The beginning of the End

Corné had always known it was difficult to be a unicorn. She had lived her life in a small wooden house deep in the forests that grew in between the Friendship Lands and the Tokowa Lands. Her mother had warned her again and again to not expose herself to the world around her, for unicorns were simply not understood and everyone would just stare at her and ask her questions, or worse.

Chifre had never once told her what that worse would be, but Corné wasn’t planning to find out. The best thing that could happen was that she would be mistaken for Stelline, the only known unicorn today. But even that wasn’t something she desired, so Corné travelled on over the forest path.

There was a village to her right, she knew. Every once in a while she caught a glimpse of a rooftop or a wall or even a pony, and she most definitely heard voices. Plus, the smell of freshly baked bread was unmistakable in the early morning. It wasn’t often that Corné came upon a village this deep in the forest. There had to be some special reason, like a resource that could only be found here or a special fruit or something, but she didn’t exactly have time to go investigate.

Ignoring the village as best as she could, Corné walked on through the forest, sometimes looking up to the sun to determine if she was still going in the right direction. It wasn’t easy to navigate in these unknown purple forests, but she had managed so far with only a slight error once or twice.

According to her map she would reach open field once she reached the end of the forest, and from that moment on there wouldn’t be any large forests like this to travel through. She would have to take the road or the open field. Well, at least the ridiculous fashion of the West would help her. The insane hats women wore here were a great disguise for her horn and she had managed to snatch up a fancy matching cloak that would hide her swirling symbols. If nobody got too close, she would be fine.

She remembered what her mother had told her, right before she had died. Listen to the Guardian, child. We should have interfered a long time ago already. But it’s not too late. Do this for me. Her mother… Why had Chifre died?! She wasn’t that old yet! And yet her mother had fallen ill and no matter what Corné had done, she had only gotten sicker and weaker until one day her mother no longer opened her eyes.

But not before the Guardian had stopped by. Fiume of the pure water. Even she hadn’t been able to save her mother, although she hadn’t really tried, either. Corné knew it wasn’t the Guardian’s task to save the sick and dying. Still, like all ponies would, Corné had asked and begged the Guardian to help her mother. But Fiume had only shaken her head before she had lifted off into the night sky. And Chifre had said it was for the best; she didn’t want to get special treatment just because she happened to be a unicorn.

So a couple of days later, Corné had buried her mother next to the little house they had lived in for years, and she had taken off to do what the Guardian had asked her to do. She didn’t even know why, but at least it gave her something to do instead of only mourning her mother. Besides, who would really refuse an order from a Guardian?

“Okay. Okay. I can do this. Really. I can.” Caleantha shivered as she looked down.
“Are you sure, princess? You look a bit… pale.” The guard said.
“No no. I’m fine.” If little Asteria could do this, then so could she for crying out loud. It was only a bridge, after all! She had been through far worse already.

“Who knew? Your daughter is afraid of heights.” Hikary smirked.
“I am not!”
“It’s okay, Caleantha. I was afraid the first time, too. But it’s perfectly safe. Shall we go together?” Her mother offered as she stepped onto the bridge. The bridge swayed a bit under her mother’s weight, but otherwise it didn’t move much.

Of course, it was a perfectly good day for crossing the breach. There was no wind, the sky was bright and it was really quiet. She could do this. Really, she could.
“Okay. Here I come.” She forced her hooves with some considerable difficulty to move forward. She put one of her hooves on the wooden planks of the bridge, but it hardly moved. Another one, another one, and then she was on the bridge, overcome by an urge to rush to the other side to get this over with.

“Good. Now, follow me, and don’t look down no matter what, okay?” Ruki told her as she started walking. Caleantha forced herself to walk in the middle of the bridge, so that she couldn’t look down even if she was tempted to do so. She could hear her aunt walking a little distance behind her.

The bridge moved a little bit at times, but she was surprised at how stable it was. Her mother chatted on about some other bird that only lived in the West and prana and such, but Caleantha had a hard time focusing on whatever Ruki was telling her. All she could think of was reaching the other side.

And just like that, she had firm ground under her hooves again. She felt like she had been holding her breath for hours. “Well, here we are, Caleantha. Welcome to the West.” Ruki smiled as she stepped aside. While the area around them was bare with nothing but rocks and sand, ahead of them were some trees.

Well, her mother had been right about the purple prana. Even from this distance she could see the gentle glow of prana as it flowed around the leaves.
“Wow…” She whispered.
“It looks great, doesn’t it?” Hikary said as she stepped next to Caleantha.
“It really does.” “Just wait until you see a real forest. It’s so different from the East.” Ruki smiled.

Caleantha glanced behind her. She could still make out the other side of the Breach, the Eastern part of the continent. She could barely believe things were so different only such a small distance away! “Mom?” “Yes dear?” “Where will we go now that we’re here? We won’t stay here, right?”

Ruki laughed. “Of course not! There’s nothing here, silly. I was thinking of visiting Batafurai.”
“The butterfly island? Where grandpa is from?” Caleantha gasped.
She hadn’t even considered that option. Of course she had been told all about the mythical island which her grandfather’s family had ruled for thousands of years, where prana was still so strong and concentrated that a special race of butterflies had existed there.

The island had been protected by one of the Guardian stones, but it had to be removed in order to save the world. The last of the Butterflies had died, and the island had been abandoned as her grandfather had left with her grandmother to the Friendship Lands.
“Why would we go there? I mean, apart from it being grandpa’s old home. I’d love to see it, of course.”

“Well, prana used to be really strong and concentrated there. Of course, it was because of the stone of flowers, but I can’t help but think prana is simply stronger there naturally as well. It’s at least worth checking out, and it’ll be nice to visit my old home again, too!” Ruki smiled. Hikary nodded in agreement.

“Well, okay. It seems like a nice place! Grandpa told me all about it when I was a kid. Sure, let’s go! Is it far?” “Not that far.” Ruki said as she handed their crossing papers to one of the guards.
“Maybe two or three weeks. I wonder if much has changed there.” Hikary answered. The guard looked over their papers, smiled and welcomed them to the West.

“I have to warn you, though, princess Ruki.” The Guard added.
“What? Why?”
“In ZoroAster… there have been riots. Takato has been captured, and the local kings have declared the end of the rule of the High King. I’m sure they won’t throw you in jail right away, but you are known as an ally of Takato. Be careful.”

Her mother blinked a few times.
“Takato? In jail?! Is he okay? What will happen to him?” The guard shook his head.
“I don’t know, my lady. News has been scarce from Asterian. All I know is that he’s in jail for now, awaiting some kind of trial.”
“What about Asteria? And Firian?” Caleantha pressed.

“I do not know about the prince, nor the princess. I suppose they have also been captured, although I am not sure what will happen to them. They did not commit whatever crimes Takato is accused of.” The guard explained, looking troubled.
“What?! Mom! What will we do? We have to help them, right?!”

Ruki was silent for a moment, pondering things over.
“No.” She said, finally.
“What do you mean, no?! They’re our friends! And allies! Right?!” Caleantha could hardly believe her mother. It wasn’t like her to leave a friend or ally in need to solve their own mess. Ruki always came to help, and she liked Asteria and the others, right?

“Yes. They are our friends. But this is not our mess, Caleantha. Takato brought this upon him himself. I can’t help him now. I offered him advice and help for years, and he refused to take it. Now it’s too late.” Ruki said as she put her backpack back on.
“But what about Firian and Asteria? It’s not their fault!” Caleantha objected.

“No. It’s not their fault. You’re right, Caleantha. But what do you honestly think we can do? They won’t be harmed, I’m sure. And I have you to take care of. You have to master Old Magic first. We’re going to Batafurai.” Ruki nodded to Hikary.
Caleantha could swear she heard her aunt sigh in disagreement.

“But mom…”
“NO Caleantha! I said no. Now, let’s go.” Ruki snapped.
Her mother had never yelled at her before. And now… Ruki walked on and Hikary followed her. Reluctantly Caleantha followed her aunt. Poor little Asteria… She couldn’t imagine how alone and scared the little girl must feel. Was there really nothing she could do? Couldn’t they ask to let Asteria and Firian live with them, or something?

Caleantha glanced at her mother, but she couldn’t make out her expression. She just walked on, leaving Hikary at a distance.
“Just give your mother some time.” Hikary said.
“But…” Caleantha started to object.
“I mean it, Caleantha. I know you mean well, but there’s very little we can do at the moment. This is something of the Western rulers to sort out.

Maybe we can help later on, but we’ll have to see if they even want our help. We can’t just walk in there and offer to solve their problems.” Hikary explained.
“I… I know that. I’m just worried. About Asteria, I mean.” Caleantha said, wondering where the little princess was now. Was she in pain? Surely they wouldn’t hurt her or lock her up?

“I know that. The princess of the West was your close friend. And maybe we can offer to help her. Maybe we can write a letter. We’ll see. But for now, let your mother be for a while, okay? She needs to… come to terms with this news.” Hikary said.
“But why? It’s clear enough, right?”

“Yes. The news is clear. But sometimes, even clear messages can confuse us. Just trust me on this, okay? We’re going to Batafurai, and you’re going to train hard. That’s the most you can do for anyone right now.” Hikary smiled as she patted her little niece on the mane.
“I know…” Caleantha sighed.

The Old Magic. She had been trying all her life to get a hold of that, to mimic what it was her mother could do. She had already come to accept that she simply couldn’t do it, that her powers weren’t as special and amazing as those of her mother. And now a Guardian had come and told her that not only was she capable of wielding it, she had to in order to survive. Stupid Saule.