Final Frontier
Celestia:
We shivered against cold gusts of mid-autumn wind and searched the darkening skyline for Our little sister's silhouette. Luna was trotting a few paces ahead of Us eagerly, which was quite typical of her. We saw how she was always looking at the world before her and sloshing through the fallen leaves as if they were a puddle, stirring them up with a scratch of her hooves in the dirt.
We swallowed once, and returned to staring at the sky, which was now streaked with an unusual shade of dull orange. Never before had We seen the sunset come in that color before.
Why, it almost looks like carrot soup that was accidentally left out for too long...
"Eeeeew," We squealed with a shudder.
"What?" Luna called back when she realized that Our pace had slowed.
We looked into Luna's turquoise eyes. She was now staring straight at Us with her ever-curious expression.
"Do you not find the sunset to be... most strange?" Our voice was barely a whisper, even though We doubted anypony could hear Us, if there were any other creatures around at all. Mommy and Daddy always reminded us that our family were the only talking-animals to live within the Everfree Forest. We wonder if any other creatures had been here, and if now they are with Mommy and Daddy, wherever that may be.
Luna furrowed her brow and looked up at the purple-streaked sky. Now it was spotted with unexplained blotches of gray that seemed to bleed into the other hues, and We could see how that made a storm of thought brew in Luna's expression.
"It looks like your attempts at landscape pictures," she said cheekily.
"Oh, they are not that bad, Luna!" We huffed before taking a few large strides ahead of her. We could see her legs shaking slightly and knew she was at least a little scared too. The only difference was that We were old enough to not show it — hah!
"Tia...?" Luna asked shakily.
"Yes?" We called, though not bothering to turn around. Instead, We were trying to focus on what was in front of Us. There was a whole country unexplored by Us, one filled with possible perils, and We suppose, even adventure like in the stories We were told by Mommy and Daddy. Though, that did not rule out the possibility of squirrels.
"Do you think our castle will miss us?" Luna asked, the quaver in her voice louder than before.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, if Mommy and Daddy had been close by they probably would have come home sooner. We think they might be lost. Or very far away. Maybe they met a dragon! We have always wanted to meet a dragon! But the castle... it might get lonely with the both of us gone..."
"There are cats there to keep the castle company, Luna."
"But what if they leave?"
"Why would they leave?" We replied, and shifted the provision-stuffed saddle pack that was weighing snugly upon Our back. We were lucky to find any close to Our size and meant to hold more than toys. Our parents had never had let either of us travel before, except on trips to visit Mommy's sisters in Aquastria or the Shifting Isles.
"Why wouldn't you let me bring my butterscotches?" Luna retorted.
We stopped in my tracks and turned around to glare at Our sister, who so carelessly let her status slip from her words. In an effort to seem like the best possible princess, We tried to assume the stance that Our cousin Neptune used when he is acting bossy. "Luna, we are not supposed to use contractions, it makes us sound provincial! And you know better than to let the divine plural slip!"
"Prov-praaawwvin-proooo-proohhhvv—" She stuttered, hopelessly trying to sound out the word.
"It means peasant-like. We are princesses. There is a big difference between Alicorns and ponies, especially the ponies we are not supposed to talk like."
"Tia, you look ridiculous standing there looking all huffy."
We smiled. "And this is coming from the little filly who would have attracted countless bugs with her cache of sugary confections?"
"Hey, you are a filly too!" Luna pouted, making what Daddy called 'Luna's Fish-Face' as soon as We dared to point out her immaturity.
We both began to laugh at how silly each of us was, and then continued on our way. According to the map We had made sure to bring, our travels would be taking the two of us southwest. And we continued our stroll through the leaf-strewn ground, giggling like two sisters normally would. For once, We could be glad to not even think about the forest home we had left behind just hours earlier.
Never did it occur to Us that it should have been odd to see fallen leaves, yet nopony to make them fall... that was not how the world was supposed to work... not in the Everfree Forest, where spring was forever and Alicorns had always been...
...
Us an' Luna were in search of Our parents who had left us alone a season's cycle ago. We were eight by a pony's reckoning and the syrup-slow aging of Our kind. Luna was still considered to be about four by the same system that described our frozenness and the blink-and-miss-it way that the ponies were supposed to live. Who would want to waste so many birthdays so fast? What would stop them from blending together? When We finally run into a pony, We will have to tell them that they cannot grow-up too fast and remind them that they need to stop and do things right.
We had assumed that Mommy and Daddy would be back quickly. After all, it was normal for at least one of them to leave while the other would visit another kingdom. If they both had to go, We were left with Our cousins for all the time it would take. All of whom were older than either of us, and for as many moons as possible, they would dote on the two of us with Our aunts and uncles too. We did not understand why Mommy and Daddy looked so grim or why Luna was so emotional — they could have just sent us to the Isles for a season, like normal. Had everypony forgotten that word? What was the point of not being normal like this? Why did they insist on such an emotional farewell, which We were right to scoff at? After all, it was only a mere outing and We were put in charge! How exciting!
Soon things had started to feel just a little strange around the palace. We swore that we kept seeing the foggy spirit of a blue Alicorn mare, one that was not watery enough to be a naiad, and her mane was a rainbow of light. Then, there were no punishments for staying up so late, way past the time when Daddy said that stonebacks would come snarling into the halls and gobble up all little fillies who had not been well-rested enough to escape them. Breaking a vase, even by accident, did not come with lectures and raised voices. Even eating candy for breakfast only made our tummies hurt. The forest outside was growing too quiet. Even the dreams that came to Us were too bland, full of nothing but black nothingness and a single book whose pages did nothing but flip on forever... but that went away all too soon.
Meanwhile, We had to watch as Luna tossed and turned in sleep with things she was never sure how to say. Weirdest of all: when We asked Luna what made her act that way, she said that she could not remember her dreams, or if she had any at all. Shortly after that, she said that she was sure that they stopped. Luna always had the more powerful special dreams of the two of us. Mommy had said that they were called foredreams, and that it was a divine miracle — whatever that meant — that each of her little fillies had them.
This is where We had begun to suspect protective magic, except that We quickly dismissed the notion. We had none who said that they were a guardian watching over Us, and why would We be protected from Our own dreams? How could any being in the world take them from either of us? It was too bizarre, yet one day when We were playing with Luna, the thought just hit Us. They were hiding! Not only were they hiding, but Mommy and Daddy wanted us to find them!
The book in our dreams was explainable as well. It was an adventure book because Mommy and Daddy always tell us adventure stories. This meant that they wanted us to go on an adventure to find them! And the black smoke we saw pouring from the book? All of that was ink waiting to be formed into words telling of our journey!
So we left, and We tried not to look back, never knowing when the spires of Our home disappeared behind Us, or when the enchanted trees of Our beloved forest ceased to grow around Us.
...
Luna:
While Tia grumbled about supplies, We had set up a camp made up of a few blankets in a nook between two thick and gnarled tree branches. We even made a soft and sputtering werelight that was less useful than a firefly in the growing darkness. As We eagerly awaited the right time to count the stars and harass owls good-naturedly, Tia continued to complain about why the squirrel just had to steal so much of her favorite trail mix. We sort of feel bad for Mister Squirrel, even if Tia does not. If he hates pecans, We foresee a particularly hard winter coming his way.
Later on, when the sky was tar-black and sprinkled with only a few broken-looking stars Tia declared that she could not sleep. We could not sleep either, and We told her just that. She suggested that we should do something interesting yet quiet to pass the time. We watched as she wrapped herself in some of the extra blankets until all We could see were bits of her silky-looking pink mane and just a small spark of light reflecting from her eyes in the darkness of the camp. We refused a wrap when she inquired if We were cold. Our sister must have thought otherwise because her breath was a small cloud while We were doing just fine with all the blankets in Our bags, and nothing more.
For a while, both of us were quiet.
An owl hooted somewhere in the distance. We hooted back.
"Luna!" she hissed.
"We were just saying good-night."
Far below us, there was an eerie 'scccratch!' that caused Celestia to jump and scoot over to Us. All We could do was let out a muffled whimper when Our sister encased Us in the many silk sheets and quilts she had entombed herself in tonight, which was oh-so-many.
Tia's heart raced and the rest of her was shaking as she held Our still form.
The scratching stopped.
"We are scared," she whispered, sobbing.
"The sky is ill," We quipped, unable to think of anything more pressing.
"Pish-posh." Tia stopped shaking but did not let go of Us. "How can you be so brave," she murmured sleepily. "Refusing both blankets and fear?"
"We just have not met Our fears yet," We assured her. "Besides, what can go wrong if We work together?"
She seemed to consider this when a higher bough dumped its curiously loose leaves onto us both. Before Tia could push them onto the forest floor, We magically shifted their position, Our aura putting Tia's werelight to shame.
"Look! Now we are in a nest, just like birds!"
Celestia peered at my work before declaring, "Birds can fly, Luna, we cannot. Remember? We teleported into the tree and you climbed up."
We returned to silence for a while, until We began to count stars under Our breath. Soon, we found ourselves talking about all the adventures that we knew that we would be sharing...
"We will grow up to be the greatest ruler Our land has seen," began Tia, "after the two of us find Mommy and Daddy, We will train to be the best strategist there is. We will earn our cutie mark in... umm... leadership! Yes! Then, We will become a queen of our own vast kingdom, and have three daughters who are all very pretty. We shall then have two sons who will both be the noblest knights! Oh, and We will marry the bravest prince within seven kingdoms, and take him as Our consort forever and ever. What about you, Luna? What do you want to do?"
We looked up at the sky, hoping to see something there that might guide Our thoughts. "Well, after We find our parents... hmm... We will travel to every land there is as an adventurer... and all the places that have yet to be found. Even the stars!"
"Oh Luna," said Tia, giggling like there was something We did not know, "that is so silly! Nopony can go to the stars! They are only far-away lights!"
"Tia!" We protested, "This is Our story! We will get Our cutie mark in... space? Yes, We really want to go to space. Or just be an adventurer of non-space. We will try and visit you and the rest of Our family as often as We can, but we will be too busy being and far, far away most of the time! We shall be Luna of the Lands and Beyond and—"
"What about a kingdom? Where will it be?" Tia seemed confused.
"Adventurers do not have those because houses cannot walk."
"Who will you marry?"
"Do We have to?"
"Yes!" Tia exclaimed, suddenly very startled. "Everypony has to get married, Luna! Only villains do not fall in love, and you are not a villain!"
"But Neptune's not married!"
We bet Tia was rolling her eyes right now. "Duh, Neptune is twelve."
"Well, you are only eight, and that is less than twelve! Why should you get married?"
"Please just tell Us," Tia whined.
"Fine... We will marry space."
"What?! You cannot marry space! That is not an Alicorn!"
"Yes, We can! We will even tell Our parents that you forced Us to marry space!"
"Come on, pick something better. A real creature! They do not even have to be an Alicorn!"
"That is mean."
We could see Tia blink, clearly taken aback. "What?"
"You hurt the feelings of space."
"Ugh, Luna—"
"Apologize to space!"
Celestia pulled away from me, and stared at me hard. "Luna, what if space does not want to marry you?"
We grinned. She is good, we thought. "Then We will marry Our shadow."
"Luna! That is the same as saying you will marry yourself!"
We grinned even more. "And?"
"You cannot marry yourself!"
"Lalalala, We cannot hear you."
...
We were not sure how long it took before We demanded that Tia tell a story. Celestia agreed and began. We interrupted her every other minute. Together, We created what we thought to be one of the best stories in the world, simply because it was a story We got to compose together.
...
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. She was almost of age to rule a kingdom of her own and—
No!
What, Luna? We thought that you wanted a story.
We do, but not another one of these ones.
These? What do you mean, Luna?
Your pretty princess stories. Not everypony is a princess.
Well, then what would you like the hero to be?
An orphan.
What? An orphan for the hero? Luna, that makes absolutely no sense!
Oh, and make the hero a colt, please. You never tell any stories about colts ever! Colts are not princesses.
Ugh. Fine. Have it your way. Once upon a time there was an orphan colt who lived a vast kingdom ripe with adventure. This colt was—
He was homeless and an outcast. Please, please, please let him be
a total ragamuffin.
Ahem. This colt was a ragamuffin who was hated by his village, he was—
An urchin who steals pies! He longs for adventure! Oh, and he is an Alicorn, just like the two of us!
Hmmm. He was the sole Alicorn of his city and a thief. His name was—
Final Frontier!
His name was Final Frontier, and one day he decided to steal a loaf of bread for his dinner. So, he sidled up to a bakery and prepared to levitate his meal away—
Why does he need to levitate the bread? Does he not know any other spells?
He is bad at magic.
Oh. Interesting. That sounds a little like you, Tia!
May We continue now, sister? Or will you keep trying to steal the story?
We shall stop for now, sister.
Very well, then. Unlike all the other times he tried to steal something, Final Frontier was caught this time! Before he could even think about all the things he could possibly need for tomorrow's meals Final Frontier was exiled! Now, he was all alone on the other side of the wall guarding his city and looking out over a vast plain.
Were there any pretty clouds?
Yes, there were very pretty clouds. Alas, how can we ever describe them if We cannot continue with your tale?
Drama queen.
Ahem! The clouds were very high in the sky, curly white—
White? No, no, no they will be gray. It is going to rain.
Excuse me... they were GRAY masses that were swelling with rain and just perfect for flying among, except Final Frontier did not want to fly. He was cold and hungry.
He should eat the grass.
He ate the grass, and then he wandered off away from the only home he had ever known, with only the stars as his guide—
Like us?
...Yes, like us. Final Frontier wandered for many days and night cycles until he came to... umm, Luna what should he find? We are out of ideas.
Huzzah! Our revenge commences, for look who is crawling to Us for help! Mwhahahaha! See how the tables have turned!
Just continue the story. We are bored.
Yes! Final Frontier came to huge mountains filled with dragons and rimmed with wispy clouds and trees that do not dare to grow above the timberline! They are just like the mountains we will be climbing, Tia! Final Frontier was a bit nervous about going inside because all the spooky things he might find troubled his mind. Even though, he was scared, especially since he was not sure if he could ever escape the mountains if he was lost. Anyway, he put on a brave face and went in.
The moon was high in the sky, but he did not see it 'cause the mountains were so big they drowned out the light. Final Frontier still kept going, until he came face to face with a giant fire-breathing dragon...RAWR!
...
"Luna stop it! We had almost fallen asleep!"
We looked at Our sister, who was curled up on a pile of blankets.
"So much for creating an awesome story..."
"Hmm," she mumbled, "Oh, Luna cheer up, We will have our own adventures tomorrow," she yawned in the middle of her words, "Do you not remember? Will that not be better than any story we can make? You know climbing mountains will be more fun when you get to do it yourself. Perhaps if We find a real river or ocean... something like that... then we can both play pirates there instead of in the courtyard fountains back home."
"We like pirates."
"We know you do. Let us rest up and have our own adventures tomorrow. No offense, but We thought the character you made was boring and strange—"
We both made him, and We didn't think so. Why is being strange always so bad to you?
"—besides, what can go wrong?" Celestia finished with a yawn.
We looked up at the moon, which had barely begun to descend.
Probably a lot of things...
We tried to close my eyes in hopes of restless sleep, but to no such avail. The foredreams had returned, but we would not tell Tia, she did not need to worry about Us.
We did not sleep for the rest of the night. Instead, We spent the time connecting the stars in the sky with Our imagination, wondering what kind of adventure Final Frontier was having... recalling the story Tia told Us that when We were born on Midsummer's Day, there was a crescent moon in the sky, which is a rare occurrence that happens every thousand years or so. It was when the sky seems to gobble up the constant fullness of the moon, and it always happens on Midsummer's Day, which is one of the most magical days in the whole year. We had always wanted to see one of these sickle moons but were too young. With Our imagination, We drew a blade of moon and stars in the sky for Final Frontier to wield against anything that might hurt him.
Maybe one day there could be a blade like that waiting somewhere for Us too.