The sun started to set a few hours after they had left the forest. Grass and Trees had started to whither in the intense heat and Harmony’s magic did little to keep them cool. Celestia felt as if her back was burning and she was thirsty. On the way they had used what little shade they had found to rest for a while. But they didn’t dare to stay in one place for long. She only hoped that those ponies thought them dead already and that they wouldn’t pursue them during the night.
Even though the sun had set and the moon risen from its long slumber, Harmony kept going. She looked at least as exhausted as they, but she stubbornly moved her hooves forward.
“Can we stop for a bit?” Luna pleaded. The young filly was probably the most exhausted from them all.
“Soon”, as all Harmony said. Her gaze was fixed forward and she mercilessly pressed on. “I dare not to stop in the open.”
Celestia trotted over to Luna, putting a wing over her back to comfort her. They continued on over vast plains. A few forests were visible in the distance, but Harmony didn’t take those into account, stepping ever forward toward a hill in the distance.
Time became blurry and for a while Celestia didn’t notice her own exhaustion anymore, until they were suddenly climbing the hill. From above Celestia could see a rocky cliff in the pale moonlight, thick bushes growing at its side. They seemed to be less wilted than any of the other green she had seen so far.
Harmony started to descent the hill, heading for the bushes. Her horn started to glow and push the bushes apart, revealing the entrance to a cave. It wasn’t very large and Harmony had to crouch to get into the cave. Celestia followed inside and ran into Harmony. As she stretched to see what the holdup was, she saw another pony standing in the cave, staring at them with muzzle agape, illuminated by the light that shone from Harmony’s horn.
He was a brown stallion, his eyes a murky green. He was about Harmony’s height, his horn a lighter shade of brown than his coat and his wings were half outstretched.
“I thought there was nopony else … that knew about this place.” He folded the wings back in.
“I thought the same”, Harmony answered and stepped further in, to let Celestia and Luna follow her into the cave.
“Hmpf.” Another pony stepped into the glow of Harmony’s horn. The stallion had a hard muzzle, showing his age even more than his size. His left wing was bandaged to his body, but that didn’t stop him from ruffling the other. He stared at the mares with a clear brown eye, while his left eye looked grey and milky. His coat shimmered light blue, while his mane and tail were white.
“That’s it with your assurances”, he said and his horn started to glow. Celestia could feel the magic at work behind her. “If they know of this cave, then surely others know as well!”
“But those could also be alicorns”, replied the brown stallion.
“Those will pass the barrier without problems, but other ponies will be turned away.” The blue stallion turned and trotted deeper into the cave once more.
“Forgive him, he’s a bit grumpy, but other than that a really nice guy”, the younger stallion grinned slightly. “The name’s Quint by the way. Quint Essence.” He stretched a hoof out.
Harmony touched her hoof to his and smiled. “I’m Harmony and these are Celestia and Luna”, she encompassed both with her wings. “We came here to rest and maybe get some clear water from deeper in the cave and something to eat.”
Celestia’s ears perked up. There was water in the cave? And something to eat?
“You won’t find much to eat besides grass outside, but I think I can spare a few apples”, Quint answered and trotted deeper into the cave himself. Celesta’s mouth watered and her stomach started to rumble. Her fatigue vanished with something to eat and drink in sight.
They followed him a bit deeper into the cave, the ground fell downward into a spacious area. Celestia could hear water trickling in the distance and she soon saw the light of a magic sphere not only floating above them but also reflected from a small stream at the far end of the cave. It was all she could do not to tumble towards it and drink greedily from it.
After a few gulps she felt alive again. It was at that moment when a fresh green apple floated in front of her, held in the orange glow of Quint’s magic. She smiled and took it into her own magic. “Thank you.” Her words joined those of Harmony and Luna, each mare holding an apple of their own. She hadn’t eaten that much since she had lost her mother …
Tears were streaming down her cheeks while she chewed on the apple, remembering sharing such an apple with her mother, how she rode her back, excitedly taking in the sights of the town they lived in, crying in pain after tripping and falling on her muzzle and her mother comforting her. Before she knew it she was leaning into Harmony’s side.
“W… what is it? Have your apples gone bad?” Quint looked puzzled at them. Only now Celestia noticed that Luna was weeping as well, her tears falling onto the still uneaten half of her apple.
Celestia shook her head.
“Th… then why are you crying?”
Harmony shook her head and mumbled something that resembled “stallions”, before turning toward Quint. “You should be able to guess.” She folded a wing over both. “They have been hunted and lost their family.”
“So, you are not …?” Quint had the decency to look abashed.
“Hah”, the other stallion let out a single sound, then grumbled toward himself.
“Fine, I am ignorant of our ways”, Quint shouted at the other stallion. “I can’t see family resemblance between us as well!”
The other stallion barked out even more laughs, before trotting toward them. “Those two are actually related”, he pointed with a hoof toward Luna and Celestia.
“They are?”
“We are?”
“They … are?”
The blue stallion chuckled. “Oh yes, I knew your parents and I even saw you two as foals.”
“You did?” Suddenly he was the center of attention for both fillies.
“Ah, yes, your mother was very gentle and wise”, he said, a genuine smile on his lips. “She was very caring and tried to understand everything first before judging. Your father though …” He sighed, his free wing sagging downwards. “Let’s say he was fierce and stubborn, the complete opposite of your mother and yet together they could be the happiest couple I have ever seen … though at other times they had so fierce fights that they took days off of each other. Even weeks, months and years. I guess they were living apart for a long time now, since you two never got to know each other.”
Celestia looked at Luna. The blue filly stared back at her. She had a completely different coat color, teal eyes, and her mane was blue and not a shade of pink like hers. Could it be true? Did she want it to be true?
Luna seemed to study the earth, biting her lip. Maybe she was thinking about the same things right now. About what it meant to be sisters. About what they should do. Should they care for each other, as she had seen other siblings do? Argue with one another, as she had seen? Prank each other? Laugh together? Was it more than Friendship or the same? There were so many questions in her head.
“I don’t know, if it’s true or not”, Luna suddenly said, “but I would like to have you as a sister.” The blue filly stepped forward. “The thought of not being alone, that there is somepony that knew my mother, that are my family, is out there …”
Celestia felt tears running down her muzzle. She closed the rest of the distance and nuzzled the younger pony. “I understand, it’s the same for me”, she whispered and added “sister.”
“Well, that was a touching reunion”, the blue stallion suddenly grumbled. “But I’m sure you won’t need me for the rest. I’ll try to catch some sleep, so try to be quiet.” He trotted off and found a corner for himself.
Quint raised a hoof and shrugged. “But he is right, some sleep after this,” he stifled a yawn, “long day is what we all need.”
Celestia looked toward the cave-entrance. “And you are sure that nopony will find us here?”
“I am sure”, the blue stallion shouted, “that magic will repel everypony but alicorns.”
She turned to harmony, her gaze asking for confirmation. The mare had been looking at the entrance as well. She closed her eyes and nodded. Relieved she sighed and hugged Luna with a wing, leading the smaller filly into another corner of the cave to settle down and rest.
~*~*~
Sleep didn’t come easy and when it came, it was filled with her being hungry, but all the apples out of reach and her magic didn’t work. It was filled with Quint losing his wings and the other blue stallion cackling with mad laughter. She dreamed of losing her sister and of harmony disappearing, of being all alone. She dreamed of her mother and how she was sent away. Of Pegasi with swords and earthponies with spears chasing her. She dreamed of being caught, the spear of an earthpony coming down on her …
Her eyes fluttered open, hear heart still racing from the dream. Luna, … her sister, was still asleep, sweat glistening on her forehead. Quietly she unfolded her wing and used it as a blanket for the younger filly, squeezing her slightly and smiling at her. It was something her mother had done, when she was sleeping and having a nightmare. Seeing that Luna started to relax in her sleep as well, she started to wonder what it was like to have a father. Was it much different from having only a mother?
The feelings of loss tugged at her heart again and she felt tears forming in her eyes. It was probably unfair to ask Luna any of this now, to remind her of her own loss. Maybe later, in a few days or month, she could ask it. If they were still alive then.
She turned her gaze to Harmony, who was lying a few feet to the side. The mare’s eyes were closed, but her ears betrayed her as being awake.
“Can’t you sleep as well?” Celestia kept her voice low, she wouldn’t want to wake Luna. At least one of them was sleeping.
Harmony slowly opened her eyes and looked at Celestia. “Yes and no.” She had this tired look about her. She probably should have answered ‘Yes, I can’t sleep either’ or something like this. Why such a cryptic answer?
“I have been meditating”, the mare continued and looked toward the ceiling of the cave, as if it would hold the answer to a question that was on her mind. After a moment her eyes met Celestia’s again. “I have been wondering why it had come to this, why there is always some sort of conflict.”
The white filly opened her muzzle and closed it again. What should she answer to this? What could she answer?
“It is because nopony is content with what they have”, another voice chimed in. The blue stallion trotted next to them. “They all want more, want to escape what they are currently doing, in hope that they then will be happy.” He blew some steam through his nostrils. “As if that is even possible.”
Harmony had lowered her eyebrows, glaring at the stallion. “And how do you suppose this should be solved?”
Celestia shrank back under the hostility on display from these two.
“The idea to rule over them all wasn’t wrong”, the stallion supplied, “though Diamond Gale was wrong to trust them. He should have ruled them with fear and should have conquered swiftly, demonstrating his powers, instead of trying to rally every alicorn under his banner first. He should have known that someponies would read the letters he wrote!” He chuckled. “Maybe we shouldn’t have taught them how to read and write in the first place.”
“Reading and writing is essential to understanding”, Harmony replied with strained calmness in her voice. “And understanding is the key to living in peace.”
“This understanding brought those ponies to attack us! In what way is that they key to harmony?” He stared at Harmony, grinning, awaiting an answer that never came. “Thought so”, he huffed, turned and went away.
Celestia gulped. She had disliked Harmony’s methods for some time now, but a part of her had wanted the mare to win the argument. Instead there was defeated silence, a mare that looked down, biting her own lip.
“I sometimes wonder, if he is right”, Harmony whispered suddenly, “but then I meet ponies like Azure Silk, who just lives for her passion and would do anything for her friends, a pony that understands others … and it gives me hope. Hope for there being another way, hope for his words to be wrong.”
“Mother said, that we need to be generous, when we see others in need, that we need to be honest and loyal to one another and if we then show a little bit of kindness, we can join together in laughter and see that we are able to understand each other.”
Harmony started to smile. “Thank you. That was exactly what I needed to hear.”
Celestia blushed slightly. “It’s just what mother used to say.”
“Even then, repeating it just now was your decision.” Harmony answered. Celestia’s blush only deepened.
Harmony looked towards the blue stallion. He had leaned down to drink from the underground river. “I wonder what has made him so bitter”, she whispered.
“At least he is honest”, Celestia answered. “I guess not all is lost.”
“I really hope so”, Harmony answered and closed her eyes again.
Celestia sighed and hoped the same – not only for the stallion, but for all of them.
~*~*~
As the light of the sun shone into the cave from the outside, Quint packed his saddlebags and started to wake everypony else. The blue stallion grumbled, but came up quickly. Harmony was a bit harder to wake. She blinked the remnants of sleep away and yawned, having fallen asleep during her meditation. Luna stretched her hooves and wings and leaned into Celestia “Five more minutes, dad”, she said sleepily and almost fell asleep while standing. Celestia herself hadn’t found any more sleep. Nightmares tugged at the edge of her sleep and she had been too afraid to close her eyes.
Part of her wished that they could just hide away in that cave. They had a small river with fresh water, so it was almost perfect, but it had one fatal flaw: They were low on rations and even as they prepared to set out, her stomach rumbled in protest on the small meal she had had the day before. Maybe she could get some of the grass outside? But even that wouldn’t last for everypony – and the danger to be discovered by other ponies would grow with time and the distance they had to go, before anyone could eat.
She knew that there was no other way than to go on, to reach the Everfree Forest and find some peace and quiet in its depths. Its questionable safety beckoned her onward and she left the cave with everypony else, after the blue stallion said it was safe to leave.
She wondered, how long it would take them to reach the forest, but asking now, and maybe hearing that it could take a week, would shatter her hopes and drain her of the strength she needed to go on.
Rolling hill after hill followed as they went on, and only some lonely trees on some distant hills told her that they were, in fact, moving somewhere and not going in circles.
Around midday – at least it felt for Celestia as such – they arrived at a hill full of trees. The trees themselves were apple trees, but the fruits had suffered from the intense heat. They had become inedible except for some insects that were buzzing around them. The grass looked more inviting, although some of the blades had turned brown, it was still edible and their rumbling stomachs didn’t care what they got.
“I will try to find a few edible apples”, Quint said after a while and started to trot through the copse of trees.
Celestia kept to the grass – it tasted better than any grass she had ever had. She grazed right next to Luna and the little filly ate her share of grass and hay.
Harmony and the blue stallion suddenly looked up, their ears upright. They looked around, as if searching for something and suddenly Quint appeared on top of the hill. “We need to leave”, he called and galloped downhill toward them. “I stumbled onto a unicorn and he shot a magical flare into the sky”, he told them, panting.
The blue stallion grumbled and turned, he looked toward the top of the hill, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t know how fast they’ll be here. We need to hurry.” He set off toward their goal again, but instead of galloping he trotted along a bit faster than their mornings pace.
Celestia was thankful for his slow pace. Maybe he was more caring than he let on? Or maybe he wanted to conserve his strength for when they needed to gallop fast. Either way, Celestia was thankful. But into the feelings of thankfulness mixed feelings of fear and she kept looking back, wondering if she could see that lone pony – or the army chasing them.
Luna kept close to her and seemed just as nervous. It eased Celestias feelings a bit, knowing that the blue filly was next to her. Breathing deeply she kept up with the brisk pace, most of her tiredness forgotten for the moment. Harmony looked back every once in a while, too, as did Quint. Only the blue stallion kept his head forward.
They went on for about three or four hours. Celestias fear started to lessen. Surely, the ponies wouldn’t catch up to them now before darkness would fall. The night would hide them away, protect them from pursuit and allow her to rest. She felt so tired that she didn’t care about nightmares. Not this night.
The sound of a horn sent shivers down her spine. She looked back. There was nothing there. “In the sky”, Luna whispered next to her. Celestia lifted her gaze and saw what seemed like specks of dirt in the sky. It was an army of pegasi. It could only be pegasi. She gulped.
“Run”, the blue stallion instructed and started galloping. Celestia turned and followed him, forward and up another hill that stood in their way. Was there even hope to escape them now? Luna looked up to her, her eyes asking the same question. She tried to look determined and pushed herself, pulling the blue filly with her.
On top of the hill she could make out a forest. “It’s the Everfree”, Harmony said. Celestia felt a surge of hope and energy. A glance at her pursuers told her that it would be a close call in reaching the forest. The pegasi were a lot faster than them on their hooves. But why weren’t they flying, too?
Celestia opened her wings and swept downhill. Luna was soon next to her, as was Harmony. They caught up to the stallions, both of them still galloping as fast as they could.
The white filly glanced back again, the pegasi were still gaining on them.
“Can’t you fly?” Harmony asked as she flew next to them.
The blue stallion opened his wings, showing that one was badly damaged, almost only a stub. He snorted.
“My wings are too weak to hold me up”, Quint answered and unfolded his wings. They seemed rather small for his body. “I’ll stay with Sephiroth and we’ll catch up to you.”
“Ha”, the blue stallion laughed, “if you can, levitate him with you and catch up with me”, he said and his horn started to glow suddenly. It was only a short flash, but suddenly Sephiroth was several paces in front of them. His horn glowed again and he was further away.
Harmony’s magic started to glow and she took Quint in a levitating grasp. A few more flaps with her wings and they sped toward the forest. Celestia flapped her wings harder as well, she felt sweat forming on her forehead. Looking back she saw the pegasi, could make out single ponies, their colors, their mane styles, their grim determination.
Looking forward again, Celestia almost hit a tree. She stumbled, hit a branch and fell to the ground, hitting her horn. It was a pain unlike any other. A burning sensation as if her forehead would be melting, a sting as if someone poked a spike the size of her horn into her head. Her vision faded to black. She cried out, saw specks of color within the darkness.
She heard somepony else’s voice, a grunt, a curse. “What happened?” Quint demanded.
“I cast a barrier that only alicorns can enter”, Sephiroth explained with a smooth, deep voice. “I wanted it to protect us from those pegasi, but it even protected us from a spy in our midst.”
Celesta bliked, slowly colors returned to her. Her vision was blurry, but she could see the brown stallion standing a few feet in front of them, his unfurled wings blotches of color.
“It was you that let those ponies find us every time.” Sephiroth’s voice was colder than ice, “you who shot that magic flare …”
Celestia felt herself being grabbed with magic. Somepony lifted her of the ground. She got dizzy as she was moved through the air.
“Stop!” Harmony shouted.
“NOOO!” Luna cried.
As Celestia’s senses returned once again she could make out the blue stallions horn, glowing icy-blue, noticed her own aura of brown magic that held her.
“Let her go”, Harmony demanded, her hoof was in front of Sephiroth, stopping whatever he was doing.
“Let go of my protection? I’m not that stupid.” He stepped backwards, Celestia still in his grasp.
“We promise that we won’t harm you”, Harmony argued.
“Promise? I had enough alicorn promises for one life. We will end the problem that infects this world once and for all. As soon as the unicorns are here, we will break through your barrier. This filly just has the luck to be the first.”
Celestia gulped. Every hair of her coat stood on end. She looked toward Harmony, Sephiroth and Luna. The little filly was shivering herself, her eyes closed, her horn glowing in a faint, dark blue.
“I never broke one of my promises!” Harmony protested and stepped fully in front of the blue stallion.
“I don’t care”, Quint answered. “You are standing in one of those ‘never broken’ promises already”, he gnarled.
Celestia stared at Quint, the forest and Harmony. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Luna was gone and a dark mist was slowly travelling over the ground toward Quint. Part of her wanted to shout out, to stop her from coming closer, but another part of her wanted Luna to come to her, to succeed in what she was doing.
“I wasn’t part of what happened here”, Harmony said, her wings outstretched.
“But he was”, Quint pointed behind Harmony with his hoof.
Harmony’s wings faltered. She turned her head around, her eyes probably asking a silent question, the mare herself wondering what Sephiroth may have done here.
“Let go of my sister!” Luna had reappeared behind Sephiroth and had bit him in his hindleg. Her teeth leaving a deep mark. Quint lost control of his spell and Celestia fell to the ground. She was caught by Harmony and pulled through the barrier, Luna galloping through the field behind her just before Quint could grab her with his magic.
Quint turned around and galloped, Sephiroth stepped out of Harmony’s shadow, his horn glowling brightly.
“No!” Harmony tackled him as a stream of hot glowing magic shot out from his horn, a tree turning black and burning in a dark blue flame as it just missing Quint by mere inches.
“Are you nuts, mare?” Sephiroth roared. He glowered at her with his icy blue eyes.
“Killing him won’t change anything”, Harmony said, returning his stare with the same intensity.
They stared silently at each other, while the flames on the tree died down.
“Are you okay, Tia?” Luna nuzzled the still shaking Celestia. She nodded slowly, putting a wing over the blue filly’s back.
“Thanks to you I am”, she said, but wondered how much longer they would be okay now …