Whoever said that the present is always a gift clearly hasn’t lived on Equus long enough. The present is merely the present, nothing more, nothing less. But maybe… there was an exception to this saying… whoever seeks it just has to find it.
A lone Human, an individual that was unique in its own way, trekked through a dense forest he found himself swallowed in. Rays of sunshine shining through gaps of the canopy.
This particular Human had youthful fair skin, jet black hair into a military undercut and a pair of purple eyes that made shone so brightly, they made the brightest gemstones look dull by comparison. This one was a well-built male, built enough to lift heavy objects but not so big it would be impossible to maneuver.
He sported a plain black shirt, black cargo pants, and a pair of durable black boots. There was a large black backpack strapped to his back that carried all his necessary supplies, while on his front was a baby carrier that could fit two babies or in this case two totally normal foals, and that’s what it held… foals… just not regular ones.
On his left side, pressing up against his left pec was a little Alicorn filly with a pure white coat and a bright pink mane and tail, while on his right pec was another Alicorn filly with a dark blue coat and an azure mane and tail. Their little tails hung out from a hole in the sling, while their little legs stayed inside, pressing up against their own chests.
Both their eyes were closed and they were sound asleep. At least he had that going for him…
The man's hands were occupied, in his right, he held onto the right straps of his bag and the foal sling that went over both shoulders. He would’ve held onto both straps for balance but in his left, he held onto a dark staff with a golden shape of a phoenix on top while chained to it was a brown book that had aged, yellow pages that contained a language that has been lost to the sands of time.
The man trekked deeper into the forest, hoping to have reached the end already. He calmly listened to the sounds of nature that he missed, birds chirping, little critters running about and the sound of the gentle breeze that blowing through the trees, gently shaking the branches and naturally letting the leaves drop.
The man looked down at the two fillies he carried, the white one yawned while the other was drooling on his shirt, but nopony would’ve felt that, all he felt was his sweat and thus he assumed it so.
Wonder if they feel like a joey in a kangaroo’s pouch…
The man looked up again, watching and taking each step with absolute care. The last thing he wanted was to fall forward and squash the beautiful fillies he carried.
But as he walked further and further along the endless dirt path. Something apart from nature made a sound, it made the man freeze before slowly looking down.
The white one was yawning, stretching out her little hooves in the process. After yawning, she opened her eyes, revealing a pair of magenta orbs.
The man and the white filly locked on to each other’s eyes. The filly tilted her head to the side slightly, staring into the man's shining orbs.
“Hey you, you’re finally awake.” The man spoke softly to not wake her sister, “Wanna know where we are?” Receiving no proper answer but a curious babble, he took it as a yes.
“Well Celly, we crossed the border about a kilometre or two back. By some miracle we didn’t run into an Imperial ambush.”
Celly was trying to jump up and down in her sling, babbling all the way, “What? I’m the miracle?” The man scoffed, “Naw, it’s not me, but you two little ankle biters.” Smiled the man, almost revealing his canines.
Celly babbled again, but it sounded like a question, “Where are we going?” Receiving no answer he took it as another yes, “Well my sweet Celly, we’re going to a Sanctuary that should be through this forest.”
Babbling again, Celly tried to point behind her, “How do I know where I’m going? Well, a close friend of mine built it and she said we could use it.”
Celly babbled again, letting out an exhausted yawn, “Tired? Yeah, you should sleep while I do all the heavy lifting. But silence would be nice, you don’t want to wake up Luna now do you?” The man pointed out, using his eyes to gesture to the sleeping figure beside her.
Celly looked at the blue figure beside her before leaning in and snuggling next to her, nuzzling Luna before succumbing to sleep.
“That’s fine, I’ll just keep myself company then,” Mumbled the man, looking at the endless path ahead.
“It’s not like I’m walking a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known,”
Celly let out an annoyed babble.
“Right, right. I’ll be quiet.”
Time passed as the man trekked further through the forest, sweat was pouring from his head, his throat was parched and his muscles were aching.
He knew he was reaching his limit but he still needed a water supply.
So he pushed on, walking along the path but after a while he stopped and listened, for he heard something that would help him in this journey.
The man closed his eyes, doing his best to mute out the sounds that he wasn’t searching for.
Was that the sound of a river that he heard? He listened some more, listening intensely for sounds of gentle water flowing.
After confirming that it was, the man headed off the dirt path. Heading into the grasps of plants and low branches, taking care not let any make contact with the fillies in his sling.
The man took care when heading off the path, every careful step that he took before was nothing compared to what he did now, each step was more calculating, he had to determine if his next step would make him slip and drop his precious cargo, but he got through without a scratch, excluding all the dirt and mud on his boots and pants.
After getting through, he looked back at the back he took and came to the conclusion that heading off the path to find a river was not worth it. But he’s here now, so he might as well make the most of it.
He planted the staff into the dirt before taking off his bag, leaving only the sling on. Bending down, he reached for a canteen on the side pocket and shook it a bit. It was light, but it sounds indicated that there was a little water left.
The man opened the cap and put it in his pocket before drinking whatever water was left, satisfying his parched throat.
Once it was empty, he walked over to the river and carefully knelt down. With his left hand, he placed the canteen under water, while placing his right behind fillies and bringing them closer to his chest.
He watched the river gently flow to the right, heading down a path that he wasn’t in a rush to explore. The bubbling of the water was the only disturbance in the river of tranquility.
When the bubbling stopped, the man stood up and moved back to his bag, taking a seat and unzipping it, he pulled out a clear, squeezable plastic container that held a light blue substance that shimmered in front of his eyes.
Taking off the plastic cap with a single flick of a thumb, he then positioned the container over the canteen, and with a little squeeze, several drops of the light blue substance fell into the canteen.
The mixed substances reacted with one another, emitting a light blue glow before dying down. Satisfied that the process was over, the man placed the cap back on the container, sealing it and eliminating the chances of it spilling. While he took a couple of swigs from his canteen.
Savouring the taste of the water and letting out a satisfied ‘Ahhh’ he put the cap back on before returning the canteen to its respective place on the side of the bag.
Looking towards the sky, he saw that he still had a long time till sunset. So he took this time to rest his muscles and recover his stamina. But sitting there and doing nothing would bore him to death, thus he pulled out a midnight blue circular amulet from his bag. The white moon was in its crescent form while the background was pitch black as the night sky.
Examining the amulet, anypony could tell from glance that there was care in its construction, inscripted into the amulet was the words: ‘Tranquilla Luna’
‘Calming Moon’… seems fitting…
The man was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a tired yawn and something shift in front of him. Looking down he saw that little Lulu had started awaken from her slumber, revealing her beautiful cyan orbs. Thankfully she did not wake Celly up as well considering that she was all snuggled up next to her.
“Hello there, my sweet Lulu,” Greeted the man, “How was your nap?”
Babbling tiredly, the blue bagged up piece of sweetness yawned again, nuzzling Celly before sleeping again.
“Well that was a great talk, let’s do it again sometime.” Jested the man, shaking his head.
I wonder if her full time job would be sleeping all day and night… I’d bet most of my species would’ve killed to get a job like that…
The man put the amulet back before relaxing for quite a while, taking in the scenery and filling his ears with the pure sounds of nature.
Unfortunately, they were not alone. The sound of twig snapped, followed by the disturbance of bushes made the man bring his guard up. He looked in the direction in which the sounds came from, it came from across the river but an predator could easily cross that without difficulty, the man however…
He rose up to his feet, keep an arm around the foals in his sling. The sounds were getting closer, he could see small bushes moving unnaturally in the distance, but he couldn’t see what was causing it. The man cautiously maneuvered to his staff that thankfully was just a few steps away.
Taking hold of it in his left hand, he pulled it out from the grasp of the earth and readied himself to protect his fillies. His eyes began to emit a ghastly purple glow and he brought his staff in front of him.
The man was ready to annihilate whatever was about to appear from the bushes, but stopped after it came out. His eyes widened and the purple glow faded from his eyes as he realised what was across the river.
It was a grey wolf. A male one if the man had to take a guess. The wolf had a dead rabbit in its mouth, but why wasn’t he eating it? Why was he here?
The wolf quickly noticed him, engaging the man in a staring contest as the man stood his ground. Seconds felt like centuries as they both stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.
But neither moved.
A loud howl was heard in the distance, the wolf’s ears perked at the sound, craning his head it’s direction. It looked back at the man, staring at him for a few more seconds before departing, walking into the vegetation, vanishing from sight.
The man sighed, shaking his head slowly. He looked down and checked on his fillies, they were stirring in their sleep. Lulu was still drooling on his shirt, occasionally nuzzling it while Celly was sucking on one of her hoofs.
If they stay like this until they grow up, then this should be a piece of cake…
Another howl interrupted his thoughts however, and not wanting to take his chances with another wolf or a wild animal in general, he threw on his bag and quickly retraced his steps back to the path he detoured off of.
Getting back on the path was easy, but detouring to the river still wasn’t worth it. Especially coming into close contact with a wolf and endangering his fillies. Hour after hour, everytime he stopped momentarily to take a break, to eat and drink. He left them further in danger.
The man needed to pick up the pace, he knew the stories about this place. Mainly about the flora and fauna but that's what made it the best isolated spot on Equus. The problem that existed wouldn’t matter for long, he just has to make it to the Sanctuary and it’ll be resolved by supper.
Thankfully however, he saw the edges of the forest, the light shining upon his exit, it brought a warm smile to his face.
Looking down at his fillies, he whispered softly, “We’re almost there, my little ones. Soon, you’ll have a new place to call home” He finished, prompting their ears to flicker at his soft spoken words, Luna nuzzled against Celly, getting some of her azure mane in her face.
The man chuckled before continuing forward, to finish his journey.
One last effort…
When he reached the end of the forest and looked in the far distance, his eyes were filled with… disappointment. A dirt path from the forest led to a large sturdy stone manor that sat upon a small hill. The manor had timber framing concealed under the pointed roofs which had slate tiles nailed into the frames.
If it were possible, the man's purple eyes would’ve turned grey at the sight of the manor but at least the pointed arched windows with stained glass were the only thing that earned it any redemption.
Lush plains filled with all sorts of flowers and insects that relied on them along with several small hills surrounding the structure were one of the few things that made this place tolerable.
Another point of interest was a small stone bridge that went over a deep ditch, connecting the main body of land that the manor resided on and the secondary part of the land. It was possible to go around but that would take too long.
A large tall hill with a rocky cliff face was also on that second body of land. One could possibly build an observatory to observe terrestrial or celestial events. But all that will come in time, and right now he had to prepare the place for his fillies.
Taking a deep breath, the man took a step forward on the dirt path that was surrounded by plains that were thriving with life. He kept checking on Celly and Lulu, hoping that they would wake up and see their new temporary home for the first time.
But depriving them of their sleep might’ve been a far bigger crime. One that he was not willing to pay.
The walk to the manor didn’t take as long as the man expected. When he reached the stone stairs that led up to a pair of heavy wooden doors, he impaled the ground with his staff and moved closer to the manor. Examining the manor, he noted the texture of the stone that was used in the construction of the manor; the structure was free from cavities, cracks or patches of soft or loose material.
Insulation, strong and durable… This should last us a while.
The man's thoughts were instantly pulled away as he heard two very familiar yawns. Looking down, he was greeted with a pair of magenta and cyan orbs. He could see the curiosity and awe shining in their eyes.
“And how are we on this fine afternoon?”
The fillies babbled, trying reaching out to wrap their little legs around his neck, “Maybe later, I still need you fillies to look at your new home.”
The man carefully pulled the sling overhead and held it up, using his other arm to keep Celly and Lulu against his chest. Turning them about so that they were facing the manor, the held them a bit tighter before he started monologuing.
“Take a look, little ones,” The man over exaggeratedly gestured to the manor.
“Upon this fertile soil I shall lay the very first foundation to a modern civilisation. All will be equal here. Unicorn, Pegasi, Earth Pony, Threstral, Changeling, Griffon, it matters not. They shall all be my subjects.”
“Plague, hunger and suffering shall never come to them. Instead, their bellies shall be filled, their health shall never deteriorate and a smile shall be stitched onto their face.”
“They shall be able to read, to write, to learn, to love and most importantly… to live. Under our rule, they shall know my ‘Bulwark of Harmony’ and as my legacy, you shall help me bring Equus together as one.”
After he finished, he turned the sling around, “What do you think, my daug-“ He held his tongue as he realised that his fillies were fast asleep, snoring and leaning against each other.
…
“Oh come on, my monologuing couldn’t have been that boring,'' Beseeched the man, receiving nothing but snores from his two sources of sweetness. “Well, who’s more sleep inducing when they speak? Your mother or me?”
Yawning was Celly’s response while Lulu buried her face in Celly’s mane.
“You’re lucky you hold no concept of being grounded… at least not yet.”
Taking a seat on the stairs and pulling them closer to his heart, sighing and speaking sincerely, “I love you both and while I live, nothing will ever harm you.” Finished the man, gracing them with a loving kiss on their forehead.