"None could describe what happened. Hell, only those that were there can truly say what happened for certain. But what we heard scared us. The sound of a mourning god." -Unknown.
The two elks walked down the paved road, hooves clicking on stone. They walked for around five minutes before they reached the gatehouse to the east district.
‘These guards are always angry, let’s just hurry past them,’ Quick whispered, making sure noelk heard him, ‘They sit around all day, not doing anything.’
Celestia and Quick walked past a guard, who eyed her suspiciously before he looked away and took a swig from one of his water pouches.
Looks like it doesn’t take a lot to set them off... Celestia thought as she repressed a shudder at the thought of having a guard angry at her.
‘Say, where’re you from? I haven’t seen you around here before?’ Quick Sell asked, turning to face Celestia.
‘Arrowsmith,’ Celestia quickly replied, remembering the other town that the sign on the path pointed to.
‘Ah, I haven’t been to Arrowsmith. Is it nice?’ Quick asked.
‘Very,’ She coughed out, making Quick frown at her.
‘Are you sure you’re ok?’ He asked, making the two of them stop, ‘I can take you to a doctors if you want?’
Celestia couldn’t go to a doctors or any form of help, she needed to get to the colt that sold the scarf and then hopefully not get too badly shouted at by Green, when she got back to the orphanage.
She shook her head, making sure that Quick understood that she was ok before they started moving again. They passed through the gatehouse, she looked up to marvel at the engineering of the thing. It stood taller than many of the buildings in Canterlot, nearing her towers height.
Celestia gave a thought of coming back here once everything was dealt with and have a vacation. It brought back memories of when Luna and her went to the south ocean and had weeks of vacation at a time. Those times have long past, but every so often, she would get the urge to just throw her responsibilities away and run off.
Celestia stopped, a few tears making their way to her eyes. Quick turned around to see her standing there with her head down, shaking. ‘Sure, what’s wrong?’ He asked, nearing her.
She looked away, letting out a quiet sob. In the shade of the gatehouse, noelk noticed the two calfs. Quick frowned, he didn’t like when elks hid stuff from him, but this was obviously a personal issue and could respect her privacy. ‘If you don’t want to talk, alright.’
He turned around, giving Celestia some space, she looked up and wiped away her tears, that little episode dealt with in the same way as any other emotion that she had when Luna was sent away; buried deep away.
Celestia quickly caught up to him and whispered, ‘sorry’. He turned to her and kept his gaze a little longer than reasonable, then turned back and sighed.
‘Don’t worry about it, we’ve all had times like that.’
They passed through the other side of the gatehouse. Celestia gazed at the sudden change in height of the buildings. It made her feel small, with the way they loomed over her. Sure, in Manehatten they were as tall as the sky, but then she could fly.
Quick and Celestia walked for a few minutes, being ignored by the middle class elks of the second district. ‘The elks here and above don’t like the lower classes, so they ignore us rather than lift a hoof.’ Quick explained after seeing the confused look from Celestia, ‘Don’t worry, not everyelk is like that, just the one’s born into houses.’
Seems to be the same no matter the race... Celestia thought to herself. She missed the feeling of when Green replied in her head, even though it had been a few hours at most since she had been gone. This caused her to doubt this would even work, and if she should go back to the orphanage, just to hear her voice again.
She shook her head and continued to follow Quick Sell, it was a long shot, but she wanted to... no, she needed to do this. If not for herself, then for Green. Sister and Green were close, closer than one would expect from a carer, almost mirroring a bonding, like what Green and Celestia had. She knew they weren't bonded by the fact that you can’t bond to two elks.
Quick Sell stopped and said, ‘Here we are, Fine Ware’s shop. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I hope we meet again.’ He took Celestia hoof and shook it, before galloping off down one of the streets connecting to the one they were on. Celestia watched as that strange bull left her standing on the corner.
She looked over to a nearby sign which read, “Shepherds st.” Celestia the turned and faced the shop. It was an old building compared to the next to it. The door’s paint had chipped away, revealing the wood underneath. The windows had long since been smashed and sealed up, leaving cardboard in their place. Not the sort of place that Celestia thought the scarf would be made, let alone found at all.
Celestia moved forward towards the door, ready to knock. Just before her hoof hit the wood, the sound of shouting rose from inside. She placed her ear to the door, ‘Dammit Shroud. You said you would only scare the cow, not kill her!’
‘How was I suppose to know she would put up fight and break out of my spell!’ The sound of stuff being thrown around could be heard, ‘I had to, she would have told the guards, do you know what they do to elks like us!?’
The sound of hooves nearing the door caused Celestia to rush backwards around the corner. The door opened and a hooded figure trotted out.
'Don't walk away from me! I'm paying you!' A voice from inside the shop shouted. The hooded elk turned around and sighed before shouting, 'I'll fix this, just like all your other mistakes!'
'A-alright, just see to it that you do.'
The door closed and the figure looked around to make sure noelk heard him. Celestia tried moving closer to the wall, but accidentally broke a piece of wood, resulting in a loud snap.
'Well, what do we have here?' the figure asked noelk in particular. He wandered forward towards Celestia, raising his eyebrows when he saw her shaking form.
'Do not worry... I will not hurt you, can you speak?' he asked. From this angle, Celestia could finally see his face.
He had a brown coat, not unlike the other bull, but this elk had a small scar stretching down the right side of his face, ending at his cheekbone. His mane was a dark black, only falling in clumps from his scalp, making him look more sickly than he actually was.
Celestia was scared, nothing in her life could have predicted she would come face to face with a killer. Sure, she had assassination attempts made against her, but the guards usually uncovered them or protected her... Even when they couldn't, she was an Alicorn, nothing pony-made was powerful enough to kill, or even hurt her; only another Alicorn could accomplish that.
And now, she was being asked questions that she was too scared to answer. She could die now, get hurt now or worse.
Apparently her lack of an answer was sufficient, 'Oh well, I'm sure your mother would be proud of you, if you had one.' he insulted. The bull turned around and started trotting off down the path Celestia took to arrive here. His mumbling could be heard just before he turned a corner, 'This town has gone to mule feathers...'
Celestia was left laying there, in the gutter next to the shop that employed her sister's killer. She felt empty, unable to think. It was a new feeling for Celestia.
A familiar voice reached her ears after an unknown amount of time. Though her internal clock told her it was only a few minutes. 'Sure, what are you doing laying there?' Celestia turned her head from it's odd angle, leaning on the corner of the wall and saw Quick Sell. 'Get up,' he ordered.
He pulled Celestia to her hooves, taking her weight on his back. 'Why were you laying in the gutter?' Quick asked, unsure if he was even going to get an answer from the characteristically quiet cow.
' I'm... scared...' Celestia whispered, barely audible; as if saying it quietly would make the issue less valid and cause it to lose meaning.
'What are you scared of?' Quick asked, moving a bit slower.
'Of... Dying...' She whispered slightly louder. In reality, she was scared of admitting she was mortal now. She was having trouble processing the fact that she had reason to be scared.
Normally she would bury it, to deal with later. But the added pressure from everything piling on top of each other finally broke the cow, causing her to start crying into the bulls coat.
He looked shocked for less than a second before he softened up and stopped. He moved Celestia round and hugged her, letting her wet his neck with her tears.
'Sorry!' she coughed. Tears still flowing down her face.
She looked a sorry sight, tears matting her fur on her face. Dirty water dripping off her mane and half of her left side. Still, Quick couldn't help but want to help her; as if helping her is the right thing to do. 'Dammit Quick, you always help the cows...' he thought to himself.
He chuckled, 'it's no problem, let's get you to somewhere warm. I know of a place not too far from here.'
He and Celestia walk through the crowded streets of the east district, unable to pass back through the gate.
They tried going through, but the guards only gave the explanation of, "There was an accident." Celestia knew there couldn't be an accident with something as simple as a gatehouse, meaning that the killer had murdered another victim for the employer.
She was starting to wonder if it was a good idea to carry on, as the two turned into a small alleyway. At the end, laughing could be heard emanating from a large set of boxes and containers.
They neared them and it became clear the noise came from a group of calfs. 'I'm back, and I've brought a surprise.' Quick shouted, getting the group's attention.
They all turned around or looked over to the newcomer standing next to Quick. She froze up and gripped Quick's neck slightly choking him.
'*cough* Sure, please. I do need air...' He whispered into her ear.
She turned her head, realising what she was doing, 'Sorry.' she whispered, blushing at her bad introduction.
'Who's that?' one of the group shouted, 'and why is she covered in water?' This calf had a light grey coat, with specks of what looked to be ash and her mane was a hot red.
She missed Twilight, she missed Luna, she even missed... Blueblood at this point. It didn't matter at this point, she would even settle for Queen chrysalis. She knew how to make somepony feel nice...
Celestia shook her head and stepped forward, 'Name's *cough* Sure Fire *cough* *cough*." Celestia started a coughing fit, causing her to fall to the floor.
The group rushed over and helped her into a container marked infirmary, and onto a bed. They gave her some water and tucked her in. Most of them left, but a few of the younger calfs stayed to examine the new member.
After a quite bad nights sleep, Celestia woke to the worst headache. She had the idea of bashing her head in to stop it, but couldn't think long enough before another wave of pain overcame her.
She screamed out in pain. The group rushed in from outside to see what happened. Seeing Celestia in full blown pain cause some of the younger members to start crying. A couple older calfs led them out, to give a little quiet to those inside.
Quick rushed in, a little after everyelk. And upon seeing Sure in agony, knew he had to take her to s hospital.
'alright everyelk, you have to trust me...' he gathered up what supplies the group could find and mare a makeshift board out of it, tying it to himself.
They put Celestia on top and strapped her in, making sure the straps don't dig into her.
After making sure she wouldn't fall off, Quick said goodbye to the Elks and rushed off, out if the alleyway. He turned a corner and down the paved street, taking care to not hit an elk on his way, in fear of dropping his cargo.
Nearly there Sure... He thought to himself as the cow on his back squirmed about, occasionally coughing and moaning in agony.
To Celestia, this was easily the worst pain imaginable, her head felt like it was being pulled apart in all directions, red hit poker's being jammed into her brain repeatedly. After all of that, one though stood out, the desire to get back to Green, as if all of this would stop if she was by her side, holding onto her leg, feeling her nuzzle.
Celestia screamed again as the hospital slowly loomed into view. St.Mahazo hospital, famous for it's prodigy staff, high class facilities and it's one of a kind homeless clinic; the only one in the country.
The hospital easily towered over the other buildings, looking intimidating with its height. It's walls having been painted the traditional white, its windows reflecting the slowly settling sun.
Quick galloped up to the clinic, his pace rising as he neared it. He ran through the doors shouting, 'Some Elk help!' he untied Celestia and placed her on the floor. A couple of nurses galloped over to see what happened.
'Let' me through,' a confident voice proclaimed behind the nurses. They parted, revealing a cocky looking Bull. He had a white coat, with a golden mane. He wore a doctor's coat with the name badge "Dr. Balthazar" written in bold, black ink.
'She just woke up in pain, you have to help her!' Quick shouted, hoping it would convince them to help her.
The homeless are usually looked down upon in Cervidas, resulting in many of them simply going missing or ending up in the city's morgue.
'I don't know, should we waste our time on a homeless...' the doctor replied raising his nose at the calf, 'I swear, the nerve of calfs these days.'
'She isn't homeless though, she said she's from Arrowsmith!' Quick shouted back, his voice becoming sore.
'She is? Then kart her upstairs, fix her up and send the bill to their hospital.' Balthazar announced. In an instant, the nurses picked Celestia up, and heaved her onto a bed, and wheeled her off.
Quick tried following after her, but was promptly stopped by the doctor, 'If you ever talk like that to me again, I'll exercise my rights... Do you understand, mule.'
Quick Sell, nodded and was released by Balthazar. He ran off towards the place Celestia was taken, hoping to not speak to that doctor again.
Celestia was wheeled through door after door, each one made the pounding in her head worse, and each time she screamed and reached out, hoping she would feel Greens hoof.
Finally the nurses stop and enter a room. It was dimly lit, presumably to stop the light from hurting Sure Fire, and had the windows closed to stop any onlookers from watching.
They pulled the bed up to the middle of the room, locking it in place, then took out a syringe full of clear fluid. It was in this moment that Celestia opened her eyes. For any elk that looked into them, they would have seen pure terror.
The nurse with the syringe stepped forwards, holding Celestia down with a hoof, 'It'll go faster if you don't struggle deary.'
She sunk the syringe into Celestia's leg, pushing the stop and injecting the fluid. Celestia went limp, unable to move and slowly drifted off into unconsciousness.
The nurses backed off, thankful that Celestia didn't put up too much of a fight. They walked out of the room, making sure everything was in place and locked, just in case the calf wakes up earlier than expected.
Outside, Quick reached the room, finding it locked. He huffed and kicked the wall, 'I guess I wasn't fast enough,' he scolded. He leaned against the wall and slumped down, finally feeling the effects of the run.
Celestia woke up in bed. But it felt different, 'Silk?' she opened her eyes and found the ceiling she had missed for so long. She bolted upright, pushing the remains of the package off herself and onto the floor.
She scrambled to the edge of the bed and looked over, examining the remains. All she could see was the box, and a few letters, stamped with Twilight's Cutie Mark. She reached down and picked one up, realising she was in her old body again and let out a window shattering cheer. She began reading the letter, with an ever increasing grin:
"Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned to trust my instincts. While on first glance, things may be what they seem, even a closer look can change that, revealing their true nature.
Your faithful student,
Trixie Lulamoon."
The princess placed the letter down, 'Trixie... why would she send me a letter?' then it dawned on her, this was her dream. The nurse had knocked her out and she was still on the bed back in Cervidas...
'buck...' Celestia didn't know what to say, it wasn't often that she swore, usually when a noble or anypony else got her really riled up.
She was in a bad place, her own mind was like a trap. Anything that has lived for as long as her, would remember a small percentage of what they had experienced, leaving the rest floating around inside her head.
While this would normally be alright, like in dreams. There are special occasions where a dream can turn against the owner, usually in occasions of extreme stress or pain.
'I have to get out of here,' Celestia mumbled to herself, while getting out of bed. Her hooves made no impact on the floor, instead passing straight through. Celestia feel through the floor, before instinct took over and her wings spread out, slowing her to a slow glide.
Celestia glanced down, unable to see any ground beneath herself. Instead of the floor, there seemed to be a massive black abyss, stretching on forever in all directions.
'Calm down... This is a dream...' Celestia whispered to herself, her heartbeat slowing.
'Mmm, can you taste the fear...' A familiar voice sounded around Celestia, making her stop and float in midair, 'I think she's ripe...'
'It's just a dream...' Celestia kept telling herself, trying to keep her sleep induced fear from blocking rationality.
'You didn't think of my children, did you?' The voice asked, closer this time, 'They must have starved to death, without their mother...' A small tinge of sadness penetrated the voice, giving it a less intimidating sound. 'I'm their mother, Celestia. Did you ever think? No, you didn't. I had to feel each one of their lives ending, unable to stop it.'
'Queen Chrysalis? Is that you?' Celestia shouted out, flying back; said queen descending from nowhere.
'Hello princess Celestia, how does it feel to be the killer of an entire race?' The insect-pony hybrid spat at her, venom lacing every word.
'I-I... Didn't mean to, you were attacking my capital...' Celestia pleaded, momentarily forgetting she was in a dream.
'To feed in love!' The queen shouted, 'We didn't kill Anthony, remember?' Crysalis moved forwards, and grabbed onto Celestia's hoof, turning it slowly into a replica of her own.
Celestia screamed and tried to pull away, though Chrysalis was too strong and simply stayed put. 'You didn't think Celestia, you trusted your student too much.'
Crysalis let go and vanished, leaving behind an extremely distraught Celestia, who was staring at the her own changed leg.
A twinge at the back of her mind brought a memory back, Only a dream... She shook her head, 'How could I have let myself be blinded to fast... Not anymore...'
Celestia brought her wings in and continued downwards, hoping to find an exit or something, to end this nightmare.
After five minutes of searching the abyss, a strange sight made itself known. A beach ball being ridden by a starfish flew by, making Celestia stop.
Laughter sounded from below her as Discord, the spirit of chaos shifted up. 'My dear Celestia, you seem to be in a bit of a radish...'
'what do you want Discord? I'm busy.' Celestia replied, trying to move past him. Unfortunately, a wall of bunnies stopped her, turning into mustard wherever she pushed into it. 'Alright, you seem to have the upper paw here. So, what is it?'
'You wound, my precious sun-butt.' Discord said sarcastically, purposefully getting on Celestia's nerves. 'I'm here to ask, why did you put me back in stone?'
'I did it because you were making everyone's lives miserable, with your constant chaos.' She replied, staring into his eyes, 'DON'T get me wrong, I know you didn't hurt anypony on purpose. It was indirectly...'
'Did I hurt you?' Discord asked. For a minute seemingly lucid from his chaotic state.
'No, not me. But you hurt Luna, you know that!' Celestia shouted at him, 'I put you into stone because you broke her heart!'
'Now we're getting to the bottom of it...' Discord mumbled, changing positions so that they were sitting on a bed, both wearing towels on their heads. 'Now darling, tell me all about it.'
'Don't push me Discord.' Celestia growled.
'Or what? You'll wobble?' He clicked his talons and Celestia started melting into a bowl of jello.
'Everyone should call you Jellestia...' He laughed, before remembering something and reverting her back, 'Just remember who has the power in here.'
Celestia looked away, 'Yeah...' shaking from that experience.
'It's cold, dark and lonely being stone.' Discord said, 'I'm the spirit, of disharmony, it's in my nature. It's something I can't fight.'
'I didn't want you to stop, maybe just, channel it into something more productive. My ponies were dying because the crops were being turned into anvils.' Celestia replied, raising an eyebrow and waited for his response.
'Why didn't you say something back then, huh?' Discord asked, pleased with his answer.
'Because you were mad with power, you wouldn't have listened.'
'I would have listened to you...' He mumbled, before saying, 'It didn't mean you had to stick me in rock.'
He gripped Celestia's other leg and slowly turned it into a replica of his lions paw and smiled, before vanishing into a cloud of blue spotted marshmallows.
'Bucking Discord...' Celestia grumbled, her mood slowly lowering. 'Dear Faust, if you can hear me... Inside my own head...' Celestia realised she was more than likely crazy at this moment in time and paused, 'damn, I've gone crazy... That must be it.'
She stopped flapping, letting her wings fly above her while she dropped like an anvil. The wind blew past her ears as it became harder and harder to keep her eyes open. Before she closed her eyes completely, she smashed into the ground.
The dust cleared, revealing a small classroom. Celestia sat in the middle chair, surrounded on all sides by empty, identical stools. In front of her sat a desk, the only one in the room.
The sound of hooves on hard wood echoed. Celestia's ears instinctively closed to stop the harsh sound, she still winced slightly every time she heard it.
Celestia looked over to the door, white wood framing a cloudy glass window. The silhouette of a pony could be seen on the other side. It looked familiar to the Princess, by she couldn't quite put her hoof on it.
The hoof-steps stopped, leaving Celestia's ears ringing. She nervously sat on the chair, squirming from it's overly small size as her thighs were forced together by the cold metal.
The door was slowly pushed open. In those few horrible, agonizingly slow seconds, Celestia forgot she was in a dream. She fully believed the situation was real.
'I'll be your teacher today. My name is Mrs. Twilight Sparkle.' Twilight walked in, wearing her trademark two-toned, purple and pink hair in a bun; a few strands falling to the side.
She wore a tight corset, with knee high latex suspenders. Her skirt was dangerously close to showing off too much. If it fazed Celestia, she didn't show it.
Celestia looked nervous, she hadn't revised for at least, forever. 'Miss. Sparkle... Is there a test today?' Celestia asked, raising her hoof.
'Yes there will be, why, didn't you revise?' Miss. Sparkle replied, raising her eyebrow. 'I don't tolerate Ponies not doing their homework in my lessons.'
'Yes miss,' Celestia mumbled, sinking lower into her chair, 'What is the test about?'
'It's the, "Are you a good Princess" Test.' Miss Sparkle levitated the sheet out of nowhere and placed it in front of Celestia. 'You have all of eternity to fill it out. Time starts... Now.'
Miss Sparkle turned and trotted to the door. She pushed and exited as the sound of hooves on wood slowly fell back into silence.
Celestia turned to the first page. The first question asked, "Why weren't you a good sister?"
Upon seeing this, Celestia froze and forgot everything she didn't revise for. Sweat started to drip down her body, making the sweat feel more uncomfortable than it already was; her tail jammed between her legs.
She struggled with answering it as the page morphed into the next question, "Explain the ethics of ordering teenagers about on dangerous missions."
Celestia was in panic mode now. Miss Sparkle would come in and shout at her for not revising, and Celestia didn't want to think of what punishment Miss Sparkle would make up.
The door creaked open and Miss Sparkle walked in. 'I hope you've finished, eternity is up.' she looked down at the empty page in front of Celestia and tutted. 'You've been a naughty mare, haven't you.'
Celestia nodded with her gaze down at the desk. 'Yes Miss Sparkle.'
'Yes... Do you know what we do with bad mares?' Miss Sparkle asked, moving forwards.
Celestia awoke screaming, her surroundings coming into focus. She was back in the hospital room.
Her headache had dulled, leaving only a mildly irritating throb. Celestia reached up to rub her eyes, stopping once she saw the IV line stuck in her leg.
She thought about taking it out, but decided it would be a bad idea and shook her head. She heard some noises from behind the door in front of the bed, and waited.
A few seconds later a nurse opened the door, and walked through. She saw Celestia sitting up in bed and frowned, 'You have given all of us a fright,' the nurse said, walking around the bed. She reached up and checked Celestia"s temperature. 'Seems your temperature is alright, for now. We'll keep you here for another day before you can be released. Unfortunately you will need to be signed out by your parent or guardian; you do have one?' she asked.
Celestia thought about it, she needed to see Green. She was feeling as if she would die if she didn't.
She nodded and pointed to a stack of paper and pencils that were laying on a desk, off to the side.
The nurse levitated the stack over onto Celestia's lap. Celestia picked one up in her mouth and spelt out the word, "orphanage."
The nurse had to jog her memory, but she finally remembered the small orphanage outside of town. 'Oh... You mean the Little Pickles Orphanage?'
'That's what it's called?' Celestia thought, before nodding. The nurse smiled, 'I'll send some elk to contact them. Please, get some rest.'
Celestia nodded and laid back down. She was scared that if she went back to sleep, she would see all of her past mistakes again. She could barely handle it once, there was no way she could continue to go through that.
The nurse left the room, locking the door on the way out. She travelled down the hall to contact the orphanage.
Celestia heard some knocks on the door. When they wouldn't stop, she got up and jumped out of bed. She pulled her IV bag over and unlocked the door, having to jump to reach the handle.
She opened the door. On the other side waiting for her was Quick Sell. As soon as he saw Celestia, his face lit up, 'Are you ok?' he blurted out. Realising that was a stupid question to ask, he blushed.
Celestia rolled her eyes, 'Ok.' she replied, smiling. Moving out of the way to let Quick in, she closed the door and locked it, she didn't want to be disturbed.
'No elk will tell me anything... "I'm too young to know," they say.' Quick said, jumping up onto the bed, 'But now that I know you're safe...'
'Thank... You...' Celestia interrupted, making Quick look quizzically at her. 'You... *cough* saved me.'
'Oh that, it was nothing.' he shrugged, 'It's what any elk would've done.' Brushing off the praise.
Celestia leaned over and pecked him on the cheek, 'Not any *cough* elk.'
Quick blushed, but took his mind off it by asking, 'What happened?'
Celestia shook her head, pretending to not know. In reality, she knew what caused the headache; the distance between Green and herself.
Celestia got into bed, covering herself up. 'I *cough* haven't been handling *cough* everything as best *cough* as I should.'
Quick Sell shuffled around, he didn't really know what to say to that. His only experience was with the group of misfits and homeless, that he governs in the second sector.
Celestia yawned, but was afraid of going back to sleep. She decided to simply rest her head for a few moments, placing her head on the pillow. Quick smiled and curled up beside her.
This time Celestia awoke back in the hospital room to the sound of arguing outside the door. One of the voices she recognised, Green.
She pushed off the covers, waking up Quick and jumped out of bed. Celestia galloped as fast as three legs would move her, as she was pulling the IV bag along with her.
She reached the door; Quick jumping down from the bed. Pulling it open, Celestia rushed over to Green, who wore a look of frustration.
That look quickly melted away as she noticed Celestia run up to her. Green turned to her, completely ignoring Balthazar, making him huff with annoyance and trot off.
'What were you thinking!?' Green practically shouted at Celestia. She walked towards her, a stern look in her eye, 'A note, thats all you left!'
'I'm sorry, I had to...' Celestia pleaded, having been stuck to the spot by Green's rapidly diminishing anger.
'Oh, really. What did you have to do!? Huh?' Green shouted, forgetting Celestia wasn't audibly talking back.
'I was trying to find Sister’s killer!'
Green stopped, her anger having been obliterated by Celestia's answer. While it made her angry that the police had done nothing but wreck the orphanage, search through every elks belongings and generally be a nuisance.
'Sure, let's go inside, we need to have a nice long chat...' Green asked, ushering Celestia into her room. She turned around before closing the door to speak to Quick, 'Thank you.'
Quick was too stunned to say anything, so he just settled with a slight nod of the head as the door closed in front of him. What just happened...
Green watched with slight annoyance as Celestia jumped onto her bed and searched for a comfortable spot. This was the first time that she would have to scold the young cow, and she was nervous. In the past, Sure Fire did all her chores, all of her homework without fail, without argument. This was so unlike her.
Once Celestia was settled, she looked at Green, the ever present pounding of her head, that she had learnt to quickly ignore, faded away, leaving a blissful quiet in her head.
She was sitting on the top of the bed, back legs folded under her, front legs up straight. Celestia slowly rubbing her left leg, still feeling the change that occurred; reminding her of the past that she wished she could forget at this very moment.
Celestia ran her eyes over Green, taking pleasure in the fact that she was close to her once again. She didn't know if it was the feeling that she was going to die, or something more, but Celestia had never felt like she wanted to see any other being more. It compared to the sadness she felt when she sent her sister on her unexpected departure, leaving a hole in her heart for a thousand years.
'So... I take it you're pretty upset...' Celestia asked, unable to keep eye contact. At that very moment, even her mind's voice was cracking under the guilt.
'No...' Green began, 'I was worried, you left a note, Sure, A note. How was I suppose to feel...' Green moved around the bed, not taking her eyes off Celestia. 'I guess you're here because you had the pain as well?'
Celestia nodded turned her gaze downwards, towards her creased sheets. Now she was certain it was the distance between them. This brought on a whole new level of guilt inside her.
Green could feel the emotion flow off Celestia like a tsunami. With everything that's happened, Celestia had forgotten to raise her mental defenses, letting Green feel the mixture of guilt, pain and fear, that was haunting her since her breakdown in the street.
'Quick, the bull waiting outside. He rushed me here.' Celestia said, taking her eyes off her sheets to look at the door.
'The doctor told me, in some words that I won't repeat, what happened.' Green looked towards the door as well, gratitude welling up inside her for the young bull. She would have to find some way to thank him properly.
Green turned back to Celestia, 'What's this about a killer?' She raised her eyebrow at the story Celestia told. She had put two and two together and came here to find the killer, then got sidetracked, then the pains happened.
Green was a little freaked out to hear that it was a hired assassin that killed their Sister. They were bad trouble, normally used to remove high ranking officials from the picture.
Celestia knew this, though she would never admit, she was slightly envious of their job. Not about the killing, it was about the adventure, the thrill, but never about the killing. She knew it was necessary though.
'And here we are...' Green mumbled, just loud enough for Celestia to agree with, 'What do we do now?'
Celestia had no clue. Her will was somewhat broken, between her near useless magic, her fragile frame, and her inability to even create sentences that calfs could make, her choices her pretty limited. 'We could go after him? Celestia asked, turning to her guardian and raising a brow.
'The assassin?!' Green Shouted back, giving Celestia a small headache. 'Oops, sorry...'
'No, the one that hired him. He wouldn't expect us to do that, and the assassin didn't recognize me, so it's safe to assume he won't recognize you either.'
Green stared at Celestia, wide eyed and with her mouth open. She knew Celestia was gifted, particularly at mathematics and art, but this was way beyond anything a calf should be able to do... But even so, Green couldn't ignore the logic.
She wanted ever so much to go back to the orphanage, drink some tea and wait for this to all blow over. but she could see Sister, shaking her head at how Green knew this elk was bad and yet she didn't do anything to stop him, letting Sure get hurt in the process.
And with that in mind, Green stepped forward and wrapped Celestia in a hug. Tears welled up in her eyes. She wanted to say something, but couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make the moment less than what it was.
Celestia felt peace, for the first time since she left the orphanage. She felt Greens fur rubbing her own and smelled her scent, and it made her feel good. She could just curl up and sleep, being held by Green.
Somewhere deep down, she was silently afraid she could become dependent on her love, her affection; much like Twilight was.
Another memory she would have rather left buried. She had raised the filly to be special, to be able to think for herself, but instead she had grown dependant on Celestia's love for support. Alas, Celestia saw this but did nothing as she was, for the first time in soo long, loved for who she was, and not what she was. Celestia vowed, if she ever got back to Equestria, she would help Twilight.
Celestia snuggled further into the warmth of Green, moving over slightly to let her onto the bed. They both felt better while in physical contact with each other and felt any pain or annoyance fade away.
Sister was right, they both would stick together until the end. Although it would seem that Green was to follow Sure Fire, like being pulled with a rope tied around her barrel.
Of course, Green would follow anyway. Sure she would put up a fuss, whine about the situation or some other way to annoy Sure, but she wouldn't let her bonded go out on her own.
They let go of each other, feeling a little saddened by the loss of warmth. Celestia was the first to speak up, 'I’ll have to stay here until tomorrow, then the doctors will let me go.'
’Okay, I don’t have anything to take care of back at home. I can stay here with you,’ Green replied, feeling her fatigue taking over. She had galloped all the way from the orphanage to the hospital, when she heard the news. She laid her head down on the pillow, closing her eyes for a few seconds to get some rest.
Celestia did the same, knowing that they weren’t going to do anymore talking until Green has taken her rest.
Celestia woke up. The normally bright sun was being overcast by the dark clouds that floated in front of it, creating a dreary atmosphere in the town. That’s rather ominous... Celestia thought to herself as she raised herself into a sitting position.
She looked to her left and saw that Green was still sleeping, lightly. She was mumbling something incoherent and trying to pull Celestia back down. Celestia nudged Green in the shoulder, gently putting more and more pressure on until she woke up startled.
‘W-what happened!?’ Green shouted, waking up from her dream.
’You fell asleep.’ Celestia replied, leaving Greens embrace. She jumped down off the bed, feeling the effects of not eating for almost two days and falling over. Trying to get back up proved tricky and Green rushed over and pulled her off the floor.
‘Is this part of what happened?’ She asked, getting nervous.
’No, I’m just -’
-Gurgle-
’Hungry... Celestia deadpanned. Green giggled and backed away slightly.
‘Well, it looks like we should go get you something to eat,’ Green said, moving towards the door.
Celestia steadied herself and walked over next to Green. Together, they left the room and spotted Quick, who was sleeping on the floor. He was curled up.
’We should ask if he wants to join us.’ Celestia thought, looking up towards her guardian.
Green nodded. She walked over and gently rocked him, causing Quick to awaken. ‘Huh... What’s going on...’ He looked about, dreary eyed, before locking eyes with Green.
‘Would you like to dine with us today? My treat.’ She asked, holding a hoof out to him. He took it and pulled himself up.
‘I would like to,’ He began, then looked at Celestia, ‘If that’s ok with you...’
Celestia nodded, giving a smile and a small blush. ’Ooh, some elk has a cru-ush. Green sung, much to Celestia’s annoyance.
Celestia turned and huffed, walking away from the two elks. ’Faust help me... She thought to herself.
The group arrived at the cafeteria to find it practically empty, all but a few seats were empty. They walked up to the serving area and waited in line.
Celestia looked over the display. They didn’t have much to serve, and what was there didn’t look very appetising. But it looked infinitely better than what the hospital in Canterlot used to serve. She finally decided she would try some of the strangely named, “alfalfa and Shork” pie.
She had never heard of a “Shork” before and wanted to know what one would taste like. The other two looked at her funny, before ordering their own foods, and they walked over to a desk and sat down. ’Why would you order Shork?’ Green asked, looking very... undecided whether she wanted to move or not.
’I don’t honestly know, i’m not really sure what it is...’ Celestia replied. She tossed the lid off the pie, moving out of the way of the steam and taking a large sniff. As soon as she did that, she knew what it was, seafood.
Normal ponies don’t eat meat, but on occasion they would eat fish and such, mostly for the protein. Celestia, as an Alicorn didn’t need much to survive, so she was strictly vegetarian. No fish, or any other seafood. As it turned out, that rule doesn’t apply for Elks, meaning only other species would eat fish or meat.
Celestia turned around and wretched, she was certain she was going to throw up, but eating nothing for the past two days, that wouldn’t be an issue. Green pushed the food out of the way and placed her own food in front of Celestia. ‘Here, have this.’ She said.
Quick Sell sat there watching this display with a strange sense of wonder. He knew something was strange with Sure Fire as soon as he met her, but didn’t know how strange. He saw how two elks, presumably sisters could tell what the other was thinking and how they felt, it was like they were able to communicate through thought.
Quick decided to ask what was going on, ‘Hey, you guys... What’s with you two?’
The two cows stopped and turned towards him. Quick tensed up and stuttered, ‘How can you tell what each other is thinking so well?’
Green and Celestia looked to each other, ’Shall we tell him?’
’I think we should. Green turned to Quick, softening her gaze, much like a mother and said, ‘We... were bonded a couple of months ago. Normally this would be straightforward, but now we can talk to each other telepathically.’
Quick looked at her with a straight face, then turned to Celestia to see if it was true. She still had a little green on her face, but it seemed Green was telling the truth. ‘That’s the first time i’ve heard of that...’ He said, raising his eyebrows in amazement. ‘Can you talk to any elk else?’
‘No, it’s only us. I don’t think anything else will happen, as long as we stay close together,’ She explained, ‘The pain Sure had was from us being too far apart... or that’s what we think anyway.’
‘Alright, I still don’t fully understand. But I’ll take your word for it.’ Quick replied, a little unsure. He picked up his fork and played with his food a little, before picking some up and eating it.
The rest of the meal carried on with small talk. Neither of the cows would really talk out loud to each other, and Quick was unsure of when to say anything so he stayed quiet. It was only when it was time to go that he spoke up, ‘Hey Sure, I wanted to say thank you, for the meal...’ His face darkened a little, ‘It’s not often that some elk helps me out...’
Celestia smiled, giving him a hug. Green was off to the side grinning slightly. Celestia knew she would annoy her over this, but she didn’t care currently. All she knew was that a friend was feeling bad and needed help. They pulled back from each other, both having a little red around their cheeks.
Dr. Balthazar trotted into the room and over to Green, ‘Ma’am, it’s a pleasure. I’m sure you rested well?’
‘Yes doctor... Is Sure discharged?’ Green asked. This doctors hitting on me?
‘Oh yes, she was able to go this morning. I had some important errands to run, so I couldn’t tell you.’ He explained, moving a bit closer to Green. Celestia, already understanding his intent, blocked him.
’I don’t like him...
’Agreed, let’s go. Green walked around Balthazar and out of the room with Quick and Celestia, leaving him there.
‘I wish you guys wouldn’t just talk together, I can’t hear you remember...’ Quick groaned.
‘Oh, sorry Quick. I keep forgetting.’ Green replied apologetically.
The group left the hospital and started making their way down the main road that Quick took to take Celestia there.
They passed by various stalls that had just been set up. Some had vegetables, some had flowers and plants, one even catered exclusive seeds.
After they passed the stalls, Celestia thought more about how they were to stop the sales elk, and subsequently the assassin elk as well, He would no doubt have protection and I can't fight anything, especially if I'm having breakdowns every day...
Celestia never wanted to feel that helpless again, meaning she would have to get training or find Elks willing to help her. She hoped she still had the magic reserves that her Alicorn body had, or at the very least something, anything at all that could help them.
'I have to ask, how are we going to make the elk that did this pay?' Celestia asked, turning to Green.
In response, Green stopped and looked up to the sky, it's dreary color remaining from earlier. She had often though about this, coming up with ways to find and capture him. But all of that fell, in the face of logic.
In truth, they were two young calfs, yet to develop any magic beyond levitation and yet to know anything about how this world really works.
She knew no elk would really take them seriously. The guards would take them and put them in foster homes, most likely far away from each other as well. This left only one option, go underground
'I don't know... We'll need help though...' She turned to Quick, 'Do you know of any elk that can help us find our sister's murderer?'
Quick thought for a while. He wasn't phased by the word murderer as most Elks would be, he was raised for the first half of his life on the mainland, which was in a state of civil war.
When his sister, parents and himself moved to Buckingshire, they thought they were safe. They were killed soon after they moved into their one bedroom apartment, leaving Quick to fend for himself on the streets.
He found some other homeless and his new home, and had been living there ever since.
Quick turned to Green, 'I might know a few, but I haven't spoken to them in a while...' He looked to the cobbled street, 'I don't even know if they are alive...'
'I'm *cough* Sure they are.' Celestia said, smiling towards Quick.
'I hope so.'
Quick brought them back to his alleyway and asked them to wait by the entrance. He wandered inside and was greeted by cheers and questions asking what happened.
He answered to the best of his knowledge, leaving out parts which would make his new friends feel uncomfortable.
Once everything died down in the group, he trotted outside and said Celestia and Green could come in.
They walked into the alley, Celestia going straight for the fire as it was getting slightly chilly, and Green looking around at the area.
The alleyway was a straight line, with brick walls either side, it turned slightly in the middle, but carried on after, exiting into amother smaller road. Both ends of the alley were covered in some cloth material that was raised overhead by at least a twenty feet then connected to a makeshift roof. It separated the street and stopped prying eyes from viewing inside their own community.
The roof was made out of anything and everything that an elk could either find, if they lived on the street, or throw out, if they had a home. It wasn't purely flat, but had various angles to drain water into, letting it flow down drainage pipes and into the sewers or used as a very basic shower.
It looked like every elk had a room made out of large containers, each connected by a walkway that spanned the first floor, having a gap for the smoke from the fire to rise. The ground floor had a small group area that was connected to the first floor by stairs.
The first floor had most of the rooms, the storage area and the bath house. Elks could be seen walking to and fro from most of them, either chatting or moving stuff.
Green walked over to Celestia and asked, 'I've never seen anything like this...' She spun around, letting herself get caught in the atmosphere of the place.
Light from outside passed through the various bottles and plastics that formed the roof, leaving a rainbow if color on the floor, that passed over Green. It took her breath away, and it was that moment that she thought if she had a choice, she wouldn't mind living here.
'Hey Green,' Quick waved a hoof in her face, 'Are you okay?'
'Hmm, yeah I'm alright,' she replied, looking at Quick, 'why do you ask?'
'Well, you seemed a little out of it as soon as you stepped inside.'
'Oh, I was just admiring the place. It seems nice.' She said.
'Oh yes, we've all worked very hard to make this dream a reality.' Quicks demeanor dropped, 'Without this, most of us would die on the streets.'
'I see...'
Quick sighed and shook his head, 'But let's not talk about depressing stuff, let's introduce you two.' He pulled Celestia and Green over to the fire, sitting them down on an old sofa. 'I'd like to introduce, Green,' He announced, 'And Sure Fire, whom you met last time.'
Most of the Elks looked on with smiles, some bulls even looking Green over. Though some of them didn't look happy with the two.
'Are they staying here?' One cow shouted. She was standing on the first floor, bent over the railing causally.
Every elk looked up towards her. She had short red hair and a grey coat, which had small patches missing from malnutrition. 'You know we don't have enough food for them.' She asked, 'We don't have enough for ourselves anymore...'
She drew attention to her own coat, to which most of the Elks turned away, preferring to stay out of the conversation.
'What are you saying? We throw them out?!' Quick replied, 'Do you know how young Sure is?'
'She looks young, granted. But we can't take both, it would kill this community.' The cow reasoned.
'Ok... What about when you joined, what was discussed then?' Quick replied, making the cow look away.
'That's different... That's in the past.' She stuttered.
'I shouldn't have to remind you, you were Green's age when you joined.' Quick turned to the duo sitting there. Green had a leg around Celestia, 'and they are bonded, you know what that separating them would do.'
'Y-yes... Fine, but I'm not doing any extra work for them.' The cow said, before storming away and into a container, closing and locking the door.
Silence hung in the air before Quick coughed and shouted, 'I think it's best every elk goes back to what they were doing. We'll give them a proper welcome later.' Every elk seemed ok with this and nodded, walking off.
'Please don't dislike Alice, she'd had... A difficult upbringing, much like any of us here. Only problem is, she's been unable to cope.' Quick explained.
He walked around the sofa and towards some stairs. Turning around, he asked, 'Do you want the grand tour?' Motioning to the stairs.
Both cows nodded and left their seats. They followed him up to the first floor where he walked around, pointing out parts of the community that were interesting or places that they had to know about.
Soon enough though, it started getting late and every elk retreated back into their own rooms. That just left Quick, Celestia and Green to themselves.
'I think it's about time to show you your own room.' Quick said, before turning and galloping over to a container that had no lights on inside; the only one.
Celestia and Green followed him over and he opened the door. Celestia walked on, feeling around for a lamp. When she found it, she turned the knob and let the light fill the room.
It was surprisingly spacious, for a container. It had two beds on either side, with storage hanging above, and underneath. On the floor laid a carpet, made out of various other carpets, giving it a particularly nice patchwork effect.
The middle of the room was empty, except a small box with the covers, pillowcases and sheets inside.
'I know it isn't much, and it's not what you're used to back home...' Quick began, but was interrupted by Green.
'Stop worrying, it's lovely.' She said, making sure Quick understood she was serious.
'Well, I guess I'll leave you two to it them...' Quick said awkwardly, 'Goodnight Green, Sure.' He turned and walked away from the two.
Celestia smiled and waved. After, she opened the box as Green closed the door and walked over.
They pulled the covers, sheets and pillows out and made one bed. Celestia wasn't about to stop the one last thing that made her feel safe.
After the bed was made and the box stored away, Green snuggled down into bed. Celestia got in afterwards and moved up besides her as far as she would go. 'I love you Sure. No matter what happens, Remember that.' Green whispered, kissing the top of Celestia's head and hugging her.
Quick walked around the first floor, nearing the stairs when Alice moved out from the shadows, 'Why are you doing this?' She asked, 'You're putting all of us in danger, we have no food for them.'
'We'll manage, cut down what we eat. They are going through a rough time right now, and it's going to get worse.' Quick replied, whispering so he wouldn't attract any attention.
'I can't believe Brash left you in charge, I knew you were too young...' Alice said, waking away, leaving Quick standing there with a scowl on his face.
He walked back to his room on the ground floor and slammed the door. Right now, he didn't care who he woke up. All he needed was to be alone. He pulled open a draw and brought out a picture of his parents, sister and himself.
They were posing in front of a lake, their legs around each other, smiling. The picture was taken shortly before the civil war started, leading to them moving and-
Quick flipped the picture away. He didn't like to remember them when he was angry, it brought up worse memories.
He put the picture away and jumped onto his bed. Turning, he laid down on his back, Not feeling the need to go to sleep. Quick began going over names he would have to contact to get information about Fine Ware.
'Johnny, Fleetfoot, Rich... That's about it. Heh, not alot left...' Quick thought to himself as he laid back and closed his eyes.