//------------------------------// // Round 2 - Mango Leaf // Story: Rachis Barbule // by Cosmic Cowboy //------------------------------// ---------(-<@>-)--------- Gather around, little zebras, and I'll tell you a story. It's time to learn history, your ancestors’ glory! -----<@>----- You all know the tale of the Dark Thousandth Year, When Kingdom and Princess were bested by fear. ---<>--- For two decades more the Sun hid her face, Until the six Elements restored her to place. ---<>--- But the story I tell you today is more common. I speak of a zebra, Zecora the Shaman. ---<>--- One night the Moon said she was guilty of crime, The details of which have been long lost to time. ---<>--- The dungeons of Nightmare were dark and quite cold, And too many ponies within it grew old. ---<>--- But she did not complain and she did not despair, Zecora brought comfort to cold prison air. ---<>--- She helped the poor inmates, gave them sound, good advice, And helped them feel happy as they payed out their price. ---<>--- Two such poor souls came together one night, Servants the Queen had sent out of her sight. -----<@>----- One was named Mango Leaf, a preparer of treats, Who so loved to freeze things he hated hot sweets. ---<>--- His passion was Yogurt, a more recent invention For which the Dark Queen would spare no attention. ---<>--- Her passion was Coffee, served fresh every night, Which Mango thought wasn’t entirely right. ---<>--- Weary grew Mango of serving drinks hot, So one night he concocted a drink-cooling plot. ---<>--- Unfortunately he forgot his Empress required Her coffee be warm, and fresh from the fire. ---<>--- But on Mango went, chilled the drink with a smile. “Iced Coffee!” he called it, with flourish and style. ---<>--- Needless to say, Nightmare Moon was fair cross! Poor Mango straight into the dungeons was tossed! -----<@>----- The other new inmate had once served his Queen By using his magic to keep her wings clean. ---<>--- This poor unicorn’s name was Rachis Barbule, And he’d gone to great lengths to procure the best tools. ---<>--- He had combs, he had brushes, and spells well-prepared. Her wings were his life, no expense had been spared. ---<>--- But one day, after applying perhaps too much oil, The Queen met a spark, and his career met a foil. ---<>--- The Moon’s flaming wings were a breathtaking sight, But in truth they caused Nightmare no lack of sheer fright! ---<>--- A charge of high treason found Rachis thereafter, And he thought he had met with the end of his laughter. ---<>--- But his hope was rekindled, alongside Mango Leaf. The kind words of a zebra put an end to their grief. -----<@>----- One night both woke sweating, and sat up in their beds. Both had had Nightmares, dark dreams in their heads. ---<>--- They went to Zecora, who was known to make sense When the Empress of Dreams a message dispensed. ---<>--- The Nightmare was wont to create fearful dreams For her prisoners, for she loved the sound of their screams. ---<>--- But Zecora had found that much could be gleaned From the nature and features of every such dream. ---<>--- To some the Queen gloated, and laughed at their luck. Others she yelled at and tortured and struck. ---<>--- But in dreams, it would seem, you meet the true pony, And the Queen of the Dreamworld could sort true from phony. ---<>--- These she would pity, it seemed from their visions, As soon after waking they were frankly forgiven. ---<>--- And Zecora could tell, once a dream had been told, If the dream was a pardon, a mock, or a scold. ---<>--- So when the moon rose up high and the inmates awoke, To Zecora the two disgraced serving staff spoke: ---<>--- “Dear zebra, please help us and give our minds peace. Are the two of us fated for early release?” ---<>--- “Calm yourselves, ponies! Speak one at a time,” Zecora began, unerring in rhyme. ---<>--- “Tell me your dreams, but first tell me your crimes. Your fortune may sink, but let’s see if it climbs.” -----<@>----- Rachis went first, telling tale of his life, And how his profession was the cause of much strife. ---<>--- “The Queen was to meet with a King, old and grand, The ruler of Haissan, a large far-off land. ---<>--- Now the preenist before me was jailed just as I. His only crime? Failure! I just had to try! ---<>--- It was a special occasion, so I pulled all the stops. I used my best oil, and squeezed six extra drops! ---<>--- By the end of my session, the Queen’s feathers shined! The light off her wings near left me half-blind! ---<>--- It was really quite something, the best I could do, And though I shook in my horseshoes, I hoped that she knew. ---<>--- But she sat at the head of the table that night, A little too close to the hearth’s heat and light! ---<>--- Or maybe a candle she carelessly brushed That took issue with oil that made her wings lush. ---<>--- Regardless of cause, her wings took to flame! An assassin's attack? Was poor Rachis to blame? ---<>--- She accused me of treason, enchanting the oil, To dethrone the tyrant, or bring war to boil! ---<>--- I should have plead innocent, it was none of it right! But fear of the Empress kept my mouth shut tight." -----<@>----- "That's how I got here, now on to my dream. In my sleep, wings of pegasi did I preen. ---<>--- How they shined! How we laughed! Oh, this had I missed! I’d forgot just how much my old job brought me bliss. ---<>--- These years have I served her, and no one but her, How I hate her black feathers, black hooves and black fur! ---<>--- In my dream I was free to serve whom I chose! To my shop came the Wonderbolts, standing in pose! ---<>--- They promised me bits, and I sat them all down, But behind them came Nightmare, through Canterlot town. ---<>--- She asked me to serve her, so I gave her a chair, And told her that once I was done, I’d be there. ---<>--- But she would not wait! It had to be then! She told me to abandon the Wonderbolt Ten! ---<>--- I told her I couldn’t, their business was good. She ordered my service, but her voice I withstood. ---<>--- I helped all the Wonderbolts, no feather astray, But to my sheer amazement, they flew off without pay! ---<>--- The Queen sat there waiting, as upwards they flew. They gathered an army, a great bloody coup! ---<>--- I sobbed as I watched my dear Canterlot burn, And the whole while the Nightmare watched beside me, astern. ---<>--- ‘This whole thing might just not have happened, you know,’ She whispered as ash fell from high, just like snow. ---<>--- ‘If you had just served me, and never looked back, Your world would have order, and your life stayed on track.’ ---<>--- I whimpered and groveled, as flames swept around me, And promised I’d serve her my whole life, quite gladly. ---<>--- It was then I awoke, and I came when I could. Now tell me please, zebra, does my outlook look good?” ---<>--- Zecora sat silent, and watched him with pity. Too many, she thought, like him in this city. ---<>--- “I would not fear too much, my dear humble stylist. Of the dreams I have heard, yours is by far not the vilest. ---<>--- In your case, you may have a pardon in store, If you question the Empress’s rule here no more. ---<>--- I may not agree with the choice that you made, But it may be what causes her anger to fade.” ---<>--- Rachis hugged Mango, and started to cry, And from that moment onward did his spirits fly. -----<@>----- Then Mango Leaf turned to the kind, wise Zecora, Still beaming from sharing in Rachis’s aura. ---<>--- “Oh zebra, please tell me my fate is the same! My crime was much milder, involving no flame. ---<>--- I served the Queen coffee, night in and night out, I spent all my time pouring it black from the spout. ---<>--- The kitchen staff is prone to Her Majesty’s vex, And we all questioned constantly whom we would lose next. ---<>--- We worked very hard to keep the Queen’s favor. In case we might bore her, we’d try out new flavors. ---<>--- My coffee was average, I feared, not the best, And only got worse as my nights there progressed. ---<>--- My own little changes were met with distaste, And Nightmare Moon told me ‘Improve it, posthaste!’” ---<>--- I despaired for my life, and my poor coffee skill, And I longed for my old job, of making things chilled. ---<>--- My talent was wasted on brewing hot coffee! I’m born for froze yogurt, iced tea, and cold toffee! ---<>--- I needed a way to twist talent to need. In desperation, I followed my one simple lead. ---<>--- I’d serve her cold coffee, though my life might be ended! It’d taste beyond better, be beverage transcended! ---<>--- My powers with cold stuff left other cooks wanting. I knew if she’d try it, the Queen would be fawning! ---<>--- But that was the trick, as my shaking attested, When I knocked on her door, my hope in hoof rested. ---<>--- She stared at the mug, and its sad lack of steam, The ice cubes held within, and the layer of whipped cream. ---<>--- ‘What callest thou this?’ she asked, o’er my tray, And I felt all my confidence melting away. ---<>--- ‘Iced coffee, Your Highness,’ I stammered in fear. ‘I’ll gladly explain, if you’ll lend me your ear. ---<>--- ‘The coffee I make, as you surely have noted, Is hardly redeemed by the stuff in it floated. ---<>--- ‘My talent, you see, is more suited to freezing. When I’m forced to brew hot, my skill is left wheezing. ---<>--- ‘But when left to brew cold, as you’ll see if you taste, My talent can shine through, and not go to waste! ---<>--- ‘I promise this coffee, though cold and on ice, Is the best that you’ve tasted, and brings out the spice! ---<>--- Well, that’s what I would say, if only I could, But I was arrested as soon as she stood. ---<>--- So that’s how I got here, now on to my dream. Dear zebra, please tell me, am I also redeemed?" -----<@>----- "In my dream I was home, Hoofolulu restored! The sun shone down brightly, and I was happy once more. ---<>--- I sold treats from my cart, to the young and the old, Gave relief from the heat with a snack that was cold. ---<>--- My family was there, and my friends all as well, All the faces I think of as I sit in my cell. ---<>--- I cried as I served them, for I knew in my heart That in the waking world Nightmare Moon kept us apart. ---<>--- And just as I thought this, the Sun sank down low, and the Moon took its place with a far colder glow. ---<>--- A chill filled my bones that did not come from ice, And my loved ones all scrambled, like cat-fleeing mice. ---<>--- I followed, not wanting to be left alone, And we locked ourselves into my old family home. ---<>--- We waited together, our spirits quite dire, And tried to keep cheer as we sat round the fire. ---<>--- I tried to serve yogurt, but no one was willing. Without the sun, no one had want for my chilling. ---<>--- I went into the kitchen to clean up my mess, And cried by myself for unbearable stress. ---<>--- When I came back to the fire, to my outrage and anger, My family was gone! In their place sat a stranger! ---<>--- An old nag, as dark as the space between stars, Who gave out a sad wheezing that rattles and jars. ---<>--- She cackled at my protests and grinned at my scowls, And I gagged at the spittle that flew from her jowls. ---<>--- ‘What’s wrong, boy?’ she asked me. ‘Do you not like the night? Do you not love the respite from the sun shining bright?’ ---<>--- ‘Not really,’ I answered. ‘Each night it grows colder. Can we not have it back, ere I grow too much older?’ ---<>--- ‘I’m afraid we cannot,’ the nag said with a leer. ‘You’ll learn not to miss it, inside of a year.’ ---<>--- ‘But my friends and my family have all gone away, And my home is now darkened and cold without day.’ ---<>--- ‘If it’s home that you want, I think I can find A place you’ll be useful, with others of kind.’ ---<>--- ‘Oh please, not to coffee,’ I begged the old housewife. ‘A life without passion is not hardly a life.’ ---<>--- ‘Are you sure you’ll not do it, and give it your best? I promise you good work, you’ve not failed your test.’ ---<>--- I stood there and pondered, my hoof to my chin, Of chances and changes, and favors to win. ---<>--- Suddenly on top of the mantle I saw In a mirror, a cup with a mango and straw. ---<>--- My Cutie Mark! My very own talent and passion! My whole reason for living! My soul, in a fashion. ---<>--- I turned away from the Nightmare, for Nightmare she was, And bucked her right out of my dream, just because. ---<>--- I woke straight away, and I came straight to you. Now tell me please, zebra, will I go free too?” -----<@>----- Zecora was crying, as all free folk should, When they meet such a pony, so valiant and good. ---<>--- But her crying was bitter along with the sweet, The air grew so tense, she could hear her heartbeat. ---<>--- She smiled and she sniffed, and she rubbed at her eye, For she knew she would soon have to bid him goodbye. ---<>--- This wasn’t the first time she’d heard such a dream, With such courage and passion and love in its theme, ---<>--- And every last pony a dream like this had Was gone the next day, to a fate that was bad. ---<>--- The Moon would not stand for defiance, not a bit. Not even in prison, in the darkest of pits. ---<>--- In court, she passed sentence, or so it was claimed, But true judgment came after, in the dreamscape she tamed. ---<>--- The Nightmares decided the fate of each soul, From the most hardened criminal to the freshly-born foal. ---<>--- The nighttime brought darkness, o’er land and o’er life. And under, dark feelings in the world had grown rife. ---<>--- Zecora knew, more than most, what was wrong with the world. That is why she could tell how these things would unfurl. -----<@>----- She told Mango his fate, but she told him with pride, For no matter his end, he stayed on the right side. ---------(-<@>-)---------