//------------------------------// // The Narrowing Everfree // Story: The Minuet // by Noble Phantasm //------------------------------// Chapter 5: The Narrowing Everfree Time and Space Await… -Destiny is such a feeble word…clouded in abstraction. So then, wind in the rain…my dear sweet breeze… If it is strength we wish to find, why do we turn to it? Interlude 3: The alicorn is alone. She glances around frantically. Just a moment before she had been falling from the mountain pleading with Minuette to let them fly. Now she is here. The Everfree is dimly lit around her and the trees loom over her as if to make her more aware of her solitary state. Her pink eyes turn dull with panic. Neither her sister nor her new friend is nearby. What had happened? Had they been teleported? Luna, where is Luna? Her mind races. She gallops to and fro unable to decide which way to go. The sounds of the forest seem to pile in around her forming a cage of noise. She is afraid to move. Her heart starts to accelerate and every direction fails to give a sign of her companions. She backs against a tree locked by indecision. Suddenly she can hear herself over the forest. She catches herself hyperventilating and realizes what is happening. She cannot let this get to her. She does her best to calm her breathing, forcing her lungs to take deeper, more deliberate breathes. Even then, she cannot relax her pulse. Her mind will not allow it. She is still frightened to the edge of being able to think rationally. But she cannot let them see her like this. She has to put on a brave face, even while her hear beat constantly reminds her of her fears. She can at least hide her panic outwardly. She cannot stay here though, she decides. She has to find one of them quickly. She knows the paths of the Everfree fairly well. She gallops off to where she knows she will find an edge and in her desperation, the poor alicorn forgets she has wings. Interlude out… Her vision refilled in a series of lines like an echesketch drawing in fast forward. Lines first, purely grayscale and then color was added as if her eyes had to repaint the scene that had been before them only moments before. At first, her sense of balance returning to her, she could only tell that she was standing. Eventually, she could make out trees, then bushes, vines, all manner of foliage. Their colors filled in with deep greens, moist brown bark, and several shades of flowers. Suddenly, with a pop in her ears, everything became crystal clear. Colgate could only assume what was around her was the Everfree forest. The smell of wet grasses lingered heavily in the air and the trees formed a canopy above her, blotting out a majority of the eerie pink light coming down from the sky. The forest was dim, but not blindingly. Colgate could at least see past her own hooves and the first few trees. But what caught her attention was the mare running frantically about, yelling into the woods. “Tia!” It was Luna, calling for her sister. “Tia!” There was no answer and looking around, Colgate observed that Celestia was in fact gone. Luna turned to her, her eyes filled with panic covered in a film of water. They flicked around, looking at Colgate for a few moments, her panic turning abruptly into a rage bridled only by tears. “You!” Her horn lit up and Colgate suddenly found herself forced to the ground onto her stomach as if Luna had multiplied the gravitational force around her. Colgate winced, attempting to get up, but it was impossible. She was pinned down and Luna stomped up to her glowering down and, lowering her neck, met Colgate eye to eye. “What did you do with Tia!?” There was nothing Colgate could say to this. She had no idea what had happened to Celestia. “I-I don’t know.” “Liar!” Luna stomped a hoof near Colgate’s face. “You’ve acted funny since you got here.” “I can’t control my magic,” Colgate pleaded with her. “I don’t know what happened.” “No more excuses! You know what…” Colgate was picked up from the ground and forced against a nearby tree. She cringed, the bark stabbing at her back and pulling at her fur and mane. “You’re going to tell me where you’re from, cause you keep messing things up.” “I-I’m sorry.” “Where are you from!?” Luna repeated. “Luna please I-” “Answer the question!” Colgate felt the force pinning her to the tree increase. “Or…or what?” It was a question Colgate really shouldn’t have asked. “I’ll break your leg again!” “Luna, I can’t tell you…I just… I can’t.” “Liar! Liar! LIAR!” With the last repeated word Luna’s voice boomed as if amplified by a microphone. There was silence. Colgate didn’t say anything more. She couldn’t tell Luna she was from the future. She probably wouldn’t even believe her, but Colgate didn’t even like the notion of the idea being in Luna’s head. She might just decide to believe it because there was no alternative story. There was a snap, like twig breaking off into the trees that effectively broke the tension between the two of them. Luna turned her head to look, the anger evaporating from her eyes. “Tia?” Luna glanced around. There was no answer. “Tia is that you?” Still nothing. The sound had likely just been something lurking around in the underbrush that was either too timid or too furtive to show itself. Luna had perked up for a moment and when there was no reply seemed to wilt, lowering her ears in disappointment. Colgate was released from the tree and slid to the ground. It immediately seemed easier to breathe. Luna turned back to Colgate, her anger cooled now and the light reflecting off the water in her eyes. Colgate didn’t know what to make of it. “Luna I-” “Shut-up,” Luna interrupted her. She turned her back. “I hate you.” With this she spread her wings and leapt into the air, shooting through the canopy of leaves, over them and out of sight. Colgate stood up, stunned. She was alone. She couldn’t fly so there was no way for her to follow Luna and no way for her to tell where she had sent Celestia. Colgate struck the dirt with one of her hooves starting to cry some of her own tears. She had done it, she thought. She had successfully torn the royal sisters apart and ruined everypony’s future. What if Luna never found Celestia? There would be no future for her to go back to even if she could figure out how to go back. A tear dripped from her chin. She wanted to try to find her. She wanted to run off into the forest and look for Celestia to make sure the two sisters made it back together. But she didn’t move. It was something she couldn’t do. She kept messing things up for them. Colgate looked at the forest through a glaze of water, the edges of the trees blurred and the light bending through it. She turned the opposite direction and ran. She would stay away from them, she thought. Luna could find her sister she assured herself and once she did they wouldn’t need any help from her. She was just a dentist, trapped by her own magic. So she ran. She galloped through the vines and trees of the Everfree like there was nothing that would dare get in her way. She was barely paying attention to where she was going striking the side of a tree more than once, ignoring the scratches. If there was anything in this forest that might hurt her, she didn’t want to pause long enough for it to even know where she was going. She heard a few things dash out of the way as she passed, her tears trailing behind her. It was horrible, having one of the royal sisters, even if they didn’t have that standing yet, tell her they hated her. What a mess, Colgate thought. She just wanted to go home. She thought of Berry Punch again and wondered what was happening to her right now. She imagined her at the mercy of a changeling forcing information out of her like Luna had done to her. There was nothing she could do about it either. Colgate tripped. She toppled forward a few twigs cutting across her sides and her mane dragging through the dirt. She lay on her stomach face down and didn’t move, only folded her front hooves over her eyes and cried into them. It wasn’t noisy bawling, but a fit audible only by intermittent sniffles and squeaks. She had no idea how long she lay there like that, in her hopeless state. She remembered feeling somewhat like this when she had nearly burned down Berry Punch’s garden, only this time there was no Derpy who would come to cheer her up with her quirky but effective charm. The only thing charming around her, were the flowers overly lush from recent rain, which Colgate refused to look at. She kept her head in her hooves, not wanting to see the fact that she was crying and couldn’t stop. Eventually, her eyes gave up on the tears and Colgate’s mind faded in and out, her body telling her she didn’t need anymore sleep. But she didn’t move, letting the sounds of the forest wash around her. There were crickets, birds, frogs, maybe a cockatrice. She let out a cynical huff at this thought, almost chuckling at herself dryly. Had she saw a cockatrice she might have stared it down to lock herself in stone, ensuring that she couldn’t mess anything else up. She laughed, because she knew she was coward. The only reason she looked up from the soil she had practically stuffed her face into was because she heard a voice. It was familiar, but not it a good way. It certainly wasn’t Celestia or Luna and they were singing. Again. “Iron bars will bend and break, bend and break, bend and break, iron bars will bend and break, my fair pony.” To the pony singing it, it was a victory tune, but to Colgate it was a mockery; a mockery that was gleefully marching along the air above her, hitting every note with a wacky precision that sounded horrible at first, but somehow still followed the tune. A tune who’s title had resulted in her separation from Luna and Celestia. London Bridge. “Tear them down with fudge and snow, fudge and snow, fudge and snow, let them farm from checkerboard, crops that wither.” It was getting annoying. Colgate looked up, and to her surprise, found herself at the foot of earth that changed into a checkerboard pattern. The trees that grew out of it were dead, while the ones behind her were still very alive, oblivious to the death slowly creeping toward them. The dead trees were also encased it a flawless sheet of ice, unaffected by temperature making it more like glass. Colgate’s cheeks were cold and wet from crying, powdered with spots of mud from putting her head in the dirt. She could feel the soil in her mane too and looking back, could see fur and mud caked around the scratches in her side, which stood out in pale red against her normal pastel blue. She wiped her face, only succeeding in getting the excess tears off her face, replacing them with more mud. Somewhere above her though, a mare kept singing her demented song, a tainted take on an old nursery rhyme. “Poison joke will choke them out, choke them out, choke them out, Everfree will die no doubt, to our cadence.” Colgate felt herself getting angry. The song, sung so happily, would have been enough to insult any Equestrian and the mare singing it was having more fun than it seemed like was possible to be drawn from just singing a song. “We will laugh at-” She began another verse, but then stopped abruptly. “Ooooo!” She seemed delighted. Colgate didn’t look up to see why, but had a feeling and didn’t need to guess. “I found one of you!” With a snap Screwball popped up in front of Colgate, yet not eye to eye like she usually did. “Heya, Clocktail!” Colgate couldn’t change her expression to look any more disinterested. “Aww you wook sad.” Screwball did a ridiculous sad face, widening her eyes and stretching your neck. She quickly snapped back to her casual grin. “Did you for-for-forget your booooooze!?” With a spark, a bottle of champagne was suddenly over Colgate’s head. “Don’t worry; the hangover is always worth it!” Colgate clicked her tongue in annoyance. Her heart rate escalated and it only took her a moment to figure out why. She had been sad before because she had no else to blame but herself. Now, she had somepony to pin her misfortune on. Luna wouldn’t have yelled at her if it weren’t for this stupid mare. Colgate’s renewed tears were hot now, like the feelings in her head were simmering them before they came to her eyes. The bottle above Colgate, zipped toward her skull, but shattered before it met its mark, its contents dissolving into the air with a hiss. Her horn sparked. Screwball frowned. “Heeeeey,” She seemed genuinely sad, but it was only acting. Nothing was serious with this mare, but Colgate would give her a reason to be sad. Or at least try. “You…” To Screwball, she must have looked just like Luna had to her, tears in her eyes only because there was rage that needed to escape and it needed more vents. “All of this is your fault…” Colgate stood up and glared down at Screwball. “Hm?” Screwball tilted her head. “You broke the bottle you big silly.” She shrugged. “How about we-” “Shut up!” A bolt burst from Colgate’s horn and connecting with Screwball sent her flying backward screeching across the checkerboard ground when she landed. Colgate warped instantly after her and before she finished skidding along, popped up behind her and using her magic lifted her straight up shaking her around like a doll, her horn crackling with static like a greedy fire. She didn’t care how; she just wanted to hurt the mare. Out of instinct she somehow materialized a steely looking gray cube next to Screwball as she held her in the air. It was slightly bigger than Screwball and It held weight and she could feel it. Colgate whirled it through the air, bringing it around in an arc before using it to strike Screwball across the face. She had been holding her fairly high above her and even from that distance she could hear the abstract object crack across her jaw. For the moment, it made Colgate happy. Not in a gleefully way, it was more like the maniacal way Screwball had. Colgate used her newly formed object to jostle Screwball several more times before creating another. Screwball didn’t even have time to think. Colgate smashed the mare between the two objects. All Colgate heard was a pained squeak. She brought the objects apart to do it again. Any other pony might have been crushed by the first blow, but Screwball popped back into shape like she was made of rubber. Her eyes spun in opposite directions, dazed. Colgate brought the two cubes together again. They clanged like iron beams, even with Screwball to cushion their impact. She did this three more times, with less of a pause in between each time. Then, she dropped the objects, and they came down shattering against the checkered ground, only a temporary existence. They had served their purpose. Still holding Screwball with her magic, Colgate wrung her around again, flying her into trees and peeling her across the ground. She made sure she struck things at awkward angles hoping with every crack that her limbs would break. “Stop!” Screwball squeaked as her skin burned across the plastic land she was being drug across. Colgate finally brought the mare down, slamming her onto her back in front of her. Screwball flailed, Colgate’s horn lighting up brighter. A frenzy of lightening snapped out of it, striking Screwball in the chest with deafening booms like fireworks. Screwball wailed, her screaming only audible between cracks of thundering electricity. The mare was convulsing, trying, whether advertently or instinctively, to get away, but the lightening held her down with such force that she could only writhe against it. That was enough. Colgate, as angry as she had been was beginning to disgust herself. It was too late though. She should have known better than to trust her magic as a tool for anything. When she tried to stop it, it pushed back. The lightening torturing Screwball was no longer hers to control. Even as she tried to pull it back, to stop the spell, it intensified itself, not yet finished with what Colgate had started. In fact, it began to back fire. Colgate felt the static needle at her fur, hungry for more. Colgate tried to step away from Screwball, but she was pulled back by her horn as if she had turned the two of them into the polar ends of a magnet. Screwball contorted in every way imaginable, her limbs twisting around and a trickle of blood coming from her mouth where she had bitten her lip. Then, an audible snap. Not of lightening, but like someone had snapped their fingers. Everything went silent and a shock wave burst from Colgate’s horn, the trail of lightening from her to Screwball breaking immediately, sending her skidding backwards across her stomach after doing a back flip. Colgate raised her head, dazed. It was a lot quieter now. It had been so loud. “Oh no,” A voice said. “What did that mean pony do to you?” Colgate recognized this voice. She watched as Screwball was scooped in an eagle talon and a lion paw. She was held like and infant, wrapping her front hooves around the Draconequus’ neck and burying her face in his fur. “It hurt…” Screwball’s voice cracked through tears. “She’s horrible daddy.” Daddy? That was a first, Colgate thought. Why would this mare refer to Discord as her father? “There, there my little fiend.” Discord held her in one arm and using magic to lift her hat, brushing back her mane and putting the cap back on. It made Screwball look very small, but then she wasn’t much bigger than a filly to begin with. “Don’t worry about her. Do you remember your favorite rhyme?” Screwball looked up at Discord. “What?” She half sobbed. “There was a crooked mare,” Discord began. Screwball stopped sobbing and wiped her eyes. “And she walked a crooked mile,” Screwball continued like a child reciting a memory lesson. “She found a crooked sixpence,” The two continued reciting back and forth, line by line. “Upon a crooked stile,” “She bought a crooked cat,” “Which caught a crooked mouse,” “And they all lived together,” “In a crooked little house,” Screwball smiled as she finished, not her normal crazed grin she always wore, but a genuine smile. “That’s right,” Discord brought a finger up to Screwball’s mouth and as he did so, all trace of the wound she had received vanished, until Discord finally touched her lip and the wound itself was gone. “And why do like that one so much?” “Because,” Screwball raised a hoof toward Discord. “You said I’m like the crooked mare cause I’m all lopsided. And you said maybe one day we could live together in a crooked little house of our own.” “So I did. And no pony like this is going to mess up your weird little dream” He gestured to Colgate who was still watching, wondering what in the world she was seeing. It jerked her impression of Discord awry. She never thought of him as someone who could have compassion for anything. She suddenly felt guilt pull at her for what she had done. She might have killed Screwball if she hadn’t been stopped and this, Colgate thought, it was almost touching. “Now you run along and rest so we can have some more fun later. It’s not as good when it’s just me throwing things around. I’ll deal with her.” Screwball leapt up from Discord’s arm seemingly recovered already. “Okay Daddy!” She grinned and like a piece of bubblegum, vanished with a pop. Discord turned to Colgate. “You’re doing all this to make a broken house for your…daughter?” Colgate asked, hesitating to call Screwball something as endearing as his daughter. “Ha!” Discord laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. That’s just a side effect really. Why would I ever have such a complicated motive?” “That’s complicated?” Colgate raised an eyebrow. “Then what’s the real reason?” Discord vanished and popped up in front of Colgate. “Fun,” He replied with a grin. Colgate cringed. There was that tooth again. She really should have been backing away. After all, this Discord wasn’t inhibited like the last. He had free reign here. Colgate at least decided to stand up, but upon doing so found it more difficult than she might have liked. Her limbs were shaky and heavy. Her magic had certainly taken a toll on her stamina and her whole body felt tired. “Oh come now,” Discord said. “You should sit and stay. I’m always up for a good conversation.” Colgate didn’t move. She knew just being in his presence was dangerous, but doubted her ability to make any kind of escape at the moment. Discord slithered through the air and swirling up behind her put his hands on her shoulders. “Really now,” He said. “You saw what just happened. I have only good intentions. Isn’t the world more exciting this way? Do you know a Celestia? Perhaps you could pass that message onto that hot headed little mare. She and her friends don’t seem to like me. But don‘t I deserve a chance? Doesn‘t chaos deserve a go?” This was the second time Discord was telling her this. They weren’t even the same Discord either. Well they were, she thought, yet they weren’t. Discord shook her a little bit as if to rattle her. “What do you say?” “I…” Colgate didn’t finish. “Minuette!” Someone yelled from behind her. “Don’t listen to him!” Discord lifted his hands off Colgate and turned and shrugged at Celestia. “Ahh, there she is,” Discord said casually. “Celestia. Did you have a nice trip?” “I don’t understand,” Celestia grit her teeth. “Why are you doing this?” Discord seemed baffled by the question. “Why in the world does everypony keep asking me that?” “Stay away from Minuette!” Celestia’s horn lit up, hissing with heat. “Ah there you go again,” Discord crossed his arms. “Ever the short temper. But you know this mare?” “Discord…” Celestia nearly hissed at him with a tone that suggested if he didn’t stop she would resort to force. Colgate didn’t move, afraid of what might happen if she did. “Well don’t mind me, but I wouldn’t take anymore steps if I were you.” Discord pointed at the ground at Celestia’s feet. She was inches away from where the soil met the checkerboard of Discord’s randomness. “But you could spare a few moments for a friend right?” Discord put his talon hand to the back of Colgate’s head, stroking her mane. A chill ran all the way down through her tail. It was like metal scraping against stone, a feeling that would make anypony want to cringe. She felt uncomfortable, but still afraid to move. But was it really that simple, Colgate thought? She suddenly had a theory as to why it was the Everfree that everypony was hiding in. Celestia’s horn flared up, the air between her and Discord almost visibly tense. “Right?” Discord clenched his fists, repeating the word more fiercely. As he did so his fists lit up and the trees next to Celestia froze instantly and the checkerboard extended under her hooves. Celestia was suddenly pulled from her place and yanked toward Discord. He caught her by her mid section with his lion paw. He held her above Colgate his eyes widening and pupils dilating maliciously. “Hi,” He said, brining her up to his face. It was now or never, Colgate thought. This situation didn’t seem like it could get any worse and she didn’t want Celestia falling into Discords hands on her head. She leapt from her spot at Discord’s side and grabbing hold of one of Celestia’s dangling lower legs, put everything she could think of into making her magic work: faith, energy, determination, stupidity, and maybe a bit of foolishness. Her horn lit up and with a spark, Celestia was no longer in Discord’s hands. They reappeared away from him, under trees still with their leaves and on mossy soil. They were close though and as soon as Celestia realized what had been done, pulled Colgate back several meters to a safe distance. Colgate was still in a daze as she did this and being almost dragged, wondered if she had failed to teleport them far enough away. The ensuing sigh from Discord was enough to tell her she had succeeded though. He ported straight up to the boundary of the forest that was still alive. “Well you’re no fun,” He crossed his arms. Colgate was amazed. She had been right. But why? Why couldn’t Discord enter the Everfree forest? Even his power didn’t seem to reach within its still living confines as he had needed to kill part of it to drag Celestia out. But again, to her surprise, Discord didn’t press them any further. “Well I suppose that’s fine,” He said, seeming to resign. “That’s quite a strange mare you’ve found yourself Celestia. But remember, you only have so much time.” With that Discord vanished with a snap of his fingers just as he had arrived. Colgate’s horn fizzled, sending off a few weak sparks. She suddenly felt dizzy. Ridiculous, Colgate thought. Discord had been suppressing her magic the entire time. Celestia supported her, to stop her from falling. Colgate quickly recovered and backed away from her. “Minuette, are you alright?” Colgate shook her head. Celestia took a step toward her, hesitant, and then stopped. Colgate didn’t move. “What’s wrong?” Colgate looked away. “I…I’ve done some terrible things…” Colgate replied. Celestia looked down. “I saw.” Colgate flustered at this response. “I-I was angry. I-I didn’t me to-to hurt her so much. I- I just…well…I wasn’t thinking…you know I-” “Minuette,” Celestia stopped her not even raising her tone. “Don’t beat yourself up. Screwball wasn’t exactly gentle with us.” “But still,” Colgate teared up. “I know,” Celestia stopped her again. “Times are rough. But with everything beating you down…you can’t add yourself to the list.” There was a pause, Colgate didn’t answer. “Okay?” She spoke so gently it hurt in a way that harsh words couldn’t. “Okay…” Colgate replied weakly. “We’ll get through this and hopefully we can all be smiling in the end.” Colgate nodded, wiping her eyes. “Now, we’re taking you to the river.” Colgate suddenly found her hooves not on the ground. Celestia was using her magic to lift her up and drifted her along beside her as she walked through the forest. “Wh-” Colgate squirmed. “What are you doing?” She had gone from depressed to confused with a single action. “Look at you,” Celestia said. “You look like you just went puddle jumping and fell into a pile of twigs. We’re going to clean you up.” “Wh-but-hmmm…” Colgate couldn’t form a sentence. This action of Celestia’s, combined with the random determination she pursued it with, seemed rather unnecessary and illogical. Were there not more important things to worry about than how kempt Colgate’s mane was? But she was in no mood to protest. Whatever Celestia was thinking, Colgate decided she would just roll with it at this point. Her previous actions had gotten her into nothing but trouble. This was probably a good choice as Celestia didn’t seem lost like she did when they had been in the caverns. Even going around the thickest underbrush Celestia didn’t hesitate at which direction to take. Her eyes remained forward and Colgate was along for the ride. Eventually they came to a small stream, hardly what Colgate had been expecting when Celestia said she was taking her to a river. It was shallow, only a few inches deep and only a few feet wide. It was just enough to stand in Colgate observed as Celestia set her in it. The water didn’t even cover her hooves. It just splashed around them, moving calmly along like nothing was wrong. Even in the dimness of the Everfree, Colgate could faintly see herself reflected in it. It was no wonder Celestia had thought to clean her up. There was dried mud all about her face, caked into her mane, and splattered about her fur and tail. She really did look like she had gone puddle jumping and the scrapes at her sides was probably where Celestia had gotten the inspiration for the pile of sticks. Colgate had shallow cuts on her sides, her left slightly worse than her right, from running through the woods without a thought for where the braches had been hanging down. Colgate tapped her hoof in the stream, making a light splash with a thin watery sound. How was this ever going to be enough to clean her with? Colgate tilted her head at the stream and then looked up to Celestia who was looking back at her as blissfully as ever. “Ready?” Celestia asked. “For what?” Colgate shifted. “I guess that will have to do.” With this vague statement, Celestia’s horn began to glow, leaving Colgate to wonder just what she was about to do. The water at Colgate’s feet began to swirl momentarily, spinning mildly around and up her hooves. This was what Colgate had expected. There obviously wasn’t enough water to- Without warning the water surged up around her in a furious cyclone spinning just as fast as her magically powered dentist drills back home. Colgate held her breath and snapped her eyes shut as the torrent engulfed her. It pulled at her mane and peeled the dirt from her fur with a rushing gurgle that let her hears hear nothing else. Wasn’t there a milder way to do this? Colgate felt the water spin above her and it stopped. She took a breath only to notice a huge bubble of water encased in an aura of magic lingering over her. It plummeted on top of her head, dousing her before she was ready. The mass of water washed heavily over her in an instant, rejoining the stream below her or making good food for the mosses around the bank. Colgate sputtered, coughing and sneezing water out of her nose. Between her panting Colgate could hear Celestia giggling to herself. “Hehe…” She grinned hiding it by placing a hoof over her mouth. “No pony ever expects that the first time.” Colgate attempted to shake herself dry, only succeeding in stopping the incessant drip coming from the tip of her mane on her head. “Maybe…” Colgate sneezed again. She was shivering. The water in the stream hadn’t been the warmest and there was little sunlight, as strange as the sunlight was right now, in the forest to warm her. “Maybe you should give them more of a warning… princess.” Colgate paused, adding the honorific at the end out of habit, once again realizing it was unneeded immediately as it left her mouth. “Oh no,” Celestia insisted not even flinching at the term. “I love the reactions. They’re priceless.” “So…so…” Colgate’s nose tingled with another urge to sneeze, but she resisted it resuming her question as her nose calmed itself. “So now do I just…just air dry?” She shook fiercely as a breeze rustling the leaves sent chills everywhere down to her tail and left her fur standing on end. “Oh, my apologies,” Celestia lowered her head, placing her horn just above Colgate. It came to life again, this time with a reddish glowing emitting soothing and inviting warmth that calmed Colgate’s shaking within seconds. It was a warmth that soaked into her like her skin was a sponge. Was there anything Celestia couldn’t do with her magic? But then of course there was. Defeat Discord. Colgate would have been content to enjoy the warming sensation while she dried in silence, but Celestia had other plans. “So now that I’ve got you here,” She began. “Would you like to tell me about your magic?” Colgate shrugged mentally. Where did she even start? “I’ve never seen anything like it. I have to say, I don’t know what you’re going to learn from me.” “You’re just being modest,” Colgate replied. “What?” Celestia seemed baffled by this. To her, it must have seemed improbable. Her? Modest? Not a chance. She was simply telling the truth. “You and Luna were powerful enough to stand up to Discord.” Celestia expression saddened. “I wouldn’t call what we did ‘standing up to him.’ We mostly just got pushed around.” Colgate found herself at odds with the way Celestia viewed herself. She was at the very least brave enough to confront Discord. Surely it hadn’t been that bad. “Still,” Colgate protested. “You healed my leg and then took on an Ursa Major. You even stood up to Discord again for me. Whatever you saw me to do Screwball was merely an accident. I did it out of anger. I couldn’t do it intentionally if I tried. But you know exactly how to use your magic.” “You really think so?” “I wouldn’t have asked you to teach me if I thought I was wrong.” “There’s still not a lot I can tell you about your own power. Every unicorn’s magic is different somehow. I’ve never seen magic like yours.” “Can you still teach me how to control it?” If anything, Colgate needed only this. She didn’t need any elaborate explanation or obscure details on what her power was or how it worked. If she could just get it under control, it would solve so many problems. It would also get her one step closer to getting back to the time she was supposed to be in. “I could try.” This was Celestia’s answer. It was good enough for Colgate. She figured that Celestia was only being modest again and that she would be more than capable of doing whatever it was she was unsure of. There was pause as Colgate accepted the answer, nothing left as a response. Her fur was drying quickly and was only moist at this point. “Say…Minuette?” Celestia apparently wasn’t done asking questions and seemed nervous about asking her next one. “Yes?” “If you don’t mind telling… What made you so angry at Screwball? I know she tried to hurt us, but we ended up okay. You just don’t seem like the type of pony who would get that angry. What happened when we got separated?” Colgate searched for a response. She recalled the incident with Luna after she had recovered from her daze. Did she really want to tell Celestia that her sister had told her she hated her? Perhaps Luna had only been upset as well. Maybe she hadn’t meant it. “Well…” Colgate started. “When I came to…I was with Luna and…She wasn’t very happy…” “She was upset that you separated us wasn’t she?” “Yeah…She didn’t hold back about it either…” “It’s alright Minuette. I know now that you probably had no way of knowing what was going on. I’m sorry we’ve gotten you all caught up in our struggle.” “Don’t be. You’re my best shot at getting back at this point.” Colgate realized that she had almost said too much and quickly refrained from saying anything more. Celestia simply smiled. “I won’t ask what you mean by that,” She said. “But I trust you know what you’re doing.” She lifted her head and stopped her magic. “Good?” Colgate brushed back her mane with a hoof. It was fairly dry now as was her fur. She nodded and Celestia seemed satisfied. “So, where did Luna run off to? It’s apparent she didn’t stay with you.” “She flew over the forest,” Colgate replied. “Then I ran off, so I don’t know where she went from there.” Colgate almost expected this to upset Celestia, but she was turning out to be very difficult to upset in any way. “Oh,” Celestia seemed relieved. “Then this should actually be easy.” Celestia’s horn lit up and shot a brilliant yellow beam into the tree canopy. It seared upward into the sky, a constant stream for a few seconds and then Celestia stopped. She winked at Colgate and seemed to start counting seconds in her head while she looked up at the branches. It really was only a matter of seconds as well. It might have been ten or eleven and then Luna plummeted through the blanket of leaves above them into the forest. She landed solidly on all four hooves and quickly folded her wings to her side. “Tia! Are you alright?” She looked at the scene before her, Celestia next to Colgate who was still standing in the shallow water. She scowled upon seeing Colgate, bending back as if ready to pounce. “What are you doing?” Her horn sparked. Colgate loosened her knees ready to jump out the way fearing Luna would attack her again. “Now Luna,” Celestia intervened calmly. Colgate might have liked her to be a little more urgent about it. She was afraid Luna was in state where she wouldn’t care if she broke any more of Colgate’s bones. “Haven’t you been mean enough to Minuette already?” “But sis!” Luna protested angrily. “She tried to separate us! How can you still trust her?” “Luna. Surely she told you she can’t control her magic.” “She’s lying! She’s a dirty faker!” “Luna.” “A faker!” “I saw her magic Luna. She’s not faking. And I’ll be teaching her to control it while we head to meet the other ponies on the other end of the Everfree.” “Wh-” Luna looked betrayed. “But Tia… What if she separates us again?” “She won’t. Right Minuette?” “Not on purpose,” Colgate said. She couldn’t make any guarantees though. As long as her magic was out of her control, she had no idea what it might do or when. “See,” Celestia assured Luna. “If you won’t trust her then trust me.” Luna flustered at this, shifting out of her attack stance, which put Colgate at ease. “I- well… Are you sure Tia?” Luna looked at her sister with a strange, but earnest concern. “I’ll be fine Luna.” Suddenly Colgate didn’t understand the conversation. It had turned in a direction that seemed like a riddle to her. There was more here than she could see. Why did Celestia need to assure her sister of this? Celestia approached her sister and patted her on the head. “Alright Tia. I-I trust you.” Luna still looked uneasy. “Thank you Luna.” The two did a strange hug in which Luna tucked her head under her sister’s neck. Celestia then took a step back. “Shall we go then?” “Discord seems to be shrinking the Everfree faster sis.” “Yes I know. We need to hurry. Southeast is where we need to go. Can you pinpoint that?” Luna nodded and her horn began to glow as she closed her eyes. After a few moments Luna shifted as her horn seemed to pull her in a certain direction. She stopped, pointing in the direction the small stream at Colgate’s feet was flowing. She opened her eyes and her horn stopped glowing. “That way,” She stated. Even this amazed Colgate. These two really were an incredible pair. Their magic was even a compass for them and she silently wondered if she would be able to things like this eventually. Then again, as long as she could get back to her own time, she wouldn’t have a need for such survivalist spells. “Let’s go then,” Celestia and Luna began walking. “This way Minuette,” Celestia said as they passed her. Colgate took a step to follow and then noticed something strange. It was in the way the two sisters walked together. Colgate shook herself out of her hesitation and began following behind them through the woods, her hooves drying themselves on the mossy forest floor that felt almost like carpet. It was a bit odd, Colgate thought. Luna’s concern about being separated from her sister seemed to stem not from a clingy need as a typical younger sibling might have, but more from a desire to protect her. Luna seemed wary that her sister might get hurt and for the first time as Colgate watched them walk she noticed something backwards. It was always Celestia who stayed close to Luna and Luna always making sure that was possible. It wasn’t Luna who was clinging to Celestia, she realized. It was Celestia who was clinging to Luna.