//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty Five - Visions From an Unknown Past // Story: When The Snow Melts // by Bluespectre //------------------------------// CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE   VISIONS FROM AN UNKNOWN PAST   Celestia removed the cloth from the man’s forehead and rinsed it in the bowl of clean water. “He’s exhausted, but appears unharmed. I cannot find any injuries.”   Thorn nodded, turning his attention back to Rush, who was stirring the soup quietly. The human may not have been watching him with his eyes, but he could sense his attention upon him in other ways. This was, after all, his home, his territory, and Thorn would need to have his wits about him if he was to get out of here in one piece.   Rush spoke quietly, “Who is he?”     Thorn raised an eyebrow. “A human. One who was going to be tortured into giving information. Whether he had any or not did not matter.”   “It was you that evening in the forest when I fell into the ravine.”   “It was I.”   “Let me ask you a question, Major. Did you kill a human female by a pond near the village?”   Rush looked up from the soup pot, his eyes boring into the thestral. Thorn sighed inwardly. He knew that look.   “No, it was not.”   “But thestrals eat meat, do they not?”   “Amongst other things, yes. However, there are plenty of fish and other game here, human. Whatever else you may think of us, we are not murderers.”   Celestia snorted, making them both look around. She glowered at the major, her eyes sparkling in the light from the fire. “Not murderers?” She stomped a hoof. “Your lies are without end, thestral. You butcher my people, you hunt me down like the assassin you are, and now, now you have the affront to sit before me and claim you are innocent?”   Thorn looked at her levelly. “I didn’t say I was innocent, Princess. I have blood on my hooves as much as anypony involved in the war. Conflict makes killers of us all, to some degree.”   Rush tapped the spoon on the pot, covering it with the lid. “It was the other thestral, wasn’t it?”   Thorn hung his head. “Yes. I fear my subordinate has lost himself to anger and hatred. Whether it was as a result of being lost in an alien world or the drugs he has taken, the result is the same. He will keep on killing until he is stopped.”   “Drugs?” Rush asked, curious to know more.   “Haj,” Thorn explained, “a potent mix of elements from my homeland. It was used as a battle stimulant, but its effects were so unpredictable, our elders banned it. Some, however, such as our rogue warrior, appear to have ignored the warnings.”   Celestia shook her wings out before pacing back and forth before the fire. “As if your people’s brutality was not bad enough, you have to imbibe ‘powders’ to increase your bloodlust? Is there any depth, any depravity, your kind will not sink to, thestral?”   Rush looked across at the princess, his face unreadable. Briefly, she returned his gaze and sniffed, looking away. It wasn’t like her to allow anger to take control, yet being so close to one of these ‘things’, the sickening creatures that her sister had brought to infest and invade her homeland, was beyond anything she had ever had to endure. She could smell the iron tang of blood, the unmitigated cruelty that emanated from it, and it set her teeth on edge. Rush, on the other hoof, had never seen these things in battle, the way they hacked and cut through her ponies like… like…   What was Rush looking at? With a startled squeak, Celestia’s magic winked out, and the halberd clattered noisily to the floor. What was she going to do? Strike the thing down in front of Rush when it was unarmed? It was no more than it deserved, but still, she had more honour than that, and certainly more than the vile beast that was sitting across from her. With a huff, she leaned the weapon against the wall and sat by the fire opposite the thestral.   Rush wiped his hands on a cloth and addressed Thorn, “Do you have children, Major? A family back home?”   Thorn shrugged. “One son, no more than a foal. My wife was killed in battle.”   “My family were lost to war,” Rush said quietly. “My wife and daughter now lie beneath the soil of the forest.”   The major watched him for a moment, unsure where this was heading. “Losing a loved one is never easy.”   Rush nodded. “No, it’s never easy. At least you still have your son, Thorn.”   “I do,” Thorn replied, “until the goddess calls him to her side. As she will for me some day.”   Celestia leered derisively. “Goddess? My sister is no goddess, thestral, and you know it.”   Thorn shrugged. “My people have lived in darkness for as long as any of us can remember, Princess. One came who offered us a chance at a new life, a new beginning for our people. For the first time in my life, I began to experience hope. Would you not worship somepony who gave you that most precious of gifts?”   The princess sneered. “A new life? You would move from the darkness of the Wither world to help bring about a greater darkness in my home.”   “The goddess promised us a new home, Celestia, a home of peace where we could save ourselves from extinction.”   “By steeping yourselves in the blood of innocents!”   Rush stood abruptly. “Tia, Thorn, please. We are disturbing our friend.”   The other human began to stir, groaning and stretching his arms. Rush knelt beside him, helping the thin man to sit up and offering him a cup of water.   “It’s alright, friend. You’re safe now. Here, drink.”   The man looked into Rush’s eyes for a moment, then took the offered water, greedily gulping it down until the cup was completely drained.   “Wh… Where am I? Who are you?” he stammered.   A noise behind him made the man look around suddenly. He spotted the major who was watching him with his fathomless, burning, red eyes. Rush placed a firm hand on his shoulder.   “You’re not in danger, friend. I promise.” He bowed. “I’m Rush. A pleasure to meet you.”   The newcomer’s eyes went wide, then visibly relaxed, nodding towards Thorn. “He saved me. That… other one was going to…” He shook his head. “Am I dead?”   Rush smiled. “Not unless I am as well!”   “My name’s Ghai. I’m a clerk in the governor’s office, or at least I was before that thing killed him.”   Thorn stretched a hind leg out and gave his fetlock a scratch. “That ‘thing’ is a thestral warrior, like me… human.”   Ghai pulled himself from the bed and bowed low before Thorn. “Forgive me, that extremely rude of me. I am grateful beyond words for your kindness in saving my life. I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”   “Thorn.”   “Thank you, Lord Thorn.” He bowed low once more.   Thorn snorted. “Just Thorn will do, Ghai. I’m no lord, nor do I have any wish to be one.” He glanced at Celestia. “I’m no more than a mere soldier.” She glowered back.   Ghai’s gaze turned to the princess and he nearly fell over in shock, opening his mouth to speak but words failing to emerge. Celestia gave him a nod.   “My name is Celestia, Ghai. It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope you are feeling better?”   “I…” Ghai stammered. “Yes! Yes, thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” He turned to Rush. “I’m sorry, this is all a little… overwhelming. I don’t know whether I’m dreaming or… oh, I don’t know!”   Silence descended on the party surrounding the fire, the occasional pop and crackle seemingly deafening in the small house. Rush tapped the pot lid with his spoon, making them all jump.   “Who’s for soup?”   ************************   Celestia sat on her haunches, the reed matting insulating her comfortably from the frozen ground beneath. She lifted the tea cup and sipped it thoughtfully, watching the thestral, Thorn, and the human, Ghai, walk off together into the forest. It was strange, she thought, how the two had apparently ‘taken’ to one another. Ghai had quickly accepted the completely alien and, in her opinion granted, terrifying appearance of this ‘Storm Major Thorn’ without any hesitation. In fact, he’d seemed more surprised by her! She sniffed. The pretentiousness of the creature, ‘Storm Major’! And if that weren’t bad enough, the human had even taken to calling it Lord Thorn! Well, nearly had, she supposed.   Rush was her concern now, the way he had happily accepted that monstrous thing into his home and… and even fed it! How could he? Didn’t he know what they had done? For all its politeness, civility, and courteous behaviour, the thestral didn’t fool her. She knew insincerity when she saw it, and that winged monster oozed it from every pore.   “Tia? Your tea is going cold.”   Celestia gave him a sidelong glance. Rush was sitting on his favourite rickety old chair, finishing off his tea and running a whetstone over the long reed knife. She watched the stone sliding over the blade, listening to the grating noise it made as the edge was honed.   “Tia?”   The princess shook herself, placing the cup down before stretching her wings out and settling them back more comfortably by her sides. “I’m going back in.”   Rush stuck out a hand and gently placed it on her shoulder as she passed, stopping her. “You’re upset, I can tell.”   “Do you think so, Rush? I wonder why that could be.” Letting out a loud snort, the princess lifted her head and flounced into the house, slamming the door behind her. Rush rolled his eyes. He had guessed something like this could happen. Fortunately, Thorn had broken the door lock, otherwise he was certain the princess would have locked him out.   A short while later, Rush finished his work and tried to push the door open. Strange, it was jammed. Rush pushed again with a similar result. “Tia? The door’s stuck! I can’t get in!”   Despite being muffled by the closed door, the anger in Celestia’s voice rang out loud and clear. “That’s because I’m sitting against it, Rush.”   “Wh… Why? Tia! Please, there’s no need to be like this.”   “Be like what, Rush, be like what? You tell me! Am I the one being selfish and thoughtless here?”   He’d never seen her like this before. It seemed so… undignified somehow.   “Tia, I’m sorry I hurt you,” Rush said calmly, “but I wanted to try and diffuse the situation without it descending into violence. And it worked, didn’t it?”   “If you mean the one who intends to murder me is still walking around, then yes, it did work,” Celestia snapped back.   “He wants to capture you, not kill you.”   “And that’s better then, is it? What do think Nightmare Moon will do to me, Rush? Send me off on a nice holiday somewhere warm for a few weeks?” Celestia’s voice was filled with indignant rage. “She will do worse than kill me, I can tell you that! And yet you…you treat her murderous minion like… like a long lost friend!”   “It wasn’t like that, Tia, and you know it. You’re being unfair.”   “UNFAIR?!” Celestia shrieked. “You fed that lying fiend in your own home. It lay there watching me with those cruel eyes the whole time! You don’t know what they’re capable of, Rush, you’ve got no idea of the cruelty they can inflict.”   “I was in the forest that night, remember?” Rush replied levelly. “I saw what that other thestral did to those children. I saw what it did to my niece. I do know, Celestia, believe me, I do.”   There was silence before Rush began to hear the sound of sobbing from behind the door. “Tia… please, let me in.”   “No.”   “But…”   “Damn it all, Rush, stop being so… so reasonable about everything! I’m angry and hurt and… and I… I don’t know! I just…”   “Tia, I’m going into the workshop to rest. When you want to talk sensibly, I’ll be waiting in there.”   “HA!”   Rush picked himself up and walked across to the workshop, kicking the snow away from the door before pulling it open. Damn it all, it was bloody freezing in here! He took a look around, finding the wobbly old stool he’d made the previous winter and angrily slammed himself down on it. With a loud crack, one of the legs gave way, and Rush was pitched onto the floor, banging his head painfully off the wall.   “GODS DAMN IT ALL!” he yelled, snatching up the broken pieces and throwing them across the room into the corner. His anger was getting the better of him, something he wasn’t used to either, but she was so frustrating!   Despite his best intentions, somehow he’d hurt Tia. Still, how else was he supposed to deal with the situation? Attack Thorn? The thestral could very well have killed them both, and Ghai too. Couldn’t she have seen that? Despite Tia’s recovery, she wasn’t ready to face such a determined opponent, and besides, he just didn’t feel that Thorn was as much of a threat as the princess believed. Maybe he had been played for a fool by the creature. Perhaps Tia had been right all along.   Hell fire, it was so bloody frustrating! He’d never understood women, let alone one as highborn as the princess. What on earth was he thinking? He was just a peasant, a worthless, penniless plebe, playing the hero in a filthy rundown shack. All those dreams, all those images, it was all a lie, all of it…   He grabbed a bundle of reeds and flung them onto the workbench. It felt like ages since he’d practiced his craft and now all he wanted to do was work, to forget everything, to just be Rush the reed worker once more. Taking his trusty knife, he began the monotonous task of trimming the reeds to length. The knife was sharp but the reeds had definitely dried out a lot in storage, despite the cold. He could still use them for roofing though. The knife steadily cut through the natural material, the regular, rhythmic sound oddly soothing, yet something was niggling at him too. Was it Celestia, or…   Rush paused, closing his eyes and listening to the sound of his own breathing, the quiet of the world around him. Everything recently had been so strange, so exciting and yet frightening, all at the same time. Although he hadn’t known her for very long, the beautiful white mare had brought light, grace, and happiness back into his life, if only for a short while. He knew she would leave soon, returning to her world, back to the land of green grass and sparkling waters. Would she take him with her? Did he even want to go?   From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the broken piece of mirror he’d hung up from one of the beams. Looking closer, he stared at the image reflected back at him: the brown eyes, the dark brown hair. There were more lines on his face than he remembered, his skin a little looser, his features showing the tiredness he was suffering from as he aged. Life out here was hard, and certainly no life for a magnificent creature like Celestia, no matter how much he wanted her to stay.   Rush sighed. He wanted answers, answers to the riddle of the box, the images in his head, his mother. Even if it was all nonsense, he wanted to know. In his mind’s eye, he imagined a brown mare with a snow-white mane and tail, her violet eyes watching him sadly. This wasn’t what she’d wanted for him, for her son, her beloved Rush. He turned quickly, hoping against hope to see her there.   “Mother?”   The darkness in the corner of the room stared back at him. He couldn’t ask her anything now. It was too late; it was all far, far too late. Rush looked in the mirror once more.   “Who are you?” he murmured, holding his hand up to his face. “Who am I?”   With a sigh, he moved back to the cutting table and began working away once more. As he cut, he kept hearing her voice, the voice of his mother, Willow. The laughter in her eyes, the way she looked at him when he was younger, the stories she told him of her home, of the… the green fields…   He paused. What the hell did that—?   “OW! Gods DAMN IT!” The knife had slipped, cutting his finger. In a fury, he flung the bladed instrument across the room to fall where the rest of the broken things had been thrown. He dropped to the floor and leaned back against the table, his eyes closed in anger and confusion. His whole world was falling apart and there was nothing he could do about it… nothing.   He didn’t hear the door open, nor the soft hoof steps drawing up next to him. Celestia sat down on the discarded reeds and reached out a hoof, drawing his hand to her for inspection.   “You’re hurt.” Rush said nothing, only nodded silently.   A warm, moist sensation around his finger suddenly made his eyes go wide. Was she? He looked around to see Celestia with his finger in her mouth. She watched him for a moment before releasing it and examining it closely.   “There, it’s stopped bleeding at least. We’ll need to get you inside and get that washed properly.”   Rush found himself drawn to his feet and, in a daze, following the white mare back into the main building. She sat him by the fire and brought over the medicine chest.   “Now, let’s have a look at that, shall we?”   Celestia went to work on his injured finger while a strange warm sensation flooded Rush from head to toe. He watched her carefully, gazing at her lovely purple eyes, her glossy mane and tail. Her sunburst marking, or ‘cutie mark’ as she called it, really drew the eye. She truly was a wonderful person. He smiled to himself. It wasn’t that long ago he hadn’t seen her as a person at all, but more of a fascinating creature, an animal of the forest.   Celestia looked up at him. “It’s rude to stare at a mare’s hindquarters, Rush. I’m sure humans would think the same if you were to ogle a girl’s bottom?”   He could feel his cheeks heating, and he knew he was turning bright red. Celestia smiled and winked at him cheekily before her expression became serious once more.   “Rush, I want to apologise for earlier. I was… wrong, I admit that. I understand why you did what you did and, well, I acted like a petulant foal.” She tied off the bandage on his finger and moved to fire, putting a few more sticks on it to help heat the water in the kettle. “I hope you can forgive me.”   Rush shook his head. “There’s nothing to forgive, Tia. I’m not the most diplomatic person in the world, and I’m sure I could have handled it better.”   “Could you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “I doubt that. I’d go so far as to say you could show my court diplomats a thing or two!” She looked away for a moment, a haunted expression crossing her face. “I’ve been thinking, Rush. If you still wish to put the pieces together, I have an idea which may help.” She held up a hoof. “But please, remember what I said and think carefully. Your life here is all you have ever really known. Sometimes… Sometimes the past is best left there.”   Rush nodded. “You already know my answer, Tia.”   She did. With a resigned nod and shake of her mane, she began to take out a selection of ingredients from the medicine chest and magicked over the stone mortar and pestle.   “Herbs, infused with the tea, will help you to relax and enter a state in which I can send you to the nether world once more.” Rush watched the pestle grinding away, the golden glow of the princess’s magic effortlessly turning the herbs into a fine powder. “From there,” she continued, “if we are joined, I should be able to see through your eyes, in a manner of speaking.”   Rush cocked his head. “Joined? I don’t understand. I thought you said your sister was the mistress of the dream world?”   Celestia stopped what she was doing and gave him an inscrutable look. “I’m glad you were paying attention, and yes, you’re right. I don’t have the natural ability to interact with dreams the way Luna can. However, I can still… peek.”   “Peek?”   The princess blushed. “Well, it’s the best way I can describe it, Rush. In any case, we’re not sending you to the dream world. This is the nether world, a sort of world between the worlds where I sent you when you were injured. Do you remember?”   He nodded, staring at his fingers. Celestia was a mare of many talents indeed. “When I was there, I saw things… images, events that I didn’t really understand. Will this help, Tia?”   “I think so, Rush. I have an idea already, but I want to confirm my suspicions first.” She took the water off the boil, added herbs to a cup, and poured the water in. “Are you ready?”   “As I’ll ever be,” Rush said, settling back against the supporting beam.   “No, not there, here.” Celestia reached out her forelegs and drew a confused looking Rush into an embrace. “We must be close to do this. Bodily contact will help with the connection.” She looked down at him, drawing her brows down. “Are you alright? You feel very warm.” Celestia placed her muzzle against his forehead. “You’re really warm!”   Rush pushed away gently, his cheeks burning. “I’m fine!” he gasped, his voice cracking slightly. “Please, Tia, I’m alright, just… I’m ready, honestly.”   She chuckled and passed him the tea mixture. “Down in one now, then lie back and relax, my dear Rush.”   He did as she requested, as she commanded, his princess. Rush smiled to himself. If he could bottle this moment, if he could savour it forever, he would. Being here with her was something he would remember for the rest of his life. She was so warm, so gentle…   “Shhh, rest now, my dear Rush. Sleep and let the tide take you to the world of stars and peace. Be at one with your heart, be one with your soul. Feel my heart beating in time with yours, breathe the air that I breathe, remember my voice… remember…”   Stars… there were so many of them. The colours swirled away like rivers into the endless void. There was no up, no down, just… here. It was peaceful, so, so peaceful. Rush could drift here and watch eternity come and go.   “Rush?”   He turned effortlessly at the voice. “Tia?”   The princess stood before him, her coat shining like the morning sun, her mane and tail flowing with all the colours of the rainbow. Stars twinkled within that living colour, making him gasp in surprise.   “Tia! Your… Your mane and tail, they’re…”   She smiled, giving them a shake. “This is how my hair normally looks. In your world, the lack of magical resonance makes them a little… lifeless?”   Rush shook his head. “You look wonderful either way, your Majesty.”   Celestia bopped him on the head with a hoof. “Don’t be silly, Rush.”   The princess looked away, but Rush caught the slight blush on her cheeks and the coy smile that curled her mouth up at the corners. He felt a sudden flood of heat through himself, even in this world. Perhaps they were more connected than he thought.   “What now?”   “That’s up to you, really. Think back to what you saw last time: the pictures, the memories of Willow, your mother.”   Rush stared off into the stars that surrounded them, into the vastness of the universe. It was all so unfathomably vast and yet here he was, just a single tiny life, a spark in that infinite emptiness. Despite everything, he was the centre of it all. Here he could do anything, be anything. He concentrated, remembering the images he’d seen: the pictures, the castle, the mare… bringing it back, here, now…   Celestia smiled. “Open your eyes, Rush.”   He did so, gasping in surprise. They were in the castle, the castle in his dream. A brown and white mare with deep violet eyes was walking carefully down a corridor, past Rush and the princess.   “Can she see us?”   Celestia shook her head. “No, Rush. These are events that have already happened. When, I can’t say, but this is my home, the castle in Equestria. I shared it with my sister until…” She trailed off. She’d told him what had happened, and it had made his heart cry out for her.   “Do you recognise her at all?” he asked quietly.   “No, sadly I do not. There were a lot of ponies working at the castle, but she’s not one I recall seeing before. Her colouring is quite distinctive too, so I would have remembered if I had.”   “Willow.”   “Willow? This is the mare you mentioned from the last time you were here?”   “She is.” Rush watched intently as the mare rounded a corner, dodging behind a pillar as an armoured guard walked past. Instinctively, Rush ducked out of the way despite Celestia’s raised eyebrows at his reaction. He shrugged it off.   “Quick! We’re going to lose her!”   The mare was surprisingly fleet of hoof, slipping from shadow to shadow, as silent as the wind and just as visible. Rush marvelled at the skill of the pony, the way she checked every corner, every angle. Each move she made was measured and precise, calculated to take her to her destination silently and efficiently.   Rush and Celestia followed in silence as the mare slipped past the two guards, one of whom was barely awake, and disappeared behind a large hanging tapestry into a secluded alcove. A moment later, the wall swung silently inward, allowing access to the room beyond. Celestia gasped in shock as Rush beckoned her to follow him after the mare. Like ghostly stalkers, the two found themselves looking over the shoulder of the brown mare who was staring at a large marble pedestal surrounded by burning braziers.   Taking a deep breath, the mare took out a package from her pannier and unwrapped it. It was a box, a small wooden box, carved with scenes and writing, a neat facsimile of the one on the pedestal before her. Quick as a flash, the one on the pedestal was replaced with the fake, the original vanishing into her pannier. The mare let out the breath she’d been holding in and sighed, looking about around her before slipping back out the way she came.   Rush turned and looked at the princess. Her face was an image of abject fury. “Tia? What is that box? Maybe I should have asked before, but—”   “Later, Rush, please,” Celestia muttered. “I want to see more first.” She leaned her forehooves on his shoulders. “Think, Rush, think to when you saw her last, this pony. Think about that point; concentrate and take us there.”   The castle scene wavered like water around them, changing to another stone-lined room. This one was adorned with a long rug on the floor, a large set of doors, and a strange silvery background glow. Up a small flight of steps at one end of the room was a large stone archway, intricately carved with odd symbols and figures that made Rush’s head spin if he looked at them directly. He remembered this place from last time, but unlike then, this time there was no Willow. Yet… there, behind a pillar, holding a locket with a picture within it, was a white stallion with piercing blue eyes and golden armour. Despite his appearance, he didn’t look any different to the rest of the soldiers he’d seen around the castle, and yet there was something about this one that drew his imagination for some reason.   The stallion stared at the locket, Rush leaning in for a closer look. Inside was the tiny image of a brown mare with a white mane, smiling happily. The soldier sighed, holding the locket to his lips and kissing it tenderly. The image given life, suddenly and silently, appeared through the large doors moments later, barring them behind her.   Rush knew what was coming next and stood back as Celestia watched the scene unfold intently. He didn’t want to see any more—it had been heartbreaking enough the first time around. He waited, the silvery flash of light signalling the passage of Willow from this world to who knew where.   Celestia stood silently, watching him. “Rush? Are you alright?”   “I’m fine, really. What now?”   “Can you remember what you saw next?”   Rush nodded, the scene transitioning once more to the scene in the forest and the woman with the brown hair and brown eyes. The two watchers observed the woman, the fighting around her, the soldier collecting her and taking her off into the forest back to civilisation.   The scene changed again. The woman was giving birth to her child, the child she named…   “Rush,” Celestia breathed, nodding. “I see. Yes, it all fits now. All the pieces are in place, but there is one more that I wish to see.”   A heady feeling of warmth and almost drunkenness ran through Rush as the princess lowered her horn to his temple. “Forgive me, Rush. I need to see one last thing and then we are finished here.”   The scene wavered once more, coalescing into a bustling area full of people, humans this time. It was a town, far bigger than the one he’d been brought up in. It was deafening too, with carts, horses, oxen, and humans, all seemingly wanting to make more noise than the others around them. Celestia stood close by, looking around intently.   “There! Come on, Rush!”   The two of them could just see the woman disappearing down a darkened alleyway, looking around furtively. From out of the shadows, a cloaked figure appeared, tall and thin, with an otherworldly look about him. He didn’t belong here, and in an odd way, neither did she.   “You have it?”   “I do. Tide, is there…”   “No, there’s no way back, Willow. I should know—I’ve been trying ever since I got here. I’m sorry.”   “But…I…” She wiped her face with her hand, leaning against the wall with her other. “I can’t go home?”   Tide shook his head. Willow placed her hand over her belly, the pronounced bulge clearly visible. A tear slid down her cheek. “My little one will never know their true home, the beauty of Equestria. Tide, what have I done? Celestia’s mercy, what have I done…”   The tall man placed his hand on her shoulder. “You’ve saved your child from war, Willow. He, or she, will grow up in a world with their mother’s unconditional love. What more could a foal ask?”   Willow nodded, wiping the tears away, then reached into her purse, taking out a brown, cloth-wrapped package. “Here, take this cursed thing. Sell it, burn it, throw it away, I don’t care. I wish I’d never clapped eyes on the damnable thing.”   Tide took the package, tipping the box out into his hand, and read the inscription aloud. Rush jumped as Celestia began to recite it in time with the tall man. “From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled.”   “Tia?” Rush asked.   The princess shook her head, placing a hoof on his mouth to quieten him. The tall man turned the box, reading the inscription on the other side. “From day to night, from darkness to light. From the other to here, the lost now found.” The man shrugged. “I can’t take this, Willow.”   “You must! Please Tide, I can’t take it… I can’t!”   The cloaked figure nodded slowly, the box disappearing into the interior of his garments. “It doesn’t matter what you or I want, Willow. The fates have our lives mapped out for us already.”   “Do you really believe that? That we have no control over our own lives?”   The man began to turn away. “You are free to believe what you wish to believe—it matters not to the great wheels that turn the world. The box will find its way home some day. Life will always find a way, Willow. It always finds a way…”   “Tide?” Willow took a step forward, but the figure had gone, disappearing into the alley like mist.   Celestia placed a hoof on Rush’s shoulder. “Let go home, Rush. I’ve seen enough.”   He couldn’t agree more. This had been quite a lot more than he’d expected, and now he was more confused than ever. The world wavered and Rush found himself floating in amongst the colourful stars again. It was comfortable here; he felt safe, and yet now he hankered to return, to sit by the fire with a nice cup of tea and somepony who could explain what was going on. Rush stared at his hooves. They were certainly different to hands, his legs too. He felt strong, really strong! He shook his mane and snorted. Now this was more like it! The urge to run, to charge, began to grip his heart.   “RUSH!” Celestia grabbed him by the muzzle and stared into his eyes. “Look at me! Only at me!”   “Tia?”   “Rush, you must remember who you are. Come back with me. Come on now, this isn’t for you.”   “But… Tia, this is me, isn’t it? The real me!”   The princess shook her head. “Rush, please, I was afraid this may happen. The heart remembers more than the mind. You can lose yourself here and fade away until you are nothing but a voice on the winds of eternity. Rush, take my hoof, please.”   “No! Tia, I’m… I’m me! Don’t you see? I’m me!”   The princess appeared before him and spread her wings suddenly. Rush started, backing up in surprise and landed on his haunches. Was she angry with him? He’d never want to upset the princess, nopony did, but especially…   Celestia walked toward him, her coat shining brightly, her rainbow mane flowing out behind her. She was so beautiful, so, so beautiful. A large pair of purple eyes stared into his, and he could feel his heart quavering. Her muzzle grew ever closer, until she was mere inches away. Rush could feel her breath on his face; he shuddered, she was so close! She was…   Her lips were so soft, so gentle. Rush felt them brush against his, her breath mingling with his own. The princess’ words were breathless, as substantial as the morning dew.   “Remember…”   With a jolt, Rush came to, the stars, the colours, all vanishing like a soap bubble popping in the heat of the sun. Instantly, the familiar drab world of the wooden house was back, like a cocoon waiting for him to escape its confining embrace. A desperate need to get out, to escape, gripped him, and he sat up suddenly.   Celestia held onto him, the slender white legs holding him close. “It’s alright, Rush, I’m here with you. You’re safe now.”   He began to shake, not with cold, but with something else. Emotion, strong as a mountain and as fickle as a spring breeze, rattled through his body as the princess held him close. Rush breathed in her scent, feeling the softness of her coat against his skin. He reached up and felt his lips. In his mind, he could still feel hers against his; so alien, yet so familiar. His heart leapt and he began to feel the fear, the uncertainty, slowly beginning to drain away. So long as he was here with her, there was nothing to fear.   Rush began to feel sleep tugging at him, and he looked up into the princess’ loving face. She kissed him on the forehead gently.   “Sleep, Rush, rest your heart, my little one. I’ll still be here when you awake.”