The Armada Trilogy III: Unicorn's Horn

by TheMysteryMuffin


1 - The Forest

Welcome to Ulanbog.

The name of Mrs Berrytwist's home village was pretty much a summary of where exactly she had lived all her life. Boggy lands, ponds full of frogs, moss growing everywhere. It wasn't really the first place that you would think of that a pony such as her would live. Except, Mrs Berrytwist, like almost every resident, had been living in that small village for all of her life. There was nothing too extraordinary, but a very normal home. It was no wonder that she had never left.

Mrs Berrytwist was a pony who did pretty much saw the same thing every day outside her bedroom window; the dark green trees hanging over her house like arms reaching out to any expecting creature that comes in its way, the pink giant flowers that blossomed brightly along the pavement and dirt road, and the hummingbird that sung ever so sweetly in the same tree, on the same branch in her garden.

Mrs Berrytwist was a dark pinkish-red pony, with slender legs. Her mane was over her eyes, with her eyelashes fluttering every moment or so when the sun crept into her slight, and her personality had become almost completely silent. The only sound inside the house was when she leaned into the kitchen sink and splashed her hooves in the basin like a foal playing in the bath.

Mrs Berrytwist wasn't really washing up anything anymore. The last plates and cutlery from the evening meal were still floating around in the water. They were pretty much clean, but Mrs Berrytwist just stood there, on her hind legs and her front hooves in the sink, completely lost in her own world. Her concentration was a complete blur, her sight focused on the hummingbird singing away in the wind. As her ears picked up and listened to the musical tune, Mrs Berrytwist levitated the warm-soaked yellow sponge and started rubbing it over the surface of a plate. As usual, she was bored to death of the same day coming and going; her eyes had sunken and grown black rings around them.

The sound of a spade being dug into the ground came from the front garden, where a stallion with a very dark red coat was busy digging up a patch of vegetables and piling up the earth next to him. With a swipe on his forehead, the stallion breathed heavily after lifting up a heavy shovel repetitively. His expression was very grey, almost lifeless and he somehow blended into the background of the dull and quiet village where they lived. The little village that they called home.

It was very difficult to find anything inside the Berrytwist's family home that had life, energy and colour. The rooms were all practically the same, with the wallpaper slowly peeling away like memories fading into non-existence. It had been years since their little cottage had any restoration work done. Time had just passed on and things were soon forgotten. Even the bedroom at the front of the house which was the brightest of all the rooms had become filled with dust and grime.

Across the walls, were the faded painted pictures of unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies prancing around. Behind them, the walls were painted in dark purple, with tiny white stars dotted around. There were yellow planets and shooting stars, and the silhouette of a familiar face of an alicorn mare painted in the moon itself, with a dark blue coat and bright white eyes. Shelves, some still standing and others almost falling off the walls, were placed on the opposite side of the room, with dusty books and toys left with cobwebs crawling over them like blankets.

Their cottage was almost completely quiet, apart from the grunts that Mr Berrytwist made while digging up mud and vegetables in the front garden. These vegetables weren't the colourful, rainbow selection that you would usually see. The ones in the ground, mostly turnips and potatoes, were very grey and dull. Once most of the mud had been rubbed off, the stallion would gently place the vegetables into a basket and then chuck the waste into the compost bin at the end of the garden.

"Berries... red ones, blue ones, purple ones..."

After the last plate had been washed and left to dry, Mrs Berrytwist started thinking about the large gathering of berry bushes just outside the village. Because it was a small village, it wouldn't be too long until you would find yourself in the dark undergrowth of the forest that surrounded the area. It was the only life source for miles, especially as it was surrounded by the scorching desert and rocky terrain. The village was so rural, that every creature who lived there almost knew each and every one of them. But alas, only a few residents were left in Ulanbog, so little that it had become nearly completely quiet every day.

"Going out, love?" a voice called.

It was her husband, Sandals. Since it was only the two of them, their relationship and friendship had never been so important. The worst possible case scenario would be for either one of them to go missing like their daughter fourteen years ago. It had been the hardest time for the pair of them. The village still to that day was haunted by that heartbreaking moment, not to mention having to manage an Ursa attack within that month.

There had been days of rain coming over Ulanbog, with its trees, bushes and leaves dripping with drops of rainwater, and this day was no different. It started gently, with tiny specks of rain coming down. They landed on Mrs Berrytwist's face, sweeping into her fur and dripping down her red mane. Puddles that had filled up with rainwater had become tiny pools for frogs and streams of water had been flowing down the hill towards the village, where a little pond was filled with ducks, fish and lilypads. As Mrs Berrytwist made her way through the forest, she managed a few times to step in the pools of rainwater, with a splash at every hoofstep. She kept on going, deep into the forest, until she reached the berry bushes.

"At last..." the mare whispered to herself, "...the berry bushes! Just what I need for tonight's pudding surprise! I'm sure Sandals will love it. I might take a few of every flavour, just to be safe."

Mrs Berrytwist, using her magic, lowered the basket onto the ground and then started examining each of the berry bushes. A cold breeze went straight through her body, making her body shiver as if she had just seen a ghost. The sky had turned grey and the rain came down more and more. Mrs Berrytwist lifted the hood of her cloak up and covered her head to prevent it from getting too soaked, as she continued working on picking the berries. The work itself was okay, with only the rain being the biggest concern for her. It wasn't long, though, until as she was trotting over to another bush, her hoof got stuck in wet, deep mud.

"Drat."

She started digging away at the soaked ground, mud splashing up against her front hoof and leg. It sunk in deeper and deeper. The more she moved, the more she sank down. The mare started panicking. Every creature else was in the village, most likely inside sheltered from the rain. Mrs Berrytwist looked drastically for something to cling onto. There was a nearby branch, which she bit onto. For a while, she stopped sinking, but the branch could only take so much of her weight and eventually snapped off.

Panicking, Mrs Berrytwist only sank deeper and deeper. She called out for help, but there was no creature around. Furiously, Mrs Berrytwist kept pulling her leg, trying to get out of the mud. Eventually, with one long hard pull, she managed to free herself and out came what appeared to be a few loose potatoes.

The unicorn, who had gone out only to expect berries left growing in the forest, didn't expect to see potatoes to be buried in the ground. Food was scarce and potatoes were extremely rare in her village. Feeling as if it was her lucky day, Mrs Berrytwist quickly started picking up the potatoes with her magic and placed them into a sack, as they were too heavy to carry in her basket. One by one, the potatoes were thrown into the sack. Her concentration was cut off, however, when the sound of a branch snapping made her jump and look around. There was, at first, no creature there. Just her, all alone, in the forest.

"WHO'S THERE?!"

The figure gasped lightly and scurried behind a large rock. A quick flash of a rose tail caught Mrs Berrytwist's sharp eye. It looked shockingly similar to her own and recognised that the tail to belong to a mare, but the question was; what, or who, was the mare? All she could hear, at first, was heavy panting from the pony. She sounded scared. Mrs Berrytwist was surprised that the pony sounded more scared than she was. Nothing happened for a while. No movement came from behind the rock. Suddenly, the pony spoke.

"I-It's okay...! I'm h-harmless, I swear! I have no weapons on me. Besides..." There was a brief pause. "...my magic doesn't work anyways."

Another pause followed. Wait? Magic? Only unicorns and alicorns could use magic. It would be extremely unlikely for an alicorn to be stumbling about in a forest situated in the middle of nowhere, so it was most likely to be a unicorn.

How peculiar... Mrs Berrytwist thought, inching carefully towards the anonymous mare. She noticed that her legs were almost slender and fairly injured, cuts and scraps across them. The mare covered them with her cloak and backed behind the rock. Mrs Berrytwist inched closer to the ground like a predator preparing to pounce on her prey, watching with piercing eyes through the blades of grass.

Confused, but curious, Mrs Berrytwist slowly raised her head up above the grass and froze in place, not wanting to go any further. She was close, but couldn't risk going any closer. However, she wanted to know what a unicorn was doing here who didn't belong to the village. There had been no visitors for years. It was too unbelievable to be just a coincidence. There was no response from the unicorn, so Mrs Berrytwist interrogated again.

"What are you doing here? No creature has stepped foot in this village for over a decade. There hasn't been any creature coming as a far as here for fourteen years!"

The hooded mare poked her head out from the rock, still concealing her identity from Mrs Berrytwist. She sounded young, a mare, certain and much younger than Mrs Berrytwist. But this didn't mean that she wasn't able to defend herself from this pony. A unicorn against a unicorn wouldn't be too difficult, surely? However, it didn't sound or seem if the pony was looking for a fight. She sounded... scared, confused, alone... a wave of doubt hit her wherever this stranger was actually of any means a threat to her. What at first Mrs Berrytwist saw was a mare, slowly turned to what sounded like a scared and lost filly.

"I'm... it's complicated... I've come from Equestria on behalf of Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia. They were asked to come to a village near here... for something important... about... it's past. I swear that I was with the princesses whilst journeying here, with no intention to harm you or anypony else!"

She sounds like... she's telling the truth... Mrs Berrytwist thought. She was considering on wherever she would help this mare, especially as she did mention Princess Celestia and another princess' names. She hadn't heard of the second princess before, though - not much news had reached this isolated land for years and years. It was as if they had been left in the past to fade away with the sand and dust, to be picked up by the wind and never seen ever again. Why now? Why would something so important happen now? But Mrs Berrytwist knew that the princess was there to help. Why wouldn't she?

The figure moved behind the rock, making Mrs Berrytwist quickly pull out a small sharp knife from underneath her cloak. She pointed it towards the mare but didn't lash out. The mare spotted the tiny knife glinting away, however, this didn't make her stop creeping towards her. Mrs Berrytwist saw that there was nopony else, which made this stranger all the more peculiar.

"Where are Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia, then? If you say that the ruler of Equestria is coming, then why isn't she here... with you?"

A wave of sudden guilt came to her then. She heard the strange pony starting to pant from underneath her hood and backing away, her hooves making squelching sounds as she stepped into the bog that surrounded them. Mrs Berrytwist saw that she was frightened, scared and alone. If this pony was telling the truth, she would have travelled for hundreds of miles; Equestria was far off beyond the wastelands.

Too much...! Mrs Berrytwist thought. She could just be some poor soul wandering alone. She needs help.

Mrs Berrytwist could hear the mare starting to cry. Maybe she was just a pony who had gotten lost. She sounded young, nowhere near her age. Before she could say anything else, the pony spoke again.

"We crashed... a few miles back... I... I escaped and continued on hoof. I just want somewhere to stay for a while. I hear that you're from a village. It's not far from here, is it? Could it be the place that I have been seeking?"

She thought for a moment, a hoof to her chin. She turned to look away and then rubbed her forehead. Mrs Berrytwist really didn't know what to think. This pony did seem as if she was telling the truth, but yet there were reigns holding her back that warned about this mare potentially being a threat or a distraction. What was she going to tell her? The truth? Was it worth it? It sounded as if it could happen. After all, the desert and wastelands weren't safe places. Storms, strong winds, lack of food and water, dead trees providing little or no shelter and barely a soul for miles.

"It could be... how can I know that I can trust you?"

Then, without expectation, the stranger calmly poked her concealed face up from the top of the rock. She slowly started to come out, one hoof after the other, but then stopped. Most of her body was still behind the rock. Mrs Berrytwist cocked her head to one side, trying to see the stranger's face. She could make out a dark orchard muzzle, but the rest of the stranger's face was concealed.

"See? I have nothing on me. I'm just a simple traveller. I don't even have my magic anymore, well, what it used to be. It's a complicated story. My horn... it's-"

She paused. Mrs Berrytwist waited for her to continue, but the stranger cut herself off. Her horn? What exactly about her horn? What was with this stranger and her horn? Was she injured? Was it some kind of curse that was preventing her from using magic? She kept repeating the words "my horn" a few times like it was drilled into her.

"I'm... lost... I need to find somepony who can help me. Is this Ulanbog? I came here with my friends. But we crashed back in the desert. I've continued alone and now I must know where to go next. Tell me, please. I... I... I would love some help on the last leg to Ulanbog."

After keeping a distance away from the cloaked stranger, Mrs Berrytwist inched closer to a comfortable distance and then did something she didn't think she would do when she first laid eyes on her. She offered a hoof to the mare, still concealing her face underneath her hood, and stood there silently waiting for her offering in friendship to be accepted.

"Come... come into the light..."

The stranger looked up in disbelief. Her head slowly came out from the boulder and she stood up in her normal posture. Mrs Berrytwist was surprised to see that she was taller than she first appeared to be and how graceful she moved. She was certainly a young mare and nowhere near Mrs Berrytwist's age. Once she crept into the sunlight, the stranger took off her hood and let her mane fall out to the side of her head. It was a moderate rose, shockingly similar to Mrs Berrytwist's own mane. Everything from the shape of her body to the colour of her fur was close to an exact mirror image. Her tail the exact same shade of rose and her eyes a glistening moderate opal. But the two most haunting aspects were the large scar over the pony's right eye and the broken base of what was a unicorn's horn.

"You... you see?!" she stammered, "... I... I'm just a pony! A simple mare travelling somewhere. I mean no danger or offence to you or to anypony here. Please let me pass. I need to find... somepony."

Mrs Berrytwist froze. She felt her hooves freeze in place. All the anger and fear had left her, leaving only disbelief and pure shock. She was motionless. Mrs Berrytwist had never felt what she was experiencing in her life before because nothing had ever been as heart-stopping as this very moment. Her vision became masked with disbelief and even tilted her head as if to look at the mare from a different angle. Could it be? She... she looked like she could be her? Was she... or was she an intruder disguised as the mare who she thought it was, like a changeling? But it had to be her. Everything she was saying was coming together and truth never lies.

Looking down, Mrs Berrytwist saw the pony's front hooves matching the exact front hooves of the pony she was thinking of. Yes, it was coming all back. More of her memory started to flow back to Mrs Berrytwist, despite the mud covering the fur around the top of the mare's hooves. No other pony Mrs Berrytwist had met had that same shade of orchad. She looked like, apart from the age difference, the filly in the photograph back at her cottage.

Her daughter.

The mare then went off on a tangent, becoming more upset as she spilt out anything that came to her mind. Mindless words and sentences rolling off her tongue. The more she spoke, the more she became upset. Soon, it became a mixture of frustration and sobbing. For a moment, she was silent, looking down at the ground as her teardrops landed in the puddle on the ground, causing ripples which spread to the sides from the impact.

Mrs Berrytwist saw that she was in complete distress and surprise had taken over her reaction. Instead of screaming or running to her daughter, she just stood there watching. It took a while for her to take in the shock before stepping closer to the strange mare.

"You're not a freak, Fizzlepop. And you most certainly are not a monster."

Suddenly, the mare froze and ceased crying. It was as if something had clicked inside her. She... recognised the name. Her own name. Looking up, Fizzlepop continued to cry, unable to get another word out of her mouth. Slowly and calmly, Mrs Berrytwist removed her hood and revealed her identity to her daughter. With a sigh of relief, she crept her hoof up to the other pony's cheek and touched it.

"You look... beautiful."

The stranger stammered, unable to say anything. She was in complete shock and was exhausted, so was only able to stare at Mrs Berrytwist with a hint of disbelief in her eyes. Yet, the truth had sunk in and a tiny smile ignited as she realised who this was.

"Mum?"

The words escaped Fizzlepop Berrytwist's mouth as if she had no control over her speech, sounding slightly mumbled and confused. It became such an unclear moment to Fizzlepop, that she was also unable to move from her spot in the forest which she was standing in, which wasn't too far away from her childhood hometown. She could still recognise the smells of the flowers which she used to pick as a filly, the forest where she used to run around in and the same songs that the birds would sing around her. Almost the same as it was fourteen years ago.

Fizzlepop could feel plants and damp moss filled with water. Some of the plants were crunchy and hard, whilst others were moist and wet. As the water travelled down the slope towards Mrs Berrytwist, who spread her legs apart to avoid getting wet, Fizzlepop continued to eye-up the familiar-looking unicorn.

"Fizzlepop."

After the mention of her real name, Fizzlepop dragged her mum into a hug and held onto her tightly, before letting out the last of her tears. She clung onto her like she used to do back when she was a foal. Finally, a sense of protection shielded her from her surroundings and it was a sensation which she hadn't felt for a very long time. Her mother then wrapped her hooves around her daughter, tears of joy pouring down her cheeks, muzzle and lips.

"Fourteen years... fourteen years, I've waited for you. My baby. Your father and I thought you were dead!"

Mrs Berrytwist's words muffled slightly, as her muzzle was deep into Fizzlepop's shoulder. As she cried, Fizzlepop leaned her head into her mother, whilst wrapping her hooves around her waist. She didn't want to let go, not again. Never in a million years. The relief to see her mother after all those years of being alone, tricked and mislead.

"I thought you two were dead. I never thought I would see you again, mum. I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt any of you two. I was foolish and stupid and-"

Before she could continue, Fizzlepop was brought back into another hug from her mother. She stopped talking and just wrapped her hooves again around Mrs Berrytwist's waist. The older mare hushed Fizzlepop, soothering her as if she was rocking her to sleep. Fizzlepop slowly attempted to calm down, her sobbing becoming quieter and breathing slowed down to a regular pace.

"You have nothing to apologise for," Mrs Berrytwist said, gently rubbing Fizzlepop's frazzled mane, "we should be saying sorry. We never intended you to get hurt, Fizzlepop, and everypony here didn't want you to leave. We all love you so much."

The two continued hugging before Fizzlepop moved back and wiped the tears from her eyes. Exhaustion quickly spread through her body and her legs struggled to keep her up. She had become too weak to stand by herself. Her mother held her up and tried to keep her out of the mud and marsh. Slowly and with great difficulty, Mrs Berrytwist started dragging Fizzlepop back to the village.

"I'll take you back home where you can rest, dear."

Her words of encouragement helped Fizzlepop to drag herself towards Ulanbog, despite the pain and tiredness that she was experiencing. With one hoof around her mother and the other three trotting through the marshes, she continued to press on for the last leg of her journey.