//------------------------------// // First Try // Story: The Phantom of Canterlot // by Azure Drache //------------------------------// 700 years earlier After the fiasco with her parents, Burning Snowflake stayed hidden for a while, contemplating about her current situation and what she was going to do, that and tending to her new wounds of the heart. Her hopes of a reunion with her family had let her down more so than she had realised, and, for now, she was still on her own. But even with all the heartache, there was still a spark in her heart which gave her courage. For all of the years she had lived away from Equestria, not one day passed when she didn’t miss it. That was one thing that she had learnt very well; there was no substitute for the place a pony could call ‘home.’ This time she wasn’t going to flee to some unknown future far away from Equestria, rather, she would build up a new life—her life—here in Canterlot. In her head, she had made a list of the necessary things to do, which obviously on the top was ‘find a job.’ After all, bits paid for the roof over one’s head, one’s food, and in her case, could be helpful in convincing some important ponies to look the other way. The hostel which she slept was a prime example. With the bits that she had during her travels, she not only managed to get a place to sleep but also managed to arrange things so that nopony questioned too closely the behaviour of the strange white unicorn who came and left at any time of the day. Of course, Burning Snowflake tried to act as unobtrusively as possible when around others, but to recall all the customs and traditions of Equestria, especially those of Canterlot, took some time. It was, for example, a bad habit to eat pancakes before lunch, or for pegasi to moult in buildings. They were only minor things, but, depending on who was around, breaking enough rules would eventually catch the attention of others, and it would only take one pony to ruin all her hard work. At least, until she created a new persona. As long as she stayed in the form of a unicorn however, she obviously didn’t need to worry about losing feathers. Sure, she was able to change shape if the circumstances made that necessary or if she was asked too many questions, but to integrate into society, she needed a fixed identity. It was obvious to her that her current form wasn't the one for that task, but it was good enough to make the first steps and make contact with the inhabitants of Canterlot. It was inevitable that she would make some mistakes during her first try. Hence, the excuse of ‘going back home’ was perfect. However, there was one disadvantage to the form she chose. Ponies expected unicorns to use magic. That in itself was no problem for her, she only had to remember to create an aura around her horn every time she cast magic. In contrast to the magic of unicorns, however, her magic recovered far less quickly. The second thing on her list was, logically, to build up a stable identity. Or, more accurately, prepare for it at the moment. She had to research a bit, but she already had an idea for her new background in mind and needed only to work on the details. Burning Snowflake’s alter ego had to be somepony without any connection to her real family. The easiest way was to explain that her alter ego’s family was dead. This also would have the advantage that no one would ever ask why her ‘parents’ never showed up or sent a letter, and some compassion would come on top. On the other hoof, being an orphan would drop her down some steps of the social ladder and close some doors. It wasn't so much a problem at the moment, but it would be a problem for her plans for the future. As an alternative, it was possible to find jobs for her imagined family that explained their absence. A family of sailors or pioneers maybe. However, they would had to have been settled long enough in Equestria to count as natives, but not so long that people expected to have heard of them. The last big thing on the list was to, as she put it, ‘improve my control over my abilities’. Sure, it was a great advantage to change one’s form at will, but, and that was a big ‘but,’ nopony was allowed to see her sleep and more importantly, she had to avoid getting hurt. Not even the slightest scratch. Even if she only cut herself during cooking, per se, or got a bruise, her coat would immediately change color back to orange. It was also quite possible that she could simply be so scared her disguise would just fall away, and she would return back to her natural form. It had happened before, to the horror of those present around her. She had to work on that. No less problematic was her ability to spit fire. Naturally, it was useful in many situations, but if she got the hiccups… When it came to her attributes, on the other hoof, there was one that was bittersweet to her: her immunity to other magic. Oh, how much she loved and hated that attribute simultaneously. It was a blessing if someone tried to grab her magically against her will or if she was too close to an explosion of dark magic. Yet, it was equally a curse if she was watching a magical firework display, only being able to see the influence of magic had on basic substances instead of the colorful magical explosions themselves, or, and which was especially annoying, if she hurt herself and the doctor was a unicorn who healed with magic. By that point her cover would, quite possibly, be blown. Unfortunately, this effect wasn't limited to the magic done by others; her own magic had issues with it too. Burning Snowflake had tried for a long time to find out why her transformations, on the one hoof, worked perfectly, even when she was magically burned out. And yet, on the other hoof, she was unable to heal herself or teleport even the shortest distance away. The same was true with the nuances of her transformations. She could change back to her original form, regardless of how wounded she was, but if she had become wounded while as her normal self, changing could become a death sentence. So it came that Burning Snowflake, in the shape of a white unicorn, strolled through the streets of Canterlot. She didn’t have a fixed plan in mind for her search for work, rather she just watched for opportunities as she strolled by a few random stands, some craftsmen’s shops, and even some of the many small taverns that littered Canterlot. Even so, her interest in being a waitress or a salesmare was virtually nonexistent. Nevertheless, it did her good to be part of the ‘other side’ of Canterlot again. Namely for the desirable behaviour of the inhabitants and the lack of guards.While she walked slowly through the colorful streets she noticed with interest the pulsating life on it. She passed by a few stands here and there where the sales ponies competed over the few customers that showed interested in buying little things and also was a few times nearly overrun by some fillies which played ball games in the side streets. All this strange but not unfamiliar nor unpleasant impressions drumming on her. Burning Snowflake couldn’t help but smile when she recalled how much she had missed all this. In fact, she was so pleased with the view and the things that happened around her that she simply took a seat on a bench and spared a moment to simply watch. After a while, she heard a pony speak up from next to her. “Excuse me, is this seat still free?” When she looked up to the source of the voice she saw a grey mare with a silver mane who looked back at her smiling. “Oh, of course,” she responded, nodding, and slipped a bit to the side to make more room for the other mare. With a quiet sigh, said mare took the seat. By now, Burning Snowflake was able to see the heavy looking package on the mare’s back, which the mare placed down next to herself at that moment. “That looks very heavy,” Snowy said. “You could say that,” the other mare responded. “It feels good to drop it for a moment.” She stretched her back a bit. “It feels like I was carrying it for years, but in fact it was fifteen minutes at the most.” “May I ask what’s inside?” “Some tools for working with wood. They are a present for my husband; his birthday is today.” Burning nodded before she said, “I am sure he will be very happy with it; give a stallion something to play with and he should feel lucky.” The grey mare smiled. “So it is. He was looking for this for a while now and to his luck this week it was on sale.” After that, some time passed in peaceful silence before the grey mare spoke again. “Are you new in Canterlot? I can't remember if I have seen you before?” “What a good opportunity to test the credibility of my story,” thought Burning Snowflake. She answered loudly, “I’m from Vanhoover, I moved to Canterlot just a few days ago.” “Oh really? You haven't the usual accent of somepony from the Northwest Coast.” “My mother was from Las Pegasus,” Burning explained with the typical accent from that place. She spoke carefully and drew out the letter ‘s’ so that her attempt at saying ‘Las Pegasus’ sounded more like ‘Lass Pegasuss.’ “My father, however, was from Manehattan.” She cleared her throat and then continued on in a rather jovial voice. “Sure, he was really tough; married my mother when she just turned eighteen. Was before, let me say, he found work in Vanhoover. That was, I say, some kind of stallion.” The other mare just blinked a few times and then said, “Excuse me?” “Forgive me,” said Burning Snowflake with a smile, now again in her best Canterlot accent. “I was trying to say that my parents are from Manehattan and Las Pegasus, and moved together to Vanhoover before I was born. That’s the reason I am able to talk in so many accents. But I was sure it would be useful to speak the normal Canterlot dialect of Equestrian, so I learnt it too.” "Amazing," said her companion. "To grow up with multiple accents is a unique experience." "It also has its down sides. When I was small, I sometimes changed arbitrarily between different ways of speaking. As you have just heard yourself, it can be a bit…distracting." The grey mare nodded. "Yes, it sounds a bit strange indeed. And your choice of words, don’t take it as an offence, but I imagine rather a longshore stallion from Manehattan to this than a venerable stallion from Vanhoover." Burning Snowflake explained, "My paternal grandfather ran a transport company for goods from overseas. My father, since he was a foal, helped in the family business and so had almost daily contact with all kinds of people from around the world, such as griffins, minotaurs, and the like. During that time, he found out it is much easier to start talking to potential customers when he tried to speak in a slightly jovial tone, similar to that of the dockers. He was so proud of his discovery that he learnt their dialect in no time and started to apply it in everyday life. And so, over the years, it was his natural mode of speaking. At first, my grandparents were worried about the altered speech of my father, but it was good for business, so they tolerated it." She pointed to herself and continued. "It was inevitable that he passed the knowledge of his way of speaking to me." "I understand, but I would suggest that you stick to the choice of words and the accent of Canterlot," said the grey mare. “At least for as long as you stay here. Some ponies would probably turn their noses and refuse to talk with you, if you address them in that particular accent.” "I'll remember that. Thank you," said Burning Snowflake in a friendly manner. The grey mare lifted her pack back on and pushed it back in place before she said, "Well, I should probably get back on the road. A good day to you." "You too," she said, then thought, "Nghh, probably a bit too much. I have underestimated the bias of the residents of Canterlot towards strangers. I'll have to work on my story when I want to get a job...” Fire-Place room, Present "Forgive me if I again interrupt you Baron," Twilight said, "but I think that requires a more detailed explanation. As I understand it, Burning Snowflake grew up in Canterlot. The peculiarities of the local population should be familiar to her. And how did she know the accent of Manehattan, Vanhoover, and Las Pegasus? And how was she able to mimic them too?" Climber used the break to take a sweet from the table and took a bite before replying. "I have a possible explanation," he began, "but I could be wrong." "You mean you don’t know it?" "No, I don’t know it; like I said, not every detail of the story makes it through the centuries." With a hoof in front of him, he prodded the air, as though to a fixed point. "However, if you allow, I have enough evidence to make a good theory." After a requesting gesture by Twilight, he continued on. "We know that Burning Snowflake had left Equestria for something around six years, and we also know, almost certainly, that she had not been in the land of the griffons at that time." "How so?" asked Twilight. "Quite simple." replied Climber, "Her skills are the clue for that. You see, if it was recorded in the griffon kingdom that someone, or somepony, had become immortal, learnt to cast magic, was able to shapeshift, and even spit fire, we would have heard of it. That, or at least there would be a historical reference to these things. There would be some old legend or a myth about it. Anyway, we would have a little clue, even if it were only a fragment of an old, semi-ruined text. If not for all of her skills, then at least for one or two." He stretched both hooves half into the air as he gave a dramatised shrug. "But there's nothing. That makes me feel confident to be right with the assumption that she wasn't there at that time.” “Also, later on in her story, she made contact with the griffons and their kingdom. Her behaviour, as far as we are aware, can hint that she had never been in the griffon kingdom before." "Other countries are not as careful in preserving their history as Equestria is," Twilight pointed out, "and it would be quite possible that all indications were simply lost over time. And even if not, it would be possible that we have simply not heard of them yet. The exchange of ancient knowledge between Equestria and the griffon kingdom is not the best." "Like I said, it is only a presumption, Your Highness," replied Climber, "and I could be quite wrong. I'm going to assume either way that she was not there, or at least did not acquire her skills in the griffon kingdom." "Okay, so if we assume that you are right, Baron, then how would you explain how she came to have her dialects?" asked Twilight "A process of elimination, Your Highness. In my opinion, she learnt the dialects when she left Equestria heading westward on the waterway." Twilight’s mouth hung open for a moment before she replied in surprise, "Westward? But with the exception of a few small islands, there is nothing there." "Indeed, Your Highness, there is nothing else...that we know of.” Twilight thought for a moment, then said, "In the history of the past centuries there have been repeated expeditions westwards, but they never discovered a new country. Some of the expeditions also end up missing; it is assumed that they sunk, or were otherwise devoured by sea monsters. Even later experiments using airships to discover new countries failed. Princess Celestia has forbidden sending any more expeditions into the Undiscovered West for the last two hundred years.” Climber nodded approvingly and said, "And as it happens, a fleet of three ships disappeared without a trace on such an expedition seven hundred years ago. The Rose Carrier, the Dragonlance and the Pride of Vanhoover departed from Vanhoover, on course for the Undiscovered West. Equestria never heard from them again." "And you believe Burning Snowflake was on one of those ships?" asked Twilight "That's my assumption," confirmed Climber. He made an extravagant gesture before he then said, "There are good reasons that speak against the land of the dragons and the minotaurs. Even the Frozen North, the land of Yak's, drop out for me. Let's spare the details of why for a moment and concentrate on these three ships. Where the Pride of VanHoover and her crew were from is obvious. The Rose Carrier, on the other hoof, was built in Las Pegasus and was commanded by Golden Compass. The ship sailed for many years in the service of the merchant navy before becoming privately commissioned, or seemingly so. I am not sure if she was bought or rented for the expedition. Regardless, it can therefore be assumed that at least most of the sailors came from Las Pegasus, her home port. And last, but most certainly not least, was the Dragonlance'—" He was interrupted by Twilight's raised hoof. "Let me guess, Baron," she said. "Built in Manehattan." Climber smirked and replied, "Unfortunately not, Your Highness. Baltimare, actually." The princess huffed, unsatisfied by the answer. "Yes, it is somewhat unusual that a ship from the East Coast to be used on the West Coast, especially with a crew from Manehattan. The ship was, to be truthful, at least built in Baltimare, though; that much is historically proven." "One moment please Baron," Twilight interrupted. "I can’t help but wonder how you know so much about an expedition that disappeared about seven hundred years ago?" "Let's just say that you are not the first one to question this part of my ancestor’s story." Up until that point, the baroness had remained silent. Now, however, she chose to speak at last. "That was one of the first things that I learnt when I married into this family; from the time at which the ponies, born into the House of Snowflake, first hear of her tale, each has a personal interest in the history of Burning Snowflake." She gave her stallion a warm smile before she turned back to Twilight. "It's kind of sweet that they hardly say a word about her to the world but also discuss every little detail among themselves with enthusiasm. My youngest is, for example, sure to have solved the mystery of how the Dragonlance came to the West Coast. He maintains the theory that a giant dragon raised the ship and flew it over to the Northern Luna Ocean. It was only when the crew was able to tickle the dragon with their oars that he dropped the ship.” The baroness grinned. “I wonder how long it will be before he makes the connection between the oars and the name Dragonlance.” "Yes, well," remarked the baron, somewhat embarrassed, "there is quite a lot of room for speculation. The importance of Burning Snowflake for our family is immense, and calls for an outright hiring on conjecture." He brought the conversation gently back to the topic, "It goes without saying that everypony has to make their own theories about her, and adjust them if other clues are found. When I was a foal, I also had some very strange and outrageous theories about how she left Equestria and to which probable destination she was headed. Of course, over the years I was able to disqualify more and more of them." "Why don’t you tell the princess how you had come to your idea of the expedition in the first place?" suggested Pleasant Smell. Climber turned back to Twilight and said, "Does it interest you, Your Highness, or would you prefer that I continue with the story?" Twilight was, for a moment, undecided as to what she was about to answer, but finally, her good manners prevailed. It seemed quite obvious that the baron wanted to tell how he came to his theory, and so she only replied, "Of course, Baron." “With pleasure, Your Highness,” Climber began. “The whole thing started from the moment it was made clear that I would succeed my mother as her heir and become the next head of the house of Snowflake. She insisted that I had to care more about the laws and rules that must be abided by in order to lead a barony. To do so I visited the archives of Canterlot. I spent several weeks working through most of the books about laws and how they are created and why they exist at all. To be honest, I did so more because my mother told me to do so than out of my own interest. But on one of these days, I paid less attention to my studies; there was a Wonderbolts show that day, you see. “Of course,” he was quick to add upon seeing Twilight’s disapproving raised eyebrow, “I had to catch up with my studies and so I stayed longer than usual at the archives, hence it was late by the time that I had finished and nopony else was around. So I collected my things and headed for the exit, but when I did so I passed by a bookshelf which had an open book still left on it. I was bored, and I happened to feel a strange…attraction to the book, and so I gave it a look. I was surprised to see a very detailed and well-drawn picture of a trade galleon. When I skipped a few pages, I found even more sketches and paintings which impressed me and so, impulsively, I decided to take it with me. It has its advantage to be a noble from the House of Snowflake for sure. “That book told me a lot about expeditions, as well as what the ships of the day looked like. There were more specific things, too, including how one could make money from them and the dangers of doing so as well. It almost immediately aroused my curiosity, and so I was quick to take out more books on the subject. One told of long forgotten expeditions, including the one we are now talking about. Specifically, the expedition fitted the time period when Burning Snowflake disappeared from Equestria. I connected the dots and then the real history and my expedition theory were born.” “Most interesting,” said Twilight politely, “and your theory would explain her accents...but not her problems with understanding the behavior of the inhabitants of Canterlot.” “The explanation of that is much more simple, I guess,” said Climber, “she was still too young when she left Equestria. If she had only fled to another city, she surely would have learnt the peculiarities of the people of our nice and beautiful country whilst she grew up. This way, on the other hoof”—he raised his forehooves again—“she knew nothing. It doesn't matter which theory you believe as to where she had gone to, she only learnt the culture of that place.” For a moment, Twilight was quiet as she thought about it, then commented, “That’s at least plausible, although not entirely convincing." "What sounds unfitting for you, Your Highness?" the baroness asked. "I, myself, found this part was always the most convincing of my husband’s theories." "I'm not sure," replied Twilight. "It seems somewhat suspicious that a pony of eleven years would be able to forget everything so simply." Pleasant Smell smiled leniently, as her motherly wisdom kicked in. "As far as I know, you have no foals yourself, Princess?" It was more a statement than a question, but Twilight shook her head. "Foals of a young age are highly influenced by their environment, Your Highness, and I see it every day. When Burning Snowflake left Equestria she was about eleven years old and she fled under traumatic circumstances. It seems only logical that she repressed most of which she learnt here, and perhaps she wanted to forget it as well. If a foal is thrown into a new culture with this state of mind, they surely will learn the new culture in less time and abandon their old one.” Twilight ran the hoof thoughtfully over her chin. "I'm still not entirely convinced, but I trust a mother's opinion. Now that we have clarified this, for the time being, how did the tale go on, Baron?" The baron had, during the short time that Twilight had been talking with Pleasant Smell, managed to add some firewood to the fire and with the poker, jabbed them into place. "Of course, Princess. I will continue with the story, if you just give me a few seconds." After he was satisfied with the, again, pleasantly burning fire, the baron hung the poker back on the wall and returned to his chair to begin again with the story. "After Burning Snowflake’s first experience at telling her self-woven history to the Canterlot ponies, she began to further refine it. It was during this time that she managed to get her first job...”