Let the Silence Sing
Part 5: Stillness
Morning Glories. That was Princess Luna’s gift to her sister ages ago, inventing them. The purple flowers that were so tender, so beautiful, they could only open when the sun was low and the dew still crisp. Like the dawn, it was the only time that the day and night could share together. One can imagine the ivory Princess’ shock when she saw Luna wearing a flower crown of them instead of her normal one. When she stopped to ask why, Luna fixed her with a confused stare… then blushed and quickly ate it on the spot. The day Princess knew better than to ask questions. Nothing made Luna blush that darkly, nor stammer. For a mare who was nothing if not supremely confident in her powers and abilities, seeing her little sister jittery like that was both a treat and an implication. She also noticed that she saw neither hide nor hair of the Changeling Ambassador for a few days after that…
So of course, Celestia’s next afternoon off was a welcome one. Sweet Apple Acres was ever the warm and welcome sight. A recent rain had cooled things down significantly, and the apples hanging in the branches of the trees glistened with the drops of nature’s love. The alicorn sighed happily. Getting away from it all sure was nice, and… and… what was that? She cocked her head when she saw some little figures moving around in her loft.
It was a trio of fillies and a colt, the same one’s from before. The three girls were sporting fedora’s and magnifying glasses, and the colt had his own hat with a ‘press’ tag sticking out of it. Celestia frowned. What were they doing up in her secret hidey-place? Making sure her invisibility spell was still shielding her from their view, she quietly glided in and landed on some hay to soften her landing. Peering around, she saw they’d turned the place into some sort of crime scene! There were little tents with numbers here and there around the room, much to the Princess’ surprise. They’d found her little pile of discarded white feathers in the corner (marked “1”), some large hoofprints (marked “A”) and even a few stray hairs (marked with the crayon-drawn face of Lyra Heartstrings, from Ponyville. Why? Who knew.) They were quite thorough for foals.
While Celestia watched, the four of them searched around for signs of a monster. Featherweight insisted that his photo was real, and the Princess leaned to see when he’d whipped it out to show them. Why, he’d accidentally gotten a picture of her! Whoops! She scratched her chin for a moment, standing in a corner so none of them would accident run into their invisible princess. Playing cute mark crusaders monster hunters was serious business, after all. She didn’t want to interrupt. It was kind’a cute, even if they delayed her naptime a bit.
The foals got a sample of the hay, plucked the hairs they’d found, got a couple of the long white feathers from the corner and put them in evidence baggies. They would need to analyze something like this. What exactly “analysis” was, they weren’t sure, but they’d figure that out when they got back to the clubhouse. They weren’t sure this was Featherweight’s monster they were finding evidence of, but there was certainly something up here. There was too much odd evidence though. Whatever it was was big, had big hooves, mint green hair, and feathers. So… was it some kinda magic, migrating techni-color goose? It took all of Celestia’s willpower not to laugh at that. She’d been called many things by both friends and foes over the ages, but ‘goose’ was never one of them. Swan, maybe, but surely not a goose!
Playfully deciding she’d had quite enough of the delay in her nap and relaxation time, she quickly thought up a harmless plan to make them leave. They wanted a monster? She could give them one, hee hee! Opening her wings, she started flapping them rapidly while staying trained to the ground. The foals startled at the phantom breeze that started, along with the strange sound that went with it. Celestia pitter-patted her hooves, going in a wide circle around them a few times. Their eyes got wider and wider. What was that?! What was happening?! Celestia let out a low moaning sound, stamping her hooves a bit more. The foals pressed together in a frightened little herd, shiver-shiver-shivering. One of them demanded to know if the barn was… was… haunted?!
EVERYPONY PANIIIIIIIIC!
They rushed as a group for the extending ladder. Featherweight pushed Sweetie Belle to go first. Go go go, before the ghost got them! He held up his camera, back and forth, turning the flash all the way up. Vrrrr-weeeee! Clk-FLASH! Celestia startled, blinded for a few moments. Scootaloo grabbed the two sides of the ladder and slid down as well. The trembling colt was the bravest little thing he could be to stand up for his little pseudo-herd. Clk-FLASH! Celestia’s eyes watered and she shook her head, steadying herself against the wall. She was glad she was invisible, or she would look really silly right abou –*clk-FLASH* aauugh! Applebloom rushed down the ladder, calling after the colt. Featherweight slung his camera around his thin little neck, then accidently went down face first. Celestia gasped, rushing and thrusting her head down the ladder’s trapdoor. She prayed the poor little thing hadn’t broken his neck. But no! No he was sliding down it as though he were on rails! What a pro! The alicorn blinked in surprise as he launched himself off of it and the group of foals took of screaming about ghosts in the loft. She felt a sting of guilt, leaning and raising the ladder to make sure they wouldn’t brave back up it. Going quickly over to the loft’s crane door, she stuck her head out.
The group of four foals crashed headlong into an unwary Big Macintosh, trampling over him and knocking the massive stallion down. He grunted as the foals crawled all over him, all talking at once and thrusting a hoof towards the barn. When he could see straight again, he stared back and forth in confusion while all four of them yabbered and panicked and jumped about like crazy. Ghosts! Ghosts in the barn oh my gosh, ohmigosh! Big Mac cocked his head, looking up at the open loft door. Oh.
Deciding it was time to be the big tough big brother, he hushed them with a loud harrumph. The foals lined up as the stallion threw out his chest, sitting his lip in a stoic frown. He’d see about all this ghost business! The four foals looked at each other in wonder as Big Mac stomped right into the barn and got the loft ladder down. They didn’t dare go in with him, in case the stallion was about to do battle with the spector or something. You didn’t get in the way of big epic battles like that. Big Mac might bring the barn down in his fury! Wide-eyed and awed, the four of them waited.
Big Macintosh stuck his head up into the loft. Making sure that none of the kids had followed, he cleared his throat a bit. Celestia dropped her invisibility spell. He gave her a disapproving look. Ghost? Really? The princess looked at the floor rather guiltily, apologizing with soft eyes. He pointed at her with a hoof, scolding. Scarin’ little ones wasn’t nice, no matter who you were. She nodded, wilting down more. He sighed, letting her be after that. Going back down, he went to the four foals with a big smile. No ghost up there that he could find, but it would be safer if they stayed out of the loft from then on. The crusaders and featherweight didn’t need to be told twice. They scampered off, back to the club house.
After a time, the red stallion returned to the loft when he was sure he was alone. Stepping up slowly and carefully, he actually pulled the ladder up behind him so he wouldn’t be disturbed. Celestia was already settled into her nest, looking at him sheepishly. She hadn’t meant to scare them that badly, she just wanted her napping spot was all. Perhaps she’d done a little too much. Big Mac sat next to her on his haunches, helping her out of her crown when she remembered to take it off. Sometimes the Princess’ hair got caught in the intricate little gold weavings. To his surprise her ever-moving mane was not like smoke, it was just… weightless, like a pony underwater. She set the crown aside, seeming to relax a lot more when it was off of her. Heavy was the head that wore the crown.
He nosed into his saddlebag, pulling a pair of juice boxes for them to share. Childish, yes, but still good for them. Sweet Apple Acres not only sold apples but provided them for all kinds of apple-related progress. That meant juice, starches, sugars, perfumes, and lots of other things. When Big Mac turned to offer her a juice box, she stopped him.
The Princess lifted a massive wing, folding her head under it like a swan for a few moments. Nosing about into her own dainty little bag that she kept hidden under her wingspan, she took out a tiny bottle in her teeth. It was dark glass, corked firmly. Turning the label over, he saw it read ‘Dragon’s Breath Juice’. Big Mac cocked his head, he’d never heard of such a thing. She gestured again. Circa 1298. Well, that explained that, then. She uncorked it, making sure he was watching. It was a small bottle, good for maybe two glasses at the most. But, they had no glasses so it was straight from the bottle. Smiling with a twinkle in her eyes, she lifted it to her lips. The stallion’s opinion of his princess wavered a bit. Only drunks drank from the bottle, right? She swished it about in her mouth for a few seconds, made a ‘wait for it’ gesture… the slowly blew a white mist from her mouth. It looked like she was breathing smoke! The stallion’s mouth made an o-shape. Well wasn’t that neat?! He laughed a little, and she pressed the bottle towards him.
He brought it to his lips, not bothering to wipe the opening on anything. He doubted the Princess had any germs. Taking a swig, he paused. It was like… like… he paused, trying to describe it to himself. Like melted caramel, with some vanilla mixed in, and a fizzy little kick. It wasn’t wine like he thought it was. He looked over at her, and she looked startled when he swallowed. What? What was wrong? She siddled away a little as a hot feeling gathered in his belly. Uh oh. Maybe he wasn’t supposed t—BURRRRRRRRRP!?!? A cloud of white mist exploded from his mouth, his eyes crossing violently. Celestia facehoofed with laughter, pointing at him and falling onto her side in the nest of hay. Big Mac blushed deeply, smacking his lips.
End of Part 5