Forces from outside of her control seemed to rush Cloud Charmer towards her goal. She couldn't even grasp how she was so excited, she just knew that it was. Faster and faster the cart seemed to go, and Cloud Charmer could feel a her heart beating out a song of its own. All because just over this last rise was... nothing.
Well, not nothing, exactly... There were ponies, it just was not what she expected.
There were no houses! Instead there were rows and rows of generic green colored tents; all slightly pale and faded, old from a lack of use. The tents themselves were relatively large, and of course while there weren't a HUGE amount of tents, they continued on through the dip in the ground to the edge of the next few hills that sat on this higher set of ground. In the back of the rows, obscured by many of the surrounding tents was a commotion. Cloud Charmer couldn't see clearly but it sounded like some ponies shouting wares and selling items to each other. Pockmarked near the edge of the high hill ahead sat a few squat foundations, the makings of some small, future buildings, whose purpose Cloud Charmer could not divine.
This whole place was weird; with all the shouting and strange tents, and the weird buildings at the edge of the hill. Why was it all so... off? She held these thoughts in her mind, until she actually looked at the ponies.
These ponies were strangely colored; very pale and faded like the tents that they were staying in. Their eyes were oddly shaped and their hair looked slightly poofy, with many having their manes bound by some gold or silver bindings. As an even stranger property, some of these ponies seemed to sparkle in the light, like a shiny piece of metal or glass. Cloud Charmer had never seen ponies look like that before, and she had never seen ponies act like they did.
Though ponies were milling about among the tents and beside the road, none of them actually seemed to be doing anything. Some-pony was talking there, some-pony was walking here, but every-pony seemed to be acting aimlessly... automatically. Apart from that they seemed angry, like they wanted to pick a fight with some-pony, and some of them marched by with such angry scowls on their faces. There was some thing wrong here. Cloud Charmer felt filled with the feeling of loss, and the aggressive need to escape from being lost. Though she didn't quite understand the feeling at the time, ponies would one day refer to this mood as the rage of a nation.
“Mom, what’s wrong with these ponies? They feel, different.” With a visible shudder, Cloud sank back into the wagon a little.
“Child, these are not townsfolk they are travelers.” Oak Leaf looked at the ponies with her head tilted to the side.
"What?" Cloud Charmer asked.
“These ponies are refugees, Cloud. They’ve come here from the north.” Stormflight said. “This isn’t actually a part of the town, it’s a camp for refugees seeking the protection of the princesses from some civil war in the north."
"What Civil war would this one be?" Cloud Charmer asked as her father pulled the cart up the next hill past the camp.
"I'm not sure about that one, child. But I'm sure you could find out in town, which speaking of..."
Cloud Charmer's father trailed off, and looking ahead Cloud lost track of the thoughts she had just been holding; letting them fall to some black corner of her mind to be remembered later. It wasn't that she didn't care, but the view before her overpowered her mind with the excitement and anticipation of her new home.
In the many hills below her there sat a forest of oak and cedar trees, which carried across the rolling hills right to the wall of rock coming from a giant mountain, poking sharply into the sky like some vast claw. the forest ended just past a wide river that stretched all the way to the edge of this giant cliff that the town sat on, falling as a waterfall to form some pool far below. However, the sight that entranced Cloud Charmer most was the actual view of the town itself.
To try and give the exact dimensions of Cliffside would be impossible, but to Cloud Charmer it had certainly lived up to its name. The sprawling mass of buildings stretched from the very edge of the large mountainside cliff all the way to the forest directly beside the mountain. Right at the edge of this cliff sat a large wall, obviously designed simply to keep ponies from walking off the cliff as the wall did not completely surround the town. Occasionally there was drifting smoke coming from a chimney now and again, though for such a large town it seemed surprisingly inactive on this day.
Cloud Charmer could not have felt happier than she had ever before until this moment. She had finally made it to Cliffside! At long last she would be able to see just what amazing fun awaited her in her new home!
But Wait! There was something else... she could hear a noise. It was like a... beat, a pulse. The sound washed over Cloud Charmer, seeming to come from the direction of the town. She shook her head for a moment, a fog beginning to fill her mind, for a moment. When the fog left her mind Cloud found that she could clearly hear a beat coming from Cliffside. What was that? Some sort of music? Who was playing it?
Cloud Charmer was not scared, though. Nothing had managed to scare her yet! At least, that was what she told herself. The more she listened, the more unsettling the beat had become. She needed to find out what it was! She needed- CLICK!
Such was the audible, yet unheard noise that was made when another piece of the universe slotted, only this time it slotted into Cloud Charmer's head. All thoughts about what the beat was fled from her mind, to be replaced by excitement at her new home. Finally here, and now there was obviously something cool to investigate when she got into town. Oh, she could barely contain her excitement!
But even as the town’s pulse pulled at her, excitement turned to annoyance when she saw that her parents were turning the cart away from the village.
“What are you doing? Dad? The town is that way!” Cloud Charmer was exasperated; her parents were completely ignoring the excitement, the beat, of the town!
“We don’t live in the town, Cloud, we live in a house in the woods nearby.” Oak Leaf sounded slightly unhappy as well, maybe she wanted to live in town.
“I know it’s hard, dear, but Far Flung insisted that we move into this house. He had it built just for us!” Stormflight didn’t sound too enthusiastic, despite what he was saying.
“But I wanted to see the town!” Cloud’s whine rang in her parents ears.
“Don’t worry, you will.” Her father said.
“In fact, we will let you go into town all on your own!” Cloud’s mother added.
"Really? You would allow that?" Cloud Charmer asked quickly.
"Why of course, you're hardly a tiny little filly any more, Cloud. As long as you promise to stay out of trouble then you can act as you wish."
Oak Leaf's words brought a pang of shame to Cloud Charmer's heart. Why did they have to mention her age? It was so unfair, and her parents just did not get why it shamed her. Regardless, Cloud Charmer said her words fast, and without hesitation. "I promise."
Having gotten that little bit out of the way, Cloud Charmer's ears pricked up at the sound of the beat coming from town. What was that? She had never heard anything like this before. To a greater extent, why couldn't her parents seem to hear the beat at all. She had to find out exactly what was happening in town.
“Are we there yet?” she anxiously asked. She was missing stuff, whatever that stuff happened to be.
“Yes, Cloud, we are.” Her father said.
At that very moment, the path they had been following had turned up a tree covered hill. Pulling up, ever so slowly, Cloud Charmer was given a view of her new home.
The first thing that Cloud noticed about their new home was that it was a tree! That was definitely new for her. Though the whole hill, though all of the hills were covered in trees, this one stood out among the others. It was the largest, a great red oak that reaching high above the smaller surrounding trees. Its arms were gigantic limbs that stretched out over the clearing it sat in, and it had so many leaves that it looked like a floating ocean of deep green being pierced by red-brown branches, the wooden oars of a great boat pushing across the surface of the water. Though it looked like a tree, Cloud also noticed the front door and various windows and balcony that were spread out over the trunk of the great tree. It was probably the largest tree that Cloud Charmer had ever seen, and it was her new home!
“Do you two like it? My brother told me that it was magically grown and hollowed out. It’s also enchanted so that rain, wind, or even lightning can’t damage it or pass through its leaves. I’m told that one day this style of home will be all the rage!” Stormflight sounded very pleased with this new home.
“It’s a bit, isolated, don’t you think.” The house sat out of view of the town and did appear to be on its own.
“Don’t worry, Oak Leaf, we are still very safe here, safer here than anywhere else. Plus there will be plenty of room for Cloud to play! Right Cloud? Cloud?”
Her name drifted towards Cloud along the wind as she ran for the house. This place had its own heartbeat too! It was strange, all today she had been hearing these sounds in everything. Why was this place so different from the estate?
She wanted to know why she could hear a strange pulse coming from the tree, but for the moment she had a much more momentous place to explore. She had run towards the home the moment they had arrived. The rooms were spacious and well connected, but she didn’t care about that. Instead, she ran straight up the stairs to the absolute highest room in the house, threw her adventuring bag on the floor, claimed the room for her own, and ran back outside.
As Cloud burst through the front door and ran for the road she shouted, “Bye Mom! Bye Dad! I’m going into town! I promise to stay out of trouble!” For the most part, she thought.
“Just be careful dear!” Oak Leaf shouted back. “Oh that child! Always rushing!”
“One day she’ll learn how to sit still, honey” her husband comforted.
Cloud fluttered in the air for one moment, she was so excited! While the treehouse had its own heartbeat, it was the beat of the town that was calling her. Who was she not to answer? So she ran, and fluttered, towards the pulse that she could feel in her bones.
***
The town moved in slow motion, and cloud saw everything. Ponies everywhere! More that she had ever seen before in her life! She wandered through a frozen tableau of ponies of all colors and types. Ponies chatting, ponies playing, ponies dancing, so exciting! There was so much to do, so much to see! The town was alive with the joy of celebration all around her!
So why was it all moving in slow motion?
It made no sense, but none of this interested Cloud. Colours and shapes blending all around her made an aura of undiscovered greatness, yet even then faded into obscurity. It all just seemed so... irrelevant. Why didn’t she care about any of this? It made no sense.
The beat still called to Cloud Charmer, louder now than it was before. It pulled Cloud towards it, promising adventure, promising glory, promising greater things to come, and she followed. Walking down side streets and alleyways, constantly coming closer to an ever increasing beat.
As she walked through the streets of this amazing new place, she notice ponies partying everywhere. Cloth streamers hued in oranges and reds hung down from open windows and lay on the grounds of the narrow, winding streets of Cliffside. Ponies everywhere were laughing and playing, and dancing with one another, right in the middle of the street! What could be happening that could create such excitement? Cloud Charmer didn't know, but she became more and more excited as she traversed the streets, following a mysterious beat towards its source.
It was then that she came upon the town square. The celebration here was turned to the max. Ponies dancing and laughing and playing instruments, all enjoying the company of each other as they lived life to the fullest in this little town square.
A crowd of fillies and foals burst past Cloud, caught up in chasing a rabbit around the town. But none of this reached Cloud Charmer, as all she could notice was the pounding beat in her head, growing louder with each moment.
Da dum, da dum, da dum, da dum, da dum,da dum, da dum da dum.
It was rising in volume, beating louder and louder!
Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum! Da dum!
What was it? Why had it brought her here? It hurt her head, it felt like something was trying to burst its way out of her head.
It was becoming too loud… Cloud Charmer couldn’t focus. Everything had frozen in place, and her head began to reel; spinning in place as she stood where she was frozen.
The beat had forced itself into her brain had risen to a crescendo, and it hurt so much.
DA DUM! DA DUM! DA DUM! DA DUM! DA DUM! DA DUM! DA DUM!DADUM!DADUM! DADUM!DADUM!DADUM!DADUM!DA-
A resounding crash filled her head, but she didn’t care. Her stormy grey eyes focused completely on the sight before her. Anther filly, her age but a unicorn, with deep blue eyes, a dark blue coat and a light blue mane, curved in a war that it covered the right half of her face. Cloud’s mind recorded these details as she locked onto the filly, who was also staring right at her! The universe sped up, dancing ponies whizzing by, but the filly stayed in the same place, staring.
Suddenly the dark pony turned, fleeing from the town square. Cloud Charmer watched her, she could feel the adrenaline in her veins, feel her heart pumping. Who was that pony?
She fully intended to find out.
“I have to follow her!”