Sanctuary
We had only traveled a mile or so when we saw the sun rising in the distance. We realized that we must have slept for a while in the man’s basement dungeon and that it was now morning. It also meant that we had to find somewhere quick to hide in the day, a place where no one would find us. Unlike where Brush Stroke lived, the part of the city we traveled through was not filled with abandoned buildings but places that where largely in good condition. That meant that hiding would be harder to do.
As the morning broke, we carefully made our way through the back alleys of the city; places that we never dared venture as humans but had no choice but to do so. With all the crowds of people going to and from places, it was also easy to blend in between going from one block into another. All the while I heard the small voice of Princess Luna telling me where to go in my mind saying, “turn here,” or “stop,” or “watch out.” Brush Stroke seemed surprised with my sudden intuition of where to go, but he never doubted me.
Finally we came to a place that once appeared to be a parking lot but now had been converted into a beautiful backyard garden. It was like a little piece of paradise among the city area. As I look back on that day I remember how much more I felt at home there than I did in the city. I guess that was the pony side of me taking over.
“I think we’re safe here,” I said to Brush Stroke who I saw limping slightly, “How’s your leg?”
“It’s ok,” he said trying to not have me worry, “as long as we don’t travel too far. How are you?”
“I’m fine now that you’re with me. Anyway, let’s eat.”
There was a perfect amount of sweet grass to eat and a small fountain to drink from. As a human I’d be freaked out doing what I was doing but as a pony is seemed natural. Strange that not only my body changed but my thoughts did too of what I liked or didn’t like or the importance of things in my life. If you were to ask me if I missed human things like TV or a computer, I would actually tell you that even though I remember them they don’t really have any importance in my life any more. Ponies don’t have lots of stuff but what we do have we treasure and we hold friends and family as the greatest gift of all.
We were so busy eating that we were unaware of a figure in the garden watching us with a look of wonder. Finally we heard the sound like the coo of a dove and Luna telling me that there was someone else in our presence that made me pick up my head and look. There standing there was a little girl, about six years old and dressed in pink pants and a t-shirt that had none other than Twilight Sparkle on it. My first instinct was to get Brush Stroke and run, but the girl didn’t seem like she wanted to hurt us at all. In fact she looked excited mixed with being afraid. I decided it was best to meet this girl, hoping that she would help us.
“Hi there,” I said to the girl as I stepped forward, “I’m Quill Flourish and this is Brush Stroke. What’s your name?”
“My… my name’s Sarah. Are you real ponies, like from Ponyville?”
“Yes we are Sarah,” Brush Stroke said with a smile.
The little girl squealed with delight and running across the grass suddenly gave me a hug so strong that she almost knocked me off my hooves!
“Oh my gosh! I kept wishing that I’d meet a pony like you but now I get to see two ponies. And you’re both unicorns! I love unicorns! Can you do any magic?”
“Of course we can,” I said to her, “but you need to promise me something, ok? You can’t tell your friends or family that we met you. It has to be our little secret.”
“I promise,” Sarah said as she let go of me.
“Alright then,” Brush said, “Now I want you to keep really still Sarah while we use our magic.”
“Ok,” Sarah said as she stood like a statue in the garden. With a flicker of our horns we wrapped the girl in an aura and slowly lifted her a few feet off the ground.
“I’m floating,” she said with delight, “like a Pegasus pony!”
We let her float in the air for a while before setting her back down in the ground.
“You two are amazing,” Sarah said.
“Thanks,” Brush Stroke, “but we need your help Sarah.”
“You do,” she asked wondering why two magical unicorns needed her help.
“Yes,” the stallion replied, “We’re trying to get back to Ponyville but we need a safe place to stay.”
“You can stay here,” Sarah said, “Mommy and Daddy are working and won’t be home until way later. You can come in if you want.”
“Thanks,” we said as we headed into the house and a place of safety at least for a while.
“You know,” I whispered to her, “Once we get back, we’ll tell Twilight Sparkle all about how nice you were to us.”
“Really,” she said as her eyes lit up.
“Sure,” Brush Stroke replied.
“Oh thank you thank you thank you,” she said hugging us yet again, “Oh you two must be hungry. Let me get you some carrots and apples.”
With that our wonderful guest disappeared in the kitchen and returned with some great food. As the two of us ate while she looked on I wondered where Luna would tell us to go and when that would be. As the day passed we watched My Little Pony with her, ate lunch, showed her some magic, and played all sorts of games. It was fun to see her so excited that we were there, filling her heart with happiness. In the afternoon I was in the middle of watching another episode when I heard Luna’s voice in my mind.
“Quill and Brush. My sister and I along with Twilight have located a park a short distance from your location. Please proceed there and call me with your mind and we will open a portal to the castle.”
“Brush,” I whispered nudging the stallion, “Luna spoke to me. She told me to go to the park tonight.”
“Yeah,” he whispered back, “she told me too. I spoke to her in my dreams last night.”
“Ok, we’ll need to talk to Michelle and Dan though so they can wish us good bye.”
“Ok, let me try something,” Brush said before speaking to Sarah, “Sarah, can we use your phone? We have some human friends we want to talk to.”
“Ok,” she said as she paused the episode as she brought us the phone.
“Thanks,” I said as I dialed with my telekinesis Michelle’s number.
“Hello,” a familiar voice appeared.
“Michelle, it’s me.”
“Julie? Oh thank goodness you’re ok! Is Justin with you?”
“Yes, he’s right next to me.”
“What about the man in the van?”
“I don’t think he’s going to bother us. But we’re safe now thanks to a very special person. But the reason I called Michelle is that there’s a change of plans. Luna spoke to me….”
“Wait a minute, Luna as in the Princess Luna from the show?”
“Yeah, that Luna. She told me to go to the park at night where she’s going to create a portal for us to go through to Equestria. Can you and Dan meet us there?”
“Sure Julie. Dan’s with me in the apartment. We’ll be there in the evening.”
“Thanks Michelle,” I said before hanging up the phone and whispering to Brush the news.
“So are you two ok with your friends,” Sarah asked.
“Yeah,” Brush replied, “So how about seeing what happens to Pinkie Pie?”
“Ok,” Sarah said as she played the episode again, leaving us time to relax before the final push to our goal. Little did we know that a familiar face would show up, the last thing that would stand in our way from being finally free.