The Challenge of Fleur

by PaulAsaran

Structure & Form

On the outside, Fancy was his usual pleasant, charming self. On the inside, however, he was happier than a foal on Hearth’s Warming Eve. Princess Luna. Of all the ponies he could be trapped in an empty void with, Fleur set him up with Luna! He didn’t know why she did it, and for now he didn’t care. He would simply enjoy this opportunity as best he could.

Luna, on the other hoof, didn’t seem to be enjoying herself at all. She kept shifting, her wings fluffing every now and again as she scoured their surroundings with unpleasant eyes. He wanted to say something to alleviate the boredom, but his mind was blank. It didn’t help that he kept finding himself gazing at her mane. By the Moon, was it pretty.

“Is that meant to be a moon?”

He shook himself, tearing his eyes from the sparkling starscape of her mane to note that she was looking up. He followed suite, but saw nothing. “A moon, Princess?”

“Can you not see it?” she asked, gesturing to the air. “It is strangely flat and lacks illumination. In fact it is but a mere circle… but it reminds me of a moon.”

He peered into the darkness, but could see nothing. “I don’t know what you… Wait.” He saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a tiny white dot. And another. And another.

A few small dots became a dozen, then several dozen, and still more, spreading out in the air just a few feet above his head. Soon the entire world seemed coated in them, all on the same flat plane, all immobile and dull. Just…flat white dots. “I do not know what makes you think of them as moons,” he noted, rearing back to study one just above their heads. “They seem like mere circles, to me.”

“They?” Luna shot him a frown, her brow furrowed. “There is but one, and it is quite large. How can you miss it?”

“One?” he asked, turning in place to gaze upon the field of white specks. “There must be thousands of them!”

They stared at one another, a quiet moment of understanding passing between them. After a time Luna facehooved with a grimace. “We’re seeing entirely different things.”

“So it would seem,” he acknowledged, scratching the back of his head. As he did he noted more dots appearing, this time at the level of their hooves. “Do you see those?”

The Princess turned her gaze to follow his gesture, and her eyes lit up. “What is this? Dots?”

He blinked at her statement. “So you see them, but not the ones above?”

Her eyes arose, roaming the darkness without focus. “No, just the paper moon.”

Fancy studied the dot just beneath them, which was just small enough to be completely covered by his hoof when stepped on. He felt nothing when he did. It was like glass was between his hoof and the dot. “Clearly Fleur is making changes, but to what purpose?”

Luna raised an eyebrow at what he assumed was the invisible moon overhead, lips set in a deep frown. “I hope she does not assume I am afraid of round shapes, now.”

“You must give her some credit,” he said, earning him a scathing look. “Are we not seeing different things? Correct me if I’m wrong, but under the circumstances that strikes me as an impressive feat of mental manipulation.”

She set a hoof to her chin as she considered this. “Hmm… Yes, it indeed qualifies for a high degree of complexity. The end result may not be fantastic, but to manipulate the minds of two ponies in this way – while she is certainly manipulating others, as well – is certainly a sign of talent. But,” she threw in with a fresh scowl, “her aim was to frighten, not impress. I remain thoroughly disappointed.”

Fancy drooped, his ears tucking down and he studied the spot at his hooves. “Well, yes, that is rather disappointing.” But then a thought came to him, and he looked to her with a tilted head. “I must wonder why Fleur set the two of us together.”

Luna, who seemed to be paying more attention to her invisible moon that his words, replied, “Perhaps it was by chance. Luck of the draw, as they say in these modern times.”

But Fancy shook his head. “I recall. Fleur told me when I arrived that she had ‘somepony in mind for me’.”

That got her attention. She turned to him, brow furrowed as she peered uncertainly at him. “So we were paired intentionally? Now I, too, am curious.”

He pondered this possibility for some time, and could only assume Luna was doing the same. What if Fleur knew… No, that was impossible. He’d been singing the Princess’ praises ever since her return from exile, but he’d always been sure to put those praises in a political or public context. His private praises were… well, private. He certainly had no intention of sharing them.

Luna spoke, her pleasant voice interrupting his thoughts. “Perhaps she views us as the opposition.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Opposition?”

“Opposition,” she repeated with a nod. “Think on it, Fancy. If I understand you correctly, then we are both very doubtful of her ability to frighten us. Perhaps that is why we are together; we present a significant challenge.”

Now that sounded more like the Fleur he knew. Also, it was far less personal than the reasons floating around in his head. “Yes, I think that makes perfect sense,” he declared with a crooked smile, silently thanking her for the very real alternative.

Luna still had that critical frown, though, her eyes going to the many dots all over the ‘ground’. “I do hope she tries to liven things up, and soon. If not, I may be tempted to manually break out of this dreadfully dull illusion she has concocted.”

---

Luna stared up at the paper moon, feeling not just a little frustrated. Why was Fleur playing this pathetically slow game? Why would she not just come at them with some grotesque monstrosity, if all she really needed was to frighten? If things did not improve soon, she really would force an escape.

“Princess?”

Luna turned her piercing gaze upon Fancy, who was watching the dots beneath them with a tilted head. She followed his gaze and saw that something was indeed developing, though what it meant she could not fathom. In the distance, blocks seemed to be rising up from the various dots. They grew to various heights, and when they stopped she was puzzled to see tall, rectangular shapes burst on top of them.

Arrows? Was that what they were meant to be? As the forest grew up, they soon found themselves surrounded by tall blocks and pyramid heads.

Forest?

Ah, of course. First a paper moon, now paper trees.

“What in Equestria is that mare doing, now?” Fancy asked as he spun about with an unpleasant frown. “Are we to traverse a maze?”

“A maze?” Luna repeated. “What maze? This is a forest.”

“Forest?” He gestured at nothing in particular, casting his frowning gaze her way. “Can you not see the walls?”

She blinked, studied him, then looked about once more. Walls? “I see trees. Scores upon scores of flat, dull paper trees.”

His lips parted in a dumbfounded expression. “What are you saying? Look, right here.” He took a few steps and reared back. To her surprise, when he set his front hooves forward they appeared to fall flat against some obstruction… which she could not see. He pressed against it demonstrably, eyes set to her as if anticipating some affirmation.

“Is she toying with us?” Luna walked to where the ‘wall’ was, walking about to sit in front of Fancy and examine his hooves.

“Wha…?” He dropped back to four hooves, eyes going wide. “P-Princess! How did you...? Where did you go?”

She tilted her head at him, seeing how his eyes were shifting and not quite looking at her. Then it hit; she must have walked through the wall he was seeing. “I am here, Fancy.”

He blinked his recognition, lowering his head as he thought. “This is an impressive trick, I must say.”

Luna grimaced and stood, anger rising within her. “I did not come here for ‘tricks’, Fancy, and my patience is wearing thin. Fleur, I know you can hear me!” She turned about to glare at the dull moon between the paper trees. “You intended to scare us, did you not? I am not frightened, and I have had enough of your games.”

“Now, hold on, Princess,” Fancy called, once again setting his front hooves to his invisible wall. “You must give her a chance! After all, it’s only been-”

Luna turned on him, eyes flaring. “Her tricks might be impressive, but her attempts to frighten are amateurish, at best! I am the guardian of dreams, and this pathetic game is insulting.” She paced until she was back within his sight, just to make her frustration clear. “I have seen the torturous sights nightmares can produce, and she presumes to frighten me with fake trees?” She cast her head back to glare at the moon once more. “This is your last warning, Fleur! Deliver me something truly horrifying, or I will end this game!”

Silence. Brutal, ominous, unpleasant silence.

“Perhaps she cannot hear you,” Fancy offered.

Luna didn’t buy that thought, not at all. “I’m waking us up.” Fancy opened his mouth, reconsidered and closed it. He turned his head away with a frown and stepped back slowly.

She concentrated her horn flashing its dark blue as she attempted to break whatever spell Fleur had set upon her. She reached out, scoured the invisible barriers, sought out the weakness. Somewhere out there must be the key to breaking free from this-

The noise was so loud she thought her eardrums might burst! Luna dropped to her belly and covered her head against the hissing, to no avail. Even with eyes firmly closed, she saw it. A head, faceless and pale as the moon, a high-pitched howling blasting into her ears along with that static cacophony! And then it was gone, just as quickly as it had come. The world was silence, once more.

“What in the name of the Goddess was that?!” Fancy cried.

Luna opened her eyes to find Fancy lying on the ground nearby, covering his head in a similar manner as her. His eyes were wide, his jaw clamped firmly shut, but he was recovering.

Her breath coming in gasps, Luna sat up. Good Goddess, she’d seen it. She’d seen it, and she knew what it was. Was that Fleur’s plan, all along? Had she just unleashed it, the abomination never to be mentioned?!

It was too dangerous. Even for an illusion, it was too dangerous! Fleur knew not what she was toying with…

“Princess, are you alright?”

She looked down to find Fancy staring up at her in concern. By the fear in his eyes, it was clear he’d seen it, too. Should she tell him what it really was?

No. No, he didn’t need to know. It might be just an illusion… “I will be fine, Fancy. It just startled me, that is all.”

He breathed a sigh and smiled in that crooked way she already knew meant he was anxious. “That is good to hear. If anything were to happen to you, why, I don’t know what I’d do!”

His words surprised her. True, she was a princess, but to make such a personal statement? He blushed under her gaze, glancing away, and she shook herself from the momentary reverie. Why was she thinking so much on it? He was commendably loyal, that’s all.

Right now they had more important things to worry about.

Author's Note:

Meh, I'll hold my comments till the end.

Comments

[JunebugTheBug]

That's not who I think it is...is it?