Flawed Legacy
"Wake up, sleepyhead"
'Five more minutes...'
"Winrryyy~"
'Please...'
"C'mon girl, it's time for your medicine."
Winry finally submitted, and cracked her eyes open - blinking several times to remove the fuzziness from her vision. She was in her childhood bedroom, her blinds closed - blocking the blaring sunlight from daring to enter. She moaned as her raging migraine struck deep inside of her head.
The woman above her cooed, laying her warm palm on Winry's cheek. Creeping in through the doorway, the delicate notes of a guitar being strung invaded her ears. Winry turned her head, seeing the glowing face of her mother, one hand upon her skin, the other holding a fizzing glass of water.
Winry pushed herself up as well as she could, but ultimately relented as her mum helped her lean against the headrest of her bed, pushing the cold glass to her lips as she drank. She gulped ravenously, water seeping out the sides down her chin, it was like thirst had been the only thing she had ever known.
Her mother laughed, urging her to slow down, letting her daughter take the glass from her grip. One hand went up to her forehead, feeling the heated sweating skin beneath her palm, and the other rested atop the girl's shoulder. Soon enough, the cup was empty and was placed on the bedside table, next to Winry's phone.
"W-wheres Adrian and Maisie?" the girl moaned, letting her eyes rest on her mum's beautiful ebony skin, weakly pushing a hand up to run it through her frizzy hair.
"Oh honey, ever the worrier," Sarah Everfree softly said, ignoring the tugging and pulling of her hair, "They're outside, Adri found a beatle and Mai's playing house."
"C-Celestia, Luna?" Winry asked, looking up at her mum's hazel eyes.
"They're here too, they're downstairs worrying about you. I think Dad is playing some music for them." She replied, not removing her hands from her daughter.
"Discord?"
"Dissy is exploring, such a curious little boy, I'm glad you found him." Her mother planted a kiss on Winry's cheek, beginning to get up, gesturing her to follow.
The girl moaned as she tried to get up, feeling her head pound as she moved it. Falling back onto her cushion, she whimpered. "Mum, it hurts..."
"I know, honey. But let's be strong, for them, ok?" Sarah's hand reached out, and Winry grasped it, feeling her mother's soft fingers curl around her appendage. The daughter weakly got up, as her mother put her arm around her shoulder, helping her to walk.
"I-I don't know what's happening, Mum."
"Shh, that's ok. You don't need all the answers, Winnie. Let's go downstairs.
Sitting by her father's feet were two small pony foals, one white, the other a dark navy blue. Their eyes were wide as they heard the man play his guitar, and moan when he stopped. Following his eyes, they found Winry being led down the stairs by the older woman.
"Finally up?" Isiah asked, rushing over to help the two, leading them to the couch, "I tried saying hello earlier, but you've been out cold all day, hun."
"I'm sorry, Dad," Winry said, begging her mother with pleading eyes for another glass of water - which she quickly received.
"Nothing to be sorry for, Winnie. We all just want to make sure you're doing ok." on queue, the two fillies jumped up on either side of the sofa, resting their small heads on Winry's lap - who slowly started to stroke their coats. "These little ones have been a joy, it's a shame the little boy flew off before I could pull out the old guitar."
"We want ukielaylay!" Luna called out, blowing air into her cheeks as she pouted. Isiah laughed, a deep bellow from his belly, as he bent down to ruffle her mane.
"When everyone's home, I'll play, ok?" the small dark filly's eyes glistened, sparkling with excitement. Celestia's own drooped, almost falling asleep on the warm lap of the older girl in the room.
"Dad, what's going on? I'm so confused, and my head..." Winry moaned as the pounding started again.
"You heard your mother, hun, it's ok to not know all the facts," much to her disappointment, the girl accepted the words. Focusing on her two children on her lap, scratching their ears and grooming their little wings. "You've done a good job with them, you know."
Sarah chimed in from behind the sofa, running a brush through Winry's razzled, untamed hair, "We're so proud of you, honey."
Tears swelled up in the girl's eyes, fogging up her vision. She blinked hard, trying to get them out, but stopped as her father ran his hand underneath them, removing some of the tears with a thumb. The backdoor crept open, and standing at the entrance were three young children, all caked in mud or sand. Sarah tsked with a smile, "Now how did that happen?"
"Maisie threw mud at me!" cried Adrian, his cheeks puffy as they glowed red. The accused huffed, looking away as she crossed her arms.
"He tried putting a bug on me!" She exclaimed into her arms, not looking anyone in the eyes.
"Come along, you two, your sister's here. Let's be good, for her?" Sarah said, halting her brushing as she looked down at the girl, who was staring wide-eyed at the trio.
A teenage Discord stood behind them with an embarrassed smile, rubbing his hands together, his proportions were awkward - more than usual, and his trademark goatee was missing, replaced by a smooth chin to his pony head.
The three entered, all sitting beside the girl or the sleepy fillies. Sarah sat on the floor in front of them, as Isiah pulled his chair forward, bringing a ukelele off the wall. "Together again, let's get started?" the man asked, his hair a pushed-back blonde, traces of their bleaching of age. His beard, almost entirely white and cleanly cut, curved upwards at his lips as he smiled.
As he strummed out a tune, Winry looked to her mother, who sat crossed-legged as she moved her body side-to-side at the song. "Mum... how are you here?"
Sarah's eyes met with her daughter's, showing off a hint of sadness in those light brown pearls. "In all honesty, I don't know." She looked upon her other two children, smiling at them as they eagerly listened to their father play, "how old are they?"
Winry's breath hitched, choking on tears as she looked at the two. "Adri's five, and Maisie's seven." Her mother nodded thoughtfully, moving closer to touch the two's faces, who whined and contested.
"You never got to see them this old..." Winry cried, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw her mother was faring no better - crying all the same.
"I know, hun. I'm sorry we left you." She said, her bloodshot eyes meeting her daughters.
"That wasn't your fault, the police said... the p-police said it was an accident, you never saw the other car coming." Winry choked, another spike of pain shooting through her head.
"We still left you to look after these two, I can't even begin to think how hard that was on you. I'm sorry," her mother hugged her daughter's legs from the floor.
"We're both sorry, hun," her father said over his playing, and it was obvious he was crying too. The five children paid the two adults no mind, all happily hypnotised by the song filling the air.
The world shook, a deep rumble informing everyone that this dream was coming to an end.
"Mum, Dad, please, I don't want to go," Winry begged, looking at her two parents with desperate eyes.
"I'm sorry hun, it's time to get up." Her father said, standing up. The five other creatures in the room disappeared into clouds of mist, leaving just Winry, and her two parents alone in their house.
"You've got work to do, girl. We love you, and we're both so proud," her mother said with a shaky voice, bringing the teenage girl in front of her into a tight embrace - joined by her husband as he wrapped his arms around the pair, his head resting atop his daughters,
"You've done so many good things, but there's more to be done. I love you, hun," her father said from atop her head, his tears hitting her scalp.
"Mummy, Daddy, please... I can't do this alone again. I can't do this without you."
Her mother shushed her, breaking their embrace, and leaving her hands on Winry's shoulders, "You've done great so far, baby. And you're not alone, you've got your family."
Winry wiped her tears away as she nodded forcefully. Determination ignited in her expression. Her father chuckled, wiping his face, "There's that Everfree spirit."
The house rumbled, threatening to fall apart. Sarah gave her daughter one last kiss on the forehead, as she stepped back, holding her husband in her arms. Isiah's warm smile gave Winry all the hope she would need, and Sarah's warm touch and kiss brought forth the inspiration.
As she stood there, watching the world around her crumble away, her mother suddenly called out to her as she too began disappearing. "Winnie! Pick up your phone once in a while, someone's been trying to reach you!"
"...Huh?" Winry managed out before her house turned to nothing around her.
Adrian returned to the living room, planting himself down on the couch with a moan. He turned to the draconequus and white Alicorn at his side, "She's got a fever, but Mai and Luna are doing their best up there. Another hour or two and we'll swap shifts, alright?" Celestia and Discord nodded, worry still taking up most of their minds, but being calmed by the gentleman's words. "I'm Adrian, by the way, Adrian Everfree," he struck his hand out, which the two others shook.
"We heard, this is Discord, and I'm Princ-" she cut herself off, blushing at the use of her proper title, "I'm Celestia."
Adrian chuckled, "I know who you two are, Princess, would be difficult not to." he replied with mirth. The two smiled at him cheekily, and he turned his smiling head to the plaque on the wall, "And no, Discord, I don't think we'll be changing 'Loving Sister' anytime soon."
The draconic creature looked up at the wall too, and Celestia stared at his side profile, chewing on the words to say. Feeling her eyes on him, he turned to her quizzically.
"Everfree considers you a son, you know," she managed out, viewing his face shift through multiple emotions, surprise, regret, happiness, and finally, mischief. Celestia groaned inwardly, knowing what was about to come.
"So, that makes us brother and sister, you know," he replied, stabbing her in the side with an elbow. Celestia decided to groan outwardly this time, not giving him a proper response. From the side, Adrian chewed on his bottom lip.
"When did you meet Winnie?" he asked, probing into the conversation.
"Me and Luna met her as foals, we had run off from our caretaker and ended up angering a hydra, she found us crying as she warded it off," Celestia explained, smiling at the memory.
"She took me in when I showed up on her doorstep, fed me, housed me, and taught me how to use my powers," Discord explained, also losing himself in the past as a grin crept into his lips.
"Parents out the picture?" Adrian questioned. The two both nodded, "Funny, adopting some orphans, I'm sure Mai would get a kick out of two of them being black and white."
Upstairs, with furrowed brows and sweat trickling down their cheeks, were the three others, Luna pouring magic into the sleeping form of Everfree, while Maisie pinched and pulled out various spiky strings of magic, all various colours.
"She's full of this stuff," the human grunted out, using more force to tug out a particularly stubborn bit of rogue magic. The dark Alicorn could only nod, huffing as she focused her magic on wherever the girl's hands were on the body in front of them.
Finding a large pool near her sister's stomach, she placed both hands over the area, clasping her fingers into fists as she began to strain as she pulled with all her might. From within, a dark black ooze seeped out, causing the two others to gasp.
Maisie heaved, and Luna concentrated even further to aid her, and more and more of the gunk was extracted from within. Within minutes, the two were lying on the floor, panting beside one another as their backs touched. As soon as the corruption was taken from within her, Everfree's pained expression soothed to one of peaceful sleep, snoring slightly.
"Good work, Princess." Maisie huffed, reaching a fist behind her, which was bumped by Luna's hoof.
"You as well, Auntie," A loud snort came from behind the pony's back.
"I'm your Aunt, huh? That make me royalty too?" this time the laugh came from the Alicorn, and the two descended into a comfortable silence as they listened to the older woman's delicate snores.
There was a knock on the door as it was pushed open, with Adrian holding two cups of steaming tea, "Here, girls." Maisie reached out with a thankful smile, holding the hot cup in both hands as she began to sip from it. Luna raised an eyebrow at the man, tasting sugar in the beverage, "Your sister, she told me how you take it." Accepting the response, she began to drink.
Adrian sat by Everfree's side, his hand on her cheek. "Her fever broke? You two work quick," he said, looking over to the pony and human sitting back-to-back.
"Thank the Princess, couldn't have done it without her," the woman shrugged, looking away at the compliment.
"Nay, it was a team effort," Luna shot back, not letting Maisie escape.
"Yeah, well -" she was cut off by a loud gasping coming from the bed. Everfree lurched up, breathing through gritted teeth as she stared around the room she was in, before spotting her three viewers. Her eyes softened as she spotted Adrian, grabbing at him to pull him into a hug.
Luna and Maisie sprung up, running over to join the two. Underneath the three of them, they could hear Everfree sobbing. They tightened their embraces as the woman soaked their clothes or coats with snotty tears, not that any of them cared. Her cries rattled as she tried breathing deeply, her hands constantly moving as she felt the others around her.
When she began to slow, the others pulled away, all sitting close to the woman, Adrian on her left, Luna sitting on her legs, and Maisie to her right. Everfree's hands touched her siblings' cheeks, and she cooed softly. "You both look so much like Mum and Dad."
Maisie whimpered, her eyes tearing up. Adrian smiled and looked away, putting one of his hands to rest atop the other on his cheek, squeezing it.
"I... I need some fresh air, but we'll talk after, ok? There's a lot that needs to be said." Everfree said, trying to push herself up, causing the others to quickly scamper off the bed.
"Mother, surely you should rest a bit longer?" Luna urged, trotting over to allow the woman to put some of her weight on her back.
"No, I've rested long enough, let me figure out what's happening and we'll get to business." She said with a cold determination, her eyes locking onto the door of the upstairs bedroom with steely focus.
Discord and Celestia were both sitting awkwardly on the couch when they heard the scuffle coming from upstairs. Looking in its direction, they saw the door open as Everfree limped downstairs, her right side holding tightly to Luna's body, followed by the other two. Calling out, they rushed over, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.
"I'm ok, you two," Everfree stated, trying to soothe their anxious looks. "Everyone, sit down, I'm just going to go outside to catch my breath, we'll have a family meeting after - that includes you, Dis."
Everyone nodded, watching as the woman limped to the front door, holding onto her stomach. They shared worried and anxious looks as they heard her moan as she sat down on the front porch. "Do you think she'll be ok?" Luna asked.
"Just gotta give her some time, is all. She was like this when we were younger too, just needs a minute to think," Adrian replied, getting himself comfortable on the same chair as earlier. The rest joined in, Discord half sitting/ half floating on the other, while the two Princesses and the human shared the couch. The man gave his sister an amused smirk, "I told you it was a good idea for more furniture."
Maisie grumbled. Back when the two had started building these homes with the help of some griffins, paid with freshly hunted meat, she had insisted she hadn't needed as much furniture but wasn't around the workers as much to tell them so, feeling odd being in their presence. It wasn't that she didn't like them, but she couldn't bear to put up with their questions, and her brother was much better with them anyway.
Outside, Everfree sat, hugging her knees. Her stomach felt, odd. Not bad, but it was like her insides had been cleaned. Not used to the foreign feeling, she took some deep breaths to clear her mind. Her dream, if it even was a dream, stayed fresh in her mind.
Her parents were there, as were the rest of her family, living the life she wished she had. Comfy, serene, and at peace. Everfree's brows furrowed, recalling how their touch felt, and being able to recall every detail. Naturally, most memories had blurred inside of her aged mind, but some stayed fresh - protected by an unknown force.
In the waking hours of the day, she couldn't remember how her house looked, what her parents smelled like, or what clothes they wore. But in her restless dreams, it was all so clear, like it was only yesterday. She breathed into the cold air, watching her wispy breath wave around and rise to the starry sky above.
Her phone was mentioned. It had died on day two of her arrival and was at the bottom of a chest in her grove in her Forest. It had been nearly two millennia since she touched it, it must've been rusted and broken by now, but then, she was in a world of magic, they're probably ways to get around that issue - and then comes the power element, Equus didn't have modern electronics, as far as she had seen, but maybe Adrian could help? He seemed to have some type of electricity to him, and by starting low, they could find the right voltage required by slowly raising it until something happened.
So, back to the forest, see what's happening with that phone, and see if any of it correlates to anything she's been doing. Trying to cure the forest, or taking in lost strays, she didn't know, but her parent's words ran through her mind. Everfree sighed, repeating them out loud,
"You don't need all the answers, Winnie," she ran a hand through her hair, "At least, not right now."
'Ok, so. First, I go back inside, and I find out the extent of Adri's and Mai's powers, if they're anything like me, they're merely scraping the surface of their potential in their early years.' she shuddered, remembering the time difference, 'then, I tell them about my dream, or vision, or whatever that was, we go back to my place, find my phone, and go find out what I... we need to do.'
Not wanting to let go of our solitude for the moment, she allowed herself a moment of calm serenity. Listening to the nocturnal wildlife, as trees swayed in the wind. With her insides feeling the way they did, Everfree focused inside of herself, trying to see the damage.
There was none, if anything, it was like she had been fixed. For centuries, her powers had been weakened, for what she assumed was her time in her forest affecting her, absorbing its curses into her own body. But now, it was gone, a blockage being cleared. Some still lingered, but figured that what she had could be removed at a later point.
Testing the waters, she willed herself to change, first to the form of an ethereal cat (she felt like one at that moment, hiding away from social interaction while sitting on a porch), to then a corporeal one. No headache. She tried again, with a pony. First the ghostly form, and again to its green body magnificence. Everfree looked down at herself, she was fine, with no aches or pains. A smile crept onto her face.
Thinking of a much tamer joke to play on her siblings, Everfree went back to her cat form. A small lean little thing, all black fur with orange eyes which appeared to glow against her coat. An almost perfect recreation of a witch's cat, she thought. Stretching her feline body, she pawed the slightly ajar door and entered inside.
Adrian and Maisie looked towards the entrance, hearing the wind howl slightly louder as the door creaked open, expecting to see their sister in its frame, when finding no one, they looked downwards, seeing a black cat happily trot its way inside.
"You adopt a stray at some point, Mai?" Adrian asked, watching as it circled the sofa, and jumped onto its surface, purring as it sat down between the two Princesses, who were both awkwardly trying to get comfortable on its surface. Maisie shook her head, staring down at the thing.
The Equestrians said nothing, realising what was going on, and Luna began to stroke the cat, or as best she could with a hoof. It seemed to like the feeling though, yawning as it stretched its front two paws out, its claws coming out of their sheaths for a moment.
"Uhh, you guys know them?" the man asked, looking towards Discord as he had a mischievous look in his eyes, the draconequus didn't answer, choosing to smirk at the human. Celestia decided to open her mouth, that same look on her face as her brother.
"I believe we do, for quite some time really," she said, drinking up the expressions on the humans' faces, "it can be difficult to take care of sometimes though, always running off, you see." She got a smack to her hind leg by a paw for that comment.
Luna, wanting in on the fun, chimed in, "Wild little beast, barely listens to us. Though, it does have its merits," that cat meowed out loud, jumping to the floor, sitting down as its tail swished around. Maisie was about to reply but shut her mouth with a snap as she saw the cat become part cloud, to full cloud, to a human again, leaving her sister in its place, sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Maisie decided to throw a cushion at her giggling sister, hitting her in the face as she laughed harder. Before too long, the two women were laughing, getting over the bizarre sight, and the Equestrians looking at them warmly. Adrian grumbled, crossing his arms, "you guys got the best powers," he huffed.
Calming herself down, Everfree scooted herself over to be closer to her little brother, giving him a couple of condescending pats on the leg. "There there, Adri. But, that does bring me to my first discussion point - Maisie," she pointed at her sister on the couch, "What, to the best of your knowledge, is your power?"
"Uhh, I don't know, some type of magic thread thing? I can see the strings and usually manipulate them a bit." She explained, pulling forth a little pink strand from Celestia, letting it dance between her fingers, before entwining it with a thread of her own, making it double in size as she carest it back into the pony's side, who cooed at the sensation.
Everfree nodded, and turned to her brother, "And yours?"
Adrian's hands danced with little bolts of electricity, "I can play with lightning, and the rain, that's about It," he said, looking a bit glum as he mentally compared his powers to his siblings. Everfree stood up, her knees popping as she did so. Her face beamed brightly at the two of them, who were slightly unnerved at the expression.
"Ok, when I first came here, I thought my powers were just about plants, making them grow or wilt, but I realised they were so much more. I can talk to animals, become one, I can make life grow in the bleakest of places, can even force my voice into those around me. I can manipulate the earth by moving tree roots around, I could breathe life into creatures we once thought were fairytales!" Everfree exclaimed excitedly, bouncing in place a little bit as she thought of all the possibilities. The Equestrians, however, all shared a look. 'Breathing life into fairytales? Did Everfree make-'
"Are you just showin' off or what?" Adrian interrupted their thoughts, his thickskull not understanding what his older sister was saying.
"No, you moron, she's saying that what we have now isn't all there is," Maisie replied, fixing her brother with a scowl, who made a small expression as he realised what was being said. "So, like, my magic thread stuff, what's that about?"
"Think broader, not just one power, but what it could fall under! So, mine is plants, animals, and life - in general. That's nature, I have the powers of nature itself! Adri," she grabbed her brother's shoulders as she shook him back and forth, "Your rain powers, have you ever tried more? Making a cloudy day sunny, or bringing forth wind, heating or cooling the air around you?"
Adri blanked as his head was being tossed around in place, "I-uh, no, I just make it storm or not," he said, but as he looked down into his hands, he tried making them warm, and, just like that, the air around his hands shimmered with heat. "O-oh, my god!" He put a hand out, willing for a gust of air, and gasped as a strong current blew right at Discord.
"Hey! Watch where you aim that thing!"
"Adrian, think of the possibilities, let your imagination run wild! You can bring rain to lands wrought with drought, you could put out fires by cooling the air, hell - probably even removing the oxygen from it! Use a strong enough current and you could fly!" Everfree continued to bounce up and down and squealed as her brother smiled up at her, his eyes twinkling as he kept playing with the heat around his hands.
"Maisie!" who had an incredibly excited smile on her lips, prepared herself, "So magic threads, right? You can manipulate it, but to what extent, you gave Celestia some back," the older woman turned to her daughter, "how did it feel? do you feel stronger, more powerful?"
Celestia nodded, "Yes, it felt like my reserves were almost overflowing."
"Ah, Maisie, do you see?! Your power isn't just magical, it's Magic itself! Look, pull some from me, go on," Everfree placed your hands on either side of her chest, signalling the area for her sister to pluck from, who extracted a tiny thread, "More!" she pulled harder, extracting a thick green rope of energy, which seemed to branch off like a tree. Everfree panted, feeling herself grow a little weaker, but was no less deterred. "Ok, now focus on it, hard, make it tangible.
Maisie focused on the mass in front of her and gasped as she felt it begin to feel heavy in her hands. "Ok, now what?"
"Focus your mind, shape it, form it into a rope." a grunt of exertion, but then in the younger sister's hands was a coil of light green cable. "Good, good, now, tangle me!" her sister looked at her in confusion, "Ugh, you know, like a cowboy, lasso me!" Maisie stood up and shot the rope from her hands, willing it to snake its way around her sister's body, constricting as it trapped her in place, her lips upturned into a huge grin as she excitedly looked to her brother and sister. "Amazing, Mai! Now, give it back."
Maisie's hands danced as she pulled at the rope from a distance, willing it back into her sister's chest, who began to look more livelier - if that was even possible. Everfree clapped her hands, "You can make anything you want, give strength to those who are weak, take power from those who are strong, enough focus you can pull magic from the air and ground around us! Bring forth enough, make it solid, and stand atop it, you can fly right alongside your brother!"
As she watched her two siblings practice their powers, she stood up straight, trying to collect yourself, "But, the most important lesson, is that with great power,"
"Comes great responsibility, thanks, Uncle Ben." Maisie cut her off, the Equestrians raised their eyebrows, Everfree had used that same phrase during their lessons, did they have a magical great-uncle they did not know of? Shaking off the thought, they were all ecstatic at seeing their old teacher relive the past, gleefully getting excited over other ponie- people's potential.
"I'm being serious, if I get another super-villain in the family, I will hear about it, and there will be a reckoning!" All eyes started to stare at Luna and Discord, who both sheepishly avoided eye contact and looked anywhere but at the other occupants in the room.
Everfree clapped her hands together, ready to transition to the next topic, "Alright, that's the good news, but unfortunately, that may be where it ends," The five creatures around the woman leaned in, preparing themselves, "When I was out cold, I had... a dream, or... a vision. It was hard to tell which, but what's important is what I was told."
Luna's interest was piqued, she had sensed no dreams coming from the woman, though she was deep in concentration on trying to heal her.
"Mum, and Dad. They spoke to me."
"Winnie, don't be stupid," Maisie said, her face beginning to sour.
"Mai, I know what it sounds like, but like that's the strangest thing to occur, hell, your brother can fly for Pete's sake," her sister opened her mouth to reply, but closed it, not being able to properly come up with a retort. "What we discussed wasn't important, but they mentioned my phone, it's long dead, but they told me to look at it, that someone has been trying to reach me. We need to find out who."
Maisie nodded, she didn't know why she and her siblings were here, but if there was a purpose, she wanted to know about it. Adrian was a bit more conflicted, however. "Winnie, we live here, I have friends in a town nearby, I can't just leave."
"I'm not asking you to move out and live with me, hell no, do you think I want your beard hairs all over my stuff? Just a little adventure, like old times." Everfree replied. 'Adventure', their older sister would take them through the woods when their parents were busy, making a makeshift map as they trekked up a hiking path, picking up sticks to use as canes, or finding cool-looking rocks to show off to their parents. Adrian thought for a moment but decided that he didn't really have anything better to do, and he could always come back.
"Girls," Everfree span on her heels to talk to her daughters, "You have duties, Canterlot needs at least one of you to function. Both of you, go home for tonight and get some rest. Tomorrow morning one of you meet with me in the forest, you remember how to call me. You'll do a daily rotation if it takes that long. No arguing, no fighting, let's just get it done. Discord, go be with Fluttershy, she's probably going crazy wondering what the hell has been going on lately."
The Equestrians nodded, though they weren't exactly happy about being excluded, they realised that they couldn't just stop everything to go on some trip, not like this one. "For tonight, I'll rest up here, teach these two," gesturing a thumb in the direction of the two other humans in the room, "how to fly, and we'll make our way south together in the morning."
The group all nodded, she wouldn't say it out loud, but Maisie was happy she would get to have a sleepover with her big sister. Before Celestia and Luna teleported home, they pulled their mother to the side to ask a question which had been burning into them.
"Mother, you said you could breathe life into fairytales, ponies, did you -" Celestia was cut off.
"No, I never played a hand in pony affairs, they were here long before I was," Everfree answered, knowing she should have explained that closer to her original statement.
Luna asked, "So then, what?"
"Ever wonder why me and the dragons are so close, or why minotaurs look like humans? Most of the more bizarre wildlife in the forest is mine too, but they all have free will, I do not own them, I just played a part in their creation." the woman looked at the expressions on the pony's faces, seeing they weren't satisfied with the answer, "I was young, stupid, and lonely, this was long before I ever met you two. I haven't done it since. Promise."
Nodding at her response, the two ponies and the draconequus said their goodbyes and teleported back to their homes. Once the three humans were alone, Maisie headed to the kitchen, pulling out the bowl of berries from earlier that day. "So, hungry?"
Everfree chuckled, "Only if you let me bake."
Derpy hadn't been sleeping very well. It had been some time since she last saw her spirit friend, and while that brief meeting was nice, it didn't alleviate her worries. Dinky was currently in her room napping, but when she was awake, she would constantly be asking when they were going to see Everfree next, a question that the grey pegasus didn't have an answer for.
Realising she was just lying in bed thinking, Derpy decided to head downstairs for a drink. Carefully sneaking past her daughter's room to not wake her, she flew down the stairs to make herself a glass of water. She sipped on it as she planted herself down at the kitchen table, reading some of the local newspaper to pass the time. Among various other articles about nothing of significance, one caught her eye.
'Loud rumble from within the Everfree, beast or earthquake?'
'Local earth ponies reported to have felt a disturbance from within the cursed forest by the town of Ponyville, reporters could find no one to brave its depths to find out whether it was a Ursa Major or seismic activity. Elements of Harmony have nothing to say on the matter.'
Derpy put the paper down, feeling her blood pressure go through the roof. She groaned outwardly, something was happening and she didn't know what to do. She picked up her glass again, about to exchange the water for something a bit stronger, she was cut off by a soft tapping at her door. Wondering who would be calling at this hour, she trotted over, opening the door to a bizarre sight.
Discord was launched over at her doorstep, an almost shy, embarrassed look in his eyes.
"Uhh... Hi?" Derpy said, not knowing if this was actually happening.
"Miss Hooves? I saw your light on, and figured you'd be awake, can I come in? It's important." he asked, his weird expression persisting.
Derpy nodded as she moved to the side, keeping an eye on the draconequus as he entered. She didn't not trust him, but like most citizens of the town, they had a poor history with the fellow. "My daughters upstairs, so try not to be loud, alright?"
"Yes, I apologise for barging in, but it's about Lady Everfree," the grey pegasi's eyes went wide, suddenly a lot more accommodating of the creature knowing that he may have some answers to what's been clouding her thoughts. She gestured him towards a seat in the kitchen as she sat opposite, refilling her glass of water as she made another for her guest.
"Is she ok? She came by a couple of days ago but she didn't say anything other than she was going to Canterlot, but I haven't heard anything since." Derpy asked, leaning over the table slightly as she probed for information.
"Yes, yes, she's ok, doing much better, in fact," the pony sighed, visibly relaxing, "she doesn't know I'm here, she had mentioned you in passing, and I figured I would do her a favour while she's preoccupied." Derpy raised an eyebrow, gesturing him to continue.
"A lot has come to light the last few days. The Princesses did some voodoo magic to allow Lady Everfree to see her home, where she originally hails from, and they discovered that not only was she stolen from her planet, but that her siblings were too." Discord explained, reading from a sudden notebook that appeared in his hand
"Woah, woah, slow down. She's an alien?"
"It isn't obvious?" he replied, looking upon the mare in bewilderment, saying something inaudible under his breath, he continued, "Yes, she's an alien, not the invading type either, though I'm hoping you already knew that."
Seeing where Discord gets the representation of being an annoyance comes from, Derpy nodded with a roll of her eyes. "And she has siblings?"
"Yes, a younger brother and sister. The reason why my Lady has been away for so long is that she has been searching for them, and that earlier today," he craned his head a full 180 degrees to check the clock behind him, "yup, still today," his head turned back making the rotation a complete 360, making the pony recoil in disgust, "she found them both, the stories not yet complete, and they will be pursuing a task for the foreseeable future. I figured that considering how tunnel-visioned the woman gets, she may forget to speak with you, and I wanted to be granted some points for doing this."
Derpy absorbed the information, ignoring the draconid's comments about doing this to get in the woman's good graces. Discord silently chuckled to himself behind a raised clawed appendage as he saw the mare's eyes point in different directions while she focused.
"Well... thanks. You didn't have to do this but I appreciate it." Derpy finally said after some moments of silence. Discord mock bowed.
"That is all I have, so I bid you adieu." He snapped his hands, whisking himself away, leaving the mare in her kitchen alone to chew on her thoughts.
Feeling less worry in her heart, she poured the two full cups of water into a nearby plant pot and headed to bed. She was able to rest peacefully that night.
The sun had risen above the crest of the horizon, filling the pine forest with the scent of the morning as steam began to rise off the trees. Birds chirped as squirrels scampered up and down. It would have been a peaceful occurrence if it wasn't interrupted by an almost routine scream every five minutes.
Adrian had managed to fall from the sky again, crashing into several branches as he groaned from the dirt, looking up to see Everfree squatted next to him, and Maisie floating above him on a floating pink surfboard. His middle sister held her stomach as she continued to laugh, with the eldest smirking down at him.
"See, the trick is to keep doing it once you're in the sky, Adri," Everfree stated helping her little brother up. He groaned as he felt his back ache from the several falls he had received in the past hour.
"Heard you the last six times," Adrian grumbled, dusting his knees off. In truth, he was petrified of heights, and getting off the ground was fine enough, but keeping that momentum when he was a couple of hundred metres in the air was where he found difficulty.
"Close your eyes, feel the wind underneath you, have it pushing you upwards- at an angle, like this," His sister tilted her hand 45 degrees, "Don't focus on what's beneath you, focus on what's ahead, and if you can't, then close your eyes, just focus entirely on the wind and the feeling inside of you."
Nodding his head, Adrian flexed his hands, pointing downwards forcing the wind to lift him, he rocketed upwards and began to angle his body so his stomach was pointing to the earth below. Following his sister's directions, he pushed forward and managed to fly forward, starting slow and gradually picking up the pace. His eyes were clamped shut, not wanting to see anything around him.
"There you go!" Everfree yelled from the ground, causing her brother to look down at her, and then begin to lose control as he tried to turn. The woman winced as he flew straight into a tree's trunk. Jogging over, she looked down at his groaning form. She looked to the sky, "Mai, you got the hang of flying quick, how'd you decide on the surfboard?"
Wiping her eyes from the tears which had formed from her laughing too hard, Maisie yelled back, "One of Adrian's stupid comic books! A silver dude was surfing on the cover, thought it looked cool." She shrugged, doing some tricks in the air.
Everfree clicked her fingers, a new plan formulating in her head. Waiting for her brother to get back up and wipe the blood from his nose, she put her hands on his shoulders and began, "Adri, you read comic books, remember?" he nodded, "Ok, did you have any on Iron Man?"
"One or two, Dad always got me more Fantastic Four..." he replied, rubbing his red cheek.
"Ugh, I don't remember those guys... What about the movie, I know Dad had you watch that when we were kids." Adrian closed his eyes, recalling memories of the family all on the couch as their dad put on his film of choice on movie night.
"Yeah, vaguely, he was the red and yellow guy?" Everfree blanked, remembering that Adrian was very young when their dad was still around.
"Well, yeah, I think he was red and yellow. Maisie! Was Iron Man red and yellow?" she yelled to the sky.
"Red and Gold!" came a reply from the trees.
"Whatever, Adrian, so Iron Man, he had little jets on his hands and feet, right?"
"...yeah?" He replied, remembering some incredibly foggy details.
"Alright, so do that, instead of using wind around you to push you up, push it from your hands and feet to propel you forward." She did a mock presentation by standing straight, putting her arms to her side with her palms pointed directly down.
"I'll give it a shot, can one of you try to catch me this time?" he asked, grumbling when Everfree shook her head.
"Hey, I wanna show off how I fly once you two get the hang of it," she grinned.
"Let me guess, a bird?"
Everfree blushed and looked away, kicking a rock by her feet and mumbling, "It's cooler than that."
Adrian rolled his eyes but tested out the new method, doing a strong initial burst from beneath his feet and hands, and waving his arms a little while in the sky - before getting the hang of floating by pointing his arms in any direction he was falling towards.
Maisie flew up beside him, circling him atop her board. "Looking good, Adri, let's go forwards a bit." They slowly crept forward as they heard their older sister clap and whoop from the forest below.
"Ugh, this is like learning to ride a bike all over again." Adrian moaned out loud.
"Don't think you ever got out of training wheels." his sister replied, jabbing him in the side, almost causing him to lose balance.
"Hey! This is hard!" Testing his new technique, he flew forward, feeling the wind against his face, before putting his arm out to the side, making him turn around. He floated in place, a triumphant expression on his face. Maisie flew over, smiling the whole time.
Both of their minds were suddenly invaded by their sister's voice.
Go up. Above the clouds.
Maisie clutched her head in her hands. "Ugh! That's what that feels like?" She asked her brother, who looked back at her with a smirk.
"Told you it was invasive." He tilted his head up warily, and propelled himself higher, his sister following. They gasped as they saw the world from up above, the rolling fluffy fields of white and grey. The blue sky shone as the sun continued to rise higher.
"So, wanna bet on how Everfree's gonna fly with us?" Maisie asked, not letting her vision leave the sight ahead of her.
"Gotta be a bird, right? I don't know of any flying plants."
"That seems kind of bor-" A deep rumble of thunder interrupted the two, and they both looked down in shock as the biggest bird they had ever seen split the clouds below. It looked like a raven but was several times bigger. Its eyes were an electric blue and seemed to almost let off little bolts of lightning.
If they stood atop each other, they doubted they would be the same height as just one wing.
"Show-off," Maisie muttered, crossing her arms.
Everfree wanted to test one more thing, now that the headaches were apparently gone, she wondered if she could communicate while shifted. She tried probing her siblings' minds, and finding that she couldn't, she huffed - releasing a very bizarre noise from her beak.
Quickly thinking on her toes, she shifted into a pony, flaring her Alicorn wings wide to keep her from plummeting.
"The image of you being those Princesses' mum is starting to make sense," Adrian jested, wobbling mid-air.
Ignoring his comment, Everfree spoke, "I can't communicate as an animal, it was a long shot anyway, so this is the last I'll be able to talk unless we take a break."
"Thank god."
Fixing her sister with a glare, she continued, "So, you two, follow me, if there's any emergencies, make some noise or something. I'll slow down."
"Slow down? Who says that you'll be the fastest here?" Maisie replied, challenge in her tone, and mirth in her eyes. Everfree smirked.
"Can't you just stay as the pony?" Adrian asked, looking up and down her form.
"Wings these small won't be as fast, and I like being the bird, alright?" Everfree huffed, blowing her ethereal mane from her forehead. Hearing no further snarky comments or questions, she flew higher and shifted back into the thunderbird. Fixing her sister with a look, she flapped her wings, causing a deep rumble beneath the clouds as she rocketed off in the direction of her forest grove.
Maisie's jaw dropped, and groaned, "Again, such a show-off," she quickly followed, leaning her body forward as her board cut through the sky.
"Guys? Still learning how to fly, y'know." Adrian said to no one. Realising he was talking to himself and getting left behind, he channelled more wind from his palms and quickly caught up with his middle sister as they followed the massive beast ahead of them.
Luna had won the game of tic-tac-toe, forcing Celestia to have to fulfil her duties over the day court, much to her complaints. She giggled as she packed a saddlebag, remembering Celestia's face as she realised she lost - and how quickly. She packed an empty journal, as well as a quill and bottled ink, to try and jot down any notes to relay to her sister, as well as document the day. Wanting to express her gratitude, she also packed a gift for each of the siblings.
A necklace of a crescent moon she was gifted by a particularly pushy noble trying to 'join the royal family', a bag which could hold infinite items without getting any heavier - modified to fit over a human's shoulders and an axe. To be honest, she didn't know what to gift stallions, and from what she could remember, they liked weapons. And her Uncle looked like a lumberjack, so it made sense in her mind.
Getting some breakfast from the royal kitchens, and asking for three more to go, she headed off, teleporting to Ponyville's outskirts. She trotted into the forest, and called out, "Oly Oly Oxen Free."
And deep from within, the forest replied,
We're all free in the Everfree.
Appearing a couple of moments later was Everfree, a warm smile on her face as she hugged her daughter, and led them both through the woods. Luna had been in her grove as a foal, but couldn't recall its whereabouts or what it looked like. To pass the time, the two chatted as they drudged through the underbrush.
"Tia upset that it's not her here?"
"Very, but she knew that she couldn't delay day-court. How were the lessons in flight?"
"About the same as when I did it with you two, though Maisie got the hang of it very quick." Luna hummed, recalling the various crashes they had trying to follow her tutor's lessons as she flew beside them in her Alicorn form.
Before they knew it, they were at the grove and saw Maisie and Adrian snooping through all their sister's things. She yelled out, causing them to rush back, exclaiming that neither of them was doing anything. Rolling her eyes, Everfree continued forward, leaning under her bed, and pulling out an ancient wooden chest, made seemingly from a tree being grown into the shape of one, instead of carved.
Before she opened it, Luna made a noise and put her muzzle into her saddlebags. The three humans looked at each other with different funny-looking expressions as the mare pulled out another small bag from within.
"I come baring gifts!" the Alicorn exclaimed, a big smile on her face as she looked up at the three taller figures around her. All of them smiled as they laughed together.
"Christmas already?" Maisie asked, laughing a little harder when Luna stared at her with a confused expression.
"Nay, I know not of this Chris Mass you speak of, but these are for your hospitality!" She snuck her hoof into the bag and stuck a tongue out, trying to locate the object within, wincing as she found its sharp end, she pulled forth an axe, causing Everfree's smile to falter, and the other two to grow larger.
"Woah, Princess, taking out the threats to the throne?" Maisie continued, and Luna chuckled as she handed it to the youngest of the trio, blushing as he accepted it with curiosity.
"I apologise if it's not to your liking, Uncle."
"Uhh, no, this is good, thanks!" He gave it a couple of experimental swings, causing the three others to flinch and duck. He put it down on the ground as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at the glares he received from his sisters.
"The bag itself is yours, Aunt. It can hold anything you desire, without gaining any unwanted weight." She hooved the bag over, as Maisie gave it a couple of experimental bounces, feeling that there was some weight to it, but one that ensured it would stay by her side instead of flapping in the wind. She ruffled the pony's mane.
"Oh, neat! What happens if I throw Adrian into it?" the man in question reached down slightly for the handle of his axe at the threat.
"I would recommend you didn't, it is like flying in a bottomless pit." Luna shivered at the memory. She turned to Everfree, "Mother, I apologise that this may not be as extravagant as your siblings' gifts," She took the necklace from her standard saddle bag and flew behind the woman to clasp it around her neck.
"Nonsense, Lulu, this is beautiful, thank you," Everfree said as she touched the design, curving her fingers up and down the obsidian design.
"Hey, matches with your tattoo!" Maisie said, gesturing towards her sister's chest. The woman blushed, not thinking her sister had seen them that morning. "Hey, not my fault you sleep topless."
"I'm not wearing a bra to bed and my only clothes were robes older than this kingdom. And Adri was sleeping downstairs!" Everfree explained, blushing as she crossed her arms.
Luna looked up at her thoughtfully, she knew what a tattoo was, her Mother was covered in them, and she had even seen her give one to herself when she was younger, with a sharp rock or stick and some homemade dyes made from berries or plants. She didn't know of any similar to the moon design though. "Truly, you have this design on your body?"
Everfree looked down at her, before glaring over at her younger brother to turn around, who did so without complaint. Everfree pulled down her shirt, the comfortable loungewear she had worn to her various picnics with the Hooves', and revealed the two designs, one that was a black and skin-colour copy of Celestia's cutie mark on her right breast, and on her left was a crescent moon, surrounded by a black cloud - as close to Luna's as she could get. The parts which were different colours were either left devoid of the ink or were done in smaller dots.
Luna had to look away, fearing her Mother would see the tears swelling in her eyes.
"Yeah they hurt, a lot, but, I like the design," Everfree said, letting go of her collar, and prompting her brother to turn back around. "Again, thank you for the gift, Lulu, we're all very thankful."
"Thanks, Princess," Maisie said, shifting her vision towards the wooden container in front of them. "Let's get to work."
Everfree nodded, pushing her palm against the lid, and stepped back as the roots keeping it locked slithered back into the base, a sight Adrian was still grossed out by. Once opened, Everfree began digging through it. The raincoat, hoodie and jeans she had arrived in, which were now much too small to fit into, were placed to the side, an elastic hairband which was frayed and threatened to snap at the slightest stretch, and some over-the-ear headphones, which Luna took a keen inspection to.
At the very bottom were two items, the phone they were looking for, and a wallet. Maisie gasped as she looked at it, recognising it immediately.
"That's Dad's wallet..." she whispered, causing Adrian to take a closer look, but not quite recognising it.
"Yeah, the hospital gave it to me after they were declared... y'know," Everfree said, picking it up, and rubbing her thumb against the leather, "I kept it, figured I wanted a piece of him nearby at all times, and it had all the cards in it already."
She opened it, knowing what she was about to see. Inside were various plastic cards, a couple of notes of her home's currency, and her driver's license. She let out a dry laugh as she looked at it, seeing how young and serious she looked in the photo. "Hey, Lulu, look at this," she flipped the wallet in her direction.
The pony looked at the object with curiosity, before letting her eyes land on the picture in front of her. Her eyes widened as she bit back a laugh. Staring back at her was the same woman as in front, much younger, and with a complete deadpan expression. Her hair framed her face, missing its signature white streaks, and her eyes were a lot less green, though from how grainy the picture looked, it may have just been from that.
"This is a photograph, yes?" Luna asked, having to look away to not laugh.
"Mmhmm, done by something a bit different to the cameras in Equestria though, yours are... primitive, by the standard we had back home. It will be easier to show you in a moment." Everfree said as she thumbed her ID out of its pocket, revealing what was underneath. She handed the little plastic card to her brother, letting him look at her, thinking he would enjoy seeing the face he remembered most from his childhood - which he did.
Maisie looked over her sister's arm, seeing that there was a folded piece of paper where the license just was, and pointed at it wordlessly. Everfree took a moment, taking some deep breaths, as she nervously plucked it out with shaking fingers. She looked down at her sister, who looked so young at that moment. "It's... It's been a very long time since I looked at this."
She carefully unfolded it, and she sat down on the bed beside her, one hand holding the paper, as the other came to cover her mouth, trying to silence her sobs - which it couldn't do.
The three others all moved to be beside her, sitting on the bed, either next to the crying woman, or looking over her shoulder. All three gasped as they saw what was causing such a reaction.
A heavily creased photograph, but still retaining most of the picture clearly. There were five humans, a young toddler, with light-black skin and black hair, a young white girl with a gap tooth smiling at the camera, and a teenager, with long black hair which curled upwards at various points.
Standing behind the three of them was a black woman, her hair in a frizzy bun atop her head, hugging the infant, and a white man, with blonde hair and a cared-for beard, who was on one knee, one arm around the young girl's shoulders, and his other around the teenager's waist.
All five were smiling at the camera, and written in pen in a space above them all, was 'The Everfrees' with a small love heart doodled.
Everfree couldn't take it, the two adults, her parents, looked just like them in her dream from yesterday. She had thought she had tamed her grief a millennia ago, but it was evident that she had just buried it, and it had never gone away. She sobbed, as her siblings and daughter hugged her. "I-I'm sorry-"
"Just shut up," Maisie said, tears strolling down her face. Adrian hugged a little tighter but said nothing.
Calming her breathing, Everfree wiped her snotty nose with a hand, something everyone decided not to comment on at the moment. "Dad kept it in his wallet. He had it over his ID, so he could look at it while he was at work."
"I don't remember this photo being taken," Adrian admitted, feeling sadness creeping into him.
"I'm not surprised, you were only three, Mai was five, and I was sixteen." Everfree laid a finger over her parents' faces, giving them a soft caress. "They both died four months after this was taken."
Luna absorbed all the information she could. Looking over at the photo, she stared deep into her mother's teenage eyes. Seeing it happy, caught mid-laugh. Pity strung at her heart, that feeling of loss was no stranger to her, either.
"Dad, he, god what an idiot, he asked some stranger at the park to take the photo. He had forced me to come along, promising to go out for lunch afterwards to 'reward me' for partaking in a family activity." She handed the photo to Maisie, knowing that, out of the two, she would feel a closer affection for it. "I- I really miss them."
"I do too, Winnie," Adrian said, "But, you did the best you could, you know that, right?"
Everfree jumped her brother, hugging him with the force of a bear, as she began crying into his top. "I could've done more..." she sobbed out.
"Shut up, Winry." Maisie interjected, putting her hand on her sister's back, "You were sixteen, you left school for us, you worked non-stop for two years, never stopping to care for yourself. You gave us everything."
The sobbing woman turned to her sister, her face puffy and snotty, and her eyes wide. She sniffled, grabbed a fistful of Maisie's shirt, and tugged her closer - a couple of fabrics snapped at the force.
Luna spoke up, wanting to aid the two younger siblings in their giving of comfort. "You did the same for my sister and I, you took Starswirl and us in, three ponies you didn't know, and didn't owe anything towards. Found us food, protected us, and built a castle together with us. Everything we have we can say is thanks to you."
She too was dragged into the hug pile.
The Everfrees, missing a handful, were quietly comforting its head, which shook and rattled as she gripped anything and everything around her, wanting to make sure the three were by her side.
Time ticked ever forward, and soon it was a little over mid-day. Luna had presented the food that she had forgotten to do earlier, at the request of Adrian's growling stomach. The three sat quietly, munching away at the salads they were gifted, as Luna took a look around the grove. She had spotted Everfree's desk and mirror when she entered but was able to get a chance to spy on it now that the others were preoccupied.
Trotting over, she looked upon all the various drawings on the frame and took a keen interest in the oldest one, the one she, her sister, and Starswirl had doodled on. The drawings were all childish and poor, even the adult pony's, but she felt a shot of pride in her heart knowing that her mother had kept it all these years.
"Why do you guys all feel the need to spy on my stuff?" Everfree asked, biting down on some chopped red bell peppers - which were, of course, her favourite vegetable. With a mouth full of food, she continued, "I'm really not that interesting."
"Winnie, you're older than most countries," replied her brother, "if you're not interesting, then that pony other there ain't got wings."
"Doesn't have" Everfree corrected.
"Shut up."
Trotting back over with a smile, Luna poked the headphones from earlier, she believed that she had seen some on a DJ with purple glasses at one point, but they weren't a common trinket. Chuckling at the sight of the Princess, who was acting like an inquisitive cat, Maisie picked the headphones up, and placed them atop Luna's head, trying to make them fit her proportions correctly. The two other Everfrees laughed at the sight, causing the pony to blush.
Finishing her salad, Everfree stood up, "Alright, who's ready for the hard part?"
"I'm sorry, that photograph wasn't the hard part?" Maisie asked, her mouth full.
"No, we need to recharge an electric phone with no charger, and no plug sockets. One that has been dead for almost two thousand years."
"Oh."
"Hasn't it rotted or rusted, or whatever happens to old stuff?" Adrian asked.
Everfree glanced over to the pile of folded clothes beside the chest, her wallet, and the headphones currently still on Luna's head, who was playing with the cable. They were all pristine like no time had passed. "Uhh, I don't know whether it's because my box acted like a time capsule or some weird magic, but no... this stuff is all fine. Mai, you feel anything from this?"
The woman in question walked over, still holding her lunch, and put a hand out, her brow furrowing as she felt something. Closing a fist around it, she pulled back and groaned with exertion as an almost blinding glowing white thread appeared for a second, before snapping back into place when she ran out of strength. "Yeah, definitely some magic, feels old. Like you."
"Any idea where it's from?"
"Uhh," she ran a hand across the opened chest, feeling the now invisible tendril, "it's pony magic, a type of spell," she probed a bit further, "it's younger than the chest by a couple of days."
Everfree smiled, letting out a small laugh, "Starswirl." Luna looked over quizzically, while the two others raised their eyebrows. "He was with us when I was caring for the girls. We never got along too well, but... He had his moments. He must've seen me putting this stuff in here when I moved in and cast a protection spell."
"Sounds like he cared for you. I'm sensing there's more to it." Adrian asked, looking at his older sister with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. She blushed and looked away, suddenly interested in a very uninteresting tree as she twirled some of her hair with a finger.
"No... Winnie, seriously?" Maisie asked, bewildered.
"Mother, you jest!" Luna cried out, feeling like her childhood shattered.
"Look, I was nearly three hundred, and he was a stubborn ass, but like I said, he had his moments," Everfree admitted, avoiding eye contact, but feeling the two piercing stares into her side, as the other clapped.
"B-but, a pony?" Maisie begged.
"Hey!" Luna said, spinning around to glare at the accuser.
"Well, Winnie can become one, and after three hundred years, girl must have been real lonely," Adrian explained, seeing his sister's disgusted face become one of consideration, and then acceptance. "Hell, it's been twenty and I've definitely considered some of the village griffins."
Everfree let out a bellowing laugh, and Maisie turned away in disgust. "You guys are gross."
Letting the moment pass, and avoiding Luna's staring eyes, Everfree picked up her phone, flipping it to run her hand down the back. Scratched and worn down metal, but still all in one piece. She gave the volume and power buttons some experimental pushes, making sure hadn't been frozen in place via the passage of time. The screen, somehow, hadn't cracked. She took good care of it as a teen, it being one of the last gifts she received from her parents when they were still alive to give her one.
She held down the power button, knowing what the result would be, and nodded when nothing happened. "Alright, here's the plan, Mai, get over your xenophobia for a minute and listen."
"My what?"
"Your racism, you uneducated brat. This thing needs power, so my idea is this, Adri, you channel forth some lightning from your fingers, Luna keeps you powered up, while Mai limits the amount being entered, when this thing vibrates, we know we hit the right current. Sound good?" Everfree asked, flipping the phone around so the charging hole was pointed towards the three.
"And what do you do?" Maisie asked, standing beside her brother.
"I get to be moral support."
"So you get to sit on your ass and do nothing?"
"I'll be standing unless one of you wants to grab that chair for me?" Luna was about to move to grab it but was stopped by the piercing glares from the two humans beside her.
"Alright, let's do this this."
It had taken an hour to get the phone half charged, but the group decided that was good enough for the moment. Unlike what she had said, Everfree grew a small tree to hold onto her phone, so that she wouldn't be shaking it all over the place when her arms began to cramp. Instead, she fetched some water from the nearby pond in her grove and began feeding it to her family as sweat rolled down their brows.
She gave small massages to any limbs or backs which were complained about, and at the end of it, Everfree was the most tired out of the group, merely sticking a thumb up when they all stopped. She panted, "Good work team, same time tomorrow?"
Being the closest to the device, Maisie picked it up, seeing that the phone's background was of her and Adrian as children. Luna peered at the device, looking it all over.
"What is this?" she asked, having to stand on her hind legs and lean against the woman next to her to see the screen.
"It's a phone, it's uhh..." Maisie blanked. "I never learnt what a phone was." Adrian shrugged, making a 'I don't know' sound.
"Lulu, I'll give you a tech lesson once we figure out the phone's significance, just let..." Everfree yawned, "Let me rest my eyes for a second..." She was asleep the second she closed them.
"All she did was some running around," Maisie said, looking at her brother and niece.
"She did also teach us to fly, and also cried like seven different times." Adrian retorted.
"I concur, let her get some much-deserved rest," Luna said, dropping back down to four hooves as her support moved to sit down on the foot of the bed. The pony and the man sat on either side of her.
Maisie swiped up on the phone screen and gave an evil smirk as she realised something very important.
"She didn't give it a password."
Seeing no details jumping out, or anything that seemed like it would lead to saving the world, Maisie began swiping through the phone's pages, feeling like she was a kid again trying to find her favourite game. She spotted it, one where you would swipe your finger through fruit and avoid bombs. She fought herself to open it, but not wanting to waste battery, she continued her spying.
"I must admit, I am incredibly perplexed," Luna said, her eyes feeling lost at all the squares on the screen. Adrian made a noise of agreement beside her, he was too young to ever comprehend what half this stuff was.
"Well, most of this stuff is games, like uhh, you have games in Equestria?" Maisie asked to the side, her eyes not leaving the screen as she looked through the various apps.
Luna nodded, "Board games are most common, but I believe there was the invention of an 'Arc Cade' during my banishment."
"'Arcade', Princess. But yes, similar to those, this phone has them, higher-tech, I'm sure Sleeping Beauty can explain it far better than us. But, anyway, when me and Adri would fight over the TV, she would give one of us her phone, and let us play games on it, either to keep us both happy or keep it quiet."
"TeeVee?"
"Seriously? I know you have movie projectors, Adri told me about one in the griffin town. Imagine that, but on this," Maisie shook the phone, "plays movies and stuff. Speaking of..."
Adri leaned closer, knowing what his sister was looking for, and Luna, wanted to know as much as possible as she jotted down everything in our notebook, did the same.
"So, there's no internet here, of course, so - No, I don't know what that is either - so, I'm hoping Winnie had some downloaded." Opening an app with a big N as its logo, Maisie searched for the 'Downloads' tab and squealed when saw some.
More than some, there wore loads. "D-did Winnie buy more phone storage so she could keep stuff like this? To keep us happy when we were busy?" Maisie asked out loud, not expecting either of them to know the answer. Wanting to show off her homeworld, the girl tapped on a movie, one she couldn't remember ever watching.
Luna's eyes grew to the sizes of dinner plates as the phone began showing off moving footage of a different planet, seeing the words 'UNIVERSAL' appear beside it. She heard chatter come from the little phone's speakers, something about a birthday, and another called 'Gordy'.
The three watched in fascination, hearing a loud balloon pop, and what sounded like meat being pounded. Appearing on the screen was the text;
I WILL CAST ABOMINABLE FILTH AT YOU,
MAKE YOU VILE,
AND MAKE YOU A SPECTACLE.
- NAHUM 3:6
Maisie paused it, "I don't think that movie was for us."
Adrian nodded, "She would always be the one to pick the movie when we asked, probably had a couple of her own she didn't want us accidentally finding."
"This is a quote, yes? I do not understand it." Luna said, desperately wanting the movie to keep playing.
"Look, I may have started praying, but I don't have a bible, this is another question for Winnie. Sorry, Luna, we aren't much help here." Maisie replied, ruffling the pony's mane.
Maisie backed out, quickly scanning over the other films, the majority were all animated, with a couple of live-action movies here and there. She looked back to the one she had clicked previously seeing its title. "Nope, yeah, nope to that."
Doing a quick check on the battery, Maisie smiled as she saw it hadn't moved at all. She went to the front page, making a half-second-long decision, before diving into her sister's photo album. Luna gasped at her side, seeing the various images appearing. Most were of scenic photos Everfree had taken in her youth, some were of her and her teenage friends, and others were of her family.
One stuck out in particular, and she asked the woman holding the phone to make it bigger, who did so. Opened to its full size, Luna gazed at an image someone had taken of her mother from the side, concentration on her face as she held a device to her face, looking into it. Her hair was being blown by the wind, as the sky was a beautiful orange, and behind the woman was the open ocean.
"That's a camera, or, a more advanced one, from Earth. Winnie picked up lots of creative little pastimes, she wasn't able to keep up with them much once mum and dad were out of the picture, but she still dabbled," explained Maisie, to both the pony and her little brother, who hadn't seen his big sister use the device as much. "She drew too, I wonder if she ever took photos."
Scrolling upwards, passing hundreds of different images which all called out to Luna, Maisie found a pencil drawing of a knight fighting a dragon. It was dramatic and dynamic, well-shaded fire blasting against the shield the armoured figure was holding up.
"Mother, she drew this?" Luna asked, gasping.
"Yup, quite the artist." the woman replied, feeling oddly proud in showing off her sister's work. "She was going to study at an art school before she dropped out."
"Well, she kept up her passion, if her tattoos were all done by her," Adrian pointed out, gesturing a thumb to some of the markings on the woman's legs.
Maisie hummed in agreement, and closed the photo album - she had wanted to see some scandalous evidence of her being drunk with a boy, but didn't find any. Her next idea, however...
She moved over to the Messages app. "So, this here Luna, is 'texting', basically, anyone else who has a device like this and a connection to the internet or a phone signal, can message each other, from across the entire world, almost instantly. A couple of seconds delay, at most."
"Like dragon-fire scrolls?" Luna replied.
"I don't know what that is."
"Allow me to demonstrate," the pony said, pulling forth a blank scroll from her saddle bags, and beginning to write out a message, "This will go to my sister, what shall I say?"
"Uhh, hi?" Adrian said, receiving a stare of 'Really?' from his sister.
"Say that we are good and that we are progressing as planned, I'm sure that's what Winnie would say, anyway."
Luna stuck out a tongue as she began to write with her quill, a fact that Adrian found positively adorable. She read out loud as she wrote.
"Dearest... Sister, All is well... I am demonstrating... how a dragon-fire scroll works... Today has been very... informative, and I shall... discuss it with you... this evening."
Finishing her note, she rolled it up and ignited it with green fire. Smirking as the man next to her looked at her like she was an idiot.
"Give it a moment, she likes to reply quick."
'Quick' was about three minutes. The three sat around, not wanting to go through the phone in case the reply came and cut off whatever they were doing. Luna felt a tug, and ignited her horn, as a scroll appeared in front of her in the same green fire from before. This one holding an official wax seal of the crown.
Luna cleared her throat, "Ahem, Dear Princess Luna, Thank you for the message. I am happy to see things are going well. As suspected day-court is abysmally droll, but I eagerly look forward to our meeting tonight. Give everyone my warmest regards, Princess Celestia."
Maisie laughed, "Well, I guess that was good, but this phone can do all that within about ten seconds, depending on how fast you can type."
"You jest."
"Nay, Princess. I can't really prove it to you, considering this phone isn't connected to anything, but trust me, this thing is fast." Finally done with waiting around, Maisie continued her mission into the depths of her sister's text history.
Her most recent messages were to a contact titled 'Mum'.
All three stared at it for a moment, and Maisie forgot her plan as she tapped on it. She scrolled up a bit, seeing a mass of blue text messages, being ones her sister had sent, and reaching the first grey one - one her mum had sent. It went as follows;
Hey honey, me and dad are coming home now, can you put the oven on?
K see you soon
Its getting late, where r u?
mum
mum please call me
please
the police called WHERE ARE YOU
i tried texting dad this isnt funny
please
the messages stop for a week,
why
why did you go
it isnt fair i cant look after Adrian and Maisie without you guys
please come back
A month,
How?
How could you do this? I need you. School wants me to pick a college. I cant do this without you
I cant go to school
I have to work, your will left us the house but you two were always bad with money
I couldnt afford to eat today, i gave all the food to Adri and Mai
youre their mum
not me
if you werent dead i would kill you
im sorry
i didnt mean that
im sorry
three months,
Hi mum, I passed my driving test today. I hope you and dad are proud. I really miss you
A week,
Hi Mum, today's my birthday. I'm seventeen. The kids are doing ok.
I'm not.
Mai and Adri expected a cake, and I had to buy one instead of getting myself a present.
None of the family sent anything.
Please come home.
For me?
For my birthday?
I know.
Im sorry.
I love you.
Say it back?
A year.
Hi Mum, it's me again, the kids didn't remember so I didn't have to celebrate it, but today is my birthday. I'm eighteen.
I know you're gone.
And that you aren't coming back.
But I want you to.
I keep paying for your phone bill. I know you'd hit me upside the head, but it's the only way I can talk to you.
I can't stand the graveyard.
I let Dad's go. I hope he understands.
I'm not letting go though.
I won't.
I can't.
Adri asked me about you guys the other day.
I cried when he wasn't looking.
You said to be strong.
I want to be.
I've got another job offer lined up next week.
I hope I can keep it.
love you.
I won't ask you to say it back this time.
A week.
mummy, daddy, help me
NOT DELIVERED
im lost in the woods i cant call the police i dont have any signal
NOT DELIVERED
mummy please im so scared
NOT DELIVERED
i cant find adrian or maisie i keep yelling for them
NOT DELIVERED
help me get home
NOT DELIVERED
send me a signal or a sign please
NOT DELIVERED
bring me home
NOT DELIVERED
Everfree awoke to the feeling of three warm bodies on top of her. She groggily opened her eyes, smiling at the sight. "What, you guys miss me that much?" she joked.
"I'm so sorry..." Maisie cried, tears splashing onto Everfree's shoulder as her sister hugged it tight.
"We didn't know." Adrian sobbed, clawing at his sister's skin as he tried to hug her tighter.
"We won't leave you again," Luna whispered, her muzzle against her mother's forehead.
Everfree, utterly confused, wrapped her arms as best she could around the trio, cooing to them, "Guys, it's ok, seriously. What happened?"
The three of them looked up at the woman from her chest, and for the briefest of moments, their crying faces looked just like how they did when they were all children. "We saw your texts, w-with... Mum," Maisie said, wiping the snot from her nose.
"Oh."
"We're sorry. About everything." Adrian whimpered, seeing how his eldest sister's face took on a blank expression. She said nothing for a moment and then scowled.
"W-well, serves you right! Those were private!" Everfree looked to the side, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Bunch of spies."
Luna was the first to crack, giggling at the comment, joined by the bearded man, laughing at the pony's laugh, joined by Maisie, who cackled at the absurd flip in emotions. Everfree joined in, wanting the moment to wash away.
Finally, they all backed down from the bed as Everfree pushed herself up. The sun was in its late noon hours, still a couple hours of daylight left. "I seriously don't know where you guys got it from, I didn't teach you spying."
Maisie let out a dry cackle, "Yes you did! We saw how you snooped through Mum and Dad's draws and cabinets."
"And you would always try to hush me and Tia when we saw you spying on... Starswirl..." Luna said, weakly finishing as she realised the new connotations that held. Everfree blushed and rapidly looked away, trying to think about how wonderful her grove looked this time of year.
"Ugh, Luna..." Maisie moaned.
"Oh come off it, you live a couple of hundred years and see what sentient race you don't find attractive. A woman has needs!"
"Yeah, alright - ponykisser."
"Virgin!" Everfree exclaimed pointedly, feeling intense satisfaction as her sister went beet red and looked away. She heard Adrian begin to laugh, "Oh, like you've got any action." Again, beet-red and such sweet satisfaction. Luna began to slowly grow a deep crimson, not wanting to partake in this conversation. "No... Luna... you as well?"
Scrambling to explain herself, she cried out, "I-I'm royalty! I can not act like a scandalous harlot!"
"You calling your mother a prostitute?" Everfree replied, leaning forward as she tried to make herself look serious, but failing as her lips acted against her will, curving upwards.
"N-nay! You felt a connection to Starswirl! That was different!" Repulsed by her own words, Luna looked at the two beside her and saw a dark expression in the middle sister's eyes.
"Winnie... who else?" she asked, not looking her in the eyes.
"You jest, s-surely?" Luna asked, her voice shaking.
"Well there was this one Minotaur..."
"Nay!" Luna cried.
"And that griffin, too."
"Mother!"
"Oh, can't forget that dragon! And man, he was b-"
"PLEASE!"
Feeling like she gave the three a suitable punishment for their spying, Everfree was out of bed stretching, feeling satisfying pops and crackles in her back. They probably wouldn't look at her the same way for a while, a hint of fear from her sister, immense distraught in her daughter's eyes, and curiously, a healthy mixture of disgust and curiosity from her brother.
Clapping her hands, trying to break the three from their daze, she spoke, "Alright, phones working, you snooped, you learnt your lesson, did you find anything actually useful?"
Adrian was the first to recover, shaking his head, "Some games, downloaded movies, pictures and your texts with mum, that's it."
Everfree hummed, "That doesn't seem right, mum was pretty clear on checking it out."
Maisie shook her head, "Or, y'know, it was a fever dream?"
"No, it wasn't a dream," Everfree replied, standing firm, she walked over to where her phone was, and turned it on, seeing it open at the bottom of her text messages. Immediately losing track of what she was doing, she said, "I wonder if this still has my mus-"
An electric jolt shot up through her arm, causing her to recoil and drop the phone. "Ouch!" Reacting quickly, she managed to grab it before it made contact with the floor, breathing a sigh of relief, one that caught in her throat as she heard a noise she had never expected her phone to make again.
A text message notification.
All five of them looked down at the phone, the humans all bewildered and open-mouthed expressions, and the pony curiously trying to find out what it was.
"T-that isn't possible." Everfree whimpered, raising the phone to her chest. "Cellphone towers, they didn't make them while I was asleep, did they?"
"Nay."
"Well... This certainly doesn't feel ominous," said Adrian.
Turning on the phone, on the home screen was an alert, the phone number was unknown. The woman's breath shook as she tapped on it, and planted herself on the bed as she read the message.
Unknown Contact
This is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
and the wolf that shall keep it may prosper,
but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk,
the law runneth forward and back,
for the strength of the pack is the wolf,
and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
"...What?" Maisie asked out loud.
"Big Jungle Book fan here, apparently," Everfree stated, staring at the message. She reread it several times, her fingers instinctively hovering by the reply button.
"That mean anything?" Adrian asked his big sister, scooting up closer to take a look.
"I think it means we gather the pack?"
Stats
Page generated in 0.056 seconds
Total duration
1,028 users online
1,934,923 hits today, 2,167,270 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Really loving this story. It seems Dinky and Derpy are going to be major players soon.
11839403
Really glad to hear you're enjoying it! And who's to say on the Hooves family's involvement...
media1.tenor.com/m/gaiKIUG-zNoAAAAC/friends-joey-tribbiani.gif
When I first started this story, I thought it had a promising start, and was looking forward to where it would go. Now I'm feeling that the story's potential has been squandered.
When writing characters who have had long-lived presences in a world... It's not exactly a good idea to have them accomplishing stuff super-far in the past, and just now in the present of the story, with no activity in between, unless you have a really good reason. If the individual is sealed away or something- such as Aang from Avatar the Last Airbender- it can work just fine. But here, Everfree just basically lived a hermitlike life doing basically nothing of importance for roughly a millennia- and it then had no effect on her whatsoever. Not only do we get no explanation as to why she suddenly decided to turn hermit, Celestia and Luna are making it obvious it has not had the impact on her personality/behavior any normal human would undergo. Given that it has become increasingly obvious she is just a normal human, the idea she would be so astonishingly unchanged by this experience is completely nonsensical.
Two chapters ago, when we found out that she had been plagued by a combination of horrible guilt and nightmares throughout that time, that just added to it to a point I was seriously wondering what the explanation would be for her seemingly unchanged state of mind. This chapter is where I realized that there wasn't an explanation the story had planned for any of these issues, and that I should just give up on it.
Even beyond the above, canon characters behave in blatantly out-of-character ways for no understandable reason, and nothing in the story indicates self-awareness that this is being done. Probably the most egregious example is how Celestia and Luna don't behave as co-equal rulers of a diarchy, but instead act as if Celestia is head monarch. The moment where this was most clearly exhibited was just last chapter, and helped me realize what felt subtly off about them. The way Celestia gave that order to Luna was not at all the voice of somebody trying to convince an equal of a course of action, to put it mildly.
Of course, that's not even counting the various minor typos and such throughout the story, some of them quite immersion-breaking- with one of the most memorable of those referring to Luna having a hand of her own, instead of referring to Luna's hoof.
By this point the comment is getting quite long, so instead of going on, I'll just say... The reason I put the effort into pointing all of this out is because, when I first read this story, I saw definite potential in it, and therefore, in your writing. As much as this story turned out to be a disappointment, I'm hoping that this might help you think things through a bit more in your future stories. I read this far and hoped we'd get explanations for the increasing plot holes because the opening to the story was so strong. If you write any future stories... I'm just hoping that they'll stay just as strong throughout.
11840457
Thank you for the comment, it means a lot that you would write such details on how I can improve.
When it comes to Everfree, I wanted to imply she's been depressed since Luna was banished, I keep referring to an argument she and Celestia had, and I keep finding myself not writing about it as I feel it would break the pacing a bit to do a flashback sequence (Which I was intending to do once things settle down a bit), but its clear I may have been too subtle. I was planning on answering quite a few things though!
There is a reason why Everfree isn't completely garbled in terms of being alive for nearly 2000 years, that's one of the big things I was leading to. She hasn't been doing anything of importance, she's basically just been a gardener for the past millennia - because she was depressed, never quite getting over losing her parents or siblings, and then her adopted child turning evil and then being banished for 1000 years. Again, these are things I am going to write about, I wasn't going to just leave them for readers to have to just figure out on their own.
As the story currently stands, she's been task-oriented for days on end and hasn't really gotten a moment to herself. Since Chapter 2 she's been on a mission, babysitting Dinky, seeing the Princesses, finding her siblings, and finding out what in the world is going on. I can assure you that a lot of threads are still untied for a reason, the story is tagged as a mystery.
In terms of characters being completely OoC, yeah that's my bad, I haven't watched the show in 10 years, and I'm writing them in a way I enjoy, and if you don't then that's completely fair! Also typos and such, I'm just writing for fun, usually in the dead of night when I get some free time, so my 'editing' is me skim-reading and hoping someone will point the more glaring ones out to me in the comments, if you kind find the hoof/hand comment, I'll amend it!
Again, thanks for taking the time to comment, but to say this story's potential is squandered when I'm still setting everything up seems a tad silly, but that's just the nature of a story where chapters are still being released, a lot of the answers are simply not there yet, and are seen as plotholes until they're filled in a later chapter which doesn't exist.
I think it's completely fair to feel disappointed with a story, hell, the number of fics I've seen on this site that I fell out of love with over the past decade, due to some weird new thing being introduced, is staggering, but to outright tell the author as such can be a little disheartening. I'm not saying this to discredit what you've said, I think you have some pretty valid points, and I'll aim to stop the buildup of questions while still having many left unanswered, though, when it feels appropriate to the story
11840504
Thank you for not getting upset with my comment. I was a bit worried that would happen, and am glad things are civil. I may have some qualms with your viewpoints on the story points, but don't want to be the sort of annoying person who argues with an author in the comments. So I'll just reiterate that I'm glad things were civil, and leave it at that.