//------------------------------// // New People To Meet // Story: Imperial Forclousure // by The Sound of Loneliness //------------------------------// With each step on the road, it was becoming more and more apparent that she enjoyed it. She almost forgot what it felt like to look around and see not a single wall. Each night she slept in a place she never has seen before, staring at the starry sky. She quickly learned to not sleep on the bare ground, it was cold. And she woke up with a sore throat every morning, but otherwise, it was pleasing. Each day she could cover a large distance, for she didn't need to sit down for rest. When her hooves were tired, she could simply lift herself in the air and carry on that way with her magic alone, even quicker than on hooves, but she still preferred trotting simply for the feel of it. Every now and then, some critter tried to get into her bag to have a piece of her food, but those were easy to chase away. It was becoming lonely, however. She never spent a day away from other ponies before and she missed seeing the busy work around her. Finally, the long, cobblestone road carried her back to ponies again. She heard the sounds of loggers' work long before she saw them. She never actually saw ponies chopping timber, she guessed that trees had to be somehow made into the wood, but to see the process... exhilarating! She quickened her step. The logging site was a place with around a dozen earth ponies bringing down trees, chopping them in smaller pieces and clearing the branches. She took a moment to observe the work. One log at a time was sawed in even pieces and loaded on one of several buckboards. It looked bizarre to her that ponies were doing all of this work with their hooves alone. Why not simply ask a unicorn? She inched closer to have a feel of how heavy those logs were. She tried to lift one of the ones stockpiled for processing. Amazingly, she easily lifted it from the pile. And they looked so heavy... Sawing each log individually felt like too long as well. Breaking it might've been too crude, but she could cut too. This was one of her newer spells that she only tested on twigs, but it should do nicely. Looking over at the loggers to get a feeling of the size she needed to cut, she then pulled the log off its pile and aimed carefully. With a dark blue beam, she quickly sliced the log in half, leaving burned ends. All took just over a second. "Ey! Everyone!" one of the loggers' cried out. "Is it me, or did one of them logs just started to fly?" She was about to be uncovered! While the first idea to cross her mind was to hide, she elected to abstain. After all, she was not here doing anything she might've gotten in trouble over. The first logger to lay eyes on her spent a few moments to stare and make sure he was seeing right, "There's a foal here! And he's holding one of the logs in the air all by himself!" In no time at all, she was surrounded by ponies. "Never saw one of 'dem unicorn foals do that," one remarked. "Ain't it heavy?" She looked up at the log she was easily holding and smiled smugly. She then picked up four more logs and lifted them just as easily. It was becoming a little heavy now, admittedly, but she didn't show it. "Uhhh... You were going somewhere?" the lumberers kept warily eyeing the logs floating in the air. She didn't say anything and only simply nodded. "I head nopony having a unicorn foal around." "Me neither. Are you coming to visit somepony?" She did not like them starting to ask her so many questions... but she decided to tolerate it for now. She shook her head. "He must be from the glassmakers' town," one suggested. "Did you run away from home?" She shook her head. "Aren't very talkative, are you?" She shook her head again. "My guess, let's just wait, someone will come for him eventually. We got work to do, anyway." And so she spent the day watching the lumberers work, it was welcome after the lonely past few days. She quickly noted how they were structured, who was their leader and who were more experienced than the others and commanded enough respect to be obeyed. She also noted the possible power struggle and thought about how she would've organized the work. It came as easy as anything. After a while, one of the lumberers noted how she cut the log into even pieces before, so she offered to help. The lumberers reluctantly accepted and allowed her to move the wood for them. It felt weird to do something for someone else's sake, but it wasn't unpleasant. They may have not been as capable as she was, but they were ponies. Every time one of them reluctantly thanked her it made her feel like it was worth doing it in the end. This was something she never knew how much she wanted. It made her feel even worse about the tiny foal that was still with her on some level, maybe he wouldn't have broken like that if she offered him support, even if just a word. But then again, such thoughts were of no consequence. It was either him or her, they couldn't both have control over their body. She wasn't quite satisfied with it too, she felt herself distinctly female while the body was that of a foal. She did not know why it was this way, but for now, she already was used to it. Thanks to her magical assistance, the day's work was over a bit earlier than usual and she went along with them. It took a little travel, but they did arrive at a village of some kind in the end. It felt strange to look at compared to the town, no house looked the same, being made up of various materials and constructed in its own shape. The primary material was still wood, but the foundations were made out of cobbles. The place felt old, the mold clinging to the foundations suggested them being much older than the wooden constructions atop. The shadows were already becoming longer and it was time to find her place to sleep for the night. For once she had the pleasure to not sleep in the wilderness, passing the streets on the buckboard with logs, she quickly spotted an open attic she could spend the night in. Catching a moment when none of her new friends were looking at her, she easily hopped from her ride and quickened out of sight. She then snuck up into her chosen cover. It was cozy enough. The straw stacks made her smile contently, the night would be warm and soft for her. She spent the evening observing the village below. The loggers tried looking for her but stopped after a few hours. The rest of the ponies were unconcerned and continued to prepare for the day's rest. Compared to where she was from, this place was quiet, tranquil even. Workers tended to go around streets singing and drinking at this hour, they simply had no other times to have their fun. Here, however, it was quiet. As soon as the sun crossed the horizon, the streets became empty entirely. She decided to find herself some provisions for the road. The dark had not bothered her at all with the nightvision spell. She moved around the streets and quickly enough found a barn. Opening the lock was trivial, she did get pretty well acquainted with the locks back in the prison. She used to open the locks in the cells for fun and look at how uneasy it made the police ponies look. She looked around and found some bread and vegetables, easy enough to carry around. She ate a bit and returned to her lair for nightly sleep. The straw accepted her easily, she never noticed just how tired she really was from the day. She drifted away before she could start thinking further. She woke up late in the morning, the sun was already high in the sky. She yawned and took another few minutes for the sleep to wear off. Her bed was so soft this night that she didn't want to get up. Eventually, she managed to gather enough willpower to roll on her hooves. She cautiously looked outside at the village. It was rather empty now, all capable ponies must have gone to work the fields, or to do other work. The only ones she saw on the streets were other foals and the mares caring for them, elderly ponies and a pony or two working in their home. The lumberers she met yesterday were nowhere to be seen. She stepped back out of view and laid down again to consider her options. She could've simply left before anyone could ask who she was and what she was doing here, that was always an option. But it would be nice to know where she was going, or where she wanted to eventually arrive. She also did not really want to be alone on the road again. So she elected to have a walk and see if she could meet a pony who could tell her more about the lands down the road. She fetched a few surprised looks and questions about where her parents were, but that was to be expected. She never answered, of course, because she herself couldn't tell, but none of them attempted to stop her. She tried to look pleasant, but they simply gave her unsettled looks in response. She didn't mind, she didn't want them interfering. Walking and studying the village, she met a few ponies who did seem like they could use a little help, to help foals with a ball stuck in a tree, to levitate a heavy item. It took her no effort at all and only a little time. They regarded her with the same bewilderment. They did still attempt to offer her something for her trouble, once they recovered from their unsettled states. Someone gave her a little treat, others just a word of thanks. She always smiled back and continued exploring. It felt pleasant, something she never knew she wanted. It was only a small feeling, but she felt as if she was doing something meaningful and not just for herself. She could easily snap their necks if she wanted to. But it was so much better this way! Closer to the afternoon, a wagon rolled into the village, pulled by a richly dressed stallion. "Silks, spices, jade and porcelain! Come see goods from the East!" he shouted as he passed. Oh, a travelling merchant! She saw one of them with her own eyes, he passed down her street once. Curiosity got the better of her. She followed the merchant down the street until he found a place to set up his shop. A small crowd quickly gathered. The merchant was content to simply stay put, for now, so she saw no reason to rush to meet him. She sat down on a fence just outside the action and simply watched him. She noticed herself having a kind of soft way of finding out about others by simply observing them. How they move, speak, react, even how they look at others. She couldn't describe exactly how she was doing it if she tried. She simply knew what different signs meant. This particular stallion provoked her curiosity. He was talkative, a trait of his profession, he never struggled to pick words as he advertised his goods: "Oh, this one made in Yan-Tzy by the governor's own sculptor," he spoke on the small figurine made out of weird, green stone. Likely not entirely true. She observed the merchant dealing with his customers for some more time before he suddenly looked straight at her. For a moment they stared at each other, but the merchant quickly relented and awkwardly returned to his work. The short exchange left her wondering, for a moment she could swear he recognized her. Although she never saw him before, she was certain. She started watching more closely, just where would this stallion know her from? For the next hour, before the crowd dispersed, she continued carefully studying him. His movements became far more rigid now. He only gave back fleeting looks, just to make sure she was still there. When he finally had a breather between tending to ponies wishing to look at his goods, he looked back at her again. Their eyes met and for a whole minute, neither of them moved or looked away. "Sorry, I could've sworn you are a foal of someone I saw a while ago," he finally said, looking away. "You have the same look to your eye." "Saw where?" she asked shortly. If he could tell her who her parents were... "In Vanhoover, I think. That's a lot north and west, in Equestria. Damn, I haven't been there since before Empress Nightmare Moon..." he paused for a moment. "So I was in the Vanhoover port, came on a ship from the south to buy some of their schematics and tools to go with them. I was loading the crates on the ship when I nearly got flung out into the ocean. I picked myself off the concrete and tried to find whoever knocked me over, then I saw her, the enormous mare with a fiery mane standing by the boarding ramp, eyeing me dismissively as if I was some insect in her way. I heard about Equestrian princesses, of course, but I didn't expect to meet one, much less get in her way. She then walked aboard, a few boxes of her luggage in tow. She also had a servant with her, or someone who looked like a servant at least. A weird, insect-like pony covered in scars and with its horn broken, had wings too. I picked myself up and tried to haul my goods back on the ship. The rest of the way back she didn't talk to anyone except for that creature she had with her and the captain. She didn't look like much of a chatterbox and the crew saw what happened to me before departure, so nobody bothered her if they could. But she and her companion kept watching on all of us. I never thought I'd see that look again." The notion gave her a pause. A Princess? She heard about them, spoken with awe as distant myths. All ponies knew the name of Princess Celestia in particular, she was older than any creature could hope to remember. But there were others too. "Where is she?" she asked. "You're asking a bit too many questions for somepony that small, friend," the merchant smiled at her out of his wagon-stall. "She came ashore at port Ying. But that was nearly forty years ago. All the times I've been there, I never heard anything definite. Her sister died, her title left squandered, I reckon she just wanted a quiet life after everything that happened." "What was the Empress like?" she asked, her curiosity piqued. "Oh... little one," he sighed. "I couldn't have told you even if I saw her during her reign. She didn't even hold out a decade. From what I heard, most ponies didn't like her much. But those who did - worshipped her, sometimes literally. She was a good monarch otherwise, very authoritarian but capable. She's been moving both sun and moon for a while in the sky, then Celestia, her sister, started doing that again after she died. The sisters never really saw eye to eye for long. Nightmare Moon was the younger one, she spent the last thousand years on the moon, believe it or not, she was exiled there after her first attempt to seize power. She then returned and for a while, everything was swell. Nightmare Moon even too up a new, less intimidating name and seemed to genuinely try to make amends. Celestia was overjoyed, it couldn't have felt well to have to exile her own sister like that. All the land cheered at the return of Princess Luna, but eventually, something inside her snapped. She started a violent civil war for which Celestia unprepared, loyalists were reluctant to fight their own fellow ponies, but Nightmare Moon's supporters had no issues with that. Nightmare Moon won and sent Celestia to the moon, she did show her mercy and allowed her to return a few years later. It was said that she rapidly shifted in her attitude shortly after, she now was entirely submissive to her younger sister and even took a new name - Daybreaker. They seemed to have warm relations ever since. Nightmare Moon became much kinder to those around her. Eventually, she even attempted to reform her regime into a less tyrannical one. She was murdered in the middle of her speech." The tale saddened her greatly. She felt a kinship with both mares, their personality shifts were a giveaway. Nonetheless, it felt reassuring to know that she wasn't alone in the world. "I already told you how I met Daybreaker on the ship," he continued. "I had a few glimpses at her baggage, the Princess took with her some of her sister's things it looked like, I felt bad for her. "There's also this one more thing, it was years ago, but the last time I went to those places, I heard a curious rumor about a cult trying to resurrect their dead goddess." "Resurrect?" "Yes, like in one of those tales about necromancers. They call themselves: 'The Society of Ivory Crescent.' Sounds insane, but I wouldn't be surprised, we talk about ponies moving sun and moon after all. I am not sure how they were going to do that, from what I heard, her body was burned. So there will be no skeletal Empress to raise." What a story! And of her relatives no less. She listened with awe, but the ending left her saddened at how tragically it ended for her sisters. "Map?" she asked, sounding soiled. "Eh?" he curiously hummed. "Well, I have one, but I need it." "To look," she clarified. He stared at her suspiciously for a while, "No harm in letting you look, I guess." He turned around from her and started rummaging through his many boxes. "Here." He put rolled out the sheet across the counter. She lightly dropped from her seat on the fence and approached. "Huh, a little small you are," the merchant commented with a smile when she couldn't reach the top to look. It took her to stand on her hind legs and stretch her body upwards. "Here's where they used to rule," he pointed at the large swath of land in the northern part of the map. "And that's where... hold on," he picked up on her confused look. "You never saw a map before, have you?" As a matter of fact, she did. Just not one like this, with colorful sections and lines. "Well, alright. The colored parts are countries. And we are over here," he pointed downwards, beyond the Equestria's border. "That's the port we sailed out from and here's where we parted with the Princess," he dragged his hoof from the north to south-east. She watched carefully the snaking roads that arrived at the town shown to her. There was no hope of memorizing all of the turns and stops. "A drawing?" she lifted her eyes onto him. "You want to copy it out?" he asked with a bit of confusion. "Uh-hum!" she readily nodded and smiled slightly. Her friends back at the police station brought her some paper and pencils sometimes, she was pretty good at drawing. "Paper and pencil?" "Well, I got some, but those aren't free. Even for curious little foals." "Uhmm..." This was a problem indeed. She had nothing to pay with... "How much?" "Well, I won't charge you a lot for a single pencil and some paper... Well, alright, let's have it this way: I'll give you what you need and let you draw re-draw the map and you tell me how you got here, it's pretty obvious that you aren't local. A story is worth money too, you know," he winked at her with one eye. She suddenly chuckled aloud. Oh, she had a story to tell, he had no idea what he was asking for, "I am from... here," she pointed to the town on the map she thought represented her birthplace. "Grainbrough, eh?" he cringed. "No offense, but I heard bad things, especially lately." She nodded, he was right. "So... you ran away from home?" She shook her head. "Then...?" "I never knew them." "Your parents?" "Uh-hum." "Oh..." his brows instantly sank down. "That sounds... rough. So, how did you make it?" "I took what I needed." "And... if you couldn't?" "I always could." "If someone caught you?" "They would beat me." "Badly?" "Sometimes." "So did you one day just get up and leave" "No." "Then what?" At this point, he started to sound rather confused. "The police station was closed down." "Did... the policeponies look after you?" "Yes." The memory made her look back at the road sadly. "Oh, damn... I am really sorry, it all sounds awful." He took a pause, "You got any plan on what to do now?" "I am going to find my sister," she nodded. "Your... sister?" She nodded in response, "Who is she?" "The Princess with the fiery mane." He started at her for a long moment. "Look, I don't want to say this, but she isn't... you know, your sister. You weren't even born when she celebrated her thousandth birthday." She simply shrugged in response. "...You aren't joking, are you?" "No." He took another long moment to stare at her. "How do you know she is your sister?" he asked, carefully picking his words. "You described her." "So you have seen her before?" "No." "Then how do you know how she looks?" "I didn't." "It wasn't her looks?" "No." "It was some quality?" "Yes." "Which one?" The question made her think a while. How was she to even explain something like this? "You said she suddenly became very different," she finally decided. "My sisters can cause this." "Your sisters? You have more than one?" "Uh-hum," she nodded. "How do they do this?" "They take control." "Control of what?" "The body." For the third time, the merchant stallion was staring at her, this time in bewilderment at what she just said. "Did you take someone's... body?" "Yes." "Whose?" "The ponies called him Spoiled Milk." "The foal?" "Yes." "Wait a little." He stepped back from the counter and looked at the mirror hanging on one of his wagon's inner walls. He then gave himself a hard slap on his cheek and blinked his eyes several times. "Okay," he returned back to her. "How did it happen?" "Spoiled Milk tried to take food from workers, they caught him, beat him and threw them into the ditch outside their workshop. Spoiled Milk wanted to die there, I took what I needed." The station dragged his hoof from his lobe to the back of his head and scratched his neck a little. "Did you kill him?" "No." "Is he still with you?" "Yes." "Can I talk to him?" "No." "Okay... What of those ponies that caught him? You told the police about them?" "They are dead," she said simply. "You killed them?" he leaned over the counter. "Yes," she sharply tilted her head and screeched. "Like that?" "Yes." "That's why the policeponied took you in?" "I don't know." "Okay... " he stood straight again, sighed and closed his eyes. "I am having a hard time believing that I am hearing this. I meet a foal, who isn't a foal, with a look to his eyes that a timberwolf would envy, who says he murdered several ponies by snapping their necks. Okay, let's get on. How did you do that?" "Show?" "No, just tell me." "I broke their necks." "How, is what I am asking." "With magic." "You are telling me that a foal, as young as you are, can actually hurt other ponies with your magic?" "Yes." "Okay then, I don't want to check right now," he dragged his hoof over his eyes. He stood like that for a while, "Why?" He finally asked. "They hurt Spoiled Milk," she answered simply as always. "Well... okay. Look, I... this is a lot. Mind if I have a little rest? I need to make sure I am not going barny. I don't think I am, but still." "Paper and pencil?" "I... later," he stepped out of his wagon and stiffly trotted away, leaving her by her lonesome next to the vacant wagon.