Letters From a Little Princess Monster
Tripartite - Part Forteen
“Time out!” called Trixie, holding her forehooves up. She glanced upward at the Windigo perched on various dark clouds and remnants of the broken weather shield around the edge of the Crystal Empire. They did not seem to be in any hurry to sweep down over the city and freeze everypony, so she turned her attention back to the world-threatening crisis of the moment.
Discord cocked his head to one side. “Why?”
“Because not everypony here knows who everypony here is,” continued Trixie with a broad wave that encompassed all the confused crystal ponies in the vicinity.
“And the song was in the last chapter,” said Pinkie Pie.
“Yes, and the song was—”
Trixie gave a brief scowl at Pinkie, but could not hold it because the party pony was scribbling away on nametags. “Anyway, welcome to the Crystal Empire, Discord. Since we have some time before Twilight Sparkle gets here—” Trixe glanced at the tower in the distance and the cascade of small ponies galloping down the circular ramp “—we might as well introduce everypony.”
“Stall away,” said Discord with a wave of one paw. It was the only uncovered portion of his mismatched body, including colorful socks on each of his antlers and a pair of red pants large enough to contain several draconequusi. Draconequues. Whatever the plural of disaster was. “You’re not the reason I’m here, anyway.”
“First,” started Trixie with only minor teeth-gritting, “we have Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and her husband, Shining Armor.”
“Charmed.” There was a blur of motion and Discord was lifting the big-winged foal off Cadence’s back, which the baby loved if her giggles were any indication. “My, I thought you would be older. And larger.”
Shining Armor, quite wisely, said nothing.
“We still haven’t settled on an exact name,” said Cadence, who appeared completely unphased by having the ancient ponyification of chaos playing with her baby. “We’re accepting suggestions, though.”
The baby gave out a delighted cry and nuzzled up to the chaos god while Trixie continued, “And that’s Shining Armor over there, as well as my friends, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony—” she hesitated a moment at the unexpected warmth that welled up inside her “—who Pinkie is making name tags for so we’ll get back to them in a moment. You there,” she said, pointing out into the crowd. “The one with the giant mustache. Mustaches. What’s your name?”
“Name?” The glittering yellow pony looked back and forth among his fellow Crystal Ponies. “I have a name?”
“Mustache,” continued Trixie. “I’d like you to meet Discord, who has no titles because he is chaos.” She could catch the way Discord had just begun to speak in what was probably a correction for whatever title he expected Trixie to use, and it gave her a little spark of hope inside to see the powerful chaotic entity caught off-guard enough to let her continue stalling.
“And you, ma’am. With the sparkling mane—”
* * *
Running with her friends was so much different than running from her friends or to them. They all ran in a different fashion, from Scootaloo’s long wing-boosted gliding leaps that totally failed when they went around corners, to Twist’s head-down, gradual increase in speed that only ended when she ran into something or somepony.
But they ran together.
And with a new friend, who seemed to glide forward in sweeping bounds that only reinforced Monster’s guess at his real nature.
“Who is the funny-looking creature with your friends?” asked Conch.
“Discord.” Monster took a few more steps before adding, “He’s strong. And weird. But not a monster. Doesn’t know why others fear him. Starlight was a friend. Kindof.”
The group made the turn at the bottom of the ramp with only a few tumbles, then turned to gallop through the snow in the direction of the sparkling crystal castle.
“Not enemy,” said Monster. “Be nice.”
“What about all thoth?” asked Twist, squinting upwards through fogged-over glasses.
The wispy shapes of Windigo were painfully obvious across the upper reaches of the shattered sphere that held back winter from the glittering city. They stood together in groups, gathered all around the outer periphery of the destruction and on the various taller buildings, and Monster intentionally tried her best not to estimate how many there were by counting the ones in a narrow arc and multiplying by…
“Three thousand, four hundred and twelve,” said Monster in a rush. “Not attacking. Watching. Trixie will know.”
“Are they bad guys?” asked Featherweight, who was trying to fly and aim his camera upwards, which meant he kept falling behind.
“No,” said Monster. “Not sure what, but not bad. Like Discord.”
She wanted to send her friends away while she confessed her failure to Discord’s tests, but she could not. She was nothing without them, nothing but a terrible monster who destroyed everything she touched. She destroyed Sombra, she destroyed the griffon Windigo, and it was entirely possible her father had destroyed Starlight Glimmer on her request.
Monster.
The depressing cloud pressed down on her all the while they galloped, blurring her view of the sparkling city around her. She was a dark shadow in a world of light, still black as coal from her absorption and reflection of Sombra’s magic and with her mane floating around totally uncontrolled in a way that made Sweetie run with her head turned nearly sideways to watch.
Discord was chaos. She was chaos. Maybe instead of making him her friend, she could beg to go with him wherever chaos was being… chaosed.
“Olé!” A red cloak swooshed up from in front of Monster’s nose as she galloped past, only for her to be caught by Trixie before she could run into the castle wall. Discord remained where he had been standing, dressed in a stylish red cap and gold-spangled outfit while swishing his cape around as if to encourage Monster into another charge.
“Twilight!” Trixie caught her cheeks between cold wet hooves and looked into her eyes. “At least those are the same. The rest of you looks like the time your friends tried to clean the library chimney. Will it wash out?”
“I’ve got some shampoo,” volunteered Rarity before Monster broke out in tears.
“I failed the test!” she howled as all of the stress bubbled to the surface and washed over her resistance like the tide crushing a sand castle. “I’m sorry, Mister Discord. I failed all your tests!”
Her confession seemed to startle the mismatched creature. He pulled a thick book marked ‘Script’ from nowhere in particular, leafed through several pages, then tossed it over his shoulder where it exploded in glittering butterflies.
“Failed?” he asked.
“I’m supposed to be the Princess of Friendship,” she moaned. “Nothing left of Sombra to save. Couldn’t save the Windigo prince. Couldn’t face Starlight Glimmer so I sent—”
Trixie’s rapid hoof pressed against Monster’s lips and she moved to place her body in front of Discord. “Never give away your secrets for free, kid. And you didn’t fail. Greenie says you waxed the Windigo at the griffon aerie as good as Clover the Clever, and I just watched you turn Sombra into sparkles.”
Monster could not come up with any words although she tried to say something in protest, but Trixie kept her hoof firmly in place and started snapping vicious words of her own at Discord.
“You’re no player. You’re a carnie, rigging the game and claiming it’s fair by dropping three impossible tasks on just a child. How do you expect Twilight to be any kind of friend if you act like this?”
“I don’t expect her to be my friend!” snapped Discord.
“The other Twilight made friends with you,” blubbered Monster from behind Trixie’s hoof, unable to see anything through the tears that poured down her face. “Starlight showed me.”
“All of the other Twilights in all the other places made friends with their Discords,” growled Discord. “No, I had to wait for Loony Luna to get out of her prison, and I missed Sunset Shimmer. Now that was a promising student of the Grimcess, all filled with ambition and power, quite unlike Tricky here, but I waited so I got stuck with both of you. I’m the last Discord of the whole bunch, and I’m far better-looking and more chaotic. I deserve better. There’s no trick I haven’t seen before, no clever ploy you can pull to twist my head around. I’m onto you, Twilight Sparkle, and your little friends too.”
“Then why did you save us?” said a familiar-sounding voice that Monster took a moment to realize came from her tutor. “Stargazer would have died without your help.”
“Died?” managed Monster through her tears.
“One pony!” declared Discord in a huff. “Well, two. Or three, if you count that little feathered puffball your wife produced a few minutes ago. Disgusting creatures, children. All covered in goo and screeching. Yes, yes. I interfered one time, and don’t thank me. It was more humorous to see you kick the stuffing out of that frosty bird later.”
“Y-you helped Fizzy, too,” blubbered Monster. “Y-y-you stopped time and talked with her because I couldn’t do anything and she was going to get killed and—”
Something the size of a bedsheet enveloped Monster’s head, focused mostly on her nose but with a soft absorbency that soaked up her tears and snot bubbles effortlessly. It worked around her face until every drop had been soaked up, then moved to her nose so she could see Discord holding the huge polka-dotted kerchief.
“Blow,” he said, and she did, watching the enormous kerchief expand until it was a huge balloon that floated up into the sky and was lost to sight among the watching Windigo.
“You must lose more kerchiefs that way,” said Featherweight while taking another photo.
“I lose—” Discord gave the little pegasus a flat glance before turning back to Monster. “None of the other Twilight Sparkles cried. Of course, they were older.”
“Maybe you should have thought about that before attacking a child!” snapped Trixie, moving to put herself in front of Monster. “You put her through this! You tortured a harmless child who has already gone through so much. She deserves time to recover, to heal.”
“She’s our friend!” declared Sweetie Belle, peeking out from Trixie’s side. “And you made her cry!”
“She’s my friend too,” declared an ice-covered young griffon who fluttered down to join their group.
“AND MINE!” said Conch in a near-feral growl.
“Yeah!” declared Scootaloo, who looked around Trixie’s other side, but did not seem to be able to come up with any more words. So Trixe provided them.
“You’re supposed to be a great and powerful creature of history,” Trixie snapped. “Limitless chaos at your claws, and your first action on getting freed from your stone prison is to torture a child! That is the action of a tiny and petty coward!”
“I am not tiny!” bellowed Discord, raising up to twice his original height. “I decided to challenge Twilight Sparkle when I escaped my unjust imprisonment. It was completely fair, as much as I hate that word. Isn’t that right, Twilight?”
Monster was still crying too much to respond, mopping her face with a tissue that Twist had provided. She wanted to say something, but her mind was filled with chaotic images of the magic she had absorbed, the resounding echoes of Sombra’s cruel actions and endless flashes of cringing crystal ponies. He had been a real monster, using his power to gloat over helpless ponies and griffons. Beside him, she was an insignificant child. He had delighted over his cruelty, lashing out not from fear or anger, but just to cripple and destroy from his limitless hatred. She did not deserve to have friends.
But she had them anyway.
“Mithter Dithcord,” said Twist, still mopping away Monster’s tears. “Can you jutht monologue to your minionth for a bit while Monthter pullth herthelf together?”
“Monologue?” Discord grew even taller, and began to grow red from his mismatched feet upward.
Twist nodded vigorously. “All the good villianth have a big monologue before fighting the hero. It’th in all the comic bookth.”
“I AM NOT A COMIC BOOK VILLAIN!” bellowed Discord. He stretched up even taller, knocking several Windigo aside from where they had perched on nearby buildings. “These are not my minions! They should fear my return as much as any creature! I have plans for my release. The world will tremble.”
“Nothing can stop you now,” whispered Featherweight.
“And nothing can stop—” Discord paused, then shrank back down to his original size and appeared next to Featherweight, who was hiding behind Pinkie Pie. “You. You’re annoying.”
“Thank you,” said Pinkie Pie and Featherweight together, then shared a giggle.
“Don’t hurt them,” blurted out Monster. She lunged forward, away from Twist’s cautious mopping of her tears and threw herself down in front of Discord. “They’re friends. Take me. Teach me chaos and stuff. Like you. Just don’t hurt them.”
“Teach.” Discord blinked several times, appearing in a green-accented robe with a pointed hat and a large flashing badge that said ‘SPEW.’ “You want me to be a… I can’t say the word.” A chalkboard appeared behind him with the word ‘TECHER’ in huge glowing letters.
Monster nodded vigorously as her words burst out in an endless stream of panic. “I can’t do magic good, and I can’t make friends like I should so you can show me how to do chaos—”
The feeling of Discord’s warm paw across her mouth did not stop her words, but they did keep them from coming out. Her body swelled with the unspoken words until she thought she was going to explode, then the world turned upside-down and she found herself on the end of a string.
It made her furious, which cut through her misery like razorvine and filled her soul with song. It was a mistake to treat Discord like anypony else. He was powerful and mean, not misunderstood, but she could not blame him completely. He had saved Fizzy’s life by interfering, and apparently her tutor too. All she was doing by crying was losing, and when she lost, Discord would go out into the world to ‘amuse’ himself. Other ponies… that is other creatures would be frightened out of their wits. She had no other choice but to step up and take control, letting her friends help like they had before, and somehow, eventually, no matter how improbable, let Discord see how he could be her friend instead of an enemy to fight.
Never fight strength with strength…
She had to fight him first, but not with her old magic, or even with the new magic that she could barely control.
Twilight Sparkle had to fight Discord with her mind.
She let her magic surround her like the love of her friends, bursting Discord’s spell and landing on the snow in an awkward three-legged stance with one knee bent like heroes in the comic books. It took all of her effort to focus, bringing all the attention to herself so that Trixie could work one of her miracles in the background.
“STOP!”
It was a command pushed by her magic that picked up all the snow in her vicinity and spread it around, leaving Monster on a steaming patch of crystal pavement and with the full attention of every creature within eyesight. She continued quickly as Trixie had taught, ‘winging it’ and pushing to keep her opponent off-balance, taking short steps forward as she snapped her words with all the drama she could.
“Discord! Why me? Starlight said you were a friend. You said the other Twilight Sparkles made friends with you.”
“All of them,” spat Discord. He produced a sheaf of purple paper and scissors, making a series of snips while he continued. “Every other Discord is so proud of themselves. They get to match wits with their Twilight Sparkle every day, and who do I get? A mind-damaged child.”
“A child who beat you,” said Trixie in a very level tone that Monster had not heard before. She stepped forward until she was standing at Monster’s side. “A friend who saved my life, and far more. If you make her your friend, you will never regret it, but if you threaten her friends…”
“Oh, please.” Discord drew his crooked body up until he was nearly straight and looked at them both. “What could she possibly do to me?”
“The Elements of Harmony turned you to stone before,” said Trixie with a flourish of one hoof that pointed to Monster’s friends. It made her heart swell with pride the way each of them straightened up, adjusted their forged Elements of Harmony necklaces, and looked to her for leadership.
Monsters did not lead. Twilight Sparkle did, and she could tell each of her friends were behind her, ready to support her even in the face of overwhelming chaos. Even Trixie, who had continued her confrontation without any apparent hesitation.
“These children freed Princess Luna. I’ll bet they can turn you right back into a statue.”
Both of Discord’s mismatched eyebrows shot up, leaving little trails of smoke until they were lost from sight. “Do you think you are smart enough to match wits with me?”
“Match, beat, and more.” Trixie jerked her chin up so she could look down her nose at Discord. “It’s no wonder all the other Discords learned to appreciate their Twilight Sparkles. This child taught me more than Princess Celestia, and if you could just wait until she is older, she can teach you.”
“I have chaos to stir all across the world,” declared Discord. “So if you are done insulting me—”
“Chicken,” said Scootaloo in nearly the exact way that Diamond Tiara used to tease her friend.
“Naa,” scoffed Apple Bloom. “He’s more of a goose, I think.”
“Or a turkey,” said Featherweight.
“I don’t think that’s very nice,” started Fluttershy, only for Twist to whisper something in her ear.
Monster could recognize their actions because the Power Ponies had done the same thing in Issue #37, The Curse of the Phony Pharaoh Phetlock where they teased the bad guy into standing in front of his sarcophagus before shooting him with the Goober Ray. Only they didn’t have a fancy gadget that fired exploding peanuts, they had…
The Elements of Harmony
It was not a very organized plan, but they were facing chaos itself, so it fit. They did not have the actual Elements of Harmony, but they had a Trixie, and that was better. She was smart, so whatever she had planned must be awesome.
“It won’t work,” said Monster, who had read the comic six times before realizing just how the Power Ponies had lied in order to get everything set up. “Discord is too fast for us.”
“Of course I am.” Discord stopped and posed in a sparkling spotlight that came out of nowhere, opening up the papers he had been snipping away on to reveal a long string of paper unicorns, with an inky black one at the end. “Smarter, too. You think you’re going to use these toys on me?” He reached out with a claw and tapped it against her tiara, the false Element of Magic that Conch had chiseled out of a loose piece of crystal.
“Of course.” Trixie buffed a hoof against her chest. “If you think they won’t work, all you have to do to prove us wrong is stand there and hold still. If you move, that means you really are afraid.”
“Ha!” In a flash of light, Discord appeared on a square pedestal with a blindfold. He lit a stubby cigarette like Monster had seen criminals smoke in the Daring Doo comics, but she plucked it from his claws before he could take a puff.
“You’re a rolling model,” she scolded while she took his blindfold off also. As Discord blinked several times, the rest of her friends gathered behind her, providing a warm sense of confidence that she had been afraid was gone forever. Beside each little pony stood a larger adult, and Trixie leaned ever so slightly into her darkened hide.
“You may fire when ready, Gridly,” announced Discord, holding his paw across his chest. “Provided you’re not full of hot air.”
All of the fear and doubt that had filled Monster up to her ears and flooded eyes was gone. Surrounded by her friends, old and new, the magic rushed through her, through them, building to overwhelming in the blink of an eye and bursting across Discord in a smear of rainbow light.
She thought he was going to dodge at the last second, but Discord held absolutely still, and she could have sworn he winked at her right before the light faded away and all that was left was a statue.
* * *
Trixie had only one regret. This was her last and greatest performance, an unpracticed routine spun out for a bunch of amnesiac crystal ponies and looming windigo, with the very ponificiation of Chaos as her foil.
And Celestia missed it.
In the unlikely event of Trixie’s survival, Featherwight’s pictures would provide a poor form of visual props when she told the stunning tale to Her Pregnant Highness. Highnesses. Then again, a certain number of her missteps and flubs could be swept under the table during the telling, so the current situation was a mixed bag of lemons.
This was a prime performance, if Trixie dared admit it to herself during the act. She spun defiance, gestured and verbally berated, with more misinformation per minute than she had ever tried before. Twilight would come through in the end, so all Trixie had to do was stall.
And ignore the windigo, who seemed to be holding back for some reason that she was really going to look into as soon as the primal force of chaos was dealt with however that was going to happen because Trixie had no clue.
And hope that Twilight was going to come through because she had been a nervous wreck when her little herd came thundering down the crystal street in Trixie’s direction. It made Trixie angry, both from Discord not considering Trixie a proper foil and the way he was mistreating Trixie’s damaged friend. If Trixie was going to fail, she was going to go down spitting defiance and spinning the facts of the moment in her own direction.
Attempting the Elements of Harmony ploy was the ultimate Rocket in my Pocket scam, and Trixie fully expected Discord to go flying off to Anywhere Else Land rather than get zapped again. Trixie was so proud of the way Twilight was acting. Everything was perfect, every word, every action, even the way Twilight had pulled off Discord’s blindfold so he could see them getting ready to use the ‘Elements’ and flee.
And then he didn’t.
And then he was a statue again.
It was quite impossible, since they did not have the real Elements of Harmony, but Trixie was developing a bit of a tolerance for the impossible lately. She really wanted to state the obvious, like “I didn’t expect that to work” or “How did that happen?” Training for the stage helped mute that instinct down to a brief whine.
Pinkie, of course, was not as restrained.
“Did you see that!” she exclaimed, hopping around Trixie like some sort of rubber ball. “Discord was all like raragh, and you were like arrrgh so mad, and he was all you can’t hurt me, and we all...” Pinkie hesitated, which was quite unlike her, and looked straight at Trixie.
“Windigo,” cautioned Trixie. She pointed to the vast collection of wispy white creatures adorning the buildings and shattered weather dome all around the crystal city. None of them had shifted one hoof-width’s during Discord’s confrontation, either toward or away from them, but they were surrounded, outnumbered, and operating from a position of abject ignorance, so it was about what Trixie expected from tonight. “We’re not done with threats yet.”
“They’re not threats,” said Green Grass clearly.
It seemed at first listen to be an extraordinary miscomprehension, but upon further thought, Green Grass was the resident expert in ancient frosty myths, even if had not really killed one with his own hind hooves like he had said.
“Those are original Windigo,” he continued, looking up at the ghostly white creatures perching on nearby buildings while pointing. “Some of them. Some are ponies, like that one over there, and some griffons, but there are original Windigo. I thought the books I read in the aerie were just fiction.”
“Buks?” Menace had just started to look like her tears were going to return, but there was a hopeful note to her voice, something that Trixie would do anything to keep.
“They’re not angry,” said the tall colorful changeling in their midst. “They’re worried. Afraid.”
“They’re parents,” blurted out Trixie despite her best efforts. All the parts had slotted into place with an almost audible click. She looked up at the windigo gathered around them, then down at the crystal ponies. Now that she was paying attention, she could see a few young ponies that appeared ever so different than their older counterparts, including the pale peach-colored colt next to Midnight Sparkle, who was not quite touching the snow-covered ground.
“Hybrids.” Green Grass seemed entranced by the concept as he continued, “When the founders of Equestria created the Fire of Friendship, it must have purified some of the corrupted ponies and griffons instead of destroying them. It turned them into forms of the original windigo, the ones who came before… Well, before everything.”
“And they got bus—” Trixie coughed, thinking of all the young innocent ears around her. “I mean they interbr— Mixed with the original windigo. But their children retained some of their pony nature, so they must have needed some time as ponies.”
“What better place than protected under a weather dome,” said Shining Armor. “Stable, reliable, and mixed in with other ponies so they won’t be noticed. Until Sombra pulled the whole Crystal Empire into shadow for a thousand years, without the parents.”
“They must have been so worried,” said Cadence.
Green Grass nodded. “The windigo are supposed to be immortal, so they must have been waiting here since then. Every year. Knowing that their children were just out of reach. Trapped by a monster.”
“No.” Twilight Sparkle shook her head, letting her dark mane drift down over her eyes. “The monster destroyed himself. Only echo left. And victims.”
“But itth better now,” said Twist. She moved closer to the pale peach-colored colt and gave him a hug that somehow included a cinnamon stick. “Thombra’th gone and tho ist Dithcord. Conch can find hith family. Right?”
“Right,” said Trixie with a great deal more confidence than she felt. It was more like slipping down a long glass razor blade into a pit of spiders, only she was dragging others with her. The last pony who should try to reunite ancient frozen myths with their long-lost children was Trixie. But…
“Menace, there is one pony here who knows what it is like to be brought back together with parents they thought were long gone. Could you—”
Her dark coat was shaking like a leaf in a gale, but Twilight leaned into her chilly little coltfriend, giving him a nuzzle around one ear.
“Yes,” she said. “Conch. Brave. Not like me.”
The little colt looked up, more at Trixie than Twilight Sparkle with the cinnamon stick poking out of the corner of his mouth. “I don’t remember my parents. What if they don’t want me anymore?”
“Parents always love. Even when you don’t deserve love.” Twilight’s trembling slowed, although frost was starting to appear on the section of her coat in contact with Conch. “Our fear is stupid. Real, but stupid. Be smart.”
It was remarkably cognisant for Twilight. Short, simple, and to the point. She did not try to trick the colt, or condescend to him, and it worked, because Conch swallowed, looked upward at the surrounding windigo, and called out, “Mother? Father?”
Two of the spectral white figures detached from their perches on nearby buildings, gliding down ever so slowly until they landed on the bare pavement in front of Twilight and her friend. Frost began to spread from their hooves as they shuffled in place, obviously unwilling to make the first step, so Twilight did it for them.
She pushed Conch.
Trixie was so proud.
It was just the push Conch needed, because he practically… Well, literally flew the short distance between him and his frosty parents, colliding in a burst of frost and a sharp decrease in the local temperature. It struck Trixie as both odd and expected that the windigo cried snowflakes as they huddled together, a family separated by a tyrant and brought together, in some small way which Trixie was not going to brag about, at least very much, by her.
“So,” said Trixie for lack of anything better to say. “Are we about done? It’s past the kid’s bedtimes, and we have a lot of parental pair-up to do tomorrow.”
There was a spa in the Crystal Empire. Of course there was.
And Rarity found it first. Of course she did.
Admittedly, Trixie considered observing the sunrise from a bubbling tub of hot water to be an excellent way to end their troublesome experience, a relaxing time to tie up all the loose ends and go home. Ponyville had become home over time, and she no longer tried to fight the feeling. And she had a husband to… do whatever one did with husbands. She looked up from the steaming water, across the busy spa and relished the number of problems which were Not Trixie’s.
Primarily, Princess Cadence reigned over the spa, with crystal ponies coming in every few minutes to reassure themselves that the Crystal Princess had indeed returned, King Sombra was no more, and isn’t the newest little princess the most adorable creature. Shining Armor held a spot fairly near the Royal Comfortable Bench For The Recovery Of Royalty Who Had Just Undergone Foalbirth And Now Needed Manecare And Hoof-Polishing. His job was to reassure more serious members of the Crystal Empire, ones who appeared to have once worn armor or worked in the mines, and from the fragments of their conversations that Trixie could catch with an ‘enhanced hearing’ spell, the various gears and springs of the original ruling machinery was being patched back together so the inhabitants would not starve, die of thirst, or start attacking each other in confusion as their memories returned.
To Trixie’s surprise, the parrot crew of the crashed airship was likewise enjoying the hospitality of the Crystal Empire. It seems there had been several crystalberry wine cellars that had ‘accidentally’ broken open after the crash, and since the wine was probably going to go bad anyway, a more productive use had been found for it. After all, the Crystal Ponies had problems with amnesia, and sufficient wine induced the same condition, so…
On a less-serious note, Applejack had vanished into the corridors of the dusty spa with a wrench in her teeth and a look of ferocious aggression in her eyes. Woe be it to any pipe or mechanism which refused to properly ‘spa’ where it should, and the rest of her friends had likewise helped with snacks, cleaning, and the extraction of some sort of large crab-rat from under the boilers where it had built a nest. Trixie had volunteered to help, but they had been quite insistent that she rest for a time.
So she soaked, all orange and relaxed, and watched.
“I see not how you ponies survive such heat.”
There had been another hot tub next to hers that the spa employees had converted for their new guests. It was filled with freezing brine, so cold that little crystals of ice lined the edges, and it held two creatures that Trixie never thought she would ever have seen before yesterday. Both windigo appeared much different soaking wet with their wispy manes plastered against their necks, but Conch’s parents had tentatively accepted the spa’s invitation, and remained while their son ran around the Crystal Empire with Green Grass this morning.
“It’s nothing compared to Spike,” responded Trixie after a while. “Dragons bathe in lava. When Rarity and I followed him to the Dragon Migration, we saw dozens of them splashing around in pools while we stayed way far away. To each their own, I suppose. Will… um… your people continue placing your children into the Empire for a few months every year?”
“If we can ensure their safety,” said one of Conch’s parents, which Trixie was still having trouble telling apart. It did not help that their voices sounded a lot like grating glass against a smashed violin, but Trixie had a talent for vocal discernation, mostly from acute listening for the first member of the audience to light a torch.
Other than that, it was a pleasant conversation between mythical ancient frost monsters and the sole local representative for Princess Celestia… Well, if Cadence did not count, and Trixie really tried not to consider the concept. They had promised to bring little Conchoidal Fracture for a visit this winter in Ponyville if the snow was deep enough for him to play with his new friends without the parents going through heatstroke. It was probably tempting fate to invite a ‘pony’ with a name that indicated breakage to Ponyville, Capital of Breaking Things, but there were enough things unbroken in town for the Cutie Mark Crusaders to have sufficient targets. Besides, Discord’s statue was going to be placed in the city park at Twilight’s request, and Trixie had a sneaking suspicion that the windigo also wanted to make sure it stayed there
The pleasant conversation broke off when Trixie saw a whitish earth pony stroll in the spa door, followed by an energetic peach-colored colt who promptly burst into a run and vaulted into his parents’ embrace, splashing little bits of frozen brine in all directions.
“Mother! Green Grass says I have a talent for leadership, just like Trixie.”
“Not just like her,” said Green Grass, a few steps behind. “There can only be one Trixie in the world, after all.”
“I know that better than you think,” retorted Trixie. “Remind me to tell you about this pool in the Everfree sometime when Pinkie isn’t around. Did you two have fun in the city?”
Green Grass nodded, his glittering brownish mane flopping down around his eyes. It was about the only patch of color left on him, since the rest had been bleached to a snowy crystalline white or a very pale green much like fluorite. “We matched up all of the windigo children with parents or relatives, and the rest of the windigo have begun rebuilding the city weather dome. It seems they built it in the first place, so the work is going well.”
“You honor us with praise, Slayer,” hissed one of Conch’s parents from their ice-colder pool. “Few mortals have ever faced one of our kind and lived. To have one so gracious in victory is a credit to warmbloods of all types, and we look forward to your future exploits.”
The way the windigo said the words brought a cold shiver up the back of Trixie’s neck, much as if her idiotic husband was going to be tasked with killing any wayward monsters as some sort of sheriff or police officer. Or worse, executioner.
“I trust his services will not be needed again,” said Trixie carefully.
Both windigo bowed their heads over the edge of their icy bath, letting their sodden manes drift over their ice-blue eyes. “Once a Slayer has taken up the calling, none may stand in their path, through their family lines and onward. Your foals shall be great and powerful indeed. You bear a heavy responsibility. Carry it well, and pray it is left unneeded until the end of your time.”
“That’s… good,” managed Trixie. “How about the residents of the city,” she asked in an attempt to change the conversational direction. After all, the glittering and sparkling spa workers had been so happy to treat their liberators. Trixie had been tempted to stay a few weeks and just be pampered, but she still wanted to get some distance from the windigo that came with the deal.
“Some memories are coming back,” started Greenie much slower. “Some of the things I saw around town… it’s probably best if those are lost forever. The Crystal Guard is setting things right, and they all love Shining Armor. It’s going to be a tough few years, but they’ve got a good start. Provided Discord doesn’t get out of his stone prison.”
His sharp blue eyes tracked across the spa to take in the chaos god on his stone pedestal at the far end of the room. Trixie had wanted to keep an eye on Discord, and perhaps get some positive credit for when he eventually came back again, so she had the spa employees giving him a good scrub and polish.
“He’s going back to the Ponyville park with us,” said Trixie. “He probably can tell what is going on around him while he’s stuck like that, so at least he’ll be entertained. I’m just glad things have wound down and all we have to do is take it easy—” her eyes flickered to the windigo “—with no slaying at all from here on. I’m looking forward to some peace and quiet back in the library.”
“Yeah, about that.” Green Grass pushed a pale brown lock of his mane back behind one ear so he could look her straight in the eyes. “Who is Sunset Shimmer?”
“Celestia’s former student.” Trixie shrugged. “Everypony around the palace gets all squirrely whenever she’s mentioned, so just leave it be. Why are you dragging it out?”
Green Grass shrugged in return. “Discord mentioned her, so I thought she was going to be… I don’t know, a fourth task or something. Just glad there’s nothing to worry about.”
More ponies came in the spa door while Green Grass chatted with the windigo, mostly about the few windigo children with unicorn horns and if they needed any assistance with tutoring. Trixie missed the big grey griffon and the child entering the spa at first, but as they strode up to the hot tub, Conch called out to his little friend and trotted over to meet them, leaving a trail of icy hoofprints.
“Sunny! Did you want to get into the tub with us? It’s all frosty and there are bubbles.”
“Not right now, Conch,” chided the little griffon, who was tucked practically under the big griffon’s neck ruff. “I’ve got official princess stuff to do first with Stargazer’s husband.”
It sounded odd to Trixie since she could not see any other griffon around, and only got odder when the two griffons walked up to Green Grass and the little princess opened her beak.
“Green Grass, Teacher of Hatchlings, your bondsmate has placed the life of her hatchling into our hands and exiled herself from our lands as unworthy to raise the heir to our aerie. Thus it falls to you, as Eggmate to myself, to take my sister in blood, child of my uncle and your bondsmate, to raise and teach our ways in exile. For if she remains within our new nest’s embrace, I cannot ensure her safety. There will be those among us who will treat her father’s stain as hers, and end her life despite my command.”
The big grey griffon slowly unfolded one clawed hand to reveal a tiny white ball of fluff with piercing yellow eyes.
“A hippogriff,” breathed Trixie as her mind raced to catch up with events. “Your—” she stopped and fixed Green Grass with a piercing stare “—bondsmate?”
“Long story,” hissed Green Grass out of the side of his mouth while the little griffon continued.
“As Acting Wingmaster to the New Crystal Aerie, Princess Sun Shines on the Misty Mountains at Dawn Through Early Morning Hazy Skies hereby grants Green Grass, Teacher of Hatchlings a new title, Protector of the Flock, and entrusts the blood of my blood, egg of our nest, as your daughter until she reaches the age of her majority and can challenge for leadership. May she feed from your crop and live in your nest without conflict. Do you accept this responsibility?”
“Well, yes, but—” started Greenie, only to have the big griffon practically shove the infant hippogriff into his chest, where he caught it by reflex.
“The egg which has cracked will never again be whole,” intoned the little griffon. “What is done, it is done. And Aunt Blousie will show you how to feed her while Conch and me go outside.”
“I will not!” growled the big griffon hen. “That thing is an abomination.” With a flick of her wings, the griffon left the spa through the front door, scattering startled crystal ponies in all directions.
“Oh.” Sunny stood there in stunned silence while the fluffy hippogriff chick sharpened her claws on Green Grass’s chest. At least it looked like the infant was in the right place. Green Grass looked very much like he wanted to sprout wings and fly away from Trixie instead. The simmering anger which had risen up inside Trixie tapered off quite a bit as she connected odd bits of Sunny’s behavior and certain phrasings, along with just what his living in a griffon aerie that turned into a murderous windigo lair had been like over the last few months. The fresh bandage on his rear only emphasized how much danger he had been in from the little griffon’s relatives.
“So this is your uncle’s child,” Trixie said instead of what she really wanted to say. “I’ve never seen a hippogriff before.”
“Yeah.” The little griffon drooped like a candle in a fire despite Conch gently patting her on the back. “I wish we could raise her instead, but Greenie loves little chicks, and Stargazer said he’d be perfect since she couldn’t. She had to leave. I understand, but I don’t like it one bit.” As impossible as it seemed, Sunny grew even more depressed until she curled her leonine tail in front of her and began grooming the ice out of it.
The windigo couple had remained nearly silent during the whole event, only exchanging a few whispered words between them like the background hiss of blowing snow, so it was a shock to Trixie when the frosty husband spoke up.
“The Slayer shows great love to the young. None shall threaten your little one while he draws breath. Your Trixie is blessed to have him as a mate, and we grieve over anguish our kind caused to your nestmate.”
Trixie was only slightly less caught off-guard than Green Grass, and managed to get some Celestia-like words out before he recovered. “As Sunny said, the egg has already cracked, so we’ll just have to face the future and take things one day at a time. I’m sure Sunny can visit Ponyville on a regular basis to ensure the little puffball is being treated well, and Featherweight is going to take so many pictures of her. Where did the mother go?”
“I’m not sure,” said Sunny, who seemed to be taking Trixie’s words well since she was no longer gnawing on her tail. “She left with the colorful changeling. He knew a quiet place where she could be perfectly safe and recover, and the train stops outside the city now. Flying would be easier now that the storm is over, but she doesn’t have wings, so…”
“Good. That’s good,” said Trixie, storing the problem in the mental “Not Mine” box along with many others. “I don’t see Sunburst anywhere either. He really needs a spa day. Or month.”
“I think he went with them,” said Green Grass. “I wish he could have stayed. Several of the aerie’s eggs are about to hatch, and he was such a help with Stargazer. Odd, though. He twitched a little when I mentioned that both Luna and Celestia were pregnant, and the next minute, he was running for the train station as fast as he could go.”
“Huh,” grumbled Trixie, leaving only one Twilight-sized problem she had been ignoring until now.. “Well, I suppose I should send a letter to Princess Celestia. Where is Spike?”
Sunny looked puzzled. “He left with Stargazer and Twilight Sparkle.”
“Left with…” Trixie looked around. “Where did they go?”