Chapter 4
Throughout the whole ordeal, Megan had kept herself as emotionally neutral as possible. She had watched as PT had been paid for giving her over to the two princesses. In gems. This seemed to brighten his spirits somewhat. Two pegasi brought out a large chest containing the most beautiful, sparkling gems Megan had ever seen. When they'd flip the lid, revealing its shining contents even she momentarily forgot her situation as she strained to glimpse them.
They were larger versions of the ruby that PT had given her to use to hide her from the effects of the glowing rock thingy. Megan cast her gaze from the chest towards PT's saddle bags. He could see a bright glow from within. Staring at it, she realised it was that detection device she'd been thinking about earlier. It was reacting rather enthusiastically to the gems in the chest. Even the zebra mare who'd forced PT to hand her over to the unicorns looked impressed. PT was trying not to meet her gaze.
Listening to the conversation, Megan could make out the unicorns using a very familiar zebra word. A few more repeats and Megan remembered where she'd heard it before. That word they used was the word PT used for his mystery item, the one he'd hoped to gain access to by impressing the princesses. Megan eyed the gems. So that is what he wanted. Her eyes floated back and forth between the gems and PT's saddle bag with the jewelled rock glowing within. So, those gems had the same properties that everyone else in this world, but her. Only more of it.
Megan was so caught up in seeing the gems that she failed to notice that the princesses bodyguard was approaching her from behind. She became aware of his plumed morion helmet in her peripheral vision and turned.
And her breath caught in her throat.
The unicorn's horn was glowing. There was a Maya blue coloured aura around his horn…
...Which also surrounded a leather collar embroidered with blue sapphires.
At first, Megan could not help but gawk disbelievingly at what she was seeing. Was that some form of telekinesis? Were these unicorns psychic? And more importantly, could they read her mind? Of course, all that was shoved violently from her thoughts as the leather collar she'd been so enraptured by was fastened around her neck.
Megan stiffened once she realised just what had happened. Her hands shot to her neck, grasping the buckle of the collar, But she did not tug. The instant her fingers touched the brass buckle, her brain caught up with reality. She had been sold to the unicorn's children as a pet. Pets need collars. If she tried to remove it, she most likely would get into trouble. She turned to look at the unicorn monarchs. Trouble was the last thing she wanted to experience with them, considering PT's dire warning about what they'd do to her should they discover her secret. Her hands reluctantly retreated to her sides, slowly.
Patience Megan, just wait until you are ready.
She'd observe, learn, and study. Then when she was ready, she'd strive off on her own. Only when she was ready. If she were going to run away, she'd need to know some vital clues about the new land she'd be calling home. What was the plant life like? Which were poisonous, and which weren't. Was there any danger from the local wildlife? What were the weather seasons like? Would it snow? How hot would it get in the summer? However, the most important question that needed to be answered was, what exactly was it that Megan lacked that would get her killed if it were discovered? She was not going to be making any moves for freedom until that question was answered.
Her planning sessions was interrupted as a small hoof touched her arm. She looked down to see Margaret holding something between her teeth: a leash. She appeared so cute looking up at her with those big, expansive eyes, that Megan almost forgot that she was going to attach a leash to her. Margaret's own horn began to glow, and the clip end was levitated into the air.
Megan momentarily forgot that she was about to be leashed like a dog as the glowing blue aura that now surrounded the clip, worked the device and attached it to Megan's collar. She blinked a few times. Could the princesses do that levitation trick, as well? She turned to look at all the other unicorns in the room. Were they capable of doing the same thing also?
All of a sudden, PT appeared before her. He had a sorrowful look on his face as he stepped forth to put a gentle hoof on her arm. Keep safe, he seemed to be telling her. Megan smiled, and slowly, with deliberate movements, bent down and embraced PT in a hug. She could not help it. Yes, he'd stolen her from Joan, and yes he'd asked her to risk her neck so that he could get his gems for a cheaper price. In spite of all this, she could not help but feel some pleasant emotion towards him. He had the look of surprise on his face, before reaching up with his own front legs to reciprocate the gesture. Then he let go before turning away from her, head hung low.
There was a pulling on her leash, and she looked down to see Margaret, the handle end of the leash now suspended within that glowing blue aura of hers. She was tugging it towards the exit. It was time to go. Megan carefully rose to her feet and allowed herself to be led from the room. The tent tunnels they proceeded through were empty of zebra's but full of unicorns in golden armour. The two princesses walking ahead of her, were almost swallowed up by the sheer numbers of unicorn soldiers as they all attempted to traverse the narrow tent corridors, before finally exiting out into the daylight.
The sun was starting to sink towards the horizon as Megan pushed aside the tent flap to emerge into the fresh air. She tilted her head slightly. It had been mid-afternoon when they first went in. Had it been that long? The unicorn soldiers formed a cordon around the tent entrance, while not too high above, pegasi glided about or hovered in the air. All their eyes were on the crowd of zebras gathering on the outskirts of the group. They momentarily turned their gaze towards Megan as one, before quickly turning back to their duties. It was then that she noticed that they were carrying shorten versions of pikes.
The soldiers all stiffened to alertness when the two unicorn monarchs trotted out. The unicorn queen looked pleased as beside her, the deshret wearing zebra trotted along talking excitedly to her. Behind her came the queen's husband and the princess's bodyguard levitating the gittern. Megan raised one eyebrow. With all that had been happening, she'd totally forgotten about that thing.
Elizabeth suddenly appeared at her side, jumping about and babbling excitedly, while Margaret trotted ahead of her, the leash suspended in that glowing blue aura of hers. She looked off to both sides at the crowd of zebras watching. They lacked any telekinesis themselves. They used their hooves and mouth to manipulate objects, while the unicorns used their psychic horns. The griffins had used their hand like forepaws. The griffins. Megan found her mind wandering back to the dinning hall of Henry the Eight. Particularly, the landscape paintings depicting triumphant battles. No doubt wars were fought on this world, and if these unicorns possessed such powers, it would not only make a handy weapon on the battlefield, but it would make sense that they would be the top dogs on this world.
She eyed the horns of the princesses. She had better not touch them. She still had no idea on the biology of these unicorns, and pegasi. Not to mention culture. Both the horns and wings might be highly sensitive, or touching them could even be considered sexual assault. Considering that she was nothing more than a smart animal to these equines, getting in serious trouble was the last thing she wanted.
She shuffled her thoughts back to her original subject, the way PT, and the other zebras had managed to grasp objects with their hooves, in spite of the lack of fingers. Looking back at Margaret's glowing horn, she wondered if all intelligent creatures on this world possessed at least some form of telekinesis. That would explain a few things, but it also opened up the enormous plot hole of why would that be a reason to kill her for not having it?
Her attention was diverted back to Margaret, as she was now engaged in some argument with her sister. The reason became evident as Elizabeth's horn started to glow with a golden hue, and began a tug-of-war with the sapphire blue aura that held Megan's leash. Elizabeth quickly won this war, which resulted in Margaret turning and shouting out something to their mother.
Their mother snapped something back, which caused Margaret to sulk and lower her head as she trailed back behind her sister. Elizabeth's face bore a smug expression as she trotted ahead, Megan's leash hovering in the air. Megan took a glance down at the sad expression on Margaret's face, as the princess fell into step beside her. She brushed up against Megan's leg, looking up and nuzzling her hand. She smiled down at the princess, before suddenly scooping her up into her arms, causing the little filly to give a startled squeak and to manoeuvre her around her back so that she could give the sapphire blue princess another piggy-back ride.
It was then, that Megan was suddenly aware that all eyes were on her. The unicorn soldiers were stiff, frozen in half ready battle poses. They all relaxed when both Margaret's happy cries filled the air and the unicorn queen said something in a dismissive tone. Megan mopped her brow, feeling the sweat there. That was close.
Careless Megan, real careless.
She had gotten too complacent. She was now used to handling the princesses that she had not thought what others might think of her actions. They weren't used to her. To them, she was just an animal. Like a dog, she could be friendly but turn violent at any given time. She saw a few of them eying her leash that Elizabeth was still levitating. Although she was the princess's pet, they did not trust her one bit.
She knew that the zebras understood she was some kind of ape, and they could be dangerous. Maybe the guards did too. She was an unknown and unfamiliar creature to this world. She'd have to watch herself around others who weren't yet familiar with her. Particularly any creature with a weapon.
Staring ahead, she saw that Elizabeth was looking over her shoulder at her with a suspicious expression, or rather at her sister now gleefully bouncing up and down on Megan's back. Her eyes narrowed to glaring daggers when Megan heard Margaret blow a raspberry in her general direction. Not to be antagonised, Elizabeth turned away with an almost human harumph.
The procession made its way down a wide, open street towards a large structure that appeared to be nestled within the city centre. As they drew closer, Megan realised it as a palace or sorts. It was situated within the centre of a large and flat oval area, with a great circular pool before it. A long bridge spanned the middle of the pool that was a walkway up to the front entrance. The building was a dull orange that was shaped like a 'T' with the front section being the entrance, before leading back to a large tower like building that was crowned by a high dome. Either side of this tower, two wings spread out, forming the 'T' shape. The whole palace had three floors, with the exception of the tower that had five.
Oh, this must be where the deshret wearing zebra mare must live. They approached the front door, which was being guarded by a squad of zebra's carrying Zulu shields on their backs and grasped Maasai spears with her hooves. Megan eyed the difference between the weapons and armour of the unicorns, pegasi and zebras. The pegasi and unicorns all had plate armour and helmets while the zebras had only cloth wrapped around various sections of their bodies. Although all carried spears, the unicorns shorten pikes looked way more advanced and even more deadly.
The deshret wearing zebra mare stepped forth and the guards all bowed low. Megan watched this little performance and decided that she was indeed the ruler of the zebras. Or just this city. She cocked her head slightly and smiled. Cleopatra would be a fitting name. The doors were opened and the group was ushered inside. Interestingly enough, the large ensemble of unicorn and pegasi guards followed as well, gaining a few disapproving glares from the zebra guards. If Cleopatra was offended by this, she showed no sign.
The hall they travelled down was tall, with archways overhead. Numerous paintings lined the walls, all of zebra mares wearing deshrets. They proceeded all the way down to a massive 'T' intersection, which lay at the base of a grand staircase. The group headed up the stairs which split off in both directions to lead up to the second floor. Once there, they all marched down another corridor towards a large open window with numerous doors on either side, before splitting up and going into different rooms.
Elizabeth led Megan over to one door, where their bodyguard stood patiently holding the door open, and still levitating the gittern. They headed inside, before the bodyguard followed them as well, closing the door behind him.
Margaret started squirming on Megan's back, indicating that she wanted to be let down. After which, she wrapped a hoof around Megan's hand and started pulling her towards a large dark blue and black chest. At least she tried to. Both she and Megan had forgotten about Elizabeth holding the leash and Megan found herself stuck between the two of them. She turned to see Elizabeth steadfastly holding onto her end, a determined look upon her face.
Margaret scowled back and pointed a hoof at the chest, while talking in a calm yet highly audible tone. Elizabeth shook her head and pointed with her own hoof towards an equally sized pink and white chest, while talking in a calm tone herself. Margaret scrunched up her muzzle and appeared ready for verbal combat, when their bodyguard intervened. He quickly stepped between the two would be combatants and began explaining something to the two princesses with a suggestive method to his speech, but also contained an undertone that told Megan he'd been down this road more times than he had cared to.
Both princesses looked at him intently, before abruptly rushing off to their respective chests; Elizabeth dropping the leash, thank Christ. Using their telekinetic horns, they opened their chest and levitated out toys. Megan blinked, and then looked back and forth between the two chests. They were toy boxes, colour coded to the princesses own scheme. A small snicker worked its way past her lips.
Margaret reached her first, showing off a majestic looking unicorn doll with a white coat, horn, spread wings and long, flowing fire-red mane. It was a winged unicorn, just like the princesses. The picture on her flanks was that of an inkwell and quill pen. Margaret was also levitating a small toy brush along with three different fancy looking dresses. Megan could not help but smile warmly at the little filly as she began talking about the doll. It reminded her of her own childhood and the dolls she had. There was one thing about the doll that stuck out. It had joints so that its body, legs, neck and head could all move. On its back was a saddle that had been constructed into the body. On the saddle, itself was a slot for a key, which Margaret was also levitating.
Of course, all that was literally shoved aside as Elizabeth appeared next to Margaret brandishing a ball of sorts. It was painted white with pink swirls, and a painted version of the rising sun picture upon her flank on each side of the ball. Elizabeth started explaining something about the rising sun when Margaret snapped irritably at her, waving her doll in front of Elizabeth's face.
Elizabeth responded with an equal irritation by pointing at her own back, and then at Megan's. Margaret answered by raising her voice and pointing at Megan's leash. The bodyguard replied to this fracas with a sigh and started trotting towards the two sisters. Watching the drama unfold before her, took Megan back to her own siblings, Danny and Molly. Those two would argue and fight over just about anything and everything. Being the older sibling, she was usually tasked with looking after them when they were all younger, which she often told her mother, should be registered as a full time job.
So when she was presented with a scenario in which it looked like it was going to be resolved with fisticuffs, she knew exactly what to do. She held up her both hands and snapped her fingers as loudly as she could. All noise ceased. Both sisters stared at her, even the bodyguard. Megan gave a triumphant smile as she held up her right hand before them, before snapping her fingers. They both jumped, not in fear but surprise. She then brought up her left hand and launched into an impromptu rendition of Curly's famous finger-snapping routine. Her execution of it was less than stellar and would've made any Three Stooges fan wince, but it still bedazzled the two sisters. Even the bodyguard watched with wide-eyed amazement.
She finished up and took a dramatic step back, before parading around the room in an exaggerated jaunty walk. Her audience watched with fascination and confusion as she walked around, and then slipped on an invisible banana peel. She fell over backwards in a controlled fall, and rolling with it, leapt back to her feet with a mock dazed expression. She shook her head vigorously before scratching it in confusion. She looked around, shrugged and started forward.
She took two steps before tripping over another unseen object, only this time, she fell forwards. There was a slight cry of alarm from Margaret, but it cut its self off when Megan landed on her hands, flipped over and pushed herself into the air, somersaulting across the room to land in a crouched position on the other side. Continuing with the fluid motion, she rose back to her feet and bowed. When she'd been sorting out her younger siblings, she had distracted them from the argument at hand. Here, it was a little different, but the general principle still remained.
Both sisters went wild. They stomped their little hooves with all the vigour they could muster as they cheered themselves hoarse. She cast a glance over at the bodyguard who was trying his damnedest to hide an impressed smile. Megan showed them her hands, quieting the princesses, before she linked the fingers for a moment, then put them behind her head and brought them back unlinked. It was the kind of lame-ass trick that would result in a hooked cane appearing from nowhere to snatch you away, but the princesses thought it was solid gold.
They laughed and laughed; Margaret even fell over. The most important thing was that all in the room had forgotten about the argument that had been about to break out earlier as the toys, now laying abandoned at the children's feet, gave testament to that.
Elizabeth sat down on her haunches and clapped her front hooves together, crying out something. Margaret followed suit and Megan quickly realised that they wanted an encore. She bowed to them once more, her mind ticking over whatever equally silly magic tricks she could dredge up from the bowels of her mind.
Thankfully, she did not have to do many. The call for dinner came soon after, and Megan was given a break from entertaining the princesses. They had insisted on her joining them, but their mother said no. They tried turning on the water works, but even that did not help. She didn't even bat an eyelid as she sternly told them no once more. Their father had calmed them down by explaining something to them that did make them stop crying, but didn't make them anymore happier.
Whatever the reason for her not being allowed to join the princesses at the table had something to do with the unicorn word for zebra. She knew hardly anything about zebra culture, but it might be considered a great offence to bring an animal to the dinner table. So both princesses gave Megan reassuring pats on her arm, before leaving with their bodyguard and parents for dinner.
Megan sat in the middle of the room, staring at the door. She blinked before looking around the room. There were two grand looking beds and a roll-up felt mat, which looked like something a Roman legionnaire would've slept on. She walked over to the large, open window and looked out. The sun was just disappearing below the horizon, granting Megan a rather limited view. The view was that of the rear of the palace and the buildings beyond. She could make out zebra guards patrolling the grounds, their spears clearly visible. To the right of the palace, the large river she'd seen stretched on, with numerous small canoes containing items of all sorts, sailing in line formation. Must be a water highway, much like the Mississippi.
The scenery outside did not change or did anything of interest show up. Megan sighed with boredom, but continued to watch the city. Her hand brushed down across the hem of her dress, where the ruby PT had given her lay secure and safe. So, this was her future? A pet. A pet who had a deep dark secret that couldn't be revealed. She briefly thought about climbing out the window and running back to PT. Looking at the guards, she realised that there was no way she'd be able to sneak past them. Not to mention she had no idea where PT's ship was. She could follow the river back to the ocean, but she wasn't exactly inconspicuous. Plus if she did disappear, the unicorns would no doubt go straight to PT first, much like Joan had done.
She could hide, much like that last time and she could lose the ruby so that they could not locate her. However, that would not work. PT had sneaked her on board his ship AFTER the griffins came to him first. He'd have nowhere to hide her and God only knew what would happen to her if they discovered her with no ruby.
“Megan, my dear, what have you gotten yourself into?” Not surprisingly, no one answered. She folded her arms across the window sill and lay her head down in them.
She must have fallen asleep by the window, because the next thing she knew, the door opened, and the unicorn family came into the room. Looking out the window, the sun was now gone, replaced by a half moon in a starry night sky. Turning back to the princesses, they were yawning broadly. Elizabeth was walking by herself, but Margaret rode atop the back of her father, her big eyes fluttering to stay awake.
That surprised Megan. Considering the picture she had on her flank, she would've thought Margaret to be a night-owl. Their mother and bodyguard came in close behind. Elizabeth climbed up into one of the grand looking beds and pulled the sheets over her. Margaret's father carried her over to the other bed, and using his own telekinesis, lifted her off his back and tucked her into bed. Their mother came up behind her husband, and leaning down, gave Margaret's cheek a quick peck, before whispering softly to her.
She then trotted over to Elizabeth's bed and planted the same quick kiss on her cheek. Elizabeth asked something in a questioning tone, and her mother smiled and nodded in reply. She then walked to the centre of the room, cleared her voice, and started singing. Megan raised both her eyebrows at the voice that came forth. It was quite beautiful. She sang a soft and low song that had a soothing and gentle tone to it. Both princesses yawned, closed their eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
When it was clear that they were no longer awake, their mother ceased her song and smiled at her two children. Her husband joined her at her side and nuzzled her cheek happily, whispering something into her ear. She gave a quiet giggle in response and together, they left the room. The bodyguard closed the door behind them and started unfolding the felt mat she'd seen before, settling down upon it in a way that looked like he could spring into action at any given moment.
Megan now realised that the whole room was in darkness, save for the light of the moon coming in through the open window. She blinked in surprise, as she looked at the sleeping bodyguard, that they had not even provided her with anything to sleep on. She pouted at this. She at least gave TJ a mat to sleep on. She then looked around the room. Well, this wasn't their home. They were just guests. Maybe when they arrived at their proper home, they'd have something for her.
She lay down on the floor, which thank Christ was decently carpeted. She wished she could've had a pillow, but somehow, in spite of her hunger, she managed to drift off to sleep without even realising it.
***
The next five days passed painfully slow. The princesses spent all their time in the zebra palace and running around the palace grounds. Whenever they left their room, Megan had to wear her leash as they walked her through the palace halls and grounds. It was no longer demeaning now, but the only problem with it would be which princess would get to hold her leash first. Meanwhile, their parents disappeared for the whole day, not seeing them again until dusk. Megan now suspected that the circus that she'd been a part of was just a side trip for the kids.
The princesses did not seem to mind, nor care as they were more than happy with Megan at their side. Wherever they went, so did she. Except for meals. Speaking of which, at least the unicorns' meal times were much like her own. The griffins usually had two meals a day. The unicorns had the proper three. They had completely forgotten to fed her the first night, and she had not noticed until the next morning when she wolfed down her breakfast. Which was oatmeal. The princesses had been mightily upset at having forgotten something as stupidly important as feeding their pet; Margaret even started crying. They looked so adorable when they were sad that Megan could not help but forgive them. A few hugs latter and the whole incident was forgotten.
They must have gotten her dietary requirements from PT because they feed her exactly the same as he had. Vegetables and fish, cooked thankfully. She ate alone in the princesses' room, both of them making sure she was fed before leaving to feed themselves. PT also must have told them that she was capable of handling utensils for they always gave her a spoon. It was a little awkward at first, as everyone had stood by and watched her eat the first time. They were fascinated at watching her fingers manipulate the wooden spoon, muttering to each other as her jaw and throat worked. That soon grew old, for everyone but the princesses. They seemed to believe that everything she did was interesting.
The only other awkward moment came when it was time to use the necessary, for she was given a large porcelain bowl filled with sand. Great, Megan thought, I've got my own litter box. Although she'd seen bathrooms, she avoided using them, out of fear that it would show too much intelligence. The unicorn monarchs and the palace staff seemed somewhat relieved that she took the time to dig a hole in the sand and bury her business. Only the princesses seemed disgusted with it, so she made every effort she could to relieve herself when they weren't around.
Speaking of which, it seemed that she took over daycare duty from their bodyguard. She looked after the princesses while he hovered in the background. He seemed aware of the switch because after a few days, there was a cheerful look upon his face that Megan had never seen before. She had to alternate her attention between the two sisters because like all siblings, what one wanted the other had to have.
The hardest part was deciding who went first. Blow ups were now a constant ritual of the mornings as both sisters seemed to believe that it was their turn first. Megan always had to step in to end these with little tricks and shows, which was quickly draining her already limited repertoire. During these arguments, she could also see the bodyguard standing off in the background, a smirk on his face. It was almost as if her were saying 'better you than me.' He was probably the biggest winner out of the deal to make her a pet, because he now no longer had to deal with the princesses' behaviour. Megan made a mental note to herself to accidentally spill some of her oatmeal all over his face sometime in the near future.
Of course, she also had her gittern. The princesses would sit enraptured for hours, listening to her play. Most of the times, she did not play any songs, but just strummed whatever came to mind. The two sisters neither seemed to notice nor care. To them, she was the greatest gittern player in the whole world.
***
By the dawning of the sixth day, something different was noticeable. Everything was being packed up. The toy chests, clothes, bed sheets. It did not take a genius to figure it out. The trip was over and the whole party was leaving for home, wherever home was. After everything the princesses owned had been packed up, it was shipped out. Their bodyguard then ushered them across to the room opposite theirs where their parents were supervising their own baggage.
Cleopatra was there as well, constantly shadowing the unicorn queen's every move. She kept talking to her, but it was clear that the queen was only half-heartedly paying attention. She was more concerned with some large chests that contained the fancies dresses Megan had ever seen. Her husband was supervising the palace staff, all zebras, giving out instructions, which the staff followed with haste. They would fill one chest and lock it shut, before picking up the handles on either end with their teeth, and walking out into the hall with it. Megan watched with little indifference, realising that she no longer cared about the zebras using their mouths to handle objects.
The unicorn queen was momentarily distracted when her two daughters rushed up to her. She patted each of them affectionately on the head, before returning to her conversation with Cleopatra. The father made a passing comment to the bodyguard who quickly escorted the princesses and Megan from the room. Once outside, her leash was attached and they headed down the hallway towards the palace entrance.
There was a large collection of unicorn and pegasi guards waiting for them. Upon seeing the two princesses, they all stiffened to attention. Elizabeth wondered over to the nearest guard and gave a little salute. The guard in question smiled back as he and a few of his comrades returned the gesture with professionalism. Margaret was busy holding Megan's leash, talking excitedly to her about something. Whatever it was, it involved something that was up in the air. Most likely the blimp.
The group did not have to wait too long, for the princesses' parents soon emerged with Cleopatra, who had her own personal entourage of what had to be nobles and guards, and the whole procession was under way. That was the proper word for it, for the collection travelled down what had to be a main road, because it was the widest one Megan had seen in the city. The reason for why became evident enough as the sides of the road were packed with zebras, shouting out what had to be farewells and well wishes, waving flags of the unicorns. The princesses revelled in the attention, turning their heads from left to right, trying to wave back to everyone. They even rose up on their hind legs to wave both front hooves at the crowd.
Eventually, they made their way down towards a familiar looking clear section not far away from the harbour. The blimp was surrounded by pegasi in their grey Roman style armour and constantly watching the large crowd. Their luggage was in the process of being loaded onto the blimp by unicorns. The zebra staff who'd carried it from Cleopatra's palace had long since been dismissed. Cleopatra herself was allowed into the protective circle of unicorn and pegasi guards but her own entourage was not. She said her farewells to the unicorn monarchs who were very courteous in return.
Finally, the princesses were ushered onto the blimp. Megan could not help but look around in awe as she followed Margaret up the gangplank and onto the ship section. Looking up at this thing, Megan wasn't sure how something like this could be practical. It looked like a machine Leonardo Da Vinci would dream up, and held a 'Just because it can, doesn't mean it should,' vibe about it. Yet, this thing was somehow going to fly? She looked up at the huge gas bag. It was purple and had a fish tail of all things, located at the rear. She observed every angle of the strange craft and yet could find no practically to its construction. How was this thing supposed to steer? What function did the webbed fins, plastered all over serve? How do they gain and lower altitude? What the dickens was in that airbag?
The princesses led her towards the cabin at the far end and through a large door, which was opened by their bodyguard who ushered them all inside. It was a large room with one large double bed at the foot of a long window, a bathroom door, a dining table and a bunk bed nestled up against the other side of the room. The room also contained three unicorn mares in elaborate dresses that could only be servants, or maids.
They all started bowing as the princesses entered the room, but baulked upon seeing Megan. The maid in the middle hissed something at the other two who quickly regained their composure and bowed. Margaret led Megan over to the maids and began talking to them, occasionally saying her name, no doubt introducing her. The maids eyed her with cautious curiosity.
Margaret removed Megan's leash and handed it to the bodyguard, while Elizabeth started rummaging through her toy chest. She appeared to be checking to see if everything was still there. The maids set about unpacking a few things, before there was a knock on the door. A voice called back from the other side, causing the maids to cease their unpacking and set about organising the princesses. They all then headed back outside to see that everyone was now aboard the blimp ship.
The princesses were called over to the railing by their parents so that they could wave to the crowd of zebras, who were waving back and cheering loudly. As with the precession, both princesses stood upon their hind legs so that they could wave both front hooves to the crowds. Megan watched everything with a little curiosity. She'd noticed, but never taken any heed to the cheering beforehand. When they were proceeding through the city, the crowd had cheered loudly at the sight of the princesses. Both of them. Now, it was more noticeable as when the princesses appeared before the crowd, their cheering increased in volume.
Were they extremely popular? Granted, they were adorable and cute. Listening to the zebras, their cheering sounded sincere.
All of a sudden, Megan felt the ground beneath her shift, and looking around, saw that the blimp was at last taking off. The princesses waved good-bye to the crowd as they began to shrink below them. Margaret kept leaning over the railing to wave to the zebras, to the point where Elizabeth had to grab her by the tail and pull her back. She sat down on her hind quarters as she rubbed at her tail with a mournful expression. Megan smiled, and walking over with slow and deliberate movements, carefully bent down and picking up Margaret, placed her on her shoulders so that she could get a better view.
Margaret squeaked happily as she climbed atop Megan's head and waved to the zebras below, now losing detail due to the height they were now at. Megan could see many of the unicorn deck hands were watching her with interest, while the soldiers were more relaxed now. From the looks on the faces of the ship's crew, and from the quick recovery of the head maid, they had no doubt heard about her or at least been briefed, but as the old saying goes, 'seeing is believing.'
Megan had to hold onto the rail as the ship banked hard left, circling about, before heading out over the ocean. Eventually, the crowd was lost amidst the city, and everybody went about their business. Margaret cheered loudly as she spoke in excited tones to her parents who watched with smiles on their faces. She mentioned Megan's name a few times, even stroking her hair.
She then paused, before feeling her hair again, and then leaned down to sniff at it. She jerked her head back, snorting loudly. Both the unicorn monarchs and Elizabeth leaned in close and gave a cautious sniff. Elizabeth's muzzle wrinkled in disgust while their parents just snorted. Megan frowned and sniffed at herself. She stank. When was the last time she'd had a bath?
Margaret's cries filled the air as she started giving out orders, all the while pointing towards their cabin. Elizabeth smirked at her sister's authoritative tone and beckoned Megan to follow her. Their bodyguard followed them as they headed into the bathroom section she'd seen earlier. It was nothing more than a squat toilet, a basin, mirror, and a Jacuzzi. Margaret's orders still filled the air as the three maids all set about filling the tub with water, before adding a pink liquid from a glass bottle that turned the water into a foamy red colour.
Megan blinked. She was going to get a bath. She looked around at everyone in the room and quickly understood she wasn't going to get any privacy. She sighed and lifting Margaret from her shoulders, set about taking off her clothes. She made sure to sneak the ruby out of her dress and hide it inside her mouth, just under her tongue.
Everyone present looked a little confused as she put an arm across her breasts while using her free hand to cover up her genitalia. Elizabeth seemed curious about her naked body and asked the bodyguard something in a questioning tone, while he just rubbed his chin in response. All three maids were trying, and failing not to look curious. She quickly climbed into the tub as the head maid turned off the tap. All of a sudden, she cried out in alarm as Margaret leapt into the air and cannon balled into the tub. Red foamy water went everywhere. Elizabeth shook her mane free of water, laughed, and jumped on it as well, dog paddling around. The maids all stared out from behind a mask of red foam with a resigned look in their eyes. The bodyguard, who had wisely stood back, was trying to suppress a grin.
Margaret appeared behind Megan, pushing her shoulders down, till her chin was touching the waters surface. The head maid levitated over a porcelain bowl, filled it with some of the bath water, and carefully poured it over Megan's head, making sure to soak her hair. Elizabeth appeared next to Margaret and the two grabbed hoof-fuls of red foam, and began working it into her hair.
The other two maids appeared at the rim of the tub, levitating over sponges and towels. The two princesses were rather gentle with their hooves as they worked the soapy foam into her hair. Elizabeth took one of the sponges from the maids and started washing her skin. Megan just sat there, allowing herself to be bathed much like she herself would wash TJ. She smiled at the memory. TJ would love baths. He would stand there and allow himself to be washed, almost as if Megan were his personal maid.
She obediently raised her arms and legs to allow the children to wash them. She washed her torso section herself. The equines present thought it was cute that she could do that. At first, she feared that it would be a sign of too much intelligence, but she quickly realised that if she could play a gittern, bury her own excrement and not have them get suspicious, it would be okay to show them she could wash herself. All part of the act that she was a smart and trained animal. She would just have to be careful with more complex things.
As she sat there, she wondered just what 'complex things' would be? She'd have to make a mental note. At that moment, all eyes were drawn towards a stifled giggle from the bathroom doorway. The two unicorn monarchs stood there, the queen with a hoof over her mouth and her husband with an amused smile on his lips. He asked the head maid something, and she just rolled her eyes response. Both children waved happily to their parents, and started chirping about this and that in regards to Megan.
Their father walked in and taking in all the water and foam that had escaped the tub, 'tsked' to himself. The head maid began speaking to him in an apologetic tone, but he only waved it away with a smile.
Eventually, Megan was declared clean, if one could translate from Margaret's triumphant cries. She was escorted out of the tub by both the princesses and over to a mat where, after being instructed to sit down by Elizabeth, she was towelled off.
When Margaret announced something in a cheerful voice, both the unicorn monarchs leaned in and sniffed experimentally. They smiled and nodded in approval. Megan gave herself a quick sniff, to discover a rose scented smell now emitted from her skin and hair. The other two maids appeared beside her, levitating two brushes, which the princesses eagerly took using their mouths rather than their telekinesis. Megan sat there patiently, while the princesses tenderly and methodically brushed her long hair. They were awfully careful and very gentle as they brushed and Megan could not help but feel lulled into a drowsy state from their work.
Once more, Margaret's cheerful voice announced the completion of their work. Megan sneaked a quick look in the bathroom mirror. Her hair had been brushed out to its full length, while the front had been brushed back around and behind her ears. Simple, but convenient. She subconsciously rubbed her tongue against the ruby that she'd hidden under it. There had been numerous times she nearly swallowed it as the princesses had washed her. She'd need to get it back into her dress before...
Her dress was gone. Her whole ensemble was gone. She looked around frantically for it, before she remembered that it too had stunk. Probably it was taken away for a good washing. That just left her with a little problem. She had nothing to wear. All eyes turned to her as she looked about for something. Taking one of the towels, she wrapped it around her torso. Not exactly the latest fashion but it'll do.
Margaret trotted up to her and looking up into her face, asked something in a questioning tone. Elizabeth appeared at her side feeling her arm, or to be precise, her skin. All adults in the room muttered in deep thought. Elizabeth asked something of her parents while feeling her skin. All came over to observe her, poking and prodding her body, not too roughly; they were feeling her skin. Their father made a comment that caused all to look down at their own bodies, or to their own fur. Margaret rubbed a hoof along her own and then looked over at Megan.
She said something in a worried tone that caused the rest to frown. The queen said something that made the head maid leave with haste. She returned not long afterwards levitating a large deep purple woollen robe of sorts, which she gave to Megan. Megan looked at it, before flipping it around in her hands. The robe was small for her, but the reason soon became evident. It was made for a unicorn, with short sleeves at the front for their front legs while it covered her legs rather well, as it was supposed to cover a unicorns hindquarters.
Sadly, there was no tie in which to secure it around her waist. Megan suspected that this was the unicorn equivalent of a bathrobe. Its small build let it hug her figure as she snuggled into its warmth, trying to keep the front section closed. The head maid must have realised what she was trying to do, for she suddenly disappeared, then reappeared with a leather belt. With this, she was able to secure it closed. Its sleeves only came up to her elbows, while the bottom of the robe brushed just above her ankles.
She made signs of hugging the robe, showing that she liked the warmth it provided and the two princesses cheered. Satisfied that their new pet wasn't going to freeze, they then got her to follow them back out into the main room, while the maids all set about cleaning up the mess.
***
Days passed slowly. They always passed slowly when you had nothing to do, and nowhere to go. Life on board the blimp pretty much fell back into the same routine that life on-board PT's boat had. Only she wasn't allowed to explore like she had been with the zebras. Part of the reason was every time she attempted to go some place, there would be unicorns who would shoo her off, like one would with a dog. The other reason was the princesses. They had their own activities planned and Megan had to be a part of them. Whether it be playing games, or playing her gittern, or just playing with the two fillies.
Their parents were now able to spend more time with their children, but it usually involved reading them stories or watching and just accompanying them in their strolls around the blimp. She quickly grew tired of only calling them the unicorn monarchs and started thinking of decent names for them. The answer immediately solved itself, when Megan began to notice that the queen appeared to be the one in charge. Her husband, although shown great respect, didn't appear to hold much authority. So, she settled on calling the mare, Queen Victoria, and the stallion, Prince Albert.
Megan took most opportunities to observe the blimp life. Just like PT's ship, it had a crew whose jobs involved looking after assigned areas. Unlike PT's ship, there were soldiers. Two kinds. The unicorn soldiers were the most numerous. Their golden plate armour and marion helmets stood out in contrast to the other type, the pegasi. Their armour and helmets were reminiscent of the ancient Greeks, not surprising considering they were of Greek mythology. Their armour was an ashen grey, and stood out among the pastel colours of the few pegasi that could be seen.
There weren't many. The unicorns outnumber them five to one. Most of the time, they were flying above and below the blimp, providing a primitive version of Combat Air Patrolling. The ones who weren't didn't fraternise with anyone else but their own. They answered to no one but the unicorn monarchs, and tried their best to avoid eye contact with the unicorn soldiers, who in turn, did their best to pretend that their winged comrades did not exist. However, both sides appeared to not only adore the princesses, but hold a genuine love and respect for them.
They would turn their heads, interrupting whatever conversation they were engaged in to observe and smile at them, whenever they passed by. At first, Megan believed it was because they adored all children, but it soon became evident that it wasn't the case. She first noticed the difference between the way the pegasi would greet the parents, in which they would show respect, and then greet the children, in which they would be uncharacteristically humble.
Why? Granted, they were the only winged unicorns she'd seen, but she doubted that was the case. What made these two so special, that the pegasi would practically fall over themselves in their presence while not even bothering to give other unicorns the time of day. It almost mimicked the behaviour of the zebras.
Out of all the pegasi, the princesses seemed to have a certain amount of admiration for one, a female. She had a pink fur coat, with a light blue mane. She also appeared to be the only Pegasus to be female. On more than one occasion, she had approached her to survey her body from every angle, but wouldn't come within reaching distance of Megan's hands, which she was wary of. The looks she gave Megan's hands told that there was a story involving her and fingers, that didn't end well. This ended up being right when she nearly had a heart attack when Margaret had nuzzled her hand, demanding a scratch behind her ears.
During the one time she'd caught the Pegasus without any armour, she saw that, just like the princesses, she too had a picture on her flank. Or more like a symbol. It was of two lightning bolts, the same colour as her mane. She wished she could understand the meaning behind these wear flank tattoos. Many of the pegasi kept wearing their armour, even when they hung out in their quarters. Incidentally, this was the only place off-duty pegasi could be found.
The princesses would often come down to see this pink Pegasus, who in turn was more than happy to accommodate the two, no matter what she was doing. During their second visit, she learnt why. The first time they saw her, it was to show Megan off. That was the first time she saw her. During their second trip, she had asked the princess's something in a questioning tone with an underlining tone of bravado, to which they both puffed up their chests and nodded. She then sat back on her haunches and folded her forelegs across her chest, before they then proceeded to flap their little wings and lift off the ground.
It looked so cute. Elizabeth had no problems whatsoever, as her little wings blurred, allowing her to hover, before performing a loop-de-loop. Margaret, on the other hand wasn't so skilled. She could just lift herself off the ground, and that was it. The pink pegasus was very supportive of Margaret, comforting her with some soothing words. So pinkie was teaching the two princesses how to fly.
Even when she was on combat air patrols, the princesses would often wave and call out to her. Pinkie would wave back, and then zoom off in a pink and blue blur, or perform some dazzling acrobatic stunt. The princesses loved it, cheering and whooping in response. No doubt about it, pinkie was a show-off, allowing Megan to decide on the perfect name for her: Amelia Earhart.
As the days turned into weeks, the crew grew more nervous for some reason. It all started when one of the unicorns, Megan had come to recognise as the captain, approached the queen, levitating a scroll. Megan had no idea where he'd gotten it from, but whatever was on it apparently put the scotch on everyone's good cheer. Air patrols were doubled, and all the unicorn soldiers were constantly scanning the horizon with telescopes in a manner that showed they were expecting trouble.
At night time, the numerous lights that adorned the blimp were extinguished and at least five more unicorn soldiers joined the royal family in their room at night, constantly on guard. It reminded Megan of when she'd been on PT's boat, and everyone had been on the lookout for pirates.
Whatever the answer was, pirates or not, nothing happened. Weeks went by with no sign of trouble. Boats were occasionally spotted, but investigations from the blimps pegasi contingent would always return with news that would put everyone at ease.
By the time everyone's nerves were calm, Megan could not help but wonder what had happened. That was twice there were supposed to be pirates in the area and they weren't. Why? Were they smart enough to realise it would not be wise attacking the unicorn monarchs royal blimp? Or was it something else? Was there other, easier game elsewhere? Or did they have other pressing matters to attend to? In the end, Megan found that she did not want to know. After all, no news is always the best news, and besides, she had more pressing matters of her own to attend to. Whatever the pirates were up to, it didn't involve her, and that was just peachy.
***
The air was starting to get cooler. That was the first indication that they were approaching land. It wasn't as chilly as it had been back on the griffin's continent, but it was noticeably colder than the zebra city. The sky was becoming more familiar in its colour, and she wasn't perspiring anymore.
Her zebra clothes had indeed been washed and returned to her, although how she did not know. She never saw any washing equipment, nor any clothes lines. Thank Christ for that, as she had gotten a sore tongue from hiding that ruby underneath it for two straight days. Eating meals had also proven to be a real challenge, not to mention sleeping. Still, she'd gotten by, and even with her clothes back, it was cool enough that she wished she had that woollen robe she'd used. She tried to avoid the open air as much as possible, which proved impossible as the two princesses were always up on deck.
She tried to get across to them that she needed more clothing, by dramatically shivering whenever a breeze blew across the deck, but this just resulted in the princesses taking her back to their room and leaving her there. On the plus side, it didn't get any colder.
Finally, one morning she was awoken by triumphant shouting from out on the deck. The entire family slowly woke as well, before listening to the cries and talking among themselves in an excited tone. Megan rose from the mat she'd been given to sleep on, as Margaret bound out from the bottom bunk and ran over to the window, looking out. Whatever was out there, caused her to bounce up and down, her little wings blurring as she mimicked the cries from outside.
Elizabeth soon joined her sister's side and started mimicking her. Both Victoria and Albert smiled as they too, climbed from their bed to stare out the window with smiles. Megan slowly rose from her mat, her joints popping from sleeping in a curled up position, as she joined the whole family by the window.
Land. They were flying over a coastline. At first, Megan did not understand why land would have them so ecstatic before she came to the logical conclusion: This must be their home. It took some time to sink in, but the land below looked neat, pristine, and almost harmonious. The Griffon lands looked wild in comparison.
After breakfast, the whole family went for a stroll on deck. The crew looked happier, and even the soldiers of both races looked relieved. Amelia was performing her usual CAP duties, but with more vigour, banking hard towards the blimp from up high to buzz the airship at dangerous speeds, which caused the cables connecting to the ship structure to vibrate. No one yelled at her or chastised her. The unicorn crew even cheered her on. The princesses loved it, and even the two monarchs seemed a little amused.
As she followed Amelia's flight back up into the sky, Megan saw the sun, and frowned. Was it her imagination, but was it raising way too fast? She blinked and turned away. Staring directly into the sun was not good for your eyes. As she looked back, she could've sworn it was a little higher from the last time.
Soon, the coast line passed beneath the blimp, and finally, the ocean was no longer visible. The landscape below was dotted with various town and hamlets with a medieval look to them. Within these towns, numerous equine shaped figures moved about. Most were tending to fields, general maintenance, or crowding the many street markets. As the blimp sailed overhead, they all stopped to wave or cheer the blimp.
Elizabeth and Margaret both leaned perilously over the railing to wave back to the figures below, while their parents just stood back and made sure they weren't going to tumble over the side. To her surprise, a few of the unicorn crew and even the soldiers looked over the edge with mild distaste at those below. Megan looked down at the figures, happily waving up at them, or she was beginning to suspect, the princesses. Again, what was it about them that would impress everyone?
And again, whatever the answer, she would not find out as they left the villages and towns behind. Of course, she was more concerned with the new sight that greeted her on the horizon. A large mountain with some kind of growth attached to its side. The atmosphere on-board grew more ecstatic as the mountain loomed into view; and then she saw it. The growth on the side of the mountain was, in fact, a castle.
Much like the blimp, it too had that feel about it, one that really, REALLY should not have made it past the blue prints! The closer they drew towards it, the more detail Megan could make out, like towers with battlements, and fluttering pennants. A majestic waterfall cascaded and tumbled down into a mini lake that acted as a moat, before branching off into another waterfall that disappeared down the mountain side. At the base of the castle, appeared to be some a city that was built into and around the rocky slope.
The pegasi providing air cover peeled off towards the underside of the large castle, to where Megan could see what looked like a dock, built out over the empty air. It did not take much brain matter to figure that one out. The blimp began to lower in altitude as it nosed ever closer to that purpose built dock. The pegasi waited as ropes were levitated up to them by unicorn dock workers. Once they received their ropes, they floated back to the blimp, before tossing the rope lines to the unicorn deck-hands. They caught the ropes with their telekinesis and proceeded to secure them.
The blimp was suddenly yanked downwards, and Megan nearly lost her balance. Not so for the unicorns who were amazingly stable, and didn't even shudder from the abrupt movement. In fact, some even gave her pitying glances as if they felt sorry for her, only having two legs.
Waiting on the dock, was a large gathering of unicorns, decked out in some of the fanciest clothes Megan had ever seen. There was also another group that stuck out in sharp contrast, because they were dressed in hooded robes. There were two kinds, ones with white robes, and others with a sapphire blue. Both robed unicorns also wore medallions or sorts around their neck that glittered in the sunlight. The medallions were a series of star patterns that reminded her of the Southern Cross constellation. Megan's gaze could not help but linger on those medallions. The star pattern seemed strangely familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on where she'd seen it before. The pegasi watched and even gave directions as the deck-hands and dock workers, worked in conjunction with each other to bring the blimp up alongside the dock, before finally securing it.
A gangplank was lowered and the royal family started towards it while Megan quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind. Elizabeth's voice caught her attention and she saw the leash levitating before her. This time, Megan did not hesitate. She allowed the young filly to secure it, before leading her over to the gangplank. The two princesses bounced up and down their wings a blur as they followed their parents all the way from the gangplank and onto the dock. More than once, Megan had to will herself not to look down, or to try and imagine a nice, calm ocean below, instead of a nearly bottomless drop. The instant the last of the family set hooves of the dock, the waiting crowd of important looking unicorns all bowed as one.
The queen said something that caused all present to rise, before one fancy looking unicorn stallion with a white coat, blond mane and... Megan blinked… a beard? He had a full blond beard around his muzzle. She could not stop staring at him. Mary, Mother of God, how did, no, how could that work? That just wasn't logical. How does this guy shave? Makeup on fur was one thing, but beards on fur...? Before Megan could mentally rant about it some more, the stallion in question stepped forth to deliver, no doubt, a welcome home speech. The two princesses looked bored as he spoke for not quite twenty-minutes. Queen Victoria gave a speech of her own to the assembled crowd, before receiving a cheer of sorts. The crowd then parted, allowing the royal family to proceed down through the middle.
It was then that the crowd finally noticed Megan. All eyes turned to her as one as curious stares blinked back at her. The fancy stallion asked something of Victoria, while pointing a hoof in her direction. The queen started to give an explanation, which was instantly highjacked by the princesses, as they started jabbering excitedly to the stallion, all the while saying her name multiple times.
She heard a few in the crowd attempting it, while comments were shared back and forth. Some questioning, others joking, and a few seemed to be pitying. That confused her until she realised that those comments coincided with stares at her attire. She heard the unicorn word for zebra, tossed around a few times, as well. Victoria interrupted everyone with a questioned announcement, to which the fancy stallion was more than eager to answer.
This satisfied the queen, who called for her family to follow. The stares followed Megan as she made her way through the crowd of unicorns. No. She nearly stopped when she saw that one of the equines, wasn't a unicorn. It wasn't even a Pegasus. It was a plain old-fashioned horse. No horns or wings. He wore fancy clothing just like the rest of the unicorns, and like both the pegasi and unicorns, was a pastel colour, but his lack of a horn made him stand out like a sore thumb.
Elizabeth pulled slightly on the leash to remind Megan that they had some place to go. The crowd fell in behind the royal family as they made their way down the dock, before climbing up a set of stairs that tunnelled up into the rocky mountain. There were small torches burning within, lighting the way. To Megan's surprise, they gave off no heat, and seemed to be producing no smoke. She would've liked to examine them, but the unicorns seemed to be able to ascend the steep steps with their four legs, faster than she could with her two. Plus the leash.
They emerged out onto levelled ground, where a parade had been organised. Unicorns lined the sides of the street, cheering loudly as the royal family made their appearance. All the royals waved back at the crowd. There were a few stares aimed at Megan, but for the most part, the crowd was more interested in the return of the royal family. Or more importantly, the princesses. Just like the zebras, their cheers were aimed at them, and the princesses adored every second of it. Megan took the time to observe the crowd and her surroundings as they walked. Although the unicorns wore fancy clothes, they weren't as elaborate as the ones worn by the group that was waiting at the sky dock. She also saw more of those normal horses among the crowds, as well. The unicorns still outnumbered them five to one, but they were here and there, and sometimes in small groups.
The city they walked through was a little strange. It had the look of a western European city, but as if romanticised by Hollywood. No garbage could be seen anywhere, and the buildings looked as though they were built yesterday, giving the entire city a picturesque look to it. The crowd did not look dirty or filthy. They and the clothes they wore looked as neat as the whole city itself.
The procession took them through what was the main street of the city towards the castle. Unicorns patrolled the battlements while the occasional pegasi could be seen circling about up high in pairs. The royal family was ushered through the gate and into the courtyard where a phalanx of unicorn servants were waiting, and greeted them with deep bows. Megan watched as what appeared to be the head servant approached the royal family with a rehearsed welcome back speech. Letting her gaze play over the assembled crowd of servants, Megan noticed that they were all unicorns. No pegasi, or regular horses at all.
As she watched the unicorns, it slowly dawned on her that they were returning the favour. Although their heads were lowered in respect, she could see their eyes aimed at her. A few of the younger, newer servants were blatantly staring. The head servant was now looking in her direction, and she then turned to address the queen in a questioning tone. Victoria answered back with many references to the zebras, and the two princesses. She looked Megan over once more, before talking to Victoria in a displeased tone.
Whatever she was talking about, caused Victoria to turn and observe her, rubbing her chin in thought. She turned back to the servant and nodded, before speaking to her. The head servant turned and snapped something out in an authoritative tone, before one of the servants rushed forward. The head servant pointed at Megan and began speaking what had to be orders, while the servant in question, a female, looked nervous. However, she soon realised that she wasn't nervous about Megan, but something else… their destination? When she finished, the two princesses jumped up and down, asking something that ended in a questioning tone. Victoria nodded and they both cried out happily, before trotting off towards the castle, following the servant who had been called forth. Megan had no choice but to follow as the leash reminded her of her current predicament.
The inside of the castle was huge, giving it a slight TARDIS effect when compared with the outside. The ceiling towered high above while the halls seemed to stretch on forever. Megan, unfortunately, paid too much attention to this, and not on where she was going that she quickly lost all sense of direction. Thankfully the servant seemed to know, as they were led outside into an enclosed garden area in the back of the castle. The garden looked beautiful, what little she saw of it. She wasn't given time to gawk as they were ushered up a flight of stairs that spiralled up and around a tall, thin white tower with a purple roof.
The stairs were not only steep, but just like the halls, held the illusion of endlessness. After five minutes of climbing, she was having trouble keeping up with Elizabeth. The white princesses noticed this and asked something of Megan in a worried tone. The servant who was with them made a passing comment that caused both princesses to look more closely at her two legs. After this, they proceeded up the stairs a lot more slowly. Finally, they reached the top where a small landing awaited them, and a set of double doors, that had a rushed looking note, tacked to it that didn't look friendly. The servant looked positively ill as she politely knocked twice, and stood back.
The doors were thrown open to reveal another unicorn. An infuriated one. She had a pale blue coat with a long, purple mane that had a red streak through it that looked like it had not seen a good shower in years. Her flank revealed a tattoo of ten blue, glittering diamonds. Her overall appearance gave the impression that the mare had just woken up, however, her wide eyed expression clearly told the tale she'd been up for quite some time. She gave the maid an indignant look, until she saw the princesses and immediately brightened. She spoke them with a frantic high-speed voice, somewhat reminiscent of a stereotypical mad scientist, unintentionally completing the look by rubbing her hooves gleefully together. The dishevelled appearance also helped add to the illusion, especially as she grabbed the two fillies and yanked them inside; Along with Megan.
It was a rounded room with a bed, cupboard, dresser and mirror... and that was all that could be identified. The rest of the room was swamped beneath rolls of fabric that sparkled with a life of their own. Numerous empty bowls that contained some long ago dish lay haphazardly stacked up in one corner of the room, some of them still contained the remains of whatever it had been which was now starting to attract flies. The unicorn mare's horn began to glow as she lifted up a sheet of fabric and held it out to the princesses. They both shook their heads and pointed at Megan. The unicorn looked up, and performed a rather comical double take, back peddling into the rolls of fabric and knocking them over. They crashed down upon the poor unicorn, swamping her and muffling her outraged shrieks. The two princesses giggled at the struggling lump of fabric that jerked and twisted, and Megan could not help but crack a smile herself.
Finally, the unicorn emerged from underneath to glare at Megan. She marched boldly up to the girl, preparing to make shooing motions when she spotted the collar, and the leash it was attached to. She followed its length back to Elizabeth, safely secured within the grasp of her telekinesis. Elizabeth began explaining something to the unicorn who just blinked back in amazement. When Elizabeth was done, she turned to gape disdainfully at Megan, before slowly eyeing her dress. She lifted up the front flap of the dress using her own telekinesis and muttered disapprovingly.
She began speaking in a dismissive tone, throwing out the word for zebra quite a lot as she looked over the many fabrics her room held. Exactly like the castle, this room held a TARDIS look. Rolls upon rolls of fabric lines the walls, obscuring the outside world from the once proud windows. She pulled out a tape measure and cautiously approached Megan, making sure to keep a safe distance as she used her telekinesis to get her basic measurements.
Megan blinked in surprise. New clothes. Was this the reason why she had been taken here? Was she going to be fitted out with new clothes? Why? She remembered back to the disapproval of her clothes by the fancy crowd at the sky dock, and the head servant. She looked down at her zebra attire with its strange line patterns. What was wrong with it? Granted, it did look a little worn out, but whatever the reason, nobody liked it. She quickly shrugged it aside. There was no way she could simply ask why, and besides, it would be nice to have a wardrobe that included something other than Jane of the Jungle.
The unicorn mare examined Megan while she worked. She thoroughly studied her arms, legs, waist, chest and even spent some time circling her feet. She got the princesses to have Megan raise her both her feet, one at a time, so she could examine the soles. What she saw made her muzzle twitch and when she poked them, her frown deepening as Megan giggled from the touch of her hooves. She could not help it if she were ticklish. Finally, she finished her calculations and observations, and headed off to a work bench that Megan had missed during her first glances, because it was submerged beneath a mountain of cloth and fabric.
Clearly she did not like the looks of Megan one bit, but was willing to work on new clothes for the princess's sake. Or, if the tone and hyperactive speed of her voice were any indication, she was more interested in the challenge of creating clothes for her bipedal form. And boy did she work fast. She ran this way and that, snatching cloth and fabric from the organised mess that was the room, causing the princesses to duck or in some instances, leap out of the way. She grew way too immersed within her work, often hunching over her project, and getting up to retrieve something else, never losing that hunched posture. Within half an hour, she had Megan's new clothes, complete with shoes, ready for trying on.
It was a set of light-blue overalls, with frills along the sides and on the hem, which ended at her ankles, and crowned with an embroidered pink heart on the chest area. The shirt she was given to wear was a pink button-up blouse with a white collar, and the sleeves extending down to her elbows, ending in white frills. The shoes were slip-ons and just like the colour of the shirt, were pink. The sight of the shoes had raised questions from the princesses, but the mare just pointed at Megan's feet and said something that caused both of them to cast a pitying glance at the two appendages. The mare then indicated towards the ensemble, not daring to come any closer to her. Although hesitant in coming nearer to Megan, she looked eager for her to try it on, including both princesses.
The princesses own eagerness soon turned to impatience as they started tugging at her dress with their telekinesis, trying to take it off so that they could get her into her new clothes. Carefully slipping the ruby from the hem of her dress, under the disguise of untying the ties, Megan climbed out of her zebra attire and started dressing in her new unicorn issued clothing. When she was finished, she could not help but admit, they were much warmer than her last pair. While pulling on the overalls, she discovered a small flap of fabric behind the embroidered heart, which could act as a makeshift pocket. She managed to slip the ruby in there without anyone noticing. The only thing that was lacking were a pair of bra and panties. Oh, what she would not give for underwear, but sadly, the only pair of purpose built human underwear quite literally existed on another continent.
All present appeared pleased with the work. The princesses believed it cute, clapping their fore hooves together widely, while the unicorn mare went off on a long-winded, smug sounding speech. Megan thought it would have been lovely, if she were still a single digit age. Good God in the foothills, this was something you'd give a baby, not a fully grown adult woman. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing this even if she were twelve years old.
The one thing that kept her from tearing it from her body were the princesses. They stared up at her with big, wide and adorable eyes filled with joy. They loved it. Megan was now beginning to understand how TJ felt that one time at Christmas she'd stuck the antler horns atop his head. He had hated it. He'd spent the whole day trying to dislodge them at every opportunity, and when she finally took them off, he would not even look at her. Karma is such a fickle thing.
Megan turned back to the unicorn mare, now cackling with pride. Megan had to admit, she knew how to do her job, even if she did not like the result. Looking around the room and at the unicorns own tardy appearance, she struck Megan as the type of person who'd be the disgusting genius. Still, because of her fashion designing skills, Megan knew instantly the perfect name for her: Coco Chanel.
Ecstatic that their pet had some new and cute clothes, the princesses quickly left the room and into the care of the servant mare, who'd been patiently waiting outside the whole time. After she realised she wasn't able to get the princesses to stick around, Coco slammed the doors closed so she could do her own thing, which turned out to be singing rather horribly off-key. The princesses and the servant mare flattened their ears as they increased their speed back down the stairs.
***
Over the course of the day, the entire castle staff came to know about Megan. At first, there was the usual hesitance, but that quickly gave way to curiosity and finally acceptance. All of the staff thought Megan looked adorable, now that she wore her new clothes. They cooed and smiled pleasantly in her direction, while some were bold enough to stroke her hair. They would gently touch it then pat it, before running off to giggle to their friends about it, commenting about it while dramatically looking at the hooves they used to feel her; probably talking about the texture.
The princesses enjoyed showing Megan off to everyone they could find. They paraded Megan around the entire castle, gleefully answering any and all questions about her. Most of the times, she carried one the princesses around on her back, as they traversed the seemingly endless halls of the palace. One difference Megan did notice was that their bodyguard was no longer accompanying them, as they moved about the palace freely with no escort or watchful eyes. Megan could only guess that they were considered safe within the castle walls.
Sometime later, lunch was called. Although she was allowed to join the princesses in the dining hall, she wasn't permitted at the table. She had a mat to sit on while the royal family sat on strange looking chairs, at the table to eat their lunch. The said lunch turned out to be fresh fruit, bread with some flowers, and hay. Her lunch turned out to be soup. Again. Only this time, it was the most delicious version she'd ever eaten. Every ingredient seemed absolutely perfect. She spooned her lunch into her mouth, trying to ignore the curious stares of the dining room and even the kitchen staff. She could not help but wonder what the unicorns did differently here compared with the zebras and the ship? And how long would it be before she could sick of fish and vegetable soup?
After lunch, the princesses decided to take Megan with them back to their room. It turned out to be rooms, as they both lived on opposite sides of each other. Their luggage had been piled up outside both doors and a large collection of maids and butlers was unpacking everything into their respective rooms. As she allowed herself to be dragged about by the princesses and shown both rooms, one of the maids had shown up with what was supposed to be her new bed, while she was being shown Margaret's room. This time she was provided with not only an enormously large red cushion, embroidered in a golden silk with a fancy version of the unicorn flag, but a golden woollen rug. While relieved that she would not be sleeping on mats anymore, the arguing between the princesses quickly dampened her joy.
Margaret had told the maid who'd brought the pillow to leave it in her room. Of course Elizabeth had interjected, snatching the pillow from the maid with her mouth and started walking with it back towards her own room. Margaret's cries of protest had gone unanswered so she grabbed the pillow with her telekinesis, dug her heels in and started talking forcefully to her sister. Elizabeth responded with her own telekinesis and equally forceful words.
Megan could see a quarrel was about to start, but this time, she could not figure out what to do. The argument was over which room she'd sleep in, and that wasn't something she could solve by performing a silly little trick. She thought maybe she could alternate between the two each night, but that would bring her to the next logical argument of who'd go first? Meanwhile, the two princesses were straining over the pillow. Elizabeth's telekinesis was more powerful, but Margaret refused to let go, which resulted in her being dragged towards the door as she stubbornly held on.
Something slammed down on the floor, hard, and all turned to see a unicorn standing before Margaret's open door. It was a unicorn stallion, with a white coat and comically long beard of the same colour. He was wearing a dark blue pointed magician's cap with bells on the rim and top, along with a dark blue cloak with bells on the hem. Both the cloak and the hat were adorned with images of the moon and stars.
This new unicorn abruptly spoke with a firm but gentle authoritative tone. Whatever was said put the fear of God into the two princesses as they dropped the cushion and cowered slightly before him. He cocked his head to one side and asked a short question. Both princesses spoke at once, each blaming the other for causing the argument. The stallion rolled his eyes and began speaking to the two princesses calmly, first pointing from one to the other and back again. When he concluded his speech with a suggestive tone, they looked at each other, and then turning back to the white stallion, nodded.
He then produced a coin from within his robe using his telekinesis and asked another question. Both princesses spoke at once, and he tossed it into the air. The coin spun and hit the rug on the floor. All looked at the coin, and Margaret leapt into the air, cheering as her little wings blurred. Elizabeth just turned away and sulked. The white stallion walked up to Elizabeth and put a hoof around her shoulder, speaking calmly to her. She gave a hint of a smile but still wasn't happy with the outcome.
Margaret grabbed Megan's cushion and started dragging it across the room to lay it on the right side of her own bed. So, she was spending the night in Margaret's room first. Or whatever the arrangement the bearded one cooked up. When Megan turned back to see if Elizabeth was taking her lose with grace, she saw that the unicorn stallion was eying her with interest. He walked up to Megan, and slowly circled her, before standing directly in front of her.
{Me-gan?} he asked. She smiled, making sure not to show her teeth. One eyebrow rose slightly. He turned to the princesses and asked a question. They immediately launched into rapid-fire talk about her, using very expressive gestures, like trying to imitate her gittern playing or her bi-pedal movements. Megan began to notice something different about this unicorn as he listened. All others, the princesses, had talked to about her, had reacted to the information like one would to the tricks a dog could perform. This unicorn stallion was listening with genuine interest.
When the princesses finished, he turned back towards Megan with a look of wonder, before he then did something weird. For close to half a minute, he just stood before her with a look of absolute concentration on his face. She even saw a bead of sweat trickle down the left side of his face. Finally, he lowered head down to his cloak, and his horn glowed as something was levitated out from the depths within: a strange looking oval shaped stone. At first Megan was confused, until she saw the jewel in its centre. He pointed it at her, and thanks to the ruby, it gave a slight glow.
While all who'd seen it do that, just dismissed any doubts about Megan they might have, the same couldn't be said for the bearded one. For a hesitant second, Megan was able to see the perplexed look on his face. He shook it hard, before aiming it at her again, only to receive the same result. He looked up at Megan, his head tilted in thought. Margaret came up beside him and asked a question, breaking the white unicorn out from his trance. He turned to blink down at the little filly, before giving her a reassuring pat on the head. Margaret did not seem convinced by what the unicorn had said, and moved to hug Megan, before asking him something in a slow voice. Even Elizabeth looked a little worried.
The white unicorn blinked in surprise, as if caught off-guard by the response and quickly moved to reassure Margaret that whatever she asked, the answer was no. To emphasise the point, he also gave Megan's arm a reassuring pat, speaking genial words of reassurance to her. Megan's hand was now over the heart on her overalls where the ruby still lay hidden. She was beginning to understand it now, that this guy had not been fooled by the ruby trick. Well, not exactly, for he'd be genuinely confused by the reaction of the jewelled rock, almost as if i s answer was a contradiction rather than an explanation.
He asked something of the two princesses, and they both nodded happily. Elizabeth quickly ran outside and returned with Megan's gittern, handing it to her. Megan noticed that the stallion watched with keen interest as Megan took the gittern from Elizabeth's telekinetic grasp. The aura that enveloped the musical instrument simply vanished the instant she touched it. If Elizabeth noticed she showed no sign. The stallion asked her something, to which she only replied with a confused stare.
Megan eyed the stallion nervously. He knew, somehow he knew she lacked the Mcguffin. However, she was also aware of the fact that he was confused about it. Just like she did not know what it was that she lacked, he wasn't aware of what it was that was wrong with her. No doubt, the entire mystery left him confused as all hell. She swallowed the nervousness building in her throat as she started to play her gittern.
All the servants who were still in the room stopped what they were doing and turned with an amazed expression towards her, even the bearded one seemed to forget about her contradictions momentarily. She played a guitar version of The Last Waltz as more of the castle servants began to gather outside the door, looking within. They seemed hypnotised by the cords, while the white unicorn stared with reverence at her fingers. The princesses sat back on their hindquarters, their eyes darting all around the room with smug expressions on their faces.
As always, Megan tuned out everything around here as she played, losing herself within the music. For a brief moment in time, she was home, playing for her family, or TJ. She wasn't a pet to winged unicorn princesses, or having her life in danger because of something she did not understand. She finished up the last cords and sighed as she had to return to reality.
The stomping of hooves and cheering caught her by surprise. Megan blinked and looked up to see castle staff applauding her song, even the white unicorn looked impressed. In fact, he seemed to have completely forgotten his previous fascination with Megan. As cries for what could only be an encore filled the room, a unicorn mare, who'd been directing the staff, suddenly remembered that they all had a job to do and started barking at everyone who abruptly found someplace else to be.
The unicorn stallion had left not long after that, but not before casting one last unreadable glance towards Megan. She was getting confused vibes from that guy. On the one hand, he seemed to know her secret, but also seemed confused by it, and on the other, it did not seem like he was going to spill the beans. What had Margaret said that seemed to make her afraid for Megan? The stallion had assured both princesses of something that made them relax, but was that a reliable guarantee that she was safe? And if so, for how long?
Both princesses were watching her with their big, adorable eyes, and she knelt down before them to scratch them behind their ears, something they always enjoyed. She felt some of her anxiety melt as they leaned into her fingers, sighing happily.
It was then, that another, more dangerous thought ran through her mind. Could she trust them with her secret? They did care about her, they loved her, and, by all indication of the conversation between them and the white unicorn, didn't want anything bad to happen to her. Could she let them know she wasn't a smart animal but an intelligent creature? If they accepted her, would they then help her to speak their language?
She thought about it for the rest of the day. After the unpacking was completed, Megan decided to let Elizabeth pick the game they should play, considering she lost the coin toss. They played a game of hide-and-seek around the floor that their rooms resided on. Megan was able to find the two fillies rather easily, because they kept getting the servants to hide them, and whenever Megan would approach them, they would be very stoic and ridged, giving away the fact that they were hiding one of the two fillies. In the space of a day, Megan had come to see everyone behaved like that around them.
When she did find them, she would always tickle their stomachs, which she knew were very sensitive, making both of them roar with laughter as they struggled and squirmed under her fingers. The servants would even give a ghost of a smile at seeing the princesses having fun.
As the day began to draw to a close, Margaret began to grow more excited, and Megan could not quite understand why. As the sun sank lower in the sky towards the west, she had taken Megan out onto the balcony of her room to show her facing the east. Elizabeth had joined them, but she hung back, giving her sister the spotlight for once. This was very unusual behaviour from her, considering she always had to be number one. Margaret led Megan over to the balcony edge and pointed off to the east.
Following her hoof, Megan saw that she was pointing towards a large, domed temple that was crowned by a diamond shaped symbol. It was a series of star patterns that reminded her of the Southern Cross constellation. Megan blinked, and realised that she'd seen it on those two different robed unicorns at the Sky port. Before the temple, was a raised plaza with a row of horns on which a large gathering of robed unicorns now stood. These wore the sapphire blue robe and all of them stood in a perfect square shape, their heads lifted high and aimed towards the large crowd that had gathered before them.
Behind them was a strange symbol atop a large pole. It was a sideways crescent moon ringed with what looked like the shining rays of a rising sun. The front row of the robed unicorns walked forth and blew triumphantly on the horns. The crowd before them began to hush, as the horn blowers finished their call, and satisfied that they had everyone's attention, stood back into the square formation with their comrades.
Margaret's excitement grew and she kept pointing towards the robed unicorns. Examining their robes, it suddenly dawned on her that they were the same colour as Margaret's fur coat. Just as she came to this understanding, the robed unicorns all raised their heads high as one, their horns glowing brightly. Megan watched them with fascination, until Margaret's cries diverted her attention towards the horizon behind them.
What she saw made her jaw drop. The moon was rising. Fast! Behind her, she could see the last rays of sunlight fading, in sync with the rising moon. The robed unicorns' horns continued to glow as the moon rose above, and settled not too far from the tops of the hills in the distance. The robed unicorns' horns ceased their glowing and lowered their heads in a bow towards the crowd, which exploded into rapturous applauding. Margaret also joined in, bouncing up and down, her wings blurring, before she ceased and grabbed Megan's attention.
She pointed at the moon, then to herself, before pointing at the robed unicorns, and then herself again, all the wild chattering like a hyperactive chipmunk. Megan was too dumbfounded to even notice when she pointed at the picture on her flank. Her mind was too busy trying to digest what she'd just seen. Those unicorns had just used their psychic powers to raise the moon!
The freak'n moon! Jesus H. Christ, who were these unicorns? No wonder the unicorns were top-dogs on this world. Who the hell could mess with creatures who had the psychic ability to raise the moon? Her eyes left the robed unicorns to scan the crowd below them. Were all unicorns this powerful? And if so, why would she be a threat to them? Was this the mysterious Mcguffin that she lacked? Psychic powers? Why would they kill her if she did not have it?
She looked back down at Margaret, who was still explaining away something to do with that picture on her flank. She needed answers, and fast. If that white bearded unicorn were smart enough to twig onto the fact she wasn't all she seemed to be, others would not be too far behind. For the most part, that stallion seemed willing to let the subject lie, but for how long? She was walking a knife's edge at the moment, and she needed a plan. But before she could have one, she needed to know the language, so she could find out just what it was that would make her such a threat to creatures who seemed more powerful than the entire human race.
Stats
Page generated in 0.03 seconds
Total duration
1,010 users online
434,039 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Yay! FireFly is in the story! **hugs her** X3
Should be "genial"
and after, when Megan takes the Gittern, there is a "Began," which for flow should wither be "she" or "Megan."
Very interesting, so it seems Megan not only lacks magic but maybe is immune to it? Will you have Megan facing Discord at some point?
I suspect that the reason is that humans can nullify magic.
There's nothing wrong with filler - a chance to explore a little side story and flesh out the world can be a good thing. And considering that we've introduced Starswirl as an unknown variable, determined what could potentially make Megan a threat to the unicorns, and established that the Elements had previous incarnations, I'd hardly call this filler.
Great as always
Didn't find too many grammatical errors and they were all minor. I would like to tell where they are, but I was too engrossed in the story to take note of their position
I'm still wondering why this isn't one of the top HiE stories
It needs more recognition.
I was wondering why isn't there a Crossover tag since this is apparently a G1/G4 crossover.
This is great I can't wait till the next story.
The most common and SOD breaking error you make in writing as far as I'm concerned is that you don't spell out numbers when you should. At a minimum you should almost always spell any single digit number, and most of the time any power of ten like "a tenth", "a hundred", "a million". And obviously all numbers should be written out if they are spoken.
Can't wait for the next chapter.
I just managed to finish this story. I really like it, but it took me rather long to get through it, not because there's anything wrong with it, but because of the way I usually read. The complete lack of dialogue means it is 100% descriptive text, making it much denser and harder to parse than most prose. I have to consciously read every sentence rather than just absorb it like I usually do.
*snicker* Hey, it was the eighties.
There's something weird going on with the sun/moon raising. Megan started to notice the sun was moving a bit too fast when they made landfall. In other words, in the rest of the world, they act normally, and it's only in (what may not yet be called) Equestria that the unicorns control them. What the sixty-nine is up with that, do they have different heavenly bodies from the rest of the planet?
4642453 Thanks for being patient. I'm trying to get to the meat of the story but there's other things I need to point out and mention so that when they play a part later on, it dosen't come across as I just pulled it out of thin air.
I really, really hated that outfit.
It made Megan look too ridiculous for someone who was supposed to be a strong character.
Well, yes and no. I got the idea from watching the Cutie Mark Chronicles in which Celesta raises the sun rather hastily. I've also noticed in other episodes we've never seen the sun raise that fast before, so I figure its only done in times of celebration, like the summer sun festival. So what's going on is, like the raising of the moon before that large crowd, it's a special occasion, IE the return of the royal family from overseas. I don't want to reveal too many details, because they tie into why Megan will be killed if her secret is found out.
4643611
Oh, I'm not complaining. I should also mention that while you call this chapter filler, I don't see it that way at all.
Although if there's one thing that I'm a little impatient about it's that so far, Megan's had basically no agency at all, which is kind of a shame for what's indeed a strong character (one of her canon version's first actions was to deck a freaking demon in the face, if that's not enough to cement her badass credentials, I don't know what is). So far she's had basically zero chance to act of her own volition, being carted around like a piece of luggage, sometimes literally. I'm looking forward to the point when she can finally make a move of her own rather than be someone else's pawn.
I see, that makes more sense.
I have a few suspicions of my own about that. It'll be interesting to see how close to the truth I actually got.
4662869
This is all part of Megan's character development. She starts out weak, but will grow strong over time. This is why I mentioned in the synopsis that she had no major goals in life. She just wants a carefree life with no big problems or worries. She likes to think she's a smart, strong woman, but she isn't. I guess what I haven't really translated across to the readers is that she's trapped and alone in a world where she has no idea what's going on, and she's looking for a life preserver; any life preserver. Hence why she allows herself to be carted around. She wants a protector to cling too, in order to get some form of comfort and security.
All that's going to change soon, forcing Megan to finally toughen up and be a strong woman. Again, I don't want to give away too much, but like I said, I feel I haven't gotten that point across.
4663697
To be fair, what could she have done? So far, she's been nearly eaten, drugged, locked up, drugged again, and then confined first to a boat in the middle of the sea, then a heavily guarded palace, then an airship in mid-flight. All the while knowing next to nothing about anything. Keeping quiet, and her eyes and ears open, was the smartest thing she could do, really.
Nice story. Why updates so few?
4729768 Sorry, but my life's been pretty busy lately and left me little time to write. What little time I do have I squander on sleeping and games. Again, it's my fault for being lazy.
4733842
Its sin to abandon story like this to games.
Hm; Just found this story - It's been pretty good so far... can't wait until the next chapter comes out.
And now comes the worst part. Waiting for new chapters.
Just please don't make the wait as long as the last one.
And for some baseless speculation...
The magic giger counter doesn't go dark because she doesn't have magic. It goes dark because she's absorbing and/or destroying magic. Like everything has some kind of temperature - and for an object to register at 0 kelvin, it's has to be actively cooled, or is absorbing and destroying heat. That is something the unicorns might find a little concerning...
Alternatively,... No Magic = Alien = "The horror! The horror!"
The fact most creatures in the show appear to be sapient (as in - not just sentient but full on sapient, even down to the insects) has always made the idea that the ponies keep pets kind of uncomfortable for me.
But at the same time it kind of makes sense that they would. While sapient, the most intelligent of them seem to be almost like children in the way they act. And if that is the natural limit to their development then I can see that ponies would naturally be drawn to keep them as ‘pets’ and take care of them like they would their own children for the simple parallel they would see.
And to the animals, it’s almost like a mutually benefited arrangement.... to Magan, not so much...
This has shown up in my updates alerts. But there be no updates to see...