//------------------------------// // Making New Life // Story: The Alicorn Academy // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Hoodwink sat in the wagon. The small cramped space she called home. It was dark and full of shadows, with only Hoodwink’s horn for light. Her mother couldn’t afford lamp oil right now. After the disastrous show in Canterlot, her mother couldn’t afford a lot of things. Hoodwink’s stomach rumbled. Another show, another pile of bits. The wagon needed a new axle. Hoodwink’s cloak was in tatters. The stage was falling apart. Nothing seemed to go as planned. Hoodwink kept failing, unable to summon her magic, unable to make the puppets dance. Hoodwink knew her mother loved her, but Trixie seemed awfully frustrated. Hoodwink heard the roar of the crowd outside. It wasn’t a very large crowd. Word had spread that Hoodwink was a great and terrible failure. Hoodwink hoped that the crowd would at least throw vegetables again. Hanging her head, she quietly left the wagon and went to face the crowd. She mounted the stage and it creaked alarmingly. The boards were rotten, and needed replacing. Everything needed replacing. She took her place in the puppet booth, hoping that this time, she could put on a show. She sat down on the rotten boards, hidden from view, tears already beginning to flow, and tried to will the puppets to come to life. She needed to eat. Her mother hadn’t contacted Twilight for quite some time. Trixie had her pride. Hoodwink wasn’t sure if she had hers. Her horn flared, sparked, a sudden bright flash of orange, and nothing happened. She tried again, and again, each time to no avail, nothing happening, the puppets lay unmoving. The crowd began to jeer and boo. Hoodwink hoped that they would not demand a private show, whatever that meant. She didn’t want anything happening to her mother again. Or herself. Fear gripped her. She felt bone jarring tingle of another wild magic surge. Not again... Hoodwink awoke, covered in sweat, breathing heavily. Minerva was in her bed with her, pressed against her side. Brimstone was in the third bed of the room. He wasn’t supposed to be in here at night, while they slept, but he had been having trouble sleeping. They had snuck him in. Ivy was in her bunk above them. Hoodwink took a long deep breath and tried to calm her jittering nerves. She felt something squirm against her other side. Something small wiggled under her blankets. Hoodwink did what any filly her age would do when something weird wiggled in her bed. Something unknown. She shrieked at the top of her lungs. Minerva’s horn flared to life, filling the room with a piercing silver glow, instantly banishing all darkness. Brimstone was on his hooves in a second. And Ivy was on the floor, tail lashing, teeth bared, crest fully extended. Her wings flared. It was moments like these that Ivy was least pony-like. She was something else entirely. Hoodwink squirmed in the bed, trying to disentangle herself from Minerva, feeling something wiggle and squirm at her side. Minerva crawled over her, she heard Minerva’s hooves hitting the stone floor, and then she felt Ivy’s talons gently grab her by the leg and yank her out of bed, the metal and stone shredding tips never once breaking her skin. Hoodwink struggled to get free of the sheets and whatever was crawling in the bed beside her. Minerva’s light grew ever brighter. Hoodwink saw something small and lavender moving. There was a rustle of fabric. Her Twilight Sparkle stuffy was moving. It flapped its tiny fabric wings and looked up at her with beady button eyes. The door opened quite suddenly, a unicorn guard entering the room, turning on the lights. More guards were coming. A bell rang in the distance. The guard looked around the room, trying to find some threat. He looked at the fillies, then looked at Brimstone, and then his gaze fell on the small Twilight Sparkle stuffy. It was looking at him and prancing on little pointed legs. The guard remained silent. There was a loud ear drum abusing POP as Luna suddenly materialised into the room, her wings flared, her eyes white with summoned magic, blue lightning crackling along her horn alarmingly. She was terrifying, and it caused every foal in the room to shriek with fright. Minerva’s silver light died. “WHO DARES?!” Luna commanded, causing the balcony window to shatter. Nopony seemed to dare. Luna stood there for several moments, trying to take in the situation. There was another loud POP as Celestia came into being just outside the door. She pushed past the stunned guard and looked at her very puzzled sister. The guard pointed downward, toward the floor. Celestia looked downward. And saw a tiny Twilight Sparkle. A Twilight Sparkle stuffy to be exact. It peered up at her with shiny button eyes, the tiny stuffy trying to take in the white giant. Luna looked down, curious, trying to make sense of what she saw. “I had an accident I think.” Hoodwink said in a small voice. “I’m so horned right now.” Brimstone muttered. Hoodwink looked down at her stuffed toy. It had been old and a little ratty. She still loved it dearly. Now, it looked completely new. And it moved. Animated. Enchanted. Celestia dropped her nose to the floor near the stuffy. She sniffed. And the stuffy seemed to sniff back, touching Celestia’s nose with its own. It stared upward silently. “What in Tartarus?” Said Luna in disbelief. Celestia took a deep breath, taking all of this in. Ivy was peering at her and the stuffy. She was sniffing, her nose snuffling softly. “Ivy, what do you smell?” Celestia asked after a few moments of allowing Ivy to concentrate. “Dunno.” Ivy said, shrugging. “Something new.” Celestia scowled. Luna raised her head. She nodded to the guard, who barked a command. The hubbub in the hallway continued. Celestia’s horn flared with golden light, surrounding the small stuffy in a sunny yellow glow. Tiny ears perked forward and a little head raised. “Impossible.” Celestia said, her voice wavering. The Princess of the Day lost her composure completely. She blinked several times, trying to take in what she was seeing. “What?” Said Luna, mildly concerned. “This is alive.” Celestia said. “What?” Said Luna again, not quite registering her sister’s words. Celestia said nothing. Minerva clung to Hoodwink. Ivy clung to both of them. Brimstone stood on the other side of the room, waiting for the coming lecture, and wishing he could take a look at whatever it was that was causing Celestia and his mother so much concern. Luna lifted the tiny stuffy with her magic, staring at it with a quizzical eye. It trembled violently in her magical grasp. “Put it down!” Ivy begged. “It is scared. I can smell it.” She said, pleading with Luna. Luna set the small stuffy down on the table. It was still made of fabric. It had button eyes. Stitching was still visible. It looked brand new, not like some well loved toy. And it pranced along the tabletop, trying to beat a hasty retreat from Luna. It stopped and fluttered its wings when it reached the edge of the table. “My apologies.” Luna said, her voice diplomatic and velvety. She turned to the guard. “Bushfire.” She barked. “Yes your Majesty?” He replied. “Send a few guards out into the city. Find a toy shop. Wake the owners if you must, but secure a dollhouse. And furniture. Something that is enclosed and secure, not open on one side.” Luna said, her words careful and calm. The guard looked utterly baffled at this request. He quickly recovered though. “Yes your Majesty. At once your Majesty.” He turned tail and left the room, shouting more orders. Confused grunts came from the hallway. “We’ve scared it nearly to death probably.” Luna explained, looking around the room, meeting each pair of eyes. She glared a few extra seconds at Brimstone, causing him to turn away. “Check for other dolls in the room.” Celestia said, her eyes widening. There was a hurried search. Ivy’s dolls were on a shelf, sitting near an empty cushion. Neither of them moved. Minerva’s stuffy was on the bookshelf, sitting on a book. It was a small stuffed version of Cadance. It too, was unmoving. Celestia sighed and looked down at Twilight Sparkle in miniature. “A dollhouse Luna?” Celestia asked. “Well, what else?” Luna said, slightly annoyed. “We have a visitor. An entirely new lifeform. It is currently a guest in our castle and it seems to be quite frightened according to Ivy. And I would agree. It stands in the company of giants, probably wondering what it is doing and why it is here. It has nowhere to feel safe and secure. We owe it some comfort.” Celestia began to reassemble the balcony window with her magic. The tiny figure paced back and forth on the table top. Hoodwink stared with open eyes at the small figure, trying to take in what she had done. “I tried to tell you that this might happen sister.” Luna said, her voice low. Celestia sighed, not in the mood. The balcony window came together piece by piece. “This is entirely new magic.” Luna stated. “This isn’t simple enchantment or animation. Intelligence has been created. This creature thinks. Look at it, trying to figure out its surroundings. This isn’t some mindless golem like the giant stone pony from the square, bent on destruction. We have a responsibility to acknowledge this and take steps to make sure it is respected and valued as a lifeform, however odd it might be.” Celestia nodded, the window repaired. “Hoodwink, what did you do?” Minerva said, her voice full of wonder. Brimstone finally worked up the nerve to come forward, standing at the edge of the table, peering at the small figure. It approached him cautiously, watching him. It sat down on its tiny haunches, stubby little hind legs protruding, small wings still flapping slightly. “Hoodwink, what did you do?” Brimstone said, his crimson eyes wide with wonder.