//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Queen of Equestria // by Ponyman14 //------------------------------// "I wish all our friends hadn't seen me like that," said Rarity. "Don't worry about it Rarity," said Fluttershy, "We've all had our difficult moments, and we need our friends to help us get through them. We all care so much about you." The two ponies were sitting in the lobby of the carousel boutique. Outside, the sun was slowly rising in the sky, as the morning passed by. "Yesterday, when everypony was here, I felt like I had to act strong. I had to show you all that I wasn't completely helpless. But I still feel just as scared." "If you want to fight that big mean dragon, you have to start somewhere. You need to take action!" said Fluttershy. "Hehe, I learned that in my assertiveness lessons!" Fluttershy giggled and flapped her wings with glee. "Oh Fluttershy," Rarity smiled knowingly at her friend. "Have you had any more nightmares?" asked Fluttershy. "No, only the two," explained Rarity. "You see? Maybe the dragon's given up already," said Fluttershy encouragingly. "No, Fluttershy, it's not the dreams that are the problem. It's the fears and the fantasies that I got out of them. Things that I never wanted to think about," explained Rarity. "When you look at it that way, it's more like I'm fighting with myself." "Oh don't say that Rarity," said Fluttershy worriedly, "It's not you." "It is me, Fluttershy. I'm the one who has to get a grip on these negative thoughts and feelings. The dragon evoked these feelings in me, and now I have to grapple with them." "If I saw that big dragon again, I'd give him a piece of my mind!" said Fluttershy. "How can anyone be so mean? Doesn't he realize what he's put you through? Oh, I'm so angry at him!" Fluttershy's upset voice was not much louder, and still carried her soft and soothing tone. "I just hope I don't hurt Twilight's feelings," said Rarity, changing the subject a bit, "When I see her or think of her, that dream comes back to me, and it's just too upsetting to deal with. I mean, I don't want her to think I'm ignoring her or something." "Oh, I agree. When we left the boutique yesterday, I made the other ponies promise not to tell Twilight. There's no need for anypony to get their feelings hurt," said Fluttershy. "I plan to keep my promise to everypony. Either I'm back to my old self by then, or we go to the princesses and tell them everything," said Rarity. - - - - - - - - - - - - -[]- - - - - - - - - - - - - Applejack fastened the apple baskets to her sides. The Apple Family was preparing to make some big batches of apple juice and cider this week. There were still a lot of apples left to be hauled. Applejack secured the baskets and trotted off towards the barn. Suddenly a bright flash of light and a loud noise startled her. Applejack reared up in surprise, spilling her cargo onto the dirt below. Twilight Sparkle materialized in front of Applejack. "Darnit, Twilight. I wish you wouldn't do your fancy teleporting so close to me," said Applejack as she recovered. "Sorry AJ," said Twilight as she levitated the spilled apples back into Applejack's baskets, "Can I walk with you for a minute?" "Ya sure can!" said Applejack happily, "I love havin' company while I work." Applejack walked towards the barn and Twilight followed alongside. "So what happened at Rarity's yesterday?" asked Twilight. "Oh. We just talked with her until she felt better," said Applejack. "Is that all? Why was she upset in the first place?" "Just one of her creativity-blocks. Didn't think she could sew or design… made her a little depressed, ya know what I'm sayin'? Not like we haven't seen that before, right Twi?" "But I've never seen Rarity so upset before. There must have been more to it than that." "Nope, that was about it," lied Applejack. Applejack's element was honesty, and nothing felt worse than not being sincere with her friends. Also, she wasn't a very good liar. The two ponies reached the barn. Applejack dumped her apples into a big barrel, and started the trek back to get more. "I'm sorry Twilight, but I really don't want to talk about it. There's a heck of a storm coming in tomorrow, and I'm busier than a bee," said AJ as the ponies continued their walk. Twilight looked at Applejack suspiciously. "Well," started Twilight, "I took Sweetie Belle back to the library to get her book. At first I thought she was acting, because she didn't want to go. But when we got there, she really didn't know what Rarity had been talking about. And Spike didn't remember any other ponies from her class coming in to get books either." Applejack knew there was no use hiding anything from Twilight. Feeling more nervous, she increased her pace to a brisk walk. Twilight walked faster to keep pace. "It was pretty obvious when Fluttershy said Rarity wanted me to take Sweetie Belle to the library that something fishy was going on. Either Fluttershy was lying to me, or Rarity convinced her to do so. The subsequent conclusion is that either Rarity or Fluttershy didn't want me to be there, but I can't understand why. My hypothesis is that Rarity didn't want to see me." Applejack kept her eyes trained forward. Twilight was too good at figuring these things out. Maybe she should just tell Twilight the truth. Would that complicate things more? Applejack wanted to tell Twilight, but she couldn't break a Pinkie promise. "What do you think, AJ? Did Rarity give any hint why she didn't want to see me?" "Yes. I mean no. I mean…" stumbled Applejack. The ponies now reached their destination and Applejack starting filling up her baskets. "What do you mean, Applejack?" asked Twilight, frowning. Twilight levitated a bunch of apples off the ground around Applejack, and hovered them above her. "Aw thanks Twilight," said Applejack. Twilight started dropping the apples one by one into AJ's baskets, slowly and deliberately. She glared at Applejack, waiting for a response. There was no way out of this; Applejack had to tell Twilight the truth. "Alright, alright," said Applejack, "I can't tell you… I Pinkie promised." "You Pinkie promised not to tell me why Rarity doesn't want to see me? What!?" said the upset alicorn. "Now calm down, Twilight. It ain't as big a deal as you think," said Applejack. "Whatever you think, there's absolutely no reason to have your feelings hurt. It's all for the best." "Well my feelings are hurt, Applejack!" said Twilight, "Rarity's one of my best friends, and all of a sudden she doesn't want to see me. How can I not have me feelings hurt?" "There's a good reason for it Twilight. It's really embarrassing for Rarity. She would probably have told you, but she was afraid to hurt your feelings." "Well that plan didn't work out very well, did it?" said Twilight. "Rarity just needs some time to get past her… thing. Twilight, Everything's gonna be back to normal in a week. And that's the honest truth," explained Applejack. "I believe you, AJ. But it's driving me crazy not knowing. I've just got to know what it is. Are you sure you can't tell me?" pleaded Twilight. "Do you remember what happened last time I broke a Pinkie promise?" asked AJ. "Good point," said Twilight, as she recollected. Twilight dropped the rest of the apples into Applejack's baskets. She disappeared in a flash of light and white smoke, leaving Applejack to continue her work. - - - - - - - - - - - - -[]- - - - - - - - - - - - - Rarity sighed exasperatedly as she sat down at her sewing machine. It had been over one week since her first nightmare, and her inability to sew. Everything that had happened since then seemed like a blur. She felt more lost, afraid, and uncertain than ever. But there was a spark of hope. "I must will myself out of this depression! For starters, I'm going to face my sewing machine!" thought Rarity. The promenade dresses, which had been untouched this whole time, still only needed a couple details here and there and shouldn't take more than a couple hours. "Alright Rarity, you can do this," she said to herself. She pushed aside thoughts of the nightmare in which she had lost her sewing ability. The machine hummed to life as Rarity put on her sewing glasses. As the fabric, needle, and thread all came together to create art, Rarity felt life anew within her. She smiled. "I'm doing it. I'm creating again, and it feels wonderful!" she thought. Once she had started, Rarity couldn't stop her work. She put the finishing touches on the last promenade dresses and packed them up in the boxes. Some of the clients had already expected their dresses to be delivered. Rarity would have to do that later today. "Let's see, what's next on my path to recovery?" Rarity asked herself. "I should certainly go see Sweetie Belle. She's probably worried sick about me! And most importantly, I must talk to Twilight. I just have to tell her about the dream, as embarrassing as it may be. Applejack was right, Twilight knows best. I'm not afraid anymore. I'm going to speak with Twilight right away. Then I must deliver all these dresses." - - - - - - - - - - - - -[]- - - - - - - - - - - - - Spike heard a knock at the library door. "Who's there?" asked Spike. "Hoo!" said Twilight's pet own, Owlowiscious. "Quiet you!" snapped Spike. "Who's at the door? State your name and business!" "It's just Rarity. Is that you Spike?" "Rarity?" said Spike, becoming excited. He opened the door immediately, and bowed before the beautiful unicorn in the doorway. "Is Twilight home?" asked Rarity as she looked around the room. "Twilight left this morning for Canterlot," explained Spike. "Twilight's real busy with a research project Princess Celestia gave her. She's doing research or something at the archives." "That's odd. I thought Twilight had finished her studies," said Rarity. "That's what I thought. Old habits die hard, I guess," said Spike. "When will she be back?" "Sometime this evening. I'm not really sure," said Spike. "I had hoped to talk to her now, but I guess I'll have to leave this with you," said Rarity. "What is it?" asked Spike, as Rarity set down the box. "It's Twilight's finished dress for the Ponyville Promenade! Now I must be off. Perhaps I'll stop by tomorrow. I really must speak with Twilight ASAP." "Are you sure you want to leave so soon… I mean, you don't have to go," stammered Spike. "Awww, is little Spikey Wikey lonely?" said Rarity, smiling down at the baby dragon. "Be a good little dragon and give Twilight her dress, will you? I shan't be stopping by again tonight. There's quite a storm brewing, and I can't risk ruining my mane by trotting about in the rain. Bye bye now!" said Rarity as she turned and left the library. - - - - - - - - - - - - -[]- - - - - - - - - - - - - ...Upon entering the valley, we had reached the southern boundary of the dragon kingdom. For three nights we took refuge on the Eastern slope. A chill from the North speaks of the frigid weather to come. No fires are lit, and watches are kept at night for fear of dragon attacks. Yet no dragons have been seen. Twilight skipped a page. ...The brigade moved with haste into the rubble as the dragons passed by above. The danger passed and we began our trek once again. Twilight turned several more pages. ...There, among the rocky crags, Sir Hoofington's squire lost his life, along with much of the dried oats. Food is already running low. We may soon have to abandon the expedition and return South. The following section in the expedition's log was terribly charred, and little could be made of it. Twilight squinted at the charred pages to no avail. She turned the pages over until the journal was readable again. ...The dragon remained pinned down by our soldiers' bronzen spears. Snow was melted to water, and periodically poured down his throat to dowse the dangerous furnace in his belly. The expedition leaders stepped forth and questioned the young dragon. I have paraphrased their findings here, as the interrogation was quite lengthy. The prisoner could not tell the extent of the realm, other than that it stretched south to the an enchanted land where all that lived there turned to crystal. He certainly was referring to the Crystal Empire. It was also gathered from the prisoner that a dragon king presided over the realm. "Salazar" the prisoner called him. Could the legends be true? Could this be The Great Wyrm who was rumored to have once ruled these lands? "Why yes, actually it is! Get to the point, already," muttered Twilight. She had been reading through expedition logs of explorer ponies who had travelled to the far north. But she had found no important clues that might help her understand Salazar's riddle. Twilight skimmed through the page until she came across something about dragons' greed. ...In those mountains, dragon kind had hoarded treasures from many lands. Within the caves, the dragon king resided, with the greatest treasures of any dragon. The greed of dragons truly is unsurpassed! The prisoner described the mounds of treasure, and provided an explanation of how to get there. When our questions had been exhausted, the dragon was executed. The question was hence put forth, shall the expedition press onward or return? The journal abruptly ended, implying that the expedition had decided to return. "Ugh, why did I read all that? What a waste of time," said Twilight exasperatedly. "It's all been a waste of time. There's nothing here!" Twilight closed the book, "The Honorable and Glorious Expedition of Sir Hoofington and Company to Explore the Frozen North: Attempt Number Twelve." "None of it makes any sense. Salazar was sitting in that mountain for eons, why did he suddenly decide to leave and come to Equestria? Well, obviously for the thing that the riddle's about; but what is it?" Twilight sighed, "I give up." Twilight placed the book back where she had found it. She hovered the flickering candle in front of her and walked back out of the archives. She preferred reading by candlelight rather than her illumination spell, it was how she had grown up reading. The candle cast and eerie light on the old bookcases. On either side of her, rows of bookshelves faded away into darkness. Twilight was deep in the archives and there was no natural light here, even during the daytime. Twilight passed a couple other ponies, who were looking for the same thing. Canterlot ponies had been recruited to scour the archives day and night for information about Salazar. "I'm sure I just need to relax and think about the big picture. If I just sit down and think, and stop worrying so much, the answer's sure to come, right?" thought Twilight. Twilight exited the archives and found herself in the castle with a furious storm raging outside. Twilight's thoughts meandered back to Ponyville as she walked through the solemn halls of Canterlot Castle. "What are my friends hiding from me? What's gotten into Rarity? Applejack said it doesn't have anything to do with me, but obviously it does. Doesn't Rarity like me anymore? What did I do to upset her? I almost feel that she's jealous of me. She's always loved attention. It's not I meant to hog all the attention." Twilight stopped in front of the doors to the throne room; they were ajar. She looked around and saw no guards nearby. She pushed open the huge doors and walked into the room. The throne room was empty and the candles were all out. Only a dim light filtered through the huge stain glass windows on either side of the room. A crack of lightening washed the room with a bright white light. The dim shadows of the columns became black streaks on the floor, and the stained glass windows cast their colorful scenes across the room. "Is Rarity's strange behavior, then, related to me being a princess? Everypony else has treated me different since my coronation, why not my best friends too?" Twilight stepped forward into the room. "Why does being a princess have to be so lonely?" Twilight recalled her first meeting with her parents after her 'ascension.' She ran up to them excitedly. 'Mom, dad! Look, I have wings! I'm a princess!' she had said. But her parents did not embrace her at first. Instead they bowed and addressed Twilight as 'your majesty.' Few things had ever felt as hurtful to Twilight. Of course her parents loved her, but in the public eye Twilight had to be treated like royalty. Twilight had returned her parents' bows with tear-filled eyes while hundreds of ponies at the coronation watched. Even her friends from Celestia's school treated her differently. Her friends in Ponyville had become Twilight's last refuge from the overwhelming, and often frightening, duties of being a princess. The only ponies who treated her like Twilight, not Princess Twilight, were her best friends in Ponyville. "Could that be it? Is Rarity acting strange because I'm a princess? Could she really be that jealous?" Lightening lit up the stained glass like no light of day could. Her glass effigy cast a purple light across the marble columns of the grand hall. Rain running down the glass was illuminated by lightening as the storm pounded against it. Twilight stared up at her glass likeness and contemplated it. In the pane her wings were spread wide, and she was stepping forward with an air of confidence and authority. The first time Twilight saw it, she stood in this exact spot with her Ponyville friends. She hadn't felt right about it, as she had told her friends that day. In reality, she didn't feel like she had the poise of a monarch. She felt the glass panel depicted her as what she was supposed to be, not who she actually was. She thought back to that day. 'They really captured your regality,' Rarity had said. Being the modest pony that she was, Twilight had confessed that it just didn't feel right. Being a princess would take some getting used to, for sure. Twilight now sat down in front of the window, as another crack of thunder rattled the glass and reverberated through the lonely hall. She was becoming more comfortable with her royal roll, but it was a lot of work. She had had to change everything; her demeanor, her posture, the way she spoke, and the way she interacted with other ponies. She was no longer allowed to show excitement, or any emotions for that matter, while performing her duties. It was disheartening and lonely at times. Being back in Ponyville with her close friends had been her greatest comfort recently. In Ponyville, many ponies still called her Twilight, and she could still smile and laugh and play like she used to. A tear ran down Twilight's cheek. She had never asked for this life. Everything had changed. It was only within her small circle of friends that she got a taste of what her life used to be like. Rarity had said something else too on that day. What was it? Twilight closed her eyes and recollected. 'It's everypony's dream to someday wear a crown and have their coronation ceremony preserved in glass for all to see,' Rarity had said. Twilight mused over Rarity's words, It's everypony's dream to someday wear a crown… "You were wrong Rarity," said Twilight aloud. She gasped as she tried to stifle her tears. "You were wrong. It's not everypony's dream," she cried softly. Twilight sat there for some time, listening to the heavy rain and the rumbling thunder outside. She thought about the recent changes in her life and tried to make sense of it all. And mostly, she worried about her friends in Ponyville. How long until Twilight's royal title spread to Ponyville? How long until it started to wear away at her friendships? Things were just confusing right now. Twilight wasn't sure how to deal with all of this at once. "I want to tend to my friendships, but I've got to put that aside for now. My royal duties must come first. I have to solve Salazar's riddle, and everything else has to come second." Twilight moved her attention to the next pane, which she knew very well. She studied it as she stood before it. It was a portrayal of the six friends when they fought Nightmare Moon. Below were two earth ponies, above them two pegasus ponies, and above them were two unicorns. The races were depicted in order of importance, based on the archaic caste system that used to exist in Equestria. The six friends were all represented here, with Pinkie Pie and Applejack below, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash above them, and Rarity and Twilight on top as members of the unicorn caste. The pane hadn't been updated, and Twilight's glass depiction still lacked wings. She wondered what would be done if it were fixed. The layout couldn't be symmetrical. There was now only one unicorn, and she would have to be moved beneath Twilight. - - - - - - - - - - - - -[]- - - - - - - - - - - - - "Knock knock!" yelled a voice at the library door. Spike cautiously approached the door. The library had closed for the night. It was dark, and the storm was still raging outside. This was a peculiar time for somepony to visit the library. "Uh… Who's there?" said Spike. "Behind," answered the muffled voice from outside. "Huh? Behind who?" said Spike "Behind you, silly!" said the voice. Spike spun around and found himself face to face with Pinkie Pie. "Yikes! Pinkie Pie!? How did you… huh?" said Spike. Pinkie Pie giggled, "Is Twilight home?" "Yea, she's upstairs," said Spike blankly. Pinkie Pie bounded off into the library. "I really need to lay off of the banana-berry ice cream. That stuff messes with your head," muttered Spike. "Hey, Twilight?" said Pinkie Pie as she poked her head into the study. Twilight was laying on a cushion on the floor and reading a book. "Pinkie Pie! What a surprise. I wasn't expecting you," said Twilight. "Nopony expects Pinkie Pie! I just wanted to invite you to my little shin-dig tomorrow." "That sounds great Pinkie, but tomorrow's Saturday and I have to be in Canterlot all day." "Awww," said Pinkie sadly. Lightening flashed outside, casting bright lights and dark shadows across Twilight's bedroom floor. A moment later a loud crack of thunder startled the two ponies. "That's a really big storm," said Pinkie Pie. "I know. It was in Canterlot earlier," said Twilight. "What's the occasion of the party, might I ask?" "We're celebrating Rarity feeling better!" said Pinkie Pie excitedly. "That's great," said Twilight. "Rarity came by earlier and dropped off my promenade dress, so she must be feeling better. I have no idea what was wrong in the first place, but that's great that she's feeling better." "Heh, yea," said Pinkie Pie awkwardly. "I mean, it's not like I had any extremely pressing royal duties to attend to, and then dropped all of them to get everypony together and go to Rarity's because she was feeling bad, and then get told to take Sweetie Belle to the library where she didn't actually have to get a book for school, all because Rarity didn't want to see me," said Twilight quickly. "Gosh Twilight, I'm sorry," said Pinkie Pie. "Rarity just didn't want to hurt your feelings." "If she didn't want to hurt my feelings, she could have just let me help her!" protested Twilight. "All I wanted was to offer my help, and she basically told me she didn't want it. She let all of you help her, just not me." Seeing Twilight so upset made Pinkie Pie sad. But what could she do? "Twilight, it's not like that," explained Pinkie, "There's a good reason why she didn't want to talk to you. It's not your fault, and it's not Rarity's fault." "Well then Why doesn't Rarity want to see me, and who's fault is it? Or let me guess, you can't tell me because you Pinkie promised?" said Twilight. "Rarity needs some time, Twilight," said Pinkie Pie, avoiding the question, "Please try to understand. She's going through a really rough time, and when it's resolved everything will make perfect sense." Twilight took a deep breath and sighed. "I hate being left out of my friends' affairs. I'm always good at figuring things out and fixing problems. If Rarity just told me what was wrong I could figure out how to help her!" said Twilight exasperatedly. "Is it because I'm a princess now? Does that somehow mean I'm no longer in the in circle?" "No, not at all, silly! … And you weren't exactly supposed to find out," said Pinkie. "Haven't you seen how Rarity reacts when I get attention from ponies? Complete strangers want to see me or talk to me just because I'm a princess. Rarity get's moody. I think she's a little bit jealous. It's not like I'm intentionally stealing attention from her. Her selfishness has really been showing lately." "Aww, you don't mean that Twilight. " said Pinkie. "If Rarity knew you'd be so upset, I'm sure she would have told you everything." "No more of these circumlocutory dialogues and strategies. I'm going to get straight to the bottom of this and talk to Rarity myself," said Twilight sternly. "Oh no, you can't do that," said Pinkie, "It would upset Rarity." "What do you mean? Rarity told Spike today that she wanted to talk to me." "She did?" asked Pinkie Pie in genuine surprise. "Well, don't let me stop you then!" Twilight shook her head. "I still don't get it. Not in the slightest. When we talk, I've got some questions for her, but it will have to wait. I'm just too busy right now." "Oops! I've got to get back to Sugar Cube Corner. Gummy needs his 7:00 bath, otherwise he gets cranky. See ya later Twilight!" "Bye Pinkie. Keep safe from the storm," said Twilight as she watched Pinkie Pie hop away down the stairs. Twilight turned a page in her book, Pre-Equestrian Canterlot, Dragons and the Crystal Caverns. "Interesting… Very interesting," she said aloud. She was not thinking about the literature, however. "I already told Pinkie was I was going to be in Canterlot on Saturday. I wonder if she planned Rarity's get-well party for Saturday on purpose," thought Twilight. "For the life of me, I can't figure out why Rarity didn't want to see me a couple days ago. She's never done anything like that before. I'm glad she wants to talk though; maybe she realizes how careless she was and wants to apologize." Twilight stared into a nearby candle, meditating on the flickering tongues of flame. "There's something very suspicious going on. Rarity just hasn't been the same since the incident with Salazar. When I need all the information I can get, even my friends are hiding things from me. I'm trying to save Equestria here. They just don't understand the gravity of the situation. I'm not sure who I can believe anymore. Should I be distrustful of Rarity? Something just doesn't feel right about all of this." Twilight sighed deeply. "I can't spend so much time dealing with this trivial drama. I have more important things to do," she thought. Twilight concentrated again on her research.