//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - Princess Wysteria // Story: Twilight Sparkle's Majesty // by Apple Bottoms //------------------------------// “Are all princesses required to have a dragon?”  Majesty wasn’t quite used to the little princess dropping in from nowhere; this time, she was waiting right behind her bedroom door, shortly before she retired for the night.  “Would you stop doing that!” Majesty snapped, her ears flattening out in annoyance. “Appearing out of some shadow!? I could have gored you!”  Princess Twilight Sparkle looked confused. “Gored?”  “Yes! With - please tell me you actually use your horns for something in the future?”  Twilight Sparkle looked horrified now. “You mean stabbed me with your horn? How barbaric! We aren’t cave ponies!”  “A princess could face danger at any time! She must use whatever tools she has on hoof!” Majesty insisted, and gave her horn a little swipe through the air to demonstrate. “Such as an assassin appearing in her darkened bedchamber!”  “I’m not an assassin! And if I appear before your court, they might ask who I am! And who would you introduce me as?”  “My third cousin, Gertrude.”  Twilight Sparkle stared.  “A little slow in the mind, perhaps; you’ll pay her no heed.” Majesty continued briskly, and crossed to her bed, beginning to brush her tail.  “I don’t think your third cousin would appreciate the comparison,” Twilight Sparkle replied at last, following Majesty to her bed. It was grand, elegant; it had four posts and a thick curtain, all in a brocaded pattern that looked hoof-stitched. It looked just like the illustrations that Rarity had in her historical fashion books.  “I don’t have a third cousin Gertrude, little princess. And I have no court, either. Hmf; ‘court.’” Majesty snorted a little to herself, brushing her tail smooth before she began braiding.  “But - then that would be a lie!”  “If my ‘court’ is those silly princesses and Spike, we are in trouble indeed,” Majesty hummed to herself, only half listening to Twilight Sparkle as she worked.  “Is a queen supposed to lie? Are your royal lessons - lie and gore?”  “I don’t believe that I ever agreed to teach you royal lessons, firstly,” Majesty replied sharply, her voice abruptly cool. “Secondly, I would like you to think of your sweetest, most innocent friend. Now describe to her the mindset that is required to take up magic against another living being.” Twilight Sparkle shifted uncomfortably. Majesty took her time finishing her braid before she fixed her gaze on her, her blue eyes fierce with intensity.  “Yes, I lie to them sometimes. I must. The alternative is too terrible; that every pony should know, that at any time I step out of these gates, that I may have to erase a being from this plane. I may turn them into bubbles, seven notes of music, or a copse of willows; but they are gone as surely as if I had killed them.”  “I didn’t think of it like that,” Twilight Sparkle said softly, her eyes on the floor.  Majesty considered her for a moment, then sighed, and patted her bed. “Come.”  Twilight Sparkle considered her, then took a seat on the foot of her bed.  “I am sorry to snap at you. In truth …” Majesty sighed. “In truth, I do not think that Posey is wrong. Entirely,” Majesty allowed, with great begrudging. “Ponies may tell silly lies; ponies may use their magic in ways that are not always kind. But most ponies will never carry the kind of burden that you and I do.”  Majesty looked Twilight Sparkle over, her braiding now forgotten. “Just as the plough horse tills the field, so are we burdened by our duties to the throne. But a plough may be abandoned at the end of a difficult harvest; it seems sometimes that there is no end to the enemies of Ponyland. Especially not if you continue to battle them even in your far distant time.” “That’s not true; in my time,” Twilight Sparkle responded hastily, sensing a shift in Majesty’s usually untouchable façade, “there are three other princesses; one was recalled from banishment, in fact. And I have a whole team of friends - the Elements of Harmony! We work together, so it’s never just on me! Or, not usually,” Twilight Sparkle trailed off, realizing belatedly when Majesty’s eyes widened that she had revealed too much of the future.  “The Elements of Harmony,” Majesty marveled, her voice soft.  “Forget I said that,” Twilight Sparkle interjected.  “It would be hard to; that sounds like big magic, indeed,” Majesty smiled, and rose from her bed. “Come. I wish to show you something. Something that may never find its way to the history books - but something that you ought to see.”  Twilight Sparkle followed closely behind Majesty as her horn glowed. She led her to a narrow doorway hidden behind a tapestry depicting a group of white unicorns, up a tight, winding staircase. In a room with tall, narrow windows (archer windows, Twilight Sparkle noted, narrow so that they could fire magic and arrows down on enemies below while offering cover to the unicorns inside), thin shafts of starlight criss crossed over a cold stone floor, illuminating items that all but seemed to hum with magic.  “The magic mirror,” Majesty explained, guiding Twilight Sparkle towards a large mirror that looked like anything but. She could see herself in it, sure; but the surface seemed to ripple, and her image was shifting, distorted. It was far more like looking into a lake surface at night than any mirror she’d ever known. She could almost see unknown dark shapes swirling just beneath its surface, and the longer she looked the more clear they seemed to become. “It can grant wishes; it can grant children.”  Twilight Sparkle darted backwards hastily.  Majesty laughed gently, and lowered a silvery drape to cover its surface. “I don’t blame you. I cannot pretend that I would be talented as a mother, either.”  Twilight Sparkle didn’t know what to say to that, and the glance she fixed on Majesty was caught between agreement and pity; Majesty disliked that glance very much, and so she turned her attention to a heavy chest, lifting the lid open with a grunt of effort. “The magic horseshoes. Very powerful; it is said that only the most powerful ponies can wield all four at once. I haven’t tried; perhaps I am afraid to find out that I’m not that powerful after all.”  Twilight Sparkle’s eyes were glued to the horseshoes; they hummed with a magic that felt strange, alien, yet familiar all at once. She didn’t hear anything else Majesty said until she snapped the lid shut, and she felt the noise of the room rushing back into her ears.  “... from the finest goldsmiths, who set up their forge in Flutter Valley. The plants that grow there have magical properties, as they are tended to by the flutter ponies, and so the wood they use to stoke their forge also gives the fire some magic, and thus the armor as well.” Majesty gave a shoulder plate a little buff with the back of her hoof. “I also quite like the way it shines, which might be vain of me. I can get lost in the hours up here, with my buffing cloth.  But - well, I didn’t bring you here to show off my shiny armor,” Majesty chuckled, and Twilight Sparkle realized that her cheeks were a little pinker now. “I suppose I wanted you to see that we have magic here, too. It is not the Elements of Harmony,”  Debatable, Twilight Sparkle thought with a quick glance to the locked chest.  “- but it is powerful enough for us. Even when I am gone, my successors will have these relics to help protect them. I am sure that it is that way in your time as well; even if you are not there, there will be others to take up the mantle, to wield the Elements.” Majesty looked at Twilight Sparkle a little askance. “Are they elements, in the sense of the natural elements? Wind, fire, water -”  “I shouldn’t have said anything,” Twilight Sparkle hastily cut her off, shaking her head. “I don’t want to mess up the timeline! If you told someone, and they changed their life path as a result -”  Majesty nodded, and lifted a begrudging hoof to stop her. “I understand. Well, it must not be that bad, yet; you have been here several times already. And you came back with a question for me tonight, didn’t you?”  Twilight Sparkle stared at her for a moment, blankly, then gasped. “Oh! I - I did! I was wondering about dragons, and their connections to princesses. Specifically, Equestrian princesses. Well - and Fench princesses,” Twilight Sparkle frowned. “Princess Silver Swirl had a baby dragon as well - she was green. The dragon, not the princess. And then today, I went to see another princess; it was a historical event called the Princess Promenade, in which Princess Wysteria declared that all ponies are princesses. It wasn’t a binding doctrine, of course, and it would be hotly debated in the courts of the later Princess Waterfire the Third -”  “Ahem.” “Right, right, getting ahead of myself. And yourself. Anyway, while I was sneaking my way through the celebrations, I caught sight of her companion; another baby dragon! Only this one seemed older, but he was also called Spike.” Twilight Sparkle fixed her concerned, intent gaze up at Majesty. “Is there some kind of connection? Are dragons named Spike just - drawn to Equestria? Or Ponyland? Or - ponykind?”  “I’m afraid I have no answer for you there,” Majesty sighed, and turned. But before she could leave the room, Twilight Sparkle interrupted her.  “Then can you tell me about the humans?”  Majesty froze. “I hoped you had forgotten about them,” Majesty admitted at great length, and turned to offer Twilight Sparkle a little smile.  “How could I? I’ve never heard of such a thing - as soon as I returned home from our first visit, I scoured every library I could find.” Twilight Sparkle was alight now in a way that Majesty had noted once or twice before; it seemed that Princess of Research would have been a more fitting title for the little purple unicorn. “There was no mention of them anywhere; even Princess Celestia had no knowledge of them, and she’s been alive for hundreds and hundreds of years!”  Majesty’s eyebrows shot up at that.  “Ugh, okay, pretend I didn’t say that. But - you are the only pony who has ever told me about them, and I want to know why! Was it forbidden knowledge? Were they monsters? Are we at risk, in the future, if they return?”  Majesty laughed a little and shook her her head; her sky-blue mane whispered across her broad, powerful neck and shoulders. “Not quite. Here - one more forbidden object. I am not the only one with something like this, but I am one of very few.”  Majesty turned her attention to another trunk, but this one was far smaller and dustier; when she opened it, she had to wipe away the cobwebs that had grown over it. She lifted the lid to reveal a small assortment of treasures - little bronze trophies, a blue ribbon, a piece of cloth, and - “Photographs!”  Majesty fixed Twilight Sparkle with an odd look. “How did you know what these are? That’s what Megan called them, too.”  “It - it doesn’t make sense that they are here!” Twilight Sparkle gasped, and slowly lifted the brittle, delicate paper into her hoof. “These are from my time. Or - er - somewhere nonspecific in the future, probably,” Twilight Sparkle ad libbed badly, making Majesty laugh.  “I think Molly would have liked you,” Majesty offered, and despite her laugh, something sad clung to her voice. “Here. The little one with the pigtails in her hair; that’s Molly. Then Cousin Danny, and Megan.”  Twilight Sparkle looked upon the faces of three creatures that she had never seen before in her life. In all of her travels, there was nothing like them. Their faces were flat, with no muzzle to speak of at all; one day, she would see Tirek and wonder where she had seen that flat profile before. They stood on two legs, like a pony reaching onto a counter, but their front legs ended in hands that more closely resembled those of the raccoons that Fluttershy adopted one fateful winter. Those little hands got into everything! The tallest was Megan, with hair as pale as Applejack’s; she wore it like hers, too, tied back behind her, with a jumper that might have been like Applejack’s work coveralls. Cousin Danny had far shorter hair, with a little cap; and Molly was clearly related to Megan, as she had the same Applejack-colored mane and bright blue eyes.  “What are they,” Twilight Sparkle began softly, dreading the answer, “and why did they come to Ponyland?”  “Megan came first; Firefly flew across a rainbow, searching for help after the Stratodons attacked our home and kidnapped our ponies,” Majesty explained gently, and lifted another photograph. Megan was alone this time, clutching a pink pegasus with blue hair. “After that, she was a friend for life. She would come across all of the time, and eventually Molly joined, and then Danny. They were all terribly brave; silly, at times. But they were just foals, they couldn’t be expected to be any better.  But if it’s one thing foals are good at,” Majesty sighed, “it’s growing up. One day, Megan came to see me privately; she told me that we had to sever the rainbow’s connection between our realms. She was moving away, after her journey to Coll’s Edge. She had grown up; Danny and Molly were growing up, too. She told me that she didn’t think that the other humans would understand us, if they came across the rainbow accidentally; she thought they might harm us.” Majesty paused for a beat, considering the photo. “She didn’t say so, but I wondered in the years afterward, if she wondered what we might do to them, too. Humans do not possess magic or horns. I don’t know if her closest friends ever forgave me for it. It was what she wanted; but it broke her heart to do it, I know. She wore that same mantle, but her duty was to her kind as much as to ours. Sundance - she was one of the closest to her. Shady, Wind Whistler, too. We have all gone on without her, but … well.” Majesty touched the photographs, then gently replaced them in the little chest. “Some memories are easier to lock away and not dwell upon.”  Majesty considered the chest for a moment, then rose to her hooves once more, guiding Twilight Sparkle back down the narrow stairwell. Twilight had to go slowly; the stairs were uneven, and worn down in places. (This was often intentional in castles, of course, to thwart invaders who wouldn’t be used to the uneven steps when they were charging up the stairs! It was clearly laid out in Equestrian History, From Cave Ponies To Present, one of her favorite fillyhood books.)  “When I arrived at Dream Castle, it was because a prophecy foretold that a white unicorn named Majesty would arrive here, and that the castle was to be her home. That is what Spike told me, anyway; dragons have excellent memories for prophecies and fortune telling.” Majesty led Twilight Sparkle back to her bed, and once Twilight was seated, Majesty took up her brush once more, and began brushing out Twilight’s tail for her. “He was terribly small to be living in such a huge castle all by himself; I couldn’t leave him alone. But I was pretty small myself, back then.” Majesty allowed herself a little chuckle, and tied off Twilight’s tail with a ribbon.  “The prophecy didn’t say anything about any other ponies, though, and so I offered anypony who wished to live here a chamber. Our numbers grew each year, until we had - well, I suppose you could call them the ‘court.’ But it’s nothing quite so formal,” Majesty explained at length as she began brushing her own mane out. “I had thought that a prophecy, well, that must be very large magic, indeed; but it seemed so brisk and simple that it was more like a herald. ‘Here ye; here be the home of Majesty, a white unicorn.’” Majesty chuckled, and paused in her braiding. “Perhaps if Spike was not such a small dragon, it would not have been such a small prophecy.”  “Well… my Spike has never given me prophecies,” Twilight Sparkle explained, and ran her hoof over the neat pattern of Majesty’s braiding in her navy-blue tail. “But he is something of a messenger. He brings me messages from Princess Celestia - my teacher.”  “Hm! Well, then there’s another similarity; our little scaled friends have given us important messages. That has to mean something, correct?” Majesty asked, and held her brush out. “Would you like to braid it, or would you like my help?”  “Oh - it might not be nighttime when I go home again.”  Majesty simply fixed her with an expectant look.  “I would like your help, please,” Twilight Sparkle responded softly, and turned as directed, so that Majesty could begin brushing her mane. For such a large unicorn, who regularly opined on magical violence and goring, her touch was very gentle. “Thank you.”  “You are welcome,” Majesty returned, and brushed for a moment in silence. “You are a strange pony, Princess Twilight Sparkle. But you are the kind of strange that makes me wish you lived in my time; I find your presence most comforting. We are of a similar ken.”  Twilight Sparkle chuckled, doing her best to hold still. “In my era, we would probably say that we should be friends.”  Majesty chuckled in reply as she guided a piece of Twilight Sparkle’s mane behind her ear. “I think that is a fine idea, little princess.”  The pair sat in silence for a long time while Majesty finished her braid; once she’d tied it off with a piece of yellow ribbon, Twilight Sparkle rose from her bed, and looked at her with eyes that carried a burden far heavier than most ponies. Heavier than any pony ever ought to, Majesty thought to herself; but then, who was she to decide? She was just a pony whose name appeared in a prophecy carried by a baby dragon. “I might not come back, after this,” Twilight Sparkle said, and her voice was thicker. She was so young!, Majesty mused. So young, to be crying over someone she’d only just met. She envied her for it. “It might not be safe. But - someday, I will try. So - this isn’t goodbye, okay? Just ‘see you later.’”  Majesty offered Twilight Sparkle a smile, and rose to her hooves, so that she could brush her horn against Twilight Sparkle’s; where the pair met, they glowed gently. “Very well, little princess. I hope I shall see you later. But if I do not, know that I will guard your secret to my grave. I hope your future is a bright one, and that you have learned what you needed from your time here.”  “I… I think so. You’ve taught me a lot, Majesty. Thank you.” Twilight Sparkle drew back, and considered Majesty for a beat longer. “Do you think that the humans are something I should warn my kingdom of?”  Majesty considered her for a moment, then shook her head, smiling at some long-gone memory. “I think the greatest danger that comes from humans,” Majesty explained, “is when they leave and take their love with them. I would almost prefer if they had come with weapons; that, at least, I would know how to fight.”  Twilight Sparkle stared at Majesty in the starlit darkness for a long moment. “I’m sorry, Queen Majesty.”  “It is alright, little princess; I am a ruler lost in memories of long-gone days. You are still in the spring of your kingdom; you ought to enjoy it.”  “You don’t seem very old to me,” Twilight Sparkle muttered as she pulled out her scroll, preparing to return to her own time.  Majesty laughed and shook her head, letting her braided mane brush against her neck. “Shouldn’t you think of something more meaningful to say on what might be our last farewell? You seem quite concerned with historical meaning!”  “Oh!” Twilight Sparkle looked alarmed, and tried to think of something even as her body began fading from sight. “You - I - in time untangled, were that I would - dragon farts!” And she was gone.  Majesty laughed so loudly that she woke up Glory, who came galloping into her room still in her nightcap.