Chapter Ten: Disappointment Carries All My Dreams
Once again, the ponies found themselves huddled together for warmth during the night. Bard and Ridgeline again shared a bed, though Bard had managed to spell himself asleep before the massive stallion began snoring. Constance and Heart Chase shared the next room over in a pile of downy blankets, though Constance was inexplicably nervous about something. Rather than her normal routine of falling asleep immediately, she kept getting up and walking around the tiny, windowless room.
“What’s troublin’ yah?” ask Heart Chase. With a rather embarrassed look, Constance finally sat down next Heart Chase.
“Promise you won’t tell anyone?” asked Constance. She sounded meek and pitiable, rather than her normal sultry and confident. Heart Chase of course nodded. “I’m quite a bit claustrophobic,” she said. “Normally, there’s a window so I can at least see outside, but this just too close for me.” She started looking around in a panic. “I just feel like I need some room to breathe.” She got up again, and paced the room. She spread her wings and touched both walls with the tips. “It’s just too small. Too small in here.”
“Hey, settle down now,” said Heart Chase. “No need to get all concerned; ain’t nothin’ bad gonna happen to yah as long as I’m around. Yah think I’m gonna let my favorite blanket get all nervous and upset?” Constance composed herself again and sat back down next to Heart Chase.
“Yes, of course, you’re right,” said Constance. “Even when I’m in a room like this I’m usually working, so there’s that to distract me.” She chuckled nervously. “Funny thing that. I try not to talk about my work, and here I am gabbing to you about my job like you’re the sister I never had.”
Heart Chase winced at the word sister. Here she thought she’d found another mare with similar tastes, but apparently that ship had sailed. Still, there was always a chance and if nothing else, she could always just enjoy Constance’s company as a feathery blanket.
“So, uh, how’d yah even get into that sort of thing?” asked Heart Chase.
“Oh, the same way any gal does, I suppose,” said Constance with a flip of her auburn mane. “Somepony offered me some money for my time, and I found it to be exhilarating, really. I get to choose my clients and I’ve obviously got the body to be picky.” She stood up and struck a pose for Heart Chase. The earth pony looked away far too quickly from the pegasus feathered wings and silky tail to be simply polite. It wasn’t until Constance saw the blush of Heart Chase’s yellow cheeks did she put two and two together.
“Oh dear,” she said with an embarrassed gasp. “I didn’t… I thought you were just… oh my, I’m so sorry. Here I’ve been prancing and strutting my stuff to annoy Bard and embarrass Ridgeline, and then I’ve been spending the night all over you like a cheap saddle.” She sat back down next to Heart Chase. “The last few nights must have been an absolute hell for you.”
“If yah think hell is full of licorice scents and downy feathers, then you’d be right,” said Heart Chase. “I didn’t mind one bit. I mean, I don’t mind havin’ another pony to sleep with whether they’re mare or a stallion. Used to be my family would all sleep in a big pile on winter’s nights to keep warm. Now we’re all grown up. Every other pony is married and has kids. There’s just me in my lonely bed.” She laughed with kind of a half defeated chuckle. “It’s funny. I got married for political reasons. Iron Pick’s a swell stallion, but what I was really lookin’ forward to most was sharin’ a bed with another pony, even if it meant… well, you know.” Constance smiled at her traveling companion, before standing up again.
“Did you not want to share a bed this evening?” she asked. “I completely understand if you’re hesitant about it. I’ll send Bard in here and share a bed with Ridgeline instead. That big stallion could probably heat an entire room.”
“If you think for a moment I’m gonna share a bed with the mouthy pain in the flank, then you gotta another thing comin’ Constance,” said Heart Chase. “Yah just come lay down here. I promise to keep my hooves to myself.” She gave a half hearted smile. “If yah want me too, that is.” Constance returned the smile with a coy giggle.
The ponies rose the next morning at what would be their normal time to discover that it was still completely dark outside. The ponies made their way to the home of Limestone Quarry where they found Muffins positively vibrating with elation about going on an adventure with her new friends.
The walk through the ruins of Hoofswell in the pre-dawn hours was an unsettling experience for most of the ponies. Bard’s light shone through the darkness like a ray of sunshine, but the narrow beam wasn’t good for much more than a spot light. He eventually stopped to let his eyes acclimate to the dark instead; it didn’t help much.
Just above the ground, Muffins fluttered along with Constance, while Ridgeline marched alongside the pegasus filly as if to keep the darkness away. Heart Chase followed behind the herd, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for any sign of trouble. She kept glancing at the cloudy sky and jumping at the shadows.
What scared her most about this place was that it could have just as easily been Bridleburg. The few pegasi, combined with the relative proximity to hostile creatures set her teeth on edge. They did have the advantage of the Dame River separating them from the Buffalo lands, but what is a river to a determined foe? Luckily, the buffalo never seemed to care about ponies, so long as they stayed on the Equestria side of the river. Still, it amazed her at just how hostile the outside world actually was sometimes. She couldn’t help but worry about two pegasi that traveled with her.
They passed through the ruined city in silence and began climbing the icy foothills that lead into the mountains. How the fuzzy young pegasus had routinely made this journey was any pony’s guess and how she had avoided notice by the griffins was nothing short of a miracle. They came at last to a sheer granite cliff face that marked the borders of Equestria. It was easy to imagine that the world ended here and that beyond was only the howling chaos of space. The pegasus urged them onward along the sheer rock face, and they turned to the east. It was another three miles before they came to a patch of unusually low hanging clouds.
“He lives right up there!” said Muffins. “You just fly up, and…” She looked at the ponies for a moment. “Oh. Well, I guess not.”
The ponies stared up at the rock face. A least a hundred feet above the ground, there was massive fissure that looked as if it had been hollowed out of the solid stone. Below that was an overhang that could have easily been a balcony. Heart Chase stared in amazement for a moment before shaking her head.
“How in the name of Celestia does an old unicorn get all the way up there?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” said Muffins. “I never asked. But he’s always up there, so at least Miss Constance and I can go see him.”
Heart Chase looked up the cliff, and shivered. The idea of having to be that high off the ground chilled her more than the arctic air that whipped along the cliff face. She was actually glad she didn’t have to go up there after all.
The two pegasi took to the air and danced around the low hanging clouds as if choreographing a ballet. They landed atop the clouds and danced upon them as if they were solid ground. Such was the pleasure of all the pegasi, and it was so rare that young Muffin actually had time to frolic. Heart Chase looked up at the playing pegasi and smiled. Of course she would want to show the fuzzy filly a good time; Constance was all about enjoying herself. Never mind that they were on a deadline, or that there might be griffins around. There was fun to be had, and darn it, everything had been way too serious in the city.
The two pegasi finally landed atop the jutting rock near the top of the cliff face. As they touched down, Constance noticed that it was at least twenty degrees warmer here then at the ground. She looked around a for moment before she spotted daylight spilling from underneath the door. She tapped on the door with a cautious knock.
The door burst open and from behind it came a near blinding light that silhouetted the shape of a unicorn. Constance shielded her eyes with a wing as they adjusted to the brilliance. A purple unicorn wearing a set of smoked goggles looked his unexpected guests. He stared at Constance for a moment. She’d seen that looked before and she cocked her hips to accentuate his view of her cutie mark. He turned to the fuzzy filly after a moment.
“Who’s your friend?” asked the unicorn.
“Mister Star Heart, this is Miss Constance,” said Muffins. “She’s here with a bunch of her friends. They’re all the way down there at the bottom ‘cause they can’t get up here like we can.” She flashed her heartwarming smile and the unicorn found a smile within him for the filly.
“Well thanks for coming to visit,” said Star Heart. “But I’m afraid I can’t tell you any stories today. I’m in the middle of an important experiment.”
“Mister Star Heart, please,” said Constance. He held up a hoof.
“I know what you’re here for,” he said. “You want to know the last thing Celestia said to me before she went into exile.” He slammed a hoof into the stone floor so hard it sounded like thunder. “THAT WILL DIE WITH ME. If you really want to know, there’s a pony named Glaive out there who will happily tell you. Or maybe he’ll tear out your heart. Either way, a young mare such as yourself shouldn’t be seeking the great mysteries of life from old unicorns. You shouldn’t even be in Hoofswell. Now, if you’ll excuse me I…”
“Hey!” yelled Heart Chase. Her voice echoed along the shear stone. “How’s it going up there? What’s with all the light? Y’all okay?
“We’re fine, Heart Chase,” she yelled back. “Mister Star Heart seems a bit upset that we’ve interrupted his experiments.” The unicorn perked up at the name.
“Sorry, did you say, Heart Chase?” he asked. “As in, the daughter of Soul Chase?”
“I don’t know,” said Constance. “I guess I never asked.”
“You’re supposedly a friend, and you never asked about her parents?” asked Star Heart. “That’s what’s wrong with Equestria these days, no pony makes friends.” Muffins pouted at the unicorn. He furiously backpedaled on his statement. “Except for Miss Muffins here. She’s a friend to every pony she meets.” He pointed a hoof at Constance. “And that’s how Equestria used to be. Strangers were just friends you hadn’t met yet.” Star Heart walked to the edge of the cliff face, and then continued walking off it.
Constance was so shocked that she didn’t react for almost a full second. When her brain finally put together what had just happened, she rocketed over the edge of the cliff to try to catch up with the unicorn. Constance passed him at full speed; he was standing on a sinking cloud. The rose colored pegasus screeched to a hover to stare in disbelief. Muffins peered over the edge with an impressed grin.
The cloud sank to the ground and Star Heart stepped off. It seemed as if the warmth followed him. He looked over Heart Chase for a moment, and nodded. She was the spitting image of her father. Same orange hair, same yellow coat, same blue eyes, and the same bewildered stare. She was definitely a Chase. He turned his gaze to the armored stallion. He hasn’t seen a pony that big since leaving the Knights. He finally looked at the sky blue unicorn and stared for a moment before shaking his head.
“If I didn’t know better,” said Star Heart. “I’d have sworn you were…”
“I get that a lot,” replied Bard. “That’s an impressive spell you’ve got there,” he said as he tried to shift the conversation away from himself.
“Cloud walking?” he scoffed. “Foal’s play. Any pegasus can do it, why shouldn’t a unicorn be able to do the same?” He looked to Heart Chase. “Your father always talked about you,” he said. “Always went on and on about his clever little filly. Now you’re all grown up and out in the big scary world.” He looked to the four ponies that stood before him. “Why are you out here and not at home?”
“I made a mistake,” said Heart Chase. “And Iron Pick is told me yah were about the only pony who could help fix it.” Star Heart Pushed his goggles away to reveal a pair of turquoise eyes that sparkled as if the sun shined from his head.
“Well then, if that old goat told you to come bother me, he must have had a good reason,” said Star Heart. With a wave of his horn, the pony’s hooves sparkled. He walked to the cloud and stomped it flat enough for the rest of the ponies to stand on. He motioned to them to join. The ponies stepped on the cloud with trepidation; it certainly seemed solid enough. Heart Chase stood in the exact center of the platform and clamped her eyes shut. The other ponies boarded the platform and surrounded the mare.
The cloud began to rise back along the cliff face. Heart Chase stood still, taking deep breathes, and focusing on anything else but the fact she was rising into the air. Birds. Trees. How cold it was. Her family. She hummed along to a children’s song as the cloud lifted into the sky. She didn’t dare open her eyes, less she see how far off the ground they were. Ridgeline guided her onto the outcropping balcony, and inside the cliff face before she opened her eyes again.
The inside of Star Heart’s Home was not cave, per say, but more of an apartment that had been carved from solid rock. The walls had been perfectly flattened, and there were at least a dozen separate doors that spilled into other rooms. Most were closed, but a few housed rooms full of clouds. At the rear of the apartment sat a ball of light that gave off enough heat to make the apartment feel like the tropics. The ponies shed their winter coats at the door, and were glad to feel warmth after a bitter cold night in Hoofswell.
Star Heart opened another door that inexplicably lead outside. From it, he pulled a jar that had been chilling in the bank of snow. He passed around drinks to the ponies gathered in front him before sitting on a pillow made from clouds.
“So why are you here?” asked Star Heart.
“Iron Pick said yah were the only pony who knew what Celestia’s last instructions were,” said Heart Chase. She fished through her satchel to retrieve the letter of introduction that Iron Pick had given her, and passed it to Star Heart. He quickly looked it over, and tossed it to the side.
“So I’m just supposed give you instructions for saving the world, eh?” asked Star Heart. “You’d be surprised at how simple a thing it is to bring her back, and yet you bunch of ponies aren’t going to be the ones to do it.”
“We didn’t’ come all the way from Bridleburg to be told that we ain’t gonna be able to do somethin’,” said Heart Chase. “We gotta war to stop, and the only other pony who knows how to stop it is the one who’s causin’ it. Now what did Celestia say before she went into exile?” Star Heart cocked a half smile
“You’re not going to like it,” said Star Heart. “The last thing that Celestia said was ‘I just want the fighting to stop.’”
The ponies sat for there for a minute, expecting to take in a deep and pondering message that would guide them along the path of Equestria’s salvation. That had expected something profound and heartfelt, something that would shake them to their core. What they got instead was something they already knew.
“Are you bucking kidding me?” asked Bard.
“Sorry,” said Star Heart. “That’s what she said.”
“That’s about the least helpful thing I’ve ever heard,” said Heart Chase. “How are those instructions for bringing Celestia out of exile? That ain’t nothin’ we didn’t already know. Everypony wants the fightin’ to stop, but that ain’t told us how to do it.”
“Do you know what the Elements of Harmony are?” asked Star Heart. The ponies looked at each other for a moment, before shaking their heads. “They were what Celestia used to seal Nightmare Moon away. I don’t know where Celestia got them, or what their original purpose was, but the long and the short of it is: she used them, then lost control of them. They were supposedly what kept Equestria harmonious but Celestia used them as a weapon against Nightmare Moon.” He held out his hooves. “Now they’re pretty much inert.”
“So, what, we gotta find these Elements of Harmony?” asked Heart Chase. Star Heart shook his head.
“No, they’re powerless now and they won’t be able to help you any way. You’re not connected to them; the sisters were. I don’t think any pony is ever going to be able to use them again.” he said. “If you’d care to hear my theory?”
“Why not?” said Bard. “Not like we have anything else to go on.”
“I think once ponies stop fighting,” said Star Heart, “Celestia will reveal herself again and retake her throne.”
The ponies looked at each other, then back to Star Heart. Was this unicorn out of his mind? There was only one war going on right now, two if you counted the griffins attacking Hoofswell. How could any group of ponies stop two wars, let alone one? Star Heart got up from his cloud and began tweaking the sun orb at the back of his apartment.
“That’s all the advice I have to give you,” said Star Heart. “Stay as long as you’d like, but when you do leave, please take Miss Muffins back to her father. I don’t want anything happening to my little friend.”
“So that’s it?” asked Heart Chase. “Yah ain’t gonna help us? No big poof of magic and a sword to strike down the evil? Just stop the fightin’?”
“I don’t know what you came here expecting,” said Star Heart. “I’m a weather pony; it’s what I do. I take the essence of the wind and sky and bring it down for earth ponies to use.” Bard perked up at the mention of that. He probably knew what Heart’s stone was all about then. He levitated the stone from Heart’s satchel.
“Then what is this?” asked Bard.
“Hey, what did I tell you about goin’ through my things?” demanded Heart Chase. Star Heart looked at the stone for a moment, and then nodded.
“It’s a fog stone,” said Star Heart. He levitated the stone, and pressed it to his ear. “And it’s empty. You can recharge it by siphoning clouds.” He tossed it into the room full of clouds, and shut the door. Bard blinked in amazement. That explained all the fog back in the bay. Star Heart turned back to his work. “Here's something I want you to think carefully about. Especially you, Miss Chase."
“Missus,” corrected Heart Chase. “I got married a few days ago.”
“Oh well, congratulations,” said Star Heart. “Why aren’t you enjoying your honeymoon with your new groom? The world could use more Chases.”
“Cause Iron Pick already has two kids and it was our marriage that started this nonsense in the first place.” Star Chase stopped what he was doing and turned around to face Heart Chase. She could see the wheels in his head turning as he put the pieces together and when it finally clicked, his jaw dropped in disgust.
“No wonder,” he said. “Chases and Picks together at last. Making a bid for an independent Bridleburg are you?” The other ponies turned to stare at her in shock.
“Independent Bridleburg?” asked Ridgeline. “That’s…” he searched for the word.
“Treason!” said Constance. “That’s out and out treason! Here I thought you wanted to save Equestria, but you’re out here to break it up. How long do you think you could hide such a thing? And Bard, how could you have not put that together sooner?”
“I did,” said Bard. “But you know what? I don’t care.”
“What do you mean, you don’t care?” asked Ridgeline. “How can you not care about Equestria?”
“Equestria is dead!” said Bard. “Celestia’s gone, and she’s not coming back. Even if by some miracle, we did stop the fighting, how long would it last? A week? A month? Would she notice? Would she care? The only thing that Celestia does that matters is raise the sun and the moon. Past that, no pony cares about her anymore.”
“I still care,” said Muffins. The ponies looked at the fuzzy pegasus as if she had just appeared. They had been so busy fighting with each other, they had forgotten that there was a child in their midst. “I still care about Celestia. Back when my mom was still alive, she cleared away the clouds so that we could see the sun all the time. Mom told me that Princess Celestia raised the sun every morning, and that we should give her thanks every day for the hard work she does.” She looked up at the ponies. “So some ponies do care about Celestia, you mean old unicorn. Even if you don’t like her, there’s lots of ponies who do.” She stuck her tongue out at Bard.
The wisdom of a child struck at them like a hoof to the temple. Ponies still cared. They proved they cared by working together to make Equestria the place it was now. Certainly it was a shell of its former self, but the basic tenants of harmony were still there under the ash and debris of endless war. Ponies really did need each other more than they were willing to admit, and they needed Celestia to be an example to them all.
“So how do we stop the fighting?” asked Heart Chase.
“As I was trying to say, I want all of you to think carefully,” said Star Heart. “There’s something that will help you understand why it’s important that Equestria stay together. Think of every pony you know who was a solider during that horrible war. What was the common thing about them all?”
The ponies thought for a moment, and considered the question. Of all the soldiers they had known, both from their own time in the military, and from having met other ponies who had fought, there wasn’t anything at all in common between them. There had been nobility on both sides of the war, and common pony folk in the trenches. Pegasi, unicorn, mules, donkeys, and earth ponies had all fought on either side of the conflict. They even differed on their beliefs for Equestria. Nothing was common between them. It finally dawned on Heart Chase when she looked back at Ridgeline.
“No pony was a solider by trade,” she said at last. “Every pony was farmer, or a business pony, or a preacher, or anything else. Ain’t no pony ever just been fer fightin’, except maybe fer Ridgeline.” Star Heart nodded.
“And there you have it,” said Star Heart. “No pony has ever been born to kill, not even your armored friend here. There are plenty who can fight, and plenty who are exceptional. But you’ll never see a cutie mark of a sword. Ponies are supposed to be at peace. That’s what Celestia wants to see before she makes her return.”
The ponies all considered what the meant. If they were going to bring back Celestia, they needed the fighting to stop. They needed to end the war between the griffons, and they needed to the end the war between Bridleburg and Equestria. The unspoken question between them was: how in Equestria did they accomplish that?
The ponies sat talking for a few hours as they mulled over ideas for peace. No pony had spoken to a griffin in a least ten years, so they didn’t even know where to start negotiations. And to stop the war for Equestria, well, they’d have to take out Glaive. Neither prospect seemed possible at the moment, and they found themselves talking in circles. Frustrated, and finally tired of the sauna like conditions of Star Heart’s apartment, the ponies bundled themselves in their winter coats, and stepped out onto the ledge. Waiting for the ponies on the ridge was a griffin who sat waiting for them with his arms crossed.
“It’s about time,” he said. “Hand over the pegasi, or you all die.”