Chapter 5
Megan found it difficult to get to sleep that night. In the bed beside her, little Margaret's tiny snores told that she'd been asleep for quite some time. She couldn't get out of her mind the image of the unicorns raising the moon. How, if anything, could she be considered a threat to them? Why would they kill her for not having psychic powers? What logic was there behind that?
She snuggled into her blanket a little tighter. She was stark naked and in spite of the chill, the blanket was a godsend, warming her whole body. Before bedtime, Margaret had removed all her clothes and hung them up in a large wardrobe. To Megan's surprise, there had been fancy dresses of sorts within; Very fancy. Judging from what clothing the unicorns wore, clothing might purely be for fashion rather than comfort and warmth. The unicorn who'd designed her clothes had both in mind.
Wrapping the blanket around her, she sat up and looked over at the double glass doors that led out to the balcony. She could see the moon outside, shining in and spilling its shining light all over the bed in which the sleeping princess lay. Margaret, who had placed the bed/cushion right next to her own bed, was lying with her face towards her, an adorable and peaceful expression on her features. Megan smiled as she reached out her hand to stroke her mane. As her fingers glided through her hair, a small smile appeared on her muzzle, and she sighed happily.
Something quickly blotted out the light of the moon and Megan turned, just in time for the light to return, leaving no trace of whatever had just transpired. Curiously, she rose and walked over to the double glass doors. Pressing her face up against the glass, she looked out, trying to see if there was any trace of what had just passed by.
There was a movement out of the corner of her eye and she turned. Only to have her breath seize in her throat. There was some kind of pegasus hovering not too far away from the balcony. Although she could only make out a black silhouette, she could more than make out the bat like wings that constantly flapped, keeping the creature aloft. The creature returned her stare, before zooming off towards the castle battlements where it joined a small group of pegasi. At first Megan had no idea what she'd seen, but when the other pegasi flapped their bat like wings, she found herself backing away from the window and towards her bed.
Jesus Christ, what are those things?
She had ruled them out as a threat to the castle, because they appeared to be protecting it, just like the other unicorn and pegasi had done during the day. During the day? Megan turned back towards the doors, even though she couldn't see the creatures outside. Were they the night shift? If so, why didn't I see them during the day? Were they nocturnal? Did they... eat meat?
Megan sighed heavily. Yet another wacky rule of this world had reared its ugly head at her. How many more were waiting for her to step on? One-Hundred? Ten-Thousand? One-Million? She looked over at Margaret's sleeping form. She needed help fast, so she could get out of here just as quickly. Could she trust the winged unicorn with her secret?
She looked towards the door, as if looking at Elizabeth's room. Could she trust her sister as well? Both the little fillies adored her greatly, and didn't want anything to happen to her. That's when she began to think about how they would react to her running away. She intended to get out of here the instant she had a plan, but the two princesses would no doubt be devastated if they ever lost their pet.
“God, I'm gonna need a magic wand to get out of this one,” Megan muttered. The sound of her voice caused Margaret to stir in her sleep, and Megan apologetically stroked her mane. She didn't want to do anything that would upset the princesses, but she hadn't even been here a day and already someone knew her secret; or a part of it. Yes, that stallion had promised not to tell, but who could guarantee that would be the same for the next unicorn who found out? When it came down to the choice between the princesses’ happiness and her own life, it was the latter that took priority.
Of course, if she decided to go ahead with her plan and ask the princesses for help, it would make her eventual departure all the more agonising. She sighed.
You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. But the pisser is, the eggs I've gotta break are my only potential allies. She wondered about that bearded unicorn. Could he be trusted? He'd seemed to promise that nothing would happen to me, but I don't know him. Her brow furrowed. But then, I hadn't known Joan or PT for that matter, and yet I ended up trusting them. Well at the time, I had no other choice.
Still, she considered. She decided to mark it down as a possibility. It was always best to have other avenues to explore rather than just one. Her thoughts were interrupted as something gripped her hand. Looking down, she saw that Margaret's hooves were wrapped around the hand she'd been using to stroke her mane. The little filly was still asleep, but snuggled into her hand like a teddy bear. The sight was just so adorable that she almost decided on junking her plan to escape.
Almost.
When it came down to the choice between staying and keeping the princesses happy or a possible death, the latter won out. “Little Margaret, you are going to hate me,” she muttered. She tried to slip her hand out from her grasp, but the little filly just tightened her grip and muttered forlornly in her sleep. Megan smiled warmly as she stroked Margaret's mane with her free hand. Then leaning down, she laid her head on the pillow next to the tiny princess and curling her free arm around her in a protective manner, drifted off to sleep.
***
She was awoken the next morning by a unicorn maid, who promptly shooed her from the bed in a way that one would after catching their dog lying on it. She then set about waking Margaret, who yawned in the cutest way before groggily climbing out of bed and staggering over to the mirror, where she sat down and allowed the maid to levitate out a brush and start putting some order into her mane.
Wrapping the blanket around her body, Megan's looked over to the large wardrobe where her clothes had been stored. Her attempts to extract her clothing from the closed doors met with failure as the maid interrupted her brushing of Margaret's mane to shout annoyed cries at her and even indicated throwing the brush at her. Margaret's little hooves had stayed her from following through with that threat.
Happy cries from Margaret revealed that her mane brushing was complete. Megan watched with a bemused smile, before sneaking a quick glance into the mirror at her own hair. After her mane was put in order, Margaret motioned for Megan to come join her so that she could brush her hair. Megan suppressed a chuckle as she sat down before Margaret, and allowed the little princess to brush and comb her hair.
She positioned herself directly behind Megan's hair, brushing it methodically and tenderly. While the maid set about organising the room, Megan's attention was drawn back to Margaret. Her face showed intense concentration as she stared at the golden hair before her. Megan watched with curiosity as her muzzle then scrunched up in confused frustration, her head even leaning towards Megan slightly. As she looked at the fillies horn, and saw that it was not glowing, she abruptly remembered that she seen this behaviour before. The white unicorn stallion with the long beard had done the exact same thing last night.
Before she could pursue this thought any more, Margaret gave an unhappy grunt and reaching out with a hoof, snagged a length of Megan's hair and levitating over a brush, started combing. Megan patiently sat through the whole ordeal half curious, half bemused as the little filly worked. Finally, ribbons were levitated out of draws and woven into her hair. Happy squeaks informed Megan when the job was done.
Just like her time on the blimp, she done a good job brushing out all the tangles and putting some order into her long, golden locks.
Next came her own clothes. The little princess snagged individual articles of her clothing and started dressing her. She was very courteous and gentle, motioning for her to lift her legs or arms so that she could use their telekinesis to put her clothes on. The whole procedure reminded Megan of her younger days, like the way she would dress her dolls.
When she was finally finished, the maid said something to the princess and she nodded in reply, before motioning for Megan to follow. As they headed out the door, they found Elizabeth and another maid waiting for them. Elizabeth looked frustrated at the lengthy wait and started grilling her sister as to why, when she spied Megan's hair. Realising that she'd been left out from grooming their pet, she turned on Margaret with hostility in her words. Margaret's response was one of indifference which only served to make Elizabeth even madder.
The maids shifted nervously, unsure on what to do. Watching them, Megan thought back to the bodyguard who used to intervene in their fights until she took over that job, and that white bearded unicorn. She'd noticed that the maids and the rest of the castle staff had been rather humble around the princesses, like when she'd been playing hide and seek with them. Their stoic, slightly nervous looks was a red flag on where the little princesses were hiding. Not just all the staff, but the soldiers were like this around the two. It occurred to Megan that only a select few actually treated them like children, and this set her mind wandering off the beaten path about the popularity of the two, and why everybody loved them so.
However, the raised voices quickly brought her back to reality. This fight, she knew how to stop as she stepped forth and waved to get the princesses attention. Once she got it, she then turned around and presented her back to Elizabeth, indicating that she should climb on. She automatically forgot about her beef with her younger sister and eagerly scrambled onto Megan's back.
Margaret pouted as Megan rose to her full height. The two maids looked happy that the fight had been broken up, and began motioning for the princesses to follow them down the hallway. Elizabeth patted Megan's head and pointed after the two maids, crying something that she mentally translated as giddy-up. Chuckling softly to herself, Megan followed the two maids down the hall, bouncing Elizabeth up and down a few times.
Their destination was the dining room, where breakfast was waiting for them. All servants within the dining room bowed as the princesses entered and took up their seats. Megan thought it odd that they would have them at all. The seats they used were almost like the ones humans had, except that the legs were shorter, bringing the seat of the chair closer to the ground. This made it look like a stool with a back rest.
She was led over to the corner where she was given her usual bowl of oatmeal and left alone while the princesses were waited on hand and foot. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert arrived late, but soon joined their daughters at the table. Listening to the conversations, it seemed that the princesses had a busy day ahead of them. What they were going to do? She could only guess. School? Royal duties? Both?
They finished up and were escorted from the dining hall, past a long line of very important looking unicorns, all with scrolls secured within their own telekinetic fields. All of them gave Megan peripheral glances as she walked passed them. A few of them gave her the kind of looks you'd give a rare specimen, never seen before, and even dropped the scrolls they were levitating. So, not everyone had gotten the memo on the princesses’ new pet, Megan thought.
They were taken down into the foyer of the castle where a unicorn soldier wearing a familiar looking Morion helmet with a feather plume and carrying Megan's gittern, waited for them. The princesses called out a greeting to him and he ushered them outside towards a horse drawn carriage. Megan had to clamp a hand across her mouth and bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing. Before her was an old fashioned horse drawn carriage being drawn by two horses. They were the regular horses, not pegasi or unicorns, positioned side by side. Although she'd seen something similar before, back in the zebra city, they had only been drawing their own carts. The sight of equines riding around in equine drawn transportation had been something she hadn't born witness to, and her poor tongue suffered in order to keep her from laughing.
The carriage vaguely resembled Wells-Fargo stagecoaches, save that every available surface was elaborately decorated with relief engravings. The lamps on the roof, screw heads, door handles and other fixtures were polished brass. Her distraction with the carriage allowed the princesses’ bodyguard to attach her leash to her collar without any fuss. Megan hadn't even noticed this until Elizabeth gave a gentle tug on it to coax her into the open door of the waiting carriage.
The entire interior of the cab was upholstered in studded green leather, from the ceiling to the facing benches that wheezed as Megan settled herself. The cab rocked as the rest of the unicorns climbed in to take up seats all around her. There were voices outside, and then with a lurch the carriage started moving. Once under way, the two princesses each ran to opposite sides of the carriage and opening the windows, started calling out and waving to the unicorns as they passed them by.
Megan couldn't help but look out the windows with them as they moved out of the castle into the city proper. A rainbow of unicorns could be seen going about their daily business along the streets of the city. The city itself reminded her of the cities of Europe, with buildings barely passing a height of three stories, leaving the sky unobstructed by skyscrapers. Its structure followed a similar pattern also: focal squares and plazas and parks throughout the city with intersecting boulevards radiating outwards from each, subdividing the city into separate quarters. The carriage ride was full of starts and stops, occasionally voices shouting, the complaining noises of unicorns. In more ways than one, it reminded her of city traffic back home the way the zebra city had.
The ride didn't take too long, about a quarter of an hour before they stopped and the door opened. The princesses piled out and the bodyguard followed, taking Megan with him. The building that they now stood before was 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's mouth opened in a silent 'O' shape. This was the temple belonging to those robed unicorns. The ones who raised the moon.
A group of robed unicorns were waiting at the bottom of a flight of stairs that lead up into the temple: Both kinds. The white and blue robed unicorns approached the group, the medallions around their necks glittering in the sunlight. Upon reaching the princesses, the entire group bowed low as one before rising back up to converse with them. The two princesses replied with eager voices as they indicated towards Megan and the gittern strapped across the bodyguards back.
The robed unicorns looked at Megan with curiosity and smiled. One of them even approached her and patted her arm, its hoof stroking gently across her skin. That one turned to the others and said something to which the others all nodded in approval. Probably telling them how tame she was. One unicorn spoke up and motioned for all to follow. Megan was given no choice but to follow the bodyguard as they all climbed the steps and into the temple.
Like the palace, it was huge. Row upon row of benches filled the room below a vaulted ceiling. The walls were ringed with stained glass windows that depicted equines of all sorts performing what were undoubtedly heroic feats. One showed a phalanx of unicorns and horses, the horse carrying spears and marching in neat rows towards a rather enormous looking dragon. High above, pegasi rained arrow down upon him while the unicorns were blasting him with what looked like laser beams from their horns. The picture showing the dragon shielding his face from the barrage clearly told the viewer who won that battle.
Another showed just pegasi, fighting not just griffins but a giant cat-woman. The pegasi were flapping their wings, creating wind, while others were kicking clouds, which in turn shot bolts of lightning. Hail and rain were also pelting their opponents who were in the middle of a hasty retreat. She tilted her head at that. Were the pegasi using the weather as a weapon? she wondered.
Then she found herself shrugging it off. Pegasi controlling the weather? Why the hell not. Unicorns could raise the moon, and possibly the sun while they were at it. Thinking about that, Megan realised that she was no longer surprised by anything she saw in this crazy world. Heck, she was probably sure that if she were walking down a street in this city, and passed Darth Vader playing a guitar duet with Jimmy Hendrix, she wouldn't even turn her head let alone stop to watch. One eyebrow rose. No, I would stop to at least watch that, because that would be freak'n awesome, she thought with a giggle.
The biggest stain glass window, which sat at the far end of the room, was that of two winged unicorns in a circular shape that resembled the harmonious Yin and Yang. The white winged unicorn with a pink mane and tail appeared to be watching over the sun, while the dark blue one with a light blue mane and tail watched over the moon.
Megan froze, eyes locked on the image, before sliding across to the two princesses and then back again. Her gaze shot to the pictures on their flanks. The moon and the sun, before turning back to the stained glass window. Her mind travelled back to when Margaret had shown her the raising of the moon, pointing to it and her flank picture.
No! Way! But her mind was saying, yes way.
She glanced over at the two different robbed unicorns. One half wearing white, the other sapphire blue. The colours of the two princesses. Those two would control the sun AND the moon? Her mind’s eye replayed those scenes she'd seen of the zebras and all the other equines, all delivering praise and admiration towards the princesses. She also remembered that those two had been the only winged unicorns she'd seen.
That then raised another interesting question. What was their back story? Were they this world’s equivalent of Jesus or something? she wondered. They passed by the large window and exited the room through a large set of double doors, out into a garden of sorts. Here and there, little foals ran this way and that. Some were playing games, others were chatting and a few were even clustered around a white robed unicorn mare who was reading a book. A good majority of them were all kids about the same ages as the princesses.
Behind the garden appeared a large building that seemed connected to it.
One of the white robed unicorns called out to the foals, and after a brief pause, they all stopped what they were doing to bow towards the princesses. A few of the younger ones looked a little intimidated by their presence. The robed unicorns gestured for them to come over towards the princesses, which many of them reluctantly did. The looks on many of their faces reminded Megan of young kids who were approaching an important authority figure.
Fear, shyness, worry.
The robed unicorn started talking gently to the crowd of foals, and when he finished, he took a step back as if expecting the crowd to say or do something. The foals were all silent. Megan looked at the items that had been abandoned in the garden. Jump ropes, balls, board games and toys. A few children's books lay amidst the junk and Megan eyed them.
Children's books. That was how she managed to get a basic grasp on the zebra language: As infuriating as learning from it was. The princesses were rather young. Did they have children's books? Well, ones that were capable of teaching the rudimentary basics?
Her plans were shelved as Elizabeth caught everyone's attention and pointed to Megan. All eyes turned towards her and Megan backed away a step from the sudden shift of attention. Elizabeth continued speaking to the crowd as Margaret simply nodded in agreement. The foals kept turning their heads back and forth from Megan to the princesses, imitating spectators at a tennis match.
Finally, Elizabeth finished her speech and Megan's gittern was levitated into her waiting hands. She closed her fingers around it as the blue aura vanished and moved it into position. Watching were the robed unicorns, who also took interest in what was about to take place.
So she was to play for the crowd again.
She sighed as she plucked a few strings to test it, and was rewarded with a few whisperings from the crowd of foals. She knew that she'd promised herself she wouldn't get worked up over being treated like an animal, since her life depended on it, but it was getting rather annoying that she was being made to perform like a trained monkey.
She cast a worried glance at the princesses. Is this what they dragged me out here to do? Show me off to all their little friends as the toy that they could never have? Make them all jealous? She didn't think, or rather, hadn't thought they would do something like that. She turned back to the foals. Since she would be putting on a show for the kids, she decided against starting up with something fast and snappy. When she was satisfied that it was in tune, Megan chose to play Scarborough Fair.
Megan kept her eyes glued to the strings as her fingers traversed the neck of the gittern, strumming out cords rather than individual notes. She chose to look up at the foals and gave a small smile at the sight of them, all transfixed, their large eyes growing incredibly wider. Their mouths hung slack, while a small few were grinning wider than their big heads could logically allow.
Even the robed unicorns were impressed. They spread out, allowing others to watch the strange hairless monkey use her magical fingers to play musical instruments. Her mind ticked over how she'd described the situation. Was that how they saw me? Was that how the princesses saw me? She remembered the proud look on their faces when they would show off her skills to everyone else. Megan turned so that all go get a better view of her playing and that seemed to satisfy her audience. She turned to look at the princesses who looked happy. No, pleased. They were watching the audience, not her.
Turning to face the crowd, before bypassing them to the garden were they had all been playing. Toys and other objects that one might associate with children lay scattered about, along with a smattering of mares in robes, all watching from just behind the children. Although this place had a religious feel to it, Megan couldn't also help but wonder what these foals would be doing here. Then she remembered something she'd read once.
Back in the Middle Ages, orphanages were usually run by the church. She again turned to look at the foals, before making a circular survey of everything else in the garden. Toys, books, mares.
She eyed the building at the back of the garden.
What was the possibility that since this place seemed to follow nearly every rule of Medieval Europe of earth to a 'T'? she wondered. What were the chances that this place was a church of sorts, and these foals were orphans?
She turned back to the princesses, feeling guilt wash over her. They had brought her out here to entertain the local orphanage, which was no doubt run by the church. Okay, for the princesses and orphans, she'd be more than happy to perform. She finished up and was rewarded with the stomping of little hooves intermixed with cries of joy. While many of the equines would bounce up and down with excitement, the pegasi would jump into the air, do a quick loop-the-loop and land just as fast, only to do it all over again. Megan smiled.
She held up her hand, which silenced the crowd. Making sure all eyes were on it, she flexed the fingers a few times, before abruptly swinging it down and launching right into footloose. The foals were all silent for the first few cords of the song, before they started swaying with the beat. Without any lyrics to sing, Megan made the song more complex and snappy, and the foals were starting to get more into it. Some were swaying more vigorously, others were jumping up and down, and a few were doing something that looked like a drunken stagger. Possibly the horse equivalent of dancing.
She played more songs after that one. Some slow paced and soft, which the adults liked, and some with a faster beat that the kids enjoyed. When she finished, Elizabeth said something to the foals and before she could even finish, she was mobbed by the squealing, yelling crowd. Megan was forced to sit down on the steps that led down into the garden as they jumped all around her. Her gittern fell from her fingers, only to be thankfully rescued by the bodyguard as her excited audience started climbing all over her.
Stern cries from the robed unicorns did calm them down, but didn't stop them from being adventurous. They grabbed and pulled at her clothes, her hands, arms and hair. They tested her fingers, examined her feet and felt her skin, squealing with excitement. One little scamp even tried to stick its hoof into her mouth, for whatever reason only it knew. A unicorn face peered down at her from its perch atop her head before looking out over the garden and shouting out triumphantly. All the other foals stopped what they were doing as this then kicked off a massive argument as to who could sit atop Megan's head.
Off to the side, the princesses sat, watching with smiles. Although Megan did notice Margaret's gaze briefly slid over to the abandoned toys and games, before turning back with a less cheery expression than previously.
After a while, the adults called out for everyone's attention and after getting it, indicated towards the two princesses, who brightened. The foals all carefully climbed down off Megan and standing before the princesses, bowed, murmuring something that sounded rehearsed. It reminded her of her school days, when the class would automatically greet their teacher as they walked into the room: Uniform and machine like. Elizabeth then spoke to the crowd with a suggestive tone, and Margaret's mode brightened, as her own eyes turned ever so slightly towards the abandoned games and toys.
All the foals looked nervous, a few even switching their gaze to look at something else. Nobody spoke. Before anyone could, a white robed unicorn put a hoof on Elizabeth's shoulder and started speaking to her in a gentle voice that contained an undertone of a manger explaining a busy schedule to a pop star. The foals all seemed relieved at the answer. Megan was given the impression that they weren't being mean, but genuinely felt nervous around them.
She remembered all the adults she'd seen, being humble and respectful towards the princesses.
Since this was a church of sorts, she considered, maybe these kids had the lesson of respecting the princesses rammed down their throats with the force of a freight train.
As the group, along with herself, started back up the steps towards the church, the foals all bowed, never once getting up until her view of them was blocked upon entering the temple.
After exiting the temple, they all climbed back into the cab, and journeyed on into the rest of the city. They visited a building site next, which, while observing the rubble strewn surrounding landscape, had obviously been lost in some sort of accident. Although the robed unicorns weren't around, their symbol was plastered everywhere. Unicorns who were both working, and who had obviously lost their homes in what had taken place cantered up to greet the princesses, bowing and being humble in their respect towards them.
Both Margaret and Elizabeth spoke to the crowd, and although it sounded rehearsed, the gathered horses appeared to relish whatever was being said. After that, they drove over to what had to be the outskirts of the city, where a convoy of horse drawn wagons sat, loaded to the brim with food. Regular horses were speaking with fancy dressed unicorns, but there was a small contingent of robed unicorns from the church, or whatever it was called.
The princesses greeted the regular horses who, just like everyone else, bowed and spoke in humble, respectful voices towards them. Gold coins were exchanged between the fancy dressed unicorns and the horses, as one by one, the food laden wagons were let into the city. As the caravan began to dwindle, the robed unicorns took over in talking to the horses.
Friendly words were spoken and although no gold coins were exchanged, the rest of the wagons headed off into the city. Megan couldn't understand why, until she realised that they were heading in the direction of the orphanage. Both Elizabeth and Margaret appeared to thank the horses who seemed more than thrilled to receive their kind words instead of money, nervously bowing towards them, and staying low even as the princesses walked away.
After this, they headed back to the palace. After watching the good-byes from the robed unicorns, Megan realised that never once had they ever come across as using the princesses to their own advantage. It was genuine admiration for the two, in fact, from the way they all spoke and behaved, it sounded and looked like they were grateful they even showed up in the first place.
After this, they returned to the palace for lunch. Albert and Victoria were not there, so the princesses ate by themselves out the back of the palace on a balcony that overlooked the garden. They were given these neat looking sandwiches with all kinds of vegetables, while she had her usual.
The princesses were quieter than usual as they ate. During their few conversations with each other, Megan could make out the unicorn word for foal battered around a few times. So they were talking about the orphans. There was an undertone of disappointment in their voices as they spoke, and Megan didn't have to understand their language to know what was up. They had wanted to play with the kids, but the kids had been nervous and unwilling to play with the princesses.
Was this what it was like for them all the time? No kids their own age wanting to play with them?she wondered.
Reminiscing about how all the adults conducted themselves in their presence, they would've hammered this into their kids, who in turn would've been too scared to even answer back with anything other than 'yes or no ma'am.' Their bodyguard wasn't present, and only seemed to be around when they left the palace. She couldn't fathom why they needed him at all, considering the behaviour of everyone around them.
She hurriedly finished up her soup and snatching up her gittern, played the two a jaunty tune to try and uplift their spirits. The two princesses appeared to enjoy the song, swaying their heads to the beat, while the nearby maids just stared with curiosity and wonder. She didn't play for long, because once the princesses finished their lunch, Elizabeth's front hooves wrapped around her arm and started leading her away, down through the palace and into the garden.
The princesses played another game of hide and seek with her. Well, that was the second game. They had tried playing tag, but that proved impossible because they were quadrupeds. In spite of their little bulky and cute frames, they could easily leave her eating their dust before she even managed two steps. Thus she spent the next hour stalking through the garden looking for the two. Just like the palace, when she did catch them she tickled their tummy's, gaining a little satisfaction from the high pitched giggles that they emitted.
After the two foals grew tired of that, Elizabeth raced off and returned with her ball, thus kicking off a game of dodgeball. Megan found this too easy to win, because most of the time, the princesses would be distracted by the way she held the ball, thus making them easier targets. She didn't throw too hard, making sure to put enough force into the ball so that it would still hit them fast enough, but not enough to hurt. They quickly caught on to this tactic, and proved surprisingly manoeuvrable with the help of their little wings. Elizabeth would jump into the air, twisting like a WW1 fighter ace in order to dodge the ball, while Margaret, although not the skilled flyer her sister was, would use her little wings to side step like the Flash.
After a while, they called a break so that they could all go up to Elizabeth's room and have a tea party. The dolls were a mixed bag of animals from deer to bears to birds and even a beaver. No horses, pegasi or unicorns. Elizabeth and Margaret passed banter back and forth as they poured each other tea while handing out biscuits to their animal friends. Althought the tea and biscuits brought up by a maid were real, the cups the plates were very small for Megan.
As predictable, the princesses fought over who got to serve Megan. And just as always, Megan had to end the fights with silly little tricks. While she was cartwheeling around to the princesses’ cheers, a knock at their door herald the arrival of a maid who informed the princesses of something that caused them to start packing up their toys. Then making sure Megan knew to follow them, they left the room and into another section of the palace.
They were taken down a hallway she'd never seen and up many flights of stairs towards the very top of the castle. Once there, the maid used her telekinesis to operate a large door-knocker and stood back. The door opened and a female unicorn answered the door.
She had a pink fur coat with a long white mane with a long purple streak that curled around to her right. She wore a light brown cloak, with the hood back, which obscured the rest of her body.
She blinked in surprise, before spying the princesses and immediately her mood brightened. She opened wide the door and motioned for them to come in, only to stop Megan with an outstretched hoof. The Princesses whined about Megan being denied entrance but the pink mare refused to budge. She started explaining something to the two fillies while pointing to the shelves behind her.
Megan looked past into the room beyond and realised that they were at a library. Rows upon rows of shelves containing multi-coloured books and scrolls, arranged in a circular pattern that extended out into the rest of the huge room. The foyer of the library was taken up by a huge hour-glass beneath a glass dome.
From the way she pointed at the books and scrolls with love and admiration, while gesturing half-heartedly at Megan, it was quite possible that she believed Megan would eat them, or something equally destructive. A male voice called out from somewhere within the library and the pink mare turned to answer back. She turned to look Megan up and down, before continuing. The voice hesitated slightly, before giving a reply.
The answer made the pink mare visibly stagger. She looked frantically between Megan and the shelves before turning back to ask something with a worried tone. The reply was firm but gentle. The mare turned to glare at Megan, before slowly lowering her hoof, allowing her inside. Megan carefully walked inside, looking all around the room.
Like everything else in this place, the library was unbelievably pristine, immaculate and in some places, even shiny. She looked down at the pink mare who was glaring daggers at Megan.
I'm not gonna eat your damn books, Missy, Megan thought. She was interrupted as Margaret's hooves wrapped around her closest hand and began leading her deep into the bowels of the library.
Somewhere towards the back section, lay a large table buried beneath numerous scrolls, with a blackboard filled with untranslatable equations, or possibly scripture of some kind. A familiar looking white bearded unicorn stallion stood beside the desk, and still wearing that same wizard’s ensemble with the ridiculous amount of bells – seriously, why so damn many? she thought.
Beside him stood another unicorn. This one wore a light brown robe with a hood pulled back, and had an indigo blue coat with a horn of the exact same colour, while his mane was curly and a deep purple.
The bearded one looked up from his scrolls and smiled at the princesses as they trotted up to him. The indigo blue unicorn looked up briefly from the scroll he was reading, only to do a double-take upon realising Megan's presence. The bearded unicorn reassured his friend, or was it assistant, and asked the princesses something. They looked to Megan and nodded reassuringly back to him.
Megan was about to roll her eyes when she saw the look on the unicorns face. It wasn't horror, or surprise. It reminded her of a look she'd seen her grandmother make when she was assembling a puzzle. She'd spent hours trying to figure out where one piece went, and when she did, the look on her face was almost identical to that of the unicorn watching her. The said unicorn hesitated at first, but grew bold enough to move closer all the while eyeing her limbs with interest.
No, not her limbs. Her clothes. He circled her eyeing the way they covered her. Then he spied her feet and could not take his eyes off them. The white unicorn snapped something at him and he turned, embarrassment on his features. He hastily blurted out something, which could've been an apology, and turned to head back to his desk. The bearded one approached Megan, looking up into her face, before turning to talking to the princesses. He spoke to them for a while, as the two foals listened intently. Whatever was being said, it seemed to put that pink unicorn at ease.
Margaret's little face showed confliction, while Megan couldn't read the expression on Elizabeth's face. Both princesses seemed to hesitate over the matter, before the bearded unicorn started explaining something else. Although Megan had no clue how to speak unicorn, she had picked up a few words here and there, and she was able to recognise a few. The word for 'food,' was used a lot, along with 'bath,' 'toilet,' and what she believed was 'skin.' It could've been furless, Megan wasn't entirely sure.
Margaret still had that same conflicted look, but Elizabeth turned and spoke to her sister. Whatever was said caused the little princess to nod reluctantly. The pink unicorn beamed as she walked over to the princesses and began talking to them, much like a parent or caretaker would. Megan was trying to solve the puzzle of what had just transpired while the bearded unicorn appeared at her side, a reassuring smile on his muzzle. He spoke softly to her while stroking her arm, trying to calm her, or at least make her understand he wasn't a threat to her.
He turned and spoke to his assistant, or whatever he was, and he nodded, before bolting from the room. The sound of the library door slamming shut echoed not long afterwards, and the bearded unicorn gently hooked a hoof around Megan's hand and tugged on it, indicating that she should follow him. Megan turned to look at the princesses, who were sitting down on chairs before the pink unicorn. That said unicorn was busy explaining something to the two fillies as she levitated a scroll before them.
She then finished off her speech with a questioning tone, and Elizabeth raised a hoof into the air. The pink unicorn nodded at her and Elizabeth spoke what sounded like a carefully rehearsed comment. The pink unicorn nodded gleefully at what was spoken, causing Elizabeth to cheer.
Oh, she was teaching them, she realized.
Margaret's little face was turned in Megan's direction, watching her with a despondent look, which caused the pink unicorn to walk over to her and physically turn Margaret's head back to face her. She gave a gentle pat of her mane and cooed some soft reassuring words to her, which in turn did bring a smile to Margaret's lips.
Another tug on her hand and Megan was whisked away, back towards the library door. She was taken from the library through the castle and out into the courtyard where that indigo blue unicorn from the library was waiting, levitating Megan's leash while standing next to another horse drawn carriage. Megan hesitated perhaps a bit longer than she should have, for the bearded unicorn gave her a gentle reassuring push towards the carriage.
Okay, so they want me to go on a little trip.
The Indigo blue unicorn had some kind of bags around his waist. A pair of saddle bags that contained God-only-knew-what, and Megan once again found herself trying to suppress a grin at the irony of horses using saddle bags. This in turn allowed the indigo blue unicorn to attach her leash to her collar without any fuss. Megan hadn't even noticed this until the bearded one gave a gentle tug on it to coax her into the open door of the waiting carriage.
After attaching the leash to her, the indigo blue unicorn motioned for her to climb on in, before climbing up after her. The cab rocked as the other unicorns climbed in to take up seats on the opposite side. There were voices outside, and then with a lurch the carriage started moving.
Megan didn't bother looking out the window this time, even though she knew that she was heading to a different part of the city. She just kept her eyes glued straight ahead, looking at the other two who returned the gesture. That indigo blue unicorn kept eyeing her clothes. Once he had tried sniffing them, only to sneeze all over her. He then made a harsh cracking sound as he moved his bottom jaw from left to right. The noise sent a shiver down Megan's spine, and she was hit with a sudden sense of deja vu. Tried to rack her brain, but nothing surfaced.
Eventually, she moved onto more pressing matters. She was wondering if this was such a good idea. In spite of the kindness he'd shown towards her, she still didn't trust the white bearded unicorn.
Where were we going? More importantly, what’s awaiting me at the other end? And if I can trust him, will it only to be a small respite?
Like the last time, the ride didn't take too long, just under half an hour before they stopped and the door opened. The indigo blue unicorn climbed out, followed by the bearded one, as he was gentle with Megan's leash as he pulled, allowing her to climb out as well. They stood before a big old building built of dark clapboard and hidden away by the trees that surrounded it: green and white evergreens. It was impossible to tell how many floors there were to this place: the front was a riot of shingle roofs and gables, annexes and additions, windows of all shapes and sizes.
Megan arched an eyebrow. Come to think about it, what was she doing here? Looking around she could see other buildings through the trees. There was a large brick place nearby and another slate roof visible a short distance away. Another pull on her leash and she was guided towards the front porch. A well-dressed horse greeted them at a set of wooden double-doors. He gave a hearty greeting to the bearded unicorn, barely even glancing at Megan, before he opened up and allowed them entry.
It was warmer inside and everything was made from polished wood that glowed golden-red in the meagre lamplight. What parts of the floor weren't laid with threadbare rugs were scored and marked from hoof prints. No paintings here, instead the walls were decorated with ornate tapestries featuring geometric designs that could almost have been of Celtic origin. Megan followed the two unicorns down the hall into the dimmer interiors and up a narrow staircase. The place had an old smell to it: wood and fabric, the underlying scents of beeswax and oils and something else. It was stronger when they got to the next floor and reminded Megan of hospitals.
The corridors were empty, as were the rooms they passed. Megan caught a few glimpses through open doors: cushions and a few low desks, parchment drawings on the walls, charts and wooden models, other rooms with containers like glass mason jars with things suspended in greenish liquid lining the shelves. Now she realised where she'd smelled that smell before: biology labs. Formaldehyde. Then the bearded unicorn stopped before a large oak door and knocked on it. A female voice answered from the other side, and he opened the door, before gently tugging on the leash to show her in. Megan went along, all the time plagued by the gut feeling she was making a bad mistake.
It was a large room lit by a chandelier of gas lamps in pale glass globes; if there were windows they were behind the heavy green drapes opposite. There was a bookcase with glass-lattice doors protecting thick leather-bound tomes. On the walls hung charts and framed pictures of all sizes, anatomical diagrams of bear, deer, beavers, other animals painstakingly rendered in charcoal and ink and some in startling colour.
At the far end of the room stood a yellow horse with an incredibly long pink mane that hung off the left side of her head and almost wrapped around the front of her body. Her pink tail was the longest she ever seen on any of the equines, while her flanks showed a picture of a solitary pink butterfly. She looked up from a book she had been reading and just stared with unbelieving eyes at Megan. The bearded unicorn cleared his throat as he caught her attention, before he began explaining something to the mare.
She listened intently to what was being said, while sneaking furtive glances at Megan. Finally, once the white unicorn had finished, she trotted down towards them and boldly walked right up to Megan. She asked something in a questioning tone, to which the bearded unicorn simply shook his head and replied with a confused manner to his speech.
Without even hesitating, the mare put out a hoof to carefully touch Megan's left arm. She spoke some calming words as she gently stroked along the length of her forearm. She hadn't noticed it until the hoof touched her arm, but she was trembling. She couldn't help it.
Am I about to be tied down to a table and dissected? No, she decided. The princesses would be horrified if I was. Then why were they...? She paused her thoughts as the yellow horse motioned her to lower her head, and started an examination of her teeth.
She stayed perfectly still as the mare poked and prodded around inside her mouth, feeling her canines and molars. She could only hope that mare had washed her hoof beforehand. She'd hate to catch some form of hoof and mouth disease. Then she had to suppress the urge to burst out laughing at what she'd just thought about. The yellow horse then turned away and trotting over to some scrolls, picked up a feathered quill with her hoof and started writing, all the while, talking in short sentences to the other two unicorns.
Megan just ogled her actions with undisguised shock. Thankfully no one saw her, but she was completely baffled by the way the mare held the quill. The way her hoof bent around it, holding it in place, look both impossible and uncomfortable at the same time.
She was then made to remove her shoes, while the mare made more comments and notes. Finally, she was made to strip completely. Megan reluctantly went with it.
The mare seemed shocked that she lacked fur. This was made obvious as she kept inspecting Megan's skin while feeling her own dusting of fur, all the while making extensive notes. She must have realised that Megan needed them for warmth as she was quick with her observations before motioning for Megan to dress herself again; all the while smiling at her ability to do so.
She started discussing this with the bearded one who listened intently. He seemed to hesitate for a while, before asking something very slowly. The mare responded by laughing out loud, before launching into a rapid-fire speech to answer the unicorn’s question. He was silent for a lot longer, before softly asking something else. The mare looked as though she were about to start laughing all over again, but paused upon seeing the seriousness in his face.
She shrugged, before excusing herself from the room. She was gone for what felt like twenty-minutes, before she returned with another unicorn. A light blue mare who had saddle bags around her waist. She paused upon seeing Megan, before asking questions of the white unicorn. He waved them off, before speaking forcefully to the light blue unicorn who sighed with annoyance, before reaching around and opening up the left saddlebag with her telekinesis, pulled out what looked like a jewelled witch’s hat. She raised it into the air and carefully inserted it atop her own horn. There were straps on the underside, which the mare used to secure it around her bottom jaw before standing back, and saying something to the white bearded unicorn.
He nodded, before the light blue mare lowered her horn towards Megan. The whole cone began to sparkle like a disco ball, and Megan took a fearful step away. The mare made calming motions for her to stay where she was, but Megan couldn't help rid herself of the feeling that she was making a big mistake.
The light blue mare flung her head up of a sudden, and pointing a shaking hoof at Megan, started yammering away in such high speed, Megan at first though she was have a seizure. The others in the room looked shocked, before all three burst out laughing. The light blue unicorn looked furious at their reaction before she slammed a hoof on the ground, silencing everyone and started loudly explaining something, most likely the results of whatever it was she had just done.
As she continued to speak, the colour in the others’ faces seemed to drain away. One would think that wouldn't be possible with fur, the expression was instantly recognisable. When she was finished with her explanation, no one in the room spoke. Then the indigo blue one licked his lips and leaning over, carefully whispered something into the white one's ear. Megan saw his pupils dilate, and he had some difficulty swallowing the lump in his throat.
Slowly, all eyes turned to Megan and she saw a mixture of emotions within.
Fear, uncertainty, shock and disbelief.
There was more uncomfortable silence, before the white unicorn spoke very slowly to all. The light blue unicorn mare started shouting at what he said, making sharp gestures towards Megan while she in turn found herself looking around for the closest exit. The white unicorn tried to calm her down, but it only served to make her more agitated.
Finally, he grabbed a shoulder and forced her to look at him. He started speaking to her calmly, and as he spoke, her excitement or fury or whatever it was evaporated. After he finished, she levelled a long hard look at him before leaning in to ask something that insanely sounded like 'Are you sure?' He nodded in response, before launching into another speech, this one more calm and confident.
Whatever was being said caused her to smile. Before he could even finish, she enthusiastically shouted something at him, which caused a smile to appear on his own muzzle. He motioned for the indigo blue unicorn to step forth, and reaching into his saddle bag pulled out a large pouch that jingled with a familiar metallic sound.
Oh, okay. Bribes. Everything came down to bribes on this crazy world, Megan realized.
The light blue mare took the bag, and making it disappear into her own saddle bag, she turned and asked a question, to which all three nodded reassuringly. So not only was she getting the money, but something else. Assured of her bribe, she gleefully trotted out of the room. Whether she was aware of the jewelled device still attached to her horn, was unclear as everyone listened to her whistling a jaunty tune to herself as she left the three alone.
Then, they all turned as one to face Megan. Megan took another step backwards only to run into a wall.
What the hell just happened?
However, the only things Megan wanted to know right now was could she trust them and where the hell was the closest escape route? The white unicorn took a hesitant step towards her, before slowly closing his eyes, and lowering his horn towards her. The horn began to glow, and all of a sudden, Megan felt a tugging at her clothes. She looked down just in time to see the ruby fly from the top of her overalls and hover directly before the white unicorn.
All equines stared at it, dumbfounded, before the indigo blue unicorn pulled out a familiar looking stone with its even more familiar looking jewelled centre and aimed it right at her. It did not glow. The stone device hit the floor with a loud 'thwacking' sound. The indigo blue unicorn's eyes grew to impossible widths while the yellow mare gave a startled gasp. The white one just stood as rigid as a statue, but Megan could see a bead of sweat break out upon his brow. Normally, she would be curious as to how a creature with fur could sweat, but she had way more serious, deadly things to contemplate right now.
They knew! They knew she had no psychic powers whatsoever! The goddamned cat was out of the goddamned bag and in the goddamned open!
The indigo blue unicorn turned and tried to ask something of the white one, but his jaw just worked soundlessly. The mare kept shifting her gaze back and forth between Megan and the jewelled stone on the floor so many times it was like she were watching a game of tennis. Meanwhile, the bead of sweat had run all the way down the white one's face to land with a loud plop at his feet.
Finally, he said one word. {Me-gan?} She just stared back at him, not even moving. {*** you ***?} She had picked up enough words that she recognised that he was addressing her. He thought for a moment, before saying, {Me-gan ****?} As he said that word, he pointed at his own head. He said the word again, and mimed a thinking pose. Intelligent. He wanted to know if she was intelligent. All equines in the room had ceased moving. One would be forgiven for mistaking them for stuffed toys for how still they were.
And what now?
PT had warned her that if the unicorns found out she had no psychic powers, they'd kill her. They knew the truth now. However, that scene when she'd first met him, he had assured both the princesses and her that he meant her no harm. On the other hand, from her observations of the way he had reacted to the truth, she was beginning to suspect that he had thought she was hiding something else.
So what now? she wondered. Can I trust him? Them? If the princesses were revered by all, could they keep her safe? What was grandfather had said once? ‘When thrown in the deep end, the best thing to do is start swimming, or you’re just going to sink.’ Should I take the risk? Should I gamble everything I have? Her gaze slid across to the door. Something enveloped it within an indigo blue aura and it slammed closed. She turned back to see the said unicorn's horn glowing, as the yellow mare went to secure the window.
Christ, I waited too long! Real smart Megan! Real smart! Now she was trapped. Why didn't she run when she had the chance? Why? Because I’m an idiot, that's why!
She turned from one blocked exit to the other, before slowly licking her lips, and standing up from the wall, nodded and said, {Yes.}
There was a startled squawking sound from the mare as she covered her mouth like a small child who'd been busted sneaking cookies, while the indigo blue unicorns jaw dropped. The white one looked stunned. He just stood there, blinking, his own jaw moving without sound. The indigo blue unicorn looked from one equine to the other, before slowly walking over to the door, and putting an ear to it. He opened it just enough to stick his head out and look both ways, before pulling it back inside and closing it. He spoke in a soft voice to all, who looked at him, before turning back to Megan.
He then levitated back the ruby. Megan quickly snatched it out of the air, and the white unicorn frowned, before muttering something to himself. The indigo blue unicorn asked a question, and he just waved it off. He then motioned for Megan to put the ruby back inside her overalls. A wave of relief swept over Megan as she shoved the gem back into its hiding place, and watched as the indigo blue unicorn picked up the device and aimed at her and it gave off the faintest glow.
She looked up at the white unicorn, his expression still one of disbelievingly shock.
Why? He had known I lacked the psychic powers, or whatever it was when I first met him. Hadn't he? She tilted her head. What if I misread him? What if he'd believed in something else was wrong with me? Then it struck her. Intelligence. He'd known she was intelligent. So why was he confused about the way the jewelled rock reacted? Why did he take me all the way to a biology lab, or whatever the hell this freak'n place was? Now, I just revealed to him what I thought he already he knew. Only that put the fear of God into him!
Somewhere, Murphy was, without a shadow of a doubt, laughing his ass off.
The yellow mare turned to the stallions and started a rushed but whispered conversation that kicked off what sounded like a heated debate. Both the indigo blue unicorn and the yellow mare were trying to get the white unicorn to side with their side of the argument. Finally, he silenced them all with a stamp of both front hooves. He turned from one to the other, hissing menacingly at them. He then started a whispered speech of his own, that seemed to satisfy neither side.
They protested but he just slammed his hoof down again. He snapped something at the indigo blue unicorn, before stalking over to the door. That unicorn levitated out another bag of money, giving it to the yellow mare, and while she looked happy, she looked forlornly over at Megan. Megan recognised that look. A look of wanting to know more. The unicorn then timidly approached Megan before levitating out her leash, and attaching it to her collar, before tugging on it to get her moving.
Megan felt her body on autopilot as she moved. She wasn't sure what to do. Run? Refuse to move? Scream for help? Her body just seemed to go where she was being asked to go. While fear was coursing through her veins, she also couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen. The white unicorn had returned her ruby, so that ruled out exposing her. Everyone involved had attempted to make sure this wouldn't make it passed the room she'd just left. Still, it didn't relax her the slightest.
The carriage ride home was an awkward one. Both unicorns looked unsure, nervousness plainly on their features. Before they reached the palace, the white unicorn had gotten her attention by saying her name. He then tapped the top of his head, indicating her intelligence, before saying the word that she'd become familiar with. The word for Equine. She heard the others use it in regards to all three species of horses. Unicorns, regular horses and pegasi. After saying this word. He then violently shook his head. That needed no translation. Just like PT, this unicorn was telling her not to let others know her secret.
This caused her to relax somewhat. At least she now knew that this unicorn didn't want her to die. She gave a mental sigh, realising that she'd made the right choice after all. Now came the next worry.
How long was that right choice going to last? And did this guy have plans for me like Joan and PT did? she wondered.
When they returned to the palace, the princesses were waiting for them at the bottom of the castle steps, and squealed with joy when Megan stepped out. They rushed over to her and hugged her like a stuffed teddy bear. This caused Megan to smile as she leaned down to embrace them both, some of her fear melting away. The white unicorn appeared beside them and said some calm words to the two foals, before handing back the leash to Elizabeth. He spoke to them again, his words ending off in a questioning tone, and they vigorously nodded.
The rest of the day passed in relative peace. She played with the princesses until it was time for dinner. Then she played with them again until it was time for bed. She still slept in Margaret's room, which made her wonder what the sleeping arrangements were. When she woke the next morning, Elizabeth barged on in with the usual morning maid, determined not to be left out of grooming Megan's hair.
After breakfast, they returned to the library where that mare with the pink fur coat and long white mane with a long purple streak in it was just as thrilled to see her as she had been the last time.
As Megan entered the library, she tapped her on the arm, drawing her attention. She pointed a hoof at the books and scrolls, before pointing it at her own eyes, and back at Megan, almost as if saying, I'm watching you. Megan wanted to return the gesture with a single middle finger raised in a mocking salute. She didn't. After yesterday, she knew she was skating on thin ice with hot plates at the moment and she really, really didn't want to push her luck.
She was taken back to the usual spot where the princesses were taught by pinkie, and baulked upon seeing that familiar white bearded unicorn. The indigo blue one was nowhere to be seen. He kept an eye that didn't look too wary on Megan as she was led up towards him, and Elizabeth asked him something. He patted her mane softly as he answered in a reassuring tone, before indicating that Megan should follow him.
She did. She wasn't going to try and run, but should she have to, she could make that guy sorry he tried anything funny. He had been willing to keep her secret, and now she was going to find out why. Or she hoped that was the case. As they headed up a set of stairs and through a large oak door, it suddenly struck Megan that she might be heading off to a medieval version of a science lab to be studied and dissected.
Of course, all that fled her mind when she entered the room, to see pictures and words on chalk boards. The whole set-up reminded her of her first grade school, minus all the cute and lovable drawings. The white unicorn motioned for her to sit down on a cushion, which she did. He looked over at the door, before his horn started glowing. Megan turned to see the door glowing itself, before the glow vanished, leaving the door looking exactly as it had before. Before she could wonder what that was all about, the white one coughed for her attention.
Turned back, he pointed at himself, and gave a short whine. He repeated it and the gesture, before pointing at her and saying her name. Megan's eyes went wide. Oh, OH! That was his name. She said her own name, pointing at herself and then pointed at him, saying his name. He smiled and nodded. Her eyes went wider as he floated an apple up off the desk and pointed at it. He said a word, and she repeated it.
The apple floated down into his hoof and he said a few more words. {I have/hold apple.} He then indicated for her to take it, which she did. He pointed at her and said, {You have/hold apple.} He then sat down on his hindquarters, making a deliberate show of it. {Sit.} He said. {I sit.} He stood. {Stand. I stand.} Megan smiled. Speech. He was teaching her how to speak. Oh, thank God. He wasn't going to kill or sell her, or anything else and she would be able to communicate with the unicorns.
He picked up item after item, identifying each of them, until they had exhausted everything in the room. Next came basic sentence structure. It reminded her of the one time she'd tried learning the Japanese language. Whereas English was subject, verb, object, theirs was subject, object, verb. Also, like the zebra language, their vocal speech was a combination of whinnying, snorting and tongue clicks, but the zebra's had an emphasis on teeth and tongue clicking over snorting and whinnying.
The white unicorn was persistence and carried on, correcting Megan where she faltered or got something wrong. He was patient as she stumbled her way through words, smiling when she got them right and giving a slight shake of his head when she got them wrong.
She wasn't sure how much time passed, but he stopped teaching her all of a sudden as he turned to look at the door to his study or office or whatever. Megan turned to, and saw nothing. His psychic aura enveloped it and after the glow faded, a knocking sound could be heard. Megan blinked in astonishment. He'd managed to soundproof the place? The saw swung open and in came the two princesses.
They eagerly grabbed at Megan, pulling her up and away from the white unicorn, who called out well wishes to the two princesses. As they jabbered, she realised that she could make out some of their speech. It was lunch time and they couldn't start without her. Granted it took at least twenty minutes for her to figure it out because they spoke so damn fast, but by the time they reached their usual balcony to have lunch, she was smiling with pride.
She was being taught how to speak unicorn, or horse. That white unicorn was helping her. Why? The only answer she could think of that didn't end in bad news for her, was that he wanted to ask her something. The lack of psychic powers seemed the right answer. He had known she was intelligent, but he hadn't been ready for the double whammy of having no psychic ability whatsoever.
She had ruled out sordid reasons, considering all the efforts and steps he was taking to ensure fewer horses knew about her. Sound proofing the door so that no one could hear her speak, bribing horses so that they wouldn't blab.
She found she wasn't as panicky as she should've been. She was being taught the language. That meant she would be able to understand the basics before they started asking questions, and that in turn, would allow her to understand why they would want her dead. With that knowledge under her belt, she could focus on the plan for an emergency exit should the need arise.
She also hadn't been idle while she'd been in the library. She'd seen maps. Many maps. Many highly detailed maps that showed forest, rivers mountains and even the ocean. It wouldn't be too much trouble for her to learn where fresh water was, where food was, and most importantly, where there were few horses.
She had a plan. The white unicorn seemed eager to know all he could about her, and with a few deliberate displays of ignorance, she could learn about the ecology of this place. Where it was less likely to rain, what the seasons were like, or more importantly, was there a way out of this land? She knew that sailing ships existed in this world, and she also held firm to the idea of sailing back to the griffin lands to see if maybe, just maybe, find whatever doorway brought her here, and hoping to God that it was capable of swinging back the other way.
Stats
Page generated in 0.053 seconds
Total duration
996 users online
6,253 hits today, 2,314,256 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.®
Wow. So great to finally see more of this.
This was a fascinating read, watching Megan learn and question and plan, especially her interactions and coming realizations about the nature of the Princess's lives. It's easy to see the connection there, despite her own desire to return home.
I admit, I didn't see Starswirl finding out about Megan's lack of magic so soon. It was enough of a tense situation with her just pretending to be an animal! Now though, there's more than just Megan and the Princesses. Things are picking up, and Megan has more players to deal with.
Good to see your still with us...
p.s.; MOAR
IT LIVES!
But in all seriousness, relative shortness of the chapters aside, there's still plenty of meat to this - and it's good to see the story progressing. It's doubly good to see that Megan might finally begin to understand what's going on around her.
Hey, Nelg!!
I wasn't able to send the corrections to you yet! Check the PMs again!!
The link you sent me was Read Only!
5643222 i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff64/tinmanti/OhBoy.jpg
I did go through and make alot of edits myself. Not to worry. Hopefully I got them all. If not, people will point them out to me. If not, sorry for sullying your good name.
That... dose explain a few things.
5643439 Well, like I said at the end of the chapter, laziness and medical problems. Also, I'm a bit of a perfectionist as well. I've found that most of the times, I spend too much time describing a situation and as a result, it starts eating up the scenery. I've been training myself to be more to the point and that hasn't worked really well. Hopefully, I've managed it with this chapter, and will continue doing so with the others and the rest of my writing.
I was just thinking about this story when I signed in and BAM, a new chapter is waiting for me....
I swear to only use my chapter summoning powers for good.
Ah, they are teaching her.
Knowledge is dangerous, so very dangerous...
Hi Nelg,
Still couldn't make any changes to the file for Chapter 5, so I appended the corrections to the end of the work for Chapter 1--please pick it up from pg 30. (I saw that someone else had made some changes to that file since I last looked at it, so I left that work intact)
Also, I found a couple places in Chapter 2 where I missed replacing the word "ridged" where you should have used "rigid"--you should make that change in your post. I did catch & fix it for where it appeared in Chapter 5.
Like I said, not much blood. For some reason, there seems to be a lot more compound words than when I was growing up--I might not like Microsoft products, but I do have to say the spell checker is one of my best friends!
Okay, taking off my editor hat here:
5643590 I agree. And I hope Megan teaches Starswirl & the girls English at the same time--it might be a good thing for her to be able to communicate with trustworthy folks where no other pony will be able to eves drop on their conversations.
5643700 "Okay, taking off my editor hat here:" - "eves drop". You don't need to hang it up completely.
Ooh finally!
I've been looking forward to this one.
So Megan is magic proff to direct magic? There is still many ways they can kill her,
5643700 Teaching the princesses English would have to wait until the cat is inevitably let out of the bag (however that happens). There is, however, no reason she can't teach it to Starswirl...
5644639 I'm certainly no grammar nazi & have to rely on the spell & grammar checkers. Between MSWord & GDocs, they've helped me help Nelg with his story. All I can say is there are a hell of a lot more compound words now than when I was growing up. In fact, I did try typing as "evesdrop" here, but it redlined on the site, so I split the words for that post.
I know, sometimes, they don't agree or can be wrong for the situation--in which case, I'll make a judgment call if I can recognize the problem. Otherwise, it's better for me to err on the side of the machine. That's the caveat--I couldn't remember if "evesdrop" was correct or not. (& I just double checked against MSWord, too. Word doesn't like it as a compound word, either)
5646392
True, but it's likely the princesses would still be finding out way before the rest of the castle, since children are often more willing to help keep a secret, especially if they know spilling the beans would get their friend killed.
I'm very curious as to what exactly it was that Starswirl thought was wrong with Megan to make him dig deeper. If he was simply thinking she was a sapient being, then the gem should've been giving her whatever cover for the magic box she needed to protect her from discovery that she had no "magic". There's no logical obvious reason Starswirl should've removed it from her only to test her with the box again, so the real reason is something very obscure.
Huh, just found this story. So far, I really like the concept. The twist with the royal sisters has me wondering where things are going from here. I'm looking forward to the fridge horror when parents react at the fact they had a thinking being playing with their kids for weeks. Also, looking forward to seeing how long Megan keeps up the act. As an aside: Starswirl might be the best pony.
My only complaint is that it the near-total lack of understanding took so long. I am so glad Megan might actually be able to contribute and we might actually know what the heck is happening. (Is Megan magicproof? Why was Starswirl the first to realize and test for this? Is there some sort of political unrest? Why are Luna and Celestia treated like Jesus? What is the status of different kinds of ponies? Do G1 throwbacks have the same basic personalities? Does Fluttershy's greatx50 grandmother work as a naturalist or a doctor? How are magic-less creatures known and treated normally?) I almost stopped reading in frustration a couple times.
5646669 Actually, it is "eavesdrop". If you rightclick on the underlined word often the right spelling is included in the suggestions. If the suggestions look funny then looking things up on the web is also an option (e.g. Merrian-Webster).
Wow, what a blast from the past. Picked up this story a looong time ago and just now noticed it recently updated, which led me to devouring it in short order. I really like it! The worldbuilding really shows you did some work (It reached the peak when I started speculating that the "present" Canterlot would have been a rebuilding of ancient griffin villages, but alas, that didn't happen in your story. Still, top notch job there) and I'm positively impressed at how Megan progresses in her "connect the dots" game. Overall, a very enjoyable work!
That said, I'd be more than willing to serve as a second proofreader, and to revisit the earlier chapters for that dozen or so errors strewn around. Just send a message my way!
The paragraph describing how Megan has her gem returned is confusing. Who actually levitates it back? Starswirl? Or his assistant?
5666549 That was Starwirl. I'll go back and edit it, but remember, it was Starswirl who removed it, so he was the one who gave it back.
5643465 Her'es to hoping we don't have to wait a year for the next one.
The passiveness and tendency to rapidly develope Stockholm syndrome for her myriad of captors is incredibly annoying, but the story is well written and entertaining, enough so for me to favorite this.
I can't wait to see how this turns out!
Hi Nelg,
Hoping you're doing well & looking forward to more updates.
heh. In Soviet Equestria, Ponies ride YOU!
(& most appropriate that smilie is Trollestia and not Trolluna)
good story hope to see an update soon. I have a suggestion for an interesting conflict, have Megan have her period because from my reeding of the time-line she has been in Equestria for over a month so she is long overdue, and seeing Celestia and Luna panicking because there pet is "dying" because of the bleeding and the cramps could be fun.
The related story bar says hello. How goes things?
6575785 Don't worry. I still haven't given up. As it just so happens, Life has a nasty habit of getting in the way.
6577900 Ah real life. The bane of pony related fiction.
6795590 I based that story on numerous real life escape stories of World War 2. So not only is it likely but it actually happened.
Wow this story is pretty good , though when authors write stories where the main character has to learn equestrian and don't update often it kinda annoys me since we'll never know whats happening.
*opens the Necromonicon and starts reading over this story*
On the plus side, Nelg: your story's been steadily climbing just about every day. Although, I suspect you're about to see a 20-30 spike in thumbs up shortly
♪♫