Legacy

by Sleep Sonata

Homeland

Starry’s mind was about to burn out. She had just been teleported to the top of a mountain, stolen away from her friends, and now she was in a strange land she was only supposed to know. Before she could even think about what questions to ask, Harvest moon collapsed to the ground next to her. She’d only met the pony moments before, but she still wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

“Are you alright?”

Harvest struggled to stand up. Eventually, one leg at a time and with Starry’s help, she was able to stand again. “I’ll be fine. That was the first time I’d ever tried to teleport that kind of distance.” Her legs were still shaky, but she seemed able to walk, albeit at a considerably slower pace than Starry.

Starry gazed around, and couldn’t help but notice the change in atmosphere. Everything about the world around her seemed to fill her with a sense of foreboding. The sky was a uniform shade of purple, clear except for a single star and the moon. Even the earth on which she walked seemed to be hostile to plant life. What little there was was any shade but green. “Where are we? This seems a lot different from Equestria.”

“This land hasn’t known of Equestria for generations. When the Princess of the Sun banished us here, all of the bat ponies seemed to think it was better to forget and try to survive out here.” As the two slowly descended the mountain, a chariot soared over their heads, whipped up a cloud of dust around the two mares. It appeared to be towing a large crate, but the two could only guess as to what was inside.

Starry was glad it didn’t seem to notice them, but Harvest seemed disturbed by it. “Crow’s guards don’t usually go over the mountains. What could they be doing?”

“I remember that name. Who is he exactly?” Starry’s question obviously struck a personal chord with Harvest.

“Captain Crow is the one behind what happened to us. He took over Nocturna’s military, and forced you off the throne. I don’t know what his endgame is, but it can’t be good for anypony.” Starry remember the being dethroned, but only that fact. She was still unsure of how or why, and since Harvest didn’t know, she’d have to discover it on her own.

The two kept trekking down the mountain, but it appeared to Starry that they weren’t headed for the city at the base. “I understand why we aren’t going to the city,” she stated, “so where are we going, exactly?”

“Most ponies accept Crow’s takeover as inevitable, but there a handful of nobles who remained loyal to you.” They came upon a boulder field, and Harvest began tapping a hoof on the rocks. “Most of them have been arrested, but there may be somepony left in one of these safe houses.”

As she tapped one of the rocks, it sounded at if it was hollow, and Harvest’s face lit up. She lifted it up from the bottom, effortlessly, which was no surprise given the fact that it was hollow. “Follow me. we’ll need a plan to sneak you back into the city.”

Starry followed her down the spiral staircase, which wasn’t lit save for the light from Harvest’s horn. Eventually, they made it to the bottom, and there stood a single wooden door. It looked as if it had been made generations before. Harvest gave it seven knocks, with a pause separating the last one.

The door creaked open, but was held just ajar by several chains. Starry could only make out the eye of the pony who answered the door.

“Harvest? You’re back! How did you make it out of the badlands?”
Harvest leaned in closer to so as not to need to speak up. “That’s not important. But something astonishing happened. I found her!” She whispered with a yell.

The stallion wasn’t as excited as Harvest was. “Her? Who are you talking abou...” as he leaned forward slightly, his eyes widened when he saw Starry standing next to Harvest.

The door immediately slammed shut, and the sound of rattling chains and clicking locks was the only sound for a solid minute. The the door flew open, to reveal a dark purple mare with an exasperated expression Starry had never seen on anypony else. He grabbed the two mares by the shoulders and hauled them inside.

“I can’t believe it. Your highness! It seems like years since you disappeared!” The Stallion dropped down in a bow, making Starry feel slightly embarrassed. Harvest raised him to his hooves.

“Starry, this is Umbra. He was one of the nobles who protested Crow’s coup.”

“Well, since Crow stripped me of my title, I’m just a normal stallion hiding from the Lord Protector’s watchful eyes.” Umbra went around lighting lanterns, revealing a humble residence, even for an average pony. The bed was merely straw with a sheet, and there was no food left anywhere.

Starry felt a bit of pity for the stallion. The fact that he had endured all this for her was quite touching. “Mr. Umbra, I’m grateful for your loyalty, but I’m afraid I can’t quite remember being royalty.”

Umbra seemed not at all surprised by the news. “I wouldn’t expect you to be. I saw Crow perform the memory wipe myself. It’s amazing you remembered your name.”

For once, somepony understood.

“We can’t stay here though. I’m afraid I’ve run out of supplies to sustain one, let alone three ponies for any length of time.” The news was distressing for both Harvest and Starry. Harvest was about to speak up before Umbra cut her off. “Luckily, I just finished making arrangements to sneak back in. It’ll be a bit more tricky with the three of us, but I can make it work.”

This was a rare case of good news. Starry could finally have piece of mind knowing that a plan wasn’t going to be all improvisation. “When will we be departing?’ She inquired.

“Right now actually. The sooner we leave the better.” It seemed a little jarring, but it was just icing on her cake.

Harvest was just as eager to get going. “This is wonderful! Where are we headed?”

Umbra pointed to a map of the city of Nova on an adjacent wall. “We’ll be going directly to the west wall. Since it’s just mountains on that side of the city, there are just about no guards patrolling it. I’ve discovered an old hatch that leading into the underground. From there, we can roam the city freely.”

It sounded perfect. Harvest and Starry wasted no time following Umbra out of the safe house, and towards the city of Nova.

The landscape was barren save for the occasional boulders. It was quite shocking for Starry to see the looming city walls. It seemed as if they just rose out of the earth in that spot. Umbra didn’t give them much time to admire the scenery, pushing the group further down the wall.

Eventually they came upon Umbra’s hatch, and the two mares jumped into the stench filled tunnel below. Starry actually felt pain in her nose after breathing in. The air was filled with the smell of sewage and vermin.

Umbra seemed not unfazed, but more accustomed to the atmosphere than the other two. “There’s no time for admiring the aroma. We need to get to a safe place to surface.”

The mares struggled to breath the air, but were able to force their way through it and follow Umbra farther beneath the city. The group soon came upon a ponyhole cover, and Umbra forced it up and over to expose the world above. “Come on, I’ll boost you two up.”

He lifted Harvest up first, with a grunt, he lifted with all four feet, until she could pull herself out. He did the same for Starry, though she was surprised that Harvest didn’t give her some help getting out. It wasn’t a bother, though.

When she was finally out of the hole, she turned around to look back down the hole. “OK, I’ll help you up now.”

The only sound was Umbra’s hoof steps as he galloped further into the tunnels. This was strange. Starry was sure she could explain it away, but she simply couldn’t think of why he would do that.

Without warning, a bright light shined down on her from all directions, making it bright as day. Through her squinting, she was able to make out Harvest being suspended and bound in a magic field.

A voice started calling out to her from just beyond the lights. “Starry Night! You finally decided to come home.”