Luster Dawn ushered the two ponies to a nearby bench she had made. She nervously laughed as she realized the other ponies would have to sit on the ground.
"Sorry, I don't have another bench, but I do have more questions. What are your names?" Luster asked out of curiosity as she climbed onto the small bench and snuggled underneath a blanket.
The pegasus of the pair proudly stood up, putting his hoof on his heart and proclaiming "I, Mare of the Everfree Forest, am Lyron of Gainston!" Lyron looked down "Or, was of Gainston. Now... I have been banished." Lyron's face pointing towards a now outstretched wing and his mane going from a golden stripe to one of dark blue.
"Well you just can't leave it off on that!" Luster blurted out, not reading the obvious sorrow on Lyrons face. After realizing her mistake, Luster apologized.
Lyron glanced over at his companion sitting on the ground next to him. She was shifting constantly out of annoyance and impatience.
"I think she doesn't want to tell her name to me, Lyron" Luster added.
Lyron nudged the smaller-than-average mare into action "Fine! I am Iato, formally of Yūjō." Iato then looked up and away from Luster with closed eyes, as if the sight of her was insulting.
Luster was becoming uncomfortable at her guests aggression, but she knew they wouldn't just let her walk off. They needed help, and she was damned if she was just going to leave anyway.
"Soooo, what's all this 'Mare of the Everfree Forest' stuff about anyway? I thought I was in a different forest, and in a secret spot at that."
"Well, um, we were tipped off by a village elder that some unicorn ran off into the forest before we were born. When me and Iato met, we decided to try and find you. We kinda just assumed this was the infamous Everfree, because a lot of ponies don't like talking about Old Equestria" Lyron explained in a more subdued tone.
"It must have taken you ages to find me if the only thing you had was that I lived in the forest!" Luster Dawn looked down a bit and added, "Oh, my name is really Luster Dawn, nice to meet you, Lyron and Iato"
Iato could only let out a "Hmph!" at Luster's attempt at hospitality
Lyron, however was a bit more more enthusiastic to the warm greetings, his hair lighting up to a golden stripe once again.
"Luster Dawn!? You mean THE Luster Dawn!? My mom would always tell me stories about you and the Elements of Harmony! That's so cool! That means you could definitely help us then, right?"
Luster was caught a bit off-guard, not only because of the sudden enthusiasm, but also because somepony used her name in a positive light, something that had not happened in over 30 years.
"A-About that, um, what exactly did you need help with?"
Lyron came back down to earth, literally, so he could say "Oh, we need your help defeating this guy named Gorgon"
"Then you've come to the wrong place." Luster frowned and got up from her bench and started walking towards her cottage's door. She didn't want anything to do with these ponies if they were just here to recruit her for some doomed crusade against a faceless enemy.
Lyron flew in front of Luster, stopping her. "But we came all this way, you can't just blow us off like that!"
"Yes, I can" Luster stated matter-of-factly as she teleported behind Lyron to continue the short walk.
Lyron was a bit disoriented at first, as this was the first magic he had ever seen being cast. He shortly came to. "Woah, so cool! Wait!" Lyron maneuvered to fly beside Luster this time. "My mom always told me stories about how you and your friends would always save the day because of your friendship, couldn't you just ask them to help us?"
"No, I couldn't, because they're gone, Lyron! Gorgon took them! Vanished into thin air, like all the princesses!" Luster began to tear up, "You need to leave. Now"
"But.."
"But nothing! I tried to defeat Gorgon once, Lyron, and I got dragged through the mud and beaten for my efforts! just give up. Like I did. You will be better off that way" Luster slammed her cottages small wooden door behind her, leaving Lyron and Iato alone outside.
She couldn't believe the nerve of those two, thinking she would just drop everything so she could go off on a pointless endeavor. The gall! Luster picked up a bucket and started drawing water to make some soothing tea. Age had not been kind to her joints, so she couldn't pace around frantically anymore. A good green tea was all she needed to unwind.
Luster heard a knock at the door. A muffled voice called out "Look, I'm sorry I brought them up. I didn't know they were all gone. It's just that... what would they think if they were to see you just so easily give up? I, um, yeah. Nevermind" Luster heard Lyron walking away. "Come on, Iato, lets try and find somepony else."
Luster put the bucket of water down to lay down on her lounge chair. She cried for her long lost friends for the first time in a long time, thinking of the things she lost, and how her cowardice prevented her from helping the newer generation.
"I'm sorry, Princess. I have failed you."
---
Lyron was carrying Iato over the forest due to the fact that there wasn't a path through. They had found who they were looking for, but they didn't really think she would just refuse them so easily.
Lyron, who was hit the hardest by the rejection, said "I just can't believe she would say no like that, She is an Equestrian legend, why would she just give up like that?"
Iato spoke up over the wind battering her face. "What did you expect? She is a unicorn. Those schmucks are too selfish to care about anypony else."
"Didn't you say the exact same thing when you met me?" Lyron said with a weak grin, his stripe going to a lighter blue.
"Well, your different. Your a pegasus, not somepony with a phallus-shaped protrusion on they're head." The two giggled at the observation.
"Yeah, maybe so." Lyron said with a sad tone. The interaction only let the two a temporary reprieve from their gloomy situation. "So, where do we go now?"
---
Luster Dawn had been crying in her lounge chair for the better part of an hour when she finally got up and made the tea she had already drew the water for. She couldn't blame the pair for what they did. They were desperate for help.
"Oh, what would you do, Princess?" Luster said as she snuggled back into her chair. She took a sip of her tea as she dwelled on the words of Lyron.
"What would they think if they were to see you just so easily give up?"
"Well, they would probably slap me in the face and tell me to come to my senses." Luster said as if Lyron was sitting right in front of her. She really needed to stop talking to herself.
Luster Dawn remembered the day she met her friends. It was a sunny day in Equestria when she had gone to the throne room of the Friendship Castle to request that the curriculum of the school be more focused on subjects other than friendship. She smiled at the memories. Twilight and all her friends sang a beautiful song about friendship and why it was important. She met up with a few classmates and they hit it off near instantly. The only regret she had was that she didn't spend more time with them, cherishing every moment before they went. Could she really just make new friends like that? She would have to leave the safety and seclusion of her little cottage in the woods if she tried.
Luster frowned at the thought of leaving her little cottage, leaving the only place she could call home. She knew what Lyron said made sense, but she didn't want to leave. The thoughts kept rallying in her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about it, no matter how much tea she drank.
After her mental fortitude fell, Luster yelled in annoyance, "FINE! I will help them, Damnit!"
---
Lyron had landed to rest his wings and lungs. He wasn't so used to flying long distances, let alone carry another pony with him. It was getting dark, after all, why not set up camp here? Iato gathered firewood while Lyron set up a small shelter for them to sleep in. when they were done, they started a fire using Lyron's wings to push air in while Iato rubbed the sticks together to start some dry grass. The flame sputtered to life as the night fell dark. They prepared some dandelion soup from Iato's saddlebag and sat back in their small shelter as the stars rose above.
"You know, I never thought I would be friends with a pegasus" Iato said before she pulled another swig of her warm soup.
"I never thought I would ever meet anypony outside my own town. I guess fate works in mysterious ways." Lyron said with a smile.
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of galloping. Iato quickly set down her soup and picked up her spear that was laying nearby. Lyron stood at the ready, not being very good with weapons, he preferred to just use his hooves in a scrap.
As the sound neared closer, the pair got a better view of who was galloping.
It was Luster Dawn, carrying a lantern and rushing straight towards them.
Lyron motioned for Iato to put down her weapon, which she did apprehensively.
When Luster Dawn finally came to a stop, she tried to speak, but she just fell over, exhausted from running for so long. Lyron and Iato picked up Luster and lay her down near the fire so she could rest.
"We'll talk to her in the morning, I think she needs to rest those old bones." Lyron said as he lowered her to the ground.
"Are you serious?! What if she's just faking? What if she just wants to zap our brains?!" Iato said in a panic.
Lyron giggled a bit "It will be fine, just go to sleep. We will pick this up in the morning, Iato."
"If she zaps us, I am blaming you!"
"Well, if she zaps our brains, then we wouldn't have much time for blaming, now would we?
Iato stuck her tongue out and made a silly face "I am trusting you, Lyron"
Iato then backed away a bit and cautiously curled into a ball so she could eat the rest of her soup. Lyron joined her, and they all gently dozed off to sleep, hopeful for the morning ahead of them.