Prologue

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Snow. A thin sheet of the white, fluffy substance decorated the city of Canterlot, illuminated by the first light of the morning sun. It was high winter, and Hearths Warming was only a few weeks away. Some ponies had already set about putting up their decorations for the celebration of Equestria’s founding, lending bright, jovial colors and lights to the city. Twilight looked down on it all from her place on her bedroom’s balcony. A chilly breeze kept her long, magically flowing mane from getting into her eyes.

She had done well by this city, or so the inhabitants kept telling her. In the four decades or so since she had assumed the role of Equestria’s leading monarch, she had applied the entirety of herself to improving Equestria. Though the nation was a picturesque utopia when looking in from the outside, there had long been many festering issues beneath the surface. Selfish ponies in positions of power, corruption, and threads of superstition and bigotry that had poisoned the waters for a very, very long time.

She had done all in her power to end such problems, and if the assurances of her aging friends were anything to go by, she had done well. She could even see it from here. Down in one of the plazas, she noticed a large group of children playing together in the snow, laughing and giggling as they hurled white balls at one another.

Not just pony foals, either. She saw a changeling nymph, a griffon, and a few yaks mixed in with the group as well. Naturally, being the stern, sturdy sort they were, the yaks were winning the childish snowball fight with ease. Or, at the very least, their thick fur made it so that they weren’t losing.

A visual symbol of her progress, if ever there was one…

Yet, she could not bring herself to smile. Twilight heaved a heavy sigh and tore her eyes away from the joyous scene. She stepped back into her room and shut the balcony door behind her, silencing the gentle whistling of the cold winter wind. She took a deep breath and cast her tired eyes across her living space.

Against the wall to her right was a large and ornate four-poster bed, complete with a purple canopy and curtains to block out the world. A blazing hearth was set into the left wall, the flames from within casting a soothing warmth and light across the room. A semicircle of cushions arranged in front of it for sitting space. In the corner beyond the hearth was an ornate round table with a tea set on top. Various other miscellaneous decorations were scattered about to lend some color and life to the room. To make it her own.

She had spent many years in these chambers, feeling comfortable and safe within them all the time. Yet she could not feel that way about the room now. A hollowness had replaced the warmth in her heart, a dread that she felt powerless to shake. And she had tried. Heavens know she had tried her hardest. But it just kept following her.

Twilight turned to the door that led from her chambers, her ears drooping. “Come on,” she whispered anxiously, shifting on her hooves. “Where are you?”

No answer came. Twilight watched the door until her neck went stiff, and even then she didn’t turn away. The door gave her something to focus on. Something to pay attention to. A distraction from the pearl of anxiety worming its way into the back of her mind…

Finally, after what felt like forever, there was a knock. Twilight almost jumped out of her skin from the sudden disruption in the silence. She subconsciously made a pass over herself with her magic to ensure she was presentable before clearing her throat. “Come in!”

The door clicked open, revealing Spike on the other side. The dragon was quite tall now and had to bend down somewhat to effectively enter the room. Twilight beamed with relief upon seeing him, her eyes darting to look past him for a moment. “Spike! There you are. I take it this means she’s here?”

Spike nodded. “Yup. Shall I send her in?”

“Of course,” Twilight replied, quickly straightening her posture and putting on a welcoming smile. Spike dutifully stepped aside and beckoned for the visitor to enter. Twilight’s breath almost hitched in her throat when they passed through the threshold of the room.

Former Princess Celestia, looking just as divine and radiant as ever, emerged with the warm, mothering smile she had always held on her muzzle. Not even the surprisingly plain tan winter coat she was wearing did anything to subtract from her pristine image.

“Celestia,” Twilight greeted, relaxing at the sight of her old mentor. The older alicorn’s warm smile managed to melt the ice that had been clinging to Twilight’s heart… at least in part.

Celestia smiled and closed the distance, wrapping Twilight up in a warm, loving embrace. “Twilight Sparkle. Oh, it is good to see you again,” she said, offering Twilight an affectionate nuzzle.

Twilight returned the gesture with a content hum, a little more of the ice retreating. “You too, Celestia. Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

Celestia drew back from the embrace with a tender nod. “You are very welcome, though I must admit, I am somewhat perplexed. It has been many years since you have called upon me for advice in your duties, especially with such a sense of urgency. Has something come up?”

Twilight flinched, and just like that, the ice over her heart reformed, encasing her joy in a prison of cold. She shuddered at the idea before glancing back at Spike with a barely noticeable nod. He took the silent cue without a word, shutting the door and leaving the two alicorns in privacy. Once Spike’s footfalls faded away, Twilight slumped in place, allowing the weight on her shoulders to become visible.

“...Yes. Something’s come up… I’m sorry I didn’t specify what in the letter, but it’s… personal. And sensitive. I didn’t want to risk anypony finding out about it too early,” she admitted. Twilight nodded at the hearth and went to take her seat by the flames.

Celestia’s smile became concerned. She followed after Twilight and took the seat beside her. “Twilight? What has happened?”

Twilight took a deep breath and ran a hoof over her face, trying to keep the trembling in her core from reaching her face. She was mostly successful, the only hint of the turmoil she felt inside that she showed being a slight stutter when she began to speak. “C-Celestia… Two weeks ago, my… my… M-my mother p-passed away…”

Celestia’s eyes slowly widened, her jaw falling open in realization. A moment passed before she closed her jaw and draped a wing over Twilight’s back. “Oh, Twilight… I am so sorry for your loss,” she said in a low, soothing whisper.

Twilight leaned into the embrace, but the trembling in her voice did not go away. If anything, it was growing worse. “She passed away in her sleep. She’d been fighting it for a while, but all of the strain she put on her body when she was younger and seeking all those thrills finally caught up to her… Dad’s still going strong, though. But… That’s not why I called you here.”

Celestia blinked, confusion written on her face. “It’s not? Then… forgive me, but, what is?”

Twilight sighed and closed her eyes, trying to think of how best to express the fear she now felt. A few seconds passed before her horn lit up. Across the room, the end table by her bedside glowed, one of the drawers opening to allow a small, hoof-held mirror to drift out. It came to a rest in front of the two alicorns, allowing Twilight to see their reflections in both. “...Look at us, Celestia,” she said solemnly. “Really look. My mom just died of old age, my dad’s probably only got another decade in him, and my friends have been showing their age for a while, now… But us?”

She turned to face Celestia. She saw the slowly dawning comprehension in her violet eyes, and she took that as her cue to press on, finding the strength to cut to the chase and speak plain. “We’re alicorns. You’re over a thousand years old, but you still look as young as ever, even with how tall you are. And… A-and I know that it’s g-going to be the same for m-me…”

“I see,” Celestia whispered. She gave Twilight a reassuring squeeze with her wing. “You fear watching your friends die around you, don’t you…?”

Twilight nodded. “I do. I know it’s going to happen, and I know it would be selfish of me to try and change that. I made peace with the fact I’m going to live for a very, very long time a long time ago. I thought I’d made peace with the fact that they won’t. But then, when I got word about mom, I… It… it h-hit me just h-how wrong I was. I’m not r-ready for that… But I n-need to be…”

Twilight blinked, realizing now that tears were starting to show in her eyes. She sniffled and wiped a hoof over her face to dispel them, struggling to reign in her emotions. She had to be strong right now.

“I understand, Twilight. Truly, I do,” Celestia whispered, giving her another, far more intimate nuzzle. “I felt the same way when my loved ones began to pass around me. As did Luna.”

Twilight took in a deep, shuddering breath. She leaned back and met Celestia’s gaze. “T-that’s why I called you here,” she whispered, her voice weak and pleading. “I want to know… I want your advice. How do I cope with it? H-how can I manage the grief? How do I make it hurt less?”

Celestia closed her eyes, a thoughtful frown marring her features. She hummed quietly as she considered the question, but all the while she continued to give Twilight reassuring squeezes with her wing. Twilight waited, her ears facing forward and her heart beating intensely. Eventually, Celestia opened her eyes, an apology shining deep within them. “I’m sorry, Twilight, truly I am. But it never becomes less painful when somepony you love passes on from the world… It simply becomes easier to bear the weight of that loss.”

Twilight swallowed heavily. It felt as if an anvil had just been dropped on her hopes for this entire visit. In all the years Twilight had known Celestia, she had only ever seen her show genuine grief or sadness a small hooffull of times. At all other times, she was a beacon of calm and stability, of serenity even when all the world was plunged into the depths of chaos.

She looked down, her eyes glazing over. “I… I see,” she choked out.

Celestia gave her another squeeze. “That being said, it is imperative that you learn how to manage your grief effectively. While it never gets less painful, the pain might not last as long if you can look after yourself in a healthy manner.”

“I know,” Twilight admitted, a tiny smile appearing on her face. “Spike brought me a small stack of books on the subject a few days ago. I just… haven’t gotten around to reading them yet… I wanted to talk to you about it, first.”

Celestia couldn’t help but smile slightly at that. “I am glad to hear you place such faith in me. Unfortunately, on this matter, any advice I can give you will be vague at best. Everypony is different, Twilight, and so everypony must carry the pain in their own way. For now, though, what I would encourage you to do is to weep as much as you need for your mother, and when you are ready, ensure the time you do have with those who remain is spent well, so that when it is their turn to pass on, you can smile at the memories you forged, instead of grieving over missed opportunities.”

Twilight smiled softly at that. She took a few more deep breaths, finally managing to take her anxieties and quell them for the moment. A calm silence fell over the room, then, punctuated by the crackling and spitting of the fireplace. The light of the sun outside grew slowly brighter as it climbed higher into the sky, and Twilight allowed her mind to wander with the warmth.

Celestia was right. She would have to make up for any time she had missed with her friends. She’d have to spend more time with her father, too. Night Light had plenty of life left in him at this point, despite his age, but that didn’t give Twilight the excuse to dawdle on the matter. She was an alicorn. He was not. She had ceased aging years ago, but she could only imagine that every morning, he discovered a new wrinkle where there had not been one the previous night.

Twilight’s thoughts then drifted to her mother. A sad smile crept across her lips as she remembered that mare’s endless energy. How she would throw herself face-first at most problems. How she had no qualms whatsoever with relentlessly teasing her entire family to the point of intense blushing. How she had lived her life with a fiery passion that rivaled the sun itself.

Twilight blinked. The sun itself… her eyes slowly turned back to Celestia, who was now gazing intently into the fireplace with a distant look in her eyes. A few moments passed as a realization came to Twilight’s mind, one she couldn’t help but vocalize.

“You know, Celestia… I don’t think I know anything about your parents,” she said quietly.

Celestia closed her eyes with a whimsical smile. “You would not be alone on that front… for I know very little of my parents myself.”

Twilight blinked, surprised. “You don’t?”

Celestia shook her head. “I don’t. And neither does Luna. My earliest memory is of my birth mother giving me away to an earth pony couple, far away from the movements of civilization. I was just barely three years old at the time, and Luna was little more than an infant...”

“Oh my gosh,” Twilight breathed, leaning back. “I’m sorry. I had no idea…”

“She had her reasons,” Celestia said a moment later. “Though I confess that they remain… vague, at best, to me, even all these years later.”

Twilight frowned at Celestia. There was a story behind those words, she could feel it. And it had been so very long since Celestia had told her one, and she dearly wanted comfort and company right now…

Celestia glanced down at Twilight, a knowing look in her eyes. “Would you like me to tell you what happened, Twilight?” she asked, predicting the question before it could be asked.

Twilight smiled and slowly lowered herself to her belly. “If you are willing to tell me, I would love to.”

Celestia hummed and settled down beside Twilight, allowing their shared warmth to chase away the cold of winter. “Well, then, Twilight Sparkle… once upon a time, before Equestria was founded, there lived two farmers from the earth pony tribe who lived alone together in the woods. Their names were Honeydrop and Sprout. They were happy together. Then, one day, somepony came to their door bearing two foals...”

I - The Mare in The Storm

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Once upon a time, before Equestria was founded, there lived two farmers from the earth pony tribe who lived alone together in the woods. Their names were Honeydrop and Sprout. They were happy together. Then, one day, somepony came to their door bearing two foals…

“What are those pegasi thinking…?” Sprout wondered, his emerald green eyes glaring up at the sky through the window. Dark clouds had rolled in over his forested home several days ago. The clouds had brought with them an unsettling gloom and unnatural chill that deeply contrasted with the usual warmth of summer. They had rolled in quickly, far faster than Sprout would have expected from natural weather patterns and, after that, they had stuck around. It’d been several days since Sprout had last seen unobstructed sunlight. No natural weather pattern would last this long in this environment, and that left only one conclusion: for one reason or another, the pegasi had elected to roll them in on purpose.

A hoof gingerly landed on his shoulder, quickly soothing his anxieties. He turned back to see the warm, golden eyes of Honeydrop staring back at him, giving him an encouraging smile. “It’ll be fine, Sprout,” she told him, her soft voice soothing his nerves like honey soothes the throat. “You’re worrying too much. Like always.”

Sprout sighed, leaning into his wife’s touch a little. “Sorry, hon. I just can’t help it. If this cold lasts for much longer, our crops are likely to die. And then where will that leave us when the snow rolls in?”

“We’ll be fine,” Honey assured him, leaning into his side. “Your crops will be fine. The soil’s good and your crops are always strong and hardy. You’ve always found a way to push through bad luck before, too. Just try to relax a little, alright?”

Sprout opened his mouth to protest, but his wife’s earnest smile cut him off. He just could not bring himself to disagree with those kind, gentle, compassionate eyes. No matter how often he thought she didn’t worry enough, he couldn’t bring himself to sully her peace of mind with his own paranoia. She was his sturdy rock in a world constantly enveloped in one storm or another, and that was why he had married her. Why they had left the bickering of the tribes to find an isolated home for themselves in the mountains.

Eventually, Sprout managed to relax all the way. “Okay, hon. You’re right, as usual,” he said with a smile slowly spreading on his lips.

Honey’s smile brightened, and she gave Sprout’s cheek a few gentle claps, earning a snort of amusement from him. “I know I am. Now come on over, food’s almost ready.”

With that, she turned and sauntered back for the blazing hearth at the far end of the room. Sprout watched her go, slowly taking in the rest of his house’s largest room.

It was a sturdy home, albeit one lacking in flair. A stone hearth built into the far wall from the front door had been lit. The roaring flames within cast a warm, flickering orange glow throughout the home, chasing away the cold. A large dining table was at the heart of the room, littered with the various dishes that would host tonight’s dinner. Shelves lined the walls, each one stuffed with a range of supplies, ranging from ingredients to herbs, and the small stone carvings that Sprout enjoyed making in his spare time.

Sprout watched Honeydrop make her way over to the counter beside the hearth, where their food was waiting to be served fresh from the oven. Sprout smiled and followed after his wife, his mouth already watering as he wondered just what she had in store for him. “So, what’d you see fit to make me tonight?” he asked.

Honey turned and smirked at him. “Well, sit down and I just might tell you.”

“What if I don’t wanna sit down?” Sprout asked, waggling his eyebrows. He came up to Honey’s side and leaned against her with an affectionate coo, drawing an amused chortle from her.

“I could make you sit down, you big oaf.”

“Oh, really?” Sprout grinned at her. “I’d like to see you try.”

Honey rolled her eyes and playfully shoved him back toward the table. “Oh, don’t go getting frisky with me, mister. It’s too early. Wait till we’ve eaten before you try anything.”

Sprout chuckled from the shove, making a show of looking deeply disappointed. A moment later he shook his head and went back to the table to take a seat. He allowed his mind to wander while Honey set to work putting the finishing touches on their dinner. The smell that began to fill the air made his mouth water. There were baked goods in there, he could tell, though he did not have the knowledge to pinpoint what type it was.

When Honey finally came back to the table, balancing a platter with two dishes on her back, Sprout got a look at their meal, and his watering mouth almost started to drool. Hearty salads with crispy cookies set to the side. A contradiction of healthy and junk food that made Sprout feel giddy like a foal.

His excitement did not go unnoticed by Honey. “Looks like somepony’s happy,” she quipped as she slid the first bowl in front of Sprout.

Sprout chuckled, respectfully waiting for her to be seated before he dug in. “What can I say? You cook a heck of a lot better than I do.”

“Trust me, big boy, I remember,” Honey snipped back, elbowing him in the ribs as she got comfortable. “Last time you tried to cook something for me, you darn near burned down the whole house.”

Sprout’s cheeks flushed at the reminder. She was never going to let him forget that little incident, was she? About a year or two back, he had truly noticed just how often she was the one managing things in the house while he worked outside in the fields. It was a balance that had worked well for them for the years they had lived up here, but when their third anniversary came around, he’d decided to try and do something special for her. He elected to handle all of the day’s chores while she just relaxed and looked on: her special day to sit back.

And it had gone well! Until he tried to cook. Sprout still didn’t quite understand how he had managed to burn juice of all things, but he managed it.

He was drawn from his thoughts by Honey’s hoof on his cheek, and he looked over to see her smiling affectionately at him. “Oh, quit your blushing,” she said in a soft coo. “You meant well, and that day was probably one of the best I’ve ever had. Your heart was in the right place, and it meant a lot to me.”

Sprout managed to smile, intertwining his hoof with hers. “Heh… thanks, hon.”

Honeydrop nodded, then nodded down at her salad. “You’re welcome. Now eat up, or the cookies will get cold.”

“What about the salad?”

“What about the salad?”

The meal had been delightful. In spite of Honey’s playful dismissal of the salad, it had proven to be just as good as the cookies, albeit in different ways. Following their meal, the two had taken time to just enjoy the calm and the quiet in front of their fireplace. Sprout’s mind had wandered, but with his wife’s warmth there pressed against his side, it could only ever wander to good places.

In time, the sun finally descended beneath the horizon, and the world was enveloped in darkness. The cold began to creep in ever closer, and eventually, Sprout and honey decided to retire to their room for the night. It hadn’t taken long before the two passed out embraced in one another’s hooves.

Sprout didn’t know for sure how long they were out before a loud sound suddenly tore him from his slumber. His eyes snapped open, a sharp gasp escaping him from the disturbance. He sat upright, looking around with worried eyes and anxiety building in his heart.

“Did you hear that, too?” Honey asked, sitting up as well, placing one hoof on Sprout’s back.

He gave a slow, anxious nod. “Yeah… I sure did. What was it?” he wondered, slowly sliding out of bed. He shivered slightly as his hooves touched the wooden floorboards, feeling the sharp contrast between the warmth of his bed and the cool air of the room. He tried not to focus on that, though and instead listened.

Whatever had woken them, it had come suddenly, but as swiftly as it had come, it had faded away. The only sounds now were the anxious breathing of him and Honeydrop, and a wind howling outside, cold and haunting. Sprout frowned. That wind did not sound right. And why was it so cold in here? He turned to his room’s sole window, squinting briefly as the moon’s pale glow pierced his retina. It was just peeking out through a gap in the clouds, an ominous crescent that reminded him of a scythe.

His jaw fell open when he caught sight of something falling from the sky. White, fluffy, and falling quickly. He lifted a shaking hoof, realizing that he could see his own breath, and pointed. “Hon… look.”

Honeydrop tilted her head and looked out the window. She went rigid, one hoof reaching up to her mouth. “Oh, stars,” she choked out in alarm.

It was snowing. In the middle of summer. Sprout wandered forward, squinting through the glass. It was practically a blizzard, or at least it would be soon with how quickly the snow was coming down. His eyes widened as he looked down at his crops. They were completely exposed. Defenseless against this sudden onslaught from the elements.

“Ah, hay! The food!” he exclaimed, turning and bolting for the door. He heard Honey calling after him, but he did not dare to look back. He had to move quickly. If he didn’t cover his crops right away, they would not be likely to survive the night. It was as he was thundering down the steps that the noise that had roused him came again. A knocking on the front door of his home.

Sprout came to a stop at the base of the stairs, his eyes glued onto the front door. He had to squint to make out details in the dim light, but with the accumulating snow outside, the moonlight had plenty to bounce off of to light his way. He could just faintly make out a sound through the door from here. His heart went cold when he realized that it was the sound of a crying foal.

“Sprout?!” Honey called out from the stairs, prompting him to turn. She was quickly following after him, their blankets bundled around her in an effort to ward off the chill. “What’s going on?!”

“Stay there, Honey!” Sprout called back, holding up a hoof. “Just stay put!”

“But-”

“Please, just hang on! Lemme look! It might not be safe!” Sprout shot back. Honey opened her mouth to shoot back some protest or retort, but after a moment she closed her mouth and gave a slow, hesitant nod. Sprout relaxed somewhat before turning back to the door. The knocking came again, loud and frantic, and the wailing of the foal on the other side grew louder. He thought he could hear a hushed voice speaking, but he could not make out any details.

With a shaky breath, Sprout made his way to one of the shelves and acquired a lantern. He lit it up, casting a flickering orange glow into the darkness that fought to illuminate every inch. With the creaking of the rusty hinges accompanying him, Sprout marched across the room. He stretched his neck a few times as he went, running through scenario after scenario on how best to defend himself should this uninvited guest prove hostile. He had to wonder how anypony had even gotten up here in the first place. They were miles away from the nearest pony settlements, and they had told nopony where they were going.

It was possible, in his mind, that it was not, in fact, a pony. The ghostly howling of the wind that had been tearing through the forest since the clouds rolled in sent a chill down his spine. What if it was a spirit? The lost soul of some poor sap who died in the cold here come to seek revenge for their resting place being disturbed by Sprout and his wife moving in? What if it was some unknown monster seeking to devour him? The world was full of dangers both terrible and unknown, after all. It could have been anything. The crying could have just been a ploy to make him-

“Hello?!” A female voice suddenly called from the other side of the door, frantic. “Please, somepony open the door! I need help! My daughters, they’re freezing! Please!”

Sprout’s fears faded, albeit only somewhat. There was a chance that it was a ploy, but then there was a chance that some innocent pony had gotten caught out in the snow. If so, it would be on his head if he denied them the help they needed. He took a deep breath, set the lantern down, and opened the door.

Immediately, a blast of cold air hit him in the face, causing him to close his eyes and shiver uncontrollably. He struggled for a second to open his eyes, seeing a unicorn mare standing on the other side of the doorway. In her hoof, held tight up to her chest, was a bundle of cloth that the foal’s cries were coming from, while another such bundle, far larger, was on her back. She had sun-white fur and sky blue eyes, while locks of red hair hung down over her shoulder. She was draped in a dark cloak that had already begun to frost over from the cold.

Immediately, the mare surged forward, her eyes pleading and desperate. “Oh, thank goodness! Please, you have to help me!” she begged, practically shoving her way into the house.

Sprout held up a hoof to keep her back, his mind racing from the sudden developments. “What the- hey! Hang on a moment!” he said, holding the mare back with some effort. “Who are you?! What are you doing here?! How did you-”

“No time!” The mare cut him off, shivering. She looked down at the bundle in her hooves and grimaced. Then, without waiting for Sprout to even process what was happening, she took the bundle in her magic and shoved it into Sprout’s chest. “Please, look after them until I return for them! I have to go back, but it’s not safe for them!”

Sprout’s mind just about stopped working there. He only subconsciously reached up to clutch the squirming, crying bundle to his chest. “What?! Have you lost your mind?!” he demanded, sparing a glance at the bundle. There was a small opening through which he could just see the blue-furred face of a filly. She couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old. “You can’t just barge in here and demand that I look after your foals! And who are you, anyway?!”

“I said there’s no time!” the mare shot back, pointing at the snow. “Can’t you see what’s going on out there?! I have to fix it, but I can’t put my foals in danger! I know I’m asking a lot of you, but please, I am begging you!”

She reached out and placed both of her hooves on Sprout’s shoulders, staring deeply into his eyes. “Just watch them for me! I can’t let them die! I’ve screwed up too much as it is!”

Sprout’s eyes widened, and a whole new surge of questions came into his mind. “Wait, hold on! Are you saying you are responsible for the snow?!” he demanded, taking a step back.

The mare winced and looked away as if in shame. “I… I didn’t… we didn’t…” she shook her head a moment later. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I can stop it, but I can’t have my foals with me. Please…” she turned to him again, her eyes shimmering with fresh tears. “Just watch them until I come back. I promise I’ll return soon.”

“And how soon is soon?!” Sprout demanded, his nostrils flaring.

“I don’t know!” The mare replied. The filly in Sprout’s hoof began to wail louder in response to her shout, and the mare’s eyes widened. She looked down and quickly lowered her head, speaking in a soothing whisper. “I’m sorry, Luna. It’s okay, it’s okay. Shh, shh shh. It’s okay. You’re okay, now.”

Soon, the baby’s wails died back down, and the mare looked up at Sprout. She looked directly into his eyes, the sheer desperation in her own giving him pause. A moment passed before she placed one hoof against his chest. She was surprisingly warm. “Please… Just look after them for a little while. That’s all I ask. I wouldn’t be coming to total strangers if I had any other choice, but I don’t.”

Sprout gaped at her, struggling to find the words. This entire situation made absolutely no sense to him. Who was this mare? What did she have to do with the snow, or the dark clouds looming over his home?

Eventually, he looked down at the quietly whimpering filly against his chest. She was so small, so weak, and there were snow and ice clinging to the cloth that she was wrapped in. She was shivering horribly, and Sprout’s own heart began to melt a little at the sight. She had deep blue fur and the beginnings of a brighter blue mane. A tiny stub of a horn poked out from her head, identifying her as a unicorn.

He then looked back to the foal’s mother. She was shivering and looked like she was on her last threads of strength. If she went back out there into the blizzard, she wasn’t likely to survive. Sprout frowned. He couldn’t let that happen. If this mare was truly as desperate to protect her foals as she claimed, then she could be warm with them.

“Nuh-uh, you’re not leaving,” Sprout said simply, reaching out. “If your foals are staying here, so are you. Come in, I’ll get the fire going-”

“I can’t, there isn’t any time,” the mare cut him off with a shake of her head. She did smile, though, appreciating his attempt at kindness. “I have to go back. I have to fix this.”

“But look at you!” Sprout shot back, gesturing at her. “You’re about to fall over! At least warm up, first!”

The mare chuckled and shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’m tougher than I look.”

“That’s not exactly an accomplishment right now.”

That managed to draw a snort of amusement from the mare. She then lit her horn with a golden aura and pried the larger bundle from her back. “I know… Believe me, I wish I didn’t have to do this, but I truly have no choice.”

Sprout growled quietly under his breath. He was getting sick of this mare’s cryptic nonsense! Why couldn’t she just spill out what was going on to him? He eyed the larger bundle as they floated it over, and caught sight of the foal within. Her fur was as white as the snow outside, not unlike that of her mother, while her mane was a lovely shade of pink. If Sprout had to put an age to her, he’d say three years old. Just like her mother and the other foal, she was a unicorn.

“This is Celestia,” The mare went on, passing the foal into Sprout’s chest as well. “Please take care of them both. I’ll be back soon, I swear it.”

Sprout eyed her critically. “...And if you aren’t?”

She hesitated, looking down at the ground. “...Then do with them as you see fit. Just don’t let them die, that’s all I ask.”

Sprout stared at her, a war waging within his mind. But, eventually, one side had to win out over the other, and in the end, it was his compassion for a pony in need that claimed victory. He gave a slow, reluctant nod. “Okay… alright, fine, we’ll watch them for you. Just don’t take long coming back for them, you hear?” he said, lightly accepting the second bundle. “My mare and I aren’t interested in taking care of some other pony’s kids for too long. We’re all the way out here for a reason.”

The mare smiled gratefully at him, nodding. “I understand. Thank you so much. I’ll be back as soon as I can, no matter what.”

With that, she turned to head back into the snow, not giving Sprout any time to respond or ask questions. However, it was not him that brought the mare to a stop. It was the larger bundle, Celestia, whose tiny voice called out from Sprout’s hooves.

“Mama…?”

The mare came to a stop, going completely rigid. She turned in place, her eyes landing on Celestia. Sprout looked down at her as well, seeing her brilliant magenta eyes staring drowsily at her mother. She squirmed slightly to get a better view. “Mama?”

The mare put on a weak smile before coming forward. She leaned in and offered Celestia an affectionate nuzzle. “Mommy has to go away for a little bit,” she whispered once she drew back. “But don’t worry. I’ll be back soon, and these nice ponies will take good care of you until then. Okay?”

Celestia blinked. One of her short, stubby hooves reached up to touch her mother’s nose. “Mama go way?” she asked shakily. “Mama stay.”

The mare shook her head. “No, sweetie. Mama has to go away. She has to go help daddy,” she whispered. Sprout frowned, now wondering who the father was. He wanted to ask, but the scene unfolding before him kept him from doing so.

The mare leaned in and gave Celestia a gentle kiss on the forehead. When she drew back, she smiled down at Luna and did the same thing. “You’ll be okay… my little sun and moon. I love you both. So, so much... Rise and shine…”

“Mama…!” Celestia weakly called after her as the mare then turned and sprinted back into the snow. It seemed she was trying to run away as quickly as possible before her heart could change her mind. He watched her go, and in mere moments, she disappeared completely into the snow.

A few seconds passed. Another gust of freezing wind cut through the room, and Sprout finally had the presence of mind to reach over with his teeth and pull the door closed. He spun on his hooves and could just see Honey staring at him with wide eyes from the base of the stairs, one hoof on her chest.

“Sprout?” she asked, her eyes slowly lowering to the foals in his grasp. “What… what happened? Are those…?”

Sprout hesitated, his brow furrowing. He then turned and made his way for the fireplace. “Come on, help me get the fire going,” he said, leaving no room for argument. “Let’s get these two warm… then we can figure out what we’re gonna do with ‘em.”

Honey frowned and walked over to him, her brow furrowing in disbelief. “Are those foals?! Her foals?! Sprout, why didn’t you call me down?!” she demanded. “This isn’t exactly the kind of decision you can just make on your own!”

“She didn’t exactly give me room or time to do that, Hon,” Sprout shot back, trying to keep himself as calm as possible. “But I wasn’t about to leave a couple of innocent foals to freeze to death on my front porch!”

Honey paused at that. She heaved a heavy sigh, and when she spoke again, her tone had calmed significantly. “I know… and I wouldn’t either. But still…”

“I’m sorry,” Sprout apologized. “Really, I am. But right now, fire. We need fire.”

Honey did not offer up any rebuke. With the howling of the wind outside, and the wailing of Luna and Celestia drilling into their minds, the couple set about getting a fire going in the fireplace to keep the two fillies that had been unceremoniously thrust into their hooves warm.

It took a while, but after the flames were going, Celestia and Luna eventually cried themselves to sleep. Sprout had done his best to ignore Celestia’s repeated cries for her mama and had focused instead on just keeping the foals warm. He had hoofed Luna off to Honey once the flames were going, so the smaller foal could benefit from the blankets she was still wrapped in.

When at last silence was restored to the home, Sprout looked down at the sleeping foal in his hooves. He felt his heart wither a little at the sight of the tear stains that now marked her cheeks. He gently reached up to wipe them away but thought better of it. She was so… small. Fragile. He worried that if he placed his hoof upon her the wrong way, he might break her.

“Oh, Honey…” he sighed a minute later, finally breaking the silence. “What have I gone and gotten us into?” he asked, looking over at his wife for guidance.

Honey sighed and shifted closer to him, sharing their body heat. “I don’t rightly know, Sprout… I don’t even know the first thing about taking care of foals this young, even for a short time.”

“Neither do I,” Sprout admitted, looking away. The two lapsed back into silence after that, and slowly, Sprout felt himself starting to fade into unconsciousness. He leaned into Honey’s side, closing his eyes. “But, well… Guess we can tackle it together, huh?”

Honey nodded, carefully adjusting the blanket until it wrapped around him and Celestia as well. “Mhmm… I just hope this mystery mare of ours comes back soon. I want some answers…” she looked down at Luna and managed to smile. “And I don’t wanna keep little things like this from their mama and papa for too long…”

“Yeah, same here,” Sprout agreed in a murmur. “Now, let’s get some sleep, yeah?”

“What, down here?”

“Gotta keep the foals warm,” Sprout replied, lifting his head. “Fire and body heat’ll help with that. And if they need something, we’ll know immediately. We’ll be right here.”

Honey pursed her lips, then nodded. “Fair enough… sleep tight, Sprout.”

“Yeah, you too,” he replied. He gave Honey a gentle kiss on the lips before drawing back and away from the warmth of the blankets. At Honey’s questioning stare, he nodded for the stairs. “I’m gonna go get our pillows and mattress if I can fit it down the steps. Mind moving some of the furniture so we have space?”

Honey nodded. Without another word, the two went into motion. Before long, space had been cleared in the heart of the room, and Sprout came back down with their mattress and pillows. Soon, they were nestled together before the warmth of the fireplace. There, Sprout and Honeydrop fell asleep, with Celestia and Luna held in their hooves for warmth, all of them quite unaware of the chain of events that had now been set in motion.

II - A Foal's Tears

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She begged Sprout and Honey to look after them, to keep them safe while she set right what had gone wrong. And then, just like that, she disappeared into the snow, vanishing as mysteriously as she had arrived. Sprout and Honey waited for her to come back for her foals. And they waited… and they waited...

Sprout awoke sweaty and uncomfortable the next morning. His body was stiff, and the air around him felt… off, somehow. Like he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. His brow furrowed as he felt the warmth of the sun upon his back, seeping into his blankets and warming his skin. He tried to ignore it, but the rising temperatures eventually drove him to open his eyes.

He frowned. He wasn’t in his room. His mattress had been brought down into the living room and placed in front of the hearth, inside which the last few smoldering embers of a midnight flame could be seen slowly dying out. Curious and confused, Sprout turned to look at one of the windows, trying to get a gauge for what was going on. His eyes widened when he saw partially-melted remains of an icicle hanging from the roof just outside the window, dripping with fresh water.

All at once, Sprout’s mind was assaulted as the memory of the previous night came rushing back to him. The summer snow that had come out of nowhere, the ominous clouds that had preceded it, and the mysterious mare who had emerged from the blizzard with the two foals in her possession… The two foals that he had agreed, however reluctantly, to watch until her return.

Sprout sat upright, causing the blanket draped over him to slide down his body, revealing the mare and two infants he shared the bed with. Honey was starting to awaken now as well, her eyes slowly fluttering open. The dark rings under them betrayed a poor night of rest, while the two foals were still sleeping soundly.

“Sprout…?” she asked once she, too, was upright. She stretched and let out a quiet yawn before looking up at her husband. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Sprout replied, being sure to keep his voice down. He didn’t want to wake their new guests, after all. “Sleep well?”

“About as well as could be expected,” Honey said, rotating her head. A few satisfactory pops came from her neck, eliciting a pleased groan from her. She slowly rose, taking the time to stretch on the way. Once she was up, she looked down at the fillies, and her brow furrowed. A few seconds passed before she looked up at Sprout. She didn’t say anything, but the intent in her look was obvious.

What do we do now?

Sprout looked down at the foals as well, his brow furrowing and lips drawing into a thin line. He had only agreed to look after the foals for that mare out of necessity, and perhaps because his judgment had been somewhat impaired by his frayed nerves and the sudden snowstorm. He hadn’t given the matter much thought beyond what was happening in the moment. He hadn’t been given any chance to.

Now, though, he had time; time to figure out what to do with the foals, time to talk it over with his wife, and time to make sure they saw it through. But first thing was first. Sprout turned and made his way for the door at a brisk pace. “I’m going to go check the crops, make sure everything survived the night. Honey, you mind whipping up some food? I’m sure the foals are gonna be screaming up a storm when they wake up.”

“Alright. Be careful out there, Sprout,” she called after him.

Sprout gave her a reassuring smile before opening the door and slipping outside. At once, he was met with a very welcome change from the previous night. Instead of a freezing wall of icy wind, he was instead met with the expected ocean of warmth and light that was befitting of summer. Most of the snow had already melted away, leaving the earth damp enough to reflect the morning sunlight. Those icicles that remained attached to the rims of his roof were also melting away, unable to survive under the heat of summer.

The smothering cold that had enveloped the world for the last few days had seemingly been lifted overnight. Even the natural sounds of the forest had returned, with distant birds and animals calling out to one another. Sprout smiled. It sounded as if they were just as relieved as he was that the cold had passed.

“Huh… well I’ll be. Whatever that crazy mare did, I guess it worked,” he mused to himself with a relieved smile. He remembered how she had implied with her words that she and her husband had somehow been responsible for the ice. If it was gone now, then it stood to reason that she had been successful in doing whatever it was she had set out to do. Now all that remained was for them to wait for her to come back and pick up her foals.

Maybe then they would get some tangible answers.

Sprout spent the next fifteen minutes or so going over his various crops, making sure all was well. To his relief, they appeared to have weathered the storm fairly well. A few growths had taken it worse than others, and only a couple had been outright lost. All in all, it could have been far, far worse. Satisfied, Sprout took some time to make a few mental measurements of his plots, already formulating ideas on how to combat such weather in the future. If something like that ever happened again, he’d need to be prepared. Maybe he could make a whole new building that was there purely to house and protect his crops? If he could find a way to make that work, he could grow them year-round…

Eventually, Sprout reminded himself that there were two unknown fillies in his home that required his attention. Satisfied for the time being, he made his way back inside to find Honey at the cauldron, stirring up something inside. Judging by the smell, he assumed it was porridge.

Honey turned to him and smiled. “Well? How are things outside?”

“All in all? Not half bad,” Sprout said. He shut the door behind him and approached the mattress, his eyes lingering on the fillies. “Snow’s melted, and the ice is going away, too. Only lost a few potatoes in all of that.”

Honey visibly relaxed. “Oh, thank goodness…” she breathed.

Sprout nodded at her. He sat down by the bedside, refocusing on the foals. They were still asleep, but by the look on Celestia’s face, they would be stirring any moment. Sprout watched them for a few moments, his mind wandering. He allowed his many questions about these foals and their mother to repeat in his thoughts, giving each one momentary consideration before moving on.

Soon, Honey sat down beside him. “Any sign of the mother?” she asked in a hushed whisper.

Sprout shook his head. “Nah… none yet,” he replied, frowning. “But the snow’s gone, so I think she did whatever it was she was trying to do. Just a waiting game, now…”

“Right…” Honey nodded. She gave a quiet hum before leaning down to get a closer look at Celestia. She just stared for a while, a tiny smile appearing on her face. “Well, if nothing else, the mare’s got beautiful foals…”

Sprout chuckled, placing a hoof on his wife’s back. “Hey, now, no falling in love, you hear?” he lightly chastised her.

She turned and swatted his hoof away. “Oh, you hush. I’m allowed to find another pony’s foals cute, aren’t I?” she asked with a roll of her eyes.

Sprout opened his mouth to offer up some witty retort, but the rustling of blankets drew his attention. Celestia was stirring, her big, round eyes opening up. She looked around, her mouth open in a little ‘o’ of curiosity and confusion. Her eyes eventually settled on Sprout and Honeydrop, and she withdrew into herself with a shy squeak.

Honey smiled. “Hey, there. Good morning, little filly,” she said in a gentle, reassuring whisper. “It’s alright. We aren’t going to hurt you.”

Celestia stared at Honey for several seconds. Her eyes were wide and fearful, and if Sprout didn’t know any better, he would say that the foal was on the verge of panicking. He put on a gentle smile to try and ease her concerns, even if his own mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour, searching frantically for a solution. Eventually, he lowered himself down until he was almost on his belly by Honey’s side and reached a hoof out. “My name’s Sprout. This is my wife, Honeydrop.”

The introduction did a little to earn Celestia’s trust. She slowly poked her head forward and looked toward the door. She stared for a long few seconds, each one feeling like an eternity, before she spoke. “Where… Mama?”

Sprout’s smile faded for a moment. That was the big question, wasn’t it? He was quick to compose himself and give the best answer he could. “Your mama’s taking care of your daddy, remember?” he asked.

Celestia turned to him. “Where dada?”

Sprout hesitated. He glanced down at Honey, who in turn sat back on her haunches and shared a look with him. Neither of them had ever dealt with foals for very long, especially not this young and without their actual parents nearby. It felt almost as if they were marching on eggshells. One misstep and it could all fall apart, and that was not something Sprout wanted on their minds right now.

Eventually, Honey found an answer. She smiled sweetly at Celestia. “He’s with your mommy.”

Celestia blinked a couple of times. She then began to squirm, grunting and fidgeting with the blankets she had been tightly wrapped up in. Honey and Sprout shared a look, wondering if they should help, before Celestia managed to wiggle free on her own.

The breath left Sprout’s lungs as two, tiny pegasus wings stretched out from Celestia’s back. His mind reeled with confusion, his eyes darting between her horn and her wings in abject disbelief. Celestia, however, did not seem to mind his stares and instead turned to look at her sleeping little sister.

Sprout and Honey shared a glance. Honey swallowed heavily and leaned forward to whisper. “Sprout? What do you call a pony with wings and a horn?” she asked quietly.

“Er, I don’t know,” Sprout replied, racking his brain. He had never heard of something like this before. Everypony knew that there were only three pony races; the earth ponies, the unicorns, and the pegasi. He had heard rumors of other subraces before, like bat ponies, crystal ponies, or unicorns with curved horns, but he had never laid eyes on one, and never once had he heard of a pony with wings and a horn. It was utterly inconceivable to him.

Honey stared down at Celestia and Luna, set her jaw, and nodded. “Well… Guess we can ask their mother when she comes back,” she decided.

Sprout agreed, leaning against her side.

“Yeah, after what happened last night, she owes us some answers…”

And so they waited. And waited… and waited. Honey and Sprout did their best to take care of Celestia and Luna that day, using what little knowledge of foal care they had between them to meet the fillies’ needs. When Luna awoke, it was in tears, crying out to the heavens as foals are wont to do. It took far longer than either Sprout or Honey would be comfortable to admit to get her to calm down.

Hours passed. When Celestia wasn’t resting by Luna’s side, she was trying to get a look out through one of the windows to watch for her mother. Such was the case near the end of the day, as the sun gradually began its descent toward the horizon. Sprout had taken his leave of the inside for the time being to take some measurements. Apparently, he had plans to build some protective coverings for his crops. Maybe, he had speculated, such constructs would even allow him to grow food during the winter.

Honey sure hoped so. After the scare they had gone through with the snow last night, she wasn’t in any hurry to potentially lose out on their main source of food if another cold wave came their way. But she did her best to push such troubles and worries from her mind. She kept her gaze on Celestia. She could see the setting sun reflected in the filly’s eyes and shining on her face, giving her an almost divine radiance, despite her small size.

Honey had taken one of the end tables and put it by the window for the moment so that Celestia could look outside from up close. In Honey’s lap, Luna was curled up in her bundle and sound asleep.

Celestia shifted in place, her ears drooping. “...When mama coming?” she finally asked, sitting down on her haunches.

Honey sighed, her heart withering at the sad look in the foal’s eyes. No filly should have to be isolated from their family like this, but what could be done for now but wait? Still, she did not let those concerns show, and put on a warm smile. “I don’t know, Celestia. Soon, I imagine. You’ll probably be home in a few days, at the most.”

Celestia didn’t reply. She kept staring out the window. She jumped slightly, leaning back with a squeak when Sprout passed by the glass, his heavy hoofsteps thunking on the porch. Celestia watched the window tensely for a few seconds before Sprout’s steps faded into silence. Celestia blinked a few times, then turned to Honey. “What he doing?”

Honey looked out the window and smiled. “He’s working. Sprout handles all of the hard work outside. Planting food, building things, gathering water, that sort of thing.”

“Oh…” Celestia replied. Her wings twitched at her sides, and she squinted out into the day. Her little cheeks puffed up with concentration, and she eventually asked a question. “Where’s his horn?”

Honey blinked. “Huh? Oh, uh, he and I are earth ponies. We don’t have wings or horns. We make up for that by being really strong.”

“Strong?” Celestia turned to Honey.

Honey nodded. “Oh, yes. He likes to haul all of the wood for his building projects back by himself. Why, one time, he dragged a whole tree trunk all the way back from the stream.”

Celestia’s eyes widened in wonder at the idea, and Honey couldn’t help but giggle at the sight. It was like the filly’s whole world had been blown out of the water in one fell swoop. She turned back to the window to watch Sprout with renewed interest, even as the sun set below the horizon.

Celestia and Luna’s mother did not return that night. Or the night after. Celestia continued to watch for her whenever Luna was being cared for by Honey or Sprout, though her attention was often dragged away when she saw Sprout working. He was not oblivious to this fact, and sometimes gave her friendly smiles and waves. She would usually give him a timid smile in response and wave in return.

She was still quiet, but after a few days with them, Celestia was gradually starting to open up. A fact that was exemplified on the morning of the fourth day as Sprout got ready to head out. He had taken care of what few rudimentary tasks he had to do inside, and with Luna being taken care of by Honey, it was time for him to head out.

As he grabbed hold of the door’s handle, though, there was an unwelcome tug on his tail. He let out a yelp and turned to look, tearing his tail out of the grasp of whatever had dared to clamp down on it. To his surprise, Celestia was there, looking up at him with wide, curious eyes.

Sprout quickly eased the indignation on his face. “Heh. Ya know, you’re not supposed to bite other pony’s tails, Celestia,” he said with a weak chuckle. “It’s rude, and it hurts.”

Celestia’s ears drooped. “Oh… sorry.”

Sprout frowned, feeling just a touch guilty. He was quick to shake it off and smile down at her. “There something you need? I was about to go and do my work outside.”

Celestia looked up at him, then looked at the door behind him. “Can I go outside?” she asked hopefully, leaning to the side a little.

Sprout raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Outside? What, to play?” he asked curiously, glancing up at Honey, who was seated by the fireplace with Luna asleep in her lap.

Celestia nodded. “Uh-huh.”

Sprout frowned, rubbing at his shoulder. “Er… well, I mean… I’d love to allow that, but I’m gonna be busy, and my wife’s looking after your sister right now, so…” he muttered, hoping that Honey would hear him. To his relief, she did, and turned to look at him.

“I could keep an eye on her,” she suggested. She nudged Luna onto her back and stood to approach the door, a warm smile on her face. “I think the two could use some fresh air anyway. They’ve been cooped up inside since they got here.”

Sprout relaxed somewhat at that. He looked down at Celestia. “Alright. As long as you stay close and don’t go anywhere Honey can’t see you, I guess it’s okay.”

Celestia smiled up at him, the warmest and most earnest smile he had seen from her yet.

He lifted a hoof to slow her down a bit. “Okay, couple rules, first.”

Celestia’s frown faded, and she lowered herself to her haunches. “Rules?” she echoed in dismay.

Sprout couldn’t help but snort. He got the feeling this kid didn’t much care for that word. He nodded, though, being sure to keep his voice firm but not unkind. “Yes. Rule one, you stay where we can see you. Always. That means no hiding, no wandering out of the clearing, no jumping into bushes, no chasing bugs, nothing like that. If we can’t see you, you’re doing something wrong.”

Celestia pouted, but nodded in understanding.

Sprout lowered his hoof. “Rule two. Please don’t bother me when I’m working, and don’t step on my plants. I need them to stay healthy to feed my wife and I, and they might get broken if you step on them, so stay out of my crops. Can you do that for me?”

Celestia nodded again.

Sprout glanced up at Honey. “Alright, then. Let’s go,” he said, earning a nod from her. With that, he opened the door with a soft click.

In a heartbeat, Celestia bounded out of the house, her wide eyes sweeping across the open yard before the isolated forest home. Sprout took the chance to refamiliarize himself with the layout himself. A simple network of dirt paths had been worn into the grass in the clearing, linking together the various “posts” where he did his work. A stump for the chopping of wood and a storehouse for his tools. It was surrounded on all sides by rich, reddish-brown soil, verdant grass, and tall evergreen trees that filled the air with the powerful scent of pine.

Celestia giggled at the view, and bounded off the porch to start exploring. Sprout watched her go, then looked back at Honey with a smirk. “Well, I think she likes the place,” he said in amusement.

Honey smiled and sat down with her back to the wall, keeping Luna close to her chest. “So she does. You’ll help me watch her, right?” she asked once she was comfortable.

Sprout nodded as he stepped down from the porch. “As well as I can, sure,” he called over his shoulder before turning to head for his crops. All the while, as he worked that morning, he could hear the high-pitched voice of Celestia giggling merrily to herself as she raced around the outside of his home, becoming familiar with the space. It was a light, easy sound that pulled at his heart and drew a smile to his lips.

Two weeks had come and gone since Celestia and Luna’s arrival. As per usual, as the sun was setting, Celestia was on her end-table by the window, staring out into the yard for any sign of her mom. Sprout watched her from his place at the dinner table, a solemn frown adorning his muzzle. She had been spending more and more time there each evening, sometimes having to be physically pulled away from the window when it was time for dinner. She put on an impressively brave face for a filly so young, but it was clear she was growing more and more confused and desperate.

And Sprout would be lying if he said he didn’t share her concerns. Their mother had yet to make her return. There hadn’t been even a clue, or a hint as to her whereabouts. He was starting to get worried. In the back of his mind, troublesome concerns made themselves known. Uneasy questions he did not want the answers to.

“...Something wrong, Sprout?” Honey asked from behind him, making him jump. Sprout turned to see her coming over from the counter, where that night’s dinner was partially prepared.

He smiled and shook his head. “No, no, nothing. Just a little worried for Celestia, that’s all.”

Honey glanced past him and frowned. “Yeah… and her mom still isn’t back yet…”

Sprout frowned, looking down at the wooden grains of the table. His lips drew into a thin line as he tried to think of how best to phrase the largest concern in his mind. After a moment, he looked up at his wife. He leaned forward to speak in a near-silent whisper. “You don’t think she just… abandoned them with us, do ya?”

Honey’s frown grew stern, and she gave a sharp shake of her head. “No, I do not, and I don’t want you thinking like that, either.”

Sprout flinched back from the force in her voice. He looked down and to one side, unable to meet her gaze as he spoke again. “Sorry, but I can’t help but think that, maybe, she just didn’t want her foals, and pawned them off on the first ponies she found…”

“The big problem with that, Sprout, is that Celestia is three,” Honey countered, placing a hoof to his shoulder. She met his gaze again, having to crane her head down to do so. “Why would she take care of her daughter for that long only to then decide she didn’t want her? If she was gonna get rid of her foals, she would have done so a lot earlier, and you can bet she wouldn’t have let herself have a second.”

Sprout opened his mouth to offer up some retort or counter, but the sound of movement from the window caught his attention. He turned to look to see that Celestia had stood upright, her eyes wide and a hopeful grin on her face. She hopped up and down a few times, her wings buzzing eagerly on her back. “Something coming!” she stated emphatically, pressing her hooves up to the glass. “Mama!?”

“Oh, speak of the devil,” Sprout thought, quickly rising to his hooves. His heart was beating faster, both out of relief that he was about to be proven wrong, and out of his eager desire for some answers. Celestia hadn’t been able to give him any yet, seeing as she was just as lost about what was going on as he was.

He came up to the door and threw it open. His hopeful smile faded away when he saw no sign of Celestia’s mother. Instead, at the edge of the clearing, a lone mountain wolf wandered into the yard, it’s nose to the ground. It sniffed around for a little bit, it’s low tail wagging curiously.

Sprout heard Celestia whimpering off to one side. He looked her way, and his heart all but shattered in his chest. The look of pure devastation on her face was unrivaled, and already he could see the tears welling up in her eyes. She slid down the glass and slumped to her haunches. “N-not mama…”

Sprout sighed and shut the door. “I’m sorry, kid. We do have wild animals in these mountains,” he said apologetically.

“B-but…” Celestia babbled, her lip trembling. She turned to Sprout. He could tell the dam was breaking, and it was too late to stop it. She screwed her eyes shut and lowered her head, starting to openly and loudly cry, filling the house with the heart-wrenching noise. “W-here’s m-my maamaaaa?!”

“Oh, baby,” Honey said, quickly crossing the distance and scooping Celestia up into her hooves. The filly clutched tightly to her, wailing and incomprehensibly babbling for her mama. Honey did her best to soothe the crying filly, but all of her best efforts amounted to nothing. Sprout joined her and lent his voice, but that too seemed to be insufficient.

Eventually, after what seemed like forever, Celestia’s wails died down and she fell into a quiet sleep. Honey looked down at her in her hooves, then looked up at Sprout with a truly hurt look on her face.

Sprout sighed and glanced toward the stairs. “...I think we should put her to bed,” he said quietly. “She could use the sleep.”

Honey opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came. She looked down at Celestia again, then rose to carry the sleeping filly upstairs. Sprout followed closely behind her. Soon, they stepped into their bedroom, where a freshly-constructed crib had been placed beside their own bed some few days previously, after Sprout had built it to accommodate their guests.

Luna could be seen in it, her eyes opening at the disturbance. She sat up and leaned forward, trying to get a better look at her sister. She made a few tiny squeaks of distress, no doubt sensing something was wrong with Celestia.

Honey carefully lowered Celestia down into the crib. Luna retreated into the corner as the larger mare approached, and only once Honey’s hooves had totally retreated did she come over and wrap her hooves around Celestia, hugging her tightly. Celestia stirred slightly from the contact, returning the embrace in her sleep.

Sprout stared down at the two and sagged, any good mood he might have had being well and truly dashed. Moving slowly and carefully, he reached down and gingerly brushed one of the remaining tears off of Celestia’s cheek with his hoof. She winced under his touch, but soon relaxed.

Sprout turned back to Honey. “I think an early dinner and some early sleep might do us some good,” he suggested quietly.

Honey nodded as the two slowly slipped out of the room. “Yeah… I don’t want to be too far from them right now, either,” she clarified what he had actually meant, closing the door behind them to give the foals some peace and quiet for the moment.

Three weeks. It had been three long weeks now since Celestia’s mother had dropped off the foals, and there was still no sign of the mare. Sprout was growing increasingly worried that she wouldn’t be coming back with every day that passed. As he stared off into the sunset one evening, his thoughts drifted to the mare for what must have been the thousandth time.

Though Honey had done wonders to dispel his doubts about her simply abandoning Celestia and Luna, there was also the grisly possibility that she had simply perished on the return trip to the house. She had appeared to be on her last leg when Sprout had seen her. She had claimed to be stronger than she looked, and at that moment, there had been such conviction in her voice that he had believed her. But, looking back, doing so might have been a mistake…

If she didn’t come back for her foals… what was to become of them. Sprout frowned, trying not to imagine that scenario, but doing so anyway. Celestia had experienced more than one emotional breakdown over the last few days as her mother continued to be absent. He didn’t want to see it again. Every time Celestia cried, his heart broke for her, and it took far too long to get her to calm down every time.

How many more times was that angel of a filly going to cry her eyes out before she could finally be reunited with her family? How long until Sprout and Honey could finally get some answers? Would there be any answers to be had, or would the mare simply wish to whisk her foals away into the night, just as mysteriously as she had delivered them?

Sprout heaved a sigh and rubbed a hoof against his temple. “Ugh… what are we gonna do…?” he asked himself in a frustrated whisper.

The front door to the house clicked open, and Sprout turned to see Honey stepping out. She shut the door behind her with a soft click before making her way over to him. “Celestia and Luna are asleep. I put them to bed upstairs,” she said, sitting down by his side.

Sprout smiled, taking one of her hooves in his. “Good. They doing okay?”

“I think so,” Honey replied with a nod. She turned to look at the distant horizon, a distant look coming over her face. The two sat in silence for a long time, simply taking comfort in the company of the other.

But eventually, the silence became too much. Sprout sighed and looked over at Honey, seeing the way the sunlight caught her face, how it reflected in her eyes and shined in her curly mane. He found his heart melting at the sight, just like it had the day they had first met so long ago, when he had known this was the mare he would spend the rest of his life with. The sight gave him the courage to speak his mind and air his worries.

“...hey, hon?”

“Hm?”

“What if she doesn’t come back?”

Honey glanced at Sprout with a raised eyebrow. “Huh?”

“Celestia and Luna,” he clarified, looking down at the wooden floorboards of the porch. “Their mother. What if she doesn’t come back?”

He felt Honey squeezing his hoof as she shifted to face him more directly. “She’ll come back,” she said firmly, although Sprout had a feeling she put that conviction in her voice to convince herself more than him.

He turned back to her. “But what if she doesn’t?” he insisted. “It’s been weeks, Honey. The snow was gone the day after she left the kids with us, but she hasn’t been back for them yet. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of her since, and I don’t even know where she came from or where she could have gone! The only proof we have that she was ever even here are her daughters…”

Honey opened her mouth to offer up some rebuke, some counterpoint to assuage his concerns. But nothing came. She stared at him for a time before turning away. ‘...I don’t know, Sprout,” she confessed, reaching up to toy with her mane. “I wish I did, but I don’t. I’ve been asking myself that same question for a while now, but I just don’t know…”

Sprout sighed, leaning into her side. “I mean, we can’t just keep them around, can we?” he asked quietly. “They’re not our foals. It wouldn’t be right of us, would it? I mean, we agreed to watch them for a while, but not much more than that…”

Honey was quiet for a moment. “Maybe… but didn’t she also ask us to just make sure they were alright if she didn’t come back for them?” she eventually asked.

Sprout frowned, thinking back.

“Please take care of them both. I’ll be back soon, I swear it.”

Sprout eyed her critically. “...And if you aren’t?”

She hesitated, looking down at the ground. “...Then do with them as you see fit. Just don’t let them die, that’s all I ask.”

“She asked us not to let them die,” he clarified. “Other than that, we could do whatever we wanted with them.”

Honey hummed in response, her eyes falling. Neither of them said anything for a while after that, each of them exploring their thoughts and feelings on the matter on their own, with the warmth of the other serving to keep the chill of their anxieties at bay. When one of them finally broke the silence, it was Honey.

“I want to keep looking after them.”

“Hon?” Sprout blinked and turned to look at her. There was a fiery conviction in her eyes.

Honey placed a hoof against his chest. “I know they’re not our foals, and I’ll happily give them back if… when their mother comes back for them. But I just wouldn’t feel right about taking them all the way to town to give them away. They’re really sweet. And besides, who would take them?”

Sprout frowned. She didn’t need to clarify what she meant by that for him to understand. The wings and the horns. Most earth pony families would only be content with adopting a pony of their own tribe, given the long-lasting tensions with the other tribes. The complications would only be compounded by the fact that Celestia and Luna had both sets of extra appendages.

“And if she doesn’t come back? Ever?” Sprout asked, a knot forming in his throat.

Honey met his gaze firmly. “Then we keep taking care of them until they don’t need us anymore.”

Sprout turned to face her, his eyes flying wide. “Honey, you do realize what you’re suggesting, right?” he asked.

“Course I know,” Honey acknowledged with a firm nod of her head. “But they’ve already been here for just shy of a month… and I wanna keep ‘em safe. You promised their mother you would, and I am not going to make a liar out of you or me by going back on that. And besides…”

A gentle smile came over Honey’s face, and she placed her hoof against Sprout’s cheek. “I always wanted to have foals with you someday… So if their mother comes back someday, then Celestia and Luna will be great practice. And if not… well…”

Sprout stared at his wife for a long time, his mind taking a bit to catch up. Then, gradually, a crooked smirk broke out across his face. “Heh… you always did have a fire in your belly, didn’t you?” he asked whimsically.

Honey smirked in response and leaned in to give him a quick kiss. When she pulled back, her eyes were practically glowing with resolve. “Isn’t that why you fell in love with me?” she asked knowingly.

Sprout chuckled and pulled her closer. “Among other things…”

“Like what?”

“Oh, you know. This and that.”

Honey giggled and shoved him playfully. “Oh, how specific!”

Sprout laughed back at her. “Come on, you know I’ve never been good at this kinda stuff!”

“Trust me, dear, I noticed,” Honey replied with a roll of her eyes. “But, for what it’s worth, I find it very cute.”

Now blushing intensely, Sprout coughed into his hoof and looked away sheepishly. He heard Honey giggling beside him before leaning over and wrapping her forelegs around him in a warm hug. He felt her head near his chest, and her breath tickling his belly. “I know it’s a lot to ask of us,” she finally whispered to him. “And I know their mom’s probably gonna come looking for them, someday… but till then, I wanna be as good to them as I can.”

Sprout nodded, wrapping his own hooves around her to return the hug. It was a tall order, he wasn’t going to lie, especially not to himself. And as long as he was being honest with himself, he had to admit, the prospect of taking care of these two foals long-term, if needed, wasn’t all that bad. Sure, he wished Luna would stop crying at him all the time, but Celestia’s curiosity and interest were endearing to the extreme, and Luna was so small and scared that he often felt the urge to join Celestia in her protective vigil over the tiny little filly.

“Okay, then,” he finally agreed, resting his chin on his wife’s head. “Whatever happens, we watch them. We take care of them. We keep our promise.”

III - Growing Bonds

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...As they waited, they came to care deeply for the foals the mother had left in their care. And when it became clear that she was not going to return, what were Sprout and Honey to do but take the foals in themselves? To raise and care for them in the absence of their true parents?

Several months passed, and Celestia’s growing bond with Sprout and Honey only became stronger and stronger with time. She tended to follow Honey around the house, pulling herself away from the door more and more, and opting to spend time around her little sister whenever possible. She just felt the urge to be near her, and protect her.

Sometimes, though, when she was assured that Luna would be safe with Honey, she sought instead to go outside and explore some more. Usually, Sprout would accompany her, or she’d just sit idly by and watch him work. She didn’t understand any of what it was he was doing, even when he went out of his way to explain it to her. Her young mind just couldn’t wrap itself around the concepts just yet.

That didn’t stop her from watching with fascination. After the passing of winter, she had gained a whole new appreciation for his work, as she had previously been cooped up inside and not allowed to head outside except when under very strict supervision. Once spring came, Sprout had been even busier in the fields than she remembered, and so it was that she watched one spring afternoon as Sprout toiled over his crops. He passed between the rows of plants, sizing each one up with a thoughtful hum and quiet mutterings. Celestia kept pace with him on the other side, listening intently.

“Yeah, this one’s good… this one’s good… needs more water, probably, but otherwise good…”

It was fascinating… but also kind of boring. Celestia’s brow furrowed as the tedium of the process began to eat away at her. She enjoyed spending time with him out here and taking in the fresh air but seriously, there had to be some way to make this more engaging for her. It wasn’t like she could really help all that much.

Eventually, an idea came to her. She wasn’t sure where it came from, but it felt familiar. Restraining a giggle, she trotted ahead of Sprout a way, then dropped down so she was flat on the ground, covering her eyes with her hooves. Her ears perked up, listening intently as Sprout’s hoof-falls drew closer and closer. When she heard him stop directly in front of her and felt his curious gaze on her, she lifted her hooves. “Peekaboo!” she said.

Sprout blinked, and then belted out a full belly laugh that drew a smile to Celestia’s face. Sprout shook his head a second later and lowered himself back down. “Heh. I don’t think Honey or I taught you that one,” he said.

Celestia shrugged. “I remember it.”

Sprout’s smile faltered, and for a moment Celestia wondered if she had said something wrong. To her relief, Sprout was quick to put his smile back on and cover his own eyes with his hooves. A second later, “Peekaboo!”

He even made a funny face. How nice.

Celestia giggled again, covering her eyes and repeating the process. The two went back and forth like this for a little while, playing peekaboo even as Sprout worked his way through his plants. It almost evolved into a miniature game of hide and seek with Celestia hiding amid his plants, only for him to inevitably stumble across all of her masterful hiding places.

Celestia could only assume witchcraft. Or magic. Or maybe he could just smell where she was. Did she stink? Questions for later.

“Hey, Celestia?” Sprout suddenly asked just as he came across her again, dispensing with the playful tone.

Celestia rose to her hooves and faced him. “Yeah?”

Sprout knelt down and brushed his hoof lightly against the plant she had been hiding beside. “Sorry to interrupt the game and all, but I am trying to work, ya know?” he said, rubbing apologetically at the back of his head. “And you’re kinda distracting me.”

Celestia’s ears drooped, and she suddenly felt like a great idiot. She should have known better, she thought, backing away slightly. “Oh… I’m sorry,” she apologized, scuffing her hoof along the ground. “I’m just bored. I wanna play.”

Sprout eyed her for a few seconds, his expression torn. He let out a quiet sigh, then knelt down in front of her. “Yeah, I get how that feels,” he said quietly, drawing her eyes back up to him. “And I’m not the sort to disappoint somepony in my care… so…”

He reached into his saddlebags, pulling out a cloth bag tied with a string. He hoofed it down to her, and she took it in her hooves. It wasn’t very heavy, and she imagined she could carry it on her back easily enough. She tilted her head. “What is this?” she asked curiously.

“Seeds,” Sprout said, reaching down to lightly ruffle Celestia’s mane. “If I find any rotten plants, I’m gonna have to replant them so we can have food to eat. What do you say to helping me do that?”

Celestia tilted her head. That didn’t sound like any game she had ever heard of. Of course, she had heard of precious few games, but that wasn’t really important right now. She looked up at Sprout and tilted her head. “Is it fun?” she asked hopefully.

Sprout blinked. “Huh. Ya know, I never really thought to make it fun, but I guess it can be if you do it right…” he said. He tapped a hoof to his chin for a moment before he perked up with inspiration. He smirked down at her. “Okay, tell ya what. We’ll make a game of it. If you find more bad plants than I do, you win, and I’ll uh, I dunno, give you a treat or something.”

Celestia’s eyes lit up. She bounced eagerly in place. “Oh! Oh! I like the sound of that!” she said eagerly. “What do the bad plants look like?!”

Sprout chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Heh. Well, they’re gonna be kinda brown and droopy. Like they got all sad, ya know? If you find any plants that are all dull and sagging, that’s a bad one, and I want you to call it out to me, okay?”

“Okay!” Celestia said with a sharp nod.

Sprout grinned and ruffled her mane yet again, drawing a pout from her. “Alright. Hop to it, then!” he said, thrusting his hoof out in an ‘onward’ motion.

Celestia didn’t need to be told twice. Eager to be useful to Sprout, and to just have a chance to play with him, she turned and went galloping down the rows of plants, too caught up in the happiness of the game to actually look for any bad plants yet.

That didn’t last long, though, and soon she slowed down, keeping her eyes peeled. It may have been a game, but she knew it was a serious one. There was a treat at stake! She had to find more bad plants than Sprout did, or she wouldn’t get it!

That and she was helping him run the place, but that did not compare to a treat.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Celestia’s face twitched with every hard strike of Sprout’s hammer that reached her ears. She had been forced to endure the grating sound for what felt like hours now and hadn’t been allowed inside the house for the entire time.

It was the middle of summer, and Sprout had been adding a new room to the house for a few days now. He would routinely disappear through a new door he had installed into the living room, and she had not been allowed back there for one reason or another. She didn’t understand it, and every time she asked Honey about what the room was going to be for, she was met with the same answer. “It’s a surprise.”

So, she just had to grit her teeth and bear it. Supposedly, today was the last day she’d be forced to listen to that grating noise. She couldn’t wait to be rid of it and all of the other cacophonies that had joined it for the last few days.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

At least Celestia had something to keep her distracted. She and Honey were sitting in the grass on the far side of the house from the ruckus, watching a now one-year-old Luna pick through the grass, making little baby babbles as she went. The little filly’s short, stubby forelegs were unsteady at best, but she was making progress, and it seemed she was at least enjoying herself.

Celestia smiled at her little sister, her own four-year-old heart beating with pride at the sight. To see Luna standing of her own accord and exploring as Celestia used to was of great comfort to her. The part of her mind that had always insisted she stand guard over Luna was beginning to relax, allowing her to feel more at peace even when her eyes were off her.

Luna came to a stop at a small batch of flowers rising up from the ground. She looked at them with wide, curious eyes. She tilted her head this way and that, as if trying to comprehend just what it was she was looking at. Honey smiled and wandered closer. Celestia kept close by her side.

“These are called flowers,” Honey said in a soft voice. She touched one of the flowers to indicate it. “Flower. Can you say flower?”

Luna stared at the flower for a second. “Foo ow wah.”

Honey nodded at that. “That’s right, very good! Flower,” she praised, giving Luna a few pets to tell her she got it right. Luna giggled from the praise, and even louder when she saw a dragonfly flit down from the air and alight upon one of the flowers. She wobbled up to it, her massive blue eyes wide with awe and fascination.

And then she tried to eat it.

Celestia and Honey both let out a series of wordless exclamations as Luna’s mouth clamped down around the head of the flower and the dragonfly both. She then stood bolt upright, the color draining from her face. Her mouth slowly fell open, a disgusted gurgle coming from within, and the now partially chomped remains of the impromptu snack fell on the ground.

Celestia cringed in disgust. “Eeeew!” she protested, ducking behind Honey so she wouldn’t have to look.

Honey chuckled and shook her head, reaching out to pull a now-sniffling Luna up against her chest. “There, there, it’s okay. But don’t eat bugs, okay Luna?” she asked in a quiet, soothing voice, bouncing Luna a few times to help soothe her. “Hey?”

Luna sniffled and gradually calmed back down. Celestia looked up at her from the ground and gave her a reassuring smile. In exchange, Luna reached her hooves down, making a few wordless baby babbles in an effort to swat at her big sister. In response, Celestia reached up and grabbed Luna’s hoof with both of her own.

Once Honey was satisfied that Luna was calm again, she set the smaller filly down with a smile. Luna smiled back up at her, then turned to waddle out to examine the flowers again. Celestia watched her go, unable to hide the amusement in her eyes. Her little sister was adorable, but also just so dopey sometimes.

Another dragonfly zipped by, alighting on a flower nearby. Like before, Luna’s eyes latched onto it, and she waddled closer. For a moment, Celestia thought that Luna would try to eat this one, too, but it seemed she had learned her lesson the first time. All Luna did was sit on her haunches and watch it with wide, curious eyes. The dragonfly’s wings buzzed, and it lifted from the flower to fly toward the forest.

Thunk. Thunk. CRASH!

“OW!”

Celestia and Honey both jumped in surprise and spun around to face the noise. Honey rose to her hooves and took a few steps toward the house. Celestia kept close behind her. It sounded like something large had broken.

“Sprout?!” Honey called out worriedly.

“I’m okay!” Sprout called back, pain in his voice. “Just got bonked on the head, that’s all. Gah, son of a…”

Honey frowned, then looked down at Celestia. “Keep an eye on Luna for a little bit, okay? I’m going to go make sure he doesn’t hurt himself,” she instructed. She did not wait for Celestia to answer, cantering quickly into the house. Celestia watched her go, taking a few steps after her.

She felt torn. On the one hoof, Sprout had obviously just been hurt, even if not badly. Celestia felt compelled to go and help him out however she could. She had spent so long making herself useful with the crops that sitting back when something went wrong in the house just felt wrong to her. At the same time, Honey had instructed Celestia to remain behind with her sister and keep an eye on her.

Celestia held still for a minute longer before sighing. She just had to trust that Honey would have things taken care of. She turned around to face Luna.

Except Luna wasn’t there.

Celestia’s heart leaped into her throat. Her eyes darted this way and that, looking for any sign of Luna. The little filly had seemingly vanished into thin air. There was no sign of her. Celestia stood up, her ears folding back. Fear gripped her heart, and she immediately called out. “Luna?! Luna, where did you go?!”

Of course, unfortunately, Luna couldn’t speak yet. There was no answer. The panic in Celestia’s heart grew worse with every second that passed. She walked anxiously in place, a whole new conflict springing to life within her. What had happened?! Where could Luna have possibly gone?! She wasn’t that fast, so wherever she disappeared to had to be close! Celestia’s eyes darted this way and that before, finally, they landed on the edge of the forest just ahead of her.

And it was then that it hit her. Her eyes widened, the blood chilling in her veins.

“The dragonfly!” she thought, her ears resting flat. “It had been flying for the forest, and Luna was following it!”

Celestia said something under her breath that no foal ought to be saying and looked back toward the house. She should go get Honey and Sprout. They would know what to do, right? She turned to start heading in that direction. She stopped dead in her tracks when she remembered that there were dangerous creatures in the woods: wolves, bears, and other far more frightening beasts. The longer she spent trying to get Honey and Sprout, the further her sister could get, and the more likely something could get her!

All of Celestia’s protective instincts returned in full force. She turned on her hooves and broke into a mad sprint for the woods, all thought of going to Sprout and Honey vanishing from her mind. She had to find her sister, and she had to find her now! If she was lucky, maybe she could get Luna back before they could get in trouble.

She broke through the forest edge and immediately the world darkened around her. The fear in her chest swelled to include herself and not just her sister, and she slid to a brief stop. The grass here was thicker, denser, and there was a wall of shrubbery all around her. She became far more aware of the calls of the birds in the trees and, looking up, she felt like an ant beside an army of monoliths.

A tiny, frightened whimper threatened to escape her, but she was quick to force it down and press on. She could be scared later. She had to find Luna and get her home safely, first. She broke into a canter, sweeping her eyes from side to side.

“Luna!” she called out, perking her ears up for her sister’s babbles. “Luna, come on! We need to go home, now!”

Nothing. Celestia’s brow furrowed, and she picked up her pace. She spent several minutes searching the woods, peeking under roots, behind trees and rocks, and anywhere else she could think of to find her sister. She kept calling out all the while but kept not hearing anything.

Luna had to be out here somewhere, and Celestia would keep looking until she found her.

It felt like she had been searching forever. Celestia’s breath was beginning to come in labored gasps as she pushed herself to her limits. There was still no sign of Luna, and Celestia was finally beginning to think it might be wise to head back and get the adults. She came to a stop next to a collection of trees and foliage and slumped against a trunk to catch her breath.

She looked around, trying to pick out the shape of the house from here.

It wasn’t that way. What about over there? No, not that way either. The way she had just come from, perhaps? No, nothing that way but more trees.

Celestia’s eyes widened. She felt her chest tighten as the realization set in that she was lost. She had gotten so lost in the frenzy of trying to find her sister that she stopped paying any attention to where she was going!

“Oh no, oh no, no no no…” Celestia whimpered, tears starting to form in her eyes. She looked around, suddenly acutely aware of just how alone she was. The forest loomed over her. The branches looked ready to tear into her hide if she dared take her eyes off them. The waving of the leaves in the breeze howled in her ears like the cries of forgotten ghosts.

It assaulted her senses all at once. Celestia screwed her eyes shut and broke into a mad sprint in a random direction, a panicked, terrified scream echoing around her. “LUNA!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her thoughts were growing hazy and disjointed in her panic. Her mind raced at a million miles an hour as scenario after grisly scenario raced through her head. “LUNA, ANSWER ME! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Suddenly, the world dropped out from under her hooves. Celestia yelped as she fell over an edge she had unwittingly run straight toward in her fear. Her eyes snapped open to see a steep slope leading down to the side of a narrow river the weaved a winding path through the forest. The slope was dotted with stones emerging from the dirt.

Celestia scrambled, her hooves desperately trying to find purchase, but nothing came of it. She cried out and covered her head as she tumbled down the slope. Rocks and dirt battered her body as she rolled down, and she knew she was going to bruise. When she struck the ground, the wind was knocked from her lungs. Her eyes bulged in their sockets as her mouth opened in a breathless scream.

A horrible ache filled her body. A few cuts had formed along her barrel and legs from the rough fall. She began to curl into a ball to protect her innards from any further harm, screwed her eyes shut, and began to cry.

This was such a stupid plan! She never should have come out here alone! She should have gone back and gotten Honey and Sprout. They were the adults! They were big and strong, and they always knew what to do! She had just been so scared of her sister suddenly disappearing. She hadn’t been thinking. She just went… and now she was lost, alone, scared, hurt, and had no idea how to get back home.

She covered her head and yelled as loud as she could. “SOMEPONY, ANYPONY! HELP ME!”

With that plea echoing through the trees, Celestia fell silent, trying to calm her frantic, terrified sobbing. She must have been sitting there, crying her eyes out for several minutes before she heard something approaching. Hooves scraping through the dirt and coming closer.

Celestia’s eyes snapped open and sat up. She wiped a hoof over her eyes to dispel her tears and looked around. She hoped it was Sprout and Honey, come to rescue her and take her home. She turned around to face the sound, and while it wasn’t the adults, her heart nevertheless sang with relief at the sight.

And also a little confusion.

Little Luna was waddling up to her with no small number of insects crawling all over her. There was a collection of at least six dragonflies perched on her head. She had a centipede chasing its own rear around one of her hooves as if it were a bracelet. There was a butterfly perched on her nose. Under the bugs, she appeared to be in fine health, if only a little bruised and covered in dirt herself.

“Luna!” Celestia exclaimed, throwing herself against her sister and giving her a tight hug. The insects all scattered from her sudden arrival, earning a pitiful whine from Luna. Celestia didn’t really give the oddity of Luna’s love of bugs much thought at the moment, simply holding her sister close. “Oh my gosh, I was so worried about you! I thought you were eaten by a bear, or a wolf, or something!”

“Woof,” Luna replied, hugging her sister in return.

Celestia paused on hearing the vague approximation of a word from her little sister. She then laughed, not finding it in her to do much else in light of their current situation. She buried her face in Luna’s mane. “Yes, Luna. A woof. Woofs eat ponies.”

“Woof.”

Celestia didn’t say anything else for the time being. She was content to sit there and hold her sister, just grateful that she was okay. There was, of course, still the deeply troubling matter that they were hopelessly lost in the middle of a potentially dangerous mountain forest, but there wasn’t much she could do about that right now.

All they could do was wait. And now that Celestia had found what she was looking for, she was content to sit still and wait.

Time passed agonizingly slowly by that shallow stream. Celestia made sure to keep Luna close, never taking her eyes off her for more than a second. She made sure to drink some water and ensured Luna got some as well, to keep themselves hydrated. They were both getting hungry if the audible grumbles of their little tummies were any indication, but they didn’t have a remedy for that at the moment.

Eventually, Luna’s own adventures caught up to her, and she fell asleep snuggled up against Celestia’s side. Celestia kept them both by the water, a wing draped over Luna’s barrel to keep her warm.

Her eyes were slowly drawn to the sky. It was starting to get dark. The sun was setting, and it was taking its light with it. Celestia swallowed heavily, an uneasy tremor passing through her. Maybe it would be wiser to try and reach home before it got dark? Would Honey and Sprout be looking for her if it got dark, or would they go home and wait until morning? She didn’t know, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to take that risk.

Her eyes wandered through the branches, barely able to pick out the orange of the sky between them. Eventually, she caught sight of the smallest trace of the sun itself, just poking out from behind the mountainside. She stared at it, pleased to find that, due to its low altitude and closeness to the horizon, she could look at it without hurting her eyes.

She stared at it for a long while. And as she did, an odd sensation began to come over her. It was hard for her to explain. It was almost as if the sun was… staring back? But that didn’t make any sense. The sun didn’t have eyes. It was just light, wasn’t it?

Well, whatever the sun was, her vision began to tunnel around it. It began to swell and balloon out, the rest of the world bleeding away like ink dropped in a glass of water. Celestia relaxed as it filled every corner of her vision, drowning out everything else and enveloping her in its warmth.

So warm… so warm...

“KIDS?!”

Celestia was suddenly snapped out of her trance by the sound of Honey’s voice calling out from the trees. Her heart leaped into her throat. The adults were here! They could go home! Celestia quickly stood up and lifted her head. “WE’RE HERE!” she shouted back at the top of her lungs, ignoring the protesting whined from Luna. “OVER HERE!”

“Celestia?!” Sprout’s voice answered. “Where are you?!”

“By the river!” Celestia answered, hopping up and down. “I’m with Luna! Over here!”

“The trees are messing with the sound!” Sprout called back. “Keep talking! We’ll come and find you!”

“Alright! We’re over here! HERE!” Celestia replied, calling out that they were ‘here’ over and over. Her voice was beginning to hurt from all the use, but she forced herself to keep shouting. If she stopped, Sprout and Honey might not be able to find her, and then what would she do?

Finally, Celestia heard movement from the slope above. She turned and looked up, and her heart soared when she saw Sprout’s face looking down at her from above.

“Celestia! Luna!” he called before looking over his shoulder. “Over here, hon! I found them!”

Celestia allowed herself to fall to her haunches and breathe. Relief flooded her system. It was finally over. She could go home now. She wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable scolding she was going to receive, but she was just happy to be safe.

Sprout slid down the slope with expert ease, stumbling slightly when he reached the bottom. Honey came after him a moment later. Sprout made sure to catch her when she landed, as she was not nearly as graceful about it. Once she was steady, Honey turned and sprinted over to Celestia and Luna.

Celestia cowered back when she saw the raw, unrestrained fury in Honey’s eyes.

“Where have you been?!” Honey demanded, coming right up to Celestia. “Do you have any idea how worried Sprout and I have been about you two?!”

Celestia screwed her eyes shut and lowered her head, already feeling her joy evaporating, replaced with guilt. She had expected it, but it did not make it feel any better. “I… I’m sorry,” she apologized, her voice shaking. “But Luna disappeared when you went inside, and I was scared that she might get eaten by a wolf or something, so I came to find her, and I got lost, but I found her, and…”

“You should have just come and told us!” Honey went on. Celestia’s ears twitched when she noticed a tremble in the mare’s voice. “Not just run off! We thought you were both snatched up by wolves, too! We were so scared that we might not find you!”

Celestia opened her eyes and looked up. Honey’s face was contorting and trembling, tears in her eyes. Sorrow and relief were fighting a war against her anger behind them, and Celestia felt her guilt grow even worse at having made her feel that way.

She looked away, unable to stare into those eyes any longer. “I’m sorry…”

“You should be,” Honey said, the last dregs of her anger fading. She then fell to her haunches, and her hooves came up to cover her eyes. “I was just… I was so worried about you… I can’t imagine what I would have done if… if… oh, I can’t even say it…”

The sound of Honey’s sobs filled the air. Celestia looked up at her again, her heart twisting in her chest. Sprout came up by her side, placing a hoof on Honey’s back. She quickly turned to him and buried her face in his chest, crying all the harder into the proverbial pillow. Sprout winced and held her close, doing his best to ease her distress.

Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but no words came. She lifted her hoof to reach out and do something, but she couldn’t find out what to do. She could only stare and wither as the realization set in. This was her fault. She had run off like a little idiot, and it had broken these wonderful ponies’ hearts.

But Luna… sweet, innocent Luna, did not seem to have those same concerns. She smaller filly extricated herself from Celestia’s grasp and stepped up to the weeping mare. Luna reached out and gingerly brushed her hoof down Honey’s flank to get her attention. “Mama?”

Honey’s sobs cut off with a start. Slowly, both she and Sprout looked down at the filly with wide, astonished eyes. Luna tilted her head up at them, her eyes showing with confusion and concern. She sat back on her haunches and held her forelegs up, silently asking to be picked up. “Mama.”

Honey sniffled, her eyes wide and unblocked. She mouthed uselessly like a fish for several seconds before gingerly reaching out. Her hooves trembled as she lifted Luna up and held the filly up to her chest. The moment Luna returned the embrace, Honey began to cry again, but this time with a smile. “It’s okay, Luna,” she whispered between sobs, kissing the filly on the side of the head. “It’s okay… mama’s got you.”

Celestia blinked. Mama? As in mommy? That didn’t make any sense. She opened her mouth to correct Luna, to tell her that their mom was still out there somewhere, helping their dad, but the words caught in her throat.

How long had it been since she had last seen her actual mother? It had been an entire year. She could barely even remember her face or her voice. Just her eyes. Those frightened, loving, sky blue eyes, and the cold they had delivered her from. And then she had run off into the snow, barely even a shadowy silhouette. And that had been it. She’d never come back.

It was then that Celestia finally realized it. Her mother was most likely gone. And even if she was still out there somewhere… what did that matter? The ponies in front of her had done so much for her, loved her and her sister, taken care of both of them since they came here. And she would be lying if she said she didn’t love them back.

And so, with a small smile on her face, Celestia moved forward and joined the hug as best as she could. She felt Honey and Sprout both draping their forelegs over her and pulling her close. She looked up at them with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry I scared you, mommy. Daddy. I won’t do it again.”

Honey sniffled and gave Celestia a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay… I’m just glad you’re safe…”

Not long after that, Sprout led the way back home. Celestia was placed on his back, while Luna rode on Honey’s. There wasn’t much talking. For, as joyous as their reunion was, the fact remained that all of them were tired, drained, and eager to just go home and rest. Plus, Celestia knew without a doubt that she was going to be punished in some way. It was upsetting, and seeing her new family so sad and scared for her well-being had made it sting worse, killing what little of a good mood she had been able to salvage from their reunion.

By the time they were emerging back into their house’s clearing, it was dark out. The moon was full, thankfully, affording them some limited visibility. Enough to navigate, at least. As they emerged from beneath the boughs, Luna looked up at the sky. She gave out a few wondering sounds, reaching up at the heavens as if to pluck the stars from them. The full moon was reflected in her eyes.

“Alright, we’re home,” Sprout said once they passed inside. He sighed and lowered Celestia down to the ground. She hopped off without a word. Time for her punishment. Best to take it like a mare, she decided.

Honey closed the door behind them and slumped against it with a relieved sigh. Her eyes then turned back to look at Celestia. She didn’t say a word at first. She turned to Sprout and passed Luna off to him before marching up to Celestia and standing tall over her. “Celestia…”

Celestia looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry…”

“I know you are, sweetie,” Honey said, her voice just so incredibly tired. “You scared us half to death. I am glad you’re okay, believe me, I am, but you can’t just go off on your own like that. You could have gotten hurt.”

“I know,” Celestia replied. “I won’t do it again.”

“I sure hope not…” Honey said. She sagged in place and shook her head. “And now we come to the hard part… Celestia… you… you’re grounded.”

Celestia tilted her head to one side. “...Grounded?” she asked, her young mind trying to make sense of the new word.

Sprout cleared his throat and spoke up. “Yep. You’re not allowed to leave your room for the next three days.”

Celestia nodded. That sounded fair to her. If anything, she was getting off pretty easy—wait a minute. She looked up at Sprout, confusion on her face. “...What?”

Sprout grinned at her. “What? Did you think that room I’ve been building all week was for storage?”

Celestia’s brain basically shut down at that. She tilted her head to the side, trying and failing to process this revelation. When she finally managed to find her words, they came out far less gracefully and far more derpily than she would have liked. “I have a room?”

“Well, yeah. You’re part of the family, and you’re a growing filly. You’re a bit big for the crib now, don’t you think?” Sprout asked before nodding at the new door. “It was supposed to be a surprise present. Now I guess it’s just a surprise, though, since, ya know, you’re grounded.”

A second passed. Celestia’s emotions were a scrambled mess as she tried to figure out just how she was supposed to feel about this. Apparently, the look on her face was funny to at least one pony in the room, as Luna began to giggle at her. Celestia felt her cheeks heating up, and she puffed up her cheeks in an indignant pout.

“Hey! Why is she laughing at me?!”

Sprout smirked. “Cause you’re making a funny face?”

Honey turned to Sprout and lightly swat him on the shoulder. “Really, Sprout? I’m trying to be serious, here!”

Sprout shrugged. “Hey, cut me some slack. It’s not like there’s a lot here we can take away from her as punishment, you know! And besides, with the day she’s had, I think she’s already learned her lesson, and she could use a nice, comfy bed to herself.”

Celestia’s attention was drawn back to the bed. Her eyes lit up as she spun to face the new room. “Is it ready?” she asked curiously, wondering just what lay beyond those wooden planks.

“Yup,” Sprout answered.

Celestia grinned and let out a celebratory giggle. “Yay! I’ll go to bed right now!” she declared before breaking into a sprint. She heard Honey and Sprout playfully bickering over something, but she didn’t pay them any mind. She had a new room now! All to herself! That more than made up for her being grounded!

The door swung open without a fuss. It wasn’t exactly heavily decorated yet, but already Celestia loved it. There was a bed that was big enough to house a full-grown pony against both the right and left far corners with an end table situated between them. A window was set into the wall above said end table, curtains still open to let her see the world outside. A lantern was planted on the end table in case she needed to get up in the middle of the night, she assumed.

Without hesitation, she bounded for the bed on the right, officially claiming it as her own. The mattress squeaked under her weight, and she giggled as it bounced her back up. She jumped on it a few times, feeling her stresses and anxieties bleeding away with every bounce. She went at it for a few minutes, slowly rotating in place. It wasn’t until her third revolution that she spotted Honey standing in the doorway, staring pointedly at her.

“I thought you were going to bed.”

Celestia stopped bouncing and immediately plopped onto her haunches. “Oh… right. Sorry,” she apologized. She turned and pulled the blankets back, sliding under them. They were soft and fluffy, easing even more of her discomfort and soothing the aches in her muscles as she got comfy.

Honey came up to her bedside as she was getting comfortable. She sat down beside her and set a hoof on the edge of the mattress. “Do you like it?” she asked.

Celestia nodded, pulling the blankets up to her chin and getting comfy on the pillow. “Uh-huh. I love it. Tell daddy I said thank you.”

Honey paused, her eyes widening. She then smiled and nodded. “Of course. I will… Now, get some sleep, okay?” She leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on Celestia’s forehead, right below her horn.

Celestia nodded. The bed was already sapping what little energy she had left. She’d had a busy day, and now her body demanded sleep. She let out a large yawn as her eyes drifted closed. “Okay, mommy… goodnight. I love you,” she whispered without even really thinking about it.

The last thing she heard before sleep claimed her was Honey’s voice whispering in answer. “I love you, too, Celestia… Sweet dreams.”

IV - The Two Sisters

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It took a harrowing experience and the fear of loss for Sprout and Honey to realize that they cherished the foals as if they were their own. Though there was no blood connecting them, they loved one another with all their hearts all the same. And for a long, long time, they were all happy to just live their lives...

Celestia grunted with effort, her horn sparking with golden light. The log in front of her shifted in place slightly and raised an inch or so off the ground. A bead of sweat formed on her brow. She could feel the strain in her horn from the effort of lifting something so heavy. Her legs began to bend as if under an incredible weight, and her teeth ground together.

Sprout stood beside her, watching intently. “You sure you got that?” he asked with a raised eyebrow and a playful smirk.

Celestia snorted. “I got it, dad,” she answered. She poured more power into her horn and screwed her eyes shut. “Come on, log!” she thought, growling with strain. “Move!”

Finally, finally, she managed to lift it up to where she needed it to be. Moving quickly, she floated it over and deposited it into the wagon hitched to Sprout’s back. The log landed with a thunk, making the wagon rock and groan under the stress. The far end of the log rose up behind Sprout’s wagon. All it needed was a flag or something and it’d make for the world’s thickest banner.

Sprout let out a low whistle, then gave Celestia a far more appreciative smile. He reached over to ruffle her pink mane, making her laugh. “Well, I’ll be darned. You’re getting better with that thing!” he said cheerfully. “Good job!”

Celestia playfully swatted his hoof away, then shot him a big grin. “Heh. Thanks, dad.”

Sprout smiled back down at her. His eyes turned up to look at the sky, and his smile faltered. “Ah. It’s getting late. We should probably be heading back,” he said.

Celestia turned them to the log. It had taken all of her might to lift the hefty thing, and Celestia was beginning to wonder if Sprout could actually pull it. She turned to her adoptive father with a furrowed brow. “You sure you can pull that? It’s pretty heavy.”

Sprout answered by setting into motion, pulling the wagon back onto the path. The wheels clattered and groaned under the stress, but he made good progress. He flashed her a big grin over his shoulder. “You got the funky magic stuff, but I got the muscle!”

Celestia pouted at him, cantering to catch up. “Oh yeah? Well, I can fly!” she flared her wings for emphasis. “I got you beat by two!”

“Maybe you do,” Sprout answered slowly. He leaned down to grin in her face. “But we both know I got more experience.”

Celestia gaped at him. Oh, the nerve of this adult! She thrust her nose up in a display of mock indignity, drawing another laugh from him. Sprout reached over to ruffle her mane yet again, earning a disgruntled whine from her.

In the seven years since Celestia and Luna were taken in, both of them had grown considerably. Celestia was now about half as tall as Sprout, her horn just brushing the underside of his shoulder. Her wings were a lot larger now than they had been before, allowing her to take to the skies with ease.

Today she had left their isolated mountain forest home to harvest trees for firewood in the future. This had been the first time Celestia was allowed to tag along to help him load the wagon. It was a task she had taken to with much enthusiasm, the roots of that interest beginning with her old fascination with her father’s work around their home, and the many times she had offered to help however she could.

She eyed the big log again. It was large, albeit far from the largest they could have gone for. She had a feeling Sprout had decided to fell a smaller tree out of a desire to not overwork Celestia. She had had to work herself to the bone, strengthening her magic, just to get him to bring her along for this task in the first place.

A thought occurred to her, and she glanced up at Sprout. “So how come we can’t use this wood for firewood right now?” she asked curiously.

Sprout glanced back at it. “Ah, well, you see, fresh wood like this tends to have a lot of moisture or something in it. So when ya light it up, it makes a lot of smoke. Great for signal fires or if you wanna choke somepony to death, but not all that good for a household fireplace. We gotta let it dry out first before we can use it for the hearth. We’ll probably be using this wood next winter.”

Celestia nodded slowly in understanding. “Ooooh, I gotcha.”

The two walked on in silence for a while, following the well-worn path that Sprout had pressed into the dirt from his many trips through the woods. Celestia looked up and took a deep breath, allowing the smell of pine trees to fill her lungs. The cool air was invigorating, reminding her of the fact that they had only just left winter behind a few weeks ago.

It came as a relief to both her and her sister that the warmth was coming back. As the only ones with wings, it often fell to them to manage the weather over the land so Sprout’s crops could grow in peace. And with their altitude being so high and their location so remote, the weather was often challenging to wrestle into obedience. They had managed, but it had been challenging.

The shafts of sunlight striking through the branches told her it was getting on towards dinner time. They had a substantial haul, and Celestia was only too eager to get back and chow down on some of Honey’s cooking. A spring of excitement entered her step at the prospect, and her stomach audibly growled in anticipation. Sprout eyed her from the side and chuckled in amusement.

“Heh. Hungry there?”

“Yup. So are you.”

“I am not.”

Growl.

Celestia shot Sprout a knowing smirk. “Are too.”

Sprout laughed again, playfully shoving Celestia. “Heh, you little twerp. Okay, fine, I admit it, I’m hungry.”

The two shared another laugh before lapsing back into peaceful silence. The trees thinned out slightly, and soon enough they crested the top of a slope, and the clearing they called home came into view. Honey was on the porch at the moment, looking to just be enjoying the late afternoon quiet and fresh air.

Sprout heaved a relieved sigh at the sight of the house. “Finally,” he said. Once they were clear of the trees, he threw his hoof into the air and waved in greeting. “Hey, hon! We’re back!”

Honey looked up and quickly rose from her seat. She cantered out to meet them, her wide eyes glued onto their haul of wood. “My goodness… Did Celestia gather all of that?” she asked in shock.

Celestia puffed up with pride. “Uh-huh!” she declared, pressing a hoof up to her chest. “I put it all in the wagon!”

“She did, aye,” Sprout answered, unhitching himself. “That horn of hers is a scary thing. But I did all the chopping.”

Honey smiled at that. Once Sprout was fully unhitched from the wagon, she walked forward and wrapped her forelegs around him in a welcoming embrace. Celestia gagged in mock disgust when the two shared a quick, happy kiss.

Sprout pulled back a second later. “So, how have things been back here?” he asked.

Honey untangled herself from the hug and looked off to the side, a softer look coming onto her face. “It’s been pretty quiet. Luna spent most of the day helping me out around the house before heading to her room.”

Sprout hummed at that. “Good to hear.”

Honey nodded, then turned to Celestia. She knelt down until she was at eye level with the foal and held out her hooves. Celestia took the hint and shot forward, wrapping Honey up in a warm hug of her own. Honey smiled and buried her face in Celestia’s long, wild pink mane. “Mmm. Did you have fun out there?” she asked after a moment.

Celestia nodded eagerly. “Uh-huh!” she chirped before pulling back. “I had a lot of fun! I wanna help him again next time he goes out to collect wood or build something!”

“Heh. We’ll see,” Sprout replied, ruffling her mane for the umpteenth time that day. “Just don’t overwork yourself, you hear? You’re ten.”

Celestia pouted at him, her wings ruffling at her sides. “So?” she asked indignantly.

“So,” Sprout replied with a roll of his eyes. “You’re still growing, ya know? Don’t wanna go breaking anything because you overdid it, now do ya?”

Celestia frowned. She wouldn’t overdo it! She was better than that! A lot better than that! Nevertheless, she nodded in understanding. It wouldn’t do to go bickering with him about it.

Celestia withdrew from her hug with Honey at this point, who chuckled at the exchange and rose to her full height. She smiled down at Celestia and nudged her toward the house. “Now, why don’t you go on inside and play with Luna? I need to talk to Sprout for a second,” she said.

Celestia didn’t even think to question what her adoptive family would need to talk about. She smiled, nodded, and galloped into the home. The interior was much as it had always been. The door to her and Luna’s room was standing slightly ajar as Celestia approached. Drawing near to it, she slowed down, being sure to keep her steps quiet. She didn’t want to startle her scaredy-cat of a sister. She leaned forward and carefully nudged the door open with an audible creak. The room beyond was dark. The curtains had been drawn shut, drowning out the sunlight.

Celestia’s eyes were drawn to the bed on the right, and her smile grew. She saw no fillies, but she did see a large lump under the sheets of the bed. They were shifting slightly, and Celestia could just make out the sound of wood scraping against wood, and a quiet voice whispering to itself.

Celestia’s grin grew, and she cleared her throat to announce her presence. The bundle jerked before shooting upright, throwing the blankets off. Celestia giggled at the sight of her beloved little sister, Luna, looking back at her with her big, turquoise eyes. Her pale blue mane was a disheveled mess, and there were two of Sprout’s carved wooden toys held in her hooves.

Celestia leaned against the door frame and tossed her mane. “Hey, sis. Hiding in the dark again?” she asked knowingly.

Luna’s eyes lit up. She cast aside the toys and leaped from her bed to charge and tackle Celestia. The two fillies giggled merrily as they fell to the floor, hugging each other tight. Luna leaned back a second later to paw at Celestia’s chest. “You’re back!” she said with a wide smile. “I missed you, Tia!”

Celestia rolled her eyes and nudged Luna back. “Heh. Lu, I was gone for a couple hours, at most,” she said. “Not that long.”

“It felt longer to me!” Luna protested, pawing at Celestia again in spite of her insistent nudging. “A lot longer!”

Celestia chuckled. She wrapped her foreleg over Luna’s shoulders, pulling the smaller filly close and into a headlock. Luna yipped in alarm and squirmed as Celestia began to give her sister an affectionate noogie. “Yeah, yeah, you can never stand it when I’m gone, huh?” she asked.

Luna kicked and struggled, but Celestia had always been far stronger. “Sis! Haha, hey, lemme go!” she protested, trying to sound angry through her giggles.

Celestia waited a little bit before she relented, allowing Luna free from her grasp. The two were quiet for a moment, with Luna calming down from her giggles and Celestia just watching her. Her heart warmed and fluttered at the sight of her sister’s delight, and she could not stop the smile from spreading on her face.

As much as she loved to help Sprout out or play weird games with him, nothing gave her more happiness than seeing Luna smile and laugh. Nothing made her feel more whole or complete.

A few seconds passed before Luna held a hoof up to pinch at her nose, a mischievous look in her eyes. Celestia tilted her head. She did not like that look.

“You stink,” Luna remarked.

Celestia’s wings unfurled slightly, an undignified squawk coming out of her. She was unable to resist the urge to smell at her pits. The stench of old sweat was unmistakable. Still, Celestia shook her head vehemently. “I-I do not!”

“You stink,” Luna repeated with a giggle. “You’re all sweaty.”

Celestia’s cheeks puffed up. She lowered her chest to the ground and gave her tail a few flicks, like a cat about to pounce on its prey. Luna got the look on her face of a filly who now regretted her recent life decisions.

“Okay, let’s make you stink too, then!” Celestia declared before pouncing on her baby sister.

Luna squealed in delight as the two barreled head-over-hooves into their room. Celestia had Luna pinned on the ground and began to mercilessly tickle her sides while using her larger body to keep Luna pinned and spread as much stink as she could. Luna squirmed and fought back as hard as she was able.

Eventually, Luna managed to squirm free of Celestia’s grasp. She quickly jumped up onto her bed and spun to face Celestia. “Meanie!” she snapped in spite of her huge grin. She leaned down to sniff at herself and gagged.

Celestia grinned triumphantly. “See? Now you are the stinky one!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Yuh-huh!”

“Well, you’re still stinky!” Luna barked, jabbing a hoof at Celestia.

Celestia gasped. The sheer audacity! The nerve! There was only one response to such a scandalous remark! She leaped up onto her own bed and grabbed her pillow in her golden magic aura. “I am not!”

Luna lifted hers in turn. “Yes, you are!”

Celestia thrust her hoof at Luna. “This means war, little filly!”

Luna raised her pillow up high. “Okay! CHARGE!”

The two fillies leaped at one another, pillows brandished and ready for a battle of the ages. And as the first epic clash of the filly stink wars began, Celestia used her magic to close the door to their room so they could beat each other senseless with their pillows in peace.

After a long and brutal pillow fight, Celestia and Luna withdrew from their room to the startled and exasperated laughter of Sprout and Honey. They might have possibly gotten just a little bit carried away in their little struggle. Both Luna and Celestia had emerged from their room covered in pillow stuffing, and quite messy and sweaty to boot. Not that anypony could prove it wasn’t Luna’s fault, dad!

Regardless, the two had been taken down to a nearby river to wash themselves off by Sprout while Honey got dinner ready. The two had splashed at each other, but only a little bit this time. Their impromptu pillow fight had drained them of much of their energy. It was worth it, though, for how fun it was.

Sprout looked the dastardly duo over with a skeptical look as they continued to rinse in the stream. After a few more moments, he nodded in contentment and nodded his head back. “Alright, you little rascals, let’s go. Food’s probably ready, and I reckon you’re clean now.”

Celestia turned and nodded. With a small flap of her wings, she jumped from the water and shook herself dry, Luna following shortly after. Once the two were prepared, Sprout gestured, and the trio made their way back to the house.

“What’s mom making for dinner?” Celestia asked, following alongside Sprout with an eager bounce in her step. “I’m starving.”

“I remember,” Sprout chuckled, glancing down at her. “I think she’s making vegetable stew tonight, nothing fancy.”

“Are there carrots?” Luna asked with distaste evident on her face.

Sprout shrugged. “If there are, I expect you to eat ‘em, little missy.”

Luna stuck her tongue out with a comical ‘blegh’ sound. Celestia giggled at her expense but did not say anything on the matter. As amusing as it was that her little sister didn’t care for carrots, it wasn’t like she was in any position to criticize her for it when she could barely stomach grapes.

The journey passed without incident, and the trio stepped in through the front door of the home before long. Celestia walked face-first into a wall of wonderful, mouth-watering smells, making her eyes shine and her stomach growl. Her eyes shot over to the counter, where Honey was just pouring the contents of the cauldron into a series of bowls.

“The kids are clean!” Sprout announced, closing the door behind him.

Honey set down the ladle and turned to him with a warm smile. She then looked down at the foals. “I see that. They’re a little puffy, aren’t they?” she asked, snickering into a hoof.

Celestia pouted. “Wha- hey!” she whined, but still looked down at herself. To her dismay, she was, indeed, quite puffy. She had been since she jumped out of the water and dried herself off earlier.

A collection of amused titters went around the room, causing her to blush slightly. Her horn lit up with magic and she was quick to force her fur to lay flat, making her glow like a little sun for a second or two as she worked her magic. Once she was satisfied that she no longer looked like a particularly pouty cloud, she cantered to the table and took a seat. Luna was close behind her, still snickering in amusement.

Sprout pat her on the back as he took his place to her right at the table. “Heh. Sorry, kiddo, but you’re just too easy to tease.”

Celestia grumbled, shooting him the stinkiest glare she could manage. This in turn only elicited another chuckle out of him. Luna also pat Celestia on the back once she was settled in the seat on her left. Honey came to the table a moment later, setting everyone’s plates down in succession.

“Thank you,” Luna and Celestia said in unison. Celestia’s mouth was positively watering, and she couldn’t find it in herself to wait any longer. She began to eat the moment Honey sat down across from Sprout, savoring the deliciousness of Honey’s cooking. Luna, just beside her, started eating a second later, showing far more restraint. She often sifted through the broth with her spoon as if hunting for undesirable elements to be purged.

Like carrots.

As the family ate, they talked about this and that. Sprout shared his ideas for more things to add to the house or the grounds around it, Honey shared ideas for new recipes she wanted to try, and Luna and Celestia chimed in with what little input their young minds could provide. There was the occasional round of banter and teasing thrown in every conceivable direction, drawing laughs, snorts, and agitated pouts from everypony at that table at least once.

It was nice. It was everything Celestia wanted. Her family by her side, a warm dinner filling her belly, the satisfaction of having made herself useful around the house and the surrounding land, and the joy of just getting to have all of this to begin with. The joy of having Sprout and Honey here to care for her and her sister, to make them smile and laugh and be there for them when they needed somepony to.

“Unlike some ponies...”

Celestia paused when that bitter thought crossed her mind. She shook her head to dismiss it outright. There was no longer any point in thinking about her. Celestia had waited, and nothing had come of it. This was her family, now, and they were perfect. They were all she needed.

The family didn’t stay up long after eating. Celestia and Luna had helped Honey tidy up around the house before bed, and Sprout had seen fit to tell them a story before tucking them into their beds for the night. It was a story about his time with the Earth Pony tribe before he met Honey, and about their constant bickering and squabbling with the two other tribes.

He talked about how the Pegasi was more often than not a group of elitist, militant brutes who were only kept from outright invading the lands of the other tribes by the raw physical might of the earth ponies, while the unicorns were made up of snobby, self-entitled mooks who turned their nose up at anything with a speck of dirt on it. They got so absorbed in their ‘refinement’ and ‘intelligence’ that they overthought basically everything, and the practical concerns of dealing with the pegasi were one of the only things that kept them in check.

He talked about how the three tribes, in spite of their constant infighting, depended on each other to survive. How the unicorns were responsible for raising and lowering the sun and moon in order to maintain the cycle of day and night. How the pegasi tended to the sky, bringing rain and wind and snow to maintain the cycle of the seasons. How the earth ponies tended the land, tilling the fields and growing the crops that kept the ponies of all tribes on their hooves.

Celestia listened with fascination and interest, but not so much because of the actual content of the story. She already knew why Sprout and Honey had left the tribes behind to live up here in the mountains away from everypony else. She was more interested in hearing about the other ponies in general.

In all the time she had lived here, Sprout, Honey, and Luna were the only ponies she had seen face to face, and only one of them had either wings or a horn. It had never really occurred to her all that much in the past, but now that she was thinking about it, there was something she wanted to know.

“Hey, dad?” she asked, interrupting him just as he was explaining how the pegasi had once tried to extort his old farm for more crops.

He turned to her with a curious look. “Hm? Yes, Tia?”

She shifted slightly and sat up in bed, letting her wings unfurl slightly. She lifted a hoof to touch at her horn, bringing emphasis to the extra appendages. “What about me and Luna? What are we called?” she asked. She racked her brain, trying to think of the name, but she had never actually heard Sprout or Honey refer to anypony else like her and Luna before.

Sprout blinked. “Oh. Uh… well, that is the question, isn’t it?” he asked with a weak chuckle.

Luna tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

Sprout shifted in his place between the two beds. “Well… see, the thing is, Honey and I don’t actually know what you two are called. You’re the only case of ponies with wings and a horn we’ve ever heard of, much less seen. We’ve kinda just taken to calling you ‘winged unicorns,’ but somehow, I get the feeling that’s not quite right.”

Celestia pursed her lips in thought, furrowing her brow at that. Winged Unicorns, huh? Bit of a mouthful, wasn’t it? There was probably another, proper name for them, but it didn’t really matter all that much. They were the only two that there were if Sprout’s assessment was to be believed. In truth, they could probably name themselves. But with her mind starting to wander off to sleep, she didn’t have it in her to think of a good name right now, and so she let her head fall back onto her pillow.

“So… does that make Tia and I snobs and brutes?” Luna suddenly asked, her eyes slowly widening.

Celestia looked over to see Sprout staring at Luna as if she had grown a new head. “W-what?!” he asked with a confused laugh. “Why would you be a snob or a brute?”

“Because pegasi are brutes and unicorns are snobs,” Luna reiterated, her wings twitching under her blankets. “And Tia and I are unicorns with wings. So are we…?”

There was a beat of silence before Sprout openly laughed. He leaned over and kissed Luna on the forehead, right above her horn, drawing a smile out of her. “Nah. you’re not snobs or brutes. You’re our little sun and moon. You’re sweet and wonderful, and we’re so glad to have you here to brighten up our days.”

Luna giggled at the kiss, then tilted her head slightly. “But… are all the unicorns snobs?” she asked after a moment. “Are all the pegasi brutes?”

Sprout paused at that, then shrugged his shoulders. “Honestly? There are probably good ponies in both of those batches, but I haven’t met many of them myself. Not that it matters,” he reached down and booped Luna’s nose, drawing another giggle out of her. “Because Honey and I are raising you two right.”

Luna giggled, then reached up to hug Sprout around the neck. “Thanks, daddy. I love you.”

Sprout returned the hug with a foreleg before pulling back. “And I love you, too. Both of you,” he said. He then turned for the window and glanced outside. He cringed. “Oh, and that moon is really high. It’s time for you two to get some sleep.”

“Aaaw, but stories,” Luna whined, then yawned in epic fashion.

Sprout shook his head. “Nah, kid. Sorry. More stories tomorrow, though. Deal?”

Luna grumbled quietly, burying her face into her pillow. A second later she spoke up. “Deal.”

Sprout nodded, satisfied. He turned to ensure Celestia was tucked in, then made for the door. “Sleep well, you two. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight, dad!” Celestia called after him as he pulled the door shut, plunging the room into darkness.

Celestia lay there in silence, allowing her mind to wander as sleep slowly crept up on her. She thought back on Sprout’s words about the other tribes, and about how she and Luna weren’t like the pegasi or unicorns. She could only assume it was because they had been raised by earth ponies, and so the elitism and brutishness of the others hadn’t had a chance to take any root in her mind.

Whatever the case, Celestia smiled. She was glad to know she was just fine the way she was, and the way Luna had smiled on being told the same was heartwarming in the extreme. She allowed that mental image to fill her mind as she finally began to drift off to sleep…

...Only for the rustling of Luna’s blankets to draw her back to the waking world. Confused, Celestia cracked open an eye to see her little sister slinking out of bed. She moved slowly and quietly, so as to not make any noise, though she was failing quite spectacularly. Celestia didn’t move, merely watched as Lun tip-toed across the room and, with a flick of her magic, quietly opened the window. The room began to cool as the night air slipped in.

Celestia couldn’t help but smile. “This again?” she thought in amusement. It had become something of a ritual, and she found herself wondering when, if ever, her little sister would grow out of it.

Luna unfurled her wings and flew out through the window. She vanished from view, and Celestia could hear the subtle creak of the wooden ceiling. She lay there for another couple of minutes before slipping out of bed herself. She stretched and then took to the air, flying up and out of the window. The cool night air rippled through her mane, and her eyes closed for a second as she took it in. She let out a quiet, pleased sigh as she climbed in altitude, then opened them to begin her descent.

She looked down and spotted Luna sitting on the roof of their bedroom, her eyes upturned toward the stars. Celestia smiled softly and entered into a slow, descending glide. She alighted on the roof behind Luna, giving her wings a few final flaps to keep her steady. She didn’t say anything. She simply walked up to Luna’s side and sat down.

The two sat there in total silence for quite some time. Luna’s eyes remained fixated on the stars and, in particular, the great crescent moon that presently hung in the middle of it all. Her lips were pulled back into a small, gentle smile, and her eyes shimmered with awe, wonder, and what could only be described as love.

“They’re dancing again,” Luna whispered, nodding up at the sky. “See?”

Celestia hummed, draping a wing over Luna’s back to keep her warm. She looked up at the sky, focusing on the stars. They were shimmering and twinkling softly, as they usually did. Luna had long taken to calling their shimmers their ‘dance.’ She leaned into her sister’s side. “I see. Beautiful as always.”

Luna’s smile grew, but she didn’t say anything else. The two were content to sit there in idle silence for quite a long time. It felt like hours. The moon slowly inched across the sky. The night air grew steadily cooler as any leftover warmth from the sun bled away into that cool, inky abyss. The silence was periodically punctured by the hoots of owls or the calls of nocturnal animals.

A chill breeze washed over them, and Luna shuddered. Celestia pulled her closer and nuzzled into her mane, sharing their body heat. A thought occurred to her, and she smiled. “Hey, wanna sleep up here tonight?” she asked enticingly.

Luna gasped, pulling back. “But, but, mom and dad don’t like it when we do that!” she protested. “And what if it rains?”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Please, I cleared the clouds out this morning. There’s not gonna be any rain. We’ll be fine. And besides…” she looked back up at the heavens, smiling wider. “I dunno about you, but I kinda wanna watch them dance some more. Can’t do that inside, though.”

Luna was quiet for a few more moments. She then gave a small nod and smile. “O-okay. Alright.”

Celestia beamed. She reached out to ruffle her sister’s hair, then leaped from the rooftop. Moving quickly, she gathered up their pillows and blankets from their room, along with the spares from their end table, and then came back up to the roof. In a few moments, she and Luna were snuggled up together in a cocoon of blankets, their heads resting back on their pillows, and their sleepy eyes glued to the heavens.

It was peaceful that night, and Celestia found herself falling asleep even faster than she had been in her bed. Whether or not it was because of the soothing light of the stars, or the warmth of her sister cuddling up to her, though, she did not know. All she could be sure of was that she was beyond happy that night, bathed in the light of the moon and her sister’s warmth.

V - Cold Omen

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With time, the foals began to grow and flourish as individuals. The elder sister was energetic, loud, playful, and mischievous. She spent her days aiding their new parents around the home. The younger was quiet, thoughtful, and proper. She chose to remain indoors most days, too small to do as much as her sister...

“How much longerrrr?” Celestia wined pathetically from her place at the table. Her chair had been turned around to face the hearth and counter, and Luna sat beside her, appearing far less anxious.

Honey smiled at Celestia’s question and gave an exasperated titter. “Be patient, Celestia. Luna’s loaf is almost ready,” she said with a simple nod towards the counter. Celestia followed her adoptive mother’s gesture to see the two hidden loaves of bread hidden beneath a loose cloth; the fruits of both her and Luna’s labors. The smell of fresh bread had long ago filled the cozy interior of the home, and Celestia’s stomach was starting to growl intensely.

Luna looked sideways at Celestia as she once again fidgeted, a far less amused look on her face. “I still dunno why you wanted to make this a competition…” she muttered quietly, a lock of her blue mane falling in front of her face.

Celestia turned back to Luna. Her little sister had grown considerably in the last two years. She had a skinny frame at this point, an indication of her light diet and lack of intense physical exercise. Her mane and tail had grown out slightly, and her wings were now easily large enough to keep her aloft for long periods of time on the rare occasion she was called on to help Celestia deal with the weather.

Celestia, meanwhile, had grown comparatively little in the same time. She still stood a full head shorter than Honey, and even shorter than that compared to Sprout. The twelve-year-old filly’s wings had grown noticeably, though, to the point that Honey and Sprout had confidently told her they were larger than that of most pegasi her age. Although, they had gone on to clarify that they hadn’t actually met pegasi her age, and were simply assuming based on the wings on the adults they had seen in their time.

Celestia stuck out her tongue at Luna. “Cause it’s more fun to do boring stuff when there’s a game attached to it!” she proclaimed enthusiastically.

“Like how you and dad see who can find the most dead plants, or lift the biggest fallen trees?” Luna asked.

Celestia beamed, thinking fondly back on some of her exploits on that front. “Absolutely!”

Luna hummed quietly but did not offer up any other form of response. Celestia frowned at her, wanting to playfully thump her on the shoulder and get her to liven up a little. She resisted the urge, though, and instead refocused on Honey.

The older mare smiled at them again, then turned to the cloth. She eyed it for a few moments and sniffed a few times before turning to look out the nearby window, muzzle scrunching up in thought. She was probably trying to gauge how much time had passed. After a few seconds, she gave a satisfied nod and turned to the cloth. “Alright, kids, I think we’re about ready.”

Celestia immediately focused on the bread, her eyes alight with excitement. “Alright! Crown of the Dough Master, here I come!” she said, shifting eagerly on her haunches.

Luna rolled her eyes and Honey chuckled. Then, with a needlessly fanciful flourish, Honey rolled the cloth down and swiped it off of the bread. Celestia remembered that her loaf had been the one on the right.

The two loaves looked to be largely identical at a first glance, but after staring for a moment, Celestia began to pick out the occasional lumps and bumps marring the shape of Luna’s, while her own was, by and large, relatively uniform. It was obviously a far cry from what Honey could make, but, if nothing else, Celestia’s had a better shape than Luna’s.

A thought confirmed by Honey with a sagely nod. “Well, Celestia, looks like yours has a better shape. Very consistent and even. Luna, yours has more hills and valleys all over. I’m seeing a lot of bumps.”

“Ha! Alright, that’s one win for me!” Celestia cheered, pumping her hoof in victory. Luna glanced sideways at her.

“Well, there’s still two more criteria to get through,” Honey said, stifling her amusement as she moved on to the next one. “Next, let’s see how firm they are.”

Celestia was quick to quiet down, but she was not able to resist the urge to stick her tongue out playfully at Luna. Her younger sister pouted at her and returned the gesture, causing both of them to giggle slightly. A few seconds later, Honey let out a quiet ‘oh my,’ drawing the two foal’s attention.

Celestia blinked. “Wow. Luna, how in the hoof did you manage that?” she asked, pointing at her sister’s loaf. Honey had just cut a slice out of each of the loaves, revealing their insides. Celestia’s was white and fluffy, looking to be about as dense and firm as Honey’s, while Luna’s looked a bit more like someone had taken one of Honey’s loaves of bread and used a fallen tree as a rolling pin to compress it.

“I dunno,” Luna admitted with a shrug.

Honey examined the bread for a few seconds, then shrugged her shoulders. “Well, whatever the case, the bread being hard isn’t necessarily a loss.”

“What?” Celestia exclaimed in confusion. “But, but, mine’s all soft and fluffy! How is that not better?”

“Because some ponies like their bread hard,” Honey replied without missing a beat. “We’ll call this round a tie.”

Celestia crossed her hooves in a childish grump, ignoring how Luna blew a raspberry in her direction. She was definitely gonna get her back for that later if she had any say in the matter.

“And finally, there is the taste test,” Honey declared. She cut two more slices from each loaf, gave one of each slice to both Celestia and Luna, and kept the remaining two for herself. “Now, I want you two to be honest in how you feel about your sister’s bread here, alright? If they did better than you, admit it with grace. If we wind up in a tie, I’ll be the tie-breaker.”

“Because you’re the previous Dough Master?” Luna asked.

Honey nodded. “Of course! Now, Celestia’s first. Take your time, really taste it.”

Celestia resisted the urge to groan. It was pretty evident at this point she was going to win, so why bother with taking their time? No way Luna’s rocky cracker of a loaf of bread tasted better than hers, but she didn’t make the rules; she followed them. So, with a smile, she took a bite out of her bread slice.

“Not as good as mom’s,” she thought with a hum as she chewed. “But still good.”

The trio chewed in silence for a few moments before moving on to Luna’s slices. Celestia eyed the hardened slice in her magic for a few moments, testing its toughness by applying pressure from both sides. It was definitely dense, she had to give it that. And hard. It resisted her efforts to compress it quite impressively. After a few seconds, she shrugged and took a bite.

Crack.

It hurt.

Celestia had to bite excessively hard to pull the chunk of bread away, and it crunched and crumbled in her mouth in the process. The taste wasn’t bad, per se, but it was definitely made a lot less enjoyable by the fact it felt like she was chewing a rock. If she were a dragon, she’d probably rate this bread a lot higher, but as it was? Nah, not a chance.

The room was filled with the crunching of their chewing for a short time before Luna stuck out her tongue in disgust. “Blegh. I’m not a good baker…” she complained.

Celestia glanced over at Luna. “Oh? You mean I win?” she asked, smiling.

Luna nodded, setting her slice down on the table. “Mhmm.”

Celestia grinned, turning back to Honey. “Alright! I win mom, I win!” she said, bouncing eagerly.

Honey chuckled, setting the bread back on the counter. “Yes, yes, I suppose you did,” she acknowledged. “Alright. With the power invested in me as the Dough Master, and as your mother, I hereby confer the title of Dough Master Junior to Celestia!”

Celestia’s heart swelled with pride. She knew it was a basically meaningless title. Heck, she had invented it as a joke when they started this little contest. That didn’t matter, though, when her mother had delivered it in such an authoritative and official-

“Wait a minute.”

Celestia tilted her head. “...Junior?” she asked in disbelief.

Honey’s smirk was one of complete parental mischievousness. “You’re going to have to work a lot longer and harder than that if you want to dethrone me, little miss,” she stated, her words an open challenge and affront to Celestia’s very soul.

“What?! Oh, it is on!” Celestia declared, shooting up to her hooves from the chair and sticking out her chest. “Just name a time! I’ll bake up the best-darned loaf of bread you’ve ever seen! Or cake! Or, or, uh, a bagel!”

Honey snickered at Celestia’s enthusiasm before reaching over and ruffling her mane. “When I’m ready to face you down, you will be the first to know, Celestia. But for now, let’s just enjoy the fruits of your labors, hm?”

“I won’t say no to that,” Celestia replied, hopping back up onto the chair. Luna nodded in agreement, and the two foals waited patiently for Honey to cut them more of Celestia’s bread. It had long been a practice that Honey dished out the food servings because Celestia would take too much for herself and Luna would take literally anything else.

Like a dragonfly. Celestia did so still love to tease her about that.

The trio fell into idle chit chat once the bread was evenly distributed. Celestia dug into her slices with gusto. She asked Honey for pointers on how she could do better next time and listened intently as she was regaled with tips and tricks on how much to add to the dough, how long to let the dough rise, how long to let it bake, and so on.

The front door of the home suddenly swung open, drawing Celestia’s attention. Sprout walked in with a smile on his face. “Hey, girls. You all having fun in here without me?” he asked.

Honey turned to him with a smile. “Just enjoying some bread your daughters made.”

Celestia shot up in her seat, propping her hooves on the tabletop. “Mine was better than Luna’s!” she declared emphatically. “I’m the dough master!”

“Junior,” Honey corrected, drawing a pout of indignation from Celestia. Honestly, would it be that bad to just let her have the title?! She came up with it!

Sprout laughed at the exchange. “Ha. Well, I hope you all saved some slices for me!” he said cheerily. He wiped his hooves in front of the door and cantered for the table, ready and eager to partake in the freshly-baked meal.

In short order, he had joined the others at the table and similarly joined in on the conversation as he was given some bread of his own to nibble on. Honey sat beside him. “So, how was your work out there today?” she eventually asked.

“Pretty much the same as normal. A little colder than usual, but eh, nothing too bad,” he replied with a shrug. “Was weird, though. When I first went out there I thought I heard something out in the forest. Lots of snorting and grunting and shuffling around. Went quiet before long, though.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Maybe it was an animal?”

“Probably. Dunno what kind, though,” Sprout said with a sage nod. “But enough about me. This bread…”

He held up one of Luna’s slices, eliciting a timid squeak from the blue filly. Sprout gave her a questioning look. “When did we start making rocks?”

Luna whined pathetically from the quip, and Celestia could only snicker at her expense.

From there, the family’s conversation devolved into small talk, and the day continued as normal. Once their bread was consumed, the leftovers were stored away for later, and Honey set about her self-appointed task of tidying up around the home. Luna retired to her room for a while, while Celestia opted to spend some time with Sprout, watching him work a small knife against a piece of wood he had brought inside.

Slowly but surely, he was chiseling the piece of wood into a shape. According to him, it was going to be a pony when he was done, but right now it really just looked like a block with some legs and a lump coming out the top. The details would come with time, Sprout assured her.

The hours slowly ticked by, the sun inching ever so slowly across the horizon. Eventually, Celestia retreated to her room to spend some time with Luna. The younger sister had the curtains drawn, as per the usual, enjoying her seclusion in the dark and the quiet. Celestia simply lay beside her and kept quiet as Luna played with little wooden figures that Sprout had carved for her a long time ago.

Eventually, the light outside began to grow dim. Celestia looked up at the window, trying to gauge what time it was. They probably had another hour or two of light, if she were guessing right. Maybe a little longer. It varied from time to time, depending on the ‘whims of the unicorns’ according to Sprout. It fascinated Celestia that they could move the sun and moon with their magic alone, and she sometimes caught herself wondering if she would ever be able to pull off something like that.

She blinked. “Huh… that’s weird,” she said, breaking the long silence that had been filling the room.

Luna turned to her, still lightly clacking her figures together in a childish imitation of an epic, honorable duel. “What is it?”

Celestia pointed at the window and pulled the curtain back a little with her magic, just enough to give a better view. “Look. The light. It’s getting dark.”

“Well, yeah,” Luna replied, tilting her head. “It’s almost night, isn’t it?”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Well, yeah, duh, but look,” she said, pointed more emphatically. Luna looked and finally saw what Celestia was pointing out, if the tilt of her head was anything to go off.

The world outside was turning darker far faster than it should have on a regular day. The colors outside were steadily becoming more muted as well, with ominous shadows rolling over from time to time.

“Clouds?” Celestia finally asked, sitting up.

“But… didn’t we clear them all out yesterday?” Luna asked, sitting up and shrinking back. “There shouldn’t be any more.”

As if in answer, a single drop of water suddenly splattered against the window. It was followed shortly by another, and another. Soon, sheets of rain were coming down in uneven patterns, pummeling the roof and filling the room with a low, rumbling white noise.

The door to the room suddenly opened up, and Sprout poked his head in. “Hey, you two seen what’s going on outside?” he asked.

Luna nodded. “It’s raining,” she said quietly, shifting closer to Celestia as if she were nervous.

“Hard,” Celestia added, jerking her head toward the window.

Sprout nodded. “Yup. A bunch of wild clouds just rolled in. Now, I’m all for my crops getting plenty of rain and all that, but this is a bit much.”

Celestia, already seeing where this was going, turned and jumped down from the bed. “Lemme guess; you want us to take care of it?”

“Well, before it gets dark, preferably,” Sprout replied. “Don’t want my plants getting waterlogged, or for you two to get lost. This rain’s pretty cold, too, so don’t stay out so long that you end up sick, alright?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow and frowned. “It’s cold?”

“Well, more cold than usual, at least,” Sprout replied with a shrug. “Rather not run the risk of it waterlogging my plants, or killing them with such a sudden drop in temperature.”

Celestia frowned. How odd that there would be cold rain coming in now of all times. They were sliding into summer, weren’t they? She eventually shrugged her shoulder dismissively. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that the weird weather was causing a problem, and she and her sister were needed to fix it. “Sure, we can do that. C’mon, Lulu.”

Luna hesitated, lingering on the edge of the bed. “B-but, isn’t the weather usually really nice this time of year?” she asked anxiously. “I mean, it’s almost summer, isn’t it? All the bad weather’s gone, and Tia and I got rid of all the clouds yesterday.”

Sprout shrugged. He stepped aside as Celestia passed him by. “Usually, yeah. Guess the sky had other ideas today, though.”

Celestia’s frown deepened as she passed through the front door of the house and emerged onto the porch. She came out to see Honey already standing there, looking up with an irritated grimace. Celestia looked up into the sky as well to survey the scene. Several darker-than-usual clouds had rolled in, sure enough. They were hovering sporadically over a fairly large area of land, dumping irregular sheets of water. A nipping breeze had accompanied them, whistling through the trees in a way that was unsettling.

Sprout and Luna came out to join her and Honey a second later. Luna blinked a few times before shrinking back, clearly intimidated. Celestia caught sight of this and gave her a big, reassuring grin. She reached over and playfully smacked Luna on the back with her wing. “Come on, Luna, it’s just a few clouds. We’ve busted worse than this before.”

Luna was quiet for a moment, then gave a reluctant nod. “I guess so,” she admitted, moving forward to stand by Celestia’s side. “But… that was always in fall or winter when the weather gets bad.”

Celestia nodded. “Yup. I guess they’re just being stubborn this year,” she said while patting her sister on the back. She turned to give Sprout and Honey a cocky grin. “Don’t worry, dad. We’ll have the sky clear for you in no time.”

“Just be careful, yeah?” Sprout said before she could kick-off. “Maybe I’m just being a paranoid old man like Honey keeps telling me I am, but something just feels weird about those clouds.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “You said it yourself, dad, you’re being paranoid.”

With that, she jumped into the air. She paused a few yards up to make sure Luna was following her. Luna was slower than Celestia, but she caught up soon enough. Celestia nodded at her before the two continued their ascent side by side. She had to squint to see her goal through the rain splattering against her face and soaking into her coat. The urge to shudder from the cold was strong, and the upward flight they were on made it feel much worse.

Celestia began to veer off slightly, aiming for one of the larger clouds. She rotated toward Luna as she went. “Try and break up some of the bigger clouds first, alright?!” she hollered to be heard over the wind in their ears. “It’ll make it easier to get rid of ‘em!”

Luna shouted back an affirmative, though the specific words were lost over the wind. Celestia nodded, grinned encouragingly, and turned her attention back to her intended target. She stretched out her hooves in response to punch right through it, hoping to undo it in one fell swoop.

To her shock, her hooves met with fierce resistance the moment they came into contact with the cloud. The soft, fluffy surface pushed back as if there were a living creature shoving violently against the inside of the cloud. The force generated by her momentum bled away, and she was forced to back off. She came to a hover a few feet away, eyeing the cloud with a bewildered frown.

“Huh?” she asked. That was weird. No cloud she had ever encountered before had been quite this dense, or so quick to stop her in her tracks. Even the densest of snow clouds she had faced only ever gave a moment of resistance at the worst of times. An uneasy feeling began to build up in her gut. She leaned in to inspect the cloud more closely, now that the rain was out of her face. She prodded her hoof experimentally against the tuft a few times.

The cloud was cold to the touch. Bitingly so. Celestia winced and drew back by reflex, considering her opposition. After a few seconds, she took a deep breath, backed up, coiled like a spring, and launched herself for the cloud again. She angled her hooves in front of her like before, but this time she brought them close together. If punching through hadn’t worked, maybe piercing the clouds like she were an arrow would yield better results.

Again, the clouds offered fierce resistance. In fact, if she didn’t know any better, she would say it felt like the cloud fought back harder than before. Celestia’s teeth ground together behind her lips, until finally, finally she was able to punch a hole through the thick, chilly mass.

This time, she shivered uncontrollably as she passed through. A deep chill invaded her body during that brief moment when the cloud’s residue had surrounded her. Her hooves quickly wrapped around her barrel, while her lungs took in an involuntary gasp of air. These clouds were freezing on the inside!

Celestia turned back to look at the lingering wisps of the cloud she had just busted. She had spent far longer on that thing than she considered justifiable. She began to think about how these clouds were different. They were new. A pit of unease formed in Celestia’s gut, and she very quickly began to fear for Luna. If Celestia had struggled with these things, how would her little sister fair against them? She didn’t have experience with all of the hard manual labor that Celestia typically volunteered for.

Celestia darted around the sky, eyes sweeping this way and that, searching for any sign of her sister. To her relief, it did not take long to spot the little filly. She was struggling against one of the clouds, using all of her body’s weight—as little as that was—to try and push it away from the clearing. Like Celestia’s, this one was clearly fighting back against her every effort with unusual ferocity.

Grimacing, Celestia put a bit of extra power into her wings. She outstretched her hooves, angling to pierce it from the side, hoping she could break the cloud up before Luna had a chance to push through it herself. Celestia did not want her sister to feel the sudden chill that she had.

She came in hard and fast, and her hooves met their mark. The cloud, as the last one had, resisted her, but just like before, she was able to punch through after applying sufficient force. She huddled up as she passed through, trying to keep her warmth on the inside as the unspeakable cold washed over her. She shuddered again before turning to a now-confused Luna.

“Tia?” she asked in confusion. “Are you okay?”

“Y-y-yeah,” Celestia chattered out, realizing that she was shaking. She shook herself to kick up her body temperature, and flashed Luna a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Okay…” Luna did not seem convinced, but she did not press the issue. She turned to face the other clouds, her muzzle scrunching up. “I don’t like these clouds… They’re really hard.”

“Tell me about it,” Celestia replied, coming to a stable hover by Luna’s side. There were still plenty of them, and after the trouble the two had gone through just to break up two of the things, it occurred to her that relocation might be the wiser course of action.

Not to mention the cold they contained… She did not want to feel it a third time. Nor did she want to let Luna endure it herself.

“What do we do?” Luna finally asked, drifting a little closer to Celestia’s side.

“Well, we shouldn’t break them, that’s for sure,” Celestia reluctantly admitted. She turned to Luna and nodded. “We’ll just have to move them. It’ll take longer, but it should be safer.”

Luna nodded. “Okay. But they’re really hard to move, too,” she pointed out.

Celestia grunted before angling her head until her neck popped a few times. “Eh. We’ll manage. Now let’s go!”

With that, the two set to work. They stuck close to one another, joining their strength to move the clouds away from their home one at a time. It was a long and laborious process, with each cloud doing its best to stay put and only eventually succumbing to the sisters’ shared physical strength with what could be mistaken as begrudging, malicious compliance.

It didn’t take long for Celestia’s hooves to start going numb. Even without busting the clouds open, the chill they radiated was enough to make her want to shiver. All the while, she grit her teeth and fought the feeling aside, if only so that she appeared strong for Luna.

They took to taking the clouds a ways away from the clearing before giving them harsh kicks to send them drifting even further away. Their flight path routinely took them over the forest. With every pass, Celestia became increasingly aware of just how quiet things had become down there. It was as if the animals and birds were waiting for some horrific beast to pass them by, afraid of alerting it to their presence.

It wasn’t until they were pushing away the final cloud that the silence was broken. Celestia gave off a sigh of relief as they sent it packing. She lifted a numb hoof up to her forehead to wipe away the sweat, then turned to give Luna a warm smile. “And there we go! All done.”

Luna turned to her with a sharp nod. “Mhmm!”

Celestia reached out to give Luna a side hug before turning to head back for the house. “C’mon. Mom and dad are probably wondering what’s up,” she said. “And I’m kinda hungry after all that.”

“Me, too,” Luna agreed, taking a position by Celestia’s side.

“Heh. Maybe mom’s started on dinner.”

“I’d like that.”

The two flew in silence for a short time after that. It was almost dark out now, painting the forest below them in muted, darkened shading. Foreboding shadows pooled in the densest regions, obscuring all within. Celestia tried to keep her eyes on the horizon, looking out for their home. Soon, the house became visible in the distance, and Celestia could pick out the shapes of Sprout and Honey waiting patiently for them in the front yard. She lifted a hoof to wave at them in an ‘all clear’ sign. She saw Sprout waving back, and began to pick up the pace.

Suddenly, Luna looked down towards the forest and came to a stop, her eyes flying wide. “Huh?” she asked in surprise.

“What is it?” Celestia asked, confused. She turned to face Luna in mid-air, then followed her line of sight. There was a clearing down below, not terribly far away from the home. It was dense with bushes and rocks. Looking a little closer, Celestia realized that there were animals resting in it. Ones that she hadn’t seen more than a couple of times in all her time living here. Mountain deer, she thought.

“What are those?” Luna asked, lowering her altitude to get a closer look.

“What- Luna, hey! Come back here!” Celestia protested, flying after her. “Mom and dad are waiting for us!”

“I just wanna take a look!” Luna called back, picking up the pace. Celestia grit her teeth, withholding a groan of exasperation. Luna was a shy and timid little filly, but she was also insufferably curious, and terribly stubborn to boot. It would be foolish to try and dissuade her, and so Celestia opted to simply follow her sister down into the clearing.

“Just don’t get too close, alright? We don’t wanna spook them. Big animals can be dangerous,” Celestia instructed once she caught up to Luna. “We stay in the air.”

“Okay,” Luna agreed with a short nod.

The two continued their descent for a short time, drawing ever closer to the scene. Details began to become clear as they drew in. Celestia’s brow furrowed in confusion. She had never seen animals laying down like that before. There were three mountain deer sprawled haphazardly amidst the bushes, unmoving, and seemingly oblivious to the foals’ presence.

“Woah… look at them!” Luna whispered, pointing between the three deer. “They’re so big!”

“Yeah, they are…” Celestia replied, eyeing the slumbering creatures curiously. It was odd for such creatures to nap in the middle of the day, wasn’t it? What were they doing here?

Suddenly, Luna gagged and clasped her hooves over her muzzle. “Uuegh!” she groaned in disgust. “What is that?!”

“What?” Celestia asked, confused. “What are you-”

The smell hit her like a punch to the teeth. A foul, indescribable odor swam up her nostrils as they descended into the clearing. Her stomach churned with revulsion, and several instinctual red flags flew up in her brain all at once. She stuffed a hoof up to her muzzle to keep in the bread she had eaten earlier, and her eyes began to water.

“It’s bad,” Luna stated the obvious, her voice quivering with queasiness. “Really, really bad.”

“Guh… yeah, I noticed,” Celestia replied, her eyes glued to the still forms of the deer. Somehow, deep down, she knew they weren’t sleeping. She wanted to call this whole thing off right now, but some small part of her mind was morbidly curious. And judging by the fact that Luna was continuing her descent as well, the same was true for her.

Before they knew it, their hooves were touching down in the sparse grass of the clearing, their decision to remain airborne forgotten. The smell was even worse now, becoming literally nauseating. The foals powered through it, though. To Celestia’s growing unease, there was a small swarm of flies buzzing throughout the clearing, often landing on the bodies before flitting off. Luna took the lead, venturing up to one of the deer.

Celestia reached after her with her magic, grabbing onto her tail to stop her. “Don’t get too close,” she instructed at the questioning look Luna was giving her.

“O-okay,” Luna replied. She turned back to the body and lowered her barrel closer to the forest floor. She tilted her head. “It’s… skinny. And bruised.”

A lump formed in Celestia’s throat. Gingerly, she stepped forward to stand by Luna’s side. It was as the smaller foal had said. The body of the deer was emaciated, and it was covered in a series of horrible bruises. Its hooves were scuffed and chipped as if it had repeatedly pounded against something with all of the strength left in its feeble muscles.

Celestia’s eyes wandered to one of the other bodies nearby. “Oh, gosh… I think they were fighting,” she choked out when she saw that it, too, was covered in the same type of bruises.

“But… why? Why would they do that?” Luna asked, trotting closer to the body. Celestia’s magic sputtered and faded, as she was too distracted and increasingly horrified by what she was seeing to focus on it. But at the same time, she just couldn’t look away.

“Kids?!” Sprout’s shouting voice echoed through the trees, causing Celestia and Luna to both jump in surprise. Celestia spun on her hooves to face the sound. Her ears swiveled forward, and she could hear Sprout’s hooves thundering across the ground for them through the trees. It sounded like Honey was with him.

“Over here!” she called out in response. “We found something!”

Sprout and Honey came galloping into the clearing a moment later. Their faces immediately went ashen as the sight and smell of the scene assaulted their senses. Sprout gasped, visibly stiffening. Honey pressed a hoof to her lips, her eyes wide. “Oh my gosh…”

“Luna, Celestia, get over here, now!” Sprout ordered, stomping his hoof for emphasis.

Luna turned to him. “But dad-”

“NOW!”

The shouted command immediately clammed Luna up. With a quiet whimper, she quickly scurried over to her parents. Honey scooped her up once she was close enough, the older mare cradling her protectively. Celestia approached at a more measured pace, her eyes still lingering on the bodies.

“What happened?” Sprout demanded. It wasn’t a shout, or even loud, but insistent. “We saw you two just fly down, and we got worried. Then we find you to see this.”

“I’m sorry,” Celestia apologized, looking down. “Luna and I saw this from above, and she wanted to take a look. We just sort of… got lost in it.”

Sprout grimaced, eyeing the bodies uneasily. “...We should go home,” he finally said, gently ushering Celestia for the edge of the clearing. “Right now. Come on.”

“Why did they do it, dad?” Luna asked from Honey’s back. Her eyes were wide and filled with confusion and curiosity. “Why did they hurt each other?”

“Don’t ask that,” Honey whispered, a tremble clearly audible in her voice. “Let’s just go home, okay?”

“But-”

“No buts, sweetie,” Honey shushed her. Luna opened her mouth to protest, but her obedience to her parents won out, and she remained silent. Celestia gave her a sympathetic look, then turned to look back at the bodies.

The grisly scene burned itself into her mind, and her gut twisted in apprehension. What could have driven such peaceful creatures as deer to do… this to themselves? To fight amongst themselves until they could fight no more? What could they have been fighting over?

The groaning of the leaves was her only answer. As she followed her parents back to their home, the clearing, and the bodies within it, disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

VI - Creeping Cold

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Alas, as the old saying goes, all good things had to come to an end… The skies began to darken and grow cold, and animals once docile and peaceful began to fight amongst themselves as if they were lifelong enemies. The tranquil life the foals had known for so long was in jeopardy…

A chilly wind washed over the grounds around the house. Celestia shuddered, her wings ruffling tightly against her sides. She shifted on her hooves in an effort to keep herself warm while she waited for Sprout to get done securing the most recent covering for his crops. She glanced up at the sky and grimaced.

It was the middle of the day right now if she had to guess based on the level of light. A thick layer of clouds had obscured the sun, leaving the world around her cold, gloomy, and somehow threatening to observe. It was almost like there was something in those clouds, watching her day in and day out. She had a feeling Luna felt it too, judging by how anxious the filly seemed.

Oh, how Celestia wanted to fly up there and tear the clouds away all at once. To show both Luna and herself that there was nothing to be afraid of. Alas, she had been forced to give up on driving the weather out at this point. The last time she and Luna had tried was almost a week ago, and they had made no progress whatsoever. The clouds had become stronger with the passing of time, to the point that even when working together, the sisters were incapable of even making them budge.

Celestia glared at the clouds as they roiled overhead, making her think of a pot of boiling water in slow motion. It didn’t make any sense. She kept racking her brain for any clue or piece of knowledge she had accumulated that might shed some light on this, but every time, she came up empty-hooved.

“Alright, that should just about do it,” Sprout said, jarring Celestia’s mind away from the unpleasantness in her thoughts. She turned to survey the work they had done.

In response to the steadily worsening cold, Sprout had insisted on putting out his winter covers, just as a precaution. The crops were now safely covered by a series of wooden tiles that had been carefully placed over them and held up by wooden posts. Celestia didn’t know the finer intricacies of how they worked, all she knew for certain was that the design allowed for Sprout to open them to let the plants get their fill of sun, and close them if poor weather came rolling in.

Sprout eyed the assembled carpentry for several seconds, a dour look on his face. He heaved a heavy sigh and idly kicked at a loose stone. “Guh, I can’t believe I had to bust these things out already,” he grumbled. He wiped a hoof across his brow to get rid of some sweat.

Celestia turned to look up at him, ears drooping. She side-stepped closer to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder to show her support. He looked back down at her with a warm smile before draping a foreleg over her shoulders in a side-hug. Celestia smiled and let herself be pulled in, humming quietly.

After a few seconds, Sprout pulled back and jerked his head for the house. “Alright, there’s not a whole lot else we can do out here for now. Come on, let’s head inside, yeah?”

Celestia had no argument for that. The two turned and made their way back for the house. As they went, Celestia paused to glance back at the sky, her face contorting with dismay. She only lingered for a few seconds before scampering to catch up with her dad.

She had to resist the urge to sigh in relief once she and Sprout stepped inside. The contrast between the cold outside and the warmth inside was shocking, and Celestia could feel her muscles relaxing in response. She spotted Honey chopping up some greens for what looked to be a lunch salad. She didn’t see any sign of Luna, though.

Honey turned to them as the door swung shut. She smiled, but Celestia could see the concern behind her eyes. “Sprout. How are the crops?” she asked, putting her work aside and crossing the distance.

Sprout let out a breath through pursed lips before shrugging. “Well, they aren’t dying, so we got that going for us. Still, if temperatures keep dropping like this…”

Honey placed a hoof on his chest, silencing him before he could go into another one of his overly pessimistic spirals. Celestia playfully gagged when Honey then gave her husband a quick, affectionate kiss, killing whatever dark thoughts he still harbored just like that. Honey gave his cheek a few light claps once she pulled back. “Don’t fret, Sprout. We’ll figure something out. We always do.”

Sprout blushed slightly. He rubbed at the back of his head and coughed off to one side. “Ahem. Uh, yeah, I guess…”

Celestia rolled her eyes at the display of romance before casting her gaze about the room again. “Where’s Luna? In our room?” she asked when she still found no sign of her reclusive younger sister.

Honey nodded down at her. “Yeah. She was feeling a little tired, so I encouraged her to go and lay down for a little bit. Last I checked, she was playing with her toys on her bed,” she said simply.

Celestia eyed the door to her room for a moment before heading towards it. She looked back at her parents over her shoulder. “I’m gonna go keep her company, kay?”

“That’s fine,” Sprout called after her.

“And let her know lunch is almost ready,” Honey added, making her way back to the counter. “We’re having salad. And no, I didn’t put any carrots in it, so she can rest easy.”

Celestia paused by the door and turned to face Honey with an incredulous look on her face. She smirked. “Wow. Finally giving up, huh?” she asked knowingly.

Honey pouted, then turned to nudge Sprout in the shoulder. “She’s as stubborn as her father…” she snipped.

Sprout leaned back in mock offense. “Wha- me?! Oh, come on, she spends most of her time with you! You’re just too soft on the little thing!”

“I am not!” Honey protested, puffing up her cheeks as if she were the foal in the situation.

Celestia giggled merrily at their antics before deciding to join her father’s side in the rapidly growing conflict. “Ya know, dad’s got a point. Luna’s spine is about as strong as a wet noodle…” she said slowly, though she was careful to keep her voice low enough that Luna wouldn’t hear it. As much as she loved to pick on her sister, she wasn’t in the habit of actually upsetting her if she could help it.

Sprout grinned appreciatively at Celestia while Honey just shook her head in defeat. “Ugh. Fine, fine, whatever,” she dismissed while resuming the journey to her salad-in-progress. “Just go spend time with your sister. Lunch will be ready in a little bit. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

“And slip a carrot in there,” Sprout added, following after her. “Or three.”

“And betray her trust? I don’t think so, old man.”

“Who you calling old?”

Celestia just laughed and tuned out the rest of the banter. She turned to the door and pushed it open.

Her room was swathed in darkness, as was usual when Luna was alone in it. The curtains had been pulled tight, and just like Honey had said, Luna was laying down on her bed with a series of wooden figurines slowly dancing about. They were held in her magical aura, providing the only illumination in the room. She was also holding up a rolled-up rag in the air, with one of the figures standing on it.

Luna looked up the moment Celestia entered, and her eyes lit up. “Tia!” she greeted, trying to sound cheerful. Celestia could hear the lethargy in her voice, though.

Celestia gently kicked the door shut behind her. “Hey, Lulu,” she said softly. “Mom said lunch is going to be ready in a little bit. Salad. No carrots.”

Luna’s eyes practically shone like the sun at that, and she clapped her hooves together over her chest. “Yes!”

Celestia chuckled and rolled her eyes. “I will never understand why you don’t like those. But eh. How have things been in here?”

To Celestia’s surprise, the shine in Luna’s eyes faded as if she had been struck by a reminder of something bad. She looked down at her toys. “It’s been okay... I’ve been playing with my toys.”

Celestia eyed the toys. There were five of them, all whittled into the approximate shapes of ponies. Three of them had wings. She crossed the room, her hooves barely making any noise on the wooden surface. “Telling stories to yourself again?”

Luna nodded, prodding weakly at the winged figurine on the rolled-up rag. “Mmhmm.”

Celestia paused, raising an eyebrow. She studied the figure, finding that it had once had a horn that had long since been broken off. She recalled when that had happened. Luna dropped it one winter, a few years back. She had been quite upset because the figurine was supposed to be Celestia. Until Luna had a new figurine to replace the old one, she was quite inconsolable about the fact that she had accidentally broken off her sister’s horn.

She had yet to fully grasp the fact that the toys weren’t alive at the time.

Celestia jumped up onto the bed by her sister’s side and draped a wing over her back once she was comfy. “And, what was your story about?” she asked after a moment.

Luna shook her head, setting the toys down and aside. “Not much…” she said before closing her eyes and letting out a large yawn. Celestia eyed her, waiting patiently until the yawn passed in its entirety.

“Mom said you were feeling kinda tired… you okay?” she asked after a few seconds.

Luna turned to her and nodded, a weak smile on her face. “Uh-huh. Mom said it’s because of the cold and the weather. She told me that because it’s darker outside ‘cause of the clouds, that I’m getting sleepier easier.”

Celestia slowly nodded along in understanding. “Ah, I see. I gotcha…” she muttered before looking up at the window. She frowned. “It is getting colder out there all the time…”

Luna nodded along, and Celestia could hear her stifling a quiet, anxious whimper. “It’s supposed to be warm…”

Celestia nodded along slowly in response. “Yeah, it is… But it isn’t.”

“Why? Why is it so cold?” Luna asked, shrinking down as if to hide from the world behind Celestia’s wing. “It’s summer. It was too hot outside a week ago. Why can’t it stay warm? I like the warmth… And I can’t see the stars or the moon at night. I can’t watch them dance...”

Celestia’s brow furrowed. She looked over towards the curtains, noticing how the light they let in was a cool, ominous gray, as opposed to the inspiriting gold she was used to in the day. The longer she looked, the more she began to feel like something was dreadfully wrong with what she was looking at. As if something was missing. Something vital…

She shook her head after a few moments. “I dunno, Lulu… I mean, all I can think of as to why this might be happening is that maybe there are some pegasi behind it.”

Luna looked up at her. “Oh yeah. Pegasi… Ponies with wings. They control the weather, right?”

Celestia nodded. “Mhmm. Well, wings and no horn. But yeah, they control the weather, according to mom and dad. But they aren’t supposed to be this far out. I mean, we’re a long way away from any other ponies. And I sure haven’t seen any pegasi whenever I was up in the sky…”

Luna looked down, fidgeting in place. “So… it’s not a pegasus?”

Celestia shrugged. “I dunno. I mean, it might be. But we’ve been dealing with wild weather our entire lives. Maybe something weird happened somewhere and the weather’s all messed up.”

That answer did not seem to give Luna much confidence. She shrank down into the mattress even further, letting off another, louder whimper of anxiety. Celestia could feel Luna quivering slightly. She looked down to see a look of fear in her sister’s eyes. Feeling her heart twist at the sight, Celestia pulled Luna closer to give her a reassuring nuzzle. Once she drew back, she put on a cocky smile. “Hey, now, come on. It’s nothing to be scared of. It’s just a little cold air, and it’ll all be gone before you know it.”

“How do you know?” Luna asked, staring into Celestia’s eyes.

Celestia’s smirk grew. She ruffled Luna’s mane, drawing a protesting whine from the smaller foal. “Because we have mom and dad, that’s how,” Celestia said without a moment of hesitation. “They’ve dealt with cold weather before. Heck, it was snowy and stuff when they first got us. They can handle this just fine. They’ll take care of us like they always have, and always will.”

Luna’s eyes lit up hopefully. She brushed her mane back out of her face and pressed herself closer to Celestia’s side. “Promise?”

“Promise,” Celestia replied immediately, giving Luna another nuzzle. “Now stop being such a scaredy-pony, okay?”

Luna giggled at that and nuzzled her sister back in response. The two fell into silence at that point, basking in each other’s warmth and companionship. Neither said anything for quite some time, happy to just be together in the quiet.

After a few minutes, Luna‘s horn lit with magic, and she lifted one of her figures in it. It was the one missing a horn. “So… if the weather is being caused by a pegasus, that would make him the bad guy, right?”

Celestia eyed the little figuring for a few seconds. An idea came to her, and she smiled, reaching down to pick up the other figure of herself. “Yeah… and if I ever caught that big stupid-head…”

She knocked her figurine against the pegasus, drawing a tiny giggle from Luna. Celestia smiled and did it a few more times. “Then I’d fly up there and beat him up for making everything cold and you sad.”

Luna giggled louder and sat upright. “And I’d fly up there to help you!” she declared, adding her own figure to the sudden and impromptu mock fight. Celestia chuckled as she set her figure against the pegasus one.

“Yeah! And we’d fly in circles around him! Maybe he’d be bigger and better with the clouds, but does he have a horn? I don’t think so!” she declared, putting a little extra emphasis on the golden light coming from her own.

“So we’d use our magic to zap him!” Luna declared, having her figure head butt the pegasus. “Until he made the bad weather go away!”

Celestia gently took the pegasus figurine in her magic, allowing herself to become immersed in the childish fantasy. She bobbed it up and down and lowered her voice to the most masculine and evil one she could think of.

“Mwa haha! I will make the entire world cold!” the evil pegasus announced evilly. “And everypony will be forced to eat carrots and dragonflies for dinner!”

Luna gasped in shock. “No! You’re evil! We’re gonna stop you!”

Celestia did a spin in the air for some reason. “Yeah! With our powerful magic!”

“I’d like to see you try! Mwa haha!” the evil pegasus replied before flying down at the foals.

“CHARGE!” Luna declared, flying side-by-side with Celestia until they met their adversary head-on.

It was a fierce battle. There was much butting of heads, slapping of fetlocks, tickling of tummies, and all manner of unpleasantness to be had. But it had to be done, in the name of good weather! And warmth! And sunlight!

The pegasus laughed again and grabbed onto a cloud before throwing it at Luna. She gasped and shrieked as it enveloped her in a cage of crackling electricity, holding her in place. The pegasus came to hover in front of her. “Ha! Now you will never get free! It will hurt you if you touch it! Not even your sister can save you now!”

“You’re mean!” Luna rebuked.

“Oh, I am so offended and insulted by your words!” The pegasus shot back before flying up. “I will have to punish you, just as soon as I have dealt with your sister!”

Speaking of whom...

“Surprise!” Celestia shouted as she brought a cloud of her own down on the pegasus’ head like a mallet. A boom of thunder was heard, and the poor winged pony fell from the sky with a comically large lump on his head, his fur blackened and smoking.

“OW! That hurt!” he yelled up as he fell to the ground below. “Curse you, Celestia! We will meet agaaaaiiiiiin…”

Celestia turned and bucked her hind legs against the cage of lightning, breaking it open, because she was just that cool and awesome. Luna flew out of the fading remains and hugged her tight. “Tia! You’re amazing!”

“I am amazing!” Celestia replied with the smuggest of smug grins.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Celestia and Luna turned to look at one another as their impromptu little ‘battle’ drew to its epic conclusion. Neither of them said a word for several seconds.

Celestia smirked. “I would never say that.”

Luna gasped as if she was shocked. “What?! But you are amazing!” she said, reaching out to shake her big sister as if she were possessed. “I mean, look at you! You’re always looking out for me when mom and dad can’t, you let me sleep on the roof so I can watch the night sky, you play with me when I’m bored, and you’re just so strong and brave!”

Celestia blinked from the sudden onslaught of praise. She could feel the tips of her ears beginning to burn, and she looked away to cough into her hoof. “Ahem… Well, I mean… I’m your big sister. I’m supposed to look after you… and, you know, boss you around.”

Luna pouted indignantly at that, earning a merry giggle from Celestia.

Suddenly, a monstrous growl tore through the room, silencing Celestia’s laughter in its tracks. Her eyes flew wide in shock, and she looked around for the source of the noise. Whatever feral beast had made that sound, it must have been colossal! And how had it gotten into their room?!

Her eyes soon fell on Luna, and her expression blanked when she saw the furious blush now adorning her face. Celestia blinked a few times as the realization clicked into place. “...Wow. You’re hungry, huh?”

Luna withdrew, hiding behind her mane. “N… n-no?” The growl came again, louder this time, and Luna visible cringed in discomfort. Celestia raised a skeptical eyebrow at her, finally cowing Luna into defeat. She sighed and nodded her head in resignation.

Celestia smiled before hopping down from the bed. “Ha! It’s fine. Lunch is probably ready anyway. C’mon,” she chirped, helping Luna down from the bed before the two departed the room.

The sight they were greeted with was quite different from what they had been expecting. Celestia blinked when she saw neither Sprout nor Honey anywhere on the first floor. However, the front door was standing wide open, and a chilly draft was weaving its way through the house, alongside the distant, cold howling of the wind.

Celestia frowned. “Huh…?”

Luna immediately shrank back, hiding behind Celestia. “W-what’s going on?” she asked anxiously, bravely peeking out to take another look. “Where are mom and dad?”

Celestia’s frown deepened, her eyes focusing on the open door. Something was wrong, she could feel it. A chilly sensation settled into the pit of her gut, making her shiver. She unfurled a wing to hold Luna back. “They’re outside… come on,” she instructed simply.

They both set off at a brisk pace. The chill in the air became increasingly pronounced the closer she got to the door. Was it just her imagination, or was it darker outside than it should have been, even with the cloud cover?

Her eyes widened, and her jaw fell open in shock once she stepped outside. Sprout and Honey were both on the front porch, their gazes angled to stare up at the sky. Celestia’s pace slowed to a snail’s crawl as she came up to stand between them, looking up at the sky as well.

The cold, snowing sky.

Celestia blinked several times, hoping that she was just imagining it, but the visual did not go away. It was snowing. It was snowing. In summer. Summer! It hadn’t been this cold, had it?! It sure hadn’t felt like it. She hadn’t even been able to see her own breath in the air fifteen minutes ago!

“Mom? Dad?” she asked, doing her best to hide the tremble of uncertainty in her voice. She looked up at Sprout and Honey as they turned to face her.

Luna spoke next, unable to hide the quiver in her own. “What’s going on? Why is it snowing?”

Sprout and Honey exchanged a worried glance. It was Sprout that spoke. “I… I don’t know…” he muttered, clearly just as shocked and confused as the foals.

Celestia looked up at the sky, and the feeling of something staring back at her grew infinitely worse. She shuffled on her hooves and backed up a little, her wings ruffling against her sides.

Suddenly, Luna yelped in fear. “S-s-something’s up there!” she squeaked, cowering back.

“What?” Honey asked as everypony turned to look at her. Luna’s eyes were wide, and she pointed a shaking hoof up at the sky.

“There’s something up in the clouds! I saw it moving!”

Sprout and Honey shared another look, while Celestia focused on her sister. She stepped forward and grabbed Luna by the shoulders to get her to focus. “Luna, what was it? Did you get a good look?”

Luna shook her head, still shaking. “N-no. I just saw it moving through the clouds. Like… like a shadow.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t just your imagination?” Honey asked after a few seconds, looking over at Luna curiously.

Luna nodded frantically. “I wasn’t imagining! Something’s up there! It’s gotta be the pegasus causing all of this bad weather!”

“What? Now, hang on just a second!” Sprout cut in, advancing on Luna. “Pegasus? Much as I wouldn’t put it past those feathered freaks to pull something like this, I haven’t seen any sign of pegasi in these parts since all of this started! Plus, if you can’t work the clouds, why would some rank-and-file pegasus be able to do it?”

To that, Luna had no answer. She looked down, shrinking under the weight of Sprout’s question. Celestia gave her dad a slightly disapproving glare. As valid as his point had been, he didn’t need to put such intensity behind it. A fact he seemed to realize, given the regretful look coming over his face.

Honey chose this moment to interject. “It doesn’t matter. We should get inside where it’s warm.”

Celestia felt a surge of alarm. She spun to face her parents. “Huh?! But it’s snowing!” she stated emphatically, thrusting a hoof at the sky. “What about the crops?! Dad, won’t the cold kill our food?! We need to do something!”

“We did do something,” Sprout replied bluntly while gesturing to the covers they had arranged earlier. “We’ve done everything we can, and I am sure as hay not letting my daughters fly up there to try and push these clouds back when they’re this darn stubborn! Now come on, listen to your mother.”

“But-”

“No buts!” Sprout shot her down, raising his voice just a little to show he was being serious. He stared down at Celestia, a harsh fire in his eyes, forcing her into silent submission. After a moment, his expression softened. “I have no idea what in the world is going on out here… and I don’t want you risking yourself to try and find out, okay?”

Celestia was quiet for a few seconds before nodding her head. As much as she hated to admit it, Sprout had a point. The weather up there was beyond her power to change anymore. With a resigned sigh, she turned to head inside, bringing a reluctant Luna with her.

The sound of the door closing seemed far louder than usual…

Celestia didn’t take her eyes away from the window for more than a few minutes at a time once everypony was inside. They ate their lunch in silence, casting routine glances at the window, watching the snowfall outside. For a mercy, the snow had yet to start sticking, and the flakes were fairly small and powdery. But given how rapidly temperatures had been dropping as of late, Celestia had a feeling that it wouldn’t take long for the snow to cling to the ground and start piling up.

What then? Celestia wondered. What would they do? She and Luna had been forbidden from trying to fight the weather anymore, and if Luna was telling the truth, there was something up there in the clouds. A shadow.

They finished eating with nary a word. Celestia could see Sprout and Honey routinely looking at one another. There was a tension in their eyes, a deep-seated anxiety that she was powerless to decipher. It was like they were waiting for something, or wanted to do something, but they were holding themselves back from doing it.

The heavy silence at the table was finally broken when Luna set down her utensils. “Thanks, mom,” she mumbled quietly. “I’m gonna head to my room.”

“Alright, Luna,” Honey replied, putting on a warm smile and giving her daughter a reassuring nod.

Luna hummed quietly but did not offer any further words in response. She merely jumped down from her seat and slinked off to her room. Celestia watched her go, a worried frown on her face. Once the door to the room was shut, she turned to Sprout and Honey. “So… is there anything we should do inside?” she asked, shifting on her haunches in a display of nervous energy.

Honey and Sprout shared a look. Some form of silent communication was passed between them before they looked back to her. Sprout shook his head with a small smile. “Nothing that I’ll need your help with, kiddo. Why don’t you go and keep Luna company?”

“Huh?” Celestia asked, tilting her head. “But- but it’s snowing. I mean, there’s gotta be something I can do around the house, right?”

“I can take care of most of that,” Honey replied with a sage nod. “And so can Sprout. You helped plenty enough earlier. Right now, though, I think your sister needs you more than we do.”

“Yeah… she seems pretty shaken,” Sprout agreed, his brow furrowing. “And if she saw something up there for real, I can’t say I blame her…”

Celestia looked back and forth between her parents for a few more seconds, her brow furrowing. It didn’t feel right, going and doing nothing in her room when something like summer-time-snow was going on outside, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that there wasn’t much for her to do inside anyway. That had always been Honey’s domain, and she managed it mostly on her own in all the years Celestia had been here.

Then she remembered the fear in Luna’s eyes when she’d claimed she saw something moving, and any lingering doubts about what she should do died. Celestia nodded in understanding and rose from her seat. “Alright. Just let me know if you need me to do anything, okay?”

“We will,” Sprout assured her with a nod. “If something needs your magic touch, I’ll come get you. But right now, you just go and be a kid. Leave the doom and gloom to the big ponies.”

Celestia managed a tiny smile at the light tone Sprout put on, though she could sense he was forcing it to try and cheer her up. Still, it worked, and she wasn’t about to complain about it. She turned and made her way back to her room.

The door swung open with a quiet creaking noise, and she found Luna sitting in the middle of the room, looking up at the window. The curtains had been opened, allowing the gloomy light from outside to seep in and affording an unobstructed view of the snow falling from the sky.

Celestia’s brow furrowed as she closed the door behind her. “Hey… You okay?” she called quietly.

Luna looked back at Celestia, her eyes putting her fear on full display. “I’m scared…” she whispered. “There’s something up there. I know there is…”

“The bad pegasus, right?” Celestia asked as she came to her sister’s side.

Luna nodded, leaning into Celestia for comfort and support. Celestia wrapped a wing around her, keeping her close and lending her what warmth she could. Neither of them said anything for quite a while, just staring up through the window at the clouds beyond. It was an unsettling sight, yet somehow captivating…

Celestia’s lips slowly curled up into a small smile. “...You know, I always kinda liked the snow,” she suddenly said, drawing a confused glance from Luna.

“Huh?”

Celestia shrugged. “I mean, sure, it always kinda overstays its welcome. It can get really irritating trying to walk around in it, especially when it gets deep. And it’s cold. I like my stuff warm, you know. But… I dunno. Something about when snow first falls…”

A nostalgic smile came over her face as her mind wandered back to a morning many years ago. She had woken up to find that there was snow covering the land outside, accumulating on the branches of the trees. She was little, and it had been the first winter snow she remembered with any clarity.

“When the snow is fresh and new, and nopony’s stepped in it, it’s like… Like this big, perfect white blanket all over the world, you know? And how it all gathered on the trees… It’s beautiful. I remember, this one time, I woke up one morning, before you and I were doing anything with the weather. I went outside with dad, and it was like I had stepped out of real-life and into some sort of enchanted winter wonderland.”

Luna began to smile, and Celestia felt her heart warming at the sight. Her impromptu trip down memory lane was serving its purpose then. Luna snuggled closer to her. “Enchanted snow? Like that story mom used to tell us about Frosty?”

Celestia snorted in amusement. “Frosty the Snowpony? Heh, haven’t heard that story in a while… Er, yeah, sure, like that, just with less dancing and singing.”

Luna giggled, her eyes closing as she took in Celestia’s warmth. “I like that story… mom made it funny.”

“Mom’s good at a lot of things,” Celestia agreed, looking up through the window again. She hadn’t been lying, she did love the snow when it first fell… But not this time. This snow was wrong. Unnatural. And yet again she felt as if it was watching her.

In fact… was that movement she just saw?

Celestia blinked and focused on a small stretch where the clouds had visibly thinned out. She could have sworn she just saw something moving there. She stared for several long seconds, but she didn’t see anything else. Maybe she was just imagining it.

Celestia’s heart all but stopped in her chest when the movement passed again. She went rigid as the faintest hint of a form made itself known in the clouds. A silhouette, moving through the clouds, shifting unnaturally. She had never seen a pegasus before, but she knew they were a lot like her and Luna. Whatever that was, it was not a pegasus. Or a pony of any kind.

And it was staring right back at her.

“Tia?”

Celestia jumped when Luna’s voice reached her ears. She looked down to see the confused fear in her sister’s eyes. Luna blinked, her anxiety growing worse when she saw the dread in Celestia’s. “What’s wrong?”

Celestia quickly looked back up at the clouds, towards the… thing she had seen, wanting to point it out. But when she looked, there was nothing there. It was as if there was nothing there to begin with. It was just a patch of clouds, faintly illuminated and glowing by the light of the sun shining on them from beyond. The glow soothed Celestia’s thoughts, and she took in a deep breath to calm herself down.

“Maybe it was just a trick of the light? Yeah, that must be it,” she told herself before smiling down at Luna. Her sister tilted her head at her in confusion, before Celestia leaned down to give her an affectionate nuzzle. “Sorry about that. My thoughts went and ran away with me for a bit.”

Luna seemed assured by this and snuggled closer to Celestia again, and the two lapsed into a companionable silence. Every so often, though, Celestia glanced back up at the window, looking for any sign of the thing she had seen.

VII - Closed Doors

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And then the snow came…

“Celestia!”

Celestia’s ears perked up at the sound of her name being called. The voice was far off and distant, but it was unmistakably that of Luna. Celestia turned in place, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. To her shock and rapidly mounting unease, she was in the middle of a four-way intersection in a gargantuan hallway. The walls were made of massive stone bricks with distorted windows unevenly spaced between support pillars, allowing in shafts of golden sunlight and pale moonlight. Her stomach churned as she lifted her eyes to look at the ceiling. The walls just kept going and going and going, until they disappeared into a shadowy blue fog.

The air was frighteningly cold. Celestia shivered uncontrollably, and she realized she could see her breath condensing into a thick cloud in front of her with every exhale. She could hear the distant howling of wind blowing through the halls, though there didn’t seem to be any particular direction. It was like it was coming from all around her.

Her ear twitched as another sound joined that of the ghostly wind. She strained, turning her head this way and that, trying to discern what it was. It sounded like… humming? Celestia blinked in confusion, turning towards the sound. It was undoubtedly someone humming… But who?

Celestia swallowed heavily. “L-Luna?” she called out weakly, her voice echoing ominously all around her.

“CELESTIA! HELP ME!” Luna’s voice came again, barely inaudible and yet paradoxically deafening. She sounded terrified, as if some horrific monster was bearing down on her, about to rip her to pieces. A spike of adrenaline flooded through Celestia’s veins. Once again, however, she could not determine a direction. Like the wind, it was as if the scream had come from all around her.

She turned on the spot, her breath starting to quicken with fear. “Luna?! Where are you?!” she called back, raising her voice to be heard. She winced as it echoed back into her mind, drowning out Luna’s frantic response. She growled in frustration under her breath. She had to get to her sister, now, but without any idea which way to go, she was just as likely to abandon her sister by accident as she was to come to her rescue.

“PLEASE! HELP!”

Luna’s wailing voice came again. There was no more time for hesitation. Celestia gave a shout of frustration before picking a direction at random and breaking into a mad sprint down the hall. The sound of her hooves scraping and pummeling against the stone floor thundered in her ears, while the constantly shifting light from the windows played tricks with her eyes.

“Luna! Just hang on! I’m coming!” Celestia cried out between her own frightened pants. Her eyes darted this way and that. She thought she could see things following her from the shadows. She picked up the pace, moving as quickly as her little hooves could carry her.

The humming was getting louder.

Turn after turn, corridor after corridor, Celestia ran and ran, all the while listening to that haunting, harrowing hum, and Luna’s panicked crying. Her legs and lungs were beginning to burn, and she began to flap her wings in an effort to speed herself along. The shadows following her were growing more numerous, and she thought she could see flickers of blue light within. She dared not look at them.

Finally, she rounded a corner and saw a door up ahead. Just as disproportionately huge as the rest of this unnatural place, it was made of finely-cut wood that would put even Sprout’s best work to shame, and was reinforced with bands of thick metal. At last, the sound of Luna’s crying, and the humming that terrorized her, came into clear focus.

She had to get through that door.

Celestia pushed herself to go as fast as she possibly could. “LUNA!” she shouted out. She was so close. So tantalizingly close! To her horror, the harder she ran toward the door, the farther and farther away it seemed to become. The hallway was stretching out before her, broadening the distance between her and her sister. What was more, it felt as if her legs were being filled with lead. It was becoming almost impossible to lift her legs, or to move at all.

“NO!” she shrieked, pumping her wings, only to find they did not possess the strength to get her off the ground. Now hyperventilating, she focused her eyes on the door and reached out. “LU!”

The hallway kept stretching, and the door vanished into the distance. The light from the windows began to assault Celestia’s vision as they rocketed past her. She winced and stepped back, trying to shelter her eyes with her hooves, but no matter how hard she tried, the light of the sun and moon snaked around her hooves to blast into her eyes. Her head was beginning to hurt. The distant whisper of the wind had become the roar of a hurricane. The humming was louder than the most cacophonous thunder. Luna’s crying and pleading bled through all of it, begging Celestia to come to her aid.

Suddenly, the moon’s glow faded from the windows, and Celestia’s vision was filled with the blinding heat of the sun. She cried out in shock and pain, her eyes stinging from the light. She cowered back, covering her face in a vain effort to keep the light out, but it would not be denied, nor could she look away.

The heat enveloped her. Filled her. Burned her from within. She screamed.

A voice answered.

“Rise and shine...”

Celestia was pulled from her dreams by a shrill cry emanating from the bed across from her. She opened her eyes with a gasp of alarm and lifted herself up. It was still dark in her room, and the curtains were pulled shut. Unable to see, she lit her horn with magic, casting a gentle golden light across the room.

Her heart twisted. Luna was screaming in her bed, tossing and turning as if she were fighting for her life. She was getting twisted up in her blankets, and her cries were becoming muffled and strangled.

Celestia quickly leaped out of bed and went to her sister’s side. “Luna!” she called out, groggily pulling at the blankets until they came away from Luna’s smaller form.

The little foal’s screaming began to devolve into pathetic whimpers and sobs, her hooves reaching up to cover her head. “Help me,” she sobbed. “Tia, please…”

Celestia grimaced and took a hold of one of Luna’s hooves. “Luna! Wake up, you’re having a nightmare!” she said forcefully. She gave Luna a shake for good measure. “Come on!”

Finally, with a sharp gasp and shrill cry, Luna’s eyes snapped open, bloodshot and glistening with tears. Her breath came in heaving gasps as she looked up into Celestia’s eyes. Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but Luna didn’t give her a chance. The smaller filly lunged forward, wrapping her forelegs tightly around Celestia’s neck in a tight embrace, clinging to her as if she were a lifeline.

Celestia staggered back from the force of the hug, but wasted no time in returning it. She enveloped Luna in her hooves and wings, sheltering her from the world.

Neither of them said anything for several minutes. Luna sobbed and blubbered incoherently into Celestia’s chest for the entire duration. It sounded like she was trying to speak, but she just couldn’t speak clearly. Celestia did her best to comfort Luna for the entire time, but she didn’t even know where to begin. She had no idea what to say, or what to do. She had never seen Luna respond this intensely to a dream before. She’d had nightmares before, sure, but they never made her panic like this.

In response to the crushing hug, Celestia just held her little sister close, nuzzling her and whispering stammering reassurances that everything was going to be okay. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Luna began to calm down. Her shuddering sobs dwindled, though the tremor never left her body entirely. Her breath began to slow down and level out, and before long, the room was silent.

Celestia took a long, deep breath, then leaned back to look into Luna’s eyes. They were tired, half-closed, but still alight with fear. Celestia swallowed heavily. “...Are you okay, now?” she finally asked.

Luna nodded, sniffling. “M-m-mhmm…” the shaking was still audible even in that barely voiced response.

Celestia frowned and pulled Luna close again. “Pretty bad dream, huh?” she asked quietly.

Again. “Mhmm…”

“What was it about?”

Luna was silent for a few seconds. She shook her head. “I don’t remember…”

Celestia sighed. Go figure. She could barely even remember the dream she had been having before all of this. Although, the whimpering pleas for help Luna had uttered just before she woke up seemed awfully familiar… Luna’s crying in the real world must have invaded Celestia’s own dreams.

After a moment, Celestia pulled back again. With the excitement over, her own feelings of exhaustion were beginning to creep back into her mind. Her thoughts were becoming cloudy and unfocused, and she could practically hear the siren song of her bed calling her back to it. She smiled down at Luna. “Well, it was just a bad dream. Nothing to be scared of, huh?” she said optimistically.

Luna did not seem convinced.

Celestia forced her smile to widen somewhat. “C’mon, let’s go back to bed. It’s way too early for us to be up.”

Celestia released her hold on Luna and rose to her hooves. As she was turning back for her bed, though, she felt Luna’s hooves latching onto her tail, holding her in place. She grunted in mild annoyance and looked back, opening her mouth to tell Luna to knock it off. When she saw the borderline panicked look in her sister’s eyes, though, her words faltered.

Luna swallowed heavily. “I, uh… I’m scared,” she admitted quietly. “I don’t wanna go back to sleep… what if I have bad dreams again?”

Celestia frowned. “Luna…” she said softly, though she was unable to bring herself to say more than that. After a moment, she sighed in defeat. There was just no winning with Luna when her eyes got all sad like that. “Okay, okay. Come on, you can sleep with me in my bed. I’ll be right there next to you and keep you safe. Sound good?”

Judging by the relief in Luna’s face, it did indeed sound good. She leaped to her hooves and followed after Celestia enthusiastically. After a minute or so of making the bed back with both sets of pillows and blankets, the foals were soon snuggled up with one another on the elder’s bed. The extra layer of blankets and the shared body heat did wonders to chase away the winter-like chill that had seeped into the home since the snow started falling. Soon, both of the foals were relaxing, and Celestia felt herself drifting off back into the land of sleep.

“G’night, Lulu,” she whispered just as the darkness claimed her.

“Night, sister. Sweet dreams.”

When Celestia awoke that morning, she felt surprisingly well-rested. She lifted her head off the pillow and opened her eyes. Judging by the light, it was a little earlier in the morning than it usually would be when she woke up, but that didn’t really bother her. She felt awake, alert, and ready to tackle whatever challenges the day would throw at her.

A content smile wormed its way onto her face when she felt Luna shifting against her. She shifted her attention to her sister to see her peacefully slumbering face. Her muzzle twitched slightly in response to the subtle movement, but otherwise, Luna remained locked in slumber.

Celestia’s smile grew. She didn’t feel like disturbing such a peaceful scene right now, and so merely contented herself with closing her eyes to get a little more rest. She pulled Luna a little closer, offering her sister a gentle nuzzle. The smaller foal murmured quietly at the touch and stirred in Celestia’s hooves, but she did not wake. The two remained locked in one another’s hooves for a while, with only the quiet whistling of the wind outside and their rhythmic breathing to break up the silence.

Celestia allowed her thoughts to wander as they lay there. She recalled, however vaguely, that she had had a strange dream herself, though try as she might, the exact details eluded her. All she knew was that Luna’s crying and screaming had inserted itself into whatever she had been seeing before eventually rousing her from her slumber.

She soon gave up any hope of coaxing the details of her dream from her memory. It was gone and faded, and there was no longer any point in lingering on it. So instead she turned her thoughts to the oddities that had enveloped the world outside the warmth of her home. A frown marred her serene expression. Her tranquil mood was soon laid to waste, and any further rest became quite elusive.

Celestia sighed. “Might as well get up anyway…”

Carefully, so as not to disturb Luna, Celestia crawled out of bed. Her sister grumbled and groaned in disappointment once Celestia was out of her grasp, but the older filly was quick to place a pillow where she had been, giving Luna something to cling onto and cuddle. That seemed to do the trick, and Luna went back to her peaceful slumber a moment later.

Celestia smiled down at her sister, briefly allowing her worries to dissipate. “As long as she’s okay, so am I,” she thought. She gently tucked Luna back into bed with her magic, and then slipped out of the room.

Neither Sprout nor Honey was up yet, by the looks of it. The room was empty, and the hearth was out, leaving the air frigid and still. Celestia involuntarily shivered as the cold seeped into her muscles, all the more jarring when contrasted with the warmth she had been sharing with Luna mere moments ago. Yet, even with the hearth out and the curtains pulled, it was surprisingly bright. Her eyes were drawn to the curtains. They were practically glowing with a pale light.

A lump formed in Celestia’s throat. Celestia carefully crossed the distance between them until she could see outside.

Her breath hitched in her throat.

The world outside was almost entirely made of white. Snow had covered every conceivable surface in a thick, dense blanket. Icicles were already forming along the rim of the roof, dangling ominously overhead, sending a tingle down Celestia’s spine. Worst of all, more snow was coming down. A lot more.

The flakes were enormous. Celestia’s eyes locked onto one, following it on its journey to the ground. She gasped as her eyes caught sight of her father’s crops… or what was left of them.

“Oh my gosh…” she choked out, a hoof drifting up to hover over her heart. The coverings they had erected a few days ago were proving insufficient against the storm. She could see how the snow had already crept in under the edges, and she didn’t doubt that the first lines of plants were well and truly dead already. In other places, the protective coverings had failed and caved in, presumably under the weight, leaving the plants underneath uncovered and at the mercy of the elements.

Celestia didn’t imagine that the elements were feeling particularly merciful right now…

“What do I do?! What do I do?!” she thought in a stammering panic, walking anxiously in place. It was difficult to think properly through the sight before her eyes and the cold, unflinching feeling of dread it instilled in her. Finally, she found enough clarity to formulate the workings of a plan.

“Dad!” she cried out, turning and sprinting up the stairs for her parents’ room. “Dad, we have a problem!”

By the time Celestia threw the door open, Sprout and Honey were already getting out of bed, looking groggy, grumpy, and confused. Sprout leveled a deadpan glare at his daughter. “Celestia? Guh, what in the world’s got you so-”

“Dad, look outside!” Celestia said, cutting him off. “It snowed more. It stuck.”

That got Sprout’s attention. He blinked at Celestia once, the gears turning behind his eyes, before he himself turned and moved quickly for the window. Celestia hung back, no longer sure what to do as he threw the curtains aside and peered out into the world. She heard him swear under his breath before turning back to her.

“Stay inside.”

Celestia didn’t answer. She doubted she could have even if she wanted to. The sheer force in his voice as he said that one command quelled any notions of heroics or disobedience. She quickly stepped off to one side, allowing him to pass unhindered before turning to look at her mother.

Honey looked down at her, her ears lowered and her expression grim. She then slowly turned her eyes to gaze at the snow continuing to blanket the world through the window.

Celestia spent the next hour or two watching Sprout working to salvage their food supply whenever she could get a chance to. Such chances were painfully scarce, though, as Honey often called her away from the windows to help her with menial chores around the house: cleaning things, getting food laid out for breakfast, and other such trivialities.

Celestia wasn’t stupid, of course. She knew exactly why Honey kept calling on her. It was to keep her distracted from what was going on outside. Honey was trying to keep Celestia’s spirits up by filling her time with something to do. To her credit, it worked, at least in part. The chores did keep Celestia’s thoughts occupied while she was doing them, but never so much as to completely wipe away the anxiety of what was going on just a few yards away from her at any given time.

Whenever she had a free moment to watch Sprout, it was often to see him hunched over, working tirelessly through the bitter cold in his winter clothes. She could only guess as to all of the work he was doing, and every fiber of her burned with the intense, fervent desire to ignore Honey and go out there to help her father, but his earlier words held her back...

She had only heard him speak with such intensity on a small number of occasions. She winced as her mind drifted back to the day she and Luna had gotten lost in the woods when they were really little.

“This is bad… isn’t it?” she thought, realizing after the fact that it was pretty obvious. Things had been bad since the animals started attacking each other, and they were only getting worse. She just counted herself lucky that she hadn’t seen any of their violence first-hoof yet. Just the aftermaths.

It was just as she and Honey were putting the finishing touches on a late breakfast that the relative silence and grim monotony were broken by the sound of Celestia’s bedroom door opening. She turned to look and saw a still sleepy Luna stepping out. She looked a lot less rested than Celestia had felt. Dark rings made themselves at home under her eyes, and her mane and tale were messy and unkempt, lending to her disheveled and tired appearance.

Celestia forced herself to smile. “Luna. Good morning.”

Honey looked over as well and joined her voice to the greeting. “Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep well?”

Luna grimaced, her eyes wandering over to look out the window. Celestia’s smile faded away at the barely concealed fear on her sister’s face.

“...It’s still snowing,” Luna remarked in a barely audible whisper.

Honey stepped across the room towards Luna, her own eyes glued on the window. “Yeah, it is…”

Luna shivered anxiously and looked up at her adoptive mother with a pleading look on her face. “Are we going to be okay?” she asked.

Honey visibly hesitated. It was only for a second, and Celestia wondered if Luna would even notice. She did, and a pit formed in her gut as a result. After a second of silence, Honey gave a nod and smiled at Luna. “Of course we are. Your dad’s out there making sure of it right now.”

Luna didn’t say anything in response. She simply gave a slow nod before allowing herself to be guided over to the table. Celestia watched them getting situated at the table before refocusing on the meal she had been helping to prepare. It all looked to be in order, and so, with nothing else for it, she scooped up the bowls in her magic and brought them over.

“Thank you,” Honey whispered as Celestia set the food down. Celestia put on a smile and gave a quiet nod, then sat down next to Luna.

The three of them ate in silence, the only sound being the crackling of the hearth and the occasional, muffled grunt of exertion from Sprout outside. Celestia’s eyes had a hard time deciding where they wanted to focus. On her sister, or trying to find her father through the windows.

Eventually, she chose the former. Her brow furrowed when she saw that Luna was eating far slower than usual, even with her incredibly picky eating style. She was just stirring her porridge with her spoon more than she was actually eating it. On top of that, there was the groggy look in her eyes, the slouch in her posture. Celestia refrained from grimacing as it dawned on her just how exhausted Luna looked.

“Was her nightmare really that bad?” she thought to herself.

She was not the only one to notice Luna’s exhaustion, as evidenced by the worried frown on Honey’s face as she leaned towards her youngest daughter. “Lulu? Everything okay, sweetie? You seem kind of out of it.”

Luna nodded. “Mhmm. Just tired. Didn’t sleep very well,” she mumbled quietly.

Honey nodded quietly. “Oh… How come?”

“Bad dreams,” Luna replied. She sighed and set her spoon down in her bowl. “I don’t remember what they were about… but I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared…”

“I believe it,” Celestia said sympathetically. “You were screaming and crying when you woke me up. For a second, I thought you were hurt or something.”

“Oh, baby…” Honey cood, reaching a hoof over to gently pat Luna on the back. “I’m sorry… But if you were screaming that loud, I’m surprised Sprout and I didn’t hear you.”

Luna gave Honey a reassuring smile. “Tia was there. She took care of me.”

Celestia’s heart twisted slightly in her chest, especially from the look of raw admiration she saw in her sister’s eyes. She looked away awkwardly and coughed into her hoof. Honey turned to look at her next, her smile growing. “Is that right?”

Celestia nodded. “Uh, yeah.”

Honey pulled Celestia over and planted a gentle kiss on the top of her head. “That’s my girl…” she whispered quietly.

Celestia leaned into the display of affection, grateful for her mother’s body heat. It did wonders to chase away the cold, albeit only for a few precious seconds.

After those few seconds were over, Honey pulled back and the three went back to eating. Thankfully, the silence from before did not follow them. Celestia spoke to Honey animatedly about nothing in particular, losing herself in the mundane social interaction. Luna pitched in here and there, but she largely remained quiet.

It was just as they were wrapping breakfast up that the front door opened, admitting a cold, tired, disheveled looking Sprout. Celestia swallowed on seeing him, whatever she was saying dying in her throat. The look in his eyes made a pit form in her stomach, and she immediately felt the urge to rush over and hug him. He looked defeated and battered.

At once, fear and trepidation took hold of Celestia’s heart. “What happened to the food? Did dad save it? What about the snow?” She could hear the wind howling through the threshold of the door, but she couldn’t get a good gauge on how heavy it was getting through Sprout’s form.

Sprout trudged inside and pushed the door closed. Oddly, he almost seemed to be fighting against it for a moment, as if something was pushing back to keep it open, before it finally shut with a satisfying clunk and click. Honey was by his side in an instant, draping a foreleg over his back to provide support.

“Sprout! Are you okay?” she asked anxiously. “Heavens, look at you! You look like you lost a fight with a cave bear!”

Sprout snorted. “Hah! Oh, don’t make me laugh,” he said, lightly brushing her away. “I’m fine. Cold, sore, and hungry, but fine.”

Celestia sat up in her seat, waving him down. “Oh! Oh! We just got done making breakfast a little while ago! There’s still some waiting for you on the counter whenever you’re ready!”

Sprout trotted over to her, smiling all the while. Honey remained close by the whole way. Sprout reached out to ruffle her mane, helping her to relax a little from the display of affection. He withdrew after a moment and turned back to Honey. “Hey, Hon? Mind coming up stairs with me for a little bit?”

Celestia blinked. There was something odd in the way he had said that, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was. She watched him critically, even as Honey raised an eyebrow to respond.

“Uh… sure, I suppose? Why, what’s going on?” she asked.

“Nothing much. I just wanna check on something real quick. Won’t take a minute.”

Celestia watched Honey intently as she mulled over her response. Whatever it was that was off about Sprout, she seemed to catch onto it as well, but unlike Celestia, she knew exactly what it was. She gave a slow nod before looking down at her foals. “Tia, Lu, why don’t you two head to your room and rest up for a little bit?”

Celestia blinked. “Huh?”

“Luna’s dead tired from bad dreams, and I’ve been working you to the bone all morning,” Honey reasoned with a shrug, though it sounded like she didn’t entirely buy her own argument. “You could use a little bit of time to relax, and I think Luna would like some company if she decides to take a nap.”

Celestia eyed her mother doubtfully. It was clear that there was something more going on here, but whatever it was, she was not currently privy to it, and her parents wanted it to stay that way. She glanced over at Luna in the hopes of seeing the same recognition in her eyes, but the smaller foal honestly looked ready to pass out.

“Honestly, a little more rest would probably do her some good,” Celestia conceded after a few seconds. She smiled and nodded up at Honey. “Okay.”

Honey nodded down at her before she and Sprout both made their way upstairs. Celestia watched them go, listening to their hooves and the creaking of the floorboards as they ascended. After a few seconds, she turned toward Luna, who was sliding out of her chair to head for their room.

“Okay, come on, let’s get you back in bed,” Celestia said, trotting over and nudging her sister for the door.

“Mmph, okay,” Luna grumbled, offering no resistance. As they went, though, Celestia couldn’t help but feel like they had missed something. It was right on the tip of her tongue, too…

Quite literally, she found out a second later when a leftover piece of her breakfast came dislodged from her teeth to tickle her tastebuds. Her eyes widened slightly. “Ah, crud. Dad forgot his breakfast!” she realized, resisting the urge to slap a hoof to her face. She had spent a while getting that porridge all nice and warm, she wasn’t about to let it go cold before it could be eaten.

“Hey, go ahead and get comfy, I’ll be right back,” Celestia said as she urged Luna towards her bed.

Luna turned to look at her groggily. “Huh? Where are you going?” she asked.

Celestia gave her a reassuring smile. “Not far. Dad forgot his breakfast is all, so I’m gonna take it up to him.”

That seemed to satisfy Luna, who smiled and nodded before climbing into bed. Celestia spared a moment to tuck her in with her magic. Once her sister was nice and comfy, she slipped out of the room and began the ascent up to her parents room, carrying along her father’s bowl of porridge in her magic.

She paused halfway up the stairs, looking up into the second floor. She didn’t go up here as often as she used to, and all of a sudden, the air felt… wrong. Like she was walking into something she really shouldn’t. The top of the stairs almost appeared darker than she was used to, and the colors felt less vivid. It must have just been her imagination, but it was still unsettling.

For a moment, she toyed with the idea of just not bothering and going back to her sister. But, she reminded herself, she had already started, and it wasn’t like she was doing much. She was just passing a bowl of food to her father so he could eat and warm up. That was it.

Still, to her confusion, she had to take a deep breath to steel herself before beginning the climb in earnest. As she rose, she realized she could just faintly make out the voices of her parents through the walls, muffled and indistinct. She couldn’t make out any words, but she could hear their tones.

And they sounded scared.

Celestia slowed to a crawl, the food she was bringing with her all but forgotten. A lump formed in her throat, and the sense of wrongness only got worse. She strove to make as little noise as possible, her ears pointing forward and listening intently to her parents voices, trying to make out words.

Finally, their voices became clear enough to make out words once she reached the top of the stairs.

“Sprout, honey, are you sure? Absolutely sure?” Honey asked nervously.

“Yeah, I am,” Sprout replied, his tone grim and somber. “The food’s gone. The cold wiped it all out. The coverings were useless this time…”

Celestia froze, her breath catching in her throat. The food… gone? But that didn’t make any sense. How could the covers they had put up do nothing? They had worked every single winter before this one with minimal losses! She resisted the urge to shiver at the mental image of all of her father’s hard work shriveled up and dead in the cold.

Honey continued. “But… but that doesn’t make any sense… how could that be?!”

“I don’t know, hon, I really don’t…”

“What… what do we do, then? If our crops are all dead, then all we have is what’s in the house, and that won’t last us long…”

“There’s only one thing we can do,” Sprout said, his voice low with resignation and defeat. A long pause followed, and Celestia leaned forward, pressing her ear up to the door to better hear what he said next. When he spoke again, Celestia heard it with crystal clarity.

“We can’t stay here. We have to leave.”

Celestia’s already pale face turned absolutely ashen. She took a step back from the door, her ears pinning back against her head.

“Leave? But where would we go?” Honey asked, mirroring Celestia’s own formless thoughts.

“We go back to where we came from,” Sprout replied. “We head back to Flatstone.”

“Flatstone?!” Honey echoed in disbelief. “Sprout, are you mad?! After all the effort we went to to get away from there-”

“Where else is there?!” Sprout cut her off, his voice raising in volume. Celestia flinched back as if struck, and she could imagine Honey looking much the same. A moment later, he continued. “Look, I don’t like it either. But I am not going to let my daughters freeze or starve to death up here! We made a promise, and I’m gonna keep it.”

Celestia backed away from the door. Whatever Sprout and Honey said next, she didn’t hear them. Her mind was a swirling maelstrom of chaos. Anxiety, fear, dread, doubt, and confusion were all waging a war for dominance in her psyche, throwing her thoughts this way and that.

Her chest constricted at the notion of leaving their home. The furthest she had been from the house was the river where she found Luna all those years ago. She had never set hoof farther than that, but here it sounded like they were going to be leaving the mountain entirely. A cold feeling built up in her gut, and she found she no longer had the bravery to stay here by the door.

She quietly set down the bowl of porridge by the door before retreating back down the stairs as quickly and as quietly as she could. She couldn’t hear anymore. She couldn’t listen anymore. She had to get away, get back to Luna.

In a few moments she was coming back into her room. She closed the door behind her and slumped against it, her eyes wide and unfocused. She took a few harrowing seconds to calm down, taking deep breaths to soothe her thoughts and slow down the racing of her heart.

“...Tia?” Luna’s voice came from behind her a moment later, quiet and anxious.

Celestia’s blood turned to ice in her veins. She hadn’t given any thought whatsoever to how Luna would react to seeing her like this, or even to what she would say once she was back in her room. She slowly turned back to Luna, trying her best to hide her distress behind a friendly mask.

“What’s wrong?” Luna asked, sitting up in her bed.

She was so small, compared to Celestia. And somehow, hiding behind her blankets and shrinking back in fear, she seemed so much smaller. Weak. Fragile. Defenseless. Vulnerable. And in that moment, Celestia understood exactly why Sprout had lied earlier. Why he had told them everything was fine. Why she was asked to go to their room.

Celestia forced herself to smile. “N-nothing. Nothing’s wrong,” she lied.

VIII - Into The Cold

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It was the coldest snow the family had ever seen. It buried their crops, destroyed their food, and smothered their entire world. Though the family did not wish to do it, they were left with no other choice but to abandon their home…

“Dad? What’s Flatstone?” Luna asked anxiously while Sprout helped her into her winter coat.

Sprout hesitated, his brow furrowing in thought for a moment before he sighed and gave his answer. “Flatstone is… it’s where your mother and I come from,” he said slowly. “It’s an earth pony village at the base of the mountain. It’s almost a week-long hike.”

Luna’s eyes widened. “Where you and mom came from? Then, does that mean your mom and dad will be there?”

“...No. They won’t.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t you worry about that,” Sprout dismissed with a gentle smile. “Let’s just get you suited up so we can get a move on, okay?”

Luna didn’t answer right away. She looked down at the ground, her brow furrowing in thought. After a minute, she looked back up to Sprout. “Will we be safe there?” she asked.

“Yes. The ponies might be a little rude to you and Tia at first, but I ask that you just bear with them, alright?”

Luna nodded along. “Okay.”

Celestia, already wearing all of her winter clothes, watched the conversation from off to one side. Honey stood behind her, her nose buried into one of their pairs of saddlebags to ensure they had all of the supplies they would need for the journey. It had only been a day since she overheard Sprout and Honey talking about leaving for Flatstone, and already they were getting ready to head out the door.

She looked out the window, her ears folding back. She hadn’t realized they would be setting out this soon. She had assumed they would take at least a few days to finalize their plans and let her and Luna get comfortable with the prospect of moving out, but that had not been the case. Just last night, as they were eating one of the thinnest dinners Celestia could remember, Sprout had dropped the news on them.

“What?!” Luna had cried out in dismay. “But why?! This is our home! We live here! I don’t wanna go!”

“Neither do I,” Sprout had replied, a stern but understanding look on his face. “But we don’t have any choice. If we don’t leave soon, we might get snowed in, and we don’t want that.”

Celestia cringed as she recalled how Luna’s eyes had started to glisten. “But… but…”

“I’m sorry, Lu, really, I am. But this isn’t up for debate. We’re leaving tomorrow morning. That’s the end of it.”

Neither Celestia nor Luna had slept well the previous night, despite their best efforts. It had been one long exercise in futility, and Celestia was feeling the effects of her lack of sleep quite keenly. Her muscles were stiff, her eyelids were heavy, and her brain was taking just a little longer than she would have liked to come to any conclusions.

Underneath all of that was an overwhelming, yet understated, feeling of dread. She kept feeling like something was watching her; an itch between her shoulder blades, a chilled tingle on the back of her neck. She shuddered and instinctively drew her coat tighter to her body with her magic.

“Alright, I think Luna’s just about ready,” Sprout declared a moment later, standing up straight and giving her one last look over. Celestia turned her attention back to her sister to see that she was wrapped up in multiple layers of clothing. It wasn’t anything particularly pleasing to the eye, largely being colored in a collection of drab browns, but it would do the trick.

“I’m just about ready here, too,” Honey replied, rising from her saddlebags. “If we’re sparing with supplies, we should be able to make this last until we get there.”

Sprout wandered over, speaking with Honey about their supplies. Celestia tuned the discussion out for the most part. Her attention remained fixated on her sister. Luna was slowly casting her eyes across the front room of the house, her ears down and a far-off, sorrowful look in her eyes.

Celestia felt a stirring in her chest. She swallowed heavily and approached her sister at a slow, tentative pace. When she came to Luna’s side, she draped a foreleg over her shoulders. She would have used one of her wings, but they were pinned to her sides under her coat. Luna leaned into the embrace without hesitation, her eyes glistening yet again.

“I don’t wanna go…” she whispered quietly.

Celestia nodded quietly. “Me neither… but mom and dad say we have to,” she said, shooting a quick glance towards their parents. “And right now, we really gotta listen to them.”

“But… But what if something bad happens to our house while we’re gone?” Luna protested, turning to face Celestia directly. “What if wolves come? Or bears? Or thieves? What if the bad pegasus comes and ruins our home, or breaks our toys?”

Celestia winced. She struggled internally for a moment, unable to decide between telling Luna bluntly how bad the situation was, or trying to downplay it for her own comfort. Eventually, she sighed and opted simply to dodge the questions. “...We can always fix things when we get back. Dad’s real good at fixing things.”

Luna did not seem appeased by that answer, but she didn’t argue. The two fell into a companionable silence, taking in the view of the front of their home while they waited for Sprout and Honey to wrap up their discussion.

“Hey,” Sprout’s voice suddenly sliced through the silence, drawing Celestia and Luna’s attention. “There’s just a little bit of space in your bags. Go ahead and find one thing you want to take with you. It’s gotta be small, though, so nothing big, and don’t take too long.”

Luna and Celestia hesitated, briefly sharing a look. After a second, Celestia put on a smile before heading for their room. She knew exactly what she was going to get. Luna was following close at her hooves, the look in her eyes displaying her own resolution.

The room was darker than Celestia was used to when they entered—or, at least, that was how it felt. The curtains had been drawn tight, preventing the muted, gray light of the snowing sky to enter the room. Celestia had seen such a sight many times, but this time felt different. She walked slowly into the room, casting her eyes from her bed to her sister’s. She felt a pang of nostalgia as she remembered the day Sprout had finally finished building this for the two of them, and how her first experience sleeping in one of these beds had been when she was grounded.

She reached out and ran her hoof along the frame of her bed. She felt at the now long-familiar woodgrain, having memorized every memorable bump, ridge, and shape over the many years she had been sleeping here. She took in a deep breath through her nose, savoring the familiar smell of the space.

“...What are you taking?” Luna asked from behind her. Celestia turned to look to see her sister carrying a small collection of toys in her magic. Small wooden carvings made by their father over the years. Celestia smiled, thinking back on the long hours of fun Luna had with those toys.

But her sister had asked her a question, and she was wasting time reminiscing. She turned back to her bed, her horn lighting up with magic as she pulled an aging, worn, slightly tattered blanket out from under the mattress. She knew that Sprout and Honey had loaded up on blankets already, but this one was special. She briefly felt at it with her hoof before smiling back at Luna.

“This. I wanna bring this.”

Luna tilted her head. “Huh? Why that? Don’t we have blankets?” she asked.

Celestia turned to Luna fully and floated the blanket over. “Well, yeah, of course. But this one is special. Remember?”

Luna eyed the blanket for a few seconds, her muzzle scrunching up before her eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh! This is the blanket you always brought up to the roof when we watched the stars dancing!” she exclaimed.

Celestia nodded. “Yeah. I never got rid of it, even when I outgrew it. But I don’t think I could bear to leave this behind,” she said, her eyes boring into the fabric. A sense of longing and nostalgia came over her. “All those nights we spent on the roof, watching the stars and the moon… waking up to the light of the sun on our faces… Those are some of my favorite memories. And I wanna bring ‘em with me.”

Luna smiled and gave Celestia a quick hug. “Maybe, if we can find a clear spot in the clouds, we can watch the stars again soon?” she asked hopefully.

Celestia nodded, patting her little sister on the back. “Absolutely. I promise,” she said with a nod. The two remained embraced like that for a short time before coming apart. As much as they wished to spend the rest of time huddled in that room in stubborn defiance, they both knew they had to leave, and it was time.

Celestia folded the blanket up as much as she could, and the two foals left their room. Sprout and Honey were both waiting, clearly ready to go. The foals’ saddlebags sat open on the floor, stuffed to the brim with supplies for the journey with barely any room to spare. Sprout offered a silent, comforting nod as Celestia and Luna got their personal effects stored away.

“So this is it?” Celestia asked as she slipped her saddlebags on with her magic. “We’re leaving now? There’s nothing left to do?”

Sprout nodded regretfully. “I hate to say it, but… yeah. Yeah, that’s it. We need to go sooner rather than later,” he said solemnly. “I’m sorry. I know this is hard, kids.”

“It’s okay,” Celestia replied with a small smile of her own. “We’re coming back someday, right?”

“Of course,” Honey answered for him with a nod of her own. “Just as soon as all this snow clears out, we’ll come right back and get back to living our lives.”

Celestia hummed. That was probably the best answer she could hope for. They would come back, someday. When the snow melted, they’d come back, replant the crops, clear out the dust, chase away the spiders, and get back to quietly living off the fat of the land. They would. They would.

Celestia looked back to the hearth one more time. The last flickering embers sputtered and faded, and the quiet ambiance of the fireplace died with it. The last flickers of orange light were gone.

That was it. Time to go.

“Come on,” Sprout ordered, turning and opening the door. A harsh wind immediately howled in his face, making him cringe. He looked back to the family gathering behind him. “Stay close and do not wander off. I mean it. We stick together at all times, and we don’t split up for anything. Do I make myself clear, kids?”

“Yes,” Celestia said. Luna replied with a simple, shaky nod and a quiet hum of affirmation.

“Then let’s go.”

And with that, the family stepped outside. There was no fanfare. No further discussion. No heartfelt sympathies or sentiments shared. The cold chased such warm notions away before they even had a chance to form. All Celestia managed to get in that regard as she stepped outside of her home for the last time was a longing glance back at the door. She saw the cold, dead hearth through the entrance one last time before the door closed, and they stepped into the howling white.

They left the clearing in silence. Sprout took the lead, with Celestia and Luna in the middle, and Honey bringing up the rear to ensure neither of the foals ran off on their own. The wind screamed at them all the while, and Celestia had to squint just to see more often than not. The snow lashed at her face like an endless barrage of frozen knives, and the thick white haze was so dense she could barely see ten feet in front of her.

The once familiar forest now felt alien to her. The often-traveled paths that she and Sprout had worn into the ground had been buried in the snow, and the trees she knew like the back of her hoof were gone. In their place were murky, blurred shadows, barely perceptible through the snow. They loomed ominously over them, making Celestia feel tiny and pitiful in comparison.

All the while, that haunting feeling of being watched continued to get worse and worse. Sometimes her ear would turn and she thought she could hear something moving out there in the blizzard, adding its own harrowing voice to the cold choir of the storm, but whenever she turned to look, there was nothing. Just more snow.

“Gah, this wind is slowing us down too much!” Sprout yelled to be heard over the roar of the wind. He glanced back at Celestia and Luna, and her heart leaped into her throat. “Kids, is there anything you can do about it?!”

Celestia swallowed heavily, shooting Luna a glance. The two stared at each other in tense silence. Could they? It was a long shot, Celestia could already tell that much. The clouds would be completely resistant to their efforts to move them, be it by hoof or magic, and neither of them had tried to influence the wind directly with their magic.

Eventually, Celestia’s expression hardened. If nothing else, it was worth a try. She turned back to Sprout and nodded her head. “I don’t know, but we’ll try.”

Sprout nodded and shuffled off to one side, giving Celestia and Luna a clear view ahead of them to work their magic. Celestia winced as more snow blasted into her face. She turned her head and focused on Luna, who was shrinking down towards the ground with her eyes wide and fearful. She was clearly intimidated by the storm and the seemingly impossible task ahead of them. Celestia quickly made her way over and slid a foreleg over Luna’s back to help comfort her.

She smiled at her sister. “Hey, it’s alright. I’m right here. Let’s just give it our best, alright?”

Luna was quiet for a second, then nodded her head, taking comfort in Celestia’s presence. That done, they faced forward. Celestia took a deep breath and lit her horn, casting her magic ahead of the group to try and force the wind to blow around them. It was haphazard at best, an alien use of her magic that she had never tried before, and even with Luna’s help, she knew it would serve them very little, if at all.

The moment her magic took form and set to work, Celestia could feel the wind eating at it. She gasped in shock at the strange feeling. The wind was powerful, but she knew that, if this weather were normal, she’d be able to fight back against it.

This was different. It was like the wind was systematically dismantling her magic as she tried to apply it. For every nail she hammered down, an unseen force tore another one out, leaving her making no progress whatsoever.

“What in the… grr!” Celestia growled, trying to pour more energy into the spell. She was not going to be shown up by some stupid wind! She was a unicorn with wings, and a darn powerful one at that according to her parents! She wasn’t going to let them down without a fight.

And a fight she gave. She and Luna tried as hard as they could to pour more and more magic into their horns, against the storm, but alas, this was one battle they would not win, as their every effort was unmade before it could even truly do anything. All that they had to show for their efforts was a faintly rippling shimmer of gold and blue light in front of the group that served no real purpose.

Finally, after what felt like forever, they gave up. Celestia cut off her flow of magic with a sigh of pain. There was an uncomfortable throbbing deep in the base of her horn, and she recognized it as a symptom of wearing out her magic reserves. She wouldn’t be using magic for a little while after that.

Up ahead, Sprout’s ears had drooped. “Nothing?”

Celestia sighed, unable to meet her father’s gaze. It was Luna who spoke, though. “We tried. I’m sorry, dad… It’s not working.”

“I don’t know how or why, but it’s like the wind was fighting our magic,” Celestia elaborated, her muzzle scrunching up in thought. “For everything I tried to make my magic do, the wind made another part of it fail. It’s like it’s alive or something.”

The haunting howling of the blizzard rushed by the group, punctuating that sentence. Sprout’s eyes looked up towards where the forest canopy would be, were it not hidden by the haze, and frowned. Honey, meanwhile, shifted uncomfortably behind the group. “What is this storm…?”

“I don’t know, but we got to keep moving,” Sprout replied matter-of-factly. He jerked his head forward. “Come on, let’s go.”

Nopony had any objections to that. They pressed on, continuing their gradual descent. They tried to find shelter from the howling wind wherever they could, but there were precious few places within these woods that were safe from the blizzard. Those few places that could keep the snow back were fleeting, and their protection was painfully short-lived.

Down and down they went. Eventually, Celestia began to notice that it was getting darker. She looked up at the sky, her ears drooping. She could feel the air getting colder, and her breath on her face felt impossibly warm compared to the freezing air.

“We need to stop and camp for the night,” Sprout declared, coming to a stop. “We don’t wanna get caught in the open when it’s dark out.”

“Alright,” Honey replied, nudging Celestia and Luna ahead. “You have the firewood, right?”

“Enough for a night or two, at least, yeah,” Sprout replied, glancing back at his bags. Celestia followed his gaze, noting the various supplies he had rolled up outside the pouches. She saw a thick roll of fabric that, if she were to guess, was either meant to be a bedroll or a tent of some description. She also saw a few pieces of wood poking up from one of the pouches, harvested from their house before they left.

The group didn’t talk much. Sprout led them in getting their campsite set up. They spent a short time finding a patch of flat ground that had at least some cover provided by a dense patch of trees. It was far from perfect, but for now, it would serve their purposes. Celestia lent what help she could to Sprout in getting the tent pitched, while Honey and Luna focused on getting the campfire going.

It was fully dark by the time they were done. A small, flickering fire was going, barely surviving the cold temperatures. Sprout gave the campsite a quiet look over before nodding his approval. “Alright. Everypony set down your stuff in the tent and get comfy. This is gonna be a rough night.”

Celestia stepped into the tent and looked around. All of their blankets had been arranged in the back, lumped together in one big pile. They would be sleeping together tonight, to share their body heat, according to Sprout. She let off a quiet sigh as she set down her saddlebags, then turned to face Luna and Honey as they did the same.

“You kids doing okay?” Honey asked, her voice low and tired. There was concern in her eyes, but also the same mothering kindness that Celestia had always loved so much.

Luna gave off a long, tired whine, scuffing her hoof along the floor of the tent. “...I’m cold. I’m scared. I don’t like this. I wanna go home,” she mumbled, though her tone made it clear that she knew it wasn’t an option.

Honey’s ears drooped, and she gently pulled Luna into a sympathetic hug. “I know, sweetie, I know. I want to go home, too. But we can’t. Things are probably going to be bad for a while, but we’re going to be okay. Your dad, your sister, and I are going to take care of you.”

Luna hugged Honey back and buried her face into her mother’s chest fur. “You promise?” she asked weakly.

Honey nodded, kidding Luna on the top of her head. “I promise.”

Celestia nodded in agreement and walked over to place her hoof on Luna’s back. She gave her sister an encouraging smile. “Yeah, don’t you worry about a thing. This will all be over before you know it.”

Luna didn’t say anything at first. She simply sat there for a while, basking in the warmth of her mother’s embrace. Celestia watched them for a minute longer, wondering if there was anything else she should say. She knew that Luna was still upset and scared. But really, what could Celestia honestly say that would make her feel better?

She looked outside, listening to the wind. What was there to say to ease her sister’s fear when she was terrified, too? What could she say that wouldn’t be a lie? She had no idea what was really going on out there, where this storm had come from, or what could possibly be causing it. All of those things made her feel far more fear than she was comfortable showing.

She resisted the urge to stomp her hoof and growl in frustration. She felt so helpless. She had never been so weak before. Normally, her magic or her own raw physical strength was enough to solve, or at least diminish, most problems they had faced. But this time? She was useless. Powerless. There was nothing she could do to make the problems go away. All she could do was her own part in protecting her family, as minuscule as that was.

In the end, there was nothing for her to say, and so she simply opted to leave her mother and sister on their own for now. She turned and made her way back outside. She could use a bit of time spent by the fire.

Sprout was still out there when she emerged, putting a couple more pieces of wood onto the fire to keep the flames lit. He glanced up at her as she emerged. “Hey. How are they holding up?” he asked quietly.

Celestia sighed. “Luna’s scared and mom’s tired,” she answered in a deadpan. She approached the fire, cleared some of the snow from the ground with her magic, and sat down. She stared into the crackling flames, allowing her eyes to go distant and her mind to wander.

She heard Sprout walking around the fire before he sat down beside her. He wrapped a foreleg over her back and pulled her against him into a side-hug, lending his warmth to her own. “And you?” he asked in a low voice.

Celestia hesitated, not wanting to admit her own feelings of weakness and powerlessness to her father. She had spent most of her life making herself useful to him, after all. Be it helping with the crops or hauling logs back from the forest, she had stood by his side as his little helper.

In the end, she simply settled with turning her head to one side. “...I’m scared and tired,” she said, willing to admit that much.

“That’s true of all of us, you know,” Sprout said reassuringly. “I’m scared, too. Hay, I’m terrified.”

Celestia managed a weak chuckle at that. “Heh. Yeah, I noticed. But then again, you’ve always been kinda paranoid.”

“It’s not paranoia when things actually go wrong,” Sprout quipped with a small note of victory in his voice.

The two shared a small laugh at that before the wind and the cold stole away their mirth. They fell silent, staring into the burning fire and savoring the warmth it imparted. Eventually, a question came to Celestia, and she looked up to Sprout.

“So… what’s Flatstone like?” she asked softly.

Sprout’s expression hardened. He didn’t answer her at first. He stared into the flame, and Celestia knew his mind was going back to memories that predated her and Luna by a long time. Eventually, he blew out a quiet sigh and shook his head. “It’s nice enough, I suppose. Plenty of ponies, hard-working, strong traditions, powerful sense of community.”

Celestia frowned. Something about that answer didn’t really sound right. It felt like Sprout was hiding something from her. She shifted in place and gently nudged him with a hoof. “Then why did you and mom leave?”

Sprout looked down, his expression contorting with distaste. For a moment, Celestia considered retracting the question, but he answered before she could. “Honestly? Honey and I decided to leave when we realized just how petty all of the fighting was.”

“Fighting?”

“Yeah. The three pony tribes rely on each other for basically everything. We earth ponies tend to the land, the pegasi handle the weather that lets our crops grow, and unicorns bring about the day and night, letting ponies sleep when we need to and keeping temperatures nice and even. Without them, there’d be nothing to grow the food. Without us, there wouldn’t be any food grown. So we all depend on each other, you see?”

“Yeah, I get that,” Celestia replied, already knowing most of this.

Sprout nodded before he went on. “Well… see, as much as we need each other, the pegasi and the unicorns had this real bad habit of, ah, overreaching, I guess. They take more than they are due, and it leads to a lot of bad blood. I’d be more than happy to break bread with ‘em if they didn’t keep taking more than their fair share of food. But, well, eventually, a group of pegasi demanded way too much food. Honey and I were livid, of course, but we figured we could talk those featherbrains down.”

Sprout let off a humorless snort, his expression contorting with long-buried resentment. “But ya wanna know what the rest of the town thought about that?”

Celestia leaned back, feeling surprised by the bitterness in her father’s voice. Hesitantly, she swallowed and tilted her head. “What?”

Sprout grunted, kicking a stray pebble into the fire. The flames swayed in response, and a few new embers were kicked up into the air. “They grabbed their farm tools and practically flew into a riot. Chased the pegasi out of town, spitting curses and threats after them as they flew back up into the sky.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “Oh… That’s…”

“It was just plain stupid,” Sprout went on, his eyes narrowing. “Nothing more or less to it than that. The pegasi were demanding brutes, but fighting among ourselves is never gonna solve a single one of the problems the tribes gotta deal with. Honey and I’d been dealing with heated arguments and threats of violence for a while before that, but that was just the last straw. We were sick of it. All of the tribes’ pointless quarreling and bickering and fighting. We decided enough was enough, came up here to get away from it, and got married in secret.”

Celestia nodded slowly in response. That shed a lot of light on why their home had been so far removed from other ponies. Celestia had known, more or less, that Sprout and Honey had wanted to get away from the other tribes, but the full extent of the story had eluded her until now. Now that she knew more or less what they were walking into, she was beginning to feel uneasy.

“So, are the ponies in Flatstone going to be happy to see you two again?” she eventually asked.

“Oh, absolutely not,” Sprout replied with a snort of amusement. “We were already kinda the black sheep of the village before we left, and nopony was happy with us for arguing against the show of force. No doubt they were all pretty offended when we packed up and ran off. But, unhappy as they’re gonna be, they aren’t unkind. They’ll scold us and they’ll insult us, but I’m sure they’ll let us stick around.”

Celestia looked down at the ground.

Sprout gave her a comforting squeeze. “But don’t you worry, none. I won’t let them get anywhere near you or your sister.”

Celestia put on a smile. About that much, she had always been confident. She looked back up at Sprout with a big grin and a sharp nod. “Right. You’ve always taken care of us, and that isn’t about to change!”

“Darn straight!” Sprout replied with his own grin. He pulled Celestia in for an affectionate noogie, much to her protest. “I ain’t going anywhere! So you just sit tight and let your dad do all the talking. I’ll set ‘em straight!”

“Haha! Dad, cut it out! Let me go!” Celestia complained, squirming against his far stronger grip. He held firm for a few moments longer, continuing to ruffle her mane with his hoof, before finally releasing her. She staggered back and pouted up at him. She felt a surge of indignation at the unrepentant, smug grin he was giving her. “I’m gonna get you for that.”

“Ha! Oh, I’m sure you will!” Sprout replied with a short laugh. He stood back to his full height, brushing some snow off of his coat. “But it can wait. For now, let’s head back inside. Honey’s carrying the food, and I dunno about you, but I am starving.”

Celestia couldn’t argue with that. She happily followed Sprout back into the tent, feeling just a little better about their situation overall. As scary as things were right now, she had him to depend on, and she knew he would never let her down.

Their dinner, if one could call it that, amounted to a couple of fruits for each of them. Without their hearth or typical assortment of tools for cooking at their disposal, the meal was bland and boring compared to Honey’s usual fare. If nothing else, though, it kept their strength up and filled their bellies, which was the most they could ask for, given the circumstances.

As soon as they got done eating, they laid down to get some sleep. Rest did not come easily to Celestia, however. The roaring of the wind outside kept assaulting her ears. Just like earlier, every so often she thought she could hear something moving in the distance, lending its own monstrous call to the storm, but nothing ever came of it. Whatever anxiety she might have felt over the issue was chased away by the warmth of her father sleeping beside her.

In time, Celestia did finally manage to fall into a light, restless slumber. She still woke up frequently, jarred awake by some noise or other. It never took her very long to get back to sleep, but still, the repetitive returns to the waking world were quickly taking their toll on her mind.

Eventually, the darkness was chased away by the coming of the dawn. Sprout and Honey were the first to rise, insisting that Celestia remain in bed with Luna while the adults took care of whatever needed doing before they set out. Celestia did not argue and spent what time she had left in bed cuddling up to her sister.

Nopony said a word when the time came to eat. Another rationed meal, barely more than a snack when compared to their previous standards, would have to do. Celestia took to helping Sprout get their camping equipment packed up, while Honey tended to Luna. Celestia’s eyes routinely flicked over to her little sister, and she winced every time at just how exhausted Luna looked.

It seemed that her little sister, for reasons easily guessed, had gotten the least amount of rest out of all of them.

Before long, it was time to move on, and they set out into the snow once again. Maintaining their formation from the night before, Celestia followed closely behind Sprout as he led the way farther and farther down. The wind wasn’t quite as intense today, allowing them to see farther than before. A welcome change, though it did come with the drawback of seeing how the world around them had been absolutely smothered.

It was frightening in its own way. Celestia could see ice and frost clinging to every imaginable surface. Tree trunks sparkled and glistened with ice in the early morning light, while icicles hung dangerously from the branches. Snow was still falling, of course, and the blanket was inching ever higher. Celestia and Luna were at least able to clear it out from the front of the group with their magic, though pushing away the wind was, sadly, still impossible.

It was after another few hours of steady walking that the group broke through the treeline and came to a stop at the top of a sharp ledge. Celestia paused and looked down, her brow furrowing. The drop wasn’t particularly far, only about ten feet or so, and ended with a small beach—at least, she assumed it was a beach, given the frozen river that stood in their path. It was as wide as two full-grown trees from the forest around them, and the waters had frozen over surprisingly smoothly.

It was odd. The longer she looked, the more familiar this spot looked. She didn’t get much of a chance to think of why, though, as Sprout grunted in frustration.

“Gah. Shoulda figured the river would be frozen over…” he muttered under his breath. “We’re gonna have to cross on hoof.”

“But, won’t that be dangerous?!” Honey asked in alarm. “What if the ice breaks and we fall in?!”

Sprout was quiet for a few seconds. Celestia eyed him cautiously, a nervous feeling building up in her gut. He examined the sight of the river for several long moments, working his jaw from side to side while his brow furrowed in intense thought.

“Can’t we go around?” Celestia provided hopefully.

Sprout sighed and shook his head. “Nah, not a good idea. I know this river. It winds and twists like an angry snake. If we tried to go around, we’d end up even farther from Flatstone than we were back at the house. We gotta cross if we wanna make good time.”

“But again, what if the ice breaks?” Honey pressed worriedly. “If anypony falls in the water…”

Luna whimpered at the implication, and Celestia couldn’t suppress a shudder of her own. Honey didn’t need to say it. The air was already freezing, and if anyone fell into the ice, the cold water underneath would be likely to cause hypothermia.

Sprout’s eyes shifted from the river and settled on Celestia and Luna. His brow furrowed even further before he gave a sage nod. “We cross one at a time, lightest first. Kids, you two fly over the river and you wait for us on the other side. Honey, you go next, and I’ll go after you,” he instructed plainly.

“But dad,” Luna protested, piping up. “What if-”

“We don’t have the room for other options right now, Luna, I’m sorry,” Sprout said before sitting on his haunches and shrugging off his saddlebags. He turned to Celestia and held them out to her. “Here. Take our bags across with ya. It’ll lighten the load and make it safer for your mom and I to cross.”

Celestia swallowed heavily but did not argue. She simply took the bags in her magic and floated them over to hover beside her. “Be careful, dad,” she said after a moment.

Sprout just smiled. “Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

Celestia nodded and took a step back. She glanced over at Luna and Honey. The two of them still didn’t look completely convinced, but, for lack of a better option, Honey began to go along with it herself. She shrugged off her bags and passed them to Luna, who reluctantly took them in her magic.

“Just fly straight across,” Honey whispered to her, giving Luna a hug. “And no matter what, you don’t move an inch until Sprout and I get to you, okay?”

“Okay, mom,” Luna replied in a fearful whisper. The two came apart, and Luna made her way to join Celestia. “I’m ready.”

Celestia nodded, then took a moment to open up her coat enough to let her wings out. She immediately shivered as she felt the biting air attack her skin, but she forced herself to tough it out. She’d put her coat back on just as soon as they were across. She gave Luna a meaningful look as she did the same. Luna shivered, whimpering from the exposure.

Well, they were as ready as they were going to be. Celestia gave a satisfied nod. “Alright. Come on, let’s go,” she ordered before kicking into the air with a powerful flap of her wings. Luna was close at her hooves, though Celestia had to slow down to let her keep up. The added weight of the saddlebags was slowing both of them down, not to mention the tailwind. It may have died down from last night, but it was still far from a gentle summer breeze.

Their progress was slow but steady, and Celestia took the longer flight time to look down at the frozen surface of the river. She spied the tips of numerous rocks that broke the water’s surface, along with broken-off branches lodged between some of them. Maybe they were the remnants of some badger’s old dam, she thought. More striking than that, though, she could just make out her reflection staring back at her, twisted and distorted by the ripples in the stream.

Suddenly, an intense gust of wind blew against her out of nowhere. Celestia gave out a startled yelp, fighting to maintain control of her flight. “What in the-” she tried to think before another burst of wind smashed into her, forcing her back a few feet. The falling snow seemed to suddenly grow in intensity, and the hail of flakes was now slashing at her face and forcing her to screw her eyes shut to protest them. She grit her teeth and growled even as her face began to go numb, forcing herself to fight through it.

Until she heard Luna screaming.

Celestia’s eyes flew wide open, and she quickly spun around to see her little sister being thrown out of her stable flight by the wind. She fell head-over-hooves for the river below, her precious cargo falling freely in a different direction.

Adrenaline flooded through Celestia’s veins. “LUNA!” she screamed, pumping her wings for all they were worth to chase after her sister. She heard Sprout and Honey shouting at her, but she couldn’t make out their words through the sound of her heart in her ears, much less the sudden, monstrous roaring of the wind.

Her heart all but stopped in her chest as she realized that she wasn’t fast enough. With how quickly Luna was falling, she’d hit the ice long before Celestia could reach her. It was like the snowstorm around her flooded Celestia’s veins as the mental image of her sister freezing beneath the ice entered her mind. It was there for but a fraction of a second, but that was enough.

She reached out with her magic, the whole world fading away except for her and her sister. She felt a throb of pain in the base of her horn from the added effort, but she pushed through it. Her sister needed her, dangit!

She smiled triumphantly as she felt Luna’s body in her magic, and she quickly latched on. “Got ya!” she declared, slowing her rapid descent.

Another gust of air blasted against her, and this time, Celestia was unable to resist it. She hadn’t even been prepared for it, and she felt herself being thrown backward by it, her wings unable to close as they caught the wind. Instinct took over her mind, and she pulled on Luna with all of her might. She felt her sister cartwheeling after her through the air before she met the ground.

Celestia gasped in pain, the air torn from her lungs as she struck the snow-covered bank. She rolled along for a few feet before coming to a rest. Her face was numb, and that same sensation of nothingness was quickly pooling into every other part of her body. If nothing else, it was making it easier for her to ignore the pain she was in.

She heard another crash nearby, and was immediately reminded of Luna. she looked up, another spike of adrenaline in her veins. Luna was curled up into a ball in the snow a short way away.

“Luna! Are you okay?!” Celestia cried out in a shivering voice. She stood up and quickly zipped up her hoodie before rushing to her sister’s side. Luckily, it seemed Luna was none the worse for wear. Her eyes were screwed tightly shut, her head was held in her hooves, and she was probably going to get a nasty bruise from that less-than-gentle landing, but otherwise, she seemed fine.

“Kids! Are you alright?!” Sprout’s voice echoed from the other side of the river. Celestia lifted her head and looked across at him. He and Honey had both jumped down from the ledge and were now standing at the very edge of the river, watching them with clear concern.

Celestia nodded and lifted a hoof to wave. “We’re okay!”

“What happened?!” Honey shouted.

Celestia frowned. What had happened? She looked back up, and to her growing confusion and surprise, the intense gust of wind that had thrown both her and her sister from the air had suddenly died down. “But… that doesn’t make any sense. Wind doesn’t work like that,” she thought, her brow furrowing.

Then again, there was nothing natural about this sudden winter.

“I don’t know!” she shouted back after a moment. “There was just a lot of wind all of a sudden!”

Sprout and Honey turned to one another, talking animatedly, though not loud enough for Celestia to hear them. So she instead returned her attention to Luna. The smaller foal was starting to sit up, shivering uncontrollably from the cold. She opened her eyes, only to suddenly screw them shut and hiss through tightly clenched teeth. “Ow!”

Red flags went up in Celestia’s head. “Luna?!” she asked, reaching out to steady her sister. “What is it?!”

“H-h-hurts,” Luna replied, a few stray tears leaking out of her eyes. “Side. It hurts. Ow, ow ow…”

“Oh boy,” Celestia muttered. She was no expert on injuries. If Luna had broken any bones on impact, she would have no way of knowing, and no knowledge of how to treat it. Still, she had to do something. “Okay, uh… okay, come on, here, I’m gonna help you sit up.”

“Ow…”

Luna didn’t protest as Celestia gingerly lifted her back up to a sitting position to get a look at her side. It was definitely bruising, but that was all Celestia could really tell. She swallowed heavily. “We’ll just have to hope it’s not as bad as she’s making it sound,” she thought before using her magic to help Luna get her coat back on.

Luna sniffled. She gave Celestia a small, strained smile once her coat was back on and secure. “Thanks, sis…”

“Anytime,” Celestia replied, getting her own coat back on. “You tell me if it starts getting worse, alright?”

“Okay...” Luna’s smile faded, and her eyes slowly drooped. “Um… I’m sorry.”

Celestia frowned. “What for?”

They were interrupted by Sprout’s voice shouting at them from across the water. “Did the supplies make it?!

The blood drained from Celestia’s face. In all of the sudden chaos, she had totally forgotten. She quickly lifted her head and looked around for any sign of the saddlebags that she was absolutely not carrying now. Her eyes swept across the river, and she soon spotted her quarry. A part of saddlebags, stranded in the middle of the river, resting against a few jagged rocks rising up through the ice.

Luna sniffled, drawing Celestia’s attention back to her. She was looking down, her ears lowered with shame. “I couldn’t hold on. I tried really hard, but I just couldn’t. I was too scared, and the wind was too strong…”

Celestia withered on the spot, but she was quick to put on a brave face. She reached out and pulled Luna into a comforting hug. She then turned and looked back towards Sprout. “We dropped them! Yours are right there! I’ll go get them now!”

“NO” Sprout shouted, stopping Celestia dead in her tracks. “No, no, just stay put! Do not leave the ground, do you hear me?!”

Celestia withdrew slightly from the intensity in his voice. A moment later, she swallowed heavily. “Okay! But what do we do?!”

“Can you reach it with your magic?”

Celestia frowned and eyed the bags again. They were right in the middle of the river, and there was plenty of wind in her way. Tentatively, she lit her horn and tried to reach for the bags. Alas, as before, the wind pulled her magic apart before it could get close enough to haul the bags closer. Celestia grimaced, allowing her horn to go dark.

“Normally, yeah, but the wind’s killing my magic!”

Judging by the way Sprout kicked the ground on the other side, Celestia could tell he had just said something not at all welcome in polite conversation.

“Alright, just stay put! I’ll try and get it when I cross! What about Honey’s bag?!”

“Luna dropped that, too,” Celestia called back. She winced guiltily when she felt Luna shudder with another guilty sob into her chest, continuing to mumble out apology after apology. Her ears folded back, but she forced herself to keep talking. “I can’t see them from here! I dunno where they are!”

There was a moment of silence before Honey’s voice carried across. “I’m coming over! Wait for me, you two!”

“Right!” Celestia called back. She looked back down to Luna, her brow furrowing in concern. Luna was still clinging to her and trying to stifle her guilty sobs. Celestia leaned back slightly, taking a hold of Luna’s shoulders. “Luna. Hey, look at me.”

Luna slowly lifted her head to look into Celestia’s eyes. Her own were red and puffy from the cold and her crying. She opened her mouth to talk, but Celestia cut her off.

“This is not your fault, okay?” she stated emphatically. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Don’t blame yourself.”

Luna sniffled and offered up a tiny nod. Celestia knew that it would probably take more than that before Luna was really convinced of that herself, but they didn’t have time for a better pep talk right now. Satisfied that Luna would at least focus for the moment, Celestia let her go and got back to her hooves. She looked across the river to see Honey slowly crossing.

It was agony to watch. Celestia’s heart wouldn’t stop beating, and she was beginning to sweat from the tension. Honey’s stance was spread wide, and every step she made was slow and delicate. Even from here, over the wind, Celestia and Luna could hear the ice crackling beneath her weight with every step. Every so often, a crack would visibly appear under her, and Celestia’s heart would skip a beat each time as she feared she was about to watch her mother plunge into the water. Mercifully, however, the ice never broke out from under her, and she was able to keep moving.

Celestia let off a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding when Honey finally made it to the other side. She took off at a full gallop, Luna close behind her, heading straight for their mother. Honey fell to her haunches on the bank, looking just as relieved as the foals. She looked up to them, a weary smile on her face, and her hooves reached out.

“Mom!” Celestia exclaimed, throwing herself against Honey in a tight hug. She felt Luna doing much the same beside her, and then Honey’s hooves enveloping them both. She gave a content hum, allowing her mother’s warmth to chase away the fear and anxiety of the last few minutes.

“I’m okay, kids,” Honey whispered, pulling them close and kissing both of them atop the heads. “I’m okay. It’s okay.”

“You across, Honey?!” Sprout’s voice called from the other side. She turned back and nodded, shouting back an affirmative. “Alright. Wait right there. It’s my turn!”

Celestia’s relief was short-lived. She pulled away from Honey and looked across the water to see Sprout beginning his own crossing. He was taking a different route from Honey, no doubt to avoid the cracks she had left in her wake. His progress was even slower than hers had been, but it was steady nonetheless.

Celestia’s eyes darted between him and the saddlebags. He was slowly starting to curve around towards them. Every step was carefully tested and measured before he put his weight down. So far, though, everything seemed to be going fine…

At last, Sprout reached the bags, and he reached down to lift them up with his mouth. Celestia felt a small bit of relief as he lifted them up and then turned to finish the crossing.

Crack.

The ice under Sprout’s hooves cracked, spiderwebbing out from his position in all directions. Luna squeaked in fear, her hooves flying up to cover her mouth. Honey rose to her hooves, visibly tensing. Celestia held her breath, watching Sprout’s every move with utmost focus.

Sprout looked down at the ice, his eyes wide and fearful. He stood perfectly still, and Celestia could see his chest heaving with every panicky breath he took. He slowly looked up at them, his eyes boring into hers for an instant that seemed to drag on for eternity.

And then the ice shattered under his hooves.

IX - Under The Ice

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But the storm would not let them go that easily. The family soon realized how completely unprepared they were for the journey ahead, and for this, the frozen world demanded a high price...

“DAD!” Celestia shrieked at the top of her lungs. A rush of adrenaline flooded her veins as terror gripped her heart. She took a frantic step forward, her wings flaring instinctively. Her heart twisted tighter in her chest when she briefly saw Sprout’s face appearing through the hectic splashes he was making in the water. She could just make out his exclamations from here. He was shaking. The cold was stealing his breath so much he could barely even gasp.

“Sprout!” Honey exclaimed, stepping in front of Celestia with her eyes wide and fearful.

“H-h-help!” Sprout called out before his words were swallowed by the freezing rapids under the ice that now threatened to pull him under. His voice was laced with a fear and panic that Celestia had never heard before, and it put a horrible feeling in her gut. She took a step back, a quiet, mortified whimper slipping out of her.

“Mom, do something!” Luna shouted, reaching out and shaking Honey by the foreleg. “Help him!”

Celestia wasn’t sure what Honey could do in this situation. She didn’t know what any of them could do, and that was the worst part. She felt so powerless, standing there on the frozen bank, watching her father struggle against the water.

Suddenly, Honey stepped forward. She quickly lowered herself onto her belly, her eyes aglow with fiery resolve and her jaw set. She spread her legs as wide as she could, then looked back to Celestia. “Slide me to him!” she ordered, the intensity in her voice leaving no room for debate.

Celestia hesitated briefly. “What about us?!” she asked. “What do Luna and I-”

“You stay put!” Honey snapped, cutting her off. “Now stop talking and push me!”

Another splash from Sprout chased away any further questions. All they could do was act, and they had to act now! With a frightened whimper, she ran up to Honey, her horn lighting up with golden light. She gave her adoptive mother a hearty shove, sending her sliding across the ice toward Sprout’s location. The ice crackled under her as she went, but not nearly as much as when she had been walking.

With that, it was out of Celestia’s hooves. She and Luna watched with bated breath as the brown earth pony mare slid swiftly across the frozen river. The bumps and ridges that had once been ripples and white caps made the journey bumpy, and the occasional gasp of pain could be heard coming from the mare, but she did not make any effort to stop herself until she reached her target.

Honey reached out and caught herself on a stray branch jutting up from the water near where Sprout was struggling. The branch sagged from the sudden weight, and an audible snap could be heard from the ice. Honey glanced down but did not waste any time. She turned to where Sprout was struggling. He was getting weaker, his helpless splashing barely enough to keep his head afloat.

Honey stretched herself as far as she could, reaching a hoof out to Sprout. “Grab on!” she shouted to him, her voice tense from the strain of stretching herself so far. Celestia winced, imagining the pain that must have been flaring in her shoulders and forelegs from such a position.

Thankfully, Sprout had enough strength left to start reaching out. One hoof managed to prop himself up on the edge of the ice while the other reached shakily for Honey’s hoof. Celestia’s breathing was slowly starting to calm down. It was all going to be okay, she kept telling herself. Just a few more inches and Honey would haul him out of the water. Then they could find somewhere sheltered, get a fire going, and get him warmed up.

“Come on…” she whispered, walking anxiously in place. “Come on… come ooonnn…!”

Sprout’s shivering hoof coiled around Honey’s. Celestia heard Luna let off a quiet sigh of relief off to her side. The wind howled in the distance.

Crack.

Suddenly, the ice under Honey caved, eliciting a startled shriek from her. Celestia cried out when she saw the chunk of ice her mother was on slant dangerously towards the water, and her heart flash-froze when she realized that Honey was about to fall into the water, too.

“NO!” the sisters shouted at the same time.

Luna turned to Celestia, her eyes wide and frantic with panic. “What do we do?! Tia, do something!” she begged, grabbing onto her sister. “Help them!”

Celestia didn’t need to be told twice. Casting aside both caution and her mother’s previous orders, she quickly tore off her coat with her magic to free her wings. The cold wind bit at her skin under her fur, but the adrenaline flooding her veins burned like a furnace hot enough to melt a glacier. A little snow wouldn’t be able to stop her now.

“Hang on!” she shouted as she kicked off from the shore, flying for her parents. “I’m coming!”

Once again, however, the wind saw fit to intervene. Celestia cried out in shock as a biting gust of freezing wind slammed against her like a barrier, sending a thick veil of snow in front of her face to obscure her vision. She swore under her breath and tried as hard as she could to push through it.

“Dangit!” she strained through grit teeth. She lit her horn, calling on all of the power she had to try and force the wind back. Not with control of the weather, but with simple brute strength. “Stupid wind! GET OUT OF MY WAY!”

The wind held firm against her for several seconds before, at last, it began to retreat from Celestia’s magic. She let out a triumphant gasp as she tore through the invisible barrier. She looked down and saw Sprout and Honey struggling to pull themselves free from the water. Honey was only partially submerged, her belly and parts of her legs under the surface. Her face was contorted in agony, though, and her eyes were screwed shut as she struggled to keep not only Sprout but herself from sliding completely into the water.

“Just hold on!” Celestia shouted, circling down. She dare not touch her hooves down on the water, though. She came to a stop behind them to try and assess the situation. She could hear the sound of the water flowing rapidly under the ice, an ominous roar that reverberated and crackled like a trillion shards of glass under a dragon’s claw.

“C-C-Celestia!” Sprout stuttered, his eyes locking onto her. “W-w-what are you-”

“Dad, I say this with love, but shut up!” Celestia cut him off, her horn lighting up even brighter. She reached out, wrapping both her mother and her father in her grasp and attempting to lift them up and out of the rapids. She gasped in strain when the flow of the water seemed to be actively pulling them down with its momentum, offering fierce resistance to her efforts to lift them up.

Another audible crack filled the air, and the sloped slab of ice that Honey had been precariously perched on broke away underneath her entirely. Celestia’s heart almost stopped in her chest when her mother, too, plunged into the depths. “MOM!” she cried out, trying to pull them back up and out of the water.

The river was too strong. Celestia began to hyperventilate as Honey’s weight plowed into Sprout, sending them both under the water. The current snatched them both out of Celestia’s grasp, carrying them downstream beneath the ice.

“No, no, no! Dangit!” Celestia babbled frantically as she took off after them. Her horn glowed brighter as she tried to reach for her parents. To her rapidly mounting panic and frustration, however, she couldn’t get a solid grip on them through the ice. It acted as a solid barrier, disrupting the flow of her magic before it could reach her parents.

Her blood was beginning to freeze to match the world around her. Tears were breaching her eyes as her mind raced frantically for a solution. But what could she do? With the ice blocking her path…

She gasped. That was it! The ice! With a grimace, she turned and flew farther downstream, as fast as her wings could carry her. She glanced off to the side, spying Luna sprinting along the shore to keep up. Her eyes were alight with a frantic terror of their own. When she looked ahead, her heart all but stopped in her chest. A series of thick rocks stretched up through the ice up ahead. They were sharp and jagged.

She didn’t want to imagine what would happen if Sprout and Honey crashed into them.

Gasping for breath, Celestia touched down on the ice before the rocks. The ice crackled under her hooves, and she slipped for a moment, her hooves scrambling for purchase before she stabilized herself. Satisfied, she spun to her parents. She could still make out their faint silhouettes under the ice, coming straight for her.

Celestia looked down at the ice. “Give them back!” she snapped before pumping her wings and lifting into the air. Then, with a guttural cry, she dove down, hind legs first, and kicked the ice as hard as she could. White-hot pain danced up her leg from the force of the impact, drawing a scream of pain from her. Her effort was rewarded, however, as a spiderweb-shaped crack formed on the surface of the ice.

It did not, however, break all the way through.

“Tia!” Luna called from the shore. Celestia looked to see her standing right at the river’s edge, one hoof lifted, her coat shed, allowing her to spread her wings, revealing the ugly bruise on her barrel.

“Just stay there!” Celestia shouted, thrusting a hoof at her sister. She winced in pain as more weight went to her now-throbbing hind legs. She glared back down at the ice. She only had a few more seconds before her parents would pass by her! With another scream, she reared up on her hind legs, flapped her wings, and stomped down with her forehooves with all the might she could muster.

This time, she broke through. The ice buckled and shattered under the force of her hooves like breaking glass. Sharpened shards of ice dug into her skin, burning like fire before the beyond freezing water stole the feeling from her nerves. She gasped involuntarily from the shock, almost losing focus. Then she felt an incredible weight slam into her hooves as her parents finally reached her.

She grabbed on and lifted with everything she had. Her wings, her hooves. Even her horn flared to life as she ensnared Sprout and Honey in her magic grasp. But even with all of that, the sudden weight dragged her down. Her hooves dipped deeper into the water, and she could feel the biting current slashing at her chest.

She grit her teeth and screamed through them, barely able to hold her parents in place. She felt them drifting past and under her. She briefly saw Honey’s wide, frantic eyes looking back up at her, her brown hoof curled around Celestia’s, before she vanished back under the water again.

Celestia screamed with strain. Even with her magic, she was struggling to just keep her parents where they were. Lifting living beings in her magic had always been harder than lifting inanimate objects, or the fallen trees around their house. She didn’t know why, but right now it was a very inconvenient truth.

“Gah! Come on!” Celestia bellowed at the top of her lungs, pumping her wings for all they were worth. “Get up! You have to get up!”

The water was biting at her shoulders and the bottom of her chin. She was losing ground, slowly but surely, to the strength of the current. She was beginning to lose feeling in her forelegs altogether, aside from the burning pain in the rest of her body from holding up the weight of her family against the river.

But she couldn’t lift them any further. She realized with dread and horror gripping her heart that she was at her limit. Between the wind sapping her magic at every turn, the ice blocking her spells even further, and the river carrying an impossible amount of force in its current, she had nothing left she could bring to the table.

“DARNIT!” she screamed. She looked up and around for anything that could be of help, but there was nothing. It was just them. Just them, the frozen river, the supernatural wind, the biting snow, and the dark, ominous clouds that smothered the sky.

Celestia’s eyes lingered on the clouds above. For a brief moment, time seemed to stand still. Her ears perked up. She thought she could hear something. Something was calling to her. Not a voice. But… something. It was distant, though. Muffled. Whatever it was, she couldn’t make it out or even discern a direction. Just that it was reaching for her, but it could not reach her.

The clouds almost seemed to glow in response to the call before Celestia was snapped back to reality by the first taste of water in her mouth. She had dropped another few inches, and now it was starting to touch her wings with every flap. She screwed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to give up. She couldn’t! She had to save her family!

...But what about Luna? Celestia’s mind drifted to the smaller, frightened filly, and she looked over at the shore.

Her heart spiked with fear and panic when she saw no sign of her little sister. Just her coat discarded by the river’s edge.

“MOM! DAD!”

A shadow passed over her. Celestia looked up to see Luna diving down for them, her horn aglow and her hooves outstretched.

“Luna!?” Celestia exclaimed in confusion. Water slipped into her mouth and into her throat, eliciting a series of painful coughs from her as it attempted to invade her lungs. She hacked and coughed to get it out, feeling the chill in her core. She also felt something wrapping around her barrel from behind, and the weight pulling her into the water lessening significantly.

Finally opening her eyes, she realized what was happening. Luna had grabbed onto her from above, using her own wings to pull Celestia up. They gained several inches, and when Honey’s shivering hoof came back above the water, Celestia realized with a start that Luna’s magic was blending with hers.

“...Thank you,” she whispered quietly before focusing on pulling her parents out. With every inch the sisters gained, the weight became easier to lift. The effects of the water faded steadily, and the ice became less of a barrier as the now shivering, pale earth ponies were lifted out of the rapids.

Finally, with one last pull, Sprout and Honey were liberated from the ice. Celestia felt a surge of relief on seeing them again and had to resist the urge to hug them tight. First, though, they had to get to the shore.

Together, she and Luna carried their parents in their magic the rest of the way. They set Sprout and Honey down on the bank a ways away from the river. With that, Celestia was finally spent. She crumpled into the snow, gasping for breath.

“Mom! Dad!” Luna’s voice echoed in her ears, loud and quivering with tears of both relief and fear. “You’re okay! Oh my gosh, I was so scared!”

Celestia could hear Honey giving a low, muttered response, but she couldn’t make out the words through the ringing in her ears. She simply took a moment to close her eyes and rest. The burning in her muscles remained, and she imagined it would for a while yet, but at least she had succeeded. Her mother and father were safe, now.

“Everything is going to be fine…”

Her moment of tranquility was broken by Luna giving a horrified gasp. “Dad! Y-y-you’re leg…!”

A spike of adrenaline shot into Celestia’s veins, even as her mind and body both begged for a respite. She forced herself to power through it, though, and rose to a sitting position to see what was wrong. Her eyes fell on Sprout’s prone form to see the stallion laying prone. His eyes were closed, his body was shivering uncontrollably, and he was still noticeably pale. What drew the eyes of everypony present, however, was his right hind leg. It was horribly swollen just below the knee joint. Celestia felt her stomach churn in disgust.

“H-h-he must’ve hit something while we were under,” Honey gasped, her stuttering voice filled with fear. She went to rise, but gasped and fell back to the ground with a cry of pain.

“MOM!” Luna exclaimed, quickly placing her hooves on Honey’s side. “Are you hurt?! What do we do?!”

Honey shook her head. “I’m f-fine, Luna. Just… Just t-t-tired. And c-cold,” she managed before looking at Celestia. “We need to get dry.”

Celestia nodded. They weren’t out of the woods yet, literally and figuratively. “Right. Fire?” she asked as she forced herself to stand back up. She wobbled slightly on her hooves but found her balance soon enough.

“And shelter, if there’s any around,” Honey nodded in acknowledgment.

“I’ll have a look.”

“What about me?” Luna asked anxiously, nudging Honey with a hoof. “I wanna help, too!”

Honey smiled weakly down at her. “G-g-go get your b-bags. If you have any b-blankets, we need them s-so we can d-d-dry off and warm up.”

Luna hesitated for a second, before nodding. “O-okay,” she mumbled. She then turned and ran off down the shore to where their saddlebags and coats had been discarded. Celestia watched her go before turning back to Honey.

“What about his leg?” she asked, her eyes lingering on the ugly swell on Sprout’s leg.

“Soon,” Honey replied shakily, pulling Sprout’s unconscious form closer with her foreleg. “Go. I just need a little rest.”

Celestia hesitated for only a moment before she spun on her hooves and galloped into the trees, her eyes searching frantically for firewood.

“If this is what it takes just to cross a river,” Celestia thought. “Then I really don’t want to imagine what the rest of this journey’s going to be like.”

X - What The Snow Stole

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...

It took Celestia far, far longer than she would have liked to get a suitable fire going; that had always been Sprout’s specialty. What knowledge Celestia had on the subject came from him, but it was scarce and limited, and her father was not exactly in a good condition to be educating her on the finer points of wilderness survival.

Matters were made even more difficult by the frustrating lack of practical shelter. With their supplies missing, Celestia had to rely on the natural geography around them to find a suitable place to hunker down where the snow wouldn’t reach them. Much to her rapidly-mounting dismay, there were no such places. Nothing was spared the storm’s wrath.

In the end, she was forced to give up on the notion and returned to the riverbank with her meager pickings of fire-worthy wood and kindling. She saw her family working to dry Sprout and Honey off as well as they could, though the former was still unconscious. Celestia cringed when she saw that the swelling in his leg had grown. To her surprise, both he and Honey were no longer wearing their clothes. The drenched garments, now partially frosted, were tossed haphazardly off to one side up the shore.

Honey looked up as Celestia emerged onto the scene. Her eyes were tired and bloodshot, and she was still shivering. “Tia, there you are,” she said weakly before her eyes found Celestia’s firewood. The fragile hope on her face melted into a look of concern. “Is that…?”

Celestia gave a grim nod. “I looked, but there wasn’t any shelter. The snow’s covering everything,” she said, setting the wood down. “And there wasn’t a lot of wood to pick from anyway…”

A heavy silence fell over them. Luna looked at the wood, her eyes wide with underlying fear and unease. She swallowed, licked her lips, and turned to Honey. “Are we gonna be okay?” she asked in barely more than a whisper.

Honey hesitated, her eyes shifting between Luna and Sprout’s prone form. The fear and anxiety in her eyes made her answer clear without her having to speak a single word.

But speak she did. She finally settled her gaze on Luna’s frightened eyes and put forth what Celestia recognized as a forced smile. She leaned down to give her youngest daughter an affectionate, encouraging nuzzle. “Of course, sweetie. We’re going to be just fine.”

Luna returned the nuzzle, but the look on her face was anything but convinced. Celestia couldn’t blame her. She looked up into the sky, her ears folding back.

She could just see the faintest hint of the sun’s light through the thick grey mass smothering the sky, barely more than a gentle glow. A tingling ran down her horn and through her chest before going still.

A pained groan from Sprout snapped everypony’s attention back to him. He stirred on the ground, his face twitching in pain before, finally, his eyes slowly fluttered open, filled with discomfort and confusion. “Wha… what happened?” he mumbled out.

“Don’t try to move,” Honey quietly commanded, placing a hoof on his shoulder. “You’re hurt.”

“I am?” Sprout asked, his mind clearly still playing catch-up. In spite of his wife’s command, he tried to stand, immediately regretting the decision as his broken hind leg shifted on the cold, hard ground. His eyes snapped shut, and a pained yelp tore past his lips.

“Dad!” Celestia exclaimed, starting forward, only for Honey to outstretch a hoof, gesturing for her to stay back. She came to a stop, eyeing her mother for a moment. There was an intensity in her gaze that immediately cowed any hint of defiance Celestia felt.

Satisfied, Honey turned back to Sprout. “You fell under the ice, remember? You must have hit your leg on something. It’s broken.”

Sprout grimaced, then cracked open an eye to look back. An exhausted curse slipped past his lips as he beheld his injury. “Darnit… that’s a problem…”

“You’ll be okay, though,” Luna insisted, placing her hooves on Sprout’s chest. “Mom’s gonna take care of you. She’s gonna take care of all of us.”

“Whew, t-tall order,” Honey joked, letting off a quiet laugh. She went to stand. “B-but, I- guh- I th-think I can- GAH!”

She was almost upright when her forelegs gave out under her. Luna squeaked in fear as Honey toppled to the ground in a gasping heap, her hooves curled up to her chest. Dread flooded Celestia’s veins, and she quickly charged forward. “Mom?!” she asked, placing her hooves on Honey’s side. “Mom, what’s wrong?!”

“Honey!” Sprout called weakly, trying to crawl closer, only for his injured leg to stop him dead in his tracks with another sharp yelp of pain.

Honey didn’t speak for several seconds. She just kept gasping for breath, her eyes wide as saucers, her pupils dilated into pinpricks. Finally, after several long seconds, she began to calm down, her breaths evening out. She looked up at Celestia, her eyes even more fearful than before. When she spoke, her shivers were worse than ever. “I… I d-dunno. I just… I’m having a… hard to breathe...”

Celestia’s mind was racing almost as fast as her heart. Her hooves hovered uselessly over her mother, her eyes darting this way and that for any clue as to what she could do to help. Finally, her gaze found Sprout’s.

“Dad, what do we do?!”

“F-Fire,” Sprout commanded, jerking his head weakly towards the nearby treeline. “Clear s-some snow and get her raging in there. T-t-trees won’t block m-much, but it’s b-better than n-nothing...”

“What about you? You can’t move!” Celestia protested though she was already lifting the wood in her magic.

“You c-can move u-us,” Sprout said, shaking his head. “M-magic…”

Celestia swallowed hard. She wanted to say something, but even if she knew what, there was no time for any more pleasantries. They had wasted enough time as it was. She turned to Luna, her expression hardening. “Luna, come on! Help me out!” she ordered.

Celestia didn’t wait to see if her little sister did as she was told. She simply turned and sprinted back into the trees, her horn flaring with yet more golden light. She grit her teeth and let out a grunt of effort as she began to violently scoop snow up off of the ground and throw it off into the thickets around them.

In time, a blue aura joined hers in the snow.

The fire was pitiful.

Celestia and Luna had managed to eventually put one together—with some coaching from Sprout from afar. It had taken time and effort, but the end result of their labors was a small thing that would struggle to hold back the imminent darkness of the night. The warmth it gave off was also underwhelming when compared to what they had all managed to enjoy the previous night, but with any luck, it would do its job and keep them from freezing.

Once the campfire had been slapped together, the next several hours were spent in quiet, fitful silence. Honey’s breathing occasionally became shallow and labored, and it was clear that her time in the river had taken its own toll on her body. Nevertheless, she spent her time tending to Sprout’s injury, trying her best to treat it while powering through her own issues. However, with no supplies on hoof, there was basically nothing she could do.

With half of their number in this condition, travel was out of the question. They were stuck in place, Celestia knew. She could carry Sprout and Honey for some distance, sure, but between the snow sapping away her magic and the infuriating fact that living things were always harder to move, she wouldn’t be able to get them very far before she gave out from exhaustion. There was no telling where that could happen, either. Even with Luna helping her, it would be better to find another solution…

But what other solution did they have?

“...It shoulda been dark by now,” Sprout suddenly mumbled after what felt like an eternity, making Celestia jump. She looked over at him to find his exhausted, bloodshot eyes gazing blearily up at the sky, unfocused and distant.

“He looks so tired…”

Celestia followed his eyes up to see that there was still some light overhead. Not nearly as much as earlier, but enough to see a fair distance through the trees.

She frowned. “What do you mean…?”

“He’s r-right,” Honey replied, still shivering, and looked up as well. “We’ve b-been living up here long enough to know how the unicorns schedule t-the s-sun and moon. It should’ve been t-t-totally dark a little while ago.”

“So… the unicorns aren’t setting the sun as fast?” Luna asked curiously, sandwiched between Sprout and Honey. She tilted her head past them in confusion. “Why?”

“Maybe they’re trying to fight the cold?” Celestia volunteered, though it was honestly a hopeless guess. “You know, use the warmth of the sun to keep the cold at bay?”

“Tch. If that’s th-their plan they’re doing a m-mighty fine job,” Sprout mumbled. He lowered his head down to rest on his hooves, his eyes drifting shut. “Guh… c-can’t believe this… we were doing so well… Shouldn’t have fallen into that stupid river…”

“Hey, now, none of that,” Honey chastised him with a gentle nudge. “You were trying to save our supplies. Nopony knew any of that would happen.”

“I shoulda just pushed it along,” Sprout went on, his quivering voice becoming laced with increasing distress that disturbed Celestia to hear. “Less w-weight in one spot. Ice would’ve held. C-coulda made it across… Got dumb. Got you hurt…”

He cracked open his eyes, focusing on Honey. “N-now… I can’t even move… w-we’re-”

“Enough, Sprout,” Honey said, this time with more force. She leaned over to give him a gentle kiss, silencing any protests he might have had. He went utterly silent, his eyes briefly going wide, before he relaxed into it.

Eventually, Honey pulled back, gazing deeply into Sprout’s eyes. Celestia watched the two, and she could see that there was something profound in their gazes that she was either too young or too ignorant to understand. But soon enough, Honey spoke up in a timid whisper, her lips curling into a gentle smile. “I’m okay. We’re okay. And most importantly… our c-children are okay.”

Sprout blinked a few times, his eyes clearing up. Celestia watched him as he worked his jaw from side to side before looking down. “Yeah… I guess they are, huh?” he asked quietly.

Celestia tilted her head. Was that a tear she just saw falling from his face?

“Uh-huh!” Luna chirped, finding some energy at last. “It was really scary, but Tia and I flew in and saved both of you!”

Sprout lifted his head, his eyes drifting slowly between his two daughters. Celestia’s earlier observation was correct, she realized. The stallion’s eyes were shimmering with fresh tears, and the corners of his lips tugged up into the most heartfelt, loving smile she had ever seen from him. The smile of a father. “Yeah… I know. And I am so proud of both of you…” he said softly.

With that, he set his head down and closed his eyes.

A chilly wind washed over them, whistling ominously through the trees. Unprotected as they were, the cold wind bit at their coats, and Celestia shivered in response, her eyes screwing shut.

“That’s… th-that’s enough talking,” Honey insisted quietly. “It might still be light, but it’s late. Let’s get some sleep.”

“But… we don’t have a tent,” Luna said, the pep in her voice already stolen away by the cold.

“We have your blankets,” Honey replied. She nodded over to where their clothes and blankets—what little they had left—had been laid out in the dirt next to the fire to dry. “It’ll be a tight fit, but I… I think we can get everyone squeezed in. Celestia?”

“Yeah, on it,” Celestia said, standing up and reaching out with her magic. “Clothes, too?”

“Are they dry?”

Celestia brought Honey’s coat over and ran her hoof over it. She grimaced when she felt that they were still damp, and the flakes of snow that kept falling on them were not helping. Even with the dirt cleared away and their fire going, there was no way these clothes were going to be dry tonight.

She looked back to Honey and slowly shook her head. “No… They’re not.”

Honey visibly wilted, her ears drooping and her shoulders sagging. She heaved a long, heavy sigh, then turned her eyes to Luna.

“We’ll just have to make do with blankets, then. Luna?” she called over.

Luna nodded, lighting up her horn and withdrawing what blankets she had from their pile. An uneasy frown adorned her face as they floated over.

“Um… can we cover everyone with these?” she asked skeptically. They only had two blankets, and all of them were the right size for foals. Not adults.

“Probably n-not,” Honey replied uneasily, shifting in place before looking down at Sprout. “W-we can huddle up, though.”

“I have another blanket, too,” Celestia said, quickly pulling over her saddlebags and withdrawing the old blanket she and Luna used when sleeping under the stars. It was thin and ragged, but it was better than nothing.

Honey smiled in approval. “Alright. Good…” she then took a deep breath as she looked down at Sprout. She fell silent.

Several seconds passed. Celestia began to feel more and more uneasy, her ears drooping. She leaned forward slightly. “Mom?”

Honey didn’t respond to the question. Her gaze lingered on Sprout’s broken leg for a short time before her hoof wandered up to hover over her heart. She took in a deep, shuddering breath, a war raging behind her eyes. She looked back at Celestia, then at Luna. She nodded.

“Sorry… just thinking,” she said in a tone that Celestia hadn’t heard before. She didn’t get a chance to question it before Honey scooted a little away from Sprout and patted the snow beside her. “Alright, you two. You sleep in the middle.”

Celestia blinked, confused. She took a step forward, raising an eyebrow. “Huh? Why us in the middle? Shouldn’t you and dad be in the middle? You two fell into the river! Dad broke his leg, for pony’s sake!”

Honey winced but did not seem otherwise deterred. “Maybe, but… you two are a lot smaller than Sprout and I. W-we’ll be fine. Besides, I can’t stand the thought of you two shivering in the cold. Let us keep you warm.”

“But dad’s hurt! And you’re still shaking, and you can’t breathe right,” Luna argued on, her ears lowering.

Before either of the fillies could press the issue, though, Honey silenced the argument with a simple request. “Just let me do this much, at least. Please.”

There was some sort of hidden, underlying desperation in those words. Celestia didn’t understand it, but it silenced any arguments that either she or Luna had been willing to make. After a few seconds, the two foals nodded and stepped forward.

In short order, the family was huddled together next to their pitiful campfire, with the children cuddling together between their parents. The blankets were draped over them to cover as much as they could. Already, with all of this cover, Celestia could feel her sleep-deprived mind starting to relax. She hadn’t slept well in two days, and her exhaustion was finally catching up with her.

“Goodnight, Celestia. Goodnight, Luna,” Honey whispered, giving both of them a kiss on the head. “I love you both. So, so much.”

“We love you, too, mom,” Luna replied, already starting to nod off.

“And you, dad,” Celestia said, turning enough to look into her father’s face. To her dismay, he did not offer up any sort of response. His eyes were closed. He must have already fallen asleep. She frowned at him, worried, but did not speak on it. There was nothing more she could do right now anyway.

The tiredness in her body would no longer be denied. Soon, she felt her eyes drifting closed of their own accord, and her mind slipping away into a deep slumber.

The first thing Celestia was aware of when she woke up was the sound of Luna letting out a terrified, ear-splitting shriek. Adrenaline flooded her veins, and her eyes snapped wide open as protective instincts surged to the surface. In a heartbeat, she sprang to her hooves, her horn lighting up with magic to try and fend off whatever had dared to threaten her little sister.

To her confusion, there was nothing. Of course, she couldn’t see a whole lot, to begin with. The fireplace had gone dark, and the world was still swathed in the darkness of the night. What little light there was from the sky was paltry, and even the fierce glow on the tip of her horn did precious little to fight back the darkness that surrounded them.

All she did see was her little sister in the snow beneath her, tossing and turning, her voice breaking as she continued to wail and screech in terror. She was having another nightmare. A bad one.

Celestia wasted no time leaning down to shake her sister. “Lu! Hey, Luna! Wake up! It’s okay, you’re just having a bad dream! LUNA!”

Celestia’s brow furrowed in frustration. Luna wasn’t waking up. If anything, her terrified wails were only getting louder, to the point they were almost painful to listen to. Finally, Celestia put her full weight into it. “LUNA! WAKE UP!”

That did it. Luna’s eyes snapped wide open, her pupils shrunken down to the size of pinpricks. She shot upright with one last frightened scream, her hooves outstretched in front of her. Celestia reached out, catching her and holding her in place. Her panicking eyes darted about frantically before they settled on Celestia.

“T-t-tia…” the smaller filly blubbered out through trembling lips.

“Luna,” Celestia said in a hushed voice, pulling Luna up against her chest. Luna returned the embrace, starting to weep and sob into her big sister’s chest fur. Celestia did her best to comfort her, petting her mane and shushing her as well as she could. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Shh, shh shh shhh. I got you, sister. It’s okay. It’s alright. I’m here.”

“Tia…” Luna choked out again, whimpering fearfully. She couldn’t get any other words out, though.

The two remained like that for what felt like ages. Celestia gave Luna comforting squeezes and whispered reassurances the whole while, just going through the motions. Finally, Luna’s cries began to die down into quiet whimpers, and then simple, shaky breaths.

Celestia sighed quietly, her shoulders slumping as the adrenaline wore off, leaving her feeling even more tired than before. A shame. She had actually been sleeping pretty well, surrounded by warmth as she had been. She pulled back and looked down into Luna’s puffy eyes. “You okay, now?”

Luna hiccupped and wiped at her eyes, but nodded. “Mhmm…”

Celestia smiled, relieved. She gave her sister a quick kiss on the forehead, just below her horn, drawing a giggle out of her, before leaning back. “Okay, good. Let’s go back to sleep, then, okay? We don’t want to wake mom and…”

She trailed off. Celestia had been awoken in an instant by the volume of Luna’s crying, and she could remember plenty of times when Sprout and Honey had heard her shrieking from all the way upstairs back home when they were younger. Every time, they had come running to comfort their daughter without a second thought. But this time they were silent.

A horrible feeling formed in Celestia’s gut, pooling into her hooves and rooting her in place. There was a chill in the air, and not just because of the snow. She had only felt this type of chill once before. Not long ago.

In a clearing filled with the bodies of dead deer.

She swallowed heavily and slowly turned to look over her shoulder at her father. Sprout lay motionless on the ground, his blanket hanging loosely onto his prone form. Patches of snow and frost had accumulated on his fur and mane where the blanket had been pulled away by the wind.

“Dad?”

There was no response. Celestia felt her heart beating harder and faster in her chest, and she lit her horn brighter so she could see.

Sprout was pale and utterly, completely motionless. He wasn’t even breathing.

Celestia stared at him, dumbfounded. She released her now-confused sister to turn and give Sprout a gentle shake. “Dad…? Are you okay?”

Silence was her answer.

“Dad? Dad! Dad, wake up!”

She kept shaking him, harder and harder, and her voice grew in volume with the violence of her shakes. Tears were starting to blur her vision, and her heart felt as if it was tearing itself apart in her chest. This couldn’t be happening, it couldn’t be happening, it wasn’t happening!

Sprout gave her a comforting squeeze. “But don’t you worry, none. I won’t let them get anywhere near you or your sister.”

“Darn straight!” Sprout replied with his own grin. He pulled Celestia in for an affectionate noogie, much to her protest. “I ain’t going anywhere!”

“Dad! Dad, wake up! WAKE UP! Y-you promised!” Celestia went on, her voice breaking with volume and emotion as the memory passed through her mind. “You can’t do this! DAD!”

She gave him one more shake, harder than she intended. The limp body rolled with the force of the shove, and Celestia went with it, gasping in alarm. She screwed her eyes shut, her hooves scrambling to stop herself from falling over, and she was just able to catch herself over her father.

She didn’t dare move. She waited, listening for Sprout’s confused, sleepy voice to admonish her for shaking him like this, just like he used to do in those early years when she and Luna would ambush him in bed on his birthday. She waited, ears perked. And waited… And waited.

There was nothing. Celestia hesitated. She couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes. She couldn’t make herself look. She couldn’t face the reality- “No! No, this isn’t happening! He promised me! He promised he’d always take care of us! That he would always be there! He promised! He promised. He promised…”

Barely stifling a sob, she reluctantly opened her eyes. Sprout had been rolled onto his back, his head rolling limply off to one side so his face was partially buried in the snow. His eyes were still closed.

Luna remained where she had been left, watching the scene unfold with wide, unblinking eyes.

“...Sis?” she choked out in barely even a whisper. “What’s going on…? What’s wrong with dad?”

Celestia couldn’t speak. She tried, but the words just would not come. She gingerly stepped back and away from the silent body, as if afraid to disturb a sacred site any more than she already had.

All the while, Luna kept focusing on her. “Celestia, what’s going on?! Tell me!”

“Kids…?”

A spark of relief flashed through Celestia’s heart on hearing Honey’s voice from behind her. The spark was not enough to undo the horrible chill that had settled into place inside of her, though. She turned, her movements rigid until she saw Honey’s eyes staring back. Unfocused, hazy, but alive.

“W-What... happened?” Honey asked in a meager whisper as she lifted her head from the snow. She shivered as another chilly wind washed over them.

Celestia swallowed heavily, her eyes once again starting to water. “I-I… D-dad, he… he… he w-won’t wake up…”

Honey stared back at her for several seconds. Then, with a sigh, she set her head back down. A moment passed, and Celestia realized she could see tears in her mother’s eyes as well.

“I know… I’m s-s-so sorry.”

Celestia’s heart snapped in half. She fought valiantly to maintain her composure, but she just couldn’t. Her eyes screwed shut, tears pouring freely out, and a long, anguished scream tore past her lips. She fell forward, burying her face in Honey’s chest. She could feel her trying to hug her, but there was no strength in the embrace.

Celestia could hear Luna asking more questions, clearly confused still. She heard Honey giving an answer, but the words were lost on her. The whole world had ceased to exist in that moment. That one, horrible instant where everything changed for the worse.

Sprout, her father, was dead.

It wasn’t long before that terrible realization crept into Luna, as well. Celestia could hear her little sister’s voice join her in a chorus of sorrow and grief, both of them hugging their mother for comfort and support. Honey didn’t say anything to them as she held them, leaving their wails as the only sound in that forest in the dead of night, lost and stolen away by the heartless, uncaring storm that continued to rage all around them.

“Let me see him.”

Celestia leaned back, blinking away her tears. There was a solemn resolve in Honey’s face, even through the exhaustion and the weakness that had been claiming her since she fell into the water. Celestia inhaled deeply before nodding and stepping back.

Honey’s eyes shone with gratitude. She tried to nudge Luna back, but the grieving filly would not budge. Honey frowned. “Luna, move… Please… I need to get up…”

Luna didn’t answer. Celestia wasn’t even sure she had heard. She just kept screaming and wailing into Honey’s fur, clinging to her mother for everything she was worth. Honey tried to nudge her back again, but the filly held firm. “Luna…”

“I don’t want him to go!” Luna suddenly blubbered through her sobs, curling even tighter into Honey’s chest. “Don’t let him go! Mommy, bring him back! P-please!”

“Lulu… oh, my little moon,” Honey choked out, screwing her eyes shut. She held the weeping child close, struggling to keep in her own tears. “I wish… I wish I could… I wish I could…”

Finally, Honey managed to nudge Luna back and off of her, giving her the room she needed. Celestia reached out, pulling Luna against her side. The smaller foal clung to her like a lifeline, her wails never quieting once.

Honey didn’t move for a few seconds, her face contorting at the sight. Then, with a weak groan of pain, she rolled onto her belly. She was trembling with the effort of just standing as she rose to her full height. She winced, gasped, and hissed through tightly clenched teeth, and opened her eyes. She focused on Sprout’s corpse. A withering sob slipped past her quivering lips. She took a short step forward, then another, each one a struggle.

She stopped by Sprout’s side, gasping for breath. Her entire body was shivering like mad, now, even with her blanket pulled tightly around her body. She tried to ease herself back to a laying position, only to collapse into a heap by Sprout’s side with a gasp of pain.

Celestia leaned forwards, her heart skipping a beat. “Mom!”

Honey took a deep, shuddering breath, then lifted her head. She forced herself to rise enough to look down at her husband’s face. The sorrow Celestia felt when she saw how her face contorted in grief was impossible to describe. Honey screwed her eyes shut, burying her face in Sprout’s chest. Then she, too, began to sob.

The sound was enough to break Celestia’s heart all over again. She pulled Luna closer, as much to comfort herself as her sister, trying her best to keep her composure. But try as she might, she wasn’t able to stop herself from letting out another few anguished whimpers.

It was several minutes before Honey’s sobs began to grow quiet. She lifted her head, her expression now one of simply exhaustion. Celestia blinked away her tears and wiped at her eyes.

“Why…?” She finally managed to ask. “Why did he…?”

“Hypothermia… shock… I… I d-don’t th-think we could have helped him…” Honey replied, sniffling. She shivered again and looked down. She loosed another sigh. “...Or me.”

The implication hit Celestia all at once. Her heart leaped into her throat, her eyes going wide.

“Mom…?”

Honey’s breath was getting heavier with emotion, her chest heaving with each one. She slowly lifted her head, looking to struggle with it as if it were a great burden. When her eyes landed on her children, she offered them both a gentle smile. “I… I’m not g-going to make it...”

“WHAT?!” Celestia shrieked, her mind all but going blank.

“Can barely… breathe…” Honey went on, her eyes wandering around. “Been like this… since the… river. It’s hard to move…”

Luna finally pried herself away from Celestia enough to affix Honey with a mortified stare. “M-mommy?”

Hearing the small, helpless voice of her sister spurred Celestia into motion. She rose back to her hooves, anger, desperation, sorrow, and fear driving her on. “No. No, no! Get up, mom! You can’t… you can’t leave us, too! Come on, get up!”

She stared imploringly into Honey’s eyes for several long seconds. Honey stared back, her eyes shifting in thought before she offered a weak nod. She got her hooves under her again, and this time Celestia was quick to come to her side and offer what little help she could. Luna followed after her, stifling her sobs for the moment.

Alas, even with the aid of both sisters, it was not to be. Celestia gave a cry of despair as Honey’s legs gave out under her, and she toppled back into the snow without even so much as a grunt of pain. Luna followed her down, placing her hooves on the fallen mare’s side. “Mom!”

The foals remained at their mother’s side, hoping that they could do something to help. Honey’s eyes were screwed tightly shut, her breath coming in heaving, shallow gasps that were growing weaker and shakier by the second. After a short time, she cracked open her eyes to show they had gone distant. She looked up to her children. “I can’t…”

“YES, YOU CAN!” Celestia screamed at her, more tears leaking out of her eyes. She nudged Honey in the side with her nose, trying to force the collapsed mare back to her hooves. Desperation and denial had claimed her heart entirely, all rational thought collapsing. “Get up, mom! Stand up! You’re okay! You’re okay! DARNIT, YOU’RE OKAY!”

“Tia… Lu… listen,” Honey breathed, nudging Celestia back with a hoof. Celestia staggered back and was about to charge in again when she saw the look in Honey’s eyes.

Resignation. Acceptance. But also a need.

Honey lifted her eyes, staring off into the forest. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“Mom…” Luna sniffled, shaking her head.

A heavy silence followed, broken only by the howling wind. Honey lowered her head. “...You need to leave me.”

“WHAT?!” Luna squeaked, covering her mouth with her hooves.

Celestia’s mind blanked. “Wha… what?”

“I can’t move… I’m a goner,” Honey said remorsefully. “I’m not… going to make it… But you… you two still can…”

“Not without you and dad!” Celestia protested, every fiber of her being screaming out in denial.

Honey pressed on, undeterred. “Go. Find… Find Flatstone. Tell them what happened, who you are… They’ll… they’ll dislike you, but… they’ll take care of you, once they hear about us…”

“But you should be the one taking care of us!” Luna shouted, shaking her head vehemently. “You and dad! We need you!”

Honey just smiled and shook her head. “No… no, you don’t… Not anymore…”

Luna was undeterred. “Then… then w-we’ll take care of you!” she said frantically, looking desperately up at Celestia. “We’ll help you get better! W-we’ll feed you hot soup, and bring you blankets, and… and…”

Honey actually laughed. A quiet, broken sound that silenced Luna’s wishful thinking. It was a soothing sound that stabbed Celestia in the chest over and over. The chuckles soon went quiet, replaced by another whimper. Honey cracked open her eyes again. “Oh, Luna… You wonderful filly… I’m going to miss you…”

And just like that, the reality finally set in.

Luna screwed her eyes shut and hurled herself against Honey again as a whole new wave of screaming cries escaped her. This time, Honey didn’t even have the strength to return the embrace.

“I don’t want you to go!” Luna cried out over and over again, pounding her tiny hooves against Honey’s body. “I don’t want you to go, mommy! Please don’t go! Please!”

Honey stared down at her youngest, then looked into Celestia’s eyes. There was almost no strength left in them. She took in one more shuddering breath. “Celestia…?”

Celestia nodded attentively, fighting to hold back her own tears. “Y-yes, mom?”

Honey nodded down at Luna. “Take care of her… for us… okay?”

Celestia was quiet for a second. Her eyes landed on Luna. She felt her heart constrict at the sight, and she reminded herself of all the years she had spent as the small filly’s watchful guardian during their earlier years. She took in a deep, shuddering breath and forced herself to smile for her mother. One more time. “I… I w-will. I p-promise, I will,” she said, projecting as much confidence as she could muster into her voice. “I’ll keep her safe.”

Honey’s eyes lit up. “...That’s my girl,” she whispered, lowering her head back into the snow. “I love you...”

She closed her eyes… and fell utterly still.

“NO!” Luna screamed at the top of her lungs, shaking Honey with all the force she could. “DON’T GO! WAKE UP! WAKE UUUP!”

With Luna’s agonized wails echoing in the storm, Celestia was left to stare blankly at the body, unable to truly process the gravity of what had just transpired for several long seconds. When it finally sunk in, it was too much. The dam broke.

At first, it came out as barely even a choked whimper. She tried to fight it back, to live up to the confidence she had shown to her mother in those final moments. But she couldn’t do it. She screwed her eyes shut and joined her sister in screaming her pain into the now lifeless chest of their adoptive mother.

Hours passed. Or at least it felt like hours. The world remained bathed in complete and total darkness, Celestia’s magic having faded the moment her tears began running again. The wind beat down on them with its weight. Oppressive. Merciless.

And yet it paled in comparison to the storm of anguish that now raged around Celestia’s heart. Fear, terror, confusion, and more blended with her grief in an unspeakable way. What were they supposed to do now? How was she supposed to keep her promise to protect Luna when, for her entire life, she had depended on her mother and father to take care of her, or tell her what to do?! How were they supposed to survive?!

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Celestia’s sobs began to die down. She just couldn’t cry anymore. She felt tired. Exhausted. Hollow. Empty. Numb. She pulled her head back and looked up at the sky. Her mind barely registered the first, subtle hints of morning light that was slowly creeping into the clouds overhead.

She took in a deep breath, feeling the cold air assaulting her lungs. Without a word, her horn lit up, and she gathered the now scattered blankets together in her saddlebags. That done, she turned back to Luna, whose own sobs were beginning to quiet down.

Celestia wanted to say something. Anything. Something to make the pain go away, something that would bring their mother and father back, something that would put everything back to the way it was. Before the heartache. Before the cold.

But there were no words for such things. Not now. And so, she settled for just five words.

“Luna… w-we need to g-go…”

Luna didn’t say anything. She pulled her head back, staring down at the bodies of her parents with a hollow look in her eyes. Without a word, she rose and dragged herself sluggishly to Celestia’s side. Only then did she speak. “...What do we do?”

Celestia cringed at the sound of her sister’s voice. Quiet. Barely audible. A terrified, broken whisper of a child in more pain than she knew how to handle. Celestia took in a deep breath, fighting to keep her tears from starting again. “W-we… m-mom said that we need to get to Flatstone. They’ll help us. S-so we go there.”

“...I’m scared, Tia.”

Celestia sighed, knelt down in front of Luna, and pulled her little sister into a ginger embrace. “I know… so am I.”

The two didn’t say anything else. There were no other words to be said. After a moment, Celestia turned and began to walk, with Luna sticking close to her side. She risked a glance back over her shoulder. There lay Sprout and Honey, her beloved mother and father, laying side by side, together in the snow.

She wished with every fiber of her being that she could give them a proper burial. She didn’t want to just leave them like this. But without any tools, she had no way to do that.

And so she could only leave them. The snow would bury them… and at least they would be together.

She let off one last, choked sob before focusing forward and continuing to walk. She had no idea where Flatstone was, but she would find it. She had no choice. Luna was counting on her, and she was not going to let her down. She would protect her. She would keep her safe.

No matter what.

Interlude I - A Shared Loss

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“But the storm would not let them go that easily. The family soon realized how completely unprepared they were for the journey ahead, and for this, the frozen world demanded a high price…”

Twilight nodded along, waiting for Celestia to continue. The story she had been telling so far was scarce in detail, almost like an old foal’s pony tale, but knowing that Celestia was speaking of true events made her hang on every word. Not just because of her need for a distraction, but also because her curiosity for her mentor’s past burned just that bright.

But the silence that followed was far longer than any that had come before. Confused, Twilight turned to look at Celestia beside her. The larger alicorn’s eyes were staring deep into the fire, now distant and unfocused, while her lips had quirked into a solemn frown.

Twilight suddenly got a feeling akin to when she was interfering in something she had no business in. Like Starlight’s choice in friends. Or anything to do with Trixie.

“...Celestia?” she asked after several long seconds, breaking the silence.

Celestia did not answer right away. Instead, she closed her eyes, took in a long, deep breath, and then let it out in a quiet, regretful sigh.

“Forgive me, Twilight. It has been a long time since I last gave my old family much thought. The memory of what happened is… painful.”

“Painful?” Twilight echoed, an uneasy feeling forming in her gut as an unpleasant possibility made itself known. She swallowed heavily, her ears lowering. “You mean… the high price…”

Celestia pursed her lips. A moment later, she suddenly rose to her hooves, much to Twilight’s surprise. “I’m sorry, Twilight. Perhaps telling you this story isn’t a good idea.”

“What?” Twilight asked in surprise, quickly following her up. She reached out and grabbed Celestia by the hoof when she turned to walk away. “What do you mean?”

Celestia hesitated, looking down at Twilight. They looked into each other’s eyes for several long seconds, Twilight getting lost in those old amethyst orbs she had known and admired for so long. Every time she had looked into them in the past—almost every time, at any rate—they had been composed, calm, and collected. Her mentor had always been in control of herself, no matter what was happening.

And that was still true. Celestia was still in control of herself. But the tension in her eyes, the emotion she was displaying far exceeded that which Twilight had ever truly seen before, and it gave her pause. Whatever Celestia was feeling must have been powerful to be visible through her carefully built poker face.

Slowly, Twilight released Celestia’s hoof, her expression softening with realization. “...They died, didn’t they?” she asked quietly. “Your mom and dad.”

“I…” Celestia’s mouth hung open, her jaw working up and down as she fished for words. When none were forthcoming, she looked away, her ears drooping. “You are grieving the loss of your own mother. I do not believe it would be wise to remind you of that by speaking of how Luna and I lost ours.”

Twilight was quiet for a moment, her thoughts drifting back to Twilight Velvet. She remembered how, even in her old age, Velvet had been a spry and energetic mare, eager to leap at whatever life would throw at her with gusto. A boisterous energy and enthusiasm that Twilight highly attributed to her own impressive self-confidence, especially when she was younger.

She realized with a start that her eyes were misting over from the memory. She shook her head and wiped the tears away with a hoof. When she looked back up at Celestia, she saw the look of a mare who was not surprised by what she had just seen but was no less saddened by it.

“Forgive me, Twilight,” Celestia said. “But I should save the rest of the story for another-”

“N-no!” Twilight cut her off, taking a hold of her hoof again. Celestia turned back to her in surprise, her brow raising.

Twilight swallowed heavily. She wasn’t sure why she had blurted that out like that. Celestia had a point. Would it really be a good idea to keep hearing this story if such a tragedy was a part of it, given her current state? Though, then again, she had been keeping herself together relatively well before Celestia went quiet.

But more than that, Twilight had long ago learned to read the emotions in Celestia’s eyes, and right now there was clear pain in them. The same pain that Twilight herself was feeling now. Dulled with time, perhaps, but still there, even after so many years. Decades, centuries, a thousand years, and still it was there.

A moment later, Twilight released Celestia’s hoof again and took a step back, lowering her head respectfully. “I… I want to keep hearing the story. I want to know what happened next. And besides…” she looked back up, locking gazes with Celestia again. “You’ve been keeping all of this bottled up inside of you for a long time. You need to let it out, don’t you?”

Celestia winced, and Twilight knew she had hit the nail on the head. After a moment, Celestia gestured for Twilight to follow her, and the two were soon standing in front of the window, staring out at Canterlot.

“I was only a child,” Celestia said in a quiet, solemn voice. “Twelve years old, almost thirteen. I had no training in magic. The only spells I could cast were what I had managed to learn by pure luck. Nothing that could keep out the cold or the wind. Nothing to warm up a freezing body. Against what we faced, there was no way Luna and I could have saved them. No realistic way, at least.”

Twilight looked out up at Celestia’s face. Her eyes were tracing the city’s streets intently, narrowed slightly with focus. Her tired frown was reflected in the glass of the window, barely visible.

Twilight shifted uneasily on her hooves and looked up into the sky. “What happened?”

“We came to a river that had been frozen over. Luna and I were sent to cross first, flying over and carrying all of our supplies with us. But there were… complications with the crossing, and we lost our supplies. Mother made it across alright, but father went to retrieve one of our saddlebags. He… fell through the ice.”

Twilight’s ears flattened against her head. “Oh my gosh…”

“Mother went after him,” Celestia went on. “She tried her best. But the ice broke under her, and she fell in, too. I chased them, and with help from Luna we pulled them out of the ice. But my father’s leg had been broken while he was under, and we had lost all of our supplies save for the clothes on our backs and what precious little Luna and I had in our smaller packs. We couldn’t move and we had nothing to keep the cold out.”

Celestia sighed and shook her head. “The cold stole them away in the night. I… I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my father. He was gone before we awoke. Mother couldn’t stand. All she could do was tell us to go to her and father’s old home, a village called Flatstone. Then, the snow stole her away as well... and Luna and I were left all alone.”

Twilight looked down, closing her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “That must have been horrible.”

“It was. It truly was,” Celestia confirmed with a slow nod. “Neither Luna or I were prepared to cope with such a loss. We were lost, cold, hungry, and more scared than we had ever been. All we had left was each other.”

Twilight was quiet for a moment. Then, she opened her eyes and looked back up at Celestia.

“What did you do?”

Celestia didn’t look back at her. Her eyes slowly drifted up to look at the clouds above Canterlot, and the gently falling snow they released onto the world. When she spoke again, she continued the story she had been telling before, but her tone had changed. It was darker, now. Solemn, sorrowful, regretful. She allowed the pain of her loss to bleed into her words as they left her lips.

“The snow demanded a terrible price, and though the family fought against it with all their might, in the end, they were forced to pay for their mistakes. And so, the two sisters found themselves lost, alone, and scared. The snow had taken everything from them. Their home, their parents, their innocence. All they had left was each other. The eldest took the lead, swearing to look after the younger and keep her safe. And she would keep her promise, no matter the cost.”

XI - Haunted and Hunted

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“The snow demanded a terrible price, and though the family fought against it with all their might, in the end, they were forced to pay for their mistakes. The two sisters found themselves lost, alone, and scared. The snow had taken everything from them: their home, their parents, their innocence. All they had left was each other. The eldest took the lead, swearing to look after the younger and keep her safe. And she would keep her promise, no matter the cost.”

Celestia kept her eyes fixed squarely forward, even as the snow lashed at her face. Her hooves were numb, her legs ached, and her head felt heavy and clouded. But she didn’t stop, not for one moment. She had been walking for hours now, and she was not going to let herself stop. She knew that if she did, she might not be able to find the strength to keep going. The only thing giving her what little strength she had left was Luna, who walked quietly at her side.

Neither of them had said a word in hours. They had just walked and walked. On and on, into the white, through the cold. They were hungry, they were cold, they were lost, they were alone, and they both knew it. And Celestia knew that the storm would not show them any mercy. It hadn’t shown their parents any.

The forest began to grow thicker around them, the rocky landscape smoothing out somewhat. The increased number of trees was a welcome change, blocking at least a little bit of the snow that was trying to attack them with every step they took.

“Tia?” Luna suddenly asked in a barely audible whisper.

Celestia turned to her. “What is it?”

Luna looked up at her, revealing the deep, dark bags that were set into her fur under her eyes. She must have been absolutely exhausted. “Can we stop for a second? I’m tired.”

Celestia frowned. She didn’t want to slow down and lose their momentum. They had to keep moving. Staying put for too long was probably suicide. She shook her head. “No. We need to keep moving.”

Luna’s ears drooped even more, if that was possible, and took a hesitant step forward. “But…”

“No buts,” Celestia cut her off, gently nudging her back into motion. “We don’t want to stop unless we have to. We need to get to Flatstone as soon as possible.”

Luna let out what sounded like a cross between a tired sigh and a quiet whimper. “How are we gonna get there? Do you know where it is?”

That question gave Celestia pause, and with a grimace, she realized she had no good answer. They had to get to Flatstone, but she hadn’t really given much thought to how they were going to do it. All she knew was that the village was at the base of the mountain and that it would be somewhere on this side of the river they had crossed. Beyond that, though, she had no idea. She didn’t even know what it looked like.

After a moment, Celestia sighed and focused her eyes forward. “I don’t know. I’ll think of something, though.”

“Promise?” Luna asked quietly, her eyes boring into Celestia.

Celestia offered a strained smile. “I promise.”

Luna seemed satisfied with that answer and picked up the pace, walking side by side with Celestia as they picked their way further and further into the woods.

The terrain slowly but surely sloped back downward, and the trees began to thin out over time, allowing the snow to attack them again. Those trees that remained rustled in the harsh winds, and their wooden trunks groaned and creaked under the pressure. Mounds of snow fell from the branches as they grew too heavy, kicking up small clouds of white when they impacted the ground. Ferns that had perished in the first wave of the storm could be seen poking up from the snow here and there, shriveled, brown, and dead.

The hours stretched on and on. It would probably be getting dark soon, and as much as she wanted to keep moving and never stop, Celestia knew that it was even more dangerous to move at night than it was to stay put. They needed to find shelter, and they needed to find it soon. She was not going to sleep in the open. Not again. She wouldn’t risk Luna like that.

The minutes continued to tick by, and in time turned to hours. With every monotonous step, Celestia’s body grew increasingly sore and tired. Her eyes began to flick up to the sky every so often, hoping for some sign that it was getting dark out. The sun should have set a while ago, but it was still bright as day. Just like before.

She slowly drew to a halt, her eyes locked onto the clouds overhead, trying to pick out the light of the sun through them. It was hard to tell, with how thick they were, but she thought she could make out where it was. A barely perceptible bright spot, staring back at her like a milky eye.

She just stood there for a second, looking at the sun through the clouds. Her mind began to grow hazy, the storm around her fading away. Something tickled the edges of her thoughts, a warm, tingling heat. It felt enticing, yet distant. It was almost like her mother was calling to her from across a great distance.

She slowly lifted a hoof up toward the sky, as if to tell whatever was calling to her that she was here so that it could come and chase away her pain. To fight off the cold and envelop her in a blanket of love and light. To keep her safe…

Crunch.

The sound of crunching snow drew Celestia’s mind out of it’s haze. She snapped her eyes back down, and they widened as shock and horror flooded her system.

Luna had collapsed.

“LUNA!” Celestia shouted, sprinting to her sister’s side. The foal had pulled a little ways ahead of her, and was now laying face down in the snow. Celestia quickly rolled her over, and to her relief, she saw Luna was awake. She looked even worse than before, though.

Still, Celestia had to be sure. After all, Honey had seemed fine at first. “Are you alright?” she asked urgently, helping Luna sit up.

Luna gave a shivering nod. “Mm-mhmm. I tripped,” she mumbled, her eyes drifting down as if she were ashamed. “I’m sorry…”

Celestia breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head. “No, no, it’s okay. But be more careful,” she instructed before standing back to her full height. She helped Luna up and quickly brushed off the snow clinging to her fur and coat with her magic.

“I will. But I’m just so tired.”

Celestia grimaced. “Yeah… me, too. Let’s see if we can find some shelter and get some rest,” she said, looking bitterly up at the sky. “I don’t think it’s going to get dark anytime soon.”

“O-okay…”

They set off again, with Celestia keeping a hoof on Luna this time to help keep her steady. Her eyes swept the land in front of them for any sign of anything that could serve as a functional shelter. It was about half an hour before they found it.

They eventually came out into a small clearing. In the center of the clearing was a wide frozen pond, perhaps fifty feet from one side to the other. The ice was smooth and surprisingly clear, affording a view of the moss-covered rocks at its bottom; the first green Celestia had seen in a while. On the other side of the pond was a tall tree, devoid of its leaves. It wasn’t one of the numerous evergreens that called this mountain home. Its trunk was white, and its canopy must have been quite wide before its leaves died, judging by the spread of its branches.

The most important thing, however, was the cliff that sat just beyond that tree. It reached up around thirty feet, and in its base in front of the tree was a natural alcove worn into the rock. Narrow trenches wound squiggly paths from the walls of the alcove, circling past the tree and leading into the pond. Maybe streams had flowed from that alcove in the past, supplying the pond with water?

“Woah… beautiful…” Luna whispered, her tired eyes going wide.

“Yeah, it is…” Celestia breathed in response. It was beautiful. But more than that, it was sheltered from the snow. The rocky floor in the alcove was largely clear, meaning that it was the only good spot for sleep they had found. Celestia gave Luna a comforting squeeze and guided her around the pond. “And it’s where we’ll be sleeping.”

Luna looked up to Celestia with a surprisingly happy look on her face. “We’re sleeping in a cave!?” She asked with a slightly cheerful tone.

Celestia raised an eyebrow, before smiling. She had almost forgotten that Luna was a little weirdo who liked dark, damp places. She nodded. “Yeah, we’re sleeping in a cave,” she assured.

Luna clopped her hooves together over her chest and ran ahead, letting out a quiet giggle. Celestia reached after her to tell her to stop, then sighed and shook her head.

“She hasn’t laughed in a while. Not since…” she killed that train of thought with a bitter frown. She heaved a heavy sigh and followed Luna in.

It was a spacious affair, with enough room for five ponies to walk abreast and still have a bit of personal space. Celestia imagined that three grown stallions standing in a stack might just reach the ceiling. The floor sloped up in a series of uneven steps toward the back, leading into the wall. Luna had already claimed one of the steps for herself, curling up on it with a small smile.

“I like this,” Luna said as Celestia came in. “It’s really pretty.”

“It is,” Celestia agreed, bringing out their blankets with her magic. She sat down next to Luna, draping both of them in as many layers as she could. The stone floor was still cold, and it was uncomfortably hard to boot, but it was better than sleeping in the snow. She looked out at the tree and sighed. “It must have been even prettier before… this…”

“Uh-huh,” Luna said with a chirpy nod. “Mom would love it… here…”

Luna trailed off the moment the word ‘mom’ left her lips. Celestia’s good mood soured just like that. Cold grief and bitterness took a hold of her, and she couldn’t stop herself from grimacing. When she spoke, it was in a quiet whisper, almost inaudible and yet impossibly deafening in that quiet spot of shelter.

“Yeah...”

A heavy silence fell over the two sisters. Celestia felt Luna snuggling closer to her, and she could feel her sister’s body trembling against her. Not from the cold, though, she suspected. A suspicion that was proven true when Luna sniffled.

Memories drifted through her mind. Memories of Honey’s sweet smile, of her kind nature, of her rational mind and playful bouts of mischief. She thought of Sprout, of his endearing paranoia, of his creativity, of his craftiness, of his skill working in the field to grow their food. His dedication to his family.

With every memory that flashed through her mind, Celestia’s heart broke more and more. It still didn’t feel real. It didn’t feel right. Everything about it was wrong. They shouldn’t be dead… But they were.

Luna began to cry, no doubt feeling the same way Celestia was. And it wasn’t long before she joined her little sister in weeping over what they had lost. Their shared sobbing was the last thing Celestia heard before drifting off into a night of cold, restless sleep.

It was not, however, dreamless.

“Celestia?!”

Celestia’s eyes shot wide open as Luna’s voice reached her ears from somewhere far away. She looked up in surprise, her eyes going wide. She was back in that labyrinth of twisted, stretching corridors again, complete with the blue fog hiding the ceiling far overhead, the mix of sun and moonlight shining in through the warped windows, and the terrible chill that seeped into her bones. She could see her breath in the air with every exhale she gave.

And just like last time, there was that humming, low and soft, echoing through the hallways like a ghostly memory.

“Luna?!” Celestia called out, turning in place. “Where are you?!”

“Help! CELESTIA! HELP ME!”

“Darnit! Hang on!” Celestia shouted, turning and sprinting as hard as her hoove should carry her down the first corridor. She beat her wings as she ran, and before long she was flying through the corridors rather than running through them. The air felt heavy, but she forced herself through it regardless. Her sister needed her, she wasn’t about to lose her too!

Celestia rounded a bend. She gasped as she came face to face with a dense wall of blue fog, and flared her wings to catch the air and slow herself to a stop. She hovered in place for a moment, watching the fog with wide eyes. It churned before her, wisps and tendrils shifting over its surface. A few reached out toward her, only to break apart long before they could reach her.

“Where are you?!” Luna’s voice echoed once more, and Celestia realized with a shudder of fear that her calls were coming from the other side of this fog. “HELP ME! SISTER!”

“Gah, dangit,” Celestia growled, hesitating. She did not like the look of that fog. She would barely be able to see a few inches in front of her if she passed into it. She’d be flying blind. But at the same time, Luna was on the other side, and she needed Celestia’s help.

She drifted back a little. Maybe there was another route? This stupid place, whatever it was, had no shortage of alternate paths she could have taken. Maybe one of them was a shortcut?

Before she could even turn, a new sound reached her ears. A low, mournful howl that defied description, followed by a powerful gust of cold air rushing up the corridor from the way she had come. Something was charging her, and a powerful fight-or-flight response roared into life in response. She didn’t even deign to look before diving into the fog.

The cold was even worse than before. Celestia gasped involuntarily, her hooves curling around to hug herself as she flew through the dense fog. It felt even colder than ice, and it was getting difficult to flap her wings. But she pushed such thoughts out of her mind. She had to find Luna.

“LUNA?!” she cried out, barely avoiding slamming into a wall before taking the next turn. “KEEP TALKING! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“HELP ME!” Luna wailed at the top of her lungs from wherever she was. “It’s cold! I can’t see! TIA!”

“Just hang on!” Celestia shouted, keeping one hoof on the wall as she sped through the fog. That ominous humming was almost deafening now, filling her ears and drowning out her own thoughts. “I’m almost there- oof!”

Celestia gave off a grunt of pain, the air driven from her lungs, as something slammed into her from the side. She spun head over hooves before crashing into the wall. She slumped to the floor with a tired groan, her head pounding. She could hear Luna screaming, she could hear the humming growing so loud it was almost deafening. With a pained groan, she lifted her head.

Two glowing blue eyes glared back at her less than an inch from her face, colder than anything she had seen before.

A voice boomed in her mind.

“Rise and shine.”

Celestia awoke with a yelp, as Luna’s voice screaming in terror cut through her mind. She sat bolt upright and looked down at her sister thrashing on the ground, growing entangled in her blankets. Celestia quickly shook her head to dispel her confusion and reached down to shake Luna awake, tearing the blankets away with her magic before Luna could strangle herself with them.

“Luna! Hey, Luna! Wake up! You’re having a nightmare!”

Luna, however, did not wake. Her screams were growing louder and more frantic, her hooves clawing at her chest as if to pry something away from her, and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Celestia’s ears were starting to ring, her heart pounding in her chest. She gave Luna another shake, harder this time. Why wasn’t she waking up?! “Luna! LUNA!”

Nothing seemed to work, and Luna’s screams were growing so loud and desperate that her voice was beginning to crack and break. With no other recourse left, Celestia could only try one more thing. A guilty cringe spread over her face. “I’m sorry, Lu…”

She raised her hoof and smacked Luna across the face.

That did the trick. Luna gave off a squeak of pain from the strike, rolling off to one side and falling still. Celestia immediately felt an overwhelming flood of guilt, her ears drooping. She swallowed heavily and gently placed a hoof on Luna’s back. “Luna?”

Luna took in a deep, shuddering breath. She rolled over to look into Celestia’s eyes, revealing that hers were now bloodshot and puffy with tears. She sniffled, a hoof drifting up to her cheek. “Y-you…”

“I am so sorry,” Celestia choked out, pulling Luna up and hugging her tight. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to… you just… You were having another nightmare. And you wouldn’t wake up.”

The excuse sounded absolutely pathetic and insufficient.

Luna sniffled into Celestia’s chest. “I’m sorry,” she said as she began to sob, the shock of the strike starting to wear off.

“No, don’t be,” Celestia shot her down quietly, screwing her eyes shut as she began to come down from her moment of panic. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re okay…”

It sounded more like Celestia was assuring herself of that, rather than her sister.

The two sat together like that for a few minutes as Luna worked the tears out of her system. Celestia took this time to look around and assess the situation. She had no way of knowing for sure how much time had passed, seeing as the sky was no longer a reliable way of keeping track. If nothing else, it had been long enough for the sun to set, leaving the world outside bathed in darkness.

Eventually, Luna’s sobs went quiet. She pulled back from Celestia with a sniffle, not lifting her head.

Celestia smiled down at her. “You’re okay, now… What were you dreaming about?” she asked quietly.

Luna was quiet for several seconds. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Eventually, she settled for simply shaking her head. “I don’t remember.”

Celestia frowned. Something about that answer sounded wrong to her. Was Luna lying about it?

Before she could question Luna, however, a chill ran down her spine, and her heart suddenly began to beat faster. Something was wrong. Celestia immediately rose to her hooves, grabbing onto their blankets with her magic.

Luna looked up at her, confused. “Tia?”

“Shush,” Celestia shot back, looking towards the exit of the cave. But nothing stood out to her as being out of the ordinary. It was just as they had left it...

And then there was movement. Celestia squeaked in fear as something shifted in the darkness beyond the alcove. A silhouette, impossible to discern, followed by another, and another. The feeling of being watched returned to her, a thousand times stronger than before, and that ghostly howl from her nightmares echoed in the small alcove. But this time it wasn’t alone. It was joined by others, distant and numerous.

They weren’t alone.

“Luna, get behind me,” Celestia commanded in a low growl, lighting up her horn and quickly shoving their blankets back into her saddlebags.

“But-”

“NOW!”

Luna squeaked and ducked back, hiding behind Celestia without another word.

Satisfied that her sister would obey her, Celestia focused her attention back outside. She could still see those things moving around out there, and their ghostly calls echoed back and forth across the clearing. Were they communicating? Would they go away if she stood back and left them alone?

Alas, it was not to be so.

A powerful gust of impossibly cold air slammed into Celestia, making her grunt and stagger back. She shivered from the cold, shielding her face with a hoof, and she could hear Luna loosing a frightened wail behind her. With adrenaline now flooding her veins, Celestia lowered her hoof to try and get a better look at their unknown assailant.

There, in the darkness, she saw two glowing blue eyes glaring back at her. Thin wisps of ghostly blue light leaked out of them, and Celestia thought she could see the air around whatever those eyes belonged to sparkling and shimmering as if this creature’s presence on its own was enough to turn the air to frost.

“Tia, I’m scared!” Luna wailed, clinging tightly to Celestia. “Make it go away!”

Celestia grit her teeth, spreading her stance wide. She went to flare her wings, but they were pinned to her side by her coat. She took an anxious step back as the foreboding entity advanced on her. As it approached, more eyes appeared in the darkness behind it.

“Stay back!” she snapped, flaring her horn as brightly as she could in the hope that it would intimidate the creature into backing off. To her dismay, the attempt did nothing to deter it. If anything, it was amused and came at her faster.

Crying out, Celestia took a hold of Luna in her magic and ducked to one side as the creature lunged for them. It passed like a miniature blizzard. The once-clean stone floor beneath them was instantly turned to ice in its wake. Celestia grunted as she and Luna hit the floor, the light on her horn winking out. She didn’t bother turning to look at the thing attacking them. She simply lifted Luna in her magic and broke into a mad sprint out of the cave.

Three more of the monsters were waiting for her. Or at least, she thought it was three. She still couldn’t see their bodies through the raging blizzard and the dark of the night. All she could see were the eyes, but that was enough. Hyperventilating, she turned sharply to the left the moment she was out of the cave and ran as hard and as fast as her legs could carry her. More howls followed her as she ran, and it felt as if the snow itself was biting her hooves, trying to hold her in place with every step she took.

Realizing just how dark it was, she pumped more magic into her horn so she could see. Celestia yelped, barely swerving aside to avoid slamming face-first into a tree she had been sprinting toward. Unfortunately, she lost speed to avoid that collision, and her pursuers made good on the opening.

“CELESTIA!” Luna screamed as another gust of wind slammed into Celestia from her left, throwing her off her hooves. She gave a cry of pain as her back cracked against a tree. Stars and colors exploded across her vision as the air was driven from her lungs, and the light on her horn winked out.

She fell to the ground with a breathless wheeze, her face becoming buried in the snow. Her head was spinning, her lungs and her chest burned, and it was difficult to think through the ringing in her ears. She could just make out Luna’s voice nearby, crying out for her, and she forced herself to rise in response. Her sister needed her!

She lifted her eyes as she stood and lit her horn with magic.

It was right in front of her.

Celestia went rigid as she came face to face with one of the monsters chasing her. It resembled a pony, in some respects, but in others, it was utterly alien. Its features were lanky, more bestial, and savage than a pony’s. It was partially transparent, emitting a faint blue glow that shimmered in the air as if it were frosting it. Its mane flowed in an unfelt aetherial breeze, as did its lower body, leaving no hind legs to be seen. It was larger than Sprout had been, though not by much. Its eyes were the worst part, though. Those glaring, soulless, frozen eyes.

It looked like a ghost.

Celestia swallowed heavily, trembling in terror before the unknown entity. “W-what are you?” she stammered out, her eyes darting this way and that in search of a way out.

The ghost did not answer. Instead, it merely threw its head back and emitted its harrowing howl, sending a chill down Celestia’s spine. Whatever these things were, they had no interest in talking.

With a terrified whimper, Celestia ducked low and sprinted past the creature while its head was up, her eyes darting around frantically in search of Luna. She hadn’t made it two steps before something clamped down on her tail, though. Celestia’s eyes widened and her heart leaped into her throat as she was hauled off of her hooves and lifted high into the air.

She turned to see that the ghost had snapped its mouth around her tail and was now lifting her up in preparation to slam her down into the ground. Celestia’s heart skipped a beat as she looked down. In the dark of the night, she couldn’t see the ground. If it threw her down with even remotely near the force its winds carried, then…

Thinking fast, Celestia lit her horn and focused on her tail. With a cry of pain, she pushed as much power into her horn as she could. With a sound like ripping paper, she came free from the ghost as she severed her own tail, cutting its length effectively in half. She heard the ghost grunting in confusion, but she paid it no mind. The moment her hooves met the ground, she broke into another sprint, listening for Luna’s voice.

It took her a moment to spot her sister in the blizzard. One of the other ghosts was looming over her, pinning her to the ground on her back. She was kicking and struggling against it, once again screaming at the top of her lungs.

“CELESTIA, HELP ME!”

Celestia’s blood turned to fire, and fear turned to rage. Without a guttural scream of her own, her horn lit up and tore her jacket off of her body with a vicious shredding sound, allowing her wings to snap free and carry her forward.

“Get away from her!” she screamed, barreling into the ghost atop Luna with all the power her wings could muster. Its body was beyond freezing, and she gasped involuntarily from the contact, but thankfully, her tackle carried enough force to do the trick and the ghost was thrown off of Luna. It crashed into the ground a few feet away before quickly righting itself and lifting into the air with an angered hiss.

“Tia,” Luna whimpered, shivering on the ground. “It tried to-”

“Get up!” Celestia snapped, hauling Luna to her hooves. “Talk later! We need to run!”

She didn’t need to repeat herself. The ghosts howled around them again. With a cringe of effort, Celestia lit her horn and ripped Luna’s coat off of her as well, eliciting a startled squeak from her. She looked to Celestia with a question in her eyes.

“Fly!” Celestia commanded, already jumping into the air. She tugged Luna along behind her in her magic, and she felt her sister flapping to catch up a second later. The freezing wind slashed at their bodies as they rose, every flake like a razor blade against their skin. Being exposed to the cold like this was extremely dangerous, but right now they didn’t have many other options. They were helpless to escape those things while on the ground.

In a matter of seconds, they rose above the treeline. For a brief moment, Celestia smiled. They would be safe up here, she felt. Those things couldn’t fly up here to catch them… right?

A choir of infuriated howls killed that hope where it stood. Celestia looked back, the blood draining from her face as she saw all four of the ghosts rising to give chase.

Luna followed Celestia’s gaze and gave off a shrill scream when she saw that they weren’t safe. “How?!” she wailed, flying up to Celestia’s side fearfully. “They don’t have wings!”

Celestia grit her teeth and focused her eyes forward. “No idea! Just keep going! Don’t look back!”

It felt like forever the two foals spent flying through the snow and the dark, with the echoing howls of the ghosts following close at their hooves. Celestia’s wings slowly began to burn with every flap, and she had no idea where they were. It was impossible to see anything through the darkness aside from the occasional snowflake zipping by through their horns’ light. All they could do was fly and pray.

Another gust of wind suddenly came at the two from directly below. Celestia grunted as it punched into her gut like a thrown stone, jerking her into the air and sending her into a chaotic, spinning freefall. She heard Luna screaming in pain and fear, and briefly caught sight of her sister’s horn glowing not far away.

“LUNA!” Celestia screamed, forcing herself right in the air. She outstretched her hooves and shot after Luna as fast as she could. The howls of the ghosts were drawing closer to her right. They’d be on them in just a few seconds, she had to be quick!

“Gotcha!” she declared when she finally reached Luna, grabbing onto her little sister with her hooves. She flared out her wings to slow them down so they could return to their flight.

And then the trunk of a tree flashed into view from the light of her horn. Celestia’s eyes widened. They must have lost more altitude than she thought when they were following. She shouted in alarm and tried to adjust their course.

It wasn’t enough. They passed through the branches, breaking several from the force of the impact. Both she and Luna cried out in pain, clinging to one another for life as they spun wildly out of control, crashing through the branches of more and more trees. Frosted wood slapped and struck Celestia over and over as they fell, and she was powerless to stop it. She couldn’t even focus on her horn through the pain and confusion. All she could do was keep herself wrapped around Luna as much as possible, sheltering her little sister with her body.

Just before they were to reach the ground, one more tree stood directly in their path. They slammed into the trunk at high speed, and to Celestia’s horror, Luna had taken the brunt of the impact. A sickening crack reached Celestia’s ears, making her stomach churn.

The end of their chaotic descent was marked by them bouncing off of that trunk and crumpling into the snow below. Celestia gasped for breath, dazed. Her vision swam, and she knew she was covered in several cuts and scrapes. But she didn’t care about any of that right now.

“Luna…” she choked out in a breathless rasp, unsteadily rising to her hooves. She looked down to Luna, desperately hoping that she was okay.

She was anything but okay.

Celestia’s stomach convulsed, and she had to fight to keep from retching at the sight of a gigantic bruise swelling up on the side of Luna’s barrel. Her eyes were wide open and unfocused, while her mouth was stretched wide in a silent scream. Celestia could see her chest rising and falling rapidly with a series of shallow, frantic, agonized gasps.

“Luna! Oh, no no no…” Celestia breathed as panic began setting in and taking over everything else. Her hooves hovered uselessly over her little sister’s battered form as she thought desperately of anything she could do for her. But there was nothing. She didn’t have any medical knowledge of any kind!

Luna’s breaths began to come with the beginnings of a voice. She was trying to scream, but she couldn’t. Celestia’s ears perked up at that, and then her blood froze as she heard the howling of the ghosts in the trees above them. She looked down at Luna and quickly reached down to cover her mouth.

“Luna, no, don’t scream!” she whispered as Luna’s cries grew louder and louder. “Don’t scream! They’ll find us!”

Luna screwed her eyes shut, tears rolling down her cheeks as she fought in vain to keep the screams in. But as her voice came back to her, it was clear she couldn’t stop herself. She began to whimper and cry out, each one gaining volume that was barely muffled by Celestia’s pressing hooves.

Snap.

Celestia’s ears perked up as something snapped overhead. Alarmed, she looked up and brightened the light of her horn for just a moment. Her ears drooped when she saw the steadily growing cloud of snow falling down at them from the branches above.

“Dangit!” she whispered, quickly covering Luna with her body and spreading her wings. The snow fell over them a second later, burying them in the cold, and the world went dark.

XII - Silence

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Little did she know, however, just how difficult her promise would be to keep. For something lurked in the snow. Something foul, and evil. It stalked them on winds of ice and death… and it hungered.

Celestia shivered uncontrollably, both from the cold, and from the heart-stopping fear she felt. She tried to hold perfectly still, focusing on the trembling warmth of her sister just beneath her. The snow they were buried under was impossibly cold, and without their jackets, it dug into their skin, stealing all sense of feeling, leaving behind nothing but a deep ache.

They were still out there. She could hear them. Their voices. They echoed through the trees, barely muffled by the mound. Every instinct in Celestia’s body was screaming at her to run, to take Luna, rise from the mound, and run as far and as fast as her hooves could possibly carry her. But she had tried that already, and it had gotten them here.

So she decided to wait for the ghosts to pass. The snow was freezing, and she knew it would be dangerous to remain buried for too long, but if they were lucky, then maybe, just maybe the monsters would move on and give her and Luna room to sneak away undetected.

There was just one problem.

Luna gave off another agonized groan in the darkness of their cover. Celestia could feel the rapid rise and fall of her chest, each one punctuated with a barely-audible whimper of pain. Every so often, a louder groan would slip out, making Celestia’s heart hammer wildly in her chest.

“Luna, you need to be quiet,” She hissed, nearly inaudible, yet somehow deafening. “They’ll hear us!”

“It h-h-hurts,” Luna cried, sniffling. “I’m c-c-cold. I’m s-scared. M-make it stop.”

“I will! I’ll make it stop, but I need you to be quiet!” Celestia promised, but internally she knew that it was out of her hooves to do anything now. Her heart twisted and withered in her chest as another miserable, whispered wail of suffering came from her little sister. She wanted nothing more than to take away her pain, but what could she do? She had no idea what they were up against, where they were, or where to go.

All she could do was shelter Luna with her body and hope, pray to whatever was listening that they would be safe.

Celestia’s heart skipped a beat when she heard something moving nearby. Branches were being pushed aside by something passing through. And then she heard it. The ghost’s voice was practically right on top of them, giving off some indescribable vocalization of impatience. It was like wind howling in a valley, sending boulders tumbling into the deep.

Luna gasped, and Celestia felt a surge of panic in her breast. Thinking fast, she sent a tiny pulse of magic up her horn so she could see. The illumination was minuscule, but it allowed her to behold Luna’s terrified face. Her eyes were wide, bloodshot, and her lips were pressed tightly together. She was going pale, and her eyes locked onto Celestia’s, begging her to do something.

The moment ended as quickly as it had come, and the light died, leaving them in darkness. Celestia lowered her head just enough to rub the tip of her nose against Luna’s cheek, silently begging her to stay still and quiet.

Neither of them said a word. Celestia listened, her heart beating harder and faster as she heard the ghost moving around. It seemed to be sweeping the area, heading back and forth, but with every pass, it was drawing closer. Any second now, it would come across their little mound and discover them. Celestia closed her eyes.

“Mom, dad, please, somepony, anypony, help us,” she thought desperately, her eyes starting to burn with tears. “I don’t want to die.”

She heard it again. It was directly over her. Celestia inhaled involuntarily, her muscles tensing up, ready to spring into motion at a moment’s notice. If this was how she went down, she was going to go down fighting.

A moment passed. Then another.

Somewhere, Celestia could hear one of the ghosts howling. This time, though, its tone was different, somehow. She didn’t know how to describe it, other than it sounded less aggressive.

She heard the ghost above her shifting. A low sound escaped it, almost as if it were disappointed or frustrated. A moment later, there was a gust of wind that pressed down on the mound, compressing the two foals into the earth and each other, followed by a suffocating silence.

Celestia didn’t move. She barely even dared to breathe. Her ears were perked up, listening for any sign of their enemy, but there was nothing; no howls, no roars. There wasn’t even the haunting breeze of its passing. She could hardly hear the blizzard that had swallowed the world for the last few days. It was just silent.

“Are… a-are they gone?” Luna whispered, her tiny, shivering voice deafening in the tight space.

Celestia frowned. Why would they have left? That one had been right on top of them. Another second and it would have found them and torn them from the snow. They wouldn’t have been able to do anything then. Why give up the chase now, when the prey was at its weakest? It didn’t make any sense…

Maybe it was a trap? They had pulled back just enough to try and coax the sisters into thinking they were safe so they would show themselves. Then, when their guard was down, the ghosts would strike before anything could be done. It was possible… but there was only one way to find out. Either way, they couldn’t stay here any longer. If the ghosts didn’t kill them, the cold would.

“I don’t know,” Celestia said as she lit her horn, staring down into Luna’s eyes imploringly. “Let me check. Don’t. Move.”

Luna nodded against her. Celestia took that as her cue, took a deep breath, and slowly lifted her head. The snow slid off of her with soft crunches as she rose, revealing the world around them.

It was still snowing, but to Celestia’s surprise, the wind was not nearly as strong as it used to be. She looked up and around, gingerly lighting up her horn. She swept her eyes back and forth across the area, looking for any sign of the ghosts. But she found nothing. It was as if they had just vanished into thin air.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever their reasons were, Celestia could figure them out later. For now...

“They’re gone,” she said, looking back down to Luna. “Are you okay?”

Celestia knew that was a stupid question, and Luna proved it when she opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a choked sob. That sob elicited a gasp of pain from her, which only spurred on more sobs. She tried to force words out through her crying, but could only manage one.

“H-h-hurts...”

Celestia looked down at the swelling bruise on Luna’s barrel and cringed. Her stomach churned in disgust, and she felt bile tickling the back of her throat. The bruise was getting darker, and Celestia could tell that Luna had broken her ribs from their earlier impact with that tree. “Oh my gosh… c-can you stand?” she asked, daring to hope.

Luna sniffled. Shivering, she tried to get up, only to let out a shrill yelp of pain and collapse back into the snow, shaking from both the cold and her own agony. She shook her head a moment later. “I c-c-can’t. I’m s-sorry,” she whispered, her teeth chattering.

Celestia swore, quickly drawing their blankets out of her saddlebags. With ginger care, she wrapped Luna up in them to stave off the cold while racking her brain for a solution. They had no shelter, no clothes, and barely any supplies in their saddlebags. They didn’t have any food or water, either. They were both hungry, thirsty, and getting weaker all the time. If they didn’t find help soon...

As if sensing Celestia’s internal fears, Luna turned to look up at her even as she was being tucked into the blankets. “Tia…?” She asked in a barely audible voice. Her face was twisted with dread and despair. She lifted her head just a little and continued. “Am… am I gonna end up like mom and dad?”

Celestia went deathly silent upon hearing those words. Her blood turned even colder than the snow at her hooves. She took in a deep, shuddering breath as the mental image of Luna’s eyes closing and never opening again filled her mind. Her heart twisted in her chest, her guts became entangled with themselves, knotting and constricting with horror at the mere idea.

Were they going to die out here?

A fire swelled in Celestia’s chest. Her expression hardened, and she shook her head. “No. No, you aren’t,” she declared with finality. “I won’t let you. I promised mom I’d keep you safe, and I will!”

Luna’s eyes bored into her for several long seconds. Somehow, Celestia didn’t think Luna believed her. She wasn’t even sure she believed it herself. But all the same, the smaller pony offered a tiny nod. “Alright…”

Celestia nodded back and put on a comforting smile. “You’ll be fine. We’ll get to Flatstone and get you some help.”

“But… how?” Luna asked, setting her head back down.

Celestia frowned. That had been the question ever since they wound up on their own. She still had absolutely no idea where they were going. And with Luna in such bad shape, they no longer had the luxury of being able to go the wrong way. If she couldn’t find that town fast, then any chances they had of survival would be all but gone.

She shook her head. No, she would find Flatstone. She didn’t know how, yet, but she had no choice. Luna’s life was riding on it, and she was not going to lose her, too.

“We… we can fly,” she decided with a nod. “I’ll carry you and fly up into the air, right above the trees. We can look for the town from the air once it gets brighter out.”

“But… what if we get hit by that wind again? What if we fall? What if... you d-drop me?” Luna asked, curling into herself. She hissed and screwed her eyes shut at the irritation of her injury.

Celestia shook her head. “I won’t.”

“But what if-”

“Luna!”

Luna jumped and looked up into Celestia’s eyes again. Celestia leaned down and pressed her forehead gently against her sister’s. When she spoke again, it was with solemn confidence that left no room for argument or doubt. “I won’t.”

Silence fell over the two after that. Luna didn’t say anything. She simply nodded. That having been said, the discussion ended. With nothing else for it, Celestia carefully hoisted her sister onto her back, being sure to leave room for her wings. Once Luna’s weight was settled on her shoulders, she looked up into the sky.

Without another word, Celestia flared her wings and took to the air, leaving a swirling vortex of dusty snow in her wake. In mere moments, all traces of their presence were buried by a passing gust of wind and snow.

Though the air had calmed significantly once the ghosts fled, the wind was still far from gentle, and the snow was still falling in massive flakes that stung upon impact with Celestia’s bare fur. It was like a flurry of daggers trying to break open the side of a mountain. None on their own could do much, but as time went on, the chill crept deeper and deeper into Celestia’s muscles, leaving them stiff, sore, and increasingly numb. Her only sources of warmth were the bundle on her back and the heat generated by every strained flap of her wings.

All the same, she grit her teeth and powered through it, focusing on flying down along the slopes of the mountain. She tempered her pace, being sure not to go too fast. If they were hit by another one of those freak gusts, she needed to maintain control. Luna couldn’t survive another fall like that.

On the way down, she couldn’t help but think back on the ghosts, and how they had just left them like that. She racked her brain for any clues, any possible answers, but none were forthcoming. It was like the ghosts had given up right at the moment of their triumph and fled back into the wind that had spawned them. In truth, that was what scared Celestia the most. Those creatures were still out there.

“Are they going to come after us again? What are they…?”

She flew on in silence like this for what felt like hours. Slowly but surely, the light of day began to creep back into the world, filtered through the clouds to paint the world in depressing shades of gray and white, and little by little the jagged crags and rocky terrain began smoothing out the farther down Celestia went. She realized with an air of surprise that the trees were thinning out as well, leaving more and more patches of ground barren of foliage.

She looked ahead and came to a total stop as she realized that, at long last, she had reached the bottom of the mountain. And she was not prepared for what she saw. She had been surrounded by mountainous terrain for all of her life and had never been able to see very far through the trees, the slopes, and the ridges. She had gotten used to the idea that there would always be something in front of her to block her view.

Here, it was different. It was as if the world was a ball of clay, and the sculptor had given up after one infinitely detailed spot, leaving the rest smooth and barren. A field of white stretched out before her, reaching out to the horizon with the only noteworthy features being a few gentle rises and falls in the terrain, but even those were practically nonexistent. Here and there, she saw dead trees poking up from the snow, the last vestiges of the world from before the snow marking their own graves with their bodies.

It was just so… empty. Celestia rubbed at her face and her eyes, thinking that she must have been hallucinating, but the reality persisted: that infinite field of white, stretching on and on and on. Fear’s icy fingers took hold of her heart, and Celestia whimpered, shying back from it. She could see so far, and it suddenly dawned on her just how little her world had been up to this point. Now she could see more, and all of it was buried in snow.

Was the whole world like this? Had it all ended while her family wasn’t looking? Was there anything left…?

Desperate for something familiar, Celestia spun in place to look up at the mountains she had just finished descending. They loomed above her, their highest peaks lost amid the clouds, tall and imposing, like a judgemental giant. She could barely make out familiar ridgelines from here, nestled deep into its slopes about halfway up.

Her entire life, all twelve, almost thirteen years of it, had taken place on this one mountain, in one little crevice that she couldn’t even see from here.

“My whole life… except for the first three years,” she thought, her mind briefly wandering back to her oldest memory, one of gentle blue eyes, filled with love and sorrow and fear. Of that smile, comforting and loving, but burdened by something heavier than Celestia could ever hope to understand. Celestia idly wondered how the owner of that smile was faring, and if she was even still alive...

Luna shivered on her back. Celestia shook her head, bitterly chasing away the memory. She had more important things to focus on than the mare that had abandoned her and her sister at the door of the first ponies she came across. With a scoff, she spun in place and cast her eyes across the endless fields before her again.

“Flatstone is supposed to be at the bottom of the mountain, right?” she thought, looking for any sign of civilization. Not that she really knew what civilization looked like. Her family’s secluded home was all she knew. “So I just have to find more of that. Buildings.”

She looked around for several minutes, starting to drift forward through the air. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but she was sure she’d know it when she saw it. It had to be around here somewhere, right?

She continued her search for several minutes, eyes scanning the featureless plains beneath her. She was starting to get worried. She wasn’t seeing anything like her old home in the mountains. No buildings, no chopped down trees. It was just snow.

Were they too late? Had it all been buried already? The faint sound of Luna whimpering on her back sent a spike of fear into Celestia’s heart, driving her to fly faster and glare harder.

She was beginning to grow frantic when, finally, she saw something. It was a ways ahead, tucked just out of view behind a small foothill coming down from the mountain. Celestia squinted against the snow and the haze, trying to make out details. It was difficult to ascertain much through the snow, but the closer she came, the more she saw.

Soon, she realized what it was, and her heart fluttered with joy as the sight of a small village, tucked haphazardly up against the shores of the river, came into view. Celestia paused momentarily, a quiet, giddy laugh escaping her. She looked back at Luna, her eyes shimmering. “Lu… I think we found it,” she whispered quietly.

Luna cracked open an eye, having been trying to rest for the whole flight. Her voice was tiny, almost silent, but no less hopeful. “We have?”

Celestia nodded, shifting Luna in her magic and pointing ahead. “Yeah. Look. Right there, see? Against the river.”

Luna squinted forward, shivering slightly. Then her eyes lit up, going wide. “Woah… how many ponies live there?” she asked, sounding dumbfounded.

Celestia shook her head, settling Luna down on her back before taking off again, flying faster than before. “Dunno. Doesn’t matter. Let’s just get in there and get you some help.”

As they drew closer, Celestia tried to ignore the pit of unease starting to work its way into her chest. This was an earth pony village they were about to set hoof in, when both of them were winged unicorns. Neither Sprout nor Honey had heard of such a thing prior to their self-imposed exile. Unless things had changed down here, then the sisters were in for a very hostile welcome.

But there was no other choice. They needed the help. Luna needed the help. That one fact alone gave Celestia the strength to throw away any concerns she had about what other ponies thought of her.

Slowly but surely, the buildings became distinct from each other. Celestia realized with some amount of surprise that they were built very differently from her old home in the mountains. Instead of wood logs stacked together, most of them were built out of some kind of stone. Many were circular in shape, and each one had its roof totally smothered in snow. The streets fared no better than the ground outside.

As Celestia came in for a landing, something struck her as odd. Where were the hoofprints? If this was a village, and a lot of ponies lived here, then surely there should be prints in the snow to mark their passing. But there were no prints to be found. When Celestia touched down in a circle of structures in the middle of the village, shivering as the cold bit into her already freezing hooves, she came to the stark realization that the snow was smooth and undisturbed.

The wind was starting to return, just strong enough to whistle ominously between the buildings and the streets. Celestia looked this way and that, her ears drooping. Save for that ghostly whistle, it was utterly silent. Nothing else moved in that village. All of the windows were dark, their curtains drawn, flapping uselessly in the breeze.

Celestia took a step back, starting to shake from more than just the cold. “Something’s wrong…” she said in a hushed voice, her wings ruffling against her sides.

Luna shifted on Celestia’s back, lifting her head to look around. She was quiet for a long moment, but there was no missing the growing tremor felt through the fabric of her blankets. She took a shaking breath, and in one, terrified whisper, perfectly summarized Celestia’s fears in a single question.

“Where is everypony?”

XIII - Flatstone

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The beasts emerged without warning, chasing them through the dark. When at last the sisters escaped their pursuers, the elder found, to her despair, that the younger was gravely injured. It was thanks to blind luck that they found their destination as they descended—the village their parents once called home. But their hope for salvation would prove short-lived, for none were there to greet them…

Celestian remained still, her eyes scanning her surroundings while she fought to keep her breathing under control. The freezing wind whistling between the dark, empty buildings was the dominant ambiance, sending a chill crawling up and down her spine like an angry millipede. There was an unusual feeling hanging over the village, one with which she was unfamiliar.

Luna shifted uneasily, a tiny whimper slipping out of her throat. “T-Tia, I’m scared… where is everypony?” she asked again, her eyes darting this way and that.

Celestia didn’t answer at first, trying to rationalize it in her head. “Maybe everypony’s inside?” she thought. She turned to the nearest building and trotted up to it. She peered in through one of the windows, pulling the curtain aside with her magic. It was stiff and crackled with frost as she brushed it aside, making her cringe. This cloth had been left in place for a long time, and it had almost completely frozen over.

The inside of the home was not faring much better, from what little Celestia could see. It was dark inside, with no fires lit, though she could see a central firepit. A single shaft of light came out of a hole in the roof over the fire pit, providing faint illumination for the rest of the interior. There were two beds, one in each corner, both missing their blankets. The various shelves, all made of wood, were barren and empty.

“There’s nothing…” she whispered anxiously, a chill running down her spine as she backed away.

Luna whimpered again. “N-nothing?”

Celestia staggered back, her head spinning. Without speaking, she turned and sprinted for the next house down the street, this time shoving the door open with her magic. To her growing dread, there was nopony here, either. Everything had been stripped bare and left to rot. How long ago, she couldn’t say.

Had they all died? Had the cold stolen away the ponies of this village, like it had her parents? A tiny, terrified whimper escaped Celestia at that prospect. If there was nopony else here, how was she going to help Luna? Heedless of whatever her little sister was saying to her, Celestia began to dart from home to home, her mind spiraling into a frantic haze.

“They can’t be gone!” she thought, her breath starting to come in heaving gasps as she tore down the streets. “There has to be somepony left! Anypony! Luna needs help!”

But there was nopony to be seen. Every single home she looked into was empty. Devoid of life and light. The ponies who once called this town home hadn’t even had the courtesy to leave behind any supplies. The only silver lining she could think of was that there were no bodies. And that meant that the ponies were still alive. They just weren’t here right now.

...Right?

Her frantic search eventually drew her into the center of the village. A well stood at the heart of a plain circular plaza. Several roads branched out from this point, each one curving in a different direction. Even here, in what must have been the bustling core of the settlement, all was still and silent.

Celestia stopped by the well, spinning in place, her ears folded back. “No… no, no no!” she babbled, terror ripping into her heart.

“Tia, what do we do?” Luna asked in a choked whisper. Her voice was so tiny and weak, it sent all of Celestia’s protective instincts flaring into overdrive.

With careful movements, Celestia lifted Luna off her back and set her down by the well, clearing some of the snow with her magic. She saw the raw fear and despair in Luna’s face, and she knew the smaller filly must have realized just how bad their situation was.

Celestia hesitated. “I… I don’t know,” she confessed, looking down at the ground. “I don’t know what to do! I thought we’d get help here, but… but…”

She wished Sprout and Honey were here. They would know what to do. They always had, right up until the very end. But now…

She shook her head. “One thing at a time, Tia,” she told herself, focusing on Luna again. “...But I will figure something out.”

Luna didn’t say anything. She just nodded quietly and pulled her blanket tighter around herself. A move she quickly came to regret, wincing as the fabric rubbed against her smashed ribs and sucking in an agonized breath through tightly clenched teeth.

Celestia quickly reached out, steadying Luna and keeping her from falling. “Woah, there. Easy. Easy…”

“It hurts,” Luna gasped, tears leaking out of her eyes. “It h-hurts really bad…”

“I know, I know it does,” Celestia soothed her as well as she could. She wished she could pull Luna into a hug or something, but too much intimacy would only make it hurt worse. She had to resist the urge to growl in frustration as she remembered that but forced herself to stay calm.

A few seconds passed while Luna calmed down, affording Celestia a chance to think. She sat back on her haunches and looked around again. “Okay… okay, uh… we… we can’t stay out in the open,” she eventually concluded. “We need to find shelter. Lotta houses around here… we can use any of them, I guess.”

“But… w-wouldn’t that be stealing?” Luna asked quietly. “These homes belong to other ponies, don’t they?”

Celestia was quiet for a second, but she didn’t even spare a thought on the moral question. “...They aren’t here. And I’m not letting you freeze,” she decided, her expression hardening. “If they don’t like it, tough.”

Luna shied back somewhat from the harshness in her sister’s tone, but Celestia was too focused to notice right now. She looked around again, assessing each building she saw, looking for what might be the warmest one. Eventually, her eyes settled on a one at the edge of the clearing, a simple thing no bigger than most of the others, but at least it didn’t have any holes in it.

“Come on. Let’s get inside,” Celestia instructed, guiding Luna towards her choice. They moved slowly and carefully, so as to not agitate Luna’s injury any more. Soon they were stepping into the building, Celestia pushing the door open with her magic. It gave off a low, ponderous creak, and a cold whistling sound swept through the abandoned interior. It was much like the other houses she had looked into. There was a single bed in the back, a counter against the wall on the left, a firepit in the middle of the room, and what looked like a storage room off to the right.

The floor was hard, compact dirt, and it was bitterly cold. Every step was a shock to Celestia’s system, reminding her that she was woefully underdressed for the weather. She forced herself to ignore her own shivers, however and guided Luna toward the bed in the back. At least there was a mattress on it…

Celestia gently set Luna down on the mattress so her injured side was facing up. She winced with every sound Luna made on the way down, and her heart withered in her chest at every hiss of pain, but soon, Luna was settled down and as comfortable as Celestia could make her.

Celestia forced herself to smile as she ran her hoof through Luna’s mane. “We made it,” she told her in a whisper. “We made it to Flatstone… w-we… w-we’ll be okay, now.”

Luna looked at Celestia for a few seconds, her eyes glistening. She then screwed her eyes shut and sniffled. “I wanna go home…”

Celestia didn’t answer at first. After a moment, though, an idea came to her, and she reached into their saddlebags with her magic. Luna cracked open an eye, watching curiously as Celestia rummaged around for a few moments.

“Come on, where are they…?” Celestia whispered to herself, starting to grow worried. Had they lost them in all of the chaos with the ghosts? Or even the river? She chased such notions away as quickly as they came. They couldn’t have lost them! They were all she had left of him!

Finally, with a wave of relief, she found what she was looking for, and delicately retrieved a small collection of wooden figurines from their bags. Luna’s eyes locked onto them immediately, lighting up with nostalgia. She reached out to them with a barely audible squeak.

Celestia smiled, passing the toys into Luna’s outstretched hooves. “Here… I know it’s not much, but we brought a bit of home with us,” she said gently.

Luna took the toys into her hooves and held them close to her chest. At first, she was smiling with fond remembrance. But then, as the moments dragged on, her expression changed, and soon she was screwing her eyes shut. Tears began to leak out of the corners again, and Celestia had to look away when she heard Luna’s quiet sobs echoing in that lonely room.

“Dad…” Luna cried quietly, sniffling and hiding her face behind her mane. “Come back… please come back…”

Celestia didn’t say anything. Inside, she wondered if that had been the right thing to do. The wound was still fresh, and the last thing Celestia wanted was to pour salt on the wound… but it was too late now.

Too tired to address the matter right now, Celestia took a few minutes to take stock of their supplies. They had lost both Sprout and Honey’s saddlebags at the river, and those two had been carrying most of the important stuff. They had lost their clothes during their flight from the ghosts.

That left them with a small collection of old blankets and the toys their father had given them in their saddlebags. In the house, there wasn’t much else. If they broke down some of the shelves, maybe they could get a fire going, but it wouldn’t last for long, and they didn’t have anything to ignite it with. Searching the storage room, Celestia found an assortment of pots, but they were all empty, too.

Celestia grimaced as she closed the door to the storage room. They were not in a good place. The fact they had a roof over their heads didn’t amount to much. Luna was still injured, and Celestia had no idea how to help her…

A low gurgling sound echoed through the room. Celestia turned around to look back at Luna, her eyes wide. The smaller filly opened her eyes again, still fighting back her weeping, to look at Celestia.

“Uhm… - sniff - I’m h-hungry…” she mumbled.

Celestia cursed under her breath, only now realizing just how hungry she was, too. They had gone for days without any meaningful food, and basically no water. She had just been so focused on taking care of Luna that she hadn’t even noticed how bad the pain in her stomach was getting.

They needed food.

“Um… I’ll look around town,” Celestia suggested, glancing over at the door. “I’ll see what I can find…”

In truth, she didn’t even want to let Luna leave her line of sight. A sentiment shared by her little sister, as evidenced by her anxious whimpering. “B-but… I don’t wanna be alone,” she said.

“I’ll be back soon,” Celestia assured more to herself than her sister, walking over and placing a hoof gently on Luna’s shoulder. “You just stay here and rest. You’re hurt, and you need time to heal.”

“What about you?” Luna asked, lifting her head somewhat. “You flew me all the way here after fighting those… t-things. You’re even more tired than I am.”

“But I’m not hurt,” Celestia pointed out. “I’ll rest once you’re fed, okay?”

Luna looked like she wanted to argue more, but another growl from her stomach forced her into begrudging compliance. She offered a stiff nod of her head and pulled the toys closer to her chest. “...Come back,” she finally said. “Please come back.”

Celestia leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on Luna’s temple, offering her little sister a gentle smile. “I will.”

It was painful to leave Luna like that, and every moment away from her little sister hurt Celestia more and more. Anxiety and fear ate at her heart like a legion of ravenous ants at a mountain of sugar. What if the ghosts came back while she was gone? What if the roof suddenly collapsed? What if this town wasn’t as abandoned as it looked, and the ponies who lived in that hut suddenly came back to find Luna in its sole bed?

Celestia shook her head every time such terrors manifested in the back of her mind. Whether or not any of them were even possible was irrelevant. The sooner she found food and brought it back, the better.

Alas, food was proving to be a frustratingly difficult commodity to come by. Celestia tried to limit her search to the exteriors at first, only trying to find any patches of grass or shrubbery that had survived the snow. Raw plants and grass didn’t exactly taste good, but they were edible, and that was all Celestia cared about right now.

Yet, there was nothing. The grass under the snow was frozen, brittle, and dead. Celestia doubted it would make for good sustenance. Other forms of plantlife fared little better, with shrubs having shriveled up, and what few crops there were around the outside of the town suffering the same inglorious end as Sprout’s had back in the mountains. Not that Celestia would want to eat these. The dead husks of old crops were overgrown with the corpses of a veritable abundance of weeds.

Strangely, though, most of the plantations were utterly empty. Celestia could distinguish them from the surrounding landscape from her position high the air, finding that the bulk of the crops had seemingly been harvested some time ago, but not replanted.

Finally, as the freezing day crept along, the cold began to get to Celestia, and she started exploring inside the homes, if only for an excuse to get out of the cold. Unfortunately, there was very little to be had in them, either. She did find an old box full of fruit… but all of them had gone bad and decayed into a mound of mush in their pot, leaving a rancid, sickly sweet odor to permeate the house she found them in.

As her fruitless search dragged on, Celestia began to feel a creeping numbness seeping into her legs. A haze settled gradually over her eyes, and her thoughts became dull and clouded. She was exhausted, and it was starting to take its toll. Even her burning desire to feed Luna was barely able to keep her focused on the task at hoof.

One more building. She would search one more building, and if she didn’t find anything there, she’d head back.

Her target was a two-story building at the edge of town. It was built noticeably different from the other structures in the abandoned village, and it was significantly larger. A deck extended out from the front door and wrapped around the entire front of the building, while a sign hung over the entrance, though whatever was written on it was completely obscured by layers of frost. It swayed in the breeze, its metal hinges shrieking with every tiny movement, like the last cries of a dying elk.

It was the biggest building Celestia had seen so far. If there was food to be found anywhere, it would be here.

With a tired sigh, she stepped up to one of the windows and peered inside, lighting up her horn so she could see. The interior was dark, and in her tired state, her horn provided little more than a narrow beam of dull illumination. Slowly moving her light around, she saw various circular tables scattered about a sizable room, each one surrounded by wooden chairs. There was a counter in the back of the room. Behind it, on the wall, a series of long shelves held a collection of old jars and bottles. There was a closed door behind the counter as well, off to the side.

“Worth a shot,” Celestia muttered before struggling to push open and clamber through the window. It took some doing, and her wings got stuck in the frame for a moment, but soon she was in and making her way for the counter. The floor was made of wooden planks, and each one creaked loudly as she stepped on it. For a brief moment, she slowed down, remembering how she had heard Sprout and Honey moving around upstairs from time to time back home.

Shaking away the memory of better times, she focused on the task at hoof. As she stepped around the counter, she spotted numerous empty bottles on the floor, each without its cork. She winced and shuffled back slightly, her nose wrinkling as a powerful stench hit her nostrils. She didn’t know what it was, but it made her stomach churn. Resisting the urge to gag, she decided to skip the shelves. Whatever was in the remaining bottles was probably not something she wanted in her system.

With nothing else for it, Celestia made her way to the door in the back. It squealed loudly when she pushed it open, making her cringe. Taking a look around, Celestia spotted a series of counters against the walls and running through the center of the room, along with stoves that were similar to the one Honey had used back home to make bread.

This must have once been a kitchen, Celestia realized as she worked her way through it. Maybe this place had been a restaurant or a tavern or something? Celestia didn’t know much about such places, other than that ponies would gather in them sometimes to drink and eat with friends.

And if this was a tavern, then that meant…

With a spark of hope, Celestia quickly scanned the room for any sign of food. While she didn’t spot any right away, she did see another door on the far side of the room. Now giddy with hope, she made her way over to it as quickly as she could and threw it open. A stale draft blew into her face from the old room, carrying with it a cloud of dust that made her cough and back away. Once the dust settled, however, she got a good look inside.

The room was stuffed to the brim with large clay pots, crates, barrels, and thick sacks stacked atop each other. A single, narrow window was set high into the wall in the back of the room, allowing a stripe of icy light to illuminate the interior. Beneath it, Celestia spotted an old wooden trapdoor. Maybe it went into a storage cellar?

Either way, Celestia decided not to linger on it for too long. She made her way to the first pot she saw and pulled it open with her magic. At long last, her efforts were rewarded when she saw something within. A collection of small, but no-less-edible-looking carrots stared back at her from the bottom of the pot, and her stomach immediately growled.

“Food…” she whispered, taking one of the carrots out with her magic. It was speckled with streaks of some kind of white powder, but aside from that, it looked fine enough. And to her food-deprived eyes, it looked downright delicious. Before she could stop herself, Celestia brought the carrot into her mouth and bit down.

It was hard as a rock, but even that wasn’t enough to stop Celestia. A satisfying crack echoed through the room as the end of the carrot snapped off into her mouth. The white powder lent the vegetable an unusually powerful taste, but she didn’t care. She was just happy to have something in her mouth. She devoured the remainder of the carrot in a ravenous haze, and before she knew it she had eaten three.

She quickly stopped herself, remembering that Luna needed food more than she did. She took a few deep breaths before starting to load carrots into her saddlebags. She was so focused on this task, however, that she didn’t even notice that something was coming her way.

“HEY!”

Celestia almost jumped out of her skin as a voice she did not recognize suddenly shouted from the kitchen behind her. Alarmed, she spun around to face the new arrival, her wings flaring out in reflex.

He was an older stallion. His fur was old and matted down, with numerous graying streaks marked all over. She could see old marks and stains in his coat, blemishing the dark brown hairs. His mane and tail were wiry, thin, and colored a deep silver indicative of his age, while his eyes were a brighter shade of brown. And they were now locked on her wings, wide with surprise.

“What in the world…?” he breathed, taking a fearful step back. “Wings… and a horn?!”

Celestia swallowed heavily. She could hear the raw fear in this stallion’s voice, and it made her heart shrivel up in her chest at the thought that she could make anypony feel that way.

His eyes drifted back down to the pot, and the few carrots still hovering in the air around her. A few seconds passed before he shook himself, set his jaw, and narrowed his eyes. “That’s not for you.”

Celestia shrank back and away from him, her ears folding down to rest flat against her head. Her mind was spinning, searching in a frantic haze for what to do or say, but somehow came up with nothing. She had never met anypony outside of her family before. She had no idea what to do, what to say, how to act; and she had just been caught stealing.

However, just as she was afraid she might have no words for him, a memory tickled the back of her mind.

“Find Flatstone. Tell them what happened, who you are… They’ll… they’ll dislike you, but… they’ll take care of you, once they hear about us…”

Celestia swallowed heavily, briefly closing her eyes. “Thank you, mom…”

“M-m-my name is Celestia,” she said, stuttering slightly in fear. “And I’m Sprout and Honeydrop’s d-daughter. I need your help...”

XIV - Left Behind

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Desperate, cold, and starving, the elder left her sister hidden away in an abandoned house and went in search of food. But the village was not as abandoned as she had first thought.

The stallion stared at her in silence, his expression impossible to read. Celestia held her breath, barely daring to move as the seconds ticked by. Somewhere deeper in the structure, a wooden beam creaked and groaned; the sound made Celestia’s spine tingle.

Finally, the stallion tilted his head. “…What?”

At least he wasn’t attacking her. Emboldened, Celestia lifted her head slightly and spoke. “My name is Celestia. I’m here with my little sister, Luna. We… w-we’re Sprout and Honey’s daughters.”

The stallion eyed her skeptically, his tired gaze lingering on her unfurled wings, then on her still softly glowing horn. His eyes narrowed. “Sprout and Honey, eh?” he asked in a slow snarl. “Thought they’d gone and died.”

Celestia flinched, her ears folding back. “I… they…” she stammered, her voice cracking. She shook her head a moment later, forcing herself to focus.

The stallion eyed her a moment longer. “Hmph. Doesn’t matter. That food doesn’t belong to ya. Put it back and get outta my house.”

Celestia’s heart skipped a beat. “B-but, my sister! She’s starving, and she’s hurt! She needs help!”

“Do I look like I care?” the stallion growled, taking a step forward. “Give it back and get out!”

A thrill of fear ran through Celestia, and she curled up into a ball on the floor. She’d never seen another pony look at her like this before, and it sent her mind and heart racing. She couldn’t stop the tiny whimper that slipped past her lips even if she had been lucid enough to try.

A moment passed. Then another.

She realized she’d clenched her eyes shut; she cracked one open to see that the stallion had drawn up short, glaring down at her but no longer advancing.

Celestia stared back for a moment, before working up what courage she could. She slowly lifted her head, speaking in a whisper. “Please… She won’t make it without this food. I… I c-can’t lose her, too…”

The stallion’s eyes widened. “What do you…”

Celestia gasped as the stallion suddenly doubled over, letting out a series of ugly, wet coughs that made her cringe back in disgust. The stallion braced one hoof against the wall while the other flew up to his chest. His fit carried on for a moment, and Celestia wondered if he was sick. Just in case, she inched away from him.

The stallion wiped a hoof over his face as his fit died down. “Gah. Screw it. Follow me,” he grumbled before turning and walking out of the room. Celestia stared after him, confused.

“…Huh?”

“HURRY UP!” the stallion bellowed from the next room, his voice leaving no room for argument.

Celestia squeaked and scampered after him, making sure to return those carrots she hadn’t already put in her saddlebags back in the pot. She cantered back out in the large room with all of the tables to find the stallion crouched by a fireplace against the wall to her right. By the time she reached him, he had gotten a small but respectable fire going.

Celestia couldn’t help but sigh in relief as the heat washed over her, and she had to resist the urge to throw herself at the fire’s base to bask in its warmth. The stallion gave her a sidelong glance, then gestured to a spot on the other end of the fireplace from him. “Sit,” he commanded gruffly.

Celestia did as she was instructed. The stallion sat down himself, keeping his eyes locked on her. She fidgeted anxiously under his piercing gaze, unsure of what to say or do. In the end, she settled for just staring into the flames and letting the heat ease her frigid muscles.

Eventually, the stallion cleared his throat. “Right. Start from the top,” he instructed bluntly. “And don’t go wasting my time.”

Celestia looked up at him in surprise. “Huh?”

“Sprout and Honey,” the stallion stated, gesturing vaguely. “What happened to ’em. How you knew ’em. What in tartarus they’ve been doin’ up in that stupid mountain all this time.”

Celestia blinked, confused. Was this pony really asking for her story? After a moment, she took a deep breath and looked down. “W-well… um… Luna and I are adopted,” she eventually stammered out.

“Think I put that one together,” the stallion grunted. “’Cause I ain’t never heard of any earth ponies giving birth to a unicorn or a pegasus, never mind whatever the heck you’re supposed to be. Both wings and a horn… Ain’t natural.”

Celestia flinched at the tone in his voice but chose to ignore it for now. Mustering her courage, she looked down and started talking. “We… mom and dad lived on that mountain to get away from all of the bickering with the tribes. That’s what dad told me, at least. They grew their own crops up there. It was just them for a long time, so they didn’t need much. I was only three years old when mom and dad found my sister and I.”

Her words were slow; the memory of the night she lost everything kept trying to assert itself, but she forced it down. “When the snow started falling, our crops died. So dad figured it would be for the best to come here… there’d be food and ponies to help us, he said. But…”

“Let me guess,” the stallion interrupted her, his voice softer than before. “They didn’t make it.”

Celestia looked down, unable to keep the trembling out of her voice. “No. They d-didn’t. They froze to death… trying to keep Luna and me warm.”

She could still see the blank look on her father’s face, hear the grief in her mother’s voice. Her heart twisted in her chest and she curled in on herself, her eyes screwing shut as tears began to build up.

The stallion was quiet for a few moments. When he spoke, his tone was unreadable. “Hmph. A shame.”

Celestia blinked, looking up at the stallion with wide eyes. That was it? That was all this pony had to say about it? A spark of indignant rage lit in the pit of her stomach, but she forced it down. She knew she was on thin ice with this pony, and she couldn’t afford to take any chances. Not with Luna’s food on the line.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she met the stallion’s gaze. “How did you know them?”

“I didn’t,” the stallion replied with a shrug. “Not personally. Knew of them, though. When they up and left the whole town was up in arms about it.”

Celestia was quiet for a moment, looking down at the floorboards in thought. After a moment, the stallion cleared his throat again.

“Not like it matters,” he said in a dismissive tone. “If they were looking for help here, they weren’t gonna find any. And neither are you.”

Celestia glanced out the window at the empty building across the street. She turned back to the stallion. “What happened to everypony else?”

The stallion’s face wrinkled with disdain and long-buried frustration. “Bah. What do ya think?”. He spat a wad into the fire, making Celestia flinch back. “Idiots up and left.”

Celestia tilted her head. “Why?”

The stallion grumbled, rising to his hooves. He gestured out the nearest window with a scowl. “Dunno if ya noticed, miss, but the whole world’s gone and frozen over in the last few weeks!” Before he could say more, he suddenly doubled over, devolving into another fit of wet, sickly coughs. Celestia stood in shock as he staggered to one side, barely catching himself on the wall.

“Are you okay?” she asked, moving to help him.

“Don’t touch me!” the stallion barked between hacks, making Celestia back up. He coughed a few more times before taking a shuddering breath and glaring back at her. “I don’t need any help from you.”

Celestia withered, feeling a stab of hurt in her chest. He sounded so hateful...

The stallion cleared his throat and ambled over to the nearest window. “Guh. When the snow started coming down, most everypony thought it was gonna go away in a few days like the last time. But it didn’t.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “The… the last time?” she echoed quietly, her thoughts drifting back to the day she had been left with Sprout and Honey. They’d said it had been snowing in the summer, hadn’t they? A freak blizzard that had come out of nowhere. That had happened down here too?

The stallion nodded. “Mhmm. The Twelve-Hour Winter, ponies started calling it. Most thought this’d be a repeat. Turns out they were wrong. The snow just kept coming down faster and faster. Before we knew it, our crops were dying, and the stupid pegasi weren’t doing a thing to stop this… So eventually some ponies got it in their thick skulls that it wasn’t safe to stay here anymore.”

Celestia frowned. That explained the missing crops, then. The ponies must have gathered up what food was left to them and went on their way. At least now she knew they were alive.

Probably.

“Do you know where they went?” she asked. Maybe if she could track them down and catch up to them, she could still get help for Luna. They’d be stuck on the ground, and Celestia could fly a lot faster than most ponies could walk. If she just had a direction…

“Don’t know, don’t care,” the stallion said without missing a beat. Celestia looked up to him with shock.

“Huh?”

“They were idiots to leave.” The stallion pushed away from the window and sat back down in front of the fireplace, coughing a few times on the way down. “You’d know why. You came down the bloody mountain. Whole world’s turned into a big ice ball. Nowhere is safer than anywhere else.”

Celestia winced, trying not to think about just how right he was that she already knew. But she was quick to force those thoughts down.

“What about you?” she eventually asked. “Why didn’t you go with them?”

“Cause I ain’t a freakin’ idiot?” the stallion grunted. “This town’s my home. I was born here, I was raised here, just like my dad and grandad before me. Like Tartarus am I gonna pack my things and leave. I got a roof over my head, a place that’s mine. If the world’s endin’ I’d rather be where I belong when it does.”

Celestia fell silent. She eyed him a moment longer, thinking back on his coughing fits. She shook her head. “So… what happens now?” she said in a quiet voice.

The stallion snorted. “Now, you get outta my house and don’t come back.”

Celestia blinked. “Huh?”

“Look, I listened to what you had to say because you’re a kid,” the stallion said bluntly. “But I ain’t a charity worker, and I sure as hay ain’t gonna bring any more bad luck on myself by shelterin’ somethin’ like you. I dunno what curse gave you both wings and a horn, and I don’t care. It’s a bad omen I tell ya, and I want nothin’ to do with it, or you.”

“But… my sister,” Celestia pressed desperately, leaning forward. “Please, can’t you spare anything? Even just a blanket, or a little food?”

The stallion waved a hoof dismissively. “Not my problem, kid. You can keep the food ya already took, but if I catch you in my stores again, I won’t be lettin’ you off the hook. Besides, you’re tough if you made it here without adults. I’m sure you can think of something.”

Celestia wanted to argue back, but she was just too tired to be bothered. Besides, she didn’t want to risk squandering what goodwill she had with him by pushing her luck now. After a moment, she rose back to her hooves. “Okay… I understand. Thank you anyway.”

The stallion let out a few more coughs in response.

With a weary sigh, Celestia turned and slowly headed for the exit. She paused briefly in the doorway, looking back one more time. “Um… what’s your name?”

After a pause, “Mudflat.”

“…It’s nice to meet you, Mudflat.”

“Get lost.”

Taking the hint, Celestia repressed the urge to sigh and slipped outside.

It didn’t take Celestia long to fly back to her and Luna’s shelter. She pushed her way inside with a weary sigh, shivering from the cold but glad to be indoors again. She allowed her eyes to wander across the room, soon settling on her little sister. Luna was asleep in the bed, her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling. Sprout’s figurines were still clutched tightly in her hooves, held close to her heart.

Celestia just stared at her for a few moments, not wanting to disturb her. And in that period of silence, her thoughts began to spiral.

What were they going to do now? The only reliable source of food in the entire town had refused to help them anymore, and they were in no condition to travel. And without help, they wouldn’t be able to catch up with the ponies of Flatstone to begin with. Not to mention she had no idea what direction they went.

Celestia struggled to keep her breathing under control as despair began clawing at her. “Mom… dad… what do I do?” she thought, her vision starting to mist over with fresh tears. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to go. I don’t know how to help Luna. I’m scared…”

She slowly sat on her haunches, screwing her eyes shut and struggling to hold back the tears. “I can’t do this! I can’t do this without you! I can’t lose Luna, too! She’s all I have left! Please… please… come back…”

“…Tia?”

Celestia blinked. It seemed she hadn’t been as quiet as she had hoped. Luna was staring at her, groggy but no less concerned at the sight of her sister crying in the doorway.

“Are you okay?”

Celestia sniffled, wiping away her tears and fighting to regain her composure. “I-I’m fine,” she choked out, forcing a smile. “Just… just tired.”

“Oh… okay,” Luna said.

Celestia somehow doubted her flimsy excuse was believed… but then again, was either of them okay, really?

A second passed before she tore her thoughts away from such things. “I, uh… I m-managed to find some food.” She slipped her saddlebags off her back and floated them over to Luna. “It’s not much, but here. I already had my fill, so you get the rest.”

Luna’s eyes lit up as the saddlebags landed in front of her. She went to rise, but gave a squeak of pain as the motion agitated her wound. Celestia was at her side in an instant, gently pushing her back down onto the bed.

“Hey, now, try not to move,” she said softly. “Here. I’ll help you.”

Luna nodded with a quiet whimper.

Celestia hesitated for a moment before withdrawing the first carrot from her saddlebags. She eyed it hungrily for a second herself before lowering it down to Luna’s face. “Okay, here you go. It’s hard.”

Luna didn’t resist, accepting the bite as it was offered. The sound of the carrot crunching between her teeth echoed loudly in the small hut as she ate, with Celestia delivering each bite at a steady rate. Some light seemed to return to Luna’s eyes, but all too soon the small bounty of food ran out, leaving the saddlebags pitifully empty.

Luna sighed, setting her head back down. “I’m still hungry,” she whispered.

Celestia sighed, gingerly climbing up onto the bed and lying down beside her. She carefully wrapped her hooves around Luna from behind, pulling the smaller filly against her chest for warmth. “I know, Lu. So am I. I’ll go find more food tomorrow.”

“You promise?”

Celestia hesitated. She didn’t want to answer that. There wasn’t anywhere else she could go for food in this town. Mudflat had it all, and he had made it clear he wasn’t willing to share. But at the same time, Celestia couldn’t bring herself to disappoint her little sister.

And so, in the end, she nodded into the back of Luna’s head. “I promise.”

XV - Throb and Fester

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Unfortunately, the one soul who remained in Flatstone was unwilling to give the sisters his aid. Frightened by their wings and horns, he decried them as an ill omen and refused to offer them shelter or food. And so it was that the sisters were once again forced to fend for themselves, starving, wounded, and short on hope…

“C’mon kiddo, it’s time to wake up.”

Celestia groaned quietly, stirred from her slumber when a pair of hooves gently shook her by the shoulder. She swatted at them with a hoof, burying her face into her pillow and pulling her blankets over her head. “Go ’way,” she mumbled. “I don’t wanna get up.”

The other pony chuckled. “Nah, maybe not. But we’re waiting on ya, sweetheart. Come on, now. Get up.”

Celestia whined as her blanket was pulled away, leaving her exposed to the cooler air of her bedroom. Relenting, she cracked open an eye.

Sprout smiled down at her, framed by the light of the morning sun shining through the window in Celestia and Luna’s bedroom. “Come on. Up and at ’em.”

Celestia blinked, her heart stopping in her chest. She stared wide-eyed at her father. This wasn’t possible. Sprout was… he was…

Sprout tilted his head. “Something wrong?” he said. “Something on my face?”

Celestia swallowed heavily, her mind reeling. This didn’t make any sense. How could Sprout be here? She had watched him fall into the ice! She had been the one to discover that he had frozen to death. But even in spite of that, her heart dared to hope.

She lifted a hoof toward him. “Dad…?” she choked out. “Is it really you?”

Sprout tilted his head in confusion. “Er… yeah, I think so?” he said, lightly prodding at his face for something. “Are you feeling okay?”

Celestia tentatively reached out to touch her father’s chest. She shuddered at the familiar feeling of his fur, and the muscled flesh beneath that she had felt so many times before. She couldn’t see anymore through the tears, nor could she stifle a sob.

“D-dad,” she stammered before throwing herself against him, burying her face into his shoulder and openly sobbing. He stumbled back with a grunt of surprise, wrapping his hooves around her. The familiar warmth of Sprout’s embrace seeped into her aching muscles.

It couldn’t be real. But it felt real. She could believe it.

“Celestia? What’s wrong?” Sprout asked, holding her close.

But Celestia couldn’t find an answer. She just sobbed into his shoulder, hugging him as tight as she could. She was so afraid that if she let him go, he would vanish. The thought brought a fresh surge of sobs.

“It’s okay,” Sprout whispered. “It’s all going to be okay. I got you. I got you. I’m here.”

“I thought…” Celestia blubbered against him, clinging to him tighter.

“I know. I know. Be strong for me, okay?” Sprout said before pulling back to look down into Celestia’s eyes. She had to blink several times to see him through her tears, but his kind smile helped calm her. He ran a hoof down her mane. “Be strong for dad. We still need you.”

“...Huh?” Celestia blinked.

And Sprout was gone.

A freezing wind slammed into Celestia’s face, shocking her out of her stupor. She let out a gasp of shock and staggered back. Snow and ice slashed at her as the house practically fell apart around her. She tried to shield her face with her hooves, but it was no use.

The wind howled so loudly she couldn’t hear herself think. She could barely see a thing through the storm of whiteness. Slowly, however, the world started to come into focus. A numbness spread throughout her body at the sight of two familiar bodies, partially buried in the snow.

And there, between the corpses of her parents, was a third bundle half-buried in the snow. Celestia cried out in horror at the sight of its familiar blue mane.

“NO!” she screamed into the wind, her tears turning to ice against her cheeks. She reached out toward the bodies, her sobs returning in force. “COME BACK! PLEASE! I CAN’T DO THIS ALONE!”

It was getting harder to breathe. The wind was deafening. The ice on her cheeks was spreading down her face, and before she knew it, her mouth had been covered. With a muted shriek, Celestia frantically clawed at the ice, trying to pry it away with hooves or magic, but it only spread faster.

She was helpless as the ice grew down her neck and over her shoulders. The sound of the river cracking echoed in her ears, louder and louder, echoing into her very soul.

Screaming into the ice, her own voice reverberating in her skull, her efforts to break free proved to be for nothing. The ice spread over her forelegs, her barrel, her hind legs, her eyes… until she was completely encased.

Celestia screamed; her eyes snapped open and she shot upright in her bed, her heart hammering in her chest. She looked around in a panic, but all was dark; all she could hear through her own desperate sobs was the howling of the freezing wind.

“Tia?”

Luna’s frail, sleepy voice nonetheless cut through Celestia’s panic. With a sniffle, she finally had the clarity to light her horn, revealing her surroundings. She was still in the abandoned hut in Flatstone. She was on the bed in the back of the building. Looking down, she saw Luna looking back up at her. Her eyes were tired but no less concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

Celestia took a few deep breaths to calm herself. All the while, Luna’s eyes kept boring into her. Celestia opened her mouth, but the words didn’t come to her. In the end, she elected to shake her head. It wouldn’t help to dwell on her nightmare. “It’s nothing. Just a bad dream… go back to sleep.”

Luna kept her eyes on Celestia for a moment, her brow furrowing. “What were you dreaming about?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Celestia shook her head and lay back down. “Hush, now. Rest.”

Eventually, Luna relented, lying back into the bed and leaning into Celestia’s embrace. The two lay there in silence for a long while, accompanied only by the wind outside.

Celestia closed her eyes. She tried to ignore the howling. But with nothing else to distract her, the constant noise wormed into her thoughts, and memories of her dream were drawn to the forefront.

Her home, gone. Her parents, dead… and the new body that had joined them. The body Celestia was now sleeping next to. She shuddered, tears pricking at her eyes again. Her hooves tightened around Luna, pulling the smaller filly close.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Celestia whispered. “I won’t. I promise.”

Luna didn’t say a word.

Morning came, but the sun was late. The darkness outside the hut dragged on and on long after it was supposed to have lifted. So too did the cold. Even after the sisters woke, they were forced to huddle together, wrapped up in their precious few blankets as tightly as they could manage.

Celestia could barely sleep. The memory of her nightmare made her afraid to close her eyes. Her mind played tricks on her, making her think she could hear those horrible ghosts again, lurking out in the streets of Flatstone. But it was only ever the wind.

Eventually, light began to creep back into the world. Slowly but surely, the darkness beyond the hut gave way to depressing gray sprinkled with darting shards of white. The temperature rose, but only slightly.

Celestia watched the light return. There was no joy or relief to be had in the return of the light, though. Just a sort of distant numbness. She couldn’t find it in her to care. What did the rising of the sun matter anymore? The world was frozen, they had no food, their shelter was paltry at best, and there was nopony around who could help.

Or rather, nopony who would. Celestia resisted the urge to growl as her thoughts returned to Mudflat. He had food, he had shelter, and he had supplies. It was well within his power to help them, at least until Luna was back on her hooves, and yet he refused!

The more she thought of him, the more incensed she felt. She grit her teeth behind her lips and screwed her eyes shut. But before her spiraling emotions could get the better of her, the wounded filly against her gave off a weak murmur.

Celestia opened her eyes, her disdain for Mudflat forgotten. She sat up slightly, looking down at Luna. The foal’s eyes were screwed shut, her face twitching in pain. She let out another few murmurs, shifting slightly.

“Luna?” Celestia asked, gently shaking her.

Luna’s quiet murmur suddenly swelled into a panicked shriek. Her body convulsed, her hooves flailing wildly about. Celestia gasped in alarm, trying to protect herself from Luna’s thrashing.

“Luna!” Celestia shouted, grabbing Luna’s shoulders and trying to hold her still. “Luna, wake up! It’s just a bad dream! LUNA!”

But as before, Luna did not wake. She kept screaming, her voice already going hoarse. Celestia shook her again, but to no avail.

Luna, please! It’s okay!” Celestia started to panic. She thought back on the last time Luna had dreamed like this. Bile rose in her throat as she recalled the measure she had resorted to in order to wake Luna up. Her hoof tingled at the memory as if to shame her for even thinking of it.

Besides, Luna was already in pain. So Celestia grit her teeth and held onto Luna, holding her tight as she screamed into the morning. It seemed to drag on forever. The sound burned itself into Celestia’s ears, making her grimace and shudder. She was beginning to fear Luna would never wake up when, finally, the foal’s screams began to die down.

And then she spoke, whispering in a broken, strangled whisper. “Dad… come back…”

Celestia sighed heavily. She might have known…

And then Luna fell still. Celestia leaned back to get a better look at her sister. Luna’s eyes slowly cracked open, bloodshot and wet with tears. She looked even more tired than Celestia felt, even though she had slept longer and by far more soundly. At least, it had looked sound.

“Lu…?” Celestia whispered, stroking Luna’s mane.

Luna looked up at her, blinking as if to see from a great distance. “Tia…?” she murmured before closing her eyes again. “...I’m okay. Just another bad dream.”

Celestia sighed, drawing her little sister into a tight hug. “I know, Lu. I know… About dad, right?”

Luna didn’t answer.

Celestia chose not to press the matter and contented herself with keeping her sister close. The two sat in silence for a long while, letting the light outside grow brighter. Neither spoke, letting their thoughts wander in the silence.

The silence was eventually broken by the gurgling of a little filly’s stomach.

Luna shifted uncomfortably, letting off a pathetic whine. “I’m hungry…”

Celestia sighed. She was hungry, too. But Luna had to be her priority. “Alright… I’ll go look for some,” she said, rising from the bed. Her stiff muscles ached as she forced herself to her hooves before turning back to Luna. “You stay here and get some more rest.”

Luna frowned, her ears drooping. “Okay… come back soon, okay?”

Celestia put on a brave smile and leaned in to give Luna a nuzzle and a small kiss on the cheek. “I will. Don’t worry. Just stay here and keep quiet.”

Luna hummed softly. Her horn lit up with frail blue light, enveloping the carved wooden toys that sat beside the bed on the floor. Luna’s face scrunched up and a small grunt of effort escaped her as she hefted the toys up. The light on her horn began to flicker.

Celestia’s eyes widened when it winked out entirely, and the toys clattered back to the floor. “Luna?” she whispered, a sudden feeling of dread washing over her.

Luna didn’t say anything. She sighed quietly, closing her eyes.

Celestia frowned. Something was wrong, she could feel it. She reached out and pressed a hoof to Luna’s forehead, feeling for a fever. Instead, Luna was cold, just as cold as Celestia was… if not a little moreso.

“Luna? What’s wrong?”

“They feel so heavy,” Luna mumbled tiredly. “I’m tired…”

Celestia wilted on the spot. Luna’s condition must have been worse than they thought. She swallowed heavily before gingerly lifting the toys in her magic and depositing them into Luna’s hooves. “Just rest, Lu,” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “Just stay put and rest. I’ll be back soon. You’re going to be fine. You have to be fine.”

Luna said nothing. She merely clutched the toys to her chest, nodded, and stayed still.

Celestia watched her for a minute longer, internally wrestling with herself. She didn’t want to leave Luna alone. Every protective instinct she had was screaming at her like a banshee to stay, to hold Luna close and tell her everything was going to be alright.

But her rational mind knew that if she did that, then nothing would be all right. So, with a heavy feeling in her gut and a renewed sense of urgency, she made for the door. As she stepped outside and into the freezing air, she could just barely make out Luna’s frail voice humming a happy melody from their earliest years before she closed the door.

There were a lot of places where Celestia hadn’t looked yet in Flatstone, and with Luna’s survival on the line, she set about scouring them with renewed fervor. She began near the center of town, slowly spiraling her way outwards, checking every single home for anything that could be of use.

Unfortunately, the evacuation of the town had been staggeringly thorough, and the various buildings were by and large too small to have anything worthwhile hiding in them. One empty single-room hut after another, just like the one she and Luna had taken.

It was beyond frustrating. Why couldn’t they have left anything behind? Even some seeds would have worked! But there was nothing to be found, even as her search dragged on from one hour to the next. The sun’s journey across the sky was painfully slow, as it had been since this wretched blizzard began, and that only put Celestia even more on edge.

The latest home she stepped into was just like all the others. A single room, a firepit in the center, and some scattered woodwork furniture as the only indication of prior habitation. She was about to write it off as another lost cause when something struck her as… off.

The furniture was older, and the dust was thicker than in other houses. Mold had begun to encroach on the corners of the room, and cobwebs were thick and numerous. Two beds were pressed side by side against the far wall, still adorned with old, tattered blankets.

It was unusual. Most of the huts had been stripped of anything useful like blankets, and none had been abandoned for so long as to show such signs of age. What happened here? And why did it feel so familiar?

Celestia took a few reluctant steps into the abode. Her eyes focused on the beds, and she noticed something resting on the end table next to them. Curious, she drew closer.

She realized it was a pair of very familiar figurines carved from wood.

Celestia froze, her heart clenching in her chest. That horrible weight in her gut returned tenfold. Part of her wanted to run away from the reminder, but the figurines held her transfixed.

Of course, this would happen. Why wouldn’t it? This town was where her parents had come from. Where they had been born, where they had grown up, where they had fallen in love. She was bound to stumble on their old house if she kept looking.

Her vision blurred with tears, and the figurines faded from view. Barely repressing a sob, she wiped her tears and took the toys in her magic. They weren’t quite the same as the ones Luna had back at their hut. These were sloppier, disproportionate. Less refinement from a less-skilled craftspony.

Celestia screwed her eyes shut. She took the figures in her hoof and pressed them up against her chest, over her pounding heart.

She had tried to bury her emotions deep so she could focus on taking care of Luna, but at every turn, she was failing. Something new always came up to remind her just how much she missed them, how terrified she was that she’d join them… or worse, that Luna would join them, and she’d be left all alone.

“I can’t lose her,” Celestia told herself, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. “I can’t. I can’t. I promised I would take care of her…”

But then, Sprout had promised to always be there for them.

“...Is that where this is all going?” she whispered, looking down at the figures.

They had no answers for her.

And neither did she.

With a shaky sigh, she deposited the figurines in her saddlebags, then turned to depart. She drew up short, however, when she spotted the pony standing a respectful distance outside the front door.

Mudflat nodded. “Found their old place, did ya?” he asked.

Celestia stared at him. She shook herself, her brow furrowing. As she stepped out of the house, Mudflat took a few steps back, keeping his eyes on her. Celestia met his gaze for a moment, then turned back to look at the old house. “I… didn’t really think about it,” she said softly.

“Lootin’ around like you’ve been, it was only a matter of time,” Mudflat said. “Probably the most valuable thing you’re gonna find in this crummy little ghost town.”

Celestia turned to him, her eyes narrowing. “What about you? Why are you out here?”

Mudflat snorted. “Hmph. Mind yer own.”

Celestia flinched but didn’t press the matter. She looked away, her ears drooping. The two were quiet for a little while.

Then Mudflat gave off a weak laugh. Celestia turned to him, confused, and saw an actual smile on the old stallion’s face. “Heh. They were like the town idiots, ya know. Just about everypony hated their guts, they did, but they couldn’t help but find ’em… charming, in their own cloud-headed, idealistic little way.”

Celestia blinked, confused that the stallion was choosing now to tell her this, but didn’t say anything.

He went on a moment later. “You shoulda heard the uproar that went around when they told us we were bein’ stupid. Us and them pegasi up in the clouds. The way ponies went on about ’em, you’d think they’d be run out of town. But nah… that ain’t how earth ponies work. We spit and we fight and we grumble…”

He turned back to Celestia, his eyes meeting hers. “But Mother Earth as my witness, we don’t shun our own. Not even the stupid ones. Not like that. We count on one another. Depend on one another to help us carry our burdens when they’re a bit too much to handle on our own...”

Celestia tilted her head. “Why are you telling me this?”

Mudflat shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe I’m just an old bastard and I wanna reminisce a little. Maybe you’re still a young, stupid kid, and there are some things you need to hear before you run out of adults to tell ya. Maybe I just bloody darn well felt like it. I really need a reason?”

Celestia hummed, looking back to her parents’ old house. “I guess not.”

The two were quiet for a moment. Mudflat cleared his throat, a gross, mucusy sound, then turned to leave. “Bah. It’s cold. I’m goin’ home.” he looked over his shoulder at Celestia as he went, his eyes narrowed. “And so should you. You ain’t gonna find anything left. Nothing worth taking. Just a whole lotta memories that don’t belong to you.”

Celestia watched him as he left. She didn’t say anything; she just watched him until he stumbled to one side, bracing against an old building. She heard him cough a few times before pushing away and carrying on, soon vanishing from view around a bend.

She stayed put for a while, her mind wandering.

If nothing else, she eventually decided he was right about one thing. There was nothing else worth taking. Her search so far had proven that.

Nothing except one thing, perhaps.

Celestia hesitated outside the old hut for a few more moments. A gust of cold wind was quick to send her into motion. With a heavy sigh, she stepped back into the old hut, her eyes scanning the various pieces of wooden furniture. With a wince of guilt, she ensnared the nearest chair in her magic.

She pulled at the legs and backrest, her brow furrowing with effort. They bent under the force of her magic, filling the air with high groans and the snapping of splintering wood. Then, with a loud clatter, the chair came apart amid a flurry of splinters and a puff of dust.

Celestia took a deep breath, bringing the wood together into a neat bundle. She cast her eyes around the home one more time, her ears drooping. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Without another word, she slipped out of the old house and began the return journey to her and Luna’s hideout. She elected to keep to the ground for the time being, so as to not lose her cargo to the unpredictable winds. It may not have been food, but she could nonetheless get use out of the scrapwood floating beside her.

The journey was quiet, leaving Celestia with ample time to think. The town was painfully devoid of food. Mudflat had it all, she knew, but she wasn’t willing to try and steal from him again. His tone a minute ago implied he had warmed up to her—or at least his animosity had diminished a little since the last time they spoke.

If she could avoid making an enemy out of him, she would. But at the same time, what other options were available to her?

The only other one that came to mind was trying to catch up with the original population. But with the head start they had, and with Luna still being injured, that just wasn’t feasible… was it?

When Celestia finally arrived, she paused briefly outside the entrance to the hut. What would she tell Luna? She bit her lip, trying to come up with something, some kind of excuse. But there were none forthcoming. She pulled out the figurines and looked them over for a minute, her ears drooping.

A small spark of inspiration came to her. Shaking slightly, Celestia stepped inside. The creaking of the door proved loud enough to stir Luna from her slumber. Celestia saw her eyes opening from the darkness in the back, and she could practically feel the relief in them.

“You’re back,” Luna mumbled, shifting in place.

Celestia nodded. “Yeah, I am,” she said, closing the door behind her. She set the remnants of the chair by the firepit before coming up to the side of Luna’s bed. “How are you feeling?”

Luna was quiet for a moment. Then, with a grimace, she went to sit up. She let out a quiet gasp from the movement, but Celestia was quick to reach out and help her until she was up in a sitting position. Luna’s blankets fell off her form, exposing the ugly bruise marring her barrel.

Celestia grimaced with sympathy. It didn’t look much better than it had before.

Even so, Luna found it in her to smile. “I think I’m okay,” she said, though the optimism did not reach her eyes.

Either way, Celestia smiled back. “That’s good…” she said softly.

The smiles were not to last. The happiness faded from Luna’s eyes as they fell upon the pile of wood. “...You didn’t find any food, did you?”

Celestia went rigid, not able to look her sister in the eyes. She worked her mouth up and down for a moment, then shook her head. “N-no… I didn’t. I’m sorry, Luna. I think it’s all gone, already.”

Luna looked down, her ears drooping. “Oh…”

Unable to bear seeing the disappointment in Luna’s face, Celestia quickly reached into her saddlebags with her magic. “B-but, I did find something!”

Luna watched her, curious until Celestia withdrew the two figurines Sprout had carved so long ago. Her eyes widened, her ears standing at attention. “Toys? They look like…”

Celestia nodded, gently passing them forward into Luna’s hooves. “I found mom and dad’s house,” she whispered. “I found where they came from. They left us these presents. They’re still with us… We’ll make it. We just have to hold on a little longer…”

She didn’t know what she was saying, really. She was just letting the words flow. Listening to what she was saying, she couldn’t help but scoff. It was all a load of lies, wasn’t it? She was just trying to reassure herself that they’d make it through this…

Luna, however, didn’t seem to share her cynicism. She gingerly held the new-old toys up to her chest, closing her eyes. She took a long, deep breath, her lips tugging up into a small smile. “You’re right. Just a little longer…”

Celestia couldn’t keep her smile from returning at that little remark. Despite all they had been through, Luna especially, the fact that Luna could smile at all was a deeply appreciated gift.

But optimistic sentiments wouldn’t be enough to keep out the cold, a sentiment that was proven true when a draft blew into the hut from outside, causing the two foals to shudder. Without a word, Celestia hopped up onto the bed, laying down with Luna, the two cuddling up.

If nothing else, Celestia could lend Luna the warmth of her body. And she would.

Outside, the wind howled louder.

XVI - Another Turn

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And so their days in that small, abandoned settlement were spent huddled away, scrounging for paltry scraps where naught but the memories of ghosts remained. Hunger and hopelessness consumed them, and in the midst of their festering despair, their will to rise to meet the new day began to fade…

How many days had they been here? Celestia had given up trying to count. The sluggish crawl of light and darkness meant almost nothing to her anymore, each one dragging on and on to the point of tedium. She often found herself drawing the curtains closed in their little home just to shut out the light so they could sleep. In time, lethargy replaced exhaustion, and hunger replaced sorrow.

Celestia made a few scattered trips into Flatstone over the coming days, scrounging for wood for the firepit. By a stroke of luck, she even managed to stumble across an old pan in one of the huts, tucked away in a closet. It was old and rusted, but a few minutes of furiously scrubbing at it with her magic left it as clean as she could get it.

And now the pan floated over the firepit in their hut, suspended in Celestia’s magic. She watched it carefully, eyeing the snow and ice within as it slowly melted from the heat. She knew she’d need to add more soon if they wanted a decent amount of water to drink, but she could wait a little bit.

It was morning. Or, well, morning in the sense that Celestia had only woken up a short time ago. By the light outside, Celestia guessed that the sun was less than halfway through its now absurdly long crawl across the sky. She almost couldn’t hear the ever-present howl of the wind.

Almost.

A stirring behind her drew her attention. She turned to see Luna slowly sitting up in the bed, eyes on the fire. She blinked blearily, the dark rings under her eyes plainly visible and quite telling of her exhaustion.

Celestia frowned. Luna’s strength still hadn’t returned. It didn’t make any sense. She was still wounded, sure, but would that really drain the smaller filly of so much of her energy?

Luna turned her eyes from the fire to look at Celestia. Her smile was weak and strained. “Morning, Tia.”

Celestia put on a smile of her own. “Morning. Sleep well?”

Luna stood on the bed, keeping herself wrapped in her blankets. She looked down from the side of the bed, her eyes narrowing in thought.

Celestia immediately put the pan down next to the fire and reached out with her magic, helping Luna down. “Here, let me. Careful,” she said, easing Luna onto the floor next to her.

Luna only grimaced slightly from the movement. Once the pain passed, she settled down beside Celestia and gave her a grateful nod. “I slept okay,” she said.

Celestia felt a small wave of relief. A night without screaming night terrors was rare these days, and she was grateful for every tiny blessing they could get. She turned back to the pan, returning it to its place over the fire. “That’s good. I’ll have some water for us to drink ready in a bit.”

Luna hummed, looking into the fire.

The two fell silent after that. There wasn’t anything else for them to say, by Celestia’s reckoning. This had been their routine for at least a few days now. Rise, boil water, wait for it to cool, then drink it while it was still hot. Then Celestia would go outside and scavenge for more firewood…

An audible growl passed through the hut from Luna’s belly, making Celestia flinch. She was reminded of her own hunger and dwindling strength. The water they got from the snow was keeping them alive—for now—but there was no getting around the fact that they were starving.

Luna looked down for a moment, a look of discomfort on her face. She shuffled in place for a few seconds, her eyes darting about as if looking for something to say.

Celestia left her to it, focusing on the pan. It was time for more water. Without a word, she stood and went for the door, bringing the pan with her. In one swift motion, she sent the pan outside, scooped up more snow and ice, and then brought it back in, shutting the door before too much of their heat could escape.

It was just as the door closed that Luna suddenly spoke up.

“Happy birthday.”

Celestia almost dropped the pan. She spun to face Luna, reeling with confusion. “What?”

Luna forced herself to smile. “Happy birthday. It’s your birthday today,” she said, her voice all sweet and friendly.

Celestia just stared at her, dumbfounded. She realized her jaw was hanging open and snapped it shut. “It’s my birthday? How do you know?” she asked, returning the pan to the fire. “The days haven’t been right for what feels like forever.”

Luna hesitated, her smile melting off her face like snow in summer. She tilted her head to one side, her muzzle scrunching up in thought. “I… dunno. I just know it’s your birthday,” she said softly, one ear drooping to one side.

Celestia just stared at her for a moment. She then gave off a bemused chuckle and shook her head. She sat down beside Luna and pulled the smaller filly into a side hug with her wing. “Heh. My birthday, huh?” she asked with a hint of playfulness. “That makes me thirteen.”

Luna smiled up at her, cuddling into her side. “We should do something nice.”

Celestia couldn’t keep back a small bark of laughter. “Ha! Something nice? Like what?” she asked, equal parts curious and baffled.

Luna hummed quietly for a few seconds, clearly thinking. A few moments passed before she gave off a sigh, sagging against Celestia. “I don’t know. Something. You’ve been working so hard… you deserve to have some fun.”

Celestia’s smile faltered. She took hold of Luna’s shoulders and stared deep into her eyes. “Luna… I appreciate it, really. But I have to work hard. I have to take care of you. I… I promised mom that I would.”

The light faded from Luna’s eyes. She looked down, her ears drooping. “...I miss them,” she sniffled softly.

Celestia lowered her head. Without a word, she pulled Luna into a much warmer embrace. “I know. I miss them, too,” she said. But even as Luna trembled in her hooves, Celestia didn’t even so much as give a shudder. She was too tired to cry anymore. And even if she wasn’t, she doubted she had any tears left.

In time, the hug came to an end. The snow was done melting, and the water had come to a boil. Celestia took the pot away from the fire, and once it had cooled enough, she and Luna took turns sipping from the pan. The hot water did wonders to chase away the cold and fill their bellies with warmth, but it also served to remind Celestia of how painfully empty her belly was.

Another audible grumble passed through the room, this time from Celestia’s stomach. She winced in pain, one hoof flying to her belly to try and quell the ache.

Luna looked at her, her eyes shimmering with concern. “You’re hungry,” she said quietly.

Celestia nodded, taking her next sip from the pan. She didn’t say anything, though.

Luna was quiet until the pan was passed to her again. She suddenly gasped, sitting upright as if a brilliant idea just came to her. She turned to Celestia, her lips tugging up into an eager smile. “Wait! I got it! I know what we can do for your birthday!”

Celestia quirked a brow. “Oh, do you? And what’s that?”

Luna looked to the door. “You told me that there’s another pony living in Flatstone, right? What was his name? Mudflat?”

Celestia went rigid. She already knew where Luna was going with this, and she already knew it wouldn’t work. She hadn’t even seen Mudflat in her last few excursions. She sighed and opened her mouth to say as such, but Luna was already speaking.

“Maybe he’d be willing to share some food with you because it’s your birthday!” she said eagerly. “And then you won’t be hungry anymore!”

Celestia rubbed at the bridge of her snout, closing her eyes. “Luna… no. That’s not going to work,” she said flatly.

“But why not?”

“Because Mudflat’s a selfish, arrogant old horse who only cares about himself!” Celestia snapped, unable to keep the bitter resentment out of her tone. “And he hates us because of our stupid horns and wings! He doesn’t want anything to do with us, and if he was going to share food with us, he would have done it already!”

The silence that followed the outburst was staggering, and it was only then that Celestia realized how much she had raised her voice. She opened her eyes, looking down to see Luna’s eyes staring fearfully back up at her.

Celestia felt a tinge of guilt. She gingerly reached down to pull Luna closer, giving off a quiet sigh. “I… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout,” she said quietly, closing her eyes.

Luna cuddled up to Celestia, but it didn’t feel like she was seeking comfort this time. When she spoke, it was in a quiet, trembling whisper. “You… really hate him, huh?”

Celestia hesitated. Did she hate Mudflat? He was absolutely frustrating to deal with, and his bitter remarks and selfish refusal to share food made it incredibly difficult to like him. But she didn’t think she’d go so far as to say she hated him…

But, on the other hoof, Luna wouldn’t be so hungry if he had just shared…

“I… dislike him,” she finally said, though even that felt wrong to her. “Besides, you have to be my priority. You’re smaller than I am, and you’re hurt.”

Luna pulled back, shaking her head. “No, you need to eat too! You’re always going out and trying to find food and supplies! When those… things… attacked us, you carried me all the way down the mountain. You gotta keep your strength up, too.”

Celestia didn’t even try to argue the point. She heaved a heavy sigh and shook her head. “Gah. It doesn’t matter,” she eventually said, turning back to the fire. “Mudflat’s not gonna share with us.”

“But isn’t it at least worth a shot?” Luna pressed, leaning forward. “The worst that can happen is he’ll say no.”

Celestia frowned, trying to tune out Luna’s insistence. But then came the gurgling of their bellies again, insistent and painful, and she couldn’t help but grimace, unable to stifle a groan. Whether she liked it or not, Luna did have a point. If she went and asked Mudflat for food, he’d just say no, and it would be a waste of a trip.

But they were starving… and really, what else did she have to lose?

Celestia heaved a heavy sigh and rose to her hooves. “Alright, okay, fine. I’ll go talk to the old fart… for all the good it’ll do,” she said, using her magic to slip on her saddlebags and tie one of their blankets around her neck like a cloak. “Stay put and drink some more water. Keep warm.”

Luna withered on the spot, leaning forward slightly. “Can… can I come with you this time?” she asked hopefully.

Celestia didn’t even hesitate. She shook her head. “No. You’re still hurt, and I don’t want Mudflat being mean to you. Just stay where it’s warm. I’ll be back soon.”

Luna flinched but offered no response save for a dismayed nod. Celestia watched her for a few seconds before, with a tired sigh, slipping back out into the snow.

The cold slashed at her body immediately, making her shiver. She pulled her makeshift cloak tighter around her form before taking off at a brisk pace, trying to keep her body temperature up. The snow was heavier than usual today, limiting her visibility. The wind howled loudly in her ears, drowning out everything else. She tried to stay in the cover of buildings as much as possible, but even they offered precious little protection from the frost.

The old buildings around her were hazy silhouettes of gray against the all-devouring white death that her world had become. She could occasionally hear wood creaking, or old metal groaning and screeching. She imagined the sounds were the phantasmal screams of the dead, calling out to her from beyond some unseen veil. Celestia did her best to ignore it all. She grit her teeth and pressed on.

Mudflat’s house came into sight before too long. Celestia paused at the sight of it, her brow furrowed with distaste, and her blanket billowing in the wind behind her. She was not pleased to see the house again, if only because of who she knew lived inside.

“I’ll be quick,” she thought to herself, starting up the steps. “I’ll knock, ask for some food, he’ll say no, and I’ll go home without a fuss.”

Just as she was about to reach out and knock, however, a sound reached her ears, stopping her with her hoof mere inches from the door. She frowned, listening carefully for the sound to repeat itself.

The wind howled ominously. The wood of the old home rattled out a low, ghostly knell.

And then Mudflat’s voice came from within, coughing weakly, followed by a muffled, quiet groan.

Celestia went rigid, a chill unrelated to the frost settling over her skin. She swallowed heavily, her mind racing. A horrible feeling built within her breast, as if her lungs and heart were being constricted.

Her instincts were screaming at her to turn tail and flee, but she had come here for a reason. So, steeling herself, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

She heard a shuffling from within, but no steps. Mudflat’s groaning voice followed a moment later, weak and frail. “Who’s there?”

“It’s Celestia,” Celestia replied, struggling to keep the anxious tremble out of her voice. “Are you okay?’

She heard Mudflat give off a snort. “Bah. Course you’d come by… get in here, kid. I ain’t talking to ya through the stupid door.”

Celestia gingerly opened the door, poking her head inside. The rancid odor from her first visit struck her like a brick wall, making her nose wrinkle and her eyes water. The fireplace was lit, but only barely, the cold shafts of light dulled by drawn curtains. Up ahead, Mudflat was just visible as an orange outline in the darkness, slumped with his back to the counter, a few empty bottles around him.

Celestia’s chest tightened. Even in this dim lighting, she could see that Mudflat looked awful. His chest was heaving with every breath, each one accompanied by a moist crackling sound. It was enough to make Celestia’s fur stand on end, her gut churning with disgust.

Mudflat’s eyes met hers, exhausted. He beckoned to her with a jerk of his head. “Get in and… close the door. Outta the cold.”

Celestia closed the door behind her, but she did not cross the remaining distance between her and Mudflat. She stayed by the entrance, watching him with wide, unfocused eyes.

“You’re dying,” she whispered, not even realizing she was saying it until the words were in the open.

Mudflat barked out a broken rasp of a cackle that swiftly devolved into a moist, disgusting fit of coughs and gasps. Celestia cringed and looked away as something came up from his hacks.

“Hah! Only figuring that out now?” Mudflat finally asked her once his fit died down. “Guh… been dyin’ for a while, little miss. Even before the snow killed the world.”

There was a distant acceptance to his voice that reminded Celestia of Sprout and Honey’s final words to her. Her heart twisted in her chest at the reminder, and her lips drew into a thin line.

“Why?” Celestia finally asked, though she wasn’t sure she actually wanted to know. “What’s killing you?”

Mudflat sat up a little straighter, groaning in pain as he went. “I’m old, kid. Real old. I was full-grown before your folks were even at their mother’s teats.”

He reached down to one of the bottles and lifted it to his lips. A disappointed groan came from him when he discovered it was empty. He cast it aside with a lazy flick of his hoof. “Hmph. Lungs started going bad a couple years back. Some days were worse than others… Needed a lotta help to get by…”

Mudflat shook his head, affixing Celestia with a stern glare. “Gah, the heck am I talking about? Whaddya want, kid?”

Celestia was quiet for a few moments, conflicted. Her eyes darted between Mudflat and the door to his pantry. If he was dying, then it would be trivially easy to go and take the food she and Luna desperately needed. This could be her big chance to buy her sister more time, and ease their pain, even if only a little bit.

But then her gaze settled on Mudflat, this old pony who had been here since long before she’d ever even been born, and her ears drooped. He looked so pitiful. Weak. But more than that, beneath the scorn and the bitterness in his scowl, she could see something else.

Something sad.

That look was all it took to make up her mind. Reluctantly, she took a few steps toward him. “Um… do you want help?” she offered timidly.

Mudflat scoffed. “Hmph. Take a good look at me, kid. I’m too far gone to save,” he rebuked, lifting a hoof before devolving into another fit of coughs. Celestia waited patiently for him to recover. When his fit died down, he sucked in a heaving gasp before looking back at her. “Besides, why would ya wanna help me, anyway?”

Celestia was quiet for a few seconds, her ears drooping. “...Because, an old pony who would know better than I did once told me that, no matter how much we fight and spit, and grumble at one another, we don’t shun each other. No matter how old, bitter, selfish, or stupid. We count on one another. Depend on one another to help us carry our burdens when they’re a bit too much to handle on our own…”

She then focused on his eyes, her jaw set and her voice firm. “But do I even need a reason?”

Celestia’s words hung in the air, echoing between them with subtle weight. Mudflat watched her for a few seconds, then gave off a weak chortle and shook his head. “Ha ha hah… That’s cheating,” he spat, though there was no hiding the mirth in his voice.

Celestia couldn’t help but smile.

A few seconds later, Mudflat shook his head again. “Heh. Thanks, but no thanks. There’s nothing you can do for me anyway. All the herbs that coulda treated my problems either died when the snow came down or went with the rest of the town when they left. I’m done for…”

Celestia’s smile faded as Mudflat looked off to the side, his eyes going distant. She heaved a quiet sigh.

“...Still haven’t answered my question.”

Celestia jumped, turning to him. “Huh?”

Mudflat glanced at her with a glare. “I asked ya why you came here. Still waitin’ on that answer. Ya didn’t come to offer to help, so why are ya here?”

“Does it matter?” Celestia countered.

“It’s my house, so yes it matters.”

Celestia couldn’t really argue with that. She worked her jaw from side to side for a few seconds before coming a little closer. There wasn’t any harm in telling him the truth, she supposed… and if she was going to take his food, she’d rather it be with his permission.

“The truth is… I’m here because my sister asked me to. She thinks it’s my birthday today… and she wanted us to do something special. So she thought, maybe… you’d be willing to share a little food?”

Mudflat laughed again, and once again he fell into a fit of wet coughs. Once he regained his composure, he gave her a crooked little smirk. “Oooh, that’s what this is all about, is it?” he asked in an almost teasing voice. “Wait for the old codger to die and snatch up his loot for yourself?”

Celestia flinched at that. “I… I didn’t…”

Her stomach growled again, the low gurgle echoing awkwardly through the room. She flinched, her cheeks heating up just a little from the poor timing.

Mudflat laughed again. This time, the sound was genuinely amused. Hearty. A spark of light and life amid the desolate cold.

When his laughs died down, he closed his eyes. “Ha! Ah… screw it. Help yourself.”

Celestia paused, surprised. She met Mudflat’s gaze again, finding his expression had softened somewhat.

“Why?” she asked reluctantly. “Why the change of heart?”

“I look like I’m gonna be eating anything else?” Mudflat shot back, giving her a wry smirk. “Nah. I eat anything now I’m just gonna hack it back up. Besides…”

He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping with meaning and intensity. “We gotta depend on each other, don’t we?”

Celestia was quiet for a few seconds, her lips tugging up again. “I guess so… yeah. Thank you.”

Mudflat leaned back, scoffing. “Gah, don’t go getting sentimental on me. It’s just practical,” he shot down, though somehow, Celestia had the impression he was just trying to save face at this point. “Now go and get what yer gonna take. Don’t wait up on my account.”

Celestia hesitated a moment longer. Some part of her wanted to stick with Mudflat for the moment, but she wasn’t sure why. There was nothing she could do for him. She knew nothing of medicine, she had no idea what was wrong with him other than his lungs were failing, and the herbs that could have helped were long gone.

In the end, however, pragmatism won out, and she slipped into the pantry. She filled her saddlebags with whatever food she could get her magic on in a sort of frantic daze, not bothering to distinguish between one form of food or another. In a matter of minutes, her saddlebags were full to the point of bursting with fruits and veggies, preserved in salt and cold.

She came back out with her haul weighing heavily at her sides. Mudflat kept his eyes fixed on her as she came out. She came to a stop in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do. She finally had food, she had to get it back to her sister.

But Mudflat…

Mudflat raised an eyebrow as if sensing her indecision. “What? Why are you standing there? Ya got what ya wanted, now get!”

Celestia hesitated for a few more moments, rubbing the floor with a hoof. “I, er… do you… do you want some company?” she asked quietly, turning back to him.

Mudflat just looked at her, perplexed. A few seconds later, he sighed. “Gah… if ya wanna keep me company while I hack up my lungs and die on the floor, then sure, be my guest.”

Celestia rolled her eyes at the bitter remark. She set her saddlebags down by the door before walking over to Mudflat and sitting down next to him, albeit a respectable distance away.

The two were quiet for a long while, Mudflat occasionally experiencing increasingly-frequent coughing fits. With each one, his eyes drooped more, and his breaths grew more shallow.

Eventually, he let out a weak chuckle. Celestia looked sideways at him, curious. He closed his eyes, a tiny smile tugging at his lips. “Heh. Ya know, you remind me of my grandson, almost…”

Celestia tilted her head but didn’t say anything. She just listened.

Mudflat continued. “Silly little twerp. Way too nice for his own good. Stubborn as a mule and about as smart… didn’t know how to take ‘no’ for an answer…” he looked up, his eyes opening. They were distant and hazy now. “Gone, now. Up and left with his folks. They came to see me before they went, though. Offered to take me with em. Offered to help me out with my dumb lungs… But I said no. Now they’re gone. All of em… all gone. Probably dead, now…”

Celestia was quiet, looking down. “...Why did you say no?”

“Because I was dead anyway,” Mudflat confessed. “Wouldn’t have made a difference. Least this way, I die where I belong… and I ain’t slowing them down…”

Celestia fell silent, looking away. She ran his words over in her head, closing her eyes. A few moments later, she turned back to him with a small, comforting smile. “I’m sure they’ll make it. Earth Ponies are tough.”

Mudflat let out a long breath. “Ha… yeh, well…” his head lazily rolled to look at Celestia. “...thanks.”

Celestia nodded. “You’re welcome.”

Mudflat’s smile grew. Suddenly, his eyes bulged in their sockets, and he doubled over, falling into another fit of grotesque coughs. Celestia flinched back from him, waiting for it to die down. But it never did. Mudflat’s hoof flew up to his chest, and between his coughs, raspy cries of pain began to echo through the home.

It was a horrible sound to hear… The way he cried out between his hacks, the way it was all broken up… it almost sounded like he was crying. Celestia felt an impulse and gingerly rested a hoof on the stallion’s back. He didn’t respond. He just kept coughing and coughing.

The seconds ticked by agonizingly slowly. Mudflat soon slumped to the ground, his coughs losing strength. As they fell quieter and quieter, the freezing wind outside howled a bloodthirsty cry of victory as it claimed another soul. The light from the fireplace gradually dimmed, until all was bathed in darkness and shafts of gray.

Finally, finally, Mudflat’s coughs fell into silence. He twitched under Celestia’s hoof once, twice, three times, before letting out one last gurgling exhale… and falling completely still.

The chill of death settled over the silent interior.

Celestia shivered uncontrollably as the chill seeped into her bones and her muscles. She took her hoof away from Mudflat. The silence was unbearable. Her stomach churned. She turned away from the horrible sight with a quiet whimper, before keeling over to retch dryly at the floor. All the while, the winter outside sang its murderous song.

The wind was even colder when Celestia finally left Mudflat’s house. The flakes lashed and stung at her face as she walked. The weight of her haul of food felt paltry when compared to the growing sensation of having witnessed yet another pony die.

Her thoughts were all in a scrambled, misshaped haze. The concept of mortality was not new to her, but she had been forced to confront it so much in recent days that the sheer terrifying gravity of it was impossible to ignore. Ponies were dying left and right around her, and nothing she did could stop it.

Everything was turning white. White and cold and dead, and that death was chasing her everywhere she went. It wouldn’t stop. She’d be next. And if she wasn’t next, it would be Luna. She shivered at the thought and again felt her stomach churning with horror. She staggered to one side, leaning against a wall to catch her breath.

Slowly but surely, her spinning thoughts and pounding heart began to calm down. She took deep breaths, forcing herself to concentrate, to return to the here and now. Panic would get her nowhere, this she knew. “Calm down, Celestia. Calm down. Luna needs you to be calm,” she told herself over and over again.

As her thoughts stabilized, she took a moment to look around. It was only then that she realized that she was lost.

Flatstone wasn’t a large settlement by any means, but it nonetheless had a hooffull of twists and turns. And between the thick ice fog and the haze of dread miring Celestia’s thoughts, she had allowed herself to stumble astray, and now she had absolutely no idea where she was.

“Gah… perfect…” she grumbled under her breath, shaking her head. This was just perfect! She finally had some food to share with her sister, only to get hopelessly turned around in this stupid blizzard! She ran a hoof over her face before stomping it into the snow to vent her frustrations.

Movement caught her eye.

Celestia jumped with a startled yelp, turning to look out into the fog, but there was nothing there.

She blinked, confused. “Huh…?”

She could have sworn she had seen movement. She squinted into the fog, her wings unfurling on her back in preparation to leap away if need be.

But nothing came. There was nothing there…

Now on edge, Celestia tightened her cloak around herself and set off back into the village at a brisk trot. Flatstone was not a large settlement. She knew that she wouldn’t have to wander for long before she would stumble across something familiar, and from there she could retrace her steps back to the shelter.

All the same, she couldn’t help but routinely glance over her shoulder, looking for any sign of movement. But there was never anything there. Just snow and wind.

She shook her head. She was being paranoid. Right?

Celestia’s mind was torn away from her paranoid musings when, at least, she stumbled on something familiar, and she immediately knew where she was. Spurred on by the promise of a reunion with her sister and a warm meal, she picked up the pace. Before long, the small hut came into view, and an overwhelming wave of relief washed over her.

The door creaked loudly as Celestia pushed her way inside. She leaned against it as it clicked shut and allowed the warmth from the still crackling fire to wash over her. She closed her eyes, just taking a second to breathe. The stiff aches in her muscles began to fade away, and the numbness in the tips of her hooves began to recede, replaced by blessed warmth.

“Tia!” Luna called over, drawing Celestia’s attention. The smaller filly was still on the bed, her eyes alight with relief. She leaned forward as if tempted to leap from the bed but chose against it in the end. “You were gone a while. I was starting to get worried.”

Celestia gave Luna a comforting smile and shook her head. “I’m okay. Just a little cold,” she lied before walking over. She took off her cloak and folded it neatly by the fire to dry.

Luna’s smile faded somewhat. She shifted uneasily on her haunches, her ears drooping. “So… how did it go?”

Celestia froze just as she was about to reach for the saddlebags. It had gone well… technically. Celestia had gotten exactly what she had gone for. But the path to getting it had been rough… in truth, she felt worse now than she did when she had left. She couldn’t help but shudder as the memory of Mudflat’s dead body returned to her mind…

Luna waited, her smile disappearing entirely. She shifted forward slightly, tilting her head. “...Sis?”

Celestia was snapped out of her stupor. She shook her head to clear out the dark thoughts and gave her sister a comforting smile. Luna didn’t need to know everything. Just the parts that mattered.

Without a word, Celestia took off her saddlebags and opened them before Luna, giving the small filly an unobstructed view of her haul. Luna’s eyes flew wide, and Celestia couldn’t help but imagine that she’d have the same look for a chest filled with shiny, golden treasure.

“Woah!” Luna finally exclaimed, reaching out with her hooves and picking up a carrot from the pack. “There’s so much food!”

Celestia nodded. “Yeah. I figure if we ration it carefully we can make it last a week or two. And I can go back for more, too.”

Luna turned to Celestia, her eyes lighting up. “Wow… Mudflat’s really letting you do that?” she asked softly, her voice warm with hope.

Celestia flinched, looking away. “Er… yeah. He, uh… he told us we can help ourselves.”

It felt wrong to say that, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell Luna that Mudflat was dead. Not right now, at least. That bit of news could wait for another time.

That decision made what Luna said next sting even more. “See? I told you you could convince him!”

Celestia nodded quietly but did not say anything. A few seconds passed before she shook herself and focused back on Luna with a forced smile. She took the bags back in her magic. “Alright. Come on. Let’s have some soup.”

Luna’s eyes lit up. “Soup?”

Celestia nodded. “Yeah. We have a pan, we have water, and now we have fruits and veggies.”

Luna tilted her head. “Do… you even know how to make soup?”

“I dunno, but it’s just soup,” Celestia replied with a small smile. “How hard can it be?

Luna opened her mouth.

“Don’t answer that.”

Luna shut her mouth with a giggle before cuddling up to her big sister. Celestia pulled her in close with a wing while setting to work on her ‘soup.’ As she worked, Luna nuzzled affectionately up to her.

“Happy birthday, Tia,” she said in a quiet whisper.

Celestia’s smile faltered. “Some birthday…” she thought, once again thinking back to Mudflat.

A moment later, she shook her head and returned Luna’s affectionate gesture. “Heh. Thanks, Lu…” she whispered.

That night, they enjoyed a shared pan of fruit and vegetable soup. It was poorly made, but the sisters didn’t care. They were just glad to have some warm food in their bellies.

Even so, Celestia found that there was precious little joy to be had in the meal.

XVII - Sparks

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…And, in turn, so too was the life of their only company stolen away, leaving the sisters once more with only themselves amid the swirling, ravenous winter… And, in time, its insatiable gaze turned on them…

This nightmare again.

Celestia almost stopped when she realized where she was. The distorted hallways, the ceiling hidden amidst the icy fog above. The howling wind, the deathly chill, the alternating glow of day and night through the stretched windows. And through it all, the familiar, haunting melody hummed by a voice she could not place, audible even over the panicked, muffled shrieks of her little sister.

“This again…?” she asked, looking around. What was this place? Why did she keep coming back here? She looked down for a moment, trying to ponder the answers. But to her frustration, none were forthcoming.

“CELESTIA!”

Luna’s despairing wails cut through Celestia’s thoughts like a blade, and her confusion was swiftly forgotten. She didn’t have time to care about where she was, or why she was here, or even what was happening. All that mattered was that Luna was in danger. With that thought overriding all others, Celestia broke into a frantic sprint down the first corridor she could see.

“Luna! I’m on my way!” she called out between her breaths, her eyes locked dead ahead, her ears desperately trying to discern a direction. But just like every time before, the corridors played tricks with her senses. Luna’s voice echoed from all around her. The only hint she had that she was getting any closer was when Luna’s voice grew louder. But there was no rhyme or reason to the direction. It was like she was moving, the path that led to her changing and warping even as Celestia walked it.

And then there were the howls. Horrible, mournful calls that she had heard before, when phantoms of snow and ice attacked her and her sister in the woods. A chill filled her veins, and she dared not look back.

Soon, she once again came to the wall of fog. This time, she didn’t even hesitate. She took wing and flew into it. The cold bit into her muscles, but she ignored it. Fought on. She could feel frost forming on the tips of her feathers and on her lip, but she ignored it.

“TIA!” Luna cried out again, her voice louder and clearer than ever before. “HE’S HERE! HELP ME!”

“I’m almost there!” Celestia shouted, reaching out with a hoof. “Just hang on! LUNA!”

Movement, to her right.

Celestia twisted in the air, barely dodging as something attempted to tackle her to the ground. The air around her turned so cold that it burned. Whatever had tried to hit her turned to glare at her, its blue eyes narrowing with frustration.

It was one of the ghosts.

Celestia grit her teeth. “Go away!” she shouted at it, kicking out with a hind leg. Her hoof met the beast’s face as it lunged for her. The contact was almost intangible. It warped around her hoof like a blanket left to dry in the wind, and she felt almost no resistance—except for the cold. Sweet, merciful mother earth, the cold. She gasped involuntarily as all feeling left her leg in a heartbeat.

Thankfully, the beast recoiled from the strike. It lowed angrily in pain, its eyes flashing with murder. Celestia whimpered before kicking off of it and flapping her wings to gain distance as quickly as possible.

The ghost was hot on her tail, and it was all she could do to keep ahead of it.

Its breath turned the tip of her tail to ice. Frost began to encase her hind legs, her flanks. She was getting heavy. Its chuffing pants and growls echoed in her ears.

“You don’t belong here,” they seemed to say. “Begone.”

The cold was too much. Celestia’s eyes were getting heavy. Her vision blurred. She was about to fall.

Luna’s voice reached her again, a wordless, terrified scream, and Celestia latched onto it like a lifeline. With one last surge of strength and a guttural scream, she pumped her wings for all they were worth.

The air cleared, and the cold receded. Celestia sucked in a lungful of air that, while still chilly, was far from the life-sapping cold she had just been exposed to. Shocked by the change, she plummeted to the floor, crashing against it. She rolled for several feet before coming to a stop in a heap of shivering limbs.

Gasping for breath, she lifted her head to look back. She was out of the fog. The icy wall rested behind her, tendrils once more reaching for her. She could see the glaring eyes of the ghost within, but it did not give chase.

Panting, Celestia forced herself to stand. Her legs screamed in protest and her posture was uneven at best. She wobbled once or twice before finally finding her footing. She affixed the ghost with a spiteful glare. “H-ha! Take THAT!” she barked at it triumphantly, stamping a hoof for emphasis. A sharp throb of pain went up her leg, and she regretted it immediately.

The ghost did not respond to her taunt. It simply let loose another of its chilling cries before vanishing back into the fog. Celestia waited a few seconds to be sure it was gone. When it did not return, she spun around to resume her search.

It was only then that she realized how horrifyingly quiet it was.

“Oh, no…” she choked out. She perked her ears, listening. But there was nothing. She couldn’t hear Luna, nor the indistinct humming. Even the low howling draft had died. It was utterly silent. Only Celestia’s own anxious breaths and the pounding of her heart in her ears could be heard.

“No, no… LUNA!” she cried, taking a step forward. She stepped out of the light of the sun from one window and into the moonlight of the next… except there was no moonlight. She looked to her left out the window.

The sky beyond was pitch black. The moon was gone, as were the stars.

“Luna…” she whispered in dread. Was she too late?

The silence dragged on a moment longer.

Suddenly, Celestia’s eyes were assaulted by a blinding flash of fiery light. Searing pain invaded her skull, and the all-too-familiar cold was abruptly replaced with the now-alien sensation of warmth. Celestia’s eyes shut on instinct, and when she could finally open them, all she could see was fire. A sphere of burning flames. A sun she hadn’t seen in too long.

It reached out to her. Tendrils and arms of searing, scorching fire. She could see nothing else. The flame was all-consuming. Her fur was ablaze, her mane and tail burned away, her eyes felt like they were boiling. And yet she felt no pain. Just heat. Powerful, distant, enormous, smothered heat.

And in her mind, a voice, familiar yet not.

“Rise and Shine.”

Celestia snapped awake with a shrill cry, sitting up in her bed with a gasp. Even in the near-total darkness, she could tell that she was in the hut. The fire was out, and it was dark outside, save for the faint glow of moonlight.

After a moment of silence, Celestia fell back against the bed and breathed a sigh of relief. She ran a hoof over her chest fur. She could still feel the tingle of warmth on her skin from those flames.

“What was that…?” she wondered aloud, her eyes locked on the pitch blackness of the ceiling. She kept having these dreams… But it didn’t feel like a recurring nightmare. It felt too real. Too lucid. And it was never the same. Each time she was there, she made more progress, only for something to forcefully evict her.

She thought on it for a minute, then pushed the thoughts from her mind. In the end, they were only dreams. Thinking too deeply into them would solve nothing. Resolved to get back to sleep to await the long-overdue dawn, she reached out to pull Luna into a hug.

Only to find the smaller pony wasn’t there.

Alarm bells immediately went off in Celestia’s mind. She shot back up again and lit her horn. A thrill of panic ran up her spine as the interior came into illuminated focus, revealing that there was no sign of Luna.

“Luna?!” Celestia cried out, jumping down from the bed. “Luna?! Where are you?!”

Her sister did not answer her.

The hut was small. There was nowhere for Luna to hide in here if that was what she was doing. Which meant…

“LUNA!” Celestia all but shrieked, almost knocking the door off its hinges as she forced her way through. She poured more power into her horn, creating a powerful beacon in the darkness of the night.

Beyond the golden light of her magic, the world was painted in dark grays and blues. A gap in the clouds had pulled open like the curtains on a stage play, revealing the moon high above, a waxing crescent of pale illumination.

Beneath that small gift from the sky, in the snow at Celestia’s hooves, she saw hoofprints in the snow. They were the right size to be Luna’s, and they were fresh, but already filling in from the snowfall. Her panic doubled but was tempered by a surge of relief. Without a word, Celestia broke into a gallop, following the tracks.

“What are you thinking?!” she whispered to herself as she followed the prints deeper into Flatstone. “You’re still hurt, Luna! And what if those ghosts come back?!”

The tracks went around a turn in the road up ahead—although it was difficult to tell where the road began or ended anymore. The snow had deepened significantly since the sisters first arrived in this village, now climbing the walls of the homes. It almost looked like the ground was rising to pull the rest of the world back into its depths. Only those places Celestia frequented had clear paths to and from them anymore.

As she rounded the bend, she finally caught sight of Luna. The smaller foal hadn’t even brought a blanket for warmth. She was sitting in the middle of an open intersection, her mane and coat marked with flecks of snow. Her head was tilted back, staring up at the moon. For a moment, Celestia almost thought the moon was looking back at her, shining a beam of radiance upon her little sister.

The moment passed. Celestia shook her head and broke into a gallop. “SISTER!” she shouted.

Luna jumped in place and turned to face her.

“Luna, you giant idiot!” Celestia chided, sliding to a stop next to Luna. “What in the world are you doing?! It’s freezing out here!”

It was only then that Celestia saw the look on her sister’s face. Her stomach dropped when she saw the vacant, hollow look in Luna’s eyes, and the dark rings under them. She looked empty. Like she was dead already.

Celestia winced back, her ears drooping. “Luna…?”

“He’s calling…” Luna whispered, looking back up at the moon. “He’s calling us…”

Celestia blinked, confused. “What? Who? Who’s calling? What are you talking about?”

Luna reached a hoof up, slowly, mechanically, to point at the moon. Celestia followed her hoof, her confusion mounting.

“He… wants us…” Luna went on, her voice starting to go weak. She began to sag in place, leaning forward

“Luna?! Luna! Stay with me,” Celestia exclaimed, reaching out to catch her sister.

“Wants us… to…” Luna mumbled weakly, her eyes rolling up into the back of her head. She let off a weak whimper and fell utterly limp in Celestia’s hooves.

“LUNA!” Celestia shouted, pulling Luna against her chest. “Are you okay?! Say something! LUNA!”

Never in her life had she felt so scared before. Luna’s body felt impossibly heavy in her grasp, and so, so cold. For a brief moment, Celestia feared the worst. But, thankfully, she felt Luna shivering in her hooves. She was alive.

…But for how long?

“Luna, wake up!” Celestia shouted, leaning back to look into Luna’s face. The smaller filly did not respond. Her eyes were screwed tightly shut, her face twitching with pain and discomfort. Celestia gave her a shake, to no avail. “Luna! LUNA!”

Becoming frantic, Celestia carefully deposited Luna on her back and turned to return to the hut. Whatever was happening, she couldn’t deal with it in this cold. She started back at a brisk pace, her wings unfurling to take her into the air.

Until she saw the eyes.

Celestia froze in place, looking up and to her right. What little color was left in her face drained away. She saw it there, atop a nearby roof, and glaring down at her with murderous desire behind its frozen eyes. The air froze around it, glittering like frost.

“No… not again…” Celestia whimpered, her chest constricting with fear. She wanted to run, but her legs refused to obey. She was rooted to the spot, forced to meet the gaze of the baleful monster.

It stared at her, at Luna, its gaze calculating. Then, with no warning, it threw its head back and howled to the sky. Other howls answered it, and the wind roared. Celestia swallowed heavily as the realization dawned on her.

The hunt was on.

With a desperate gasp, Celestia turned and broke into a terrified gallop down the street. She heard more and more howls echoing in the air around her, far more than there had been last time. The light of the moon was swift to be smothered as new storm clouds rolled in, leaving the world beyond Celestia’s feeble sphere of light black as pitch. The chill in the air grew worse, amplified by the winds as they began to surge and buffet at Celestia with ferocious abandon.

She had no idea where she was going. She had no idea what she was going to do. The ghosts would be on top of her any moment, and she had no viable means of fighting back. She couldn’t run, either. She had nowhere to go, and without the cover of the forest, she had no hope of losing the ghosts. All she could think of was to try and lose them in the twists and turns of the streets and hide until they got bored and left.

But they were right behind her. They were beside her. She could see them in the corners of her eyes. Malevolent shades of blue and white, flickering between buildings, keeping pace with her effortlessly. They were toying with her. Playing with her.

Were she not so scared, she might have been insulted.

She ducked into an alley, desperate to try and lose them, but the tactic was doomed to fail from the start. One of the ghosts was waiting for her just ahead, rounding a corner with a delighted nicker. She dug in her hooves, sliding to a stop with a terrified scream. The ghost howled, advertising her location, and lunged.

Celestia cursed and threw herself at the window of the hut beside her. Pain lanced through her shoulder as she crashed into and through the wooden crossbeams, and her sides and hips burned as frigid stonework scraped her skin. She felt Luna’s limp form coming away from her back as she crashed into the heart of the room.

“Gah! L-Luna!” she gasped, searching for her sister. The smaller foal had crumpled to the floor a few feet away, and Celestia could hear her whimpering in pain. Celestia scrambled to her hooves, wincing in pain as her right hind leg burned from the movement, almost buckling under her weight. Stifling a cry, Celestia reached out with her magic and pulled Luna closer.

Luna was whimpering in her unconscious state, and a small trickle of red was slithering down her head from just above her horn.

Celestia had no time to feel guilty for the new injury she had caused. The beast was already squeezing in through the window after her. It grunted and snorted, its eyes ablaze with rage and frustration. Celestia turned her eyes to it, a fiery rage burning in her breast. “Leave us ALONE!” she roared at it, picking up anything and everything in the space and hurling it at the monster’s face with her magic.

The scattered clutter and bits of furniture only served to inflame the ghost’s anger, as evidenced when it answered her pitiful assault with a frightful roar. The air in the hut chilled around Celestia, and ice visibly began to creep along the walls from the rim of the window.

Celestia snarled at the monster before taking her sister in her magic and running out the door. Her injured leg burned with every step, slowing her down. By the time she was outside, more of the monsters were already closing in. Running was no longer an option. With a grimace, Celestia tucked Luna against her side, unfurled her wings, and took to the air.

The gale-force blizzard that had formed since this chase began immediately caught her wings and hurled her back into the wall of the house. She barely had time to shift Luna so that she wouldn’t take the impact. Pain exploded across her back, and she screamed against the wind in frustration and pain. She could hear the beast in the window pulling free. It would be on her at any moment.

With a surge of adrenaline, she managed to prise herself and her sister away from the wall and fought against the wind to gain altitude.

Her heart froze when she saw at least eight of the creatures rising to chase her from the streets. Some were more distant than others, but all of them were closing in, and fast.

Whimpering, Celestia let the wind guide her. It caught her wings as she turned in the air, accelerating her to speeds far faster than she was used to. The snow and wind slashed at her face like tiny daggers. She couldn’t see where she was going, but she was too terrified to care. She had to keep moving. Keep moving. Don’t let those things catch them.

A shape became visible up ahead, and as Celestia drew near, she recognized it as Mudflat’s old home. She was at the edge of Flatstone.

The beasts howled behind her, and Celestia knew she had run out of options. With a grimace, she angled her wings and dropped for the dead pony’s home. Maybe she could fortify it against these creatures? She’d have to be fast, but he had plenty of furniture.

The impact with the ground sent pain blossoming through Celestia’s bad leg. She collapsed to the ground with a cry, dropping Luna into the almost foot-high snow. A surge of panic overtook her, and she was quick to pick her sister up and gallop for the door. She only spared a brief glance for the small mound where she knew Mudflat’s corpse lay outside.

“I’m sorry,” she thought before darting inside and slamming the door with her magic.

There was a blissful second of silent peace. The light on Celestia’s horn let her see all of the furniture scattered throughout the old home, and all of the windows she would have to fortify if she had any hopes of keeping the ghosts at bay. She swallowed a lump in her throat. She may have overestimated herself…

She felt the door at her back suddenly jerk against her, and she almost toppled forward. Celestia gasped and pressed all of her weight back against the door with a cry of pain. “Just go away!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “What do you want from us?!”

The beast only roared in response. The door cracked and snapped as it slammed into it again. Celestia was hyperventilating at this point, unable to quell her terrified crying anymore. Her vision blurred with tears as the sound of shattering glass reached her ears. The beasts were breaking in, and nothing she could do now would stop them.

She was going to die. Luna was going to die.

“PLEASE!” she begged, screwing her eyes shut. “JUST LEAVE! I DON’T WANT TO DIE! MOM! DAD! HELP ME!”

The only thing that answered her was the call of the ghosts, as if to tell her she would be joining her parents in the grave. All she had to do was give in. Surrender. Submit.

The door behind her caved in with the sound of splintering wood. An impossible force slammed into Celestia’s back, sending her careening to the floor with a cry of pain. She rolled onto her back. The ghost loomed over her, its eyes flaring with hunger.

She scooted back and away from it along the floor, pulling Luna behind her with her magic. She shook her head frantically from side to side. “No, no! Please no!” she screamed. It advanced after her, unfazed by her terrified pleas.

She scooted as far as she could until the back of her head met the bar that sat at the back of the room. The other ghosts had slid in after the first one, surrounding her and cornering her. The air felt like death. In one last desperate attempt to save herself, Celestia grabbed one of the chairs in her magic and hurled it at the ghost in front of her. It struck the beast’s back, splintering uselessly against it. The ghost nickered at her as if in amusement.

Celestia’s heart was about to burst from how hard it was beating. Sweat and tears rolled down her face, her eyes wide and frantic. All thoughts were gone, save for those that might lead to her survival. But even then, she could think of nothing. She was pinned.

The beast above her reared back, its equine mouth peeling open.

Celestia screwed her eyes shut. “NO!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, sending magic flowing into her horn. There was no intent, no focus, no purpose. It was just raw magic, and a wish. A desperate, hopeless desire. The wish to go back to the old days, when her biggest worry was whether or not Luna would beat her at her next stupid little competition. When the sun shone down on her from above in the day, and the stars sang Luna to her sleep in the night. When she was warm, comfortable, and happy, and knew Luna was safe.

When the world was alive and made sense.

Something swelled in her breast at the fond memories, and for a moment, she almost thought she could feel that warmth on the tip of her horn.

She released the spell.

The wave of heat that struck her was so jarring it made her gasp in shock. The beasts roared in pain, and a familiar rush of flames sounded in Celestia’s ears.

She snapped her eyes open, confused. They flew wide when she saw the ghost directly in front of her now laying on the floor of the house several feet away, writhing and screaming as wisps of steam rose from its transparent form. It looked like it was melting, leaving a puddle of water on the floor.

And there, on the floor between them, the splintered remains of the chair slowly being consumed with spreading flames.

Celestia’s eyes widened. That was it! Fire!

Rising back to her hooves, she took the piece of the chair with the most fire, one of its legs, in her magic and hauled it in front of her like a weapon. Sparks and embers drifted past her from the effort, but she didn’t care. The ghosts recoiled from the light, letting out agitated howls.

“Get back!” she roared, her terror turning to rage. “Get back, all of you!”

One of the ghosts tried to charge her. Her throat went raw as she screamed, turning and plunging the flame into its face as it came at her. The impact sent her sliding back, but the ghost dropped to the ground, already beginning to melt. Its agonized shrieks became sloppy and wet as it gurgled on its own body.

Celestia bellowed, turning to the next one and swinging the fire at it haphazardly. “You monsters! You won’t take her from me, too!”

The ghost retreated, hissing at her as she chased it down. It tried to dodge around her, but she was quicker, her fury driving her on. She plunged the flame into its side, and like the others, it too sprawled to the floor in a melting heap.

Celestia spun to face the others. The fire in her veins turned to ice when she saw one of them picking Luna up in its jaws.

“NO!” she screamed, charging the beast. “PUT HER DOWN!”

It turned to her as if to use Luna as a shield, but Celestia was too furious to even hesitate. She tackled both of them, knocking Luna from the ghost's maw. She wrestled with the beast, even as ice began to encase her hooves and her tail. She was certain her throat was starting to bleed from how loud she was screaming, but she didn’t care. This thing had dared to touch her sister, and she would make it pay.

“Stay away from my sister!” she roared, bringing her torch against the side of the ghost. The flames finally went out, but not before the ghost collapsed to the floor beneath her. It struggled against her, thrashing violently, but she had it pinned. With her fire gone, however, she only had one other tool at her disposal to fight it.

She reared her hoof back and drove it into the ghost's face. The sound of crunching ice and splashing water filled her ears. “She’s my sister! Mine! MINE, YOU HEAR ME?!” she screeched, punching the vile beast over and over until it finally melted beneath her.

She turned her eyes to the others. She could see flames spreading across the floor from the fire she had started earlier, and the ghosts were withdrawing from the flames with hisses of discomfort, their eyes locked onto hers. She screamed at them like an animal, her horn once more flaring with light. “SHE’S MINE! I WON’T LET YOU TAKE HER FROM ME!”

The flaming debris of the chair lifted into the air, spinning wildly. Celestia ignored the sharp pain that traveled through her skull from levitating so many things at once. The ghosts backed away even further, looking about ready to run entirely. Celestia stepped after them, and their resolve finally crumbled. The ghosts turned to flee, flying out the windows.

Celestia blinked, almost confused. They were running? Something primal burned in her chest, and before she knew it, she was chasing after them, flaming debris swirling around her. She barged out into the night and hurled her munitions after the retreating ghosts, to no effect. They were already too far away.

“Stay away from us!” she screamed again. “Do you hear me, you bastards!? I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all!”

The ghosts let out one last incensed cry over the wind as they withdrew before all fell quiet. The wind slowly began to die down, and with it, the flames of Celestia’s rage. A sudden feeling of dizziness washed over her. She crumpled to the ground, coughing as she realized how much her throat hurt. Spots of deep crimson splattered against the snow at her hooves. Her lungs felt like lead, and her head felt fuzzy.

Slowly, the clouds overhead began to part, if only slightly, and the light of the moon returned, shining down on Celestia. She looked up at it, her gaze distant.

It was strange. For a moment, it almost felt like the moon was looking back at her… And she couldn’t help but feel like she was being scolded.

Celestia dispelled the feeling with a shake of her head and turned to head back inside. She winced and hissed with every step as a sharp, burning pain raced up her injured hind leg. She glanced back at it and growled in dismay. An enormous, ugly bruise was forming on her flank, and every step brought a fresh wave of pain, each one worse than the last as her remaining adrenaline dwindled into nothing. She did her best to ignore the pain, though, and pushed on.

The flames were dying out now. Luna lay still on the floor, breathing softly, but the discomfort on her face wasn’t as bad as it had been. Celestia smiled with relief and gingerly hauled her little sister onto her back. Part of her felt grateful that Luna hadn’t been awake to see her display just now. Even as Celestia thought back on it, she felt a chill run down her spine as she recalled her own words.

…And then the chill faded when she decided that she meant it. If anyone, or anything, tried to touch her little sister again, she would kill them. She didn’t care who or what it was, pony or monster. Nothing was going to take her little sister away. This was the promise she had made, and she would keep it. No matter what. To hell with everything else.

“...Come on,” she whispered to Luna’s sleeping form as she hauled the filly onto her back with her magic and turned for the door. “Let’s get you home…”

As she went to leave, her eyes passed over one of the puddles that had once been a ghost. She paused, eyeing it carefully. It was faintly shimmering, wisps of steam-like vapors rising from the puddle. She realized with a churn of hatred and a thrill of fear that the vapors were glowing like magic.

She hadn’t killed them after all. Just delayed them.

“So what?…” she thought, her eyes drifting to the last of the fading fires in the corner. “I stopped them once. I’ll do it again.”

Her eyes lingered on the flame for a few seconds longer. Soon enough, the cold claimed that feeble flame, and it winked out, its frail light extinguished with nary more than a small puff of smoke.

Celestia sighed. Even if she had a way of fighting back against the ghosts, did it really make much of a difference? Mudflat’s home wouldn’t feed them forever. As soon as they ran out of food, they were going to be out of options. Her hope was short-lived, just like the now faded fire.

If they couldn’t figure something out soon, then their hunger would kill them no matter how many times she fought off the ghosts.

As Celestia’s eyes followed the last fading trails of smoke, she felt an odd twinge of familiarity… Until it blossomed into a memory from long ago, when she and her father had been gathering firewood.

“So how come we can’t use this wood for firewood right now?” Celestia asked curiously.

Sprout glanced back at their haul. “Ah, well, you see, fresh wood like this tends to have a lot of moisture or something in it. So when ya light it up, it makes a lot of smoke. Great for signal fires or if you wanna choke somepony to death, but not all that good for a household fireplace. We gotta let it dry out first before we can use it for the hearth. We’ll probably be using this wood next winter.”

Celestia’s eyes watched the smoke dissipate before turning to the slowly clearing sky outside. For the first time in what felt like forever, she could even see the stars. Under that pale glow, she could just make out the silhouetted peak of the mountain she had called home for most of her life against the obsidian sky.

“...A Signal fire…” Celestia whispered to herself, an idea slowly starting to form in her mind. She repeated the words to herself a few more times before shuddering as the cold continued to bite into her hide. She adjusted Luna’s form on her back before setting off at a limp into the snow, heading back for their shelter.

Once Luna was safe, she would rest. She was too tired for anything else right now. But after that, she had work to do.

XVIII - Smoke

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The monsters from the snow came again, ravenous and remorseless, their arrival preceded by strange nightmares and stranger afflictions befalling the younger sister. In a desperate moment of panic and fury, the eldest was able to fight away the attacking monsters. Amid the embers of her rage, she found a spark of inspiration that might just save her and her sister both.

The walk back to the shelter felt like it took eons. Every step was slow and agonizing, thanks to Celestia’s new wound. The cold did wonders to ease the pain, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Still, she pushed on, and soon enough staggered back into the small hut she shared with Luna.

Celestia’s sister had yet to awaken from her slumber. She placed the foal on the bed and tucked her in, brow knit with concern. Celestia just stared at her for a while, allowing her mind to wander to those tense moments before the ghosts had arrived.

“Somepony is calling us…?” she thought, recalling Luna’s cryptic, almost zombie-like words. “But who?”

Alas, Luna was unable to answer, and Celestia knew she would find no answers by staring at her in the dead of night. And so, praying that there would be no more dreams or surprises, she leaped onto the bed and huddled with her sister to share their warmth. The pain in her leg returned as it warmed up, but she was able to ignore it well enough. In time, she drifted off into a mercifully dreamless sleep.

There was no fog when Celestia awoke. What snowfall there was over Flatstone was gentle and thin, allowing her to see farther than she had in what felt like ages. She had almost cried out in joy and relief when she beheld the sight through the window, her jubilation dulled by her own lingering exhaustion and the recurring spikes of pain that raced up her back leg with every step she took.

She gazed out into the village, her jaw set while her mind wandered.She had to work out exactly how she was going to do this.

After a while, she heard the blankets behind her shift. Celestia turned to see Luna stirring. Her eyes were bloodshot as they cracked open, and the heavy rings under them made it clear her ‘slumber’ had been anything but restful. As Luna went to rise, she winced, hissing in pain as a hoof flew up to her horn. Celestia grimaced guiltily when she spotted the dried red line running down her sister’s forehead, cursing herself for forgetting to clean that injury last night.

She stood and quickly made her way over to the bedside. “Luna. You’re awake!” she said in relief. “Oh, thank goodness… are you alright? How are you feeling?”

Luna blinked a few times, staring at Celestia in confusion. “Um… I feel fine. Just tired. Ow… my head.”

“Try not to prod at it,” Celestia lightly chided her, guiding Luna’s hoof away from the injury. “You took a bit of a bump last night.”

Luna frowned with nothing but confusion in her eyes. “I did…? What happened?”

Celestia glanced at the door, her eyes narrowing as a fiery tingle built up in the base of her skull. “It was them, Lu. Those… things, those monsters came for us again. They… I don’t know, they lured you outside, somehow. You passed out, and I had to pick you up and run all over the village. Guh.” She shook her head and turned back to her sister. “In the end, I chased them away with fire, and you’re okay.”

Luna was quiet for several seconds, her eyes shifting as she mulled over Celestia’s words. She looked back up at Celestia, tilting her head. “They lured me outside…?”

Celestia blinked. She shifted uneasily in place, her brow furrowing in confusion. “Yeah, they did… don’t you remember? You went outside in the middle of the night.”

Luna pursed her lips in thought, then shook her head. “I don’t remember anything like that. I just went to bed…”

Alarm bells rang in Celestia’s mind. Could it be that the blow to Luna’s head had muddied her memories of the previous night? Celestia shuddered, a knot of gilt tying itself into her stomach at the notion. She was quick to chase it away, however. Whatever the ghosts did, maybe they had wiped Luna’s memory in the process? Or maybe she had still been sleeping when it all happened, and it had been some form of controlled sleepwalking?

“Are you sure? You don’t remember anything from last night?”

Luna looked away, her ears drooping. “No. I don’t. I just remember having another nightmare about…”

She trailed off. Celestia felt a chill run down her spine. Again with the nightmares. And Celestia had been having a recurring dream of her own. She took an anxious step forward, her eyes narrowing in scrutiny. “About what?” she pressed in a low tone. She studied Luna’s response carefully.

“...About… um… about dad,” Luna finally confessed, shaking her head. “He was holding me. He was talking to me. I don’t really remember it all… it’s fuzzy.”

The knot of guilt Celestia had felt tightened into one of grief at the reminder of her dead father. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “And there’s nothing else? You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Celestia hummed thoughtfully. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but she somehow doubted that was the whole truth. Luna was hiding something.

Ultimately, however, she decided not to press the matter for now. She glanced out the window and frowned. This clarity wouldn’t last forever, and she had to jump on it now. She turned back to Luna with a sigh. “We can talk about this more later. Right now, you just stay here and get some more rest.”

Luna nodded, looking relieved. She curled back up into the blankets, and Celestia made sure to tuck her in nice and warm. With that, Celestia turned for the door.

“I’ll be back in a while. I’ve got some things I need to do,” she stated while moving for her saddlebags.

“What are you doing?” Luna asked curiously.

Celestia gave her a reassuring look. “Don’t worry, nothing dangerous. But Mudflat’s food won’t last forever, and I don’t want to stay idle in case those ghosts come back. We need to leave, but without a guide, we aren’t going to make it very far. So, I’m figuring I set something on fire, throw up a bunch of smoke, and hopefully get somepony’s attention.”

Luna blinked a few times, shrinking into the mattress a little. “More ponies…? What about Mudflat? Can’t he help?”

Celestia’s smile faded. “He won’t help us. Not any more than he already has.”

A heavy silence followed. Luna stared at Celestia for several long seconds. Her eyes lowered, and she let out a quiet sigh of disappointment.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?”

Celestia blinked in surprise, looking away.

“I thought so…”

The silence that followed was stifling. Without a word, Celestia threw on her cloak and stepped out into the biting cold. The bite of the winter air chased away whatever lingering exhaustion she had from the night before. She winced from an oncoming gust of wind and threw a hoof up to cover her eyes. The air might not have been filled with fog and snow, but the wind was still very much blowing, and it did not care for Celestia’s presence.

She took to the air, struggling against the wind only briefly before gaining stability and soaring into the sky over Flatstone.

The next few hours were exceptionally unpleasant, to put it mildly. Even with the snowfall as thin as it was, the cold was supernatural, and Celestia’s tattered cloak did little and less to ward away the shivers creeping into her body. She pumped her wings extra hard as she worked, if for no other reason than to generate some additional warmth.

Without any tools, Celestia was unable to gather wood from trees, save for the branches she was willing to snap away with her magic. That was probably for the best, though. The weight of the trunks, while manageable, would be tiring, and she was wearing herself out enough with all of the flying she was doing.

Instead, she thought back to how she remembered Sprout building up their first campfire in the woods before the river took him away. She recalled more than just wood in the pile. There were old leaves, too, thin twigs, and various other things that, thinking about it, burned rather nicely. She didn’t know the word for it off-hoof.

And so she spent the first hour of her search scrounging around through the snow for old shrubs, bushes, and fallen leaves near the skeletal trees. It was a painstaking process, but she found plenty with time, and brought them back in large clumps to her and Luna’s shelter, creating an impressive pile just inside the door.

As she was working, though, her mind began to wander to grim places. What if nopony came when she made her signal? What if there was nopony left to see it? The ice was merciless and indiscriminate, and, from what she knew, Flatstone was pretty out of the way compared to other Earth Pony settlements.

She shook her head to chase away the morbid notions, but they continued to linger in the back of her mind, ever-present, gnawing at her resolve and her confidence; like a tick, slowly draining the blood from its host.

When at least she was done gathering what she needed, she felt almost ready to collapse from weariness. She used her magic to clear out a patch of snow a few yards outside their door and, using some stones she had found scattered around, made a loose ring inside of it. She assembled the wood, kindling, and tinder in the ring, trying to remember how Sprout had done it, and doubling down on what would make the most smoke. The end result was sloppy, to say the least, but functional.

She looked off toward the mountain. It was still clearly visible, though for how long she could not say. She couldn’t afford to wait. And so, with a small grunt, she lit her horn, and a spark of fire appeared on its tip. She sent the flame into the mount of twigs, shrubs, and branches, and before long, they caught fire.

The warmth that washed over her was very welcome. Celestia fell to her haunches, breathing a big sigh of relief at finally taking the weight off of her abused hooves. She stared into the flame as it grew brighter and larger. Thankfully, it seemed, she had gotten it right, as a plume of smoke began to rise into the air from the crackling flames that stood out brilliantly against the bright grey sky overhead.

All that remained now was to wait.

She sat there for a while, allowing herself to rest and letting her mind wander. Her thoughts drifted aimlessly from one thing to the next in a sluggish, lethargic blur. She thought back to her home in the mountains, the peaceful life she had lived there. She thought back on the day she and Luna had gotten lost in the woods. So long ago, now, and so frightening at the time. Not so much anymore.

As her eyes lingered on the flickering flames, her mind wandered then to the mare that had abandoned her. Celestia’s brow furrowed at the thought of her, spite and disdain welling up in the back of her throat like bile. She forced herself to think of something else, and her mind landed next upon the sun.

She hadn’t seen it properly in what felt like years now, though it had not been all that long ago. She fondly recalled the warmth of it on her face, the confidence and the joy she felt in her heart when she beheld it rising in the mornings.

The flames were growing brighter in Celestia’s eyes the longer she stared, to the point they were blinding. They swirled and danced in her vision until they were all she could see, and the crackle of the fire lowered into a powerful rumble as if all the world itself were ablaze.

Except… no. This flame. It was greater than the world. It was larger than the world. Somehow Celestia knew that the fire she now saw could swallow her whole world a thousand times over and not be satisfied. She felt awed by the scale of it, and might have been overwhelmed if it weren’t for just how… at home, she felt. This swirling inferno was where she belonged, and it belonged to her.

Then she felt it. A need. A desperate, frantic desire. It was like something was calling out to her, begging her to reach out to it. But the call was muffled, obscure. She couldn’t discern where it might be coming from. It came from everywhere and nowhere and here and there and-

“Tia?”

Celestia snapped out of her trance with a jolt and a yelp of surprise. She quickly turned her head to see Luna behind her, standing in the doorway of their little hut. Her blanket was wrapped tightly around her shivering form. She leaned back in surprise from Celestia’s abrupt reaction, her own eyes wide.

“Lu!” Celestia exclaimed, quickly regaining a hold on her senses as all thoughts of the flame left her mind. She stood up and quickly made her way to her sister’s side. “What are you doing up? You should be in bed, resting!”

“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt as much,” Luna said, giving Celestia a reassuring look. She still looked exhausted, as if all her time in bed had done nothing for her, but the tiny smile on her face was enough to ease Celestia’s concerns, if only a little. “And I saw the firelight, but you didn’t come back in, so I came to see if you were here.”

Luna’s expression darkened somewhat. “You were staring into the fire… And you didn’t hear me when I tried to talk to you.”

“Ah,” Celestia said, looking off to one side. “Sorry about that. I just… I got lost in thought. Do you wanna sit with me?”

Luna merely offered a smile, and the two sisters sat together before their signal fire.

The two were quiet for a long time, just enjoying one another’s company and the warmth of their fire. Their hunger could be dealt with in time. Celestia’s eyes kept wandering back to her sister, making sure she was alright. As tired as Luna still looked, she was at least able to smile. From one of Celestia’s glances, she saw that Luna was holding their father’s old figurines close to her chest.

Eventually, though, Luna’s smile faded. She looked to Celestia, and the worry in her eyes was unmistakable. “Somepony’s gonna come for us… right?”

Celestia looked up at the rising smoke. “I dunno, Lu. I hope so.”

Luna was quiet for a moment. She shifted in place, drawing her blanket tighter around herself. “What do we do if nopony comes?”

Celestia grimaced. “Well… I’m not sure. We can’t stay here too long, obviously. We’ll run out of food sooner or later, and I’m not convinced those ghosts are done trying to get at us. But you’re still hurt…”

Celestia elected not to mention the fact that she was injured now, too. Her hind leg stung as if to remind her of her condition.

She shook her head and pressed on. “And besides, without any idea where we’re going and without a guide, we’re not going to get anywhere if we leave…”

“But what choice do we have?” Luna asked, looking down at the ground. “We can’t stay here forever. If nopony comes for us, shouldn’t we just pick a direction and go?”

Celestia frowned. “Maybe… If nopony comes, we’ll hold out here a little while longer, and then I guess we’ll just have to try our luck out there. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find the ponies who used to live here?”

A vain hope, she knew, but it was nice to fantasize about. Luna hummed quietly, but it was clear she knew how hopeless of a proposition that was as well. The two didn’t speak again for a while, just sitting together in silence.

Time began to pass, though how much, Celestia was unsure. She had given up trying to keep track of the time of day at this point. Eventually, their stomachs rumbled, and they enjoyed a silent lunch of salted carrots Celestia had brought from Mudflat’s place the other day. Every so often, Celestia would drop another branch or bundle of shrubbery onto the fire to keep it going strong.

As the hours ticked by, Celestia’s eyes wandered occasionally to the mountain. She growled in frustration when she saw sheets of fog creeping over it from the other side, slowly obscuring the forests and ridges. Another fog bank was closing in… either that or a powerful blizzard. Either way, their signal would be lost as soon as it reached them.

So focused was Celestia on the oncoming weather, that she didn’t even notice when Luna’s ears perked up. The younger sister lifted her head, staring out past the flames and deeper into Flatstone. “Did you hear that?” she asked in a low, anxious whisper.

Celestia started and turned to Luna. “Huh?”

“I thought I heard something,” Luna whispered, squinting off into the distance.

Celestia frowned and perked up her ears, listening carefully. It only took a moment for the sound to reach her. A distant muffled call, echoing between the buildings. For a beat of her heart, she thought it was the cry of the ghosts, but it didn’t sound right.

Still, Celestia wasn’t about to take any chances. She quickly stood and pried a large branch from the fire, holding it in front of her protectively. “Luna, stay behind me,” she ordered.

“B-but-”

“No buts!” Celestia cuut her off, keeping her eyes locked firmly on the street ahead of her. “I'm not taking any chances, so you stay behind me. Are we clear?”

She heard Luna giving off a quiet whimper, but the smaller pony offered up no further protests.

Several seconds passed, the only sound being the low groaning of the wind and the crackling of the fire. Then, the call came again: louder, closer, more distinct. It was a voice.

“Hello?! Is somepony here?!”

It was a mare’s voice, carrying a thin accent that Celestia was unfamiliar with. A wave of relief washed over Celestia, and she had to resist the urge to jump for joy. She cast the branch back into the fire, but it was Luna who raised her voice in answer.

“Over here! We’re over here!” she hollered at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing around them for several moments. She followed it up with a joyous laugh and threw herself against Celestia with a bone-crushing hug. “It worked!” she cheered. “It worked, it worked, it WORKED! Somepony came for us! We’re gonna be okay!”

Celestia managed to offer a smile of her own, draping a wing over Luna’s shoulders. “Yeah… we are,” she said, taking a deep breath. She cast her eyes back up to the heavens, watching the spiraling smoke signal for a moment.

Her smile widened. “...Thank you, dad,” she whispered quietly before lowering her gaze to behold the pony who had come to their rescue.

She could only hope that they were friendly.

XIX - A Helping Hoof

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And whether by fate, luck, or divine intervention, the spark grew into a blaze, drawing to it the first sign of hope the sisters had seen in far, far too long…

The first thing Celestia noticed about the mare who had come to their aid was the horn sticking out of their forehead. Aside from Luna, and her hazy recollection of her birth mother, Celestia had never met another pony with a horn before. It was longer than her own, pale and white as the snow itself, and faintly glowing with a pastel pink aura.

The second thing she noticed was the smaller form walking at the mare’s side. It only took Celestia a second to realize that it was another foal. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight, and she realized a moment later that it was a boy. The foal also had a horn coming out of his head, the same shade of white as his parent. She wondered why anypony would dare to bring their foal out into this sort of weather but quickly dismissed the thought. They probably didn’t have a choice. Just like with her parents.

…And it had cost them.

As the two drew closer, Celestia could make out more details. The mare leading the way was about the same age as Honeydrop had been, perhaps a little older. Her fur was as white as snow, while a long mane of sapphire blue hung over her shoulder in once-elegant curls. Her eyes were bright pink, and dark rings under them betrayed her exhaustion. Her cutie mark was hidden from view under a well-worn dark gray travel cloak, and under that was an old wool coat.

Her foal bore a very similar appearance to his mother, save for the fact his mane was short, messy, and dark brown, while his eyes were a faded shade of green. He wore a similar cloak and coat to his mother. Both of them were weighed down by stuffed saddlebags decorated with gems on strings, metal trinkets, and colorful talismans that Celestia had never seen before.

The mare’s eyes locked onto Celestia and Luna, widening in shock. “Foals…? Here? Oh, no, no…” she said just loud enough for Celestia to hear. Her pace picked up to an eager canter. “Hello? We saw the smoke. Are you two alright? Do you need help?”

Celestia allowed her defensive stance to dissolve at the words, and a tiny spark of hope lit up inside her. The mare’s tone seemed friendly enough. Certainly, a step up when compared to Mudflat’s hostile bitterness. Emboldened, she took a step forward. “Y-yes! Yes, please.”

The mare drew closer until she was within the warm glow of the fire. Her eyes locked onto Celestia’s horn, then past her to Luna’s. She blinked in surprise. “Unicorns… in an Earth Pony village?” she questioned, clearly surprised. Celestia winced, her ears folding back. She opened her mouth to say something, but the mare shook her head a moment later. “Ah, nevermind. Questions for later. What are your names?”

Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. So far, so good. She turned reluctantly back to look at Luna. The smaller foal was keeping quiet, but gave her a timid smile and encouraging nod. Figuring that was all she needed, Celestia took a deep breath and started speaking. “My name is Celestia. This is Luna. She’s my little sister.”

The mare nodded. “Named for the sun and the moon… they are very lovely names,” she said with a soft smile. She placed a hoof on her chest and dipped her head in polite greeting. “My name is Starshine Drift.”

She gave the boy beside her a look a moment later. He stared back at her, confused. Then, as if suddenly having a realization, he jumped in place with a squeak. He quickly straightened his posture before replicating his mother’s bow. His posture was stiff and rigid, a sure sign of a lack of practice. “Erm, m-my name’s Starglow,” he said.

Before any more words could be exchanged, a chilly breeze whistled through the streets, sending their cloaks billowing, and Celestia’s fire spluttering. The foal, Starglow, quickly huddled close to Shine, his eyes wide and fearful.

“May we head inside?” Starshine asked, quickly pulling her son close. “I’d rather not trade words in this unholy weather.”

“Uh, yeah, sure. Come on,” Celestia said, turning and guiding Luna back into their little hut. She took a moment to rally her thoughts as their new guests stepped into the single-room abode. Things were going well so far, but Celestia still felt the need to be cautious. She didn’t want to take any unnecessary chances.

Starglow looked around curiously as they stepped into the house, the door closing behind him with a shimmer from his mother’s horn. “Woah… it’s all made of rocks,” he said, eyes wide. “Is this an Earth Pony house?”

“Yes, it is,” Shine informed him before turning back to the sisters. “Though I rather doubt you two were its original inhabitants.”

Luna shook her head. “No. We came from the mountain,” she said softly.

Celestia shot her a stern look. “Let me do the talking, Luna. You just rest,” she said, nudging her little sister for the bed again.

Luna pursed her lips. She opened her mouth to protest. “But I-”

“No buts, Luna. Lay down.”

Luna puffed up her cheeks at Celestia for a moment, then dragged her aching body back onto the bed. Satisfied that she would stay there, Celestia returned her attention to their guests.

Starshine quirked a brow at the interaction but did not comment on it. She glanced out a nearby window in the direction of the mountain. “You came from the mountains?” she asked. “I had not thought anypony would live up there. It’s so remote.”

Celestia nodded. “That was the idea. We lived up there with our parents until… well…” she gestured behind Shine. “Until all this started.”

Starshine nodded slowly. She turned back to Celestia. “And… your parents? Where are they…?”

Celestia’s ears folded back. She tore her eyes away from the mare, but she did not answer.

There was a pause. Shine gave a tired sigh. “I’m so sorry.”

Celestia offered a stiff nod, but no more words. She closed her eyes, forcing down the memory.

A few seconds later, Starshine sat down beside the firepit in the heart of the room. “Here. Why don’t we sit, and you can tell me your story, whatever you’re comfortable with, and we can decide what to do from there?”

Celestia turned back to her, eyes wide in surprise. This mare was remarkably friendly, and for that she was grateful. But after her encounter with Mudflat, she didn’t know how to react to this kind of compassion. She swallowed heavily, a bead of skepticism forming in her breast. “Just like that?” she questioned.

Starshine tilted her head. “Whatever do you mean?”

“The last pony we met wanted almost nothing to do with us,” Celestia recalled, unable to hide some of the bitterness in her voice. “He practically tried to chase us out of here when we came knocking for help. But not you… I don’t understand.”

Starshine’s smile was a patient one. She briefly looked down at Starglow at her side. “You’ll find that I am not the sort to turn my back on foals in need. Especially my fellow unicorns.”

Celestia was quiet for a few seconds. Her wings ruffled uneasily under her blanket at the mention of unicorns. Mudflat had called her and Luna bad omens when he saw their wings. If this mare saw what they really were, would she think the same way…?

But the smile Starshine wore. It was so warm and so sincere. It reminded Celestia of Honeydrop. Her heart ached with nostalgia and longing, and what little will she had to be distrustful crumbled to dust. She sat down on the far side of the pit from the mare. She drew her blanket tighter around herself, fighting off the cold.

“Alright… I’ll tell you,” she finally relented, looking down. “As I said, my sister and I lived with our parents up in the mountains. Our parents were two earth ponies, Honeydrop and Sprout.”

Starglow blinked. “Your parents were Earth Ponies?” he asked.

Celestia nodded. “Yes, they were. They adopted us when… they found us. And then the snow came. It forced us out of our home. Mom and dad, they were from here, this village. They thought if we could make it here, the ponies of this town would help us. But we never made it…”

She heard Luna sniffling behind her, remembering the tragedy of the river.

Celestia closed her eyes. “We made it to a river. It was totally frozen over. B-but when we tried to cross, they… th-they fell in…”

Starglow shifted uncomfortably on his haunches, cuddling closer to his mother. Starshine gave him a reassuring squeeze but held her piece as Celestia continued with the story.

Celestia shook her head to dispel her sorrow. “We lost our supplies—everything except what Luna and I had in our bags. Luna and I kept going… But we had no idea where we were going. We were lost. And one night, these… things came for us.”

Starshine frowned. “Things? Like wild animals? Wolves? Bears?”

“No,” Celestia shook her head, the pit in her stomach turning to magma at the memory. “Monsters. I don’t know what they are. I call them ghosts. But whatever they are, they attacked us, chased us down the mountain. They almost killed us… they could have killed us… But they didn’t. They just… left.”

Celestia’s brow furrowed at the memory. She hadn’t had time to give it thought since then, but thinking back on it, it still didn’t make any sense to her. The ghosts had had them pinned. Why hadn’t they struck when they had the chance? They had only needed another second and they would have found the sisters buried in the snow. They would have been defenseless…

“Could you describe them?” Starshine ventured carefully. “I’ve studied magic and magical creatures most of my life. Maybe I’ve heard of them.”

Celestia shrugged. “Uh… th-they kind of look like ponies, but… they’re wrong. Like somepony stretched them out into something evil. The air looks like it’s freezing around them. They’re blue, like ice, and they have glowing eyes. They fly around, and they have some sort of magic they can use. Like ours, but cold. And when they howl…” she shuddered, pulling her blanket closer. “It’s horrible.”

Starshine furrowed her brow. “Forgive me, but I am afraid I can’t say I have ever heard of such creatures…”

Celestia hadn’t been expecting anything, but it was still disappointing.

“Well, either way… While we were running from them… Luna got hurt. We hit a tree when we were running away from them, and we think it broke a rib.”

Starshine’s eyes flew wide. “A broken rib? Did you treat the injury?” she asked, partially standing up.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “With what? We lost most of our supplies in the river.”

Starshine looked to Luna, her expression hardening. “That’s not good. A broken rib can lead to all sorts of complications. Do you mind if I take a look?”

Celestia stiffened up, her ears folding back against her head. A thrill of fear ran down her spine at the idea of their true nature being revealed. She opened her mouth to offer a refusal of some sort. But before the words could form, the sound of cloth falling away reached her ears. Turning to look, Celestia almost choked.

Unprompted, Luna had shed her blanket, leaving her bare form - and her wings - exposed for all the world to see.

“Luna!” Celestia exclaimed, shooting up to her hooves. “What are you doing?!”

Luna flinched back. “She needs to see my wound if she’s gonna help, right?” she said.

Celestia wanted to press the argument but now was not the time. She spun back to Shine and Glow. Both of them were staring at Luna with wide eyes, astonished. Glow licked his lips, tilting his head. “Mom? Are those wings?” he asked in barely a whisper.

Starshine nodded. “I-I think they are…” she breathed. “What in the world?”

Celestia was quick to stand between Luna and Shine. Luna had already let the cat out of the bag, so she felt no hesitation in casting off her own blanket. She spread her wings wide in a defensive stance. “We’re not cursed!” she snapped, hoping to cut the coming accusations off before they could form.

Starshine recoiled, surprised. “What?”

“We’re not cursed!” Celestia continued. “I swear, we’re not! We’re not a bad omen, either! We’re just kids!”

Glow frowned and looked at his mother. “Mom? What’s a curse?” he asked innocently.

Starshine’s frown mirrored her son’s. “Curses aren’t real, sweetheart. They are just foolish superstitions that uneducated Earth Ponies lean on to try and explain things they don’t understand.”

Celestia felt a surge of anger at the insinuation that her parents were foolish, but she bit back her retort. And besides, the mare had said curses weren’t real. And the look on her face was not the look of fear and paranoia Mudflat had looked at her with. Instead, she looked more curious than anything.

A few seconds passed before Starshine leaned forward. “What exactly are you? I have never seen a pony with wings and a horn before.”

Celestia was quiet for a moment and slowly began to relax. “I… I don’t know. This is just how we were when mom and dad found us. But does it really matter?” she tried, hoping to steer the conversation back on track. “We’re just kids. We need help…”

A couple of seconds passed. Starshine slowly nodded. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter. Not right now, at least,” she said before standing up. “I am dreadfully curious, but I am not going to press the subject right this moment. Now, may I examine Luna’s wound?”

Celestia was quiet for a second longer. Slowly, she folded her wings and stepped aside. “Okay… Please, help her,” she said, the last dregs of her fear evaporating. In its place was just a tired resignation.

“Thank you,” Starshine said softly. She came up to Luna’s bedside. Her eyes lingered on Luna’s wing for several seconds, clearly fascinated by it. She showed remarkable restraint in not asking any questions, however. “Lift your wing, please,” she instructed gently.

Luna did as she was told, affording Starshine an unobstructed view of her swollen side. Celestia looked on as Starshine started examining the wound. Nervous energy pooled in her hooves and the tips of her wings. She tried fidgeting to dispel it, but it was of little use.

A movement to her left. She turned and saw Starglow sitting down beside her, looking at her wing with wide, fascinated eyes. “So… can you fly?” he asked after a moment.

Celestia blinked, taken aback by the question. “Er… y-yeah, I can,” she replied.

His eyes flicked to her horn. “And can you do magic?”

“Yes.”

To Celestia’s surprise, Starglow’s eyes lit up with what could only be described as joyous wonder. He grinned at her. “That is so cool!” he practically squealed. “How high can you fly? What sorts of magic can you do?! I can tie knots and lift stuff!”

Celestia leaned back, her mind stalling. Not counting her sister, she had never spoken with another foal before in her life. She wasn’t entirely sure how to react. “Uh… I-I, uh… I dunno? I’ve never really seen how high I can go. Up to the clouds, at least.”

“Woooow! Just like a pegasus!” he suddenly gasped. “Wait! WAIT! Can you control the weather? Can you make it rain and snow? Make it windy?!”

Celestia flinched, looking away. “...Not this weather.”

Starglow deflated on the spot. “Oh…”

“Yeah.”

The two sat in awkward silence for a moment.

Celestia looked down at the floor, trying to ignore him now. He was still staring at her. Without the accompaniment of conversation, it was getting to be just a little creepy.

“...Can I touch your wing?”

Celestia sat bolt upright. “What? No!”

“But it looks fluffy!”

“Those are feathers - and I don’t like it when ponies touch my wings! They’re sensitive!”

“Awww, come on,” Starglow whined, pawing at the floor. “Just a little touch?”

“Glow, leave the poor filly alone. And don’t ask to touch ponies - it’s rude,” Starshine suddenly called over. Starglow immediately clammed up.

Celestia breathed a sigh of relief before turning back to Luna’s bed.

After a couple more moments of studying the wound, Starshine let Luna’s wing drop back to her side. The blue filly winced and squirmed in discomfort on the bed. “Am I gonna be okay?” she asked quietly.

Starshine furrowed her brow uncomfortably. “Well… As far as I can see, your wound isn’t life-threatening,” she began slowly, drawing her hooves away from the bed. “But at the same time, if it doesn’t get treated - and soon - it could wreak all kinds of havoc on your innards. And I don’t know the right spells to heal you.”

Luna withered on the bed, her ears folding flat. “So… what do we do, then?” she asked, turning to Celestia.

Starshine stood up before Celestia could answer. “Well, there’s only one thing to do. You two will just have to come with us,” she stated simply.

Celestia blinked. “Wha- huh?” she asked, surprised. Getting some medical help or directions had been the extent of what she might expect this mare to offer. But here she was offering to just lead them? After Mudflat, this mare was giving Celestia whiplash. “Just like that?”

Starshine turned back to her, her face alight with a warm smile. “Of course. Like I said a minute ago: I am not one to sit idly by when foals need help.”

Luna sat up a little, her ears perking up with hope. “W-where are we going?” she questioned.

Starglow was the one who answered. “Oh, oh! I know this one! We’re heading to the city of the Unicorns, waaay to the, er… weast? W-was it weast?”

“West,” Starshine corrected him with a titter. “They’re west. Not east. Or… weast.”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant!” Glow nodded eagerly.

“I… know a few mages, there,” Starshine went on. It was a strange thing, though. Her expression soured as she spoke, and Celestia could not miss the creeping edge of disdain in her tone at the mention of the other mages. Before she could question it, though, Starshine turned back to her. “One of them can surely heal your sister. And even if they can’t, I’m sure we can find an experienced apothecary to tend to her.”

Celestia stared at her for several long seconds, completely stunned. All at once, it felt as if an impossible weight was lifted off her shoulders; one that had been weighing her down for what felt like forever. And looking into those eyes - those eyes that so deeply reminded her of the mother she had lost…

The need to appear strong for Luna. The need to take all the responsibility for both of them. At that moment, every soul-crushing obligation she had felt was suddenly washed away. Celestia’s legs gave out from under her. She fell forward, and Starshine was quick to catch her.

“Woah! Are you okay?” she asked.

Celestia shuddered. Starshine’s concern sounded so genuine. So real. Celestia clung to the adult, letting her pent-up stress and exhaustion out with a long, withering whimper. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” was all she could say, clutching the mare like a lifeline.

For indeed, Starshine may have just saved their lives.

XX - Across Frozen Hills

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Drawn to the fire the elder sister lit, a mare, and her son - unicorns far away from their homeland - stumbled upon the desperate foals. Though shocked by their unusual nature, this mare was swift to cast aside the superstitions that had haunted the sisters so far. With a warm smile and compassion in her eyes, she held out her hoof, offering to guide the foals. And in so doing, saved their very lives.

The next hour or so became a frantic flurry of activity. The group had preparations to make before they could depart. Starshine had suggested that they pick their way through the buildings in search of anything and everything that could be of use. Celestia had tried to tell her that there wasn’t any food or tools - aside from what Mudflat had in his pantry, of course - but Starshine had insisted. She claimed that they could get plenty of mileage out of things besides food and tools.

Celestia packed up what few things she and Luna had to their name, and agreed to meet back up with Starshine at the edge of Flatstone, by Mudflat’s old house. And that was where Celestia went first. Taking up Luna in her magic, she set off from their shelter and flew to the edge of town. Starshine and Starglow would meet up with them soon enough, she wagered.

She touched down gently outside of the old house. “Alright. Here we are,” she said, setting Luna down on her back.

Luna held on tight, her eyes drifting this way and that. “...This is where he lived?” she asked after a moment. She looked up at the second floor.

Celestia nodded. “Yeah. I’ll run a quick search of the place while we wait for Shine.”

Luna blinked. “We’re taking his stuff?”

Celestia was quiet for a moment. She looked down, then off to one side at a small mound of snow and dirt piled up by the side of the stairs. The mound was marked with a trio of fence posts sticking up like the prongs of a fork. It was the old stallion’s grave, one she had dug out for him after he had died. She didn’t know much about the burial practices of the Earth Ponies, but she knew at least that graves had some sort of marker. Not knowing what else to use, she had stuck a fence post at the head of the grave.

She could imagine Mudflat ranting and raving at her from beyond the grave for her ignorance and stupidity. It obviously wasn’t a dignified grave, but it was the best she could offer with the tools at hoof. She could only hope that, someday, if the snow ever went away, then his family would come back and give the stallion the burial he deserved.

Celestia sighed and looked ahead. “We don’t have a choice. And he isn’t going to be getting any use out of it anymore,” she reasoned before starting up the steps.

“Are you sure?” Luna questioned uncomfortably. “It doesn’t feel right, taking from somepony who can’t even say no anymore.”

Celestia grunted. “He gave me the go-ahead. I think he’d be glad that his stuff’s going to good use,” she said, though she had no way of knowing if she was correct about that.

Luna hummed quietly, clearly just as unconvinced. Neither of them pressed the matter, though. Regardless of Mudflat’s opinion on the matter, the old coot couldn’t stop them, and they needed these supplies.

The front room of the home was just as Celestia had left it. Snow had piled up in the door frame and dusted the floorboards below the shattered windows. The broken remains of the furniture and the scorch marks left by her fires lay scattered about, all cold and pale. A chill ran down Celestia’s back, but she was quick to chase away the feeling. She gently lifted Luna off her back and set her down by the door.

“Alright, stay here,” she instructed. She pulled a blanket out of her saddlebags and draped it around Luna. “I’m gonna have a look around.”

Luna held the blanket tight against her body before looking up past Celestia at the signs of the fight. Her brow furrowed. “...You fought them here, didn’t you?” she deduced.

Celestia didn’t say anything. She simply turned and got to work. Her first stop was the pantry. She spent several minutes heading back and forth, hauling the containers of food from their place in storage and setting them down by the door. However much food they could store in their collective saddlebags would have to be enough.

Once she was done, she made her way to the stairs. She lingered at their base for a moment, staring up into the darkness. She had never gone up there, before. She had no idea what she would find, and for a moment, something glued her hooves to the floor.

Luna was right. It didn’t feel right to be doing this. But what other choice did they have? Celestia took a deep breath, uttered a silent apology, and began her ascent.

The second story did not have as much in it as she would have liked. There was a bathroom of some sort and a collection of simple bedrooms. One had a large double bed, messy and unmade. The other was home to two beds pressed up against the wall.

The first bedroom, the one she could only assume was Mudflat’s, was regrettably short on anything of value. All she could find were some scraps of parchment laying on a desk. They were marked down with detailed illustrations of some flowers, with lines drawn in ink leading to writing she could not read. It was probably useless, but she stuffed it into her saddlebags all the same.

From the second bedroom, she carefully folded up the blankets on the beds, miraculously untouched, and stuffed them into her saddlebags, too. She also took the pillows, though she wasn’t sure she’d get much mileage out of them. She lingered briefly by the beds once she was done, noting the markings chiseled into the headboards.

“He said he had grandkids,” she thought after a moment. “So he had children, too. This must have been where they slept.”

Her thoughts returned to the room she shared with Luna back in their mountain home, and a spear of painful nostalgia stabbed her heart. This time, though, she didn’t even flinch, and the moment passed as quickly as it had come.

She picked up a few other odds and ends from the second floor she thought might be useful, but there was precious little to be had. Figuring that she had picked up everything she could, she made her way back downstairs to Luna. The smaller foal was right where Celestia had left her, with the notable difference that she had procured a single carrot and was slowly nibbling on it.

Luna perked up at Celestia’s approach. “Did you find anything?” she asked hopefully, her eyes lingering on her elder sister’s saddlebags.

Celestia shrugged. “Not much. I got us some new blankets, a couple of pillows, and some parchment. I can’t read it, so maybe we can use it in a fire,” she recounted before sitting down next to her sister, back to the wall. “Anything else was a little too big to take with us.”

Luna nodded. “Blankets are good. It’ll be easier to keep warm.”

Celestia nodded. “Yeah.”

The two sat in silence for a short while, and Celestia took the chance to breathe. After a little while, her thoughts started to drift back to Starshine. Her brow furrowed. She still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the mare. The promise of aid was a welcome one, absolutely, but still. It felt like it had come just a little too quickly.

She glanced over at Luna. “Hey. What do you think of Starshine?” she finally asked.

Luna looked up, still nibbling away at her carrot. She swallowed it down and tilted her head. “Um… she seems nice. I dunno,” she finally mumbled. “But she’s helping us, so… isn’t that what counts?”

Celestia was quiet for a moment. She looked directly ahead. “...Yeah, I guess,” she conceded with a shrug.

The two lapsed once more into silence. Seconds began to tick by into minutes, the only sound being the gentle crunching of Luna’s snack and the ever-constant whistling of the winter winds outside. They were slowly getting louder, the snowfall from the mountains drawing ever nearer.

Celestia grimaced. If they didn’t leave soon, they might have to hunker down and spend the night in the town just to avoid the worst of the storm. And with Luna’s health on the line, any delays were something she wanted to avoid.

Thankfully, such concerns were unfounded. After only a few more minutes, the sound of hooves crunching through the snow outside drew the sisters’ attention. Celestia turned to look through the door and saw Starshine trotting up with her son at her side. Their saddlebags were stuffed to bursting, though with what, Celestia wasn’t entirely sure.

“Kids? Are you here?” Starshine called out.

“Yeah! In here-!” Luna called back, moving to stand. She winced and fell back against the wall, a hoof held to her broken rib. Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder to steady her.

“Try not to move,” she said softly, giving Luna’s mane a few tender strokes. Once her sister regained her composure, Celestia gingerly hefted her onto her back and stepped outside. The cold air stung her face, prompting her to pull her own blanket tighter around herself.

She paused in her descent, her eyes wandering back to Mudflat’s grave. She just stared at it for a moment, working her jaw from side to side. She felt the need to say something to it as if the old codger would be able to hear her. It was stupid, a waste of time. And yet…

“...Hey,” she said softly to the grave. She hesitated, acutely aware of Luna on her back, and of the adult and her son waiting on her. She licked her lips, trying to think of something to say. “Um… S-sorry for taking some of your things. But Luna and I… w-we need this stuff more than you. We’ll take good care of it all, I promise. And, uh… you probably won’t be seeing us again.”

The silence was her answer, and the feeling that she was wasting time gnawed at her. She shook her head with a quiet huff. “...Sorry. I’ll stop bothering you. Bye,” she said before turning and making her way back toward Shine and Glow. On her back, she could feel Luna’s hooves curling into her mane just a little tighter, and the smaller foal shuddered.

It didn’t take long to get their affairs in order. Between the four of them and the packs they carried, they were able to haul along enough food to last them for about a week, maybe more than that if they rationed and were willing to skip a meal every now and then. Mostly carrots, potatoes, and some sort of crop that Shine had brought with her. Cabbages, she called them. Nothing that Celestia was familiar with.

Finally, after one last check of their supplies, there was nothing else for it. With Starshine leading the way, Glow keeping close to her right side and Celestia and Luna on the left, the trio set out from Flatstone. Celestia cast frequent glances over her shoulder at the village as they left, watching it slowly but surely disappear into the distance, along with the mountain. Details became hazy and indistinct, subsumed by the all-consuming snow.

Finally, the approaching wall of gray coiled around the mountainside like ravenous tentacles. Inch by inch, the ancient slopes that had once been Celestia’s home were greedily swallowed up until nothing remained. At that moment, Celestia realized that she would probably never lay eyes on her home again. A bitter feeling welled up in her throat, tingling at the clavicle.

She ignored it.

“Let’s try to keep to high ground,” Starshine said, drawing Celestia’s attention back to her. “We don’t want to fall into any deep snow, and we’ll have better visibility.”

“Alright,” Celestia replied. Her legs were already burning from the effort of pushing through the snow, and she found herself falling back to try and use the trench left by Starshine to take some of the pressure off.

Starshine glanced back at her. Her eyes flicked to Celestia’s back, where Luna still lay resting. Her brow furrowed in concern. “Do you need me to carry her for you?” she asked. “Take some of the-”

“No,” Celestia cut her off, a little more sharply than intended. She took a moment to compose herself before speaking again. “No, thank you. I may be a kid, but I’m strong. I can manage.”

Starshine hummed softly. She didn’t seem convinced, but she did not press the issue, either. She instead turned her eyes forward, focusing on the route they were to take. Celestia followed her gaze, staring ahead at the rolling, endless hills.

“So how long is this trip going to take?” Celestia asked, glaring ahead at the land ahead of them.

Starshine hummed quietly, her ears swiveling on her head. “It’s hard to say. In ideal circumstances, I would wager only a week or two. But with things being the way they are now…”

Celestia grunted in acknowledgment, focusing on maintaining a steady pace and keeping Luna secure on her back. The group didn’t speak again for what felt like forever. Every so often, they crossed by a now-dead tree, or an old shrub or bush, reduced to jagged twigs or forlorn lumps.

True to Starshine’s stated goal, the group moved to follow natural ridgelines and keep the tops of the hills wherever possible. It meant ascending one first, an arduous climb that left everypony winded, but they pressed on all the same.

Once they reached the summit of the hill, things became thankfully, far easier, and from this high altitude, Celestia was once again afforded a seemingly endless view of the expanse of dead white that stretched to the horizon. It somehow looked even more dead than before, and she found herself skeptical that anything could live through this.

Celestia wasn’t sure how long they were going. It had to have been hours, at least. It felt like forever. But with the constant grey of the sunlight overhead refusing to change or move, it seemed as if the ice and snow had frozen the very concept of time in its tracks. Every so often, Shine and Glow would look up at the sky, their expressions twisted with concern and fear. Celestia could only imagine what they were thinking.

Unfortunately, they could not enjoy the compass of the sun forever. As time ticked by, the snow gradually began to catch up with them. It started off subtle, almost unnoticeable. An occasional gust of wind blasted against their flanks and rears that would soon die down. A flurry of larger snowflakes here and there, dusting the path ahead of them and the slopes beside them before vanishing into the dunes.

But as time progressed, the signs became more frequent and more disruptive. The snapping gusts came more frequently, and each one lasted longer. The falling snow grew thicker and thicker, and even the greylight above faded into a single, dark hue. Slowly but surely, what might have been considered a pleasant dusting of snow had evolved into a soul-sucking blizzard.

It was getting hard to walk, and the cold was becoming unbearable. Even with the blankets wrapped around her body, Celestia was shivering, and she couldn’t feel the tips of her exposed hooves. She did her best to ignore the discomfort, to just focus on walking. One step at a time, bit by bit. They’d make it. They had to make it. She’d promised they would make it.

What she could not ignore, however, was the way Luna was starting to shiver on her back. She looked back at her, her face contorting with concern. She recalled how Sprout and Honey had been shaking when she pulled them out of the river, and the death that had followed swiftly after them.

As if reading Celestia’s thoughts, Starshine suddenly drew to a halt and turned back to face her. “We need to find shelter,” she said. “This wind is becoming too strong. If we keep going in this, we’re going to freeze.”

Celestia nodded, biting back her frustration with the delay. “Right. Any ideas?”

Starshine cast her eyes about, her frown deepening as she squinted into the growing blizzard. A few moments later, however, she perked up and pointed. “Over there! That cluster of trees.”

Celestia followed her hoof. Sure enough, there was a cluster of tall, now dead trees rising from the snow a ways away. They were hard to make out amid the haze, but Celestia could tell that they were packed tightly together, which meant they would keep the worst of the wind off of them. Celestia relaxed slightly. “Alright. I’ll go ahead and clear the snow!” she declared before flaring her wings and taking to the air.

“Huh- Celestia! Wait!” Starshine shouted after her, but Celestia ignored her.

She arced high into the air over the cluster, the snowflakes raking at her face as they passed like the claws of a furious cat. Once she was sure there was a clear space in the middle, Celestia tucked her wings to her sides to keep the winds from knocking her off course and entered into a controlled fall. The branches of the trees rose up fast, like spikes at the bottom of a pit trap, ready to skewer her.

At the last moment, just as she was about to reach the prickly canopy, she flared her wings and unleashed a pulse of magic from her horn. The air itself seemed to bend and bow away from the concussive burst, and the trees were no different. They folded down and away from her, leaving her plenty of space to fall harmlessly through. A few quick flaps of her wings eroded what was left of their momentum before her hooves came to a gentle landing in the center of the cluster.

On her back, she felt Luna shifting. “Mmph… show off.”

Celestia hesitated for a moment, then chuckled. “Heh… Maybe a little,” she confessed quietly. She hadn’t really been thinking of it in that light, but she had gone a little overboard, hadn’t she? Like she would have done way back when to show off for her parents…

She shook the memory away and turned her attention to clear away as much snow as she could. With a grunt, she encased a large clump with her magic. She went to lift it, and her grunt became a groan of exertion. It was like her magic was slipping off the snow’s surface, like water off a duck’s back. It took far more effort than was at all reasonable to get a firm grip, and even when she did, hurling it through the trees proved a challenge in its own right. The snow was dense and deep and weighed like lead in her magic. Still, with a burst of energy and a small shout, Celestia managed to send the clump flying out of the clearing.

Starshine and Starglow caught up to her a few moments later, picking their way through the thicket. Starshine’s face was contorted into a disapproving frown as she emerged into the clearing. “That was reckless, Celestia. The wind might have thrown you off course!”

Celestia shrugged. “I had it under control,” she argued back, starting to try and dig up another clump of snow. She grit her teeth behind sealed lips, grunting once again with the strain.

Starshine’s frown deepened. Celestia felt the mare’s hoof on her back, drawing her attention. Starshine shook her head. “Maybe this time. But please don’t do that again. We need to stick together,” she instructed before using her magic to aid in Celestia’s efforts. “And I can’t carry both you and your sister if you get yourself hurt.”

Celestia did not answer.

It took a while and a lot of effort, but eventually, enough space had been cleared out to allow Starshine to erect a tent using some supplies she already had, and reinforced it with the spare blankets that Celestia had found in Mudflat’s place. A humble was soon to follow, casting dancing orange light over the clearing that fought back the tyranny of winter. It spat and crackled in defiance of the wind, determined to provide its creators with warmth enough to survive the storm.

And so the group lay down in the tent’s entrance, bundled up with blankets and enjoying a sparse ‘dinner’ of carrots, potatoes, and a few leaves of ‘cabbage’ that had been warmed by the fire. The exception was Luna, who by Celestia’s insistence had eaten first and was now tucked safely in the back of the tent to rest. She hadn’t argued and had fallen asleep almost as soon as she had been set down.

Starglow looked up at the sky as they ate. “It’s still light out…” he murmured absently. “When’s the sun gonna go down?”

Starshine looked up as well, her ears drooping. “...I wish I knew,” she muttered. “It’s probably going to be a while yet before darkness falls. And when it does… well, who knows how long until we’ll have light, again.”

Celestia followed their eyes up to the sky. Were it not for the storm clouds that now smothered it, the odds were high that the light wouldn’t have changed at all. And even with the hours that had passed, it was clear that the sun was still far, far from setting.

There was a tingle in her horn as she thought of the sun, but she paid it no mind.

Starglow looked back over his shoulder at the tent, his ears drooping. “...Are we gonna sleep in this thing?” he asked anxiously.

Starshine nodded. “We are.”

Glow pouted, looking down at his hooves. “...I don’t like it,” he complained before taking a bite out of his final carrot. “I wanna go home.”

Celestia actually managed to let off a snort of a laugh at that. “Ha. Join the club,” she grumbled. “I want to go home, too, but I can’t. The whole house is probably buried at this point…”

Silence fell over the group. Starshine turned her eyes back to Celestia. “You mentioned before that your parents lived in the mountains. May I ask why?”

Celestia was quiet for a moment. She finished off her carrot and got comfortable on her belly. Or as comfortable as she could. The fire was nice, but the cold wind was fiercer. After a moment, she shrugged, her voice coming out in a longing whisper. “They told me they moved out there to get away from all the bickering between the tribes. The pegasi were being pushier than usual about the food Flatstone owed them or something, so the ponies in Flatstone figured violence was the answer. Mom and dad thought the others were being stupid, so they moved into the mountains to get away from it all.”

Starglow tilted his head. “Why the mountains?”

Celestia shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe because it was nice up there. Lots of big evergreen trees, pretty rivers, and beautiful valleys, and it never got too hot in summer. And, you know, it’s a mountain. Not a lot of ponies are gonna climb that to bother them.”

Starglow was quiet for a few seconds, nodding to himself.

A moment later, Celestia turned to Starshine, her brow furrowed as a thought occurred to her. “You know, I don’t think you told me what you were doing out here. I mean, you’re a unicorn, but we’re right in the middle of Earth Pony territory, aren’t we?” she asked.

Starshine smiled at her. “The farthest frontiers of it, actually. We still have a lot of Earth Pony territory to cover before we’re back in my homeland.”

“That still doesn’t tell me why you’re all the way out here,” Celestia pressed.

Starshine looked away, her brow furrowing with visible discomfort. “I…”

Starglow piped up a second later. “C’mon. She told us her deal. It’s our turn.”

Starshine was quiet for a moment, then gave a sigh and a nod of her head. “You know what? That’s fair,” she relented. Her eyes lingered on the fire. She licked her lips, her jaw tightening as she considered her words. “...To give you the short version, I had to leave and get as far away as I could from the ponies I was with when I became pregnant with Glow. For his safety, if nothing else.”

Celestia tilted her head. “Was he in danger?” she questioned.

Starshine bit her lip, looking down. “...There was a chance he would have been. A chance I was unwilling to take. So between that, and the fact that the pony I was living with was the most inconsiderate, controlling, jaded old goblin I have ever had the displeasure of sharing a roof with, I found I had little desire to stay, and far more plentiful reasons to leave.”

“So you ran all the way out here?” Celestia asked, blinking in surprise. “That’s a long way to go. And into another tribe’s territory, too.”

Starshine smiled softly and gave a little nod of her head. “Indeed it is. I suppose in some ways I wasn’t unlike your parents in that, once I was moving, I decided I was done with all of the politics of my people. You wouldn’t believe how convoluted it can get among the unicorn aristocracy. It’s all a headache, and I have no stomach for it. My passion was magic, not etiquette. So I decided to get as far from it as I could. I managed to stumble on a few earth pony travelers who were willing to give me some tips on surviving off the land, and they pointed me toward an old cottage not far from Flatstone that had been abandoned for years. I made it my home, and there I perfected my craft, and even picked up a thing or two about rudimentary alchemy.”

Starglow suddenly snickered to himself. “Hehehehe… The ponies in that town never liked her. They always called her The Witch of the Wilds!”

Starshine shot him a look. “No, that’s what you decided to call me after you learned what the word ‘witch’ means.”

Starglow grinned. “So? They totally woulda called you that too!”

Starshine rolled her eyes and turned back to Celestia with a small titter of amusement. “Does that answer your question, Celestia?”

Celestia nodded, going over it all in her head. “I think so…” she muttered.

A bitter gust blew past them, sending the firelight spluttering and flickering. The branches overhead creaked and groaned, and Celestia could hear Glow letting off a yelp of alarm as he cuddled up closer to his mother for protection from the wind.

He leaned forward to look at her. “Bbrrr-rrr! C-celestia?! You have pegasus wings! Can’t you d-do something about this?!”

Celestia shook her head. “Trust me, I’ve tried. It won’t work.”

Starshine blinked in surprise. “Wait, what? You can't control the weather?” she asked.

Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, we can. Just not this,” she spat, thrusting a hoof up at the clouds. The wind whistling through the trees almost sounded like it was mocking her, taunting her for being unable to save her old home, or her family.

Starshine looked up at the sky herself, her eyes narrowing. “So, the Pegasi are resisted as well? Troubling…”

Starglow looked at her, his anxiety visibly growing. “Huh?”

“Pegasi are naturally meant to be able to control the weather,” Starshine explained. “It’s their given gift. We Unicorns have the given gift of magic and knowledge, while Earth Ponies have the given gift of strength and endurance, enough to tend the land in ways we never could. But this storm… it seems to counter all of those things.”

Celestia tilted her head. She hadn’t heard the term ‘given gift’ before. She could only assume it was a Unicorn thing. But she did remember with vivid, frightening clarity the way the snowstorm had pushed back against her magic when she and her family were descending the slopes. She had barely been able to keep the flakes out of their eyes. And it happened again when trying to make this campsite…

Starshine went on. “Our magic struggles to grasp it or protect us from it. A pegasus struggles to even stand against the wind, much less change it. And…” her eyes drifted tentatively to Celestia. “...A-and I can only assume that this winter has killed Earth Ponies.”

Celestia looked down. “...Yeah. Like they were nothing.”

The way Starshine tensed was telling. She looked back into the fire, her eyes wide with growing dread. “If that is the case… the pegasi are not responsible. I had thought they might have been - they were the only suspects that made sense. The weather is their domain. But they would never create something that escapes their control. They are brutes but they are not fools. Whatever is causing this winter…”

The wind howled again as if egging her on to speak the words. She swallowed heavily. “...It isn’t the work of ponies.”

“But what could be the cause?” Celestia asked, looking back down into the fire. Celestia's mind turned to the ghosts, and she found herself starting to question whether or not they were a symptom or a cause…

“...Dad.”

Celestia blinked. The voice had come from behind her. She looked back over her shoulder at her little sister to see Luna shifting around uncomfortably in her blankets. Her face was contorting with discomfort, and every so often, she let off a tiny whimper.

Celestia’s ears drooped. Bad dreams, again.

Starshine’s lips slowly quirked up into a smile. “Ha. Poor thing… I think she has the right idea, though,” she said, slowly standing up. She gave a languid stretch, and a series of satisfying pops came from her back. “Come. There is nothing left for us to do but wait for the winds to die down. Let’s get some sleep.”

Starglow pouted at her. “But I’m not tired!” he lied before letting off an impressively massive yawn.

Starshine chuckled and hefted him up in her magic. “You, young stallion, are a terrible liar,” she said before escorting her squirming and fidgeting son back inside.

Celestia looked back into the fire one more time, taking a chance to savor its warmth reaching her face. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, imagining for a moment that it was the warmth of the sun breaking through this awful blizzard.

Again, there was that tingle on her horn…

“Celestia? Are you coming?” Starshine asked from behind her a moment later.

Celestia opened her eyes. “Yeah. I’m coming.”

XXI - Innocence Lost

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Gathering what they may, the sisters set out from their ancestral home and braved the frosted wilds. Their hope: To reach the great city of the unicorns, far, far to the west. The hope is to find shelter, aid for the injured younger sister, and with some luck, somepony who may at last shed light on the mystery of the blizzard…

It was impossible to accurately gauge the passage of time. With the light of the sun proving an unreliable clock, the group decided to simply move either when they had the strength to do so, or when the winds died down enough that they had time to get a move on. As such, their travel came in hitching stops and starts, brief surges of activity marked by a rapid pace to cover as much ground as possible before the all-consuming blizzard forced them to seek cover once again.

The ‘night’ was the worst. When the sun finally went down and darkness bathed the world, it felt as if time itself had come to a stop. The ponies would huddle together, draped in as many blankets as they could manage, and as close to their faltering fires as they could manage. The warmth was enough to keep them alive and keep the feeling in the tips of their hooves. But that was the extent of their comfort. Beyond the light of their fires, the world was empty blackness and roaring wind.

On more than one occasion, Starglow approached the sisters, trying to strike up a conversation. Every time, Celestia brushed him aside. She still wasn’t entirely sure she trusted these ponies, and she was even more unsure of how to even talk to the smiling colt. She couldn’t comprehend why Starglow kept smiling like that. He was just as nervous and afraid of this winter as the rest of them. However, he somehow had it in him to smile, to laugh. Granted, he was mostly fawning over her wings and asking about her magic, but still. His enthusiasm was bewildering, and Celestia didn’t have time for it.

“We’re getting close to unicorn territory,” Starshine said one ‘morning’ as the group was setting out from their last campsite. The darkness had faded a short while ago, and the winds were fair. She scanned the surrounding terrain with narrowed eyes. There were no trees in sight, but there was a long and sweeping mountain range that vaguely reminded Celestia of jagged teeth that ran along the horizon to their right. “I know those mountains. The Mongrel’s Fangs, they’re called. Their end marks a point in the border. Another day or two and we’ll cross into unicorn territory.”

Celestia had nothing to say to that. She was relieved by their progress - though that relief was small and withering, given the fact that the whole world was still frozen, and they had yet to cross paths with any other ponies since leaving Flatstone. Once again, she found herself questioning if there was anypony else alive beyond this group.

“Will there be more ponies there?” Luna asked quietly, echoing Celestia’s grim thoughts in a hopeful question.

Starshine’s ears drooped for a moment, but only a moment, before flicking back upright. She turned back to the smaller foal with a tender smile. “I don’t know, but I hope so. We unicorns may lack the gifts of strength and constitution, but we are far from helpless. I’m sure my kin have found ways to survive.”

Celestia hummed, putting away the last of her things in her saddlebags. “Then let’s get moving. The sooner we find help, the better.”

Nopony had any arguments for that, and so they set off. There was no more conversation for a time, and Celestia once again found herself trailing in the back of the group, allowing Starshine and her son to lead the way.

Once they had been walking for a while, though, Glow slowed down until he was walking beside her. Celestia pulled her coat tighter around herself and gave the colt an exasperated glance. Part of her wanted to cut him off before he said a word and ask that he just leave her alone already, but she bit her tongue.

“So, what kinds of games did you play?” he asked simply.

Celestia frowned at him, baffled by the question. “What?”

“Back in your home, I mean,” he clarified. “You said you lived in the mountains alone with your mom and dad, right? So, what kinds of games did you play up there?”

Celestia stared at him for a moment, then shook her head in exasperation. “Why do you want to know? We have more important things to worry about than playing games,” she remarked.

Glow was undeterred. “I know, I know. But once we get to the city and we’re safe, we’ll have all the time in the world. And besides, I’m curious,” he said.

Celestia looked ahead with a scoff. “I’m not interested in playing,” she spat. “I just want to get my sister somewhere safe and keep her that way. Nothing else matters.”

She felt Luna stirring on her back, but she ignored it. She just focused on the road ahead. Beside her, Starglow’s ears drooped slightly. “But… you can’t be gloomy all the time,” he said carefully.

Celestia snorted. “What I don’t understand is how you’re not.”

“Well, because I know everything’s gonna be okay,” Starglow said with a truly staggering amount of confidence. It was such a shock to Celestia that she drew to a halt. She turned to face Starglow, genuinely dumbstruck. But even in spite of the look she gave him, Glow’s expression did not falter. “We’re going to the unicorn city, the best city in all the world! That’s where all of the smartest ponies are, and all the powerful mages and wizards! And my mom’s a super smart and powerful wizard, too. If anypony can fix all this, it’s them!”

He took a step closer to Celestia and gave her a tender and inviting smile. He lifted a hoof out to her. “And even if they don’t, I still wanna be friends with you.”

Celestia blinked. “Friends…?” she questioned in surprise. She knew the word, of course, but thinking about it, she had never really had friends before. The closest thing to that was her family, but did they really count?

Glow’s grin widened. “Yeah! I mean, I’ve never had a friend before, and you’re just so cool!”

“Cool?” Celestia asked, her muzzle scrunching up as a stray snowflake landed on it. “Are you trying to make a joke?”

Starglow did not seem to comprehend what she was implying. “I mean it! You’ve got wings and a horn, you’re taking care of a sister - totally jealous of that, by the way - and you’re really good with magic!”

His enthusiasm was smothered by something more solemn a second later, and he held out his hoof a little farther. “And besides. You’re the first pony my age I’ve ever met. Before all this started, Mom sometimes said she wished I could have some friends. So, why not you? And besides… I think you could really use one. You’re always so grumpy and sad and stuff, and mom says friends can make that better.”

Celestia stared at Glow for several long seconds. Her eyes lingered on his outstretched hoof, and she felt her heart pull toward him. There was a softness in his eyes, a warmth and kindness that she hadn’t seen in what felt like forever. She wasn’t even sure she remembered where she had seen it before, but she knew she had. She found herself wanting to believe him, believe that he was right and that the adults would put everything right.

She lifted a hoof a few inches off the ground. It wavered, a battle waging behind her eyes. Starglow’s smile widened just a little more at seeing her dam starting to break, and he drifted his hoof forward just a little more as if coaxing a frightened animal to come and see that it was in no danger.

Before Celestia could say anything, however, she heard a gasp from up ahead. All thoughts of a friendship with Starglow were cast aside for the moment as the young mare turned her eyes forward. Starshine had pulled some ways ahead of them during their chat and was now at the top of the next hill. She turned back to them with wide eyes and an eager smile. “Kids, come on!” she hollered. “Don’t fall behind! There’s a town!”

Luna perked up on Celestia’s back. “A town?” she echoed hopefully. “Are there ponies there?!”

Starshine’s smile faltered as the foals scrambled to catch up to her. She turned to look just as Celestia reached her side.

Up ahead, there was a small village, smaller even than Flatstone had been. It sat in the middle of a wide-open expanse that might have once been a gorgeous field. The distinct lack of any water sources nearby would have stifled the growth of such a settlement, however. The architecture was more of the same practical earth pony construction that Celestia had gotten used to.

Celestia frowned. “I don’t think so,” she muttered gravely. “Look. The windows are all dark. No lights.”

Starshine nodded in agreement. “Good catch. If there were ponies still living here, they would have fires going to keep warm. I suspect they’ve probably moved on, like the ponies back in Flatstone did.”

“Or like us,” Starglow added, his expression and his tone turning notably grim.

There was a moment of quiet before another frosty chill swept over the group. Stifling a shutter, Starshine stepped back into motion. “Come on, let’s have a look. If there are ponies still here, maybe they can help. If not, there may be supplies we can scavenge,” she said to the others, pulling her cloak around herself a little tighter.

Starglow bounded after her, but Celestia lingered. Her eyes were locked on the small hamlet, and her expression darkened. There wouldn’t be anypony. She knew that already. Gone into the white, just like Flatstone. She could only hope that the populations had managed to survive out here.

A moment later, she felt Luna stirring on her back again, and her sister spoke in a soft, sad whisper. “Starglow’s right, you know. You used to play all the time…”

Celestia’s eyes fell. Those days felt so very long ago, now. A part of her wondered it they had ever actually happened, or if her recent experiences had forced her to conjure memories of a happy life that were never real. “...That was before the world ended, Lu,” she replied in a quiet whisper. “I don’t have time to play.”

“Tia…” Luna said softly, pulling the elder sister’s attention. She turned her head to see Luna’s face. Her eyes were boring into her, wide and concerned. A second later, Luna reached out to place a hoof on Celestia’s cheek. “You have to take care of yourself, too.”

Celestia looked back to the town, starting after Shine and Glow. “You first, Luna,” she stated emphatically. She could practically sense that Luna wanted to press the subject, but chose not to for the time being.

Celestia caught up with the parent and child swiftly, and when the group arrived at the edge of town, her suspicions were confirmed. A wave of deja vu came over Celestia as they stepped through empty, silent streets, surrounded by dark, abandoned homes.

“Nopony,” she said after a moment. “All gone.”

Starshine slumped in place, shaking her head. “A shame…” she said, defeated. She shook herself and refocused her attention. “Still, we shouldn’t pass this up. Come on, let’s see what we can find while the winds are agreeable.”

Celestia only nodded, having nothing else to add. She followed dutifully along behind Starshine, and bit by bit, they began to poke their heads into the various houses, searching for supplies. Celestia had been expecting everything to have been taken. Curiously, however, there was at least something useful in just about every home they entered. They were able to gather blankets to keep them warm at night, and firewood to last them for a few more days. They even stumbled open the occasional tool, such as a hammer or a shovel. There was no food, however.

Their trek soon took them onto a long and narrow street that sliced cleanly through the heart of the town. Abandoned stalls lined it on either side, the cloth canopies that might have sheltered merchants hawking their goods long since caved in from the weight of the snow. The occasional lump and mound of snow marred the edges of the lane. All of the town’s main roads connected to this avenue. But at the far end of the avenue, Celestia caught sight of a structure she had never seen before.

She pointed to it, tilting her head. “Hey, what’s that?” she asked. Starshine and her son followed her gesture, and as a group, they approached.

It was not a building in the conventional sense. It was a square stone platform, roughly thirty feet from end to end. Pillars rose into the air at each of the four corners, supporting a suspended roof. Unlit braziers sat before each of the pillars, facing toward a large stone bowl that was set into the very center of the platform. Its outer side was etched and engraved with symbols of leaves and vines coiling over hills and mountains. The bowl itself was filled with a pristine sheet of ice.

Most striking of all about the structure were the gravestones that lay behind it. Celestia recognized them for what they were as soon as she saw them. Great blocks of stone had been erected where a pony lay dead, buried under several feet of dirt and half that depth again in the snow.

“A shrine,” Starshine whispered quietly, drawing Celestia’s attention. The mare’s eyes were solemn, but there was something else in them, too. Curiosity, and a sort of subdued, distant respect. She took a tentative step forward, running her hoof gently along the rim of the bowl.

“What’s a shrine?” Celestia asked curiously, wrinkling up her nose at the unfamiliar word.

Starshine turned back to her, surprised. “What? You don’t know?”

It was Luna who answered. “Mom and dad never said anything to us about shrines.”

There was a moment of quiet before Starshine offered a quiet nod. “Some ponies believe in… higher powers, I guess you could call them. Spirits that overlook our world from someplace we cannot see. And those same ponies believe that they can benefit from being favored by those spirits. They gain that favor by offering gifts and praise to them in places like this. If I am not mistaken, this bowl would be a place where offerings would be made to the spirit the earth ponies give praise to. And in exchange, they would ask for favors. A good harvest. Safety from harm. That their dead rest in peace. That sort of thing.”

Celestia hummed quietly, looking past the bowl and onto the graveyard. “Do the spirits have names?” she asked in a soft murmur.

Starshine shrugged softly. “I can’t claim I know all the names the earth ponies give to their guardians. However, the most common, as I understand it, was Mother Earth. The spirit of the land itself, the origin of every living thing, big and small, plant and animal.”

Celestia nodded softly. “Mother Earth…” she whispered. She had heard the name before. Mudflat had uttered it once or twice, but never had she been given reason to consider the reverent way he had said it. She had been too caught up in her distaste for the selfish old bastard to care.

A second later, she reached into her bags with her magic and withdrew one of the many small figurines that Sprout had carved for his foals. She swallowed heavily. It would be an empty, hollow gesture, she knew it. Her father was dead. But if there was any truth to what Starshine had just told her, if there was some spirit of the earth that could grant her parents peace…

She stepped a little closer to the bowl. She looked down at her reflection in the ice, holding out the figurine. She almost jumped in shock at what she saw. The haggard, bruised, and near-emotionless face that stared back at her could not have been her own. Every facet of her features had been marked or ruined. Her mane had grown out long, wild and matted, caked with dirt and mud. Her face was smeared with discolorations leftover from bruises and smears of frozen blood she had never taken a chance to clean away.

All at once, she realized where she had seen the warmth in Glow’s eyes before. She sucked in a quiet gasp before pulling the carving against her chest, hoping to feel some warmth there, some familiar tingle.

There was nothing.

A moment later, she closed her eyes, shook her head, and replaced the figurine in her bag. “Come on,” she choked out, her eyes hidden by her mane as she turned to walk away from the shrine. “We’re wasting time…”

On her back, she felt Luna’s hooves curling around her neck to give her a tight hug. She wished she could feel it.

Over the next hour or so, the group continued their search of the homes and abandoned structures of the village. There was precious little else to be had, however, and there was only one other place that they had to search. It would likely prove to be the most time-consuming, and Celestia was more than ready to be rid of this town.

Situated not so very far away from the rest of the village at the top of a shallow hill was a wooden fence that surrounded a broad and largely barren property. At the back of the property sat a modest home, a touch larger than all the others, accompanied by a barn off to the left and a smaller shed off to the right. A gate in the fence out back led out to sweeping fields that Celestia could only imagine had once belonged to a field of crops.

“Three buildings,” Starshine muttered quietly, her brow furrowing in curiosity. She scuffed the snow for a moment, then turned to Celestia. “We’ll make better time if we split up. Glow and I will search the shed. Why don’t you two search the barn, and we can search the main house together?”

Celestia wasn’t sure she liked the idea of splitting the party like that, but given that the storm could come after them again at any moment, she couldn’t find it in her to argue. With a simple shrug, she ensured Luna was secure on her back before setting off for the barn.

The large double doors in the front of the structure were caked in frost and a layer of crusty ice - albeit thinner than what they had seen in the rest of the town so far. Celestia wiped a hoof along the wooden surface for a moment, frowning, then tried to open it with her magic. The ice crackled and let out a series of whistling squeaks in protest, holding the wooden doors shut. Celestia growled in frustration, her horn flaring brightly. “Oh no, don’t you dare slow me down right now,” she seethed as chips of ice and snow broke away to bite against her trembling cheeks. “I. Am not. In the mood!”

With a cacophonous sound of splintering wood and shattering ice, the barn doors finally swung open. Celestia was hit by a gust of stale, dry air, a cloud of billowing dust, and a foul stench. She waved a wing in front of her to chase the dust away, covering her muzzle with a hoof, before taking in the contents of the structure.

She had never been inside a barn before, so she wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to expect. As such, she was understandably taken by surprise when she beheld a large wooden wagon parked in the heart of the barn, the back covered with a canvas tarp, and all in remarkably good condition!

Her eyes flew wide, and for a moment, she felt a spark of excitement. “Woah… Look at this, Luna!” she said, carefully lifting the other filly off her back and setting her down beside her.

Luna’s eyes locked onto the wagon, and her own expression lit up, in spite of her exhaustion. “A wagon!” she said, taking a few steps forward. “It’s huge!”

Celestia nodded eagerly, her wings carrying her up to peer into the wagon through the gap in the front of the canopy. It was far larger than the small and piddly cart that Sprout had used to haul around chunks of fallen trees for firewood. There was enough room back here for everypony to sleep - albeit without the consideration of personal space. And if they didn’t use it for that, there was still plenty of space for them to store extra food and supplies.

Her elation at the discovery was soured somewhat when she saw the curled-up form on the floor in the back of the barn against the wall. Celestia recognized it at once as a pony. Her grin disappeared, and she dropped back down to the floor.

“Luna, stay where you are,” Celestia instructed sharply, not bothering to lower her voice. The other pony would have heard them by now. Celestia looked back to her sister and gave a grim nod. “We’re not alone.”

Luna swallowed heavily and stayed in place. Her horn lit up, the blue glow of her magic flickering irregularly, and pulled her blanket tighter against herself to ward off the cold. Satisfied that she would stay out of harm's way, Celestia turned and carefully crept around the wagon toward the curled-up pony.

As she drew closer, she could make out more details. They appeared to be older than Celestia by a few years. A female earth pony, their fur was colored a vibrant shade of pink, while her wild mane and tail were the color of apples and cherries. A cutie mark of a wheel made of cherries, their stems making up the spokes, adorned the pony’s flanks. Celestia could not see her face from here, hidden as it was by her forelegs.

“Hello?” Celestia called out softly. The pony did not respond. A horrible feeling built up in her gut, and she crept a little closer. “Hello? Who are you? Are you okay?”

Still, no response, and Celestia was beginning to feel an all-too-familiar chill. A lump formed in her throat, and she drew up short a few paces away from the curled-up form. Carefully, she reached out with her magic to shake her.

The body was stiff, and Celestia realized with a horrific churning in her gut that the mare was dead. She expected to feel the urge to throw up, but all she felt was a small wave of nausea. Still, she wanted to turn and leave, to leave the body and tell Starshine and Starglow about the wagon so they could get out of here and get away. But a morbid curiosity came over her, and she couldn’t help but slowly advance closer to the corpse.

“What was your name…?” Celestia asked as she sat on her haunches before the body. “What did you do here? How did you live? How… how did you die?”

The dead body had no answer for her. A chilly wind blew outside like a mocking laugh.

“Still,” she muttered softly, once more reaching out with her magic. “You don’t deserve to rot in the back of an abandoned barn… Let’s give you a proper…”

Celestia’s words trailed off as she gingerly hefted the body into the air with her magic, trying not to disturb its posture too much. But as it rose, and their barrel became visible, Celestia’s eyes were drawn inevitably to the long, clean slice that had opened the pony’s belly.

Celestia screamed, dropping the body back to the ground with a crunching thud.

“Tia?!” Came Luna’s voice from the entrance, and Celestia could hear her sister’s smaller hooves scrambling against the hard-packed floor of the barn. “Tia, what is it?! Are you okay?!”

She swiftly turned and ran back to her sister, partly to stop her from moving and hurting herself, and partly to keep her from seeing the horrific sight. “Luna, get back!” she commanded the moment the smaller foal came into sight. Celestia didn’t wait for Luna to respond, she simply took a hold of her in her magic and swiftly carried her back to the barn’s entrance.

Luna squirmed in place, eyes wide with fright. “W-what is it? What’s going on? Are we in danger?!” she asked, her eyes darting back to where Celestia had found the murdered corpse.

Celestia cringed, glancing back toward the body again. A moment later, she carefully placed Luna back between her withers. “We might be. I found a dead body. Come on,” she said before quickly cantering out of the barn. Up ahead, she could see Starshine marching out of the little shed, carrying a woodcutter’s axe beside her in her magic. Starglow trotted at her side, looking anxiously at the larger home.

“Starshine!” Celestia called out, swiftly crossing the remaining distance between them. She slid to a stop in front of the adult before jerking her head back toward the barn. “Starshine, we’re not safe. I found a body in the barn.”

Were it not for his coat color, Starglow might have gone pale at that. He took a frightened step back while his eyes locked on his mother. Starshine frowned, her eyes darting around for a moment. “Are you sure they didn’t just starve or freeze?”

Celestia shook her head. “That’s what I thought at first. But her belly was open. Snow and hunger don’t do that.”

Starshine’s skeptical expression instantly hardened into one of suspicion as she looked back toward the larger house. She pulled the axe close against her side, and Celestia could see how tight she was holding it in her magic by the way the aura glowed. Next to his mother, Starglow let out a quiet whimper and pressed himself closer to Starshine. “Are we gonna be okay?” he asked quietly.

“I won’t let anything touch you,” Starshine told him without hesitation. She knelt down to give the quivering colt a quick hug, then nodded at the sisters. “Any of you.”

Celestia swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded along slowly. “S-so what do we do? If whatever did that is still around, I don’t wanna stick around,” she put forward, glancing anxiously at the house. It seemed to loom larger and more ominously before her than before, and she felt a thrill of danger creeping up her spine from the base of her tail just looking at it.

Starshine gave the house an appraising look of her own. A moment later, she turned back to the sisters. “Did you find anything else in that barn? Anything of use?” she asked quickly, clearly trying to determine if a search of the house was worth the risk.

Luna piped up. “Um, we found a big wagon,” she said, pointing back. “It’s got a cover, too.”

Starshine looked that way, and even from here, Celestia knew the wagon was visible. The adult mare’s expression was visibly torn. A moment later, she swallowed heavily. “...The food we have isn’t going to last much longer, and who knows when we’ll get another chance to resupply,” she reasoned carefully. “If we have a wagon, that means more space for supplies, especially food for the road. We can’t let this chance to stockpile slip us by. We’ll just have to risk it.”

Celestia wanted to argue, to bring attention to Luna’s injury again, but bit on her tongue. As much as she hated to admit it, Starshine was right. They wouldn’t last much longer on the food they had, and if they died en route, all of this would have been for nothing. She took a slow, deep breath and gave a firm nod. “Alright. But we stick together,” she insisted. “No more splitting up. We watch each other’s backs.”

Starshine gave Celestia a surprised glance. It swiftly morphed into an impressed and appreciative smile. She nodded. “Good idea, Celestia. I’ll go first. The rest of you, stay close,” she instructed.

The group got into formation, and then, with Starshine leading the way, they pushed into the house. The wooden door gave off a low creak, long and loud, as they pushed it open. Celestia was expecting another blast of stale air and the smell of dust as she stepped into the first room. What she got instead was a foul stench that drew her mind back to a clearing of dead deer. The smell almost made Celestia turn tail and run.

“By the Stars,” Starshine gasped, drawing up short. A hoof flew up to cover her mouth, stifling a series of coughs and gags. Starglow mirrored the action, his eyes squinting as they watered.

“Ew! What’s that smell?!” he demanded in disgust.

Celestia felt the chill seeping into her fur. She looked past the two to see the source. Two bodies lay sprawled on the floor, partially decomposed. The wooden floorboards beneath them were blackened with dried smears. To Celestia’s surprise, however, the bodies were not those of earth ponies. The metallic plates covering their bodies and the limp wings sprawled out beside them made it clear.

“Pegasi?” she asked in shock.

“Huh?” Luna said from her back, stirring to try and get a better look. Celestia tried to warn her not to look, but the words came too late, and Luna let out a mortified whimper. Celestia quickly pried her off her back and set her down so that she wouldn’t hurl all over her back if the smaller foal had to retch.

Starshine’s horn flared with more light, illuminating the whole room. It looked to be the equivalent of the living room back in Celestia’s old house in the mountains. A hearth was set into the wall directly across from the door, long having burnt itself out. A collection of old and tattered cushions were spread out in front of it. A door off to the right opened into what appeared to be a bedroom, while a long counter dominated the left wall with a simple stove. A trapdoor was set into the floor beside the counter, and it stood open. Numerous sacks stuffed to the point of bursting were scattered against the walls.

One of the bodies lay against the wall, head lolled to the side. Celestia could just make out the open gash in their throat. Judging by their face and their build, she guessed they were a stallion. The other body was in the middle of the room, flopped haphazardly on its side and curled into a delta position. A mare with shriveled, icy blue fur and a wispy silver mane and tail. A hole ran through her chest and out her back, tall and narrow. Her eyes were wide and gaping, devoid of light and glistening as if encased in ice.

“W-what would the pegasi be doing here?” Celestia questioned, not as disturbed by the bodies as she probably should have been. She stepped carefully around Starshine to get a better look at the dead mare. “And what happened to them?”

Starshine’s lips drew tight into a thin line. She knelt down in front of the mare as well, examining the wound. “The pegasi demanded payments of food and other ground-made essentials from the Earth Ponies in exchange for bringing the weather patterns needed to tend the soil,” she explained, gingerly closing the dead mare’s eyes with her magic. “But with this winter destroying the land…”

She let the sentence hang, the implications settling over the assembled ponies like a frozen blanket. Celestia felt stifled, strangled, and with a huff, turned away from the bodies. “That doesn’t explain how they died,” she pointed out.

“The wounds are clean,” Starshine observed, turning to the stallion against the wall. “These weren’t made by a savage animal tearing into them. And the bodies haven’t been eaten, either. These wounds were made with a blade. Was the body in the barn like this?”

Celestia frowned, nodding, and once again felt a thrill of danger running down her spine. Trying to distract herself, she made for the nearest of the sacks and pulled it open with her magic. Her eyes flew wide at what she saw. It was a practical harvest inside. Apples, carrots, onions, and turnips filled the sack, joined with rough-hewn blocks of ice and what appeared to be more sprinklings of salt to preserve them.

She stomped the floor a few times, turning back to the others. “Guys! Guys, there’s food!” she shouted, hauling the sack over. The others gathered around, peering into the pouch. Starglow’s eyes lit up, and he quickly drew out one of the apples with his magic.

“Woah!” he said, turning it this way and that. “These apples are green!”

“Granny smiths, they’re called,” Starshine told him with a little nod. She turned back to the pegasus bodies, frowning, and then to the various sacks around the room. “I think I know where the food in town went…”

Before anypony could say anything else, a sound cut through the room. Everypony went rigid. Celestia quickly moved to Luna’s side, her ears perked up and listening. Starshine did much the same, nudging Starglow close to her side while she lifted her axe.

A second later, the sound came again, from the open trap door leading down into the basement. Celestia’s chest felt cold when she realized what it was.

Somepony was in the house with them. And they were sobbing.

“They sound scared,” Luna said softly, leaning forward slightly. She looked up at Celestia. “We should help them.”

Celestia shook her head. “No. For all we know, that could be the same pony that killed these pegasi. Too risky.”

Starshine’s expression darkened considerably, and her axe slowly lowered. “And if it’s not?” she questioned. “What if it’s part of the family that lived here? Or another scavenger, like us?”

Starglow nodded eagerly. “Yeah, we can’t just leave them! We gotta at least check!”

Celestia fought the urge to growl in frustration. She was outvoted, though. “...Alright, fine,” she relented. She turned back to Luna and once again carefully lifted the foal onto her back. “Come on. Be careful.”

Starshine once again took the lead, descending the steps into the cellar, with the foals following close behind. The basement stretched out across the entire underbelly of the house and was lined with shelves stacked with more pouches of food. Casting her light around, Starshine illuminated first a set of discarded pegasus armor up against a corner, alongside a pair of sharpened blades, the steel of their edges tarnished with black smears. Deeper in, a collection of three bedrolls lay rolled out in a line. Only one of them was occupied.

A pegasus stallion was in it, curled into a fetal position and clutching at his head. He shook and trembled, sobbing uncontrollably. He looked young, only a few years older than Celestia. Celestia’s ears drooped. The poor boy was barely even an adult. His once lush green coat now hung loosely around his emaciated frame. His blonde mane draped in dirty matted clumps in front of his face. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in weeks, judging by the dark bags under his eyes.

After a moment, Starshine called out. “Hello?”

The pegasus stiffened, gasping. He cracked open an eye, revealing it to be bloodshot and devoid of color, as if it had frozen into ice. Even so, Celestia could see the frosty tears rolling in crystalline clumps down his face. In the back of her mind, something screamed at her to run.

“U-unicorns?” the pegasus babbled between his choking sobs. “N-no. No. C-cant be. Dreaming again. Seeing things. Not real. You’re not real. G-go away!”

Starshine’s ears drooped. Slowly, she lowered her axe and lifted a hoof in a soothing gesture. “We’re real. It’s alright. We’re not here to hurt you,” she said slowly. “We just want some answers. What happened here?”

The pegasus sniffled again and slowly pushed himself up to his haunches. “W-what? You’re… real? B-but… w-why? How? How are… why are… I don’t…”

Starshine smiled softly. “We’re real. We mean you no harm.”

The stallion just stared at them for a few seconds, then looked down. “I.. I h-haven’t seen anypony else since… I-it’s been so long. I don’t…”

“Ssshh, shh,” Starshine gently shushed him, stepping a little closer. “It’s okay. Take your time. Take a deep breath for me.” The stallion complied, taking in a slow, deep breath, then letting it out in a withering sigh. Satisfied, Shine sat down on her haunches before him. “Now, start from the beginning what happened?”

The pegasus sniffled again, wiping a hoof over his face. “W-we, um… w-we were sent by commander Hurricane,” he mumbled, looking down at the floor. “F-food’s running out in the cloud city. S-snow keeps t-t-taking our b-best flyers. H-had to start c-conscripting… I didn’t wanna come…”

He lifted his hooves up, staring down at them. He was shaking more now, but it didn’t look like it was from the cold. “We w-were gonna collect the food. Y-you know, that the Earth Ponies owed us. I th-thought we w-were gonna talk to them. I t-thought we’d negotiate. Threaten, maybe. Make an example or two at worst. B-but… b-but… oh, winds, I can’t…”

“What happened?” Luna pressed gently, sliding down from Celestia’s back. Celestia turned to her, eyes narrowed in a warning and a hoof on the smaller foal’s chest to keep her back. Still, Luna persisted. “Did something go wrong?”

The pegasus shuddered and clutched at the sides of his head. “The S-sargeant… s-she said to… to… s-sge ordered us to… k-kill them all.”

Celestia quickly pulled Luna back, and she heard Starglow gasping behind her. Her mind wandered back to the mounds of snow by the edges of the market street, and the supplies that remained in the houses.

The pegasus continued, his voice rising in volume with hysterics. “She looked so cold… It was the ice. The ice got in her eyes! M-made her wrong! She just… we just… stallions. Mares. The elderly… everypony… we… she m-made us kill everypony! S-she smiled while we did it!”

Starshine narrowed her eyes. “And you obeyed such an order?” she questioned.

“I had no choice!” the pegasus wailed pathetically, curling in on himself. The mare and foals took a few steps back as he slumped back to the ground, continuing his lament in a pitiful moan. “You don’t understand. Nopony understands. I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t disobey. Nopony can disobey. When you get an order, you have to follow. Discipline... Honor…”

“But killing an entire town?!” Celestia shot back at him, her mind returning to the poor mare she had found in the barn. “Could these ponies even defend themselves?! Is THAT your idea of honor?!”

The pegasus flinched under her words. “...You’re right,” he choked out, slowly starting to rock back and forth in place as more tears rolled down his cheeks. “Coward. Wrong. We were wrong. It was wrong. It was evil. She was evil. My friend. He agreed with me. We agreed that she was wrong. She had to be stopped. W-we tried to talk to her. Tell her. Convince her… she… she cried insubordination… her eyes… they were all ice, then.

“...She killed him. And I…” He buried his face in his hooves, and once again he started sobbing. “I had to kill h-her! She was going to kill m-me, and I had to kill her! Oh, winds, I had to kill her! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to! I’m s-so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! I just w-wanted… I just…”

He trailed off into silence, quivering in place, holding himself and sobbing hysterically into his hooves. Celestia turned to Starshine, sharing a glance with the mare. She looked just as unsettled and disturbed as Celestia felt.

“She called them savages,” the boy continued. “Called them monsters. She was smiling. Evil. She was evil. I did the right thing. But I killed them first. The ponies of this town… I’m evil, too. I’m a killer. I’m a murderer. Winds take me, I’m a murderer…”

“Hey, calm down,” Starshine said gently. “Take a deep breath. It’s over, now.”

A moment passed. Then another. The stallion looked up at them, and Celestia saw again how his eyes had frosted over. She recalled with a spike of adrenaline what he had said about his commander. The ice had gotten into her eyes…

Suddenly, the stallion froze. He sniffed at the air with one long and unnaturally deep inhale. When he let it out, the sound of crackling ice accompanied it. He licked his quivering lips, his jaw hanging partially open. He was trying to speak, to say something, but the words caught in his throat several times before, finally, he forced them out. “Y-you… you smell of it,” he breathed.

Celestia recoiled, taking another step back for the ladder. “W-what?” she asked.

The pegasus stood on trembling legs. He slogged forward, his head dangling loosely, swaying on his neck like a pendulum with every unstable step he took. “You smell of it. You reek of it,” he accused, his miserable voice rising with every word.

Starshine took another step back herself. Slowly, she lowered her axe and held her hoof up again. “Stop. What are you talking about?”

The stallion snarled, swinging his head limply to one side to slam into one of the shelves with an echoing thud. “Why?! Tell me why?! Why did this happen?! Why do you smell of it?! What are you?! What have you done?!”

“I haven’t done anything!” Celestia countered, taking another fearful step back. “I’m just trying to survive, same as you!”

“LIAR!” the pegasus bellowed, slamming his head into the shelf once again.

Starshine growled low in her throat. She focused on the stallion in front of her and lifted her axe. “Please, sir, you’re mistaken,” she insisted. “J-just stay back. I’m warning you! I don’t want to hurt you! Just calm down, please-”

The stallion, however, was not dissuaded. His eyes burned with a frantic craze, and Celestia spotted something leaking out of the corner of his mouth. “Liar. Monster. Killer!” he accused. Then, he screamed, his jaw cracking like ice as it opened unnaturally wide. “YOU DID THIS TO ME!”

And then he was charging them.

Starshine hesitated only for a moment to swing her axe, and a moment was all the pegasus needed. His frail form smashed into the unicorn mare with remarkable force, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. Starglow cried out in fear, backpedaling from the ensuing scuffle. The pegasus was snapping and biting at Shine’s face like a rabid dog, and his frantic snarls and grunts were just as feral.

“Get off of me!” Starshine cried, forcefully shoving the pegasus to one side into one of the shelves. It toppled over with a great cacophony, and the pegasus screamed. His voice had become something foul and unnatural.

Starshine quickly rolled back to her hooves, panting for breath. “Time to go,” she said to the kids in a frantic whisper. She quickly scampered for the steps. Celestia and the others didn’t need to be told twice. Celestia quickly scooped Luna up into her magic and ran for the stairs.

Starglow went first, scrambling up and out with a terrified scream. Celestia was next, hauling Luna along with her. Starshine waited by the base of the steps, her horn aglow with magic and ready to fight the pegasus off if he came at them again. Celestia heard him screaming behind her, his voice crackling with ice.

“Move!” Starshine shouted, shoving Celestia up the steps just in time to keep her from being tackled by the charging pegasus. He shot out of the darkness and smashed into Starshine with remarkable force. Her eyes bulged in their sockets as she was forced into the wall, and before she could follow up, the pegasus smashed his hoof into the side of her face with an echoing snap. She crumpled on the spot, her eyes rolling unevenly in her skull.

Celestia turned to her, eyes wide. “Starshine!” she shouted, quickly setting Luna down by Starglow, who was waiting by the front door. With a shout, Celestia went to charge down to try and help the mare. She made it only a step before the pegasus turned to her, his hoof rising up to strike Celestia’s chin. Her teeth clacked together painfully in her mouth as stars exploded across her vision, and she fell back to the floor.

Celestia was vaguely aware of a gust of air as the pegasus shot past her. Coughing out something that smelled like copper, she rolled over onto her belly.

And then she heard Luna screaming.

Looking up, Celestia saw that the stallion had pinned Luna to the floor, his eyes dripping freezing water and clumps of ice onto her face. He leaned close to the frantically squirming filly, uncomfortably so, until his nose was right up in her face. Celestia tried to stand, but her legs weren’t responding quite right.

“Get off of me!” Luna shrieked, uselessly batting her wings against him. “It hurts! You're hurting me! Please, stop!”

“It’s your fault,” he finally rasped. He pulled back, lifting his hoof up to punch her. “IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!”

“STOP!” Celestia roared, finally forcing herself to stand as fire and rage overwhelmed any fear she might have been feeling. She took a step forward, flames flickering into being on the tip of her horn.

On the ground, with a grunt, Luna found just enough leverage to drive one of her back hooves up and between the pegasus’ hind legs. Celestia saw the pegasus’ face contort with agony, saw him falling to one side, and she saw her chance.

With a bellowing roar, she kicked off the floor and tackled the pegasus in the side, bringing him down to the ground. She lifted a hoof to punch him, but he was faster than expected, knocking the blow aside with his own hoof. His wing came smashing into her barrel, driving the air from her lungs and knocking her over onto her back. The pegasus rolled on top of her, pinning her to the floor. She opened her mouth to scream, but his hoof came down hard against her muzzle with a sickening crack.

Then his hooves were on her throat, and Celestia couldn’t breathe. She grasped at his hooves, kicking and squirming frantically, but he had her held in place. She tried to pour magic into her horn, but she couldn’t concentrate through the pain in her face and chest. Her lungs burned, screaming for air, and darkness was beginning to creep in on the edges of her vision.

“Your fault, your fault, your fault, your fault,” the pegasus chanted, squeezing even tighter. He raised a hoof from the squirming filly’s throat, primed and ready to drive it into her face.

“Tia!” Luna’s voice called from the side. Something flew in, enveloped in Luna’s blue magic aura. It was Celestia’s saddlebags, loaded with scavenged supplies. The strap in the middle caught on the pegasus’ fetlock, carrying with it the weight of their supplies. There was a horrible snapping sound as his leg was jerked behind his back, his shoulder swelling and bulging unnaturally. His eyes bulged, and he screamed.

Celestia felt his hoof come away from her throat, and her concentration returned. With a furious scream, she unleashed a gout of flames from her horn and directly into the pegasus’ face. She heard him squealing in agony and saw his good hoof trying to shield himself, but it was no use.

And then she was upon him. Celestia didn’t even realize she had tackled him until she was punching him in the face, over and over, every blow punctuated by a shouted word.

“Stay! Away! From! My! SISTER! She’s MINE! Do you hear me?! MINE!”

Beneath her, the pegasus’ cries of pain rapidly died away, fading into blubbering gurgles, then quiet rasps, and then finally utter silence. But she didn’t care. She just kept hitting him, oblivious to the red flecks appearing on her face, or the smears crawling up her hooves. And all the while, she was still shouting.

“Idiot! Murderer! Monster! I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!”

There was a voice from behind her, its words lost amid the screaming rage in her mind. She felt two hooves gripping her shoulders from behind, and instinct drove her to defend herself.

“Don’t touch me!” Celestia shouted, thrashing against the new threat. She turned against them, lashing out with her hooves and catching them in the face.

Her world froze when she heard Luna cry out in pain.

She watched, horrified, as her little sister flailed back to the ground, her hoof covering her face. She crashed against the wall with a sharp, high-pitched shriek, before crumpling to the floor and falling still.

Silence fell over the house. Celestia stood still, gasping for air as the fire in her skull spluttered and died, replaced with a chill of horror. She felt sick to her stomach. Slowly, she looked at her hoof, dreading what she would find.

“Celestia!” Starglow said in protest when he caught his senses. He quickly moved to Luna’s side, shooting the elder sister a horrified look. “What the heck is wrong with you?!”

Celestia mouthed uselessly like a fish, hunting for words, but none would come. “I… I didn’t… I’m…” she choked.

Luna lowered her trembling hoof, revealing the red trickle leaking out of her nose and the tears welling up in her eyes. Her eyes lingered on Celestia, and a terrified whimper slipped past her lips.

There were no words to describe the regret Celestia felt at that moment. She slowly reached her hoof out for Luna, her ears lowering. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean… I wasn’t trying to… I just…”

Luna’s eyes flicked past Celestia to the dead pegasus, joining his brethren in death on the floor of the abandoned earth pony house. She whimpered, allowing herself to be pulled into Starglow’s protective hooves. “Y-you killed him…” she choked out at length.

“He was going to kill you!” Celestia protested more sharply than she intended. “I had to protect you! No one touches you. Ever.”

Luna, however, was not comforted. She just sniffled again and covered her face, burying it in Starglow’s chest. Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came. She watched as Starglow gingerly stroked the back of her little sister’s head with his hoof, all the while glaring at Celestia with what could only be fear and disappointment.

From the trap door, Starshine ascended, the axe floating once more in her magic. She took in the scene with a distant, hardened frown. She stared at the broken corpse on the ground, and a moment later, she sighed. “Is everypony alright?”

Nopony answered.

A second later, Starglow found his voice. “You said you hated him,” he muttered, staring at Celestia again.

“I did.”

“Did you mean it?” Starshine asked a moment later.

“He tried to hurt my sister,” Celestia said automatically.

Starshine wilted on the spot and slowly shook her head. “Celestia…” she said softly.

If she had anything more to say, however, it was cut off. A powerful gust of freezing air suddenly blasted against the front of the house, sending the wooden beams of the windows shattering inward along with a sudden flurry of enormous snowflakes. Manes and tails flapped and billowed in the sudden gale, and Celestia had to lift a hoof to protect her face.

“What’s happening?!” Starglow shouted to be heard over the roaring of the wind, trying to protect Luna with his body.

He was answered by a sound Celestia had hoped never to hear again. The distant chorus of otherworldly howling filtered into her ears, and her heart began to beat frantically against her chest. She turned to Starshine. The two made eye contact for only a moment. Celestia swallowed.

“It’s them.”

XXII - Frostbite

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On the way, the group stumbled upon a town that, much like the one that came before, was devoid of its inhabitants. But unlike in Flatstone, where the ponies had fled of their own accord, here, it was discovered by the sisters that they had been slain - cut down in the name of hatred and greed. And, confronted by one of those responsible, and driven to protect what she held dear, the elder sister committed an act she would never be able to take back…

Celestia hadn’t even realized she had started moving. In the blink of an eye, she darted from her place in the middle of the room and burst out into the rampaging cold. The howling wind slashed at her face, sending her mane and tail billowing behind her like flags of war. Gritting her teeth, she turned her eyes heavensward, searching for the monsters that yet again came to take away her sister.

They were there, in the sky. She could see them, Silhouettes of frost and malice, dancing their silent dance in the fog and snow. For a moment, Celestia figured that this would be no different than last time, and went to pour magic into her horn, ready to unleash her flames and end the threat. Such notions withered and died almost as soon as they had formed, however.

There were so many of them. It was like a swarm of hornets, furious, frenzied, and beyond counting. Her ears drooped, and she realized with a surge of fear that there was no way she could hope to fight against such odds and live to tell the tale.

Behind her, she heard the others emerging from the home. She felt a hoof on her back and looked up to see Starshine’s intent, frantic eyes boring into her own. “The wagon,” she commanded, jerking her head for the barn. “Now! Move!”

Celestia shakily nodded before casting her eyes about for Luna. She saw the foal on Starshine’s back, curled up tight, her eyes staring into the heavens, wide with terror. Celestia lit her horn, reaching for the smaller foal with her magic, but a firm shake from Starshine’s hoof snapped her attention away from it.

“I said move!” Starshine barked, shoving Celestia into motion.

Celestia bristled. She wanted to argue, to demand that Shine give her back her sister, but the tingling on her hoof and the red trickle coming out of Luna’s nose silenced the words before they could even form. With a frustrated growl, Celestia did as she was told and made a mad dash for the barn. She could hear the spirits in the air, howling louder and nearer than before. The wind surged again so hard that Celestia almost lost her balance.

Starglow had run ahead of them, not needing to be told twice, and was already scrambling up into the back of the wagon when the remaining three arrived. Celestia jumped up after him with a quick flap of her wings. At the front, Starshine quickly got herself hooked up to the harness and floated Luna into the back with her magic. Celestia reached for her but again was denied as Starglow caught her instead.

“Hang on back there!” Starshine shouted to be heard over the roaring wind. “This is going to get rough!”

The ghosts roared hungrily, the weight of their bloodlust sending the panels of the barn rattling. Starglow shuddered in place, but the low whimper let out by Luna drew his attention. He held her close, and Celestia felt herself heating up with an emotion she couldn’t quite place. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she had the chance, the wagon lurched into motion. The sudden jolt of momentum was a new feeling to Celestia, and a sudden burst of nausea ravaged her already scrambling senses, distracting her from the chaos outside, if only for a moment.

“W-what do we do?” Starglow asked as the wagon thundered down the path, his ears perking up. “Y-you’ve fought these things before, right? W-what do we do against them?”

Celestia frowned, moving to look out the back of the wagon. As she turned her eyes upward, she saw more and more ghosts gathering together. They weren’t attacking yet, and she couldn’t help but wonder if they were afraid of her after last time. Either that, or they were sizing her up, waiting to see what she would do, waiting for a weakness to exploit. Or, perhaps most frustratingly, they were toying with them. Letting their prey think they had a chance to escape before plunging in for the inevitable, unavoidable kill.

She bared her teeth at them, then turned back to Glow. “Fire scares them off,” she said plainly. “But it doesn’t kill them. They just slink off and reform somewhere else.”

Starglow blinked, then looked around. He offered up a helpless shrug. “Not a lot of fire around here…”

Celestia frowned, then turned back to glare into the sky. Her horn lit up. “Just leave that part to me,” she growled. “You keep Luna safe.”

“I was already doing that.”

Celestia bit her lip to silence her biting reply.

The wagon took a sharp turn once it came to the end of the trail. They were back in the heart of the settlement now, and Celestia’s eyes traced over the abandoned homes one last time. “No, not abandoned,” she corrected herself. “Emptied.”

Their frantic flight carried them swiftly through the streets, the buildings and mounds turning to mere blurs of darkened shapes against the pristine white backdrop before being lost in the rapidly worsening blizzard. Celestia had to squint to see through the maelstrom, and realized with a lump forming in her throat that the fog was getting thicker. They were running blind, and somehow she doubted the ghosts would at all be hindered by the lack of visibility.

Before long, they were outside of the village, the last of the buildings swallowed behind them in merciless white. It was only then that, up above, Celestia heard the tell-tale howl of one of the ghosts. She lifted her head to see a pack of them descending from the heavens, the air shimmering with frost and ice in their wake. Starshine was doing an admirable job pulling the wagon along, but the ghosts were faster, and now they were in the open.

She flared her wings, bracing to accept the challenge. “Come on, then!” she shouted at them, her horn flaring ever brighter as flames began to gather on the tip. “You want some more? Huh?! THEN COME GET ME!”

The ghost at the head of the pack glared at her, its eyes flaring blue. It charged, pulling ahead of its friends and rapidly closing the distance. Celestia built energy on her horn, waiting until she could see herself reflected clearly in the beast’s eyes. Then, with a shout, she unleashed the flames in a wide, blazing cone.

The ghost, however, was ready. The moment Celestia fired off the spell, it rose high into the air, dodging the rush of the blaze. Celestia dropped the spell a moment later and looked up, gasping in alarm. She tried to brace for impact, but she was too slow. The ghost snapped down at her like a coiled spring, slamming into her and forcing her into the floor of the wagon. The air was driven from her lungs, and she was sure she could feel the wood cracking beneath her.

By her side, she heard Starglow and Luna screaming.

The ghost reared up and off of her, its eyes blazing with predatory hunger, and a pale glow building up in its breast. Celestia wasn’t sure what it was doing, and she didn’t care to find out. With a shout, she planted all four hooves on its chest and pushed. Her hooves flared with frozen agony, and then immediately went numb, but she forced herself to ignore it. If anything, the numbness worked in her favor. She could push harder. Its eyes widened as she managed to shove it up and off of her, more magic gathering on her horn. Instinct took over, and with a guttural scream, Celestia unleashed a burst of raw concussive force, untrained, unfocused, but no less devastating for it.

The ghost was blasted back and out of the wagon with a howl of pain, but recovered quickly, darting back up into the air and out of range of her magic.

Celestia forced herself back to her feet, gasping for air and seething with burning rage. “I told you,” she shouted at the ghosts over the wind. “To leave us alone! I told you I’d kill you all!”

As if galvanized by her warning, the remaining two ghosts resumed their charge, closing the distance with ease. Celestia growled, bracing herself to fight them off as she had the last one. To her surprise, however, they did not fly for her. Instead, they swooped low and to the sides, alongside the wagon and out of view.

Celestia blinked. “What are they-?”

The wagon suddenly lurched to a stop, accompanied by the violent scraping of wood and ice. The sudden shift in momentum sent the foals toppling to the floor of the wagon with cries of pain and shock. Celestia scrambled to rise, adrenaline flooding her veins. A moment later, she heard screaming.

It was Luna.

She turned to her sister. Luna was on the ground, a hoof on her injured side, and her face contorted in agony. She must have fallen on her injury. Starglow picked himself up beside her, his eyes rolling around in his head. He looked down at Luna, helpless. “Luna?! Ah, crud, uhm! W-what do I do?! How do I help!?”

“It hurts,” Luna cried, unable to answer his question. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! M-make it stop! P-please, make it stop!”

“Kids?!” Starshine’s voice screamed from the front of the wagon, high and breaking with panic.

Celestia ignored her, focusing on trying to find a way to ease Luna’s pain. But there was nothing. All she could do was keep those monsters from hurting her anymore.

Sadly, even that objective ended in failure before she could even get started. The covering on the wagon behind Luna and Starglow suddenly ripped open, a blast of snow and shards of ice flooding through like a storm of daggers. Starglow screamed, throwing himself back and covering his head with his hooves as a ghost pushed through the rip, its eyes locked onto Luna.

Celestia took a step, lighting her horn to stop it, but she didn’t get the chance. The wall behind her tore open in that instant, and another ghost came for her. Its teeth clamped down on the back of her neck like a vice, instantly numbing the broken flesh. Her stomach lurched, and before she knew it, she had been hauled out of the wagon and thrown into the snow. More numbness crept along her legs and up her exposed barrel.

Inside, she heard Luna’s screams shifting from pain to fear. She tried to stand, but something slammed into the back of her head, forcing her face into the snow and pinning her there. She cried out, squirming as hard as she could, but the beast’s grip on her held firm. She heard it let out a bellowing howl of victory, and in that moment, she thought she was going to die.

There was a rush of light, and the ghost howled in pain. The pressure was released, and Celestia shot to her hooves in a heartbeat. She spun on her attacker, flames gathering on her horn, and she let them fly in a practical storm. The ghost barely had time to bark out a dog-like yip before her spell splattered it as water against the rising snow.

“Celestia! Are you alright?!” Starshine asked, rushing up to her side from the front of the wagon. Her horn was alight with magic, and Celestia realized that she had the mare to thank for saving her life.

Gratitude could come later, though. Celestia shook her head. “Forget about me!” she snapped, turning to jump back into the wagon. She had to get to Luna! She had to keep her safe!

Starglow was huddled on the floor, curled into a quivering ball. His eyes flicked up to her as she emerged, but he said nothing. There was no sign of Luna in the wagon - just the hole in the covering the ghost had made. Somewhere on the other side of it, through the howl of the wind and the monsters, Celestia could hear Luna screaming.

“Celestia, wait-” Starshine was shouting, but Celestia didn’t listen. All of her conscious thoughts were gone. All that was left was Luna. Protect Luna. Kill whatever threatened her.

Celestia blasted through the side of the wagon, chasing after the screams. More of the ghosts were descending now, their eyes alight with hunger, their lips peeled into taunting, hungry grins. They were of little consequence to Celestia’s eyes, however, when compared to the silhouette of her sister being dragged, kicking and flailing, through the snow up ahead. One of the ghosts had its teeth dug into the collar of her coat, pulling her through the snow on her back.

“Let her go!” Celestia shouted, flapping her wings to cover the remaining distance as quickly as she could.

The ghost looked up at her, eyes narrowed with delight. She realized only a moment too late that she had fallen into a trap.

The ghost she had missed earlier slammed into her from above, pinning her to the snow again. She struggled against it, screaming and thrashing like a trapped animal, but it was no good. She felt its breath on her back, and a horrific crackling sound filled her ears, like the ice breaking on the surface of the river.

And then she couldn’t move. She inhaled involuntarily as a cold unlike any she had felt before pierced through every layer she had to invade her very core. Her body shivered and trembled in a desperate bid to generate some heat - or it would have, were she not encased from hoof to chin in thick, unnatural ice. The ghost released its hold on her head and drifted in front of her, and she could have sworn she saw it smirking at her.

“Let me go!” she screamed, trying to break free. The ice was too strong, and if anything only got thicker around her in response to her cries. “I said let me go! You monster! You freak! I’ll kill you, do you hear me?! I’LL KILL YOU!”

The ghost, if anything, looked pleased by her tirade, then turned its back on her. Looking past it, she could see Luna being lifted off the ground by the ghost that had abducted her, its eyes aglow with infernal magic. Luna squirmed, held by the throat as it lifted her into the air, her eyes wide and her hooves clawing at the magic strangling her.

“Stop it!” Celestia screamed, tears building in her eyes as it dawned on her how truly helpless she was this time. “Please! You’re killing her! Don’t do it, don’t do it! Don’t take her! She’s all I have left! PLEASE!”

The ghost that had imprisoned her paused. It slowly turned to look back at her as her begging continued, devolving into wordless wails and cries. It just stared at her for a moment, the glow in its eyes shifting ever so subtly.

A moment passed. And then the ghost nodded its head upwards.

Celestia blinked. “W-what?” she croaked, confused.

The ghost nodded up again, harder this time. It was strange. She felt compelled to look where it was looking. And so she did, following the path of its eyes with her own. Her eyes soon settled on the sky overhead, grey, dead, dumping snow and ice onto the world. But it was bright enough for her to know that the sun was up. It was there, somewhere, hidden beyond that suffocating veil.

Somewhere behind her, she could hear Starshine and Starglow screaming. She couldn’t see them, but she could only imagine what the ghosts were doing to them. They had come to rescue her, but merely by being with her, they were going to die, just like her parents had. The ghosts were after her and her sister. And she had selfishly allowed these ponies to get caught in the hunt because she was too scared to take care of Luna on her own.

For a moment, time seemed to slow. She felt it again, that sensation of something reaching out to her. In her mind’s eye, she saw the fire she had made in Flatstone that had brought Starshine and Starglow to her. She suddenly recalled how the fire had swallowed her senses, expanding into something greater. Grander. There was something there, on the other end of that veil of grey death.

And then there was something else. In her head. It wasn’t a voice, not exactly. It was more like Celestia’s own inner monologue was being invaded. The voiceless voice of her conscious thoughts was joined by another that was not her own. And accompanying it, a compulsion. An irresistible urge to reach out. She did not understand, but she saw no other choice. Groaning in pain, she forced her head to rise higher, lighting her horn. She tried to reach out to whatever it was that demanded her attention, whatever force had whispered to her from afar for so long. It was faint, impossibly distant and muffled, but she could hear it. It was there.

“Help me!” Luna wheezed, her voice barely audible over the chaos. More and more ghosts were gathering around her, their eyes glowing with hunger and satisfaction that they had completed their hunt, at long last.

Celestia groaned, and that groan steadily rose into a full-throated scream as flames began to gather on her horn, swirling out of thin air and down the spiraling grooves of her horn, as if pulled from the sky itself. She felt a surge of strength in her numb body, and with a grunt, jolted against the ice. It cracked against her hide.

The ghost looked on in approval.

Another jolt, another crack. Celestia took a deep breath, her eyes locking onto Luna. She drew on the flame as much as she could. However faint it was, however distant and weak, it still answered. She jolted again, straining with all her might, and the ice began to give.

With the sound of shattering glass, Celestia broke free of the ice that imprisoned her. Its shards went flying all around her, evaporating into mist and steam. The air shimmered and rippled around her as waves of scorching heat rolled off of her body. She did not understand what was happening, or why, and she didn’t care. She could protect Luna, now.

She leveled her eyes on the ghosts, who turned back to her in surprise. She saw a flicker of fear in their eyes. The one that had stared back at her blinked, and as if released from a trance, it backed away from her, its eyes returning to their previous hostile hue. Celestia took that as a good sign and took a step forward, the snow boiling away beneath her hoof. With every step she took, she spoke. “Leave. My. Sister. ALONE!”

The ghost holding Luna dropped her to the ground and retreated, eyes wide. The others backed away as well, roaring in pain from the heat. Celestia could feel the flames in her chest, in her wings, and she was certain she could feel it tingling along her scalp and her back.

For one ephemeral moment, there was clarity. Celestia’s eyes flew wide, and the flames that blasted from her horn were beyond description. They spread out, a typhoon, a hurricane of raging fire. In the blink of an eye, the ghosts around Luna vanished and splattered into the winds, melting in an instant. The snow cratered beneath her, bathing her in a rising wall of steam.

Celestia lifted her eyes. She grinned, reveling in the feeling of power over these monsters she now possessed. There were still many ghosts in the air above her, backing away in fear. She felt a rush of vindication. They were right to fear her. They were right to cower and flee. And it was only right that she make them suffer after all they had done.

More flames on her horn, more power, and more rage. Celestia leveled her horn at the sky and unleashed a single sphere of flame. It surged up, spluttering and spitting before it winked out in the heart of the swarm. Then, an instant later, it erupted like a supernova, bathing the world below in swirls of raging red, yellow, and orange. She heard the ghosts screaming above her, and she could feel their melted remains falling against her face as a warm summer’s rain. She closed her eyes, bathing in the feeling.

She heard Starshine’s voice calling out to her from behind, distant and muted. She didn’t care enough to listen. She called on the link to that distant power, calling on it to spread more warmth, more heat, more fire. But nothing came. The link pulled against her, and she thought she felt an emotion creeping into her mind that did not belong to her. It felt like… Disappointment.

All at once, the link was severed, and Celestia was overwhelmed by a rush of exhaustion. Her eyes flew wide for an instant as she became keenly aware of the scorching heat and the exertion in her body. A skull-splitting headache pushed through her mind. She let out a withering exhale, the world blurring around her. The last thing she saw was Luna’s eyes widening, her hoof reaching out.

Then Celestia toppled onto the glassed earth, and the world went dark.

Interlude II - What Fury Wrought

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“And, confronted by the one of those responsible, and driven to protect that she held dear, the elder sister committed an act she would never be able to take back…”

Celestia paused mid-speech, her words trailing off into silence. Her etes bored into the last remnants of the flames in Twilight’s hearth, which had died down somewhat over the course of the alicorn’s recounting of the past. The once bright flames were now a dull, smoldering red that cast an ominous shadow across Celestia's features. Twilight watched her, a lump forming in her throat. She glanced into the fire herself, and with a quick flick of her horn, restored it to a full, pleasant burn. The flames swelled and blossomed with a low rumble, and the crimson shifted into a gentle flickering yellow. Celestia blinked, drawn from her silence by the sudden shift in light. She turned to Twilight, her composure well intact. But there was something hiding in her eyes, now. Something grim.

Twilight did her best to swallow that stubborn lump. "What happened?" She asked. "What did you do?"

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. She closed her eyes and took in a long, deep breath. When she spoke next, her voice was thin. "...Do you recall what you felt the day you fought Tirek?" She asked at length.

Twilight made an effort not to remember that moment, truth be told. But the feeling had left an irrevocable mark on her mind, heart, and even soul. As such, her answer came with no hesitation, and no dishonesty. "At first? I was scared. I ran away the first chance I had. I just wanted to get away and protect what you, Luna, and Cadance trusted me with. But after he blew up the library? After he almost killed Owlowiscious?"

Twilight felt her hooves curling into the cushion beneath her at the memory. The horrific rush of panic, the frantic haze, and the flurry of activity before it was all turned to heat and fire. There was a tingle in the back of her head that she knew better than to deny. "I was angry. Furious, even. He'd done so much damage. He’d hurt so many ponies. And because of what he'd done, I had to carry so much responsibility. Everypony was depending on me to keep them safe from him. And after he destroyed my home…"

She paused, the last sentence refusing to escape her. But Celestia was not so reluctant.

"You fear that, had you been given the opportunity, you would have killed him."

It was not a question

Twilight lowered her head, a slight burn of shame creeping up her spine. "...Yes," she relented weakly.

Celestia was quiet for a few long seconds, her features tight and her eyes focusing on something only she could see. "We found one of the ponies responsible for what happened to that town. He was hiding in the basement of a large home, driven into madness by his own guilt, and the hatred of the Windigo's winter. He blamed us - Luna and I - for all that had happened. He held us responsible for the lives he had taken, and what the world had turned into.”

Twilight’s eyes flew wide. “What? Why in the world would he come to that conclusion?!” she asked in shock.

Celestia frowned. “As I said. The winter created many things in many ponies. Hatred. Malice. Madness. And in that state… he attacked us."

Twilight flinched, and all at once, she feared that she knew where this was going.

Celestia continued. "At first, I only wanted to run. I wanted to flee and bring my little sister as far away from that graveyard as I could. Every action I had taken up until then was done only in the name of protecting the only family I had left. But when I saw him put his hooves on her. When I heard her screaming in fear and pain…”

Celestia turned her eyes back to Twilight. "I was overcome with anger. Fury. My objective changed. I fought back… and I killed him. It was the first time I had ever taken somepony else's life."

Twilight had to fight the urge to flinch. She had seen her mentor fight before, yes, but there had always been a pristine grace to it. She had fought to defend her subjects out of love. But this…?

“I… I knew you probably had to kill ponies before,” she commented weakly, tracing circles into the floor with her hoof. “Equestria wasn’t always a nice place… But… I don’t know. I didn’t think it happened when you were so young.”

Celestia nodded. "I was forced to grow up far too quickly. And killing a pony like that? It changes you, Twilight. Much like any other forbidden act. There is a terrible liberation that comes with it. When you steal once, lie once, drink alcohol once. It feels as if your chains have been broken, and new possibilities appear to you. When you kill somepony - especially the way I did, it… if you let it, if you are not careful, it can - and it will - make a monster out of you."

"But you didn't let it," Twilight deduced quickly. "You reigned yourself in. The pony sitting in front of me is proof of that.”

Celestia said nothing, and a pit formed in Twilight's chest. She swallowed heavily.

"Right?"

After a prolonged and painful silence, Celestia shook her head. "No… I was a child, Twilight, and the world around me had changed so fast, and into something so impossibly awful. I was barely thirteen years of age, and already I had witnessed more deaths than most ponies ever do in their lifetimes. At every turn, it felt as if the world was out to get me. I was not prepared to carry the weight that was hoisted on my back. And as a result, I allowed my mind to wander roads best left to gather dust…"

Twilight nodded heavily. "I… I think I understand…" she said quietly. “But… you did overcome it, eventually.”

Celestia nodded. “I did… but at great cost.”

The two fell into silence for a few long moments after that, staring distantly into the flames. Over the faint crackling of the embers and the low rumble of the winter wind howling outside her window, a new sound reached their ears.

Children’s laughter.

Twilight turned, her attention pulled to the window, and she recalled the young ones she had seen playing in the streets of Canterlot before Celestia arrived. A tender smile graced her lips, then, and she leaned comfortingly into Celestia’s side. “What happened next?” she asked quietly.

Celestia hummed softly. As if on autopilot, her folded wing unfurled and draped comfortingly over Twilight’s withers, pulling the smaller alicorn closer to her side. Twilight couldn’t help but giggle quietly at the small gesture. She was reminded of when she was younger when her teacher and princess would tell her stories - or read the newest studies at Twilight’s insistence - before a warm flame. A distant memory, but a cherished one all the same. And if the smile on Celestia’s face was any indication, it was much the same for her.

Once more, her voice brought forth the story of her distant past.

“The elder sister fought to defend her sister. And in the end, she killed. The blood that marked her hooves also painted her mind, staining it. She allowed hatred into her heart, inviting upon them the howls of the storm and the hunger of the ice once more. Undeterred, she strode into the midst of the blizzard as if she were a raging wildfire. She became all-consuming… and indiscriminate.”

Author's Notes:

Heya everyone!

I am so sorry for how long this particular chapter has taken to throw together. For one so short and simple you'd think I'd have been able to just pump it out in a few beats of a wing. But as of late, I've just been having a hard time focusing on writing for pony content. It's like, I sit down to write for this, or I sit down to write for Little Flashes, or hell, I even write down to write with Tom in Twilight over Thanalan, and my brain turns into a fruit punch brain slurpy. All slosh, no substance.

But I know it's not writer's block. I know where these stories are going, and I know how to get them there. I think ultimately what it boils down to is my mind is starting to slowly move on from pony content. Gen 4 has been over for a long time, now, and Gen 5, as fun as it is, has not had a consistent enough release schedule or substantial enough content to really keep me invested in where it's going anywhere near as much as Gen 4 did.

Add onto that the fact that I was able to pump out over 145k words in 4 months.

Wait, what-

Yeah, so, as it turns out, if I turn my attention toward original writing projects now, suddenly I become an absurdly productive little goblin. Some of you may know that I have been working on writing stories in an original fantasy setting, and those 145k words are for a novel I wrote in that setting that I plan on publishing once it's all tidied up. And again, I pumped those words out in only a few months. Most of them over the course of just TWO months, once I got my groove going.

Either way, here we are, Act 2 of Rise and Shine is now all wrapped up! On to Act 3. And for the curious, the goal is for there to be 4 acts, give or take.