Come Little Children

by BlueEyedMelloon

Chapter 6

"Come Little Children"
By: Blue Eyed Melloon
Chapter Six

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Come little children, I’ll take thee away, into a land of enchantment.
Come little children, the time’s come to play, here in my garden of shadows.

Luna began to circle downward as the moon reached its apex in the sky. The fillies and colts were awoken by the change in temperature as they sunk from the sky. As they passed the canopy of the forest, it became increasingly darker. They were in a part of Equestria that was largely undiscovered, a place that grew wild and free. When all hooves were on the ground safely, the foals huddled together in the forest gloom, eyes wide with the fear of what lurked in the dark just out of eyesight.

“Fear not children.” Luna said as she made herself visible. The foals were silent, awed by the proximity of the princess. “I have brought thee here to create a new colony. One that will revel in the night instead of the daytime.”

Lily Flute raised her hoof timidly. “B-ut Princess. What about our families? What will happen to my mommy and daddy?” The foals that still had parents nodded in agreement, while the orphans avoided eye contact with expressions of anger or sadness. Fireball and Cocoa Butter in particular did not like the other filly bringing up parents, as their loss was still a fresh wound.

“Thy family will go on as usual.” Luna said simply, turning away from her brood and walking between the trees. “They would be honored that their foal wouldst be a part of a new generation, a new ideal.” This confused Lilly Flute more than reassured her.

“Where are we?” a colt called out. This was echoed by many small voices, and Luna paused in her footsteps, looking over her shoulder.

“Why, this is thy new home.” She said, expecting joy or awe. Instead, she got confusion, and fear.

“New home?” one piped, “But there aren’t any houses!”

“What about timber wolves?”

“Won’t we get hungry?”

“I wanna go home!”

“Enough!” the shout silenced the foals, leaving them shivering on the ground. Luna took a deep breath, and when she opened her eyes, they were full of kindness. “Thy needs will be taken care of whilst you grow. Trust in us children. Trust in thy princess.”

The words calmed the crowd, and when Luna resumed her pace, the foals trotted behind her, near enough to take comfort in her presence, but far enough away to feel safe from her wrath should it come about again. She was a princess, why shouldn’t they trust her? Her job was to keep them safe after all.

The walk took some time, though how much time, nopony could tell. The ever present gloom of the forest kept the moon and stars from view. Hooves began to shuffle and stumble; a small nap in the sky was not enough for a growing foal to live off of, and these ones were weary with travel. Luna sympathized with them, but continued on. They must reach their new home before sunrise, and Celestia was able to find them.

Suddenly, the night princess stopped. The foals bumped into each other, unaware that their leader had ceased walking. There was muttering and yawning until Spirit gazed around Luna’s legs, and gasped.

Before them was a clearing, allowing them to see much better in the moonlight. To the other end of the clearing grew a grove of trees, though they were unlike anything the ponies had seen before. Sapphire blue, they grew silver leaves that shimmered in the starlight like the bright scales of a dragon. They were quite tall; each one could have towered over the buildings of Canterlot. The foals shuffled from hoof to hoof, unsure of what to do, but dearly wanting to investigate the strange trees. When Luna smiled and nodded her head, they all ran forward, leaping over the great roots and laughing.

“Look! The bark really IS blue!”

“The leaves are so soft! But aren’t they made of silver?”

“There's a door here!”

All activity stopped and eyes fell upon Brownie Points, who shriveled under the collective gaze.

“Uhm, r-right here.” He mumbled, pointing a hoof to the dark space under a particularly large root. The group scampered over to stare at the door. A door in a tree, whoever heard of such a thing?

Magpie was the first to move closer. She grasped at the handle, and tugged with all of her might. But the door wouldn’t budge.

“It won’t open yet children.” Luna said from behind the crowd. A large portion of them jumped, and Magpie lifted her head. “Why won’t it open?”

“Because you have not made us a promise.” Luna replied, and all eyes went to her instead of the door. “In order to enter the tree homes, all of thee must promise that you may never go looking for the cities of the sun again. And if somepony were to enter this garden, thy duty will be to hide, and never make contact until the password is given. You are to be our children of the night. Make this promise, and the door will open.”

The foals alternated staring into the deep eyes of Luna and glancing at each other, wondering who was to make the first move. Brownie Points saw no reason not to make the promise, but dearly did not want to be the first one to do it. Fireball was frantically whispering to his sister about going home. Cocoa was shaking her head, pointing at the tree with a hoof excitedly. There were whispers and glances all around. Do they dare? Do they leave the world of the sun behind? What did that mean anyway?

A colt with electric blue hair was the first to step forward. “I-I’ll do it.” He said, puffing out his chest and trying to look larger than he actually was. Luna smiled as soon the others followed suit, lining up to make their promise. One that would bind them to this place forever. The alicorn lowered her head and passed over each foal, speaking the binding words of the spell.

“Dost thee promise to never leave our garden?”

“We promise.”

“Dost thee promise never to seek the cities of the sun?”

“We promise.”

“And dost thee promise that if another pony were to stumble upon this place without the given password, thy reaction will be to run and hide?”

“We promise.”

With each promise given, a pulse of light exited Luna’s horn, driving itself into the center of the foals’ chests. Cocoa gave a little squeak when the light hit her; Fireball remained silent and grim. The preparations complete, Luna implored them to try the door once more. This time, it opened without hesitation, and all of the foals clambered inside.

The inside of the tree was mostly bare, but cozy and warm. There were blankets piled around along with pillows, and each foal wasted no time in claiming their own set. Once each foal was set up with sleeping materials, Luna bade them all farewell.
“But, but Princess Luna.” Spirit croaked out. “What about food? And furniture? And school?”

“Fear not Spirit. We shall take care of all of these things. Any want thy has, make it heard, and we shall do our best to grant thy wish. But for now children, sleep. There is much exploring to do tomorrow night.” She closed the door behind her and waited a minute or two, hearing the foals whispering excitedly before drifting off to sleep. She galloped from the clearing, and jumped into the sky, wheeling a few times overhead before beginning the long journey back to Canterlot. She must make it home before the sunlight hit the muzzles of the ponies under her spell.

Unbeknownst to Luna, her brief interlude into Celestia’s dreams had left a hoof print, so to speak. So when Luna cast her magic, a trickle was drawn back to Celestia, and at first the sun princess thought nothing of it. As time went on, she began to have visions of empty beds, and open windows. The visions became real enough that she thought she was on the street staring at them with her actual eyes rather than her dream ones.

Come little children, I’ll take the away…

Celestia awoke with a start, heart pounding. What had scared her that badly? She turned to look out her balcony doors at the bright moon, feeling anxiety deep in her chest. Something was not right with her dreams.

“Luna.” She whispered, gazed locked on the white orb making its way through the night sky. “What have thee done?”

Comments

[1stChosenStar]

Love this fic so far!