Letters From a Little Princess Monster
Lessons in Flight - Part Three
To the outside observer, Mount Canter was a solid mass of granite and rock, an immobile part of the Canterlot mountain range that had always protruded above the center of Equestria as some permanent example of cup tectonics, and always would. It was only as one drew nearer that faults and cracks could be seen, some reaching deep into the stony flesh of the giant mountain range. Only one peak in the entire range had the stability to support a city, and that had only been possible with thousands of unicorns working for decades to lay the foundations. It was a challenge to the heavens, a symbol that unicorns working together could accomplish anything, but it could easily have become a ghost town of a few preliminary foundations and some dry bones early in the process.
Cut stones require a cutter, but that is not all. Somepony had to plan where to cut, the proportions that the finished stone would take, where the rock fragments would be disposed, how to carry the stone to its destination, how to feed and water the cutter and the carrier, arrange for the disposal of their waste, care for the injured and the sick, protect them from accidents, and all of that had to take place on a desolate mountaintop with every tool and scrap of food provided by trains that were limited to a single set of tracks winding laboriously through the narrow cuts and trestles that had to precede the project.
Any rational pony would have looked at the problem and thrown up their hooves.
Alicorns are not rational ponies.
When the Royal Sisters constructed their castle within the then-tame Everfree Forest, they ruled over a fairly small but growing populace that had only recently fled their Windigo-plagued homeland. There was no need for grand gestures or symbolism. The race of ponies had survived. That was sufficient.
As time went on and the ponies expanded throughout their new lands, the Royal Sisters were called upon by the populous new cities to move the center of government to someplace more modern, practical, and convenient. Coincidently, that someplace was always the city making the suggestion, as they each pointed out the benefits of their particular location to a rather reluctant pair of alicorns who seemed to prefer their somewhat small and crowded castle that neither Celestia nor Luna expressed any interest in expanding to accommodate a growing number of politicians and bureaucrats.
Then one day, the Royal Sisters vanished.
The pegasi were the first to find them sitting on a large flat rock near the top of Mount Canter with a checkerboard and a basket of apples. There was considerable discussion among the three tribes, and eventually a small contingent with representatives from each tribe was dispatched to determine if this was just a picnic that had gone on too long, or if perhaps the strain of rulership had gotten to them.
When the representatives returned, they carried a very short message.
“We like the view.”
After more substantial discussion among the tribes and a visit to several engineering firms, it was determined that the view from Mount Canter, the largest and most stable of the Canterlot mountain range was exceptional, and deserved to be shared.
A year later, the first rail line had been laid, winding up the sides of the mountain to the geologically stable area that the engineers had determined would be the best place to build a city.
A year after that, the outlines of the city foundations had been roughed out.
It took the finest engineers twelve long years to drill boreholes into the granite flesh of the mountain and enchant the support beams that would prevent the city from buckling even in the worst disaster imaginable. It would have only taken ten if a small pocket of gemstones had not been found under the center of the city. Fortunately, the vast majority of them were low enough quality that the crystal rush petered out fairly quickly, and the ponies who had flocked to the mountain in the hopes of a quick bit found themselves doing construction work instead.
It turned out to be much more profitable for them in the long run.
Buildings rose from the new plateau, with spiral roofs and flags flying in a multitude of colors. An endless string of trains wound their way up and down the mountain, bringing workers and tourists to the new city in the sky. A castle was built, far larger and more grand than anything that had ever been seen in Equestria before. Below the surface, sewer tunnels were drilled, rainwater cisterns created, vast tunnels and caverns were bored out of the mountain for records, storage and supplies. Above the ground, the new Parliament building took shape, houses and apartments for the city dwellers rose in abundance, and the various Royals negotiated for places to put their own Royal Residences. Unicorn towers hugged close to the mountain and climbed its rocky sides in order to stretch for the sky while pegasus Royals built their estates right up to the edge of the cliff. Earth pony Royals took what was left over, the vast broad center of the city, where they built greenhouses stocked with fertile soil and vibrant flowers, and large comfortable apartments open to all who were willing to pay the rent and live by the rules.
During the whole process, the machinery of government continued to turn. Once a week, Parliament sent a set of bills and proclamations up the mountain to the Royal Sisters, who still were bent over their checkers game. Once a week the sisters would send the papers back down, corrected for spelling errors and either approved or rejected.
Forty years to the day after the Royal Sisters had flown up the mountain, they flew back down, only making a much shorter trip this time. They walked around the new castle and observed the completed construction, with little mentions of ‘hmm’ and ‘I see’ as they strolled. They sampled the flowers in the new Royal Gardens, observed the statuary, made a brief visit to the Parliament building, and retired to their respective rooms in the new castle.
The next day, they made a joint declaration of appreciation for the new city of Canterlot with a celebration that ran all week, including feasts, dancing, and enough fireworks to fight a small war. Backdated newspaper subscriptions were picked up, delayed correspondence was answered, and introductions were made all around the castle as the Royal Sisters caught up with retirements and new hires.
It took a year.
At the end of the year, there was a somewhat more subdued celebration for the anniversary of the city’s founding, during which one diplomat from Great Griffon made the mistake of giving them a gift.
The next morning, the castle staff found the Royal Sisters in their shared den as usual, although they were ignoring the grand view out of the huge window next to them. Scattered across the table in front of the window were the pieces of a chess set, and seated on opposite sides of the table were two alicorns with looks of intense concentration, making slow but deliberate moves as their new game progressed.
~ ~ ~ ♕ ~ ~ ~
The siren call of the descending sun awoke Princess Luna early from a rather troubling dream. The little flickers of distracted daydreams during the day always seemed as if a vast number of ponies were whispering in the distance without any words being discernible, but today she had been almost certain that news of the worst possible nature would await her awakening. It continued to bother her during a brief and vigorous shower to the point where she even cancelled her evening refresher class to brush up on changes in the Griffon language with a most handsome and charming young unicorn. Instead, she spent several hours in the study, trying to get a sense of the problem through the ancient art of Nuntimancy⁽*⁾.
(*) Define: nun·ti·man·cy - noun The art of reading the future in newspaper clippings.
“Hello, dearest sister,” said Princess Celestia, gliding into their mutual dining nook with the contents of a tray trailing behind her. “The kitchens have outdone themselves for dinner this evening. We have roast rack of avocado, a delicious tossed grass and alfalfa salad, and — Good heavens, Luna! What are you doing to the newspapers?”
“Justice,” said Luna, spreading out a series of red-blotched articles across the table amidst a sea of small newsprint fragments. “The study of language under your rule has been most grievously neglected. Wouldst that we could fine them a bit per misspelled word, we could abolish all other forms of taxation and still run the government at a surplus. How do they ever expect to… There!” One silver-clad hoof pointed and an article floated up out of the tattered newsprint forest.
“Fall is coming,” said Celestia, looking over Luna’s shoulder. “Wings are the things for fashion this season. What do you think it means?”
“I know not,” said Luna, her brows narrowed in concentration as her indigo magic roamed over the article. “Only that it reflects upon the young pony who saved me from my corruption. Wings. Fall.” Luna looked up abruptly. “Sister, I must go at once.”
“Is it something about Twilight Sparkle, Luna?”
“Yes and no.” Luna flung open the window and the resulting breeze distributed the pieces of newsprint to every corner of their dining nook. “I feel a dream from her friend. Oh, and mate in seven.”
With a soft wave of displaced air, the Princess of the Night vanished out into the evening and left Princess Celestia to regard their chessboard. A single rook had been moved three spaces, and Celestia closed the door and gathered the pieces of newsprint while she tried to think.
* * *
“Just so you should know, I think to the hospital he should go.”
Zecora regarded the rhyming police officer and seemed to resist a twitch of annoyance as Trixie watched the ongoing scene over the top of a safe scroll. “Young mare of auburn hair, on my account you need not strain your choice of words for wise refrain.”
Officer Grace nodded as she rolled back the unconscious stallion’s eyelid and peered inside. “‘Tis true, your speech is difficult to match, but with practice and thought, the pattern can be catch. Caught. Darn.” She left the stallion return to blinking in a dazed fashion while staring at his fascinating hooves. “His pulse is slow, his vitals strong. What ‘ere befell his… darnit. You make it sound easy.”
“I could do this for hours while waiting for Flower, but our wait shall be done before the rising of the sun.”
With the smallest gust of wind, the wide windows at the side of the treehouse room swung open to the night air and three ponies drifted inside. Princess Luna landed with barely a sound on the Zebrican library floor, with two smaller ponies held in her magic to one side. The Princess of the Night swept her gaze around the room and turned to Zecora, clearing her throat.
“Good evening. I believe your daughter has something to tell you.”
Still wrapped in Luna’s magic, Zecora’s adopted daughter floated over and was placed quite firmly in front of the somber zebra. The second little pony remained floating at Luna’s side, slumbering away with little twitches of her legs and undersized wings.
“Good evening, my little Flower. You gave us quite a fright. Can you explain for your teachers what it is you did tonight?”
* * *
Monster had really not expected for her call to Princess Luna to be answered as swiftly as it had been. One moment she had been kneeling at the side of her slumbering friend, and the next it seemed as if the very night had wrapped itself around the both of them and swept them up into the sky. Scootaloo twitched as they rose into the night sky, her little wings rising by instinct to catch the breeze as it flowed past, even while Monster’s wings merely flapped and wobbled like loose shutters.
It was so much of a relief to feel all of the strain of her secret begin to drain away, but it rapidly began to be replaced with a different fear. When she had first seen the brief flash of Scootaloo falling through the sky, it had shocked her right to the hooves. Even the earth spirits underneath her had hushed their endless whispers for a time, while the air spirits had seemed to tremble with fear of their own. She had seen those little flashes of insight before, and every time they had been right in every detail. Celestia sobbing in song in Ponyville while the dark pony swept down out of the sky. The false image of brother… of Shining Armor in Nightmare Moon’s illusion. That tiny fraction of time where she saw what would happen if the Elements of Harmony were permitted to be unleashed. They had all been so vivid, and every one of them had happened after they had been seen, but in ways that her abilities had been able to bend to avoid the consequences.
This one was different. Scootaloo was going to fall, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She knew it, right down to her ears. Every moment she had climbed the jagged rocks, every second she had clung to her friend, it was all for nothing.
Scootaloo would fall.
But not today.
The cool wind of the night not only streamed through her stubby mane but somehow seemed to pass through her heart while they flew. Above, the starlight brushed across her stubby wings as Luna arched her flight high into the sky. This was where Monster belonged, far away from others where they would not be hurt by her actions. If only she could gather enough clouds together to form a ship, she would sail alone among the stars forever.
As if Scootaloo could sense her desire to flee, the sleeping little pegasus held tight and whispered, “I trust you, Twilight. I won’t let go.”
The sensations of the ground returned in a tumble and thud, pouring in across Monster’s chest as Luna descended. The scent of apple trees in full fruit filled the air, and the nighttime insects of the forest sang their songs as the wind flowing over her body slowed from a gale to a breeze to a bare movement that could scarcely move a page. Monster had never flown into Home through a window before, and the open balcony swelled with heart-stopping speed in front of her, around her, and behind her as numb little hooves were set down on the wooden floor and she looked up into the loving eyes of her mother.
“I’m sorry,” she started. It was a good place to start, a familiar phrase that she always meant, even if it was for a behavior she had done far, far too many times already. What she had done must have been extremely bad this evening, because a stern policemare sat silently to one side, listening to her confession without even a single nod or sigh to indicate sympathy as she poured out her story. Mom and Trixie nodded along as Monster told about her frightening vision of Scootaloo and her subsequent stalking of her friend by slipping from concealing bush to bush with short teleportation spells as she left Ponyville on the long walk to Ghastly Gorge.
They both seemed concerned when she told about Scootaloo discarding her trademark scooter into the trash and the long trudge with her head down and muttering to herself all the way. Mom gave a sharp inhalation and Trixie a nervous twitch that traveled down her hide when she told about Scootaloo’s leap, and both of them seemed to lean into each other a little as she talked about their long huddle afterwards on top of the crumbling pinnacle of rock above the gorge. She finished in a very small voice, her nose almost touching the floor as she said, “Can I serve my sentence in the Ponyville jail? Don’t want to be away from my friends.”
Both Mom and Trixie opened their mouths to speak, but the emerald-green policemare spoke first. “What sentence? Teleportation Without a License is only a crime if done for profit, your real age is far too old for the restrictions on curfew, and the section on the use of dream magic has been unenforceable for centuries.” The policemare gave a curt nod to Princess Luna. “Proceed, Your Highness.”
“But I broke the rules,” blurted out Monster. “I used spells outside of my study guide! I could have gotten killed! I could have gotten my friend killed!”
“Do not fret over what is not,” said Zecora with a gentle kiss to Monster’s forehead. “Instead, rejoice at what you got. Your friend is safe and resting now, so worry less about the how.”
“She’s right,” said Trixie, stepping forward to grace Monster’s forehead with another kiss. “Buck the rules. You saved your friend. It’s time to stop worrying about what you’ve done, and start planning on how you’re going find out what drove her to this and how to help her deal with it.”
“Me?” squeaked Monster.
“I’d just muck things up,” said Trixie with a sideways glance at the other mares in the room that just dared them to agree. “Your mother has no experience with what a little pegasus who can’t fly is going through, and having Princess Luna ask about her problems would be like using a sledgehammer to crack peanuts.”
“What about—” Monster looked up at the impassive policemare, who shook her head.
“Sorry, ma’am. Princess Celestia’s orders. I’m solely responsible for Mister Crypto here.” Grace glanced down at the comatose stallion with the faintest indication of distaste. “He broke the law. You just scuffed it in a few places.”
“Don’t worry, Menace,” said Trixie, pulling the little alicorn in closer and patting her on the head. “I’ll get you started. First, I’m adding teleportation to your spell list, provided you have three supervising unicorns or alicorns who can teleport to assist. Second, if it really bothers you, I’ll have Spike write a blank Request for Pardon to Princess Celestia…” Trixie hesitated and regarded the rather cold look she had just gotten from the Lunar Princess. “Or any other reigning princess who would care to process the request,” she added. “He’s gotten fairly good at the process.”
“Forty-six Pardons,” said Grace. “Nearly a record.”
“Whatever.” Trixie rolled her eyes and paused with a contemplative look.
“Thirdly,” prompted Monster.
“Right. Thirdly, before I pawn your friend’s problem off onto you and Princess Luna tonight, we’re going to have to get through her thick skull and find out what set her off. She’s kept it bottled up for so long, she’ll never tell us, so I’m going to show you…” Trixie paused with her tongue in her cheek. “I’m going to lie to her.”
“Lie?” Monster cringed.
“Right. You can tell her the truth after it’s over, but until then, I need you to stay quiet. This isn’t a nice lesson, or one that I expect you to use on any of your friends, but it’s something you have to learn, and I’d prefer that you learn it from me.”
* * *
Scootaloo burst through the clouds in a zoom climb with Rainbow Dash close behind. Their race to Canterlot to swoop through the Royal Throne Room had been too close to call, and they had decided to settle the differences about who was the best flier with a game of cloud tag.
“Only one cloud left, Rainbow!” gasped Scootaloo, buzzing her wings into a frenzy as she paced her hero neck to neck on their colorful streak across the afternoon sky. The cloud grew rapidly as they flew until a dark pony standing in the middle of it drew her attention. The air thickened as she approached, and all of the flapping that she could do only allowed her to drift up to the edge of the cloud and look up into Princess Luna’s compassionate eyes.
“It is time to awaken, Scootaloo.”
The sky and clouds faded around her, being replaced by the weird library that Twilight had in her awesome home. There were three… No, four adults in the Zebrican-themed room this evening. One was a rather tranquil stallion whose eyes were fixed into a blank stare at a number of scrolls, most likely some sort of librarian or scholar. Behind him was a policemare, who regarded Scootaloo with a dispassionate gaze as if she were prepared to pull out a set of filly-sized hoofcuffs at a moment’s notice and drag her off to reform school. Zecora was off to the side with Twilight pulled in under one restraining foreleg and a bland look of inscrutability that could have been painted on.
And standing directly in front of her was Trixie.
She looked… different, in a quiet and compassionate stance that Scootaloo had never seen before. There was no arrogance at all about her, just the look of a caring pony who really was concerned about her well-being and was willing to listen without condemnation or shouting. At first, she thought that Tallgrass had transformed into a different version of Trixie, but Twilight’s adopted father was far, far away in Zebrica by now. It just seemed weird to see her like that, and even weirder when she started to talk.
“Scootaloo,” said Trixie in a quiet whisper. “We already know what happened to you today. Twilight told us all about it.”
“All of it?” Scootaloo cast an anguished glance at Twilight, who only slumped down farther behind her mother’s black and white striped leg.
“All of it.” Trixie patted a cushion next to her so smoothly that Scootaloo found herself sitting down on it before she realized it. One soft foreleg wrapped around her and held on gently as Trixie rocked back and forth, her voice developing a small rasp as she spoke.
“I remember being a young unicorn, unable even to make sparks from my horn. I tried everything I could think of, and even though everypony told me that my magic would come in time, I just knew that I was going to go through the rest of my life as some weird earth pony. That’s when I started wearing my hat. A unicorn who can’t cast spells is not really a unicorn, and I found out really quickly that I wasn’t an earth pony either.”
“But you can do spells now,” said Scootaloo in a rush as the tears threatened to burst out again. “You’re fantastic and all kinds of splashy, but all I’ll ever be is a feather duster.”
As she leaned into Trixie’s warm chest, the agonizingly painful words spilled out: her parents in Cloudsdale, the doctors and their diagnosis, the agony of sleepless nights torn between the pain of the braces and the pain of her inability, the sharp words of criticism from Diamond Tiara, her long trip to the Ghastly Gorge, and the terrifying realization that she nearly killed her friend. She had held back her frustration for far too long, concealing it from her friends, her family, and even herself. Unwilling to see the face of her friend, Scootaloo kept her eyes tightly closed as she talked, taking comfort in the warm foreleg wrapped around her chest and the gentle urging from Trixie whenever her voice faltered.
Eventually, the words trailed away and only the warmth of the embrace remained. The scent of the strange library was comforting, even familiar, as if Twilight’s home for decades had absorbed the essence of her friend and was wrapping it around and inside her with every breath. Twilight had been a terrified and terrifying little filly, alone except for a Zebra mother who had never had foals of her own and was in turn halfway around the world from her own home. The tree had sheltered them from the elements and in turn been a step for the Elements of Harmony to gain bearers.
Princess Celestia had told Scootaloo about why the Element of Generosity had selected her during that terrifying night, although Scoots had never thought about her actions as being generous, but just the way she lived her life. Much as Twilight had been so filled with magic that it only seemed obvious that she would carry the Element of Magic, Princess Celestia had said that she could see the generosity inside the little pegasus that Princess Luna had represented so many years ago as she gave the beauty of the night to all of the ponies and other races of Equestria. Despair had driven the dark princess into a destructive tantrum when her gifts were rejected, and now Scootaloo could taste the same ashes of defeat from her own brush with the consequences of her actions.
In the long silence that they shared, it was almost expected when she saw the darkness beside the window peel apart and the Princess of the Night stepped out into Twilight’s attic library. She bent down to where Scootaloo was still held tightly in Trixie’s grasp and stretched a soft wing over them both before nuzzling Scootaloo gently behind one ear.
“The time for recriminations is over, young one,” whispered Luna.
“I know,” said Scootaloo, slumping over and allowing her tiny wings to droop by her sides. “I need to go tell my aunt what I did.”
“Nay. I shall bear the burden of informing your caregiver of your actions this eve, and I assure you, she will not be dismayed by your actions. Provided, of course, you promise not to repeat them. Your task this evening shall be far more difficult.”
“What?” Scootaloo looked up as Princess Luna swept a wing over both her and Twilight, lifting them in her magic as she drifted out the open window.
“You must face another who shares your fears, Scootaloo.”
I'm having a lot of fun with the intros here.
Awesome intro indeed!
I loved that brief history of Canterlot. By the whims of princesses was pony society made.
So Twilight isn't just a seer, she seems able to twist happenstance backwards through time. Fascinating.
And now I'm wondering who holds that record.
And now Twilight and Scootaloo can learn to fly together. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what's going to happen. In any case, most enjoyable chapter.
Now I'm wondering just who it is that Scootaloo will have to face...
Excellent chapter!
Yes, the intro was really funny.
Hmm, I almost thought that random cloud from before was gonna drift up on them and that was what they were going to use to get back down the mountain. Opps, I was way off, lol. Great stuff as per usual.
Some really nice character stuff here, as usual. I'm curious about what Trixie is up to, and that was a pretty cruel cliffhanger.
5744966 Trixie, of course.
5744966 That's easy, the record holder is Blueblood. Can't think of another pony who would get that many pardons.
5744966
I think the record holder might have been in the room.
Good
Awesome intro to Canterlot's past. I hope to see more things like that for world building. I can't wait to see how the flying lessons go, but I can totally see Scootaloo dive bomibing Diamond Tiara to prove she actually can fly.
Unless I'm forgetting something (very possible, as its been months since I read this story), I have a bit of a problem imagining who the pony sharing Scootaloo's fears is. I lean towards Twilight, but her great fears are of her own magic--which she is actually using again and isn't actually incapable of using it. She isn't unable to contact a primal, essential part of her unicorn heritage. Twilight hasn't learned to fly, but I remember nothing that's said that she can't. There is the possibility that Luna's referring to Twilight's inability to contact her own family without breaking down, but she's working through that.
Scootaloo's fears are that she will never fly. That she will never be able to be a pegasus. That the other ponies are right, that she's nothing but a cripple, that she is less than pony. That her family abandoned her and were so ashamed that the forced the wing braces on her each night to fix her. Perhaps the true reason she can't fly is a subconscious emotional thing, as the psychologist suggested--there might be an inferiority complex at play, she could fear returning to the parents who abandoned her to the ground, fear that if she could fly she would have to leave her friends and Dash. If she actually does love her scooter, she could fear that if she flew she would have to leave it behind. There's a number of reasons--but the biggest ones, the ones that Scootaloo's actively aware of and that drove her to something so desperate and near-suicidal... I can't think of anypony else who shares that fear.
I frankly don't care much about Scootaloo's actual family, but I want to see Rainbow Dash's response to this.
At least Scoots got that off her chest.
Trixie, you sly cur. It will be quite painful for Scoots if she learns that what Trixie did was just an act, but hey, ends justify the means.
Right? Yeah, right. Pfft. Still, at least she opened up and that's what matters.
YES PLEASE
So ... the ponies simply followed the Princesses and built a castle right next to them, when it looked like they weren't moving from their new spot? I can dig this (at least they didn't start building the castle outright around them )
It's interesting that Menace is starting to have some sort of premonitions - I guess that's an Alicorn thing in general, even if the preferred method / innate aptitude might differ from alicorn to alicorn? Luna obviously has her own shtick going on as she displayed in this chapter, and unless I am mistaken, Celestia had some form of occasional premonition as well.
Honestly, with all the unique quirkiness surrounding Twilight (even her magic, when she isn't holding back, is way beyond normal unicorns and thus whatever tutoring they can provide is of questionable value), I wonder how long it takes for Luna to make Twilight her personal student (much to Trixie's annoyance and headache) in matters both magical, alicorn-ish and even flight related - sounds like that would be beneficial for all involved.
Assuming Twilight sequester herself away in a cardboard box at the thought of being a direct Princess' student. Which is a win for us either way thanks to being adorable.
A shame there were no zebras in this chapter, I was hoping to see what sort of a place Tallgrass has led them to this time
You know, Luna is really scary. Based on this it rather sounds like at any moment the shadows might come alive and eat/abduct you.
Maybe the vision was just of her flying and doing a trick that involves some fake falling?
5744966
Starswirl.
*Ka boom*
*angry muttering*
*angry shouting*
Starswirl, you blew up the research lab, the supply shed (which caused all the supplies to detonate), and knocked the wall off the nearby condo. Again…
How do you make a checkers game last 40 years?
My personal head canon has always been that Scoots has Congenital Thaumatic Inversion, CTI, a rare genetic disorder whereby she has the body of a pegasus, but the magic of an earth pony, a product of her earth pony father and pegasus mother. She would be able to fly, but not for very long or very fast.
5757527
No one ever said the princesses were GOOD at checkers, maybe it took them a long time to think out each move.
5763051 5757527 "Ok, Celly, that's 1,245 games to your 1,246. Shall we go for best of 2500?"
5760561 Sounds a little like Snowflake/Bulk Biceps. You been reading ahead in my mind?
5753067 Well, she is the Nightmare. It's so cute and adorable that you think Scoots was only doing some fake falling in her vision. Don't ever quit. Oh, and I have a bridge to sell you.
5751931 I think Luna wants her to have a normal⁽*⁾ foalhood before dragging her to Canterlot and subjecting her to all of the stresses she'll find there. Besides, she's going to Zebrica someday soon.
5747980 Wrong. You have Scootaloo exactly 180 degrees backwards. Wait for it....
(*) For a given 'Ponyville' value of normal.
5765083 You've offered me bridges before, but I've never received one!
5765083
*Scratches head*
I wouldn't mind having my memory refreshed on this, as it seems like I have forgotten about this detail (been a while since I read the story) - why would Twilight want to go to Zebrica? A visit with Zecora or some such?
And I was thinking more along the lines of: the sooner Twilight gets all her newfound alicorn-ness under control, the more "normal" (for a given value of normal) her childhood would be ... or would she only manage to get herself in to more shenanigans as result? :P
5765083 I sort of switch opinions a few times in that paragraph. I don't think there are many direct opposites that don't fall partially under one of the others.
Unless Scootaloo is actually afraid that she'll be so awesome nopony would like her anymore from jealousy and being shown up? Or is afraid that, if she does fly, it would mean that what she went through to get there actually was all worth it and her resentment for her parents was undeserved? Or that her parents wouldn't want to be with her even if she did fly, and that the wing issue was just an excuse to abandon her?
That's the closest I can imagine to opposites that none other of my ideas covered.
5765136
It's something to do with destiny. She has to learn how to speak with the spirits. Damn hippies...
5765168
Destiny mostly needs to be kicked in the curb, so it's as good place to start as any :P
Though isn't she already doing pretty well with spirits? I mean, she stopped a train from moving because the fire spirits powering the steam engine took a lunch break at her behest :P
5765203
I think it's that she has some big duty in the future according to the zebras. Iunno, like I said, by this point in the story, they need to tell fate/destiny to go take a walk.
5765268
Considering what we have seen of the zebra "wisdom" so far, with the epitome of what they consider their wisest especially roaming Equestria and giving us a good look at them ... yeah, the smart thing to do is probably the opposite of whatever the zebra think.
And if she needs to know something about spirits that pertain to herself as an alicorn specifically, there are a couple of perfectly fine specimens just a stone throw's away (Alicorns can throw stones pretty far!) that would be ready and more than willing to help her out - and would know more about alicorn/spirit interactions than the rest of the zebra combined, for obvious reasons.
So ... yeah.
5765286 I have a rough, rough draft of this section. I'll let you have a peek, but you need to listen.
Princess Luna looked out across the Zebrican plains, from the clouds around the distant mountains shimmering in the moonlight to the faint skyglow from cities over the horizon in several directions. She breathed in a long breath and closed her eyes, turning to Monster and the six Zebra mares at her side.
"Twilight Sparkle," she said without opening her eyes. "Please take your instructors a short distance away and protect them while I have a word with the neighbors."
Monster nodded and trotted away for a few paces, waiting in a decidedly impatiant manner as the other zebras gathered around her and jostled for position, except Zecora who took her place beside her adopted daughter with her head up and a certain glint in her eyes as if she knew what was about to happen. A bubble of pink magic appeared around them as Monster concentrated on Shining Armor's shield spell, putting all of her power into it until the outside world appeared only as a blurred image, with Princess Luna as a darker smear against the horizon.
The zebra all looked among each other as if they were daring each other to speak until one stepped forward in their small enclosure.
"This is most strange, child.
What scheme does the dark one plan?
Listen, we hear not."
"Princess Luna is going to speak to your spirits," said Monster, trying to keep her hooves braced in the unfamiliar soil of Zebrica as well as her mind braced for what was to follow. "They'll listen. They have to. I'm not ready to come here yet."
"Ridiculous," scoffed Old Kavu. "We have everything you need here. What could Equestria possibly have that we don't?"
"Time." Monster shifted her stance and dug her hooves in. "Friends. Family. Knowledge. Experience. When the time is right, I will come." She glanced up at the darkness beyond the impenetrable sphere of magic that surrounded them. “I don’t have enough power to tell your spirits. She does.”
“Bah!” snapped Tafadhali. “Power is not skill. We have spoken to the spirits of this land since the creation. What could she possibly tell them after being here for only a few minutes?”
In response, the ground beneath their hooves trembled, and a darkness seemed to swell beyond the pink bubble of force. It grew to encompass the entirety of the blurred images of the outside world, even as Monster focused more power into her spell. Finally, a blast of pure volume smashed every one of the zebra inside the bubble to their knees as a voice as large as the universe thundered outside.
Patience!
As the zebra picked themselves uncertainly to their hooves, Monster straightened her back and made the pink bubble of force go away. All around them in the moonlight, the clouds had vanished, the mountains seemed to vibrate in the distance, and the grass had been flattened into a shiny smear pointing away from the dark alicon, who had a rather enigmatic smile while looking at the shocked zebras.
“They’ll listen,” said Monster. “Will you?”
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So, Luna will follow them all to Zebrica so that she can sit all the zebras and their spirits down in a line and yell at them all like she was talking to a bunch of spoiled brats used to getting their way to sit down and wait their turn, whenever that might be? I knew there was a reason why the Luna in this story consistently comes across as awesome
The zebra reactions should be priceless as well - from the way they act, it's obvious neither they (nor their all-important spirits) they aren't used to being, to put it crudely, put in their place. I imagine they don't really understand alicorns either, or what they are dealing with here. Didn't Celestia hold back fate itself for a decade or so while Monster roamed the Everfree to stall Nightmare's fated return? A being like that is probably not something a bunch of spirits want to mess with.
Hm ... speaking of the proverbial humble pie, do the Zebras finally find out that it's not actually they who control the Sun/Moon? If I recall from the beginning of the story, didn't they believe it was their rituals that moved the celestial bodies along? Seeing Luna juggle the Moon/Sun back and forth for a bit should do wonders for knocking them off their pedestal of self-importance. Some humility might do them a lot of good, me thinks.
Either way, you now have me pretty excited for when this arc comes to pass in the story, thank you for sharing that.
The Zebras who want Twilight NOW, do not speak for the spirits.
Also, while Tallgrass was useful in the previous story, here he only seems to exist to conplicate things. Those Zebras would not even be going after Twilight if he had not decided to be sturborn and leave for example.
Also, can the Zebras even take Twilight by force when she has three alicorns princesses willing to defend her?
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I'm pretty sure it was "merely" two years. The Summer Sun Celebration was being held in Ponyville for the third year in a row. From this we can infer that Celestia wasn't certain of when her ability to hold back fate would give out. We can also guess that she wasn't sure it would work at all, and align the first celebration in Ponyville with the thousandth year of banishment.
5744727 - Where do you get all those wonderful intros?
Omg...I just realized I completely forgot who was each element....welp this is what I get for not reading for all of summer
Please remind me of the element bearers in this universe
discernible
ok i just wanna make sure i got ducks in a row. As Monster, Twilight used emotion based magic like the changelings. She used fear and rage to accomplish everything from teleportation to levitation. Now as Twilight has returned to her senses she is relearning standard magic (whatever the hell powers that) hence the concern trixie and zecora showed in her using the teleportation. That about sum that up or is there another reason everyone his afraid of her using those spells?
6474461 Now you're going to make me go back and look (snerk)
Loyalty: Apple Bloom and Rainbow Dash
Honesty: Sweetie Belle and Applejack
Generosity: Scootaloo and Rarity
Laughter: Featherweight and Pinkie Pie
Kindness: Twist and Fluttershy
Magic: Monster and Trixie (Although Magic really doesn't like Trixie very much, there's some grudging respect there)
7761743 As Monster, Twilight used emotion-fueled magic to brute-force her spells by also partially tapping the sun-sprite in her for power. In her current form, she can use magic *nicely* to accomplish similar results, not as powerful now, but as she learns, she's going to someday approach her former power only *with* control. If she tries to use her 'old' magic in her new body, she damages it again, so she needs to maintain control, learn, and grow into her power (which is one reason the Elements gave her back in a child's body, so she would have time to adjust).
Gee, I never would have guessed.
7761807
I also like to think that the she was given her small body as a way to make up for what she lost (having a happy childhood).
9131693
Is that snark or sarcasm I can't tell.
9659420
Let’s go with both, shall we?
9659939
That works.
5765168
Soooo. Treehugger then.