//------------------------------// // Last of the Brave (Reworked) // Story: Athanasia // by Joel //------------------------------// "I think it means we gather the pack?" Everfree stated out loud, looking at her family beside her. "What, like, us five, Celestia and Discord?" Adrian asked, counting on his fingers as he made note of everyone, "that seems easy enough." "...yeah," The woman thought for a moment, before deciding to try something. She tapped at the bottom of the screen, and Luna's eyes widened as the alphabet was brought up, all out of order, and her mother tapped on them at a ludicrous speed. She typed out loud, "Who are the lords of the jungle?" Hitting send, she waited with bated breath. Maisie raised an eyebrow, "What is that supposed to mean?" Her sister gave her a look, shaking her head as a small smile slipped onto her lips. "The Law of the Jungle, it's from the Jungle Book, y'know, that old cartoon I would watch? Originally it was from a book from the 1800s, but I remember it most from the movie." Everfree explained, her eyes glossing over as she thought about an early Saturday morning, her siblings asleep as she threw a movie on. "I'm sorry, you're almost two thousand years old, and you remember quotes from a movie?" Maisie asked, looking sceptical, "What else do you remember?" "Well, I remember quite a bit from before my arrival, though, not much that didn't have to do with our family. I know I had friends, but their names are lost to me. I actually... don't remember my birthday." Everfree explained, her voice growing sheepish as she finished. "October 30th," Adrian said, causing his siblings to stare at him, "You sent Mum the text on October 30th, about your eighteenth birthday." "And your friends, you had a few but the ones that came to our house most often were Alex, Jenny, and Dee," Maisie nodded, thinking about the trio that would come over when Winry was stressed out or forgot to care for herself. "Ock Tober?" Luna asked, "I have not heard of this." "I'm not surprised, Princess, one of the first hurdles we had to get over was figuring out how months work here. You guys don't use whatever we did," Maisie replied, looking towards her sister to explain what she didn't know. "Yes, we used the Gregorian calendar, twelve months in a year, all roughly around thirty days each. It's not too different to what is used here in Equus, October would be... the tenth moon cycle of the year." Everfree nodded her head as she spoke, recalling some of her old history lessons. The phone buzzed in her hands, cutting off any further questions. The tiger, the panther, and the bear. Everfree smirked, quickly tapping out a reply. Are we the lords of the jungle? Her smirk faltered as she read the response that came through immediately. That is yet to be seen. "Alright, you're gonna need to explain a bit more here, Winnie," Adrian asked, scratching his beard, causing a couple of hairs to fall onto the bed below - much to his oldest sister's displeasure. "So, in the story, there's this kid, right? Raised by wolves, and they have this law - the Law of the Jungle, which goes over their rules, like drinking, bathing, hunting, etcetera. You following?" Adrian slowly nodded, being just about able to absorb the information. "And in the story, there are three others, the panther, who kind of adopts the human, or is like some sort of protector, the bear, who shows the kid how to enjoy life, and then the tiger, who is basically the villain, I think?" "So one of us is evil?" Maisie asked from the side, playing with her hair. Everfree didn't respond, just scowling as she thought about her words. "I... don't know. I'd have to watch the movie again to remember why he was bad." Everfree said, chewing on the inside of her cheeks, not seeing the three others light up at her words. "Do you have it on your phone?!" Maisie asked, letting her excitement seep into her words. Her older sibling turned to her with a smirk and faltered when she saw the two other sets of eyes sparkling at her. Everfree let out a small chuckle, before closing her texts to find her catalogue of downloaded movies. Her fingers smoothly scrolled through, before stopping on what she was looking for. "Yep, I don't know how well it's aged but I've got it. Luna, how much time until you have to leave?" "We have night-court scheduled shortly after sunset, but... It is rare for any of our ponies to come," Everfree nodded at her words, knowing that the pony would be upset about not being able to stay. "Well, if you think it wouldn't cause any issues down the line, we should send word to your sister. Have an impromptu movie night. Adri, what about you, have anything that needs doing?" "I can take a couple of days off, I doubt the butcher will miss me that much," Adrian replied. He didn't have a job, but he would help out his local griffin settlement, to either make himself some bits on the side or to raise his social standing. He half expected the pony by his side to recoil at his words, but realised that just because she was a herbivore, it didn't mean she scorned any carnivores - and she must've spotted the canines in the humans' mouths at some point. "I'll just make up for it whenever we're done doing whatever it is we're doing." "Alright then," Everfree stood up, placing her hands on her hips as she turned to look at the trio, "Luna, send a scroll to your sister and invite her over. I have some friends in town that may be interested, and I may as well pick up Discord too, try to kill off a few tasks that need doing," She thought for a moment, "Let's say we start when the sunsets?" Everyone nodded. "That town, it close?" Adrian asked. "Mhm, not too far, in that direction," She pointed to the east absent-mindedly, not thinking about his question. "I'm going to go over there now, see if my friends are around." "I'll come with," her brother replied, "Gotta have snacks for a movie, right?" Everfree looked at him with a blank expression which turned to unease. "I-uhh," she managed out, "I've never been to town like this before," gesturing to her human body, "The ponies can be a little... hard on strangers." Adrian frowned at her words. Luna thought it best to interject. "They can be troublesome, but I feel your fears are misplaced, mother. They've grown more accepting, you may have to put up with some stares and whispers but they will warm up to you, I am sure of it." Everfree looked to the treeline with a scowl. She let out a sigh, running a hand through her hair as she began to scratch the back of her head. "Well... ugh," she grunted, "I've been putting it off for a couple hundred years, let's get it over with." Everfree and Adrian had set off into the forest, leaving Luna and Maisie alone. The Princess had written a scroll to her sister, and the reply was immediate, causing the two to laugh at her obvious excitement. Once the sun had been set, Celestia would arrive in Ponyville, speak to her student about various matters, and head to the forest. "So, Princess, how well do you know Winry?" Maisie bit her tongue as soon as she asked, realising how stupid the question was, considering this pony had known her sister for longer than she ever did. "I consider her my own Mother, it is safe to presume I know her quite well. Though, a lot has come to light these last few days." Luna replied, smirking at the human's expression. "How so?" Luna put a hoof to her chin, "Well, she never spoke about you or Adrian before, nor did she mention her own parent's death. My mother, she died during my birth, and my father died of natural causes. I am starting to imagine the reason she warmed up to me and my sister so, is due to our likeness to yourself." Maisie had a sad frown on her face and thought for a moment. "She... Winnie had a lot on her plate, even back on Earth, she would always put others before herself, never let anyone in. I think she didn't want you girls to worry," Maisie explained, rubbing a cheek with her fingers. "I'm sorry about your parents. Mine were... I knew them better than Adri, but even then, it's difficult to remember them sometimes. Winnie was hit a lot harder by their loss. It was a car accident, they were driving home from a date, and the other car lost control on the wet roads." Luna didn't know what a 'car' was and thought that right now wasn't a good moment to ask. Deciding to not probe further, she wrapped a wing around the woman sitting beside her, as they shared a comfortable silence in their solemn moment. A few minutes later, Maisie smiled at the pony and ruffled her mane. "Thanks, Princess, for being there for her. She always needed something to focus on and never learnt how to relax for more than a few hours," Luna responded with a tender expression of warmth, and the woman beside her began to look into the forest. "Remember that stuff we pulled out of her when she was sick?" The Princess nodded, "This forest... it all feels the same, like, every tree, every leaf, every blade of grass, it's filled with the stuff." "This forest has been cursed for over a millennia, are you saying that Mother has been absorbing it?" Maisie shrugged, walking closer to a tree which was particularly full of the chaotic energy. She ran a hand over the bark and winced as it felt like something had bitten her. "Ow! You little sh-" She sucked on a finger, giving the tree the stink-eye. "Whatever this stuff is, it's not nice. It's been contained, and it's... angry about it, it wants to be free." She thought for a moment, "I think it's been seeping into Winnie, looking for a chance to get out." "That is troubling. Can you feel it's source?" Luna asked, her horn igniting as she began to scan the tree. "Sort of, it feels like it's growing stronger in that direction," she pointed to the north, "But, it's underground. Like a seed, or a tree's roots. It's strong though, we ought to wait until Winnie comes back before we do anything." The Princess frowned, always being one to want to take action immediately, but saw sense in her Aunt's words. "Maybe this wolf pack the device speaks of, we need it to fight the source?" Maisie turned to look at her, nodding. "Your guess is as good as mine, speaking of, where is the phone?" She looked around, lifting a pillow on the makeshift bed. "I believe Mother took it with her, why do you ask?" Maisie groaned, sitting herself next to the Princess, and crossed her arms. "I wanted to listen to some music." Everfree was petrified, shaking like a leaf as she stood at the treeline of her forest. Her brother side-eyed her as he stood beside her. "It's just a town, Winnie, you can do this," Adrian stated, putting a hand on his much taller sister's shoulder. He could feel her vibrating under his touch. "I... I haven't introduced myself to ponies like this before," she stuttered out, her pupils the size of pinpricks as she looked towards the multicoloured houses ahead of her. "Then just follow my lead, I can't be any scarier than introducing myself to a bunch of meat-eating bird lions." The man joked as he began to walk forward, and sensing his sister not budging, he stopped, turned back, and reached his hand out. Everfree stared at it for a moment, clamping her eyes shut as she swallowed a mouthful of air, and took it. They slowly descended the hill, and Adrian could hear the woman's panicked breaths. Her grip on his hand tightened to the point of it hurting. Trudging through the pain, the two had officially entered the town and were met with a multitude of wide-eyed stares and whispers. "Iwanttogohome,Iwanttogohome,Iwantto-" Everfree whispered through gritted teeth, her eyes still shut as she was being led along. "C'mon girl, you'll be fine, I promise." A familiar voice told her, his large hands holding onto hers. Everfree cracked open an eyelid and saw she was being ushered by her father to a very vibrant building, which had a smiley face, and a rainbow atop its entrance. "D-Daddy?" She asked, realising she was no taller than his knee. He turned to look at her, his blonde hair was pushed back, curling in an odd combination of sophisticated and wild. His beard was lacking and was instead just a long thick moustache, with stubble growing along his cheeks. "Yes, honey?" he asked, getting down on one knee in front of the preschool as he laid a hand on his daughter's hair. "W-why do I have to go? Can't I stay with you and mummy?" Winry asked, her voice verging on whining. Her father cooed at her face, pinching one of her cheeks. "I'm sorry hun, but me and mummy have to work, and we can't keep you indoors all day alone, these nice people will take care of you, I promise." "B-but-" Her father shushed her with a finger on her lips, "No buts, missy. I know it sounds scary, but what do we Everfrees do when we're scared?" "W-We do it anyway..." the toddler replied, tears streaming down her face as her father nodded and wrapped her in his arms. Isiah kissed his daughter on the forehead and continued walking to the entrance, a bell ringing as the door opened. Winry was shaking, wanting to beg her father to take her home or to take her with him to work, anything but be left alone with these scary strangers. Isiah turned to talk to his daughter again, but she couldn't hear any of the words leaving his mouth. The world became one single droning noise, which gradually grew louder and louder, causing the toddler to cup her hands on her ears as she began to wail. Her eyes jammed shut as she tried to make it stop, her head spinning as she lost herself to the barrage on her eardrums. Wanting to cry out for her daddy, she reached out for him, and when finding no one, she forced an eye open. Staring back at her was a masked figure, coated in black goo, which dripped onto the floor of the now-empty nursery building. Their limbs had no clear distinction on where they ended, just becoming a wriggling, bubbling mass on the floor, like a tar pit. It leaned forward, its white spiralling eyes boring into the child. Its head tilted and it pushed a goopy finger against her own, which soon consumed the girl's vision, and began to drown her. Derpy was walking home with Ditzy, having picked up some fruit from some of the stalls in Ponyville. Her daughter happily bounced along as the mare smiled at her. It was almost time for dinner, and the pegasus had decided she was craving some pasta - something quick, and afterwards, the two would try experimenting with muffins and the various fruits they had collected. Ditzy, as excitable as ever, was ecstatic. Today had been great, the unicorn foals had been given a magic lesson after school, and she was finally able to levitate a feather! Thinking of all the plushies she could now make fly, she didn't see her mother stop dead in her tracks. Down the road from the two of them, were two bipedal creatures. One was shaking the other, yelling something in a panicked shout at the ponies around him, who all weren't moving, instead adopting to stare at the scene in front of them. The other biped was clutching their head, their long black hair violently whipping around in some invisible gust of wind, and was screaming like a banshee. Derpy was galloping towards them before she knew what she was doing, and Ditzy was along for the ride, the back of her neck being gripped by her mother's teeth. Yelping at the sudden shock, the small unicorn soon saw what the commotion was as she was being rapidly brought closer. "Everfree!" Ditzy screamed out, struggling free from her mother, and galloping alongside her. Derpy said nothing, her eyes squinting as she forced her legs to arrive at their destination as quickly as possible - she would have used her wings, but she never was a great flyer. "Winnie, snap out of it! C'mon girl. Please! Can one of you please get a doctor?!" Adrian begged a nearby group of ponies, who all decided to take a step back in fear of the yelling creature in front of them. Screaming in frustration, he turned back to his wailing sister. A grey pegasus and a small unicorn soon appeared by his side, both with eyes full of worry as they began calling out to his sister. "Everfree! What happened?! "Miss Everfree!" Derpy turned to the man, reeling back at the look of desperation on his face, but steeling herself. "What happened?" "I-she-" Adrian tried saying, suddenly losing his voice. He gave himself a punch to the chest, and his eyes hardened, "We were walking into town, and she stopped moving, I tried to knock her out of it, but she went cold as ice and then just started screaming!" "Princess Twilight's castle. Pick her up, and I'll show you where to go," Derpy stated, her voice more commanding than Dinky had ever heard it. The bearded man nodded, apologising under his breath as he put one hand under Everfree's knees, and another over her arms, and hefted her to his shoulders, her yelling mouth now directly next to his ear. He winced, but gave the pony a pained nod, signalling her to move. The four of them burst through the main entrance, two galloping, one sprinting, and another screaming bloody murder. Dinky and Derpy both yelled out. "Twilight!" She appeared in a flash, her confused expression quickly becoming one of worry as she both saw and heard what was happening. "What's happening?!" "She froze up and started screaming, we don't know!" Derpy yelled over the fanatic cries above her. "Upstairs, my bedroom, quick!" They all ran to the room, and Adrian placed his sister on the bedsheets, suddenly aware of a black goop leaking from her ears. "What the hell is this?!" he barked, causing the filly in the room to flatten her ears, suddenly scared of the man in front of her. "I-I don't know!" Twilight panicked, her pupils shrinking as she witnessed some of the goo seep from the screaming woman's nostrils and bubble at the edge of her mouth. "P-Princess Celestia, she's meant to come here soon, I'll send a letter to her now!" Adrian didn't look away from his sister, instead yelling to his side, "Do it!" He began to wipe away the thick substance, and looked into her mouth, making sure she wasn't currently drowning in whatever this stuff was. Derpy hugged her daughter tight, who dug her muzzle deep into her mother's chest, trying to block out the audio and visuals of the event occurring in front of her. Twilight reappeared just as quickly as she had left, saying that a letter had been sent. She grimaced at the scene and closed her eyes to focus. Her horn lit up, and soon Everfree had stopped screaming and was silently spasming in a deep sleep. Adrian turned to look at her with fury, his teeth gritting, venom dripping from his tongue. "What did you do?" "It was a sleep spell! I promise!" Twilight backed away from the man in front of her, fear washing over all her features. Adrian huffed, sounding like a pained gurgle as he heard her words, but looking into her frightful eyes, and the whimpering cries of the foal nearby, the strength was sapped from his body, and he fell to his knees. "I... I can't lose her again." He whispered, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed over his sister's convulsing body. There was a crash from downstairs, followed by the sound of two and a half sets of hooves galloping. "Mother!" cried two voices. "WINRY!" cried another. Both Princesses slammed the bedroom door open, followed by a blonde woman who looked like a ferocious animal, her teeth bared as she panted. As soon as she saw the figure lying on the bed, she immediately ran to her side, rolling her sleeves up as her hands danced in the air above the body. She found what she was looking for, and her face strained as she began pulling, hard. "Adrian, what happened?" Celestia asked, her face the textbook definition of worry. "Winry and I were walkin' into town, and she just stopped, went cold and then started screaming! W-we brought her here and she," he pointed to Twilight, "put her to sleep," He looked down at his hands, which were covered in a thin black mucus. "she's leaking this stuff... I don't know what's happening, Princess!" He cried out, slamming his coated fists into the mattress. "Ugh- Jesus!" Maisie yelled, losing her grip and staggering backwards, falling to the floor with a crash. "Luna, get your ass here now and help me!" she roared, a fire blazing inside of her. Twilight opened her mouth but was quickly shut down by the glare she received from the furious woman. Instead, she looked to the two other ponies in the room, the pegasus and her daughter, and ushered them out, leaving the Everfrees alone. "What is the problem, Aunt?" Luna yelled, rushing to Maisie's side, and quickly firing up her horn. "It's that stuff from last night, and from the forest, it's back, and it doesn't- Ugh!" She gave a strong heave again, with no result, "-want to let go!" Sweat trickled down her brow, combining with the tears lining her cheeks. The dark Alicorn began pouring forth energy into the unconscious woman's chest, scanning for the invading force, and her eyes widened as she began to see that it was not localised to just one area, no, it was in her entire body. Looking at the pained expression on her mother's face, she began to bark out orders. "Sister, summon Discord, we need his expertise in this matter. Adrian, soak some towels in hot water, and place them over Mother's forehead and joints, where she is sweating the most. Maisie, focus on pulling smaller threads instead of the entire canvas, and do it from her heart." Celestia didn't need to be told twice and teleported to the draconequus' place of residence, the man scrambling out, yelling out for Twilight to aid him, and Maisie pinched her fingers together, delicately trying to pluck the air above the right side of her sister's chest. She turned her head to the side, looking into Luna's determined eyes. "And you? Helping me with this again?" She shook her head, "Nay, she is sleeping, and I believe I will be able to see into her dreams. Allow me to find the answers we seek." The human beside her let out a solitary laugh, as she used one of her hands to wipe away the various liquid on her face. "Whatever you say, Princess," her expression turned sour for a moment, and she nodded her head to Everfree's body, "Bring my sister back." Winry was sitting on a porch, drinking some iced tea. Music was blasting from a speaker beside her, though she couldn't quite grasp what the words were. Playing in the garden in front of her were two children, her siblings, playing with some Lego bricks and figurines. "Still at it, are they? What's the story now?" her mother asked, carrying a jug of the same beverage she was drinking, ice clinking against the glass. "Adri's kingdom has tamed dinosaurs and wants to try and assault Mai's castle. She's currently building some defences to block them all out." Winry laughed, sticking her glass out, silently asking for a refill. Sarah giggled, fulfilling the request, and sat herself down on a wooden chair beside her daughter. "I don't know where they get the stories from." "Probably from Dad's movies. I don't even want to know how much of Jurassic Park these guys have been forced to watch." Winry ran a hand through her hair, thinking about the various times her younger siblings would cower in fear at a T-rex or Velociprator on the screen, or make audible cooing noises at a sick Triceratops. "Well, uh... Life finds a way to make people watch the best movie ever made," Isiah called out from the kitchen behind the door behind the two, causing Sarah and Winry to groan out loud, which was riposted by a hard chuckle. Adrian was playing with a dinosaur toy which was almost the size of his entire body, making it bite down on various tiny Lego people, much to Maisie's cries of protest. Winry raised an eyebrow, looking towards her mother, "When did we get that?" "What do you mean, honey?" she replied, sipping from her own glass of iced tea, a lone mint leaf floating atop its surface. "That toy, you... I never was able to afford it," the daughter managed out, her head suddenly feeling like it was locked in a vice. "Yes, but wouldn't it have been nice if you were?" Sarah's eyes turned black, and liquid began seeping from her tear ducts, as dark as the night sky. Winry dropped her glass and cried out, but she heard no smash or splash. Suddenly, she was holding a shopping trolley, all filled with the cheapest brands of food she could find, most being instant meals, mixed with some large uncut loaves of bread. Winry shook her head, trying to make sense of what was happening. In front of her, her five-year-old brother was pointing up at a large dinosaur toy, some new model which was priced exceptionally high. He stomped a foot, crossing his arms as he looked at his older sister. She shook her head, frustrated. "No, Adri, I've told you before, we don't have the money for that right now, we're just here for food." He began to cry, further causing her headache to worsen. She tried to bargain, "Look, it's your birthday soon, maybe you'll get it then?" Unhappy with the deal, her brother continued to scream, but Winry began pushing the cart forward, towards her younger sister inspecting a toy of a multicoloured horse. The teenager felt a strong familiarity with the object, but couldn't place it. When Maisie saw her sister approaching, she put the object back and began dragging her brother along. "You weren't here for his birthday, Winnie," the young girl said, looking up at her frustrated older sister. "W-what?" Winry asked, her breathing beginning to spiral out of control. "You left us." "N-no I didn't" She stated, "I was looking for you, I promise." "Liar!" both siblings yelled out, and the world changed yet again. Shorter now, Winry excitedly danced on the clean tiles of the hospital ward. Maisie, a small toddler, was holding her hand, utterly confused at the entire fiasco. Isiah walked in, pushing his wife's wheelchair, who wore a tired smile on her face, looking down at a small baby she was cradling. "Mum!" Winry called out, quickly rushing over, tugging her sister along. "Hey honey, are you ok?" Sarah asked, looking up at her daughter's green eyes. Isiah leaned down to coo at the baby. "I'm ok Mum, the nurses and sister gave us some food from the kitchen, they're really nice," Winry said, thinking back to when a chubby woman wearing a dark blue dress had given the two children a pot of jelly and custard, and asked them about school. "I'm glad," Sarah said, yawning, "Do you want to meet your brother?" The young girl nodded, eyes sparkling as her mother leant down a bit, wincing in pain. "This is Adrian, I'm afraid you might've missed his birthday by a couple of days, but I think he's really happy to see his big sisters." The small dark-skinned baby in her arms gurgled and looked towards Winry, his brown eyes sparkling with innocence. Maisie made an excited noise, tugging at her older sister's trousers. The teenager picked up her sister, letting her get a look at her brother. "Awian?" the toddler asked out, still not quite grasping how to say her D's. "Adrian, honey," Sarah softly corrected, "He's named after the Adriatic Sea." "What about me?" Maisie asked. "Your's means pearl, honey," Isiah said, beginning to massage his wife's shoulders, which she happily leaned into. "I didn't get him a birthday present," Winry suddenly said, a sad frown falling onto her lips. "And you never did," Isiah said. "D-daddy?" the teenager asked, feeling her head begin to pound. She looked up and saw that all of her family had disappeared, leaving a vacant postnatal ward, and a hauntingly empty wheelchair. Hyperventilating, Winry called out, but instead of hearing her panicked screams, she only heard her eardrums thumping within her skull. Peeking out from behind a wall was a masked figure, covered in a dripping black liquid. It put a hand on the surface beside it and began leaning further out. Winry screamed at the thing and fell to her knees as she scrambled backwards. Sitting by a fire, the woman was hugging her knees as she cooked a rabbit. She was staring intently at a flower, which grew and twisted around in some invisible force. She sighed to herself, pulling her coat off, and tugging her hoodie over her head. Embracing the warmth from the flames, she crept a bit closer, feeling the heat on her skin and her t-shirt. She stuck an open palm out, letting the light dance across her hand as she felt a small sensation of burning. She mumbled to herself, reaching into a pocket in her jeans, and finding her phone within. She tapped its power button, and could only frown when it flashed an icon of a drained battery. Dead, of course. "Ugh, please..." Winry knew the thing had died, she had screamed earlier that day when its screen cut to black in her hands as she held it in the air to find a signal. She forcefully shoved it back into her trousers and began to tie her hair into a ponytail. Lifting her arms, she was able to catch a whiff of herself, causing her to gag. It had been two days since she had been dropped into the forest, and she had been constantly moving, running and screaming to try and find someone to aid her. No time to bathe. Earlier that day, she had discovered that the grass had responded to her, moving with the sway of her hands, growing when willed to do so, or dying when commanded. She was able to catch a rabbit, ensnared by a trap of long grass wrapping around its body, suffocating it. Winry had cried, of course. Weeping over a life taken, and her own stolen. But now she was cooking it, impaled by a stick over a crackling fire she had managed to make. Thankful for her departed Dad's lessons in camping, she knew how to ignite a bundle of sticks and cook fresh meat. She wasn't excited about the gutting or skinning and had almost thrown up when she had picked up a sharp rock, but it was a job that had to be done. 'Everfrees do it anyway...' Winry had thought to herself, swallowing the bile in her mouth. A branch cracked in the woods behind her, and she stood up, a mixture of excitement and fear at the noise. Another person saw the smoke from the fire, and was coming to save her! 'Or a wolf smelt the meat." a dark voice whispered in her head. Startled by the thought, Winry grabbed a stick off the ground, one which had been darkened by its usage as a fire poker. She yelled out, "Who are you?!" She heard no response. Instead, she saw it, the spiralling eyes of a masked figure, peering from behind a tree. It was huge, easily over six feet tall. The black ooze which covered it betrayed the creature, revealing itself to be a woman. It had dripped down its chest and revealed two mounds. The creature appeared to be a naked woman made of black slime, its face a smooth surface, decorated by two horns sprouting from the top, zigging and zagging at different angles. Winry felt her excitement die and was replaced fully by fear. "Who are you?" she parroted at the thing, stepping back as it had stepped forward. It didn't respond, and its gaze peered into the young woman's eyes. Its spiralling marks were hypnotizing, spinning in an infinite rotation. Winry was stunned and dared to not move as it encroached ever closer. It looked... melancholic. Its movement was slow, and the white glow of its 'eyes' dimmed. It had stopped a metre away from the girl, standing up straight. Winry was a tall girl, bullied about it in her youth. The word 'lanky' was thrown at her by a group of mean-spirited boys once in the playground. But even then, this thing loomed over her. Winry's head barely reached the creature's chin. They didn't speak, and the young woman began to feel that same pounding inside of her skull. Seeing her discomfort, the creature oozed closer, reaching a goopy hand out. Winry rejected it, instead dropping her stick, and clutching her ears. She screamed. And the thing in front of her did too, letting out a garbled, haunting noise, which sounded like something wailing underwater. The woman was whisked away yet again. Winry was stabbing herself with a sharp bone, one that was tipped by some crushed berries and flower petals to form a dye. Her left arm was raw and ached with a burning sensation, a result of the woman's tattooing. She had drawn an open clam, with a pearl sitting atop its tongue, and was currently working on a wave in front of a setting sun on her other arm. Taking a moment to breathe through gritted teeth, she moaned out in pain. Clamped in her mouth was a piece of tree bark, which had been deeply scarred by teeth marks. She bit into it again as she continued her poking. Hearing the noise, a bearded grey stallion pushed open a large wooden door and slipped his way inside the woman's chambers. "Everfree, are you simply a delusional fool, or is there a purpose to what you are doing?" he asked, removing his wizard's hat which jangled as he placed it atop a bedside table, its bells ringing out at the movement. The woman ignored him, finishing her work. Starswirl peered at her with a pained expression, watching sweat drip off the human's forehead, and see the lining of tears under her eyes. He sighed and sat himself down on the bed, planting himself next to her. Finishing her work, Winry pointed at a piece of fabric next to the stallion and opened and closed her hands repeatedly. Getting the message, Starswirl levitated it over to her grip and winced as the woman wiped away some blood on the forearm. She didn't smile as she looked at her handiwork, instead frowned and sighed. "Why do you hurt yourself so?" Starswirl asked, bringing forth a bottle of something stronger than the usual jug of ale the two would share. Winry pulled it from the magical aura which surrounded it, scanned its label, poured some into the rag, and wiped at her arms again. She made a strangled cry as it made contact. She spat the bark out of her mouth as she breathed in deep gulps of air. Catching her breath, she turned to her companion. "The girls are asleep?" The pony nodded, and he ran a hoof through his long mane. "Indeed, they are currently resting from their day. Why, oh gods, are you not?" "Because I needed to remember." She snapped back, suddenly taking a swig from the bottle in her hand. It warmed her throat as she swallowed, and she fought the urge to spit it out. She offered the stallion the bottle, which he carefully accepted. "Everfree, do you take delight in your confusing words or are you just thick-skulled, as always?" Starswirl asked, swallowing a mouthful of the liquid. The woman had called it 'Vodka', using some potatoes and yeast to ferment it into a substance which felt borderline poisonous to consume. "Just shut up, Swirl. Please." Sensing it was one of these nights, the stallion sighed, and leaned back, looking out a window at the night sky. There were moments were the bizarre human would be silent, downright scary to be around. Usually after dark, when the foals were not around. He had never been able to extract any information from her on why she acted so, so he adopted to simply accept to be in her presence, offering the opportunity for some company. Tonight, he would find out, was different. Her tongue loosened by the booze, a blush appeared on her scowling face as it began to infect her insides. "It's been three hundred years. I think," She had said, looking at the bottle as she swirled it around, taking note of the floating specs of crushed potato which had managed to seep through filtration. Starswirl looked at her with a raised eyebrow, urging her to continue. "Three hundred years since I arrived here. In this forest." "You're... Three hundred years of age?" Starswirl asked, bewilderment growing on his face. He didn't know how humans aged, but still, the woman in front of him looked young. Winry nodded, turning her reddened face towards the stallion, who was also beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol coursing through his veins. "Three hundred and eighteen, I think. I lost count years ago. But something about this night... It feels like the anniversary." The stallion had been with the woman for close to five years now, and she had never once let it slip on how ancient she was. His brain swam with questions, but only one was deemed important enough to ask. "How... How are you?" Winry let out a small breath she was holding in, not expecting that topic. "I'm... I'm bad, Swirl," she revealed, turning her body to face the pony, she crossed her legs on the top of her bed, her hands fiddling with the Vodka in her grip. She took another swig. "I am not surprised," Starswirl said, a sad smile on his face. Winry wasn't used to the expression on the stallion. "I... I forgot the names of my siblings. I remember only their meanings," she pushed her arms outwards, showing off her two new tattoos, both still glowing red from the pain. "The sea, and a pearl." Starswirl noticed how the woman's eyes were threatening to erupt with tears, and placed a hoof in one of the hands in front of him, and using his other to take the bottle and pour more of the burning liquid into his gullet. Winry smiled at the act and gripped the hoof with her fingers, her thumb absently stroking the fur. "I was never meant to last this long," she let out a rattled breath, "I forget things, important things. I don't remember how it felt to hug my parents or to hold my brother in my arms, and I don't remember the colour of my sister's eyes. My brain is failing, and I'm trapped, in this body, growing older and older, while my skin stays the same." Her grip on the hoof tightened, and she looked directly into the pony's eyes. Scanning the golden irises, taking in as much information as she could. "What will happen when I forget you?" Starswirl felt an emotion inside of his chest, one he never thought he would feel for the stubborn-headed creature sitting in front of him. He closed his eyes and focused on it, and when he opened them again, there was determination. "Everfree, I know not the horrors of eternal life, but the sisters, they are undoubtedly cursed with it also. As is the nature of an Alicorn. Consider this a small blessing, to stay by their sides, to guide them into their rule, when I am no longer able." Winry's eyes unleashed her tears, and she let out a quiet sob, which was silenced by a hoof on her cheek. "Allow me to continue. I am a master of all that is magic, allow me the time to create a spell which will protect the memories you hold dear, and the ones to come. Fear not the curse of a constant flow of new memories, I promise, with the nation of Equestria as my witness, that you will not succumb to the depths of this malediction." Starswirl stroked some of the woman's tears off her face and looked deeply into her glistening green eyes, which had lightened up as she followed along his words. She jumped onto him, hugging his neck as she cried into his chest. "Thank you, Starswirl..." When she pulled herself back, she saw his muzzle glowing red, and she felt the warmth in her own cheeks as they lit up the same. Fighting a battle inside of her mind, she decided that if she was going to make memories she would cherish, this wouldn't be a bad one. She slowly leaned down, trying to judge if the stallion felt the same way, and when she heard his breath hitch, she knew he did. She pursed her lips and made contact. What she did not expect to feel was a thick sludge that tasted like dirt. Reeling back, Winry saw she had just smooched a black horned mask, its spiralling eyes peering down at her. Gagging at the black slime in her mouth, she backpedalled, falling off the bed with a pained gasp. The taste wouldn't leave her tongue, it felt like it just grew and grew. All she could feel was the ooze seeping down her throat. Once she began to choke, the masked figure stood up and began to 'walk' over to her, its legs lifting but never leaving the puddles it was leaving in its wake. Once close to the woman who was desperately fighting for air, it leaned down, and pushed her head back with one of its fingers, Winry was standing in the castle's gardens, currently looking down at some blue and white flowers she had been caring for. She ran a hand through them, giggling as she felt the petal's feelings. Appreciation, dedication, and thirst. She picked up the bucket beside her, and carefully trinkled some water over the dirt, cooing at the flowers. She heard a noise behind her, hooves making contact with the stone path, and a ruffling of feathers. "Miss Everfree?" they called out, "I needeth to speaketh with thee," their voice was lined with desperation. "Oh, Luna, what a pleasant surprise, do you wish to walk the gardens with me?" Winry replied, finding it difficult to not laugh at the current speech pattern the pony had adopted. "Fie! Nay, mine own sister doest not seeth clearly. The ponies, they feareth my beautiful night, cower in fear at the shadows, and rejecteth mine own creation," the dark Alicorn cried out, her blue mane dishevelled as she began pacing. Winry raised an eyebrow, standing up straight to try and figure out what the pony was trying to say. "Take a breath, girl. What is wrong?" Winry asked, and Luna let out a strangled cry in frustration. "I has't just toldeth thee the problem! the ponies bray out during mine own sister's day but hideth during mine own night. Recoiling from the dark, not daring to behold up at the extravagant stars, decorated for them!" The pony began panting, stamping a hoof, cracking one of the stones beneath her. "Whatever I doth is simply not enow for those folk! Mine own blood, sweat and drops of sorrow and I am feared, scoffed at. Celestia doest not understand my quarrel and tells me to ignore their cullionly words." "Luna, please, you're not around the bureaucrats, you can drop the archaic speech," Winry said, turning back around to water another batch of flowers. Luna huffed and began to slouch as tears assaulted her eyes. She sniffed, causing the human to return her attention to the mare. "I am sorry, Miss Everfree, the stress of the day is bearing down on me." She sat on her haunches and wiped an eye with a foreleg. "Celestia's ponies all adore her, admiring her beauty, and dance in the wake of her sun, but those same ponies hide from my beautiful night, and all dread my presence. Whatever I do is simply not enough for them." Winry looked down at the Alicorn, and walked over to her, sitting at her side and leaning against her. Luna draped a wing around the human, bringing her closer. "I think your nights are beautiful, Lulu. I stare up at them when I'm alone, counting the stars, and finding all the constellations you make," Winry spoke softly, feeling like the ground would cave in at any moment. She must've made a wrong step, as Luna retracted her wing, and scowled. "You are not one of our ponies," Luna stated, her voice cold and sharp, "What you feel is not representative of those who I care for." Winry reeled back at the comment, feeling like her heart had just been stabbed. When she looked at the mare's face, it appeared to look darker, with teeth looking eerily like sharp canines, and her eyes slit like a cat. It was only for a moment though, and all the features returned to the mare's usual appearance, followed by a gasp as the pony cried into a hoof. "I-Mother, I'm so-" "I told you before, Luna," Winry cut her off, feeling herself grow frustrated and angry. Her voice was like ice as she stood up, crossing her arms. "I am not your mother, I am your teacher. Do not speak with me like that again." Luna looked into Winry's eyes, her own filled with deep sorrow, and before she could see the regret form in the human's face, she had already taken flight, rushing to her quarters in tears. Winry cried out, "Luna-, I-, Gods!" She kicked the ground beneath her, angry at herself for being riled up by a memory from lifetimes ago. A moment where her sister had called her brother a mama's boy when he had begun to clean his room at Winry's request. She tried to follow but found the ground beneath her devouring her. Her legs sank into a pit of tar, menacingly bubbling as it continued to absorb the woman. She cried out, but no words left her lips, and she was soon fully submerged. Winry sat atop a rock in her grove, unmoving. The light in her eyes was gone, and the vegetation around her was all wilted and dead. Dry spiky thorns crept up her sides, stabbing her all over. She took no notice, allowing the pain as she stared off into nothing. "Everfree! Miss Everfree are you here?" a voice called out from above. The woman did not move, instead choosing to clamp her eyes closed. A gasp from the skies, followed by something landing beside her. The thorns in her arms were blown away by a gust of magic, leaving the woman feeling oddly alone. "Miss Everfree, please, I need to speak with you." Celestia had cried, her voice betraying her usual royal nature. Winry craned her head slowly, and the pony saw the bloodshot eyes which had sank into the woman's face, big dark bags under the sockets. "Princess." Winry coldly stated, lifting herself from her boulder. She brushed her arm absently mindedly, wiping away some blood which had leaked out due to her various stabbings from the branches, and walked closer to the pony. Celestia recoiled at the tone, never having heard it before. In fact, she had never seen the human like this ever. She was always bubbly and jovial, but instead, in front of her was a different woman. Anger and sorrow seeped from her pores, infecting the grass and flowers around her. Her face like the very stone she sat upon. "Everfree, please..." the pony begged, "Luna... she became something, I did what I must." "What you must?" Winry parrotted, glaring daggers at the Alicorn. She had stopped her march a couple of metres from Celestia and crossed her arms. A face like thunder as she glared at her. "I-I had no choice, the Elements, they banished her, I did not ask for such a thing!" Celestia cried, taking a step towards the woman, and sobbed when she saw the woman take a step back. "Discord stands atop a throne of stone, for the rest of time, your sister, exiled to live a thousand years atop the moon's cold surface. Alone." Winry snapped, pointing a finger towards the mare, "You were taught redemption, not banishment." Feeling anger grow inside of her chest, Celestia snapped back, "Discord threatened to curse Equestria, remake it in his own accursed image! Luna threatened to kill me! Curse the world to an eternal night, not daring to think about the consequences. Crops would wilt, the land would grow cold, and countless ponies would die!" Winry growled, baring her teeth, grief clouding her vision. "Discord was like a son to me, and he's gone. Luna was a daughter, and now she's suffering, Alone!" Celestia pushed forward, feeling herself grow tired of the woman's hypocritical words. "You never accepted us as daughters! Rejected, time and time again, but now you wish to finally accept the mantle?!" The woman yelled out, "My words do not reflect what I feel!" she panted, "I have cared for you for five hundred years. Watched you grow, watched you mourn, watched you become the woman you are today. But I see I was blinded, you are no adult, you are a child, desperately trying to cling onto whatever control you have." In truth, Winry had never accepted the position of mother, until she had heard Luna's final words to her that night in the garden. It had struck her deeper than any blade would ever be able to do so, and to hear that after all this time, she still considered her as her own mother, had killed her. Her mind whipped around furiously, not thinking of the words she spoke. She only had one goal, which was to let Celestia feel a modicum of the pain that she did. Ignoring the pony's pained expression and sobs, the woman continued. "Starswirl and I, we taught you both the importance of a second chance, the idea of a better tomorrow, and yet the times you have been faced with an adversary, they are struck down, forced into a position where reconsideration isn't even an option to fathom!" "Then you are a child!" Celestia cried out, stamping a hoof. "Life is not all sunshine and rainbows as you and Starswirl taught us. Redemption is only viable for those who want it, and neither Discord nor my sister wanted it, they both wanted me and my ponies dead!" Winry felt something shatter inside of her, she knew she was acting stubborn, and was acting a fool, but this pain had felt so much better than the void that had been in her stomach, making her apathetic and cold. She turned to Celestia, staring into her magenta eyes, and decided to say her final words on the matter. "You are no daughter of mine. Just a disappointment." Before she could even see the look on the pony's face, Celestia was flying off, sobbing. Feeling no more satisfied than before, Winry found herself clambering back onto her boulder. The vines began creeping back up her body, and the woman allowed the thorns to dig deeper, appreciating that stabbing sensation all the more. Luna could not infiltrate her mother's dreams, it was as if hundreds all were happening at once, and whenever she tried entering one, she found herself being forced out. Crying out in frustration, she tried galloping towards one but stopped dead in her tracks as she saw a glimpse of it. It was her mother talking to her in the old castle's gardens. That evening when the world had lost meaning to the Princess. Their last fight... Gasping, Luna tried to avoid staring into it, but what she saw next only further added to the torment. A fight between her sister and Everfree, in the human's grove. She heard the two of them yell harsh words at each other, laced with venom. She clamped her eyes shut. 'Mother... She is tormenting herself,' Luna thought. Whipping her head around to view various 'windows' of the dreams, they all gave off the same sensation, loss, regret, and pain. Hearing her mother's voice yell behind a large wooden door which had manifested nearby, Luna began lighting up her horn, preparing to enter by force. She was stopped as she crumpled to the ground, in a puddle of black ooze. Looking up, Luna saw a shadow of her mother, as dark as the abyss, peering down at her. She wore that mask, the one she used to hide her face. "M-Mother?" the Alicorn asked, trying to stand up in the tarpit she was slowly being absorbed into. The figure shook its head slowly, and its spiralling white eyes looked sad. Confused by the ordeal, Luna tried to scan the thing in front of her, and her eyes widened and her breathing stopped as she recognised it. It felt like Nightmare Moon. No, not that this creature was Nightmare Moon, but that whatever it was, shared the same origins, through grief and heartbreak. Luna growled, firing a beam into the thing's chest. Nothing happened, and Luna cried as it reached out, and put a slimy hand atop her muzzle. Awaking with a deep gasp, Luna began coughing as she felt hands hit her back, trying to force up whatever was inside. The Alicorn's eyes were flowing with tears as she managed to control her breathing, looking up at the figure beside her with gratitude. Adrian's facial features were plastered with worry, and Luna saw that behind him, seven other figures were staring at her in the same way. Adrian, Maisie, Celestia, Discord, Twilight, Derpy and Ditzy were all in the room, all caught in the middle of various tasks. The woman was ragged, her arms still hovering over her sister, shaking as they continued to pull what seemed like an endless amount of black strings from her. Adrian, before he rushed to comfort Luna, had been warming the air over Everfree, trying to force her to sweat out the infection. Celestia and Twilight were channelling magic into the body on the bed, with Discord standing beside them, trying to decipher the origins of the curse. The Hooves' family were bringing in a plate of food and drinks for the room, sad expressions on each of their faces. "Luna, are you okay?!" Celestia strained, her sweat dripping off her muzzle. The dark Alicorn coughed a final time, and stood up, "Nay, Sister, it is troubling news." "Spit it out, Princess!" Maisie grunted. "Mother, she is being haunted by memories, all seemingly occurring at the same time. She cannot escape them," Luna ignored the look on Twilight's face, and continued, "Worst of all, the origins are similar to that of Nightmare Moon." Celestia closed her eyes as she began to scowl, and the others in the room looked at the dark Princess with a scared expression - even that of Discord, Maisie, and Adrian, all of whom had only heard tales of that event. Twilight broke the stunned silence. "The Elements of Harmony, we use them on Everfree!" Celestia frowned, remembering the last time her mother had been close to the things, and the argument that followed. With a mere moment of consideration, she bowed her head. "Yes, Twilight, gather the Elements and their users. Quickly." "Woah, Princess, I don't know much about those things, but didn't they turn this guy," Maisie looked towards Discord, "to stone, and banish Luna to the moon? We're just gonna fire them at my sister?" "Yes, but they also returned me to my form before the dreaded mare took me over, without banishment," Luna replied, "Unless your powers are capable of removing any trace of the magic in Mother, then the Elements are our only hope." Maisie growled in response, she had made no dent in the reservoir inside of her sister and threw her arms up in frustration. Adrian scowled beside her, but had nothing to say, instead choosing to hold the hand of his unconscious older sister. Everfree was looking at herself, which felt absurdly odd. Sitting atop a throne of stone, and surrounded by stabbing thorns, was her, a hundred years after she and Celestia had fought. She remembered the time when everything had felt hopeless and lost. Only moving to drink some water, or eat something, which only occurred when the hunger or thirst began to physically hurt. She had lost track of days, as they turned into weeks, and then months, and then years. All spent staring into nothing, feeling sorry for herself, her daughter who was atop the moon, and her son trapped in stone. She did not act on such worries, though. As stubborn-headed as always, instead of healing, Winry chose self-destruction, hoping to learn what it's like to have wounds again. And she would learn again, and again, and again. Everfree stared at Winry. Feeling like an out-of-body experience, she looked down at her arms, and saw them coated in a black sludge, dripping onto the ground below. Her entire body was coated in the stuff, and she couldn't tell where her skin ended and the ooze began. Her head pounded, that same ever-so-persistent migraine forcing itself into her skull like a battering ram. The older woman tried to moan but only heard a gargling noise escape her lips, muffled by the mask she wasn't aware she had even been wearing. Panic began to overtake her feeling of confusion, clawing at her face to remove the object, but finding it immovable. Winry, her younger counterpart, remained motionless. Her cold gaze bored into a nearby tree, not thinking about anything. Her mind was simply blank. Everfree tried to call out, tried to beg for herself to help her, but the younger woman either didn't notice or didn't care. It was torture. "You have been using this moment to torment yourself for centuries. This, and many others." A voice called out from beside the panicked woman. Snapping her head in the direction, Everfree saw a glowing spectral deer trot towards her. "W-who are you?" She asked, her voice still being muffled by the liquid seemingly filling her mouth and the mask which was glued to her face. "I am one, and I am all, I've been watching you for some time, Winry Winters Everfree," The deer didn't exactly speak, but it wasn't being transmitted into her head like other methods of telepathy. Their voice soothed the woman, and she felt her worries wash away. "I-Why- Who are you?" Everfree parrotted. The deer shook its head in amusement. "You use my form and my powers, and yet what I am evades you?" The spirit laughed, "So old, and still so much to learn." They trotted over to the woman and began nuzzling her arm, and the black ooze seeped away, revealing her light-brown skin underneath. "Are you... Mother Nature?" Everfree asked, looking down at her hand in amazement. The rest of the gunk covering her began to melt, bringing her out of her encased form. "In a way, I suppose. Nature, the Elements of Harmony, ponies, and all the races that you did not play a hand in making, I wouldn't say it would be outlandish to deem me their mother." Their tone was jovial as if said with a smile on their face. Everfree couldn't help but grin as well, looking back towards her younger self, so determined in her self-destruction. "Do you remember this moment?" The woman shook her head, scanning the scene in front of her for any clues. "For years, you punished yourself for the way you spoke to your daughters, thinking that you are hopeless, selfish, and cruel. You always viewed yourself as a blemish in an otherwise beautiful world. A tumour, threatening to spread." Everfree found herself crying at the deer's words. "These feelings, your own thoughts, acted upon the world around you - and without your intention, you did something to this forest. It had always been a place that flourished in a chaotic space, but you acted as a conduit, and you released your energy twofold." The deer moved over to a nearby tree, darkened and rotted, and sighed, "The forest became more corrupted than ever before, and even though you did not know of your role to play, you tried to fix it anyway." Everfree shook her head, not bothering to wipe the tears away. "No- I just sat here, wasting time, not bothering to do anything." The deer looked at the woman carefully, and its head moved from side to side. "No, my sweet girl, you do not remember." Calling out from within the forest, a filly cried out. Winry, who hadn't moved, suddenly emerged to life. Looking in the direction of the call, and taking flight - leaving the grove alone, except for the two spectators. "Don't you see? You lost your direction, but when you found even a semblance of it, you gripped it - with all the might you had." Everfree was sobbing now, crying into her hands. "A push, from a lost foal, and you were back to doing what you have been doing your entire life. Protecting those who cannot protect themselves." "She was a child, lost in the woods I had cursed! It's my fault she was in danger!" "You do not hear the words I speak. This forest has always had an affinity for the wicked, and while it played on the darkest parts of your mind, it is still just a forest. A peaceful forest is as threatening to a lost child as one that is knowingly cursed. Being lost within is all the same to the mind of a foal," The deer nuzzled her side, trying to bring her some comfort. "While what has been written cannot be unwritten, a new page can always be turned." "I-I don't understand." "Then allow me to show you." The two were in the Dragon Lands, standing on a hill overlooking a familiar clan. "This was ten years after the last scene, still having not forgiven yourself for conversations with the Princesses, you went on, to visit your creations. Amazing them with fantasies from your home, filling their heads with stories they would never have dreamed of," The deer said, nodding its head towards a roaring fire, surrounded by dragons, and a solitary woman, currently waving her arms around as she spoke, a large smile on her face. "You brought joy to others when you couldn't give it yourself." "Because I- I... I didn't want to feel alone anymore." Everfree whispered. "You lie to yourself. You did it because you enjoyed it. You rescued lost foals because you loved the way they reunited with their parents," the deer emphasized her words by giving the human light jabs with a ghostly hoof. "You never gave yourself a moment to yourself, even before your time on Equus. Playing cartoons in the mornings while your siblings slept, just in case they came to join you." "How do you know about that?" Everfree questioned, lightly rubbing where she had been poked. "I know lots about you. You dream of your past a lot," the deer replied, as it began to lie down on the rocky hill. The woman joined her, sitting cross-legged beside the spirit. "I still don't understand." "You're entire life, you've lived for someone else. Caring for your siblings while your parents worked, dropping everything when they had passed on, to fully take care of them. Creating new life when you had no one to dedicate your time towards, and adopting two small fillies and a grumpy stallion. You abandoned your own hopes and dreams and aimed to help fulfil theirs. You slipped up, as we all do, and you never let go of that fact." The deer replied, its voice sounding like it could cry - but the spectral face portrayed no emotion. "Such as when you willed your emotions into the forest, you had unfortunately done so again. You thought you deserved damnation, and you unconsciously made it so. A living nightmare, much like your daughter's, has corrupted you, it drains you of your connection to me." A pause, to let the fact sink in, "Due to your stubborn nature, it was never able to take control, but when your sister removed a part of it, it struck back, twice as hard as before, with years of self-loathing as its ammunition. A dark force controlling you, my dear, would be the end of the world." "Your daughters would lay down their hooves for you, show their necks at your will, your siblings would rather turn their backs on the world than turn against you, and your son would so easily fall back into old habits. It cannot come to pass, so I intervened." "You sent the messages?" Everfree asked, raising an eyebrow at the spirit. "I did. For years I have been trying to find ways to talk with you, to alleviate your pain, all blocked by that accursed Nightmare. Sensing your sorrow, I replicated an old mistake I had made, and pulled your siblings into this world, trying to reveal to you that you are more than what you see yourself as." The woman chewed on the deer's words, her eyes growing large as she connected the dots. "You brought me here?" She asked. "I did, I made a mistake like we all do, one I've been trying to correct for several millennia," the spirit said, sorrow seeping from their very fibre. "I had sensed a creature in deep anguish, one that was so strong it broke the borders between worlds, and in my goal to help, I had dragged her here. By the time I noticed where you had landed, it was already too late." "...But... my brother, and my sister, why bring them here too? They could've lived normal lives on Earth." Everfree found herself growing frustrated. "They were orphans, my sweet girl, the world was not kind to them, I saw that, so I picked them up from when you had disappeared, so that they would never face the world without you. They were safe, I aided them in their journeys. Planting food, and showing them safe spaces to settle. They never saw me, no, always chalking it up to good luck," Everfree grew calm as the spirit continued, "They grew up strong-willed, like their big sister, and used the powers I gifted them for good. Never once directing it in another creature's way with malicious intent." "You can't say the same about me," Everfree whispered, looking down at her hands. "But I can. Your first years on this planet were the hardest, and you had to kill to survive, hunting meat before you knew how to synthesise it. You did not kill out of fun, you killed out of necessity, and you cried over all of them, I believe a couple of the markings on your skin are to respect those that you had used to continue surviving." The deer comforted the crying woman, laying a foreleg onto her arm. "That is the law of the jungle, you hunt, you eat, and then you die, returning to the earth to grow as plants, to be feasted upon by the same creatures you had eaten." Everfree let out a dry laugh, "I think you're mixing up the movie's law with 'One is all, and All is one', and even then... I never returned to the ground." The deer shook its head, mirth in its tone as it replied, "A creative liberty, my sweet girl. And yes, you never were able to replenish the soil with your body's nutrients, you sowed life with your powers, bringing plants to places that they would have never grown into otherwise." The two shared a moment in silence, watching the nearby dragons cheer and roar at a story being told by the younger Winry, and the flames dance into the sky. The sun had set, turning dusk to night, which was painfully dull compared to its form from earlier centuries. The deer turned to look into Everfree's eyes, and with deep sorrow, it said, "Our time is coming to an end, Winry Everfree." "Why?" "The Elements of Harmony, they're going to be used to purge you of your curse, but it's so entwined with who you are, that the effects of it won't be as they hope." Everfree gave a sad smile, "Am I going to die?" The deer laughed, its eyes closing for a moment as its body shook. "No, my sweet girl, but you will be split into two. Who are you now, will become a spirit, trapped in the forest, and your other half, will be like you when you first arrived in Equus, young, and innocent. You will be lost, but surrounded by family. All is not lost, if they can find the root of the curse, they will be able to cure you, return you to who you are now, if you are willing." The deer replied, standing itself up. "So I need to trust my family to do the work for me?" Everfree stated, laughing as she stretched her body, feeling her back crack. "I'm afraid so, it may be difficult, bu-" the woman cut the deer off. "No, it will be the easiest thing I'll do." The two stared at each other and embraced, the deer was warm, oddly enough, betraying their ghostly appearance. They kept their embrace even as the world crumbled itself to pieces around them. The Elements of Harmony hit the unconscious woman, and as quickly as it had started, it had ended. Rushing over to the bed, Adrian and Maisie gasped as the woman had been turned back into her eighteen-year-old self, lacking the majority of her tattoos, and being noticeably shorter. The white streaks in her hair had been washed away too. This woman, their sister, looked so innocent. Snoring slightly as she hugged a pillow beside her. Luna and Celestia rushed over, they were both as shocked to see the state she was currently in. "What happened?" Adrian asked, "Why is she so young?" "I... don't know," the white Alicorn replied, looking over her mother. She tried scanning her body for any remnants of the dark energy and found none. "She's been cured, but it caused her to revert in age." "If this is like myself and Nightmare Moon, she has been reverted to before the beast had taken control. It appears she had it inside of her for far longer than any of else knew," Luna stated rubbing a hoof over the woman's face, causing her to try and swat the poking appendage. "Lemme sleep..." she groggily moaned out, her voice noticeably lacking a certain aged tone that Everfree used. "I agree with Everfree, allow her to sleep, we do not know the depths of this effect, and it may be wise to soothe her into it," Celestia said, gesturing towards the bedroom door. The Hooves family, and the Elements of Harmony all followed her direction, departing the cramped room. Discord stayed for a moment, hovering over the group with a complicated expression on his face. He soon departed with everyone else, leaving Maisie and Adrian alone with their sister. They squeezed one of her hands, and sat in a pair of chairs in the corner of the room, one at a desk, and the other just being there. They began drifting off to sleep before they had even realised how tired they were. Outside, in Twilight's castle foyer, once the Princesses had returned from their duty of raising and lowering their celestial bodies, there were questions. "You called Everfree 'Mother'?" Twilight asked, peering at the two, who rubbed their faces sheepishly. "Ah, yes, well..." Luna said, her sentences dying as they began. "We have not been completely truthful with you, my little pony. Everfree helped raise us as foals, you see, with the help of Starswir-" "Starswirl the Bearded?!" Twilight exclaimed, ignoring the facehoof Luna committed as she silently groaned. "Everfree knew Starswirl?" "She did more than know of him..." Luna whispered into her hoof, causing Celestia to slowly crane her neck to look back at her sister, a look of horror on her face. The white Alicorn collected herself, coughing slightly to try and forget what had just been implied, "Yes, she raised us, taught us a grand multitude of things, she is very much like a mother to us." Twilight had more questions, but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash. "Who are the other two guys? They were acting real weird." "Those are Adrian and Maisie, Everfree's siblings," Luna replied from her sister's side. "So, what, this a family reunion or something?" Rainbow said, receiving a hard nudge to her side by Applejack, "Hey!" "Allow me to fill you in." Luna continued, sitting everyone down as she began to tell the tale of the last few days, missing out on any information she deemed too embarrassing to utter (particularly about her mother's relationship history). "So, you're telling me, them three all got magical powers, and have been thinking the other's been dead?" Applejack asked, rubbing her head with a hoof. "Yes," Celestia answered, "it was as confusing to us as it is confusing to you all." "And why is Discord here?" Rarity asked. "Because my expertise was needed, and I am good friends with Lady Everfree," he replied from above, peering down at the collection of ponies. "Lady Everfree?" Rainbow asked out loud, guffawing at the title. "Y-yeah, why did you call her Lady, Discord? I-if you don't mind me asking..." Fluttershy tapered off. Bringing forth a whiteboard and an excruciatingly annoying squeaky pen, Discord began to draw on its surface, drawing himself, and a a human beside him, who was taller than the draconequus by a wide margin. "When I was young, Lady Everfree adopted me into the castle, much to the Princesses' eternal joy," they both groaned, "taught me how to use specific magic, and accepted me when others did not." "So, she's the reason you know all your crazy tricks? Blame her for why you went all crazy and-" Discord cut Rainbow Dash off with a cold stare. "No. That was my fault, Lady Everfree played no part in that." He stated in a cold tone, and the ponies were taken aback by his serious manner. Not sensing the shift in tone, Dinky asked, "Is Miss Everfree going to be alright?" Looking down at the small unicorn, Celestia replied, "We believe so, my little pony, she has her siblings to look after her for the moment, and I assure you that nothing bad will happen." Winry awoke with a start, clutching the bedsheets with a desperate grip. They were smooth, like silk. This wasn't her bed. The room was dark, and she began to hyperventilate as she tried calling out, but the voice died in her throat, feeling worn and bruised as if she had been shouting non-stop. Startled by the noise, Adrian woke up and quickly rushed to his sister's side. "Hey, it's okay, I'm here." Deep in panic due to the stranger beside her, she found her voice. "Who are you?! Where am I?!" she yelled, tears beginning to appear in the corners of her eyes. Maisie soon appeared next to her brother, trying to reach out and grab her sister's hand. "Winnie, it's us, c'mon girl, snap out of it!" Winry cried out again, "ADRIAN! MAISIE! Where are you!?" "Winry, please, calm down, we're here, you're ok!" Adrian begged, and found a fist planted right in his face, the young woman scrambled out of the bed following decking the stranger beside her, and fell to the floor with an 'Oof!' Ignoring the pain, she continued to backpedal, and felt her back make contact with a wall. She began to weep uncontrollably. Maisie rushed over, finding a lantern to ignite, illuminating the dark room with its flickering flame. "Winnie, look, it's me, Maisie, see?" She tried to smile but resulted in making a grimacing face where she bore her teeth, but the effect had been the same nonetheless. Winry saw the signature gap tooth in the woman's mouth, the recognisable blonde braids, and those shining blue pearls for eyes. Slowing her breathing, she quietly called out, "M-Mai? What happened, why are you... old?" Ignoring the pang of anger that flashed through her head at the insult, the blonde woman tried to soothe her sister, "It's ok Winnie, I promise, just get back into the bed and we'll tell you everything." Deep in the Everfree Forest, a lone ghost haunted the trees, floating above the ground as she hummed a tune. She was dressed in a long dress, that, much like her body, was transparent. The only thing tangible on her, was half of a wooden mask, dangling at her hips. A singular spiralling white eye illuminated the land around her as it glowed. It stopped at the mouth of a deep ravine, and peered down into it, taking note of the strong energy emitting forth. She tried using her magic to repair the broken land but let out a frustrated sigh which echoed off the trees as she found that she was currently powerless. "They better hurry up." The ghost said to itself, beginning to venture back to a familiar grove.