The Nightmare Village

Water Skies awoke because he had hit the ground hard, like he had fallen down from something. Maybe he had fallen out of his bed, but that fall was way shorter than the fall he just made.

He jumped on his paws and hooves and looked around wildly, only to be really confused.

Trees surrounded him.

Why was he in the Everfree Forest? Why was it dark? Was it still in the middle of the night? And even worse, why exactly did he fall down?

But... now that his eyes got used to his surroundings, he realised it wasn't completely dark. It was night, yes, but it wasn't dark.

The ground was completely covered with a blue light and glowing light spheres emerged from the ground, floated upwards and got smaller and smaller until they vanished into thin air.

Water Skies gulped. This wasn't natural.

He took a step backwards and saw more and more of those spheres.

Frankly, they frightened him, so in order to escape and ease down a little bit, he jumped in the air and flew high enough, safely away from those spheres.

He shook himself. What was that? Was that dangerous? Could it get him sick??

He gulped again and flew even higher, just to be safe.

To get on other thoughts, he looked up to the sky where the full moon shone on his face. Did he... did he fall from the sky?

Then he realised, there was something off with this moon. It wasn't white. Water Skies blinked, hoping to get his vision clear because clearly that wasn't right.

But no matter how often he blinked, the moon would stay three-colored: turquoise, pink, and purple.

Water Skies shook his head and came to the conclusion that he would ignore that.

Suddenly, howls arose. Timberwolves.

Water Skies startled and then made a run for it. Despite being in the middle of the forest, he knew how to get home. Even though there were some trees in his way that weren't there before... It were also really old trees, so it was impossible for him to have overseen them all those years.

Because the branches of the trees hung too low, Water Skies also had to fly lower and closer to the spheres. He wasn't too happy about that, but having the branches scratch his back sounded even worse.

Suddenly, something plucked Water Skies from the air and he fell with a loud thud into a bush. The crash pressed the air out of his lungs and he felt like the branches of the bush had scratched all over his face.

"Ouch!" He said as he got up.

"Are you mad?!" A muffled voice suddenly said and Water Skies startled. He jumped away and out of the bush, but the creature to whom the voice belonged was faster. A paw reached out to him and held him tightly to the ground.

"Do you want the Timberwolves to find us?!" The voice hissed dangerously close to his ear. Water Skies blinked. There was something about this voice... it sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put is paw on it.

Even here under the bush, it was illuminated in blue. Feeling overwhelmingly scared by it, he took all his strength and got rid of the creature holding him down. The creature fell over and Water Skies saved himself onto the branches of the bush. Due to his weight, he still hung just mere inches over the ground, but it was enough to make him feel safe.

"W-w-w-what is that?!" Water Skies asked in a high-pitched voice but the other creature didn't respond.

Water Skies slowly looked up to the creature and his jaw fell down.

The creature was a grifix, taller than him and around the height of his father. It had a sidecut and in the eerie light, Water Skies could see that the face was scarred and some parts of the fluffs were missing.

The other grifix found his voice back. "W-who are you? Have you been sent from the ponies?? Did they find out how they can see us?!?"

Water Skies' eyes grew big. That voice sounded exactly like his! Because of the muffling, he hadn't realised it before, but now it was clear as day.

"Answer me!" The grifix demanded and came a step closer.

"I-I-I'm a grifix like you!" Assuringly, Water Skies raised his paws - and fell down from the branch.

"Eep!" He immediately jumped up again and back on his branch. Now, he wasn't sure anymore whether he felt safe enough on his branch.

The other grifix chuckled at his reaction, but got serious quite soon.

"You're not from the ponies," the grifix muttered thoughtful and then asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is... Water Skies," he answered, still scared of the weird blue glow.

"Well, that's a funny coincidence, I'm also called Water Skies." The grifix said and shot Water Skies a suspicious look. "How come I don't know a grifix with the same name?"

"I could ask the same," Water Skies replied confused.

Suddenly, they heard howls again and the other immediately jumped.

"Let's go! We can't stay out for too long, the Timberwolves will get us!"

The other Water Skies jumped out of the bush and fled through the underwood. Water Skies who didn't want to be left alone at this strange place, quickly followed him.

The taller version of himself ran over the ground fast, but quietly. Water Skies followed flying.

Howling was heard again.

At first, they ran the way Water Skies knew, but then, they suddenly made turns he wouldn't have dreamed of to make to get to the village.

He stopped at some point when they were halfway through the forest. "Where are we going?"

"To the village, of course!" The other answered, "What do you think?"

"But... Isn't it in that direction?" Water Skies pointed towards the direction where the Grifix village had always been.

"Are you crazy?! You have death wishes or what?!" The other retorted, visibly shocked.

Water Skies gulped at that reaction and wished he could get back home. All of this was way too weird for him to handle. And what was so scary about a bunch of houses that he had to have death wishes to go there?

The other noticed Water Skies' reaction and calmed down a little. "How don't you know of the Timberwolf attack?"

"I know about the Timberwolf attack," Water Skies replied, "and it was the worst we ever experienced. But I don't see how that ties into the location of the village."

The other sighed. "We fled when they attacked us."

Water Skies' jaw dropped. "You... fled?! But where?"

"Timberwolf activities had been rising ever since the moon didn't go down! We noticed early enough, so the queen decided that we would move further in the forest. So, we had a place to go to."

"Wait... what do you mean by »ever since the moon didn't go down«? Is that the reason for the weird colors if the moon?"

Both Water Skies looked up into the sky. The weird moon was hidden behind a cloud. "We don't know why the moon has those colors," the other said, "it hasn't been always like this. In the beginning, the moon stayed white, but then all of a sudden, it was - this!" He pointed accusingly up and then, looked back at Water Skies. "We also don't know what caused this in the first place. We're completely left in the dark here."

The other blinked, then chuckled, but since Water Skies didn't react, he cleared his throat and murmured, "Sorry."

Water Skies blinked, "For what?"

"Ah, nothing," the other quickly said when suddenly his eyes widened. The cloud had moved away and the moon now shone brightly on the two grifixes.

Only now they saw how they really looked.

He took a step back and Water Skies' jaw fell down.

This other Water Skies looked exactly like him! Well, not exactly, but the colors were an exact match. Now, Water Skies could also see that one part of the other's mane was braided away.

"Is that mom's doing?" Water Skies asked curiously and the other nodded. "More or less, but it also helps during training. Why isn't yours braided?"

"Oh, I just like it this way," Water Skies replied, "but I sometimes braid it for training, too."

But with the light of the moon here on this small clearing, he suddenly saw that a small part of the mane was missing and how could he have possibly overlooked that scars? They didn't look nearly as horrifying under that bush, but maybe he just hadn't seen them because of the blue glowing ground. Just what kind of weird thing was this blue stuff?

"What is this blue glow?!" He asked distressed and looked disgustingly at it. "It looks like an illness!"

The other chuckled, "No, don't worry." He got serious again. "That is pony magic. Around 10 years ago, the pony princess casted a spell on the Everfree because vines were spreading everywhere. They didn't affect our village, of course, but the rest of the forest and the ponies didn't seem to like that, so their princess came. But... she had to wander around the whole forest and she eventually came across our village... both of them. And ever since then, she's been eager to find out who's living there. We've never been this happy about being invisible to other creatures."

Water Skies blinked at him. "Ponies are in the Everfree Forest?"

The other nodded, "And now even more than 10 years ago. They don't even seem to fear the Timberwolves. Though, those are busy with other things anyways."

He had a sour look on his face as he looked aside.

Water Skies eyeballed the ground suspiciously. "Is it really safe to walk on that blue ground?"

The other nodded, "Yes. It's magic to keep the vines from spreading, it doesn't affect us. The healers made sure of that."

"If you say so," Water Skies slowly landed on the ground, still not entirely convinced, but it was getting harder to stay in the air and he needed a break from flying.

He looked up to the other and his scarred face looked more painful to Water Skies now.

"Is that... is that the doing of a Timberwolf?" Water Skies asked quietly as pointed to his face.

The other nodded and shrugged, looking indifferent now.

"But so badly? Was it from the attack 15 years ago?" Water Skies continued and stopped when he faced the other again.

"15 years ago?" The other repeated confused, "Don't you mean 20?"

"20?!" Water Skies exclaimed, "but wasn't the attack 15 years ago?"

"There were definitely attacks 15 years ago, but the big one was 20 years ago," the other explained and then startled.

"What?!" Water Skies exclaimed and flew up to his height. "How are mom and dad doing? What about Sky Lillies and Lily Falls?!"

"They're all fine," the other slightly chuckled and sighed, "When did I chuckle the last time? Anyways, why do you know of the timberwolf attack? And who's that "Sky Lillies"? Come to think about it, I also dont know a "Lily Falls"... though it sounds a lot like Sky Falls..."

Water Skies blinked, "Sky Lillies is my sister! As well as Lily Falls!"

"Wait, you have two sisters?! I only hav-"

Suddenly, a male and intimidating voice interrupted them. "Just what in the world do you think you are doing?!"

The other flinched, before swirling around and hiding Water Skies with his body. And right in time.

Another grifix appeared in front of them. He was smaller and his coat was dark grey, the fluff purple. Water Skies blinked. Was that Reaping Sea?

"Water Skies, why are you so late?! The queen expected your report half a moon ago!"

The other retorted, "Half a moon ago? That's not true!"

"But you're still late! Way too late!"

"But not as late as you say!" Water Skies insisted. "I had to make sure that the Timberwolves would stay away! I heard a few tonight."

The other was constantly moving left and right, so Water Skies' view on his grandfather changed constantly.

His jaw fell down when he finally had a complete image of Reaping Sea. He looked so different! He looked tidier, his hair neatly made into a bun, his fluffs all clean, too. And he looked even more intimidating. Water Skies shivered.

"How's their camp?" Reaping Sea's voice sounded quite raspy, the hidden Water Skies noticed, even more raspy than 'his' Reaping Sea.

"They recently teared down the castle," the taller Water Skies answered. "And most houses have been downgraded to caves. But I don't think, they will attack us soon again."

"That is the Queen's choice only, grandchild! Also," Reaping Sea sounded grim now, "what are you hiding?!"

The other winced, but asked, "what do you mean?"

"You're constantly changing positions. Only fools or grifix who hide something behind their backs do that! So spill."

"I... don't hide anything," the other replied firmly and immediately stood tall.

"Stop playing with me, Water Skies." Suddenly, without warning, Reaping Sea jumped forward and out of Water Skies' vision.

"Who is that?!" Suddenly, Reaping Sea's voice was way closer. Water Skies shrieked and jumped away from it.

He slowly turned around and found himself face to face to Reaping Sea. He looked especially angry today.

"Who are you?" Reaping Sea asked again and took a step forward. Water Skies backed away.

"His name is Water Skies," the other replied in Water Skies' place.

"I don't know a second Water Skies," Reaping Sea said, still focused on Water Skies who felt really uncomfortable under his stare. "So... who are you? Are you a spy? Sent from the ponies?! Have they finally found out how we look like? Speak, little one!"

Water Skies just gulped and backed away until eventually sat down, still too afraid to speak.

Reaping Sea thrones over him and Water Skies could see how he was thinking about what he should do, when suddenly a spark of realization scurried over his face.

"That's it!" Reaping Sea turned around. He stood a little bit taller and his gaze wandered between both Water Skies back and forth. "You two are coming with me to the queen. She'll decide what to do with you. The both of you."

Water Skies looked at the other for help, but he just hung his head. "We're coming."

Reaping Sea started walking, both Water Skies followed right behind him.

"I can't believe it," Reaping Sea grumbled to himself. "You found a spy and don't even care to mention it! Instead, you even cover for him! Are you even one of us?!" He grew louder with every word.

"He isn't a spy!" The other retorted, "he's a grifix, just like us! He just isn't from here!"

The both of them fell in a hot tempered argument to which Water Skies didn't listen. He still felt uncomfortable and he also felt bad for the other Water Skies. He was in a bad position and all just because of him. And he still didn't even know why he was here! Or what he was supposed to do here.

Suddenly, he heard rustling and looked up. The other two had also stopped arguing and looked around.

"Didn't you say you kept them away from our village?" Reaping Sea hissed towards the other.

"I did!" The other whispered back. "But that's all for nothing when you shout so loud that it can even be heard in the pony castle!"

Without him realizing, the both of them had taken Water Skies in their midst.

Suddenly, there was a battle cry and a yowl from a Timberwolf.

The bushes in front of them moved around violently and finally gave sight on a timberwolf, running towards them with a frightened expression.

It ran past the three grifixes without even looking at them. Blood dropped from some open wounds.

The three just watched the timberwolf run away. They were too stunned to properly realise what was going on.

Then, a male voice called, "There's Reaping Sea!"

They all winced at the sound and shook themselves. Reaping Sea opened his mouth and wanted to answer, when another voice, a female one, shouted into their direction, "Incoming!!"

The three had barely time to jump aside when another timberwolf was already flying towards them. The creature yowled in pain when it hit the ground, but Reaping Sea and the taller Water Skies immediately went to attack it. They unsheathed their claws and wanted to attack, but the timberwolf ran away faster than it got up.

Two new grifixes came towards them. Both were female and Water Skies recognized one of them immediately - it was Water Cascade. She hadn't changed at all which made Water Skies glad that there was finally someone he recognized immediately. Though... her hair did seem a little hit shorter than usual.

The other grifix was harder to recognize. The hair simply looked wild and while the mane was short, the tail was super long. Because of the blue glow, Water Skies wasn't sure if he saw the colors correctly, but they somehow appeared familiar.

"Tigerlily!" The other exclaimed, "what happened?"

"We surprised each other," the other grifix explained grinning, "the Timberwolves wanted to attack us, but coincidentally, we crossed their paths before they could even just come close to the village."

"Wild Tigerlily surprised them so hard, they won't return that soon again," Water Cascade added more seriously and that other grifix whose name apparently was Wild Tigerlily, laughed triumphantly, but also slightly maniacally. "They got the scare of their life!"

Reaping Sea looked at the two females, "Were those the only Timberwolves?"

Water Cascade shook her head, "no, they were originally four. But we haven't been alone either. Luckily, the captain and his daughter were with us."

Reaping Sea nodded, "That explains the voice. Anyways, you two should go and see if they still need help. I doubt they do, but better safe than sorry."

Water Cascade agreed and nudged Wild Tigerlily who stared at Water Skies.

"Who's that?" Wild Tigerlily asked. "He looks a lot like you, Water Skies."

"Well, he is-" the other started, but Reaping Sea cut him short, "none of your business. You two should go and look after the captain and his daughter." He glared at Wild Tigerlily who took a step back and flattened her ears. "Alright, fine... Let's go, Cascade."

The two females turned away from them and disappeared into the forest. The last they heard from them was Wild Tigerlily saying, "Let's race there! The sooner we're there, the more Timberwolves will be left for us!"

 

"Why didn't you tell them?" The other Water Skies asked exasperated when the two females were gone. "Isn't he going to live here now?"

"I am?" Water Skies couldn't hide his shock about those news. "But I don't want to! I wanna go home!"

Reaping Sea shot a short look at the smaller Water Skies, before he turned to the taller. "This is something the queen has to decide. None of us have any say in it."

"But you could! Or.. the captain!"

"I said, 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 of us have a say in it. Do I always have to repeat myself?!"

The taller Water Skies gulped and shook his head. "No," he murmured silently.

"Good." Reaping Sea groaned. "It's all the same with you, youngsters."

He started walking again and the two Water Skies followed silently.

Water Skies didn't realise he was taking step towards a direction, his mind was filled with all sorts of things over this place. The moon still shone on them, the blue glow was also still there and still set Water Skies off and now, he should even live here? It made Water Skies shiver. He didn't want to stay here. He wanted to be back home, with his annoying little sisters, his parents, his family, even his grandfather. He would even volunteer to do the worst warrior duty if he could escape this nightmare.

They walked straight for a while, then Reaping Sea turned left. Water Skies could feel the magic barrier of the village in the near, but they hadn't crossed it yet.

"Why are we going this way?" The other Water Skies finally asked.

"You'll see why," Reaping Sea replied snippy and didn't stop.

"But..." The other stopped. "Can't we just go through the village? This can't be this important."

Reaping Sea flattened his ears and it seemed like he was going to explode quite soon. He swirled around with utmost self-control and gritted his teeth.

"Yes... it is *this* important and this is all I have to say about this. No. Further. Discussions!"

"I was jus-"

"No, you were not! And now, let us go!" With that, he turned around and started trotting in a place that made clear he wouldn't stop again.

 

After moments of silence, the three reached the garden of the grifix castle. Now, they finally entered and passed through the magic barrier. On the other side were a few bushes and trees of which Reaping Sea shoved the branches away and looked at the taller Water Skies. "You go first."

The taller didn't dare to say anything, so he just vanished into them.

"Water Skies!" A relieved call was heard from the other side. It was a female and Water Skies definitely recognized it as Star Waters' voice, his mother. Reaping Sea waited a bit, before he gestured Water Skies to follow him and went through the bushes himself.

Water Skies followed more carefully.

On the other side was a small garden, or rather, a small meadow, leading to the back side of the huge castle. Water Skies looked in awe at the castle. It looked so majestic! Though there were some things off... it looked so dark. It also had a completely different structure and somehow reminded him of the Old Castle of the Two Sisters.

Then, he turned his attention towards the grifix. Reaping Sea was still standing by his side and was watching the rest of his family.

The other Water Skies was hugged by a female grifix that looked a lot like his mother, Star Waters. Sure, the hair was shorter and braided differently, but overall she looked really similar. A male grifix was hugging him as well and even he was recognizable to Water Skies. The grifix had a very similar hair style to Sunset Stars, his father, and so far, the only thing that was different between them was that the long braided hair streak was missing.

"Did you have a secret mission, big brother?" An innocent and very young voice asked. Water Skies turned his attention towards it and saw a young and small grifix circle the three over and over. She looked with big eyes at the adults and even she bore a lot of similarities with Lily Falls, if anything, the only difference was the blue in the hair.

"Yes, I was," the other Water Skies replied and Star Waters opened her eyes. Her gaze fell upon Reaping Sea and she shortly smiled at him. Then, her gaze fell upon Water Skies and her expression became puzzled.

She stopped hugging the other and looked more closely at Water Skies. "Who's that? He looks a lot like you, Water Skies."

Sunset Stars now took a look at Water Skies as well and even Lily Falls looked curiously at him.

Water Skies started to feel uncomfortable under all those stares.

"Well, I think, he is me," the other Water Skies said, "at least somehow?"

"Oh, really?" Star Waters asked and the other nodded, "At least, he looks a lot like me and he has the same name."

Sunset Stars tilted his head, "I've never seen you before. Where are you from?"

Water Skies blinked, "I... I actually don't know."

"Are you going to stay in the village then?" Star Waters looked actually happy about that thought.

"I... don't know either... Perhaps, if I'm allowed to..."

"I'm sure you are. In fact, you could-"

"Don't get yourself too excited, Star Waters." Reaping Sea interrupted with his usual annoyed expression.

Star Waters looked like her whole world just shattered. "But why not? What are you doing with him? He looks so scared."

"I am not doing anything with them. The only thing I do is bring him in front of the queen where he belongs to."

"He does not! He just needs a proper explanation and a warm tea. Maybe Black Sunset should have a look at him."

"For what? All I see is a strange grifix that appeared in the forest in the middle of nowhere. Even in the middle of the night! We don't even know if he really IS a grifix!"

"I am a grifix!" Water Skies quietly disagreed and Reaping Sea shot him a deadly look from the side which made Water Skies regret he had said anything.

"He could very well be a spy for the ponies and we cannot have someone like that walk around our village. It's already enough that the pony princess saw our village."

"But just look at him! He's not a spy! He looks like he barely knows what's going on! Why are you so heartless?"

"I am not heartless, I am just fulfilling my duty!" Reaping Sea spat back at Star Waters and pulled his tail protectively around Water Skies. "Speaking of which, this is what I should be doing anyways, instead of talking to you all. I found Water Skies, so I'd say I dont have to answer to you any longer."

He shot one look at the family, before departing towards the castle and dragging Water Skies with him.

Water Skies stumbled after him until eventually found the right pace. By then, Reaping Sea had pulled his tail away and was leading the way.

Suddenly, he heard paw steps behind him and looked back. Lily Falls was coming after them.

She stumbled, fell into the grass, but quickly picked herself up and continued running.

Water Skies stopped and so did Reaping Sea.

"Sky Falls, come back please!" Star Waters called and Water Skies blinked. Sky Falls?

Sky Falls ignored her mother and skidded to a halt in front of the two adult grifixes.

"Why can't he stay?" She asked with big puppy eyes.

Water Skies almost melted away when he saw her face, but Reaping Sea just sighed.

"There is no point in getting to excited over something when it's gone the next second," he said surprisingly kind to the young one.

"Oh, okay," Sky Falls said and it was clear that she didn't understand a thing.

"Sky Falls!" Star Waters called again, more serious this time.

Sky Falls looked one last time at Water Skies, before hopping back to her family.

Water Skies watched her go, but wondered about what Reaping Sea had said. He, Water Skies, would be gone soon? Was Reaping Sea so sure that Queen Selenara would send him away? Or exile him? Or even worse - would she throw him to the Timberwolves? Or just outright kill him herself?

"But she would never do that!" He suddenly exclaimed out loud, trying to relieve his fear that way.

"Who would do what," Reaping Sea asked with his annoyed expression and Water Skies immediately made himself smaller.

"Nothing," he quickly murmured and suddenly felt a paw on his back which made him jump.

Reaping Sea raised an eyebrow and Water Skies realised that it was Reaping Sea's paw.

"We should go," he said and turned, with Water Skies immediately following.

 

They entered the castle through a small door in the back. Now, they were walking through one hallway after another. The walls were surprisingly beautiful, despite the dark outer appearance. They were blue, purple, white, or different mixtures of the colors. Some were even painted with night skies and here and there, Water Skies could spot a moon on the wall. Every few yards hung a torch which lit the way.

But the most interesting part of the hallways were the tapestries. They usually just hung in walls with no night skies and almost all of them pictured Queen Eclipsa. They all also showed night themes, like simply a starry sky, but sometimes also solar eclipses. He had seen just one lunar eclipse and that was literally the first tapestry he had encountered. And that one hung right at the entrance they had come through.

The tapestries distracted Water Skies from that meeting with the queen, but the more he saw, the more he wondered why Queen Selenara had hung such tapestries everywhere.

They had walked a while and eventually Water Skies dared to ask, "Why has Queen Selenara tapestries of Queen Eclipsa hanging everywhere?"

Reaping Sea bursted into laughter, but then facepalmed himself and turned back to Water Skies. "Did Water Skies tell you nothing about this place?"

He rolled his eyes, but looked like he repressed laughter and had an overall weird expression that Water Skies wasn't able to identify.

Since he didn't answer anything, Reaping Sea said, "I'll explain everything to you later. Come on, it's not far anymore."

He continued walking and Water Skies followed with a gulp. He looked at the tapestries again and suddenly noticed a strange one. It pictured Queen Eclipsa. There was nothing fancy about it, just a beautiful pose of Queen Eclipsa with the night in the background. At least, he guessed it was supposed to be night because the quality of this tapestry was lacking at every end. There was no word for how far apart this particular tapestry and the others were in quality, it was almost stunning that a tapestry like this even hung here. Then again, Water Skies could see how much effort was put into it and despite the bad work, Queen Eclipsa was clearly recognizable.

Reaping Sea stopped in front of a door right next to that particular tapestry and noticed Water Skies staring at the wall. He followed his gaze and said, "I made that tapestry. In case, you were wondering."

"O-oh," Water Skies stammered and tried his best to hide his shock. But he saw that tapestry in a totally different light and even felt respect for his grandfather to try out sewing. He never would've dreamt to do that... even less his grandfather.

"We're here," Reaping Sea continued without reacting to Water Skies.

Water Skies immediately gulped. "Do you really have to bring me to the queen?"

Reaping Sea's expression stayed as usual and he insisted, "Just come in."

He opened the door and stepped inside. Water Skies shortly thought of just taking the chance and run, but Reaping Sea already stuck his head out of the room again. He rolled his eyes. "Just come on in. How old are you, 27 or 5?"

"20, actually..." Water Skies murmured and accepted his fate... whatever it might be.

 

He walked forward and into the room... and was surprised to be in a normal room. There was a big bed standing in the center, a window on both sides of the bed and shelves at both walls on his left and right and they were all filled with books. Neither sides were completely filled with shelves; the shelves on the left side covered ⅔ of the wall, leaving blank wall in the back, and the right side left space for desktop right near the door.

Water Skies blinked and spun around to make sure this was really the room he was standing in. A normal room, far from being the Queen's throne room.

His jaw fell down and only after several moments, he managed to ask, "Why... You... Didn't you want to take me to the queen?"

"Oh, yeah, that. Sorry about that."

Water Skies' jaw fell even further. He had never heard his grandfather say "sorry" before.

Reaping Sea noticed. "What? Does my counterpart in your world never say sorry?"

"No... yes," Water Skies stammered.

"Well, I do. And I do it even again - sorry. I didn't think this through. In fact, I didn't even expect this to happen. It was just a way to keep the others from convincing me of other things."

"Wh-what do you mean? Did you know I would be here? Where even am I? What is this place? What happened to my family? Why do they all look so different? What exactly just happened here?!" Finally, Water Skies could all the questions that had been nagging him ever since he was here.

Now, Reaping Sea actually smiled. "Don't worry, I will answer all your questions soon. But let ourselves get comfortable first."

With that, he pointed into the left corner where two armchairs and a round tea table were standing. "You can sit down there, I'll join you in a second, just making a quick tea."

Water Skies nodded and slowly trotted towards the armchairs. He would finally get answers to all these questions and just how ironic was it that he was getting them from his grumpy grandfather?

He sat down on one of the armchairs and immediately felt more comfortable.

He was also really relieved that he wouldn't see the queen. Though he was really interested in Queen Selenara. Just considering the castle, she seemed to be a totally different grifix.

"Here you go," Reaping Sea suddenly said and Water Skies startled. His grandfather had put a cup of tea right in front of him on the chestnut tea table.

"Th-thanks." Water Skies took the cup and took a sip. It was a delicious tea.

Reaping Sea sat down on the other armchair and looked at Water Skies. He chuckled again. "So, in your world, Selenara reigns over the grifix, doesn't she?"

Water Skies nodded and put the cup back on the table. He looked at Reaping Sea and tilted his head. He blinked. Reaping Sea had his hair open, but the lower half was braided. He hadn't seen a braid in his bun. However, he was more eager to know more about this world and he also wasn't sure if Reaping Sea would like to answer questions about his hair.

"So... Queen Selenara isn't reigning here?"

Reaping Sea shook his head, "No. But she almost would have."

He leant back and started to explain, "It was around 30 years ago, on Selenara's supposedly Coronation day. It was scheduled for high noon, but the sun never rose. It was the first day without the sun and we all were worried. Did the ancestors hate us? But Queen Eclipsa stepped forwards and declared this a sign. It was a sign that she should continue to reign. Selenara's time hadn't come yet. Now, everyone was even more shocked. They all wanted Selenara to take over. I could only shake my head over their feelings. But Eclipsa was certain of it and no one, not even Frozen Mountain or Black Sunset, could change her mind."

He took a sip from his tea, before he continued, "The grifix accepted this more or less, just Selenara was devastated. She tried to convince Queen Eclipsa otherwise over and over again, but to no avail. Eventually, the moon became colorful and Selenara declared that as a sign that Queen Eclipsa's reign was over, but the queen just waved it away. Selenara rebelled, but by that time, something had changed in Queen Eclipsa and she sent Selenara on a mission from which she never returned."

Water Skies gulped and his eyes grew big. "I-Is she dead?"

Reaping Sea nodded. "Her bones were found way later scattered near the Pony Castle in the Everfree Forest. Everyone was devastated. There are rumors that Queen Eclipsa exiled Selenara or even outright killed her. But secretly, all of them believe that it was Queen Eclipsa who got rid of her."

He shook his head and took another sip from his tea, "But soon after she vanished, Timberwolf activities rose and they started to expand their territory. It was night all the time, so they had a lot more time for their activities. They eventually stumbled upon our village, but the barrier shielded us. Still, Queen Eclipsa feared they would break the barrier one day and sent some villagers to build a new village deeper in the forest, with me in charge. It took us some time, but since the queen had sent us early enough, the new village was nearly finished when the Timberwolves finally broke our magic barrier and we could flee here without too many losses. Together, we finished the village and have been living here ever since."

"So... Water Cascade's parents aren't dead?" Water Skies asked with big eyes.

Reaping Sea blinked, "Water Cascade? Ah, no, they aren't."

Water Skies nodded. "Nice. And... what about the Timberwolves?" He took a nervous sip from his tea.

"They found out," Reaping Sea admitted, "but even then, we were prepared. Queen Eclipsa always knew that the Timberwolves find out eventually, so she established a new group of warriors who were secretly watching and register every move they made. Water Skies is part of it. They all did and do a pretty good job - even though Water Skies lacks punctuality - and because of their work, we knew early enough of an attack and were prepared. Still, it took several fights before we could make clear that this is our territory and ours alone. They still try and attack us every now and then, but they don't stand a chance."

Water Skies nodded again and thought of the Timberwolves they had seen on their way here. "Why were Water Cascade and... Wild Tigerlily fighting the Timberwolves?"

"They are warriors just like us," Reaping Sea answered and explained it further, before Water Skies could say anything, "once the timberwolf activities rose, Queen Eclipsa decided to allow everyone to become warriors because we needed enough warriors to fight them back. Not everyone liked the idea, mostly the older grifix were against it, but the young ones loved it and almost every younger female grifix is a warrior now. But Star Waters became a warrior, and she and Sunset Stars trained Water Skies almost every single second. And I'm pretty sure, Sky Falls will become a great warrior as well."

Water Skies nodded and slowly processed all those new information, while drinking from his tea.

Reaping Sea paused for the moment, before he continued to tell the village's story.

"A few years after we moved here, the vines started to spread around the forest. We weren't affected by it directly, but indirectly. The vines covered most ways which made it hard to navigate through the forest. We didn't really know what they were after and also didn't care about it until the pony princess appeared in the forest. She fought the vines back with her magic and eventually sealed them underground, so that they wouldn't come again. But she had to conceal the whole ground for that and moved around the forest a lot. She came dangerously close to the village. Eventually, she noticed that there was something strange around this place and when she did, she finally passed through the barrier and saw the village. She was furious about it and said something like »Who cares defy my reign and hides so deviously in thy woods?!«, but since we are invisible, she didn't see us. She stayed for one whole moon and-" He interrupted himself when he noticed Water Skies' jaw falling down.

"S-she stayed... how long??"

"A moon," Reaping Sea repeated, "why?"

Water Skies' jaw fell even further. "B-but... that's so long! How did you manage to live with her in the village?!"

"But a moon isn't long," Reaping Sea replied and raised one eyebrow, getting slightly annoyed by the shock. But then he realized, "Wait... a moon is the path of the moon over the sky. You see, at low moon the moon is at its lowest point. It was called "midnight" before. High moon is when the moon is at its highest peak. That would be "midday". So, a moon is a day."

"O-oh... makes sense," Water Skies said and turned to see the outside from the window on the other side. The moon was glowing brightly outside, but now that he knew, Water Skies realized that the moon was standing higher than the last time he looked at it. "And... how do you know when a »moon« is over... like the moon from my measurements?"

"We don't," Reaping Sea replied, "we just notice how time passes by the change of seasons."

Suddenly, he squinted his eyes, "But let me continue the story instead of talking about time."

"Oh, yes, sorry!"

"So, where was I?"

Water Skies blinked. Was he serious? He wanted to continue, but then forgot where he had stopped? He waited for a little moment to see whether Reaping Sea remembered, before finally helping out,

"You, uh, were talking about the pony princess?"

"Right! So, she stayed one moon and when she saw no one, she gave up and left. At least, it seemed like it, but the princess was determined. She sent a group of ponies into the forest to search for us. They never found any of us though and they never will. Still, it is annoying with those ponies around and their activities have increased as well during the past few years. But nowadays, we've established a routine that works well to avoid both the ponies and the Timberwolves."

With that, he ended and Water Skies now had a better picture of what has been going on. But there was still one question nagging him...

"Why am I here? And how did you know I would be here?"

"I do not know why you are here. But I knew that some day, a family member of mine would show up who didn't belong. I wondered a long time about what it meant, but never got behind it and admittedly, just stopped caring about about it after some time. But when I saw you behind Water Skies, it suddenly made sense."

"What?"

Reaping Sea shrugged, That weird dream about a family member I had! That was you! Anyways," he suddenly changed topic, "I have finally completed that task and I also still have some business to attend to, so you can make yourself comfortable here until you return."

He got up while Water Skies was still sitting.

"Return where?" Water Skies asked and was confused for a moment.

The elder grifix let out an annoyed groan and rolled his eyes, "home?"

Water Skies'eyes gleamed, "Really?"

Reaping Sea nodded, "Of course. You're not staying here."

He walked to the door and turned back to Water Skies one more time, "I will look later after you again, but for now - goodbye, Water Skies."

Water Skies nodded and felt strangely alone in his grandfather's room. It didn't feel real that he really was sitting in this room and he wanted to explore it.

But when he got up, a sudden weariness overcame him and all he wanted was to go to sleep.

Without second thoughts, he trotted towards the bed, his legs heavy from being so tired all of a sudden.

He literally fell into the bed and fell asleep the moment he touched it.

A smile rested on his sleeping face and a quiet "goodbye" left his mouth.