Fallen Leaves just couldn't believe it. He had two little sisters that he could play with. No longer did he have to sit around the house bored out of his mind. Now that his sisters were old enough to walk and talk, he could play with them even more than he did when they were born 5 years ago. He had grown quite a bit himself, and now he was almost as tall as his mom.
His age meant that he would soon be old enough to join the council. The council was the only type of governing body in the land. The three tribes of ponies, the Unicorns, the Pegasi, and the Earth ponies, sent their leaders to the council with their right hoof ponies. After that, 5 other ponies from each tribe were voted onto the council by their respective tribes.
They, for the most part, argued about what they should do concerning the weather problem, without ever being successful in agreeing on exactly what to do. Fallen Leaves thought that he had a good idea on how to resolve the problem, but they would not consider his words until he was on the council. Despite his reason, he knew getting on the council was probably one of the hardest things that he would ever try to do. Everypony on it had been so since before he was even born. Even knowing that, he felt he had to succeed. He had to join the council if he wished for his sisters to have a new home.
This land was nice, but the strange weather had been rapidly changing from rainstorm, to sunny day, to terrible snowstorms since before Fallen Leaves was born and it showed no signs of ever stopping. He never felt happy when he had to refuse to do something with his sisters, but going outside in the dangerous weather was one thing that he couldn’t allow.
"But big brother, why not?" Celestia grumbled after he refused yet again.
"Celestia, alicorns like us must be careful. If we allow the cold winds to blow into our hearts, we will experience a transformation."
"What do you mean?" Celestia asked.
"If we allow the wind to blow on our hearts, we lose our alicorn forms and become careless. That is why you can't go outside. The wind has the ability to completely change who we are: our names, our appearance, and even our cutie mark."
The thought of the wind changing him made him shiver. Fallen Leaves had just received his cutie mark the year before. It was 3 falling leaves with an autumn tree, and he couldn’t imagine losing it.
"How can the wind do that?” Celestia asked, her eyes wide with fear and curiosity.
" I have no idea how it happens. All I know is what mother told me, and now I'm telling you. You are not allowed to go outside until it stops snowing and the wind quits."
"Ok big bro.” Celestia chirped, but Fallen Leaves knew that she had another question.
“What else do you need?” He asked.
“Why do we even live here?"
Fallen Leaves sighed. "It’s where we were born and its all we can afford. There are times when I wish that we could just move far away and not have to worry about the council. At the end of the day, we must learn to accept that we are lucky to have what we do. We need to be happy that we are not homeless and living in a cardboard box in an alley. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes, I understand.” Celestia fidgeted, and her eyes filled with light as she perked up in excitement. “When we can go outside, can we play kingdom again?"
Fallen Leaves chuckled. His sisters certainly had a lot of energy. "Sure sis. Make sure to ask Luna if she wants to play too."
Luna was more of a shy pony than her sister, she preferred to be left alone so she could observe the night sky. It seemed that since the day she was born, she had been obsessed with the night.
Fallen Leaves followed Celestia to her and Luna's room.
"Hey Luna!” Celestia called, bouncing up onto her bed. “When the wind quits, do you want to come out and play kingdom with big bro and me?"
Luna looked up from the book she was reading with a happy, yet calm, expression. "Sure, why not. I can't see myself finding anything better to do anyway."
Fallen Leaves liked the way Luna acted, he could tell from her voice that one day she would make a great speaker. He knew that both of his sisters would be able to do amazing things, but he also knew that everything they did would remind him of the secret that only he knew, the secret his father had made him keep.
His dad had said that his sisters would have a great role in the finding of a new kingdom. He hoped that he too would have a role in finding the new home, but he couldn’t escape the terrible feeling that when his sisters were old enough to leave he would be cast behind them like a shadow.
"Big brother?" Luna asked, speaking quickly as if she was scared to ask her question.
"Yes, Luna?"
Luna sighed lightly, closing her book. "Why have we never met dad?"
Luna's question surprised Fallen Leaves. The careful lie that he had planned to tell her rose to his lips, but he just couldn't bring himself to lie to his sisters.
"Our Dad was a very strong and brave pony." Fallen Leaves smiled sadly as the words left his mouth.
"He was a member of the Council even before I was born. On my seventh birthday, he went out with a search party to try to look for a new land for us to live in.
"He... Well, one day he was on the mountain, and the wind picked up. The snow at the top was unsteady, and it all came falling down. The snow buried him there."
Fallen Leaves' smile gained a twinge of caustic irony. "That was the day before you two were born."
Celestia and Luna had so far listened in silence, but the white alicorn filly couldn't hold in her words any longer.
"So then daddy... He's in heaven, right?" Tears glistened in the corners of her round, innocent eyes before Fallen Leaves wiped them away.
"Yes, he's up in heaven. In fact, he's watching over us right now." Fallen Leaves nuzzled his sister in her belly, making her giggle.
"I know for sure that he is very proud of you two. He always will be." A genuine smile now adorned his muzzle. "I'm proud of you too."
The three alicorns shared a long moment of warmth, before Celestia's voice broke the calm.
"Can you promise me something?" She asked, her hoof scuffing the floor. "Can you promise that no matter what happens, you're gonna be there for us? Me and Luna both want our bestest big brother more than we want a new home."
Fallen Leaves pulled his sisters into a hug, draping a wing over each. He could barely keep the tears from flowing as he promised.
"With all of my heart, I promise that I will never leave you."