//------------------------------// // Vanity Fair // Story: Comes the Sunset // by Scipio Smith //------------------------------// Chapter 6 Vanity Fair The four travellers walked down the Golden Road, the trees on either side leaning out to loom over them. The branches, thick with green leaves, obscured the light of the moon, turning it into a series of mottled silver patches on the gold. Twilight couldn't hear anything from the forest on either side of them. No birds, no beasts, no sound at all but the clip-clop of their hooves upon the road and, of course, the constant talking of Loyalty as she flew overhead, circling around her four charges as they followed the path laid out for them. "How does anypony manage with just legs?" Loyalty asked. "I mean, look at you, you're all so slow. I could have gotten to Celestial City and back ten times now if I didn't have to wait for all of you." "Well, don't let us delay you," Chrysalis muttered. Loyalty either didn't hear her, or else pretended that she didn't. The cyan pegasus flipped over onto her back, her wings beating lazily as she hovered above Twilight Sparkle. "You can fly, and so can you, Chrysalis. So why don't you?" "I'm not sure that it's worth it," Twilight replied. "Not with all these trees to get in the way. And you told us yourself that we can't actually fly higher than the trees anyway, so what would be the point?" "Because flying is awesome," Loyalty said. "Any flying. There was this one time, me and my friend Kindness were out gathering herbs or something. Or she was anyway, I was just hanging out. Anyway, this huge manticore appeared - "There are manticores here?" Trixie asked nervously. Loyalty frowned. "Well, not any more there aren't. I can't remember where they went. It's like...my memories kind of weird and fuzzy in places, the same goes for everypony. Anyway, this really ugly manticore showed up and it roared at us, so I just started flying around it as fast as I could until I created a tornado all around it. It was totally awesome!" "What happened to the manticore?" Twilight asked, trying to work out what effect a tornado might have. "It...used its tail to get in my flight path and knock me away," Loyalty confessed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with one hoof. "But it was still an awesome stunt even if it didn't quite come off. And then there was this other time when I was practicing and I totally crashed through Generosity's roof." "Why don't you tell us about the last time you shut up?" Dawn grumbled. "Hey!" Loyalty snapped. She flew downwards to land squarely in Dawn's path. "How about I leave you here and you can find your way through the forest yourself?" "That sounds like a great idea, why don't you do that?" "Because I promised Generosity I'd get you to Celestial City," Loyalty declared proudly. "And I'd never break a promise to a friend. That's why they call me Loyalty." "I thought they called you Loyalty because it was your name?" Dawn asked. "Shut up, Dawn," Twilight said wearily. "Ignore her, Loyalty. She's just cranky because of something she can't even remember." "And you're still full of yourself even though you can't remember who you are," Dawn shot back. Twilight did not deign to respond to that. She said, "Loyalty, we're very grateful for all your help." Loyalty chuckled. "That's nice, Twilight, but gratitude isn't what you need to show me if you want to keep going." Twilight frowned. "What do you mean?" "There are lots of folks in the forest," Loyalty said. "Some of us will help you, but if you want to reach Celestial City, you need to help us too." "How?" Twilight asked. "Is somepony threatening you? Do we have to go on a quest?" "Don't be so dramatic, it's nothing like that," Loyalty said. "It's pretty simple really: you have to show us what we've shown you." "Show us what we..." Twilight murmured. "I don't understand." "You will," Loyalty declared confidently. "When the time comes." They kept on moving, the sounds of the Town of Flaws never receding no matter how far they travelled. But, as they advanced down the road, they could see some lights up ahead getting closer and closer. "Okay," Loyalty said, hovering in the air in front of them. "The place we're about to come to is called Vanity Fair. It's run by an old friend of mine who... we didn't go our separate ways on the best terms, so she won't be too happy to see me. But the thing to really worry about is you four. Vanity's a little bit lonely, and she tries to get folks coming down the road to stay with her. You can't. You have to keep on going. Try and avoid looking into her mirrors and don't believe what she tells you." "She sounds like a wonderful friend," Chrysalis murmured in a deadpan voice. "She wasn't always this bad," Loyalty said. "And I wasn't always this good. Just keep your hooves on the ground and you should be okay." Her gaze swept over each of the four ponies, and Twilight got the impression that Loyalty was judging them, though what she was judging them for was harder to tell. "If this place is so bad, wouldn't it be better to just go around it?" Twilight asked. "Doesn't work that way," Loyalty said. "Once you stray from the path, you won't find it again. We have to pass through. Just remember, don't believe what she says." Loyalty picked up the pace a little, forcing the four ponies to walk faster to keep up with her. Twilight got the distinct impression that she wanted to get her meeting with her old friend over with as soon as possible. Or perhaps she just didn't want to give their misgivings time to settle in their stomachs. Twilight, for one, actually felt grateful that the time she had to take counsel of her fears was being reduced. The lights ahead got closer. It became possible to make out exactly what was waiting for them: a large cluster of travelling stalls bestriding the road, each one festooned with mirrors of all shapes and sizes: mirrors with gilt and bejewelled frames, plain wooden mirrors, convex mirrors, concave mirrors, a mirror for every surface and every occassion. A slightly rusty carousel sat behind the mirror stands, cheerful music emanating from it in fits and starts, somewhat distorted by obvious disrepair of the device. A few gaudy red and gold tents where pitched up in the eaves of the forest, a few low sounds issuing out of them. As the four travellers and their guide got closer, a griffon stepped out of one of the tents. Her head was white, her body brown, her lions' tail snaked in the air behind her. She smiled widely as she said, "Welcome, travellers, one and all, to Vanity Fair! Where no ego is too large to be catered for and no humility cannot be driven out of you!" "Ease off, Vee, they're with me," Loyalty said. Vanity's smile became sly and knowing. "Are they now? Well, hopefully we can fix that. Has she told you to ignore me, to not believe a word out of my mouth?" "Something like that, yeah," Twilight said. "But has she told you why you ought to listen to her?" Vanity asked. "Surely such magnificent ponies as yourselves don't need somepony like Loyalty here to hold your hoof? Surely you can stand on your own, wonderful specimens like you?" She began to slink towards them, prowling like the lion she partly was. "Careful," Loyalty warned. "Keep your mouth shut, Loyalty," snapped Vanity. "I offered you my friendship and you threw it in my face! Who are you to poison them against me, to strip everything I have? Why do you get to be the good guy just because your name is Loyalty and mine is Vanity?" "Because her name is a virtue and yours is a vice," Dawn snapped. "Now are you going to let us through or not?" "A vice? A vice?" Vanity looked shocked and offended. "Who have you been talking to? There's nothing wrong with appreciating yourself, is there?" She sidled up to Dawn, her tail snaking over the golden pony's shoulder to tickle her cheek. "What is humility, but another word for putting yourself down? You should own what you are, how beautiful, how talented, how special. Wear it proud, because you are very special indeed." Dawn's face spasmed with disgust. "Get your paws off me," she snarled, nearly running away from Vanity. She rounded on her. "Touch me again and you'll regret it. Come on, let's go!" She stomped down the road, not even glancing at any of the mirrors the same way that she had not once looked at the magic mirror that Generosity had given her. At the edge of Vanity Fair she paused, looking back. "Are you ponies coming or not?" "Don't listen to her," Vanity whispered seductively, cozening up to Chrysalis now. "Who is she to dictate what you do and who you spend time with? What is she to you? Just some dull creature with talent, without authority, without worth. But you..." Vanity reached up to cup Chrysalis' chin with one claw. "You are a wonder indeed. So majestic, so beautiful, so brave and strong, I can see it in your eyes. So wise. You belong here, with me and my guests in Vanity Fair, where all the wonders of the world await. Come, come..." Chrysalis smirked. "You ask what crime it is, to known our own worth? I know mine very well. When I reach Celestial City a thousand creatures will grovel at my hooves and praise my beauty, I need no memories or details to tell me this. And they will do this not because they wish anything from me, but because I deserve it. Compared with that, why would I be content with your shallow flattery, when you demand my mind and freedom in return?" Vanity hissed in anger as Chrysalis's wings began to beat, lifting her into the air just enough to carry her own Vanity's head, through the fair and set her down on the other side next to Breaking Dawn. Loyalty, her forelegs folded her across her chest, made a noise of smug contentment with her throat. Twilight began to walk. She had a feeling it would better to try and sneak through without being noticed. "Wait," Vanity's voice stopped her in her tracks, still on the outskirts of the fair. Twilight's gaze fell upon the stand of mirrors nearby. She looked so beautiful. Twilight had never appreciated before just how lovely she looked. She turned her head to get a better look. How glossy her coat was, how smooth as silk, how practically sparkling. How bright were her eyes, speaking to the keen intelligence which lay behind them. How beautiful was her mane. Her horn. Her gorgeous wings. Twilight began to loose sight of everything but the mirrors and her reflection inside of them. Why, her eyes were pools deep enough to drown in. "That's right," Vanity murmured. "You are the fairest of them all. A face to launch a thousand ships. Why, you are even more beautiful than I am. You belong here, with people who can appreciate your beauty for what it truly is." "Will you stop talking about how beautiful she is, it's creepy," Dawn yelled. "She's not a sculpture or a painting she's a pony; an average looking pony at that." Twilight, disturbed by the shouting, wrenched her gaze away from the mirrors. She couldn't really understand why she'd wanted to stare at them for so long. "Dawn..." "Shut your mouth!" Vanity snarled. "How about you come here and make me?" Dawn replied combatively. "Twilight Sparkle, I don't like you very much. I may not remember why, but I remember that. You're a pain in my flank, but I know that I need you just like you need me, and I know that you don't belong in a tacky place like this. Come on, the past and the future are waiting for us." "Don't listen to her," Vanity yelled. "She doesn't-" "Gilda," Twilight said firmly. "You're name is Gilda." A single memory returned to her, a light in the darkness. A griffon, proud and vain and full of her own awesomeness. She remembered...it was so confusing, even this memory was shrouded in darkness. A party? Humiliation and angry words, from Gilda? But why? And why couldn't Twilight remember? "Who is Gilda?" Gilda demanded. "My name is Vanity!" "You are Gilda the Griffon," Twilight said. "And I am more than just a pretty face." She walked away, leaving Gilda behind, and joined Dawn and Chrysalis on the other side of the fair. "Did you two both remember something too?" Twilight asked. Chrysalis declared. "I remembered that I am a queen, mistress of a great people, and that when I sat upon my throne I never let flattery sway me." "What about you, Dawn?" "I remembered..." Dawn hung her head in shame. "I remembered that I have nothing whatsoever to be proud of." "Why not?" "I don't know," Dawn hissed. "Maybe more memories will tell me, but for now...I'm not sure I want to know." "Dawn-" "I don't want to talk about it," Dawn snapped. "Can we just go?" "But what about Trixie?" Twilight asked. All three of them turned to look back at Trixie, who was staring into the mirrors even more intently than Twilight had, while Gilda - or was she really Vanity, and she just reminded Twilight of a griffon named Gilda - whispered softly into her ear. "Trixie, don't listen to her!" Twilight yelled. "Why not?" Trixie asked. "She's telling Trixie what Trixie wants to hear." "But it's not the truth," Twilight replied. "The truth hurts," Vanity said. "The truth is overrated. Trixie understands that same as I do, because the truth has always been used to hurt us." "She's just flattering you!" Twilight shouted. "If you don't have friends, flatterers are the next best thing," Trixie murmured. "But you do have friends, we're you friends," Twilight pleaded. "Without your help, we can never escape from this forest. Please, Trixie, help us and we can help you. We'll be your friends, we want to be. Just, please...give us a chance." "Don't listen to her," Vanity said derisively. "You heard what she said, she just wants to use you. She doesn't appreciate you." "...Friends..." Trixie murmured, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "Huh?" Vanity said. "I'm sorry, Twilight," Trixie yelled, running to Twilight's side, tears streaming down her face. "I won't let my vanity hurt you again, I promise. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for all of it." Loyalty frowned. “I’m sorry, Vee. Looks like you lose again." Vanity scowled. “Don’t you say you’re sorry as if you pity me! I know that you’re glad to see me ground down. Well you know what, I don’t care. I’ll get the next ones to come through, like I got the last. I don’t want your pity and I don’t need it.” “I want to help you, Vee,” Loyalty said. “Why can’t we go back to the way we were?” “You tell me, you’re the one who walked away.” Vanity let out a scream of rage. "You know what? I don't care! I don't need any of you stupid, useless animals! You think any of you are worthy of my time? That any of you really deserve my attention? I had pity on you because you were so pathetic. I hope Any Hardship eats the four of you!" And with a crack like a rock shattering into pieces Vanity, and all her works, were gone. Twilight's eyes were wide. "What just happened?" Loyalty shrugged. "That's the way it is in the forest. Don't worry, she'll be back in time for the next bunch to pass through. Anyhow, congratulations you four. I wasn't sure that you could pull it off, especially you, Trixie, but I guess you're all pretty awesome after all." "Our memories," Twilight said. "Will more of them come back like that." "Yep," Loyalty replied. "Each time you pass a test, you'll remember something else. By the time you reach the Celestial City you'll know exactly who you are and how you ended up here. Now, let's keep moving. You don't want to be late for your friends in the city now, do you?"