never seen before, but she didn't have the bit's to get any of it right now. “Here” Rock Candy set out some candy dishes and poured them into a larger bowl. “I was going to use these as free samples to get customers, but this is just a bad time to open, so help yourselves, I have to close up” “Thanks, but are you sure?” Pinkie asked not wanting to take advantage of the mare's wares when she's having a bad time. “It's better then them going to waste, take the bowl full” Rock Candy said with a smile. “Well, why not?” Winter Sugar said before taking one and unwrapping it, she noticed it was a cute little blue ball. “This looks good!” Pinkie took one of the candies as well and they both popped them in their mouths, Pinkie felt a sudden shock through her system, it wasn't painful, the shock was full of flavor, it was as if tasting lightning itself mixed with berry flavor giving it an amazing taste. “Mmmmmm!!” Pinkie's mane fluffed up with the sudden shock as she enjoyed it. “This is amazing!” “You really like it?” Rock Candy asked, they were the first ponies that tasted her creations so she was really excited. “I'm so glad!” “It's like a bust of lightning with a tang of sour and sweet at the same time!” Winter added. “How did you make it!? It's soooo good!” Pinkie said with her mouth full. “Well actually, that's what my cutie mark is all about really” Rock Candy said as she showed them her rump. “My talent is using weather such as clouds, lightning, rainbows and the like and turning them into candies, what you just had is a jawbreaker using lightning to improve the taste!” “Wow, that's amazing, I never knew that was possible!” Pinkie Pie said as she finished her candy. “Well it was hard at first, but I got used to it in time” Rock Candy said as she gave the bowl of candy to Winter. “Enjoy” “Hey, how about we take these back to the others? They could use a pick me up” Winter suggested after taking the bowl. “That sounds like a great idea!” Pinkie said and turned to Rock Candy. “So Rocky want to join us?” “Well...” Rock Candy thought about it and smiled. “Sure” Pinkie Pie then grabbed Rock Candy and Winter Sugar and ran off with them back to the refugee camp. Back with Rainbow Dash, she had gotten bored so she was telling the mare about her adventures, even though she wasn't awake to hear them. “So then I flew down and bam! My awesome sonic rainboom hit, pretty cool huh!?” Rainbow Dash looked at the mare almost expecting her to answer, when she didn't she sighed. “Come on, this is so boring, how would Fluttershy handle this?” Before Rainbow Dash could do anything else the mare began to stir. “Mmmm...” “Huh?” Rainbow Dash watched as the mare opened her eyes. “Hey! You're finally up!” The mare's eyes looked at Rainbow Dash, she felt her body but couldn't move. “Uh...where...where am I?” “Hey there, you must be pretty confused, my name is Rainbow Dash, the coolest pegasi ever! What's your name?” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “My name?” The mare thought about it. “It's Melody...Melody Bloom” “Melody Bloom?” Rainbow Dash pondered the name as if she had heard that name somewhere before. “You've been frozen underground for who knows how long, how are you feeling?” “Frozen....” Melody's voice was weak and soft, Rainbow Dash could tell she was having a hard time even breathing. “Maybe you should rest instead of talk, your lungs can't be feeling all that good” Rainbow Dash said and then remembered what Celestia said. “Oh I need to go get the princess, be right back okay?” Melody nodded and Rainbow Dash walked out, when she walked out she saw princess Luna at Twilight's door. Luna was Celestia's sister, her coat was dark blue and her eyes were blue, her mane and tail were long and flowed like the night sky, her cutie mark was of the moon. “Princess Luna?” Luna looked over to Rainbow Dash. “Oh Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here?” “Celestia is having me watch over Melody Bloom, she just woke up so I'm going to tell her like she asked me too” Rainbow Dash explained. “I see...so Celestia's past comes back to haunt her..” Luna said out loud. “If you'll excuse me, I was just about to check up on Twilight” Rainbow Dash looked confused as Luna went into the room, both princess's were acting strange when it came to that mare. She really wanted to know what was going on so she followed her into Twilight's room. Twilight was awake and feeling better, she looked over and saw Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, I'm glad your here” “Hey Twilight, how are you feeling?” Rainbow Dash asked as she walked up next to Luna. “I'm a lot better, thanks to the medicine Luna brought me” Twilight said as Luna set down a cup of tea. “It's an herbal tea my mother taught me when I was little, it helps focus the senses” Luna said. “Hey, I have a question? What's the deal with you princess's and Melody Bloom?” Rainbow Dash asked. At the mention of Melody Bloom Twilight's ears peaked, she remembered that name from her dream. Luna sighed and sat down. “That was a long time ago, even before I was taken by the darkness, as you both know Discord had taken the world as his own when we were young” Rainbow Dash and Twilight listened closely as Luna continued. “It was a time when we could only trust each other, Celestia was scouting around the everfree forest when she met Melody, you see Melody was actually...it's hard to say” “What? It's not like she's Discord's marefriend right?” Rainbow Dash said jokingly. Luna cleared her throat and looked away, both mares looked at her and their jaws dropped. “Wait, she really was dating that guy!?” “From what I understand, she was more using him then dating him, she was with him trying to gain his magic power” Luna was about to continue when Twilight spoke up. “I think I know what happened” Twilight caught their attention. “Melody and Celestia ran into each other and before Melody could explain her intentions Celestia froze her in ice” “How...how did you know that?” Luna asked confused. Only her and Celestia knew about that, how could Twilight Sparkle know? “I had a dream when I was next to her frozen prison, I think she showed me what happened” Twilight tried to explain it. “But she said something strange to Celestia...'You killed an innocent girl' what did she mean by that?” Luna knew this was going to come to pass, so she didn't hide it. “I can explain that, Melody was out in the forest looking for herbs, Melody was a kind mare, she was too kind for that time, battles happened everyday, blood was commonly spilled, it was total chaos, however she wasn't like the others, wasn't like me or even Celestia back then, she always helped those in need, without asking for anything in return” “Wow, sounds like she's something else” Rainbow Dash said. “There was this filly in a town not far from the castle she stayed at with Discord, she agreed to be Discord's, in exchange for teaching her the magic she needed...to cure that child, she didn't know that child or had any reason to help her, but she did it anyway” Luna took a breath before continuing. “The reason she wanted to help this filly was because that girl was born sickly, she was dying slowly due to the corruption of the chaos, so Melody tried to find a cure, but then Celestia found her, and froze her” “So that's why..” Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing, it made sense, but she still had a hard time with it, she now knew that Celestia freezing Melody in the ice killed the child because no pony else was looking for a cure. “So Celestia blames herself for that child's death?” “She does, she threw away her anger after that, she was never the same, and somehow Melody lives, now I fear what will come to pass” Luna said with worry of her sister. “Melody might be like I was back then, full of hate, or maybe not, how would you react in her place Twilight Sparkle?” “I...I don't know, angry that I failed to keep my promise...scared to wake up in a time I wouldn't know..it's hard to say” Twilight answered honestly. “Yeah, I got nothing” Rainbow Dash added. “But..I do know what I can do” Twilight said bringing a smile to her face. “As a princess myself, I'll help her realize another type of magic..the magic of friendship”