Majija: Under the Weather

by Plonq

Little Fluffy Clouds

“Fluttershy!” Twilight Sparkle pounded the door with her hoof and shouted again, louder. “FLUTTERSHY!”

The door opened a reluctant crack to release a stream of warm light, partly obscured by a timid, yellow face. “I’m not here…” squeaked the pony inside the house, but she quickly opened it further when she recognized her caller. “Oh, it’s you,” she said with a sigh of relief. She pulled completely ajar and stepped out of the way. “Whatever are you doing outside in such awful weather? You should come inside where it’s warm before you catch your death of cold.”

“Thank you,” said Twilight, stepping in from the rain while the other pony shouldered the windblown door shut behind her. “But you don’t catch a cold from getting wet, that’s just an old mare’s tale,” she added. If Fluttershy was annoyed at being corrected, she showed no sign. Angel, on the other hoof, made no effort to hide his irritation. The little rabbit chittered angrily and disappeared into the kitchen, emerging a moment later with a diminutive mop and bucket. He made a show of dabbing at the growing puddle around the wet pony, glaring at her the whole time. Twilight Sparkle took the hint and deftly hoisted her rain slicker to hang on the hook by the door.

“Let me make you something yummy and hot to drink, you must be chilled to the bone in this weather,” said Fluttershy a little too quickly. Twilight Sparkle assumed that the pegasus must have noticed her tense stance, and guessed rightly that she was there on business.

“Sorry Fluttershy, no time,” said the alicorn before the other pony could escape to the kitchen. “Fluttershy, I … I need your help.” Fluttershy paused, stopped as much by the request for help as by the tone of embarrassment in the alicorn’s voice. This both piqued the yellow mare’s curiosity and stirred her apprehension. If it was dire enough for Twilight to need help, it must be something truly bad and scary. Also, if the alicorn was coming to her for help, it must mean that something had happened to every other pony in Ponyville.

“I’m sure you must have mistaken me for somepony else,” said Fluttershy cagily, avoiding Twilight’s gaze and backing slowly toward the kitchen again. “Unless the help you need is a nice, hot cup of alfalfa tea.”

“I need to get a message to Rainbow Dash,” said Twilight bluntly, “and you are the only reliable pegasus I know who is still in town.” She could see that the other mare’s eyes had settled on the perfectly serviceable pair of wings attached to her own shoulders, and she hung her head in shame. “I don’t think I can make it all the way up to Cloudsdale, Fluttershy. I've never been higher than the top of my tree.” Her muzzle broke out into a sad, self-depreciating grin. “I’m not very good with heights when there isn't something solid under my feet.” When she looked up again, she found Fluttershy’s expression warm and sympathetic.

“It’s not so bad once the terrible fear of falling stops,” said Fluttershy with an encouraging smile.

“When does that happen?” asked Twilight hopefully.

Fluttershy shrugged, and her smile faltered. “I don’t know,” she said earnestly. “It hasn't stopped yet.” She brightened again. “It’s OK though, because you have a hot air balloon. I’ll make you some hot drinks and clover sandwiches for the trip, and we can go downtown…”

A strong gust shook the house.

“…just as soon as the wind dies down a bit. Why, I bet that will happen in no time!” Although Fluttershy's tone was enthusiastic, Twilight could tell that her heart wasn't in it.

“It’s too urgent to wait, Fluttershy. I need somepony who’s strong enough to fly up to Cloudsdale to deliver an important message to Rainbow Dash before she accidentally makes things worse than they already are. If I can’t get her this information, she will be operating blind.”

“I’m not a strong flyer,” said Fluttershy in a voice so soft that Twilight almost missed it over the wind outside. She glanced meaningfully toward the window and the storm that raged outside.

"I know," said Twilight, almost as softly. "I feel like a jerk for asking anypony to fly on a day like this, but it's urgent and I am a little short on nearby winged friends I can turn to." She sighed. "You're not a strong flyer, and I can’t fly at all – or at least, barely. As strange as it sounds, we're the A-team of fliers in Ponyville just now." She pumped her hoof and donned what she hoped was a cheesy, disarming grin. "Go team!"

The pegasus was actively avoiding her gaze now, but Twilight Sparkle knew her well enough to recognize that as a good sign. However shallow it might be, Fluttershy had a well of courage that she could tap into when she really needed it. She had to find her way to it on her own though, and Twilight knew if she pressed the other mare any more at this point, she risked losing her. When she saw the pegasus wilt slightly, she knew that she had won.

“OK, I… I'll do it,” said Fluttershy, but her flat ears clearly telegraphed her distress with the decision. She forced a grin of her own and gave her hoof a half-hearted pump. "Go team," she said weakly. "We're in this together. What do you need me to tell Rainbow Dash?”

“You need to warn her that this is not ordinary weather she's dealing with; the Majija have come to Ponyville,” said the alicorn. She drew a deep breath to launch into a scholarly discourse on everything she had learned about the spirits in her thirty-minutes of cram research at the library, but Fluttershy cut her off with a tremendous gasp.

“The Majija?” she squealed, rearing up on her hind legs and clamping her front hooves over her muzzle. She succeeded where few others did in rendering the Twilight Sparkle speechless.

“You've heard of the Majija?” she asked in hoarse disbelief.

“The weather spirits from Everfree Forest!” gushed Fluttershy. She flapped her wings excitedly and gave a squee of delight. “The Majija are adorable, with their little puffy clouds and rainbows and the way they sparkle in the sunshine when they're happy.”

The house shook again and there was an ominous groan outside, followed by tremendous snap. Twilight leapt to the window and pushed her muzzle through the curtains. “Those adorable little spirits just tore a branch off your front tree,” she said.

“But why would they do that?” asked a trembling Fluttershy, her voice slightly muffled by the sofa cushion she had buried her head under. “Every one that I have met has been so cute and friendly.”

That question had been bothering Twilight as well. She decided not to tell Fluttershy about some of the stories she had read in her research, where enraged Majija had been known to level entirely villages with wind and floods. The spirits over Ponyville were angry, but not to the point of destruction – yet. If only there was somepony who could communicate with them; somepony who might find a way to talk through their anger and find out what they wanted.

There was a concussive thud of thunder, almost like a giant hoof stomping on the sky. It shook the windows in their sashes, and rattled the dishes on the shelves. Fluttershy whimpered and clamped her hooves over the sofa cushion, pressing it more protectively down over her head. Angel had put away his mop and was patting the pegasus reassuringly on the flank. Twilight Sparkle watched the scene for a moment, and then had something close to an epiphany.

Nopony can stay mad at Fluttershy.

“We don't need to talk to Rainbow Dash,” she thought, “it’s the spirits we need to talk to.” She clamped her teeth onto the pegasus’s tail and dragged her unceremoniously out from under her cushion. “There has been a change in plans,” she said.

“You want me to talk to the spirits.”

“I want you to – wait, how did you know that?”

Fluttershy grinned; it was so wan as to be almost undetectable, but it was a grin no less. “Sometimes you think out loud when you're excited,” she said.

Twilight Sparkle donned her rain gear and waited for Fluttershy to put on her own. She noticed that the winged pony’s raincoat had slits for her wings so that she could fly with it on. “I will have to see Rarity about getting mine modified when this is all over,” she thought. Making plans for after gave her an odd boost in confidence. She waited until Fluttershy had tugged the last strap into place with her teeth before she asked, “Are you sure that you're okay doing this?”

Fluttershy said nothing for several beats. “No,” she answered softly, before turning and trotting to the front door. Twilight followed her out into the torrent of rain. “I don't know what I am doing, and I don't know what I will say to the spirits,” continued Fluttershy, “but I have friends up there who need my help, and my friends are important to me.” She closed her eyes, took a shuddering breath, and flapped furiously. She kicked off the ground and rose a foot.. two feet.. three feet. “So high,” she croaked hoarsely. “I hope Twilight appreciates how scary this is.”

“I do,” said the alicorn.

“Eep!” Fluttershy’s eyes snapped open again, and the pegasus blushed. “I guess I need to flap a little harder,” she said sheepishly. The mare redoubled her efforts and began to rise more quickly.

“It’s not so bad once the terrible fear of falling stops”

“When does that happen?”

“I don't know; it hasn't stopped yet.”

“Fluttershy, wait!” The pegasus did not need further inducement to stop her ascent, but when she looked down, she gasped in surprise. Twilight Sparkle's yellow raincoat was flapping free in the wind, tumbling end over end before snagging in a bush. The alicorn had spread her wings, and had her head lowered, hoarsely whispering, “I can do this. I can do this,” like a mantra.

Twilight Sparkle raised her head, and held it high, eyes closed while the wind furiously whipped her mane and tail, and sent ripples through the feathers of her spread wings. For a moment she looked like the regal princess she had been named, and then she began awkwardly flapping her wings like a filly straight out of flight kindergarten. She flailed about, posing a clear danger to herself and everything in a sizable radius about her before she generated enough lift to clear the ground. She pumped her wings and struggled until she was parallel with the other pony.

“Oh Twilight, you're doing so well!” said Fluttershy, clapping her hooves enthusiastically. Her demeanor quickly turned serious. “But you don't have to do this.”

Twilight shook her head furiously. “No, you were right Fluttershy, you're my friend, and we're in this together.” She cupped her head in her hooves and moaned. “This is as high as I have ever been.” Swallowing hard, she added, “Is it normal to want to throw up?”

“Try not to do it over the town,” said Fluttershy. Twilight was not sure if the other mare was serious or joking, but the chuckle it brought settled her nerves.

A bit.

She wondered later if either of them would have made it to the clouds without each of them along to shout encouragement at the other, but a subjective eternity later, they emerged above the clouds into a scene that neither of them could have anticipated.

There were pegasi spread everywhere on the cloud bank below them, all of them pinned firmly to the clouds by bands of mist. A few of them struggled against their bindings when they saw the two winged ponies emerge from below, but though the bands stretched, they did not give enough to allow escape.

“Hi guys,” called Rainbow Dash. She was pinned ignominiously on her back, with her wings spread and her legs sticking in the air. “I'm starting to think the others here are right; there’s something odd about these clouds.”

“Th… they're not clouds,” stammered Twilight Sparkle, puffing hard. “They're the Majija, the spirits who control the weather of Everfree Forest.” She gasped and huffed until she felt her breath returning; hovering took much less effort than flying upward. “I don't know why they are here, but we've done something to anger them.”

“No kidding,” said Rainbow Dash, tugging at her binding. “ I've never seen clouds with such a temper. So what did we do to make them mad?”

“They’re not really clouds,” said Twilight, who could not restrain her inner scholar. “They’re spirits, so they can look like whatever they want, Dashie. They just look like clouds to us.”

“Are you here with a spell to make them go away?” asked Dash hopefully, “because kicking them didn't seem to work.”

Twilight pointed at Fluttershy. “We're here to communicate with them, if we can.”

"We're going to talk to clouds - uh, spirits?" asked Rainbow Dash, quickly correcting herself when she caught the alcorn's look of disapproval. "What are we going to say to them? How about if we start with, HEY SPIRITS, RELEASE OUR PEGASI!"

"I don't know what we are going to say to them," said Twilight Sparkle. "That's why Fluttershy is here."

The yellow pegasus was hovering nearby, looking around nervously at the tableau spread out below them.

"Psst, Fluttershy, that's your cue," said the alicorn in a sidelong whisper. Fluttershy jumped, then sighed and flew a bit lower toward the clouds. She did not look the least bit convinced of her chances for success.

Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Um,” she said weakly. “Hello mister weather spirits.” She gasped. “Oh, and missus weather spirits, miss weather spirits, ms weather spirits, and all the little weather spiritlings too.”

Twilight Sparkle planted a hoof to her face, but refrained from interrupting. She had to let the pegasus handle this in her own way. Once she had blurted out her long salutation, Fluttershy’s voice seemed to gain confidence.

“We can see that you are very upset about something,” said Fluttershy, “and we are very sorry if it is something that we did that made you mad. We are very nice ponies once you get to know us, and we would like to make things right again if you would let us.” She flew lower and hovered directly above one of the clouds, lowering her muzzle until she was inches from it.

“Please,” she said gently, “you're very nice spirits, and we didn't mean to make you mad. If there is a way, somehow, that you could tell us what we did wrong, we will work together to fix it.” When she had finished speaking, flickers and ripples began to run through the clouds. The display continued for a minute before it stopped, and several small clouds separated themselves from the mass below them.

They formed a wide ring around Fluttershy, and circled her, dancing and weaving as they went.

“I... think they're saying they are ready to show us something,” said Twilight Sparkle. She knew she was right when all but three of the spirits sped away from Fluttershy the moment she spoke. They clumped together into a ball of vapour, and then slowly expanded and spread outward to form a rough sphere composed of little clouds. The sphere looked odd to Twilight until she realized that there was a gap big enough for three of them on Fluttershy’s side of it.

One of the remaining clouds brushed up against the pegasus. “Why hello there little… eep!” The cloud gave her a sharp push toward the sphere. “I'm sorry, am I in your way? Just let me head over… eep!” As she tried to move, one of the other three intercepted her and gave her a sharp push toward the sphere again. As the pony made a couple more aborted attempts to escape, the clouds relentlessly intercepted her and nudged her toward the sphere. It became clear that they were purposely herding her toward it.

“Go along with it, Fluttershy,” suggested Twilight. “I don't think they are trying to hurt you.” The pegasus looked unconvinced, but she allowed the spheres to push her into the sphere. The moment she was inside, her three herders took up their position to close up the gap.

“Thank you for making this little cloud house for me,” said Fluttershy, “but I would like to leave now if that’s ok.” As she flew toward the side of the sphere, the clouds on that side pinched in together enough to block her escape. She tried to leave twice more, but each time the clouds pinched in to block her escape. Finally she sighed and gave Twilight a helpless glance.

“And now they've taken Fluttershy,” said Rainbow Dash angrily. “These things can’t be trusted.”

“Be careful ponies, what you take…” said Twilight Sparkle pensively, “lest anger follow in its wake.

“Uh, what?” said Rainbow Dash blankly.

“It’s something that Zecora said to me earlier this morning.” The alicorn had scrunched up her muzzle and was rubbing her chin in thought. “The Majija think that we took something from them, and they want it back. Zecora said this was our fault.”

“That’s dumb,” said Rainbow Dash, waving her hooves in frustration. “They're just clouds. What could we have possibly taken…” She stopped in mid-sentence, and her eyes went wide. “Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.” The proud pegasus hung her head, abashed. “She was right, Twilight, it is our fault.” When Rainbow Dash spoke again, she was addressing the clouds. “I’m sorry, I didn't know. Please let me go and I'll get him for you.”

The bands holding her in place immediately released and disappeared back into the bank below her. The pegasus let loose with a cry of glee and launched herself upright again. “That’s better,” she said. “Come on, let’s go.”

“I think they want you to do it,” said Twilight , as a small cluster of clouds separated from the base and positioned themselves between her and the pegasus.

Rainbow Dash nodded her understanding. “I'll be back in a flash,” she said, rearing up and winging towards the factory in Cloudsdale.

Rainbow Dash knew precisely where she needed to go, and it did not take her long to reach the cloud corral. When the weather ponies cleared away the clouds for a sunny day, they took them in for servicing and refilling. The corral was attached to the Rainbow Factory, and served as a storage pen for miscellaneous clouds.

The clouds were stored in rows, bearing labels like “Thundery”, “Rainy”, “Snowy”, and “Ominous.” The row that interested Rainbow Dash was the one that bore the tag “Little Fluffy Clouds”. She succinctly remembered rounding up a little, fluffy cloud of the kind they reserved for picnics and weddings. She remembered it because it had been in with a group of rainy ones that needed to be refilled, and while she had thought it odd at the time, she had not given it a lot of thought since clouds were notorious for getting misfiled.

Even if it had been a pain to corral because it kept wandering off, almost like it had a mind of its own. As much as she wanted to go back in time a couple of days and kick herself, she couldn't be too hard on herself, because nopony else had noticed anything amiss about the cloud either.

Rainbow Dash found the cloud corral staffed by a lone, bored stallion with a smock and clipboard.

“How’s it going?” she asked, as she swooped in for landing.

“Not bad,” said the orange stallion, glancing up from his clipboard. He turned his head and growled threateningly at the corral, and a little cloud that had been edging up behind him scurried back into the rows of stored clouds. “Not bad except for that pesky little cloud that keeps trying to escape.”

“Yea, about that,” said Rainbow Dash. “I’m here to take that one away if you don’t mind.”

“Mind?” said the stallion with a harsh guffaw. “Please take it. That little thing has been nothing but trouble since it arrived. Full of lightning and vinegar, that one is.”

Rainbow Dash approached the entrance of the corral, hunkered back on her haunches and held out her forelegs invitingly. “It’s okay little guy,” she said gently. “I know what you are, and I'm here to take you home.”

The little cloud moved hesitantly toward her, then stopped. It edged a bit away from the stallion, but he just snorted indifferently and turned his nose back to his clipboard. With a final burst, the cloud launched itself forward into the waiting pony’s arms.

Rainbow Dash wasted no time in kicking off from the corral and heading back toward her friends. She felt the little cloud begin to fidget in her arms as she neared her destination. As she made her final approach, the prison surrounding Fluttershy burst apart, and the clouds swept toward the approaching pegasus, buzzing around her excitedly. The moment she spread her forelegs to release the cloud, it flew into the midst of the other clouds, moving from cloud to cloud, rubbing them greeting. Seen in juxtaposition, it was clearly much smaller than the other clouds.

“It’s no wonder they were angry,” said Fluttershy, rejoining her friends. “It’s just a baby. We’d have been angry too if somebody took one of our foals.”

“He must have been exploring and wandered into the regular clouds when we were clearing up after the last rain,” said Rainbow Dash. "Reminds me a bit of when I" was a filly. I was a real wanderer too."

As the clouds continued to dance and mingle, Rainbow Dash noticed that none of the other pegasi had been freed yet. “So are we good?” she asked loudly. “We brought him back to you, and we promise to be more careful in the future. So what do you say?”

The little cloud broke free of the pack and moved over to hover a couple of feet in front of her muzzle. It remained there for several seconds as if pondering its next move.

"So whadda ya say little bro-cloud?" asked Dash.

It released a lightning bolt into the pony’s face with a tremendous “crack!” of electrical discharge. As the vision of those around her cleared, they saw a stunned-looking pony with her rainbow mane looking remarkably like a lightly-singed afro. She blew twin smoke rings out of her nostrils.

“So, I guess we'll call it even then,” Rainbow Dash said. The clouds seemed to concur, because without further ado they began to shrink and recede toward back toward the Everfree Forest, releasing their captives as they went. As she watched them depart, Rainbow Dash saw something that, real or not, stuck with her for a very long time.

Perhaps it was a trick of the sunlight, or an after vision from the flash of lightning that had hit her muzzle, but for a very brief moment her little cloud did not look like a cloud at all. Where it had been a moment before was a white, fiercely beautiful filly with blazing eyes, a mane and tail of flowing mists, and wings that glowed with an electrical charge. Rainbow Dash would almost swear that the filly looked her in the eye and winked before swooping off to join its peers. Then she blinked, and saw that it was just a cloud.

“… they can look like whatever they want, Dashie.”

She shut her eyes tight and shook her head, partly to clear it, and partly to shake out her mane. There were more important issues at hand than strange visions involving spirit fillies.

“Look at you,” Rainbow Dash cried, swooping over to Twilight Sparkle and clamping her hooves firmly on the mare’s shoulders. “You’re flying. For real!”

“I am?” said the alicorn. In all of the excitement, that little detail had slipped her mind. Suddenly it occurred to her that she had been hovering on automatic. It was the first time she had ever flown when she was not concentrating on each movement of her wings. “I am!” she squealed excitedly. “I'm really flying!”

“That’s awesome!” said Rainbow Dash. “And you know what this means,” she continued in a singsong voice. She poked Twilight in the chest with a hoof. “Advanced training.” She rubbed her hooves together with glee. “Now we can start getting into the fun lessons. No more filly gloves; your real learning starts today.”

“Uh, how about tomorrow?” said Twilight Sparkle, backing away slowly. “I’m cold, wet, tired, and would like nothing more right now than a long, hot bubble bath.”

“Yeah, yeah, tomorrow is fine,” said Dash, dismissing her with a wave of her hoof. “That will give me enough time to build a lesson plan.”

Later that afternoon, the purple mare slid down into the hot suds of her bath with a contented sigh, flapping her wings gently in the water to let help it soak through the feathers to her screaming muscles. She fetched a roll of parchment and quill from a nearby shelf and hovered them over the tub while she mulled on what she planned to say. Normally she would have summoned Spike for dictation, but she was a little old-fashioned when it came to bathing in private.
She unrolled the parchment and held the quill poised, then pressed down its tip and began to write.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

I know that I am no longer your student, but as a friend, I thought you might like to hear about the interesting events that transpired today…”

Comments

[Harwick]

A fun little tale with nice pacing for the feel of an episode. I especially enjoyed Fluttershy and Twilight's camaraderie in being weak fliers, as well as Spike's jaunty use of discarded Alicorn feathers.

Nicely done! It was just the sort of thing I wanted for a cloudy morning.

[Plonq]

2450812

A fun little tale with nice pacing for the feel of an episode.

Thank you! I was striving for the feel of an episode with this story, so your comment makes me happy.

[Draco Dei]

Nice story.

[Plonq]

2526541 Thank you!

[Draco Dei]

2527662
You are welcome.

[Adjutant Stormy]

Very nice! I liked it, though the title didn't exactly inspire reading.

Well done.

[Plonq]

2656056

Thanks!

You raise a good point about the title. I will be the first to confess that I am terrible with names. This was my working title while I wrote, and I never got around to replacing it.

Titles are haaaard.

[Swashbucklist]

I hath completed thy body of fanfiction work. It was a pretty small body, unfortunately, and this one featured less humor than the other two, but it was a decent read regardless. It would be nice to think you have something else in the works, but it's clear you've put out all the fanfiction you wish to, and that's totally cool.

I may have said this in My Little Golem, but I'm extremely happy that Seattle's Angels featured that story. You tend to write my favorite kind of FiMfic: fun, creative, fast-paced comedies that feature Spike as heavily as the mane six.

[Plonq]

6645711
I have been terribly negligent in keeping up with FimFic in particular, or even with writing in general lately. It's not for lack of ideas, but a combination of time, burnout, and selling my soul to Blizzard. It turns out that raid nights and writing nights overlap.

I'm tickled to find out that Seattle's Angels featured my story, since I am terrible at self-promotion (also terrible at story titles, as the tepid name of this one shows).

I actually have another story all sketched out and ready to go. I have all five acts sketched out, and it is just a matter of blocking out some time to write something other than an opening line.

There is a good reason why most doors in Ponyville did not have locks.

If I can get my backside into gear, I am hoping to have it done and posted here before Christmas.

The tale I have written in my mind is a bittersweet romantic comedy, but these stories tend to take on a life of their own once I start writing, and it could end up as another wild ride like MLG -- or a dark, post-Celestia dystopia ruled by a well-meaning but thoroughly insane Queen Twilight and her five minions.

[Swashbucklist]

6653166 Is that so? Sweet! Whenever you get that written and published, I will happily read it...and hopefully more folks will do the same.

a well-meaning but thoroughly insane Queen Twilight and her five minions.

Wait, only five? Does that mean her first minion would have become her dragon king or her enemy? Or her dragon sex slave...

[Plonq]

6654082
Alas, poor Spike. Nothing so noble or exciting, I'm afraid.

---

"You're my rock, Spike. I don't know what I would do without you." The queen lowered herself primly on the floor and rested a gilded hoof gently on the giant dragon's talon.

The talon extended from the claw of an enormous stone dragon. It was raised slightly, as one would lift a finger to stress a point in a discussion. The statue was so finely crafted of amethyst and emerald that one could be forgiven for thinking that it might move at any moment. It bore the quiet - some thought disturbing - air of someone who was simply taking a break from living. The castle staff avoided this room, which suited the queen just fine. She did not take kindly to being disturbed while visiting her dearest friend.

The dragon also lay on the floor, coiled slightly on itself, resting on its left elbow. Its head was lowered, gazing blindly at the queen. Its face was frozen in a permanent, gentle expression of mixed sadness and resignation.

"A new student is arriving today. Isn't that exciting? I'm sure she will qualify for the school." She winked slyly at the dragon and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "As the one who screens the applicants, I think I have an inside scoop on that."

The statue did not answer; its expression remained unchanging and sad. The queen tittered softly and gave its talon a gentle pat with her hoof.

"Oh, you! What's with all this talk of you've changed and this is madness and you're not the Twilight I know and love?" She patted the talon again. "You're such a worrier, Spike. It's all good now, though. Everypony is happy. Everything is ... orderly." She breathed the final word more than she spoke it. For the briefest flicker of time her expression matched that of the dragon before she quickly recomposed her look of regal serenity.

"Well, I will just leave this with you for now," said the Queen. She hefted the scroll that she had brought with her and flung it to the top of a teetering mound of scrolls behind the dragon's shoulder. "Send it to Celestia when you have a moment, it's the the preliminary report on the new student I've found for her."

The pile of scrolls was enormous and ancient. Time and silverfish had not been kind to it. Many at the bottom had long since crumbled away to dust.

"We talk far too seldom these latter years," said the queen, rising to her hooves and shaking out her mane. "I always feel better after our little chats."

The queen departed.

The statue did not respond.