“They were doing it again.” I said into the empty night air. “Emerald and Sapphire I mean.” I looked up at the ruddy crescent in the sky. “I don’t understand why… I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.” The pink moon didn’t answer. “I have to be doing something wrong. Everypony says the same thing. But I can’t see what they see.” I put my forelegs over my head and flopped onto the dirt. “I don’t know what to do…”

“Lulu?” a door opened behind me. “Lulu! It’s very late, come inside!” I turned to see Tia watching me with wide eyes.

“Ok Tia…” I sighed, knowing I had been caught. I wasn’t supposed to leave the house after dark.

“Lulu! You know you’re too young to be out after dark!”

“I know.” I sighed again. “I can’t help it.”

“You can’t-”

“I just don’t feel comfortable when the sun is out… Everything is too bright and it hurts my eyes, the ponies are all quiet… And I can finally hear myself when everyone is asleep!” I started to hyperventilate. “Like I’m trying to talk, but if the sun is out it’s like my head is full of bees! But as soon as the Moon is out, it’s like I can finally see clearly!”

“Ok Luna. Ok.” Tia sighed. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“Ok Tia…” I sighed as well.

“Hear-ye hear-ye peasants of Queensford!” called the guard crier. The whole village had gathered around. It was rare when a regiment of the Royal Guard came to the village, maybe once or twice a year, and never predictably. It was always a special occasion, as the Guard brought news and a few crates of food that were distributed to the peasants. Today however seemed to be a somber affair. “Queen Sterling is dead! Slain at the hooves of the Pegasi barbarians! She is succeeded by Princess Iridium Comet! Now Queen Iridium! Duchess Stellar Platinum has inherited the title of Princess! Long live Queen Iridium!”

“Long live Queen Iridium.” the peasants blandly chanted, more out of fear and habit than actual loyalty. The crier stepped down from his perch on one of the Guard’s carts, and the crowd began to disperse. I kept to Tia’s shadow, not willing to leave her side with so many ponies around, both new and familiar.

“Come on Lu, let’s go stand in line for food.” Tia murmured. I nodded, but otherwise didn't say anything. Tia then began to trot over to where the majority of the villagers were headed, the gathering of carts that were full of crates. The soldiers stood between the crowd and the supplies. The air began to fill with tension as the villagers and soldiers spoke with each other.

“I’m sorry, but we have no supplies for you.” stated a guard who had heavily ornamented armor. “If we were to give our food to you, we would not make it back to Unicornia.

“We’ve eaten nothing but watercress and watery stew for months! We’re starving!” Reeve Black Ash stated.

“No means no.” The guard commander growled. “If you’re starving so badly you can move south.”

“Away from the Protection of the Crown? We wouldn’t last the winter with the Pegasi raids!” the Reeve reasoned.

“Not my problem.” the commander grunted. “Prepare to leave! We march in one hour!” he called out to his soldiers.

“Please sir! We need your food! The watercress is almost gone and we won’t-”

The commander whirled on the Reeve, his hoof slapping her, knocking her to the ground.

“I said; We don’t have anything to give.” The commander coldly stated. The air seemed to drop several degrees as the tension between the villagers and the soldiers mounted.

“... Let’s go home Lu.” Tia whispered quietly, pushing me away gently.

“But the food?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” she said far too quickly.

The air seemed to grow even colder as Tia ushered me inside our hut. She quickly followed suit. But just before she closed the door, I could swear I saw a snowflake. Which was odd, it was only early August. And it didn’t snow during August.

Could it?

Winter came early this year.

Like it did every year.

It was early September when the temperature dropped. And not long after that when the last summer storm tried to strike, instead burying the village beneath feet of snow.

“Damnit-” Mom grunted as she tried to push the front door. I could see mist on my breath. Bright white light streamed between the wooden boards. Tia was digging relentlessly in the corner, searching a woven basket for the scraps of cloth she had procured for just this purpose. As mom turned to try kicking the door open, Tia seemed to fly as she hurried between the larger cracks where the wood didn’t line up all that well.

“Luna could you start a fire? We’re gonna freeze if we can’t get out.” Mom commanded.

“Yes mom.” I squeaked, reaching over to pick up the flint and tinder next to the fireplace. It took us several minutes for us to do our tasks. Tia, because there were just that many cracks in the wood, Mom because a drift of snow had formed over the door, and me, because I was clumsy.

Tia was done first, because her task was relatively simple. Mom soon after, because she was a full grown big pony who was used to kicking things.

And finally me, when Tia rushed to help me, taking the flint from my hooves and quickly, with practiced ease, struck a spark. The wood catching in seconds.

Mom took a few moments to fully clear the doorway of snow, before looking up and inhaling sharply.

“By the Sun…” she gasped.

The dirty green world at the end of the summer months was gone. The world had become white and fluffy, wiped almost clean by the night. But as nice as it looked, horror filled our hearts. I didn't know the exact reason, but Mom and Tia dreaded the snow. And that was enough for me to know it was no good.

Mom dreaded everything, me playing near the treeline, me playing near the deepest part of the river, me playing with bees. She worried about everything. And she took being worried very seriously.

Tia on the other hoof, had a more practical view. She loved having fun, and adults were against fun. It therefore stood that Tia knew what she was talking about and could be trusted to be more sensible about things. So when Tia was worried about something, I knew she was being serious. And Tia was now nervous. Very nervous.

Other villagers were now breaking out of their homes, all having the same hustle and bustle inside as they faced similar issues.

“Sun damned Pegasi!” a voice shouted, muffled by distance.

“Can’t they see we have nothing for them?” cried another voice, in reply to the first.

“‘Oh sure, let’s attack the unicorn peasants!’” The first voice mocked loudly, yelling a conversation across the village. “‘Because they clearly have food worth taking.’”

“‘I say!’” mocked the second. “‘We Earth Ponies sure do enjoy our food! Shame the other’s can’t have it!’”

“‘Aye!’” agreed the first. “‘And we pegasi are too stupid to tell the difference!’”

The conversation became muddied as several different ponies added in with the comments, or shouted at the others to be quiet.

An impromptu village meeting took place as the adults gathered and began to argue with each other, wondering what to do about the snow.

“We have to go South!” A mare exclaimed. “We don’t have enough to last the month, much less the winter!”

“We can’t go South! The pegasi will pick us off!” a stallion rebutted.

“We don’t have anything they can take.”

Everypony erupted as they began to shout their opinion.

“Enough!” came the loud and clear voice of the Reeve. Everypony turned their attention to the mare. “If we stay we are dead. That is a fact.” she began. “If we leave, maybe the Pegasi Pirates will come. Maybe. We can’t go to Unicornia, if they had the food, we’d have some stores to get by. And it’s the same from all the nearby villages. No pony has food. The Queen Iridium news caravan left no food anywhere during their route. All the merchants and travelers confirm that. If we can flee South before any of the rest of the Kingdom gets started, we’ll have an easier time digging in the snow for rations along the way.” She explained. “If this community is to survive we need to leave now.“

The crowd murmured amongst themselves, unsure if the Reeve was right, but equally not sure if she was wrong either.

“Does anypony have a better idea?” the Reeve called, her voice echoing slightly, even in the muffled snow. The only response was a slight cough from the edge of the village. “Thought not. Come on and get your things, we need to move while we have daylight.”

And just like that, most of the ponies ducked back into their huts, the matter settled in their minds. But a few disagreed with the Reeve.

“Bah!” exclaimed Mrs Amethyst. “I’ll be damned if I leave my home!”

“Granny please.” Emerald begged at her Grandmother’s side. “We have to go.”

“Bah!” Mrs Amethyst repeated. “You young ones aren’t made of the same stuff you used to! Back in my day we made do with what we had!”

“Granny please!” Sapphire pleaded. “We’ll starve if we stay!”

“My pappy, grandpappy, and every great grandpappy since the Flight of the Alicorns has lived here! And if it was good enough for them?! It’ll be good enough for me!”

I lost track of the conversation as Mom pushed me back inside.

“Come on Lu, get dressed in the clothes I got for you. Get Sir Snuggles as well.” Mom commanded solemnly.

“Ok Mom.” I whispered, the gravity of the situation only beginning to way on my shoulders. Tia had been tending the fire, but had heard everything. She was already halfway dressed with what rags she could scrounge for keeping warm.

My rags were dirty. Mud stained, and greasy from former lives as holey discarded dish cloths, they were a sorry sight even to my eyes.

I hated that they were dirty.

But then again everything was dirty somehow.

I put them on with only a little difficulty.

“Ready Mom.” I stated, picking up the worn Sir Snuggles and tucking him into a shirt pocket. Mom had finished much quickly then I had, and had moved to tucking clay jars into a saddlebag.

“Don’t tell anyone we have spare rations.” she whispered to both of us.

“Yes mom.” We chanted together.

“If they find out we’ll be torn apart by starving ponies.”

“Of course mom.” Tia nodded. All I could do was grimace as I imagined Emerald and Sapphire beating me up again for food.

“Good. Now let’s stand by the fire while we wait for the others to get ready.”

The fire was small, and didn’t provide much warmth, but it pushed back the cold just enough to be worth protecting.

“Oh Tia,” Mom said suddenly while we were waiting. “Fill your bag with firewood. It won’t last us long but it’ll be nice to have.

“Yes Mom.” Tia obediently agreed, bending over the fire wood to place in her watercress gathering bag. No one said anything else as the minutes grew longer. Finally a crowd began to gather again outside.

“Let’s go.” Mom said simply.

The villagers had gathered their belongings. Blankets and keepsakes from their personal lives were common, but did not dominate the luggage because of the simple fact keepsakes were typically small, and the village was simply too poor to have more than you could carry.

It was strange, abandoning the only home you’ve ever known. One moment you’re listening to the adults talking amongst themselves, and the next you’re looking at the small hut that you’ve spent your whole life in, knowing you will never again enter its doors.

Next Chapter: Chapter 65 The Memories Part 24 Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 3 Minutes