EMV #3: Springtime Sorrow · 4:02am Nov 17th, 2014
This one came to me after listening to the folk songs from the soundtrack of season two of Telltale's The Walking Dead game. Well, that is, I knew that I'd have to use this hauntingly beautiful song in some capacity the moment I heard it, and the question was 'how'. Then it just occurred to me that I could use it to tell a little backstory.
Toward the end of Snowblind, I made references to Shangwe ya Maisha, the former bearer of the Element of Laughter. Once, she was a zebra filly who joined Celestia, Luna, and their other friends on their quest to save the world. In the present day, because of a terrible crime she committed, Shangwe was imprisoned within the Everfree Forest. Every generation since, the zebras have sent one of their shamans to live in the forest and reinforce that prison.
This is a glimpse of what happened in the first place, all those centuries ago.
Surrounded by a dense forest that will one day come to be known as the Everfree, the Castle of the Two Sisters stands tall and new in the morning sun, without the wear and dilapidation caused by over a thousand years of neglect. Celestia and Luna, appearing as they were before fully ascending into complete alicorns, are accompanied by members of their personal guard from each of the pony tribes as they hurry to the edge of the castle grounds and into the woods where a search is already underway.
Soon after they reach the treeline, an armored earth pony stallion wearing the dark colors of Luna's guards waves them over. When they get close enough, the stallion points out a small piece of blue cloth snagged on a fallen branch.
Princess Celestia picks the cloth up with her magic and grimly sets her jaw. Luna looks at the cloth with a face filled with sorrow before turning back to her guard, who leads them deeper into the woods.
Little girl, little girl
Don't you lie to me
Where did you sleep last night?
As they move on, the view of them shimmers and changes, showing the same location late at night, with a single small unicorn filly wearing blue pajamas and a silver locket around her neck as she walks away from the castle, illuminated only by the moon and stars above. As she moves beyond the treeline, she pauses for a moment when her pajamas get caught on a branch, but her ears prick up as she hears something up ahead.
Looking forward into the darkness of the forest, the filly sees a small herd of smiling fillies and colts around her own age. Illuminated by small balls of light that lazily hover around the ponies like fat fireflies, they wave to her and beckon her to follow them farther in.
Giving her pajamas a rough tug, she rips herself free, leaving behind a scrap of cloth before she takes off after them.
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
Will shiver the whole night through
The filly runs through the forest to try to catch up with the other children, but they pull farther and farther ahead of her, taking the lights with them. With the thick canopy above blocking out what little light there is, the filly's surroundings only grow darker and darker. Realizing that she is lost and almost blind once the other children have vanished from sight, she tries to light up her horn so that she can see, but her magic is weak, and she can barely illuminate anything more than a few feet away.
Realizing that she is lost and alone, the filly begins to tremble. She crouches down and uses her hooves to open the locket. Inside are two small portraits that she looks to for comfort. Both are unicorns; one a mare in a simple, modest maid's uniform, the other a stallion wearing the golden armor of Celestia's personal guard. The filly closes her eyes and thinks back to the last time she saw her father, hugging him before he left on his daily patrol.
My daddy was a railroad man
Killed a mile and a half from here
His head was found in a drivers wheel
His body was never found
Suddenly, the filly's ears prick up and she looks over her shoulder to see a dark pony-like shape looming menacingly behind her.
She races through the woods in a panic, trying to get away from the menacing shadows, but more start to appear along her path. Not stopping her, but herding her toward a clearing up ahead that shines brightly under the silvery light of the moon. When she makes it out into the center of the clearing, the dark shapes follow her, and she finds that what looked like monsters were actually the fillies and colts who led her into the forest.
But something is wrong. Under the moon's light, she sees that the other children have small buds and branches growing out of their bodies. They smile as they draw closer, but their eyes all have a sinister green tint that makes their grins look more threatening than playful. Fearfully cowering and creeping backward away from the other children, the filly brings one hoof up to hold her locket close to her chest like a protective charm.
When she does this, the locket is surrounded by the magical aura of another unicorn, and yanked roughly from her neck. She tries to leap toward the colt who did this, but is immediately restrained and pinned to the ground by some of the other children.
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
Will shiver the whole night through
The filly struggles in vain against her captors, desperately reaching out a hoof to try to take the locket back. The colt who has it in his magic pops it open and sneers in disdain at the pictures before casually throwing it away. The filly begins sobbing and begging with the other children, but they don't pay her any mind as they start ripping the pajamas from her body.
You've caused me to weep
You've caused me to mourn
You caused me to lose my home
The filly screams, pleading with the children to stop. Soon, when she is as naked as the rest of them, they get off of her only to push her toward another filly. The little unicorn trembles with terror as she looks up and sees that the other filly is not a pony, but Shangwe, who looks down at her with a warm, friendly smile.
Shangwe extends a hoof to the filly, but the little unicorn clenches her eyes shut and cowers, hiding her head under her hooves.
Little girl, little girl
Where'd you sleep last night?
Not even your mother knows
Shangwe frowns when the filly doesn't take her hoof. She takes a deep breath, then exhales a cloud of pollen into the unicorn's face. The filly coughs, tears streaming down her face, but as she breathes in more of the pollen, her expression gradually changes from fear to a smile of joy when she looks up at Shangwe again, this time gazing adoringly at the zebra while patches of tree bark start to form along her body.
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
Will shiver when the cold winds blow
Later, after the morning sun has risen, Celestia and Luna spot the glint of what little sunlight filters through the canopy shining off of the filly's discarded locket. Celestia picks it up with her magic and opens it, looking at the pictures inside before turning toward the maid whose image is there. The mare takes it into her own magic and bites her hoof with worry and grief before they hear one of the guards calling out to them.
The princesses and their maid immediately hurry to see what the guard has found. What they find at the end of the trail makes even Luna's dark coat turn pale, and the unicorn maid drops her daughter's locket.
Where there had recently been a clearing, there are now several new trees. The maid lets out a grieving wail as she throws herself at the roots of one of those trees before her body simply collapses into heavy, convulsing sobs. Luna likewise clings tightly to her big sister, pressing her face into Celestia's shoulder while she cries. Celestia herself doesn't shed any tears, but it is obvious from looking at her that she is struggling to stay strong as she looks at the trees.
A few feet up the face of the nearest one, the bark of the tree is knotted in a way that is identical to the face of the filly that they had been searching for. Likewise, the rest of the trees have the faces of a filly or colt, each of them with a blissful smile.
... Sweet and Merciful Jesus, I knew she went off the deep end, but I was sure as BUCK not expecting that!
I'm terrified for when the Spring part of the Eclipse-Cycle comes about... For Shangwe! If she does this on any foal, and especially Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, Scootaloo... Good Lord, if she goes after little "Spikey-Wikey", she will wish for death.
Speaking of foal endangerment, and counting the un-chronicled Waking Night, this will be the third time Applebloom of the Eclipse has had been assaulted/targeted by the Villain. Intentional, or odd coincidence?
Mostly coincidence. It was a major part of the plot in Snowblind to address some of the emotional themes and demonstrate the Windigoes influence, and the mention of what happened during Waking Night was there to explain why the sisters weren't able to meet and connect the last time Applejack spent a while in Ponyville. I have to admit... it does make Bloom look kind of like a magnet for this stuff.
2600117 Well she is a Crusader(I think...), I'm surprised she hasn't set the town on fire or covered it in tree sap. All in all, can't wait, God-bless, and I wonder why the notification thing is so buggy recently, 'cause I would have said this earlier if I had know you had responded.
2600719
That's odd. I got notified about your responses just fine.
But yeah, AB, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are still the CMC, and they founded the Crusaders under mostly the same circumstances.
What does EMV stand for? Or did I already ask this?
2711908 "Eclipseverse Music Video"