Walking down the gloomy path, the little filly looked around fearfully. It was dark as always in the Everfree Forest and the poor foal had to force her hooves to move, making every step difficult like she was wading through limb-deep water.
But her mother had told her to leave the house and go into this dreadful place, full of claw-armed trees with teeth that only seemed to wait for the little filly to come closer so they could eat her.
Though the filly was scared to the death, she continued treading slowly forward, an obedient child as she was. But it wasn't just the hostile wood land surrounding the small filly that filled her heart with fears and made her shake like a hole pile of leafs in a storm. It was the image of her mother from a few minutes ago that refused to leave her tortured mind.
The filly had woken up due to a sudden twitching pain in her small horn. When she walked down the stairs from her room to their kitchen, she had seen her, the trembling heap the filly recognized as her mother. Next to her had stood her father wearing a worried face that made the foal even more anxious than the sight of her mother.
As she stepped down the last stair and the planks beneath the filly's hooves groaned, the two ponies looked up, shocked to see her daughter. "Oh...Um...Sweetie, listen I think it's for the best if you..." "RUN!!!" the filly stumbled backwards at the sudden outburst of her mother. "Leave and run into the forest, you'll be save there... GO!!" she again shouted the last word, seeing that her daughter was still standing there, totally paralyzed. "Mommy what...MOMMY?!?" now the little filly cried out as her mother suddenly spit out a huge amount of something black, that reeked terribly.
"Mommy, are you alright?" She took a step forward but stopped immediately as her mother shot her a pleading glance "Please, Sweetie, leave!"
Tears began to flow down the filly's muzzle. With a last look at her mother, she bolted out of the house.
A shiver run through the little filly. During Moon-Shine, when the big silver sphere was fully aglow, the forest wasn't that bad. But now, at Moon-Absence, it was so dark that one could hardly see clear thirty feet far.
After a few minutes more of tired and dreadfully walking, the little filly's limbs were completely tired out and she decided to sit down and rest at a small clearing were she could stay away from those nasty trees.
Just as as she sat down and started to wonder when she could return home, a bloodcurdling scream came out of the direction of the filly's home. She recognized the voice immediately, though it was a few pitches higher than usual. It was her mother, filled with obvious anguish.
After a few moments that seemed like an eternity, the scream suddenly broke off and deadly silence, once again, took over.
It took a while for the filly to move again. But when she did, there was no more hesitation in her steps. As she stood, the filly immediately sped up to full gallop, fearing for her parents.
When she emerged from the forest, she realized how close she had been to the house. She had walked about half an hour into to forest, but made it back in hardly more than five minutes. When she reached the door, she stopped dead on her tracks.
The magic lights didn't burn anymore so there was not light. But the stench the filly had smelled before had intensified and she had a hard time not to puke right away.
"Mommy? Daddy?" She slowly made her way towards the kitchen. When she reached the door and was about to enter, she slipped when she trod on something wet, and just a step further she stumbled over something.
The filly fell to the ground. After picking herself up, she turned around, curious about what was lying on the ground. But when she realized what it was she backed away in disbelief. Though she was only ten years old, she had already seen ponies dying. Because of that, it didn't take her long to realize why her mother was lying there so calmly.
The filly's cry filled the surrounding terrain.
"MOMMYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" the outcry was loud enough to make the foundation walls of Canterlot tremble, had it not been so far away. After it had ceased, it left back a panting Destiny Blaze, sitting in her bed and full of icy sweat. She calmed down rather quickly, but she couldn't quite get the nightmare out of her head.
Sighing, Destiny crawled out of her bed and looked out of the window. Seeing that it was almost time for the Moon to shine, she decided to get ready for the day.
Soaked with sweat as Destiny was, she made her way out of the house to the small stream that was passing by her house. When she passed the door of her aunt's and uncle's bedroom, she stopped and glanced inside. They hadn't come home yet from visiting some friends in Fillydelphia, which was also the explanation that they hadn't rushed to her side when Destiny screamed.
As she reached the slow flowing water, she didn't hesitate and jumped in. She let out a short grasp when her overheated body hit the cold water, but the relief the coolness brought was much bigger then its discomfort.
With her head cleared, the distraction from her dream was missing as well, unfortunately.
It had been eight years since the Moon-Absence during which she had lost both of her parents. The villagers of Ponyville had heard Destiny Blaze and her mother scream, and soon, the guards arrived at her home and found Destiny sobbing over her mother's dead body.
Shortly after, the guards also found her father. It was obvious that he had killed his wife, though nobody could believe it at first. They had been such a lovely couple that it was an unthinkable act of cruelty. But it was soon revealed that Destiny's Father had completely gone mad and when the guard ponies tried to arrest him, he attacked them instantly and the guards had no other choice but to kill Destiny's father.
After that, she moved to her aunt and her uncle who lived only about half a mile away, at the outskirts of Ponyville.
As Destiny started to tear up again, she quickly plunged her head into the cool water she was standing in. The chill cleared her head once again. She held as long as she could and pulled her head out when her lungs started to protest.
Stepping out of the water, Destiny shook the water of her coat and mane and after that, she entered the house and made her way towards the bathroom. She turned on the light, took the comb and started to groom her mane and tail.
Her aunt always told Destiny she should bind her mane back so one could see her emerald-green eyes with their golden and silver dots in them.
But Destiny preferred to let her mane and tail hang loose, a few strands actually covering her eyes. She couldn't say she had been bullied for her rather strange eyes. But to say everypony was friends with her or wanted to be was just as wrong. They had avoided her as long as she could remember, a few even looked at her in fear, which was hurting even more than outright hatred.
Because of that, she hid her eves as good as she could, but unfortunately, her mane, tail and horn, even her coat didn't make things better, more likely, they made them worse. The mane and tail resembled the eyes, only that they were streaked golden and silver and were dotted emerald-green. Her horn was also of a golden and silver hue, twisting up to the top. The coat was the only thing that didn't match the color of her other parts, but with its bright, almost shining, crimson, it was just as odd. Most ponies today were born with a rather dark coat and their mane and tail was always of a dull color.
So it was only natural that Destiny stood out like she was wearing a pink dress at a funeral.
Destiny finished grooming just when her stomach let out a massive grumble.
She went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. There wasn't much left. Destiny would have to go to the grocer's shop later in the day if she wanted something to eat this evening. Finally, she took out an apple and some hay, put them on a plate, trotted into the living room and sat down on the couch.
She didn't have to rush. School would start at nine o'clock, which was still two hours away as the clock said.
After finishing the last bit of her apple, she put the plate away and lay down on the couch and immediately started to daydream about all kinds of things. She liked making things up, like her living in Canterlot as a Princess or, sometimes when she felt a bit more adventurous than usual, she imagined she was a heroine, saving innocent people from frighting creatures. Slowly, her eyelids closed and a few seconds later, she dosed off into a light, dreamless slumber.
The loud cuckoo coming out of the clock pulled Destiny back to consciousness. She blinked tiredly and glanced at the source of the noise, still half as sleep. All doziness was blown away when she realized where the little hand of the wall clock was pointing at.
It was nine o'clock! Destiny silently cursed. She had completely forgotten that the clock was partly broken and didn't make the slightest noise from two in the morning till nine. Now she was going to be late...again! She rushed into her room and grabbed her schoolbag. Luckily, Destiny always readied it in the evening before she went to bed.
She dashed down the stairs, bolted through the open door and slammed it shut behind her. Destiny wanted to keep her tardiness as small as possible, so she fell into the fastest gallop she could pull of without falling onto her face. It took quite a few misdoings to make miss Cheerilee, her teacher, mad. But being late multiple times in a short time was the perfect way to succeed in that.
The school came into Destiny's view, so she sped up a little more. Finally she reached the door and burst in. All eyes turned towards her, most of them bored, but Destiny also heard a few mischievousness snickers. Miss Cheerilee looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Why hello there, Destiny Blaze. It's nice that you decided to attend school today. Please, sit down so I can delight you with my wonderful speech." Sarcasm from miss Cheerilee. Yup, she definitely was angry, and not just a little bit.
With her head hanging low in shame, Destiny cantered over to her seat and pulled out her math-stuff. She looked at the clock. twelve past nine. Damn, she had never been this late before.
Fortunately, miss Cheerilee was still discussing homework, so Destiny hadn't missed something important. She was good at school in all subjects, but she still couldn't afford missing something that might be important for an upcoming exam. If she wasn't so lazy, Destiny could easily outshine everyone in the class. But the only subject she was really interested in, was magic.
Ponyville had only one teacher and one school, so the different classes were scattered across the day. A filly who lived here started school with eight years and finished it with nineteen, so with her seventeen years, Destiny had two and a half years of school left.
Because of that, unicorns were put together in one big class and had three lessons in magic at Saturday after-noon. The same went for the pegasi with their flying lessons. Those three lessons were always the best thing in the hole week, and it was the only subject were she actually practiced and learned more than necessary for exams.
Though Destiny didn't dislike math, she was glad when it was over. In her opinion, it was a total useless, overrated and, most importantly , boring subject.
After a short break, the history-lesson began, and Destiny now paid much more attention than before. Not because she thought it was more important than math. In fact, it was even more useless. But they'd had an exam two days ago and though she didn't really care about the subject itself, she took exams serious.
Because of that, it was a bit shocking when miss Cheerilee began to speak with a sad expression "Alright class, we'll discuss the exam from two days ago. Unfortunately, your results are the worst a class has ever had in that exam." A wave of shocked whispers could be heard, but miss Cheerilee continued anyway. "I don't know how this happened. Since I don't want you to have a bad education and certificate because of this exam, we will repeat the subject and have a second exam in two days." The hole class was silent for once, a rare occasion. "Take out your books and open them at page two-hundred-and-fifty-one. We will start with 'The Tyranny of the Sunempress and her Fall'. I'll be sharing out your exams meanwhile. Take the time to look at your mistakes."
Destiny opened her book at said page and waited anxiously for her exam. When miss Cheerilee came to her table, a small smile seemed to adorn her muzzle, but Destiny wasn't sure. She took the paper and slowly turned it around. A-. Her eyes widened. Destiny had worried for no reason it seemed. She glanced had her answers to make sure. She had made only a few mistakes, all of them minor.
Great relief spread through her body and she relaxed. She looked around to see what the others had. And decided to just put her exam away. She spotted a C-, D+, even an E. She hadn't even known that mark existed! "Please read the first two pages. We'll discuss them afterwards." Destiny lowered her eyes and began to read:
The Sunempress ruled Equestria from an unknown point in time to the year 1647. She was an alicorn, just like our beloved Princess Luna. But unlike the kind and caring princess, the Sunempress was a heartless tyrant that dominated Equestria with harsh hooves.
Pony's that went against her regime were hunted down and executed in public to make an example for coming generations. When her sister, Princess Luna, couldn't bear the cruelty anymore, she tried to talk some sense into the Sunempress. But instead of listening, the latter turned against her own flesh, and banished our beloved princess to the moon. That was in the year 647.
What followed was a rather brutal and detailed description of the many cruel things the Sunempress had done, and Destiny decided to skip that.
Then, a thousand years later, Princess Luna finally managed to break free of her prison and again attempted to convince her sister that what she was doing was wrong. But unfortunately, the empress didn't listen, and princess Luna had no choice but to defeat her sibling.
After a fierce battle, the mighty tyrant was finally beaten. But she didn't want to accept it and with her last power, she destroyed herself and the sun.
Destiny was done with reading when most of the others hadn't even reached the second page. When the others finally caught up, she was bored to death, and the upcoming discussion wasn't going to make it better.
Destiny yawned. The bell had just rang, signaling the end of her school day. After history came Equestrian language, which was even more boring than history.
She was packing her belongings when miss Cheerilee approached her. "Destiny, please stay here for a few minutes. We need to talk." Destiny simply nodded and sat down again.
When the other students had finally left, Destiny stood up and trotted to miss Cheerilee, who sat at her desk. "You wanted to talk to me, miss Cheerilee?" the asked sighed deeply and looked up. "Please Destiny, sit down." Destiny obeyed and eyed her teacher anxiously. After a few seconds of silence, miss Cheerilee continued "Destiny, this can't go on like this. You might be the best student I've ever had but today you were late for the sixth time in the last two weeks. What's wrong?" Destiny shifted awkwardly "I...don't know, miss Cheerilee. I just don't sleep so well. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry." "I'm not angry. I'm just a little bit... disappointed I think. After all, you are my favorite student, though I'd never say that to the others."
Disappointed? I Destiny's eyes, that was even worse. She liked miss Cheerilee. A lot actually. And not just because she had a similar coat color. She was also the only pony at school that didn't treat her like she was some strange creature.
Miss Cheerilee regarded Destiny for a few seconds longer and sighed again.
"Alright. I'll let you off the hook this time. But please, be on time from now on." "Yes miss Cheerilee. Oh, by the way, I've got a question." "And what would that be?" miss Cheerilee smiled. "You were already born when the Sunempress reigned. So I was wondering...Was she really that bad?"
The smile faded from miss Cheerilee's face and was replaced by a deep frown. Destiny waited patiently, but her teacher didn't answer until they reached the open door. "Well..." the red coated mare started "I...You...I think it's for the best if you leave now." "Oh..." Destiny replied sadly. This reaction was unexpected. "Alright miss Cheerilee, bye. See you tomorrow." She began to trot away when her Teacher spoke up. "I can't tell you how it was exactly. But remember this: History is always written by the victor." and with that she closed the door and left back a confused Destiny Blaze.