“Starky!”
A familiar voice shattered the night’s silence.
I put the piece of hay between my teeth, flipping up the cotton head a few times and rolling it between my teeth before wolfing it down. The bitter taste of the dried meadow grass tingled at my tongue.
“Starky, you there?”
“Yes, I am,” I mumbled quietly, grudgingly pulling my glance from the beautiful spiral patterns of the stars in the sky.
Hours ago, the moon had rolled into the sky, embracing the heavens with its sparkling mane of stars. In its milky light, the nearby village seemed frozen and cold, like it was sculpted from a block of ice. Even the distant lake, which carelessly reflected the work of the sky’s master, looked unnaturally smooth and silent.
The normally familiar houses, potholes, and pegs looked so alien that they seemed to be caught in time-stopping magic as well. I knew that as soon as I went closer, the illusion would disappear. It would dissolve with the first sunray or rooster’s caw.
But life and its movement hadn’t gone anywhere and the sounds of the night gave nopony a chance to forget. TBut for now, the cricket’s chirp and the bitter smell of hay filled my mind with a softness and comfort. I could’ve just laid on the grass, listening to the sounds of the fields and looking into the sky for years. The stars were so distant and bright… and so unreachable.
Quiet panting and the sound of rustling hay suddenly accompanied the night’s song.
“Starky.” Lea’s ginger muzzle appeared right next to my ear.
She panted loudly while crawling onto the hay bale, and sat next to me. She looked disheveled and her mane had pieces of hay stuck in it.
I shivered when I realized that my heart had started to beat faster. Most ponies only looked at the surface, and I couldn’t say Lea was beautiful. Her tail and mane, usually gathered into tight braids, didn’t fit her at all. Because of her rough, tousled fur, she looked thicker around the middle. But she also looked soft and fluffy like a rabbit. That look definitely gave her a certain charm.
But the most important thing about Lea was that she treated me… as if i was normal.
Some of the mares from the village were prettier than her, but I couldn’t have safely gone near them: the love for unicorns in this land was akin to love for the locusts. Earth ponies laid as many curses upon the horned ponies that they could think of when it was time to deliver all of the best food to the unicorns, leaving themselves to live on dry hay.
I was born here, however, and I’ve lived here all my life. I was used to constant grumbling behind my back and the sidelong glances. And, as time passed, other ponies became used to me, or at least tolerated me. I rarely spoke to anypony, and I could count the number of friends I had on my hooves. And Lea was the only one who could become my a special somepony, if I decided to stay.
“Are you sure about this?” Her quiet voice barely made a sound.
“Yes,” I responded shortly before turning my eyes back to the stars.
The heavenly twinkles always stirred up special feelings inside me. My mother loved to watch the night sky. Her cutie mark was a bunch of stars, a very rare cutie mark for an earth pony. She was a dreamer who’d always reach out to something unusual or something unobtainable. That must have been the reason she fell in love with my father who couldn’t stay to live in the simple village of earth ponies. She understood and forgave him.
I was always a bit angry with her, to be honest. I was angry at her dreaming nature and for her softness and obedience to fate. And now, as I watched the night sky, I thought about what I wanted to do in my life. I thought about all the goals that I wanted to reach no matter what and the ways I might achieve them.
I imagined that there would be a time where I would not just sit idly and watch the stars move, but instead, reach up and rip one down. I can’t remember for how long the lone falling star adorning my flank had been there, and I never knew what it meant. Was my talent to make wishes? Should I have followed a dream? Or was I just destined to watch the heaven’s roof? I hoped I’d know soon.
But right now it was time to make the first step into an unknown world. I would worry about my cutie mark later.
With a rustling, I slid down as my magic embraced the bags I’d hidden inside the hay pile. I tightened the straps of my saddle bag around my belly and looked at myself — the straps fit snugly, and were somewhat comfy. I jumped, leaving the low fence behind me. Now there was only the road in front of me, leading somewhere into the night.
Lea’s quiet clops resounded from behind me. Soon, they were accompanied by other loud and more confident clops which swiftly reached me.
“So, you’re running away to the unicorns?”
I stopped and looked back. Now another pony stood next to Lea. In the shadows of the night, Ember’s fur looked carbon black, and he himself was just a mighty silhouette.
“I am a unicorn.” The night hid my involuntary grin.
“Don’t say it like that.” Ember stomped. “Those snobs are afraid to get their hooves dirty. They don’t think about us as equals. Even standing next to us is an indelible shame. They think that we have to feed all of their kingdom just because a bunch of mages waste five minutes in the morning and in the evening raising the sun and then swapping it with a moon. Starky, I’ve known you since colthood. You’re not like them!”
“But I have a horn, right?” I said as I raised a hoof, pointing at it. “Do you think if I hid my horn under a hat everypony would just forget about it?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said as he shook his head. “Your family is a bunch of earth ponies. Your home is here.”
“There are only a few who think the same,” I sighed.
“What about your mother? Are you going to leave her too?”
“She has to care for all the colts of the village. She has to do a lot without me. I’m only an encumbrance and the reason for the sidelong glances thrown her way. So, without me next to her, maybe she’d finally find her special somepony.”
“Do you even believe what you’re suggesting?” Ember’s voice had a touch of scepticism in it now.
I kept silent. Of course I didn’t. Mother liked it when stallions made signs of interest at her, but I think she still believed that father would come back someday, that there would be someplace where all the races could live in harmony and help each other., and t This belief in such a miracle was what still heated her heart.
No matter how foolish it was, she would never give up on that hope. But her talent was also a curse. To see an endless ocean inside a big puddle, an ocean with dangerous and enthralling adventures. To see the opportunity to get on a boat and set sail, looking at the sparkling spray. To not only understand the foals, but think in the same way, to take in the beauty of this world without seeing the darkness. To believe in fairy tales…
But who happily sees the crops rot and the roads get wet? Usually when adults see puddles on the roads, they curse the pegasi. But she does not. And that’s why colts and fillies love her even more.
But I can’t be a colt anymore.
“It’s for the best, for all of us,” I said, hoping I sounded confident. “I’m the alien.”
Lea came closer and nuzzled me on the side of my neck.
“You’re not alien to me…” she whispered. “Starky, can you read my fortune one last time?”
I smiled. I had a special trick which nopony had seen before. I believed that now, when I was leaving, would be a perfect time to show them. A new spell, which I had never used for others before.
Obeying my magic, my bag opened. Next to father’s worn scrolls containing the basics of unicorn magic lay a deck of fortune cards. I was only a colt when I had found it deep inside a chest and the old, nearly blind granny had told me the meaning of each card and how to use them. She never touched the deck, only saying that all cards must know only their master.
The cards were harmony and chaos. There were many cards in the deck, but only all of them working together could lead the way. The cards were the only things I could rely on. Reading them was one of the few things I could do well.
I could make horoscopes and tell fortunes. I was familiar with the stars too. Movement of the luminaires and constellations were one of the few bits of myself that my mother gave to me. Other colts had no interest in such matters.
I concentrated and the cards moved like a frightened flutter of butterflies. A sparkling circle flushed in the air. I was very proud of this spell as it was the only the second spell I’d combined by myself. It had failed a lot at first, but I had finally made it work. Beautiful… Seeing these streams of light dancing in the air always made me proud. I believed it helped me to tell the fortunes better, more precisely…
It was flashy at best. But I spent many days drawing these lines, finding the right patterns, again and again transforming them. I made them like the constellations in the sky, and put the comet in the center, just like the comet on my cutie mark. Glowing threads spun into the air and cards stuck wherever they crossed, as if on a web. And then in a flash, I was plunged into semi-darkness with glowing constellations of every shape and pattern and lighting up the empty space. I didn’t know how it looked from a different perspective, but I understood that Lea was waiting for me to say something.
I moved forward and examined the images. They were foggy and unclear, but my inner voice told me the directions to look and connected them into one picture. The many bright dots in the dark became one — logical and simple. The image of the future stood out through the fog.
This card represented Lea, the ace of the cup. The figured chalice moved across the sky. A nice pony who has no enemies. One that does not care about bits or physical forms around her, but is instead more interested at the inner aspects of others. I smiled unwittingly — that I had already known.
There was a three of coins. A nearby future? It could be a pony she wanted to care about. The three of coins is a supporting influence of the next cards, and can be the symbol of — I sighed — getting married. Well, I didn’t think that was too unexpected for the young mare. Nearly every fortune telling for any village mare led to this.
Next…
The sun was on the left, shining and eternal, and I slowly passed by this image. It is the most favorable card in a deck. Indeed, Fate itself smiled upon her: the sun is the promising virtue and can interpreted as a happy marriage. And next to it the four of coins: a sign of peace, stability, and prosperous life. Quiet, long and usual…
The images shivered slightly. Their figures started to fill with luminosity until everything was drowned in white and, with a flash, disappeared. Some visions crumpled into one pile, and then, the stream of events rushed before my eyes. So clear, connected and real that my head swam. Never before had this spell worked so well, and taken so much energy.
I hadn't realized at first that I was back at the night road and that to the right of me the magic circle was losing its last sparks while my cards slowly fell in the dust. I swiftly embraced them with my magic and put the deck back into my bag. My head spun a little.
“So?” Lea smiled sadly.
“You’ll get married and have a happy life,” I returned the smile “It will be boring, but everything will be fine.”
“And that is all?” she huffed. “Fortune tales always come to that. And there’s never any details. If I only knew who I’m going to marry…”
I beckoned her with my hoof, and when she bent to listen, I whispered in her ear:
“If you knew everything, there would be no fun.”
Lea laughed, stepping back.
“Look after my mother,” I added in a casual tone.
Ember came closer and offered me a hoof.
“Good luck,” he encouraged me. “You’ll need it.”
I nodded and gave a hoof bump.
There was the farewell… with a friend? He was always beside me when the other ponies bullied me. Ember was a blacksmith’s apprentice. He was bigger and stronger than most of others, and held some weight in the village. The way ponies respected him, his strength, his status — I could never achieve anything like that in the village.
But now we stood as equals. And now, when the time came to cut away everything that linked me to my past, I looked at Ember in a new light. I looked upon the pony who wished me bliss. I looked upon the pony who I’d never see again. When I stood beside him, I always felt like a little colt, and only now I saw that I was taller. A bit, but still. Even though my puny body was no match to his size, the feeling of his superiority had disappeared.
“Look after Lea. Take care of her for me,” I whispered to him, nudging him closer.
The pony gave a subtle nod.
To look back is a bad sign. I trotted away, feeling the night’s breeze blowing away the last signs of the spell with each soft breeze. I Imagined how Ember and Lea would look into the night, while my silhouette disappears in the darkness. And then they would turn away and go back to the village together. The spark of jealousy grew in my chest, but soon was drowned in the warm happiness for these ponies. I’ve loved Lea as a sister. And as a friend.
------------------------------
My hooves carried me forward through the empty countryside. It was unusual for country ponies to be awake the whole night. The morning was always bustling, full of chores, and mostly hard work.
Night, however, was a time to relax; a time of silence, tranquility, and peace, the darkness washing away fatigue, hiding flaws, and embracing everything in its cozy wings. Trotting through the night with a slight breeze on my face was pure pleasure. I was hurrying to reach the suburban villages by midday. There were rutted tracks in the road ensuring nopony could get lost. And if I was lucky, I could join the traders which supplied the city.
During my short life, I had almost never left my home. I had been at the neighboring village twice and had maybe walked in the forest once. But now I had to trot to ‘the unicorn’s land’. If I hurried, I could get to Hornhold before the fall festival. Everypony had heard the rumors from hawkers about luxuriant feasts in unicorn cities.
Somepony had said that the earth pony towns were as different from unicorn ones as night from day. They talked about different magic trinkets, about the rich citizens who nearly bathe in gold, and about castles that scratch the clouds.
To others, those were just merely fairy tales from another world. Every one of these magical cities was not so far from earth ponies’ village. But unicorns never liked peasants who trot across their lands and, of course, never welcomed them to the festivals. Come to think of it, what did they celebrate? The end of harvest… which we collected? I smiled. There was a void between “us” and “them”. But it seemed not so hopelessly huge since I had jumped through it.
The sun slowly crawled over the horizon, painting the forest in crimson. I trotted towards the sunrise, leaving my whole life behind and starting a new one with only a saddlebag full of things and a mind filled with dreams and ambitions. The future was foggy.
Soon, I saw the small trails of smoke that marked the nearby village. The road twisted in another direction, and I had to follow it. Surrounding me were tempting meadows, a motley of grass, rife thickets of sagebrush that exuded a bitter aroma.
With each step indignant crickets jumped to find more peaceful places, just to be disturbed again moments later. The leaves of the maple tree were my breakfast. They were filling, but not really tasty. Now my stomach let me know that I had better move on to the more scrumptious repast. I was glad to find a patch of red clover. Taking two flowers, I chewed them, trying to get to the sweet part.
Soon I found the perfect place for a rest. It was small, covered with rocks by a contour spring. A few intertwined apple trees nearby cast a pleasurable shadow and offered a good chance for a tasty snack. This time of year wasn’t as hot as the summer, but to trot while the sun was at its zenith was always sweaty work. There is no need to the disturb the spirit of midday.
I blissfully lowered my mouth to the freezing water and drank deeply. High grass was better than any other possible surface to rest on. After a night’s trot, it was everything I could’ve dreamed of. I laid in the shadow and found a couple of apples and gnawed on one. It was rough and a bit sour, but it was much tastier than clover anyway.
It had been pointless to take some food from home since much more could be found just growing around. Soon every apple nearby was collected inside of my stomach. I wanted to rest until the sun fell closer to horizon.
I placed my hooves under my head as a slight feeling of restlessness tickled my body. That was usual after a sleepless night. With the warm day, cool shade, whispers of the wind blowing through branches, everything around led me into a lull. And with the tiredness slowly growing inside me, my enthusiasm and confidence that had inspired me the last few days went away.
I recalled the first prediction I made for myself. It wasn’t as clear as Lea’s. Following the foggy images of the future, I left my home right before the fall festival and would meet the unicorn who would help me to find the meaning of my life. I hadn’t seen all the details, but I felt its importance. I knew only that I would meet him at Hornhold. But was it true? I tried to avoid the idea that it wasn’t.
But now all my confidence was gone. A wave of worry cascaded over me. Would I find the right place? Would I meet the right pony? There was only the hope that everything would solve itself when I got there. Of course, it was naive to think that somepony would take a young unicorn who can only show tricks with a deck and make glowing circles appear under his hoof. But I cherished the hope that my visions were true. And everything would be exactly as it was supposed to be. I just needed to relax and nap.
I was awoken by slight poke under my ribs.
“Hey, you’re not allowed to sleep here.”
“Why?” I murmured, rubbing my eyes.
I fixed my vision on a slate-coloured pony, awkward and puffy and generally looking like an oaf. He was surprisingly perplexed at me, tilting his head a bit, thoughtfully. And as he looked at me, a smile of understanding slowly crossed his face.
“Well I’ll be darned. It’s a unicorn!” he exclaimed, surprised. “Guys, it’s a unicorn!”
I carefully got up. Along with the slate fatty, two other strangers had walked to the spring. They were the typical outdoor ponies. Faded under the sun’s light beams, and worn fur on their thin faces.
“You’re not a herald,” the flea-bitten colt said, narrowing his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“Just walking around,” I answered carefully, looking at the amber-red pony.
This one just silently watched, and his eyes showed… No, not hatred. There was some weak, extinguished rage. Like it was gone long ago, but smoldering embers were ready to burst into flames at any moment. He slowly went towards me, and I recoiled.
“Hey, Spars. Stop,” the pony who’d poked me called to the colt. “Leave him be.”
Spars stopped with the same sluggishness as before, and turned away, but at the last moment his hooves swiftly raised in front of me and all of my world was blown away with a hard kick under my ribs.
“Hey, you! Stop there!” a hoarse voice resounded. Somepony trotted away, the sun’s rays reaching me once more. I rose carefully, rubbing my sore chest.
Before me stood a vaguely familiar pony stricken by the years. His dirty, foxy fur was covered in dust and his black-brown mane stuck together with sweat. It seemed like his eyes had seen many things in his lifetime. A red apple with few bits behind it adorned his flank.
“Hey, are you alright?” He leaned over me.
I shrugged. “I’m okay.”
“Hey, Avenger, you have a problem?” Suddenly my defender shouted at the pony who had moved away. “This pony grew up in the village a few farms from here. He’s worked more than any of you and starved just the same.”
Now I remembered: this pony was Malus the Apple, a merchant who was a frequent guest at our village.
Spars snorted, but didn’t say anything and just continued his his way to the village.
His friend trailed him with his eyes.
“He isn’t a bad colt.” He shrugged guiltily. “Must’ve understood he was wrong. Please forgive him. His sister died this winter. The unicorn’s queen celebrated her anniversary this year, and they had to give more food than ever, even though the crops failed. Now he’ll be ashamed of what he’s done.”
“I’ll catch up to him. He should apologize,” suggested the slate pony.
“No need,” I sighed. “Just tell him that everything is alright; I hold no grudge.”
Both ponies nodded and ran after their friend.
“Aren’t you going with them?” I heard Malus as he came closer.
I shook my head. “Heading for the city.”
“Then wait a minute. We should go together.”
While Malus snorted loudly, drinking from the spring thirstily, I decided to take some apples with me, but when he finished and found out what was I doing, he quickly suggested to throw away the fruit like the trash it was, and for him to give me some real fruit.
His wagon, covered with linen cloth, stood on the road. The merchant looked inside, only to reappear again with the dirty chunk of cloth that was his hat. And without any chance for me to object, put it on my head.
“Wear a hat, egghead. Even if nopony will assault you in this village, then you’ll get it from another. Ponies never touch heralds, but regular unicorns… there are too many resentful ones.
“I’m not planning on visiting villages any more,” I mumbled, adjusting the unexpected present on my head.
“Are you going to Hornhold?” Malus looked surprised. “We’re going there too.”
A yellow muzzle with a white curl of mane looked out from the wagon. The stallion blossomed instantly.
“I’m sorry, cupcake, did we wake you?”
“No, I wasn’t sleeping,” the mare smiled softly, hardly stifling a yawn.
“This is my wife,” Malus explained, “Hover. And this is Starky from Meadowfield.”
“Nice to meet you,” I nodded.
“Likewise,” the stallion snorted. “Alright, we should be moving already. Together is more fun, and there’s less chance for you to do something stupid.”
The merchant skillfully harnessed himself, took few deep sniffs, and trotted, moving the heavy wagon forward. I hesitated for a moment, caught by surprise at how he managed to pull it. But Malus easily put on speed and soon was moving at a steady trot.
I leapt to catch up with him.
“Do you want an apple?” A red fruit flew from the wagon and I barely had time to catch it with my magic.
“Thanks.”
“Are you traveling too? We’re almost always moving somewhere.” Malus interrupted me before I could ask my question. “Trade. Buy something here, sell it there. Not everypony wants to carry food or goods, seeds or fruits, or even vegetables. Sometimes we help gather supplies for unicorns and pegasi… well… recently we’re not into helping the pegasi.”
I almost open my mouth to ask why, but had no time for that.
Malus winked at me and shook his head.
Hover stepped out of the curtains, sat on the edge of the wagon and, dangling her hooves, started to chatter unobtrusively about everything around us, and what lay ahead. About fields, about different types of hay, even the advantages of the scarecrow when we passed one. About the weather and the harvest. About the price for food. By the evening, I knew everything that had happened in the last month in all the nearby villages, even those I hadn’t known existed.
Hover was not embarrassed that Malus and I simply nodded to her chatter. Only when the Sun was ready to set on the horizon did the mare start to fall asleep. She nodded-off a few times before we found the place to stop and make lodging for the night.
While Malus unharnessed, Hover stepped down from the wagon and slowly started to flex her hooves. It was easy to see her full tummy under her cape.
“You’re…?” I was shocked.
“Yes, we’re expecting,” the pony smiled.
“And you’re travelling like this? What if it happens… you know… right on the route?”
“It happens, yes,” Hover laughed. “This is our third. Our daughters are with their granny now while we’re traveling.”
Hover laughed even harder, while I only felt more confused.
“To be honest, I always ask her to stay home.” Malus shook his head. “But she likes to travel and I don’t want to upset her. Are you ready for dinner?”
The stallion yanked the blinds and pulled a fruit basket out.
“Let’s bake apples in the clouds!” The mare yelled “We haven’t had those in a while!”
I was immediately given the mission of making a campfire. After a short search, I found I had to go into the nearest grove after some brushwood. When I returned, I saw some strange movements from inside the wagon. White puffy clouds slowly seeped through the open blinds, heading to the sky.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Hover was on alert.
She quickly dropped her cape and after few mighty flaps, she soared to the cloud, pushing it to the ground. She quickly started to pushing it back into wagon. I had never seen anything like this before. I came closer and touched the cloud with my hoof. Like a thick fog in the morning, it was imperceptible, but in the pegasi’s hooves it was like soft feather bed.
“I was too careless and ended falling in love with this feathered devil,” Malus smirked. “But nopony has any love for her kind around here, so we have to be careful. It helps a lot that we’re travelers. But I guess a unicorn should understand that.”
I winced. This kind of trouble had stopped my father. Either that or he knewhad counted on me and my mother wereas being not valuable enough to make his life a bit harder.
“But if a pegasi is born…”
“Yes, it won’t be easy.” Malus nodded. “But we always thought about finding a place to live. Being a traveling merchant is good and all, but I want to find place we can call home, where I can have a business that I can pass to my foals and build the family name, and all of my family will be proud of.”
“You’re thinking of working with apples?” I asked, putting the brushwood into the prepared hole in the earth.
“Well, I’m not only an expert on apples. I’ve been around, working a bit everywhere. I was on a rock farm for a while, as well as on a few apple farms. I helped in a garden when I was a colt. I have some experience, although, I’m not sure if can grow it as well as I can sell it.
Hover pulled an apple out of the basket and started to skewer it with a stick.
“My cousin worked on a rock farm. She told me it was the most boring thing in the world, to only move rocks from place to place all day. You can't even bake anything with rocks.”
“You have no idea how good her pies are.” Malus winked. “I’ve thought about being a farmer for a long time. But it’s not that easy. It’s a great risk too. I’ll have to spend a small fortune to buy good land. And I also have to find good seeds, which will turn into a good harvest in only a few seasons. I’ve pondered a lot about it, but I can't decide for sure.”
I struck flint at the withered grass clump I’d collected. Tiny sparks twinkled and fluttered before finding their treat.
“It must be good to be a unicorn. So convenient.” Hover looked at me, thoughtfully mumbling.
“I can also tell you your fortune, if you’d like,” I said, and within a matter of seconds my deck was already flying before me. “That’s the least I can do.”
Obeying my magical touch, the knight of coins shuffled back into the deck.
“No need to. I’ll be going towards my goal no matter what, or I’ll regret it all my life. And that being the case, why do I need to know the future?” He gave a smirk as he finished
“But if you know, you can avoid mistakes in the future…” I looked at him, surprised by his decision.
“Mistakes are often the best teachers.”
Knight of coins. It meant careful, mature, provident, talented. The Traveler, who made links between other ponies. That was definitely Malus’ card. But more so was the knight of coins, the patron of the fertile and wild. He didn’t need some stupid prediction to know how to live his life. My deck slowly floated back into its spot in my bag, and I started to string some apples on the stick, wondering what they would taste like.
---------------------------
We spent four days on the road to Hornhold. During that time, I learned a lot about the city. I also learned everything about Malus’ and Hover’s pedigree for the past twelve generations, and most of the news from the neighboring villages. I had never thought so many events could occur in such a short time.
It seemed the word from the villages was of problems, fights and intrigues. Somepony got married, some other ponies cussed. Everypony had their own troubles, even the cows that lived in huge tribes at the far villages where the best meadows were.
We only had a couple of cows in my village. They were reclusive, walked to the meadows on their own and didn’t care about village life. They didn’t have their own houses, but what shelter and food they needed, they traded milk. Especially in winter. It was unbelievable to me that somepony could gather cows by the dozens.
On the morning of the fifth day, Hornhold showed itself on the horizon. The town beckoned travellers by its numerous roofs which reflected the sun off of their yellow tiles. Every house was much nicer than those I was used to seeing at the village, and much, much, bigger.
But what was even more fascinating was a huge castle at the center of the city. I found out later it was just a little residence of the royal family, and nopony lived there besides some servants, but for me in that moment, it was a giant that scratched the sun with its twisted spires.
I bid farewell to Malus and Hover at the entrance gates. They were going to the market while my path was to the fair. My inner voice beckoned me there, today, right now. The call had appeared when I had made my spell for the first time, but now it was so clear it nearly dragged me there.
Celebrations spilled all across the edge of the town, partly taking over some of the inner streets, pervaded between houses by motley clothes, loud groups, the music that was even louder. Banners and streamers with the coat of arms, tents and booths -- everything made from motley cloth that had been embroidered by a master’s hooves.
No matter how hard I tried to pick out details, everything just seemed to blur together in one colorful kaleidoscope. Magical flares flew around, sparkling as they exploded in the sky, and after a second, the next flare would go up. I felt myself slowly grow excited and feel like a foal again as I took in the sounds and colors that forced minds to go wild and celebrate. Even so, I felt small and lost. My confidence was gone like I’d never had it. The excitement was slowly being exchanged by a fear I was unable to cope with.
Finally, I realized that I had been standing in one place, not even blinking the beauty reflecting in my eyes. I made uncertain step aside when somepony pushed me, only to be pushed again. I stood my ground that time, instead, straining my ears, trying to hear all voices of the fair.
“Try your luck and get a prize!” some voice fervently shouted somewhere.
“Chocolate! Best chocolate with grated hays from nicest meadows of Grassfill! Unique taste made by famous chocolatier Hans Sloane. Come and try new samples!” sounded from another side.
“Sweets from bamboo extract! Secret recipe from Zebraria! Van Zackerwait crossed the ocean and trotted half of the world to get this one!” some unicorn shouted loudly, continuing to roll a stick inside of a sparkling plate. The stick quickly grew with a white, cloudlike essence. Some colts bounced nearby, watching in awe as the unicorn made this miracle.
As soon as stick was ready, the unicorn exchanged it with a mare for hoofful of bits, and started to work on another. I looked on rapturously as this thing flowed before my eyes.
The colt caught sight of my interest and waved at me with it in hoof, enjoying my envy. Then he nodded to me and, while his mom turned away, he passed me the cloud on the stick. I bit off a little. The cloud was sweet and melted in my mouth. I smiled blissfully, and the colt, smiled with me. He bounced after his mother somewhere into the crowd, trying to levitate his delicacy above the crowd. I looked after him.
It was fascinating — did the real clouds taste the same? I didn’t think so. Otherwise all the pegasi would eat them and would never demand some simple carrots or radishes. But if clouds were like that, what type of rain would they make?
I shook my head and moved further along. Somewhere in this festival was my destiny!
I walked around trying to avoid the loud troupes of musicians, jugglers and ponies on stilts. Moving around some tents, where the air was filled with catchy tunes, some ponies mesmerized an audience with brliiant costumes, fantastic stories, and decorations. It felt like I walked all day, but in fact, the sun had barely moved across the sky.
All this wandering without purpose finally lead me to the edge of the fair where some nimble unicorns were preparing tents, and most of onlookers tried to stay close to whatever had caught their eye. The huge dome had a signboard on it that read, “Circus of Miracles by Crafty Trick.” The whole area was covered with banners, tents and platforms. Ponies sorted out wagons, some containing costumes, others with props.
One tent in particular, decorated with images of constellations, caught my eye. A lanky light blue unicorn with a neatly laid mane and tail with a white pigeon on his flank ran between tents, and just had come by to check up on that tent.
“Where is Madam Gloria?! She should have been here hours ago!” he shouted to other circus actors who were passing by.
“Stop shouting, Stan, you know already,” somepony with a piece of string on his back said as he stopped nearby. “She sent a letter, saying that she wouldn’t be able to make this one. She’s visiting her grandcolts and is still there. She said that the happiness of her family is more important than few bits for card tricks that she makes here.”
“You must be kidding! Who am I going to put in her place? Darkler?” The unicorn nodded at an earth pony worker.
“Why not?” the pony turned and answered. The wooden plant he’d been holding in his mouth crashed down onto the stage landing on a few ponies laboring below. The unicorn hit his forehead with a hoof and nodded, his face full of exasperation.
“We already had a lot of problems this year, and now we don’t even have a fortune teller!”
I felt a shiver run across my body. That was a chance I was waiting for.
“I can tell the future,” I took a step forward, with as much confidence as I could muster.
“Who are you?” The unicorn turned to me, and somehow looked surprised and cautious simultaneously.
“I’m Starky. Tarot cards and horoscopes is what I can do.”
“Are you good at it?” He drilled me with his eyes.
“Well… I predicted that if I’d come here today, I’d find a job.”
The unicorn recoiled slightly and laughed.
“I love this guy!” He bumped me on my back. “Gather your luck, kid, and don’t shame our tent. Today we’ll look at your worth. If you do well, you can join us. At the very least, you have a silver tongue.” He rolled his eyes and mumbled barely audibly, “Instead of the usual hag.”
“What did you say was your name?” He looked at my flank “What’s that? Starfall? Swirl? A comet? So you are Starky the Comet? Good. I’m Stunt, or Crafty Trick on a scene. I lead this troupe. We all have differences, but keep together, so, if you have no place to go, you can probably join. Your task for today just to sit at the tent and tell the future to everypony who comes in. Tell some florid things, something incomprehensible and pretentious. You know how to do that.”
I nodded.
“Simple Hoof!” he shouted. “Bring a good plank here, and write… write… geez, just write something amazing, work on it! Yes, and get some new clothes for the fortune teller!
Soon I stood above the signboard with a hasty made inscription on it: “The Great and Powerful Starkler the Comet — the prophet and the seer!” A package with tinsels was on my back, along with a cape and cloak, fake stars and giltter encrusted on it. I sighed and walked through the sheer curtain.
Twilight welcomed me inside. The only normal objects in the room were a table covered by a sheet and a few chairs. Everywhere else was crammed with scattered objects of unknown purpose for ponykind. A crystal ball rested on a metal base wrought in the pattern of coiled ivy. Colorful rocks on strings, which hung nearby the exit, reflected random lights. A grey stick smouldered in the cup before me, filling the tent with the smell of lavender.
I wore the weird cape, threw the mantle over my back and sat, waiting patiently for any wanderer to come by.
The first visitor was a plump mare, entirely wrapped in a shawl. Every question she had was about love. To be honest, I didn’t get a picture of her quite well. The spell was faint, without any visions, just cards.
I mumbled some of possible interpretations, half about love, getting married, luck and so on. However, she was fine with that. She nodded meditatively, as if she’d understood anything, but left quite satisfied, dropping a pile of bits on table. I grabbed them into small bag, put it under table and waited.
There were not many visitors. Mostly mares or even fillies. Some were disappointed to see a young stallion telling their future, and some of the young ones teased me about the signboard. I didn’t care, just did the a job and was paid for it. Nopony was interested in something important — just casual chatter about life or themselves.
I lit the circle and told misty predictions… or just looked at the visitor and made a characterization. It seemed nopony was really interested in what I was saying. It was more about having fun than making serious decisions. I was only glad they didn’t demand much. If I had to do the same spell as I cast for Lea, I would’ve been resting under the table already.
After midday, Simple Hoof came to see how it was going and count the bits in the bag. He also brought me some apples, cakes and water. The thin stream of visitors became even smaller. I felt bored and was swinging one of the wire pendants when the veil at the entrance quivered and a young mare in a mantle and cloak entered inside. I couldn't say if she was pretty or not.
She was… foreign. Never in my life had I saw somepony who wore that much jewelry and such glorious clothes. I could have estimated the skill of tailor who made it, of jeweler who made all those trinkets or fortune of her family, but not the pony who was hidden under it all.
The unicorn looked outside, and hastily closed the veil.
“Prophet and seer, the Great and Powerful Starkler a Comet? Is it you? Where is your Comet?” She waved a hoof before my eyes.
“On my cutie mark.” I growled.
“Oooh…” The visitor turned her bored glance over the tent. “Okay. Let’s go, tell me something. Future, past, whatever you are telling here.”
“Do you wish to know something specific?” I tried my best to sounded important.
“I don’t know… I heard so much about my future already. Just make some predictions about my nearest future. Who will I be when I grow up? Where should I make connections with other ponies? Should I look over the dragon or gryphon empires? Whom should I fear? Oh, just give me something while I’m here…”
Suddenly veils moved again, and silver-haired stallion came inside. With his mantle encrusted with golden string, he looked like a wizard. At least I have always imagined them to look like that: wise, eccentric, who put all his life on the altar of understanding the world and its secrets. I blushed a bit, imagining how my mantle looked against his, nothing more then crumpled rag.
“Misses Platinum, you once again have run away from your escort,” he told her very carefully and didactically. “Everypony is searching for you. You should feel ashamed for such behavior.”
The mare pouted, sitting down at the table.
“I wish to linger. Now this little pretty colt is going to tell me my beautiful future,” her snake tongue sang.
I felt my ears turn crimson.
The old stallion only shook his head.
“Your stargazers make a horoscope for each of your days. Just admit it. You’re doing all this just to make me mad. What would your father say?”
“My father is far away.” The mare winked, “and you should to take care of me and not get between me and a bit of fun.”
The stallion wanted to said something more, but instead sighed and closed his eyes.
“Well, so be it. Tell her whatever she wishes. I will pay.”
The bag flew from under his mantle, a little bit bigger than what I’d already earned for whole day. I shivered. I couldn’t fail here. She was a too important guest, and if she would be disappointed...
I gulped, levitating the cards before me. Today, I’d cast this spell a hundred times, but on this one I had to overdo it. Sighing, I took all the magic I had left and started to draw element after element into a familiar pattern. I had to calculate my powers, to use as much magic as possible, but to leave just enough to go on.
That was the hardest type of divination I was taught. A glowing design opened, then another, and by the third time, silver dust fell from the circle, enveloping the surroundings in a misty fog. Cards flashed and rushed into the air, mixing and dancing into an invisible vortex over the whole tent. Then, suddenly, the cards converged on the deck in the center.
The mare started to clop in excitement while the old stallion looked at the show with slight interest. It looked like I had gotten their attention and surprised them. Adding the last element, I threw the cards into their positions, while the room vanished into familiar darkness.
I saw the old stallion raise his brow.
Three cards would explain the character. Four cards would tell about important ponies in her life. Three would reveal the future. And two would make it complete.
Cards stuck at the pattern. I had spent so much magic for the spell, I’d already lost the link with reality. There was no tent, no ponies around. I trotted through the twisted glowing lines that crossed the constellations while everything around me flew by, lighting up the images on the cards. Now, it was important to understand everything and to not be tricked. There were too many cards and possible interpretations. The spell must be done correctly.
The queen of cups hung above all the other cards. An impulsive, emotional mare. The mood of the queen changes constantly. She tends to dramatize, to exaggerate pros and cons of others.
Nearby was nine of coins. The figure is not adapted to life, sees troubles around her through a rose-colored film, ignoring them. Phony authority. Her social status is not not awarded by her character. I wasn’t surprised, but I doubted she’d be happy by this characterization. It seemed I’d have to go further. Find something new, extraordinary.
Future surroundings. The three figures that made the most impact. Rolling seven of cup-- a pony who built the worlds of illusions, of some ridiculous dreams, who tried to avoid reality by choosing fiction.
The Knight of blades stood at the cloud’s castle. He’s shook his weapon. Irascible, Impulsive. He couldn’t follow the plan. Aggressive... Probably a soldier.
The last card was the king of cups. Sedate, creative figure. Teacher. Mentor. The third card had the least impact of all. It’s a pity. I would like to follow this card among others. Or else…
What’s awaiting this pony, who was surrounded by such cards? I stepped through the two patterns that hung in the air. The next card was far away, and I had to trot a bit before reaching it. Five of coins. Collapse, loss of wealth. Getting new experience. Learning a lesson? A quite questionable perspective, regarding the price, it would be too expensive for this tenderling.
The eight of buttons was reversed. Inner contradictions, unconfident, lies, critique, fights, disharmony. Actually, I thought I knew what I should to tell her. Just to listen to elders. But it should to be told somehow floridly, to not hurt her, just how Stunt suggested.
But while spell worked, I wanted to see further. Nine of blades. The stream of negative emotions, panic, inability to make right decisions. Inability to face fate’s pressure. Hysterical personality, fear of the troubles. Nothing new.
Suddenly, my hoof stumbled into something thread-like. I looked, surprised, to see one of the strings inside the pattern as the culprit. Were they always material? I stepped over it, closely looked at it, and took a step back. My hooves met the void and I felt myself falling into a glowing well.
Shattered visions flew faster and faster. The card of a madpony flew by me, and I suddenly felt like I was part of its image. The madpony and abyss. You’ve made lots of mistakes, now you have to reap what you’ve sown.
A sudden flash forced me to shut my eyes, and when I opened them again, I found myself in the sky between the cold clouds. I could see a partly abandoned castle on the ground. The Tower. Crisis — that’s the consequence of her attitude, a shattering and turning point in life.
For some reason, the Tower was covered in snow, and on one side there were already huge snowdrifts. The cold air whistled through my ears like mad as I rushed helplessly towards the tower. I was ready for the impact, but it never came. Instead, I was drawn by some fuzzy figures and pictures somewhere into darkness; I could feel the dark and cold breath from this abyss. What was that? Uncertainty? A future that could not be seen? Maybe I messed up the spell? Or maybe the spell was too powerful for me? It got colder as each second passed.
The wind moaned around me and it’s cold fingers ripped every hope I’d ever had out of me. I felt myself shiver like I was sick with a fever. There were no way to find out something in this state. The only thing that shattered the darkness was a neighing far away — scaring, immobilizing. Something so foreign, it sounded like another whistle of the snowstorm, like a creak of the snow at the deadly freeze taking over the body and gnawing through to the bone. Like the shatter of ice falling from high above.
I thought I could see caustic blue eyes watching me from the darkness. And then, my horror deepened. I heard the whisper. The barely audible, discontinuous whisper. My lips moved unwillingly, whispering a simple couplet.
Visions flow before my eyes. Streams of images, darkness, freezes, cries, arguments…
Everything stopped. I barely understand where I was and why it was so hot, I just helplessly tried to hug the fire. Some officious shouts tried to reach me. I sighed; a tent appeared through the blur. The only card that still hung in the air was the Tower. The others were covering floor already.
“How… How dare you insult me!?” a voice of a young mare finally found its way to my ears. “You want to say that my ruling will be catastrophic? That’s nonsense! Absurd! All other predictors told that my future is nice and glorious!”
“Please, Miss Platinum, calm down. I’m sure this young unicorn just made a mistake,” old unicorn said confidently, trying to push the mare from the table.
“But he insulted me! Insulted! Me!”
I just blindly watched the angry mare. She was still a foal. In my village, ponies her age were still sitting with dolls or playing tag. A few ponies in polished armor trotted into the tent, together with a panicked Stunt. The guards wanted to kick him out of the tent at first, but Darkler covered him with his mighty croup, and they reasonably decided to not go against the earth pony-giant.
“What’s happened? Why did somepony shout?!” Stunt looked nervous and frightened at the same time.
“This unicorn, he insulted me,” the mare whined, shaking her hoof in my direction.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean to.” Stunt grimace was distorted by a forced smile. “I give my apologies and hope that we can make up for it, Princess.”
I sat still in my place, unable to understand what was going on. I watched the card hanging in the air. Darkler was already nearby.
“Get him out of my circus, quickly, we have enough troubles without him,” Stunt whispered through his teeth, instantly returning to apologizing.
I felt a few pushes at my back towards the exit. I still couldn’t understand much. Somepony dragged me somewhere, told me something… And then dipped me into trough of water. I shivered, finally coming to life. The Tower swung before my eyes and started to fall down. I tried to catch the card, but it was too late. The card fell into the water and started to eagerly soak it up. The old paper got darker. The tower was spoiled. The crash of all hopes and expectations.
“What have you done? Didn’t you know who that pony was?” Darkler leaned to me.
I shook my head.
“What cave did you came from? That was Princess Platinum, beloved daughter and heiress of unicorn’s kingdom. Listen, you really should vanish quickly. The Princess is furious and she has been known to send somepony to shorten one’s horn. Insulting her is the last thing anypony would want to do.”
Darkler vanished inside the tent for a moment and then reappeared with all my bags. Without another word he threw my belongings on the ground.
I gathered my bags and, still on shaking hooves, left the town. Some cold void constricted my stomach, like somepony had buried all my hopes and dreams with a shovel. Well, that was my mistake. I should have found my future myself and not relied on some cards. I needed to continue forward and never stop.
-------------------
Darkness and cold. Creaky neighing echoed in the sky. Pieces of ice, sharp like knives thrown everywhere by a freezing whirlwind. I was stuck in the snow up to my chest, tried to move, but couldn’t force a single muscle. I could only watch as the snow froze me to the core. I used all my will and determination to step forward and… awoke.
The cock’s cry defined the morning for me as usual. This dream haunted me from day to day, and it only got stronger, more vivid. No matter how warm it was when I went to sleep, I always awoke shaking, chilled to the bone. Night brought me no rest these days. It brought only cold, pain and exhaustion.
Rolling out of my bed, I dunked my head into water, washing away everything that remained from my recent nightmare. A plate with porridge and a jug of milk were already there, but after such a night I felt no hunger. A leather frock flew from the anvil to my neck, levitated by my magic; I thought I would start work earlier that day.
Smash was already gone to buy some coal for the forge, and, it seemed, he would call at another village on the way home. It looked like he’d be back no sooner than tomorrow morning. I had only to inspect my working inventory on my work list. The winter would be gone soon, pegasi would move the clouds away and we would need to grab shovels and clear the fields. I closed the door to the smithy and inspected my instruments.
I hated this life so much. Half a year had passed since my dreams about living with the unicorns were crushed to dust. And I made a new goal. It wasn’t a dream like I had, about magic or future-telling. I just picked a job. Decided to become a blacksmith. Even though no earth pony loved me, they always respected a blacksmith. I became used to that fact when I was a foal, so, even though nopony adored me, they at least tolerated me.
After leaving Hornhold, I wandered from village to village, until I found a blacksmith who agreed to take me under his hoof. Yes, I didn’t have an earth pony’s strength, but my magic gave me some advantages on any job. I made it my goal to learn, get used to and love this job. I took it with clenched teeth.
The first week had been hard. The next it became unbearably hard. For half a year I accepted it, hated, but accepted. Even now, I constantly found new, unpleasant sides to my profession. I burned myself often, singed my fur sometimes, coughed acrid smoke. Scars started to appear on my legs and the cracks on my hooves had no time to grow together before I got another. The fur on some of my joints was worn down to skin.
I tried to use anything to protect myself, but it made my work even harder. Smash always did everything skilfully; without magic, without any protection. He had no fear for his fur, neither for his eyes. It seemed like he was enchanted against fire, metal and dust. He was a master.
But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself that on my flank was a fading spark, birthed under blacksmith’s hammer strike, I was just fooling myself. I sighed. There was a bunch of rusty shovels, pitchforks and rakes in the corner, and I was to renew them.
Dust, soot, ash. I fired the forge up and took a grindstone.
That was when I heard a trumpet. It seemed that the herald came to reconcile the taxes for the harvest and to learn when the snow would melt.
I slammed the door and pushed the bolt. These were preposterous problems, and not mine. I had my own business to do. I sat and, trying to keep the shovel as far as I could, and smoothed its ragged edge with the rotating grindstone. Sparks flew in every direction as the metal shavings piled into heaps of metal lining the ground around the grindstone.
There was long day ahead full of shovels and unrelieved smoothing and hitting with a hammer. Then there’d be night full of cold and nightmares. And then the day would come again, full of fire, soot and ash. Shovel and grindstone dropped on the ground. How meaningless could our existence be?
The knock at the door drew me away from my thoughts. I flinched, realizing that I hadn’t pumped the bellows in a while and the forge had started to cool down. I pumped the bellows a few times and pulled my hat up. I didn’t want to remind other ponies about my horn more frequently than I had to.
On the doorstep stood a young unicorn. His groomed fur was covered in mud, which was usual for this season. He wore a saddle blanket with the coat of arms and a small bronze necklace every herald wore.
“Are you Smash the Hammer?” He looked timid, if not scared.
“No. He’ll be back tomorrow.”
“I can't wait that long!” The herald looked childishly lost. “I am having trouble with my horseshoe. I can't possibly move to another village in such a condition.”
“Come in,” I sighed. “Let’s see that problem of yours.”
I opened the door, inviting in the herald. He quickly moved inside.
“My hoof is hurt. Seems like something’s stuck inside…” He stopped suddenly, looking at rough instruments before him.
I catched this fearful glance and couldn’t stifle a snicker. “Well, this isn’t a pedicure salon.”
“Yes… yes of course.” He murmured something. “I am Vociferous.Or you can call me Voice.
“Starky,” I introduced myself. “Put your hoof here.
A special stand for hoofs had its place in the center of the smithy. The unicorn came timidly, and put his right back leg into the stand.
“Rinse it first,” I moved a basin to him, sighing.
The horseshoe revealed itself under layers of mud. I never saw anything like it -- metal wrought exquisitely from some unknown fusion into the finest jewellery. There were even figures and engravings on the sides. A bit battered, but still fine.
“Where did you find such a miracle of unicorn fashion?” I shook my head in awe.
“At the capital’s salon. It’s their top model.”
And obviously heavy. The work and quality was far above what any earth pony blacksmith could ever offer. Whoever was the master who made this, he was generous using metal. The thickness of them was at least twice what the normal horseshoes had. I would have never picked this for myself. It’s simply impossible to move all day without your hooves beginning to hurt.
“Garbage.” I drew a line. “These horseshoes are fine for a town with roads, not mud, and no need to rush, but they are near useless autumn through spring in parts like these. You didn’t mention you were going to be running through the mud?”
“At a capital’s boutique?” The unicorn looked at me frantically. “Everypony would’ve laughed at me if I said so!”
“Yes, of course.” It seemed that the pony was hopeless. “That’s your mistake. I can find something, but it’ll cost you a lot.
Herald just smirked. What’s a lot for a simple earth pony? Just a knot of seeds?
I took a rasp and in few movements released his hooves. Under the horseshoes, there were pieces of silk that now were nothing but rotten rags. There was a lot of sand and mud too, so I picked up a knife and started to clean it. The unicorn shivered, but kept silent.
Choosing from bunch of horseshoes, I sized it against his foreleg. “Same size. But I must change all four of them or you’ll get stuck between villages,” I told him, throwing the horseshoe on the coals.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Heating it.” I shrugged.
“For… what exactly?” The unicorn look terrified, and tried to take a few steps backwards.
“Do you want this horseshoe to fit your hoof just right? Do you want it be protected from sand?”
“But that’s outrage! That’s… To burn! Such a barbaric ways! I’m not an earth pony!”
“Do you believe earth ponies and unicorns have different hooves?” I looked at him with disapproval. “I wear such horseshoes myself. Burned them and I have no troubles.
“You with your barbaric ways cannot understand.” The unicorn scowled. “You can cut your tails and manes and burn your hooves as much as you like. We are unicorns, and we’re above your standards!”
“It’s too late to cut the rye when the snow is falling. You cannot move without horseshoes for long. Especially harnessed.” I picked up the pliers with my magic and took a horseshoe from the forge.
“And, by the way, I am a unicorn too. You can never know how life turns and where you will find yourself.”
The herald’s eyelid twitched. He could hardly imagine himself clearing dung and forging horseshoes in some remote village.
I pressed the horseshoe to his hoof and caustic smell of burning bone filled the room. The unicorn twitched, coughed…
“I didn’t feel anything,” he confessed, surprisingly.
After checking the marks the metal had burned into the hoof I pressed on felt and attached the horseshoe. Repeating the same simple movements three times, I looked with interest at the wincing unicorn’s face each time the sizzlingly hot metal touched his hoof. Caustic smells slowly filled the air, making our eyes tear up. I opened the door. The herald wasn’t used to it, and I didn’t want him to suffocate.
I made few last moves with the rasp to destroy what remained of the Capital’s manicure.
“Here you go. Not too elegant, but reliable.” I made a verdict.
The unicorn stood and made few careful steps, trying his new horseshoes.
“Thank you.” He nodded “By the way, I remember hearing your name somewhere.”
“Unlikely,” I shook my head.
“No, no! Now I remember!” He trotted outside and soon return with the bag full of coins and wooden cylinder encrusted with symbols. “You’ve got mail! Here. To Starky the Comet, grey unicorn. From Sidereal the Light.”
“I don’t know that pony,” I shrugged.
Herald’s jaw nearly reached the floor with surprise. “He’s the most famous and respected wizard of our time,” he started to gibber. “How can you not know him?”
“All the more so. This letter is important and you must have mistaken the addressee.”
“This letter is without an address!” He was barely listening to me anymore. “There’s a lot of them. Each herald holds one in case he meets the addressee. If I were making a mistake, you couldn’t read it. The letter’s enchanted. Anyway just take it. I got it to you, and now you can do what you want.”
I took the tube, looked at the unicorn as he harnessed and pulled his wagon away down the road then moved into the smithy and ripped off the stamp. The scroll gradually unrolled all the way to the ground. First, I thought that the rich parchment was decorated by dense patterns, but the more I looked at it, the more I could recognise letters between the curls. It seems that the pony who had written it knew what he was doing. All ponies I knew could barely scratch their names with their teeth, and even then it was hardly readable.
Dear Starky the Comet,
My name is Sidereal the Light. We met at the fair in the late fall in Hornhold when you told your prophecy to the princess. Unfortunately, I had no chance to speak with you alone. I was truly impressed by your spell. I would like to talk with your teacher about the opportunity of your transfer to a collegiate school.
Rip this scroll and it will teleport you to my office, or signed for an audition at Shaldenmage inside of collegium tower.
Sincerely,
Sidereal the Light
Mage of the seventh grade, Magister of high council of collegium.
I read it again just to be sure I understood everything correctly… and threw it into the chest with all my other things. What did he want from me? Why did my destiny want to tempt me once more? Should I once again cut all the ties? Was that what I desired? Was that why I left my home village? I wouldn’t go with my feelings again. What if that letter was nothing more but some twisted vengeance of the princess? It was quite coltish to think that this mare was trying to hunt me down. I thought I was just tired. Enough of empty prophecies, predicted futures and foolishness with cards.
But for some reason, I walked in circles and couldn’t find a place. I had no desire to work anymore. Well, I suppose I would finish my work a bit later. Once again I explored my table. The porridge was tasteless and the milk had a disgusting foam.
The cooled forge hungrily devoured a few logs and the bench lured me with warm blankets. I needed to relax. I had slept badly last night, and nap wouldn’t hurt. I rarely suffered from my visions during the day-time nap. I wrapped a blanket around myself and closed my eyes.
Snowstorm, cold, and a piercing creak far away.
I shivered. It was night already. A few beams of moonlight leaked inside of a doorway, curving around figure of the stallion. I gazed at him without awaking completely. It seemed that the door creaked and that I should add “oil the door” to my to-do list, I thought to myself.
“Smash? Why are you so early?” I murmured.
“She got married,” the blacksmith explained sadly, lighting candles. By dim moonlight it was possible to see his eyes glistening with tears.
“I’m sorry.”
“No need to be. I’ll ride to another village. There’s many a good mare, a lot of opportunities.”
When the incense holder was filled, I could not hide my condition from my mentor any longer.
“It happened again?” He looked worried.
I kept silent.
“Did you finish with the shovels?”
“Sorry,” I could not find right words.
“Forget it. I don’t want to sleep tonight anyway.” He sighed. “I have to finish it by tomorrow. And you have to get some sleep.”
Easy for him to say. I was afraid of sleep. I spent the whole night curling into a blanket, trying to relax. But nothing could help. All of my body was shaking. I lifted my hoof -— it trembled like I was not engulfed by the heat of the forge but inside an ice cube. I awoke before the first rooster cry.
My inner voice did not speak, no. It shouted. Shouted at the top of its lungs, pushing me from the inside. When I stopped trotting, my body twitched, and this voice pushed me somewhere. I wanted to run, to trot in circles, anything, to forget the freeze and voices. Everything was unbearable, it was impossible to sit or lay still…
I pulled my bag off my chest and emptied it out. The scroll was at the very bottom. Smash still snored on his bench, his hooves hanging down. I looked at him one last time, and thanked him for everything, before ripping the scroll apart. The lair of two recluses faded away. Instead of a thunderous snore, I heard the comfy crackling of a fireplace and I breathed in the unfamiliar smell of dusty scrolls.
Cozy cabinets came into sight through the white blur. A lot of shelves were filled with books and scrolls. The walls were decorated with carpets woven with images of different towns. I recognized Hornhold on one, but the other ones were unfamiliar. The rough stone floor was hidden under carpets, and a table near the window still was glossy with polishing and varnish even though it hadn’t been done for years.
An old unicorn pony sat at the table, handling a quill, which was obviously from some absurdly luxurious bird. The unicorn would squint every now and then while the quill made new curves on the parchment.
Even though the fireplace heated the cozy room well, the old pony was covered in a blanket. After finishing a line, the quill took a rest in an inkwell, and only then did the host raise his surprised look to me.
“Em… Hi!” I looked around, mouth agape, took a step forward and, tripped on the carpet and fell on the ground.
The unicorn stood up to examine me, and after few moments came a light-weighted recognition.
“Ah, Starky. I nearly lost all hopes that any letter would find you. What is that? What happened with you?” He looked worried.
I raised, still disorientated after the spell. I examined myself.
“Nothing happened. That’s my usual attire. I'm a village’s blacksmith.”
“Blacksmith?” The old pony’s brows raised. “You’ve been making prophecies.”
“I don’t anymore.” I shook my head. “After I cast that spell at the tent, I cannot find rest. Nightmares torture me night after night. They became stronger with each passing day. Everything around me doesn’t fit in. I rise every morning with that feeling. I can't stay in one place, cannot eat or work. And I don’t know when this madness will end. I didn’t want to come here, but I had no choice.”
“Prophecies and time’s spells are very mysterious and little understood sphere to work with. Without proper training, mages should to work very carefully on these two,” the unicorn answer. “Long ago, at the tent, I was truly impressed. I have never seen such a spell before.
“I wanted to talk with you, but suddenly you vanished. I tried to find you, but the tent holder said that they’d kicked you out and didn’t know where you went. I asked every unicorn I could, but nopony could answer me. No mage ever taught a Starky the Comet. You just appeared from the thin air, told your grim prophecy, and then were gone. Who taught you?”
“Nopony. That spell, it didn’t work. I made it up by myself.”
“By yourself? Wait, how could you made such spell without any lessons on magic?”
“I had scrolls.”
I levitated the shabby brochure and it slowly fell to unicorn’s hooves. He picked it up and studied it carefully.
“These scrolls were distributed by a collegium about thirty years ago.” He raised his eyes to look at me, “Where did you get them?”
“They were among my father’s belongings.”
“These lessons — there is everything at once. Nopony has used these as a tutorial for years now. Most unicorns just gave up barely reaching the middle. The way it provides information is just too terrible. It goes from very simple, but in the last chapters it has tons of extremely difficult magic elements. Did you understand all of it?”
“Not quite. I tried to make different spells but could only finish just this one. It’s based on the stars and tarot. I connected it to the symbolism the cards provide, and made a few algorithms, like I did with horoscopes. It made a circle. A few elements for controlling how time flows. I’m not completely sure how it’s working, but I thought it improved fortune telling.
“Temporal elements… What in the…” The unicorn rose from the table dropping his blanket. “Starky… This is genius. You must tell me everything in detail, but first… Prophecy. What do you remember about it? What have you seen of the princess' future?”
“I… I saw that princess is used to putting herself above others, and thinks it is normal. Other ponies play along, even though she’s done nothing to earn such regards. Three characters in the future will influence her. First will be a dream between fantasies and absurdity. The second will be an impulsive soldier. She won’t be able to control them with her phony authority. That will cause a conflict. Near her will be another pony, the seeker, the sage. If princess won’t listen to him, it will cause terrible consequences. Awful troubles.”
“Of what sort?” unicorn frowned.
“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I saw only fear and ice. And I have seen it every night after. Every time I close my eyes.”
“That doesn’t make it much clearer.” The old unicorn looked troubled.
“What did I say to princess? Why was she that upset?”
The unicorn didn’t answer. Instead he opened a drawer in the table and showed me another scroll with text-curls. I started to look at it. Closer…
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry. I’m not used to those curls and it’s hard to read. I’ve always read smooth letters.
Old pony smiled. “I didn’t even think that you… Well, I’ll read it for you. You said that:
“The Cranky princess holding the throne
Looks at the twisted world alone,
Respect you others not one bit.
You've made your bed, now lie in it.
Arguing with sky and ground,
Harmony will be never found.
At a bitter cold cave she discovers her end,
The darkness and snow will rule this land.”
It sounded like couplet for colts. I surprisingly looked at the unicorn.
“This prophecy… Is it true?”
Sidereal sighed.
“I think it’s close to the truth. We’ve seen the shadow in the princess' future before. But even the collegium could not influence the royal family.
“Can you help me?” I looked at him as if he carried the only hope I had.
“I think that if you want to stop seeing your nightmares, you have to prevent the prophecy coming.”
“Are you kidding me? I couldn’t even be good blacksmith.”
“Now you are blacksmith, but I can’t let such a talented unicorn remain one. I offer you a place here to become a student of the collegium and my personal protege. Believe me, if you managed to understand those scrolls, then with access to library and best teachers there are, there will be nothing you can’t do. Just tell me, you feel better since you came here, am I correct?”
The inner voice was silent. My body didn’t shake anymore. Both had left me abruptly, so abruptly I could not put my hoof on when they’d gone.
“It’s seems so…”
“The spell is leading you. But it’s up to you to decide. The more you study, the more chance for you to seize your connection with the prophecy. You will be giving us a chance to try to prevent it and write a better future for all of us.”
I was lost in thoughts. Wasn’t this the chance I was looking for? Not just a trickster, but the unicorn of the collegium? All the chaos and horror I saw in my dreams — it will come, and everypony will feel the darkness and cold. Could I live calmly, knowing what’s coming? Forget, and just rid myself of the nightmares?”
“When you are prepared, you can start your training. You’ll have plenty of time to think.”
“I agree.” I smiled, sadly.
“I never doubted.”
Sidereal took a new parchment and started to fill it up.
“Starky the Comet isn’t your given name, right?”
“No. That’s name was given to me by other earth ponies.”
“Spell your real name.”
I spelled the memorized words. The magic burst and the sound of a bell resounded behind the door. A milky-white unicorn trotted inside, throwing me squeamish glance as she came. Sidereal gave her the scroll.
“Jubilee, darling, this young unicorn has enrolled at the collegium with a special status. Please, show him around.”
“Of course, Master Sidereal,” she knelt now looking at me with much more respect. It seemed she examined every cell of me, with all my rags, burns and dirt.
“You can go. Jubilee will show you to everything you will need.”
When I came out of the office, I finally felt the trueness of my deeds. The inner voice quieted for now. Maybe the future wouldn’t be so dark and cold. And even if it was, the ray of hope erased the darkness and warmed my world.
I looked at my future mentor. He just nodded and added:
“Welcome to the collegium, Star Swirl.”