68. Goodbye Summer, Hello New Friends - Part Five
Letters From a Little Princess Monster
Goodbye Summer, Hello New Friends - Part Five
The setting sun glared through the patchy clouds over the Pericorn valley, casting long, dark shadows around the aerie balcony and making Stargazer’s indigo coat seem to merge into the darkness. Outside, the tips of the scattered clouds were tinged in reds and pinks, making it look like a collection of torches drifting across her vision, but in the small room she shared with her ‘husband,’ there was no illumination at all, matching her mood.
“Dear?” There was a rustling outside of her vision, followed by the sound of the door closing and an additional thump. “Stargazer. I’m back.”
“Good,” she murmured, still staring out at the valley far below. All it would take is one motion, one simple leap, and all of her problems would go away. The pregnancy, the griffons, the other pony she had convinced to help. Green Grass had such a soft heart, and she had taken advantage of his good nature to have him pretend to be the stallion responsible for the foal she carried inside, the foal which was certain to be a hippogriff, and therefore proof that the griffon Duke Plummets had raped her.
Once she gave birth, the lie that she was living would come to pieces, and the brutal griffon would ensure they all three would die in the worst possible fashion.
Green Grass held back, not coming up to her side like he had several times before in order to fool the griffon watchers which were certainly keeping an eye on their balcony. Instead, he gave a pained wheeze and settled down on the cold stone floor behind her. She turned with a sharp word of rebuke for his negligence, only to give out a sharp gasp of fright at the sight of dark blood on his dingy green coat.
“You’re… injured,” Stargazer managed to say. “I’ll go get—”
“No.” Green Grass held up a hoof and coughed a few times, sounding worse than normal. “Plummets wasn’t looking straight at me and I managed to roll with his claw, so it looks worse than it is. They’re just shallow— Ow!” The stallion sucked in a breath at the touch of the damp washcloth against the slashes across his back. “I’m just glad I’m away from the brute for now.”
Stargazer stopped mopping the washcloth against his injuries and looked up in panic at the closed door.
“Don’t worry, hun. I kicked a wedge under the frame. They’re not getting the door open without breaking it down.”
The sharp tapping of claws against the door made Stargazer drop the washcloth and stare in panic, but there was no thundering blow that followed. Only another polite tap and a quiet voice asking, “Greenie? You okay in there?”
“Gilda,” muttered Green Grass, getting up to his hooves slowly and trudging over to the door. He kicked the wedge out of the way and opened the door a crack to peek out. “What can I do for you, Your Highness?”
The griffon looked back and forth up the hallway before pushing forward into the room, closing the door behind her. Stargazer stared at the griffon with wide eyes, but Green Grass moved in front of her, keeping his eyes squarely focused on their uninvited guest.
“Knock it off with the ‘Your Highness’ crap, Greenie. I just wanted to—” Gilda gave a low whistle at the sight of the stallion’s clawed back and held up a matching claw to stop him from talking. “Plummets really nailed you, didn’t he?”
“It is not a servant’s place to complain about their treatment,” said Green Grass quietly, although he winced when Gilda scooped up the washcloth and dabbed at his injuries. “I should have dodged faster.”
“Yeah, any slower and you’d be gutted. Good thing you’re so skinny.” Her gentle ministrations slowed and she lowered her voice with a glance at the closed door. “I think I can get you out of here tonight, down to the pony village so you can get stitched up.”
Green Grass turned his head and locked eyes with Gilda’s yellow gaze. “And Stargazer?”
Gilda dunked the washcloth in the reddish water of the bowl again and returned to washing his cuts. “You know I can’t do that. Granddad gave the order. Stargazer stays up here in the aerie.”
“Then so do I.” Green Grass gave out a sharp whinny of pain when Gilda slapped the wet washcloth down on his back.
“You are the most mule-headed pony I’ve ever known,” snapped Gilda. “Well, second most stubborn.” When no further words were forthcoming, she returned to washing his cuts with a grumbled, “Dweebs. I’ll have Aunt Billows come by and put some stitches in, since you’re too stupid to leave. Plummets will just have to find another servant to bother for a week. And not your wife,” she continued quickly when Green Grass opened his mouth to protest. “After all, she was unconscious when I came in here this evening, right?”
Ignoring the wide-eyed mare, Gilda rinsed out the washcloth again and resumed scrubbing at the drying blood. “That little fainting issue from her pregnancy can’t be safe. She’s not going back to work until I say so. As Third Heir—” she lifted one claw up to show off the golden ring “—my word means something, I should hope.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” said Green Grass from between clenched teeth. “But you still can’t get Stargazer to her home village to give birth.”
Gilda gave a glance over her shoulder at the closed door. “No,” she muttered. “Damnit, Greenie! Can’t you trust me even a little? I can protect you both.”
“Like you protected your sister?” Green Grass flinched when Gilda’s claws punched through the wet washcloth and into his skin, but he kept his voice low and continued, “Plummets killed her. You know it, your father knows it, and every one of the servants know it. The only one who doesn’t know is your niece. He killed her mother, and you did nothing.”
“Leave Sunny out of this,” growled Gilda. She carefully removed her claws and pressed the washcloth against the new holes in his hide, welling red with blood.
“Blood calls out for blood,” whispered Green Grass. “The ancient code of the griffons. No insult goes unreturned, no breach of honor left unrevenged. Blood rules them all.”
“Shut. Up.” Gilda pressed the washcloth harder against his hide. “You are talking about my grandfather’s son. Plummets is blood of my blood.”
“That didn’t stop him from killing your sister. He’s going to kill Sunny too, just like you,” said Green Grass in a low whisper. “He may be Second Heir, but Princess Sun Shines is right below you on the ascension ladder. It’s not just servants vanishing anymore. Your grandfather won’t protect you either. I’ve seen the way they both look at you when your back is turned. Blood will flow to feed the hunger of griffons in these halls again, and not just these scratche—”
Green Grass cut off with another wince as Gilda snapped her sharp beak near his neck. “The old ways are dead. You would be wise to remember the lessons you have learned under our shelter.” She lifted one reddened talon and licked it, her long tongue caressing the bloody talon before snapping her beak closed again. “That way lies madness and chaos.”
She stood, turning to the door with one stride and managing to vanish back into the hallway again before Green Grass called out in the harsh tones of Griffoni, “<Farewell, Heir to the Wingmaster. May your wings never falter.>”
The door remained open for a long while until Gilda responded in a low voice, filled with menace, “<May your flight be swift and true.>” One taloned claw reached to close the door, but just before it closed all the way, Gilda whispered through the gap, “You have a week. I’ll see what I can do.”
Then the door closed, and the two ponies were all alone.
- - Ω - -
An apartment in Vanhoover was farther than ‘Grid’ had wanted to travel on the railroad, but the encounter with the Royal Courier back in Manehattan had spooked her, and she certainly was not going to be able to out-walk any pony with as broad as her barrel had gotten from the unborn foal. She still was not sure what or who she was running away from, or even if she was trying in some futile fashion to run away from herself, but with as many times as she had changed trains and cabs and names during the last week’s trip across Equestria, the only pony in the world who knew where she was—
“Pardon me, Miss? Is your name Filigree? Oh!”
‘Grid’ dropped the key to her apartment door and whirled around as fast as a forty-three week pregnant mare could turn. She stared at the awkward young pegasus in the Royal Courier hat, who likewise was staring back at her with his jaw hanging loose.
“What!” she snapped.
“Nothing!” the pegasus yelped. “I mean I’m pregnant. I mean you’re pregnant! They didn’t tell me you were pregnant! Should I go get a doctor or boil some water or something?”
“I’ve still got three weeks to go,” said ‘Grid’ with a low growl. “What do you want?”
“I’ve got Flash Sentry. I mean I’m Flash Sentry, Royal Courier,” said the pegasus, taking an additional step backwards and reaching tentatively into his saddlebag as if he was afraid ‘Grid’ was going to pop like a soap bubble if he took his eyes off her. “I’ve got some letters for you. If you’re Miss Filigree, that is.” His eyes darted over her figure, and whatever he saw there allowed the nervous courier to relax a little bit. “You match the description of Diamond Tiara’s mother,” he added, somewhat muffled by the letters in his mouth. “But they didn’t say you were so pregnant,” he added, quite unnecessarily.
Despite her best efforts, Filigree’s ears flattened against the sides of her head, but she managed to resist a totally irrational urge to bite the annoying young stallion. Hard.
One of the letters Flash Sentry was carrying looked familiar, on the same thick white bond envelopes that libraries used to send out important announcements, but the second was in a pale pink envelope with balloons and cupcakes around the edges.
“I told your bat-winged friend earlier, I don’t want them. Now if you will excuse me.”
Filigree turned her back on the courier and worked on picking up the door key she had dropped, displaying her oversized and overweight rump to the young pegasus while he tried to talk. It took only the twist of her key to open the apartment door and she slammed it behind her regardless of if the little twerp had tried to poke his nose in. She stomped around the kitchen, getting a bowl of apple-fortified oats and some pear preserves on toast for a late dinner, before unfolding the newspaper and turning to the Help Wanted section.
Vanhoover was a busy place with lots of companies where a young mare with no background could find a place on the bottom floor to work her way up again. Still, the probability of getting a job while still a few weeks away from giving birth and sending the foal to an orphanage…
She viciously turned the page to the other section of the classifieds instead, taking note of the three places that offered foal placement and discounting the one offering genuine zebra foals from the war-torn country. There would be plenty of time to find a job after… whatever the name of the foal she was carrying was born.
Diamond Tiara. The name bounced around inside Filigree’s head like a pinball machine on bonus multiball. Somewhere, someplace, the product of their nights of fantastic passion with Richie was wanting to reconnect with her mother, which brought a warmth to her heart that she had long denied. But the chill wind of doubt snuffed out those good feelings when Filigree thought of the natural consequences of meeting her long-lost daughter. Diamond — and the name felt so familiar, so natural — would want to know who her father was, to meet him. To find out how she had stolen Richie’s daughter away from him. How she had betrayed the one she loved. How Filigree had failed them both.
* * *
After a long, fitful night of sleep, Filigree was not feeling the least bit better about herself. Still, she had things to do, orphanages to check out, and tasks that would not wait, which involved getting out of bed and facing the day. After breakfast, she picked up her purse and collected her meager collection of things before opening the apartment door and nearly running into the young stallion from last night, who was standing at attention right in front of her.
“Oh!” he blurted out, turning around and blinking away the sleep. “Miss Filigree. I’m glad you’re up. I’ve got those letters, if you want to read them now, and I’d be more than happy to return your responses.”
“Did you stay out here all night?” asked Filigree, who was still a little startled, particularly when the foal in her belly rolled over and gave her a kick.
“I’m a Royal Courier, Ma’am,” said Flash with a straightening up of his shoulders and a firm expression. “We deliver.” His eyes widened and his gaze wandered helplessly to Filigree’s rounded sides before blurting out, “Except foals. We don’t do foals.”
Filigree did not know if she should laugh or cry, and settled for a bemused snort. “Go home. I don’t want your letters.”
“They’re your letters, Ma’am,” he said while matching her brisk stride down the hallway to the stairs. “Princess Celestia told me to deliver them and to bring back a response.”
“You delivered them, and my response is to bug off,” snapped Filigree. She strode down the stairs and out into the street with the courier right to her side, but instead of taking off and flying away, he continued to pace her.
And after she came out of the first foal placement bureau, he was waiting for her.
As well as the second.
And the third.
“Why!” she snapped. “Why can’t you just leave me?”
“It’s my job, Ma’am. Besides,” he added with a guilty swallow, “there’s a young filly depending on me. I’ll stay out of your way, Ma’am, but I’m not leaving until you read the letters and send her a response.”
“Then I hope she’s patient, because she’s going to be waiting for a very long time,” snapped Filigree.
- - Ω - -
Monster relaxed when the familiar magic of the Everfree Forest surrounded her, the primal green of life in all of its clawed and aggressive splendor. Even Princess Luna to her side looked like the responsibilities of her position were sloughing away with every step, allowing her to just to breathe in the humid air and enjoy the occasional flight of some iridescent insect as it buzzed past, normally to be snapped up by some predator a few moments later.
Their guests were not enjoying the trip nearly as much.
Out of all of the Imetabiriwa following behind them, Tallgrass was the most nervous, despite Zecora being right beside him to provide moral support. The rest of the zebra had a projected sense of confidence around them, disproven by the nervous looks they took into the forest shadows whenever something made an unexpected noise. It was the perfect time to use ‘small talk’ like Fluttershy had taught her when she had dropped by the library every day to care for the star-spiders, but Monster could not think of anything small to talk about.
“Why are we going into the forest?” she asked instead, drawing a logical line between two points. “Is there a…” Monster fumbled for words, slowing down her speech until her disjointed mind could catch up. “Crack,” she eventually managed to say. “A space between places. Between here and there someplace near.”
“Yes indeed, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna ducked under a vine and turned off the path. “My sister and I found it when we were building the original castle. Watch this log, please.” The alicorn’s pace slowed in order for the following zebra to keep up, as well for Tallgrass to jump away when the log turned to peer at him with hungry eyes.
“If it gives you any trouble, smack it with a stick,” advised Luna before squeezing between two narrow trees with only her hornlight illuminating the darkness under the thick forest canopy.
Monster lit up her own horn to contribute to the lighting and kept an eye on the trailing members of the group to make sure a pricklebush or a groundtangler did not drag them away. The magic around them shifted several times while Luna continued on her erratic walk, occasionally backing up with a muttered, “No, the pathway has shifted. Perhaps this way.”
It did not feel as if there were any time magic involved in their wandering path, which made Monster more comfortable at the unlikelihood of emerging from the forest to find Zecora before she had journeyed to Equestria, or worse, that centuries had passed and nothing remained of her friends but memories. She could feel the magic of the sun above on its path to the horizon while they picked their way forward, until suddenly it was the moon, and the pathway became wider.
In moments, they emerged from a thick forested valley onto a wide, grassy plain, with mountains in the distance and a familiar moon hovering above them, well on its way to bring the day on this side of the world.
“Amazing,” breathed Blind Kichaka, looking around with her nostrils flaring to sniff the night breeze. “The Great River Ki is just to the south, a short walk from the Forbidden Vale. We shall take the Imetabiriwa na Anga to speak with the spirits there, and there she shall make her new home.”
“No,” said Monster. As the wind picked up, she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the sound of the zebra whispering among themselves, but Monster was not listening to their words. She stood with her stubby mane blowing in the wind and her nose pointed to the dark sky, striving with all of her senses to feel this strange new place. It was familiar in an odd way, as if the echoes of her home traveled to this side of the world just as easily as they had walked here through the forest.
“No,” she repeated after a long, long time listening to the whispers all around her and the pressure of the stars above. “You want me to… fix it. Responsibility. Not mine, yet. I’m going home where I belong. Needed. You fight. Spirits fight. You make peace with each other, they will listen. Make them listen. Bring order from chaos. Bring harmony.” Monster took a deep, deep breath of the dry air, then exhaled when the stern voice of Mshairi cut through the silence.
“Your destiny calls
The spirits await your touch
Yield to your fate here.”
“Mshairi is right, young one.” The elderly form of Old Kavu stepped forward, gesturing with her stick but not poking anyzebra with it for a change. “We have argued far too long between tribes. The spirits will not listen to our words anymore, young one. Only your voice can soothe their anger.”
“No,” said Monster again before hesitating and opening her eyes to look up at the stars spread out in abundance over the troubled land, following the familiar and the unfamiliar motes of light. One in particular caught her attention, a small but somehow troublesome flicker of starlight that changed colors every time she took her eyes off it. For some reason, it tickled her senses as very important, and reminded her of the time Twist had given her the glass of brown milk. The star was also something that was not where it belonged, and held a link to her destiny that Monster could not put into words.
She shook her head and returned to looking 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. Monster breathed in a long breath, then turned to the six zebra mares around them and the still form of Luna, who had not moved a muscle.
“I will return to Equestria before the sun rises here,” said Monster in slow, measured words. “You will speak to the spirits until I return.”
“They will listen only to you,” said Old Kavu. “They have waited for far too long already. Your destiny lies with us now.”
“Sometimes, destiny must be forced,” said Luna, who remained with her eyes closed. "Twilight Sparkle, 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 impatient manner while the other zebra gathered around her and jostled for position. That is, all the zebra except for 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, and Tallgrass, who took his place on the other side with more than a little trepidation.
Once they were all gathered, Monster concentrated on Shining Armor's shield spell and a bubble of pink magic appeared around them, shimmering darker while she focused her magic 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 make your spirits listen. Yet. Luna 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 built and swelled beyond the pink bubble of force. It grew to encompass the entirety of the blurred images of the outside world even while Monster focused more and more power into her spell until there was nothing but light and the sharp scent of ozone inside the hemisphere of power. Finally, a blast of pure volume smashed every one of the zebra inside the bubble to their knees when a voice as large as the universe thundered outside.
Patience!
While 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 vibrated in the distance, and the steaming grass had been flattened into shiny smears pointing away from the dark alicorn, who had a rather enigmatic smile while looking at the shocked zebra.
“They’ll listen,” said Monster. “Will you?”
- - ☾ - -
Trixie dashed back into the library once the initial preparations for the spa night had been finalized. It had been a lot easier than she had expected, due to… well, friends. Fluttershy was gathering the Cutie Mark Crusaders and various small accomplices, Pinkie Pie had bounced over to the pizza place to pick up the pizza pies, Rarity had reserved (and pre-paid) the spa room for the evening, and Applejack had been pried away from her quest to fix all the spa plumbing to just ‘chillax’ as Rainbow Dash had declared, leaving Trixie free for just a few minutes.
She just had one critical task that really needed to be done before the party started.
Running past the sleeping dragon still stuck in the main doorway and galloping up the stairs two at a time, Trixie stumbled at the top of the staircase with a brief glower at what certainly felt like an additional step or ten. Then she darted into her bedroom and the luxurious bed sitting unoccupied like a lover awaiting the embrace of a fair maiden.
“Later,” she muttered, moving over to the ornate desk and stacking Green Grass’ letters to one side in a neat pile. There was more dense griffon history in his thick missives than she wanted to read, ever, but it looked the griffons had enjoyed them from the little nicks and clawed ticks of multiple griffon readers. When Green Grass got back to the library, the first thing Trixie was going to do with… Well, the second thing Trixie was going to do with Greenie was to get some sort of executive summary of his history project. He might have liked the feathered fiends enough to spend the summer with them on his project, but Trixie had always been a little suspicious of the way they eyed her flanks, as if she were on the menu.
She hesitated, then flipped through the stack of letters, looking for any kind of personal note that might tell when he was going to be back. After all, next week was the Summer Wrap-Up festival with fireworks and all kinds of shadowed places where they could make up for that missing honeymoon night, and she had a brand-new bed to break in. Nothing in the stack of history papers really jumped out at her, so Trixie turned to her next task. She dumped the tattered library books on the desk next, wincing at the thought of how many bits worth of fire and nature damage had been inflicted on Twilight’s malady research, and stuffed what was left of her battered saddlebags into the trash.
“Here we go, Gimpy.” Moving one hoof to her mane, Trixie made little kissy noises until the seven-legged star spider cautiously emerged, putting one spindly leg after another onto her trembling hoof. “See, I’m not afraid of you any more, so you don’t have to worry about me screaming and trying to squash you. Much.”
Moving carefully over to the bed, Trixie held her hoof next to a shelf that she had intended on putting some sort of photograph on later, and nudged the frightened spider. “There you go, you little hitchhiker. It was fun having you along for the last few weeks, but let’s get you back in your nice, safe library, with no dragons. Well, other than the great big one downstairs and the little softie who sleeps in that basket. Come on. Step down. That’s a good girl. Or boy. Not that I’m going to look.”
Once the spider had scurried behind some shadows, Trixie straightened up to dart out of the room on her way to the party, but after two quick steps, she backtracked over to the bed and turned on the night light.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” warned Trixie before leaving for the party. “It’s just for one night or two. Tomorrow, I’ll have Fluttershy take you to her house so you don’t scare Green Grass when he gets back from his trip, whenever that is.”
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And that's the end of this arc. Next arc will cover Summer Wrap-Up and the Ponyville Festival, the kids field trip to Canterlot, and the beginning of a triad split in the plot. We'll tease it with a little clip out of a comment I made last chapter that many of you may not have seen (moved here for reference): Mr Smashy is on loan from The Descendent's wonderful story, Variables and a lot of Horizon's unpublished (as of yet) story Time Enough for Love.
Luna was an alicorn princess. The moon and the stars above bowed to her will. At night, she ruled all of Equestria.
During the day, she felt very naked and powerless.
This morning, it was far worse than normal.
She strode along the corridors of the castle, questioning guards as she found them in order to locate her sister. That in itself was odd, but far odder the thin-lipped and intense expressions of concentration on each of the guardstallions she passed, some of which indicated Celestia's path with a tense-winged point before she even could open her mouth to ask. Her brisk pace took Luna outside under the blazing sun and along the path leading to the Royal Statuary Gardens, an even odder destination considering the contents of...
Oh.
Luna hastened her pace until she was nearly galloping, slowing when she approached her sister, who was proceeding down the path, one hoof after another, as if she were carrying the weight of the world on her back. In a very alicorn way, it was not an inaccurate description. Mister Smashy rested quietly on Celestia's back, tucked between her wings with the handle of the massive hammer sticking out over one shoulder where it could be grasped by teeth or magic, depending on the degree of personal interaction the Goddess of the Sun wished to impart on whatever had drawn her ire.
Walking more cautiously, Luna walked up behind her sister while making plenty of noise. Celestia looked... tense, and the last thing Luna wanted this morning was to feel the weight of a dense chunk of dwarf star matter in the teeth by startling her sister. She had just opened her mouth to ask what had set Celestia off when a chance breeze brought the answer to her unasked question, and explained both the unusually warm day and her sister's tension.
"Heat?" asked Luna quietly while falling into step beside her.
"Yes," said Celestia from between thinned lips.
Luna cleared her throat, and when Celestia gave her a terse glance, pointed up at the sun.
"Oh!" The blazing heat of the morning lessened somewhat until it became more appropriate to the season. "Sorry," she added with a slight grinding of her teeth. "It's taking most of my concentration to keep from... never mind."
Luna eyed Mister Smashy lying firmly on Celestia's back, but her mind was far away. She could still hear Big Mac from when they had been curled up in his bed, talking about problems and the difficulty in sorting them between hitting problems and thinking problems. The problem Celestia was facing seemed to be one of the hitting kind, and once she was done, there would be adequate time to deal with the thinking problem which Luna was facing, provided they faced it as sisters.
"I see you have determined the reason for the season, so to say? I too have an issue which needs your input, but we shall wait until you hath dealt with Discord."
Depending on Trixie to save you?
I thought Green Grass knew Trixie. He should have known better. Of course, deperation will make you do dumb things.
Main sequence, the return of the Crystal Empire got a diplomatic mission sent to the Griffons & that is what resolved the issue.
...so Trixie didn't get Green Grass' "hidden" message in his letters? Maybe he chose too complicate of a code to write.
On the other note, it is really sweet to see her show her a bit of her feeling for Green Grass.
I admit, I can't recall Green Grass and Stargazer atm, and wat what their part in this story was.
8465881
He should have sent the letter to Twilight. She'd have caught it in minutes.
Gotta love those zebra elders. "Hey, let's force a little filly from her home so she can come to our traditional ass-backwards land to fix a giant problem we made!"
Still, I guess it's only slightly more dickish than what Celestia had her doing in canon...which was pretty much the same thing.
8466032
They're call-outs to some of Georg's other stories, other AUs. So is Filigree/'Grid', too. Same with Grand-pere Presto, come to think of it. Although Green Grass and Filigree have appeared in earlier chapters of this story. I think this is the first mention of Stargazer? At least she's still alive, she only appeared as a memory and a corpse crying out for justice in Diplomacy By Other Means.
I guess this chapter has been a sort of family reunion for Georg stories.
8466032
Green Grass is first mentioned in The Travellling Tutor and the Librarian, an AU where Twilight has a coltfriend. This sequence of events is an AU of that AU. He is currently involved in this AU's version of the events in Diplomatic Security and Diplomacy by Other Means (IIRC)
Oh dear. Pumpernickel's absence is sorely felt at the aerie. This could go very bad indeed. I don't suppose Greenie's considered dream messaging?
Curious thought fron Filigree. Why would Diamond not know her father?
The idea of Fluttershy teaching anyone the art of small talk is wonderfully absurd.
I'm guessing there was a distinct possibility of the dimensional crack having a time component along with space.
Ah. Because getting an alicorn to fix all your problems is so much easier than peace talks. Though with Discord about, it very well may be.
Also, you'd think these zebra would've learned to respect their elders.
A lot's a-brewing. I look forward to seeing which kettle boils first.
8466424 "...Curious thought fron Filigree. Why would Diamond not know her father?..."
Because in this AU as well as Diamond Tiara Buys a Little Sister, her mother ran away from Filthy Rich when she discovered she was pregnant, gave her up for adoption without even seeing her, and has been hiding away from Mr. Rich ever since. Filigree ran at first because she was afraid that Rich would be angry that she was pregnant, thinking she was just golddigging. Then she never went back, because she was afraid that he would be angry that she had given away his daughter. She doesn't know that Rich found Diamond Tiara and adopted her, and that one little missing puzzle piece of information is what Monster just mailed to her, straight from the horse's mouth, so to say.
8466133 I'm still thinking my fans will kill me if I get Stargazer killed in this AU too. Then again, they think I'm George RR Martin, so maybe it's expected.
8466133 Oh, it's worse than that. Laminia has a bit part in Equestria - 1940, and Goose Down gets a bit part in Her Royal Morning Coffee and Farmer Bruener Has Some Ponies, a modern EiH story in process. Goose is from Peter's excellent Jake and the Kid, which I helped edit and encourage.
8466496
Aw, you've barely killed any narrators or protagonists over the years. It's not like you're Kill 'em All Tomino.
8466569 Well, three griffons. Maybe I should sharpen up the knives. Hey, you over there. Come back! I'm not going to hurt you. Much.
8466098
Canon Twilight and friends are implied to be young adults (what with having jobs), rather than little fillies.
Twilight in THIS fic, however, is indeed a little filly in all the ways that matter.
The comparison has merit, but it's also rather flawed.
Besides, Celestia only ordered twilight to be there for a day-the rest was Twilight's decision.
That’s how you end an arc!
And we are drawing closer to the 4 year anniversary of this tale... in another month.
8466667
Up until Dash entered the Wonderbolts academy, they were also, and the majority of them still pretty much are, civilians. Twilight as Celestia's student might have counted as a government position, though it definitely does since she ascended. Dash was a weather pony until she joined the academy, and thus became part of the military. But Fluttershy, Rarity, AJ and Pinkie are all definitely still civilians, civilians that get sent into dangerous situations semi regularly on Celestia's behalf.
Not as bad as wanting to tear a child away from her home to clean up their shit, but Celestia still has civilians cleaning up her shit, she just doesn't expect them to permanently relocate.
Hmm... something occurs to me.
Where's Discord?
I confess my memory of this story is more than a little hazy, (I'm overdue for a re-read) but I don't recall him ever breaking out. What happened/didn't happen? Since it seems we're into season 6 or so (2nd Dragonlands trip, CMC got their Marks, etc.), he should be hanging around being a nuisance and drinking tea with Fluttershy. But I don't recall the season 2 opener happening at all, let alone his reformation.
Is he still a statue? Dead? Never existed in this AU? Something else?
(Wait. I actually am getting vague recollections of Monster and her friends blasting him as I finish this, so maybe that did go off as in canon. Was he such a monster/jerk to Twi and company when he got out that Celestia decided against the reformation idea? So he's just been a statue since then?)
So the zebras are put off until the future. I'm a bit sad that we didn't get to explore Zecora's homeland a bit more, but otherwise I'm not too sad to see the rest of them go. A shame we didn't get to stick around for the spa and pizza party... that sounded like fun.
The events with the griffons don't sound like fun at all though. I assume that's a thread that will come after the Summer wrap-up events? Although I'm often surprised by how these plot lines end up weaving together.
Here's hoping the dragon get's her head unstuck before fall, not that I don't enjoy her addition to the cast...
Well, if the Zebra try to FORCE Twilight to stay... I suggest Trixie sics all of Twilight's friends on them and see how long the Zebra can stand the chaos the tiny ponies bring with them. I can also see Shining Armor and Cadence showing up with a Changeling army at their backs to get their little sister back. And then Night Light and Twilight Velvet in full Papa Wolf and Mama Bear mode. And now Discord might be joining the cast... and I can see him terrorizing Twilight, only to have the characters mentioned above beat the s
t out of him
8466577 Evil griffins are acceptable targets for death. Pregnant mares and unborn hippogriff chicks are NOT ACCEPTABLE IN ANY WAY!!!
Trust Luna to have a practical solution to something. Royal Canterlot Voice. If the problem isn't solved after using it, you just haven't shouted loud enough
I wonder how long will it take for Trixie to figure out that something's wrong with Green - not that he cane be exactly obvious about it in his letters, but the situation he's in is pretty bad.
Oooo, Gimpy. Interesting name for a spider. Awww, I want a star spider as a pet now.
8466496
Glad to hear Stargazer's future is still to be written... when I saw her name and her condition I thought "Oh, crud... I know this ends badly." But then I read
and that reminded me that this is a different Greenie and a different Stargazer so a small flame of hope was kindled that this situation would be different and no Pumpernickel's would be required this time.
Of course, that said, we all know that authors just love playing with their readers emotions....
I hope the next arc doesn't take a year to write D:
Spiders are awesome.
👍
8469364 Yes, they are.
8469290 I'm hoping that too. On the plus side, there's a lot of other nifty stuff that came out in that year, including Drifting Down the Lazy River which I consider my finest slice of life story, and Twilight Sparkle Lays an Egg, which I consider my best clickbait-oh-God-you-didn't-go-there-arrrgh! story. (a small category, of course)
8467811 8467214 I don't play with reader's emotions. Much. Not as much as a cat. If I *really* played with my reader's emotions, I'd start a Kickstarter with "Donate $X or Stargazer gets it in the next arc" Hm....
8466845 It would be quite a push for me to get another arc out in a month. It will, however, be less than a year. I promise, or may griffons strike the pony next door.
8469464
I notice them and I spend the small extra effort to post them to help. It enhances my enjoyment. If an author asks me to do it in PM instead, (or stop, though none yet have here) then I do. Most often, I get thanked for the corrections.
D'aaaawww!
Luna is a most wise teacher, isn't she?
A most wise teacher indeed.
I have just now caught up with your story. I wonder if twilight's It will end up being a sentient magical item.
A Good aligned object of legendary rarity that provides immunity to Fear and provides bonuses against spirits of evil alignment and demons to it's holder. Good aligned PCs require no time to attune with the item.
D&D ftw. Item OP pls nerf
twilight is going to be the one who finds the secret message isn't she? (trixe is a might bit too dence)
I'm really starting to worry for Stargazer. If Trixie doesn't read those letters from Green soon and report it to Celestia, shit's gonna go down, worse than if she does know about the rape without adding murder to it.
And I'm really hating the other zebra. So self-centred, selfish and obnoxious to the point even old Trixie would be shocked
8541905
Way to necro holy shit
8515658
Read the coffee machine scene over. It was intentional.
An imaginary moment, in some future time when Twilight speaks with the spirits:
After a long private conversation, Twilight walked down the hill and back to the elders. "The spirits told me why they won't talk to you any more. They're all completely fed up with your idiotic babbling and bickering, and they won't change their minds until you start making sense."
"Make sense? What fun is there in making sense?" Discord had invited himself to the meeting, being something of a spirit himself, more or less.
"Don't worry about that, Discord. They like you. At least some of them do." Twilight paused, looking uncomfortable. "Some of them would like to talk with you about helping convince the zebra elders to stop being jerks."
Awww, I'm all caught up!! I have loved this story so far, and the prequel was amazing. I look forward to more awesomness in the future :)
8592582
Kinda figured it was intentional. Mad science creating coffee is a relatively unique concept.
8594287
Which one? Scootaloo has like 15-20 cards.
Stay strong, Flash.
You are all really dumb Zebra, use your brains, you are talking about an immortal Alicorn who is easily over 1000 years old, skill and exprience she has in spades.