Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony; Friendship Is Magic
Title: The Gem That Shone Brightest Amongst The Clouds
Summary: Amethyst Gem, a batpony born only a few years after Discord's reign, tries to have her dream of touching the stars be realized in the only way she knows how- by creating the first maps of the stars. Princess Luna, mystified and intrigued by her designs, grants her a place to call home after a long journey with little rest, and, as she slowly loses herself, the favor must be repaid.
Chapter Title: The (Second) Journey
...
The first guard continued to droll on even after the group had stopped listening from the shock. "Nopony's in trouble or anything, I promise. It's about an opportunity that could slip through your hooves if you don't hurry."
Cheery recovered first and pulled him inside by his hoof. "Yes, sir, Mr. Guard. Come'on in. It's small, but it's home."
Colors shook herself, dried the parchment with her magic (something she preferred to let happen naturally) and tucked it away, a big smile on her face. "We'd serve you gentlestallions tea, but I'm afraid we're out at the moment."
"That's alright, miss." He reassured her. "We're not here for tea."
While the main guard- a captain, they soon found out- sat down and got settled in, the two lesser guards stayed by the door. One, a clean white stallion, glared at Amethyst. "Fangface." He muttered darkly.
"They're everywhere these days, it seems." The other quietly agreed. The captain shot them a look. The two fell silent.
The dark brown stallion cleared his throat and puffed out his chest importantly. "By order of her majesty Princess Celestia, any and all homeless ponies- fillies especially- are asked to report to her castle for a personal conference. She would like to stress that nopony is in trouble, and nopony is going to the dungeons unnecessarily. She understands that anything illegal you've done was for your survival, and will give each and every one of you the benefit of the doubt. It's just a simple chat she's looking for. Food, water, and shelter will be provided for you until you can buy yourselves a- legal- place of residence on your own. That is all."
"Woah, woah, woah. The Princess Celestia?" Seed Planter's jaw dropped. "As in, ruler of Equestria Princess Celestia?"
The guard grunted. Colors scoffed. "Why, of course it is, Planter. Who else would be named 'Celestia'?"
"Somepony with a lot of guts and not a lot of sense." The white stallion muttered. Even his captain ignored him.
"And, besides, Princess Celestia isn't the sole ruler of Equestria. Everypony knows that." Amethyst didn't know that. Everyone had always gone on and on about the sun alicorn; she'd thought that was all there was. Colors glanced at the captain curiously. "What does Princess Luna say about all of this?"
The guard shrugged helplessly. "I only have Princess Celestia's degree, miss. I can't rightly say anything else." He paused. "Honestly, we weren't even planning on hitting this street, but almost every working pony we've met has been going on and on about you all. You should count yourself lucky."
He stood up just as smoothly as he'd sat down (which, in heavy metal armor, couldn't be easy to do) and said. "The carriage leaves tomorrow. You have until sunhigh to decide."
Just as quickly as they'd come, they left.
"So... what does everypony think?" Amethyst asked eventually, breaking the awkward silence.
"I think it sounds like a trap."
"Planter!" Colors cried, appalled. "Princess Celestia would never-"
"She might not, but those guards would." He glared in the direction they'd left. "Did you hear what they called Thysty? They don't want her on that carriage."
"I'm not going without Gemmy!" Cheery declared, curling up beside her protectively. "I won't go!"
"Relax, Cheery. Nopony's leaving anypony behind." Colors ran a comforting hoof through Cheery's mane. "Listen. The fact of the matter is that- while those guards aren't particularly pleased with any of us- Princess Celestia sent them out specifically to help homeless ponies find a permanent place to stay."
"And she wants to talk to us." Planter reminded her.
"And she wants to talk to us." Colors agreed."We've been doing alright in Canterlot, I won't deny that, but getting on that carriage could lead us to an even better future."
"Or another disaster."
"Seed Planter, would it kill you to be positive once in awhile?"
A beat of silence. "Probably."
Colors sighed. "Why do I bother?"
"Because we're all we have left." Amethyst said. "And I don't care what those guards think. This is our chance to live in a place that doesn't have blankets for walls and a leaky roof. I say we go."
Seed Planter sighed in aspiration. "Why do I bother? Fine, we'll get on the stupid carriage. But I won't like it."
"That's the spirit, Planter. Now, all of you, try and get some sleep." Amethyst stood up and walked out the doorway. "I'll keep watch and wake you when the sun begins to rise."
Amethyst woke them a few hours before sunrise to grab the things they needed. Parchment, paper, pencils, art supplies, the old sailor's blanket, food and water, etc. Once packed, they walked as fast as possible to make sure they weren't late, not giving their makeshift home even a single parting glance in their rush.
A crowd had gathered on the streets, each and every pony curiously trying to figure out why the carriage surrounded by guards was picking up street ponies. Amethyst and the others pushed through them as politely as possible.
"Here, Cheery." She unwrapped the scarf from her neck and sloppily wrapped it around Cheery's throat. "Just in case it gets cold. Have your sister help you with that." She picked the filly up and set her into the carriage. The guard by the door- the same white stallion from the night before- kicked it shut and stood in her way.
"We're at full capacity."
"Funny. I didn't know this hunk of junk had a limit." She said coldly, gesturing towards the run-down carriage that looked ready to fall apart under a strong enough gust of wind. "But I'm pretty sure that, even if it does have a limit, it was exceeded long before we arrived."
"Alright then, let me rephrase that." He bent down, nose-to-nose with her. "We're out of room for any more exotic species. 'S bad enough we gotta coupla zebras in there; we don't need any fangfaces."
"Hey!" Cheery reached over the top of the half door. "Let her on, you big meanie!"
"I can't." He said, shrugging. "The door sticks."
"You son of a donkey." Seed Planter spat, eyes glittering with emotions that Amethyst had never seen from him before.
The driver called back. "Hey, Blue-Ear! That everypony?"
Amethyst went to speak up, but Blue-Ear smirked at her cruelly. "Yup! Looks like everypony to me!"
The carriage started forward almost immediately. Blue-Ear knocked Amethyst off the back of the vehicle, then jumped off himself to march along the side of the carriage smugly.
Amethyst shook the dust from her mane and stood up, staring after the disappearing vehicle helplessly.
"Whataya think yer doin', child?"
Amethyst turned. The old tradesmare stepped out of the crowd grimly. "Well?"
"That was my chance at a good life. That was my family." She whimpered, holding back tears as she watched them go. "They're gone. I've lost them."
"Then get 'em back, silly." The old mare shook her shoulder with a strong hoof. "Yer young and yer versatile. You'll make it just fine."
"B-But how would I even-" Amethyst started. The old mare didn't let her finish.
"Ya got wings, don't ya? Ya can fly, can't ya?" The mare nudged her. "Show them guards ya'll got the will of an earth pony. The ain't nopony alive-"
"Who can stop an earth pony." She finished, flapping her wings experimentally.
"That's the spirit. Now get goin'!"
"Uh, yes m'am!" Amethyst faltered only a second before taking to the skies.
"And don't ya come back, ya hear!? Ah swear, Ah so much as see yer mug in these parts one more time and Ah'll whip ya!" The batpony disappeared over the horizon. The old mare nodded smugly and walked away. "Fillies these days. Ah swear, back when Ah was a little pony, we didn't have these sorta problems."
The trip to the new castle in the Everfree forest was a nightmare for everypony involved.
The carriage was cramped, the food sucked, and there wasn't any blankets. They weren't allowed to leave the inside of the vehicle except to use the bathroom and stretch their legs for short periods of time. Other than that, they never stopped.
Likewise, Amethyst never stopped flying. She couldn't. Blue-Ear and the other guards would shake any trees she tried to sleep in, and threw rocks at her for fun. They chased her away from any real food and shouted insults at her while they marched.
She thought about giving up a number of times, but, watching Cheery watch her from the back of the carriage, scarf wrapped snugly around her despite the heat and humidity, she found she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Cheery never stopped watching. Amethyst never stopped flying. The carriage never stopped moving. The world spun on.
When they reached the new castle, built of shiny gems and sparkling stone, Princess Celestia herself and a host of guards were there to meet them. Blue-Ear kicked open the door (he wasn't lying when he said it got stuck) and homeless ponies filed out to bow.
"Welcome to our castle, young ones." She said, voice level and calm. Which was strange, considering she normally spoke in the royal Canterlot voice. Maybe she was trying to start a new fad, or something. "We hope that you will find our castle to be a home, and our sister and we; friends."
There was a murmur of agreement that swept the crowd.
"Good. We welcome you to our-" She paused, the beginnings of a frown appearing on her face. "What is the matter, you in the back?"
Colors, who had frantically been trying to get Cheery to turn around and bow, whipped around and lowered herself. "Nothing, your majesty. My sister's just a little shy."
"I'm not shy." Cheery boldly said.
"Cheery, shush."
"No, let her speak." Princess Celestia walked forward, looking put-off by the cold shoulder. "Is something the matter, little one? Are you against us?"
"No." She answered simply.
"Then why-"
Cheery, in a surprising show of courage, interrupted. "I'll bow when Gemmy bows."
She pointed at the batpony hovering weakly in the air, tiredly going in circles. Celestia balked.
"What has happened to her?"
"The guards wouldn't let her on, your majesty." Planter interjected quietly, unable to stand aside while his friend was hurting.
"She flew all this way? On her own?"
"Yes, your majesty. She didn't want to abandon us."
Princess Celestia, in all her godlike glory, turned to the cowering guards with a deep frown. "What is the meaning of this? She's just a filly!" She boomed, taking on the royal Canterlot voice she'd forgone earlier. "Answer to your crimes, at once!"
Author's Note: Yes, I'm leaving off there. Mostly just to be a jerk. =)
Random Fact Of The Day: 'Fangface' was inspired by, of course, the old TV show. (For those of you who don't know, 'Fangface' was a rip-off of 'Scooby Doo' with the main character being a dimwitted werewolf who could change at any time of the day so long as he saw a picture of the moon and didn't catch sight of the sun. His baby nephew(?)- much smarter than him- also was a werewolf. Together the duo and their friends went off and solved monster mysteries.) It wasn't really my thing (I watched a couple of reruns a few years ago) but I couldn't resist making it the unkind term for 'batpony'
(Fangface had a huge front tooth too. Like, Timmy Turner huge. That's another reason I made it for Batponies, with their fangs and all)
And, for those wondering, Blue-Ear is an ancestor of Blueblood. The snobbishness is genetic.
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