//------------------------------// // 2 - Junebug // Story: Evergreen Falls // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// Night Sky - 3rd of Lunar Dawn, 4 EoH Royal University of Canterlot - Canterlot The golden domes of the Canterlot palace trembled as the mountain shook under the distant impact of Twilight’s battle with Lord Tirek. Ponies lay in the streets where they had fallen upon their magic being torn from their very souls. They moved, or rather, shivered. Not dead, but doomed. Not in pain, but in horror. The few non-ponies in Canterlot ran through the streets and flew through the towers, giving what first aid they could. Pegasi had fallen from the sky when their magic left them, their broken forms littered the streets and rooftops. Unicorns who had been mid-spell lay comatose at best, seizing at worst. They were still better off than the Earth Ponies who had been lifting heavy loads when their magic failed. Most of those poor souls were waiting in line for the reaper. The miniscule portion of non-ponies in the Royal Guard manned the walls with the even fewer non-Equestrian weapons the armory held. Their eyes were locked on the battle taking place just on the horizon within Ponyville. With every building-sized energy blast and earthquaking blow they wished more and more that Canterlot had been allowed to develop like every other major Equestrian city. Tradition was nice and all, but having easy access to griffon tanks, draconic firearms, and minocian cybernetics suddenly seemed incredibly necessary. Especially with the Palace of the Sun burning and the Princesses nowhere to be found. Except of course, for Princess Twilight. Who frankly was more likely to annihilate a town with a stray shot than defeat the demonic monster she was locked in combat with. Professor Night huddled under his flimsy office desk, hooves clasped over his ears. He could hear the fire burning one floor below him, but didn’t have the energy to so much as stand. He’d barely crawled under his desk in time to avoid being hit by the ceiling collapsing onto his paperwork. He’d been in the middle of justifying his rejection of his daughter’s application to join a dig of a ruined First Kingdom outpost in Prance when the attack began. The desk creaked, unable to bear the weight of the rubble and his computer. Night flinched, bracing himself for a second collapse. Instead, smoke from the floor below billowed past his office window. The black vapors were thick and greasy, swiftly blocking out the sun. That would be the bio-lab… Night thought to himself as his eyes adjusted to the dull green light coming from his MinOS IIe’s screen. The blocky terminal was now his office’s only light source. It wouldn't be so bad if he could still echo locate. Night rocked back and forth, his instincts telling him to fly to safety. To spread his wings, dive through the window, and fly as far from Canterlot as he could. That wasn’t an option. Tirek had devoured the magic of every last pony in Equestria. Flight was impossible. So is breathing, Night thought to himself as a dull memory from arcane anatomy intruded upon his mind. Most of our biology depends on magic. In a few hours, cell death will start. Even if Twilight wins this fight, everypony is— A crackling lavender energy bolt the width of a tower blazed past the window, blinding Night with its scintillating glory. He shrank back from the window in terror. The blast had come from Ponyville and was still strong and large enough to vaporize a chunk of Mt. Avalon the size of a family home. Why? Night begged of reality. He’d seen the Princess’s plan. Give Twilight their magic so Tirek couldn't take it. Three grown Alicorns, in full control of their powers, with milenia of combat experience, gave their magic to an untrained child. A very lucky child, one who showed promise and performed miracles before… but a child nonetheless. One who was not a warrior. One who was not trained in battle. It makes no sense. Why did she abandon us? Night pulled as far back under his desk as he could and fished his wallet from his suit jacket’s inner pocket. Fortunately for Night, he’d been typing when the attack had started which meant he was wearing his manipulator gauntlets. For years he’d complained about Minos refusing to make hoof friendly versions of its technology and instead “forcing us to buy two products”, but now, with his magic gone and his hooves unable to telekinetically grip that which they touched, the bionic gauntlet’s brass fingers were the only reason he could hold anything at all. The dusty purple thestral opened his wallet and flipped to the photo fold. The first photo was of a green and yellow unicorn mare, his wife Lemon. “I’m sorry I forgot to do the laundry last night,” Night choked out through his terror and tears. The next photo was of a young colt who was practically speaking a miniature version of his mother. “I wish I could teach you hoofball, Lime.” Night said as his farewell before moving onto the next two pictures. One was of a gray maned brown furred pegasus stallion, highschool age. The other was of a slightly older, blue maned, pink furred pegasus mare. They shared their mothers eyes and looked for all the world like siblings, but in truth they were the same pony two years apart. Night closed his eyes and thought of all the hunting and camping trips he’d taken his step son, or rather step daughter on over the years. Every hoofball game. Every late night conversation on how to be a better stallion. He thought of how June was now. Barely perceptible as feminine. An absolute tomboy interested in mares and according to her announcement at dinner that morning, not intending to fully complete her transition since “I was never sure if I’d have to change that much, and since my voice is right and I look correct now… Well, I know!” “I’m sorry I bucked you up… Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Could have done… Whatever girls like to do…” Night lamented. Night put his wallet down on the floor and closed his eyes, waiting for the end. Even if a stray shot didn’t destroy the palace, even if by some miracle ponykind’s magic was returned and they were spared a slow withering death… Lemon would have been taking Lime to school. June had gone to Cloudsdale to talk to an ex. Pegasi needed their magic to walk on clouds. She’d either been flying or standing. In either case, the family of four was down to three. It couldn’t be otherwise. A terrifying crack rippled upwards through the palace as the ground shook, dropping a few hoof widths. Night gulped. The Canterlot City Deck which held it to the mountain had been partially sustained by thestral stone magic. Princesses above, did he take all of it as in… All of it?! Everypony’s and everything made by us too? Night thought in a panic. He bolted out from under his desk and raced to the corner where he kept a first aid kit. He tore the cover off and looked inside for the burn healing talisman, hoping for a pale blue glow. The metal box’s interior lacked even a single spark of light or magic. Triek had taken all of the pony magic in Equestria. “Well… That’s it then,” Night said as he sat on his office floor fumbling through the first aid kit for anything else to heal burns, accepting that the end of the age of ponies had come and there was nothing else he could do.  ⁜ ⁜ ⁜ Night Sky - 8th of Lunar Dawn, 4 EoH Last Call Tavern - Canterlot A week had passed since Tirek’s brief but devastating rampage. Equestria had finally received medical supplies via foreign aid, most of the key infrastructure had been recharged by unicorn volunteers. Hospitals overflowed with injured ponies, mostly pegasi who had survived their falls and earth ponies who had been lifting heavy, but not too heavy, objects when their magic had been drained. The bars were also quite understandably overflowing. Night sat at the bar in the Last Call Tavern, a little hole in the wall near the Canterlot train station. He didn’t often drink, at least, not before the attack. But for the last week a few salted beers had become necessary to get any sleep at all. They quieted the echoes of his own screams. You’d think I’d be less shaken… at least, by now, Night thought to himself while rocking his half full glass with the side of his hoof. I was lucky. I was too lucky. Indeed, Night had been fortunate. Lemon and Lime had made it safely away from danger and rode the disaster out in a Royal Guard barracks. June’s friend had lowered her home to just above treetop level to be closer to her ground-bound friends, meaning June had only broken a leg when she’d fallen through her friend’s floor. “Hey, Doc?” A younger stallion’s voice called from behind Night, making his ears twitch. Night knew that voice. Not by name though. It was one of his colleagues, Doctor Gleam’s assistants. The black one. Night turned his head to look and sure enough the black furred, dark gray maned unicorn he’d expected was standing in the packed bar just behind him. He looked exactly as he did in the university’s lab save for having traded his lab coat for a denim vest. Ordinarily Night would have been disturbed by somepony getting less than a tail’s breath behind him before calling out but the bar was so packed the stallion simply had no other place to stand and be out of the server’s way. Night cleared his throat. “Oh, hello,” he said quietly, almost inaudible over the bar’s general din. “Sorry, I don’t think we were ever introduced. You work for Doctor Gold Gleam, right?” “That’s right. Name’s Soot.” The dark stallion nodded and squeezed between Night and the unknown unicorn mare to Night’s left. “Excuse me ma’am, gotta talk to my friend here.” The mare nodded and scooted over as much as she could. Night moved the opposite way to make room as well. Soot reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small scroll and a pen and set them on the bar. “I’ll make this quick,” he promised. “I need money fast. I want to sell you some land. ” Night raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” “See this?” Soot gestured around him as best he could without hitting anypony. “Everypony huddled here, sucking down alcohol and salt after a major crisis?” Night nodded. “Obviously…” “This is the sixth time in four years,” Soot pointed out with a hollow look in his eyes. The truth of the stallion’s words hit Night like a brick. Celestia’s grace, he’s right! Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Swarm, Discord again, King Sombra… “You’re a smart guy, Doc,” Soot continued. “You know this is a pattern. We both know history. We know how many things Celestia sealed away a thousand years ago and we both know a good chunk of exactly what she apparently made into a ‘Later Problem’. Well, later is now!” Night nodded. His mind was on fire, connecting every little dot regarding ancient history and Celestia’s foes… And her pacifism. Her millennia of pacifism after banishing her sister to the moon. “Yeah… She’s a protector who won’t fight anymore,” Night muttered into his drink as he took a deep swing. “But how’s that related to selling me… What was it? Land?” “Yep,” Soot said as he tapped the paper. “One thousand hectares of remote forest. Been in my family since, well, forever! It's far enough away that you could put a nice little doomsday bunker there and ride out almost anything. Which, well I’d do that, but it’s still in Equestria and that’s too close to ground zero for my comfort. I’m planning on immigrating to Germaney.” Night hummed, his eyes narrowing in thought while his mind cleared for the first time since the attack. I have nearly three million in savings. That’s more than enough to relocate and build a place where I can keep my family safe. But… “I have enough to flee the country right now,” Night said calmly. “Why shouldn’t I?” Soot nodded, seemingly entirely understanding of Night’s position, but he leaned towards the other stallion, lowering his voice just a little to keep from being overheard. At least, as much as that was possible in the packed bar. “I thought about that. No offense but you’re old enough to retire, right? You could get Celestia to pay for your new digs, but only if you stayed in the country. Assuming your pension is better than mine at least. Which we both know it is since you’re two generations older than me,” Soot grinned and unrolled the paper to show Night it was the enchanted deed for the property. “Come on! It’s the smart thing to do. For all we know some idiot will find wherever Clestia buried the Band of Might tomorrow. We’re living in a time bomb! At least, we are here in Canterlot. Or should I say the splash zone?” “That one was allegedly melted down, but…” Night mused on the subject of the Band of Might while thinking the rest of Soot’s idea over. There’s every chance in the world for at least seven more disasters to strike based on the skeletons left in her closet, and I’ll be damned if I have to worry about my family’s lives again. Night downed the rest of his sea-salt lager and slammed the glass down on the counter. “How much are you asking?” “Seventy five thousand,” Soot said bluntly. “It’s undeveloped land and really remote. It’s not worth much more than that and that’s all I need to get out of here.” Night reached into his coat pocket for his checkbook. “Done.”  ⁜ ⁜ ⁜ Junebug - 18th of Lunar Dawn, 4 EoH The Deep Woods - Hackamore Valley The ancient cedar and oak forest looked like something out of a documentary about the evolution of life on Equis. The trees towered overhead, mocking such short lived creatures as ponies with the bulk of ages. Their bark was covered in moss and lichen which blended into the incredibly dense underbrush to create the feeling of walking through a solid mass of green. A feeling which was shattered by the distressingly bright reds, blues, and purples of the many mushrooms that clung to fallen logs and living trees alike. Their presence replaced that feeling with the distressing fear of inhaling a stray spore from some prehistoric doom shroom and having to get anti-fungal treatment in an Equestria with a potion shortage while also being out in the middle of bucking nowhere. This is the kind of place ponies created civilization to escape, June silently whined. We are spitting on our ancestors' lives by coming back to this. June stuck out from the forest like a split hoof. In fact, she was the exact opposite color of the forest's greens, a lovely pure pink that glittered in the sunlight, betraying her tropical pegasi ancestry. Her medium cut curly mane was a pale blue, with a single white streak through its length. Ordinarily it would be kept in a loose but neet bob cut, but the march through the forest had pulled her locks loose, leading to many wild and dangling strands. June was quite tall for a pegasus, enough to stand nearly a full head over her fellow fliers. Unfortunately for her, that merely put her in range of the forest’s trailing vines. Making this worse, poor June was slightly overweight, greatly reducing the number of thickets she could slip through without getting scratched, scraped, or cut. Though that limitation was nothing compared to the pronounced limp in her left hingleg. Junebug was not having a good month. Though to be fair, nopony in Equestria was having a good month. Tirek had seen to that. Limping wounded through the land time forgot on a quest to go nowhere… This is just like the retreat of the Cadite Fifth from the Planes of Gatron. June grumbled to herself, comparing her situation to one of her favorite novels helped keep things a little more upbeat in her head. Only a little. Princess Twilight had defeated the demon and returned everyone’s stolen magic to them in just over forty five minutes. The funny thing about minutes is just how much can happen to someone in only a hooffull of minutes. On top of carrying the recent trauma of losing a core part of her identity in the form of her magic, the physical trauma of falling through a pine tree, breaking a leg, and getting impaled in the process, June was also carrying the emotional trauma of watching all of the plans for her future sail off to the fields of Elysium with the many souls of the recently dead. Stupid not-jungle, June grumbled to herself as she pushed her way through the million-and-first thornbush which overhung the game trail her stepfather had been leading the family down for the last two days. Two days. Of hiking. Through the woods from tartarus! She sighed and stepped around a thorn bush. At least I’m near the theoretical First Kingdom Capital. Maybe there will be something I could use for my doctorate’s field study in a cave. Or a river. Or anything to do at all… June’s small family was exhausted. None of them had been outdoorsy before Night had informed them of his plans. The six day train ride to Vanhoofer had been tiring enough for everyone, but especially poor Lime who was at the age where a colt needed to run around and slay imaginary monsters all day. The four of them had left the train sore, tired, and hungry since some idiot had failed to load enough food for the passengers, leading to a missed breakfast. From Vanhoofer, they’d taken a wagon up an old backroad for two more days before getting off to hike the rest of the way to Night’s new property. On paper, sixty kilometers doesn't sound all that far. In truth, it isn’t. Not down city streets or country roads anyways. Thick forests, on the other hoof, present something forest rangers like to call “difficult terrain”. Night, Lemon, and June were exhausted. Full on bags under the eyes, muscles burning, ready to  collapse, exhausted. They were also starving, because no one had been able to muster the energy to get out the camp stove when they’d stopped for lunch six hours ago. A few hoof fulls of trail mix do not a meal make. Lime, on the other hoof, was perfectly fine. The outer twelve year old channeled the boundless energy of the inner five year old as only a true master could. He zipped in and out of the brush on the sides of the trail like he was following some sort of adventure line that led only to the most exciting places and coolest battles, chattering and yelling with the exact kind of playful exuberance that adults experience in the same fashion one might expect to experience a drill going into one ear and another drill going into their other ear and meeting in the middle. “Sis! Sis! Look there’s a frog bigger than me over there! And it’s EVIL!” Lime called out, pointing into the brush with his stick sword as he prepared to tilt that imaginary windmill. June didn’t want to look, her neck hurt too much from both the walk and the dodgy potion she’d had to fix her leg. But, she did anyway. “Oh wow, yea. He’s big,” she said of the non-existent creature. “Go get him.” June’s rear-left hoof suddenly twisted atop a wet stone and slipped out from under her, sending her full weight slamming down on her still healing leg. “Buck!” She shouted, gritting her teeth as burning pain welled up around the middle of her left hind thigh. “Language!” Her mother shouted back with an indignant huff. June glared up the trail at her mother and opened her mouth to object to telling a grown-ass mare with an injury to not swear, but her little brother beat her to it. “But she broke her leg,” Lime objected, puffing out his tiny earth pony chest to look big to protect his big sister. “Dad said you get to swear if you’re hurt bad!” June smiled. Her mother glared at Lime. “That’s no excuse,” she insisted. “I did say that,” Night agreed from the front of the small group of ponies. “But she had a potion, so she’s fine,” she added in order to complain about something so she wouldn’t complain about her aching everything and further weaken the group’s morale by appearing vulnerable. “So no swearing, June.” “No,” June objected through a pain-clenched jaw. “I had a knock-off regeneration potion. Not a healing potion. It’s still healing, and I just took my full weight when I slipped. That’s worth a swear. Maybe two. Buck me raw that hurt like tartarus! Yep. That was definitely a twofer.” “If Lime develops a foul mouth, I’ll blame you!” Lemon threatened with a glare. “Everyone younger than you swears, mom,” June grumbled at the forest floor. “Not in my house they don't!” She insisted firmly. “We’re not in the house,” Lime said, exhibiting the wisdom of ages as young children often do. His mother glared at him until he shrank back behind his sister. The group progressed for a few moments, blatantly ignoring June’s plight. They’d had this discussion many times on the trip out into the deep woods, once for each of the many times June had stumbled or fallen. June winced as the memory came back to her again. She was standing on the clouds outside her ex’s house, nervously hoping her transition would be accepted and they could get together again. Her magic suddenly ripped away from her soul, and— June took a deep breath to calm herself, like her therapist recommended. It helped about as well as the regeneration potion. “Can we at least take a break?” June asked after she got her fears wrangled back into the past where they belonged. “It’s not just my leg, you know…” Her stepfather grunted. “We’re almost there.” Her mother’s ears drooped slightly. “Night… You’d stop if I were expecting and needed a minute.” Night closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “If she were pregnant, yes. Absolutely. But she’s not. It’s just potion side effects. She can tough it out.” The regeneration potion hadn't been the only substandard one June had to settle for. She’d needed one final dose of her gender affirming potion for the changes to be permanent, and had been quite lucky to find one a Minotaur alchemist had donated. Her doctor assured her it was working to solidify her transformation just as good as an Equestrian one would have. Unfortunately, it had some rather unpleasant side effects. Joint swelling, morning sickness, random surges in appetites, and other similar effects associated with a spike in estrogen and progesterone. Tired, sore, starving, nauseous, and now experiencing a sudden spike in pain along with the general low key ache she’d had for the last week, June couldn’t help but snap at Night’s comment. June glared at the older stallion and bared her teeth. “I’ve been toughing it out for two days! I have the extra dose left. Want to try it? Let’s see how you like walking all day with joints that make me feel like a grandma, nausea, teats you can feel swelling up—” “Night,” her mother said, cutting her off. “It doesn’t matter. It’s a magical effect from a back alley potion. I know you have more heart than this!” Night took a deep breath and closed his eyes to hide his irritation… He took a deep breath, then looked over his shoulder without stopping. “We’re less than an actual minute from our new home!” He protested, holding up the small electronic map he’d been using to navigate for the group to see. “You can rest all you want once we’re there… Look, I know you’re in pain, June, but it’s not like you had to come!” June’s left eye twitched. “OH? Oh, I didn’t!?” she shouted back. “So my stepdad who was telling me for the last ten years that once I had my degree he’d get me a job, didn’t quit to run out into the middle of nowhere and be a prepper because the end of the world came and then got stopped?! I didn’t have a plan B, Night! You assured me I wouldn’t need one! Do you know how many people can make a living with a xenopology degree without networking?! NONE! NONE PEOPLE!” Night grunted and rolled his eyes at her outburst. Her words hit home, and he knew he’d screwed up her future a good deal with this move, but he still felt that it was for the best interest of everypony to go to ground in the immediate future. Even if he was starting to doubt the course he’d personally chosen. Even if he was beginning to believe he might have hurt his family more than helped them. With those doubts combing with his own exhaustion and irritation at being asked to stop just a few more steps before the end of the journey, Night couldn’t help but snap too. “No… I retired to go live in a secure bunker in a rural forest because we have had six end-of-the-world and or major disasters in just four motherbucking years! Six, count them, June. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Discord again, King Sombra, and now Tirek. And what has our oh-so-wise and powerful protector Princess Celestia done when these have happened?” Night spun around to wave his hoof at June. “She sent untrained kids barely younger than you to stop them,” Night then quickly pointed to Lime, scowling, “and that Applebloom one is only three years older than Lime! Not the army, not the police, not herself, not any of her knight orders. Kids!” “Our leaders are insane, and we’re living through the Princess-damned end times!” Night growled and spun back around to continue hiking up the game trail. “Only an idiot wouldn’t be going to live in a remote bunker. Frankly, you should be happy I’m able to provide our family this opportunity to find safety.” Lime sat down and crossed his forelegs over his barrel. “It’s not nice to be mean to your family!” June took a deep breath to calm herself again. It worked better for anger than fear. “I’m sorry for yelling, Lime.” She said, addressing her brother and her brother alone. The little colt nodded, seemingly content with the apology. Night bit his lip and let a breath out through his nose. “I’m… Sorry, too. I just… I don’t know how to handle… any of…” He turned back to June again and waved a hoof over her. “... you.” In Night’s head it was clear he meant June’s future. That’s what he’d been thinking about and what they’d just been arguing about. In June’s mind, he’d meant her identity. With her entire body aching as it settled into its new form, and being denied the opportunity to be her inner self around other ponies by this move, it was hard for her to think about much else. June’s eye twitched again. She grit her teeth as the anger came rushing back, but she kept her voice even. “It’s not complicated. I’m a mare. I like other mares. That’s it,” she said for the umpteenth time. Night sat down and rubbed his temples in frustration and exhaustion. Confused as to why June had brought that up from the depths of nowhere, and too tired to not reply via autopilot he frowned and replied, “It's more complicated than that. You’re not going all the way through with it. That adds nuance to—” “No,” June said, cutting Night off before he could point out the greater difficulty in finding a spouse given the vastly narrowed options due to June’s choice and other ponies personal preferences. Yet another layer of difficulty for her future, which again, he felt was his fault. Naturally June’s train of thought continued down its current path. She glared at Night and with a clenched jaw said. “It really isn’t. I’m just a top. Lots of mares like me exist, and so do stallions with the inverse condition. Mare isn’t a sex; it’s a gender. Which is a mental thing, not a physical thing, and this is super not a conversation we should be having in front of a foal!” June finished her rant by waving a hoof frantically at her brother, who just looked at his father with a perplexed expression. “She’s… Always been a girl, though?” Lime said, frowning. June stooped down and shook her head. “Hey, come on. I know you’re old enough to remember when I started changing five years ago.” “Only outside.” Lime protested, ears flicking back in annoyance at being misunderstood. June felt her heart melt. “Aww, thanks!” She turned to Night and gestured to Lime again. “See? He gets it.” “He’s twelve,” Night said with a grunt. “He doesn’t get the complexities added by you not changing all the way. It’s different!” June grit her teeth, her wings spreading in the typical fashion of a pegasus, ready to either knock someone’s teeth out or speed away into the wild blue. Before she knew which of those two things she would choose, her mother turned around and stepped between them. “Night! June! Knock it off!” She snapped, having figured out they were talking past each other, but herself being too exhausted to realize she should have pointed that out. “Everyone’s had a bad month. A lot of things have changed, and we’ve been hiking through the woods for days. We’re all tired and angry,” she said, shaking with either fear or anger. “But I swear, if I hear you two arguing about stupid things any more today, I will slap you both into next week!” June narrowed her eyes, then huffed. “Fine… Not like we’ll ever agree my existence is valid anyways.” Night grunted, nodding. Obviously they were going to keep disagreeing on her life choices. That was just how having an adult child was. “We can agree on that,” Night said, accordingly. “NIGHT!” June’s mother snapped. Night winced, realizing what he’d said and what he’d meant couldn’t have been more misaligned. “That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. That came out completely wrong.” June shot her stepfather a look more hurt than hateful and wheeled around to stumble into the brush. “Buck this! I’m going to get firewood.” June silently walked into the brush, leaving her family behind as quickly as her aching joints let her. It wasn’t easy going. Night had chosen to build his bunker at the base of the Unicorn Range in a part of the forest the locals called the Deep Woods. Nopony ever came back this way. It wasn’t cursed like the Everfree, at least, not that anypony had mentioned. It was simply remote. So much so that the woods were practically primeval in nature. The towering trees held aloft the trunks of their fallen brothers. The underbrush was thick enough to warrant a machete with its jungle-tier ferns alone. There were also fallen logs fully consumed by moss and fungi laying between the randomly distributed trees like hurdles on the worst cross-country race track. June pushed through the underbrush, ignoring the many thorns and burrs which bit into her skin until she couldn’t hear her parents calling anymore. The pain was worth it. Almost. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Physical pain was one thing, but June had never done well with emotional wounds. Ugh… Why didn’t I just fly off? She chided herself as she swept a particularly dense bush out of her face with one leg. No… If I’d done that my leg would probably break again when I landed on it. Stupid dad. I could have been employed and in Neighpone by now. They didn’t lose their magic. I’d be fine. But no! Prepper shit. Like that would have helped against an actual bucking demon who can hoover up magic at a continental range! The brush bent aside, revealing a large clearing in the woods containing a lake and a field of wildflowers. The rolling field of pink, purple, yellow, and blue brought a tiny smile to her face, but only for a moment. June trotted into the clearing and took a moment to just take everything in. The calm air. The lack of noise. The sunlight shimmering on the lake. The smell of countless plants. The random, almost electronic cry June knew came from a fox but had no idea what the noise was called. At least there’s a good place to get away, June thought to herself. How do I get out of this? Once I can fly again I could just go back to Manehatten. Find some minimum wage job and hope I can get a few roommates… I don’t think I qualify for any government assistance packages. Unless there’s one for “Got bucked over by parents changing the deal just as they would have had to hold up their end of it”. June walked over to the lake, wondering how long it would take to swim across it. It was absolutely a lake, not a pond. Huge, the size of her whole college campus. Probably. Hard to tell from the ground. She looked down to see her reflection in the water. A pale pink mare with bright green eyes and a silky dusk-blue mane looked back at her. She was taller than most mares, but that was a good thing. June smiled again. It was nice to see the right reflection. She’d avoided mirrors most of her life thanks to her square jaw, blunt muzzle, and barrel-shaped figure. At least that’s fixed now. I don’t need to tell anypony, “It’s ma’am, actually.” anymore. I sound right, I look right, and when I go somewhere to cry, instead of people calling me a wimp or giving me dirty looks, they ask— June yelped as a wet mossy stone slipped out from under her hoof, causing her to plunge forwards into the lake. She flailed, trying to stop her fall, inadvertently moving her broken leg under her and rolling over it. A distressing crack shot through June’s body. She shrieked, inhaled a concerning amount of water, and blacked out from the pain.