51 - Mirror-rorriM - Part Eight
Letters From a Little Princess Monster
Mirror - rorriM - Part Eight
As much as Doc loved being in the center of a group of happy fans, she was more than happy enough to head for the staff gate with the rest of the actresses when the announcement ending the autograph session blared out over the speakers. She smiled and waved while standing between Midnight Sun and Dust Storm in the warm sunlight, calling out, “That’s all for now, everypony. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will be back out for pictures and autographs an hour before this evening’s performance, as will the rest of the Elements of Harmony. We hope you have an exciting day at Funland, and make some friends like I did. Have a fun day!”
Doc continued to smile and wave as the gates swung closed, feeling that phantom pain in her shoulder where her leg was going to fall off any day now and her face freeze into a permanent smile. But she kept smiling and waving until the gate thudded closed and both ‘princesses’ to either side of her let out matching deep sighs.
“Whoo, thees hes beee a lång dey,” exclaimed Midnight Sun, switching to her Svedish accent with a vengeance as a way of coping with ‘Celestiaizing’ every word for the last several hours. She shook her head and took off the Celestia wig/horn/crown prop with one hoof, scratching away at the top of her stubby natural blonde mane. “Hoo does she-a stund thees theeng all dagen? Eeet itches something fierce.”
“Dearest sister in spirit,” said Dust, placing one silver-clad hoof on the Svedish actress, “‘itching’ does not begin to describe what I have to do to my beautiful wings. Deal.” Dust Storm reached back with her teeth and subtly adjusted the dark spellband around the base of her wings that generated the ‘feathers’ illusion over her natural batlike wings.
“No itching here, just don’t get in front of me for the bathroom!” called out Applejack, headed that way at a rapid trot.
The sleek bodysuit that he wore to look more female was always a pain to get in and out of, and Radiance followed his hoofsteps for a few paces in order to call out her customary invitation to assist with the dressing and undressing of the shy stallion. When she returned, giggling uncontrollably, Doc could not help but give her a discouraging look. "Really, Rad? I thought we had discussed this."
"Oh, but I just couldn't resist, darling!" Radiance did that little hoof-flip thing that made her look so sophisticated, even though Doc knew she had never gotten any further up the social ladder than her manestyling booth at the amusement park before being hired for this new gig. "After that little filly cornered him this afternoon and kept trying to look between his legs, I thought I would just die laughing."
"There was a whole group of them," said Spectrum after taking a deep drink out of her insulated mug of lemonade, monogramed, of course, with her former Wonderbolts Flight Number. "Had this little earth pony filly bouncing up and down in front of me like a rubber ball most of the time we were out there. Made it really easy to get into character. Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!" She chuckled before taking another drink. "I thought being in the Wonderbolts was going to bring me fans. Turns out all I needed was to go on medical leave and apply enough manedye."
The whole staff room echoed with laughter at that, Cotton Candy laughing the most of all. "This is the greatest gig ever, Doc. I mean I thought running Candyland was great, but this is greater great! It's like supergreat!"
The laughter was contagious, and Doc let herself be swept along with it until Budgie tapped her front hooves together and cleared her throat. "Um. There's still room for improvement, girls."
"Hey!" echoed out of the bathroom.
"And Applejack," continued Budgie. "Midnight Sun, you did a wonderful job with your Canterlot accent this time, but there was just a teensy little bit of Svedish in that ending line. Princess Celestia always paces her words without rushing. Tricks, you need… Tricks?"
Doc shrugged. "She's out doing the puppet show. I'm more worried about Dust. Where did she go?"
The jovial atmosphere of the staff room calmed down at once as everypony looked around for the missing mare. Even Midnight looked unwilling to say what needed to be said, so Doc continued, "Dust, can you hear me?"
"I'm getting some gum out of my mane," filtered Dust Storm's voice out of a nearby closed door.
It took a deep breath and the realization that nopony else was going to breach the subject before Doc swallowed once and spoke up. "Your act stunk, DS. You just aren't projecting enough into either Nightmare Moon or Princess Luna. I know you're all 'Method Acting' and such, but the little fillies out in the audience didn't scream or anything when you made your appearance."
"It's a little bright out for a good Nightmare Moon," said Budgie apologetically. "I never could get a good performance out of my nocturnal birds and bats around noon when I was doing the pet shows."
"That's different," said Doc. "Dust isn’t sleepy or anything. She's just not putting her whole self into the act."
The resulting uncomfortable silence was broken by a firm knocking at the staff room door, and Spectrum darted over to open it up, although immediately afterwards, she took a step backwards and let out a, "Whoa, Dusty! Now that is more like it!"
Princess Luna stepped through the door with a measured tread and her head lifted proudly in the noble posture that Dust was so good at. The flowing mane enchantment that she had been having so much trouble with was working perfectly, appearing as a wave of flowing darkness sweeping down her neck, coiling and twisting as if it were alive with every step and filling the room with a sudden chill that raised goosepimples up Doc’s neck. The steady clip-clop of metal shoes ringing on the tile floor paused as ‘Luna’ cast her gaze once around the room, cleared her throat, and began to speak.
"Greetings, thespians."
"I ain't no thespian!" called out Applejack from the bathroom. "I like mares!"
"Whoa, mama!" declared Radiance with an extended hoof and a practiced squint. "Dust, you are rocking that mane enchantment. Did you find somepony to spruce it up? Because that's a whole lot better than I ever could get that wig to glow."
'Luna' cocked her head to the side and looked at Radiance with a tense frown. "We are not thy mother, but if we were, we would encourage you to show proper respect to thy Princess of the Night."
Doc paused with her mouth open to speak and her tongue drying into a dusty powder as realization soaked in. This pony was taller than Dust Storm. Her feathered wings were real, as was her long horn. The rippling and curling mane of stellar darkness, likewise. The Princesses did not travel away from Canterlot except for very important reasons.
A play that portrayed Princess Luna as Nightmare Moon could be considered such.
"Finally!" exclaimed Dust Storm as she stalked out of the dressing room with a wet washcloth in one hoof. "I think I got most of the gum out of the wig, but—"
'Princess Luna' came to a dead halt and stared at Princess Luna.
All of the rest of the ponies in the room stared at Princess Luna. And then stared at 'Princess Luna.' It might have gone on far longer if six little ponies had not dashed into the room and came to a skidding halt in front of Doc.
"Hi!" declared the little earth pony filly in the lead. "This is Scootaloo… No, that’s Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Featherweight, Twist and I'm Apple Bloom. Have you seen Twilight Sparkle?"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle," said Doc reflexively. "And you little fillies shouldn't be back here. This is for cast members only." Her eyes traced upwards to meet the amused gaze of the princess Doc had never expected to meet. "Of course, we may be willing to make an exception."
"No! We need to find the real Twilight Sparkle," declared the little earth pony, who Doc suddenly noticed was wearing a familiar golden necklace with a gem in it, as were all of her little friends. They were most definitely not the plastic props used during the play, or even the glittery toys sold outside. They looked frighteningly real, and Doc's stomach plunged into her hooves as she realized just exactly what this possibility meant in conjunction with Princess Luna's presence.
As opposed to the normal pony, Doc had spent considerable time over the last ten years collecting every single scrap of information about the ‘Everfree Monster’ that had leaked out from speculative news articles and tabloid fictional accounts. She even subscribed to the Ponyville Gazette and the Foal Free Press to feed her obsessive curiosity about the destructive activities of her former friend, although Doc had never gotten any closer to Ponyville than the city limits of Fillydelphia. Acquiring every scrap of information about Twilight Sparkle’s fate had been a habit which she never broke, despite many, many waverings. She both wanted and was terrified about actually finding out what had really happened at the disastrous school entrance exam. Her years of research had been an unexpected bonus when Princess Luna had returned and the colorful story of her redemption at the hooves of Twilight Sparkle and her friends had burst into the newspapers.
It was a lie, of course. Doc could see that effortlessly. As much as she wanted to book an immediate ticket to Ponyville and see Twilight Sparkle with her own eyes, she had been too much of a coward to face her former friend again, for fear that years of therapy and recovery would be unwound in an instant.
Instead, she had taken the position of Twilight Sparkle in ‘The Return of Nightmare Moon’ performance without even an audition. The dialogue had been trivial to rewrite, portraying her friend much as Doc had imagined her over the years, and the rest of the actresses had just fallen into their roles like pieces in a puzzle. There had still been something so wrong about the play that she had written dozens of letters to her former friend Lyra in Ponyville asking for inside information, each one of which she had crumpled up and thrown away instead of sending. She was still running away from the truth just the same way as her parents had run away from Canterlot.
She was a coward. Twilight Sparkle was a heroine. Every day when she stepped out among the little ponies, she could be that Twilight Sparkle. She could be the secret student of Princess Celestia, strong enough to stand up to Nightmare Moon, compassionate enough to make five wonderful friends at every showing, wise enough to be able to use the Element of Magic.
If what the little earth pony was saying was really true, and if the noble alicorn standing just a few hooves away was really Princess Luna, and if the little pony she had seen just a few hours ago was really Twilight Sparkle…
There had been suspicious winglike lumps under Twilight Sparkle’s yellow cloak that had twitched while Doc had signed the autograph. Wings like a newborn alicorn would have. They had been easy to overlook at the time. They were horribly obvious in reflection, giving Doc a very short line of logic to follow to a very unsettling conclusion.
Before Princess Luna's return, Twilight Sparkle had been a broken unicorn living in the Everfree Forest.
After Princess Luna's return, Twilight Sparkle was a young alicorn, with five friends.
Twilight Sparkle had unmistakably been the most powerful magical unicorn in Equestria. Briefly.
The Element of Magic was one of a set of six artifacts that had once sent Princess Luna to exile in the moon, and now had purged her of the taint of Nightmare Moon.
The five other Elements each rested comfortably on the necks of the five little ponies that Apple Bloom had introduced.
Only one was missing.
The prop Element of Magic that sat on top of Doc's head suddenly felt extremely heavy.
"Our friend, Twilight!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. "She's just like you, only younger. Well, not younger. She looks younger. But she's not."
"I don't know what you mean," lied Doc, backing up as the little pony stalked forward. "I saw your little friend earlier this afternoon, but I don't know where she went."
"She knows you," said Apple Bloom with a determined glint in her eyes as she continued to advance. "And we don't. We've been with her ever since she saved Princess Luna, an' she ain't never had no other pony see her in the Everfree Forest, so that means you knew her when she was little, just like us."
"I don't know where your friend is!" Doc felt her rear hit the wall of the staff room and she reared up, knocking the prop Element of Magic off her head and onto the floor with the bright chime of pot metal on tile. Panic had almost closed up her throat as she shouted, "I knew a pony named Twilight Sparkle, but that was a long time ago! We were friends!"
Apple Bloom frowned up at the much taller and older pony. It seemed odd to feel so intimidated by the little earth pony, but Doc's knees shook even as the rest of the adult ponies crowded in closer for support.
"Just a moment, young miss," said Radiance, pushing Apple Bloom back with her magic. "Doc is my friend too, and you're frightening her."
"I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave," said Spectrum, although with an oddly-subservient glance at the Royal Diarch in the room. "Please?"
"Alright, what's going on here?" said Applejack, stepping out of the bathroom door and looking between the two Princess Lunas. He hesitated for a moment and repeated himself. "Seriously, Doc. What's going on? Are you auditioning off Dusk's spot?"
Budgie stepped forward and pressed a muscular yellow wing up against Apple Bloom's chest. "You're frightening our friend, and that won't help you find your friend."
"Indeed." Princess Luna's magic surrounded Apple Bloom and lifted her away from Doc, although the calm teal gaze that locked with Doc's wide eyes did not calm her down. "Children, she is quite correct. Frightening her will not help us locate Twilight Sparkle. We shall continue our search. Please accept our apologies, Moondancer. Or would you prefer to be called Doc instead of your given name?"
It had been several years since she had used that name. 'Moondancer' had been a friend of Twilight Sparkle, and every time she had used the name, the memories of that day returned. She had tried other names, then her initials, but 'Doc' had stuck when everypony at the dance academy combined the initials MD with her natural study habits, so Doc she had become.
Doc nodded tensely, looking at the stressed little ponies all wearing their golden Elements of Harmony. They looked so frightened at missing their friend and terribly worried about what had happened to her that it struck a chord with the fear she had felt so many years ago in Canterlot when the ground shook and the burning heat radiated through Shining Armor's shield spell. A thick scab of denial had been pasted across Doc's heart ever since the day when she had been told that Twilight Sparkle was not only responsible for the destruction, but was also dead. Moondancer had known it was a lie. Princess Cadence had foalsat all of Twilight Sparkle's friends, and Moondancer could see the desperate hope in the Alicorn of Love's eyes. Cadence would be willing to pour out her life, knowing beyond doubt that her friend could be rescued despite the monster she had become. The realization was far more than Moondancer's little filly mind could comprehend at that time.
That terrified little filly no longer existed. She was an adult now. Twilight Sparkle had been lost to her once. She would not lose her a second time, and Moondancer called out as Princess Luna turned to leave.
"Wait."
She shuffled forward, trying not to look at the accusing little eyes of Twilight Sparkle's frightened friends. "It's b-been a long time. I w-was in the waiting r-room at the s-school after the entrance exam when…" Moondancer ground to a halt, trying to phrase the events in a way that would not traumatize the little ponies as she had been.
"Twilight l-lost control of her magic," said Sweetie Belle, with just a tiny hitch in her melodic voice as if she had been imagining the same thing happening to her for some time. "She had a Surge, far worse than any student had ever had at the school. It grew exponentially, drawing more and more on her magic until she panicked and grabbed the sun away from Princess Celestia. It… was very bad." A ripple of fear traveled down the little filly's back, but she pressed on. "You didn't see her the way we did. Ten years afterwards, she was still a mass of scar tissue with the instincts of an animal. The power almost killed her, melted down the whole school tower and destroyed everything."
"Almost everything," whispered Moondancer. "Shining Armor was there for us. He used his shield spell to save everypony in the room. The ground was bucking so hard that all of us were thrown around, but he gathered us to him and…"
Moondancer blew her nose on a tissue that Twist gave her. "I could see the molten rock flowing down the spell," she continued. "He was so strong and we were all so weak. After we were rescued, I couldn't go back. My parents moved to Maresachusetts and I took acting lessons. Anything to keep from having to face that again."
"She is out there somewhere," said Luna. "Just as frightened of you as you were of her. Fear can be a terrible master if we permit it, but to overcome fear is to understand yourself. Do you understand?"
"I think so." Moondancer straightened up and floated the prop Element of Magic off the floor to hover in front of her. "The Elements are supposed to have a very strong bond, just like the ponies who bear them. If Twilight Sparkle is hiding out there, maybe we can use them to find her."
Luna nodded. "She hath evaded every form of scrying which we have tried, save one." The real Element of Magic floated out from behind the Princess of the Night and hovered next to the prop. "Once touched by the Elements, you can never be free of their touch. We held Magic once, but we foully betrayed it, and can never use its power again. You must be cautious." Luna lowered her voice. "Trixie used it last, and it may still resent that."
Moondancer smiled a little. "I remember Trixie. I'll risk it."
She took the heavy golden crown out of Luna's magic and lifted it in the air, just as she had done with the prop for several weeks worth of performances now. For an ancient device that had once imprisoned a Princess in the moon for a thousand years, it felt remarkably ordinary, even dull. It was heavier than the prop and somewhat smaller, much as if it had molded itself to the head of her friend, but Moondancer did not feel anything unusual when she placed it on her head and nestled it up just behind her horn.
"So. Now what? Just concentrate?" Moondancer took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, still feeling the cool gaze of Princess Luna sweeping over her. A princess. Even after having been foalsat by Princess Cadence so many years ago and having actually met Princess Celestia several times, Moondancer's heart still trembled with uncertainty at the idea that she was worthy enough to do this. The Element of Magic effortlessly swallowed up the thin stream of power that she focused into it, like water vanishing down a drain without any other indication that it was working. Even increasing the amount of magic up to the maximum she was able to handle still only resulted in the ancient artifact only shifting slightly against her horn, and the slightest sensation of itching around her ears, although that could have just been embarassment.
Moondancer gritted her teeth and pushed on her magic harder than she had ever tried before, determined to get at least some sort of reaction, but nothing.
"Twilight," she muttered from between clenched teeth. "Say something, Twilight. I know you're out there. I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. I don't know why you're afraid of me. I just want you to come back. Please?"
The outside world seemed to fade in and out as Moondancer continued to concentrate. A trickle of sweat running down her forehead became a solid stream. At least there was some response to her efforts, as she could hear the faint pop and crackle of sparks, as well as the sharp stinging pains as they occasionally drifted back to land on her back.
Something was happening. It danced at the tips of her senses as a dancer leaping and cavorting through the sky with thousands of dancers to its side in an immortal expression of mindless joy. It stirred in the depths of her soul, lighting the darkness that had coiled around her for so long it had nearly made her sleep into oblivion. The cool touch of calm permeated her entire self as she drifted beneath the joyous stars, lifting her voice in the night to calm their fears and rest their worries. It lit her world with blazing points of light that stirred memories thought long gone and memories she never had.
A bed, filled to the limit with giggling little unicorn fillies as a soft-spoken alicorn tried to read them a bedtime story.
A friend, running through the chemistry lab with a flask somehow impossibly stuck on her head.
A room filled with books and notes as five little friends bent feverishly over their last-minute studying for the upcoming exam.
The flow of rainbows through her body, triggering powers she could not control.
A spark of light and power that floated too near and was consumed to fuel her deadly spell.
The agonizing sensation of being totally alone.
The darkness rolling in to consume her.
A single familiar voice.
“Not me. They will say we saved your daughter.”
Moondancer struggled with a tantalizing sensation of being just barely out of reach of her friend, and all of the stretching she could do would not shed light on that distant pool of shadow. Then she felt the warmth of a shoulder pressed into hers and the unmistakable murmur of Applejack's voice, encouraging her to greater effort. The warm brush of Budgie's wing across her back. The soft headbut from Spectrum. The press of her friends all around her grew as the light inside swelled, brighter and brighter until it illuminated a small, cringing shape, trying to hide behind some cleaning supplies.
"Twilight?" Moondancer extended her 'hoof' in the strange shadowless world that surrounded her on all sides. "I'm not afraid of you, Twilight."
"I'm not Twilight," whispered the shape, becoming more indistinct as she gathered shadows around herself. "I'm a monster. A terrible, bad monster that everypony should be afraid of."
"Monsters don't have friends." Moondancer closed her eyes, feeling through the unseen corners and joints in this place where physical laws seemed not to apply. There was something there, an image or memory that called out to be unleashed, and when Moondancer finally touched it, she could see all of Twilight's little friends, with their golden Elements around their necks and facing a tall and terrible monster. Rainbow light cascaded off of a battered and bloody Twilight Sparkle, who faced her foe with head and horn lifted proudly.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle. And you will not harm my friends!”
The world seemed to crash back in on Moondancer with an immense roar, throwing her into the floor with all of her friends in a large pile. But for one magic moment, she did not even notice anything in the staff room. All she could do was to hold onto a little violet alicorn who was clamped around her neck, sobbing incoherently.
* * *
Trixie took a sharp breath and abruptly stopped stomping in the 'fertilizer' pit. She looked around the run-down commune with her head slightly cocked to one side and listened before shaking her head and the few scraggly bits of her original mane that were left. Her head itched fiercely, but she was not about to try scratching it with this much compost on her hooves.
"What's wrong?" asked Oz, looking around much like Trixie had done, only with more goop and fragments of rotten turnips on her multicolored coat. "Are you looking for the creek so we can get this all washed off? Since we're done with the composting, I wanted to show you what I've learned with water magic. I can almost maintain a self-supporting sphere now, as long as I'm not distracted and—"
"Nothing's wrong," said Trixie, interrupting the teenaged unicorn before she wound up talking for the next hour. "I just got the weirdest feeling for a moment, like a pat on the head and a kick in the tail at the same time." She shook her head again and started trotting in the direction of the stream. "Come on. Let's go to the creek and get rinsed off. I'll show you how to really make water bubbles."
* * *
The ponypile of young and old ponies in the staff room had gone on for some time, with laughing and chattering that filled the room to near bursting with joyous noise. Luna watched from a distance, remaining totally silent and remote, unnoticed by every pony in the room as she quietly closed the door and turned to leave.
Only to find herself nose to nose with… herself.
"P-princess L-luna?" The stammering filly dressed as Princess Luna watched Luna with wide, golden eyes. She was obviously terrified, but to her credit, she did not look away or lower her head. "M-my name is D-dust Storm. I-I'm one of your—"
"One of my Nocturne, of course," said Luna, swallowing a lump the size of a mountain. She could remember Dust Storm, a loyal mare who had been one of her most trusted confidants. Her broad feathered wings had paced Nightmare Moon as they flew to the ancient Winter Castle, and had been just as broad and dark when she had been transformed into one of her nocturnal pegasi.
Right before Nightmare Moon had killed her, along with every other friend and supporter Luna had known. The memories were painfully recent, and the ghosts of Nightmare's victims seemed to press in all around her.
"Speak, child," said Luna through lips thinned with tension. "We have duties we must return to."
"I w-was just wondering if we could talk for a while," said Dust in one long cascade of words that would not stop. "I just haven't been able to get into my role as… you or Nightmare Moon here and I was hoping you could tell me how to be you better. Please."
"Nightmare Moon was an abomination, not fit to be praised by the youth of Equestria," scowled Luna. "I scarcely think it appropriate that I teach you how to bring the darkness upon your soul as I did to myself."
"Yourself?" Those golden eyes blinked in confusion. "I t-thought you were attacked and taken over."
"Nay." Luna looked away from those entrancing golden eyes, finding a dusty corner of the corridor a much more comforting place to look.
"I… see."
"You see, do you?" Luna looked back up into the startled gaze of the actress. "Do you see the guilt I wear upon my shoulders from the blood that I shed simply because of my own bloated ego? Do you see my former friends, loyal servants, and loves that I slayed during my insanity? Can you understand the pain that I go through every day in fear of losing my will and summoning the Nightmare to consume my soul again?" Luna abruptly turned to depart. "Begone from me. Go caper and prance among the youth, making merry of my greatest shame."
"B-but Celestia! She must have known you were coming back. All of us knew you were returning. We…" Dust Storm trailed off, but picked up as Luna opened the door to the outside. "P-princess of the Moon. Your subject hereby requests an audience with you about issues of the greatest importance."
Princess Luna stopped. "Stop," she whispered, as the ghosts drew near and a warm breeze from outside evaporated the thin film of sweat that had suddenly appeared across her back. "You know not what you ask of me."
"I ask you to listen. That is all."
"No. We shall not." Luna had barely taken an unsteady step when Dust's voice sounded again, almost dead and dry against the sounds of the amusement park outside that filtered through the open door.
“By ties of blood and bone, we are your subjects. Your magic created us, and we live to serve your will. We are bone of your bone, flesh of your flesh, and we do as you command. A second time we call out to you, hear our plea.”
Luna stopped again with her head bowed low and the slow roll of stars through her mane almost stationary. "Speak," she said in a husky whisper.
"Face me. Please," added Dust.
Luna shifted in position as the door swung closed behind her, remaining sealed in an indigo magic much the same way as the door behind Dust Storm had just sealed itself. Ever so slowly, she raised her head until she was looking at the hesitant actress. After a period of silent observation, Luna cleared her throat and said, "If you did not bear the name of my old friend, I would not heed thy words. Speak as she would have, with your head raised proudly and your heart displayed for all."
The actress seemed to draw comfort from the words, raising her head as requested and facing Luna without nearly as much fear as she had shown earlier. "Princess Celestia preserved the story of the Mare in the Moon for a good reason. As foals, we learned that facing our fears was difficult, but held rewards. Then, it was candy. Now as adults, we face our fears in new ways. I feared taking this role, because I did not believe I could do justice to your power and majesty. Moondancer remembered Twilight Sparkle and feared what she had done, but whenever she picked up that crown and put on the cutie mark makeup, she faced her fears and conquered them. Even now, she sits in the other room with the friend who caused her such pain, and they were laughing about their past." Dust Storm swallowed, but did not look away from Luna's piercing gaze. "You are running away from Nightmare Moon instead of facing her and defeating her."
"Nightmare Moon is dead," said Luna flatly. "Twilight Sparkle killed her."
"Nightmare Moon is alive," said Dust Storm. "She lives in your heart. You must face her and defeat her, over and over, before you can truly say she is dead."
Princess Luna stood silently, staring at the actress as if she were looking back over the centuries at her old friend, now long gone to dust. "There is wisdom in your words," she admitted after a while. "We would not have accepted such from any other than mine own self, I suppose." The Princess of the Moon raised one eyebrow and shook her head with a smile. "Nay, 'tis as if my friend from so long ago didst speak to me through you. I had considered her wise council lost to the ages."
"My mother always told me that you can never lose a friend," said Dust. "All you can do is misplace them for a time."
"Quite true." Princess Luna crept back to the staff room door and cracked it open briefly before closing it again. "The rediscovery of one's friends is a process filled with tears and laughter, it seems. Tis a pity the facing of my greatest shame cannot be accomplished so easily."
"I have… an idea," said Dust Storm.
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Moondancer is Best Pony.
Trixie... has some redeeming qualities. (at least the Element of Magic thinks so, it seems)
*spots new chapter* The preeecciousss...
Poor Twilight. It's not her fault the world is
trying to traumatize herfull of things which bring up painful memories. Still, the mental image of Moondancer hugging filly Twilight while her fellow cast look on and wonder WTF is going on was surprisingly amusing. Thanks for the chapter!To SHORT!
So I totally have to wonder if they're going to get Luna to actually stand in for "Nightmare Moon" and "Luna" for the show. Conquer your fears and all that. Great chapter as always.
<paraphrase>Then he got an idea. An awful idea. The Grinch got a wonderful, *awful* idea! </paraphrase>
...why do I have the feeling that Luna is about to become a thespian and scare the bejebus out of a bunch of kids (and other actors) during the next performance?
Mayday... epic levels of feel... curmudgeon shields failing.....
Very Daawww inducing chapter. I love the image of the little Elements interacting with the actors and Moondancer's memories of filly Twilight. I hope Twilight can reunited with the rest of her old friends and get a little more stable. But heaven help the idiot who hurts one of them... Monster will come make them pay. With compounded interest. I kind of want to see the Mane 6 meet the actors playing them and see if the play gets even better.
I suspect that there is about to be an epic abuse of alicorn power, several huggies, and a subtraction of age shortly.
6437378
But I don't know where SHORT is. How do we get there? What do we do when we arrive?
You know, this story is great, but I would LOVE to see an update to the Traveling Tutor and the Royal Exam...
6437347 I honestly thought it was saying "So long glitter but!".
Loved it, good work.
Another enjoyable chapter. Great job.
Ha! i knew the one portraying Twilight Sparkle wasn't some random mare! Also, it sounds like Twi had teleported to some mix between a pocket dimension and a janitor closet.
So i suspect that Luna is gonna be playing herself and NMM in the evening play; if that happens, i hope everything works out. Or maybe she'll only be playing NMM? that would be awesome!
This chapter feels rushed. I enjoyed it, but I think you touched on things far too shortly than they should have been.
Oh man, this was so good.
6438408 yeah I agree it was abit rushed and I also wanted/expected/needed more description on how Twi and moondancer felt in those moments.
Shouldn't this be "slew"?
6439444 Yeah, I believe you're correct. "Slew" would be the correct past form of "slay", here (past perfective tense). Or one could use "had slain", I guess?
The hair on my neck always stands on end, every time this gets quoted.
Well, no wonder they couldn't find her. It seems that when Twilight doesn't want to be found, she doesn't even stay on the same spacial axes.
Great work with Moondancer. I've never seen Cadence foalsitting Twilight's Canterlot friends before, but it does make sense. You know, inasmuch as the local Aphrodite being a babysitter makes sense to begin with.
I also quite like the other actors. I can only imagine how Dash would react if she learned that a former Wonderbolt was portraying her.
The bit with Dust Storm and Luna was especially nice. It looks like someone's getting a bit of role-play therapy before her first Nightmare Night.
Also, I can't help but wonder how Diamond Tiara's going to react to 5F1C demonstrating that yes, they are the Bearers of Harmony. There's really no way for her to try and fit that into her mental framework as is.
6439559
Same here
And yet another great chapter. Heartwarming, especially the way little Twi literally shot towards Moondancer when she came looking.
And Luna learning how to truly defeat that which she fears the most.
Heh, the "idea" will definitely be an interesting one, can't wait for that!
The moment I read Doc I thought of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Wait a minute is this the one pony out of the three who did not go to ponyville
6437457
Reading this comment makes me think alot about BDP nightmare night animation
6480957
A ways back. I believe she crawled into the bath that Monster was using to dye her coat purple or something like that. Trixie didn't look before she lept.
6505457 it was either this icon, Twilight telling Fluttershy to face her fears, or Scoota-sprite and Sombra.
Why the month-long hiatus?
more please
6548193 Because I've been busy as heck with all kinds of projects, this being one. Let me see if I can make a list: Writeoff.me, October writing contest (City of Monsters/Child of Nightmares and Everfree), Letters (this one), The Traveling Tutor and the Royal Exam (last half), Buggy and the Beast, Flim Flam and the Lost Apple Scam, Seven Brides for Seven Changelings, and a couple of shorts.
Edit: All of these are posted now except for Buggy and the Beast, and the Flim/Flam story
6591400 Didn't say you weren't busy, I was just curious. Sheesh. Good luck with those.
6596067 Yep, that's fine. My NaPoWriMo project will include the last chapter in this arc, so I'm hoping to get it out this month (along with other stuff :)
Well, this will be interesting.
Wow... Just found this amazing story and spent the last week reading this and it's predisesor. What an amazing AU with a characters you can't help but feel for.
Thanks for the amazing worlds both here and in your other stories.
MOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRR
Oh dear god, is what I think is happening happening?
Hey, I have a Ponysona named Dust Storm! XD
counsel
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