27: Timelines: The Omen
Princess Luna sighed. “This was a long time ago. Somewhere in the range of four thousand years ago, but perhaps more. Back when these parts were young and ponies spoke in the language of the ancients. Back when the world was a strange place: the land was untamed, demons and mechanical abominations walked freely, and an inherent magic was strewn through the ether of the landscape. Back when the world was newly reborn from an unfathomable time of chaos and war. Back when the three pony tribes were segregated and it was forbidden for the tribes to intermarry. Those who were caught were banished from the land, forced to walk the world in exile. And as any pony who was wise could tell you, there is never any rest for the iniquitous. Thus several small groups of outcasts roamed the land, pulling their shelter in the form of wagons. These were the laagers, nomadic clusters of mixed tribes that were doing their best to survive in a harsh world full of demons and monsters. Their only defense was the ability to be on the move, ever leaving lands behind when they had outstayed their welcome. This is the story of the ill omen that brought things to what they are today. The rise of a country, the rise a utopia, and the fall of gods….”
It was late evening. The sun was getting ready to set on the horizon casting the most splendid sun set any pony had ever seen. In the distance a small unicorn filly stood on the edge of a small mound of rocks with a weighty tome. The wind blew gently through her mane as it crept over the field of wild grass the sunlight was lounging on. Such a strange thing the wind was back during this time. It was unbridled, unguided by hooves and painting currents in the air that even the most artistic could not dream to imagine. The evening held a certain majestic tranquility to it as the world settled itself, on its own volition, to rest. The amazing sunset was certainly one thing to behold, but it was not the focus of anypony who was watching the skies that evening. The moon had decided to rise early this evening and it was hung in sky near the sun, as it fighting for the same spot in the heavens. The young filly glanced over to her side, spying another pony of the laager, a small earth pony colt by the name of Conestoga. He was sitting on a small incline of dirt nearby. He had one of his hooves pointed at the heavens and he was spouting some speech about how he would be the greatest hunter in the entire laager. The unicorn chuckled to herself. A small distance away, back where her wagon was parked, a loud ruckus was spoiling the beautiful sunset.
“Alright! Alright! I’m leaving! I’ll just be out here if you need me!” A sky blue pegasus scrambled out of the back of one of the covered wagons. The pony seemed befuddled and absolutely exhausted as he let out a snort. “Phft. Mares, huh?” He mused to an onlooker as he leaned up against the wagon. He adjusted the angle of the peppermint stick clenched between his teeth. Because the laager moved around so much peppermint was a rare treat, but today was a special day. It was a special day in many ways indeed. The pony had a regal look about him despite the slight guff slouch he possessed. His jaw line was strong and well cut, and his figure was without flaw. His wings were muscular, strengthened clearly from intense training and dedication. While he may have been lounging nonchalantly against the wagon at the moment, to any observer, keen or even inept, it was obvious that he could win any race and hold his own against the terrors of the world. His eyes held a certain spark that would inspire those around him. Those eyes, they whispered a subtle message that no matter what, this was a pony that would sacrifice everything to protect those he cared about. A pony that…
Twilight Sparkled coughed. “Is this stallion important? What does this have to do with anything? Why are you describing him so much? And making him sound so… well… perfect?” Luna, despite the tightness of her bonds, held up a hoof to silence the unicorn. Twilight leaned around the hoof and continued. “Oh for pony’s sake, he’s not an old coltfriend is he?”
Luna stuck her tongue out. “No! That’s disgusting! I don’t even like stallions…. Just listen…”
Yes, one could say that this stallion was perfection. That is really the take-away message from this. He was perfection in physical form and enlightened in wisdom. He exuded an air of confidence and esteem that made possible threats quake and rallied those who would call him friend. He was levelheaded, yet passionate. But even somepony as calm and collected as him was frazzled at the current moment. A few pained sounds emanated from the wagon and the noise was beginning to attract bystanders. In the distance a short dark blue pegasus came galloping to the stallion’s side. “Welkin! I just got back.” The pony set a large basket full of berries down on the ground. “How is Gaia?” The shorter pegasus asked.
“Nightsky! I was afraid you would miss it!” Welkin held out a hoof to block Nightsky from entering the wagon. “Don’t go in there.”
“Shouldn’t the foal’s father be present at the birth?”
“She kicked all of us out, except the midwife. She said I was breathing too loud and I was making her nervous. I suspect she’ll want me back once it is closer to time.”
“Is everything alright? It’s been a while now.”
Welkin chuckled. “You know my Gaia, she’s the toughest pony Gratis ever created. It will certainly take more than foaling to do her in. Still… she’s having a lot more trouble with this one than the last….” Welkin cast his gaze over at the small unicorn filly that was watching the sunset from the mound of rocks.
Nightsky leaned up against the side of the wagon, mimicking the other pony. He gave a heavy sigh as he turned his gaze to the sunset. “Well it’s not hard to fathom why…”
“Not you too…” Welkin spit the remaining stalk of peppermint out of his mouth. Nightsky let out a small gasp as he watched such a rare and sought after treat go to waste. “I can’t believe my own brother is buying into that superstitious nonsense. There is no such thing as this omen….”
Nightsky sighed. “Well take a look around you. The tribal lands are covered in a blizzard; the moon and sun are fighting for the same place in the sky. A covering of the sun, an eclipse, Tabor was calling it; just another sign at the unluckiness of all this.”
Welkin rolled his eyes and chuckled uneasily. “Oh, and we all know the great Tabor is never wrong. Pfft. He’s just easily spooked. Remember when he thought that one rock formation was a golem? Poor little unicorn nearly ran his family’s wagon into a river.”
“I’ll admit he’s a bit, well, skittish. But he is the leader of the laager and he did take us in after you got us exiled from Olymponyus. Not to mention he’s kept the laager safe and well fed for years. We owe it to him to heed his wise words. He says this birth is a bad omen.”
“There is no such thing as a newborn foal that’s a bad omen. You know why laagers consider second births such an issue? It’s a food supply thing. Every wagon puller knows that food comes when it comes for us and too many mouths make things difficult. The whole bad omen thing is an old pony’s tale told to discourage population increase. We have plenty of food and if we don’t well then the best hunter this laager has ever seen will have to go and find some.”
Nightsky shook his head. “Right, because your skill at monster fighting works so well at finding berries. You wouldn’t know editable food from a rock. And let’s face it. The only reason Tabor hasn’t kicked you out of the laager for brining in a second foal is because you frightened off that horde of imps.”
“I can’t help it if I’m irreplaceable as the laager’s main source of protection.” Welkin smiled softly. “As for the sun and moon, well it just looks like my new little foal is so special that Dagr and Nótt both wanted to see the birth. Just you wait, Nightsky, I bet even the Gray Dragon himself will show up.”
“Heh. Show a bit of humility, Welkin, what would Dagr, Nótt, and Gratis want with a bunch of laager exiles?”
Welkin stood up straight and tall. He pointed his hoof out at the horizon and pulled Nightsky in close. “What wouldn’t they want with us, little brother? Take a look at what’s out there. Over there is the mountain range of the three tribes. The sky city of Olymponyus, the unicorn kingdom, and the Earthen Plains, that’s where we used to be. And look what they have now! A terrible blizzard covers the mountain range whilst we laager exiles, as you call us, are out here free! We roam all this beautiful land in Dagr’s day and we breathe the open air in Nótt’s night.” He pointed his hoof upwards to the sky. “And we never stop moving! We pull our wagons until we reach a new wondrous sight each day!”
“At least the tribes don’t have to deal with the demons like us wagon pullers…”
“And they never know the thrill because of it! Only through strife can true happiness flourish, and because of the hardships we can grow! Why, I’d give that boring city life up again in a heartbeat if I had the choice. To spend time out here amongst a group of ponies that truly care for one another!”
Nightsky chuckled; his brother’s speeches always brightened his mood, even if they were mostly idealistic puffery. “Well, of course you would. You actually had a choice. Some of us were exiled by proxy.”
Welkin placed his hoof on top of his brother’s head and ruffled his mane. “You always could have tattled on me. You made a choice too.”
“And abandon my big brother? Hardly a choice.” Nightsky smiled.
“Well good. Because my foals need their uncle. Who’s going to foalsit them while me and the missus are out having fun?” Nightsky laughed and tackled his brother.
A yellow unicorn poked her head out of the back of the wagon. She gave a small chuckle when she saw the two ponies playfully wrestling. “Sorry to break up such brotherly love, but Welkin, it’s about time.”
“Well, alright then.” Welkin pulled the canvas back and entered the wagon.
Nightsky attempted to follow, but the unicorn held up a hoof. “Uh, Welkin only, Nightsky, sorry.”
“But…!” The pegasus attempted to protest.
Welkin poked his head back out of the wagon. “Could you do me a favor, little brother, and go check on the little one? She’s over there playing on the ridge with the other younglings.”
Nightsky sighed. “Fine…” Feeling slightly defeated, the pony trotted over to the ridge. Because the laager moved around so much, there was not really a designated placed for the younglings to play. There was, however, a designated direction. The wagons of the laager would form a curved wall shape in the evening or whenever they were at rest and the younglings were directed to play opposite the curve of the wagon so that they were protected should an attack occur. Unfortunately, these attacks were not uncommon for life in the laager. Only a few days ago, a feral bugbear had wondered into the camp and had destroyed one of the wagons, but luckily the only injury sustained was a broken leg for one of the gatherers. Nightsky could not help but think it might have been Gratis punishing his brother for and sister-in-law for deciding to have another foal. He loved his family, but sometimes his brother could be so bullheaded. He approached the ridge and was nearly knocked over by a swarm of young colts that were running past. Once he regained his balance his eyes found the small filly. She was sitting onto of one of the rock mounds with her hooves curled underneath her. She was bent over a large book. Now books were a rare sight for wagon pullers and it had been….
Twilight Sparkle gasped. “That’s terrible! No pony should be without access to a good library, it’s a crime against nature!”
Yes… quite so. Now books were a rare sight indeed for ponies of the laager, and the tome had been procured through no simple task by the pony’s mother. It was an old tome and one the young filly carried with her always. The book contained…
“What was the book called?”
Luna sighed. “I don’t remember. I’m not sure it even had a title. It’s honestly not that important to the story. It has a place but you needn’t dwell on it.”
Its title may have been lost to time but its subject was not. The tome had covered several artifacts of the ancients and detailed descriptions of the magic they contained. It was, by all accounts, unreadable as it was written in a language used in a time long past. However its sketches were quite detailed and eye fetching and it was for that reason that the small unicorn filly coveted the book so. Nightsky leaned over top of the unicorn and smiled. “Hey there, little Helia.”
“Hello, Uncle Nightsky.” The filly’s tone was polite, but largely lacking in interest. She was busy studying one of the diagrams of a small bell-shaped artifact.
Nightsky lowered his head to Helia’s level and smiled. “Are you excited about your new brother or sister?”
“I guess.” Helia said in the same uninterested tone. The small pony’s face scrunched up in a complex expression. She was not quite sure how she felt about the whole ordeal. Having a sibling would be nice, but she wondered if her mother would still have time for her after the birth. It was cliché but it was what she was feeling. “I hope I get a sister and she’s a unicorn like me so I can teach her magic.” She decided against voicing her concerns at the moment. It was not as though her uncle would help with them anyway. He was a rather useless pony in her opinion. Helia turned a page in the tome with her magic. “Anything else you need?” She attempted to bury her head in her book and appear uninteresting so the pegasus would leave.
“Why aren’t you playing with your friends?”
“Friends?” She asked quizzically. Nightsky pointed to the group of ponies playing some sort of tag related game. Helia looked over at the group of colts running around the rock mounds. “Oh, Conestoga and his gang don’t like me. Besides I have my book. I don’t really need any friends.”
“Now that’s just not true. I bet if we went over and talked to them you could…”
“I’m really very busy reading. I think I’ve almost deciphered how this alphabet works. Soon I’ll be able to actually read this book instead of just looking at the pictures. Now if you don’t mind I’d like to…”
Helia would have continued but she was interrupted by her name being called. Back at the wagon, Welkin stuck his head out from the canvas. He called out to the ridge. “Helia! Nightsky! Come here!” Nightsky pushed Helia to her hooves and lead her over to the wagon. Helia galloped to the wagon with speed. She quickly skidded to a stop just outside of the wagon. Welkin chuckled and patted her lovingly on the head. The young unicorn poked her head inside the wagon and glanced around. Her father, Welkin was standing next to another unicorn, she was one of the mares of the laager but Helia never really paid much attention to other ponies so she did not recall the pony’s name despite how small the population of her laager was. She took a few steps forward, her hooves creaking against the wagon’s old floorboards. Her mother, the beautiful Gaia, was sitting in a pile of hay curled up in a tight ball. Nestled against her mother’s neck a small foal sat shivering. The foal was whimpering in a long drawn out warble.
Gaia whispered gently to her eldest. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Helia, my sweet, what do you think of your new sister?”
Helia leaned over and carful inspected the foal. Her eyes traced the outline of the new life with an almost scientific skepticism. As far as she could tell the thing as a whole seemed useless. Its legs seemed too short. Its head was far too big. Its eyes, when they were bothered to be open, stared off in random directions. She was not completely certain, she would certainly have to run a few tests, but the life form seemed to be quite unintelligent. Most importantly it did not possess the one quality she had been looking for in a sibling. “It’s a pegasus. How am I supposed to teach magic to a pegasus?” Helia wrinkled her snout in distaste. “She’s useless.” The little unicorn poked the foal with her hoof. Helia recoiled as the foal whimpered at the sudden contact.
“Gently now!” Her mother scolded. “She’s just a little thing.” Gaia smiled down at her new daughter. Welkin was smiling too. “She’s got her father’s good looks and beautiful coat color.” She nuzzled the foal. “Don’t you, Selena?” Helia turned away from the group that was fawning over the foal. “Helia! Wait. I have something to ask of you.” Helia turned around. Not that she wanted to stay, but it was not in her nature to disobey her mother. Disobey her father perhaps, but never her mother. Gaia turned to her eldest with a gentle smile, but stern eyes. She spoke in a commanding, almost regal tone. It was a tone that gave heavy weight to her words. “Helia, my oldest daughter, from this day on you are now an older sister. It is your job to look after this little filly. You are the one she will turn to for guidance when she feels lost and you are the one who will be her example when she feels unsure.” Helia nodded as if she was in a trance. Her mother’s voice having some sort hypnotic effect on its listeners, even Welkin and Nightsky, known for their rowdiness, were silent and observant of the wisdom of the mare.
“Yes, mama.”
Gaia sighed thoughtfully. “Ah, I have such lovely daughters. Look at how their eyes…”
“So the start of our dark days has arrived!” The group was startled as the canvas to the wagon was thrown open. A gruff elderly unicorn entered the wagon in a huff. This unicorn was imposing, despite how advanced his age was. His body may have been failing him, his joints giving out with each step and a slight tremble in his left foreleg, but his stern expression lit a fire of uneasiness in other ponies’ hearts.
Welkin smiled. “Tabor. Are you here to see our little splendor?”
Tabor spit on the wagon floor. The midwife unicorn let a small sound escape her lips. To spit inside another's wagon, such an act was not a pleasant one among wagon pullers. “No. I’m here to see the little bearer of bad luck that has just arrived to our poor wagon train. Have you looked outside? The moon is eclipsing the sun!”
“Now wait just a moment there, Tabor!” Welkin said as he pushed Nightsky out of the way to get closer to the elder unicorn.
“After we took you and your brother in out of the kindness of our hearts, you go and bring this foul curse on us!”
Gaia looked over at her daughters. “Helia, my sweet, can you take little Selena outside for a moment?”
“Uh…” Helia sized up the newborn. “Yes, mama.” Gaia leaned over and lowered Selena in the young filly’s direction. A soft yellow glow enveloped the newborn and Helia carefully stepped out of the back of the wagon. She sat down on her haunches and gently lowered the infant to her hooves. She tried her best to cradle the slightly fussy foal as shouting continued to escalate from the wagon. Helia looked at the small creature, which compared to herself was actually relatively large. “So. Sisters, huh?” She stared blankly at the foal as it returned the same blank expression. Its eyes were rather large for its head it seemed. “Mama says I have to watch over you and stuff.” The foal let out a small yawn and then a whimper. Perhaps the newborn was scared she was leaking air? Helia could not quite seem to wrap her head around this baby business. “So… what am I supposed to do here?” The foal did not respond. “Oh! I like books. Maybe you like books? Since we’re sisters and all. Do you read?” Helia gave a quick smile. Selena blinked a few times. “You can’t can you? Well we could talk about stuff. Like, I don’t know… what do we have in common? Oh parents. We could talk about mama and papa.” Selena tilted her head and lazily closed one eye. “So, you can’t talk either. You can’t talk, walk, fly, do magic, or read. Well. Your life seems to be off to a great start.” Helia said with an annoyed tone. Selena blinked absentmindedly. “How do you think this is going so far?” The young foal hiccupped.
“This unicorn, Helia, sounds very much like me a few years ago.” Twilight Sparkle said. “Is she very important to the story? Does she ever find friends? Why is she so ignorant about foals? What’s up with the moon and sun? Did you and Celestia bless this foal’s birth? What does this have to do with how the sun and moon are raised anyway?”
Luna nodded thoughtfully. “All in time. You said you wanted the full story, and so I am telling you it. And yes, Helia is important to the story, the most important in fact. She doesn’t understand foals because she was very young. It might be hard to tell as she acted much older than she was because she was unnaturally intelligent. Very intelligent, but uneducated; formal education was unheard of for the nomadic wagon pullers. She taught herself to read, even though no pony else around her could in the slightest. Yes, this time was an interesting period, but perhaps, since time is a factor, we should skip ahead a few years or so….”
It was early in the morning. Dew was creeping over the blades of crabgrass that hugged the tree line. It had rained the day before, to the surprise of the ponies of the laager. Helia was sitting on her haunches, her snout burred in a tome. She stared intently at the characters, attempting to understand something about the metaphysics of magic ley lines. Next to her a very annoying sound was testing her nerves. Selena was bouncing a small ball against a nearby rock. There were not many toys for wagon pullers and Selena counted herself lucky for having procured the little rubber sphere from one of the brief encounters with another laager. “Helia, look!” She said as she bounced the ball in front of the unicorn. “Look what I can do!” She bounced the ball upwards and caught in the bridge of her snout. It took some careful balancing and much teetering to keep it in place as she spoke. “See?”
“That’s nice, Selena.”
“You’re not even looking!” Selena said, slightly hurt. Helia picked up her book and turned to face the other way.
“Not now, Selena, I’m very busy.” Helia waved a hoof dismissively. “Go play over there.” Selena let the ball fall to the ground and bowed her head in disappointment. The young pegasus slowly walked over to where the ball had rolled and picked up in her mouth. Not really watching where she was going, she trotted over to the other side of the ridge where a group of the older colts were playing some game she could not comprehend. She recognized the leader of the little gang, an earth pony by the name of Conestoga. Normally she would have chosen to play somewhere else, but the colts had already noticed her presence and were making their way over to her. She backed up slowly and attentively. Conestoga raced forward and towered over her small form.
“Well, well, well. What have we here?” Conestoga spit on the ground. “It looks like the littlest of the freak sisters, don’t it, Prairie Schooner?”
A large brute of a colt next to him chuckled. “It sure does, Conestoga.” Now Prairie Schooner was not the brightest, which was why he followed Conestoga around. Conestoga was reasonably intelligent and normally would not have bothered with such an empty head, but Prairie Schooner brought a certain value to the table that Conestoga would be hard pressed to find somewhere else, and that was raw muscle.
“What do you think this little weirdo is doing in our area, Schooner?”
The brute stamped his hooves to punctuate his sentences. “Yeah! Our area! We don’t need any blank flanks here in!” Conestoga swiped the ball from the young pegasus and balanced it on his hoof. He inspected it carefully, appraising its value. After a moment he determined it to be worthless and tossed it to the larger pony. Schooner placed the rubber sphere on the ground and stomped his hoof down on the toy with malicious force. The ball cracked and broke into small rubber pieces. Selena’s ears dropped and her eyes watered. The small pegasus bit her lip to avoid letting a sound out, but after no more than a few seconds of the feeling welling up inside her she let out a terribly loud sob.
Conestoga belted out a laugh. “Look at her! The little blank flank is crying! Oh that’s great!” Conestoga pushed Selena over to Prairie Schooner. “Woops, sorry, hoof slipped.”
Prairie Schooner pushed the pony back in the opposite direction. “Yeah, hoof slipped!”
Selena staggered back and fell to the ground. The little filly attempted to stand and her wings flapped helplessly at her sides. “Look, Schooner, I think we’ve spooked her. She’s trying to fly away but she can’t!” He pointed to her frail and tiny wings as the beat against the air. “What good is being a lightweight pegasus if you can’t even fly?!” The colts roared in laughter. “You’re such a useless little thing.” Conestoga kicked the filly.
“What do you think you two are doing?” A voice startled the two colts.
Conestoga spun around. A white unicorn mare was levitating a tome next to her and giving the two colts a stern look. “Look what came to play! It’s the other blank flank! What a freak!”
“Words are only as valuable as their speaker. Yours mean nothing.” She said in a convincing tone. Truth be told, the title of blank flank…
Luna looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “Well not ‘blank flank,’ it was actually ‘latus gracile’ as they were speaking in the ancient tongue. For the sake of story comprehension I’ve taken the phrase and translated to something more modern….”
Truth be told, being called a blank flank was one of the only things that could upset the stoic Helia. She was years past the normal age of acquiring her Cutie Mark and everypony had been quick to point out that she was still missing hers. While she showed little emotion around other ponies, save for that of insufferable annoyance, she would often be seen galloping home crying. Her mother, Gaia, would then cradle the young pony as best she could and comfort her. This day however, she was in no mood for Conestoga’s antics and she was wearing a brave mask. “You may call me names, especially if they are true. I can’t fault you for that. However, I draw the line when it comes to my sister.”
“Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?” Conestoga laughed. Helia simply shook her head. Her horn glowed with magical might as the ground trembled beneath the two earth ponies. “What the hay is this?” Conestoga said as he jumped back in fright. The ground crack and heaved upwards. Large rocks slammed into Prairie Schooner and he was flung to the side. Two more sections of the ground tore apart from the earth and formed a maw like shape as it clamped down against Conestoga. When the stone receded back into the ground Conestoga was cursing and limping away hurriedly. “Ah hay! I think she broke my leg! What the hay is wrong with you two? By the Gray Dragon himself! My leg! It’s broken. Oh Gratis, it’s completely broken!” In a moment, the two colts were gone from sight.
Helia knelt down next to her sister. “Are you hurt, Selena?” Helia carefully inspected the small pegasus.
Selena looked up and “Just a little bruised. That was… you… thank you.” Helia used her magic to help Selena to her hooves. Helia looked as though she was going to say something but decided against it at the last second. Selena looked down at the ground. “I thought you didn’t like me?”
“I promised mother I would take care of you, Selena. My disposition to you is irrelevant. I have no intention of disappointing mother.” Helia gave a weak smile. “Besides, us latera gracilia need to stick together, right?”
“Yeah.” Selena returned the smile. Helia held up a hoof as she heard a noise.
“They’re down there!” Prairie Schooner’s voice came from over a ridge. Helia and Selena glanced over to where the noise was coming from. “There they are!” Up on the ridge Prairie Schooner and a group of the older ponies from the laager were spouting angry looks.
“And now we have to run.” Helia said as she pushed Selena into a trot.
“Wha…? Why?” Selena shouted as she flapped her wings rather uselessly in a failing effort to gallop faster. Helia raced ahead of her and made a quick turn into the trees nearby.
“Because apparently breaking somepony’s leg is frowned upon for some reason.” Helia dodged past a few trees. The shouts of the pursuing ponies were not growing fainter dispite the fact she and Selena were making a few quick turns to shake them.
“Helia! Wait! Over here!” Selena skidded to a stop in front of the mouth to a small cave. “Could we use this place to hide?”
“Excellent thinking, sister. There’s promise in you yet.” Helia chuckled as she raced inside the cave. The sisters pressed themselves up against the side of the cavern wall, hiding themselves in the shadow it cast. The fading sound of galloping hooves overhead told them that the chasing party had moved their search to another location. “Well, we’ve bought ourselves some time; perhaps their tempers will settle eventually.”
“You never know. They might forget.” Selena chuckled.
“Unless something goes rampaging through the laager, I doubt they will forget about the whole leg thing.”
Selena chuckled as she looked around the cave interior. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know. I think this is the first time the laager ever parked around here.” Helia glanced over her shoulder at her sister. “Want to look around for a bit?”
“Not really. It’s dark. I don’t like the dark.”
Helia’s horn glowed with a soft yellow hue. With a buzzing flash, a small floating globe of light hovered around her head. “Better?”
“Yes.” Selena clapped her front hooves together. “You’re so good at magic, Helia! I wish I could do magic like you!”
The unicorn began to walk deeper into the cave. “Yes, well light spells have always come naturally to me. I’m not sure why.” She paused for a moment to observe the cavern walls. They were made of some strange red colored stone she could not name. The fact she could not name it bothered her slightly.
Selena caught up to her sister and stuck close to her side as the cavern floor dipped downwards. “I’m surprised you haven’t gotten your Cutie Mark in magic. It seems like even old Tabor can’t cast spells as good as you!”
Helia’s eyes narrowed in irritation. “Yes. I should have a mark in magic. Perhaps I just haven’t learned the right spell yet or maybe I need to….” Helia glanced back at Selena. “Why’d you stop?” She asked. As she followed Selena’s gaze she got an answer quickly. The cavern path had ended in a large spacious room. At the center of the room sat a large stone statue. Selena and Helia leaned backwards so they could view the statue all at once.
“What is it?” Selena said with a mix of wonder and fear. Helia’s mouth fell open as her eyes trace every inch of the statue. Selena pressed her side against her sister’s side. “Is it… some kind of pony? I don’t… What is this thing?”
“It’s beautiful.” Helia whispered.
“It’s hideous and scary and I don’t like it! What is it?” Selena shuddered as she looked at the fanged mouth of the statue.
A large smile crept across Helia’s face. The corners of her mouth slowly upturned as her eyes widened. Selena tried hard to remember other times Helia had worn a genuine smile but she could not seem to recall any. Helia chuckled. She pointed to the statue. “He’s a centaur! That’s a kind of creature that’s a half-ape half-pony hybrid that lived a long time ago. They invented magic, according to my book.”
“Centaur…” Selena whispered.
“By Dagr and Nótt!” Helia pointed to a small twinkling object around the statue’s neck. “Look at that!”
“Is that a bell?”
“I’ve seen that before!” Helia’s book, which was always levitated beside her, flopped to the ground. “It’s in my book!” The pages flipped rapidly. She placed her hoof gingerly on the tome. A rough sketching vaguely depicting the bell shape hanging around the statue’s neck was on the page. “Shilah’s Bell!” Helia practically swooned. “A real centaurian artifact! I’ve read about them since I was small, before even! And now there’s one right there!”
“I don’t like this place, Helia. Can we leave?”
Helia glanced back at her sister and noticed the timid look upon her face. “Alright.” The unicorn turned back to face the statue. “But not without that bell.” Helia took a few steps closer and tilted her head. “Do you think you could fly up there and get it for me?”
“Sure thing….” Selena’s face went deadpan. Her wings flapped repeatedly against her sides producing a buzzing sound. Despite how much flapping her wings did, her hooves stayed firmly on the ground.
Helia gave Selena an embarrassed smile. “Oh right. Tiny wings. Sorry, I forgot.”
Selena put a slight whine to her voice. “Maybe you can you use your magic….”
“Good idea!” Helia said with a chuckle.
Selena felt herself become enveloped in a strange warmness as she floated off the ground. “I mean on the bell! Not on me!”
“Hurry up, you’re heavy. Can you reach it?” Helia shouted upwards as Selena floated near the neck of the statue.
“Almost… move me closer.” Selena looked upwards at the face of the statue. Its eyes were closed shut giving the statue the appearance that it was sleeping. “Hurry up, this thing is creeping me out.” Selena’s snout bumped into the stone. “Oof!”
“How about now?” Helia said, squinting to try and see better in the darkness.
“Yeah. Hold me still.” Selena reached out with her hooves and clasped them around the bell. She gave the object a quick tug and the small metal chain it was attached to crumbled in to dust. “I got it!” A low rumbling sound shook the cave as the statue’s eye flicked open. “Ah! Helia!”
Helia wrinkled her snout as she lowered Selena back to the ground. “Interesting, it must be on some sort of counterweight system. Can you imagine the engineering that would have to go into such a system? The centaurs must have been amazing.” Helia reached out with her hooves. “Gimmie the bell!” Selena barely lifted the bell in the slightest direction to her sister when the unicorn snatched it. “Amazing… Shilah’s Bell. In my hooves. Just like my book…. Imagine all we could learn from this wondrous item, Selena.”
“Can we go now?”
“Yes, of course.” Helia turned around and levitated the book and bell alongside her as she walked back towards the cavern entrance. As they approached the outside light Helia let out another giggle. “Absolutely intriguing.” She rotated the bell as her eyes feasted, or rather as her eyes engorged themselves on the image of the object like voracious dragons.
“So… what does it do?” Selena asked as they emerged into the sunlight.
“I don’t know. I never translated that part of the book yet. But it’s got to be fantastical. Ancient magic and all that. I wonder how you activated it.”
“Well… it’s a bell right? Wouldn’t you… well… ring it?”
“Huh. Yeah.” Helia clasped the bell’s handle in her mouth and gave her head a quick shake. The bell gave off an alluring ring which Selena could only describe as a choir signing a lullaby. “Well if it was supposed to do something, I guess it’s broken.” Helia gave the bell another ring. “I wonder if time and exposure to underground climate could have an effect on magical auras…” Helia started to continue but she was interrupted by a low rumbling. The sisters exchanged nervous glances before directing their attention to the mouth of the cave. The cavern entrance exploded as a large stone figure emerged. “It wasn’t a statue…” She said out the side of her mouth. The stone centaur towered over the two ponies. “It’s a golem! We… need to run… now!”
Helia turned and broke into a canter, gripping the bell tightly in her mouth. Selena was racing not far being her sister’s tail. The golem took slow lumbering strides, but it managed to keep up moderately merely due to its long legs. Helia weaved around the trees in an attempt to shake the monster, but the golem simply pushed the trees down with ease. Selena’s wings buzzed against the air as she tried desperately to takeoff. She tripped on a rock but somehow recovered back into a gallop. “Helia!”
Helia glanced backwards. “We need to make it back to the laager! The hunters will protect us!”
“Help, I can’t run that fast!”
“Oh for Nótt’s sake…” Helia skidded to a stop and levitated Selena up onto her back. “Hold on. I’m not coming back if you fall.” The golem’s fist slammed down next to the sisters and Helia broke into a frantic gallop. “It’s times like this I wish I spent less time reading and more time practicing running!”
“Faster, he’s gaining on us!” Selena said, closing her eyes tightly.
“The dead weight could do with shutting up now, please!” Helia’s book floated in front of her. It opened and started flipping through pages. “Maybe there’s something in here on how to stop a centaur golem…”
“Helia, watch out!” Selena shouted. The book floated upwards to out of her vision. A large tree trunk was blocking the unicorn’s path and she was approaching it fast. Helia focused magic in her horn and with a flash of light she teleported herself and her sister past the log.
“Thanks for the warning.” Helia said, winded.
The book floated back down but Selena snatched it out of the air with her mouth. “Less reading, more watching where you’re going!”
“Look! I can see the laager up head.” At the top of a small hill a large wagon was parked and a unicorn mare was tending to some sort of cooking pot. “Run! Golem!” Helia shouted as she raced past the unicorn. “Get the hunters!”
An elderly unicorn held up a hoof and stopped Helia from bolting past. “Now hold up here a moment. What is with all this screaming and hollering?”
Selena climbed down from her sister’s back and trotted off in the direction of her wagon. Helia was breathing heavily but she managed to get a few words out. “Tabor! Golem! Chasing us!”
Tabor scoffed. “A golem? Preposterous. There hasn’t been a golem sighting in years. Young filly, you need to stop trying to cause such a panic. I thought I already had a talk with your parents about all the trouble you and your sister get into. I’ll have you know young Conestoga is quite hurt. And what is that bell thing you’ve got in your mouth?” The ground rumbled. “By Dagr, what was that?”
“It’s the golem!” Helia said as she pranced in place nervously.
“Wait? You said it was chasing you? That means you lead it right here!” Tabor watched in horror as trees were flung into the air and the wagon closest to the tree line was crushed by a large stone fist. “May Gratis have mercy! Hunters, armor yourselves!”
Helia sprinted away, galloping in the direction of her own wagon. She raced into the hooves of her mother, Gaia, who was waiting at the back of the wagon. Her father, Welkin, placed a crude bronze helmet on his head and took to the sky to join the other two hunters as they attempted to distract the stone monstrosity. “Goodness, what could have awoken a golem with such a vengeance.” Gaia said as she quickly picked up the crying Selena and placed her inside the wagon. The teal earth pony strapped a harness around her body and began to pull the wagon. Helia attempted to strap her father’s part of the harness around herself but her mother shook her head as Nightsky pushed the unicorn aside and began to hook the harness to himself.
Meanwhile Welkin flew circles around the stone creature. It appeared the tactic was working well. The golem was busy swatting at Welkin in the air while the rest of the laager slowly began retreating. Tabor guided the family whose wagon had already been flipped by the creature. He instructed the ponies to climb inside his family’s wagon as his sons began to pull it away from the golem. The golem turned its attention to the sister’s wagon. With a thunderous stomp the ground around the wagon heaved and cracked. Selena and Helia fell out and they both quickly scrambled underneath the wagon. Welkin turned around to see his family laying on the ground. The golem swatted the relatively tiny creature out of the sky. Helia’s horn glowed with magical might, but whenever she tried to cast a spell on the golem she lost focus and her spell fizzled.
Selena watched the chaos unfold as the ponies ran in every direction trying to avoid being squashed by one of the golem’s hooves. Then something caught her eye. Her sister’s book, her favorite thing in the world, was sitting out in the open amidst all the commotion. Selena could only guess that Helia had dropped it when they had first dived into the wagon. Feeling an unprecedented spurt of bravery, perhaps stupidity even, the young pegasus crawled out from underneath the wagon and trotted over to the book. The golem immediately turned around and lifted its hoof to smash the tiny creature. Welkin raced forward and slammed his own hooves into the massive stone one. “Stay away from my Selena!” He shouted as the golem recoiled. Welkin raced around again and delivered a powerful kick to the golem’s face. “Just who the hay do you think you’re dealing with here?” Fracture marks riddled the golem’s upper body as it swung its arms. Welkin took a solid hit to his side. He slammed against ground. Welkin looked over at his family and exhaled painfully. “Nightsky… brother… take care of Gaia.” Nightsky attempted to remove the straps from the wagon harness as quickly as he could. Welkin rose to his hooves and raced forward. He picked up great speed as outstretched his front legs. With a sickeningly loud crunching sound, his hooves impacted the golem’s face, shattering the head of the stone creature. The golem staggered backwards as its head dissolved into rubble. Welkin chuckled as he fell to the ground, the injury from the collision with the stone too great for his body to handle. He laid on the ground breathing heavily; Gaia screamed his name as she raced forward. The golem broke into chucks and tumbled forward. The mess of gravel and boulders came tumbling downward. Welkin closed his eyes and chuckled. “Heh. Never thought it would be a golem.” Nightsky grabbed Gaia’s tail as the rubble crashed into the ground, scattering the air with dust and rock chips. The panic of the laager calmed as the clouds of dirt began to settle. As the dust cleared it was… clear that…
Luna was silent for a few minutes. Her expression was hard to read. “That’s well… all I really have to say on that.”
Twilight Sparkle frowned. “Wait… what happened?”
“In the following few days the laager worked hard to repair the damage from the attack. Injuries were treated and burial rights were preformed… for those who needed it.” Luna inhaled deeply with a labored breath. A few tears rolled down her cheek. “But despite the hardships, the ponies of the laager were strong and Tabor was determined never to let such an event happen again….”
Tabor pointed a hoof at Helia. The young unicorn, despite being almost fully grown, was trying her best to hide behind the legs of her mother. She was crying and her mother’s hoof was wrapped around her neck, tightly pulling her into a hug. Gaia had been staring at her daughter’s beautiful pink mane when she shook her head and looked up to lock eyes with Tabor. “She’s just a filly. What should she have done but run home when chased by such a beast?”
“I’m not questioning the mare’s judgment. I’m concerned with the curse she and her sister seem to be carrying. The laager has lost too much…”
“You speak with paranoia. Looking for conformation on what you believe and drawing only conclusions that do not contradict what you think. What would you have me do? Abandon my daughters to the wilderness? I will not abandon my family. You know nothing of loss. You lost a hunter to protect your precious laager. I lost a husband. I say again, I will not allow you to separate me from my daughters.”
Tabor closed his eyes and shook his head. “I wouldn’t dream of separating your family. All of you are cursed; therefore all of you must go. You, your terrible daughters, and Nightsky, all of you are banished from the laager.”
“You can’t just strand…”
“I’m not a monster. Wishing Well’s wagon train will be passing through here in under two weeks. If you stay put by the edge of the forest they will take you in. Gratis help them though.” Tabor turned around and sighed. “Such a shame about Welkin, he was the best hunter I had ever seen.”
Helia burst into a loud sob and wrestled out of her mother’s embrace. Gaia reached out with her hoof as the unicorn raced into the forest. Selena trotted after her. Gaia, who had somehow managed to refrain from crying since the incident, collapsed to the ground and sobbed. Helia galloped as fast as her legs would carry her. She raced past countless trees and countless vines that crept around the forest floor. She was not sure where she was running to, only that she needed to run. Perhaps the other side of the forest would be a better place. It was doubtful. A better place or not, it still could not turn back time. She tripped on a jutting root and tumbled forward. The world spun as she rolled down the ravine and at some point during the roll she bounced up into the air. As she flew through the air she was hit with the weird sensation of weightlessness, if only for a brief moment until she crashed back onto the ground. Finally she came to a stop against a crooked tree.
She attempted to stand but found that she could not. Her hind leg was bent at an unnatural angle and she had a splitting pain in her head. A trickle of some kind of red liquid rolled down her snout and dripped to the leaf covered ground. She rolled to her side and let the blood pool in front of her eyes as she sobbed. She muttered a string of incomprehensible gibberish before taking another labored breath and letting out a second sob. A deep voice rumbled around her. “Oh, you’ve met with such a terrible fate, haven’t you little one?”
Helia scrambled to get to her haunches. The crooked tree she had rolled into was not a tree at all, but the leg of some monstrous beast. She limped backwards trying to get a full glimpse of the creature that had spoken. To her surprise and horror, it was a dragon that had apparently been napping in the woods. The large beast lifted its head and looked down at the crying, injured unicorn before it. Its silver shimmering scales caught the glint of the morning sun as it let out a puff of smoke from its nostrils. Helia held up her hoof. “Stay away!” She was no match for a dragon, if only her father was nearby. Perhaps if she shouted he would… She shook in place for a moment. “Or sink your claws swiftly and be done with me….”
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Great Scott! Static World has traveled back in time! I hope you guys don't hate this segment, we're going to be here for a little while....
Also I hope the formatting on this makes sense. In the past I've done italics for flashback segments, but since this is mostly all flashback I've done the present day stuff in italics instead.
I can't wait Twi reaction when she finds out who Selena and Helia are
Is there a small chance we could get to learn more about the centaur's and their civilization?
Celestia and Luna: SECRET ORIGINS!
997386
By the end of Luna's story, yes.
Intriguing.
Yay, updates.
Time for some explanations.
I saw this in the feature box too, for a while at least. Guess the new box kinda shifted things around.
And anyway, while I'm feeling nitpicky...
"...mout hs..."
(Extra space)
"...while me and the missus..."
(missus and I)
"...to be quiet unintelligent."
(Quite)
"Helia knelt down next to her sister. “Are you hurt, Selena?” Helia carefully inspected the"
(The sentence just cuts off there.)
"...bought our selves some time; perhaps their tempers will settle with time."
(Ourselves. Also, it sounds a little odd repeating "time" like that.)
"...as his sons began to it away from the golem."
(Needs something between "to" and "it".)
"...passing through her... "
(here)
"She tipped on a jutting root and tumbled forward."
(tripped)
"Latuseris" isn't a word. The Latin word for "flank" is "latus," with a genitive of "lateris," which some dictionaries render as "latus, -eris." I also don't know why you seem to be using the word for "clothing" as a translation for "blank"; the best translations for "blank" I can find at the moment are "gracilis" (slender, modest, unambitious, plain) and "purus" (pure, clean, plain, unadulterated), making "blank flank" either "latus gracile" or "latus purum" ("latera gracilia/pura" in the plural).
Also, this reminds me: In chapter 22, Celestia seems to be trying to use "nomen" as a verb, even though it's a noun. Assuming she's supposed to be saying "We call you (pl.) SELENA," I would suggest "Vos appellamus SELENAM."
1000479
"...mout hs..." -- saw that already, but couldn't fix it at work.
"...while me and the missus.." -- That's dialog and it was intentional. Welkin's grammar is not perfect. There was no formal education in his time.
For everything else: I cannot express how grateful I am that someone cares enough about this story to help me fix edits. Probably during the next two weeks or so I'm going to try and clean up the chapters. (or I might wait for the chapters about Luna's past to finish first....). My goal being to submit this to EqD eventually.
Anyway... EDIT MODE GO!
Yay!
Would post useful comment but I have 24 unread chapters that need to be un-unread
1000575
It's just supposed to represent the "ancient tongue," it's not actually Latin they are speaking. I assume the ponies actually speak "equestrian" not English, that's just a simple way to map languages to something the reader could understand. Fictional modern language to real world modern language. Fictional dead language to real world dead language. Therefore it doesn't have to be accurate because it merely is conveying that they are speaking in a old sounding tongue that is not understood by the reader because the reader is privy to Twilight's eyes, (or even Luna, who has forgotten most of the language).
1000754
Yes, it's a factor of the language. Luna is the direct object of "appellamus," and so both she (in the form of "vos") and her appellation must be in the accusative case, which means appending an 'm' to "Selena."
1000773
I figured it had to do with object association, I was just hoping it didn't.
Post moar! this story is epic to the max! So give us moar! MOAR!
everfreeforest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/moar.png
1004525
You're thinking of Friedrich Nietzsche, I believe: "Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." 
I don't think I used that quote, even though it could apply very well here, it's a great quote. Actually it's too great of a quote, instantly recognizable...
The line I think you're thinking of was from the last chapter, Lessons: "Staring into the future void of time drives you mad." And it was not a refrence to that famous line. At most its a reference to Doctor Who and the Master.
First time reader of the fic here and just got caught up. I have to say that this story has the most accurate and wonderful description of Discord I have ever read. Everything he does and says I can imagine John de Lancie saying. Any lines of Discord I hear in his voice.
Bravo to you sir. Also your Celestia scares the crap out of me and that is not just my inherit distrust of monarch/dictators talking. I would not want to be ruled by her ever. If I ever find myself in Equestria, I hope its a happy version.
Okay now that I am more awake. I was hoping someone could answer some questions for me.
Sorry if they have already been explained in previous comments.
1. Storm Dancer -- the characters decent into crazy town doesn't make sense to me. He is a member of the Royal Court and a top adviser. There is no way he couldn't know that harming Celestia's PRIZE STUDENT, wouldn't equal instant death(yes, banishment was death for him, no matter Celestia's no death penalty rule, poor guy didn't even get a trial). I know he acted horribly, but they could have sent him to jail. Was he influenced by Discord, that is only way I could see him going crazy make sense as he seemed sane at the beginning of the story.
2. His crazy plan wasn't necessary - He knew Luna was in Ponyville, all he had to worry about was proving to Celestia that Luna was lied. He was already spying on her, all he had to do was take some pictures and give them to the Princess. The pictures wouldn't even have to be of Luna doing anything incrementing(hugging Twilight) just the fact that he could get pictures would have been an auto win. It could have gone like this
SC: Hey princess, I just saw your sister in Ponyville, not in the Griffin kingdom like she said.
Celestia: Well you have been wrong before, do you have proof?
*** Shows pictures.
Celestia: Oh, well thanks for the info, I will take it from here. Here's a medal.
As I said, maybe I missed Discord saying that he manipulated Storm Dancer just so he could get banished and show Celestia to be a monster in front of Wind Strider.
Also, Discord, stopping AppleDash, what a bastard. Still love him, and kinda want to see him win because nether of the Alicorns are fit to rule. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, they should inscribe that proverb on the memorial to Nightmare Twilight if they ever make one.
I think the story can still end happily, keep in mind, this is just me speculating because the story has really grabbed me.
1. Twilight figures out how to become an Alicorn and/or move the sun/moon herself.
2. Twilight figures out how to make it so a team of unicorns can raise the sun/moon, even if its myth made up by Celestia.
3. Twilight figures out how to release both the sun and moon from magical control and work by themselves. Maybe the elements do something or they discover some other magical item. Maybe they convince the Alicorn sisters into giving up their powers.
Wow, this has turned into my longest comment here ever. Sorry for being long winded, just had to get this out of my system.
1010622
Discord didn't manipulate Storm Dancer, he couldn't. His only reach to the outside world was the ability to appear in visions to those who had used the elements on him.
Storm Dancer was not really sane to begin with, really the first time we spend with him (other than a few passing lines of dialog) he's already scheming and ranting. Basically he's a solider through and through, he lives for war, fighting, and national pride. After being injured he took a job as an attendant because he could still serve his nation, but he ultimately was unsuited for life at the royal court. When he saw an opportunity for action he jumped with delight, a chance to fight one of his nation's most fearsome foes; the only reason he spent time coming up with plan at all was because he was smart enough to realize he'd be curb-stomped otherwise. As for harming Twilight, he assumed (wrongly) that Celestia hated Nightmare Moon more than her concern for Twilight's safety, a reasonable assumption as she basically left Twilight to fend for herself when Nightmare Moon first returned.
Perhaps it would have been less jarring if somepony in passing had mentioned he was unstable earlier.
As for Celestia not giving a trial: By this point in the story her own sanity is on the verge of collapse...
1) She's been using the rejuvenation spell she forbids Luna from using (because the mind needs rest even if the body is relaxed).
2) She's used a artifact to peer into the future that she knows makes you go mad, simply hoping she would have the mental fortitude to power through it.
3) She put herself into a dream state to talk to Discord. Which is a bad idea. Always.
As far as the Alicorns being fit to rule: for 98% of the population, Celestia is amazing. About the only she is fit to do is rule. As a regular pony, she's terrible... the Celestia that the populace knows is just a front. She's got serious personal issues but is very good at ignoring them so she can do her job. Luna has just as many issues but the difference is she really doesn't care about the populace, she only raises and lowers the moon because Celestia asks her to.
Anyway, I'm not trying to counter-rant, those were just my justifications for the events. If they weren't showing up in the writing that's just more proof that I'm not a professional writer.
Still though, I'm glad to have readers who are reading this at a more critical level. That's the only way I'll get better.
1010999
Hey man, thanks for the response.
First I didn't realize that my comments came off as a rant. If so I apologize. Anyway your justifications of Storm Dancer behavior make just enough sense, though, as you admit, some additional scenes with him becoming unhinged would have helped.
On Celestia's behavior, I totally understand why she acted as she did because they are all being manipulated by the epic bastardy that is Discord. Plus she is making terrible decisions which exposed all her personality flaws, I didn't miss that, or her use of what I have dubbed 'The Expresso spell'. The way you wrote of Luna's time on the moon gave me chills and explains her completely broken mental state. Also we all knew Celestia was a control freak. Controlling the weather, seasons, even bird's nests, its logical for her to go to authoritarian extremes and be completely inflexible.
As for her being fit to rule, I don't think its going to be so easy from here on out, even if they try to cover this incident up and blame it on Luna, enough pony's have seen behind the mask.
On your comment that my comments are proof your not a professional writer. I think you do yourself a disservice. I would not be so invested if your writing wasn't so good. As I said before your Discord is one of the best Discords I have a read. If that doesn't make you happy, have a
files-cdn.formspring.me/photos/20120624/n4fe78a6b22e42.png
Also, the first page of google images for "you've met with a terrible fate, haven't you" has Fluttershy on it. I smell conspiracy!
1564451 Well yes it must mean Celestia has been dead all along and all of equestria is her purgatory....seriously thought the links dead theory seems surprisingly possible and may in fact given the dark tone of the game be the real meaning.