//------------------------------// // [Un]Ascension // Story: Backstory of Melody Song // by Melody Song //------------------------------// I reappeared in a strange astral plane. It was teal-purple and sparkling with stars. "Wh-Where am I...?" I asked "You're safe, young one." a familiar voice called to me. "P-Princess Celestia?" I asked, as she approached. "Yes, Melody Song. It's me. And I must say, it's not every day I am summoned here." she said, smiling. "Though from what Twilight told me about your recent choosing by the Ether it shouldn't be surprising." "A-And where's here, exactly?" I asked "The Alicorn dimension, little one." Princess Celestia said, smiling as she opened her wings. "A-Alicorn? A-As in, alicorn princess?" "Yes. You, young Melody Song, have proven, that with your young, bright, intelligent, creative mind, that you are worthy. Though you may not fully understand what it is that has brought you here, the new magic you have created, I believe you are ready to be Melody Song, Princess of Creativity and Imagination." Princess Celestia smiled at me. "I-What?" What did she mean, fully understand? "Now, for the transformation-" "No!" I shouted, startling her. "What?" "No, no, this shouldn't be happening, I'm no princess!" I yelped "What? Melody, you have proven you're worthy." "No I haven't!" I screamed, covering my face with my wings. "No, I'm not a princess. I'm just a normal, boring pegasus." "Melody, I'm afraid it's not that simple. You've proven you're ready, and the magic won't stop until it's transformed you." "N-No. I'm not ready." I gasped "I just... I'm not ready to be a royal... I know it's everyone's dream but... I'm not ready." "I can't stop it Melody, I'm sorry." Princess Celestia said, resting a wing on my back. I curled up, sobbing. I just want to go. Go anywhere away from here. Somewhere safe. Then, I saw a violet flash, and when I raised my head, I saw I was in the Ether. The Ether was now pure violet with white fades. I looked around, landing and curling up in a ball. I could still feel what was probably the ascension magic tugging at my chest. I wiped my eyes and stood up. "Well, I guess this is the safest place to hide out until the magic stops affecting me..." I murmured. "Discord did say no other being can enter without either of us..." I looked around, realizing I was completely lost. I used my magic to summon the map of the Ether that Discord had given me. I opened it, then frowned. "This thing isn't reliable at all." I muttered, comparing the map to my surroundings. I crumpled it up and then looked around. "It must've changed because a new bearer was chosen... me... it would definitely explain why it's all purple-white now. Well... as long as I'm here I might as well re-map this... it would be something to do..." I sighed and summoned some loose leaf paper and a case of pencils and erasers. I then walked off, maybe I can find my way back to the school if I map this out... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's been a week. I finished mapping out as much of the Ether as I could while not getting lost. And I can no longer feel the magic pulling me. I think it's time to go home. I warped the Ether so I was standing over the school, then in a violet flash, I was in my dorm room. "Melody!" Harper tackled me. "Hey Harp!" "Where have you been?!" they asked me "I'm sorry I worried you Harp, I was just spending a little time in the Ether, thought I'd map it out." I lied, surprised that it came to me so easily. Harper frowned. "Then why were you panicking when you got sent in?" "Uh... no reason... hey, how about we go for a walk?" I asked, heading out the door before they could respond. Okay, that was a mistake. Everyone's looking at me. I lowered my head slightly and trotted on. I can hear Harper snapping at ponies behind me. They're a great friend. "Well well well." the high, snooty voice catches my attention immediately. "What do you want Orchid?" I heard Harper growl. "I'm not here for you, Lynn." she sneered, then turned to me. "I'd like to know where Melody's been. We've all been worried." "Somehow I doubt you have." I muttered, then raised my voice to a normal volume. "I've just been busy with stuff... I was in my dorm." "Hmph. Lucky you. The rest of us had school." Orchid huffed. "And you got to stay holed up in your room. Probably because you're the dumb teacher's assistant. Hey, look everyone, the great Princess Melody has decided to grace us with her presence at last!" Remembering the real reason I had disappeared, I gritted my teeth. I then shoved Orchid rudely aside and raced off. "Mel, wait!" Harper cried, following me. "What's going on?!" I spun around and lifted them up in my magic, dragging them into the first empty room I found. "What's wrong is she's right, Harp!" "Right? About what?" "I... I wasn't mapping out the Ether. I mean, I was, but... that's not why I vanished. I was... hiding." "From what?" "I... I nearly ascended, Harp." "You nearly what?!" Harper screeched, and I covered their mouth with a wing. They moved my wing away, talking in a lower voice. "Sorry, but I can't help it! Mel, you nearly ascended?" "Yeah, and... and I ran." "What? Why?" "I... I'm not ready, Harp. I'm not worthy, no matter what the ascension magic clearly thinks." I said, shaking my head. "I guess that makes sense... of course you'd throw away the chance of a lifetime because you didn't think it was right for you." Harper muttered, and I nodded. "Yeah, but no one else needs to know, okay?" "Alright." Harper agreed, then glared at the door. "So then what do we do about Gleam?" "I have an idea. But it's something I need to do on my own." I said, leading the way out of the room. "I'll meet you back in the dorm, okay? And give Echo a few belly rubs while I'm gone, okay?" "Alright." Harper replied, smiling. I smiled back. "Thanks Harp." With that, I left. I headed out of the school, ignoring the stares, and headed towards the Friendship Castle. Instead of going inside, I veered to the right and ended up behind the castle. There, I saw a certain dark mulberry coated unicorn mare polishing some armor. I headed towards her, planting my hooves firmly on the ground as I locked eyes with her. "Teach me to fight." I said "What?" Tempest asked, blinking. "You heard me. I want to learn to fight." I said "I want to learn everything you know, so I can defend myself." "Defend yourself, huh?" she raised a brow. "Yeah." I flared my wings. "I want to be a great fighter, so I can protect myself. I'd rather I walk around unafraid of being attacked because I know to defend myself then scared and expecting to lose an oncoming fight." "Alright, I'll teach you to fight, Melody." Tempest agreed after a moment, then pointed a hoof at me. "But, you have to promise me that this is for self defense only. I'm not teaching you to start fights, I'm teaching you how to survive them. If I hear you started a fight on purpose to use this training, the lessons stop, deal?" Deep inside, I know why Tempest is telling me this. I don't want to lose control, or use fighting skills for negative reasons. But... what if I did want to...? No, Melody, stop thinking like that! "I understand, General." I said, saluting her with a wing. "Good. Now let's see if we can't get a few more creatures interested. We're gonna need some kind of cover so the Princess doesn't think I'm training you for war or something." Tempest said with a soft chuckle. I managed a smile back.