Her Eyes Reflect The Stars

by Lynwood

Disturbance

As some of you may know, my name is Spearhead, and I lived at a town called Snowhaven.

It wasn't very creatively named. A haven that's in the snow. Then again, the ponies that built it weren't worried about the name too much. They had a lot on their minds already.

See, the town was built by... what would be my grandparents' generation. My family wasn't living there yet, we came later. The ponies back then, they had been through a lot. They're the ones that lived through the Event, and they'd been running north. When they found the valley, they realized it was safe. By chance, that group of ponies decided to stay instead of traveling to the Crystal Empire, which ended up saving their lives.

They built a wall across the mouth of the valley, and that kept them hidden. Then they built the town. It was nestled in a bowl made between two mountains, and during the summer, you'd grow crops next to the river that runs through the place.

It all fell apart in the blink of an eye, and it started with a nightmare.

We usually rotated guard duty, but because I'm good at it, I was the only pony who always had a pike. I was in the watchtower during my dreaded weekly graveyard shift when I heard the shouting. I clambered out of my tower and rushed over as quickly as I could. One of the village houses, one that belonged to my cousin Willow and her family. Inconsolable screaming was coming from inside.

I had to shoulder my way past half the village, but I'm not a small stallion so they got out of the way when they saw me with my helmet and my spear. I pushed my way inside and shut the door behind me, trying to take in the scene as fast as I could.

Willow and her husband Furrow's twin colts huddled up against the wall, looking shocked and confused. Their parents sat in the middle of their hearth room cooing and desperately reassuring the screaming, crying filly in their arms. She was screaming fiercely, and I had to thump the butt of my pike on the timber floor to be noticed.

"Look, Buttercup!" Willow said once she saw me standing awkwardly in the doorway, "Big strong Spearhead is here to protect you! He's not going to let her get you."

It took a little more convincing, but once she sees me, she finally calmed down. We dried her tears and I gave her a big hug before Furrow took her and her brothers back to bed while I let the crowd outside know everything was fine.

"Whoof," said Willow once things had finally quieted down, "she's going to be sleeping in our bed for months."

I rubbed the side of my head with my slate-gray hoof. "What was that all about?"

Willow heaved a massive sigh and rubbed beneath her eyes. "She said... she had a dream about, uh, her. You know. Said that she told her scary things."

I swallowed. "Well, she's just a filly, right? Maybe she just thought she saw her."

"I don't know, Spear. She seemed terrified." The mother bit her lip.

"Well, I can up the guard rotations for the next couple nights and we can go scout out past the wall, make sure this is just a dream, alright?"

Willow smiled at me. "Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks, Spear."

It wasn't until a few nights later that we all really began to realize what was happening.