If it hadn’t been for the fact that light had managed to penetrate the walls of the brick-laden room, Covet Dawndrop would’ve never have known that it was, indeed, the daytime. Groaning, he proceeded to toss and turn to avoid the shimmering light that was touching his bed and glimmering straight onto his eyes when he opened them. He didn’t want to get up, but he knew he had no choice. Soon, he knew that his father or brother would come and wake him regardless of his wish to remain in bed; it was in their natures after all.
You see, Covet Dawndrop was a part of a Royal family. Specifically, the Royal family of the continent Manestralia. His father, King Crimson Sunrise, oversaw both him and his brother Stardew. Crimson was, as his name suggested, a crimson-coloured stallion. His Mane was always fixed and styled thanks to the crown that he wore, whilst his eyes the quite the opposite. His eyes providing a stark contrast to the darkening crimson around them; shimmering like a pair of moons in the night sky. His horn was curved, much like Covets and Stardews. Although it was far bigger than his own. It almost reflected his own age as he had been the ruler of Manestralia for over a millennia after all. His wings also showed his age, being far bigger than the average Pegasi’s wings.
However, his brother was different. His mane wasn’t styled, and his wings weren’t big. Infact, both Stardew and Covet had around the same sized horn and wings. Being young Alicorns, they knew that they would one day be in the same stage as their father. Stardew also had a coat of red hue; although it was almost as if a salmon had been plucked from the water with the colour of palish red covering him. His mane was much like Covets in the sense that it was covered in three colours. However, whilst Covet had red, gold and purple in his mane with a red tail, Stardew possessed three varieties of blue. Light blue, Deep blue and a colour sort of resembling a dulled turquoise. All of the mane waving to the ends like the waves in the sea. Then there were his eyes. Eyes that held a distinct pink colour to them. Almost like two pink roses in their colour.
Then there was Covet himself, he held his purple, gold and red mane as well as his tail. Then there was the case of his orange coat. It wasn’t saturated orange, It was moreso, a pale sort of orange. An orange that looked like a light sandstone covered in this barrage of almost eye-offending colours. It was almost a mystery to everyone, including himself, as to how he even managed to get this amount of mismatched colouring to himself. It wasn’t as if he minded though, it kept colts, fillies and fans away from him. The contrasting blue eyes that he held however, reminded ponies most of tropical waters; with their azure blue tone. Compared to his father and brother however, he always felt as if he were an outsider. The family member that didn’t belong. It’s not as if he actually was, but his self-doubting nature allowed him to feel this way.
Though, today, he had no time to doubt himself. He had to get up, and fast. About ten minutes passed as he got himself out of bed and trotted slowly to the curtains to open them. His room, being akin to a pigsty, made traversal by hoof hard. However he managed. He wasn’t the best with his rooms tidiness; and he rarely allowed the castle staff to come in and clean the place. Infact, the last time he did that was before he was chosen as the rightful heir to his father’s throne quite a few years back. He always recalled grinning widely as his brothers face grew angry at the announcement; and he also remembered the fight that ensued because of the announcement. It sent his relationship with his brother down to the abyss as far as he was concerned.
It was then, however, when he heard a knock. He rolled his eyes as he assumed that this was the castle staff, not thinking that it could’ve been anyone else. Who he was greeted by as he turned the wooden door surprised him. It was, as it turned out, his brother Stardew. On Stardews face held the expression of tedium. The expression one would give when they had to do something that they really didn’t want to do. It took a slightly tense moment of the two just standing there before Stardew spoke, with a distinct Oceanic accent.
“Still see you’re wakin’ up eh?” He asked. Before Covet could respond, a flash of bright light came from Stardews horn. By the time Covet could look around, he heard things behind him. He turned to find that Stardew was recovering a suitcase that Covet thought he had already packed. “Now what do you think you’re doing?!” He shrieked with anger as he tried to stop Stardew from opening it. “Oh calm down would yeh!? I’m just makin’ sure that you ain’t forgotten to pack nothin’ important!” Stardew responded, managing to get Covet off the suitcase before it broke, as it looked as if it were about to.
Covet yawned for a moment before seeing Stardew use his magic to assort every item. He also noticed a list that Stardew had. Looking closer, he noticed that it had quite a few items that he was checking off as he went along and it was all written in messy handwriting. A product of rushing. Going through the list, it was all written in dark blue ink and read as the following:
ESSENTIALS (Check for them in Covets suitcase!)
Clothes
Towels
Toothbrush
Manebrush
Comb
By the time Covet had finished reading this short list, he noticed that Stardew was adding the things that were missing and had a big cross next to them. Before he could protest about anything, he saw his towels and his small comb that he kept floating past both him and Stardew, and placing themselves neatly within the suitcase. Seeing that everything was neatly placed and organized like Stardew wanted, he closed it. With a nice simple zipping sound after he managed to zip it shut.
“Your room is, ah, like a jungle!” Stardew then said, looking around in slight annoyance. “Ye’ should really let one of them cleaners come in and clean the place, you know?”. “I don’t need the roasted seagull to tell me what to do” Covet then responded, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Stardew must’ve picked up on this, as he responded with a tone reminiscent of offense, saying “I’m not tryin’ ter upset you! But this dump needs a clean!”. Covet simply frowned as he tried to use his magic to move Stardew back to the doorway, however before he could Stardew managed to break free and proceeded to get very upset.
“You know I COULD’VE let yeh stay sleepin’ and yeh would’ve ruined the trip we’re going on! Trottnest Covet! Our favourite spot! Can’t you-“ but before Stardew could finish that sentence, Covet interrupted. “Oh yeah, the same island we go to for vacation every year!? The one that reminds me of what you called this room? A, what was it, dump!? Yes I remember now!” he shouted back. His way of speaking making his words seem blatantly sarcastic. The two stood looking at each other with anger for a good moment or two before Stardew took a breath and trotted past Covet to the entrance of the room. He seemed to have another moment standing before he spoke. When he did, he simply said “Be outside in half an hour” before finally trotting off, stomping his hooves down the hallway and down the stairs presumably. Once Stardew was out, Covet simply muttered to himself “Yeah, head off mate” and then got to work getting dressed.
It had been twenty-five minutes before Covet got himself outside of his room. Shutting the door behind him, he carried the suitcase with him as he made his way down through the castle and out to the entrance. This morning wasn’t a very packed morning, no overwhelming amounts of castle staff barraging him every step of the way, no guards escorting him. It was him and his suitcase together alone. As he made his way through the castle, he began to see the regular. Paintings with golden frames, curtains adorning the castle windows as he made his way past the castle garden entrance, castle staff moving back and forwards as if he wasn’t there. He supposed they were busy with other things and that they couldn’t stop to bother him. Which he liked immensely. He preferred his walks and travels to be undisturbed. Almost like his favourite kind of coffee, almost bitter black.
It took about another five more minutes before he finally made it outside. The air of the nearby sea wafting into his face. The distinct smell of salt penetrating his sense of smell. He looked around and saw a carriage not too far away from him. He made his way hesitantly to the carriage before feeling relief after seeing his father poking his head out of the carriage at his son. The look he sported however was one of annoyance, rather than pleasure at seeing his son.
“There yeh are! What took you so long boy?!” Crimson shouted as his son got inside the carriage. “I thought I was on time? Surely I wasn’t late?” Covet immediately asked. Angering his father wasn’t on his to-do list today, so he naturally had a sense of urgency about himself. That’s when Crimson laughed. This confused Covet until Crimson responded. “Yeh’re always such a serious one Covet! Lighten up boyo you’re five minutes early!”. This little joke his father seemed to have played did not go well with Covet all. He sat on the opposite side of the carriage, on the opposite seating to his father. He didn’t want to say anything to his father, but it was evident he was annoyed to say the least. He put his suitcase down next to him and waited for Stardew.
About a moment of awkward silence later and Stardew came galloping in. He slammed his suitcase against Covets in rushed panting and then sat next to their father. “And here you were saying I was going to be the one late” Covet snickered to himself. “Aye I never said nuffin’ like that!” Stardew protested. However before either of them could continue, Crimson spoke in a somewhat stern voice. One that didn’t sound angry, but one that sounded very much serious about what he was about to say. “I want you two to behave this weekend, you both hear? All I hear lately is my two sons arguing. Spend this weekend bonding or something to that effect, you both understand?”.
There was a moment of silence in the carriage, until the carriage started moving. In unison, Stardew and Covet both said “I’ll behave if he does” which surprised the pair. They looked as if they were about to argue, until Crimson broke the tension with a sharp flap of his wings, relaxing as he looked out of the carriage window. “Honestly you two make me nauseated when you both argue” Crimson then said. Both of the brothers did an eyeroll as the carriage pulled off down the road by the two Pegasi pulling it.
The carriage ride eventually ended about an hour later. The sun having shifted slightly in the sky. When the carriage stopped, the brothers used their magic to lift their suitcases out, before following their father out to the ferry they were taking. The ferry in question being a part of the transport to Trottnest island. It took the three of them about twenty minutes from ferry once they got on. The number of passengers being a surprising number. Whilst travelling,
Covet enjoyed the look of all the neighbouring islands that made up the continent of Manestralia. There was his home island, Coltney Island. Then there were the other two. Harlingmane Island and Perihoof Island. Both were about as big as Coltney Island. Both also had about as many cities as Coltney, which was exhausting when Covet and Stardew used to get along and hosted the continent wide festivals known as Alifest’s. Infact, being on the ocean and seeing all three islands prompted the question. “Stardew, do you remember our very last Alifest?”.
“Well, obviously. I won. Why?” He asked, slightly confused. “Even if you won, it’d be nice if we ended up hosting one last one. EVEN IF our last one was me VS you” Covet then responded with some reminiscing in his head. He remembered the songs they sang together when they traveled to each city they were in. Two days of non-stop touring and seeing their elite Hoofball teams playing off against eachother. The intense three versus three games. He even remembered the ten times matches and the one hundred times matches that gave the winning teams one hundred or ten times the amount of goals they scored. It was nice. To remember that.
By the time Covet had snapped back to his senses and back to the real world around him, the ferry had just pulled into the Trottnest port. Everypony began trotting off with their luggage. Being the last to get off the ferry before it filled up with passengers. Covet, Stardew and Crimson made their way to the hotel they were staying in, Crimson going up to the vacant desk. “Now why don’t you two go ahead and have some fun at the beach? I’ll check us in” he then said, lightly shoving the pair to the entrance whilst he trotted forward.
The two began trotting out to the nearby beach. Not saying a word to eachother. They made their way to the water and Covet began swimming in. He’d always felt home in water. Never quite knowing why. Stardew followed in after him and, after about ten minutes, Crimson joined them but stayed on the beach. Covet noticed his father never really went into the ocean every time they were at the beach. It was strange. He’d never join them each year they were here. It wasn’t until he started thinking about it, that his brother splashed his face with water. “Race yeh” he said as he began swimming to one end of the beach and back.
About an hour later of back and forth racing and the two were certainly having fun. It wasn’t often that these two bonded. It wasn’t often that they even got along at all infact. They were so busy being preoccupied with their competition between eachother infact, that they completely disregarded the fact that the current seemed to be pulling them further and further away from the shore. After their last race however, they certainly noticed.
“How did we get so far out?! Come on, let’s swim back” Stardew suggested. However, as if by magic, the tide refused to let them. Pushing them further and further to the deep oceans. “Why don’t we fly back?” Stardew asked. Before he got an answer though, a jet of blue magic hit Covet, stunning him long enough to start sinking. Luckily, Covet was able to swim back up to the top of the water, but when he tried flying out, he couldn’t. That’s when he turned around. Giving him a small second to notice a figure out in the horizon. He couldn’t tell who it was, but when he pieced together that this figure had probably been the one to shoot the spell at him, they were gone.
Stardew, looking concerned, decided to ask the obvious. “You alright? Did that spell hurt yeh?”. “I can’t fly. No matter what I try I can’t fly!” Covet shouted, very much in a state of shock and panic. Stardew, sensing this, responded quickly. “Alright, just stay calm, I’m gonna try an’ lift yeh” he said. His horn glowing and drops of magic forming. After what felt like an age, but was really a few seconds, Covet was out of the water and the two headed for the shore. Covet being carried by Stardew.
When they got back to the shore, Crimson noticed the two. “Crikey Covet, you’ve gotten that lazy?” he chuckled. Covet however didn’t take this politely. “How dare you! Incase you HAVEN’T guessed, I couldn’t fly!” he responded in defense. Crimson seemed confused until he was told by Stardew what happened. Crimson looked concerned. That concern growing when he noticed that, no matter the spell he used, Covets wings refused to open. “This magic… It’s not normal… But it couldn’t be…?” he said to himself.
“Couldn’t be who?” both Stardew and Covet asked eachother. “No-one. Just speaking out loud. It was probably the cold of the sea or… Something” Crimson responded. Though, both Stardew and Covet knew this was false. The cold of the sea never made wings stiffen up. Disregarding the fact that the sea was actually warm. It always was in Manestralia. Except for the final quarter of the year. But it was the third quarter of the year. Not the final quarter.
A few hours later, after the three had gotten off the beach, nightfall hit. The beautiful sunset that the last minutes of the day had however, didn’t manage to diffuse the tension from the last few hours. None of the three said a word to eachother. Infact, Covet had kept himself in their suite. He was busy reading something. Something very fascinating to him and something he shouldn’t have had. The book was named “Fae; The tales of the old folk of light” and had a golden pair of fairy-like wings on the front. He was in the middle of reading about something called “Enchanted”. However, that’s when he was interrupted by Crimson.
“Covet why do you have this??? The stuff in this book is rubbish!” Crimson spoke. His magic taking the book away from Covet. “Hey I was reading th-“ but before he could finish his sentence, Stardew came in the room. Silence fell on the room like a blanket of heavy snow, until Stardew broke the tension. “Dad, yeh know we’re never believin’ what you said earlier about the sea cold, right?”. Crimson frowned. “Now that’s enough about that! Whatever it is, we’ll get it fixed. After all, with Covets coronation-“ however Crimson seemed to have struck a chord. “Oh right, his coronation” Stardew muttered.
“Now you listen here, my decision is FINAL!” Crimson responded, raising his voice. Stardew knew better than to push about it and just stayed quiet. “We better go to bed. I think an early start tomorrow would be good. After all THAT’S only a month away” Covet suggested. With that, the three took one final look at eachother, before Crimson left the two brothers to hold out the tension before they fell asleep, taking the book with him. Little did Covet know that this was going to be the last month of his life in Manestralia. For something would happen soon that would change his life forever.