Pearple Juice With Bits

by Pearple Prose

TMP #522: My Princess

My eyes opened. Someone was calling me, close by, but I couldn’t see anything. It was cold. Where were we?

I moved my hoof and tried to push myself to my hooves, but twin lances of pain dug into my back and I fell to the cold, icy floor of the cave.

Cave. That was it. I was in a cave. We were in a cave, and the windigoes were coming to get us. Sobered by that fact, I attempted to get up again, and managed to work through the blinding pain. Triumphant, I looked around at my surroundings; it was pitch black, and shattered ice lay in clumps around me. Up ahead, I saw a blinding light, the entrance to the cave. Was the sun up already?

I took a step, and almost immediately fell to the ground. What was going on? My body felt… awkward, somehow. And my back. Gods above, it hurt.

“Clover? Are you still in there?”

That voice. Familiar, somehow, yet also entirely alien. I moved again, grunting in pain as my limbs of lead bumped against rock and ice. My back wasn’t helping either. Had I broken something? I wished I’d taken the time to learn that healing cantrip from Starswirl before I left. I continued onwards.

I struggled to recall anything. We were in a cave, yes, and windigoes were supposedly here. Or not. Were they gone? I certainly didn’t hear them. A memory surfaced; blinding light, fires that consumed the sky.

The Fires of Friendship. Of course. I smiled in remembrance. I wondered what the princess thought of them.

The Princess. Yes, she was important. Princess Platinum of Unicornia. Or… whatever it was now. I remembered Chancellor Puddinghead. And Commander Hurricane. They were our… allies? Friends? Presumably.

“Clover! Clover, come quick!”

“I’m coming, Princess!” I shouted, and then coughed harshly. My voice was different. Deeper. It hurt too. Everything did, like my whole body had been stretched. Egads, even my very bones.

The entrance to the cave was there. It was easier to walk by then. My body stopped feeling so heavy, and the deadweight on my back was easing up. The sunlight greeted me like an old friend, and I eagerly leapt from the cavern down to greet my princess, standing there waiting for me.

Then I stopped.

“... Clover?”

This was not her. This was… Who was she?

“Who are you?”

The white thing tilted its head at me, and responded in that same voice. “Who am I? Why, who are you, my dear?”

It was madness, at the time. That this being of white could stand there and pretend to be my beloved princess. Was it a god? Possible, and honestly, I would not have cared if it were.

“What are you? What have you done with my princess?!” I felt my magic flow up into my horn. It was different somehow. Older. More powerful.

It held its hooves up to stop me. “Wait, wait!”

“No!” I shouted. “Not until you tell me who you are and what you are doing here. Be warned, for I am Clover the Clever, apprentice of the great Starswirl the Bearded himself!”

The white pony stared back at me. “By the gods. I…” Tears dripped from its pink-white muzzle, and when it wiped them away with a hoof, it seemed surprised by the colour. “W-What… Clover?! Clover, it’s me!”

“Shut up!” I screamed. I was frightened. I was scared. I was supposed to protect the princess, and she was gone. I panicked. Bolts flew from my horn at the intruder.

And when the smoke settled, two great white wings were outstretched, a golden shield forming around them, protecting the body of the tall, alien pony from my attacks.

“Clover,” she said. “I am Princess Platinum.”

I stared. I looked at the crown upon her long, pink mane. I looked at the robes draped across her back, too small now.

I sank to my hooves, which I noticed, dimly, were of a deep indigo. My powder blue mane fell over my eyes as I wept.

My princess watched me as I cried. Except… she was not my princess anymore.

She was someone else, now.

I was someone else.

Author's Note:

Prompt #522: Celestia and Luna have not always been called the same names in every place and in every age.

Can't even handle this twist.

Comments

[archonix]

Wonderful!

[Sollace]

Well, what do we have here. It's an interesting twist, and very well written.

Could you maybe post what the prompts say for those of us that aren't in the know?

--Sollace

[Pearple Prose]

3613359

I've put them in the author's notes for each chapter. They should be there now.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Mmm. This was good juice. I'm glad I finally got around to drinking it. I look forward to the next glass.

[Themaskedferret]

Intriguing.