Wind Chimes

by flutterspin

Mistaken Identity

The sound of laughter echoed in the dark. My eyes deciphered two splotchy blobs moving about, one yellow and one blue. The ringing bells of wind chimes tickled my ears. I felt overwhelmed. My weakened senses left me dizzy and light-headed. A small object, spherical in shape, pinged between the two smudges. When I attempted to focus on the sight, a bright light forced me to look away.

I heard the sound of a young filly call out to me, "Come on, Moonlight!"

My vision gradually returned to me as my eyes adjusted to the source. I could see large buildings in the background with architecture resembling those inside Cloudsdale. Like a lens of a telescope slowly coming into focus, the two blobs eventually morphed into two vivid young fillies. The blue one with a buzzed haircut was Rainbow Dash hovering high into the air. The yellow one with long legs was Fluttershy striking a white volleyball. They gleefully tossed the ball back-and-forth.

Fluttershy meekly invited, "Yeah, come on."

Words came out of my mouth that were not of my own volition. "I can't play with you." A resounding headache created sensory overload everytime the after-images pounded against my frontal lobes. Little Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy kept playing despite my words.

"Why not?" Rainbow Dash boldly asked, hitting the ball back to Fluttershy.

"I don't have wings," I responded without a rhyme or reason.

Fluttershy glanced at me and playfully grinned. "Sure you do."

By the time Fluttershy noticed the volleyball coming towards her, it was far too late to properly react. She closed her eyes and retracted her wings. The ball narrowly missed her body and rolled towards me.

The tugging sensation of a muscle spasm caused me to stretch out my shoulders. I felt something soft tickling my sides. Reaching behind me to scratch the itch, I was surprised by the softness of feathers protruding out of my back. I believed to have grown a pair of bonafide pegasus wings.

"Fire!" a pegasus exclaimed from a neighboring watchtower. He quickly reached out and pointed towards the ground. "There is a fire down there! We need some rain clouds, quick!"

A series of pegasi punched dark clouds through the ground. Only then I realized, in my stupefied state, that I stood upon a giant cloud and not of land. I peaked through a hole to see where they went and saw houses on fire far to the south. Those there to help jumped on top of the clouds. Rain ushered out over the smoke.

"Has Princess Celestia been contacted?" I asked, watching the chaos.

An unrecognizable voice called out behind me, "Who?"

"Princess Celestia."

"Who?"

My vision worsened as I turned towards the sound. A sudden flash of light burned into my retina. Everything turned white as the world dissolved around me.

---

The unmistakable weight of the rubble pressing against my body meant that I was once again conscious. I choked up the charcoal that lingered inside my lungs. An orange color masked the entire sky. A small creature moved from the top of the chimney onto one of the wooden beams that knocked me out. It grabbed the edge of the strip and pulled it away from my body. Once cleared, the animal flew onto the wretched remains of the bed and gazed into my eyes.

"Who?" the little fellow vocalized with the beadiest little eyes.

Once I extrapolated what kind of animal stared down at me, I figured out it was none other than Owliscious. Before I could thank him for rescuing me, the owl abruptly glanced towards something in the direction of the main road, broke open his wings, and flew away. Did something alert his attention or was something coming this way?

The pressure from the paranoia troubled the fibers of my soul. With an extra spike of adrenaline, I pushed off the fallen wall and inspected the area. There was just enough sunlight shining through the ravine for me to see up the hill. The little owl was no longer in sight. Before, the blades of grass would weave like the mighty sea waves. Now, there was nothing. An eerie silence seized the air around me. This kind of quiet felt unnatural. There had to be some kind of presence watching me, waiting for me to make a move.

The feeling of dread persisted as I stumbled out of the debris. My legs had enough strength to carry me through the valley at a steady pace. I could still feel the mark of where the plank rested on my back. It rivaled the bruise received from Twilight and the scratch on my leg from carrying the crates. The calculated time to travel back the distance was thirty minutes to an hour in my weakened state. There was not enough time to make it before nightfall. My only chance was to hope my presence remained unnoticed.

As the sun set, the autumn night air chilled the hairs on my back. The giant windmill, barely turning its blades by the water, meant I was on the right track. My rate of aspiration made me feel exhausted enough to simply collapse on the metal bench on the outskirts of town. Resting for a little while would do me good before pressing onward into Ponyville.

Celestia set the sun. Luna brought forth the moon. Though looking up, I always wondered who brought forth the stars. As a colt, I imagined them as small grains of sand scattering out of my hourglass and filling the entire night sky. Then every morning a powerful being would sweep them up and put them back.

About the time my breathing returned to normal, there was a brief absence of moonlight like a giant shadow passing overhead. The silhouette composed of two wings, far too large for an owl, with something shaking rapidly near its tail-end like a ripped kite flailing out of the sky. The night hid the complete shape of the figure away from me, but I definitely observed the assailant land on top of one of the nearby buildings.

"Who?" Owliscious called out from the nearby oak tree.

The sound spooked the mysterious being into jumping down onto the ground. They disguised their identity with a large black cloak. I carefully followed whatever it was down an alleyway to a nearby barn. It mistakenly hurried through one of the wheat fields. They picked up small bits of the crop onto the bottom of their attire. The figure lifted up its skirt and brushed off the chunks at the door. The abrasive movements shook loose their hood.

It was a pegasus - gray in appearance with a green mane. Its flank had the markings of playing cards. Her hair obscured most of her face from my peripheral, but I recognized that pegasus from anywhere. It had to be Sumica, the one who keeps popping up in my adventures for the last few years. She leaned her hoof against the building's door and pushed it open. She threw one quick glance over her right shoulder before tossing the hood over her face. After Sumica went inside, the door slowly creaked back into place, leaving a gap just large enough for a little bit of light to shine through.

I cautiously snuck behind the wooden fence around the wheat field and brazenly approached mere inches from the barn door. Was I out of my mind? Do I truly know what would happen the moment I make my presence known to her? Visualizing my hooves knocking on the thin door was a terrifying thought to have at the moment. The decision to face Sumica had always laid dormant and unresolved in the recesses of my mind. Ever since our encounter at the Grand Galloping Gala, two questions churned away in my head - Who was she really, and why do we keep bumping into each other?

Taking in one deep breath, I exerted enough pressure to wedge the door open without making a sound. The barn's interior was much smaller than I anticipated. The walls held well enough in place with wooden planks tight enough to keep the outside light at bay. The buttress could have been brand new if it wasn't for a few splinters hanging from the edges. There were about a dozen stalls, simplistic in design, with short barriers roughly three feet high separating them. Broken stacks of hay consumed most of the floorboard with a wide-range of tools from shovels to pitchforks neatly arranged on the back wall. The only evidence of movement was from a few dust particles floating near a tiny window on the second floor.

With a hint of hesitation and a touch of determination, I mustered the courage to slip out a few words. "I know you're in here. Come on out where I can see you. I just want to talk."

The room grew dark as the door slammed shut. My eyes barely caught wind of Sumica's presence before she disappeared into the shadows. The light from the window did nothing to brighten the room.

Sumica responded in an annoyed undertone, "Sure... Talk... We can do that. Why don't you start by telling me why you are following me?"

The soft strings of hay tickled the ends of my hooves. My right leg gently hovered over the floor for a few seconds before I replied, "I... I don't know. There is something about you, something that seems familiar to me somehow. I want to know why that is."

Sumica's voice circled around me. "You seem quite familiar to me too. Why don't you give me your name?"

"Moonlight!" I sternly shouted. "My name is Moonlight! Moonlight Sonata."

Sumica shouted with great anger, "That is not your name! I want your real name! Who are you?!"

I cried, "I don't know what you mean?"

Sumica grabbed hold of my sides and swung me to the back of the barn. With her green eyes staring directly into mine, she emphasized, "You seem to be everywhere I go. Tragedy follows every time I see your face. So I'm asking you again. Who. Are. You?"

An unusual feeling erupted when she spoke those last words. I couldn't identify its substance. My body was already experiencing the effects of fear, dread, and terror. My brain quickly shifted through other possible categories - love, joy, peace, happiness, contentment. The barn softly rattled as a strong breeze pressed against the walls behind me. Then I noticed a small wrinkle, a wavering muscle under Sumica's left eye. The tension in her grip lessened as her breath slowed to a crawl. The emotion overwhelming me was undeniably trust.

Without looking away, I leaned in closer. "I'm Moonlight."

Sumica jerked me against the wall hard enough for one of the farming tools to be knocked down to the floor. Her hoof pounded against the wood behind my ear. "Moonlight's dead!"

The discomfort in my back made me flinch for a few seconds, but I certainly heard what she said. Sumica's inquiry had been contradictory at best. Nothing she did in this barn made any sense to me.

When she pulled back for another swing I quickly closed my eyes and pulled away. "No really! I'm Moonlight! You have to believe me, Sumica!"

Sumica grabbed my sides and again pressed me onto the back wall. "How do you know my name?" Her wings enveloped the space around me. "I asked you a question!" She extended her wings out and picked me up into the air. Once hovering near the top of the barn, she slipped her grip just a hair to make her intentions clear. If Sumica's goal was to intimidate me, it was working.

"Please!" I begged, with my hind legs dangling in the air. "You have to believe me. I... I was there at the Gala. Remember? You wore that blue dress."

Sumica purposely loosened her grip. "If it really is you, tell me something only Moonlight would know."

"Cupcakes!" I quivered as if the answer was the only thing that would keep Sumica from dropping me. "Strawberry cupcakes. They were my favorite. My mother would visit the mare down the road and buy the fruit. She would always make sure to have one on the table when I came home from school. When I was younger, I used to complain when they didn't have any sprinkles on top because... because..."

"What sort of cupcake would it be if it didn't have sprinkles on top." Sumica looked at me as if another pony formed in front of her eyes. "It's you. It really is you. But how?"

Sumica's demeanor completely changed. The rate her wings fluttered in the air reduced dramatically. She yanked me up and tenderly embraced me. The normal reaction a pony would do for such a warmhearted gesture was to offer one in return. However, the height proved to be more worrisome on my mind. Theoretically, the impact resulting from a fall this high onto a small pile of hay wouldn't do much damage. However, the thought still didn't prevent me from imagining a few deadly, albeit unrealistic, scenarios.

"I can't believe you are alive. I'm so happy to see you again." Sumica hugged me for a second time.

Three very fast clangs rang from the barn door. On the third strike, the door swung open. Light poured into the room. Rainbow Dash arranged herself aggressively mid-flight and prepared for a high velocity charge. "Alright, Moonlight! What is going on here? What have you-"

Rainbow Dash immediately halted her actions and calmly landed on the ground. She blushed and tried to look away. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't know you were having a moment." She reversed her course and shied away. "I'll just head back out and-"

"Rainbow Dash!" Sumica exclaimed, nearly dropping me in her excitement. She placed me on the ground, flew over by the door, and stuck one hoof forward. "How have you been?"

Rainbow Dash instinctively tapped against Sumica's hoof. "Hey, um, do... do I know you?"

"Is it all clear, Rainbow Dash?" the commanding Twilight Sparkle shouted from behind. "I heard some commotion and-"

"Princess!" Sumica stepped to the right and juggled her legs to an upright position. She placed her hoof on her chest a bowed in a professional manner. "What are you doing here?"

Twilight Sparkle quickly turned her head outside and looked into the wheat field. She rapidly rotated her head in all directions as if a bee was circling around her. She squinted her eyes and perused the room's interior. "I don't see a princess." She stared directly at Sumica.

"Ha! You were always funny, Princess Sparkle," Sumica replied.

Owliscious entered the room and propped himself onto Twilight's back. "Who?"

"Ah, cool! You got an owl too?" Sumica stated with a smile on her face.

Rainbow Dash took one look at me and impatiently asked, "Moonlight, what is going on?"

A heavy sigh, a quick rub to the temple, and a moment of silence is all I wanted for the time being. My forehead needed more of my attention than anything else. A resounding headache from being tossed around all day refrained me from immediately answering. Too many thoughts rolling around in my brain. So many questions and not enough answers. My body was running on low for awhile now and the soreness in my bones was beginning to bare down on my patience. Times like these caused me to be more irritable than normal.

Though the importance of clearing up a few things before retiring for the night was too great to leave alone. I had to be careful in deciding which things to discuss. Providing awareness to the houses that burned down would only escalate problems, especially without any concrete proof. Raising suspicions and accusations would only break down any sort of information that could be gained beforehand. Pinning Sumica as some sort of criminal wouldn't settle well with me either.

There was no need asking Rainbow Dash why she charged in as if Discord broke free from his stone prison. Clearly my absence simply had my friends worry for the worse. No, the immediate thing I needed to do was to build trust with everyone currently in this barn. Knowing full well how a pony's world can be turned upside down in an instant, more than once I might say, the least I could do is clear the air where we stood in the whole stream of things for the group.

I carefully placed my hoof on Sumica's shoulder to grab her attention. "Sumica, where are you from?"

"Cloudsdale. All pegasi are from Clousdale. You know that, right?" Sumica responded with her eyes tucked deep inside her face as a means to avoid telling me the whole truth.

"Who rules over Equestria?"

Sumica's responded with a giant grin. She detracted from the question with a hostile remark. "I don't understand why-"

"Sumica, please. Who rules over Equestria?"

The question bared a lot of weight and confused the ponies. Rainbow Dash stretched out her wings while paying keen attention to my forwarding questions, but the tightness in her jaw revealed the grit in her teeth as she refrained the best she could from interrupting me. The way Twilight Sparkle's head rolled from one side to the other mirrored the perplexed look in her eye as the gears in her head clicked with every word out of my mouth. Sumica's spontaneous switches in stature - from showing off a playful gesture to speaking a wily comment - displayed a form of optimism without unmasking her personal endeavors.

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of Canterlot," Sumica eventually answered.

"Where are you now?"

"Why Manestone, of course," she responded with no hesitation.

"Manestone?" Rainbow Dash said without any concern for the pegasus. "You're in Ponyville."

Sumica fluffed her mane to the side of her face and looked over at Rainbow Dash. "Very funny Dash, but I haven't flown too close to the sun this time around. We are in Manestone."

Rainbow Dash's nostrils flaired up. She crept closer to Sumica. "Now listen-"

"Hold it!" I shouted, pulling the two pegasi farther apart. "Sumica, this area may appear similar, maybe even identical, to the place you call Manestone, but it isn't."

Sumica retracted her hoof away from her chest, being caught surprised by my answer. She rushed outside and flew high in the air for a better view of the town. Then after a momentarily respite, she came back down to the barn. "It happened again, didn't it?"

"Apparently," I replied. "Rainbow Dash, I'm far too tired to be doing anything else for the night. I'd like to wait until morning to explain things further. Is there a place that Sumica can stay in Cloudsdale?"

Before Rainbow Dash could get a word in, Sumica replied, "Actually, I'd like to stay the night with you, Moonlight, if that is alright with you?"

Despite the fact that Rainbow Dash was biting her lip, Twilight politely suggested, "You both can spend the night at my place."

Sumica asked, "And what place would that be?"

"The Golden Oak Library," I replied.

"You live in a library? But-" Sumica held her tongue. She quickly bowed and apologized. "I'm sorry, Princess Twilight. I did not mean any disrespect. I'll be glad to stay at your humble home."

Twilight blushed and rubbed her front leg. She clearly was embarrassed at Sumica's formalities. "Oh, uh, please, just Twilight. I'm no princess."

Sumica bowed again. "As you wish, your majesty."

"You all can go ahead," Rainbow Dash stated. "There is something I need to check on before heading back anyways. I'll be expecting an explanation in the morning from the both of you."

Sumica remarked, "Until morning then."