//------------------------------// // Delusions of Grandeur II // Story: Amethyst Star Isn't Prepared For This // by MagicS //------------------------------// “Equestria?” The King said in surprise. “What a magnificent coincidence, that is the same land where the Songstresses come from!” Amethyst Star looked over at the long couch in surprise again, her ears perked up and her eyebrows both shooting into her hairline. “Really?” The five mares paused what they were doing to wave back at her some more, aside from the unicorn who merely smiled and nodded when Amethyst Star met her starry yellow gaze. That was a coincidence. How few ponies from Equestria were out in the Undiscovered West? And the west had turned out to be quite big, and Diminuendo quite remote, but here she was with five other ponies from the same country as her. That’s the kind of crazy coincidence that made her think she did come here for a reason, and adventure was right around the corner. “Truly,” the King nodded. “I’m sure you will have much to talk about together. But first, please tell me all about yourself. Who are you back in Equestria and what have you seen on your travels from there to here?” Who am I? Now that was the question of the day for Amethyst Star. This was a big opportunity for her. No one here knew her. She could say whatever she wanted and who could challenge her? The Songstresses? Amethyst Star knew she had never seen those five around Ponyville, they could hardly contradict anything as long as she didn’t say anything too outrageous. But on the other hoof, should she really lie about this in the first place? It was probably wrong. And especially disrespectful to ponies who had shown her such great hospitality so far. The thing is she didn’t want to disappoint them. The truth would be disappointing. That she was a nobody back home, even if she refused to accept or believe that herself, and that her adventure out here was full of nothing but failures and minor events nobody would care about. The King, Queen, and everybody else would probably be so disappointed in her. Especially since they had these supposedly amazing Songstresses from Equestria to compare her to as well. “I’m… a close friend of the Princess Twilight Sparkle. She sent me on a mission to travel the Undiscovered West and learn about it!” Amethyst Star boldly claimed. She then furrowed her brow. “Er, the Undiscovered West is what we from Equestria call these lands. But I’m sure the Songstresses already told you that.” “They did,” the King answered. “And they told us about who rules Equestria, are you truly saying you are a friend of one of the Alicorn Princesses?” His voice carried no disbelief, only wonder. It seemed he really did believe what she had just said. And if the King did then everyone else in here would say they did too, whether or not they really felt that way. A quick glance to the sofa also allowed Amethyst Star to see how the Songstresses were reacting to what she said. The five of them had scooted closer to each other and while the unicorn continued to smile warmly at Amethyst Star the other four kept talking with each other, covering their mouths with their hooves or wings. She didn’t know what to make of that. “Yep, known Twilight Sparkle for years,” Amethyst Star said as she fully turned her attention back to the King. “But now, let me tell you about what I’ve been up to out here on my journey so far...” After that Amethyst Star gave the King and the rest of the royal court an adjusted version of events of her adventure. She still did a good job of telling everyone about what she had seen and all the different places she had been to, but changed around certain embarrassing details that concerned herself. Failures turned to successes and she always painted a pretty picture of how good of a job she had done. Such as when she reunited two feuding clans, or won a sports tournament, or went on a treasure hunt with another famous explorer, or conquered a previously thought to be unpassable desert. Or did a ton of other heroic things that wouldn’t be out of place in any grand adventure. The story she told them was one worthy of a super special and amazing pony such as herself. It was the true adventure that she had envisioned. Just not the truth. The King and Queen were fully enraptured by her tales, it caused Amethyst Star to just keep on going and going until she really needed to take a breath. “Whew, sorry. I’ve been walking all day and now talking like this is making me tired,” Amethyst Star grinned awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck and letting out a short chuckle. “Of course, of course, I’m sorry for not noticing. We’ve just been having you stand around and entertain us for so long but I doubt you can tell us everything in one afternoon. Not to mention I have so many questions about Equestria I’d like to ask you at some point as well,” the King smiled at her. His honest and gracious manner were a welcome treat to Amethyst Star, although his desire to learn more about Equestria could be problematic to her. “Right… I’ll continue my stories and everything tomorrow.” “And you won’t have to worry about walking back here either,” the King told her. “I’ll have a room prepared for you right by the gardens. You’ll be my guest.” Amethyst Star’s eyes went wide and her jaw nearly dropped in delight. “Really?! Thank you! That’s awesome!” “I believe it’s just as much of a reward for me as it is for you. I’ll send for someone to find a room for you, for now why don’t you say hello to my Songstresses? I’m sure you’ll have much to talk about,” the King told her and got ready to signal for a servant. “Yes, that is quite true~” The singsong voice came from her side and Amethyst Star looked over to see the unicorn Songstress walking towards her, finally all five had left the comfortable looking sofa and were coming to say hi to her up close. The purple unicorn walked down the steps until she was only one above Amethyst Star while the other four hung back. Now that they were closer Amethyst Star could see that they were all wearing black choker’s with red hexagonal jewels on them, aside from the unicorn who had an octagonal red jewel half-again as large as the others. If there was a word that described the expression on the other unicorn’s face right now it would be “smug”. She had a naturally haughty and self-important aura about her and the half-lidded eyes she looked down at Amethyst Star with only accentuated that. Amethyst Star spied a Cutie Mark on her flank of a bright nebula. “So you’re really a friend of one of the Princesses? I’m sorry to ask, it’s not like I doubt you or anything, but we’ve never met anyone who personally knows them,” the unicorn asked her. Amethyst Star fought back the urge to gulp. “Yep, that’s right. Known Twilight since before she even moved to Ponyville.” Oh Celestia, why did I say that? “Wow, I’m truly impressed,” the unicorn gasped in awe while the other four calmly stood a few steps behind her, the earth ponies to her right and the pegasi to her left. “We’re just a group of singers who have had a run of good fortune lately, but you sound like a very special pony, it’s wonderful to meet you.” She stuck out her hoof for Amethyst Star to shake. “W-Well, I don’t know about that...” Amethyst Star blushed and nervously faced away from her, but still shook her hoof. “And modest too!” The unicorn giggled. “Well, allow me to introduce my lovely troupe to you.” She looked to her right and gestured to the earth pony on the outside. A white mare with a thin face and a whispy sparkly blue mane and tail. She blinked at Amethyst Star with deep blue eyes. “Diamond-” She then pointed at the second earth pony, a caramel pony with a similarly thin face but very sharp red eyes that sat under a willowy mane of forest green hair. “Emerald-” Glancing to her left, the unicorn did the same with the pegasi, first pointing at the one standing on the outside. She was a red mare with a fiery yellow and orange mane tied in two thick braids with her tail done in another long braid. Her eyes were a strong violet and she kept shifting them back and forth. “Topaz-” The final of the four was a teal pegasus with a short white and black mane and tail. Her wings were constantly ruffling as her pupils tried to look everywhere but at Amethyst Star. “Opal. And I-” the unicorn grinned as she stepped down the final step to at last get on Amethyst Star’s level. “Am Amethyst.” This time Amethyst Star’s jaw did drop all the way. “Wait, for real? Amethyst giggled at her reaction and nodded. “Mhm. I was almost as surprised to hear your name as I was to hear that you’re from Equestria too. You know, when we have more time I would love to hear what you have to say about the country and the Princess. We haven’t been home in a long while now, I’m afraid we’re a bit out of the loop.” “Alright, sure. Whatever you want to know,” Amethyst Star said, her earlier brief apprehension when it came to the mares lifted by some simple courtesy and sweet words. “Wonderful,” Amethyst replied. “You know, Amethyst Star, I think the two of us are going to become great friends here.” Within less than an hour Amethyst Star had been designated a large suite that sat right by an outdoor corridor that bordered the extensive inner gardens of the castle. One of the King’s stewards had arrived in the throne room to show her to it with a promise from the King that the castle was hers to freely traverse. Amethyst Star could rest or do whatever she wanted for the rest of the day and sometime tomorrow the King would once again call on her and she could regale him with more stories of her travels and knowledge of Equestria. The rest of the nobles or whoever they were in the throne room also looked really interested to see more of Amethyst Star, she wouldn’t be surprised if some rumors were already floating through the castle about her. Amethyst Star really had to admit that she was looking forward to being the center of attention. Things had been going well here so far. And the Songstresses seem nice, I wonder what part of Equestria they’re from? Hopefully they don’t know enough to figure out that I’ve been lying. Amethyst Star thought as her guide brought her to the door of her suite. The well-dressed steward unlocked the heavy doors with a key and stood to the side to allow Amethyst Star entrance to her temporary residence. Which was by far the nicest place she was going to stay in so far on her journey. A large four-poster bed with a canopy sat in the middle of the back well, the puffy sheets and pillows overflowing off of it, while an armoire and beauty station was nestled against the wall to her left. There was also a round and ornately carved table with four expensive looking chairs around it by the beauty station, all of it standing on a thick rug. The right wall of the room was taken up by a large painting with a golden frame of some old pony wearing the same crown as the King. Must be a previous ruler. “Wow, this is really nice,” Amethyst Star said as she stepped inside and looked around. Despite the fact that it probably hadn't been used in a while it was also completely clean and devoid of dust. “I am glad it is up to your standards, the King will be pleased to hear that,” the steward bowed to her, allowing the doors to close as he also walked into the room. “This room is specifically known as the Garden Rose Suite. If you get lost in the castle you can mention that name to anyone and they’ll be able to give you directions back here. Furthermore-” he held up the key he had used to unlock it. “This will be yours as well. You can essentially see yourself as the owner of the room.” The steward hoofed her over the key and Amethyst Star gleefully put it into her saddlebag. “Awesome, thank you!” She smiled at the helpful steward. Not one for simple pleasantries, he bowed stiffly to the pony far above his station and exited the suite. Amethyst Star then took the opportunity to shrug off her saddlebag, stretch her neck, and jump onto the fluffy bed like a filly. “Hah! This is great!” She exclaimed as she rolled around on the soft and luxurious sheets. Silk? Cotton? She had no idea and she didn’t care. They felt good. Diminuendo was turning out better and better the more she got to know it. She could really envision herself spending a week—no—a month here. Just hanging out in the castle and basking in the glory and respect. She bet there was all kinds of stuff around the rest of the city too. Amethyst Star stopped rolling around for a second as some previous thoughts caught up to her. “Hmm, no one mentioned anything about the Prince back there. Maybe the King just didn’t want to bring down the mood. That must have been his empty chair though.” Amethyst Star suddenly sat up, her eyes sparkling. “Maybe that’s my quest?! Find the missing Prince! They already think I’m some awesome explorer from Equestria, if I find their missing Prince that’ll totally prove it. Diminuendo really is giving me everything I wanted, here’s where I can show the world that Amethyst Star is not a pony meant to be overshadowed!” She hopped off the bed and grabbed her saddlebag, throwing it up on the table in her room and then checking out the armoire and beauty station. Their drawers and cabinets were unsurprisingly empty of everything but some plain towels and handkerchiefs. They probably expected most people to be using this suite would be the types to bring all of their own clothes and beauty products. Amethyst Star didn’t really see the point in putting the stuff in her saddlebag away, not like any of it was meant to go in something like this either. “I wonder what kind of suite the Songstresses have?” Amethyst Star wondered as she looked around her room some more. “They probably all got huge ones of their own. I should’ve asked them. And about what food there is to eat around here.” She walked over to the big painting of the previous king. “There’s actually a ton I still don’t know about Diminuendo, I did all the talking today, tomorrow I should try to learn as much as I can about the city.” Feeling a bit energetic, she paced around the room for a little while after getting tired of looking at the painting. Amethyst Star was just wired from all the excitement today and it made her not want to simply turn in for bed yet. So because there were still a few hours before the sun went down and she was right here, she decided to go check out the gardens. All that was required was opening up her door and walking into the open-air corridor that separated the gardens from the interior of the castle. An opening in the corridor just a little ways down and she could walk out onto a path made of a series of stones embedded into the grass. The gardens opened up before her, at first starting in a large courtyard that was bordered by the walls of the keep on three sides before taking up even more of the exterior castle grounds the further back you went. “Wow, this is beautiful,” Amethyst Star said as she walked through the garden. Pretty trees and flower bushes covered the grounds while marble and porcelain statues, benches, and bird baths also sat nestled in-between the overflowing greenery. Amethyst Star saw cherry blossom trees, willow trees, wisteria trees, all types that just added to the idyllic look and feeling of this garden, their leaves gently swaying in the slight breeze. There were all sorts of flowers that she could see too and a large series of hedges that separated different parts of the garden. Amethyst Star aimlessly walked around to look at as much of it as possible, it must take a lot of gardeners to keep this place in top form. She walked over some cold grass that encircled a three-level fountain, the water gushing from the top into ever larger pools. If she wanted she could probably lie down in the grass and drift off to sleep right here. It was just that kind of spot. But her bed was too inviting to pass up and she still wanted to see more. Amethyst Star ended up walking past rows and rows of tulips and lilies that came in all colors. She leaned down to smell them and was rewarded with a delightfully fragrant scent. The unicorn kept walking until she reached the end of the flowers, where a large tree covered by a puffy hedge around its base sat. Amethyst Star stood in front of it for a moment and looked out at the rest of the flowers nearby. They brought so much color and beauty to the garden, this really was a royal level place. Amethyst Star even started thinking it would be nice to visit Canterlot when she got home just to see the castle gardens there. Her eyes glided across the other kinds of flowers. The carnations, the sunflowers, the iris’, the hydrangeas, and the- Roses… Amethyst Star looked directly ahead at a large rose bush blooming with some of the most vibrant red roses she had seen. They reminded her of something she could only vaguely recall. What was it? She didn’t know why but she frowned as she looked at the roses, they were beautiful but something was confusing her right now. “Psst, hey.” The pink and purple unicorn’s ears perked up as she heard the whispered voice of a mare. Her head darted around to see where it came from but she saw nothing. “Down here.” Amethyst Star turned around and dropped her gaze to see a pair of blue eyes peeking up at her from inside the bottom of the hedge. “Uhhh… what? Who are you?” Amethyst Star was a bit confused. The eyes disappeared as the mare stood up and popped her head out of the hedge, revealing herself to be a white unicorn with a yellow mane that had a single orange stripe running through it. She was wearing a cute black bow just off center behind her horn while directly above her left eye she had a thin scar running across her brow. “My name is Daylight Gleam,” she pointed at Amethyst Star. “And you’re in danger.” Meanwhile, in their luxurious tower suite, four of the Songstresses were panicking. Diamond ran around in circles, muttering about going to jail, while Emerald sat in the corner of the room and chewed on her mane. Topaz was nervously preening herself and continuously rearranging the feathers of her wings while Opal was half hiding in the bed, holding a pillow over her head. “This is so bad, this is so bad! We never should’ve done this!” Diamond suddenly spoke louder to make sure everyone else could hear her. “What are we going to do?” “I don’t know,” Topaz grimaced. “She said she personally knew the Princess, does she suspect us? Does she know who we are?” “You heard her stories too, didn’t you?” Opal quietly said from under her pillow. “She’s amazing! This is terrible for us, what if she tells the Princesses or tries to stop us?” The mood was quickly worsening for them, the four nervous ponies about to explode when finally the one pony in the room keeping her cool decided to speak up. “Calm down you morons,” Amethyst said to the others, causing all four to stop what they were doing and stare at her. Looks ranging from scared to hopeful were on their faces, the four knew they had to trust in their leader here. “This isn’t a bad thing, this is a good thing. In fact this is perfect.” She started chuckling under her breath. “How is this a good thing?” Topaz asked her. “Think about it, actually, don’t. Just let me do the thinking for you, like always,” Amethyst smirked as she walked forward and patted Topaz on the head. “This pony is our in not only back to Equestria but directly to Princess Twilight Sparkle herself and thus the rest of the Princesses too. We’ll be able to return to Equestria sooner than we thought and be able to accelerate our plans at the same time. Stop being so panicky just because this dumb unicorn happened to show up at an important time. This is nothing but good fortune for us, girls.” She gestured for all of them to come in close to her and they did, Amethyst using her deep violet magic to pull them all into a big group hug. “After all those failures things have finally turned around for the five of us. Just stay positive, stay calm, and do what I say, and soon Equestria will be ours for the taking.”