The Steadfast Sky : Chapter 28
The Grey Potter
http://cosmicponyfanfiction.tumblr.com/

Things were so quiet now. I lost my place somewhere, and now I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know this city, its streets. The sky was too bright for it to be sunsetting, and everywhere, there were strangers. Dangerous ponies, streaming away until everything was quiet, leaving behind all the broken things. Glass, wood... an overturned dairy cart spilled milk down the streets, rivers flowing through all the little criss-crossing cobblestone cracks. We were going down the hill, I knew that. But I didn’t know if we were leaving or going or arriving or nothing.

I snuggled tighter against my sister’s leg, still refusing to let go of her cloak, even as it got soaked and yucky from my spit. I don’t want to lose her again, not her, and not Discord either, I guess, but he kept moving away when I got close... Even though that was my place, snug by both of their sides.

“Luna, don’t walk so close,” big sis laughed, nervous, “You’re going to make me trip.”

“I dun wanna ge’ losht.”

“Ha, don’t have to worry about that,” Discord chimed in, “Heck if we’re going to let that happen.”

Yes, they weren’t going to let it happen. They’re both really smart and stuff, since they both found me so easily in the huge city. They always make sure we’re all back together in the end. But I really, really didn’t want to let go. I’d fall of the world, if I did. Just fly away and never be seen again.

I held back a yawn, air escaping through my back teeth and I continued to cling on tightly, shoving my face into the cloth. This day had way, way too many hours.

“Where’re we goin....?”

“Out of this horrible, horrible city, thank goodness.”

“Yeah,” there was a crinkle of paper as Discord spoke. “The address big Apple wants us to go to is a few towns away, so...”

“I don’t think we should head there, Discord,” Celestia said in her ‘delicate matters’ voice. “I don’t trust the pony. He works for the Stallion, this city is a mess because of him...”

“I dunno... I met with him, and he made it pretty darn clear that he was on our side!”

“Yes, he told you...”

“Hey, he had me ‘in his clutches’, couldn’t he have grabbed me and sent me back to Canterbury right then? And he knew I stole the element. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“Discord...!”

“No more fighting!” I squealed, neck snapping back. “No fighting!”

I gasped up to the sky. Where was the cloak?! It fell out! I stumbled forward and stuffed it back in my mouth before I fall off the world, clutching it tightly. Don’t disappear, don’t vanish, I’m here, we’re together again, no one’s going anywhere...

“R-right...” my sister said, somewhere right beside me. “Discord, really, it is wonderful to see you again. To see both of you safe.”

“Yeah, this city is, was freaking horrible. Let’s just get out of here, fast as we can. We can figure out where we’re going later, after some food, and some sleep.”

“Yes. Definitely.”

So they walked, me in tow. The slopes evened out, the roads became covered in petals again, sweet and white, stuck together in the mud. Flowers and grass sprouted from the cracks in the stone, smashed flat by the cart wheels, by pony feet.
“Oh, no,” Celestia moaned, “I just remembered...”

“Remembered what?” Discord asked.

“It’s going to stink for miles, if the wind is blowing with us.”

“What? Oh... the garbage.” Discord paused, making an irritated thinky noise. “Well we can’t spend the night here.”

“Oh, definitely not, definitely not... Horsefeathers, we didn’t manage to make any money either!” More whines, more irritated thinky noises. “Oh well... it’s grass and grass alone until we reach the next town.”

“Uhg.”

“Yes. Bit bland, but I suppose we’ll manage. Well. Well, Well um. Here we go!” Celestia took a deep breath as we passed through the city gate, or what I think was the city gate. There was a sudden wooden beam in the road, and then everything became really, really stinky. Her pace quickened. I stumbled to keep up with her, tugging at her cloak. When she broke into a run, I cried out, pulled her back, cloak taught in my mouth.

“Don’ lea’f me, don' lemme go!”

“GASP! What, Luna?” She looked back over the tight red cloth. Shock, then disgust. “Oh, ewwww.” She sneezed and tried to plug her nose, garbage ditches dipping on either side of the nearly empty road. “Come on Luna, let go!”

“Noooo.... noooooooo.”

“Well... let’s at least hurry, please!”

We hurried up another steady slope, rising into the forests... a different forest, a different road. We weren’t going back south again... Now I really, really felt lost, like falling off into space. But I didn’t quite feeling like asking where we were going. Celestia and Discord are smart, they know stuff I don’t...

Before the city became lost among the trees, I looked back at the walls, the impossibly huge white dome, orange glowing through the cracks in the cloud cover. Sunset with unclouded sunlight, way, way too bright.

I slept close to my sister again last night. Her cloak was my blanket and I was her pillow. That’s where I wanted to be, that’s where I belonged. I missed the woods, the dead leaves. The stray grasses I could nibble on and Celestia right here beside me. Discord vanishing in the middle of the night and crickets going crazy. I didn’t need to sleep, I had all of this to keep me safe. And every time I would nod off, lose feeling of Celestia beside me... Then, in my head, I was gone, lost forever, in the--

“Morning Luna.”

I yanked myself awake, feeling the back of my head slam into something hot, something hard. Slowly, Celestia rose away, yowling.

“Auuuu.... Luna?!”

“Crap!” Discord pushed his face through the grass, eyes wide. “Were you actually asleep?”

“I um... Celestia?” I twisted myself around, trying to see my sister. She clutched her snout, face all twisted up as she rubbed it with her fetlock. “A-are you...”

“Ow Luna,” she hissed, “I’dve gotten off of you if you asked, didn’t have to hit me...”

“N-no I...” I stammered, squirming closer to her. “I’m okay with you sleeping on me, really!”

“I just startled her, that’s all...!” Discord piped up, easing around the little grass clearing. Celestia inhaled sharply, lowering her leg. She squinted up at the sky, still well before dawn.

“What time is it...?”

“I dunno... Sun’s not up yet.”

“You’d think the city wouldn’t throw off our clocks that badly,” Discord chuckled through a mouthful of something.
“You guys...” Celestia sighed, “You’re such early risers...”

“You can go back to bed, Celestia, I don’t mind!” I snuggled up even closer, trying to find her warmth again... She shifted away. Why? Whyyyyyyyyyyy

“A few days in the city, and we’re back to my old name, huh...” she laughed lightly. “Well I guess...”

“Sorry, Tia!” I blurted, “Big sis, you can go back to sleep!”

“No, I think I’m...” She stood up, and I shot to her legs, hugging them tight. “Uh, Luna...?”

“You um.” My mouth moved, but my words were blank. They didn’t exist. “You haven't combed my hair in ages, big sis.”

“And your hair is becoming quite a mess as well!” she laughed again. I didn’t like that laugh. She was gonna stand up again, out of my reach. “Lemme just, well, take care of some morning things, and then we’ll get you cleaned up.” She tried to pull her leg out of my grip, and I clung tighter. She stared down at me. “Luna...? I kind of got to go...”

“No.”

“Luna, I really, really have to go...”

“You don’t have to go!”

“What...? Oh, I mean go to the bathroom, Luna! I don’t not have to... do that?” she laughed again... “Goodness, it’s early...”

“Well... Be quick, okay?”

“Of course, Luna.”

I watched her go, my necklace tangled in the back of my mane, almost like it was biting at my hair. she could get hurt, walking around in the dark. She doesn’t have the vision I do... A light, her light popped on, between the trees. But that didn’t matter at all.

“Hey Luna?” Discord edged his way into my vision, obscured without my magic to make it lighter.. “You doing alright?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You sure?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Um...” He held up the little oat bag. “Blueberry?”

“No thanks.”

“You seriously don’t seem like you’re doing alright.”

“Celestia might get lost.”

Discord looked into the tree cover, then back at me.

“She’s just a few yards away, Luna.”

“But she’s taking really, really long...”

“I’m FINE, Luna!” Celestia shouted back. “Just, um, this may take a bit...okay?”

I didn’t reply, staring at that little light, making sure it didn’t disappear. Celestia doesn’t have an element, if she were to get kidnapped and disappear... How would we find her?! I felt my face go tight and--

“Luna!” Discord put his hands on my shoulders, “She’s just taking a dump!”

“Discord!” Celestia squealed, “She understands that!”

“But,” I said, very, very quiet, “what if she falls down a hole or something...”

“She’s right there, Luna.”

I shook myself out of his hands, staring into the trees. If one little thing went wrong, I’d be there, in a flash! I didn’t need anything to hold me down!

“Luna...” Discord said, “are you sure you’re doing alright?”

“Uh-huh!”

“That um... what happened yesterday, it’s still not bothering you, is it?”

“No.”

“You really really sure?”

“Yes.” I think I coughed or hiccuped, “He’s dead and that’s all there is to it.”

“Who’s dead...?” Celestia wandered out from behind the trees, and I immediately ran to her side, snuggling against her legs. “Luna! Did something horrible happen in that city?!”

“No. Just a dumb school.”

Things were really quiet for a moment, except for really loud crickets and chirpy pre-morning birds.

“Luna...?”

“Comb my haaaaiiir!” I whined, “I really really missed you combing my mane...”

“Well... alright...”

We sat down, in silence as the day slowly grew a little brighter. Celestia tugged at my mane, carefully teasing out the knots, pulling a little too hard, pulling out my hair. It was comfortable to feel her there, feel her steady my head with her ankle, tugging the brush with her magic. It didn’t matter that no one was talking. This was okay. I reached forward for a small bite of grass, but I wasn’t hungry, so I just gnawed and gnawed on it, turning and twisting it in my mouth.

“At the school,” Discord said suddenly, voice rising. “Luna was told that her father was coming to pick her up.”

“Really?” The combing stopped. “He was in the city?”

“No, it was clearly a lie. I um...” suddenly, he faltered. There was a shifting sound as he repositioned himself. “I told her, and am telling you now, that I am um, very, very certain, to say, that your parents are dead. HOWEVER. I think it’s what’s upsetting Luna. She got so--”

“I’m not upset,” I snapped. He made the combing stop! “And I told you I knew already, so it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter, he just left...”

“Luna... He didn’t just leave...” Celestia stood up, floated her bags to herself as I scrambled for her legs. “Goodness... I hardly remember him myself, but, he wasn’t the kind of pony who would abandon us.” She looked down at me, “Is that what you think he did?”

“I dunno what he did and I don’t care.” I rubbed my face into her fetlocks, holding her in place. “Big sis, you didn’t finish combing my hair.”

I listened to my sister breathe. The grass rustle and snap as Discord skittered off somewhere, I don’t care. I felt the straps of my bags settle on my back, soft tinkling of my sisters magic tying them in place.

“Do you want to hear a few stories, Luna? Would knowing a bit more make you feel better?”

“No.” I said quietly.

“Not even one? How about something fun? Did I ever tell you about the I snuck an alley cat into the house?”

I relaxed my grip a little, staring at my own feet. The same color as his feet...

“Okay, maybe one.”