I ran through the forest, wearing a huge smile on my face. I was going home.... The idea made me more excited with every step. I slowed down, thinking I could spare my energy for home. I saw the edge of the forest and stopped dead in my tracks.
My ears twitched as a sound came from ahead. Staying in the forest for a millennia, I had honed my hearing and sight, so to not be caught off guard by any threat. I saw a figure approaching from the darkness that clouded me from sight. I flew straight up and landed silently on the nearest stable branch of a willow tree. I looked through an opening to see who was there.
My eyes looked the figure up and down. I could tell it was stallion because he was too large to be a mare. I looked closer at his features, and for some odd reason, my heart gave a quick beat, as he became clearer. He was a Pegasus, with ebony black hair and tail, with a streak of crimson red and a coat the colour of the sunrise on a summer day. His cutie mark was a arrow, bathed in flame at the tip, as it seemed. His eyes..... I almost immediantly got lost in them. They were a sea green, looking like waves on the shore to me. I was so lost in them, that I only heard a crack from the branch before I fell to the ground. I rubbed my head as I got up, when I met a pair of worried eyes.
"Miss, are you okay?"
I looked at him, my mouth agape. I gave him a shy smile.
"I'm....I'm fine, good sir, thank you."
He looked at my face and started to look at my hooves and body, looking for injuries. When he saw my wings, his eyes widened as he turned back to my face. His eyes met with my horn, and he looked confused.
"Are....Are you.... an alicorn."
I tensed as I realized no one knew a third daughter of the late king and queen existed. I held the lump in my throat as I thought of the Songs, showing me of their death. I smiled shakily.
"Ye-Yes, I'm an alicorn..."
He looked more concerned now, then confused. He walked up beside me and looked at me for permission. I knew what he wanted, and I gave a nod of approval. He opened my wing to see that it was larger then the average Pegasus. I shivered as his hoof, gentle surprisingly, touched my wing. He let go of my wing, and looked me in the eye.
"How is this possible? I thought there were only four alicorns in Equastria?"
I started to look as confused as he was. Four? From what I knew there were only three, not including myself, that were known: Celestia, Luna, and Mi Amoura Cadenza. I'd have to ask my sisters about that once I got home. I sighed, and looked at him intently.
"Putting me being an alicorn aside, would you be so kind as to escort me home? In Canterlot? I just realized that my front hoof doesn't feel right, and I think I might've sprained it."
He smiled, nodding. Instead of me walking ahead beside him, he scooped me up on his back.
"Oh... You don't have to do that,....um, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name?"
He smirked at me, and I grew concerned why.
"Your hurt so you shouldn't walk on it. And I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours?"
I sighed in defeat and let him carry me. My name seemed to be forgotten for a moment as he looked at me, expectantly.
"I'm Sirena"
He smiled widely. Looking behind to stare at me.
"That's a very lovely name"
I blushed pink. No one, (Mostly because I hadn't seen or talked to anyone for a millennia, other then a few animals who kept my company) had ever complemented my name, and hearing it come from him, for another odd reason, made my face warm.
"Ok, I've told you mine, now tell me yours"
He smiled, and looked at me with a smirk that made my heart flutter again.
"My name's Apollo"
Again, the insufferable beating of my heart began again at just hearing his name.
"That's a very unique name"
He chuckled.
"Not as unique as Sirena..."
My face burned up again, and my confusion strengthened. What is wrong with me? Every time he speaks it's like a warm caress from the wind. Every complement he gives me, my heart speeds up. Why? I'm not used to not understanding something... Weaving someone's destiny is easy, understanding what is happening when I'm around this stallion is more difficult then fighting a hydra! His voice interrupted my thoughts,
"We are almost to the train station. You're actually lucky, I was heading to Canterlot this afternoon after a walk through the forest, but it's seems I'm going early."
He raised an eyebrow in a joking matter. I scowled, but smiled non-the-less.
We got on the train and my giddiness returned. In a few hours I'll be with my sisters again, my home, everyone. I smiled brightly as I fell asleep....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I looked up at the castle, and smiled more then I ever have. I looked down at my hoof, with the bandage snugly wrapped on. The doctor said it shouldn't take too long to heal, only a day or two. I started to look worried as I walked forward, until a hoof touched my shoulder. I turned around to see Apollo looking at me reassuringly.
"I'm sure your long lost family will love you"
I smiled in gratitude. Without thinking, I hugged him tightly. I soon realized what I was doing and quickly let go.
"Um...thank you for your help, Apollo. I really appreciate it.... Goodbye"
He nodded and walked away. I turned back to the castle, and let out a breath as I walked confidently inside. I walked the halls in silence, remembering the memories that were made here. I soon saw the doors to the throne room, and grew worried again. Apollo's words went through my head again.
"I'm sure your long lost family will love you..."
I smiled. I went to the doors for the guards to gape in shock at me. I smiled at them, and they numbly smiled back. Quickly opening the doors, I saw my sisters doing paperwork. Tears shone in my eyes as I looked at how they were so grown up now. Celestia no longer had pink hair, but an aurora borealis look. Other then that, she looked just the same. Luna, however, no longer had her light blue colour hair or coat, it was all replaced with a dark navy coat and starry night wavy hair and tail. I smiled with tears streaming down my face. They soon heard me, and looked up in question. Their mouths gaped, just as everyone else's, and got up in wonder. I smiled at them with pure happiness.
"Sisters....I-I'm home..."
They looked confusingly at me. I understood that my guess what our parents did was true, and I figured out quickly how to get them to realize it was me. I began to sing the song we had all learned as fillies from mother.
"A young colt walked through the forest, with his sister and fellows old, he heard a young mare singing, and followed the sound in the cold,"
Celestia widened her eyes, knowing that no one knew that song except for the royal family. She walked forward a little as I sung the next line.
"There he found the mare, who lives in the willow, he called to her as she listened, from a ring of toadstools red,"
Luna started to come foreward along with her sister, growing more curious.
"Come with me my maiden, come from thy willow bed, she looked at him serenely, and only shook her head"
They both were broken out of the spell when they realized it was me, and ran to finish the verse beside me.
"See me now, a ray of light in the moon dance, see me now, I cannot leave this place, hear me now, a strain of song in the forest, don't ask me, to follow where you lead....."
They cried onto me as I smiled into their fur. They let me go after a while, and looked overjoyed.
"Sirena...... We..... We thought we lost you and.... Everything else is a blur after the night you left"
I sadly looked at them, feeling bad that we had missed so many years together. My smile returned and I tugged my sisters along.
"Why don't I show you something that hasn't been opened in eons?"
They looked confusingly at me, and I sighed in annoyance. It wasn't really anger that I felt towards our parents, more confusion or disappointment. Why cut me completely from their lives by erasing all memory of me ever being there?
"Mother and father took a far too drastic measure with erasing me from your memories...."
I led them down the hallway, looking back at their troubled faces. I came up to a dark hall, with only a dead end that looked cold and lonely. I rolled my eyes at how they disguised my old chambers. They looked as if I'd gone mad. Luna looked concerned at me.
"Mother told us that this place only brought misery and regret...."
I let out a whimper of pain. I walked to the wall and touched it with my hoof. I let a tear drop from my eye as I spoke in barely a whisper.
"Mother.... Father....I'm home..... Let me inside..."
The wall began to crack as I backed away. Slowly, a door appeared from the shadows. I turned to them, with a lump in my throat and them looking at me, worried because of my tears.
"This room only brought misery and regret to our parents, since they left me to my fate..."
I walked into the room, smiling slightly at the memories flowing through my mind. Celestia and Luna walked in, looking around in curiosity and wonderment. The room looked dark and quiet abandoned. Everything was just as I left it. I turned to the one thing I missed for eons, and went to pick up the once prized and treasured object. I turned the key and let it's magic enter my ears and mind. My music box, that played our childhood song and could make my worries fly away in an instant. Celestia and Luna looked around still, searching through the place for answers their minds could not provide. I brought the music box forward and put it on the bed. Mother had given it to me as a present for my 7th birthday, and I never could get enough of the music it contained. It was a simple aqua blue box that was engraved in gold with a picture of our parents on the cover. They looked at it and their eyes seemed to open to their surroundings. They looked around again and Luna said something that made me smile with joy.
"This.... This was where we played.... Other then playing outside, we would always play that one game in here.... What was that game called? Oh yes! "Sisters of Battle"! We used to always try and defeat each other with spells that would only make us laugh! Oh I did enjoy that game so much!"
I smiled at Luna's memory returning, and turned to Celestia. She was looking at my dear piano, lightly tapping the keys. I walked over to her and as she smiled in remembrance.
"You were always the musical one out of all of us.... I remember you sitting here as a filly, pouring your heart into each note.... I remember you trying to teach Luna and I, but we were hopeless at anything musical.... If I remember correctly, you once laughed so hard at us trying to play the song "Some Pony to Love", that you fell right of the bench!"
She gave a chuckle at the memory. I laughed along with Luna. They both looked at me, happiness overtaking their eyes. I gave them both a hug before turning to the door.
"Since your memories of me have returned, I think it's time we talked about things that have happened in the last millennia I was gone. I would like to learn more about this fourth princess I've been hearing about, if that's alright?"
They both laughed and proceeded to the dining room, where we all learned of many things that had happened. But only one thing made me happy, one thought that spoke it all......
"I'm home..."