It was another peaceful day in Ponyville. Gale Twister decided he wanted to hang out with Cygnus and at her request he started to help out at her incense shop. Ever since the two got together, Cygnus’ shop had gotten quite a bit more business. She also made new friends with many of Gale’s coworkers, who would occasionally come by the shop. She was so much happier these days thanks to Gale, and that made Gale happy too.
“I really appreciate your help Gale,” said Cygnus as she gift-wrapped a customer’s order.
“It’s no big deal really. I always enjoy helping out those close to me,” Gale replied. “I have to thank you for actually selling the incense I’ve made.”
“Well, you certainly have room for improvement. But what you have made so far is very nice.”
They continued their work at the shop until nightfall. While Gale was helping to clean up Cygnus’ gaze fell on a portrait she kept on the front counter. It showed her and a few other zebras in what appeared to be another village. Looking at it seemed to dampen her mood a bit. Gale looked over and immediately took notice of her expression.
“What’s that?” Gale asked as he went to Cygnus’ side.
“It’s… a picture of my village. I had it taken before leaving.”
“You ever get homesick?” Gale asked softly.
“Now and then I do,” Cygnus was able to crack a small smile. “But I do really like it here, especially after I met you.”
Gale scratched his hair, lost in thought. “Hey Cygnus, why don’t you show me your village?”
Cygnus seemed a little surprised. “Gale, are you sure? You know nothing of my village, its inhabitants, or our customs.”
“I want to learn more about you Cygnus. You already know just about everything about my home, so I want to learn about yours. Plus, I think it’ll be nice for you to visit your fellow villagers, let them know you’re doing okay.”
“I suppose,” Cygnus gazed back to the portrait. “Very well Gale, we shall depart for my village tomorrow morning.”
“Great!” Gale said with a small jump. “I’ll meet you at the train station tomorrow. Good night Cygnus.” He kissed Cygnus on the cheek before leaving the shop.
“Good night Gale.” Cygnus looked at the portrait again. “It will be nice to see everyone again,” she said with a smile. Cygnus locked the door and went up to her loft to get some sleep.
The next morning, Cygnus arrived at the Ponyville Train Station. Gale was already there, saddlebags packed with a few necessities he’d need for the trip. Once their train arrived they boarded and it set off. The ride itself however, was rather quiet. Cygnus spent a majority of the time simply staring out the window at the moving landscape, lost in thought. Gale thought it was best not to disturb her. If she wasn’t up to talk then that was okay. Eventually, the train reached the end of the line and Gale and Cygnus had to disembark. They could see a lush forest in the distance.
“So, is this the place?” Gale asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes,” Cygnus nodded. “The forest over there is where my village is.”
“So we’re hiking over there, lovely,” Gale said with a mild hint of sarcasm.
“Not much for walking?” Cygnus smirked.
“I kind of prefer flying. Oh well, let’s get moving.”
Gale and Cygnus began their trek towards the forest, once they arrived Gale was astounded at all the flora that was present. Flowers of many colors and scents as well as trees of varying heights with an utter rainbow of leaves throughout.
“It’s just like you said Cygnus,” Gale said in awe. “It’s incredible!”
“Yes, as a child I loved to see all these beautiful plants and flowers. I know this forest like the back of my hoof,”
They continued their hike but along the way Gale thought he heard a twig snap. His ears perked up and he turned his head to the treeline.
“Gale, is something wrong?”
“I feel like we’re being watched,”
“But we’re still a fair way from my village, I don’t think any of the villagers would hike out this far to greet us,”
“Maybe I’m just paranoid,” Gale said as they resumed the hike.
Unbeknownst to either of them they were being watched. The figure out of sight had an evil smile on his face. “So, Cygnus has returned? Excellent.”
After some time hiking Cygnus’ village was finally in sight.
“There it is,” Cygnus said with a prideful smile “My home, Starshine Village.”
Gale was amazed at what he saw. The village was tucked away in a remote part of the forest, the buildings he saw were varying shades of black and dark blue with many white spots throughout. It gave the illusion that it was nighttime despite the sun still shining.
“This is amazing Cygnus.”
“Come Gale, there’s someone I’d like you to meet,” Cygnus led Gale through the village. It was populated by many zebras of all shapes and sizes, though none that he saw had Cygnus’ unique color scheme. Cygnus led Gale to a rather large building. Inside was a fairly large male Zebra with a color scheme nearly identical to Cygnus’; however, his mane was shades of light blue instead of pink and the blue on his coat was darker. “Gale, I’d like you to meet Perseus. He’s the current guardian of the Sacred Moon Grove.”
Gale extended a hoof. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Gale Twister.”
Perseus accepted his hoofshake. “The pleasure is mine. So Cygnus, why have you returned to the village?” Perseus wondered
“Well, I’ll admit I have felt a bit homesick as of late. And Gale wanted to see the village despite being an outsider.”
“Well, you know you always have a place here Cygnus,” said a new voice that entered the room. Gale and Cygnus turned to meet it and were faced with a much older zebra than the ones they had seen thus far.
“It’s so nice to see you again Virgo. Gale, this is our village elder Virgo. Virgo, this is Gale Twister.”
Gale and Virgo shook hooves.
“I still remember the day Cygnus left, three years ago. She was so distraught after losing the last of her family. However, Cygnus you seem so much happier now.”
Cygnus went up to Gale’s side. “That’s because I met Gale. He brought the light I was missing back into my life,” Cygnus punctuated that with a kiss to Gale’s cheek that Gale promptly blushed at.
“I’m sure the rest of the village would be glad to hear about this, why don’t you go see them?” Virgo suggested.
Gale and Cygnus spent the rest of the day conversing with the rest of the villagers. They were very happy to see their old friend return for a visit and were even happier to see she was in higher spirits than when she departed. Once nighttime came and the full moon was in the sky, Cygnus decided to take Gale to see the Sacred Moon Grove. When they arrived, Gale was at a loss for words. The grove was beautifully decorated with colorful flowers all around. At the center was a patch of dark blue flowers that glowed brightly in the moonlight. Calling it gorgeous would be an understatement.
“This is the Sacred Moon Grove,” Cygnus explained. “The flowers you see glowing are the Lunar Flowers from my story. This grove has always protected us and given us good fortune.”
“That’s incredible,” Gale said once he managed to pick his jaw up
“Yes, but that power has brought its fair share of trouble. Because there are those who wish to harness the power of the grove for themselves. That is why those like Perseus and myself must assume the role of guardian. We must protect the power of the grove from falling into the wrong hooves.”
“Sounds like the grove’s power is really something.”
“Yes, legends say it can grant the powers of the moon and stars, making one even more powerful than Princess Luna. Fortunately, every threat ever posed to the grove over the many generations has failed.”
“So what kind of powers does a guardian have?”
“We as guardians can tap into a very small portion of the grove’s power. It isn’t much but it allows us to increase our physical abilities as well as conjure illusions to ward off intruders.”
Gale stood there amazed at everything that was going down. But suddenly he felt a disturbance in the wind, indicating that a body was moving. “There it is again.”
Cygnus decided to showcase one of her powers. She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them they were completely white. She looked around with the concentrated moonlight provided by her eyes. Once she failed to find anything of note she blinked and her eyes returned to normal. “I can assure you it’s just you and me here Gale.”
“I guess I’m just tired,” Gale rubbed the back of his head.
“Let’s return to the village then. We can find you accomodations to sleep in.”
After Cygnus and Gale left, a dark figure approached the patch of Lunar Flowers. It stealthily took one flower and departed. It then went deep into the forest to a cave far away from any prying eyes. Inside the cave was glowing moss that provided light, illuminating his black and dark blue striped body. “Yes, another Lunar Flower. Those fools have no idea what they’re in for. I have been preparing for three long years and very soon I’ll be able to make my move.”
The next morning Gale woke up in Cygnus’ home on a spare bed.
“How did you sleep Gale?” Cygnus asked with a warm smile
“Well, it’s not quite as soft as a bed made of cloud but I liked it,” Gale replied with his own smille
“Why don’t I show you around the village. I’m sure there’s plenty that you’ll find intriguing.” With that, Cygnus led Gale around to meet the other villagers. After a while, one of them came up to greet Cygnus.
“Cygnus, it’s so nice to see you again,” the new face said. It appeared to be an adolescent zebra mare with a braid in her mane.
“Yes Libra, it’s very nice to be home for a visit. Gale, I’d like you to meet my friend Libra.”
“Hey Gale, how would you like to participate in a little game I like?” Libra asked with a smile.
“I’m game to try something new. What is it?” Gale responded with enthusiasm.
“Come over here.” Libra led Gale and Cygnus to her home and showed them an old-fashioned scale set up on a table with a variety of other objects beside it. Ranging from berries, to small rocks to leaves and flowers. “This is a game I call ‘Perfectly Balanced.’ The idea is simple: you have to pick quantities of two different objects and try to get them to balance perfectly on this scale.”
“That sounds interesting,” Gale nodded. “Alright, let’s give it a whirl.” Gale stepped up to the table and decided he’d try to even out the berries and small rocks. He laid out 5 of the rocks on one end of the scale and then started adding the berries to the other end. He had the utmost concentration when he got past 5 berries and delicately added the following berries to keep on eye on the scale’s movement. Once he added the ninth berry, he stopped and the scale was perfectly balanced.
“Impressive, Gale. Not many can get this right on their first try. It took Cygnus here weeks to learn this,” Libra said with a small chuckle.
“Yes, I would always underestimate how much weight something small has,” Cygnus said with a blush.
“That’s one reason I love this game, it shows that everything, no matter how small, has a little weight.”
“Was that supposed to be a metaphor I should take to heart?” Gale asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No, it’s just something I say because I think it sounds smart.” Libra’s comment caused all three of them to burst out laughing.
After a long laugh Gale and Cygnus decided to see what else they could see. Cygnus took a sniff of the air and picked up an alluring scent. “Mmm, Gale do you smell that?”
Gale took a sniff of the air. “I do, but I don’t exactly know what I’m smelling.”
They took a look around to find the source of the scent and they found a male zebra cooking something in a large pot outside.
“What are you cooking today Pisces?” Cygnus asked as she and Gale walked up to the cook
“Today I’m trying out some new herbs for couscous and serving them up with fried plantains,” Pisces replied while continuing his work.
Gale took a look at the plantains, being completely unfamiliar with them. “Those look like really big bananas to me. Do you just call bananas plantains?” Gale asked with a bit of confusion.
“No Gale, plantains are a different fruit entirely,” Cygnus answered. “They’re quite delicious when cooked,”
“Stick around, I’ll have this ready in a bit,” Pisces returned his focus to the pot. Gale and Cygnus sat down on a nearby rock while they waited for him to finish. Once he was done, he came up to them with two bowls filled with a grainy food with pieces of the fried plantain in them. “Well, don’t just stare at it, dig in!”
Cygnus had no hesitation as she started to eat the meal Pisces had made. Gale however, looked at it with a slight grimace. He took an experimental sniff before taking a small bite. He opened his eyes in surprise. “Oh wow, this is amazing!” Gale then started to chow down as if the food would jump from the bowl.
“It does me good to see others enjoying my food,” Pisces said with a proud grin.
After that delicious meal, Gale and Cygnus continued on their way. Eventually, they noticed a crowd near the center of the village.
“What’s going on there?” Gale asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I have a pretty good idea,” Cygnus said with a knowing grin. She then led Gale over to the crowd, circling around to find a good view. Two male zebras were currently wrestling, one of which was wearing a belt. Cygnus seemed to enjoy the show but Gale was a bit skeptical about the ordeal.
“Why are they fighting like that?”
“It’s nothing to worry about. That zebra with the belt is Ares. He has a reputation of being quite the skilled fighter. Many have tried to best him and claim that belt he wears…” As she was saying that, the belt-wearing zebra slammed his opponent down into the ground, winning the fight. “But as you can see, beating him is not so simple,”
Ares then helped his opponent up. “That was a great battle Leo,”
The other zebra, apparently named Leo, shook the dirt off his coat as he faced Ares with a smile. “Just you wait champ, one of these days I’ll win.”
“Just keep working on refining your technique,”
Gale was impressed by the level of sportsmanship. “Man, your village is really something,” he said to Cygnus.
“Thank you. It’s nice to be able to visit; especially since you’re here to see it too.” Cygnus put her hoof on Gale’s as they smiled at one another.
Just outside the village though, the dark figure from the previous night was hiding. He took out a satchel filled with a dark powder. He emptied the satchel into his hoof and blew it into the wind towards the crowd of zebras. It was tiny, dark and could very easily be mistaken for pollen. However, the change in the wind was not missed by Gale. He looked towards where felt that disturbance and could faintly make out a figure in the underbrush.
“Hey you there!” Gale charged after the figure.
“Gale, where are you going?” Cygnus asked in confusion as she got up and followed him.
Gale chased the figure a fair way into the forest and it eventually stopped. Gale stopped once he had caught up. He didn’t know what to make of what he was seeing. Many of the zebras in the village had black and white stripes, but this one had black and dark blue. The figure simply uttered a small laugh and took out a small jar filled with dark smoke. It uncorked the jar and the smoke billowed out. Once it had cleared, the figure was gone.
“Who was that?” Gale asked himself.
Cygnus had finally managed to catch up. “Gale, why did you run off like that?”
“I saw something Cygnus, this time I’m sure of it,” Gale said with a fierce expression. “I don’t know what it was though. It looked like a zebra, except it had a body with black and dark blue stripes.
Gale’s description made Cygnus gasp. “A black zebra...” Cygnus immediately ran back to the village at an astounding pace.
“Cygnus, wait!” Gale ran back to the village in pursuit.
Cygnus ran very quickly towards Virgo’s home. “Virgo, I have distressing news.”
Not long after that, Gale made it back, gasping for breath. “Oh boy *pant* Cygnus, you run fast *pant*”
Cygnus ignored him. “Gale said he saw something. It was a black zebra.”
Now it was Virgo’s turn to gasp. “You don’t think it could have been…”
“There is little doubt in my mind.”
Gale only got more confused. “Hold on, who are you talking about?”
Virgo looked at Gale with an uncertain expression but Cygnus stepped forward. “It’s okay Virgo, he can be trusted.”
Virgo nodded “Very well. Gale, we shall tell you about the black zebra you saw: Orion.”