11. Synergy - Part Three
Letters From a Little Princess Monster
Synergy
All of the gloom and depression that had been hanging off Monster seemed to vanish in an instant as the Princess of the Night appeared in the moonlit garden. With a happy shriek of ‘Luna!,’ Monster launched herself at the larger alicorn, wrapping around her warm neck and burying her nose in her starry mane.
She did not see the look of pure consternation on the face of the Royal Guard at the sight of a Princess of Equestria being assaulted in this admittedly cute fashion, or the mixed look of fear and amusement that Laminia wore before giving into the humor of the situation and sitting down with a hoof over her mouth to muffle her laughter, but Monster did sense something else that caused her to freeze in place after her initial exuberant hug. It was the faint crunch of dried tears along Luna’s soft neck, mingled with a scent that traveled around her mind with several detours around damaged sections under repair, before it lodged quite firmly in a sensitive location. A spot which had been the exclusive domain of a loving zebra for the last twelve years, through pain and fear smothered by love and care at her gentle hooves, until the night she had set Luna free from Nightmare Moon. Giving one last squeeze to the warm hug, Monster sat back and blinked as she looked up into Luna’s blue eyes, looking so much like the compassionate eyes that she could barely remember.
“You saw mom tonight?”
“Yes, little one. Both of them.” Luna ran a hoof down Monster’s tangled mane and sighed. “Your birth mother sends her love, as well as reassurance beyond what I thought possible for mortals, while your adoptive mother—” Luna paused with an introspective look, eventually shaking her head and continuing. “They are much alike, despite the gap of nations which separate them. You are indeed doubly blessed.”
“I can share. Sister.”
“Sister? Ha!” scoffed Laminia, her arrogant sneer fading as Luna turned her attention back to the dark pegasus. The Princess gave her a deliberate look before turning back to Monster and continuing as if the pair of pegasi did not even exist.
“As your big sister, of sorts—” There was a most peculiar look that flittered across Luna’s face in the moonlight, only showing for the briefest instant, but taking away the sharpest edge from the tension that showed through her tranquil mask. She remained without speaking for several breaths as the music drifted through the night before giving her head a shake and continuing as if she had never even paused. “I must balance your good with that of your family. It would be highly premature for you to be forced into any meeting with your parents in your current state of mind. Once you have had a few weeks to get accustomed to your new situation, we can see if you are more prepared for such an encounter.”
“Will you be there?” Monster sniffled as she looked up at Luna, standing silhouetted against the night sky.
“I-I shall… check my schedule,” said Luna, sparing a glance at Laminia, who had reacted to her words with a snort of derision. “Pardon me for a moment.”
Turning to the watching dark pegasus mare, she continued by pointing her hoof at Canterlot, seeming to glow in the moonlight in the distance. “Since you do not seem to be able to recognize a private conversation, we shall make this perfectly clear. You are dismissed. Return to Canterlot, where we shall consider your request in due course.”
“While you continue to hide in your room like a frightened foal?” Laminia’s voice had a sharp undertone that cut through the air and brought a sharp roiling to Luna’s mane that matched her virulent response. Thunder rolled in the distance as the Princess of the Night rose to her full height and glared down at the dark pegasi.
“That is the last straw. Thou art dismissed from our service as a member of our Royal Seamstresses. Begone from my sight and the castle!”
“Then there’s nothing to stop me from saying just what I think, is there?” Motioning carefully and fairly slowly at Monster while ignoring a fuming Luna, Laminia stepped forward to rest one hoof gently on the little filly’s shoulder. “True Princesses are not afraid. They face their fears and conquer them. If you let your fear fester inside you, it will grow stronger. I was afraid to tell my father what I thought when I was growing up, and by the time I could, it was too late. Fortunately I was taken in by two of the Royal Seamstresses and they gave me a home, and as much love as I could stand, or I might have turned out even worse than I am now. Go to your parents. Set a date and meet with them, or you’ll just hide in your room like some cowering little wimp until time gets away from you.”
“W-would you b-be there with me?” Monster asked in a very small voice, cringing away from Luna’s shocked gaze.
It took a moment for Laminia to respond, considering the request with an uncomfortable look over her shoulder at her former employer. “Yeah. I suppose. It’s not like I have a job anymore. Next weekend work for you? There’s an 8:00 train.”
“Yes.” Her voice was very small, but once Monster had finished saying the word, she lifted her head up and blinked. “Yes. Yes I can! It’s a little less scary now.”
“Good.” Laminia patted the filly on the shoulder before turning around to leave. “See you then. Come on, Lumpy.”
“Stop!” Luna’s command made the dark mare hesitate, slowing her pace to an eventual halt as she turned around and gave the bare minimum of a bow. Laminia looked tired and only recoiled slightly under the venomous glare Luna was directing at her, but did not drop to her belly with her hooves over her head like Lumpy did. Instead, she met Luna’s eyes with a defiant look just short of a sneer.
A faint peal of thunder continued to echo far in the distance as Luna remained motionless except to speak. “Thou art the disbelieving one, who watched with the rest of the court as we raised our moon not three days ago. We did not recognize thee as one of my Nocturne with thy disguise, and we did not recognize the voice of the mare whom my sister Celestia did speak with words most severe until we heard it now.”
“So what if I am?” said Laminia with a sudden upward jerk to her chin as she shuffled a step sideways to avoid a panicked poking on the ankle done by Lumpy. “I’m not your problem any more. You fired me.”
“Thy insolence within my court is forgivable, but thy threat of violence against my… Against my friend was not. I shall not permit you to be in her presence until I am satisfied with your behavior.” Luna stepped forward, so close to Laminia that their noses nearly touched, but the dark pegasus did not back up one step, matching Luna’s sapphire gaze with her own golden eyes even while a muscle twitched in her cheek.
“You two be nice!” blurted out Monster as her horn flared a soft purple in the darkness.
* * *
“Pardon me for a moment.” Luna turned from Monster to face the dark pegasi mare, who was watching them both carefully with an inscrutable look.
“Since you do not seem to be able to recognize a private conversation, we shall make this perfectly clear. You are dismissed. Return to Canterlot, where we shall consider your request in due course.”
“Can they stay?” asked Monster in a soft whisper.
“No!” snapped Luna. “They are most distract—” With her royal lips set in a thin line, the Princess of the Night turned her back on Laminia and looked down at Monster, who was utilizing her most mournful eyes. After fighting their effect for a while, she nodded in resignation. “I shall accede to your request. The annoying one may stay, little sister.”
“Sister? Ha!” scoffed Laminia, her arrogant sneer fading into a confused look. “Or did I say that already?”
“Why are you mad that I called Luna my sister?” asked Monster
“Because she’s not. You’re a brave little unicorn filly, and I don’t know what happened in that forest, but even if everything the newspaper said is true — You’d be a lot older.” Laminia blinked and looked between Luna and Monster. “You’re a fake, just like her. That’s why you don’t want to see your parents. They’d see through your disguise, just like I can see this imposter is not our true Princess of the Night.”
“That’s not a nice thing to say!”
“I’m not a very nice pony!” snapped Laminia, turning to face her little accuser. “I’m a bitter excuse for a —” She dodged farther out of reach from Lumpy’s jabbing hoof and paused at the sight of Monster’s trembling bottom lip and the watery tears welling up in her eyes. Heaving a heavy sigh, she looked away from both princess and filly, adding in a much quieter voice, “I’m a jerk. I’m a jerk and I’m sorry for calling you a fake. You too, Princess Luna. Or whoever you really are.”
Thunder rumbled over Ponyville as Luna’s eyes flashed white. “We have had enou—”
There was a flash of purple light, and then nothing.
* * *
“Pardon me for a moment.” Luna turned from Monster to face the dark pegasi mare, who was watching them both carefully with a perplexed look.
“Since you do not seem to be able to recognize a private conversation, we shall make this perfectly clear. You are dismissed. Return to Canterlot, where we shall consider your request in due course.”
“You better go,” said Monster quickly before Laminia could open her mouth. “Bad things will happen if you stay.” The little filly darted over and wrapped both hooves around her, smearing tears across her soft neck. “You’re not a jerk inside. You just hurt. I know what that’s like.”
“No you don’t,” said Laminia reflexively, although she made no effort to remove the little filly who was wrapped around her neck and sniffling. “I’ve lived my whole life in pain, shunned by my family for something I had no control over. For one brief shining moment when our Queen of the Night returned, I thought… I don’t know. Maybe I was trying to find a reason other than me for why my life sucked so bad.”
“Badly,” corrected Monster with a sniff.
“Yeah. I guess you don’t have to tell your friend there about us after all. Take care, and let us know if there’s anything you need, ok?” Laminia sat Monster back down on the ground and turned to leave, stopping as a dark-blue hoof rested on her shoulder.
“Thou art the most stubborn of ponies,” said Luna, sounding much calmer. “Obstinate. Opinionated. Headstrong. Insulting. I hath watched you both from the shadows since the first moment of your arrival in this town, and cannot believe you are cut from the same stock as that gaggle of subservient yes-ponies that infest our court. Art thou always this much of a pain in the flank?”
The soft music that floated across the night air could not completely cover the sound of Lumpy, still laying on his stomach and repeatedly whispering, “I’m so fired, I’m so fired…” Laminia considered the question, with several glances between the little filly and her sovereign ruler as if she could not make up her mind which one deserved the most attention.
“Yes,” she finally answered. “I used to be worse. But at least I do not hide from my problems.”
“Why was Luna hiding?” asked Monster, blinking her eyes in the moonlight.
Luna glanced sharply at Laminia before responding. “A princess does not hide. I was cleansing my residence. Our rooms have been recently restored to their previous decor, and the previous resident left considerable debris behind in the various nooks and crannies, including a quite disagreeable odor of peanut butter and onions that has been substantially resistant to the most powerful of spells.”
“A Great and Powerful odor,” added Laminia. “Princess Celestia’s student was well-known for her eccentric tastes in entertainment and food. I used to have to clean her pockets out when she returned garments to our office for mending. I hate mice.”
Monster looked quizzically at the seamstress. “She ate mice?”
“Ohnonono! She used to display them as a trick. And rabbits. I’m just grateful Princess Celestia put her hoof down when she asked for an elephant.”
“As am I,” said Luna with a restful sigh that turned into a sharp inhalation as she looked up into the sky. “That’s strange. They moved.”
“No they didn’t,” whimpered Monster.
“Yes, I think they did,” said Laminia, moving up beside Luna as they looked up into the sky. “That one over there had just come up over the horizon when—”
Purple light washed over the darkness and they were gone.
* * *
“Pardon me for a moment.” Luna turned from Monster to face the dark pegasi mare, who was watching them both carefully with wide eyes. “You felt it too?”
“Yeah, the worst sense of déjà vu I’ve ever felt. I wonder what’s causing it.”
“You mean who.” Luna looked down at Monster, who cringed back, lighting her horn again only to have the purple glow abruptly go out with a burst of indigo magic.
“Sorry.”
Luna breathed out a long sigh, leaning down to nuzzle the little filly across one ear and whisper, “Twilight Sparkle, that was exceedingly dangerous. Didn’t anypony teach you the proper precautions when you learned the time spell?”
“Sorry. Wanted to help. She hurts. Like you. In here.” Monster touched Laminia on the chest, then slid a hoof up to her cloaked wings. “And here. Broken. Can’t fix.”
Lamina slid away from the small hoof, her lips tense and thin. “When our true Princess of the Night returns, I shall be made whole.”
Monster pointed at Luna. “She is.”
“She is not!” snapped Lamina. “A true Princess has no fear.”
Luna jerked her chin up and looked Laminia in the eyes. “I shall not fear.” A small grubby scrap of cloth floated out from Luna’s tunic and over to Monster, who tucked it away. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, for permitting your Miss Smarty Pants to visit, but I shall not need her now.”
“It’s not that easy!” shouted Laminia with an angry stomp of one hoof, her wings flaring out behind her instinctively, only for the crippled pegasus to collapse into the garden grass, clutching herself in agony.
“A true Princess would be able to make the pain go away!”
Luna recoiled as she looked at Laminia’s crippled wing, caught half-out of her concealing cloak. “I-I cannot make you what you wish. I could reverse part of the spell, and make you the wings of a pegasus, perhaps. But that is all.”
“Then you are not our Princess of the Night.” The dark pegasus struggled to her hooves to pull her wings back in, only gasp in pain again as a purple glow extended across her crippled wing and spread it open in the moonlight.
“You can,” said Monster.
“I lack the skill,” said Luna in a soft whisper.
“Our Princess of the Night had the skill,” gasped Laminia as tears poured down her face. “In tens and hundreds she transformed her followers.”
“I no longer have the power.” Luna bowed her head. “That curse was justly removed from me by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, never to return.”
“You do have the power,” said Monster. “I can help.”
“Is this what you want, child?” Luna’s voice was barely audible in the dark garden. Even the music from the house had quit, as if to listen to her response.
“Are you afraid?” Laminia gritted her teeth and ripped her cloak off, flinging it down into the dirt before lifting her crippled wing up as far as she could. “I am not afraid of you. If you are truly our Princess of the Night, I shall face the dawn whole and unblemished. If you flee, you shall always be a fraud in our eyes.”
“A true Princess does not run.” Luna’s eyes flashed white as she lifted her horn and indigo magic began to flow over the crippled pegasus.
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Day-umn.
And then a brown stallion in a blue box showed up and shouted, "ALRIGHT! ENOUGH OF THIS!"
...
Stupid balls of timey wimey...stuff...
Careful, Twilight. You haven't mastered the subtle art of retconning yet.
Glad I noticed my Favorites count tick up one.
Aw, how sweet. Twilight's playing with the timeline for the sake of friendship.
Hah, monster, the time keeper is freaking awesome.
Bad end.
Restore from previous save file (y/n)?
I need this spell.
That spell would be amazing in a poker tournament
Yay! More 'incredibly adorable but UNBELIEVABLY HORRIFYING' babyMonster!
I will make you two do this over and over until you stop fucking up and making me want to cry
...
Who taught Monster a time spell? Honestly?
I literally squeed out loud when I saw this had updated.
MOAR!
Good
3604748
Getting kind of tired of Laminia in general, really.
3604933
'Taught'? Pfft! She derived it from first principles herself!
3604754 No kidding!
I'm sorry, but that was annoying as * to read, author. Seriously. I had NO idea what was going on. I thought you wrote like five different ways it could go, and you couldn't make up your damn mind which way it was supposed to go.
Not sure how you could fix that, but there you go.
3604998
well OBVIOUSLY. How could I have been so blind?
Georg, I have noted a particularly disturbing lack of something in the past few chapters.
Wasn't this story about Big Mac'n?
(Also, to my shame, I had to re-read the first and second resets a few times to get what was going on.)
Twilight, stop messing with the time stream, you are going to break something. Or someone. Or everyone.
Alright, and there's the healing for Laminia! Hopefully for more than just her wing.
I was a bit confused the first reset... Twilight resetting the events a few times to try and get stuff right. It's a bit surprising it took Luna a few cycles to notice it though.
Apparently, Monster has mastered the art of Save-States and Reload. For a split second I thought you accidentally copied a portion of the story twice, then I realized what had happened. I'm mostly interested that the spell only worked on those 4, the night continued on as if no time spell went off. That's why they realized the night sky had changed since they last remembered it.
Twilight caused Luna to grow a pair. Nice.
I wish I had understood the whole time spell thing at the the beginning... To be honest I was kinda confused....
3605155
I think the spell was just a localised effect.
This was perfect. I like the way we were as confused as Luna & Laminia. We were figuring it out as they were. Difference being that they didn't have the memory of it just having happened while we just read it all. Lol.
Quote of the Day: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” -- Nelson Mandela
3605016 I admit it started a bit chaotic when I was writing, but after a great deal of thinking I decided on this approach. It seemed to work OK.
x 
3605155 3605248 Well, she's not powerful enough to affect the world, although the musicians should have realized something when they didn't have to turn pages on their music any more.
3605016 I admit it started a bit chaotic, and I spent far more time on Laminia than I wanted, but after trimming out a lot you don't see, I think it's a good compromise.
3605077 It falls under the category of "No, that can't be happening. Only Celly and I are that powerful,and I'm not doing it.."
3605016 I admit it started a bit chaotic, but remember in this AU, Discord hasn't been released yet. I blame him.
3605035 Next chapter. Also
3604998 You're getting tired of her? Heck, I almost killed her. I cut the section where Laminia slapped Luna because I couldn't figure out how she would get out of that untoasted.
3604933 Blame the Element of Magic. It showed her how to slow time, the rest was left as an exercise for the student. (for which she'd probably get a B-)
3605016 I admit it started a bit chaotic, but just wait until next chapter where you find out who Trixie is sleeping with.
I kind of think Laminia came off as more of a massive bitch than a sympathetic character in this chapter. I dunno, it just feels like the conversation between her and Luna is them saying "Nuh uh!" "Yah huh!" a bunch of times. Luna shouldn't have to heal her like freakin' Jesus to prove anything to her.
Twilight has discovered the Rewind Button™
Heh, there's a thought - are we going to see an adorable little Monster romance? Because I, for one, cannot think of anything better than a teeny filly with world-breaking power putting her all into impressing some other colt or filly.
So many godawful ways it could go so wrong, eeeeee
3605431
See there is a reason I keep coming back.
Come for the monster, stay for the... wait,
x 
Sucked right back in!
3605431 Replied to four times? Wow, I feel special... XD
3605480 That's only fair. Laminia is a massive bitch much like Rat from Pearls Before Swine, and any sympathy you have for her is misplaced. I've known people like her before (Not as mates, dates, or bosses, thank God) who have some internal hurt that they just use like a club on everbody around them, because if they're unhappy, by God everbody else is going to be unhappy too. She's a lot like Trixie, turned up to 12, without her charm.
However... her special talent is bringing ponies together and healing their broken hearts. Admittedly, a lot of that is annoying two ponies so badly that they get together and plot on how to get revenge, making them forgive each other for minor slights. Luna suffered a horrible shock by being purged of Nightmare Moon, and in return, she doesn't trust her own power any more. She needs to get right back up on that horse again (I'm sorry) before her fear becomes permanent, and being nice and sympathetic to her just was not cutting the mustard. It's the same way she 'fixed' Pumpernickel, who would not use his talents to the extent they needed to be used for fear of hurting somepony. (See Genealogy) There is a small warm and chewy center under all that pain and spite, but you have to drill a long ways.
Hrm... I'm not fond of this chapter. The whole time spell thing is just too distracting, to me
Oh no, I am getting flash backs of Hard Reset.
While Twilight is absolutely adorable, she holds the most confusing amount of abilities I have ever seen in a fanfic. What's more, this is by far the most oddly intense one as well. Can't wait for the next chapter.
Just wait until the CMC learn about that spell.
"CUTIE MARK TIME TRAVELERS, YAY!!"
So... Twilight is a burgeoning member of MiB (Mares in Black)? I mean, she must be, what with that "Neuralizer" spell of her's.
3605821
I like the Neuralizer idea. It explains the déjà vu better, provided you're willing to accept that Luna misidentified the spell.
What does it say about my usual reading material that I had no problems with the time travel/reset switch and figured out what happened right away?
I can't help that my juvenile reading was Clarke, Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein , Verne and Wells....
This was a clever chapter though I am glad they noticed little monster and her rewinds, things could have got troublesome.
3606205 Yer not alone, I picked up on it the first time I reread the first sentence. I read to many loopy stories I guess, or maybe just to much Doctor Who and it has made my mind perceive time in a wibbly wobbly fashion
the time thing wasn't particularly jarring for me, at first i thought that you and accidentally copied a line or a paragraph and that Laminia was being sarcastic with her
i finally realized what was happening at "There was a flash of purple light, and then nothing." =^_^=
Twilight, we do not save-scum in real life. Even if it did work this time, next time you might accidentally summon face-eating time monkeys. Is that what you want? For time monkeys to eat your face?
In any case, an excellent chapter. I look forward to more.
Time, time always changes.......... at least when you have a little monster at the helm
Where's Big Mac's escapades?
Rules of FimFiction:
based)
1. Must be about ponies or their characters
2. No Alicorn OCs
3. Must have at least one lesbian relationship (preferably
What is it, some sort of common fic fetish? an attempt to be "politically correct" or "progressive"
?
It gets very tiresome being a conservative, who is also a brony, seeing the Mane 6 shipped to death with one another or with the alt-Mane 6/princesses.
Ugh
That won't stop me from reading the story though, there's far to much good to leave based on a single point of rage.
Twilight has a quickload spell
I feel sorry for anyone who will try to walk away from her in the future.
Don't worry about the time skip stuff. I figured it out about two or three sentences in. I think the chapter was rather good, and your solution to make it less confusing inspired.
3606940
Well, I can't speak for others, but I just like reading and writing stories about lesbians, whether they be human, pony, or whatever.
3606940
"Conservative" is apparently another way of saying "hateful against a certain type of people."
Most of the bronies I know are at least bisexual and the ones that aren't certainly have friends that are. Just because you want nothing to do with people in those types of situations doesn't mean that it's not a fact that approximately 10% of the US population IS homosexual. In a world like Equestria where there is a heavy female population and everyone's all about love and tolerance and whatnot it would be more surprising for SOMEONE in a fic to NOT be in a lesbian relationship.
tl;dr
Be less
and be more
or I'll keep
This fic is awesome keep it up!
3606386 i blame the Who (damn thing is so contagious )
3609143 indeed
3606940 That is so stupid why would you put your political standing in a completely unrelated forum/ comment section
3605625
I believe that to be a joke, since he's purposefully miming the time iterations from the story.
3605641
Oh good, glad to know that I'm not supposed to like her. Also, well done on the joke mentioned above. Both subtle and clever, my good sir.