//------------------------------// // 63 - Three-Day Promise - Part Six // Story: Letters From a Little Princess Monster // by Georg //------------------------------// Letters From a Little Princess Monster Three Day Promise - Part Six It was a good job. It was an ordinary job. It was the anchor on the Canterlot ship of state, a voice of reason in a world of insanity, and a cup of tea when ruffled feathers needed settling. In short, it was a Kibbitz, and to the unicorn who held the position of what he liked to think of as Whatever You Need, Your Highness, Majordomo Kibbitz fit that job description like a smooth round horn into a perfectly lathed round hole. When the young filly Princess Mia Amore Cadenza had been discovered and the castle staff had suffered from a bad case of hyperventilating vapors when Celestia had brought her into the castle, it was young Kibbitz who had organized her room, arranged for proper caring staff for the young alicorn, and had actually purchased a crib for her out of his own funds. When Princess Celestia had grown distant several years ago and began to act in a peculiar fashion, it was Kibbitz who calmed the nervous castle staff by lying his horn off, with a particularly intricate and convoluted fib told to cover the abrupt extension of Night when Princess Luna had returned. Of course, Celestia had set things straight upon her return to the castle that morning, leaving Kibbitz the unenviable task of providing equal housing for her sister with no notice at all. It was a task he had handled through several hours of sheer panic, ruthless delegation, tea, and the unexpected bonus of the various Nocturne clans of Canterlot showing up with the entirety of her missing furniture⁽*⁾, which they had supposedly stored for a thousand years awaiting her return. (*) He was still a little suspicious of the bassinette’s authenticity, despite the silver chasing and the undeniable lunar cutie mark on it. Afternoon court was going well today, even with the unexpected arrival of the Princess of the Moon to add gravitas to the proceedings. Three alicorns were about as much as his heart could stand, although there was a tiny little sliver of smug pleasure he held closely at the recent rumor he had heard this morning. Princess Cadence was going to use the crib Kibbitz had bought for her for her own foal, which was due in just a few months or whenever it decided to arrive, as it most probably was an alicorn too, and as such, obeyed whatever schedule he or she decreed. Currently, the Princess of Love was soaking her forehooves in ice water while contributing to the ongoing three-way discussion (with snacks) over various decisions of royal importance put forth by a quite compliant group of petitioners who were (in order) intimidated by the former Nightmare Moon (snacking on a small pile of chocolate biscuits), humbled by Princess Celestia (working on her third piece of double-double vanilla cake) and awed by Princess Cadence (on the crumbs of her fifth tray of whatever the kitchen could shovel in her direction to fuel the furnace of a hungry pregnant alicorn). It was a comforting sight to watch while enjoying the warm sun coming through the stained glass window at his back, which made Kibbitz not be surprised at all when all three alicorns looked up abruptly at once, trembling with anticipation. Experienced reflexes honed to a razor edge threw him into a long, shallow dive behind a bench just moments before all Tartarus broke loose. All three alicorns moved, in a hail of shed crowns and shoes as they abruptly bolted directly south in an unstoppable stampede of wings and feathers. It was debatable whether Celestia or Luna was the first one through the heavy wrought-iron stained glass window, moving so quickly that the wreckage and powdered glass scattered over a long slice of the castle outbuildings, but Cadence stumbled while getting up, sending the shallow hoof-soaking tub full of ice skittering across the throne room floor before kicking off her rear shoes and taking off in pursuit of her aunts. Before the thunderous sound of departing alicorns and falling glass had faded, a blast of rainbow light poured through the gaping hole where the southern windows of the throne room used to be, stopping the beginning babble of panicked ponies dead in its tracks. Kibbitz stood up from behind the bench without even looking over his shoulder at the massive hole in the wall or the source of the rainbow light. He held up one hoof, cleared his throat, and announced, “Court is adjourned for the afternoon.” He tried not to look at the silver shoe embedded into the stone wall right about where his head had been, but he did take a quick glance out of the massive hole in the side of the throne room to see three colorful streaks of light headed toward Ponyville, along with a fourth light in the sky much like a star, descending to where they appeared to be headed. Kibbitz heaved a sigh. It was probably another alicorn. ~ ~ ✶ ~ ~ The world crashed in on Monster as her body reformed in one unstoppable motion, leaving her gasping for unfamiliar breath while looking down at an unusual sight. A circular disk of pure rainbow light was still spreading out from a center point right about where Trixie was staggering up out of a shallow crater and where Monster had been terrified of seeing Scootaloo crushed into the ground with Rainbow Dash. Instead, both pegasi were skimming across the ground, with Scootaloo riding on Rainbow Dash’s shoulders after her narrow escape. Her screams of joy carried all the way up to where Monster was hovering, and the little orange wings on Scoot’s back fairly blurred with speed as she lifted off a hoof’s length above her hero and flew for just a second before some of the joy left her, and she resumed her triumphant clench around Rainbow’s neck. The colorful pegasus seemed lost in her own joy as they both spun through the sky with a long trail of colorful light, making loops and spins amidst a sudden burst of fireworks that caught Monster by surprise. They did not really scare her for a change, as Trixie was dancing around in frantic circles, firing off burst of explosive light into the air just as fast as she could cast the spells, and Scootaloo’s excited shouts of joy made her chest swell with happiness. It was a joyful overload filling her heart to the brim and overflowing, and made only better by the feeling of impact as an ecstatic alicorn crashed into Monster in a high-speed hug. ~ ~ ✶ ~ ~ It was a terrifying moment, but Luna felt the corner of her lips raise into a grin anyway as the Royal Sisters matched wingbeats in a full-speed flight to distant Ponyville. It had been so long since she had risen to the fray with her sister close beside that she had almost forgotten the joy of it all, with the panic and fear mixed in with the knowledge that Celestia had her flank no matter what happened and the trust that her sister had in Luna to do the same. With an additional strain of muscles, Luna sped her wingbeats to pull ahead of her older sister, giving Celestia a quick stuck-out tongue in return, only to have the old alicorn strain her wings too and pull ahead of Luna. Even with the critical nature of their flight, the two alicorn sisters bent to their efforts with a good-natured competition, pulling just fractions ahead of each other and trading the lead until— Rainbow light filled the sky, making both Celestia and Luna blink into the abrupt brilliance, and then blink again as Princess Cadence blew past them at such a speed as to make them seem as if they were standing still. “Unfair,” gasped Celestia as she bent her wings to greater effort. “There’s two of them.” “The advantage… of youth…” gasped Luna right beside her. “Look!” Above them, the pink streak of Cadence intersected with a high-flying purple speck in what certainly looked like a serious collision, but as both ponies began to spiral down afterwards, locked in a powerful hug, it seemed to be a reunion long overdue. The elder alicorns slowed their headlong dash when Rainbow Dash streaked upwards and looped once around them, departing just before Trixie’s fireworks spell burst in a cloud of colorful sparks nearby. The opposite riverbank was filled with cheering ponies, with even more pouring out of Ponyville to see what all of the commotion was about, but that was not what drew the sisters’ attention. Far above the young alicorns and their overdue embrace, a bright star of pale violet light was descending, fading as it fell, much as a firework which had exhausted its supply of powder and was burning to ashes in the wind. “Oh, no.” Celestia judged the descent of the distant spark of light, using several rapid flaps of her wings to change her orientation as to intercept its fall. “Cadence has Twilight, so can you deal with my student, Luna?” “Certes.” Luna considered the descending light and slapped her sister on the flank with one wing. “Hurry. We both owe that one a great debt. I shall calm thy—” Celestia ascended up into the sky in a hurried fluttering of vast wings, and Luna tumbled in the resulting slipstream. Deciding her best approach was to go along with circumstances, Luna stabilized her fall into a graceful descent and a long glide. In moments, she touched the ground next to a panting Trixie, who looked much the worse for wear. The new yellow outfit Trixie had been wearing was charred and blackened, with a crisped hole in the hat where her smoking horn had burned its way free and little fragments of her yellow cape scattered around the area from the obvious effects of a teleportation spell which had just barely managed to be completed without having the unicorn’s body parts suffer the same explosive fate. Still, Trixie seemed to have recovered rapidly from her near-death experience in order to have cast so many celebratory fireworks spells in such a short period after teleporting, although her aim could possibly use some work, as many of the spells had nearly struck the rapid pegasus. The sharp bite of leftover teleportation magic mixed with the aftereffects of the circular rainbow explosion, leaving Luna’s mane feel prickly and her tongue thick as she addressed her sister’s student. “Trixie,” said Luna, nodding her head. “Was your attempt at restoring your two friends successful?” “Our attempt,” said Trixie, still staring up into the sky where Rainbow Dash appeared to be losing steam, turning her original large loops into vast sweeping turns and glides. “And yes.” Not me. They will say we saved your daughter. The unspoken words echoed around in Luna’s mind, rising up from her bare hooves in the raw soil to the gusty breeze flowing over her feathers and evaporating the thin film of sweat she had gained from her headlong dash from Canterlot. The endless thunder of zebra hooves had cut off abruptly as the rainbow of light had burst forth from the colorful young pegasus, and as much as Luna wished to be able to see the aftereffects of this burst of magic among the startled zebra, she spread her wings and fanned them to generate a light breeze and blow away some of the leftover smoke instead. “You teleported,” said Luna calmly and somewhat redundantly. “Quite a feat, considering what Celly told me about your education.” “I could have saved her. I could have saved them both,” said Trixie. “But I fell down after I managed the teleport, and—” Trixie waved a hoof around the shallow crater her spell had caused when she had materialized just a little lower than her target landing area “—boom.” “Rainboom!” said Rainbow Dash, making a low pass over their conversation and hovering over the river afterwards. Scootaloo was still clinging to her neck with an unbreakable grin, but little fractures were beginning to show in her expression as reality started to filter back into her stunning experience. “You did this twelve years ago, didn’t you!” snapped Trixie. “You ruined my life! You triggered Twilight Sparkle’s surge! You almost caused all of Canterlot to be destroyed!” “Uh…” started the startled pegasus, only to have Trixie lunge forward and wrap her forelegs around Rainbow Dash’s neck before dragging her into the nearby river with a loud splash. “I hate you! Thank you! Never do that again! That was awesome! You saved their lives! I could kill you!” “Yeah, I’m awesome like that. Hey, no kissing!” Rainbow Dash shrugged free of her soggy unicorn imprisoner and struck out for the far bank of the river, being pursued by Trixie with alternating praise and threats to drown her. Luna was pleased. By the looks of things, a party was going to envelop Ponyville for the rest of the day and however long at night it took to have Rainbow Dash get tired of retelling her awesome feat. While she watched the three ponies cross the river, Luna felt a twinge of jealousy over their carefree lives, or at least as carefree as possible in this crazy town. Responsibility was a heavy burden, and the weight of an entire world rested on the shoulders of two alicorn princesses. The mind-exchanging spell was such a temptation. It would feel so nice to be one of the common ponies for a single night, keeping herd over a small flock of little ones with a strong male at her shoulder, but much like the two little ponies found out, the consequences could be tragic. Maybe if she were to just borrow one of the little foals for a night or two, with the parent’s permission, of course. “Lost in thought, dear sister?” Celestia touched down beside Luna and nuzzled her across the neck, giggling at the involuntary twitch she caused. From nose to tail, Celestia’s aura was glowing in the bright sunlight and putting off a dry warmth that made Luna shift a step away and flap her wings a little more to stir up the breeze. “Oh, no. Celly, you didn’t.” Celestia shrugged. “I had to. The wisp had used too much of its energy to survive the trip back to the sun without some time to recover. Twilight Sparkle held onto it inside her body for twelve years, so the least I can do is give it a home for a year or two until it’s stronger. Give me a couple of minutes and you won’t even be able to tell I’m giving it a refuge.” Luna eyed her sister. “The creature was much to blame for Twilight Sparkle’s condition. Are you quite certain you can contain its power?” Celestia giggled and ran a hoof down her chest. “I’m fine, Luna. It’s weak and sleeping to recover, so maybe you can check on its dreams at times.” ~ ~ ✶ ~ ~ The wisp was tired. The cry of agony from her friend had caught it during a delightful rise on a solar prominence thrown far into space along with many other wisps, all singing their song of careless joy while drifting back down to their warm home. The sound from the cold place had caused them as much consternation as wisps could ever feel, making them sing their own song even louder to drown out the chorus of thousands of cold creatures, all calling out their invitation. It had been tempting, for the wisp far more than the rest of the countless wisps dancing and playing in the solar furnace, for it had traveled the airless cold four times, and discovered something new each time, although the last time had nearly been the death of it. Death was cold. The chill had embedded deeply within the wisp, and would take many cycles for it to once again be content and carefree as the rest of its kind, if that were possible anymore. It knew things now, things it could not explain to the rest of the wisps, such as what four really was, and that it was much larger than one. It knew about the death and the life now, as well as the magic of friendship which had touched the wisp in a way it still could not fathom. When it heard the agonized cry of its friend, the wisp flung itself into a fifth trip across the great cold and darkness without a thought to its own death. It was needed, and that was all that mattered. The familiar path to the cold place seemed sluggish and cloying to the wisp, even after it condensed its remaining fire into the smallest form it could take and spread wings of flames to speed it on the way. The call of its friend grew louder, blanking out the rolling thunder of cold creatures dancing and chanting on the colder side of the world while urging the wisp to greater and greater speed, leaving a trail of fire in its wake as it descended into the air of the cold world. And then there was light. A burst of every color imaginable spread out across the cold world, blasting through the wisp’s form in a staggering impact and slowing its speed to a mere drifting of wind. Likewise, it brought the wisp’s friend back into the cold form she held all the time the wisp had spent with her and stopped the agonizing call she had been crying. It made the wisp want to dance with joy again, but it was cold, so very, very cold, even though it pulled all of its fire in close as it drifted down out of the sky. It could see Twilight far below, held in the firm grip of her fellow pony, with Tia and Luna and sitter, and the wisp felt a joy far larger than any it had while mindlessly dancing with the other wisps in the solar playground. The sight faded as the wisp grew even colder, although the warmth inside was worth it. The damage it had done to its friend was healing, and that was all that mattered. The cold continued to slow the wisp’s thoughts until suddenly, it went away, and the wisp was warm again. Hello, little one. You are a long way from home. Tia! The wisp wanted to shout her name, but it was too weak, and settled for snuggling down into her warmth and fading away into unexpected slumber. ~ ~ ✶ ~ ~ As parties went, it was not all that bad. The wild cheering and celebration had begun before Cadence had even landed with Monster wrapped up in her vice-like grip, leaving the little alicorn covered in tears and kisses, and suffering from what felt a little like a dislocated rib. The pain was worth it, as well as the embarrassment of staggering off behind a bush to throw up just as soon as Cadence had been persuaded to let go for more than a moment. Everything around Monster felt so real and vibrant now, as if her trip up into the sky could have been regarded as a dream by tomorrow, fading away into shadows with the dawn if she had not wrestled the experience down and forced it into paper and ink. It had taken up several pages while sitting on Pinkie Pie’s balcony and casting the occasional look at the party pony as she bounced and dashed around the festivities, and then another page or two to add her experience with her friends and Diamond Tiara, who seemed almost glued to Filthy Rich’s side down at the party. The added altitude of her balcony perch allowed Monster to keep just a little distance away from the chaotic celebration while still managing to spot all of the sub-parties going on all at once, each of which seemed to have a Pinkie Pie of their own. Even Celestia and Luna strode through the ongoing party with apparent casual joy at being out among their beloved little ponies, some of whom Luna would pick up at the slightest suggestion and spend extra time cuddling, or at least the very smallest of them. Monster had nearly ten pages of her notes done by sunset, although she could have gotten several more if her friends and Cadence had not kept dropping by at the least excuse with an extra slice of cake or glass of punch. She had so much punch and cake inside she felt a lot like Cadence, who did not look like she was going to make it through another month before popping out her foal, and thereby turning Monster into an Aunt. Auntie Twilight. It had a nice sound to it. None of her friends were real aunts or uncles, even Pinkie Pie, who had a whole bunch of sisters. Maybe even Celestia or Luna would have a little foal, and Monster could be a metaphorical aunt too. Or Trixie could make foals with Green Grass, once he came back from the griffon aerie where he had spent the last month. She stopped to consider Zecora’s pregnancy while resting the tip of the pencil on her paper, gave a brief smile, and wrote down as much of what she knew as possible. Nopony else but Zecora knew, but Luna liked secrets, and would be fascinated about what kind of foal a zebra and a changeling would have. It would have to remain a secret, since her mother had not even told Monster, but secrets like this were worth sharing just like Rarity liked to share secrets between her friends. Taking a few moments to stretch and allow her distended belly a chance to get a start on digestion, Monster leaned on the balcony rail and looked out into the moonlit town. It was so different than her first glance months ago when Nightmare Moon had descended, but the town had healed from the destruction, with the burned stub of Town Hall repaired and once again reaching up to the sky, and the banners of all of Equestria’s princesses flying proudly. There had been a party back then and there was a party now, making it feel much like a circle coming back to its origin with Monster in the middle, which turned out not to be as bad a spot as she had feared. Even Trixie seemed to be enjoying herself, despite not being the center of attention. Rainbow Dash had suggested and the rest of the town had approved a bill-burning party, where the unpaid debts which Trixie had signed for were gathered together in a big barrel, then Trixie got to throw in a match. She even did a little dance around the burning barrel afterwards, although that might have been due to one of her tail extensions catching on fire too. It was worth writing about, so Monster added another page, including a sketch of the dance which the Ponyville residents had attempted to duplicate, with much laughter and joy all around. After she was finished writing, Monster looked over the balcony rail again and watched the sleepy little foals at the party playing around the hooves of their elders on their last burst of energy before being taken back home and tucked into bed. In particular, Pound and Pumpkin Cake fascinated her, being so similar to her own little brothers back in Canterlot. The mismatched twins seemed inseparable, always ready to back each other up or boost their sibling to a previously inaccessible bit of something they should not be getting into, much like Monster’s own friends. There were still many obstacles in her path to recovery, but her friends had begun to smooth them away and work around them. It was a slow process, and would take many years to check off all the boxes on the list. Monster still could not think of meeting with Shining Armor without a cold shiver going up her back, and her parents would be even more difficult. One step at a time, with the help of her friends, she would be able to deal with her issues. One day at a time, she could make the monster she was less and less, until it was buried beneath layers of friendship and unable to hurt anypony else. And perhaps. Just maybe. She could be Twilight Sparkle again. Monster ran the duplication spell over her notes and bundled them up into two different packages. One she set aside for one of the Princesses to carry back to Canterlot, once she could get their attention, that is. Celestia had already excused herself for a quick flight back to Canterlot once the sun had been lowered, and Cadence was chatting amiably with the Cakes, most likely cramming for her final exam in Motherhood 101, but Luna was nowhere to be seen. As Monster looked around the town square in the brilliant moonlight, she realized Big Mac had vanished also around the same time, so searching for the two of them was probably not a good idea. So she made certain all of the pages were in order before turning to the second copy, tucking a note and a gem into it, and sending it on the way with a burst of magic from her horn. The dragon who she had accidentally been sending letters to had forwarded them on to Celestia after reading them, so in apology for interrupting his rest, Monster wanted to give him his own copies. From Celestia’s description of his behavior many centuries ago, he was a nice dragon and a friend of hers, and deserved the extra effort. Something scratched at the back of Monster’s mind as she picked up the notes and headed out into the moonlit town square to find Cadence. There was something missing, but she could not think of what it was. Sweetie Belle’s dragon egg was still crack-free, the zebra on the outskirts of town had not moved, even after the sonic rainboom, and there was an entire library full of old books to immerse herself in. To top it all off, Cheerilee had actually assigned homework today, a delightful collection of word searches and definitions. As Monster walked down the stairs, she met Cadence headed up, carrying yet another cupcake in her magic. “Twilight,” she said in almost a whisper. “I just helped tuck the Cake’s twins into bed and thought I’d bring you a snack.” “Full,” said Monster, stifling a brief belch. “Really full.” The words had barely been spoken before Cadence had the cupcake in her mouth and swallowed with such speed that Monster thought for a moment she had eaten the paper cover too. “Wanted to go walk around the party,” added Monster with effort. “Wanted to meet all of my friends.” The small smile on Cadence’s face grew into a warm beaming beacon of joy, sprinkled with crumbs. “May I go with you?” “Yes. Friend too. Want you to go with me.” Monster eyed the size of Cadence’s belly as they maneuvered for space and began heading down the stairs. “You sure she’s not twins?” “Just one,” said Cadence, still smiling but with a touch of her hoof to her expanded belly as they walked. “She’s hungry, so we should probably stop by the refreshment table. Would you like that?” “Very much.” Monster rubbed her neck up against Cadence’s broad side as they crossed into Sugarcube Corner’s main room, murmuring just as they reached the door, “Sunshine, sunshine…” “Ladybugs awake,” whispered Cadence. “You remember?” “Some,” admitted Monster. “More every day.” She hesitated, then kissed Cadence on the cheek. “Give that to Shiny. Can’t see him yet. But soon. Very soon.” Monster walked outside with Cadence close beside her as they went out to spend some time with all of her friends. ~ ~ ☽ ~ ~ The Canterlot train station was only relatively quiet in the middle of the night as a blue-maned earth pony sat quietly on one of the benches, waiting on the red-eye to Los Pegasus. There were still other ponies moving around the station, stacking luggage and doing whatever little tasks needed to be done so late at night, but she was the only passenger on the bench if you did not count the unborn foal swelling her belly. The mare seemed lost in thought, occasionally running a hoof across her broad girth until a deep rumbling voice nearby shocked her out of her contemplative mood. “Miss Filigree?” “No,” she blurted out, looking up abruptly at the dark Nocturne pony sitting just a wingspan away. “I’m sorry, you must have mistaken me for somepony else.” “I don’t think so.” Lowering his head, the dark pony bowed almost to the dirty floor of the train station. “Allow me to introduce myself. Lieutenant Insomnia of the Royal Equestrian Courier Service. And you are Filigree, top of your class at the Manehattan School of Business eight, almost nine years ago now when you abruptly dropped out of sight. Nine months later, you surfaced under a different name but matching physical description to give birth at Manehattan General to an earth pony filly, then vanished again. Two months later, you were a young mare calling herself Trellis, who began work at the General Brush Company, showing exceptional talent despite an unchecked background, and proceeded to walk straight up the corporate ladder right until last week, when Trellis also vanished. The ticket-seller said you were calling yourself Grid now, a financial analyst on your way to Van Hoover.” “Am I under arrest?” Grid drew her legs up onto the bench and curled up around her distended belly, rocking back and forth slightly. “No. Not even close.” The dark stallion reached behind him and pulled a letter out of his saddlebag with his teeth, placing it down in front of him. “You have a delivery. Um…” He glanced at Grid’s expansive belly. “Perhaps I should rephrase that.” “If I’m not under arrest, I would prefer to be left alone.” Grid put her hooves back down on the cold concrete floor and looked away. “Please leave.” “I can’t.” The stallion nudged the letter closer to the young mare, who gave it a skeptical look. “The Royal Equestrian Courier Service always delivers. That letter is a sacred trust. We have been ordered to give it to the mother of Diamond Tiara, the young earth pony you gave birth to eight years ago, and then to await a response.” He tapped the letter with the tip of one hoof, adding, “She looks very much like you. Particularly her eyes.” Grid pulled her hooves back up on the bench and scooted slightly to one side. “I don’t know any Diamond Tiara.” She stopped, looking at the letter with widening eyes. “No. No, it can’t…” She stood up abruptly, or as abruptly as a pregnant mare could, picked the letter up in her teeth, marched over to the nearest trash can, and dropped it inside. Returning to her bench, Grid pulled her hooves back up and looked away. “There. You delivered it. Now leave. That’s your response.” After a time of not getting a response, the young pregnant mare looked around, but the dark delivery pony had vanished as if he had never been there. She watched for him as she boarded the train and found her seat, but other than a few shadows around the edge of the train cars that seemed to follow along as the train pulled out and began to make the long trip to Los Pegasus, the night remained quiet and undisturbed. It took until the next day at noon when she was demolishing lunch in the dining car before she said quietly under her breath with just the hint of a smile, “Diamond Tiara. Her name is Diamond Tiara.” ~ ~ ☽ ~ ~ Far above the Pericorn valley, the griffon aerie had an unobstructed view of the cloudless sky, filled to the brim with stars in brilliant cascades and glittering clusters. No griffons soared in the treacherous wind currents above the jagged peaks this late at night, but one small griffon who had just grown her pin feathers into a glossy plumage sat very quietly on the bare roof of the mountain fortress with her friend. “So that’s a globular cluster?” asked the little griffon, her eyes stuck to the eyepiece of the small telescope. “It looks all fuzzy and stuff, Greenie.” “I think that’s the right one,” said the green earth pony in question, measuring the numbers on the telescope mount against the book he had opened on the ground. The faint red light of an enchanted ruby gave him barely enough illumination to read the instructions, and he was not very familiar with the equipment anyway. “According to the book, it’s made up of thousand of distant stars, one of the stellar objects making up the right hoof of the Commander, which should be the last point in our star observations for tonight, Sunny.” The little griffon made a mark on her clipboard and held it up for his inspection. The shape revealed did look a little like a pegasus, only one with three wings and five legs, but it was an improvement over the last few nights worth of observations. The sound of other hooves on the stone roof of the fortress echoed through the dark night and two young mares came into view, each of them carrying a small red-tinted lantern by mouth. “Stargazer!” The little griffon bounded across the roof and came to a screeching halt in front of the first mare, who was the deep, dark blue of night with a creamy white mane billowing down her neck. She reached out one hoof and gently wrapped it around Sunny, giving the little griffon a soft squeeze and a kiss on the top of her feathered head before just holding her as she chattered onward. “We got all the way through three constellations tonight and Greenie said he’s going to write home and get a different eyepiece for the telescope so we can see the craters on the moon without it being all washed out so we can sketch them next. Your husband is the greatest!” “He certainly is, Sunny.” Stargazer shifted her stance to give her wide barrel a little more space and took a deep breath. “Did your grandfather say anything more about letting me give birth down in the village instead of up here in the fortress?” “No.” The little griffon drooped, her tuft-like ears flattening against her skull and her beak pointing down at the stony roof of the fortress. “He gets all upset if I bring it up any more. You’ve only got another month, and he says a lot of servants have foaled up here instead of down in the dirty village. Can’t you just stay?” “If I have to,” said Stargazer with a touch to the bottom of Sunny’s beak that brought her golden-eyed gaze up to meet the pony’s deep blue eyes. Switching to Griffon, she added, “” Greenie cleared his throat and gathered together Sunny’s drawings. “In any event, Sunny, it is past your bedtime. Please go with Milktoast and allow me some time alone under the stars with my wife.” The young earth pony couple watched Sunny and her escort walk away. Once the roof of the griffon fortress was completely empty of both griffon or other ponies, they cautiously sat down next to the small telescope and bent their heads together in a way that a casual observer might consider to be a young couple exchanging words of affection. The observer would be wrong. “I can’t do this much longer, Greenie,” hissed Stargazer. “I have to tell her.” “Tell her what?” whispered Green Grass in return. “That her uncle repeatedly raped you and that the foal you carry is most probably a hippogriff? That I’m not really your husband and that we haven’t really been married for over a year? Remember, after I took over your job tending to Duke Plummets, I got to see just how twisted and heartless a murderer he is. All it would take is one wrong word and he’d kill us both, just as coldly as stepping on a bug.” “But Sunny is my friend,” whispered Stargazer, almost at the brink of tears. “If you tell her, and she lets it slip, you know Plummets will kill her too,” said Green Grass with an extra look around the roof of the fortress. “Once I give birth, he’s going to start killing to cover his tailfeathers,” hissed Stargazer as she started to cry into his neck. “He doesn’t even have to wait. If he suspects you’re not the father, he’ll rip me right in half to see what I’m carrying. Once he starts killing, I don’t think he’ll stop until—” Green Grass recoiled as Stargazer nipped him solidly on the side of the neck, then she began apologizing profusely. “Sorry! Sorry! It’s the hormones.” “It’s okay,” said Green Grass, running a hoof through her mane and holding the pregnant mare close again. “Bite me again if it will help, but that’s it. I’m a married stallion, after all.” That was worth a tense giggle from Stargazer as she clutched onto him and let her tears turn to sniffs for a precious moment. “Do you think your wife has decoded your messages yet?” asked Stargazer, running a hoof up his mane and bumping his lumpy hat down over his eyes. “I keep hoping to see Celestia and a hundred Royal Guard showing up like some divine angelic army to rescue me. Us, that is.” “I hope so.” Green Grass nuzzled up his pretend-wife’s neck for the benefit of any observers and added, “She’s a very perceptive pony.” ~ ~ ☽ ~ ~ The party had gone on far longer than Trixie had expected, and despite the punch being alcohol-free, she was feeling giddy and giggly as she said her goodnights to the last of the partygoers. Everything was going her way for a change, leaving only solvable problems for Trixie to deal with tomorrow and the days to come. No more craters, no more towers of fire stretching up into the sky, no more evil goddesses bent on revenge after being locked away for a thousand years. She had even gotten a short stack of thank-you letters from several of the town’s citizens, which was frosting on her cake of happiness. The only thing really left was the beginning of school, which Twilight Sparkle had taken to like a flock of ducks to a lake covered in breadcrumbs. Her teacher, Cheerilee, had even looked almost divinely happy, chatting among both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna tonight in a conversation filled with many giggles and whispers, most probably discussing the little dragon egg Sweetie Belle had ‘adopted.’ The addition of a fragile egg had even throttled down the normal wild behavior of the Cutie Mark Crusaders into a still-crazy-but-slightly-sane chaos, which had ponies all through the party coming up to Trixie and congratulating her on the idea. Old habits being hard to break, Trixie had still managed to deny the credit, although the citizens of the town took it as false modesty and praised her even more. As much as she did not want to do it, tomorrow would have to include research into dragon egg hatching. Fortunately, she had twenty-one thousand possible research sources. Unfortunately, she also had twenty-one thousand possible research sources. At least Spike could be tapped as Research Assistant, most probably without charge this time, as she had caught him writing ‘Uncle Spike’ for practice a few times since the egg discovery. She shuffled along her comfortable path through the library, giving Spike a pat on the head where he slumbered in his Deluxe Dragon Bed⁽¹⁾ With Coin-o-Matic Lumbar Support And Hoard Storage Compartment, dropped the stack of thank-you letters on her desk next to the unread letters from Green Grass, and made her way over to the brand-new bed which had replaced the lump-filled and slightly-smelly bed from the former librarian. (1) Available at Quills and Sofas. Allow One Week For Delivery. Ask about our Quill of the Month club discount. She shoved the sheets to one side, climbed on the sinfully-soft mattress, and was asleep before her head hit the pillow. Trixie did not even notice the glowing of blue eyes in the darkness of the library bedroom as dozens of small chitinous legs pulled the covers up and snuggled down with her until the morning light.