I usually wasn’t the type of girl that focused so much time on her looks. I honestly just wanted to look decent and get on with my life. Looking good was too much effort. Besides, I was the daughter of Bard. No boy would want me. Well, not in the pleasant way. Yet now I could sit back and clean away the grime covering my body. My other was insistent that I look presentable.
“We’re royalty now,” she would tell me. “We must always be at our best.”
‘Royalty,’ I loved the sound of it. I wasn’t just a peasant anymore. I was a princess and one day, I would be queen. I would rule these lands. The people would love me. All will love me or they will live in eternal despair. My stars will shine evermore. First however, I needed to brush my hair.
Gazing down into the river, I smiled. My skin was darkening and I believe I had grown an inch or two. I wasn’t a mortal anymore. I was something more. I was beauty incarnate. Thankfully, I had taken a few things with me. This brush was one of them. My mother used to use it often.
“She would be proud. We are royalty now. Ascended to godhood.”
I chuckled as I started to brush. I could hear some of my orcs walk up behind me, “What is it?”
“Your Majesty,” the gruff creature grunted out. “The others were wondering about Bolg and his forces.”
“If you meet any of the enemy orcs, kill them.” I rolled my eyes. “That should be simple enough. All you know how to do is to kill.”
“But the Dark One,” the orc shivered as he spoke its name. “He might get angry. He might seek revenge.”
“Revenge?” I scowled. “Revenge?!!” I turned to glare at the orc. “I will show him revenge.” After what he almost did to my family, he would pay ten fold for trying to harm them. “We will ride when the sun sets and not a moment before. Don’t dissapoint me.”
The orcs quickly ran off to get ready, eager to please me. I snorted before going back to work. They were such ugly things. A true goddess deserved minions who at least had some bit of beauty. They didn’t even have magic. ‘You had minions with magic, right?’
My other answered, “Oh yes. Several in fact. Why do you ask?”
‘I was thinking of something,’ I answered, hearing the soft padding of a large warg as it stalked me. I paid it no mind. ‘Why don’t we give some of the orcs magic? It would make up for their losses.’
My other chuckled as the warg’s growls grew louder and louder, “This world’s magic isn’t as boisterous as the magic in my homeland. There, you could never got a day without it. Here? It’s not nearly as good, but still. I might see what I can do. Some warlocks would come in hoofy. Now, about that warg…’
I felt its breath on the side of my face. Calmly laying down my brush, I turned to face the large white warg. I narrowed my eyes as I remembered one of the orcs talk about this one, “You belonged to that fool Azog, didn’t you?”
The warg bared his teeth as he growled. He could tear my head off in one bite. I simply smiled, “Well he’s dead now. Not by me, of course. By that dragon.” I felt my other shiver with hatred at the mere mention of the creature. The warg himself looked ready to pounce, so I did the first thing that came to mind.
I gently put my hand on his snout. The warg looked at me in confusion, “Don’t be afraid.” I didn’t use nearly as much magic on him then the orcs. Just enough to get it to trust me. His eyes softened and I couldn’t help but find them cute in an odd way. “You have a new master and I’m going to make sure you love it. Now,” my grin turned wicked. “Does my big boy love dwarf flesh?”
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I had a lot going on in my head right now, which was saying something. Da and most of the adults think I’m just a simple girl. I’m not. I’m smart too and I know something’s wrong here. My sister was just so… strange. I really hope she comes back soon. Those nasty orcs couldn’t get her. She’s too clever to get caught. That and she has these spooky powers now. I wonder if I can get them too.
That didn’t matter right now. She’d come home and everything would be normal again. Right now I had a more important mission. I hid behind the corner of one of the older buildings of Dale. It wasn’t much, but it was better than what we had honestly. It doesn’t reek of rotten wood. That’s nasty.
Back to my mission. I needed to stay focused, like I was when da brought those sweet breads or some fresh fruit. We don’t get a lot of that. Mostly because the people are kind of mean to us. Well, some of them. Not everyone’s mean.
Wait, no. I have to focus. He needs me to focus. The Master, I mean, Esgaroth needs me. Hehe, it’s a silly name. Fits him though. He’s kind of a silly man.
“Get your own fish,” a woman sneers at him and walks away. “The gods know you need to lose some weight.”
That’s been happening a lot lately. He was really mean before, but he was good now. Why didn’t everyone else see it? They just made him so sad. His shoulders would sag and he’d bow his head. It was so sad. I wanted to hug him right then and there, but most people wouldn’t let me talk to him. They’d push me away as if he was diseased. It was so rude.
“Tilda,” a familiar voice buzzed into my ear. “Oh I’m so glad I found you. This place has too many cats for my liking.”
“Thrush,” I squealed and pulled him into a hug. The little thing was safe with me. No nasty cats were going to eat him. “I’m so glad to see you. I was just about to talk with Esgaroth.”
“Who?” I nodded towards the big man. I really hoped he’d lose some of that weight. Maybe if he didn’t look like a pig people would like him. Thrush’s eyes widened, “My lady, I don’t think that’s wise. He’s the one that wanted to steal from my master.”
“He’s changed,” I furrowed my brow. That was it. I was just going to talk to him right now. “And I’m going to prove it.” I didn’t really have to walk that fast to catch up. Being so big in the tummy slows you down, but it did help him push off orcs. “Mister Esgaroth.”
He turned around and stared at me, “What are you doing here?” He seemed to have a little bit of his old self in his speech, so I couldn’t help but take a step back. “Come to mock me? Ha, I’d like to see you come up with something new.”
“No,” I shook my head. “I wanted to thank you for saving me.”
“Oh…” Esgaroth sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m very sorry. Being nice is something I haven’t done in… I’ve lost count of the years.”
“Well maybe I can teach you,” I smiled.
He just laughed, “You? Teach me to be nice? Oh that is rich.” He patted my head and I pouted in defiance. I’d show him. “How about you go sow some clothes or something little girls do?” I grabbed his hand and he yelped as he started to follow. “Where are you taking me?” He glared down, but didn’t really resist.
“To the nicest person I know,” I said. “Besides da.”
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I was going to kill something. No. I was going to destroy a city. Yes, something vast. Something that would scream. Something that would offer me some relief. Where are the big dragons when you need them? No. I had to resort to something I never wanted to in the first place.
Twilight Sparkle.
Don’t get me wrong. I liked her. She’s the first friend I made when I returned. She freed me from my curse and she could be of some welcome company. However, she was an annoyance when she’s frustrated… or when I stay around her too long. That and I think she might be one of those ‘mad scientists’ that I see in these moving pictures.
“I can’t believe it,” Wave Length sat in awe as Twilight’s magic went to work on a portal. “We’ve been working at it for months and she comes and does it in hours. It’s so…”
“Wonderous?” I quirked an eyebrow.
Wave Length nodded, “And a little unfair, but then again, she’s no normal pony. Not by a long shot, Princess Luna.”
I nodded, “Yes, she is not.” I did feel agitation. I would have been able to find Celestia earlier without Twilight, but… I didn’t want to get her involved. She was just so frustrating. It seemed like she had more of my sister’s favor then me. I should be the center of Celestia’s vision, not her. Why did she make her an alicorn? Why not someone more deserving like my friend? She made snowflakes…
I needed to calm down. Twilight was my friend too. Ugh, I should be getting some sleep. I’m getting jealous. That’s not a good sign. I looked over at the purple mare helping Twilight. Well, more just hoofing her tools.
A ‘Starlight Glimmer’ if I had to presume. An intriguing mare. I haven’t had the time to talk to her extensively, but from I can tell, she reminds me of myself when I was her age. The added scent of the big Apple male on her granted her status as a worthy mare. He was a delightful fellow. Oh the joys to be young again. I wonder if she has notes about her conquest. I hated Nightmare Moon, but I couldn’t help but find it a little fun. Maybe I’ll try and take over Equestria for my birthday. That and cut off Chrysalis’ head. Me and little Starlight as my side kick. All villains needed them, or was it heroes? Comic books are confusing.
“And done,” Twilight grinned as she tapped the large metal contraption. She wiped her brow. “Thanks Starlight.”
Starlight smiled, “Oh it was nothing really.”
“All we have to do now is funnel Discord’s chaos magic into the containers,” Twilight started to explain. “Once there, they will create an ‘order’ of sorts. Nothing explicit, mind you. Just a set order. The chaos magic won’t handle it well, but I have it in such a way the blacklash will fuel the machine and create the portal necessary to reach within a hundred possible worlds.”
“And we’ll have to rely on the fiend to find the specific one of those hundred,” I mentally groaned. “This will indeed be a long and arduous journey.”
Twilight frowned and trotted over to me, “Maybe you should sit this one out, Princess Luna. You look like you’re about to fall over.”
“I am fine,” I grit my teeth.
“No you aren’t,” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “You’ve been running a nation, dealing with Discord, and stressing over your sister. I bet you haven’t really gotten that much sleep lately.”
“I am a god!” I shouted using the royal Canterlot Voice, which shattered the glass in the windows. “I need none of this ‘sleep’.”
“Then why can I see the bags under your eyes?” Twilight sighed and did something that truly annoyed me. She hugged me. “I know you want to see your sister, but we can’t have you running off like this.”
“Then I’ll sleep on the way there,” I snorted. I was going to see my sister no matter what.
“Luna,” Twilight’s voice softened. “Please think this over. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
I was silent for a moment, touched by her concern. She truly was worthy of being the princess of friendship. I sighed, “I will take it easy, but I shall be going. You can rule over Equestria while I’m gone.”
Suddenly, a golden Twilight cane popped up behind Twilight’s head. “Well nice knowing you, Equestria.”
Discord popped in amongst us and grabbed the cane, “Twilicane. That was rude. We all know that Twilight’s chaos won’t end Equestria by the time we get back.”
“Discord,” Twilight glared at him. “I won’t plunge Equestria into chaos.”
“So says you,” Discord wagged his finger. I wanted to blow it off. Nay, I wanted to blow off his head. He calmly trotted over to the machine and looked it over. “Good. Very good. This will do the trick very nicely.”
“Then can you please put some of your chaos magic inside it,” Twilight said.
“No, I only do that with Applejack.” Discord grinned. Twilight turned green as she tried not to think of what he implied. I may have to get the poor mare a bucket. “Anyways, you’ll have to wait till morning.” He yawned, which made the walls ‘wave’. “I am bushed.”
“Discord,” I glared at the infernal spawn of chaos. “You can’t-” and then he was a bush. “... I WILL KILL YOU ONE DAY!”