The First Sparkle (Dark, Gore)
The First Sparkle
By Tundara
Nestled just beyond furthest reaches of the new Republic of Equestria, there sat a lonely little cabin next to a strong river within a pleasant forest of rolling hills pockmarked with glades and the occasional field. Smoke puffed from the stone chimney, lifting up through tall trees speckled with clumps of winter snow. A curtain in one window was pulled aside, a bright green eye looking out on the white drifts that hemmed in around the cabin’s side with undisguised distrust.
A storm was brewing, winds howling down from the distant mountains carrying the promise of yet more snow and a sharp drop in temperature. It was supposed to be mid-June, with the Summer Solstice fast approaching, and yet all the land outside was gripped in the deepest winter, as had been the case the past several years.
Inside, the cabin was snug and warm. Simple but strong furnishings filled the small, single room. On one side sat the fireplace and cooking pots, a mantle holding a few possessions brought over from the old world. Cameo’s carved into shells, a silver urn, and an old, worn violin. These few, meagre belongings were all the cabin’s occupants had managed to save when the Queendom’s fell into anarchy and chaos.
On the other side of the cabin sat a round table of maplewood shoved into a corner next to a bunk-bed. Curled up on the top bunk beneath a pile of thick blankets, a muddy brown filly watched her mother move from the window back to the pot of boiling stew.
“Momma… Can you tell me about summer?”
The tan mare, Maple Syrup, had her features permanently pinched with worry and her once strawberry red mane pulled back into a severe bun didn’t look up from the stew as she took the old ladle in her teeth and gave the thin, watery brew a stir.
There was little of substance within the pot. Maple had taken to adding pine cones and leaves collected from beneath the snow drifts earlier in the week to stretch out their provisions. A single potato, dug up during the brief window of warmth when the dreadful endless winter seemed to at last be past, was grey with bruises and old, having been kept in a bucket beneath the floor in the dip that served as a cellar for the cabin.
During the first few weeks after the ponies had arrived, when they been greeted by curious deer, it had seemed like they’d set hoof within Elysium itself. Warm days, fields to till, and seemingly endless forests of pines had stretched out before the refuge fleets. There were feasts to celebrate the formation of the new republic, the earth ponies claiming the most verdant and fertile of the lands between a trio of rivers.
This suited the unicorns, who had no interest in soiling their hooves with common labour, and had taken to the hills and short mountains a little to the south to set up a new queendom. The unicorns would never deign to work fields and grow their own food. In exchange, the nobles and their soldiers provided protection to the earth ponies that worked their lands, providing one of the services traditionally supplied by the pegasi.
Extorted food, was more the reality, as the unicorns spent equel time fighting each other as they did oppressing the earth ponies or sneering at the pegasi. Maple didn’t know, and didn’t care, which of the unicorn Houses had claimed the nascent crown, or if any had secured it before the winter caught up to them.
The pegasi came shortly after, just a few days behind the fleet, pulling entire cities across the ocean to escape the ravages of the old world.
Maple didn’t mind the pegasi. They had, at least, set aside their arms and armour along with their legendary pride to help build a new nation. Most had, anyways. There were threats of fighting with the deer, and a few of the pegasi clans had gone inland.
If only the unicorns could do the same. Bunch of piss-pot horn-heads that had brought nothing but misery on the disc.
What use were they? Their wizards had proved utterly useless at ending the blizzards that followed ponykind wherever they went. They’d promised that Equestria would be safe. That the White Tyrant would not or could not reach them so far away from the old world.
Fools and liars, all of them.
Maple gave a shudder, and hitched her threadbare blanket higher on her withers.
At least this new land, this Equestria, had been safe for a few, blissful weeks.
But, like everywhere else, the winter followed, and once more ponies hovered on the edge of starvation or freezing in their own homes.
She let out a sigh heavy with the final, cracking traces of hope as she said over her shoulder, “Maybe some other time, Jewel.”
Maple spoke in a short, raspy voice, her throat tight from years working among the furnaces of Trotalonia’s armory.
Trotalonia was gone now. It had been the first of the queendoms to fall to the White Tyrant and her Windigoes. The cities all abandoned or buried by ice. A few villages or towns tried to cling to life in the valleys or along the fringes, eeking out a miserable existence. A few, somehow, managed to survive.
Not to be dissuaded, Jewel pushed her head further out from beneath her blankets, showing the small nub of a horn on her brow in the flickering orange glow cast by the fire.
“Please, momma? There is nothing else to do.”
Jewel clasped her hooves together, grey eyes sparkling with innocence and curiosity. Maple let out a short huff. Her Jewel was, perhaps, the last foal to have been born by a pony. A week late, it had been a hard birth. And then the shame of her being a unicorn. All the time she’d been carrying Jewel, Maple had prayed to the Springbringer that her daughter would be an earth pony. It was an equal chance.
But, no, the goddess had already grown cruel, and she’d made Jewel one of… them.
The mare had no idea as to the identity of Jewel’s father. Just that he’d been a soldier, one of thousands, serving in the Solar Army dedicated to Celestia. He’d been at the dreadful battle on the Airagos plains, when all the disc seemed to come to an end. For a week following the battle, as scattered reports that Celestia had fallen and the sun refused to budge in the sky created a single day, all the disc held its breath. And then, as Sol finally set, the snows had come early.
Even if he’d survived the war, and the long years of winter that had followed, the mare had no idea of how to find him.
Not that he mattered.
Although… he might have at least been able to provide guidance to Jewel on her magic. It was because of Jewel’s wild magic surges that they’d settled so far from other ponies. Having somepony that could have taught Jewel to control her magic would have brought Maple some peace of mind.
None of the other unicorns had any interest in helping Jewel. Even if the Long Winter had never happened, it would have been near impossible for a mixed blood like Jewel to have been accepted by either earth ponies or unicorns.
Jewel was about to beg again, when a heavy thump-thump-thump echoed from the small door.
Maple spun around, the edges of her tail singed as they passed through the open flame of the fireplace, to stare at the door. Her heart hammered in her chest, and silently she prayed to Faust, Celestia, and Luna that she’d only imagined the knocks. Covering her mouth, Jewel shrunk back beneath her covers.
Slowly, Maple approached the door, almost skittering back as the thumps were repeated.
“W-Who goes there?” she called in a voice that trembled more than her knees.
“Ah, good! There is somepony here after all,” replied somepony in a loud voice that rang with laughter and good-humour. “I told you there would be someone here. May we come in?”
“‘We’? Whois is this ‘we’?” Maple pressed her face to the freezing window to peek out. She could discern the shapes of two ponies, but that was all in the clouds of snow being swept up by the wind.
“Just my sister and I. Please, we’ve traveled far and are tired. We just wish to share your fire for tonight.”
Chewing on her lip, Maple glanced up to her daughter and then the door. A long sigh eventually broke from her. She knew the Tenants of Harmony well, they’d been beaten into her enough times by her own mother’s wooden spoon. Compassion dictated help be given to those in need. Cursing fate, she went to the door.
“I have an old sword, and I know how to use it,” Maple lied, waiting a few more moments before pulling the door open.
She opened it just a crack, but it was enough to regret her decision at once.
On the other side stood a pair of pegasi; one in silver armour emblazoned with the sigil of the moon wreathed in wings, the other in chains, and both wearing thick fur cloaks with hoods that hid their faces.
“Thank you kindly,” the armoured pegasus said she pushed her way into the cabin pulling her sister along and shedding snow in her wake in large clumps. “Iridia’s tits, she’s made it a chilly one tonight. The Elements must be getting close to the Canterhorn by now if she’s putting in such an effort to freeze the disc.”
The armoured pegasus tossed back her hood, and Maple was almost struck dumb. The pegasus was beautiful in an unearthly way. From the strong yet delicate lines of her muzzle, to her slender, yet muscular neck, withers, and haunches; she was too perfect, carrying grace and power in one. Her eyes sparkled like polished blue diamonds and her teeth were so white and pristine when she smiled, which was often.
Only the depictions of the goddesses could compare.
The second pegasus was no less beautiful, but it was more threatening and sinister in nature. Her presence was wrong, unnatural, with a distinct wickedness about her impossibly black fur and yellow eyes. A strap was wrapped around her muzzle, and another her barrel to pin her wings.
“Ah, this is wonderful,” the first pegasus said followed by an appreciative whistle. “As cozy a cabin as ever there could be! Don’t you agree, Al?”
The second pegasus let out a low grunt and rolled her eyes.
Maple tried to smile, she really did, but it was thin and watery, much like the stew just reaching a boil.
“C-Can I offer you something to eat, m’lady?” Maple wasn’t sure of the honorifics with pegasi, but a ‘m’lady’ never seemed to go wrong.
The knightly pegasus merely raised a brow and followed up with a tilt of her head, as if she’d just turned a corner and been confronted with a rather perplexing painting.
“Nah, I’m no lady,” she said with a shrug of her wings. “Besides, I’d prefer to trade bread, rather than take from those who need it more. The night will sustain me and my sister just fine. We hardly need eat more than once a week. Ain’t that right, Al?”
Maple’s cheeks burned with shame at having her offer rejected. Never had she been so insulted, even if she had so little to share. She nearly demanded the pair leave at once, but held her tongue.
She would not dishonour her clan by being rude and turning the strangers out into the brewing storm.
Dropping down from her bunk, Jewel scooted towards the pegasi, wonder sparkling in her eyes. “Are you a knight?”
“I am of the night,” laughed the pegasus, tossing back her head and flashing her white teeth as she burst with mirth. Settling down, and taking a place near the fire, she shook her head at first, then seemed to think better of her answer. “No, and yes. I am of the Valla. As was my traitorous sister. We fought alongside Luna… until… Well, the winter.”
“You’ve met the moon?” Jewel stared with an open mouth.
Pulling a long loaf of bread and a block of cheese wrapped in a greasy cloth out of her saddlebags, the pegasus chuckled. “Aye, yes, I’ve met her too. We used to chat all the time, Selene and I. Miss her insight, sometimes, and her laugh. Luna ain’t the moon, per se, just as she isn’t the stars, you know.”
The muzzled pegasus growled something unintelligible and tried to shake her wings, causing the straps to creak and sending the chains a-jitter.
“Too true! I agree, Al, I agree. There is another coming for us. But when, and who? Ah, that’s the question.” The pegasus then clapped herself upside the head as she unfolded the cloth to reveal a block of cheese. “Sol’s ass! Where have my manners gone? I’ve not even introduced us yet. I’m Wynn, and this is Algol.”
Maple had been growing more and more irritated with the pair. The story of them knowing the Moon Goddess was beyond farfetched, to say nothing of speaking to the actual moon. Only the most important unicorns or pegasi could claim to have even been in the same room as Princess Luna. At the mention of the valla, though, her irritation turned to fear, a fear that became trembling dread when Wynn gave their names.
Snatching up Jewel, Maple shoved her daughter behind her while trying to puff up her shoulders.
Wynn looked Maple over with an unfazed eye, offering up a hunk of bread with a slice of cheese shoved in the middle.
Trying not to hungrily stare at the offering, Maple said, “I think it would be best if you l-leave, m’lady.”
“No mamma! Let them stay!” Jewel scooted out from between Maple’s legs, jumping up between the adults like she were about to face down an angry bear. “You can’t send a pony out in this weather. You just can’t!”
Maple wetted her lips as she glanced out the window to the now howling snow.
The Tenants of Harmony rang in her ears again, but it was Jewel’s pleading eyes that broke her resolve.
“Fine. But only until the storm lessons. Then, please, go. I don’t want any of the sort of trouble your kind brings.” Maple tossed back her mane and stamped a hoof for emphasis before going back to her stew.
“Weren’t planning to stay longer. Have to get this one to Luna before… Well, before the spring comes. And by my reckoning, it ain’t far off now.” Wynn gave a forceful nod, one that made Maple’s frown deepen.
They stayed up late into the night, Jewel and Wynn talking. The filly was an endless font of questions, as fillies her age are want to be, and Wynn seemed to enjoy talking to somepony. If not for her occasional vulgarity, Maple would have been grateful that somepony other than her was treating Jewel with kindness and respect.
Wynn even added to the stew, giving a bag of beans and some carrots to Maple in addition to the bread and cheese. Maple didn’t for a second believe the story that Wynn didn’t have to eat. She knew a hungry eye when she saw one, and from the way both Wynn and Algol sat near the fire and gazed longingly at the pot, it had been some time since either had rested and filled their bellies.
Eventually Jewel began to yawn, and rested her head against her mother’s side.
“What’s it like to fall? From the heavens I mean.” Jewel asked, fighting with her eyes to keep them open.
“Falling?” Wynn considered the question for some time, and when she answered it was in a slow, lost way. “It’s like… burning. We stars have a duality within us. Fire and ice, a soothing light like the moon, and a burning tempest like the sun. We’re something in between, and when we fall… one or the other is lost. Or maybe it is a bit of both? We lose so much of ourselves, burnt away as we pass through the barrier between the sky and heavens. And when we crash, this is what remains.” She gestured to herself and Algol.
It was Maple’s turn to ask. “Why is she muzzled? That’s not a nice thing to do to your sister.”
“For your protection.”
Aware of when she was not going to receive an answer, Maple was about to say that it was time for bed, when Wynn added, “When… When everything went to shit following Airagos… I don’t know if you know this, but the tyrant, as you call her, had a daughter. It’s all rather involved and I don’t know all the details myself, but when she—the daughter—cursed the unicorns for Clover’s role in…” Wynn shook her head, considered her words for a minute, and then continued. “My sister was hurt. She was and is the Dreamerstar, and whatever happened to cause the unicorns to lose their dreams, it affected her too. Maybe Luna can heal her. Put her back together. Or maybe we’ll have to wait for the other to come. I don’t know. But she needs me, and I won’t abandon her.”
Not knowing just how to respond, Maple picked up Jewel and carried her the few steps to the beds.
Tucking Jewel beneath her covers, Maple hazzard a glance to Algol. As she’d been since arriving, the dark coated pegasus sat between the window and fire, gazing up towards the hidden stars. There was something hollow in that gaze, and for a few moments Maple almost believed Wynn’s tall tales.
Whatever the truth, whether the pair of pegasi were in fact fallen stars or not, there was a wrongness to Algol. The storm could not pass quick enough so the pair could be on their way.
Maple got no sleep that night, sitting up to keep an eye on both her guests.
When dawn came, it rose up to reveal the storm had indeed broken during the dark hours. Only a few, gusting breezes here and there remained along with a thick layer of new snow forming a puffy, white coating as if the forest were made of clouds.
Stifling a yawn, Maple got up from her chair, back stiff from sitting for so long, and moved to collect her cloak and thick fur hat. Snagging a shovel, she pushed open the door, having to bang it a few times with her shoulder to dislodge the coating of ice and snow on the other side.
The air was far more bitter than Maple had expected when she closed the door with a single kick. Her breaths came in thick puffs as she began to shovel the drifts between the cabin and woodshed. After only a few minutes work she began to shake as the chill began to seep through her coat and into her bones.
“You should go inside.” Wynn’s voice, spoken from just behind her, made Maple jump with a sharp yelp. Spinning around, Maple found Wynn staring up at the northern sky, peering between the heavy grey clouds lingering in the storm’s wake. “I’m sorry, but I’ve brought trouble to you.”
A dread far colder than the winter winds gripped Maple and she twisted around to stare along the same course as her guest. At first she could see nothing. Hardly a surprise, as the eyes of a pegasus were far superior to either earth ponies or unicorns. After a few moments though she could make out a cluster of dark dots within the leading edge of a wispy zephyr.
Only one thing moved in such a way, riding the winds like dolphins in the bow wave of a ship; Windigoes.
“I will buy you time,” Wynn said, stretching out her broad wings.
It was only then Maple noticed just how much larger the pegasus’ wing were than normal. Large enough to almost mistake her for one of the alicorns. A thin line of blue magic curled around the tips of Wynn’s feathers and from the air at her side appeared a sword of such stunning quality that few could ever equal it’s might.
Without another word, Wynn took to the sky with sword flying along at her side and raced to meet the oncoming demons.
Alone, there was no way Wynn could stand against so many windigoes.
“Jewel!” Maple screeched at the top of her longs, dashing into the cabin and pulling out the filly’s cloak and boots.
“What is it mamma?” Jewel asked, her bleary eyes peaking out over the edge of her bed.
“We have to go. Now.”
“But…”
“Now!” Maple shouted, reaching up to drag her daughter out from her bed.
For a few seconds Maple considered grabbing what food they had hidden away. They were precious moments that she should not have wasted. By the time she’d tossed open the hidden cellar door and pulled out the satchel holding their meagre reserves a low howl could be discerned in the distance.
All the while, Algol stared at the pair, and grinned. A low, wheezing laugh broke from the bound mare as Maple tossed Jewel onto her back and made to gallop from the cabin. She’d barely gone a half dozen strides before there was a tremendous bang and the roof of the cabin burst inwards. Maple was sent sprawling, Jewel flung high through the air with a long shriek that ended in a puff of snow as she landed in one of drifts.
Head ringing, Maple pulled herself towards Jewel.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Wynn overhead battling a dozen windigoes. The pegasus darted and spun, striking out with crushing kicks or deadly slices of her wings. All the while her sword spun faster and faster around her. In the space of a moment three of the windigoes fell, crashing into the forest with heavy thumps that sent up large plumes of snow.
Within moments, the three windigoes struck down threw themselves back at Wynn. Dreadful frost burst from their mouths, and it was all Wynn could do to dodge around the blasts. She struck another on the chin with a crushing uppercut, sending it spinning off into a cloud.
White flames shrouding her blade, Wynn twisted beneath another windigo and thrust. A long, wet nicker lodged itself in the demon’s throat, along with the sword piercing its breast. Fire burst the windigo’s eyes, the demons skin sloughing off like the skin of an overripe peach to splatter onto the ground next to the cabin door.
A twist of the sword sent the demon’s head spiralling off into the distance while its body continued to fall into mush.
The remaining windigoes roared and bared their fangs, eyes glowing with cold light. But they did not charge, but instead glanced upwards to something overhead.
A grin that had begun to form on Wynn’s face wilted as she followed the demons’ gaze.
“Oh, Tartarus,” she said before being struck by a heavy blow Maple could not see.
Wynn hit the ground not far from Maple, bouncing twice before flipping over the earth pony and coming to a rest on her back with wings splayed out.
Reaching Jewel, Maple wrapped her daughter in her hooves and prayed.
She prayed to all the goddesses, as she had done since she was but a filly. Faust, Celestia, Luna, and even Iridia; any who might hear her and take mercy.
The last one was only through old habits.
“Pray to me all you wish, little pony, it will avail you naught.”
Spoken with such loathing, the words struck Maple like a physical blow.
Slowly, she and Jewel looked up. Above the windigoes, with Sol at her back, hovered the tyrant. Each stroke of her pristine white wings sent shafts of blinding light into Maple eyes, stinging them and forcing her to look away. Or perhaps it was the horrible dread that clamped onto her heart like the jaws of a wolf, and the hope that if she could not see the crowned alicorn slowly descending towards the open area in front of the cabin’s remains, then maybe it would all turn out to be a terrible dream.
Armoured hooves clicked down just beyond Maple eliciting a little squeak from Jewel in her hooves.
“Hush, everything will be alright,” Maple lied.
No pony had laid eyes on the White Tyrant and lived to tell the tale. Not since she’d cast aside the mantle of the Springbringer.
Trembling, Maple tried to sink deeper into the snowbank. Maybe, if they stayed quiet and small enough, they’d be forgotten.
A groggy groan from Wynn preceded her rolling back to her hooves. “That was a cheap-shot, Iridia.” Wynn shook her head violently, then settled on staring at the tyrant.
“Love and war, and all that,” the tyrant hummed in response, stepping over the puddled remains of the slain windigo. “You did just destroy one of my servants.”
“Ha! As if the windigoes serve you.” Wynn spat some blood off to the side. “There is one they serve, but it is not you.”
Rage flashed behind the tyrant’s blue eyes, her face contorting into a fanged snarl. The knight raised her chin defiantly, and dared the tyrant to strike with a grin. The tyrant’s hoof flashed out quicker than Maple could follow. There was a tremendous bang and Wynn was sent sprawling across the snow. Maple reflexively winced at the sound of snapping bones that assaulted her ears as Wynn came to a stop just before her and Jewel.
“No!” Jewel shrieked. She forced herself from Maple’s trembling grasp and threw herself across Wynn’s back. “Leave her alone!”
“Ponies… You should know to stay out of the affairs of gods and spirits.” The tyrant sneered as she swaggered through the crimson splattered snow.
Rushing to Jewel, Maple tried to pull her back. Maybe there was still time to run. Maybe, if they moved fast enough, they could hide in the forest.
A foolish notion, Maple was aware. She and her little Jewel was about to be swept away. Everypony knew the power of the goddesses, how they could burn entire cities with a flick of their horns.
But the tyrant did not act. She merely stared down at them. Slowly her hoof raised itself until it hovered over Maple like a viper.
“Please, I beg you, spare my Jewel,” Maple clutched her daughter tighter than she ever had before.
The tyrant’s wings extended, feathers splayed into a fan of daggers, and she pulled back her upper lip into a fierce snarl. Rage flashed behind her eyes and Maple knew that this was it. The tyrant’s hoof would fall and strike them all down.
But nothing came.
And then the tyrant released a frustrated howl as she twisted away from the ponies. With a snap of one wing she sent out a burst of fiery wind into the forest behind Maple. Trees were uprooted and sent hurtling into their brethren, flames gnawing along their trunks. Pinecones dormant beneath the snows popped like little fireworks in staccato bursts.
Slowly Maple cracked open an eye to see the tyrant’s chest heaving with slow, ragged breaths, her own eyes wide and wild, snapping like a calving glacier. Deeper crackling growls shook Maple every for moments, followed by low, bassy rumbles. For minutes and minutes it went on, the ground beneath Maple shaking with a deep growling quake emanating from the tyrant. Twice more she flung out her wings, sending more of the forest sprawling and the windigoes scattering up into the clouds.
Never had Maple imagined the like. She was huddled beneath power, raw and angry. Though she had no way of knowing, what she heard and felt was the tyrant’s heart as bitter memories swirled and cracked against those of happier days, the glacial bitterness that encased her heart shearing hundreds of layers.
Ponies as far away as the hamlet of Bolton could hear the noise, the town coming to a halt to stare towards the west and wonder at what new calamity was stirring.
As it had begun the noise faded as the tyrant settled her wings, snorted and reached down, brushing aside the ponies to grab Wynn.
Coughing up blood, Wynn grimaced and yet stared defiantly up at the tyrant. SHe even managed a laugh.
“I never believed you’d fall so far. The kind pony I once watched over would be disgusted to see what she has become,” Wynn growled at the tyrant. “What happened to the filly that travelled from the windswept plains of Halmeria? The same filly who slew the elephant within the Golden Tower? The filly once called a barbarian who became queen and ended the first Age of Ice? What happened to make you so cold?”
“You know what happened!” The tyrant said, the words slow and hissing with frost. “You know, and still you ask? Do you desire destruction? Is that it? Do you long for death, because I can give it to you.”
“I desire an end to this madness.” Wynn tried to point to Jewel and Maple with a broken wing, pain flashing across her face. “Look at them and tell me truly that they deserve your wrath.”
The tyrant did not so much as flick a glance at the ponies.
“Yes,” she snarled, and Wynn’s features twisted in disbelief.
Then blood burst from her mouth as the tyrant drove Wynn’s own sword through her chest and belly.
“Yes,” the tyrant repeated, twisting the blade. “I will see this world freeze.”
Wynn’s hoof scratched along the tyrant’s neck and shoulders, silent pleas on her lips.
“Do not worry, I am not killing you, my old friend.” The tyrant patted Wynn’s cheek as magic began to dance along her horn. “I still have need of you.”
The tyrant’s magic shot down into Wynn, shooting across the dying valla. Wynn contorted and howled, her bones snapping under the magical onslaught. Releasing a last roar, one to spur herself through the agony flaring through every muscle and sinew, Wynn threw open her wings and tore her sword free. Wynn burst into a cloud of sparkling dust as her sword cut a long line down the tyrant’s shoulder before falling into the snow with a puff.
Jewel, peering up through her mother’s legs, let out a shout of her own and jerked back as a spray of the tyrant’s blood, mingling with the stardust, splattered across her muzzle and into her eyes.
The remaining dust that had been Wynn followed the sword, three drops of the tyrant’s blood falling through the little cloud before it was sucked into the blade. Runes glowed along the sword’s fuller, the hilt twisting and reforming itself into the wings of two pegasi, and upon the pommel a diamond of startling blue the same colour as Wynn’s eyes.
Retrieving the sword, the tyrant ignored her own, silver blood running down her leg, the wound a mere trifle to her and turned away from the huddling ponies.
She said nothing more, and Maple had to wonder if perhaps in the excitement the tyrant had forgotten they were even there.
In a blast of snow and wind, the tyrant took to the air alongside Algol. They vanished with a spell along with the windigoes, and at last Maple allowed herself to breath with relief.
“Jewel, are you alright?” Maple released her crushing grip just enough so that she could inspect her daughter.
At once Maple’s breath caught on her throat, for Jewel’s eyes were filled with stars, their light spilling out like a thousand distant lamps. Jewel slowly shook her head, and the stars began to fade until her eyes regained their normal grey lustre.
“I could see it mamma. The disc. I could see it like the stars do. So white and cold and they are so sad because they don’t know what to do.”
Holding Jewel close again, pressing her daughter’s face tight to her neck, Maple said, “Enough of that. They are gone, and you are safe. That’s all that matters to me.”
It took some time more before she allowed herself to let go of Jewel and inspect the ruins of their cabin. When they did, Maple noticed something strange.
Where Wynn’s sword had fallen were three budding flowers. As she watched they grew and blossomed. Their petals were red as the blood that had been spilled, with cores that sparkled after sunset as if they were mirrors to the night.
The next morning all the snows were gone from the area around the flowers. A few days after that, and all the snow was gone for a mile in any direction. More, generic, flowers bloomed in the following weeks, and birds sang in the branches. Maple couldn’t help but stare in wonder at the private, little spring that settled on her home.
To Maple’s wonder and amazement, her tools had been spared from the destruction of her home, and with the warmth the settled on the area like an oasis in the wintery landscape, she set about rebuilding. Before work could begin, Jewel insisted that the three Sparkle Blossoms, as she took to calling them, be moved somewhere safe.
While she worked, Jewel tended to her special, little flowers. Magic infused their petals and stems, allowing them to relieve pain, and even heal wounds when properly prepared.
A month after the valla had shown up on their doorstep, six more ponies arrived.
Maple was that morning working on the new roof, hammer in mouth as she banged a beam into place. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion at the ponies. Never had she seen such a group before, two each of the tribes comprising their number. They wore the greatest of finery, and the simplest of travel cloaks. They had elaborate armour and weapons, and plain padded tunics with simple cudgels or slings.
They were the Elements of Harmony.
The group looked in amazement at the wealth of lush, fresh life that filled the area. An earth pony, Smart Cookie, leaned over to the leader of their group and whispered something. Nodding to her companion, the leader stepped forward and out of the shade cast by the few remaining trees left standing.
When she did, Maple was able to see that the pony, a unicorn, was blind. Milky eyes stared up at her that left an unease in Maple’s back.
“Fair greetings and what a wonderful day, to you,” the blind unicorn bowed her head a little to Maple. “Might we trouble you for a few minutes?”
Maple bit her lower lip and glanced around. Jewel was on the other side of the cabin tending to her flowers, the faint notes of a hummed song drifting upwards. Wary after her last guests, Maple shook her head, and then realising the absurdity of the action she called down, “Only a few minutes. I’m rather busy,” before dropping to the ground.
Truthfully, a break was welcome. Maple had worked up a lather and Sol’s light was hot within the oasis as it took it’s proper, august nature.
“I’m afraid all I have is water.” Maple indicated the bucket holding the slightly murky water she’d taken from the river that morning.
The ponies thanked her earnestly, and then they sat in the shade.
“It’s been so long, I’d forgotten what this was like,” the blind pony said, face lifted to soak in Sol’s rays. “A good reminder, I think.”
“If you’re here to take my home from me…” Maple’s hoof twitched towards the hammer now hanging from her belt.
One of the armoured ponies, a pegasus in regal furs and a bright red cloak tossed back her head and laughed. “Ha! We’re not bandits and we certainly don’t want to take anything from you, except some information.”
True to their word, the group did not stay long. They asked after Wynn, and when Maple told them what had happened they shook their heads sadly. During the brief telling, Jewel came around the corner of the cabin. Ever curious about strangers she went and sat beside her mother. From there she stared up at the two unicorns.
It was the first time Jewel had ever met another unicorn. While the blind one seemed raggedy and smelled of incense and odd spices, the other one was pretty, with an untouchable aura of grace. Even with her clothes dirty from the road, with some snags where they’d caught on branches or she’d rolled down a hill and a red stain that had to be blood, there was a quality to them that left Jewel dazzled.
The second unicorn smiled down at Jewel when she noticed the filly staring.
“My, what a precious little filly.” Her voice was lyrical and dancing, as was common for the nobility from the old world, but there was more to it. A strength of character that made Jewel glow and puff out her chest at the tiny compliment.
While Maple talked with the other ponies, Jewel spoke with the unicorn at length. She marveled to hear about magic and Princess Luna, it coming out that the unicorn had grown up knowing the princess.
When at last the other’s had learned all they could from Maple, the called to their friend that they were leaving. “Come on, Platinum, we have a lot of road to cover,” the armoured pegasus shouted from half-way down the path.
“Thy mother must be most proud of thee.” Platinum ignored her friend and smiled at Jewel. “Thy curiosity and temperament do great credit to her, Jewel.”
Jewel smiled her biggest smile since the terrible day a month earlier. Plantinum had taken a few steps to join her friends when Jewel called for her to wait. Darting to her garden for a moment, Jewel came back carrying a small vial with a sparkling red liquid held within, a cork stopper plugging the top so it would not spill.
“If you ever get hurt, take this.” Jewel held up the vial. “I made it with the special flowers that appeared after the star got hurt. It’ll make you feel better and not hurt.”
Holding the vial up so she could peer at it with Sol’s light, Platinum gave out a delighted gasp. “I thank thee most kindly, dear Jewel. Tis has a most wonderful sparkle about it.” Dawning realization flashed through Platinum’s eyes, and Maple had to wonder what would come next. She was surprised when Platinum called to her friends to come back. “I require your assistance, Clover,” she said to her blind friend while she pulled out a scroll from her bags, along with ink, quill, and red wax.
She wrote several lines across the parchment, read it over twice, and satisfied with the results dashed off her signature, rolled the parchment up, and then sealed it with her signet. Platinum then gave it to Maple with the greatest of care while Jewel looked on in bemusement. Maple’s heart skipped a beat when she turned the scroll over and saw the crest used to seal the wax. Her eyes flashed up to the beaming Platinum, and then back to the scroll, a long frown clouding her features.
“Your Majesty, I can not accept this…”
“Tis not for thee to deny,” Platinum shook her head. “Tis for thee to protect until thy daughter comes of age and finds her mark. It names her as Lady Sparkle of my court, the first of her line and founder of her House. Should any try to steal these charming lands, go south to New Trottingham. There I have established my demesne, overseen by my sister while I am away dealing with the White Tyrant. She will give thee all the assistance due thee.”
Maple blinked a few times, unable to process what she was hearing. Platinum was still speaking, but the words had lost all meaning. It took Jewel tugging on her leg to get her thoughts somewhat in order just in time to give a stiff little bow to the unicorn queen as she departed with her friends.
Though it took them years to learn of it, the potion Jewel gave Platinum that day saved the life of Smart Cookie, and by extension, helped usher an end to the Long Winter and the downfall of the tyrant.
On that bright, warm day, surrounded by birdsong and fresh growing grass, Maple couldn’t dream the heights her descendants would reach. That they would become the closest of confidants to Princess Luna, and temper the Nightmare’s ruthless impulses. That they would pull themselves from the edge of near destruction following the scouring of their home, and, eventually, on the exact spot where Maple and Jewel’s small cabin had once stood, there would be a large, sprawling manor surrounded by fields and fields of the magical flowers.
It would have seemed too impossible if she’d been told.
No, Maple merely shook her head and put the scroll in a safe place, and went back to fixing the roof while Jewel Sparkle, first of her line, went to her flowers while humming a little song.
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some times i really wish i cud click the like button more than once.
...
Once for every chapter and then once for the hole story
5976901
It's being worked on, I promise.
5976387
Me too. But then, wouldn't it also be easier to down-vote bomb? It stands to reason if you could upvote multiple times, so too could you downvote more than once.
5974648
Hate to disappoint, but it's not a long-term story hook. At most it will come up during the Rariad (If I ever manage to get traction with that story).
As for Canterlot, I suppose it must be like living near an active volcano. You get used to it gurgling and the occassion plume of ash or river of lava...
So to they get used to the ocassion 'break-out' and mayhem a group of energetic alicorn fillies cause.
I imagined Iridia as the White Tyrant having the White Witch's voice.
Tundara, (warning! spoliers from pre-rewrite Myths)
I have to get this of my chest...
1) Silver blood? *checks DoPaE* Golden blood!
So every alicorn has different blood color? Faust had standart red, right? ...Now I wonder about others...
2) When I first saw the short story where Rarity and Celestia were together I let it slide becouse it was in a sketch in a blog. I knew there was something missing. But there is no scenario I can think of where they end-up married just like this, but that are only my personal opinion. The main mystery is, who the male gamet donor of the younger and expected Muses is. Unless alicorns are capable of parthenogenesis, which they are not.(I hope...) Unless there is another alicorn stallion (Neither Hades, nor Zeus are the sires of the extra Muses I presume) around on Ioka, meaning the sire is a mortal pony. Who is he? Or are there more? Has each Muse different father?
It was my theory that Rarity brought some alicorn over from Gaea, resulting in the marriage between her, Celestia and him. With that explanation I frogot about it, but now I long for answers. If it will be resolved in future chapters and/or stories just say so, no need for you to explain... But I'm really interested...
3) Reproduction and everything around it is same for alicorns and mortal ponies, right? Looking forward to the new Myths chapter! Thanks for finding time to reply!
Your faithfull reader,
AdaaaM
5996305
On Rarity and Celestia; It was a pairing proposed by my editor in jest one day. We were discussing a different pairing at the time, and he made some comment about how, to him, the best pairing is Rarity and Celestia. As for that father of the younger six Muses... It could be Zeus.... .... It could be... Or it could be someone or something else entirely.
It might be partially revealed and explored in the Rariad, as is how Rarity and Celestia fall in love. I have to be careful when writing the Muses vignettes to leave things broadly open for the main stories. The Rariad, though, is firmly on the back-burner while I work on finishing the first book for Myths, as well as Velvet's side-story. It's even possible that the Rariad wont happen, and Rarity's return journey will be folded into Book Two or Three of Myths.
5996583 I kinda prefer the Gaean escapades be held with Myths proper.
Now that was some fascinating reveals on a number of topics. I like the explanation on how House Sparkle was founded and the implications about its extra spark of magic. Even without Twilight being a blood descendant of it (though as I write that, has the identity of her father been revealed? Could it be Velvet somehow?), between Shining and Velvet we know that they are an impressive family indeed.
Poor Wynn, but she was toast once Iridia showed up.
I really like the presentation of the former Bearers, here's hoping we see more of their story some day.