New Dawns, New Lives
CRASH!
The rain, thunder and lighting were relentless. The ivory-coated, red-haired mare sighed to herself and trudged on, her long, spiralled horn just barely illuminating the rocky mountain path in front of her. She really ought to have consulted the pegasi on what weather was due today, but the trip had still been worth it; two saddlebags full of books and papers for her to study from New Manesterdam; Star Swirl’s latest theories on the possibility of pony teleportation, ‘A History of the Blizzard and Canterlot vol. 2’, the list was extensive, as was the mare’s interests, but it would be some time before she could afford another such spree.
“But…” She looked to the rampaging weather above her with worry. ‘At this rate I’m going to have to find shelter and wait out this storm…it’s too dangerous to fly, and I doubt it’s exactly safe to be trotting practically blind on these paths either.’ The mare’s thoughts were interrupted by a turn of luck however. The furious lighting roared and flashed once more and briefly revealed what looked like a small cave in the side of the mountain, less than a few minutes trot away.
“Jackpot!” cheered the pony. Gritting her teeth with intense determination and a challenging smirk, the mare willed on her weary hoofs. Within a few minutes she was out of the angry maelstrom and shaking herself down in an attempt to dry her soaking coat and mane. Using her telekinetic magic to lift the heavy bags from her back and lay them down gently onto an oddly flat stone, after which she then proceeded to use her magic again to spark a warm fire for her to lie beside.
‘Heavenly…’ The equine thought as she rolled onto her back and shifted her body to try and get as close as possible to the fire. After the biting cold of the rain, the heat from the flames made even the rock-hard floor feel like a freshly fabricated cloud from the weather factories, infinitely soft and fluffy.
Several minutes passed before the pony actually made another move. Magically trying to arrange her still damp hair so that it stayed out of her face was surprisingly the largest of her worries, given the two children that were still at her home by themselves. ‘I know I can rely on Celestia not to worry too much, and to look after Luna. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve left those two alone for the night!’ The thoughts made her smile, as did the happy mental picture of her two daughters. Celestia might just have been in her early teens, but she was already a mature and dependable pony who could take care of her sister just as well as the mare herself could.
“…who’s there?” inquired a small but confident voice from within the shadows of the cave behind the grinning pony.
Turning her head with a slight expression of surprise. The mare called back into the void of the cave in response “Oh? I’m sorry, am I intruding in your home?” Without waiting for a reply, the mare began to magically gather up her things. She should have realised that that the cave might have been occupied and checked first before making herself cosy. Ponies rarely took up such residences, but there were plenty of creatures who did. As she scrambled to collect her belongings, the red-maned mare silently cursed to herself. Looking around, she realised there were several pointers to suggest the cave was occupied, the flat stone which must have been artificially smoothed down to act as a shelf or bench being one of them. “Excuse me, I’ll leave you if you wish?” As she spoke, a small, serpentine figure began to emerge from the blackness.
“No, no! Please, stay! Maybe you can help her!” The voice was clearly that of a young creature and it became louder and more pronounced as it got closer to the circle of light cast by the fire. The voice’s plea for help prompted the pony to rise to her hooves, trotting closer and casting a soft glow from her horn to aid the flames in showing her this creature’s identity.
“Help? Of course. Please, explain-” The pony stopped in surprise as the owner of the voice became illuminated by her magic. Before her was a creature she had never expected to see. Peering up at her with a look of great worry was a small being of great variety. It possessed the head of a pony, the limbs of a lion, eagle, lizard and goat, the wings of a bat and a pegasus, and the tail of a snake. The mare stood amazed. If the creature was what she thought it was, then she was truly fortunate. The small, diminutive being before her closely matched the description of an ancient race thought to be on the verge of extinction: the draconequus. Questions and wonder flooded into the mare’s mind but as her tongue began to form them, she shook them and her fascination away. Her curiosity could wait. Something needed her help. “Sorry, do go on.”
The draconequus motioned for the pony to follow him, turning and scampering back towards the shadows. “My mother... she’s very sick. Please, follow me!” explained the young creature, stopping every few metres and waiting for the light-wielding mare to catch up to him.
The contrasting duo reached their destination only a handful of metres from the makeshift camp. The patient in question was mostly concealed by the blinding gloom. Lying almost perfectly still save for the very slight rise and fall of her chest was another, though mature, draconequus. Like her son, this draconequus was composed of the same attributes, arranged differently but she was noticeably more pale as a whole even in the dim light the mare’s magic provided. ‘She looks so weak… I doubt she has long left…’ the equine thought sadly to herself.
The young draconequus rushed over to nuzzle his mother’s face, overjoyed at the thought that his only family would recover. “Mother! Mother! A pony is here to help, you’ll get better!” he exclaimed while gesturing to the mare who was slowly approached the two.
“Hello there, my name is Equidae Aumean,” soothed the mare as she tried to keep her voice hopeful for the small draconequus’ sake. She struggled to stop her face from falling as she surveyed the ill draconequus before her. Despite her youthful appearance, Aumean was a pony of many years of age. Throughout her life, she had worked many times as a healer and nurse. It took only a moment for her magic to scan over and diagnose the pale draconequus and the problem was quickly revealed to the pony. ‘I wish it didn’t have to be like this, but there is nothing I can do for her. She isn’t sick, she’s old,’ concluded Aumean as she finished scouring her vast knowledge for any other possible ailments that could give her the same results her magic had revealed.
The ancient creature raised her head to try and see the visitor with near-blind eyes, smiling as she realised the nature of Aumean. “Heh… well, what an honour, to have an alicorn be my last ever gues-ˮ the old draconequus couldn’t finish before launching into a raspy cough that essentially confirmed Aumean’s suspicions: she was nearing the end of her natural life.
“Mother, don’t speak like that!” pleaded the little being, hugging his mother’s head tightly before flailing at Aumean to come closer and try to help. ‘It’s okay Mother, you’ll get better, you will!’ he told himself repeatedly. His thoughts were less those of encouragement for his ailing mother and more crude weapons that he tried desperately to fight the growing sense of dread within himself with.
The dying creature looked at her son deeply, as if trying to apologize for everything that was happening. “Oh, my son…” The draconequus paused as she tried to think of a gentle way to tell him about the inevitable. “…you must understand, my time is up.” The sadness in her voice was not that of self-pity, but rather sympathy for her child who had dealt a cruel hand by fate. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t have brought you into this world sooner, so you would have had more time to prepa-ˮ She could not finish her sentence as, once again, the hoarse cough robbed her of her ability to speak.
Aumean settled herself down close to the ancient being and began concentrating her magical energies into her horn after the younger draconequus had started tugging urgently on her coat, simply wanting her to make all the badness go away. “I’m sorry, all I can do is ease your pain… but you must know that even if I was capable, it wouldn’t be right for me to prolong your-ˮ
“Everything has its time, alicorn. I’ve lived a long and happy life…” asserted the elderly being as she closed her eyes and began to fondly remembered her youth “…as did my kin before me. Much like your own people, the legacy of us draconequus is almost up,” she stated this with a slight air of questioning, apparently not knowing the exact status of the equally old alicorn race. “I just hope my son here can lead as good a life as me,” spoke the elderly creature, smiling contently at Aumean. And what a life it had been! The draconequus sat and warmly recalled soaring blissfully through the skies, competing in grand yet-exclusive competitions of creativity, even curiously observing from a distance the gradual birth of the three pony races and how they struggled with the land’s near-eternal blizzard before finally overcoming their differences and forging a fiery passion for goodwill and friendship that thawed even the iciest of frosts.
Aumean couldn’t help but feel a strange sort of bond had formed between herself and the old draconequus, despite having only just met. She was right: much like the draconequus, there were but a handful of alicorns left, herself included. It wasn’t a saddening fact though; they may be physically different, but there were still plenty who would carry on into the future. History was simply taking its course.
Aumean’s musings were interrupted by another of the ancient creature’s coughing fits. The mare’s soothing magic was clearly having an effect, much of the rough wheezing having disappeared. “I ask one thing of you, alicorn,” stated the mature draconequus with an increasingly serious tone. “When you leave, take him with you. I was unfortunate enough to give birth so late in my life, he is not ready to stand on his own two hooves,” she explained, gesturing to her son. “Please, give my son the chance at life I couldn’t provide him.” She looked over sadly at her child, who had wandered over to Aumean’s fire, apparently trying to brew some kind of tea for his mother.
The mare blinked in surprise, though she realised she shouldn’t have. It was a huge and daunting request, but there really wasn’t much else that could be done. After all, the small draconequus was still very young and it would be nigh impossible for him to survive on his own. Even if he managed to leave the Western Range and reach civilisation, it would be harder for him to integrate than it would a pony. ‘There really is no option...’. Mind made up, Aumean replied, “I’m thankful you can trust me with such an honour. You have my word I will raise him as well as I can,” pledged Aumean as she followed the draconequus’ gaze to the struggling child. “Tell me, what is his name?”
The old draconequus smiled proudly as her son began waddling back awkwardly with a steaming pot, almost tripping up and spilling it everywhere. “Discord.”
_____________________________________________________________________
The distant rumbling of thunder provoked a long and weary sigh from the white foal. ‘Looks like mother is going to be late home again. I’ll have to make us something, then,’ she thought to herself as she trotted from the large window of the castle-turned-library to the crackling fireplace where a pile of cushions held a tiny, dark blue-coated filly who was dozing oh, so sweetly while curled-up in a small ball.
“Luna… Luna…” whispered the older alicorn as she lightly nudged her sister from her adorable slumber. ‘That mother of ours… she can be so irresponsible!’ thought the pastel-maned pony as she tried and failed to be mad at her mother. Being angry at anypony had been made an impossible feat with her intensely cute sister smiling up at her with sleepy eyes. Even if Luna had not been there to calm Celestia, her profound love of her kind mother would have stopped her frustrations from building to any great level.
“Ce…Celstia!” beamed little Luna, wobbling to her hooves cautiously to try and hug her sister.
“Ce-les-ti-a.” corrected the older sibling, smiling back at the filly while offering a hoof to help steady her. ‘She’s growing up so fast!’ the white foal mused as she grinned over how quickly Luna was developing, despite only being a few months in age. “Now, Luna. Mother isn’t going to be home tonight, so I’ll have to make you something to eat…” explained Celestia as she carefully led Luna towards the kitchen at the back of the library. Of course, the small filly didn’t really understand all of her sister’s words but “eat” was one her tiny vocabulary certainly did recognise.
“Oh, oh…” Luna excitedly sounded, instinctively unfurling her petite wings before furrowing her brow trying to remember the right names for her favourite treats. “Ca…cake!” shined the filly, on the verge of hopping in anticipation.
Celestia picked the bouncing dark foal up with her forelegs and settled her in a seat at the simple wooden table and began investigating the cupboards and shelves for something simple yet edible for them to have. “Cake? Well… alright, so long as you have something healthy with it…” explained Celestia somewhat pointlessly, the filly not knowing the word. “I don’t want my little sister getting chubby!” teased the older foal as she spied some fresh greens and the cake in question.
“Cake! Cake!” bobbed Luna in her seat as she watched her sister telekinetically pull down a large plate with about a third of a carrot cake left on it. She then proceeded to magically cut the delicious sweet evenly, leaving a slice for her mother, and serving it on two separate, smaller plates. “Yay!” cheered little Luna as the cake was slowly lowered onto the table in front of her. The young filly went to pick the cake eagerly but stopped before reaching it. She looked up at her sister levitating a number of kitchen utensils around, then stared back at the cake with immense concentration.
Celestia was busy cutting and mixing a variety of vegetables and fruit into a salad. Looking down at her decent but by no means extravagant work, the white foal gave herself an awkward smile. ‘It’s better than something Surprisena could make.’ She didn’t notice a few sky-blue sparks fly from Luna’s horn, or the slice of cake shudder slightly. “Alright Luna, here’s a nice nutritious salad so that you don’t get fa-" Celestia’s words were stopped by her mouth gaping open in surprise as she saw her sister’s slice of cake surrounded with a faint blue aura, levitated ever so slowly from its plate, and then splatter in Luna’s face after shooting towards her at extreme speeds. Both sisters merely blinked in surprise for several moments.
Naturally, Luna’s eyes began to bubble and then release a trickle of tears. “…caaaake…” the little filly sorrowfully cried as her treasured desert fell to the floor.
Celestia couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle before going to comfort her silly little sister. “Oh, Luna, you’re growing up too fast!” giggled Celestia. “Don’t worry, let’s get you cleaned up…” floating a pile of napkins over to the table, Celestia began tenderly wiping Luna’s face to remove all the crumbs and growing stream of tears.
“B-but…” sniffled the dark filly, scrubbing at her face with her hooves and looking sadly down at her empty plate.
“Here,” offered the pure white foal as she telekinetically slid her own slice of cake over the table and then cut it down the middle, levitating one half onto Luna’s plate. “Now no magic at the table until you know how to use it, little sister!” she scolded while simultaneously nuzzling her younger sibling.
Luna didn’t fully understand what her big sister’s words meant, but she knew she was being told not to try that again. She nodded vigorously in response before nibbling in delight at the cake Celestia had given her.
With Luna happy again, the white foal trotted over to the kitchen window and peered out at the far-off mountains to the west. ‘I’m sorry mother, you missed Luna’s first ever bit of magic!’
__________________________________________________________________________
Though dark, the night sky was cloud free when Aumean’s internal clock awoke her. It was of course time for her to perform her duties, passed down to her by her ancestors. Picking herself up from the thin sheet she had been sleeping on, the white mare made her way outside the cave onto the cool, damp rocks. Looking up at the now-unclouded stars, she smiled, taking in the beauty of the glistening night sky before she was forced to replace it. Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes and pointing her horn to the horizon, it began to glow and spark with a golden light. The aura from her horn spread to the rest of her body and outstretched wings, illuminating the entire mountainside. In a final flash of light, the divine rays of the sun began to pierce their way lazily across the sky, signalling the beginning of a new dawn. “There…” smiled Aumean as she appreciated her work for a few moments more. Satisfied, the tall alicorn made her way back into the cave and noticed the young draconequus, Discord, muttering and rolling around in a disturbed sleep by his deathly still mother. The mare gave him a gaze full of pity as he began to wake from the warm light of the rising sun, stretching his long body and rubbing his bloodshot eyes.
“…is it…” Discord began to say, but stopped as he recalled the events of last night. Without saying another word, the small draconequus simply sat himself down in front of his mother and grasped her neck tightly, rubbing his cheek against her’s affectionately. The elder being did not respond, but the content smile she had left behind showed her passing was not something to despair over.
Hoisting her saddlebags onto her back, Aumean continued to shower the sight with a gaze of sympathy. “Discord… it’s time to go.”
The small draconequus nodded and gave his mother a final squeeze before letting go and wordlessly scanning the cave. Finding what he was looking for, Discord made an awkward path towards Aumean carrying nothing of his mother’s possessions but a fat iron teapot. It was the same one he had used the night before.
“Don’t you want anything else…?” she questioned, surprised by Discord’s choice, “I could carry something for you, if you…”
Discord shook his head. Though they had never had much, none of their possessions held as much value as the teapot. Countless times had Discord’s mother beaten away the cold nights and huddled with her son with cups of tea brewed with this very pot. It was a simple thing, worthless to anypony, but a sentimental treasure brimming with loving memories of the one individual to show him affection. Discord would not trade this battered lump of dark metal for any amount of bits, gold or gems. Even a painting of the older draconequus would not have the same value; Discord had seen his mother’s caring face enough times to burn it forever into his memory, and it was her actions, not her appearance, that defined her as someone the little draconequus would never forget.
Nodding with understanding, Aumean lifted Discord and his pot onto her back. Twisting her head to give him a reassuring smile, she began a steady trot forward out of the cave, carrying the draconequus into the light of his new life.
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wow, this story is amazing! Baby Luna is so adorable, but the Discord/Aumean-scene is great as well! You've written it very beautifully so far, can't wait to read more! =D
baby luna saying "cake" almost gave me a heart attack.
I nearly had a D'AAW attack at the Babby Luna part
(during kitchen scene)
must...resist...cuteness...too...powerfull...D'AAAAWWWWWWW
pinkie.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/133767254690.png
My reaction to finding that this was up on FimFiction.
Baby Luna made me pull a Stephan, and if any of you get that reference your awesome. But mainly this comment is about the story being awesome.
I cried a wee bit.
I giggled at the cuteness I didn't know was possible in a written story.
Tiny discord waddling away from his late mother with a chunky teapot, shaking his head furiously when asked if he wanted anything else. So much d'aww.
And to think, this is only the first chapter!
I am now siting here smiling like an idiot because of the adoreableness, baby luna and baby discord are just too cute. So even if it is 00:20 am i swear i will not go to sleep before i have read this entire thing. Not a good idea considering i have to get up in 6 hours but whatever
This story is a welcome change. All the Discord origin stories that I've read have involved Celestia's parents being draconeqqus-hating tyrants.
The mare’s thoughts were interrupted by a turn of luck however. 2nd paragraph
The mare’s thoughts were interrupted by a turn of luck, however.
Turning her head with a slight expression of surprise. The mare called back into the void of the cave in response. . .
Turning her head with a slight expression of surprise, the mare called back into the void of the cave in response. . . 7th paragraph
. . .before making herself cosy. 7th paragraph
. . .before making herself cozy.
. . .for the small draconequus’ sake. 13th paragraph
. . .for the small draconequus’s sake.
. . .competing in grand yet-exclusive competitions. . . 18th paragraph
. . .competing in grand-yet-exclusive competitions. . .
The mare blinked in surprise, though she realised she shouldn’t have. 21st paragraph
The mare blinked in surprise, though she realized she shouldn’t have.
Even if he managed to leave the Western Range and reach civilisation. . . 21st paragraph
Even if he managed to leave the Western Range and reach civilization. . .
. . .pledged Aumean as she followed the draconequus’ gaze to the struggling child. 21st paragraph
. . .pledged Aumean as she followed the draconequus’s gaze to the struggling child.
. . .so sweetly while curled-up in a small ball. 23rd paragraph
. . .so sweetly while curled up in a small ball.
“Now, Luna. Mother isn’t going to be home tonight, so I’ll have to make you something to eat…” 26th ¶
“Now, Luna, mother isn’t going to be home tonight, so I’ll have to make you something to eat…”
Incidentally, do most proofreaders use the "quote" tool to do this? I just copied and pasted lines with errors onto a Microsoft Word document. Anyways, these are all the errors that I found.
Oh. My. Gosh! I LOVE THIS STORY SO FAR! (Hopes silently that Discord is Celestia's age...)