//------------------------------// // 52 - Mirror-rorriM - Part Nine // Story: Letters From a Little Princess Monster // by Georg //------------------------------// Letters From a Little Princess Monster Mirror - rorriM - Part Nine Author’s Note: For those of you who may have forgotten in the (counts days, swears slightly) three months since I’ve updated this ongoing story, during this arc, Monster has A) managed to mind-swap Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara, B) kept this a secret from most of the big ponies in Ponyville, C) tagged along with the whole crew as they went to Fillydelphia for ‘Scootaloo’s’ wing-doctor appointment, D) and met Moondancer at the Funland amusement park, a traumatic event for both of them, but which turned out well. It is now approaching evening, and Princess Luna has been talked into replacing Dust Storm as the actress who plays Princess Luna in the amusement park’s production of The Elements of Harmony (two shows a day, three on weekends). Nothing could possibly go wrong with this, could it? Let’s watch. Amusement parks have several techniques for preparing the crowds for departure after milking as many bits out of them as possible. They can have fireworks, or some sort of extravagant show around the park entrance, but Funland Park(LLC) believed in leaving the little colts and fillies excited, upbeat, and eager to return once the parents had accumulated enough bits. Over the years they had experimented with many of the standard presentations, but recently they had discovered The Elements of Harmony was an excellent way to get the smaller ponies all ready to leave and happy to spread the word among their diminutive peers about their experience. Plus, it could be considered an educational exposure to the story behind Equestria’s newest princess, or at least the one ponies knew about. This evening as the blazing sun approached the horizon and older ponies began to subtly nudge their progeny towards the front gates, a series of dark clouds began to form far above Daring Do plaza. The ominous clouds gathered slowly at first, then more rapidly, accompanied with low rumbles of thunder and faint flashes of light in the sky. It could have been considered some sort of natural phenomena, except for the public address system playing a similarly ominous musical number, which began to build in volume also. “The staff and management of Funland Park(LLC) would like to welcome a very special guest for this evening’s performance of The Elements of Harmony,” called out the announcer over the sound of the music and the grumble of thunder in the dark clouds which began to blot out the crimson sunset. “Direct from Canterlot, our own Princess of the Night, put your hooves together and welcome—” A blinding bolt of lightning flashed downward from the low clouds, striking the top of the tallest arch in the plaza with a burst of light and crash of thunder, making everypony look away for a moment. When they looked back, a tall and considerably armored dark alicorn was standing on top of the arch, her wings outstretched and peals of villainous laughter sweeping over the crowd of both big and little ponies. “Greetings, my sun-loving subjects,” she cackled as the wind began to pick up in small gusts. “It has been so long since I have seen your faces. Can any of you even remember my name?” “P’ncess Luna!” called up one little filly. “The Candy Princess!” called up several others. A series of giggles swept around the watching ponies until ‘Twilight Sparkle’ stepped forward out of the crowd and raised her voice. “I do!” she called out with her head held high and a determined set to her jaw. “You’re the Mare in the Moon. Nightmare Moon!” “Correct!” declared Nightmare Moon with a terrifying cackle of glee that had several of the little ponies in the crowd screaming in panic. She paused before delivering her next line, lowering her regal head and looking almost straight down at a small filly under the arch who had scrambled under her mother for concealment. “You do know this is just a play?” whispered Luna, sounding terribly guilty and not very quiet. The little pony poked her head out from under her mother with some encouragement and looked up at the towering alicorn far above her. “Yes,” she whispered in a quiet voice which somehow could be heard all around the crowd. “Will there be candy afterwards?” “Of course,” whispered Luna back, somehow also being able to be heard all across the crowd, most probably due to the low blue glow coming from her horn. “Everypony gets candy after the play is over.” “Yea!” declared the little pony in a somewhat louder whisper. “Good, good,” murmured Luna, lifting up a hoof and looking at a small scrap of paper under it. “Now where was I?” “Correct!” called out a little pony in the crowd. “Ah, yes,” said Luna, returning to her previous position as the lightning crashed behind her and the wind whipped her mane into a frenzy. “Correct! Enjoy this day, little ponies, for it shall be your last! The night shall last forever!” “No it won’t, Nightmare Moon!” shouted ‘Twilight Sparkle’ as the rest of her friends gathered around her in the plaza. “We’ll stop you, with the Elements of Harmony!” “Noooo!!” shouted ‘Nightmare Moon’ as a rainbow of light shot up into the air and struck the posturing dark alicorn. As she vanished, the cheering audience found a scattering of advertisement cards fluttering down from her former location, each card having a small beet-flavored candy or two attached to them as well as a discount coupon for the upcoming evening show. Far outside of the mad scramble for cards and candy, by the very edge of the plaza and next to several taller bushes, a tall, dark batpony standing at the edge of the crowd lifted her wing slightly, revealing what looked very much like a small alicorn version of Twilight Sparkle with a bad manecut and a pink t-shirt boldly proclaiming her identity. Monster snuffled a little, wiping her nose on a tissue as Dust Storm looked down with as much benevolence in her normally cold smile as she could muster. “Twilight, did you see how well Princess Luna acted her part?” The little alicorn nodded, rearranging her yellow cloak in order to get her wings tucked out of sight. “She was very scary. Not as scary as the first time, but really bad. I mean good. She’s good at being bad.” Twilight wiped her nose again and checked her notepad, which she had been holding up in front of her like a shield while taking notes. She spoke slowly, as if practicing every word before sounding it out, but a small hint of deeply-buried fears could still be heard in her voice. “I know why you told her to talk to a little filly when you were working with her in rehearsal. Scary is only fun when not real.” Dust Storm nodded. “It’s called ‘breaking character.’ We try our best to avoid it, but occasionally the little foals get confused about what’s real and what’s not. Sometimes, even ordinary ponies can get the wrong first impression.” After a long consideration of her own membranous wings, Dust Storm gave a faint frown before looking out into the crowd where the rest of her fellow actresses (and one actor) were shaking hooves and giving autographs to the assembled munchkin multitude. Princess Luna in her Nightmare Moon costume had seemed to be a little reluctant to wade out into the sea of little ponies at first, but the rest of the actresses had convinced her to step out for what was most likely supposed to be a few quick words and perhaps a hoof-shake. Instead, she was nearly mobbed by little ponies, all hopping up and down in joy at being able to meet Luna. Even Midnight Sun in her Princess Celestia costume, the ever-popular pony princess when working the crowd, had faded back to enjoy a little slack in her normally hectic routine. The mane enchantment which the Svedish actress was wearing was performing far better than usual, flowing down her white sides in a fair waterfall of soft pastel colors that had little foals diving into it and playing tag around her gold-clad hooves. The tall Svedish mare had never looked more relaxed and comfortable around the little ones, with a sly little smile on her lips which she had worked on so long but never had been able to carry off with the relaxed casualness of the real Princess Celestia. Ever since she had taken this acting gig and put on the Princess Luna costume, Dust Storm had tried her hardest to imitate the same mannerisms of the Princess of the Sun, but now she could see how incredibly wrong she had been playing the part. Luna was not some distant goddess, setting hoof upon the ground as if she were just visiting from the heavens. She was real in a very direct and common fashion, able to look somewhat disgusted when a sticky little foal shook hooves with her or to laugh from the bottom of her barrel when a little pegasus colt whispered something in her ears which must have been hilarious. “Whoo, dees iss just a little weird,” sounded a deep and familiar voice behind Dust Storm, which made her whirl to look at the unexpected pony. If Midnight Sun is here, then who is out in the crowd playing Princess Celestia? The tall earth pony mare loomed up at Dust Storm’s shoulder, looking more like a bodybuilder with a crew cut than the Princess of the Sun. Resuming her forced Canterlot accent and giving Dust Storm a friendly shoulder-nudge that conveniently also gently bumped Twilight Sparkle between them, Midnight Sun added, “Seeing yourself like that, the way you are supposed to be playing your part in the performance. It really affects the way you see your role in life, eh ‘sister?’” A quick confirming glance by Dust Storm out into the crowd of little ponies in the plaza showed the real Princess Celestia, nearly glowing with suppressed joy at the embarrassed happiness of her sister and the surrounding little foals. The sun princess glanced back in their direction, giving an almost blatant wink at the two actresses and their little alicorn companion before returning to her signing autographs and posing for photographs with the little ponies and her lunar sister. “She looks happy,” whispered Twilight Sparkle from under her concealment. Dust Storm and Midnight Sun exchanged glances. As little as they would like to admit it, the young alicorn made them both nervous. The Elements of Harmony play portrayed a sweet version of events which both of the actresses had long ago determined did not match the exact events on the ground, but the wild tales Twilight’s little friends had recently told them about the night Princess Luna was freed had exceeded even their wildest speculations. It had been a long and tortuous road from the little unicorn filly Twilight had once been to the raw amount of power and control she displayed almost casually now. Although the two actresses portrayed the Royal Sisters, the idea of facing that kind of threat and power even once was daunting. The young unicorn ‘Aunt Quick Fix’ who seemed to be the designated adult in the group also had a somewhat wary expression every time she glanced in Twilight’s direction, which the two actresses could sympathize with totally. “Princess Luna has had a very rough time,” said Midnight in very slow and deliberate words. “She is very lucky to have friends such as yours.” “Not her,” said young Twilight. “Me.” Moondancer and her friends were just as surrounded by adoring little ponies, each of them portraying their own Element. They did seem happy, six friends working together to bring friendship to others, and Dust Storm had felt their friendly touch, even if she had not fully embraced it at the time. She gently bumped shoulders with her fellow actress again and considered the common thread which linked them all together, a little alicorn who would only refer to herself as ‘Monster.’ “When I was very young,” began Dust Storm almost without realizing it, “we were told the Princess of the Moon was a goddess who fought Nightmare Moon. She protected Princess Celestia by sacrificing her own life and entrapping the Nightmare in the moon to save all of us. I thought it to be true, at the time, and it made me happy to know how brave Luna was. Then when Princess Luna returned and all of us learned about the Elements of Harmony, we accepted it as truth, and once again, I was happy about how she had returned to her sister’s embrace after such a long absence.” Dust Storm tightened up her wing from where it lay over the little alicorn and felt the pressure of Midnight Sun as she contributed to Twilight’s gentle hug. “Today, I learned yet another truth, and I have never been happier to know our Princess of the Moon has such wonderful friends. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?” ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ The words stuck with Monster through the play and Princess Luna’s rather enthusiastic portrayal of… well, herself. Monster was happy, in some fashion she had never experienced in her fragmented memories. Princess Luna was happy. Princess Celestia was so happy she seemed to be on the brink of breaking out in a very unprincess-like grin at any moment. After the play was over and Monster had another chance to talk with her old friend Moondancer, they both were happy. Crying, but happy. On the train ride back to Ponyville, all of her friends were happy too. It was… weird. Monster was used to bringing pain and misery wherever she went. Despite her fears about going into a city and being surrounded by so many strange ponies, everything had gone fairly well. Even the broken glass comprised of shattered memories rattling around in her head was becoming a mix of anticipation and joy amongst the dread. She took the second snowglobe out of her bags and shook it, watching the little flakes of plastic float down across the fantasy castle which dominated Funland. It had been a thrilling day, but there still was a pit in her fruit. Her friends had all gathered together in the sleeper car to talk about their experiences, and within ten minutes of the train picking up speed, they had all fallen asleep in a large, warm lump. All except Diamond Tiara, still in Scootaloo’s body, who had been relegated to sleeping by herself at the far end of the bed. It seemed unfair. Even though the little pony was ‘a pain in the patoot’ according to Apple Bloom, she was still trying to find her place in the world much like Monster, whether for good or bad. As the train swept along in the darkness, Monster climbed up into the bed and slipped next to Diamond Tiara, pulling her yellow cape over the two of them before putting her head down and trying to sleep. ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ Hours later, as the clock in the residential section of Sweetie Drops Candie Shop struck twelve, Lyra looked up at the wall with a yawn and declared, “Look at the time, girls! We’ve been talking all night.” “Not all of the night,” said Minuette with a giggle. “Technically, only half of the night, and I don’t get to hang out with you girls very often. Pass me the caramel corn, please.” Twinkleshine yawned too as she lifted the tub of popcorn from her side of the table and floated it over to her friend and fellow unicorn. “I’ve got to get some sleep before I catch the morning train back to Canterlot, girls. If I don’t, I’ll be staggering around at work like a zompony. Brainnnsssss…” She mimed nomming at Lyra’s head, only to have the chuckling green unicorn push her away. “Hey, only my Bon Bon is permitted to nibble on my ears, and she went to bed hours ago.” Lyra giggled some more, just like the rest of her friends. “She’s going to kill us for eating up all of the toffee.” “Woot! I found an extra piece hiding under the wrapping paper,” declared Minuette, waving the small fragment of toffee around in her magic. “Who’s at the door?” A very small and timid knock at Lyra’s door made the three young unicorns look around among themselves, trying to figure out just who was up so late at night in the relatively quiet small town where even the roads would have been rolled up in the evening, if dirt could roll. It certainly was not Twist, who had her own key and tended to enter her big sister’s little house with all the shy reluctance of an onrushing avalanche. “I got it,” declared Lyra, hopping up from the table and trotting towards the door. She snatched the last piece of toffee out of mid-air with her teeth as she passed, and chewed it up while saying, “Do you think it could be Lemon Hearts?” “Naa,” said Twinkleshine. “She’s birdsitting. Philomena laid an egg and Celestia has half of the staff studying up on phoenixes. Phoenixi. Phoenixesses. Whew, it is late. It’s probably Twist, back late from her crusading with her little friends.” “Hello!” declared Lyra as she opened the door and froze. There were two small ponies standing outside, one of whom was Bon Bon’s little sister, Twist. She was loaded down with carnival fare, wearing a bright pink t-shirt labelled ‘Sweetheart’ and still seemed to have some cotton candy in her mane, but the sight of the pony to her side was what nailed Lyra’s hooves to the floor and made her unable to breathe. Lyra had never really gotten a good look into Twilight Sparkle’s eyes since she had shown up in Ponyville. The emotions churning in Lyra’s gut had just seemed too much for her to handle, so she had looked everywhere else except at the old friend who she had last seen in the school waiting room before Twilight had blown the top off the school testing tower and nearly killed all of Canterlot. Twilight Sparkle was carrying a saddlebag nearly as stuffed as Twist’s, only neatly packed and probably alphabetized, if Twilight had retained any of her old habits. She looked so much like the little filly who Lyra had played with in Canterlot and yet so different at the same time. Still, it was the t-shirt that nearly made Lyra break out into tears. “Hello, Twilight,” said Lyra, deciding that two words were about as many as she could handle at the moment. “H-hello, Lyra.” Other than a series of tremors traveling up and down her purple flanks, the little alicorn remained silent and unmoving afterwards. The rest of Lyra’s friends had gotten up from the table when they heard Twilight’s voice, but they stayed back, hesitant at possibly scaring away their old friend, leaving Lyra alone between them. After a long series of uncomfortable moments and a few quiet throat-clearings from Minuette and Twinkleshine, Twist nudged Twilight and whispered something in her ear. Slowly, one muscle at a time, the little alicorn stepped forward with a small square of paper floating out of her packed saddlebag, which wobbled and bobbed in midair on its way over to Lyra. “I m-met M-moondancer.” Twilight kept her head down as she took a series of shallow breaths and Lyra looked at the photograph. “I r-remember us. You. Some things. Flashes. Friends.” “Yes,” whispered Lyra. The photograph showed a much older Twilight Sparkle and a young Twilight Sparkle, both looking rather hesitantly at the photographer, but both of them leaning against each other as if they had just finished hugging. Moondancer had left Canterlot within weeks of Twilight Sparkle’s dramatic testing failure, and Lyra could not remember ever even getting a Hearth’s Warming card from her since then. Attached to the photograph were five tickets to the Funland Park and a fairly long letter, written in Moondancer’s precise hornwriting which appeared not to have changed a bit since her days in Canterlot. “Would you like to come in?” asked Lyra as softly as she could. “Most of us are here tonight. Except Lemon Hearts.” The little alicorn trembled with one hoof moving forward just the tiniest fraction before she took a step back. “N-no. Too soon.” Twilight continued trembling next to Twist until she took a deep breath, wrapped her forehooves around the small earth pony, and gave a long, long hug. “Pass it along,” said Twilight, bolting off into the inky night. ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ Monster slipped into her tree home with no more noise than a shadow, passing the two guest bedrooms with the odd Canterlot unicorns, slipping up the stairs, and taking a deep breath before sliding under the thin sheet across her mother’s bed and tucking up beneath her warm foreleg. It was fairly obvious Zecora had not been sleeping. Monster had never been able to slip into bed without finding her mother awake and welcoming, but this time as she scooted over to leave a warm spot for her adopted daughter, there was a faint wetness to the pillow, much as if she had been crying, just a little. “Welcome back, beloved daughter of my heart.” Zecora kissed Monster gently on the top of her head and drew her up closer. “It seems like years we have been apart.” “Trip was fun. Met friends. Met old friends.” She nuzzled closer to the zebra. “Good to be home. Love you. Mom. Tomorrow, need to fix Diamond and Scoots. Tonight…” Monster rested her head against her mother’s shoulder and relaxed as she reached out with her magic into the stuffed saddlebag where she had dumped it in the middle of the floor. A glowing snowglobe floated up in the darkness of the bedroom, and she gave it one last shake in order to watch the little swirls of artificial snow around the artificial castle of Funland before sitting it on the nearby table. The other snowglobe she had purchased would be safe for the trip to her other parents, protected by the protective spell and plastic peed nuts much like Monster was protected on her trip by close friends. It was a step. A large step. It deserved to be shared. * * * "I told you, honey. I've got it under control. Go put the crowbar back." Night Light's magic flared crimson against the wards surrounding the simple cardboard box, snapping and hissing against the opposing magic with enough force to cause hot sparks to dance across the kitchen linoleum floor and leave little blackened pits behind. It was late at night in his humble home in Canterlot, but when two Equestrian princesses knocked on the door in the middle of the night with a present from his daughter’s recent trip, the question was not how fast to open the front door, but if the wife was going to beat him to the doorknob. The two princesses in question, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, stood off to one side in the family kitchen with sly little whispers to each other, seeming to be enjoying their mutual trip far too much for his frazzled nerves. “I’m sorry, Your Highnesses,” whispered Twilight Velvet while somewhat self-consciously carrying a crowbar in her magical field. “He gets stubborn like this sometimes.” “He reminds me of somepony I know,” said Princess Celestia, her eyes sparkling brightly in the flare of light from Night Light’s magic clashing against the box. “Three someponies, actually.” “Celly!” chided Princess Luna quietly, craning her neck to get a better view of the kitchen table and the current battle for supremacy taking place between a stallion and a box. “There’s not a single armored vault in Canterlot I can hide a piece of cake in without finding only crumbs the next day.” Night Light’s magic flared white in the kitchen, causing Twilight Velvet to hold a foreleg up to protect her eyes. “Are you sure you don’t need the crowbar, Nighty?” asked Velvet. “Here, let me help.” However, once Twilight Velvet and Night Light both touched the box with their magic, there was a soundless burst of light which made the box fold away to the sides like an opening flower, albeit one which also spilled out a bunch of packing peanuts. The two of them sat for a long moment in the silent kitchen, looking at the snowglobe sitting only a short distance away from a glycerine stain in the table which they had never made any attempt at scrubbing clean. “Well?” urged Luna, craning her neck over the two shorter unicorns. An almost unnoticed pair of photographs floated up out of the packing peanuts in Luna’s dark magic and hovered in front of Twilight Velvet’s nose. “What doth they say?” “Luna!” chided her sister, nudging her away from Twilight Sparkle’s parents. “Control yourself.” Celestia gave a brief glance at where the two unicorns were huddled over the photographs and cleared her throat. “So, what do they say?” Instead of saying anything, the two unicorns floated the photographs over to the Royal Sisters. The first one seemed to show the Royal Sisters alongside the same Elements of Harmony who had been seen in so many newspaper articles, with Twilight’s little friends standing in one large group, and Quick Fix somewhat shuffled into the background. Each pony was painstakingly identified on the back of the photograph in Moondancer’s neat hornwriting, with a title written across the top. My Our Friends The second photograph showed four young ponies on a roller-coaster, each displaying a different expression as the brilliant flash of the camera caught their emotions, but the back side of the photo is what held the alicorns speechless. Dear mom and dad, I did it. I traveled to fillydelphia. I went to funland. I rode the Boomer. I found my old friend and made some new ones. I’ll see you soon love you’re daughter twilight sparkle ps. let princess luna and celstia read this two.