//------------------------------// // Ch.12 - Bridle Gossip - Part 3 // Story: Ponyville's Tiny Librarian // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Celestia’s Tiny Student - Chapter 12 Bridle Gossip - part 3 “Princess Luna! Is that you?” asked a surprised pony before she bowed deeply. “It is an honor to welcome you, Your Highness. Please, make yourself comfortable.” Luna nodded and walked into the house proudly, as she looked around inside this splendid residence that almost rivaled Fancy Pants’ one. Luna stopped admiring her surroundings the moment she saw two thestrals in butler uniforms who bowed, “Can we be of service, Your Majesty. Tea, sweets, or any food of your desire?” Luna gestured with her hoof for them to stand, “We art pleased by thy hospitality. We wish to talk with all of thee in front of a dining table. Any food thou welcomes us with will please us greatly.” Both servants bowed again as they left for the kitchen, while Luna’s companion led the way to the dining table. It didn’t take long before a very long dining table was filled with all kinds of food and sweets. There were even small bottles of blood, which was a so-called donation bought from volunteers for a fair amount of bits. The head of the house stood and lifted a cup full of hard cider and cheered. “As the head of this family from a long line of proud Lunar guards, I would like to welcome back our fearless and noble ruler from her long and unjust exile. Toast her glorious return!” Everypony in the room cheered and drank, causing Luna to blush deep red and walk backward. “Is something wrong, Your Majesty? I hope we didn’t say or do anything disrespectful,” said the head of the family as Luna shook her head violently. “We… We do not deserve all of this… all of this… all this forgiveness. Please, stop.” Every thestral glanced at the night princess in confusion. Their expressions turned dumbfounded the moment they saw a Princess bow to them, completely flat on the floor. “Y-your Majesty… what are you doing?” Luna held her head low, not daring to look into their faces as she willingly humiliated herself. “We art sorry for all we hast done as Nightmare Moon. Our action put thy ancestors into bad grace and hatred thou dost not deserve. Thou now hide thy wings and thine eyes because of our actions,” Luna said as many ponies in the room lowered their heads nervously. The ponies took off whatever cloth hid their wings, then placed their sunglasses on the table. “Our blessing was a curse for thee. Our actions forced thou to hide. We… We deserve no forgiveness.” For several seconds silence reigned in the room while the Princess kept her humiliating position. One younger one walked closer to the bowing Princess and patted her on the head gently. “Are you sad, Princess?” His action only applied to the shock everypony showed, yet none dared to scold the child. “Mommy always says that ponies in the past were mean to you, to us. We protected them from mean big scary monsters, and they bullied us.” The filly wiped off Luna’s cheek and smiled. “I am happy that you are no longer lonely on that big moon of yours… By the way, is the moon made of cheese?” Luna smiled and stood up with a bat-winged filly still hanging to her head, reminding her of tiny Twilight hanging to her nuzzle every so often. “I apologize for disappointing you, young one, but there is no cheese.” “Awww,” said filly as the atmosphere became less tense.  Ponies next to the dining table laughed, only for a servant to burst into the room and scream. “The residence is burning!” The very few unicorns in the room levitated empty buckets into the bathroom to fill them. Meanwhile, Luna cast freezing spells to douse the flames, turning water into ice that stopped the fire from spreading. Unfortunately, the moment they stifled one fire, another burst from the other side of the house. Luna took a closer look at the fire, only to notice a fireball blasting through the window and hitting the ceiling. Wasting no time, she put out the upper flame with the freezing spell. Alarmed by this attack, she flew towards the window, quickly noticing an angry mob outside.  The hostile ponies were throwing torches and shooting fireballs rapidly. This is bad. This residence is far away from any other settlement. No guards will react in time. Her eyes became wide open the moment she noticed several royal guards in between the angry mod. “Treason!” Luna screamed in ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’ as she captured everypony’s attention. Wasting no time, the night princess dashed through the broken window and flew in mid-air in front of the angered crowd. What is the meaning of this? How durst thou take such shameful action against the residents of this proud mansion?” Luna shouted coldly as her eyes were now dragon-like, transformed as a result of the burst of anger taking control of her. Nightmare Moon hid her presence quickly as Luna’s eyes returned to normal. To the princess’s surprise, the ponies in front of her started to shoot arrows from crossbows and to cast offensive spells at her. Captured off guard, she ended up blasted by a fireball, followed by an ice lance. Her body smashed through the wall of the first floor. Before she could stand, the mob surrounded her and started to attack and kick her mercilessly. “Leave her alone!” Bat-winged ponies shouted across the room, then charged, forcing the crowd to step outside and regroup. Both sides glared daggers at each other, waiting for the other side to make their first move. “See, it’s just like they told us. Nightmare Moon has returned and is trying to rebuild her army. Purge them all in flames!” Luna’s eyes opened wide. She stood up and her horn lit in an instant, summoning a black colored barrier between the two sides, stopping both sides from attacking. She walked closer to the mob, or in this case, the guard who was leading them. “And who art ‘they’ thou speakest of?” Luna asked. The modern ponies so far struck her as kind, forgiving, and peaceful. Even those holding a grudge would express annoyance at most. What was happening here was nothing of the sort. It was hate passed by many generations, attended to like a garden. Even most strict teachings would soften in this peaceful nation after a few generations. No. It was bloodlust. Luna was sure there was no way it would have happened without outside influence. She could not tell what kind of manipulation or sorcery it was, but she had to find out and deal with the root. “N-None of your business, you monster. Now die! Kill her!” the guard ordered with madness in his eyes. The mob of ponies once again ran towards Luna, who just wiped the dust from her bruised body. The night princess sighed and flew into the air, avoiding deadly projectiles. She kicked any pegasus that tried to attack her, shattering her silver horseshoes in the process. Her attention focused on the barrier she kept between the fighting forces, turning it into a wall of pure darkness that fell upon the mob. Thestrals looked curiously upon the cloud of darkness enveloping the crowd, only for it to vanish as everypony was sleeping deeply. Everypony except a few unicorns that had set up barriers protecting their minds and a few of the stronger pegasi and earth pony guards who seemed determined enough to resist it. It seems that to put them all to sleep at once is above our skills. We must do it one pony at a time, as Nightmare Moon did to Celestia’s guards after our return. “Your dark magic won’t stop us!” An earth pony guard yelled as he galloped towards the Princess. Some of the bat-ponies were about to attack him, but Luna raised her foreleg and stopped them. The guard, wasting no time, took his sword into his mouth and swung it at Luna, who didn’t even move. The not-enhanced weapon broke upon the contact with her neck, leaving a small bleeding mark. The guard released hold of the broken sword and said, “Garbage,” as he started to punch Luna, who just stood there and took the hits. Other guards ran at Luna as well, while she lit her horn and created a gravitational rune between her and the mob, causing the guards to fall on the ground, unable to move. Pathetic. Twilight managed to fight against a force far stronger than that, protection spell or not. She looked upon the sweating earth pony guard who was getting more tired with each step. “Art thou done?” The guard spat on her face. “I will be done once you’re dead! You may have blinded Princess Celestia with your lies, but not us!” Luna was about to respond, but a scream followed from the house. Wasting no time, she punched the guard as he was thrown away into the gravitational rune, “Keep an eye on them!” she ordered before flying inside the house. Luna's eyes opened wide as she saw two bleeding servants and one wounded filly lying on the floor, attackers standing battle-ready in front of them. She pushed the attackers away with levitation before running towards the bleeding ponies, scanning their injuries.  The servants should be fine. But the child… she thought with worry and fear taking over her mind as she was now holding a bleeding filly in her hooves, stabbing marks on her bat-like wing, foreleg, and neck. Wasting no time, she sent waves of healing magic into the filly in an attempt to heal her. The attackers tried to strike once again, their way blocked by two intimidating bat-ponies, swords in their mouths. Luna created a small dagger out of dark energy and pierced a wounded part of her flesh. She levitated her blood into the mouth of the filly, using the moon-blessed ability to absorb strength from blood in her desperate attempt to save her life. After seconds had passed, the filly started to cough and opened her eyes, though too weak to speak before she closed them again. The princess sighed in relief as she put the filly gently on a bat-stallion back and looked upon the attackers. A tornado of dark magic enveloped her, much to the horror of the would-be assassins. Once the tornado vanished, the intruders and even two bat-winged ponies looked with astonishment and awe. In front of them stood none other than Nightmare Moon, a cold and emotionless expression on her face. “You dared to lay a hoof on defenseless foes, much less on an innocent child?” Nightmare Moon spoke coldly as the door behind the attackers slammed close, windows closed with a slam while the broken ones rebuilt themselves. Flames in the room turned their color into black, while the wanna-be-assassins who were tackling the closed door were pushed away towards Nightmare Moon by an aura of dark magic. “You shall pay for your sins… in the flames of Tartarus!" If those ponies had minds so weak that they would mercilessly kill a child,  manipulated or not, then they deserved no mercy. Cadence, once again normal-sized, was leading the group with Fluttershy pointing the way, Applejack on her head. She looked away from the shy mare, focusing on Rarity, who in turn stared at Applejack with an admiring glance. The tiny farm mare was wearing a fashionable dress, which caused Cadence to chuckle silently. “Darling, you look marvelous. Simply marvelous. Let fashion and beauty envelop you at least this once, for me, pretty please...” Rarity pleaded, giving her tiny friend an innocent smile. Applejack sighed and looked at Rarity with a stern expression on her face. “Sorry, Rares, but it’s just not mah thin’. Ah agreed to let ya dress me, yet Ah feel anything but comfortable.” "I understand." Rarity nodded. "If this cheers you up, you look almost as astounding as Twilight does in her cute little dresses." The fashionista looked up with a dreamy smile. "Little Twilight walking on a miniature stage in doll-sized clothes before a noble audience. Canterlot VIPs loved it. Such a lovely memory." “Twilight is a natural… but Ah’m just not used to it, both being tiny and being fancy.” Rarity shook her head and gave Applejack an odd glare. “Oh, Applejack, you have no idea how wrong you are.” The farm mare blinked a few times. “If anything, Twilight never bothered about appearances, nor does she care about fashion and beauty. She just did it for the fun of it.” The alicorn, not feeling right listening to their private talk, turned her attention towards Rainbow Dash who walked shakily, with her head low, looking at the ground. Gilda was walking next to her. “What's the matter Dash, have Breezies in your stomach? Appletini stole your tongue?” Gilda mocked. The pegasus huffed, not bothering to respond. "Come on, Dash. It is not like you to worry. It's so not your style. Is it that serious?" Dash looked upon the griffon, distress apparent on her face. “I just… I just wanted to have an awesome adventure with Twilight… but not like that. I wanted to adventure with her as an equal." The pegasus groaned. "And recently everypony becomes tiny except me. She did not even need my help to beat up that Ursa Minor. All I did was lead her to the cave that it came from." Rainbow Dash answered in haste, as she let her emotions burst like a fountain. Gilda raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? That's your big problem?” she asked with genuine disappointment, only to receive an angered glare from Dash. She coughed and scratched the back of her neck while searching for the right response. She glanced at Cadence and next back to Dash. "Chill. You have an alicorn right here that can shrink you, no prob. Just keep asking until she agrees." Cadence smirked and quickly turned her gaze upon Big Macintosh, who walked towards her with determination on his face with armed Spike riding him. Even at her full size, she found the red stallion to be intimidating. The alicorn turned towards him and spoke, “Don’t worry, Big Macintosh, I can assure you, Twilight is safe.” “N-Nope.” “Please, trust me, whatever happened to your sister, it’s not the zebra’s fault,” Cadence assured before giving Big Mac a pleading look. “You believe me, right?” “N-Nope.” Cadence sighed. “Are you still angry at me for not coming to lead this rescue party hours ago?” Big Macintosh nodded. “Eeyup.” She turned her head back at the red stallion. “Listen, I’m sorry. I am worried about Twilight’s safety as much as you and any of her friends. No, even more as I was foal-sitting her for years. The very idea that Twilight would-” Her monologue was interrupted when she crashed into something. She shook her head and looked upon the tree that had suddenly appeared. A tree that, for some reason, was lavender. Every pony stopped and looked up as their mouths opened agape, almost hitting the ground, while their eyes opened widely. The alicorn looked up as well before taking a step back. “It is a dream… it has to be,” Cadence said desperately, slapping herself a few times in an attempt to wake up. After understanding that she is not dreaming, she spoke in disbelief, “T-Twilight?” “Y-Yes!” the purple giant spoke loudly, as her voice pushed Cadence a few meters away. “Now, who are you, and what are you doing here?” Steel Blade asked as he stood in front of a tied up green unicorn, a lyre for her cutie mark. “We are level gri… I mean, fighting against dangerous Diamond Dogs. It is not an area for civilians.” “Dude! Pinkie and I are civis, so yeah,” Vinyl added as Steel Blade rolled his eyes. “As I was saying, we are a well-equipped and prepared group–” Steel Blade was cut off by Pinkie Pie, who appeared from nowhere in front of him. “Dungeon crawling party!” Steel Blade moved Pinkie to the side and continued, “While you are in this dangerous area alone. Now tell me, who are you, and why are you here?” The green pony frowned. “And why should I tell you why I’m here? If anypony, it is you who entered my research grounds.” “R-research grounds? And what are you researching?” The green unicorn nodded her head enthusiastically, “Archeology, of course! I am searching for any signs of an ancient civilization of the most interesting and unique races that ever existed. Also, call me Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings.” Steel Blade blinked in confusion, “And that is?” Lyra smiled. Her horn lit in a green aura, forming a five-finger hand that untied her ropes. “Two-legged ones, of course! I have been researching their existence for years, and everypony always laughs at me, but I will show them, I will show them all!” “Two-legged? Be specific,” Steel Blade said firmly. “Diamond Dogs, dragons, the list goes on.” He yelped, being tackled to the ground by the enthusiastic unicorn. “During my research, I stumbled upon a few interesting discoveries, like large lizard-faced creatures with long tails who stood on their rear paws. I also discovered some creatures that were covered in fur and had quite flexible fingers. At least this is what I learned from their bones.” Lyra walked backward, allowing the guard to stand. “I tried to learn more about their past, history, possible chance of their leftovers to be hidden somewhere in this cave.” The unicorn stood on her rear hooves and raised her head proudly. “So far, I came up with three names for three different species I discovered thus far. Lizardmen, Gorillas, and Humanoids. I suspect that Diamond Dogs are their creations or they are their descendants.” Lyra took a deep breath and clapped her forehooves while maintaining balance on just two hooves. “What all those four species have in common are their ability to walk on two legs with little difficulty and hands with those cool fighters.” She lowered herself to four hooves as her horn lit, summoning a green hand made of magic. “Those fingers are certainly above our magical hooves in terms of building and crafting potential. I’ll give you a demonstration!” "Demonstration? Screw this. I'm out!" Steel Blade flew all over the place, trying to run away from the crazy green unicorn and her magical fingers. Viny trotted towards Pinkie and whispered, "So, um... What do we do with Lyra? Octy often played with her at boring Canterlot parties, but I swear, she's even crazier than me." Pinkie smiled cheerfully. "Isn't it obvious?" When Vinyl shook her head, Pinkie grabbed her with her forelegs. "Every official party has a maximum of four members. And how many do we have right now?" "Three?" Vinyl shrugged. "Let me guess. You want her in?" Pinkie pointed her hoof towards Steel Blade, who tried to restrain the overly energetic unicorn, only to end up grabbed instead, trapped in a massive magical fist. "What's the combination of fighter and boxer? Oh, right. A monk!" "Monk? But she doesn't fight with her hooves." "Details, who needs them?" Pinkie asked, shaking her hoof dismissively. "Magical Monk, Lyra. Fits in our party like a glove." Vinyl forbear mentioning that ponies didn’t have gloves. “Sweet Celestia!” Applejack said with fear in her voice. Not only was she seeing everything from Twilight’s perspective for the first time in her life, but while all her friends appeared to be giants, Twilight was colossal. “Ah see it, but Ah still don’t believe it.” Rainbow Dash put hooves on her cheeks while she hovered in mid-air. “We are doomed!” She gestured her forelegs in panic. “Miniature-size Twilight is tough! Normal-size Twilight could beat up and levitate an Ursa Minor! But a giant-size Twilight will take over or doom all of Equestria! Run for your lives!” She grabbed Fluttershy, almost causing Applejack to fall from her head. “Overacting much, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity spoke, capturing the speed demon's attention. “Remember, look behind appearances.” “Eeyup,” Big Macintosh added as he looked up at the giant while Spike was no longer on his back. “Twilight, being a big pony.” Big Macintosh smiled. “Ah’m fine with that.” Cadence ignored the panic in her team, focusing on Twilight, who looked down at her, her once-tiny eyes now big and full of fear and sadness. She spread her wings and flew up slowly until she reached Twilight’s head level before she put her two forelegs on her nose. Now hanging on her nose the same way Twilight always hung on to other ponies whenever she talked with them, Cadence asked, “Twilight, what happened to you?” Twilight closed her eyes and spoke in what for Cadence was a powerful yelling. The alicorn could barely remain balanced on Twilight’s nose while struggling against the power of her voice alone.  “Everything is so small, it is horrible!” “Ssshhh, you need to keep your voice volume under control,” Cadence lectured, causing a blush to form on Twilight’s giant puffy cheeks. “I know that I cannot understand how you feel right now. After living in a gigantic world for so long, it must be extremely shocking.” “You cannot understand how I feel.” Twilight whispered, “It was hard enough to be a normal size pony… but now I am afraid to even move for fear that I will crush something or somepony.” Cadence smiled and patted Twilight’s giant nose while still hanging on it with one foreleg. “Welcome to my world,” the alicorn spoke, capturing her attention. “I may not be as large as you, but I and many others were afraid to hurt you before we learned how tough you are. Now you see how we felt whenever a tiny pony was near our hooves.” “I… guess.” Cadence pleaded, “Please calm down, take a slow breath, and tell us what happened.” Twilight nodded, almost causing the alicorn to fall. "Seems somepony needs to exercise more. When holding onto ponies, a strong grip is essential." She smiled and chuckled as her dropped ears straightened. "In other words, welcome to my world." Cadence chuckled, maintaining her smile while staring into the eye of the unicorn. For the next few minutes, Twilight explained as quietly as possible how she spent time with Zecora. What she learned, how she researched the poison joke, and how it made her a giant. Their fears vanished the moment Twilight mentioned an antidote.