Letters From a Little Princess Monster

by Georg

62 - Three-Day Promise - Part Five

Letters From a Little Princess Monster
Three Day Promise - Part Five

---

“Come on, Trixie. This will work. This has to work. Last chance.” Trixie lowered her voice again as a few of the ponies in the small audience glanced back at her, except for Scootaloo (still in Diamond Tiara’s body), who was standing next to Filthy Rich while staring up into the clear blue sky where Rainbow Dash was flying. Trixie could almost taste the longing of the little pegasus to be with her idol, and the photograph of the four little troublemakers when they rode the Boomer gave Trixie a good idea of the terrified expression on Diamond Tiara’s face now too. The only thing keeping the spell from being broken was the little ponies’ envy of each other’s lives, and that thread of magic was being pulled just as tight as a lyre string. It actually sounded somewhere in the back of her horn as a high-pitched note like a rising soloist over the sound of rumbling hooves, getting higher, and higher until…

Trixie winced as Diamond Tiara screeched, throwing herself to the side and grabbing onto Filthy Rich with all four hooves. “Daddy! Daddy!”

“Yes!” said Trixie with a little dance. “It worked! I knew it, I knew it! Trixie is brilliant!”

“I’m not sure I would go that far, darling,” said Rarity with a sniff, although she did look at the tearful reunion of father and daughter before adding, “It was a very clever plan, though.”

“It was mean!” snapped Diamond Tiara through her tears. “I was so scared! You’re a big bully and Daddy’s going to sue you—” Any further words were cut off by Filthy Rich’s body as he muffled his daughter’s protests quite firmly in a massive hug. It was a touching father-daughter moment, and made something inside of Trixie’s chest twinge with mixed joy and pain as she thought of her own parents in Neigh Orleans, and the long, long time since she had similarly been wrapped up in their loving embrace. She ignored Spike’s urgent tug on her new yellow cape and wiped a hoof across her eyes to get rid of some of the loose cloud that had condensed there. It was a little humbling to think of how many other ponies Trixie had to credit for this successful trick, and not long ago she might have tried to take full credit for the operation, but now she was just content to soak it all in and watch father and daughter in their moment of happiness.

“Thank you, Madam Mayor.” Filthy Rich kissed his daughter on the nose. “And thank you too, Diamond. You were a very good little pony. I’m sorry I ever thought about sending you away to Canterlot.”

“Uh, Trixie?” Spike’s insistent tugging at Trixie’s new yellow cape grew frantic. “Look!”

~ ~ ✶ ~ ~

Six zebra up on a small hill just outside of Ponyville had become a sight the local ponies had grown accustomed to over the last few days. Tallgrass had just considered it to be yet another example of the weird things the town could tolerate without blinking, provided there was no obvious danger. After all, they took in stride having several residents of the town who tended to randomly crash into buildings and through windows, respected the privacy of the pop music sensations who dropped in at the Carousel Boutique at random times, and had viewed the explosive vanishing of Town Hall and the subsequent appearance of a tiny alicorn resident as sort of a good-luck charm. Even the relatively frequent visits by Princess Celestia had become fairly routine, although still warmly welcomed every time they happened. Presumably, if an Ursa strolled into town one day, the residents would… well, for that, they would run around and scream, but anything short of such an event would just be a Tuesday.

Old Kavu was still obviously favoring one ankle, despite not radiating the least bit of unusual pain for the changeling to detect, and she was currently resting on a sturdy cushion (with a little stylized ‘R’ on one corner) in order to look out across the river valley with the rest of her peers and watch the daily entertainment. “That pegasus with all the colors seems to be a teacher,” she admitted into the relative quiet of their observations.

“Yep,” said Tallgrass. “She’s normally tearing through the sky solo or sleeping somewhere. I wonder what has changed since I’ve been gone.”

“Rainbow Dash is strong
much like the wind in the sky.
She lessens herself there.”

Without even looking over at Mshairi, Tallgrass nodded. “Impressive. Teaching. Lessens. A pun within a pattern. Yes, Rainbow Dash is her name, as before I explained. The young pegasus she is towing on that rope must be Scootaloo, and the little purple pony to her side is the Imetabiriwa na Anga, who you seem so determined to remove from her loving home. If you wish, I could call for them, and they could come over to visit.”

“No, I do not think so.” Keiko followed the trajectory of the three ponies as they rocketed up into the sky. “Why so high?” she asked as they ascended far above their previous low altitude.

Rather than look up, Tallgrass looked down at the distant group of ponies gathered by the side of the river, and in particular the one pony who was striped in black and white a short distance away from a strange orange unicorn who the earth spirits insisted was Trixie. The situation certainly felt like Trixie’s work, but the feelings deep inside his chest were nearly drowned out by the deeper sensation of the distant shamans in Zebrica performing their summoning ritual.

It made his rear itch, and not in a good way.

“I do not know why it is so,” admitted Tallgrass. “But as for me, I’ll trust in Harmony.”

“Does your harmony explain why that one falls?” asked Old Kavu, pointing up into the nearly cloudless sky. A small fleck of orange had broken free from the ascending pegasus and was now plummeting down towards the ground. Normally, a pegasus would have spread her wings by now and swooped off in a different direction, but this one had her wings tucked tightly to her sides and seemed to be falling back-first in a most unusual fashion. Something in his mind wanted Tallgrass to burst forward, shedding his disguise and ascending into the sky in a futile attempt to catch the distant falling filly, but something far stronger made him sit back, close his eyes, and concentrate on his breathing.

“My child, for your heart’s sake, this choice is yours to make.”

~ ~ ✶ ~ ~

Monster could feel the flow of time slow to a crawl as her heart hammered away. The rapid beats of Rainbow Dash’s wings, previously too rapid to watch, now seemed frozen in place as the slipstream across her face slowed to the gentlest of breezes. The wooden tow handle which had felt so uncomfortable in her jaws now seemed to be sucking every drop of fluid from her mouth as she twisted to look past the empty tow rope where Scootaloo was supposed to be and toward the distant ground.

It was a very, very long way down.

Far below, she could see the tiny speck of Scootaloo with her wings still drawn up tight against her barrel as she fell backwards towards the unyielding ground, much like the deadly scenario Rainbow Dash had warned her and Diamond about earlier. If nothing was done, she would die in a matter of seconds. She was too far away for Monster to think about diving to her rescue, even if she could get her clumsy wings to work for more than a hesitant glide, and enough terror surged through her mind that teleportation would only kill them both.

Do something!

Thousands of threads of probability streamed through her mind, made blurry by the constant thumping of distant zebra voices raised in a pervasive chant until she could not even put a single thought together. Scootaloo was going to die and not all the wise words of her mother or trusted teacher could—

Trust in Harmony.

Trixie had said it was the phrase used by Princess Celestia whenever she was about to do something stupid, and the thought brought a tiny fraction of order to her panic. As her sense of frozen time began to thaw and motion began to intrude into her perception, Monster managed to touch her horn to the rope and release her magic. The fibers of the rope disintegrated into dust with a sharp crack, her altered time sense making the rapid decomposition seem to crawl up the tow rope, hesitate at the harness Rainbow Dash had been using to pull them up into the sky, then burst into a cloud of violet magic as she was set free from her voluntary bondage even as Rainbow began a sharp twitch of pain at the sudden noise.

There was only one chance for Scootaloo to live. Monster had to fly.

She reached out with her wings, cupping them to the wind and feeling the spirits of air buoy her up as Rainbow Dash began to turn. There could be no hesitation. Even the slightest pause by the speedy pegasus would prevent her from diving fast enough to catch her friend, and Scootaloo would die. Monster’s small purple wings embraced the sky, stretching wider than she had ever reached before. She did not tumble out of control, or fumble her flight, but held herself firm in the air as Rainbow Dash finished her glacial turn, took a brief glance at Monster—

—then dove straight down so fast that her slipstream spun the little alicorn around in a circle.

~ ~ ✶ ~ ~

“She’s not going to make it.” Trixie stared up into the sky where Rainbow Dash had just begun her dive after the plummeting little filly. To her experienced showmare’s eye, there was no way she could possibly catch Scootaloo before the filly met a horrible end in the rocks on the other side of the river. Without even realizing it, Trixie broke into a gallop as she kept an eye on the falling pegasus and a whirl of numbers filled her head. While other ponies tended to panic when stressed, the proximity of certain death was where Trixie shone. Throughout her career, more than one potentially-lethal stunt which had failed every time during rehearsal went off perfectly during the performance, including her last great performance at distracting Nightmare Moon.

This would be a trick she had never managed to master. Only the most powerful unicorns could teleport, and only with a great deal of concentration and control, both of which Trixie had in only microscopic amounts. Every attempt of Trixie’s until today had only wound up in either fire or choking smoke, but even at her fastest gallop, there was a river between Trixie and the little falling pegasus. Ignoring the cries of alarm from behind her, Trixie focused her power as she had never before while running just as fast as her hooves could travel, but one distracting voice kept bouncing around inside her head as she ran.

This is your fault, Trixie. Scootaloo will die because of your pride.

“No. Way,” she grunted as she galloped. Magic funnelled along in her rapid wake, drawn to her horn in a glittering pink corona that swelled with every step and threw sparks from her hooves. She did not have to look up to be able to trace Scootaloo’s rapid ballistic trajectory, or just exactly how many seconds of life she had left until she died on the other side of the river. The numbers danced instinctively to their inescapable conclusion as the river grew nearer and the thunder of hooves in her head grew stronger.

Trust in Harmony

“Bull,” she muttered as she galloped. “Trust in Trixie.” The edge of the river was coming up fast as the magic coalesced into incandescent fury around her galloping hooves and throbbing horn. She was only going to get one shot at this. One performance only, the Great and Powerful Trixie, Student of Princess Celestia, the Unconquered Sun. Do or die. Pass/fail. It was all up to Trixie.

Not me. They will say we saved your daughter.

The words exploded into her mind, and for one blazing moment, Trixie could see everything. A field of sweating zebra, nearly indistinguishable from the dust they were kicking up in the moonlight. The tiny flare of light from the sun as something leapt in her direction. Three royal alicorns in Canterlot looking puzzled and turning their heads to the south. The polychromatic blaze of Rainbow Dash as she plummeted toward the ground too far behind the falling Scootaloo. The rapid gallop of Fluttershy and Rarity as they chased after Trixie. The long, frantic leaps of Pinkie Pie far behind in Ponyville as she bolted out of her store window. Scootaloo’s little friends, looking up into the sky with screams and pointing hooves.

The spot where Trixie needed to be instead of where she was.

Even as one hoof sprayed boiling water from her first step into the river, there was a blinding blaze of light, and Trixie vanished.

~ ~ ✶ ~ ~

From here, Monster could see forever. Canterlot glowed like a brilliant torch on the mountains to the north, while off to the side, the distant rainbow glitter of Cloudsdale dominated the horizon. Shimmering in the distance like a jagged tooth, the distant rocky precipice loomed over Ghastly Gorge where she had first saved Scootaloo from falling to her death.

Time crawled by as Monster stabilized her wobbly flight with a glacial flick of one wing and tried not to look down. Down was bad. Below her were all of the things she did not want to see.

Far, far below, Scootaloo continued to fall at terminal velocity in a path that would end in her death in just a few moments, even if that short time seemed to crawl to her accelerated perception. Rainbow Dash continued her crash dive in pursuit, her wings a blur even to Monster’s senses, but she had started her dive too late, and was doomed to failure. The distance between them was too great for her to catch Scootaloo before impact, and from her single-tracked dive, Rainbow Dash would die just instants afterwards rather than admit defeat, crushed together with the little filly who loved her so. Even Trixie galloped in the direction of the impending deaths, although she also was too far away to be of any assistance, as Monster could remember the horror stories she had told about her failed attempts to teleport.

None of her friends would be able to save Scootaloo.

Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were both going to die.

As Monster held her wings open in the thin air, the knowledge pierced her heart with a pain so intense she could not breathe. She stretched her wings wider, trying to dilute the searing agony and closing her eyes to the dreaded sight. Monster had done everything she could to save her friend, but it was not enough, and her efforts were going to get a second friend killed. She had to flee far away, to throw away everything she had gained through painful effort yet again. Her friends, both young and old, would blame her for Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash’s death. Even friendship had its limits. Forgiveness could only go so far. She would be a living symbol of their gruesome deaths every moment she remained in Ponyville.

The pain grew more overwhelming as she reached out further with her wings, feeling her body grow indistinct as the song of the air sprites filled her chest with every breath. Still, the pain was her punishment, and she embraced the familiar agony as she grew, feeling the song of the jubilant air sprites flood through her mind as they whirled around. Her wings spread even wider through the thin air as the blazing sun began to pass through her immaterial body, adding to the song in her heart and head. She had to go, to leave her home of such a short time and follow her destiny wherever it led. A thunder of zebra hooves called out as she swelled even further, becoming as thin as vapor to the air and rising up to the sun to begin her journey.

It was her destiny, revealed in the stars by the wisest of zebras. She was going home.

As she ascended, the thunder of zebra hooves in her head grew to a roar, then began to fade as a new song began to filter through the noise. At first, she tried to ignore the way it plucked at her senses while her body continued to expand, now only a hint of violet in the pure blue sky and soon to be nothing but a memory. Something in the joyous melody reached all the way into her soul, making her feel like a beam of pure incandescent sunlight despite her dark actions. It grew as she did, not one voice sweeping over her, or hundreds, but billions of voices raised in glorious joy over the song of creation.

It was the birthing cry of elemental hydrogen swirling together in spiral arms and exploding stars, washing over her in a flood of ecstasy while calling for Monster… no, calling for Twilight to embrace her legacy and join in the eternal song of creation and destruction, becoming one with the universe and all of its mysteries. They called to her, from black holes warbling on the lowest edge of her perception to the shriek of spinning pulsars, from old stars clustered together in their dying chill to the hot blaze of new life in young stars, filled with hydrogen until even the elemental fragments of matter smashed together into iron and beyond in a cataclysmic explosion. And above all, from infant protostars, shedding their loose blankets of hydrogen ions as they ignited, to grumbling old brown dwarfs fading to nothingness, rose the song that matched the voice in her heart.

Join us, young sister! Shed your crude form and fly with us through nebulae and stars! Let your wings embrace the universe and sing our song of creation as we plunge through the aether and dance around the event horizon of the galactic center, bringing life and light to the cosmos.

It was the answer her frantic mind had sought. There was no need for a physical body any more, and Twilight could feel the essence of her small form shift and change, growing thinner to the reality of this place and preparing for the long trip to join with her new friends. She lifted her own voice to sing out a response and marveled at a familiar echo so close and the startled responses of three… no, four other voices as they all moved to join her. They added a discordant clash to her song, making Twilight hesitate with wings unfurled and ears momentarily distracted from the distant chorus begging for her presence. For the briefest of moments, she could feel their material tug on her immaterial body, one voice who wished to join her in flight and a trio of voices who called frantically for her to stay instead of fulfilling her inevitable destiny among the stars.

And the world broke in a circle of rainbow fire.

Comments

[Georg]

Credit for the basis behind this chapter goes to Bad Horse's The Gathering, in which Princess Celestia hears the call of her distant siblings while doing paperwork with GhostOfHeraclitus's Dotted Line.

[TheStratovarian]

Well nutbunnies, this is certainly something unexpected.

[Dragon of Shadows]

LOVING HOW OFTEN YOU ARE UPDATING

[pahnazd]

dance around the event horizon of the galactic center

... Azathoth?

Anyway, Twilight again acts before thinking. Or well... after thinking the wrong things.

At least Dash's rainboom (I presume that was what happened) pulled her back. Or seemed to pull her back.

Good math Twi, three voices want you to stay, one wants you to leave, and you follow the one. Mind and soul is in more pain than she let on.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Let's see now... Zebra summoning, cosmic alicorn chorus, Equestrian alicorn counterpoint, Trixie in transdimensional transit, and a Sonic Rainboom. Likely the first Dash has done since she was a filly, since Trixie likely had neither the ability nor inclination to give Rarity wings for that fateful Best Young Fliers Competition.

Given all of those factors, I have almost no idea whatsoever what's going to happen next chapter. A few broad strokes, but it's mostly a mystery. I look forward to finding out.

[wolfstorm56]

Damn. This was wild.

[ValNitak Choas]

hmmmmm i hope monster i mean twilight does not join the other in sky, she need to stay if only to make Trixie life a living hell

[PrismStrike]

7435417 dont care if you break every other bone i her body...but if you took her ability to ever have the chance to fly id be done

[cogwheelbrain]

...only 24 hours until the next chapter.
...only 24 hours until the next chapter.
...only 24 hours until the next chapter.

damnit!

[Biker_Dash]

Friggin cliffhangers...
Awesome chapter

[bigbear]

OK, fully engaged now!

Thank goodness this story is going up a chapter a day.

See you-all bright and early tomorrow!

[Skydrake]

7435759

OK, fully engaged now!

I fully second the sentiment! If I am to be honest, I must admit this whole Scootaloo/Diamond switcheroo arc has been serving as a leak, slowly but steadily dripping away the excitement I used to feel whenever this wonderful story used to update. I simply couldn't find it in me to care for their plight, nor for them as focal characters as a whole. Well written as it might have been, it just wasn't as interesting and engaging as it used to be.

This, though? These last two chapters have revitalized my interest and the leak has been plugged. Snarky Trixie shenanigans, Alicorn mythology stuff, the inane Zebras (whom Luna ought to smite any day now, in order to get some peace and quiet ), little Menace finding yet another way to do something world-shattering that no one thought she could do (Celestia really should know better by now than to hope that Monster won't stumble into something of monumental importance, if such a thing is around ) - this, this is what made me love the story and it's prequel, this is what I can get excited over and jump on the edge of my seat while bemoaning the fact that the next chapter isn't here already. I would gladly trade in five of the Scoots/Diamond chapters for one more of these, were it an option!

Can't wait for the continuation! I do wonder who the fourth voice that Twilight heard is. Three are obvious (Luna, Celestia and Cadence), but who is the last one? Did Trixie actually manage to ascend while pulling her recklessly suicidal stunt?

[bigbear]

7435967 My guess is that the fourth is the unborn alicorn that Cadence is carrying.

Her pregnancy has been very funny. I loved the image of her muzzle down in a bowl of corn flakes that she levitated into her bowl without even looking at them. All 3 alicorns continuously grazing on is also a funny image.

[Kenshinryuu]

Very intesne chapter... can't wait to see what changes come to Twilight now. Up to this point, was she only half an Alicorn and she's now got access to her full powers???? But if a Sonic Rainboom is happening, the very thing that originally united the Elements and triggered Twilight's magic surge... well I have no idea what will happen, but it's going to be AWESOME!!!

[Mister Morden]

7435417

It's not the fall that kills you, it is the sudden stop at the bottom.

[Mister Morden]

Dang... now that is a cliffhanger!

[SIGAWESOME]

Scootaloo continued to fall at terminal velocity

...in a terminal dive towards a terminal stop at the terminus.

[Pinklestia]

Sonic Rainbow?

[Hidemain]

Ok scoots and dt swapped back and because trixie didnt think scoots is falling to her death twilight & rd are attempting rescue... Beyond that I have no idea what's going on.

[JediWyrm]

7776022 They did swap back.

Trixie probably thought Scoots would be smart enough to not let go of the rope holding her up.

Twilight let go and flew so Rainbow could save Scoots.

Trixie attempted (sucessfully?) to teleport underneath Scoots.

Twilight is heading the call of the stars to join them, as alluded to previously Celestia and Luna came from the stars which are were Alicorns come from. Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Flurry (Possibly, could be a different 4) call out to her to keep her there.

Sonic Rainboom.

All this likely cleared up next chapter so absolutely no point in this comment.

[djthomp]

Oh, rainbows. That makes sense as a solution to this falling problem.