//------------------------------// // Old Symbolism // Story: The Bug in The Mirror // by Skijarama //------------------------------// Three Years Later. “Hey, Minnie.” Minuette blinked and turned to face the greeting as she stepped into her first period classroom. She wasn’t used to being greeted on entry like this, as usually her friends either showed up after she did, or were too busy with their pre-class preparations to notice her until she sat down beside them. She swept her eyes across the assembled ponies in the room. Many of them were familiar, while yet many more were strangers. She had seen their faces before, of course, but she hadn’t been able to pin a name to many of them for the last couple of years. She had settled nicely into her own little group, and so there had been no need. Eventually, her gaze landed on the spot by her desk. Lemon Hearts was waving back at her with a shy smile on her face. The rest of their circle of friends was already seated as well, leaving Minuette’s desk unclaimed in the dead center of the group. The only ones not presently seated with them were Twilight and Moondancer, who could usually be found on the other side of the room. “Sorry, girls, but you all can get pretty noisy during class,” had been Twilight’s explanation when asked why she sat so far away. “I’m happy to spend some time with you outside of school, but when in class I want to concentrate, and you’re all very distracting.” An understandable enough reason. Minuette was pretty distracting, if she did say so herself. Nevertheless, with a friendly grin, Minuette bounced over and quickly slid into her seat. “Hey, guys!” she greeted energetically. “How ya doing? You’re not usually here before me!” “Blame Lyra,” Twinkle Shine said with a roll of her eyes. “She was busy practicing the lyre for some big music test she has today, and it was driving me nuts. Figured it’d be better to come here and wait for the other loud and obnoxious one.” “Oh come on,” First Aid weakly chastised, lightly swatting Twinkle Shine on the shoulder. “She plays good music and you know it. And Minnie isn’t obnoxious.” “Nope, just loud,” Minuette chirped freely in response with an acknowledging grin. It felt good to be recognized! Twinkle rolled her eyes and reclined back in her seat. “Uh, huh, whatevs. Hey, any of you happen to know what the teach has planned for us today?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “No idea,” First Aid said, her brow furrowing in thought. “But if Princess Celestia is going to be coming in to help us get started, it must be pretty big…” Minuette’s eyes widened. Oh, shoot. For a minute there she had completely forgotten! It had been quite a big deal with the class, she remembered, with plenty of the ponies cheering in their own quiet ways at the news that their old teacher was due to come and see them again. It had been two years since any of them had Celestia teaching their classes. Though the ruler of Equestria still taught just as much as she used to, her focus was, as always, on the younger fillies and colts who attended her school. Once ponies got past their first year, she tended to let the professors handle the bulk of the student body. Minuette’s eyes turned to look at the desk at the far end of the room. She could see the professor seated there, an elderly unicorn stallion with dull gray fur and a silvery, swept-back mane and tail. His old, partially sunken eyes were reading over one of many sheets of paper at his desk. Probably last-minute grading of previous projects. The old guy was really sweet and all, but sometimes he could be a bit slow on the uptake, or late to the draw. There were several minutes of relative quiet. The only sounds were the hushed chatter of ponies as they waited for the final bell to go to signify the start of class. Finally, the signature ringing filled the room, and everypony fell quiet. At the same time, the door in the back of the classroom swung open. All eyes turned to it, and a few audible gasps passed through the room as Princess Celestia strode in with a warm smile. Immediately, Minuette was struck by a wave of nostalgia as she remembered the first time the alicorn had stepped into her old first period class. It had only been three years, but it felt like an eternity. Celestia smiled and nodded down at the professor. He merely smiled, adjusted his old glasses, and went back to the paper before him, silently surrendering the floor to the princess. Celestia looked out over the room of ponies and cleared her throat. “Good morning, my little ponies. It is good to see you all again.” “Good morning, Princess Celestia!” Came the chorus of answers, not one pony skimping out on it.  Celestia positively glowed from the happy response, as if invigorated by her students’ fondness for her. She didn’t dwell on it for long, though, and instead launched right into the matter at hoof. “Now, then, as you may all remember, yesterday, your professor, Mister Dustmite, announced that there would be a large and important project coming up for all of you starting today and that I would be present to give you all a guiding hoof in finding inspiration for what you want to cover. “So, as this is an Equestrian history class,” she went on, stepping around the desk to be nearer the center of the room. “Your project will be to find an event or series of events in Equestria’s long and storied history, and then cover it in a written report with as much factual information as you can gather.” A hoof shot up from the other end of the room. “So, what are we supposed to cover? Equestria’s history isn’t exactly short.” Celestia nodded at the colt in question. “A good question. That is why I am here. I am not here to make the decision for you, but to provide a range of possible starting points for all of you to use as a base-line. To that end, I would like to invite all of you to follow me. Leave your supplies here, we will be coming back, and I’ll be sure each of you has a note explaining why you were late in the event this little venture takes longer than I hope.” Minuette leaned forward with a curious glint in her eye. “We’re heading out? Where are we going?!” Celestia turned to Minuette, her smile growing. “To the Canterlot sculpture gardens. We shall walk among preservations of Equestria’s past, chiseled in stone, and from them, you will find your inspiration for what is to come.” Following that, there had been a flurry of movement and activity as everypony got up and procured whatever minimal supplies they might need. Namely an assortment of writing supplies to take notes on potential topics of interest. Once Celestia had been satisfied that the class had everything, they made their way out of the class. Their path soon took them out of the school, and even off of campus grounds. Although, given the school’s adjacent position to the castle, they weren’t out in the open for long. Soon enough, Celestia led the students through one of the castle’s many well-guarded gates and through lush, masterfully maintenance courtyards. Minuette’s eyes darted from one thing to the next, drinking it all in with childish delight. Ornate and beautifully trimmed hedges made to resemble ponies, creatures, and other such things were often lining the edges of the courtyards, while immaculate flower patches resided just in front of them, almost like each hedge was a castle, and the flowers the moat that warded off any would-be siege attempts. Soon enough, they passed through a stone archway and passed into the sculpture garden itself. Minuette’s eyes widened when they first entered, blown away by the sheer artistic mastery on display. Every single statue was perfect in every way her mind could think of. Perfectly proportioned, perfectly exaggerated where appropriate, perfectly shaped and perfectly maintained. The only one in class who did not seem to share her enthusiastic awe for the works of art was Twilight. No surprise there, to be sure. As Celestia’s personal student, Twilight often spent her time after school receiving private lessons from the princess herself. She all but lived within the castle’s grounds, and so she had seen all of these things before. Although, judging by the thoughtful look on her face, it had not been for any purpose such as this, before. The warm rays of sunlight streaming down from the sky above helped ease any boredom Minuette might have felt as she followed the rest of her class. Her eyes drifted curiously from one ornate sculpture to the next, taking in their subtleties. One ear was swiveled toward Princess Celestia as she began to rattle off the meanings of many of the sculptures to the class behind her, while the other ear absently listened to the chatter of her friends. Twilight and Moondancer whispered excitedly amongst themselves about each statue they passed, and Minuette could only imagine how in-depth the miniature geniuses were going. Lemon Hearts and First Aid, while both interested, were somewhat less enthusiastic. Finally, Twinkle Shine was just kind of indifferent. Minuette could only assume that she didn’t find much value for advancing her magical skills in a place filled with ‘fancy rocks.’ As for Minuette, she did her best to pay attention to the princess’s lecture, in spite of the relatively boring subject matter. History was something she had never been particularly keen on, but right now, she had to be. Up ahead, Princess Celestia came to a stop, smiling up at a statue of several ponies stacked haphazardly on top of one another with enormous cheery grins on their faces. “Ah, yes. This statue here was sculpted by none other than master artisan Monolith. It was made approximately three hundred years ago as an homage to a collection of fillies who managed to bring peace to the town of Sire’s Hollow.” Moondancer’s hoof shot up. Celestia smiled and nodded at the yellow-colored teenager, prompting her to ask her question. Moondancer adjusted her thick-rimmed glasses and spoke up, although her voice was noticeably quiet. “Um, how did they bring peace to the town? And why did they need to? What was wrong?” Celestia’s smile grew. “A good question, Moondancer. In truth, the town’s inhabitants had been at odds with one another for quite some time, unfortunately. There were some conflicting views about how the town should be managed moving forward, and tensions began to swell. Eventually, it began to escalate to actual fighting in the streets, and a letter was sent by the mayor, requesting my direct intervention. I sent the captain of my guard to try and help cool things down, but by the time they arrived, these little fillies had already done the work for him. As for the how, they were the offspring of the ponies who were arguing. Yet in spite of the enemies their parents made of one another, the foals became good friends and were able to convince their families to find a peaceful way forward. As such, the statue before you has come to represent friendship itself.” As Celestia finished speaking those three words, her eyes shifted to look not at Moondancer, but at Twilight. Confused, Minuette followed the alicorn’s gaze and saw that Twilight had turned her attention away from the statue of friendship and was now focusing on a statue of Starswirl the Bearded. Go figure. Minuette couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Twilight was, without question, the most magically interested member of the group. Even Twinkle Shine didn’t even come close. Twilight read books on the subject so often it sometimes made her come off as uninterested in her friends. She did interact with them on occasion, but more often than not she had to be pulled into their shared activities, usually by Minuette or First Aid. Her only intellectual peer was Moondancer. In fact, it often seemed that Moondancer was competing with Twilight over who knew more. It just never seemed that Twilight bothered competing back. Not like it mattered. She won basically every time anyway, often dispelling Moondancer’s own statements with the cold, clinical precision of a surgeon removing a tumor from a sensitive piece of flesh. Oh, great. Now Minuette was thinking about surgery. Gross. Celestia cleared her throat. “Twilight, did you get all of that?” she asked. Twilight nodded. “Yes, I did. I was just wondering more about this statue,” she said, pointing at the Starswirl statue. “I take it this one was done to commemorate another one of his feats of magic?” Celestia eyed the statue, her muzzle contorting with a solemn frown. “Alas, not that one, I am afraid. That statue was instead sculpted in his honor after he and several heroes from early Equestrian history ventured out to face a great evil. Though it is widely believed they succeeded, they never returned. As such, that statue was made in memorial to my late mentor.” Twinkle Shine’s eyes lit up, and she leaned forward slightly. “A great evil?! Oh, what was it?” she asked eagerly. “Please tell me it was big and snarly! Like a shadow wolf, or an Ursa Major!” Celestia shook her head. “Unfortunately, I do not know. Though he was my teacher, he did not inform me as to what he set out to do. All I know for certain is that it weighed heavily upon his soul, and he commanded that I remain behind to watch over…” Celestia stopped, a solemn, far off look in her eyes. Minuette blinked. She knew that look. She had seen it in Fangs’ eyes many times over the years she had known him. Whenever they talked about his past, or whenever he tried to remember anything from before the mirror, he got it. It was a look of regret, and of longing. Celestia shook her head, and when she opened her eyes again, the motherly warmth she was known for had returned. “He wanted me to look after his affairs in his absence. And so I did. Now, let us move on, shall we?” Without waiting for a response, Celestia turned and began to make her way deeper into the garden. Minuette stared after her, her muzzle scrunching up with a frown. She glanced sideways at First Aid before leaning over to whisper to her. “Is it just me, or did the princess leave something out there?” First Aid leaned back to whisper in response. “I noticed it, too. She didn’t look too happy…” “Tell me about it,” Minuette said, her brow furrowing. “I’ve only ever seen Fangs get a look like that in his eyes before. Of course, he’s about as old as Celestia, I think, so…” “Uh-huh,” Twinkle rolled her eyes and elbowed Minuette in the ribs a few times before picking up the pace a little. Minuette stared after her with a quiet huff of irritation. She had made no secret of Fangs’ existence to these ponies, though by his request she only referred to him as if he were imaginary. It was frustrating, sometimes, to keep herself from trying to convince them he was actually real. But he had been insistent that trying to prove he was real to others would only invite more trouble than either of them truly wanted. The group of teenagers soon stepped from one garden to the next, stopping periodically so Celestia could answer more questions. Finally, after almost half an hour, they reached the end of their tour and came to the last section of the gardens. There were yet more statues scattered about, yet one, in particular, stood out. It stood in the very center of the garden, and it gave Minuette pause. It depicted the oddest creature she had ever seen.  Its body was long and snake-like, complete with a snake tail that had a feather plume at the end. It stood on two short, stubby legs, one a pony leg and the other a dragon leg. From its back emerged a pair of mismatched wings, one feathered and the other leathery. Its arms were similarly mismatched, with a lion’s arm and an eagle’s talon respectively. Finally, its elongated head resembled that of a pony with a deer antler and goat horn sticking out the back. From the chin came a tuft of a beard. The statue had its head thrown back, one arm up high in the air and the other held over its chest as if it were in the middle of an uproarious guffaw of laughter. Minuette cringed at the sight, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Whoever had made this statue had done a magnificent job. It was so… lifelike. Celestia looked up at the statue for a moment before turning to the class and smiling. “This is the last statue I want to show you all today,” she said before turning to gesture up at it. “This statue represents discord - a lack of harmony between ponies. And what better depiction of this than a draconequus, a being of pure chaos?” Lemon Hearts’ hoof flew up. “What’s a draconequus? I’ve never heard of one before,” she asked curiously. Celestia smiled warmly. “I would not expect you to. There have only ever been one or two known to exist in all of history. They are beings of pure magic who are tied to an abstract concept or force. Think of them as the physical manifestations of what they represent. This one, for instance, was once the physical manifestation of chaos.” “Why was this statue made?” Minuette asked, eyeing the statue’s face with an uneasy grimace. Celestia turned back to it with a frown. She was silent for a moment before she spoke, her voice going somewhat distant again. “It was sculpted by my request to commemorate the defeat of one of Equestria’s most vile enemies, and my subsequent ascension to the Equestrian throne soon after.” “So this ‘chaos’ guy was around before you were the princess?!” Twilight exclaimed in surprise, her eyes going wide. “That’s amazing! What was he like?” Celestia’s frown deepened. “...In a word, Twilight, he was a monster. One of the worst I have ever seen...” A silence fell over the crowd of students. A few uneasy glances were exchanged, and Minuette couldn’t help but tilt her head. She hadn’t really thought about it much before, but it made sense that Celestia probably had some memories she didn’t want to dig up, or that would be unpleasant to revisit. It was just so rare to see her mask of warmth and affection break that it was easy to forget just how long the princess had lived, and how many evils she had faced and vanquished in that time. A long life comes with heavy weight, after all. Celestia suddenly shook her head and turned back to the crowd with a small, apologetic smile. “Ah, forgive me, my little ponies. I got lost in my mind for a moment,” she confessed before turning down the path. “Come, there is yet more for us to see before we return to the classroom.” With that, she set off again, and the class fell into stride behind her. It didn’t take long before the momentary drop in the mood was dispelled, with ponies once again chatting curiously amongst themselves and asking questions of whatever caught their interest. All the while, though, Minuette kept her eyes locked onto Celestia’s back, wondering just what the princess had gone through in her long life. “Well, if nothing else,” she eventually thought with a small smile. “I know who I can ask…” With that thought ringing loudly in her mind, Minuette refocused on the princess’s words rather than her past, listening intently as she rattled off the meaning and vague history of statue after statue.