//------------------------------// // 73. Forked Destiny - Part One // Story: Letters From a Little Princess Monster // by Georg //------------------------------// Letters From a Little Princess Monster Forked Destiny - Part One As I climb, ever upwards, thunder fills my mind, the reverberating crash and smash that is left after the lightning-stroke. It shakes me to my hooves, carried to every small part of me by the hammering of my heart. I cannot speak for fear of releasing its divine fury, but concentrate with all my strength against it, the bite of lightning on my tongue and the whirl of a hurricane on my breath. The smallest flaw in my defenses and I shall be spun away into the sky, a leaf on the wind, helpless against the might of the mountain. This is the place where I was born, from sky-fire and fear, warped and twisted into near destruction by my weakness. I must be stronger than its granite, more powerful than its light and darkness, adamant against the forces that would tear me asunder. This shall be the least of my tests, for I have grown far beyond the small and weak thing I was, though I still carry the gaping flaws which undid me, flensed ever-wider by the passing of time. Hear me, Canterlot! You have not defeated Twilight Sparkle, only set my hooves upon a different path to your summit. Throw me down, dash me against your stones, and I shall only rise up, stronger than before, until you yield to my assault. I no longer fear you, for you are a mere stone, and I— “Hey, Twilight!” Featherweight bounced into the train compartment where Monster was staring out of the window. Cheerilee, who was sitting in the other seat with an icepack on her head, stirred and put a foreleg over her eyes. “Shh,” she murmured. “Quiet.” Lowering his voice only slightly, Featherweight continued, “Scootaloo bet Diamond Tiara two bits that she can spit out the window when we go over the bridge, and the spit will hit the river before we reach the other end. Come in! This is going to be great!” Monster stirred from her seat and stretched before following the ecstatic young pegasus out to the main car where her friends waited. She only gave a brief look at the sunlit mountain framed in the train car window and smiled to herself while walking. You are a mere stone, and this time, I have my friends to help defeat you. Canterlot was so going to get its rocky rump handed to it today. ~ ~ Ω ~ ~ An invasion does not take place without a lot of legwork, particularly an invasion of the capital city of Equestria. So for the Storm King’s plans to come to fruition and for Tempest Shadow to achieve her own personal goals, a great deal of legwork was needed. Undoubtedly, any of the yeti who visited Canterlot would have been spotted and tracked, special notes would have been taken, and intelligence analysts would plot out theories which might knock a plan into rubble. That meant scouting out the city was Tempest’s job. Of course, since the whole reason behind an invasion would be the capture of four alicorns to power the Staff of Sacanas, and since there were only three alicorns in all of Equestria, Tempest would have been more effective resting on a beach somewhere, drinking out of coconuts with little umbrellas in them and soaking up the sun. Still, His Storminess had spotted a newspaper story about an alicorn named Twilight Sparkle, so off went the only equine member of his legions to the mountain city of Canterlot in order to observe, capture, or just find the cursedly elusive creature. Oh, the rest of the alicorns were fairly obvious, opening businesses or visiting schools like grinning stuffed trophies trotted out for special occasions, but Twilight Sparkle was starting to seem like all the stories about Bighoof or Zebras in the Everfree. Tempest was just about to call it quits and take a long, casual train ride back to the southern wastelands when she saw the parade. Just over twenty young foals from a school of some sort were trotting along, surrounded by the Elements of Harmony. There was no mistaking their identities, even though Trixie Lulamoon had attempted some sort of dye job and a new crimson and gold outfit as a disguise. A procession of six of the most powerful Equestrian heroes behind the defeat of Nightmare Moon and her transformation back into Princess Luna should have warranted an armed guard at the very least, but if the six new heroes had the power to— A flicker of purple in the group drew Tempest Shadow’s eyes. The edges of one of the students’ red school uniform capes had just twitched, and the tips of several small purple feathers peeked out. At first, Tempest felt a thrill of exhilaration at the sight of wings and horns on the young filly, only to feel that sensation fade when more careful examination showed the horn on top of her head was actually as plastic as the gaudy golden crown she was wearing. In fact, five other students were wearing plastic Elements of Harmony necklaces proudly as they trotted along behind their guardians, making Tempest shake her head while she turned to continue her search elsewhere for the mythical fourth alicorn. “Supremely powerful artifacts on a bunch of foals,” she quietly scoffed to herself while walking, but the image of the timid lilac pegasus had amazing persistence in her memory. Concealment was second nature to Tempest. She was no stranger to wearing a false cover over the stub of her broken horn in order to pose as a unicorn, or just a low wig to cover it, but something about the pegasus’ stance bothered her. Nervous pegasi left their wings partially extended, not covered, and held their heads still. Unicorns turned their heads while scanning for danger in order to bring their horns in line with whatever they spotted. The little pegasus had been twitching her head at every motion or noise, while her wings had been perfectly still. “Sonofa…” Tempest turned on her heel and strode back in the direction she had seen the school group go, picking her way through the city in determined pursuit, just far enough back to keep an eye on her prey. What if Nightmare Moon had brought an alicorn foal back with her? There’s no way Princess Luna would be able to keep her daughter a secret in Canterlot, but slip her into a small town nearby with five trusted accomplices and Celestia’s student… ~ ~ Ω ~ ~ “Gather around,” said Cheerilee outside of the castle doorway. “Quietly, please. No talking. Now, I know some of you are a little bored with Scootaloo, get away from that guard! Sorry, sir. She’s just curious.” “But I want to see how the armor fastens!” Scootaloo sulked while Apple Bloom towed her by the tail away from the nervous Royal Guard, who had nearly jumped out of his shoes when Scoots poked her nose underneath him. Monster did not understand why Scoots had a sudden interest in all kinds of Royal Guard things, other than maybe wanting to join the military and be in Canterlot with Sweetie Belle if she wound up in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. It did not seem as if the guards would take a pegasus as young as Scootaloo, because the armor would fit like an oversized garbage can, and Scoots probably could not even lift a spear yet. All of Monster’s nerves jangled and twinged this morning, although there had not been any real reason to be nervous. Mom had stayed behind in Ponyville, dealing with a tummy-twinge that the growing infant inside was giving her, which probably explained why she was talking in iambic penttymeter. Tallgrass also had remained at home to care for her and spoil her and do other things that they probably were not supposed to do since Mom was pregnant now. The rest of her friends were likewise away from their parents, from Diamond Tiara and her new mother to Scootaloo, whose parents were sleeping in after a long night at the party. Trixie was there, of course, along with all of her friends. It was nice to see the way her hard corners and sharp edges had melted into grudging acceptance of other ponies around who not only tolerated her, but wanted to be around her on a limited basis for short periods of time. It reminded Monster of her own dangerous traits, and the way Luna was fitting into her new mountain home. They were both making progress toward normality, but the destructive descent Monster had put them all through resulted in a very deep hole. Far better that the hole had never been dug in the first place. If there was a chance, however slim, that her destiny could be altered, then the destruction of twelve years could be undone with a single spell. There was a risk, because she wanted to keep all the good that had come from her destructive path. The rescue of Princess Luna. The redemption of the changelings. And most of all, her friends. There had to be a way to guide her path so that she could keep all of the good without the bad. This would be Monster’s latest test. Surrounded by her own friends, away from the mother she had known for her entire life in the Everfree, she could see the cloud of probability rising up in front of her like a wild storm sweeping out of the forest. The first step in this test was the Canterlot Museum of Natural History, one of the wings of the vast castle complex that spread out all over and around the small students. It was dark and cool inside the building compared to the late summer heat of outside, but the feeling of being watched only decreased slightly. It was not just because of the guards in their golden spell-woven armor giving her subtle sideways glances before returning to their perfectly immobile stance. And it was not because Cheerilee was squinting at each of the little ponies under her protection. No, it was something else. Something dangerous and curious, that a short time ago she would have attempted to flush out by blasting a chunk of the everpresent forest into splinters, but for now, she just watched in return while trying to enjoy her trip. Monster wanted to run around the museum like her friends, brushing up against the rope barriers and peering closely at the carefully labeled bones or antique pony artifacts despite the rules that Miss Cheerilee had given out. A growing sense of incompletion bothered Monster, nagging at her heels and fluttering around her head like an erratic moth. Decisions. Princesses made decisions. Big decisions. Big decisions that could go wrong. Monster had made many wrong decisions, and hurt ponies, but with her friends, she had made right decisions too. Other ponies looked up to big princesses, expecting them to make right decisions, but Monster was only a small princess now, and should only be expected to make correspondingly small decisions. Monster was glad she had not been reborn as an adult. Even her small decisions now were far too large. The museum was filled with the aftereffects of large decisions made by Princess Celestia many, many years ago. Had she worried like Monster was worrying now, about how sending her guards to challenge the griffons in this year would affect how the defeated population would react to diplomatic alliances in that year? And the truly large decision, standing up to her sister when Luna had been consumed by Nightmare Moon, had haunted Celestia for a thousand years. Monster knew what Mom would say about finding her answers in the stars, or what Luna would say about trusting her instincts, or even what Celestia would say about trusting in Harmony. Even sitter… that is Cadence would insist the answers could be found in her own heart. She liked what Trixie had said better: Cheat, but don’t get caught. And when Monster saw her opportunity to get easy answers to her troublesome questions, she acted. ~ ~ Ω ~ ~ The mysterious box groaned and moaned, hissed and popped, growled and creaked as the gauze-draped ponykin inside waved a hoof over a glowing crystal ball. It was exciting, and Monster could barely focus on the tinny voice, with scratches and hisses of a worn phonograph record, as it rasped, “Madame Zerona is here to give you the wisdom of the ancients. Do with it as you will! Ask your question, and it will be answered.” “How can I fix this?” She had wanted to ask a much more detailed question of the mysterious box, all painted in shades of deep purple and violet stars, but after putting a golden bit into the slot, all of the complicated words fled her damaged mind. All of the rest of her friends were still running around ‘The Halls of Automata’ exhibition, and Cheerilee was attempting to keep Scootaloo from opening up one of the exhibits, so that gave Monster the freedom to ask her question in relative privacy. With one final grinding of gears and a loud ding of a bell, the worn plastic of the pony automaton hoof reached down to press a lever, and a small pasteboard card popped out of the slot in the front of the box. In the relative silence, Monster floated the card up and turned it over. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. Your Lucky Numbers are 8 1 18 13 15 14 and 25 (Flim-Flam Novelty Company inc. No actual fortune included.) She was still reading the card over and over again when the machine wheezed one last time and stated, “Your wish is granted.” Monster gave out a short huff of breath and tucked the card into her mane for later, then galloped off to rejoin her friends. There had to be something else in this place, something useful. And then she saw it. ~ ~ Ω ~ ~ While the rest of her students stampeded toward the next stop on the museum tour, Cheerilee took a moment to stretch out her hocks and enjoy the moment of peace and quiet in one of the small exhibit rooms off the main museum. The aspirin had a chance to soak in and the hammering of kettlebells behind her temples from the night of drinking had faded, leaving her with a nagging sense of responsibility about allowing her students a few moments without their mother hen clucking at their every move. She resisted the urge to follow the fading sounds of their voices for a short time. Instead, her eyes were drawn to the exhibit of the room, a mirror hanging behind a flimsy velvet rope, and the haunting words on the sign in front of it. The Road Not Taken - Created by Clover the Clever, Apprentice to Starswirl the Bearded Taking a quick glance around to make sure she was not being observed, Cheerilee reached out a hoof. After all, it could not hurt to see— There was a small flash of light, and she looked into the mirror at a matching Cheerilee, only this one was wearing a snappy business suit with a small necktie and designer shoes, caught in exactly the same pose. The two mares looked at each other, school teacher to highly-paid professional, before Cheerilee mouthed the words, "Was it worth it?" Her rich counterpart hesitated, checking over her shoulder at the empty room before looking back at Cheerilee with tired eyes, bloodshot from long hours spent at her job. She shook her head slowly, then mouthed back the same words. "Miss Cheerilee!" Diamond Tiara bounded into the doorway of the exhibit room and pointed frantically at where the rest of the students had gone. "Scootaloo is headed for the aeronautics section with that look in her eyes again. Her friends are delaying her, but I think she wants to see if the gliders work. Hurry up!" Cheerilee smiled and nodded at the wealthy pony in the mirror. "Yes!" she mouthed. "Consider a career change." Turning back to Diamond Tiara, Cheerilee started to sprint into the rest of the museum. This was the road she had taken, and she had no regrets. She never even noticed the purple shadow who flitted into the room when she left. ~ ~ ✶ ~ ~ Tempest was not having a good day. The confines of the museum made her twitch at the smallest shadows, and the number of gold-clad Royal Guards in various doorways was highly excessive, particularly given the worthless relics stowed in glass boxes and behind velvet ropes. What was worse, her saddlebags with the petrification bombs in the bottom were feeling heavy and awkward, and every time she made a rapid motion, she could hear the faint clinking of two loose bombs rubbing against each other. It was like walking around with lit sticks of dynamite strapped to her sides, making every time she heard a clicking noise into a nightmare expectation of a cloud of green gas and rapid petrification. The good news was that the students running around were calling the cloak-clad potential alicorn ‘Twilight.’ The bad news was that Twilight could vanish into the woodwork at a moment’s notice like a chameleon. One moment she would be there with her little friends, the next, nothing. Since the other alicorns were Sun, Moon, and Love, this one was certainly Void, or Frustration. There was a tarp in Tempest’s saddlebags, enchanted to look ‘normal’ in most regards. If she could catch the little alicorn alone in this low-security wing of the castle, it would be the work of a moment to hit her with a quiet petrification bomb, wrap up the resulting statue, and be off to the Storm King before anypony realized the child was missing. It would be perfect bait to sucker the powerful alicorns out of their mountain fasthold to where the Storm King’s forces could capture them one at a time, and then… She gave out a low chuckle. With the magic of four alicorns, the Storm King would get the Staff of Sacanas. Tempest Shadow would get her broken horn healed. The ponies could go to Tartarus for all she cared. But first… She really did not expect to get the opportunity to capture the suspected alicorn inside the museum. There were other students, the alert Elements of Harmony, guards, and worst of all, that sharp-eyed teacher who hovered over all of them like a hummingbird protecting a cluster of sweet flowers. Still, opportunity was where planning met chance, so when the rest of the students and the teacher moved down the hall, and Twilight slipped into one of the side-rooms where special exhibits were displayed, Tempest Shadow was close behind. It only took a quick look around to ensure she was not observed, then a casual stride inside the small room to find… Nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. The museum exhibit was there, a metal mirror on a display easel with a rope around it, but there were no ponies at all in the room, particularly small, purple prospective alicorns. She whirled around at first, thinking it was a trap, but there were no groups of Royal Guards moving in to capture the Storm King’s disguised lieutenant. And there was no little pony inside the room. A pony had gone in. No pony had come out. No pony was in there. Holding very still, Tempest Shadow began to examine the room. The little pony had proven to be an effective hider, but even an invisibility spell would leave tiny distortions in the air. The possibility of teleportation could not be ruled out, except the spell would have made some sort of loud noise from the displaced air, and there was no reason for the young filly to go into a room to teleport somewhere else. Walking slowly around the room while looking for any clue to the vanishing act did not help, nor did calling out to the child in a compassionate voice. The only thing left that could possibly be related to the vanishing was the metal mirror. “The Road Not Taken,” said Tempest, looking around the edges of the metal plate for hidden catches or secret toggle switches. “More like Starswirl’s One Hundred And Fifty-Seventh Cryptic Junkpile. What do you do, stupid thing?” As if the mirror had heard and wanted some sort of petty vengeance, it illuminated with a soft glow to reveal Tempest Shadow’s reflection, only this mirror-pony had an intact horn, and was clad in sparkling crystal armor in the style of Equestrian soldiers. They exchanged glances, then Mirror-Tempest just faded away with an enigmatic smile and the faintest of glows around her intact horn. “Starswirl, you twisted bastard,” muttered Tempest, turning sharply on her heel to stride away. But before she could get out of the room and head in the direction of the small student voices, there was the quiet clattering sound of hooves against the tile behind her, and when Tempest whirled around again, she looked into the violet eyes of a small alicorn filly. “Twilight Sparkle,” she whispered, reaching behind into her saddlebag to pick up a petrification bomb.