The sight of her brother out here momentarily froze Helmi. How could he here, out in the jungles of South Equestria, far away from Olenia. Far away from home. For a moment she thought he was some sort of god of the forests; being able to manifest in any of his vegetative domains as he pleased.
Olavi, seeing her confusion, grew a pleased smirk on his face.
“Oh please, did you think I would stick to playing pretend in the forests of Feslott like some sort of fawn? I formed my own band. My own crew, loyal to ME. And now, thanks to YOU,” he venomously spat with a hoof pointed at her, “I was appointed the CEO of our company. Did you never think how this would affect me? Ripped away from my playground as these… VULTURES… placed me upon a gilded throne? Thank the gods when I found out it was the Changelings who placed me on it, as a reward for my help in infiltrating Feslott. How else do you thi—yes it was me,” he confirmed when saw the shocked look on Helmi’s face.
“It was me who helped them all along. And now, as my Changeling assistants run the company in my name, I was given the opportunity to lead an operation in the heart of Equestrian jungles against the ponies. Hunting them like our ancestors of old!” his jovial mood seemed to radiate among his group as he continued his speel.
“And now, imagine my surprise, when I learn that my sister…my dear…sweet…vile….sister… was travelling on a train across the very lands I was currently raiding in the name of the bugs. I tell you, Helmi, I had never shrieked in joy as much as I did that day. But I suppose…” Olavi cocked his gun as he spoke, “this might top that.”
“No! Please… I am sorry Olavi, I did not mean to anger you! I swear! I was tired… tired of living there. I couldn’t bear to live in that place anymore, the town that was steeped with the blood of the ponies that died from the sins of our family. I couldn’t wake up one more day in a never-ending blizzard that felt like the world around us was cut off from our fetid city. I just… please. Please let us go. Please don’t kill me. I always loved you, Ol. I never looked for you because I thought that was what you wanted. I am sorry…I am so so sorry.”
All Olavi did was chuckle at her. “Kill you? Where did you get such ideas? No, I won’t kill you, dear sister. The forest will.”
Helmi froze once more, this time out of great concern than fear. Her mind once more remembered the rumours she had heard about her brother, and she very much did not want to know how true they were.
“I had great many plans on what to do with you sister, but it looks like you are already in a lot of pain. As you are right now, you are already dying. I don’t need to do anything. This one, however…” he trailed off as he strode over to Valla.
“This one will help complete your suffering. She must blame you a lot for what happened to her. I would as well though, considering what you made her go through. Poor, poor pony… she wishes she didn’t follow her idiot master.”
As he spoke, his hoof that was on her injured leg suddenly twisted, breaking the bones with a snap. Valla let out a horrid screech, her eyes glassing over with pain and exhaustion, as she slumped back down; her breaths coming out in pained gasps.
“Valla! Stop Ol, ple—”
“Shut up! Watch quietly as I send your friend to her the gods.”
With a silent nod to one of his crew members, who whipped out a cloth to muffle Helmi’s mouth, the deer moved to his next target. He left her hoofs, inspecting them before turning to Helmi.
“Ah, this is one of the hoofs that served you for so many years. You call her a friend, a sister, a companion but she was always a lesser to you. And today, because of your petulance, this hoof will neither serve nor help anyone anymore.”
And with that, he broke her hoof at the mid-point, eliciting a silent painful moan from Valla.
Finally, Olavi took out what seemed to be a large bowie knife. Inscriptions were written on it that seemed like the old language.
Like a ritual knife.
Helmi could nothing more but scream uselessly behind the cloth that muffled her mouth, trying to reach out for her friend, but she could see her strength leaving her. She could do nothing more as her eyes closed, partially from being blinded by the glint from the blade that was raised high above Valla.
And when opened her eyes, only to see her brother gutting the body of her only friend in the world, as he collected her blood in a bowl to drink later in service to the gods, she could nothing more but peer into the glassy eyes of the pony, that held an expression of pure rage which seemed to bore into Helmi’s soul.
She didn’t hear any more sneers from her brother or her gang, nor did she hear them leave. She just lay motionless, all strength gone from her both physically and mentally, as her eyes started to close. Probably the last time she thought.
Before she drifted off to sleep however, she caught the sight of the planes once more, now fully visible in the morning sun. Her last thought was when she saw the banner resting on the tail of the planes.
She remembered it was the banner of the hippogriffs.
A thunderous gale roared upon the beachside, as grey clouds blotted out most of the sun; a few rays shining down here and there on the tumultuous sea like beacons from the heavens. But the young mare that swam in these waters required no such guidance. Her body glided through water like air, her biology made for this environment. Corals and sea fauna swam alongside her like family, but even though she loved them very much, she knew her real family was waiting on the beach up head.
The unstoppable swimmer finally broke the water surface to gauge her distance from the shore. Over yonder, she saw her father on the shore; his muscular body, courtesy of his hippogriff nature, stood tall and proud like Mount Aris itself. The only form of weakness on his body, the shining pearl glowing with a bright red, hung from his neck. A similar red colour shimmered on her neck underneath the water. But she knew that she had time before she had to switch.
Seeing that their daughter was fine, a relaxed smile appeared on Jet Spray’s beak. Turning to the deer beside him, his smile faltered ever so little as he saw a similar smile on her face; the sight of which was as rare as their visit to the beach. But what could he do when, in a nation of deer like Hindia, she said that she couldn’t be around other deer. Going out for anything: a date, a dinner or even a movie, was a big hassle for her. Ironically, it was only during a stormy weather when they found the perfect excuse to head out for some fresh air and enjoy the sea.
But he understood. He always did. When he found her in the jungles of Equestria, when he kept tabs on her in a hospital in Aris. When he proposed to her. When he married her. He knew what he was getting into, and it didn’t matter in the slightest. He had a dark history of his own and whenever Helmi smiled, he felt his past slip away ever more.
Helmi, meanwhile, had her own battles that she fought when out here on the beach. Beside her, sat the pony which had haunted her dreams since that day, whose spirit would not leave her side ever since. But today, as dark clouds kept drifting up above, she wanted to confront her old friend in the eye of the storm.
“Your daughter has grown up to be a fine woman. I won’t be surprised if she takes up to be a woman of leadership such as yourself,” her ghost started, with the usual slight jab at her.
“My daughter can be whoever she wants to be. I won’t constrain her,” she finally looked at Valla, after months of ignoring her, “just like I did you.”
“Just like you are doing to that hippogriff you call husband?” Valla shot back.
Helmi’s silence said everything.
Valla sighed deeply, then turned back to the ocean.
“Listen Helmi. You have made a lot of mistakes in your life. Not all of them were in your control. But…”
She turned back to Helmi, and the two locked eyes as Valla continued.
“I will really come back to life and kill you if you make the mistake of taking your life now for granted.”
No sooner when she said that, Helmi finally broke down. She cried like she never had, not even when Valla died, as Jet Stream came up to her. He took her into a hug, consoling her as much as he could.
A few minutes passed, as both wife and husband looked into each other’s eyes and kissed each other deeply.
Looking towards the ocean again, where their daughter swam, Helmi whispered in a tone so relaxed that Jet Stream, in all the years he knew her, realized she was finally ok. She was finally ready to live the rest of her life.
“Can we go visit the Arisian restaurant you keep talking about?”
“Of course, my love.”