//------------------------------// // Splendor // Story: Autumn // by canonkiller //------------------------------// Obsidian, or the being that had once been him and was now sharing flsh with that of legend, could feel the dragonness against his flank breathing as she slept. Why are you still with them? He almost jumped up, before recognizing the subtle lack of audible sound and sighing. I've told you already, I'm not leaving them behind. It will be faster to finish this if you leave them behind. You're starting to sound like your grandson, you know that? Leave them, and all will be perfect. I am sorry. I did not mean it like that. Do you wish to sleep? No, I'll be fine. I never sleep anyways. Oh. The persistent questioning voice of Kha muted for a few moments. Obsidian resisted the urge to ask him if he was alright. The eternal being would speak up again soon enough. Have you ever met a Firstborn? That's an odd question, don't you think? I meant it as in do you know what you're looking for. Not to be a disturbance. Isn't you being in this timeline disruptive enough already? The spirit's laughter filled his body, not with sound but with an indescribable feeling of joy and humor. You make me laugh, you little freak of nature. Obsidian forced a hurt tone into his mindspeech. That was harsh... I'm sorry! I didn't mean- The voice trailed off as Obsidian attempted to muffle his laughter in the back of his paw. That was mean. I meant it, you little breedless scale...feather...furball thing! Obsidian calmed down and rolled onto his back, looking up at the ashy blanket covering his sky. With a small flick of a talon, he sent the smoke hurrying away, revealing pinpricks of light sown into the dark sky. It's beautiful. You've never seen the stars? The stars I see are those on bloodied flags. Not the kind that truly show freedom. It was Obsidian's turn to fall silent. Together, through the same eyes, one misfortunate draconequus and one equally misfortunate ethereal being lay quietly, warm breeze ruffling their shared coat, and looked up at the stars, both wondering if anything would ever be the same again. Halfway across Equestria, in the center of Canterlot, one extremely confused Pegasus and her Unicorn daughter paused in front of a massive statue. Dinky looked up, seeing the frame of Celestia's stonewraught mane blocking most of the sun's rays. "Momma, why are we here?" The Pegasus aligned her eyes. "Dinky, I need you to remember something for me. I have to go somewhere, and I need to know if you'll be okay." "You mean like our address?" The Pegasus sighed, her worried expression softening. "No, I know you can find home." The Unicorn beamed at this, looking up at her mother with a wide smile on her face. "Do you remember your middle name?" "I know it all, Mommy! Dinky Grayscale Doo! Am I right am I right am I right?!" "Yes, you're right." Once again, Ditzy sighed, picking her daughter up in her hooves as she lifted into the air, her eyes rolling as she watched for collision courses. "Do you remember Grandma or Daddy?" "No..." The Unicorn sighed, happiness deflating. "I don't ever think I met Daddy. But I met Gramma once, right? She was a doggy?" There was no use in correcting her. "Yes. You remember Ponyville?" "Uhhuh! Where Sweetie and Scooty and Apple lived?" "Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, yes. I'm bringing you back there, and I need you to find them and stay close to them, okay? And if you can't find them, there'll be a draconequus there, a young one. Go to him." The foal's jaw dropped. "Like in my COLORING BOOKS?! They're REAL?!" "Yes, honey, they are..." Ditzy sighed, moments in her mind replaying that she didn't need. "Yes, they exist." "Woooooowwwwwww..." Dinky trailed off, dumbstruck. "Mommy, why aren't you going to Ponyville too?" "I'm needed somewhere else, sweetheart." The Pegasus alighted on a cloud, looking off towards the inky blackness tinting the horizon. Smoke. Kha. "I need you to take off your sparkly coat now, okay? And fly back home, to our address." "I get to use my wings again? Cooool~" With a flash of what looked like regular Unicorn magic, Dinky's fur peeled off in a semitransparent layer, sparkling as it lifted before being enveloped into her horn. She fluffed out her gray wings and hopped down onto the cloud, kicking up fluff and laughing. "Mommy, when you're done doing whatever you're doing, will you come see me?" "Yes. Now go." She nudged the filly to the edge of the cloud, towards the dim ash coating of Ponyville. "And whatever you see, I want you to know that it's just a nightmare. It'll go back to normal if you stay with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom or the draconequus. Promise you won't get scared?" The Alicorn that had once been a Unicorn rubbed her desaturated coat against her mother's foreleg. "I promise~" "Then fly to the sun, Dinky, and go home." With these gentle words, mother and daughter parted, each flying in a different direction. One bounced happily, singing a quiet little adventure song, and the other withholding tears. I'll miss you, my baby. But this battle is far too strong for you to join me. She audibly sighed, before hovering and staring down at the rocky earth thousands of feet below. And I will miss you. I'll watch over you... Her wings folded, and she began falling, the fabric of her essence tearing apart from her skin as she plummeted. Thousands of feet, hundreds, tens... ...forever Altitudo's eyes snapped open and she jerked her head up. Something had entered her Dreamscape, her perfect little paradise. Shifting to look at the abnormal energy, she met the eyes of a pale blue-grey Pegasus, scuffing a hoof - a thick, substantial hoof - against the lazurite stone forming the floating platform. "Ah, welcome." The dragonness moved to make space, her concentration breaking on her meditation and the false ceiling of clouds over the platform shivered before fading away. "Ditzy, I have to say I don't enjoy seeing you here. Something's gone worse since Luna joined the summerland, am I right?" "Kha's returned." "You left Grayscale alone with Kha's spirit!?" "No. I left her alone to go find it." The distraught Pegasus shook her head. "She's not the only one, Alei! There's another." "I have heard of Luna's son..." "I saw him, Alei. You know what I mean." The Firstborn sighed, a plume of steam rushing from her nostrils. "Your spirit eye?" She nodded. "He's drawn Kha's essence." "And you can't destroy him, because he reminds you of his father." Altitudo's tone was soft, but Ditzy almost broke into tears. "The only reason I know you exist is because I got caught up in the residue of one of Twilight's memory spells from a hundred years ago! It brought back... everything... including why I've been a young mare for over two hundred years! I remember Celestia as a foal, and who knows how long ago that was?" "Two thousand four hundred years, fifteen days, seven hours, five minutes and twenty seconds. Twenty-one. Twenty-two..." Altitudo interjected. "Exactly!" Ditzy stomped her hoof on the stone, not recieving any dramatic auditory feedback other than a pathetic 'clink'. "I've been alive since forever, and now Dinky-" "Grayscale." "-is going to be living the same way? She's been watching her friends grow up and old around her! That's why I moved her out of Ponyville in the first place. That's why we have to keep moving. If she ever noticed that her friends aged and she didn't... what about when the time comes that one of them dies?! How am I going to explain..." "Look, Ditzy, for starters, you could just fly here. You don't need to perform suicide stunts. Second, and on topic, I' sure she'll be fine. Celestia and Luna could do it, you did it, for Equestria's sake even Discord handled it... you know, in the way only Discord can handle things... but I know you, and that means Grayscale will be fine. She'll be just as strong as you." "I've never been strong!" Ditzy yelled, stomping again and getting a much more effective ringing thrum, and a few splinters. "If I was strong, Dinky wouldn't have been born!" "Don't talk like that." "I'm just as much a Goddess as Celestia and Luna were! I'm going to talk however I want to talk!" The dragonness's dark eyes lit up with opal fire, and she got to her feet, towering over the Pegasus. "You're not even half the pony she was!" Ditzy glared back, golden eyes blazing. "Which one of them, Alei? Which one can I not live up to?" The dragonness shut her mouth, teeth hitting with a series of snaps, and she took a deep breath. "Go back home, Ditzy." "I am home." "Hey, what's with the tyke?" "Whaddaya mean, Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom stopped her paced trot, looking up to the spot Scootaloo was pointing a hoof at. "Ah don't see anythin'." "No, you're looking in the wrong place." The orange Pegasus grabbed the sides of Apple Bloom's head and jerked it up and sideways, sending her gaze off towards Canterlot. "See? Right there. There's a foal." "You're goin' insane, sugar cube." Apple Bloom responded. "There's nothin' there." "No, she's right." A deeper voice responded. It was one of the nomads, finally emerging from the crowd. It was the Unicorn, his eyes focused on the distant point while his ears lay flat against his neck. "It's a foal. Scootaloo, she looks tired. Maybe you should go get her. What do you think, Rapture?" There was a snort, and the named Pegasus trotted out of the stream of disheveled Ponyvillians. He shrugged, lifting into the air in a preparation for leaving to get the foal on his own. "Hey, bud, stay here. Don't want you getting hurt." Lamplight glowered. "He's not mentally retarded. He's not going to go flying into a tree or anything." Rapture glared at him, the silence streching before he lifted a hoof and boxed his ears. The Unicorn winced and glared at his friend, who was wearing a smug grin. "Plus, somepony's already beat you to the punch." Tigerjay narrowed his eyes against the ash burning his eyes and throat. Steadying himself with his tail, he did a wide loop, dropping his speed so he flew up alongside the Pegasus foal. A filly, with an entirely gray coat, mane, tail and even eyes, drifting through the dark skies. As he lined up the last bit of his flight, he noticed the little gray nub of a horn parting her mane. "Hey!" She jerked her head up, seeming to lock up when she saw the Griffon. "Hey, are you alright?" "I can't talk t-to strangers!" She yelled back, tumbling as a stronger gust of smokey wind nailed her flank. "Look, it's too dangerous for a filly to be up here! The wind is too strong!" "I have to keep going! Momma told me to find Ponyville!" There was a mild disturbance in the space surrounding them. "Hey, Tigerjay, what are you do-" Obsidian trailed off as he noticed the bouncing Alicorn. "Whoa, that's new." Her eyes brightened, and she plowed into him, wrapping her hooves around his neck. "Yay~ I found a draconequus! Momma's gonna be proud of me for finding you! Where's Sweetie and Apple and Scooti? She said I'd get a ride on her scooter, you know! And where's Sugar Cube Corner? And Pinkie Pie?" Under Tigerjay's quizzical stare, all that Obsidian could do was shrug apologetically. "Trust me, I don't know her either." "Oh YEAH I almost forgot! Silly me! Now that I've found you I can put my sparkly dress on!" The magical web quickly spread over her body, masking her wings and transforming her into a seemingly ordinary Unicorn filly. "Whoa." Obsidian repeated, stunned at the apperantly new filly hanging from his neck. "HEAR THAT, MOMMA?" She yelled. "I FOUND HIM, JUST LIKE YOU SAID!" The echoes from her yell bounced around the feiry sky, fading along with the mild hum of a teleportation spell, as all present returned home. Wandering, burning home.