//------------------------------// // Chapter 94 // Story: Princess Twilight Sparkle's School for Fantastic Foals // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Lulamoon Hollow. So far, Sumac had mixed feelings about his time in this place, he was in love with the land, he found it enchanting, beautiful, but as for Dandelia, his feelings were even more mixed up about her. He knew, in no small part due to Twilight’s teachings upon the subject, that Dandelia was a pony in need of love and forgiveness. Like Olive, Dandelia was a wounded soul in need of help. It would be easy to hate her and contribute to the problem, doing so might make him feel better, and he was ashamed to admit that he felt this way, but liking her felt like an impossible task. The cemetery was a fantastic place shrouded in shadow. Some might call it spooky, but Sumac found that it was a calm, peaceful place of rest, it was his sanctuary, and like the dead, he took shelter here. He could hear the soft, muted sound of Lemon Hearts murmuring something to Trixie, but try as he might, he could not make out what was being said. On the distant edge of the cemetery, a pair of eyes watched them, and Sumac was aware of his observer. A young draconic pegasus, a lunar pegasus, one of Princess Luna’s pegasus ponies, she stood at the edge of the boneyard with a small, bloodied lump between her front hooves. Seeing it gave Sumac the shivers and spooked him far more than the cemetery did, but he understood that the draconic pegasus ponies of the night had to eat. As he stood there, watching her, she picked up her kill with her teeth, spread her wings, and took off in silent flight. She was big, as far as ponies went, but small, as far as her kind went, and he guessed that she was a foal, but he couldn’t guess her age. She was pretty, he supposed, in her own terrifying way, a creature of teeth and terror. “Since when did they start living here?” Trixie asked Princess Luna, who walked just a few feet away. “Caper invited them to stay here, free of rent.” Princess Luna came to a halt and focused her attention upon the mausoleum in the center of the cemetery. “All that he asked of them was that they eat the pests that ravage the gardens, a task that their kind will most joyously do. We of course, will continue Caper’s offer to them, as this is a good sanctuary for them.” “It really is dark here,” Twilight Sparkle remarked. “The Canterhorn is blocking the sun right now, but I suppose that is no surprise.” In a strange mood, Twilight fell back upon the one thing that always brought comfort, facts and figures. “Of course, we’re located at the base of a mountain that rises over a mile straight up and it acts like a sundial. We’re in the sweet spot where there is always some degree of shadow from the giant sundial, leaving this place in near perpetual darkness.” “Twilight, does it bother you that your parents are such close friends with Dandelia, and even now, they work to comfort her?” Princess Luna’s head turned away from the mausoleum and she focused a blank but piercing stare upon Twilight. “I suppose love can make a pony blind,” Twilight replied with an almost non-committal shrug. “Of course it bothers me… that mare is a horrible tribalist, a classist, and she represents everything that is wrong with the old system. I’ll be honest, I can’t even begin to understand how my mother and my father are friends with her. It kind of bothers me that as the Princess of Friendship, I don’t even want to understand how their relationship works, but I think that says a lot about the state of my biases. It leaves me troubled.” “Your mother, and your father, they have something that We envy and wish that We had more of.” Princess Luna’s wings fluttered against her sides and she turned her gaze down to the short, clipped grass on which she now stood. “And what’s that?” Twilight asked. Lifting her head, Princess Luna looked into Twilight Sparkle’s eyes once more. “Compassion.” Defensive, Twilight let out a snort. “I have compassion to spare!” Twilight shuffled on her hooves, her expression clouded over, and she began to look troubled. “I have compassion… I do… I’m the Princess of Friendship and that implies a certain level of compassion…” “Nopony accused you of not having compassion.” Princess Luna’s statement hung in the air like an anvil for a few seconds, and then crashed into Twilight Sparkle, who was left stunned from the impact. As the Princess of the Night stood watching, Twilight was almost reduced to a foal-like state, muttering to herself, and trying to make sense of her own behaviour. “That desk was so offensive and every word that came out of her mouth was insulting and that look of hatred that she gave Sumac and everything about her just irks me and rubs me the wrong way—oh stars, I’m trying to justify my own behaviour, aren’t I?” Princess Luna, Trixie, and Lemon Hearts all nodded. Sumac had a sneaking suspicion that both he and Twilight would leave this place as better ponies, if also somewhat more troubled. A change had come over his mother as well, something was different about her, but try as he might, he couldn’t put his hoof upon what it was, only that she was different somehow. As Trixie approached the mausoleum and the entrance to the below-ground crypts, Sumac felt his magic sense tingle in a manner most alarming. He almost cried out, panicked, worried, for a second he thought they were under attack, and as he stood there, trying to regain his senses, a tall, powerful looking figure appeared near the entrance to the mausoleum. It was a unicorn, a giant, with a powerful build, a long, brawny, muscular neck, and what had to be the longest horn that Sumac had ever seen upon a unicorn. It took Sumac several panicked moments to realise that he was looking at an illusion that was being projected. He scrambled from where he stood and rushed over to be closer to his mother, or mothers, as the case might be. “Beatrix… Trixie Lulamoon. At long last, you are great and powerful… you have ceased behaving like the whiny little disappointment that you were and you have at last embraced your true potential. You have walked a long and difficult road, a literal long and difficult road to get where you are right now. And I doubt that you would be where you are right now without me motivating you and goading you into greatness. I offer no apologies for anything I have done, you were worthless and weak, as is common for bastards and foals born out of wedlock.” The projected image flickered and Trixie stared at it with a hard, flinty look in her eye. “By standing here now, having come to this place, having endured the reading of my will, for listening to my words right now, you have proven yourself worthy of your inheritance. You are a Lulamoon, but unlike your soft, worthless, and weak mother, you have earned your standing. Earned! Just produce an heir, that is all I ask, and carry on the greatness that is the Lulamoon name.” Again, the image paused before it continued, “Troubled times are coming. I have seen the face of our enemy, our real enemy. He and I sized each other up, and I found him lacking. Crush him beneath you before he causes an uprising amongst the peasantry. Give a good accounting of yourself, Beatrix Lion Lulamoon, and never once show your back to our enemies, as Equestria has many. Destroy them and make them respect their betters. Show no mercy. Break their backs. If one peasant revolts, they will become emboldened. Smash our enemies and break their will. Make them grovel, it is for their own good. The peasantry, they don’t understand what we protect them from. They’re like willful foals that resist their parents, without ever knowing the danger their parents hold at bay. Save them from themselves, Beatrix, and make me proud.” Tears were now streaming down Trixie’s cheeks and Twilight moved to comfort her friend, her own troubles forgotten. Sumac brushed up against his mother’s leg, bothered by what he had heard. The little colt wanted to know which enemy Caper had seen face to face. “Beatrix… Trixie Lulamoon. At long last, you are great and powerful… you have ceased behaving like the whiny little disappointment—” Trixie took a step backwards, away from the mausoleum, the words went silent and the projection vanished. After a few sniffles, she continued backing away, with Lemon Hearts, Twilight, and Sumac all moving with her. The herd moved as one. Lemon Hearts looked disturbed, her raspberry eyes were glassy with tears that she struggled to hold back, while Twilight was concerned, worried for her friend. “Caper knew much and protected us from much, We suspect.” Princess Luna pulled the door to the mausoleum shut and it flashed for a second with her magic as she sealed it, protecting it from intrusion. “It is difficult to reconcile such a pony…” Her words trailed off and the Princess of the Night stood silent. “I have a question,” Sumac asked. “Go ahead, Sumac.” Trixie’s voice had a noticeable tremble to it, but it was clear that she longed for a distraction. “So, Caper died a while back, and just about the time that we went to Castle Midnight, you became a lot more powerful.” Sumac felt something niggling the back of his mind. “I’ve felt it, noticed it, and surely you’ve noticed it as well.” Twilight’s lips pressed together and became a thin, puckered line. “Magic is a finite resource,” Sumac continued, “and just after Caper’s passing, your own power grows by leaps and bounds. It’s been growing. Do you think there is a connection?” “I don’t know, Sumac, I just don’t know.” Trixie sat down in the grass, shivered from the cold, and pulled Sumac close. “That would imply that magic has a will of its own, which is reasonable I suppose, as something has to determine cutie marks and such.” Twilight’s eyes flashed with keen intelligence. “That would also imply that magic is reserving some of itself for those most capable of using it, holding itself back in reserve for the most worthy, or most capable vessels. Sumac, your hypothesis continues to grow ever more troubling.” “There are now two Lulamoons.” Lemon Hearts sat down beside Trixie. “That’s it, just two. By all accounts, Dandelia is also a powerful unicorn, but I wouldn’t know. Trixie on the other hoof, Twilight, because of the project, we’ve seen just how much power Trixie has brought to bear. Sumac is right, she’s getting stronger. Just think about it. And, she teleported us onto a moving train and we didn’t end up all scrambled or turned into goo. I’m not the smartest pony around, but I know my magical physics… what Trixie did was exceedingly difficult, even with help from inside the train.” “So, if this theory holds water, if there was just one Lulamoon, say, Trixie, she would become exponentially more powerful if she, um, ‘inherited’ her mother’s magic and was the last Lulamoon alive.” Twilight gave Trixie an apologetic pat and then fell into awkward silence. “But then we have to assume that magic has a reason for what it is doing, and if magic has a reason, we can deduce that magic has a plan. It has a will, a goal, an end result that it has in mind.” Lemon Hearts’ eyes focused on some nonexistent point up above her and her lower lip protruded as she slipped into deep thought. “If there is some outside force of will involved, what makes Trixie special? Why her? Why certain unicorns? What makes her different?” “A direct connection to Our bloodline,” Princess Luna said as she joined the conversation. “There are many within Our bloodline.” The blue alicorn’s eyes focused upon Twilight Sparkle for a time, and then she looked at Trixie. “Clearly that has something to do with it, but what?” “Caper was one of the most powerful unicorns alive. He was capable of slowing time in a radius around him.” Trixie took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then let it out as she said, “Once, when I was little, I watched him as he purposely tipped over a glass of water. He did something, the world went all wrong and all of the clocks began chiming throughout the house. The water flowed back into the glass and the glass set itself back upright. To this day, I still don’t know if he used his magic to put on a good show, or if he actually reversed time in a local area.” “He had an uncanny knack for foresight and planning.” Princess Luna glanced over the mausoleum for a second, and then returned her gaze to the group sitting in the grass. “Mine sister, Celestia, she told me that she suspected that Caper was capable of seeing timelines as they unfolded, that he would peer ahead to see the most likely outcome, and then he would hedge his bets. But Celestia could not prove that he was doing this. She claimed that Caper was as mysterious and as secretive as an oyster.” “Caper could light the stars,” Trixie said in a wistful voice. “We are possessed with an idea.” Princess Luna, moving with a swiftness born from inspiration, moved over to where Trixie sat. “Tell Us, Trixie, have you ever lit the stars?” “I’ve tried,” Trixie confessed. “Tonight,” Princess Luna said to Trixie, “Tonight all of us will test Sumac’s hypothesis. With Caper gone, we shall see if you can light the stars. It might tell us much.” She lifted her head high and a proud smile spread over Luna’s lips. “Be ready, for tonight, you will prove yourself as one of Our worthy descendants. We have a good feeling about this…”