//------------------------------// // Stories: Part 1 // Story: Drifting Away // by ANearPerfectStudent //------------------------------// I pushed through the brushes again, sighing softly as I entered the familiar clearing. I brought my thoughts to the first time I had woken up. Our small tent still stood between the two oak trees that defined the clearing; however, in the last month I had spent awake, we had made a few improvements here and there. Our residence was more built up now, with a canopy of leaves and branches woven by my limited magic and Ker’iah’s ever-useful talons. Unfortunately, Ker’iah was still off hunting at the moment. I set down my satchel, one of Ker’iah’s pair she had given me after I had awakened. It held some of the modestly important things we shared, like a flask of water and some cured foods. I took the moment to look at myself. My once-pure lavender fur seemed muted now, dulled by a mix of clay and mud that the gryphons often used in hunting. It was fairly waterproof, but its main advantages were its camouflage. To me, however, the best part was that it was surprisingly warm to have on. I had decided to cut my mane short once I got a clear look at myself. My mane was in tatters, holes in some areas with clear signs of magical burns in them. There was no point in keeping all those damaged hairs, so I simply cut them off. Apparently, Ker’iah thought it looked cute, so I may just keep it like that. I lifted a hoof and inspected it, lighting my horn as I cleaned out the stones that had got caught in it. I exhaled, letting out a long breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I couldn’t ever have imagined finding a friend all the way out here. I gazed up towards the glimmer of sunlight that poked through the canopy, remembering one of Princess Celestia’s lessons from long ago. -o-0-O-0-o- I trotted behind Princess Celestia. Her steps seemed to be four of my own, and I found myself out of breath to just catch up with her. “P-princess!” I called out with my books trailing in my telekinesis. My snout hit something fluffy before I felt the familiar warmth of the princess’ magic over my body, lifting me upwards onto her. She smiled softly as she gazed down on me, clearly holding back a giggle. “Oh my, Twilight… I almost forgot just how big I am sometimes. Here, let me make it up to you. I can carry you the rest of the way.” “Oh no, no, it is all good-” The princess’ wings seemed to shoot out on either side of me, cutting me off as I realized her intentions. I felt the princess start to crouch and my tiny hooves instinctively wrapped around her neck. “Not agaaaaaaaaaain!” My voice carried through the castle as the princess leapt at least a hundred hooves up into the air in seconds. Celestia’s laugh cut through the winds around us as she flew above the castle, ducking and weaving through the towers of the various buildings. The familiar settings passing by us as we made our way to the garden, my classroom for the last three years. I could feel her muscles stretching and flexing beneath me as we circled the garden. We had started to hover in one spot before another when there was a rush of air against my face, and the ground seemed to grow closer with every second. We landed with a great thud, and I slid off her back with my eyes swirling. I must have looked quite silly, as I felt the princess guiding me around until my head cleared up. The princesses in my visions slowly merged into a single alicorn as I shook my head. “So Twilight, how did your weekend go?” she asked, her horn lighting up as a table and tea set appeared next to us. She poured the tea into both cups, sipping from her own. “Do anything exciting?” “Oh yes, princess! My parents and I went to this bookstore, and it had all these books on exotic magicks, like seapony magick and zebra magick! I just can’t seem to put them down!” I practically bounced in excitement. “Hmm, what about doing anything with your friends?” “Friends? But books are so much better!” I pouted softly, lightly pawing at several of said textbooks. “They have so many adventures and stories and information and, and... and everything! Why do I need friends when books are so much better!” The princess sighed, setting down her cup. “Twilight… You need to spend more time with your friends. Dusty old books won’t give you everything you need in life. You should go out and have some fun while you’re still young.” “But-!” “Do you think people like Daring Do spend all their time reading books? Most of those authors did something adventurous before they wrote those books of yours. Even Starswirl was quite the avid explorer- Though I can’t seem to explain his affiliation with bells.” “Even you, Princess?” “Oh, of course, Twilight. The stories I could tell may just fill every book in your library…” -o-0-O-0-o- ““Earth to Sparkle?”” A talon waved in front of me, snapping me out of my stupor. Ker’iah must had returned from her hunt. “Hmm?” I turned, looking over at my counterpart as she stood with a leather sack slung between her wings, and the fresh scent of blood wafted into my nostrils. I wrinkled my snout at the stench, still not completely comfortable with my companion’s dinner choices and my own changing ones. “What is it?” I asked as we moved together. We eventually settled in the small patch of matted grass where we sometimes spent the afternoon. Neither of us would speak, just stare into the woodlands around us. Ker’iah grunted as she set aside the sack with a thump. She set aside a few rocks, each of a similar size of around half a leg in diameter, nodding towards me. ““Let us try five stones this time, Sparkle. You’ve gotten a little too good at just the last three.”” I nodded in return, my horn lighting up in the familiar purple aura. Slowly, one at a time, each stone would start to lift itself off the ground, the last one with a noticeable wobble to it. I gritted my teeth slightly as I raised them into the air. It was a week since we had started my therapy, as Ker’iah called it, slowly building up my magical prowess once more. Even simple levitation was proving itself difficult at the moment, reminding me of my days as a filly as I pushed myself to hold them. ““And... Drop one, two, and four!”” she called out to me, forcing me to concentrate harder on the spell, adjusting which stones I held in my grasp as I let the other three drop. I could feel the sweat dripping down my forehead from the strain. It seemed like an eternity before she finally gave me the order to release the rest of my magic. It felt like huge weight on my horn dropping as each one landed into the earth with a thud. My knees shook softly as I lowered myself back onto the grass. ““Better, better. Your magic is returning slowly.”” She nodded, a small smirk on her face. ““Though this is a far cry from those stories you keep telling me of. Are you sure you fought away that- Ursa Minor, was it? A massive celestial beast?”” I huffed softly, grabbing the bag as I pulled out one of the pieces of cured meat, gnawing on it. “You are the worst, aren’t you? I’m telling you I saved Ponyville from it and sent it back into the Everfree.” ““Mmm, if you say so, Sparkle. You’re a pretty good storyteller, though you need a lot of work on some of those facts of yours. Especially that one about fighting the ‘embodiment of all chaos’,”” she said, flexing her talons in makeshift quotation marks. “It’s true and you know it!” ““Mmmmphmm, sure it is, Sparkle.”” I huffed, crossing my forelegs, choosing to take another bite from my meal rather than give in to Ker’iah’s insufferable teasing. ““You know I’m just messing with you. I’m sure everything you talk about is one hundred percent the truth.”” She started gnawing on her own supply of meats. ““Though that isn’t all I’m thinking of talking about tonight,”” she said, gulping down her piece. ““I’ve managed to find you a gift, to celebrate our time together so far!”” “A gift? Out here in the jungle?” I asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. “It isn’t something dead, is it? You know I don’t do well with that sort of stuff…” Ker’iah shook her head, pulling out her satchel and opening it. She lifted out something wrapped in various clothes, bound together by a leather string. It was small. “What’s this?” I asked, taking the package in my magic, bringing it closer to my snout as I inspected it. ““Mmm, nothing much, just figured it was time you got one of your own considering how long we’ve been here…”” she said, nodding towards it. ““Well, open it.”” I was quick to undo the knot on the object, pulling away the cloth and revealing a small blade enclosed in a leather sheath. My eyes narrowed slowly as I pulled it out of its pocket, letting the blade shine against the sunlight. “A knife?” Ker’iah nodded and pressed one of her talons against the sheath, pointing to an inscription running down the side, burned onto it. Written was a small symbol. “‘Asa’alani Air Wing’?” I gasped softly, turning to face her slowly. “I thought that they were the ones that inv-” ““Yes, you are right,”” she cut me off, grimacing slightly. ““That was not a blade I ever owned. I took it from one of the… assailants I ran from. But I think you’ll make much better use of it than any of them ever could.”” I put away the blade, setting it aside as I moved a little closer to her. “Do you want to talk about it?” I pressed, leaning forward a little. She spat out beside her, thankfully away from me. Her eyes closed slowly and I could have sworn I felt her shiver. ““Not now. It is not a story for... pleasant company,”” she muttered, turning her head to the side as if looking out into the jungle. “I mean, if there is anything I can do to help-” ““The bastard paid; all the help I need is from that alone,”” she grunted, standing up and packing her satchel, moving herself into our tent. Her tail thrashed behind her as she disappeared inside. After a few moments and an angry screech from inside our home, I turned my attention to the blade. I inspected it once more, holding it in my magic before placing it in my satchel. Ker’iah had a similar knife; she had used it for everything, but part of me shivered just from its appearance. It was a weapon for fighting, for killing. Could I ever use it like that? I shook my head, clearing my thoughts of these, darker thoughts in my mind. Right now wasn’t the time for this. I gathered my stuff in my bags, hoisting it up onto my back before following her inside. -o-0-O-0-o-