> Showing Your True Colors > by Nyan_Cat > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 - Lightweight > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia grimaced against the harsh wind blowing snow against her face. Part of her wished she was back at home with Luna, Cadence, and mother, but she sighed and continued her trek. Hearths Warming Eve. Luna's favorite time of the year, next to the Winter Solstice. Cadence preferred Hearts and Hooves Day. Many ponies did, actually. Cadence had a passion for it, though. The wind teased the filly's light pink mane into knots, falling against her sides. Celestia didn't pack a hairbrush with her, though, so there wasn't much she could do. Unicorns seemed to have the upper hoof in that sort of aspect. Celestia, however, was just an earth pony. She remembered laying on her bed at night, where she would dream about soaring through the sky with the birds, like a pegasus, or being able to stay in one place and get something to read, rather than not having to wish for your book to somehow come over to you from across the room. Celestia wondered how Luna was doing. Usually when the earth pony family went on trips, it was together. But now, it was only Celestia and Mr. Squiggles. A light smile came to her face, and Celestia reached into her saddle bags and brought out a little doll. It was based off of a phoenix, the flaming birds of legend. This one, however, was bought only five days ago, as a parting gift from her mother. Celestia gripped Squig in her mouth, and continued walking. Why had mother sent her on this trip? And where was she going to go? Her first priority, however, was finding a place to sleep for the night. She knew the tent she packed wasn't going to cover much and keep her very safe. Squig couldn't even do that. A heavy gust of air hit Celestia, and she groaned as a heap of wet snow hit her in the muzzle. It was going to be a long trip. A flash of light in the distance caught Celestia's attention. It wasn't white, or something normal, but blue, like the ocean, or the sky. Celestia did a sneeze around Squig, and began stumbling towards the light. It was an odd thing to see, especially out in a storm like this. Shorty, she began to see the silhouettes of trees somewhat far away. It looked like a whole forest was out there. Celestia recognized it as Palomino Pines, an old park that her family would camp in for a month every year. "Who's there?" Celestia jumped at the startling voice, and whipped her head around, trying to find the speaker. She looked to her left and saw an older mare with a light brown coat and mane that was two colors, dark brown in the middle and light on the sides. She recognized the mare as a unicorn. The unicorn had a light blue bubble surrounding her, which explained her lack of shivering and snow on her coat. "Well, are you going to answer me, dear? What are you doing out in this dreadful storm?" the unicorn asked, then undid her bubble for a moment. "Come here, it's no good to be cold like that." Celestia gingerly stepped forward so she was standing directly beside the mare. The unicorn created her bubble again, and Celestia immediately felt warmer. This was obviously a skilled and practiced unicorn; she had to act the same way. "Come, young filly. Let's get back to my cottage, and you can tell me what you're doing," the mare said with a wink. "By the way, my name is Looking Glass. What's your name?" "Celestia..." the filly responded, feeling suddenly shy. She realized she had dropped Squig and put him away in her bag. Oh, stop, Celestia. You aren't going to get anywhere acting like that, she told herself. "Yes, my name is Celestia," she said, smiling up at the aged pony. "Celestia, hm? That's a good name. Fitting for a pony with such bright mane like yours," Looking Glass remarked. "Well, let's get going. Stay inside, don't venture out." And with that, the odd pair trudged through the snow towards the forest. ---------- Celestia sat upon the old oaken floor in front of an equally-as-aged table, silently sipping a cup of peppermint tea. The kind unicorn even offered to make her something to eat, but she refused, saying she had something to eat in her pack. The truth was, she didn't, but she didn't want to make the mare have to do any more work for her. She had done enough already. "So, little Celestia," Looking Glass said. She sat across the table from the filly. "Why don't you tell me what you were doing out in that storm?" "Well, Missus Looking Glass-" "Oh dear, please do just call me 'Lou'. There's no reason to say all that," Looking Glass said with a chuckle and a grin. Celestia returned the smile. 'Lou' here was a very nice mare... she was glad that they found each other. "Well, Lou, I was um... adventuring, I guess." "Adventuring? For what purpose?" "My mom sent me out to find something. It was called the... uh... Holey Evict?" "I think you mean 'Holy Edict'. That's strange. I wonder why she sent just a filly out to get it. Do you know what she needs it for, Celestia?" "Well, no... Not really. And you can call me Celly, by the way." Celestia smiled. And so the conversation continued between the two mares until little Celestia got tired. Lou then took the small filly up to her room and laid her on the bed, telling her that she could sleep there for the night. Lou settled for sleeping down on a couch on the lower level of the house. Thus, the two slept soundly until morning.