//------------------------------// // Whisperquill's Return Home // Story: Caught Between Dusk and the Dawn // by Dragonaion //------------------------------// Come little children, I’ll take thee away, Into a land of enchantment… “Are you sure this is what you want?” Moonshadow’s voice was dark and thick with remorse as he set his daughter’s saddle bag across her back. The magical aura around them made the white unicorn tickle a little, and she grinned with a small roll of her eyes as she turned to face her father. “Of course! I love it here, really I do, but-” Her father smiled, but to anyone who were used to the shadows of the night they wouldn’t see anything across his muzzle. “I know, I know, I just worry.” He interrupted gently, and he nuzzled her with a short sigh. “It has been a long time since I have walked into the land of the sun, and do remember not to stay out too long.” Whisperquill laughed, waving her hoof at him with a shake of her head. “Don’t worry! I’ll be fine, dad, really!” She gently tapped him on the forehead with her hoof. “Everything’s planned- I have a house there, extra funds, pen, paper and everything- and I’ll make sure I don’t spend too much time in the sun.” How, though, the unicorn wasn’t too sure. While she had spent some of her life in the land of the sun, more of her years were spent in the ‘land of the night’ with her father. Moonshadow was one of the few that had been saved long ago by Princess Luna after the fall of Discord, and being a Child of the Night, he lived with the others where only the light of the moon would guide them. This being the case, this made the two of them rather sensitive to the sunlight; their eyes would hurt quite a bit at first before they adapted to the brightness, and they’d eventually drop from exhaustion if they stayed out for more than a few hours. “I know, I’ll be careful, and I’ll make sure to find mother first.” Whisperquill grinned, shaking her head again. “I don’t know if Sunglimmer will be able to help much,” the dark gray unicorn said in a tone that could have been taken as bitterness, but to the mare it was just a note of interest, “but if things go south, she may still be in Vonhoover, I believe. I haven’t seen her since you were a newborn in her hooves.” Whisperquill nodded, her black mane coming over her right eye a little until she tilted her head to the side and forced her horn to keep her bangs at bay. She gave him a little nod and turned around, looking to the veiled mountains with crowns of stars blinking in welcome above them. Come little children, the time’s come to play, Here in my garden of shadows… “East of Neighagara falls, right?” She asked, looking over her shoulder to her father, who nodded his head slowly. “Well, then!” Whisperquill raised her head high and started at a fast trot along the dirt road beneath her hooves. She could still feel her father’s eyes watching her intently as she walked, but he had always been protective over her and so it was nothing new. He’d watched over her since she was a filly, and while he and his mother had parted ways for all of her life, he’d always come when the sun was down and make sure she was safe. When she was afraid of the dark and her mother said there was nothing to be done about it, he was the one that read her stories in the same darkness to help her sleep. And even now when she was afraid of wandering about Equestria on her own, Moonshadow had instilled in her the confidence in her abilities and preparations to help her keep moving forward. As she approached the mountains, she could feel a gentle, warming sensation start to flow over her fur as if she were approaching a bonfire. She came to a slow stop and looked around her, letting her magic ease into the environment around her. Through the grass, the dirt, and air- a small tug responded. Come little children, I’ll show thee the way, Through all the pain and the sorrows… “Ah!” Whisperquill grinned. “Precisely what I’m looking for! I wish to go to Vonhoover.” She said firmly, looking ahead of her into what seemed to be the continuing road. The images from her childhood started to ripple in her vision, seeing the familiar tall building that was where she and her mother had lived for many years. The picture changed as if a drop of water had dropped into the center, and in the ripples was instead the image of the forest that surrounded the town, with the tall trees Whisper had come to know so well. She took a long, deep breath and closed her eyes before taking another step forward, suddenly sending wave after wave of magic that rippled across her fur and made her giggle. The only way to enter ‘the land of night’ was through the portal that surrounded the land. Anyone could walk through it, regardless if they were a unicorn or a pegasus, and as long as they kept their thoughts focused on what they desired they could end up anywhere they pleased. It would be strange for her to suddenly appear in the center of town without anyone seeing her walk in- Whisperquill knew this when she was a young filly- and so to keep her Princess’ secret she traveled nearby where no one would see her. Besides, it would also provide shelter for her in case she got her timing wrong and the sun greeted her first. Weep not poor children, for life is this way Murdering beauty and passions… The tingles slowly ebbed, and when Whisper opened her eyes- still giggling from the tickles against her sides- all fits of laughter were gone and she whimpered in pain. That warmth she had felt hadn’t gone away, and now as her eyes burned from the bright light she realized that she was definitely wrong in her timing. She covered her eyes with her hoof and tried to shy away from the sunlight, but when she braved another attempt even the ground below her helped shine the light back into her eyes. “Ow…!” She murmured, using her horn to focus her magic and let it ‘feel’ the area around her. Her magic reached out a little before clinging to the trunk of a tree in front of her, and using her other hoof to cautiously feel the ground in front of her, she slowly made her way under the branches where the cool shadow enveloped her. Letting out a long sigh in appreciation, she tried opening her eyes again- still keeping her hoof over them just in case- and this time while the area around her was bright it didn’t sting and she could lower her hoof without worrying. She saw her blue, shimmering magical aura around the tree in front of her, and with an appreciative smile gave the trunk a gentle pat of thanks before ending the spell and looking around her. “Well,” she said as her eyes settled quickly and she could see the patches where the sun had broken through the leaves, “that certainly could have been worse. At least I landed where I wanted to. Could have done without the light,” she shrugged, “but meh. I’d have to face it sometime. “Now, then!” She stepped around the tree with a bright grin on her muzzle, her blue eyes bright with excitement and her steps light despite her saddlebags as she trotted towards the familiar town in front of her. “Let’s see about finding mom.” The lullaby her father had sung to her often as a little filly was still playing through her mind, and while she trotted along the grass- still wincing from time to time as the sunlight became particularly bright- she started singing the words with her smile staying still over her muzzle. “Hush now dear children, it must be this way, Too weary of life and deceptions. Rest now, my children, For soon we’ll away Into the calm and the quiet.”