Chapter 5 – Spring
Sunday, 23 June 1003
Spring soared through the air, climbing swiftly to an altitude of six thousand meters. The city of Canterlot was spread below her; Spring was caught by its size and grandeur. Growing populations indeed! The city was nearly four square kilometers of dense, beautiful buildings of stone. Spring was not at all surprised that such a place could hold twenty thousand, not in the slightest. She had seen it flying in, true, but not like this. She paused in her flight to gaze upon it for a few seconds, marking how its streets and courtyards caught the sun. After a short while, she turned her eyes back to scanning the world around her.
Where to? As mundane as it sounded, Spring knew that her first order of business would be finding someplace to live and building a home. She needed a base of operations, a place to store her items, and, even more basically, somewhere to sleep. She knew a few places, she had had hundreds of homes, palaces, and temples over the course of her life, but none were likely to have survived one thousand years of wind, rain, and Celestia. The mountains were usually nice, filled with caves that could easily be converted into grand homes with a little magic, but with Canterlot, they became far less desirable. Spring supposed that she could go the the Everfree, at least for now. It was almost certainly uninhabited, and there was more than enough resources around for her to construct a home from. It was not exactly a prime location, but one she could deal with until she had a better idea of where prime locations were now.
The Everfree forest was not exactly hard to spot, a patch of dark green against the light green grasslands some eighty kilometers away. It was smaller than it used to be – the edge had been only fifty kilometers from Canterlot when she had last checked. Spring noticed a few small settlements around its edge, and headed towards the one dead south, using it to keep her bearings.
Twenty minutes later Spring found herself approaching the town, four kilometers out from the edge of the forest. Her stomach grumbled. Spring sighed. It was hardly surprising, given that she had now gone two days and flown three hundred kilometers on nothing but a single lick of cake and some tea. She had a lot of stamina, sure, but she was getting hungry. Looking down on the town, Spring decided that her best plan of action was to extort the citizens for some food and go on her way. Spiraling down, she landed just outside of the town, on the top of a small rolling hill that looked in.
There was a clear dirt road, which Spring followed into the town. It was not very long before the citizens began to notice her. Spring payed them no mind, the perfect figure of an aloof goddess as she walked purposefully through the streets, the ponies panicking around her. They were not fleeing at sight, which was unsurprising; Spring would be very surprised if one in fifty actually recognized her. Still, she was new, unknown, and obviously an alicorn: this alone was more than enough reason to explain their reaction to her presence. As of yet, nopony had dared ask her for her name, or say anything at all to her for that matter. Most looked nervous, though only a few looked actively scared of her, a group that was outnumbered at least three to one by those who seemed curious and excited by her presence.
At random, Spring turned towards one of the ponies. It was a young dull yellow earth pony mare with a silver streak in her mane, who shrunk back from her as she approached. Spring took three paces forwards, until she had drawn nearly on top of the poor mare, who was beginning to cry. Spring smiled.
“Where mayst I find a good place to eat?” Spring paused. “I am very hungry.” The mare flinched, then seemed to process her words. She looked back at Spring shakily.
“We... we don't really have that many restaurants in this town...” She shrunk back even farther, though she did not turn away. “Um... there is a sandwich shop... and we have two bakeries...” She squeaked.
Spring looked at her for a few seconds, not saying anything. After considering for a moment, she spoke. “What is a restaurant? I hast nay encountered the word before.” The mare's eyes flashed with surprise briefly, before returning to their state of fear. “Well... Uh...”
Spring felt a sharp impact on the back of her head. Turning around, she saw a brighter yellow unicorn mare with a light green and soft gold mane. Spring started upon seeing her; in her minds eye her form became aliferous, back-lit with a brilliant light; her eyes slowly opened, dark holes rimed in aquamarine staring deep and strong into Spring's eyes, enough sadness to drown in, enough determination to kill with...
“Leave her alone!”
The vision shattered, leaving Spring starring at the no less determined but far less powerful unicorn in front of her. Her eyes narrowed. “Didst thee throw a rock at me?” Spring asked incredulously. “Really? Of all the unoriginal things! Thee could nay think of anything beyond hitting me with a stone? There art at least fifty things thee could hast done besides to grab my attention, many of which wouldst hast guaranteed my attention for longer! I refuse to respond to thy defiance until thee comes up with something better.”
Spring continued to stare at the mare, who was looking at her funny. After fifteen seconds had passed, the yellow unicorn rolled her eyes, then casted a quick spell. To Spring, it felt as if her ears had been cupped. The unicorn sighed. “That better?”
“It is a start.” Spring looked at her. “What dost thee hast to say for thyself?”
“You can't just come in here and start threatening ponies, forcing them to do your will!”
“Yes I canst. I hast. Your argument is very flawed.” Spring felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, but forced herself to stay calm and serene.
“You know what I mean!” The unicorn said angrily.
“No, actually. I dost nay hast the ability to read minds. Well, not without breaking the mind I read, anyway. Thee must tell me with thy words what thee intends me to know, or I shalt nay be able to understand thee.”
The unicorn glared at her. “Are you thick?”
Spring looked at her for a second. “What dost thee mean by this? I canst assure you, I am no liquid, and hast no viscosity to my knowledge.”
“Urgh! I can't tell if you're being serious or if your just being difficult!” The unicorn spat. “Thick. Dumb, scatterbrained, imbecilic, fatuous, vacuous, stupid!”
Spring glanced at her, surprised. “Art thou? Thee hast been insulting an alicorn from the moment thee met her. It is one thing to be defiant of the control of your goddess. It is quite another to insult them.”
“Really?” The mare smirked at her. “What a world you must come from, where insult is worse than injury.”
“Thee treads a fine line betwixt engagingly difficult and tiresome. Thee wouldst dost best not to cross it.”
The mare stuck her tongue out at Spring. “Pffft.” Spring stared at her for a few seconds.
“Thou dost realize that I could end thy life with no effort at my leisure, right?”
The mare laughed. “You're not going to do anything to me.”
“Dost thee think thy rulers wilt protect thee? I dost nay fear retaliation from them. They hast too much to lose to endanger everything for a single pony.”
“No.” The mare smirked again, her voice becoming haughty and filled with self-pride. “You didn't kill me when I hit you with a rock. You're obviously not going to hurt me.”
Spring pursed her lips. Usually, ponies were too frightened by this point to make that connection. Not that it was always the case. She had on many occasions previously let ponies have their say before she killed them. This mare, however, had no real way of knowing that. As far as she was aware, Spring was going to let her live – and, to be fair, Spring was going to let her live. If she was going to keep her promise, she needed to gain control of the situation without killing anypony. Spring smiled. She enjoyed a challenge.
“Thou art correct,” Spring said, her eyes taking on a playful glint, “I dost nay plan on killing thee. Thy form reminds me of my mother, which makes thee interesting to me. Thou hast also displayed intelligence and independent thinking, which art traits I like in my pets. Thou art a bit feisty, but I am sure that thee wilt break with time.”
The mare blinked twice, then growled. “I will not be your pet!”
“Oh, really? Thee thinks thyself capable of escaping me?” Spring's horn glowed, and the mare became surrounded in an light aquamarine haze which condensed into two solid aquamarine hoof bands on her front hooves. “I wouldst like to see thee try.”
“What have you done!” The mare tried pulling off the band, but with no success. Throughout this entire time, many ponies had stayed to watch the conversation, though Spring had seen many leave, off to do something or another. The mare addressed the crowd now. “Somepony get me a stick or something, at least!” Nopony moved.
“Thou see, my little pony, they art smart enough to not get between a goddess and her quarry.” Spring smiled. “Thee shouldst nay trouble thyself with attempting to remove the bands. Anything strong enough to snap it off wouldst rip through thy leg first, and even then, the enchantment would not break.”
“What enchantment?” The mare looked at Spring, and for the first time she saw some real fear in her eyes.
“Nothing for thee to worry about. It shalt dost nothing to thee, so long as thee stays within two hundred meters of me. If thee strays outside that radius... it shalt not be a pleasant experience.”
“Within two hundred meters?” The mare looked down at her hooves. “Forever?”
“I canst nay hast my pet running off, canst I?” Spring chided. “The effect is entirely mental, so if thee passes outside on accident, thee wilt suffer no permanent damage, though I daresay thee wilt try much harder never to stray again.” The mare looked at her, anger, fear, and sadness obvious in her gaze. “Oh, dost nay be like that. Thou wilt see, there art advantages to being my pet. I dost take pains to make them happy and healthy. Thee wilt spend the rest of thy life in grand palaces and beautiful houses, attended by servants and gifted whatever treasures thee couldst wish. Queens and empresses wilt bow before thee and dost thee honors! I think thee wilt find it to thy liking, once thee gets over thy separation(1). Come, tell me thy name.”
Spring beckoned her forward, and she obliged, though Spring could still detect defiance in every step. Eventually, she drew within a meter of her; after ten seconds, it became clear that she was not willing to come closer. “Your name?”
“Honeysuckle.” She said flatly.
“I am Spring.” Spring said, seeing recognition and remembrance flash across Honeysuckle's face instantly. Some of the other ponies in the crowd also began to murmur, though most seemed to not recognize the name. “What is this town called?”
“Ponyville.”
Spring paused for a second. “Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
“Alright then.” Spring opened her wings, the eyes of all the ponies around her trained on her. She opened her mouth, ready to make her will known, then paused. Was such fanfare really necessary? It would be fun, sure, but she was trying to get along inside of the system, not in spite of it. The ponies seemed scared enough of her already to be complacent. She did not really need to put on a show.
So, pushing the urge to simply dominate the town out of her mind, Spring instead took a deep breath. “Dost nay fear me, mortals. I wilt nay hurt thee if thee simply dost as I ask. All that I require is some food. If somepony tells me where I mayst find some, I shalt leave thee to do as thee wishes. That is all.”
There was complete silence for a few seconds, then, by some unseen, uncommunicated consensus, the group as a whole led Spring and Honeysuckle off, obviously with some location in mind. They traversed the town, leading them across mane street and past the town square.
“Dost thee know whither they art taking us?” Spring asked.
“Sugarcube Corner.”
“What canst be found there?”
“It's a bakery. Mostly baked goods.”
The two continued to be herded through the town, passing over a bridge and past a train station. After three more minutes, they found themselves outside of a pink, purple, brown, and white building which appeared to be constructed out of candies and gingerbread.
“Oh, this is going to go well.” Spring said sarcastically, and sighed. “If the inside is anything like the outside, I dost nay believe that thee wilt find anything to please me.”
The ponies started looking between themselves anxiously. From snippets of conversation, it did not take Spring very long to peace together that this town was very used to being invaded and controlled by outside powers for short periods. Many seemed frightened of what she might do to them, now that they had apparently failed her. Others assured each other that the princesses, or the elements, would arrive here, it wouldn’t be more than a few hours at most. Finally, after about fifteen seconds, Honeysuckle made the intelligent comment.
“Why, exactly, will this not please you?”
“I dost nay like how sweet everything is.” She shuddered. “Since I wast freed, everything that I hast eaten hath been sweetened, and it sickens me. When thee said bakery, I assumed there would be breads, perhaps some biscuits. Not cakes and pastries.”
“Breads...” Honeysuckle closed her eyes for a second, then nodded. “I know where we can get bread.” Leading Spring away, she eventually came to a pony with a cart, who had set up just outside of one of the large town parks. When the pony saw Honeysuckle, he smiled.
“Honeysuckle, how are you? Come here, let me give you something.” The stallion reached down, pulling out a loaf of bread. He smiled up at Honeysuckle, then noticed Spring and jumped. Banging his head on his cart, he hit the floor, then scrambled up against the cart, using it as support. “Who are you?” He asked, then more quietly, “And what do you want from me?”
“Honeysuckle hath told me thee hath bread. I will take all of it, and be on my way.” Spring said, calmly and precisely. The stallion nearly melted with relief.
“You want bread? Oh, thank Celestia. I can do bread. Great with bread. Me and bread, best buds. I'm always good with bread.” He reached into his cart and pulled out a burlap bag filled with bread, seventeen loaves. “Here's bread. Do you need more bread? I can make you more bread.”
“No, I dost think this shalt be enough bread.” Spring said, mirth in her voice. “Thee canst calm thyself. I dost nay plan to harm thee.” She looked at Honeysuckle. “Is he yours?”
Despite the situation, both blushed.
Spring smiled. “Then I shalt leave ye to yourselves.” Spring turned to leave.
“Wait!” Honeysuckle said, running after her. “Don't move so fast, I can't keep up!”
“Why wouldst thee be trying?”
“I'm tethered to you, remember?”
“No, thee art not. I just said what I thought wouldst make thee obey my will quickest. The bands are nothing more than bands, and never wast anything but.” Honeysuckle looked at Spring, daggers coming from her eyes. “I couldst hast done it if I hadst wished, but really, didst thee think that I wouldst chose thee as a pet? After thee hadst thrown a rock at me? Thou must be joking.”
“You used me, and tricked me into doing what you wanted!”
Spring gave her a long, hard look. “Wouldst thee hast preferred that I forced you to my will by example? There is still time. If thee wishes, I wouldst have no problem raising thy town, letting thee and a select few out with the news so that others wouldst know to respect me. This town wouldst make a fine example of my power, if thee truly wishes it.”
Honeysuckle became completely silent.
“Oh, thee thinks that I wouldst not dost it? Tell me, hast thee ever built with pebbles and sticks a small village, to smash it underhoof?”
“I had a cardboard city... a few cardboard cites.” Honeysuckle said quietly.
“It is fun, pretending to destroy. Granted, it is just as fun, if not more so, to create. Still, every once in a while, it can be almost cathartic to just crush something. Except, for me,” Spring grinned, “I dost nay hast to pretend.” Spring swiped her hoof, a wave of magic smashing a building apart along her arc(2). “So, my little pony, you can rest assured that I wouldst hast no trouble making as much of an example as thee required.”
“Please... don't...”
Spring paused. “What wast that?”
Honeysuckle was crying softly, her voice breaking. “Please don't hurt them. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Don't hurt them.” She dropped to her legs, bowing before Spring. “Please. I'll do anything. Just don't hurt any more ponies. They haven't done anything to you. If you must punish somepony for this, punish me.”
Spring felt a tug in her chest, a twinge of guilt plaguing her otherwise good mood. The unicorn had been very insulting, but she had not really intended it to go this far. At this point, however, simply backing off would seem like an admittance of defeat to, of all things, public opinion, a fate which Spring wanted much to avoid. Still, she could at least do her best to end this quickly.
“Hurt them?” Spring feigned confusion for a moment, then let her expression clear. “Oh, thee means the ponies living in the building! Dost nay worry. I hast nay harmed them.”
There was a flash, and a scared and confused family of six stood in the rubble, unharmed.
“Why wouldst I hurt them?” Spring said, charismatic and aloof. “I wanted to give thee a taste of my power, not them.” She paused, looking at her. “Wouldst thee like me to...?”
“No!” Honeysuckle said, then withdrew sightly. “No, you've shown me enough. I believe that you are more than willing to do all you've threatened. I'm scared, alright? You've beat me. Congratulations. Now, will you please leave us alone? We've done nothing to you, and we won't get in your way, I swear. Just let us get on with our lives in peace, please.” Honeysuckle bowed before Spring again. “Please.”
Inwardly, Spring sighed. This was more of what she was looking for. Outwardly, she maintained her countenance. “Thou hast learned humility. I see no further reason to torment thee. Though, I dost hast one more thing for thee to dost.”
Honeysuckle gulped, and looked at her. “What?”
“Nothing more than to tell thy story to others. I dost think we wouldst both prefer it if thy experience didst nay need to be repeated.” Spring smiled down at her. “It wouldst tire me so to hast to spend a quarter hour of my time doing the like for each town I visit.”
“Of course. A very wise request.” Honeysuckle said, shakily. Spring nodded, then turned away from her, dispelling the bands as she did so. Spreading her wings, she took to the skies, heading back outwards towards the Everfree.
Spring found herself at the edge of the forest in no time. She flew over the tops of the trees for a while, but finding no suitable clearing in which to land, was obliged to do so at the mouth of the path. Trotting slowly into the forest, she mused on her situation while munching on some bread, which was quite good all told. She had come off a little harsher than normal back in Ponyville, but she would attribute that to her hunger. It was not like they had not had it coming; they had insulted a goddess, tried to hurt her even, and she hadn’t killed any of them. She was particularly proud of herself. She did not made a habit of killing ponies normally, but given how they had acted towards her, she felt that she had handled the situation well. If all she needed to do was back off on a little severity, Spring was sure she could get along just fine, at least for a while.
The forest, despite the millennium separating her visits, was mostly unchanged. She could still taste the magic in the air, but it seemed just as willing to let her pass as it always had. She spotted some creatures as she passed: a pack of timber-wolves, a few hoop snakes, some squirrels and chipmunks, two jackalopes and a red fox. The path she was on was rather well maintained, given its location. Spring had no difficulty following it as it meandered through the forest. A few kilometers in it forked, Spring choosing to take the wider path. From there, the level of maintenance dropped off considerably, becoming barely more than a trail. The forest was very dark, though here and there a few beams of sunlight illuminated the underbrush. Nothing approached the goddess as she calmly and slowly made her way down the path, enjoying the peaceful coolth which the forest emanated. Her hoof-steps made no sound as she trotted the path which she herself had laid eleven hundred years previously.
Eventually she came across a clearing, which was split by a seven meter wide ravine. Unsurprisingly, the bridge she had built here, as sturdy as its stones once were, had not survived centuries of neglect. It had been replaced at some time by a rope and plank bridge, recently destroyed, judging by the two intact pegs with rope and a few shattered planks still dangling. Spring considered flying over, then decided to rebuild the bridge. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her magic, selecting the spells she needed. Her horn began to glow, and her magic cascaded across the gap, forming an ethereal bridge. The stone of the valley began to move, melting and forming to her will. In twenty seconds, she was finished. Now standing in front of her was a strong, sturdy stone bridge, wide enough to permit four ponies to walk across side by side. It was not particularly ornate or fancy, but Spring did not feel the need to make it so, as it was hardly likely that it would see much traffic. Trotting across the bridge, Spring found its construction fairly sound, not shaking or vibrating perceptibly under her weight. For eight seconds, the air was filled with the sound of hooves on stone, and then silence, as she disappeared into the forest on the other side.
As expected, within a few minutes Spring found herself walking into a clearing in which the ruins of what was once a great castle stood. Some of the outside structure still stood, she had laid the foundations well, but the roof and most of the west side wall had collapsed, likely long ago. The entrance was sill intact, though its once proud adornments and statuary were striped away. The stone pavilion which had once stood at the entrance was completely missing; how, Spring could not guess. Spring walked up to the doors, putting her hoof against it.
“How old this world hath become whilst I wast sleeping.” She murmured softly. “I wonder, is this how I dost look on the inside?”
The ruin did not reply. Spring sighed.
Pressing with her hoof, Spring pushed the doors open. There was a noise like grating stone on metal, the door slowly creaking open. Spring entered, closing the doors behind her.
The hallway Spring found herself in was ill lit, though some light did come in through two windows and numerous cracks. With a flash of power, the room brightened, once more glowing with the light of the magical torches which lined its walls. Spring fed the lighting system for a few seconds, giving the castle enough energy to stay aglow for the next three months. After all the time which had passed, she was shocked at the fact that the old system still worked. Even more surprising was the condition she found the hall in. It was clearly abandoned, and hardly pristine, but give the thousand years for which it was abandoned, it was in very good condition. Carpet still remained in places, though ripped and discolored, and the stairwell gleamed in the light as it always had.
Walking around, Spring encountered ruined columns in overgrown courtyards of stone; defaced and weathered statues, who's faces she remembered from when they were new, and when they were alive; stripped bare walls with shattered stain glass windows depicting events which ponies called ancient history and she called recent memory. Spring got the distinct impression that this place would be quite atmospheric in the dark of night.
Accompanied by the warm light, Spring explored the ruin, its atmospheric effect somewhat diminished by the lighting. For each destroyed room she passed, a passageway would open, revealing another preserved miracle. It was almost as if, after the Nightmare had wrecked the place, no new damages had been suffered. Spring became suspicious. Somepony had to be maintaining the place. It was the only explanation.
She felt a presence, more than once, as she walked through the once familiar halls, but whoever or whatever it was gave her a wide berth. She tested a few of the traps, and found almost ninety percent of them to be still operational. The gallery had been cleared out, unsurprisingly, though she did find about half of a grand tapestry depicting Celestia and Luna's defeat of Discord. The treasury was likewise emptied. The armory still had enough workable weaponry and armor to field an army of several hundred(3), though they would look rather strange and unprofessional given that only nineteen full sets had survived, and the others would have to make do peace-meal. The infirmary was one of the rooms which had been destroyed, as was, unfortunately, the kitchens. The throne room was still in its half ruined state, though, strangely, it seemed to have suffered from some additional magical blast damage in the last few years.
Throughout, she found no overt signs of habitation or maintenance. There was no section half finished, or in the process of receiving repairs, nor were there signs of use in any of the halls, passages, or chambers. Some of the traps, she noted, seemed to have been triggered recently, likely in the last few months, but otherwise the castle seemed undisturbed. The whole situation was strange. Surely the castle could not have simply not sustained any damage in one thousand years?
After a few more minutes of exploration, Spring determined that, whatever the cause, she was unlikely to find it. Turning, she decided to visit her old room. She saw a flicker of darkness out of the corner of her eye; turning to look at it, she found nothing in her sights. She was certain that she was being watched, but whoever her watcher was, they did not seem particularly invested in a direct confrontation. After climbing a few sets of stairs, she was stopped by the gap in the wall. It seemed the entire section containing the royal chambers had disintegrated.
She had seen enough. She felt a little dirty for having even thought about this. Spring had given this castle to Celestia for her fiftieth birthday, and even if she had let it fall into disrepair, she could not just take it from her. Spreading her wings, Spring took off, quickly landing behind the castle.
There was no path to follow, but this did not hinder Spring as she made her way deeper into the forest. She stepped over a few small streams, past some burrows, and through thickening underbrush. The light dropped off quickly, the canopy dense enough that, soon, the forest around Spring was cast into a deep twilight. The trees became increasingly more menacing, but she payed them no mind. Dark things flickered at the edges of her vision, but they knew better then to approach her. Around her, the forest was quiet and calm.
Eventually, when Spring began to have trouble seeing her hooves in front of her, she came to a stop. Sitting down, she concentrated, her magic surging around her. There was a terrible, low hum coming from her horn, silencing all sounds around it. She let her power build for forty seconds, feeling the familiar energy surge through her. Turning towards the ground, Spring struck it hard with her hoof.
The resulting explosion tore the forest apart around her, the earth trembling at her blow. Dust filled the air, forcing Spring to hold her breath. When it settled, she found herself in a small, shallow crater, some hundred meters in radius. The trees around her had been turned to dust, though on the edges some had maintained enough integrity to be ripped from the earth and thrown outwards into the edge of the forest around her. Spring's horn flashed again, the ground around her glowing for a second before hardening into sandstone. In rapid succession, Spring turned the felled woods into piles of workable planks. Once she had enough, she levitated the planks into position, sealing them together with internal wooden struts. Within two minutes, Spring had completed a house. It had three stories, fourteen rooms, and a basement, windows of glass from the sand around her, and a mostly functioning door given that she did not have any metal around. It was hardly a home fit for a goddess, but it would do for now, she supposed.
After struggling with the door for a few seconds, Spring entered her new home, glancing around for any problems. She was very good with these things, but everypony makes mistakes, and it was a rushed job with suboptimal supplies. The wood was a rather ugly color, but not terrible to look at. Every room was accessible, which was good. What an embarrassment it would have been, to find that a parlor or a drawing room was completely boxed in! There were no internal doors, but given the trouble she was having using wood only hinges, she was content to leave it as such until she could lay her hooves on a sufficient supply of iron.
After her quick search, Spring set to building magical torches for lighting. She would need some cloth, some wood, and a few crystals(4). The wood and crystals would not be a problem(though the crystals would likely be low grade), but she was at a loss as to where she would be able to find cloth of a high enough quality to maintain structure under the strain of the spell. Eventually, she decided to weave some out of the fiber of some of the leftover wood; it looked like some of the ugliest cloth she had ever seen, but it worked. Sifting through the ground outside, she located a few quartz crystals good enough for the job, and build herself twenty-three torches, more than one for every room. By this time, the sun was beginning to set, so Spring tested her work, lighting the torches with magical flame. They burned quite inefficiently, but produced sufficient light. It was hardly as if, to her power, the difference in energy cost really mattered(5).
Under the warm light provided by the spell, the house looked far more comfortable, although it did not have any furnishings or furniture to speak of. Spring did not mind, as it would be a few days yet until she would need to go to sleep. She was certain that she could procure a bed in that time. In the meantime, she set out engraving the woodwork, making her home more beautiful. After an hour or so, she stopped, as finished as she was ever likely to be. It was hardly the best house she had ever built, but she felt pretty good about it all the same. She would get embellishments later.
Seating herself on the floor, Spring ate some more of her bread. Now what? She had her house, and enough food to last her the next three days at least. The necessities were taken care of. She had nothing to read, nothing to do, and nopony to talk to. She could use this time to formulate a plan against Celestia and Luna, but really, she did not feel like that right now. She had not just been saying what they had wanted to hear; while she found it far from solid, parts of what they had said had gotten to her. She would, as she said, give it a chance. At least a week, if not two.
Looking back through her memories, Spring realized that now would be a great time to practice the new syntax and word choice of the modern era. She had aggregated enough memories to learn, she was sure.
Twenty minutes later, Spring was muttering to herself frustratedly. It took her less than two weeks on average to learn a completely different language, fluently, yet she was making almost no progress with a simple change of syntax. At this time, she was fairly certain she had 'don't' down, but that was about it. Something was very weird with this.
Knowing that she was getting fed up, Spring decided it would be best if she took a walk outside to give herself a short break. After struggling with the door for a few seconds, Spring stepped outside, the edge of the forest catching the sun's dying golden rays. She paused for a few seconds, watching it, then, for lack of a better thing to do, began to make a path between her house and the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Not wishing to resort to explosive methods, she took down each tree one by one, slowly forging a path between the two points. She had made sure that she was at least three kilometers away from the castle, and as such, the sun had fully set by the time she was half way through. She was making good progress, almost four kilometers per hour, but she was considering going back to her house now that it was dark. She could always cast a light spell, but she just did not feel like it. Besides, she could use the time to make a fireplace, or build some of the furniture she needed. Tomorrow, she intended to head out to one of the pony towns, in disguise, to see for her self how the world worked. She had gotten somewhere with Swift, but she was sure she could get much farther if she did not need to appear completely unsuspicious. The more she got done on her house tonight, therefor, the better off she would be on the day after next.
She was about to turn away when she heard a very faint voice in the distance. Curious, she replayed the memory, finding the dialog indecipherable, but having the clear pattern of speech. Spring crept forward, listening for more. The voice did not start again. Spring knew she had heard it, her memory was infallible, but was beginning to suspect that whoever it was had been moving away from her.
After about ten minutes, Spring was at the edge of the clearing of the castle. She was once again preparing to turn back to her home, when she heard voices again. Still too quiet to make out, she could just barely perceive the modulations of speech being carried by the wind to her ears. Between the snippets which she was able to hear, she could tell the slight variation in speech that meant that there were at least four ponies, perhaps as many as seven, coming her way. Within a minute, they drew into range.
“.... this way, right? I mean, who says that she needs to come here anyway?” The voice had a bit of a slurred drawl to it, very distinct from what she had been hearing since her awaking.
“I don't know about you, but if I was a goddess, I wouldn’t settle for anything less than a castle, ruined or not.” Spring recognized this voice as belonging to Rarity.
“Honeysuckle was very shaken up. I don't think that she was lying to us. This is the only landmark that existed here from before she was sealed, and although I can't be sure she's here, it seemed like a logical place to start.” This voice belonged to Twilight. Spring sighed. That meant that they were almost certainly hostile. Great.
“The animals seem to be frightened of something in this area, but I can't tell what.” This voice was quieter and softer than the others, though Spring could detect some measure of apprehension present in her tones as well.
“Perhaps it was the explosion we saw. That was definitely in the area, and almost certainly caused by Spring.” Twilight said.
“Yeah, that was awesome!” This voice was more energetic than the others, though her diction was clear. “I mean, it was a terrible thing to do, hurting all those animals and all, but still, awesome!”
“Dash, we're supposed to be fighting her, not praising her!” Twilight said.
“Yeah, yeah, but, you know, credit where it's due and all that.” Dash said. “It was an awesome explosion. I like explosions, in case you hadn't realized. That doesn't mean that I don't understand that they're not good to make.”
“I know, I know. I'm just really strung up right now.” Twilight sighed. Spring realized that she was close enough to hear Twilight sigh. “We're going to fight a goddess. Not an easy task normally, when we're underestimated and desperate. This time, she's on the defense, and not likely to underestimate us. If anything, she'll overestimate our danger. We're a lot more likely to get killed here then, well, we've ever been, actually. Not as likely to lose as ever, but most likely to die.”
“Oh, I'm sure everything will go great!” A new voice chirped in, as energetic as Dash's but almost an octave higher. “I wonder what color balloons she likes, or if she even knows what a balloon is!”
“Pinkie... Although I appreciate your enthusiasm, I'm fairly certain this is not one of those times when we'll befriend the villain and have a party.” Twilight sighed again.
“You don't know that.” Pinkie said. “There's always a way to get a happy ending, for everyone. Think about Discord. Who would have thought that he would turn out alright? A lot less likely then this, that's for sure! We've done crazier things in the past. What's to stop us from succeeding this time?”
Spring had heard enough. It was clear, despite their obviously good nature and intentions, that they planned on confronting her. She took two steps forward, her horn flashing. The six had less than half a second to respond, not getting out more than a shocked expression, before they were splayed and trussed, floating one meter off the ground, each cocooned in a ethereal aquamarine prison.
“Greetings, my little ponies!” Spring said, grinning. “I dost trust that thee art comfortable?”
End Chapter 5