This is where H'ven Sent started. At the time I was not really into My Little Pony, but then, back at the beginning of 1997, My Little Pony was a very different show/toy. My interest in My Little Pony came about one year later, when I bought my first pony at a garage sale. I was, however, into real live miniature ponies. I bought my first while I was writing this.
I never finished this story as it was, although after reading H'ven Sent, the outcome of this should not be too hard to work out.
The Pony Chronicles.
Generation One
There was history and there were legends, and telling them apart was usually fairly easy despite the time that passed, each year eroding belief. Some legends were obviously just that, while others were more difficult to discredit. Some where downright impossible.
Ilinga Bright Star or Brighty as he was called, was an intelligent pony and figured he had a fairly good grasp on the difference between fact and fiction.
For example, that there had once been a pony called Ilinga Swift Traveler, and that he had discovered the scripts and begun to decipher them was a story that definitely had a high degree of truth to it. The scripts existed and Brighty himself was studying them. More of the scripts were being understood all the time. Ilinga Swift Traveler was also an ancestor of his, thus Brighty's right to study the scripts.
On the other hand, Swift Traveler's ability to leap the length of the library in a single jump was obviously a legend. No pony could do that. Of course Swift Traveler had been dead for generations, so no one could ask him how the legend started.
Another factor that could separate legend from fact was writing. Until very recently, all pony history was passed down from parent to child, as was the case with the legend of Ilinga Swift Traveler. A select few who had studied the scripts were also applying the skills they had learned in deciphering them to recording more significant current events in the pony society. How was it that pony society had forgotten how to write?
Ironically a lot of these recent recordings were about the changes the scripts were causing in pony society. Some ponies adopted the writings without a second thought. They were becoming capitalistic, involving themselves in trade and commerce at levels never before seen. Some were even branching into manufacturing. Admittedly, these manufactured goods were mostly simple adornments for the fashion conscious pony, though some were really useful tools, like brushes.
Medicines had also improved, as had medical techniques, even though the scripts sometimes were obviously referring to anatomy somewhat different to theirs.
The other events worthy of recording were the political changes, and the dividing of the ponies into separate factions, those in favor of the continued studying of the scripts and the employment of the knowledge gained, those totally against the scripts and all they told of, and the third group who really didn't care about the scripts, but were totally against the hostilities between the other two factions.
Some of what Brighty had deciphered in the scripts today was frightening. If it were true, then life was very different to what they believed. Such findings would further divide society. If the conservatives had their way, he could be cast out into the badlands.
Forcing the thoughts from his mind, he walked from the halls where the scripts were kept, and out onto the grassy planes that surrounded them. Pausing for a moment, he tore a mouthful of the succulent growth and chewed it. Good food, fresh water and somewhere to run. These were the things a pony really needed, but increasingly, ponies wanted more.
A wonderful mare or two were always good to have too, and Brighty could see his mare now, trotting across the library grounds towards him, her chestnut coat burnished copper, her mane and tail paler, glittering in the evening sunlight.
Marble Sky Dancer had run with him from when he was a yearling, and they had studied together for years. They now had foals of their own, a three year old, Ilinga Sun Fire, a glowing chestnut filly like her dam, and Ilinga Midnight Winds, a handsome yearling, black like his father, but without the white star on his forehead.
Their small family herd usually grazed around the library, a privilege that was limited to those who studied there, or away in the hills and valleys they called their own. Midnight Winds, Windy, continued to run with them, but Sun Fire was running with a young stallion her own age now.
"You seem troubled," Dancer observed after they had touched noses. With her teeth she began to scratch Brighty behind his left ear, something he enjoyed immensely. It helped him to relax.
"Puzzled would perhaps be closer to the truth," he stated. "Over the last few days, the scripts have not been making much sense. The words are words with which we are familiar, yet what they say is bizarre."
"In what way?" Dancer enquired through a mouth full of hair.
"Describe the sun, moon and stars to me," Brighty requested.
Dancer stopped scratching Brighty, giving him a puzzled look. Everyone knew about the sun, moon and stars. It was one of the oldest legends of all.
"Well..," she began, "The heavens are a big sphere on which the stars and sun hang, and around which many horses pull the moon on invisible tracks. The earth is another sphere rotating within the sphere of the heavens, held there by the north and south poles, part of the Great Axle of the universe."
"Why have we never seen the tracks of the moon, or the Great Axle?" Brighty prompted.
Dancer answered without hesitation "Because the tracks of the moon are too far away for us to see. The north and south poles of the Great Axle are hidden from us by the curvature of the earth, and are surrounded by great oceans we are unable to cross."
"Come," said Brighty. "Let us go to the hills."
"What of Windy?"
"He is old enough to look after himself for a little while," Brighty stated," Let him run with his friends for a few days." With that said, he trotted off, heading in the direction of the secluded valleys they claimed as their own.
When Brighty had first chosen the two valleys as his retreat, he had done so with care. They were not too far from the library – two hours at a pleasant trot, or quicker if one was prepared to gallop. The first was easy to enter, just by following the creek up into it, a gentle hill lightly wooded and yielding good grass to the right, and a somewhat steeper climb to the left, mostly covered in more dense trees and brush.
It was up this steep slope he now climbed, Dancer following close behind, and like him, placing her feet on stones and tussocks of grass so that she would leave no track. Soon they were over the ridge and climbing down the almost cliff-like wall of the second valley. This valley was their private place, where they came if they wanted solitude, or needed to hide from other ponies or predators.
It sported a small flat with enough grass and shrubs to feed them and their family, a fast flowing creek providing sweet tasting water and some caves to provide shelter from storms and inquisitive eyes. At both ends of the flat, the cliff-like walls closed in on the creek, preventing anyone from walking through. That could also work against them, trapping them, but they knew if they were desperate, they could always leap into the creek and let it carry them beyond the walls.
Ir they had to do that, they knew the the creek opened out into another valley a little further down, curving a little such that the current should take them to the bank.
Finally stopping near some of the silt deposited on the bank of the creek when it had been running a little higher, Brighty addressed Dancer again.
"What's beyond the heavens? Beyond the sphere?" he asked.
Dancer stared at him, totally confused. How could anything be beyond the heavens?
"What if I told you the sun was a big ball of light like this?" He drew a circle in the sand with his hoof. "And around it circled another ball, this time one made of soil," He added a planet and the path of its orbit to his diagram. "And that ball of soil was called Earth."
Dancer's eyes were wide open, staring at the bizarre concept. After a few moments she muttered "There is no moon."
"It orbits the ball of soil in the same way that the ball of soil orbits the sun," He added that to his picture as well. "And the stars are just other suns, a long, long way away where they appear very small to us because of the distance."
"That would mean there could be more balls of dirt - more earths," Dancer concluded.
"It could, though they are so far away we cannot see them."
"Why wouldn't the moon just fly away if it had no tracks to keep it there. Why would the earth keep circling the sun?"
"Gravity. It holds the moon to the earth, and the earth to the sun," Brighty explained.
"Then why doesn't the moon fall on the earth?" Dancer asked, wondering how Brighty could explain such a major flaw in this theory.
He looked around until he found a long stemmed grass, uprooting it. He carried it back to where Dancer stood watching.
"The little ball of dirt where the roots are is the earth. I am the sun. Now watch," With the tip of the grass clamped firmly between his teeth, he began to swing the grass around his head. The little ball of dirt remained at the end of the taught grass stem as it whirled around. He released it and it arced away from him, bouncing off the soft grass of the flat.
"By spinning around the earth, the moon is able to keep from falling, just the way the roots of the grass stayed away from my head. Instead of the stem, gravity keeps the moon from flying away," Brighty explained.
"Do you believe this?" Dancer asked.
"There were many formula presented, and the diagrams where clear, once I had deciphered the words. It may be possible," he answered. "Could you believe?"
"No," She gazed at him sadly. "Though I can see why you were worried. This sort of... tale... could give those who oppose the library and the studying of the scripts the leverage they need to close it down for heresy and have the scripts destroyed."
"Would they really be that foolish?" Brighty asked. "Of course they would," he answered himself.
"Although, if the scripts contains such lies, would it not be for the better?" Dancer asked.
"The scripts have never been proven wrong so far," Brighty answered, though he knew in his heart that the scripts had never addressed anything quite so fundamental before either.
Generation Two
Ilinga Bittersweet flexed his hoof, watching the sun glint off the finely honed blade attached to it. Marble Sky Dancer, his dam was shocked that he could create, or even consider such a weapon. Ilinga Bright Star, his sire wasn't that pleased either, but made no comment. He had helped Bittersweet to attach it, silently, expressing neither enthusiasm or condemnation. While he didn't like it, Bright Star realized he was at least partially responsible for the situation.
The three were living in exile, and had been for as long as Bittersweet could remember. One black son, born in exile, bringing joy during his mother's grief.
There was some story about Ilinga's folly, about scripts that told lies about the universe, and about the unfortunate pony who told others about them.
So now the Ilingas were paying for it. More specifically, this branch of the family was paying for it. Zealots were out hunting them again, determined to rid themselves of the evil scholar who would spread lies about all that was sacred.
Bittersweet could see them now, three of them, below him, working their way between the trees on the slope up to the cliffs above his sire's hidden valley. Like these, others had come before, and had been repelled, but at a cost. Brighty's injuries had never fully healed. He could still move about his valley and up and down the cliffs, but in a fight he would surely die.
So that left Bittersweet. And his weapon. He backed slowly, remaining out of the attackers' sight as they passed below his hiding spot. As the final pony went past, Bittersweet leapt forward, dropping onto the pony from above. Three to one. He needed all the advantage he could gain.
The impact knocked the pony forward, and off balance, the blade drawing some blood. Before the pony could recover, Bittersweet rushed forward and struck again, the blade slicing through grey hide all the way to bone. Blood spurted over Bittersweet's legs, to him its odor repulsive yet exciting.
Screaming, the grey pivoted, attempting to dodge his attacker, attempting to position himself so he could strike back at the fast moving black devil.
Bittersweet was already rearing, bringing down his hooves on the grey. Hooves that flashed silver and brought pain like fire. Blood issued forth from the great opening down the side of the grey's neck, as he staggered then fell to his knees, his eyes wide with disbelief. The black devil had the flash of lightning, the pain of fire at his hoof-tips.
Bittersweet rushed past, eyes fixed on the next intruder, remaining silent when the other trumpeted his challenge. The grey was out of the fight now, Bittersweet knew, but still there were two of them, and he no longer had the advantage of surprise. He would have to rely his speed and cunning, and on the advantage of the blade. He couldn't afford to waste energy on screaming his defiance.
Now, while he was behind the remaining zealots, he was also below them, a definite disadvantage. He would strike at them, taunt them, then try to lure them to somewhere they could fight on at least even terms. Perhaps, if the opportunity arose, he would slip away from them, so he could both rest, and move to another position that gave him the advantage, but that was for later. Bittersweet felt his energy surging through him. He was young, strong and this battle had only just begun.
The other ponies spun on their hind legs and rushed him. Rearing, he lashed at the first, the pinto and apparent leader, before spinning himself and sprinting a few strides, leaping onto a protruding rock. From there he had an advantage, though small, and he stood there in defiance, awaiting the zealots' next moves.
The strange, running, dodging fight lasted until late afternoon, the sun sinking low. Bittersweet's flanks heaved with exhaustion, and the cuts, bruises and bites on his hide stung and ached, but he had won, so, unless anyone else suddenly attacked, there was nothing to concern him.
The grey lay beyond the mouth of the outer valley, dead, where he had collapsed of blood loss while trying to escape. Bittersweet had ignored him as he had limped past during the fight.
The bay had fallen to his death from the hazardous tracks that ran along the cliff tops in the next valley, helped of course by a stunning blow from Bittersweet's hoof.
The Pinto had run, bleeding and almost blind, a cut from the blade across his eyes. Bittersweet had watched him go, stumbling, staggering to his feet, galloping blindly only to fall again, rolling, struggling, then back on his feet and off again.
Bittersweet figured the pinto might return if he survived his headlong dash, though it would not be for a considerable time. All the same, whether he returned or not was almost irrelevant because others would surely come.
Bittersweet slowly walked off towards the stream to wash the blood from his coat. It had been a most exciting day. It made a change from the loneliness of his sire's hidden valley, and the monotony of endlessly learning from the scripts Bright Star had carefully drawn for him to study. Sure it was the right of an Ilinga to study the scripts, but it was also the right of all ponies to be able to run free and search for a mate, and so far he had been denied the latter.
He sighed. Ponies wanted too much.
Several days had passed since the fight, and Bittersweet's wounds were healing nicely. They weren't much, not the sort of thing that would hinder him if he had to fight again. Dancer and Brighty weren't at all pleased he had to kill. It hardens one's heart Dancer insisted.
Bittersweet had to agree with that, because now he stood looking at the body of another pony without really feeling anything. In this situation, most other ponies would have run, scared of the death before them.
Of course the ponies Bittersweet had been fighting only days before were not the first ponies he had killed. Others had come to kill Bright Star and Sky Dancer, even to kill him, so those who had died had not been innocent. Nonetheless, each killing took away a little of Bittersweet's soul.
He took another step towards the body before him. A pale buckskin, and fairly dainty. A filly? He wandered closer, and saw that her legs and neck were tangled in some sort of snare, most likely made by one of the predators that lived beyond the outer rim of the areas the ponies had secured, in the so called badlands. They usually weren't a problem, but occasionally one of the evil creatures would come in hoping to catch a pony to eat. This one must have been daring to have come this far into pony lands.
Bittersweet was about to turn and walk away when he heard the faintest sound, almost like a voiceless whinny. Staring around, he searched the horizon for other ponies and saw none. That left only the body, so he walked up close to examine it. It definitely was a filly, a pretty one too, with a pale, fawnish grey coat highlighted by chocolate points. There was no smell of death. As Bittersweet watched, he saw the flicker of her eyelids. She was alive! Alive, but barely, with the snare wrapped around her neck, cutting off her breath.
If it had been any pony other than Bittersweet that had discovered her, she would most likely have died, but Bittersweet had his weapon, and realized that the hated blade could not only be used to take life, but to save it.
With the greatest of care, he cut the transparent threads of the snare, one after the other until the filly lay there, free of her bonds, and while her breathing was stronger, she had no strength to do anything else.
Bittersweet contemplated what to do. Two ponies working together would have been able to fashion a stretcher on which to lay her and take her to safety. By himself, he could not. Going to find another pony would leave her exposed to the carnivores and scavengers, so that was not an option either.
Instead, Bittersweet decided he would remain with the filly until she recovered enough to move. First he had brought her mouthfuls of water from the nearby creek, trickling them into her open mouth and onto her tongue. He had also collected some small branches covered in tasty leaves, placing them by her for when she regained enough strength to eat.
He spent the rest of that day alternating between lying against her to help her stay warm, and pacing the area like a sentry, driving off any creature that strayed too close.
The night was long, and the sounds of the night creatures kept Bittersweet on edge, staring into the dark, feeling what was around him with his every sense. Beside him was the comforting rhythm of the filly's breathing, slow but steady as she slept.
Eventually, so tired he could not help it, he took some sleep in short snatches as he kept watch over her.
Announced by the calls of the early rising birds, daylight gradually illuminated the dome of the heavens. The sun would soon appear in the same place in sky as it always did. The moon had already descended below the curve of the horizon.
Bittersweet stood, shook himself, then wandered over to the creek, plunging his nose into the refreshing, cool water. While drinking, he heard the scrambling of hooves on the rocky soil, and looked up in time to see the filly stand. She was not particularly stable, legs apart like a newborn foal trying to find its footing for the first time.
Lowering her head, she chewed on one of the branches of leaves Bittersweet had left for her, before slowly but deliberately making her way towards the creek, towards him.
Bittersweet remained as he was, quietly standing, watching. The filly made it to the creek, enthusiastically slurping mouthfuls of water. Pausing, she lifting her head and stared at him.
"You're a lucky one," Bittersweet commented. "If I hadn't come past..."
The filly nodded. "I had heard there was a killer pony in these parts though I hadn't expected to fall into one of his traps."
Bittersweet snorted. "That trap wasn't set by a pony. Too hard for a pony to make."
"Huh?" the filly questioned. She coughed a few times, no doubt still recovering from her near strangulation.
"I'd say that trap was set by a two-leg looking for food."
"What about you?" the filly probed. "Aren't you afraid of the killer pony?"
"I can look after myself," Bittersweet said darkly. "I also know that this killer only defends himself from those that come in packs to kill him, so who are the killers? The conservatives, if you ask me."
The filly looked at Bittersweet long and hard, her expression mirroring some of what was going through her mind. A real thinker, Bittersweet noted.
He interrupted her, before she could bring up the killers again, though no doubt conversation would return to them some time soon. "And what brings you out this far from the town, or do you run in these parts?"
The filly took more water before answering. "I'm not from these parts at all really, or from that town with the library. I come from a village on the sea shore that harvests seaweed for food and medicine. I came here on sort of a quest."
Bittersweet looked at her, puzzled. "Came here? What has this place to offer?"
"Well, I'm passing though this place, but I believe I am very near my destination, or I wouldn't have come into the killer's territory. Haven't you heard of the legend?"
"Legends. I know too many of them," Bittersweet snorted "Which one do you mean in particular?"
"When you have travel led to the Far Away Bright Star, an new life will opened before you," the filly recited.
Legend? More like a quote, Bittersweet thought, though he hadn't heard that one before, but it did sound like it related to his family.
"Personal quest, or do you expect the whole world to change?" he asked.
"I don't know. The way grandmother used to tell it I couldn't tell if it was meant to happen to me when I grew up, if it was meant for all ponies everywhere."
"So why search here?"
The filly collected herself, then began. "I came her looking for Ilinga, which means 'far away', Bright Star."
Bittersweet noticed she was very sincere, and she certainly didn't seem the type to be hunting him.
"What for, to kill him and purge the world of his folly?" Bittersweet tried, his voice acidic.
"Oh no! If I did that, how could the legends come true?"
"C'mon. He's just an old pony who wants to be left in peace. What are you expecting of him?"
The filly's eyes opened a little wider. "You speak as if you know him."
"I do," Bittersweet stated, watching her eyes grow even larger. "My name is Ilinga Bittersweet. He's my sire."
"Sun Mei Ling," The filly introduced herself. "I've never heard of you before. I thought he had sired only two ponies."
"And one more in exile," Bittersweet commented.
The filly nodded. That made sense. "When I've rested some more, could you please take me to Bright Star."
"I guess it couldn't hurt."
The sun was nearing the horizon when Bittersweet finally led Mei Ling onto the floor of the second valley. The journey had been slow, but Mei Ling had regained her balance by the time they had to climb down the cliff-like wall into Bright Star's safe haven.
"A good hiding place," Mei Ling observed. In the distance she could see an old chestnut mare drinking from the creek.
"It used to be," Bittersweet agreed, "but unfortunately, the zealots know where we are. Now it is simply a good place to defend. A fortress."
He led Mei Ling to the mouth of a cave. From within came a snort and the sound of slow footsteps as a pony hidden by the darkness moved towards them.
The pony stopped when his outline became just visible in the failing light. Mei Ling could feel the pony's eyes moving across her, evaluating her. She could almost make out the shape of a white star on the pony's forehead, hidden by both his mane, and the darkness. Ilinga Bright Star. It had to be.
"A visitor," The pony commented. "How unusual."
Mei Ling responded by introducing herself as politely as she could, hoping she had not offended Bright Star when he did not respond.
Finally Bright Star moved forward so she could see him, then began to speak.
"Hmm," he said. "There must be something significant about you. You're the first pony to get past Bittersweet in a while."
Mei Ling looked thoughtfully at Bright Star, then at Bittersweet, at the blade fitted to his hoof, the hints of his partially healed wounds through his coat, his well muscled body, his fighter's stance, even when he was relaxed.
"Now I know why you don't fear the killer," she said to Bittersweet.
"However, he does have to worry about everyone else," Bright Star commented. "I am too old and have too many injuries to help him to defend this valley. He has kept us all alive."
"Far be it from me to condemn him," Mei Ling responded. "If it wasn't for that blade he wears, I too would be dead."
Time passed and Sun Mei Ling became part of the daily goings on in Brighty's hidden valley. There was no great change brought about by her meeting with Bright Star, other than her continuing presence in the valley. In a way, a new life was opening before her as she came to care more for the ponies that lived there. Her dislike for the killer turned to admiration, then love, as she saw the sacrifices Bittersweet was making to help Brighty and Dancer live out the rest of their lives in peace.
A number of times Bittersweet returned to the valley battered and bleeding, but always the victor. Once Mei Ling followed at a distance out of curiosity. It amazed her to find that Bittersweet was fighting four ponies at once, all stronger and heavier than he, yet his speed and cunning helped him avoid many of their blows, and the blade he wore made his blows count.
The strange, running, dodging battle continued for hours, up and down the hills, through rocks and trees, along cliff-tops, through anywhere that could give Bittersweet an advantage, until the last of the attackers fell. She marveled at his endurance, and his knowledge of the landscape and wondered how long it would be until the attackers started wearing blades of their own.
Later, when she expressed her concern to Bittersweet, he snorted with amusement. "Zealots," he said, "are against all technology, against anything they may learn from the scripts. It is against their beliefs to resort to such a thing. Lucky me."
"Not all conservatives object to all that has been learned," Mei Ling stressed.
"True. But the conservatives are generally only annoyed with what my sire discovered, and banishment satisfied what outrage they may have felt. I'd say many have forgotten, other than to think of it as a joke. It's only the zealots, the real radicals that still feel he must die, even all these years later. Especially considering how many of their assassins Brighty and I have dispensed with."
"It sounds more like revenge," Mei Ling commented.
"It does, doesn't it."
Generation Three
The little bay pony approached the library. He had been longing to do this for almost as long as he could remember, back from when his sir and grandsire had told him stories of the great mysteries it held. Some of what was contained there made no sense, or was inaccurate. At least, that was how many ponies felt about it, though that did not dampen the youngster's spirits.
Perhaps some of what was written wasn't meant to apply to their world. Perhaps there could be more than one truth. Perhaps there was more than one world.
The little bay knew such thoughts could lead to grief, much as simply revealing the contents of the scripts had led to Ilinga Bright Star being exiled. That was why he shared his thoughts with no one. He had learned what he could from the great scholar Ilinga Bright Star, and now he wanted his turn to study directly from the scripts.
As the little bay approached, an older black who had been grazing the library grounds moved to intercept him, blocking his progress.
"Who are you to approach the library?" the black demanded.
"I am Ilinga Sun Ray," the bay introduced himself, "and I come to study the scripts, as is my right as an Ilinga."
"Nice try, Shorty," the black replied. "I am Ilinga Midnight Winds, and I have never heard of you. What's more, there have never been any bays in the Ilinga line, so you cannot possibly claim to be related."
Another pony appeared from the surrounding trees and approached across the library grounds, slowly and deliberately. Midnight Winds watched him, another black stallion, perhaps younger than he, but looking at the scars he bore, perhaps more experienced at fighting. Midnight Winds hoped he would not have to resort to violence.
The pony arrived, taking up a position behind the small bay, whom Midnight Winds had briefly forgotten.
"And who might you be?" Midnight Winds asked.
"Ilinga Bittersweet, your full brother," replied the fighter. "Are you going to let my son pass?"
"I know of no such brother," Midnight Winds replied succinctly.
Another voice, coming from behind, startled Midnight Winds, and he swung around to face the third pony. This pony, also a black stallion, was older than he, though he did not carry his age well. Life for this pony had been hard. Midnight Winds stopped and stared in disbelief.
"If perhaps you saw fit to visit your father and mother once in a while, you might know these things, Windy," the old pony stated.
"Ilinga Bright Star! Father!" Windy exclaimed. He had not seen him since that night years ago when the ponies drove Bright Star from their midst.
"Meet your brother, Bittersweet, and his son Sun Ray," the old pony introduced the others.
"Father, you put yourself at risk by coming here," Windy commented, after briefly acknowledging the other two members of his family.
The old pony shook his head. "Not especially. Years have passed since the zealots last sent an assassin, and from what I hear, many ponies no longer care."
The fighter spoke again. "And I am here to protect him, should such occur. I expect you would assist."
"Can we go into the library?" the young bay interrupted.
Windy laughed. "Of course we can. It is the right of all Ilingas to study the scripts."
As the four ponies walked into the great halls, they felt a comradery, a bond. The bond of family, and the bond of knowledge.
PUI
An expectant hush had fallen over the settlement. The choosing would soon occur. For many days now, Aneki had watched as the mare had walked the paddock by day, or settled in her stall at night, for the mare was expecting. A foal, but not just any foal, but hopefully a promised one, one who would lead them to the land beyond.
The promised ones had powers beyond the common pony, though what these power were was vague. All that was known was that the Pui and these ponies could somehow form a bond that would lead them through the gateway into the promised lands. The legends made that much clear.
Though there were many ponies born, very few showed any powers, and so far those that did were not that strong. None the less, what Pui-pony bonds were made were valued. At a choosing, three young, available Pui were presented to the newborn. The foal would select one, to which they would bond for life.
Sometimes, the foal born would not have any powers, and would hide behind its mother, like any regular foal, but this mare had thrown four of the promised ones, each more powerful than the last. There were great hopes for the next.
Aneki was one of these Pui. Unlike her human masters, she shared the blood and genes of ponies, though to look at she was almost human. Her tail and ears were more like those of a pony though. Most significantly, it was the ability of the Pui to bond with the ponies that set them apart from the humans.
She had been to four choosings before, and four times before, the foal had picked someone else. She always cried when that happened, as there was nothing more she wanted than to be chosen. This was to be her last choosing. If five foals rejected a Pui it was believed the Pui themselves lacked the ability to bond.
Finally word spread that the mare had given birth, so that afternoon, Aneki was carefully bathed and groomed by her mother, then dressed in a simple white gown.
The other two candidates were also similarly presented, the boy from next door, Gav, and another younger girl called Dovin.
As the sun went down, each was led into the stable, then into the mare's stall and seated against one wall. The mare eyed them suspiciously and made nickering sounds to the little animal she was hiding. The adults left the stall, and a hush fell on all in the stable.
Each child, while remaining silent, called out to the newborn with their mind, enticing the foal to come forward, to meet them. Moments passed, then a wobbly little chestnut and white pinto filly appeared from behind her mother's legs, and slowly advanced.
Aneki called and called again, begging the foal to chose her, but to no avail. The little creature wobbled past her like she didn't exist, sniffed at Gav briefly, then turned to Dovin, extending her quivering nose to rub with Dovin's.
Aneki burst into tears.
Some hours later, Aneki was still crying. What was the point of a Pui that couldn't communicate with a promised one? The humans no longer required her. In fact, they probably wouldn't want anything to do with her. Her family would tolerate her, but she would be an outsider now.
Contact
Ilinga Sun Ray was intrigued by what he had learned. All the arguing about theories was fine, if there was no way to prove them. But what if there was a way? Should not that way be taken? He had read of a device called the telescope, something that varied in complexity depending on task, but essentially always did the same thing. It allowed one to study something far away as if it were near – something far away, like the moon, and the tracks on which it ran.
If he could get one of these telescopes, he may just be able to see the tracks, if indeed they existed, proving or disproving Ilinga Bright Star's revelations once and for all. The only problem was getting one. The ponies had no such piece of equipment, nor did they yet possess the technology to produce one, so that lead Sun Ray to think more forbidden thoughts. The two-legs. It was possible they had something to help him build one. After all, it appeared that the scripts, in part at least were, about them.
So he had prepared himself for his trip, both in mind and body. There had been much exercise to increase his strength and stamina, much sparring to improve his agility, and much study to equip him for what he might discover. Bittersweet taught him a lot about fighting, even bestowing him with a blade like his own, trying to give the diminutive Sun Ray a better chance should he find himself in danger, though Bittersweet had no idea what the youngster was planning. The scripts themselves shed some light on the two-legs, and their ways, so Sun Ray read what he could, and deduced what he couldn't.
One day, without much ado, he set off on his quest. He went first to the hidden valley, to visit his mother, Mei Ling and grandmother, Sky Dancer, and to marvel at his new baby sister, a little palomino foal who was still struggling with her first words.
From there, several hours trotting took him through what the ponies considered to be the bad lands, and towards where he believed the two-legs to live. Some caution was needed, but he was able to avoid confronting any of the creatures who dwelled there.
Finding a two-leg settlement proved to be easy, and to his surprise and advantage, he also discovered there were ponies there. The ponies appeared to be captives, held in fenced pastures. Sun Ray considered the dangers, then decided to approach anyway, moving from cover to cover, dodging in and out of trees and shrubs, like he had been taught by his sire and grandsire. No Ilinga should ever leave a track.
These ponies, once he approached, were easily twice his height, perhaps even twice the height of his sire, and as much as he tried, he was unable to engage them in conversation. It wasn't that they didn't use the same language; rather that they just didn't respond at all. One or two of them could communicate with him in the crudest, instinctive ways, but not anything like the level at which Ray was expecting. Perhaps their method of communicating with each other was different to any he knew.
Disappointed he continued scouting around, moving towards the first of the large structures he could see, further along the fenced area.
Before he reached it, he heard subdued whimpering, and slowly and quietly approached, wondering at the source of the sound. Peering through the trees, he found himself looking at a young two-leg, curled on the ground crying. Like one of the species of two-leg described in the scripts, this example had both equine ears and a tail. Her long reddish purple hair was hiding her face.
Sun Ray watched for some time before deciding this creature was no immediate threat, and in fact may be able to help him with his quest, assuming it was more communicative than any of the less than helpful ponies in the paddock.
"Why do you cry?" he quietly asked, wondering what response he would get.
"Because I can never be a chosen one," came the sobbed reply.
"Chosen for what?" Ray asked.
"Chosen to bond with a pony," she replied, then lifting her head, she glanced around. "You should know that. Who are you? Where are you?"
Remaining completely still, and silent, even holding his breath, so as not to give away his exact location, Ray replied "I am Ilinga Sun Ray."
"I hear you, yet you make no sound," the two-leg observed. "Where are you, and how can you do that?"
"Do what?" Ray puzzled, as if he was doing nothing out of the ordinary, though admittedly, communication with a two-leg wasn't really something any ponies he knew had ever tried.
"How can you talk without sound. That is something only the promised ones are said to be able to do," The two-leg female moved herself into a seated position and began searching around her with her eyes. "How could it be that one is communicating with me now?"
"All of my kind communicate that way," Sun Ray replied, as if it was nothing special.
The young female's eyes eventually came to rest on the leaves behind which Ray was hiding. "I'm Aneki," she introduced herself.
Ray pushed aside a small branch with his nose, allowing the girl to see more of him.
"You are a pony!" she exclaimed. "A tiny pony."
"That surprises you?" he asked. "I guess with that paddock full of poor examples as a reference, I shouldn't be surprised."
The girl looked stunned. "You called the promised ones what?"
"Those ponies, they aren't that bright. At least, I couldn't talk with them," Ray replied, watching the girl's reactions. "It seems you have trouble grasping that concept."
"They are the promised ones! The best ponies we have. The humans have been carefully breeding them for years. Without them we cannot get to the promised land," she paused for a few moments. "And I cannot communicate with them at all either, which is why I am crying."
"I'll get you to explain it to me in more detail later," Ray commented, moving from his cover to stand before the girl. With her sitting on the ground, his nose was about the height of hers. "I'm looking for lenses, or a telescope, and I've come out here to see if I can find one. Perhaps you can help me."
"The humans have some, but they are very old, and valuable. Some humans also uses lenses in front of their eyes to correct their sight, if it is deficient."
"So you do not consider yourself to be human?" Ray enquired, intrigued that a two-leg would make such a distinction.
"No, I am one of the Pui."
"Ah. Yes. I have read of the PUI," Ray commented. With the revelation, a little more of the scripts made sense. He pondered what studying humans and the PUI would do to his understanding of the scripts. A great deal, he figured. This opportunity could prove rather valuable.
"You can read too?"
"It is difficult, but I manage," Sun Ray replied. "Much of what is written obviously does not apply to my kind, so understanding what is written can be hard, which is why I seek the telescope."
Voices that seemed relatively close interrupted them. Aneki stood so she could see above the shrubbery she had been lying in. It was Dovin and her elder sister Torin, both of them in the pony paddock.
Upon seeing Aneki, they approached, climbing onto the paddock fence railings. Sun Ray disappeared back into his bush.
"Talking to imaginary friends, are we?" Dovin taunted.
"I was talking to a pony," Aneki answered, looking around to find Sun Ray gone. "Where'd he go?"
"No pony's going to talk to you, reject girl," Torin grinned.
"That's what you think," Sun Ray responded from within his hiding place. "Aneki, are these people your friends?" he asked.
"Sort of. Dovin and Torin are chosen ones," Aneki replied.
"Talking to your imaginary friend again, Aneki?" Dovin prompted.
Aneki looked stunned. Hadn't they heard Sun Ray?
"I'm real enough," Ray stated, again noticing the total lack of reaction from the two other PUI.
"Can't you hear him?" Aneki asked.
The two just burst into laughter.
"Well, that's interesting, Aneki," Sun Ray observed. "See if you can reply to me without using your mouth. Just think your words, wishing I can hear them."
"Like this? Can you hear me?" Aneki though.
"Well enough," came Ray's reply. "It may be better for us if they do not know we can communicate. They do not seem sincere."
"Hah! So you have got a pony in the bush!" Torin exclaimed, reaching down to pat a pony that had just come alongside her. "Guiding Star can smell it."
Sun Ray pushed his nose out through the leaves, looking up at the two PUI, and the pony that had sniffed him out, then wished he hadn't. They lacked the kindness Aneki was exhibiting.
"So reject girl has got herself a reject pony," Torin smirked. "Go play chosen one with your pet, little girl."
With that, she dropped from the fence, and walked away, Dovin and the pony falling in behind her. When they had gone far enough away for comfort, Aneki settled on the ground again, and Sun Ray emerged fully from the bush.
"So those big ones can communicate something, even if we can't hear it," Sun Ray observed.
"Yes. Bondings are always between one Pui and one pony," Aneki though back. "So we should not be surprised at that. They have to learn to communicate from the time the foal is born. It can take many years."
"And yet we met only minutes ago, and we can talk freely," Ray pondered, "But then, as I said before, all my kind talk that way."
"Somewhat amazingly in the same language I use."
"It is pretty amazing isn't it. I can understand what they say, and what you say, when you use sound, and I can also understand you when you talk as we do."
"It cannot be coincidence. The chance would be too great," Aneki pondered.
"It's like we have a common history," Ray suggested. "It is not an unreasonable assumption, especially considering we have the scripts, which make references to both our kind, and to humans."
"Scripts?" Aneki asked.
"Yes. The ancient writings that my ancestor discovered. I have studied these, much as all Ilingas have since they were uncovered by the great Ilinga Swift Traveler."
"I wonder if they could be the lost writings?" Aneki pondered.
"I think we'd better go somewhere where we can have a long talk. There must be a lot we can learn from each other."
Team
Aneki led Sun Ray away from the town, to a pleasant and quite location on the banks of a stream. Both used the opportunity to drink.
Settling in the shade and relative privacy under the canopy of a convenient willow, the two again began to exchange information.
"The lost writings tell of a great journey that must be undertaken, for the benefit of all mankind," Aneki explained. "They explain why it must be taken, and when it will end."
"And?" Ray prompted.
"We only know parts of it that some people remember, or have written down. We know the writings contain information that is most important to us, but alas, we do not know what those writings are," Aneki expounded. "All we have left are legends and prophecies, many hundreds of years old."
"All right. Let's try a fairly common legend. Describe the sun, moon and stars to me," Sun Ray requested, thinking of the turn of events that occurred after his grandsire asked the same question many years before.
"The heavens are an enveloping sphere on which the stars and sun hang, and around which many horses pull the moon on its tracks. Likewise, the earth is a sphere rotating within the sphere of the heavens, held there by the north and south poles, part of the Great Axle of the universe.
"The north and south poles of the Great Axle are hidden from us by the curvature of the earth, and are surrounded by great oceans," Aneki recited.
"Almost word for word the same as our legend," Sun Ray seemed pleased. "However, some key words are missing."
"What words?" Aneki probed, leaning toward Sun Ray curiously.
"The first is 'invisible'," Ray stated. "The moon on its invisible tracks."
"But they aren't really invisible," Aneki corrected him.
Sun Ray looked startled. "You can see them?"
"Only sometimes, on a really clear day, with a telescope. Once I did have a look through one," Aneki paused, as she pondered her earlier conversation with Sun Ray. "Oh! That's why you are seeking a telescope, isn't it!"
"It is," Ray answered, then fell silent. He settled to the ground, folding his legs underneath him.
Of course, that also meant Ilinga Bright Star's revelations simply did not apply to this universe. Sun Ray wasn't sure whether this was bad news or good. Perhaps, as he surmised, there could be more than one truth, more than one world.
"What do the tracks look like?" he asked.
"Silver threads," Aneki responded. "Silver threads that follow the path of the moon."
"Have you looked at the stars and sun through the telescope?"
"Not the sun. It's too bright," Aneki explained, "but the stars, yes. They were only small sources of light. I couldn't see anything special about them."
"When you have traveled to the Far Away Bright Star, an new life will opened before you," Sun Ray suddenly recited. "Tell me, how are we meant to get to those stars?"
Aneki responded, "Poisoned by the great war, the earth is dying and cannot be healed, so a journey, beyond any other ever traveled before, must be undertaken for any to survive, yet those who set out on this journey will not be the ones to arrive at the promised land.
"When all have traveled to the far away bright star, an new life will opened before you," Aneki fell silent.
"Those who set out will not arrive?" Sun Ray queried. "What kind of journey is that? Who would start on a journey they could not complete?"
"Only those who had no choice," Aneki commented. "And then they would pass their dreams onto their children, who would continue in their place."
"The earth is dying?" Sun Ray queried. He knew what the ponies believed, but had seen nothing written.
"The sun is dying," Aneki replied, "and with it the earth. Though the change is slight, with each passing year, there is less light from the sun, and less warmth. Snow is moving further down the mountain peaks, and the great polar ice caps grow. The humans have been recording these things for years."
"You mention polar ice caps," Sun Ray said. "I noticed in your earlier description of the earth, you did not mention being unable to cross the oceans to see the north and south poles of the great axle. Perhaps your kind has crossed the ocean?"
"Yes, the humans, and even some of the Pui have been to the north pole. Ice builds up around it, as this is where the least warmth from the sun falls. I am told that from the center of the ice cap, the great structure of the north pole can be seen extending to the sky."
"Amazing," Sun Ray shook his head. "I know! Tell me, what is beyond the sphere of the heavens?"
"We do not know," Aneki admitted. "The theorists argue that each star is another sun, like our own, and from each, surely more stars could be seen. Remember, we are meant to be traveling to a far away bright star, and what would be the point if there was no new earth there on which we could live?"
"Yet we do not appear to have begun our journey," Sun Ray stated.
"Which is why we struggle to breed a promised one, so we can start," Aneki sighed.
"Yes, tell me," Ray suggested, picking up from where his earlier conversation had been abandoned, "how is it that these ponies are meant to help, and where do the humans and PUI fit in?"
"According to legend, the promised ones, the ponies, are meant to take us to the new world, the promised land. The chosen ones of the Pui, are the only ones capable of communicating with the ponies, so it is through them and the ponies, that the humans will reach their destination," Aneki paused. "What do the scripts say?"
"I do not know," Ray admitted.
"But why? You said you have read them," Aneki sounded a little desperate.
"I have read some of them. The scripts are more than just one book. There are many volumes, and they cover many subjects. Some are helpful, like those which give details of healing techniques, and there are those that are of dubious value, like the one that describes an alternative universe," Sun Ray explained.
"Alternative universe?" Aneki enquired. "Like what?"
"My grandsire found a description of the sun, moon and stars that does not agree with the legend. The ponies tried to kill him when he revealed it."
"Tell me," Aneki prompted, curious.
Reluctant though he was, Sun Ray proceeded to outline the alternative universe to Aneki, finding, to his surprise, that she was more receptive to the alternate theory than his society had been. As he talked, she drew what he described in the soft soil near the riverbank. Then she added more orbits around the sun, adding more earths, each with their own moons.
"What is that?" Ray prompted, puzzling over her diagram.
"It is a copy of a drawing I have seen. In the museum where the telescope is, there is a painting hanging on one wall. There is no text describing what it means, but it is obviously a very old scientific document. Each of these circles is called a planet, and each has its own name. Earth is the third from the center, from the sun," Aneki paused, "But it is a meaningless drawing, because with the telescope, the humans have proved that apart from the sun, moon and stars, there are no other bodies in the heavens. The humans think it has another, symbolic meaning, each different ring perhaps representing the earth at a different time."
"Or the drawing represents another earth," Sun Ray suggested.
"The one we travel to?" Aneki puzzled.
"I do not know. Perhaps there is more on this in the scripts, but in another volume to the ones I have read," Sun Ray pondered.
"How can we check?" Aneki asked.
"That is a difficult question." A dark brooding look came over Sun Ray.
"Why? What's wrong?" Aneki probed.
"Ponies consider the two-legged creatures to be evil. To bring you to the scripts would be a crime worse than revealing what the scripts said about the universe. They would kill me, and they would most definitely try to kill you. In fact, if they knew I had come out to a two-leg settlement, they would most likely kill me for that."
Aneki became still, studying Sun Ray through squinting eyes. Finally she spoke again. "But we must get to those scripts if we are to survive."
"If any human tries, there will be much blood shed. I trust you will not tell them," Sun Ray began to wonder what he had done by revealing anything at all to this two-legged creature.
Aneki sighed. "It would make little difference if I did. Remember when we met, I was crying."
"Yes," Sun Ray nodded, inviting her to go on.
"I was rejected as a chosen one. I am now an outcast. If I came to them now, telling them that a talking pony has read the lost writings, and knew where they were, they would simply ignore me, believing me to be trying get their attention, or to win another chance to become a chosen one," Aneki shrugged. "It's just you and me."
Sun Ray nodded. "We'll have to solve this by ourselves then."
And that was all I wrote.
I named two of my miniature ponies after characters from this story – Sun Ray (who was a bay colt) and Bittersweet, a name I saved for my first black colt. The name proved fitting because he died at one day old.
Aneki and Sun Ray.
Bittersweet