Sneak Peek Tuesday - Child of Nightmare and Everfree · 4:44am Sep 14th, 2016
Just to show I've been working on 'Child,' I'm including a snippet below the page break. In it, Sunshine Symphony's search for his missing wife and child of eight years ago has been joined by the Elements of Harmony as they look around the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. You will never look at Angel Bunny the same again. Enjoy.
Still, a thousand years ago when Luna had succumbed to the temptations of Nightmare Moon, the sisters had clashed with tragic consequences. His own membranous wings twitched with the thought, as the race of Nocturne had been born in this place when Nightmare had transformed Luna’s followers, only for them nearly to be wiped out to the last foal when Nightmare Moon drew back that power of their creation in order to fight her Celestia.
What would the world look like if Luna had been purged of her dark taint without her banishment and the destruction of her followers, the newly created ponies of the Night? What could ponies and princesses have accomplished in a thousand years without that destruction, the forces of Day and Night united with a common goal? Nightmare Moon had clung to her stolen power so tightly that the removal of it had shattered far more than just herself. It had killed Luna’s followers, hurt Celestia far worse than she admitted, and thrown Equestria into a thousand years of near-stasis. Was he clinging to his daughter in the same way? If he really found his wife and daughter, would he destroy Spark Gap by removing the only child she had known for eight years?
“Um…” Fluttershy was gently touching him on the shoulder, and from the looks of the rather irritated rabbit with her, had been poking him for some time without him noticing. “I didn’t want to disturb you, since you were thinking.”
“Did you find Spark Gap?” he asked, although without the enthusiasm he had really expected. If they had found his wife, the confrontation he had been dreading for the last eight years would be unavoidable, and although he would be estatic, a certain portion of him did not want to face her again. He had failed his wife and infant daughter, and no number of years could take the sting out of that bleeding cut.
“No. I’m sorry. None of the creatures here have seen any ponies other than us for a very long time. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” said Sunshine almost out of reflex. “Never apologize for something that isn’t your fault. If there’s anypony who needs to apologize, it’s me for dragging you girls out here.”
“We volunteered,” said Fluttershy with just the smallest hint of ire in her voice. “Whenever I have a lost animal, my friends always help look, no matter what.”
It took a few minutes of internalized anger before he could respond. “You’re right. My wife and daughter are more important than a lost animal, so I shouldn’t feel guilty about asking you to help. Still, it should be me who apologizes, because this is all my fault. I… wasn’t a very good husband. My wife was not… she suffered some mental issues, and after she gave birth, they only got worse. Even with treatment, she wasn’t getting any better, and I didn’t think I could take care of a foal without her help, so I… asked her to give up Emerald Dreams for adoption.”
“And she ran away,” said Fluttershy, still sitting very quietly at his side.
“I drove her away,” said Sunshine.
“She ran away,” said Fluttershy. “Some creatures can’t accept help when they’re wounded. They lash out at anypony who tries. Sometimes they even… run.” She spoke the last word in a husky whisper, and the little rabbit who had been scowling at him from the cover of her pink tail hopped up next to Fluttershy’s hoof.
Angel wrapped two paws around her foreleg as far as he could reach and glared at him while Fluttershy continued, “They’ll hide as far in the dark as they can go and wait to die. Sometimes if the creature is a mother, they’ll even take their little babies with them down into the darkness before they die. If nopony finds them, the babies die too. That’s why we look, even if it seems hopeless. Because if we can save even one life—” Fluttershy gently stroked Angel on the back “—all of the pain is worth it.”
Quick note: Fluttershy is not being cruel to Sunshine by implying that his daughter is dead after being in the Everfree Forest for eight years. He just saw her the previous night (see Chapter 1)
I'm not even going to read this excerpt because I don't want to be spoiled even in the slightest when the new chapter comes out! I'm just glad to hear that more of the story is on the way!
Chapter 1 is marked as read, but I have zero memory of this story...
Oh well, just means I get to read it all over again.
Ah. Not the first time I've seen this sort of origin for Angel, but it is the first with this particular twist to it. FLuttershy will likely be one of Sunshine's greatest assets in his search.