The Fall of the Anoian

by bookhorse125

Chapter Seven - Red

The salty spray coming off the sea caught the wind and whirled up to splash in Red’s face. Below her, green and turquoise waves stretched out in every direction for miles, crashing into each other and tossing in the strong wind. The sun’s glare off the water was dazzling, so much so that Red felt like she’d go blind if she looked at it directly.

She officially hated it.

Her wings ached as she urged them to keep flapping. The wind whipped her hair around so little strands kept ending up in her mouth, and she had to spit them back out again. The sunshine was beating down on her, making these conditions the absolute worst to be flying home in. Worst of all, the wind was blowing back towards Equestria, which meant that Red had to fight it all the way back to Anoia.

Red looked towards the horizon. Was it just a mirage, or… was that an island? Red shook her head to clear the saltwater out of her eyes and looked again. Yup. It was a relatively large island, about the size of Canterlot. The beaches were lined with white sand, with the aquamarine waves crashing against them and pulling away. About a half-mile or so inland, the landscape manifested itself in cliffs and rock with fertile soil and other nutrients on top. These cliffs made up the middle of the island, surrounded by the beaches. Palm trees swayed in the breeze. Small huts that reminded Red of the houses of the small town right next to Canterlot (What was it called? Ponytown or something?) were clustered close together in the center of the island. Red would have sighed with relief that there was finally a place to rest her wings, except for the fact that she recognized this island.

The island was home to the mysterious Solious tribe, a group of earth ponies with wings that resembled an insect. They had the power to change the color of their coats at will to anything from camouflage to bright red. However, to keep this power, they had to charge in the sun every day. That was why they manifested on this island. It was enchanted so that it would only rain or get cloudy at night, and clear skies all day long, so the Solious ponies could soak up as much sunlight as needed. They had isolated themselves on this island for more than a thousand years, and while they disliked Anoian ponies, they had formed a shaky peace treaty with Emperor Mouse a few hundred years ago. This treaty had reluctantly been kept by following emperors. However, Emperor Lupines had broken that treaty by closing off the Solious’s island and forbidding anypony from going there. This is what caused the Soliouns to hate pegacorns more than any other pony.

Red glanced back at her exhausted wings and sighed. She needed someplace to stay for the night, or at least to rest. She couldn’t keep flying all the way to Anoia in one run, and there weren’t any other islands between here and the continent. Sometimes you have to make tough choices. Red flew close to the water, trying to hide her approach to the island, which would be pretty near impossible, as she was deep red and stood out very clearly against the water. Luckily, however, the sun was setting in a brilliant show of orange and reds and pinks painting their way across the horizon, which helped disguise Red enough she was able to land on the beach and make her way to a cave in the cliffside without being spotted.

The cave was a few yards above the ground, so with a little help of Red’s wings, she was able to easily leap into the mouth of the cage. It was about the size of a walk-in closet, just big enough for Red to build a fire in the center and curl up by the back wall as she waited for the sun to go down. Once the island was bathed in darkness, she snuck out in search of food.

One of the plus sides to having an island with sunshine all day is that there’s more vegetation there than in the Everfree Forest. It didn’t take Red long to find several fruit bushes and trees, along with an abundance of nuts and other things. Back in her cave, she was delighted to find a small, freshwater spring bubbling in the back. Red ate and drank until she was content and full. She blew out her fire and curled up for what would hopefully be a peaceful night.

Unfortunately, it was anything but peaceful.

Red was jolted from her sleep by a buzzing sound. Her ears pricked up and turned towards the sound as she groggily lifted her head. Once she realized what the noise was, however, her sleepy expression was replaced by one of terror. The Soliouns! They’d found her. Red jumped to her feet as silently as she could and pressed herself against the back of the cave. Oh, how she wished she still had her black bodysuit! Then she could blend in with the shadows. Voices leaked into the cave.

“I’m telling you, I saw somepony flying over the water!” said a male voice. It was quick and high-pitched. “It wasn’t flying like one of us, so it must have been one of those ponies.” He spat out the word like it tasted bad.

“Yeah, well, whatever, kid. Let’s just hope it wasn’t a pegacorn,” a gruff voice replied. An orange glow slowly grew brighter as the bug ponies approached. “I’ve had enough trouble with those creatures for a lifetime.”

A burning torch came into view right before the two Soliouns. The one holding the torch was the one with the higher voice. His mane was bright pink and shaggy, while his coat rippled between white and gold. His deep blue eyes were the only things that were constant. The gruffer one was a burly pony with a helmet over his mane with his tan eyes reflecting the torchlight. His coat was a solid blue fading into red around the hooves. Red didn’t know whether or not to be scared or in awe.

Pink Mane gasped, nearly dropping the torch from his mouth. “Commander!”

“Yes, yes, I see it, Brickle,” the commander growled. “I need to go get reinforcements. Do you think you can handle this creature?” Brickle nodded enthusiastically and planted himself in the entrance to the cave and put a good attempt at a fierce expression on his face. He stuck the torch in the dirt floor of the cave and eyed Red, as if assessing whether or not she was an actual threat. Red whimpered and tried to make herself as small as possible.

“Cower in fear, enemy of Solious!” he cried, holding his head defiantly. “You have trespassed on our territory and used our resources. You shall pay with your life!”

“R-really?” Red stammered. “Um, maybe that’s a bit excessive. Maybe I should just go on my way, and you can pretend like I was never here…?” Brickle barked a laugh.

“Sorry, little filly. You have angered the great Solioun ponies! Your death will be painful and dragged out so that you will not make the same mistake.”

“You sound like you’re reading a script,” Red said a little more bravely, “that doesn’t even make sense.”

“Really?” Brickle looked down his muzzle at her, the confusion on his face indicating that he had no idea how that worked. “Please explain this insult, little filly.” Red gulped.

“W-well, if you kill me, then I wouldn’t come back, right? So how could I make the same mistake if I was dead?” Brickle seemed to consider this.

“Ah, you’re right, little filly. I shall speak to the commander about this when he returns.”

“I am not a little filly!” Red cried indignantly. She stood up and spread her wings defiantly. Brickle stood up, too, streaks of red flickering in his mane.

“How dare you!” Brickle cried, spreading his own wings. They were transparent with a darker pink frame. The wings could fold up nicely on the top of Brickle’s back, like a fly. His wings turned from pink to orange-red and back again. Red stared in amazement.

“How do you do the color change thing?” she asked curiously. Brickle stopped. He hadn’t been expecting that.

“I - what?”

“Changing colors.” Red pointed to Brickle’s wings. Brickle’s gaze followed where her hoof was pointing.

“Oh! Well, you see, we have to recharge in the sun every day, but, other than that, I just think what color I want to be, and I just turn that color.” Brickle shrugged like this was perfectly normal. Which, for him, it was.

“What happens if you don’t recharge in the sun?” Red asked.

“We can’t change color until we do. We turn plain lime green, really boring.” Brickle held up his hoof and turned it the same color as Lemon Lime. Red winced. Lemon Lime was stuck in Canterlot with her father. She was going to get in big trouble.

“See? Boring,” Brickle said with satisfaction, as if he’d just won an argument. He looked at Red and noticed how her wings were folded in again, how her ears were drooping, how her eyes were staring at the ground as if avoiding his gaze. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Huh?” Red looked up suddenly. “Oh, uh… nothing. I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Brickle protested, trotting over to her and putting his hoof around her shoulders. It was considered treason to help a pegacorn, but Brickle didn’t care. “Have you been getting enough sunshine?”

Red snorted. “I’ve been flying out in the sun all day. I wouldn’t be surprised if I got too much sun.”

“Hey!” Brickle protested. “There is no such thing as too much sunshine.” Red smirked at him, and Brickle held her gaze. For that moment, the two of them just stared into each other’s eyes. Brickle’s heart climbed up into his throat, beating faster all the way. Then Red dropped her gaze again. Brickle blinked. He wanted to make her happy again. He didn’t know why, he didn’t even seem to care about the costs. He just wanted to see her smile again. Because that was even better than the brightest of sunny days.

“Seriously, what is up with you?” Brickle asked, lifting Red’s chin so their eyes met for a brief moment again. Red took a deep breath, and the whole story came tumbling out. How she’d gotten in trouble with the emperor, how she’d had to go to Equestria and gotten captured. She told him about Twilight Sparkle, and her secret mission with the emperor, and how she’d only come here for shelter and a place to rest for a bit. The strangest part to Brickle was that he believed her.

“Geez, Red, I...I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Red muttered, her voice choked up as if she was going to cry.

“Yes, Brickle,” came a new voice, “don’t be sorry for the pathetic little pegacorn’s excuses.” Brickle and Red whipped their heads towards the source of the voice. The commander was back, and with him, he had the most beautiful pony Red had ever seen. Her mane was made of golden locks that caught the torchlight as she stood in the cave. Her coat was a shimmering lilac. Her cold, blue eyes were the only thing that ruined the image. They were beautiful, but they were calculating, as if this pony was imagining the demise of every single pony she set her eyes upon. Beyond her and the commander, Red could see dozens of Soliouns hovering in midair outside the cave, waiting for orders. The newcomer tsked when she saw Brickle standing protectively in front of Red.

“Step aside, Brickle,” she said, a thin layer of sweetness not covering up the cold steel in her voice. Brickle gave Red a look and mouthed I’m sorry before slowly walking to the commander’s side. “I’ll make sure you get off free. You’ve simply been put under this pony’s evil spell.”

“I don’t have an evil spell!” Red burst out. Pretty Pony didn’t seem to hear her.

“A daughter of Lupines’s most trusted general?” She said it slowly, as if savoring every word. “Oh, my, what a tragedy. Don’t worry, little filly. You’re going to have an absolutely thrilling execution.”

Author's Note:

Constructive criticism is appreciated.