A Sampling Of Chapter 29, Then I'm Off To Disneyland! · 11:17pm May 12th, 2014
It's no joke: I really am going to be heading off to Disneyland! Flying out to Florida with my family, and we'll be spending this whole week touring the greatness of that fabled Magic Kingdom a Mouse built.
But before I boarded that plane, I thought I'd leave you, my faithful and ever-patient fans, a tasty little morsel to tide you over in my absence. Hope you enjoy!
All thanks to Rikmach for writing this chapter; this whole sub-arc of the Divided Rainbow story, with Luna bringing Lero and Twilight into the past, was his idea, his passion, and about 90% his hard work. We're all thankful to you!
The scenery shifted away in the fashion of dreams, images spinning around them again in the chaos of the dreamworld; images of the counselors petitioning the princesses for a meeting, and organizing and arguing over the case they were about to present to the princesses swirled about the dreamwalkers as the Princess of the Moon led Lero and Twilight Sparkle on. “It took them three days to organize their presentation, and actually successfully petition us for a private meeting. As you could guess, we had many frustrated petitioners at the time, and while we could not ignore the council, since we didn’t realize its nature, we could easily delay it bureaucratically for a bit. Not that I think they minded, at the time… I think all involved dreaded the possible results.”
Twilight frowned at some of the images. “There’s more people I don’t recognize,” she said, pointing out several non-ponies amongst the organizers, and let out a frustrated sigh. “I understand Celestia’s need for secrecy, but it bothers me how much history was lost.”
“Perhaps more introductions are in order?” Luna asked.
Twilight nodded. “Please.”
“That zebra looks awfully small…” Lero commented.
Luna smiled toward the zebra in question, who could not have been older than twelve. “That is Enyinaya, Ambassador from the Zebra tribes. They believed she was the latest reincarnation of their greatest shamans, whom formed a line back to the founding of their nation. As she had completed her training, but was not yet old enough to take her place as their leader, her parents made her an ambassador to learn of the world and their allies.”
“If she was a reincarnation, wouldn’t she already know those things?” Lero interjected.
“I’m not sure that’s how reincarnation is supposed to work, regardless of whether or not you believe in it,” Twilight contended.
“Ah, yes,” said Lero, starting to remember his Religious Studies class from college. “In some traditions, you’re supposed to be reborn with a ‘clean slate,’ regardless of who you were… um, ‘recycled’ from. So to speak.”
Luna laughed. “Zebras believe souls have wisdom, not knowledge, which is parlance of the mind, and to be honest, I have never met another being that was such a combination of sagely wisdom and childlike wonder.”
“So, how’d they know it was her?” Twilight asked.
“Her cutie mark,” Luna replied, pointing at it.
“What.” Lero stared at the zebra’s mark, his tones flat.
“She was born with that cutie mark.”
Twilight frowned. “What is it? Zebra marks are so maddeningly vague and abstract. It looks like… a clockwork gear or maybe... a spider web?”
“Could it be a roulette wheel?” Lero suggested. Really, zebra marks were as good as Rorschach inkblots to him, as well.
Luna shrugged. “I, sadly, cannot claim to know. But... moving on?”
The two nodded.
“That is Brunhilda,” Luna said, pointing to a griffon. “Brunhilda was the first Eagless General Diplomat. Griffonkind’s nobility and patriarchy had almost completely ceded power to their current ideals of absolute meritocracy at this point in time.”
“Eagless?” Lero repeated the unfamiliar word.
“Female Griffon,” Twilight filled in. Luna nodded and continued.
“She proved herself not only a clever tactician and brave warrior on the battlefield, but a canny negotiator on the diplomacy table. As such, she was assigned to the most important and -- to them -- risky and dangerous posts: Envoy to Canterlot.”
“Risky and dangerous?” Twilight asked, disbelieving.
“We were the only nation they fought who defeated them. Not to mention my sister and I are powerful immortals who control the sun and moon. And aren’t griffons. You could see why they would hold us in such… regard. The only reason, I think, that they do not fear us is that we have never attacked them, only defended ourselves.”
Twilight nodded, soberly, never having thought of the Griffons’ perspective of Equestria…
Luna pointed to the minotaur. “And that…”
He was hulking, like so many of his kind; however, he seemed to be a bit more...rotund than most. Judging by how he moved, Lero didn’t doubt that this minotaur still had muscle, but it had to strain to be visible under the layers of fat. Notably, instead of the minimal clothes like he was used to seeing on that kind, this minotaur was clad in rather rich and elaborate robes with golden highlights and jewelry. His gemmed nose ring and golden caps to his horns practically screamed, ‘Look at how rich I am!’
“...Is Copper Coin, master merchant and diplomat from the Minotaur Republic. They had been at peace with us and their neighbors for some time now, and were more interested in strengthening trade. Hence the merchant. Coin was a decent enough fellow, but he was always trying to figure out how to turn every situation into profit.”
“And that is… Frederico.” Luna’s tone shifted slightly as she said his name, in a way neither of her companions could quite identify.
“What, no titles?” Lero inquired.
“He insisted. He said that he was no greater than any other donkey, he had merely been chosen to represent them. As such, he felt titles were inappropriate.”
“So, this is his first time more than a few miles away from his home, sounds like?” Lero retorted.
“Perish the thought! Frederico is one of the most well-traveled beings I’d met, even visiting places that Celestia and I had never a chance to go, and seen much not well known to the rest of the world. Indeed, his exploits are near legendary.”
“Legendary?” asked Twilight. “What sort of legends are completely forgotten to history?”
“The kind that fall into the gap between ‘history’ and ‘story,’” Luna said with a wry smile. “Simply put, those who never met Donkey Frederico refused to believe any being, let alone a donkey, could have accomplished any one of his exploits, let alone all of them.” She gestured with a hoof at him. “He ran with the minotaurs in Tramplona - the opposite direction. He invited an entire Dragon Migration to tea, and introduced them to the concept of pleasantries. Ask me not how, but he crossed a rainbow to young Cloudsdale with neither wings nor magic.”
“How is that even...” began Twilight.
“I said, ask me not how,” reminded Luna. “I was with him when he revolutionized the Neighponese sport of sumo, and I still have no inkling how he was able to talk them into opening their ports for us in the first place. I was told he romanced a windigo and am to this day unable to deny that if anypony could have done so, it was Donkey Frederico. I could go on and on about him...”
Just then, the entire council chamber went still as the double doors at the far end of the room opened up.
“But they’re about to begin.” Luna announced, silencing further discussion.
Bear in mind, that the excerpt you just read qualifies as rough draft material, subject to whatever changes we see fit.
And here I was, wondering how you were doing earlier today. Enjoy your trip!
Florida don't got no Disneyland dey gots Disney World!